Skip to main content

Full text of "Electric railway journal"

See other formats 


/  UT  7 


/  /)  <' 


?  u 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


2  (aH  <» 

Volume  58 

July  to  December,  1921 


McGraw-Hill  Company,  Inc. 

Tenth  Avenue  at  Thirty-sixth  Street 

New  York  City 


T15 


Instructions  for  Use  of  Index 


This  index  is  essentially  a  subject  index, 
not  an  index  of  titles,  and  articles  treating 
a  number  of  different  subjects  are  indexed 
under  each  of  them.  In  addition,  a  geo- 
graphical reference'  is  published  wherever 
the  article  relates  to  any  particular  railway 
company,  or  to  the  state  matters  of  any 
particular  state.  The  geographical  method  of 
grouping  serves  to  locate  in  the  index  any 
article  descriptive  of  practices,  conditions, 
events,  etc.,  when  the  searcher  knows  the 
electric  railway,  city  or  state  to  which  the 
article  applies.  Groupings  are  made  under 
the  name  of  the  city  in  which  the  main  office 
of  the  company  is  located,  but  an  exception 
is  made  in  the  case  of  electrified  sections  of 
steam  railroads,  such  entries  being  made 
direct  under  the  name  of  the  railroad.  City 
or  state  affairs  appear  under  the  names  of  the 
city  or  state  involved. 

In  the  subject  index,  the  alphabetical 
method  is  followed,  and  if  there  is  a  choice 
of  two  or  three  keywords  the  one  most;  gen- 
erally used  has  been  selected,  cross  references 
being  supplied.  Below  will  be  found  a  list  of 
the  common  keywords  used  in  the  index  to 


this  volume.  This  list  has  been  subdivided 
for  convenience  into  thirteen  general  subjects, 
but  the  general  subject  headings,  shown  in 
capital  letters,  do  not  appear  in  the  body  of 
the  index  unless,  like  "employees,"  they  ap- 
pear also  in  small  type.  As  an  example  of 
how  to  use  the  index,  if  a  reader  wishes 
to  locate  an  article  on  special  trackwork  he 
would  obviously  look  in  the  list  under  the 
general  subject  Track  and  under  this  caption, 
only  special  trackwork  could  apply  to  the 
article  in  question.  The  reader  would  there- 
fore refer  to  this  keyword  under  S  in  the 
body  of  the  index. 

In  addition  to  the  groups  of  articles  cov- 
ered by  these  headings  the  papers  and  reports 
from  railway  associations  are  grouped  under 
the  names  of  the  various  organizations.  Pro- 
ceedings of  other  associations  and  societies 
are  indexed  in  general  only  in  accordance 
with  the  subject  discussed.  Short  descrip- 
tions of  machine  tools  appear  only  under  the 
heading  "Repair  shop  equipment"  and  are  not 
indexed  alphabetically,  because  of  the  fact 
that  there  is  a  wide  choice  in  most  cases  of 
the  proper  keywprd  to  be  used. 


CLASSIFIED  L  ST  OF  KEYWORDS 


ACCIDENTS   AND  ACCIDENT 

PREVENTION 
Accident  claim  department 
Accidents   (including  wrecks) 
Safety  first 

CARS  AND  OTHER  VEHICLES 
Automobiles 

Cars  (including  car  design) 

Locomotives 

Motor  buses 

Motor  cars.  Gasoline 

Motor  trucks 

Service  and  tower  wagons 

Trackless  trolley 

Work  and  wrecking  cars 

CAR  EQUIPMENT 
Bearings 

Brakes  and  compressors 
Current  collection 
Electrical  equipment 
Fixtures 

Gears  and  pinions 

Motors 

Trucks 

Wheels  and  axles 

EMPLOYEES 
Employees 
Labor 

Strikes  and  arbitrations 
Wage  decreases 

Wages  and  working  agreements 

FARES 
Fare  collection  (including 

apparatus) 
Fare  decreases 
Fare  increases 
Fare  increases  sought 
Fares 

Tickets  and  tokens 
Traffic  investigations 
Traffic  stimulation 


FINANCIAL,  LEGAL  AND 
STATISTICS 
Abandoning  of  lines 
Accounting 

Appraisal  of  railway  property 

Financial 

Franchises 

Insurance 

Legal 

Legislation   for  railways 
Market  conditions 
Operating  records  and  costs 
Public  service  and  regulative 

commissions 
Service  at  cost 
Statistics 
Taxes 

HEAVY  ELECTRIC 
TRACTION 
Heavy  ^electric  traction  (general) 
Locomotives 

MAINTENANCE  OF 
EQUIPMENT 
Insulating  materials 
Lubrication 
Maintenance  practice 
Metals 
Purchases 

Repair  shop  practice 
Repair  shops  and  equipment 
Stores 

Tests  of  materials  and  equipment 
Welding 

POWER 
Energy  checking  devices 
Energy  consumption 
Fuel 

Overhead  contact  system 

Power  distribution 

Power  generation 

Power  stations  and  equipment 

Substations  and  equipment 

Switchboards  and  equipment 


STRUCTURES 
Carhouses  and  storage  yards 
Power  stations  and  equipment 
Repair  shops  and  equipment 
Substations  and  equipment 
Terminals 
Waiting  stations 

TRACK 

Pavements 

Rail  joints  and  bonds 
Rails 

Special  trackwork 
Ties 

Track  construction 
Track  maintenance 

TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPOR- 
TATION 
Freight  and  express 
Interurban  railways 
Merchandising  transportation 
Publicity 

Public,  Relations  with 
Schedules  and  timetables 
Signals 

Stopping  of  cars 
Traffic  investigations 
Traffic  regulation 
Traffic  stimulation 
Transportation,  Metropolitan 

MISCELLANEOUS 
Corrosion 
Electrolysis^ 
Engineers 
Highways 
Living  costs 
Management 
Municipal  ownership 
Railways  (general) 
Snow  removal 
Standardization 
Subways 


INDEX  TO  VOLUME  58 


PAGES     BY  WEEKS 


T  » -.  1 .  .  O 

1 

to 

98 

uly  9  

on 

to 

70 
10 

nn 

to 

110 

lis 

1  1  Q 

to 

loo 

t„i.t  on 

1 

to 

1  Q1 

to 

ZZo 

August  13  

  229 

to 

Zbo 

August  20  

  267 

to 

O  A  A 

one 

to 

O  A  A 

a44 

CI  J.  1   o 

September  6  

  345 

to 

384 

September  1U  

  385 

to 

ACi  A 

4z4 

September  17  

A  etc 

  425 

to 

A  £0 

4oZ 

September  24  

  463 

to 

C  A  f\ 

64U 

October  1  

  541 

to 

57b 

/~\  „  J.  „  1,  „  „  O 

to 

670 

October  15  

  671 

to 

/  ZZ 

/~\    4-  „  1-. ...  ,  .  OO 

to 

nan 
<6Z 

October  29  

  763 

to 

806 

.......  807 

to 

848 

November  12  

  849 

to 

888 

tn 
LO 

you 

  931 

to 

976 

  977 

to 

1014 

December  10  

 1015 

to 

1056 

December  17  

 1057 

to 

1096 

 1097 

to 

1136 

December  31  

 1137 

to 

1166 

A 

Abandoning  of  lines: 

— Bridgeton  &  Mlllville  Tr.  Co.  line,  220 

— Causes  and  bus  solution.  Comments  on,  2 

— Dallas,  Texas:  Short  line  in,  298 

— Des  Moines,  Iowa;  218,  *237 

— Indiana.  Columbus  &  Eastern  Traction  Com- 
pany proposes,  754.  880.  1127 

— -Los  Angeles,  Washington  line,  118 

— Manistee,  Mich.,  service  suspended.  410.  1002 

— Municipal  consent  required,  220 

— Niagara  Falls.  N.  Y.,  536 

— Ocean  Shore  R.R.  branches,  219 

—Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway,   296.   *323.  1044 

• — 'Wisconsin  bill  permitting  is  vetoed.  149 

Abilene.  Texas: 

— Abilene  Street  Railway: 

Operation  to  be  resumed,  298 

Accident  claim  department: 

— Co-operation     of    other    departments  needed 

[Connell],  525 
— Employees'  claims,  Collecting  [Bishop],  873 
— Exaggerating  claimants   [Lonergan],  874 
— Function  of   [Reynolds].  735 
— Investigations,  Conducting  of  [Green],  737 
— Letter    investigation    advocated  [Robinson], 

739;  Discussion  [A.  E.  R.  C.  A.].  736 
— Middle  West  claim  agents  organize.  792 
— Psychology  in  adjusting  claims  [Butterworth] , 

740:  Discussion  [A.  E.  R.  C.  A.].  736 
— Publicity  in  litigated  cases  [Moore],  792 
— Statistics  important  [Handlon].  656 
Accident  prevention  (see  Safety  first) 
Accidents : 

— Automobile    accidents    in    Rochester.    N.  Y. 

[Quigley],  606 
— Cable  car  runs  away,  *1157 
— Cost  of  settlements,   1117,  1148. 
— Decreasing  number  of,  823 
— Interurban  cars  crash,  *1086 
— Mule  injured.  Fault  of  owner.,  216 
— New  York  City  in  1920.  376 
— One-man  cars  reduce   [Ashton],  875 
— Perfect  score  on  Pacific  Electric.  419 
— Public  pays  for,  333 
— Rear-end  collision,  *919 

— Record  in  Chicago  [Kelker],  *244;  Comments 
on,  229 

— Safety  cars  decrease  [A.  E.  R.  A.  Com.].  619 

— Subway  accident  in  Paris.  *838 

— Train  jumps  track  in  Springfield.  Mass.,  414 

—Wisconsin  cars  overturned,  '765 

Accounting: 

— Adapting  for  particular  uses  [Hopson],  705; 
Discussion.  698 

— Aid  in  solution  of  railways'  troubles  [Web- 
ster], 695 

— Calculating  machine.  944 

— Construction  costs  [Davis],  703;  Discussion 
[A.  E.  R.  A.  A.l.  698 

— Freight  [A.  E.  R.  A.  A.  Com.],  651;  Discus- 
sion, 653 

— I.  C.  C.  system,   Questions  and  answers.  30, 

175;  A.  E.  R.  A.  A.  Report  696 
— Light  and  power  consumers  [Eaton],  408 
— Motor  utilities,  System  proposed  for.  878 
— Power  crsts  at  delivery  point   [Hagan],  409 
— Perpetual  inventory  advocated  [May],  *398 
— Railway    cost     [  Bowman  1,    700;  Discussion 

[A,  E.  R.  A.  A.l,  697 
— Stores   [A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  and  A.  E.  R.  A.  A 
Com.,].  631:  Discussion.  697 


Adrian.  Michigan : 

— Adrian  Street  Railway: 

Discontinuance  proposed,  295 

Advertising  (see  also  Merchandising  transporta- 
tion and  Publicity): 

— Buses  in  New  York  State,  1052 

— Interurbans'  methods   [  Observer"],  *505 

Akron,  Ohio : 

— Living  costs,  51 

— Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Co.: 

Car  house  and  storage  facilities,  *852 

City  appraisal,  416 

"Civility"  campaign,  755 

Preferred  stock  offer.  181 

Motor   buse's   ordered.    565;    Extension  re- 
quested, 1092 

Reducing  maintenance  costs  [See],  '684 

Trolley  bus  proposed,  184 

Wage  arbitration.  51,  68.  179.  216 
Albany.  N.  Y.: 

— Interurbans  resume  service  to,  413 
— Jitney   situation,    261,   413,   456,    665.  717, 
1124 

— United  Traction  Co.: 
Annual  report.  29 

Commission  approves  one-man  cars,  845 
Eight-cent  fare  sought,  1009 
Election   significance,  920 
January-June  report,  337 
Service  resumption,  144.  531 
Strike,  Court  statement  on.  868 
Strike  declared  off.  961;  Cost  of,  1005 
Strikers  appeal  contempt  judgment.  563 
Troy  fare  controversy,  1090  1132 
Alton,  111.: 

— Jitneys  restrained.  338 

Ama'gamated   Association   of   Street   &  Electric 

Railway  Employees  of  America : 
— Annual  convention,  556 
Amarillo,  Texas: 

— City  ownership  recommended,  878 

American    Association    of    Traveling  Passenger 

Agents : 
— Annual  convention.  791 
American  Cities  Co.    i  see  New  York  City) 
American    Engineering    Council    (see  Federated 

American  Engineering  Societies) 
American  Electric  Railway  Accountants'  Assn.: 
— Annual  convention: 

Papers  and  proceedings,  608.  695-707 

Program.    330.  410 
— Committee  activities: 

Economics  of  schedules.  649 

Executive,  695 

Freight  accounting,  651 

Standard    classification    of    accounts.  175, 
696 

Stores    accounting.    174,    631:  Discussion. 
697 

— Officers  elected.  699 

American  Electric  Railway  Association: 

— "Aera."  Advisory  committee  report  on.  612 

— "Aera."  Status  of  [Gadsden],  609 

— Annual  convention : 

Discussion  urged,  425,  464 

Entertainment,  449 

Hall,  *250 

Papers    and    proceedings.    580-655;  Com- 
ments on.  577 

Program.  106.  328:  Comments  on.  541 

Transportation  arrangements.  528 
— Bureau  of  Information  and  Service: 

Advertising  section,  66 

Bulletins  available,  66,  834 

Report  on.  614 

Traffic  ratios,  220 
— Bus  companies  not  admitted  to  membership, 

612:  Comments  on,  577 
— Committee  activities: 

Company  sections,  106.  622 

Co-operation  of  manufacturers,  1040 

Electrolysis,  175.  616 

Entertainment,  330,  369,  623 

Executive,  143.  249.  611,  657.  836,  1039; 
Comments  on.  231 

Mail  pay,  613;  Comments  on.  763 

Membership,  1040 

Merchandising  transportation,  106 

Mid-year  dinner,  915.  1152 

National  relations,  617 

National  Utility  Associations.   212,  622 

Nominating.  330,  369.  528.  615 

One  hundred,  622 

Publicity.  614,  1039 

Reorganization,    105,    612;    Comments  on, 

81,  230 
Resolutions.  621 
Safety  ear.  213.  619 
Special  dinner.  1040 

Trackless  transportation,  24.  174,  616,  1082 

Valuation,  369,  618:  Comments  on,  672 
— Committee    personnel.  958 
— Company  section  activities: 

Chicago  Elevated  R.R..  66.  1082 

Connecticut  Company.  1082 

Public  Service  Railway,  1120 

Rhode  Island  Co.,  24 
— Defaulting  bookkeeper,  369 
— 'Midyear  conference: 

Indianapolis  chosen,  Comments  on.  1015 

Program.  1152 

Transportation  committee.  1 120 
— Officers  elected.    *613,    *615;    Comments  on, 
577 

— Reorganization : 

Discussion  on  [Dana].  362:  [Sawyer].  363: 
[Mortimer],  365:  [Cram],  365;  [Storrs]. 
402;  [Coatesl.  444:  [Shannahan],  523: 
[Shoup],  523;  Comments  on,  579 

—  Secretary  selected,  106;  Comments  on,  79 

— Secretary-Treasurer's  report,  610 


American  Electric  Railway  Claims  Association : 

— Annual  convention : 

Papers  and  proceedings,  586,  605,  735 
Program,  329 

— Officers  elected,  586,  735.  737 

American  Electric  Railway  Engineering  Assn: 

— American    Committee    on    Electrification  pro- 
posed. Comments  on,  578 

■ — Annual  convention  : 

Papers  and  proceedings,  594.  024 
Program,  328 

— Committee  activities: 

Apprentice  systems.  625 

Buildings  and  structures,  66,  637 

Equipment,  640 

Executive,  642,  1120 

Heavy  electric  traction.  106.  626 

Power  distribution.  24,  631,  1082 

Power  generation,  628 

Purchases  and  stores,  631,  Discussion,  697 
Standards,  528;  Comments  on.  541 
Subjects.  369;  Comments  on.  672 
Unification  of  car  design.  639 
Way.  "634 

— Committee  personnel,  960:  Comments  on.  978 

— Officers.  Nominated,  213:  Elected,  642 

— Reorganization  proposed  [Gove],  624;  Com- 
ments on.  671 

American  Electric  Railway  Transportation  and 
Traffic  Association: 

— Annual  convention : 

Papers  and  proceedings,  587,  589,  603,  605, 

606,  607.  643 
Program,  329 

— Christmas  cards  to  committee  members,  1152 

— Committee  activities: 

Executive,  143,  643,  792 
Merchandising  transportation,  644 
Personnel    and    training    of  transportation 

employees  653. 
Safety  work,  648 
Subjects,  369 
Traffic  regulations,  647 

— Committee  personnel.  1040 

— Officers  elected.  *643,  655 

— Reorganization  proposed  [Stevens],  643;  Com- 
ments on,  671 
Americanization : 

— Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  R.R.  work. 
**32. 

American  Railway   Association : 
— Mechanical    Division    meeting    postponed  in- 
definitely, 368 
— Scrap  classification,  383 

American  Railways  Company  (see  Philadelphia. 
Pa.) 

American  Society  for  Municipal  Improvements: 

— Annual  meeting.  830 

American  Society  for  Testing  Materials: 

— Annual  meeting,  103,  175;  Comments  on,  80' 

Anderson,  Indiana: 

— Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana : 
Armature  repair  records.  "783 
Field  coils.  Repairing  [Hester],  *14 
Wages  decreased,  215 

Watt-hour  meters  on  cars  [Luollen],  *728 
Appleton,  Wisconsin : 

— Wisconsin  Traction.  Light.  Heat,  &  Power  Co.: 
Fare  increase.  115 

Appraisal  of  railway  property: 

— Basis  and  return  on  [King],  104 

— Capitalization  versus  amortization.  95;  Com- 
ments on,  80 

— Grand  Rapids,  Mich..  1083 

— Method  attacked.  Indianapolis.  Ind.,  377 

— Kokomo,  Indiana  values,  881 

— New  Orleans  situation,  152 

— Ohio  valuations  increased.  415 

— Oklahoma  properties,  664 

— Ottawa,  Ontario.  1006 

— Pacific  Electric  Railway,  568 

— Public  Service  Ry.,  73.  95,  109.  113;  Com- 
ments. 80 

— Renewal  and  depreciation  allowed.  989 
— Reproduction  value  increased  by  War.  995 
— St.  Louis.  Missouri,  797,  966 
— Special    circumstances   in    Connecticut  [Hop- 
son],  c443 

— Toronto  arbitration,  532,  567,  713.  1006, 
1045 

— "Yardstick"  method  [A.  E.  R.  A.  Com.],  618; 

Comments  on,  672 
Arbitration   (see  Strikes  and  arbitration) 
Arkansas  Light  &  Power  Co.    (see  Pine  Bluff. 

Arkansas ) 
Association  of  Electric  Railway  Men: 
— Akron.  Ohio  meeting.  23;  Comments  on.  2 
Athol.  Massachusetts: 

— Northern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway: 

Freight  operation.  *41 

Receiver  sought,  1129 
Atlanta.  Georgia: 
— Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Co.; 

Discontinue  service  to  Camp  Gordon.  715: 
Government  denies  claim,  880 

Emergency  truck,  *734 

Frog  repairs.  *15 

Interurban  fare  increase  sought,   420;  De- 
nied, 716 

Miniature  distribution  system.  *43."> 

Rebate  on  College  Park  fares.  1130 

Remodeling  cars  for  P.  A.Y.  E..  *101 

Universal  tie  ji'ate.  *98 
Atlantic  City.  New  Jersey: 
— Atlantic  City  &  Shore  Railroad: 

Receiver  discharged.  70 
Attleboro.  Massachusetts: 
— Attleboro  Branch  Railroad: 

Freight  operation.  "41 
— Interstate  Consolidated  Street  Railway: 

Freight  operation,  *41 


Abbreviations:     "Illustrated.     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OP  THE  INDEX 


IV 


INDEX 


[Vol.  58 


Auburn,  New  York : 

— Auburn  &  Syracuse  Electric  Railroad: 

Fare  schtau.e  reduced,  1051 

Wage  decrease,  531 
Augusta,  Georgia: 

— Augusta-Aiken  Railway  &  Electric  Corp.: 

Pare  increase  sanctioned,  34;  Refused,  421 
Aurora,  Illinois: 

— Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  R.R.: 
Foreclosure  sale  planned,  1087 
Fox    River   line.    Discontinuance  proposed, 

964,  1044 
Future  in  Elgin,  964,  1044 
Interurban  service  declared  inadequate.  716, 

844 

Loading  platform  for  refuse,  *5 
Newspaper    coupons    attract    traffic  ["Ob- 
server"], *505 
Wage  contract,  145 

— Bus  petition  allowed,  716 

Australia : 

— Rail  standard.  "825 

— Railway  progress,  155,  462 

Austria: 

- — Vienna,     Curves     of     tramway  development 

[Ertel],  *199 
— Vienna's  trackless  trolley  [Jackson],  1027 
Automobiles  (see  also  Motor  buses) 
— Accidents  in  Rochester  N.  Y.  [Quigley],  606 
— Automobile,    Use    for    on    railway  property 

[Dana],  c52;   [Whitney],  1038:  Comments 
on,  39 

— Vehicles  in  New  York,  971 
Axles  (see  Wheels  and  Axles) 


B 


Baltimore,  Maryland: 

— Baltimore  Transit  Company : 

Bus,  New  Type  installed,  *778 
— United  Railways  &  Electric  Co.: 

Fare  extension  sought,  1049 

Hose  bridges  carried  in  trailer  [Hughes], 
"241 

Loops   necessary   for   trail   cars  [Palmer], 
891 

New  type  safety  cars   [Palmer],  *400 
Safety  car  changes    [Palmer],  c96 
September  report,  844 
Trail  cars    [Palmer],  *891 
Wage  decrease  proposed,  1005;  Agreement, 
1083 

Welded  joints    [Wysor],  *170 
Bamberger    Electric    Railroad    (see    Salt  Lake 

City.  Utah) 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan: 

— Railway  favored,  1130;  Comments  on.  1098 
Bearings   (see  also  Lubrication): 
— Babbitted : 

Tests  on   [Perry],  *905 
— Ball  and  roller  bearings: 

Carrying  capacity  of,  1078 

Economies  from  [Porter],  288 

Sen-ice  results  of   [Perry],  *905 

Tests  on  [Perry],  *905 
— Bronze.  Repairing  in  Montreal,  *193 
— End   play   in    armature,    taking  up.  693 
— Lubrication  of  [Morrow],  *674 ;' [Treat ] ,  914 
— Vacuum  oiler.  *781 

Beaver  Valley  Traction  Co.  (see  New  Brighton. 
Pa.) 

Berlin   (see  Germany) 

Berkshire  Street  Railway  (see  Pittsfield,  Mass.) 
Binghamton,  New  York: 
— Binghamton  Railway: 

Automobile  safety  hints.  *987 

Bond  agreement  changed.  454 
Birmingham.  Alabama: 

— Birmingham  Railway.  Light  &  Power  Co.: 

Fare  increase  sought.  114;  In  effect.  259: 
Appealed.  339.  413 

Semi-Centenary  week,  971 
— City-railway  controversy.  339.413 
— Norwood  Street  By.: 

Franchise  sought,  27 
Bloomington,  Illinois: 
— Interurban  bus  service,  801 
Bonds  (see  Financial) 
Boston  Massachusetts: 
— Boston  Elevated  Railway: 

Annual  report.  533  Comments  on,  268 

Deficit  eliminated,  1127 

Expenses.    Division   of.  533 

Fare  decrease  in  Everett  &  Maiden  [Dana], 
•47 

Five  cent  fares   extended.    259,   419.  666. 
800.  925 

Freight  operation.  *41 

Interlocking  installation,  48 

.Tnlv  report.  533 

Maiden  cars  withdrawn.  844 

Mutual  insurance  form0'"'  by  officials.  254 

Telephone  announcing',  27 

Three  year  report.  148 
— Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway: 

Freight  operation.  *41 

Motor  shaft  welded.  *1073 

Wages  decreased.  1155 
— Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway: 

"Boycott"  in  Hyde  Park.  750.  925 

Jan.-June  report.  181 

Jitneys  withdrawn  in  several  districts.  969 

July-Sept,  report.  841 

Lowell.  Mass..  No  fare  decrease.  1053 

Pension  svstem  I.15K 

Readjustment  planned  880 

Rotary  snow  and  ice  digger,  *1077 
— Election  results  1126 
— Jitney  permit.  Temporary.  843.  925 
— "No  accident"  week.  420 
Brakes  and  compressors: 

— Brake   shoes,    etc.    [A.E.R.E.A.   Com.].  640: 

Discussion.  641 
— Brake  slack  adjuster.  *289 
— Compressor.  Belt  driven,  »694 


Brakes  and  compressors  (Continued)  : 

— Compressor  piston  clearances.   [Footel,  445 

— Double  capacity  for  grades,  782 

— Freezing  of  air  systems,  23 

— Heat  due  to  brakes,  eft'_et  of,  362 

— High  power  staff  brake,  *555 

— Jig  for  rebabbitting  connecting  rods,  *274 

— Locomotive  brakes  for  Paulista  Railway,  823 

— Lubrication   of    [Morrow],  *674 

— Reclaiming  air  compressors,  23 

— Slack  adjuster  construction,  *447 

Brazil : 

— Paulista  Railway: 

Brake  equipment  for,  828 
Bridgeport.   Connecticut    (s?e  also   New  Haven. 

Conn.,  Connecticut  Company)  : 
— Election    as    indicative   of    traction  situation 

877,   Comments  on  849 
— Jitney  situation,  419,  456 
Bridgeton,  New  Jersey: 
- — Bridgeton    &   Millville   Traction  Co.: 

Abandonment  of  some  lines,  220 

Fare  increases.  34 
Brill  J.  G.  Company: 
— Canadian  company  formed,  462 
British    Columbia   Electric    Railway    (see  Van- 
couver, B   C.  Can.) 
Brooklyn.  New  York: 
— Brooklyn  City  Railroad: 

Annual  report.  297 

Courtesy  of  employees  required  [Morgan], 
•499 

Schedule  and  traffic  records  [Morgan],  '499 
— Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Co.: 

Employees  thrift  accounts  assured.  416 
Financial    acts    of.    Hearing   of   N.   Y.  T. 

Com.,  1043 
Headwaygraph  principles  [Roberts],  440 
Hose  assembling  apparatus,  '367 
Raising    track,    Unusual   method  [Cram], 
•895 

Security  holders  status,  798 
Wage  decrease,  177  Comments  on,  157 
Brunswick.  Georgia: 
— Brunswick  &  Interurban  Railwav: 

Organizing  to  succeed  City  &  Suburban  Ry.. 
455.  710 

Buffalo    &   Lake   Erie   Traction   Company  (see 

Erie.  Pa  1 
Buffalo,  New  York : 
— Buffalo-Lackawanna  Traction  Co.: 

Fare  increase.  150 
— Electrification  plans  reouested.  796.918 
— Erie  County  Traction  Company: 

Seven-cent  zon»s  authorized.  882 
— International  Railwav: 

Citv-railwav    controversy.    534     711  802 

837.  919.  1132    11 33 
Fare  inquiry,  534.  1132 
Impregnating  field  co'Is,  *1078 
Jan  -Sept,  report.  841 
Program  for  1921.  71 
Safetv-first.  campaign.  755 
Trackless  trolley  proposed.  257,  719 
Wages  decreased,  218 
Buses   (see  Motor  buses  or  Trackless  trolWsl 
Business  revival.   Business   press  can   aid  [Mo- 
Grawl.  835:  988 

!  Comments  on  764' 
1036.  1149 


'B"«  Transportation 
Communications  on. 


969 
878 
70.  180 


California,  State  of: 
— Bus  regulation   limitations  1090 
— Bus  operation,  *319.  883 
— Commission's  Annual  report.  1153 
— f/ei?nt"oarryinK  trucks.  Regulation 
— Motor  utility  accounting  proposed 
—Railroads  challenge  King  tax  bill 
Camden.  New  Jersey: 
— Jitney  regulation'.  1132 
— Public  Service  Railwav: 

Freight  service.  340 

"Pull  together"  campaign.  260 
— West  Jersey  &  Seashore  Railroad: 

Annual  report.  257 
Canada.  Dominion  of: 

— Hydro-radial  hearings  concluded.  178:  Report 

against,  292 
— Report  of  railways.  418 
Cape  Girardeau.  Missouri: 

— Cape   Girardeau-Jackson  Interurban  Railway: 

Paving  fund  proposal,  218 
Car  cards  (see  Publicity  and  Advertising) 
Car  design  (see  Cars) 
Carhouses  and  storage  yards: 
— Akron.  Ohio    improves  *852 
— Features  in  Salt  Lake  Citv.  *347 
— Tinp^  track  in  Akron.  Ohio.  *852 
Carolina  Power  &  Light  Co.  (see  Raleigh.  North 

Carolina ) 
Cars    (including  Car   design)  : 
— Bond  testing  [McKelway],  *82 
—Center  entrance,  interurban.  *6 
— Changes  for  right  hand  operation  [Murrinl. 

•894 

— Compartments  for  second  and  third  class.  *8 
— Cushions  to  abcorb  jar.  Comments  on.  305 
— Design    features     affect    transportation  sale 

[Litchfieidl.  *491 
— Double-deck  in  Edinburgh,  *12 
— Double-truck,  double-end  motor.   Design  data 

[A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  Com].  639 
— Elevated  in  Hamburg  [Mattersdorff  1 .  »929 
— E'evated  in  Philadelphia  Pa.,  *1063 
— freight  and  express  in  Mass..  *41 
— 'Freight  Interurban,  *3 
— Interurban : 

Designs.  *6 

Direct  current  replaces  sing'e  phase.  *543 
Steel  construction  in  Germany.  169 
Texas  Elec.  Ry..  247 

— Metal  ceiling  for  head  lining. 

— Multiple-unit  versus  trailers.  * 


395 

Abbreviations :     *  Illustrated,     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


Cars  (including  Car  design)  Continued)  : 

— One-man  (see  also  Cars,  Safety)  : 

Accidents  decreased  by  [Ashton],  875 

Cedar  Rapids,  100  per  cent,  864 

Double   truck,   one   or  two-man  operation. 

299;   [Mullett],  620,  »933 
Five-cent  fare  maintained  in  Tampa,  338 
Massachusetts  Commission  approves.  846 
New  Hampshire  Commission  approves,  1092 
New  York  Commission  approves.  845 
Operation  of  justified,  Comments  on,  723 
Opposed  in  Illinois,  537 
Proposed  for  Vancouver,  B.  C.  536 
Saving  by  in  Iowa,  *727 
Springs  for  light  loads,  '97 
Strike  against,  F.  J.  &  G.  R.  R.,  145 
Wages  increased  by.  Comments  on,  1138 
Zone  checks  by  machine.  '953 

— Purchase   of.   through   car   trusts  [Curwen], 
590 

— Remodeling  for  P.  A.  Y.  E.  features.  "101 
— Safety   (see  also  Cars,  One-man): 

Approved  by  Milwaukee  Safety  Com..  570 

Comparative  cost  with  motor  bus  and  trol- 
ley bus  [Simmon].  *394:  [Stocks].  *514: 
[Thirlwall],  «546:  [Andrews],  769: 
[Stocks],  771 

Detroit  Municipal  Ry„  »160 

Double  entrance  in  Baltimore  [Palmer], 
•400:   [Eddy],  c732 

Experience  with  in  Pennsylvania  [  Smith  ] , 
•20 

Extensive  use  of,  117;  [A.  E,  R.  A.  Com.], 
619 

Objected  to  in  Milwaukee.  299.  570 

Operating  results  in  Oakland.  314 

Publicity  before  using.  "955 

Savings  by  [Thirlwall].  784 

Special  features  of  Milwaukee.  Wis..  299 : 

[Mullett],  620  *933 
Standard  versus  variations   [Palmer],  c96 
Texas  Electric  Railway  builds.  '693 
Trailers  not  competing,  Comments  on,  932 
Win  approval  in  Waterloo,  Iowa  [Welsh], 

524 

— Single-truck  cars  for  Finland,  *1074 
— Smoking  and  passenger  car,  *6 
— Trackless  type: 

Brill  make,  *550 

Packard  car  tried  in  Detroit.  *359 

"TroIIicar."  St.  Louis  Car  Co.,  *1035 
— Trailers  in  Baltimore  [Palmer].  *891 
— Trailers    not    competitive    with    safety  can. 

Comments  on.  932 
— Trailers  with  control  in  Washington.  *43 
— Weights,  Effect  on  springs  [Seelerl,  275 
— Weight  of  one  man,  double  truck  car  parts, 

936 

Cartoons  (see  Publicity,  Car  cards  and  posters). 

Cedar  Rapids.  Iowa: 

— Bus  Petition  rejected.  381 

— Cedar  Rapids  &  Marion  City  Ry.: 

One-man   operation,  864 
Central  Electric  Railway  Accountants'  Assn.: 
— Forty-first  meeting,  408 
Central  Electric  Railway  Association: 
— Committee  activities: 

Freight  claim  prevention,  Report,  54 

Standards,  Report.  53 
— Engineering  Council: 

Meetings.  699,  957 

Personnel,  915 

Plans  for,  54;  Comments  on,  40 
Youngstown   meeting,   957;  Comments  on, 

933 

— Resolutions  on  death  of  Wm.  Bloss,  143 
— Summer  meeting,  *53 
Charleston.  W.  Va.: 
■ — Charleston-Dunbar  Traction  Co.: 
Officers  elected,  180 
Road  sold,  31 
— Charleston  Interurban  Railway: 
Consolidation   with   C.-D.  Tr. 
1046 

Charlotte,  North  Carolina: 
— Southern  Public  Utilities  Co.: 

Coiled  springs  added  on  one-man  cars. 
Safety  contests  success,  1161 
Charlottesville,  Va. : 
— Charlottesville  &  Albemarle  Ry.: 
Good  will.  Increasing.  802 
Selling  transportation,  718 
Chattanooga,  Tenn.: 
— Chattanooga  Railway  &  Light  Co.: 
Air  sander.  *16 

Creosote  plant  ■  successful,  •101 
Chicago,  Illinois: 

— Accident  record   [Kelker],  *244 
— Aldermen's  report  on  traction.  67 
— Bridge  construction  interrupts  service,  1001, 
•1113 

— Clroago  Elevated  Railway: 

Fare  decrease  sought,  572,  1002 
Gates.  Positive  stop.  •1145 
January-August  report.  1006 
January-September  report.  1002 
New  station  required  raising  tracks.  902 
Station  agents  decreased,  *772 
Traffic  during  bridge  displacement,  •1113 
— Chicago  &  Interurban  Traction  Co.: 

Substation  destroyed  by  lightning.  '450 

 Chicago   &  Northwestern   Elevated  Railroad: 

Stations   attractive.  *1146 
Chicago  Surface  Lines: 

Alterations  for  pageant,  *89 
Car  and  bus  speeds,  1035 
Fare  decrease  sought.  459.  573.  717,  755, 
882.   935,  970,  989.   1035,   1050;  Com- 
ments on.  977 
Fare   Disposition  of.  1005 
Fare  jurisdiction  by  state.  970 
Five-cent    fare    ordered.    970:  Restrained. 

1009.  1050.  1083:  Comments  on.  977 
Pageant  exhibits,  *360 
Posters,  Colored.   *62.  *553 
Loop  rerouting  proposed.  *938 
Skip-stop  signs  on  poles,  683 
"Traction  Topics,"  1117 


Co.  planned. 


•97. 


J  idy-December,  1921] 


INDEX 


V 


Chicago.  111.  (Continued): 

— City-railway  controversy,  28.  67,  107.  176. 
572,  843,  989,  1009,  1035.  1050,  1083, 
1126 

— Safety  Council  work,  331;  [Budd],  605 
— Subways    and   transportation.    Comments  on, 
850 

— Utilities,  Progress  by,  293 

Chicago  &  Joliet  Electric  Railway    (see  Jojiet, 

III.)  . "  '  ',  I 

Chicago,  Lake  Shore  &  South  Bend  Railway  (see 

Michigan  City,  Ind.) 
Chicago,    North    Shore    &    Milwaukee  Railroad 

(see  High  wood.  111.) 
Chicago,  Ottawa  &  Peoria  Railway  (see  Ottawa, 

111.) 
Chile: 

— Electrification.  Contract  awarded.  576,  670 
— Electrification  program,  *991 
China : 

— Railway  materials.  Purchase  rules,  1135 
Cincinnati   &  Dayton  Traction  Co.    (see  Hamil- 
ton, Ohio) 
Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

— Cincinnati  &  Hamilton  Electric  Street  Ry.: 

Foreclosure  decree,  968 
— Cincinnati,   Lawrenceburg   &   Aurora  Electric 

Street  Railroad : 

Containers  for  freight.  *949 
— Cincinnati,  Milford  &  Blanchester  Traction  Co.: 

Sale  negotiations  to  Ford.  753 
— Cincinnati  Traction  Co.: 

August-September  report.  754 

Fare   situations,   33.    109.   152,    183.  223. 
420,  665.  754 

Franchise    tax.    Elimination    sought.  969: 
Exemption  for  1922.  1156 

Incline  reported  safe.  69 

Loan  by  Cincinnati  Street  Ry..  181 

Ordinance  opposed,  33 

Power  house  men  wages  fixed.  145 

Power  system  modernized,  '1099 

School  tickets.  718 

Ticket  plan  changed,  882 

Traffic  decreases 
— Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Traction  Co: 

Abandonment    of    certain    interurban  lines 
sought,  754;  Opposition,  880.  1127 
— Interurban  Railway  &  Terminal  Company : 

Abandonment  of  two  lines  sought,  1089 
— Jitney  situation.  537 

— Report  of  Director  of  Street  Railways.  67 

— Subway  project,  Abandonment  proposed,  794 

— Taxicabs  soliciting  forbidden,  381 

— West  End  Terminal  Railway: 
Plans  for.  1002 

Circuit  breakers  (see  Electrical  equipment) 

Citizens  Traction  Company  (see  Oil  City,  Pa.) 

Claim  department  (see  Accident  claim  depart- 
ment) 

Cleveland,  Ohio: 

— Cleveland  Railway: 
Accident  cost,  1117 
Automatic  substations  [Bale],  58 
Concrete  breaker,  *327 

Extension  financed  by  owners  effected.  537 

Fare  experiment.  Low  rate  32.  *130,  222; 
Failure,  261;  Comments  on.  119 

Financial  difficulties.  453,  537,  1159 

June  report,  220 

November  report,  1160 

October  report,  1046 

Overhead  construction  kinks,  '687 
— Lake  Shore  Electric  Ry: 

Newspaper  advertising  ["Observer"].  *505 
— Railroad  terminal  disapproved.  377 
— Street   Railway  Commissioner's  report.  1154 
Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Eastern  R.R.  Co.  (see 

Willoughby.  Ohio) 
Clinton,  Davenport  &  Muscatine  Railway  (see 

Davenport,  Iowa) 
Coal  (see  Fuels) 
Coin  counter,  Simple.  *209 
Columbia.  South  Carolina: 

— Columbia  Railway,  Gas  &  Electric  Company : 

Discontinuance  of  certain  lines  sought,  1050 
Columbus,  Ohio : 

— Columbus,  Delaware  &  Marion  Electric  Co.: 

Bond  issue,  70 

Defrauders  discovered,  840 

Track  relocation  opposed.  293 
— Columbus  Railway,  Power  &  Light  Co.: 

Extension.  Difficulties  over.  293 

Improvement  work  of,  750 

Management  suit,  714,  963 

Unemployment  discussed,  795 
— Jitney  regulation,  801 
— Motor  bus  service,  1052 
Common  carrier.  Comments  on,  duties  of.  158 
Commonwealth  Power,  Railway  &  Light  Co.  (see 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich.)  : 
Community  Traction  Co.  (see  Toledo,  Ohio) 
Connecticut  Co.  (see  New  Haven,  Conn.) 
Connecticut,  State  of: 

— Regulations  for  jitneys.  50,  74.  75,  113,  "151. 
184.  223,  262,  301,  380.  419,  757:  Com- 
ments on,  40,  158 

Connecticut  Valley  Street  Railway  (see  Green- 
field, Mass.) 

Controllers  (see  Electrical  equipment  for  cars) 

Convention  papers.  Comments  on  types.  1 

Corpus  Christi,  Texas: 

—Corpus  Christi  Railway  &  Light  Company : 

Five  cent  ticket  fare,  970 
Corrosion  (see  also  Electrolysis)  : 
— Gases  from  locomotives  cause  [Scott],  '1079 
— Soil  corrosion : 

Cast  iron  and  other  metals  in  alkaline  soils 
[Smith  and  Shipley].  911 

Example  of  [Smith],  c52 

Tests  on,  909 
Covington.  Kentucky: 

— South  Covington  &  Cincinnati  Street  Railway: 

Dixie  terminal  opened.  *865 

Wage  decrease  proposed,  178;  Accepted,  216 
Crane.  Crawling  tractor  type,  446 
Creosote  (see  Ties) 


Crocker-Wheeler  Co.  sells  Canadian  plant,  423 
Crossings,  Grade  (see  Safety  first) 
Crowded  cars  in  Italy.  *90 
Cuba: 

— Cienfuegos,  Palmira  &  Cruces  Electric  Railway 
&  Power  Co.: 

Suit  for  breach  of  contract,  298 
— Havana  Electric  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Co.: 

Annual  reoprt.  336 

Maintenance  difficulties,  171 
— Havana,  Subway  proposed 
— Hershey  Cuban  Railway  Cars,  *6 
Cumberland    County   Power    &   Light   Co.  (see 

Portland,  Maine) 
Cumberland.  Maryland : 
— Cumberland  Electric  Railway: 

Merger  with  power  company  proposed,  922 
Cumberland  Railway  &  Power  Co.  (see  Raleigh, 

North  Carolina ) 
Current  collection : 
■ — Plow  testing,  »139 
— Third  rail  system  on  N.  P.  R.R.,  743 
— Trackless  trolley  shoe,  *550;  [Jackson],  *859 
— Trackless  trolley  wheels,  '1025 
— Trolley  stand,  Roller  bearing,  733 
— Trolley  wheels  versus  shoes.  Discussion  [C.  E. 

R.  A.].  957 


D 


Dallas.  Texas: 

— Dallas  Railway : 

Abandons  short  line,  298 

Co-operative  discussion,  757 

Fare  rate  continued,  73 

Improvement  program,  1158 

Hints  to  trainmen,  711 

July  report,  663 

October  report,  1008 

Publicity  campaign  through  employees,  957 

Traffic  regulation,  259 

Wages  decreased,  293 
- — Texas  Electric  Railway: 

Interurban  cars  for,  *247 

Safety  cars  built  by,  *693 

Stock  increase.  337 

Wages  decreased.  961 

Weed   cutter,  «448 
Danbury,  Connecticut: 
— Danbury   &   Bethel    Street  Railway: 

Buses  to  West   Danbury.   381.    '516,  556, 
1121 
Davenport,  Iowa: 

— Clinton,   Davenport  |&  Muscatine  Railway: 

Monthly  commutation  scheme  in  Muscatine 
758.  883 
— Tri  City  Railway: 

Fare  decrease  sought,  883 

Maintenance  practice,  527 

One-man    car   controversy.  537 

One-man  car  operation,  *727 

Power  plant  accidents,  752 

September  report,  876 

Transfer,     Punching     eliminated.  *1147; 
Comments  on.  1137 
Dayton,  Ohio: 
— Dayton  Street  Railway: 

Strike  settled,  178 
— Jitney  situation,  450,  1091 
— Peoples  Street  Railway : 

Strike  settled.  178 
— Railway  difficulties.  450 
Decatur,    Illinois : 
— Jitney  situation.  927 
Delaware  &  Hudson  R.R. : 
— Trolley  lines  report,  29 

Delaware    Lackawanna    &  Western  Railroad: 
— Electrification  postponed,  424,  1135 
Denver,  Colorado : 
— Denver  &  Interurban  Railroad : 

Electrifying  to  Union  Station,  109 

Receiver  discharged,  149 
— Denver  Tramways : 

Fare  controversy,  570 

Strike,  Report  on.  793 

Wages  decreased.  293 
Depreciation    (see   Appraisal    of    railway  prop- 
erty or  Financial) 
Des  Moines.  Iowa: 

— Bus  Association  offers  service,  150,  372,  530; 

Comments  on.  1017 
— Bus  regulatory  ordinance.  1153 
■ — City-railway    controversy,     107,     144.  *237, 

•283,  372.  411.  530.  658,  709.  748,  961. 

1001,     1033.     Comments     on.     267,  931, 

978,  1017 
— Des  Moines  City  Railway: 

Franchise,  Features.  749,  1033;  Approved. 
1001 

Service  resumed.  Temporary,  372,  311: 
Permanent,  793.  1033,  Comments  on. 
1017 

Suspension  proposed.  107.  144;  In  effect, 
218  *237.  *283  325  311.  372,  411. 
530,  563.  657.  658:   [Lewis],  791 

Wage  decrease,  108 
Detroit,  Michigan: 
— Detroit  Bus  Co.: 

Annual  report.  418 

Operation  of,  341 
— Detroit   Municipal    Railway : 

Bus  operation  contemplated.  1161 

Cars  of.  *159 

Construction  work   praised.  838 

Extensions  opened.   371.  795 

Operating  arrangements  with  D.  U.  R..  1041. 

1086.  1125 
Overhead    construction    features.  *159 
Policies    indorsed.  876 
Power   from   Canada   proposed.  450 
Salesmanship  talks  to  employees  [Bigelow], 

•1111.  1143 
September  report.  798 
Stops.  Warning  signs  for,  *693 
Svstem  layout.  *123 
Tower    truck.  *680 

Track  construction,  *121:  Comments  on, 
120 


Detroit,  Michigan : 

— Detroit  Municipal  Ry.  (Continued)  : 

Trolley  buses  proposed.   37:  Specifications, 
320;  Bids,  334;  Trial,  *359.  •522,  •1025 
Wages    not   to   be   discussed,  450 
Winch  truck,  »910 
■ — Detroit  United  Railway  i 

City  purchase  of  lines  controversy,  69,  109. 
146,  176.  251,  294,  452,  529.  662,  712, 
751,    876.    918.    964.    1001,  104x 
Fare  decrease,  32 
Financial   situation,   295,  713 
Ford  village  controversy,  562 
Interurban   fare  controversy,  536 
Operating    arrangements    with    city.  1041, 

1086,  1125 
Publicity  department  unchanged,  '67 
Schedule   changes,  338 
Stock  dividend  refused.  1045 
Stock  issue  denied,  418 
Valuation  question,  1045 
— Elevated   railway   proposed,  562 
— Transportation   of   future,  331 
Door  mechanisms  (see  Fixtures) 
Dubuque,  Iowa: 


-Dubuque  Electric  Company : 
New  franchise, 


661 


proposed, 

Duluth,  Minnesota: 
— Duluth  Street  Railway: 

Fare  controversy,  381,  456.  1050 
Dynamite,  Non-freezing  type,  1076 


Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Ry.    (see  Boston, 
Mass.) 

Eastern  Pennsylvania  Railways   (see  Pottsville, 

Pennsylvania) 
East  Liverpool,  Ohio: 

— State  and  interstate  fares  must  be  equal,  1092 
East  St.  Louis,  Illinois: 
— East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway: 
Deficit  advertised,  664 

Wage   reduction   proposed,   28,    179,  964: 
Award,  1042. 
Eighth  Avenue  Railroad   (see  New  York  City.) 
Electrical  equipment  for  cars   (except  Motors): 
— Arrangement  to  reduce  maintenance.  348 
— Circuit  breaker.  Hinged  handle,  *734 
— Circuit  breaker  testing.  '139 
"Electrical  Review"  purchased  by  McGraw-Hill, 
1084 

Electric  Short  Line  Ry.  (see  Minneapolis,  .Minn.) 
Electrification   (see  Heavy  electric  traction) 
Electrolysis:  ...:,>:.. 
— American  Committee  on:  • 

Report,  175,  726.  913;  [A.  E.  R,  A.  Com.], 
616    :  ,    ;       ^.;iU3  ..i.;:o?jO 

— Corrosion  of  cables,  442 

— Interconnection  of  track  crossing,  Detroit,  391 
— Measurement  of  earth  currents,  [MeCollum], 

•809;  Comments  on,  .  807  ...... 

— Three  wire  distribution  in  Wilmington,  Del. 

[Way],  *307;  Comments  on,  306 
— Three-wire  system  in  Winnipeg,  839 
— Three-wire  system.  Track  voltage  of  [Smith], 

c555 
El  Paso,  Texas: 
— El  Paso  Electric  Railway: 

Service,  An  example  of    [Lemmon],  442; 
Comments  on,  425 
Emergency  bus  system  (see  New  York  City) 
Employees   (see  also  Labor,  Strikes  and  Arbi- 
trations, Wages) : 
—Activities  in  Kansas  City,  254 
— Apprentice  systems   [A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  Com.]. 

625 

— Bonus  awarded  in  Los  Angeles,  917.  1155 
— "Business  as  Conductor,"  Comments  on,  120 
— Bus  operators  admitted  to  Amalgamated,  556; 

Comments  on,  673 
— Car  cards  to  be  submitted  by.  957 
— Claims  of.  Handling   [Bishop],  873 
— Company  publications: 

Kansas  City,  Mo.,  796.  *879 

Philadelphia.  Pa..  »955 
— Compensation  in  Utah,  839 
— Confidence  will  aid  transportation  [Kelsay], 

64 

— Courtesy    requisite    to    transportation  sales 

TMorgan],  *499 
■ — Direct  salesmen  of  transportation  [Barnes], 

480 

— Director  from,  Louisville,  Ky.,  1158 

— Dispatching    principles    for    the  individual. 

Comments  on,  889 
—Educate  to  teach  public  [Wickwire],  599 
— Employment  status.  June,  132 
— Housing  plans  of  I.  R.  T.,  375 
—Instruction.    Claim    department  co-operation 

[Connell],  525;   [Thomas],  524 
— Mutual  benefit  association  [Anderson],  1118 
— Pension  system  on  E.  M.  S.  R.,  1155 
— Personnel  work  [Bovcel,  19,  [A.  E.  R.  T.  & 

T.  A.  Com.].  653;  Discussion,  654 
— Picnic  of  P.  R.  T..  »955 
— Profit  sharing  plan  [MeCahill],  18 
— Rules.  Dialogue  on  observance  of,  878 
— Salesmanship,     Talks    on     [Bigelow],  1111. 

1143 

— Selection   of    [Norris],  607 

— -Seniority  for  safety  car  operators.  1162 

— Service  hints,  711 

— Street  calling  required  in  Minneapolis.  919 
— 'Strikers  status,  868 

— Thrift  accounts  assured  by  B.  R.  T.,  416 
— Trainmen's  bonus  in  Los  Angeles,  Cal„  917 
— Turnover  statistics,    *731,  *993 
— Unemployment  conference,  Comments  on,  541  • 

Recommendations.   660.  686 
— Wage   possibilities    [Todd,    by   Bozelll.  1018 
— Workmen's  compensation  in  New  York  [Oti<l 

912 

Energy  checking  devices: 

— Installation  of  and  saving  by  [Lnellen],  ^728 
- — Records  and  savings  by  [Wood],  '081 


Abbreviations :     'Illustrated,     c  Communications. 
r.EAl?  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


VI 


INDEX 


[Vol.  58 


259. 


Energy  consumption: 

— Hamburg    Elevated    Railway     [  Mattersdori  ] , 
•979 

- — Reducing-     by      checking      [Wood],  •681; 

[Luellen],  '728 
— Saving  by  proposed  Superpower  System,  819 
Engineers : 

— Executive  leadership  by.  Comments  on,  763 
— Field  of.  381 

— Marshal  Foch  honored  as,  1081 
England   ( see  Great  Britain  ) 

Erie   County    Traction    Company    (see  Buffalo. 

N.  Y.) 
Erie.  Pennsylvania: 

— Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie  Traction  Company : 

Fare  controversy.  802 
Express   (see  Freight  and  express) 
Eureka,  California: 
— Humboldt  Transit  Co.: 

City  votes  to  purchase,  149;  Taken  over, 
749 
Europe : 

— Electrification  plans.  352 


Fairmount,  West  Virginia: 

— Monongahela  Power  &  Railway  Co.: 

Coal  properties  sold.  966 

Stock  sales,  295 

Switching  locomotive  built,  *246 

Wages  decreased,  68 
Fare   collection    (see  also   Tickets  and  tokens) 
— Adjustable  change  carrier.  *448 
— Bus  system  in  Gloucester,  Mass..  •773 
— Change  making  fare  box.  '401 
— Com   and   ticket  sorter,  •1073 
— Featherweight  gates  in  New  York,  *940 
■ — Gate  collection  in  Everett,  Mass.  [Dana],  *47 
— Prepayment  and  postpayment    [A.  E.  R.  E. 

A.  Com.],  637 
—Transfers.  Punching  eliminated.   *1147;  Com 

ments  on,  1137 
— Weekly   passes    (see  Fares) 
— Zone  checks  by  machine.  *953 
Fare  decreases : 

— Boston  Elevated  extends  five-cent  lines 

419.   666,  800 
— Cincinnati.  Ohio,  183,  223,  754 
— Cleveland,  Short  haul,  '130 
— Detroit,  Mich.,  32 
— Everett  &  Maiden   [Dana],  *47 
— Five    cent    experiment    in    Connecticut,  844, 

883,  885,  924,  970,  1011,  1051,  1133 
— Five-cent  fare  trial  in  Houston,  Texas.  1010 
— Methods  of.  Comments  on,  119 
— Monthly  pass  in  Joliet.  111.,  1051 
— Pronosed  for: 

Chicago,  Illinois,  459.  572,  717,  843,  925. 
970,  989,  1002.  1009;  Comments  on,  977 

Connecticut  Co.  665.  759,  837,  883 

Davenport,  Iowa,  883 

San  Antonio,  Texas,  1011,  1054 

Seattle,  Washington,  750,  758.  881 

Syracuse,  N.  Y..  666 
— Round    trip  on   Oregon   Elec.   Ry.,  260 
— Tickets  in  Corpus  Christi.  Texas,  970 
— Transfer  elimination.  Comments  on.  1137 
— Washington.  D.  C,  223.  456 
Fare  increases: 
— Augusta,   Georgia.  34 
— Birmingham,    Alabama,    259.  339 
— Buffalo   interurbans.   150.  882 
— Denied : 

Augusta-Aiken  Ry.,  421 

Lynchburg,    Virginia,  299 

Minneapolis,  Minn.,  457 

Omaha.  Nebraska.  452 

San  Jose,  California,  1049 

Utica.  N.  Y.,  535 
— Duluth,   Minn..  381 
— Helena,  Montana.  925 
— Jackson.  Mich.,  459 
— Knoxville,  Tenn.,  33.  73.  152 
— Memphis.  Tenn.,  339 
— Minneapolis.   Minnesota,   341,  380 
— Nashville  Tenn.  153 
— Newark  N.  J..  Transfers.  223,  755 
■ — Revenue  from    [Kappeyne],  *954 
— Salt  Lake  &  Utah  R.R.,  185 
— Spokane.   Wash..  32 
— Toledo.    Ohio.    301,  536 
— Toronto,  Ontario,  Can.,  666 
— 'Winnipeg,  Man..  Can.,  222 
— Wisconsin  Tr.,  Lt.,  Ht.  &  Pr.  Co.  115 
Fare  increases  sought: 
— 'Albany,  N  Y..  1009 
— Birmingham,  Alabama.  114 
— Georgia    interurban,  420 
— Helena,  Mont..  537 
— Indianapolis.  Ind..  224.  1117 
— Los  Angeles.  Cal..   184.   380.  1010 
— Minneapolis,  Minn..  33,  223 
— Mobile.  Alabama.  565 

— Newark.  N.  J..  73.  95.  109.  113,  260.  339. 

458.  534,  573.  717,  793,  843,  1091.  1131 
— Raleigh,   N.  C,  34.  802,  1010 
— St.  Paul,  Minn.,  29.  33.  259.  457.  802.  882. 

926 

— Southern  Pacific  Co.,  73 
— Troy  New  York.   1090.  1132 
— Trenton.  N.  J.,  667:  Denied.  718 
Fares : 

— Bargain  sale  of  [Boyee],  *353 

— "Boycott"   started   aga'nst,   750.  925 

— Canadian  city  rates.  927 

— Disposition    of,    on    Chicago    Surface  Lines, 
1005 

— Distance  variation  desired   [Todd,  by  Bozell]. 
1018 

— Effect  of  changes: 

Everett  &  Maiden  [Dana],  *47 

Louisville,  Kv..  455 

Michigan  United  Rvs  .  224 

Portland.   Oregon.  185 

Youngstown.  Ohio.  *1104 
— Effect  on  wages  [Green! .  732 
— Element  affecting  rider   [Dahl],  239 


Fares   (Continued)  : 

— Emergency  proved  in  N.  J.,  73 

—Factors  analyzed   [Ashfield],  312 

— Franchise  not  binding,  '1091 

— Hamburg   practice    [  Mattersdorf ] ,  979 

— Increases  and  changes   [Gruhl],  595 

— Indiana  policy.  1092 

— Interstate,  Increased  by  I.  C.  C,  «1091 

— Low  fares  not  incentive  to  riding,  844 

— Low    rate    for   short   haul,    32.    '130,  222; 

Failure,  261 
— Monthly   commutation   tickets.    758,  883 
— Rates  based  on   value  of  service  [Tingley], 

998 

— Rates  not  fixed  by  vote.  Comments  on,  158 
— Relative  increases  [Burke],  *94 
— Revenue  increase  from  increased  rates  [Kap- 
peyne], *954 
— Review  ordered  in  Wisconsin,  885 
— School  tickets  in  Cincinnati,  718 
— Six  cents  predominates  in  Ohio.  261 
— State,  Must  equal  interstate,  1092 
— 'Study  of  just  fare,  Comments  on,  119 
— Three  cent  advocated  in   Seattle,   114.  457; 

Comments  on.  81 ;  Opposed,  716 
— Weekly  pass: 

Wisconsin    results    [Jackson],    *203,  Com- 
ments on.  191.  1015 
Youngstown  adopts,  534,   *899;  Comments 

on,  890.  1015 
Youngstown  results.   *1104;  Comments  on, 
1098 

—Wholesale  prices,   *1104;  Comments  on,  1098 
— Wisconsin  cities.  767 
— Zone  system : 

Popular  in  San  Diego,  Cal.,  921 

Proposed  for  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  756 

Zurich  abandons,  *416 
Federal  Electric  Railways,   Commission  Report: 
— Analysis  by  D.  F.  Wilcox,  341 
Federal  Light  &  Traction   Company    (see  New 

York  City) 
Federated  American  Engineering  Societies: 
— American  Engineering  Council: 

Waste  elimination   report,    173;  Comments 
on.  157 

Feeders  (see  Cables  and  Power  distribution) 
Fiber.  Strength  of,  135 
Financial : 

—Analysis  of  railways'  difficulties  [Gadsden], 
581;  [Frothingham] .  584;  Comments  on, 
577 

■ — Assessment    of    landowners    for  construction 

[Wehle],  552 
— Blue-sky  bills  opposed,  256 
— 'Bond  issue.   Service  at  cost  aids.  1046 
— Bonds  maturing  in  January,  1159 
— Bonds  versus   stocks,  29 

— Car  purchases  through  car  trusts  [Curwen], 
590 

— Contract  for  engineering  advice  abrogated  by 

commission,  73 
— Customer  ownership  securities: 

Advantages  [Addinsell],  593 

Aid  in  moulding  public  opinion  [Grimsby], 
787 

Employee  purchasers  and  agents,  321;  Com- 
ments on.  306 

Partial  payment  plan  in  New  Jersey,  921 

Plan  used  in  Norfolk,  Va..  *198 

Preferred  stock  in  Akron.  O.,  181 

Preferred  stock  sale  in  Milwaukee.  *110; 
Comments  on,  191 

Public-ownership      advantageous  [Ayles- 
worth],  791 

Sale  and  value  of  [Weeks],  65 
— Cycle    for    railways    improving    [Todd,  by 

Bozell],  1018 
— Default  of  traction  bonds.  922 
— Depreciation  reserve  fund  opposed.  31 
— Discount,     Amortization    of     [Peirce],  872; 

Comments  on.  931 
— Dividends.  Comments  on  psychology  due  to. 

807 

— Dividends  paid  in   stock,  663 

— Earnings  of  railways  [C.  &  F.  Chron.],  70, 
147;  Comments  on,  39 

— Extension  aided  by  owners  benefited,  537 

— Foreclosures: 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  R.R.,  plans,  1087 
Decree  entered  for  C.  &  H.  S.  R.,  968 
Grafton  property  sold,  754,  923 
Pittsburgh  Rys.,  West  End  lines,  148,  221; 

Opposed.  298 
Second  Av.  R.  R..  New  York  City.  336 
U.  T.  &  E.  Co.  Providence,  R.  I.,  31 

— Holding  company.  Weakness  of  [Frothing- 
ham], 584;  Comments  on.  577 

— Investment,  Railways  as  [Babson  &  Hill], 
601 

— Junior  securities : 

Advantages  of  [Newman],  582 
Advocated,  29:  Comments  on.  191 
Marketing  difficulties   [Peirce].   872;  Com- 
ments on.  931 
North  American  Co.  plan,  110,  376;  Com- 
ments on,  191 
— Leadership  by  executives   needed.  Comments 
on,  463 

— Market  for  securities   [Addinsell],  592 

— Money.  Increased  cost  of   [Gruhl],  595 

— New  York  railways.  962,  1003.  1043.  *1065 

— Operating   revenue    for   72    railways.  *1047 

— Problems  of  railways   [Perry],  788 

— Public  utility  bonds  advocated,  72 

— Railway  credit   [Gadsden],  17.  18 

— Railways      difficulties     in      medical  terms 

[Barnes],  786 
— Readjustment  in  New  York  City   [N.  Y.  T. 

C],  557;  Comments  on,  579 
— Receiverships : 

Discharged.  Atlantic  City,  70 
Discharged.  Denver  &  Interurban  R.R..  149 
D'scharged.  Rhode  Island  Co..  418.  454 
Discharged.  West  Virginia  Tr.  &  Elee.  Co.. 
377 

Proposed    for    Norton.    Taunton    &  Attle- 
boro  Street  Ry.,  149 


Financial: 

— Receiverships  (Continued)  : 

Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway,  296 
Sought  for  I.  R.  T..  376,  415,  455,  Com- 
ments on,  345 
— Renewal  and  depreciation  allowances  of  vari- 
ous companies.  989 
— Reorganization  of  Toledo  Ry.  &  Lt.  Co.,  567 
— Simple  plan  essential  [Frothingham],  584 
— Taxation    (see  Taxes) 
— Tax  exempt  securities : 

Constitutional  amendment  against.  Intro- 
duced, 1084;  Comments  on,  851,  1015, 
1057 

Public  utilities.  Effect  on  [Gadsden],  212; 
[Addinsell],  593:  Remarks  on,  250;  Re- 
port on  [A.  E.  R.  A.  Com.],  622;  Com- 
ments on,  191,  851,  1015,  1057 
— Unsecured  creditors  wiped  out  in  reorganiza- 
tion, 567 

— Utility  securities.  Status  of  [Addinsell],  831; 

Comments  on,  851 
Finland: 

— American  cars  purchased,  '1074 
Fires : 

— Quenched  by  baking  soda,  47 
—Underwriters'    laboratories    and    work  [Mul- 

daur]  594 
Fixtures: 

— Air  sanders,  '16 
— Door  and  step  control,  *433 
— Door  guides  welded  to  plate,    '954,  1079 
— Drawbars  marked  to  prevent  theft,  '693 
— Factors  in  sale  of  transportation  [Litchfield], 
•491 

— Life  guard,  *209 

— Springs,  Coiled  type  on  one  man  cars.  '97 

— Springs  for  easy  riding    [Seelar],  275 

— Springs,    Hardening,    •102,  290 

— Steps.   Folding,  »1078 

Foch  honored  by  engineers,  1081 

Fonda,    Johnstown    &    Gloversville    R.R.  (see 

Gloversville,  N.  Y.) 
Foreclosures  (see  Financial) 

Fort  Madison.  Iowa  (see  under  Iowa  City,  Iowa) 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana: 

— Indiana  Service  Corporation: 

Improvement  program.  216 

Interline  traffic  ["Observer"],  '505 

Limited  service  extension,  260 

Wages  decreased,  453,  564 
Fort  Wayne,  Van  Wert  &  Lima  Traction  Com- 
pany (see  Springfield,  Ohio) 
Fort  Worth,  Texas: 
—  Northern  Texas  Traction  Co.: 

Accident  to  mule.  216 

Ball  bearings,  Economy  from  [Porter],  288 
Pit  jack.  «168 
France: 

— Bus  lines  aided  by  government,  768 
— Midi  Railway  purchases  equipment,  303,  423. 
669 

— Paris  subway  accident,  *838 

— Railway  electrification  planned,  189,  1042 

— Railway  strike,  1035 

Franchises   (see  also  Service  at  cost)  : 

— Contracts  discussed,  332 

— Human  element  affects  [Frothingham],  584; 
Comments  on,  557 

— Indeterminate  permits  [Newman],  582;  In- 
dorsed [Todd],  589 

Freight  and  express : 

— Accounting  [A.  E.  R.  A.  A.  Com.],  651:  Dis- 
cussion. 653 

— Advertising  for.  by  interurbans  ["Observer"], 
505 

— Claim  prevention  [C.  E.  R.  A.],  54;  Com- 
ments on.  119 

— Container  system : 

Cincinnati  road  uses,  '949 

— Camden-Trenton  service,  340 

— Costs  in  Massachusetts.  41 

— Delivery  to  door,  '133;  Comments  on,  120 

— Developing  interurban  business.  *3 

— 'Discontinued  in  Philadelphia.  845 

— Facilities  and  methods  in  Mass..  '41 

— Merchandise  delivery  proposed  [Barnes]*  998 

— Milk  handling  record,  996 

— Motor  truckers  aid  trolleys,  41 

— Railways  as  freight  distributers,  *242;  Com- 
ments on,  229 

— Subway  transportation  in  New  York,  Pro- 
posal, 710 

— Supplementing  steam  trunk   lines  [Bibbins] 

591;    [O'Toole],  878 
— Terminals  for,  *41 
— Trucks  regulated  in  California,  969 
Fresno.  California: 
— Fresno  Traction  Co.: 

Franchise  grant  presented,  215.  331.  1158 

Wages  decreased.  1155 
Fuels: 

— Coal  (see  also  Market  conditions)  : 
Consumption  by  users,  201 
Costs  in  New  York  City,  1115 
Labor  situation,  Comments  on.  724 
Production    cost    and    effect    on  business. 

Comments  on.  229 
Property  sold  by  railways,  966 
Pulverized  [Savage],  172,  629 
Pulverized   anthracite,    Burning   of  [Rau] 

•945 

Purchase  advised,  143.  227 

Treating  dirty  coal,  245 
— Oil  supplanting  coal,  25.  214 
— Petroleum : 

Situation  of  industry,  245 


Galesburg.  Illinois: 

— Galesburg  Railway,  Lighting  &  Power  Com- 
pany: 

Franchise    sought,  1157 
Gallipolis,  Ohio : 

— GaUipolis  &  Northern  Traction  Co.: 
Gasoline  rail  car,  927 


Abbreviations:     *  Illustrated,     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


July -December,  1921] 


INDEX 


VII 


Galveston,  Texas: 

— Galveston  Electric  Co. : 

Fare  controversy,  836 
Gary,  Indiana: 
— Gary  Street  Railway: 

Local  financing,  321;  Comments  on,  30t3 
Gear  and  pinions: 

— Helical  gears   [Phillips  &  Holy],   *22;  Com- 
ments on,  1 
— Helical  gear,  Tooth  contour  of,  '168 
— Lubrication  of  [Morrow],  '674 
— Manufacturer's  Assn.  meets.  656 
— Shrinking  pinions  on,  23 

Georgia   Railway    &    Power   Co.    (see  Atlanta, 
Ga.) 

Georgia,  State  of: 

— Utility  information  bureau  formed.  65 

Germany: 

— Berlin : 

Eight-ride  ticket.  *143 

Railway  situation   [Eichel],   *814;  881 
— Cologne,     Curves    of    tramway  development 

[Ertel],  *199 
— Hamburg  Elevated  Railway: 

Changes  and  statistics  [Mattersdorff  ] ,  *979 
— Hamburg's    trackless    trolleys  [Schiemann], 

1023 

— Interurban  cars.  Steel,  169 

— Railway  situation,  *358 

— Single  phase  electrification  favored,  14 

Glens  Falls,  N.  Y. : 

— Hudson  Valley  Railway : 

Annual  report,  29 
Gloucester,  Mass.: 
— Motor  bus  transportation,  *773 
Gloversville,  N.  Y.: 

— Fonda,  Johnstown  &  Gloversville  Railroad; 

Strike,  One-man  cars,  145 
Grafton,  W.  Va.: 
— Grafton  Light  &  Power  Co.: 

Property  sold,  754,  923 
— Tygarts  Valley  Traction  Co.: 

Customer-ownership  stock.  923 
Grand  Rapids.  Mich. : 

— Commonwealth  Power,  Railway  &  Light  Co.: 

Annual  report.  1006 
— Grand  Rapids,  Grand  Haven  &  Muskegon  Ry.: 

Auto  competition.  339.  884 

Rental  in  Muskegon  raised,  664 
— Grand  Rapids  Railway: 

Franchise  proposals,  333,  563,  1083 
— Jitney  situation,  420,  1083,  1130 
— United  Light  &  Railways  Co.: 

Securities,  sales  methods   [Weeks].  65 
Great  Britain: 

— Bradford  trackless  trolleys    [Jackson].  *859: 

Comments  on  851 
— Cardiff  (Wales)  buses  lose.  971 
— Coal  strike  and  effect.  25.  241 
— Edinburgh  Corporation  Tramways : 
Cars  and  buses,  *13,  '51 
Overhead  construction  started,  *827 
— Glasgow  Corporation  Tramways : 

Annual  report,  214,  219 
— Leeds  City  Tramways  reports  deficit,  916 
— Leeds,  Trackless  trolleys  in   [Jackson],  *859; 

Comments  on.  851;  Front-drive  bus.  1036 
— Letters  from,  25,  214,  370,  561.  916.  1000 
— Liverpool   installs    daylight   color   light  sig- 
nals. 1150 
— London : 

London  County  Council  Tramways: 

Annual  report,  214 
London  General  Omnibus  Company: 
Motor  coach  features,  827 
New  service  planned,  183 
London  Underground  Railway: 

Lighting  subway  connections,  399 
Posters,  etc.,  *137.  *506 
Metropolitan  District  Railway: 

Trip-cock  testing,  *829 
Metropolitan  Railway 

Automatic  stop  on  signal,  432 
Locomotive  reconstruction,  694 
Railways'  report.  111 
Subway  construction  proposed.  996 
— Railroad  labor  problems.  Handling,  .366 
— Railway  electrification  standards  report,  826 
— Tees-side  trackless  trolley  system  [Jackson], 
1027 

—York  trolley  buses,  772:  [Jackson],  *1027 
Greenfield,  Massachusetts: 
—Connecticut  Valley  Street  Railway: 

Bus  operating  costs,  777 

Freight  operation,  *41 

Receiver  sought,  1129 
Greenville,  Texas: 

— Municipal  buses  for  transportation,  069 


H 


Hagerstown,  Maryland: 

— Hagerstown  &  Frederick  Railway: 

Rerouting  requested  by  patrons,  1091 
Hamilton,  Ohio: 

- — Cincinnati  &  Dayton  Traction  Co.: 

Interurban  crash,  "1086 
Harbirshaw    Electric    Cable    Co..  receivership 

1135 

Hartford  &  Springfield  Street  Railway  (see  Ware- 
house Point,  Conn.) 
Haverhill,  Massachusetts : 

— Massachusetts  Northeastern  Street  Railway: 

One  man  cars  approved,  845 

Wages  decreased,  293 
Headwaygraphs  in  Brooklyn,   [Roberts],  *440 
Heavy  electric  traction   (see  also  Locomotives)  : 
— American  practice  an  influence  abroad.  855 
— Australian  extension.  462 

— Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  requests  plans  for.  796.  018 

— Chilean  order,  576.  670,  *991  . 

— Committee  report  on  [A.  E.  R.  E.  A    Com  ] 

626;  Discussion  of.  627 
— Considered  on  Pacific  Coast.  144 
— Definition    of    needed    ["Engineer.    H.E.T."  ] . 

c443 


Heavy  electric  traction  (Continued)  : 

— Direct  current,  1,500  volts,  recommended  for 

Holland,  761;    [Martinet],  988 
— Direct  current  3,000  volts  for  Chile,  576,  *991 
— Direct  currejit  recommended  for  England,  826 
— Extensions  planned,  World  survey  of,  351 
— Factors  affecting,  84 
— France  plans,  1042 

— Heating    by    electric    boilers     [Rosenberger] , 

•206;  *829 
— Holland  [Martinet],  988 
— Jamaica  proposes,  100 
— Madagascar  plans,  669 

— Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean  Co.  proposes,  189 

— Saving  on  N.&W..  238 

— Single  phase  system : 

Germany  endorses,  14 
Sweden  extends,  14 

• — Spanish  contract,  1055 

— Standardization  report  in  England,  826 

— Superpower    survey,    proposes,     *819;  Com- 
ments on,  808 

—Switzerland,  Status  of  [Huber],  *988 

— Three-phase  extension  in  Italy  [Huldschiner] . 
♦816 

Helena,  Montana: 

, — Helena  Light  &  Railway  Company : 

Fare  increase  sought,  537;  Granted,  925 
Highways : 

— Legislation  before  Congress,  108 
— Research  on,  174 
High  wood,  Illinois: 

— Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  R.R.: 

Advertising  for  traffic   ["Observer"],  *505 

Americanization  work,  *332 

Christmas  greetings,  *1116 

Delivery  of  merchandise  in  Chicago,  '133; 
Comments  on,  120 

Safety  record,  238.  718 

Wages  decreased,  69 
Holland: 

— Direct  current,  1500  volts  recommended,  761; 

[Martinet],  988 
Holyoke,  Massachusetts: 
— Holyoke  Street  Railway: 

Chieopee  fare  question,  1162 

Freight  operation,  *41 
Housing,  Relation  to  traffic  [Ertel],  *199 
Houston,  Texas : 
— Houston  Electric  Company: 

Fare  controversy,  969,  1010 

Service  at  cost  proposed,   145.   333.  563; 
Defeated,  662;  New  franchise.  838:  De- 
feated 969;  New  proposal,  1044,  1083 
Hudson  Valley  Railway  (see  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.) 
Humboldt  Transit  Company  (see  Eureka,  Cal.) 
Huntington,  West  Virginia: 
■ — Ohio  Valley  Electric  Railway: 

Extension  financing  difficult,  711 

Pump  house  for  power  plant,  *387;  Com- 
ments on.  385 


Illinois  Electric   Railways   Association : 

Annual  meeting,  746 
Illinois  Public  Utility  Information  Com.  work, 

332,  1064,  1092 
Illinois,  State  of: 
— Bus  petition  refused,  758 
— Regulation  of  motor  vehicles.  184.  747 
— Utility  legislation.  Comments  on;  39 
Illinois   Traction   System    (see   Peoria,  111.) 
India : 

— Electric  railway  development,  1013 
— Electric  railway  project,  847 
— Northwestern   Railway   electrification  factors, 
84 

Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Traction  Company 

(see  Cincinnati.  Ohio) 
Indiana  Electric  Corp.    (see  Indianapolis,  Ind.) 
Indianapolis.  Indiana: 
— Belt  railway  proposed,  llfil 
— City  railway  controversy,  108,  292;  Comments 
on,  386 

— Freight  handling  plans.  334 

— Indiana  Electric  Corporation  : 

Merger  of  utilities  sought,  295,  377,  415. 

569.  965.  1048 
Valuation  figures  attacked.  377.  415 

— Indianapolis  Street  Railway: 

Fare  situation,  108,  224,  667,  970,  1117; 

Comments  on.  386 
Paving  question,   879,  1084 
Rerouting  financially  impossible,  150 
Wages  decreased,  215 

— Interstate  Public  Service  Company : 
Bond  selling  difficult.  1127 
Freight  facilities  and  business.  *3 
Purchases  Connersville,  Ind.,  company,  1007 
Through     service    attracts    traffic  ["Ob- 
server"], *505 
Wages  decreased.  215 

— Jitney  situation,  150.  379.  970,  1084.  1132: 
Comments  on.  386 

— Loading  platforms.  *1147 

— Terre   Haute,    Indianapolis    &    Eastern  Trac- 
tion Co.: 

Wages  decreased.  215 
Indiana   Ptiblie   Utility  Association: 

 Indiana  University  to  entertain,  1119 

Indiana    Railways    and    Light    Company  (see 

Kokomo.  Ind.) 
Indiana  Service  Corporation  (see  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind.) 
Indiana,  State  of: 

— Rate  reduction  not  probable.  1092 

— Utility    merger    proposed,     295,     377,  415: 

Denied  569;  Rehearing  sought,  905 
Information   bureaus    of    utilities    (see  Public, 

Relations^  with) 
Insulating  materials: 
— Fiber.  Strength  of,  135 
— Specifications  for  [A.S.T.M.].  103 
— Testing  of   [Dean],  85;  Comments  on,  79 
Insurance: 

— Mutual  company  formed,  254 


(see  New  York 
Kleinbahn 


Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Co. 
City) 

Internationale     Strassenbahn  und 

Verein :  . 
■ — -First  convention,  66,  358 
International  Railway  Association  : 
— Meeting  planned,  1119 
International  Railway   (see  Buffalo,  N.  Y.) 
Interstate    Commerce    Commission    (see  Public 

service  and  regulative  commissions) 
Interstate  Consolidated  Street  Railway  (see  Attle- 

boro,  Mass. 

Interstate  Public  Service  Company   (see  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.) 
Interurban  cars   (see  Cars,  Interurban) 
Interurban  railways : 

— Advertising  for  traffic  ["Observer"],  *505 
— Automatic  substations  instead  of  single  phase, 
•543 

— Bridge  for  Canadian  railways  proposed,  1157 

— Car  designs,  *6 

— Freight  business.  Developing,  *3 

— Limited  service  extension  in  Ohio,  260 

— Limited  service  from  Milwaukee,  412 

— Time  table  arrangement,  *394 

— Traffic  possibilities,  Comments  on  advertising 

for,  465 
Iowa  City.  Iowa : 

— Mississippi  Valley  Electric  Company : 

Five-cent  fare  success  in  Ft.  Madison,  420 

Iowa  Electric  Railway  Association: 

— Meets  with  Iowa  section  N.E.L.A..   65.  104, 
174 

— Mid-year  meeting: 

Papers  and  discussion;  527 

Program,  369,  410 
Italy: 

— Crowded  cars.  *90 

— Trackless  trolley,  for  army  use,  1026 
— Valtellina  Railway   extension  [Huldschiner], 
•816 

— Valtellina  Railway  locomotive  rheostat,  439 


Jackson,  Michigan: 
— Michigan  Railroad: 

Auto  competition  from  Saginaw,  667 

Fare  increase,  459 

Holland-Macatawa  fares,  845 

Interurban  fare  controversy,  373 
— Michigan  United  Railways: 

Discontinuance     threatened     in  Landing. 
Mich.,  378 

Fare  decrease  unsuccessful,  224 

Interest  defaulted,  922 

Paving  relief  urged,  658 
Jacksonville,  Florida : 
— Jacksonville  Traction  Company: 

Relief  from  city  assessments  sought,  800 

Wages  reduced,  179 
Jamaica : 

— Electrification  proposed,  100,  265 

Jamaica.  New  York: 

— Bus  operation  from  Flushing,  883 

Jamestown,  New  York : 

— Jamestown  Street  Railway: 

Payment  on  gross  earnings  necessary,  919 

Wages  decreased,  1155 
Japan : 

— Electric  railways  planned.  37„  265,  343,  806, 
975.  1136 

Hydro-electric  development,  669 
Jersey  City,  New  Jersey: 
— United  Railways  Investment  Company: 

Reorganization  considered,  1047 
Jitneys  (see  Motor  buses) 

Johnstown  &  Somerset  Railway   (see  Somerset, 

Pa.) 
Joliet.  Illinois: 

— Chicago  &  Joliet  Electric  Railway: 
Monthly  pass,  1051 
Wages  decreased,  69 


K 


Kansas  City,  Missouri : 

— Jitney  regulations,  261,  419,  573,  1131 
— Kansas  City  Railways: 

American    Legion    convention,    796,  *879 
•951 

Employees  activities.  254.  750 

Fare  increase  request   withdrawn.  843 

Freight    distributing    to    Westport,  *242; 

Comments  on,  229 
Receivership  progress,  219 
Rerouting,  380:  Difficulties  in  Kansas  City 

Kansas,  1049 
Service  improvements    [Buffe],  *475 
Tax  reduction  urged.  70 
Universal  loop.  *725 
Kenosha,   Wisconsin : 

— Weekly  pass  [Jackson],  *203;  Comments  on, 
191 

Kentucky,  State  of: 

— Buses  extend  traction,  152 

— Utility  Association   meets.   874,  994 

Kentucky  Traction   &   Terminal  Co.    (see  Lax- 

ington,  Ky.) 
Kentucky  Utilities  Company  (see  Somerset,  Ky.) 
Knoxville,  Tennessee: 
— Knoxville  Railway  &  Light  Co.: 

Engineering  advice   contract   abrogated  bv 

commission.  73 
Fare  increase,  33,  73.  152 
Kokomo,  Indiana: 

— Indiana  Railways  and  Light  Company: 
Value  of,  881 


Labor   (see  also  Employees)  : 

— Railroads  in  Great  Britain,  Methods,  of  han- 
dling. 366 

— Railroad  strike  threatened.  Comments  on.  724^ 
— Readjustment  situation.  Comments  on,  723 


Abbreviations:     ""Illustrated.     c  Communications. 
REAP  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  TNDEX 


VIII 


INDEX 


[Vol.  58 


Labor  (Continued)  : 

— -Right  to  organize,  1044 

— Unemployment    conference,    660,    686;  Com- 
ments on,  541 
Lafayette,  Indiana: 
— Railway  to  be  rebuilt,  752 
— Rehabilitation  plan  fails.  298 
Lake   Shore    Electric   Railway    (see  Cleveland, 

Ohio) 
Legal: 

— Accident  to  mule  in  Texas,  216 
— Fare  ease  to  Supreme  Court,  837 
— Legal  notes,  186,  263,  803,  1163 
Legislation  for  railways: 
— Illinois  measures.  Comments  on,  39 
— National  [A.  E.  R.  A.  Com.],  617 
— Service  at  cost  in  Wisconsin,  146 
— Track  abandonment  bill  vetoed.  149 
Lexington,  Kentucky: 

— Kentucky  Traction  &  Terminal  Company: 

Fares  decreased,  1162 
Lighting: 

— Indirect  in  London  subways,  399 
Lima.  Ohio: 

— Western  Ohio  Railway: 

Receivership  sought,  1008 
Lincoln.  Nebraska: 
— Jitney  situation,  664 
— Lincoln  Traction  Company: 

Eight  cent  fare  continued.  183 

Passenger  decrease,  1132 
Little  Rock,  Arkansas: 

— Little    Rock   Railway   &  Light  Company: 
Crossing,  Permanent  brick,  *16 
City  to  appraise,  220,  379 
Fare  controversy,  379 
Metal  ceiling  for  head  lining,  96 
Living  costs: 
— Akron,  Ohio,  51 
— Fares  compared  to  [Burke],  '94 
— Retail  price  of  food.  Changes,  442,  1071 
— Utility  services.  Percent  for,  202 
— Wage  reductions  by  industries,  361 
Loading  platforms  (see  Waiting  stations) 
Locomotives: 

— Brake  equipment  for  Paulista  Ry.,  828 
— Exporting  of.  887 

— Features  of  electric.  Comments  on  data  on, 
305 

■ — Metropolitan  Railway  of  London  reconstruc- 
ting, 694 

— N'.  Y.  Municipal   Ry.,  Features,  *141 
— Production  in  1919 

— Single-phase  for  Swiss  Federal  Railways.  825 
— Steam  versus  electric.  84 

— Switching,  Built  by  operating  company,  *246 
— Three  phase  type,  439;    [Huldschiner],  816 
— Tidewater  Southern  Ry.,  Features,  *326 
— Water  rheostat,  New  type,  439 
London,  Ontario.  Can.: 
— London  Street  Railway: 

Paving  dispute.  712 
London  (see  Great  Britain) 
Long  Island  Railroad   (see  New  York  City) 
Los  Angeles.  California: 
— Los  Angeles  Railway: 

Abandonment  of  Washington  line  permitted. 
418 

Bonus  award,  917,  1155 

Fare  increase  sought.  184.  380 

Maps  of  danger  points.  184 

Safety  compared  with  courtesy.  420 

Safety  first  teaching  by  fairy  tales,  757 

Seniority  for  safety  car  operators.  Sepa- 
rate, 1162 

Substation   relief.  1112 

Wages  decreased.  659,  709 
— Pacific  Electric  Railway: 

Abandonment  of  lines  sought.  257.  455 

Bus  competition  hearing,  1052 

Fare  increase  sought,  380.  1010 

Hollywood  tunnel  proposed.  68 

Improvement  program,  795 

Long  Beach  service  proposed,  419 

Safety  score.  Perfect.  419 

Shaving  exhaust  system,  *869 

Valuation,  568,  1153 

Wages  decreased.  659.  709 

Waiting  station  as  advertisement,  '996 

Zone  system  proposed.  756 
— Safety  tunnel.  '870 
— Terminal  rehearing,  26 
Louisville.  Kentucky: 

— Citv-railway  controversy.  152.  183.  259.  800, 

883.  1132 
— Louisville  &  Interurban  Railroad: 

Milk   handling   record,  996 
— Louisville  Railway: 

Accident  reduction.  Prizes  for.  *131 

Bank  publicity  for.  *136 

Dividends  of  service.  *135 

Employee  as  director.  1158 

Exhibit  at  state  fair.  *956 

Fare  increase.  Effect  of.  455.  754 

Jan. -Sept.   report,    1008,  1087 

Safety   work.    Co-operative.  997 

Wages  decreased.  840.  877 

Weekly  pass  considered,  924 
Louisville  &  Northern  Railway  &  Lighting  Com- 
pany  (see  New  Albany.  Ind.) 
Lubrication : 

— Effect  on   maintenance    [Treat].   914;  Com- 
ments on.  889 

— Properties     and     application     of  lubricants 
[Morrow],  *674 

— Uses  of  and  precautions  [Treat],  914 

— Vacuum  oiler.  *781 

Lynchburg.  Virginia: 

—  Lynchburg  Traction  &  Light  Co.: 
Fare  increase  denied,  299 


M 


Madagascar: 

— Electrification  plans.  669 
Mail  pay: 

— Committee  report  on    [A.  E.  R.  A.],  613: 
Comments  on,  763 


Mail  pay  (Continued)  : 
— Postmaster-General  reports,  1071. 
Maine,  State  of: 
— Regulation  of  jitneys.  261 
Maintenance  practice: 
— Crossings,  Permanent  brick,  *16 
— Graphic  records  aid,  *1139 
— Influence  on  car  rider   [McWhirter],  *489 
— Lubrication    influences    [Treat],    914;  Com- 
ments on,  889 
— Montreal  methods.   *193;  Comments  on,  192 
— Systematic  advocated   [Dean],  *278 
Management : 

— Business   common    sense   needed  [Gadsden], 
581 

— City  operation  planned  in  Meridian,  Miss.,  961 
— Contract  condemned  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  714 
— Department  heads.  Service  through  [Boyce], 
131 

— Engineering  training  for.  Comments  on,  763 
- — -Function  of  with  respect  to  regulation  [Pel- 

lissier],  784 
— Individual  dispatching.  Comments  on,  889 
— Relationship  to  men    [  Barnes  1,  480 
— 'Sales  ability  of  [Goodwin],  *466;  Comments 

on,  578 

— Value  of  knowing  public  officials,  Comments 
on.  119 

Manhattan   &   Queens  Traction  Co.    (see  New 
York  City) 

Manila     Electric     Company     (see  Philippine 
Islands) 

Manistee,  Michigan : 

— Manistee  Railway: 

Financial  difficulties,  335 

Franchise  forfeited,  1002 

Service  suspended,  416,   667,  799 

Marion,  Indiana: 

— Marion  &  Bluff  ton  Traction  Co.: 

Wages  decreased,  178 
Market  conditions: 
— Brake  shoes,  78 
— Brushes,  Carbon,  930 
- — Building  situation,  303 

— Business,  General,  265.  721;  [McGraw],  835. 

929.    988.  1055 
— Car  company.  Foreclosure  sought,  888 
— Car  seats.  36 

— Cement,  117,  189,  343.  539.  761 
— Coal,  189,  227,  343,  423,  670,  722,  806,  847. 
1056 

— Coil  winding  machines,  36 
— Conduit.  575 

— Copper.  461,  669,  721,  806.  930,  1096.  1165 

— Cord.  761 

— Cotton,  540 

- — Cross  arms.  423 

— Electrification  materials  as  reparations.  1165 

— European  business  [Sawtelle],  887 

— Exports,    Comments   on   effect   of  exchange. 

1016 
— Fenders,  1135 
— Freight   cars,    265.  1165 
—Frogs.  265 
— Gear  cases.  539 
—German  rehabilitation.  887.  1055 
— Heaters.  384 

- — Insulating  materials,  721,  1165 

— Insulators,  156,  227.  761.  888 

— Iron.  Malleable,  929 

— Jacks,  36 

— Lamps,  227 

— Lightning  arresters,  37 

— Line  hardware.   156,  462,  1096 

— Locomotives,  887 

— Lubricants,  77 

— Metal  market,  37,  227 

- — Motor  repair  parts,  461 

—Motors.  155.  847 

— Poles.  Steel.  155 

— Poles,  Wood.  189.  423,  761,  1096 

— Rails,  etc.,  190,  805 

— Railway  materials,   37,   383   575,   722:  Ex- 
port, 37:  Brazil,  575 
— Resistors,  1055 
— Shop  tools.  36,  540 

— Steel,   77.   539.   721   975;  Sheets  722.  1013 

— Storage  batteries,  343 

— Tariff  on  electrical  goods,  77 

— Tool  handles.  77 

— Track  material,  117 

— Track  tools,  36 

— Trade  situation.  117 

— Ventilators,  36 

— Wages,  General  Electric  Co..  888 
— Westinghouse  Company   buys    Seattle  plant, 
929 

— Wire.  189.  265,  424 
— Wiring  materials.  117 

Market  Street  Railway  (see  San  Francisco,  Cal.) 
Marquette.  Michigan: 

- — Marquette  Citv  &  Presque  Isle  Railway: 

Financial  difficulties,  1007 
Maryland.  State  of : 
— -Bus  situation  [Whitman],  790 
— Safety  campaign,  300 

Massachusetts  Northeastern  Street  Railway  (see 
Haverhill.  Mass.) 

Massachusetts,  State  of: 

— Transportation  cost  investigation.  564 

Memphis.  Tennessee: 

— Memphis  Street  Ry. : 

Fares.    Tickets   discontinued.  339 
Public  informed.  919 
Receivership  may  be  ended.  336 
Track  rebuilt  on  old  ties  *97 
Wage  decrease  proposed.  144 

Merchandising    transportation     (see    also  Pub- 
licity.   Traffic   stimulation)  : 

— Advertising  advantages  of  railway.  718 

—Advertising     by     interurbans  ["Observer"]. 
•505 

— Advertising  principles  [Boyce].  *167.  *353 
— Adverting.  Trend  of   [Soulesl.  748 
— 'Bargain    sale    of    street    car   rides  [Boyce], 
•353 

— 'Buses  as  a  factor,  Comments  on.  *514 

— Car  design  features  a  factor  [Litchfield],  *491 


Merchandising  transportation  (Continued)  : 
— Car  equipment  a  factor   [McWhirter],  •489' 
— C.  E.  R.  A.  Committee  report,  61;  Discussion, 
55.  104 

— Chicago  pageant  exhibits,  *360 
— Competition  versus  legal  battles  [Putnam], 
444 

— Courtesy  of  employees  affects  [Morgan],  *49& 
— Creating  the  desire  to  ride   [Emery],  c827; 

Comments  on,  890 
— Department  heads,  Service  through  [Boyce], 

•131 

— Education  [A.  E.  R.  T.  &  T.  A.  Com.],  644; 

Discussion,  645 
— Elements  necessary  [Brown],  *61;  [Weedon], 

64 

— Employees,  Relationship  of  [Barnes],  480 
— Employees  should  be  satisfied  [Kelsay],  64 
— Employees,  Talks  to   IBigelow],  •1111,  1143 
— Inspiring  employees,  421 

— Lessons  from  other  industries,  Comments  on. 
880.  1058 

— Mechanical  man's  part  [Gunn],  104 
— Necessity  of.  Comments  on,  463,  578 
— Sales  manager.  Value  of   [Goodwin],  '466; 

Comments  on,  578 
— Sales  practice   [Warren],  985;  ["Observer"]. 

C1072 

— Service  as  an  aid   [Buffe],  *475 

—Service   before    advertising    [Emery],  c827; 

Comments  on,  890 
— Service  meets  competition   [Rodgers],  63 
— Speed  and  frequency  of  cars  a  factor  [Mor- 
gan], *499 
— Stations  helpful,  «1146 

— Track  maintenance  a  factor  [Dunham],  '484 
— Value  of  "good  talker."  Comments  on,  425 
— Weekly  pass  in  Youngstown,  *899 
Meridian.  Mississippi: 
— Meridian  Light  &  Railway  Company: 

City  operation  planned,  961 
Metals : 

— Aluminum,  Machining  of,  448 
— Cadmium-copper  trolley  wire,  277 
— Iron : 

Cast     iron.    Corrosion    in    alkaline  soils 
[Smith  and  Shipley],  911 

— Steel : 

Case  hardening.  Features  of,  242 
Molybdenum  steel,  Properties  of,  910 
Specifications  for  [A.  S.  T.  M.].  103.  174 
Titanium-treated,  248 

Miami.  Florida: 

— Miami   Traction  Company : 

Future  of,  796;  Comments  on,  192;  City  to 
purchase.  920 

Michigan  City,  Indiana: 

— Chicago,  Lake  Shore  &  South  Bend  Railway: 

Shop  economies,  *692 
Michigan  Railroad   (see  Jackson,  Michigan) 
Michigan  United  Railways  (see  Jackson,  Mich.) 
Middlesex  &  Boston  Street  Railway  (see  New- 

tonville.  Mass.) 
Milford.  Massachusetts : 

— Milford,  Attleboro  &  Woonsocket  Street  Ry.: 

Freight  operation,  *41 
Milwaukee,  Wisconsin : 

— Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Co.: 
Extension  without  paving  costs,  375 
Historical  celebration,  *27 
Limited  interurban  service,  412 
One  man  or  two  man  safety  cars,  299; 

[Mullet],  620.  '933 
Rerouting  plans,  757,  1054 
Service-at-eost   proposed,    146,  253 
Snow-fighting  equipment,  *857 
Stock  sale,  •110;  Comments  on.  191 

— One  man  car  controversy,  299;  Approved  bj 
Safety  Com.,  570,  845 

Minneapolis,  Minnesota: 

— Electric  Short  Line  Railway: 
Wages  decreased.  794 

— Minneapolis,  Anoka  &  Cuyuma  Range  Ry. : 
Local  passengers  must  be  carried,  970 

— Minneapolis,  Northfleld  &  Southern  Railway: 
Electrification  proposed,  27 

— Minneapolis  Street  Railway: 

Co-operation  of  city  sought,  710 

Fare  hearing,  223;  Increase  allowed,  341. 

380:  Prevented,  457.  536 
Street  calling  practice,  919 
Valuation  sought,  33,  183  ,. 

— Twin    City   Rapid   Transit    Company:  :'- 
Fair  crowds  provided  for.  457  8 
Financial  plans,  149 

Mutual     benefit     association  [Anderson] 
1118 

Mississippi  Valley  Electric  Company  (see  Iowa. 

City.  Iowa) 
Mobile,  Alabama: 

— Mobile  Light  &  Railroad  Company: 

Wages  dependent  on  fare.  565 
Monongahela  Power  &  Railway  Co.   (see  Fair- 
mount.  W.  Va.) 
Montgomery,  Alabama: 
— Montgomery  Light  &  Traction  Co.: 

Receiver  resigns.  219 
Montreal,  Quebec,  Can : 
— Montreal  Tramways : 

Annual  report,  417.  664 

Betterments  in  1921.  1087 

Bond  issue,  1046.  1087 

Capital  question,  71 

Shop  economies.  *193:  Comments  on  192 
Wage  decrease  proposed.  177,  217  252 
294,  334,  566 

— Subway  proposed,  711 

Motor  buses: 

— Accounting  system  proposed  in  California  878 

— Advantages  over  trolley  car   [Pearson],  866 

— Allv  or  competitor  of  railway  [Gluck],  856 

— Baltimore  installs  new  type,  *778 

— California,  report  on,  883 

— Columbus    Ohio  service,  1052 

— Comparative  cost  with  safety  ear,  and  trolley 
bus  [Simmon].  *394:  [Stocks],  -  »517- 
[Thirlwall],  »546:  [Andrews],  769: 
[Stocks],  771 


Abbreviations:     *Illustrated.     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


July-December,  1921] 


INDEX 


IX 


Motor  buses  (Continued):      <  ■ 
— Competing  buses  refused  certificate,  758 
— Competition  by,  in  Great  Britain  feared,  916 
— Competition   situation,    Discussion    [I.   E.  R. 
A.],  747 

— Features  of  Oil  City  bus,  »318 
— Flushing-Jamaica,  N.  Y.  line,  883 
— France  aids  interurban  lines,  768 
— Future  of.  Comments  on,  764 
— Gloucester,  Mass..  Transportation  by,  *773 
— Great  Britain   uses,  370 
— Illinois  grants  petition,   716,  8-44 
— Interurban    service    from    Bloomington,  111., 
801 

— Jitney  situation: 

Albany,   N.  Y.,  261,  413,  456,   665.  717, 

1124 
Alton,  111,  338 

Boston,  Mass.,  843,  844,  925.  969 
Bridgeport,  Conn.,  419,  456 
Burdens  proposed.  17 
Camden,  N.  J.,  1132 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  537 

Connecticut,  50,  74.  75,  113.  *151,  184, 
223,  262,  301,  380,  419,  456,  75~7 ;  Com- 
ments on,  40,  158 

Circumventing  orders.  Comments  on,  345 

Columbus,  Ohio,  801.  1052 

Dayton.  Ohio,  450.  1091 

Decatur,  111.,  927 

Des  M'oines,  Iowa,  107,  144,  150.  218.  *237. 

*283,  325.  792,  1153;  Comments  on,  267 
"Free"  buses  illegal,  1132 
Grand  Rapids,  420,  1130 
Grand  Rapids  interurbans  object.  339.  884 
Indianapolis,    Ind.,    150,    379,    970,  1084, 

1132;  Comments  on,  386 
Kansas  City.  Mo.,  261,  419,  573,  1131 
Lincoln,  Neb,  564 
Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  1052 
Muncie,  Ind.,  339,  801.  927 
Muskegon,  Mich..  1048.  1130 
Newark,  N.  J„  261.  719,  789.  884 
New  Jersey,  789,  1051.  1162 
Newport  News,  Va„  716 
Oklahoma,  375,  537 
Pasadena,  Cal.,  373 
Richmond,  Va.,  1005 
Rockford,  111,  333.  884 

Saginaw.  Mich.,  296,  323.  373,  453,  530. 
659,  667 

Seattle,   Wash..   224,   260,   373.   412,  457. 

571.  664,  666,  716.  926.  971,  1010.  1011 

1093.  1131 
Sioux  City.  Iowa.  222 
Spokane.  Wash.,  300 
Springfield.  Mo..  570 
Street  cars  compared,  333 
Tacoma,  Wash.,  759.  801 
Toledo,  Ohio,  150.  381,  659.  1005.  1052 
Transportation    monopoly.    Comments  on, 

305 

Tulsa,  Okla.,  457 
,     Weekly  pass  affects.  "1104 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  261.  380 
— Long  road  test.  864 

— Necessity  in   transportation   field  [Jackson], 
C523 

— New  York  applicants,  884 

— New  York  City,  Proposed  extension.  566 

— New  York  City  starts  new  route,  *114 

— Operating  at  loss,  Cardiff.  Wales.  971 

— Operating  costs  in  California.  *319 

— Operators    admitted    by    Amalgamated,  556: 

Comments  on.  673 
— Regulation  of.  Discussion   [N.  A.  R.  U.  C.j. 

789 

— Regulation  of.  State: 
California,  1090 

Connecticut,   50,   74,   75,   113.    *151.  184. 

262.  301.  380;  Comments  on   40,  158 
Illinois.  184 
Maine.  261 

Maryland  [Whitman],  790 
Nebraska.  1130 
New  Jersey  [Osborne],  789 
Ohio,  224,  340 

Washington,  184;  [Koykendall],  789 

West  Virginia,  666 
— Replace  trolleys  on  Niagara  line,  536 
— Republic  Truck  Co.  to  build.  138 
— Roads  provided  by  railways,  1092 
— Rubber  spring  blocks,  *141 
— Safety  necessary,  Comments  on.  464 
— Service  extension  in  London.  183 
— Supplementary  to  railways: 

Akron,  Ohio,  565 

Applying  .to  abandoned  lines.  Comments  on, 
2 

Coal  saving  in  early  morning,  »51:  Com- 
ments on,  1017 

Conn.  Co.,  75.  113,  *151.  757.  801:  Un- 
profitable, 879 

Cost  comparisons  [Jackson],  *315 

Cost  of  operation,  777 

Danbury,   Conn.,   381,    *516,   556,  1121 

Data  on.  319 

Edinburgh  bus.  *12 

European  observations  [Sawtellel.  887 

Interurban  extension,  757.  885 

Oakland.  Cal..  340 

Owl  service.  Comments  on.  1017 

Oil  City.  Pa..  «318 

Reasons     for,     Comments    on,     2,  •514; 

[Todd,  by  Bozell],  1018 
Rockford.  111..  884 
Springfield,  Mo.,  570 
Toronto  establishes  route.  *867 
Tulsa,  Okla..  plans.  218 
— Test,  Long  road,  864 

— Transportation.    Comments    on    "Bus  Trans- 
portation." 704;    Discussed,    1036,  1149 

— Underslung  body  in  New  York  City,  *202 

— Urban  transportation  by: 
Gloucester.  Mass..  •773 
Saginaw.  Mich.,  796 


Motor  cars,  Gasoline: 

— Adopted  by  N.  Y..  N.  H.  &  H.  R.R..  749 
— Gallipolis,  Ohio,  purchases,  927 
Motor,  Polyphase  commutating.  732 
Motors: 

— Armature  dipping  and  baking.  525 
— Armature  repair  records.  *783 
— Construction  of  [Dean],  *427 
— Field    coils.    Flow    method    of  impregnating, 
♦1078 

— Field  coils,  Reinsulating  and  repairing  [Hes- 
ter], *14 
— Field  jumpers.  Wrapping  of.  893 
— Leads  to  car  body,  Installing,  *1148 
— Shaft  repaired  by  welding,  *1073 
— Temperatures,     with     and    without  trailers 

[Woods],  *395 
— Testing  detail  parts  [Dean],  *427 
Motor  trucks: 

— California  regulates  freight-carrying,  969 
— Freight  haulage  in  New  England,  311 
— Merchandise,  Hauling  for  railways.  *133 
— Speed  and  weight  allowances.  358 
— Trolley  freight  aided  by,  "41 
Moving  pictures  (see  under  Publicity) 
Muncie,  Ind.: 

— Jitney  situation.  339,  801.  927 

Municipal  ownership: 

— Advantage  to  Seattle  in  future.  919 

— City  participation  in  utility  affairs  [Prender- 
gast],  710 

— Eureka,  Cal.,  authorizes,  149 

— Financing  methods,  Comments  on,  192 

— Miami,  Fla.,  to  purchase  railway,  920 

— New  York  City  denied.  1157 

— Private    operation    proposed    for    New  York 
City  [N.  Y.  T.  C],  557;  Comments  on.  579 

— Private  ownership  preferred  by  Utility  Com- 
missioners, 871 

— Proposed  for: 

Amarillo.  Texas,  878 
Washington,  D.  C,  68 

— Proprietary  capacity  of  municipality,  876 

— Review  of  [Gruhl],  595 

— Tendency  away  from  [Todd,  by  BozellL  1018 
— Toronto,  Ont.,  takes  over  railway,  411 
— Trackless  trolley  in  Staten  Island,  *689 
Muskegon,  Mich. : 

— Muskegon  Light  &  Traction  Co.: 

Suspension  of  service  allowed.  1048 

—Vote  in  favor  of  railway.  1130;  Comments 
on.  1098 


N 


Nashville,  Tennessee : 

— Nashville  Interurban  Railway: 

Extension   by   buses,    757.  885 
— Nashville,  Railway  &  Light  Company: 

Fare  increase,  153 
— Traffic  survey,  566 

National    Association    of    Railway    &  Utility 

Commissioners : 
— Annual  meeting: 

Papers    and    proceedings,    696,    708.  787- 

791,  871 
Program.  449 
— Private  ownership  of  utilities  recommended. 
871 

National  Safety  Council: 
— Annual  convention : 

Papers   and  proceedings.  655,  744,  745.  785 

Place,  369 

Program,  449 
Nebraska,  State  of : 
— Regulation  of  motor  buses,  1130 
New  Albany,  Indiana: 

— Louisville   &  Northern   Railway   &  Lighting 
Company : 

Ten-cent  fare  unreasonable,  1049 
Newark,  New  Jersey; 

— Jitney  situation,  261,  719.  789,  884,  1162 
— Public  Service  Corporation: 

Additional    customer-ow'neirship    stock  of- 
fered. 921 
Stock  offering  successful,  376 
— Public  Service  Railway: 

Fare  controversy   73.   95.   109.   113.  260. 
339,  458,  534,  573,  717.  755.  793,  843. 
883,  992.  925,  1050.  1091,  1131 
Eight-cent  fare,   922,  925,  1050,  1131 
June  report,  220 
Motor  buses  proposed,  69 
September  report,   880,  922 
Transfer  charge,  223 

Valuation   argument,   95,   109,   112;  Com- 
ments  on,  80 
New  Brighton.  Pennsylvania : 
— Beaver .  Valley  Traction  Co.: 

Police  instructions,  393 

Publicity  of  [Boyce],  «131.  *166.  '353 

Wages  decreased,  179 

Zone  checks  on  one  man  cars,  *953 
New    Brunswick    Power    Co.    (see    St.  Johns. 

N.    B.,  Can.) 
New  England  Street  Railway  Club: 
— Annual   outing,   146,  210 
— Committee  personnel.  24 
— December  meeting.  1038,  1081 
— October  meeting.  784 
New   Hampshire,   State  of: 
— One-man  cars  indorsed.  1092 
New  Haven,  Connecticut: 
— Connecticut  Company: 

Accounting  forms    [May],  *398 

Annual   outing,  176 

Annual  report,  297 

Bridgeport  fares  decreased,  924,  970,  1051 
1133 

Bus  routes.  75  »151,  757,  801;  Un- 
profitable, 879 

Fare  decrease  sought.  665.   759.  837.  883 

Fare  decrease  unlikely.  531 

Fare  reduction  trial,  844,  883.  885,  924. 
970.  1011 

Financial  status,  798,  927 

Hartford  fare  question,   925,  1126 

Jan. -Nov.  report,  1128 


New  Haven,  Conn.: 

— Connecticut  Company  (Continued): 

Return    to    "JNew    Haven"    favored.  1088; 

Comments  on,  1098 
Track  labor  costs  [Wilson],  *438 
Wage   arbitration,    661,    751,  794 
— Shore  Line   Traction   Company ; 

Operation     of     New     Haven-Chester  line. 
1047.  1127 

New  Jersey   &  Pennsylvania  Traction   Co  (see 

Trenton,    N.  J.) 
New  Jersey,    State  of: 
— Jitney  situation,   789,  1051 
— Regulation    of    Buses    [Osborne],  789 
— Transit  Commission  proposed,  1124 
— Utilities  Association  meets,  998 
— Utility   law   questioned,  224 
New   Orleans,  Louisiana: 

— City-railway  controversy,  67,   108    152  176 
256,   293,  335,  371,   412.   529]  749! 

o.>o,   yl7,  9oo 
— Information  on  utilities  sought  1042 
— New   Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Co.: 

Financial  proposals,  26,  1006 
Newport  News,  Virginia- 
— Jitney  situation,  716 
Newport,   Rhode  Island: 
— Newport  &  Fall  River  Street  Railway 

Reorganization  plans,  568 
Newtonville,  Massachusetts: 
— Middlesex  &  Boston  Street  Railway 

Wages  decreased,  414 
New  York  City  (see  also  Brooklyn  NY)- 
— Accidents  in  1920,  376  •*■•>. 
— Bus  proposal,  *566 
— City  to  examine  transit  plan  1156 
—Commuters.  Traffic  due  to   [Turner]  1151 
— Coal  cost  statistics,  1115  aA 
— Eighth  Avenue  Railroad- 

Drawbars  marked,  »693 

Property   suit,  377 

Re«897  Sh°P  reconstructed  [Westlake]. 
— Emergency  Bus  System: 

Grand  Concourse  route  *114 

Suit  against  operation.'  18.3 

Underslung  omnibus  *202 

sna   s^U2e  oi  Political  candidates.  711 
™  j     -,^-77:  Comments  on,  849 
— Federal  Light  &  Traction  Co  ■ 

-.Readjustment  planned.  1159, 
— Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Co.- 

Generosity  to  wounded  soldiers.  153 

Operating  costs,  1123 
— Freight  in  subways.  Proposal  of  710 
— Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 

Annual  report,  799 

City  suit  on  construction  costs  218 

ienn^r3  n0b,ect  t0  hearing  of  N.  Y.  T  C 
1003;  Comments  on,  977 

?£I1t?,end  «.u«-s.tion,  1003;  Comments  on  977 
Featherweight  pressure  gates  *940 

1003s  •Ton6S5lered  by  N'  Y-  T-  C"  962, 

Housing  plans,  375 

Financial  organization,  1003 

Notes  extended,  257 

Rear  end  collision,  *919 

Receivership  sought.  376.  415.  455;  Com- 
ments on,  345 

Stock  and  bond  values,  *1065 

Transit  situation  [Harkness],  403-  Com- 
ments on,  385 

Wage  decrease  proposed,  107 

Wage  decrease.  177;  Comments  on  157 
— Long  Island  Railroad:  ' 

Slg399  system  for  expediting  train  service. 

Single  phase  railway  veterans  [Jones]  «907 
— Manhattan  &  Queens  Traction  Co  • 

Operation  profitable,  181 
— Municipal  line  denied.  1157 
— New  York  Municipal  Railway: 

City  suit  on  construction  costs  218 

Freight  locomotive  *141 
— New  York  &  North  Shore  Traction  Co  : 

City  desires  to  operate.  181 
— New  York  Railways: 

Wage  reduction,  254 
— New  York.  Westchester  &  Boston  Railway 

Annual  report.  297 
— North  American  Co. : 

Financing  plans,  110.  376:  Comments  on. 

— Ocean   Electric  Railway  • 

Rockaway  jitney  illegal.  572 
— Police  traffic  regulations  [O'Brian],  603 
— Power  costs.  1156 

— Railway  history  and  tendencies  [Harkness] 

403:  Comments  on.  385 
— Railway  financial  statistics,  *1065  1122 
— Rapid  transit  in  [Ridgway]  833 
— Rerouting  proposed    [Turner],    «1109-  Com- 
ments on,  1097 
— Second  Avenue  Railroad: 

Foreclosure  ordered,  336 

Wood-working  shop,  *1075 
— Staggered  hours  proposed,  Comments  on.  1138 
— Staten  Island: 

Trackless  trolley  extension  proposed  752 

Trackless    trolley    operation.     *689-  Com- 
ments on.  850 
— Staten  Island  Midland  Railway: 

December-June  report.  147 

Report    for   year    [Whalen],    1124;  Com- 
ments on,  1097 
— Subway  bids  asked,  847,  930 
— Third  Avenue  Railway: 

Annual  report,  968 

"Commendations."  138 
— Traffic  conditions.  *941;  [Turner],  1097.  1151 
— Transit  Commission: 

City  to  examine  plan  of,  1156 

Hearings  planned,  661.  752.  877:  Begun. 
917.  *941,  962.  1003,  1043.  *1065,  1080. 
1085.  mOO.  1115.  1122,  1156;  Com- 
ments on,  977.  1057,  1097 


Abbreviations :     'Illustrated,     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


X 


INDEX 


[Vol.  58 


New  York  City: 

— Transit  Commission  (Continued): 

Preliminary  report,  557;  Comments  on.  579, 

808;  Criticized,  1085;    [Williams],  1080 
Problem  of  [Harknessl.  403;  Comments  on, 

385 

Traffic  analysis,  824 

Traffic  expert,  1085 

Transit  program,  1126 
New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad: 
— Annual  report  on  trolleys,  297 
— Losses  by  sale  of  Rhode  Island  trolleys,  1159 
— Motor  car  adopted.  749 

— Return  of  trolleys  favored.   1088;  Comments 
on,  1098 

New  York  &  Stamford  Railway  (see  Port  Ches- 
ter, N.  Y.) 
New  York,  State  of: 

— Assessment    of    landowners    for  construction 

[Wehle],  552 
— Bus  applications,  884 

— Interurbans  plan  bridge  to  Canada,  1157 

— Railway  Buffalo  to  Wellsville  proposed,  1157 

— Utica  fare  ease,  535;  Comments  on.  4(54 

— Workmen's  compensation  [Otis],  912 

New  York  State  Railways    (see  Rochester  and 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.) 
Niagara  Falls.  N.  Y.: 
— Niagara  Gorge  Railway: 

Buses  supplant  trolley,  536 
Bus  service  to  Youngstown  proposed.  719 
Right-of-way  offered  for  power  rights.  711 
Niagara.    St.    Catherines    &    Toronto  Railway 

(see  St.  Catherines  Out.  Can.) 
Norfolk,   Va. : 

— Security  sales  to  customers,  *198 
— Service-at-cost  discussion.  215.  300 
Norfolk  &  Western  Railway: 
— Savings  by  electrification.  238 
Norristown.  Pa. : 

— Philadelphia  &  Western  Railway: 
Cars,  '6 

North  American  Co.  (see  New  York  City) 
Northern    Massachusetts    Street    Railway  (see 

Athol,  Mass.) 
Northern  Texas  Traction  Co.    (see  Fort  Worth. 

Texas) 

Northwestern  Pacific  Railroad    (see  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.) 
Norton.  Mass.: 

— Norton,  Taunton  &  Attleboro  Street  Railway: 

Financial  difficulties,  252 
Norwalk,  Ohio: 

— Plymouth  &  Shelby  Traction  Co.: 

Foreclosure  sale  ordered,  715.  965 
— Sandusky.  Norwalk  &  Mansfield  Electric  Ry.: 

Foreclosure  sale,  965.  1048 

Portion  may  be  operated.  1048 
Norwich,  Conn.: 
— Shore  Line  Electric  Railway: 

January-September  report.  1008 

New  Haven  section  sold.  841 

Restoration  of  New  Haven  section  planned. 
663.  1047 

September  report.  841 
Norwood  Street  Railway  (see  Birmingham.  Ala  ) 


o 


Oakland.  Cal.: 

— San  Francisco-Oakland  Terminal  Railway: 

Bus  operation,  340 

Financial  reorganization.  219 

Safety  car  operation.  314 

Segregation  problem.  1007 

Track  construction  table.  730 

Wages  decreased    179.  294 
Ocean  Electric  Railway  (see  New  York  City) 
Ocean  Shore  Railroad   (see  San  Francisco.  Cal.) 
Ohio  Electric  Railway   (see  Springfield,  Ohio) 
Ohio  River  Electric  Railway  &  Power  Co.  (see 

Pomeroy.  Ohio) 
Ohio.  State  of: 
— Bus  law  in  effect.  224.  340 
— Ohio  Public  Service  Co.: 

Consolidation  details.  921 
— Public  Utility  Information  Committee: 

Successful  work  920 
— Railroads  tax  value  increased.  415 
— Six-cent  fares  predominant.  261 
Ohio  Valley  Electric  Railway    (see  Huntington. 

W.  Va.) 
Oil  City.  Pa.: 
— Citizens  Traction  Co.: 

Buses  and  routes.  *318 
Oklahoma.  State  of: 

— Depreciation  reserve  fund  opposed.  31 
— Jitney  regulation  sought.  375.  537 
— Traction  property  values.  664 
Olean.  N.  Y.: 

— Olean.  Bradford  &  Salamanca  Railway: 

Merger  and  reorganization.  567    753.  1159 

— Western  New  York  &  Pennsylvania  Traction 
Co.: 

Reorganization  planned.  567.  753 
Omaha,  Neb.: 

— Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Street  Railway: 
Cars  duplicated  by  Brazil,  659 
Claim  department's  work  [Connell].  525 
Oven   for  armature  coils   [Norene].  442 
Wage    decrease    advised.    452;  Announced. 
565:  Accented.  711 

Omnibuses  (see  Motor  buses) 

One-man  cars  (see  Cars.  One-man) 

Ontario.  Canada: 

— Temiskaming    &    Northern    Ontario  Railway 
Company : 

Electrification  proposed.  1125 
Operating  records  and  costs: 

— Accounting     Service    costs    [Bowman],  700; 

Discussion   [A.  E    R.  A.  A.].  697 
— Boston  Elevated  Railway,  533 
— Buses  and  railway  in  Des  Moines.  287 
— Buses  and   safety   cars  compared    [  Simmon  1. 
•394:    [Stocks].   *517:    [Thirlwall],  '546: 
[Andrews],  769:   [Stocks],  771 
— Buses,  California.  *319 

— Buses  compared  with  shuttle  cars  [Jackson], 
*315 


Operating  records  and  costs  (Continued)  : 
— Buses,  Greenfield,  Mass.,  777 
— Freight  costs  in  Mass.,  41 

— Increase  of  costs  since  1912;   Comments  on, 

542 

— Maintenance  records,  •278,  1139 
— Massachusetts  investigating,  564 
— Motor  buses.  Supplementary  service.  777 
— Power-saving  recorders.  Follow   up  [Wood], 
•681 

— Salt  Lake  City,  347 

— Trackless  trolleys,  859,  1024.  1027 

— Trucks  and  tractors  for  freight.  *133 

Oregon  Electric  Railway   (see  Portland,  Ore.) 

Ottawa,  111.: 

— Chicago,  Ottawa  &  Peoria  Railway: 

Direct  solicitation  aids  traffic  ["Observer"]. 
•505 

Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada: 
— Ottawa  Electric  Railway: 

Valuation  for  city,  149,  1006 

Vote  on  future  of,  1126 
Overhead  contact  system : 
— Cadmium-copper  trolley  wire,  277 
— Construction,  Discussion  of  A.  E.  R.  E.  A.. 

632 

— Construction  for  trackless  trolley,  '689 
— Eliminating  half  the  poles,  *687 
— Features  of  D.  M.  Ry.  construction  *159 
— Maintenance    improved    by    graphic  records, 
•1139 

— Movable  with  track,  *687 
— Poles    (see  Poles) 

— Preventing  corrosion    [Scott],  *1079 
— Strain  ear,  '327 

— Trackless  trolley  loops  and  junctions  [Jack- 
son], «1027 

—Trolley  wire,  Gaging  for  renewal  [M'oKelway], 
904 

■ — Trolley  wire  qualities.  Discussion  of  A.  E.  R. 
E.  A..  633,  c827 

— Worn  trolley  wire,  Relation  of  area  and  diam- 
eter [McKelway],  904 


Pacific    Claim    Agents'    Association : 
— Annual    convention : 

Elections.  449 

Papers,   656,   792,  873-875 

Subjects.  60 
Pacific  Electric  Ry.    (see  Los  Angeles,  Cal.) 
Pacific  Gas  &  Electric  Company  (see  Sacramento. 
Cal.) 

Pacific  Railway  Club: 

— Annual  electric  railway  night.   410.  743 
Painting   (see  Repair  shop  practice) 
Parks : 

— Philadelphia    Rapid    Transit    Co.    plans  an- 
other, 292 
Pasadena,  California: 
— Jitney  situation,  373 

Patent  Office  situation,  Comments  on,  1097 
Pavements: 

—Asphalt.  Cutting  device  for,  '291 

— Brick  standardization.    *994;  Comments,  978 

— Compressed  concrete  in  Detroit.  •121 

— Specifications  proposed    [A.  6.  M.   I.].  830: 

Comments   on,  807 
Pennsylvania  Electric  Association: 
— Annual  convention,  212 

Pennsylvania-Ohio    Electric    Co.     (see  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio) 
Pennsylvania,    State  of: 

— Commission  History  and  work   of,  *163 
Pennsylvania  Street  Railway  Assn.: 
— Annual    meeting,  17 

Peoples  Street   Railway    (see  Dayton,  Ohio) 

Peoria.  Illinois: 

— Illinois   Traction    System  : 

Advertising  for  traffic   ["Observer"].  *505 

Financial  plans,  841 

Letter    writing   contest.  '374 

Transmission  line  construction.  '1070 

Maintenance  improved  by  graphic  records. 
•1139 
— Peoria  Railway: 

Safety   cars    proposed.  537 

Safety  car  publicity.  *955 
— Transportation  growth,  *33 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania: 
— American  Railways : 

Condenser  pump  house  at  Kenova.  W  Va.. 
•387;  Comments  on.  385 

Three-wire     distribution      in  Wilmington 
[Way],    *307;   Comments  on.  306 
— Bridge  to  Camden,  994 
— Frankford  Elevated  Railway: 

Cars  for.  *1063 

Operation  by  P.  R.  T.  proposed,  250.  840. 
1121 

— Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Co.: 
Annual    report.  182 

Burning  pulverized  authracite  coal  [Raul, 
•945 

Frankford  elevated  lease  question,  250.  840, 
1121 

Freight  service  to  be  discontinued,  845 
Jan. -Aug.  report,  663 
Jan. -Oct.   report.  968 
Park  planned.  Burd  Home.  292 
Picnic  commemorated,  •955 
Rental  question  reviewed.  71 
Status   of  Mr.  Mitten   asked.  530 
Ware  reduction  suggested.   412:   In  effect, 
562 

Philadelphia  &  West  Chester  Traction  Co.  (see 

Upper  Darby,  Pa.) 
Philadelphia   &   Western   Ry.    (see  Norristown. 

Pa.) 

Philippine  Islands: 

— Manila  Electric  Company: 

Equipment   of,  *357 
Pine  Bluff.  Arkansas: 
— Arkansas  Light   &  Power  Co.: 

Transmission  line,  33,000  volt.  14 


Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania : 
— Pittsburgh  Railways : 

Car  riding  decreases,  754 

Foreclosure  of  West  End  lines  granted,  148. 

221 ;   Opposed.  298 
Reorganization.   Plan   proposed,    180,  418. 
798,    967,    1086,    1126;    Comments  on, 
1137 

Wage  decrease,  69,  145 

— Traffic,    Automobile    [McGunnegle    &  Mont- 
gomery], 21 

— West  Penn  Railways : 

Freight  business  with  Pittsburgh  Rys.,  420 
Kingwood  company  purchased,  1006 
Wages  decreased,  413 

Pittsfield,    Massachusetts : 

— Berkshire  Street  Railway: 
Annual  report,  297 
Wages  decreased,  752 

Plattsburgh,   New   York : 

— Plattsburgh  Traction  Co.: 
Annual  report,  29 

Poles : 

— Digging  holes  and  setting  by  machines,  *159 
Politics : 

— Traction    situation   indicated   by.    877.  920. 

964,  1126,  Comments  on,  849 
Pomeroy,    Ohio : 

— Ohio  River  Electric  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany: 

Franchise  sustained  by  vote,  964 
Port  Chester,  New  York : 
— New  York  &  Stamford  Railway: 

Annual  report,  297 
Portland,   Oregon : 
— Oregon  Electric  Railway : 

Round   trip   fares   decreased,  260 
— Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Co.: 

Door  guides  welded  to  plates,  *954 

Fare  change.  Effect  of,  185 

Financial  changes.  663 

Laborers    wages   decreased,  564 

Machines    for    reclaiming    controller  seg- 
ments, *909 

Maintenance   investigation,    108.    252.  414 

Safety  first  results.  971 

Steps,  Folding,  »1078 

Truck  for  oxyacetylene  equipment.  '1148 
— Southern  Pacific  Co.: 

Rate   advance  suspended,  73 
Posters   (see  Publicity.  Car  cards  and  posters) 
Potomac    Electric    Company    (see  Washington 
D.  C.) 

Pottsville.  Pennsylvania : 

- — City  starts  removing  tracks.  255 

— Eastern   Pennsylvania  Railways: 

Stockholders  organize,  S42 
Poughkeepsie,  New  York : 
— Bus  terminal  improvements  planned.  1053 
Power  distribution: 

—Augur  boring  and  pole  setting  truck,  '903 
— Cables : 

Corrosion  in  St.  Louis.  442 
— Coal  by  rail  versus   electrical  transmission, 

864 

— Committee  report  on  [A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  Com.]. 

631,  Discussion  of  632 
— Feeders.  Automatic  protection  [Butcher],  57; 

[Bale].   58:    [Jones],  60 
— Maintenance    improved    by    graphic  records. 

•1139 

— Maintaining  overhead  line  [Gates],  655 
— Miniature  system  layout,  *435 
— Substations  in  Cincinnati,  '1099 
— Three-wire  distribution   for  electrolysis  miti- 
gation [Way],  *307;  Comments  on,  306 
— Transmission  line,  33.000  volt,  14 
— Transmission  line  in  Illinois,  *1070 
Power    generation : 
—Costs  in  New  York,  1115,  1156 
— .Economies  suggested.  Comments  on,  267 
— Hydro-electric   development   permits.  824 
.  — Oil  supplanting  coal  in  Great  Britain,  25,  214 
— Production  in  U,  S..  *205 

— Steam   production    [A.   E.   R.  E.   A.  Com.]. 

628 ;   Discussion,  629 
— Steam,    knowledge   of   limited,  <1072 
— Superpower  zone  proposed: 

Report,    *819.   Comments   on,  808 
Power  stations   and  equipment: 
— Boiler  performance  for  pulverized  authracite. 

[Raul.  *945 
— Circular  crane  for  storage  bunker.  *357 
— Dam  reconstruction.  566 
— Energy  purchased  or  generated.  *1099 
- — Fan  drive  by  polyphase  commutating  motor. 

733 

— Hydro-electric  plants  in   Switzerland.  1014 
— Powdered  fuel.  Use  of  [Savage],  172,  629 
— Pumphouse  for  condensing  water,  *387;  Com- 
ments on,  385 
— Turbo  generators  on  test.  303 
— Turbo-generator   record,  829 
— Vacuum   trap.  *906 

— Wilmington,     Delaware,    plant.     *232:  Com- 
ments on.  267 

Private  ownership  of  utilities  recommended  by 
N.  A.  R.  &  U.  C.  871 

Prosperity  due  to  co-operation   [Atkinson],  990 

Providence.  Rhode  Island: 

— 'Rhode  Island  Company: 
Freight  operations,  *41 
Receivers   discharged.    418.  454 
Rental  payment  ordered.  70 

— United   Electric  Railway: 

Financial   difficulties.  713 

— United  Traction   &  Electric  Co.: 
Foreclosure  sale.  31 

Publicity : 

— Advertising.  Comments  on  psychology  of,  849 
— Advertising   principles    TBoyce].  *167 
— A.  E.  R    A    Commmittee  report  614 
— Bank   aid   in   Louisville.  136 
— Car  cards  and  posters: 

Chicago   Surface   Lines   posters    »62.  *553 
Chrismas  greetings  on  C.  N.  S.  &  M..  *1116 
London  Underground's.  *137.  *506 
"Traction     Tonics"     of    Chicago  Surface 
Lines,  *1117 


Abbreviations :     "Illustrated,     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


July-December,  1921] 


INDEX 


XI 


Publicity  (Continued): 

— "Commendations"  of  Third  Ave.  Ry.,  138 
— Cost  of  private  automobile.  Comments  oil,  850 
— Discussion  of  [A.  E.  R.  A.],  642 
— Employees  to  submit  advertisements,  957 
— Exhibits  at  Chicago  pageant.  *360 
— Expense  justifiable,   Comments  on,  1016 
— Extremes  must  be  avoided,  136 
— Good  will  main  object.  Comments  on,  386 
— Growth  in  Peoria,  *33 
— Industrial  publishing  course,  (159 
— Information  to  Memphis  public,  919 
— Introducing  weekly  pass,  665 
— Joint  railway  advertising  advocated  [Schade]. 
•513 

— Letter  writing  contest,  *374 
— Mother  Hubbard,   New,  «137 
— Motion  pictures  as  a  means: 

Utilized  by  I.  T.  S.  ["Observer"],  *505 

Utilized  by  N.  E.  L.  A.,  Comments  on,  345 
— Safety  car  advertised,  *955 
— Schedule   changes.   Comments   on,  542 
— Soliciting   and    advertising    for    freight  and 

passenger  traffic   ["Observer"].  *505 
— Stock  sale  in  Milwaukee.  *110 
— Stores    aid    [Boyce],  '353 
— Track,  an  advertisement,    [Dunham],  *484 
— Weekly  pass  in  Youngstown,  Ohio,  '899 
Public  Relations  with : 
— Citizens'  help  [Casey],  18 
— "Civility"  campaign  in  Akron,  Ohio,  755 
— Co-operation  essential    [Arkwright],  137 
— Courtesies  to  increase  good  will,  802 
— Dividends  of  servicer  *138 
— Employees  instructions,  *926 
— Factors  in  improving  [K.  A.  P.  U.],  997 
— "Ifs"  for  good  .will  [Boyce],  355 
— Literature   for   public.    Effect   in    Salt  Lake 

City,  350 
— Newspaper  attitude.   1064.  1116 
— "No   smoking   allowed"    dialogue.  878 
— Prosperity  due  to  co-operative  attitude.  990 
— "Pull  together"  campaign,  Camden.  N.  J.,  260 
— 'Sales    department    toi    improve  [Gotodwln], 

•466 

— Service,    An    example    of    [Lemmon],  442: 

Comments  on,  425 
— Service  improves,  Kansas  City,  Mo.  [Buffe]. 

•475 

- — Service,   The  soul   of    [Rodgers],  875 
■ — Street  calling  in  Minneapolis,  919 
— Trainmen's    names,    Placards    with.  802 
— Utility  information  bureaus : 
Georgia  forms,  65 
Illinois: 

Chicago  progress.  293 
History  and  work,  1064 
Franchise  contracts,  332 
Ohio,  Talks  to  civic  bodies,  920 
— Value  of  public  favor,  420 
— Winning  support  and  confidence,  [Myers],  210 
Public  service  and  regulative  commissions: 
— Attitude  towards  railways   [Aineyl.  18 
— Bus  situation  discussed  [N.  A.  R.  U.  C.].  789 
— Comparison  to  trustees  in  Mass.  [Dana],  587 
— Constructive  leadership  in  Connecticut.  Com- 
ments  on.  230 
— Interstate   Commerce   Commission : 

Accounting  questions  and  answers  30.  174 
Interstate  and  intrastate  rates.   Rulin§,  .«n, 
378 

-  — Jitney  regulation  in  Connecticut,  50,  74,  113: 

Comments  on,  40,  158 
— New  Jersey  law  questioned.  224 
— Pennsylvania,  History  and  Work.  *163 
— Reason  in  regulation  [Perry],  787 
— Regulation  discussed  [N.  A.  R.  &  U.  G.J.  708 
— Regulation.   Fundamentals   of    [Carr],  211 
— Rental   inquiry  opposed   by  Penn.   court,  71 
—State   regulation    contrasted    with  serviee-at- 

cost    rWayl.  589 
— Wisconsin.  History  and  work  of.  *765 
Public   Service    Ry.    (see   Camden.   N.    J.,  and 

Newark.  N.  J. 
Public  Utilities   Association    of   West  Virginia: 
— Annual    convention.  786 
Publishing: 

— Industrial  course  in.  659 
Purchases: 

— Material  specifications.  Comments  on.  724 
— Principles  to  be  followed   rPellissierl .  784 
^-Standards  for  purchasing   [Doyle],  604 


R 


Racine.  Wis.: 

— Weekly  pass  [Jackson].  «203;  Comments  on. 

191.  1015 
Rail  joints  and  bonds : 
— Bond  testing  cars   [McKelway],  *82 
— Expansion  joints  in  Hamburg  [Mattersdorft  ] 

•979 

— Interconnection  of  track  crossings: 

Detroit,  391 
— Special  track  work  bonding.  *121 
— Splice  bar  for  girder  rail.  *733 
— Welded  joints  in  Baltimore  [Wysor].  *170 
— Welding  joints  [Price],  636 
— Welded  joints  on  D.  M.  R.,  *121 
Rails: 

— Australian   standard.  *825 

— Drop  and  impression  tests  [Speller  and  Fark 

ell],  636 
— Slipping  wheels.  Effect  of.  362 
— Titanium-treated.  Service  tests.  248 
Railways : 

— Place  in   railroad   emergency.    Comments  on 
724 

— Relation  to  community   [Casey].  18 
— Relation    to    industrial    efficiency  [Hoover], 
•580 

— Status  of  industry  [Todd,  by  Bozell],  1018 
— Va'ue  of  in  future  [Lambert],  554 
Raleigh.  N.  C.r 

- — Carolina  Power  &  Light  Co.: 

Fare  increase  sought,  34,  802.  1010 
Receiverships   (see  Financial) 
Rectifiers  (see  Substations  and  equipment) 


Regulation.  Fundamentals  of   [Carr],  211 
Rehabilitated  lines : 

— Abilene  Street  Railway  to  be  operated,  298 
— Nassau  Elec.  R.R.,  31 
Repair  shop  practice: 

— Advantages  of  railway  men'g  meetings.  Com- 
ments on,  2 

— Compressor  piston  clearances  [Foote],  445 

— Economy  in  [See],  '684 

— Machines,  Comments  on  need  for,  426 

— Painting: 

Economical  limits,  Comments  on.  673 
Economies  in  Vancouver   [Murrin].  »11 
Economy  in  [See],  *684 
Spraying.  *782 

— Minimum   handling   of  equipment.  Comments 
on,  890 

— Reclaiming,  Comments  on  excessive.  426 
— Repair  records.  Armature.  '783 
— Washing  in  circulating  water  prevented.  *688 
Repair  shops  and  equipment  (see  also  Stores)  : 
— Air  compressors.  Belt-driven.  *694 
—Air  drill.  Portable.  '780 
■ — -Aluminum,  Machining  of.  448 
— Arrangement  for  economies  [Dean],  *279 
— Beautifying  waste  ground.  Comments  on,  642 
— Controller  segments.   Reclaiming,  *909 
— Crane,  crawling  tractor  type.  446 
— Crane  limit  switch.  *908 
— Features  in  Salt  Lake  City.  *347 
— Field  coil  impregnating.  *1078 
— Field  coil  repairs  [Hester],  '14 
— Glue  stains.  Removal  of,  243 
— Hamburg  shop  layout  [Mattersdorft],  *979 
— Horizontal   boring,    drilling   and   milling  ma- 
chine. «694 

— Hose    dismantling    and    assembling  machine. 

•326,  «367 
— Interstate  Public  Service  Co.  shops.  *3 
—Loading  platform  for  refuse.  *5 
— Montreal,  Que.,  Features  of.  *193:  Comments 

on,  192 

— Motor  starters,  Safety  and  protective.  907 
— Newark  shops  of  Rochester  &  Syracuse  R.R  . 
•99 

— Nutloek.  Fin  type,  »248 

— Oven  for  armature  coils.  Portable  [Norene], 

•142 
— Pit  jack,  U68 
— Pneumatic  scoop.  «446 
— Quenching  cracks.  Causes  of,  908 
— Reducing  costs  [See],  *684 
— Reclamation  shop  and  work,  *98 
— Remodeling   in   New   York   City  [Westlake]. 
•  «897 

— Shaving  exhaust  system.  *869 

— Spring.  Hardening  outfit,   *102.  290 

— Tapping  machine.  Automatic.  *906 

— Tension  machine  for  armature  banding.  '692 

— Test  box.  Convenient  form  of  *291 

— Trolley  transveyor  system.  *207 

— Truck  for  oxyacetylene  equipment,  *1148 

— Typical  shops  [A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  Com.].  '637 

— Winnipeg  shops  rebuilt,  *i37 

— Wood-working  shop  arrangement.  *1075 

Rhode  Island  Company  (see  Providence.  R.  I.) 

Richmond.  Va.: 

— Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Co.: 
Dam  reconstruction,  566 
Jitney  situation,  1005 
Safety  cars  permitted.  883 
Trackless  trolley  proposal.  1005.  1042 
Trackless  trolley  statistics.  1024 
Wage  conference  proposed.  563:  Conditions 
unchanged,  752 

Rochester,  N.  Y. : 

— Automobile  accidents   [Quigley].  606 
— New  York  State  Railways: 

Annual  report.  *1128 

Spring  hardening  outfit,  *102,  290 

Supply  truck,  *240 

Trackless  trolley  proposed,  838 
Rochester  &  Syracuse  R.R.  (see  Syracuse.  N.  Y.) 
Rockford.  111.: 
— Jitney  situation,  333.  884 
— Rockford  &  Interurban  Railway: 

Bus  operation.  884 


St.  Augustine,  Florida: 

—City-railway  propositions.  927 

St.  Catherines.  Ontario.  Can. 

— Niagara,  St.  Catherines  &  Toronto  Railway: 

Municipal  purchase  recommended,  1129 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  Can.: 
— New  Brunswick  Power  Co.: 

Wage  strike,  217 
St.  Joseph.  Missouri: 

— St.   Joseph    Railway,    Light.    Heat    &  Power 
Company: 

Valuation  case  not  carried  up.  533 
St.  Louis.  Missouri: 
— Rapid  transit  system  proposed.  750 
■ — Trackless  trolley  proposed.  529 
— United  Railways: 

Accident  costs,  333 

Bond  issue  underwritten,  181 

Cable  corrosion,  442 

Jefferson  City  fare  extended.  925 

Statement  of  conditions,  956.  966 

Suits  against  receivers.  297 

Valuation   testimony.   797.  966 

Wage  reduction  announced.  566 
St.  Paul,  Minnesota: 
— St.  Paul  City  Railway: 

Fare  controversy,  33.  2;>9.  4a7.  802.  882, 
926,  1161 
.  Valuation  sought.  29.  33 
Sacramento.  California: 
— Pacific  Gas  &  Electric  Co.: 

Fare  question    City's  choice.  1090 
— Sacramento  Northern  Railroad: 

Annual  report,  416 

Sale  to  Western  Pacific  sought.  454:  Auth- 
orized, 797 
Safety  cars   (see  Cars.  Safety) 


296,  *323, 


839 


Safety  first   (see  also  Accidents)  : 

— 'Accident  prevention  work  of  Penn.  Com..  *163 

— Accident  reduction  campaign,  •131 

— Automobile  circular  of  hints.  *987 

— Boston's  "No  accident"  week,  420 

— 'Buffalo  campaign.  755 

— Campaign  suggestions  of  A.  E.  R.  A.,  66 
— Chicago  Council,  Work  of,  331:   [Budd],  605 
— Constructive  method  of  educating1  [Roadifer], 
745 

— Contest  of  Southern  Public  Utilities  Co.,  1161 

— Continuous  safety  drive  [Budd],  605 

— Co-operative  employees,  997 

— Extent  of  work   [A.  E.  R.  T.  &  T.  Com  ], 

648,  Discussion.  648 
— Floats  aid  Baltimore  campaign.  300 
— Gates,  Positive  stop  crossing.  •1145 
— Grade   crossings.   Hazard   off   and  protecting 

signs  for   [Messenger],  744 
— Life  guard.  Spring  operated.  *209 
— Maps  of  danger  points,  184 
— Precautions  on  overhead  lines  [Gates],  665 
— Record  on  C.  N.  S.  &  M„  238,  718 
— Results  in  Portland,  Oregon,  971 
— School  campaign  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  925 
— Teaching  by  fairy  tales.  757 
Saginaw.  Michigan: 

— Bus  offer,  373,  709,  755:  790,  1044 

— Jitney    situation,    296,    323,    373,   453,  530, 

659,  667,  1004 
— Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway: 

Service  resumption  desired.  876,  918,  1004: 
Voted  against.  1044 

Suspension    and  receivership, 
373,  453.  530,  659,  709 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah: 
— Bamberger  Electric  Railroad: 

Compensation  payment  ordered, 
— Interurban  terminal  planned,  374 
— Salt  Lake  &  Utah  Railroad: 

Fare  increase  granted,  185 

Rate  discrimination  charged.  115,  300 
— Utah  Light  &  Traction  Co.: 

History  and  features.  '347 

Rehabilitation  program,  217 
San  Antonio.  Texas: 

— San  Antonio  Public  Service  Company: 

Fare  reduction  proposed,  1010,  1054 

Flood  damage,  530 
San  Diego,  California: 
— San  Diego  Electric  Railway: 

Bonds  authorized,  923 

Jan. -Aug.  report,  920 

Jan. -Mar.  report,  257 
Sanding  devices  (see  Fixtures) 
Sandusky,   Norwalk   &  Mansfield  Electric  Rail- 
way  (see  Norwalk,  Ohio) 
San  Francisco,  California: 
— Cable  car  runs  away,  *1157 
— Market  Street  Railway: 

City   purchase   proposed,   218,    532  1007 
1047 

Cutting  device  for  asphalt  pavement  *291 

Labor  turnover  statistics,  «993 

Power  plow  and  derrick.  «208 

Substation  [ Woodbridge] .  «269 

Terminal  traffic,  *49,  545 

Valuation  of,  1153 

Wages  decreased,  414 
— Northwestern  Pacific  Railroad: 

Third  rail  system.  Construction  of  743 
— Ocean  Shore  Railroad: 

Abandons  two  lines,  219 
— Rerouting  relieves  congestion,  *49 
— Safety  first  educational  campaign  925 
— Ban  Francisco  Municipal  Railway 

Annual  report,  147,  417 

City  must  pay  cost  of  moving  conduit,  876 

Extensions  proposed.  662;  Cost  data,  761 

Market  Street  traffic,  «49 

Presidio  terminus.  '950 
— Southern  Pacific  Company: 

Interurban  electrification  urged  658 
— Subway  proposed.  1084 

San  Francisco-Oakland   Terminal    Railway  (see 

Oakland,  Cal.) 
San  Jose,  California: 
— San  Jose  Railroads: 

Fare  increase  denied.  1049 
Saugus.  Massachusetts : 
—Bus  company  enlarges  operation,  340 
Savannah,  Georgia : 

— Savannah  Electric  &  Power  Company: 

Bond  offer.  713 
— Savannah  Electric  Company: 

Reorganization  plan.  182    336  713 
Schedules  and  time  tables : 
— Car  and  bus  speeds  in  Chicago.  Ill  1035 
— Connecting  lines  listed,  *394 
— Economics  of   [A.  E.  R.  A.  A.  Com  ]  649- 

Discussion.  650 
— Illuminated  time  table,  205 
— Keeping    cars    on    time     [Whitney],  1038' 

[Bolt],  1039:  Discussion.  1081 
— Loop  to  avoid  congestion.  «725 
— Routes  and  schedules  in  Salt  Lake  City  *347 
— Speed    and    frequency    affect  transportation 

sale  [Morgan],  *499 
—Speed,  increased  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.  [Buffe] 

•475 

— Sta»^ersd  nours  Proposed  for  New  York  City. 

Schenectady,  New  York: 

— Schenectady  Railway: 

One  man  car  question  845 
Wage  arbitration.  414.   562,  658 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania: 

— Scranton.   Montrose  &  Binghamton  Railway 

Service  resumption,  145 
Seattle.  Washington: 
— Bus  terminal.  340 

— Jitney   situation,    224.    260    373  41" 
571.    664.    666     716     926  071 
1011.   1093.   11.31  ' 

— N°1133nPetitiVe    ^uses    favoref|-  885, 
— Seattle  Municipal  Railway: 
August  report.  664 


457. 
1010. 


1011, 


Abbreviations:     *Illustratecl.     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


XII 


INDEX 


[Vol.  58 


Seattle.   Washington  : 

, — Seattle  Municipal  Railway   (Continued)  : 
Bus  purchase  bill  vetoed,  801 
Pare  decrease  proposed,  750,  758,  881,  1161 
Financial    difficulties    29.    181;  Comments 

on,  81,  713;  750,  881 
General  funds  not  available  lor  operation, 

840,  1121 
Greasing  and  cleaning  tracks,  '140 
Improvements   proposed,    71,    750,  [Witt] 

1041,  1125;  Comments  on,  1137 
July  report,  376 
May  report,  70 

Purchase  contract  controversy,  108,  715, 
1005 

Three-cent  fare.  Advocated.  114,  457: 
Comments  on,  81;  Opposed,  716 

Transportation  investigation.  750,  795, 
1041 

Wage  reduction  proposed.  334;  Adjusted. 
374 

— Seattle  &  Rainier  Valley  Railroad: 

Wage  agreement,  1084 
— Trackless  trolleys  proposed,  374.  1024 
Service  and  tower  wagons: 

— Autos  useful  [Dana],  c52;  Comments  on,  39 
— Electric   truck   for  line  repairs,    '277:  [Me- 

Kelway],  "944 
— Emergency  truck  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  *734 
— Hose    bridges   carried    in    trailer  [Hughes], 

•241 

— Supply  truck,  *240 
— Tower  truck  for  Detroit.  '680 
— Truck  attachments  for  boring  and  pole  hoist- 
ing, *903 
— Winch  truck,  '910 
Service  as  basis  of  rates  [Tingley],  998 
Service  at  cost : 

— Bonds  easily  sold  in  Montreal.  1046 
— Contrasted  with  state  regulation   [Way],  689 
— Des   Moines,    Iowa,    franchise   features.  749. 
1033 

— Incentives  proposed  [Newman],  582 
— Modifications  in  Cincinnati  suggested,  67 
— Norfolk's  proposed  franchise.  216 
— Proposed  for: 

Des  Moines,  Iowa,  709 

Fresno.  California,  215 

Houston.  Texas,   145,  333.  563;  Defeated. 
662:  New  franchise.  838;  Defeated,  969; 
New  proposal,  1044.  1083 
Milwaukee.  Wis..  146.  253 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  215 
Vancouver.  B.  C,  Can.,  217 
— Rejected  in  Vancouver,  B.  C,  374 
— Review  of  [Gruhl],  595 
— Successful  in  Cleveland   [Sanders],  1154 
— Trusteeship  in  Massachusetts  [Dana],  687 
Service  index.  Comments  on.  346,  426 
Shore    Line    Electric    Railway    (see  Norwich, 
Conn.) 

Shore  Line  Traction  Co.  (see  New  Haven.  Conn.) 

Shreveport,  Louisiana: 

— Shreveport  Traction  Co.: 

Fare  controversy,  113 

One  man  cars  permitted,  844 
Signals: 

— Automatic  stop  with,  432 

— Daylight  color  light,  Liverpool,  1150 

— Interlocking  control,  48 

— Maintenance    improved    by    graphic  records, 
•1139 

— Power  operated,  368 
— Train  movements  accelerated.  399 
Signs  combined  with  strain  insulators.  142 
Single-phase  railways   in  long  service  [Jones], 
•907 

Sioux  City,  Iowa: 
— Jitneys  ruled  out.  222 
Skip-stop  (see  stopping  of  cars) 
Snow  removal : 

—Equipment  for,  in  Milwaukee  *857 

— Problem  discussed  [A   S.  M.  C.  Com.],  699 

— Rotary  ice  digger.  »1077 

— Tractors  effective.  *857 

Soil  corrosion  (see  Corrosion) 

Somerset,  Kentucky: 

— Kentucky  Utilities  Company: 

Operation  resumed,  455 
Somerset.  Pennsylvania: 
— Johnstown  &  Somerset  Railway: 

Bond  issue.  454 
South  Africa: 
— Johannesburg : 

Electric  truck  as  tower  wagon,  *277 
South  America : 
— Electrification  progress,  351 
South  Bend,  Indiana: 

— Chicago.    South    Bend    &    Northern  Indiana 
Railway: 

Bus  competition  with,  801 
— Jitney  situation.  1053 

South  Carolina  Light.   Power   &   Railways  Co. 

(see  Spartansburg.  S.  C.l 
Southern  Covington  &  Cincinnati  Street  Railway, 

(see  Covington,  Ky.) 
Southern  Pacific  Co.  (see  Portland,  Ore.,  &  San 

Francisco,  Cal.) 
Southern    Public    Utilities    Co.    (see  Charlotte, 

N.  C.) 
Spade,  Air  driven,  *446 
Spain : 

— Cataluna  Tramways  of  Barcelona: 

Motor  cars  for.  *6 
— Electrification  contract,  1055 
— Railway  planned.  1096 
Spartanburg    South  Carolina: 

— South  Carolina  Light,  Power  &  Railways  Co. : 

Interest  defaulted.  220.  455 
Special  traekwork: 
— Bolted  type  [Rust],  525 
— Built  up  type  in  Salt  Lake  City,  347 
— Changes  for  right  hand  operation  [Murrin], 

894 

— Construction  and  bonding  on  D.  M.  R..  '121 
— Engineering   data   IA.   E.   R.   C.  A.  Com], 
•634 

— Frog  repairs.  *15 


Special  Hackwork   (Continued)  : 
— Frogs  with  acute  angles  by  welding,  '910 
— Loops  necessary  for  trail  cars  [Palmer],  891 
— Loop,    Universal    type   in   Kansas  City.  Mo., 

•725  . 
— Prices  of,  since  1900,  '691 
— Repairing   by    shims    and    welding  [Smith], 

527 

Spokane,  Washington: 

■ — City-railway  controversy,  32,   75,  300 
— Spokane  &  Eastern  Railway  &  Power  Co.: 

Fare  increase  granted,  32,  75 
— Washington  Water  Power  Co. : 

Abandonment  of  certain  lines  sought,  298 

Abandons  Lidgerwood  line.  569 

Fare  increase,  32,  75 

One  man  ears  decrease  accidents  [Ashton], 
875 

Springfield,  Illinois: 

—Springfield  Consolidated  Railway: 

Placards  with  trainmen's  names.  802 
Springfield,  Massachusetts: 
— Springfield  Street  Railway: 

Energy  saving  [Wood],  *681 

Freight  operation,  *41 

Train  jumps  track,  414 
Springfield,  Missouri: 
— Jitney  situation,  570 
— Springfield  Traction  Company: 

Jitney  rights  acquired.  670 
Springfield,  Ohio : 

— Fort    Wayne.    Van    Wert    &   Lima  Traction 
Company : 

Time  table  arrangement.  *394 
— Ohio  Electric  Railway: 

Disintegrates,  182,  295 
Foreclosure  desired,  71 
Jan. -July  report.  664 

Jig  for  rebabbitting  connecting  rods,  *274 

Newspaper  sympathetic,  1116 

Portable    substation    with   collapsible  con- 
struction [Foote],  *169 
— Springfield  Railway: 

Financial  difficulties.  754 
— Springfield  Terminal  Railway  &  Power  Co.: 

Claims  against,  Status  of  fixed,  533 

Reorganization,  1045 
Springs   (see  Fixtures) 
Standardization : 

— C.  E.  R.  A.  Committee  report,  63 

— Paving  bricks,  »994:  Comments  on,  978 

— Pipe  flanges  and  fittings.  Committee  on,  958 

— Railway  electrification  in  Great  Britain,  826 

— Screwed  fittings.  1120 

- — Secretaries  of  national  bodies  confer.  66 
— Standards  proposed,  732 
— Value  of.  Comments  on.  541 
— Work  of  A.  E.  R.  E.  A.   [Gove],  624;  Com- 
ments on.  671 
Staten  Island  Midland  Railway  (see  New  York 

City) 
Statistics: 

— Automobile    accidents    in    Rochester,    N.  Y. 

[Quigley],  606 
— Accidents.  Cost  of,  1148 
— Accidents  in  Chicago  [Kelker],  '244 
— Claim  department  important   [Handlon],  656 
— Coal  consumption,  201 
— Coal  costs  in  New  York  City,  1115 
— Default  of  traction  bonds.  922 
— Earnings  of  railways   [C.  &  F.  Chron],  70. 

147 

— Freight  operation  in  Mass.,  41 

— German  railway  conditions,  '358 

— Labor  turnover  on  a  railway.  *731.  *993 

— New  York  railways.    *944,  *1065 

— Operation : 

Boston  Elevated  Railway.  148 

Hamburg      Elevated     Railway  [Matters- 
dorff],  *979 

Havana.  Cuba,  336 

London's  railways.  Ill 

Motor  buses  in  California,  319 

Revenue  of  72  railways.  *1047 

Rochester.  New  York,  1128 

Safety  cars  in  Oakland.  314 

Salt  Lake  City,  347 

San  Diego  Electric  Ry..  257 

Trackless   trolleys,    1024;    [Jackson],  859. 
1027 

Zurich,  Switzerland,  '417 
— Power  generated  in  U.  S.,  *205 
— Railways  in  India  and  Ceylon,  1013 
— Railways  operating  motor  buses.  319 
— Safety  cars  decrease  accidents  [A.  E.  R.  A. 

Com.],  619 
—Service  in  20  cities  [Dahl].  239 
— Track  construction  in  United  States.  730 
— Traffic  due  to  weekly  passes,  *1104 
— Traffic  in  New  York.  *941.  1151 
— Traffic  on  154  railways.  220 
■ — Truck  operation  for  freight.  133 
— Wage  decreases.  995 
— Wire  production  proposed.  575 
— Steps  (see  Fixtures) 
Stockton.  California: 
— Tidewater  Southern  Railway: 

Locomotive  features.  *326 
Stone  &  Webster: 
— Seventeen  year  report 
Stopping  of  cars: 
— Automatic  and  interlocks.  48 
— Indicators   with    advertising   space  [Eichel], 

•814 

— Po'es  painted  as  warning  for,  *693 
— Trip-cock  testing  in  London.  *829 
— Skip-stop: 

S;gns  used  in  Chicago.  683 

Pasting  signs  on  poles  [Mc  Kelway],  1076 
Stores : 

— Accounting   [A.  E.  R.  A.  A.  &  A.  E.  R.  E. 

A.  Com.],  631;  Discussion.  697 
— Scran  classification,  383 
Storm  damage: 

— Flood.  San  Antonio,  Texas.  530 

— Tampa.  Florida,  839 

Strikes  and  arbitrations: 

— Coal  strike  in  Great  Britain.  25.  241 


Strikes  and  arbitrations  (Continued)  : 

— Cost  of  strike  in  Albany,  1005 

— French  railway  strike,  1035 

— One  man  car  protest.  F.  J.  &  G.  R.  R.,  145 

— Picketing  lawful,  1084 

— Strike  condemned,  Report  on  Denver  strike. 

793 

— Strike    prevention    proposed,    Comments  on, 
1057 

— Strikers  status.  868 
— Wage  arbitrations: 

Akron,  Ohio,  51,  68,  179,  216 

Cincinnati  powerhouse  men,  145 

Connecticut  Company,  661,  751.  794 

Des  Moines,  Iowa.  108 

Living  costs  in  Akron,  O.,  51 

Newtonville,  Mass.,  414 

Schenectady.  New  York.  414.  562,  658 
 ^V<i££6  strikes* 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  531,  563,  868,  961.  1005 

Dayton,  Ohio.  178 

St.  John,  N.  B..  Can.,  217 

Scranton,    Montrose    &    Binghamton  Ry.. 
145 

Syracuse  &  Suburban  R.R..  252,  294 
Substations  and  equipment: 
— Automatic : 

Cincinnati  installs,  '1099 

City  service   [Butcher],  58;   [Bale],  58 

Cleveland  system  [Bale],  58 

Discussed  by  C.  E.  R.  A„  53;  [Butcher]. 

•56;   [Bale].  58;   [Jones].  60 
Features  of   [A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  Com.],  628; 

Discussion,  630 
Feeders  in  cities    [Butcher],   57;  [Bale], 

59 

Fort  Wayne  1200-volt  station  [Butcher], 
57 

Motor  generator  control  [Butcher],  66 
Single  phase  replaced  by.  '543 
Single  unit  stations  in  Cincinnati,  '1099 
Two  unit  stations  [Butcher],  *56;  [Bale], 
59;   [Jones]  60 
— Features    in    San    Francisco  [Woodbridge], 
•269 

— Grounds,  Comments  on  beautifying,  542 
— Motor  generator  moved  for  emergency,  1112 
— Motor-generators    constructed    from  engine- 
driven  machines  [Smith],  *91 
— Lightning  destroys,  '450 

— Portable     with     collapsible  construction 

[Foote],  '169 
— Rectifiers  for  [Milliken],  »779 
— Rectifiers  in  France.  669 
— Standardize  on  1500  kw.  units,  '1099 
Subways : 

— Abandonment  in  Cincinnati  recommended,  794 
— Elevated   roads   compared    with  [Ridgway], 

833 

— Freight  handling  in  New  York  proposal,  710 
— London  proposal  to  aid  unemployment,  996 
— Proposed  for  Montreal,  711 
— Proposed  for  St.  Louis.  Mo.,  750 
Superpower  zone.  Report  on    (see  Power  gen- 
eration ) 
Switchboards  and  equipment: 
— Circuit  breaker,  Oil,  246 
— Circuit  breakers.  Removable  unit  type.  207 
— Substation.  Details  [Woodbridge],  *269 
Switzerland: 

— Electrification  status,   [Huber],  *988 

— Hydro  electric  development,  1014 

— Locomotives  for  Swiss  Federal  Railways,  825 

— Steam  heating  electric  trains  [Rosenberger] . 

•206.  «829 
— Zurich  abandons  zones,  *417 
— Zurich.  Annual  report,  *417,  1007 
Syracuse,  New  York : 
— Empire  State  Railways: 

Wage  controversy,  146,  179 
— New  York  State  Railways: 

City-railway  controversy.  925,  927,  1011 

Five  cent  fare  sought.  115,  666 

May-August  report,  568 

Utica  fare  increase  denied,  534:  Comment* 
on.  404 
— Rochester  &  Syracuse  R.R. 

Shopi  notes,  Newark,  N.  Y.,  *99 

Wage  controversy,  146.  179.  215 
— Syracuse  &  Suburban  Railroad: 

Strike,  Wage  situation,  252,  294 


Tacoma,  Washington : 

— Jitney  situation,  159.  801 

— Tacoma  Railway  &  Light  Co.: 

Extension  controversy.  251 
Tampa.  Florida: 
—Tampa  Electric  Company: 

One  man  cars  maintain  five-cent  fare.  338 

Storm  damage.  839  1 
Tsxes  ■ 

— California  bill  challenged,  70,  180 

— Federal    income    tax    unjust    in  Cleveland 

[Sanders],  1154 
— Franchise.  Elimination  of,  sought  in  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio  969:  Allowed  for  1922,  1156 
— Illinois  motor  vehicle  license,  184 
— National.  Revision  of.   1007;    [Haig],  1068 
— Paving   costs   assumed   by  property  ownen. 
375 

— Paving  relief  in  Jackson  urged,  658 

— proposed  changes.  Comments  on.  191 

— Railroads  provide  bus  roads,  1092 

— Reduction  urged  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  70 

— Segregation    of    utilities    urged  [Gadsden], 

212;  Remarks  on,  260;  Comments  on,  191, 

851 

— Tax-exempt  securities   (see  Financial) 
Telephoning  by    "carrier   currents"    on  power 

wire.  *1032 
Terminals : 

— Bus.  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  1053 

— Commuters  do  not  require  [Turner],  1151 

— Freight  in  Massachusetts.  *41 

— Interurbans  in  Salt  Lake  City,  374 

— Los  Angeles  situation,  26 


Abbreviations :     'Illustrated,     c  Communications. 
RKAD  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


July-December,  1921] 


INDEX 


XIII 


Terminals  (Continued): 
■ — Pageant  facilities  in  Chicago,  *80 
— Railways    as    freight    distributors  [Bibbina], 
591 

— San  Francisco,  Cal.,  Presidio  terminus,  '950 

— Traffic  routing  in  San  Francisco,  '49,  *545 

— Tunnel  crossing,  *870 

— Two  levels  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  *865 

Terre  Haute.   Indianapolis   &   Eastern  Traction 

Co.  (see  Indianapolis,  Ind.l 
Test  box.  Convenient,  *291 
Tests  of  material  and  equipment: 
— Circuit  breakers.  Calibration,  '139 
— insulation    testing     [Dean],    85;  Comments 
on.  79 

— Miniature  distribution  layout,  *435 

— Motors  during  construction   [Dean],  *427 

— Plows,  Overload  testing,  *139 

— Steel  rails,  Drop  and  impression  tests  [Speller 

and  Farkell],  636 
— Voltage  tests  at  1,000,000  volts,  781 
Texas  Electric  Railway   (see  Dallas.  Texas) 
Third  Avenue  Railway  (see  New  York  City) 
Tickets  and  tokens : 
— Berlin's  e'ght-ride  ticket.  *143 
— Coin  and  ticket  sorter,  '1073 
— Coin  counter.  '209 

Tidewater  Southern  Ry.  (see  Stockton,  Cal.) 
Ties: 

— Creosoted  and  set  in  concrete.  Success,  *97 
— Creosote  plant  in  Chattanooga,  *101 
— Growth  and  milling  of  [George],  '10591 
— Pre-treatment  of,  *782 

— Standard  specifications,  Conference,  708,  873 
— Substitute.   Necessary  properties  of  [Ferned- 

ing],  635 
— Supply  of.  Comments  on,  1058 
Tokens  (see  tickets  and  tokens) 
Toledo.  Ohio: 

— Community  Traction  Co.: 

August  report,  664 

Fares  increased.  301.  536 

Fare  increase  postponed.  666 

July  report,  335 

June  report,  112 

November  report.  1008.  1159 

October  report,  880.  968 

Power  cost  controversy,  178,  333 

Prospects,  413,  1159 

September  report.  753 
— Jitney  situation,  150.  381.  659,  1005.  1052 
— Toledo  Bus  Transportation  Company: 

Incorporates,  885,  1052 
— Toledo  Railway  &  Light  Company: 

Reorganization,  418,  533,  567,  664 
— Toledo  &  Western  Railroad: 

Cars,  Light  weight  desired.  1005 

Abandonment  of  part  of  line  desired,  569 
— Topeka  Railway: 

Wages  decreased,  453 
Toronto.  Ontario,  Can.: 
— Rail  gage.  Non-standard  retained.  84 
— Toronto  Civic  Railway: 

Fare  rate.  378 
— Toronto  Railway : 

Annual  report.  923 

City  purchase,   337.   411,   460,    532,  567. 

713.  1006 
Fare  increase.  666 
Sale  of  old  rolling  stock.  761 
Valuation  arbitrators,  152;  Hearings.  532, 

567,  713,  1006,  1045 
Bus  routes  established,  '867,  1053 
Track  abandoned  (see  Abandoned  lines) 
Track  construction : 

— Accounting   methods    [Davis],    703;  DIscui- 

sion  [A.  E.  R.  A.  A.].  698 
— Cement  mixtures.  Accelerating  setting  of.  869 
— Changes  in  Chicago  for  pageant,  *89 
— Drainage  on  D.  M.  R.,  *121 
— Dynamite,  Non-freezing,  1076 
— Features  of  D.  M.  R.,   *121;  Comments  on, 

120 

— tLabor  costs  [Wilsonl.  *438 

— Labor  savers  in  Detroit,  *121 

— Mechanical  ties  in  Gary.  Ind..  *321 

— Practice  in  United  States.  730 

— Raising  track   [Cram].  *895 

— Recommendations  on  TA.  E.  R.  E.  A.  Com  ], 

•634;  Discussion  6.35 
— Odd  gage  retained  in  Toronto.  84 
— Power  plow  and  derrick.  *208 
— Rebuilding  track  on  old  ties,  *97 
— Specifications  proposed    [A.  S.   M.  I.],  830; 

Comments  on,  807 
— Tie  plate.  Universal,  *98 
Trackless  trolleys: 

— Adaptability  of  in  York.  England.  772 

— Automatic  foot  control.  *863 

— Brill  development.  »551.  *863 

— British  installations   [Jackson],   *859.  »1027 

— Cars  (see  Cars,  Trackless  type) 

— Comparative  cost  with  motor  bus  and  safety 
cars  [Simmon],  «394;  [Stocks],  *517; 
[Thirlwall],  »546;  [Andrews],  769; 
[Stocks],  771 

— Cost  data  from  Bradford  and  Leeds  [Jack- 
son], *859;  Comments  on.  851 

— Cost  data  from  New  York  trial,  Comments 
on,  850 

— Cost  data  from  Tees-side  and  York  [Jaek- 
sonl,  1027 

— Detroit,  Mich.,  Specifications,  320;  Trial. 
•359.  *522 

— Evolution  of,  not  revolution  [Wheelwright] 
710 

— Front-drive  in  Leeds.  England.  1030 

— Hamburg's  experience  [Schiemannl,  1023 

— Increasing  traffic  by,  Comments  on,  *514 

— Italian  militarv  lines.  1026 

— Operating  statistics.  1024 

— Opposed  in  Buffalo.  259.  719 

— Packard  type  tried  in  Detroit,  *359 

— Proposed  for: 

Akron.  Ohio.  185 

Rochester.  N.  Y..  838 

St.  Louis  Missouri.  529 

Seattle,  Wash.,  374.  1024 


111.,  *938 
York  City 
1097 

[Mc- 


426 


York 


Mo. 


Trackless  trolleys  (Continued)  : 
— Richmond,  Virginia,  situation,  1005,  1042 
— Staten  Island.  N.  Y.,  extension  proposed,  752 
— Staten    Island    installation,    *689;  Comments 
on,  850 

— "Trollicar"  of  St.  Louis  Car  Co..  *1025 
— Vienna's  installation   [Jackson],  1027 
Track  maintenance: 
— Concrete  breaker.  *327 
— Construction  kinks  [Smith],  527 
— Crane,  Crawling  tractor  type,  446 
— Factor  in  sale  of  transportation  [Dunham], 
•484 

— Greasing  and  cleaning  tracks,  *140 
— Pneumatic  scoop,  *446 

— Prolonging  life   of  car  parts.  Comments  oo. 

305 

— 'Retracking  or  buses  [Jackson],  *315 
— Weed  cutter  in  Texas,  *448 
— Weed  killers,  Use  of,  524 
Traffic  investigations: 

— Aid  to  transportation  sales  [Morgan],  *499 
— Guide  advertising  by,  Comments  on,  465 
— -Headwaygraphs  for   [Roberts],  *440 
- — Nashville,   Tennessee,  566 
— New  York  City,  824,  '941 
— Report  on  154  railways.  220 
— Rerouting  proposed  for  Chicago. 
- — 'Rerouting     proposed     for  New 

[Turner],   *1109;  Comments, 
— Topographical  limitation  in  Pittsburgh 

Gunnegle  &  Montgomery],  21 
— Traffic  density  units,  Comments  on,  346. 
— Weekly  pass,  Effect  of,  *1104 
Traffic  regulation: 

— Bridge    replacefent    arrangements.  *1113 
— Double  traffic  for  convention.  '951 
— Inspectors  aid.  *49 

■ — -Organiiza<tion    and    methods    in  New 

[O'Brian],  603 
— Principles  [A.  E.  R.  A.  T.  Com  ],  647 
— Safety  zone.  Purpose  of  [Rudd],  c52 
— Service     improvement,     Kansas  City, 

[Buffe],  .»475 
— Staggered  hours  proposed  for  New  York  City, 

Comments  on,  1138 
— Suggestions  by  A.  S.  M.  I.  Com.,  830 
— Terminal  traffic  in  San  Francisco,  •47,  '545 
— Vehicular  congestion.   Suggestions  for  aiding 

[Barnes],  998 
Traffic  stimulation : 

— 'Elements  affecting  riding  [Dahl],  239 
— Using  tracks,  100%.  554 
— Weekly  pass  in  Youngstown.   Ohio,  *1104 
Transfers   (see  Fare  collection) 
Transportation,  Metropolitan : 
— Berlin  situation    [Eichel],  »814 
— Buses  versus  trolley   [Pearson],  866 
■ — Commuters  in  New  York  City  [Turner],  1151 
— Fares.  Factors  affecting   [Ashfield],  312 
— 'Effect  of  garden  sites,  Comments  on,  465 
— Manufacturer  interested  in   railways  [Wick- 
wire],  599 

— Monopoly  and  jitneys,  Comments  on,  305 
— Monopoly  essential   [Todd,  by  Bozell],  1018; 

[Bradlee],  1036 
— New   York   City   situation    [Harkness].  403; 

Comments  on,  385 
— Population  and  rides  per  inhabitant  [Ertel], 

•199 

■ — Rapid  transit  systems   [Ridgway],  833 
— Relation  between  traffic  and  housing  [Ertel]) 
•199 

— Traffic  in   New  York.  *941 
Transportation  superintendent: 
— Value  of  "good  talker,"  Comments  on.  425 
Trenton,   New  Jersey: 

— New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania  Traction  Co.: 
Consolidation    disapproved.  568 
Fare  increase  sought,   667.  718 
Reports  deficit  since  1913.  112 
Wages  decreased,  145 

Tri-City  Railway    (see  Davenport,  Iowa) 

Trinidad,  Colorado: 

- — -Trinidad    Electric    Transmission.    Railway  & 
Gas  Company: 
Abandonment   of    part    of   lines  proposed, 
1008 
Troy,  New  York : 
— Troy  &  New  England  Railway: 

Annual  report,  29 
— United  Traction  Company  (see  Albany,  N.  Y.) 
Trucks : 

— Archbar.  light  weight,  *933 

— 'Bolster  repaired  by  welding,  *1074 

— Pressed  steel  welded,  *12 

— Rebuild;ng,  *193 

Tulsa.  Oklahoma: 

— Jitney  situation.  457 

— Tulsa  Street  Railway: 

Supplementary  bus  service  planned.  218 

Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company   (see  Minne- 
apolis, Minn.) 

Tygarts   Valley   Traction    Company    (see  Graf- 
ton, W.  Va.) 


u 


Underwriters  laboratories  and  their  work  [Mul- 

daur],  594 
Unemployment    (see  Employees  and  Labor) 
Um'on  Traction  Co.  of  Indiana    (see  Anderson, 

Ind.) 

United  Electric  Railway  (see  Providence.  R.  I.) 

United  Light  &  Railways  Co.  (see  Grand 
Rapids,  Mieh.) 

United  Railways  Investment  Company  (see  Jer- 
sey Citv.  N.  J.) 

United  Railways    (see  St.  Louis.  Mo.) 

United  States  Chamber  of  Commerce: 

— -Transportation  committee.  178 

United  Traction  Co.    (see  Albany.  N.  Y.) 

United  Traction  &  Electric  Co.  (see  Providence, 
R.  I.) 

Upper   Darby.  Pennsylvania: 
— Philadelphia  &  West  Chester  Traction  Co.: 
Center  entrance  cars  for,  *Q 


Utah  Light  &  Traction  Co.  (see  Salt  Lake  City. 

Utah) 
Utah.   State  of: 

— Rate  discrimination  charged,   115,  300 
Utica.  New  York: 

— New    York    State    Railways     ( see  Syracuse. 
N.  Y.) 

Utility  information   bureaus    (see  Public.  Rela- 
tions with) 


Valuation    (see  Appraisal  of  railway  property) 

Vancouver,    British   Columbia,  Can.: 

— British  Columbia  Electric  Railway: 

Changing  from   left   to   right  hand  opera- 
tion  [Murrin].  *894 
Coin  and  ticket  sorter,  '1073 
Crossover  changes.  531;   [Murrin],  *894 
One   man    ears   proposed,  536 
Paint   shops   economies    [Murrin],  '11 
Service  at  cost  franchise  sought,  217;  Re- 
jected, 374 
Wage  reduction  proposed.   1005,  1125 

— City-railway  controversy,  566 

Vincennes,   Indiana  : 

— Vincennes   Traction  Company: 
Foreclosure  sale  ordered.  258 
Reorganization    plans.  1088 

Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Company  (see  Rich- 
mond and  Norfolk.  Virginia) 


w 


69 


179. 


294.  334. 


Wage  decreases : 
— Akron,  Ohio.  68.  179.  216 
■ — Anderson.  Indiana.  215 
—Auburn.  N.  Y.,  531 

— Average  for  August  and  September.  995 
— Baltimore  Maryland.  1083 
— Beaver  Valley  Traction  Co..  179 
— Brooklyn.  N.  Y..  177 
— Buffalo,  N.  Y..  218 

■ — Chicago  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  R.  R.. 
— Connecticut  Company.  751.  794 
—Covington,  Kentucky,  216 
— Dallas,  Texas.  293 
■ — Dayton,  Ohio,  178 
- — Denver.  Colorado,  293 
— Des  Moines,  Iowa.  108 

— East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Ry.,  179.  1042 
- — Fort  Wayne,  Indiana.  453.  564 
— Haverhill.  Mass.,  293 
— Indianapolis,  Indiana,  215 
— Industries  listed,  361 
- — Jacksonville,  Fla..  179 
— Joliet.  Illinois.  69 
— Los  Angeles.  California.  659.  709 
— Louisville,  Kentucky,  840,  877 
— Marion  &  Bluffton  Tr.  Co..  178 
— Minneapolis,  Minn..  E.  S.  L.  R..  794 
— Monongahe'a  Power  &  Railway  Co..  68 
— Montreal.  Quebec.  294 

— New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania  Tr.  Co..  145 
— Newtonville,  Mass..  414 
— New  York  City,  177.  254 
— Notice  insufficient  in  St.  Louis.  566 
— Omaha,  Nebraska,  565 
—Philadelphia.  Pa..  562 
— Pittsburgh.  Pennsylvania,  69.  145 
— Pittsfield,  Mass.,  752 
— Portland.  Oregon.  564 
— Proposed  for : 

Baltimore.   Maryland.    1005,  1083 

Covington.    Ky..  178 

East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Ry.,  28, 
964 

Peterborough  Rapid  Transit.  107 
Memphis.  Tenn.,  144 
Montreal,  Quebec,  177.  217. 
566 

Seattle,  Wash.,  334 
Syracuse  suburbans.  146,  179 
Vancouver.  B.  C.  1005,  1125 
— Readjustment  without  rancor.  Comments  on. 
157 

— St.  John,  N.  B.,  Can.,  217 
— San  Francisco,  Cal.,  414 
— San  Francisco-Oakland  Ter.  Rys..  1*9. 
— Seranton.  Montrose  &  Binghamton  Ry., 
— Seattle,  Washington,  374 
— Seattle  &  Rainier  Valley  R.R.. 
— Springfield.  Ohio.  754 
— Syracuse  interurbans    179.  215 
— Texas  EWtric  Ry..  961 
— Tcpeka.  Kansas,  453 
— West  Penn   Rys.,  413 
— Wheeling,  West  Virginia.  374 
Wages  and  working  agreements: 
— Arbiters  maintain.  Schenectady.  N.  Y. 

 Average  increase  in  four  years  [Grulill.  oVo 

— Dependent  on  fares.  565 

— Future  of  [Todd,  by  Bozell].  1018 

— Improvements  increase,  Comments  on,  11J8 

— Relation  to  fares  [ Green  1  732 

— Work   commensurate   with   wages.  Comments 

on.  79.  157;  TBoyce],  c  171 
Waiting  stations  (see  also  Terminals)  : 
• — Advertisement  presented.   '996  , 
— Attractive  stations  of  C.  &  N.  E.  R.R..  '1146 
— Agents  decreased  in  Chicago.  *772  .„ ,  A 

— Gates.  Featherweight  pressure  in  N.  Y..  *94U 
— Loading  platforms  in  Indianapolis.  *1147 
— Raising  elevated  tracks  for.  in  Chicago. 
— Telephone  announcers  on  trial.  27 
Warehouse  Point.  Connecticut: 
— Hartford  &  Springfield  Street  Railway: 

Freight  operation.  *x\ 

Report  for  Oct..  1918.  to  May.  1921. 
Warsaw.  Indiana: 
— Winona  Interurban  Railway: 

Featuring      localities      in  advertisement* 
[Schadel.  «513 
Washington.  District  of  Columbia: 
— Bus   routes    authorized.    340;    Opposition  to 

new  routes,  909 


294 
145 


1084 


>62 


902 


112 


Abbreviations :     "Illustrated,     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


XIV 


INDEX 


[Vol.  58 


Washington,  D.  C.  (Continued I  : 
— Capital  Traction  Company 

Cement  mixtures,   Accelerating  settings  of, 
869 

One-man  car  trial,  1132 
— Fare  controversy,  150,  223.  456 
— Half  fare  for  children  urged.  800 
— Municipal  ownership  proposed.  68 
— Potomac  Electric  Company : 

Valuation  case,  995,  1089 
— Railway  merger,  Legislation  for.  337.  753 
— Token    fare    decreased,    223;  Unsatisfactory. 

716 

— Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Co.: 

■Depreciation  controversy,  1089 

Plow  and  circuit  breaker  testing.  *139 

Reclamation  department.  *98 

Traffic  decrease,  716 

Trailers  with  controllers.  *433 
Washington,  State  of: 

— Auto  transportation  act  applied.  184;  [Koy- 

kendall],  790 
Washington    Water    Power    Co.     (see  Spokane. 

Wash.) 
Waste  elimination: 

— Discussion  of  by  R.  R.  Div.  A.  S.  M\  E..  748 
— Report  of  F.  A.  E.  S..  173.  915:  Comments 

on.  157 
Waterloo.  Iowa: 

— Waterloo.  Cedar  Falls  &  Northern  Railway: 

Financial  plans.  376 
Weed  cutter  in  Texas.  *448 
Welding : 

— Eye  protection.  10 

— Frog  repairs,  '15 

— Frogs  with  acute  angles.  '910 

— Gas  outfit.  Portable.  *99 

— Reclamation  work  in  Washington.  D.  C  ,  98 
—Seam-welding  rail  joints.   [Wysor]  '170 
— Thermit,  Mixing  necessary,  446 
— Thermit,  New  molding  material.  367 
— Variable  voltage  motor-generator  set.  *140 
Westchester  Street  Railroad   (see  White  Plains 
New  York) 

West    End    Terminal    Railway    (see  Cincinnati. 
Ohio  ) 

Western    New    York    &    Pennsyvania  Traction 
Company  (see  Olean.  N   Y  I 


Western  Pacific  Railroad : 

— Purchase  of  Sacramento  Northern  R.R.,  454. 

797 

West    Jersey    &    Seashore    R.R.    (see  Camden. 

N.  J.) 
West  Orange: 

— West  Orange  Municipal  Bus  System: 

Deficit  reported,  834 
West  Penn  Railways   I  see  Pittsburgh,  Pa.) 
West  Virginia,  State  of 
— Bus  petition  rejected,  666 
Wheeling.  West  Virginia : 
— Bus  company  seeks  permit,  801,  1092 
— Jitney  situation,  261 
— Wheeling  Public  Service  Corporation  : 

Bus  competition  withdrawn.  380 
—Wheeling  Traction  Company: 

Intrastate  rates  by  I.  C.  C,  378 

Wages  decreased.  374 
Wheels  and  axles: 

— Axle    failures    caused    by    rough  machining 

[Norton].  908 
— Excessive  braking,  Effect  on,  362 
— Rolled  finish  on  axles  '692 
— Storage  and  loading  platforms.  '193 
— Stresses  in  steel  car  wheels.  142 
— Wheel  contours   [A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  Com.].  640 
White  Plains,  New  York: 
— -Westchester  Street  Railroad : 

Annual  report.  297 
Wichita  Falls.  Texas: 
— Wichita  Falls  Traction  Company: 

Decreasing  accidents.  823 
Wilmington,  Delaware: 

— Wilmington    &    Philadelphia    Traction  Com- 
pany: 

Financial  difficulties.  879 

Power  plant  changes.   *232;  Comments  on. 
267 

Three-wire  distribution   [Way],  *307;  Com- 
ments on.  306 
Winnipeg.  Manitoba.  Can.: 
— Manitoba  Power  Company 

Bond  issue.  921 

Hydro-electric  power  plant.  529 
— Winnipeg  Electric  Railway: 

Cadmium-copper  trolley  wire,  277 


Winnipeg,  Manitoba.  Can, : 

— Winnipeg  Electric  Railway  (Continued)  : 

Elements  affecting  riding  [Dahl],  239 

Fare  increase,  222 

Motor-generator  sets  rebuilt   [Smith],  *91 

Repair  shops  rebuilt  [Smith].  '437 

"Service"  slogan  adopted.  *926 

Three  wire  system  for  electrolysis  mitiga- 
tion, 839 

Track  voltage  on  [Smith],  555 
Winona  Interurban  Railway  (see  Warsaw,  Ind.). 
Wisconsin,  State  of: 

— Commission's  history  and  work.  '765 

— Rate  reveiew  requested,  885 

— Track  abandonment  bill  vetoed,  149 

Wisconsin   Traction,   Light.   Heat   &  Power  Co 

(see  Appleton.  Wis.) 
Wood  (see  also  Poles  and  Ties) 
— Air  seasoning  investigation,  209 
—By-products  from  [George],  *1059 
Worcester,  Massachusetts: 
— Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway: 

Energy  saving  [Wood],  *681 

Freight  operation,  *41 
Work  and  wrecking  cars: 
— Combination  car,  '348 
— Pavement  cutting  device.  '291 
— Piow  car  and  derrick.  *208 
— Snow  plows  (see  Snow  removal) 


York,  Pennsylvania: 

— York  Railways : 

Automatic    substations    instead    of  single 
phase.  *543 

Youngstown,  Ohio: 

— Pennsylvania-Ohio  E'eetrie  Co.: 

Interstate  fare  increased  by  I.  C.  C.  "1091 
Safety  car  experience  [Smith],  '20 

— Youngstown  Municipal  Railway: 

Physical  property  improved.  965 
Routing  and  fare  collection  changes,  1051 
Weekly  pass  analysis,  *1104;  Comments  on, 
1098 

Weekly  pass  trial,   534,   665.    «899:  Com- 
ments on.  890.  1015 


Abbreviations:     *  Illustrated.     c  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


PERSONAL  INDEX 


A 

Adair,    Frank   1054 

Anderson,   Clark    G   *226 

Andrews.   Brigadier-General  Lincoln  C....'  846 

Anderson.   F.  A   1134 

Armstrong,  Robert  D   460 

Arnold,    E   539 

Atwood.  William  W   804 

B 

Bange.   C.  M   422 

Barker,    Ernest  C   422 

Baxter,  C.  A   225 

Bewsey,    L     C   .  .  460 

Bigelow.  B.  R  *973 

Blake.  George  H   720 

Bleecher,    John    S   1095 

Bliss,   Zenas  W   574 

Bowen.    C.    K  1164 

Brendel.   Wallace  W  ...1054 

Brewer.  Joseph  A   302 

Brown.     Nelson    H  '574 

Buchanan.    C.    B   *574 

Buckley.  A.  W  264 

Buckman,    H.    H   22j5 

Butler,  E.  R   .  .  igg 

c 

Cadby.   John   N   887 

Chandler.    C.   Murphy    460 

Cooley.   Mortimer  E   720 

Collins.  C.  C    42° 

Collins,  John  C   382 

Cooper.    H.    S   .  »538 

Coryell,  A.  B   460 

Couzens,  H.  H  *928 

Cox,   Frederick,   I   *23 

Crowley.  R.  J   342 

D 

Daggett,  Captain   George  F   225 

Dalton,    H.   E  1094 

Dame,   Frank   L  *188 

Davies.  C.  E   35 

DeCamp.  H    C  -   302 

Dittrick.    Alva    R   668 

Duffy.  C.  Nesbitt    668 

E 

Edgar,  Charles  L   539 

F 

Fallon,   B.  J   76 

Fmlay.  W.  F..  Jr.  154.  1164 


(with  biographical  notes) 

Fisher,   E.  L   226 

Fisher,    Dan    760 

Flad,   Edward    461 

Flood.   Henry,  Jr   225 

Fountain,    H.    A   668 

G 

Gaiman.  H.  0   1095 

Gerry.   M.  H   887 

Gerehart.    Thomas    720 

Gest.   Frank    382 

Goff    F.  H   187 

Graham.  George  C   303 

Greene.  Prof.  Arthur  M   342 

H 

Haight.  Judge  Thomas  H.  G   846 

Harris  F.  H   422 

Harvell.  John  E  »668 

Harvey,  D.  W  *928 

Hasbrouck,  H.  C   804 

Haw.  Elmer  P   575 

Herring-ton.  L.  B  1164 

Hill.  Arthur  D   460 

Hill,    W.    V   76' 

Hines.   Joseph  P  1134 

Hodges,  A.  LeRov   116 

Holland.  Judge  William  M  "1094 

Hukill.  Edmund  L   422 

Huntoon.  J.  G  »226 

I 

Irelan,  Carl  D   575 

J 

Jackson.   Carl   D  «804 

K 

Karr,   Frank   1164 

Kealy.  Col.  Philip  J  :  1134 

Klauder.  Louis  T   225 

L 

Launey,  Reuel  0   155 

Lee.  Lewis  H   188 

M 

MacMillan.   E.   A   35 

McKibben.  L.  Don    382 

McKinley.   William  B   225 

Maver.   Judge   Julius   M   668 

Mead.   W.  J  *1134 


Morgan,  Clinton  E  *886 

Murphy,   Ernest  A  1164 

Murray,  William  S   22o 

N 

Nash,  Robert  A  1164 

Nichols.  F.  E   264 

o 

Oakley,    Frank   D  *760 

O'Dohoghue,  Francis  J   154 

P 

Phillips,   J.  G   264 

Plimpton,  R.  E  1094 

Pontius,  D.  W  *720 

Potter,  Albert  E  *760 

R 

Raush.  M.  S  1012 

Reynolds.  A.  L   760 

Rifenberick,   Robert   B   225 

Roderick.  T.  C   '226 

Ross,   H.   E   973 

s 

Smith,    Daniel   W  '187 

Smith.   F.    E   538 

Smith,    R.   J  *226 

Starr,  Linton  K   116 

Stotesbury,   Edward  T   35 

Sundmaker,   J.   H  *342 

Sweatt,  L.  P.,  Jr  *382 

T 

Titcomb,  H,  B.   *53<< 

Torrens,   W.  J   846 

V 

Vanneman,   Charles   R   .  .  538 

Van  Ness,  L.   G   264 

w 

Wakelee.   Edmund  W   720 

Walker.    E.    M  *973 

Ware.    Herbert    303 

Welsh.   J.  W  *116 

Whalen,  Charles  E   154 

Williams.  Harry  S   302 

Wi'son.  Paul  E  *1134 

Wilson.  P.  Ney   *886 

Wolff.  S.  E   929 


^♦Indicates  Portrait) 


July-December,  1921] 


INDEX 


XV 


AUTHOR  INDEX 


Addinsell,   H.  M. : 

— Considerations  affecting  the  market  lor  street 

railway  securities,  592 
— Status  of  electric  railway,  ligrht  and  power 

securities,  831 
Ainey,  W.  D.  B. : 
— Railway's  problems,  18 
Allen,    K  L.: 

— Features  of  overhead  construction,  Discussion, 

633 

Anderson,  Frederick  A,: 

— Results  of  mutual  benefit  association,  1118 
Andrews,  H.  L.: 

— Bus  and  car  costs  compared,  769 
Arkwright,  P.  S.: 
— Speaking  of  noses,  137 
Ashfield,  Lord : 

— The  problem  of  the  fare,  312 
Ashton,  Thomas  G.  A.: 

— 'Effect  of  the  one-man  ear  on  traffic  hazard. 
875 

Atkinson,  H.  M.: 

— Prosperity  a  co-operative  game,  990 
Aylesworth.  M.  H.: 

—Customer-ownership  of  utilities,  791 


B 


t700 
•131, 


•166. 


Babson,   Roger  W.: 

— Street   railways   as   an   investment    [With  O. 

W.  Hill],  +  601 
Bale.  Lawrence  D.: 

— Automatic  substations  in  Cleveland,  58 
Barnes,  James  P.: 

— "Bus  Transportation"   dismissed.  cll49 
— Pressing'  problems  of  public  utilities.  786 
— Relationship  between   management   and  men. 

a  traffic  factor,  *450 
— Safety  car  operation,  620 

— The  outlook  for  the  electric  railway  industry. 
998 

Beeler.  John  A. : 

— Increasing'  speed,  Discussion,  650 
Bibbins,  J.  R.: 

— Terminal  service  possibilities  of  the  electric 

railways.  t591 
Bigelow.  B.  R. : 

— Selling'  the  employee  on  salesmanship.  *1111, 

1143 
Bishop,  S.  A.: 

— Handling-  employees'  claims,  873 
Bolt,  W.  C: 

— Keeping  cars  on  time,  1039 
Bowman,  John  H. : 
— Electric  railway  cost  accounting, 
Boyce,  W.  H.: 

— Merchandising  transportation, 
•353 

— Practical  personnel  work.  19 

— Wages  commensurate  with  work  done.  cl71 

Bozell,  Harold  V.: 

— Railways'  financial  cvele  has  come  I  Interview 

with  Todd),  1018 
Bradlee.  Henry  G.: 

— Opinion  on   "Bus  Transportation."  cl03ti 
Brown,  Harry  L.: 

— The  sales  work  of  electric  railways,  *61 
Bryan,  W.  E. 

—Automatic  substations,  Discussion.  630 
Budd.  Britton  I: 

— Make  your  safety  drive  continuous,  +605 
Buffe,  F.  G. : 

— Greater    operating    efficiency  enables 
merchandising  of  the  service.  *475 
Burke.  Walter  H.: 
— Street  railway  rates,  *94 
Butcher,  C.  A.: 

— Automatic  substation  progress.  *56 
Butterwortb,  Louis  H. : 

— Constructive  argument  as  opposed  to  destruc- 
tive contentions  in  accident  investigations 
and  adjustment,  +740 


Carr.  Harvey  S.: 

— Regulation  of  public  utilities,  211 
Casey,  Daniel.  N. : 

— The  electric  railway  and  the  community  18 
Coates,  F.  R.: 

■ — -Reorganization  of  A.  E.  R.  A.,  c444 
Connell,  H.  J.: 

— The  relation  of  the  claim  department  to  other 

departments,  525 
Cope,  H.  W.: 

— Apprentice  systems  for  railways,  626 
Cram.  R.  C: 

— Reorganization  of  A.  E.  R.  A..  c365 
— Unusual  method  of  raising  track.  *895 
Curwen,  S.  M,: 

— Car  purchases  may  be  financed  through  car 
trusts.  +590 


Dahl.  C.  H.  D.: 

— Measuring  service  to  the  public.  239 
Dana.  Edward: 

— Auto  use  need  not  be  abused.  c52 
— "Bus  Transportation"  discussed.  cll49 


bJtt'r 


— Five  and  ten-cent  Boston  fares.  *47 

— Reorganization  of     A.  E.  R.  A..  e362 

— Service-af-cost    contract    franchise    and  slate 

regulation,  +587 
Davis.  W.  L. 

— Construction  accounting.  +703 

— Stores  accounting.  Discussion,  697 

Dean,  John  S.: 

— Systematic  maintenance  good  investment.  *278 
• — Testing  insulating  materials.  *85 
— Testing  railway  motor  detail  parts,  *427 
Denman,  B.  J.: 

— "Bus  Transportation"  discussed,  el  149 
Dinneen,  George  F.: 

— Electric  railway  cost  accounting,  Uiacuoaion. 

697 
Doyle,  H,  B.: 

— Correct  method  of  purchasing  railway  supplies. 
+604 

Dunham,  William  R.,  Jr.: 

— The  track  department  as  a  factor  in  the  sale 
of  transportation,  *484 


Eaton,  F.  E.: 

— -Handling    of    light    and    power  consumers 

accounts,  408 
Eaton.  R.  W.: 

— Joint  crossing  specifications,  Discussion,  632 
Eddy,  H.  C: 

— Baltimore^'  new  type  safety  car,  c733 
Eichel,  Eugene: 

— Railway  situation  in  Berlin,  '814 
Emery,  J.  A. : 

— What  merchandising  means.  c827 
Emmons.  C.  D.: 

— "Bus  Transportation"  discussed.  *1149 

"Engineer,  Heavy  Electric  Traction": 

- — Need  of  definition  for  heavy  electric  traction 

suggested,  c443 
Ertel,  Arthur: 

— Traffic  and  housing  in  large  cities,  *199 


Farkell.  G.  C: 

— Drops  and  impression  tests  of  steel  rails  [With 

F.   M.   Speller], -636 
Farrell,   A.  M.: 

— Bus   competition   in   Illinois,   Discussion,  747 

Ferneding,  T.  A.: 

— Substitute  ties.  635 

Fisher,   F.  E.: 

— Bus  competition  in  Illinois,  Discussion,  747 
Fitzgerald.  T.: 

— "Biis  Transportation"  discussed,  cll49 
Foote,  F.  J.: 

— Air  compressor  piston   clearances.  445 
— Portable  substation  with  collapsible  construc- 
tion. *169 
Foster.   S.  L. 

— Qualities  of   trolley   wire.   Discussion,  633 

Frothingham,  Francis  E.: 

— The  basis  of  financial  recuperation,  584 


Gadsden,   Philip  H.: 

— Address  to  Penn.  Stieet  Ry.  Assn..  17.  18 
— 'How  taxation  affects  public  utilities.  212 
— Presidential  address  to  A.  E.  R.  A..  +609 
— Put  business  common  sense  into  electric  rail- 
way managing,  +581 
Gates.  A.  B.: 

— Care  in  construction  and  maintenance  of  over- 
head lines.  655 
George.  Howard  H.: 

— From  tree  to  the  finished  stick,  *1059. 
Glover.  M.  W.: 

— Electric  railway  cost   accounting.  Discussion. 
697 

Gluck.  Sinclair: 

— Automotive  industry  appraisal  of  traction  men. 
856 

Goodwin,   William  L: 

— Merchandising  transportation,  Discussion,  645 
— Wanted,  A  transportation  sales  manager.  *468 
Gould,   H.  M. : 

— Catenary  construction.   Discussion.  633 
Gove    W.  G.: 

— Address  to  A.  E.  R.  E.  A-.  t624 
Green.  Alfred  A.: 

— The   five-cent   fare   as  it   affects  the  electric 

railway  employee.  732 
Green.   R.  C: 

— Conducting  accident  investigations.  737 
Grimsley.    A.  H.: 

■ — Customer-ownerships    securities,  787 
Gmhl.  Edwin: 

— The   traction   industry  today  and  four  years 

ago.  +595 
Gunn.  E.  B.: 

— The  mechanical  man  as  a  salesman,  104 


H 


Hagan,  J.  S.: 

— Power  costs   at  point  of  delivery  on  inter 
urban  electric  railways,  409 


Haig,   Robert  M.: 

— -Some   aspects   of   the   revenue   act   of  1921, 

1068 
Handlon,  J.  H.: 

— Importance  of  claim  department  statistics,  656 
Harkness.  LeRoy  T.: 

— Transit  tendencies  in  New  York  City.  403 
Hester,  J.  E.: 

■ — Using  lye  to  remove  old  insulation,  *14 
Hill.   Olin  W.: 

— Street  railways  as   an   investment    [With  R 

W.  Babson],  601 
Holv    G    H    F  * 

— The  helical  gear  [with  W.  H.  Phillips].  *22 
Hoover.   Herbert : 

— Relation   of  the  electric  railway  industry  to 

industrial    efficiency,  "580 
Hopson,  H.  C. 

— Adaptation  of  routine  accounting  renun.»  io 
particular  uses,  +705 

• — Making  valuations  under  special  circum- 
stances. c443 

Huber,  Dr.  E.: 

— Electrification  in  Switzerland,  *988 
Hughes,  Adrian  Jr.: 

— Hose  bridges  carried  in  trailer,  *241 
Huldschiner,  E.: 

— Valtellina  Railway  is  extended.  *816 


Jackson.  Walter: 

— Bus  or  retraek?.  *315 

— Railways  must  take  up  buses  now,  c523 
— The  weekly  $1  pass  in  Wisconsin.  *203 
— Trackless    trolleys    at    work    abroad.  *859. 

•1027 
Jones.  Charles  H. : 
— Automatic  substations,  60 
Jones.   C.  R.: 

— A  single  phase  veteran.  *907 


K 


Kappeyne.  J. : 

— Revenue  increases  from  increased  rates.  *954 
Kelker.  R.  F..  Jr  : 

— Accident  record  shows  improvement.  *244 

Kelsay.  Guy  H. : 

— The  satisfied  employee,  64 

King.   L.  B.: 

— Valuation  and  rate  of  return,  104 
Kovkendall.  E.  V.: 

— Regulation  of  buses  in  Washington.  789 


554 


Lambert.  M.  B.: 

— The  electric  railway,  track  and  all. 
Leeming.  John: 

— Employee  selection.   Discussion.  654 

Lemmon.  H.  A.: 

— What  is  service?.  442 

Lewis.  D wight  N: 

— Des  Moines  transportation  situation.  791 
Litchfield,  Norman: 

— The  car  as  a  transportation  salesman.  *491 
Lloyd    C.  F.: 

■ — -Automatic  Substations,  Discussion,  630 
Lloyd,  M.  G.: 

— Joint   crossing  specifications.   Discussion.  63'.: 

Lonergan.  F.  J.: 

— The  genteel  faker.  874 

Luellen.  R.  E  : 

— The  human  side  of  energy  saving.  *728 


M 


Du 


Manz   M.  W.: 

— Span   length   in   overhead  construction. 

cussion,  632 
Martinet.  J.  J.  W.  Van  Loenen : 
— Electrification  in  Holland,  988 
Mattersdorff ,  Tag.  Wilhelm  : 

— Ten  years  of  the  Hamburg  Elevated  Railway, 

•979 
May,  I,  A.: 

— Perpetual  inventory  as  a  part  of  accountants' 

record.  *398 
McCahill,   C.  B.: 

— Profit  sharing  on  P.  H.  B.  &  N.  C.  Ry.,  18 
McCollum.  Burton: 

— Measurement  of  earth  currents.  '809 
McGraw.  James  H. : 

— What  business   papers  can   do   to   speed  the 

revival  of  business,  +835 
McGunnegle,  C.  K.: 

— What  automobile  traffic  means  to  Pittsburgh 

[with  M.  T.  Montgomery],  21 
McKelway.    G.  H.: 
— -Bond  testing  cars,  *83 
— Electric   trucks   for  line  repairs.  "944 
— Gaging  trolley  wire  for  renewal.  904 
— Pasting  skip-stop  signs  on  poles.  1076. 
McWhirter.  J.  S.: 

— Relation  of  the  equipment  man   to  the  sale 

of    transportation.  *489 
Messenger.  R.  S.: 

— Railroad  crossings  and  crossing  signs.  744 
Milliken.  J.  H.: 

- — Rectifier  substations  developed   abroad.  *779 


Abbreviations:  *Illustrated.    fPortrait.    c.  Communications. 
READ  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


XVI 


INDEX 


1 

[Vol.  58 


Montgomery,   M.   T. : 

— What  automobile  traffic  means  to  Pittsburgh 

[with  C.  K.  McGunnegrle],  21 
Moore,  W.  H.: 

— Publicity  in  litigated  eases,  792 
Morgan,  Clinton  E.: 

— Making  transportation  serve — and  sell,  *499 
Morrow,   L.   W.  W.: 

— The  lubrication  of  rolling  stock,  *674 
Mortimer,  James  D. : 

— Reorganization  of  A.  E.  R.  A.,  c365 
Muldaur,  George  B.: 

— The  underwriters'  laboratories  and  its  work, 

1594 
Mullet,  H.  A.: 

— Safety  car  operation  in  Milwaukee,  C20 
Murrin,   W.   G. : 

— Changing  from  left  to  right  hand  operation. 
*894 

— Introducing  economies  in  the  paint  shop,  *11 
Myers,  George  L. : 

— Winning  public  support  and  confidence,  210 


N 


Newman,  J.  K. : 

— The  future  of  street  railway  financing,  682 
Norene,  O.  A.: 

— Small  oven  proves  useful,  *142 
Norris,  Henry  H.: 

— Heavy  electric  traction,  Discussion.  627 

— Picking  men   for  jobs  in   the  transportation 

department,  f607 
Norton.  Arthur: 

— Rough  machining  cause  of  axle  failures,  908 


Rau,  O.  M.: 

— Burning    pulverized    anthracite    mine  waste 
•945 

Reid,  Harry: 

— Service    will   increase   transportation.  Discus- 
sion, C46 
Reynolds,  John  J. :_ 
— Address  to  A.  E.  R.  C.  A.,  t735 
Rice,  C.  G.: 

— Transportation   allied   with  claim   work,  Dis- 
cussion, 648 
Ridgway,  Robert : 

— Subways  for  city  transportation,  833 

Roadifer,  Laura  M.: 

- — Eject  the  Grundys,  745 

Roberts,  A.  A.: 

— Automatic  train  registering,  *440 
Robinson,  Walter  E. 

— Method  of  handling  accidents  and  claims.  t739 
Rodgers,  W.  S.: 

— Competition  and  co-operation,  63 
Rogers,  W.  H.: 
— The  soul  of  service.  875 
Rosenbergcr,  William  A.: 

— Steam-heating  electric  trains  in  Switzerland 

•208 
Rosevear,  M.  B.: 

— Joint  crossing  specifications,  Discussion,  632 
Roosevelt,  G.  H. 

— Automatic  substations.  Discussion.  630 
Rudd.  E.  Irvine; 

— Traffic  regulation  has  its  difficulties.  c52 
Rust.  T.  E. : 

— Track   maintenance  in   Waterloo,  Iowa 


Sproul  Thomas: 

—Joint  crossing  specifications.  Discussion,  632 
Staples,  Horace  A.: 

— Discussion  on  trolley  wire,  633,  c827 
Stevens,  R.  P.: 

— Address  to  A.  E.  R.  T  &  T,  T643 

Stocks,  C.  W.; 

— The  bus  transportation  field,  *517 
— Why  the  figures  differ,  771 
Storrs,   L.  S.: 

— Reorganization  of  A.  E.  R.  A..  c402 


Thirlwall,  J.  C: 

— Improvements  in  electric  railway  equipment, 
7-84 

— The  urban  transportation  field  analyzed.  *546 
Thomas,  W.  P.: 

— Student  trainmen   given   claims  work,  524 
Tingley,  C.  L.  S.: 

— The  relation  of  rates  to  service,  999 
Todd,  Robert  I.: 

— Indeterminate  franchise  indorsed.  t589 

— Railways'  financial  cycle  has  come  (Interview 

by  Bozell),  t-1018 
Treat,  Dean : 

— Electric  railway  lubrication,  914 
Turner,  Daniel  L. : 

— New  Jersey  commuter  in  New  York  subway, 
1151 

— Rerouting  in  Manhattan,  '1109 


w 


o 


O'Brian,  John  O.: 

— Police  traffic  regulations  of  New  York  City. 

603 
"Observer" : 

— Des  Moines  rides  buses  and  walks.  *283 

— Soliciting    and    advertising    for    freight  and 

passenger  traffic.  *505 
— We  can  help  ourselves  through  helping  others, 

cl072 
Osborne,  Harry  V. 

■ — Jitney    situation    in    New    Jersey.  Discussion 

[N.  A.  R.  U.  C],  789 
Otis.  Stanley,  L. : 

— Workmen's  compensation  in  New  York.  912 
O'Toolc,  J.  L.: 

— Co-operative  electric  and  steam  freight  hand 
ling.  878 


Palmer    L.  H. : 

— Baltimore's  new  trail  cars,  *891 

— Baltimore's  new  type  safety  cars.  '400 

— Why   Baltimore  departed   from   the  standard 

car,  c96 
Pearson   Gardner  W. : 

— Are  the  trolleys  the  only  practical  system  of 

transportation?  866 
Peirce,  Cyrus: 

— Amortization   of  discount  on  new  securities. 
872 

Pellissier,  George  E.: 

— What  the  railway  company  recjiires  and  what 

it  should  buy.  784 
Pendergast,  William  A.: 

— City  participation  in  utility,  ownership.  710 
Perry,  Charles  T.: 

— Some  service  results  of  ball  bearings.  *905 
Perry,  James  A.: 

— Appeal  for  reason  in  utility  regulation,  787 
Phillips.  W.  H.: 

— The  helical  gear  [with  G.  H.  F.  Holy].  *22 
Porter.  J.  T. : 

— Economies  from  use  of  ball  bearings.  288 
Prather.  R.  V.: 

— Bus  competition  in  Illinois,  747 
Price.  E.  C. 

— Welding  joints.  Discussion.  636 
Putnam.  Frank: 

— Competitive  merchandising  necessary.  c444 


Quigley.   J.  M.: 

— Traffic  regulations  and  safety  work.  t606 


Sanders,  Fielder: 

— Service-at-cost  idea  sound,  1154 
Sargent,  F.  W.: 

- — Brake  shoes,  brake  heads  etc.,  641 
Savage,  H.  D.: 

— Burning  pulverized  coal.  629 

— The    use    of    powdered    fuel    under  steam 

boilers,  172 
Sawtelle,  E.  S.: 

— European  business  poor.  887 
Sawyer.    W.  H.: 

— Reorganization  of  A.  E.  R.  A.,  e363 
Schade,  J.  C: 

— Railways    could    profitably    undertake  joint 

advertising  campaigns,  *513 
Schiemann,  Max: 

— Six  years  of  trackless  trolleys.  1023 

Scofield.   E.  H.: 

— Stoker  experiments.  629 

Scott.  L.  E. : 

— Preventing  overhead  corrosion.  *1079 
See.  Pierre  V.  C: 

— How  the  equipment  man  can  aid  in  reducing 

costs,  »684 
Seelar.  L.  F. : 

— Springs  for  easy  riding  cars.  275 
Shannahan,  J.  N.: 

— Reorganization  of  A.  E.  R.  A..  c523 
Shipley.  J.  W. : 

— Self-corrosion  of  cast  iron   and  other  metals 
in  alkaline  soils  (with  W.  N.  Smith).  911 
Shoup.  Paul; 

— Reorganization  of  A.  E.  R.  A.,  c523 
Simmon.  Karl  F.: 

—The  field  of  the  trolley  bus.  "394 
Smith.   Clinton  D.: 

— Experience  with  the  one-man  car,  *20 
Smith.  R.  J.: 

— Inspiring  employees  to  merchandising  trans- 
portation service,  421 

— Track  maintenance  and  construction  kinke. 
527 

Smith.  W.  Nelson: 

— Railway  motor-generators  in  Winnipeg  rebuilt, 
•91 

— Repair  shops  rebuilt  in  Winnipeg.  *4.i7 

— Self-corrosion,    not   stray   current  electrolysis 

at  Selkirk,  Manitoba..  e52 
— Self -corrosion  of  cast  iron   and  other  metals 

in  alkaline  soils  (with  J   W.  Shipley).  911 
- — Track  voltage  with  three-wire  system.  'c555 
Soules.  E.  E. :  6 
— The  trend  in  advertising  the  electric  railway. 

748 

Speller.  F.  M. : 

— Drop  and  impression  tests  of  st^el  rails  [with 
G.  C.  Farkell],  636 


Walker,  E.  M.: 

— Salesmanship.  Discussion,  646 
Waller,  E.  P.: 
— Apprentice  systems.  626 
Warren,  Frank  H.: 

— How    can    salesmanship    be    applied    in  th 

street  railway  business?,  985 
Way,   A.  P.: 

— Three-wire  railway  distribution  in  Wilmington, 
•307 

Way,  S.  B.: 

— Contrasted  advantages  of  serviee-at-cost  con- 
tract franchises  and  state  regulation,  t589 
Webster,   F.  E.: 

— Address  to  A.  E.  R.  A.  A.,  t695 
Weedon .  Bert : 

- — Merchandising  transportation,  64 
Weeks,  H.  E.: 

—Sale  of  securities  by  utilities,  65 
Wehle,  Louis  B.: 

— Taxation  for  railway  construction.  562 
Welsh,  James  W.: 
— Annual  convention  issue,  c555 
Welsh,  M.  A.: 

• — -Transportation  in  Waterloo,  Iowa.  624 
West.  Edward  A.: 

— "Bus  Transportation"  discussed.  C1150 
Westlake.  C.  P.: 

— Providing  a  repair  shop  with  little  money. 

*897 

Wheelwright,  Thomas: 

— Trolley  bus  an  evolution,  not  revolution,  710 
Whitman,  E.  B.: 

— Bus  situation  in  Maryland  [Whitman],  790 
Whitney.  Howard  F.: 

— Troubles  of  keeping  cars  on  time,  1038 
Wickwire,  E.  F.: 

— The    interest    of    the    manufacture^-    In  the 
electric  railway  industry,  599 

Williams.  T.  S. : 

— Commissions   tentative   plan   criticized.  1080 

Wilson.  P.  Ney: 

— Track  labor  costs.  *438 

Wilson.  Robert  L.: 

— Employee  selection.  Discussion,  654 
Witt,  Peter: 

— Seattles'   transportation   needs,    1041,  1125 
Wood.  C.  Verner,  Jr.: 

— Follow-up  system  for  power  saving,  '681 
Woodbridge.  J.  E.: 

— Downtown  substation  in  San  Francisco,  *269 
Woods.    G.  M.: 

— Tendency  in  train  operation,  •395 
Wysor.  W.  W.: 

— Successful  use  of  welded  joints  in  Baltimore. 
•170 


Yost.  C.  E.: 

— Construction   accounting.    Discussion,  698 


Abbreviations :    *  Illustrated.     fPortrait.     c  Communications. 
HEAD  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  INDEX 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL,  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS,  Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN, Western  Editor      N.A.BOWERS.Paciflc  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIER.AssocijteJjUitlr      C.W. STOCKS.  Associate  Editor 
DONALD  F. HI NE, Editorial  Representative  A.D.KNOX.Editorlal  Representative  GEORGE  BUSHFIEILD. Editorial  Representative, 


G. J. MACMURRA Y.News  Editor 


r. 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  July  2,  1921 


JU 


Number  1 


Why  the  Helical  Gear 

Interests  Master  Mechanics 

EQUIPMENT  men  and  others  who  attended  the 
recent  Harrisburg  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Street  Railway  Association  were  the  recipients  of  much 
information  regarding  helical  gear  design  and  opera- 
tion in  the  paper  by  Messrs.  Phillips  and  Holy.  Unfor- 
tunately the  paper  came  near  the  end  of  a  busy  session, 
and  there  was  no  time  available  for  discussion.  Further, 
the  paper  was  of  a  technical  character  and  only  those 
who  were  conversant  with  the  subject  would  have  been 
capable  of  discussing  it  even  if  there  had  been  a  chance. 
The  paper  is,  therefore,  printed  in  extended  abstract 
in  this  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  and 
the  points  which  were  raised  in  it  can  very  properly  be 
discussed  in  these  columns  so  that  equipment  men  gen- 
erally may  benefit. 

The  helical  gear  is  attracting  attention  for  three  or 
perhaps  four  reasons:  The  chief  one  is  that  operating 
men  expect  to  obtain  longer  life  from  their  gearing. 
Helical  gearing  promises  quieter  running  as  compared 
with  the  spur  gear  now  most  generally  used,  hence 
will  be  better  for  the  public ;  the  reduction  in  tooth 
vibration  which  its  use  insures  will  lower  maintenance 
cost,  which  will  please  the  railway  management,  and  it 
is  a  technical  development  in  equipment  design  and 
construction,  thus  affording1  stimulating  engineering 
problems  to  the  alert  superintendent  of  equipment. 

The  gearing  is  a  part  of  the  propelling  machinery 
of  the  electric  railway  car  that  has  been  difficult  to 
change  to  meet  advances  in  technical  information.  In- 
terchangeability,  regardless  of  age,  is  a  practically 
essential  feature  here.  The  present  contours  of  spur 
gear  teeth  were  laid  out  many  years  ago  in  the  light 
of  the  best  information  then  available,  and  they  have 
proved  reasonably  satisfactory.  Once  fixed,  however, 
practically  no  change  has  taken  place.  However, 
the  material  in  both  gears  and  pinions  has  been  won- 
derfully improved,  so  that  the  spur  gear  can  now  be 
considered  well  nigh  perfect  except  for  defects  inherent 
first  in  even  a  perfect  tooth,  if  such  is  possible,  and, 
second,  in  the  actual  present  standard  tooth,  which  is 
a  compromise  among  conflicting  conditions  complicated 
by  impracticability  of  making  radical  changes. 

As  the  authors  pointed  out  in  the  paper,  the  advent 
of  the  helical  tooth  in  electric  railway  gearing  permits 
gear  manufacturers  to  cut  loose  from  existing  contours 
and  to  introduce  improvements  which  they  will  be  glad 
to  apply  on  spur  gears  if  they  have  the  opportunity.  In 
the  helical  gear  they  are  not  hampered  by  the  necessity 
for  interchangeability  with  existing  equipment,  and 
they  can,  therefore,  while  gaining  the  advantages  of 
the  helical  form  of  tooth,  add  to  them  the  virtues  of  a 
new  design  of  contour.  This  design  aims  to  give  in- 
creased strength  and  better  wearing  qualities,  with 
greater  rolling  and  less  sliding  action. 

The  alacrity  with  which  master  mechanics  have  un- 
dertaken experiments  with  helical  gears  shows  that 


they  appreciate  the  defects  of  thg  spup-'gear.  The  prin- 
cipal defect  is  that  it  produces  vibration  as  the  teeth 
are  stressed  in  succession.  Each  tooth  is  of  course 
deflected  as  it  comes  into  action,  returning  to  normal 
position  with  respect  to  its  anchorage  as  it  goes  out 
of  action,  its  maximum  deflection  occurring  when  it  is 
carrying  the  load  alone.  That  this  vibration  causes 
losses  was  explained  in  an  article  by  G.  W.  Reming- 
ton in  the  issue  of  this  paper  for  Aug.  17,  1918,  page 
288.  A  flexible  mounting  of  the  gear  was  proposed  to 
overcome  the  difficulty  following  the  same  general  line 
as  that  in  some  designs  for  electric  locomotives.  The 
helical  drive  accomplishes  much  the  same  purpose, 
in  a  cheaper  and  simpler  manner  and  in  addition  as- 
sures a  more  nearly  uniform  transfer  of  load  from 
tooth  to  tooth.  These  gears  are  used  in  some  other 
machinery  besides  that  of  electric  traction  drive  and 
the  experience  thus  gained  outside  of  this  field  will  be 
useful  within  it. 

It  would  be  helpful  to  have  some  instructive  facts 
as  to  helical  gears  brought  out  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Engineering  Association  at  Atlantic  City  next  Oc- 
tober. That  will  furnish  an  excellent  occasion  for  ask- 
ing questions  of  manufacturers  and  users,  as  to  recent 
experience  with  the  large  number  of  helical  gears  which 
have  been  in  use  during  the  past  few  years. 


What  Characterizes  a 

Good  Convention  Paper? 

ELECTRIC  railway  men  spend  in  the  aggregate  a 
large  number  of  man-hours  at  conventions  annu- 
ally. They  naturally  want  to  get  something  for  their 
effort,  and  as  their  employers  are  the  ones  who  largely 
"foot  the  bil's"  the  latter  expect  a  reasonable  return  on 
their  investment.  These  facts  ought  to  be  weighed 
carefully  by  committees  responsible  for  the  programs 
of  meetings.  A  look  forward  to  the  fall  and  later 
conventions  and  one  backward  in  review  over  those  of 
the  past  year  or  so  may  well  be  taken,  so  that  the 
lessons  of  the  past  may  be  helpful  in  the  plans  of  the 
future.  This  is  the  more  important  because  some  con- 
vention programs  have  been  somewhat  disappointing 
when  the  actual  results  have  been  compared  with  the 
ideal.  This  remark  naturally  raises  the  question : 
"What  is  an  ideal  program  and  an  ideal  paper  for  a 
convention?"  Here  are  some  suggestions  along  this 
line : 

Obviously  a  program  as  a  whole  and  the  units  com- 
posing it  must  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  audience. 
There  are  at  least  three  such  needs,  aside  from  that 
for  good  fellowship  and  general  inspiration.  First,  the 
association  which  is  in  conference  needs  a  general  view 
of  the  outstanding  questions  of  its  industry.  This  is 
necessary  so  that  intelligent  interest  in  managerial 
questions  should  be  possessed  by  the  staff  generally. 
Second,  the  men  in  convention  can  profit  by  non- 
technical  accounts   of   the   outstanding    things  that 


2 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  5b,  No.  1 


are  being  done  by  the  specialists.  Third,  the  special- 
ists themselves  ought  to  have  their  own  respective 
questions  discussed  in  ways  to  make  them  better 
specialists.    This  means  sectional  or  group  meetings. 

As  to  the  first  point  mentioned,  any  man  who  has 
attended  conventions  at  all  has  heard  enough  good  ad- 
dresses which  were  full  of  "perspective"  to  know  when 
a  speaker  is  generalizing  too  much,  beating  around  the 
bush,  or  rambling  from  the  subject  altogether.  He 
is  therefore  apt  to  be  critical  when  he  feels  that  his 
time  is  being  wasted.  It  is  up  to  a  program  commit- 
tee so  to  co-operate  with  an  invited  speaker  that  the 
latter  will  know  what  he  is  expected  to  cover.  This 
is  only  fair  both  to  the  speaker  and  to  the  audience. 
A  little  tact  will  accomplish  much  here. 

The  second  suggestion  above  is  prompted  by  the  fact 
that  valuable  papers  on  highly  technical  subjects  often 
lack  some  degree  of  perfect  success  in  delivery  be- 
cause presented,  in  the  prepared  form,  before  the  wrong 
audience.  Before  a  selected  group,  such  as  the  spe- 
cialists mentioned,  a  paper  of  this  kind  would  produce 
exactly  the  result  desired. 

Convention  programs  in  the  electric  railway  field  are 
good,  many  are  excellent.  These  suggestions  are  made 
in  the  belief  that  they  can  be  made  even  better  by 
still  more  careful  planning. 


Bus  or  Bust — 

A  Possible  Contingency 

IN  LAST  week's  issue  the  Connecticut  Company  was 
reported  as  another  electric  railway  about  to  operate 
motor  buses.  This  company,  which  recently  received 
the  necessary  legislative  authority,  announced  that 
motor  bus  service  will  be  established  on  some  long- 
needed  extensions  and  for  cross-route  connections,  that 
is,  as  supplementary  and  complementary  service  to  the 
trolley  system.  In  some  communities  there  exists  a 
feeling  that  the  trolley  has  had  its  day  and  that,  be- 
cause this  is  a  motor  age,  transportation  should  be 
by  that  agency  alone.  But  it  can  easily  be  proved  that 
for  routes  of  fair  traffic  density,  on  an  equal  basis 
of  seat-miles  furnished,  the  trolley  car  is  the  more 
economical  in  operating  costs  including  fixed  charges, 
as  well  as  taking  less  space  in  the  streets.  With  lower 
density  of  traffic,  the  bus  will  often  prove  the  more 
economical. 

Of  course,  economy  per  mile  operated  is  not  the  only 
standard  on  which  to  judge  service.  Transportation 
has  its  commercial  as  well  as  its  financial  characteris- 
tics. If  the  rider  demands  a  particular  service  and  is 
willing  to  pay  for  it  on  a  basis  which  will  provide 
a  fair  return  on  the  investment  and  an  allowance  for 
maintaining  at  all  times  the  integrity  of  the  invest- 
ment, it  is  but  reasonable  to  expect  that  such  a  form 
of  service  will  be  provided.  If  buses  are  demanded, 
their  service  in  some  cases  may  have  to  overlap,  at 
least  in  part,  existing  rail  service,  but  in  the  interest 
of  economical  operation  this  duplication  should  be  kept 
to  a  minimum  by  a  co-ordination  of  both  operations 
under  one  management.  Obviously  this  unified  opera- 
tion should  be  under  the  direction  of  the  railway  man- 
agement as  the  most  experienced  and  capable  agency 
for  this  work.  In  other  words,  if  the  bus  is  demanded 
to  supply  a  real  transportation  need  and  the  community 
is  prepared  to  support  it,  the  railway  company  should 
be  prepared  to  furnish  the  service.  Otherwise  it  may 
become  a  case  of  "Bus  or  Bust." 


Abandoned  Lines  Result 
from  Faulty  Diagnosis 

A DECREASE  of  623  miles  of  track  in  operation  as 
against  167  miles  of  new  extensions  during  1920 
is  one  of  the  indications  that  many  electric  railways 
were  built  in  territories  whose  growth  in  traffic  and 
revenue  have  been  insufficient  to  keep  pace  with  the 
rising  cost  of  operation.  There  are  probably  many  other 
miles  of  track  being  operated  at  great  loss  in  similar 
localities.  Whatever  the  reason  for  this — increased  pri- 
vate automobile  travel,  failure  to  obtain  increased  fares, 
or  whatnot — this  well  known  condition  exists.  But 
while  the  financial  condition  of  the  individual  railways 
which  have  discontinued  service  may  be  improved,  what 
of  the  welfare  of  the  communities  served?  In  many  of 
them  the  whole  development  was  based  on  the  trans- 
portation service,  now  defunct. 

In  order  to  maintain  transportation  service  to  such 
communities  subsidies  from  the  general  fund  of  munic- 
ipalities have  been  suggested  and  sometimes  tried,  but 
this  seems  questionable,  at  least  until  the  operating  com- 
pany has  properly  studied,  prescribed  and  tried  all  pos- 
sible cures  in  the  way  of  suitable  operating  economies. 
Among  other  things,  these  economies  mean  that  lighter 
•  weight  cars  with  lighter  equipment  may  be  substituted, 
that  speed  be  increased,  that  one-man  operation  be  tried, 
and  that  service  be  confined  to  less  than  eighteen  hours 
per  day. 

Even  then,  the  railway,  having  done  everything 
within  its  power  to  demonstrate  that  the  route  has  not 
an  earning  capacity  sufficient  to  maintain  rail  service, 
can  logically  resort  to  the  same  means  of  transpor- 
tation services  that  will  be  taken  up  by  individual  oper- 
ators the  moment  cars  are  withdrawn.  This  means  that 
rail-less  traction  can  often  be  substituted  where  the 
highways  are  built  so  that  they  will  stand  such  traffic. 

Certainly,  any  company  prior  to  the  actual  discon- 
tinuance of  service  should  give  careful  consideration 
to  the  possibilities  of  this  form  of  transportation  and 
should  not  give  up  a  f  anchise  on  a  given  route  until 
it  has  been  proved  conclusively  that  the  territory  cannot 
support  any  regular  means  of  transportation  at  all.  The 
advantages  of  such  action  on  the  part  of  the  company 
are  almost  too  self-evident  to  require  repetition — main- 
tenance of  the  integrity  of  one  universal  transportation 
system,  retention  of  public  confidence  and  good  will, 
prevention  of  jeopardizing  other  parts  of  the  system, 
etc.  It  is  good  business  to  make  a  careful  business 
diagnosis  and  to  seek  every  remedy  available  to  cure  the 
apparent  ills. 

A  Model  for 

Operating  Men's  Meetings 

A GOOD  example  of  the  value  of  conventions  among 
electric  railway  men  is  afforded  in  the  gatherings 
of  the  mechanical  men  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  West 
Virginia,  one  of  their  meetings  being  covered  in  this 
issue.  Their  sessions  begin  promptly;  they  get  right 
down  to  business,  and  they  stick  strictly  to  it  through- 
out the  meeting.  Their  procedure  is  largely  informal  as 
is  also  their  organization,  but  the  information  brought 
out  in  answering  questions  raised  and  in  exchanging 
experience  is  invaluable.  There  is  a  noticeable  absence 
of  lost  motion  and  waste  of  time.  A  manager  makes  no 
mistake  in  sending  his  master  mechanic  to  them.  The 
success  of  these  meetings  has  demonstrated  that  similar 
meetings  could  very  profitably  be  provided  in  other  sec- 
tions of  the  country. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Developing  a  Freight  Business 

Extensive  Improvements  of  Indianapolis-Louisville  Line  Include  New  Freight  Equipment  and  Overnight 
Freight  Service — Interesting  Layout  of  New  Shops  Under  Construction  Is  Treated — 
Method  of  Financing  Betterments  Is  Explained 


4N  ACCOUNT  of  the  passenger  equipment  of  the 
l\  Interstate  Public  Service  Company,  operating  a 
JL  JL  high-speed  interurban  electric  railway  between 
Indianapolis  &  Louisville,  was  published  in  the  issue  of 
this  paper  for  June  4.  The  company  also  does  a  consid- 
erable freight  business  and  during  the  last  year  has  in- 
creased its  facilities  for  handling  freight  by  the  pur- 
chase of  twenty  new  box  cars  and  two  electric  locomo- 
tives. 

In  the  main,  these  box  cars  are  a  copy  of  the  standard 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  box  car  with  a  few  alterations 
to  meet  the  operating  conditions  of  the  electric  line 
and  to  conform  to  certain  standards  adopted  in  the 
Central  Electric  Railway  Association  territory.  They 
are  37  ft.  2J  in.  long  over  the  end  sills,  but  the  square 
end  used  by  the  steam  railways  was  replaced  by  a  round 
end,  built  on  a  5-ft.  radius  to  meet  the  standard  C.  E. 


elude  six  motor  merchandise  cars,  two  locomotives, 
thirty  box  cars  and  twelve  flat  cars.  Three  of  the  motor 
merchandise  cars  have  been  rebuilt  so  that  they  are 
capable  of  pulling  as  many  as  twelve  box  cars.  At  the 
present  time  it  is  unnecessary  to  run  trains  of  more 
than  five  or  six  cars,  and  a  four-car  train  is  the  limit 
that  may  be  hauled  through  the  streets  of  Louisville  or 
Indianapolis,  according  to  ordinance  in  the  latter  and  an 
order  of  the  Board  of  Works  in  the  former.  The  loco- 
motives, of  course,  are  capable  of  handling  longer  trains. 
They  are  used  very  largely  in  hauling  gravel  and  cement. 

Having  prepared  itself  with  these  facilities,  the  com- 
pany, on  Feb.  17,  inaugurated  an  overnight  freight 
service  between  any  two  points  on  the  system.  This 
resulted  almost  immediately  in  a  pronounced  increase  in 
the  tonnage  offered  to  the  company.  Prior  to  this  time 
all  freight  had  been  handled  by  local  trains,  making 


Interstate  Freight  Train  Showing  Locomotive  Hauling  Four  op  the  New  Standard  Box  Cars, 
the  Overhead  and  Transmission  Line  Construction  Is  Also  Shown 


R.  A.  drawbar  requirements,  so  that  the  length  of  the 
car  over  bumpers  is  42  ft.  41  in.  These  rounding  ends 
increase  the  capacity  of  the  standard  Pennsylvania  car 
by  about  140  cu.ft.  They  are  39  ft.  4  in.  long  inside  and 
7  ft.  9  in.  wide  and  7  ft.  4  in.  high.  The  roof  is  of  plain 
arch  construction,  built  with  3-in.  tongue  and  grooved 
pine,  a  layer  of  7-in.  felt  paper  and  covered  with  No.  8 
duck,  instead  of  the  wood  roof  used  by  the  steam  roads. 
The  standard  MCB  arch-bar  freight  truck  is  used,  but 
it  is  stiffened  by  tying  the  ends  of  the  side  frames 
together  at  both  ends  of  the  truck  with  a  bar  bolted 
on  the  pedestal  bolts  of  the  arch  bars.  The  hand-brake 
wheels  are  installed  on  the  ends  of  the  cars  instead  of 
on  top,  so  that  a  brakeman  will  not  need  to  get  on  top 
of  the  car  where  he  might  come  in  contact  with  the 
overhead. 

These  cars  weigh  33,400  lb.  and  have  a  capacity  of 
50,000  lb.  The  Interstate  company  has  standardized  on 
this  design  of  box  car. 

One  of  the  two  locomotives  purchased  by  the  company 
is  a  37a-ton  machine  equipped  with  four  Westinghouse 
75-hp.  318  motors  and  St.  Louis  trucks.  The  other  loco- 
motive is  a  new  25-ton  engine  equipped  with  four  50-hp. 
GE-57  motors  and  St.  Louis  trucks. 

With  these  new  purchases  of  freight  equipment,  the 
total  facilities  for  handling  freight  business  now  in- 


about  forty-eight-hour  deliveries.  The  regular  freight 
schedule  now  includes  the  following: 

A  through  freight  train  from  Louisville  to  Indian- 
apolis leaves  Louisville  daily  at  5  p.m.  This  runs  local 
as  far  north  as  Columbus,  Ind.,  and  picks  up  freight  at 
all  stations  for  points  north  of  Columbus.  At  Columbus 
a  car  is  set  off  and  the  remainder  of  the  train  proceeds 
without  stopping,  except  for  making  delivery,  and  ar- 
rives at  Indianapolis  about  8  a.m.  The  car  set  off  at 
Columbus  leaves  there  at  10:  30  a.m.  and  runs  to  Indian- 
apolis, serving  local  points  intervening,  in  picking  up 
northbound  shipments.  Southbound  a  local  train  leaves 
Indianapolis  at  11:30  a.m.  and  runs  as  far  south  as 
Columbus,  serving  Greenwood,  Edinburgh  and  other 
local  stations,  and  pulling  one  trail  car  for  Columbus 
and  one  for  Seymour.  A  through  train  which  leaves 
Indianapolis  at  5  p.m.  then  picks  up  the  Seymour  car 
at  Columbus,  and  usually  a  car  from  Columbus  for 
Louisville,  and  frequently  a  third  trail  car  for  Louis- 
ville from  either  Indianapolis  or  some  way  station,  and 
goes  on  through.  A  daily  milk  train  is  also  run,  leaving 
Columbus  at  12:30  a.m.  and  proceeding  to  Indianapolis. 
On  the  return  trip  this  train  handles  empty  cans  and 
local  freight.  In  addition  there  are  two  local  freight 
trains  which  operate  between  some  of  the  smaller  cities 
and  way  stations. 


4 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  1 


In  1920  the  Interstate  company  handled  more  than 
100  carloads  of  canned  goods  from  one  canning  factory. 
It  earned  more  than  $60,000  gross  revenue  in  hauling 
cement  into  Louisville  from  a  plant  about  15  miles  out, 
one  of  the  locomotives  being  kept  busy  on  this  work. 
A  revenue  of  $6,000  was  earned  in  hauling  logs  from 
Charleston  and  Scottsburg  to  Caruthersville.  The  Union 
Starch  &  Refining  Company,  at  Edinburgh  and  the  Bush 
Milling  Company  at  Seymour  were  also  heavy  shippers 
over  the  electric  line.  Nearly  $20,000  of  revenue  was 
earned  from  hauling  milk.  Arrangements  have  been 
completed  with  the  small  fruit  growers  for  handling 
a  very  considerable  quantity  of  strawberries  and  other 
berries  from  New  Albany  to  Indianapolis,  for  which  a 
rate  of  70  cents  a  hundred  is  earned.  Approximately  50 
per  cent  of  the  freight  business  handled  by  the  Inter- 
state is  made  up  of  carload  shipments. 

Under  the  direction  of  Bert  Weedon,  general  freight 
and  passenger  agent,  a  thorough  canvass  is  continually 
made  of  the  territory  served  in  order  to  keep  advised 
of  any  business  available,  to  place  the  services  of  the 


sentatives  of  the  traffic  department  are  engaged  at  other 
points  on  the  117-mile  road. 

For  interstate  business,  the  freight  tariff  of  the  Inter- 
state company  follows  the  same  classifications  and  the 
same  scale  of  rates  as  used  by  the  competing  steam  lines. 
For  intrastate  traffic  the  rates  are  the  same  except  that 
the  electric  line  did  not  apply  for  the  last  7  per  cent 
increase  in  freight  rates  awarded  to  the  steam  noads. 
The  competition  which  the  Interstate  company  must 
meet  is  the  Louisville  Division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road, which  has  a  direct  line  running  between  Indian- 
apolis and  Louisville. 

With  increasing  traffic  and  additional  equipment  to 
be  maintained,  the  mechanical  department  has  been 
somewhat  handicapped  in  its  work  for  lack  of  shop 
facilities.  It  has  been  unable  to  do  any  rebuilding  of 
old  equipment  or  much  work  other  than  strictly  main- 
tenance. In  view  of  this,  plans  have  been  completed 
and  work  recently  begun  on  a  new  shop  at  Scottsburg, 
Ind.,  a  town  of  1,200  population  located  83  miles  from 
Indianapolis  and  34  miles  from  Louisville.   At  the  pres- 


Legend 

  Existing 

  To  be  built 


Lake  formerly  used  for 
boiler  and  condensing 
water  for  dismantled 
power  station 


.LOCKERS 

■J  Shallow  pits  for  truck  overhaul  and 

V  -dismanTling -.  motor  removal,  installation,  etc. 


FORMER 
POWER  . 
HOUSE     *  ■ 


-Conn  to   \  OLD  BOILER  Roon  (Now  carpenter 


■Penn.R  R. 


^LUnBER  SHED 


shop) 


West  Elevation 


North  Elevation 


Layout  of  New  Shop  to  Be  Built  by  the  Interstate  Public  Service  Company  at  Scottsburg,  Ind. 


company  before  the  shipper  and  also  to  enable  the  com- 
pany to  plan  in  advance  to  handle  it.  Every  local  agent 
is  expected  to  keep  in  touch  with  his  territory,  including 
the  condition  of  crops  from  time  to  time,  so  that  the 
transportation  requirements  may  be  estimated.  In 
planning  to  handle  the  shipment  of  fruit,  every  farmer 
in  the  berry  and  melon  territory  was  solicited  and  in- 
formation secured  as  to  the  size  of  his  crop  and  where 
he  intended  to  ship,  so  that  the  company  could  plan  to 
meet  his  requirements.  At  all  times  the  closest  co- 
operation between  the  transportation  department  and 
the  traffic  department  is  maintained  and  this  has  been 
a  very  important  factor  in  the  expansion  of  the  freight 
business  handled  by  the  company.  This  applies  equally 
well  to  the  passenger  business,  for  the  company  has 
been  enjoying  a  very  considerable  revenue  from  special 
trains.  The  traffic  department  is  not  the  only  sales 
organization  for  the  services  of  the  company,  for  it  is 
a  frequent  occurrence  for  the  superintendent  of  trans- 
portation, L.  M.  Brown,  to  go  out  and  contract  for  some 
special  service,  or  send  one  of  his  assistants  located  at 
various  points  along  the  line  to  do  so,  when  the  repre- 


ent  time  small  shops  at  Scottsburg,  Columbus  and 
Greenwood  are  in  use,  but  the  plan  contemplates  the 
centralization  of  all  shop  work  at  the  new  Scottsburg 
shop  and  utilization  of  the  other  shops  for  light  inspec- 
tion work  and  car  storage,  and  likewise  the  present 
Scottsburg  shop. 

In  an  accompanying  drawing  the  complete  layout  of 
the  shop  and  track  facilities  at  Scottsburg  as  planned 
by  H.  H.  Buckman,  master  mechanic,  may  be  seen.  It 
will  be  noted  that  the  main  overhaul  shop,  machine 
shop,  armature  room,  forge  shop,  store  room,  etc.,  are 
to  be  located  in  a  building  which  is  to  be  built  as  an 
extension  to  the  present  shop  building.  The  offices  of 
the  master  mechanic  will  remain  where  they  are  now 
in  the  present  shop,  although  there  will  be  a  balcony 
office  for  the  general  foreman  in  the  new  building.  The 
main  overhauling  shop  will  be  served  by  ten  tracks, 
whereby  ten  large  cars  may  be  simultaneously  shopped. 
A  row  of  pillars  extending  across  the  center  of  this 
space  divides  it  into  two  portions  which  will  be  served 
by  a  30-ton  75-ft.  span  cab-operated  traveling  crane 
and  a  20-ton  67-ft.  span  floor-operated  traveling  crane. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


5 


Standard  Interstate  Box  Car 
View  showing-  rounded  end  and  tie 
bar  connecting  the  side  frames  of  the 
trucks. 


None  of  the  tracks  will  have  pits  except  for  shallow 
ones  at  the  inner  ends  of  the  tracks  to  aid  the  truck 
overhaul  work.  The  scheme  of  handling  overhaul  will 
be  to  pick  up  the  entire  car  body  with  the  large  crane, 
roll  the  trucks  forward  from  underneath  it,  and  lower 
the  body  onto  horses  or  shop  trucks.  Any  portion  of 
the  truck  can  then 
be  picked  up  with 
the  smaller  crane 
and  delivered  to  any 
machine  in  the  entire 
shop,  the  runway  of 
this  crane  extending 
from  the  wall  of  the 
present  shop  to  the 
opposite  end  of  the 
new  building,  195  ft. 
The  efficiency  of  this 
layout  can  be  readily 
appreciated  by  a 
study  of  the  accom- 
panying floor  plan 
showing  the  various 
machine  locations.  It 
was  originally 
planned  to  build  a 
new  carpenter  and 
paint  shop  to  the 
south  of  and  adja- 
cent to  the  machine 
and  overhaul  shop 
already  described.  More  recently,  however,  the  Scotts- 
burg  power  house  belonging  to  the  company  was  dis- 
mantled, and  it  was  decided  that  with  some  remodeling 
this  building,  which  is  only  a  few  hundred  feet 
away  from  the  present  shop  building,  could  be  util- 
ized for  this  purpose.  A  33-ft.  addition  will  be 
built  on  the  front  end  and  three  tracks  built  in  what 
was  formerly  the  engine  room  and  two  in  the  old  boiler 
room.  The  wall  separating  these  two  rooms  will  be  left 
in  place  and  will  serve  to  separate  the  paint  shop  from 
the  carpenter  shop,  permitting  the  maintenance  of 
higher  temperatures  in  the  paint  shop  and  keeping  it 
free  from  the  dust  of  the  wood  shop.  The  old  boiler 
room  will  be  filled  in  to  bring  the  floor  level  of  the  car- 
penter shop  up  even  with  that  in  the  engine  room  or 
paint  shop.  Various  wood-working  machines  will  be 
located  in  the  carpenter  shop  as  shown.  A  basement 
will  be  built  under  a  portion  of  the  carpenter  shop  and 
the  heating  plant  for  the  building  installed  therein. 
The  present  coal  bunkers  used  for  receiving  coal  for 
the  power  plant  will  be  used  for  storage  of  coal  for 
shop  uses.  The  track  extending  along  the  east  side  of 
the  power  plant  runs  over  these  bunkers  on  a  trestle, 
so  that  coal  may  be  unloaded  from  bottom  dump  cars, 
and  connects  to  the  south  with  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road, so  that  coal  may  be  received  direct  in  carload  lots. 

The  use  of  the  old  power  house  for  a  portion  of  the 
shop  will  involve  a  slight  increase  in  the  amount  of 
shifting  of  equipment  required  in  the  various  shop 
operations,  but  it  will  make  a  material  saving  in  build- 
ing construction  costs,  as  well  as  obtain  further  use  of 
the  investment  in  the  power-house  building. 

In  maintaining  the  108  passenger  cars,  fifty  freight 
cars  and  nine  service  cars  owned  by  the  company  the 
regular  routine  work  calls  for  the  shopping  of  124  cars 
annually.  As  it  is  planned  to  do  considerable  rebuilding 
work  in  addition  to  this,  the  construction  work  on  the 


new  shop  is  being  pushed  to  completion,  the  contract 
having  been  let  about  April  1. 

Coincident  with  the  improvements  already  mentioned, 
the  company  made  important  changes  in  its  power  sys- 
tem including  the  shutting  down  of  two  stations,  the 
building  of  54.6  miles  of  new  33,000-volt  transmission 
lines  and  the  rebuilding  of  58.25  miles  of  existing  trans- 
mission lines  for  higher  voltage,  the  erection  of  six  new 
substations  and  the  re-equipment  of  others,  etc.  An 
account  of  this  work  was  published  in  the  issue  of  this 
paper  for  June  25. 

Question  will  quite  naturally  arise  in  the  mind  of  any 
interurban  operator  as  to  how  this  extensive  improve- 
ment program  of  the  Interstate  company  was  financed. 
This  may  be  answered  briefly  by  stating  that  it  was 
done  in  good  part  through  the  activity  of  the  company 
in  selling  its  stock  to  its  own  customers.  In  order  to 
purchase  the  new  rolling  stock,  a  subsidiary  company 
known  as  the  Interstate  Car  Trust  Equipment  Company 
was  organized.  Except  for  $50,000,  the  new  cars  were 
purchased  entirely  through  the  sale  of  the  6  per  cent 
preferred  stock  of  this  company.  This  $50,000  repre- 
sented the  income  from  the  sale  of  the  common  stock 
of  the  equipment  company  to  the  Interstate  Public  Serv- 
ice Company,  for  which  the  latter  obtained  the  money 
through  the  sale  of  Interstate  Public  Service  Company's 
7  per  cent  prior  lien  preferred  stock.  The  latter  was 
sold  along  with  about  $200,000  more  of  the  same  stock 
to  the  public  of  Indiana.  There  was  also  a  bond  issue 
during  1920  of  $400,000,  which  was  backed  up  by  addi- 
tions to  the  plant  account  during  the  year  amounting 
to  over  $800,000. 


Refuse  Loading  Platform  Saves  Labor 

BY  BUILDING  a  platform  with  an  incline  at  one  end 
and  high  enough  so  that  a  wheelbarrow  may  be 
dumped  over  the  side  of  a  gondola  car  considerable 
saving  in  labor  has  been  made  in  connection  with  the 
disposal  of  refuse  at  the  Wheaton,  111.,  shops  of  the 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Railroad.  Formerly  the  ref  - 
use was  wheeled  in  a  barrow  and  placed  on  the  ground 
in  the  shop  yard.  It  was  then  necessary  to  rehandle 
it  to  put  it  in  the  refuse  car  for  disposal.    By  means 


Platform  Built  to  Avoid  Rehandling  or  Refuse 

of  this  platform  this  second  handling  is  entirely  dis- 
pensed with.  The  refuse  car,  which  is  a  small  single- 
truck  car  used  entirely  for  this  purpose,  is  spotted 
beside  the  platform  and  the  refuse  dumped  in  it  as  it 
accumulates.  The  gondola  was  away  being  dumped 
when  the  accompanying  picture  was  taken. 


July  2,  1921 


HJ  L  B  C  T  R  1  C     KA1LWAY  JOURNAL 


7 


Some  Recent  Interurban  Car  Designs 

While  Very  Few  Interurban  Cars  Are  Being  Constructed  at  This  Time,  the  Accompanying  Information 
Regarding  Four  Types  Recently  Ordered  Will  Indicate  the 
Trend  of  Practice  in  This  Field 


THE  following  facts  regarding  recent 
interurban  cars  relate  to  several  types 
which  have  been  built  by  the  J.  G.  Brill 
Company.  The  data  will  be  of  interest  in  con- 
nection with  the  descriptions  of  the  rapid- 
transit  urban  cars  contained  in  articles  in 
the  June  11  issue. 

Twelve  all-steel,  center-entrance  motor  cars 
were  delivered  to  the  Cataluna  Tramways  of 
Barcelona,  Spain,  last  year.  These  have  a  cen- 
tral platform,  which  divides  the  car  into  two 
compartments,  one  for  second-class  and  the 
other  for  third-class  passengers.  Partitions 
separate  the  second-class  compartment  from 
the  central  platform  and  from  the  other  part 
of  the  car.  There  is  no  partition  between  the 
third-class  compartment  and  the  platform,  but 
an  arrangement  of  vertical  and  horizontal  pipe 
railings  is  used  to  direct  the  incoming  and  out- 
going passengers. 

These  cars  are  mounted  on  Brill  27-M.  C.  B. 
high-speed  interurban  trucks  and  the  bodies 
are  substantial.  The  underframing  is  of  steel, 
with  side  sill  angles  5  in.  x  4  in.  x  3  in.,  extend- 
ing the  full  length  of  the  car  body  without 
interruption  at  the  central  platform.  Sub-side 
sills  of  3J-in.  x  3-in.  x  1-in.  angles  extend  from 
each  side  of  the  central  platform  to  the  end. 
There  are  two  5-in.,  llj-lb.  channel  center  sills 
and  also  crossings  of  4-in.,  5i-lb.  channels 
securely  riveted  and  gusseted  to  the  side-sill 
angles  and  channel  center  sills. 

In  the  upper  framing  the  main  side  posts 
between  windows  are  of  two  U-in.  x  2-in.  x 
is-in.  tees,  with  inside  and  outside  steel  cover 
plates,  while  the  intermediate  posts  between 
the  two  lower  sash  of  each  window  are  of  H- 
in.  x  2-in.  x  A-in.  strips  encased  in  wood.  The  corner 
posts  and  the  posts  of  the  central  platform  are  a  com- 
bination of  H-in.  x  2-in.  x  A-in.  tees  and  an  angle  2  in. 
x  li  x  i  in.,  with  suitable  steel  cover  plates.  The  sides 
are  covered  below  the  windows  with  aVin.  steel  sheath- 
ing riveted  to  the  underside  of  the  angle  side  sill  and 
also  to  the  belt  rail,  side  and  corner  posts.  Attached  to 
the  top  of  each  side  post  and  supporting  the  plain  arched 
type  of  roof  are  pressed  steel  U-shaped  carlines,  fitted 
with  a  wooden  strip  for  the  attachment  of  the  roof 
boards. 


Barcelona  Car — Three  Single  Sash  in  the  Vestibl;les  Drop  into  Pockets 


The  single  upper  sash  of  each  double  window  is  sta- 
tionary and  fitted  with  opalescent  glass.  The  lower  two 
sash  are  arranged  to  raise.  In  the  end  vestibule  the 
sash  drop  into  pockets  behind  the  dasher.  A  motor- 
man's  cab  is  partitioned  off  at  diagonal  right  corners 
of  the  car.  These  have  swinging  doors  to  the  motor- 
man's  right,  for  entrance  and  exit,  and  another  at  his 
back,  making  the  cab  accessible  from  inside  the  car. 
As  the  side  door  is  glazed  in  the  upper  panel,  it  is  pro- 
vided with  a  pantasote  curtain.  A  stirrup-type  step  is 
installed  below  for  the  use  of  the  motorman. 


Plan  and  Seating  Arrangement  of  the  Hershet  Cuban  Railway  Car 


8 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


The  side  doors  at  the  central  platform  for  entrance 
and  exit  are  manually  operated  by  levers  located  at  the 
conductor's  position.  Each  door  slides  into  a  pocket 
next  to  the  central  platform  post  and  is  separately  oper- 
ated in  conjunction  with  a  sliding  step.  A  feature  of 
the  door  and  step  mechanism  is  that  the  doors  cannot  be 
opened  until  the  sliding  step  is  fully  out,  thus  eliminat- 
ing the  possibility  of  step  accidents.  A  single  sliding 
door  is  located  in  the  partition  between  the  second-class 
compartment  and  the  central  platform,  which  separates 
this  compartment  from  the  rest  of  the  car  in  a  rather 
exclusive  manner. 

In  the  second-class  compartment  four  reversible-back 
transverse  seats  on  each  side  of  the  aisle  and  a  semi- 
circular seat  against  the  front  vestibule  provide  seating 
accommodations  for  twenty  passengers.  All  reversible 
seats  in  this  compartment  are  of  the  Brill  "Winner" 
type,  with  spring  cushions  upholstered  with  rattan.  The 
interior  of  the  second-class  compartment  is  furnished  in 
mahogany.  The  third-class  compartment  is  equipped 
with  slat  seats.  There  are  five  reversible-back  Brill 
"Winner"  type  seats  on  each  side  of  the  aisle  and  a  lon- 
gitudinal seat  for  five  passengers  on  each  side  next  the 
central  platform,  together  with  a  circular  seat  for  four 
passengers  against  the  vestibule.  In  all,  this  provides 
seating  accommodations  for  thirty-four  third-class 
passengers  and  gives  a  total  seating  capacity  for  the  car 
of  fifty-four.  By  the  use  of  the  longitudinal  seats  next 
the  central  platform  in  the  third-class  compartment  the 
placing  of  vertical  and  horizontal  pipe  railings  is  per- 
mitted. This  arrangement  also  provides  additional 
standing  space  when  traffic  is  heavy. 

The  ceilings  are  of  agasote  and  below  the  windows 
hardwood  sheathing  is  used  painted  to  conform  to  the 
interior  finish  of  each  compartment.  These  cars  are 
equipped  for  multiple-unit  operation  and  have  panto- 
graph-type trolleys. 

Motor  Cars  for  the  Philadelphia  &  West 
Chester  Traction  Company 

Ten  cars  of  another  center-entrance  all-steel  motor 
type  were  put  into  commission  by  the  Philadelphia  & 
West  Chester  Traction  Company.  The  roofs  of  these 
cars  are  of  the  plain  arch  type,  of  A-in.  poplar  roof 
boards  covered  with  No.  8  canvas.  The  center  entrance 
is  provided  with  sliding  doors  of  two  sections,  each 
sliding  back  into  the  body  of  the  car.  The  doors, 
together  with  the  single  folding  step,  are  operated  by 
pneumatic  mechanism  controlled  from  the  conductor's 
position  on  the  center  platform.  The  National  Pneu- 
matic Company's  equipment  is  used  for  this  purpose. 

On  each  side  of  the  center  platform  and  on  each  side 
of  the  car  there  is  a  stationary  longitudinal  seat  for  two 
passengers.  There  is  also  a  stationary  seat  for  two  per- 
sons against  the  vestibule  window  to  the  left  of  the 
motorman.  A  hinged  longitudinal  folding  seat  of  cherry 
slats,  when  in  use,  extends  across  the  doors  on  the  closed 
side  of  the  center  platform.  The  reversible  seats  in  the 
car  body  are  also  of  the  "Winner"  type,  upholstered  in 
twill-woven  rattan. 

The  side  windows  are  fitted  with  double  sash,  the 
lower  portions  of  which  raise,  and  the  upper  sash,  each 
extending  across  the  width  of  two  lower  sash,  are  sta- 
tionary. The  three  vestibule  windows  at  each  end  drop 
into  pockets  and  those  in  the  center  and  at  the  right  are 
provided  with  suitable  sash  racks  which  permit  the  sash 
to  be  held  at  various  heights.  The  interior  finish  of  the 
car  is  cherry,  and  the  ceilings  are  of  agasote,  painted 


and  decorated  in  accordance  with  the  standard  of  the 
railway. 

At  diagonally  opposite  right-hand  corners  of  the  car 
body  a  motorman's  cab  is  installed,  entrance  to  which 
is  made  through  a  single  swinging  door  to  the  motor- 
man's  left  or  the  one  to  his  right. 

The  underframe  construction  consists  of  angle  side 
sills,  5  in.  x  3 i  in.  x  &  in.;  crossings  of  4-in.,  5i-\h.  chan- 
nels securely  gusseted  to  the  side-sill  angles  and  center 
stringers  of  6-in.,  lOA-lb.  channels.  The  side  posts  of 
the  upper  framing  are  of  H-in.  x  2-in.  x  A-in.  tees, 
extending  from  the  side  sill  angles  to  the  top  rail  and 
securely  riveted  to  No.  14  pressed  steel  U-shaped  car- 
lines.  Side  sheathing  and  letterboards  are  &-in.  steel. 
Some  of  the  principal  dimensions  are  given  in  Table  I. 


TABLE  I— DIMENSIONS  AND  WEIGHTS  OF  MOTOR  CARS 
FOR  PHILADELPHIA  &  WEST  CHESTER 
TRACTION  COMPANY 


Length  of  car  body  over  vestibule   46  ft.    3  In. 

Length  of  center  platform   6  ft.    9  In. 

Width  of  car  body  over  post   8  ft.    7  In. 

Height  from  rail  to  top  of  floor   3  ft.    8  In. 

Height  from  top  of  floor  over  trolley  pole   8  ft.  9  i  In. 

Seating  capacity   57 

Weight  complete    57,160  lb. 

Type  of  truck  Brill  27-M.C.B.-2X 

Wheelbase    6  ft. 

Track  gage   .  ..        5  ft.  2i  in. 

Diameter  of  wheels   S3  in. 

Journals   4J  in.  x  8  in.,  M.C.B. 


Equipment  for  Electrified  Hershey 
Cuban  Railway 

Hershey  Central,  where  the  vast  plantation  of  the 
well-known  Hershey  chocolate  and  cocoa  interests  is 
located,  is  situated  in  Havana  Province,  midway  be- 
tween Havana  and  Matanzas  on  the  north  coast  of  Cuba. 
For  several  years  the  surrounding  district  has  been 
served  by  the  Hershey  Cuban  Railway,  a  35-mile  steam 
line  which  is  now  in  the  process  of  electrification  and  ex- 
tension. With  the  completion  of  the  electrification  of  this 
line,  it  is  intended  to  maintain  the  service  between 
Havana  and  Matanzas,  a  distance  of  56  miles,  for  the 
transportation  of  sugar,  local  freight  and  express,  as 
well  as  a  multiple-unit  train  service  on  an  hourly  head- 
way schedule.  Including  all  spurs,  sidings  and  exten- 
sions this  railway  will  have  some  80  miles  of  track  when 
the  proposed  extensions  are  completed. 

Accompanying  illustrations  show  the  type  of  car  to  be 
used,  ten  of  which  were  ordered  from  this  company. 
The  cars  have  steel  underframes  consisting  of  side 
sills  with  4-in.  x  4-in.  x  rk-in.  angles  the  full  length  of 
the  body,  to  which  sVin.  steel  side  sheathing  is  fastened, 
extending  from  the  under  side  of  the  side-sill  angle  to 
the  belt  rail.  The  center  stringers  consist  of  two  6-in.,, 
10i-lb.  channels  extending  from  buffer  to  buffer.  Cross- 
ings are  of  4-in.,  51-lb.  channels  which  are  securely 
gusseted  to  the  side  sill  angles  and  the  channel  center 
stringers.  The  upper  structure  is  principally  of  wood 
with  body  and  vestibule  posts  of  oak.  Ash  and  yellow 
pine  are  used  for  the  other  members. 

The  closed  vestibule  on  each  end  is  constructed  with 
two  windows  and  a  swing-type  train  door.  The  windows 
have  double  sash,  the  top  sash  being  stationary  and  the- 
lower  sash  arranged  to  drop.  Sash  racks  are  included 
to  permit  holding  the  drop  vestibule  sash  at  any  desired 
distance.  The  upper  sash  of  the  swing  train  door  is 
fitted  with  double  sash,  the  top  one  of  which  is  station- 
ary and  the  lower  arranged  to  drop.  There  is  also  a 
swing  door  on  each  side  of  the  platform.  A  hinged  trap 
door  folds  up  against  the  end  of  the  car  body  when  this 
door  is  open.   Triple  steps  are  provided  on  each  side  of 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


9 


Plan  of  Car  for  Barcelona,  Spain 


the  platform.  The  height  from  the  rail  to  the  top  of  the 
first  step  is  14  in.  and  each  of  the  other  steps  is  12  in. 
high.  All  vestibule  sash  and  door  channels  are  of 
mahogany.  The  top  sash  in  the  side  windows  are  sta- 
tionary and  extend  across  the  space  of  the  two  lower 
sash,  which  are  arranged  to  raise.  The  upper  side  sash 
and  ventilator  sash  are  glazed  with  green  opalescent 
glass. 

The  roof  is  of  the  monitor  deck  type  extending  over 
the  hoods  in  steam  coach  style.  The  roof  boards  are  of 
poplar  and  after  being  given  a  thick  coat  of  paint,  its 
entire  length  is  covered  with  No.  8  canvas. 

As  will  be  noticed  from  the  illustration,  in  addition  to 


the  two  trolley  poles  and  bases  there  is  also  mounted  on 
the  roof  a  pantograph  type  of  trolley,  and  in  order  that 
the  roof  may  properly  support  this  equipment,  it  is 
strengthened  with  concealed  steel  rafters,  which  are  so 
placed  that  they  will  relieve  the  strain  of  the  trolley 
equipment.  Inside  the  car  body  the  floor  is  of  the  chan- 
arched  type,  filled  in  with  flexolith  painted  in  red  to 
conform  to  the  appearance  of  the  inside  finish.  Below 
the  belt  rail  on  each  side,  the  car  is  sheathed  with  aga- 
sote.  The  ceilings  are  also  of  agasote.  Mahogany  is 
also  used  for  the  inside  finish,  which  is  quite  plain,  con- 
forming to  what  is  known  as  "sanitary  finish."  No 
advertising  moldings  are  used  in  the  construction. 


No.  1 — Third-Class  Compartment  in  a  Barcelona  Car.    No.  2 — Second-Class  Compartment  of  Center-Entrance  Car  for 
Barcelona.    No.  3 — All-Steel  Center-Entrance  Motor  Car  for  Barcelona  '  ' 


10 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


A  continuous  iron  basket  rack  is  placed  above  the 
windows  on  each  side  of  the  car  for  the  storage  of 
miscellaneous  packages  which  the  passengers  may  have. 
The  seats  are  of  the  reversible-back  "Winner"  type, 
including  pressed  steel  pedestals,  wall  and  aisle  plates. 
The  aisle  plate  is  capped  with  mahogany  arm  rests.  In 
each  of  the  four  corners  of  the  car  body  there  is  a  small 
longitudinal  seat.  All  seats  are  upholstered  with  twill- 
woven  rattan. 

In  one  corner  of  the  body  is  a  saloon,  next  to  which 
is  an  alcove  for  a  water  cooler.  At  diagonal  corners  on 
each  platform  a  motorman's  cab  is  partitioned  off. 

The  trucks  are  of  the  Brill  27-M.C.B.-2X  type 
with  6-ft.  wheelbase  and 
6-ft.  3-in.  side-frame  cen- 
ters. The  trucks  are  con- 
structed for  standard-gage 
track.  They  are  constructed 
with  soli  d-f  o  r  g  e  d  side 
frames  and  are  equipped 
with  4i-in.  x  8-in.  journals 
of  the  M.  C.  B.  type.  The 
weight  of  the  car  and  trucks 
complete  is  64,280  lb. 

Philadelphia  &  Western 
Car 

A  56-ft.  all-steel  passen- 
ger car  has  been  purchased 
by  the  Philadelphia  &  West- 


at  each  end  of  the  car  body.  These  bulkheads  are  con- 
structed with  suitable  pockets  to  take  the  sliding  doors. 

The  seats,  of  the  reversible  "Winner"  type,  are 
40  in.  long.  Eighteen  transverse  seats  upholstered  in 
twill-woven  rattan  are  placed  in  the  main  passenger 
compartment  and  eight  of  the  same  type  in  the  smoking 
compartment.  These  seats  have  arm  rests  of  an  inter- 
urban  and  steam  car  design  and  are  also  equipped  with 
single  automatic  foot  rests  which  move  into  position 
with  the  reversing  of  the  seat-back.  Between  the  seats 
the  aisle  is  26i  in.  wide.  On  the  center  platform  back 
against  the  partition  are  four  folding  wood  slat  seats, 
providing  additional  accommodations  for  eight  persons. 

The  seating  capacity  of  the 
passenger  compartment  is 
thirty-six,  the  smoking  com- 
partment sixteen,  making  a 
total  of  sixty  persons. 

The  interior  finish,  in- 
cluding doors,  moldings, 
etc.,  is  of  mahogany,  and 
agasote  is  used  for  the  in- 
side lining  below  the  win- 
dow sills  and  also  for  the 
ceilings.  At  the  center- 
entrance  door  no  steps  are 
provided  as  the  car  is  con- 
structed so  that  the  floor 
will  come  flush  with  the  sta- 
tion platforms  of  the  rail- 


At  Top,  Interior  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Western  Railway's  New  Car.    At  Bottom,  Passenger  and  Smoking  Car  of 

the  Philadelphia  &  Western  Railway 


era  Railway.  The  roof  is  of  the  plain  arched  type  and 
is  constructed  of  yellow  poplar  securely  bolted  to  the 
pressed  steel  carlines  and  covered  with  No.  8  cotton  duck. 

The  lower  sash  of  the  side  windows  are  arranged  to 
raise  and  are  fitted  with  grooves  with  the  "Renitent" 
all-metal  post  casings.  The  two  windows  in  each  vesti- 
bule have  stationary  sash.  With  the  exception  of  the 
one  in  the  center  of  each  vestibule  all  doors  are  of  the 
sliding  type  and  are  pneumatically  operated.  Steel  bulk- 
heads are  placed  on  each  side  of  the  center  platform  and 


table  ii— dimensions  of  all-steel,  passenger  and 
smoking  motor  car  for  philadelphia  & 
western  railway 

Length  of  body  over  bumpers   5«  ft 

Length  over  corner  posts   44  ft  31  In. 

Width  of  car  body  over  posts. .   10  ft.    I  In. 

Height  from  rail  to  top  of  roof   12  ft.  91  In. 

Height  from  rail  to  top  of  floor   4  ft.  91  In. 

Truck  centers   HSV  ,nm' 

Post  centers    2  ft.  10  In. 

Center  door  opening   3ft  6iin. 

Type  of  truck   Brill  27-M.C.B.-B 

Wheelbase  of  truck   6  rt    B  in. 

Diameter  of  rolled  steel  wheels   34  in 

Journals    5  x  9  in.  M.C.B. 


way  company.  This  car  is  equipped  with  Westinghouse 
A.  M.  M.  air  brakes  and  General  Electric  263-A  type 
motors  and  control.  The  weight  completely  equipped  is 
78,480  lb.  Some  of  the  principal  dimensions  of  the  car 
are  given  in  Table  II. 


Protecting  Eyes  of  Electric  Welders 

A DEVICE  developed  by  an  employee  of  the  Market 
Street  Railway  of  San  Francisco  affords  pro- 
tection for  the  eyes  of  an  electric  welder  without  the 
use  of  the  usual  metal  head  dress.  It  consists  of  a 
board  slotted  near  one  end  for  the  insertion  of  colored 
glasses  which  are  held  in  place  by  a  clamp.  The  opera- 
tor holds  the  board  in  the  proper  position  with  his 
left  hand,  while  his  right  hand  manipulates  the  weld- 
ing tool.  In  locations  where  an  assistant  would  other- 
wise be  required,  with  this  device  a  single  operator 
can  safely  carry  on  the  welding  operation  because  he 
has  an  unobstructed  view  in  all  directions.  The  board 
hangs  from  a  strap  around  the  operator's  neck. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


II 


Introducing  Economies  in  the  Paint  Shop 

Cost  of  Painting  Freight  Cars  Cut  in  Two  by  Use  of  a  Painting  Machine  and  a  Saving  of  40  per  Cent 
Obtained  in  Cost  of  Painting  Passenger  Cars  Through  Simplifying  the  Method 
and  Reducing  the  Labor  Necessary 

By  W.  G.  Murrin 

Assistant  General  Manager  British  Columbia  Electric  Railway,  Vancouver 


r'F^HE  use  of  efficient  methods  in  the  paint  shop 
1 1  speeds  up  work  and  yields  economies  that  are  most 
JL  essential  in  these  times  of  high  prices.  The  ex- 
perience of  the  British  Columbia  Electric  Railway  and 
the  methods  by  which  the  costs  of  painting  equipment 
were  cut  in  half  should  prove  interesting  to  those  re- 
sponsible for  this  work  on  other  systems. 

On  the  mainland  division  of  the  property,  comprising 
144  miles  of  city  and  158  miles  of  interurban  tracks, 
the  mechanical  department  has  the  care  of  250  city 
cars,  seventy-three  interurban  passenger  and  express 
cars,  thirteen  locomotives,  more  than  400  standard 
freight  cars  and  a  number  of  service  and  construction 
units,  making  altogether  805  cars.  These  cars  are 
maintained  in  four  carhouses  and  one  freight  repair 
yard,  with  the  general  shops  located  in  the  carhouse  at 
Prior  Street,  Vancouver.  Painting  is  done  to  freight 
equipment  at  the  "rep.  track,"  in  New  Westminster, 
which  is  the  center  of  the  interurban  systems,  and  to 
all  other  equipment  in  the  paint  shops  at  Vancouver, 
which  have  a  capacity  of  six  cars. 

Cost  of  Painting  Passenger  Equipment 
Decreased  50  per  Cent 

Up  to  the  middle  of  1915,  when  the  effects  of  the 
great  war,  combined  with  the  peak  of  the  jitney  craze, 
brought  the  railway  revenue  down  to  the  lowest  point 
in  the  last  ten  years,  passenger  cars  were  painted  about 
every  two  years,  the  whole  car  being  repainted,  as 
outlined  in  the  schedule  below.  The  need  for  stringent 
economy  led  the  master  mechanic  and  paint  shop  force 
to  study  the  work  more  closely,  as  a  result  of  which 
they  developed  a  method  of  treating  the  cars  which  prac- 
tically cut  the  cost  of  ordinary  periodical  painting  in 
two.  It  was  found  that  while  cars  require  revarnishing 
comparatively  often,  the  groundwork  remains  in  good 
condition  for  about  ten  years,  and  so,  until  the  varnish 
begins  to  show  signs  of  peeling  off,  it  can  be  used  as 
a  ground  and  need  not  be  entirely  removed  at  each  time 
of  painting. 

Since  the  method  was  changed,  six  consecutive  wage 
increases  have  brought  the  cost  back  to  what  it  was 
under  the  old  method,  but  in  view  of  this  the  actual 
saving  is  the  more  noticeable.  The  old  method  used  for 
passenger  cars  with  city  equipment  was  as  follows: 
(1)  Washing;  (2)  varnish  removed  where  necessary; 
(3)  sandpapering,  puttying  up  nail  holes,  joints,  etc., 
where  repairs  had  been  made  and  priming  over  new 
work;  (4)  two  coats  of  body  color;  (5)  lettering  and 
striping  put  on;  (6)  two  coats  of  varnish;  (7)  painting 
trucks,  ironwork,  etc.  The  average  cost  of  this  work 
per  city  car  was  about  $28  for  material  and  $46  for 
labor,  making  a  total  of  $74.  In  some  cases  the  cost 
reached  $85  or  more.  Interurban  cars  were  propor- 
tionately higher. 

The  method  was  simplified  in  the  revision  as  follows: 
After  washing,  the  body  is  sandpapered  where  neces- 


sary, such  as  around  repairs,  over  scratches  or  where 
the  varnish  shows  cracks;  new  work  is  primed.  The 
light  color  is  given  one  coat  and  the  dark  color  touched 
up  where  necessary  to  an  even  base  for  the  next  coat, 
with  one  coat  over  new  work.    Then,  after  retouching 


Spray  Machine  Used  for  Painting  Cars  at  Vancouver 


of  the  gold-leaf  work  where  required,  one  full  coat  of 
dark  color  is  applied,  with  "cutting  in"  around  the  let- 
tering and  striping  with  a  fine  brush.  Then  follow  the 
usual  coats  of  rubbing  and  finishing  varnish.  The  cost 
of  this  method  averaged  at  first  about  $16  for  material 
and  $28  for  labor,  a  total  of  $44.  The  interior  painting 
was  not  materially  altered,  except  to  substitute  paint 
for  varnish  in  some  places,  particularly  where  the 
original  natural  finish  was  becoming  discolored  from 
age  or  the  action  of  the  weather. 

The  color  standards  for  city  equipment  are:  Red 
roof ;  dark  green  on  fascia,  corner  posts,  dash,  sides 
below  belt  rail  and  vestibule  ceilings ;  light  corn  color 
for  window  posts;  light  red  on  sash,  doors,  vestibule 
wainscots,  trussplanks,  etc.,  and  seat  frames ;  drop  black 
on  moldings,  and  black  asphaltum  for  trucks  and  iron- 
work. 

For  interurban  cars,  the  corn  color  is  replaced  with 
dark  green,  with  a  little  striping  of  vermilion  on 
moldings.  Locomotives  have  Pullman  green,  with  yel- 
low lettering  instead  of  gold  leaf. 

To  show  the  effect  of  rising  labor  rates,  the  following 
comparison  is  interesting: 


AVERAGE  COST  OF  PAINTING  CITY  CARS 


Year 

Material 

Labor 

Total 

1915-16 

$16  65 

$26. 10 

$42  75 

1916-17 

14  70 

30  75 

45  45 

1917-18 

1  5  00 

32  60 

47.60 

1918-19 

15.65 

35  25 

50  90 

1919-20 

20  00 

42  25 

62  25 

1920-21 

20  30 

53.60 

73  90 

12 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


Had  the  old  method  been  still  in  use  the  last  figure 
would  have  been  about  $125  per  car.  The  saving,  there- 
fore, has  been  more  than  40  per  cent. 

As  most  of  the  freight  equipment  was  purchased  in 
1912  and  1913,  repainting  on  an  extensive  sca'e  was  not 
begun  till  early  in  1919.  In  July  of  that  year  a  Dunn 
type-AA  painting  machine  was  purchased,  with  a  capac- 
ity of  10  gal.  The  saving  effected  by  this  machine  was 
such  that  it  was  paid  for  before  twelve  box  cars  had 
been  completed. 

Freight  Equipment  Painted  with  Machine 
at  Less  than  Half  the  Cost 

To  paint  and  letter  a  40-ft.  box  car  by  ordinary  means 
required  eight  to  twelve  hours  for  lettering  and  about 
thirty-six  hours  for  painting,  practically  all  of  this  work 
being  done  by  a  first-class  freight-car  painter.  The 
average  cost  for  material  was  $18.50  and  labor  $27,  a 
total  of  $45.50  per  car.  The  standard  color  is  green, 
with  lettering  in  white  lead  put  on  with  stencils.  About 
6  gal.  of  mixed  green,  1  gal.  of  red  roof  paint  and  one- 
half  pint  of  white  lead  were  used  to  a  car. 

After  a  few  cars  had  been  done  with  the  machine  and 
the  men  had  acquired  experience  in  operating  it,  it  was 
found  that  better  work  was  being  done  with  a  gallon 
and  a  half  less  paint  per  car.  The  average  time  for 
applying  the  green  paint  on  all  four  sides  was  about 
two  hours ;  one  hour  was  plenty  for  the  roof,  and  the 
time  for  lettering  was  about  eight  hours.  The  machine 
does  not  require  a  regular  painter  and  can  be  operated 
by  a  brush  hand.  The  actual  cost  of  the  first  twenty- 
four  box  cars  done  with  the  machine  was  $14.55  for 
material  and  $6.80  for  labor,  a  total  of  $21.35  per  car. 
The  saving  is  therefore  about  51  per  cent. 

The  accompanying  photograph  shows  the  machine  in 
operation,  and  an  idea  of  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
work  is  done  can  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that  while 
the  photographer  was  changing  plates  and  taking  three 
exposures  the  end  and  portion  of  the  side  shown  was 
sprayed.  The  paint  is  laid  on  in  two  coats,  the  amount 
to  a  coat  being  determined  by  the  distance  from  the 
surface  at  which  the  nozzle  is  held.  Rough  spots,  cracks, 
nail  holes,  etc.,  are  penetrated  more  thoroughly  than  can 
be  done  with  the  brush,  and  the  finish  is  all  that  could 
be  desired.  At  first  some  difficulty  was  found  from  the 
spray  being  carried  by  air  currents,  till  all  the  sur- 
rounding "scenery"  was  being  painted,  as  well  as  the 
operator,  but  experience  has  enabled  the  reduction  of 
this  trouble  to  a  negligible  amount.  As  already  stated, 
the  actual  amount  of  paint  used  is  less  than  with  the 
brush.  A  flat  car  will  require  about  i  gal.  of  paint  and 
a  quarter  of  a  pint  of  lead.  One  hour  is  required  with 
the  machine  and  four  and  a  half  hours  for  stenciling, 
the  total  cost  being  about  $8. 

The  machine  is  operated  by  compressed  air  at  60  lb. 
pressure,  supplied  from  a  pipe  line  through  a  feed 
valve,  with  outlets  convenient  to  the  painting  track. 
In  order  to  avoid  clogging  of  valves  and  atomizer  it  is 
better  to  clean  out  the  machine  after  using,  so  the  work 
is  arranged  so  as  to  keep  the  machine  in  operation  all 
day,  a  sufficient  number  of  cars  being  done  at  a  time, 
thus  reducing  the  extra  labor  for  cleaning  the  machine 
to  a  minimum  per  car. 

The  success  attained  in  painting  cars  has  suggested 
the  use  of  the  machine  for  painting  shelters  and  other 
structures  along  the  right-of-way,  such  as  telephone 
booths.  This  will  probably  be  tried  during  the  present 
summer. 


Electrification  at  Edinburgh 

Gasoline  Motor  Buses  and  Electric  Railway  Cars  Replace 
Cable  Operation — The  Choice  Was  Determined  by 
Traffic,  Power  and  Price  Conditions 

THE  Electric  Railway  Journal  of  Oct.  2,  1920, 
contained  some  interesting  comparisons  of  electric 
car  and  gasoline  motor  bus  costs  presented  by  R.  S. 
Pilcher,  tramways  manager  Edinburgh  Corporation 
Tramways.  The  Edinburgh  problem  is  that  of  super- 
seding the  cable  system  by  a  combination  of  electric 
railway  and  motor  bus  routes  which  will  give  the  city 
the  most  effective  transportation  at  lowest  over-all  cost. 
The  installation  of  buses  was  begun  in  1919  on  some  of 
the  northern  cable  routes,  where  the  track  was  in  the 
worst  condition.  In  a  report  made  to  the  Municipal 
Council  on  April  2,  1921,  Mr.  Pilcher  goes  into  detail 
concerning  future  work.  This  report  is  abstracted 
herewith. 

Carhouse,  Shop,  Line  and  Track  Estimates 

Mr.  Pilcher  first  explains  what  has  been  done  in  the 
way  of  installing  electric  cars  and  buses,  and  to  care  for 
the  electric  cars  he  recommends  a  forty-car  addition  to 


Sample  Rebuilt  Double-Deck  Car,  Showing  Vestibuling 
and  Open  Portions  of  Upper  Deck 


the  Leith  carhouse  at  a  cost  of  £23,953  (about  $96,000 
at  $4  to  the  pound)  and  alterations  at  the  Shrubhill 
shops  for  the  pit  accommodation,  etc.,  of  thirty  cars  at 
a  cost  of  £9,466  (about  $37,900). 

For  all  of  the  first  section,  except  Leith  Walk,  span 
construction,  including  the  use  of  rosettes,  is  recom- 
mended. The  width,  69  ft.,  of  Leith  Walk,  however, 
suggests  the  use  of  center-pole  construction  in  harmony 
with  the  construction  already  in  use  on  the  absorbed 
Leith  Tramways.  These  poles  would  be  used  also  for 
lighting  fixtures,  the  existing  lighting  standards  being 
replaced.  The  estimated  cost  of  4.3  miles  overhead  line, 
including  section  boxes,  is  placed  at  £19,989  ($80,000). 

Although  the  rails  on  this  section  weigh  only  83  lb. 
per  yard,  while  the  latest  British  practice  calls  for  105 
lb.  and  more,  Mr.  Pilcher  recommends  their  retention, 
provided  the  rail  joints  are  in  good  condition,  and  that 
these  joints  be  bonded  and  welded.  The  cost  of  this 
work  for  3.4  miles  of  route  is  placed  at  £1,600  ($6,400) 
a  mile.  It  is  noted  that  the  use  of  the  Dicker  electric 
weld  on  1,550  yd.  of  track  on  this  route  was  very  suc- 
cessful, despite  the  worn  condition  of  the  rails,  and  that 
the  cost  of  entirely  renewing  the  track  would  be  £27,000 
($108,000)  per  mile  of  route. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  penny  or  short-haul  riders 
of  Edinburgh  constitute  25  per  cent  of  the  traffic,  it  is 
not  desirable,  says  Mr.  Pilcher,  to  have  a  double-deck 
car  seating  more  than  sixty  passengers  and  over  31  ft. 
long,  as  a  larger  car  would  have  too  many  stops  to  per- 
mit a  satisfactory  rate  of  speed.  For  suburban  traffic, 
a  larger  car  can  be  considered  when  the  time  comes. 
Because  of  the  climatic  conditions,  the  upper  decks  of  all 
cars  should  be  covered,  but  open  seats  for  four  passen- 
gers could  be  left  at  each  end.  The  ventilator  windows 
should  be  arranged  to  open  horizontally  instead  of  ver- 
tically to  insure  better  ventilation.  Not  only  would  Mr. 
Pilcher  finish  the  lower  saloon  in  teak  but  he  also  sug- 
gests the  rather  novel  (in  Great  Britain)  installation  of 
upholstered  cushions  and  back  rests  of  leather  or  leather 
substitute,  the  usual  practice  being  along  less  comfort- 
able lines. 

Another  departure  from  current  practice  would  be  the 
spacious  platforms — these  being  6  ft.  1  in.  long — in- 
closed vestibules  and  front  exits  with  folding  gates  and 
steps  operated  by  the  motorman.  These  front  exits  are 
intended  only  for  use  at  terminals  and  busy  stopping 
places. 

The  bodies  would  be  mounted  on  single  trucks  of  long 
wheelbase,  the  journal  boxes  being  fitted  with  links  to 
give  a  certain  amount  of  play  to  the  axle  when  rounding 
curves.  Two  trucks  of  this  type  and  with  a  7  ft.  6  in. 
wheelbase  are  already  in  use  on  the  Leith  electric  lines. 
Two  distinct  brakes  are  suggested:  (1)  Ordinary  hand 
wheelbrake  with  Ackley  attachment;  (2)  magnetic  track 
brake  operated  from  car  motors  acting  as  generators. 
An  additional  power  track  brake  would  be  used  in  later 
operation  of  steeper  lines. 

Rebuilt  Double-Deck,  Double-Truck  Cars 
Will  Also  Be  Used 

Where  possible,  Mr.  Pilcher  recommends  the  recon- 
struction of  top-cover  cable  cars  at  a  cost  of  about 


Pressed  Steel  Welded  Motor  Truck  with  Interpole  Motors 
for  Edinburgh  Cars 


£300  ($1,200)  each  to  the  style  illustrated.  These  cars 
also  happen  to  be  exceptionally  light.  A  trial  has 
already  been  made  of  refitting  the  existing  cable  trucks 
for  electric  traction.  The  wheels  have  been  increased 
from  22  in.  to  24  in.  diameter,  stronger  axles  have  been 
installed,  the  spring  suspension  has  been  altered  and  the 
journals  have  been  equipped  with  roller  bearings.  The 
cars  have  been  equipped  with  two  27-hp.  interpole,  self- 
ventilated  motors.  The  illustration  on  page  12  shows 
this  car. 

The  electrical  and  mechanical  equipment  of  this 
sample  car  weighs  only  7,668  lb.  compared  with  13,492 
lb.  for  that  of  the  like  equipment  on  an  electric  car  of 
the  Slateford  route.  The  sample  car  complete  weighs 
18,928  lb.,  which  is  5,216  lb.  less  than  the  single-truck 
electric  cars  on  the  Leith  Lines.  The  motors  used  are 
stated  to  be  of  the  safety  car  type.  Tests  of  the  sample 
car  show  a  maximum  running  speed  of  17.5  m.p.h. 
when  operating  on  the  level  and  11.5  m.p.h.  on  a  5  per 
cent  grade. 

To  operate  the  first  section  forty-seven  cars  will  be 
required.    Mr.  Pilcher  suggests  that  bids  be  asked  for 


Edinburgh  Corporation  Motor  Bus  Climbing  the  Mound,  the  First  Cable  Route  in  Edinburgh  to  be  Abandonee). 
Scott  Monument  and  Princess  Street  in  the  Background 


14 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


sixteen  new  cars  and  that  thirty-one  of  the  existing 
cable  cars  be  converted.  The  cost  is  estimated  as 
follows : 

16  car  bodies  at  £1,500  each   £24,000  ($96,000) 

31  cable  cars  with  new  top  covers,  to  be  converted, 

£300  each   9,300  ($  37,200) 

45  electrical  and  mechanical  equipments  at  £1,400 

eich   63,000  ($252,000) 

£96,300  ($385,290) 

The  third  item  includes  new  trucks  for  sixteen  cars 
and  altered  trucks  for  thirty-one  cars. 

On  certain  other  routes  the  motor  bus  is  considered 
more  suitable  so  long  as  the  present  prohibitive  prices 
of  track  continue.  In  conclu  sion,  Mr.  Pilcher  summa- 
rizes the  chief  reasons  why  electrification  should  be 
proceeded  with  as  soon  as  sufficient  power  is  available, 
namely,  greater  reliability  of  service,  through  running 
to  the  neighboring  city  of  Leith  and  lower  over-all  cost 
than  the  cable  system,  despite  additional  capital  re- 
quirements. 

Germany  Sticks  to  Single  Phase 

Federal  Railway  Administration  Has  Never,  Even  Tempo- 
rarily, Considered  Any  Other  System — Sweden  Is 
Extending  Its  Single  Phase  Lines 

ACCORDING  to  the  Deutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung 
.  for  May  14,  the  German  Federal  Railway  Adminis- 
tration has  denied  that  it  is  considering  any  system 
other  than  the  single-phase  for  its  railway  electrifica- 
tion. Commenting  on  a  contributed  article  in  the  issue 
of  this  paper  for  March  5  in  a  statement  which  is  re- 
ported to  be  official,  the  Zeitung  says,  in  part:  "The 
German  Federal  Railway  Administration  has  always 
considered  the  single-phase  system  as  the  only  one  pos- 
sible for  its  main  lines  and  has  never,  not  even  tempo- 
rarily, considered  any  other.  A  similar  stand  was  taken 
previously  by  the  individual  state  administrations.  All 
existing  federal  main  lines  are  a.-c.  operated,  and  only 
this  system  will  be  used  for  any  new  lines.  Hence,  any 
international  congress  is  not  necessary.  Last  February 
there  was  a  meeting  of  representatives  of  the  federal 
lines  and  those  of  private  lines,  but  its  only  purpose  was 
to  solve  the  question  of  current  supply." 

Sweden  is  also  extending  its  single-phase  lines.  Ac- 
cording to  F.  Overholm,  chief  electrical  engineer,  Swed- 
ish State  Railways,  there  were  in  Sweden  in  May  of 
this  year  260  miles  of  electrified  railroads,  of  which  240 
were  single  phase  and  20  were  direct  current,  and  the 
extensions  during  the  remainder  of  this  year,  all  single 
phase,  will  amount  to  140  miles. 


don,  Brinkley  and  Cotton  Plant.  The  Arkansas  Light 
&  Power  Company  will  generate  the  electricity  at  its 
plants  at  Pine  Bluff  and  Picron,  from  which  lines 
extend  to  other  communities.  The  Arkansas  Light  & 
Power  Company  also  operates  stations  at  Russellville. 


New  High- Voltage  Line  in  Arkansas 

THE  Arkansas  Light  &  Power  Company  of  Pine 
Bluff  has  started  work  on  the  construction  of  a 
33,000-volt  line  from  its  substation  at  Stuttgart  to  the 
substation  of  the  Arkansas  Utility  Company  at  Claren- 
don, a  distance  of  20  miles.  The  line  will  cost  $60,000 
and  is  being  built  by  William  Crooks,  engineer  and  con- 
tractor. No.  0000  steel  aluminum  strand  will  be  used 
with  R.  Thomas  &  Sons  No.  3,058  insulators  and 
Moloney  transformers.  White  cedar  poles  are  to  be 
used,  except  where  the  line  crosses  the  White  River. 
The  1,000-ft.  span  across  this  stream  will  be  suspended 
from  two  90-ft.  steel  towers.  It  is  expected  that  the 
work  will  be  completed  by  July  15.  The  Arkansas 
Utility  Company  will  distribute  the  electricity  at  Claren- 


3ar 


Using  Lye  to  Remove  Old  Insulation 

In  Reinsulating  and  Repairing  Old-Type  Field  Coils  an 
Indiana  Railway  Facilitates  the  Removal  of  Old 
Insulation  and  Tearing   Down  Coils  By 
Use  of  Lye 

By  J.  E.  Hester 

Master  Mechanic  Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana. 
Anderson,  Ind. 

THE  Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana  has  twenty 
quadruple  equipments  of  Westinghouse  No.  85 
motors  in  service.  This  type  of  motor  has  wire-wound 
field  coils  and,  due  to  insulation  breakdowns,  it  has  been 
found  necessary  to  tear  them  down  and  reinsulate  them 
a  number  of  times  during  the  twenty  years  of  their  active 

service.  In  this  work  soaking 
the  field  coils  in  a  strong  solu- 
tion of  lye  for  several  days 
has  been  found  to  loosen  the 
eld  baked  insulation,  which  can 
then  be  readily  removed.  After 
the  insulation  has  been  taken 
off  the  wires,  the  coils  are  al- 
lowed to  dry  and  are  again 
reinsulated  by  hand,  with  the 
aid  of  a  type  of  rack  shown  in 
the  accompanying  illustration. 
The  work  of  reinsulating  the 
coils  is  necessarily  done  by 
hand  and  a  laborer  can  insu- 
late two  of  these  coils  a  day. 

In  re-forming  the  coils  the 
wire  is  first  given  a  coat  of 
linen  tape  and  the  wires  are 
then  reassembled  by  hand  in 
as  nearly  their  original  shape 
as  possible,  after  which  a  coat 
of  cotton  tape  is  applied.  The 
coils  are  then  dipped  and 
baked,  after  which  they  are 
put  into  a  forming  press  to  restore  them  to  their 
original  shape. 

The  forming  press  is  a  homemade  affair,  constructed 
of  second-hand  material  found  on  the  property.  The 
base  consists  of  a  20-in.,  70-lb.  steel  I-beam,  to  one  end 
of  which  an  air  cylinder  is  fastened.  To  operate  this 
press  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  piston  travel  of  231  in., 
and  in  order  to  obtain  this  long  travel  two  12-in.  air- 
brake cylinders  were  welded  together.  The  form  used 
for  reshaping  the  coils  is  made  of  cast  iron  and  bolted 
to  the  opposite  end  of  the  I-beam.  It  is  connected  to  the 
air  cylinder  by  the  1-in.  x  6-in.  pressure  bar  with  a 
ratio  of  2  to  1.  Air  for  operating  the  mechanism  is 
secured  from  a  convenient  air-testing  bench,  and  a 
pressure  of  100  lb.  per  square  inch  is  used. 

After  the  coils  have  been  properly  formed  they  are 
again  put  in  the  baking  oven  and  given  another  baking, 
as  the  previous  baking  was  only  preliminary  and  the 
coils  were  but  partly  baked.  After  this  final  baking, 
additional  insulation  is  applied  and  the  leads  are  soldered 
in  place.  By  this  method  it  is  found  that  the  coils  are 
restored  to  their  original  condition  for  a  very  small  cost 
as  compared  with  that  of  new  coils. 


Vertical  Rack  for  Use  in 
Reinsulating  Field  Coils 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


15 


Two  Views  Showing  Actual  Appearance  of  Atlanta's  Thermit  Weld  Platform 


Building  Frogs  in  Atlanta 

Experience  Shows  that  a  Good  Welding  Platform  Is  Most 
Essential  to  Insure  the  Careful  Align- 
ment of  Parts 

FOR  more  than  a  year  now  the  Georgia  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  has  been  building 
crossovers  and  frogs  by  the  Thermit  process  in  cases 
where  one  or  two  frogs  have  gone  to  pieces  in  a  cross- 
ing the  rest  of  which  is  apparently  good  for  several 
years.  The  company  reports  that  there  has  been  uni- 
form satisfaction  in  this  work.  Records  indicate  that, 
in  the  case  of  the  welding  of  frogs,  the  cost  has  been 
about  one-third  of  the  cost  of  a  new  frog  ordered  es- 
pecially to  take  the  place  of  the  one  which  had  given  out. 

The  first  requirement,  however,  to  make  good  frogs 
is  that  there  shall  be  a  good  platform  upon  which  to 
build  them,  so  that  the  various  parts  which  are  to  be 
welded  together  will  be  aligned  accurately  and  held  in 
place  rigidly  while  the  welding  is  being  done.  Accord- 
ingly, the  ways  and  structures  department,  under  the 
direction  of  C.  A.  Smith,  superintendent  of  roadway, 
has  constructed  a  special  platform,  housed  under  a  roof, 
for  this  purpose.  An  accompanying  drawing  indicates 
the  details  of  this  platform,  with  the  type  of  clamp 
used  also  shown.  It  is  seen  that  this  is  constructed  by 
the  use  of  old  rails  imbedded  in  concrete  and  the  plat- 
form gives  excellent  satisfaction.    Accompanying  pho- 


tographs show  the  platform  installed  and  a  rail  on  it 
ready  for  welding. 

Another  illustration  shows  the  entire  installation 
with  the  roofing  for  protection  against  weather. 


Entire  Welding  Installation  with  Roofing  for  Protection 
Against  Weather 


Section  A-A 


Details  of  Thermit  Weld  Platform  Constructed  of  Rail  and  Concrete  in  Atlanta 


16 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


New  Brick  Crossing  in  Little  Rock 

Maintaining  Brick  Crossings 

IN  MANY  cities  brick  paving  is  used  between  the  car 
tracks,  and  where  this  kind  of  paving  is  used  with 
T-rails  and  the  track  is  crossed  by  heavy  vehicular 
traffic  the  usual  result  is  a  wearing  away  of  the  bricks 
next  to  the  rail  until  such  a  state  is  reached  that  auto- 
mobilists  swear  at  the  street  railway  company.  If  the 
pavement  is  maintained  satisfactorily,  the  cost  is  ex- 
ceedingly high. 

In  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  this  trouble  has  been  an  ever- 
present  annoyance  to  the  railway  management,  but  a 


Standard  paving 
brick  • 


Standard  paving 
brick  .' 


Old  T-Rail  with  One  Flange  Cut  Off,  Installed  as 
Protection  on  Brick  Crossing 

satisfactory  scheme  has  now  been  devised  so  that  in 
the  future  such  crossings,  when  once  repaired,  will  stay 
that  way. 

Old  lengths  of  T-rail  have  had  one  flange  cut  off  by 
an  oxyacetylene  torch,  so  that  they  may  be  set  in  the 
pavement  on  the  ties  with  a  H-in.  spacing  between  the 
edges  of  the  wheel  rail  and  the  guard  rail  thus  installed, 
leaving  this  li  in.  as  a  fiangeway.  An  accompanying 
sketch  shows  the  relative  arrangement  of  the  two  rails. 
Standard  brick  is  then  laid  directly  against  this  inside 
guard  rail  as  well  as  the  outside  rail,  so  that  the  finished 
crossing  is  absolutely  level  and  smooth  except  for  the 
l*-in.  fiangeway  space  which  remains.    This  provides 


a  very  satisfactory  crossing  for  vehicular  traffic,  and 
the  one  installation  which  has  so  far  been  made  in 
Little  Rock  indicates  no  tendency  toward  deterioration 
at  all. 

The  change  has  been  so  noticeable  that  there  have 
been  many  freely  offered  commendations  of  the  railway 
company  for  its  efforts  in  this  direction. 

Accompanying  photographs  show  the  typical  crossing 
before  treatment  and  the  crossing  which  has  been  built 
as  described  herewith. 


Effective  Air  Sander 

PARTLY,  at  least,  as  a  result  of  the  recommendations 
of  its  safety  committee,  the  Chattanooga  Railway  & 
Light  Company  has  been  equipping  its  cars  with  air 
sanders.  In  arriving  at  a  decision  as  to  the  type  of 
sanders  to  use  the  company  paid  particular  atten- 
tion to  a  study  of  how  to  keep  the  sand  always  dry. 
Previous  experience  had  indicated  that  sand  boxes 
under  the  car  or  under  the  front  seat  and  resting  on 
the  floor  were  very 
apt  to  have  the  sand 
in  them  made  wet  by 
water  thrown  off  by 
the  wheels.  The  ac- 
companying illustra- 
tion shows  the  sand 
box  finally  decided 
upon  and  now  being 
installed  upon  the 
cars  of  this  company. 
This  sand  box  is 
metal,  shaped  very 
much  like  a  con- 
troller box,  and  is 
mounted  about  5  in. 
or  6  in.  above  the 
floor  of  the  platform. 
The  usual  air  pipe 
leads  to  the  box  at 
the  bottom  and  a 
flexible  coiled  wire 
sand  pipe  about  2  in. 
in  diameter  carries 
the  sand  to  the  point 

in  front  of  one  wheel  where  it  is  desired.  Experience 
so  far  with  this  installation  has  proved  that  the  sand  is 
always  dry,  and  the  company  is  satisfied  with  this 
installation.  In  some  cases  there  has  not  been  enough 
room  to  place  the  sand  box  on  the  rear  or  bulkhead  side 
of  the  platform  and  it  has  been  necessary  to  mount  it  at 
the  left  of  the  controller.  This  necessitates,  of  course,  a 
much  longer  sand  pipe  from  the  box  to  the  discharge 
point  above  the  rail,  in  some  cases  making  a  pipe  as  long 
as  4  ft.  or  5  ft.,  but  this  apparently  has  not  diminished 
the  effectiveness  of  sand  delivery  as  needed. 


New  Type  Sand  Box  Installed 
at  Chattanooga 


Old  Brick  Crossing  Which  Jarred  Vehicular  Traffic 


The  May  issue  of  the  Monthly  Labor  Review,  pub- 
lished by  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor,  is 
devoted  very  largely  to  the  publication  of  statistics  of 
wages  and  hours  of  labor  in  the  different  industries, 
among  them  the  steam  railroad  industry  and  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry.  The  steam  railroad  statistics  are 
based  on  figures  compiled  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  and  the  Bureau  of  Railway  Economics. 
The  electric  railway  figures  show  wages  paid  on  a 
number  of  properties  on  Dec.  31,  1920,  and  are  from 
the  Motorman  and  Conductor. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


17 


Pennsylvania  Association  at  the  State  Capital 

Pertinent  Addresses  Were  Presented  by  Philip  H.  Gadsden;  W.  D.  B.  Ainey,  Chairman,  and  Dr.  F.  H. 
Snow,  Engineering  Department  of  the  State  Commission;  T.  L.  Montgomery,  State  Librarian,  and 
D.  N.  Casey,  Field  Director  State  Chamber  of  Commerce  —  President  T.  B.  Donnelly  Re-elected 


THE  Pennsylvania  Street  Railway 
Association  held  its  annual  meet- 
ing on  June  16  and  17  at  the 
P'enn-Harris  Hotel,  Harrisburg.  The 
topics  considered  included  an  address  by 
Philip  H.  Gadsden,  president  American 
Electric  Railway  Association,  and 
papers  covering  personnel  work,  public 
relations,  one-man  cars,  street  railway 
history,  helical  gearing,  automobile 
hazards  and  snow  removal. 

In  his  opening  remarks  President 
T.  B.  Donnelly,  claim  agent  West  Penn 
Railways,  pointed  out  the  complication 
of  electric  railway  operation  imposed 
by  the  automobile  from  the  standpoints 
both  of  competition  and  accident 
hazard.  He  also  paid  a  tribute  to  the 
association  for  the  service  rendered  to 
its  members  in  assisting  them  in  solving 
their  common  problems. 

Philip  H.  Gadsden  Speaks 

Mr.  Donnelly  then  introduced  P.  H. 
Gadsden,  president  American  Electric 
Railway  Association,  who  outlined  the 
electric  railway  situation  and  suggested 
four  remedies  for  present  ills.  First, 
he  said,  the  real  trouble  is  not 
inadequacy  of  rates,  but  lies  deeper 
than  that,  although  that  is  a  factor. 
The  "heavy  hand  of  regulation"  has 
been  laid  on  the  transportation  and 
other  utility  business  as  on  no  other. 
Prices  in  other  lines  ran  riot,  and  while 
high  prices  were  secured  in  other  indus- 
tries the  utilities  languished  financially. 
During  the  war  electric  railways,  at  a 
loss,  carried  highly  paid  workers  to 
plants  operating  at  a  high  profit.  They 
should  not  be  expected  to  sell  their 
goods  below  cost. 

The  financial  plight  of  the  electric 
railways  is  due,  in  part,  to  the  devotion 
of  managers  to  giving  good  service  to 
the  neglect  of  the  commercial  and 
financial  sides  of  the  business,  whereas 
in  other  activities  executives  give  large 
attention  to  the  selling  end.  Thus  the 
5-cent  fare,  inaugurated  largely  for 
historical  reasons,  was  allowed  to  stand 
because  the  economics  of  transportation 
production  did  not  receive  proper  at- 
tention. It  was  assumed  that  an  unlim- 
ited quantity  of  the  product  could  be 
sold  at  a  fixed  price,  in  defiance  of  eco- 
nomic laws.  Obviously  some  kind  of 
"metered  service"  must  be  furnished, 
such  as  is  supplied  under  a  zone-fare 
system. 

From  now  on  the  commercial  instinct 
and  class  consciousness  must  be  de- 
veloped, we  must  "go  to  some  school  of 
salesmanship."  The  industry  has 
"arrived,"  it  has  become  stabilized;  the 
war  taught  that  electric  railway  trans- 
portation is  essential  and  lies  at  the 
basis  of  industry.  Now  electric  rail- 
way credit  must  be  re-established,  not 
by  individual  properties  but  as  a  whole, 


because  the  investing  public  has  lost 
confidence  in  this  field  for  investment. 
This  is  made  more  difficult  by  the  ease 
with  which  municipalities  can  issue  tax- 
exempt  securities,  which  to  persons  of 
large  income  are  more  attractive  than 
any  securities  which  can  be  put  out  by 
electric  railways  at  much  higher  rates 
of  interest. 

The  result  of  all  this  is  that  railways 
cannot  make  needed  repairs.  The  pub- 
lic then  becomes  irritated  with  the 
resulting  unsatisfactory  service  and  is 
inclined  to  consider  municipal  owner- 
ship as  the  way  out.  Thus  while 
political  policies  of  government  are 
opposed  to  such  ownership,  the  fiscal 
policies  favor  it.  As  much  municipal 
expenditure  is  for  unproductive  enter- 
prises, if  municipalities  can  borrow 
money  for  public  use  with  tax-exempt 
securities,  much  of  the  country's  capital 
will  be  deflected  from  utility  as  well  as 
industrial  enterprises. 

Among  things  that  can  be  done  to 
restore  electric  railway  credit  the 
following  may  be  mentioned: 

1.  The  real  value  of  the  properties 
should  be  definitely  and  officially  estab- 
lished. 

2.  A  system  of  rate  regulation 
should  be  established  under  which  the 
rates  shall  be  flexible  and  quickly 
responsive  to  changing  conditions;  pre- 
sumably some  kind  of  a  service-at-cost 
system. 

3.  Closer  fundamental  relations 
between  the  railway  management  and 
the  public  and  employees  must  be 
fostered. 

4.  Publicity,  in  the  large  sense,  must 
be  persistently  used  to  cultivate  a 
personal  touch  with  the  car  rider.  This 
will  be  assisted  by  the  campaign  to  be 
launched  on  July  8  by  the  Committee 
of  One  Hundred  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association. 

Papers  by  Messrs.  Casey  and 
Boyce  Read 

Daniel  N.  Casey,  field  director  Penn- 
sylvania State  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
followed  Mr.  Gadsden  with  a  paper  on 
"The  Street  Railway  and  the  Commu- 
nity." A  paper  prepared  by  W.  H. 
Boyce  on  "Personnel  Work"  was  then 
read  by  Secretary  Henry  M.  Stine,  in 
the  author's  absence.  Both  of  these 
papers  are  abstracted  elsewhere  in  this 
issue. 

The  reading  of  the  above  listed 
papers  was  followed  by  a  brief  general 
discussion,  during  which  such  points  as 
the  following  were  brought  out:  There 
is  no  one  solution  for  all  electric  rail- 
way problems.  For  instance,  the  mere 
raising  of  rates  of  fare  may  defeat  its 
own  purpose  by  decreasing  patronage. 
Obviously  the  purpose  is  to  choose  a 
rate  commensurate  with  the  service  and 


with  due  regard  to  the  convenience  of 
the  passenger  in  paying  his  fare.  Im- 
provement will  be  the  reward  of 
thorough  analysis.  Again,  valuation 
procedure  has  yet  to  be  put  on  a  per- 
manent basis  to  prevent  a  continual 
l-eappearance  of  the  question.  In  the 
practical  determination  of  value  an 
element  always  considered  is  earning 
power,  and  this  is  inevitable.  Great 
emphasis  was  laid  on  the  fundamental 
necessity  for  getting  capital  from 
those  to  be  benefited  by  the  facilities 
for  which  it  is  to  be  spent.  The  future 
financing  of  extensions  in  particular 
should  take  this  form.  In  many  cases 
the  assistance  of  municipal  credit, 
which  attracts  money  at  lower  interest 
rates,  will  have  to  be  sought.  This 
does  not,  however,  involve  municipal 
ownership.  In  addition  a  poi'tion  of  the 
future  financing  of  the  railways  must 
be  drawn  from  earnings. 

It  was  also  suggested  that  many 
properties  might  benefit  by  a  campaign 
of  "cleaning  your  own  house."  For 
example,  some  railways  may  have  cut 
service  too  far  in  their  desire  to  meet 
expenses,  and  cases  were  mentioned 
where  an  increase  in  car-miles  had 
brought  more  patronage. 

Jitney  Problem  to  Be  Studied 

At  the  close  of  the  discussion  on  the 
morning  session  papers  C.  L.  S.  Tingley, 
vice-president  American  Railways, 
called  attention  to  the  importance  of 
studying  the  jitney  problem  for  the 
purpose  of  insuring  operating  condi- 
tions which  are  equitable  to  all  con- 
cerned. He  applied  the  well-known 
phrase  "Eventually,  why  not  now"  to 
the  burdens  which  the  buses  must 
ultimately  carry  and  he  pointed  out 
that  their  situation  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  electric  railways  during  their 
development  period.  People  were  then 
so  glad  to  get  street  railway  service 
that  they  imposed  few  burdens  on  this 
promising  transportation  system.  Later, 
however,  the  burdens  became  increas- 
ingly serious.  Such  burdens  the  jitney 
business  cannot  continue  to  sidestep 
indefinitely. 

On  Mr.  Tingley's  motion  a  committee 
to  study  and  report  on  this  subject  was 
authorized.  President  Donnelly,  in  due 
course,  announced  the  following  ap- 
pointments: Mr.  Tingley,  Douglas  Ford, 
superintendent  North  Branch  Transit 
Company,  and  Thomas  Newhall,  pres- 
ident Philadelphia  &  Western  Railway. 

Friday  Morning  Session 

The  first  paper  read  at  the  morning 
session  on  June  17  had  for  its  topic  the 
one-man  car.  It  was  read  by  the 
author,  C.  D.  Smith,  superintendent 
Pennsylvania-Ohio  Electric  Company. 
The  paper  is  abstracted  elsewhere.  This 


18  Electric   Railway   Journal  Vol.  58,  No.  1 


was  followed  by  a  talk  by  Dr.  Thomas 
L.  Montgomery,  State  Librarian  of 
Pennsylvania,  who,  with  the  aid  of  lan- 
tern slides,  traced  the  development  of 
transportation  from  primitive  times  to 
the  early  days  of  the  electric  railway. 
His  purpose  was  to  furnish  a  historical 
background  for  an  appreciation  of 
modern  transportation  facilities. 

The  next  speaker  was  C.  K.  McGun- 
negle,  who  read  a  paper  entitled 
"Changes  Necessitated  in  Operation 
Owing  to  the  Automobile  Hazard," 
written  by  M.  T.  Montgomery  and  him- 
self, both  of  whom  are  assistants  to  the 
general  manager  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Railways.  This  paper  is  abstracted  on 
another  page. 

The  discussion  on  the  above  papers 
brought  out  the  difficulty  of  comparing 
the  maintenance  costs  of  cars  of  differ- 
ent types  and  ages  and  the  importance 
of  standardizing  on  the  parts  of  car 
equipment,  track  details,  etc.,  especially 
those  requiring  frequent  renewal.  A 
digest  of  the  discussion  on  the  one- 
man  cars,  which  was  a  feature  of  the 
Lake  George  convention  of  the  New 
York  Electric  Railway  Convention,  held 
during  the  preceding  week,  was  also 
given. 

The  final  paper  read  was  by  W.  H. 
Phillips,  manager  engineering  depart- 
ment, R.  D.  Nuttall  Company,  on  helical 
gearing.  This  was  of  a  technical  char- 
acter and  special  lantern  slides  were 
shown  to  illustrate  the  characteristics 
and  action  of  different  types  of  gear 
teeth.  An  abstract  of  this  paper  also 
appears  in  this  issue. 

On  motion  of  the  nominating  com- 
mittee the  following  were  re-elected  to 
serve  for  the  coming  year:  President, 
T.  B.  Donnelly,  West  Penn  Railways; 
vice-president,  C.  B.  Fairchild,  Jr.,  Phil- 
adelphia Rapid  Transit  Company; 
secretary  and  treasurer,  Henry  M. 
Stine,  Harrisburg,  Pa.;  members  of 
executive  committee,  C.  L.  S.  Tingley, 
American  Railways;  Gordon  Campbell, 
York  Railways;  F.  B.  Musser,  Harris- 
burg Railways;  Thomas  Cooper,  West- 
inghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company. 

A  committee  of  manufacturer  mem- 
bers was  also  appointed  to  enlarge  the 
membership  among  supply  men.  The 
secretary  was  also  instructed  to  send 
the  greetings  of  the  association  to  F.  B. 
Musser,  president  Harrisburg  Railways, 
who  was  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  at  the 
time  of  the  meeting. 

Notable  Speakers  at  Banquet 
The  annual  dinner  of  the  association 
was  held  at  the  Penn-Harris  on  Thurs- 
day evening,  with  Mr.  Tingley  as  toast- 
master.  He  first  called  upon  C.  B. 
McCahill,  president  Pittsburgh,  Har- 
mony, Butler  &  New  Castle  Railway, 
to  tell  of  the  profit-sharing  plan  in 
operation  on  the  latter's  two  properties 
operating  in  the  Pittsburgh  region.  Mr. 
McCahill  explained  that  a  fourth  of 
the  companies'  common  stock  is  lodged 
with  a  trust  company  in  a  trust  fund, 
the  dividends  being  divided  among  the 
employees  who  have  been  a  year  or 
more  in  the  railway  service.  Three  out 
of  seven  of  the  directors  of  each  of  the 


companies  are  elected  annually  by  the 
employees,  and  they  have  proved  help- 
ful in  suggestions  and  in  spreading  the 
facts  regarding  operation  among  the 
men.  A  group  insurance  plan  is  also  in 
operation,  supplementing  the  required 
"Workmen's  Compensation,"  and  old- 
age  pensions  are  in  contemplation.  The 
men  like  the  scheme,  they  receive  a 
substantial  return,  they  are  reasonable 
regarding  wage  adjustments  and  they 
endeavor  to  keep  down  the  payroll  and 
other  expenses. 

Dr.  F.  Herbert  Snow,  chief  of  the 
department  of  engineering,  Public  Ser- 
vice Commission  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
the  next  speaker.  He  emphasized  the 
principles  of  democracy,  applying 
them  to  the  regulation  of  public  ser- 
vice, and  deplored  the  efforts  which  had 
been  made  to  abolish  the  public  service 
commissions.  These,  he  urged,  are 
doing  an  essential  work,  and,  while  the 
legislation  behind  them  may  need  some 
revision  from  time  to  time,  the  basis 
of  their  functioning  is  sound. 

Mr.  Gadsden  then  spoke,  supple- 
menting his  addi-ess  of  the  afternoon. 
He  said  that  he  had  not  intended  to 
paint  a  gloomy  picture  in  depicting  the 
difficulties  of  public  utility  financing, 
for  the  industry  is  now  seeing  better 
days.  The  average  fare  has  been 
increased  by  50  per  cent,  and  while  this 
is  much  less  than  increases  in  materials 
and  labor  it  is  something.  Expenses 
are  decreasing,  so  that,  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  commissions  and  the 
public,  the  long-deferred  return  to 
utility  owners  and  bondholders  ought 
to  materialize.  Electric  railways  have 
now  "rounded  the  turn"  and  their  con- 
dition is  far  different  from  that  dis- 
closed in  the  hearings  of  1919  before 
the  Federal  Electric  Railways  Commis- 
sion. 

Hon.  W.  D.  B.  Ainey,  chairman  of  the 


THE  electric  railway  has  been 
maligned  and  misrepresented,  but 
it  has  persisted  because  it  is  a  public 
necessity.  Not  long  ago  it  was  quite 
popular  to  condemn  transportation 
systems,  and  there  was  a  time  when 
many  deserved  censure.  Those  days 
are  done.  Most  street  railway  men  now 
realize  that  they  owe  something  to  the 
communities  in  which  they  operate  and 
to  the  men  who  aid  them  in  functioning, 
as  well  as  to  the  investors. 

The  community  must  have  the  street 
car  and  the  street  car  must  have  the 
community.  Their  interests  are  mutual. 
The  street  railway,  like  the  school  and 
the  church,  serves  the  entire  com- 
munity. The  banker  who  drives  to  his 
office  in  an  automobile  is  able  to  serve 
a  public  ten  times  as  large  as  he  could 
serve  otherwise  because  of  the  street 
railway.  The  clerks  can  work  in  the 
city,  where  wages  are  high,  and  live  in 

*Abstract  of  paper  read  before  Pennsyl- 
vania Street  Railway  Association,  Harris- 
burg, Pa.,  June  16,  1921. 


Pennsylvania  commission,  followed  Mr. 
Gadsden.  He  expressed  on  behalf  of 
his  colleagues  and  himself  a  sympa- 
thetic interest  in  the  solution  of  public 
utility  problems.  The  commission  has 
desired  that  equitable  rates  be  provided 
for,  but  has  been  handicapped  by  con- 
tracts entered  into  by  the  electric  rail- 
ways when  the  eventual  inadequacy  of 
a  5-cent  fare  was  not  realized.  More- 
over, the  commission  has  to  operate 
within  the  provisions  of  the  public  serv- 
ice company  law,  which  gives  no  juris- 
diction over  securities  unless  requested 
by  the  utilities. 

Mr.  Ainey  credited  the  railway  men 
with  the  exercise  of  initiative,  which 
led  to  the  solution  of  their  problems. 
He  felt  confident  now,  as  he  had  before, 
that  the  difficult  problems  ahead  will 
be  solved.  The  commission  will  co- 
operate with  them  and,  as  was  indicated 
by  the  "Wilkinsburg  decision,"  the  legal 
rights  of  the  utilities  will  be  recognized. 
However,  the  commission  will  be  em- 
barrassed in  its  work  in  placing  values 
upon  utility  property  until  some  legal 
definition  of  "valuation"  is  agreed  upon. 
All  interests  involved  should  strive  to 
this  end.  Furthermore,  too  much 
dependence  must  not  be  placed  upon 
law,  for  after  all  the  appeal  must  even- 
tually be  made  to  enlightened  public 
opinion,  to  the  "heart  basis"  of  con- 
stitutional rights.  The  local  problems, 
also,  are  interwoven  with  national  ones, 
necessitating  a  general  public  interest 
in  their  solution. 

In  closing,  Mr.  Ainey  impressed  on 
his  hearers  the  fallacy  of  thinking  of 
laws  and  political  majorities  in  terms 
of  the  mass.  After  all,  the  operation 
of  a  law  affects  the  individual  primarily. 
While  enacted  by  the  majority,  it  lays 
its  hand  on  the  minority,  whose  rights 
are  just  as  sacred  as  those  of  the 
majority. 


the  suburbs,  where  rents  are  compara- 
tively low.  Real  estate  values  in  the 
business  districts  are  much  higher 
because  the  cars  bring  to  town  thou- 
sands of  people  who  could  not  do 
business  there  otherwise.  Suburban 
property  is  more  valuable  because  the 
cars  make  it  accessible  to  the  city. 
Residential  property  is  increased  in 
value  because  it  is  located  near  a  car 
line.  Even  if  a  man  always  walks  or 
always  drives  in  his  motor  he  derives 
a  dollars-and-cents  benefit  from  the 
street  railway.  The  community  has  a 
big  stake  in  the  success  of  the  traction 
company.  It  must  see  that  there  is  an 
orderly  development  of  this  as  well  as 
its  other  democratic  institutions. 

Electric  Railway  Service  Is 
Fundamental 

The  street  railway  industry  is  the 
most  important  in  any  community  be- 
cause it  makes  all  other  industries  pos- 
sible. Take  away  the  means  of  trans- 
porting the  workman  to  and  from  the 


The  Electric  Railway  and  the  Community* 

By  Daniel  N.  Casey 

Director  Field  Service  Bureau  Pennsylvania  State  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


19 


factories  and  the  factories  cease  to 
function.  So  the  manufacturer  and  his 
employees  have  an  interest  in  the  trol- 
ley lines. 

Moreover,  there  is  a  social  side  of 
the  local  transportation,  not  only  in 
that  it  produces  a  commingling  of  the 
various  community  factors,  so  essential 
to  co-operative  development  and  suc- 
cess, but  if  the  transportation  be  not 
reasonably  comfortable  and  adequate 
the  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the 
workmen  may  be  the  reverse  of  that 
which  is  highly  to  be  desired  in  this 
period  of  stress.  Although  the  treat- 
ment of  the  problem  is  primarily  local, 
its  scope  is  national  because  it  is  es- 
sential to  the  highly  efficient  industrial 
productivity  through  which  the  nation 
must  carry  out  its  program  of  recon- 
struction. 

How  the  Citizens  Can  Help 

Both  the  store  and  the  street  car 
company  must  sell  service;  each  is  es- 
sential to  the  other  and  both  are  insti- 
tutions integral  to  our  community  fab- 
ric. To  promote  the  interests  of  the 
street  car  company,  which  in  the  end 
will  help  his  business  and  aid  in  the 
constructive  development  of  his  com- 
munity, the  merchant  can  protest  when 
drastic  ordinances  are  proposed,  when 
vehicular  traffic  is  unjustly  favored, 
when  undue  regulation  of  trolley  com- 
panies is  considered  and  when  unfair 
advantage  is  taken  of  the  street  rail- 
way. 

The  citizen's  work  is  most  effective 
when  it  is  united  with  that  of  others. 
Nearly  every  chamber  of  commerce  has 
a  transportation  committee,  which 
might  well  give  heed  to  the  street  rail- 
way problem  in  general  and  to  special 
problems  as  they  arise.  This  commit- 
tee should  be  advised  of  those  points 
by  the  individual  citizen  as  he  learns 
of  them  and  he  should  be  prepared  to 
assist  the  committee  in  its  investiga- 
tion and  reports. 

Last  winter  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Chamber  of  Commerce  took  a  referen- 
dum among  its  membership  as  to 
whether  the  Public  Service  Commission 
should  be  granted  increased  authority 
to  suspend  rates  pending  a  hearing.  It 
was  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the 
membership  who  answered  this  referen- 
dum that  such  authority  should  not  be 
granted,  and  therefore  our  legislative 
bureau  protested  against  the  proposal. 
The  bill  was  subsequently  defeated. 
The  voice  of  the  State  had  spoken.  It 
said  that  the  utilities  should  not  be 
further  hampered. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
United  States  appointed  a  committee 
on  public  utilities  with  regard  to  local 
transportation.  The  recommendations 
of  this  committee,  submitted  to  the 
membership  of  the  national  chamber 
for  referendum,  were  approved  almost 
unanimously.  The  approval  indicates 
that  the  broad-minded  business  man 
realizes  the  imperative  necessity  of 
retaining  the  vitalization  and  private 
ownership  of  street  railway  companies. 
These  referendum  results  and  the  en- 
thusiastic co-operation  of  many  com- 


munities with  the  transportation  com- 
panies show  that  the  keen  business  man 
appreciates  the  problem  and  realizes 
that  prosperity  for  one  institution  in 
the  community  aids  toward  prosperity 
for  all.  Very  seldom  now  is  there  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  public 
to  cavil  at  the  trolley  company  merely 
because  it  is  a  corporation.  There  is 
a  better  spirit  and  a  heartier  desire  to 
help. 

In  nearly  every  instance  the  street 
railway  has  laid  its  cards  on  the  table. 
It  is  here,  a  definite  institution  in  our 


communities.  It  may  have  erred  in 
the  past,  but  let  us  not  forget  the 
pioneers  who  stretched  the  rods  of 
steel  into  country  formerly  untapped 
and  brought  conveniences  and  comforts 
to  the  doors  of  those  who  seldom  knew 
them  and  who  forged  communities  to- 
gether into  a  closer  relationship.  They 
have  made  us  more  American.  Our 
work  is  with  the  railway  of  today  in 
the  constant  developing  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  American  city,  and  their 
work  is  with  us  for  this  common  pur- 
pose. 


Practical  Personnel  Work* 


By  W.  H.  Boyce 

General  Manager  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company,  New  Brighton,  Pa. 


A DOZEN  men  engaged  in  personnel 
work  would  give  as  many  defini- 
tions of  this  work.  Tead  and  Metcalf 
define  personnel  administration  as  "the 
direction  and  co-ordination  of  the 
human  relations  of  any  organization 
with  a  view  to  getting  the  maximum 
necessary  production  with  a  minimum 
of  effort  and  friction  and  with  proper 
regard  for  the  general  well  being  of 
the  workers." 

Until  recently  no  attention  was  given 
to  the  personnel  of  an  organization.  A 
foreman,  superintendent  or  other  offi- 
cial in  charge  was  held  to  be  the 
"whole  works."  If  there  was  success, 
it  was  due  to  the  foreman;  if  there 
v/as  failure,  it  was  his  fault,  as  his 
superior  held  him  responsible.  The  loss 
to  industry  through  incompetence  of 
foremen  has  been  great.  Later,  the 
idea  developed  that  employees  have  a 
share  in  success  or  failure  and  that 
all  are  necessary.  That,  in  embryo,  is 
"personnel."  Personnel  is  a  science,  the 
fundamentals  of  which  are  possessed 
in  some  degree  by  all. 

In  this  paper  I  shall  deal  with  per- 
sonnel along  its  applied  lines,  with 
frequent  reference  to  methods  tried  and 
proved  in  a  small  organization,  but  ap- 
plicable in  part  to  a  property  of  any 
size.  The  administration  of  personnel 
work  on  a  small  property  is  the  gen- 
eral manager's  responsibility.  On  prop- 
erties large  enough  to  warrant  the  or- 
ganization of  a  personnel  department, 
the  head  of  that  department  should  be 
a  member  of  the  president's  staff. 

What  Personnel  Work  Is 

To  me  personnel  work  has  meant: 
(1)  Realization  of  the  needs,  a  well- 
charted  purpose  and  definite  plans  for 
progress;  (2)  selection  of  employees 
and  fitting  them  into  proper  positions; 

(3)  keeping  the  employees  satisfied; 

(4)  determination,  from  results,  of  cor- 
rectness of  purpose,  plans  and  selec- 
tion; (5)  weeding  out,  changing  about, 
building  up;  (6)  analysis  of  everything 
having  to  do  with  the  previously  de- 
termined needs,  plans  and  purposes. 

While  on  a  small  property  the  per- 
sonnel is  the  general  manager's  re- 
sponsibility, it  does  not  follow  that  he 


♦Abstract  of  paper  read  before  Pennsyl- 
vania Street  Railway  Association,  Harris- 
burg,  Pa.,  June  16,  1921. 


is  personally  to  do  all  the  work.  He 
must  gather  about  him  a  group  of 
trained  assistants  to  carry  out  the 
aetails. 

The  general  manager  must  realize 
that  it  is  not  he  who  is  in  daily  touch 
with  the  public  but  rather  the  train- 
men; that  trainmen,  barnmen  and  shop- 
men have  more  to  do  with  the  actual 
selling  of  transportation  than  he  has. 

Getting  the  Employee  Started  Right 

Personnel  work  begins  with  the  visit 
of  the  applicant  for  employment.  The 
man  in  charge  of  that  department  must 
have  had  a  wide  experience;  must  know 
that  even  in  declining  employment  to 
the  applicant  he  has  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  good  impression  for  the  com- 
pany. He  should  proceed  to  select  his 
men  on  the  basis  of  physical  qualifica- 
tions, intelligence,  education,  tempera- 
mental requisites,  appearance,  char- 
acter, common  sense,  practicality  and 
general  personality. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  man  in  charge 
of  employment  to  explain  to  the  ap- 
plicant the  character  of  work  to  which 
he  will  be  assigned,  the  hours  of  work, 
the  rate  of  pay,  the  chances  for  ad- 
vancement, the  policy  of  the  company 
toward  the  public  and  its  employees, 
and  the  methods  used  in  keeping  a 
check  upon  and  record  of  the  actions 
of  employees. 

He  "sells  the  job"  to  the  applicant 
by  creating  an  interest  in  it.  An  ex- 
treme case  where  this  was  not  done 
was  the  following:  On  a  certain  rail- 
road the  president  sent  for  an  em- 
ployee who  had  been  in  the  service  and 
engaged  on  one  job  for  thirty-five 
years,  to  award  him  a  cash  prize  and 
to  compliment  him  on  his  continuous 
service.  In  answer  to  a  question  as  to 
his  duties,  the  workmen  said  that 
when  a  train  came  into  the  station 
he  went  along  each  side  and  tapped  the 
wheels  with  a  hammer.  Asked  by  the 
president  why  he  did  this,  he  replied: 
"I'm  darned  if  I  know."  The  man  had 
been  drawing  wages  for  thirty-five 
years  without  knowing  what  he  was 
really  paid  for. 

After  the  applicant  has  been  accepted 
he  is  placed  under  the  direction  of  a 
foreman  or  instructor,  who  has  been 
properly  trained  as  to  his  attitude  to- 
ward the  new  employee.  Instructors, 


20 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


especially  those  for  trainmen,  should 
realize  that  the  greenhorn  is  in  the 
same  position  as  they  were  in  when 
they  entered  the  company's  employ. 

Developing  Morale  in  the 
Organization 

Personnel  work  develops  an  organiza- 
tion whose  members  have  more  than 
the  wage-drawing  habit.  Its  essentials 
are:  (1)  Careful  selection;  (2)  proper 
instruction;  (3)  continual  satisfaction; 
(4)  consideration;  (5)  absolute  justice 
to  all;  (6)  placed  responsibility;  (7) 
supervision,  continual  instruction  and 
job  education;  (8)  supervisory  and 
managerial  vision. 

On  our  property  we  have  an  em- 
ployees' service  code,  which  has  been 
freely  distributed  publicly,  and  has  pro- 
duced good  results.  Our  rate  of  labor 
turnover  is  small,  and  our  list  of  appli- 
cants for  trainmen  positions  exceeds  50 
per  cent  of  the  number  employed.  Every 
employee  planning  to  leave  our  service 


is  first  interviewed  by  the  employment 
supervisor.  If  he  is  dissatisfied,  an 
effort  is  made  to  remove  the  cause  and 
to  retain  him  in  our  employ.  Our 
promotions  are  from  within  the  organ- 
ization, according  to  a  charted  promo- 
tion plan.  Employees  are  additionally 
trained  in  their  promotion  lines.  Since 
December,  1920,  we  have  had  but  one 
trainman  resign  and  were  compelled  to 
discharge  but  one,  and  that  for  dis- 
courtesy. 

Through  bulletins,  letters  to  the  homes 
of  the  men  and  talks  we  show  them 
that  their  welfare  and  the  company's 
welfare  are  so  closely  allied  that  they 
cannot  afford  not  to  be  on  the  alert 
for  the  company's  interest.  We  trust 
our  employees  and  they  trust  us.  We 
know  them;  they  know  us.  Finally,  it 
may  be  said  that  success  is  assured 
through  applied  personnel  only  when 
the  proper  attitude  toward  the  employee 
is  maintained  from  the  head  of  the  or- 
ganization down. 


Experience  with  the  One-Man  Car* 

By  Clinton  D.  Smith 

General  Superintendent  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Electric  Company,  Youngstown,  Ohio 


THE  purposes  of  this  paper  are  to 
point  out  the  economies  that  have 
resulted  from  the  operation  of  thirty- 
two  Birney  one-man  cars  upon  'the 
property  of  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Elec- 
tric Company  and  to  indicate  the  poten- 
tial savings  which  are  being  realized 
from  time  to  time.  This  type  of  car 
is  being  operated  upon  the  New  Castle 
and  Sharon,  Pa.,  lines  of  the  property, 


in  Youngstown  and  Sharon.  Attention 
is  directed  to  the  fact  that  on  practi- 
cally every  street  upon  which  the  Birney 
cars  operate  the  clearance  is  approx- 
imately 6  in.  between  the  car  and  an 
automobile  parked  along  the  curb  line. 
This  fact  is  worth  consideration  in  con- 
nection with  the  reduction  in  the 
number  of  accidents  which  has  resulted 
from  the  use  of  the  one-man  car. 


cured,  in  the  way  of  passengers  carried 
and  revenue  received,  are  shown  in  the 
accompanying  charts.  In  Fig.  1  data, 
are  given  for  the  East  Hill  line,  Sharon,, 
from  April  1,  1919,  to  March  31,  1921. 
A  7-cent  fare  was  in  effect  in  19191 
and  up  to  Dec.  12,  1920.  A  10-cent  cash 
fare,  with  six  tickets  for  50  cents,  be- 
came effective  Dec.  12,  1920.  Twenty 
cars  were  placed  in  operation  on  this 
line  on  April  21,  1920.  For  comparison^ 
the  results  with  the  Valley  line,  Sharon, 
operated  with  two-man  cars,  are  given 
in  Fig.  2.  This  shows  passengers  and 
revenue  from  April  1,  1919,  to  March 
31,  1921.  The  conditions  in  respect  to 
fare  are  the  same  as  those  pertaining 
to  Fig.  1. 

The  results  of  the  safety-car  opera- 
tion show  that  in  every  instance  dur- 
ing the  first  five  months  of  1921  a  pe- 
riod of  industrial  depression,  there  has 
been  an  increase  in  paid  passengers 
upon  lines  operated  with  one-man  cars, 
whereas  on  the  line  in  which  the  head- 
way has  remained  unchanged  and  has 
continued  to  be  operated  with  two-man 
cars  there  has  been  a  decrease. 

Relative  to  equipment  expense,  a  spe- 
cial investigation  showed  that  for  the 
safety  cars  this  is  approximately  2i 
cents  per  car-mile,  including  inspection. 
As  to  power  consumption,  special  tests 
showed  that  the  one-man  safety  cars 
on  one  of  the  lines  were  consuming  1.26 
kw.-hr.  per  car-mile  for  propulsion  or 
1.54  kw.-hr.,  including  heating.  These 
figures  include  all  overhead  losses. 

In  regard  to  the  one-man  car  as  a 
means  of  selling  transportation,  it  is 
obvious  that  every  manufacturer  of  or 


-Data  for  East  Hill  Line,  Sharon,  Pa.,  Equipped 
with  Safety  Cars 


9000 
£  8000 
I  1000 
I  6000 
el  30,000 
&l  20.000 
§1 10,000 
£100,000 
■6  90,000 
£  80000 


.Revenue  1919-1920 

W  — 

*  1  Ltf£ 

Paid  Z-~_3Z-^-±-ia20 

Fig.  2 — Data  for  Valley  Line,  Sharon,  Pa.,  Operated 
with  Two-Man  Cars 


and  in  addition  twelve  cars  are  in  serv- 
ice on  one  of  the  lines  of  the  Youngs- 
town (Ohio)  Municipal  Railway,  a  sub- 
sidiary of  the  company.  These  cities, 
from  the  industrial  standpoint,  are 
chiefly  notable  for  their  steel  mills. 
They  have  populations  respectively  of 
50,000,  20,000  and  135,000. 

Introducing  the  One-Man  Cars 

The  larger  number  of  Birney  cars 
used  by  this  company  are  operated  in 
New  Castle,  the  car-mileage  of  the  line 
using  the  cars  being  71  per  cent  of  the 
total  New  Castle  District  mileage.  In 
New  Castle  there  are  some  extraordi- 
nary features  in  connection  with  the  use 
of  the  one-man  car  which  do  not  exist 

♦Abstract  of  paper  read  before  Pennsyl- 
vania Street  Railway  Association,  Harris- 
burg,  Pa.,  June  17,  1921. 


In  introducing  the  Birney  cars  in 
New  Castle  the  company  had  to  recog- 
nize: (1)  that  schedules  were  in  effect 
that  provided  beyond  question  adequate 
service  and  that  gave  employment  to 
seventy-six  men  on  regular  runs;  (2) 
that  the  average  length  of  ride  was 
less  than  1J  miles  and  the  maximum 
continuous  ride  was  approximately  2 
miles;  (3)  that  there  were  severe 
grades  on  all  lines,  with  a  maximum 
of  9  per  cent. 

The  first  five  cars  were  placed  in 
operation  in  September,  1919,  and  pro- 
vided a  six-minute  service  where  for- 
merly a  ten-minute  service  had  been  fur- 
nished, increasing  the  seating  capacity 
by  84  per  cent.  Twenty-five  additional 
cars  were  ordered  and  their  use  was 
gradually  brought  about  in  New  Castle 
and  Sharon.    Some  of  the  results  .se- 


dealer  in  a  marketable  product  must 
study  and  apply  the  principles  of  sales- 
manship if  he  is  to  have  large  sales. 
This  applies  not  only  to  the  sale  of  com- 
modities in  general,  but  also  to  the 
sale  of  transportation. 

Although  there  are  many  factors  in- 
volved in  merchandising  transportation, 
frequency  of  service  is  a  fundamental 
one  inasmuch  as  it  has  the  greatest  ef- 
fect on  increasing  the  riding  habit. 

As  to  advertising  transportation,  our 
company  has,  since  the  initial  news- 
paper campaign  to  introduce  the  safety 
cars,  used  the  backs  of  the  transfers 
for  advertising.  For  example,  in  New 
Castle  the  following  is  printed:  "New 
Castle — 50,000  population — served  by 
Birney  safety  cars — frequent  riding 
permits  better  service."  In  the  She- 
nango  Valley  district  we  use  the  follow-  - 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


21 


ing:  "Birney  safety  cars  provide  fre- 
quent service — frequent  use  permits 
better  service." 

The  persistent  use  of  the  term 
"safety"  in  connection  with  the  Birney 
cars  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  in- 
crease in  the  riding  habit.  The  use 
of  this  term  places  an  obligation  upon 
the  railways  operating  the  cars  and 
upon  the  manufacturers  of  the  cars  to 
adopt  any  improved  equipment  which 
will  add  to  their  general  safety,  making 
them  as  far  as  possible  accident  proof. 

Making  the  Safety  Car  Safer 

We  have  made  three  improvements  of 
the  cars  used  by  our  company  with  the 
idea  of  increased  safety  and  economy. 
As  some  severe  grades  have  to  be  en- 
countered on  the  property,  we  are  now 
installing  Peacock  brake  drums  on  the 
staffs  of  the  hand  brakes  on  all  safety 
cars.  This  will  permit  the  hand  brakes 
to  be  used  not  only  for  emergency  pur- 
poses but  also  will  make  them  service- 
able. The  second  improvement  has 
been  the  installation  of  safety  features 
on  the  brake  rigging  to  prevent  acci- 
dents due  to  failure  at  that  point.  The 
third  is  the  installation  upon  all  cars 


of  the  Lintern  mechanical  foot  sander. 
This  replaces  at  each  end  of  the  car  one 
of  the  sand  boxes  formerly  operated  by 
air.  It  is  operated  by  a  pedal  and 
guarantees  the  supply  of  sand  whenever 
the  supply  in  the  box  controlled  by 
air  has  been  exhausted. 

A  Car  that  Attracts  Riders 

Summarizing  the  features  of  the  one- 
man  car  in  respect  to  the  sale  of  trans- 
portation, the  following  appeal  to  us 
is  important:  (1)  The  economical 
operation  of  the  car  permits  more  fre- 
quent headway;  (2)  the  car,  being  the 
last  word  in  modern  mechanical  elec- 
trical equipment,  appeals  to  the  people 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  modern  de- 
partment store  and  encourages  the  fre- 
quent use  of  the  car;  (3)  appreciation 
of  the  fact  that  the  car  is  fully  equipped 
with  safety  devices  tends  to  increase 
the  number  of  rides  per  capita. 

Finally  as  to  accidents  with  the 
safety  cars  as  compared  with  two-man 
cars  our  analysis  indicates  conclusively 
that  there  are  fewer  accidents  with  the 
safety  cars.  There  has  been  a  practi- 
cal elimination  of  boarding  and  alight- 
ing accidents. 


What  Automobile  Traffic  Means  to  Pittsburgh* 

By  C.  K.  McGunnegle  and  M.  T.  Montgomery 

Assistants  to  the  General  Manager  Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Railways 


PITTSBURGH'S  narrow  streets, 
steep  grades  and  sharp  turns  are 
but  the  result  of  normal  community 
growth  without  any  conception  of  a 
definite  plan.  The  result  today  is  that 
the  automobile  traffic  on  these  streets 
seriously  interferes  with  the  operation 
of  street  cars  and  presents  a  difficult 
problem  for  solution. 

The  central  business  district,  known 
as  "The  Point,"  is  extremely  small,  for, 
including  street  and  alley  space  and 
wharves  on  the  two  rivers,  it  covers  but 
218  acres.  Of  this  area  the  streets  and 
alleys  take  up  63  acres  and  the  railroad 
terminals  30  acres,  leaving  but  125 
acres  for  commercial  use.  This  area  is 
but  30  per  cent  of  the  total  as  against 
an  average  for  other  cities  of  about  40 
per  cent.  Traffic  congestion  is  invited 
by  the  very  arrangement  of  the  streets, 
for  practically  none  of  them  is  con- 
tinuous across  the  central  business  dis- 
trict. Many  are  on  steep  grades.  Only 
one  street  is  wide  enough  to  permit  two 
lines  of  vehicles  between  the  car  tracks 
and  the  curb. 

Freight  houses  of  the  steam  roads 
are  so  located  on  the  North  and  South 
Sides  and  in  the  city  itself  that  all 
trucking  from  one  to  the  other  must 
pass  over  the  most  congested  city 
streets  or  take  the  long  way  round 
two  sides  of  the  triangle.  As  far  back 
as  1910  vehicular  congestion  became  so 
serious  on  the  two  main  north  and  south 
streets,  Wood  and  Smithfield,  that  the 
Pittsburgh  Railways  and  the  city  of 
Pittsburgh  entered  into  an  agreement 
whereby  the  space  occupied  by  one 
track  on  each  of  these  streets  was  given 

♦Abstract  of  paper  read  before  Pennsyl- 
vania Street  Railway  Association,  Harris- 
burg,  Pa.,  June  17,  1921. 


over  entirely  to  vehicular  traffic.  In 
1918  the  one-way  traffic  movement  was 
extended  to  take  in  Penn  and  Liberty 
Avenues  between  the  city  and  Thirty- 
second  Street.  However,  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  automotive  vehicles  is 
fast  overcoming  the  relief  at  first  ex- 
perienced. 

In  1915  there  were  131,000  automo- 
biles registered  in  Pennsylvania.  In 
1920  there  were  600,000,  of  which  num- 
ber 50,000  came  from  Pittsburgh.  In 
July,  1917,  a  count,  made  between  7 
a.m.  and  6  p.m.,  of  the  number  of 
vehicles  entering  and  leaving  the  cen- 
tral business  district,  showed  approxi- 
mately 47,500.  A  similar  count  made 
in  October,  1920,  indicated  the  total  had 
increased  to  60,519.  Into  this  mass  of 
vehicular  traffic  sixty-one  routes  of 
trolley  cars  are  run  by  the  Pittsburgh 
Railways  system. 

The  cars  vary  in  size  from  those  of 
the  single-truck  type,  taking  up  216 
sq.ft.  of  street  space,  to  the  double- 
truck  type  which  take  up  428  sq.ft.  A 
street  car  rider  occupies  about  4.5  sq.ft. 
of  street  space.  Ford  automobiles 
occupy  60.5  sq.ft.  and  Packards  and 
the  larger  types  of  touring  cars  occupy 
94  sq.ft.,  while  trucks  occupy  from  132 
to  190  sq.ft.  Actual  counts  have  estab- 
lished the  fact  that  but  2.5  people,  in- 
cluding the  driver,  form  the  average 
passenger  load  in  Pittsburgh  for  pleas- 
ure cars.  It  follows,  therefore,  that 
an  automobile  passenger  takes  up  con- 
siderably more  street  room  than  the 
car  rider. 

The  difficulty  in  enforcing  traffic  and 
parking  regulations  has  been  a  most 
serious  drawback.  Pittsburgh  streets 
are  so  narrow  that  any  form  of 
vehicle  stopped  at  the  curb  throws  all 


moving  vehicles  onto  the  car  tracks. 
The  resulting  congestion  recently  be- 
came so  serious  that  City  Council  passed 
new  parking  regulations  whereby  ma- 
chines are  permitted  to  stand  for  thirty- 
minute  periods  only  and  then  only  in 
certain  districts.  Parking  is  not  per- 
mitted on  any  business  street  between 
4:30  and  6  p.m.  Enforcement  of  thcs? 
regulations  has  been  of  material  benefit, 
although  a  broken-down  automobilt, 
until  it  can  be  removed,  will  still  cause 
the  old-time  congestion. 

Topography  Invites  Congestion 

The  topography  of  the  country  limits 
the  number  of  highways  interconnect- 
ing the  surrounding  towns.  Almost 
all  of  these  carry  car  tracks  and  for 
years  the  railway  has  maintained  many 
of  the  miles  of  paved  roads  in  this 
district.  Naturally,  all  kinds  of  vehicu- 
lar traffic  is  attracted  to  these  roads 
and  the  cars,  though  miles  outside  the 
city  limits,  are  subject  to  more  or  less 
interference.  Road  improvement  goes 
on  from  year  to  year  by  state  and 
county  authorities  and  some  relief  will 
eventually  be  had,  but  it  will  not  be 
noticeable  until  drivers  are  educated 
away  from  the  old  routes  and  until  more 
and  better  roads  are  completed. 

Prior  to  1918  cars  on  this  system 
were  operated  on  the  pay-as-you-enter 
system  for  both  inbound  and  outbound 
trips.  During  1918  general  congestion 
became  so  serious  that  something  had 
to  be  done  to  get  cars  through  the 
terminal  district  with  less  delay.  It 
was  decided  to  retain  the  pay-as-you- 
enter  collection  on  inbound  trips  and 
change  to  the  pay-as-you-leave  system 
for  the  outbound  trips.  Checks  show 
that  the  loading  time  had  been  reduced 
to  about  one-third.  This  manner  of 
fare  collection  has  some  disadvantages, 
but  delays  incidental  to  fare  collection 
occur  at  outlying  points  where  conges- 
tion is  slight  and  delays  incidental 
thereto  are  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Loading  Platforms  and  Mid-Block 
Stops  Save  Time 

During  the  last  year  or  two  safety 
zones  have  been  established  at  many 
points  in  the  city  and  six  loading  plat- 
forms have  been  erected.  The  city 
should  build  additional  platforms 
throughout  the  congested  area,  since 
their  worth  on  the  narrow  streets  has 
been  proved. 

Mid-block  stops  have  also  been  used 
to  facilitate  getting  cars  through  the 
congested  area.  At  other  points  where 
the  near  side  stop  is  retained  there  are 
"First  Car,"  "Second  Car,"  "Third 
Car"  signs  marking  stopping  places. 
Multiple  loading  and  unloading  have 
been  found  to  save  much  time,  particu- 
larly during  the  rush  hours  or  in  the 
handling  of  large  gatherings  at  other 
times. 

The  automobile,  from  the  traffic  point 
of  view,  has  done  the  street  railway 
much  injury.  However,  there  is  one 
point  in  its  favor  and  that  is,  it  is  a 
fast  moving  unit  and  will  not  cause 
delays  if  there  is  enough  street  room  for 
it  to  keep  moving. 


22 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


The  Helical  Gear* 


By  W.  H.  Phillips 

R.  D.  Nuttall  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


and  G.  H.  F.  Holy 

Westingtiouse  Electric   &  Manufacturing 
Company,  East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


THE  problem  of  the  designing  en- 
gineer in  the  field  of  gearing  is  the 
transmission  of  heavier  torques  at 
higher  speeds  with  lighter  weight 
equipment  and  less  deterioration.  The 
progress  that  has  been  made  in  the 
line  of  gearing  may  be  outlined  as:  (1) 
Improvement  in  materials;  (2)  applica- 
tion of  heat  treatment;  (3)  develop- 
ment of  flexible  gears;  (4)  develop- 
ment in  the  method  of  forming  teeth, 
rotary-cut,  hobbed,  planed,  blocked-out 
and  ground;  (5)  application  of  helical 
gears. 

In  electric  railway  service  in  cities 


Where  large  capacity  equipments  are 
involved,  such  as  locomotives  and  mul- 
tiple-unit cars  for  terminal  electrifica- 
tion on  trunk  lines,  the  flexible  gear 
has  been  used  to  soften  or  dampen  the 
vibratory  action  of  the  gearing  due  to 
the  phenomenon  mentioned  and  also  to 
other  causes.  In  city  service  this  would 
be  too  expensive,  although  there  are 
cases  of  interurban  service  where  it 
could  be  used  with  advantage. 

The  helical  gear  overcomes  inherent 
gear  vibration  by  eliminating  the  so- 
called  "stepping  over"  action.  The  op- 
eration of  this  type  of  gear  can  best 


action  from  the  tip  of  the  tooth  to  the 
root  is  one  of  sliding  and  rolling.  The 
percentage  of  rolling  action  can  be  pre- 
determined, within  reasonable  limits, 
and  the  teeth  can  be  designed  to  give  a 
maximum   percentage  of  rolling. 

As  a  result  of  this  rolling  contact 
across  the  face  there  will  be  at  any 
time  (after  the  tooth  has  come  into 
full  mesh)  tip,  pitch  line  and  base  con- 
tact. This  tends  to  maintain  the  orig- 
inal tooth  form.  In  the  case  of  the 
spur  gear  it  is  in  contact  across  the 
face  first  at  the  tip  and  then  progres- 
sively from  the  pitch  line  to  the  base. 
From  the  design  of  the  involute  form 
of  tooth,  there  is  pure  rolling  at  the 
pitch  line,  while  at  the  tip  and  the 
base  there  are  sliding  and  rolling.  The 
tendency  is  thus  to  greater  wear  at  tip 


SUCCESSIVE  POSITIONS  OF  HELICAL  PINION  AND  GEAR  TEETH  THROUGH  THE  CONTACT  PERIOD 


Fig.  1 — Tooth  2  just  entering  contact. 

Fig.  2 — Tooth  2  in  contact  near  center  of  face. 

Fig.  3 — Tooth  2  just  leaving  contact. 

Figs.  4  to  6 — Positions  of  reverse  face  of  gear  for  tooth  posi- 


tions shown  in  Figs.  1  to  3  respectively.  The  "A"  face  of  Figs.  4 
to  6  shows  the  following  in  of  the  helixes  across  the  face,  the  "K" 
face  shown  in  Figs.  1  to  3,  being  in  advance  of  "A"  as  regards 
the  helix. 


the  pinion  used  in  spur  gear  operation 
has  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  teeth.  In 
such  a  pinion  for  part  of  the  time  but 
one  tooth  is  in  contact  with  the  cor- 
responding gear  tooth.  It  picks  up  its 
load  across  its  entire  face  suddenly.  It 
may  be  considered  as  a  beam  fixed  at 
its  root  and  loaded  as  a  cantilever  by 
the  motor  torque.  The  sudden  load 
application  produces  two  deflections, 
varying  with  the  loading.  Spur-tooth 
contact  under  load  is  unavoidably  ac- 
companied by  shock  and  vibration. 

•Abstract  of  paper  read  before  Pennsyl- 
vania Street  Railway  Association,  Harris- 
burg,  Pa.,  June  17,  1921. 


be  realized  by  thinking  of  it  as  made 
up  of  a  number  of  thin  spur  gears 
twisted  on  the  shaft  with  respect  to 
each  other.  Helical  gears  transmit 
practically  average  motor  effort  with 
properly  maintained  bearings.  The 
gears  tend  to  wear  evenly  over  the  full 
tooth  length,  thus  preserving  the  orig- 
inal tooth  form. 

The  contact  from  the  tip  of  the 
tooth  to  the  root  and  across  the  face  is 
the  property  inherent  in  helical  gear- 
ing which  produces  the  smoothness  of 
gear  action.  The  action  of  engagement 
from  one  side  of  the  tooth  to  the  other 
is  practically  one  of  pure  rolling.  The 


and  base.  As  the  gear  wears  it  is 
continually  destroying  the  original 
tooth  form. 

As  to  helix  angles,  values  from  5  deg. 
up  to  20  deg.  have  been  tried  in  all 
classes  of  railway  service.  From  the 
results  of  service  data  an  angle  of 
7  h  deg.  was  prepared  to  meet  all  re- 
quirements, both  for  new  and  existing 
equipment.  An  angle  that  would  pro- 
vide approximately  13  per  cent  end 
thrust  seemed  desirable  to  give  a  cush- 
ioning effect. 

The  end  thrust  from  a  gear  with 
7i-deg.  helix  angle  produces  sufficient 
thrust  to  reduce  the  lateral  movement 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


23 


of  the  rotating  element  and  provides 
a  cushioning  effect  on  the  bearing  when 
there  is  lateral  movement.  An  oil  film 
is  thus  maintained. 

Most  helical  gears  and  pinions  have 
a  right-hand  helix  on  the  pinion  and 
a  left-hand  helix  on  the  gear.  There  is 
no  particular  virtue  in  this  arrangement 
except  for  standardization.  Where 
maintenance  conditions  make  it  desir- 
able to  reverse  the  gears  this  can  be 
done  without  difficulty. 

It  has  been  felt  for  some  time  that 
the  tooth  form  in  general  use  in  rail- 
way gearing  is  unsatisfactory.  No 
improvements  were  suggested  or  con- 
sidered, however,  as  a  change  would 
introduce  two  standards.  With  the  in- 
troduction of  the  helical  gear  the  full 
advantage  of  the  latest  developments 
in  tooth  form  could  be  utilized. 

With  this  condition  in  mind  the  tooth 
form  adopted  with  the  helical  gear  is 
of  the  so-called  "long  and  short  ad- 
dendum type."  This  has  the  following 
advantages  over  the  old  form:  (1)  In- 
creased strength;  (2)  greater  rolling- 
action;  (3)  more  metal  from  root  of 
tooth  to  bore  of  pinion. 

The  angle  of  approach  is  much 
smaller  than  the  angle  of  recession  in 
the  new  tooth,  which  tends  to  smoother 
tooth  action.  The  new  tooth  is  sub- 
stantially stronger  at  the  base,  to  the 
extent  of  from  two  to  two  and  one-half 
times.  Further,  the  rolling  action  of 
the  new  tooth  varies  from  55  to  70 
per  cent  pure  rolling,  whereas  the  old 
14i-deg.  tooth  gives  approximately  40 
per  cent  rolling  in  the  involute  zone. 
This  is  an  increase  of  nearly  50  per 
cent  rolling  contact.  A  study  of  recent 
spur  gear  design  has  brought  out  sev- 
eral different  types  of  long-and-short- 
addendum  teeth.  These  all  have  specific 
advantages  over  the  old  form  of  spur 
gearing  and  are  being  given  consider- 
able publicity. 

Accurate  Tooth  Form  Possible 

The  helical  gear  is  manufactured  by 
the  generating  process,  the  tool  being 
a  ground  hob  and  the  cutting  edges 
being-  of  rack  form.  This  method  of 
tooth  generation  insures  a  high  de- 
gree of  accuracy. 

Comparative  tests  made  on  the  effi- 
ciency of  helical  and  spur  gearing 
showed  a  slightly  higher  efficiency  for 
the  spur  gear,  the  difference  between 
them  being  so  small  as  to  be  considered 
negligible. 

Obviously  when  vibration  can  be  re- 
duced the  over-all  efficiency  of  helical 
gearing  will  be  much  greater  than  that 
of  spur  gearing. 

Extensive  applications  of  helical 
gearing  in  electric  railway  service  have 
been  made  with  motors  of  from  250  hp. 
down  to  25  hp.  The  gearing  involved 
ranged  from  2  diametral  pitch  to  4i, 
and  from  53  in.  face  to  3 1  in.,  with 
ratios  of  25:48  to  13:74  inclusive.  It 
has  also  been  applied  in  several  sizes 
on  electric  locomotives. 

In  most  cases  the  helical  gearing  in 
electric  railway  service  has  been  in 
operation  from  one  to  two  and  one-half 
years.  The  trial  installation  service 
mileage  is  approaching  400,000  with  a 


minimum  of  approximately  150,000. 
Records  show  that  in  service  helical 
gear  operation  reduces  motor  main- 
tenance, increases  gear  life,  and  re- 
duces gear  noise  and  vibration.  The 
lateral  wear  on  motor  and  axle  bear- 
ings is  no  greater  than  in  spur  gear 
service. 


With  20,000  to  25,000  helical  gears 
and  pinions  manufactured  to  date,  and 
with  the  increasing  demand  for  them 
in  initial  installations  and  in  changing 
over  old  equipment,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  helical  gear  is  with  us  and  will  help 
to  solve  the  problem  of  quiet,  efficient, 
long-life  transmission. 


Equipment  Men  Discuss  Problems 

Information  Brought  Out  of  Value  to  Men  Engaged  in  Car  Mainte- 
nance— Reclaiming  Worn  Air  Compressors,  Causes  of  Freezing 
in  Piping,  Experience  with  Ball  Bearings,  Etc.,  Discussed 


GATHERING  forty-eight  strong  at 
Akron  on  June  8,  1921,  the  Asso- 
ciation of  Electric  Railway  Men, 
comprising  the  equipment  men  of  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia,  joined 
in  their  usual  informal  round-table  dis- 
cussion of  rolling-stock  maintenance 
matters.  The  discussion  was  led  off 
by  a  paper  on  the  maintenance  of  air- 
brake equipment  by  J.  F.  Craig  of  the 
Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Company.  Mr. 
Craig  described  the  essential  details  of 
the  various  types  of  air  brake  equip- 
ment as  used  in  city,  interurban,  sub- 
way, elevated  and  electric  locomotive 
service. 

In  the  discussions  that  followed  this 
paper  it  was  brought  out  that  there 
is  a  small  amount  of  leakage  at  the 
power  valve  or  foot  valve  used  on  safety 
cars.  This  leakage  is  most  noticeable 
when  the  doors  are  open  and  the  brakes 
are  applied,  as  the  operator  at  this 
time  keeps  his  hand  on  the  controller 
handle  or  his  foot  on  the  foot  valve. 

In  reply  to  a  question  as  to  the  prac- 
tice of  his  company  in  reclaiming  worn 
air-compressor  cylinders,  Mr.  Craig  said 
that  it  is  rebushing  cylinders  and  then 
reboring  them  to  standard  sizes.  P.  V. 
C.  See  of  Akron  said  that  his  company 
is  doing  this  work  in  an  ordinary  engine 
lathe.  The  necessary  bushings  are 
bought  with  rough  bores  and  are 
finished  after  they  have  been  pressed 
into  position.  I.  E.  Church  of  Pitts- 
burgh said  his  company  is  using  bush- 
ings with  four  feet,  which  are  used  to 
bolt  the  castings  to  the  lathe  face- 
plate for  turning  and  finishing.  This 
scheme  has  advantages  in  making  it 
easier  to  set  up  the  casting  in  the  lathe 
and  results  in  better  boring. 

Discussion  regarding  the  types  of 
air-compressor  rings  used  brought  out 
the  fact  that  three  rings  of  the  snap 
type  are  now  usually  used.  The  ring 
near  the  end  of  the  piston  acts  as  a 
wiper  and  keeps  the  oil  from  getting 
into  the  air.  Mr.  Craig  explained  a 
method  of  checking  air-compressor  per- 
formance by  use  of  an  orifice  testing- 
device  with  a  standard-size  tank.  The 
time  necessary  to  raise  the  pressure 
from  point  to  point  is  taken,  with  the 
compressor  removed  from  the  car.  The 
general  opinion  was  that  it  is  more  sat- 
isfactory to  remove  compressors  for 
testing  and  that  uniform  voltage  is 
essential;  otherwise  the  speed  of  pump- 
ing will  vary. 

Discussion  of  remedies  used  to  pre- 
vent freezing  of  the  air  system  brought 


out  that  a  generous  quantity  of  radiat- 
ing pipe  is  of  great  assistance.  Some 
companies  have  used  anti-freeze  de- 
vices with  good  results.  Mr.  Church 
described  measures  used  by  his  com- 
pany with  success,  which  included  the 
installation  of  piping  having  a  diminish- 
ing size  at  each  elbow  from  the  reser- 
voir to  the  first  tank  and  from  the 
second  tank  to  the  train  line.  The  sizes 
gradually  diminished  from  11  in.  down 
to  I  in.  On  some  of  the  newer  cars 
the  size  of  piping  used  is  diminished 
from  2  in.  to  I  in.  in  the  direction  of 
flow.  In  general,  freezing  is  due  to 
insufficient  drainage  or  "pockets"  in  the 
piping.  This  led  to  a  discussion  as  to 
the  best  location  for  the  air  intake. 
Some  representatives  felt  that  the 
strainers  clog  up  to  a  greater  degree 
when  located  inside  the  car  than  when 
underneath,  and  a  case  was  cited  where 
the  strainer  was  found  to  be  stopped 
with  a  kind  of  felt  mat  which  probably 
came  from  the  plush  seats.  In  regard 
to  the  location  of  the  strainer  on  the 
car  roof,  it  was  explained  that  this  in- 
volves an  additional  length  of  pipe  with 
greater  possibility  of  leaking.  Mr.  De- 
laney  of  the  General  Electric  Company 
said  that  his  company  is  recommending 
putting  the  strainer  inside  the  car  as 
the  greatest  difficulty  had  been  expe- 
rienced from  the  dust  when  installed 
underneath.  He  said  that  the  G.  E. 
type  of  strainer  should  be  cleaned  about 
once  in  six  months. 

Elimination  of  Keyways  in 
Armature  Shafts 

In  the  discussion  as  to  the  necessity 
for  using  keys  to  hold  pinions  in  posi- 
tion, the  general  opinion  seemed  to  be 
that  satisfactory  results  could  be  ob- 
tained without  keys.  A.  B.  Creelman 
of  the  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway 
said  that  his  company  has  done  away 
with  keys  in  the  pinions  and  so  far 
has  never  had  a  loose  one.  Others  said 
they  had  been  following  this  practice 
with  good  results.  This  led  to  a  dis- 
cussion as  to  proper  methods  of  install- 
ing pinions.  In  general  most  railways 
seem  to  be  using  the  hot  water  method 
of  heating  pinions  before  they  are  in- 
stalled. J.  L.  Crouse  of  the  Westing- 
house  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany said  that  the  Norfolk  &  Western 
Railway  is  shrinking  pinions  on  by 
using  gas  heat,  as  it  is  impossible  to 
get  a  sufficiently  high  temperature  with 
hot  water.  They  are  removed  in  the 
same  way. 


24 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  I 


Experience  with  the  use  of  ball  bear- 
ings was  varied.  Some  expressed  the 
opinion  that  they  have  proved  very 
satisfactory,  while  others  had  found 
them  unsatisfactory.  It  was  pointed  out 
that  a  new  type  of  roller  bearing  which 
is  adjustable  has  been  recently  brought 
out  by  the  Gurney  Company  for  elec- 
tric railway  use  which  eliminates  the 
necessity  for  shrinking  the  race  on  the 
shaft.  This  has  proved  a  particular 
source  of  difficulty  in  previous  types. 

There  was  considerable  discussion  in 
regard  to  the  cause  of  side  wear  on 
brushes,  and  it  seemed  to  be  quite  gen- 
erally agreed  that  this  was  due  to 
dirt  principally.  G.  F.  Randolph  and 
P.  D.  Manbeck  of  the  National  Carbon 
Company  said  that  to  a  certain  extent 
this  wear  could  be  eliminated  by  us- 
ing close-fitting  brushes  which  would 
assist  in  keeping  out  the  dirt  which 
starts  the  wear.  Mr.  Creelman  said 
his  company  is  getting  much  less  side 
wear  on  the  brushes  on  cars  operated 
on  paved  streets  than  on  equipment  with 
no  paving.  He  said  that  he  was  con- 
vinced that  the  cause  of  this  side  wear 
is  dust,  as  he  is  averaging  8,000  miles 
per  brush  in  ventilated  motors  and  12,- 
000  miles  in  closed  motors. 

In  the  discussion  on  methods  of  clean- 
ing cars,  one  master  mechanic  stated 
that  ONC  cleaner,  when  diluted  one 
part  to  seven  or  eight  parts  of  water, 
will  still  bleach  the  enamel,  where  Mo- 
dock  cleaner  will  not  bleach  but  will 


darken  the  enamel  somewhat.  Another 
master  mechanic  said  that  he  is  getting 
twice  the  life  with  Old  Dutch  enamel 
than  he  obtained  with  flat  colors  and 
that  he  is  using  clear  water  and  a 
little  soap  for  cleaning  this.  Another 
member  suggested  that  he  has  been  very 
successful  in  brightening  dull  enamel 
by  using  an  ammonia  solution  one  part 
to  about  eight  or  ten  parts  of  water 
followed  immediately  with  clear  water. 

The  association  was  entertained  at 
luncheon  at  the  Portage  Hotel  by  the 
Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Com- 
pany, after  which  the  members  made 
an  inspection  trip  to  the  company's 
shop. 

Rail-less  Transportation  to  Be 
Taken  Up  by  New  England 
Club 

THE  New  England  Street  Railway 
Club  has  appointed  a  committee  on 
one-man  car,  trackless  trolley  and 
motor  bus  operation.  This  committee 
is  to  study  the  possibilities  of  each  form 
of  transportation  as  it  affects  New  Eng- 
land, and  report  at  the  February,  1922, 
meeting  of  the  club.  The  personnel  of 
the  committee  follows:  Louis  Pellissier, 
Holyoke,  chairman;  W.  J.  Flickinger, 
New  Haven;  H.  F.  Fritch,  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway;  John 
Lindall,  H.  B.  Potter,  and  H.  W.  Putney, 
Boston  Elevated  Railway;  and  Albert 
S.  Richey,  Worcester,  Mass. 


meeting  the  early  part  of  July,  at  which 
time  the  report  for  presentation  will 
be  prepared. 


Committee  of  100  Postpones 
Banquet 

THE  Committee  of  One  Hundred 
of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Association  has  decided  to  postpone  the 
banquet  scheduled  to  be  held  in  New 
York  on  July  8,  the  reason  being  the 
impossibility  of  obtaining  the  speakers 
desired.  The  event  will  be  held  some 
time  in  the  fall,  when  it  is  expected 
that  an  interesting  program  can  be 
arranged. 


Association  Takes  Up  Study  of 
Trackless  Transportation 

ON  June  24  the  newly  appointed 
American  Association  committee 
on  trackless  transportation,  of  which  H. 
B.  Flowers,  United  Railways  &  Electric 
Company,  is  chairman,  met  at  associ- 
ation headquarters  to  organize  and  dis- 
cuss how  the  general  subject  of  rail- 
less  transportation  could  best  be 
presented  at  the  coming  convention. 
The  other  members  of  the  committee 
present  were  C.  B.  Buchanan,  Virginia 
Railway  &  Power  Company;  Edward 
Dana,  Boston  Elevated  Railway;  C.  J. 
McPherson,  J.  G.  Brill  Company;  R. 
W.  Meade,  formerly  with  Detroit  Motor- 
bus  Company,  and  W.  H.  Burke,  proxy 
for  C.  W.  Kellogg,  Stone  &  Webster 
Management  Corporation.  Absent  mem- 


bers were  G.  A.  Green,  Fifth  Avenue 
Coach  Company;  H.  L.  Howell,  National 
Railway  &  Appliance  Company;  A.  W. 
McLimont,  Winnipeg  Electric  Railway; 
H.  A.  Muilett,  the  Milwaukee  Electric- 
Railway  &  Light  Company;  Albert  S. 
Richey,  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  E.  B. 
Whitman,  Public  Service  Commission, 
Baltimore,  Md. 

A  discussion  brought  out  that  about 
the  only  way  in  which  something  con- 
crete could  be  put  before  the  October 
meeting  would  be  for  sub-committees 
to  handle  different  phases  of  the  subject 
and  then  to  collate  these  reports  into 
one  for  the  committee  as  a  whole. 

The  report  as  planned  will  have  a 
preamble  on  the  field  of  the  motor  bus 
and  a  discussion  as  to  the  trackless 
trolley  installation  at  Richmond,  cover- 
ing mechanical  features,  costs,  and 
passenger  loading  limitations.  General 
information  as  to  the  type  of  bus,  costs 
of  operation,  depreciation,  etc.,  will  be 
shown  for  different  operating  motor  bus 
companies.  Similar  statistics  will  be 
given  for  foreign  systems  as  well  as 
for  those  in  Canada.  An  analysis  will 
be  attached  as  to  what  might  be  a  fair 
differential  for  fares  as  between  bus 
and  rail  cars.  The  report  will  also  in- 
clude an  article  on  the  desirability  of 
a  unified  transportation  system  from 
the  public  service  commission  viewpoint. 

The  committee  hopes  to  hold  another 


Committee  on  Reorganization 
to  Meet 

PRESIDENT  GADSDEN  has  called  a 
meeting  of  the  committee  on  reor- 
ganization to  be  held  in  New  York  on 
July  8.  At  this  meeting  the  commit- 
tee expects  to  determine  the  changes 
in  the  constitution  of  the  association 
necessary  to  carry  out  the  reorganiza- 
tion plans  under  consideration  and,  if 
possible,  to  have  its  recommendations 
as  to  necessary  changes  in  the  organi- 
zation in  definite  form.  Members  who 
have  suggestions  which  they  desire  to 
have  considered  by  the  committee  should 
forward  them  to  President  Gadsden,  if 
possible,  before  this  meeting. 


Two-Day  Session  of  Power 
Distribution  Committee 

THE  power  distribution  committee 
of  the  Engineering  Association  held 
a  two-day  meeting  at  the  association 
headquarters,  New  York  City,  June  16 
and  17.  Various  reports  of  the  sub- 
committees appointed  on  the  seven  sub- 
jects were  presented  and  final  decisions 
were  reached  regarding  the  reports  of 
the  committees  to  be  presented  at  the 
October  convention.  Those  present 
were  Charles  R.  Harte,  the  Connecticut 
Company,  chairman;  C.  C.  Beck,  Ohio 
Brass  Company;  Ralph  W.  Eaton, 
public  service  engineer,  Providence, 
R.  I.;  H.  H.  Febrey,  American  Steel  & 
Wire  Company;  C.  A.  Harrington, 
Pennsylvania  Ohio  Electric  Company; 
C.  H.  Jones,  Metropolitan  West  Side 
Elevated  Railway,  Chicago;  F.  McVit- 
tio,  New  York  State  Railways;  M.  D. 
Rosevear,  Public  Service  Railway  of 
New  Jersey;  W.  Schaake,  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
and  F.  J.  White,  the  Okonite  Company. 


Rhode  Island  Men  Have  Annual 
Outing 

ON  SATURDAY,  May  21,  the  Rhode 
Island  Company  section  held  its 
fourth  and  most  successful  annual  out- 
ing at  the  Warwick  Club,  Warwick, 
R.  I.,  with  an  attendance  of  over  100 
members.  A  program  of  sports  was  the 
feature  of  the  afternoon,  after  which 
the  members  partook  of  a  Rhode  Island 
clam  dinner.  The  outing  was  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  William  B. 
Spencer  of  the  transportation  depart- 
ment and  eight  assistants  from  other 
departments. 

On  June  9  the  last  monthly  meeting 
of  the  section  for  the  current  year  was 
held.  Superintendent  Rounds  of  the 
Broad  Street  carhouse  gave  a  talk  on 
the  duties  of  a  carhouse  superintendent. 
He  stated  that  one  of  his  duties  was  to 
provide  enough  service,  but  not  too 
much,  by  means  of  trippers  and  extras. 
He  said  that  he  keeps  informed  of  the 
riding  on  the  various  lines  by  encour- 
aging the  platform  men  to  give  him 
this  information. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


25 


Recent  Happenings  in  Great  Britain 

Prospects  Better  for  Settling  Miners'  Strike — Tramways  Burn  Coal 
— Many  Roads  Inconvenienced 

(From  Our  Regular  Correspo7ident) 

At  the  time  of  writing  there  are  good  prospects  of  an  early  settlement  of  the 
coal  miners'  strike  which  has  been  running  its  disastrous  course  since  the  be- 
ginning of  April.  Renewed  negotiations  between  the  mine  owners  and  the 
miners'  representatives  are  promising.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  serious 
trouble  in  the  engineering  trade  and  in  the  cotton  industry  over  wage  reduc- 
tions. Meanwhile,  through  the  general  dislocation  caused  by  the  coal  strike 
the  number  of  unemployed  in  the  country  has  risen  to  about  2,000,000. 


Several  by-products  of  the  strike  are 
of  interest  in  the  traction  field.  Per- 
haps the  most  significant,  as  regards 
the  future,  is  the  substitution  of  fuel 
oil  for  coal  in  the  power  stations.  This 
substitution  has  been  carried  out  in 
many  places  in  the  country.  One  of  the 
earliest  changes  of  the  kind  was 
adopted  by  the  London  underground 
railways  at  their  generating  station  at 
Chelsea.  This  is  the  largest  purely  trac- 
tion station  in  the  country.  The  large 
stocks  of  coal  in  hand  were  becoming 
exhausted  and  though  some  foreign 
coal  was  arriving  by  sea  there  was  diffi- 
culty in  getting  it  discharged  owing  to 
an  embargo  by  the  transport  workers 
against  handling  imported  coal.  They 
thought  it  would  help  the  cause  of  the 
miners. 

In  the  ordinary  way  the  Chelsea  sta- 
tion needs  to  have  fifty-two  of  its  big 
water-tube  boilers  at  work  during  the 
rush  hours.  The  job  was  put  in  hand 
and  was  completed  in  about  ten  days 
of  adapting  the  sixteen  of  the  boilers 
for  oil  firing.  This  did  away  with  the 
consumption  of  about  320  tons  of  coal 
a  day.  The  oil  is  pumped  from  tank 
barges  which  bring  it  into  the  river 
creek  beside  the  power  station.  The 
experiment  has  been  successful  and 
should  necessity  arise  more  boilers  will 
be  converted.  The  landing  of  foreign 
coal,  however,  went  on,  either  through 
the  defection  of  transport  trade  union- 
ists or  through  the  employment  of 
volunteers.  The  remaining  trouble 
about  the  matter  is  that  the  coal  from 
the  continent  of  Europe  is  frequently 
of  very  poor  quality  for  steam-raising 
purposes. 

In  a  number  of  places  in  the  country 
full  tramway  services  have  been  main- 
tained by  adapting  power  station  fur- 
naces for  oil  burning,  and  in  some  cases 
where  services  had  been  restricted  the 
advent  of  oil  has  enabled  every  required 
car  to  be  put  on  the  road.  Hull  was  the 
first  place  to  change  over  completely. 
Leeds  and  Newcastle  municipal  stations 
followed.  (What  about  the  tale  of 
carrying  coals  to  Newcastle  now?)  The 
Carville  station  of  Newcastle  Electric 
Supply  Company  has  to  a  considei-able 
extent  been  changed  to  oil  burning. 
This  is  one  of  the  biggest  power  stations 
in  the  country  and  supplies  power  for 
all  sorts  of  purposes,  including  trac- 
tion on  the  North  Eastern  Railway 
local  lines.  In  quite  a  number  of  other 
towns  the  change  is  being  carried  out, 
while  in  still  others  experiments  are 
being  made.    At  the  power  station  of 


the  London  County  Council  Tramways 
everything  has  been  made  ready  for 
effecting  the  change  if  necessary,  but  at 
the  time  of  writing  sufficient  foreign 
coal  has  been  available.  Part  of  the 
auxiliary  plant,  however,  is  now  oil- 
fired. 

It  has  been  found  that  at  the  present 
prices  of  coal  and  of  fuel  oil,  and  taking 
into  account  the  relative  calorific  values 
of  the  two  fuels,  the  oil  is  actually 
cheaper  than  the  coal.  Moreover,  the 
supplies  of  oil  are  abundant  and  evi- 
dently easily  obtainable.  The  cost  of 
converting  a  furnace  for  the  pm-pose 
of  burning  oil  is  small.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  unless  there  comes  a  very 
radical  change  in  the  relative  prices 
of  oil  and  coal  there  is  little  prospect 
of  any  reconversion  of  furnaces  to  coal 
burning.  Thus  once  again  the  miners 
have  been  cutting  off  their  noses  to 
spite  their  faces.  The  whole  situation 
is  no  doubt  of  deep  interest  to  the 
great  petroleum  corporations  of  the 
United  States  and  Mexico,  especially 
when  it  is  coupled  with  the  announce- 
ment made  in  the  end  of  May  that  all 
new  ships  of  the  British  Navy  will  be 
oil-burning. 

A  really  Gilbertian  situation  arose 
during  the  month  of  May  in  connection 
with  the  London  County  Council  Tram- 
ways. With  the  object  of  supporting 
the  coal  miners  in  their  strike,  the  ex- 
ecutives of  the  trade  unions  of  steam 
railway  men  and  of  general  transport 
workers  issued  orders  prohibiting  their 
members  from  handling  or  transporting 
coal  brought  in  from  abroad.  It  should 
be  clearly  understood  that  the  British 
Government  did  not  arrange  for  this 
importation  of  coal  for  the  purpose  of 
breaking  the  strike,  but  solely  in  oi-der 
to  keep  essential  public  services  and 
domestic  supplies  going.  None  of  the 
imported  coal  goes  to  manufacturing 
industries. 

To  a  very  great  extent  the  members 
of  these  trade  unions  ignored  the  or- 
ders of  their  executives  and  unloaded 
and  transported  the  coal  freely.  Where 
they  refused  they  were  suspended  from 
employment  and  plenty  of  volunteers 
were  available  to  take  their  places.  The 
threat  of  a  general  strike  against  this 
arrangement  was  futile;  the  rank  and 
file  would  not  agree.  At  the  power 
station  of  the  London  County  Council 
Tramways  at  Greenwich,  however,  the 
cranemen  refused  to  unload  the  foreign 
coal  from  the  ships  bringing  it  in. 
They  were  suspended  and  volunteers 
took  their  places.   (Volunteers  are  easily 


secured  when  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  people  are  out  of  employment  owing 
to  the  miners'  strike.) 

Then  a  number  of  employees  in  the 
station — some  skilled  and  some  un- 
skilled— went  on  strike  as  a  protest 
against  the  suspension  of  the  cranemen. 
Apparently  they  did  not  see  that  if  the 
cranemen  had  been  successful  in  pre- 
venting the  landing  of  coal  the  em- 
ployment of  the  other  workers  in  the 
station  would  be  gone.  These  men's 
places  were  also  filled. 

The  pig-headedness  of  the  unions' 
executives  concerned  was  noxt  further 
demonstrated  by  their  taking  a  tallot 
of  all  the  London  County  Council  tram- 
way employees  on  the  question  of  strik- 
ing in  sympathy  with  the  power  sta- 
tion employees.  The  ballot  was  duly 
taken  but  the  trade  union  executive 
refused  to  publish  the  figures  of  the 
votes  recorded.  It  is  know*.-,  however, 
that  there  was  a  very  large  majority 
against  striking;  apparently  it  was  so 
large  that  the  executives  were  afraid 
to  make  it  known.  Over  the  country  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  the  enthusiasm  for 
strikes  is  dying.  The  grim  realities  of 
the  industrial  and  economic  situation 
have  been  borne  in  on  the  rank  and 
file. 

During  May  there  was  in  many  towns 
in  England  a  gradual  reduction  of  tram- 
way services  owing  to  the  scarcity  of 
coal.  The  London  underground  rail- 
ways made  various  cuts  for  the  same 
reason,  despite  the  partial  adoption  of 
oil  fuel  already  noted.  A  turn  m  affairs 
began,  however,  early  in  June.  The 
transport  workers  and  railwaymen's 
unions,  realizing  that  their  embargo  on 
the  unloading  and  transport  of  coal  was 
futile,  withdrew  the  prohibition  notices 
to  their  members,  and  coal  was  there- 
after handled  freely.  Larger  supplies 
began  to  arrive  from  abroad.  Partly  on 
this  account  and  partly  because  of  the 
conversion  of  more  steam  locomotives 
to  oil  burning,  the  main  line  railways 
began  to  increase  their  services  which 
had  been  so  much  restricted,  and  im- 
provements also  commenced  in  some  of 
the  reduced  tramway  services. 

In  the  end  of  May  the  oil-importing 
companies  reduced  the  price  of  petrol 
by  6d.  per  gallon,  bringing  the  cost 
down  to  about  3s.  retail.  The  reasons 
assigned  are  that  prices  have  recently 
fallen  in  America  owing  to  production 
overtaking  demand,  that  the  rate  of 
exchange  has  improved,  and  that 
freight  rates  are  easier.  The  reduction 
is  specially  welcome  to  motor  omnibus 
undertakings,  particularly  to  the  Lon- 
don General  Omnibus  Company,  which 
is  the  greatest  consumer  of  petrol  for 
traction  purposes  in  the  country.  That 
company,  instead  of  having  to  restrict 
its  services  like  the  tramways,  has  been 
extending  them.  It  has  also  added  a 
series  of  one-day  towns  by  motor  chars- 
a-bancs  through  rural  districts  around 
London.  A  whole  day's  outing  includ- 
ing luncheon  and  tea  costs  only  21s.  On 
Whitmonday  the  company  set  up  a  new 
record,  even  for  that  holiday.  By  all 
its  services  it  carried  about  3,000,000 
passengers. 


News  of  the  Ele&ric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE       ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Los  Angeles  Terminal  Station 
Rehearing  Resumed 

The  case  of  the  four  large  railroads 
entering  Los  Angeles  proceeding  with 
the  construction  of  a  union  terminal 
depot  on  the  Plaza  site  as  recommended 
by  the  commission  engineers  was  re- 
opened on  June  16  in  Los  Angeles  be- 
fore President  H.  W.  Brundige  and 
Commissioners  H.  D.  Loveland,  H. 
Stanley  Benedict  and  Erving  Martin. 
A  review  of  this  ruling  of  the  commis- 
sion was  given  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal,  issue  of  May  7,  page 
868. 

In  asking  for  a  rehearing  of  the  case 
the  companies  affected  have  taken  the 
stand  that  in  instructing  the  various 
corporations  to  establish  jointly  this 
passenger  terminal  the  commission  was 
taking  property  without  due  compen- 
sation, and  that  its  action,  therefore, 
was  not  valid. 

The  companies  further  contend  that 
the  problem  of  establishing  a  union 
passenger  terminal  in  Los  Angeles, 
affects  three  transcontinental  railroad 
lines,  and  is  therefore  an  issue  which 
only  can  properly  be  passed  on  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  The 
companies  opposing  this  order  of  the 
commission  consist  of  the  Southern 
Pacific,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa 
Fe  Railway,  the  Los  Angeles  and  Salt 
Lake  Railroad,  and  the  Pacific  Electric 
Railway. 

Commission's  Authority  Defended 

The  city  of  Los  Angeles  has  secured 
the  services  of  Max  Thelan,  former 
president  of  the  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission, to  assist  its  city  attorney  to 
argue  against  the  reconsideration  of 
this  issue  by  the  commission  or  its 
transfer  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  The  right  of  the  Railroad 
Commission  to  issue  an  order  relating 
to  a  terminal  depot  in  Los  Angeles  will 
also  be  championed  by  Hugh  Gordon, 
attorney  for  the  commission.  In  oppos- 
ing the  application  of  the  railroads,  the 
city  attorney  and  special  counsel, 
Thelan,  take  the  stand  that  the  com- 
mission has  the  power  to  make  the  rail- 
roads comply  with  its  order. 

In  answer  to  this  position,  it  is  the 
contention  of  the  attorneys  of  the  rail- 
roads that  any  such  power,  if  ever 
possessed  by  the  commission,  was  re- 
moved from  that  body  by  the  passage 
by  Congress  of  1920  of  the  Esch-Cum- 
mings  act,  a  law  governing  railroad 
transportation  and  establishing  the 
status  of  the  railroads  following  the 
turning  back  of  the  corporations  to 
private  control  after  the  war.  In  the 
event  that  the  commission  refuses  to 
grant  a  rehearing  of  the  case,  it  is  ex- 
pected that  the  companies  will  go  before 
the  State  Supreme  Court  and  there  ask 
for  a  writ  of  review.    Pending  a  deci- 


sion on  this  petition  for  a  rehearing  of 
the  entire  case,  it  is  understood,  that 
the  opponents  of  the  commission's  order 
will  not  appoint  representative  engi- 
neers to  a  common  committee  for  the 
purpose  of  working  out  the  details  of 
a  union  passenger  terminal.  This  com- 
mittee of  engineers  was  authorized  by 
the  railroad  commission  at  the  time  the 
original  decision  was  handed  down  on 
April  26,  1921. 

At  this  hearing  on  June  16  motions 
were  made  to  strike  out  all  reference 
to  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  in  con- 
nection with  the  proposed  union  ter- 
minal, and  to  vacate  the  terminal  order 
until  such  time  as  unquestionable  juris- 
diction can  be  established.  Frank  Karr, 
attorney  for  the  Pacific  Electric  lines, 
suggested  that  the  company  which  he 
represents  be  taken  entirely  out  of  the 
proceedings  except  in  the  matter  of 
Aliso  Street  grade  crossings.  The  com- 
panies all  laid  stress  on  the  fact  that 
they  are  anxious  to  proceed  at  once  with 
such  grade  crossing  elimination  as  be- 
longs to  each  individual  railroad,  and 
desire  to  divorce  the  Plaza  terminal 
question  from  grade-crossing  elimina- 
tion. 


Tax-Exempt  Securities  a  Menace 

Representative  McFadden  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, chairman  of  the  committee  on 
banking  and  currency,  told  the  House  on 
June  23  that  the  subject  of  tax  free 
securities  was  one  of  the  most  vital 
now  before  Congress.  He  is  the  author 
of  the  resolution  providing  for  a  con- 
stitutional amendment  making  it  pos- 
sible for  the  United  States  to  levy  an 
income  tax  on  the  interest  received 
from  investments  in  state  and  municipal 
securities.  He  considers  exemption 
from  taxation  of  the  income  from  secur- 
ities of  this  kind  as  an  offense  against 
economic  law,  social  justice  and  the 
American  spirit  of  fair  play. 

Mr.  McFadden  says  that  such  opposi- 
tion as  exists  to  the  elimination  of  tax 
exemption  arises  for  the  most  part 
from  an  exaggerated  idea  of  its  advan- 
tages to  the  borrower.  According  to  Mr. 
McFadden  loss  in  tax  revenue  by  the 
issuance  of  tax-free  securities  is  appal- 
ling. He  says  that  the  railways  and 
public  utilities,  accustomed  to  look  to 
the  wealthy  investor  for  leadership  in 
meeting  their  needs  for  funds,  have  had 
to  go  afield  and  establish  new  channels 
not  yet  adequate  to  their  needs. 

So  far  as  action  at  Washington  is 
concerned  Congress  appears  to  be  mark- 
ing time  on  the  revision  of  the  revenue 
act  pending  some  disposition  of  the 
tariff  measure  in  the  House.  Those 
close  to  affairs  expect  to  see  some 
speeding  up,  however,  for  it  is  generally 
agreed  that  the  country  is  getting  im- 
patient and  wants  action. 


City  Makes  Counter  Proposal 
to  Security  Holders 

A  tentative  proposal  on  the  part  of 
the  city  to  the  security  holders  of  the 
New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany was  submitted  to  the  Commission 
Council  on  June  22  by  Commissioner  of 
Finance  Murphy.  It  is  reported  that 
a  majority  of  the  Commission  Council 
has  agreed  to  the  plan  outlined.  Fur- 
ther consideration  of  it  went  over,  how- 
ever, until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Commission  Council. 

Plan  Intended  as  Substitute 

The  plan  is  intended  as  a  substitute 
to  the  program  outlined  recently  by 
Commissioner  Maloney  of  Public  Utili- 
ties, suggesting  the  employment  of  en- 
gineering and  utility  experts.  Briefly, 
it  recognizes  the  justice  of  the  valua- 
tion of  $44,700,000  placed  upon  the 
property  by  the  Citizens'  Advisory 
Committee  of  Forty  and  admits  that 
any  appeal  to  prospective  investors 
will  be  useless  without  recognition  of 
this  valuation.  It  acknowledges  that 
$5,000,000  of  new  money  will  be  re- 
quired during  the  year  following  the 
reorganization  of  the  company,  and 
that  thereafter  $2,000,000  a  year  will 
be  required  for  five  years.  It  directs 
that  the  company  shall  be  domiciled  in 
New  Orleans  with  its  affairs  controlled 
by  residents- of  New  Orleans. 

On  the  purely  financial  side  there 
would  be  provision  for  a  return  of  8 
per  cent  for  the  present  on  new  money, 
with  any  sum  earned  beyond  $3,000,000 
during  the  first  year  retained  as  sur- 
plus reserve.  To  the  holders  of  present 
securities  outstanding  would  go  no 
more  than  6.14  per  cent,  if  earned. 
Further,  the  municipality  would  have 
authority  to  readjust  the  rate  of  al- 
lowable return,  with  an  option  in  per- 
petuity on  the  property,  at  the  base 
valuation  of  $44,700,000  plus  any  new 
money  invested,  not  counting  the  sur- 
plus of  earnings.  The  city  is  also  to 
hold  an  option  at  107  a  share  on  the 
common  stock,  which  is  to  be  reduced  to 
$4,219,300. 

Reduction  in  Fare  Rates 

As  part  of  the  agreement  the  cor- 
poration upon  the  discharge  of  the  re- 
ceiver is  to  consent  to  reduction  in 
rates  and  fare  upon  completion  of  the 
reorganization,  which  is  to  be  effective 
by  Oct.  15,  1921,  and  not  later  than 
Dec.  31.  These  reductions  in  rates 
would  be  as  follows: 

A  7-cent  fare;  not  more  than  $1.30 
per  1,000  cu.ft.  for  gas;  no  increase  in 
the  schedule  of  electric  rates. 

All  the  rates  just  mentioned  would 
continue  until  Jan.  1,  1923,  unless  con- 
ditions favor  a  lower  basis  of  rates,  in 
which  event  the  rates  would  be  further 
reduced. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


2? 


C.  C.  Chappelle,  who  has  been  act- 
ing for  security  holders  in  the  company, 
had  this  to  say: 

All  I  can  do  under  any  circumstances  is 
to  see  what  can  be  done  with  the  proposal 
in  the  investment  market.  I  can  only  act 
as  a  connecting  link  between  the  city  and 
the  investor.  But  I  should  feel  in  duty 
bound  to  make  every  possible  effort  to 
carry  through  to  success  any  proposition 
which  in  my  judgment  has  a  reasonable 
possibility  of  being  sold  to  the  investors. 

I  will  say  frankly,  however,  that  it  is 
a  step  forward  to  bring  a  positive  program 
before  the  public  for  discussion  and  for 
official  action.  Out  of  it  a  solution  may 
come  ;  nothing  could  come  from  inaction. 


trades.  These  were  dressed  in  the  uni- 
forms of  their  occupation  and  carried 
the  tools  pertaining  thereto. 

The  company  representation  in  the 
parade  was  very  effective  and  was 
highly  commented  upon  along  the  route 
of  the  march. 


Railway  Participates  in  City's 
Diamond  Jubilee  Celebration 

Various  stages  in  the  development  of 
the  city  of  Milwaukee  and  of  its  in- 
dustries were  depicted  in  a  historical 
parade  and  pageant  in  Milwaukee  on 
June  18  in  connection  with  the  Diamond 
Jubilee  of  the  city.  The  pageant  was 
participated  in  by  the  Milwaukee  Elec- 
tric Railway  &  Light  Company,  which 
was  represented  both  as  a  corporation 
and  through  the  medium  of  its  Em- 
ployees' Mutual  Benefit  Association.  It 


Electrification  of  Dan  Patch  Line 
Being  Considered 

The  Minneapolis,  Northfield  & 
Southern  Railway,  formerly  known  as 
the  Dan  Patch  line,  has  under  way  a 
project  for  electrification  by  overhead 
trolley.  E.  P.  Burch,  engineer,  is  mak- 
ing a  careful  survey  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject. No  date  is  suggested  for  taking 
up  the  project  as  the  report  is  not  yet 
ready. 

The  company  now  has  five  GE-205 
gas-electric  engines  and  three  steam 
locomotives.  One  locomotive  car  is  a 
private  car,  but  the  regular  equipment 
has  a  combination  baggage,  smoker  and 
coach,  carrying  ninety-four  persons. 
Each  of  these  cars  is  capable  of  hauling 
a  trailer  seating  104  persons.  The  ques  - 


Part  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company's  Section  op 
Municipal  Parade  Commemorating  City's  Diamond  Jubilee 


was  planned  to  show  the  development 
of  the  industry  and  to  have  a  fairly 
representative  body  of  employees  march 
in  the  parade. 

The  company  had  in  line  an  early 
type  horse-drawn  street  car  followed 
by  the  latest  type  electric  car.  The 
horse  car  was  driven  by  one  of  the 
company's  veteran  employees,  George 
Kuemmerlein,  Sr.,  the  father  of  the 
present  superintendent  of  transporta- 
tion. Mr.  Kuemmerlein,  Sr.,  had  been 
in  active  continuous  service  of  the  com- 
pany and  its  predecessors  for  thirty- 
seven  years.  The  horse  car  was  last 
in  use  in  1885.  It  seats  fourteen,  and 
was  in  great  contrast  to  the  latest  type 
of  electric  car,  seating  fifty-two  and 
equipped  with  the  latest  safety  and 
pneumatic  devices. 

The  two  cars  were  followed  by  the 
color  bearers  and  band  of  the  Em- 
ployees' Association  and  then  in  the 
order  given  by  a  body  of  veteran  com- 
pany employees,  a  majority  of  whom 
had  seen  over  twenty  years  of  service; 
a  body  of  trainmen,  members  of  the 
Women's  Auxiliary  of  the  Employees' 
Association  and  finally  in  rows  of  eight 
representatives  of  the  various  depart- 
ments  of  the   company   arranged  by 


tion  to  be  determined  is  whether  more 
of  these  motors  are  to  be  bought  or  the 
line  electrified  and  the  present  equip- 
ment converted. 

This  company  has  just  announced 
that  it  will  operate  from  the  present 
terminus  at  Northfield  into  Faribault, 
Minn.,  over  the  Chicago  Great  Western. 
The  company  now  has  60  miles  of  track, 
the  main  line  from  the  city  terminus  in 
Minneapolis  to  Northfield  b&ing  47 
miles.  Through  its  connection  at  Fari- 
bault the  management  expects  to  make 
direct  freight  connections  into  Kansas 
City. 

Another  plan  in  embryo  is  the  con- 
struction of  a  freight  yard  terminal  at 
Robinsdale,  surburb  of  Minneapolis,  to 
cost  $26,000.  The  company  recently 
was  reorganized  and  the  new  plans  are 
the  result.  By  construction  of  6  miles 
of  track  the  company  will  reach  Rob- 
binsdale,  where  it  will  connect  with  the 
Great  Northern  and  the  Soo  lines. 


Michigan  Interurbans  Crash.  —  Two 

interurban  trains  of  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  crashed  between  Chelsea  and 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  recently  and  as  a 
result  live  people  are  reported  to  have 
been  killed. 


Telephone  Announcers  Tried  in 
Boston  Subway 

The  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Rail- 
way is  experimenting  at  the  Park 
Street  Subway  Station  with  telephonic 
announcers  manufactured  by  the  Loud 
Speaking  Telephone  Corporation.  A 
set  of  five  speaking  trumpets,  all  elec- 
trically connected,  has  been  installed  on 
the  north-bound  platform,  and  plugs 
for  the  connection  of  the  transmitting 
apparatus  are  located  at  various  con- 
venient points  throughout  the  station. 

The  platform  attendant,  or  starter, 
carries  the  transmitter  about  with  him, 
plugging-in  at  any  convenient  socket 
when  he  desires  to  make  announce- 
ments. He  uses  this  equipment  for  an- 
nouncing the  destination  of  cars,  the 
berths  at  which  the  various  cars  will 
stop  in  the  station  and  for  warning  per- 
sons boarding  the  cars  to  let  the  pas- 
sengers off  first.  In  this  way,  by  the 
distribution  of  the  speaking  trumpets 
the  entire  length  of  the  platform,  one 
man  can  keep  a  large  and  constantly 
shifting  crowd  informed. 

The  apparatus  appears  to  have  a 
special  usefulness  in  times  of  emer- 
gency, when  cars  are  delayed,  or  some 
accident  requires  rerouting  or  any  other 
change  in  normal  operation.  At  such 
times  the  natural  impatience  of  pas- 
sengers hinders  the  work  of  the  plat- 
form man  as  everyone  crowds  around 
him  trying  to  ask  individual  questions. 
With  this  equipment  he  can  retire  to 
an  inclosed  booth  and  keep  repeating 
all  necessary  announcements,  which  re- 
sults in  equal  service  for  all. 

A  number  of  officials  of  the  Boston 
Elevated  have  witnessed  demonstra- 
tions, and  are  reported  to  have  been 
much  pleased.  If  the  present  experi- 
ment proves  successful  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  the  use  of  this  apparatus  will  be 
extended  to  other  stations  on  the  sub- 
way and  rapid  transit  lines.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  when  an  open 
drawbridge  on  the  main  tunnel  and 
elevated  line  causes  a  blockade,  a  fre- 
quent and  unavoidable  annoyance  on 
this  system,  these  announcers  at 
various  stations  along  the  route  could 
be  used  to  inform  the  waiting  passen- 
gers as  to  the  cause  of  the  delay  and 
its  probable  duration. 


New  Road  Seeks  Franchise 

Application  for  a  thirty-year  fran- 
chise for  the  construction  and  operation 
of  a  single-track  railway  has  been  filed 
with  the  City  Commission  of  Birming- 
ham, Ala.,  by  the  Norwood  Street  Rail- 
way. An  ordinance  granting  the  fran- 
chise and  authorizing  the  construction 
was  attached  to  the  application  and  is 
now  being  considered  by  the  commis- 
sion. 

The  proposed  line  will  start  at  the 
end  of  the  present  Norwood  line  of  the 
Birmingham  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company  and  will  make  a  loop  through 
the  Norwood  Boulevard  development 
of  the  Birmingham  Realty  Company. 

Construction  of  the  road  will  cost 
approximately  $500,000,  it  was  an- 
nounced by  officials  of  the  Birmingham 


28 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Realty  Company.  It  will  be  built  by 
the  Realty  Company  through  the  Nor- 
wood Street  Railway,  a  holding  com- 
pany, and  eventually  will  be  transfered 
to  the  Birmingham  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company. 

The  proposed  ordinance  granting  the 
franchise  and  authorizing  the  line  also 
authorizes  the  transfer  of  the  road  to 
the  Birmingham  Company.  It  provides 
that  plans  and  specifications  must  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  city  engi- 
neer in  four  months  from  the  adoption 
•of  the  ordinance  and  the  road  must  be 
ready  in  one  year.  The  Norwood  bus 
line,  which  has  been  operated  by  a  hold- 
ing company,  will  be  discontinued  when 
the  new  car  line  is  completed. 


\[\     Chicago  Renews  Attacks 
on  Its  Utilities 

Evidently  stirred  to  resentment  by 
the  loss  of  its  pet  measures  in  the 
Illinois  Legislature,  the  city  adminis- 
tration of  Chicago  has  begun  hostile  ac- 
tion against  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines. 
Notice  has  been  served  on  the  compa- 
nies to  show  before  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  on  July  13  why  the 
present  skip  stop  system  for  cars  should 
not  be  abandoned.  The  city  has  also 
filed  suit  for  $3,500,000  against  the 
Chicago  Railways  for  money  said  to  be 
due  under  an  "implied  contract." 
Mayor  Thompson  sent  a  special  message 
to  the  City  Council  asking  that  an 
appropriation  be  increased  for  the  pur- 
pose of  continuing  the  fight  against  the 
surface  and  elevated  railways  for  reduc- 
tion of  rates. 

The  suit  against  the  Chicago  Rail- 
ways was  for  the  city's  share  of  the 
net  receipts  called  for  by  the  1907 
ordinance.  Payments  were  tendered  to 
the  city  when  due  but  were  refused 
because  the  city"  lawyers  feared  that  by 
accepting  these  amounts  they  would 
acknowledge  the  existence  of  the  1907 
ordinances.  The  city  claims  that  these 
ordinances  were  abrogated  when  the 
companies  permitted  the  utilities  com- 
mission to  increase  their  rates  of  fare 
above  the  5-cent  basis.  The  money  is 
now  claimed  as  compensation  for  use  of 
streets,  and  the  city  is  hoping  for  a 
decision  which  will  turn  over  the  cash 
without  prejudicing  its  pending  litiga- 
tion against  the  companies. 

Special  Counsel  Cleveland  stated  that 
he  is  preparing  to  ask  the  new  Illinois 
Commerce  Commission  to  re-open  the 
rate  and  valuation  cases  of  the  sur- 
face and  elevated  companies. 


Court  Asked  to  Decide  When  a 
Board  of  Arbitration  Is  an 
Arbitration  Board 

Whether  the  250  conductors  and 
motormen  of  the  East  St.  Louis  &  Sub- 
urban Railway,  East  St.  Louis,  111.,  will 
accept  a  cut  of  19  cents  an  hour,  effec- 
tive on  July  1,  was  scheduled  for  con- 
sideration at  a  meeting  on  June  29. 

Notice  of  the  cut  was  posted  by 
President  W.  H.  Sawyer,  following  the 
granting  of  a  temporary  injunction  by 


Judge  English  of  the  United  States 
District  Court  restraining  a  board  of 
arbitration  from  continuing  to  consider 
the  wage  question  after  the  company's 
representative  on  the  board  had  re- 
signed. 

The  court  held  that  the  resigna- 
tion of  C.  E.  Smith,  a  consulting  engi- 
neer, practically  ended  the  legal  exist- 
ence of  the  board.  The  resignation  was 
due  to  the  pressure  of  other  business 
engagements. 

President  Sawyer  offered  to  appoint 
a  new  member  for  the  formation  of  a 
new  board  of  arbitration,  but  this  offer 
was  rejected  by  the  union  (Amalga- 
mated) which  sent  for  one  of  the  inter- 
national officers  who  has  arrived  for  the 
meeting  June  29. 

The  motormen  and  conductors  now 
get  70  cents  an  hour,  fiat.  The  cut 
brings  the  pay  down  to  46  cents  an  hour 
the  first  three  months,  49  for  the  fol- 
lowing nine  months  and  51  cents  after 
the  first  year  of  service.  It  is  the  rate 
that  was  established  by  the  War  Labor 
Board  in  1919,  and  was  in  effect  until 
April  of  last  year. 


News  Notes 


Property  of  Railway  Burns. — Dighton 
Rock  Park,  built  several  years  ago  for 
amusement  purposes  by  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway,  was 
destroyed  by  fire  on  June  15.  The  park 
was  located  between  Taunton  and  Fall 
River.  The  buildings  in  the  park  cost 
$60,000  when  erected,  thirty-six  years 
ago. 

Utility  Commission  Proposed  in 
Louisiana.— The  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion has  written  into  the  new  organic 
law  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  a  section 
changing  the  Railroad  Commission  to 
the  Louisiana  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion. The  commission,  composed  of 
three  members,  is  empowered  to  super- 
vise, regulate  and  control  all  railroads, 
street  railways  and  interurban  rail- 
roads, gas,  electric  light,  heat  and 
power  and  other  public  utilities  and  to 
fix  the  rates. 

Foreign  Countries  Will  Participate. — 

Another  step  has  been  taken  by  way 
of  preparation  for  the  International  Ex- 
position to  be  held  in  Portland,  Ore.,  in 
1925.  The  Senate  has  passed  a  bill 
authorizing  the  President  to  invite 
foreign  countries  to  participate  in  the 
exposition.  The  exposition  is  intended 
to  celebrate  the  completion  of  the  trans- 
continental and  Pacific  highways,  the 
centennial  of  the  invention  of  the 
electro-magnet  and  to  exemplify  the 
development  of  hydro-electric  energy. 

Union  Paper  Praises  Mr.  Arkwright. 

— The  Union  Leader,  under  date  of  May 
21,  has  reprinted  an  article  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal of  April  23,  entitled  "Don't  Hate 


Your  Customers,"  by  Preston  S..  Ark- 
wright, president  of  the  Georgia  Raill- 
way  &  Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Gat 
The  article  is  characterized  as  a  comi- 
mon-sense  talk  made  by  the  president; 
of  a  progressive  street  railway.  Fur- 
ther comment  is  made:  "It  is  rare  to) 
find  a  railway  president  who  has  suchi 
a  keen  grasp  of  operating  detail  as  to> 
portray  the  importance  of  the  occupa- 
tion and  the  trials,  difficulties  and  opv 
portunities  of  motormen  and  conductors 
in  the  practical  manner  in  which  he1 
presents  them." 

Released  From  $1,000,000  Bond.— 
The  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  has  been  re- 
leased from  its  $1,000,000  improvement 
bond,  made  when  it  accepted  the  fran- 
chise in  1917  after  extended  negotia- 
tions between  the  city  and  the  Strick- 
land-Hobson  interests.  Release  from 
this  bond  was  voted  by  the  City  Com- 
mission on  June  8  when  it  was  shown 
by  the  company  that  it  had  carried  out 
all  pledges  made  in  connection  with  the 
granting  of  the  new  franchise. 

Recommends  Subway  and  Elevated 
Line. — The  annual  report  of  Charles  S. 
Butts,  engineer  of  the  Department  of 
Public  Utilities,  St.  Louis,  proposes  a 
subway  for  the  Hodiamont  line  from 
Union  Market  to  Spring  Avenue  with 
elevated  tracks  from  Spring  to  Maple 
Avenue  as  a  step  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  a  better  rapid  transit  system.. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  engineer  the  entire 
project  would  cost  no  more  than  $3,000,- 
000.  The  report  also  suggests  plans 
for  the  expeditious  handling  of  passen- 
gers by  the  United  Railways  during 
the  evening  rush  hours. 

Improvements  Held  Up  in  Seattle. — 
In  discussing  the  need  of  paving  on 
certain  business  streets  in  Seattle, 
which  has  been  held  up  on  account  of 
the  necessity  of  new  car  tracks  and 
rails,  superintendent  D.  W.  Henderson 
of  the  Municipal  Railways  said:  "If 
the  Municipal  Railway  had  all  the 
money  that  the  jitney  buses  took  from 
us  in  the  last  year,  we  would  be  able 
to  pave  First  Avenue  now.  The  jitneys 
are  taking  $300,000  or  more  a  year 
from  the  railway  revenues.  If  we 
had  that  money,  the  $325,000  First 
Avenue  work  could  be  financed. 

Jitney  Petition  Denied.— The  Public 
Utilities  Commission  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut  has  denied  the  application 
of  two  operators  to  run  automotive 
vehicles  between  Hartford  and  Man- 
chester, a  distance  of  10  miles.  The 
commission  finds  the  existing  transpor- 
tation facilities  of  the  trolley  and  steam 
road  adequate  to  supply  transportation 
requirements,  except  for  about  two  peak 
hours  each  day,  when  auxiliary  service 
would  be  a  convenience.  The  applicant 
did  not  desire  a  certificate  for  this 
limited  service.  The  commission  pre- 
pared a  lengthy  decision  covering  the 
general  controlling  principles  of  com- 
petition, comfort,  speed,  general  public 
requirements,  permanency  and  continu- 
ity of  service,  etc.  This  is  the  first  de- 
cision by  the  commission  regarding 
public  service  motor  vehicles  to  be  made 
under  the  act  of  1921  placing  these 
vehicles  under  commission  regulation. 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


29 


-.rmininn  imiiirr 


Financial  and  Corporate 


Importance  of  Adequate  Junior 
Financing  Urged 

The  bulletin  of  the  Investment  Bank- 
ers Association  of  America  for  May  28 
contains  the  interim  report  of  the  sub- 
committee on  electric  securities  pre- 
sented by  Lucien  H.  Tyng,  vice-presi- 
dent of  W.  S.  Barstow  &  Company,  Inc., 
on  the  "Importance  of  Adequate  Junior 
Financing."  Mr.  Tyng  says  that  it  has 
been  found  true  of  all  classes  of  public 
service  companies  that  too  much  of 
their  financing  has  been  done  by  sales 
of  bonds. 

A  table  which  is  included  in  the  re- 
port prepared  from  figures  by  the 
Commercial  &  Financial  Chronicle  war- 
rants, Mr.  Tyng  says,  very  careful 
study  and  consideration  by  everyone  in 
the  business  of  handling  securities  of 
public  service  companies.  A  company 
cannot  create  and  sell  bonds  of  the 
highest  class  unless  a  proper  propor- 
tion of  the  financing  is  done  by  the 
sale  of  stock. 

According  to  Mr.  Tyng  the  best  class 
of  bonds  should  not  exceed  60  per  cent 
of  the  total  value  of  the  property  of 
the  company  including  intangibles,  and 
It  would  be  better  for  every  class  of 
security  holders  if  the  bonds  were  not 
in  excess  of  50  per  cent  of  such  value. 
This  would  leave  50  per  cent  to  be 
raised  by  the  sale  of  stocks  which  might 
be  divided  into  25  per  cent  preferred 
stock  and  25  per  cent  common  stock. 

The  interim  report  by  Mr.  Tyng  is 
particularly  significant  in  view  of  the 
discussion  which  was  aroused  at  Chi- 
cago last  February  at  the  meeting  of 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation, at  which  financial  topics  were 
considered,  among  them  "Present  Mort- 
gage Requirements,"  presented  by  F.  K. 
Shrader  of  Halsey  Stuart  &  Company, 
Chicago. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Tyng  that  a 
determined  effort  is  being  made  by  all 
public  utility  managers  at  the  present 
time  to  bring  a  number  of  the  points 
made  in  his  thesis  constantly  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sions, so  that  the  commissions  will 
appreciate  the  necessity  of  companies 
being  allowed  to  earn  an  amount  suffi- 
cient to  pay  dividends  that  will  encour- 
age more  stock  investments. 

He  said  that  one  reason  why  invest- 
ment bankers   had  been   reluctant  to 


handle  stocks  is  that  in  the  past  stocks 
were  issued  in  excess  of  the  amount  of 
values  represented.  This,  however,  has 
not  been  so  since  the  Public  Service 
Commissions  have  had  control  of  the 
situation  and  this  question  is  removed 
entirely  by  the  practice  which  has 
fortunately  now  been  adopted  in  so 
many  states,  namely,  issuing  no-par 
stocks. 

Constitutionality  of  Revaluation 
Law  Questioned 

E.  W.  Bemis  has  been  chosen  to  rep- 
resent the  City  Council  of  St.  Paul, 
Minn.,  as  expert  in  the  hearings  before 
the  Minnesota  Railroad  &  Warehouse 
Commission  upon  the  application  of 
the  St.  Paul  City  Railway  for  increased 
fares,  requiring  a  new  valuation  of 
the  property.  The  cost  for  the  expert 
testimony  is  to  be  added  by  the  street 
railway  to  the  cost  on  which  fares  are 
based. 

In  the  case  of  the  Minneapolis  Street 
Railway,  the  Council  has  no  idea  of 
employing  a  revaluation  expert  now, 
although  Robert  M.  Feustal,  New  York, 
submitted  his  credentials.  The  city 
legal  department  plans  to  contest  the 
constitutionality  of  the  revaluation  law 
at  the  outset  by  a  motion  to  have  the 
proceedings  before  the  commission  dis- 
missed on  the  ground  that  it  has  no 
jurisdiction.  This  will  enable  a  quick 
appeal,  or  the  city  may  continue  to 
submit  its  testimony  on  the  revaluation 
of  the  railway  property  under  protest 
until  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  is 
passed  upon  by  the  courts. 


D.  &  H.  Trolleys  Do  Not  Meet 
the  Cost  of  Service 

According  to  the  annual  report  of  the 
Delaware  &  Hudson  Company  for  the 
year  ended  Dec.  31,  1920,  its  four  allied 
trolley  lines  failed  collectively  to  meet 
the  cost  of  service.  All  of  the  roads 
failed  to  earn  anywhere  near  the  same 
net  income  as  during  the  previous  year. 

The  report  contains  a  review  of  the 
fare  situation  on  each  of  its  allied 
lines.  The  accompanying  statement 
prepared  from  this  review  shows  tne 
actual  condition  of  the  financial  opera- 
tions for  the  year  as  compared  with 
1919. 


EARNINGS  OF  DELAWARE  &  HUDSON  ALLIED  TROLLEY 

Revenues  Net 

All  Operating  Operating 

Sources  Expenses  Revenue 

United  Traction  Co.,  Albany,  1920               $3,253,973  $3,149,206  $104,767 

1919                2,848,871  2,525,880  312,991 

Per  cent  change                                      14  22  24.18  3.67 

Hudson  Valley  Railway,          1920                1,099,072  986,998  112,074 

1919                   971,426  815,903  155,523 

Per  cent  change                                      13.14  20.97  2.98 

Pittsburgh  Traction  Co.,       1920                    33,122  29,625  3,497 

1919                    37,991  26,349  11,642 

Per  cent  change                                      12.29  12.43  70.00 

Troy  &  New  England  Ry.,      1920                    39,442  44,397  i,965 

1919                    36,429  35,589  840 

Per  cent  change                                        8.27  24  72  690.00 

Italics  denote  decrease. 


LINES 


Taxes 
$217,816 
208,252 
4.59 
55,025 
51,531 
6  78 
1,783 
1,870 
i.65 
1,870 
1,550 
20.62 


Net 
Operating 
Income 
$11.3,049 
104,739 
207. a 
57,049 
103,992 
5k. 11 
1,714 
9,772 
82.^ 
6,826 
710 
86.20 


Seattle  $987,568  Behind 

City  Still  Struggling  With  Problem  of 
Meeting  Interest  and  Debt  Amorti- 
zation Charges 

According  to  figures  contained  in  the 
memorandum  financial  statement  of  the 
city  of  Seattle,  as  of  June  1,  1921, 
submitted  by  City  Comptroller  Harry 
W.  Carroll,  the  municipal  railway 
lines  operated  for  the  year  at  a  total 
loss  of  $987,568.  The  total  operating 
expenses  of  the  system  are  placed  at 
$4,908,122,  to  which  are  added  deprecia- 
tion amounting  to  $677,178,  and  deduc- 
tions from  the  gross  income  of  $865,- 
660,  covering  interest  on  general  and 
revenue  bonds,  amortization  of  dis- 
count on  revenue  bonds  and  miscella- 
neous interest,  bringing  the  grand  total 
of  expenses  to  $6,450,960. 

Operating  revenues  are  given  as 
$5,410,764,  of  which  amount  $5,283,658 
was  derived  from  passenger  car  serv- 
ice. Miscellaneous  revenues  are  placed 
at  $52,628,  bringing  the  grand  total  of 
all  revenues  to  $5,463,392,  this  leaving 
a  total  net  loss  for  the  year  of  $987,568. 

In  the  profit  and  loss  account,  aside 
from  the  net  loss  above  quoted,  are 
losses  of  $3,559  caused  by  minor  adjust- 
ments, expenses,  charges,  etc.,  and 
losses  of  $256,670  caused  by  delayed 
losses  which  accrued  in  prior  periods, 
the  largest  item  in  this  category  being 
$174,216  for  losses  on  ways  and  struc- 
tures retired  from  service. 

Accrual  Basis  of  Accounting 

Establishing  a  system  of  setting 
aside  each  month's  share  of  the  bond 
interest  and  redemption  charges  accru- 
ing, the  City  Council  utilities  commit- 
tee finds  that  the  municipal  railway 
must  make  up  $425,625  for  these  two 
items.  Against  these  charges,  the  rail- 
way had  $218,740  cash  balance  on  hand, 
after  deducting  outstanding  warrants, 
leaving  $206,884  to  be  made  up. 

The  next  interest  payment  on  the 
$15,000,000  of  bonds  taken  by  Stone  & 
Webster  in  payment  of  the  lines  is  due 
on  Sept.  1,  but  the  money  should  be  set 
aside  in  August  to  permit  of  its  de- 
livery in  New  York  by  that  date,  ac- 
cording to  Chairman  Erickson.  The 
first  redemption  installment  on  the 
$15,000,000  bonds  paid  as  the  purchase 
price  of  the  Stone  &  Webster  lines  will 
be  due  next  March  1,  the  sum  $833,000 
likewise  to  be  set  aside  thirty  days 
earlier.    Chairman  Erickson  said: 

The  amount  of  interest  charges  accrued 
is  $213,208,  and  as  the  cash  on  hand  ex- 
ceeds that  total  we  expect  to  have  the 
interest  money  on  hand  in  ample  time  to 
meet  the  Sept.  1  installment.  Whether  we 
will  be  able  to  make  up  the  next  eight 
months  the  $212,416  accrued  for  redemp- 
tion, but  not  set  aside,  is  still  uncertain. 
We  may  b"e  able  to  do  it  without  going  on 
a  warrant  basis,  as  we  did  last  February, 
when  we  set  aside  all  receipts  until  we  had 
enough  to  meet  the  interest  charges. 


New  Issue  of  Bonds  Offered. — Coffin 
&  Burr,  Inc.,  Boston,  Mass.,  are  offering 
at  845  and  interest  to  yield  71  per  cent 
$2,500,000  first  mortgage  lien  and  re- 
funding gold  bonds  of  the  Alabama 
Power  Company,  Birmingham,  Ala..  The 
notes  are  dated  June  1,  1921,  and  are 
due  June  1,  1951. 


30 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  1 


Answers  to  Accounting  Questions 

Final  Installment  of  Questions  and  Tentative  Answers  Under  the 
Uniform  System  of  Accounts  for  Electric  Railways 

The  final  installment  of  the  tentative  answers  to  questions  raised  in  connection 
with  the  uniform  system  of  accounts,  prescribed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  recently  made  public,  appears  in  this  issue.  These  answers  have 
been  approved  by  the  Committee  on  Standard  Classification  of  Accounts  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Accountants'  Association,  but  as  they  have  not 
received  the  formal  approval  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  it  should 
be  understood  that  the  decisions  do  not  represent  its  final  conclusions  and  that 
they  are  subject  to  such  revision  as  may  be  thought  proper  before  final  promul- 
gation in  the  accounting  bulletins  of  the  commission. 


THE  case  numbers  covered  below 
are  from  A-616  to  A-626,  and 
from  B-102  to  B-109,  with  certain 
omissions.  The  omitted  numbers  rep- 
resent cases  which  either  are  not  of 
sufficient  importance  to  justify  publica- 
tion or  involve  questions  upon  which  a 
definite  conclusion  has  not  been  reached. 

Q.  (A-616).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  the  value  of  material  lost  in 
transit  between  a  1  storeroom  and  a 
power  plant,  or  between  a  station  and 
the  storeroom  ? 

A.  Loss  of  company  material  while 
in  transit  on  carrier's  own  line  is 
chargeable  to  account  77,  "Loss  and 
damage." 

Q.  (A-617).  An  employee  whose 
pay  is  chargeable  to  account  63,  "Su- 
perintendence of  transportation,"  uses 
his  own  automobile  in  performance  of 
his  duties,  the  carrier  assuming  the 
cost  of  repairs  and  supplies  for  opera- 
tion. To  what  accounts  should  these 
expenses  be  charged  ? 

A.  The  cost  of  repairs  assumed  by 
the  carrier  shall  be  charged  to  account 
38,  "Vehicles  and  horses,"  and  the  cost 
of  supplies  to  account  96,  "Garage  and 
stable  expenses." 

Q.  (4-619,  b)  Postal  letter  carriers 
are  transported  on  basis  of  a  monthly 
rate  fixed  by  contract  with  postal  au- 
thorities. To  what  revenue  account 
should  the  receipts  be  credited? 

A.  To  account  101.  "Passenger 
revenue." 

Q.  (4-620,  a).  The  franchise  of  a 
street  railway  company  requires  it  to 
keep  in  good  order  and  repair  the  pav- 
ing between  and  adjoining  its  rails. 
The  municipality  bore  the  cost  of  the 
original  paving,  and  the  railway  com- 
pany carries  nothing  in  its  property 
accounts  with  respect  to  such  coat. 
The  municipality  later  replaced  the 
paving  with  an  improved  kind,  and 
charged  the  railway  company  the  cost 
of  the  improved  paving  in  the  paving 
strip.  What  is  the  proper  accounting? 

A.  In  the  absence  of  a  reserve  to 
provide  for  replacement  such  portion  of 
the  cost  of  the  new  pavement  as  may 
properly  be  considered  as  applicable  to 
the  betterment  should  be  charged  to 
road  and  equipment  account  511,  "Pav- 
ing," and  the  remainder,  including  the 
cost  of  removing  the  old  paving  to  ac- 
count 10,  "Paving,"  in  operating  ex- 
penses. (See  Cases  42  and  194  of  Ac- 
counting Bulletin  14.) 

Q.  (A-620,  b).  The  purchase  price 
of  a  street  railway  property,  includ- 
ing its  unexpired  franchise,  exceeds  the 


appraised  value  of  the  physical  prop- 
erty. The  original  franchise  was  free. 
What  is  the  proper  accounting  for  the 
excess  payment? 

A.  The  entire  amount  paid  shall  be 
charged  to  road  and  equipment  account 
527,  "Cost  of  road  purchased,"  for  dis- 
tribution as  provided  in  the  text  of  that 
account.  In  the  distribution  the  amount 
paid  in  excess  of  the  appraised  value 
of  the  physical  property  shall  be  in- 
cluded in  account  545,  "Franchises,"  if 
the  franchise  may  be  regarded  as  the 
consideration  for  the  excess  payment 
and  has  an  unexpired  life  of  more  than 
a  year;  and  shall  be  amortized  by 
monthly  charges  to  account  91,  "Amor- 
tization of  franchises,"  as  provided  in 
the  text  of  that  account.  Otherwise,  the 
full  amount  of  purchase  price  shall  be 
distributed  to  the  appropriate  primary 
road  and  equipment  accounts  exclu- 
sive of  account  545. 

Q.  (A-620,  c).  A  street  railway  com- 
pany incidentally  furnishes  steam 
power  to  an  ice  plant,  charging  there- 
for the  estimated  actual  cost  of  fuel, 
water  and  labor  and  an  arbitrary 
amount  for  use  of  boiler.  What  is  the 
proper  accounting  for  revenues  and  ex- 
penses? 

A.  The  amounts  received  shall  be 
credited  to  revenue  account  118, 
"Power."  The  expenses  shall  be  al- 
lowed to  remain  in  the  operating  ex- 
pense accounts  appropriate  for  the 
carrier's  own  operations. 

Q.  (A-621).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  the  cost  of  testing  meters 
used  for  measuring  electric  power  fur- 
nished by  a  power  company  to  the  car- 
rier's substation?  These  meters  are 
owned  two-thirds  by  the  carrier  and 
one-third  by  the  power  company. 

A.  Assuming  that  the  carrier's  pro- 
portion of  the  cost  of  the  meters  is 
carried  in  account  543,  "Substation 
equipment,"  the  expense  of  testing 
shall  be  charged  to  account  48,  "Sub- 
station equipment." 

Q.  (A-622).  Amounts  billed  against 
a  carrier  for  work  performed  include 
cost  of  employees  liability  insurance. 
To  what  account  should  the  payments 
be  charged? 

A.  If  the  cost  of  work  is  chargeable 
to  operating  expenses,  the  insurance 
premiums  paid  shall  be  charged  to  ac- 
count 93,  "Insurance."  (See  Case  893, 
Accounting  Bulletin  14.) 

Q.  (A-623).  A  carrier  sells  for  $390 
certain  poles  which  were  charged  to 
the  property  account  at  $400,  and  with 
respect  to  which  there  is  $40  in  the 


reserve  for  depreciation.  To  what  ac- 
count should  be  credited  the  $30  repre- 
senting the  difference  between  the  sale 
price  and  the  ledger  value  less  accrued 
depreciation? 

A.  The  adjustment  of  the  estimated 
depreciation  previously  charged  to  op- 
erating expenses  and  the  actual  depre- 
ciation as  determined  at  the  time  of 
retirement  shall  be  included  in  the  ac- 
count in  operating  expenses  appropriate 
for  the  cost  of  repairs  to  the  property 
before  retirement,  which,  in  this  case, 
is  account  20,  "Poles  and  fixtures." 

Q.  (A-625).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  the  pay  of  section  men  for 
time  used  in  cleaning  and  sanding  stock 
cars? 

A.     To  account  67,  "Miscellaneous 

car-service  expenses." 

Q.  (A-626).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  amounts  paid  to  employees 
for  personal  property  damage  while  on 
duty  such  as  the  breaking  of  eye 
glasses,  the  damaging  of  uniform,  etc.? 

A.  To  account  92,  "Injuries  and 
damages." 

Q.  (B-102).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  the  cost  of  rubber  boots  car- 
ried on  wrecking  tool  car  as  a  part  of 
service  equipment? 

A.  To  account  78,  "Other  transpor- 
tation expenses." 

Q.  (B-103-1).  A  carrier  is  reim- 
bursed by  a  realty  company  for  the  cost 
of  grading  a  street.  What  is  the  ac- 
counting? 

A.  The  entire  cost  of  the  grading 
shall  be  charged  to  account  504,  "Grad- 
ing." The  amount  contributed  by  the 
realty  company  shall  be  credited  to  ac- 
count 305,  "Donations." 

Q.  (5-103-6).  A  carrier  changing 
from  the  cable  system  to  the  overhead 
trolley  system,  and  from  narrow  to 
standard  gage  track,  removes  a  portion 
of  the  cable  system.  How  should  it  ac- 
count for  the  cost  of  removing  the  cable 
structure,  and  for  the  cost  of  the  new 
tracks? 

A.  The  book  value  of  the  portions  of 
cable  railway  removed  shall  be  credited 
to  the  appropriate  road  and  equipment 
accounts  and  charged,  less  salvage,  to 
the  appropriate  operating  expense  ac- 
counts. The  cost  of  removing  such 
cable  railway  parts  shall  also  be 
charged  to  operating  expenses.  The 
cost  of  installing  the  electric  railway 
track  shall  be  charged  to  the  appropri- 
ate road  and  equipment  accounts. 

Q.  (£-106).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  the  cost  of  handling  sand 
for  use  in  sand  boxes  of  motor  cars  ? 

A.  To  account  11,  "Cleaning  and 
sanding  track." 

Q.  (5-107).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  payments  to  a  contractor 
for  removing  ashes  from  power  sta- 
tion boiler  room  during  a  scarcity  of 
regular  help? 

A.  To  account  52,  "Power  plant  em- 
ployees." 

Q.  (5-109).  To  what  account  should 
be  charged  expense  of  maintaining 
small  portable  buildings  used  by  flag- 
men at  grade  crossings? 

A.  To  account  24,  "Buildings,  fix- 
tures and  grounds." 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


31 


Interurban  Merger  Rumored 

A  consolidation  of  the  Charleston- 
Dunbar  Traction  Company  and  the 
Charleston  (W.  Va.)  Interurban  Rail- 
road may  result  from  the  sale  of  the 
Dunbar  line  to  Isaac  Lowenstein.  Mr. 
Lowenstein  purchased  the  road  for 
other  parties. 

Fred  M.  Staunton,  vice-president  of 
the  Charleston  Interurban  Railroad, 
said  that  negotiations  are  pending  re- 
garding the  future  of  the  Dunbar  line, 
but  was  not  prepared  to  admit  that 
any  definite  plans  have  been  consum- 
mated. Former  Governor  W.  A.  Mac- 
Corkle,  president  of  the  Charleston 
Interurban  Railroad,  said  that  he  was 
not  in  a  position  to  give  any  informa- 
tion concerning  plans  for  the  merger. 

Mr.  Lowenstein,  the  purchaser  of  the 
Dunbar  line,  is  president  of  the  Char- 
leston National  Bank.  He  took  over 
the  property  from  Fred.  Paul  Grosscup, 
candidate  for  the  Republican  nomina- 
tion for  Governor  in  the  last  primary 
election.  The  deal  is  said  to  have  in- 
volved $400,000. 


Roads  at  Providence  Sold 
at  Foreclosure 

The  properties  of  the  United  Trac- 
tion &  Electric  Company,  Providence, 
R.  I.,  were  sold  under  foreclosure  at 
Providence  on  June  24.  The  roads  in- 
cluded were  the  Union  Railroad,  the 
Pawtucket  Street  Railway,  the  Rhode 
Island  Railway,  the  Pawtuxet  Valley 
Street  Railway  and  the  Cumberland 
Street  Railway. 

They  were  bid  in  by  Charles  H.  W. 
Mandeville,  secretary  of  the  joint  re- 
organization committee,  which  has  in 
its  hands  practically  all  of  the  out- 
standing securities  of  the  companies 
liquidated.  It  is  expected  that  the  joint 
reorganization  committee  consisting  of 
Colonel  Samuel  P.  Colt,  Stephen  O. 
Metcalfe  and  Michael  F.  Dooley  will 
assign  the  roads  to  the  United  Electric 
Railways  as  the  successor  company  and 
that  the  owners  of  the  stocks  and 
bonds  of  the  companies  going  into  the 
reorganization  will  receive  in  exchange 
the  securities  of  the  United  Electric 
Railways  in  accordance  with  the  re- 
organization plan  referred  to  at  length 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
Feb.  19,  1921,  page  381. 


until  this  depreciation  reserve  fund  was 
created. 

The  utility  operators  expressed  them- 
selves as  in  favor  of  regulation  of  their 
rates  and  matters  affecting  their  serv- 
ice to  the  public,  but  declared  unani- 
mously that  if  a  corporation  commis- 
sion or  any  other  governmental  body 
were  empowered  to  direct  the  manage- 
ment of  the  company  or  to  tie  up  its 
funds  in  such  a  manner  as  they  could 
not  be  used  in  the  business,  they  would 
be  unable  to  finance  a  single  improve- 
ment. 

The  testimony  of  John  W.  Shartel, 
vice-president  and  general  manager  of 
the  Oklahoma  Railway,  the  largest 
electric  railway  system  in  the  State, 
was  typical.  He  said  that  his  company 
has  not  been  able  to  declare  dividends 
for  several  years  but  has  used  all  its 
surplus  and  net  earnings  in  taking  care 
of  depreciation  of  the  property  and  in 
putting  in  new  improvements. 

In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Shartel  the 
proposed  order  would  probably  tie  up 
about  $200,000  of  the  funds  of  his  com- 
pany which  otherwise  would  be  put 
back  into  the  property  for  improve- 
ment. He  also  declared  that  when  he 
went  to  borrow  money  to  build  or  ex- 
tend interurbans  or  improve  his  city 
lines  the  banker  would  flatly  refuse  to 
make  the  loans. 


Utilities  Oppose  Depreciation 
Reserve  Fund 

The  proposal  of  the  Corporation 
Commission  of  Oklahoma  to  require 
all  public  service  corporations  in  the 
State  to  set  aside  a  depreciation  reserve 
fund  met  with  united  opposition  from 
the  owners  and  managers  of  public 
utilities,  at  a  hearing  before  the  com- 
mission on  June  21.  The  commission 
reserved  decision. 

The  hearing  was  on  proposed  order 
No.  168  to  compel  each  utility  and  other 
public  service  corporation  to  set  aside 
a  cash  fund  to  cover  depreciation  of  its 
property  and  prohibit  it  from  paying 
out  in  excess  of  6  per  cent  dividends 


Interest  Payment  Planned 

Frank  Hedley,  president  and  general 
manager  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y., 
announced  on  June  27  that  the  com- 
pany would  be  able  to  pay  the  in- 
terest on  the  Interborough  Rapid  Tran- 
sit 5  per  cent  bonds  and  the  rental  on 
the  Manhattan  Railway,  both  due  July 
1,  provided  earnings  are  maintained  on 
a  fairly  normal  basis. 


Public  Service  Net  Increases  in  May. 
- — The  Public  Service  Railway,  Newark, 
N.  J.,  reports  a  net  income  of  $65,816 
for  May,  1921,  compared  with  $55,099 
for  May  1920.  There  were  38,456,479 
passengers  carried  during  the  month. 
Of  this  number  31,285,489  were  revenue 
passengers  and  7,170,990  were  transfer 
passengers. 

Interborough  $189,152  Behind.— The 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
New  York,  N.  Y.,  failed  by  $189,152  dur- 
ing May,  1921,  to  meet  the  cost  of  serv- 
ice. In  May  a  year  ago  the  company 
showed  a  surplus  of  $26,152.  The  net 
corporate  deficit  for  the  eleven  months 
ended  May  31  is  $3,997,003  against  a 
deficit  of  $1,953,664  for  the  same  period 
of  1920  and  compares  with  the  twelve 
months'  deficit  of  June,  1919,  which 
was  $3,810,340. 


Service  Discontinued. — The  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway  sus- 
pended service  on  June  13  on  the 
Woburn-Billerica  line  in  accordance 
with  a  notice  given  out  that  jitney 
service  would  have  to  be  withdrawn  if 
operation  of  cars  was  to  continue. 
The  railway  has  provided  for  the  needs 
of  school  children.  The  action  of  the 
company  is  not  understood  by  the 
Mayor  of  Woburn,  who  stated  that  ha 
had  vetoed  all  jitney  licenses  in  an 
effort  to  retain  the  railway  service. 

Abandoned   Line  Runs   Again. — The 

Nassau  Electric  Railroad,  a  part  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  System,  began 
operating  the  Ocean  Avenue  line  on 
June  25  after  a  suspension  of  almost  a 
year.  The  line  runs  between  Bergen 
Street  and  Sheepshead  Bay.  Receiver 
Garrison  has  announced  that  the  reve- 
nue would  at  least  pay  operating  ex- 
penses from  June  25  to  Sept.  1,  the 
vacation  season  when  travel  to  the 
shore  is  heavy.  The  receiver  reserves 
the  right  to  discontinue  service  after 
Sept.  1. 

Carhouse  Property  Sold. — The  largest 
single  piece  of  property  in  the  down- 
town district  of  Long  Beach,  Cal., 
owned  by  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway, 
was  sold  recently  to  H.  E.  Ware,  a 
capitalist  and  investor  of  Long  Beach 
for  $125,000.  The  property,  located  on 
the  northeast  corner  of  American  Ave- 
nue and  Fifth  Street,  was  used  as  a  car- 
house  and  freight  depot  by  the  railway. 

Refunding  Proceeding  Completed. — 
Kidder,  Peabody  &  Company,  Boston, 
Mass.,  and  Charles  H.  Dilman  &  Com- 
pany, Inc.,  Portland,  Me.,  recently  of- 
fered for  subscription  at  100  and  in- 
terest $600,000  of  five-year  collateral 
trust  8  per  cent  bonds  of  the  Cumber- 
land County  Power  &  Light  Company, 
Portland,  which  does  the  entire  electric 
light,  power  and  street  railway  busi- 
ness in  Portland,  Me.,  and  vicinity.  The 
new  bonds  are  issued  to  retire  $614,000 
of  7  per  cent  notes  which  matured  on 
June  1. 

Master   Commissioner   Appointed.  — 

Richard  Swing,  Cincinnati,  was  ap- 
pointed master  commissioner  with  in- 
creased authority  to  determine  the  as- 
sets and  liabilities  of  the  old  Cincin- 
nati &  Columbus  Traction  Company  by 
Judge  Stanley  C.  Roettinger  of  the 
Hamilton  County  Common  Pleas  Court 
during  the  week  ended  June  11.  Mr. 
Swing  will  determine  what  assessment, 
if  any,  should  be  levied  against  stock- 
holders, who  are  said  not  to  have  paid 
in  full  for  their  stock.  He  was  appointed 
in  a  similar  capacity  about  a  year  ago, 
but  lacked  sufficient  authority  to  probe 
deeply  enough  into  the  affairs  of  the 
company  and  Judge  Roettinger's  ap- 
pointment gives  Mr.  Swing  the  neces- 
sary authority  to  take  testimony  from 
claimants  and  stockholders.  When  the 
old  Cincinnati  &  Columbus  Traction 
Company  failed,  one  of  the  largest 
creditors  was  the  Union  Savings  Bank 
&  Trust  Company,  Cincinnati,  a  bond- 
holder for  $300,000.  Stockholders  of 
the  company  objected  to  the  bank's 
claim. 


.32 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


Fare  Five  Cents 

Detroit  Back  to  Old  Rate,  but  Charges 
One  Cent  for  Transfer — Tem- 
porary Arrangement 

A  new  5-cent  rate  of  fare  and  1  cent 
for  transfer  within  the  present  one- 
fare  zone  went  into  effect  on  the  De- 
troit (Mich.)  United  Lines  on  June  19. 
The  City  Council  on  recommendation 
of  Mayor  Couzens  accepted  the  counter 
proposal  made  by  the  company  after 
the  city's  plan  of  a  6-cent  fare  and 
ten  tickets  for  50  cents  had  been  con- 
sidered by  the  company  and  rejected. 

In  response  to  the  Mayor's  verbal 
request  that  the  company  begin  to 
operate  service  in  the  one-fare  zone  on 
the  fare  schedule  proposed  by  the  city 
A.  F.  Edwards,  vice-president  of  the 
Detroit  United  Railway,  replied  in  a 
letter  to  the  Mayor  that  the  company 
did  not  believe  the  city's  proposal  would 
serve  either  the  city's  or  the  company's 
purpose.  He  stated  that  if  the  com- 
pany is  to  try  operation  with  a  5-cent 
paid  fare,  a  5-cent  cash  fare  must  be 
tried  in  place  of  the  tickets  suggested 
by  the  city.  The  proposal  was  made 
without  prejudice  to  the  rights  of  any 
or  all  parties  and  was  subject  to  the 
one  consideration  that  the  company's 
and  city's  accountants  should,  with  all 
due  diligence,  agree  on  a  system  of  ac- 
counting acceptable  to  both  parties. 
Under  the  agreement  approved  by  the 
Council,  the  transfer  charge  will  cover 
a  transfer  ride  over  the  same  routes 
as  were  previously  in  force. 

No  Change  in  General  Transfer 
Arrangement 

The  very  same  transfer  ride  that 
could  be  obtained  on  the  payment  of  a 
single  fare  will  continue  to  be  given 
for  the  5-cent  cash  fare  and  the  cent 
for  a  transfer.  On  the  so-called  double 
transfer  routes  the  one  transfer  will 
serve  the  purpose.  The  1-cent  charge 
for  transfers  is  not  to  apply  on  the  so- 
called  intermediate  transfers,  namely, 
where  a  person  requires  two  transfers 
to  reach  his  destination.  In  that  case 
the  charge  is  only  1  cent. 

The  new  fare  arrangement  will  not 
affect  the  city's  attitude  toward  the 
redemption  of  rebate  slips  attached  to 
strips  of  tickets  sold  by  the  company 
since  June  9,  1920,  according  to  Cor- 
poration Counsel  Wilcox. 

While  the  plan  has  not  been  in  effect 
long  enough  to  determine  whether  or 
not  the  company  can  operate  success- 
fully on  a  5-cent  fare,  figures  prepared 
by  the  city's  auditors  and  presented  to 
the  Council  show  that  the  new  fare 
rates  will  save  about  $1,000,000  a  year 
for  car  riders  and  will  give  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  about  $180,000  more 
revenue  than  the  city's  proposal.  It  is 
Gtated  that  between  25  and  30  per  cent 
of  the  riders  now  get  transfers  and 
will  have  to  pay  the  6-cent  fare  to  ride 


to  their  destination.  According  to  fig- 
ures presented  by  the  Mayor,  the  De- 
troit United  Railway  will  earn  ap- 
proximately $200,000  a  month  above 
operating  expenses  under  the  new  fare 
rate. 

The  agreement  can  be  terminated  at 
will  by  either  party. 


Both  John  J.  Stanley,  president  of 
the  company,  and  Fielder  Sanders,  City 
Street  Railway  Commissioner,  believe 
that  the  experiment  may  result  in 
thousands  of  additional  car  riders  daily 
in  the  territory  affected. 


Low  Fare  Experiment 

Cleveland  Planning  to  Sell  Two  Tickets 
for  Five  Cents  Good  Down-town 
—Riding  Off  11  per  Cent 

An  experiment  to  determine  whether 
an  extremely  low  rate  of  fare  will  stim- 
ulate short  haul  car  riders  is  to  be  made 
in  Cleveland  starting  in  July.  The 
Cleveland  Railway  has  asked  the  City 
Council  to  approve  a  plan  for  charging 
only  a  2i-cent  fare  for  riders  in  the 
tlown-town  business  sections  of  the  city 
instead  of  6  cents  plus  1  cent  for  a 
transfer,  which  is  the  prevailing  rate 
for  the  entire  city. 

The  street  railway  committee  of  the 
City  Council  has  already  assented  to 
the  scheme  as  have  also  the  directors 
of  the  railway.  The  City  Council  is  ex- 
pected to  approve  the  change  before  it 
adjourns  for  its  summer  vacation. 

The  experiment  is  being  attempted 
because  ever  since  last  December  there 
has  been  a  steady  decline  in  the  number 
of  riders  in  Cleveland,  until  at  present 
the  reduction  in  the  number  of  riders 
over  last  year  amounts  to  11  per  cent. 

The  experiment  is  not  a  test  of  a 
zone  system,  railway  officials  point  out, 
because  it  will  merely  take  in  the  down- 
town section.  As  described  by  Paul 
Wilson,  assistant  secretary  of  the  com- 
pany, the  experiment  is  being  made  for 
these  reasons: 

We  want  to  learn  whether  this  low  rate 
of  fare  will  revive  and  increase  the  car 
riding  habit  of  Cleveland  ;  second,  whether 
it  will  thereby  increase  our  receipts,  and 
third,  whether  it  will  aid  in  eliminating 
pedestrian  congestion  in  the  down-town 
section.  We'd  rather  have  jammed  street 
cars  than  jammed  sidewalks. 

Under  the  new  rate  of  fare  for  the 
down-town  section,  two  tickets  will  be 
sold  for  a  nickel  or  four  for  a  dime.  No 
transfers  will  be  given  in  connection 
with  these  tickets.  The  easterly  limit 
of  the  low  fare  zone  will  be  East  Twen- 
tieth Street,  the  southeasterly  East 
Fourteenth  Street,  and  the  westerly 
limits  the  east  approach  of  the  new 
high  level  bridge.  The  territory  cover- 
ing the  low  fare  zone  is  a  little  more 
than  a  square  mile  in  extent.  v 

Cleveland  is  admirably  suited  to  the 
experiment,  because  town-bound  cars, 
that  is,  those  headed  toward  the  Public 
Square,  are  pay-enters,  while  out-bound 
cars  or  those  headed  away  from  the 
Square,  are  pay-leave  variety. 

Operation  of  the  lines  in  May  was 
conducted  at  a  net  loss  of  $38,000  which 
caused  a  drop  of  $22,000  in  the  com- 
pany's interest  fund,  the  fare  barometer. 


Eight  Cents  in  Spokane 

City   Commission   Resents   Ruling  by 
State  Body  and  Threatens  to  Turn 
Jitneys  Loose 

The  Department  of  Public  Works  of 
the  State  of  Washington  on  June  14 
issued  an  order  granting  the  request 
of  the  two  Spokane  railways,  the  Wash- 
ington Water  Power  Company  and  the 
Spokane  &  Eastern  Railway  &  Power 
Company  for  an  increase  in  fares  from 
6  cents  to  8  cents  for  a  continuous  one- 
way passage. 

Immediately  the  city  authorities  who 
have  been  opposing  the  raise  of  rates 
proceeded  to  put  into  execution  their 
threat  that  they  would  let  loose  the 
flood  of  jitneys  which  they  have  held 
in  check  for  the  last  several  years. 

There  is  unquestionably  a  strong 
popular  resentment  against  the  rail- 
ways seeking  an  advance  now:  How- 
ever, an  effort  is  being  made  to  effect 
some  sort  of  a  compromise  between  the 
railways  and  the  city. 

On  June  16  a  delegation  from  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  protested  before 
the  City  Commissioners  against  the  re- 
turn of  the  jitney  to  Spokane  streets. 

The  trainmen  retaliated  by  threaten- 
ing not  to  run  any  cars.  They  were 
counseled,  however,  by  the  officers  of 
their  companies  not  to  do  anything 
that  might  further  complicate  matters. 

The  whole  matter  now  rests  on  the 
efforts  of  the  Spokane  business  men 
who  are  trying  to  bring  about  a  settle- 
ment before  the  jitney  situation  reaches 
a  condition  which  must  be  disastrous 
both  from  the  standpoint  of  Spokane 
and  that  of  the  railways. 

The  Board  of  Public  Works  is  a  de- 
partment of  the  state  government 
under  the  new  administrative  code  of 
the  state  which  has  succeeded  the  for- 
mer Public  Service  Commission. 

The  following  tabulation  gives  the 
income  statement  for  the  Washington 
Water  Power  Company  for  1920,  based 
on  the  fares  in  effect  during  that  year, 
and  at  the  proposed  8-cent  fare  had 
the  proper  charges  been  made  for  elec- 
trical energy  used  in  operating  cars: 

Based  on  Based  on 

6-cent  fare  8-cent  fare 

6-mill  12-mill 

power  power 

Operating-  revenues 

(gross)   $1,085,345  $1,364,480 

Operating   expenses..      699,419  789,904 

Depreciation  (retire- 
ment   expense)....      152,955  152,955 

Taxes                                   78,814  78,814 

Total  deductions  from 

revenue   $     931,188  $1,021,673 

Operating  income 

(available  for  inter- 

„  est)                                 154,155  342,805 

Rate  base                        4,500,000  4,500,000 

Rate  of  return             3.43%  7.63% 

The  commission  says  that  the  Wash- 
ington Water  Power  Company  has 
shown  by  the  evidence  to  have  actually 
lost  money  during  1916  and  1918  and  to 


July  2,  1921   Electric   Railway   Journal  33 


have  earned  less  than  1  per  cent  in 
1917  and  to  have  earned  approximately 
3i  per  cent  in  1919  and  1920,  and  the 
Spokane  &  Eastern  Railway  &  Power 
Company  has  actually  lost  money  dur- 
ing all  of  these  years. 

The  commission  estimates  that  the 
8-cent  fare  will  enable  the  Spokane  & 
Eastern  Railway  &  Power  Company  to 
earn  $113,605  more  in  the  next  twelve 
months  than  it  earned  in  1920,  result- 
ing in  an  allowance  over  operating  ex- 
penses and  taxes  of  $6,306  to  apply 
toward  its  depreciation  reserve,  but  pro- 
viding nothing  for  interest  upon  its  in- 
vestment. 

In  disposing  of  the  contention  of  the 
city  that  the  roads  should  consolidate 
the  commission  said  that  a  physical 
consolidation  was  possible  and  un- 
doubtedly some  saving  in  operating  ex- 
penses could  be  accomplished  thereby, 
but  there  are  legal  and  financial  rea- 
sons why  a  consolidation  cannot  be  ef- 
fected within  such  time  as  will  avoid 
the  increase  of  rates  now  necessary. 

President  Huntington  of  the  Water 
Power  Company  said  in  part: 

If  the  Spokane  public  will  read  carefully 
the  full  text  of  the  decision  of  the  State 
Department  of  Public  Works  in  the  street 
railway  fare  case,  we  believe  that  it  will 
not  approve  of  the  intention  expressed  by 
representatives  of  the  city  government  of 
turning  jitneys  loose. 

We  believe  that  the  public  wants  efficient 
railway  service  and  is  willing  to  pay  the 
reasonable  cost  of  providing  it.  For  years 
before  the  war,  when  cost  of  labor,  ma- 
terial and  taxes  were  far  below  present 
levels,  the  railways  earned  little  more  than 
the  bare  cost  of  keeping  them  going 

The  railway  property  of  the  Washington 
Water  Power  Company  is  one  of  the  most 
economically  operated  properties  of  its 
kind  in  the  country.  No  other  property 
of  its  size  in  the  country  operates  entirely 
with  one-man  cars.  The  saving  from  this 
practice  alone  is  more  than  $300,000  a  year 
If  we  operated  with  two-man  cars  we 
should  have  had  to  ask  the  Department  of 
Public  Works  for  a  10-cent  fare  at  least. 
The  public  benefits  directly,  and  in  large 
measure,  by  such  economies,  and  the  com- 
pany is  entitled  to  consideration  for  the 
efficiency  it  has  shown. 


Six  Cents  in  Knoxville 

The  Tennessee  Railroad  &  Public 
Utilities  Commission  has  issued  an 
order  allowing  the  Knoxville  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  to 
charge  a  6-cent  fare  effective  July  3. 
The  original  application  of  the  Knox- 
ville Company  was  for  a  7-cent  fare  and 
a  2-cent  transfer  charge.  This  was 
denied,  the  commission  holding  that  the 
company  had  not  set  up  sufficient  rea- 
son for  such  an  advance. 


Referendum  Threatened 
in  Cincinnati 

Members  of  a  citizens'  committee 
have  begun  to  circulate  petitions  in  an 
effort  to  bring  about  a  referendum 
election  to  prevent  the  recent  railway 
ordinance  passed  by  the  Council  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  from  going  into  effect. 
Under  the  amended  ordinance,  as 
passed  by  the  City  Council,  the  Cin- 
cinnati (Ohio)  Traction  Company  is 
compelled  to  reduce  fares  one-half  cent 
on  Aug.  1.  If  the  citizens'  committee 
should  obtain  10,000  signatures  of 
voters  to  the  petitions  and  file  the  peti- 
tions with  the  Board  of  Elections  before 


July  14,  the  ordinance  can  not  go  into 
effect.  The  committee  in  explaining  the 
motive  for  circulating  the  petitions  said 
that  the  amended  street  railway  ordi- 
nance did  not  insure  any  permanent 
lowering  of  the  rates  of  fares. 

Emergency  Rates  Asked 

Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  Railways  Seek 
Temporary  Increases  Pending  Final 
Adjustment  of  Valuation 

The  Minneapolis  Street  Railway  and 
the  St.  Paul  City  Railway  on  June  22 
filed  with  the  Minnesota  Railroad  & 
Warehouse  Commission  applications  for 
new  valuations  for  the  two  lines.  They 
were  in  printed  form  and  covered  de- 
tails of  finance  and  service. 

In  the  case  of  Duluth  an  application 
already  has  been  filed  for  an  emer- 
gency increase  in  rate  of  fare  from  5 
to  7  cents  and  four  tickets  for  25  cents. 
The  hearing  was  set  for  June  28  as  to 
justification  for  the  new  rate.  In  the 
case  of  Minneapolis  an  existing  ordi- 
nance permits  the  railway  to  increase 
its  rate  from  6  cents  to  7  cents  or  four 
tickets  for  a  quarter,  or  if  it  wants  a 
higher  rate  it  may  go  right  to  the  state 
commission.  In  an  application  soon  to 
be  filed  the  St.  Paul  City  Railway  will 
ask  an  emergency  rate  of  fare.  The 
present  ordinance  there,  allowing  a 
6-cent  rate,  which  now  prevails,  does 
not  contain  any  feature  like  the  Minne- 
apolis grant  providing  for  an  automatic- 
increase. 

In  St.  Paul  taxes  are  being  paid  on 
about  $16,000,000  of  property  and  in 
Minneapolis  a  tax  on  about  $21,000,000, 
which  amounts  do  not  include  all  items 
to  enter  into  the  valuation.  The  valua- 
tions to  be  obtained  will  be  a  basis  for 
the  permanent  rate  of  fare.  Experts 
will  be  retained  by  both  cities,  but  the 
company  will  pay  the  bill  in  each  case. 

Inasmuch  as  thirty  days  is  allowed 
before  hearing  on  a  petition  it  would 
be  Aug.  1  before  the  emergency  rate, 
if  allowed,  will  take  effect  in  St.  Paul. 


INDEED  "TIMES  HAVE  CHANGED" 


(From  Peoria  Star,  Oct.  13,  1920) 
TIMES  HAVE  CHANGED 

Motormen    and    Conductors  Elated 
Over  Increase  of  Pay  20  Years 
Ago  to  $11  and  $13. 

Twenty  years  ago,  as  noted  in  the 
files  of  The  Star,  the  Central  Railway 
Co.  posted  notices  in  the  car  barns, 
announcing  an  increase  in  the  pay  of 
conductors  and  motormen  of  $1  a 
week.  This  brought  their  pay  up  to 
$11  and  $13  a  week,  depending  on  the 
length  of  service,  which,  it  is  stated, 
caused  much  satisfaction  among  the 
men. 


1900  1920  Increase 

Wages   18!4c  per  hr        59c  per  hr  218% 

Fares    5  cents  7'/,  cents  50% 

Street  Car  Fares  Have  Not  Increased  in 
Proportion  to  Wages  and  Other 
Operating  Expenses 

Peoria  Railway  Co. 


At  that  time  the  7-cent  fare  would  be 
put  in  Minneapolis  also,  making  the 
fares  uniform  in  the  two  cities. 

Except  for  an  extension  and  con- 
struction now  under  way  in  Minneapolis 
the  company  expects  to  do  no  more 
work  in  1921,  notwithstanding  $1,000,- 
000  of  intertrack  paving  and  $600,000 
more  extensions  have  been  ordered. 

The  companies  desire  the  temporary 
rates  to  be  effective  until  such  time 
as  the  Railroad  &  Warehouse  Commis- 
sion may  definitely  determine  the  value 
of  the  property  involved,  at  which  time 
the  company  hopes  that  the  commis- 
sion will  establish  an  equitable  rate  of 
fare  assuring  a  reasonable  return  on 
the  fair  value  of  the  properties. 

It  is  pointed  out  that  this  is  particu- 
larly important  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
both  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  are  ask- 
ing for  large  capital  expenditures,  and 
until  the  commission  has  definitely  fixed 
the  value  of  the  property  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  secure  the  needed  money  to 
make  the  improvements  demanded.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company,  which  controls  the  Min- 
neapolis and  St.  Paul  lines,  the  one  idea 
of  the  railway  h  to  be  placed  in  a  posi- 
tion where  it  can  furnish  adequate  serv- 
ice at  cost  and  have  its  credit  estab- 
lished so  that  it  can  secure  the  needed 
money  to  keep  pace  with  these  growing 
cities. 


Peoria  Now  and  Twenty 
Years  Ago 

The  story  of  Peoria's  transportation 
growth  and  progress  is  told  in  the 
May  issue  of  the  Peorian,  the  offi- 
cial publication  of  the  Peoria  Associa- 
tion of  Commerce.  The  old  mule  car 
was  replaced  in  1889  by  the  electric 
car  which  started  the  modern  electric 
improvements  on  the  Illinois  Traction 
system.  The  accompanying  announce- 
ments from  the  same  publication  give 
some  important  facts  about  Peoria  in 
the  twenty  years  of  its  development. 


How  the  Story  of  Peoria's  Transportation  Growth  Is  Told  by  the  Peoria 
Chamber  of  Commerce 


The 

Electric  Railway 
— and  Progress 

Railroads  are  built  with  the  object  in  view  of 
serving  some  prosperous  territory. 

If  the  men  who  promote  such  a  commercial  car- 
rier operate  freight  and  passenger  trains  on  frequent 
schedule,  the  terminal  points  benefit. 

Peoria  is  so  situated  on  the  Illinois  Traction  Sys- 
tem. 

The  northern  point  of  the  largest  electric  railway 
in  the  world,  Peoria,  taps  the  richest  commercial  and 
natural  resource  field  in  the  state. 

All  Peorians  have  an  equal  advantage  in  partaking 
of  the  opportunities  the  Traction  presents  in  Illinois. 

Illinois 
Traction  System 

(McKinley  Lines) 


84 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  Sanc- 
tions Higher  Fare 

A  recent  decision  in  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  au- 
thorizes the  Augusta-Aiken  Railway 
&  Electric  Corporation,  Augusta,  Ga., 
to  put  into  effect  a  10-cent  fare  and 
further  enjoins  the  Railroad  Commis- 
sion from  interfering  with  the  collec- 
tion of  that  fare. 

The  company  a  few  months  ago  ap- 
plied to  the  commission  to  increase  its 
fare  from  7  cents  to  10  cents.  After 
the  commission  had  denied  the  request 
the  company  instituted  injunctions  in 
the  Federal  Court.  The  case  was 
heard  by  three  judges.  The  principal 
contention  of  the  railway  was  that  a 
fair  return  upon  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty could  not  be  made  at  the  7-cent 
rate  of  fare. 


Renews  Petition  for  Increased 
Fare 

The  Carolina  Power  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Raleigh,  N.  C,  has  renewed  its 
petition  before  the  Corporation  Com- 
mission for  an  8-cent  cash  fare  with 
four  tickets  for  30  cents.  At  a  recent 
hearing  the  company  claimed  $11,373 
net  earnings  for  the  first  four  months 
of  this  year,  which,  it  was  stated,  was 
insufficient  to  pay  interest  on  bonds 
and  dividend  on  a  plant  valued  at 
$828,741.  This  case  was  continued 
from  last  January,  when  the  commis- 
sion ordered  the  city  of  Raleigh  to 
show  cause,  on  May  1,  why  the  rate 
should  not  be  advanced.  The  present 
rate  is  7  cents,  with  four  tickets  for 
25  cents. 


Commission  Rules  on  Cumberland 
County  Fares 

Announcement  was  made  by  the 
State  Public  Utility  Commission  that 
the  Bridgeton  &  Millville  Traction  Com- 
pany, operating  in  Cumberland  County, 
N.  J.,  had  been  allowed  an  increase  in 
fare,  from  6  cents  per  zone  to  7  cents 
per  zone,  in  Bridgeton  and  between 
Bridgeton  and  Millville;  7  cents  per 
zone  on  the  Bridgeton- Port  Norris  line 
between  Bridgeton  and  Newport.  The 
board  allowed  a  charge  of  8  cents  per 
zone  on  what  was  characterized  as  the 
"non-paying"  part  of  the  system,  south 
of  Newport,  between  Newport  and 
Bivalve.  The  rate  to  school  children 
may  be  increased  to  1%  cents  a  mile  by 
the  company. 

The  freight  rates  allowed  by  the 
board  were  25  cents  for  the  first  100 
lb.  or  fraction  of  this  weight,  and  10 
cents  for  each  additional  100  lb.  Where 
$1.60  per  ton  is  now  charged  by  the 
concern,  $1.80  per  ton  was  allowed  by 
the  board. 


Wants  Higher  Fares. — The  Athens 
Railway  &  Electric  Corporation,  Athens, 
Ga.,  plans  to  petition  the  State  Railroad 
Commission  for  a  10-cent  fare.  The 
present  rate  is  6  cents. 


|  Transportation  | 
News  Notes  | 

Interurban  Rates  Advanced.  —  The 

Pacific  Northwest  Traction  Company 
has  announced  increased  rates  amount- 
ing to  4  cents  on  each  commutation 
book  ticket  issued  on  its  electric  inter- 
urban line  between  Seattle  and  the 
Everett  city  limits.  Only  book  rates 
are  affected  by  the  increase. 

Two-Cent  Advance  in  Fares. — The 
Corporation  Commission  of  North  Caro- 
lina recently  permitted  the  Salisbury  & 
Spencer  Railway,  operating  in  Concord, 
to  increase  its  rates  from  8  to  10  cents. 
The  company  is  controlled  by  the  North 
Carolina  Public  Service  Company  and 
would  have  had  to  abandon  service  had 
the  commission  refused  the  petition. 

Four  Cents  a  Mile  Authorized. — 
Judge  Louis  FitzHenry,  in  the  United 
States  Court,  has  granted  authority  to 
the  Galesburg  &  Kewanee  Electric 
Railway,  operating  between  Kewanee, 
111.,  and  Galva,  111.,  to  increase  its  pas- 
senger fare  to  4  cents  a  mile.  The  dis- 
tance between  the  two  cities  is  8  miles 
and  the  fare  is  now  32  cents  instead  of 
28  cents. 

Commission  Orders  Summer  Rates. — 

The  Public  Service  Commission  recently 
issued  an  order  directing  the  United 
Railways  &  Electric  Company,  Balti- 
more, Md.,  to  put  into  effect  a  single 
fare  between  city  points  and  River  View 
Park  after  1  p.m.  on  Satui'days,  Sun- 
days and  holidays  and  after  7  p.m.  on 
other  days.  The  ruling  is  to  continue 
until  Sept.  18. 

Seven-Cent  Rate  Continues. — The 
Missouri  Public  Service  Commission  re- 
cently extended  the  7-cent  fare  on  the 
lines  of  the  United  Railways,  St.  Louis. 
The  7-cent  rate  was  allowed  some  time 
ago  and  the  time  is  extended  until  Dec. 
31,  1921.  This  extension  is  permitted 
on  the  showing  of  the  receivers'  finan- 
cial report  for  the  first  four  months  of 
this  year. 

Bus  Route  Planned. — Applications  to 
operate  motor  buses  have  been  filed 
with  the  California  Railroad  Commis- 
sion by  the  San  Francisco-Oakland 
Terminal  Railways  and  the  Napa-Soda 
Springs  Bus  Company.  The  key-route 
system  is  planning  to  operate  a  route 
from  Fortieth  Street,  Oakland,  to  Mont- 
clair.  The  other  route  now  being 
planned  is  between  the  cities  of  Napa 
and  Soda  Springs. 

A  Privilege  for  the  Blind. — For  the 
accommodation  of  the  blind,  Supt. 
Gaboury  of  the  Montreal  Tramways 
has  given  out  notice  that  passes  will 
be  issued  authorizing  a  blind  person 
and  his  guide  to  ride  for  one  fare.  Ac- 
cordingly, conductors  will  accept  one 
cash  fare  in  payment  of  passage  of 
two  such  people.  The  pass  will  be 
printed  in  both  the  French  and  English 
languages. 


Hearing  on  Fare  Matter  Scheduled. — 

Exceptions  have  been  taken  to  the 
ruling  filed  recently  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  to  the  effect 
that  the  fare  over  the  Daisy  Line  be- 
tween Louisville  and  New  Albany  be 
reduced  to  8  cents.  The  case  will  be 
argued  before  the  entire  Commission 
cn  July  14,  and  until  that  time  the  com- 
pany will  collect  the  regular  10-cent 
straight  fare. 

Court  Upholds  Railway.  —  Federal 
authority  recently  sustained  the  right 
of  the  Chicago,  Ottawa  &  Peoria  Rail- 
way, Ottawa,  111.,  to  charge  10  cents 
for  rides  within  the  city  of  Ottawa. 
This  decision  rules  out  the  petition  of 
the  city  asking  the  Federal  court  to 
prohibit  the  company  from  charging 
10  cents  for  rides  which  start  and  ter- 
minate in  the  limits  of  Ottawa.  The 
company  is  also  permitted  to  charge 
3.6  cents  per  mile  for  passenger  traffic. 

Responsibility  Fixed  for  Long  Island 
Wreck.  —  The  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  deals  at  length  in  its  sum- 
mary of  accident  investigation  reports 
for  January,  February  and  March, 
1921,  with  the  side  collision  between 
two  passenger  trains  on  the  electrified 
Atlantic  Avenue  branch  of  the  Long 
Island  Railroad,  near  Autumn  Avenue. 
The  accident  occurred  on  Feb.  13.  It 
resulted  in  the  injury  of  twenty-three 
passengers  and  one  employee.  The 
commission  says  the  accident  was 
caused  by  the  failure  of  a  motorman 
properly  to  observe  and  be  governed 
by  signal  indications. 

Anti  One-Man  Car  Legislation  Fails. 
— Efforts  at  Tallahassee  to  legislate 
Tampa's  one-man  cars — and  those  in 
St.  Petersburg  and  other  cities  too,  for 
that  matter — out  of  business  were 
finally  frustrated  by  the  tacking  on  of 
an  amendment  to  the  second  section 
which  practically  kills  the  bill  as  ef- 
fectually as  striking  out  the  enacting 
clause.  The  amendment  has  stuck 
through  the  final  two  readings  in  the 
House,  despite  efforts  to  knock  it  off, 
ar.d  on  the  final  reading  the  bill  was 
passed  and  sent  to  the  Senate,  where 
it  is  confidently  expected  it  will  either 
die  in  committee  or  pass  as  it  stands. 
The  amendment  exempts  from  provi- 
sions of  the  act  those  cars  specifically 
designed  for  operation  by  one  person 
and  known  as  "one-man  cars," 

Increased  Rates  Announced. — In- 
creased passenger  fares  have  been  an- 
nounced by  the  management  of  the 
Windsor,  Essex  &  Lake  Shore  Rapid 
Railway,  Kingsville,  Ont.  One-way 
fare  has  been  advanced  from  2.5  cents 
a  mile  to  2.75  cents  a  mile;  round-trip 
fare  from  2.25  cents  a  mile  to  2.47  cents 
a  mile;  monthly  commutation  books 
from  0.81  cents  a  mile  to  1  cent  a  mile. 
In  commenting  on  these  changes  A. 
Eastman,  vice-president  and  general 
manager,  said:  "Only  that  we  have  en- 
joyed a  splendid  patronage  and  that 
operating  expenses  have  been  kept 
down  to  the  lowest  possible  point  con- 
sistent with  safety  this  company 
would  not  have  been  able  to  continue 
operation  during  the  past  three  years.'" 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


35 


W.  I.  Boyer  has  recently  been 
appointed  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  Hot  Springs  (Ark.)  Railway.  He 
is  stepping  into  the  place  formerly 
occupied  by  W.  E.  Johnson. 


Journal  Editor  to  Aid  in  Prepara- 
tion of  Business  Paper  Course 

Henry  H.  Norris,  managing  editor 
of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  has 
been  delegated  by  the  New  York  Busi- 
ness Publishers'  Association  to  assist 
in  the  preparation  of  a  course  of  in- 
struction for  present  and  prospective 
employees  in  the  field  of  business 
papers  The  association  has  contracted 
with  the  Business  Training  Corporation 
of  New  York  City  to  administer  this 
course  and  Mr.  Norris'  first  duty  will 
be  to  supervise  the  preparation  of  text 
material.  In  this  work  he  will  have 
the  assistance  of  a  co-operative  group 
of  from  thirty  to  fifty  leaders  in  the 
business  papers  field.  In  the  fall 
groups  of  students  will  be  organized 
among  the  several  publishing  organiza- 
tions and  these  groups  are  to  be  led 
by  experts  in  the  publishing  field  with 
whom  Mr.  Norris  will  co-operate  dur- 
ing the  initial  period  of  the  work.  This 
new  work  will  not  interfere  with  Mr. 
Norris'  connection  with  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  except  that  it  will 
require  a  portion  of  his  time  for  a  few 
months. 


E.  A.  MacMillan,  formerly  superin- 
tendent of  the  Stroudsburg  (Pa.)  Trac- 
tion Company,  and  but  recently  returned 
from  imprisonment  in  Soviet  Russia, 
following  his  service  with  the  British 
Railway  Mission  to  Siberia,  has  been 
appointed  assistant  superintendent  to 
the  Atlantic  City  &  Shore  Railroad, 
Atlantic  City,  N.  J. 

Edward  T.  Stotesbury,  who  was  long 
chairman  of  the  board  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Rapid  Transit  Company,  has  ac- 
cepted the  chairmanship  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Finance  of  the  Sesqui-Centennial 
Association  of  Philadelphia,  to  which 
he  was  recently  appointed  by  Mayor 
Moore.  His  associates  on  the  commit- 
tee are:  John  Wanamaker,  John  H. 
Mason,  Ellis  A.  Gimbel,  and  Mrs. 
Arthur  H.  Lea. 

Fred  B.  Johnson,  who  recently  re- 
tired from  the  Indiana  Public  Service 
Commission,  has  added  his  name  to  the 
list  of  those  who,  after  severing  their 
connections  with  the  commission,  im- 
mediately took  up  the  practice  of  util- 
ity law.  In  an  announcement  Mr.  John- 
son states  that  although  he  will  en- 
gage in  a  general  practice  he  will  spe- 
cialize in  utility  matters.  He  states 
that  in  connection  with  Jesse  I.  Miller, 
of  Washington,  he  will  handle  all  mat- 
ters before  federal  departments  and 
bureaus  in  Washington,  more  particu- 
larly in  connection  with  federal  taxa- 
tion questions. 

Frank  B.  Musser,  president  of  the 
Harrisburg  (Pa.)  Railways,  is  now  in 
Edinburgh,  Scotland,  attending  the  con- 
vention of  the  International  Rotary 
Club  as  the  official  delegate  of  his  local 


club,  of  which  he  is  vice-president.  He 
sailed  from  this  country  on  June  1.  At 
the  close  of  the  convention  he  will  take 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  tour 
France  and  Belgium.  His  plans  were 
to  return  to  the  United  States  about 
July  15.  His  friends  among  the  rail- 
way men  who  attended  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  Pennsylvania  Street  Railway 
Association,  which  met  recently  in  Har- 
risburg, missed  his  joviality  at  the  ses- 
sions. To  remind  him  that  he  was  not 
forgotten,  the  secretary  of  the  asso- 
ciation was  instructed  to  cable  him  the 
greetings  and  best  wishes  of  the 
members. 

John  H.  Moran,  general  auditor  of 
the  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  was  called 
to  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  recently  in  the 
capacity  of  adviser  to  the  arbitration 
board,  whose  duty  it  was  to  settle  the 
controversy  between  New  York  State 
Railways  and  its  employees  in  Utica, 
Rochester,  Syracuse  and  surrounding 
cities  who  are  members  of  the  Amal- 
gamated Association.  The  arbitration 
board  was  composed  of  Judge  Arthur 
Sutherland  of  Rochester,  an  impartial 
member;  B.  E.  Tilton,  vice-president  of 
the  company,  and  James  H.  Vahey, 
Amalgamated  counsel,  representing  the 
company  and  the  Amalgamated  Asso- 
ciation respectively.  As  announced  on 
June  18  the  arbitration  board  reduced 
the  wages  approximately  111  per  cent, 
with  a  maximum  hourly  rate  for  the 
trainmen  of  53  cents. 

C.  E.  Davies  has  been  appointed  by 
the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers  as  managing  editor  of  the 
society's  publication  to  succeed  the  late 
L.  G.  French,  who  was  both  editor  and 
manager.  Mr.  Davies  was  graduated 
from  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute with  the  degree  of  M.  E.,  and  for 
several  years  afterward  specialized  in 
industrial  management  work.  He  be- 
came associated  with  the  Smith-Pre- 
mier works  of  the  Remington  Type- 
writer Company,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in 
1914.  During  the  war  Mr.  Davies  was 
in  the  Ordinance  Department  at  the 
Frankford  Arsenal.  Mr.  Davies  joined 
the  editorial  staff  of  the  society  in 
March,  1920,  as  associate  editor  of 
Mechanical  Engineering  and  assistant 
secretary  in  charge  of  meetings  and 
publicity.  The  society  thus  secured  to 
assist  on  its  publication  and  to  help 
with  its  meetings  one  especially  trained 
in  large  diversified  business  undertak- 
ings. 

R.  M.  MacLetchie,  comptroller  of  the 
Alabama  Power  Company,  Birming- 
ham, Ala.,  has  recently  taken  over  the 
duties  of  treasurer  of  the  property 
formerly  discharged  by  R.  A.  Mitchell, 
who  was  vice-president  as  well.  As 
comptroller  and  treasurer  Mr.  Mac- 
Letchie will  have  complete  supervision 
of  all  finances  and  accounting  of  the 
company. 


John  I.  Fistus,  who  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  the  transportation  depart- 
ment at  the  main  office  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania-Ohio Electric  Company  in 
Youngstown,  died  on  May  15. 

Joseph  F.  Devender,  for  twenty-eight 
years  in  the  employ  of  the  Brooklyn 
(N.  Y.)  Rapid  Transit  Company,  is 
dead.  Mr.  Devender  served  in  many 
capacities  with  the  company,  ranging 
from  helper  to  general  foreman  in  the 
line  department,  which  position  he  held 
at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Michael  J.  Duffy,  a  veteran  of  forty 
years'  service  with  the  street  car  lines 
of  Boston,  died  suddenly  at  his  home  in 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  April  28.  Starting  in 
as  a  conductor  on  the  horse-car  lines 
he  rose  through  the  ranks,  until  at  the 
time  of  his  death  he  was  assistant 
superintendent  of  Division  2  of  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway.  His  funeral 
was  attended  by  officials  of  the  com- 
pany and  by  several  hundred  fellow 
employees  and  friends. 

Will  H.  Bloss,  manager  steam  rail- 
road sales  of  the  Ohio  Brass  Com- 
pany, Mansfield,  Ohio,  died  at  his  home 
in  Mansfield  on  June  22.  Mr.  Bloss  was 
born  on  April  4,  1869.  After  receiving 
bis  engineering  training  at  the  Indiana 
University  he  started  his  career  in 
railroad  work.  At  one  time  he  was 
division  engineer  on  the  Santa  Fe  Rail- 
road and  later  he  held  a  position  as 
chief  engineer  of  the  Indiana  Union 
Traction  Company.  He  went  to  the 
Ohio  Brass  Company  in  November, 
1906,  from  the  Buda  Company  of  Chi- 
cago and  was  district  sales  manager  in 
some  of  the  Central  States  until  about 
a  year  ago.  From  that  time  he  had 
devoted  his  effort  to  electrification  de- 
velopment and  other  steam  railroad 
problems. 

Lieutenant  Daniel  Sylvester,  head  of 
the  traffic  squad  of  the  San  Francisco 
Folice  Department,  died  on  May  16. 
He  was  recognized  nationally  as  an  au- 
thority on  traffic  matters  and  was 
elected  president  of  the  National  Traf- 
fic Officers'  Association  which  con- 
vened at  the  Civic  Auditorium  in  San 
Francisco  last  August.  The  convention 
came  to  San  Francisco  as  a  result  of 
his  efforts.  To  Mr.  Sylvester  belongs 
credit  for  many  of  the  nation's  traffic 
Ir.ws  and  since  taking  charge  of  the 
San  Francisco  traffic  squad  he  had  ac- 
complished more  in  that  direction  than 
any  other  one  man.  In  an  effort  to  stir 
up  interest  in  the  larger  cities  of  the 
country  in  a  national  and  uniform  law 
governing  traffic  in  all  of  the  states  of 
the  nation,  Mr.  Sylvester  toured  the 
country  last  year  and  visited  forty- 
eight  cities. 


36 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Prompt  Deliveries  of  Heavy 
Track  and  Shop  Tools 

Prices  Are  Thought  to  Have  Touched 
Bottom  but  Buying  Continues 
Very  Light 

Excellent  deliveries  are  quoted  by 
manufacturers  at  the  present  time  on 
heavy  tools  used  on  the  roadbed  and  in 
shops,  such  as  rail  benders,  rail  saws, 
track  drills,  car  movers,  wheel  presses, 
punches,  shears,  lathes,  etc.  Despite 
the  present  low  level  of  production  in 
this  field  producers  are  generally  pre- 
pared to  make  immediate  shipments  on 
material  that  does  not  have  to  be  made 
to  specification.  Where  a  product  re- 
quires special  manufacturing,  work  can 
be  started  as  soon  as  orders  are  re- 
ceived, for  back-order  files  have  long 
since  ceased  to  exist. 

Substantial  stocks  of  raw  material 
are  reported  on  hand  which  are  gradu- 
ally being  made  up  into  finished  prod- 
ucts of  which  a  fairly  large  supply  is 
also  reported.  Plants  have  either  re- 
duced their  number  of  workmen  or  are 
running  on  part  time,  with  operation 
ranging  from  about  25  to  40  per  cent 
of  capacity. 

Manufacturers  in  this  line  apparently 
do  not  expect  much  improvement  in 
business  before  the  fall  montfhs.  Lower 
labor  costs  may  aid  the  steam  railroad 
business  somewhat  as  this  class  of  buy- 
ing has  been  even  proportionately  worse 
than  electric  railway  demand.  Steam 
roads  have  been  so  cramped  financially, 
manufacturers  state,  that  their  buying 
of  shop  and  track  tools  has  been  almost 
nil,  whereas  some  of  the  electric  roads 
have  purchased  up  to  about  25  per  cent 
of  their  normal  requirements. 

Prices  on  track  material  such  as  rail 
saws,  rail  benders,  track  gages  and 
levels,  car  replacers,  etc.,  are  said  to 
have  dropped  about  20  per  cent  since 
the  first  of  the  year  and  are  about  40 
per  cent  below  peak  prices.  Quotations 
on  standard  heavy  shop  products  are 
down  from  about  10  to  20  per  cent 
since  the  first  of  the  year,  and  on 
special  products  selling  prices  are  about 
20  per  cent  below  last  year's  quota- 
tions. The  general  view  of  manufac- 
turers is  that  prices  have  about  reached 
their  bottom  level. 


Market  for  Car  Ventilators  Not 
Very  Active 

Demand  for  car  ventilators  is  light — 
in  line  with  slack  buying  of  new  rolling 
stock  on  the  part  of  electric  railways. 
The  outlook  for  future  business  is  said 
to  be  fairly  good,  but  not  much  hope 
of  a  reaction  from  the  present  dullness 
is  held  out  before  this  fall.  One  of  the 
newcomers  among  manufacturers  of 
railway  ventilating  equipment  reports 


that  because  of  the  present  condition  of 
railroad  buying  the  company  has  drifted 
into  the  building  ventilation  line,  where 
its  product  is  equally  applicable  and  is 
meeting  with  good  success. 

Stocks  in  some  instances  are  not 
carried  where  ventilators  are  a  special 
product,  but  in  others  a  fair  surplus 
supply  is  held.  Deliveries  are  generally 
very  prompt  although  production  is 
down  to  about  50  per  cent  of  capacity. 
Working  forces  have  been  cut  in  half 
in  some  instances,  too.  Prices  in  this 
field  were  not  advanced  in  line  with 
many  other  products,  it  is  stated,  and 
therefore  quotations  at  present  are  only 
about  5  to  10  per  cent  lower  than  last 
year.   

Quiet  Market  for  Car  Seats 

Demand     for     Repair     Seatings  Is 
Inactive,  Too — Rattan  Prices  Down 
25  to  30  per  Cent 

Activity  in  the  car  seat  market  at 
present  is  confined  to  the  production  of 
old  orders  and  little  else.  Buying  of 
new  seats  is  very  light;  there  has  been 
some  business  emanating  from  St. 
Louis,  Detroit  and  Canada  in  line  with 
buying  of  cars  there,  but  the  general 
situation  is  dull.  Even  the  repair  mar- 
ket is  inactive  and  producers  are  well 
stocked  with  rattan  material  as  a 
result. 

At  this  same  time  last  year  there 
was  about  six  times  as  much  business 
going  through  as  there  is  at  present, 
one  producer  reports.  Steam  railroads 
are  not  placing  orders  either,  the  export 
market  is  lifeless,  and  the  motor-bus 
seat  trade,  which  started  to  come  to  the 
front  rapidly,  has  fallen  way  off.  Some 
hope  is  placed  in  the  inauguration  of 
lower  labor  costs  on  steam  roads  as  the 
turning  point  for  better  demand  from 
that  quarter.  In  this  connection  the 
item  of  high  labor  cost  is  probably  the 
one  factor  that  shows  up  the  electric 
railway  market  more  than  any  other, 
it  is  stated. 

Production  of  car  seat  manufacturers 
is  down  low  because  it  follows  actual 
buying  pretty  closely.  Stocks  of  fin- 
ished seats  are  not  carried,  but  cus- 
tomers' requirements  as  to  delivery  can 
be  well  met  at  the  present  time.  Orders 
are  filled  in  from  two  to  four  weeks 
depending  upon  their  size. 

Prices  have  come  down  considerably, 
a  large  seat  manufacturer  dropping  the 
price  on  rattan,  for  instance,  about  20 
per  cent  the  first  of  June.  This  makes 
a  total  reduction  of  between  25  and  30 
per  cent  from  the  peak  on  that  product. 
Slat  seats  are  said  to  be  close  to  bottom 
because  the  lumber  market  is  well 
down. 

Leather  has  receded  considerably  too, 
but  imitation  leather  has  been  coming 
to  the  front  on  the  grounds  of  price. 


Railway  Buying  of  Jacks 
Is  Light 

Prices  Are  Down  20  to  25  per  Cent 
and  Production  Is  at  One-Quarter 
of  Capacity 

Railway  buying  of  lifting  jacks  has 
been  limited  this  year,  manufacturers 
report,  and  bids  fair  to  remain  so  for 
the  balance  of  1921.  Electric  railways 
have  purchased  nothing  at  all  in  this 
line,  some  producers  state,  while  others 
have  received  a  small  amount  of  busi- 
ness. Orders  for  the  most  part  are  not 
large  individually  and  very  often  cover 
emergency  requirements.  Steam  rail- 
road buying  has  figured  even  to  a  less 
extent  in  the  market.  Unfavorable 
labor  and  financial  conditions  and  the 
smaller  volume  of  material  to  haul  on 
transportation  lines  and  in  the  auto- 
mobile-truck field  too  have  all  aided 
in  reducing  sales  of  jacks.  In  general 
it  is  not  expected  that  the  balance  of 
this  year  will  record  a  very  great  in- 
crease in  demand. 

Prices  on  jacks  used  by  railways  are 
down  from  20  to  25  per  cent  from  the 
peak.  This  drop  has  been  aided  by  a 
cut  in  wages  amounting  to  20  per  cent 
in  some  instances.  Raw  material  has 
also  receded,  in  fact  it  is  stated  that 
this  item  is  not  expected  to  go  enough 
below  its  present  level  to  justify  fur- 
ther lowering  of  prices.  The  main  thing 
that  would  aid  in  bringing  about  addi- 
tional lower  costs  on  jacks,  it  is  said, 
is  greater  production,  for  at  the  pres- 
ent time  the  industry  is  down  to  about 
25  per  cent  of  capacity  operation.  This 
decreased  output  of  course  entails  big- 
ger overhead  expenses. 

Raw  material  stocks  in  the  field  have 
been  large  in  some  cases  but  are  being 
worked  off  without  being  replaced  with 
new  material,  in  view  of  present  con- 
ditions. Fairly  large  stocks  of  the 
finished  product  are  held  in  compari- 
son with  current  buying,  so  that  in 
general  immediate  shipments  can  be 
made.  In  view  of  the  limited  produc- 
tion, however,  sudden  orders  for  cer- 
tain jacks  occasionally  exhaust  the  sup- 
ply and  then  a  delay  of  some  weeks 
may  occur  before  the  stock  is  replen- 
ished. 

Strong  Buying  of  Armature 
and  Coil  Winding  Machines 

Their  Increasing  Use  Accounted  For  by 
the  Elimination  of  Stocking  Several 
Different  Types  of  Armatures 

Good  buying  of  armature  and  coil 
winding  machines  is  reported  at  pres- 
ent. Demand  seems  to  be  well  dis- 
tributed and  is  coming  not  only  from 
railways  in  this  country  but  also  in 
good  volume  from  foreign  countries. 
The  basis  of  this  business,  the  amount 
of  which  seems  rather  surprising  in 
view  of  general  market  conditions,  is 
said  to  be  the  desire  of  railways  to 
lower  costs  through  doing  away  with 
the  need  of  stocking  complete  arma- 
ture and  field  coils.  In  some  instances 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  stock  a 
dozen  or  more  different  types  of  these 


July  2,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


37 


where  various  motors  are  used.  With 
the  use  of  these  machines  only  certain 
frames  need  be  carried  in  stock  as  they 
can  be  made  up  as  quickly  as  needed. 

As  this  product  is  more  or  less  of  a 
specialty  prices  have  not  receded  to  any 
great  extent,  a  drop  of  about  5  per 
cent  from  the  peak  having1  been  made. 
Production  is  well  up  at  present  with 
deliveries  being  made  promptly,  or  in 
about  ten  days  to  two  weeks. 


Exports  of  Railway  Material  in 
First  Quarter  of  1921 

Railway  cars  and  parts  with  a  total 
value  of  $15,073,000  rank  twenty-third 
out  of  a  list  of  the  100  chief  exports  of 
this  country  during  the  first  quarter 
of  1921,  according  to  the  foreign  com- 
merce department  of  the  U.  S.  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce.  Steel  rails  with  a 
total  value  of  $10,552,000  are  thirty- 
first,  railway  switches,  frogs,  splice 
bars,  etc.,  totaling  $3,336,000,  are  sev- 
enty-first; bolts,  nuts,  rivets,  etc.,  fol- 
low in  seventy-fifth  place  with  a  valua- 
tion of  $2,987,000;  railroad  ties  are 
ninety-seventh  with  a  value  of  $1,926,- 
000,  and  electric  switches,  in  ninety- 
eighth  place  with  a  value  of  $1,890,000, 
are  the  last  railway  item  listed. 

Comparison  is  also  made  on  a  few  of 
the  items  that  can  be  figured  on  a 
poundage  basis,  with  the  volume  of 
exports  in  the  first  quarter  of  1920. 
On  this  basis  exports  of  steel  rails 
increased  from  28,529,000  lb.  in  the 
first  three  months  of  1920  to  37,465,000 
lb.  in  1921,  and  bolts,  nuts,  etc.,  from 
20,210,000  lb.  to  30,937,000  lb.  Like- 
wise, exports  of  railroad  ties  in  the 
first  quarter  jumped  from  a  total  of 
700,000  ties  in  1920  to  1,300,000  ties 
this  year. 


Good  Stocks  of  Car-Type 
Lightning  Arresters 

Lightning  arrester  sales,  so  far  as  the 
car-type  are  concerned,  have  been  dis- 
appointing thus  far,  manufacturers  re- 
port. This  of  course  is  a  direct  result 
of  the  light  buying  of  new  cars  by 
electric  railways.  In  anticipation  of 
the  usual  seasonal  volume  of  business 
in  this  line  producers  generally  stocked 
up  on  car-type  arresters,  so  that  de- 
liveries there  are  immediate.  Central 
station  buying  is  fairly  good  at  present, 
however,  though  not  up  to  the  standard 
of  last  year,  which  was  also  below  par. 

On  large  types  deliveries  can  be 
made  in  from  two  to  eight  weeks,  the 
lower  range  being  for  arresters  gen- 
erally used  and  the  longer  delivery  for 
highly  special  products.  Stocks  of  the 
finished  product  on  this  type  are  not 
carried,  but  a  good  supply  of  parts  is 
reported  on  hand  ready  to  assemble. 
Prices  are  down  10  per  cent,  this  drop 
being  made  earlier  in  the  year. 


New  Electric  Railways  in  Japan 

The  Mushashi  Electric  Tramway 
Company,  recently  organized,  according 
to  the  Japan  Advertiser,  will  construct 
and  operate  a  new  electric  railway  from 
Tokyo  to  Yokohama,  running  approxi- 
mately 1J  miles  inland  from  the  pres- 
ent railroad.  The  company  will  also 
furnish  electricity  to  the  villages  along 
the  route.  Plans  are  being  made, 
according  to  a  translation  from  the 
Nagoya  Shimbun,  for  the  construction 
of  a  railroad  between  Nagoya  and 
Yamada,  a  distance  of  61  miles.  Power 
is  to  be  supplied  by  the  Ibugawa  Elec- 
tric Power  Company.  Another  line  30 
miles  long,  around  the  Chita  Peninsula, 
is  planned  by  a  company  to  be  capital- 


ized at  4  000,000  to  5,000,000  yen.  A 
translation  from  the  Osaka  Mainichi 
Shimbun  reports  a  project  for  the  con- 
struction of  an  electric  railway  between 
Nagoya  and  Gifu.  It  is  proposed  to 
construct  a  double-track  line  paralleling 
the  present  steam  railway,  at  a  cost  of 
about  7,000,000  yen. 


Rolling  Stock 


The  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Mil.,  is  expecting  to  buy  twenty 
gasoline  motor  buses. 

Detroit     (Mich.)     Municipal    Railway  is 

considering  the  use  of  trackless  trolleys  as 
feeders  to  be  used  in  conjunction  with  the 
regulation  municipal  ownership  cars.  Speci- 
fications and  prices  for  furnishing  fifty  of 
the  new  type  cars  will  be  asked.  If  bids 
sufficiently  attractive  to  justify  the  pur- 
chase of  the  trackless  cars  are  received  by 
the  commission  that  type  of  car  will  prob- 
ably be  used  on  some  of  the  lines  in  the 
less  congested  districts.  It  is  the  belief  of 
the  commission  that  the  cars  can  be  manu- 
factured in  Detroit.  The  approximate  cost 
is  estimated  at  $7,000  each,  and  the  main- 
tenance is  placed  at  18  cents  per  mile  as 
against  40  cents  per  mile  for  motor  buses. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Indiana  Service  Corporation,  Fort  Wayne, 

Ind.,  owing  to  poor  business  conditions,  has 
postponed  for  about  a  year  building  an 
extension  to  the  proposed  big  truck  plant 
which  is  to  be  erected  just  east  of  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.,  by  the  International  Harvester 
Company.  But  the  Greater  Fort  Wayne 
Development  Company  —  a  million  dollar 
concern — which  was  formed  among  Fort 
Wayne  business  men  to  build  homes,  etc., 
is  going  ahead  with  plans  already  formed 
for  putting  in  streets  for  the  plant.  One 
of  the  things  which  the  development  com- 
pany is  pushing  right  along  is  the  exten- 
sion of  the  car  lines  of  the  Indiana  Service 
Corporation  to  the  plant.  Recently  a  re- 
monstrance was  filed  by  residents  of  Pon- 
tiac  Street  against  the  double  tracking  of 
that  street,  so  another  route  to  the  plant 
east  of  the  city  is  being  considered. 

Seattle  (Wash.)  Municipal  Railway  may 
resume  work  on  an  extension  in  East  Mar- 
ginal Way  and  First  Avenue  South,  sus- 


NEW  YORK  METAL  MARKET  PRICES 


June  1,  1921  July  1,  1921 

Copper  ingots,  cents  per  lb   13.25  12. 87  J- 13. 00 

Copper  wire  base,  cents  per  lb   15.00-15.25  15.00  -15.25 

Lead,  cents  per  lb   5.00  4.40 

Nickel,  cents  per  lb   41.00  41  00 

Zinc,  cents  per  lb   5  .20  4.75 

Tin,  cents  per  lb   31.50  29  1 2i 

Aluminum,  98  to  99  per  cent,  cents  per  lb   28.00  28.00 


OLD  METAL  PRICES— NEW  YORK 


June  1,  1921 


Rubber-covered  wire  base,  New  York, 

cents  per  lb  

Weatherproof  wire  base,  New  York,  cents 

per  lb  

Standard  Bessemer  Steel  Rails,  per  gross 

ton  

Standard  open  hearth  railB,  per  gross  ton . . 
T-rail,  high  (Shanghai),  per  gross  ton, 

f.o.b.  mill  

Rails,  girder  (grooved),  per  gross  ton, 

f.o.b.  mill  

Wire  nails,  Pittsburgh,  cents  per  lb  

Railroad  spikes,  drive,  Pittsburgh  base, 

cents  per  lb  

Tie  plates  (flat  type),  cents  per  lb   

Tie  plates  (brace  type),  cents  per  lb  

Tie  rods,  Pittsburgh  base,  cents  per  lb.  . . 

Fish  plates,  cents  per  lb  

Angle  bars,  cents  per  lb  

Rail  bolts  and  nuts,  Pittsburgh  base, 

cents  per  lb  

Steel  bars,  Pittsburgh,  cents  per  lb  

Sheet  iron,  black  (24  gage),  Pittsburgh, 

cents  per  lb  

Sheet  iron,  galvanized  (24  gage),  Pitts- 
burgh, cents  per  lb  

Galvanized    barbed    wire,  Pittsburgh, 

cents  per  lb  


Heavy  copper,  cents  per  lb  

Light  copper,  cents  per  lb  

Heavy  brass,  cents  per  lb  

Zinc,  old  scrap,  cents  per  lb    

Yellow  brass,  cents  per  lb  

Lead,  heavy,  cents  per  lb   

Steel  ear  axles,  Chicago,  pe>  net  ton  

Old  car  wheels,  Chicago,  per  gross  ton. . . 
Steel  rails  (short)  Chicago,  per  gross  ton . 
Steel  rails  (rerolling),  Chicago,  gross  ton.. 
Machine  shop  turnings,  Chicago,  net  ton. 


10.75  to 
8.25  to 
5  25  to 
2 . 50  to 
4.00  to 
4  .  25  to 
14  . 50  to 
1 3 . 50  to 
14  . 00  to 
13  50  to 
3.50  to 


II  .00 

8.37| 
5  50 
2.75 
4.50 
4.50 
15.00 
14.00 
15,00 
14.00 
4.50 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MATERIAL  PRICES 


June  1,  1921 
16.00 

15.50 


July  1 
16.00 

15.00 

45  00 
47  00 


1921 


3.25 


3.00 


40 
75 
75 
50 
75 
75 

50 
10 

.85 

.55 

.  10 


3.60 
4.30 
3.65 


June  1,  1921 

Galvanized    wire,  ordinary,  Pittsburgh, 

cents  per  lb   3  70 

Car  window  glass  (single  strength),  first 

three  brackets,  A  quality,  New  York, 

discount*   82% 

Car  window  glass  (single  strength),  first 

three  brackets,  B  quality,  New  York, 

discount   82% 

Car  window  glass  (double  strength,  all 

sizes,  A  quality) ,  New  York,  discount. . .  83% 

Waste,  wool.  centB  per  lb     1 1  to  1 7 

Waste,  cotton  (100  lb.  bale),  cents  per  lb. 

White   9.00  to  14.00 

Crbred   6.  50  to  12.00 

Asphalt,  hot  (150  tons  minimum),  per 

ton  delivered   33.00  1o  35.00 

Asphalt,  cold  (150  tons  minimum,  pkgs. 

weighed  in) ,  per  ton   33  .00  to  36.00 

ABphalt,  filler,  per  ton   36  .00 

Cement,  New  York,  per  bbl   3.20 

Linseed  oil  (raw,  5  bbl.  lots),  New  York, 

per  gal   .78 

Linseed  oil  (boiled,  5  bbl  lots),  New  York, 

per  gal   .80 

White  lead  (100  lb.  keg),  New  York, 

cents  per  lb   .13 

Turpentine  (bbl.  lots) ,  New  York,  per  gal.  .  65 

*  These  prices  are  f.o.b  works,  with  boning  charges  extra. 


July  I, 
9.50  to 
7.25  to 
4.75  to 
2 . 50  to 
4  00  to 
3 . 50  to 
13.00  to 
1 3  00  to 

1 2  00  to 

1 3  00  to 
3 . 50  to 


1921 
10.00 
7.50 
5.00 
2.621 
4.25 
3.62. 
13.50' 
13.50 
12.50 
13.50 
4.00 


Ju'y  1,  1921 
3.25 

82  Jo 


82 

83% 
10  to  17 

8.50  tc  1 1  .00 
6.00  to   8  50 

33.00  to  35.00 

33  .00  to  36  .00 
36  00 
3.20 

.76 

.78 

.13 

.bl 


38 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1 


pended  some  time  ago  after  expenditure  of 
$27,000.  This  was  forecast  when  Superin- 
tendent of  Municipal  Railways  D.  W.  Hen- 
derson was  asked  by  Oliver  T.  Erickson, 
chairman  of  the  Council  utilities  committee, 
to  furnish  an  estimate  of  cost  of  complet- 
ing the  work.  The  line  would  give  a  direct 
route  for  South  Park  cars,'  now  routed 
through  Georgetown. 

Utah  Light  &  Traction  Company,  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah,  as  a  result  of  a  reduction 
in  the  wages  of  its  employees  now  has  at 
its  disposal  $125,000  for  needed  repairs  to 
paved  streets,  track  and  for  overhauling 
equipment. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


[Tnion  Traction  Company,  Anderson,  Ind., 

lost  a  substation  at  Maxwell,  Ind.,  by  fire 
during  a  recent  electrical  storm. 

Connecticut  Company,  New  Haven,  Conn., 

will  hereafter  be  furnished  with  power  for 
the  operation  of  its  cars  in  Derby,  Ansonia 
and  Shelton  from  the  Derby  Gas  &  Electric 
Company.  Formerly  current  was  generated 
by  the  Connecticut  Company's  own  plant  in 
Shelton. 


Professional  Note 


J.  O.  G.  Gibbons  and  C.  E.  Brown  have 
formed  a  partnership  under  the  name  of 
Gibbons  &  Brown,  consulting  engineers 
specializing  on  power  plants  and  industrial 
problems,  with  offices  in  the  Ordway  Build- 
ing, Newark,  N.  J.  Mr.  Gibbons  was 
formerly  with  Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr 
&  Company  and  is  now  engaged  in  private 
practice.  For  the  past  four  years  Mr. 
Brown  has  been  a  United  States  ordnance 
engineer. 


Trade  Notes 


The  Hi-Voltage  Equipment  Company, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  developed  a  new  type 
of  lightning  arrestor  for  outdoor  mounting. 

The  Black  &  Decker  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Towson  Heights,  Baltimore.  Md„  has 

recently  placed  on  the  market  a  portable 
electric  grinder. 

The  Walter  Motor  Truck  Company,  227 
West  Sixty-first  Street,  New  York  City,  has 

developed  a  new  line  of  electric  road  trucks 
ot  from  1,500  lb.  to  7-ton  capacity. 

The  Independent  Pneumatic  Tool  Com- 
pany. Chicago.  111.,  has  put  on  the  market 
the  "Thor"  electric  drill  stand  for  convert- 
ing portable  electric  drills  to  drill  presses. 

The  Esterline-Angus  Company.  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  has  brought  out  a  graphic 
alternating  current  ohm-meter  for  record- 
ing the  resistance  of  liquids,  the  concen- 
tration of  solutions,  etc. 

The  United  States  Steel  Products  Com- 
pany, which  handles  the  export  business  of 
the  U.  S.  Steel  Corporation,  has  taken  an 
order  for  $400,000  of  steel  rails  it  is  stated, 
from  the  Toronto  (Canada)  Transportation 
Commission. 

The  .American  Insulated  Wire  &  Cable 
Company,  Chicago,  manufacturer  of  "Amer-* 
ican  Brand"  weatherproof  and  bare  copper 
wire  and  cables,  contemplates  building  a  rod 
mill  when  building  conditions  are  more 
settled. 

The  Benjamin  Electric  Manufacturing 
Company,  Chicago,  has  recently  placed  on 
the  market  its  type  RR  threaded  fixtures 
tor  heavy-duty  service  which  are  especially 
adapted  for  use  in  railroad  shops  and  vards 
and  large  industrial  plants. 

The    Adapti    Company,    Cleveland,  Ohio, 

announces  that  it  has  purchased  outright 
the  property  and  buildings  formerly  oc- 
cupied by  the  Cleveland  Refrigerator  'Com- 
pany at  East  Seventy-second  Street  and 
Oakwood  Avenue,  Cleveland,  where  opera- 
tions will  begin  about  July  15. 

The  Whitman  Electric  Manufacturing 
Company,  Whitman,  Mass.,  has  completed 
two  new  kilns  of  its  own  with  large  Sager 
capacity.  The  company  is  getting  out  a 
line  of  porcelain  specialties — rosettes,  re- 
ceptacles, etc. — and  is  in  a  position  to  make 
shipments  on  special  porcelain  material. 


John  A.  Koebling's  Sons  Company,  Tren- 
ton, NT.  J.,  is  considering  the  construction  of 
a  new  building  for  its  copper  wire  and  elec- 
trical galvanizing  department.  Plans  at  pres- 
ent are  in  a  preliminary  stage  and  no 
definite  time  is  set  for  the  completion  of 
the  work,  the  company  announces. 

The  Arrow  Tool  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany is  the  new  name  for  the  Arrow  Tool 
Company,  200  Cannon  Street,  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  manufacturer  of  tools  of  all  descrip- 
tions. The  company  will  continue  as  in 
the  past  to  manufacture  tools,  dies  and 
special  machinery  with  no  change  in  man- 
agement. 

Belden  Manuf  acturing  Company,  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  manufacturer  of  electrical  wires 
and  cables,  has  issued  bulletin  No.  1,  dated 
June  1,  of  the  "Belden  Bulletin."  This 
bulletin  will  hereafter  be  issued  to  the 
trade  monthly  and  will  contain  current  net 
prices  of  the  company's  jiroducts.  Bulletin 
No.  1  covers  rubber-covered  wires  and  lamp 
cords. 

Allis-Chalmers  Manufacturing  Company, 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  during  the  first  three 
months  of  this  year  billed  sales  amounting 
to  $7,656,218  as  against  $6,320,597  for  the 
same  period  in  1920.  Net  profits  after 
provision  for  federal  taxes  amounted  to 
$774,189.  Unfilled  orders  on  hand  March 
31,  1921,  aggregated  $12,943,633,  compared 
with  $19,442,791  last  year. 

The  Safety  Car  Heating  &  Lighting 
Company,  New  York  City,  held  a  meeting 
of  its  board  of  directors  on  June  15  at 
which  time  the  following  officers  were 
elected :  W.  L.  Con  well,  president  ;  J.  A. 
Dixon,  R.  Parmly  and  James  P.  Soper, 
vice-presidents ;  C.  W.  Walton,  secretary 
and  treasurer  ;  William  Stewart,  assistant 
secretary  and  assistant  treasurer. 

The  Industrial  Protective  Company,  Day- 
ton, Ohio,  of  which  W.  R.  McLean  was 
president,  was  dissolved  as  of  June  30,  and 
the  Dayton  office  discontinued.  With  H.  A. 
Fishleigh,  Mr.  McLean  has  organized  the 
Fishleigh-McLean  Secret  Service  Bureau, 
with  offices  at  720  Nicholas  Building,  To- 
ledo, Ohio,  which  firm  will  continue  the 
services  heretofore  supplied  by  its  prede- 
cessor. 

The  Elliott  Company,  Jeanette,  Pa.,  an- 
nounces additions  to  its  sales  organization 
as  follows:  R.  H.  Schmidt  has  been  as- 
signed to  the  St.  Louis  district  office,  W.  E. 
Widau  to  the  Cleveland  office  and  R.  S. 
Bellman  to  the  Philadelphia  district  office. 
In  addition  to  the  Elliott  company's  prod- 
ucts they  will  also  handle  those  of  the 
Lagonda  Manufacturing  Company,  Spring- 
field, Ohio,  and  the  Liberty  Manufacturing 
Company,  Pittsburgh. 

The  International  Register  Company, 
Chicago,  111.,  through  its  sales  agent  the 
Electric  Service  Supplies  Company,  has 
leased  112  International  portable  hand  reg- 
isters to  the  Third  Avenue  Railway  Com- 
pany, New  York  City.  These  registers  are 
attached  to  the  fare  box  and  used  as  an 
additional  check  on  fares.  About  250  of 
them  were  also  placed  with  the  Public 
Service  Railway  Company,  Newark.  N.  J., 
earlier  this  year,  for  use  on  its  safety  cars. 

Empire   Engineering  &   Supply  Company 

about  trebled  its  capacity  for  making 
switchboards  and  panelboards  when  it 
moved  into  its  new  factory  at  Twentieth 
Street  and  Fourth  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
in  May.  The  new  building  is  100  ft.  x  160 
ft.,  only  one  story  in  height  but  so  con- 
structed that  two  or  three  stories  may  be 
added  as  needed.  The  company  reports  a 
satisfactory  volume  of  business  in  these 
types  of  boards  with  the  shops  running 
almost  full  time. 

The  Royal  Indemnity  Company,  84  Will- 
iam Street,  Xew  York  City,  after  having 
worked  for  some  months  on  a  form  of 
policy  for  the  insurance  of  electric  motors, 
etc.,  early  this  year  received  approval  from 
the  insurance  authorities  in  New  York 
State  of  the  form  of  a  policy  which  would 
indemnify  for  the  electrical  and  mechanical 
breakdown  of  motors,  generators,  trans- 
formers, regulators  and  other  electrical 
apparatus.  The  company  guarantees  the 
repair  bills  directly  incidental  to  such 
troubles. 

The  Triumph  Electric  Company,  Cincin- 
nati, manufacturer  of  motors  and  gener- 
ators, announces  the  removal  of  its  Chi- 
cago office  from  628  West  Lake  Street  to 
2814-16  Wentworth  Avenue,  where  it  has 
more  soacious  quarters.  W.  R.  Bonham  is 
manager  of  this  office.  The  company  has 
also  moved  its  New  York  office,  of  which 
T.  W.  Kloman  is  manager,  from  80  Cort- 
landt  Street  to  the  Knickerbocker  Building, 
Forty-second  Street  and  Broadway.  The 
Wood  &  Lane  Company,  St.  Louis,  repre- 


sentative of  the  company,  is  now  estab- 
lished at  1016  Market  Street,  St.  Louis, 
where  it  has  large  warehouse  facilities  and 
carries  ample  stocks  of  the  various  lines. 

The  Stoker  Manufacturers'  Association  at 
its  summer  meetings,  held  in  Stockbridge, 
Mass.,  June  14  to  16,  elected  the  following 
officers :  President,  Maxwell  Alpern,  vice- 
president  American  Engineering  Company, 
Philadelphia  ;  vice-president,  S.  A.  Arm- 
strong, vice-president  Underfeed  Stoker 
Company  of  America,  Detroit ;  treasurer, 
Richard  D.  Hatton,  vice-president  Laclede- 
Christy  Company,  St.  Louis ;  secretary,  J. 

G.  Worker,  vice-president  Phoenix  Manu- 
facturing Company,  Eau  Claire,  Wis.  These 
officers,  with  the  addition  of  R.  Sanford 
Riley,  retiring  president,  and  A.  G.  Pratt, 
of  Babcock  &  Wilcox  Company,  make  up 
the  executive  committee. 

William  Aldrich,  who  has  recently  been 
in  charge  of  the  Southern  territory  of  the 
Metal  &  Thermit  Corporation,  New  York, 
has  been  transferred  to  its  Western  terri- 
tory. From  1899  to  1908  Mr.  Aldrich  was 
associated  intermittently  with  the  Milwau- 
kee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Milwaukee,  Wris.  In  1909  he  joined  the  for- 
mer Goldschmidt  Thermit  Company,  since 
when  he  has  traveled  in  every  State  in  this 
country,  also  in  Canada,  West  Indies,  Cen- 
tral America,  Panama  and  the  tropics  in 
the  interest  of  Thermit.  Mr.  Aldrich  will 
travel  extensively  in  the  far  Western  States 
and  will  make  his  headquarters  at  the  new 
South  San  Francisco  office  of  the  Metal  & 
Thermit  Corporation.  William  H.  Moore, 
who  until  recently  was  assigned  to  the  Chi- 
cago territory,  now  has  charge  of  the 
Southern  territory. 

The  Link-Belt  Company,  910  South  Mich- 
igan Avenue,  Chicago,  according  to  an  an- 
nouncement made  by  Charles  Piez,  presi- 
dent, has  acquired  all  of  the  capital  stock 
of  the  H.  W.  Caldwell  &  Son  Company. 
At  the  same  time  Frank  C.  Caldwell  has 
been  elected  director  of  the  Link-Belt  Com- 
pany. Thus  two  experienced  companies  in 
the  conveyor  field  have  joined  forces,  with 
the  result  that  the  Link-Belt  Company  has 
added  two  lines,  "Hellicord"  conveyors  and 
power-transmission  machinery,  to  its  line 
of  manufactures.     While  the  plant  of  the 

H.  W.  Caldwell  &  Son  Company  will  con- 
tinue to  operate  under  separate  corporate 
existence  and  under  its  present  name,  the 
joint  facilities  of  the  two  companies  and  the 
broader  avenues  of  distribution  possessed 
by  the  Link-Belt  Company  should  prove  of 
distinct  advantage  to  the  customers  of 
both,  says  Mr.  Piez.  There  will  be  no 
modification  of  the  policies  of  the  Caldwell 
plant,  no  impairment  of  its  service  and  no 
change  in  its  product.  The  plant  manage- 
ment will  remain  substantially  the  same  as 
at  present. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Unaftow  Engines. — Bulletin  No.  29  re- 
cently issued  by  the  Ridgway  Dynamo  & 
Engine  Company,  Ridgway,  Pa.,  describes 
its  unaflow  engines. 

Steam  Tables — The  WTheeler  Condenser 
&  Engineering  Company,  Carteret,  N.  J., 
has  published  the  sixth  edition  of  "Steam 
Tables  for  Condenser  Work." 

Electric  Glue  Pot. — "Glue  Pot  Service" 
is  the  title  of  a  pamphlet  issued  by  the 
Automatic  Electric  Heater  Company,  War- 
ren, Pa.,  covering  its  electric  glue  pots. 

Mill-Type  Motors.  —  General  Electric 
Company  has  issued  bulletin  No.  48121. 1A, 
superseding  bulletin  No.  41821.1,  entitled 
"Direct-Current  Mill-Type  Motors,  type  MD 

Alternating  -  Current  Engine  -  Type  Gen- 
erators.— This  is  the  title  of  the  fifteen- 
page,  illustrated  bulletin  No.  1115  supersed- 
ing No.  1098  issued  by  Allis-Chalmers 
Manufacturing  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Electrical  Porcelain. —  "Standard  Electri- 
cal Porcelain  is  the  title  of  a  new  catalog 
recently  issued  by  the  R.  Thomas  &  Sons 
Company,  East  Liverpool,  Ohio,  covering 
its  porcelain  products. 

Wood  Stave  Pipe. — The  Redwood  Manu- 
facturers Company,  Hobart  Building,  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  has  issued  catalog  X,  June 
1921,  "A  Handbook  of  Information  for 
Hydraulic  Engineers  Relating  to  Remco 
Redwood  Pipe." 

Buffers  and  Grinders. — The  Valley  Elec- 
tric Company,  3157  South  Kingshighway, 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  has  issued  a  circular  de- 
scribing and  giving  net  trade  prices  on  its 
complete  line  of  portable  electric  buffers 
and  grinders  which  it  has  just  recently 
developed. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.   Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor      N  A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLT ON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SgUlEB.Associate  Editor      C.W. STOCKS.  AssociaU  Editor 
DONALD  F.H3NE, Editorial  Representative  A.D.KNOX.Editorial  Representative  GEORGE  BUSHFIJHjEClSJSBfiSWJepresentative 

G.J. MACMUBBAY. News  Editor 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  July  9,  192ty  g  jU[  ^ 


Number.  2 


The  Golden  Mean 

in  the  Use  of  Autos 

THE  USE  of  autos  instead  of  street  cars  by  railway 
officials  in  inspecting  their  properties  has  been 
criticised  once  or  twice  in  these  columns  by  managers 
who  believe  that  thereby  many  faults  of  the  transpor- 
tation force  escape  detection.  Mr.  Dana,  in  a  communi- 
cation in  this  issue,  points  out  very  properly  that  the 
automobile  is  a  necessary  tool  under  modern  conditions 
to  annihilate  time  and  distance  in  the  efficient  conduct 
of  a  large  urban  property,  and  his  remedy  is  for  the 
manager  to  see  that  this  tool  is  used  only  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  intended. 

This  is  undoubtedly  the  correct  answer.  In  nearly 
all  questions  on  which  men  differ  there  is  a  golden 
mean.  The  Western  manager  whose  letter  published 
in  these  columns  began  the  discussion  called  atten- 
tion to  a  real  evil.  The  best  place  for  an  official  to 
watch  the  performance  of  the  trainmen  and  to  determine 
the  effect  of  track  maintenance  on  car  operation  is  on 
the  car  itself.  Hence,  if  an  electric  railway  official 
uses  his  own  cars  so  far  as  he  can  to  travel  from  one 
point  to  another  on  his  system  he  not  only  uses  his 
time  spent  in  traveling  in  the  performance  of  his  duties, 
but  he  gets  better  acquainted  with  the  operating  force. 
But  there  are  times  when  speed  in  getting  from  one 
point  on  the  system  to  another  is  essential,  and  here  the 
faster  vehicle  is  desirable.  The  Western  manager  admits 
that  there  are  instances  of  this  kind.  He  protests  only 
against  the  automobile  "habit,"  through  which  he  says 
the  company  is  in  danger  of  losing  the  services  of  a 
once  efficient  official. 


Stability  of  Earning  Power 

of  Electric  Railways  Shown 

ONE  of  the  claims  often  made,  and  properly,  in  the 
past  for  electric  railways  as  an  investment  was 
that  their  earnings  are  not  as  greatly  affected  as  are 
many  other  industries  by  adverse  industrial  conditions. 
During  the  past  few  years  electric  railways  have  rather 
been  ignored  by  the  average  investor,  who  has  been 
attracted  by  the  more  alluring  industrials,  "war  brides," 
oil  companies  and  shipping  companies.  During  the  past 
twelve  months,  and  especially  the  past  six  months,  how- 
ever, some  of  these  latter  companies  have  fallen  into 
hard  times.  The  export  business  has  decreased  due  to 
high  exchange  and  other  reasons  and  domestic  demand 
has  become  much  less,  so  that  dividends  have  been  sus- 
pended and  both  gross  and  net  have  decreased. 

A  table  published  in  the  department  "Financial  and 
Corporate"  in  this  issue  shows  how  the  electric  rail- 
ways have  fared  during  this  period.  The  list  is  not 
a  selected  one,  being  all  of  the  railways  in  a  list  pub- 
lished weekly  in  the  Commercial  and  Financial  Chronicle 
of  public  utilities  which  report  monthly  earnings  to  that 
paper.  Of  this  list  of  thirty  companies,  only  three  show 
decreases  in  gross  earnings  for  this  year  to  date  as 


compared  with  last  year  to^^ate.  Qfyz  decreases  for 
the  companies  mentioned  aTeifnfnc^  while  notable  in- 
creases are  recorded  for  the  other  properties  reporting, 
especially  the  larger  companies.  All  figures  are  quoted 
irrespective  of  mileage,  but  it  is  not  believed  that  any 
of  the  companies  outside  of  the  two  subway  companies 
in  New  York  have  added  materially  to  the  miles  of 
track  operated  by  them  during  the  year  in  which  com- 
parison is  made.  The  showing  is  a  notable  one  of  the 
stability  of  earning  power  of  electric  railways. 


What  Happened 
in  Illinois 

THE  Illinois  Legislature  has  adjourned,  leaving  a 
record  that,  if  not  creditable  for  measures  adopted, 
is  at  least  complimentary  for  the  bills  killed.  The  prin- 
cipal measures  fostered  by  the  Governor  and  Chicago's 
Mayor,  in  line  with  election  campaign  pledges,  were  one 
that  would  create  a  transportation  district  as  a  means 
of  bringing  about  people's  ownership  and  a  5-cent  fare 
and  another  designed  to  abolish  the  public  utilities  com- 
mission and  create  home  rule.  What  happened  was 
somewhat  of  a  surprise,  as  there  developed  in  the  last 
few  days  of  the  legislative  session  a  sentiment  in  the 
state  which  finally  resulted  in  a  clean-cut  repudiation 
of  the  plans  of  the  administration. 

The  transportation  district  bill,  which  had  been  so 
worded  that  the  referendum  vote  on  it  would  have  come 
at  the  time  of  the  next  Chicago  mayoralty  election  and 
thus  again  made  the  traction  situation  the  election  issue, 
was  killed  altogether.  The  public  utilities  regulation 
bill  was  finally  passed,  but  not  until  more  than  sixty 
amendments  had  so  disfigured  it  that  the  original  meas- 
ure could  scarcely  be  recognized.  The  home  rule  fea- 
ture is  virtually  eliminated.  But  the  bill  does  abolish 
the  present  commission,  and  in  that  sense  only  does  it 
carry  out  the  Governor's  promise.  But  even  then  the 
new  law  as  amended  makes  a  better  statute  than  the  old 
one  from  the  standpoint  of  the  utilities.  The  new  statute 
practically  continues  the  old  one  with  these  changes: 
The  Illinois  Public  Utilities  Commission,  with  five  mem- 
bers at  $5,000  each,  is  abolished  and  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  (I.  C.  C),  with  seven  members  at 
$7,000  and  eight  assistant  commissioners  at  $5,000,  is 
created.  There  is  a  provision  that  a  petition  originat- 
ing with  the  voters  (not  the  City  Council)  and  signed 
by  25  per  cent  of  the  registered  legal  voters  will  bring 
about  a  popular  vote  on  whether  the  local  utilities  shall 
be  subject  to  local  instead  of  commission  regulation.  If 
home  rule  is  established  in  any  city,  the  order  of  appeal 
from  orders  of  the  Council  shall  be  first  in  the  county  in 
which  the  complaint  originates.  Some  of  the  positions 
of  the  commission  have  been  removed  from  under  civil 
service  requirements.  By  a  separate  bill  the  annual 
appropriation  for  the  commission  was  increased  by 
$500,000.  There  may  be  other  provisions  contained  in 
the  mass  of  amendments  jammed  through  at  the  last 
minute  that  are  not  yet  assimilated. 


40 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  2 


Upon  analysis,  none  of  these  provisions  appears  dan- 
gerous to  the  utilities.  An  increase  in  the  size  of  the 
commission  has  often  been  thought  desirable  as  a 
means  of  speeding  up  its  work.  The  likelihood  of  secur- 
ing a  petition  for  home  rule  vote,  signed  by  25  per  cent 
of  the  registered  voters  of  a  city,  seems  decidedly 
remote.  In  Chicago,  for  example,  this  would  mean  the 
names  of  more  than  200,000  voters  on  the  petition,  and 
if  that  many  people  were  sufficiently  aroused  against 
a  utility  to  sign  such  a  petition  it  would  seemingly  indi- 
cate that  there  was  something  radically  wrong  and  a 
change  ought  to  be  made.  Furthermore,  since  it  is  pro- 
vided that  appeal  from  a  local  order  shall  be  made  to 
the  commission,  this  would  seem  to  forestall  any  great 
value  in  having  home  rule  and  to  strengthen  the  posi- 
tion of  the  commission. 

So,  while  the  new  law  does  increase  the  patronage  to 
be  distributed  by  the  Governor,  no  particular  damage 
has  been  done  the  righteous  cause  of  the  utilities,  and 
since  the  legislators  have  determined,  in  spite  of  the 
influence  of  a  most  pernicious  and  powerful  political 
machine,  not  to  take  those  steps  that  would  keep  the 
public  service  companies  in  politics  and  uncertainty,  the 
fears  for  their  future  welfare  in  Illinois  will  be  largely 
dispelled. 


Central  Electric  Railway  Association 
Provides  for  Better  Engineering 

HOLDING  its  summer  meeting  under  ideal  sur- 
roundings, the  Central  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion not  only  enjoyed  to  the  fullest  measure  its 
delightful  cruise  on  the  Great  Lakes  but  also  set  up  a 
record  of  worth-while  accomplishments.  Of  particular 
importance  was  the  plan,  approved  subject  to  detailed 
development,  providing  for  separate  meetings  of  the 
engineering  members.  For  several  years  there  has 
been  an  agitation  in  the  association  for  some  scheme 
that  would  permit  the  engineers  to  gather  by  them- 
selves, free  from  the  restraint  of  the  bosses'  presence, 
for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  ideas  and  experiences  on 
common  problems.  The  plan  devised  is  quite  different 
from  any  heretofore  discussed  and  whether  it  will  work 
out  satisfactorily  remains  to  be  seen.  At  any  rate  the 
association  is  to  be  congratulated  for  taking  steps  to 
provide  these  much  desired  and  potentially  valuable 
meetings,  and  if  the  present  plan  does  not  work  out 
it  can  be  revised.  Its  success  as  always  depends  upon 
the  willingness  of  individuals  to  work. 

One  weakness  common  to  much  association  work  has 
been  recognized  and  guarded  against  by  providing  an 
engineering  council  whose  duty  it  is  to  lay  down  a 
program  each  year  for  the  work  of  the  sectional  meet- 
ings. The  latter  will  therefore  meet  for  a  definite 
purpose  and  will  know  toward  what  end  it  is  work- 
ing. However,  this  definite  assignment  of  duty  should 
not  preclude  the  possibility  of  having  free  round-table 
discussion  on  any  point  brought  up  by  any  member, 
for  this  was  the  primary  reason  for  seeking  these 
separate  meetings.  There  is  some  doubt  whether  the 
grouping  of  equipment,  electrical  and  track  men  to- 
gether in  the  same  meetings  will  be  as  fruitful  of 
results  as  are  the  meetings  held  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  for  the  equipment  men  exclusively.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  will  be  opportunity  to  discuss  and  work 
out  the  various  technical  questions  of  mutual  or  inter- 
departmental interest.  In  any  event  the  plan  laid  out  by 
the  association  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction  and  will 


serve  to  make  the  association  of  greater  interest  and 
usefulness  to  the  engineers  and  the  operating  men  and 
finally  to  the  companies. 


What  It  Means  to  Classify 

the  Jitney  as  a  Common  Carrier 

PUBLIC  carriers  have  exercised  their  calling  for  the 
last  2,000  years  or  longer,  and  the  rights  of  the 
public  to  establish  routes  and  exercise  some  sort  of 
supervision  as  to  their  maintenance  and  to  prevent  dis- 
crimination in  charges  has  been  recognized  for  a  very 
long  period.  In  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  com- 
mon carrier  service  without  the  acceptance  by  the  car- 
rier of  certain  definite  responsibilities  to  the  public, 
along  the  lines  at  least  of  the  maintenance  of  a  schedule 
so  far  as  it  can  be  done  and  a  uniformity  in  chargea 
for  the  transportation  supplied.  The  recognition  of  the 
right  of  the  authorities  to  exercise  such  regulation  is 
second  nature  to  the  railway  men,  but  hardly  so  to  the 
average  jitney  operator,  who  wants  to  enjoy  the  privi- 
leges of  the  common  carrier  but  to  avoid  all  of  its  duties 
and  responsibilities. 

While  the  thinking  men  among  the  motor  bus  operators 
favored  and  even  urged  the  passage  of  regulating  legis- 
lation, yet  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  attitude  created 
in  the  minds  of  many  jitney  operators  in  Connecticut 
by  the  passage  of  a  law  at  the  last  legislative  session 
recognizing  the  public  aspects  of  the  service  being 
given  by  the  jitneys  in  that  state  and  putting  the  jit- 
neys under  the  control  of  the  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion. This  law  goes  into  effect  July  15  and  the  com- 
mission has  now  issued  certain  regulations  under  it. 

Under  the  new  law  proposed  routes  may  be  estab- 
lished only  when  proof  is  established  of  their  con- 
venience and  necessity.  The  first  decision  on  an  appli- 
cation of  this  kind  has  just  been  rendered  and  in  it  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  of  the  state  outlines  its 
policy.  Some  of  the  controlling  factors  were  held  to  be : 
(1)  The  general  public  good  and  the  general  public 
requirements  rather  than  individual  convenience;  (2) 
essentiality  of  existing  street  railways;  (3)  stability, 
permanency  and  continuity  of  existing  service;  (4) 
protection  of  existing  franchises  from  competition. 
When  a  commission  stands  for  such  a  policy  and  is 
ready  to  protect  existing  franchises,  not  only  for  trolley 
lines  but  for  steam  roads,  against  competition  that  is 
piratical,  there  can  be  no  reason  for  the  transportation 
companies,  the  public  or  the  municipalities  served  to 
feel  that  they  are  not  going  to  get  a  square  deal. 

The  railways,  however,  must  not  only  be  willing  but 
must  demonstrate  that  they  can  adequately  serve  the 
territory  allotted.  Of  course  the  answer  or  governing 
index  is  the  attitude  of  the  public.  To  have  the  index 
favorable  means  that  the  trolley  companies  must  do 
some  real  merchandising — they  must  put  out  the  kind 
of  service  that  will  satisfy  the  people  after  it  has  been 
produced.  In  some  cases  running  time  can  be  cut,  or 
better  headways  provided  so  as  to  lessen  overcrowding. 
At  least  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  indicate  to  the 
public  that  its  welfare  is  being  considered.  Then,  too, 
the  trolley  company  can  add  complementary  bus  service 
as  feeders  to  existing  rail  lines  serving  territory  now 
tapped  by  the  jitneys,  but  nevertheless  competing  to  a 
large  extent  with  the  trolley  lines. 

Undoubtedly  transportation  of  the  future  will  be  a 
unified  system  that  will  utilize  both  trackways  and  high- 
ways according  to  their  respective  economic  spheres. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


41. 


Trolley  Freight  and  Motor-Truck  Customers 

The  Trolley  Freight  Systems  of  the  Springfield-Worcester-Boston  Area  Hold  Their  Own  Through  Adverse 
Times  Because  of  Reliability,  Frequency  of  Service  and  Low  Cost — 
Healthy  Growth  Attained  Despite  Drawbacks 


Two  Motor  Cars  in  Electric  Freight  Train 


IT  IS  well  known  that  the  electric  railways  in  the 
older,  more  settled  parts  of  the  United  States,  par- 
ticularly New  England,  were  not  built  with  the 
idea  of  carrying  anything  but  passengers.  When  they 
did  undertake  freight  and  express  carriage  they  found 
it  necessary  to  overcome  both  franchise  and  physical 
obstacles.  The  lack  of  properly  equipped  and  located 
freight  houses  and  of  unimpeded  track  facilities  proved 
an  especially  severe  handicap.  Therefore,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  more  than  one  Eastern  road  made  but  a 
half-hearted  attempt  and  then  quit  this  field.  More 
recently  the  advent  of  the  motor  truck  has  put  a 
further  damper  on  such  efforts. 

The  very  truth  of  these  statements  lends  all  the 
more  interest  to  the  work  of  a  group  of  electric  rail- 
ways which  has  succeeded  in  attaining  a  healthy  growth 
despite  the  drawbacks  of  partial  operation  over  city 
streets  and  in  a  district  where  good  roads  and  short 
runs  give  the  motor  truck  many  advantages.  This 
service  is  given  in  western  Massachusetts  and  adjacent 
districts  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  shown  on 
the  accompanying  map,  through  the  co-operation  of 
the  following  electric  railways,  practically  all  of  which 
are  of  the  combined  city  and  highway  trolley  type: 

1.  Springfield  Street  Railway 

2.  Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway 

3.  Interstate  Consolidated  Street  Railway 

4.  Milford,  Attleboro  &  Woonsocket  Street  Railway 

5.  Attleboro  Branch  Railroad 

6.  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway 

7.  Holyoke  Street  Railway 

8.  Connecticut  Valley  Street  Railway 

9.  Northern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway 

10.  Hartford  &  Springfield  Street  Railway 

11.  The  Rhode  Island  Company 

12.  Boston  Elevated  Railway 

Of  the  foregoing  lines,  1,  2,  3,  4  and  5  are  under 
one  management,  with  R.  E.  Cosgrove  as  general  traffic 


agent;  lines  7,  8,  9,  10  and  11  grant  running  rights 
to  the  service  conducted  by  Mr.  Cosgrove;  lines  8  and 
9  are  under  the  direction  of  Leon  Bolster,  assistant 
to  vice-president  and  general  manager,  while  line  6, 
Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway,  carries  on  a  freight 
and  express  business  under  the  direction  of  F.  0.  Lewis, 
general  freight  and  passenger  agent,  including  running 
rights  into  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  line  12.  The 
Boston  &  Worcester  cars  also  may  run  over  the  other 
trackage  of  the  system,  but  ordinarily  the  through 
service  is  Springfield-Worcester-Boston,  as  noted  here- 
inafter, aside  from  the  service  between  Worcester  and 
Providence. 

Extent  and  Character  of  Service 

The  distance  between  Springfield  and  Worcester  is 
55  miles  and  between  Worcester  and  Boston  44  miles, 
so  that  the  direct  east-west  service  may  be  described 
as  usually  100  miles,  and  the  transfer  service,  Spring- 
field to  Providence,  via  Worcester,  as  121  miles.  The 
Springfield-Boston  through  service  was  not  inaugurated 
until  Feb.  1,  1921.  This  extension  of  direct  carriage 
has  stimulated  business  because  of  the  elimination 
of  transfer  and  rebilling  at  Worcester.  About  two- 
thirds  of  this  class  of  traffic  is  from  Boston  West-bound. 

For  this  through  business  single  cars  or  two-car 
trains  are  run  every  night.  Cars  leaving  Boston  at 
5  p.m.  reach  Springfield  in  time  for  the  7  a.m.  store 
delivery  the  following  day,  the  cars  actually  reach- 
ing the  freight  house  about  3  a.m.  At  the  Springfield 
end  it  is  now  customary  to  close  the  receipt  of  freight 
at  5  p.m.,  leave  at  8 : 30  p.m.  and  reach  Boston  between 
11  a.m.  and  12  noon  the  next  day,  but  arrangements 
are  under  way  to  assure  a  7  a.m.  delivery  in  Boston. 

As  to  the  service  between  Springfield  and  Worcester, 
trolley  freight  in  each  direction  leaves  regularly  at 


42 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


9 : 30  a.m.  for  afternoon  distribution  and  at  8 : 30  p.m. 
for  early  morning  distribution  the  following  day. 
Since  Feb.  1,  1921,  a  trailer  has  been  added  to  the 
night  car,  because  business  has  increased  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  in  this  district  the  month  of  January, 
1921,  was  the  worst,  industrially,  in  many  years.  This 
increase  began  before  the  industrial  depression,  owing 
to  dissatisfaction  with  the  rates  and  service  of  the 
steam  railroads. 

Two  cars  a  day  are  run  between  Worcester  and 
Providence  to  take  freight  transferred  from  Springfield. 
The  connections  are  such  as  to  permit  delivery  on 
this  121-mile  run  within  twenty-four  hours. 

Motor  Truck  and  Express  Men  Are  Good  Customers 
and  Business  Solicitors  as  Well 

Paradoxical  as  it  may  appear,  the  best  business 
solicitors  for  the  trolley  freight  service  are  the  motor 
truckers  in  this  district.  These  operators  solicit  motor- 
truck shipments  for  New  York  and  other  distant  points, 
but  request  that  the  shipper  use  the  trolley  freight  as 


far  going  south  and  west  as  Springfield,  145  miles 
from  New  York!  The  explanation  of  this  paradox  of 
electric  railway  for  short  haul  and  motor  truck  for 
long  haul  is  simple.  Those  motor  truckers,  who  have 
survived  through  the  lean  months  that  have  followed 
the  war  fever  and  steam  railroad  embargoes,  realize 
that  they  cannot  compete  in  rates  with  the  frequent- 
service  trolley  for  such  runs  as  Boston-Worcester,  44 
miles,  and  Worcester-Springfield,  55  miles.  Nor  is 
their  advantage  in  speed  of  any  importance  against 
the  over-night  delivery  mentioned.  On  the  other  hana, 
the  steam  railroads  are  still  most  uncertain  in  their 
handling  of  less-than-carload  freight.  Hence  a  ship- 
per who  is  willing  to  pay  extra  for  speed  will  engage 
a  motor  trucker.  The  latter  makes  a  flat  over-all  rate, 
including  that  portion  of  the  trip  via  trolley.  The  rate 
charged  to  the  customer  is  approximately  first  class  or 
express,  but  that  which  the  truckman  pays  over  the 
electric  railway  part  of  the  run  may  be  third  or  fourth 
class  or  some  extremely  low  commodity  rate.  Thus 
the  motor-truck  operator  is  sure  of  a  slear  profit  for 


Roof  -  cover  with  5-ply 
felt  and  gravel 


Wheel  guards 
of  iron  poles  filled 
with  concrete 


Ramp ' 

Plan  and  Cross-Section  of  Bond  Street  Freight  Station  at  Springfield,  Mass. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


43 


possibly  one-third  of  the  run,  which  profit  gives  him 
a  working  margin  to  permit  quoting  an  over-all  rate 
of,  say,  1  cent  a  mile  per  100  lb. 

With  the  great  let-down  in  the  demand  for  goods 
of  any  and  every  description,  the  motor  trucker  is  no 
longer  able  to  secure  full  loads  and  top  prices.  Aside 
from  this,  he  has  to  meet  the  competition  of  furniture 
movers  and  others  who  take  a  good  load  one  way  and 
in  their  eagerness  to  return  with  a  load  underbid 
the  concern  which  is  trying  to  conduct  a  regular 
common  carrier  business.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  the 
electric  railways  in  this  combination  have  no  fear 
at  all  of  the  motor  truck.  Indeed,  they  are  prepared  to 
and  do  give  space  in  their  freight  houses  to  motor 
truckers  because  of  the  business  which  they  solicit  for 
shipment  by  electric  railway  in  its  originating  or  final 
stage. 

The  old-time  expressmen  in  Springfield  and  Worces- 
ter are  also  good  solicitors  for  electric  express. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  motor  truckmen,  their  advertise- 
ments, which  read  "Direct  Service  to   ,"  etc.,  are 

to  be  taken  with  several  saline  grains,  as  they  are 
glad  to  make  use  of  the  electric  railway  freight  facil- 
ities for  remarkably  short  distances.  In  fact,  the 
most  experienced  operator  at  Springfield  does  not 
hanker  for  motor  trucking  in  retail  delivery  for  dis- 
tances beyond  8  miles  if  his  light  trucks  can  radiate 
from  railway  stations.  These  operators  were  among 
the  first  users  of  motor  trucks,  but  unlike  the  irre- 
sponsible individuals  who  entered  motor  haulage  during 
the  war,  they  are  used  to  keeping  books  and  know 
just  what  they  can  afford  to  charge  for  their  services. 
The  use  of  the  electric  railway  by  such  operators  to 
the  extent  of  free  space  in  the  freight  house  and  special 
cars  (as  at  Worcester)  is  evidence  on  the  relative  cost 
of  haulage  by  truck  and  electric  of  more  importance 
than  a  ton  of  statistics. 

A  more  difficult  problem  for  the  electric  railway 
freight  agent  is  that  of  securing  the  business  of  whole- 
sale firms  who  look  upon  the  operation  of  motor  trucks 
carrying  their  names  from  an  advertising  standpoint 
as  well  as  from  a  delivery  standpoint.  In  many  cases 
the  advertising  argument  prevails  even  when  it  is 
admitted  that  the  electric  railway,  or  the  electric  rail- 
way plus  local  motor  truck  short  haul,  would  be  cheaper 
than  the  through  service  and  would  be  fast  enough  for 
all  regular  operations.  In  several  cases  the  shipper  has 
given  up  motor  trucking  with  his  own  fleet,  either  pur- 
chasing the  services  of  motor  truckers  at  a  saving  to 


Front  of  the  Original  Springfield  Freight  House 

himself  or  making  use  of  the  electric  railway  where 
convenient.  It  goes  without  saying  that  much  private- 
firm  trucking  is  wasteful  because  of  the  comparatively 
small  loading,  so  that  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  as 
to  when  the  novelty  feature  will  wear  off  and  make 
way  for  clear  economics. 

It  would  hardly  be  profitable  to  list  the  variety  of 
business  done  by  trolley  freight  in  this  district,  but 
some  of  the  more  unusual  operations  may  be  mentioned. 
For  example,  the  jewelry  manufacturers  of  the  "Attle- 
boros"  in  Massachusetts  use  trolley  freight  for  direct 
shipments  from  factory  to  pier  at  Providence,  Rhode 
Island.  Again,  there  is  the  carriage  of  blooded  horses 
and  prize  cattle  from  fair  grounds  to  fair  grounds  as 
a  proof  of  prompt  and  careful  transportation  service. 

As  shown  on  the  map,  the  electric  lines  reach  a 
number  of  towns  that  have  no  direct  steam  railroad 
service.  This  condition  has  developed  considerable 
business  in  the  switching  of  steam  freight  cars.  Boston 
&  Albany  cars  are  taken  at  Palmer  for  Brimfield  and 
other  points  to  Southbridge,  while  New  Haven  Rail- 
road cars  are  taken  at  Southbridge  for  Charlton  City 
and  Charlton. 

An  example  of  the  highly  economical  service  pos- 
sible through  electric  freight  is  afforded  in  the  case 
of  the  Holyoke  Street  Railway.  Early  in  1921  the 
management  of  the  Holyoke  system  outbid   a  con- 


Electric  Locomotive  and  Cars  at  Southbridge,  Mass. 


44 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


Teamway  in  Bond  Street  Terminal — Interior  of  the  Bond 

Electric  Cars  and  Motor 


tractor  who  uses  motor  trucks  for  the  business  of 
supplying  trap  rock  and  gravel  for  the  bridge  under 
construction  over  the  Connecticut  River  at  Springfield. 
The  rock  comes  from  the  Holyoke  company's  quar- 
ries at  the  foot  of  Mount  Tom,  11  miles  from  the 
point  of  use,  whereas  competitive  quarries  are  at  West- 
field,  only  7i  miles  distant  via  the  Boston  &  Albany 
Railway  and  the  public  highway.  The  gravel  from 
the  Holyoke  system  is  taken  at  South  Hadley,  13  miles 
away,  which  is  about  the  same  distance  as  the  com- 
petitor's pit  at  North  Wilbraham. 

The  contractor  was  using  5-ton  trucks  carrying  6 
to  10  tons  of  rock,  whereas  the  cars  illustrated  carry 
24  tons  of  rock  or  18  cu.yd.  of  sand.  It  is  estimated 
that  3,500  carloads  of  material  will  be  required  for 
this  job.  In  spite  of  the  surplus  of  idle  motor  trucks 
in  this  territory,  the  trucks  could  not  possibly  meet 
the  cost  of  transport  possible  with  the  trolley.  This 
is  clear  from  the  fact  that  the  entire  haul  costs  but 
$1  per  ton  of  rock  or  per  cubic  yard  of  sand. 

Rates  Are  Attractive  Yet  Sensible 

Generally  speaking,  the  electric  railway  rates  in  this 
district  were  higher  than  steam  railroad  on  the  first, 
second  and  third-class  categories.  The  electric  rail- 
ways took  earlier  increases  parallel  with  steam  railroad 
increases  up  to  20  per  cent  over  pre-war  rates.  How- 
ever, they  have  not  followed  the  40  per  cent  increase 
made  by  steam  railroads  in  March,  1920,  except  in 
part  for  hauls  in  excess  of  20  miles.  The  electric 
rates  have  always  been  lower  than  motor  trucks  could 
possibly  meet,  except  in  special  services  like  carriage 
of  household  goods,  for  which  the  railway  properly 
charges  double  rates  and  which  are  particularly  suited 


Street  Terminal.  The  Width  of  the  Platform  Between 
Trucks  Is  Only  Fifty  Feet 


for  the  motor  trucks  because  of  the  desirability  of 
minimum  rehandling.  It  has  already  been  pointed  out 
that  experienced  motor  truckers  doing  a  common  car- 
rier business  are'  glad  to  make  use  of  the  trolley  freight 
as  a  source  of  revenue  to  themselves. 

Milk  is  one  item  that  has  always  enjoyed  an  excep- 
tionally low  rate.  The  Springfield  company  charges 
only  I  cent  per  quart  on  a  26-mile  haul  for  delivery 
to  a  Springfield  creamery.  In  warm  weather  one  ad- 
vantage of  milk  carriage  by  trolley  is  that  it  arrives  as 
milk  and  not  as  butter.  Byproducts  of  milk  also  enjoy 
exceptionally  favorable  rates.  It  may  be  mentioned 
here  that  several  years  ago  Mr.  Cosgrove  made  the 
fertile  suggestion  that  through  the  aid  of  trolley 
freight  it  would  be  practicable  to  establish  municipal 
milk  and  coal  stations,  which  would  help  to  reduce  the 
cost  of  living  through  the  reduction  of  haulage  expense 
and  the  elimination  of  duplicate  or  overlapping  com- 
petitive routes.  In  his  opinion,  the  time  is  coming 
when  the  present  waste  in  goods  carriage — particularly 
as  regards  trucking  in  cities — will  have  to  go. 

The  trolley  companies  are  popular  with  the  shippers, 
not  only  because  of  more  frequent  service  but  also 
because  of  greater  liberality  in  credits,  weekly  credits 
being  the  rule  in  contrast  with  the  two-day  limit  of 
the  steam  railroads.  Naturally,  the  electric  railway 
group  is  also  more  closely  identified  with  the  local 
interests  of  the  territory. 

Facilities 

Outside  of  the  cities,  the  Springfield  and  Worcester 
systems  are  of  the  usual  country  trolley  type,  namely, 
single  track  with  sidings.  As  is  the  case  in  Worcester 
today,  freight  cars  entering  Springfield  formerly  had 


Two  Types  of  Rolling  Stock  Used 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


45 


Two  Views  of  the  Worcester  Freight  Terminal.    The  Freight  Houses  of  the  Springfield  and  B.  &  W.  Face 

Each  Other  on  Opposite  Sides  of  a  Broad  Team  way 


to  come  in  and  go  out  over  the  main  travel-ways  of 
the  passenger  cars.  In  1920,  however,  the  Springfield 
Street  Railway  built  within  that  city  4  miles  of  single 
track  with  five  turnouts.  For  the  time  being,  this 
track  is  being  used  exclusively  for  uninterrupted  en- 
trance and  exit  of  freight  cars. 

The  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway  is  somewhat 
better  situated  as  regards  the  through  run  and  the 
Worcester  end.  It  is  constructed  as  a  high-speed, 
double-track  line  on  reservation  for  20  miles  in  the 
center  of  the  public  highway  and  on  an  absolutely 
private  right-of-way  for  another  14  miles.  Thus  it 
has  34  miles  of  clear  track  out  of  44.  The  2  miles 
in  Worcester  do  not  constitute  a  handicap  because 
they  do  not  extend  into  the  business  center,  but  at 
the  Boston  end  it  is  necessary  to  operate  over  8  miles 
of  city  streets,  although  some  of  the  track  is  on  reserva- 
tion. The  running  time  for  the  44  miles  between 
Worcester  and  Boston  is  two  and  one-half  hours,  but 
the  schedule  allows  for  three  hours. 

The  Holyoke  and  Providence  connections  of  this 
group  also  lack  the  advantage  of  direct  right-of-way 
entrance  into  the  cities.  Nevertheless,  they  hold  their 
own  with  any  kind  of  competition;  all  the  more  so 
since  the  establishment  of  through  connections  with 
the  Holyoke  and  Boston  &  Worcester  companies  for 
shipments  from  Springfield  and  Worcester  or  vice  versa. 

As  shown  in  an  accompanying  halftone,  the  Worces- 
ter freight  houses  of  the  Springfield  and  Boston  & 
Worcester  companies  face  each  other  from  opposite 
sides  of  a  broad  team  and  truck  way.  Vehicles  bring- 
ing or  carrying  off  goods  simply  back  up  against 
the  platforms  and  are  loaded  or  unloaded  with  an 
astonishingly  small  amount  of  trucking,  since  the 
longitudinal  design  of  these  buildings  makes  it  pos- 
sible to  bring  the  teams  and  trucks  very  close  to  the 


"center  of  gravity"  of  the  load  to  be  transferred.  The 
general  scheme  of  the  larger  houses  is  illustrated  also 
by  the  accompanying  plan  of  the  Bond  Street  build- 
ing at  Springfield.  This  house  was  altered  to  its 
present  purpose  in  June,  1919.  It  has  a  covered  team- 
way  into  which  a  dozen  motor  trucks  can  back  at  one 
time  against  the  freight  platform.  This  platform  is 
only  50  ft.  wide,  so  that  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  trans- 
fer freight  to  or  from  the  cars,  which  are  set  out, 
according  to  their  destination,  on  two  tracks  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  platform.  Both  tracks  can  be 
loaded  or  unloaded  simultaneously  by  making  use  of 
the  doorways  of  the  cars  on  the  inner  track.  Much 
of  the  freight  is  moved  no  further  than  the  width  of 
the  platform  and  possibly  the  first  track,  the  rest 
being  stacked  in  sections  reserved  for  different  destina- 
tions on  the  system.  This  building  succeeded  a  most 
inconvenient  structure  which  could  handle  only  three 
or  four  wagons  at  a  time. 

Another  halftone  shows  a  typical  intermediate  sta- 
tion where  there  is  a  regular  agent.  At  points  of 
lesser  importance  store  agents  are  engaged  for  $2.50 
to  $10  a  week  fees  to  take  care  of  any  business.  No 
agents  are  employed  on  a  commission  basis,  nor  is  there 
any  solicitation  staff  as  yet  outside  of  the  volunteer 
work  of  the  motor  trucker  and  expressman. 

Rolling  Stock  and  Staff 

The  cars  used  in  freight  and  express  service  by 
the  Springfield-Worcester  companies  comprise  thirty- 
two  motor  cars,  three  trail  box  cars,  two  dump  cars 
and  two  trailers  for  trap  rock,  sand  and  gravel  busi- 
ness, eight  double-truck  freight  cars  for  lumber,  etc., 
and  three  electric  locomotives,  used  chiefly  for  hauling 
steam  freight  cars.  The  latest  standard  motor  car 
weighs  55,000  lb.,  has  four  65-hp.  motors  and  can 


Two  TYPICAL  Intermediate  Electric  Freight  Stations 


46 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


carry  60,000  lb.,  the  average  less-than-carload  loading 
being  40,000  lb.  These  cars  are  equipped  throughout 
with  M.  C.  B.  couplers,  improved  air  brakes,  etc.  Cars 
for  carrying  perishable  goods  are  heated  electrically 
— a  strong  argument  for  securing  that  kind  of  traffic 
in  winter,  aside  from  the  greater  winter  reliability 
of  the  electric  railway. 

Economy  in  man-power  with  trolley  freight  service 
is  attained  not  only  through  the  greater  capacity  of 
the  individual  cars  but  also  in  train  operation.  A  two- 
car  and  even  a  three-car  train  has  but  one  motorman 
and  one  messenger.  Usually,  one  car  in  a  train  is  a 
sealed  car  for  some  one  consignee  or  terminal.  The 
messengers  do  a  certain  amount  of  de'ivery  to  store 
doors.  As  a  rule,  Springfield-Worcester  crews  cover 
all  of  the  system  served — approximately  290  miles 
single  track  in  freight  service — except  that  Boston  & 
Worcester  crews  take  charge  during  the  run  between 
those  two  cities. 

For  taking  on  steam  cars  at  Palmer  no  extra  crew 


Turners  Fal_ls_ 
Greenfield  (f^v^v  •'' 

/  /Millers 
falls 


DWinchendon 


-®—  Reporrmg  stations 

—°-  Non-  reporting  stations 


Colonial  line  to/ j  \Dj/erlmeto 

New  YorkV  /  W  River 

Joy  line  to  ,  ; 
/lew  York  './>>/ 


Map  Showing  Boston-Worcester-Springfield 
Freight  System 

is  required.  On  the  Attleboro  Branch  Railroad 
switching  is  done  with  crews  borrowed  from  the  pas- 
senger department. 

Economy  in  the  use  of  labor  is  essential  as  the  men 
are  paid  on  the  minimum  nine-hour  day  basis  at  65 
cents  an  hour  with  overtime,  earning  a  bonus  of  one 
hour  for  lunch.  On  the  Springfield- Worcester  system 
the  line-up  of  freight-express  employees  is  as  follows: 


Worcester 
Springfield  Consolidated 

Freight  handlers   3  5 

Messengers   11  10 

Motormen   1!  10 

Foremen   1  2 


Milford,  A.  &  W. 
0  (agent  does  work) 
4 
4 

0  (agent  is  foreman) 


Messengers,  like  the  motormen,  get  65  cents  an 
hour;  freight  handlers,  51  cents;  foremen,  $38.57  for 
a  six-day  week.  The  first  car  goes  out  at  7 : 30  a.m. 
from  Springfield,  the  last  at  11:30  a.m.  Crew  labor 
does  most  of  the  loading.  The  gross  revenue  from 
freight  and  express  so  far  as  the  Springfield-Worcester 
lines  (exclusive  of  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway) 
is  concerned  has  been  as  follows: 


1920   $318,135 

1019   264,681  or  $53,454  less  toan  1920 

1918   246,150  or    18, 53 1  less  than  1 9 1 9 

1917   220,210  or   25,940  less  than  1 9 1 8 

1920   97,925  ahead  of  1917 


Business  in  1920  would  have  shown  a  larger  increase 
over  1919  except  for  the  extreme  blizzard  of  February, 
when  the  freight  equipment  was  impressed  to  fight 
snow.  In  the  lesser  snowstorms  of  Feb.  22,  1921, 
the  motor  trucks  deserted,  with  the  result  that  Feb. 
23  was  a  banner  day  for  the  electric  railway. 

General  Costs  of  Springfield-Worcester  Lines 

During  the  year  1920  the  Springfield-Worcester  lines 
operated  398,700  freight  car-miles  for  $288,539,  or 
72.37  cents  per  car-mile.  On  the  basis  of  $318,135 
gross  earnings,  the  gross  earnings  per  car-mile  were 
79.79  cents,  leaving  a  net  revenue  of  7.42  cents  per 
car-mile.  The  operating  ratio  was  90.7  per  cent.  The 
departmental  charges  are  given  below. 

table  showing  analysis  of  cost  of  freight  operation 

Per  Cent 
of  Freight 

Item  Rev.  Note 

Maintenance  of  way   $29,159       9.17    Thus  charge  is  the  proportion 

which  freight  earnings  bear 
to  passenger  earnings,  al- 
though only  one-third  of 
trackage  is  used  for  freignt. 
Maintenance  of  equipment.  .  .       16,058       5.05    Amount  actually  spent  on 

upkeep  of  freight,  equipment. 

Power   27,872       8  .76    This  works  out,  at  7  cents  per 

car-mile.  Tests  show  less 
than  3  kw.-hr.  per  c.-m. 
Springfield  power  costs  1 . 1 
cent  per  kw.-hr.  at  substa- 
tion and  Worcester  1.5 
cents. 

Conducting  transportation.. . .      183,756      57  .76    Amount  actually  paid  and 

includes  $60,992  for  station 
employees  and  $4,296  for 
station  expenses. 

Traffic  (advertising,  etc.)   5,826        1  83 

General  expenses   25,869  8.13 

Total  expenses   $288,539  90.70 

Net  operating  revenue   $29,597  9.30 

Taxes  $4,295  and  interest  on 

investment  $22,587   $27,512    Interest  on  investment!  in- 
Surplus                                        $2,285    eludes    estimated  car-mile 

proportion,  although  freight 
equipment  avoids  operation, 
over  expensive  special  work 
in  cities. 


When  1920  results  are  considered,  it  is  to  be  borne 
in  mind  that  not  only  was  the  freight  equipment  used 
to  fight  snow  to  keep  the  lines  open  for  passenger 
service,  but  that  the  cost  of  snow-fighting  was  assessed 
against  the  freight  department  on  a  pro  rata  basis. 

With  regard  to  the  general  degree  of  care  shown 
in  the  transportation  of  goods  by  trolley  freight,  the 
following  figures  on  losses  due  to  damage  to  goods  in 
transit  in  percentage  of  gross  revenue  is  of  interest: 

Per  Cent  Per  Cent  Per  Cent. 

1920   0.59  1919   0.5S  1918   1.38 

1917   0  76  1916   0.37  1915   0.29 

1914   0.24 

Exclusive  of  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway,  there  were  carried  in  1920' 
approximately  262,000  tons,  with  an  average  gross  earning  of  $1.20  per  ton. 

The  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway 

The  present  rolling  stock  of  this  high-speed  line 
between  Boston  and  Worcester  consists  of  twelve  45-ft. 
motor  cars  and  eight  40-ft.  trailers,  all  equipped  with 
M.  C.  B.  radial  draw-bars,  automatic  air  brakes  and 
GE-263-A  motors  (on  Brill  arch-bar  trucks)  geared 
for  heavy  loads  rather  than  speed.  As  noted  earlier, 
the  run  of  44  miles  is  made  in  two  and  one-half  to  three 
hours.   There  are  few  intermediate  stops. 

This  standardized  freight  equipment  succeeds  mis- 
cellaneous stock  that  could  not  make  good  for  the 
specialized  needs  of  freight  service.  Trains  of  one 
motor  car  and  two  trailers  have  been  run  frequently 
and  tests  have  been  made  with  trains  of  two  motors  and 
two  trailers. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


47 


The  company's  business  has  increased  steadily,  even 
through  the  flood  period  of  unrestricted  motor  truck- 
ing, as  indicated  by  the  following  comparison: 


1916  gross  earnings  w  ere  75  per  cent  above  1915 

1917  gross  earnings  were  35  per  cent  above  1916 

1918  gross  earnings  were  22  per  cent  above  1917 

1919  gross  earnings  were  40  per  cent  above  1918 

1920  gross  earnings  broke  even  with  1919  instead  of  going  ahead  because  the 
freight  and  express  equipment  was  used  for  snow-fighting  during  February  and 
Ma"ch,  1920.  Motor  trucks  ran  over  the  company's  reservation  as  soon  as  it 
began  clearing  the  snow  away. 


Because  of  the  extraordinary  conditions  of  1920,  Mr. 
Lewis  suggests  the  following  analysis  of  1919  opera- 
tions as  giving  a  truer  picture  than  1920: 


TABLE  SHOWING  FREIGHT  EARNINGS  AND  EXPENSES  FOR  YEAR 
1919  BOSTON  &  WORCESTER  STREET  RAILWAY 


Gross  income   $233,810 

Less  payment  of  $25, 1  90  to  Boston  Elevated  Railway  and 
of  $10,186  to  Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway 
and  $1,242  special  expense  for  trucks  used  during 

Boston  Elevated  strike  in  Julv,  1919   36,618 

 $197,192 

Expenses 

Conductors  and  motormen   $35,550 

Freight  station  and  miscellaneous  expenses   69,882 

Transportation  expenses   67 

Station  expenses   9,656 

General  expenses   260 

Loss  and  damages  (equal  to  1.46%  of  gross  revenue) ....  3,426 

Superintendence  and  solicitation   1.542 

Printing  and  stationery   2,141 

Advertising   65 

Maintenance  of  equipment   6,643 

Maintenance  of  buildings   40 

Insurance   840 

Power  and  trackage   1,695 

Total   $131,807 

Net   $65,385 

Total  freight  handled,  tons   68. 1 42 

Total  freight  ton-miles   1,705,817 

Total  freight  car-miles  (of  which  53,371  were  trailer)   259.228 

Average  gross  revenue  per  ton   $3.43 

Average  net  revenue,  per  ton   0  96 

Gross  revenue  per  ton-mile   0.137 

Cost  per  ton  per  mile   0  .098 

Gross  revenue  per  car  per  mile   0.  902 

Cost  per  car  per  mile   0  .649 

New  revenue  per  car  per  mile   0.253 

Net  revenue  per  mile  of  road   1580 

Miles  of  line  operated   41  30 


When  the  foregoing  surplus  figure  is  contrasted  with 
that  of  the  Springfield-Worcester  lines,  it  is  well  to 
bear  in  mind  that  the  latter  have  been  assessed  for 
track  and  power  expenses  on  a  different  basis.  Thus, 
the  combined  way  and  power  charge  for  398,700  car- 
miles  was  $57,031,  whereas  the  Worcester  Consoli- 
dated operation  of  259,228  car-miles  is  assessed  only 
$1,695  for  the  same  items.  The  item  "General 
expenses"  is  another  which  shows  a  great  difference 
in  the  freight  accounting  practices  of  these  properties. 


Baking  Soda  Quenches  Fire 

AN  EXTRAORDINARY  case  of  spontaneous  combus- 
J~\  tion  occurred  in  an  embankment  fill  on  the  Cleve- 
land &  Eastern  Traction  Company's  lines  at  Chardon, 
Ohio.  The  effective  method  employed  to  extinguish  it 
was  outlined  in  the  Black  Diamond  recently  by  J.  A. 
Thomas,  the  consulting  fire  engineer.  The  fill  was 
formerly  a  pine  trestle,  about  300  ft.  long  and  30  ft. 
deep,  which  was  later  filled  in  with  200  cars  of  cinders, 
containing  more  or  less  combustible.  A  top  dressing 
of  about  fifty  cars  of  furnace  slag  practically  sealed  the 
embankment.  The  fill,  fired  from  spontaneous  combus- 
tion, became  a  mass  of  fire  after  it  had  been  burning 
about  six  months.  It  was  then  arranged  immediately 
to  extinguish  the  fire  with  plain  baking  soda  and  water. 
After  the  soda  solution  had  been  pumped  into  the  burn- 
ing fill  for  about  two  days  the  fire  was  finally  extin- 
guished throughout  the  embankment.  Had  plain  water 
been  used  enough  would  probably  have  been  necessary 
to  have  washed  the  entire  fill  down  into  the  valley. 


Five  and  Ten-Cent  Boston  Fares 

Account  Given  of  How  the  Two  Rates  of  Fare  Are  Collected 
in  Everett  and  Maiden  Divisions  of  Boston  Elevated 
Railway — Flan  Has  Met  with  General  Approval 

By  Edward  Dana 

G«neral  Manager  Boston  Elevated  Railway 

THE  trustees  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway  have 
recently  placed  in  operation  a  local  fare  of  5  cents 
for  riders  in  the  cities  of  Maiden  and  Everett.  This 
fare  does  not  include  the  privilege  of  a  free  transfer 
and  is  entirely  separate  and  distinct  from  the  10-cent 
fare  for  traffic  from  these  two  cities  to  the  center  of 
Boston  or  any  other  point  upon  the  Elevated  system, 
which  comprises  some  535  miles  of  surface  railway  and 
elevated  railways. 

The  present  article  is  written  for  the  purpose  of 
explaining  the  facts  in  order  that  a  correct  understand- 
ing may  be  had  of  what  the  plan  involves. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  local  conditions  absolutely 
govern  the  application  of  a  rate  of  fare  on  a  street  rail- 


Commuters  Going  Cityward.    View  at  8  a.m.  on  Everett 
Station  Platform 


way,  the  mere  statement  of  the  unit  of  fare  in  a  city  in 
terms  of  United  States  currency  means  nothing  for  pur- 
poses of  comparison  with  another  city  unless  all  factors 
are  considered  in  both  localities.  One  cannot  compare 
the  tax  rate  of  cities  in  New  England,  Florida  or  Cali- 
fornia and  secure  advantage  from  doing  so  without 
taking  into  consideration  at  the  same  time  the  different 
factors  and  conditions.  This  same  thing  is  true  on 
fares.  When  people  compare  on  the  basis  of  difference 
in  cents,  it  is  indicative  of  the  superficial  manner  in 
which  conclusions  are  arrived  at.  Even  men  in  this 
industry  have  not  been  free  from  such  comparisons. 

The  cities  of  Maiden  and  Everett  are  typical  of  such 
Massachusetts  communities.  While  certain  areas  are 
given  over  to  industrial  activity,  they  are  essentially 
residential,  with  well-defined  centers  near  which  are 
located  substantial  local  stores,  theaters,  etc.  They 
occupy  an  area  of  approximately  8J  square  miles  lying 
in  the  area  from  3  miles  to  6  miles  from  the  center 
of  Boston. 

The  combined  population  is  89,000,  and  as  the  centers 
of  the  two  cities  are  only  II  miles  apart  from  a  trans- 
portation standpoint  they  occupy  a  single  section  of 
territory  tributary  to  the  end  of  the  main  line  of  the 
elevated  at  the  Everett  Terminal  and  are  really  one  city. 

All  of  the  surface  lines  operated  in  these  cities  run 


43 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


to  the  Everett  Terminal,  there  being  no  through  routes 
to  Boston.  At  this  terminal  passengers  change  to  the 
elevated  trains.  There  are  32  miles  of  track  in  the 
streets  of  these  cities  and  eight  regular  routes  are 
operated,  the  average  length  of  route  being  3  miles. 
In  the  course  of  a  day  5,100  miles  are  operated  by 
795  trips  on  these  eight  routes. 

The  total  volume  of  traffic  handled  per  day  amounted 
to  63,000  in  both  directions.  Of  this  amount  55,000 
was  so-called  tidal  traffic,  or  in  other  words  Boston 
bound  traffic,  and  the  balance  local  rides  within  the 
district.  When  the  fare  advanced  to  10  cents,  un- 
doubtedly the  greatest  proportion  of  loss  of  riders 
occurred  in  this  local  travel  where  people  had  formerly 
ridden  for  relatively  short  distances  to  points  of  con- 
centration within  these  cities. 

How  the  Fares  Are  Collected 

The  plan  adopted  contemplated  an  entire  physical 
separation  of  the  collection  of  the  fares  for  through 
traffic  from  local  traffic.    On  the  trip  inbound,  or  in 


Map  Showing  Routes  in  Malden  and  Everett — Distances 
Shown  Are  from  Scollat  Square,  Boston 


the  direction  of  Boston,  the  pay-leave  plan  is  used. 
Local  passengers,  or  those  leaving  the  car  before  it 
enters  the  inclosure  at  the  Everett  station,  drop  5  cents 
in  the  conductor's  fare  box  as  they  leave  the  car. 
Through  passengers  to  Boston  leave  the  surface  car 
after  it  has  stopped  at  the  Everett  station  platform 
and  drop  10  cents  in  the  station  collector's  fare  box. 
On  the  outbound  trip  the  only  fares  which  have  to  be 
collected  on  the  surface  cars  are  the  local  fares,  be- 
cause the  outbound  through  passengers  paid  their 
fares  at  the  intown  stations  of  the  Elevated  and  entered 
the  car  within  the  Everett  prepayment  inclosure. 

With  this  physical  separation  of  passengers  paying 
different  rates  of  fare  it  was  a  simple  matter  to  place 
in  effect  any  fare  that  might  be  decided  upon  for  the 
local  rides.  It  was  decided  to  experiment  with  5  cents 
because  of  the  convenience  and  the  incentive  for  local 
rides  to  be  increased.  Conductors  on  the  cars  today 
have  the  collection  of  only  local  fares. 

The  plan  has  been  in  operation  some  weeks  and 
while  in  one  section  a  jitney  is  operated  which  pro- 


vides a  frequent  service,  nevertheless  the  increase 
in  local  rides  has  been  somewhat  over  80  per  cent. 
It  is  anticipated  that  the  jitney  situation  will  be  worked 
out  satisfactorily  as  there  has  come  an  appreciation 
by  the  public  that  the  jitney  and  the  street  car  cannot 
thrive  in  competition.  The  popularity  of  the  5-cent 
fare  for  local  rides  has  resulted  in  a  constant  increase 
which  undoubtedly  has  had  a  noticeable  effect  on  the 
jitney  patronage.  A  careful  survey  of  the  traffic  secured 
locally  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  average  length  of  haul 
for  all  of  the  present  5-cent  riders  is  exactly  1  mile, 
and  this,  of  course,  makes  it  very  apparent  why  a  large 
percentage  of  this  traffic  was  lost  when  the  fare  ad- 
vanced to  10  cents. 

The  introduction  of  this  plan  has  met  with  general 
approval  on  the  part  of  the  community  as  well  as  the 
officials  of  these  cities.  There  seems  to  have  come  an 
appreciation  that  an  honest  effort  has  been  made  to 
make  the  service  more  useful  at  no  increased  expense, 
and  it  has  brought  out  from  many  quarters  the  belief 
that  an  equitable  situation  now  exists ;  in  other  words, 
that  the  10-cent  fare  for  the  long-haul  rapid  transit 
ride  under  present  conditions  is  necessary  and  just 
and  that  the  relatively  short  haul,  for  which  the  10 
cents  is  manifestly  so  high  that  the  people  can  walk 
instead  of  ride,  is  being  taken  care  of  in  a  fair  way 
by  the  reduced  fare  for  these  rides. 

The  result  of  the  experiment  will  determine  as  to 
the  advisability  of  applying  the  same  plan  further  upon 
the  elevated  system  for  similar  rides.  Already  a  fur- 
ther experiment  has  been  authorized  for  the  cities  of 
Medford  and  a  portion  of  Somerville  and  for  the  dis- 
trict across  the  harbor  in  East  Boston.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  if  the  local  traffic  can  be  increased  100 
per  cent  no  discrimination  exists  as  no  additional 
burden  is  thrown  upon  the  10-cent  car  riders  of  the 
system  and  that  consequently  the  system  could  be  made 
more  useful  for  a  great  many  millions  of  people  in  the 
course  of  a  year.  If  this  plan  were  in  successful  opera- 
tion on  the  system  as  a  whole  and  the  amount  of  money 
secured  was  the  same  from  twice  as  many  people  for 
the  5-cent  fare  as  for  the  reduced  number  of  people  for 
the  10-cent  fare,  the  amount  of  increased  travel  would 
restore  practically  all  the  passengers  shown  to  have 
been  lost  when  the  flat  fare  advanced  to  10  cents. 


New  Interlocking  Installation  on 
Boston  Elevated 

IN  CONNECTION  with  a  recently  completed  extension 
of  its  rapid  transit  lines  from  Sullivan  Square, 
Charleston,  to  a  temporary  station  in  Everett,  the  Bos- 
ton Elevated  Railway  has  installed  a  new  electro-pneu- 
matic interlocking  plant  with  alternating-current  con- 
trol. The  machine,  described  in  the  Railway  Signal 
Engineer,  is  so  designed  that  a  total  of  159  functions  is 
controlled  from  seventy-four  working  levers,  requiring 
a  space  of  17  ft.  3  in.  The  principal  features  of  the 
interlocking  installation  include  semi-automatic  control 
of  all  main  track  signals,  automatic  stops  at  all  signals 
governing  movements  in  normal  direction  of  traffic  on 
the  main  tracks,  section  locking,  sectional  route  locking, 
approach  locking  for  all  main  line  signals  governing 
entrance  of  trains  into  interlocking,  illuminated  track 
diagrams,  light  indicators  on  all  switch  levers  to  show 
whether  the  track  section  in  which  the  switch  is 
located  is  occupied  or  unoccupied,  and  an  intercommuni- 
cating system  between  the  various  signal  towers. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


49 


San  Francisco  Rerouting  Effective 

Rush-Hour  Conditions  on  Market  Street  Lines  of  Municipal  Railway  and  Market  Street  Railway  Became 
Such  that  Relief  Was  Necessary — This  Ferry  Terminal  Holds  the  World's 
Record  in  Its  Class  for  Traffic  Density 


MARKET  STREET  is  the  main  thoroughfare  of 
San  Francisco  and  car  lines  extend  on  this 
street  from  the  Ferry  Terminal  to  Twin  Peaks 
Tunnel,  running  through  the  principal  retail  shopping 
district.  The  population  of  the  municipalities  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  is  about  equal 
to  that  of  San  Francisco,  and  it  is  said  that  more  people 
pass  through  the  Ferry  Terminal  than  through  any 
similar  terminal  in  the  world.  The  car  lines  of  heaviest 
travel  to  and  from  the  Ferry  Terminal  operate  on 
Market  Street  for  a  greater  or  less  distance.  The 
shortest  distance  before  turning  out  is  one-half  mile 
from  the  Ferry  Terminal,  and  from  there  the  lines 
diverge  at  intervals  until  the  last  line  leaves  Market 
Street  at  a  point  more  than  3  miles  from1  the  terminal. 

Most  of  the  patrons  of  the  ferries  use  the  street  rail- 
ways in  order  to  reach  the  commercial  center  contiguous 
to  Market  Street  or  the  outlying  districts  served  by 
the  lines  terminating  on  Market  Street,  and  the  resi- 
dents of  San  Francisco  use  the  lines  from  the  outlying 
districts  to  reach  the  commercial  center  on  or  near 
Market  Street  or  to  reach  the  Ferry  Terminal.  Both 
the  Market  Street  Railway  and  the  Municipal  Railway 
operate  cars  on  this  street  and  four  tracks  are  laid  the 
entire  distance  of  more  than  3  miles,  terminating  in 
three  concentric  loops  at  the  Ferry  Terminal. 

The  greatest  demands  on  the  street  railway  facilities 
are  made  between  5  and  6  p.m.,  at  which  time  the 
patrons  and  clerks  of  the  mercantile  establishments 
and  the  occupants  of  the  office  buildings  are  leaving  the 
business  center  for  their  homes  in  various  parts  of  San 
Francisco  or  for  the  Ferry  Terminal.  The  major  move- 
ment at  this  time  is  outbound  to  the  residential  sections 
of  San  Francisco  and  in  the  opposite  direction  from  the 
travel  toward  the  ferries.  Most  of  this  outbound  traf- 
fic originates  on  Market  Street  in  the  mile  commencing 
about  one-half  mile  from  the  Ferry  Terminal. 

Joint  Use  of  Street  Causes  Complications 

Since  the  construction  of  the  two  outside  tracks  by 
the  Municipal  Railway  and  the  operation  of  the  munici- 
pal cars  on  the  street  various  attempts  have  been  made 
to  relieve  the  traffic  congestion  and  to  reduce  the  danger 
of  accidents.  The  most  recent  change  has  been  to  turn 
back  some  of  the  Market  Street  Railway  cars  during 
the  rush  hours,  by  diverting  them  to  Mission  Street 
on  the  upper  half  mile  of  greatest  traffic,  thus  keeping 
them  off  of  lower  Market  Street.  This  results  in  an 
increase  of  headway  between  cars  and  gives  more  time 
for  loading  the  rush-hour  crowd. 

Traffic  counts  made  on  lower  Market  Street  since  this 
rerouting  show  that  the  Market  Street  cars  of  the 
Market  Street  Railway  are  now  carrying  about  26,000 
passengers  from  the  business  section  to  the  outlying 
districts  in  the  hour  between  5  and  6  p.m.  During  this 
time  188  cars  operate  on  a  nineteen-second  headway  on 
lower  Market  Street,  branching  out  at  six  points  on  to 
eleven  lines  to  serve  as  many  sections  of  the  city; 
twenty-two  inbound  cars  are  diverted  to  Mission  Street 
at  Sixth  Street,  returning  to  Market  Street  as  outbound 
cars  at  Fourth  Street,  and  eighteen  cars  on  Eddy  Street 


are  turned  back  at  the  Market  Street  intersection,  trans- 
ferring passengers  to  and  from  other  cars  on  Market 
Street  instead  of  continuing  through  Market  Street  to 
the  ferry  as  at  other  hours  of  the  day. 

In  this  same  hour  the  Municipal  Railway  operates 
an  average  of  101  cars  around  the  ferry  loops.  These 
cars  operate  on  headways  ranging  from  two  and  one- 
half  to  four  minutes  on  each  of  the  six  lines  (which 
branch  out  from  Market  Street  at  three  points  to  serve 
different  districts),  or,  taken  collectively,  on  a  thirty- 
six-second  headway.  If  all  cars  operated  on  two  tracks 
the  headway  would  be  only  twelve  and  one-half  seconds 
on  the  lower  half  mile.  Passenger  counts  made  at  the 
peak  of  the  rush  indicate  that  the  average  loads  carried 
by  municipal  cars  range  from  115  passengers  per  car 


Traffic  Conditions  at  Third  and  Market  Streets, 
San  Francisco 


on  the  "D"  line  to  145  per  car  on  the  "J"  and  "K"  lines. 
Taken  together,  the  six  municipal  lines  carry  a  total 
of  10,000  to  12,000  passengers  from  lower  Market  Street 
during  the  hour  from  5  to  6  in  the  evening. 

The  accompanying  sketch,  prepared  by  the  Municipal 
Railway,  shows  diagrammatically  the  operation  of  the 
cars  on  lower  Market  Street.  The  relative  number  of 
cars  on  the  different  sections  is  shown  by  the  width 
of  the  band.  The  actual  number  for  the  ninety  minutes 
of  heavy  traffic  is  shown  in  figures. 

Inspectors  Expedite  Traffic 

It  would  be  impossible  to  handle  so  many  cars  with 
any  regularity  without  the  aid  of  inspectors.  Com- 
mencing at  4  p.m.  five  inspectors  for  the  Market  Street 
Railway,  located  at  four  points  of  dense  traffic,  devote 
their  attention  to  spacing  the  inbound  cars,  so  that 
they  may  arrive  at  the  Ferry  Terminal  and  leave  out- 
bound at  proper  intervals.  This  force  is  increased  at 
5  p.m.  to  seven  inspectors  and  two  inspectors  acting  as 
flagmen,  at  eight  locations,  who  work  the  outbound 
cars.  The  work  of  these  inspectors,  together  with  the 
increased  headway  made  by  looping  twenty-two  cars  at 
some  distance  from  the  Ferry  Terminal,  has  reduced 
the  maximum  delay  from  ten  to  three  minutes. 


50 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2. 


All  cars  are  of  the  P.  A.  Y.  E.  type.  Normally  the 
front  end  is  used  for  exit  only,  but  during  this  rush 
hour  street  collectors  are  used  at  the  front  ends  of  both 
Municipal  Railway  and  Market  Street  Railway  cars  in 
order  to  speed  up  loading.  Thirteen  collectors  are  on 
duty  for  the  Market  Street  Railway  and  probably  in- 
crease the  average  load  by  forty  passengers. 

The  clearance  between  the  cars  on  the  inner  and  outer 
tracks  is  a  factor  in  the  situation.  The  tracks  are 
11  ft.  §  in.  between  centers,  which  gives  a  clearance  of 
only  1  ft.  4  in.  between  grab  handles,  window  sills,  etc., 


Schedule  of  Car  Operations  on  Market  Street,  San  Francisco. 
During  Rush  Hours:  4.30  to  6  p.m. 

when  the  largest  cars  are  passing.  Passengers  waiting 
to  board  the  cars  of  the  Market  Street  Railway  on  the 
inner  track  stand  in  this  narrow  space,  while  the  munic- 
ipal cars  are  passing  on  the  outer  track.  There  is 
also  the  serious  predicament  of  a  person  caught  stand- 
ing on  this  "devil  strip"  when  cars  are  moving  in  the 
same  direction  on  the  inner  and  outer  track  and  the 
platform  of  the  car  on  the  inner  track  is  so  crowded 
that  passengers  are  standing  on  the  steps  and  thus 
occupy  a  considerable  portion  of  the  1-ft.  4-in.  space. 

The  difficulty  and  danger  incurred  by  passengers  in 
crossing  the  line  of  team  and  automobile  traffic  and 
then  crossing  the  track  of  the  Municipal  Railway  hinders 
and  slows  down  the  loading  of  the  cars  of  the  Market 
Street  Railway,  especially  since  so  little  space  is  avail- 
able for  standing  between  the  car  lines,  and  many 
people  hesitate  to  take  this  risk.  If  a  patron,  desiring 
to  board  a  car  of  the  Market  Street  Railway,  does  not  do 
so  very  promptly,  the  municipal  cars  moving  on  the 
outside  track  cut  off  access  to  the  cars  on  the  inner 
track  until  the  latter  have  proceeded,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary to  wait  for  the  next  car.  In  order  to  maintain 
headway,  it  is  imperative  that  the  Market  Street  Rail- 
way cars  limit  their  stops  for  loading  passengers  to 
the  shortest  possible  time,  due  to  the  large  number  of 
cars  operating  at  such  short  intervals  on  Market  Street 
and  the  vehicular  traffic  to  be  taken  care  of  at  the 
numerous  cross  streets. 

The  Market  Street  Railway  cars  with  longitudinal 
seats  are  found  to  be  particularly  well  adapted  to  the 
traffic  of  the  rush  hours  on  Market  Street.  These  cars 
handle  a  volume  of  business  that  would  never  be  pos- 
sible without  the  6-ft.  aisle  down  the  center  of  the  car, 
which  a  seat  arrangement  of  this  kind  affords.  More- 
over, the  ready  access  which  this  arrangement  provides 
to  the  ample  standing  room  inside  the  car  is  a  factor 
of  special  importance  on  lower  Market  Street  because 


it  aids  rapid  loading.  Anything  which  decreases  the 
length  of  stops  is  regarded  as  of  primary  importance 
in  improving  the  service,  because  officials  of  the  Market 
Street  Railway  point  out  that  the  complaints  are  much 
less  likely  to  come  from  failure  to  obtain  a  seat  than 
from  delays  in  the  schedule.  The  twenty  new  cars; 
recently  added  to  the  Market  Street  Railway  equipment 
have  the  seats  in  the  inside  section  built  longitudinally. 


Regulations  for  Jitneys 

Text  Given  of  Connecticut  Rules,  Which  Go  Into  Effect  July 
15 — Jitneys  Made  Common  Carriers,  Under  Jurisdiction 
of  Public  Utilities  Commission 

UNDER  Chapter  77  of  the  Public  Acts  of  1921,  whichi 
takes  effect  July  15,  1921,  all  jitneys  operating  in 
the  State  of  Connecticut  are  made  common  carriers  and 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission. The  term  "jitney"  as  denned  by  the  act 
includes  any  public  service  motor  vehicle  operated  upon 
any  street  or  highway  in  such  manner  as  to  afford  a 
means  of  transportation  similar  to  that  afforded  by  a 
street  railway  company,  by  indiscriminately  receiving  or 
discharging  passengers  or  by  running  on  a  regular 
route  or  any  portion  thereof  or  between  fixed  termini. 

In  order  that  there  may  be  some  consistency  as  to> 
the  operation  of  these  vehicles  where  allowed  by  a 
certificate  of  convenience  and  necessity,  rules  have  been 
established,  subject  to  changes  as  the  commission  may 
subsequently  find  necessary. 

These  rules  provide  that  certificates  to  operate  can 
be  revoked  for  violation  of  traffic  ordinances  or  state 
laws  regarding  the  operation  of  motor  vehicles  and  that 
ownership  certificates  of  operation  are  not  transferable 
without  the  approval  of  the  commission.  Operators  are' 
required  to  display  destination  and  route  signs  on  the 
fronts  of  cars.  These  signs  must  have  letters  not  less 
than  2  in.  nor  more  than  3  in.  in  height  and  must  be 
illuminated  at  night.  Vehicles  having  a  seating  capacity 
of  ten  or  more  must  permanently  display  on  each  outer 
side  a  notice  stating  the  seating  capacity.  The  letters 
used  are  required  to  be  24  in.  high. 

Jitneys  certified  to  operate  must  reasonably  maintain 
the  prescribed  schedule  and  must  post  in  a  conspicuous 
place  inside  of  each  car  a  time  table  of  the  entire  service 
prescribed,  together  with  the  rates  of  fare.  This  ser- 
vice cannot  be  reduced  without  the  approval  of  the 
commission  nor  is  any  deviation  from  the  route  specified 
allowed  except  in  case  of  emergency.  All  cases  of  in- 
terruption of  the  service,  as  required  by  certificate,  for 
a  period  of  twenty-four  hours  must  be  reported  to  the 
commission,  together  with  the  cause.  In  case  of  sus- 
pension of  service  for  a  period  of  five  days  the  certificate 
of  operation  is  automatically  revoked  unless  the  operator 
is  excused  for  cause  by  the  commission. 

Jitneys  can  be  operated  only  at  a  speed  consistent 
with  safety,  depending  on  congestion  of  street  traffic, 
danger  of  intersecting  streets,  curves,  street  railway 
crossings  or  other  conditions  requiring  extra  caution. 
In  suburban  service  the  speed  may  be  greater  than  that 
maintained  in  urban  territory,  but  must  not  exceed 
20  m.p.h.  for  vehicles  having  a  seating  capacity  of  ten 
or  more  passengers,  nor  more  than  30  m.p.h.  for  all 
other  vehicles.  Before  crossing  tracks  of  steam  rail- 
roads at  grade  jitney  operators  must  carefully  observe 
warning  signs  and  proceed  over  the  tracks  with  due 
caution. 

All  cars  must  be  equipped  with  a  speed  indicator. 


/uly  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


51 


Owners  or  operators  are  not  allowed  to  solicit  passengers 
by  outcry  or  other  noise,  nor  can  an  operator  collect 
fares,  make  change,  take  on  or  discharge  passengers 
while  his  vehicle  is  in  motion.  Passengers  are  to  be 
received  or  discharged  at  the  curb,  when  it  is  accessible, 
and  at  no  other  place. 

Operators  are  not  allowed  to  smoke  while  on  duty, 
nor  to  transport  any  dangerous,  explosive  or  inflam- 
mable substance  except  fuel  for  the  locomotion  of  the 
•car,  and  this  fuel  must  be  carried  in  the  tank  provided. 
Articles  left  in  the  cars  by  passengers  must  be  reported 
to  the  commission,  if  they  remain  unclaimed  for  a 
period  of  more  than  twenty-four  hours,  with  informa- 
tion as  to  where  such  articles  may  be  recovered. 

All  cars  must  be  maintained  in  a  neat  and  sanitary 
condition  and  be  lighted  on  the  inside  at  night.  The 
commission's  memorandum  certificate  or  at  least  a 
certified  copy  thereof  must  be  posted  in  a  conspicuous 
place  in  every  vehicle. 


Living  Costs  Drop  in  Akron 

Brief  Compiled  for  Use  in  Arbitration  of  Wages  by  the 
Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Company  Shows 
Comparison  Between  1920  and  1921 

BETWEEN  April,  1920,  and  April,  1921,  the  buying 
power  of  the  dollar  so  increased  in  Akron,  Ohio, 
that  a  salary  of  $1,420  in  1921  was  equivalent  to  a 
salary  of  $2,000  in  1920.  These  figures  are  shown  in 
a  compilation  made  of  living  costs  in  Akron,  Canton, 
Massillon  and  Dover  by  the  Northern  Ohio  Traction  & 
Tight  Company  and  submitted  in  arbitration  proceed- 
ings on  the  wage  question. 

The  company  first  shows  the  principal  commodities 
in  the  family  budget,  with  the  United  States  Labor 


TABLE  SHOWING  LABOR  BUREAU  BUDGET  FOR  $2,000  INCOME  AND 
REDUCTION  IN  COSTS  IN  AKRON  BETWEEN  APRIL,  1920,  AND 
APRIL,  1921 

U.'  S.  Labor  Bureau 

Distribution  Under  Akron  Conditions, 

Apportion-  April,  1921 


ment,  Reduction, 

Food                          Per  Cent  Amount  Per  Cent  Amount 

Food                                       43  $860.00            31  275  $591  25 

Shelter                                     18  360.00            27  03  236  77 

Clothing  and  dry  goods              13  260.00             37  012  189  73 

Light  and  heat                           6  120  .00            12  11  105  46 

iSundries                                  20  400.00            25  74  297  04 


Total   100  $2,000  00  *28.99  $1,420.25 


*  Average, 

Bureau  apportionment,  and  the  percentage  of  decrease 
with  the  corresponding  increase  in  the  buying  power 
of  the  dollar.  It  then  shows  how  the  reductions  are 
applied  to  a  $2,000  family  budget.  (See  table.) 

Figures  on  food  were  obtained  from  local  dealers 
whose  names  are  given  in  a  list.  To  obtain  figures 
•on  clothing  was  somewhat  more  difficult,  due  to  changes 
in  grades,  but  percentage  figures  were  obtained  in  a 
number  of  cases.  They  show  that  in  women's  clothing 
hosiery  prices  declined  31.43  per  cent,  underwear  36.55 
per  cent,  silks  35.75  per  cent,  woolens  42.55  per  cent. 
The  decline  in  women's  suits,  dresses  and  skirts  aver- 
aged 33.09  per  cent.  The  average  decline  in  dry  goods 
was  43.68  per  cent.  Shoes  declined  from  26.88  per 
•cent  to  66.88  per  cent  during  the  year  and  the  reduc- 
tions were  greater  in  men's  than  in  women's  shoes. 

The  figures  on  shelter  or  rentals  relate  particularly 
to  the  territory  and  districts  in  which  trainmen  in  the 
employ  of  the  company  reside  and  in  general  apply  to 
houses  ranging  from  $20  to  $35  a  month.  The  report 
points  out,  however,  that  this  .reduction  does  not  apply 


to  those  who  own  their  homes  or  are  buying  homes  on 
the  monthly  installment  plan.  For  these  families  shelter 
costs  have,  in  fact,  slightly  increased,  as  taxes  are 
somewhat  higher  than  a  year  ago,  due  to  an  increase 
in  the  assessed  valuation.  The  percentage,  however, 
when  applied  to  the  total  shelter  cost  is  not  material 
in  fixing  final  living  costs.  Room  rentals  have  declined 
in  about  the  same  proportion  as  house  rentals. 

Electric  and  gas  rates  have  neither  declined  nor  ad- 
vanced during  the  year,  but  coal  prices  have  dropped 
from  an  average  of  $9  per  ton  to  an  average  of  $7.91 
per  ton,  making  a  decrease  of  12.11  per  cent. 

Under  sundries,  furniture,  drugs,  kitchen  utensils, 
face  powders,  soaps,  etc.,  were  considered  among  other 
articles  of  family  use.  On  these  the  report  says : 
"Drugs  and  furniture  were  on  the  increase  prior  to 
April,  1920.  Following  that  came  a  decrease  of  20 
per  cent  in  drugs  and  a  10  per  cent  decrease  in  fur- 
niture. A  20  per  cent  additional  decrease  was  noted 
after  January,  1921.  Kitchen  utensils  showed  a  de- 
crease of  10  per  cent  to  25  per  cent,  and  soap  20  per  cent. 
The  general  average  decline  in  sundries  from  April 
30,  1920,  to  April  30,  1921,  is  25.74  per  cent." 

In  its  conclusions  the  report  states  that  from  present 
forecast  wholesale  prices  will  tend  downward  for  most 
of  the  remaining  months  of  1921,  although  unquestion- 
ably at  a  slower  rate  than  heretofore,  and  "normalcy" 
should  be  reached  by  Jan.  1,  1922.  Continued  price 
declines  are  being  reflected  daily  in  food,  clothing  and 
sundries.  House  rents  at  present  do  not  give  any 
evidence  of  further  reduction,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  the  present  level  will  continue  until  housing  facil- 
ities are  increased.  Coal  prices  are  not  expected  to 
show  any  material  decline  for  some  time. 

The  report  is  accompanied  by  a  series  of  charts  and 
tables  relating  to  local  prices. 


Bus  Substitute  for  Early  Cars 

TO  SAVE  coal  the  Edinburgh  Tramways,  which  is 
a  municipal  enterprise,  has  discontinued  the  oper- 
ation of  cars  on  certain  routes  in  the  very  early  morn- 
ing hours  and  has  substituted  therefor  motor  buses. 


Bus  Used  by  Edinburgh  Tramways  in  Early  Morning 
Hours  to  Save  Coal 


The  accompanying  engraving  shows  one  of  the  tram- 
way department  buses  at  the  Newhaven  fish  market 
near  Edinburgh.  As  shown,  the  bus  is  a  single  decker 
with  inclosed  rear  platform.  It  carries  seats  for  thirty- 
one  passengers. 


52 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


Traffic  Regulation  Has  Its  Difficulties 

Public  Utilities  Commission 
State  of  Connecticut 

Hartford,  June  23,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

On  page  1149  of  the  issue  of  June  18  is  shown  a 
photograph  of  a  safety  zone  in  Los  Angeles.  The  text 
says  that  the  entrance  to  this  safety  zone  is  up  at  the 
corner,  but,  contrary  to  the  practice  of  safety,  I  notice 
that  one  man  is  stepping  over  the  chain  and  a  lady  is 
walking  between  automobiles  and  around  the  end  of 
the  zone  instead  of  entering  the  zone  at  the  point  of 
entry-  The  disregard  of  the  safety  zone  limits  by 
pedestrians  makes  it  very  hard  for  the  police  author- 
ities to  make  proper  rules  regulating  movement  of 
motor  vehicles.  E.  Irvine  Rudd, 

Chief  Engineer. 


Self-Corrosion,  Not  Stray  Current  Electrolysis, 
at  Selkirk,  Manitoba 

Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  June  24,  1921. 

To  the  Editors : 

In  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  March  26, 
1921,  the  writer's  article  "Electrolysis  Mitigation  in 
Winnipeg"  contained  a  reference  to  the  self-corrosive 
action  of  the  so-called  alkaline  soils  of  western  Canada 
on  cast-iron  pipe.  Recently  some  conspicuous  examples 
of  such  self-corrosion  were  found  on  the  water  supply 
system  of  the  hospital  at  Selkirk,  Manitoba,  at  points 
and  under  conditions  quite  outside  any  possible  path  of 
stray  current  from  railway  or  other  power  circuits.  The 
pipe  affected  was  a  6-in.  water  main  and  the  active  cause 
was  undoubtedly  the  alkaline  salts  in  the  soil. 

The  self-corrosion  discovered  corroborates  the  result 
of  laboratory  experiments  conducted  by  the  writer. 

Similar  laboratory  experiments  were  reported  in 
1914  by  E.  H.  Scofield,  power  engineer  of  the  Twin  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company  of  Minneapolis,  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal,  including  an  account  of  the  perfor- 
ation of  a  4-in.  cast-iron  pipe  by  soil  corrosion  in  a  Da- 
kota town  where  there  had  never  been  a  trolley  system, 
and  showing  a  photograph  of  the  pipe.  At  that  time  it 
seemed  that  most  of  the  experts  on  electrolysis  investi- 
gation were  so  bent  on  tracing  the  cause  of  pipe  corro- 
sion to  stray  current  wherever  there  was  an  electric 
railway  which  could  possibly  be  blamed  for  it,  that 
Mr.  Scofield's  presentation  did  not  appear  to  make  much 
of  an  impression.  However,  the  subject  of  the  corro- 
sion of  iron  has  in  the  meantime  been  continuously 
studied  by  competent  electro-chemists  both  in  and  out 
of  the  metallurgical  industries,  and  the  results  of  their 
work  have  become  better  known  to  public  utility  engi- 
neers. The  evidence  now  gathered  from  Selkirk,  Mani- 
toba, is  further  proof,  if  any  more  proof  be  needed  by 
engineers  having  even  a  little  electro-chemical  knowl- 
edge, that  self-corrosion  must  hereafter  be  taken  into 
account  independently  of  stray-current  electrolysis. 

The  time  has  now  arrived  when  managers  of  electric 
railway  properties  about  to  employ  experts  for  investi- 
gating electrolysis  situations  should  insist  upon  the  col- 
laboration of  competent  electro-chemists  with  the  elec- 


trical engineers  and  physicists,  who  have  hitherto 
chiefly  composed  the  body  of  experts  from  which  such 
talent  is  usually  drawn.  Electrolysis  experts  will  do 
well  to  recognize  two  things — first,  that  the  electrolysis 
problem  is  fundamentally  one  involving  electro-chemis- 
try as  well  as  physics,  in  order  to  evaluate  the  possibil- 
ity of  self-corrosion,  instead  of  neglecting  it,  and  sec- 
ondly, that  henceforth  it  will  be  possible,  by  means  of 
testing  equipment  recently  developed,  to  ascertain 
whether  a  pipe  is  really  positive  to  the  surrounding 
earth  at  the  point  of  corrosion,  before  following  the 
time-honored  outdoor  sport  of  chasing  the  deadly  stray 
current  to  its  lair. 

Apart  from  all  electrolysis  controversies,  the  evidence 
mentioned  will  be  of  widespread  value  to  the  engineer- 
ing profession  in  tending  to  dispel  the  traditional  con- 
viction that  cast-iron  pipe  underground  can  be  regarded 
as  practically  indestructible.       W.  Nelson  Smith, 

Consulting  Electrical  Engineer. 


Auto  Use  Need  Not  Be  Abused 

Boston  Elevated  Railway 

Boston,  July  5,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

I  note  in  your  issue  of  June  25,  page  1172,  an  article 
contributed  by  a  manager  of  a  Western  property  on  the 
"Street  Railway  'Auto  Superintendent,'  "  and  I  cannot 
refrain  from  passing  a  few  remarks  on  the  subject. 

If  I  remember  rightly,  when  urban  transportation 
was  provided  by  horse  cars,  trackmasters,  division 
superintendents,  general  superintendents  and  the  like 
were  provided  with  horses  and  buggies.  If  that  was  so, 
then  the  reference  to  having  "the  street  railway  super- 
intendent frisk  past  the  street  car"  as  not  being  an 
example  of  good  business  applied  in  a  relative  way  in 
those  days  when  the  superintendent  drove  past  a  horse 
car  in  a  light  buggy.  While  in  this  era  of  flying  ma- 
chines and  motor  vehicles  there  is  danger  of  automobiles 
belonging  to  officials  being  misused,  even  in  the  days  of 
horse  cars  a  similar  situation  existed  as  complained  of. 

But  the  fact  remains  that  the  abuse  of  materials  or 
facilities  provided  for  officials  or  employees  to  perform 
their  work  more  efficiently  of  necessity  requires  a  check- 
ing up  system  and  a  knowledge  of  whether  they  are  mis- 
used or  not.  In  addition,  there  is  another  factor  just  as 
important,  and  that  is  the  spirit  of  co-operation  through- 
out the  organization — of  pulling  together  to  make  the 
property  successful  and  efficient.  In  other  words,  the 
mental  attitude  of  subordinates  of  the  type  mentioned, 
and  if  this  esprit  de  corps  is  right  the  danger  feared  by 
the  manager  in  the  article  is  rather  remote,  or  at  least 
confined  to  isolated  cases. 

An  automobile  is  a  necessary  tool  under  modern  con- 
ditions to  annihilate  time  and  distance  in  the  efficient 
conduct  of  a  large  urban  property,  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  management  to  see  that  it  is  used  for  the  purpose 
for  which  it  is  intended.  Edward  Dana, 

General  Manager. 


The  trustees  of  Princeton  University  have  planned  to 
enlarge  its  School  of  Engineering,  giving  courses  in 
civil  engineering,  electrical  engineering,  mechanical  en- 
gineering, chemical  engineering  and  mining  engineer- 
ing. These  courses  will  extend  over  four  years,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  the  bachelor's  degree  will  be  given*. 
A  fifth  year  will  be  required  for  an  engineering  degree. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


53 


C.  E.  R.  A.  Meets  Aboard  Ship 

Real  Accomplishment  Marks  Meeting,  Intermingled  with  a  Delightful  Cruise  on  the  Great  Lakes — Auto- 
matic Substations,  Merchandising  Transportation,  Freight  Claim  Reductions  and 
Separate  Engineering  Organization  Discussed 


The 


UNDER  ideal  weather  con- 
ditions, the  Central  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association 
held  its  summer  meeting  aboard 
the  S.S.  South  American,  on  a 
six-day  cruise  in  Lakes  Michi- 
gan, Huron  and  Erie.  And  de- 
spite the  complete  freedom  from 
care  and  the  abandon  to  pleas- 
ure and  scenery  and  good  fel- 
lowship, the  three  business  ses- 
sions held  were  outstanding  for 
the  interest  shown,  the  free  dis- 
cussion and  the  accomplishment. 
These  meetings  were  devoted  to 
papers  and  discussions  on  auto- 
matic substations,  merchandis- 
ing transportation,  reduction  of 
freight  claims,  organization  of 
an  engineering  section  of  the 
association,  and  other  commit- 
tee reports.  The  total  attend- 
ance on  the  cruise  numbered 
314,  of  whom  164  made  the  en- 
tire trip  starting  from  Chicago, 
and  150  others  boarded  the  ship 
at  Toledo  and  Detroit.  There  seemed  to 
be  unanimous  agreement  that  it  was 
the  best  gathering  the  association  had 
ever  had  and  many  began  before  it 
ended  to  plan  for  a  similar  outing  next 
year. 

In  the  absence  of  President  A.  C. 
Blinn,  who  at  the  last  minute  was 
forced  to  stay  home  by  unexpected 
developments  in  Akron,  Samuel  W. 
Greenland,  first  vice-president,  presided 
at  the  various  sessions.  The  first  busi- 
ness session  was  held  on  June  29  and 
was  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
automatic  substations.  A  paper  by 
C.  A.  Butcher,  followed  by  written  dis- 
cussion by  Lawrence  D.  Bale  and 
Charles  H.  Jones,  appears  in  abstract 
elsewhere  in  this  issue.  In  his  absence 
Mr.  Jones'  paper  was  read  by  C.  M. 
Davis,  General  Electric  Company.  Con- 
cluding Mr.  Jones'  written  discussion, 
Mr.  Davis  went  on  to  say  that  there  was 
a  fundamental  difference  in  the  method 
of  control  as  followed  by  the  two  princi- 
pal manufacturing  companies.  The  one 
described  by  Mr.  Butcher  imitates  hand 
operation  while  the  other  forces  the 
machine  to  come  up  to  speed  with  cor- 
rect polarity  through  the  use  of  a 
separate  exciter.  He  said  he  agreed 
with  Mr.  Butcher  that  the  single  unit 
station  is  more  desirable,  though  he 
could  appreciate  that  there  might  be 
some  instances  in  which  a  two-unit 
station  would  be  advisable,  though  the 
use  of  any  larger  number  than  two  was 
extremely  questionable.  He  referred 
briefly  to  the  possibility  that  it  may  be 
desirable  to  superimpose  a  remote  con- 
trol on  the  present  complete  automatic 
control  for  use  in  city  service  as  a 
means  of  giving  a  centrally  located  load 
dispatcher  control  of  individual  feeders 
as  well  as  whole  stations.    The  pos- 


the  power  were  lost  in  resist- 
ance inserted  in  the  circuits 
or  in  the  resistance  of  the  cop- 
per circuits  where  the  load  is 
shifted  to  another  station.  He 
urged  the  railway  men  to  co- 
operate with  the  manufacturers 
in  working  out  the  problems  in- 
volved in  the  application  of 
automatic  control,  as  this  would 
hasten  the  simplification  and 
lower  the  cost  of  the  control 
system. 

A  special  session  of  the  asso- 
ciation was  called  on  the  morn- 
ing of  June  29  for  the  purpose 
of  disposing  of  various  commit- 
tee reports.  The  first  to  be 
heard  was  that  of  the  commit- 
tee on  standards,  of  which  H. 
H.  Buckman,  Scottsburg,  Ind.,  is 
chairman. 


Report  of  Standardization 
and  Bureau  of  Standards 
Committee 

sibility  of  a  fire  or  serious  accident  L  Rail  Bonds  _  Qn  account  of  thg 
giving  rise  to  the  necessity  quickly  to  many  typeg  produced  b  the  manufac. 
cut  out  a  section  of  the  trolley  explains    turerg  whjch  are  protected  b  patents 

and  on  account  of  the  differences  of 


South  American/'  with  the  C.  E.  R.  A.  Aboard, 
in  the  "Soo"  Locks 


the  need  for  such  a  scheme.  He  pre- 
dicted that  this  remote  control  would 
become  a  feature  of  automatic  sub- 
station power  supply  in  city  service. 

Victor  E.  Thelin,  Chicago  Surface 
Lines,  gave  it  as  his  personal  opinion 
that  the  present  automatic  substation 
equipment  is  too  elaborate,  requiring 
so  large  an  investment  that  it  takes 
too  long  a  time  to  realize  a  saving.  He 
contended  that  further  development 
must  simplify  the  equipment  and  pare 
down  the  cost  so  that  there  will  be 
greater  appeal  to  the  purchasers.  He 
spoke  briefly  of  an  experimental  instal- 
lation of  automatic  reclosing  circuit 
breakers  in  a  substation  otherwise 
manually  operated  and  said  that  so  far 
very  good  results  had  been  obtained  in 
cutting  off  the  feeder  altogether  under 
overload  conditions,  rather  than  to  have 
resistance  inserted  in  the  circuits  at 
such  a  time.  He  believed  that  it  was 
better  to  place  dependence  on  the  capac- 
ity of  adjacent  stations  to  carry  the 
overload  in  case  one  feeder  should  trip 
out. 

Mr.  Davis  explained  that  the  use  of 
limiting  resistance  in  each  feeder  cir- 
cuit in  Des  Moines  virtually  acted  in 
this  manner,  for  as  the  voltage  is  low- 
ered at  one  station,  the  load  is  auto- 
matically shifted  to  other  adjacent 
stations  without  killing  altogether  the 
feeder  involved  in  an  overload  condi- 
tion. This  leaves  adequate  power  on 
the  line  to  keep  the  cars  going  while 
the  trouble  is  being  cleared. 

Mr.  Thelin  then  suggested  that  when- 
ever resistance  is  put  into  circuits  it 
means  that  power  is  lost.  Mr.  Butcher 
asked  what  difference  it  made  whether 


opinion  of  the  consumers  as  to  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  various  types  and  methods 
of  application  and  the  difference  in 
capacity  required  even  on  any  one  prop- 
erty, your  committee  finds  that  it  would 
be  impracticable  to  recommend  or  use 
a  standard  rail  bond. 

2.  Telephones. — Owing  to  lack  of 
information  on  this  subject  and  absence 
of  members  of  this  committee  convers- 
ant with  the  subject,  your  committee 
begs  for  further  time  to  investigate  and 
report. 

3.  Rolling  Stock. — Your  committee 
after  considerable  discussion  agreed 
that  standard  city  and  interurban  cars 
are  desirable,  but  on  account  of  vary- 
ing local  conditions  on  different  proper- 
ties, it  finds  that  it  would  be  imprac- 
ticable to  recommend  any  particular 
standards. 

Referring  to  equipment  for  both  city 
and  interurban  cars,  your  committee 
begs  to  call  to  your  attention  that  equip- 
ment parts  have  already  been  stand- 
ardized to  a  great  extent. 

4.  Car-Stop  Signs. — Your  committee 
begs  to  call  to  your  attention  that  a  re- 
port with  samples  of  standard  car-stop 
signs  was  presented  at  the  meeting  held 
in  Toledo  on  May  26,  1910,  at  which 
time  it  was  decided  not  to  adopt  a 
standard  car-stop  sign.  However,  your 
committee  will  be  glad  to  again  submit 
samples  or  designs  of  a  standard  car- 
stop  sign  if  the  committee  is  again  in- 
structed to  do  so  and  is  informed  how 
and  where  such  a  sign  is  to  be  installed. 

New  Subjects.  —  Your  committee 
recommends  that  the  following  subjects 


34 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  Z 


should  be  taken  up  and  worked  out  and 
that  they  be  given  instructions  to  do  so. 

1.  Revision  of  standard  signal  lines 
and  trailer  light  connector  is  necessary. 
June  25-26,  1914. 

2.  Additions  and  changes  to  train 
signal  system  adopted  June  26,  1914. 

3.  Controlling  dimensions  of  passen- 
ger and  freight  cars  used  in  inter- 
change. 

4.  Standard  length  of  air  hose. 

5.  Assembly  and  details  of  air  piping 
on  draw  bars. 

6.  Standard  location  of  classification 
and  tail  light  brackets. 

7.  Standard  lamps  and  sockets  for 
railway  use. 

8.  Standard  design  of  trolley  re- 
triever and  catcher. 

9.  Controlling  dimensions  of  rolled 
steel  wheels,  not  including  standard 
contour  of  flange  and  tread. 

The  report  was  signed  by  H.  H. 
Buckman,  P.  V.  C.  See,  J.  W.  Osborn, 
John  Zoll  and  M.  F.  Skouden,  com- 
mittee. 

Separate  Engineering  Organization 
Planned 

The  committee  which  has  been  study- 
ing-the  best  plan  of  developing  some 
form  of  organization  by  which  the  engi- 
neering personnel  of  the  association 
would  have  an  adequate  medium  for  the 
interchange  of  common  ideas  and  ex- 
perience made  its  report.  The  report 
was  read  by  Secretary  Earlywine,  the 
members  of  the  committee  being  Myles 
B.  Lambert,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  chairman;  P. 
V.  C.  See,  Akron,  Ohio;  Harry  Reid, 
Indianapolis,  Ind.;  Guy  H.  Kelsay, 
Elyria,  Ohio,  and  J.  W.  Osborne,  Le- 
banon, Ind.,  all  of  whom  were  present. 
As  developed  in  the  committee  report 
and  in  the  discussion  which  followed, 
the  plan  of  organization  is  in  substance 
as  follows: 

There  is  to  be  organized  as  a  sub- 
sidiary of  the  Central  Electric  Railway 
Association  an  engineering  council 
with  four  local  engineering  sections 
known  as  the  Akron,  Toledo,  Dayton 
.and  Indianapolis  Sections.  Each  sec- 
tion is  to  be  headed  by  a  director  with 
six  additional  members  to  comprise  the 
local  executive  board.  The  engineering 
council  will  consist  of  the  director  of 
each  local  section,  two  members  of  the 
executive  committee,  and  a  chairman 
who  is  to  be  the  second  vice-president 
of  the  association. 

The  local  sections  are  intended  to 
embrace  all  engineering  branches  of 
the  industry.  Each  local  section  will 
arrange  matters  of  discussion  that  will 
be  of  joint  interest  to  the  other  sections 
or  simply  of  local  interest.  Each  sec 
tion  is  to  hold  three  meetings  a  year 
and  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  main 
association  a  half  day  is  to  be  allotted 
to  a  general  meeting  of  the  engineering 
council,  as  a  part  of  the  regular  pro- 
gram. At  this  time  general  engineer- 
ing matters  will  be  discussed,  papers 
read,  and  any  reports  of  the  engineer- 
ing council  submitted  for  the  approval 
of  the  association. 

The  plan  of  operation  contemplates 


that  at  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal 
year  the  engineering  council  will  pre- 
pare and  submit  to  the  local  sections 
a  program  of  subjects  on  which  infor- 
mation, studies  or  reports  are  desired. 
It  is  to  be  the  duty  of  the  chairman  of 
the  engineering  council  to  follow  up  the 
work  assigned  to  these  local  sections, 
to  insure  execution  of  the  assignment. 
All  reports  of  an  engineering  nature 
are  to  be  referred  to  the  engineering 
council  for  approval  before  they  are 
submitted  to  the  main  association.  The 
same  subject  may  be  assigned  to  all 
four  sections  for  study  and  individual 
report,  the  engineering  council  then 
acting  to  derive  from  these  a  final 
report  for  submission  to  the  association. 
In  addition  to  the  assignment  made, 
each  local  section  is  to  be  free  to  dis- 
cuss other  matters  of  interest  or  to 
initiate  studies  leading  to  recommenda- 
tions to  the  engineering  council  and 
thence  to  the  association.  The  stand- 
ards committee  of  the  association  is 
continued  for  the  present,  but  it  is 
anticipated  that  the  engineering  council 
will  function  along  this  line  and  ulti- 
mately take  the  place  of  the  standards 
committee.  The  president  of  the  asso- 
ciation, however,  will  be  authorized  to 
appoint  an  independent  committee  to 
study  and  report  on  any  subject  of  a 
general  engineering  character,  where 
this  seems  desirable. 

The  purpose  expressed,  of  dividing 
the  territory  into  four  sections,  was  to 
keep  to  a  minimum  the  amount  of 
traveling  and  hence  the  amount  of 
time  off  the  property  involved,  and  also 
to  keep  the  size  of  the  gathering  small 
so  that  it  could  take  on  the  nature  of 
an  informal  round-table  discussion.  The 
reason  for  making  these  sections  em- 
brace all  branches  of  engineering  was 
that  many  of  their  problems  are  inter- 
related and  furthermore,  that  the  small 
informal  groups  would  give  an  opportu- 
nity for  frank  discussion  of  inter- 
departmental differences  and  tend  to 
eliminate  the  common  jealousies  which 
exist.  It  was  also  thought  that  the 
existence  of  four  parallel  sections 
might  result  in  some  healthy  competi- 
tion which  would  be  fruitful  of  accom- 
plishment. 

As  to  the  place  of  the  manufacturers' 
representatives  at  these  sectional  meet- 
ings, Mr.  Lambert  explained  that,  all 
things  considered,  it  had  been  deemed 
advisable  that  they  should  attend  these 
sectional  meetings  only  upon  invitation. 
Whenever  any  particular  subject  is  up 
for  discussion,  those  manufacturers 
who  are  directly  interested  will  be  fore- 
warned and  invited  to  attend  the  meet- 
ing, prepared  with  data  and  information 
to  take  active  part  in  the  meeting. 

The  committee  report  was  discussed 
favorably  by  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee and  by  R.  J.  Custer,  Columbus, 
Ind.;  F.  H.  Miller,  Louisville,  Ky.;  H.  A. 
Nicholl,  Anderson,  Ind.;  S.  D.  Hutchins, 
Columbus,  Ohio;  C.  L.  Henry,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  and  F.  D.  Carpenter,  Lima, 
Ohio.  Mr.  Henry  expressed  his  belief 
that  such  an  organization  could  be  ar- 
ranged without  material  change  in  the 
present  constitution.    He  expressed  the 


thought  that  the  engineering  council 
would  probably  either  function  as  the 
standards  committee  or  embrace  the 
purview  of  the  standards  committee. 
He  thought  the  plan  was  a  good  one 
except  that  it  still  embodied  the  old 
difficulty  of  getting  men  to  do  the  work, 
and  he  emphasized  the  necessity  to  put 
behind  the  report  the  determination  to 
put  it  through  to  success. 

Mr.  Carpenter  said  he  thought  the 
reason  for  much  of  the  non-attendance 
at  committee  meetings  was  because  the 
men  were  not  properly  backed  up  by 
their  managements  and  urged  to  attend 
and  give  attention  to  their  duty.  He 
explained  that  no  employee  of  the  West- 
ern Ohio  Railway  is  permitted  to  ac- 
cept a  committee  assignment  until  this 
is  approved  by  himself,  but  with  this 
approval  the  map  knows  that  he  has 
the  support  of  his  superiors  and  there- 
fore does  his  part.  He  recommended 
the  same  procedure  to  other  companies. 

Walter  H.  Evans,  Tool  Steel  Gear 
Company,  Chicago,  urged  the  company 
to  take  good  care  of  the  subordinate 
equipment  men  and  also  emphasized  the 
importance  of  not  only  getting  the 
young  college-trained  men  while  the 
getting  is  good,  but  also  to  get  good 
men  without  any  particular  technical 
training  and  bring  them  up  in  the  shop. 
He  lamented  the  passing  of  some  of 
the  outstanding  equipment  men,  because 
there  is  no  one  coming  along  competent 
to  fill  their  places. 

After  full  discussion,  the  report  of 
the  committee  was  adopted  and  the 
president  requested  to  appoint  the  en- 
gineering council  as  outlined  in  the 
report  and  direct  it  to  work  out  the 
details  for  carrying  out  the  organiza- 
tion planned  by  the  committee  and  to 
report  at  the  annual  meeting  in  Jan- 
uary. This  resolution  included  the 
provision  that  the  present  standards 
committee  should  be  continued  and 
should  work  with  the  engineering  coun- 
cil to  be  appointed,  until  the  final  de- 
tails of  the  plan  are  worked  out  and 
such  report  accepted. 

Report  of  Freight  Claim  Prevention 
Committee 

The  freight  claim  prevention  commit- 
tee of  the  subsidiary  traffic  association, 
headed  by  S.  A.  Greenland,  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.,  was  then  called  upon  for  a  report. 
The  other  members  of  the  committee 
are  C.  0.  Sullivan,  W.  S.  Whitney,  N. 
Rumney,  F.  D.  Norviel  and  J.  H.  Pound. 
This  committee  was  appointed  to  look 
into  the  possibility  of  reducing  freight 
claims,  having  in  mind  the  very  good 
results  obtained  along  this  line  by  the 
American  Railway  Association  and  the 
American  Railway  Express  Company. 
The  committee  reached  the  conclusion 
that  this  was  more  than  a  traffic  prop- 
osition and  required  the  co-operation 
of  all  departments,  and  for  that  reason 
submitted  the  proposition  to  the  main 
association  for  approval.  The  commit- 
tee recommended  that  each  general 
manager  hold  a  meeting  of  company 
officials  to  formulate  plans  for  working 
out  the  following  suggestions: 

It  is  proposed  that  on  each  property 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


55 


a  committee  be  appointed  consisting  of 
the  best  informed  men  in  the  service, 
whose  duty  it  will  be  to  make  careful 
study  of  things  that  can  be  done  to 
improve  the  service,  to  advise  and  in- 
struct fellow  workmen,  particularly  new 
men;  to  distribute  literature  issued  by 
the  company  or  the  association,  and  to 
see  that  employees  are  notified  of 
meetings  of  committees  and  secure 
their  attendance.  For  the  first  meeting 
of  these  committees  on  the  various 
roads,  each  committeeman  is  to  be  re- 
quested to  give  in  writing  his  opinion 
of  the  proper  way  to  handle  the  par- 
ticular line  of  work  in  which  he  is 
engaged  and  to  offer  suggestions  that 
will  improve  the  method  now  in  effect. 
The  best  of  these  letters  is  to  be 
selected  by  the  chairman  and  sent  to  the 
secretary  of  the  association,  where, 
from  all  such  letters  received,  the  best 
will  be  selected  and  published  for  the 
benefit  of  all  association  lines. 

It  is  also  proposed  that  pamphlets 
be  got  out  by  the  freight  claim  pre- 


mittees  already  organized  on  his  prop- 
erty. 

C.  S.  Keever,  Anderson,  Ind.,  added 
that  the  seventy  agents  of  the  Union 
Traction  Company  had  been  called  to- 
gether in  several  meetings  this  year  and 
instructed  on  the  proper  marking  and 
handling  of  shipments,  and  the  method 
of  keeping  record  on  the  waybill  of  any 
irregularities.  As  a  result  of  this  cam- 
paign, he  said  that  the  company  has 
had  only  ten  claims  this  year  of  over 
$10.  James  P.  Barnes,  Louisville,  also 
expressed  the  danger  of  any  outside 
force  endeavoring  to  secure  a  good 
etprit  de  corps  in  any  organization 
which  was  unable  to  do  this  for  itself. 
This  opposition  resulted  in  the  report 
being  referred  back  to  the  executive 
committee,  where  it  was  later  adopted, 
however. 

In  discussing  the  report,  S.  W.  Green- 
land emphasized  the  desirability  of  tak- 
ing steps  to  reduce  claim  expenditures, 
by  giving  some  figures  developed  by 
the  secretary  as  the  result  of  a  ques- 


was  led  off  by  J.  F.  Ohmer  of  the 
Ohmer  Fare  Register  Company,  who 
said  that  all  the  points  raised  were 
mighty  good,  but  who  admonished  the 
members  of  the  association  to  "go  home 
and  do  it."  Myles  Lambert  of  the 
Westinghouse  company  also  raised  the 
question,  "Will  you  go  back  home  and 
do  it?"  Mr.  Lambert  said  that  the 
best  thing  he  had  heard  was  a  master 
mechanic  (E.  B.  Gunn)  tell  how  to  sell 
rides. 

C.  L.  Henry  said  that  the  fundamental 
fact  is  that  if  railways  can't  sell  rides 
they  can't  stay  in  business.  With  refer- 
ence to  "going  home  and  doing  it,"  the 
thing  that  bothered  him  was  how  to  do 
it.  He  recounted  his  experience  in 
bringing  his  power  plant  up  to  date, 
and  said  that  similar  steps  must  be 
taken  in  an  engineering  way  throughout 
each  entire  property,  but  he  pointed  out 
that  it  was  easier  to  do  it  with  physical 
things  than  with  men.  His  advice  was 
for  everybody  to  work  day  in  and  day 
out,  everywhere  and  all  the  time. 
Speaking  particularly  to  interurban 
men,  he  expressed  his  belief  to  be  as 
strong  as  ever  in  the  full  success  of  the 
interurban.  As  to  the  bus,  it  is  here 
to  stay,  he  said,  and  it  must  be  used 
intelligently  in  this  problem  of  mer- 
chandising transportation. 

A.  Swartz  of  Toledo  said  he  thought 
the  railway  industry  should  let  the 
public  know  its  business.  He  advised 
against  even  thinking  about  lower 
fares  at  the  present  time,  but  it  was 
brought  out  in  later  discussion  that 
lower  fare  suggestions  which  have  been 
made  applied  only  to  restricted  areas, 
as  a  means  of  inducing  short-haul 
traffic  or  of  lowering  city  wide  fares. 
Mr.  Schwartz  emphasized  that  the 
advertising  work  of  the  railways  should 
be  positive  in  its  nature. 

Mr.  Lambert,  speaking  a  second  time, 
said  that  it  is  merely  an  economic  law 
which  dertermines  the  rate  of  fare  and 
that  it  is  the  railways'  duty  to  interpret 
this  economic  law  and  the  resulting  rate 
of  fare,  and  this  was  what  required 
sales  ability.  There  are  two  conditions 
of  fares  which  result  in  failure  of  rail- 
way companies:  One  of  these  is  an 
unprofitable  rate  of  fare,  too  low  to  pay 
expenses;  the  other  is  a  rate  which  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  average  con- 
sumer, and  this  reduces  the  gross 
revenue.  Some  place  between  is  an 
economic  balance  which,  coupled  with 
rigid  economy  of  operation,  means 
success. 

The  question  of  local  securities  sales 
was  brought  up  and  Harry  Reid  of  the 
Interstate  Public  Service  Company  said 
that  he  started  a  year  ago  to  sell  pre- 
ferred stock  to  friends  and  customers 
of  the  company  and  over  $600,000  worth 
had  been  sold  to  more  than  1,700  sep- 
arate individuals.  Mr.  Henry  pointed 
out  the  enviable  position  of  the  Lan- 
caster (Pa.)  Railway,  where  all  stocks 
and  bonds  were  owned  in  Lancaster 
County.  In  further  discussion  of  the 
question  of  low  fares  and  jitney  com- 
petition, H.  V.  Bozell,  editor  Electric 
Railway  Journal,  quoted  a  leading 
public     utilities     commissioner  who 


Back  to  the  Good  Old  Horse  Days 
Proving  that  railway  men  are  not  particular  about  the  form   of  motive  power  so 
long  as  it  affords  transportation.    The  driver,  George  Radcliffe.  Cleveland,   and  these 
six  other  "indians"  would  not  permit  a  shortage  of  autos  to  interfere  with  a  tour  of 
Sault  Sainte  Marie,  when  the  ship  stopped  there  for  two  hours. 


vention  committee  with  suggestions 
covering  subjects  and  topics  for  the 
use  of  the  local  committees  at  their 
meetings  in  order  to  furnish  topics  of 
interest  and  secure  similar  work  by  all 
committees.  It  is  also  suggested  that 
the  question  of  loss  and  damage  be  not 
made  the  only  feature  of  these  meet- 
ings, but  rather  that  the  object  of  the 
movement  be  to  improve  service  as  well, 
which  will  automatically  reduce  the  loss 
and  damage. 

The  committee  also  requested  the  as- 
sociation to  set  aside  an  allowance  of 
$250  to  cover  necessary  expense  of 
issuing  circulars  and  pamphlets  for  use 
in  conjunction  with  the  work  in  hand. 

While  other  members  favored  the 
adoption  of  the  report  and  urged  co- 
operation in  carrying  it  out,  H.  A. 
Nicholl,  general  manager  Union  Trac- 
tion Company  of  Indiana,  Anderson, 
failed  to  see  the  need  for  it  so  far  as 
his  company  was  concerned  and  took 
exception  to  the  idea  of  having  instruc- 
tions come  into  his  organization  from 
outside  sources.  He  explained  briefly 
the  excellent  results  which  had  been 
obtained  along  the  line  of  reducing 
freight  claims  through  the  work  of  com- 


tionnaire  sent  to  all  of  the  member 
companies.  Of  thirty-four  companies 
who  responded,  it  was  found  that  in 
1920  the  total  amount  paid  out  in 
freight  claims  was  $142,744.  He  said 
that  by  virtue  of  its  "Right- Way  Cam- 
paign" the  American  Express  Company 
had  decreased  the  claims  in  January 
this  year  as  compared  to  the  same 
month  last  year  by  12  per  cent,  in 
February  by  31  per  cent,  March,  38 
per  cent,  and  April,  69  per  cent.  For 
the  first  four  months  of  this  year  a  re- 
duction in  claims  of  58  per  cent  as 
compared  to  the  same  period  last  year 
has  been  realized.  Mr.  Greenland 
gave  these  figures  to  indicate  the  pos- 
sibilities in  reducing  this  form  of  drain 
upon  the  companies'  earnings. 

The  Thursday  afternoon  session  was 
devoted  to  the  subject  of  merchandising 
transportation.  The  meeting  was 
started  by  the  report  of  the  committee 
on  this  subject,  which  is  given  elsewhere 
and  was  followed  by  some  prepared  dis- 
cussions, abstracts  of  some  of  which  are 
given  following  the  committee  report. 
This  was  followed  by  open  discussion 
from  the  floor. 

The  general  discussion  which  followed 


56 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


pointed  out  his  very  difficult  problem 
in  telling  inhabitants  of  certain  cities 
that  they  would  have  to  pay  8  cents  or 
10  cents  to  ride  from  their  homes  to 
town,  even  though  there  were  motor 
buses  ready  to  carry  them  the  same 
distance  for  5  cents.  While  this  com- 
missioner said  it  would  be  necessary  to 
do  this  in  many  cases,  still  it  was  a 
difficult  problem  for  one  in  public  life. 
Mr.  Bozell  called  attention  to  a  talk  to 
trainmen  given  by  P.  S.  Arkwright, 
president  of  the  Georgia  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  (see 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  April  23, 
1921,  page  771)  as  being  one  example 
of  "how  to  do  it"  in  training  employees. 
Mr.  Barnes,  in  closing  the  discussion, 


commended  the  spirit  of  the  associa- 
tion's discussion  of  the  merchandising 
transportation  question.  He  gave  a 
brief  reference  to  an  experiment  which 
he  has  just  started  in  Louisville  in  the 
nature  of  a  combined  contest,  safety 
campaign  and  closer  co-operation 
between  the  trainmen  and  executives, 
the  result  of  which  is  apparently  most 
satisfactory.  The  experiment  has  been 
going  on  for  such  a  short  time,  how- 
ever, that  he  did  not  wish  to  draw  any 
definite  conclusions  therefrom  at  this 
time.  On  motion  the  association  con- 
tinued the  committee,  requesting  it  to 
report  again  in  January. 

Abstracts  of  papers  and  discussions 
presented  follow  herewith. 


Automatic  Substation  Progress 

By  C.  A.  Butcher 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company 


REFERENCE  to  an  automatic  rail- 
way substation  brings  to  the  minds 
of  some  the  small  type  used  on  inter- 
urban  systems,  and  to  others  it  means 
the  large  type  of  single  or  multiple-unit 
stations  of  larger  capacity  used  for 
city  service.  Naturally  the  experiments 
in  automatic  substation  operation  were 
first  carried  out  on  a  smaller  and  more 
isolated  equipment.  These  experiments 
proved  successful  and  applications  were 
soon  made  to  much  larger  machines. 
The  largest  at  the  present  time  are  in 
the  four  stations  on  the  property  of  the 
Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway.  Here  three 
stations  are  now  in  operation,  each  con- 
sisting of  two  1,500-kw.,  60-cycle  units 
in  parallel  operation.  In  all  kinds  of 
railway  service  there  are  at  present 
approximately  100  automatically  equip- 
ped substations  in  service.  Approx- 
imately 200  equipments  have  been  sold 
for  the  automatic  operation  of  various 
types  of  substation  equipment. 

[Editor's  Note.  —  Mr.  Butcher  next 
explained  the  application  of  the  auto- 
matic control  principle,  as  developed 
by  his  company,  with  reference  to  the 
synchronous  converter.    This  has  been 


covered  in  some  detail  in  articles  in  the 
issues  of  this  paper  for  April  13,  1918, 
pages  705  and  707;  May  17,  1919,  page 
948;  the  combined  issue  for  Nov.  8  to 
Dec.  13,  1919,  page  886;  Jan.  31,  1920, 
page  259;  March  27,  1920,  page  654; 
Sept.  18,  1920,  page  533.  An  extended 
further  article  will  be  published  in  an 
early  issue.  The  balance  of  Mr. 
Butcher's  paper  was  taken  up  with  dis- 
cussion of  special  applications  of  auto- 
matic control  and  concluded  with  the 
general  summary  of  the  present  inter- 
esting problems  in  this  field,  substan- 
tially as  below.] 

Control  of  Motor  Generator  Sets 

Motor-generator  sets  are  controlled 
in  a  fashion  very  similar  to  the  plan 
used  with  rotary  converters  with  the 
exception,  of  course,  that  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  correct  polarity.  The  stations 
equipped  with  motor-generator  sets 
start  up  upon  the  indication  from  a 
contact-making  voltmeter  connected 
between  trolley  and  rail.  Transition 
from  a.c.  starting  to  running  voltage 
is  effected  by  the  operation  of  relays 
responsive  to  various  indications  of 
synchronism.  The  generator  end 
of  the  set  may  act  as  the  exciter 
for  the  synchronous  motor  or  a 
direct-connected  exciter  may  be 
used.     In  any  case,  the  field  of 


the  exciter  is  usually  directly  con- 
nected to  the  generator  end  or  the 
exciter  end  of  the  set.  In  applying 
reduced  voltage  to  the  winding  of  the 
synchi'onous  motor  for  starting,  alter- 
nating current  of  the  frequency  of  slip 
is  induced  in  the  field  winding.  Since 
this  field  winding  is  directly  connected 
to  the  exciter,  the  alternating  current 
induced  in  this  winding  will  flow 
through  its  armature.  This  alternating 
current  opposes  any  tendency  of  the 
direct-current  armature  to  build  up  its 
voltage.  As  stated,  since  this  induced 
current  is  of  the  frequency  of  slip,  it 
obviously  falls  to  zero  when  the  motor 
reaches  synchronous  speed.  There  then 
being  no  opposition  to  prevent  the 
exciter  from  building  up  its  voltage,  it 
builds  up  in  a  perfectly  normal  way, 
and  in  doing  so  builds  up  a  normal  field 
current  in  the  rotating  field  of  the  syn- 
chronous motor. 

There  are  three  distinct  indications 
of  synchronism:  The  first  is  the  falling 
of  the  starting  current  to  a  minimum 
value.  When  starting  voltage  is  applied 
there  is  at  first  a  rush  of  current  from 
the  alternating-current  line.  This  de- 
creases in  value  as  the  motor  increases 
in  speed  and  reaches  a  minimum  when 
the  rotor  has  reached  synchronous 
speed.  An  accelerating  relay  actuated 
from  a  current  transformer  may  be 
used  to  indicate  the  attainment  of 
synchronous  speed.  A  second  indication 
of  synchronism  is  the  attainment  of 
normal  machine  voltage.  A  voltage 
relay  can  be  so  calibrated  as  to  close 
its  contacts  at  normal  machine  voltage. 
A  third  is  the  attainment  of  normal 
field  current.  A  series  relay  in  the 
shunt-field  circuit  of  the  motor  can  be 
adjusted  to  close  its  contacts  under 
normal  field  current.  Any  one  or  a 
number  of  these  relays  in  combination 
may  be  used  to  operate  such  relays  as 
will  effect  the  transition  from  the 
alternating  current  starting  to  the  run- 
ning position.  The  generator  is  con- 
nected to  the  bus  in  a  manner  very 
similar  to  that  described  for  synchro- 
nous converters.  The  protective  feat- 
ures provided  are  complete  and  very 
similar  to  those  provided  for  synchro- 
nous converter  stations. 

The  old  type  of  motor-started  con- 
verters are  being  successfully  operated 


Elevation  of  Semi-Outdoor  Automatic  Substation 


July  9,  1921 


ELECT  K1C    RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


57 


automatically.  There  are  now  in  opera- 
tion a  half-dozen  of  these  old-type 
machines  and  they  are  giving  service 
equivalent  to  that  of  the  modern  type 
converter.  The  method  of  operation  is: 
The  motor  is  first  started.  An  accel- 
erating relay  in  the  motor  circuit  in- 
dicates approximate  synchronous  speed 
when  the  converter  is  connected  directly 
to  the  full  voltage  taps  of  the  power 
transformers  through  limiting  reactors 
which  pull  the  converter  into  step.  The 
polarized  motor  relay  is  used  to  effect 
the  transition  as  described  for  alter- 
nating current  self-starting  converters. 

Substations  With  Two  or  More  Units 

The  control  for  stations  equipped 
with  two  or  more  units  is  so  designed 
that  after  load  exceeding  a  given  value 
has  been  maintained  for  a  predeter- 
mined period  of  time  on  one  machine 
another  is  started  and  automatically 
connected  to  the  load.  This  feature  is 
provided  by  means  of  a  temperature 
relay  which  operates  to  close  its  con- 
tacts after  the  first  machine  has 
reached  a  given  operating  temperature. 
Under  conditions  of  light  load,  the 
machines  are  cut  out  in  the  reverse 
order  of  starting.  Switches  are  pro- 
vided for  making  any  machine  the  first 
to  start.  In  case  of  failure  of  one 
machine  to  go  into  service,  an  auxiliary 
contact  on  the  motor-operated  timing 
relay  closes  to  start  the  second  machine 
after  the  lapse  of  11  minutes.  The  first 
is  definitely  locked  out  of  service.  A 
signal  connected  with  the  lockout  relay 
may  be  used  to  indicate  the  failure. 
Until  the  lockout  relay  has  been  reset 
by  hand,  the  second  unit  continues  to 
function  in  the  place  of  the  first,  the 
station  starting  up  and  shutting  down 
on  demand. 

A  1,200-Volt  Station 

One  very  interesting  application  of 
automatic  switching  has  been  made  to  a 
1,200-volt  direct-current  substation  on 
the  line  of  the  Fort  Wayne  &  Decatur 
Traction  Company  at  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana.  This  line  has  but  one  sub- 
station and  the  cars  are  run  into  the 
Fort  Wayne  Terminal  on  the  city  line 


at  600  volts  direct  current.  The  station 
is  started  by  means  of  a  series  relay  in 
the  trolley  circuit  at  the  junction  point 
of  the  two  trolley  systems.  When  the 
substation  is  idle,  these  trolleys  are  tied 
together  through  an  electrically  op- 
erated contactor. 

For  example,  a  car  leaving  the  600- 
volt  section  and  crossing  to  the  1,200- 
volt  section  draws  current  through  a 
series  relay,  the  contacts  of  which  are 
closed  and  the  relays  of  the  substation 
are  thus  energized  over  pilot  wires  to 
effect  the  starting  of  the  substation. 
The  600-volt  and  1,200-volt  sections  are 
tied  together  until  the  machine  has 
come  up  to  full  voltage.  At  this  point, 
the  running  contactors,  in  closing,  effect 
the  opening  of  the  contactor  which 
bridges  the  two  trolley  sections.  This 
contactor  is  interlocked  so  that  in  its 
open  position  it  effects  the  closing  of 
the  contactors  of  the  substation,  thus 
applying  full  1,200  volts  to  the  trolley 
section.  The  machine  shuts  down  by 
the  action  of  the  timing  relay  in  the 
manner  described.  It  is  thus  seen  that 
in  case  of  failure  of  the  substation  to 
start,  the  cars  can  still  operate  from  the 
600-volt  supply,  though  obviously  at 
reduced  speed.  In  case  the  substation 
shuts  down,  a  car  laying  over  at  the 
end  of  the  line  can  restart  it  by  draw- 
ing current  through  the  series  relay 
from  the  600-volt  section. 

A  novel  feature  of  the  1,200-volt 
switching  equipment  controlling  two 
machines  in  series  is  that  but  one  con- 
trol equipment  is  required  for  the  sta- 
tion. The  only  duplication  in  equip- 
ment is  the  starting  panel  for  the 
second  machine.  The  starting  con- 
tactor for  the  "high"  machine  is  the 
first  to  close.  Through  the  medium  of 
an  accelerating  relay,  after  the  first 
machine  has  reached  synchronous  speed, 
the  starting  contactor  for  the  "low" 
machine  is  closed.  The  "low"  machine 
acts  permanently  as  an  exciter  for  the 
"high"  machine.  Therefore,  the  scheme 
described  for  correcting  the  polarity  of 
one  machine  automatically  serves  to 
establish  correct  polarity  on  the  "high" 
machine,  after  the  "low"  machine  has 
been  corrected. 


The  transition  from  starting  to  run- 
ning takes  place  simultaneously  on  both 
machines.  The  current  limiting  feature 
on  the  direct-current  side  is  between 
the  two  machines  rather  than  on  the 
negative  or  positive  side  of  the  system. 
This  is  so  that  under  no  condition  will 
greater  than  a  600-volt  strain  be  im- 
posed on  the  insulation  of  the  devices 
used.  A  1,200-volt  contactor  mounted 
on  marble  panel  serves  to  disconnect 
the  1,200-volt  side  of  the  machine  from 
the  trolley  circuit.  These  machines 
happen  to  have  a  rather  poor  starting 
characteristic  and  it  is  therefore  neces- 
sary to  use  a  relatively  high  starting 
voltage.  For  this  reason  the  synchro- 
nizing torque  on  the  starting  voltage  is 
very  high,  making  it  difficult  to  effect 
correction  of  polarity  by  field  reversal. 
As  in  other  cases  where  this  trouble 
wras  encountered,  the  difficulty  was 
overcome  by  paralleling  the  fields  in 
the  reverse  position.  Under  parallel 
conditions  never  more  than  one  field 
reversal  is  required  to  establish  correct 
polarity. 

Direct-Current  Feeders  for 
City  Service 
We  have  felt  since  the  beginning,  and 
have  more  or  less  definitely  established 
the  fact,  that  the  current-limiting  re- 
sistance type  of  feeder  in  city  service 
is  not  very  desirable  because  only  in 
the  event  of  short-circuit  is  it  desired 
to  open  a  feeder  circuit.  If,  due  to  con- 
gestion of  cars,  the  feeder  section  is 
overloaded,  it  is  obviously  desirable  to 
hold  that  section  at  as  near  full  voltage 
as  possible  to  clear  the  congestion 
quickly.  To  insert  resistance  and 
further  lower  the  voltage  under  these 
conditions  only  aggravates  the  conges- 
tion. 

With  this  idea  in  mind  there  has 
been  brought  out  a  type  of  feeder 
equipment  which  eliminates  this  cur- 
rent limiting  resistance.  The  feeder  is 
so  designed  that  it  will  not  trip  on  a 
legitimate  overload,  but  only  in  case  of 
a  short  circuit.  This  is  accomplished 
by  means  of  a  device  which  differen- 
tiates between  a  normal  and  an  abrupt 
rise  in  load.    The  breaker,  once  opened 


Plan  View  op  Semi-Outdoor  Automatic  Substation 


58 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


Rotary  Converter  and  Automatic  Control  Apparatus  in  Sub- 
station of  York  (Pa.)  Railways 


View  in  Two-Unit  Automatic  Substation  of  Cleveland 
(Ohio)  Railway 


by  this  device,  recloses  only  when  the 
external  resistance  in  the  feeder  cir- 
cuit has  risen  to  or  above  a  normal  pre- 
determined value.  In  effect  the  device 
comprises  a  Wheatstone  bridge  ar- 
rangement which  measures  the  ex- 
ternal resistance  of  the  circuit  and 
operates  a  relay  to  effect  the  reclos- 
ing  when  the  short  circuit  has  cleared. 

Inasmuch  as  the  current-limiting  re- 
sistance is  retained  in  the  machine 
circuit,  the  machine  is  protected  from 
simultaneous  overload  on  enough  feed- 
ers from  the  station  to  cause  overload 
on  the  machine.  Retaining  the  current- 
limiting-  resistance  in  the  machine  cir- 
cuit also  makes  possible  rapid  restora- 
tion of  service  on  the  system  after  a 
total  "outage."  In  such  a  case,  one 
machine  starts  up  probably  before  a 
number  of  others  and  as  it  is  the  first 
machine  in  service  on  the  system 
attempts  to  pull  the  total  load.  But 
for  the  limiting  resistance,  service 
would  again  be  interrupted  due  to  over- 
load. By  hanging  onto  the  load 
through  the  current-limiting  resist- 
ance for  a  short  time,  this  machine 
permits  others  to  come  into  operation 
very  rapidly  to  bring  about  complete 
restoration  of  service. 

The  type  of  feeder  described  has 
proved  very  satisfactory.  It  will  be 
applied  to  the  three  1,500-kw.  automatic 
substations  now  being  built  for  the 
Cincinnati  Traction  Company.  A  device 
very  similar  to  this  is  now  being 
installed  and  will  soon  be  in  service 
on  an  automatic  equipment  designed  to 
control  a  1,000-kw.  synchronous  con- 
verter operating  an  Edison  three-wire 
system  in  Milwaukee. 

Substations  in  City  Service 

The  application  of  automatic  sub- 
stations to  city  properties  presents  a 
very  interesting  problem.  City  traction 
lines  are  usually  made  up  of  a  series 
of  extensions  and  additions.  As  the 
lines  were  extended,  it  was  necessary  to 
install  feeders  in  order  to  maintain  the 
required  voltage.  Then  as  the  system 
grew  and  more  cars  were  added  it  was 
necessary  gradually  to  add  to  the 
power-plant  capacity.  As  a  result,  a 
great  number  of  street  railway  power 


and  distribution  systems  are  today  fre- 
quently pointed  out  to  the  public  as 
striking  examples  of  inefficiency.  In 
addition  to  heavy  losses  in  positive  and 
negative  feeders,  much  trouble  and 
litigation  has  resulted  from  electrolysis. 
In  fact  many  cities  have  passed  ordi- 
nances which  limit  the  voltage  drop  in 
the  rail.  To  overcome  this  condition  it 
is  necessary  to  install  large  amounts  of 
additional  negative  feeders  as  well  as 
extensive  bonding  between  rails  and 
subterranean  structures. 

Conditions  in  many  cities  have  been 
bettered  by  converting  power  plants 
from  direct  current  to  alternating  cur- 
rent generation  with  direct  current 
supplied  to  the  system  from  substa- 
tions. In  order  to  cut  down  operating 
expenses,  the  tendency  has  been  to 
build  substations  of  large  capacity  near 
the  load  center.  This  is,  of  course,  a 
decided  advantage  over  distribution 
from  a  power  plant  which,  of  necessity, 
is  located  near  adequate  water  and  coal 
supply  and  perhaps  a  mile  or  more 
from  the  true  load  center.  However, 
the  conditions  of  electrolysis  are  only 
slightly  improved  and  great  quantities 
of  feeder  copper  are  still  required. 

The  progress  of  generation  is  cer- 
tainly in  the  direction  of  large  central- 
ized power  plants.  This  is  in  line  with 
the  conservation  of  our  natural  re- 
sources and  a  plan  to  link  these  large 
plants  to  trans-continental  transmission 
lines.  Such  development  naturally 
means  greater  efficiency  of  power  gen- 
eration and  distribution  with  a  natural 
result  of  cheaper  power. 

It  should  not  be  the  business  of  a 
railway  company  to  manufacture  power. 
Its  real  business  is  to  sell  transporta- 
tion. Each  man  in  that  organization 
should  be  in  a  position  to  concentrate 
his  efforts  on  the  real  object  at  hand. 
Why  should  he  be  worried  or  burdened 
with  the  trials  of  a  relatively  small  and 
inefficient  power  plant?  Would  it  not  be 
better  to  buy  power  from  the  central 
station,  direct  current  to  be  supplied 
from  substations  so  located  over  the 
system  as  to  give  the  greatest  advan- 
tage? If  the  railway  operates  the 
central  station  or  vice  versa,  the  condi- 
tions really  remain  the  same. 


Automatic  substations  eliminate  the 
item  of  attendance  and  therefore  make 
it  possible  to  operate  a  great  many 
stations  with  but  little  thought  of  that 
item.  By  dividing  the  system  into 
small  blocks,  each  to  be  supplied  from  a 
substation  located  at  the  load  center  of 
the  block,  we  do  away  with  the  neces- 
sity of  a  great  amount  of  feeder  copper. 
In  addition  we  mitigate  electrolysis  by 
reducing  the  voltage  drop  in  the  rail 
to  a  very  small  and  harmless  value. 
The  scrap  value  of  the  reclaimed 
copper,  in  a  great  many  cases,  goes  far 
toward  financing  the  improvements. 

The  annual  return  is  represented  by 
the  saving  of  copper  and  generation 
losses  and  power  saving  realized  by 
virtue  of  the  improved  average  trolley 
voltage.  Improved  trolley  voltage 
makes  possible  a  greater  leeway  in  the 
schedule  or  permits  a  speeding  up  of 
the  schedule,  which  in  turn  means 
greater  returns  from  more  frequent 
service.  It  may  be  possible  to  save 
platform  labor  by  taking  a  car  out  of 
the  number  which  are  now  required  to 
maintain  a  given  headway. 

The  labor  situation  on  a  great  many 
properties  has  reached  the  point  where 
the  men  have  gone  on  strikes  and  tied 
the  property  up  for  weeks  and  months 
at  a  time.  Automatic  substations,  by 
the  elimination  of  the  human  element, 
and  by  virtue  of  a  complete  complement 
of  protective  devices,  not  only  give  a 
high  order  of  service  but  give  it  with 
economy  and  satisfaction. 


Discussion  on  Automatic 
Substations 

By  Lawrence  D.  Bale 

Engineer  Substations  Cleveland  (Ohio) 
Railway 

The  first  of  the  problems  involved 
in  the  use  of  automatic  substations 
in  metropolitan  service  relates  to  the 
decision  of  the  capacity  and  number  of 
units  to  install  per  station.  The  solu- 
tion of  this  question  involves  several 
problems  in  itself.  The  area  or  zone 
to  be  supplied  by  a  station,  which  also 
fixes  the  capacity,  is  generally  deter- 
mined primarily  by  the  investment 
necessary  in  feeder,  and  the  annual 
charges,  together  with  the  losses  occur- 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


59 


ring  in  the  feeder  layout.  There  are 
also  several  other  considerations  to  be 
taken  into  account  which  often  influence 
the  problem  radically.  The  most  im- 
portant among  these  are  land  values, 
building  cost  and  restrictions,  reserve 
equipment,  alternating-current  and 
direct-current  feeders,  and,  above  all, 
a  system  that  will  be  conducive  to  a 
high  degree  of  reliability  of  service. 

With  low  land  values,  building  cost 
and  load  densities  which  are  en- 
countered generally  in  small  cities, 
sparsely  settled  areas  or  suburban  dis- 
tricts of  large  cities  there  is  no  doubt 
a  number  of  single-unit  automatic  sub- 
stations will  answer  the  requirements 
admirably.  On  the  other  hand,  with 
relatively  high  current  densities  to  con- 
tend with,  and  where  the  cost  of  land 
and  building  is  high,  the  multiple-unit 
stations  give  the  most  economical  lay- 
out, taking  every  item  into  considera- 
tion. This  has  proved  to  be  the  case  in 
Cleveland. 

On  metropolitan  systems,  where  con- 
tinuity of  service  is  one  of  the  ruling 
factors,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  a 
large  reserve  capacity  with  the  initial 
investments  in  equipment  and  distribu- 
tion system.  Where  the  multiple-unit 
station  proves  the  most  efficient  and 
economical  type  to  install,  the  factor  of 
service  insurance  is  further  increased  by 
reason  of  the  scheme  of  automatic 
sequence  operation  which  is  included. 
The  question  of  duplication  of  a.c.  lines 
to  a  substation  is  also  an  important  one 
from  the  standpoint  of  service  insur- 
ance, for  upon  a  system  where  disrup- 
tion of  service  from  "station  outs"  due 
to  a.c.  power  line  failures  is  at  all 
prevalent  high-class  service  cannot  be 
maintained.  Therefore,  where  the  capac- 
ity of  the  station,  in  other  words,  its 
importance,  will  justify  the  expendi- 
ture for  duplicate  a.c.  lines,  which  is 
the  case  with  a  two-unit  installation  of 
relatively  large  capacity,  further  insur- 
ance against  service  interruption  is 
gained. 

City  Systems  Are  Different 
The  operation  of  automatically  con- 
trolled equipment  upon  city  systems  is, 
of  necessity,  quite  different  from  that 
found  upon  the  average  interurban 
system.  In  city  service  the  frequent 
starting  and  stopping  common  to  the 
interurban  substation  is  impossible,  for 
with  all  stations  upon  the  systems 
arranged  to  feed  into  the  general  net- 
work of  feeders  and  with  a  very  low 
resistance  between  stations  each  and 
every  machine  in  service  will  tend  to 
assume  its  proportion  of  the  system's 
load.  This  tends  to  keep  equipment  in 
service  when  there  is  really  no  neces- 
sity for  it,  resulting  in  a  lowering  of 
the  all-day  station  conversion  efficiency. 
The  two-unit  station  has  an  advantage 
in  this  connection  in  that  the  two  units 
will  operate  to  capacity  during  the 
morning  and  evening  peak,  while  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  the  day  one  unit 
will  be  shut  down. 

To  overcome  this  feature  of  machines 
tending  to  remain  in  operation  when 
not  required,  F.  C.  Chambers  arranged 
the  automatic  substation   of  the  Des 


Moines  City  Railway  to  operate  at  dif- 
ferent voltage,  ranging  from  600  to  650 
volts.  The  voltage  adjustment  which  is 
based  upon  peak-load  conditions  enables 
the  station  with  the  lower  voltages  to 
shut  down  as  the  curve  of  the  peak  load 
descends,  this  arrangement,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  manipulation  of  high- 
tension  lines  to  the  lower  voltage  sta- 
stion,  apparently  working  satisfactorily. 

To  operate  successfully  a  large  city 
system  consisting  of  a  number  of  auto- 
matic substations,  together  with  numer- 
ous heavy  feeders,  the  general  feeling 
is  that  some  form  of  remote  control 
superimposed  upon  that  of  the  sub- 
station automatic  control  should  be  util- 
ized. Through  this  system  machines 
may  be  controlled,  load  transferred, 
and,  in  fact,  all  of  the  operations  neces- 
sary in  a  substation  on  an  important 
property  performed.  It  is  not  intended 
to  have  the  remote  control  take  prec- 
edence over  the  automatic  control  in  any 
case  during  normal  operation,  but  dur- 
ing emergencies  full  control  of  the 
system  may  be  attained  by  this  means. 

Regarding  Resistance  in 
Feeder  Circuits 

Referring  to  the  section  of  Mr. 
Butcher's  paper  in  which  he  discusses 
d.c.  feeders  for  city  service,  this  par- 
ticular phase  of  the  subject  of  auto- 
matizing the  power  supply  of  a  large 
city  system  presents,  as  he  intimates, 
one  of  the  most  troublesome  problems 
of  the  whole  question.  Since  an  out- 
going d.c.  feeder  may  be  subjected  to  a 
variety  of  troubles  or  conditions,  it 
seems  almost  beyond  reason  to  expect 
automatic  equipment  to  function  and  be 
depended  upon  to  handle  properly  each 
of  the  conditions  that  may  arise.  When 
a  feeder  is  subjected  to  overload  either 
from  the  extraordinary  movement  of 
cars  or  load  from  an  adjacent  plant 
that  may  be  in  trouble  the  feeder  most 
certainly  must  not  be  disconnected  from 
the  station  bus  nor  have  the  impressed 
potential  lowered  by  the  cutting  in  of 
resistance.  When  this  feeder  becomes 
grounded,  generally  by  the  breaking  of 
a  trolley  wire,  the  proper  handling  of 
it  will  depend  upon  the  policy  of  the 
operating  company.  On  some  systems 
it  is  customary  to  discontinue  service 
on  a  grounded  feeder  until  such  time  as 
the  ground  is  removed,  the  time  in- 
volved depending  generally  upon  the 
efficiency  of  the  line  department  trouble 
system,  which  may  mean  in  some  cases 
a  considerable  delay  in  the  movement 
of  cars.  Upon  other  of  the  larger 
properties  the  policy  is  to  burn  off 
grounds,  so  that  the  movement  of  the 
cars  may  be  subjected  to  the  least  delay. 
This  measure  is  adopted  on  properties 
where  a  premium  is  placed  upon  con- 
tinuity of  service,  as  in  Cleveland. 

It  is  therefore  seen  that  where  a 
property  wishes  to  maintain  station  bus 
potential  on  an  overloaded  feeder  and 
also  to  burn  off  grounds  neither  of  the 
two  present  methods  of  handling  over- 
loaded and  faulty  feeders  automatically 
meets  with  both  requirements,  for  the 
scheme  of  cutting  resistance  in  on  an 
overloaded  feeder  is  not  desired.  On  the 
other  hand,  this  method  may  be  utilized 


successfully  in  burning  off  grounds, 
while  with  the  new  method  of  feeder 
control  mentioned  by  Mr.  Butcher  an 
overloaded  feeder  will  not  be  opened  nor 
its  potential  disturbed  as  far  as  the 
control  is  concerned,  but  a  grounded 
feeder  will  open  and  remain  so  until 
such  time  as  the  ground  is  removed. 

The  presence  of  a  number  of  outgoing 
tie  feeders  in  an  automatic  substation 
under  the  present  method  of  control 
constitutes  a  possible  danger  of  dis- 
ruption of  service  by  causing  the  sta- 
tion bus  potential  to  be  lowered  at  a 
most  inopportune  time,  or,  worse  still, 
by  causing  the  rotaries  to  be  discon- 
nected from  the  bus  entirely,  by  reason 
of  the  possible  overload  that  may  be 
transferred  from  one  station  to  another 
thrcugh  a  number  of  feeders  of  low 
ohmic  resistance,  in  the  event  of  the 
failure  of  an  adjacent  plant  under  peak- 
load  conditions. 

Mr.  Butcher  states  that  in  the  event 
of  the  failure  of  a  machine  to  connect 
with  the  load  in  one  and  a  half  minutes 
the  machine  is  definitely  locked  out  and 
remains  so  until  the  lockout  relay  has 
been  reset  by  hand.  In  the  Cleveland 
installation  the  sequence  has  been  so 
arranged  that,  in  the  event  of  the  fail- 
ure of  the  machine  to  connect  with  the 
station  load  within  the  prescribed  time, 
the  first  unit  is  locked  out  or  shut  down 
and  the  second  machine  is  started  in  its 
place.  However,  when  the  second  unit 
is  connected  to  the  station  bus  the  first 
unit  automatically  unlocks  and  is  then 
again  made  available  for  service  upon 
demand.  This  feature  is  of  particular 
value,  for  while  it  is  true  that  if  there 
is  something  radically  wrong  with  the 
machine  that  failed,  the  unit  will  be 
locked  out  against  further  service.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  the  difficulty  is  of 
a  minor  nature,  as,  for  example,  a  poor 
interlock  contact,  the  possibility  of  the 
unit  performing  satisfactorily  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  second  starting  is  good. 

Another  very  important  feature  is 
the  starting  of  the  second  unit  from  the 
first  upon  the  occasion  of  one  machine 
being  suddenly  subjected  to  extremely 
heavy  overload,  causing  the  current- 
limiting  resistance  to  be  inserted  in  the 
machine  circuit  by  the  opening  of  the 
resistance  shunting  contactors.  The 
second  unit  is  normally  started  from 
the  first  by  means  of  a  thermal  relay. 
This  relay  closes  its  contacts  after  the 
first  machine  has  reached  capacity  load 
for  a  period  of  about  fifteen  minutes. 
To  overcome  the  necessity  of  waiting 
for  this  relay  to  function  under  emer- 
gency or  heavy  overload  conditions  as 
mentioned  above,  the  sequence  scheme 
has  been  so  arranged  that  when  the 
resistance  shunting  contactor  in  the 
first  rotary  circuit  opens,  due  to  over- 
load, the  control  circuit  is  established, 
starting  the  second  unit  after  the  lapse 
of  one  and  a  half  minutes,  thus 
promptly  securing  the  assistance  of  the 
second  unit  in  carrying  the  overload. 

Cleveland  Experience  Satisfactory 
While  it  is  true  that  my  observations 
cover  but  a  relatively  short  period  of 
time,   the   first   station    in  Cleveland 
having  been  placed  in  full  automatic 


60 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


operation  upon  Dec.  15,  1920,  judging 
from  observations  up  to  the  present, 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  power  re- 
quirements of  any  system  cannot  be 
met  satisfactorily  and  economically  by 
utilization  of  automatically  controlled 
equipment.  It  must  be  understood  that 
there  will  necessarily  be  variations  of 
control  features  upon  every  new  system 
by  reason  of  different  operating  con- 
ditions to  be  met,  but  with  the  engi- 
neering talent  of  those  men  now  heading 
the  automatic  control  divisions  of  the 
principal  companies  interested  in  this 
field,  with  the  inclination  of  the  en- 
gineer in  charge  of  the  property  to 
co-operate,  the  limitations  of  automatic 
control  in  railway  traction  power  supply 
are  not  in  sight. 

The  stations  of  the  Cleveland  Rail- 
way are,  I  believe,  the  first  case  on 
record  of  the  adaptation  of  the  auto- 
matically controlled  substations  to  a 
large  city  system.  These  installations 
also  enjoy  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  two-unit  automatic  stations  of 
large  capacities  to  be  constructed. 
Therefore,  the  majority  of  the  work  in 
connection  with  the  planning  of  the  lay- 
out and  the  scheme  of  control  has  been 
of  a  pioneer  nature.  The  results  have 
been  exceedingly  gratifying,  for  aside 
from  the  d.c.  feeder  control  scheme  com- 
paratively few  changes  have  been  found 
necessary.  Some  of  these  changes 
necessitated  the  redesign,  addition  or 
rearrangement  of  relays,  but  the 
majority  were  accomplished  by  chang- 
ing circuit  connections. 

In  the  first  installation  it  was  found 
that  by  reason  of  a  combination  of 
conditions  that  could  be  set  up  by 
unusual  occurrences  in  operation  (either 
conditions  not  contemplated,  or  expe- 
rienced but  not  corrected)  it  was  pos- 
sible to  lock  out  a  rotary,  or,  in  extreme 
instances,  both  rotaries.  As  fast  as 
these  conditions  were  recognized  pro- 
visions have  been  made  or  are  under  way 
to  prevent  their  recurrence.  When  these 
changes  are  complete  protection  of 
these  equipments  will  be  had  against 
every  possible  contingency  and  will  give 
to  the  automatic  stations,  as  planned  in 
■Cleveland,  the  maximum  degree  of  con- 
tinuity of  service. 

There  have  been  several  demonstra- 
tions on  the  Cleveland  property  illus- 
trating the  reliability  of  the  automatic 
equipment  as  to  its  emergency  stand-by 
features  which  I  know  will  interest  the 
operating  engineer.  In  Cleveland,  after 
1:30  a.m.,  with  but  the  early  morning 
service  in  operation,  together  with 
shifting  of  cars  in  yards,  etc.,  the  load 
upon  the  system  averages  about  7,000 
amp.  It  is  customary  to  handle  this 
load  from  1:30  a.m.  to  4  a.m.  from 
a  centrally  located,  manually  operated 
substation,  this  plant  being  the  only 
source  of  power  for  the  entire  system 
during  that  period.  Upon  three  occa- 
sions the  source  of  energy  to  the  system 
has  been  interrupted  by  the  opening  of 
the  a.c.  power  supply  to  this  station, 
leaving  the  entire  system  without 
power.  This  occurrence  immediately 
caused  the  voltage  relay  in  the  one 
substation  (existing  at  that  time)  to 


operate,  starting  the  first  rotary  and 
connecting  it  to  the  station  bus,  pick- 
ing up  the  entire  system  load,  this 
being  accomplished  in  approximately 
thirty-eight  seconds.  This  station,  of 
course,  inserted  resistance  in  the 
machine  circuits  and  held  on  to  the 
load  until  the  manually  operated  station 
was  again  in  service,  after  which  the 
automatic  station  ran  for  a  period  of 
fifteen  minutes  and  then  shut  down.  It 
is  thus  seen  that  the  presence  of  auto- 
matic equipment  upon  the  system  will 
restore  service  almost  immediately  in 
the  event  of  an  outage. 

Discussion  on  Automatic 
Substations 

By  Charles  H.  Jones 

Electrical  Engineer  Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad 

The  steps  through  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  go  in  starting  up  a  rotary 
converter  and  putting  it  on  the  direct- 
current  bus  are  few  and  easily  per- 
formed and  the  ways  used  to  do  this 
mechanically  may  vary  in  detail,  but 
the  methods  used  by  the  two  manu- 
facturers have  proved  to  be  satisfactory 
in  service.  In  fact,  better  results  are 
obtained  by  the  mechanical  method  than 
by  the  manual  method,  due  to  the 
elimination  of  the  uncertain  human 
element  over  which  we  have  very  little 
control,  especially  in  case  of  emergency 
operation,  and  substitution  of  a  mechan- 
ical device  which  will  function  in  a 
certain  predetermined  sequence  of  steps 
regardless  of  whether  they  are  per- 
formed under  normal  or  adverse  con- 
ditions. 

After  the  machine  is  put  on  the  line 
and  is  handling  the  load  we  are  face  to 
face  with  a  condition  of  machine  pro- 
tection which  is  a  great  deal  different 
with  automatic  than  with  manual 
operation.  In  the  manually  operated 
station  the  procedure  was  to  take  the 
machine  off  the  line  in  case  of  any 
trouble  or  severe  overload  and  leave  it 
to  the  judgment  of  the  operator 
whether  or  not  the  machine  should  be 
put  back  on  the  line.  This  cannot  be 
done  in  the  automatic  station,  so  that 
a  new  line  of  trouble-differentiating 
equipment  had  to  be  developed  which 
would  replace  the  judgment  of  man. 
From  my  experience  it  appears  to  me 
that  in  solving  this  problem  there  are 
possibilities  of  overdoing  the  protec- 
tion and  loading  up  of  the  automatic 
substation  with  a  lot  of  devices  which 
may  in  theory  be  a  good  thing  but  in 
actual  practice  will  be  detrimental. 
Looking  back  over  many  years  of  expe- 
rience with  hand-operated  stations,  I 
believe  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  the 
failures  of  line  and  equipment  have 
been  comparatively  few,  and  I  think  we 
can  safely  use  this  as  a  basis  for 
anticipating  trouble.  My  suggestion  is 
that  we  should  not  try  to  protect 
against  every  conceivable  failure,  but 
that  we  should  take  care  of  the  common 
ones  and  supplement  this  with  some 
sort  of  remote  indicator  to  inform  a 
centrally  located  attendant,  after  lock- 
ing out  the  station,  of  any  unusual 
trouble.    A  remote  indication  is  desir- 


able where  a  few  stations  are  auto- 
matic and  essential  on  a  large  inter- 
connected system.  The  cost  would  be 
comparatively  small  and  the  benefits 
large.  The  advantage  would  be  great 
to  have  a  recording  ammeter  for  each 
station  at  a  central  location  which  could 
be  watched  by  a  load  dispatcher.  Such 
a  system  would  offer  a  possibility  of 
general  car  service  supervision  as  well 
as  power  supervision. 

The  above  suggestion  is  right  in 
line  with  station  inspection,  which  is  of 
great  importance  and  will  require  care- 
ful study.  There  is  considerable  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  operators  of 
automatic  stations  today  about  the 
proper  frequency  of  inspection.  Prac- 
tice varies  from  daily  to  every  two 
weeks.  Personally,  I  think  that  fre- 
quent inspection  will  be  the  most  eco- 
nomical in  the  long  run.  Where  an 
inspector  has  good  facilities  for  getting 
from  one  station  to  another  he  could 
easily  care  for  from  four  to  six 
stations  on  a  daily  inspection  basis. 

Single  vs.  Multiple  Unit  Stations 

The  question  of  multiple-unit  stations 
has  been  raised  in  Mr.  Butcher's  paper. 
Experience  has  shown  it  to  be  prac- 
ticable, but  its  desirability  is  another 
question.  Among  the  savings  to  be 
made  with  automatic  stations  are  reduc- 
tion of  operating  labor  and  the  elimina- 
tion of  d.c.  line  losses.  Where  a  station 
has  several  machines  and  a  large  output 
per  day,  the  cost  of  operation  per  kilo- 
watt-hour becomes  very  small  and  may 
be  less  than  the  carrying  charges  on 
automatic  equipment.  The  greater  the 
number  of  machines  in  a  station  the 
larger  the  feeding  area,  with  a  corre- 
sponding increase  in  line  loss  over  the 
loss  which  would  accrue  in  the  same 
area  with  more  than  one  station.  To 
be  sure,  increasing  the  number  of  sta- 
tions by  using  a  number  of  one- 
machine  stations  instead  of  a  fewer 
number  of  multiple-machine  stations 
will  increase  the  initial  cost  due  to 
land,  building  and  transmission  line 
cost,  but  there  will  also  be  a  reduction 
in  the  distribution  copper  required. 
However,  ample  leeway  will  have  to  be 
provided  in  the  distribution  system  to 
handle  an  adjacent  station  load  in  case 
of  emergency. 

Mention  is  made  in  the  paper  about 
the  benefits  to  be  derived  in  electrolysis 
mitigation  by  use  of  automatic  stations. 
It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  another 
very  good  argument  for  single-unit 
stations  as  the  feeding  area  is  con- 
siderably smaller.  Since  the  advent  of 
the  automatic  substation  has  com- 
pletely revolutionized  power  distribu- 
tion engineering,  the  question  of  single 
and  multiple-unit  stations  cannot  be 
answered  in  a  general  way,  but  the 
problem  must  be  carefully  studied  at 
each  location  under  consideration  and  a 
balance  between  all  advantages  and 
disadvantages  arrived  at. 

Resistance  in  the  Feeder  Circuits 

In  the  average  railway  substation  the 
ratio  between  peak  and  average  load 
during  the  heaviest  hour  is  about  2  to 
1,  so  that  under  normal  conditions  we 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


61 


have  very  heavy  swings.  The  com- 
bined feeder  capacity  is  generally  con- 
siderably greater  than  the  machine 
capacity.  There  is  of  course  consider- 
able diversity  of  load  between  the 
various  feeders,  though  at  times  the 
swing  on  any  one  of  the  feeders  may 
tax  the  machine.  If  there  is  no  limit- 
ing resistance  on  the  feeders,  the 
swings  in  load  may  act  to  keep  part 
of  the  machine  resistance  in  circuit  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  time,  which 
will  penalize  all  sections  from  the 
station.  If  some  limiting  resistance  is 
used  on  the  feeders,  the  penalizing 
takes  place  only  on  the  section  produc- 
ing the  overload  condition.  In  the  past, 
feeders  have  been  provided  with  limit- 


FOR  the  successful  merchandising  of 
any  product  three  major  divisions 
may  be  recognized: 

First — Raw  material :  The  raw  materials 
of  transportation  are,  of  course,  the  general 
layout  of  the  system,  the  provision  of  suit- 
able rolling  stock,  track  and  power  facili- 
ties, carhouse  and  shop  equipment,  etc.,  all 
of  which  is  assumed  to  be  complete  and 
adequate. 

Second — Manufacture:  Given  the  proper 
raw  materials,  the  working  up  of  a  satis- 
factory commodity  for  sale  must  be  carried 
out  by  an  efficient,  well  organized  and 
properly  trained  manufacturing  force, 
which  in  the  case  of  a  railroad  company 
rendering  transportation  service  is  com- 
posed of  the  operating  and  maintenance 
departments,  whose  production  schedule  is 
fundamentally  the  properly  planned  sched- 
ules for  operating  trains  suitable  for  trans- 
portation conditions  and  maintaining  equip- 
ments, roadway  and  other  facilities,  to- 
gether with  the  necessary  supervisory  force 
to  assure  that  these  schedules  are  main- 
tained and  corrected  from  time  to  time  to 
serve  the  changing  needs  of  the  community. 

Third — Sales :  The  sales  organization  of 
a  transportation  company  should  follow  the 
same  general  lines  as  the  sales  organiza- 
tion of  other  successful  corporations.  Gen- 
eral policies  and  methods  of  salesmanship 
must  be  determined  and  laid  down  by  the 
head  of  the  concern,  general  manager,  or 
other  appropriate  officer.  Department  or 
division  managers,  or  superintendents,  will 
follow  the  general  policies  laid  down  by  the 
head  of  the  organization,  applying  them  to 
the  local  conditions  of  their  respective  divi- 
sions or  departments.  The  traffic  super- 
visors would  direct  the  transportation  on 
the  streets,  and  from  the  carhouses,  and 
from  the  dispatcher's  office.  The  motormen 
and  conductors  on  the  cars  constitute  the 
sales  force  in  direct  contact  with  our  cus- 
tomers, the  public,  corresponding  in  the 
department  store  to  the  clerk  at  the  counter, 
who  actually  handles  the  detailed  transac- 
tion of  sales. 

The  degree  of  public  satisfaction  and 
service  rendered  will  depend  almost 
entirely  upon  the  manner  in  which  the 
transaction  of  final  sale  is  handled  by 
the  motorman  and  conductor  on  each 
car  in  the  system.  To  a  large  extent, 
if  not  entirely,  the  attitude  of  the  em- 
ployee toward  the  public  will  reflect  the 
attitude  of  the  corporation  officials  to- 
ward the  employee.  Employees  who 
are  courteously  and  considerately 
treated  will  in  general  reflect  this 
treatment  in  their  attitude  to  the  pub- 
lic. Courteous  and  considerate  treat- 
ment on  the  part  of  a  salesman  in  his 
dealing  with  a  customer  will  produce 
that  without  which  no  railway  or  any 
other  business  organization  can  exist, 
namely,  "good  will." 

No  sales  force  can  function  properly 
without  adequate  instruction  and  train- 
ing in  detailed  technic  of  its  work. 


ing  resistance,  equipped  with  a  thermo- 
stat to  open  the  feeder  circuit  on 
excessive  heating.  The  capacity  of  the 
resistance  was  set  at  a  rather  low 
figure,  so  that  an  undesirable  interrup- 
tion to  service  might  take  place.  With 
the  application  of  an  automatic  reclos- 
ing  breaker  which  would  absolutely 
keep  the  feeder  open  on  a  short,  I 
believe  the  capacity  of  the  load-limiting 
resistance  could  be  increased  and  the 
thermostatic  control  of  the  feeder  open- 
ing set  either  very  high  or  eliminated 
altogether.  This  would  be  a  compro- 
mise between  the  two  extremes  of  re- 
sistance and  no  resistance  on  feeders 
and  I  believe  this  would  be  a  desirable 
condition. 


Motormen  should  be  properly  and  rig- 
orously instructed  in  the  handling  of 
equipment  and  made  to  realize  that 
the  most  economical  method  of  opera- 
tion, including  maximum  coasting  and 
smooth  stopping  by  proper  application 
of  air,  is  also  the  most  comfortable 
operation  for  passengers. 

The  training  of  conductors  should  be 
along  the  lines  of  courteous  but  firm 
application  of  the  rules  of  the  company, 
care  with  regard  to  the  collection  of 
fares,  issuing  of  transfers,  calling  of 
streets  and  the  value  of  the  voice  with 
a  smile.  The  training  of  platform  men, 
particularly  those  already  in  the  serv- 
ice, should  be  in  full  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  men  engaged  in  the  trans- 
portation business,  as  in  any  other 
business,  honestly  and  sincerely  desire 
to  know  the  best  means  by  which  to 
perform  their  work  in  the  most  satis- 
factory manner. 

Your  committee  believes  that  it  is 
good  policy  for  the  platform  men  of 
the  railway  companies  to  be  sufficiently 
informed  as  to  the  affairs  of  their  com- 
pany to  be  able  to  discuss  intelligently 
with  their  acquaintances  and  with 
strangers  the  position  of  the  company, 
not  only  with  regard  to  its  finances  but 
as  to  the  necessity  for  its  rules  and 
regulations.  Rules  and  regulations 
founded  on  good  principles  of  operation 
are  not  weakened  by  explanation  or  dis- 
cussion but  are  on  the  contrary  made 
better  and  more  lasting  in  their  effect. 

All  cases  of  complaint  and  suggestion 
regarding  rules  and  regulations  or 
other  matters  of  operation  are  worthy 
of  careful  consideration  and  whenever 
possible  direct  reply  should  be  made  to 
the  person  making  the  complaint  or 
suggestion,  indicating  either  its  adop- 
tion or  the  reasons  for  not  complying 
with  the  suggestion. 

Men  selected  for  traffic  supervisors 
should  receive  special  attention  and  in- 
struction in  matters  of  general  opera- 
tion and  should  be  encouraged  to  cor- 
rect mistakes  detected  in  the  operation 
by  individuals,  rather  than  by  com- 
plaint to  the  superintendent's  office. 

To  the  end  of  improving  the  technic 
of  the  entire  organization  frequent 
meetings  of  supervisors  or  inspectors 
for  instruction  and  discussion  should  be 


held.  This  particular  means  may  well 
be  extended  to  occasional  meetings  of 
the  trainmen  and  in  all  such  meetings 
the  utmost  freedom  of  discussion  should 
prevail.  In  all  such  meetings,  as  well 
as  in  interdepartmental  relations,  a 
spirit  of  complete  frankness  must  pre- 
vail if  the  best  results  are  to  be  ob- 
tained. The  day  of  secret  meetings 
and  confidential  memoranda  is  past. 
No  corporation,  particularly  no  public 
service  corporation,  whose  affairs  are 
a  matter  of  public  interest  and  whose 
dealings  should  be  an  open  book  can 
successfully  operate  on  any  basis  other 
than  all  cards  on  the  table,  face  up, 
with  employees  and  public.  Where 
this  policy  is  carried  out  in  a  public 
service  organization  the  policies  and 
ideals  of  the  management  will  be  re- 
flected throughout  the  organization  and 
the  prime  requisite  of  the  successful 
manufacturer  of  transportation  is  sum- 
marized in  two  conclusions;  first,  a 
policy  looking  toward  the  rendering  of 
the  best  possible  service  in  all  respects, 
and,  second,  complete  frankness  regard- 
ing all  matters  of  policy  and  operation 
with  employees  and  the  public. 

The  report  was  signed  by  James  P. 
Barnes,  chairman;  E.  M.  Walker  and 
H.  C.  DeCamp. 

The  Sales  Work  of  Electric 
Railways 

By  Harry  L.  Brown 

Western  Editor  Electric  Railway  Journai, 

At  the  last  meeting  of  this  associa- 
tion, held  at  Indianapolis,  W.  L. 
Goodwin  gave  an  interesting  talk  about 
merchandising  transportation  and  made 
the  assertion  that  the  street  railway 
company  is  the  only  concern  engaged  in 
a  large  way  in  selling  something  to  the 
public  that  does  not  have  a  sales  man- 
ager. This  is  true,  but  the  business  is 
unique  in  another  way.  It  is  the  only 
large  enterprise  in  which  the  personnel 
employed  in  producing  the  commodity 
is  also  the  sales  force.  This  dual 
nature  of  the  duties  of  trainmen  is  one 
of  the  circumstances  that  makes  it 
difficult  for  a  street  railway  company 
to  meet  its  patrons  with  the  proper 
sales  spirit.  The  men  have  for  years 
had  impressed  on  them  the  necessity  to 
get  the  cars  over  the  road  on  time,  to 
get  the  money  and  register  it,  etc.,  not  to 
mention  the  sundry  other  duties.  Un- 
doubtedly those  duties  involved  in  the 
production  side  of  the  business  are  of 
first  importance,  for  without  a  good 
product  the  best  salesman  on  earth  will 
have  a  hard  row  to  hoe.  Nevertheless, 
it  may  safely  be  said  that  much  more 
attention  may  profitably  be  directed 
toward  preparing  the  trainmen  to  carry 
out  their  duties  as  salesmen  and  con- 
stant representatives  of  the  company. 

What,  then,  are  the  strictly  mer- 
chandising methods  and  sales  activities 
that  a  street  railway  or  interurban  can 
employ  to  improve  its  business,  assum- 
ing the  service  to  have  all  the  elements 
that  go  to  make  it  good?  The  follow- 
ing list  is  suggestive  and  I  shall  discuss 
some  of  the  points  briefly;  other  points 
need  no  elaboration. 


Report  of  Committee  on  Merchandising  Transportation 


62 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


A.    Activities  to  Create  Traffic 
1:     Sell  the  ride  for  the  lowest  possible 
sum  commensurate  with  proper  earnings. 

2.  Advertise  attractions  and  points  of 
interest  on  or  near  the  system. 

3.  Advertise  the  weaknesses  of  the  com- 
petitor by  pointing  to  the  corresponding 
merits  of  electric  railway  service. 

,  B.    Activities  to  Engender  General 
Good  Will 

4.  Keep  telling  the  people  of  service 
improvements,  in  public  addresses  and 
through  the. newspapers. 

5.  Maintain  an  open-door  policy  and  a 
friendly,  willing,  sincere  attitude  toward 
the  public. 

6.  Go  the  limit  in  the  endeavor  to  com- 
ply with  the  wishes  of  the  public  author- 
ities ;  in  fact,  anticipate  their  wishes  if 
possible. 

7.  Adopt  the  man-to-man  plan  of  talk- 
ing things  over  with  those  who  represent 
the  public  in  dealing  with  the  company, 
and  avoid  a  belligerent  attitude  and  main- 
tain a  conciliatory  one. 

C.    Activities  to  Peease  Customers 
Already  Secured 

8.  Make  good  salesmen  of  the  trainmen. 

9.  Keep  the  cars  clean  and  bright. 

1.  The  local  transportation  business 
is  obviously  destined  to  be  one  of  the 
nature  of  the  5  and  10  cent  stores — 
a  tremendous  volume  of  business  at  an 
exceedingly  low  unit  profit.  Selling  the 
ride  for  a  low  fare  is  now  assuming 
unusual  and  increasing  importance  be- 
cause several  things  resulting  from 
changing  business  conditions  are  con- 
spiring to  increase  rapidly  and  to  in- 
tensify the  competition  to  be  met  by 
the  electric  railways.  The  first  cost  of 
automobile  vehicles  and  the  cost  of 
gasoline,  oil  and  tires  have  undergone 
substantial  reductions,  and  the  bottom 
has  probably  not  yet  been  reached. 
Couple  with  this  the  fact  that  many 
men   are   out   of   work   and   that  the 


Artistic  Colored  Posters  Are  Now  Used 
in  Chicago 


second  hand  car  market  is  flooded  with 
good  cars  at  an  unusually  low  price, 
and  it  is  not  hard  to  understand  the 
important  increase  in  the  number  of 
these  automotive  competitors  all  over 
the  country. 

The  problem  must  be  attacked  not 
only  by  encouraging  just  legal  restric- 
tions but  mainly  on  the  basis  of 
attempting  to  meet  that  competition 
with  competitive  sales  methods.  A  high 
rate  of  fare  is  an  invitation  to  jitneys 
to  start  or  remain  in  business.  A  low 
rate  of  fare  acts  as  a  deterrent  to  them 
to  start  and  it  also  provides  about  the 
most  effective  means  of  offsetting  their 
competition. 

Aside  from  the  competitive  aspect, 
there  is  no  need  to  dwell  on  the  advan- 
tages of  a  low  fare  as  a  means  of  induc- 
ing greater  riding,  though  it  is  to  be 
expected  that  the  resulting  increase  in 
number  of  riders  will  not  always  be 
sufficiently  large  to  produce  an  increase 
in  the  gross  revenue.  There  is  another 
aspect  of  this  short-ride  consideration, 
however,  which  is  worthy  of  attention. 
The  jitney  is  usually  a  short-haul 
carrier,  particularly  if  left  to  its  own 
devices.  Consequently,  anything  the 
street  railway  company  can  do  to 
attract  the  short-haul  riders  to  the 
street  car  strikes  a  telling  blow.  So  it 
may  be  that  where  a  system-wide  re- 
duction in  fare  cannot  be  justified,  the 
establishment  of  a  low  rate  for  the  cen- 
tral district  will  suffice  to  meet  the 
competitive  aspects  of  the  business. 
Such  experiments  are  now  being  made 
in  Boston,  Cleveland,  etc. 

But  while  the  merchandising  aspect 
of  the  low  rate  of  fare  is  important, 
it  is  perhaps  transcended  in  importance 
just  now  by  the  prospect  of  increasing 
competition.  For  this  reason,  if  no 
other,  it  is  my  personal  view  that  the 
electric  railway  companies  will  do  well 
to  take  such  steps  as  will  make  it  pos- 
sible to  produce  a  ride  for  a  smaller 
fare  than  the  average  now  in  force.  In 
other  words,  the  cost  of  operation 
should  be  brought  down  so  that  the 
fares  may  logically  be  reduced.  Some 
of  this  reduced  cost  can  be  secured 
through  a  reasonable  reduction  in  the 
rate  of  wages,  keeping  in  mind  that 
electric  railway  trainmen  should  be  con- 
sidered, in  the  future  if  not  in  the  past, 
as  skilled  labor.  More  reduction  can  be 
secured  by  checking  up  on  the  practices 
of  every  department  with  a  view  to 
eliminating  any  waste  and  producing 
better  efficiency  all  along  the  line.  If 
the  desired  results  are  not  obtainable 
through  this  process  and  by  virture  of 
lowering  costs  of  materials  and  sup- 
plies, then  (and  perhaps  anyway)  the 
industry  must  face  the  necessity  te 
make  some  radical  departures  from 
present  operating  practices — perhaps  a 
gi-eat  expansion  of  one-man  operation 
both  on  safety  cars  and  on  present 
double-track  cars,  or  something  else 
having  an  equally  important  effect  on 
the  operating  ratio,  and  making  pos- 
sible lower  fares. 

The  company  that  has  no  jitneys  now 
can  thank  its  lucky  stars,  but  it  will 
make  the  most  of  that  advantage  if  it 


recognizes  the  potential  danger  and 
meets  that  competition  before  it  begins 
— meets  it  with  low  fares  and  in  other 
ways. 

2.  This  means  of  creating  traffic  by 
advertising  attractions  and  points  of 
interest  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
accompanying  samples  of  the  work  that 
is  being  done  along  this  line  this 
season  by  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines. 
This  form  of  merchandising  rides  is 
quite  generally  used  and  its  value  is 
seemingly  well  recognized,  but  more 
can  be  done. 

3.  As  to  how  to  advertise,  the  street 
car  or  interurban  has  many  advantages 
not  possessed  by  the  automotive  vehicle 
— at  least  to  date — upon  which  the  rail- 
ways could  base  good  advertising  copy 
designed  to  set  people  thinking.  For 
example,  let  the  street  railway  adver- 
tise its  organized  responsibility,  the 
financial  protection  it  affords  in  case  of 
accident,  the  reliability  of  the  service, 
the  comfort  of  the  ride,  absence  of  the 
indecency  of  crowded  jitneys,  the  cour- 
tesy and  trustworthiness  of  employees 
and  the  protection  they  afford  passen- 
gers, absence  of  wild  and  reckless 
drivers,  frequent  inspection  of  the 
equipment  to  insure  safe  operation,  etc. 
This  kind  of  advertising  can  very  well 
be  carried  on  in  the  newspapers  as  well 
as  in  the  cars.  It  should  not  point  out 
directly  the  weaknesses  of  the  competi- 
tor, but  by  pointing  out  significantly 
the  advantages  of  the  electric  railway, 


I 


•IJJJb 


Now  Open!  the  new 

FIELD 
MUSEUM 

on  the 
LAKE  SHORE 

at  Roosevelt  Road 

Thousands  of  people  go 
to  Europe  to  visit  ex- 
hibits greatly  inferior. 

FREE  !-  Uuus.-Sat.-Sun. 
Other  days  2St  admission. 


The  Zoo  and  the  Field  Museum  Make 
Good  Advertising  Copt 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


63 


the  inference  will  be  obvious  and  the 
point  will  strike  home  without  offense. 
Then,  too,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  in  this  business,  as  in  any  other, 
it  is  the  persistent  advertiser,  the  one 
who  keeps  plugging  away  and  telling 
his  story  over  and  over  in  as  many 
ways  as  he  can,  who  derives  the  real 
value  of  his  advertising  expense. 

8.  Making  good  salesmen  of  the  train- 
men is  the  particular  phase  of  the  prob- 
lem of  merchandising  transportation 
that  is  dealt  with  in  the.  very  able 
report  of  the  committee  headed  by  Mr. 
Barnes,  and  which  forms  a  sequence  of 
his  particularly  valuable  paper  pre- 
sented before  this  association  at  its  last 
meeting.  I  will  take  time  for  just  a 
suggestion  or  two  along  this  line,  to 
supplement  what  is  contained  in  this 
committee  report. 

Would  it  not  be  well  to  do  more  along 
the  line  of  injecting  the  spirit  of  con- 
test into  the  training?  Give  a  worth- 
while prize  to  the  trainmen  who  gives 
the  best  account  of  himself  along  these 
lines.  Something  along  the  line  of  the 
politeness  campaign  conducted  on  a 
daily  prize  basis  by  the  Chicago 
Tribune  for  the  general  public  over  a 
period  of  several  weeks  and  attracting 
a  great  deal  of  attention  and  newspaper 
comments  from  remote  cities  is  what 
I  have  in  mind.  This  would  put  the 
trainmen  "on  their  toes"  on  this  phase 
of  their  work,  and  it  would  also  create 
a  good  deal  of  public  interest  and  favor- 
able newspaper  comment. 

This  would  also  put  new  interest  in 
the  work  for  a  time,  and,  as  a  means  of 
overcoming  the  humdrum  and  affording 
a  variation  from  the  "continual  lectur- 
ing" which  the  trainmen  on  many  prop- 
erties undergo,  is  a  good  thing.  Too 
often,  the  line  of  talk  given  to  trainmen 
holds  up  some  inducement  for  better 
work,  some  half-promise,  the  fulfillment 
of  which  is  so  remote  as  to  offer  no  in- 
spiration for  renewed  vigor,  if  indeed 
it  does  not  actually  react  to  discount 
the  sincerity  of  the  speaker.  An  ex- 
ample of  this  is  the  suggestion  often 
made  that  if  the  expenditures  involved 
in  accidents  were  reduced  through  more 
careful  operation,  this  money  would  be 
available  for  increased  wages.  This 
may  be  said  in  sincerity,  but  with  the 
average  company  there "  are  so  many 
places,  ahead  of  increasing  the  payroll, 
for  any  possible  spare  money,  that  the 
likelihood  of  any  increase  in  wages  be- 
cause of  a  lowering  of  the  accident 
account  is  very  remote. 

Is  There  Need  for  a  Sales  Manager? 

From  the  above  incomplete  outline  of 
the  strictly  sales  work  that  may  be 
profitably  undertaken  by  the  average 
electric  railway  company,  does  it  not 
seem  that  there  might  really  be  a  place 
in  the  organization  for  a  sales  manager, 
as  suggested  by  Mr.  Goodwin?  Here 
are  presented  quite  an  array  of  activ- 
ities that  are  only  incidentally  part  of 
the  duties  of  any  of  the  present  depart- 
ment heads,  and  which  at  best  are 
handled  as  more  or  less  of  a  side  issue 
by  the  general  manager,  whose  time  is 
so  thoroughly  occupied  with  matters 


more  pressing  than  these  merchandis- 
ing considerations.  The  average  street 
railway  company  does  not  have  any  one 
whose  primary  duty  it  is  to  concentrate 
a  good  deal  of  effort  on  the  upbuilding 
of  the  company's  good  will  and  the 
expansion  of  its  business.  I  am  in- 
clined to  believe  that  a  sales  manager 
with  the  proper  personality  and  view- 
point, and  having  specifically  in  charge 
the  sales  work  of  the  company  along 
the  lines  indicated  herein,  would  make 
a  very  valuable  addition  to  most  street 
railway  organizations,  his  duties  even 
including  the  conduct  of  a  sales  school 
through  which  the  student  trainmen 
would  pass  after  completing  their  train- 
ing under  the  operating  department. 


Competition  and  Co-operation 

By  W.  S.  Rodgers 

General  Traffic  Manager  Detroit 
United  Railway 

Merchandising  of  traffic  by  electric 
lines  is  a  feature  of  our  business 
which  calls  for  stronger  efforts  at 
present  than  we  have  put  forth  dur- 
ing the  past  few  years,  as  the  picking 
is  thinner  and  the  competition  more 
keen.  We  are  confronted  with  chang- 
ing methods  of  transportation  which 
must  be  reckoned  with,  such  as  jitneys 
in  the  cities,  buses  in  the  country  and 
trucks  handling  the  short-haul  freight. 
Added  to  these  new  forms  of  competi- 
tion, we  find  the  steam  roads  now  fight- 
ing for  the  short-haul  traffic  which  they 
scorned  during  wartimes. 

In  order  to  curb  the  wildcat  motor 
truck  and  bus  competition,  we  must 
continue  to  exert  our  efforts  toward  se- 
curing the  enactment  of  regulatory 
laws  to  stabilize  the  various  forms  of 
automobile  lines  of  transportation.  This 
can  be  accomplished  by  proper  publicity 
methods  showing  the  injustice  of  cities 
permitting  jitneys  to  run  on  the  streets 
over  which  car  lines  are  operated  and 
competing  with  established  lines  of 
transportation  by  operating  at  their 
pleasure,  charging  what  they  will  and 
not  contributing  in  the  same  proportion 
as  the  car  lines  to  the  upkeep  of  the 
streets  and  in  taxes. 

The  same  method  should  be  followed 
in  dealing  with  the  auto  bus  and  truck 
competition  on  the  country  highways. 
We  must  show  the  state  and  county 
officials  as  well  as  those  who  are  paying 
the  expense  of  building  and  maintain- 
ing the  highways  the  damage  that  is 
being  done  to  them  by  the  constant  use 
of  the  roads  by  heavy  vehicles  which 
are  deriving  a  valuable  revenue  from 
the  handling  of  freight  and  passengers 
without  paying  their  just  proportion  of 
the  cost  of  furnishing  the  right  of  way 
needed  for  their  operation.  We  must, 
however,  recognize  this  class  of  compe- 
tition and  it  must  be  met  by  supplying 
the  class  of  service  that  will  defeat  it 
or  keep  it  at  a  minimum. 

Our  equipment  is  more  comfortable 
than  the  average  jitney  or  bus  and,  if 
we  can  furnish  frequent  service  and 
seats  to  passengers,  I  believe  the  loss  of 
traffic  to  that  class  of  competition  will 
be  greatly  lessened.  I  am  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  ultimate  end  of  the  truck 


competition  for  distances  over  twenty 
or  thirty  miles  will  be  by  co-operation 
between  the  trucks  and  the  electric 
lines  to  the  extent  of  the  former  per- 
forming the  pick-up  and  delivery  serv- 
ice in  the  terminals  and  the  latter  han- 
dling the  freight  over  the  road,  as  it  is. 
obvious  that  the  railway  can  perform 
the  service  of  hauling  much  cheaper 
than  the  trucks  and  the  most  economi- 
cal method  of  transportation  is  bound 
to  prevail  in  the  end. 

Our  lines  started  negotiations  a  year 
ago  with  representatives  of  the  truck 
companies  formerly  operating  between 
Toledo  and  Detroit  with  the  idea  of 
working  out  such  an  arrangement,  but 
the  proposition  was  dropped  when  the 
industrial  depression  began  because  the 
trucks  were  forced  to  cease  all  opera- 
tions on  account  of  the  absence  of  busi- 
ness. 

The  question  arises  as  to  whether  or 
not  we  are  using  all  the  means  at  our 
command  for  the  purpose  of  advertis- 
ing our  wares.  We  sell  the  advertising 
space  inside  our  cars  and  use  very  little 
of  it  ourselves.  The  front  end  space 
which  is  open  to  the  whole  community 
through  which  the  cars  travel  goes  un- 
used to  a  very  large  extent.  These  are 
valuable  mediums  for  setting  forth  our 
advantages  and  should  be  kept  busy  at 
all  times  in  telling  the  public  the  at- 
tractive features  of  the  service  we  are 
furnishing  in  a  plain  and  interesting 
manner. 

Through  car  service  over  connecting- 
lines  giving  long  distance  service  with- 
out the  transfer  of  cars  for  both  pas- 
sengers and  freight  is  one  of  the  surest 
and  easiest  ways  of  attracting  business, 
especially  the  long-haul  traffic,  to  elec- 
tric lines  and  this  is  the  class  of  traffic 
we  must  especially  cater  to,  if  the  auto- 
mobiles are  to  continue  making  inroads 
into  the  short-haul  business. 

Another  class  of  traffic  to  cultivate  is. 
that  which  can  be  handled  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  steam  roads.  The  old 
time  hostile  attitude  displayed  by  these 
lines  toward  the  electric  line  industry 
shows  signs  of  disappearing  and  we 
should  do  everything  in  our  power  to 
cultivate  through  arrangements  with 
the  steam  roads  and  the  joint  handling 
of  both  classes  of  traffic. 

To  succeed  in  selling  our  wares  we 
must  give  the  best  service  that  is  pos- 
sible to  furnish,  as  service  is  the  foun- 
dation on  which  all  of  our  efforts  to 
sell  are  based  and  is  what  counts  for 
the  most  in  the  long  run.  Service  in 
its  full  sense  includes  suitable  accom- 
modations in  the  form  of  stations, 
equipment,  proper  schedules  and  cour- 
teous employees.  Too  much  emphasis 
cannot  be  placed  on  the  necessity  of 
educating  the  platform  men,  who  are 
our  final  salesmen,  as  well  as  every  one 
else  from  the  president  to  the  office  boy 
and  laborer,  of  the  reward  of  the  virtue 
of  a  pleasant  smile  and  civil  treatment 
to  all  with  whom  they  come  in  contact. 

We  must  instill  in  the  minds  of  all 
that  every  one  connected  in  any  capac- 
ity with  the  operation  of  the  railroad 
is  selling  transportation  directly  or  in- 
directly. 


64 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


We  should  be  keen  to  study  the  re- 
quirements of  our  patrons  and  endeavor 
to  the  best  of  our  ability  to  supply  the 
kind  of  service  they  require  even  though 
it  means  the  rearrangement  of  sched- 
ules and  working  conditions.  We 
should  also  study  the  business  policies 
of  our  competitors  with  a  view  of  meet- 
ing them  and  not  allowing  them  to 
eclipse  us  by  more  advanced  methods  or 
by  supplying  the  public  in  a  manner 
that  we  ourselves  should  do.  It  is  very 
helpful  in  ascertaining  what  our  compe- 
tition is,  to  create  a  habit  among  all  of 
our  force  of  reporting  to  the  proper 
officer  any  new  service  of  our  competi- 
tors which  they  find  commencing  oper- 
ations and  any  suggestions  of  a  gen- 
eral character  for  the  improvement  of 
the  service  which  may  occur  to  them. 
Too  often  such  communications  are  re- 
ceived and  filed  away  without  even  be- 
ing acknowledged.  This  is  the  wrong 
course  if  we  are  to  encourage  co-opera- 
tion from  the  force.  Every  idea  pre- 
sented should  be  considered  and  adopted 
or  declined  on  its  merits  and  an  expla- 
nation given  to  the  one  offering  the  idea 
if  it  is  deemed  inadvisable  to  adopt  it. 


The  Satisfied  Employee 

By  Guy  H.  Kelsay 

Superintendent  of  Power  and  Shops,  Cleve- 
land, Southwestern  &  Columbus  Railway, 
Elyria,  Ohio 

Would  you  select  the  agency  for 
an  article  if  you  knew  that  the  or- 
ganization of  selling  and  manufactur- 
ing forces  was  poorly  managed  and 
backed  by  a  loose,  irresponsible  cor- 
poration; if  the  departments  in  the 
company  were  selfish  and  jealous; 
where  the  spirit  of  the  individual 
worker  has  been  crushed  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  has  no  interest  or  pride 
in  the  finished  article?  Of  course  you 
would  not,  because  it  is  not  possible 
for  a  firm  to  put  out  a  good  article 
under  such  circumstances. 

The  key  to  a  fulfillment  of  the  ideas 
of  Mr.  Barnes  and  the  committee  is 
certainly  supplied  by  an  interested  and 
satisfied  employee.  A  man  cannot  work 
as  a  machine  and  have  the  spirit  that 
is  necessary  to  be  a  part  of  a  success- 
ful organization.  Your  committee  has 
very  plainly  stated  that  the  time  of 
"secret  dealings"  is  over,  and  we  must 
take  each  other  into  our  confidence,  and 
the  employees  to  the  last  man  should 
know  and  be  interested  in  the  multitude 
of  affairs  of  the  company  other  than 
the  exact  line  along  which  he  is  spend- 
ing most  of  his  time  so  he  may  consist- 
ently be  an  enthusiastic  supporter  and 
advocate  of  the  spirit  of  good  will 
between  his  company  and  the  public. 

We  should  not  fail  to  realize  that  an 
opinion  freely  expressed  by  an  em- 
ployee among  his  neighbors  will  carry 
more  weight  than  weeks  of  pleading 
from  the  officers  of  the  company 
through  the  channels  that  they  must 
use  to  reach  the  patron.  A  very  definite 
illustration  recently  came  to  my  atten- 
tion. A  workman  complained  and 
criticised  the  company  because  he  was 
not  furnished  material  and  help  to 
renew  and  repair  the  particular  part  of 


equipment  in  which  he  was  interested. 
In  response  to  an  explanation  to  this 
employee  that  the  company  earnings 
were  not  sufficient  to  meet  all  its 
needs,  a  very  prompt  reply  was  re- 
ceived, "Why  I  saw  in  the  paper  where 
the  company's  earnings  last  year  were 

  hundred  thousand  dollars  over 

the  previous  year."  It  was  true  that 
the  report  of  the  board  of  directors  did 
appear  in  the  daily  paper  giving  the 
increase  of  gross  earnings  but  failed  to 
convey  with  equal  force  the  much 
greater  increase  of  operating  expenses. 

It  is  certainly  our  duty  to  censor  the 
articles  tnat  go  to  the  public  and  equally 
important  that  the  employee  gets  a 
true  impression  of  the  facts.  All  our 
troubles  are  caused  by  a  lack  of  know- 
ing the  facts,  and  if  we  "think  out  loud" 
or  "lay  the  cards  face  up"  every  one 
will  know  that  we  do  business  that  way 
and  the  matter  of  confidence  and 
straight  dealing  in  our  own  organiza- 
tion and  with  the  public  will  be  an 
established  fact  and  patrons  will  soon 
be  receiving  bits  of  plain  facts  from 
our  interested  and  satisfied  employees. 
It  takes  a  very  big  individual  not  to  be 
selfish,  egotistical  or  jealous  to  some 
little  degree.  The  committee  calls  to 
our  attention  the  importance  of  frank- 
ness in  meetings  and  inter-depart- 
mental conferences.  All  parties  to  such 
gatherings  must  certainly  be  free  to 
listen  and  exchange  ideas  without  a 
trace  of  selfish  or  jealous  rivalry. 

Meetings  with  employees  have  often 
been  conducted  by  individuals  who 
were  not  qualified  to  obtain  and  main- 
tain a  free  and  interested  discussion 
from  workmen  of  all  ranks,  and  these 
result  in  a  frozen  spirit.  Suggestions 
from  an  employee  may  be  ridiculed  or 
ignored  and  this  develops  in  him  a  dis- 
like for  such  meetings. 

We  will  sell  our  transportation  just 
in  proportion  as  we  sell  the  idea  to 
our  employees  who  are  our  salesmen. 
We  have  all  some  time  in  our  expe- 
rience had  to  deal  with  a  co-worker  who 
liked,  or  thought  it  his  duty,  to  call  to 
the  attention  of  the  superintendent  or 
manager  the  other  fellow's  shortcom- 
ings or  small  department  matters  rather 
than  to  be  big  enough  to  take  the  mat- 
ter up  direct  in  the  right  manner  with 
the  department.  As  long  as  individuals 
with  this  sort  of  spirit  are  in  an  organ- 
ization the  highest  success  is  not 
realized.  It  is  natural  for  one  to  like 
to  do  what  is  right  but  not  so  natural 
to  want  to  do  it  because  he  is  "jacked 
up  by  the  boss." 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  dur- 
ing the  past  five  or  six  years  to  justify 
the  terrific  costs  of  transportation,  and 
much  has  been  talked  and  written  dur- 
ing the  past  year  to  soothe  our  own 
feelings  and  the  financial  interests 
back  of  our  properties,  that  we  are 
nearing  the  "promised  land"  of  lower 
operating  costs  and  that  we  are  to 
receive  just  recognition  of  the  impor- 
tance and  necessity  of  adequate  fares 
from  the  public  and  sanction  from  com- 
missions. One  of  the  "lower  operating 
costs"  is  labor,  but  the  reduction  of 
wages  to  the  average  employee  can- 


not be  other  than  disappointing,  even 
though  the  increased  wage  that  has 
been  paid  was  justified  in  the  main 
by  the  increased  cost  of  necessities 
which  are  now  coming  down  in  price. 
But  many  employees  in  all  classes  of 
service  have  meanwhile  unconsciously 
changed  their  standard  of  living,  which 
makes  it  only  the  harder  to  see  the 
justice  of  wage  reduction,  so  it  will  be 
incumbent  upon  the  managements  to  be 
most  untiring  in  their  efforts  to  handle 
this  delicate  subject  in  order  to  main- 
tain the  maximum  of  loyalty  and  whole- 
hearted support  from  the  employees. 

There  must  be  a  freer  exchange  of 
ideas  between  men  who  know  and 
there  must  be  a  freer  acceptance  of 
ideas  by  men  who  do  not  know.  The 
managements  of  properties  must  dele- 
gate their  engineering  matters  to  men 
who  know  engineering,  their  traffic 
matters  to  men  who  are  students  of 
traffic,  and  their  equipment  mainte- 
nance to  men  professional  in  their  line, 
and  all  must  work  together  with  a 
corps  of  boosting  and  loyal  workers, 
loyal  because  they  believe  in  the 
policies  of  the  company  they  are  work- 
ing for.  Then  we  will  sell  our  trans- 
portation. 


Merchandising  Transportation 

By  Bert  Weedon 

Traffic  Manager  Indianapolis  &  Louisville 
Traction  Railway  Company, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

The  great  transportation  systems  in 
our  large  cities,  serving  millions  of 
people  daily,  are  indeed  important 
factors  in  the  growth  and  welfare  of 
the  cities  served.  Cities  may  be  likened 
to  human  beings,  in  that  the  transpor- 
tation system  of  a  city  is  as  important 
to  the  life  of  that  city  as  the  arteries 
are  to  life  in  a  human  body. 

Cities,  as  a  whole,  apparently  do  not 
realize  or  consider  the  importance  of 
their  transportation  systems.  Unfair 
treatment  by  city  government  of  the 
city's  transportation  facilities  not  only 
affect  adversely  the  transportation  facil- 
ities, but  also  affect  adversely  the 
citizens  of  that  city.  The  report  of  the 
committee  deals  with  this  subject  on 
the  basis  of  "merchandising  any  other 
commodity." 

In  a  general  way  this  is  true,  but  let 
us  look  into  the  subject  from  this  view- 
point. Is  there  a  manufacturing  concern 
in  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Cleve- 
land, Louisville  or  Indianapolis  that  car- 
ries the  heavy  investment  for  produc- 
ing its  product  as  do  the  transportation 
companies  of  these  cities?  How  often 
does  the  manufacturer  turn  his  capital  ? 
How  often  does  the  transportation  com- 
pany turn  its  capital?  In  the  average 
manufacturer's  business,  and  the  aver- 
age transportation  company's  business, 
what  is  the  difference  in  the  relative 
ratio  of  net  profit?  But  let  us  not  en- 
large on  existing  conditions  more  than 
to  bring  ourselves  to  realize  the  im- 
portance of  the  work  in  hand. 

Selling  our  product,  whether  it  be 
city  street  car  transportation  or  inter- 
urban  transportation,  is  perhaps  one  of 


July  9,  1921  Electric   Railway   Journal  65 


the  most,  if  not  the  most,  important 
part  of  our  work. 

The  training  of  employees  in  this 
work  is  surely  very  essential  to  the 
success  of  any  property.  From  the  pick 
and  shovel  to  the  president's  office  re- 
quires more  gray  matter  than  we  real- 
ize. The  committee  reports  that  co- 
operation and  co-ordination  of  all  de- 
partments is  important.  This  is  abso- 
lutely necessary.  General  policies  and 
sales  methods  should  be  determined  by 
the  executive  in  charge  of  this  work. 
Extreme  care  and  rare  judgment  should 
be  exercised  in  determining  these  poli- 
cies. To  educate  men  to  carry  out  these 
general  policies  costs  vast  sums  of 
money  each  year. 

It  has  been  very  truly  said  that  the 
transportation  company  is  largely 
judged  by  its  platform  men.  The  con- 
ductor and  motorman  are  the  salesmen 
who  meet  the  public  face  to  face.  Do 
we  realize  the  importance  of  personal 
contact  with  these  men  ?  Do  we  know 
their  trials  and  difficulties?  Are  we 
giving  these  men  the  support  they 
should  have  in  order  that  they  may  de- 
liver to  us  the  success  we  demand  ? 

Every  man  connected  with  a  trans- 
portation company  is  a  public  servant; 
and  when  new  men  are  placed  on  our 
pay  rolls,  they  should  be  educated  care- 
fully in  their  duties,  to  the  end  that 
they  may  deliver  to  the  public  the  serv- 
ice they  demand. 

The  question  is  asked,  How  shall  this 
be  done?  There  are  many  theories  of- 
fered, and  many  are  worthy  of  con- 
sideration. The  report  of  the  commit- 
tee covers  this  subject  conclusively. 

The  matter  of  publicity  is  also  an 


IN  THE  beginning  the  financing  of 
public  utilities  was  cared  for  by  pub- 
lic-spirited citizens.  Gradually  control 
passed  into  the  hands  of  bankers, 
located  in  the  financial  centers,  or 
clients  whom  the  bankers  were  able  to 
interest.  As  long  as  the  utilities  were 
controlled  locally  the  personal  contact 
of  the  owners  with  the  customers  did 
;much  to  prevent  misunderstanding. 

When  customer  ownership  of  securi- 
ties marketed  by  the  utilities  was  first 
advocated  it  met  with  considerable  op- 
position from  the  investment  bankers, 
who  rightly  felt  that  the  utilities  owed 
them  something  for  carrying  them 
through  the  development  period.  The 
opposite  is  now  true. 

The  high  cost  of  money  has  done 
much  to  promote  customer  ownership 
of  securities.  High  rates  for  money 
are  more  important  to  utilities  than  to 
enterprises  where  money  is  turned  more 
frequently.  Their  financing  is  made 
difficult  also  by  the  tax  exemption 
feature  of  government  and  municipal 

•Abstract  of  a  paper  read  before  joint 
meeting  of  the  Iowa  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation and  Iowa  Section,  N.E.L  A.,  Spirit 
Lake,' Iowa,  June  23,  1921. 


important  factor.  The  transportation 
systems  of  the  entire  country  are  suf- 
fering from  a  lack  of  honest,  straight- 
forward publicity.  Tell  the  public  the 
truth.  Does  the  public  know  the  efforts 
that  are  being  made  to  create  and  main- 
tain the  service  they  demand?  Does 
the  public  know  the  cost  of  such  serv- 
ice? Does  the  public  realize  that,  be- 
cause of  adverse  legislation,  both  by 
states  and  cities,  the  average  investor 
refuses  to  buy  public  utility  securities? 
Does  the  public  know  that  petty  politi- 
cians use  the  transportation  facilities  of 
their  cities  and  states  as  food  to  stir  up 
hatred  and  animosity?  Do  we  realize 
that  we  have  all  of  these  problems  to 
meet,  and  if  so,  how  are  we  meeting 
them?  Publicity  and  lots  of  it  is  neces- 
sary. Let  the  people  know  our  troubles. 
Impress  upon  them  the  importance  of 
their  transportation  system  and  of  their 
duty  to  this  system.  How  long  can  any 
great  city  exist  without  transportation? 

Let  us  look  well  into  our  organiza- 
tion. Is  it  a  real  organization?  Does 
the  head  of  every  department  have  his 
duties  clearly  outlined?  Are  the  de- 
partments co-operating  properly?  Are 
the  employees  in  each  department  being 
properly  trained  and  educated  to  carry 
out  their  portion  of  the  programs?  Are 
we  making  future  heads  of  departments 
in  our  own  organizations?  Are  we  en- 
deavoring to  fit  our  whole  organization 
to  meet  the  public  squarely  and  fairly 
in  the  discussion  of  policies  and  rules 
which  affect  the  public? 


Further  discussion  on  the  Merchan- 
dising Transportation  report  will  ap- 
pear in  an  early  issue. 


securities.  The  Wall  Street  Journal 
recently  estimated  that  there  are  $14,- 
000,000,000  of  tax-exempt  securities  in 
the  country,  exempting  $700,000,000  of 
income  from  our  greatest  direct  tax. 

The  United  Light  &  Railways  Com- 
pany operates  seventeen  companies 
serving  600,000  people  in  over  fifty 
cities  and  towns.  Some  time  ago  the 
company  decided  to  offer  its  securities 
to  employees  and  the  public  and  the 
board  of  directors  offered  for  sale 
$2,000,000  of  7  per  cent  preferred  stock 
at  par.  The  stock  was  offered  to  the 
employees  either  for  cash  or  on  the 
installment  plan.  An  employee  was 
allowed  25  cents  per  share  for  each  year 
he  had  been  in  the  company's  employ. 
If  he  was  ill  from  six  days  to  six 
months  during  the  nineteen-months 
period  of  making  payments  his  pay- 
ments were  made  by  the  company  and 
if  he  died  a  fully  paid  certificate  was 
issued  to  a  designated  person. 

The  stock  was  offered  to  the  public 
through  employees  only  at  par  for  cash 
or  on  the  installment  plan. 

The  employees  of  each  of  the  large 
companies  were  organized  into  teams  of 


ten  each  to  compete  in  the  sale  of  the 
stock  to  the  public,  and  the  cities  were 
divided  into  districts  to  be  assigned  to 
the  teams.  After  the  team  organiza- 
tions had  been  maintained  for  about 
three  months  a  separate  securities 
department  of  the  company  was  organ- 
ized. The  manager  of  each  operating 
company  was  made  responsible  to  the 
manager  of  the  securities  department 
for  the  sale  of  securities  by  his  com- 
pany. The  department  selected  from 
the  employees  who  had  made  the  best 
record  a  corps  of  salesmen  who  were 
put  permanently  on  the  department 
payroll.  The  team  organization  was 
abandoned,  but  the  company  continued 
to  pay  a  bonus  of  $2  per  share  sold. 

Our  experience  shows  that  the  aver- 
age original  sale  is  three  shares.  A 
map  on  which  a  tack  indicates  each  sale 
demonstrates  that  where  one  sale  is 
made  others  follow  in  the  same  vicinity. 

The  better  knowledge  of  the  affairs 
of  the  company  secured  by  the  employee 
who  becomes  a  stockholder  and  sales- 
man and  the  customer  who  becomes  a 
stockholder  is  a  great  asset  to  the  com- 
pany. It  is  necessary,  however,  that 
a  company  protect  the  investment  of 
investors  in  its  securities,  otherwise 
ill  will  is  bound  to  result. 


Another  Utility  Information 
Bureau  Formed 

ON  JUNE  15  the  Georgia  State 
Utility  Information  Bureau  was 
formed  in  the  interests  of  the  com- 
panies in  that  State.  L.  K.  Starr, 
formerly  assistant  city  editor  of  the 
Atlanta  (Ga.)  Journal,  was  elected  as 
the  director.  George  T.  Smith,  Augusta- 
Aiken  Railway  &  Electric  Company,  is 
chairman  of  the  bureau. 

On  June  17  Labert  St.  Clair,  director 
of  the  American  Association's  advertis- 
ing section,  met  informally  with  the 
bureau  and  others  interested  in  the 
railways  in  the  southeast  for  a  con- 
ference. The  purpose  of  this  confer- 
ence was  to  show  how  the  advertising 
section  could  materially  aid  these  com- 
panies in  their  campaigns.  It  also 
gave  Mr.  St.  Clair  first-hand  informa- 
tion as  to  some  of  the  problems  con- 
fronting the  traction  industry  in  this 
part  of  the  country.  W.  P.  Strandborg, 
publicity  department,  Portland  (Ore.) 
Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company,  and 
an  officer  of  the  Associated  Advertising 
Clubs  of  the  World,  also  attended  the 
meeting.  He  spoke  of  the  desirability 
of  having  a  utility  section  in  the  Asso- 
ciated Advertising  Clubs. 

Among  those  who  attended  the  con- 
ference, which  was  held  at  the  offices 
of  the  Georgia  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  were  L.  LeMay,  Memphis 
(Tenn.)  Street  Railway;  P.  S.  Ark- 
wright,  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany; W.  J.  Baldwin,  New  Orleans 
(La.)  Railway  &  Light  Company;  C.  R. 
Winston,  Virginia  Railway  &  Power 
Company;  George  T.  Smith,  Augusta 
(Ga.)  Aiken  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, and  E.  C.  Stothart,  Charleston 
(S.  C.)  Consolidated  Railway,  Gas  & 
Electric  Company. 


Sale  of  Securities  by  Utilities* 

By  H.  E.  Weeks 

General  Manager  Securities  Department,  United  Light  &  Railways  Company, 

Davenport,  Iowa 


66 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


First  Convention  of  the  New 
International  Association 

THE  first  convention  of  the  new 
Internationale  Strassenbahn  und 
Kleinbahn  Verein  took  place  in  Vienna 
May  29  to  June  3.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  this  association,  comprising 
the  companies  and  individuals  of  sev- 
eral Central  European  countries,  was 
formed  six  months  ago  for  the  purpose 
cf  an  exchange  of  experiences.  The 
new  association  in  no  way  intends  to 
be  in  opposition  to  the  Union  Interna- 
tionale, and  a  connection  between  the 
two  is  maintained  by  a  number  of  mem- 
bers, like  those  in  Holland,  Norway, 
Sweden  and  Denmark,  which  are  also 
members  of  the  Union  Internationale. 
The  meeting  in  Vienna  was  attended 
by  delegates  from  the  countries  as 
well  as  from  Rumania  and  Jugo- 
slavonia.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
meeting  these  officers  were  elected: 

President,  Ludwig  Spangler,  man- 
ager of  the  Vienna  Municipal  Tram- 
ways; vice-president,  Dr.  Frederick 
Wussow,  president  of  the  Association 
of  German  Tramways  and  Interurban 
and  Privately  Owned  Railways;  secre- 
tary, Dr.  Arthur  Ertel,  Vienna;  execu- 
tive committee:  For  Germany,  Max 
Drager,  Berlin;  Mr.  Lowit,  Manheim; 
Otto  Hubrjch,  Essen;  for  Denmark, 
Kai  Norregaard,  Copenhagen;  for  Hol- 
land, Mr.  Van  Putten,  Amsterdam; 
for  Norway,  Jorgen  F.  S.  Barth,  Chris- 
tiania;  for  Sweden,  Einar  Hultman, 
Malmo;  for  Switzerland,  Hermann 
Geiser,  Schaffhausen ;  for  Hungary, 
Wilhelm  van  Ghatel  and  Mr.  Von 
Sztrokay,  Budapest;  for  Czecho-Slova- 
kia,  Oscar  Hausmann,  Gablonz. 


Standards  Secretaries  Meet 

A CONFERENCE  was  recently  held 
in  London  of  secretaries  of  the 
national  standardizing  bodies.  The 
conference  had  for  its  object  the  in- 
terchange of  experience  and  the  fur- 
therance of  co-operation  among  the  sev- 
eral national  bodies  in  their  work  of 
industrial  and  engineering  standard- 
ization. Arrangements  were  perfected 
for  closer  co-operation  between  the 
national  standardizing  bodies  and  the 
International  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
which  was  to  give  special  consideration 
to  standardization  at  its  convention 
scheduled  to  be  held  in  London  during 
the  week  of  June  27.  Belgium,  Canada, 
Great  Britain,  Norway,  Switzerland 
and  the  United  States  were  represented 
at  the  conference. 


Association  Meeting 

Pacific  Claim  Agents'  Association 
At  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the 
Pacific  Claim  Agents'  Association  it 
was  decided  that  the  twelfth  annual 
convention  of  the  association  be  held 
at  Butte,  Mont.,  on  Aug.  18,  19  and  20, 
1921,  provided  these  dates  were  satis- 
factory to  the  membership.  At  the 
executive  committee  meeting  the  fol- 
lowing subjects  were  assigned: 

"New  and  Recent  Improvements  in  Car 
Construction  Designed  with  the  Object  of 


Eliminating  Accidents,"  H.  C.  Winsor, 
superintendent  of  investigations  and  ad- 
justments, Tacoma  Railway  and  Power 
Company.  Tacoma,  Wash. 

"The  Importance  of  Claims  Department 
Statistics  and  What  Statistics  Are  of  Most 
Value,"  J.  H.  Handlon.  claim  agent.  U.  R.  R. 
of  San  Francisco,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

"The  Value  of  Moving  Pictures  as  a 
Means  of  Exposing  Malingerers  and  Fraud- 
ulent Claimants,"  C.  M.  McRoberts,  gen- 
eral claim  agent,  Los  Angeles  Railway  Cor- 
poration, Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

"The  Modern  Trend  of  Workmen's  Com- 
pensation Laws  and  the  Effect  that  Such 
Laws  Have  upon  Employees  Who  Have 
Minor  Accidents,"  P.  O.  Solon,  claims  at- 
torney, San  Francisco-Oakland  Terminal 
Railways.   Oakland,  Cal. 

"Publicity  in  Connection  with  Accidents, 
Claims  and  Litigated  Cases,"  W.  H.  Moore, 
claim  agent,  San  Diego  Electric  R.ailway, 
San  Diego,  Cal. 

"The  One-Man  Car  and  its  Effects  on 
the  Traffic  Hazard,"  Thomas  G.  Ashton, 
X'laim  agent,  Washington  Water  Power 
Company,  Spokane,  Wash. 

"Co-operation  with  the  Public  in  Acci- 
dent Prevention  Work,"  B.  F.  Boynton, 
claim  agent,  Portland  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company,  Portland,  Ore. 


"The  Doctrines  in  Law  of  Contributory 
Negligence  and  Last  Chance  Doctrine  as. 
now  Applied  to  Accident  Cases,"  Fred  F. 
Furman,  attorney,  Butte  Electric  Railway, 
Butte,  Mont. 

"The  Genteel  Fakir,"  F.  J.  Lonergan,  at- 
torney, Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company.  Portland,  Ore. 

"Methods  of  Collecting  from  Owners  of 
Foreign  Vehicles  Who  Have  Injured  Com- 
pany Employees  While  They  Were  at 
Work.  Policies  Pursued  by  Member  Com- 
panies in  Handling  Claims  of  Employees 
Injured  While  Not  at  Work,"  S.  A.  Bishop, 
general  claim  agent,  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way, Los  Angeles.  Cal. 

"Methods  of  Following  up  Claimants  and 
Witnesses  to  Accidents,"  J.  W.  Grace, 
claim  agent,  Sacramento  Northern  Rail- 
way, Sacramento,  Cal. 

"How  Can  the  Personnel  Department  of 
a  Company  When  Hiring  and  Training 
Employees  Assist  in  the  Prevention  of  Acci- 
dents," J.  S.  Mills,  superintendent  of  per- 
sonnel, San  Francisco-Oakland  Terminal 
Railways,   Oakland,  Cal. 

"Suggested  Legislation  Governing  Grade 
Crossing  Accidents  and  Other  Methods  of 
Preventing  Such  Accidents,"  A.  M.  Lee, 
claim  agent.  Northern  Pacific  Railway, 
Seattle,  Wash. 


Safety  Campaign  Suggestions 

THE  American  Association's  adver- 
tising section  of  information  and 
service  has  just  issued  an  illustrated 
twenty-page  pamphlet  on  safety  cam- 
paign suggestions.  The  booklet  shows 
how  electric  railways  working  through 
employees,  the  general  public,  school 
children,  motor  car  drivers  and  others, 
can  prevent  accidents  and  save  money 
not  only  to  the  railways  but  especially 
to  themselves.  More  than  200  slogans 
and  catch  lines  for  car  cards,  blotters, 
posters  and  advertisements  are  given 
for  the  benefit  of  the  electric  railway 
official  who  has  to  write  advertising 
copy.  As  one  official  puts  it:  "It  is 
one  thing  to  plan  a  safety  campaign 
and  start  the  ball  rolling,  but  to  make 
it  successful — to  make  the  dreams 
come  true — calls  for  95  per  cent  per- 
spiration." 


buildings  and  structures  committee. 
This  report  was  also  put  into  final  form 
for  submission  to  the  general  commit- 
tee. 

A  draft  of  the  probable  nature  of 
the  joint  report  on  the  subject  of  wood 
preservation  was  presented  by  the 
chairman  of  that  sub-committee  and 
was  thoroughly  discussed.  All  reports, 
will  be  put  into  final  form  as  soon  as 
possible  for  submitting  to  the  various 
members  of  the  committee. 


Final  Touches  Put  on  Buildings 
and  Structures  Commit- 
tee Report 

THE  buildings  and  structures  com- 
mittee of  the  Engineering  Associa- 
tion held  a  meeting  at  the  Emerson 
Hotel,  Baltimore,  Md.,  June  13  and  14. 
Those  present  were  D.  E.  Crouse, 
Rochester  &  Syracuse  Railroad,  chair- 
man; N.  E.  Drexler,  Newport  News  & 
Hampton  Railway,  Gas  &  Electric 
Company,  and  J.  R.  McKay,  Indiana 
Service  Corporation.  The  chairman  of 
the  sub-committee  on  design  of  a 
typical  shop  presented  his  report  and 
explained  the  details  of  the  several  con- 
ferences which  have  been  held  with  the 
equipment  committee.  This  report  was 
reviewed  and  prepared  for  final  submis- 
sion to  the  other  members  of  the  build- 
ings and  structures  committee.  The 
sub-committee  on  equipment  for  pre- 
payment and  postpayment  of  fares  sub- 
mitted a  report  which  represented  the 
views  of  Mr.  Hughes  of  the  Transporta- 
tion and  Traffic  Association  and  of  the 


Chicago  Elevated  Section  Holds 
Final  Session 

HM.  CRUNDEN,  special  agent 
•  Illinois  Bell  Telephone  Company,, 
was  the  principal  speaker  at  the  last 
meeting  of  company  section  No.  6,  held 
by  the  Chicago  Elevated  Railroads  on 
June  21.  The  warm  weather  kept  down 
the  attendance  to  eighty.  Mr.  Crun- 
den,  in  an  illustrated  talk  on  "The 
Progress  of  the  Bell  Telephone  Com- 
pany," outlined  the  steps  in  the  train- 
ing of  its  switchboard  operators.  He 
also  elaborated  on  the  complexities  of 
the  modern  switchboard  and  described 
the  methods  of  combating  sleet  storms. 
High  tribute  was  given  to  employees 
of  utility  companies  because  of  the 
efforts  they  always  put  forth  to  serve 
and  please  the  public. 

New  Monthly  Bulletins  Available 

THE  following  reports  and  compila- 
tions are  available  to  member  com- 
panies upon  request: 

Summarized  Income  Statement  and 
Operating  Statistics  of  60  Companies- 
Motor  Bus  Operating  Costs. 
Some  Franchise  Requirements. 
Fare  Reductions  and  Causes. 
Cost  of  Living  Studies. 
Wage  Reductions  and  Causes. 
Supplement  to  Fare  Bulletin. 
Supplement  to  Compilation  on  Jitney 
Regulation. 

Supplement  to  Compilation  on  One- 
Man-Car  Legislation. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Unified  and  Concentrated  Control 
Essential  to  Success 

The  members  of  the  committee  of 
Aldermen  from  Chicago  who  recently 
made  a  tour  of  large  cities  in  the  West 
presented  their  report  to  the  local 
transportation  committee  of  the  City 
Council  on  June  30.  They  gave  a  brief 
resume  of  conditions  in  Kansas  City, 
Denver,  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco, 
Portland,  Ore.;  Seattle,  Vancouver, 
Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul. 

Their  conclusions  were  as  follows: 

1.  The  present  method  of  private  owner- 
ship and  operation  qualified  by  public  regu- 
lation has  resulted  in  a  division  of  control 
among  numerous  governmental  and  private 
agencies,  and  has  led  to  confusion,  waste- 
ful litigation  and  ultimate  disaster,  as 
evidenced  by  the  experience  of  Kansas  City 
and  Denver. 

2.  The  operation  of  the  street  railway 
lines  by  the  municipality  in  San  Francisco 
has  proved  satisfactory  to  the  people  of 
that  city. 

3.  The  acquisition  and  operation  of  the 
street  railways  in  Seattle  has  not  proved 
satisfactory. 

4.  Rates  of  fare  are  necessarily  deter- 
mined by  the  character  of  service  rendered, 
quality  of  management  and  the  cost  of 
financing,  and  the  lowest  rate  of  fare  com- 
patible with  the  best  service  can  be  secured 
only  by  the  most  efficient  management  and 
the  most  economical  financing. 

5.  The  most  efficient  management  can  be 
had  only  by  unifying  and  concentrating 
control  and  management  of  the  street  rail- 
ways, and  the  most  economical  financing 
by  the  issuance  of  securities  that  will  ab- 
solutely assure  payment  of  principal  and 
interest. 

$200,000  Allowed  for  Inquiry 

On  recommendation  of  the  committee, 
Chairman  Schwartz  decided,  to  appoint 
a  sub-committee  to  make  a  study  of 
the  traction  bills  which  failed  of  pass- 
age in  the  last  Legislature  and  to  en- 
gage legal  counsel  to  decide  on  a  course 
of  action  for  the  coming  special  session 
of  the  Legislature. 

The  City  Council  failed  to  allow 
Mayor  Thompson's  requested,  appro- 
priation of  $315,000  to  prosecute  cases 
against  the  transportation  and  tele- 
phone companies,  but  did  allow  $200,- 
000  for  this  purpose. 


Publicity  Department  Continued 
Unchanged 

Electric  Railway  Service,  issued 
by  the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Rail- 
way, suspended  publication  with  the 
issue  of  June  17,  and  while  no  definite 
announcements  have  been  made,  the 
company  will  continue  its  publicity 
department.  A.  D.  B.  "Van  Zandt,  the 
company's  publicity  agent,  and  C.  A. 
Drummond,  associate  editor  of  the 
paper,  will  devote  their  time  to  impor- 
tant matters  which  have  developed  in 
their  department. 

As  noted  previously  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal,  changed  business 
conditions  resulting  in  reduced  rev- 
enues with  the  necessary  correspond- 
ing reductions  in  expenditures  and  the 
practice  of  every  economy  possible  are 


among  the  reasons  given  for  suspend- 
ing the  publication.  Among  these 
economies  is  the  saving  in  printing 
costs. 


Franchise  Modifications 
Suggested 

Former  Cincinnati  Director  Points  Out 
Weaknesses  Discovered  by  Him 
in  Local  Grant 

Drastic  changes  in  the  service-at-cost 
franchise  governing  the  operation  of 
the  railway  system  were  urged  by 
William  C.  Culkins,  former  Director  of 
Street  Railways  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in 
his  annual  report  for  1920. 

While  Mr.  Culkins  gave  his  support 
to  the  service-at-cost  plan  as  being 
sound  of  principle,  he  urged  modifica- 
tions in  the  ordinance  which  would  give 
the  city  more  power  and  a  better 
method  of  enforcing  its  orders. 

Forfeiture  Clause  Assailed 
The  forfeiture  clause  in  all  railway 
franchises  was  assailed  by  the  former 
street  railway  director.  He  asserted 
that  a  very  weak  point  of  this  clause 
was  that  in  order  to  gain  a  forfeiture 
of  franchise  the  operation  of  cars  would 
have  to  stop. 

Mr.  Culkins  also  urged  that  the  Rapid 
Transit  Commissioners  work  out  a  sys- 
tem linking  up  the  surface  lines  with 
the  proposed  transit  loop.  Mr.  Culkins 
said  that  a  new  grant  could  be  made 
for  the  full  period  that  the  present 
franchise  has  to  run. 

Mr.  Culkins  advocated  a  larger  re- 
serve fund  for  the  Cincinnati  Traction 
Company.  In  the  fixing  of  fares,  Mr. 
Culkins  said  the  city  should  have  the 
right  to  make  the  rate  sufficient  to 
cover  the  cost  of  service,  instead  of 
being  restricted  by  fixed  grades.  Con- 
versely Mr.  Culkins  said  there  also 
should  be  a  provision  whereby  the  city 
and  company  might  at  any  time  agree 
to  withhold  an  increase  in  fares  if 
economic  conditions  warranted,  despite 
the  technical  requirements  of  the  or- 
dinance. 

Furthermore  Mr.  Culkins  said  the 
expense  of  the  street  railway  commis- 
sioner's office  should  be  paid  out  of  the 
operating  expense,  with  ample  allow- 
ances for  the  employment  of  all  the  ex- 
perts and  other  assistance. 

Either  in  connection  with  the  ordi- 
nance revision  or  otherwise  steps  should 
be  taken  at  once  for  the  proper  unifi- 
cation of  the  rapid  transit  system  with 
the  surface  lines.  Mr.  Culkins  also 
recommends  in  his  report  that  the 
Rapid  Transit  Commission  make  a 
study  of  the  development  of  a  system 
of  motor  trucks  or  trackless  trolley 
feeders  to  connect  with  the  stations  of 
the  proposed  system  and  such  laterals 
as  might  in  that  event  be  found  de- 
sirable. 


Nothing  Tangible  Accomplished 
in  New  Orleans 

It  was  generally  believed  that  the 
railway  settlement  plan  of  Commis- 
sioner of  Finance  Murphy  of  New  Or- 
leans, submitted  some  days  ago  and 
indorsed  by  the  Association  of  Com- 
merce and  the  representative  business 
men  of  New  Orleans,  would  receive 
favorable  consideration  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Commission  Council  on  June  28 
or  that  the  discussion  might  be  followed 
by  the  adoption  of  some  such  plan  of 
action  in  a  modified  form.  To  the 
surprise  of  not  a  few,  however,  noth- 
ing tangible  was  accomplished.  Mayor 
McShane  lectured  the  members  of  the 
Commission  Council  who  differed  with 
him  in  the  stand  which  he  anticipated 
they  were  about  to  take  on  the  Mur- 
phy plan. 

It  was  finally  decided  to  reopen  the 
question,  de  novo.  This  will  delay 
action  on  the  matter. 

The  citizens'  advisory  committee  of 
forty,  which  was  appointed  by  Judge 
Foster,  whose  report  was  turned  down 
when  submitted  to  the  Commission 
Council,  has  been  invited  to  confer 
with  the  Council  again  and  help  the 
Mayor  and  the  Council  arrive  at  some 
practical,  satisfactory  and  enduring  plan 
of  action.  The  anti-8-cent  fare  com- 
mittee and  other  bodies  were  included 
in  the  invitation. 

Hearings  Less  Stormy 

Commissioner  of  Public  Utilities  Ma- 
loney,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  session, 
said  that  "the  public  utility  mess  ap- 
pears to  be  in  a  worse  state  than  ever." 
He  failed  to  see  where  the  Council  could 
get  anywhere  so  long  as  such  tactics 
were  pursued. 

Federal  Judge  Henry  D.  Clayton  has 
agreed  to  set  July  8  as  the  date  for 
hearing  the  petition  of  the  railway  to 
make  permanent  the  injunction  granted 
several  months  ago  by  Judge  Clayton, 
restraining  the  city  from  interfering 
with  the  collection  of  8-cent  fares  by  the 
city. 

The  conference  held  on  July  1  be- 
tween the  City  Commissioners  and  the 
representatives  of  the  committee  of 
forty  and  the  civic  and  commercial 
organizations  of  the  city  resulted  in 
the  adoption  of  a  resolution  providing 
that  a  committee  of  one  from  each  of 
the  organizations  present  meet  the 
Commission  Council  on  July  7,  for  the 
purpose  of  helping  shape  some  definite 
plan  of  action. 

Expressions  of  opinion  from  these 
various  bodies  disclosed  no  pronounced 
feeling  unfavorable  to  the  valuation 
placed  upon  the  public  utilities  property 
by  the  committee  of  forty  appointed  by 
Judge  Foster.  The  proceedings  were 
unlike  the  stormy  scenes  that  enlivened 
last  Tuesday's  meeting. 


68 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2: 


Arbitration  Board  Award  Less 
Than  Company's  Proposal 

Wages  have  been  fixed  by  the  arbi- 
tration board  for  the  trainmen  in  the 
employ  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Traction 
&  Light  Company,  Akron,  Ohio.  The 
decision  was  rendered  on  June  30.  The 
new  rates  are  to  continue  from  May  1, 
1921,  for  one  year.  Rates  of  pay  for 
the  various  classes  of  service  are  as 
shown  in  table  below. 

All  regularly  scheduled  runs  are  to 
be  as  near  ten  hours  as  possible  and 
not  more  than  10  per  cent  of  regular 
schedule  runs  are  to  exceed  ten  hours 
and  thirty  minutes,  and  no  run  is  to  be 
scheduled  in  excess  of  12s  hours. 
Nothing  contained  in  the  award  is  to 
affect  the  present  working  conditions  as 
to  layover  time.  The  maximum  number 
of  hours  which  any  motorman  or  con- 
ductor may  be  called  upon  to  work  in 
any  calendar  day  of  twenty-four  hours, 
are  to  be  as  fixed  by  statute  of  the 
State  of  Ohio.    Any  motorman  or  con- 


INTER URBAN 

Consisting  of  motormen,  conductors  and  train- 
men of  the  A.  B.  C.  Division,  Canton-Akron  Di- 
vision, Canton,  New  Philadelphia  and  Uhrichs- 
ville  Division,  and  Akron,  Kent  &  Ravenna 
Division, 

First  year's  service   48  cents  an  hour 

Second  year's  service   50  cents  an  hour 

Third  year's  service  and  thereafter     53  cents  an  hour 

SUBURBAN 
Consisting  of  motormen,  conductors  and  train- 
men of  the  Akron,  Barberton  &  Wadsworth  Di- 
vision. 

First  year's  service   44  cents  an  hour 

Second  year's  service   46  cents  an  hour 

Third  year's  service  and  thereafter  49  cents  an  hour 

CITY  LINES 
Consisting  of  motormen,  conductors  and  train- 
men of  the  Akron  City,  Canton  City  and  Mas- 
sillon  City. 

First  year's  service   43  cents  an  hour 

Second  year's  service   45  cents  an  hour 

Third  year's  service  and  thereafter  48  cents  an  hour 


ductor  working  a  regularly  scheduled 
run  of  less  than  eight  hours  is  to  be 
paid  for  nine  hours. 

Other  points  made  in  the  ruling  are 
as  follows: 

Whenever  any  schedule  may  be  improved 
by  shortening  the  hours  and  bettering  the 
runs,  without  curtailment  of  the  service 
demanded  by  the  public,  the  association 
shall  have  the  right  to  have  such  changes 
made  in  such  schedule. 

The  merit  and  demerit  plan  of  discipline 
now  in  force  on  the  A.  B.  C.  and  A.  K.  R. 
Division  shall  be  continued  to  Jan.  1,  1922. 
with  the  understanding  that  all  lines  under 
the  Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  adopt 
the  merit  and  demerit  svstem  on  or  before 
Jan.  1.  1922.  Should  they  fail  to  adopt 
same,  then  the  merit  and  demerit  system 
shall  be  inoperative  on  all  lines. 

The  matter  of  the  renewal  of  the 
wage  contract  between  the  men  and 
the  company  came  up  for  settlement 
about  April  1.  No  agreement  was 
reached  relative  to  the  wages  and  on 
May  1  the  company  put  into  effect  a 
reduction  of  15  cents  an  hour.  This 
was  followed  by  a  seven-day  strike 
after  the  men  had  refused  to  submit  to 
arbitration. 

An  offer  from  the  International 
Amalgamated  Association  was  followed 
by  the  men  agreeing  to  return  to  work 
at  a  15-cent  reduction  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  question  of  wages 
and  the  number  of  working  hours, 
together  with  the  merit  and  demerit 


system,  be  submitted  to  arbitration. 
The  company  appointed  Charles  Currie 
as  its  arbitrator,  the  men  selected  E.  L. 
Crawford,  East  Liverpool,  to  represent 
them  and  the  Governor  of  the  State 
selected  F.  S.  Harmon  as  the  third  man 
or  referee. 

Under  the  reduction  of  15  cents  an 
hour  from  the  scale  then  in  effect  which 
was  suggested  by  the  company,  the 
wages  in  cents  per  hour  would  have 
been  as  follows: 


City  Suburban  Interurban 

Lines       Lines  Lines 

First  year                       44           45  50 

Second  year                    47           48  52 

Thereafter                      50           51  55 


This  offer  of  the  company  proposed 
that  3  cents  an  hour  additional  over 
the  city  scale  be  paid  for  the  operation 
of  one-man  city  cars. 


Muddling  Through  in  Washington 

Municipal  ownership  of  the  electric 
railways  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
is  advocated  in  a  bill  which  has  been 
reported  favorably  to  the  District  of 
Columbia  committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  The  favorable  report 
comes  from  a  subcommittee  of  the  Dis- 
trict committee.  The  municipal  owner- 
ship bill  had  a  margin  of  only  one  vote 
in  the  subcommittee. 

The  subcommittee  has  initial  jurisdic- 
tion over  bills  affecting  electric  railway 
traffic.  Various  other  bills  pending  be- 
fore the  subcommittee  were  reported  to 
the  full  committee  without  recommen- 
dation. Among  these  bills  was  the 
Woods  measure  which  proposes  to  levy 
an  excess  profits  tax  on  the  earnings  of 
the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric- 
Company  and  the  Capital  Traction  Com- 
pany after  a  fair  return  on  their  valua- 
tion has  been  allowed. 

The  subcommittee  took  no  action  on 
the  bill  now  before  the  Senate  which 
proposes  to  give  the  Potomac  Electric 
Power  Company  the  right  to  merge 
with  the  electric  railway  companies. 

Col.  Charles  W.  Kutz,  chairman  of 
the  public  utilities  commission  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  has  announced  a 
public  hearing  for  July  14  to  consider 
rates  of  fare.  In  that  connection 
William  F.  Ham,  president  of  the  Wash- 
ington Railway  &  Electric  Company, 
declared  that  he  would  ask  for  a  zone 
system  of  fares  if  the  commission 
should  reduce  the  present  rates. 


Eight-Cent  Wage  Reduction. — Repre- 
sentatives of  the  Monongahela  Power  & 
Railway  Company,  Clarksburg,  W.  Va., 
and  representatives  of  the  Amalga- 
mated Association  have  reached  an 
agreement  on  the  wage  scale  for  the 
coming  year.  The  men  have  accepted 
an  8-cent  reduction  on  the  hour.  The 
scale  that  formerly  existed  was  from 
51  to  62  cents  an  hour  for  work  in  the 
city,  while  that  signed  ranges  from  43 
to  54  cents.  The  old  scale  for  inter- 
urban work  ranged  from  51  to  63  cents 
an  hour,  while  that  signed  fixes  rates  at 
43  to  55  cents. 


Railroad  Commission  Recom- 
mends Improvements 

For  relief  to  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way's traffic  problems  in  handling  its 
Hollywood  local  service  to  and  from 
Los  Angeles,  a  tunnel  outlet  westerly 
from  the  Pacific  Electric  Hill  Street 
Terminal  to  Figueroa  Street,  was  rec- 
ommended on  June  15  to  the  State 
Railroad  Commission  by  its  chief  engi- 
neer, Richard  Sachse.  His  recommen- 
dation was  the  result  of  an  investiga- 
tion conducted  by  him  in  conjunction 
with  the  Chief  Engineerr  H.  S.  Osborne, 
Jr.,  of  the  Los  Angeles  Board  of  Public 
Utilities.  The  report  of  the  engineers 
was  submitted  at  a  hearing  in  Los  An- 
geles before  the  Commission,  consist- 
ing of  Commissioners  Brundige,  Love- 
land  and  Benedict. 

The  investigation  of  passenger  serv- 
ice to  Hollywood  was  ordered  by  the 
commission  last  April  following  con- 
ferences of  civic  bodies  with  the  rail- 
roads. 

Two  plans  for  the  tunnel  outlet  from 
the  Pacific  Electric  Hill  Street  Ter- 
minal were  suggested  by  Engineer 
Sachse.  One  is  for  a  tunnel  from  the 
station  coming  to  grade  at  Figueroa 
Street,  estimated  to  cost  $725,000,  in- 
cluding necessary  changes  in  the  Hill 
Street  station.  The  other  plan  is  to 
continue  the  tunnel  under  Figueroa 
Street,  to  come  to  grade  near  First 
Street  and  Lake  Shore  Avenue,  but  do 
not  include  the  cost  of  the  right  of  way 
for  the  tunnel.  The  engineers  report 
embodied  further  additional  recom- 
mendations to  solve  the  Hollywood 
traffic  problem. 

O.  A.  Smith,  general  passenger  agent 
of  the  Pacific  Electric  Lines,  submited 
to  the  commission  a  plan  for  a  zone 
system  for  Hollywood,  with  a  scale  of 
fares  that  would  bring  an  adequate  re- 
turn to  the  company. 

E.  O.  Edgerton,  former  president  of 
the  Railroad  Commission,  represented 
the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Corporation's 
interests  at  the  hearing,  and  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  transportation 
problem  in  Los  Angeles  had  resolved 
itself  into  a  question  of  what  sort  of 
service  the  public  is  willing  to  pay  for, 
as  at  present  the  6-cent  fare  prevails  on 
the  Pacific  Electric  Lines,  while  the  Los 
Angeles  Railway  lines  have  recently 
been  allowed  a  5-cent  token  fare  or  a 
6-cent  fare  on  straight  rides. 

The  Los  Angeles  Railway  Corpora- 
tion went  on  record  as  being  radically 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  its  lines 
into  Hollywood,  branding  them  as  "du- 
plication of  service." 

The  hearing  closed  with  the  chief 
engineer  of  the  utilities  board  recom- 
mending that  the  commission  bring 
about  an  arrangement  whereby  city 
buses  be  placed  in  operation  to  and 
from  Griffith  Park  to  meet  the  Los 
Angeles  Railway  cars  at  First  Street 
and  Vermont  Avenue,  carrying  passen- 
gers in  proposed  municipally  operated 
buses  to  and  from  the  park,  fares  to 
be  paid  either  on  the  buses  or  on  the 
cars,  and  transfer  from  one  to  the  other 
to  be  recognized. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


69 


Difference  Over  Methods 

Detroit  United's  Proposal  to  City  for 
Taking  Over  Lines  Now  and  Pay- 
ing Later  Is  Rejected 

City  officials  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  have 
rejected  the  last  proposal  for  taking 
over  the  lines  of  the  Detroit  United 
Railway,  whose  purchase  was  approved 
by  the  voters  last  April.  The  sugges- 
tion of  the  Detroit  United  Railway  was 
that  the  city  take  over  the  lines  im- 
mediately and  then  arbitrate  the  price 
to  be  paid. 

In  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  the 
Street  Railway  Commission,  A.  F. 
Edwards,  vice  president  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  suggested  that  the  city 
pay  $1,600,000  to  the  Guaranty  Trust 
Company,  New  York,  trustee,  upon  tak- 
ing over  the  day-to-day  lines,  or  as  an 
alternative  take  possession  on  paying 
to  the  trustee  the  value  placed  upon 
the  property  by  the  city  appraisers, 
which  is  approximately  $1,400,000,  with 
the  agreement  that  the  whole  price  be 
arbitrated  promptly  under  the  terms 
of  the  agreement,  and  that  the  city 
make  upon  completion  of  the  arbitra- 
tion such  additional  payment,  if  any, 
as  may  be  required. 

Mayor  Couzens  stated  that  if  the  pro- 
posal went  to  the  arbitrators  a  lower 
price  might  be  asked  by  the  city  than 
that  which  had  been  offered  the  com- 
pany.   The  city's  offer  was  withdrawn. 

The  price  first  fixed  by  the  city  ap- 
praisers on  the  day-to-day  lines  under 
consideration  was  $1,339,998.  Approxi- 
mately 30  miles  of  lines  are  included 
in  the  thirteen  pieces  of  construction. 
The  company  figures  the  original  cost 
of  these  lines  as  $1,965,942. 

No  prolonged  delay  is  expected  in 
the  matter  of  arbitration.  The  com- 
pany has  named  Prof.  Henry  E.  Riggs 
as  its  arbitrator  and  the  city  has  named 
William  H.  Maybury  as  its  representa- 
tive. Professor  Riggs  and  Mr.  May- 
bury  represented  the  company  and  the 
city  respectively  in  arbitrating  the 
price  paid  by  the  city  in  taking  over 
the  Harper  Avenue  line. 

Joseph  S.  Goodwin,  general  manager 
of  the  Detroit  Municipal  Railway,  has 
been  asked  by  the  commission  to  out- 
line the  best  way  of  tying  in  the  lines 
already  constructed  by  the  city  with 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  day-to-day 
lines,  and  the  Fort  Street  and  Wood- 
ward Avenue  lines  on  which  franchises 
have  expired  and  which  the  city  plans 
to  take  over  if  the  action  meets  with 
the  approval  of  the  voters  at  the  next 
election. 


Wages  Reduced  in  Joliet 

The  Chicago  &  Joliet  Electric  Rail- 
way, Joliet,  111.,  has  induced  its  em- 
ployees to  accept  a  reduction  in  wages 
of  5  cents  an  hour  for  all  who  work  on 
an  hourly  basis,  and  $12  a  month  for 
all  who  are  employed  on  a  monthly 
basis.  The  new  scale  for  trainmen  on 
the  Joliet  city  lines  is  51  cents  for  the 
first  three  months,  53  cents  for  the  next 
nine  months,  and  55  cents  an  hour  there- 
after.  On  the  suburban  line  from  Joliet 


to  Lockport,  the  wage  is  57  cents  an 
hour  and  on  the  main  interurban  line, 
60  cents  an  hour.  The  contract  signed 
with  the  men  is  on  the  open-shop  basis, 
and  time  and  one-half  for  overtime  is 
allowed. 

The  traffic  of  the  company  for  the 
first  six  months  of  the  year  was  ap- 
proximately 11  per  cent  less  than  for 
the  corresponding  period  last  year.  A 
motor  bus  line  in  competition  with  the 
Chicago  end  of  the  interurban  railway 
has  been  ordered  by  the  Illinois  Public 
Utilities  Commission  to  cease  operation. 
The  bus  company  having  failed  to  com- 
ply with  this  order,  the  interurban  made 
a  further  complaint  to  the  utilities  com- 
mission, which  referred  the  matter  to 
the  attorney-general's  office,  which  is 
expected  to  take  some  action.  The  bus 
company  has  no  certificate  of  conven- 
ience and  necessity. 


North  Shore  Reduces  Wages 

The  trainmen  of  the  Chicago,  North 
Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad  have 
agreed  to  a  reduction  in  wages  effective 
from  June  16,  which  brings  the  new 
wage  scale  down  10  cents  an  hour  on 
each  of  the  steps,  except  that  the  maxi- 
mum rate  is  reduced  only  9  cents  an 
hour.  The  new  scale  is  67  cents  an 
hour  for  the  first  three  months,  68  cents 
for  the  next  three  months,  70  cents  for 
the  next  three  months  and  73  cents 
thereafter.  The  wages  of  all  other  em- 
ployees have  been  reduced  in  proportion 
to  the  cut  in  the  pay  of  the  trainmen. 


Incline  Reported  to  Be  Safe 

Following  an  examination,  with  tests 
of  the  mechanism  of  the  Mt.  Adams 
Inclined  Plane,  Bert  L.  Baldwin,  City 
Engineer,  reported  to  William  Jerome 
Kuertz,  Director  of  Street  Railways, 
that  the  structure  was  in  safe  operation 
for  cars  of  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Trac- 
tion Company.  Operation  of  the  plane 
was  suspended  some  time  ago  by  order 
of  the  street  railway  director  when  an 
accident  took  place  at  the  Lock  Street 
end.  In  his  report  Mr.  Baldwin  said 
the  use  of  the  incline  for  double-truck 
cars  was  safe  in  his  estimation. 


Wages  Reduced  in  Pittsburgh 

Effective  on  Friday,  July  1,  wages  of 
platform  men  on  the  Pittsburgh  (Pa.) 
Railways  were  reduced  from  64,  68  and 
70  cents  an  hour  to  54,  58  and  60  cents 
an  hour.  This  cut  amounts  to  about  $1 
a  day,  or  15  per  cent,  and  makes  the 
wages  the  same  as  of  May  1,  1920, 

Negotiations  between  the  receivers  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Railways  and  the  wage 
scale  committee  of  the  trainmen  are  be- 
ing continued.  A  conference  of  the 
receivers  and  the  committee  was  set 
for  July  5,  but  on  that  day  the  wage 
scale  committee  of  the  employees  failed 
to  meet  with  the  receivers. 

The  receivers  in  a  statement  issued 
during  the  week  ended  July  2  declared 
that  should  arbitration  be  resorted  to 
and  a  smaller  wage  cut  be  fixed  or  the 
arbitrators  rule  against  a  reduction  of 
wages,  the  railway  will  pay  back  to  the 
men  any  amount  due  them. 


Public  Service  May  Run  Jitneys 
as  Feeders 

If  the  demand  for  the  service  is 
found  to  be  inviting  the  Public  Service 
Railway,  Newark,  N.  J.,  may  establish 
jitney  routes  as  feeders  to  its  trolley 
lines.  This  statement  is  attributed  to 
Thomas  N.  McCarter,  president  of  the 
company.  Nothing  definite,  however, 
has  as  yet  been  decided.  Mr.  McCarter 
is  quoted  to  the  effect  that  the  plan 
has  not  advanced  far  enough  to  dis- 
cuss the  financial  arrangements,  but 
that  if  the  company  does  take  on  bus 
operation  the  new  branch  of  its  trans- 
portation business  will  be  financed  in 
such  a  manner  that  there  will  be  no 
failure. 


Wage  Cut  in  Nashville. — A  wage  re- 
duction of  3  cents  to  7  cents  an  hour  for 
all  trainmen  of  the  Nashville  Railway 
Light  Company,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  has 
been  announced  by  E.  C.  Edgar,  vice- 
president  and  general  manager.  The 
rate  of  pay  of  45  cents  to  55  cents  an 
hour  has  been  reduced  to  38  cents  to 
48  cents,  a  maximum  reduction  of  15 
per  cent. 

More  Bus  Lines  Planned. — The  Board 
of  Estimate  of  New  York  City  has 
voted  to  authorize  Grover  A.  Whalen, 
Commissioner  of  Plant  and  Structures, 
to  put  in  operation  a  bus  line  from 
Eighth  Avenue  and  155th  Street  to 
the  Dyckman  Street  ferry  landing.  The 
board  also  authorized  bus  lines  from 
Fifth  Avenue  and  110th  Street  to  Mos- 
holu  Parkway  and  from  the  Fort  Lee 
ferry  landing  to  Mosholu  Parkway. 

City  Stipulates  Settlement  Terms. — 

The  City  Council  of  Des  Moines,  la.,  on 
June  27  pigeonholed  indefinitely  three 
ordinances  proposed  to  place  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway  on  a  footing  where 
it  could  be  financed  until  a  new  fran- 
chise is  negotiated  and  through  Mayor 
Barton,  served  notice  on  the  company 
that  it  must  reduce  fares  substantially 
before  buses  will  be  eliminated  from 
car  line  streets,  and  must  bring  in  a 
complete,  detailed  franchise  proposal 
before  any  franchise  action  will  be 
taken. 

City  Must    Restore    Tracks.  —  The 

controversy  between  city  officials  of 
Lafayette,  Ind.,  and  the  Terre  Haute, 
Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Traction  Com- 
pany was  settled  temporarily  at  least 
by  Judge  Ferdinand  A.  Geiger  in  Fed- 
eral Court  on  June  23.  Judge  Geiger 
entered  an  order  giving  the  city  three 
days  to  replace  the  15  ft.  of  track 
which  was  removed  by  the  city.  This 
will  enable  the  railway  to  operate  its 
cars  by  way  of  Kossuth  Street  to  the 
interurban  station.  He  also  gave  the 
city  thirty  days  in  which  to  restore 
2,000  ft.  of  tracks  in  Main  Street. 


70 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


Nearly  All  Companies  Reported  in 
"Chronicle"  Show  Increase  in 
Gross  Over  Last  Year 

The  statistics  in  the  accompanying 
table  are  from  the  Commercial  and 
Financial  Chronicle  for  June  25  and 
give  the  gross  earnings  of  the  electric 
railway  companies  reported  in  the 
regular  weekly  list  of  public  utilities 
for  which  the  Chronicle  '  publishes 
monthly  figures.  All  of  the  electric 
railway  properties  listed  in  that  de- 
partment were  included  except  those 
whose  monthly  earnings  are  less  than 
$100,000,  or  where  the  company  sup- 
plies a  combined  utility  service  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  earnings  comes 
from  electric  lighting  and  power. 


GROSS  EARNINGS  OF  VARIOUS  COMPANIES 
SINCE  JANUARY  I  THIS  YEAR  AND 
LAST  YEAR 

Period  Current  Previous 

Ended  Year  Year 

Brooklyn  City  R.R..  .  March  $2,664,937  $2,401,385 

Coney  Island  &  Bklvn  March  576.989  529,209 

Nassau  Elect..  Bklvn..  March  1,113,119  1,450,105 

New  York  Consol          March  5,316,987  5.085,766 

Bklyn.  Qu.  Co.&Sub.  March  428,462  418,154 

Chattanooga  Rv.  &  Lt.  April  447,313  432,639 
Cumberland  Co.  (Me.) 

P.  &  L                        April  1.058.719  940.752 

Duluth-SuperiorTrac.  Mas-  756,624  809,054 

East  St.  Louis  &  Sub..  April  1,375.619  1,338,745 

Georgia  Lt.  P.  &  Rys. .  April  577,234  564,879 

Harrisburg  Railways..  April  560.964  563,016 

Hudson  &  Manhattan.  May  4.343.186  3.468,496 

Illinois  Traction  \pril  7,450,003  6,751,171 

Interboro  Rap.  Tran. 

(total svs.)                 May  23,675,145  22,986,332 

Lake  Shore  Elec.  Ry. .  April  816.064  995,044 

Nashville  Rv.  A-  Light.  April  1,283.37  1  1,220,313 
Newp.  N.  &  H.  Rv.  G. 

&  E                            April  1,1  12.164  1.030.043 

N.Y.&  Queens  Co....   March  279,856  233.556 

N.  Y.  Railways             Maid,  2,260,010  1,793,018 

Eighth  Avenue,  N.  V  .   .March  277,737  163.592 

Phila.  Rap.  Transit. . .  May  17,987,696  15,475,733 
Port.  (Ore.)  Rv.  L.  & 

P.  Co                         April  3,399,221  2.958,907 

Porto  Rico  Railways..  March  340,885  316,951 
Reading  Trans.  &  Lt. 

Sys                            April  963,174  946.793 

Third  Avenue  System.  April  4,310,722  3.499,666 

Twin  City  Rap.  Trans.  April  4,717.181  4,135,037 

Virginia  Ry.  &  Power    April  3,419,192  3,111,072 

Winnipeg  Elect.  Ry..  .  March  1,487.578  1,400,625 


Reduction  in  Taxes  Urged 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce,  of  Kan- 
sas City,  Mo.,  in  extensive  resolutions 
urging  reduction  in  taxes  for  the  Kan- 
sas City  Railways,  points  to  the  dis- 
tinction between  a  public  utility  of  this 
kind  and  an  ordinary  business  enter- 
prise. The  resolutions  make  plain  the 
fact  that  street  railways  can  be  turned 
to  no  other  use  than  that  for  which 
they  were  built,  while  most  other  busi- 
nesses can  turn  the  property  to  other 
than  the  original  uses. 

The  resolutions  constitute  a  clear 
and  complete  picture  of  the  value  and 
relation  to  a  community  of  its  street 
railway  system.  They  further  demon- 
strate that  taxes  should  be  reduced 
because  of  the  reduced  value  of  the 
property  as  reflected  in  the  selling 
price  of  the  securities. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  that  a  valuation  based  on 
about  the  lowest  permissible  percent- 
age of  market  value  of  its  outstanding 


securities  is  the  maximum  basis  of 
taxation  in  the  public  interest  under 
the  present  emergency  conditions;  that 
the  maximum  measure  of  relief  by  re- 
duction of  taxes  of  all  kinds,  even  to 
the  extent  of  complete  remission  of 
them,  for  the  time  being,  if  that  were 
possible,  would  be  for  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  public,  and  that  increased 
taxes  must  be  reflected  in  increased 
fares  if  good  service  is  to  be  con- 
tinued. 

In  conclusion  it  is  resolved  that  a 
copy  of  the  resolution  be  sent  to  each 
member  of  the  State  Board  of  Equali- 
zation, and  that  the  members  of  that 
body  be  urged,  for  the  sake  of  the  best 
interests  of  the  people  of  Kansas  City, 
to  give  serious  consideration  to  the 
conditions  and  propositions  set  forth 
by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  to 
grant  the  fullest  measure  of  relief 
within  their  powers. 


Receiver  of  Atlantic  City  Road 
Discharged 

A.  J.  Purinton  has  been  discharged 
as  receiver  of  the  Atlantic  City  & 
Shore  Railroad,  Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  on 
application  in  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court  before  Judge  Rellstab.  The 
company  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Judge  C.  L.  Cole  as  receiver  on  Nov. 
26,  1915.  Mr.  Purinton  succeeded  Mr. 
Cole  as  receiver  on  June  9,  1919  The 
appointment  of  a  receiver  followed  in- 
roads made  into  the  receipts  of  the 
company  when  fleets  of  jitneys  started 
to  operate  on  Atlantic  Avenue,  Atlantic 
City,  occupied  by  the  railway.  It  is 
alleged  the  company  lost  $84,000  in  the 
first  eight  months  in  competition  with 
the  jitneys.  Subsequently  the  city 
ruled  the  jitneys  off  the  main  thorough- 
fare, shunting  them  to  Pacific  Avenue, 
which  parallels  Atlantic  Avenue.  That 
aided  the  railway,  but  it  is  said  the 
principal  factor  in  restoring  the  credit 
of  the  company  has  been  the  fact  that 
for  more  than  a  year  the  company  has 
been  operating  most  successfully  under 
a  7-cent  fare. 


California  Railroads  to  Challenge 
Validity  of  King  Tax  Bill 

Announcement  has  been  made  that 
the  Southern  Pacific  Company  and 
Santa  Fe  Line  would  file  a  suit  in  the 
Federal  Court  to  test  the  validity  of 
the  King  tax  bill,,  which  was  passed  dur- 
ing the  last  Legislative  session  of  the 
State  of  California,  increasing  the  state 
tax  rate  on  the  gross  receipts  of  steam 
railroads  and  electric  railways  from 
5i  to  7i  per  cent.  As  an  aftermath 
of  the  announcement  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  officials  of  its  intent  to  file  suit, 
the  State  Board  of  Equalization  on 
June  14  announced  that  it  would  deny 
the  protest  of  the  Southern  Pacific  and 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  against 
the  use  of  the  7  per  cent  rate. 

It  was  declared  in  a  statement  issued 
by  the  board  through  its  secretary,  M. 
D.  Lack,  that  the  proposed  suit  will  be 
a  legal  test  of  the  method,  or  the  so- 
called  Seavey  formula,  used  to  deter- 
mine tax  rates  on  corporations.  In  the 
event  the  railroads  were  successful  in 
their  attack  on  the  King  bill,  the  re- 
ductions in  tax  rates  would  necessitate 
an  ad  valorem  of  22  to  25  cents  per 
$100  on  general  property  to  make  up 
the  deficit,  the  statement  said. 

The  passage  of  the  King  tax  bill  was 
reviewed  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  of  March  5,  1921,  page  464. 


$39,403  Surplus  in  Seattle  in  May 

The  Seattle  (Wash.)  Municipal  Rail- 
way showed  a  surplus  of  $39,403  for 
May.  The  number  of  passengers  car- 
ried was  8,202,955,  compared  with  10,- 
838,603  in  May,  1920.  Car  miles  de- 
creased from  1,341,380  in  May,  1920,  to 
1,285,153  in  May,  1921.  Cost  of  opera- 
tion per  car  mile  in  May,  1921,  was  28 
cents,  and  per  car  hour  $2.58,  as  against 
31  cents  and  $2.77,  respectively,  last 
year. 

Total  revenues  for  the  month  were 
$530,148,  and  total  operating  costs 
$361,927.  The  revenues  exceeded  the 
operating  costs  by  $168,221.  Out  of 
this  sum  $128,818  has  been  set  aside 
for  interest  and  depreciation  funds. 


New  Issue  of  Bonds  Offered 

The  Columbus,  Delaware  &  Marion 
Electric  Company,  Columbus,  Ohio, 
will  immediately  float  a  bond  issue  to 
the  amount  of  $500,000  under  a  new 
general  mortgage  to  secure  $1,822,000 
of  8  per  cent  bonds  covering  all  the 
property  owned  by  the  company.  This 
mortgage  was  recorded  at  Marion, 
Ohio,  on  May  17.  The  first  and  re- 
funding mortgage  securing  the  5  per 
cent  gold  bonds  due  1937  is  closed  so 
far  as  additional  bonds  in  the  hands 
of  the  public  are  concerned,  as  no 
bonds  can  be  issued  except  as  they 
may  be  deposited  as  security  for  the 
new  general  mortgage  or  issued  for 
the  purpose  of  refunding  the  present 
divisional  bonds  which  are  now  out- 
standing. 

Rhode  Island  Receivers  Will 
Pay  $1,000,000 

Justice  Tanner  of  the  Superior 
Court  in  a  recent  decree  ordered  the 
receivers  of  the  Rhode  Island  Company 
to  pay  $1,000,000  to  Cornelius  S. 
Sweetland,  receiver  of  the  United 
Traction  &  Electric  Company.  This  is 
a  reimbursement  sum  for  the  use  of 
the  properties  of  the  Union  Railroad, 
Pawtucket  Street  Railway  and  the 
Rhode  Island  Suburban  Railway  since 
the  operation  under  the  receivership. 
The  United  Traction  &  Electric  Com- 
pany owned  all  the  capital  stock  of 
these  companies.  A  decree  of  the 
court  provided  a  payment  on  the  part 
of  the  Rhode  Island  receivers,  for  the 
use  of  these  properties  a  sum  to  be 
determined  by  Richard  E.  Lyman, 
master  in  chancery. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  journal 


71 


Neither  an  Electric  Company 
Nor  an  Electric  Railway 
Among  Them 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  in  its  issue 
of  June  30  lists  sixty-two  of  the  more 
important  companies  that  have  ceased 
paying  dividends  since  the  first  of  the 
year,  giving  the  capital  outstanding 
and  losses  to  security  holders  based 
on  the  last  or  usual  dividend  rate. 
The  total  capital  outstanding  of  the 
companies  is  $978,366,953,  exclusive  of 
stock  having  no  par  value,  while  the 
dividend  payments  omitted  total  $23,- 
040,897.  In  this  long  list  there  is 
neither  an  electric  company  nor  an 
electric  railway. 

Desire  to  Foreclose  Ohio 
Electric  Railway 

The  Fidelity  Trust  Company,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.,  trustee  under  the  mort- 
gage securing  the  second  and  general 
5  per  cent  bonds  of  the  Ohio  Electric 
Railway,  has  filed  an  intervening  peti- 
tion in  the  case  of  the  railway  in  the 
Federal  Court  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  asking 
for  the- sale  of  practically  all  of  the 
property  to  satisfy  its  obligations  of 
$5,000,000  under  the  mortgage  secur- 
ing the  bonds. 

The  bonds  were  issued  on  June  2, 
1913,  against  all  of  the  property 
owned  by  the  company.  They  bore 
interest  at  5  per  cent,  payable  semi- 
annually. Failure  to  pay  interest 
within  ninety  days  constituted  default 
under  terms  of  the  mortgage  accord- 
ing to  the  petition. 

The  clauses  in  the  trust  agreement 
describing  the  property  covered  indi- 
cate all  of  the  system  from  Zanes- 
ville  through  Columbus  and  Springfield 
to  Toledo. 

Receiver  B.  J.  Jones,  Columbus, 
asked  recently  for  the  partition  of  the 
Ohio  Electric  system  into  its  subsid- 
iary lines. 

The  city  of  Columbus  intervened  to 
protect  a  claim  due  on  a  lien  on  the 
property  within  the  city  limits  there. 
Clarence  P.  Steiner  also  filed  to  protect 
a  damage  judgement  of  $600  against 
the  company. 

The  court  has  issued  no  orders  in 
the  matter  yet. 

Sufficient  Revenue  Not  Provided 
by  Present  Fare 

The  International  Railway,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  recently  outlined  its  pro- 
gram and  policy  of  1921.  The  six 
months'  report,  January-June,  1921, 
now  in  course  of  preparation  will  show, 
according  to  President  H.  G.  Tulley, 
that  the  company  will  do  little  more 
this  year  than  meet  its  fixed  charges 
after  providing  in  its  operating  ex- 
penses the  full  annual  allowance  of 
$1,016,000  for  depreciation  and  renew- 
als, in  accordance  with  the  Public 
Service  Commission  formula. 

Industrial  depression  has  been  felt 
very  much  in  Buffalo.  This  is  noted 
in  the  traffic  handled  on  the  lines  of 
the  International  Railway.  It  is 
estimated  that  1,300,000  fewer  passen- 


gers are  being  carried  a  month  than 
during  the  first  six  months  of  1920. 

The  statement  of  the  company  says 
in  part: 

The  program  of  repaying,  undertaken  by 
agreement  with  the  city  of  Buffalo  and 
other  municipalities,  requires  during  this 
year  the  rebuilding  of  more  than  20  miles 
of  track  construction,  of  which  13  miles  is 
entirely  new  and  the  remainder  rebuilt  to 
conform  with  city  paving  requirements. 
This,  with  50  miles  of  trolley  wire  renewals, 
complete  overhauling  of  more  than  300  cars 
and  other  necessary  improvements  and 
additions  to  property,  will  require  a  total 
expenditure  approximating  $2,000,000. 


$1,330,000  for  Improvements 

In  an  ordinance  drafted  by  T.  J.  L. 
Kennedy,  first  assistant  corporation 
counsel,  for  the  public  utilities  com- 
mittee of  the  City  Council,  provision 
is  made  for  eight  street  railway  exten- 
sions, the  purchase  of  fifty  additional 
cars  for  the  Seattle  Municipal  Railway 
and  the  acquisition  of  all  the  railway 
properties  of  the  Western  Washington 
Power  Company  within  the  city  limits. 

The  proposed  ordinance  has  been  pre- 
pared on  recommendations  from  the 
railway  department.  It  is  intended  to 
cover  the  betterments  now  contem- 
plated by  General  Superintendent  D.  W. 
Henderson  and  the  Council.  The  esti- 
mated cost  of  the  proposed  improve- 
ments has  been  placed  at  $1,330,000. 
The  Council  would  be  authorized  to  is- 
sue and  sell  negotiable  bonds  to  that 
amount. 

The  Western  Washington  Power 
Company  line  referred  to  is  the  Green- 
wood Avenue  line,  2.28  miles  in  length, 
operated  by  the  city  since  Jan.  1,  1920, 
on  an  agreement  with  the  owners  that 
when  a  bond  issue  was  called,  it  would 
be  purchased  at  the  Council's  ap- 
praisal. 

Montreal  Tramways  Loses 
Appeals 

The  Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  was 
unsuccessful  on  June  28  in  two  appeals 
before  the  Court  of  Appeal  which  was 
asked  to  sanction  the  addition  of  $534,- 
055  and  $243,596  to  the  capital  of  $36,- 
286,295  upon  which  the  company  has  a 
right,  under  the  existing  contract  with 
the  city,  to  exact  a  revenue  of  6  per 
cent  per  annum. 

The  first  appeal  was  from  a  decision 
of  the  late  president  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  of  Quebec,  dismissing 
the  company's  appeal  from  a  ruling  of 
the  Montreal  Tramways  Commission, 
rendered  on  Aug.  25,  1919,  deducting 
the  sum  of  $534,055  from  the  capital  on 
which  the  appellant  has  a  right  to  6 
per  cent  interest. 

In  the  second  appeal,  the  tramways 
protested  against  judgment  dismissing 
an  appeal  to  the  president  of  the  Public 
Service  Commission  from  a  decision  of 
the  Tramways  Commission  which  re- 
fused to  add  to  the  capital  upon  which 
the  company  has  a  right  to  6  per  cent 
interest,  the  sum  of  $243,516. 

Under  the  statute  covering  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission,  appeals  lie  to 
the  Court  of  Appeal  only  on  questions 
of  jurisdiction  and  questions  of  law.  In 
this  case,  therefore,  the  finding  of  the 
fact  was  accepted  without  question. 


No  Rights  Over  Rentals 

Pennsylvania  Court,  in  Significant  Rul- 
ing, Opposes  Inquiry  Into  Rental 
Payments  Under  Leases 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania 
on  July  1  denied  the  right  of  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission  to  inquire  into 
the  reasonableness  of  the  approximate 
$10,000,000  annual  rentals  paid  to  un- 
derlying companies  by  the  Philadelphia 
Rapid  Transit  Company. 

In  an  opinion  written  by  Justice 
Alexander  Simpson,  Jr.,  the  court,  in 
essence,  declares  that  what  a  public 
utility  such  as  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  does  with  the  money  it  receives 
by  way  of  "reasonable  return  for 
the  service  it  furnishes"  is  no  concern 
of  the  Public  Service  Commission  or  the 
public. 

If  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit, 
from  the  rates  which  it  is  authorized 
to  collect,  is  rot  able  to  pay  its  fixed 
charges  (of  which  the  rentals  are  a 
part),  and  at  the  same  time  maintain 
or  extend  its  service  and  facilities,  that 
also  is  no  concern  of  the  commission 
or  the  public,  says  the  court. 

The  opinion  proceeds  to  point  out 
that  the  underlying  companies  are  not 
"operating"  companies  and  that  they  do 
not  render  "service"  or  "make  or  collect 
rates,"  and  consequently  are  not  amen- 
able to  the  commission.  Says  the 
opinion  further: 

No  contract  made  by  a  public  utility  is 
subject  to  a  direct  attack  and  revision, 
unless  it  is  in  itself  a  rate  contract  ;  and 
no  contract  may  be  indirectly  reviewed  in 
such  cases,  unless  it  has  some'  relation  to 
one  or  more  of  the  elements  to  be  con- 
sidered in  revising  the  rate  *  *  *  Fixed 
charges  for  franchises  and  assets  long  since 
acquired  and  now  entitled  to  be  retained 
only  by  continuing  the  payments  provided 
in  the  lease  thereof  are  not  among  those 
elements    *     *  * 

Besides,  neither  the  commission  nor  the 
public  has  anything  to  do  with  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  rates  which  the  utility  is  author- 
ized to  collect  nor  is  it  any  concern  of 
either  that  the  sum  total  thereof  may  not  be 
sufficient  to  enable  the  operating  company 
to  pay  its  fixed  charges  and  maintain  or 
extend  its  service  and  facilities.  The  com- 
pany is  entitled  to  receive  a  reasonable 
return  for  the  service  it  furnishes,  and  no 
more  ;  the  public  is  entitled  to  receive  an 
adequate  return  for  the  reasonable  rates 
it  pays,  and  no  more. 

Beyond  making  sure  of  these  two  things, 
the  statute  does  not  vest  a  g'reater  power 
in  the  commission,  so  far  as  the  matter 
under  consideration  is  concerned.  It  has 
ample  authority  to  see  that  its  orders,  as 
to  service  and  facilities  are  fully  complied 
with  by  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  if  the  effect  of  so  doing  is  that 
the  latter's  stockholders  receive  no  return 
on  their  investment,  because  of  the  neces- 
sity for  compliance  with  the  terms  of  the 
leases,  this  concerns  them  alone,  and  not 
the  complainants  or  the  public. 

Moreover,  if  the  statutes  give  to  the 
commission  the  power  to  reduce  these 
rentals,  it  may  also  increase  them,  a  con- 
clusion which  would  be  a  great  surprise  to 
everybody  and  against  which,  if  decreed, 
these  interveners  would  be  among  the  first 
to  complain.  As  the  matter  now  is,  the  law 
gives  neither  right,  and  hence  the  com- 
mission should  at  once  have  halted  this 
attempt  to  induce  it  to  exceed  its 
powers.     *     *  * 

It  follows  that  appellee  was  right  in 
objecting  to  interveners'  attempt  to  subject 
the  rentals  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  com- 
mission, but  was  wrong  in  supposing  the 
remedy  for  its  error  in  not  dismissing  the 
intervening  complaints  was  by  appeal. 

The  decre«  of  the  Superior  Court  is  re- 
versed, the  appeal  from  the  order  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  is  quashed  and 
the  record  is  remitted  to  that  body  for 
further  proceedings  according  to  law. 

Counsel  for  the  underlying  companies  say 
their  contention  has  been  upheld. 


72 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


Important  Pamphlet  Issued  by 
Bank 

To  stimulate  the  interest  of  investors 
it.  securities  of  public  service  corpora- 
tions and  to  help  the  continued  develop- 
ment of  the  utility  industry  as  of  vital 
importance  to  the  material  welfare  of 
the  people,  the  National  City  Company, 
New  York,  N.  Y.,  recently  issued  a 
booklet,  "The  Giant  Energy,"  which 
presents  the  public  utilities  of  today  as 
an  attractive  field  for  the  discriminat- 
ing buyer  of  high-grade,  carefully  in- 
vestigated securities.  In  an  interesting 
and  novel  way  "The  Giant  Energy" 
tells  the  story  of  electric  light  and 
pcwer  development  and  in  illustrations 
of  household  articles  electrically  oper- 
ated, generating  stations,  powerful  loco- 
motives hauling  long  trains  over  the 
"Rockies"  and  Cascades  the  impressive 
record  of  progress  in  this  industry  is 
shown.  The  booklet  will  encourage  the 
man  with  funds  for  investment  to  give 
careful  consideration  to  the  fundamen- 
tal soundness  of  the  business  which 
stands  behind  public  utility  bonds.  In 
conclusion  the  pamphlet  says: 

Before  the  war  public  utility  securities 
issued  by  corporations  of  undoubted  strength 
and  based  on  sound  values  and  earning 
power  were  sold  on  a  basis  to  yield  around 

5  to  5i  per  cent.  Now  with  largely  in- 
creased values  and  increased  demand  for 
output  the  same  class  of  securities  can  be 
bought  on  a  basis  to  yield  from  6$  to  8  per 
cent.  Discriminating  investors  are  now 
analyzing  the  public  utility  situation  and 
buying  well-secured  bonds.  Such  analyses 
should  pay  investors  through  strong  se- 
curity and  liberal  return  from  well-selected 
public  utility  issues. 

Financial 

News  Notes 

Railway  Changes  Name. — The  Dur- 
ham (N.  C.)  Traction  Company,  organ- 
ized and  operating  since  1901,  certified 
with  the  Secretary  of  State  about  a 
month  ago  to  a  change  in  name  to  the 
Durham  Public  Service  Company. 

Preferred  Dividend  Passed. — The  di- 
rectors of  the  Duluth-Superior  Traction 
Company,  Duluth,  Minn.,  have  passed 
the  preferred  dividend  of  1  per  cent. 
The  company  has  been  paying  its  pre- 
ferred dividend  since  January,  1901. 
The  payment  of  the  company's  com- 
mon stock  dividend  was  stopped  in 
October,  1918. 

Municipal  Line  at  Tacoma  Still  Be- 
hind.— According  to  a  report  filed  by 
City  Comptroller  John  M.  Roberts  of 
Tacoma,  Wash.,  the  municipal  railway 
there  lost  $2,334  in  cash  in  May,  and 
has  a  total  deficit,  after  inclusion  of  all 
charges  for  interest,  taxes  and  depre- 
ciation, of  $5,724.  Receipts  were  $8,069 
and  expenses  $10,404. 

Recently  Sold  Property  Reorganized. 
— The  Sunbury  &  Selinsgrove  Electric 
Street  Railway,  Sunbury,  Pa.,  a  part 
of  the  system  known  as  the  Sunbury 

6  Susquehanna  Railway,  was  recently 
reorganized  with  a  cash  capital  of 
$120,000  and  a  bond  issue  of  $230,000. 


The  property  was  sold  at  receiver's  sale 
a  few  months  ago. 

Protective  Committee  for  Seventh 
Avenue  Holders. — A  protective  commit- 
tee to  represent  the  holders  of  the  first 
consolidated  mortgage  5  per  cent  gold 
bonds  of  the  Broadway  &  Seventh 
Avenue  Railroad,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  has 
been  formed  with  the  Metropolitan 
Trust  Company  as  depositary.  The 
committee  is  headed  by  Harold  B. 
Thorne,  vice-president  of  the  Metro- 
politan Trust  Company. 

Traffic  Increases  in  1920. — According 
to  the  fifteenth  annual  report  of  the 
Pacific  Gas  &  Electric  Company,  Sacra- 
mento, CaL,  1920  was  a  peak  year  for 
the  railway  system.  There  were  15,- 
770,295  passengers  carried,  a  gain  of 
1,690,923  over  1919.  Jitney  competi- 
tion had  spent  itself  on  account  of  local 
enactments  and  the  railway  showed  a 
remarkable  gain  in  business  in  contrast 
to  1914,  when  jitney  competition  greatly 
diminished  the  company's  revenue. 

Operating  Arrangement  to  Be  Re- 
newed.— The  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  will 
again  take  over  the  line  of  the  Stand- 
ard Traction  Company,  now  serving 
Mount  Auburn  and  Parkview  additions 
to  the  city  of  Dallas  on  the  East.  The 
lines  of  the  Standard  Traction  Com- 
pany are  now  being  operated  by  George 
P.  Dunlap  as  receiver  under  orders  is- 
sued by  the  District  Court  of  Dallas 
County.  Final  details  of  the  agree- 
ment between  the  companies  remain  to 
be  worked  out. 

Messrs.  Milner  and  Nicklett,  Direc- 
tors.— At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  Community  Traction 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  recently,  A.  P. 
Nicklett,  secretary,  auditor,  and  pur- 
chasing agent  of  the  company,  was 
elected  a  director.  The  board  also 
elected  W.  L.  Milner,  formerly  chair- 
man of  the  commission  which  drafted 
the  cost-of-service  ordinance,  a  mem- 
ber to  represent  the  public  interest  in 
the  company.  From  time  to  time  addi- 
tional directors  shall  be  elected  to  rep- 
resent the  city. 

Settlement  Proposal  Made. — A  pro- 
posal which  may  solve  the  railway  prob- 
lem in  Lafayette  and  West  Lafayette, 
Ind.,  has  been  made  to  the  city  by 
Clarence  H.  Geist,  president  of  the 
Northern  Indiana  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany. The  gas  company  has  an  option 
on  the  railway  and  offers  to  exercise 
the  option  if  the  citizens  will  raise 
$100,000  to  help  finance  the  project. 
The  gas  company  would  turn  the  rail- 
way over  to  the  Terre  Haute,  Indian- 
apolis &  Eastern  Traction  Company  for 
operation.  Regulation  of  th'e  jitney 
traffic  also  is  asked. 

Right  to  Abandon  Service  Denied. — 
The  City  Council  of  Sheridan  has  de- 
nied the  application  of  the  Sheridan 
(Wyo.)  Railway  for  permission  to 
abandon  service  in  Montana  and  Sum- 
mer Streets.  The  Council  acted  in  ac- 
cordance with  public  petitions  and  re- 
monstrances against  the  suspension. 
General  Manager  Jones  has  stated  that 
the  suspension  did  not  depend  upon  a 


paving  problem,  but  was  one  of  econ- 
omy in  operation  as  it  could  be  shown 
that  the  entire  city  system  was  a  non- 
paying  proposition.  He  said  that  he 
would  take  the  matter  before  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission  and  if  relief 
were  denied  to  him  he  would  resort 
to  the  courts. 

Reorganization  Cost  $434,400.— While 

declaring  that  certain  charges  and  dis- 
bursements in  the  reorganization  plan 
of  the  United  Railroads,  San  Francisco 
CaL,  appeared  to  be  excessive,  the  Rail- 
road Commission  in  a  decision  on  June 
27,  held  that  it  was  without  jurisdic- 
tion to  pass  upon  the  expenditure,  as 
the  funds  to  be  used  were  not  subject 
to  the  commission's  control.  The  re- 
organization expenditure  aggregates 
$434,400.  This  sum  has  been  accumu- 
lated out  of  net  earnings,  made  pos- 
sible by  non-payment  of  interest  on 
bonds.  In  this  way,  the  commission 
points  out,  the  bondholders  are  really 
standing  the  cost. 

Reorganization  Plan  About  Ready. — 

Talk  has  been  renewed  recently  of  the 
coming  reorganization  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco-Oakland Terminal  Railways,  Oak- 
land, CaL  The  San  Francisco  Bulletin 
of  June  23  said:  "The  definite  informa- 
tion as  to  the  details  of  reorganization 
and  refinancing  were  not  obtainable, 
but  it  was  admitted  that  such  a  move 
was  under  way.  President  Alberger 
said  that  the  directors  have  been  meet- 
ing with  San  Francisco  financiers  three 
times  a  week  for  the  past  six  months 
and  that  while  the  plans  are  practically 
adopted  the  company  is  not  yet  ready  to 
make  the  details  public." 

Railway  Extends  Notes. — The  hold- 
ers of  the  $750,000  of  one-year  6  per 
cent  notes  of  the  Chattanooga  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  Chattanooga,  Tenn., 
which  matured  on  June  1  are  offered  a 
new  one-year  8  per  cent  note  in  ex- 
change for  their  maturing  notes.  In  all 
other  respects  except  rate  of  interest 
and  maturity  the  new  notes  will  be 
identical  with  the  present  ones.  The 
notes  will  be  secured  by  deposit  of  $682,- 
000  Chattanooga  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany's first  and  refunding  mortgage  5 
per  cent  gold  bonds  and  $389,000  Look- 
out Mountain  Railway's  first  mortgage 
6  per  cent  gold  bonds. 

Brooklyn  Employees  Buy  Bonds.. — 
Approximately  1,000  employees  of  the 
surface  lines  of  the  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.) 
Rapid  Transit  Company  have  joined 
the  National  Thrift  System  and  sub- 
scribed for  nearly  $100,000  in  bonds. 
The  drive  was  started  on  May  10.  The 
employees  of  the  rapid  transit  lines  will 
be  solicited  during  the  current  month. 
G.  L.  Terhune,  who  directed  the  cam- 
paign, expressed  his  appreciation  for 
the  men's  co-operation.  The  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Monthly  in  commenting 
on  the  bond  movement  said  that  Mr. 
Terhune's  talks  on  the  value  of  system- 
atic saving  were  directly  in  line  with 
the  campaign  now  under  way  for  power 
saving:  "Saving  power,  saving  mate- 
rial, saving  money — the  three  made  a 
well-rounded  thrift  campaign  of  vital 
interest  to  every  one  at  the  meetings." 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


73 


Six  Cents  in  Knoxville 

Original  Application  Denied — Commis- 
sion Abrogates  Contract  for  Engi- 
neering Advice 

The  Tennessee  Railroad  &  Public 
Utilities  Commission  recently  issued 
an  order  allowing  the  Knoxville  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company,  Knoxville, 
Tenn.,  to  charge  a  6-cent  fare,  effective 
July  3.  The  original  application  of 
the  company  was  for  a  7-cent  fare  and 
a  2-cent  transfer  charge.  As  noted 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
July  2,  this  was  denied,  the  commission 
holding  that  the  company  had  not  set 
up  sufficient  reason  for  such  an  ad- 
vance. 

The  commission  also  abrogated  the 
contract  between  the  Knoxville  Rail- 
way and  the  American  Cities  Company 
by  which  heretofore  the  Knoxville 
company  has  been  paying  3  per  cent  of 
its  gross  income  to  the  American 
Cities  Company  for  operating  and 
engineering  advice.  The  commission 
held  that  the  practice  at  present  in 
existence  of  the  company's  paying  to 
another  corporation  any  percentage  of 
its  gross  receipts  for  operating  and  en- 
gineering advice  shall  be  discontinued 
on  June  30,  1921. 

The  company  was  also  directed  in 
the  order  to  furnish  light  and  power  to 
all  consumers  at  standard  rates  thereby 
eliminating  the  discrimination  which 
appears  in  contract  rates.  There  prob- 
ably will  be  later  hearings  before  the 
commission  to  adjust  these  rates.  The 
order  of  the  commission  in  part  fol- 
lows: 

That  the  company  may  from  and  after 
midnight  of  July  3,  charge  a  maximum  fare 
on  its  railway  system  of  6  cents  for  each 
continuous  ride  upon  the  same  car  between 
any  two  points  upon  the  railway  lines  ot 
the  Knoxville  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
where  5  cents  or  less  is  now  being  charged, 
and  the  Knoxville  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany shall  give  transfers  without  charge, 
the  use-  of  such  transfers  to  be  governed 
by  conditions  in  effect  prior  to  this  order. 

The  Knoxville  Railway  &  Light  Company 
shall  on  or  before  Aug.  1,  1921.  file  with 
this  commission  a  standard  schedule  of 
electric  light  and  power  rates. 

All  bills  rendered  for  electric  light  and 
power  consumed  during  the  month  of  July, 
1921.  and  billed  on  or  after  Aug.  1,  1921, 
shall  be  billed  at  the  rate  set  forth  in  the 
standard  schedule  of  rates  filed  with  the 
commission.  In  other  words,  rates  for  elec- 
tric light  and  power  shall  remain  as  at 
present,  except  in  those  cases,  whether  un- 
der contract  or  not  where  service  is  being 
rendered  at  more  or  less  than  standard 
rates,  the  rates  to  said  customers  being 
served  at  more  or  less  than  standard  rates 
shall  be  decreased  or  increased  to  conform 
to  standard  rates. 

The  company  shall  furnish  to  the  com- 
mission at  as  early  date  as  possible  a 
statement  showing  in  detail  the  cost  of 
the  appraisal  of  this  property,  segregating 
these  costs  as  between  engineers  and  their 
assistants,  employed  by  the  Knoxville  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  and  the  engineers 
and  assistants  representing  the  Tennessee 
Railroad  &  Public  Utilities  Commission. 
After  the  receipt  of  this  report  by  the 
commission  such  an  order  will  be  entered 
as  to  the  disposition  if  these  costs  as  may 
later  be  determined  by  the  commission. 

The  object  of  this  order  is  to  place  the 
operations  of  the  Railway  &  Light  Company 
on  a  service-at-cost  basis,  so  that  the 
patrons  of  the  company  shall  pay  for  serv- 
ice only  such  rates  as   will  provide  suffi- 


cient funds  to  pay  all  operating  expenses 
and  take  care  of  an  adequate  amount  of 
renewals  and  replacements  and  render  a 
reasonable  return  on  the  investment. 

The  commission  reserves  the  right  to 
amend  or  modify  this  order  from  time  to 
time  in  the  future  as  the  necessities  of  the 
case  may  demand. 

Accounts  of  the  Knoxville  valuation 
were  given  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  May  21,  1921,  page  970, 
and  Dec.  25,  1920,  page  1302. 

Six-Cent  Rate  to  Be  Continued 
One  Year 

The  6-cent  fare  for  the  Dallas  (Tex.) 
Railway  has  been  continued  in  effect 
under  an  ordinance  passed  by  the  City 
Commission  of  Dallas.  While  the 
traction  company  will  accept  the  new 
fare  ordinance,  according  to  Richard 
Meriwether,  vice-president  and  general 
manager,  the  terms  are  somewhat  dis- 
appointing and  the  company  has  not 
been  granted  just  what  it  had  asked 
for.  The  traction  company  had  sought 
a  continuance  of  the  6-cent  fare  for 
an  indefinite  period,  leaving  the  city 
to  revoke  it  at  any  time  the  commis- 
sioner might  see  fit.  However,  as 
adopted  the  fare  ordinance  continues 
the  6-cent  fare  for  a  period  of  twelve 
months  and  makes  no  provision  for  its 
continuation  beyond  that  date. 

According  to  Mr.  Meriwether,  the 
company  will  not  be  able  to  rehabil- 
itate its  finances  within  one  year, 
especially  when  there  is  no  guarantee 
of  income  after  one  year.  The  company 
will  accept  the  new  fare  ordinance, 
however,  Mr.  Meriwether  said,  with  a 
desire  to  co-operate  with  the  city  and 
do  everything  possible  to  improve  the 
street  car  service.  Reference  to  the 
company's  application  for  a  continua- 
tion of  the  6-cent  rate  was  made  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
June  25. 

Commission  Suspends  Rate 
Advance 

In  an  order  recently  issued,  the  Ore- 
gon Public  Service  Commission  sus- 
pended until  Oct.  1  operation  of  the 
new  tarilfs  increasing  the  fares  on  the 
lines  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company 
in  Salem,  Eugene  and  West  Linn.  The 
commission  announces  that  an  investi- 
gation would  be  prosecuted  to  deter- 
mine the  reasonableness  of  the  rates 
included  in  the  proposed  new  schedules. 
The  Salem  company  and  the  West  Linn 
company  propose  to  increase  single-ride 
fares  from  5  to  8  cents,  while  the 
Eugene  company,  in  addition  to  asking 
an  advance  from  5  to  8  cents  on  its 
city  lines,  sought  to  raise  the  rates 
between  Eugene  and  Springfield  from 
10  to  16  cents.  The  new  tariffs  would 
have  become  operative  July  1,  had  not 
the  order  been  issued.  The  application 
for  increased  rates  was  filed  with  the 
commission  several  months  ago,  the 
companies  claiming  at  that  time  a  7 
per  cent  return  on  the  investment. 


Emergency  Proved 

Court  Holds  New  Jersey  Company  Was 
Justified  in  Seeking  Ten-Cent  Rate 
— Difference  Over  Emergency 

Holding  that  the  increase  in  its  rate 
of  fare  from  7  cents  to  10  cents  sought 
by  the  Public  Service  Railway  was  in 
a  large  measure  justified,  the  New 
Jersey  Supreme  Court  on  July  1  handed 
down  an  opinion  setting  aside  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Board  of  Public  Utility 
Commissioners  denying  the  increase. 
The  court  also  remanded  the  case  back 
to  the  commission  for  further  con- 
sideration "in  order  that  it  may  fix  a 
just  and  reasonable  rate  based  on  the 
evidence  in  this  particular  proceeding." 

The  increase  to  10  cents  was  asked  as 
an  emergency  rate,  but  the  commission 
in  denying  the  application  held  that  the 
emergency  was  gradually  passing  with 
the  improvement  in  economic  condi- 
tions. Justice  Bergen,  who  wrote  the 
opinion  by  the  court,  maintained  that 
the  railway  was  entitled  to  sufficient 
revenue  to  relieve  its  straitened  finan- 
cial condition.    The  opinion  says: 

We  think  the  evidence  shows  conclusively 
that  a  considerable  part,  at  least,  is  just 
and  reasonable,  and  that  the  major  part 
is  required  to  pay  the  cost  of  operation 
and  maintenance,  and  that,  without  addi- 
tional income  to  make  required  repairs, 
they  cannot  be  made,  thereby  endangering 
the  lives  of  passengers. 

A  rate  which  does  not  provide  for  the 
depreciation  fund  imposed  by  the  board, 
nor  for  the  operating  expenses  of  the  utility 
company,  is  not,  in  our  judgment,  a  just 
and  reasonable  pate,  which  the  statute  con- 
templates. The  evidence  clearly  shows  that 
the  present  rate  under  existing  conditions 
will  bankrupt  the  company  as  well  as  en- 
danger the  lives  of  its  passengers  for  want 
of  funds  to  make  imperative  repairs.  To 
require  a  maintenance  fund  to  be  carried, 
and  at  the  same  time  refuse  an  income  to 
provide  it,  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  peculiar 
exercise  of  discretion  under  our  statute  re- 
lating to  the  power  of  fixing  rates. 

The  board  treats  the  situation  as  an 
emergency  that  soon  will  pass.  .  To  call 
this  situation  an  emergency  and  to  refuse 
relief  for  that  reason  is  giving  a  meaning 
to  the  word  emergency  which  neither  our 
statute  nor  adjudged  cases  warrants.  Why 
an  increased  tax,  enhanced  cost  of  labor, 
of  operation  and  of  necessary  repairs  should 
be  called  an  emergency  is  not  apparent  to 
us,  either  from  the  evidence,  or  conditions 
of  which  we  can  take  judicial  notice,  nor,  as 
the  board  did.  can  we  assume  that  other 
conditions  will  shortly  exist. 

Assuming  the  estimate  of  the  board  is 
correct,  there  will  be  a  deficit  of  $400,000 
if  the  service  is  to  be  efficient  and  safe  for 
the  public  use.  without  taking  into  account 
the  losses  for  1918,  1919  and  1920,  amount- 
ing to  more  than  $1,600,000.  If  this  be 
called  an  emergency  it  is  one  that  needs 
prompt  relief,  and  ought  not  to  be  post- 
poned until  the  board  has  reached  a  result 
in  another  case  involving  the  fixing  of  a 
just  and  reasonable  rate  based  on  valuation. 
The  prosecutor  is  entitled  to  cost  of  opera- 
tion and  fair  return  on  capital  invested, 
under  the  statute,  and  to  have  its  rights 
determined  on  the  case  made  by  it  in  this 
proceeding. 

Counsel  for  the  railway,  in  a  brief 
filed  on  July  5  with  the  Board  of  Public 
Utility  Commissioners  in  the  valuation 
case,  maintained  that  a  10-cent  fare  is 
the  lowest  that  the  company  can  charge 
to  meet  operating  expenses,  taxes,  re- 
placements and  pay  a  return  on  its 
stock.  The  company  places  the  value 
of  its  property  for  rate-making  pur- 
poses at  $200,898,906.  This  is  nearly 
$76,000,000  higher  than  the  valuation 
fixed  by  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  acting 
for  the  state  valuation  commission. 
The  brief  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
complete  ever  filed  in  a  rate-making 
case. 


74 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


Jitney  Competition  Not  Favored 

Connecticut  Commission  Believes  in  Protection  of  Existing  Transpor- 
tation Franchises  from  Unfair  Competition 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  of  Connecticut  has  denied  the  application  of 
W.  A.  Perrett  and  Christopher  Glenney,  brought  under  chapter  77  of  the  Public- 
Acts  of  1921  for  a  certificate  of  public  convenience  and  necessity  for  operation 
of  jitneys  in  competition  with  the  trolleys  and  steam  railroad  between  Hartford 
and  Manchester,  about  10  miles  distant.  Under  the  provision  of  this  act  jitneys 
are  named  common  carriers  and  become  subject  to  commission  jurisdiction  on 
and  after  July  15,  1921.  The  act  also  provides  that  no  one  shall  operate  a 
jitney  until  the  owner  has  obtained  a  certificate  from  the  Public  Utilities 
Commission  that  public  convenience  and  necessity  require  its  operation. 


SEVERAL  hundred  cases  were 
brought  before  the  commission  dur- 
ing the  month  of  June.  The  first 
case  heard  involved  many  issues  applic- 
able to  other  cases  and  in  the  decision 
the  commission  outlines  the  general 
principles  controlling  their  action, 
although  some  of  the  principles  do  not 
pertain  specifically  to  this  case. 

Jitney  Fare  Lowest 

The  rates  of  fare  between  Hartford 
and  Manchester  are  33  cents  for  the 
steam  railroad,  20  cents  on  the  trolley 
by  use  of  a  ticket,  or  30  cents  cash  with 
a  free  transfer  in  each  case,  as  compared 
to  a  15-cent  fare  on  the  jitney  without 
transfer  to  other  lines. 

The  existing  transportation  facilities, 
the  commission  found,  were  capable  of 
handling  all  the  passenger  traffic  be- 
tween Hartford  and  Manchester,  al- 
though the  record  of  rush  hour  service 
on  the  trolleys  prior  to  the  advent  of 
the  jitneys  did  show  some  overcrowd- 
ing. The  present  record,  however, 
shows  many  vacant  trolley  seats  and 
many  trolley  cars  operated  at  a  loss. 

The  question  of  public  convenience 
and  necessity  as  between  competing 
jitneys  and  street  railway  service  over 
the  same  route  is  clearly  raised.  The 
street  railway  is  operated  under  a 
franchise  granted  by  the  state,  and  it 
has  been  the  legislative  policy  of  the 
state  to  protect  such  franchises  and  re- 
fuse competing  franchises  in  the  orig- 
inal franchise  territory  so  long  as  such 
territory  is  being  reasonably  and  ade- 
quately served  under  the  original  grant. 

Adequate  Service  the  Criterion 

A  certificate  of  public  convenience 
and  necessity  for  jitney  operation,  the 
commission  says,  is  in  the  nature  of  a 
franchise,  but  without  the  correspond- 
ing obligations  of  permanency  and  con- 
tinuity of  service  on  the  part  of  the  re- 
cipient that  is  imposed  upon  the  chart- 
ered utility  companies.  The  granting 
of  a  certificate  for  jitney  operation  in- 
volves to  a  limited  extent  the  same 
principles  as  a  legislative  grant  to  a 
proposed  street  railway  in  competition 
with  already  existing  franchises.  Such 
a  competitive  franchise  should  not  be 
granted  if  the  existing  franchised  com- 
pany is  willing  and  capable  of  giving 
adequate  service  at  reasonable  rates. 

There  then  arises  the  question  as  to 
what  extent  the  different  forms  of 
transportation,  the  speed,  the  rates  of 
fare  on  the  jitneys,  affect  the  adequacy 


of  service  and  the  fulfillment  of  the  re- 
quirements of  public  convenience  and 
necessity  by  the  street  railway  com- 
pany. At  the  hearings  it  was  not 
claimed  that  there  was  greater  or  even 
equal  comfort  riding  in  a  jitney  bus 
compared  to  a  trolley  car.  It  was 
shown,  however,  that  the  jitney  made 
quicker  time  and  charged  a  lower  rate 
of  fare.  The  speed,  however,  with  jit- 
neys, the  commission  holds,  having  a 
seating  capacity  of  twelve  or  more 
passengers  is  not  materially  greater 
than  the  speed  of  the  trolley  car. 

The  tendency  of  jitney  fares  will  un- 
doubtedly be  upward  when  a  scientific- 
count  is  kept  of  operating  revenues  and 
expenses,  while  the  tendency  in  trolley 
fares  should  be  downward,  particularly 
for  short  haul  passengers.  The  controll- 
ing influences  should  be  the  general 
public  good  and  the  general  public  re- 
quirements rather  than  individual  con- 
venience and  the  desire  to  engage  in 
business. 

It  is  not  disputed  that  the  street 
railways  are  absolutely  essential, 
neither  was  it  claimed  that  jitneys 
could  supply  the  entire  service  required. 

In  cases  where  the  operation  of  jit- 
ney service  would  result  in  the  discon- 
tinuance and  abandonment  of  the  trol- 
ley service  otherwise  possible  to  exist, 
the  commission  will  be  inclined  to  re- 
fuse a  certificate  of  public  convenience 
and  necessity  until  the  substitute  serv- 
ice shows  more  stability  and  perma- 
nency than  at  present.  Even  when  a 
part  of  the  proposed  jitney  route  is 
through  territory  not  otherwise  served, 
if  this  route  as  a  whole  is  competing 
with  and  destructive  of  trolley  service, 
the  application  should  be  denied,  pro- 
vided the  street  railway  company  is 
capable  and  willing  to  supply  adequate 
service.  It  would  be  highly  desirable 
to  have  connecting  jitney  service  in  such 
unserved  territory. 

However,  where  the  traffic  demands 
have  outgrown  the  capacity  of  existing 
transportation  facilities  or  where  there 
is  no  other  form  of  transportation  there 
can  be  no  question  but  that  public  con- 
venience and  necessity  would  require 
additional  or  supplementary  jitney 
service. 

The  public  good  requires  permanency 
and  continuity  of  service,  which  cannot 
be  reasonably  guaranteed  by  the  nu- 
merous applicants  for  certificates  to 
operate  jitneys.  If  such  operation 
proves  to  be  unremunerative  and  im- 
practicable it  may  be  discontinued  at 


any  time  by  the  holder  of  the  certifi- 
cate, but  in  the  meantime  the  trolley 
may  be  driven  into  bankrutpcy,  dis- 
mantled and  the  general  public  de- 
prived of  all  forms  of  transportation. 

To  substantiate  this  argument  the 
policy  of  the  Pennsylvania  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  is  quoted  in  the  case 
of  the  Commonwealth  Transportation 
Company,  which  wanted  to  operate  mo- 
tor vehicles  in  competition  with  the 
trolleys  in  Scranton. 

Certificate  of  Service  Over  Given 
Route 

Where  an  existing  or  proposed  jitney 
route  parallels  the  tracks  of  a  steam 
railroad  company,  and  in  thus  compet- 
ing with  the  service  rendered  by  that 
company,  but  on  account  of  the  limited 
number  of  trains,  public  convenience 
and  necessity  require  jitney  operation, 
consideration  should  be  given  to  grant- 
ing the  certificate,  to  location  of  ter- 
mini, and  fixing  of  schedules.  Jitney 
operation  as  a  rule  is  without  certain 
facilities,  but  this  fact  should  not 
authorize  the  operators  to  utilize  the 
station  and  station  grounds  of  their 
competitors  to  run  a  schedule  coincident 
with  their  train  schedule. 

The  commission  is  of  the  opinion 
where  a  single  person,  association  or 
corporation  is  capable,  willing  and 
equipped  to  supply  the  entire  necessary 
service  over  a  given  route  that  it  is 
for  the  interest  of  the  public  as  well 
as  for  proper  public  regulation  to  grant 
a  certificate  to  any  person,  association 
or  corporation  for  the  entire  necessary 
service  over  a  route  rather  than  to 
issue  certificates  to  the  several  differ- 
ent applicants  thereby  distributing  the 
service,  complicating  the  schedules,  and 
dividing  the  responsibility. 

For  the  rendition  of  good  utility 
service,  the  party  supplying  the  service 
must  receive  a  fair  financial  return  and 
also  be  protected  against  unnecessary 
destructive  competition.  If  no  one  ap- 
plicant is  capable  or  willing  to  sup- 
ply the  entire  service,  it  then  becomes 
necessary,  of  course,  to  grant  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  certificates  to  supply 
the  necessary  service. 

Selection  of  Applicants 

Where  several  parties  apply  for  a 
certificate  over  the  same  route  each  of 
which  is  capable,  willing  and  equipped 
to  supply  the  entire  necessary  service 
on  that  route,  it  becomes  the  task  of 
the  commission  to  determine  the  party 
who  in  its  opinion  would  supply  and 
maintain  such  service. 

The  commission  in  determining  or  se- 
lecting such  a  party  will  take  into  con- 
sideration the  financial  responsibility, 
the  past  record  of  the  applicant  and 
his  employees,  the  rendition  of  jitney 
service,  the  type  and  general  mainte- 
nance of  equipment,  and  so  far  as  may 
be  expressed,  the  public  sentiment  of 
the  people  in  the  community  or  terri- 
tory to  be  served.  Public  sentiment  is 
important  to  the  extent  of  affording 
good  will,  which  is  essential  for  the  suc- 
cessful operation  and  conduct  of  any 
public  utility. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


75 


City  Firm  in  Stand  Against 
Railways 

The  committee  of  citizens  which  at- 
tempted to  bring  about  a  settlement 
of  the  fare  controversy  between  the  two 
street  car  systems  of  Spokane  and  the 
City  Commissioners  failed  to  get  the 
commissioners  to  concede  anything 
although  they  secured  from  the  railway 
people  the  promise  of  a  7-cent  fare  with 
five  tickets  for  35  cents.  The  city  com- 
missioners over  the  protests  of  a  large 
number  of  citizens  have  issued  permits 
to  62  jitneys  to  cover  some  ten  routes, 
this  being  in  retaliation  for  the  8-cent 
fare  authorized  by  the  State  Commis- 
sion to  be  charged  by  the  electric  rail- 
ways. Only  a  partial  service  can  be 
maintained  at  present.  The  case  was 
viewed  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal for  July  2. 

Many  opinions  have  been  expressed 
condemning  the  action  of  the  city 
authorities.  D.  L.  Huntington,  presi- 
dent of  the  Washington  Water  Power 
Company,  sent  a  statement  to  his  em  - 
ployees in  which  he  reviewed  the  fare 
controversy,  the  offer  of  the  company 
and  the  flat  refusal  by  the  city.  He 
also  quoted  the  public  statement  of  tha 
Chamber  of  Commerce  in  which  it  is 
said  that  "the  car  lines  have  shown  a 
disposition  to  be  fair  and  meet  every 
reasonable  suggestion." 


More  Bus  Routes  Planned 

At  the  hearing  to  grant  certificates 
for  convenience  and  necessity  for  the 
operation  of  independent  motor  bus 
routes  held  in  Waterbury  on  June  30 
the  Connecticut  Company  announced 
its  readiness  to  operate  two  supple- 
mental bus  routes  to  serve  territories 
not  now  reached  by  trolley  service.  The 
fare  on  these  bus  routes  will  be  the 
same  as  if  they  were  served  by  rail  serv- 
ice. Free  transfers  will  be  inter- 
changed. 

Hearings  were  also  held  during  the 
week  at  New  Haven,  Norwalk  and 
Stamford,  but  only  in  Waterbury  does 
the  railway  believe  that  motor  bus 
service  is  essential  to  the  transporta- 
tion needs  of  the  community. 

President  Storrs  said  that  it  was 
only  by  having  the  sole  right  to  do 
business  that  the  railway  company 
could  give  the  best  service.  Chief  of 
Police  P.  H.  Smith  of  New  Haven 
recommended  that  if  the  jitneys  were 
allowed  to  operate  they  be  barred  from 
the  center  of  the  city. 

Paul  Russo,  a  real  estate  operator, 
who  had  a  land  development  in  the  ter- 
ritory formerly  served  by  the  Shore 
Line  Eailway,  favored  barring  jitneys 
where  the  Connecticut  Company  ren- 
dered adequate  service.  He  pointed 
out  that  while  the  people  complained 
of  the  Shore  Line  service,  the  minute 
the  service  was  halted  they  demanded 
its  restoration. 

Vice-President  E.  G.  Buckland  of 
the  New  Haven  Railroad  opposed  the 
operation  of  suburban  motor  bus  routes 
to  Hartford,  Derby  and  Bridgeport  and 
immediate  points. 


Transportation  | 
News  Notes 

Bus  Service  Started. — The  Delaware 
Rapid  Transit  Company  has  started  a 
new  motor-bus  line  connecting  Dela- 
ware City,  Del.,  with  Wilmington. 
Hourly  trips  are  made. 

Zone  Fare  Raised. — The  new  10-cent 
zone  rate  is  in  effect  on  the  Milford, 
Attleboro  &  Woonsocket  Street  Rail- 
way's line  which  connects  with  the 
Rhode  Island  Company's  line  in  Woon- 
socket. The  old  rate  was  7  cents  for 
single  fares.  Strip  books  are  provided, 
giving  thirteen  trips  for  $1. 

Rules  in  Favor  of  Railway. — The  City 
Commission  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  has  de- 
feated the  resolution  introduced  by 
Mayor  Donnelly  calling  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  jitney  line  on  the  streets 
of  Trenton.  The  commission  declared 
that  jitneys  would  injure  the  traction 
company  by  decreasing  its  revenue. 

Wins  Fare  Suit.— The  Paducah  (Ky.) 
Railway  will  continue  to  collect  a  10-cent 
fare  as  the  result  of  a  recent  decision 
of  Federal  Judge  Walter  Evans,  making 
permanent  an  injunction  against  the 
city,  which  sought  to  hold  the  fare  at 
6  cents.  The  city,  however,  may  re- 
duce the  fare  after  the  franchise  ex- 
pires in  October,  1921,  if  an  examina- 
tion of  its  earnings  shows  the  10-cent 
fare  is  excessive. 

One-Man  Cars  in  Cleveland. — The 
Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway  began  oper- 
ating forty-two  of  its  standard  double- 
truck  cars  with  one  man  about  June  1. 
These  cars  are  being  run  on  some  out- 
lying lines  and  on  one  cross-town  line 
where  the  traffic  is  light.  Because  of 
the  high  number  of  stops  per  mile  on 
this  cross-town  line,  the  average  sched- 
ule speed  is  only  about  5  m.p.h.,  and  the 
service  as  provided  with  one  man  on 
a  car  has  been  satisfactory. 

May  Solve  Traffic  Troubes. — One  step 
looking  toward  the  solution  of  the  traf- 
fic problem  in  Newark  was  reached  re- 
cently in  the  form  of  a  tentative  ordi- 
nance which  will  be  introduced  at  the 
City  Commission's  meeting.  This  or- 
dinance is  the  result  of  the  efforts  of 
Director  Brennan,  Traffic  Captain  Mc- 
Reil  and  a  special  committee  of  busi- 
ness men.  The  new  traffic  code  will  put 
an  end  to  all-day  parking  which  is  con- 
sidered the  cause  of  the  street  conges- 
tion and  subsequent  interruption  of 
traffic. 

Automobiles  Lead  in  Fatal  Accidents. 
Deaths  resulting  from  automobile  acci- 
dents in  California  for  the  last  three 
years,  and  for  the  first  four  months  of 
1921,  totaled  2,305,  as  compared  with 
1,472  persons  killed  in  all  other  vehicles, 
including  steam  and  electric  railroads 
and  street  railways,  according  to  figures 
made  public  on  June  24,  1921,  by  L.  E. 
Rodd,  State  Registrar  and  Director  of 
the  Bureau  of  Vital   Statistics.  The 


deaths  from  automobile  accidents  for 
the  past  three  years  and  the  first  four 
months  of  1921,  were  as  follows:  1918, 
559;  1919,  685;  1920,  804;  1921,  257. 

P.  A.  Y.  E.  on  All  Lines. — To  establish 
a  uniform  system  of  collecting  fares 
on  all  cars  of  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio) 
Traction  Company,  William  Jerome 
Kuertz,  Director  of  Street  Railways, 
has  announced  the  "pay-as-you-enter" 
system  will  be  extended  to  all  lines. 
The  present  system  of  paying  when 
leaving  the  cars,  in  vogue  on  certain 
lines,  has  caused  considerable  confusion, 
Mr.  Kuertz  announced.  It  also  has 
caused  delays  at  the  end  of  the  routes 
and  has  multiplied  the  worries  of  the 
conductors.  Before  any  final  determi- 
nation will  be  made,  however,  Mr. 
Kuertz  said,  the  question  will  be  taken 
up  at  a  conference  with  the  traction 
officials. 

Fare  Issue  Before  U.  S.  Court.— The 

Galveston  fare  fight  will  be  carried  to 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  An 
order  granting  an  appeal  to  the  High- 
est Tribunal  has  been  filed  in  the  United 
States  Court  at  Galveston.  The  suit  is 
styled  Galveston  Electric  Company  vs. 
The  City  of  Galveston.  The  railway  is 
seeking  relief  from  what  is  declared  to 
be  a  confiscatory  fare  charge.  An  in- 
junction against  enforcement  of  a  city 
ordinance  prohibiting  the  collection  of 
more  than  5  cents  as  car  fare  is  sought 
by  the  railway,  which  recently  lost  its 
fight  in  the  United  States  District  Court 
for  the  Southern  District  of  Texas  at 
Houston  when  Judge  J.  C.  Hutcheson 
held  that  the  5-cent  fare  order  is  not 
confiscatory,  but  that  the  earnings  of 
the  railway  under  the  5-cent  fare  are 
adequate.  In  holding  the  5-cent  fare 
adequate  Judge  Hutcheson  overruled  the 
master  in  chancery,  Judge  J.  0.  Danne- 
baum. 

Increased  Rates  Approved. — An  in- 
crease in  fare  from  5  to  7  cents  in  each 
of  the  zones  of  the  Burlington  County 
Transit  Company,  operating  between 
Moorestown  and  Burlington,  N.  J.,  has 
been  sanctioned  by  the  Public  Utility 
Commission.  Rates  for  school  children 
heretofore  in  effect  are  continued.  Chil- 
dren under  five  years  when  accom- 
panied by  an  adult  paying  fare  will  be 
carried  free.  Children  over  five  years 
must  pay  full  fare.  Inauguration  of 
the  increased  fare  is  subject  to  im- 
proved service,  especially  on  the  branch 
between  Borton's  Landing  bridge  and 
Moorestown.  Small  dividends  had  been 
paid  during  the  past  three  years,  but 
these  had  been  paid  from  earnings  ac- 
cumulated during  previous  years.  The 
board  said  that  this  company  had  never 
been  able  properly  to  maintain  its  prop- 
erty, and  in  1910,  owing  to  inability  to 
pay  interest,  the  road  was  sold  at  re- 
ceiver's sale,  the  bondholders  purchas- 
ing the  property  for  $120,000.  It  was 
testified  for  the  board  that  the  prop- 
erty was  worth  the  amount  of  bonds 
paid  for  it,  which  at  that  time  had  a 
face  value  of  $400,000.  The  company 
also  submitted  an  appraisal  of  its  prop- 
erty showing  original  cost  of  $343,004. 
and  reproduction  cost  of  $530,911. 


76 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


S.  S.  Colvin  is  the  successor  of  R. 
Kingseed  as  electrical  engineer,  master 
mechanic  and  engineer  of  overhead  con- 
struction of  the  Tiffin,  Fostoria  &  East- 
ern Electric  Railway,  Tiffin,  Ohio. 

Wilfred  E.  Ervin  is  now  connected 
with  the  Trenton,  Bristol  &  Philadel- 
phia Street  Railway,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
as  secretary.  J.  Elliott  Newlin  was 
previously  with  the  railway  in  this  ca- 
pacity. 

J.  L.  DuVall  is  the  successor  of  John 
P.  Dake,  master  mechanic  of  the  Sioux 
Falls  (S.  D.)  Traction  Company  and 
L.  S.  Smith  has  become  engineer  of 
maintenance  of  way  following  the  res- 
ignation of  William  Adams. 

A.  F.  Jones  was  recently  appointed 
general  freight  and  passenger  agent  of 
the  Columbus,  Delaware  &  Marion  Elec- 
tric Company,  Columbus,  Ohio.  George 
H.  Dusler  formerly  held  this  position 
with  the  company. 

J.  Edgar  Reed  has  recently  been  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  the  Shamokin 
&  Mt.  Carmel  Transit  Company,  Mt. 
Carmel,  Pa.  A.  Howard  Thomas,  Jr., 
formerly  superintendent  and  purchas- 
ing agent,  is  no  longer  connected  with 
the  company. 

T.  A.  Darrow  was  recently  appointed 
superintendent  of  the  Northeast  Okla- 
homa Railroad,  Miami,  Okla.,  as  the 
successor  to  E.  M.  Tanner.  L.  M. 
Greene  is  no  longer  connected  with  the 
company  as  master  mechanic,  E.  M. 
Applegate  having  been  selected  for  this 
position. 

I).  G.  Callihan  has  been  promoted 
from  superintendent  and  purchasing- 
agent  to  general  manager  of  the  Web- 
ster, Monessen,  Belle  Vernon  &  Fay- 
ette City  Street  Railway  and  the  West- 
side  Electric  Street  Railway,  Charleroi, 
Pa.  The  roads  were  formerly  managed 
by  the  president,  C.  F.  Thompson. 

W.  Y.  Hill,  manager  of  the  California 
Electric  Railway  Association,  has  been 
appointed  representative  at  Washing- 
ton of  the  joint  tax  committee  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association, 
American  Gas  Association  and  the  Na- 
tional Electric  Light  Association,  ac- 
cording to  announcement  made  by 
Philip  H.  Gadsden,  chairman  of  the 
committee.  Mr.  Hill  is  well  known 
because  of  his  active  participation  in 
association  affairs.  During  the  war  he 
was  assistant  manager  of  the  Amer- 
ican Electric  Railway  War  Board  and 
before  that  was  Washington  represen- 
tative of  the  California  Electric  Rail- 
way Association.  When  the  War  Board 
was  disbanded,  Mr.  Hill  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  Washington  office  of  the 
A.  E.  R.  A.  under  the  committee  of 
national  relations.  Owing,  however, 
to  the  urgency  of  his  duties  with  the 
California  association  he  resigned  in 
May,  1919,  to  return  to  the  Pacific 
Coast. 


F.  Hoffman  has  succeeded  J.  Morton 
as  auditor  of  the  City  Railway  Com- 
pany, Dayton,  Ohio. 

W.  F.  West  has  resigned  as  master 
mechanic  of  the  Newport  (R.  I.)  County 
Electric  Company.  At  present  the  po- 
sition is  still  vacant. 


Mr.  Fallon  Promoted  Again 

As   General   Manager  of  the  Chicago 
Elevated  He  Relieves  President  Budd 
of  Many  Responsibilities 

For  the  second  time  within  a  period 
a  little  longer  than  a  year  Bernard  J. 
Fallon,  assistant  general  manager  of 
the  Chicago  Elevated  Railways,  has 
received  promotion.  He  has  just  been 
made  general  manager  and  his  duties 


B.  J.  Fallon 


and  responsibilities  have  been  broad- 
ened so  as  to  relieve  President  Britton 
I.  Budd  of  a  large  share  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  operating  the  elevated  rail- 
ways, the  fast  interurban  roads  and 
other  electric  railway  properties. 

Mr.  Fallon  held,  until  his  promotion 
to  assistant  general  manager  in  April, 
1920,  the  position  of  engineer  mainte- 
nance of  way.  His  operating  experience 
with  the  Chicago  Elevated  Railroad  has 
extended  over  a  period  of  fourteen 
years.  In  June,  1907,  he  was  appointed 
engineer  maintenance  of  way  of  the 
old  Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated 
Railroad.  After  two  years  in  this 
capacity  he  was  made  assistant  general 
manager  of  the  same  road  under  Brit- 
ton I.  Budd,  then  general  manager. 
When  the  several  elevated  railways  of 
Chicago  were  consolidated  and  Mr.  Budd 
became  president  of  the  combined  sys- 
tem in  1911,  Mr.  Fallon  was  made  en- 
gineer maintenance  of  way,  with  juris- 
diction over  all  these  combined  prop- 
erties. Some  time  later  his  authority 
was  extended  to  include  the  Chicago, 
North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad, 
the  operation  of  which  had  been  taken 
over  by  Mr.  Budd  for  the  Insull  inter- 
ests. 


Mr.  Fallon  was  born  on  Aug.  10,  1880, 
at  Rutland,  111.  His  experience  and 
training  for  his  work  with  the  elevated 
systems  were  gained  largely  in  the 
steam  railroad  field.  After  receiving 
a  B.  S.  Degree  from  La  Salle  Institute, 
Chicago,  in  1898,  he  became  a  rodman 
with  the  Burlington  Railroad.  During 
the  following  eight  years  he  held  the 
position  of  assistant  engineer,  division 
engineer  and  finally  engineer  of  track 
elevation  in  Chicago.  Since  his  connec- 
tion with  the  elevated  systems  he  has 
served  on  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Engineering  Association  way  com- 
mittee. He  is  a  member  and  a  director 
of  the  Chicago  Engineers  Club  and  a 
member  of  the  Western  Society  of  En- 
gineers. 

As  was  previously  stated,  the  more 
intimate  details  of  operation  will  now 
fall  on  Mr.  Fallon.  That  he  is  well 
qualified  to  shoulder  these  additional 
burdens  and  make  an  eminent  success 
as  an  operator,  one  needs  but  examine 
his  past  record  of  efficiency  and  of  rapid 
promotion. 


Obituary 


George  J.  Foran,  manager  of  the  con- 
denser department  of  the  Worthington 
Pump  &  Machinery  Corporation  and 
the  associated  companies  of  the  Inter- 
national Steam  Pump  Company,  since 
1901,  died  on  May  12.  During  the 
war  Mr.  Foran  was  a  member  of  the 
committee  on  condensing  apparatus  of 
the  United  States  Shipping  Board  and 
War  Industries  Board  and  also  chair- 
man of  the  American  Engineering 
Service  Committee  of  Engineering 
Council. 

Edward  Payson  Shaw  is  dead.  Mr. 
Shaw  was  well  known  in  electric  rail- 
way circles,  more  particularly  in 
Massachusetts.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
to  become  convinced  of  the  practical 
use  of  electricity  and  made  large  in- 
vestments in  electric  plants.  He 
equipped  with  electricity  the  Haverhill, 
Merrimack  &  Amesbury  Railway.  An- 
other road  in  which  Mr.  Shaw  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Shaw  family  were  interested 
was  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Street 
Railway.  In  recent  years  he  had  con- 
fined his  activities  largely  to  real 
estate  developments.  All  through  his 
active  business  career  Mr.  Shaw  re- 
tained his  interests  in  politics  and 
served  the  state  of  Massachusetts  in 
many  capacities,  among  them  treasurer 
of  the  Commonwealth.  He  was  born  in 
Newburyport  in  1841  and  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  there  and  at  the 
academy  at  London,  N.  H.  He  went 
into  business  at  an  early  age  and  soon 
became  interested  in  various  transporta- 
tion undertakings.  Mr.  Shaw  is  sur- 
vived by  two  sons.  James  F.  Shaw  and 
Samuel  J.  Shaw,  and  by  several 
daughters.  His  son  James  F.  Shaw, 
now  in  the  banking  business  in  New 
York,  is  a  former  president  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association. 


July  9,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


77 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 


DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Steel  Companies  Again 
Reduce  Steel  Rates 

Lead  of  Bethlehem  Company  on  July  5 
Followed    by    Other  Independents 
and  by  Corporation  on  July  6 

Effective  July  5,  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company  has  further  reduced  its  steel 
products  in  amounts  varying:  from  $4 
a  ton  to  $10  a  ton.  The  change  in  bars 
is  from  2.10  cents  to  1.90  cents;  plates 
and  structural  shapes,  2.20  cents  to 
2.00  cents;  sheet  bar,  $39  to  $35;  billets, 
4x4,  $37  to  $33;  slabs,  $38  to  $34; 
blue  annealed  sheets,  2.85  cents  to  2.65 
cents;  black  sheets,  3.75  cents  to  3.50 
cents;  galvanized  sheets,  4.75  cents  to 
4.50  cents;  tin  plate,  $6.25  to  $5.75. 
The  former  price  change  was  on  April 
13.  Previously  the  Bethlehem  company 
had  announced  a  15  per  cent  reduction 
in  wage  scales  and  a  10  per  cent  re 
duction  in  salaries  of  employees,  effec- 
tive July  16. 

E.  G.  Grace,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, in  his  announcement  declares 
that  present  manufacturing  costs  do  not 
in  any  sense  warrant  reductions,  but 
that  his  company  desires  to  contribute 
even  more  than  its  full  share  to  re- 
establish conditions  in  the  steel  trade 
on  what  may  be  regarded  as  a  normal 
basis.  He  attributes  the  increase  in 
freight  rates  as  the  largest  factor  in 
increasing  the  cost  of  manufacturing- 
steel  products,  with  materials  and 
labor  as  the  cost  factors  next  in  im- 
portance. 

These  reductions  wei-e  followed  by 
most  other  independent  steel  producers 
early  in  the  week,  and  on  July  6  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation  an- 
nounced a  similar  reduction  in  its  prod- 
ucts. Judge  Gary  also  announced  the 
abrogation  of  the  so-called  basic  or  over- 
time day,  which  in  effect  is  a  lowering 
of  wage  scales  about  15  per  cent  on 
those  men  working  twelve  hours  a  day, 
effective  July  16. 


Hickory  Tool  Handles  Cut 
15  to  20  per  Cent 

Manufacturers  of  wooden  tool  han- 
dles just  recently  reduced  prices  on 
hickory  an  average  of  about  15  to  20 
per  cent,  the  cheaper  grades  of  wood 
being  reduced  the  most.  Ash  handles 
were  also  cut  about  10  per  cent,  it  is 
stated.  Some  producers  put  these  de- 
creases in  effect  as  early  as  the  first 
of  last  month,  others  not  until  within 
the  past  two  or  three  weeks. 

The  market  during  the  first  half  of 
this  year  has  held  a  very  quiet  course 
and  at  present  there  is  not  much  ac- 
tivity with  steam  or  electric  roads 
either  here  or  abroad,  as  consumers 
have  been  fairly  well  stocked  up  since 
last  year.     Some  producers  expect  a 


change  for  the  better  this  fall;  others 
can  see  nothing  ahead  until  next 
spring.  Dealers  and  jobbers  are  buy- 
ing from  hand  to  mouth  and  have  light 
stocks  on  the  whole.  Producers  of 
wooden  handles  have  fairly  good  stocks 
as  supplies  dumped  on  them  by  can- 
cellations have  not  been  worked  off. 
Consequently,  immediate  shipments  can 
be  made.  The  best  grade  of  hickory 
wood,  however,  is  becoming  scarce,  it 
is  stated,  partly  because  the  automo- 
bile industry  has  for  long  been  mak- 
ing such  inroads  on  the  supply.  Pro- 
duction is  down  low;  about  25  per  cent 
of  normal  capacity  would  probably  be 
a  representative  figure. 

Strong  Volume  of  Lubri- 
cation Buying 

Unlimited  Supply  Available  as  Stocks 
of  Crude  Oil  Are  Large — Prices 
Down  45  per  Cent 

Buying  of  lubricants  by  electric  rail- 
ways holds  up  very  well  according  to 
producers.  Steam  railroad  demand  has 
been  flat  for  a  long  time,  for  with 
slack  general  business  conditions  fewer 
cars  are  operated,  but  electric  traction 
companies  must,  of  course,  maintain 
their  service  even  at  a  loss. 

The  supply  of  lubricating  oils  and 
greases  is  better  now  than  virtually 
any  time  since  the  war.  Producers' 
stocks  are  large  and  crude  oil  has  piled 
up  at  refineries  to  such  an  extent  that 
it  has  been  necessary  to  take  a  loss  to 
move  stocks.  Some  of  this  surplus  will 
now  find  an  outlet  through  the  automo- 
bile trade,  which  has  been  expanding 
ever  since  the  opening  of  summer  and 
now  shapes  up  as  a  strong  market,  es- 
pecially for  fuel  oil.  In  the  fall  this 
business  will  naturally  fall  off  again, 
but  electric  railway  demand  is  expected 
to  hold  its  own.  Traction  companies 
are  buying  close  to  their  requirements 
and,  as  usual,  are  not  stocking  ahead, 
but  the  low  point  of  decreased  revenue 
from  depression  in  the  industrial  cen- 
ters has  been  passed  and  from  now  on 
summer  travel  to  vacation  resorts  and 
to  the  amusement  parks  will  make  itself 
felt. 

Price  is  the  only  point  upon  which 
consumers  have  hesitated  and  this  has 
been  felt  to  some  extent  where  re- 
newals of  contracts  for  lubrication  on  a 
mileage  basis  have  been  made,  but  in 
general  no  more  difficulty  than  usual  has 
been  experienced  in  renewing  con- 
tracts. Prices  of  oil  are  well  down,  the 
average  general  reduction  from  peak 
quotations  on  railway  lubricants  being 
about  45  per  cent.  As  recently  as  the 
middle  of  June  one  of  the  largest  pro- 
ducers reduced  prices  20  per  cent  and 
on  June  28  another  made  a  cut  of  about 
10  per  cent. 


Tariffs  on  Electrical  Goods 
Provided  in  New  Bill 

Wire,  Poles,  Ties,  Insulating  Materials, 
Brushes,  Axles,  Wheels  and  Metals 
Among  Items  Affected 

The  Fordney  tariff  bill,  designed  to 
afford  full  protection  to  American  in- 
dustries, was  formally  reported  into  the 
House  of  Representatives  on  June  28. 
It  is  thought  that  under  this  measure 
duties  will  be  in  the  neighborhood  of 
30  per  cent  higher  than  under  the  exist- 
ing tariff.  Splitting  of  duties  is  com- 
mon and  the  American  valuation  plan 
is  the  basis  of  lists.  Paragraphs  refer- 
ring to  the  electrical  industry  are 
printed  below: 

Mica,  unmanufactured  or  rough-trim- 
med only,  6  cents  per  pound  and  17 
per  cent  ad  valorem;  cut  or  trimmed, 
splittings,  plates,  built-up  mica  and  all 
manufactures  of  mica  or  of  which  mica 
is  the  component  material  of  chief 
value,  12  cents  per  pound  and  17  per 
cent  ad  valorem ;  ground  mica,  6  cents 
per  pound  and  20  per  cent  ad  valorem. 

Carbons  and  electrodes  of  whatever 
material  composed  and  wholly  and 
partly  manufactured,  for  producing 
electric  arc  light;  electrodes  of  carbon 
or  graphite  for  electric  furnace  or  elec- 
trolytic purposes:  brushes  for  electric 
motors,  generators,  etc.;  plates,  rods 
and  other  forms  for  making  into 
brushes;  other  wares  not  especially  pro- 
vided for,  35  per  cent  ad  valorem. 

Incandescent  electric  light  bulbs  and 
lamps,  with  or  without  filament,  35  per 
cent  ad  valorem. 

Storage  batteries  and  parts  and 
materials,  30  per  cent  ad  valorem. 

Anti-friction  balls  and  rollers  for  ball 
and  roller  bearings,  and  parts,  35  per 
cent  ad  valorem. 

Aluminum,  scrap  and  alloys  in  crude 
form,  5  cents  per  pound;  in  plates, 
sheets,  bars,  etc.,  9  cents. 

Copper  wire  not  coated  nor  covered 
and  also  tin-coated,  1J  cents  per  pound; 
in  rolls,  rods  or  sheets,  2J  cents;  seam- 
less tubing,  7  cents;  brazed  tubing,  11 
cents;  brass  wire,  rods,  sheets,  etc.,  4 
cents  per  pound;  seamless  tubing,  8 
cents. 

Telephone,  light,  power  or  railway 
poles  of  cedar  or  other  woods,  and  rail- 
road ties,  10  per  cent  ad  valorem. 

Asbestos  paper  and  millboard  of 
long-fiber  asbestos  and  electrical  papers 
not  exceeding  0.05  in.  thick,  8  cents 
per  pound;  of  other,  asbestos  fibers,  11 
cents;  sheets  and  plates  not  exceeding 
1  in.  thick,  1  cent  per  square  foot,  up 
to  2h  cents  for  over  J-in.  thickness. 

Electrical  insulators  and  other  ar- 
ticles wholly  or  partly  or  in  chief  value 
of  shellac,  copal  or  synthetic  phenolic 
resin,  not  especially  provided  for,  30 
per  cent  ad  valorem. 

Portland,  Roman  and  other  hydraulic 
cement  in  barrels,  etc.,  takes  5  cents 
per  100  pounds;  in  bulk,  4  cents;  other 
cement  not  specifically  provided  for 
takes  17  per  cent  ad  valorem. 

Axles  and  parts  thereof,  axle  bars, 
etc.,  valued  at  not  move  than  6  cents 
per     pound,     six-tenths     of     1  cent 


78 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2 


per  pound.  Wheels  for  railway  pur- 
poses and  parts  thereof,  of  iron  or 
steel  or  steel-tired,  1  cent  per  pound. 
Axles  attached  to  wheels  take  wheel 
duty. 

Railway  fish  plates  or  splice  bars 
made  of  iron  or  steel,  1  cent  per  pound; 
all  other  railway  bars  of  iron  or  steel, 
T-rails  and  punched  iron  or  steel, 
flat  rails,  7/40  cent  per  pound. 


Brake  Shoe  Prices  Again  Down 

Little  change  is  evident  in  the  market 
for  brake  shoes  in  so  far  as  demand 
is  concerned.  Buying  continues  light, 
with  railways  ordering  close  to  their 
requirements  and  not  stocking  far 
ahead.  Replacement  buying  by  steam 
roads  is  especially  slack  because  fewer 
freight  cars  are  being  operated  owing 
to  the  low  volume  of  business. 

Prices  are  again  down,  one  of  the 
leading  producers  having  reduced  quo- 
tations $2  per  ton  on  July  1,  a  cut  of 
about  31  per  cent.  This  is  the  third 
decrease  to  be  made  this  year,  the  first, 
of  $6  per  ton  on  Jan.  1,  amounting  to 
about  8i  per  cent.  The  second  de- 
crease, made  on  April  1,  was  also  $6 
per  ton. 

Manufacturers'  stocks  at  present  are 
not  extra  large,  but  the  moderate  sur- 
plus supply  of  the  finished  product  is 
sufficient  to  provide  immediate  ship- 
ments. The  large  number  of  cars  now 
in  urgent  need  of  repairs  in  this  coun- 
try, it  is  stated,  is  sufficient  guarantee 
that  brake  shoe  business  is  bound  to 
increase. 


miiiiiiini:nim:nni!iin:inir:nni:!!:::iii:ii  [irmuurnnin! 

Rolling  Stock 


The   Seattle    (Wash.)    Municipal  Railway 

will  obtain  fifty  additional  cars  if  the  or- 
dinance which  has  been  drafted  by  the  As- 
sistant Corporation  Counsel  of  Seattle  for 
the  public  utilities  committee  of  the  City 
Council  goes  through. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Alabama    Power    Company,  Birmingham, 

Ala.,  has  been  formally  granted  a  permit 
for  the  construction  of  a  dam  and  power 
plant  on  the  Coosa  River  near  Verbena. 
The  first  work  to  be  done  will  he  the  build- 
ing of  six  miles  of  railroad  from  Verbena 
to  the  river.  The  project  will  cost  approx- 
imately $7,000,000.  This  undertaking  was 
referred  to  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal for  April  2.  1921. 

Sacramento  Northern  Railroad,  Sacra- 
mento, Cal.,  may  be  included  in  an  im- 
provement program  contemplated  by  the 
Western  Pacific  Railroad.  The  railroad  has 
under  consideration  the  extension  of  the 
electric  line  from  its  Chico  terminal  to  Red 
Bluff  according  to  J.  P.  Quigley,  superin- 
tendent of  transportation.  With  the  pur- 
chase of  the  electric  line  the  Western  Pa- 
cific plans  extensions  to  penetrate  to 
points  that  promise  to  be  good  feeders 
to  the  big  line. 

San  Erancisco  (Cal.)  Municipal  Railway 
will  extend  its  line  to  the  Sunset  District. 
Three  possible  routes  have  been  suggested. 
One  extension  would  run  from  the  Market 
Street  Twin  Peaks  line  along  Seventh 
Avenue  to  Judah  Street.  The  second  would 
be  from  Duboce  Avenue  and  Market  Street 
to  the  ocean,  using  a  tunnel  3.400  ft.  long 
with  a  connection  at  Duboce  Avenue  with 
the  Market  and  Twin  Peaks  tunnel  line. 
The  third  possible  route  would  be  on  Judah 
Street  from  the  ocean  to  Auguello  Boule- 
vard. 

Cincinnati      (Ohio)      Traction  Company 

will  resume  service  on  Aug.  1  over  the  East 
End    line    betwe-en    Ferry    and  Lumber 


Streets.  This  announcement  was  made  re- 
cently by  Walter  Draper,  vice-president  of 
the  company.  The  line  was  abandoned 
several  months  ago  in  order  to  make  a  fill 
of  9  feet  of  ground.  The  city  was  com- 
pelled to  condemn  property  on  the  south 
side  of  the  street  and  raise  houses  on  the 
other.  When  this  section  is  completed  a 
maximum  fill  of  five  feel  will  be  started 
on  another  section  between  Corbin  and 
Strader  Streets. 

Oklahoma  Union  Railway.  Tulsa,  Okla., 
may  help  in  the  construction  of  an  inter- 
urban  terminal  with  a  belt  line  around  the 
city.  While  a  definite  route  for  this  line 
was  not  proposed  the  Sand  Springs  Rail- 
way and  Oklahoma  Union  Railway's  lines 
could  be  utilized  for  this  purpose  by  build- 
ing a  connection  from  the  Oklahoma  Union 
Railway's  tracks  at  Fourth  Street  and  Elgin 
Avenue  with  the  Sand  Springs  line  on  East 
Archer  Street. 

Chambersburg  &  Shippensburg  Electric 
Railway,  Shippensburg,  Pa.,  will  extend  its 
system  to  the  Western  Maryland  Railway's 
line. 

Houston,  Bay  Shore  &  Texas  City  Inter- 
urban  Railway,  which  proposes  to  build 
and  operate  an  electric  interurban  line  from 
Houston  along  the  bay  shore  to  Texas 
City,  near  Galveston,  has  purchased  from 
the  Pittsburgh  Steel  Company  54  miles  of 
85  lb.  rails  for  delivery  in  Houston.  Grad- 
ing work  on  the  first  unit  of  the  line,  which 
will  extend  from  the  city  of  Houston  to  the 
San  Jacinto  Battlefield  on  San  Jacinto 
River,  a  distance  of  about  18  miles,  is  well 
under  way.  according  to  Ed.  Kennedy,  pres- 
ident. 

Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


New    York    Central   Railroad.   New  York, 

N.  Y.,  is  considering  the  building  of  a  new 
power  house  at  its  locomotive  repair  shop 
in  Solvay. 

Oklahoma  Railway,  Oklahoma  City,  Okla.. 

will  start  work  on  its  new  $150,0011  terminal 
station  not  later  than  March  1,  1922.  This 
announcement  was  recently  made  by  John 
W.  Shartel.  vice-president  and  general 
manager  of  the  company. 

Columbus.  Delaware  &  Marion  Electric 
Company.  Marion,  Ohio,  has  just  com- 
pleted a  new  power  plant  at  Scioto.  This 
plant  consists  of  three  Babcock  &  Wilcox 
boilers,  866  hp.  each  with  Westinghouse 
underfeed  stokers  and  condenser.  This 
project  was  referred  to  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  March  19,  1921. 


Professional  Note 


C.  I>.  Parker  &  Company,  Inc.,  investment 
bankers  and  controlling  managers  of  cen- 
tral station  properties  at  Amesbury,  Palmer, 
Plymouth.  Franklin.  Great  Harrington, 
Marion  and  Provincetown,  Mass..  and  else- 
where, have  moved  from  67  Milk  Street, 
Boston,  to  a  remodeled  six-story  office 
building  at  150  Congress  Street,  in  the 
heart  of  that  city's  banking  district. 


Trade  Notes 


The  Ksterline-Angus  Company,  Indian- 
anapolis.  Ind.,  has  developed  a  graphic 
kva.  meter. 

The  Hi-Voltage  Equipment  Company, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  developed  a  new  type 
of  lightning  arrester  for  outdoor  mounting. 

The  Black  &  Decker  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Towson  Heights,  Baltimore,  Md.,  has 
recently  placed  on  the  market  a  portable 
electric  grinder. 

The  Railway  Track^York  Company, 
Philadelphia,  has  placed  on  the  market  a 
new  "Ajax"  resistance-type  arc  welder. 

The  Rome  VYire  Company,  Rome,  N.  Y., 
has  developed  a  "superservice"  cord  for 
portable  electric  tools,  etc. 

The  Hazard  Manufacturing  Company, 
YVilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  has  put  on  the  market 
its  new  "spiralweave"  cables  for  portable 
light  and  power  service. 

The  Knight  Engineering  &  Sales  Com- 
pany, Eos  Angeles,  has  placed  on  the  mar- 
ket its  new  "One-Hand-Y"  electric  drill. 

Edward  3.  Ronan,  representative  of  the 
Gold   Car   Heating   &   Lighting  Company, 


died  at  his  home  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  on 
July  3.  Mr.  Ronan  had  been  connected 
with  the  company  for  a  period  of  twenty- 
one  years. 

The  Diamond  Holfast  Rubber  Company, 
33  Auburn  Street,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  manufac- 
turer of  friction  tape,  has  purchased  a  site 
of  eleven  acres  for  its  proposed  new  factory 
for  the  manufacture  of  its  "Diamond  Hol- 
fast 2-plex"  insulating  tape. 

The  A.  H.  Petersen  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Milwaukee,  manufacturer  of  tools  and 
dies,  etc.,  announces  that  it  has  discon- 
tinued this  department  and  will  turn  over 
its  entire  plant  to  the  manufacture  of  "Hole 
Shooter"  portable  electric  drills  and  other 
automotive  devices. 

The  Quasi-Arc  Weldtrode  Company,  Inc., 
Atlantic  Avenue  and  Warwick  Street, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  announces  that  since  July 
1  it  has  been  in  its  new  quarters  at  114 
Hudson  Avenue,  Peekskill,  N.  Y.  In  the 
new  location  the  company  has  not  only 
much  better  shipping  facilities  than  before 
but  also  better  arrangements  and  machin- 
ery for  the  manufacture  of  its  "weldtrodes." 
The  new  works  will  also  be  completely 
equipped  for  the  manufacture  of  all  arc- 
welding  accessories  and  for  the  building  of 
the  entire  line  of  welding  apparatus,  in- 
cluding controllers  (for  both  alternating 
and  direct  current)  and  welding  generators. 

The  Standard  Safety  Equipment  Com- 
pany, 1(>8  North  Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago, 
has  been  organized  to  manufacture  and  dis- 
tribute electrical  and  mechanical  safety 
equipment  and  supplies,  embracing  gloves, 
linemen's  blankets,  first-aid  cases,  etc.  C. 
A.  Kingsbury  and  L.  W.  Dickson,  both 
formerly  with  F.  A.  Hardy  &  Company, 
are  respectively  president  and  secretary. 
F.  L.  Hurlbutt,  for  the  last  ten  years 
safety  engineer  of  E.  I.  du  Pont  de  Nemours 
&  Company,  is  treasurer  and  in  addition  will 
have  charge  of  all  service  work.  A.  U. 
Barnes  of  the  Hardy  company  has  been  ap- 
pointed Eastern  manager  with  offices  in  the 
Clinton  Building,  Newark,  N.  J.  There  is 
also  a  Detroit  office  at  414  West  Grand 
River  in  charge  of  O.  L.  Smith.  A  Cleve- 
land connection  and  stockroom  is  under  con- 
sideration. In  addition  to  safety  supplies 
the  company  will  market  a  full  line  of 
welding  equipment.  "Standardize  for 
safety"  has  been  taken  by  the  company  for 
a  slogan. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Temperature  Control. — The  Fulton  Com- 
pany, Knoxville,  Tenn.,  has  issued  two 
folders  on  its  "Sylphon"  temperature  reg- 
ulators. 

Pressure  Regulator. — The  Fisher  Gover- 
nor Company,  Marshalltown,  Iowa,  has  is- 
sued Bulletin  No.  210  on  its  series  90  pres- 
sure regulators. 

Temperature  Regulator  Chart. — A  "Tem- 
perature Regulator  Chart,  or  Engineering- 
Data  Sheet,"  has  been  copyrighted  by  the 
Fulton  Company,  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  for  use 
in  figuring  tank  regulators. 

Export  Trade  Directory. — The  American 
Exporter,  370  7th  Avenue,  New  York  City, 
has  just  published  the  1921-22 — the  seventh 
edition —  of  the  "Export  Trade  Directory." 
There  are  1,036  pages  in  the  book. 

Insulating  Tape. — The  Diamond  Holfast 
Rubber  Company,  33  Auburn  Avenue,  At- 
lanta, Ga.,  is  distributing  a  leaflet  covering 
the  "Diamond-Holfast"  two-plex  insulating 
tape  recently  placed  on  the  market. 

Air  Purifying  Apparatus  —  "Carrier  Air 
Washers  and  Humidifiers"  is  the  title  of 
catalog  No.  480,  recently  issued  by  the 
Carrier  Air  Conditioning  Company,  Buffalo, 
covering  its  air  washers,  generator  coolers 
and  other  apparatus. 

Stoker  Coal  Crusher. — The  Jones  auto- 
matic coal  crusher  for  use  on  Jones 
standard  stokers  has  been  put  on  the  mar- 
ket by  the  Under-Feed  Stoker  Company 
of  America,  721  Book  Building.  Detroit,  and 
a  descriptive  leaflet  concerning  it  has  been 
issued. 

Electric  Specialties. — The  G  &  W  Elec- 
tric Specialty  Company,  7440-52  South 
Chicago  Avenue,  Chicago,  manufacturer  of 
electrical  specialties,  has  issued  catalog  11, 
containing  bulletin  No.  211,  covering  its 
pot  heads  and  accessories  and  bulletin  212, 
describing  its  underground  boxes. 

Eire  Protection. — The  Oil  Conservation 
Engineering  Company,  Wade  Building, 
Cleveland,  is  distributing  a  pamphlet  de- 
scribing the  10-gal.  "Oceco"  chemical  en- 
gine recently  developed  by  the  company. 
The  engine  is  designed  particularly  for  use 
in  electric  power  stations,  transformers,  re- 
lay and  stor"°'e-battery  stations. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  ind  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL,  Editors  HENBY  H.  NORMS,  Managing  EdJJor'  , 

DARBY  L.BROWN, Western  Editor      N.  A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.  W.SQUIER.  Aitotfate  Editor" 
DONALD  F. HI NE. Editorial  Representative  A, D.KNOX, Editorial  Representative  OEOBOE  BUSHFIHLB. Editorial  ~ 

O.J. MACMUBBAY, News  Editor  '  S 


C^W.STTJCKS. 


Associate  Editor 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  July  16,  1921  N\>V 
 — , 5 


dXP,  If 


Number ,  3 


A  Secretary 

or  Proved  Ability 

THE  association  is  to  be  congratulated  upon  the 
recommendation  which  its  reorganization  committee 
has  made  with  reference  to  a  permanent  secretary  to 
succeed  E.  B.  Burritt,  who  resigned  last  March.  J.  W. 
Welsh,  whom  the  committee  has  recommended  to  the 
executive  committee  and  who  will  doubtless  be  appointed 
by  that  committee,  already  has  the  confidence  of  the 
entire  membership  of  the  association  and  has  shown 
himself  amply  able  to  perform  the  duties  which  will 
devolve  upon  him. 

As  special  engineer  to  the  association,  Mr.  Welsh 
already  had  made  his  work  felt  in  the  association's 
activities,  and  when  President  Gadsden  asked  him  to 
undertake,  quite  suddenly  it  will  be  remembered,  the 
work  of  secretary,  Mr.  Welsh  stepped  into  the  breach 
and,  in  this  rather  trying  position  as  acting  secretary, 
has  acquitted  himself  so  admirably  and  has  shown  so 
satisfactorily  his  complete  fitness  for  the  permanent 
secretaryship  that  he  was  the  only  logical  candidate 
out  of  a  multitude  of  suggestions  to  be  considered  for 
the  place. 

The  Electric  Railway  Journal  is  sure  that  the 
association  headquarters  activities  are  in  good  hands 
and  congratulates  both  Mr.  Welsh  and  the  association 
upon  the  new  relationship,  which  will  probably  be 
arranged  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  executive  committee. 


Get  Work  Commensurate 
with  Wages  Paid 

THE  news  columns  of  nearly  every  recent  issue  of 
this  paper  have  recorded  wage  decreases  on  elec- 
tric railways  in  almost  every  part  of  the  country,  but 
probably  few  of  them  have  been  equal  in  percentage 
to  the  demonstrated  reduction  in  cost  of  living  which 
has  occurred  since  the  peak  of  prices  in  the  early  part 
of  1920.  Undoubtedly  wages  on  electric  railways  are 
still  due  for  a  further  decrease,  but  in  this  readjust- 
ment, an  opportunity  is  offered  to  put  the  wages  on  a 
different  basis  than  that  which  existed  in  most  com- 
panies before  the  war.  Reference  is  made  particu- 
larly to  companies  which  used  to  have  a  high  labor 
turnover. 

Statistics  of  the  present  rate  of  turnover  on  the  aver- 
age electric  railway  property  are  not  available,  but  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  generally  it  is  much  lower  than  six 
or  seven  years  ago.  It  is  also  a  matter  of  observation 
that  the  physical  and  mental  and  other  standards  which 
go  to  make  up  a  desirable  trainman  are  being  exhibited 
in  a  higher  degree  than  before  the  war.  All  of  this 
helps  toward  efficient  transportation,  and,  in  the  last 
analysis,  toward  economical  operation.  The  higher 
wages  paid  on  one-man  cars  tends  also  along  these 
lines. 

The  future  wage  for  motormen  and  conductors  should 
be  sufficient  to  attract  men  of  a  high  grade  permanently 


to  the  service  and  not  simply  te  take  it  as  a  stop  gap 
between  better  paid  industries.  The  companies  should 
cut  loose  from  the  unskilled  labor  theory  and  should 
make  employment  on  the  platform  attractive  to  the  kind 
of  men  who  can  give  economical  service  from  every 
viewpoint.  The  public  has  got  away  from  the  5-cent 
flat  fare  and  will  expect  good  service,  regardless  of  the 
rate  of  fare.  The  companies  will  not  be  allowed  to 
earn  more  than  a  fair  return,  and  in  their  own  inter- 
est as  well  as  in  that  of  the  public,  the  most  certain 
way  of  supplying  good  service  should  be  followed.  This 
is  to  pay  good  wages  and  get  in  return  from  their 
men  faithful  and  efficient  work,  commensurate  with 
the  wage  paid. 

How  Manufacturers  Safeguard 
Their  Products 

THE  attention  which  manufacturers  give  to  the  test- 
ing of  the  raw  materials  which  enter  into  the 
apparatus  supplied  to  electric  railways  and  the  extensive 
precautions  that  they  take  in  testing  such  material  are 
amply  illustrated  in  the  article  by  John  S.  Dean  on 
testing  insulating  material,  the  second  and  concluding 
part  of  which  is  published  in  this  issue.  In  reading 
these  articles  one  cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the  large 
variety  of  insulating  materials  which  are  used  in  the 
construction  of  railway  apparatus.  In  the  selection  of 
such  materials  it  is  most  essential  to  take  into  consider- 
ation the  operating  conditions,  which  are  extremely 
severe  for  electric  railway  equipment.  High  tempera- 
tures are  encountered,  the  trolley  voltage  is  most  vari- 
able and  line  surges  are  frequent.  The  equipment  is 
exposed  to  considerable  moisture,  dust  and  dirt,  and  is 
subjected  to  severe  mechanical  strain,  as  well  as  exces- 
sive vibration  and  frequent  abuse  by  rough  handling. 
Ruggedness  in  construction  is  as  essential  as  high 
dielectric  strength. 

The  proposed  tentative  methods  of  testing  insulating 
varnishes  which  were  included  in  the  report  of  com- 
mittee D-9  on  electrical  insulating  materials  for  the 
American  Society  for  Testing  Materials  at  its  recent 
meeting  follow  along  the  line  outlined  by  Mr.  Dean  for 
the  testing  of  liquid  insulating  material.  The  tests 
given  are  intended  for  varnishes  which  are  applied  by 
brushing,  dipping  or  spraying,  in  order  to  provide  high 
electrical  insulation.  The  dipping  of  coils  and  even 
complete  armatures  by  electric  railways  has  increased 
considerably  during  the  past  two  years,  and  the  reduc- 
tion of  troubles  which  has  resulted  has  shown  the  great 
advantages  to  be  obtained.  Those  who  have  had  experi- 
ence in  dipping  and  baking  processes  have  found  water 
absorbing  tests  and  endurance  tests  to  be  most  desir- 
able. Another  important  consideration  which  directly 
affects  the  time  that  cars  are  withheld  from  service  is 
the  time  necessary  for  drying.  Tests  for  determining 
insulating  compounds  which  will  have  a  short  period 
for  drying  and  at  the  same  time  possess  the  necessary 
dielectric  strength  and  other  insulating  properties  are 


80 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


of  interest.  Aside  from  the  essential  characteristics 
that  are  necessary  for  insulating  materials,  this  descrip- 
tion of  the  method  and  apparatus  used  by  a  prominent 
manufacturer  for  determining  these  characteristics 
should  give  those  interested  a  broader  conception  of  the 
,care  used  to  safeguard  the  various  products  which  they 
purchase. 


Capitalize — 

or  Amortize? 

THE  brief  which  sets  forth  the  arguments  of  the 
Public  Service  Railway  in  support  of  its  valuation 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  documents  in  this  line 
which  has  appeared  for  some  time.  It  is  thorough, 
it  is  out  of  the  ordinary,  it  is  legal,  and  it  has  touches 
of  appreciation  of  the  lack  of  conception  of  the  railway 
problem  by  the  usual  citizen. 

But  there  are  two  or  three  points  with  reference  to 
which  questions  of  best  valuation  policy  —  or  public 
policy,  perhaps — may  well  be  raised. 

One  of  these  is  the  advisability  at  this  time,  if  ever, 
of  arguing  in  favor  of  unit  prices  on  a  particular  date. 
This  is  admittedly  in  line  with  the  association's  valua- 
tion committee  recommendation,  but  that  makes  it  all 
the  more  important  that  this  question  be  examined  with 
due  care  and  consideration.  Prices  of  many  articles 
are  admittedly  going  down,  and  while  pre-war  value 
will  probably  never  be  realized,  the  public  conscious- 
ness cannot  but  carry  the  feeling  that  it  is  the  future 
return  upon  the  value  of  the  property  which  is  of  most 
importance.  Legally,  present  value — present-day  value 
— has  much  to  support  it.  Any  modification  of  that  to 
certain  trend  conditions  or  estimated  future  conditions 
can  of  course  be  supported  only  as  a  question  of  public 
policy,  but  that  is  worth  considering  seriously  when 
companies  are  presenting  final  arguments  on  definite 
figures. 

Another  point  which  it  will  be  most  interesting  to 
have  determined,  as  mentioned  editorially  in  these 
columns  under  a  discussion  of  the  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis 
valuation  of  this  same  property  ( see  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  April  23,  1921,  page  758)  is  that  of  capitaliz- 
ing the  "power  contract."  As  the  brief  states,  every 
witness  testified  as  to  the  value  of  this  contract  to 
the  railway  company.  The  question  it  will  be  interest- 
ing to  have  decided  by  a  court,  if  possible,  is  whether 
the  value  of  such  a  contract  should  be  reflected  by  an 
increased  legitimate  capitalization  or  rather  by  an  in- 
creased rate  of  return  in  recognition  of  the  good  man- 
agement which  is  evident  in  thus  obtaining  power  at 
a  lower  rate  than  the  railway  company  could  realize 
under  its  own  operation. 

The  third,  and  perhaps  most  important,  point  from 
the  standpoint  of  policy  is  the  question  as  to  whether 
certain  sums  of  money,  admittedly  invested  and  in- 
vested legitimately,  should  be  added  to  capital  or 
should  be  set  up  as  a  fund  to  be  amortized.  Reference 
here  is  to  consolidation  value — again  possibly  a  ques- 
tion of  good  management  rather  than  either  capitaliza- 
tion or  amortization  sums — superseded  property  and 
certain  other  elements  of  value  which,  in  any  private 
business,  would  be  amortized  as  early  as  possible.  This 
is  not  an  argument  in  favor  of  eliminating  such  amounts 
from  consideration  on  the  theory  that  they  should  have 
been  amortized  out  of  excessive  dividends  in  the  past ; 
there  probably  were  no  excessive  dividends,  and  there 
certainly  is  no  basis  to  assume  them  without  positive 


evidence  of  them.  This  is  rather  a  suggestion  of  much 
better  public  policy  to  set  up  such  expenditures  as 
amortizable  funds  so  that  they  may  be  eliminated  from 
the  perpetual  charge  upon  the  community.  This  may 
not  be  the  best  for  the  market  value  of  the  securities 
at  the  instant,  but  it  is  apparently  the  best  business 
in  the  long  run.  There  is  also  the  question  as  to  whether 
or  not  there  is  much  more  probability  of  having  such 
sums  allowed  in  their  entirety  when  set  up  as  amor- 
tizable funds  than  when  added  to  capital.  Virtually,  of 
course,  when  it  is  probably  impossible  to  earn  enough 
to  pay  a  return  on  the  allowed  valuation  and  to  pay  off 
installments  on  amortizable  funds  the  fund  to  be  amor- 
tized is  added  to  capital  for  the  length  of  time  it  still 
exists  in  the  accounts  of  the  company.  The  same  end 
is  realized,  then,  in  a  manner  which  has  much  to  sup- 
port it  as  being  a  more  logical  plan  to  present  to  the 
public,  one  which  will  appeal  more  to  men  in  other 
lines  of  business  who  are  accustomed  to  write  obsolete 
equipment  off  of  their  property  accounts  and  one  which, 
to  repeat  for  emphasis,  is  better  public  policy.  Legally, 
either  may  be  correct.  To  amortize  where  possible 
seems  better  business. 


Material  Testing 

Specifications  Are  Important 

SOME  of  the  advantages  to  be  obtained  by  the  adop- 
tion of  standards  of  materials  were  given  briefly 
at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Society  for  Testing  Materials 
by  George  S.  Webster,  the  retiring  president.  The  list 
follows:  (1)  Ease  in  specifying  the  quality  of  the  ma- 
terial required;  (2)  ease  in  testing  materials  delivered 
under  the  specifications  through  the  use  of  standard 
methods;  (3)  ease  in  obtaining  standard  products;  (4) 
an  effective  means  for  minimizing  controversies  over 
purchases  of  materials,  and  (5)  a  feeling  of  security 
that  the  materials  used  are  satisfactory  as  a  result  of 
the  knowledge  of  how  the  standard  specifications  are 
formulated  and  that  they  reflect  the  latest  knowledge 
and  experience. 

For  a  number  of  years  this  paper  has  abstracted  the 
discussion  on  specifications  of  interest  to  electric  rail- 
way engineers  at  meetings  of  the  American  Society  for 
Testing  Materials,  and  an  account  of  the  action  taken 
by  the  society  at  the  recent  meeting  at  Asbury  Park 
appears  on  another  page.  The  importance  of  testing 
the  various  materials  used  by  electric  railways  is  being 
given  increased  consideration  by  those  responsible,  and 
the  American  Society  for  Testing  Materials  has  long 
been  considered  as  foremost  in  formulating  specifica- 
tions for  this  particular  branch  of  engineering.  This 
year  the  society  achieved  a  remarkable  performance — 
probably  without  precedence  in  its  history — by  dealing 
with  more  than  150  specifications.  Of  these  seventy-one 
were  new,  being  presented  for  the  first  time  and  adopted 
as  tentative  standards,  while  sixty-three  were  revised. 
Others  were  advanced  from  tentative  to  standard  rank. 
Some  forty  steel  specifications  were  disposed  of  in  bulk 
by  a  single  ballot.  The  flatness  of  this  procedure  was 
relieved  somewhat  in  the  closing  session  by  an  animated 
discussion  over  chilled-iron  car  wheels.  This  discussion 
brought  out  the  desirability  of  chemical  limits  for  car 
wheels  and  for  making  wheels  safer  by  requirements 
more  severe  than  those  set  up  by  the  Master  Car  Build- 
ers and  the  American  Railroad  Association  as  well  as 
those  with  which  the  committee  on  cast  iron  of  the 
American  Society  for  Testing  Materials  was  content. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


81 


The  method  of  procedure  for  the  various  committee  re- 
ports and  the  care  used  in  the  adoption  of  specifications 
by  the  society  are  shown  in  the  specifications  of  concrete 
which  are  now  being  formulated. 

At  last  week's  meeting  the  preliminary  report  was 
made  public  and  in  the  form  now  written  it  will  be  cir- 
culated among  the  members  of  five  contributing  socie- 
ties— which  means  about  16,000  engineers.  This  report 
will  be  a  subject  for  discussion  among  those  engineers 
and  their  committees  during  this  year,  and  the  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Society  for  Testing  Materials 
will  then  proceed  to  the  writing  of  the  final  specifica- 
tions with  due  consideration  of  the  various  points 
brought  out  in  discussion. 

A  number  of  the  standing  committees  of  the  Ameri- 
can Electric  Railway  Association  are  now  co-operating 
with  committees  from  the  American  Society  for  Testing 
Materials  toward  bringing  into  agreement  similar  speci- 
fications, therefore  the  work  of  the  society  accomplished 
this  year  is  given  added  interest  to  electric  railway  men. 


Reorganization  Committee 

Suggests  Constructive  Program 

AS  INDICATED  on  another  page  of  this  issue,  the 
.  special  reorganization  committee  appointed  by 
President  Gadsden  to  make  recommendations  to  the 
executive  committee  with  reference  to  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  association  headquarters  and  any  other  modifi- 
cations of  existing  activities  or  rules  of  the  association 
which  it  thought  advisable  now  has  its  report  in  the 
hands  of  the  executive  committee  in  practically  final 
form.  In  order,  however,  that  there  shall  be  "open 
covenants  openly  arrived  at,"  the  committee  is  making 
public  the  gist  of  its  recommendations  to  the  executive 
committee  before  the  meeting  of  the  latter  committee 
in  order  that  it  may  have  the  benefit  of  comments  from 
the  field  with  reference  to  the  recommendations  made 
by  the  reorganization  committee. 

The  recommendations  are  constructive.  They  are  all 
an  effort  to  make  the  association's  activities  more  use- 
ful to  the  membership — the  only  reason  for  the  exist- 
ence of  the  association.  It  is  recognized  that  the  as- 
sociation is  a  voluntary  organization  and  all  that  is 
done  is  to  modify  the  machinery  so  that,  judged  from 
past  experience,  it  will  run  more  effectively.  That 
considerable  revision  of  the  constitution  was  advis- 
able is  not  unexpected.  The  revisions,  however,  are 
not  radical,  but  only  provide  those  things  which  lead- 
ing opinion  in  the  industry  have  felt  for  some  time 
were  either  necessary  or  advisable. 

The  fact  that  the  executive  committee  will  meet 
monthly  if  the  recommendation  is  adopted  will  of  itself 
mean  more  virility  in  the  association  and  more  active 
interest  in  the  conduct  of  its  affairs  by  its  officers. 
That  membership  modification  should  be  made  so  as  to 
allow  in  special  cases  admission  of  trackless  transporta- 
tion systems  and  to  allow  management  companies,  con- 
sulting engineers,  investment  bankers,  etc.,  to  assume  a 
formal  place  in  the  association  is  a  logical  develop- 
ment. Provision  for  regular  standing  committees  with 
obligation  of  monthly  progress  reports  should  also 
tend  to  add  life  to  the  association  activities. 

Of  the  questions  recommended  to  the  executive  com- 
mittee for  its  own  consideration,  those  concerning  co- 
operation with  the  various  sectional  railway  associa- 
tions, those  having  to  do  with  an  adequate  geographical 


distribution  of  the  executive  committee  and  other  com- 
mittee meetings,  as  well  as  geographical  representation 
on  all  the  committees,  and  the  one  regarding  admission 
of  municipally  owned  or  operated  railways  deserve 
consideration  by  the  membership  at  large.  All  but  the 
last  speak  for  themselves.  On  this  question  there  is 
bound  to  be  considerable  honest  divergence  of  opinion, 
some  of  which  has  already  developed,  but  the  question 
has  been  raised  and  must  be  met  squarely  and  settled. 
The  editors  of  this  paper  believe  that  the  association 
and  the  industry  would  benefit  by  permitting  such 
municipalities  as  desired,  when  they  operate  their  own 
railways,  to  enter  the  association  and  discuss  problems 
in  which  all  railways  are  mutually  interested.  The 
editors  of  this  paper  do  not  believe  that  the  American 
public  is  so  organized  at  present  as  to  be  able  effi- 
ciently to  operate  transportation  systems,  but  where 
municipalities  have  taken  over  the  responsibility,  it  is 
to  the  interest  of  the  entire  electric  railway  industry 
that  the  municipalities  understand  all  the  problems 
which  they  have  assumed.  Furthermore,  it  is  only  by 
sitting  down  at  the  same  table  with  experienced  trans- 
portation men  that  municipal  officers  will  be  able  fully 
to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  what  they  have  under- 
taken. But  on  this  question  the  executive  committee 
deserves  especially  to  have  advice  from  the  industry.  It 
is  probable  that  the  final  discussion  on  this  point  will 
not  be  conducted  until  after  prolonged,  and,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  intelligent,  debate  at  Atlantic  City  in  October. 

As  a  whole  the  report  means  progress.  That  the  final 
action  be  word  for  word  in  line  with  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  committee  is  immaterial.  A  frank  discus- 
sion of  the  questions  which  have  been  raised  and 
action  by  the  association  on  them  is  in  itself  worth 
while  and  the  association  will  be  better  for  it  in  the  end. 


Covering  Up 

Their  Deficiencies 

SEATTLE  continues  to  go  behind  in  the  operation  of 
its  municipal  railway.  The  fact  sticks  out  like  a 
sore  thumb,  for  Seattle  is  at  present  on  the  cash-and- 
carry  basis.  Explanations  may  tend  to  mitigate  the 
feelings  aroused  by  the  fact  that  things  are  bad  with 
the  road  from  the  standpoint  of  earnings,  but  excuses 
don't  remove  the  evidence.  Every  month  new  explana- 
tions for  the  poor  showing  have  to  be  thought  up.  This 
has  taxed  the  ingenuity  and  strength  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  city,  but  they  have  not  run  out  of  ideas 
entirely.  Thus  Councilman  Erickson  has  hit  upon  the 
clever  scheme  of  overcoming  this  need  for  establishing 
the  monthly  alibi  by  charging  a  3-cent  fare  on  the 
lines  and  meeting  out  of  general  taxation  the  difference 
between  the  receipts  of  the  road  and  the  cost  of  opera- 
tion. 

Apparently,  Seattle  cannot  and  will  not  pay  more  for 
fare,  so  that  the  avenue  of  escape  is  closed  which  that 
procedure  might  open.  If  car  riders  won't  pay  more, 
then  let  them  pay  less.  The  psychology  behind  the  idea 
is  correct  from  the  standpoint  of  good  politics.  And 
with  the  railway  supported  by  the  tax  rolls  the  sky  of 
course  would  be  the  limit  on  expenditures.  The  plan 
would  seem  to  be  so  palpably  absurd  as  to  preclude  its 
adoption,  but  then  there  is  no  telling  to  what  lengths 
a  community  will  go  in  continuing  to  fool  itself  that 
municipalized  its  railway  in  spite  of  the  preponderance 
of  evidence  against  such  undertaking. 


82  Electric   Railway   Journal  Vol.  58,  No.  3 


Bond  Testing  Cars 

To  Test  Bonds  at  a  Faster  Rate  than  Can  Be  Done  with  Hand  Bond  Testers  and  to 
Provide  Automatic  Permanent  Records  of  the  Test  a  Car  Containing 
the  Necessary  Instruments  Is  Most  Convenient 

By  G.  H.  McKelway 

Engineer  of  Distribution  Brooklyn  (N.  Y. )  Rapid  Transit  Company 


WHEN  a  car  is  used  for  bond  testing  it  is  neces- 
sary to  insulate  the  front  and  rear  trucks,  or 
front  and  rear  wheels  in  a  single-truck  car, 
from  each  other.  With  a  single-truck  car  the  truck 
must  be  cut  and  insulation  inserted  between  the  two 
sections.  Much  better  results  in  maintaining  the  car, 
although  not  in  testing  the  bonds,  will  be  obtained  from 
a  double-truck  than  a  single-truck  car  as  the  cutting 
of  the  frame  weakens  the  latter  and  permits  the  two 
ends  to  sag. 

Either  a  motor-generator  set  is  necessary  to  supply 
the  current  for  the  test  at  a  low  voltage  or  a  resistance 
to  reduce  the  voltage  of  the  current  from  the  trolley 
wire  or  third  rail  sufficiently  to  permit  of  its  being 
used  in  the  test.  The  motor-generator  set  or  resistance 
should  be  large  enough  to  supply  800  to  1,000  amp.  at 
5  volts,  although  so  large  a  current  will  seldom  be 
needed  and  the  avei'age  amount  will  be  only  about  one- 
half  of  the  maximum  capacity. 

In  addition  to  the  motor-generator  set  there  should 
be  in  the  test  car  a  table  upon  which  all  of  the  testing 
instruments  can  be  mounted  and  grouped  so  that  they 
can  be  conveniently  read  by  a  single  operator.  The 
instruments  should  comprise  an  ammeter  and  two  milli- 
voltmeters,  together  with  apparatus  for  protecting  the 
latter  in  the  case  of  bad  joints  which  might  otherwise 
throw  a  high  voltage  across  them  and  burn  them  out. 
The  ammeter  measures  the  current  supplied  to  the  test 
circuit  by  the  motor-generator,  while  the  voltmeters 
indicate  the  drop  across  the  joints  as  the  car  passes 
over  them,  one  voltmeter  being  in  position  to  measure 
the  drop  across  the  joints  in  one  rail  of  the  track  and 
the  other  being  similarly  placed  in  regard  to  the  other 
rail. 

The  voltmeter  circuits  are  continued  to  the  track 
through  brushes  which  rub  on  the  rails  and  which  are 
spaced  4  or  5  ft.  apart  so  that  they  will  always  be  cer- 
tain to  span  the  joints  no  matter  how  long  they  may  be. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  pick  out  and  record  the  locations 
of  all  of  the  bad  joints  by  this  method,  even  when  the 
car  is  moving  quite  slowly,  especially  if  the  poorly 
bonded  ones  are  close  together.  With  the  car  moving 
at  a  speed  of  only  5  m.p.h.  and  with  all  rails  fully 
30  ft.  long,  the  contacts  will  pass  over  one  joint  in  each 
rail  every  four  seconds.  If  the  joints  happen  to  be 
staggered,  one  voltmeter  or  the  other  will  be  swinging 
every  two  seconds.  When  a  line  of  bad  track  is  being 
tested  the  open  joints  come  so  frequently  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  the  locations  of  all  of  them  to 
be  recorded  unless  the  car  is  stopped  occasionally  to 
allow  the  observer  time  to  catch  up.  If  this  is  done  it 
will  "drag"  the  cars  behind  it  and  spoil  their  running 
schedules. 

One  way  of  directly  marking  bad  joints,  not  so  per- 
manent as  with  the  hammer  and  chisel,  but  which  lasts 
long  enough  to  permit  the  bonders  to  find  the  joints, 
and  which  does  not  require  stopping  the  car,  is  by 
squirting  a  little  white  paint  on  the  rail,  tie  or  pave- 


ment as  the  car  passes  along.  Most  of  the  cars  now  in 
use  are  equipped  with  recording  instruments.  The 
record  shows  the  condition  of  the  bonds  and  indicates 
the  moment  that  the  bond  is  passed  over.  These  cars 
are  known  as  "autographic"  bond  testing  cars  and  are 
the  invention  of  A.  B.  Herrick.  Their  equipment,  how- 
ever, is  so  complicated  that  a  perpetual  inducement  is 
offered  to  change  some  of  the  details  in  an  effort  toward 
greater  simplicity  or  less  troublesome  maintenance.  A 
short  time  ago  the  writer  asked  another  railway  engi- 
neer if  there  was  not  a  "Herrick"  test  car  on  his  line. 
The  reply  was  that  it  was  a  Herrick  car  when  first 
bought,  but  did  not  look  much  like  one  now.  In  fact, 
all  of  the  cars  that  the  writer  has  seen  or  heard  of 
appear  to  differ  considerably  among  themselves, 
although  the  general  principles  on  which  they  operate 
are  the  same. 

Autographic  Records 

On  the  autographic  cars  the  record  is  made  on  a  long 
roll  of  paper  which  is  unrolled  and  carried  across  the 
table,  a  small  motor  furnishing  the  power  for  operating 
the  drive.  The  strip  of  paper  is  11  in.  in  width,  and 
as  it  passes  five  pens,  two  for  each  rail  and  one  for 
marking  locations,  make  continuous  marks  upon  it. 
Two  of  the  pens  merely  mark  the  zero  lines,  indicating 
where  the  millivoltmeter  lines  would  be  if  there  was 
no  drop  in  the  rail,  while  two  others  are  for  the  purpose 
of  locating  open  joints,  which  is  done  by  the  pen  mov- 
ing from  side  to  side  whenever  the  voltage  across  the 
joint  is  so  high  as  to  make  the  relay,  which  protects  the 
voltmeter,  operate  a  cut-out.  The  fifth  pen,  for  mark- 
ing locations,  is  moved  through  a  switch  closed  by  the 
operator  or  his  assistant  whenever  the  car  gets  oppo- 
site some  point,  for  instance  a  house  or  trolley  pole, 
which  will  serve  as  a  permanent  location  for  the  start- 
ing point  of  measurements  to  give  the  exact  location 
of  the  bad  points  in  its  vicinity.  On  one  window  on 
each  side  of  the  car  and  directly  opposite  the  seat  of 
the  operator  is  painted  a  plain,  vertical  stripe.  When 
the  object  whose  location  is  to  be  recorded  is  covered 
by  the  stripe  the  operator  presses  a  key  and  the  pen, 
which  has  been  making  a  straight  line  down  the  center 
of  the  paper  as  it  moves  past,  makes  a  jog.  This  jog 
is  given  a  number  by  means  of  a  numbering  stamp, 
the  numbers  of  which  increase  by  one  each  time  it  is 
used  and  so  numbers  the  pen  jogs  consecutively.  A 
sheet  of  paper  already  numbered  is  used  to  record  the 
house  or  pole  number,  or  name  of  intersecting  street 
or  something  else  that  will  definitely  mark  the  location 
of  the  car  at  the  time  that  the  pen  moved.  Where  the 
bonds  in  the  track  under  test  are  in  good  condition  the 
location  points  need  be  taken  only  occasionally,  but  the 
worse  the  track  the  closer  they  should  become,  and  with 
bad  track  400  or  500  ft.  apart  is  a  good  spacing  dis- 
tance. 

A  toothed  wheel  revolving  in  the  center  of  the 
table  punctures  the  paper  at  intervals,  each  space  be- 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


83 


tween  the  holes  being  equivalent  to  10  ft.  on  the  track. 
At  each  tenth  hole  an  additional  hole  is  punched  about 
one-quarter  of  an  inch  outside  of  the  center  so  that  the 
100-ft.  lengths  are  easily  counted  and  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  count  all  of  the  dots  representing  10  ft.,  but 
only  those  to  the  nearest  100-ft.  mark. 

As  the  car  moves  along,  the  current  in  the  track  and 
the  current  from  the  motor-generator  set  cause  the  volt- 
meter needles  to  deflect  a  certain  amount,  which  is  com- 
paratively constant,  and  which  shows  the  difference  of 
potential  between  the  two  brushes  on  a  piece  of  un- 
broken rail.  The  current  in  the  rails  due  to  the  opera- 
tion of  the  cars  may  be  either  added  to  or  subtracted 
from  that  produced  by  the  motor-generator  set  and 
occasionally  the  latter  should  be  cut  out,  by  opening 
the  switch,  in  order  to  see  in  what  direction  the  current 
in  the  rails  is  flowing  and  its  value. 

Record  Paper  Motor  Driven 

In  addition  to  the  generator  which  is  used  for 
supplying  a  heavy  current  at  a  very  low  voltage  there  is 
also  a  smaller  one  supplying  current  at  about  thirty 
volts,  which  current  is  used  for  the  paper  drive  and  also, 


Interior  Arrangement  and  Location 


after  passing  through  a  make-and-break  device  of  some 
sort,  and  through  condensers,  is  used  in  recording  the 
difference  of  potential  between  the  brushes  on  the  rail. 
One  side  of  this  circuit  is  connected  to  the  voltmeter 
needles  which  swing  over  the  paper  and  also  over  con- 
tacts which  are  underneath  the  paper.  Between  the 
ends  of  the  needles  and  the  contacts  below  sparks  are 
drawn  which  puncture  the  paper,  each  needle  making  a 
dotted  line  of  little  holes  which  are  burnt  in  the  paper 
and  which  show  every  swing  of  the  needle  and  its 
amount  except  in  those  cases  where  the  drop  is  so  great 
that  the  relays  have  to  act  to  protect  the  instruments. 
In  those  cases  the  little  holes  will  run  up  to  a  peak  at 
the  point  where  the  relay  cuts  out,  and  on  the  pen  line 
underneath  the  peak  and  near  the  edge  of  the  paper 
will  be  found  a  sharp  jog,  showing  that  the  joint  is 
"open." 

Although  some  cars  have  been  operated  with  only 
two  men,  a  motorman  and  an  operator,  yet  such  an 
arrangement  throws  so  much  work  on  the  latter  that, 
as  a  rule,  it  will  pay  to  use  at  least  one  more  man  in 
order  to  pick  out  and  record  the  locations  on  the  sepa- 
rate sheets  of  paper  while  the  operator  stamps  the  cor- 
responding numbers  on  the  record  at  the  points  shown 
by  the  movement  of  the  pen.  In  addition  to  marking  the 
locations  on  the  record  the  operator  will  make  use  of 


other  stamps  reading  "special  work,"  "railway  cross- 
ing," etc.,  in  order  to  explain  the  sudden  throws  of  the 
voltmeter  needles  not  attributable  to  bad  bonds.  He 
also  stamps  "right  rail"  or  "left  rail"  and  "inbound" 
or  "outbound,"  as  the  case  may  be,  on  the  record  occa- 
sionally so  that  there  will  be  no  mistake  in  reading  the 
record  later  and,  from  time  to  time,  he  opens  the  gen- 
erator circuit  and  tests  the  direction  of  the  flow  of 
current  in  the  rails.  This  should  always  be  done  when 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  its  direction  has  changed 
as,  for  instance,  just  after  passing  a  point  where  return 
wires  or  tracks  are  expected  to  lead  the  current  to  a 
power  or  substation,  and  at  fairly  frequent  intervals 
elsewhere. 

The  voltmeters  are  supplied  with  two  scales,  one 
giving  a  reading  about  twice  as  high  as  the  other.  By 
making  use  of  the  proper  scale  and  regulating  the  out- 
put of  the  motor-generator  it  will  always  be  possible 
to  get  the  record  on  a  fairly  large  scale  and  yet  not 
have  "opens"  shown  where  they  should  not  appear, 
whatever  may  be  the  weight  of  the  rails  and  the  condi- 
tion of  the  joints. 

After  the  record  has  been  made  that  portion  of  the 


of  Apparatus  in  Bond  Testing  Car 


paper  containing  it  is  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  roll 
and  gone  over  to  be  put  in  permanent  condition  for 
filing  and  to  have  the  locations  of  the  bad  bonds  placed 
in  more  convenient  form  for  handling  and  carrying 
about  in  the  field,  so  that  the  poor  joints  can  receive 
attention  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  first  step  is  to  mark  at  each  of  the  numbers  what 
that  number  is  supposed  to  indicate,  as  then  no  time 
is  lost  by  having  to  refer  to  the  separate  sheets,  which 
need  be  kept  no  longer  as  all  of  the  information  is  then 
on  the  large  roll.  These  locations  can  be  written  on 
with  pen  and  ink,  although  the  neatest  way  is  to  type- 
write them  at  the  proper  points.  Then,  having  deter- 
mined on  the  maximum  resistance  of  the  joint  expressed 
in  terms  of  feet  of  continuous  rail  that  can  pass  as 
good,  find  all  of  the  joints  the  resistance  of  which  was 
higher  than  that  amount  and  mark  them  for  rebonding. 
If  only  the  "opens"  are  to  be  considered  as  bad  the  task 
is  comparatively  easy,  as  it  is  necessary  only  to  follow 
the  two  pen  lines  and  mark  down  those  places  where 
the  jogs  in  the  line  show  that  the  voltmeters  had  been 
cut  out  of  circuit.  Where  the  bonding  is  to  be  kept  in 
better  condition  and  joints  of  a  lower  resistance  are  to 
be  rebonded  the  curves  made  by  the  arcs  from  the  volt- 
meter pointers  must  be  closely  followed,  and  whenever 
the  height  of  a  peak  exceeds  the  predetermined  ratio 


84 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


between  that  of  the  joint  and  the  uncut  rail  the  loca- 
tion must  be  marked  for  rebonding. 

Some  of  the  papers  used  for  these  autographic  rec- 
ords are  chemically  coated  so  that  the  minute  burns  in 
it  show  up  black  and  can  be  readily  seen,  but  such 
paper  is  more  difficult  to  puncture  than  the  plain  paper 
and  often  cannot  be  obtained.  Another  method  of 
blackening  the  holes  is,  after  the  record  has  been  made, 
to  paint  the  underside  of  the  paper  along  the  general 
lines  of  the  curves  with  ink  or  thin  water  color  paint 
so  that  some  of  the  color  will  pass  through  the  holes 
and  show  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  paper.  This  takes 
additional  time  and  is  not  reliable  as  the  color  does  not 
always  come  through.  Probably  the  best  method  of 
following  the  curves  is  to  pass  the  record  before  a  light 
and  have  the  light  shine  through  the  little  holes.  This 
can  be  done  either  by  holding  the  record  up  in  front  of 
a  window  or,  better  still,  by  passing  it  over  a  box  in 
which  is  contained  an  incandescent  lamp  or  lamps. 

Tabulating  Records  for  Foremen 

In  order  accurately  to  locate  the  bad  joints  for  the 
bonders,  their  locations  are  generally  copied  on  sheets 
of  paper,  which  are  given  to  the  foreman  in  charge.  A 
well-planned  sheet  of  this  type  is  printed  with  spaces 
to  be  filled  in,  giving  at  the  top  the  name  of  the  street, 
the  streets  between  which  the  test  was  made  and  the 
date  of  the  test.  Below  are  columns  in  which  to  locate 
the  joint  as  a  certain  number  of  feet  in  a  given  direc- 
tion from  an  easily  found  point;  the  direction  of  traffic 
on  the  track,  if  there  is  more  than  one  track  on  the 
street;  whether  on  the  right  or  left  rail  of  that  track; 
the  date  repairs  were  made,  and  the  type  of  bond  used 
in  making  the  repairs.  By  the  use  of  such  a  sheet  not 
only  does  the  bonding  foreman  receive  all  of  the  infor- 
mation that  he  requires  but,  when  he  returns  the  sheet 
after  finishing  the  work,  the  office  has  a  complete  record 
of  all  of  the  bad  joints  and  when  and  how  they  were 
repaired. 

The  records  made  by  the  testing  car  should  be  valu- 
able, not  only  at  the  time  of  making  the  test,  to  point 
out  the  bad  bonds,  but  also  as  legal  evidence  in  case  of 
any  suit  brought  on  account  of  the  alleged  defective 
condition  of  the  bonding.  The  writer  has  found,  how- 
ever, an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  several  lawyers 
to  make  use  of  the  records  in  such  cases,  as  they  feared 
that  the  height  of  the  peaks  of  the  curves  would  be 
misunderstood  by  the  non-technical  members  of  the 
jury,  who  would  not  be  able  to  understand  that  what 
appeared  to  them  to  be  very  sudden  sharp  rise  in 
potential  would,  in  fact,  be  only  a  very  few  millivolts 
and  therefore  negligible  in  considering  the  question 
before  the  court.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  such 
records  could  be  used  very  effectively  in  some  cases  if 
the  curves  were  carefully  explained,  in  a  manner  that 
all  could  understand,  by  some  one  who  knew  just  what 
the  records  showed  and  could  bring  out  those  points  to 
the  best  advantage. 


During  this  year  the  Grosse  Berliner  Strassenbahn, 
the  tramway  system  in  Berlin,  celebrates  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  its  founding.  Long  operated  by  a  private 
corporation,  the  system  has  recently  been  taken  over  by 
the  municipality  and  consolidated  with  the  other  sur- 
face lines  in  Greater  Berlin,  so  that  it  now  serves  all 
parts  of  that  district,  which  embraces  about  5,000,000 
inhabitants.  The  property  itself  consists  of  1,250  km. 
(800  miles)  of  track. 


Factors  Affecting  Electrification 

COMMENTING  upon  the  elaborate  analysis  of  elec- 
trification conditions  on  the  Northwestern  Railway 
of  India,  which  has  been  running  in  its  columns  for 
some  time,  the  Railway  Engineer,  London,  calls  atten- 
tion editorially  to  some  of  the  points  that  have  been 
brought  out.  These  illustrate  the  importance  of  a 
knowledge  both  of  electrical  engineering  and  of  rail- 
way working  in  making  a  decision  on  the  electrification 
question. 

The  editorial  states  that  the  author  of  the 
article  in  question  shows  that  for  the  same  adhesion 
weight  electric  locomotives  can  be  designed  to  develop 
two  or  even  three  times  the  power  of  the  heaviest 
steam  locomotive  in  India.  By  articulating  the  design, 
the  number  of  driving  axles  could  be  multiplied  indefi- 
nitely with  the  same  permissible  axle  weight  and  it 
would  be  possible  to  put  a  3,000-hp.  electric  locomotive 
on  the  Northwestern  which  could  run  anywhere  where 
two  coupled  or  doubled  engines  of  the  0-6-0  standard 
type  can  now  run  and  would  be  capable  of  hauling  loads 
five  times  as  heavy. 

The  large  number  of  heavy  grades  on  the  North- 
western are  an  extremely  important  factor  in  the  elec- 
trification problem.  The  present  and  previous  articles 
show  that  electrification  will  pay  on  many  lines  with 
heavy  grades  where  for  the  same  traffic  on  the  level  it 
would  be  out  of  the  question.  On  a  4  per  cent  grade 
the  electric  locomotives  can  do  at  least  40  per  cent 
more  work  than  a  steam  locomotive  with  the  same  ex- 
penditure in  energy.  To  this  must  be  added  the  econ- 
omy resulting  from  regenerative  working,  which  also 
saves  rail  and  brakeshoe  wear.  It  is  said  by  the  engi- 
neers that  on  the  Giovi  tunnel  line  near  Genoa  the 
rail  saving  was  enough  to  pay  the  whole  interest  on 
the  cost  of  power  station  and  transmission  line.  The 
enormous  increase  in  the  cost  of  coal  and  repairs  has 
more  than  offset  the  increased  cost  of  electrical  appa- 
ratus, and  the  Railway  Engineer  expresses  the  belief 
that  it  will  be  found  by  those  engineers  who  have  the 
time  to  make  a  really  accurate  study  of  the  conditions 
obtaining  today  on  many  lines  that  the  changed  condi- 
tions often  make  electrification  worth  much  more 
serious  consideration  than  before  the  war.  As  for  the 
capital  outlay,  the  difficulties  here  are  apt  to  be  less- 
ened when  the  directors  are  really  convinced  of  the 
savings  which  can  be  effected  through  the  application 
of  electricity  to  heavy  traction. 


Toronto  Retains  Odd  Gage 

CONTRARY  to  what  was  popularly  expected,  accord- 
ing to  the  Canadian  Engineer,  the  4-ft.  11-in.  gage 
at  present  existing  on  the  lines  of  the  Toronto  Railway, 
Pacific  Railway  and  the  MacKenzie  Radials,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Metropolitan,  will  be  retained  by  the 
Toronto  Transportation  Commission  when  it  co-ordinates 
and  rehabilitates  the  several  systems  within  the  city. 
The  Commission  felt  that  a  change  of  gage,  the  esti- 
mated cost  of  which  had  been  figured  at  $1,500,000, 
showed  no  immediate  advantage  and  would  be  likely  to 
increase  the  operating  difficulties  until  the  work  was 
completed.  One  point  which  swayed  the  Commission  in 
reaching  its  decision  was  that  outside  systems  will  not 
be  able  to  get  running  rights  over  Toronto  tracks,  as. 
their  cars  would  be  of  the  wrong  gage.  It  is  said  this 
was  why  the  odd  gage  was  originally  chosen  for  the 
Toronto  system. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


85 


Testing  Insulating  Materials — II 

Aging  and  Weather  Tests  Are  Important  to  the  Users  of  Railway  Insulating  Materials  as 
They  Show  What  Life  Can  Reasonably  Be  Expected  and  the 
Deteriorating  Effects  that  Result 

By  John  S.  Dean 

Railway  Motor  Engineering  Department,  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company 


It  Is  Essential  That  Specimens  for  the  Dielectric  Test  Are  Properly  Treated 


IN  AN  article  published  in  the  May  21  issue  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  some  strength  and 
dielectric  tests  of  treated  and  untreated  insulating 
materials  were  described.  In  the  following,  attention 
will  be  given  to  tests  showing  the  effects  of  heat,  acids, 
oil,  weather,  etc.,  on  treated  materials,  together  with 
various  essential  tests  on  composite  materials. 

Aging  Test  of  Flexibility 

To  determine  the  ability  of  a  varnish  to  retain  its 
flexibility  under  the  action  of  continued  heat  such  as 
is  found  in  a  railway  motor  in  service,  the  only  appa- 
ratus required  is  a  suitable  baking  oven  fitted  with  a 
high-reading  thermometer  or  an  indicating  or  record- 
ing pyrometer.  Test  specimens  consist  of  strips  of 
sample  cloth  cut  6  in.  x  3  in.  which  are  given  several 
dippings  of  the  varnish  to  be  tested.  A  space  is  left 
untreated  at  the  top  of  the  samples  to  record  the  test 
data. 

Four  samples  are  prepared  and  placed  in  an  oven 
which  is  maintained  at  a  temperature  of  100  deg.  C. 
The  samples  are  removed  one  at  the  end  of  100  hours, 
the  second  at  the  end  of  200  hours,  the  third  at  the  end 
of  250  hours  and  the  fourth  at  the  end  of  300  hours. 

These  samples  are  then  tested  by  folding  or  bending 
over  rods  of  different  diameters  and  noting  the  smallest 
diameter  around  which  they  may  be  formed  without 
cracking. 

A  test  specimen  which  after  baking  300  hours  at  100 
deg.  C.  and  allowed  to  cool  to  room  temperature  can 
be  folded  and  creased  without  showing  any  indications 
of  cracking  is  considered  very  satisfactory. 

In  the  operation  of  railway  motors,  due  to  careless 


and  in  some  cases  too  frequent  oiling  of  the  bearings, 
excess  oil  finds  its  way  inside  the  motor  frames.  In 
this  connection  it  is  important  that  the  varnish  used 
for  insulating  purposes  should  not  be  affected  by  this 
oil,  and  to  this  end  it  is  advisable  to  use  an  oil-proof 
grade  of  varnish.  To  make  an  oil-proof  test  samples  of 
cloth  are  prepared  similar  to  those  used  in  connection 
with  the  aging  test,  and  after  being  thoroughly  baked 
they  are  placed  in  a  mineral-oil  bath,  which  is  held  at 
a  temperature  of  approximately  60  deg.  C.  for  several 
days.  If  the  varnish  on  the  treated  sample  shows  no 
signs  of  softening  or  becoming  tacky,  this  is  an  indica- 
tion that  it  is  proof  against  the  action  of  the  oil.  A 
similar  test  can  be  quickly  made  on  the  baked  treated 
samples  of  cloth  by  rubbing  them  with  oily  waste. 
Under  these  conditions,  if  the  varnish  is  oil-proof,  it 
will  not  soften  and  cannot  be  rubbed  off  the  surface 
of  the  cloth.  The  acid,  alkali  and  salt-water  test  is 
made  on  insulating  varnishes  used  in  treating  coils, 
etc.,  to  determine  ability  to  withstand  their  action. 

Tests  for  Oil,  Acid,  Alkali  and  Salt  Water 

To  make  the  test  a  large  rectangular  glass  jar  is 
fitted  with  a  wood  rack  and  a  number  of  metal  test 
rods  and  a  testing  circuit  with  a  light  in  series  is 
arranged.  Test  specimens  consist  of  l-in.  round  steel 
rods  12  in.  long,  well  rounded  at  the  lower  end,  which 
are  given  a  uniform  coating  of  varnish  2i  mils  thick 
baked  on  the  entire  surface  to  within  several  inches 
of  the  top  of  the  test  rod.  In  preparing  these  test 
specimens  the  bare  rods  are  first  thoroughly  cleaned 
and  dipped  in  the  sample  of  varnish  and  baked.  This 
operation  is  repeated  not  less  than  three  times,  and 


86 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


sometimes  more,  depending  upon  the  fluidity  of  the 
varnish  in  order  to  get  the  desired  24  mils  thickness  of 
film  which  is  specified  for  this  test.  The  treated  test 
rods  are  then  placed  in  the  rack  which  insulates  indi- 
vidual rods  and  are  suspended  in  the  acid,  alkali  or 
salt-water  solution  contained  in  the  glass  jar.  During 


Paints  and  Varnishes  Are  Subjected  To  Actual 
Weathering  Tests 


the  first  four  hours  of  the  test  an  alternating  current 
from  a  110-volt  circuit  with  a  light  in  series  is  applied 
every  fifteen  minutes  through  the  terminals  one  of 
which  is  connected  to  the  liquid  solution  and  the  other 
is  applied  to  the  individual  test  rods  for  a  short  in- 
terval of  time  to  locate  any  breakdowns.  After  this 
set  of  short-time  readings  is  taken  similar  tests  are 
made  each  morning  and  evening  until  the  insulation 
breaks  down  or  the  test  has  run  its  specified  time  limit. 
In  connection  with  these  tests  either  a  saturated  acid, 
alkaline  or  salt-water  solution  is  used,  depending  upon 
the  nature  of  the  test.  The  final  results  are  repre- 
sented by  the  average  on  three  test  rods  of  each  grade 
of  varnish. 

The  amber  insulator  used  in  connection  with  the  dip- 
ping and  baking  of  railway  motor  armatures  when 
tested  under  the  above  conditions  shows  an  average  of 
880  hours  in  a  saturated  solution  of  salt  water. 

Cementing  and  Sticking  Qualities  of  Varnish 
To  determine  the  ability  of  a  dipping  varnish  to 
cement  the  treated  coil  into  a  solid,  tough,  elastic  mass, 
which  will  be  strong  mechanically  as  well  as  electrically, 
a  sample  coil  is  wound  up,  using  about  No.  20  B.  &  S. 
gage  double-cotton-covered  wire,  is  given  two  dips  of 
the  test  varnish  and  is  then  baked  for  300  hours  at  a 
temperature  of  100  deg.  C.  The  coil  is  then  removed 
from  the  oven  and  inspected  for  its  toughness  and  elas- 
ticity as  compared  with  a  similar  coil  that  has  not  been 
treated. 

In  order  to  improve  the  distribution  of  the  heat  which 
is  generated  in  the  various  parts  of  the  winding  of  a 
motor  it  is  essential  to  use  a  varnish  with  good  heat 
conduction  and  radiation  properties,  to  insure  a  more 
uniform  temperature  of  the  motor  under  service  condi- 
tions. 

To  test  for  heat  conduction  and  radiation  two  coils 
are  wound  up  with  the  same  size  of  wire  and  the 
same  number  of  turns,  identical  in  every  respect.  One 
of  these  is  treated  with  the  varnish  and  baked,  while 
the  other  is  left  untreated.  These  coils  are  connected 
in  series  and  the  resistance  at  room  temperature  is 


carefully  measured  by  means  of  a  Wheatstone  bridge- 
testing  set.  A  current  is  then  passed  through  these 
two  coils  in  series,  resistance  measurements  are  taken 
of  each  coil  at  stated  intervals  of  time  and  tempera- 
tures are  calculated  from  the  increase  in  resistance. 
The  difference  in  temperature  of  these  two  coils  is  an 
indication  of  the  heat-conducting  and  radiating  prop- 
erties of  the  test  varnish. 

It  is  necessary  to  know  something  about  the  time 
and  temperature  required  thoroughly  to  dry  or  bake  out 
the  insulating  varnish.  To  get  the  best  results  with 
the  least  possible  delay  to  production,  samples  of  cloth 
or  tin  are  dipped  in  the  air-drying  varnish  and  are 
hung  up  in  the  open.  The  time  required  to  dry  is 
noted  and  recorded.  In  testing  the  baking  varnishes, 
the  test  samples  after  being  dipped  in  the  varnish 
are  placed  in  the  oven  and  baked  at  a  constant  tem- 
perature for  a  definite  period  until  thoroughly  dried. 
The  temperature  is  then  increased  and  the  time  noted. 
In  this  manner  a  number  of  tests  are  made  with  vary- 
ing temperatures  through  a  range  of  from  90  to  120 
deg.  C,  noting  the  time  required  to  bake  thoroughly. 
The  maximum  temperature  which  will  not  damage  the 
texture  of  paper  or  cloth  to  be  treated  is  taken,  as  this 
temperature  will  expedite  the  production  in  the  factory. 

It  is  also  very  important  to  know  just  how  certain 
paints  and  varnishes  resist  the  action  of  weather  under 
varying  conditions,  and  to  determine  this  a  weather 
rack,  such  as  shown,  is  constructed  and  placed  on  the 
roof  of  one  of  the  shop  buildings.  On  this  rack  the 
various  treated  samples  are  securely  suspended  and 
exposed  to  all  weather  conditions  over  a  long  period 
of  time  and  are  carefully  inspected  at  stated  intervals 
of  time  to  determine  their  deterioration.  These  ob- 
servations are  recorded  and  comparisons  made  of  the 
condition  of  the  various  samples  of  paints  and  varnishes 
under  test. 

Adhesion  Test  for  Friction  Tape 


To  determine  the  adhesion  or  sticking  properties 
of  friction  tape  and  cloth,  which  is  very  important 
with  this  kind  of  material,  an  adhesion  testing  machine 


Important  That  Insulating  Varnishes  Withstand  Action 
of  Acids,  Alkali  and  Salt  Water 


especially  designed  for  testing  friction  tape  is  used.  It 
consists  primarily  of  an  upright  support  having  a  small 
swivel  clamp  which  is  connected  to  the  pencil  on  a 
Thompson  steam  indicator  through  a  system  of  levers. 
The  lower  clamp,  which  holds  the  test  roll  of  tape,  is 
connected  to  the  cylinder  on  the  Thompson  indicator 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


37 


and  is  driven  in  a  vertical  direction  through  a  worm 
drive  by  a  small  electric  motor. 

The  test  specimens  are  cut  22  in.  long  from  standard 
rolls  of  friction  tape.  In  the  testing  of  friction  cloth 
the  strips  are  made  1  in.  wide,  cut  from  the  rolls  of 
cloth. 

The  22-in.  specimen  of  test  tape  is  rolled  up  on  a 
test  spool  under  a  uniform  tension  of  5  lb.  The  test 
spool  is  then  placed  in  the  lower  clamp  of  the  machine, 
free  to  turn,  while  the  free  end  of  the  tape  is  attached 
to  the  upper  clamp.  With  a  chart  in  place  on  the 
cylinder  of  the  Thompson  indicator  and  the  pencil 
adjusted,  the  driving  motor  is  started.  This  unwinds 
the  tape  at  a  uniform  rate  of  speed,  registering  the 
pull  due  to  the  adhesion  of  the  tape  on  the  rotating 
chart.  The  readings  in  pounds  are  taken  from  ten 
uniformly  spaced  points  on  the  chart  and  averaged. 
This  test  is  repeated  on  a  similar  sample  after  the 
tape  has  been  baked  for  sixteen  hours  at  a  temperature 
of  100  deg.  C.  The  loss  in  adhesion,  due  to  aging  by 
heat,  changes  with  different  grades  of  tape.  In  general, 
it  will  vary  from  35  to  50  per  cent,  depending  upon 
the  quality. 

Paper  treated  on  one  side  with  shellac  or  bakelite 
varnish  and  used  in  the  manufacture  of  micarta  tubes, 
sheets,  etc.,  should  stick  together  thoroughly  when 
subjected  to  heat  and  pressure  during  the  process  of 
manufacture. 

Special  detail  apparatus,  consisting  of  two  electrically 
heated  irons  with  controlling  rheostat  to  regulate  the 
heat  and  a  300-deg.  C.  thermometer  for  measuring  the 
temperature  of  the  heated  irons  is  used  for  the  test. 

The  test  specimens  are  cut  21  in.  wide  and  12  in. 
long  and  are  taken  from  the  rolls  of  paper  during  the 
process  of  treatment.  The  test  strip  of  paper  is  folded 
lengthwise,  with  the  treated  sides  together,  and  pressed 
between  the  two  electrically  heated  irons,  which  are 
held  at  a  temperature  of  105  deg.  C.  The  crease  is 
placed  between  the  two  irons  with  the  two  free  ends 
extending  out  from  underneath  the  irons.  To  the  lower 
free  ends  is  attached  a  30-gram  weight,  while  the  upper 


Built-Up  Mica  and  Paper  Subjected  To  a  Dielectric  Test 
Before  Given  Final  Gaging  Test 


one  is  held  to  the  side  of  the  iron.  After  thirty  seconds' 
application,  or  pressing,  the  top  iron  with  the  free  end 
of  the  test  specimen  is  lifted,  allowing  the  treated 
surface  of  the  test  strip  to  be  pulled  apart  due  to  the 
action  of  the  30-gram  weight  suspended  from  the  lower 
free  end.    The  adhesive  property  of  the  test  specimen 


is  gaged  by  the  amount  of  separation  at  the  treated 
surfaces  as  measured  on  one  side  of  the  folded  test 
specimen. 

This  method  of  testing  gives  comparative  results 
only  and  is  a  check  on  the  uniformity  of  the  treated 
material.    Under  these  conditions  a  piece  of  treated 


Mica  for  Railway  Motor  Commutators  Is  Tested  for 
Uniform  Thickness 


paper  used  to  make  micarta  tubes,  etc.,  as  used  for 
insulation  on  railway  motor  parts,  will  show  a  separa- 
tion of  from  %  to  li  in. 

Treating  Test  Specimens 

In  connection  with  the  preparation  cf  samples  of 
treated  cloth  and  paper  for  the  dielectric  test  it  is  very 
important  that  the  untreated  materials  be  given  a  uni- 
form and  even  coating  of  the  varnish.  This  makes  it 
necessary  to  draw  the  samples  through  the  varnish  at  a 
slow  uniform  speed  so  as  to  eliminate  any  variation 
of  the  coating  on  the  surface  of  the  treated  samples 
which  are  being  prepared  for  test  purposes.  The  appa- 
ratus used  consists  of  a  motor-driven  hoist,  to  which 
the  sample  test  sheets  are  attached  and  pulled  through 
the  test  sample  of  varnish. 

The  sample  varnish,  which  is  poured  into  the  glass 
jar,  is  diluted  to  have  the  same  specific  gravity  as  is 
used  in  the  factory  and  is  kept  at  room  temperature. 
The  test  sheets  of  untreated  material,  which  are  cut 
6  in.  square,  after  being  thoroughly  dried  out,  are 
attached  to  the  hoisting  mechanism  and  drawn  through 
the  varnish  at  a  uniform  rate  of  about  14  in.  per 
minute,  after  which  the  samples  are  baked  in  an  oven 
for  a  certain  number  of  hours  at  a  definite  fixed  tem- 
perature, which  depends  upon  the  grade  and  quality  of 
varnish  being  tested.  Amber  insulator  samples  require 
baking  at  from  six  to  eight  hours  at  110  deg.  C.  From 
two  to  four  dips  are  given  all  samples  and  in  making 
successive  dips  the  direction  of  drawing  the  sample 
through  the  varnish  is  reversed  to  insure  uniformity. 
All  test  samples  are  gaged  with  a  micrometer  before 
treatment  and  after  final  treatment  in  order  accurately 
to  determine  the  thickness  of  the  coating  of  the  varnish 
on  the  test  specimens,  which  should  be  approximately 
3i  mils  total  for  both  surfaces. 

To  determine  ,the  dielectric  value  of  sheet  insulat- 
ing materials  in  their  original  plain  uncreased  form 
a  high  voltage  (at  least  of  1  kw.  capacity)  transformer 
is  used.  This  is  provided  with  a  number  of  taps 
and  is  arranged  for  voltage  control  using  a  regulator 
so  designed  that  the  circuit  is  not  broken  between 


88 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


steps.  Two  circuit  breakers,,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
low-voltage  line,  and  a  voltmeter  are  required.  A  test- 
ing board  is  fitted  with  two  short  brass  terminal  rods 
2  in.  in  diameter,  having  the  edges  on  one  face  well 
rounded.  One  of  these  terminals  is  permanently 
mounted  upon  the  baseboard  and  the  other  is  hinged 
to  the  board  and  so  located  as  to  rest  on  top  of  the 
fixed  terminal  when  swung  in  position  on  the  test  sheet. 

Test  specimens  cut  8  in.  wide  and  2  ft.  long  are 
taken  from  the  treated  rolls  and  should  be  selected 
free  from  defects  such  as  creases  or  rough  lumpy  sur- 
faces. The  test  sheet  is  placed  between  the  two  brass 
test  terminals  so  adjusted  that  each  terminal  makes 
a  good  face  contact  with  the  material.  The  test  volt- 
age is  raised  rapidly  and  steadily  and  the  reading 
of  the  meter  is  noted  when  breakdown  occurs.  While 
making  this  test  care  must  be  taken  that  a  puncture 
and  not  a  flash  over  the  surface  is  obtained.  The 
average  of  five  or  ten  breakdowns  is  taken  as  the  final 
dielectric  test  of  the  sample. 

To  determine  the  amount  of  moisture  that  a  treated 
sample  of  cloth  or  paper  will  absorb  under  conditions 
of  exposure  to 
water,  the  sam- 
ple, which  con- 
sists of  a  section 
of  the  treated 
material  6  in. 
square,  is  care- 
fully weighed 
and  then  im- 
mersed in  a  jar 
of  water  and 
kept  at  room 
temperature  for 
t  w  e  n  t  y-f  our 
hours,  after 
which  it  is  re- 
moved and  all 
surface  water 
wiped  off  with  a 
dry  cloth.  The 
sample  is  again 
weighed.  The 
percentage  of 

moisture  absorbed  is  then  figured  by  dividing  the  differ- 
ence between  the  weight  of  the  sample  before  immer- 
sion. Immediately  after  the  moisture  test  has  been 
made  the  test  sample  is  given  a  dielectric  test  to  deter- 
mine its  relative  dielectric  strength  before  and  after 
immersion. 

It  has  been  found  that  a  good  grade  of  treated 
cambric  such  as  used  for  railway  motor  insulation  will 
absorb  from  3  to  4  per  cent  of  moisture  under  these 
conditions.  This  same  sample  of  treated  cambric  will 
show  a  dielectric  test  before  immersion  of  9,440  volts 
and  after  immersion  of  1,780  volts. 

In  making  the  above  dielectric  tests  two  samples 
are  used,  one  for  the  "before  immersion  tests,"  the 
other  for  the  "after  immersion  tests."  These  values 
represent  an  average  of  five  breakdown  tests,  which  are 
made  at  different  points  on  the  surface  of  each  test 
specimen. 

To  insure  a  uniform  thickness  of  the  built-up  mica 
used  principally  in  the  manufacture  of  railway  motor 
commutators  a  metal  surface  plate  on  which  is  mounted 
an  indicating  micrometer  is  used.  The  jaws  of  this 
plate  are  actuated  by  means  of  a  quick-acting  lever. 


Even  the  Adhesive  Properties  of  Friction 
Tape  Are  Determined 


The  readings  are  indicated  by  a  needle  on  a  uniformly 
divided  scale  on  a  large  upright  mounted  dial  con- 
veniently located  so  that  it  can  be  read  easily  by  the 
operator. 

The  test  specimens  are  commutator  mica  segments 
and  sheets  used  to  make  commutator  V-rings  and  bush- 
ings. The  material  to  be  tested  is  placed  on  the  surface 
plate  and  is  drawn  by  the  operator  between  the  open 
jaws  of  the  micrometer,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
controlling  lever  is  prassed  down  with  a  uniform  pres- 
sure, bringing  the  face  of  the  jaws  on  the  mica  board 
and  registering  the  thickness  in  thousandths  of  an  inch 
on  the  dial.  The  operation  is  repeated  a  number  of 
times  over  the  surface  of  the  sheet,  and  in  general 
if  material  varies  more  than  one-thousandth  of  an  inch 
above  or  below  standard  gage  it  is  rejected.  Commu- 
tator segments  that  are  0.0005  in.  over  or  under  size 
are  rejected. 

All  built-up  mica  sheets  used  in  connection  with  the 
above  work  and  before  they  are  given  this  final  gaging 
test  are  subjected  to  a  light  test  by  placing  the  sheets 
on  a  large  pane  of  glass  backed  up  by  brilliant  illumina- 
tion, where  they  are  carefully  inspected  for  foreign 
particles  and  light  spots.  In  this  manner  all  impuri- 
ties are  removed  from  the  sheets  and  the  light  spots 
are  reinforced  and  built  up,  thus  securing  a  clean, 
uniform  product. 

Mica  cells  for  insulating  railway  motor  field  and 
armature  coils  are  tested  in  order  to  weed  out  the 
defective  sections  due  to  poor  workmanship  and  mate- 
rial. The  apparatus  used  is  a  special  testing  machine 
built  by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company.  The  roll  of  composite  material  is  mounted 
at  one  end  of  the  machine  as  shown  and  as  it  unrolls 
the  sheet  passes  over  a  plate  and  under  two  rows  of 
spring-supported  contact  fingers  about  \  in.  apart  which 
are  staggered,  so  that  they  cover  the  entire  width  of 
the  sheet  as  it  is  fed  through  the  machine.  The  mate- 
rial is  subjected  to  a  voltage  test  ranging  from  1,000 
to  10,000  volts,  depending  upon  the  grade  of  the  mate- 
rial being  tested,  by  connecting  one  side  of  the  test 
circuit  to  the  plate  of  the  machine  and  the  other  to  the 
sliding  contact  fingers.  When  a  defect  in  the  sheet  is 
located  by  the  material  being  punctured  by  the  high- 
voltage  test  the  machine  automatically  stops.  The 
defect  is  plainly  stenciled  and  the  machine  is  again 
put  in  operation.  This  test  insures  the  selection  of  a 
good  grade  of  material  for  winding  coils  free  from 
electrical  defects  and  able  to  stand  the  final  high- 
voltage  test  given  the  completed  motor  before  shipment. 

To  eliminate  the  defects  in  connection  with  the  com- 
mercial production  of  treated  materials  an  experimental 
treating  tower  is  used  to  treat  materials  on  a  larger 
scale  than  is  possible  by  using  strictly  laboratory  meth- 
ods. This  tower,  which  is  under  the  direct  supervision 
of  the  research  laboratory  experts,  consists  of  a  motor- 
driven  series  of  rolls  over  which  the  material  is  drawn 
at  from  10  to  40  in.  per  minute  and  is  fitted  with  a 
combination  of  treating  vats  so  arranged  as  to  coat  the 
material  on  either  one  or  both  sides,  depending  upon 
the  requirements  to  be  met  in  the  factory.  The  tower 
is  provided  with  a  steam-heated  chamber,  the  tem- 
perature of  which  can  readily  be  adjusted  and  controlled 
to  secure  the  range  of  baking  temperatures,  which  will 
vary  with  the  different  grades  of  baking  varnishes  used 
in  the  treatment  of  the  cloths  and  paper.  This  tower 
has  greatly  facilitated  the  commercial  productions  of 
the  various  grades  of  treated  paper  or  cloth. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


89 


Preparing  for  Pageant  of  Progress 

Extensive  Terminal  Facilities  Have  Been  Built  at  the  Municipal  Pier  in  Chicago  by  the 
Chicago  Surface  Lines  to  Handle  the  Large  Crowds  Which  Are 
Expected  July  30  to  Aug.  14 


CHICAGO  is  to  have  a  Pageant  of  Progress  on 
July  30  to  Aug.  14  which  is  expected  to  approach 
a  World's  Fair  for  exhibits  and  interest.  It  is  to 
be  held  on  the  mile-long  Municipal  Pier,  used  pri- 
marily for  shipping  purposes  but  including  at  its  outer 
end  a  large  recreational  center.  The  entire  upper  level 
and  outer  end  of  the  pier  are  to  be  used  in  the  pageant. 

The  Chicago  Surface  Lines  built  an  extension  to  its 
Grand  Avenue  line  at  the  time  the  pier  was  erected, 
extending  the  tracks  out  to  the  far  end  of  the  pier  to 
serve  directly  the  people  using  the  recreation  center. 
These  tracks  were  built  on  the  upper  level  of  the  pier, 
one  track  on  either  side  with  a  loop  at  the  outer  end, 
and  another  loop  at  the  land  end  of  the  pier  for  short- 
routing  in  winter.  In  making  arrangements  for  the 
pageant,  the  city  authorities  desired  to  have  the  com- 
plete use  of  the  upper  level  of  the  pier  and  therefore 
required  the  Surface  Lines  to  remove  its  tracks  from 
the  upper  level  and  re-lay  them  through  the  center  of 
the  lower  level  or  main  driveway.  The  entire  work  of 
tearing  up  the  track  and  rebuilding  it,  largely  from  the 
same  materia!s,  on  the  lower  level  was  completed  in 
twenty-eight  days,  including  the  construction  of  ex- 
tensive additional  terminal  facilities  at  the  approach  to 
the  pier.  Altogether  21  miles  of  track  were  laid,  most 
of  which  was  of  the  open-type  construction. 

In  the  construction  of  the  tracks  extensive  use  was 
made  of  machines  to  save  labor  and  speed  up  the  work. 
Three  electric  shovels  were  simultaneously  employed. 
The  first  took  up  the  asphalt  which  was  hauled  away. 


The  second  excavated  the  crushed  stone  used  under- 
neath the  paving  and  placed  it  along  one  side  of  the 
trench  for  reuse.  The  third  shovel  then  dug  out  the 
trench  to  the  subgrade.  Steam  rollers  were  used  to 
roll  the  subgrade  and  the  8  in.  of  crushed  stone  placed 
underneath  the  ties. 

The  100-lb.  T-rail  and  the  wood  ties  were  expedi- 
tiously transferred  from  the  old  to  the  new  location 
by  simply  sliding  them  down  ramps.  The  gravel  ballast 
which  had  been  used  under  the  ties  on  the  upper  level 
was  transferred  to  the  lower  level  by  shoveling  into 
rough  troughs  which  carried  it  to  the  edge  of  the  lower 
track  trench.  Except  for  the  fact  that  this  transfer 
of  gravel  ballast  took  place  on  a  rainy  day,  which 
changed  the  angle  of  repose  of  the  material,  it  would 
have  been  possible  to  discharge  the  ballast  directly  into 
the  lower  trench.  As  it  was,  however,  the  pitch  of  the 
trough  had  to  be  steepened  and  the  ballast  discharged 
along  the  side  of  the  trench,  whence  it  was  distributed. 
An  Ingersoll  four-tool  air  tamper,  a  Buda  two-tool 
direct-current  electrical  tamper  and  a  Jackson  two-tool 
alternating-current  electrical  tamper  were  used  in 
tamping  the  tracks. 

The  type  of  track  construction  used  on  the  pier  is 
largely  shown  in  the  cross-section  in  the  accompanying 
drawing.  The  six-bolt  Weber  joints  used  on  the  upper 
level  were  reused  below.  Pin-type  bonds  were  used  and 
were  placed  under  the  fish  plates  in  the  open  tracks  and 
outside  the  fish  plates  where  the  track  was  to  be  paved. 

Terminal  facilities  for  this  track  extending  out  on 


LEGEND 

Indicates  present  tracks 
"        proposed  " 
"        future  extensions 


hading     \\   J\unloadind  fence  6' high!          }  unloading 

Cross    Section    E  *  E   Looking  East 

_  Tie  plates 


V7 


E.  Illinois 


I*     Fare  booths 


MICHIGAN 


Layout  of  New  Track  at  Chicago's  Municipal  Pier,  Which  Pro    lies  Three  Terminals  for  Handling  Crowds 


90 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  ,3 


H  A 


'The  Street  Car  Tracks  Were  Removed  from  the  Upper  Level 
to  the  Center  of  the  Lower  Level 
....  of  the  Pier 


the  Municipal  Pier  were  provided  by  widening  out  the 
devil  strip,  stub-ending  both  tracks  and  providing  a 
double  crossover  at  the  approach  to  the  terminal.  Each 
of  these  track  ends  has  a  capacity  for  five  cars  and  the 
double  crossover  will  make  it  possible  to  route  the  cars 
into  either  stub.  Unloading  will  take  place  on  one 
side  of  either  track  while  the  loading  takes  place  on 
the  opposite  side. 

On  the  upper  level  tracks  the  trolley  was  supported 
directly  on  steel  brackets  attached  to  the  building  and 
extending  out  over  the  tracks.  When  the  overhead 
for  the  new  track  on  the  lower  level  was  erected  the 
old  trolley  wire  was  taken  down,  and  these  same  brack- 
ets were  used  to  support  long  span  wires  extending 
across  the  center  driveway  to  the  bracket  opposite  on 
the  other  building.  The  double  trolley  was  suspended 
from  these  cross  spans,  over  the  lower  level  tracks. 
These  span  wires  are  about  100  ft.  long  but  are  under 
very  little  strain,  as  there  is  so  much  sag.  Standard 
ft-in.  stranded  steel  span  wire  was  used.  A  wood  strain 
insulator  at  the  bracket,  another  adjacent  to  the  trolley, 
and  the  trolley  ear,  provide  triple  insulation.  This  over- 
head construction  is  shown  in  accompanying  views. 

In  addition  to  the  stub-end  terminal  facilities  at  the 
outer  end  of  the  pier,  the  terminal  capacity  of  the 
Grand  Avenue  line,  which  has  served  the  pier  alone 
heretofore,  was  greatly  increased  by  the  building  of  a 
long  and  short  loop  in  front  of  the  pier.  This  will  be 
used  particularly  during  the  pageant,  as  the  crowd,  in 
order  to  see  the  exhibits,  will  leave  the  cars  at  the  shore 
end  of  the  pier  and  walk  down  one  side  to  the  far  end 


Looking  Down  the  Center  of  the  Pier.    The  View  Shows  New 
Track  Under  Construction  and  Method  of 
Suspending  Overhead 


and  back  on  the  other  side.  This  will  bring  the  prin- 
cipal loading  and  unloading  requirements  at  the  shore 
end  of  the  pier.  The  short  loop  in  the  new  terminal 
will  be  used  when  there  is  light  traffic  and  the  long  loop 
only  when  traffic  is  heavy.  Under  heavy  traffic  condi- 
tions the  cars  will  stop  for  unloading  at  the  space 
indicated  for  that  purpose  on  the  accompanying  draw- 
ing and  then  pull  up  to  a  new  stop  for  loading. 

The  capacity  of  the  surface  lines  to  handle  the  ex- 
pected crowds  was  also  materially  increased  by  extend- 
ing the  Chicago  Avenue  line  down  the  lake  shore  and 
terminating  it  in  a  large  loop  in  front  of  the  pier. 
This  track  extends  in  the  parkway  adjacent  to  Lake 
Shore  Drive  for  a  distance  of  five  blocks  along  the  lake 
shore  and  is  the  only  piece  of  track  the  Surface  Lines 
has  immediately  adjacent  to  Lake  Michigan.  This  track 
is  almost  entirely  of  open-type  construction,  employing 
center  poles  for  the  overhead  along  the  parkway.  It 
is  planned  to  install  cashiers'  booths  with  fare  registers 
or  turnstiles  and  establish  a  prepayment  area  or  sell 
tickets  to  speed  up  the  loading. 


They  Crowd  Them  in  Italy 

MARQUIS  FERDINAND  CUSANI,  a  member  of  the 
visiting  Italian  delegation  of  engineers,  provided 
the  illustrations  from  which  the  two  accompanying  half- 
tones were  made.  In  presenting  these  for  publication 
for  American  readers,  Marquis  Cusani  remarked  that 
this  would  give  proof  that  the  United  States  was  not 
the  only  place  where  it  has  become  necessary  to  load 
street  cars  to  their  ultimate  limit. 


"Compression  Des  Voyageurs/-'  as  the  French  Express  This  Italian  Scene 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


91 


Railway  Motor-Generators  in  Winnipeg  Rebuilt 

Three  Old  Direct-Current  Generators  and  Two  Alternators  Direct  Connected  to  Corliss  Engines,  Already 
in  the  Shadow  of  the  Scrap  Heap,  Reassembled  Into  Two  Motor-Generator 
Sets — Additional  Capacity  Has  Been  Obtained 

By  W.  Nelson  Smith 

Consulting  Engineer  Winnipeg  Electric  Railway 


MOTOR-GENERATOR  SET  REBUILT  FROM  OLD  GENERATORS 
One  800-kw.  alternator  in  the  center  operating  as  a  synchronous  motor  driving  two  400-kw. 
direct-current  generators  for  three-wire  service. 


IN  AN  article  published  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  March  26,  1921,  the  writer  describes 
the  rearrangement  of  the  substation  equipment  and 
the  trolley  distribution  system  of  the  Winnipeg  Electric 
Railway.  In  the  course  of  changing  from  two-wire  to 
three-wire  operation,  for  the  purpose  of  electrolysis 
mitigation,  additional  motor-generator  equipment 
became  necessary.  The  prices  asked  and  the  time 
required  for  delivery  by  manufacturers  during  1918  and 
1919  were  so  unsatisfactory,  however,  that  we  made  a 
study  of  the  possibilities  of  converting  some  old  station 
equipment  to  this  new  use  and  succeeded  in  accomplish- 
ing the  desired  results  within  the  required  time  and 
with  a  small  expenditure  of  additional  capital. 

The  steam  plant  that  had  constituted  the  original 
source  of  the  company  power  supply,  located  on  Assini- 
boine  Avenue,  was  permanently  closed  down  in  the 
spring  of  1918.  It  dated  back  to  1898  or  earlier  and 
was  fitted  entirely  with  engine-type  generating  units, 
both  alternating  and  direct  current.  The  alternating- 
current  units  had  been  superseded  since  1911  by  a 
modern  turbine  power  station  which  relays  the  hydro- 
electric system  that  has  supplied  nearly  all  the  com- 
pany's power  since  1906.  The  old  direct-current  steam 
units  had  since  been  used  only  on  rare  occasions,  such 
as  heavy  blizzards. 

The  engine-type  direct-current  generators  comprised 
one  850-  and  two  400-kw.  machines,  the  latter  shown  in 
an  accompanying  illustration  in  their  original  condition 
in  the  old  generating  station.  The  former  ran  at  85 
r.p.m.  and  the  two  smaller  machines  at  100  r.p.m. 


Among  the  engine-type  alternators  there  were  two  800- 
kw.  machines  operating  at  90  r.p.m.  The  fact  that 
the  speeds  of  the  direct-current  units  were  so  near  those 
of  the  alternating-current  units  immediately  suggested 
the  possibility  of  yoking  them  up  together,  with  one 
800-kw.  alternator  driving  the  850-kw.  railway  genera- 
tor, and  the  other  800-kw.  alternator  driving  the  two 
400-kw.  generators  as  a  three-unit  machine.  There  was 
no  doubt  that  an  85-r.p.m.  railway  machine  would 
generate  575  to  600  volts  when  run  at  90  r.p.m.,  and  a 
test  performed  for  the  purpose  showed  that  each  of  the 
400-kw.  railway  machines  could  generate  575  volts  at 
90  r.p.m.  With  these  facts  established,  it  appeared 
feasible  to  create  an  addition  to  the  motor-generator 
equipment  of  the  company  to  the  extent  of  at  least  1,600 
nominal  kilowatts  out  of  equipment  on  hand.  The 
engineering  problem  was  thus  reduced  to  the  mechanical 
design  and  assembly  of  these  machines  as  motor- 
generators,  on  suitable  shafts  and  bearings.  The  new 
substation  at  St.  Boniface  was  then  being  constructed, 
and  provision  was  being  made  for  space  for  a  railway 
motor-generator  to  take  care  of  the  trolley  lines  east  of 
the  Red  River.  It  was  thought  worth  while  to  recon- 
struct a  three-unit  machine  for  the  substation  out  of 
the  two  400-kw.  generators  and  one  800-kw.  alternator. 

The  old  engines  on  which  the  two  400-kw.  machines 
were  mounted  were  of  the  cross-compound  Corliss  type. 
One  of  them  was  of  so  old  a  pattern  that  the  engine 
frames  and  the  pillow  blocks  were  in  separate  pieces 
bolted  together,  and  this  suggested  utilizing  the  two 
engine  pillow  blocks  as  the  center  bearings  of  the  three- 


92 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


unit  machine,  between  which  the  alternator  would  be 
mounted  as  a  motor.  A  pattern  of  a  ring-oiling  bear- 
ing was  found  in  a  local  foundry  which  proved  to  be 
easily  adaptable  for  the  two  outboard  bearings  required. 
The  shaft  from  the  oldest  Corliss  engine  was  found  to 


RAW  MATERIAL  FOR  REBUILT  MOTOR-GENERATOR  SETS 
Corliss  engine-driven  units  in  the  old  generating  station,  one  of 
two  400-kw.  direct-current  units  in  the  foreground,  and  one  850- 
kw.  direct-current  unit  in  the  background. 

be  just  long  enough  to  provide  shafts  for  mounting  the 
direct-current  generator  armatures,  after  being  cut  in 
half.  It  remained  to  find  a  suitable  central  shaft  on 
which  to  mount  the  rotor  of  the  alternator  which  was 
now  to  be  turned  into  a  motor.  An  old  engine  shaft 
was  discovered  at  another  machine  shop,  which  was  just 
large  enough  so  far  as  its  strength  was  concerned, 
though  not  sufficiently  large  in  diameter  to  fit  the  hub  of 
the  alternator  rotor  which  had  been  fitted  to  a  22-in. 
engine  shaft.  This  fit  was  accom- 
plished by  providing  a  heavy  cast-iron 
bushing,  and  the  remaining  necessary 
elements  were  two  cast-steel  face  coup- 
lings and  the  necessary  keys,  with 
some  smaller  cast-steel  bushings  for 
filling  out  certain  places  on  the  gener- 
ator shafts  that  were  too  small  for  the 
direct-current  armature  fits.  How 
these  elements  were  all  assembled  to 
create  the  newly  reconstructed  three- 
unit  machine  is  shown  in  an  accom- 
panying illustration,  and  another  view 
shows  the  finished  machine  operating 
in  the  substations. 

The  order  of  operation  was  as  fol- 
lows: The  flywheel  of  the  oldest  Cor- 
liss engine  connected  to  a  400-kw. 
direct-current  generator  was  taken  off 
the  shaft,  the  crank  disks  pulled  off 
and  the  old  engine  frames  separated 
from  the  pillow  blocks.  The  armature 
of  the  generator  was  then  pressed  off 
the  shaft,  and  the  latter  was  sent  to 
the  machine  shop  to  be  cut  in  two,  turned  up  for  coup- 
ling seats  and  journals  and  fitted  with  the  necessary 
bushings  and  keys  for  completing  the  altered  armature 
fits.  The  other  Corliss  engine  was  of  more  modern 
design,  and  it  was  thought  best  to  save  it  for  possible 
sale,  so  that  the  shaft  was  dismantled,  one  crank  disk 
was  pulled  off  and  the  armature  was  removed. 


When  the  two  new  armature  shafts  were  ready  they 
were  brought  back  to  the  power  plant,  each  with  its 
half-coupling  and  the  necessary  keys,  and  the  two  direct- 
current  armatures  were  then  pressed  on.  Meantime  the 
central  piece  of  shafting  was  also  fitted  with  the  heavy 
bushing  of  22  in.  external  diameter  for  the  hub  of  the 
rotor  of  one  of  the  800-kw.  alternators,  the  cast  steel 
bushings  for  forming  new  journal  bearings  upon  it,  and 
the  other  halves  of  the  couplings.  The  new  outboard 
bearings  were  then  completed  and  all  the  parts,  bear- 
ings, shafts,  armatures  and  fields  taken  to  the  sub- 
station and  assembled.  All  the  machine-shop  operations 
consumed  about  two  and  one  half  months  and  the  field 
work  of  mechanical  and  electrical  assembly  at  the  sub- 
station took  about  two  months.  The  mounting  of  the 
alternator  rotor  upon  the  motor  shaft  was  quite  simple, 
because  the  rotor  is  built  in  halves  bolted  together  and 
therefore  did  not  require  a  press  fit. 

No  bedplate  was  thought  necessary  for  holding  this 
machine  in  alignment.  The  stationary  parts  are  very 
heavy  and  are  bolted  down  to  separate  foundation  piers 
which  are  joined  together  at  the  bottom  by  masses  of 
concrete  and  at  the  top  by  the  reinforced-concrete  floor. 
The  machine  foundation  piers  all  rest  on  a  single  con- 
crete slab  about  32  ft.  long,  22  ft.  wide  and  1  ft.  thick, 
reinforced  with  old  60-lb.  rails. 

The  exciter  for  the  field  of  the  alternator  is  a  30-kw. 
slow-speed  machine,  which  had  formerly  been  belted 
through  a  pulley  on  the  engine  shaft.  In  the  new  sub- 
station this  exciter  is  driven  through  an  inclosed  silent 
chain  by  a  40-hp.  induction  motor. 

The  old  pillow  blocks  are  fitted  with  the  four-part 
babbitted  bearings  and  adjusting  wedges  with  which 
they  were  originally  provided,  so  that  close  adjustment 
is  possible.  The  two  new  outboard  ring-oiling  bearings 
are  adjustable  vertically  by  means  of  shims  and  horizon- 
tally by  means  of  adjusting  bolts. 


r~  -27-10-- 


New  outboar0_ 
bearing " 


k 


X=C./.  bushing  shrunk  on 
shaft  to  complete 
Armature  fits 


'  'New  outboard 
bearing 


'-ir-—- 


-/2-3"h- 


-~8'-9f- 


ASSEMBLY  OF  THREE-UNIT  MOTOR-GENERATOR  SET  SHOWN 
IN  ANOTHER  ILLUSTRATION 


The  bearings  of  the  old  Corliss  engine  were  used  for  center  bearings,  and  two 
new  bearings  ordered  for  outboard  bearings.  The  old  Corliss  engine  shaft  cut  in  two 
served  for  the  two  direct-current  machines.  A  second-hand  shaft  was  found  for  the 
alternator.  Cast-iron  bushings  of  suitable  diameter  were  shrunk  on  these  shafts  to 
fit  the  bore  of  the  three  machines,  and  steel  bushings  were  used  to  enlarge  the  shaft 
and  provide  new  journal  surfaces  in  the  center  bearings.  Note  the  concrete  pedestals 
or  pads  necessary  to  bring  the  bearings  and  machines  in  correct  alignment. 


The  machine  went  into  permanent  operation  about 
Sept.  1,  1919,  and  has  since  given  very  satisfactory 
service  excepting  for  a  period  of  several  weeks  during 
the  summer  of  1920,  when  one  of  the  main  pillow-block 
bearings  burned  out,  owing  to  a  failure  of  the  lubrica- 
tion. 

The  two  generators  when  running  in  parallel  operate 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


93 


together  much  better  now  than  they  ever  did  when  they 
were  mounted  on  separate  steam  engines  in  the  old 
steam  plant.  Occasionally  they  run  two-wire,  but  the 
usual  operation  is  three-wire  with  the  generators  in 
series. 

The  success  of  this  reconstructed  motor-generator  set 
was  sufficiently  marked  to  justify  the  conversion  of  the 
two  remaining  engine-type  machines  into  a  two-unit 
motor-generator.  It  was  therefore  decided  to  scrap  the 
1,200-hp.  Corliss  engine  which  had  been  driving  the 
850-kw.  direct-current  generator,  excepting  its  arma- 
ture shaft  and  main  bearings.  Careful  measurement 
had  indicated  that  if  the  flywheel,  eccentrics  and  crank 
disks  were  removed  from  the  engine  shaft  there  would 
be  just  room  enough  in  the  space  formerly  occupied  by 
the  flywheel  to  mount  the  rotor  of  the  second  800-kw. 
alternator  and  at  the  same  time  provide  sufficient  space 
in  the  pit  for  shifting  the  alternator  stator  to  uncover 
either  field  or  armature  for  inspection  or  repairs. 
Fortunately,  this  could  be  done  without  moving  the 
heavy  direct-current  armature  from  its  position  on  the 
shaft,  for  it  is  about  10  ft.  in  diameter,  weighs  some- 
thing like  36  tons  and  had  required  a  force  estimated 
at  400  tons  to  press  it  on  the  shaft.  The  shaft  and 
bearings  being  therefore  on  hand  and  all  made  to  size, 
the  mechanical  operations  were  simple  and  consisted  in 
cutting  away  all  unnecessary  metal  from  the  heavy 
cast-iron  engine-frame  housings  in  which  the  main 
pillow-block  bearings  were  set;  taking  off  the  50-ton 
flywheel  with  the  eccentrics  and  crank  disks ;  cutting  a 
new  keyway  for  the  hub  of  the  alternator  rotor;  pro- 


60-in.  pulley  for  the  belt  drive  to  the  exciter.  The 
remainder  of  the  engine  was  sold  for  junk. 

The  layout  of  this  assembly,  excepting  the  exciter 
drive,  is  shown  in  one  of  the  illustrations  herewith,  and 
another  shows  the  complete  unit  including  the  exciter. 


ASSEMBLY  OF  TWO-UNIT  800-KW.  MOTOR-GENERATOR 
SET  SHOWN  IN  ANOTHER  ILLUSTRATION  HEREWITH 

The  850-kw.  direct-current  generator,  its  shaft  and  bearings 
were  left  untouched.  The  flywheel  and  other  parts  of  the  Corliss 
engine  were  removed  from  the  shaft  and  replaced  by  the  rotor  of 
one  of  the  800-kw.  alternators,  with  a  suitable  cast-iron  bushing 
to  fit  the  rotor  bore.  Note  the  concrete  pedestals  or  pads  neces- 
sary to  bring  the  direct-current  machine  and  the  bearings  in  the 
correct  alignment,  while  the  alternator  feet  were  dropped  slightly 
below  the  floor  level  for  this  purpose. 

viding  a  cast-iron  bushing  of  about  22  in.  inside  and 
24  in.  outside  diameter  and  long  enough  to  carry  the 
rotor  hub  and  the  collector  rings,  and  a  suitable  bushing 
to  fit  on  the  external  shoulder  formerly  occupied  by  one 
of  the  crank  disks,  where  it  was  decided  to  mount  the 


REBUILT  TWO-UNIT  800-KW.  MOTOR-GENERATOR  SET 
Built  up  from  the  850-kw.  direct-current  generator  visible  in 
background  of  another  illustration  herewith,  and  from  one  800- 
kw.  engine-type  alternator  serving  as  a  synchronous  motor. 

No  electrical  changes  were  made  on  the  generator.  This 
machine,  as  well  as  the  three-unit  set,  is  started  from 
the  direct-current  end.  Work  on  it  was  started  Feb.  1, 
1920,  and  the  rebuilt  machine  was  ready  to  turn  over 
early  in  July.  It  went  into  regular  operation  in  October, 
1920. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  first  reconstructed  machine,  the 
only  trouble  that  developed  was  in  the  bearings,  one  of 
which  had  a  crack  in  the  babbitt  of  the  lower  portion, 
inherited  from  its  steam-driven  service,  and  after 
several  ineffectual  attempts  to  remedy  this,  the  bearing 
was  rebabbitted.  There  was  some  further  trouble  from 
oil  throwing  as  the  shaft  was  of  sufficiently  large 
diameter  to  make  its  peripheral  velocity  greater  than 
in  the  case  of  the  first  machine,  where  this  trouble  had 
not  developed.  This  was  finally  overcome  by  the  addi- 
tion of  disks  inclosed  in  sheet-metal  guards. 

Electrically,  both  these  reconstructed  motor-generator 
sets  operate  perfectly.  Mechanically,  there  are  only 
two  or  three  elements  that  would  be  changed  if  the 
work  had  to  be  done  over  again.  In  the  case  of  the 
three-unit  machine  it  would  have  been  better  to  have 
provided  cast-iron  sole  plates  about  15  in.  deep  under- 
neath the  two  center  bearings  so  designed  that  they 
could  be  readily  withdrawn  from  underneath  the  pillow 
blocks,  in  order  to  permit  the  lowering  of  the  pillow 
blocks  when  any  repairs  were  required  on  the  center 
bearings,  as  this  would  save  the  trouble  of  uncoupling 
the  motor  shaft  and  lifting  it  out  of  the  center  bearings 
at  such  a  time.  It  would  also  have  been  better  to  have 
designed  a  modern  lubricating  system  for  the  old 
engine  bearings  on  both  machines,  prior  to  the  con- 
struction, including  the  oil-throwing  disks  required  for 
the  22-in.  shaft. 

The  original  cost  of  the  five  old  generators  purchased 
between  1898  and  1905  was  about  $93,000.  An  engi- 
neering appraisal  of  the  property  made  in  1915  had 
set  the  present  value  of  these  machines  at  about 
$41,000,  but  at  the  time  the  steam  plant  was  ordered 
discontinued  these  generators  were  regarded  as  obso- 


94 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


lete.  The  cost  of  reconstructing  them  and  setting  them 
in  operation,  as  described,  exclusive  of  foundations, 
was  about  $31,000  for  labor  and  material  on  a  war- 
time basis.  In  pre-war  days  the  same  work  would 
probably  not  have  cost  more  than  $18,000. 

Quotations  on  new  motor-generator  equipments  in 
1918  were  on  the  basis  of  more  than  $40  per  kilowatt 
at  the  factory,  or  say  $45  per  kilowatt  erected  in  Win- 
nipeg, which  would  have  amounted  to  about  $72,000 
of  new  capital  for  1,600  nominal  kilowatts.  The  con- 
struction herein  described  is  therefore  believed  to  have 
saved  the  railway  company  more  than  $40,000  and 
prevented  what  would  otherwise  have  been  a  deliberate 
waste  of  valuable  equipment,  for  these  machines  have 
proved  their' title  to  a  new  lease  of  life  and  are  able 
to  render  the  same  service  they  did  twenty  years  ago. 


Impairing  and  Repairing  Street 
Railway  Rates 

Owing  to  the  Increase  in  Commodity  Prices  the  Nickel  Fare 
in  1914  Had  Already  Become  Too  Small — Decreases 
Not  Now  Possible  Until  Balance  Is  Reattained 

WALTER  H.  BURKE  has  contributed  an  interesting 
article  on  street  railway  rates  to  the  June  number 
of  Stone  &  Webster  Journal.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
article  he  points  out  that  even  before  the  war  a  great 
many  city  railway  companies  could  no  longer  make  both 
ends  meet  on  the  universal  5-cent  fare.  This  was  the 
cause  of  the  gradual  but  steady  increase  in  commodity 
prices  and  wages  which  began  in  1896.  Statistics  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  show  that  wholesale 
commodity  prices,  rated  at  66  in  1896,  had  advanced 
to  100  in  1913.  Average  hourly  wages  also  had  increased 
during  the  same  period  from  69  to  100.  On  the  other 
hand,  street  railway  fares  on  the  whole  had  decreased 
during  the  period,  due  to  various  factors,  including  the 
extension  of  the  use  of  free  transfers,  the  sale  of  tickets 
at  reduced  rates,  etc.  Thus,  the  beginning  of  the  war 
found  the  industry  as  a  whole  like  a  man,  already  in 
poor  health,  who  suddenly  contracts  an  acute  illness. 

The  condition  since  1914  is  shown  by  the  chart.  The 
index  numbers  for  commodity  prices  and  of  wages  in 
this  chart  are  from  publications  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  The  fares  are  an  average 
for  all  cities  in  the  United  States  of  more  than  50,000 
population  except  New  York  City  and  are  weighted 
according  to  population.  The  data  on  fares  were  pre- 
pared by  Prof.  A.  S.  Richey.  The  latter  portion  of  Mr. 
Burke's  article,  considerably  abstracted,  follows: 

The  point  to  be  particularly  noted  from  the  chart  is  the 
lag  between  railway  fares  and  other  prices,  no  appreciable 
increase  having  been  shown  in  the  former  until  the  middle 
of  1918,  i.e.,  a  few  months  before  the  close  of  the  war, 
whereas  commodity  prices  had  practically  doubled  in  the 
meantime,  and  the  hourly  wage  rate  had  advanced  some  65 
per  cent.  This  in  a  nutshell  was  the  trouble  with  the  street 
railway  situation. 

The  future  trend  of  prices  is  uncertain,  but  economists 
quite  generally  agree  that  for  a  number  of  years  at  least 
the  average  will  be  from  50  to  60  per  cent  above  pre-war 
figures. 

Assuming  a  50  per  cent  higher  price  level  for  the  future, 
it  is  evident  from  the  chart  that  street  railway  fares,  even 
with  the  increases  of  the  past  few  years,  still  are  short  of 
what  they  should  be  to  meet  the  permanently  changed  con- 
ditions. This,  however,  takes  no  account  of  the  tremendous 
discrepancies  of  the  past  five  years  between  the  prices  of 
street  railway  transportation  and  those  of  other  commodities 
and  of  labor.  This  is  a  disparity  which  must  be  compen- 
sated for  in  the  long  run  if  the  companies  are  to  go  along 
on  a  comparable  basis  with  other  industries.  The  fact  must 
not  be  lost  sight  of  that  while  the  increases  in  fares  of  the 


past  few  years  or  so  have  helped  conditions,  they  have  by  no 
means  repaired  the  damage  which  resulted  from  failure  to 
allow  this  relief  more  promptly.  This  can  be  accomplished 
only  by  continuing  the  increases  in  force  for  such  period  in 
the  future  as  may  be  necessary. 

The  under-development  of  the  properties  during  recent 
years,  in  the  face  of  the  rapid  and  continued  growth  of  the 
communities  served,  means  that,  in  addition  to  refunding 
their  short-term  obligations,  a  tremendous  amount  of  new 
money  will  be  required  to  bring  them  back  to  pre-war  stand- 
ards of  development  and  enable  them  to  keep  pace  with 
future  city  growth.  What  rate  of  interest  the  street  rail- 
ways must  pay  to  get  this  money  can  only  be  guessed  at. 
If,  as  generally  agreed,  from  7  to  8  per  cent  was  the  mini- 
mum fair  return  for  the  public  utilities  before  the  war,  and 
if  we  are  now  to  find  ourselves  on  a  50  per  cent  higher  price 
level  than  at  that  time,  then,  to  use  a  rough  yardstick,  the 
fair  rate  of  return  becomes  at  least  lOi  to  12  per  cent. 

The  above  situation  is  emphasized  because  recently  there 
has  been  some  scattered  sentiment  in  favor  of  reducing 
existing  fares  on  the  general  theory  that  "the  price  of 
everything  else  is  coming  down  and  the  street  railways 
=hould  take  their  medicine  along  with  the  rest  of  us."  It 
is  only  necessary  to  refer  again  to  the  accompanying  chart 
to  show  that  for  several  years  past  the  street  railways  have 
been  "taking  their  medicine"  in  double  doses  at  a  time  when 
other  business  has  been  getting  the  largest  profits  in  its 
history-  It  is  just  now  approaching  what  might  be  termed 
the  convalescent  stage  of  its  illness.  It  would  have  been  to 
the  best  interests  of  all  concerned  if,  beginning  in  1916, 
street  railway  fares  had  more  nearly  kept  pace  with  the 
increases  in  other  commodity  prices  and  wages.  Unfortu- 
nately this  policy  was  not  followed,  and  the  penalty  is  the 


8  280 


-  100  lom  "jukT  Jan  July  Jon"  July  Jon.  July  Jan.  July  Jan.  July  Join. 
1915         1916  1917  1918  1919  1920 

Relative  Increases  in  Wholesale  Commodity  Prices,  Hourly 
Waces  and  Street  Railway  Fares 

continuance  of  higher  prices  for  a  longer  period  than  would 
otherwise  have  been  necessary,  assuming  that  the  street 
railways  are  to  function  and  meet  the  needs  of  the  public 
for  adequate  and  dependable  transportation  service. 

Nevertheless,  there  are  a  great  many  encouraging  factors 
in  the  present  outlook.  The  fundamental  soundness  of  the 
business  has  been  proved  without  doubt.  There  are  few  if 
any  other  industries  which  could  have  withstood  such  a  test 
as  the  street  railways  have  had  to  face  during  the  past  five 
or  six  years.  The  companies  have  no  large  inventories,  car- 
ried on  their  books  at  inflated  war  prices,  which  must  be 
liquidated.  Again,  while  the  street  railways  have  been 
forced  to  suspend  practically  all  new  development  work 
for  five  years  past,  their  new  construction  work  of  the 
future  will  require  a  substantially  smaller  capital  expendi- 
ture than  would  have  been  the  case  under  war  conditions. 
The  war  has  naturally  stimulated  previous  efforts  to  effect 
economies  in  operation,  like  the  Birney  car.  Finally,  the 
general  public  is  coming  to  appreciate  that  the  street  rail- 
way fills  a  vital  need  because  it  furnishes  a  service  which 
the  cities  cannot  do  without.  As  a  result  of  the  companies' 
efforts  a  great  many  of  their  patrons  now  own  securities 
in  the  properties,  and  this  is  one  of  the  most  effective  means 
of  securing  and  holding  the  public  interest.  The  regulatory 
authorities  also  are  devoting  their  efforts  to  a  correct  solu- 
tion of  the  problem ;  the  same  is  generally  true  of  the  press. 
It  is  this  co-operation  which  will  accomplish  more  than  any- 
thing else  toward  working  out  the  street  railway  situation 
on  a  permanently  sound  and  satisfactory  basis,  fair  alike 
to  the  public  and  to  the  companies. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


95 


Public  Service  Railway  Offers  Valuation  Argument 

Extensive  Brief  Which  Is  Presented  to  the  New  Jersey  Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners  Gives 
All  Details  on  Which  a  Value  of  $200,898,906  Is  Claimed 
and  10-Cent  Fare  Petitioned 


IN  ONE  of  the  most  complete  valuation  briefs  which 
have  so  far  made  their  appearance,  the  Public 
Service  Railway  of  New  Jersey  presents  its  argu- 
ment to  the  New  Jersey  Board  of  Public  Utility  Com- 
missioners to  support  its  own  figure  of  valuation  and  its 
petition  for  a  10-cent  fare.  The  brief  contains  a  com- 
plete review  of  the  total  valuation  history  of  the  Public 
Service  Railway,  giving  all  details  of  previous  valuation, 
and  it  is  replete  with  arguments,  some  of  them  novel 
but  convincing,  to  support  contentions  for  various 
elements  of  value. 

Commencing  with  a  description  of  the  Public  Service 
Railway  property,  the  brief  then  takes  up  the  argument 
that  the  property  is  private  property  and  on  this  has  to 
say: 

The  reason  for  here  stating  them  (these  arguments)  is 
simply  to  plant  upon  them  the  further  proposition  that  the 
value  for  rate  purposes  of  a  street  railway  property — the 
same  being  private  property — must  be  determined  in  accord- 
ance with  established  legal  principles,  and  is  the  value  of 
the  property  and  not  merely  a  sum  of  money,  on  which, 
in  the  discretionary  opinion  of  the  commission,  the  owner 
of  the  property  should  be  permitted  a  return. 

The  various  elements  of  value  which  the  brief  con- 
siders are: 

1.  Structural  value. 

2.  Value  of  the  land. 

3.  Going  value,  which  includes: 

a.  Development  costs  including: 

al.  Money  expended  in  attaching  the  business. 
a2.  Money  expended  in  tuning  up  the  property. 
a3.  Carrying  charges  until  the  property  becomes  self- 
supporting,  including  deficit  of  earnings. 

b.  Consolidation  of  a  number  of  small  properties  into 
one  property  under  one  management. 

c.  Superseded  property  due  to  advance  in  the  art,  obso- 
lescence, inadequacy,  etc. 

d.  The  value  imparted  to  the  property  by  reason  of  its 
favorable  location,  referred  to  by  the  court  as  its 
adventitious  value. 

4.  Value  of  the  power  contract  (discussed  under  a  sepa- 
rate heading). 

Considerable  attention  is  paid  to  the  item  "Going 
value,"  for  which  an  allowance  of  30  per  cent  of  the 
physical  value  is  claimed.  In  connection  with  the 
element  of  going  value  due  to  consolidation  of  the 
smaller  properties,  the  brief  has  to  say : 

The  properties  necessarily  purchased  or  leased  to  effect 
this  consolidation  were  not  so  purchased  or  leased  at  the  cost 
of  their  physical  parts.  Their  "going  value"  was  recog- 
nized and  it  entered  into  the  price  which  this  company  paid 
for  them.  This  cost  of  consolidation  was  a  cost  necessary 
to  the  creation  of  the  existing  railway,  and  it  added  largely 
to  the  value  of  the  property  which  is  to  be  determined  in 
this  proceeding. 

Superseded  property  and  attaching  business  to  the 
lines  of  the  company  are  also  supported  by  argument. 
The  cost  of  training  a  staff  to  make  it  familiar  with 
the  needs  of  the  communities  served  and  conversant 
with  the  routes  and  rules  of  the  company,  the  rules  of 
the  commission,  the  traffic  rules  and  ordinances  of  the 
communities  and  the  various  intimate  details  of  opera- 
tion that  come  only  from  experience  and  practice  and 
in  the  perfection  of  the  company's  personnel  in  the 
knowledge  of  its  duties  is  portrayed.  The  report  says 
"an  example  of  the  nature  of  this  cost  is  found  again  in 


the  fact  that  prior  to  the  putting  in  service  of  the  so- 
called  safety  cars,  trainmen  were  given  five  days'  course 
of  actual  operation  on  cars  that  were  not  transporting 
a  single  paying  passenger.  Through  the  year  with  its 
frequent  changes  in  both  means  and  methods  of  opera- 
tion, this  cost  has  enlarged,  and  there  is  nothing  to  show 
for  it  in  the  physical  property  inventory.  It  is  a  part 
of  the  cost  of  the  present  railway,  and  its  results  con- 
stitute an  element  of  value  in  that  railway." 

The  power  contract,  as  a  separate  element  of  value, 
is  supported  in  the  same  manner  that  it  was  supported 
in  the  appraisal  made  by  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis  outlined 
in  Electric  Railway  Journal  April  23,  1921,  page  767. 
The  state  valuation  and  the  Cooley  appraisal  are 
reviewed.  An  argument  of  the  significance  of  present 
value  is  followed  by  a  summary  of  all  the  valuations 
which  have  ever  been  made  of  the  property,  with  some 
of  these  modified  to  make  them  represent  present-day 
figures. 

The  brief  goes  into  detail  in  discussion  of  the  qualifi- 
cations of  the  various  witnesses  who  have  appeared 
before  the  board  in  connection  with  the  valuations 
which  have  been  made. 

The  inventory,  unit  prices,  general  contingencies, 
engineering  and  superintendence,  law  expenditures  and 
administration,  interest  during  construction,  taxes  dur- 
ing construction,  organization  and  development,  cost  of 
money,  promoters'  remuneration,  working  capital  and 
material  and  supplies,  franchises,  land,  non-deduction  of 
depreciation,  the  property  of  miscellaneous  subsidiary 
companies,  historical  costs,  are  all  chapter  headings 
under  which  extensive  argument  and  citation  of  cases 
are  given.  This  leads  the  brief  to  the  statement  of  the 
value  of  the  property  as  follows: 

The  value  of  the  property  of  the  Public  Service  Railway 
fixed  in  the  report  of  the  engineering  concern  (Ford,  Bacon 
&  Davis)  employed  by  the  state  is  $125,000,000,  and  under 
the  acts  of  the  Legislature  this  is  the  presumptive  value  of 
the  property. 

The  only  evidence  before  the  board  that  can  possibly 
overcome  the  legal  presumption  in  favor  of  $125,000,000  is 
the  Cooley  appraisal,  as  brought  down  to  date,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  the  numerous  expert  witnesses  sustaining  and  sup- 
porting the  same. 

The  value  of  the  property  of  the  Public  Service  Railway 
is : 

Physical  property  with  additions  to  May  31, 

1921  (Cooley  appraisal)   $149,922,236 

Development  cost,  going  value,  including  loca- 
tion and  consolidation  values  (30  per  cent  of 
structural  cost,  as  allowed  in  the  Passaic  gas 
rate  case)    44,976,670 

Value   of   power   contract    (the   lowest  value 

placed  upon  it  by  any  witness)    6,000,000 

Total  value   $200,898,906 

The  brief  then  points  out  that  the  value  of  the 
property  must  be  found  independently  of  the  rate  of 
fare  and  allow  the  return  upon  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty as  found.  "This  does  not  mean,"  says  the  brief, 
"that  this  company  should  necessarily  be  permitted  to 
charge  the  highest  rate  that  the  traffic  will  bear.  We 
are  now  only  discussing  the  relation  between  the  value 
of  the  property  and  the  rate  of  fare  and  pointing  out 


96 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


that  the  value  of  this  property  cannot  be  reduced 
because  there  is  no  rate  that  will  net  a  return  upon  it. 
.  .  .  We  suppose  that  the  New  York  subway  con- 
structed out  in  the  country  somewhere  between  two 
small  places  would  be  so  expensive  that  no  rate  of  fare 
would  net  a  return  upon  it.  But  that  is  not  this  situa- 
tion. This  property  is  not  overbuilt.  It  is  not  con- 
structed in  the  Sahara  Desert ;  it  is  right  here  in  New 
Jersey,  connecting-  the  principal  cities  of  the  state  and 
furnishing  the  only  complete  system  of  urban  transpor- 
tation available  in  all  these  great  populous  centers." 

The  brief  ends  with  a  plea  for  a  just  and  reasonable 
fare  and  recites  various  cities  in  the  country  in  which 
a  10-cent  fare  is  charged  and  gives  supporting  testimony 
from  officers  of  other  railway  companies  which  charge 
10  cents.  In  the  discussion  on  rate  of  fare,  the  brief 
takes  up  the  claim  of  people  that  the  company  has 
valuable  rights  because  it  is  allowed  to  do  business  in 
the  streets.    The  brief  continues: 

It  is  just  as  sensible  to  talk  about  the  valuable  rights  of 
the  policeman  because  he  is  allowed  to  perform  his  service 
to  the  public  in  the  street,  or  the  fireman  because  he  is  al- 
lowed to  perform  his  services  in  public  places.  The  police- 
man and  the  fireman  perform  honorably  and  are  paid  for 
their  labor  by  the  public,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  such 
labor  is  performed  in  the  public  streets.  The  street  railway 
company  also  performs  a  valuable  service  in  the  public- 
streets,  and  it  should  be  paid  for  its  service,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  it  is  performed  in  the  streets.  That  is  all 
the  company  seeks  to  obtain  in  this  case,  and  yet  the  idea 
is  continually  advanced  that  perhaps  the  company  ought  not 
to  be  paid  or  ought  to  be  paid  less  because  of  this  valuable 
"privilege"  it  enjoys. 

The  entire  brief  is  filled  with  innumerable  citations 
from  court  and  commission  decisions  and  with  many 
direct  quotations  from  the  testimony  of  witnesses  before 
the  board. 


Why  Baltimore  Departed  from  the  Standard  Car 

United  Railways  &  Electric  Company 

Baltimore,  Md.,  July  11,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

The  letter  published  in  your  issue  of  June  11  from 
W.  G.  Gove,  superintendent  of  equipment,  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  it  seems  to  me,  merits  com- 
ment, because  it  fails  to  recognize  the  fact  that  more 
than  one  type  of  one-man  car  is  required  because  of 
traffic  conditions. 

To  quote  the  first  phrase  in  the  third  paragraph,  "it 
is  particularly  unfortunate"  that  the  idea  of  "something 
different"  should  be  allowed  to  confuse  the  need  for 
clear  vision  on  the  part  of  the  operating  men  to  develop 
such  types  of  one-man  cars  as  are  essential  to  meet  vary- 
ing traffic  demands. 

In  the  study  and  discussion  that  are  going  on  concern- 
ing one-man  car  design,  I  do  not  think  that  those  "in 
responsible  charge  of  executive  and  operating  depart- 
ments" are  concerned  with  "measuring  up"  by  means 
of  having  equipment  of  their  own  design  in  service  on 
their  properties.  Certainly  as  far  as  the  situation  in 
Baltimore  is  concerned,  we  have  conscientiously  studied 
the  problem  with  the  idea  of  providing  a  car  best  suited 
to  handle  heavy  interchange  traffic  in  this  city. 


If  we  are  to  "sell"  the  one-man  car  idea  in  toto  in 
the  large  cities,  we  must  do  so  by  providing  a  car  that 
will  give  adequate  facilities  for  the  loading  and  unload- 
ing of  passengers.  Why  should  we  adhere  to  the 
present  standard  car  if  improvements  can  be  made?  Is 
it  not  inconceivable  that  we  have  reached  a  stage  of 
development  where  initiative  on  the  subject  of  car 
design  is  to  stop?  This  is  particularly  true  where  a 
principle  of  operation  is  concerned. 

May  I  repeat  again  that  I  am  not  desirous  of  entering 
into  a  controversy  in  the  matter  but  endeavored  dis- 
passionately to  point  out  what  I  felt  and  feel  was  a 
development  in  the  design  of  this  car  which  has  been 
overlooked  by  the  manufacturers  and  equipment  men 
in  their  efforts  to  standardize  on  a  single  type  of  car. 

We  believe  that  the  car  we  have  just  purchased  for 
Baltimore  will  give  higher  efficiency  and  greater 
economy  than  the  so-called  standard  type  for  the  con- 
ditions we  have  to  meet.  As  our  general  manager  has 
recently  well  stated,  the  problem  before  us  was  that  "the 
public  of  Baltimore  was  beginning  to  show  a  decided 
dislike  to  the  safety  car  on  account  of  the  congestion 
at  the  entrance  and  exit  point."  Appreciating  the  value 
of  the  one-man  idea,  we  decided  to  correct  this  mani- 
festly incorrect  design.  At  this  point  we  suggest  turn- 
ing to  the  cut  on  the  inside  back  cover  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  of  July  2,  1921 ;  we  think  the  picture 
is  a  good  ocular  demonstration  of  just  what  we  are 
trying  to  avoid.  Here  are  four  persons  encumbered  with 
luggage,  etc.,  waiting  to  board  a  standard  one-man  car, 
while  four  passengers  are  ambling  gracefully  off.  This 
condition  is  much  worse  in  rainy  weather.  It  is  just 
what  we  are  overcoming  in  our  new  design. 

And  now  a  final  word  in  reply  to  my  friend  Walker's 
letter  of  June  15.  The  standard  whereby  car  design 
with  reference  to  passenger  interchange  facilities  should 
be  measured  is  not  in  cents  per  car-mile  but  in  the 
volume  of  passenger  movements  in  and  out  of  the  car. 
On  a  line  where  traffic  is  heavy  and  frequent  transfer- 
ring is  the  rule  car-mile  earnings  do  not  express  the 
density  of  use  by  the  public,  so  that  an  erroneous  con- 
clusion might  well  be  arrived  at  in  setting  a  standard 
based  on  earnings  per  car-mile. 

The  proper  way  to  determine  what  is  the  best  design 
for  given  conditions  is  to  put  the  several  types  of  cars 
in  service  under  identical  conditions  and  take  observa- 
tions with  stop  watches,  over  a  sufficient  period  of  time 
to  get  average  conditions  and  data,  and  then  compare 
results.  Any  other  method  of  arriving  at  a  descision 
will  not  be  based  upon  figures  and  results  but  upon 
judgment  and  opinion.  L.  H.  Palmer, 

Assistant  to  President. 


Metal  Ceiling  Used  for  Head  Lining  on 
Little  Rock  Railway 

The  Little  Rock  Railway  &  Light  Company,  Little 
Rock,  Ark.,  is  using  metal  ceiling  for  head  lining  in 
repairing  and  rebuilding  some  of  its  cars,  where  the 
head  lining  needs  renewal.  The  metal  ceiling,  which  is 
the  same  as  used  in  buildings,  comes  in  24  in.  x  48  in. 
sheets,  and  the  metal  for  one  car  costs  about  $12. 
Labor  and  painting  cost  about  $18.  This  total  cost 
of  $30  compares  most  favorably  with  the  previous  cost 
of  $100  for  replacing  bird's-eye  lining  in  kind,  and 
the  car  interior  presents  a  very  satisfactory  appear- 
ance. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Tracks  Rebuilt  on  Old  Ties 

Creosoted  Ties  Set  in  Concrete  Thirteen  Years  Ago  Used  in 
Place  for  New   Rail — City   Raises   Street  Grade 
2  In.  to  Allow  New  7-In.  Rail  in  Place  of 
5-In.  to  Avoid  Disturbing  Base 

WHEN  the  city  of  Memphis,  Term.,  decided  to  re- 
pave  South  Florida  Avenue  it  became  necessary 
for  the  Memphis  Street  Railway  to  relay  its  tracks  at 
the  same  time  that  it  did  its  part  of  the  paving.  The 
old  track  had  been  5-in.  girder,  which  had  been  in 


Thirteen-Year  Old  Creosoted  Ties  in  Concrete  To 
Receive  New  Rail 

place  since  1908  and  was  badly  worn.  The  previous 
paving  had  been  brick  and  the  new  paving  was  to  be 
asphalt.  The  standard  construction  of  the  Memphis 
system  is  now  7-in.,  105-lb.  girder  rail  for  use  in 
asphalt  paved  streets,  and  it  was  decided  to  use  this 
rail  on  Florida  Avenue. 

When  the  old  pavement  was  taken  up  and  the  original 
concrete  base  and  ties  uncovered  it  was  found,  upon 
close  examination  and  test  by  boring,  that  the  original 
ties  were  in  as  good  condition  as  they  were  when  first 
laid,  so  far  as  could  be  told.  These  ties  were  some 
which  had  been  laid  in  1908 ;  they  were  laid  in  concrete 
which  was  finished  off  level  with  the  upper  surface  of 
the  ties.  Seeing  that  the  new  rail  to  be  put  in  was 
7  in.  in  place  of  5  in.  the  city  authorities  were  ap- 
proached with  reference  to  raising  the  grade  of  the 
streets  to  allow  the  new  higher  rail  to  be  put  in  with- 
out removing  the  concrete  foundation  and  ties,  which 
of  course  would  prove  very  expensive.  It  happened 
that  the  raising  of  the  grade  was  beneficial  to  the  city 
in  this  case,  also,  as  a  particularly  high  curb  had  been 
installed  in  the  first  place,  and  when  the  grade  of  the 
street  was  raised  a  normal  height  of  curb  was  obtained. 
More  material  in  street  paving  was  used,  but  it  is 
understood  that  the  electric  railway  took  care  of  this 
part  as  an  offset  to  its  saving  in  not  having  to  take  up 
the  old  ties  and  put  down  new  ones. 

Accordingly,  the  pavement  in  the  railway  area  was 
removed  and  track  labor  cleared  off  the  concrete,  level- 


ing down  to  the  ties  smoothly,  the  old  rail  was  removed 
and  the  new  rail  installed.  Temporary  crossovers  were 
laid  so  that  one-half  of  the  street  was  done  at  a  time. 
An  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  appearance 
of  the  work  after  the  rail  and  pavement  had  been  laid 
on  one  side  and  the  pavement  removed  on  the  other  side. 
This  illustration  also  shows  the  type  of  8-hole  joint  use<I 
on  the  new  construction. 

The  standard  construction  used  in  laying  the  new 
rail  is  to  use  tie  plates  on  all  ties  and  to  use  a  26-in. 
by  10-in.  base  plate  under  all  joints.  A  34-in.  8-hole 
angle  bar  is  used  and  this  is  beaded  along  the  bottom 
of  the  plate.  The  rail  is  welded  to  the  base  plate  for 
the  entire  length  of  the  base  plate,  a  Cleveland  electric 
welder  being  used  for  this  work.  Screw  spikes  are 
used  at  j-oints  and  cut  spikes  elsewhere. 


Improving  Riding  Qualities 

THE  Southern  Public  Utilities  Company,  Charlotte, 
N.  C,  is  an  enthusiastic  operator  of  one-man  cars- 
claiming  that  they  show  reduced  operating  expenses 
and  allow  closer  headways  and  consequently  better  serv- 
ice. During  part  of  the  day,  however,  these  cars  oper- 
ate under  light  load,  but  being  equipped  with  springs 
which  are  rigid  enough  to  carry  heavy  loads  successfully 
and  heavy  enough  not  to  break  under  such  loads,  the 
riding  qualities  are  not  exceptionally  good  when  they 
are  lightly  loaded. 

In  an  effort  to  improve  the  riding  qualities  of  the  one- 
man  cars  under  this  condition  M.  F.  Osborne,  master 
mechanic,  decided  to  install  a  coil  spring  at  each  body 
bearing  point,  which  coil  spring  would  carry  the  body  at 
light  load  and  would  compress  so  as  to  allow  the  semi- 
elliptical  spring  alone  to  carry  the  body  at  heavy  load. 
The  Charlotte  cars  are  arranged  so  that  the  inner 


Coil  Spring  Added  to  Semi-Elliptical  Spring 

end  of  the  semi-elliptical  spring  is  fixed  and  the  car  body 
borne  at  the  four  outer  ends  of  the  springs.  The  body 
formerly  rested  at  these  points  on  blocks  of  wood  4  in. 
thick  and  about  8  in.  square,  which  in  turn  rested  di- 
rectly upon  the  free  outer  end  of  the  springs.  To  in- 
stall the  coil  springs  these  blocks  were  reduced  in  thick- 
ness to  3  in.,  a  5i-in.  hole  bored  in  each  of  them  and  a 
coil  spring  5  in.  long,  consisting  of  five  turns  of  5-in. 


97 


98 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


wire,  placed  in  this  hole  and  fitted  with  spring  caps, 
which  provide  the  actual  bearing  surface.  The  2-in. 
play  thus  allowed  is  sufficient  for  all  light  loadings  of 
the  car  and  when  the  car  is  fully  loaded  the  spring  com- 
presses so  that  the  blocks  come  in  contact  with  the 
heavier  semi-elliptical  springs,  which  thereby  assume 
the  load  direct. 

The  improvement  in  the  riding  quality  is  said  to  have 
been  so  great  that,  unsolicited,  patrons  of  the  road  have 
inquired  what  has  been  done  to  certain  cars  to  make 
them  ride  better. 

An  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  spring  ar- 
rangement which  Mr.  Osborne  is  now  using. 


Reclamation  Department  Shows 
Large  Savings 

New  Welding  Shop  and  Reclamation  Department  Installed 
by  Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Company  Provide 
Better  Facilities  for  Carrying  on  This  Work — Accu- 
rate Cost  Records  for  Work  Done  Are  Being  Kept 

ON  ACCOUNT  of  the  rapid  increase  in  the  amount 
of  reclamation  work  necessary  at  the  shops  of  the 
Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Company,  it  was  de- 
cided some  months  ago  to  build  a  larger  shop  to  house 
the  electric  welding  equipment.  The  interior  of  the  new 
shop  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  It  is 
an  addition  to  the  main  shop,  34  ft.  long  by  18  ft.  wide, 
built  of  b  ick  and  well  lighted  on  three  sides.  The  floor 
is  of  cement  and  the  roof  of  galvanized  iron  provided 
with  large  ventilators.  An  overhead  track  carries  a  1J- 
ton  chain  hoist  for  use  in  handling  heavy  parts.  Con- 
venient benches,  racks,  etc.,  together  with  the  welding 
equipment,  are  included. 

For  electric  welding  a  Wilson  "plastic  arc"  machine 
that  will  accommodate  two  welders  is  used.  In  the  con- 
struction of  the  building  additional  room  is  provided  so 
that  additional  machines  can  be  added  should  fufure 
needs  make  them  necessary.  Since  the  installation  of 
this  machine  an  accurate  cost  record  has  been  kept  for 
every  job  done  in  the  shops  and  a  recapitulation  for  the 
first  three  months  of  the  shop's  operation  shows  a  net 
saving  of  approximately  $2,000  per  month  with  two 
operators  working.  Since  that  time  new  and  different 
kinds  of  work  have  been  constantly  coming  in  and  it 
has  now  been  found  necessary  to  increase  the  working 
force.  Electric  welds  are  made  on  steel,  cast  and 
wrought  iron,  bronze  and  malleable  iron.  In  welding 
cast  iron  the  parts  are  carefully  studded  with  steel  pins 
before  the  welding  work  is  undertaken. 

At  the  present  time  the  company  is  testing  out  a 
special  metal  which  has  been  developed  by  the  Wilson 
Welder  &  Metals  Company  for  cast-iron  welding.  On 
small  sections  of  cast  iron  and  brass  the  oxyacetylene 
method  of  welding  is  used,  which  is  found  preferable  by 
this  company  and  more  satisfactory  for  these  small  jobs. 
The  oxyacetylene  torch  is  also  used  almost  entirely  for 
cutting. 

A  partial  list  of  some  of  the  work  being  done  in  re- 
claiming various  parts  includes  building  up  axles  and 
armature  shafts,  repair  of  truck  frames  when  broken 
or  badly  worn,  filling  in  dowel  holes  in  brass  and  malle- 
able axle-bearing  shells  when  badly  worn,  building  up 
and  welding  brushholders  when  burnt  or  excessively 
worn,  filling  in  armature-housing  bolt-holes  where  the 
threads  have  stripped,  repairing  journal  boxes  and 
axle-bearing  caps,  welding  and  straightening  resistance 
grids  when  broken  or  warped,  building  up  axle-bearing 


collars  on  brass  shells,  welding  and  repairing  gear  cases 
and  adding  metal  for  rethreading  bolts,  nuts,  center 
bearings,  motor  cases,  etc. 

It  is  frequently  desirable  to  build  up  or  repair  parts 
which  cannot  be  easily  transported  to  the  welding  shop. 
In  order  to  take  care  of  this  work,  leads  have  been  pro- 
vided from  the  welding  machine  with  plug-in  sockets  in 


Interior  of  New  Reclamation  Shop  in  Washington 

the  truck  shop,  carpenter  shop,  etc.  By  this  arrange- 
ment welding  of  large  parts  can  be  conveniently  taken 
care  of  on  the  job,  and  the  removal  and  transporting 
of  the  large  parts  to  the  welding  room  is  avoided. 

At  present  consideration  is  being  given  to  the  pur- 
chase of  an  automatic  welding  machine  complete  with  a 
single-arc  motor-generator.  This  outfit  when  attached 
to  a  lathe  will  automatically  build  up  axles  with  worn 
bearing  seats,  as  well  as  worn  armature  shafts,  and 
will,  in  the  opinion  of  the  officials  of  this  road,  do  much 
better  and  cheaper  work  than  can  be  done  by  hand 
operation. 


A  Universal  Tie  Plate 

THE  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company,  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  uses  steel  tie  plates  in  all  of  its  construction. 
Formerly  three  kinds  of  tie  plates  were  used  to  suit 
the  various  kinds  of  rail  on  the  system.    The  usual 

difficulties  inci- 
dent to  a  variety 
of  tie  plates, 
both  in  the 
storeroom  and 
on  the  job,  led 
the  company  to 
desire  a  single 
tie  plate  which 
could  be  used 
and,  finding 
none  with  a 
spacing  of  holes 
which  was  ex- 
actly suitable  to 
i  t  s  conditions, 

designed  one  to  fit  them.  The  accompanying  drawing 
shows  the  dimensions  of  the  new  tie  plate,  which  of 
course  can  be  furnished  by  any  steel  concern,  with 
which  any  rail  5  in.,  5i  in.,  6^in.  can  be  used.  There  are 
no  shoulders  on  this  tie  plate,  it  being  a  plain  piece  of 
steel  punched  as  indicated. 


Universal  Tie  Plate  Used  in  Atlanta 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


99 


Shop  Notes  from  Newark,  N.  Y. 

Rochester  &  Syracuse  Electric  Railroad  Has  Well-Equipped 
Shops  Where  Many  "Stunts"  for  Solving  Maintenance 
Problems  Have  Been  Developed 

THE  shops  of  the  Rochester  &  Syracuse  Electric 
Railroad,  the  offices  of  which  are  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
are  at  Newark,  about  32  miles  east  of  Rochester.  Due 
to  the  destruction  of  its  Newark  shops  by  fire  in  1912 
the  Rochester,  Syracuse  &  Eastern  Railroad,  the  prede- 
cessor of  the  present  company,  had  the  opportunity  to 
rebuild  along  modern  lines.  New  shops,  similar  in 
general  plan  to  the  then  new  Lakeland  shops  of  the 
company  near  Syracuse,  were  constructed  early  the 
following  year.  They  were  described  briefly  in  an 
article  in  the  issue  of  this  paper  for  Sept.  20,  1913, 
where  a  plan  was  reproduced.  The  views  grouped  on 
this  page  are  typical. 

These  shops  have  proved  to  be  admirably  adapted  to 
the  demands  upon  them  and  no  important  changes  have 
since  been  made.  A  number  of  minor  improvements 
have,  however,  been  introduced.  Several  of  these  were 
photographed  by  a  representative  of  the  paper  on  a 
visit  to  Newark  several  months  ago. 

The  shop  property  comprises  a  shop  building,  approxi- 
mately 204  ft.  by  105  ft.;  a  carhouse  about  240  ft. 
by  82  ft.,  and  a  two-story  office  building.  Most  of  the 
shop  work  is  done  in  one  large  room,  which  contains 
practically  all  of  the  machines  and  has  three  tracks  at 
one  side,  two  of  which  are  partly  over  pits.  On  the 
side  of  the  pits  the  floor  is  depressed  18  in.  to  facilitate 
inspection  and  repair  work  without  unnecessary  stoop- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  workmen. 


This  Machine  Simultaneously  Sands  Both  Rails 

The  shop  is  liberally  equipped  with  "abor-saving 
devices,  such  as  a  trolley  crane,  transfer  table,  turn- 
table, etc. 

For  dipping  and  baking  purposes,  a  combined  tank 
and  oven  has  been  constructed  in  one  corner  of  the 
machine  and  erecting  shop,  as  illustrated,  being  built 
out  of  concrete  blocks.  Over  the  dipping  and  baking 
sections  are  metal-covered  wood  lids.  A  trolley  crane 
bar  runs  over  the  two.  The  oven  is  heated  by  means 
of  electric  heaters,  controlled  by  snap  switches  located 
on  the  wall  behind  the  oven  and  visible  in  the  picture. 

The  shop  contains  no  special  welding  room,  but  appa- 
ratus is  taken  as  required  to  the  work.    A  convenient 


No.  1 — One  of  the  Big  Interurbans  in  Front  of  the  Main  Shop.     No.  2 — The  Shop  Administration  Building  Is  Attractive. 
No.  3 — A  Home-Made  Self-Contained  Oil  Heater.    No.  4 — Typical  View  in  the  Newark  Shops 


100 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


A  Reminiscence  of  the  Season  of  Heavy  Snow 


two-wheel  truck  for  carrying  a  pair  of  gas  tanks  has 
been  constructed  and  has  given  a  good  account  of  itself. 
As  shown  in  one  of  the  illustrations,  it  consists  of  a 
light  steel  frame,  normally  vertical,  to  which  the  tanks 
are  held  by  a  steel  strap  clamp,  the  weight  being  taken 
on  a  platform  just  above  floor  level.  A  A-in.  steel  rod 
attached  to  the  front  of  the  platform  on  each  side  is 
bent  backward  to  form  an  extra  guide  for  the  tanks 
and  also  a  handle  bar. 

For  heating  soldering  irons  and  solder  pots,  a  home- 
made oil  torch  is  employed.  A  frame  such  as  is  used 
with  gasoline  solder  pots  is  mounted  on  the  top  of  an 
air  tank,  a  supply  of  oil  is  poured  into  the  air  tank  and 
air  pressure  is  pumped  up  to  60  lb.  or  so.  The  oil 
jet  spurts  up  through  a  carbureting  cylinder,  where  it 
is  vaporized  and  ignited.  One  pumping  up  of  the 
tank  lasts  for  several  days  of  intermittent  work.  The 
outfit  is  shown  in  one  of  the  illustrations,  in  use  for 
heating  soldering  irons  for  armature  banding. 

An  interesting  small  job  recently  put  through  the 
shop  was  the  construction  of  portable  shelters  for 
the  use  of  flagmen  and  others  obliged  to  be  out  on 
the  line  during  severe  weather.  A  picture  of  a  pair 
of  these  is  reproduced.  The  shelter  is  made  in  sections 
which  hook  together,  four  sides,  a  roof  and  a  floor. 
Electric  heaters  are  provided  to  be  used  in  very  severe 
weather.  The  roof  has  a  frame  around  the  edges  which 
drops  over  the  sides,  thus  making  a  watertight  joint. 


Portable  Gas  Welding  and  Cutting  Outfit 


These  Shelters  Mitigate  the  Rigors  of  Winter 


The  only  window  provided  is  in  the  door.  A  shelter 
like  this  can  be  taken  apart,  loaded  on  any  kind  of  a 
work  car,  freight  car  or  truck  and  quickly  transported 
to  the  place  needed  and  set  up. 

As  the  pictures  indicate  the  writer's  visit  was  made 
before  the  snow  left  the  ground.  He  was  able  to  snap 
one  of  the  big  snowplows  used  by  the  railway,  along- 
side the  carhouse.  An  interesting  device  seen  in  the 
shop  yards,  also,  was  a  track-sanding  apparatus,  con- 
sisting of  two  sand  boxes,  mounted  on  a  light  truck, 
with  a  handle  bar  to  assist  in  propelling  it  along  the 
track.  This  equipment  permits  the  rapid  sanding  of 
a  stretch  of  track  where  there  is  not  enough  work  to  be 
done  to  warrant  the  use  of  a  regular  sand  car. 


The  Jamaica  government  two  years  ago  voted  1,000 
pounds  sterling  for  investigations  of  the  possibility  of 
the  electrification  of  the  government  railway,  according 
to  the  issue  of  Commerce  Reports  for  May  25.  This 
forms  the  only  means  of  transportation  across  the 
island,  either  for  passengers  or  for  freight,  except  by 
truck  and  wagon  on  the  public  roads.  The  lines  have  a 
total  mileage  of  197.  Since  this  railroad  is  entirely 
dependent  upon  imported  coal,  which  is  very  expensive 
^here,  the  authorities  have  desired  to  make  use  of  the 
water  power  on  the  island.  Experts  from  both  American 
and  English  companies  have  made  investigations  and 
formed  estimates  for  the  needed  equipment. 


Dipping  and  Baking  Corner 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


101 


Atlanta  Single-Truck  Car  Before  and  After  Remodeling  to  Introduce  P.A.Y.E.  Feature 


Remodels  Single-Truck  Cars 

WITH  about  163  single-truck,  twenty-eight  seat 
two-man  cars  on  its  hands,  the  Georgia  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  has  been  studying  the 
best  manner  of  applying  these  cars  to  the  service  re- 
quirements. They  are  all  of  one  type,  with  open  plat- 
forms and  bulkhead  doors  and  thus  arranged  only  for 
inside  fare  collection. 

The  Atlanta  management  has  not  yet  decided  to  make 
use  of  the  one-man  car  principle,  but  did  want  to  install 
the  pay-as-you-enter  feature  as  far  as  possible.  At 
first  it  was  decided  to  remodel  one  car  only  as  an 
experiment  and  the  following  changes  were  made : 
The  doors  in  the  bulkhead  were  taken  out  and  a  stan- 
chion placed  at  each  side  of  the  opening  thus  left  in 
the  bulkhead ;  folding  doors  and  steps  were  installed  on 
each  side  of  each  platform,  the  cars  being  arranged  for 
double-end  operation ;  a  guard  rail  about  30  in.  long  was 
placed  on  the  platform  in  front  of  the  conductor's  posi- 
tion, to  assist  in  guiding  passengers  as  they  passed  in 
paying  fare.  This  experiment  was  closely  watched  by 
the  management  to  see  if  it  gave  an  answer  as  to  the 
economical  use  of  these  single-truck  cars.  There  was 
no  doubt  that  the  P.A.Y.E.  feature  greatly  assisted  in 
speeding  up  the  schedule  and  in  making  operation  more 
attractive.  In  fact  many  trainmen  soon  made  applica- 
tion for  the  run  on  which  this  remodeled  car  was  used. 

The  experiment  proved  so  successful  that  the  man- 
agement has  started  on  a  program  of  changing  over  all 


the  rest  of  the  163  cars.  By  July  1  some  35  were  re- 
modeled and  in  operation  and  others  were  being  closed 
up  at  the  rate  of  one  per  day. 

The  only  new  equipments  necessary  are  the  door  and 
step  mechanisms  which  are  furnished  by  the  McGuire- 
Cummings  Manufacturing  Company,  Chicago.  The  total 
cost  of  changing  these  cars  as  described  is  about  $225 
per  car. 


Chattanooga's  Successful 
Creosote  Plant 

Hot  and  Cold  Tank  Application  of  Creosote  Gives  lj  Gal. 
Penetration  per  Tie — Ties  Handled  by  Angle- 
Iron  Swing  Basket 

THE  way  engineering  department  of  the  Chatta- 
nooga Railway  &  Light  Company  has  been  having 
very  satisfactory  results  from  its  creosote  plant,  which 
has  been  running  for  about  a  year.  It  is  a  plant  oper- 
ated on  the  hot  and  cold  immersion  principle,  and  the 
average  results  on  a  6-in.  x  8-in.  x  8-ft.  red  oak  tie 
show  a  penetration  of  li  gal.  as  against  a  desideratum 
or  possible  maximum  of  H  gal. 

The  arrangement  of  the  plant  is  shown  in  an  accom- 
panying plan  and  is  seen  to  consist  of  two  tanks,  the 
first  a  steel  tank  in  which  the  hot  creosote  is  placed  and 
the  second  a  concrete  tank  in  which  is  the  cold  creosote. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  steel  tank  will  be  re- 
placed soon  with  a  concrete  tank,  the  steel  tank  being 


Section  A  -  A 


Longitudinal  Section     from   C.L.of  I  -  Beam,  Section  C  -  D 
a  □  □  □ 


Platform  of- 
ties 


-/?'■•> 


'A 


l     I  ron  i;  tank  (Hot  bet fh) 
4'>i<  \':I6'-  >~z4'A 


:  Concrete 
0}  tank 


(Cold  bath) 


C.L.  of  I-beam 
overhead  ^ 

Drain  platform 

 12'-  


1. 


9     Steam  pipe  Q 
from  boiler 


□  □  a 

Plan  and  Elevation  Sketches  of  Chattanooga  Railway  &  Light  Company's  Creosote  Plant 


102 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


one  which  was  left  from  a  previous  installation  and  was 
used  before  the  present  arrangement  was  started.  One 
of  the  interesting  features  of  this  installation  is  the 
I-beam  and  crane  and  basket  for  the  handling  of  the 
ties.  As  indicated  on  the  elevation,  in  the  accompany- 
ing sketch,  there  is  an  I-beam  installed  which  has  a  2 
per  cent  slope  in  the  direction  in  which  the  ties  are 


The  Creosote  Plant  in  Action 


always  carried.  On  this  I-beam  is  a  traveling  hoisting 
machine  of  1-ton  capacity  made  by  the  Brown  Hoisting 
Machine  Company  of  Cleveland.  This  is  a  screw-geared 
block  and  falls,  from  which  is  suspended  the  basket 
made  of  angle  iron,  shown  in  the  accompanying  view. 

Seasoned  red  oak  ties  are  used  and  are  delivered  at 
the  end  of  the  hot  tank,  where  they  are  stacked.  About 
eight  ties  at  once  can  be  handled  in  the  present  basket. 
These  are  then  carried  on  the  I-beam  crane,  which  is  on 
rol'ers,  to  the  hot  tank,  where  they  are  left  in  150  deg. 
creosote  for  one  hour.  This  tank  is  heated  by  means 
of  steam  coils  supplied  from  a  5-hp.  boiler,  which  is 
located  at  a  sufficient  distance  to  minimize  the  risk. 
The  ties  are  then  removed  from  the  hot  bath  to  the 


*  3 


4-5  6 


Cross-Section  of  One  of  the  Ties  Treated  in  Chattanooga. 
Showing  Penetration  at  the  Following  Distances  from 
End  of  Tie:  No.  1,  2  In.  ;  No.  2,  4  In.  :  No.  3,  6  In.  ; 
No.  4,  8  In.  ;  No.  5,  10  In.  ;  No.  6,  12  In. 

cold  bath,  where  they  are  left  for  an  additional  hour. 
After  coming  out  of  this  bath  they  are  laid  on  the  drain 
table,  after  which  they  are  stacked  and  are  allowed  to 
season  for  at  least  one  week  before  being  used. 


In  commenting  on  this  plant,  R.  C.  Morrison,  engi- 
neer of  maintenance  of  way,  said  that  if  he  were  rebuild- 
ing the  plant  he  would  place  the  I-beam  3  ft.  higher 
than  it  is  in  the  present  installation  in  order  to  give 
more  room  to  work  with  ties  in  the  basket;  that  is, 
in  order  to  give  better  leverage  in  handling  the  basket 
up  and  down  by  means  of  the  screw-geared  block  and 
falls,  which  in  this  case  should  be  more  rapid  than  the 
present  one. 

The  original  cost  of  the  plant  was  about  $600.  As 
to  operating  costs,  labor,  the  records  show,  figures  at 
from  4  to  5  cents  per  tie,  and  material — carbosota — at 
a  little  more  than  37*  cents  per  tie.  Fi'guring  interest, 
maintenance  and  material  and  labor,  the  total  cost 
is  from  45  to  50  cents  per  tie. 


Hardening  Elliptic  Springs 

IN  ITS  shops  at  Rochester  the  New  York  State  Rail- 
ways has  a  convenient  outfit  in  the  corner  of  the 
blacksmith  shop  for  heating  and  chilling  complete  halvea 
of  eKiptic  springs.    The  set  of  leaves  forming  a  half 

spring  are  bunched  together  and  heated  in  an  oil-fired 
furnace,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  This 
is  built  in  an  angle  between  the  chimney  and  the  shop 


Spring  Hardening  Corner  in  Railway  Shop  at  Rochester 

wall,  with  a  hood  and  flue  connection  to  the  chimney. 
Doors  are  provided  on  one  end  and  one  side. 

In  the  angle  between  the  second  side  of  the  chimney 
and  the  second  wall  is  the  water-cooled  oil  quenching 
tank,  also  provided  with  a  hood  connected  to  the  chim- 
ney to  remove  fumes.  A  simple  lever  mechanism 
facilitates  the  lowering  of  the  hot  spring  into  the  oil 
from  a  distance  sufficient  to  prevent  scalding  of  the 
operator  by  oil  or  fumes. 


The  Municipal  Tramways  at  Bradford,  England,  have 
recently  added  to  their  equipment  a  one-man  trackless 
trolley  bus  with  seats  for  thirty  passengers.  The  car 
is  equipped  with  one  motor  only.  Another  type  of  track- 
less car  recently  added  is  a  six-wheel  bus  with  double 
deck.  One-half  of  the  weight  is  carried  on  the  rear 
axle,  the  other  being  divided  equally  between  the  two 
front  axles,  which  turn  together  for  steering  purposes. 
The  principal  data  of  this  car  are:  Seating  capacity 
top  deck,  thirty-three;  lower  deck,  twenty-four;  over-all 
height,  14  ft.  7  in.;  outside  width,  6  ft.  10  in.;  total 
length,  23  ft.  10  in.  This  gives  an  occupancy  per  seat 
of  2.85  sq.ft.  of  street  surface. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


103 


Meeting  of  American  Society  for  Testing  Materials 

Sulphur  and  Phosphorus  Limits  Raised  on  Structural  Steel  and  Steel  Castings — New  Specifications  for 
Cast-Iron  Wheels  Presented — Tests  for  Insulating  Varnishes  Agreed  Upon 


THE  annual  meeting  of  the  A.  S. 
T.  M.  was  held  June  20-24  at 
Asbury  Park,  N.  J.  At  this  meet- 
ing several  matters  were  discussed 
which  are  of  interest  to  electric  railway 
engineers  and  the  following  is  an  ab- 
stract of  some  of  the  reports  and  papers 
presented : 

Steel  Specifications 

Action  was  taken  regarding  the 
extra  point  of  phosphorus  and  sulphur 
which  had  been  permitted  in  various 
standard  specifications  as  a  war  meas- 
ure. The  note  concerning  this  is  now 
to  be  removed  from  all  specifications. 
Recommendation,  however,  has  been 
made  to  raise  the  sulphur  content  0.01 
per  cent  in  the  following  specifications: 
Structural  steel  for  locomotives,  cars 
and  ships  and  steel  castings.  In  the 
car  steel  specification  this  applies  to 
the  structural  grade  only.  The  phos- 
phorus content  in  acid  steel  castings 
is  raised  .01  per  cent.  This  is  for 
the  reason  that  it  is  felt  the  extension 
in  sulphur  from  0.05  to  0.06  per  cent 
in  the  three  classes  of  structural  steel 
must  be  retained  due  to  the  heavy  ton- 
nages involved  and  to  the  continued  dif- 
ficulty in  obtaining  low-sulphur  fuels 
and  melting  stock.  It  will  be  noted  that 
the  sulphur  extension  will  be  removed 
on  the  materials  which  are  to  be  worked 
hot  and  allowed  on  structural  mate- 
rials which  are  to  be  fabricated  cold. 

Report  was  made  that  the  survey 
which  was  started  last  year  of  the 
effects  of  phosphorus  and  sulphur  in 
steel  is  now  well  under  way  in  the 
hands  of  a  joint  committee  working 
under  the  chairmanship  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Standards. 

The  specifications  for  carbon  steel 
rails  have  been  extensively  revised  as 
to  form,  at  the  same  time  clarifying 
the  sections  covering  the  nick  and  break 
test.  Slight  changes  have  also  been 
made  in  specifications  for  quenched 
high  carbon  steel  splice  bars,  quenched 
carbon-steel  track  bolts,  steel  track 
spikes,  steel  screw  spikes,  low  carbon 
steel  splice  bars  and  quenched  alloy 
steel  track  bolts.  These  changes  relate 
chiefly  to  the  manner  of  taking  test 
specimens  and  making  tests. 

Similar  changes  were  made  in  the 
specifications  for  structural  steel  for 
cars,  carbon  steel  bars  for  railway 
springs,  special  silicon  spring  bars,  sili- 
con manganese  bars  for  railway 
springs,  chrome-vanadium  spring  bars, 
carbon  steel  and  alloy  steel  forgings, 
quenched  and  tempered  carbon  steel 
axles,  quenched  and  tempered  alloy 
steel  axles,  cold  rolled  steel  axles  and 
steel  castings. 

The  tentative  specifications  for 
welded  and  seamless  steel  pipe  has  been 
extensively  revised  and  a  new  tentative 
specification  was  presented  for  carbon- 


steel  rails  with  special  quality  require- 
ments. These  specifications  are  based 
entirely  on  the  specifications  recently 
adopted  by  the  American  Railway  En- 
gineering Association.  This  added 
specification  is  proposed  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  felt  that  the  requirements  of 
rail  buyers  are  by  no  means  uniform, 
and  where  the  amount  of  traffic  and 
general  service  conditions  are  more 
severe,  a  buyer  might  want  to  purchase 
rails  subject  to  more  rigid  require- 
ments than  would  be  the  case  if  the 
service  conditions  were  less  severe. 
Among  other  things  the  new  specifica- 
tions require  that  there  shall  be  sheared 
from  the  end  of  the  bloom  formed  from 
the  top  of  the  ingot  sufficient  metal 
to  secure  sound  rails.  Addition  of 
aluminum  to  the  molds  is  not  permitted. 
Definite  limits  for  carbon,  manganese, 
phosphorus  and  silicon  are  set,  and 
tests  are  required  to  determine  ductility 
or  toughness  as  opposed  to  brittleness 
and  soundness.  Physical  qualities  are 
determined  by  drop  test  in  the  stand- 
ard A.  R.  E.  A.  drop  testing  machine, 
record  being  taken  of  the  elongation 
of  the  rail  under  the  blow.  Test  pieces 
which  do  not  break  under  the  drop  test 
are  marked  and  broken  to  determine 
whether  the  interior  metal  is  sound. 
Rails  are  classified  as  No.  1  and  No.  2; 
No.  1  being  those  that  are  free  from 
injurious  defects  and  flaws  of  all 
kinds.  No.  2  rails  are  those  which  by 
reason  of  surface  imperfections,  or 
for  other  specified  causes,  vary  from 
the  specifications  in  a  manner  which 
does  not  impair  their  soundness  and 
strength.  It  is  permitted  that  No.  2 
rails  shall  form  5  per  cent  of  the  order. 

Cast-Iron  Car  Wheels 

A  new  proposed  tentative  specifica- 
tion for  cast-iron  car  wheels  was  pre- 
sented to  replace  the  standard  specifica- 
tions for  cast-iron  car  wheels.  This 
differs  somewhat  from  the  American 
Railway  Association  (M.  C.  B.)  stand- 
ard specification  and  is  drawn  so  as  to 
cover  wheels  other  than  M.  C.  B.  stand- 
ard wheels  as  well  as  the  standard 
wheels  themselves.  The  new  specifica- 
tions are  drawn  up  along  lines  which 
represent  present-day  practice  in  wheel 
foundries. 

Iron  and  Steel  Chain 

While  the  present  specification  is  sub- 
stantially correct  with  respect  to  test 
requirements,  gradual  changes  in  raw 
material  and  trade  practices  have  made 
necessary  a  thorough  revision  of  the 
section  on  classification  and  manufac- 
ture. In  consequence  a  new  proposed 
tentative  specification  was  presented, 
in  which  especial  attention  was  directed 
to  the  term  "Crane  Chain,"  which  no 
longer  represents  the  highest  grade, 
the  term  "Dredge  Chain"  having  super- 


seded it.  Five  classes  of  chain  are 
given: 

Class  AA  for  slings,  cranes,  hoists, 
steam  shovels  and  marine  uses,  and 
where  an  all-iron  chain  is  desired. 

Class  A  for  slings,  cranes,  hoists, 
steam  shovels  and  marine  use  where  a 
high  quality  chain  is  desired  and  sold 
under  the  trade  designation  "Dredge 
Chain." 

Class  B  for  ordinary  slings  and 
hoists  and  sold  under  the  trade  desig- 
nation "B.B.B." 

Class  C  for  railroad  cars,  construc- 
tion and  forestry  work  and  sold  under 
the  trade  designation  "B.B."  or  Rail- 
road Chain. 

Class  D  for  general  service  and  sold 
under  the  trade  designation  "Proof 
Coil"  or  "Common  Coil  Chain." 

Merchant  Bar  Iron 

A  new  proposed  tentative  specifica- 
tion for  merchant  bar  iron  is  included 
in  the  report  on  wrought  iron,  it  being 
stated  that  a  considerable  change  has 
taken  place  in  the  process  of  manufac- 
ture of  some  of  the  ordinary  grades  of 
bar  iron.  Small  sizes  of  mixed  scrap, 
thoroughly  reworked,  are  now  a  promi- 
nent factor  and  it  has  been  thought 
desirable  to  recognize  this  condition  in 
a  new  specification,  rather  than  to  in- 
clude the  material  in  the  present  stand- 
ard specification  for  refined  wrought 
iron  bars.  The  new  specification  pre- 
sents the  same  tensile  and  bend  test 
requirements  as  for  the  refined  bars, 
but  the  section  on  manufacture  is  par- 
ticularly adapted  to  this  product. 

Insulated  Wire  and  Cable 

The  committee  states  that  this  speci- 
fication has  been  materially  improved. 
While  no  extensive  revision  has  been 
made  some  new  material  has  been 
added.  The  more  important  changes 
are  as  follows: 

1.  Thickness  of  Insulation. — A  table 
of  recommended  thicknesses  of  insula- 
tion for  various  working  pressures  has 
been  added  together  with  details  of 
procedure  for  measuring  the  thickness, 
including  the  variation  limits,  rejection 
conditions,  etc. 

2.  A  new  sub-division  covering  tape 
has  been  added. 

3.  A  new  sub-division  covering  braid 
has  been  added. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  work 
of  the  committee  on  rubber  products 
for  the  coming  year  is  that  the  com- 
mittee contemplates  taking  up  the  sub- 
ject of  specifications  for  weather  strip- 
ping for  cars. 

Electrical  Insulating  Materials 

In  explanation  of  its  work,  the  com- 
mittee states  that  since  its  inception  it 
has  confined  its  work  entirely  to  the 
testing  of  insulating  materials,  as  the 


104 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


state  of  the  art  does  not  as  yet  war- 
rant the  establishing  of  specifications 
for  the  various  materials  themselves. 
This  year  a  standard  has  been  agreed 
upon  for  a  method  of  testing  insulating 
varnishes. 

The  society's  tentative  standard 
methods  of  testing  molded  insulating 
materials  has  now  been  in  use  for  four 
years  without  important  criticism,  and 
it  is  understood  that  they  are  in  more 
or  less  general  use  by  the  manufactur- 
ers of  this  class  of  insulating  material. 
They  have  also  been  adopted  to  stand- 
ard by  the  Associated  Manufacturers 
of  Electrical  Supplies.  They  are  there- 
fore now  to  be  advanced  to  standard  of 
the  A.  S.  T.  M.  with  some  minor 
changes. 

Two  Tests  for  Sheet  Insulation 

With  regard  to  sheet  insulation,  the 
dielectric  strength  is  the  most  im- 
portant property.  The  apparent  di- 
electric strength  is  greatly  affected  by 
the  time  of  application  of  the  testing 
potential  due  to  the  generation  of  heat, 
so  that  two  types  of  test  are  desirable; 
one,  to  give  the  dielectric  strength  un- 
der a  rapidly  applied  potential  or  so- 
called  apparent  "momentary"  dielectric 
strength,  and  the  other  to  give  the 
strength  under  continuous  application 
of  potential.  No  agreement  has  been 
reached  yet  on  the  test. 

In  the  testing  of  liquid  insulations  a 
great  need  has  been  the  standardiza- 
tion of  the  electrodes  and  length  of  gap 
used  in  testing  oils  for  high-tension 
transformers  and  switches.  The  com- 
mittee has  completed  an  investigation 
on  this  subject  and  presented  its  report 
thereon  to  the  convention  and  a  pro- 
posed standard  method  for  testing 
transformer  and  switch  oils.  A  pro- 
posed standard  method  was  also  pre- 
sented for  testing  electrical  porcelain. 

Subjects  to  which  the  committee  ex- 
pects to  give  attention  are : 

1.  Procedure  for  dielectric  strength 
tests  of  sheet-insulating  materials. 

2.  Procedure  for  a  sludging  test  of 
transformer  and  switch  oils. 

3.  Preparation  of  tests  of  molded  in- 
sulation for  high-frequency  applica- 
tions. 

4.  Pothead  and  splicing  compounds 
for  underground  cables. 

5.  Dielectric  losses  in  insulating  ma- 
terials. 

Corrosion  of  Iron  and  Steel 

The  five-year  test  of  uncoated  sheets 
exposed  in  the  Pittsburgh  district  is 
nearing  completion  and  the  committee 
states  that  it  may  definitely  be  con- 
cluded that  copper  bearing  metal  shows 
marked  superiority  as  compared  to  non- 
copper  bearing  material.  Iron  or  steel 
containing  less  than  0.15  per  cent  cop- 
per are  classed  as  "non-copper  bear- 
ing." It  is  interesting  to  note  that  no 
16  gage  sheet  containing  0.06  per  cent 
copper  or  more  has  failed  after  five 
months'  exposure,  while  65  per  cent 
have  failed  of  those  having  0.03  or  less. 

In  the  immersion  tests  made  the 
presence  of  copper  apparently  has  little 
influence  on  the  life  of  the  specimen. 


The  Mechanical  Man  as  a 
Salesman* 

By  E.  B.  Gunn 

Superintendent  of  Transportation  and 
Equipment  Western  Ohio  Railway  Company, 
Wapakoneta,  Ohio. 

WE  HAVE  found  that  by  keeping 
in  close  contact  with  our  em- 
ployees, not  on^y  our  salesmen  (the  con- 
ductors and  motormen)  but  all  other 
members  of  the  organization  as  well, 
we  are  able  to  keep  the  force  running 
much  smoother  and  so  gain  better 
results. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  mechanical 
equipment  to  be  kept  in  good  condition 
so  that  passengers  can  get  over  the 
line  smoothly  and  quickly;  also  to  pre- 
vent frequent  pull-offs,  as  the  changing 
of  cars  is  very  objectionable  to  the 
traveling  public.  A  failure  of  the 
mechanical  equipment  causes  delays 
which  often  result  in  the  passenger's 
missing  his  connection,  which,  of  course, 
discourages  traffic;  and  at  this  time  the 
electric  lines  need  all  the  friends  they 
can  get. 

The  roadway  department's  co-opera- 
tion is  just  as  necessary  as  that  of  any 
other,  for  a  bad  track  causes  derail- 
ments and  rough  riding,  which  makes 
the  work  of  the  salesmen  much  harder. 
It  also  causes  delays  and  failures  of 
the  equipment  which  are  expensive. 

It  is  also  just  as  necessary  for  the 
employees  to  work  for  the  success  of 
the  freight  department  as  it  is  for 
that  of  the  passenger,  with  the  excep- 
tion, of  course,  of  the  element  of 
personal  feeling  which  does  not  enter 
into  the  freight  department.  It  is  from 
the  freight  hauling  that  the  electric 
line  must  look  for  its  gain,  and  that 
is  the  branch  of  service,  I  think,  that 
has  been  overlooked  more  than  the 
passenger  business.  Of  course,  the 
motor  truck  under  the  present  condi- 
tions is  a  great  rival  of  the  electric 
line,  but  by  having  a  quick,  reliable 
service  and  safe  handling  of  goods  and 
courteous  treatment  from  all  employees 
the  electric  line,  I  believe,  will  be  able 
to  hold  a  great  part  of  the  freight 
haulage.  The  time  is  not  far  off  when 
the  motor  trucks  must  be  brought  under 
the  supervision  of  the  public  utilities 
commissions,  and  must  file  their 
schedules  of  rates  the  same  as  the 
electric  lines  are  required  to  do.  When 
this  is  done  and  they  are  required  to 
pay  their  proportion  for  the  upkeep  of 
the  roads  they  use,  they  will  then  be 
on  the  same  basis  as  the  electric  lines; 
and,  I  believe,  the  selling  of  the 
products  will  be  just  as  easy  and  the 
outlook  for  the  electric  roads  as  bright 
as  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  The  electric 
lines  have  a  place  in  the  traffic  world 
and  the  public  will  not  stand  for  them 
to  be  sidetracked. 

It  is  a  problem  for  us  to  work  out, 
and  the  only  way  that  this  can  be 
accomplished  is,  as  Mr.  Barnes  has  so 
ably  shown,  for  all  departments  to  co- 
operate and  all  work  together.  Each 


♦Abstract  of  Discussion  on  Merchandis- 
ing Transportation,  at  meeting  of  Central 
Electric  Railway  Association  on  board  S.  S. 
South  American,  Thursday,  June  30,  1921. 


and  every  head  of  department  must  get 
away  from  the  idea  that  his  department 
is  more  important  than  any  other,  for 
the  man  who  greases  the  track  is  just 
as  necessary  along  his  line  as  the  ex- 
ecutive. When  the  spirit  of  co-opera- 
tion permeates  the  entire  organization 
from  the  president  to  the  track  man, 
and  everyone  is  pulling  for  the  one  and 
only  purpose,  success,  then  we  will 
have  the  success  that  is  sure  to  come. 
Let  us  all  get  over  the  dumps  and  put 
into  the  proposition  the  pep  and  enthu- 
siasm that  the  proposition  deserves,  and 
that  enthusiasm  will  be  communicated 
to  the  men  under  our  supervision  and 
they,  in  turn,  will  do  their  best  for  the 
success  of  the  electric  line,  and  the 
business  will  just  have  to  be  successful. 

Valuation  and  Rate 
of  Return 

IN  HIS  paper  on  "Valuation  and  Rate 
of  Return,"  presented  before  the 
joint  meeting  of  the  Iowa  Electric  Rail- 
way Association  and  the  Iowa  Section 
of  the  National  Electric  Light  Associa- 
tion, on  June  23,  at  Lake  Okobogi,  Iowa, 
L.  B.  King,  appraisal  engineer  United 
Light  &  Railways  Company,  Daven- 
port, Iowa,  paid  particular  attention  to 
electric  lighting  companies,  but  a  few 
of  his  remarks  are  pertinent  to  rail- 
ways. 

After  outlining  the  purposes  of  valu- 
ation he  discusses  inventory  of  prop- 
erty, from  which  discussion  the  follow- 
ing extracts  are  taken: 

It  is  quite  essential  that  every  utility 
should  have  a  valuation  of  its  property, 
entirely  distinct  from  the  "plant  and 
investment"  account  carried  on  its  bal- 
ance sheet,  because  without  this  knowl- 
edge it  is  impossible  for  the  operators 
of  the  plant  to  know  what  results  are 
being  obtained  in  the  way  of  net 
revenues  applicable  to  paying  interest 
charges  and  dividends  from  that  par- 
ticular plant. 

Unless  operating  under  a  uniform  . 
classification  of  accounts,  where  two 
valuations  have  been  made  of  the  same 
property,  one  by  or  for  the  company 
and  the  other  by  or  for  the  city  or 
state,  it  becomes  hard  to  compare  or 
reconcile  these  valuations,  and  this 
leads  to  more  or  less  confusion  whether 
the  report  is  presented  in  court  or  to 
a  city  council.  No  matter  what  system 
is  adopted,  after  one  is  adopted  and 
the  property  accounts  are  classified, 
later  expenditures  for  new  construction 
should  certainly  be  classified  under  the 
account  adopted. 

The  distribution  system  of  either  an 
electric  utility  or  electric  railway 
utility  is  the  most  difficult  part  of  the 
property  to  inventory  and  to  obtain 
prices  on.  It  will  very  seldom  be  pos- 
sible to  obtain  the  exact  original  cost 
of  building  the  pole  lines,  stringing 
the  wire,  etc.,  for  many  reasons,  one 
of  which  is  that  the  work  is  done  piece- 
meal and  not  all  expenditures  find  their 
way  to  the  proper  charges.  It  is  there- 
fore necessary  to  estimate  the  cost  of 
poles,  wire  and  erection  to  a  large 
extent. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


105 


Mr.  King  then  takes  up  the  question 
of  intangible  fixed  capital,  in  which  he 
argues  for  capitalization  of  superseded 
property,  of  the  cost  of  consolidation 
of  smaller,  older  companies,  develop- 
ment expense,  early  losses,  cost  of  es- 
tablishing business,  etc. 

Capitalize  Unfinished  Construction 

Mr.  King  also  urges  the  capitaliza- 
tion of  unfinished  construction.  Of  this 
he  says:  "In  the  determination  of  the 
rate  base  there  should  also  be  included 
the  estimated  cost  of  completing  any 
construction  which  is  under  way,  and 
any  construction  which  has  been  author- 
ized and  is  certain  to  be  started  very 
soon.  Inasmuch  as  the  study  of  rates 
is  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  rates  for 
the  future,  it  is  only  proper  that  these 
rates  should  pay  the  proper  return  on 
additional  investments  which  must  be 
made."  The  usual  account  is  taken  of 
the  subject  of  working  capital. 

In  his  discussion  on  rate  of  return, 
Mr.  King  points  out  that  many  utility 
commissions  have  excluded  from  the 
valuation  the  cost  of  financing,  whether 
this  includes  the  cost  of  interesting 
capital,  issuing  and  marketing  securi- 
ties and  brokerage  fees,  or  also  the  dis- 


count at  which  the  securities  have  been 
sold  in  order  to  market  them.  He  then 
says:  "The  cost  of  selling  the  securi- 
ties will  usually  amount  to  from  2  per 
cent  to  3  per  cent  of  their  par  value, 
and  the  discount  frequently  runs  as 
high  as  25  per  cent  of  the  par  value. 
These  items,  if  excluded  from  the  valu- 
ation, must  be  considered  in  fixing  the 
rate  of  return  which  should  be  insisted 
upon."  With  reference  to  rate  of  re- 
turn and  the  dependent  rate  schedule, 
he  said:  "Certain  rates  of  return  have 
been  approved  or  fixed  in  many  rate 
cases,  and  then  service  rates  have  been 
established  which  were  entirely  insuf- 
ficient to  earn  anywhere  near  the  rate 
of  return  which  had  been  approved. 
When  this  happens,  it  is  a  moral  obli- 
gation of  the  regulatory  body  to  make 
up  the  deficiency  so  created  by  further 
adjustment  in  the  rate.  The  mere  fix- 
ing of  a  rate  of  return  in  an  ordinance 
or  decision  does  not  guarantee  this  rate 
to  the  utility,  and  if  the  theory  of 
rate-fixing  legislation  is  to  be  fair, 
then  the  deficit  created  must  be  made 
up  by  future  higher  rates,  and  this 
future  must  not  be  so  long  deferred 
that  the  patient  dies  during  the 
process." 


Special  Reorganization  Committee  Reports 

Recommends  J.  W.  Welsh  as  Permanent  Executive  Secretary — Suggests  Useful 
Changes  in  Constitution  and  in  Procedure 


THE  special  reorganization  commit- 
tee appointed  by  President  Gads- 
den in  response  to  a  resolution  of  the 
executive  committee  to  make  recom- 
mendations regarding  reorganization 
of  the  headquarters  office  of  the  asso- 
ciation and  any  other  recommendations 
regarding  the  organization  or  opera- 
tion of  the  entire  association  which  it 
saw  fit  or  thought  advisable  has  now 
formulated  its  report  and  placed  it  in 
the  hands  of  the  members  of  the  execu- 
tive committee.  The  executive  com- 
mittee will  hold  a  meeting  which  has 
been  tentatively  arranged  for  Aug.  5, 
at  which  this  report  will  be  considered; 
but  meanwhile  the  committee  decided 
that  it  would  be  advisable  to  publish 
an  abstract  of  this  report  so  that  the 
association  members  might  have  op- 
portunity to  transmit  their  ideas  to 
the  executive  committee,  and  that  the 
executive  committee,  having  the  ad- 
vantage of  hearing  from  the  industry, 
could  formulate  its  program  in  more 
nearly  complete  form,  ready  for  action 
by  the  association  at  Atlantic  City  in 
October. 

Criticisms  of,  and  suggestions  with 
reference  to,  these  recommendations  of 
the  reorganization  committee  to  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  will  therefore  be  wel- 
comed. They  should  reach  the  secre- 
tary's office  not  later  than  Aug.  3,  in 
order  to  be  ready  for  consideration  by 
the  executive  committee  at  its  meeting 
on  Aug.  5. 


The  following  is  an  abstract  of  the 
report  of  this  committee.  Many  of  the 
suggestions,  in  order  to  be  incorporated 
in  useful  form,  have  necessitated 
changes  in  the  constitution  and  by- 
laws and  the  committee  has  therefore 
drawn  up  an  amended  constitution  and 
by-laws  in  which  the  following  things 
have  been  accomplished: 

Recognition  of  the  interest  in  and 
necessity  for  study  of  other  transpor- 
tation systems,  and  permission  under 
special  act  of  the  executive  committee 
for  trackless  transportation  companies 
to  enter  the  association. 

Provision  for  separate  classification 
of  members  such  as  consulting  engi- 
neers, management  companies,  invest- 
ment bankers,  etc. 

Redefinition  of  the  officers  and  mem- 
bership of  the  executive  committee  as 
follows : 

A  president,  to  hold  office  for  one  year, 
eligible  to  re-election. 

Four  vice-presidents,  two  elected  each 
year  for  two-year  terms,  not  eligible  to 
re-eleetion  to  the  executive  committee,  ex- 
cept as  president. 

Twelve  members  at  large,  six  represent- 
ing manufacturing  companies,  six  represent- 
ing operating  companies  ;  two  of  each  to 
be  elected  each  year  for  three-year  terms 
and  not  eligible  to  re-election  to  the  same 
office. 

A  treasurer,  to  hold  office  for  one  year, 
subject  to  re-election. 

The  two  junior  living  past-presidents, 
with  power  to  vote. 

The  four  presidents  of  the>  affiliated  as- 
sociations. 

An  executive  secretary,  who  is  not  a 
member  of  the  executive  committee,  but 
who  attends  its  meetings.  He  may  not  be 
the  same  person  as  the  treasurer. 


Provision  for  regular  monthly  meet- 
ings of  the  executive  committee. 

A  classification  and  amplification  of 
the  definition  of  duties  of  officers,  which 
make  ample  provision  for  the  safe- 
guarding of  the  funds  of  the  associa- 
tion and  the  issuance  of  checks. 

Provision  for  a  nominating  commit- 
tee, to  be  appointed  early  in  each  sum- 
mer, which  will  make  public  its  nomi- 
nations thirty  days  before  the  annual 
convention.  Other  nominations  may  be 
made  by  any  member  at  any  time  before 
the  actual  election. 

Definite  by-law  provision  for  the 
mid-year  conference. 

Definite  provision  for  certain  stand- 
ing committees  of  the  association,  such 
as  finance,  policy,  subjects  and  meet- 
ings, publicity,  publications  and  national 
relations,  with  the  requirement  that 
these  committees  make  monthly  reports 
to  the  executive  committee.  All  the 
members  of  the  first  two  committees  are 
to  be  members  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, and  the  chairmen  of  the  other 
four  are  ex  officio  members  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee,  without  vote,  unless 
they  are  already  elected  members. 

Provision  for  certain  other  commit- 
tees having  to  do  with  membership 
and  with  co-operation  with  sectional 
railway  associations. 

Definition  of  the  duties  of  the  vari- 
ous committees. 

Provision  that  the  dues  now  in  the 
by-laws  shall  be  maximum  dues,  which 
the  executive  committee  may  lower,  but 
once  lowered  may  not  raise  without 
consent  of  the  association. 

Provision  that  privileges  of  the  asso- 
ciation shall  be  withdrawn  from  mem- 
bers who  are  a  year  or  more  in  arrears 
in  dues. 

Other  suggestions  which  the  com- 
mittee has  considered  and  regarding 
which  it  makes  recommendations  are: 

That  the  executive  committee  con- 
sider in  its  own  meeting  the  question 
of  arranging  for  admission  of  munici- 
pally owned  railways  to  membership. 
The  executive  committee  has  a  sub- 
committee of  its  own  on  this  subject 
which  will  present  data  to  it. 

That  the  executive  committee  make 
a  study  of  the  present  system  of  dues. 

That  the  association  do  not  sponsor 
certain  experts  in  labor,  legal,  tech- 
nical or  other  special  lines. 

That  the  executive  committee  give 
closer  supervision  to  committee  work, 
arranging  that  committee  reports  may 
be  made  public  at  any  time  during  the 
year  whenever  finished,  rather  than 
holding  them  to  flood  the  annual  con- 
vention. 

That  the  executive  committee  create 
a  special  committee  for  co-operation 
with  educational  institutions  of  the 
country,  to  encourage  the  study  of 
railway  and  public  utility  problems, 
and  to  assist  in  placing  young  engi- 
neers with  railways. 

That  the  committee  codify  its  own 
regulations  as  a  sort  of  executive  com- 
mittee by-laws. 

That  the  executive  committee  con- 
sider the  advisability  of  incorporating 
the  association. 


106 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


That  due  consideration  be  given  to 
the  geographical  distribution  of  the 
executive  and  other  committee  meet- 
ings, to  the  selection  of  executive  and 
other  committee  members,  and  that  the 
association  co-operate  with  various  sec- 
tional associations  and  arrange  for 
representation  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation at  their  meetings. 

That  the  executive  committee  out- 
line some  policy  to  promote  continu- 
ous work  by  committees  to  avoid  a  halt 
in  activities  for  a  month  or  two  after 
annual  association  meetings,  which  fre- 
quently occurs.  Suggestion  was  made 
of  appointing  committee  members  for 
a  term  of  years,  a  portion,  of  the  com- 
mittee retiring  each  year. 

That  the  executive  committee  con- 
sider giving  publicity  through  t"he  Ad- 
vertising Section  to  the  sense  of  respon- 
sibility which  the  electric  railway 
industry  today  feels  in  trying  to  pro- 
vide complete  transportation  service  to 
a  community. 

The  question  of  Aera  being  contin- 
ued as  a  magazine  or  changed  to  a  bul- 
letin was  brought  before  the  committee. 
The  Aera  advisory  board  was  requested 
to  make  a  report  on  this  subject  to  the 
committee.  This  was  presented  by 
Chairman  C.  L.  Henry  of  the  advisory 
board  in  person.  There  was  consider- 
able discussion  on  the  benefits  of  Aera 
as  the  association's  official  mouthpiece 
and  as  an  agent  to  promote  company 
section  work  and  to  reach  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  industry.  There  was  a  dis- 
cussion as  to  how  best  Aera  could  co- 
operate and  avoid  unnecessary  duplica- 
tion with  existing  technical  magazines 
in  the  railway  field.  The  committee  in 
accepting  the  report  decided  to  recom- 
mend the  continuation  of  A  era  as  a 
magazine  in  its  present  general  form 

Finally,  in  response  to  a  special 
request  of  the  executive  committee  to 
suggest  a  name  or  names  for  the  posi- 
tion of  seci-etary,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
created  by  Mr.  Burritt's  resignation,  the 
committee  recommends  that  J.  W. 
Welsh  be  apDointed  secretary,  to  date 
from  July  1,  1921. 

r   

Progress  on  Heavy  Traction 
Report 

AT  A  meeting  of  the  heavy  electric 
traction  committee,  held  in  the 
association  office  on  June  23,  a 
draft  of  the  committee's  report  was 
read  and  discussed,  after  which  various 
suggestions  offered  by  members  present 
and  by  letter  were  considered.  It  was 
decided  to  include  in  the  report  news 
of  a  60-ton  Westinghouse  switching 
locomotive  of  standard  design  and  of 
?.  Butte,  Anaconda  &  Pacific  tractor 
truck,  used  for  switching,  as  well  as 
views  of  the  Westinghouse  and  General 
Electric  Paulista  locomotives.  The 
tabulated  data  on  multiple-unit  equip- 
ment, which  are  being  prepared  by  the 
General  Electric  and  Westinghouse 
companies,  will  be  consolidated  for 
presentation  in  the  report  as  soon  as 
received  by  the  chairman. 

Those  who  were  present  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  discussions  were  Sidney 


Withington,  chairman;  C.  M.  Quereau, 
John  C.  Davidson,  A.  H.  Armstrong, 
J.  V.  B.  Duer,  Mr.  Masson,  representing 
H.  W.  Cope,  and  Mr.  Sloan. 


Association  Announces  1921 
Convention  Program 

THE  plans  for  the  1921  convention 
at  Atlantic  City  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association  have  ad- 
vanced far  enough  so  that  the  associa- 
tion is  able  now  to  announce  the 
tentative  program.  The  duration  of  the 
meeting  will  be  as  usual  from  Monday 
to  Thursday  inclusive,  or  from  Oct.  3 
to  Oct.  6.  The  general  subjects  to  be 
considered  in  formal  papers,  topical  dis- 
cussions or  addresses  are:  (1)  a  paper 
on  the  influence  of  the  electric  railways 
in  improving  industrial  efficiency;  (2) 
a  paper  on  the  contrasted  advantages 
of  service-at-cost  contract  franchise  and 
state  regulation;  (3)  a  paper  on  the 
comparative  condition  of  the  industry 
today  and  four  years  ago;  (4)  a  topical 
discussion  on  electric  railway  finance; 
(5)  an  address  by  some  public  official 
on  a  subject  relating  to  the  industry. 

The  first  subject  will  bring  out  the 
fact  that  electric  railways  are  essential 
to  the  maintenance  of  community  and 
commercial  lite,  and  that  this  fact 
should  be  kept  before  the  investors  and 
general  public.  The  existence  of  a 
street  railway  has  often  been  taken  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  and  at  present  there  is 
much  discussion  as  to  whether  or  not 
surface  railways  will  be  extended.  Some 
hold  that  as  yet  the  electric  lines  have 
not  had  a  full  opportunity  to  demon- 
strate their  maximum  utility  because  of 
restrictions  placed  by  state  laws  and 
franchises  prohibiting  the  transporta- 
tion of  commodities,  and  it  is  possible 
that  this  view  may  be  presented  by 
one  of  the  papers  on  this  subject. 

The  paper  on  service-at-cost  will  take 
up  the  two  methods  of  rate  adjustments 
and  present  the  advantages  appei-tain- 
ing  thereto  so  as  to  permit  careful 
study.  Some  operators  prefer  the  ser- 
vice-at-cost while  others  believe  state 
regulation  of  rates  and  service  to  be 
more  desirable. 

The  subject  of  comparative  condi- 
tions divides  into  four  parts,  namely, 
community  relationships,  plant  and 
facilities,  net  earnings  and  finances,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  each  of  these  will  be 
covered. 

The  discussion  on  electric  railway 
financing  will  continue  that  begun  at 
the  last  mid-year  meeting,  and  a  basis 
of  discussion  is  found  in  present  require- 
ments for  mortgage  securities,  home 
town  financing,  financing  by  sale  of 
capital  shares  and  municipal  aid. 

The  names  of  those  who  will  present 
papers  on  the  different  topics  mentioned 
will  be  made  public  by  the  secretary  of 
the  association  as  soon  as  definite  ar- 
rangements along  this  line  have  been 
made. 

The  association  is  not  yet  readv  to 
announce  the  name  of  the  public  official 
who  it  is  expected  will  address  the 
members  of  the  association  at  the  con- 
vention. 


Committee  Plans  Increased  Activ- 
ity Organizing  Company 
Sections 

THE  committee  on  company  sections 
and  individual  membership  of  the 
association  is  planning  a  campaign  to 
organize  additional  company  sections 
among  member  companies. 

A  meeting  of  the  committee  is  to  be 
heM  in  the  immediate  future,  to  discuss 
the  details  of  the  plan  to  place  before 
electric  railways  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived from  company  section  organiza- 
tion. The  original  company  section 
committee,  which  consisted  of  Martin 
Schreiber,  chief  engineer  and  manager, 
southern  division,  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Camden,  N.  J.,  as  chairman; 
Charles  C.  Peirce,  manager  railway  de- 
partment General  Electric  Company, 
Boston,  Mass.,  and  H.  H.  Norris,  man- 
aging editor  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, New  York,  N.  Y.,  was  recently  en- 
larged by  the  appointment  of  the  follow- 
ing members:  F.  G.  Buffe,  general  man- 
ager Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Railways;  E.  F. 
Wickwire,  sales  manager  Ohio  Brass 
Company,  Mansfield,  Ohio;  J.  P.  Barnes, 
pi-esident  Louisville  (Ky.)  Railway; 
F.  S.  Arkwright,  president  Georgia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga.; 
and  B.  J.  Mallon,  assistant  general  man- 
ager Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated 
Railway.  Chicago,  111. 

The  idea  which  the  committee  has  in 
mind  is  the  revival  of  the  interest  taken 
in  company  sections.  Prior  to  the  war 
tvere  were  twelve  organizations  of 
this  kind  located  at  points  throughout 
the  country,  each  of  which  was  main- 
taining considerable  enthusiasm  among 
its  members  and  educational  work  per- 
taining to  the  industry. 

During  the  war  many  members  en- 
tered military  service  and  company  sec- 
tion activities  were  suspended.  Since 
the  close  of  the  war  two  new  company 
sections  have  been  organized  and  many 
companies  are  now  considering  the 
organization  of  sections.  The  committee 
will  be  glad  to  co-operate  in  every  way 
possible  to  the  furtherance  of  such 
plans. 


Merchandising  Transportation 

THE  final  meeting  of  the  committee 
on  merchandising  transportation  of 
the  T.  &  T.  Association  was  held  at  the 
association's  headquarters  on  July  14. 
Those  present  were  J.  H.  Alexander, 
Cleveland:  H.  C.  Clark,  Newark;  G.  T. 
Seeley,  Youngstown;  K.  A.  Simmon, 
for  M.  B.  Lambert,  East  Pittsburgh. 

Since  the  previous  meeting  the  chair- 
man had  prepared  in  tentative  form 
the  full  report  and  had  forwarded  it  to 
all  members  for  comment.  Letters 
either  of  approval  or  criticism  from 
those  of  the  committee  unable  to  be 
present  and  others  were  read,  and  th^ir 
comments  as  they  referred  to  the  re- 
port were  noted.  The  chairman  w'U 
present  the  completed  report  to  the 
executive  committee  next  week.  The 
report  this  year  will  detail  actual 
means  of  merchandising  transportation 
as  practiced  by  the  industry  and  is  a 
supplement  to  the  report  of  last  year. 


News  of  the  Ele&ric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Suspension  Contemplated 

Receivers   at   Des   Moines   Appeal  to 
Court  for  Permission  to  Shut  Down 
All  Service 

The  receivers  for  the  Des  Moines  (la.) 
City  Eailway  filed  a  petition  during  the 
week  ended  July  9  with  Judge  Martin 
J.  Wade  of  the  federal  court  asking 
that  they  he  allowed  completely  to 
suspend  operation  of  the  railway  sys- 
tem in  Des  Moines. 

Judge  Wade  set  July  13  as  the  date 
for  hearing  arguments  on  the  motion 
and  F.  C.  Chambers,  operating  receiver, 
is  authority  for  the  statement  that  in 
the  event  the  petition  is  allowed  serv- 
ice will  he  suspended  one  week  from  the 
date  of  Judge  Wade's  order. 

Receivers  Lose  Hope 

This  seemingly  drastic  step  was 
taken  by  the  receivers  only  after  all 
hope  had  apparently  disappeared  of 
securing  relief  through  the  City  Council. 

M.  H.  McClean,  representing  the  Har- 
ris Trust  &  Savings  Bank,  Chicago, 
acting  for  security  holders  of  the  rail- 
way, appeared  "before  the  City  Council 
recently  with  a  program  for  the  solu- 
tion of  the  railway  problem.  He  pro- 
posed to  the  Council  that  the  owners 
of  the  local  plant  would  undertake  to 
secure  the  funds  necessary  to  secure 
electrical  equipment  to  restore  full 
service  in  Des  Moines  if  the  City  Coun- 
cil would  take  the  following  action: 

1.  Declare  the  present  franchise  forfeited. 

2.  Eliminate  the  present  destructive  bus 
competition. 

3.  Initiate  proceedings  looking  to  the 
negotiation  of  a  new  service-at-cost  fran- 
chise. 

4.  Declare  its  intent  to  refrain  from  de- 
manding extensions  or  extensive  reconstruc- 
tion and  from  the  levying  of  burdensome 
special  assessments  for  paving  while  the 
company  is  financially  unable  to  undertake 
such  things. 

This  program  apparently  made  little 
impression  upon  members  of  the  Coun- 
cil and  ultimately  all  four  measures 
were  killed  by  being  received  and  filed. 
The  bus  measure  appeared  to  have  some 
chance  of  passage,  but  in  a  stormy  ses- 
sion of  the  Council,  in  which  bus  own- 
ers and  members  of  improvement 
leagues  were  present  the  ordinance  was 
defeated  on  its  second  reading. 

Mayor  Regards  Buses  as  Insufficient 

The  program  had  the  indorsement  of 
the  Corporation  Counsel  and  received 
partial  support  from  Mayor  Barton. 
Mr.  Barton's  attitude  with  regard  to 
ruling  the  buses  off  the  street  was  that 
this  measure  ?hould  be  taken  only  in 
the  event  that  the  railway  agreed  to 
make  a  substantial  reduction  in  fares. 
Mayor  Barton,  however,  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  Council  in  which  he  stated 
that  the  city  could  not  hope  to  depend 
upon  the  buses  for  transportation. 

As  the  situation  now  stands,  appar- 


ently no  real  action  toward  a  settlement 
is  to  be  taken  until  Judge  Wade  rules 
on  the  petition  filed  with  the  court  by 
the  receivers. 

Judge  Wade  on  July  13  took  under 
advisement  the  petition  of  the  receivers 
of  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  for  a 
complete  suspension  of  service.  His 
ruling  is  expected  within  twenty-four 
hours.  Just  previous  to  the  hearing  the 
city  of  Des  Moines  filed  a  belated  re- 
sistance to  the  petition  and  city  attor- 
neys argued  for  a  delay  in  suspension. 


Wage  Cuts  Being  Negotiated 
in  New  York 

Frank  Hedley,  president  and  general 
manager  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  an- 
nounced officially  on  July  12  that  he  had 
asked  the  employees  to  accept  a  10 
per  cent  cut  in  wages  beginning  July 
24.  The  present  agreement  between 
the  company  and  the  Interborough 
Brotherhood  expires  on  Dec.  31. 

Mr.  Hedley  said  that  some  time  ago 
when  the  cost  of  living  was  rapidly 
rising,  the  company  at  the  request  of 
the  men  voluntarily  increased  wages, 
although  it  had  a  contract  with  the  men 
for  a  fixed  wage.  Now  that  conditions 
are  the  reverse,  the  company  has  re- 
quested the  men  to  treat  it  the  same  as 
the  company  has  treated  them. 

The  cut,  if  accepted,  will  affect  some 
14,500  men.  Under  the  present  scale  of 
wages  motormen  are  getting  86  cents 
an  hour,  guards  58  cents,  laborers  from 
48  cents  to  58  cents,  and  the  mechanical 
forces,  from  65  to  80  cents  an  hour. 

It  is  understood  that  the  company 
has  guaranteed  that  if  the  men  accept 
the  proposed  cut,  no  further  lowering 
of  wages  will  be  made  until  July,  1922, 
six  months  after  the  present  agreement 
with  the  Brotherhood  expires. 

Negotiations  are  in  progress  between 
Receiver  Hedges  of  the  New  York  Rail- 
ways and  the  employees  of  that  com- 
pany looking  to  a  similar  decrease  in 
wages.  The  number  of  men  affected  by 
these  negotiations  is  reported  to  be 
about  5,000. 

As  has  been  stated  previously  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  negotia- 
tions are  also  in  progress  in  Brooklyn 
looking  to  a  cut  in  the  pay  of  the  men 
employed  on  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
System.  The  cut  in  wages  there  is  ex- 
pected to  be  made  on  Aug.  6  when  the 
agreement  between  the  men  and  the 
company  expires.  It  is  said  that  it  will 
be  at  least  10  per  cent.  Receiver  Gar- 
rison is  understood  to  favor  a  reduction 
of  from  12  to  15  per  cent.  The  em- 
ployees are  conferring  among  them- 
selves, and  their  representatives  will  in 
turn  meet  the  officials  of  the  company 
during  the  week  ended  July  23  to  agree 
on  the  size  of  the  decrease. 


Another  Brawl  Started 

Chicago's  "City   Hall"  Will  Endeavor 
to  Get  Five-Cent  Fare — Mayor 
Before  New  Commission 

Mayor  Thompson  on  July  8  started 
his  long  promised  fight  for  restoration 
of  the  5-cent  fare  on  the  Chicago  sur- 
face lines.  This  was  in  the  shape  of 
five  petitions  filed  before  the  new 
Illinois  Commerce  Commission  against 
the  Chicago  Surface  Lines  and  its  four 
component  companies.  The  petitioners 
were  the  city  of  Chicago,  Mayor  Thomp- 
son and  four  other  "citizens  and  tax- 
payers." The  preliminary  hearing  was 
set  for  July  12. 

The  petitions  reiterate  many  of  the 
Mayor's  arguments  against  the  surface 
line  companies,  arguments  which  failed 
to  stand  the  test  before  the  old  utili- 
ties commission  or  the  courts.  He  evi- 
dently expects  to  get  a  more  favorable 
ruling  from  a  friendly  commission,  the 
members  of  which  were  reappointed  re- 
cently by  his  political  ally,  Governor 
Small.  The  petitioners  ask  that  the 
"final  order"  entered  by  the  former 
commission  on  Nov.  5,  1920,  be  re- 
scinded, altered  or  amended  and  that 
the  rate  of  fare  be  reduced  from  8  to 
5  cents. 

Contending  that  the  contract  ordi- 
nances under  which  the  companies  are 
operating  have  been  abrogated  by  the 
"acceptance  of  a  rate  of  fare  higher 
than  5  cents,  the  petitioners  ask  the 
commission  to  restore  the  old  rate  re- 
gardless of  the  ordinance  provision." 
This  is  said  to  be  warranted  by  a 
change  in  conditions  due  to  decreased 
cost  of  operation.  They  also  ask  that 
the  $7,000,000  row  in  the  renewal  fund 
be  applied  to  the  reduction  of  fares, 
and  that  the  city's  share  of  the  net 
receipts  for  the  past  two  years  be  used 
for  the  same  purpose  or  turned  over  to 
the  municipality  for  use  and  occupa- 
tion of  the  streets.  This  latter  sum  of 
about  $3,500,000  was  tendered  to  the 
city  by  the  companies  but  was  refused 
because  the  Mayor  has  insisted  that 
an  acceptance  would  be  a  recognition 
that  the  ordinances  of  1907  are  still  in 
effect. 

The  petitioners  also  attack  the  Board 
of  Supervising  Engineers,  claiming  that 
it  has  no  legal  right  to  exist  and  that, 
the  members  should  not  be  paid  out 
of  the  operating  expenses  of  the  com- 
panies. The  commission  also  is  asked 
to  inquire  into  the  salaries  paid  cer- 
tain officers  and  lawyers  employed  by 
the  companies.  The  unusual  sug- 
gestion is  made  that  the  companies  are 
not  entitled  to  any  return  on  their  in- 
vestment until  they  "comply  with  the 
law  and  furnish  adequate  service."  In 
any  event  it  is  alleged  that  they  should 
not  be  allowed  a  return  greater  than 
the  5  per  cent  fixed  by  the  ordinances. 


108 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


New  Orleans  No  Nearer 
Settlement 

The  Commission  Council  of  New 
Orleans,  La.,  at  the  conference  on  July 
7  wound  up  the  discussion  bearing  upon 
a  solution  of  the  city's  traction 
troubles  without  reaching  a  definite 
conclusion.  The  hearing  was  confined 
largely  to  the  matter  of  the  valuation 
of  the  railway. 

Representatives  of  the  association  of 
commerce  and  the  advisory  committee 
of  forty  appeared  and  urged  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission  Council  to  take 
immediate  action  in  the  matter.  They 
insisted  that  the  commissioners  had 
already  had  enough  advice. 

W.  S.  Penick,  one  of  the  committee 
of  forty,  said  he  was  impressed  with 
the  work  of  the  sub-committee  that 
fixed  the  valuation  and  that  the  amount 
named  ($44,700,000)  was  less  than  some 
of  the  members  present  thought  the 
property  was  worth. 

The  conference  adjourned  with  the 
promise  that  when  "the  thing  is 
whipped  into  shape"  those  interested 
would  hear  from  the  city. 

The  delay  of  the  city  has  entangled 
it  in  a  web  of  litigation  which  will 
hardly  permit  the  commissioners  to 
extricate  themselves  before  winter.  Up 
to  the  present  time  the  litigation  pend- 
ing is  as  follows: 

The  railway  has  enjoined  the  city,  in 
the  federal  court,  from  interfering  with 
the  receiver  in  the  collection  of  an 
8-cent  fare.  , 

The  railway  has  instituted  injunc- 
tion proceedings  against  the  State  of 
Louisiana,  in  the  Civil  District  Court, 
restraining  it  from  interfering  in  the 
pending  controversy  between  the  city 
and  the  railway,  looking  to  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  city's  traction  troubles. 

The  State  of  Louisiana,  through  the 
Attorney-General's  office,  seeks  to 
restrain  the  city  by  injunction  from 
reaching  a  settlement  with  the  railway 
upon  any  terms  not  in  keeping  with 
the  company's  franchise  alleged  to 
have  been  obtained  from  the  State  and 
not  from  the  municipality. 


Seattle  Case  to  Be  Determined 
on  Its  Merits 

In  a  decision  handed  by  Judge  Jere- 
miah Neterer  in  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court  recently,  the  application  was 
granted  that  has  been  made  by  S.  B. 
Asia  and  thirteen  taxpayers  of  Seattle, 
Wash.,  for  dismissal  of  the  amended 
complaint  filed  by  the  Puget  Sound 
Power  &  Light  Company  for  a  restrain- 
ing order  to  prevent  the  fourteen  tax- 
payers from  interfering  with  the  city  in 
the  payment  of  the  interest  and  prin- 
cipal on  the  $15,000,000  of  bonds  issued 
by  the  city  in  payment  of  the  railway 
lines  now  included  in  the  system  of  the 
Seattle  Municipal  Railway. 

The  court  said: 

For  the  reasons  given  in  the  decisions 
filed  on  April  1,  and  on  March  12,  the 
motion  of  the  defendant  is  granted.  The 
issue  should  be  determined  at  the  earliest 
date.  The  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  con- 
venes in  this  city  in  September  and  it  is 
possible  to  have  the  action  of  this  court 
reviewed  at  that  time  if  the  parties  are  so 


disposed,  and  all  parties  may  then  rest 
secure  in  the  proceeding  which  must  be 
adopted. 

Judge  Neterer  handed  down  a  de- 
cision on  March  12  denying  the  appli- 
cation of  the  Stone  &  Webster  inter- 
ests for  a  temporary  injunction 
against  the  fourteen  taxpayers.  The 
amended  complaint  upon  which  the  ap- 
peal was  handed  down  recently  was  in 
the  nature  of  an  appeal  from  that 
decision.  At  that  time,  the  court  held 
that  the  Superior  Court  had  full  juris- 
diction in  the  case.  The  court  held 
that  the  payment  of  the  interest  when 
due  removed  the  "contingency  which 
no  doubt  caused  the  plaintiff  to  move 
in  this  case  and  this  was  done  without 
order  or  suggestion  from  this  court." 


Public  Hearing  on  Question  of 
Rehabilitation 

The  City  Council  of  Portland,  Ore., 
has  adopted  a  resolution  requesting  the 
Public  Service  Commission  to  call  a 
public  hearing  to  discuss  the  question 
of  whether  the  Portland  Railway,  Light 
&  Power  Company  has  made  the  ex- 
penditures for  maintenance  and  recon- 
struction which  it  promised  to  make 
prior  to  the  granting  of  the  8-cent  fare. 
F.  I.  Fuller,  vice-president  of  the  com- 
pany, states  that  his  company  has  no 
objection  to  the  investigation.  He  said 
that  in  the  last  seventeen  months  the 
company  has  spent  $431,000  for  main- 
tenance, reconstruction  and  general 
track  and  roadway  work.  The  total 
maintenance  for  this  period  was 
$1,033,793. 


Highway  Legislation  Before 
Congress 

There  is  a  growing  feeling  in  Con- 
gress that  federal  aid  highways  should 
not  be  "free  from  tolls  of  all  kinds"  as 
is  provided  in  both  the  Dowell  and 
Townsend  bills  now  before  Congress 
and  in  the  existing  law.  This  is  due 
to  the  increasing  tendency  on  the  part 
of  motor  common  carriers  to  use  the 
public  highways  without  making  re- 
turns for  the  use  of  this  facility. 

It  is  recognized  that  it  is  frequently 
very  difficult  to  require  a  common  car- 
rier or  a  contract  carrier  performing 
his  service  on  a  highway  without  penal- 
izing the  farmer  or  other  producer  in 
his  efforts  to  get  his  products  to  mar- 
ket. Some  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
federal  law  should  contain  no  inhibi- 
tion against  tolls  and  that  the  matter 
better  could  be  left  to  the  states,  since 
the  question  involved  is  almost  always 
a  local  one. 

Highway  legislation  marked  time 
during  the  week  ended  July  9.  Sen- 
ator Townsend  found  it  impossible  to  be 
in  Washington  during  the  week.  Both 
the  highway  bills  are  at  present  under 
his  immediate  jurisdiction.  The  Dow- 
ell bill,  which  recently  passed  the  House 
as  a  rider  on  the  Phipps  bill,  was  re- 
ferred to  Senator  Townsend's  commit- 
tee. The  Townsend  bill  itself  is  on  the 
Senate  calendar.  Senator  Townsend  is 
in  a  position  to  call  the  bill  up  at  nearly 
any  time  that  he  desires. 


City  Still  Opposing  Indianapolis 
Street  Railway 

At  a  conference  of  officials  of  the 
city  and  Indianapolis  Street  Railway 
recently,  the  traction  men  refused  to 
enter  negotiations  for  a  contract  which 
would  give  the  city  all  regulatory 
rights  over  the  company  excepting  that 
i  elating  to  rates. 

Mayor  Jewett  said  that  Dr.  Henry 
Jameson,  chairman  of  the  board  of  the 
utility,  promised  him  that  if  the  city 
would  not  use  its  influence  against? 
the  bill  to  permit  public  utilities  to 
surrender  their  franchises  all  the  com- 
pany would  desire  to  do  would  be  to 
get  relief  from  the  fare  provisions  of 
its  contract  with  the  city  and  would 
submit  to  city  regulation  in  all  other 
matters. 

Dr.  Jameson  denied  having  made 
such  a  promise.  He  insisted  that  he 
was  standing  by  his  word. 

Upon  refusal  of  the  company  to 
enter  into  negotiations  for  the  contract 
Corporation  Counsel  Samuel  Ashby 
announced  that  the  city  will  seek  to 
have  its  common  council  pass  an  ordi- 
nance or  ordinances  granting  it  such 
regulatory  powers  as  it  desires,  under 
authority  of  section  10  of  the  public 
service  commission  law  which  provides 
for  such  procedure  in  the  case  of  a 
utility  operating  under  an  indeter- 
minate permit. 

It  seems  certain  that  the  city  will 
insist  upon  its  right  to  collect  $30,000 
a  year  for  the  next  five  years  and 
$50,000  for  the  seven  years  thereafter 
as  a  franchise  tax  payment  to  the 
board  of  park  commissioners,  as  was 
guaranteed  under  the  surrendered 
franchise.  It  also  appeared  probable 
that  the  city  will  insist  that  the  com- 
pany continue  to  pay  both  for  original 
cost  and  maintenance  of  pavement 
between  its  tracks. 

The  traction  men  insisted  that  for 
the  city  to  continue  to  require  these 
things  would  constitute  burdens  which 
would  either  break  the  company's  back 
or  necessitate  appeal  to  the  Public 
Service  Commission  for  higher  fares. 
They  were  pessimistic  about  the  relief 
to  be  obtained  from  a  rate  greater  than 
5  cents,  because  the  recent  6-cent 
charge  brought  in  less  revenue  than 
did  the  nickel  when  coupled  with  a 
charge  for  transfers. 


Arbitrators  Reduce  Wages  in 
Des  Moines 

Wages  of  the  employees  of  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway  have  been  reduced 
from  a  maximum  of  70  cents  an  hour, 
the  old  scale,  to  a  maximum  of  59  cents 
by  the  findings  of  the  board  of  arbiters 
chosen  by  the  company  and  the  men. 
The  employees  had  sought  an  increase 
to  a  maximum  of  80  cents,  while  the 
company  asked  a  reduction  to  57  cents. 
The  high  rate  goes  to  men  of  more  than 
nine  months'  service.  Those  serving 
their  first  three  months  will  receive  53 
cents  and  the  men  over  three  months 
and  less  than  nine  months  56  cents. 
The  agreement  fixed  by  the  arbitrators 
became  effective  on  July  1. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


109 


Jersey  Value  $82,000,000— 
Increased  Charge  for 
Transfers 

The  Board  of  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sioners of  New  Jersey  at  noon  on  July 
14  filed  its  decision  in  the  investigation 
of  the  rates  of  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way. The  board  continued  the  7-cent 
fare,  but  increased  the  charge  for 
transfers  from  1  to  2  cents.  It  finds  a 
valuation  of  $82,000;000  for  the  prop- 
erty, and  estimates  the  income  to  be 
produced  by  the  additional  transfer 
charge,  together  with  the  company's 
other  revenue,  will  afford  a  return  of 
slightly  more  than  7  per  cent  on  the 
value  found. 

The  board's  decision  is  voluminous, 
comprising  more  than  seventy  type- 
written pages.  It  discusses  in  detail 
the  different  estimates  of  value  sub- 
mitted to  the  board,  the  capitalization 
of  the  company,  its  revenues  and  operat- 
ing expenses.  The  board  states  that 
it  had  before  it  data  regarding  the 
value  of  the  company  as  included  in  the 
Cooley  appraisal,  which  was  made  by 
the  company;  the  appraisal  made  by 
Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  under  contract 
with  the  State  Appraisal  Commission; 
testimony  of  the  board's  own  experts 
and  that  of  the  experts  for  the  munic- 
ipalities and  historical  costs  of  the 
property  as  developed  by  witnesses 
of  the  municipalities. 

The  principles  of  the  valuation  as  de- 
clared by  the  New  Jersey  courts  are  re- 
ferred to  and  applied  by  the  board.  In 
addition  to  the  decision  of  the  New 
Jersey  courts  numerous  decisions  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  and 
courts  and  commissions  of  other  States 
are  cited  and  the  principles  therein  set 
forth  are  discussed. 

The  board  found  itself  unable  in  view 
of  the  testimony  presented  to  accept 
the  valuation  figures  as  presented  by 
Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis  to  the  special 
state  valuation  board. 

The  valuation  as  found  by  Ford, 
Bacon  &  Davis  for  the  State  was  $125,- 
000,000.  The  valuation  as  found  by 
Dean  Cooley  for  the  company  was  $200,- 
000,000.  The  value  claimed  by  the 
municipalities  was  $60,000,000.  Other 
phases  of  the  rate  case  are  referred  to 
elsewhere  in  this  issue. 


Interurban  Will  Electrify  Track 
to  Union  Station 

The  Denver  &  Interurban  Railroad 
will  take  steps  immediately  to  electrify 
the  Burlington  Railway  right-of-way 
from  Utah  Junction  to  Union  Station 
in  Denver,  according  to  announcement 
made  in  Denver  on  July  9.  The  work 
will  occupy  about  six  months'  time,  the 
cars  being  routed  over  the  present  line 
via  Globeville  and  over  the  Denver 
Tramway  tracks  until  the  project  is 
completed. 

Provision  for  electrification  of  the 
railway  line  into  Denver  and  shortening 
of  the  route  was  contained  in  a  rate 
increase  which  was  given  the  company 
last  fall  by  the  state  Public  Utilities 
Commission.  The  estimated  cut  in  the 
running  time  under  the  new  system  is 


20  minutes  with  the  elimination  of  all 
the  attendant  congestion  of  traffic  in 
Denver  streets  over  which  the  cars  run. 

Under  the  new  plan,  the  electric  cars 
will  not  run  into  the  Union  station 
proper  but  will  have  their  terminus  on 
the  Colorado  and  Southern  coach 
tracks  to  the  north  of  the  main  lines. 
With  the  new  system  in  effect  no  addi- 
tional charge,  it  is  understood,  will  be 
made  for  city  fares  in  Denver  which  are 
now  collected  by  the  tramway  company 
there  as  franchise  rights.  This  will, 
under  prevailing  street  car  rates  in 
Denver,  lower  the  round  trip  fare  16 
cents. 


City  to  Make  Offer  for  Woodward 
and  Fort  Lines 

At  a  conference  of  the  members  of 
the  Street  Railway  Commission  with 
three  representatives  of  the  Detroit 
(Mich.)  United  Railway  on  July  8  it 
was  announced  that  the  city  would  soon 
tender  an  offer  to  the  company  for  the 
lines  on  Fort  Street  and  on  Woodward 
Avenue,  where  the  franchises  have  ex- 
pired. It  is  frcm  these  streets  that  the 
courts  have  held  that  the  city  has  the 
right  to  order  the  company  to  remove 
its  tracks. 

According  to  a  statement  by  Alex 
Dow,  speaking  for  the  company,  the 
company  will  give  its  answer  as  to 
whether  or  not  it  is  willing  to  accept 
the  figures  named  by  the  city  within 
forty-eight  hours  after  receiving  the 
commission's  offer.  No  decision  was 
reached  by  the  commission  at  the  re- 
cent meeting  as  to  what  figures  the  city 
will  name  for  the  two  lines. 

The  question  of  ratifying  the  pur- 
chase of  these  two  lines,  which  will  link 
up  the  new  municipal  system  with  the 
down-town  district,  will  be  decided  at 
the  November  election.  Final  decision 
will  be  left  to  the  voters  and  they  will 
be  asked  to  authorize  the  purchase  of 
the  lines  at  that  time. 

Some  time  ago  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  signified  its  willingness  to  sell 
the  two  lines  at  such  time  as  the  people 
desired  to  take  them  over.  Although 
no  announcement  was  made  by  com- 
pany officials  following  the  last  meeting, 
Allan  F.  Edwards,  vice-president  of  the 
railway,  stated  that  the  company's  at- 
titude had  not  changed.  Both  Mr.  Ed- 
wards and  Mr.  Dow  declined  to  make 
any  statement  at  the  present  time  ex- 
cept to  say  that  the  company  was  ready 
to  sell  these  lines  to  the  city. 


Denver  Plans  Wage  Readjustment 

Negotiations  will  be  entered  into  in 
the  near  future  between  a  committee  of 
employees'  representatives  and  E.  Sten- 
ger,  receiver  for  the  Denver  Tramway, 
looking  toward  a  general  wage  read- 
justment. In  the  meantime,  the  em- 
ployees' representatives  have  notified 
the  trainmen  that  Receiver  Stenger  will 
not  restore  the  top  wage  of  58  cents  an 
hour  which  was  in  effect  at  the  time 
of  the  August,  1920,  strike — a  rate 
approximately  90  per  cent  of  the  pres- 
ent trainmen  would  have  automatically 
received  next  month  or  soon  thereafter. 


Fares  May  Go  Up  in  Cincinnati 

There  will  be  no  reduction  in  fares 
on  the  lines  of  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio) 
Traction  Company  on  Aug.  1.  This 
is  a  direct  result  of  activity  of  the 
citizens'  committee,  of  which  William 
J.  Schultz  is  chairman.  Instead  there 
is  a  likelihood  of  fares  going  up  on  the 
strength  of  petitions  filed  by  the  com- 
mittee with  the  city  auditor.  The  peti- 
tions ask  for  a  referendum  on  the 
ordinance  recently  passed  by  the  City 
Council  providing  for  the  lowering  of 
fares. 

The  filing  of  the  petitions  has  the 
effect  of  suspending  the  operation  of 
the  new  ordinance.  It  means,  there- 
fore, that  the  1918  franchise  ordinance 
still  is  in  force  and  under  its  terms 
when  the  traction  company  suffers  a 
deficit  for  two  months  in  succession  it 
may  give  notice  of  an  increase  in  fares 
on  the  fifteenth  of  the  following  month, 
to  take  effect  on  the  first  day  of  the 
month  thereafter. 

The  committee  submitted  178  peti- 
tions which  contain  a  total  of  16,644 
names.  Less  than  10,000  signatures 
were  required.  The  petition  seeks  to 
submit  the  ordinance  to  the  voters  at 
the  November  election,  thus  holding  up 
the  issue  until  after  that  time.  Mr. 
Schultz  declared  that  if  the  ordinance 
is  voted  down  by  the  citizens  he  will 
introduce  an  ordinance  by  initiative 
petition  providing  for  a  reduction  of 
fares  at  the  rate  of  one-half  cent  each 
month  until  a  level  of  5  cents  is 
reached. 

City  officials  pointed  out  that  under 
the  law  the  formal  acceptance  by  a 
public  utility  of  any  franchise  ordi- 
nance or  an  amendment  is  necessarv 
before  the  ordinance  can  become  ef- 
fective. Such  an  ordinance  will  take 
care  of  the  deficits,  it  was  pointed  out, 
and  the  traction  company  is  not  likely 
to  accept  it  because  of  these  conditions. 
Mr.  Schultz's  idea  is  to  abolish  the 
annual  franchise  tax  of  $350,000  paid 
to  the  city  by  the  traction  comtnny. 

Mayor  John  Galvin.  when  informed 
that  the  Detitions  had  been  filed,  said  it 
is  too  bad  that  a  condition  of  this  kind 
should  arise. 


Duluth  Absconder  Captured 

Berger  T.  Jager,  former  confidential 
secretary  to  Vice-President  A.  M. 
Robertson  of  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company,  is  in  the  Hennepin  County 
jail  under  indictment  for  grand  larceny. 
After  confessing  to  a  Cincinnati  clergy- 
man he  wrote  to  Mr.  Robertson  offering 
to  eive  himself  up,  and  arrived  July  9 
in  Minneapolis  in  charge  of  a  Pinkerton 
man.  On  Jan.  29  it  was  discovered  Jager 
had  converted  to  his  own  use  a  Duluth- 
Superior  Traction  Company  check  for 
$4,825.  On  Jan  31  it  was  discovered  he 
had  taken  from  a  safety  deposit  vault 
$127,000  in  securities  belonging  to  the 
Duluth  company.  Of  these  securities 
$116,000  were  recovered  on  July  2. 
Jager  had  been  employed  fifteen  years 
by  the  company  before  his  resignation 
and  disappearance. 


110 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  3 


Milwaukee  Sells  Stock 

§3,000.000  of  New  Issue  be:ng  Placed 
Locally  in  Campaign  with  Several 
Novel  Features 

A  novel  advertising  scheme  has  just 
been  made  use  of  by  the  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  in  selling  its  securi- 
ties direct  to  the  public.  The  company 
is  one  of  the  pioneers  in  direct  sales 


The  methods  employed  by  the  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany and  its  affiliated  companies  in 
Wisconsin  in  selling  their  securities  to 
the  public  were  described  in  some  detail 
in  the  paper,  "Home-Town  Financing," 
read  by  S.  B.  Way,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  company,  be- 
for  the  1921  mid-year  meeting  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association. 
This  paper  was  printed  in  the  Electric 


past  twenty -one  years,  according  to 
these  advertisements,  the  company  paid 
a  total  of  $5,661,879  to  holders  of  the 
$4,500,000  of  6  per  cent  preferred  stock 
in  regular  quarterly  cash  dividends. 
The  holders  of  the  common  stock  have 
received  during  the  past  nineteen  years 
a  total  of  $12,315  550,  or  at  an  average 
yearly  rate  of  6i  per  cent. 


Banner  Displayed  on  Milwaukee  Cars 


of  securities.  As  reported  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  of  June  11, 
1921,  page  1100,  it  recently  increased 
its  capital  stock.  It  was  decided  to 
offer  for  sale  in  1921  a  part  of  the  new 
issue  of  preferred  stock,  largely  for 
the  purpose  of  transforming  floating 
debt  incurred  during  recent  years  for 
additions  to  plant  and  property  to  a 
permanent  investment  basis.  In  order 
to  attract  attention  to  the  sale  which 
was  to  begin  on  June  30,  1921,  all  the 
700  city  and  interurban  cars  of  the  com- 
pany appeared  on  the  morning  of  June 
30  carrying  large  banners  on  their  sides 
calling  attention  to  the  sale  of  securi- 
ties. As  is  shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing illustration,  the  banners  read: 
"T.  M.  E.  R.  &  L.  Co.  8  Per  Cent  Cumu- 
lative Preferred  Stock.  On  sale  today. 
Public  Service  Building." 

Banners  Produce  Sensation 

The  banners  produced  something  akin 
to  a  sensation  since  they  resembled  ban- 
ners announcing  picnics.  This  caused 
everybody  to  endeavor  to  get  a  good 
look  at  them.  The  banners  were  sup- 
plemented on  June  30  by  half-page  ad- 
vertisements in  the  principal  Milwaukee 
daily  newspapers,  giving  further  de- 
tails of  the  stock  issue  and  of  the  sale 
in  general.  The  advertising  campaign 
is  being  continued,  a  quarter-page  ad- 
vertisement being  used  in  the  large 
dailies  since  July  1.  Advertising  will 
also  be  carried  in  the  various  Wiscon- 
sin dailies  and  weeklies.  In  addition, 
the  company  has  asked  the  co-operation 
of  its  employees  to  help  sell  the  securi- 
ties. A  small  commission  will  be  paid 
for  each  share  of  stock  sold  by  them. 


Railway  Journal  of  Feb.  12,  1921, 
page  304. 

The  stock  being  sold  is  a  $3,000  000 
issue  of  8  per  cent  cumulative  non -vot- 
ing preferred.  It  is  being  sold  at  par 
($100).  The  issue  has  been  approved 
by  the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission. 
The  advertisements  announcing  the  sale 
of  this  stock  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  increase  in  preferred  stock  is 
the  first  in  twenty  years.    During  the 


Adequate  Junior  Financing 

Practical    Application   of   Doctrine  of 
Bankers'  Association  to  Be  Made 
by  Holding  Company 

A  committee  of  the  stockholders  of 
the  North  American  Company,  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  has  recommended  to  the 
stockholders  a  plan  and  agreement  for 
the  reclassification  and  readjustment  of 
the  capital  stock  of  the  company.  The 
subsidiaries  serve  rapidly  growing  dis- 
tricts constantly  demanding  increased 
facilities  with  the  attendant  large  re- 
quirements for  new  capital.  It  is  ex- 
plained that  continued  employment  by 
subsidiaries  of  bonds  and  notes  as  the 
sole  means  of  financing  the  cost  of  such 
added  facilities  tends  in  time  to  produce 
a  financial  set-up  top-heavy  in  debt  and 
to  impair  the  credit  of  the  parent  com- 
pany and  its  subsidiaries. 

In  other  words,  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  properties  has  required  a  larger 
amount  of  capital  than  the  subsidiaries 
could  provide  and  it  has  been  necessary 
to  make  up  the  balance  from  surplus 
earnings,  with  the  result  that  the  quoted 
market  discount  on  the  stock  of  the 
holding  company  as  now  organized  has 
made  it  impossible  to  meet  these  capi- 
tal requirements  from  the  sale  of  ad- 
ditional amounts  of  such  stock.  It  thus 
becomes  imperative  that  a  readjust- 
ment of  capitalization  be  effected  which 
will  make  it  practicable  to  raise  new 
capital   and   permit  distribution   of  a 


FIRST  TIME  IN  20  YEARS 

T.  M.  E.  R  &  L.  Co.  Increases  Capital  Stock  $3,000,000 
and  Gives  Wisconsin  Investors  an  Opportunity 
to  Buy  S%  Cumulative  Preferred 
Shares  ai  $100  a  Share. 


For  tiic  first  time  in  over  twenty  years.  The  Milwaukee  tlcc- 

rrie  Railway  k  Lipbl  Company.  WifronMffl">  hrsi  -I  and  itronscst  public  Utility,  is  b- 
creasinr  its  preferred  ,-tn.k  and.  cinrij  Wiscnns.ru  investors  a  ilran.  p  in  nrnuirt;  share 
ownership  in  tbr  bii'ines*.  Tbr  Company'*  pr'.ntli  .lunn-  it>  pa*t  twenty  years  has 
t.f-fti  financed  kt  f  'llmc  hond  and  n 


20-Year  Dividend  Record 


ft,  total  of  55.661.879  ha:  b< 
regular  quarterly  ca£h  d 
A  total  of  S12.315.550  18.  a 


s  of  54,500,000  of  6  preferred  stock,  in 
l  break,  during  the  past  twenty -one  years. 
I  rate  of  d'/'i"- ■.  has  been  paid,  the  holders*! 


Will 


■-,  f..r 


-tof  it 


and  c 


U,  if  i 


Growth  of  the  Business 


Starting  Thursday,  June  30,  T  M  E.  R  &  L.  Co.  will  place  on  sale  in  its 
Securities  Department,  and  through  the  offices  of  WisconE'n  Gas  &  Electric 
Company,  an  issue  of  S3.000.000  of  8%  cumulative  preferred  slock,  ap- 
proved by  ibe  Railroad  Commission  of  Wisconsin. 

TV  prW  of  llie  ■SATCl  i.  p:ir.  $100       "i  alt  r»r*X"'«        rrrdit  to  apr'r      th*  final 


simple  form  and  from 


Property  Value  Exceeds  Capitalization 


I »,«.  -JO-l  M)2 

I7fi.947.39S 
160.361.803 


S  8^13,22315 
10.200.579  82 
12,010.271.17 
14.883,446  05 


Today  T  M  E  B.  te~L-  CoJsJo.  better 


_  3.B76.TK 


Where  You  Can  Buy  the  Shares 

,-imrni— will  brin;  a  aalriaaa  at  any  Jwur  you  Mail  orders  should  be  addressed  to. 


The  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company 


Effective  Advertisement  Used  in  Milwaukee  Campaign 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


111 


larger  proportion  of  these  earnings  to 
stockholders. 

The  present  authorized  capital  of  the 
company  is  ?30,000,000,  all  common,  of 
which  $29,793,300  is  outstanding.  It  is 
proposed  to  provide  an  authorized  capi- 
tal of  $60,000,000  to  consist  of  $30,000,- 
000  of  6  per  cent  cumulative  preferred 
stock  to  be  redeemable  at  105  per  cent 
of  par  and  $30,000,000  of  common  stock. 
Under  this  plan  there  will  be  issued  to 
each  stockholder  for  each  $100  share 
held  at  present  $50  par  value  of  6  per 
cent  cumulative  preferred  stock  and 
$50  par  value  of  common  stock. 

This  will  require  the  issuance  of  ths 
same  amount  of  stock  as  is  now 
outstanding,  so  that  upon  completion 
of  the  plan  recommended,  the  relative 
position  of  each  stockholder  will  be 
maintained,  unaltered  as  far  as  his  pro- 
portionate interest  in  the  assets  of 
the  company  are  concerned.  On  the 
other  hand,  however,  the  new  plan  has 
the  advantage  that  the  preferred  stock 
with  its  fixed  dividends  of  6  per  cent 
and  the  small  proportion  of  the  total 
earnings  required  therefor  should  rank 
as    a    high-grade    investment  stock. 

Since  the  return  on  one-half  the  capi- 
talization will  be  limited  to  6  per  cent, 
all  remaining  earnings  will  be  applic- 
able to  the  common  stock.  The  larger 
sum  thus  left  available  for  this  issue, 
it  is  hoped,  will  warrant  this  stock 
enjoying  a  market  from  time  to  time  at 
par  or  above.  In  this  way  it  is  expected 
provision  can  be  made  for  financing 
the  capital  requirements  of  the  sub- 
sidiaries, thus  permitting  the  release 
for  dividends  of  a  larger  percentage 
of  the  subsidiaries'  earnings. 

The  matter  of  a  readjustment  of  the 
capitalization  of  the  company  was  first 
considered  in  1917.  Prior  to  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  stockholders  in  1920 
a  plan  was  submitted  and  received  the 
approval  of  a  majority  of  the  stock- 
holders. It  was  later  withdrawn,  how- 
ever, for  further  consideration.  The 
directors  believe  that  the  plan  now  of- 
fered obviates  the  only  objection  which 
was  offered  to  the  plan  of  1920. 


Future  Encouraging 

Increased  Traffic  on  London  Railways 
Fails  to  Offset  Increase  in 
Operating  Expenses 

In  the  1920  comparative  statement  of 
the  operations  of  the  five  companies, 
which  became  parties  to  the  agreement 
made  under  the  London  Electric  Rail- 
way Facilities  Act  of  1915,  there  is 
shown  an  increase  in  traffic  receipts  of 
£1,924,388,  or  20  per  cent  over  1919.  At 
the  same  time  the  operating  expenses 
increased  £2,199,249,  or  26.9  per  cent 
over  the  preceding  year. 

Allowing  for  an  increase  in  the 
miscellaneous  receipts  of  more  than 
£130,000,  the  net  income  for  1920  was 
£141,895  less  than  in  1919.  The  state- 
ment of  the  London  General  Omnibus 
Company  is  more  encouraging  than  in 


1919,  the  net  income  being  a  deficit  of 
only  £1,942  or  a  gain  of  £137,062.  The 
reason,  therefore,  for  the  total  decrease 
in  net  income  over  1919  was  due  to  the 
large  decreases  of  the  London  Electric 
Railway  of  £167,607,  the  City  &  South 
London  Company  £41,275,  and  the  Cen- 
tral London  Railway  £84,668. 

Some  idea  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
service  rendered  by  the  London  under- 


ground Electric  Railways  may  be  ob- 
tained by  the  fact  that  98,309,320  more 
passengers  were  carried  than  in  1919, 
an  increase  of  5.7  per  cent.  During  the 
same  period  the  total  car  miles  in- 
creased 17,751,663,  or  11.9  per  cent. 

During  the  year  the  London  General 
Omnibus  Company  placed  an  order  for 
500  "K"  type  motor  omnibuses,  making 
together  with  those  ordered  the  pre- 
vious year  1,000  in  all,  of  which  547 
had  been  put  into  service  up  to  Dec. 
31,  1920.  Another  order  has  been  placed 
for  an  improved  bus  known  as  the  "S" 
type.  The  company  will  then  have 
omnibuses  of  the  "B"  type  seating 
thirty-four  passengers,  the  "K"  type 
seating  forty-six  passengers,  and  the 
"S"  type  seating  fifty-four  passengers. 

A  bill  which  was  promoted  by  the 
four  railway  companies  for  an  increase 


in  rates  received  the  Royal  assent  on 
August  16,  1920.  The  new  fare  was  put 
into  operation  on  Sept.  26,  by  which 
ordinary  fares  were  increased  about  30 
per  cent,  and  workmen's  fares  and  sea- 
son tickets  were  also  increased.  On  the 
same  date  a  new  schedule  of  rates  was 
introduced  by  the  London  General 
Omnibus  Company.  The  results  of  the 
increase  thus  far  are  up  to  expectations. 


STATISTICAL  INFORMATION  OF  ROADS  IN  LONDON  FOR  YEAR  1920 


Mileage — first  track. . 

second  track 

Total  single  track  

Train-miles — active. . . 

idle  


Metropolitan 
District 
Railway 
27.825 
26.887 
70.800 
5.109.101 
142.620 


London 
Electric 
Railway 
24.137 
23.775 
57.613 
6,717.301 
1 19.053 


City  a  nd 
South 
London 
Railway 
7.325 
7.325 
15.680 


London 

Central  General 

London  Omnibus 

Railway  Company 

6.825   

6.764   

21.375  (  )  577 


Total 


Total  train-miles  operated.  .  .  5,251,721  6,836,354 

Total  car-miles  operated   19,562,491  27,862,463 

Revenue  passengers  carried: 

Ordinary  (cash)   in)  95,320, 1 79  112,703,726  26,443,739  39,328,973  767.953,649 

Workmen   (a)  24,338,296    32,946,156  12.011,225  4.536,672   

Season   (.1)28,040.865    18.940.220    2,683,928  6,454,240   

Total  passengers   («)  147,699.340  164,590,102  41,138,892  50,319,885  767,953.649 


Gross  passenger  revenue  

Average  fare  per  passenger 
(pence)  

Statistics  per  car-mile:  s 

Traffic  receipts   1 

Operating  expenses   1 

Net  income   0 

Passenger  traffic  

(o)  Estimated.       (  )  Deficit. 

tramway  tracks. 


£1,533,000 

2.49 
d. 
9.67 
6.53 
10  30 
7  55 


7,391,809    8,069,045    85,843,092  148,728,900 


1.041,750,266 
73,832,349 
56,119,253 

1,171,701.868 
£10,661,614 


£1,716,476     £353.104     £525,083  £6,533,951 


2.49 
d. 
2.78 
11  .94 
1 .53 
5  91 


2  06 

d. 
1 1  .47 
10  45 
0.45 
5  57 


2.46 
d. 
3  63 
2.43 
1 .  76 
6  23 


2  04 

d. 
6.27 
6  64 
0.005 
8  94 


2  18 

d. 
6  72 
4.74 
1  76 
7.88 


(r)  Miles  of  street  on  which  buses  operate,  of  which  222  miles 


INCOME  STATEMENT  OF  ROADS  IN  LONDON  FOR  YEAR  1920 

City  and 

Metropolitan  London  Sou  h 

District  Electric  London 

Railway  Railway  Railway 

Traffic  receipts                                                                                (a)  £2,472,614        £1,716,476  £353,104 

Operating  expenses                                                                                 1,509,272  1,387,294  321,911 

Net  receipts  :                                                 £963,342  £329.182  £31,193 

Miscellaneous  receipts  (net)                                                                            205.508  134,936  32,309 

Grossincome                                                                                    £1,168,850  £464,118  £63,502 

Interest,  rentals  and  other  fixed  charges                                                          327,371  286,266  49,619 

Net  income                                                                                         £841,479  £177,852  £13,883 

Reserve  for  contingencies  and  renewals                                                             45,000  45,000  25,000 

Dividend  on  guaranteed  and  preference  stocks                                         (  )  124.930  126,947  42,500 

Total  deductions                                                                                 £169,930  £171,947  £67,500 

Surplus  paid  into  or  drawn  from  common  fund                                              £671,549  £5.905  (c)  £53,617 

Amount  received  from  common  fund                                                            42,539  106,348  2L270 

Per  cent  of  total                                                                                         '  |2  30  6 

Add  balance  from  last  year's  accounts                                                          22,098  20,942  19,750 

Total  amount  available  for  dividends  and  further  reserves                            £64  637  £127  290  £41020 

Dividends                                                                                                 44,'l00  104,940  22^200 

Balance  carried  to  next  year's  account                                                        £20,537  £22,350  £18,820 

(a)  Including  $705,347  from  Government  compensation  after  providing  for  adjustments. 
(  )  Exclusive  of  dividend  on  second  preference  ,-tock. 
(r)  Deficit  met  out  of  common  fund. 

*  Deficit. 


Central 
London 

Railway 
£525,083 
485,132 

£39,951 
73,317 

£1 13,268 
54,071 

£59,197 
20,000 
21,600 

£41,600 

£17,597 
70,898 
20 
1  1,762 

£82,660 
67,500 

£15,160 


London 
General 
Omnibus 
Company 
£6,533,951 
6,675,238 

*  £141.287 
247,928 

£106,641 
108.583 

£1,942 
285.000 


£285,000 

(c)  £286,942 
I  13,437 
32 
59,726 

£173,163 
1 14,320 

£58,843 


Total 
£1 1,601,228 
10,378,847 

£1.222.381 
693,998 

£1,916,379 
825,910 

£1,090,469 
420,000 
315,977 

£735,977 

£354,492 
354,492 
100 
134,278 

£488,770 
353,060 

£135,710 


112 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


Hartford  &  Springfield  Road 
Doing  Better 

The  committee  representing  the  hold- 
ers of  bonds  of  the  Hartford  &  Spring- 
field  Street  Railway,  Hartford,  Conn., 
has  expressed  great  satisfaction  over 
the  much-improved  physical  condition 
of  the  property  and  its  present  financial 
status,  and  has  urged  the  continuation 
of  the  receivership.  The  members 
further  suggested  that  bondholders  re- 
frain from  sending  in  for  payment  the 
$600,000  of  first  mortgage  5s  due  on 
July  1. 

The  bondholders  received  a  statement 
of  operation  from  Receiver  Harrison 
B.  Freeman  under  date  of  June  10,  1921. 
In  this  report  Mr.  Freeman  expressed 
the  belief  that  the  railway  "can  be 
made  to  earn  its  operating  expenses, 
taxes  and  something  to  apply  on  bond 
interest  as  soon  as  the  industrial 
depression  has  passed  and  there  has 
been  a  readjustment  so  that  operating 
expenses  can  be  reduced." 

The  Hartford  &  Springfield  Division 
went  into  receiver's  hands  in  October, 
1918.  At  that  time  it  owed  more  than 
$50,000  in  open  accounts  and  had  failed 


the  company's  property  was  valued  by 
the  commission  in  1913  at  $500,000  and 
again  in  1916  at  $575,000.  Both  sides 
agreed  that  the  1916  valuation  would 
hold  for  the  proceedings  in  the  present 
case.  The  6  per  cent  net  return  on  this 
valuation,  which  the  commission  au- 
thorized, would  mount  to  $34,000  a  year. 
A  deficit  amounting  to  from  $11,000  to 
$50,000  a  year  has  accumulated  since 
1913.  Last  December  the  commission 
rejected  the  application  to  raise  the 
fare  from  7  to  8  cents  and  advised  the 
company  that  an  increased  rate  would 
be  unlikely  to  solve  its  financial  prob- 
lems. 


Toledo  Going  Behind  Steadily 

•With  the  stabilizing  fund  of  the  Com- 
munity Traction  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio, 
down  to  $183,333  after  five  months  of 
operation  it  has  been  necessary  to  raise 
fares  to  7  cents  with  tickets  at  eight 
for  50  cents  or  possibly  six  for  40  cents. 

The  report  for  the  month  of  June 
made  by  Commissioner  Wilfred  E.  Cann 
indicates  a  deficit  of  $32,963  after  pro- 
viding for  operating  expenses  and  allow- 
ances for  various  funds.    This  is  a  de- 


Hartford  &  Springfield  Division 

Gross  Operating 
Receipts  Expense 

Oct.,  1918-1919   $245,675  $235,942 

Oct.,  1919-1920   255,140  265,131 

Seven  months  to  May,  1921     151,301  157,984 


Hartford  Division 

Gross  Operating 

Receipts  Expense 

July  1,  1920-May  I,  1921..    $152,450  $130,422 

Total  system  31  mo3                804,566  789,479 


to  pay  interest  on  its  bonds.  Money 
had  to  be  borrowed  to  keep  the  road 
going,  but  the  company,  despite  the 
severe  conditions  imposed  by  the  in- 
fluenza epidemic  and  the  coal  shortage, 
weathered  the  gale  so  that  now  all 
notes  have  been  paid  and  all  bills 
up  to  June  1  have  been  met.  Con- 
siderable money  has  been  spent  in 
replacement  and  more  than  $20,000  has 
been  expended  within  the  last  two 
years  in  rolling  stock.  These  various 
expenditures,  together  with  a  50  per 
cent  wage  advance,  have  eaten  pretty 
well  into  the  company's  finances,  even 
though  a  flat  10-cent  rate  for  each  zone 
went  into  effect  on  April  1,  1920,  in- 
stead of  the  7-cent  fare.  The  advance 
in  rates  helped  materially  at  first  to 
swell  the  gross  receipts,  but  this  favor- 
able development  was  only  temporary 
due  to  the  present  industrial  depression. 
State  taxes  and  assessments  for  high- 
way improvements  to  the  amount  of 
$29,653  accrued  from  Oct.  1,  1918,  to 
Jan.  1,  1921. 

The  accompanying  statement  shows 
the  operating  results  of  the  receiver- 
ship from  Oct.  1,  1918,  to  May  1,  1921. 


Deficit  of  $150,000  Accumulated 
Since  1913 

The  New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania 
Traction  Company,  Trenton,  N.  J.,  an- 
nounces a  deficit  of  more  than  $150,000 
in  operating  its  line  from  Trenton  to 
Princeton  since  1913,  according  to  fig- 
ures submitted  by  the  company  in  the 
hearing  of  the  application  for  a  10-cent 
fare  before  the  Board  of  Public  Utility 
Commissioners.     It   was    shown  that 


crease  of  $1,406  from  the  previous 
month.  The  total  accrued  deficits  so 
far  amount  to  $313,634. 

This  sum  will  have  to  be  made  up 
by  fare  increases  and  savings  in  opera- 
tions. The  fare  raise  will  not  take 
effect  before  Aug.  1  because  of  a  special 
provision  in  the  ordinance  which  allows 
six  months  operation  without  a  fare 
change. 

A  decrease  in  gross  revenue  from  all 
sources  of  $13,663  is  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  riding  has  fallen  off  about 
18  per  cent  and  that  June  had  one  day 
less  of  operation  than  the  previous 
month. 

Operating  Ratio  85.47  Per  Cent 

There  was  a  greatly  increased  ex- 
penditure on  ways  and  structures  dur- 
ing the  month  of  June.  A  total  of 
$49,811  was  paid  out  for  that  work 
ciuring  the  month.  The  ratio  of  operat- 
ing expense  to  income  fell  to  85.47 
per  cent  during  the  month,  a  decline  of 
2.01  per  cent. 

The  commissioners  are  not  pessimistic 
over  the  status  of  the  operation  of  the 
lines.  They  believe  that  the  restriction 
of  buses  which  will  soon  be  effective 
will  divert  about  $16,000  revenue  to  the 
railway  and  that  the  decrease  in  power 
rate  will  net  a  saving  of  between  $10,- 
000  and  $20,000  a  month. 

The  bus  ordinance  is  now  in  litiga- 
tion. The  Common  Pleas  Court  was 
upheld  during  the  week  ended  July  9 
by  the  Court  of  Appeals  and  further 
action  was  expected  on  July  13  to  bring 
the  matter  before  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  for  the  final  effort  to  set  the 
measure  aside. 


Wants  to  Issue  Bonds. — The  Chicago, 
North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad, 
Highwood,  111.,  has  petitioned  the  State 
Public  Utilities  Commission  for  per- 
mission to  issue  $500,000  of  7  per  cent 
secured  sinking  fund  gold  bonds  and 
$98,400  of  first  mortgage  bonds. 

$525,000  Sought  to  Be  Recovered. — 

Two  suits  seeking  a  total  of  $525,000 
from  the  Ohio  Traction  Company  and 
the  Cincinnati  Street  Railway  for  fran- 
chise tax  hav^  been  filed  in  the  Hamil- 
ton County  Common  Pleas  Court  by 
Attorney  Robert  S.  Alcorn  as  a  tax- 
payer. 

Haytian-American  Corporation  in 
Difficulties. — A  petition  in  bankruptcy 
has  been  filed  against  the  Haytian- 
American  Corporation.  The  corpora- 
tion has  concessions  from  the  Haytian 
government  for  the  operation  of  rail- 
way and  electric  lines,  electric  light 
and  power  companies  and  a  large  sugar 
plantation  in  Hayti.  James  N.  Rosen- 
berg was  appointed  receiver  in  equity 
for  the  corporation  last  April. 

Overtures  Made  to  Continue  Line. — 

The  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  has 
been  asked  by  citizens  to  abandon  its 
plan  of  removing  service  on  the  Sol- 
diers' Home  and  West  Monroe  Street 
lines  in  Sandusky.  The  service  will  be 
continued  according  to  company  offi- 
cials provided  a  10-cent  fare  is  per- 
mitted to  be  charged  on  the  Soldiers' 
Home  line  and  a  7-cent  fare  on  the 
West  Monroe  Street  line.  The  present 
fare  on  other  lines  is  6  cents  with  five- 
for-a-quarter  tickets. 

$1,000,000  of  Transit  Bonds  Sold.— 

The  city  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  has  sold 
to  a  syndicate  composed  of  Halsey, 
Stuart  &  Company,  the  Guarantee 
Trust  Company,  the  Bankers  Trust 
Company,  Stacy  &  Braun,  the  Fifth- 
Third  National  Bank  and  Ames,  Em- 
erich  &  Company,  $1,000,000  of  Cin- 
cinnati Rapid  Transit  Railway  Con- 
struction 53  per  cent  bonds.  They  are 
a  direct  obligation  of  the  city,  mature 
Jan.  2,  1967  (optional  1942),  and  are 
being  offered  at  103.50  and  interest, 
yielding  51  per  cent. 

"Let  Your  Service  Pay  You  Divi- 
dends."— The  Public  Service  Corpora- 
tion of  New  Jersey,  Newark,  N.  J., 
reported  on  July  5  that  its  "Customer 
Ownership"  campaign  or  its  offering  of 
8  per  cent  cumulative  preferred  stock 
had  aggregated  subscriptions  in  the 
first  four  weeks  of  more  than  $1,000,- 
000.  The  campaign  was  started  on 
May  23.  In  the  first  four  days  612 
new  partners  were  secured,  and  in  the 
first  four  weeks  this  number  was  in- 
creased to  more  than  4,000.  A  detailed 
account  of  this  offering  was  given  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
June  4. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


113 


Traffic  and  Transportation 


Jersey  Case  Carried  Up 

Public    Service    Commission  Appeals 
From  Court  Ruling  Holding  Pres- 
ent Fare  Inadequate 

The  Board  of  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sioners of  New  Jersey  has  appealed 
from  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  New  Jersey  in  the  10-cent  fare  peti- 
tion of  the  Public  Service  Railway.  It 
will  be  recalled  that  the  opinion  of  Jus- 
tice Bergen  in  this  case  declared  that 
the  course  followed  by  the  commission 
was  not  warranted  by  the  evidence.  The 
commission  now  replies  to  the  stric- 
tures by  the  Supreme  Court  upon  its 
action  in  the  10  cent  case. 

Order  Not  Warranted 

The  commission  says  that  the  order 
of  the  Supreme  Court  was  not  war- 
ranted by  law.  Furthermore,  the  com- 
mission holds  that  the  order  of  the 
court  was  in  effect  the  legalizing  of 
"all  the  bond  issues  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway  and  all  the  rentals  paid 
to  subsidiary  companies  under  lease," 
the  valuations  of  which  have  never  been 
determined  by  commission  or  court. 

The  third  point  made  by  the  commis- 
sion in  its  comment  upon  the  Supreme 
Court  decision  is  that  the  appeal  to 
the  Court  of  Errors  will  determine 
whether  the  fixing  of  a  just  and  reason- 
able rate  is  a  judicial  or  legislative 
function.  It  was  expected  that  the 
board  would  announce  by  July  14  what 
it  considered  a  just  and  reasonable 
permanent  fare  for  the  railway. 

The  commission  sought  immediate  ac- 
tion on  its  appeal,  but  Chancellor  Ed- 
win Robert  Walker  declined  to  convene 
the  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals  in 
special  session  to  stay  the  judgment 
of  the  Supreme  Court  directing  the 
commission  to  grant  a  higher  rate  of 
fare  than  7  cents  to  the  railway.  L. 
Edward  Herrmann  appeared  before  the 
chancellor  at  the  direction  of  the  Utility 
Board.  The  chancellor  stated  that  it 
would  not  be  possible  at  this  time,  upon 
such  short  notice,  to  secure  a  quorum 
of  the  sixteen  Errors  Court  members, 
as  many  of  the  judges  are  away. 

Valuation  Brief  Filed 

In  a  brief  filed  with  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission  on  July  11  in  the  Public 
Service  Railway  valuation  case,  George 
L.  Record,  representing  Jersey  City,  re- 
peats his  stand  for  the  continuance  of 
the  7-cent  fare  and  asks  that  the  Public 
Service  be  warned  that  if  it  wants 
greater  return  on  its  investment  it  must 
rely  upon  greater  efficiency  and  economy 
in  management.  Mr.  Record  contended: 

The  evidence  shows  that  the  Public 
Service  is  not  entitled  to  any  increase  of 
fare,  and  that  on  the  contrary  the  rapid 
fall  in  the  price  of  labor  and  material  will 
soon  put  the  company  where  a  reduction  in 
the  present  7-cent  rate  should  be  ordered. 

It  is  not  fair  that  this  company  should  be 
able  to  exact  from  the  people  who  ride  in 
the  cars  a  tribute  of   $1,500,000  annually 


to  pay  interest  upon  securities  that  repre- 
sent no  invested  value.  The  injustice  of 
taxing  forever  people  who  are  mostly  poor 
in  order  to  provide  an  unearned  income  to 
security  holders  who  are  mostly  rich,  is 
intolerable  and  in  the  long  run  can  not  in 
the  nature  of  things  continue. 

The  Cooley  appraisal  of  the  Public 
Service  property  is  called  "fanciful" 
and  "absurd"  by  Mr.  Record  and  the 
one  made  for  the  state  by  Ford,  Bason 
&  Davis  fails  also,  he  declares,  because 
it  is  built  up  upon  the  same  fanciful 
theory  and  because  the  value  found 
depends  entirely  upon  what  rate  the 
board  should  allow.  Mr.  Record  con- 
tends for  the  $60,000,000  value  offered 
by  the  municipalities. 


Six  Cents  Upheld 

State  Supreme  Court  Reverses  Lower 
Court  Decision  and  Dismisses 
Attorney's  Suit 

The  State  Supreme  Court  of  Louisi- 
ana in  a  recent  decision  ruled  that 
Shreveport  citizens  must  continue  to 
pay  a  6-cent  fare  until  Dec.  31,  1923. 
This  finding  by  Justice  Provosty  re- 
versed the  Caddo  District  Court  and 
dismissed  the  suit  of  Huey  P.  Long,  Jr., 
against  the  Shreveport  Traction  Com- 
pany, asking  that  the  6-cent  fare  ordi- 
nance be  declared  illegal. 

The  Shreveport  fare  controversy 
dates  back  to  May  18,  1920,  when  an 
election  was  held  and  a  majority  of 
votes  cast  favored  the  increase  in  fare 
from  5  to  6  cents. 

The  increase  was  contested  by  H.  P. 
Long,  an  attorney  at  Shreveport  and 
a  member  of  the  Louisiana  State  Rail- 
road Commission.  Having  failed  in  his 
efforts  to  defeat  the  proposition  on  the 
day  of  the  election,  Mr.  Long  filed  suit 
to  annul  the  election,  alleging  certain 
irregularities  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Mayor  and  Council  in  calling  the  vote. 
The  case  was  tried  in  February,  1921, 
and  the  District  Judge  sustained  the 
contention  that  the  irregularities  were 
sufficient  for  an  annulment.  Mr.  Long 
came  out  in  public  print  advising  peo- 
ple to  pay  only  5  cents.  The  railway 
advised  the  people  that  an  appeal  would 
be  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  and 
that  the  fare  would  be  6  cents  until 
such  time  as  the  Supreme  Court  should 
pass  upon  the  matter. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  the 
number  of  patrons  wno  insisted  on  pay- 
ing only  5  cents  grew  to  such  pro- 
portions that  the  railway  instructed  its 
conductors  to  eject  any  passenger  who 
failed  to  pay  the  full  fare.  As  a  result 
there  was  considerable  confusion  and 
the  company  compromised  the  matter 
by  agreeing  to  issue  coupons  for  1  cent 
in  case  the  higher  court  should  sustain 
the  lower  court. 

The  case  was  argued  before  the  Su- 
preme Court  on  April  11  and  decision 
was  rendered  on  June  30  in  favor  of  the 
railway. 


More  Jitney  Decisions 

Connecticut  Commission  in  New  Find- 
ings Reiterates  Stand  Taken  in 
Hartford-Manchester  Case 

The  jitneys  heretofore  operating  in 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  have  been  denied 
certificates  of  convenience  and  necessity 
by  the  Connecticut  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission with  the  exception  of  three 
buses  operating  on  a  route  that  serves 
territory  intervening  between  two  car 
lines.  This  decision  also  largely  pro- 
hibits jitney  operation  to  surrounding- 
towns  either  on  account  of  adequate  rail 
service  or  because  permits  have  already 
been  granted  to  other  jitney  operators. 

In  denying  the  applications  between 
Branford  and  New  Haven  the  commis- 
sion suggests  that  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany establish  a  motor  bus  service  in 
connection  with  its  trolley  lines  to  serve 
territory  between  East  Haven  and 
Branford,  formerly  fed  by  jitneys  and 
row  without  other  means  of  transpor- 
tation. 

With  regard  to  the  applications  for 
permits  to  run  to  Bridgeport  and  Hart- 
ford the  commission  denied  the  peti- 
tions, holding  that  in  each  case  there 
was  adequate  steam  road  service  and 
that  the  routes  were  intended  princi- 
pally for  through  traffic  and  would  only 
serve  intermediate  territory  to  a  lim- 
ited extent.  However,  on  the  New 
Haven-Bridgeport  route  the  commis- 
sion suggested  that  the  Connecticut 
Company  might  operate  a  motor  bus 
from  New  Haven  via  Milford  to  Devon 
and  Allingtown  over  the  main  trunk 
highway,  there  being  no  other  exist- 
ing means  of  transportation,  nor  any 
application  for  this  territory.  In  con- 
nection with  the  route  to  Hartford,  over 
which  large  touring  cars  were  run,  the 
commission  held  the  train  service  was 
adequate  and  further  that  inasmuch  as 
the  automobiles  with  reasonable  safe 
speed  took  at  least  thirty  minutes 
longer  than  the  train,  the  duplicate 
service  was  not  warranted. 

The  commission  allowed  the  applica- 
tion for  a  bus  route  from  New  Haven 
to  Waterbury  via  Bethany  on  the 
grounds  of  inadequate  train  service,  but 
denied  the  through  route  to  Waterbury 
via  Ansonia  and  Derby.  This  last- 
named  route  is  co-extensive  with  or 
parallels  street  railway  service  supply- 
ing intermediate  points  over  its  entire 
length.  The  route  to  Waterbury  via 
Bethany,  it  was  held,  was  the  quick- 
est, most  direct  and  uncongested  for 
through  travel  and  for  that  reason  the 
commission  denied  the  applications  for 
another  through  route  via  Derby. 


Business  Men  Ask  for  Cheaper  Fares. 

— At  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Allied 
Boards  of  Trade  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
on  June  15  constituent  organizations 
through  their  delegates  reported  that 
they  had  approved  resolutions  adopted 
last  month  by  the  Allied  Boards,  calling 
for  a  lowering  of  railway  fares  in  Pitts- 
burgh. The  committee  on  better  serv- 
ice was  instructed  to  bring  this  matter 
before  City  Council  and  the  Public 
Service  Commission. 


114 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


More  Municipal  Buses 

Kylan    Administration    in    New  York 
Establishes  Routes  Over  Grand 
Concourse 

The  Emergency  Bus  System,  so- 
called,  of  the  Department  of  Plant  and 
Structures,  New  .  York,  started  opera- 
tion on  Sunday,  July  3,  over  an  8-mile 
line  for  a  5-cent  fare  along  the  Grand 
Concourse  in  the  Harlem  and  Bronx  dis- 
tricts of  upper  New  York  City.  Nine 
two-man  doubledeck  buses,  seating  fifty 
passengers  each  and  mounted  on  Dia- 
mond-T  chassis,  comprised  the  original 
fleet  put  into  service.  Eleven  more 
buses  are  soon  to  be  added.  Five  of 
these  will  be  of  the  same  design  while 
the  other  six  will  be  mounted  on  a 
Packard  chassis  with  body  patterned 
after  that  of  the  London  bus. 

Original  Route  Extended 

The  original  bus  route  extends  from 
110th  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue  north 
via  Fifth  Avenue,  Morris  Parkway, 
Madison  Avenue,  Mott  Avenue,  and  the 


those  waiting  in  the  queue  a  chance  to 
get  aboard  in  their  turn  according  to 
the  number  of  seats  operated.  Stops 
per  mile  will  vary  from-  six  to  eight. 
This  gives  an  average  speed  of  9.75 
m.p.h. 

The  streets  over  which  the  buses 
operate  could  not  be  better  so  far  as 
the  paving  is  concerned.  There  is  less 
than  a  mile  of  granite  block  paving, 
some  of  which  is  grouted,  while  the 
balance  is  either  asphalt  or  bitulithic 
macadam.  The  amount  of  vehicular 
traffic  which  the  buses  have  to  contend 
with  is  heavy  inasmuch  as  the  major 
portion  of  the  route  passes  over  one  of 
the  main  arteries  for  automobile  traf- 
fic out  of  New  York  City  for  points 
north  and  east.  This,  however,  is  not 
as  slow  moving  as  the  buses  them- 
selves for  the  Concourse  has  two  one- 
way traffic  lanes  each  wide  enough  to 
accommodate  three  traffic  streams  with- 
out difficulty  and  the  speed  limit  is  not 
strictly  enforced. 

The  traffic  handled  during  the  first 
few  days  of  operation  averaged  from 


Birmingham  Case  Closed 

Commission  Expected  to  Rule  Within 
Thirty  Days  on  Eight-Cent 
Fare  Plea 

Hearings  on  the  application  of  Lee 
C.  Bradley,  receiver  for  the  Birmingham 
Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company,  Bir- 
mingham, Ala.,  for  an  8-cent  fare  with 
a  2-cent  transfer  charge  and  an  appli- 
cation to  keep  the  present  electric  light 
schedules  in  effect,  eliminating  an  auto- 
matic reduction  in  rates,  were  held  be- 
fore the  Alabama  Public  Service  Com- 
mission on  July  7  and  8. 

Testimony  before  the  commission 
was  completed  on  the  night  of  July  8 
and  the  case  was  taken  under  advise- 
ment pending  the  filing  of  a  budget  for 
the  last  half  of  the  year  by  J.  S. 
Pevear,  president  of  the  company,  and 
general  manager  of  the  property  under 
the  receiver.  Mr.  Pevear  is  also  to  file 
estimates  of  the  receipts  of  the  prop- 
erty for  the  last  half  of  the  year  based 
on  the  present  rate  and  on  the  advanced 
rate.     Similar    estimates    are    to  be 


Fleet  of  Buses  Serving  Territory  Now  Without  Railway  Facilities 


Grand  Concourse  to  Mosholu  Parkway 
at  207th  Street,  a  distance  of  8.3  miles. 
The  buses  are  run  on  a  ten-minute 
headway  so  far  as  possible.  As  soon 
as  additional  equipment  is  received,  it 
is  planned  to  open  up  another  route 
from  Fort  Lee  Ferry  thence  via  126th 
Street  to  Fifth  Avenue  and  to  sand- 
wich in  with  the  first-named  route  so 
as  to  give  a  five-minute  schedule  over 
the  Concourse.  These  routes  do  not 
operate  except  for  about  a  half  mile  on 
streets  occupied  by  trolley  car  tracks 
and  then  only  to  cross  the  Madison  Ave- 
nue Bridge. 

This  bus  system  is  the  result  of  action 
taken  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  on  July 
1,  1921,  granting  to  Emil  Leindorf, 
owner  of  the  Concourse  Bus  Line,  Inc., 
permits  to  use  the  above  streets  for 
motor  bus  traffic.  Operation  is  under 
the  direction  of  the  City  Department  of 
Plant  and  Structures,  and  that  depart- 
ment furnishes  starters  and  police  to 
man  the  que'ie  loading  areas  established 
at  the  bus  terminals. 

The  actual  running  time  for  a  one- 
way trip  took  fifty-one  minutes,  with- 
out including  any  loading  time  at  the 
terminals.  Under  the  plan  of  opera- 
tion all  buses  must  unload  before  start- 
ing on  the  return  trip  so  as  to  give 


15.000  to  20,000  a  day  of  nineteen  hours. 
Buses  for  the  most  part  were  filled  to 
capacity  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that 
the  no-standing  rule  was  enforced. 


Three-Cent  Fare  Advocated 

Councilman  Oliver  T.  Erickson  of 
Seattle,  Wash.,  is  sponsor  for  a  3-cent 
fare  initiative  ordinance  to  be  intro- 
duced at  the  spring  election  next  year. 
Mr.  Erickson's  proposal  is  to  charge  a 
fare  on  the  Seattle  Municipal  Railway 
sufficient  to  pay  interest  and  redemp- 
tion charges  on  the  $15,000,000  of  bonds 
issued  to  Stone  &  Webster  in  payment 
for  the  lines  bought  by  the  city  two 
years  ago,  and  then  meet  the  cost  of 
maintenance  and  operation  of  the  lines 
out  of  taxation. 

City  officials  have  joined  with  busi- 
ness men  in  condemning  the  measure. 
Mayor  Hugh  M.  Caldwell  stated: 

I  have  never  thought  favorably  of  the 
3-cent  fare  plan.  I  think  it  would  hurt  the 
city. 

Councilmen  John  E.  Carroll  and  A. 
Lou  Cohen  have  gone  on  record  as  flatly 
opposing  it,  and  other  members  of  the 
Council  have  similarly  expressed  them- 
selves. Others  hold  it  would,  ruin  the 
credit  of  the  city. 


furnished  by  I.  W.  Ross,  consulting 
engineer  for  the  city  of  Birmingham. 
Efforts  of  the  receiver  to  secure  the  ad- 
vance in  fares  were  strongly  contested 
by  the  city. 

Mr.  Pevear  for  the  company  stated 
that  the  increase  was  necessary  in  order 
that  the  company  continue  to  operate 
and  render  proper  service.  I.  W.  Ross, 
witness  for  the  city,  mainfained  that 
the  present  7-cent  fare  is  adequate  and 
that  by  making  a  traffic  survey,  rerout- 
ing and  effecting  certain  economies  the 
condition  of  the  property  can  be  im- 
proved. In  the  arguments  Mr.  Bradley, 
the  receiver,  declared  that  the  raise 
must  be  granted  or  the  property  will 
have  definitely  turned  back  toward  the 
conditions  of  1918  when  there  was  an 
almost  total  break  down  in  the  service. 
Mr.  Johnston  maintained  that  the  com- 
pany should  be  re-organized  and  that 
the  additional  money  needed  should  be 
supplied  by  the  stockholders.  He  con- 
tended that  about  $2,000,000  in  new 
money  should  be  put  into  the  property 
and  stated  that  a  large  part  of  the  ■ 
heavy  expenditures  of  the  receiver  rep- 
resent deferred  maintenance  and  capi- 
tal investments  which  should  not  be- 
gotten from  the  people  in  increased 
fares. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


115 


Mr.  Pevear  outlined  the  improvements 
made  by  the  receiver.  Twenty-five  new 
one-man  cars  were  bought,  144  motors 
were  installed  in  old  cars  which  were 
rebuilt.  Trailers  were  bought  and  the 
work  of  rehabilitating  the  track  was 
begun.  During  the  receivership,  he 
testified,  only  the  preferred  creditors 
have  been  paid  and  all  other  money 
has  been  put  back  into  the  property. 
He  stated  that  the  receiver  has  spent 
approximately  $2  297,000  in  rehabil- 
itation. 

Testimony  was  given  to  the  effect 
that  the  number  of  revenue  passengers 
now  using  the  railway  is  about  the 
same  as  in  1913.  An  exhibit  was  filed 
showing  that  for  1920  there  was  an  in- 
crease in  comparison  with  1913  of  287 
per  cent  in  current  sold,  115  per  cent 
in  gas,  and  32  per  cent  in  the  number  of 
revenue  passengers  handled.  In  May, 
1921,  the  comparison  with  May,  1913, 
shows  a  253  per  cent  increase  in  cur- 
rent, 150  per  cent  increase  in  gas,  and 
a  5  per  cent  increase  in  the  number  of 
revenue  passengers  handled.  Mr.  Pe- 
vear testified  that  railway  mileage  is 
the  same  as  in  1915,  more  cars  are  in 
•operation  and  better  service  is  being 
given,  but  no  more  people  are  riding. 

An  exhibit  was  filed  showing  that  in 
May,  1921,  a  total  of  110,500  revenue 
passengers  were  handled  as  against 
140,500  in  May,  1920.  Exhibits  were 
also  filed  showing  that  since  1913  the 
average  wage  of  the  company  has  in- 
creased from  $64  a  month  to  $120. 
Operating  costs  of  the  street  railway 
were  shown  by  another  exhibit  to  have 
been  reduced  from  23  cents  per  car  mile 
in  January  to  20.1  cents  per  car  mile  in 
May,  1921.  This  compares  with  21.4 
cents  per  car  mile  in  May,  1920.  Other 
exhibits  filed  showed  economies  effected 
and  savings  made  in  the  shops  and  a 
general  financial  statement. 

Cross  examination  of  Mr.  Pevear  by 
Mr.  Johnston  lasted  for  practically  a 
whole  day.  Mr.  Pevear  testified  that 
the  property  was  in  fair  condition  in 
1913  and  1914  and  that  it  went  down 
to  a  point  of  practical  collapse  dur- 
ing the  war.  The  property  he  testified 
has  now  been  put  in  good  condition. 
The  coinmon  stock  had  not  paid  a  div- 
idend in  years  and  the  preferred  has 
paid  only  9  or  10  per  cent  where  42  per 
cent  is  due. 

Mr.  Ross  was  put  on  the  stand  for 
the  city.  The  most  salient  features  of 
his  testimony  were  strong  recommenda- 
tion for  a  traffic  survey  and  rerouting 
of  lines  in  the  business  district.  He 
stated  that  the  introduction  of  an  ex- 
press service  to  suburbs  with  local  cars 
for  the  nearer  in  traffic  would  effect  a 
saving.  He  also  recommended  the 
abandonment  of  a  portion  of  the  Tide- 
water tracks  and  a  rerouting  of  a  por- 
tion of  that  line.  He  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  a  7-cent  fare  is  adequate  in 
Birmingham.  He  filed  a  lengthy  state- 
ment in  the  form  of  an  exhibit  showing 
the  results  of  his  study  of  the  property 
which  has  covered  several  months. 

Following  the  close  of  the  testimony 
the  commission  indicated  that  it  would 
probably  rule  within  thirty  days. 


Wants  Five-Cent  Fare  Restored 

It  was  recently  stated  by  Corpora- 
tion Counsel  Lewis  that  the  City  of 
Syracuse  would  take  steps  immediately 
after  Nov.  1  for  a  return  of  the  5-cent 
fare  on  the  lines  of  the  New  York  State 
Railways  in  that  city.  On  that  date 
the  time  will  expire  in  which  the  city 
was  prevented  by  the  former  Public 
Service  Commission  from  filing  a 
demand  for  a  5-cent  fare. 

The  reduction  will  be  asked  on  the 
ground  that  the  company  has  installed 
changes  which  have  greatly  reduced 
the  cost  of  operation  and  also  that  the 
8-cent  fare  was  not  justifiable  from  the 
evidence  submitted.  Mr.  Lewis  will 
also  petition  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission to  act  on  the  one-man  car 
issue.  He  wants  a  survey  by  a  state 
expert  as  many  complaints  have  been 
made  about  this  method  of  operation 
in  Syracuse. 


Commission  Grants  Fare  Increase 

In  a  decision  handed  down  June  25, 
1921,  the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commis- 
sion granted  permission  to  the  Wiscon- 
sin Traction,  Light,  Heat  &  Power  Com- 
pany operating  an  interurban  electric 
railway  between  Neenah  and  Kaukauna 
and  a  street  railway  in  Appleton,  to 
increase  its  city  and  interurban  electric 
railway  fares.  The  application  for  an 
increase  was  filed  in  October,  1920,  on 
the  ground  that  the  increases  in  oper- 
ating costs  has  been  so  large  that  a 
fair  return  on  the  property  was  not 
being  earned.  The  case  was  heard  by 
the  commission  in  November,  1920,  but 
action  on  the  application  was  withheld 
by  the  commission,  until  the  company 
made  substantial  progress  towards 
bettering  its  gas  service. 

On  Jan.  7,  1921,  satisfactory  evidence 
as  to  progress  towards  better  gas  serv- 
ice having  been  shown,  the  commission 
proceeded  with  the  consideration  of  the 
case  with  the  result  that  an  increase 
in  railway  fares  was  granted.  The 
cash  fare  within  the  city  fare  limits  of 
Appleton,  Neenah-Menasha  and  Kau- 
kauna was  increased  from  5  cents  to  7 
cents;  children  3  to  10  years  who  used 
to  pay  half-fare  or  2J  cents  will  now 
pay  4  cents.  The  following  ticket  rates 
were  established:  eight  tickets  for  50 
cents  good  for  any  7-cent  fare  on  sys- 
tem; twelve  tickets  for  $1,  good  for 
any  10-cent  fare  on  system;  books  of 
twenty-five  tickets  for  $4,  each  ticket 
good  for  any  20-cent  fare  on  the  system 
and  in  addition  good  for  transportation 
between  Neenah  and  Appleton  or  be- 
tween Kaukauna  and  Appleton  with 
transfer  privilege  to  and  from  city  cars 
in  Appleton.  The  company  was  also 
granted  increases  in  interurban  cash 
rates  of  fare. 


Wants  Interstate  Rate  Raised. — The 

Chicago,  Lake  Shore  &  South  Bend 
Railway,  Michigan  City,  Ind.,  has  peti- 
tioned the  Public  Sei-vice  Commission 
of  Indiana  for  an  increase  in  its  Indiana 
rates  to  the  Illinois-Indiana  interstate 
rate  level. 


1  ransportation 
News  Notes 

Print  Transfers  for  Car  Changes. — 

Rerouting  the  street  car  lines  at  Mem- 
phis made  necessary  an  initial  order 
for  16,240,000  transfer  tickets,  requir- 
ing twelve  tons  of  paper,  according 
to  E.  W.  Ford,  general  superintendent 
of  the  Memphis  Street  Railway.  For 
each  of  the  twenty-three  lines  on  which 
the  routing  has  been  changed  a  new 
transfer  ticket  must  be  provided.  Mr. 
Ford  said  that  the  date  for  starting 
the  new  routing  awaits  the  completion 
of  track  work. 

Nashville  Survey  Expected  Soon. — 

The  traffic  survey  of  the  city  of  Nash- 
ville which  is  being  made  by  Ross  Har- 
ris, traffic  engineer  for  the  city  and  the 
Nashville  Railway  &  Light  Company,  is 
expected  to  be  completed  within  the 
next  month.  A  preliminary  report  has 
been  published  showing  statistics  of  the 
city  but  no  recommendations  will  be 
made  until  the  survey  is  complete.  At 
present  the  main  thoroughfares  of  the 
city  are  very  much  congested  during  the 
rush  hours.  One-way  traffic  is  in  force 
on  a  great  many  of  the  principal 
streets. 

Supreme  Court  to  Decide  Jitney  Is- 
sue.— Jitney  operators  of  Atlantic  City, 
barred  from  driving  machines  unless 
they  are  owners  of  the  cars,  will  carry 
the  new  ordinance  which  went  into  ef- 
fect on  June  13  into  the  New  Jersey 
Supreme  Court  on  a  writ  of  certiorari 
in  an  effort  to  prove  it  unconstitutional. 
Under  the  provisions  of  the  act  before 
the  present  amendment,  the  city  issued 
125  licenses  to  operators,  giving  ex- 
service  men  first  call.  It  has  been 
charged  by  the  city  that  scores  of  driv- 
ers were  reckless  in  operating  cars.  Re- 
peated warnings  failed  to  break  up  this 
condition  and  the  law  was  amended  to 
permit  only  owners  to  drive.  Many 
jitneymen  were  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment by  the  new  ordinance. 

Discrimination   Charged   in   Utah. — 

The  Salt  Lake  &'Utah  Railroad,  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah,  complainant  against  the 
Utah  Railroad,  has  filed  its  brief  with 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
Utah,  in  which  it  is  alleged  that  the 
acts  of  the  defendant  violate  sections  of 
the  compiled  laws  of  Utah  of  1917  and 
sections  of  the  public  utilities  act. 
These  acts,  it  is  alleged,  constitute  a 
discrimination  against  the  Salt  Lake  & 
Utah  Railroad  and  shippers  in  that  a 
greater  amount  is  charged  by  defend- 
ant's tariffs  for  carriage  of  coal  via  the 
Salt  Lake  &  Utah  road  than  is  charged 
for  identical  service  via  the  Salt  Lake 
route.  The  Utah  Railroad  has  ten  days 
in  which  to  file  its  brief  with  the  com- 
mission, the  case  having  been  pre- 
sented on  May  4,  and  taken  under  ad- 
visement by  the  commission,  both 
parties  to  submit  briefs  in  the  matter. 


116 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  3 


Newspaper  Man  in  Charge  of 
Utility  Information  Service 

Linton  K.  Starr,  assistant  city  edi- 
tor of  the  Atlanta  Journal,  announced 
his  resignation  recently  to  become  ex- 
ecutive secretary  of  the  newly  formed 
Georgia  Committee  on  Public  Utility 
Information.  He  will  have  direction  of 
the  committee's  activities,  which,  it  was 
announced,  will  be  to  develop  friendlier 
relationship  between  the  public  and  cor- 
porations serving  it  by  acquainting  the 
one  with  the  problems  and  purposes  of 
the  other. 

Mr.  Starr  undertakes  the  work  of  the 
committee  with  the  advantage  of  a  wide 
experience,  not  only  in  the  newspaper 
profession,  but  in  publicity  and  public- 
relations  work  of  all  kinds.  A  native 
Georgian,  a  graduate  of  Emory  Uni- 
versity and  a  former  student  of  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  he  has  lived  prac- 
tically all  his  life  in  Georgia  and  has 
been  familiar  from  boyhood  with  the 
state  and  its  people. 

Mr.  Starr  has  been  a  close  student  of 
public  relations  for  many  years.  Dur- 
ing the  war  he  conducted  an  extensive 
campaign  for  the  government  to  arouse 
interest  in  and  encourage  the  support 
of  the  selective  service  law  in  Georgia. 
His  other  work  has  included  publicity 
for  Emory  University,  various  conven- 
tions and  a  number  of  business  enter- 
prises. He  is  an  experienced  adver- 
tising writer. 

In  its  initial  statement  the  commit- 
tee expressed  its  views  and  intentions 
by  saying  that  "We  believe  that  the 
utilities  have  reached  a  period  demand- 
ing, first,  the  highest  possible  standard 
of  service  to  the  public;  and,  second, 
the  full  understanding  by  the  public  of 
the  problems  of  utilities,  which,  after 
all,  are  the  problems  of  the  public." 


A.  LeRoy  Hodges  Promoted  on 
the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad 

A.  LeRoy  Hodges  was  recently  ap- 
pointed assistant  secretary  and  assist- 
ant treasurer  of  the  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.) 
City  Railroad,  where,  until  this  promo- 
tion, he  had  been  in  charge  of  the  sta- 
tistical work  in  connection  with  the  op- 
eration of  the  surface  lines. 

Mr.  Hodges'  first  railway  connection 
was  with  the  Westchester,  Kennett  & 
Wilmington  Railway,  Kennett  Square, 
Pa.,  as  secretary  to  the  general  man- 
ager, a  position  he  took  after  a  busi- 
ness education  in  Albany,  N.  Y.  Leav- 
ing this  property  in  1908,  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany as  secretary  to  the  assistant  man- 
ager of  the  switchboard  department.  In 
1911  Mr.  Hodges  left  Schenectady  to 
accept  an  appointment  as  secretary  to 
A.  W.  McLimont,  then  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Michigan 
United  Railways,  Jackson,  Mich. 


Upon  the  leasing  of  this  property  to 
the  Commonwealth  Power,  Railway  & 
Light  Company  he  was  appointed  chief 
clerk  to  C.  E.  Morgan,  general  super- 
intendent of  the  Michigan  Railway,  and 
continued  in  this  capacity  until  Nov.  1, 
1919.   

J.  W.  Welsh  Secretary 

Special  Reorganization  Committee  Rec- 
ommends that  A.  E.  R.  A.  Engi- 
neer Re  Made  Secretary 

As  is  indicated  elsewhere  in  this  is- 
sue, J.  W.  Welsh,  special  engineer  of 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation, and  acting  secretary  since  the 
resignation  of  E.  B.  Burritt  in  March 
of  this  year,  has  been  recommended  by 


J.  W.  Welsh 


the  special  reorganization  committee  as 
the  permanent  secretary.  For  the  past 
two  years  as  special  engineer  of  the 
association,  Mr.  Welsh  has  conducted 
studies  and  investigations  of  special 
subjects  and  has  had  charge  of  the  in- 
formation service  of  the  association. 
Under  his  direction  the  Bureau  of  In- 
formation and  Service  has  rendered 
valuable  aid  to  the  industry. 

It  is  the  function  of  this  bureau  to 
compile  information  concerning  all 
phases  of  electric  railway  operation.  By 
means  of  it  members  of  the  association 
are  kept  informed  of  the  latest  develop- 
ments in  the  fare  situation  throughout 
the  country,  wages  and  working  con- 
ditions, trend  of  regulation;  valuation, 
franchise  requirements,  operating  meth- 
ods, operating  economies,  effect  of  in- 
creased rating  of  fare,  developments  in 
the  operation  of  safety  cars,  etc.  In 
addition  to  this  direct  service  to  the 
member  companies,  the  bureau  has  also 
prepared  statistical  data  for  and  other- 
wise has  assisted  the  various  standing 
committees  of  the  association,  Aera, 
and  the  publicity  department. 

During  each  of  the  past  two  years 
Mr.  Welsh,  as  a  special  lecturer  of 
Yale  University,  has  given  a  series  of 


lectures  on  electric  railway  problems 
to  Yale  graduate  engineering  students. 

Until  his  appointment  as  engineer  of 
the  association,  Mr.  Welsh  was  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  associated  with  A. 
Merritt  Taylor,  manager  of  the  pas- 
senger transportation  of  the  Emer- 
gency Fleet  Corporation  of  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board.  Mr.  Welsh,  who 
served  on  Mr.  Taylor's  staff,  assisted 
in  providing  transportation  facilities 
to  the  various  shipyards  on  the  Atlan- 
tic and  the  Pacific  Coast  as  well  as  cor- 
recting existing  shortcomings  where 
they  were  present.  Previously  Mr. 
Welsh  was  electrical  engineer  and  traf- 
fic agent  of  the  Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Rail- 
ways, with  which  he  became  associated 
in  1906  as  assistant  electrician.  In  1910 
he  was  made  electrical  engineer  and  in 
1913  took  charge  of  the  traffic  depart- 
ment. Some  of  his  earlier  electrical 
engineering  experience  was  gained  in 
the  employ  of  the  National  Tube  Com- 
pany, Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  and  also  in 
the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufac- 
turing Company  at  East  Pittsburgh. 

Mr.  Welsh  was  graduated  from  Wit- 
tenberg College  in  1900,  Harvard  Uni- 
versity in  1901,  and  Massachusetts  In- 
stitute of  Technology  in  1903. 


J.  V.  Granger  has  been  elected  vice- 
president  of  the  Tidewater  Power  Com- 
pany, Wilmington,  Del.,  in  which  office 
he  succeeds  H.  C.  McQueen. 

R.  Knecht  has  recently  become  mas- 
ter mechanic  of  the  Indiana  (Pa.) 
County  Street  Railways,  succeeding 
William  Kinter. 

S.  G.  Shaw,  supervisor  of  safety  on 
the  Denver  &  Intermountain  Railroad, 
Denver,  Col.,  was  recently  appointed 
claim  agent.  W.  C.  Simonds  has  joined 
the  staff  of  the  property  with  the  title 
of  purchasing  agent.  This  position  was 
formerly  held  by  W.  S.  Brackett.  The 
two  first-mentioned  men  hold  like  posi- 
tions respectively  with  the  Denver 
Tramways  Company. 


Francis  B.  Crocker,  founder  of  the 
Crocker-Wheeler  Company,  died  on 
July  9  at  the  age  of  sixty-one.  His 
most  important  contribution  to  the  elec- 
trical industry  was  work  done  in  making 
the  electric  motor  a  commercial  suc- 
cess. His  teaching  as  founder  and  head 
of  the  school  of  electrical  engineering 
of  Columbia  University  contributed 
much  to  the  growth  and  importance  of 
the  electrical  development  of  this  coun- 
try. It  was  his  aim  to  bring  about 
standardization  in  the  electrical  indus- 
try and  as  the  first  chairman  of  the 
standardization  committee  of  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers, 
his  painstaking  work  earned  for  him 
much  commendation.  He  was  a  past- 
president  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Electrical  Engineers,  the  Electric  Power 
Club  and  the  New  York  Electrical 
Society. 


July  16,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


117 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER,  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 


ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES 


Improvement  Expected  in 
Track  Material 

Market  for  First  Half  Year  Has  Been 
Very  Quiet — Deliveries  Are 
Immediate 

The  market  for  track  material  such 
as  spikes,  bolts  and  nuts  should  show 
improvement  in  the  fall  months,  ac- 
cording- to  the  opinion  of  producers.  It 
is  generally  conceded  that  present  buy- 
ing is  no  better  than  the  poor  demand 
existent  all  the  first  half  of  this  year. 
There  are  some  inquiries  out  from 
steam  roads  as  though  they  were  feel- 
ing out  the  market,  but  actual  orders 
are  scarce. 

Electric  railway  business  is  flat,  but 
some  of  the  lines  in  the  Middle  West 
have  inquiries  on  the  market  for  creo- 
soting  ties,  which  may  be  the  first  step 
vn  tracK  construction  work.  Both  steam 
and  electric  roads  have  been  out  of  the 
market  for  so  long  that  it  seems  con- 
ditions of  demand  cannot  help  but  im- 
prove. The  chief  retarding  factor,  it 
is  felt,  has  been  high  labor  costs,  and 
this  now  seems  to  be  on  the  road  to 
being  remedied.  Export  sales  are  dead, 
and  prospects  there  are  uncertain  as 
this  market  is  largely  contingent  upon 
large  world  affairs. 

Jobbers  of  this  class  of  material  are 
buying  from  hand  to  mouth  and  gen- 
erally have  low  stocks.  Manufacturers, 
however,  still  have  considerable  sup- 
plies of  cancelled  material  on  their 
hands  and  are  able  to  make  immediate 
shipments,  though  manufacturing  op- 
eration is  at  a  very  low  point.  Some 
producers  who  make  only  bolts  and  nuts 
are  closed  down  entirely,  though  as  re- 
cently as  late  last  summer  production 
was  two  to  three  months  behind  on 
spikes  and  as  long  as  six  months  on 
bolts  and  nuts. 

The  current  base  price  on  standard 
railroad  spikes  and  track  bolts  has  re- 
ceded about  J  cent  in  view  of  the  re- 
cent drop  in  steel.  In  car  lots  spikes 
are  now  quoted  at  2.90  cents  to  3  cents 
per  pound  and  track  bolts  at  3.80  to  4 
cents.  These  price  reductions  are  gen- 
erally expected  to  improve  buying. 


Brill  Has  Built  2,961  Safety  Cars 
to  Date 

The  J.  G.  Brill  Company  and  its  sub- 
sidiary companies,  the  American  Car 
Company  and  Wason  Manufacturing 
Company,  have  received  orders  to  date 
for  a  total  of  2  961  Birney  safety  cars, 
according  to  the  June,  1921,  issue  of 
the  Brill  Magazine.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  those  still  in  the  course  of  con- 
struction, shipments  of  these  cars  have 
been  made  to  168  street  railways  in 
the  United  States,  Canada,  Mexico, 
South  America,  New  Zealand  and  Hol- 


BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


land.  Indications  are,  it  is  stated,  that 
light-weight,  ore-man-operated  safety 
cars  will  very  rapidly  be  installed  in 
service  in  practically  every  country  in 
the  world.  Up  to  the  first  of  this  year 
a  total  of  4,193  safety  cars  had  been 
ordered  by  companies  in  this  country 
and  Canada,  statistics  compiled  by  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  show.  This 
total  covers  the  five-year  period  pre- 
vious to  the  present  year  as  this  type 
of  car  was  practically  unknown  before 
1916,  when  187  safety  cars  were  pur- 
chased. 

Steel  Cut  Brings  Price  Drop 
in  Electrical  Items 

Conduit,  Outlet  and  Switch  Boxes  and 
Locknuts  and  Bushings  Are  Re- 
duced This  Month 

Following  general  reductions  in  the 
price  of  steel  products  that  were  made 
recently,  lower  quotations  have  resulted 
on  a  number  of  electrical  steel  prod- 
ucts. Effective  July  7  the  U.  S.  Steel 
Corporation  reduced  the  price  of  stand- 
ard steel  pipe  from  the  discounts  shown 
on  its  April  13  card  as  follows:  i-in. 
and  |-in.,  1  point  or  $2  per  ton;  i-in. 
to  6-in.,  2  points  or  $4  per  ton;  and  7- 
in.  to  12-in.,  3  points  amounting  to  $6 
per  ton. 

Effective  July  11  a  number  of  lead- 
ing manufacturers  of  electrical  conduit 
also  reduced  prices  by  increasing  the 
discount  allowed  distributers,  at  the 
same  time  advancing  the  number  of 
their  base  card  by  one.  The  decrease 
amounted  to  9  points  on  black  and  gal- 
vanized conduit  in  some  instances  and 
5  points  in  others.  The  difference  of  4 
points  is  accounted  for  by  earlier  price 
reductions  on  the  part  of  those  who  at 
this  time  dropped  the  least,  so  that 
base  prices  are  said  to  be  approximately 
on  the  same  level.  Sizeable  stocks  are 
reported  by  manufacturers,  with  keen 
competition  for  orders  and  generally 
quiet  conditions  of  demand. 

In  line  with  the  drop  in  the  price  of 
base  sheets,  outlet  box  quotations  have 
been  generally  reduced  11  per  cent  on 
black  and  10  per  cent  on  galvanized. 
The  drop  became  effective  on  various 
dates  ranging  from  June  27  to  July  11, 
and  was  made  by  increasing  the  dis- 
count 5  points  in  each  case. 

Locknuts  and  bushings  were  reduced 
approximately  29  per  cent  by  manufac- 
turers during  the  same  period  as  the 
price  decrease  noted  above.  The  dis- 
count to  jobbers  in  standard  packages 
was  increased  10  points. 

Switch  box  prices  are  also  down,  the 
drop  in  several  instances  there  becom- 
ing effective  around  the  first  of  the 
month.  The  amount  of  the  decrease 
varied  with  different  manufacturers, 
ranging  from  11  to  35  per  cent. 


Secretary  Hoover  Optimistic 
on  Trade  Situation 

Although  Exports  Are  Lower  in  Value, 
He  Foresees  Slow  Increase  Under 
Better  Economic  Operation 

In  an  address  in  Boston  on  July  12 
Herbert  Hoover,  Secretary  of  Commerce, 
in  discussing  the  foreign  and  domestic 
business  situation,  said  that  although 
our  exports  and  imports  had  dropped 
nearly  50  per  cent  in  value  from  the 
high  water  mark  of  a  year  ago,  more 
of  this  decrease  was  due  to  the  fall  in 
prices  than  to  a  decrease  in  volume,  and 
that  with  Russia  not  exporting  food 
he  saw  no  reason  why  we  should  not 
continue  to  export  approximately  the 
same  volume  of  foodstuffs  that  we  have 
shipped  abroad  during  the  past  six 
months.  This  item  alone,  he  said,  even 
at  present  prices  would  be  triple  our 
pre-war  food  exports  and  would  repre- 
sent the  equal  of  more  than  60  per  cent 
of  our  whole  pre-war  export  trade.  He 
thought  also  that  the  demand  for  our 
raw  materials  would  slowly  increase 
toward  pre-war  amounts  and  that  our 
manufacturers  should  be  able  to  hold 
special  fields  for  repetitive  production 
and  ingenuity.  He  expected  we  would 
have  to  make  an  effort  to  hold  the  mar- 
ket for  manufactured  goods  wherever 
we  come  more  directly  into  competition 
with  the  European  manufacturer,  but 
that  we  can  do  it  if  we  will  work  and 
apply  our  brains  to  it. 

On  the  financial  side  of  our  situation 
he  expressed  the  belief  that  our  world 
credit  situation  is  not  so  serious  as  to 
require  extraordinary  solution.  The 
real  cure  for  this  depression  as  all  other 
depressions  is  courage  and  applied  in- 
telligence, and  the  return  to  primary 
virtues  of  hard,  conscientious  toil  and 
economy  in  living.  On  every  side  there 
is  evidence  that  the  vast  majority  of 
our  nation  is  making  a  gain  in  effort 
ir.  those  directions  equaled  only  by  that 
of  1918,  and  the  day  some  months  ago 
when  we  entered  this  effort  we  funda- 
mentally turned  the  corner  of  this  de- 
pression. While  our  recovery  may  be 
slower  than  some  may  expect  nothing 
can  prevent  the  prosperity  of  a  coun- 
try where  the  people  have  enlighten- 
ment, wish  to  work,  wish  to  produce 
and  wish  to  do  right  by  their  neighbors. 


New  York  Retail  Cement 
Price  Down  to  $3 

Producers  Hold  Sufficient  Stock  to  Make 
Prompt  Shipments,  Though  Pro- 
duction Is  Low 

Activity  in  the  market  for  cement 
continues  on  the  same  quiet  level  as 
heretofore.  Electric  railways  are  buy- 
ing very  little  and  demand  from  other 
sources,  such  as  steam  l'ailroads  or  the 
building  trade,  has  not  picked  up  ap- 
preciably. Early  this  year,  in  view  of 
the  low  production  of  cement,  it  seemed 
possible  that  deliveries  might  become 
pushed  if  building  work  started  up  as 
was  expected.  At  present  there  seems 
little  chance  of  a  shortage  developing, 
however,  despite  the  fact  that  produc- 


118 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


tion  is  still  down  very  low.  Dealers 
are  existing  from  hand  to  mouth  but 
producers  have  a  fair  surplus  quan- 
tity, which  insures  immediate  deliveries. 
Manufacturers  apparently  believe  that 
the  situation  will  drift  along  on  its 
present  quiet  plane  for  a  few  months, 
with  some  activity  in  the  field  of  resi- 
dential construction  work  but  very  lit- 
tle in  other  classes  of  building. 

Producers'  prices  have  held  steady 
since  last  April,  when  a  cut  of  60  cents 
per  barrel  was  made,  but  meanwhile 
retail  quotations  have  continued  to 
drop.  At  the  time  producers  lowered 
prices  last  April  New  York  dealers 
were  quoting  $3.50  per  barrel.  This 
has  since  dropped  to  a  nominal  price 
of  $3.20  per  barrel,  but  at  the  same 
time  prices  are  being  cut  to  $3,  though 
some  interests  refuse  to  sell  as  low 
as  that.  The  peak  price  of  cement  was 
$5.20  per  barrel,  New  York,  in  effect 
last  November. 


Rolling  Stock 


Tampa    Electric    Company,    Tampa,  Fla., 

lias  placed  an  order  for  twelve  more  Birney 
safety  cars  for  the  Tampa  service  to  be 
delivered  in  time  for  the  next  tourist  sea- 
son, General  Manager  Thomas  J.  Hanlon. 
Jr.,  announces.  The  company  placed  a 
previous  order  for  eight  safety  cars  with 
J.  G.  Brill  Company  in  February,  1920. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company,  Eos 
Angeles,  Cal.,  received  ten  new  all-steel, 
multiple-unit,  interurban  motor  cars  in  Los 
Angeles  on  July  5.  These  cars,  which  were 
described  on  page  393  of  the  August  21, 
1920,  issue,  are  the  first  installment  of  thirty 
ordered  in  July.  1920,  from  the  Pullman 
Company.  Delivery  was  delayed  by  two 
fires  in  the  Pullman  works,  which  destroyed 
a  large  amount  of  construction  material. 
Twenty  of  the  oars  are  equipped  with  four 
motors  of  150  hp.  each,  the  cost  of  the 
motor  cars  being  $46,000  each.  The  re- 
maining ten  cars  are  trailers,  costing  $25,- 
000.  The  ten  motor  cars  yet  undelivered 
are  expected  to  arrive  within  a  few  weeks, 
followed  by  the  trailers.  The  new  cars, 
which  weigh  57  tons  each,  will  be  dis- 
tributed on  the  Long  Beach  San  Bernardino 
and  other  lines  of  the  company  where  traf- 
fic is  heavy,  the  intention  being  to  transfer 
the  cars  now  in  use  to  other  divisions  of 
the  system. 

Detroit  (Mich.)  Municipal  Railway,  men- 
tioned in  the  June  18  issue  as  askin0-  for 
bids  on  100  safety  cars  and  fifty  Peter 
Witt  cars,  has  this  week  placed  orders  for 
these.  Information  just  issued  on  the 
Peter  Witt  cars  is  given  below.  Specifica- 
tions on  the  safety  cars  are  as  shown 
below  : 

Number  of  cars  ordered   5ft 

Date  of  order  July  12.  1921 

Delivery  November 

Builder  G.  C.  Kuhlman  Car  Comnanv 

Type  of  car.Peter-AVitt,  Detroit  Safety  Tyne 

Seating   capacity   56 

Weight,  total   36,000  lb. 

Length  over  all   4  8  ft.  1  in. 

Truck  wheelbase    5  ft.  2  in. 

Width  over  all    8  ft.  2  in. 

Height,  rail  to  trolley  base   11  ft. 

Body   Steel 

Interior  trim   Cherry 

Headlining  Agasote 

Roof  Arch 

Air  brakes  G.E  C.P.  27 

Axles   41-in.  A.E.R.A.  Standard 

Bumpers   Hedley  Anti-climber 

Car  sisrnal  system  Faraday  Buzzers 

Car  trimminers   Statuary  Bronze 

Center  and  side  bearings  .  .  Perrv-Hartman 

Control  K-3562,  with  door  contacts 

and  line  switch 

Couplers  Metropolitan 

Curtain  fixtures  ....Curtain  Supply  Xo.  88 
Curtain  material  ..O'Bannon  D.C.,  No.  076 

Designation   signs   Keystone 

Door   operating  mechanism  

National  Pneumatic  at  center  doors 

Fare  boxes   Johnson 

Fenders  or  wheelguards   H.B. 

Gears  and  pinions   

G.E.   Long  Adendum  tooth,  solid 

Hand  brakes   Peacock 

Heater  equipment   Cutler-Hammer 


Headlights   Golden  Glow,  No.  96 

Journal    boxes   M.C.B. 

Lightning  arresters   G.E. 

Motors   

G.E.  265 — 35-hp.,  4  per  car.  inside  hung 

Paint   -  

Sherwin-Williams,  Old  Dutch,  enamel 
P.egisters  ...International  R-7.  air-operated 

Sanders   Osgood-Bradley  sand  traps 

Sash  fixtures   

O.  M.  Edwards  Company,  13J  Dl 

Seats   Brill 

Seating  material   Rattan 

Step  treads   Feralun 

Trolley  catchers  or  retrievers   

Ohio  Brass  Company 

Trolley  base   Ohio  Brass  Company 

Trolley  wheels  or  shoes   Ideal,  4i  in. 

Trucks   Brill,  77  El 

Ventilators   Garland 

Wheels   Steel,  26  in. 

Special  devices,  etc  

Nichols-Lintern    Tail    Light.  Duplex 
Safety   Car   Devices   Equipment   like  that 
used    on    safety   cars,    controlling  front 
door   and   interlocking  center  doors. 


Track  and  Roadwav 


Southern  Pacific  Company.  San  Francisco, 
Cal.,  received  bids  in  the  office  of  the  pur- 
chasing agent  up  to  July  14  for  track  bolts 
:  nd  spikes. 

Tampa  (Fla.)  Electric  Company  is  plan- 
ning to  double-track  about  2  miles  of  its 
line. 

East  St.  Eouis  &  Suburban  Kailway,  East 
St.  Eouis,  111.,  will  not  be  able  to  make  the 
improvement  as  requested  by  the  city  of 
Belleville,  O.  W.  H.  Sawyer,  president, 
stated  that  $30,000  had  been  appropriated 
for  maintenance  in  the  city  during  the  year 
and  that  this  amount  would  not  cover  ex- 
tended enlargements  demanded.  Members 
of  the  Belleville  Council  will  consider  pav- 
ing West  Main  Street  by  assessment  and 
will  compel  the  railway  to  install  double 
tracks  between  the  Public  Square  and  the 
Southern  Railway  crossing. 

Indiana  Service  Corporation.  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind. — Owing  to  poor  business  condition^  the 
oroposed  big  truck  plant  which  is  to  be 
erected  just  east  of  Fort  Wavne.  Ind.,  by 
the  International  Harvester  Company  has 
been  postponed  for  about  a  year.  But  the 
Greater  Fort  Wayne  Development  Company 
— a  million  dollar  concern — which  was 
formed  among  Fort  Wayne  business  men  to 
build  homes,  etc.,  is  going  ahead  with 
plans  already  formed  for  putting  in  streets 
for  the  plant.  One  of  the  things  which  the 
development  company  is  pushing  right 
along  is  the  extension  of  the  car  lines  of 
the  Indiana  Service  Corporation  to  the 
plant.  Recently  a  remonstrance  was  filed 
by  residents  of  Pontiac  Street  against  the 
double  tracking  of  that  street,  so  another 
route  to  the  plant  east  of  the  city  is  being 
considered. 

The  Public  Service  Kailwav.  Newark.  N. 
J.,  will  shortly  begin  to  lay  Belgian  blocks 
along  the  tracks  from  Bordentown.  N.  J., 
to  Black's  Creek. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Street  Railway,  has 
submitted  proposals  to  the  Cincmrati  Trac- 
tion Company  for  a  loan  of  $650,000  to 
finance  improvements  which  will  include  the 
proposed  extension  of  the  Warsaw  Avenue 
line.  Director  of  Street  Railways.  William 
Jerome-  Kuertz,  disclosed  this  fact  recently 
to  a  delegation  of  citizens  who  called  on 
him  for  information  in  regard  to  the  above 
mentioned  extension. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Boston     (Mass.)    Elevated    Railway  has 

signed  a  lease  with  the  Boston  Transit 
Commission  for  the  construction  and  opera- 
tion of  an  underground  tunnel  station  at 
Maverick  Square,  East  Boston,  the  end  of 
the  East  Boston  tunnel.  At  present  the 
cars  run  up  an  incline  and  radiate  to  the 
various  surface  lines.  When  the  new  sta- 
tion is  constructed  train  service  will  be 
operated  through  the  tunnel  and  passengers 
will  change  to  surface  cars  at  this  point. 
The  estimated  cost  of  this  station  will  be 
$1,650,000. 

Hudson  &  Manhattan  Railroad  is  purchas- 
ing all  its  energy  from  the  New  York 
Edison  Company.  This  company  took  over 
the  power  plant  located  at  Washington  and 
Bay  Streets,  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey.  It 
contains  four  turbo-generators  with  a  total 
capacity  of  8.000  kw.  The  plant  was  built 
in  1910. 


Professional  Note 


Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  consulting  engi- 
neers. New  York,  have  opened  an  office  at 
1421  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia.  At  this 
office  the  firm  is  prepared  to  render  services 
in  the  way  of  making  valuations,  engineer- 
ing reports,  superintending  construction, 
conducting  management  of  public  utilities 
and  industrial  properties  and  preparing 
financial  programs.  The  office  in  Philadel- 
phia is  in  addition  to  the  offices  at  115 
Broadway,  New  York,  and  at  58  Sutter 
Street,  San  Francisco. 


Trade  Notes 


The  Esterline-Angus  Company,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  has  developed  a  portable  con- 
centration meter  for  showing  the  degree  of 
concentration  of  chemical  salts  in  water. 

W.  H.  Bloss  of  the  executive  sales  de- 
partment of  the  Ohio  Brass  Company  at  its 
main  office,  Mansfield,  Ohio,  died  at  his 
home  in  that  city  on  June  22.  Mr.  Bloss 
had  been  with  the  company  continuously 
since  1906  and  for  the  past  year  had  been 
in  charge  of  steam  railroad  electrification 
for  the  company.  Previous  to  that  he  was 
in  charge  of  sales  for  the  central  district. 

The  Mica  Insulator  Company,  68  Church 
street.  New  York  City,  has  developed  a 
flexible  oiled  cotton  tube  for  withstanding 
high  temperature  in  electrical  machine  and 
instrument  winding. 

.1.  R.  Crawford,  general  sales  manager 
of  the  Union  Carbide  Sales  Company,  has 
succeeded  N.  C.  Catabish  as  general  sales 
manager  of  the  National  Carbon  Company, 
Inc..  Cleveland.  Ohio. 

P.  E.  Eaughlin,  assistant  district  sales 
manager  of  the  Verona  Tool  Works,  Chi- 
cago, has  been  made  district  sales  man- 
ager, succeeding  John  B.  Seymour,  who  as- 
sumed the  office  of  sales  manager  Superior 
Supply  Company,  Chicago,  last  month. 

Jeffrey  Manufacturing  Company,  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  manufacturer  of  conveying,  ele- 
vating, crushing  machinery,  etc.,  has  moved 
its  New  York  office  from  50  Dey  Street  to 
3C  Church  Street.  Harold  B.  Wood  has 
been  made  district  sales  manager,  succeed- 
ing F.  C.  Ayers,  who  has  left  the  company. 

The  International  Register  Company, 
Chicago,  111.,  through  its  sales  agent  the 
Electric  Service  Supplies  Company,  has 
leased  112  International  portable  hand  reg- 
isters to  the-  Third  Avenue  Railway  Com- 
pany, New  York  City.  These  registers  are 
attached  to  the  fare  box  and  used  as  an 
additional  check  on  fares.  About  250  of 
them  were  also  placed  with  the  Public 
Service  Railway  Company,  Newark,  N.  J., 
earlier  this  year,  for  use  on  its  safety  cars. 

The  Worcester  Electric  Tool  Corporation, 
Worcester,  Mass.,  has  recently  been  organ- 
ized to  take  over  the  business  of  the  Sten- 
man  Electric  Valve  Grinder  Company,  Inc  , 
the  Stenman  Electric  Tool  Company  and 
the  Consolidated  Machine  Tool  Company, 
all  of  Worcester.  The  principal  products  of 
the  company  for  the  present  will  be  the 
"HusKee"  three-in-one  combination  service 
tool  and  the  "HusKee"  service  drills.  These 
tools  have  been  on  the  market  in  a  small 
way  for  the  past  six  months  and  are  the 
result  of  over  two  years'  development  wi>rk. 
The  officers  of  the  company  are :  H.  P. 
Gleason,  president  :  A.  G.  Sandberg.  treas- 
urer ;  J.  J.  Kelleher,  sales  manager,  and 
Harold  Raine,  advertising  and  service 
manager. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Pneumatic  Tool  Accessories.  —  Ingersoit- 
Rand  Company,  11  Broadway,  New  York 
City,  has  issued  a  twenty-four-page  booklet 
illustrating  and  describing  its  line  of  "Little 
David"  pneumatic  tool  accessories. 

Fire  Fighting  Equipment. — The  Oil  Con- 
servation Engineering  Company,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  has  issued  a  pamphlet  on  "Eleciric 
Light  and  Power  Plant  Fire  Protection." 
which  describes  the  "Oceco"  10-gal.,  un- 
freezing fire  extinguisher. 

Track  Equipment. — A.  C.  Callon,  Port- 
land, Ore.,  dealer  in  cars,  rails  and  other 
railway  equipment,  has  issued  No.  117  of 
"Callons  Bulletin,"  dated  June  1921,  which 
lists  various  quantities  of  new  and  relaying 
rails,  frogs,  switch  points,  track  bolts,  SDlkes 
and  other  equipment. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


BARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY   H.  NOUKIS.  Managing  Editor 

N. A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLT  ON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQU1ER. Associate  Editor 
DONALD  F.HINE. Editorial  Representative  GEORGE  BUSHFIELD. Editorial  Representative 

L.W.W'.MORROW.Special  Editorial  .Representative  G.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editor 


C.W. STOCKS,  Associate  Editor 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  July  23,  1921 


Number  4 


1 


Avoiding  Losses  as  Important 
as  Increasing  Earnings 

TO  LOWER  the  operating  ratio  is  the  partic*ular 
concern  of  every  interurban  manager  at  this  time. 
This  is  leading  to  an  energetic  search  for  new  business 
to  counteract  the  falling  off  in  normal  regular  business, 
but  another  equally  important  pursuit  to  the  same  end 
is  the  curtailment  of  the  outgo  of  money  earned. 

An  example  of  unavoidable  expenditure  is  the  pay- 
ment of  lost  and  damage  claims  on  merchandise 
handled.  Some  figures  presented  on  the  Central  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association  boat  trip  and  published  in 
this  paper  show  that  in  1920  thirty-four  out  of  sixty- 
six  interurban  member  companies  of  the  Central  Asso- 
ciation paid  out  $142,744  in  freight  claims.  This 
association  has  taken  steps  to  start  a  campaign  of 
education  among  employees  who  handle  freight  and 
among  the  shippers  to  secure  better  marking,  packing, 
billing,  loading  and  handling.  A  similar  campaign 
conducted  by  the  American  Railway  Express  Company 
has  brought  remarkable  results,  and  gives  promise  of 
marked  savings  for  the  effort  on  the  electric  lines.  The 
companies  in  the  Central  territory  should  give  full 
measure  of  co-operation  in  making  this  campaign  effec- 
tive, and  the  idea  is  well  worth  emulation  by  groups  of 
companies  or  individual  companies  in  other  sections. 
If  expenditures  such  as  these,  which  are  purely  waste, 
can  be  eliminated,  the  results  will  be  helpful  on  the 
general  showing  of  the  individual  companies  and  of  the 
industry  as  a  whole. 


to  have  the  final  authority  of  the  company  present  as 
ah  active  participant.  It  is  human  nature  for  aldermen 
to  appreciate  the  attentions  of  no  lesser  person  than  the 
chief  official  of  the  company.  And  if  he  is  just  "John" 
to  them,  the  company's  interests,  while  fair  and  right, 
are  not  likely  to  suffer  severely. 


Making  the  Most  of  the 

Public's  Representatives 

ONE  of  the  major  reasons  for  whatever  success  has 
been  had  with  the  Tayler  franchise  in  Cleveland  is 
embodied  in  the  habit  of  John  J.  Stanley  to  secure  the 
personal  friendship  and  respect  of  the  city  councilmen, 
particularly  those  who  serve  on  the  local  transportation 
committee.  This  is  not  incidental  with  Mr.  Stanley; 
it  is  his  first  order  of  business.  He  gives  these  matters 
his  personal  attention  and  sits  in  all  meetings  in  which 
the  company  is  concerned  so  that  he  may  be  on  hand 
to  answer  any  questions,  or  to  explain  away  any  mis- 
conceptions of  the  street  railway  business  that  may 
arise.  When  he  is  sitting  across  the  table  from  an 
alderman,  whom  he  addresses  by  his  front  name  and 
who,  in  turn,  knows  Mr.  Stanley  as  "John,"  there  will 
hardly  be  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  that  public  rep- 
resentative to  take  action  without  full  and  fair  dis- 
cussion, and  that  is  the  way  it  has  worked  out.  Prob- 
ably because  it  is  the  easier  way,  many  railway 
executives  hold  themselves  aloof  from  the  meetings  and 
particularly  from  the  personal  friendship  of  the  public 
officials.  They  are  busy  with  other  things  and  send 
some  one  down  in  the  organization  to  listen  in  at  the 
meeting  (not  take  part  in  it),  and  report  back  what 
the  committee  or  Council  did.    How  much  better  it  is 


Plan  How  to  Remove  Fare 

Discriminations  and  Inconsistencies 

DURING  the  period  when  rates  were  advancing,  the 
simplest  method  of  making  the  change  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  rate  of  fare  was  usually  a  horizontal 
increase,  as  from  5  cents  to  6,  7  or  8  cents.  The  reason 
for  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  No  matter  how  thoroughly 
a  community  recognized  the  need  of  the  railway  for 
more  money  and  became  reconciled  to  a  higher  fare, 
the  change  could  never  be  a  particularly  popular  one. 
The  public  was  willing  to  accept  it,  but  one  reason 
which  made  acquiescence  easier  was  the  knowledge  that 
the  burden  fell  on  all  equally. 

With  a  material  reduction  in  wages  and  in  cost  of 
materials,  there  will  be  popular  demands  for  reductions 
in  fare.  Railways  should  be  as  interested  in  reducing 
the  cost  of  living  as  other  industries,  and  doubtless  there 
may  be  places  where  reductions  in  the  basic  fare  will 
actually  gain  for  the  railways  an  increase  in  both  gross 
and  net,  but  modifications  of  rates  of  fare  which  will 
reduce  the  net  receipts  of  the  companies  are  not 
warranted  until  the  credit  of  the  railways  is  restored 
and  they  have  an  opportunity  to  carry  out  deferred 
maintenance  and  build  up  some  surplus.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  not  premature  to  consider  the  ways  in  which  a 
reduction  in  fare  might  best  be  made  when  the  time 
comes  to  put  them  in  force. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  method  used  when  the 
rates  were  increased  will  not  be  followed  when  the  rates 
are  reduced,  that  is  to  say,  that  there  will  be  a  hori- 
zontal reduction,  unless  the  conditions  are  such  as  to 
make  such  a  step  the  best  possible  solution  of  the 
problem.  Usually  this  will  not  be  the  case.  On  most 
systems  the  fare  limits  are  an  inheritance  from  the 
ordinances  of  early  days  or  from  ancient  franchises, 
and  it  is  obvious  that  they  are  not  the  best  which  can 
now  be  drawn.  This,  then,  is  the  time  when  each 
management  ought  to  be  considering  seriously  what 
fare  system  is  best  adapted  to  its  particular  property. 
Then  when  the  time  comes  that  reductions  in  fare  are 
made,  these  reductions  can  be  such  as  to  bring  about  a 
logical  fare  system. 

Such  a  system  need  not,  by  any  means,  be  the  same 
in  every  city.  Thus,  with  a  system  like  that  in  Boston 
with  an  inner  area  provided  with  expensive  subways 
and  surrounded  by  separate  communities  furnished 
with  surface  traction  only,  a  reduction  in  fare  for  a 
local  community  ride  may  be  the  most  logical  plan  to 
follow  when  a  reduction  is  made.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  a  city  where  all  cars  radiate  from  a  central  point,  as 


120 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  4 


in  Cleveland,  it  may  be  that  the  reduction  should  first 
be  made  in  a  central  zone  as  a  means  of  building  up 
short-haul  traffic.  In  still  another  city,  the  most  desir- 
able plan  might  be  to  expand  the  central  unit  fare  zone 
in  some  or  all  directions  or  to  correct  glaring  inconsist- 
encies in  the  fare  limits  where  there  is  more  than  one 
zone.  In  another  case,  where  all  the  fare  limits  seem  to 
be  consistently  arranged,  they  can  remain  the  same,  but 
a  reduced  rate  ticket  or  weekly  pass  can  be  installed. 
In  other  localities,  the  introduction  of  a  basic  fare  for 
the  shortest  ride,  with  some  means  of  charging  more  for 
the  longer  ride,  such  as  pay-enter  for  the  first  part  of 
the  ride  and  pay-leave  for  the  latter  part,  may  be  the 
most  fitting  plan. 

In  fact,  there  is  a  multitude  of  ways  of  making  re- 
ductions and  no  set  rule  can  be  laid  down.  But  this  at 
least  can  be  said.  The  present  is  an  excellent  time  for 
the  study  of  this  question  of  straightening  out  incon- 
sistencies and  discriminations  in  fare  limits.  Most 
managers  know  where  these  points  are  on  their  own 
systems.  Reforms  of  this  kind  can  probably  be  made 
more  easily  at  a  time  of  general  fare  reduction  than  at 
any  other  time  and  much  more  easily  than  when  fares 
are  increased. 


A  Mile  a  Day  When 

You  Have  Your  Way 

THE  article  on  municipal  track  construction  at 
Detroit,  in  this  issue,  serves  to  bring  out  the  salient 
feature  of  the  job,  viz. :  the  large  amount  of  track 
completed  daily.  The  task  of  constructing  a  mile  of 
paved  track  a  day  in  paved  city  streets  is  one  of  some 
magnitude,  especially  when  it  is  noted  that  the  existing 
asphalt  pavement  must  be  torn  up.  To  a  large  extent 
the  work  is  a  problem  involving  the  utmost  possible 
use  of  machinery,  and  the  Detroit  municipal  engineers 
have  assembled  a  plant  which  has  enabled  them  to  build 
track  on  a  record-making  scale.  To  a  certain  extent, 
also,  the  type  of  track  as  laid  this  year  is  of  some 
assistance,  since  surfacing  and  lining  are  at  a  minimum 
where  the  type  of  steel  ties  selected  is  installed,  while 
the  "compressed  concrete"  or  Hassam  pavement  may 
readily  be  constructed  in  a  wholesale  manner. 

Another  and  essential  factor  of  the  speed  at  which 
the  work  is  being  carried  on  is  the  control  which  the 
city  has  over  the  streets.  Probably  no  private  enter- 
prise would  be  permitted  to  open  streets  for  such  long 
distances,  much  less  to  open  them  practically  over  their 
entire  width  between  curbs  or  to  block  entrances  to 
homes  and  business  houses  at  will.  In  some  instances 
the  only  access  to  private  property  on  the  Detroit  work 
has  been  by  way  of  the  sidewalks,  and  these  have  been 
used  by  automobiles  and  delivery  wagons  for  block 
after  block.  The  engineer  for  any  private  company 
who  even  suggested  such  a  construction  procedure 
doubtless  would  be  forcibly  ejected  from  his  home  town. 

The  Detroit  work  is  notable  for  the  adherence  to 
the  standards  and  recommendations  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Engineering  Association  in  such  mat- 
ters as  rails  and  drainage  provisions.  Especial  atten- 
tion has  been  given  to  the  latter.  It  should  not  be 
understood  from  this  that  the  Engineering  Association 
has  recommended  the  rigid  type  of  construction  which 
has  been  adopted  for  the  work  done  this  year.  Neither 
has  the  association  recommended  the  use  of  the  con- 
crete pavement. 

Another  feature  of  the  work  is  the  adoption  of  the 
metallic  electrode  type  of  seam-weld  rail  joints  as 


standard.  In  view  of  the  discussion  which  seam-weld 
joints  are  receiving  at  the  hands  of  track  engineers,  it 
will  be  worth  while  to  watch  the  performance  of  the 
Detroit  installation  because  its  extent  is  sufficient  to 
give  the  joint  an  ideal  service  test.  In  fact,  the  entire 
track  installation  should  afford  opportunities  for  study 
of  the  performance  of  a  type  of  track  construction 
which  constantly  has  been  gaining  headway.  The  at- 
tention paid  to  the  return  circuit  is  to  be  marked 
because  exceptional  steps  have  been  taken  to  assure  a 
return  of  large  capacity  and  one  which  cannot  readily 
be  disrupted. 

The  entire  enterprise  gives  evidence  of  careful  pre- 
liminary study  in  an  attempt  to  build  tracks  which  will 
stand  up  under  the  poor  soil  conditions  for  which 
Detroit  is  noted. 


Store  Door  Delivery  by  Railway 
and  Truck  Co-operation 

THERE  have  been  many  proponents  of  store  door 
delivery  as  a  means  of  reducing  total  transportation 
costs  and  of  speeding  up  service,  but  little  actual  prog- 
ress has  been  made  in  putting  the  idea  into  practice. 
The  opponents  or  doubters  of  such  a  plan  should  be 
given  food  for  thought,  at  least,  by  the  experience  in 
Chicago,  related  in  this  issue.  ■ 

That  an  increase  in  rate  equal  to  the  delivery  charge 
of  independent  trucking  concerns  is  not  used  is  to  be 
expected.  On  an  independent  basis,  then,  the  delivery 
will  not  pay.  But  that  very  fact  is  a  part  of  the  reason 
for  increased  business.  More  important,  however,  is 
the  idea  of  the  service  given.  It  is  service  which  the 
railway  has  to  sell  to  its  freight  customers,  and  the  fact 
that  the  customers  appreciate  this  new  service  in 
Chicago  is  attested,  according  to  the  data,  by  so  large 
an  increase  in  volume  that  the  total  profits  have  been 
favorably  augmented. 

An  articulation  of  various  transporting  agencies  is 
a  much-needed  development  today,  and  the  success 
attending  the  intelligent  use  and  co-ordination  of  motor 
trucks  by  an  electric  railway  management  should 
encourage  others  to  adopt  similar  programs. 

It  is  good  business  for  the  railway,  for  the  truck  and 
for  the  public. 


''In  Business  as  a  Conductor," 

Not  "Working  for  the  Railway  Company" 

MAY  NOT  the  first  aim  of  all  employee  training  and 
much  organization  and  personnel  work  be  epito- 
mized in  the  statement  that  what  is  being  attempted  is 
to  put  each  employee  "In  business  as  a  railway  man" 
rather  than  merely  "working  for  the  company"  ? 

The  real  end  desired  is  that  the  employee  have  a 
knowledge  of  the  business;  that  he  understand  some- 
thing of  costs  and  revenue;  that  he  realize  that  profits, 
including  his  own  wages,  must  be  earned  and  are  ob- 
tainable only  from  the  difference  between  revenue  and 
expense ;  that  he  is  a  producer  and  a  salesman — one  of  a 
large  group  all  in  one  kind  of  business,  mutually  help- 
ful and  organized  for  greatest  efficiency,  and  that  he 
is  "in  business  as  a  railway  man"  as  much  as  the  gen- 
eral manager,  only  in  a  different  capacity. 

It  seems  worth  while  to  suggest  this  phrase,  which 
really  carries  its  own  significance,  as  a  motto  or  slogan 
to  have  in  mind  in  dealing  with  employees.  When 
every  employee  feels  himself  "in  business"  in  his  par- 
ticular job,  rather  than  selling  his  time,  "working  for 
the  company,"  many  problems  are  automatically  solved. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


121 


A  Mile  of  Paved  Track  a  Day 

Eighty-two  Miles  of  Track  to  Be  Built  by  Detroit  Municipal  Railway  This  Summer— Rigid  Type  Construc- 
tion, with  Heavy  Plain  Girder  Rail,  Seam-Welded  Joints  and  Steel  Ties,  Is  Used — 
Unusual  Methods  Employed  to  Expedite  Construction  Program 


Concrete  Mixing  Plant  and  T^rain  Used  in  Distributing  1,000-Ft.  Either  Wat 


HETHER  the  city  of  Detroit  is  in  earnest  about 
going  into  the  street  railway  business,  the 
reader  may  judge  for  himself  after  learning 
from  what  follows  of  the  magnitude  and  nature  of  the 
construction  work  now  going  on  there.  Besides  those 
franchiseless  Detroit  United  Railway  lines  which  the 
city  plans  to  add  to  its  system  by  purchase  this  year, 
it  is  expected  that  82  miles  of  single-track  equivalent 
line  will  be  completed  before  the  winter  sets  in,  so  that 
by  the  end  of  1921  the  city  may  have  a  railway  system 
of  some  importance.  The  construction  is  soon  to  be 
carried  on  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  of  single  track  a  work- 
ing day.  Already  the  scale  of  work  has  reached  a 
magnitude  nearing  this  schedule.  The  outstanding 
features  are  the  extensive  use  of  labor-saving  devices, 
the  adherence  to  American  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion standards,  the  permanence  of  the  construction  and 
the  ends  to  which  the  officials  have  gone  to  secure  good 
drainage  and  good  negative  return  circuit. 

During  the  working  week  from  May  2  to  May  7 
27,676  cu.ft.  of  trackway  excavation  was  made,  11,496 
ft.  of  rail  laid  and  12,117  ft.  of  concreting  and  paving 
done.  On  one  of  these  days  360  truckloads  of  excava- 
tion of  6  and  7  cu.yd.  each  were  hauled  from  various 
locations  to  the  lower  end  of  Belle  Isle  and  dumped 
to  fill  in  and  enlarge  the  island.  Up  to  May  7  the 
work  completed  this  season  includes  111,823  cu.ft.  of 
trackway  excavation,  59,133  ft.  of  rail  laid  and  27,250  ft. 
of  concreting  and  paving.  Forty  to  fifty  carloads  of 
materials  of  all  kinds  are  being  received  daily. 

The    construction    equipment    purchased  includes, 


among  other  things,  twelve  Erie  steam  shovels  for 
excavating  the  trackway  and  breaking  up  existing  pave- 
ment, six  Erie  cranes  for  handling  aggregate  at  the 
mixer  plants  and  in  the  storage  yard,  three  Rex  and 
three  Lakewood  14-cu.ft.  concrete  mixers,  ninety  Lake- 
wood  three-bucket  cars,  six  4-ton  Burton  kerosene  loco- 
motives for  pulling  the  concrete  trains,  4  miles  of  indus- 
trial track,  two  tractors  for  snaking  rail,  two  Winthrop 
Truck  Company  tractor  earth-boring  machines  and  pole 
setters,  twelve  Wilson  plastic-arc,  two-electrode  welding 
machines,  and  other  labor-saving  devices.  For  hauling 
excavated  earth  and  transporting  the  various  materials 
to  the  job  200  motor  trucks  are  being  rented. 

The  total  number  of  employees  is  1,800,  of  whom  the 
great  majority  are  engaged  as  construction  forces.  All 
work  is  being  done  by  the  railway  department  itself 
rather  than  on  contract.  The  trackwork  is  being  done 
under  the  direction  of  H.  P.  Hevenor,  who  is  retained 
as  consulting  and  construction  engineer,  with  W.  R. 
Dunham,  Jr.,  formerly  engineer  of  way  the  Connecticut 
Company,  as  principal  assistant.  The  overhead  con- 
struction, described  in  an  article  to  follow,  and  the  track 
bonding  and  welding  are  being  done  under  the  direc- 
tion of  H.  M.  Gould,  electrical  engineer  and  formerly 
electrical  and  signal  engineer  of  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany. 

Present  Status  of  Detroit  Situation 

These  last  few  paragraphs  will  give  an  idea  of  the 
extent  of  the  railway  construction  activities  of  the 
city  now  in  progress.    A  comprehensive  understanding 


122 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


Aggressive  Tactics  Used  in  Excavating 
for  and  Laying  the  Track 

1.  Machine  used  for  breaking  up  paving  for  track 
excavation. 

2.  Appearance  of  warm  asphalt  after  breaking  up.  Note 
chiseled  line  marking  edge  of  excavation.  In  background 
asphalt  has  been  removed  for  reclaiming  and  materials 
stored  along  trackway  for  new  construction. 

3.  A  better  ex- 
ample of  how  the 
breaker  leaves  the 
paving. 

4.  Steam  shovel 
digging  excavation 
for  track  and  load- 
ing paving  and 
earth  into  motor 
trucks. 

5.  The  heavy 
clay  soil  encoun- 
tered necessitates 
special  drainage 
provision. 

6.  Ordinary  field 
tile  are  used  for 
drainage  and  the 
trench  filled  i  n 
with  broken  slag. 

7.  A  layer  of 
slag  is  spread  over 
the  track  trench 
and  rolled. 

8.  Rails  and  ties 
are  assembled  and 
blocked  and  wedged 
to  grade  and  align- 
ment. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


123 


of  the  present  status  of  the  whole  traction  situation 
in  Detroit  can  best  be  gained  from  a  study  of  the  maps 
especially  prepared  for  this  purpose  and  reproduced 
herewith.  The  map  on  page  124  shows  the  franchise 
situation  of  the  Detroit  United  Railway  as  understood 
by  the  city  authorities.  The  lines  are  divided  into  three 
classes :  Those  on  which  the  franchises  have  several 
years  to  run  before  expiration ;  those  lines  being  op- 
erated without  franchises,  and  those  on  which  the  fran- 
chises have,  expired  and  operation  is  continued  on  a  day- 
to-day  agreement.  The  expiration  of  a  franchise,  of 
course,  places  the  city  in  a  position  of  advantage  in 
negotiating  piecemeal  purchases. 

The  map  below  shows  the  municipal  lines  built  and 


Last  year  the  city  built  eighteen  of  the  67.1  miles 
of  track  planned  as  the  first  year's  work.  The  uncom- 
pleted remainder,  added  to  the  lines  planned  for  con- 
struction in  1921  (33.65  miles),  gives  the  total  of  82.75 
miles  to  be  built  this  year  in  order  to  catch  up  with  the 
original  promises  made  to  the  voters.  By  the  end  of 
1921,  if  the  present  schedule  is  accomplished,  the  city 
will  have  constructed  100.75  miles  of  single  track.  In 
addition,  it  will  have  acquired  by  purchase  roughly  28 
miles,  making  a  total  system  by  the  end  of  1921  com- 
prising in  the  neighborhood  of  130  miles.  At  the  time 
of  this  writing  plans  had  been  nearly  completed  for  a 
new  shop  capable  of  handling  500  cars,  a  new  carhouse 
and  open  storage  for  200  cars  and  a  large  office  building, 


This  Map  Was  Drafted  by  the  Municipal,  Railway  Authorities  to  Show  the  Condition  of  Their  Lines  in  About  May  of  This 

Year  with  the  Private  Lines  Which  the  City  Hoped  to  Take  Over 


in  operation;  the  lines  built  but  not  being  operated;  the 
lines  now  under  construction ;  the  additional  lines  to  be 
constructed  this  year;  those  D.  U.  R.  lines  already 
purchased;  those  D.  U.  R.  lines  the  purchase  of  which 
has  been  authorized;  those  D.  U.  R.  lines  which  the  city 
plans  later  to  purchase  though  the  bonds  are  not  yet 
authorized,  and,  finally,  the  existing  D.  U.  R.  lines  and 
the  ultimate  municipal  lines,  construction  of  which  was 
authorized  at  the  April,  1920,  election.  By  taking  the 
first  six  groups  together,  these  lines  being  indicated  on 
the  map  by  the  several  heavy-line  legends,  an  idea  may 
be  gained  of  what  the  municipal  system  will  comprise 
by  the  end  of  1921  if  present  intentions  are  carried  out, 
and  the  relation  of  this  to  the  D.  U.  R.  system  and  to 
the  proposed  further  city  construction. 


all  of  which  are  to  be  built  this  summer.  Twenty-five 
cars  are  in  operation  and  100  more  on  order. 

Of  the  first  18  miles  of  track  built  in  1920  two  inter- 
secting lines  on  Charlevoix  and  St.  Jean  Streets,  as 
seen  on  the  map  and  comprising  about  13  miles  of  single 
track,  are  being  operated  in  a  district  not  otherwise 
served,  in  which  there  are  several  important  factories 
and  scattered  residences.  During  six  hours  a  day 
twenty-two  cars  are  operated  to  give  rush-hour  service 
and  eleven  cars  all  day.  J.  S.  Goodwin,  general  man- 
ager, formerly  Bridgeport  manager  for  the  Connecti- 
cut Company,  reports  that  the  earnings  of  these  lines 
under  conditions  obviously  unfavorable  with  only  a 
piece  of  a  system,  are  just  about  breaking  even  with 
expenses  now. 


124 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


During  1920  the  track  construction  was  done  by  con- 
tract. The  type  of  construction  employed  then  is 
somewhat  similar  to  the  standard  of  the  D.  U.  R.  This 
included  a  trench  22  in.  deep  in  which  a  separate 
8-in.  slab  of  1:3:5  concrete  was  poured  under  each 
track  and  permitted  to  set.  Over  this  a  1-in.  layer 
of  1 :4  dry  mix  of  sand  and  cement  was  placed  and  the 


4'-8i"  - 


  IG>-6»  

->f< — -2'-6f — ->K — 2'-6g- — ->-(<  4'-8f— 

■sL.5.Co.9/-375  \       Compressed  concrete  paving 

-rr 


— _n 

>fV2"H 


Long  i tud ina  1     Section  A"A 


B-B 


Longitudinal  Section 

Sectional  Drawings  of  Track  Under  Construction  by  the  Detroit 
Municipal  System  on  June  1 


track  assembled  on  top  of  this  and  concreted  in.  This 
upper  pouring  of  concrete  was  brought  up  to  the  level 
of  the  rails  and  floated  and  brushed  to  form  the  paving. 
Wood  ties,  6  in.  x  10  in.  x  6  ft.  8  in.,  and  91-lb.  7-in. 
standard  A.E.R.A.  plain  girder  (or  high  T)  rail  were 
used,  the  joints  being  electrically  welded.  Steel  ties 
were  substituted  for  the  wood  ties  on  22,600  ft.  of 
double  track  built  last  year  on  Buchanan  Street. 

Type  of  Construction  Now  Being  Used 

Beginning  this  year,  the  department  of  street  rail- 
ways decided  to  do  its  own  construction  work  and  to 
adopt  a  monolithic  type  of  rigid  track  construction, 
employing  International  steel  twin  ties  altogether,  ex- 
cept under  special  work.  By  virtue  of  this  change  the 
depth  of  trench  required  was  reduced  to  17*  in.  and, 
according  to  Mr.  Goodwin,  $30,000  per  mile  saved  on 
the  cost  of  construction  as  compared  to  the  cost  of 
the  type  of  construction  used  last  year  embodying  wood 
ties. 

This  new  type  of  construction  consists  first  of  2  in. 
of  rolled  slag  on  the  bottom  of  the  trench,  with  a 
1:2:4  mix  of  concrete  poured  from  the  slag  up  over  the 
ties  and  base  of  the  rails.  After  this  has  hardened,  the 
remainder  of  the  trench  up  to  the  level  of  the  rails  is 
filled  in  with  2}  to  3  in.  crushed  Wisconsin  granite. 
This  is  rolled  and  then  filled  in  with  1 :2  grout  and 
rolled  again,  forming  what  is  termed  "compressed  con- 
crete pavement."  The  rail  used  is  either  A.E.R.A. 
7-in.  91  or  93-lb.  plain  girder  or  A.  R.  A.  (which  is  also 
a  standard  of  A.E.R.A.)  100-lb.  6-in.  standard  section 
rail,  both  sections  being  supplied  by  the  Lorain  Steel 
Company.  The  93-lb.  rail  is  identical  with  the  91-lb. 
except  that  the  thickness  of  the  web  just  beneath  the 
rail  head  has  been  increased  to  £  in.,  tapering  to  the 
standard  thickness  of  rail  web,  ft  in.,  to  a  point  between 
the  rail  head  and  the  top  of  the  bolt  hole.  The  heavier 
section  is  used  on  those  streets  on  which  greatest 
density  of  traffic  is  expected,  and  it  not  only  reduces 
the  amount  of  concrete  required  by  a  depth  of  1  in. 
but  the  price  per  ton  is  also  less.  The  100-lb.  rail  comes 
in  66-ft.  lengths,  while  the  91  and  93-lb.  sections  come 
in  60-ft.  lengths. 


The  steel  ties  are  spaced  5  ft.  6  in.  average  centers 
and  have  the  ends  bent  upward  to  give  a  cant  of  1  to 
25,  thus  providing  for  an  inward  tilting  of  the  rails 
by  the  same  amount. 

The  rail  joints  are  made  by  using  two  20-in.  x  l-in. 
plates  which  are  held  in  place  by  two  1-in.  bolts  and 
electrically  welded  along  the  top  and  bottom.  The  head 
and  nut  of  each  of  the  bolts  are  welded 
to  the  rail  and  the  nut  to  the  bolt.  This 
welding  is  done  by  the  short  arc  or 
metallic  electrode  process,  using  Wilson 
Welder  &  Metals  Company  two-arc, 
gasoline  engine-driven  welding  ma- 
chines. This  welding  work  will  be 
treated  more  fully  later  on. 

Construction  Methods  and 
Engineering 

Where  a  new  street-car  line  is  to  be 
constructed  on  a  street  already  paved, 
the  first  operation  is  to  cut  a  line  with 
hand  chisel  and  sledges  to  mark  the  side 
lines  of  the  track  excavation.  A  pave- 
ment breaker  consisting  of  an  Erie 
steam  shovel  equipped  with  guides  and 
a  2,000-lb.  weight,  which  is  raised  and  dropped,  is  then 
used  to  break  and  shatter  the  asphalt  and  concrete 
foundation.  If  the  asphalt  surface  is  good,  it  is  re- 
moved and  reclaimed  by  the  Department  of  Public 
Works.  This  breaker  and  the  manner  in  which  it 
shatters  the  pavement  are  shown  in  the  accompanying 
pictures. 

The  next  step  is  the  use  of  a  l-yd.  Erie  steam  shovel 
to  dig  up  the  broken  concrete  and  earth  and  dump  it 
into  motor  trucks  for  removal.  After  this  is  done,  a 
drainage  trench  16  in.  deep  is  dug  by  hand  along  the 
center  of  the  trackway  and  common  6-in.  field  tile 
installed  to  insure  thorough  drainage  underneath  the 
track  structure.  The  problem  of  drainage  is  particu- 
larly severe  in  Detroit  on  account  of  the  heavy  clay 


Lzgznd 
Day-to-day  agreement  tracks 
Non -franchise  tracks 
Franchise  tracks 


Present  Franchise  Status  of  the  D.  U.  R.  City  Lines  as 
Understood  by  the  Detroit  Authorities 

soil  which  offers  practically  no  natural  drainage.  Hence 
unless  provision  is  made  for  carrying  away  any  accu- 
mulation of  water,  the  clay  soil  and  extremely  flat  topog- 
raphy result  in  a  working  of  the  entire  track  structure 
on  a  watery  bed,  under  traffic  conditions,  producing  a 
rapid  deterioration.     Hence  a  great  effort  has  been 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


125 


made  to  seal  the  track  from  above,  to  provide  good  sur- 
face drainage,  and  to  drain  it  thoroughly  from  below. 
It  is  considered  that  if  this  drainage  problem  is  solved, 
the  most  difficult  phase  of  track  construction  in  Detroit 
is  mastered.  An  accompanying  picture  shows  very 
clearly  the  nature  of  the  subsoil  on  which  the  track 
structure  must  be  placed.  Another  paragraph  dealing 
with  surface  drainage  appears  later  in  this  article. 

With  the  drainage  tile  in  place,  the  trench  is  filled 
with  i-in  to  1-in.  broken  slag  and  then  a  2-in.  layer  of 
slag  (or  cinders  when  slag  cannot  be  secured)  spread 
over  the  entire  track  trench  and  compressed  with  an 
8-ton  roller.  The  steel  ties  and  rails  are  then  assembled 
and  blocked  up  approximately  to  grade  by  means  of 
concrete  blocks  made  for  this  special  purpose  during 
the  past  winter.  An  effort  is  made  to  bring  the  rails 
as  near  to  grade  and  alignment  as  possible  before  weld- 
ing, but  it  is  necessary  to  make  the  final  adjustment 


tive  return.  If  every  joint  were  broken  down  there 
would  still  be  an  electrical  by-pass  around .  thi  joints 
through  the  intermediate  welded  ties  and  opposite  rail. 

To  accomplish  this  extensive  welding  work  twelve 
Wilson  welding  machines  were  purchased.  Even  with 
this  number  of  machines  it  is  necessary  at  times  to 
work  two  shifts  a  day  in  order  to  keep  ahead  of  the 
concreters.  This  is  avoided  if  possible,  however,  as  the 
noise  of  the  engine  and  the  flashing  of  the  arc  annoy 
the  residents  at  night.  Some  little  difficulty  was  had 
in  training  welders  to  handle  this  plastic  arc  welding. 
Most  of  the  experienced  welders  were  accustomed  to 
other  machines  using  a  longer  arc.  Whenever  an  arc 
over  §  in.  long  is  drawn  with  this  machine  the  current 
is  automatically  cut  off.  Hence  except  for  those  men 
who  had  previously  had  experience  in  handling  the 
short  arc  the  best  results  were  obtained  by  breaking 
in  entirely  inexperienced  men.    These  Wilson  welders 


f  \' 

i 


after  the  welding  has  been  completed,  and  just  prior  to 
pouring  the  concrete  foundation. 

The  welding  work  is  usually  carried  on  by  placing 
a  Wilson  welding  machine  on  each  track  and  assigning 
an  operator  to  each  rail.  The  use  of  gasoline  engine- 
driven  generators  was  necessitated  because  of  the  ab- 
sence of  power  in  many  locations  and  because  the  over- 
head construction  has  for  the  most  part  been  erected 
after  completion  of  the  trackwork.  The  joint  plates 
are  welded  to  the  head  and  base  of  the  rail  along  their 
entire  length  and  the  bolt  heads  and  nuts  welded  as 
already  mentioned.  The  operator  also  welds  the  two 
rails  together  at  the  base  where  the  two  ends  abut,  and 
then  welds  the  base  of  the  rail  to  the  plate  of  the  steel 
tie.  The  rail  joints  are  staggered  and  both  sides  of  the 
base  of  the  rail  opposite  a  joint  are  also  welded  to  the 
tie  plate.  This  is  done  on  both  sides  of  the  rail.  Also, 
beginning  at  the  joint,  every  other  tie  is  welded  to 
the  base  of  the  rail  and  on  one  tie  per  rail  length  located 
midway  between  joints  the  two  tie  plates  are  each 
spot  welded  at  the  four  corners  to  the  cross  channels 
(making  eight  spot  welds)  as  well  as  to  both  sides  of 
the  bases  of  the  two  rails.  This  insures  a  perfect 
cross  bond  between  rails  and  makes  it  practically  an 
impossibility  for  an  open  circuit  to  occur  in  the  nega- 


have  a  capacity  of  300  amp.  at  35  volts  using  approxi- 
mately 20  volts  at  the  arc.  Under  the  very  heavy  serv- 
ice to  which  they  have  been  subjected  they  have  worked 
out  very  well.  Two  Ohio  Brass  Company  resistance- 
type  welders  have  also  been  used  at  locations  where 
current  was  available.  All  joints  are  finally  finished 
off  with  a  reciprocating  grinder  after  the  track  is 
entirely  completed. 

Concreting  Methods  and  Equipment 

After  the  track  is  assembled  and  welded  and  wedged 
and  blocked  to  grade  and  alignment  the  concrete  for 
the  base  is  poured  as  a  rather  large  scale  operation. 
The  concrete  is  prepared  at  a  central  mixing  plant  and 
distributed  1,000  ft.  either  way  by  means  of  side  dump 
cars  which  are  hauled  over  a  narrow-gage  track  by 
means  of  kerosene  engine  locomotives  supplied  by  the 
Burton  Engine  &  Machine  Company,  Cincinnati.  After 
a  2,000-ft.  stretch  of  track  is  concreted  the  mixing  plant 
is  moved  to  the  middle  point  of  the  next  2,000-ft.  sec- 
tion and  again  erected. 

These  mixing  plants  are  usually  located  in  a  street 
intersecting  the  line  under  construction.  The  concrete 
materials  are  brought  by  truck  and  unloaded  in  the 
street  adjacent  to  the  plant.   From  here  they  are  picked 


9.  Dumping  concrete  from  cars  into  pan  and  pouring  to  make 
track  foundation. 

10.  Another  pouring  scene  showing  how  care  is  taken  to  g-et 
complete  bearing  under  ties  and  rails. 

11.  "Lift  bridge"  used  for  operating  concrete  trains  across  exist- 
ing car  tracks. 

12.  Concrete  foundation  completed  and  surface  roughed  up  to 
secure  binding  with  paving  concrete. 

13.  Crushed  granite  is  dumped  by  truck  loads  on  the  track  after 
the  base  has  hardened. 


14.  Distributing  the  granite  to  a  level  slightly  above  the  rail 
ready  for  rolling. 

15.  Appearance  of  track  after  spreading  the  layer  of  granite 
and  before  rolling.  ,  „ 

16.  Grouting  machine.  The  stone  is  rolled  both  before  and 
after  grouting  to  form  "compressed  concrete  paving." 

17.  After  final  rolling,  hand-tampers  remove  any  irregularities 
and  smooth  up  the  flangeway. 

18.  The  final  operation  is  to  distribute  surplus  grout  and  cross- 
brush  the  surface. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


127 


pi  -  

J    ;  |*- ~  

J  I 


16"- 


A*! 


I 


4  rf/fl/r? 

1  Rrlj 


 '   . 

g^_J  S«c+ion  A-A 

Cross-Sectional  Views  of  Track  Drain,  Showing  Cover  Construction 


Section  B-B 


up  by  an  Erie  crane  and  clamshell  bucket  and  dumped 
into  an  elevated  bin  from  which  they  are  discharged  by 
gravity  into  the  charging  skip  of  the  mixer.  The 
cement  is  emptied  from  bags  by  hand  into  this  skip. 
When  the  charge  is  made  up  the  chute  from  the  over- 
head bin  is  raised  so  that  the  skip  may  be  elevated  and 
the  materials  discharged  into  the  14-cu.ft.  steam-driven 
mixer.  The  mixer  discharges  directly  into  the  narrow- 
gage  dump  cars.-  The  aggregate  used  is  made  up  of 
25  per  cent  1-in.  to  2i-in.  slag  to  neutralize  the  excessive 
amount  of  sand  in  the  local  gravel. 

One  locomotive  and  three  five-car  trains  serve  each 
mixer.  Three  trains  are  required  in  order  to  facilitate 
the  movement  of  the  cars,  the  plan  followed  requiring 
only  a  single  track  with  a  short  double-end  siding  at  the 
imixer  plant.  Five  cars  stand  idle  on  this  side  track 
while  the  locomotive  is  taking  five  other  cars  to  the 
pouring  point  and  return  and  the  third  five  cars  are 
being  filled  at  the  mixer.  The  scheme  is  this:  The 
locomotive  pushes  the  loaded  train  to  the  pouring  point 
and  pulls  it  back  after  the  cars  are  dumped.  When  it 
returns  it  takes  the  siding,  couples  with  the  five  idle  cars 
and  uncouples  from  the  five  cars  which  it  has  just 
brought  back.  The  five  cars  just  picked  up  are  then 
pushed  through  the  opposite  end  of  the  siding  and 
then  pulled  back  on  the  track  immediately  in  front  of 
the  mixer.  The  locomotive  is  then  uncoupled  from  these 
empty  cars  and  coupled  to  the  five  loaded  cars  and  the 
cycle  is  repeated.  While  the  engine  is  gone  the  five 
cars  on  the  mixer  track  are  moved  up  one  at  a  time  by 
hand  and  filled,  moved  on  beyond  the  mixer  and  coupled 
up  ready  for  handling  by  the  locomotive.  It  takes  a  lot 
of  words  to  tell  about  this  but  the  operation  is  very 
simple  and  quick,  the  locomotives  coupling  and  un- 
coupling practically  without  stopping  except  to  reverse 
direction. 

At  the  pouring  point  the  cars  are  dumped  in  a  large 
steel  pan  from  which  the  concrete  is  shoveled  and  hoed 
into  the  track  and  shoveled  and  tamped  underneath  ties, 
and  underneath  rails  between  ties,  so  that  a  complete 
bearing  is  secured.  As  the  concrete  is  carried  up  2  in. 
over  the  base  of  the  rail,  embedding  and  gripping  the 
ties  and  base  of  the  rail,  the  construction  is  spoken  of 
as  being  monolithic,  though  the  paving  is  put  on  as  a 
separate  layer.  An  effort  is  made  to  secure  a  good 
union  between  the  paving  layer  and  the  base  concrete 
by  roughing  up  the  surface  of  the  latter  before  it  sets. 

Building  the  Compressed  Concrete  Paving 

After  the  base  is  poured,  the  concrete  is  allowed  to 
set  three  or  four  days  until  trucks  can  be  driven  over 
it.  Crushed  Wisconsin  granite  in  2i  to  3-in.  sizes  is 
then  dumped  on  the  track  by  truck  loads  so  distributed 
as  to  require  minimum  handling.  From  these  piles  the 
granite  is  spread  with  forks  and  this  is  the  only  part 
of  the  work  where  a  large  number  of  men  are  seen  to 
be  engaged  in  one  operation.  The  stone  is  spread  over 
the  trackway,  level  with  the  top  of  the  rails  or  slightly 


above,  and  is  then  rolled  with 
an  8-ton  roller,  which  just 
fits  in  between  the  rails,  until 
the  pieces  of  stone  are  thor- 
oughly welded  together  and 
a  compact  mass  of  stone  ob- 
tained. A  1 : 2  grout  is  then 
poured  into  the  stone,  filling 
the  joints  until  flush  with 
the  top.  The  roller  is  again 
applied,  squeezing  out  all  the 
air  and  securing  a  complete 
penetration.  The  rolling  is 
continued  until  there  ceases 
to  be  a  wave  of  grout  ahead 
of  the  roller,  thus  forming  a 
granite-concrete  pavement  of 
extreme  hardness  and  pre- 
sumably having  much  of  the 
resistance  to  wear  that  is 
characteristic  of  Wisconsin 
granite  block  paving.  The 
grout  mixer  consists  of  a 

sheet-iron  tank  with  straight  sides  and  a  curved  bottom 
mounted  on  heavy  steel  wheels  with  the  platform  about 
three  feet  above  the  ground.  A  steel  shaft  to  which 
mixing  blades  are  fastened  runs  longitudinally  through 
the  tank.  This  shaft  is  rotated  by  a  small  gasoline 
motor  which  also  operates  a  loading  hopper.   The  grout 


t 

f 

1 

"I 

* 

41 

1 

=3 

F 

1 

-J 

1,000.000 
CM.caUz- 

Three  4/o 
arc  weld  / 
bonds 

i 

-T 

Soldered 
Joint 

—Two  tyo 
arc  weld 
bonds 

-J, 

Sketch  op  Bonding  Around 
Special  Work  Layout 


<  ^rz — t 


At  Top,  Type  of  Mechanical  and  Electrical  Joints  Used  in 
Track  Special  Work.    At  Bottom,  Bolted  and  Welded 
Compromise  Joints  Between  Special  Work 
and  Standard  Section 


128 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


is  delivered  from  the  bottom  of  the  tank  through  two 
galvanized  iron  telescopic  swinging  spouts,  which  ter- 
minate in  cylindrical  perforated  heads  about  12  in.  in 
diameter.  These  spout  heads  are  moved  over  the  work 
to  distribute  the  grout  equally.  One  of  these  units  will 
lay  about  900  sq.yd.  of  grouted  cement,  6  in.  in  depth, 
per  eight-hour  day. 

Just  before  the  grout  rolling  is  begun  provision  is 


A  Crane  and  Clamshell  Bucket  and  Overhead  Bunker 
Greatly  Facilitate  Handling  of  Materials 
and  Loading  Trucks  at  Storage  Yard 

made  for  forming  the  flangeway  along  each  rail  by 
laying  down,  adjacent  to  the  rail,  flange  forms  consist- 
ing of  a  4-in.  steel  strip  on  top,  to  which  is  riveted  a 
3-in.  strip  underneath,  with  a  wood  filler  between  the 
two  in  such  manner  as  to  give  a  triangular  cross-sec- 
tion. As  these  forms  are  laid  in  place  the  base  of  the 
triangle  is  adjacent  to  the  rail  and  the  hypotenuse  down. 
As  the  grouted  stone  is  rolled  these  forms  are  pressed 
into  the  structure,  forming  a  flangeway  in  the  concrete. 
They  are  removed  after  the  rolling  has  been  completed. 

A  group  of  men  follow  along  after  the  rolling  is 
completed  and  tamp  down  any  irregularities  in  the  sur- 
face and  trim  up  the  flangeway.  These  men  are  fol- 
lowed by  another  group  equipped  with  brooms  who  dis- 


Texture  of  Detroit  Compressed  Concrete  Paving  and  Founda- 
tion Concrete  as  Revealed  bt  Test  Opening 

tribute  any  surplus  grout  and  complete  the  paving  sur- 
face with  a  cross-brushed  finish.  This  type  of  paving 
is  called  "compressed  concrete  paving"  in  Detroit,  but 
the  more  common  name  for  it  is  stone  paving.  It  is 
being  used  quite  commonly  in  highway  construction  and 
has  been  used  to  a  limited  extent  by  New  England  trac- 
tion companies.  The  amount  of  stone  used  with  this 
compressed  process  is  from  8  to  10  per  cent  more  than 


in  ordinary  concrete.  The  advantages  claimed  for  this 
particular  type  of  concrete  pavement  are  as  follows:  It 
is  more  dense  and  homogeneous  than  ordinary  mixed 
concrete.  It  is  free  from  pockets  of  sand  and  fine  aggre- 
gate. As  the  stone  is  placed  and  then  grouted,  large- 
sized  stone  can  be  used  so  that  all  wear  is  directly  on  the 
stone  instead  of  on  the  cement  mortar  and  the  pave- 
ment thus  has  greater  resistance  to  abrasion,  the  mor- 
tar cementing  the  stone  together.  A  smooth  surface 
comparable  with  asphalt  is  obtained.  This  type  of 
concrete  pavement  holds  up  better  under  traffic  and  is 
less  likely  to  crack  and  chip  than  ordinary  concrete. 
Excavations  through  it  for  underground  structures  are 
repaired  in  the  same  manner  as  in  ordinary  concrete 
pavement. 

Special  Work  Construction  and  Bonding 

At  all  special  work  locations  wood  ties,  tie  plates  and 
tie  rods  and  granite  block  paving  are  being  used,  other- 
wise the  construction  is  the  same  as  on  tangent  track. 
The  special  work  is  of  the  manganese  insert  type  using 
tadpole  switches  entirely,  all  special  work  being  of 
Lorain  manufacture.  All  joints  in  special  work  are 
made  with  six-bolt  fishplates  which  are  also  welded 
along  the  top  and  bottom,  including  the  compromise 
joints  between  the  special  work  and  standard  section. 
The  electrical  circuit  of  these  joints  is  further  insured 
by  the  use  of  one 


Appearance  of  Completed  Joint 
After  Welding 


No.  0000  arc-welded 
bond  attached  to 
the  base  of  the  rail 
on  either  side  of  the 
26-in.  joint  plate. 
In  close  work  where 
there  is  not  room 
to  attach  this  bond 
outside  the  fish 
plate  a  short  U-bond  is  used  instead  and  welded  to  the 
base  of  the  rail.  This  extra  bond  is  used  as  a  safety 
measure,  since  the  joint  in  a  curve  or  other  special  work 
is  more  likely  to  break  down  than  in  tangent  track,  and 
the  expense  involved  in  doing  this,  when  the  welding 
machine  is  right  there,  is  of  small  consequence  as  com- 
pared to  the  value  of  the  extra  surety  of  the  negative 
circuit.  Another  reason  given  for  the  use  of  this  extra 
bond  is  that  by  this  means  about  the  same  electrical 
capacity  is  provided  through  the  special  work  where 
wood  ties  are  used  as  exists  where  the  steel  ties  are  used 
on  tangent  track.  The  nuts  of  every  third  tie  rod  used 
in  special  work  and  wherever  wood  ties  are  employed 
are  spot  welded  to  the  rail  and  to  the  tie  rod.  On  tan- 
gent track,  a  No.  0000  arc-weld  cross  bond  between  the 
two  rails  of  each  track  is  installed  every  500  ft.,  or  every 
1,000  ft.  in  outlying  sections.  At  the  approach  to  guard 
rail  curves  two  such  cross  bonds  are  installed  and  also 
two  between  tracks. 

The  thoroughness  with  which  intersection  special 
work  layouts  have  been  bonded  is  of  particular  interest. 
In  addition  to  the  complete  bonding  of  the  rail  joints 
as  noted  above,  the  entire  layout  is  shunted  by  an 
unusual  amount  of  copper.  For  example,  at  a  double- 
track  intersection  with  a  double  track  the  two  rails 
of  each  of  the  eight  tracks  approaching  the  inter- 
section are  bonded  together  with  three  No.  0000  stand- 
ard copper  arc-weld  bonds.  The  inner  rails  of  the  two 
tracks  at  the  four  approaches  are  similarly  bonded  with 
two  No.  0000  arc-welded  bonds.  The  midpoint  of  the 
three  bonds  between  the  rails  of  each  track  is  then 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


129 


connected  to  the  similar  cross  bonds  of  the  same  track 
at  the  opposite  side  of  the  special  work  by  a  1,000,000 
circ.mil  stranded  bare  copper  cable,  the  connection  being 
made  with  soldered  joints  which  are  painted  with  black 
insulating  paint  and  wrapped.  The  entire  cables  and 
cross  bonds  are  also  painted.  There  are  thus  four  of 
these  1,000,000  circ.mil  cables,  two  in  each  direction, 
intersecting  at  the  center  of  the  special  work  layout, 
and  they  are  all  tied  together  at  this  point  in  a  soldered 
joint.  These  cross  cables  are  laid  in  the  devil  strip  in  a 
wood  trough  filled  with  a  mixture  of  75  per  cent  pitch 
and  25  per  cent  tar  and  a  small  amount  of  fine  gravel. 
At  outlying  points  the  same  system  of  bonding  special 
work  layouts  is  used  except  that  the  size  of  the  cross 
cables  is  reduced.  A  sketch  of  this  bonding  scheme  is 
reproduced  herewith,  from  which  an  understanding  of 
the  scheme  can  be  more  quickly  obtained  than  from  the 

description.    It  makes  it   

possible  to  lift  out  an  en- 
tire layout  without  dis- 
turbing the  return  circuit. 

Another  interesting  fea- 
ture of  the  special  work 
construction  is  the  instal- 
lation of  a  track  switch 
box  at  every  switch  point, 
including  the  2-in.  galvan- 
ized iron  pipe  or  conduit 
leading  up  an  adjacent 
pole.  These  boxes  are  in- 
stalled   whether    or  not 


the  center  of  every  block  toward  the  corners  in  either 
direction,  providing  for  a  very  quick  runoff.  This  pre- 
sumably gives  good  drainage  but  results  in  a  peculiarly 
wavy  appearance  of  the  car  tracks  as  one  looks  any 
distance  along  a  street.  The  cross  drain  has  been  sub- 
stituted for  the  round  type  of  drain  used  in  the  first 
track  built,  because  it  affords  a  drain  of  greater  capacity 
and  makes  a  smooth  surface  for  vehicles  to  drive  over. 
The  particular  cross  drain  used  was  designed  by  Mr. 
Dunham  and  the  features  of  it  are  that  it  provides  par- 
ticularly well  for  draining  the  run  of  water  in  the 
flangeway  and  that  it  is  equipped  with  a  type  of  cover 
which  cannot  flop  out  of  place.  This  latter  feature  is 
accomplished  by  dividing  the  cover  into  two  halves,  the 
inside  end  of  each  half  being  cast  with  a  semi-circular 
groove  at  each  side  which  fits  around  and  under  a  round 
lug  on  the  base  casting.    This  inner  end  can  therefore 

not  fly  upward  when  a 
truck  wheel  passes  over 
the  outer  end  or  be  lifted 
upward  until  the  outer 
end  has  been  raised  slight- 
ly and  pulled  outwardly. 
A  drawing  of  this  track 
drain  is  reproduced  here- 
with. 

In  addition  to  the  labor- 
saving  devices  already 
mentioned,  the  facilities 
for  handling  materials  in 
the  storage  yards  are  also 


At  Top,  a  Special  Work  Layout  Going  Into  Place.     At  Left,  T  ype  of  Track  Drain  Used  to  Handle  Surface  Water.    At  Right. 
Drained  Switchboxes  Installed  at  Every  Switch  Point  Ready  for  Future  Installation  of  Magnets 


there  is  any  expectation  of  installing  an  electric  switch 
at  this  point,  the  theory  being  that  to  carry  the  invest- 
ment on  the  box  is  a  small  expense  compared  to  the  cost 
of  later  tearing  up  the  concrete  paving  to  install  a  box, 
in  case  an  electric  switch  were  desired  at  that  point. 
All  these  switch  boxes  are  drained  by  tile  connection  to 
the  sewer,  so  that  there  will  not  be  any  spattering  of 
water  when  the  switch  is  thrown. 

Surface  Drainage 

It  will  be  apparent  from  what  has  already  been  said 
that  the  track  is  completely  sealed  against  penetration 
of  water  through  the  structure.  In  addition  to  this 
means  of  keeping  the  water  out,  the  surface  drainage  is 
made  effective  by  the  use  of  cross-drains  extending  from 
rail  to  rail  and  by  virtue  of  the  pavement  grade  estab- 
lished by  the  Department  of  Public  Works  to  which 
the  car  tracks  naturally  conform.  On  account  of  the 
very  flat  topography  of  Detroit,  the  Public  Works 
Department  has  established  a  substantial  pitch  from 


of  interest.  For  example,  the  loading  of  the  crushed 
granite  used  in  the  paving  is  expedited  by  a  crane  and 
l-yd.  clamshell  bucket  which  picks  up  the  stone  from  the 
storage  pile  or  from  cars  run  in  on  the  adjacent  track 
and  dumps  it  into  an  elevated  bin.  These  facilities  are 
seen  in  an  accompanying  picture.  This  bin  has  suffi- 
cient capacity  to  load  six  motor  trucks,  each  holding 
6  to  7  cu.yd. 

There  are  two  outlets  from  the  bottom  of  this  and 
the  trucks  drive  in  between  the  supporting  timbers 
and  are  loaded  by  gravity,  two  minutes  to  the  truck. 
This  bin  has  been  built  so  that  it  can  easily  be  taken 
down  and  transferred  to  other  storage  yards  located 
nearer  to  other  construction  points.  The  crane  travels 
along  on  planks  and  is,  of  course,  used  to  unload  stone 
from  cars  to  storage  pile  as  well  as  to  keep  the  bin  filled, 
and  to  handle  other  materials. 

A  second  article  on  the  new  municipal  system  in  De- 
troit and  treating  the  overhead  construction  will  be 
published  in  an  early  issue. 


130 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


Reduced  Fare  in  Cleveland 

On  July  10  the  Cleveland  Railway   Began  a  Thirty-Day 
Experiment  with  a  2i-Cent  Ticket  Fare  and  3-Cent 
Cash  Fare  for  Downtown  Riders 

CLEVELAND  is  now  in  the  midst  of  an  experiment 
with  its  street  railway  system  that  may  bring-  an 
answer  to  this  question :  "How  much  effect  has  a  low 
rate  of  fare  on  the  street  car  riding  habit?"  The 
experiment  was  begun  on  Sunday,  July  10,  when  the 
Cleveland  Railway  put  into  operation  a  3-cent  cash  or 
2i-cent  ticket  rate  of  fare  within  a  limited  zone  in 
the  downtown  section  of  the  city. 

The  experiment  was  originated  by  the  Cleveland 
Railway  officials  and  Fielder  Sanders,  city  street  rail- 
way commissioner,  and  was  authorized  by  the  City 
Council  for  a  thirty-day  period  because  of  a  steady 
diminution  in  the  number  of  car  riders.  Passenger 
traffic  in  Cleveland  began  to  decrease  almost  imme- 


Map  op  Central  Part  of  Cleveland  Showing  IIJ-Cent  Fare  Zone 

diately  after  Nov.  14  last  year  when  the  company  put 
into  effect  the  maximum  rate  of  fare  provided  under 
the  franchise,  namely,  6  cents  cash  or  nine  tickets  for 
50  cents,  with  a  1-cent  charge  for  a  transfer  and  no 
rebate. 

Officials  Cannot  Estimate  Percentage  of 
Increase  in  Passenger  Traffic 

The  company's  officers  frankly  admitted  that  they 
were  unable  to  tell  in  advance  the  extent  of  the  business 
which  would  be  attracted  by  the  reduced  fare.  "A 
low  rate  of  fare  has  always  been  looked  upon  as  a 
stimulus  to  street  car  traffic,"  said  John  J.  Stanley, 
president  of  the  company.  "Whether  it  will  prove 
such  in  this  case  remains  to  be  seen,  but  we  are 
always  ready  in  Cleveland  to  try  out  any  plan  that 
promises  increased  service  to  our  patrons  when  it 
doesn't  mean  increased  expense,  or  to  attempt  anything 
that  will  bolster  up  the  revenues  of  the  company." 
Fielder  Sanders,  city  street  railway  commissioner,  said: 
"I  am  very  hopeful  that  placing  the  cost  of  a  ride 
in  the  downtown  district  as  low  as  2i  cents  will  bring 
back  the  riding  habit,  that  it  will  increase  to  some 
extent  the  revenues  of  the  company,  that  it  will  offer 


an  increased  convenience  to  a  large  number  of  car 
riders  and  that  it  will  lessen  the  congestion  on  our 
sidewalks  in  the  downtown  district." 

On  Monday,  July  11,  the  first  business  day  during 
which  the  low  fare  zone  was  in  actual  operation,  8,710 
passengers  purchased  the  tickets  which  are  in  strips  of 
six  for  15  cents,  while  8,216  others  paid  the  3-cent  cash 
fare.    The  data  for  the  next  five  days  follow: 


Date 
J  uly  I  I 
July  12 
July  13 
July  14 
July  15 


Number  of  25-Cent 
Ticket  Purchasers 
8,710 

10.145 

10,040 

1 1,104 

10,374 


Number  of  3-Cent 
Cash  Fare  Riders 

8,216 

8,499 

8,1 15 

7,645 

7,944 


Total 
16,926 
18,644 
18,155 
18,749 
18,318 


"These  figures  indicate  the  experiment  is  not  meeting 
with  the  success  that  had  been  expected  by  those  who 
were  optimistic  that  it  would  stimulate  the  car  riding 
habit  in  the  downtown  district,"  said  Paul  E.  Wilson, 
assistant  secretary 


NOTICE 

Commencing  Sunday,  July  10th, '21, 
and  continuing  thereafter  until  further 
notice,  a  low  fare  zone  will  be  estab- 
lished down  town.  The  fare  for  ride 
within  this  zone  will  be  three  cents 
cash,  six  tickets  for  fifteen  cents.  No 
transfers  will  be  issued  on  this  fare. 

Passengers  desiring  transfers  must 
pay  regular  City  Fare  and  purchase 
transfers. 

The  Boundaries  of  this  zone  will  be  as  follows: 
St.  Clair  Ave.     E.  20th  Sl 
E  19th  St. 
L  19th  St 
L  20th  St 
L  19th  St 
E14th&Central 
L14th&Scovill 
L  14th. 
E  15th  St 

North  end  of  Central  Viaduct 
Upson  Nut  Co. 
West  End  Superior-Detroit 
Bridge 


Superior  Ave. 
Payne  Ave. 
Euclid  Ave. 
Prospect  Ave. 
Central  Ave. 
Scovill  Ave. 
Woodland  Ave 
Broadway 
W.  14th  St. 
Scranton  Rd. 
Superior  West 


Union  Depot& 
Pier  Lines 


Entire  Line 
THE  CLEVELAND  RAILWAY  CO. 


Poster  Used  in  Cleveland 


of  the  Cleveland  Rail- 
way. The  Union 
Depot  and  Pier  lines, 
which  operate  exclu- 
sively in  the  down- 
town district,  have 
shown  an  increased 
number  of  riders 
since  the  low  fare 
zone  was  established, 
but  the  loss  in  reve- 
nue for  the  company 
by  reason  of  the  pay- 
ment of  the  24-cent 
ticket  or  3-cent  cash 
instead  of  6-cent  fare 
is  more  than  offset 
in  the  increased 
number  of  riders. 
Cleveland  is  unusual- 
ly well  adapted  for 
the  low-fare  zone 
experiment  in  the 
downtown  section 

because  all  the  cars  have  been  operated  on  the  pay-as- 
you-enter  plan  when  bound  toward  the  Public  Square 
and  on  the  pay-as-you-leave  plan  when  outbound  from 
the  square.  This  has  made  it  unnecessary  to  give  iden- 
tification slips  or  tickets  for  passengers  entitled  to  the 
special  low  rate  of  fare.  The  only  complication  came  in 
the  operation  of  the  Peter  Witt  front-entrance,  center- 
exit  type  of  car.  This  was  cared  for  by  using  the  entrance 
door  for  exit  only  in  the  downtown  section — that  is  to 
say,  the  cars  have  been  operated  as  center-entrance, 
front-exit  cars. 

The  trainmen  have  been  better  instructed  in  arrang- 
ing for  the  installation  of  the  experiment  than  they 
have  been  for  almost  any  other  change  ever  effected 
in  Cleveland.  This  has  resulted  in  there  being  very 
little,  if  any,  confusion  and  has  also  encouraged  the 
use  of  the  low-fare  rate  cars  in  the  downtown  section. 
One  rule  which  has  helped  is  that  conductors  are  not 
obliged  to  give  any  change  to  a  3-cent  rider  who  has  no 
change  smaller  than  a  nickel.  Such  a  passenger  is 
obliged  to  drop  the  nickel  in  the  fare  box. 

The  following  table,  showing  how  the  number  of  car 
riders  has  been  continually  decreasing  since  the  middle 
of  November  last  year,  tells  more  graphically  and 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


131 


forcibly  than  any  words  could  one  of  the  potent  rea- 
sons for  the  installation  of  the  low-fare  zone : 


Per  Cent  Increase 

Number  of 

or  Decrease  Over 

Month 

Car  Riders 

Previous  Year 

1920 

June 

37,807,197 

13.9 

July  

  38,865,614 

21 .  1 

  38,623,226 

10.3 

37,317,656 

9 

  38,726,694 

6.7 

...  36,241,205 

2.9 

36,824,277 

2.2t 

1921 

  35,598,783 

4. 17t 

February  

  32,585,727 

4  2 1 1 

  35,900,733 

7.04t 

  34,339,336 

9.33t 

  34,646,310 

10  86f 

June*  

  33,500.000 

I3t 

*  June,  1921,  figures  estimated. 

1 1ndicates  decrease. 

A  map  accompanying  this  article  indicates  the  ter- 
ritory included  in  the  low-fare  zone.  A  copy  of  the 
bulletin  posted  in  the  cars  is  also  reproduced. 

It  seems  likely  that  unless  the  traffic  increases  mate- 
rially within  the  next  two  weeks,  the  experiment  will  be 
discontinued  at  the  end  of  the  thirty-day  test. 


Prizes  for  Accident  Reduction 

Louisville  Railway  Gives  Dinner  and  Entertainment  to  the 
Men  at  the  Carhouse  Having  the  Largest  Number 
of  Car-Miles  Per  Accident 

THE  two  illustrations  on  this  page  show  the  result 
of  a  competition  being  conducted  on  the  Louisville 
Railway  in  the  interests  of  accident  reduction.  This 
competition  began  with  a  challenge  from  one  of  the 
carhouses  of  the  company  to  all  of  the  others  to  operate 
a  greater  number  of  car-miles  per  accident.  This 
challenge  came  out  about  the  time  the  Louisville  Rail- 
way Safety  Council  was  organized,  and  recognizing  the 
value  of  that  kind  of  competition  the  company  offered  as 
a  prize  a  dinner  to  the  winning  carhouse. 

The  competition  was  started  in  April  of  this  year,  and 
Chestnut  Street  carhouse  was  the  winner,  operating 
an  average  of  3,960  car-miles  per  accident.  The 
employees  of  this  carhouse  held  their  dinner  on  May  17. 
In  May  the  employees  of  Highland  carhouse  won  the  con- 
test, operating  4,700  miles  per  accident,  and  held  their 
dinner  on  June  22.  Chestnut  Street  carhouse  won  again 
during  the  month  of  June,  operating  3,745  miles  per 
accident,  and  held  its  dinner  on  July  19. 

Although  the  function  of  the  dinner  is  accident  pre- 
vention, and  that  topic  is  touched  upon  by  the  speaker 
of  the  evening,  the  affair  is  primarily  in  the  nature  of 
a  good  time  for  the  diners,  with  an  evening  of  enter- 
tainment, all  educational  features  and  accident  preven- 
tion propaganda  being  subordinated.  The  speaker  is 
usually  some  one  outside  the  company  organization. 


Chestnut  Street  Carhouse  Was  the  Prize  Winner  in  April 


Merchandising  Transportation 

In  This  Article,  the  Third  in  the  Series,  the  Author  Dis- 
cusses Service  as  Secured  Through  Department 
Heads  and  Records 

BY  W.  H.  BOYCE 

General  Manager  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company 

Service  is  not  all  dollars  and  cents.  It  is  human. 
Cater  to  your  car  rider's  mind — not  alone  his 
pocketbook. 

THE  extent  to  which  proper  service  adds  to  the 
sale  of  transportation  is  a  large  one,  and  proper 
service,  as  we  view  the  matter,  is  service  from  each 
and  every  employee.  In  the  carhouse  it  means  proper 
equipment  and  careful,  conscientious  workmen,  who 
must  be  trained  to  do  their  work  properly,  rather  than 
to  give  an  explanation  to  their  superior  officer  later  on 
as  to  why  the  work  was  improperly  done.    This  will 


result  in  a  decreased  number  of  car  failures  and  better 
service  to  the  public. 

Cars  must  be  well  maintained  and  have  their  seats 
comfortable  and  interior — as  well  as  exterior — pleasing 
to  the  eye.  It  is  just  as  essential  that  the  trucks 
and  electric  equipment  be  in  proper  operating  condition. 

More  frequent  headways,  with  the  same  number  of 
cars,  may  be  obtained  in  numerous  instances  by  elimi- 
nating lay-over  time  and  shortening  the  running  time. 

A  speed  as  high  as  is  consistent  with  safe  operation 
is  very  desirable,  because  today  our  patrons  do  want 
speed.  If  they  cannot  get  it  on  the  street  cars  they 
will  get  it  from  privately  owned  automobiles  or  jit- 


Highland  Carhouse  Men  at  Their  Prize  Dinner,  June  22 


Messrs.  Marshall,  Chief  Dispatcher 
Meyer,  Master  Mechanic 
Kelbaugh,  Barn  Foreman 
McDade,  Assistant  Dispatcher 
McDanel,  Assistant  Dispatcher 
Allison,  Safety  Engineer 
Hume,  Chief  of  Police 
Logan,  Night  Receiver 

I  want  better  service  for  myself  and  for  our  public.  Stop! 
Do  some  real  hard  thinking.  Are  all  the  men  in  your  de- 
partment doing  their  best  to  render  better  service,  to  which 
our  traveling  public  is  justly  entitled?  I  am  not  unselfish 
in  this,  for  better  service  will  result  in  increased  car  riders. 
Increased  car  riders  mean  increased  revenue.  Increased 
revenue  means  that  the  possibility  of  a  decrease  in  wages 
for  all  employees  will  be  deferred.  It  also  means  additional 
modern  equipment  and  appliances.  Additional  modern 
equipment  and  appliances  should  mean  further  increased 
and  better  service  and  consequently  a  further  increase  in 
revenue.  I  want  you  to  bear  in  mind  that  an  increase  or 
decrease  in  revenue  will  surely  affect  your  condition  here. 

W.  H.  Boyce,  G.  M. 


Sample  of  General  Notice  to  Foremen 


132 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  4 


INCREASING  BUSINESS 

INCREASING  business  on  the  street 
cart  may  sound  funny  to  you  but  it 
can  be  done  Every  time  you  run  past 
an  intended  passenger  you  create  a 
feeling  that  results  in  bis  walking. 

Every  time  you  are  late  people  walk. 

Every  time  you  miss  being  at  the  de- 
pot stop  when  the  train  comes  In  peo- 
ple walk 

Every  fare  we  lose  counts  against  you 
as  the  fares  pay  your  wages — and  I 
get  mine  from  the  same  source 


PASSENGER  PAYS  YOU 

THE  greatest  service  existing  In 
your  work  Is  the  service  the  pas- 
senger gives  you.  Funny,  isn't  It? 
True  though  I  said  he  paid  your 
wages.  That's  mighty  important  to 
you — mine  are  to   me   anyway  So, 


every  service  you  can  give  the  pas- 
senger will  not  be  any  more  than  h^- 
is  entitled  to — remember  that 

But  few  of  the  passengers  consider  you 
except  in  the  way  you  serve  them  in 
their  transportation  needs.  Do  your 
duty  by  every  one  and  when  the  day 
comes  to  a  close  you  can  in  content 
spend  the  evening  with  the  folks  at 
home.  Violate  the  rules  and  circulate 
your  grouch  and  things  won't  be  pleas- 
ant here  nor  at  home. 


SOME  WALK— SOME  RIDE 

THERE  is  no  "have  fo"  about  it  any 
more.  Those  who  can.  walk  when 
you  are  not  there.  Many  others  buy 
Fords  or  automobiles  and  if  luck  is 
with  them  "get  there"  without  using 
the  street  cars  at  all. 

So,  you  see.  that  we  have  Competition. 

Good  business  demands  that  we  meet 


thai — we  know  it  because  passengers 
have  told  us.  Another  reason  why 
your  best  scriicc  efforts  should  be  dis- 
played to  Ihe  passenger's  view. 


YOUR  LIKES  AND  DISLIKES 

"VrOU  may  have  your  likes  and  dis- 
*  likes.  Leave  your  dislikes  at 
home.  There  is  nothing  to  be  gained 
by  bringing  them  on  the  job.  Every 
passenger  and  patron  of  these  lines 
stand  on  an  equal  in  the  service  you 
are  to  give.  That  service  is  gauged 
only  by  the  passengers'  every  need  If 
lame,  aged,  or  child,  it  is  service  to 
assist  them  on  or  off  the  cars,  to  a  seat 
and  to  a  safe  place  on  the  curb. 


THE   LADY'S  FARE 

IF  a  lady — and  she  does  not  need  to 
be  well  dressed,  nor  beautiful,  nor 

young,  impresses  you  with  the  fact 


that  she  has  left  her  purse  at  home,  it 
is  none  of  your  business  why  she  left 
it  there  She  wants  to  go  some  place 
or  she  would  not  have  boarded  your 
car  Take  her  name  and  address.  Ring 
it  up  as  a  fare  and  turn  it  in.  You  can 
do  this  in  a  manner  that  will  make 
her  think  you  are  the  best  friend  sh- 
has  or  you  can  do  It  in  a  way  that  will 
make  her  think  you  are  the  most  dis- 
agreeable person  she  has  ever  met. 

11  should  be  easy  for  you  to  select  the 
service  way  It  will  be  disagreeable 
for  you  if  you  select  the'  other  way. 


BE  CLEAN 

OU  represent  this  company  on  the 
1  cars.  From  the  stockholders  down 
to  the  smallest  official  this  company  is 
clean,  frank  and  has  nothing  to  con- 
ceal. Representing  the  company  you 
will  understand  that  cleanliness  In  per- 
son, appearance,  language,  and  mind  is 
essential.    While  the  company  may  be 


Pages  from  a  Hand  Book  on  Service,  Issued  to  Employees  of  Eeaver  Valley  Traction  Company 


neys.  In  many  cases  the  schedules  may  be  slowed  down 
or  speeded  up  to  take  care  of  the  rush  hour  or  the  off- 
peak  traffic.  Operating  expenses  may  be  decreased  and 
the  public  better  served  by  a  close  study  of  your  sched- 
uled speeds.  Why  use  the  same  running  time  for  off- 
peak  riding  that  you  use  during  the  rush  hours, 
holidays  or  during  stormy  weather  or  when  atmos- 
pheric conditions  make  a  bad  rail?    If  the  running  time 


is  fitted  for  one  condition  it  is  quite  likely  to  be  wrong 
for  the  other. 

You  cannot  furnish  service  from  the  shop  regardless 
of  the  personnel  and  equipment  without  reliable,  up- 
to-the-minute  records.  If  your  car  failures  are  increas- 
ing you  should  be  able  to  determine  from  your  records 
the  causes  of  the  increased  failures.  To  depend  on  your 
memory  and  thus  form  the  idea  that  the  trouble  is 
brakes,  armatures  or  hot  journals  will  not  do.  You 
must  know  absolutely  the  cause.  Records,  coupled  with 
frequent  meetings  with  department  heads — individually 
and  collectively — will  bring  out  the  cause. 

To  lull  yourself  into  a  sense  of  security  because  you 
have  ordered  such  and  such  a  thing  done  regularly 
will  not  do.  Daily  and  weekly  reports  should  form  a 
basis  for  checking  up  on  each  department  head.  If 
things  are  not  going  as  they  should  that  does  not  give 
you  an  excuse  to  interfere  in  the  department,  but  it 
does  give  you  the  information  necessary  for  you  to 
aid  in  making  the  department  head  make  good  or 
form  the  basis  for  his  removal. 

Where  one  man  tries  to  run  the  details,  or  near 
details,  of  each  department  service  cannot  obtain. 
Sooner  or  later  the  alleged  "system"  breaks  down. 

Not  only  let  but  make  department  heads  run  their 
respective  departments.  Accurate,  reliable,  immediate 
records  will  let  them,  keep  them,  make  them  make  good. 
If  they  make  good  you  will  make  good  by  furnishing 
the  proper  service  to  the  public. 


Employment  Data  for  June,  1921 

THE  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor  through  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  received  and  tabulated  reports 
concerning  the  volume  of  employment  in  June,  1921, 
from  representative  establishments  in  thirteen  selected 
manufacturing  industries  and  in  bituminous  coal  min- 
ing. When  the  figures  of  June,  1921,  are  compared 
with  those  of  identical  establishments  for  June,  1920, 
it  appears  that  there  were  decreases  in  the  number  of 
persons  employed  in  all  industries  except  woolen,  which 
shows  an  increase  of  3.9  per  cent.  The  most  important 
decreases  are  41.6  per  cent  in  car  building  and  repair- 
ing, 39.6  per  cent  in  iron  and  steel,  and  37.5  per  cent  in 
automobiles. 


New  Brighton,  Pa.,  192. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Boyce,  General  Manager: 

Report  of  inspection  made  of.  

on  Street,  between  and  

within  the  limits  of.  _  


Inspected        Repaired  Replaced 
Number  Number    Cause    Number  Cause 


Poles  

Feed  wire  

Span  wires  

1  rolley  wire.... 

Ears  

Caps,  cones 
and  hangers 


Crossings... 
Circuit 
breakers- 


Switches  _. 

Methods  employed  inspecting  line  work.. 


Methods  employed  inspecting  poles  

Time  consumed  inspecting  Hrs  Min.. 


Time  consumed  inspecting...  Hrs  Min. 

Time  consumed  repairing    ...Hrs  Min. 

Remarks:  —    


State  explicitly  if  repairs  or  renewals  were  caused  by  an 
accident,  with  narrre  of  same,  cause,  etc. 


.Line  Foreman. 


Typical  Inspection  Repoet  to  General  Manager 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


133 


Trailers  Being  Loaded  at  Downtown  Merchandise  Delivery  and  Receiving  Station  Located  Underneath  "L"  Structure. 


Motor  Truck  Haulage  in  Chicago 

North  Shore  Line  Has  Receiving  Station  Close  to  Chicago  Loop  and  Hauls  Merchandise 
on  Trucks  to  Rail  Terminal — Study  Shows  Service  to  Be  Costly  Taken 
by  Itself,  but  Valuable  as  Business  Producer 


BEGINNING  in  September,  1920,  Britton  I.  Budd, 
president  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee 
Railroad,  inaugurated  a  downtown  receiving  and 
delivery  station  for  the  convenience  of  merchandise 
dispatch  patrons  and  arranged  to  haul  this  merchandise 
by  motor  trucks  between  the  terminal  of  the  railroad 
and  this  downtown  station.  The  latter  was  located  on 
a  piece  of  property  over  which  the  elevated  structure 
is  built  at  the  corner  of  Franklin  Street  and  Austin 
Avenue,  only  a  few  blocks  from  the  Loop  and  very 
convenient  to  the  large  shippers  in  the  central  distrct. 
For  hauling  the  merchandise  shipments  three  large 
White  tractors  and  ten  two-wheel  "highway"  trailers 
were  purchased.  A  folding  support  attached  underneath 
each  trailer  at  the  forward  end  is  used  to  lift  the  trailer 
body  off  the  tractor  and  support  it  while  it  is  being 
loaded  and  unloaded.  This  support  consists  essentially 
of  two  screw  jacks  operated  simultaneously  by  a  hand 
crank.  The  scheme  makes  it  possible  to  keep  the  trac- 
tors working  almost  continuously  while  the  merchan- 
dise is  being  placed  in  or  removed  from  the  trailers. 

The  Chicago  merchandise  dispatch  terminal  of  the 
railroad  is  at  Montrose  Avenue,  which  is  6.3  miles 
north  of  the  downtown  or  Franklin  Street  and  Austin 
Avenue  station. 

Prior  to  the  installation  of  this  downtown  station, 
an  effort  was  made  to  give  the  shippers  a  service  which 
would  offset  the  disadvantage  of  their  having  to  haul 
merchandise  out  to  Montrose  Avenue,  as  compared  to 
delivering  it  to  a  steam  road  close  at  hand,  and  a 
contract  was  made  by  the  railroad  with  a  trucking  com- 
pany to  pick  up  the  merchandise  at  the  shippers'  prem- 
ises and  deliver  it  to  the  Montrose  terminal,  and  also 
to  deliver  shipments  from  the  Montrose  terminal  to  the 


premises  of  the  consignee.  Three  different  trucking 
companies  with  which  the  railway  contracted  for  this 
service  at  a  flat  rate  of  18  cents  a  hundred  pounds  went 
broke.  Furthermore,  because  of  their  financial  troubles, 
they  were  unable  to  give  satisfactory  service,  and  there 
was  endless  trouble  because  of  the  divided  responsibility 
between  the  trucking  company  and  the  railway  com- 
pany. In  consequence  the  latter  received  numerous 
complaints  for  which  it  was  not  responsible.  Difficul- 
ties of  this  kind  led  Mr.  Budd  to  determine  that  the  only 
way  that  these  downtown  shippers  would  be  satisfied 
and  their  business  retained  was  for  the  railway  com- 
pany to  handle  it  itself.  Accordingly,  the  facilities 
already  mentioned  were  provided,  and  as  a  result  it  has 
been  possible  for  the  company  to  secure  and  handle 
satisfactorily  an  increasing  volume  of  business  which 
undoubtedly  would  have  gone  to  the  steam  roads  except 
for  the  convenience  and  speed  of  the  service  provided. 

From  Sept.  1,  1920,  until  March  15,  1921,  the  com- 
pany made  a  charge  of  10  cents  per  100  lb.  for  hauling 
merchandise  between  Austin  and  Franklin  and  Mon- 
trose stations.  This  charge  was  simply  added  to  the 
mileage  charge  between  the  Montrose  terminal  and  any 
point  on  the  railroad.  With  the  great  increase  in  com- 
petition since  the  first  of  the  year,  due  to  the  material 
falling  off  in  business  available  to  all  carriers,  the  com- 
pany on  March  15  issued  a  new  tariff  which  made  the 
Franklin  and  Austin  station  a  regular  railroad  shipping 
point,  for  which  the  same  rate  in  effect  between  rail 
points  applied.  On  this  basis,  the  gross  charge  on  first- 
class  shipments  between  the  Montrose  and  the  Franklin 
and  Austin  stations,  as  handled  by  motor  trucks  and 
including  the  extra  handling  at  the  downtown  terminal, 
is  1.5  cents  per  hundredweight. 


134 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


Franklix  and  Austin  Station  Loading  Platform  and  Rear 
End  op  Trailers  Showing  Gates  Used 


A  recent  study  on  the  actual  cost  of  this  service  made 
for  Mr.  Budd  by  H.  A.  Johnson,  organization  engineer, 
developed  some  very  interesting  information  which  con- 
firmed fairly  accurately  the  estimates  made  prior  to  the 
installation  as  to  the  cost  of  securing  the  business  which 
comes  as  the  result  of  the  downtown  terminal.  Ex- 
clusive of  the  cost  of  the  operation  of  the  station  at 
Franklin  and  Austin,  and  the  cost  of  loading  and  un- 
loading trucks  at  this  station,  the  cost  of  operating  the 
trucks  alone  is  shown  in  Table  I. 

The  total  business  handled  during  the  four  months 
period  named  above,  September  to  December,  1920,  was 
14,708.75  torn,  and  the  mileage  operated  was  36,018. 
The  average  tonnage  of  merchandise  per  trip  figures 
out  to  be  2.86.  On  the  basis  of  these  figures  for  four 
months,  it  is  estimated  that  the  company  would  handle 
during  the  year  a  ton-mi'eage  of  103,011.48,  from  which 
a  cost  per  ton-mile  of  merchandise  handled  of  33.2  cents 
is  obtained,  or  the  cost  of  handling  100  lb.  of  merchan- 
dise between  the  Franklin  and  Austin  and  the  Montrose 
stations  is  10.5  cents.  Detail  figures  covering  the  actual 
operation  of  the  motor  trucks  during  the  four  months 
considered  are  given  in  an  accompanying  table. 

The  cost  of  operating  the  Franklin  and  Austin  sta- 
tion for  the  seven  months  ended  Jan.  31,  1921,  is  de- 
tailed in  an  accompanying  tabulation.    From  this  table 


it  is  seen  that  the  average  station  cost  for  the  seven 
months  was  $1.33  per  ton  of  merchandise  handled  or 
an  average  of  6.6  cents  per  hundredweight.  This  in- 
cludes the  cost  of  operating  the  station  and  the  labor 
cost  of  loading  or  unloading  the  trailers  at  this  station 
— the  one  extra  handling  involved. 

If  the  station  cost  is  added  to  the  transportation 
cost  between  the  downtown  and  Montrose  stations  by 
motor  trucks  (10.5  cents  per  hundredweight),  a  total 
cost  of  17.1  cents  per  hundredweight  is  found.  Against 
this  cost,  the  company  formerly  received  10  cents  per 
hundredweight  and  now  1.5  cents  per  hundredweight. 

Upon  first  thought  this  would  appear  to  indicate  a 
loss  on  the  downtown  terminal  of  7.1  cents  per  hun- 
dredweight on  the  old  basis,  or  15.6  cents  on  the  present 
tariff.  The  management  believes,  however,  that  this 
terminal  must  be  considered  from  a  broader  point  of 
view,  as  it  is  true  that  the  cost  of  operating  any  ter- 
minal, if  taken  by  itself,  would  show  a  loss.  The  broad 
question  involved  is  whether  the  revenue  derived  from 
the  entire  service  performed  for  the  shipper  by  the 
railroad  is  sufficient  to  absorb  the  terminal  and  trans- 


TABLE  I— EXPENSES  OF  TRACTOR  OPERATION 


Charges  independent  of  the  amount  of  business  done 

Per  Year 

Depreciation  on  three  tractors  based  on  20  per  cent  of  their  cost,  less 

tires   $2,451.03 

Depreciation  on  ten  trailers  based  on  20  per  cent  of  their  co3t,  less 

tires   3,155.40 

Interest  on  the  investment  at  6  per  cent   1,898  .64 

Garage  rent  at  $  1 00  per  month   1,200.00 

Salary  of  superintendent  of  trucks  and  drivers   2,220.00 

Insurance  premiums   i, 739. 28 

State  and  municipal  taxes   395.55 

State  and  city  licenses   240.00 

Cost  of  painting  trucks  and  trailers  once  during  their  life,  prorated.  260.00 


$13,559.90 

Expenses  Varying  with  the  Amount  of  Business 

(Based  upon  the  mileage  made,  the  tons  of  freight  handled  and 
the  costs  of  operation  during  the  four  months  of  September  to 


December,  1920.) 

Per  Year 

Wages  for  drivers   $11,310.00 

Tire  renewals   3,601.80 

Cost  of  gasoline   2,932 . 23 

Cost  of  repairs  (estimated)   1,188.00 

Cost  of  oil   649.08 

Cost  of  grease   62 . 40 

Reserve  for  .osses  and  damages   882.53 


$20,626  04 

This  makes  a  total  cost  of  operation  for  one  year  of  $34,185.94. 


portation  costs  and  leave  a  profit.  In  the  particular 
case  of  the  North  Shore  Line,  there  is  also  the  question 
of  whether  the  downtown  terminal  brings  to  the  com- 
pany enough  business  that  would  otherwise  not  be 


Types  of  Tractor  and  Trailers  Used  to  Haul  Merchandise  Between  Rail  Terminal  and  Downtown  Station — 
Note  Trailer  Supports  Folded  Back  for  Clearance  on  Road 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


135 


TABLE  II— COST  OF  TRANSPORTATION  BY  MOTOR  TfUCK,  CHICAGO,  MILWAUKEE  &  NORTH  SHORE  RAILROAD 


.  Sept.,  1920   

Individual  Truck 
Performances 

Number  of  trips   96         132  132 

Miles  operated   812         852  858 

Oil  used — quarts   50  52  51 

Gas  used — gallons   175         270  250 

Tons  of  freight  carried   188         474    353  25 

Miles  per  gallon — gas   4.32         3.155      3  43 

Miles  per  quart— oil   16.24        16.38  16.81 

Tons  per  trip   1.958       3  .59  4.04 

Cost  of  gas  at  27c.  gal   $47.25      $72.90  $77.50 

Costof  oilat81c.  per  gal   $10,125    $10  53    $10  32 


-Oct.,  1920- 


Individual  Truck 

Performances 
102 
861 
89 
245 
255 
3.51 
9.67 
2.50 
66  15 
18.02 


■Nov.,  1 920 - 


Individual  Truck 
Performances 


 Dec,  1920 — 

Individual  Truck 
Performances 


182 

166 

92 

182 

188 

112 

154 

1,195 

1,096 

701 

1,236 

1,280 

937 

1,016 
181 

90 

94 

98 

99 

99 

58 

320 

335 

245 

325 

358 

320 

350 

484  .  5 

534.25 

194.75 

518  50 

596  00 

219.50 

423.50 

3.73 

3.27 

2.86 

3  80 

3.58 

2.93 

2.90 

13.16 

11.66 

6.23 

12  50 

12.90 

16,18 

5.61 

2.662 

3.218 

2  117 

2.840 

3. 170 

1 .96 

2.75 

86  .  40 

90.45 

66.  15 

87.75 

96  .  66 

86.40 

94.50 

18.25 

19  03 

19.85 

20  05 

20.05 

1 1  .54 

39. 15 

176 
1,162 

96 
390 


41  03  o 

E-i 
1,714 

12,006 
1,057 
3,583 


515  00  4,936.25 


2  .  98 
12.  10 

2.925 
105.30 
19.44 


3  35 1 
1 1 .34 
2.86 


w  o  o 

5,142 
36,018 
3,171 
10,749 
14,708  75 
3.351 
1 1  34 
2.86 


$977.41  $2,932.23 
$216.36  $649.08 


secured  to  justify  the  expense.  While  there  is  no  way 
of  te'ling  just  how  much  of  the  business  handled 
through  the  Franklin  and  Austin  station  would  be  re- 
ceived anyway  without  this  station  and  the  trucking 
service,  the  officials  of  the  company  are  satisfied  that 
the  downtown  terminal  does  bring  the  company  a  great 
deal  of  business  which  would  otherwise  not  be  received. 
By  virtue  of  this  downtown  delivery  service  in  Chicago 
it  is  possible,  for  example,  to  induce  some  Milwaukee 
shippers  to  use  the  electric  route,  and  after  their 
patronage  for  Chicago  is  obtained  other  business  which 
does  not  involve  this  expensive  terminal  handling  and 
otherwise  would  probably  have  been  given  to  the  steam 
competitor  is  secured  from  them. 

There  is  also  the  consideration  that  the  present  in- 
vestment has  provided  facilities  capable  of  handling 
a  much  larger  volume  of  business  with  only  slight  in- 
crease in  operating  expense.  Hence  with  increasing 
volume,  the  cost  per  hundredweight  handled  would 
lessen  and  the  terminal  cost  be  thus  more  easily  ab- 
sorbed, leaving  a  better  profit  on  the  total  business. 
During  1920,  with  an  investment  of  a  little  over  half  a 
million  dollars  devoted  exclusively  to  the  merchandise 
dispatch  business,  the  traffic  of  this  kind  netted  the 
C,  N.  S.  &  M.  R.  R.  a  surplus  which  amounted  to  3.5 
per  cent  on  this  investment  after  deducting  operating 
expenses,  interest,  taxes  and  depreciation. 

Among  other  things,  this  study  has  brought  out  the 
fact  that  if  the  company  was  contracting  with  an  out- 
side trucking  concern  for  this  service,  including  the 
maintenance  of  a  warehouse  by  the  trucking  company 
and  transportation  between  this  and  the  Montrose  ter- 
minal, it  would  cost  that  company  at  least  17  cents  per 
hundredweight  without  figuring  any  profit  for  itself. 

The  Franklin  and  Austin  station  is  also  being  used 
similarly  as  a  downtown  terminal  for  the  Chicago  & 
Interurban  Traction  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Budd  is 
also  president.  The  rail  terminal  of  this  Chicago-Kan- 
kakee  (111.)  line  is  at  Eighty-eighth  Street  and  Vin- 
cennes  Avenue,  south  a  distance  of  about  12  miles  from 
the  downtown  station.  About  10  per  cent  additional 
merchandise,  above  the  tonnage  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying tables,  II  and  III,  has  been  handled  at  Franklin 
and  Austin  station  and  hauled  to  or  from  Eighty-eighth 
Street.  The  cost  of  this  service,  however,  was  segre- 
gated from  the  figures  given  in  these  tables. 


Direction  of  Fibers  Affects  Strength 
of  Fiber  Boxes 

Where  Fiber  Is  Used  for  Equipment  Parts  Its  Strength  to 
Rupture  Can  Be  Increased  by  Attention  to  Direction 
of  the  Grain  in  the  Material 

THE  direction  in  which  the  fibers  run  in  fiberboard 
boxes  has  been  found  to  have  a  considerable  effect 
upon  the  serviceability  of  the  boxes.  Fiber  board  does 
not  tear  as  easily  across  the  grain  as  with  the  grain ; 
it  may  have  two  or  three  times  as  much  strength  in  one 
direction  as  in  the  other,  the  difference  varying  with 
manufacturing  conditions.  This  excess  strength  may 
be  advantageously  used  to  reinforce  the  weakest  points 
of  the  box  and  so  to  produce  a  better  balanced  con- 
struction. 

The  weakest  parts  of  fiber  boxes  are  the  scores  or 
folds  forming  the  edges  of  the  box.  It  is  impossible  to 
have  the  fibers  running  perpendicular  to  every  score, 
but  usually  they  might  be  made  to  run  perpendicular  to 
the  scores  which  receive  the  hardest  punishment,  or 
which  tend  to  break  open  first.  The  location  of  the 
scores  most  liable  to  failure,  of  course,  varies  with  the 
shape  of  the  box  and  the  nature  of  the  contents,  and  can 
best  be  determined  by  test.  The  following  comments 
and  deductions  are  for  boxes  whose  depth  is  less  than 
their  width. 

In  tests  at  the  U.  S.  Forest  Products  Laboratory,  on 
fiber  boxes,  it  was  found  that  the  first  break  nearly 
always  occurred  in  the  horizontal  end  scores.  By  mak- 
ing up  the  boxes  so  that  the  fibers  ran  vertically  in- 
stead of  horizontally  in  the  sides  and  ends,  the  first 
break  throughout  the  length  of  a  horizontal  end  score 
was  retarded  about  85  per  cent.  Through  the  same 
change,  the  horizontal  side  scores,  which  received  the 
next  hardest  punishment,  were  strengthened  so  that  the 
first  break  never  occurred  in  them. 

The  gain  in  strength  of  the  horizontal  scores  was,  of 
course,  accompanied  by  a  weakening  of  the  vertical 
scores.  But  since  the  upright  scores  do  not  ordinarily 
receive  as  great  stress  as  the  horizontal  scores,  and  in 
these  particular  tests  were  not  as  likely  to  come  in 
contact  with  sharp  edges,  they  were  able  to  stand  a 
reduction  in  strength  and  yet  not  become  the  point  of 
first  failure. 


TABLE  III— COST  OF  OPERATION  OF  FRANKLIN  AND  AUSTIN  AVENUE  MERCHANDISE  STATION  FOR 

SEVEN  MONTHS  ENDED  JAN.  31,  1921 


Month 

Rent 

Depreciation 

Insurance 

and 

Tonnage 

Cost  of 

per 

on 

per 

L:ght 

Year 

Handled 

Personnel 

Month 

Building 

Month 

July  '20 

1,503 

$1,832.76 

$15  00 

$24  25 

$1  .39 

$12.90 

Aug.  '20 

1,090 

1,935.29 

15  00 

24  25 

1 .39 

13  10 

Sept.  '20 

1,104 

1,703.51 

15  00 

24  25 

1  .39 

13.60 

Oct.  '20 

1,249 

1,493.74 

15.00 

24.25 

1 .39 

15.80 

Nov.  '20 

1,286 

1,299.38 

15  00 

24.25 

1 .39 

17  49 

Dec.  '20 

1,124 

1,283.  17 

15  00 

24.25 

1  .39 

15.18 

Jan.  '21 

1,218 

15  00 

24  25 

1.39 

16  10 

Heat 
$0  00 
0  00 
0  00 
17.35 
22  10 
28  .  40 
27  20 


Total 

Cost 

,886.30 

,989,03 

,767.75 

,567.53 

,379.61 

,367  39 

,454.76 


Cost  per 
Ton  for 
Station 
$1 .255 
1.816 
1  .601 
1 .255 
I  073 
1  .216 
1)94 


Average  cost  per  ton  for  station,  $1,332.        Average  cost  per  cwt.  for  station,  $0,066. 


Electric  Railway  Publicity 

Devoted  to  How  to  Tell  the  Story 


Publicity  Must  Be  Temperate 

Successful  Business  Man,  Discussing  Utility  Public  Relations, 
Advises  Against  Scolding  the  Public — He  Finds 
Analogy  in  Parent-Child  Relation 

BUSINESS  men  in  a  certain  large  city  have  been 
puzzling  their  minds  with  efforts  to  analyze  the 
reasons  for  the  obvious  public  favor  extended  to  one 
utility  and  the  disfavor  in  which  another  finds  itself. 
There  are  no  radical  differences  in  the  merits  of  the 
two  utilities  or  in  their  rights  to  the  good  feeling  of  the 
public.  Indeed,  the  local  critics  of  utilities  have  said 
almost  exactly  the  same  things  against  both  in  the  usual 
course  of  recrimination.  Yet  there  is  a  widespread  and 
vociferous  antagonism  to  the  one  and  complacency  to 
the  other. 

A  business  man  made  the  following  comment  on  the 
situation,  extending  his  remarks  into  philosophical 
observations  on  human  nature  and  children: 


Live  in  Live  Louisville 


Live  in  Live  Louisville 


Louisville  Railway  Company 


The  Louisville  Railway  Company  was  organ- 
ized in  1889  as  a  consolidation  of  the  Central 
Passenger  Railway  and  the  Louisville  City 
Railway. 

Today  it  is  operating  168  miles  of  city  track- 
age. The  number  of  cars  operated  varies  from  311 
during  rush  hours  to  125  during  non-rush  hours. 
It' carries  annually  80,000,000  cash  fare  passen- 
gers and  30,000,000  transfer  passengers.  By  con- 
struction and  purchase  of  seven  suburban  trolley 
lines,  with  102  miles  of  track,  the  company  has 
brought  into  intimate  contact  with  Louisville  a 
large  and  prosperous  suburban  populaticm. 

It  gives  employment  to  1,806  persons  (includ- 
ing the  Louisville  &  Interurban)  and  its  annual 
pay  roll  is  $2,250,000.  It  purchases  each  year  sup- 
plies and  materials  to  the  amount  of  $900,000, 
most  of  which  is  spent  in  Louisville. 

Bonds  to  the  amount  of  $12,035,000  and  notes 
to  the  amount  of  $684,000  have  been  issued  to 
provide  Tor  replacements,  extensions  and  more 
modern  service.  All' of  these  issues  have  been 
marketed  through  Louisville  financial  institutions. 
Seventeen  hundred  and  eighteen  stockholders,  of 
whom  1,389  are  citizens  of  Louisville,  have 
invested  $11,823,600  in  this  company. 

The  company  has  served  this  community  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  providing  new  equipment 
as  the  need  arose,  and,  up  to  the  present  time,  has 
been  able  to  make  extensions  and  improve  the 
service  to  keep  pace  with  Louisville's  growth. 


The  above  information  prepared  and  published  by 

Citizens  Union  National  Bank 

Know  Your  City  Boost  Louisville 


The  solution  of  the  problem  can  be  found  in  the  general 
managers.  "A,"  manager  of  the  "X"  company,  has  tried 
hard  to  win  public  favor  for  his  company  and  failed.  "B," 
manager  of  the  "Y"  company,  seemingly  has  made  no  effort 
to  educate  the  public  on  the  claims  of  his  company  to  pub- 
lic sentiment.  "A"  has  tried  too  hard;  he  has  spent  a  great 
deal  of  time  arguing  with  business  men,  giving  out  inter- 
views and  making  statements,  to  show  that  the  critics  of 
the  company  were  wrong.  He  has  fought  back  and  has 
kept  alive  all  the  antagonism  that  ever  existed.  He  has 
not  allowed  the  public  to  forget  that  the  company  was 
hated  in  some  quarters.  He  may  have  convinced  most  of 
the  citizens  that  the  company  was  right  and  that  it  should 
have  the  co-operation  of  the  public  to  secure  the  best  re- 
sults in  service,  but  nevertheless  the  hostility  has  increased 
rather  than  diminished.  It  seems  to  me  that  his  remarks 
are  nearly  always  accepted  as  "propaganda,"  being  there- 
fore vitiated.  The  public  estimates,  far  below  their  value, 
the  remarkable  accomplishments  of  this  manager  in  the 
maintenance  and  improvement  of  service. 

Now,  "B"  seldom  addresses  a  public  gathering  and  has 
never  argued  in  behalf  of  his  company.  On  a  few  occasions 
he  has  spoken  very  plainly  regarding  the  co-operation  which 
a  community  should  extend  to  its  utilities,  but  he  has  spoken 
goodnaturedly,  without  criticism  of  anybody  or  anything, 
and  without  intimation  that  criticisms  had  ever  got  under' 
his  skin.  He  has  assumed  all  along  that  he  and  his  com-- 
pany  have  no  enemies;  that  the  public  is  growing  in  appre-- 
ciation  of  the  service  rendered  and  the  larger  service  pos- 
sible. Once  in  a  while  there  is  a  flare  against  his  company, 
a  violent  controversy  over  some  element  of  service  or  rates; 
but  nobody  seems  to  be  able  to  get  up  much  enthusiasm  for 
a  sustained  warfare.  The  manager  allows  the  incident  to 
wear  itself  out,  without  aggressive  interposition  from  him- 
self, and  it  does  wear  itself  out  in  a  few  days  and  is  for- 
gotten. 

I  have  been  intensely  interested  in  observing  the  different 
methods  of  these  two  managers,  for  the  two  methods  are 
analogous  to  the  methods  of  managers  in  private  business 
and  the  methods  of  parents  in  the  management  of  their 
families. 

A  factory  or  office  manager,  a  superintendent  or  fore- 
man may  possess  extraordinary  qualities  as  a  planner  and 
director  but  fail  in  management  because  he  does  not  know 
how  to  handle  men.  He  may  adopt  aggressive  tactics  which 
keep  his  plant  in  a  turmoil,  arguing,  exploding,  command- 
ing,  criticising,  until  in  course  of  time  nearly  every  em- 
ployee has  acquired  a  secret  grouch  against  him.  However 
highly  the  employees  may  respect  his  technical  skill,  they 
cannot  bring  themselves  to  hearty  co-operation  with  him. 
Another  manager  may  not  be  so  obviously  the  dictator  in 
his  plant,  yet  a  quiet  word  from  him  may  produce  instant 
response,  of  the  exact  kind  that  results  in  the  most  efficient 
operations,  an  intelligent  and  loyal  response. 

A  father  may  rule  with  a  firm  hand,  punishing  and  scold- 
ing and  reminding  constantly  of  errors  and  improper  habits, 
yet  his  family  circle  may  present  a  far  different  picture 
than  that  which  he  had  conceived  and  which  his  diligent 
attention  might  have  reasonably  been  expected  to  produce. 
Another  father,  quite  as  ambitious  and  intelligently  thought- 
ful for  the  development  of  his  children,  may  seldom  scold 
or  punish,  and  yet  may  lead  his  children  into  harmonious 
and  fairly  complete  compliance  with  his  designs. 


Another  Bank  Comes  Up  to  Scratch 


The  fact  that  more  than  twice  as  many  passengers' 
were  carried  by  the  local  traction  systems  of  New  York 
City  than  were  transported  by  all  the  steam  roads  of 
the  United  States  is  being  given  publicity  in  the  July 
number  of  the  Elevated  Express,  published  by  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  to  allow  a  realization 
of  the  enormous  demands  being  made  upon  New  York's 
traction  systems.  The  actual  number  of  passengers 
carried  during  1920  is  given  as  2,356,000,000. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


137 


Speaking  of  Noses 

Cutting  Off  Utility  Noses  Ruins  Community  Faces — Friend- 
ship, Not  Feuds,  Needed  to  Secure  Progress — Rail- 
way Official  Talks  Out  in  Meeting 

PS.  ARKWRIGHT,  president  of  the  Georgia  Rail- 
.  way  &  Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  recently 
gave  an  address  before  the  Lion's  Club  of  Atlanta. 
His  remarks  were  so  pertinent  to  the  general  utility 
situation  that  they  are  abstracted  below.  It  is  under- 
stood that  this  address  will  soon  be  available  in 
pamphlet  form.  It  has  already  been  widely  quoted  in 
Georgia  papers : 

A  lot  of  us  are  not  entirely  pleased  with  our  faces.  Some 
of  us  may  even  have  a  spite  against  them.  Cutting  off  our 
noses  will  certainly  ruin  our  faces  However,  we  won't 
let  anybody  persuade  us  that  we  can  thus  avenge  ourselves 
and  escape  all  injury.  But,  figuratively,  many  of  us  do  this 
very  thing  time  after  time. 

We  did  it  with  the  steam  railroads.  We  permitted  our 
resentment  to  be  aroused  against  them.  We  became  violently 
prejudiced.  We  created  an  attitude  of  general  hostility 
to  them.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  we  injured 
them.  We  certainly  succeeded  in  keeping  them  from  oper- 
ating profitably.  We  regulated  them  most  stringently.  We 
soaked  them  in  damages  whenever  we  got  on  the  jury.  We 
elected  every  public  official  who  ran  on  the  platform  of 
antagonism  to  the  railroads.  We  destroyed  the  confidence 
of  the  investing  public  in  the  safety  of  their  securities.  We 
kept  them  from  getting  new  capital. 

Now  we  have  gone  hunting  for  new  game.  There  were 
the  local  public  utilities — electric  railways,  gas,  electric 
light  and  power  and  telephones.  These  services  at  first 
were  small,  but  they  developed  rapidly.  There  were  almost 
daily  improvements  in  the  supply  and  application  of  these 
services.  Street  railways  were  being  electrified,  consoli- 
dated into  a  system  covering  the  areas  of  towns,  spreading 
out  into  suburban  districts,  making  possible  the  growth  and 
expansion  of  cities.  So  with  gas,  electric  light  and  power. 
All  this  was  done  in  an  atmosphere  of  friendliness  and 
co-operation,  resulting  in  fair  treatment  and  just  consider- 
ation of  the  utilities  and  of  the  public  they  served. 

In  the  process  the  companies  were  of  necessity  becom- 
ing larger  and  larger ;  the  amounts 
of  money  involved  going  up  into 
the  millions.  The  necessary  capi- 
tal, not  being  able  to  be  obtained 
in  the  locality,  was  being  drawn 
in  from  the  outside.  Increasing- 
numbers  of  the  population  were 
becoming  each  day  more  and 
more    dependent    upon    the  serv- 


THE  NEW 


MOTHER 


THE  N< 
aiphL_._ 
Arut  found  th 
So  she  said  to  her 
I'M  he  hack  at 


Mother' Hubbard 


Some  Underground 
Public  Education 
on  High  Costs 


For  Country  Walks 


ices  performed  by  these  companies.  They  became  shining- 
marks.  They  were  foreign  owned.  They  were  monopolies 
— necessary  or  natural  monopolies,  it  is  true,  but  abhorrent 
nevertheless.  It  was  so  easy  to  teach  people  to  hate  them. 
They  came  into  more  intimate  contact  with  more  members 
of  the  public  than  any  other  enterprise  that  does  business 
with  them.  More  people  ride  on  the  street  car  systems 
every  day  than  the  entire  population  of  the  city  it  serves. 
These  people  are  of  all  kinds  and  dispositions.  Some  of 
them  are  apt  to  lose  their  self-control  and  to  take  offense 
or  to  give  offense.  The  railway  vehicles  are  operated  as 
public  vehicles,  and  each  individual  in  using  them  has  to 
give  up  some  of  his  separate  individual  convenience  in 
order  that  they  may  be  kept  capable  of  serving  the  general 
convenience.  Customers  had  to  submit  to  rules,  and  rules 
always  irritate.  We  all  go  to  business  practically  at  the 
same  time  and  return  home  at  the  same  time.  Naturally 
we  can't  all  get  a  seat.  Their  properties  of  necessity  occupy 
the  public  highways.  They  impede  other  travel;  they  are 
noisy;  they  have  accidents.  These  companies  furnish  only 
service.  We  don't  like  to  pay  for 
service,  nor  can  we  stand  for  any 
delay  in  service  or  any  slackness 
in  service,  no  matter  what  the 
cause  is.  We  get  on  the  car  and 
get  off,  and  we  have  got  no  more 
than  we  had  when  we  got  on. 
We  switch  on  the  light  and  when 
we   switch  it  off  it's  gone,  with 


HARROW  W5LALD 

Br  THROUGH  BAKEM.OO  TRAINS 
TO  PINNER  AND  HATCH  END 


PROMENADE  CONCERTS 

sv  UBlflilSSDj 
T°  OXfORD  CIRCUS 


BOOK  TO 

REGENT'S  PARK  -  ." 

OR  '  „■ 

CAMTD|N  TOWN  ^g,, 
for  THE  ZOO      .  K^gg^M 


'Underground"  Publicity  Is  of  a  High  Quality  and  There  Is  a  Great  Deal  op  It 


138 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


nothing  left.  We  turn  out  the  gas  and  it  is  as  if  it  wasn't 
there.  We  have  got  to  have  this  service  immediately  when 
we  want  it  and  of  the  quality  that  we  need.  We  can't  wait 
for  our  light,  or  our  power,  or  our  heat,  or  our  transporta- 
tion.   If  the  service  is  postponed  it  is  no  longer  needed. 

We  are  billed  for  it  monthly  in  terms  of  quantity  that  we 
don't  understand;  measured  by  an  instrument  that  we  don't 
know  anything  about.  The  service  is  easily  wasted.  We 
are  not  willing  to  admit  our  own  faults,  so  naturally  we 
blame  the  service,  but  the  fault  may  lie  in  our  own  ex- 
travagance or  in  the  extravagance  of  our  household. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  would  be  strange  if,  through 
a  period  of  years,  there  was  a  single  individual  who  had 
not  at  some  time  had  a  fault  to  find  with  the  public  utili- 
ties. The  utility  is  therefore  an  ever-present,  ready-to- 
hand,  easily  and  usually  successfully  employed  platform  for 
the  advancement  of  personal,  political  ambition. 

I  can  understand  people  following  a  leader  of  that  kind 
if  they  get  any  benefit  from  him.  If  abusing  a  public  utility 
or  taking  out  a  spite  on  it  brought  lower  fares,  or  better 
service,  or  nicer  cars,  or  firmer  tracks,  or  more  extended 
facilities,  probably  the  methods  used  could  be  justified  in 
the  ends  achieved.  It  passes  understanding,  however,  why 
any  community  should  approve  such  methods  when  it  not 
only  brings  no  gain  or  benefit  to  the  community  but  in- 
evitably results  in  harm  and  injury. 

You  are  familiar,  and  unfortunately  all  the  world  is 
familiar,  with  the  attitude  of  antagonism  to  the  Atlanta 
utilities  which  has  been  engendered  in  this  community  dur- 
ing- the  past  three  years  or  so.  What  has  been  the  result  of 
this  official  attitude? 

It  has  injured  the  company  unquestionably;  it  has  created 
a  spirit  of  enmity  among  many  of  the  people;  it  has  made 
it  difficult — practically  impossible — to  raise  additional  capi- 
tal for  the  improvement  of  the  service  and  the  expansion 
of  the  utilities.  It  has  increased  the  cost  of  such  money 
as  has  been  obtained.  It  has  entirely  reduced  the  efficiency 
of  the  employees  and  even  on  occasions  almost  demoralized 
them.  It  has  greatly  enlarged  the  cost  of  operation;  it  has 
retarded  extension;  it  has  impaired  the  quality  of  the  serv- 
ice, and  it  has  resulted  necessarily  in  increased  prices.  All 
of  which  has  injured  the  company,  of  course.  But  at  what 
cost  to  the  community? 

It  hasn't  resulted  in  lower  fares  or  rates.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  assaults,  the  fares  and  rates  have  increased  be- 
cause of  necessity  they  must  have  increased  under  the  con- 
ditions existing. 

The  service  has  not  improved  as  a  result  of  these  attacks. 
This  method  hasn't  been  responsible  for  the  repairing  of 
a  single  new  car  or  the  laying  of  a  foot  of  track  or  any 
improvement  in  quantity  or  quality  of  the  gas  or  electric 
supply. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  because  of  this  attitude,  it  has  been 
impossible  to  carry  on  the  developments  and  improvement 
the  company  had  planned,  and  among  other  things  it  forced 
the  suspension  of  a  hydro-electric  development  on  which 
practically  half  the  cost  had  already  been  spent.    Can  there 

be  any  question 
of  the  injury  to 
the  community? 

The  interests 
of  the  community 
and  its  utilities 
are  interdepend- 
ent. Our  prop- 
erties are  planted 
here  and  here 
they  have  got  to 
stay.  They  can't 
be  taken  up  and 
moved  away.  So 
we  have  got  to 
make  our  success 
right  here  and  it 
is  dependent  on 
the  continued 
growth  of  this 
community.  S  o 
with  the  commu- 
nity; its  growth, 
prosperity  and 
well  being  are 
dependent  upon 
the  character  and 
quality  of  its 
public  utility 
service,  and  any- 
thing that  im- 
pairs that  service 


Drawing  Dividends 
of  Service 


Even  though  you  are  not  a  stockholder  in  the 
Louisville  Railway  Company,  you  are  getting  divi- 
dends from  its  operation. 
You  collect  them  every  day. 
You  are  a  partner — a  preferred  partner. 
When  you  ride  to  work  in  the  morning — 
When  you  ride  back  home  at  night— 
When  you  take  the  family  down  town  to  the  movies — 
When  your  children  attend  the  high  schools— 
When  your  wife  visits  the  down  town  shops — 
You  are  drawing  dividends  of  SERVICE. 

Have  you  ever  stopped  to  realize  that  the  size  of  your 
dividend  depends  to  a  large  extent  on  your  attitude 
toward  those  who  make  it  for  you? 

Isn't  it  a  fact  that  conditions  yoi  fix  determine  to  what 
extent  we  can  serve  you? 

Doesn't  your  own  self-interest  demand  that  you  should 
work  with  us  for  constantly  improving  service? 

We  look  upon  you  as  a  partner  in  this  public  enterprise 

We  welcome  your  suggestions. 

We  hope  to  have  your  co-operation. 

JAMES  P.  BARNES,  President 
LOUISVILLE  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


J.  P.  Barnes  Believes  in  Publicity 


or  impedes  an  extension  of  it  injuriously  affects  the  com- 
munity. My  judgment  is  that  the  public  utilities  in  Atlanta 
would  have  been  developed  50  per  cent  more  than  they  have 
been  but  for  the  official  attitude  of  enmity  and  ill  will 
toward  them. 

Atlanta  has  no  ocean  or  great  lakes  or  majestic  river 
or  navigable  water.  It  has  no  iron,  coal,  copper,  oil  or 
other  useful  mineral  deposits.  It  has  no  stupendous  manu- 
facturing plants  or  one  overshadowing  industry.  Its  natural 
advantages  are  location,  accessibility  and  climate.  No  one 
locality  has  any  monopoly  of  these  advantages.  So  to  make 
a  city  grow  here  requires  effort,  teamwork  and  co-opera- 
tion. Atlanta  could  never  have  reached  its  present  position 
as  a  financial,  transportation  and  commercial  headquarters 
of  the  Southwest  with  this  dissension  and  discord  among 
her  people. 

Let's  apply  this  treatment  of  co-operation  to  our  public 
utilities.  It  would  be  too  much  to  hope  that  we  should 
never  quarrel  with  them,  but  let's  stop  having  a  feud  with 
them. 

This  Speaks  for  Itself 

THE  Third  Avenue  Railway  system  in  New  York 
extends  from  the  old  Post  Office  in  lower  Manhattan 
to  beyond  the  city  of  Yonkers  on  the  north  and  the  city 
of  New  Rochelle  on  the  northeast.  The  lines  below  were 
drafted  for  use  on  the  Third  Avenue  Division,  which  is 
the  main  stem  and  has  headquarters  at  Sixty-fifth 
Street  and  Third  Avenue,  Manhattan. 

Third  Avenue  Railway  System 
COMMENDATIONS 

"C"    is  for  controllers,  now  under  close  watch. 

To  see  if  they're  fed  as  they  should — notch  by  notch. 

So  cut  out  your  fast  feeding  and  running  between 

Notches,  resistance — you  know  what  I  mean — 
"O"    is  for  Observance;  observe  every  rule. 

Don't  forget  them  the  moment  you  leave  Harlem  School. 

Keep  them  in  mind  and  it's  a  safe  guarantee. 

You'll  bring  credit  to  yourself,  the  Division  and  me. 
"M"    is  for  Motorman;  both  the  new  and  the  old. 

This  little  lecture  to  you  I'll  unfold. 

"Do  right  all  the  time  and  commendations  are  yours. 

Do  wrong — well,  you  know  we  punish  wrongdoers." 
"M"  is  for  Motto;  let  our  Motto  be, 

To  practice  efficiency  in  the  highest  degree. 

Avoid  accidents — operating  with  care. 

Be  courteous  to  passengers,  treat  them  all  fair. 
"E"    is  for  Economy,  daily  practiced  and  preached. 

We'll  not  relinquish  a  trifle  'til  the  highest  standard's 
reached, 

So  let's  all  club  together  with  vim  and  with  pep. 
And  uphold  what  is  known  as  "Third  Avenue's  Rep." 
"N"    is  for  Nickel,  representing  one  fare, 

We  need  all  the  nickels;  the  public's  our  payer. 
Our  duty,  therefore,  is  to  be  courteous  and  kind. 
Don't  be  grouchy  or  gruff  and  don't  leave  them  be- 
hind. 

"D"    is  for  Danger;  when  you  see  it  around 

Have  a  care,  watch  your  step  or  else  you'll  be  found 

On  your  back  on  a  cot  with  kind  hands  on  your  brow. 

Or  perhaps  you'll  adorn  the  noted  "Hoose-gow." 
"A"   is  for  Accidents,  which  mean  heavy  expense 

Paid  out  in  our  hard-earned  dollars  and  cents. 

Let's  try  to  avoid  them  I  ask  you  again. 

They're  the  source  of  much  suffering,  sorrow  and  pain. 
"T"    is  for  Troubles;  our  troubles  are  rare. 

We're  not  hounded  or  pounded  if  we  work  on  the 
square. 

We're  treated  like  white  men,  our  worries  are  small, 

In  fact,  it's  up  to  ourselves  to  have  any  at  all. 
"I"     is  for  Ireland  and  Italy  too, 

A  good  combination  when  mixed  with  the  Jew. 

All  well  represented  on  this  road,  I  will  say, 

And  strongly  backed  by  the  old  U.  S.  A. 
"0"    is  for  Only;  there's  only  one  road. 

And  that's  in  Manhattan  and  right  well  we  know  it. 

We  plug  all  day  long  traveling  uphill  and  down 

Carrying  patrons  with  safety  all  over  the  town. 
"N"    is  for  Never:    We  must  never  grow  stale, 

Whether  running  on  dry  or  on  slippery  rail. 

We  must  operate  right  Commendations  to  gain. 

If  we  don't  do  what's  right  the  Boss  will  raise  "Cain." 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Plow  and  Circuit-Breaker  Testing 
in  Washington 

The  Overload  Current  Testing  of  Plows  Used  on  the  Under- 
ground Conduit  System  of  the  Washington  Railway 
&  Electric  Company  Plays  an  Important  Part 
in  Preventing  Trouble  in  Service 

FOR  proper  calibration  of  circuit  breakers  and  cur- 
rent test  on  current-collector  plows  which  are  used 
on  the  cars  of  the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany the  switchboard  and  water  rheostat  shown  in  the 
accompanying  illustration  were  erected  close  to  the  place 
where  these  pieces  of  apparatus  are  repaired. 

The  switchboard  has  a  slate  base  and  is  mounted  at  a 
distance  from  the  floor  convenient  for  the  operator.  The 


At  Left,  Switchboard  for  Circuit  Breaker  and  Plow  Test  ; 
At  Right,  Water  Rheostat  with  Testing  Equipment 

double-pole  switch  shown  mounted  on  the  wall  above 
the  switchboard  is  an  isolating  switch  which  cuts  off  all 
current  from  that  point  when  the  switch  is  out.  This 
is  easily  operated  by  a  long  wooden  handle.  As  a  cau- 
tion to  the  operator,  when  this  switch  is  in  and  the 
board  is  "alive"  a  five-light  circuit  of  red  lamps  burns 
on  the  board.  These  are  shown  in  the  upper  right-hand 
corner.  The  double-pole,  double-throw  switch  at  the  left 
of  the  board  is  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  polarity 
changes  of  the  circuit  which  frequently  occur  on  this 
road  with  the  metallic  return  circuit.  The  circuit 
breaker  in  the  center  of  the  board  is  set  at  800  amp.  and 
a  0-to-800-amp.  ammeter  shows  the  current  taken. 

The  water  rheostat  for  regulating  the  value  of  the 
testing  current  is  located  outside  the  building  and  oper- 
ated through  a  shaft  by  the  wheel  shown  in  the  center 


of  the  switchboard.  The  movable  terminals  of  the 
rheostat  are  raised  or  lowered  through  ropes  which 
operate  over  sheaves  mounted  on  this  shaft.  The  rheo- 
stat is  made  up  of  two  old  oil  barrels  with  the  circuits 
connected  to  them  in  parallel  so  as  to  reduce  the  heat- 
ing of  the  brine  as  much  as  possible.  The  arrangement 
of  the  barrels,  opei'ating  equipment,  shafts,  counter- 
weights, etc.,  is  readily  seen  in  the  illustration,  and  a 
window  to  the  left  of  the  switchboard  furnishes  a  con- 
venient means  of  watching  the  operating  of  the  rheostat 
from  the  inside  of  the  building,  while  its  location  on 
the  outside  insures  that  no  obnoxious  fumes  will  in- 
terfere with  other  work. 


Large  Automobile  Interests  Enter 
Motor  Bus  Field 

THE  Republic  Truck  Company,  one  of  the  John  N. 
Willys  subsidiary  companies,  enters  the  motor  bus 
field  with  a  specially  designed  single-deck  motor  bus 
equipped  with  the  Knight  sleeve-valve  motor.  The  com- 
pany plans  to  co-operate  with  the  railway  companies  in 
the  development  of  the  motor  bus  field  and  Col.  Frank 
Smith,  first  vice-president  and  general  manager  of  the 
Republic  company,  has  created  a  public  utilities  divi- 
sion under  the  direction  of  Ralph  M.  Sparks,  formerly 
of  the  Bay  State  System,  Boston,  who  has  been  ap- 
pointed manager  of  this  division. 

The  Republic  company  has  made  a  comprehensive 
study  of  motor  bus  operation  as  it  exists  in  the  United 
States  and  abroad  and  believes,  with  most  experienced 
bus  operators,  that  the  ordinary  truck  chassis  is  not 
suitable  for  passenger  transportation.  A  specially 
designed  unit  is  now  being  built.  Particular  atten- 
tion has  been  paid  to  spring  suspension,  body  overhang, 
tread  of  wheels,  etc.,  to  insure  comfortable  riding  under 
varying  loads.  The  type  of  motor  used  is  the  same  as 
that  which  has  been  adopted  as  standard  by  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Coach  Company  in  New  York. 

The  all-steel  body  is  hung  so  that  the  floor  level  above 
the  ground  is  approximately  24  in.  With  a  folding  two- 
panel  door  of  good  dimensions  and  low  steps,  passenger 
interchange  can  be  accomplished  with  a  minimum  of 
delay.  A  form  of  cushion  wheel  and  tire  is  used.  To 
insure  further  comfort  to  passengers  and  at  the  same 
time  cut  down  maintenance,  an  electric  gear  shift  is 
used.  In  addition  to  the  electrical  attachment  there 
is  a  regulation  hand  control,  which  is  used  only  in 
emergency.  Cross  seats  are  used  in  the  bus,  which  has 
a  seating  capacity  of  twenty-five  passengers,  except 
over  the  rear  wheels,  where  longitudinal  seats  are 
necessary  because  of  the  low-floor  feature.  A  fare  box 
is  conveniently  located  in  the  front. 

A  completed  bus  will  be  presented  for  inspection  of 
the  railway  companies  some  time  the  early  part  of 
August. 


140 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


New  Variable  Voltage  Welding  Set 

THE  General  Electric  Company  has  recently  placed 
on  the  market  a  new  type  of  electric  arc-welding 
equipment  for  operation  from  variable-voltage,  direct- 
current  trolley  circuits. 

The  equipment  consists  of  a  standard  type  WD-9 
4-kw.,  60/20-volt,  200-amp.,  self-excited  arc-welding  gen- 
erator direct  connected  to  a  type  RF-10-A  constant- 
speed,  variable-voltage,  direct-current  motor.  The 
motor  is  designed  to  maintain  practically  constant  speed 
on  voltages  varying  momentarily  from  400  to  650  and 
is  provided  with  compensating  pole-faced  windings  as 
well  as  commutating  poles. 

The  generator  is  designed  so  that  at  constant  speed 


Variable -Voltage,  Direct-Current  Welder 

the  energy  delivered  at  the  arc  is  practically  constant. 
Since  the  voltage  and  current  follow  the  momentary 
variations  in  the  arc  conditions  practically  instantane- 
ously, the  lag  which  causes  defects  in  the  weld  is  elimi- 
nated. By  the  adjustment  of  the  dial  switch  on  the 
panel,  the  current  may  be  adjusted  from  200  to  75 
ampei-es  in  25-amp.  steps.  Intermediate  steps  are  pro- 
vided for  by  adjustment  of  the  field  rheostat. 

The  sets  are  assembled  complete  with  generator  panel, 
motor  starting  equipment  and  stabilizing  reactor,  all 
mounted  on  a  structural  steel  base.  The  equipment  may 
be  made  portable  by  the  addition  of  running  gear. 


Greasing  and  Cleaning  Tracks 

THE  maintenance  department  of  the  Seattle  Munic- 
ipal Street  Railway  has  systematized  its  track 
greasing  and  switch  cleaning.  The  trackage  of  the 
system  is  divided  into  routes  of  an  average  of  12  miles 
each,  with  a  track  greaser  assigned  to  each  route  and 
a  relief  man  to  take  the  place  of  each  regular  greaser. 
This  relief  man  also  takes  the  place  of  the  oiler  on  the 
cable  line  four  days  in  each  month,  and  by  this  arrange- 
ment each  man  has  two  days  a  month  off.  A  foreman 
reporting  direct  to  the  maintenance  engineer  has  charge 
of  the  men. 

The  schedule  of  greasing  requires  that  each  route 
should  be  covered  at  least  twice  daily  and  in  some  special 
cases  three  times  daily.  The  various  parts  of  the 
track  greaser's  outfit  are  shown  in  an  accompanying 
illustration  and  consist  of  a  grease  bucket,  a  switch 
cleaning  iron,  a  copper  oil  can,  a  grease  swab  and  a 
deck  broom. 

The  galvanized  iron  grease  bucket  holds  12  qt.  and 
has  straight  sides  with  a  rim  around  the  bottom  I  in. 


wide,  made  by  turn- 
ing up  the  bottom 
onto  the  sides  and 
firmly  soldering  the 
edges  together.  This 
gives  a  substantial 
rim  for  the  bucket 
to  rest  on  and  the 
bottom  of  the  bucket 
rests  on  the  inside 
of  this  rim.  The  top 
rim  is  made  of  fa- 
in, wire. 

The  greaser  uses 
a  swab  which  has  a 
wire  framework 
composed  of  four 
pieces  of  wire  each 
about  20  in.  long, 
crossed  at  the  bot- 
tom, through  which 
are  drawn  strands  of 

either  hemp  or  manila  rope  Si  in.  long.  After  the 
swab  is  filled  to  the  required  height  and  dressed  down 
to  the  required  shape  with  shears  the  wires  are  drawn 
together  and  twisted  tight  at  the  top.  This  is  then 
attached  to  a  wooden  handle  to  make  it  of  convenient 
length  for  the  use  of  the  greaser. 

A  No.  8  deck  broom  is  also  carried  by  the  greaser 
for  cleaning  out  switches  and  for  cleaning  between 
the  guard  and  running  rails.  In  addition  he  also  carries 
a  switch  cleaning  iron  which  is  made  in  the  company's 
shops  and  is  about  9i  in.  long,  set  into  a  round  handle 
2i  in. 

The  total  length  of  this  cleaning  iron  is  thus  ap- 
proximately 1  ft.  and  can  be  carried  in  the  side  pocket 


Track  Greaser  with  Equipment 
for  Work 


Greose  Bucket 

Track  Greaser's  Outfit  of  the  Seattle  Municipal 
Street  Railway 

in  the  man's  overalls.  A  small  copper  oil  can  is  also 
carried  with  switch  oil  to  be  used  on  the  switches. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  work  of  cleaning  and  oil- 
ing, the  track  greaser  also  reports  all  defects  that  he 
may  find  in  either  tracks  or  switches.  This  informa- 
tion is  given  direct  to  the  office  so  that  emergency  men 
may  be  sent  out  immediately  to  make  any  necessary 
repairs. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


141 


Rubber  Spring  Blocks  Improve  Riding 
Qualities  of  Bus 

THE  International  Motor  Company  has  developed 
and  applied  to  several  of  its  Model  A  B  Mack  chassis 
in  motor  bus  service  a  novel  easy-riding  device.  A 
rubber  spring  block,  so  called,  acts  very  much  like  a 
shock  absorber  of  the  cushion  type,  although  in  this 
case  the  device  which  takes  the  blow  is  in  compression 
whether  the  load  is  up  or  down. 

These  rubber  spring  blocks  do  away  with  the  usual 
spring  shackles.  They  are  held  fast  in  a  housing  that 
is  bolted  or  riveted  to  the  chassis  frame.    In  order  that 


ployed  to  fasten  the  spring  block  housing  to  the  truck 
frame  as  well  as  the  shape  and  design  of  the  rubber 
blocks. 


View   of   Rear   Spring   Suspension    Showing  Housing 
Surrounding  Rubber  Spring  Block — Insert,  Rubber 
Spring  Block  Itself 

the  springs  may  function  properly  in  carrying  their 
share  of  the  load,  lipped  plates  are  riveted  to  the  ends 
of  the  two  top  spring  leaves,  which  then  fit  into  the 
mouth  of  the  spring  block  inclosing  the  lips  and  holding 
the  upper  and  lower  members  of  the  block  in  com- 
pression at  100  lb.  per  square  inch  when  bolted  up. 

Road  tests  that  have  been  run  by  the  motor  company 
indicate  the  life  of  the  spring  block  is  about  30,000 
miles.  It  will  take  but  a  small  percentage  of  time  to 
renew  these  rubber  blocks  as  compared  to  replacing 
bushings,  pins,  etc.,  in  the  ordinary  form  of  spring 
suspension.  The  truck  manufacturers  c'.aim  this  can 
be  done  in  an  hour. 

The  illustrations  show  the  details  of  the  method  em- 


Freight  Locomotive  for  New  York 
Municipal  Railway 

THE  New  York  Municipal  Railway  has  recently 
placed  in  operation  an  additional  50-ton,  600-volt 
electric  locomotive  for  handling  freight  service.  At 
the  one-hour  rating  the  new  locomotive  will  develop  a 
tractive  effort  of  16,500  lb.  running  at  a  speed  of  13.8 
m.p.h.,  and  will  haul  an  800-ton  train  on  a  level  track 
at  15  m.p.h. 

The  locomotive  is  designated  class  404-E-100-4GE248 
and  carries  all  of  its  weight  on  drivers.  The  cab  is  of 
the  sloping  end,  steeple  type  of  construction  and  ex- 
tends practically  the  whole  length  of  the  underframe. 
The  central  portion  contains  the  master  controllers,  air 
brake  operating  valves  and  similar  equipment  adjacent 
to  the  operator's  positions.  The  underframe  consists 
of  four  heavy  steel  channels  extending  the  entire  length 
of  the  platform  and  tied  together  by  heavy  end-frame 
box  girder  castings  and  bolster  plates.  Each  channel 
is  riveted  to  the  webs  of  the  end-frame  casting  and  to 
the  top  and  bottom  bolster  plates.  The  bolsters  are 
built  up  of  1-in.  steel  plates,  18  in.  in  width,  riveted 
to  all  four  longitudinal  sills. 

The  draw-head  castings  are  bolted  to  the  center  sills, 
which  in  turn  are  riveted  to  the  end  frames.  The  draft 
gear  consists  of  MCB  couplers  with  5  in.  x  7  in.  shank 
and  standard  twin  springs  and  follower  plates.  The 
whole  platform  is  floored  and  braced  by  heavy  steel 
plates  running  the  width  of  the  locomotive  and  riveted 
to  the  longitudinal  sills.  The  usual  wood  floor  is  used 
in  the  cab. 

The  side  frames  of  the  two  four-wheel  trucks  are 
built  of  heavy  rolled  bars  for  top  and  bottom  members 
with  cast  steel  pedestals.  The  bolster  or  center  tran- 
som is  bolted  rigidly  to  the  side  frames  and  the  entire 
weight  of  the  truck  is  supported  by  semi-elliptic  springs 
hung  by  links  to  the  double  side  equalizer  bars,  which  in 
turn  rest  on  the  journal  box.  The  journals  are  of 
standard  design  with  MCB  bearings  and  wedges.  The 
wheels  are  solid  rolled  steel,  S4i  in.  in  diameter,  with 
MCB  treads  and  flanges. 

The  locomotive  is  driven  by  four  600-volt  box  frame 


New  Freight  Locomotive  for  Brooklyn 


Operating  Equipment  in  Cab 


142 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


ventilated  railway  motors  of  the  same  general  design 
as  those  used  on  the  subway  cars  of  this  company. 
Each  motor  is  geared  to  the  axle  through  single  reduc- 
tion with  a  gear  ratio  of  3.88.  The  control  equipment 
is  type  M  arranged  to  give  three  motor  combinations, 
series,  series-parallel  and  parallel.  There  are  seven 
steps  in  the  first  position,  six  in  the  second  and  five  in 
the  third.  The  motor  rheostats  and  various  parts  of 
the  control  equipment  are  housed  under  the  sloping  end 
cabs,  conveniently  arranged  for  inspection  and  repairs. 
Current  may  be  collected  either  through  third  rail  shoes 
or  overhead  pole  trolleys.  On  account  of  the  local 
conditions  there  are  some  limiting  clearances  which 
require  a  very  low  over-all  height.  This  locomotive  is 
arranged  to  operate  under  a  minimum  clearance  of 
12  ft.  2  in.  over  the  trolley  retracted.  A  change-over 
switch  is  provided  to  isolate  the  third  rail  shoes  when 
the  trolley  is  being  used,  thus  eliminating  the  danger 
from  exposed  live  parts.  The  trolleys  are  isolated  in 
a  like  manner,  when  the  switch  is  thrown  to  take  cur- 
rent from  the  third  rail. 


Total  weight   100.000  lb. 

Length  over  buffers   37  ft.  4  in. 

Width  over  all  8  ft.  7  in. 

Height  over  trolley  retracted  12  ft.  2  in. 

Total  wheelbase   25  ft.  7  in. 

Rigid  wheelbase  7  ft.  4  in. 

Diameter  of  wheels  34  \  in. 

Total  hp.  one-hour  rating  600 

Tractive  effort  at  one-hour  rating  16,500  lb. 

Speed  at  this  rating   13.8  m.p.h. 


Thermal  Stresses  in  Steel  Car  Wheels 

THE  Bureau  of  Standards  announces  in  Technical 
News  Bulletin  No.  51  that  results  obtained  from 
tensile  tests  on  material  taken  from  cast-iron  and 
rolled-steel  car  wheels  and  thermal  expansion  data  ob- 
tained on  similar  materials  has  enabled  computations 
to  be  made  of  the  stresses  set  up  by  heating  the  tread 
of  various  steel  wheels.  It  was  found  that  the  stresses 
on  the  outside  of  the  wheel  were  in  compression  near 
the  tread  and  in  tension  near  the  hub,  the  maximum 
value  being  in  each  case  greater  than  the  proportional 
limit  of  the  material.  This  distribution  is  similar  to 
that  previously  found  in  the  single-plate  cast-iron 
wheel.  In  order  to  analyze  further  the  stress  distribu- 
tion in  the  wheels,  some  of  them  are  being  prepared  in 
such  a  way  that  stress  measurements  can  be  taken  on 
the  back  and  also  in  a  circumferential  as  well  as  a  radial 
direction. 


New  Combination  Stop  Sign  and  Strain 
Insulator 

THE  Technical  Products  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
is  marketing  a  strain  insulator  sign  designed  by  C. 
Fred  Sauereisen  of  Pittsburgh.  This  sign  is  made 
from  the  same  material  as  high-voltage  insulators.  It 
is  white  with  black  letters  which  are  burned  into  the 
sign  making  it  acidproof.  It  is  mechanically  strong 
and  not  affected  by  the  weather,  and  the  rain  will  wash 
off  all  dirt.  This  insulator  is  intended  for  use  on  guy 
wires  and  offers  a  uniform  design  for  signs  as  danger 
signals  and  to  designate  car  stops,  line  voltage,  and 
other  similar  variables. 


Small  Oven  Proves  Useful 

Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Street  Railway  Makes  Small  Portable 
Coil-Winding  Oven  for  Armature  Coils,  Which  Makes 
Them  Easier  to  Handle  and  Less  Subject  to  Damage 

BY  O.  A.  NORENE 

Assistant  Master  Mechanic  Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Street  Railway 

ACCOMPANYING  illustrations  show  a  small  portable 
.  oven  which  has  been  constructed  in  the  shops  of  the 
Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Street  Railway  for  use  in  con- 
nection with  armature  coils.  The  oven  is  made  of  No. 
24  gage  sheet  steel  mounted  on  legs  of  1  in.  x  1  in.  x 
i  in.  angle  iron,  so  that  the  oven  itself  is  at  a  convenient 
height  for  armature  winders.  The  dimensions  of  the 
body  of  the  oven  are  28  in.  wide,  20  in.  deep  and  24  in. 
high.  The  sheet  steel  door  is  hung  on  common  spring 
screen  hinges.  The  heater  element  is  wound  of  No.  24 
gage  Nichrome  wire  with  a  resistance  of  200  ohms  and 
is  mounted  on  standard  porcelain  heater  tubes.  Con- 
nections for  the  line  are  made  through  Crouse-Hinds 
R.Q.K.  receptacles  and  plugs  to  outlets  which  are  avail- 
able near  the  different  winding  stands. 

These  ovens  have  been  found  to  be  of  great  value  in 
winding  armatures,  as  the  armature  coils  which  lie  in 
storage  for  any  length  of  time  become  hard  and  can  be 
easily  damaged  when  they  are  being  installed  on  the 
armatures  by  the  armature  winders.  By  putting  the 
coils  into  the  oven  for  a  few  minutes  they  become  pliable 
and  easy  to  handle  and  so  much  less  subject  to  damage 
by  handling. 

Another  convenience  of  this  oven  is  that  on  account 
of  the  light  materials  used  in  its  construction  it  is 
easily  moved  about  as  needed. 


Two  Views  of  Portable  Oven  Built  in  Omaha  Shops 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


143 


Berlin's  Eight-Ride  Punch  Ticket 

THE  purchasing  power  of  the  mark  has  declined 
so  greatly  within  Germany  itself  that  the  electric 
railways  of  that  country  are  compelled  to  charge  fares 
as  high  as  1  M  or  ten  times  the  usual  pre-war  fare 
(10  pfennig)  in  unit-fare  cities.  The  Grosse  Berliner 
Strassenbahn  at  last  accounts  is  charging  70  pfennig, 
which  at  the  pre-war  rate  of  exchange  would  mean 
a  14-cent  fare  instead  of  its  old  2*-cent  fare. 

To  temper  the  wind  for  the  regular  rider,  the  man- 
agement sells  an  eight-ride  ticket  for  5  M  (500  pfen- 
nig), whereas  eight  individual  rides  would  cost  5.6  M 
(560  pfennig),  the  reduction  being  12  per  cent.  The 
particular  ticket  reproduced  is  marked  as  good  for 
eight  rides  taken  before  Dec.  31,  1920,  either  for  one 
rider  at  a  time  or  for  several  who  make  use  of  the 
ticket  in  common.  The  conductor  makes  a  perforation 
in  one  of  the  lettered  sections  in  the  group  marked 
"First  trip,"  "Second  trip,"  etc.  There  are  twelve 
letters  in  each  section,  and  the  conductor  selects  for 
punching  any  letter  he  wishes  in  each  trip. 

Among  the  interesting  regulations  printed  on  this 
ticket  are  the  following:  Animal  and  baggage  charges 
may  be  paid  for  by  punchings  on  the  ticket;  tickets 


Untie  tubrt 


Eight-Ride  Ticket  op  Berlin  Street  Railways  Sold  at  12 
Per  Cent  Discount  Over  Cash 

so  crumpled,  folded  or  mutilated  as  to  make  inspection 
difficult  are  void;  no  refund  is  made  for  unused  trips 
except  in  case  of  a  fare  increase,  when  payment  will 
be  made  within  six  weeks  thereafter,  either  at  the 
headquarters  or  the  operating  carhouses.  The  last 
provision  clearly  prevents  the  presentation  of  old  tickets 
for  new  and  higher  fares. 


Warnings  on  Coal 

Washington  Officials  Suggest  Its  Pur- 
chase Now  to  Avoid  Possibility 
of  Its  Shortage  Later 

TWO  warnings  have  come  to  the 
joint  fuel  committee  of  the  national 
public  utility  associations  that  it  would 
be  very  desirable  for  the  utilities  to 
bunker  coal  at  this  time  when  it  can 
easily  be  obtained.  One  of  these  warn- 
ings was  sent  on  June  24  by  Edgar  E. 
Clark,  chairman  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  to  G.  W.  Elliott,  secretary 
of  the  national  committee  on  gas  and 
electric  service,  and  reads  in  part  as 
follows : 

As  you  doubtless  know,  the  production 
and  shipment  of  bituminous  coal  has  been 
and  is  disappointingly  low.  You,  of  course, 
recall  the  difficulties  of  last  year  during  the 
late  summer  and  fall  which  grew  out  of 
the  fact  that  there  had  been  a  general 
disinclination  to  buy  and  provide  necessary 
supplies  earlier  in  the  season. 

In  the  interest  of  avoiding  a  repetition 
of  those  circumstances  the  commission  has 
requested  me  to  write  you  suggesting  the 
importance,  as  we  see  it,  of  securing  as 
promptly  as  possible  a  reasonable  reserve 
against  the  difficulties  that  will  be  presented 
if  later  we  get  into  a  sustained  period  of 
so-called  car  shortage,  and  to  request  that 
you  bring  the  matter  actively  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  members  of  your  association. 

We  appreciate,  of  course,  that  it  is  im- 
practicable to  put  into  storage  an  entire 
winter's  supply.  What  we  are  suggesting 
is  the  accumulation  now  while  transporta- 
tion is  easy  and  cars  are  idle  of  a  reason- 
able reserve  supply  which  will  help  out 
greatly  if  and  when  the  pinch  comes. 

A  second  letter  was  sent  by  Secretary 

Hoover  of  the  Department  of  Commerce 

on  July  8  to  J.  W.  Lieb,  chairman  of 

the  joint  fuel  committee  of  the  national 

utility  associations.    Mr.  Hoover  says: 

I  would  like  to  call  the  attention  of  your 
association  to  the  bituminous  coal  outlook. 
There  is  every  indication  that  there  has 
been  an  undue  slackness  in  the  purchase 
of  coal  which  may  accumulate  to  large 
demands  in  the  autumn.  I  am  convinced 
that  due  to  the  general  depression  the  price 
of  bituminous  coal  at  the  mines  is  not  too 
high  at  the  present  time.  This  is,  I  think 
proved  by  the  fact  that  numbers  of  operat- 
ing coal  companies  are  making  no  profit 
whatever.  If  there  should  be  a  recovery  of 


business  activities  in  the  autumn,  taken  in 
conjunction  with  the  large  increase  in  per- 
centage of  disabled  cars  (from  5  per  cent 
to  16  per  cent  during  the  past  six  months) 
and  the  inability  of  the  railways  to  finance 
their  maintenance  there  are  possibilities  of 
development  of  a  most  serious  situation  as 
regards  coal  movement. 

I  cannot  but  feel  that  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  the  face  of 
warnings  it  has  sent  out  would  not  be 
disposed  to  give  any  priority  in  such  an 
event.  It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  to  be 
obvious  that  the  public  utilities  companies, 
both  in  their  own  interests  and  the  protec- 
tion of  the  public,  should  make  early  pro- 
vision for  stocks  of  coal  sufficient  to  carry 
them  over  a  critical  period. 

Mr.  Lieb,  in  acknowledging  these 
letters,  said  that  he  appreciated  the 
timely  suggestions  and  that  he  would 
send  copies  to  the  three  associations. 


American 
Association  News 


T.  &  T.  Executive  Committee 
Meets 

ON  JULY  20  the  executive  commit- 
tee of  the  Transportation  &  Traffic 
Association  met  at  headquarters  to  pass 
on  several  committee  reports  that  have 
been  prepared  for  presentation  at  the 
coming  Atlantic  City  convention.  Those 
present  were  R.  P.  Stevens,  Pennsylva- 
nia-Ohio Electric  Company;  President 
A.  Gaboury,  Montreal  Tramways;  L.  H. 
Palmer,  United  Railways  &  Electric 
Company,  Baltimore;  R.  E.  McDougall, 
New  York  &  Harlem  Traction  Lines. 

Reports  of  the  committees  on  safety 
work,  traffic  regulations,  personnel  and 
training  of  employees  r,nd  economics  of 
schedules  were  approved,  subject  to 
minor  changes  and  corrections.  Other 
reports  are  to  be  approved  by  letter 
when  received. 

A  tentative  convention  program  was 


mapped  out  and  a  list  prepared  of  those 
who  are  to  be  asked  to  discuss  the  var- 
ious reports. 

The  personnel  of  the  committee  on 
subjects  for  next  year's  work  was  also 
discussed.  This  anticipates  having  the 
report  of  the  committee  available  for 
the  first  executive  committee  meeting 
following  the  close  of  the  convention. 

Resolutions  on  the  Death  of 
William  Bloss 
"T)ILL"  BLOSS  was  a  much-beloved 

-D  character  in  the  ranks  of  the  Cen- 
tral Electric  Railway  Association,  and 
he  did  much  to  add  life  and  spirit  to  its 
meetings  and  activities.  It  was  singu- 
larly fitting,  therefore,  that  the  associa- 
tion should  pay  tribute  to  his  memory 
on  the  recent  boat  trip,  where  his  ab- 
sence was  felt  most  keenly. 

The  association  at  this  meeting- 
adopted  an  appropriate  resolution  which 
recounted  the  many  ways  in  which  Mr. 
Bloss  had  been  a  vital  factor  in  the  as- 
sociation's success  and  had  endeared 
himself  in  the  hearts  of  the  various 
members.  His  untimely  death  was 
deeply  regretted. 

Executive  Committee  Will  Meet 
August  5 

THE  meeting  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Association 
which  was  tentatively  arranged  for 
Aug.  5  has  been  definitely  set  for  that 
date.  The  business  before  the  com- 
mittee will  be  consideration  of  the 
report  of  the  special  reorganization 
committee,  an  abstract  being  printed  in 
last  week's  issue  of  this  paper. 

As  was  mentioned  at  that  time,  the 
executive  committee,  through  President 
Gadsden,  has  requested  the  membership 
at  large  to  make  suggestions  or  criti- 
cisms which  will  help  the  committee  in 
its  deliberations. 


News  of  the  Ele&nc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Suspension  Seems  Probable 

Court  Has  Under  Consideration  Order- 
ing Des  Moines  City  Railroad  to 
Withdraw  All  Service  Aug.  1 

Unless  further  objections  are  offered 
Judge  Martin  J.  Wade  of  the  federal 
court  will  order  a  complete  suspension 
of  service  by  the  Des  Moines  City  Rail- 
way in  Des  Moines  on  Aug.  1.  In  an 
order  of  court  filed  July  15  Judge  Wade 
made  clear  his  intention  to  authorize 
the  shut  down  unless  some  solution  of 
the  difficulties  is  found  before  the  date 
•set.  Judge  Wade  has  fixed  July  21  as 
the  date  for  filing  final  objections. 

In  the  order  filed  Judge  Wade  indi- 
cated that  the  fifteen  days'  respite  was 
granted  in  order  to  allow  the  trustee 
for  the  bondholders  time  in  which  to 
offer  more  urgent  objections  and  sug- 
gest an  alternative.  The  order  specifi- 
cally directs  that  the  trustees  be  noti- 
fied of  the  court's  intention  and  grants 
until  July  21  for  objections  to  be  filed. 
In  so  far  as  the  trustees  for  the  bond- 
holders and  the  owners,  who  are  repre- 
sented by  operating  receiver  F.  C. 
Chambers,  are  practically  identical  there 
is  little  question  that  the  plea  filed  by 
the  receivers  will  meet  objection  from 
the  trustees. 

In  making  his  order  Judge  Wade 
makes  clear  that  in  the  event  suspen- 
sion is  ordered  on  the  final  hearing  it 
will  be  the  end  and  that  the  entire 
question  will  be  disposed  of  by  a  sale 
of  the  property  by  the  receiver  with- 
out waiting  for  foreclosure  proceedings 
by  the  bondholders.    The  court  said: 

I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  make  a  final 
.order  at  this  time  with  reference  to  opera- 
tion, because  I  feel  that  the  bondholders 
and  the  general  creditors  should  be  con- 
sulted with  reference  to  the  suggestions  of 
the  court  that  the  whole  matter  should  be 
disposed  of  not  through  foreclosure,  but 
'by  direct  sale  by  the  receivers.  I  am  ad- 
vised that  such  sale  may  be  with  the  fran- 
chise, or  if  an  acceptable  purchaser  is  not 
thus  found,  that  the  property  may  be  sold 
separate  from  the  franchise. 

Judge  Wade  serves  notice  on  every 
one  concerned  and  particularly  to  the 
citizens  of  Des  Moines: 

That  he  cannot  force  the  backers  of  the 
railway  to  advance  another  cent  to  keep 
the  road  in  operation. 

That  in  his  opinion  the  city  by  allowing 
bus  competition  has  violated  the  car  fran- 
chise as  vitally  as  the  company  did  by  in- 
creasing fares. 

That  further  deferring  the  end  will  serve 
no  good  purpose. 

The  judge  points  out  that  the  Harris 
interests  already  have  sunk  $500,000 
in  the  system,  "not  one  cent  of  which 
they  were  required  to  furnish  under 
the  terms  of  the  franchise,  or  under 
any  personal  obligation  of  the  com- 
pany." 

The  order  definitely  upholds  the  con- 
tention made  by  Corporation  Counsel 
Miller  in  his  letter  to  the  City  Council 
that  the  fare  section  of  the  franchise 
was  null,  and  characterizes  the  fran- 
chise as  one  that  is  "physically  impos- 


sible to  be  complied  with  even  with 
the  highest  fare  that  the  traffic  will 
bear." 

The  fare  section  of  the  franchise  is 
handled  thus  in  the  order  made  by 
Judge  Wade: 

It  has  been  recently  held  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  that  a  fixed, 
arbitrary  fare  in  a.  franchise  is  contrary  to 
law  and  public  policy,  and  therefore  not 
binding.  This  holding,  I  as  well  as  every 
private  citizen  must  respect. 

In  connection  with  the  demand  that  the 
court  compel  the  owners  to  operate  under 
the  terms  of  the  franchise,  it  is  well  to 
bear  in  mind  that  the  city  itself  violated 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  franchise  ad- 
mitting to  the  streets  in  direct  competi- 
tion with  the  street  railway  a  system  of 
buses  which  reduced  the  income  of  the 
railway,  operating  at  full  capacity  to  the 
extent  of  $2,000  a  day. 

A  careful  investigation  satisfied  me  that 
if  the  bus  competition  was  not  brought  into 
Des  Moines  and  things  had  continued  as 
they  were  going  last  January  the  equip- 
ment which  was  removed  could  have  been 
retained  and  the  fare  at  the  present  time 
would  be  reduced  to  7  cents,  with  full  and 
adequate  service. 

Aside  from  Judge  Wade's  order  the 
most  important  development  of  the 
week  was  the  opening  of  negotiations 
with  the  City  Council  by  the  street 
car  men's  union  for  a  service-at-cost 
franchise. 

No  definite  statement  as  regards  the 
service-at-cost  plan  has  been  made  by 
representatives  of  the  Des  Moines  City 
Railway,  but  Attorney  Gamble  for  the 
company  stated  that  the  company  would 
be  willing  to  "meet  the  men  half  way." 

Judge  George  Wilson,  representing 
owners  of  the  company,  directed  a  let- 
ter to  Mayor  Barton,  in  reply  to  one 
from  the  city  head  asking  for  a  further 
proposal  on  the  part  of  the  company, 
in  which  he  said  that  the  company  had 
made  its  "rock  bottom"  offer. 


Memphis  Would  Cut  Wages 

The  employees  of  the  Memphis  (Tenn.) 
Street  Railway  have  lined  up  against  a 
proposed  cut  in  wages  of  12  cents  an 
hour,  notice  of  which  was  served  on  them 
on  July  2.  A  preliminary  conference  be- 
tween representatives  of  the  company 
and  the  executive  board  of  the  union 
has  been  held  in  an  effort  to  clarify  the 
situation.  They  are  still  discussing  the 
problem.  The  contract  between  the  rail- 
way and  its  employees  expires  on  July 
31.  The  proposal  of  T.  H.  Tutwiler  and 
F.  S.  Elgin,  receivers,  to  cut  wages  is 
preliminary  to  their  entering  into  a  new 
contract  with  the  employees.  The  men 
on  their  side  have  asked  for  minor 
changes  in  working  conditions,  but  have 
made  no  demand  for  any  increase  of 
wages. 

The  present  wage  scale  is  47  cents 
an  hour  for  first-year  employees,  52 
cents  for  second-year  employees  and  57 
cents  an  hour  for  employees  of  two  or 
more  years'  service.  In  the  event  of 
failure  to  reach  an  agreement  under 
the  terms  of  the  contract  now  in  force, 
the  matter  goes  to  arbitration. 


Electrification  Proposed 

Western  Railroads  Again  Have  Engi- 
neering Expert  at  Work  on  Program 
— Rate  Fight  Being  Waged 

It  is  stated  that  the  bitter  fight  now 
being  waged  on  the  Pacific  Coast  be- 
tween steam  railroads  and  steamship 
lines  growing  out  of  rate  reductions 
may  result  in  the  electrification  of  the 
steam  lines  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  This 
rate  slashing  fight  started  during  the 
past  winter  when  the  steamship  lines 
plying  between  Eastern  seaboard  points 
and  Pacific  Coast  points  via  the  Panama 
Canal  began  cutting  their  rates  and 
obtained  a  large  share  of  the  freight 
haul  on  citrus  fruits  and  other  products 
from  the  West  to  the  East;  also,  a 
similar  cutting  of  freight  rates  by  the 
steamship  lines  took  place  in  coastwise 
freight  business  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Rate-Cutting  War 

That  this  cutting  of  rates  by  the 
steamship  lines  may  bring  about  elec- 
trification of  the  steam  roads  was  indi- 
cated in  a  communication  from  the  Fed- 
eral power  commission.  According  to 
O.  C.  Merrill,  executive  secretary  of 
the  commission,  the  Western  railroads 
now  have  experts  at  work  on  computa- 
tions and  engineering  problems  looking 
into  the  electrification  of  the  steam 
lines.  Electric  power  at  five-eighths 
of  a  cent  a  kilowatt-hour  is  so  much 
cheaper  than  either  coal  or  oil  that  the 
use  of  electricity  in  itself  would  bring 
about  a  reduction  in  freight  rates,  Mr. 
Merrill  asserts.    He  said  further: 

Another  effect  of  electrification  that 
would  bring  about  lower  rates  is  that  30 
per  cent  of  the  traffic  on  both  coal  and  oil 
burning  roads  is  used  in  carrying  fuel  for 
their  own  locomotives.  The  electrified 
carrier  sends  its  fuel  by  wire  and  uses  the 
rolling  stock  thus  released  for  "cash  cus- 
tomers." 

The  five-eighths  of  a  cent  cost  for 
power  is  based  on  the  cost  to  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  for  its 
electrified  lines.  According  to  Mr.  Mer- 
rill that  road  over  its  electrified  lines 
forwards  twice  as  many  cars  at  the 
double  speed,  thus  effecting  a  very 
large  saving.  Mr.  Merrill's  report  was 
made  to  Senator  Shortridge  of  Califor- 
nia. 


All  Night  Service  in  Albany 

Officials  of  the  United  Traction  Com- 
pany, Albany,  N.  Y.,  hinted  on  July  16, 
at  a  resumption  of  all  night  service  on 
Albany  lines  within  a  few  days.  Satur- 
day marked  the  renewal  of  all  night 
service  on  the  red  and  blue  lines,  be- 
tween Troy  and  Waterford  and  Cohoes, 
and  the  white  line,  between  Albia  and 
Cohoes.  All  night  service  has  been  dis- 
continued on  the  Albany  lines  since 
Jan.  29,  when  the  strike  was  called. 
Company  officials  declare  the  situation 
is  now  about  normal. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


145 


Traffic  Suspended  Three  Months 
in  Wage  Controversy 

Traffic  on  the  entire  system  of  the 
Scranton,  Montrose  &  Binghamton  Rail- 
way between  Scranton,  Montrose  and 
Lake  Winola,  Pa.,  was  expected  on  July 
9  to  be  resumed  within  three  or  four 
days  as  a  result  of  action  by  the  plat- 
form and  maintenance  employees  in 
accepting  a  reduction  in  wages.  The 
readjustment  in  the  pay  is  to  virtually 
the  same  scale  rejected  repeatedly  by 
the  men  since  the  road  was  tied  up  on 
April  18  last. 

The  settlement  involves  a  cut  of  ap- 
proximately 12J  per  cent  with  minor 
concessions  granted  by  the  company. 
The  reduction  for  trainmen  is  from  51- 
60  cents  an  hour  to  49-53  cents  an  hour. 
One  of  the  contentions  with  the  em- 
ployees was  over  the  right  to  operate 
one-man  cars.  The  old  working  agree- 
ment called  for  a  full  crew.  This  point 
was  finally  conceded  by  the  employees. 
The  closed  shop  was  also  contested. 
This  point  was  also  conceded  by  the  em- 
ployees. The  road  is  to  resume  on  the 
open  shop  basis. 

It  was  announced  on  July  9  that  every 
effort  would  be  made  to  resume  oper- 
ation at  once.  It  was  impossible  at 
that  time,  however,  to  say  just  when 
this  would  be,  because  the  line,  ma- 
chinery and  cars  have  all  been  idle 
since  April  18. and  must  be  put  back 
into  shape. 

The  former  employees  of  the  com- 
pany will  be  reinstated  with  their  prior- 
ity rights  wherever  possible  and  none 
of  those  who  participated  in  any  way 
in  the  suspension  will  be  punished. 
Trackmen  will  enjoy  seniority  rights 
under  the  new  agreement  and  they  will 
be  furnished  rubber  coats  by  the  com- 
pany. The  trainmen  who  have  com- 
pleted their  runs  will  receive  pay  at 
the  rate  of  time  and  one-half  for  all 
overtime.  Every  man  who  reports  and 
is  not  assigned  to  a  run  will  be  credited 
with  an  allowance  of  2i  hours'  time. 

During  the  suspension  the  employees 
asked  for  arbitration.  This  was  refused 
by  the  company.  Officials  of  the  road 
insisted  that  a  reduction  in  wages  was 
essential  if  the  road  were  to  be  able 
to  operate  on  a  paying  basis. 


Pittsburgh  Men  Accept  10  per 
Cent  Cut 

On  July  14  84  per  cent  of  the  plat- 
form men  of  the  Pittsburgh  (Pa.) 
Railways  voted  in  favor  of  a  10  per 
cent  cut  in  wages  as  recently  proposed 
by  the  receivers.  This  announcement 
was  made  by  P.  J.  McGrath,  inter- 
national vice-president  of  Amalgamated 
Association. 

In  accordance  with  the  statement 
made  recently  by  Charles  A.  Fagan, 
receiver  of  company,  fares  may  soon 
return  to  the  scale  existing  last  May 
when  wages  were  advanced  from  the 
scale  prescribed  in  the  agreement 
under  which  the  employees  are  now 
working.  Mr.  Fagan's  statement  urged 
that  if  fares  are  to  be  reduced  the 
cut  should   not   be   made   until  three 


months  after  the  decreased  wage  scale 
was  accepted  as  the  increase  in  fares 
did  not  take  effect  until  three  months 
after  the  increase  in  wages. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  new  scale  the 
men  now  receive  54,  58  and  60  cents 
an  hour  instead  of  64,  68  and  70  cents 
an  hour  as  formerly.  The  new  wage 
scale  will  be  in  effect  for  the  next  ten 
months  or  until  May  21,  1922. 

All  other  employees  have  also  been 
reduced  in  pay. 


Strike  as  Protest  Against 
One-Man  Cars 

Trainmen  of  the  Fonda,  Johnstown 
&  Gloversville  Railroad,  Gloversville, 
N.  Y.,  struck  a  few  days  ago  in  protest 
against  the  operation  of  one-man  cars 
in  city  service.  The  strike  lasted  three 
days,  the  men  agreeing  to  return  to 
work  and  operate  the  cars  after  Aug.  1, 
claiming  that  they  had  not  had  sufficient 
time  in  which  properly  to  break  in  and 
become  familiar  with  one-man  opera- 
tion. As  the  matter  stands,  they  return 
to  work  under  the  same  conditions  as 
existed  previous  to  the  strike,  except 
that  the  company  has  agreed  to  defer 
the  operation  of  one-man  cars  for 
another  two  weeks  to  give  the  men  an 
opportunity  better  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  one-man  operation.  The  cars 
which  are  being  used  by  the  company  in 
one-man  operation  are  of  the  pay-as- 
you-enter  type. 


Commission  Has  Reached  No 
Finding 

Many  guesses  have  been  made  re- 
cently in  the  daily  papers  of  New  York 
City  in  regard  to  the  probable  recom- 
mendations of  the  new  Transit  Com- 
mission for  solving  the  transit  prob- 
lem. According  to  Commissioner  Hark- 
ness  the  statements  so  far  made  are 
unauthorized.    On  July  18  he  said: 

The  statements  which  have  been  made 
are  entirely  unauthorized  by  the  com- 
mission, and  in  the  opinion  of  the  com- 
mission no  good  purpose  is  served  by 
speculation  as  to  what  the  commission  is 
likely  to  do.  Just  as  soon  as  it  is  possible 
to  do  so,  the  commission  will  make  an 
official  statement. 

The  published  reports  complained  of 
were  that  the  commission  would  seek 
to  relieve  the  traction  companies  of  all 
local  taxes  on  the  theory  that  this 
would  make  unnecessary  any  increase 
in  fare. 


Wages  of  Suburban  Men  Cut 

The  New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania 
Traction  Company,  Trenton,  N.  J.,  has 
announced  a  reduction  in  wages  for 
all  employees  to  become  effective 
on  July  21.  Failure  to  meet  operating 
expenses  and  taxes  and  the  long  delay 
of  the  Public  Service  Commission  of 
Pennsylvania  in  deciding  the  applica- 
tion for  increased  rates  made  neces- 
sary the  reduction  of  wages.  Under 
the  new  scale,  motormen  and  conduc- 
tors on  double-truck  cars  will  be  cut 
8  cents  an  hour.  They  now  receive 
50  cents.  Operators  of  one-man  cars 
will  also  be  reduced  8  cents,  from  55 
to  47  cents.  Office  employees  will  also 
have  to  stand  a  cut. 


Engineers'  Wages  Fixed 

The  dispute  between  the  Cincinnati 
(Ohio)  Traction  Company  and  its 
engineers  which  resulted  in  the  latter 
going  out  on  a  strike  recently  and 
later  the  naming  of  an  arbitration 
board  to  settle  the  difference  has  been 
brought  to  a  close.  The  board  has 
handed  down  an  award  naming  the 
rates  of  pay  for  the  men.  The  award 
made  the  rate  of  pay  for  the  Pendleton 
and  Depot  Street  Stations  men  80  cents 
an  hour  and  for  the  Chester  Park  and 
Hartwell  Stations  men,  75  cents  an 
hour.  The  Chester  Park  and  Hartwell 
men  have  been  receiving  85  cents  an 
hour  and  the  Pendleton  and  Depot 
Street  Stations  men  90  cents  an  hour. 
The  traction  company  had  requested 
that  the  Chester  Park  and  Hartwell 
men  be  reduced  to  65  cents  an  hour 
and  the  Pendleton  and  Depot  Street 
Stations  men  to  70  cents  an  hour. 


Service  at  Cost  Proposed  in 
Houston 

Following  the  notification  by  the  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Houston  (Tex.) 
Electric  Company  that  his  company  was 
ready  to  open  negotiations  with  the 
City  Council  looking  to  the  granting  of 
a  new  franchise,  City  Attorney  Sewell 
Myer  has  prepared  a  new  ordinance 
recently  read  before  the  Council.  The 
company  has  been  operating  under  a 
temporary  arrangement  for  some  time. 
The  new  ordinance  is  along  lines  sim- 
ilar to  the  measure  recently  negotiated 
between  the  city  and  the  Houston  Light- 
ing &  Power  Company. 

As  an  incentive  to  economical  man- 
agement on  the  part  of  the  company 
the  ordinance  provides  that  the  company 
shall  be  permitted  to  earn  J  to  1  per 
cent  above  the  fixed  return  minimum 
when  it  reduces  fares  J  cent.  The  com- 
pany at  the  start  will  be  permitted  to 
charge  a  7-cent  fare  for  adults  and  a 
3J-cent  fare  for  school  children. 


A.,  E.  &  C.  Renews  Contract 

The  employees  of  the  Aurora,  Elgin 
&  Chicago  Railroad,  Wheaton,  111.,  voted 
on  July  12,  372  to  93,  to  accept  the 
terms  of  a  new  contract  which  is  prac- 
tically a  continuation  of  the  one  in 
effect  during  the  past  year.  The  only 
reduction  in  wages  included  is  a  change 
from  46  cents  an  hour  to  40  cents  and 
35  cents  for  track  labor.  The  old  wages 
of  67  cents  maximum  on  the  third-rail 
division,  56  cents  on  the  city  lines,  and 
58  and  60  cents  on  the  trolley  inter- 
urban  lines  is  continued. 

The  right  is  reserved  to  the  receiver, 
however,  to  reopen  the  agreement  on  a 
thirty  day  notice  at  any  time  after 
Sept.  1. 

The  main  difference  in  the  new  con- 
tract from  the  old  one  is  that  the  com- 
pany is  relieved  from  paying  time  and 
one-half  for  that  work  in  the  nature  of 
regular  routine  in  keeping  the  roads 
running  on  Sundays  and  holidays.  The 
small  amount  of  labor  required  in  this 
connection,  will  hereafter  be  paid  for 
on  straight  time  basis. 


146 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


$17,000  a  Mile  Offered  by  Munic- 
ipal Line  for  Private  Property 

The  Detroit  Street  Railway  Commis- 
sion has  named  $388,000  as  the  sum  the 
city  is  willing  to  pay  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  for  the  parts  of  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue  lines  where 
franchises  have  expired.  The  company, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  refused  the  offer 
as  wholly  inadequate. 

According  to  the  letter  addressed  to 
Vice-President  Edwards  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  the  report  of  the  en- 
gineers indicated  the  condition  of  the 
tracks  and  pavement  in  a  great  many 
places  was  such  as  to  compel  the  com- 
mission to  consider  the  trackage  as  a 
liability  rather  than  of  value.  It  is 
necessary,  the  commission  states,  to  re- 
build the  greater  part  of  these  lines. 

The  total  trackage  involved  is  ap- 
proximately 23h  miles,  making  the  price 
set  by  the  city  less  than  $17,000  per 
mile.  The  Detroit  United  Railway  has 
contended  that  the  type  of  construction 
on  these  lines  cost  approximately  $100,- 
000  per  mile. 

Mayor  Couzens  has  announced  that 
the  next  step  will  be  to  start  ouster 
proceedings  to  force  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  to  remove  its  tracks  from  Fort 
Street  and  Woodward  Avenue  unless 
the  company's  attitude  is  changed  rela- 
tive to  the  offer  for  these  lines.  Under 
the  court  ruling  in  the  Fort  Street  case, 
the  city  can  force  the  company  to  re- 
move its  tracks  where  franchises  have 
expired,  after  having  given  ninety  days' 
notice. 


Service-at-Cost  Legislation 
Approved 

Governor  J.  J.  Blaine  of  Wisconsin 
has  signed  the  Arnold  bill  empowering 
the  city  of  Milwaukee  to  enter  into  a 
service-at-cost  contract  with  the  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany for  the  operation  of  the  company's 
city  railway  lines.  Under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  bill,  the  contract  must 
be  negotiated  by  the  Common  Council, 
then  approved  by  the  Railroad  Commis- 
sion, and  finally  submitted  to  a  refer- 
endum of  the  voters  before  becoming 
effective. 

The  bill  was  introduced  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Milwaukee  City  Council 
following  recommendations  made  by 
the  public  utilities  acquisition  com- 
mittee, a  commission  appointed  about 
a  year  ago  to  investigate  the  feasibility 
and  desirability  of  municipal  owner- 
ship of  the  electric  railway  and  the 
electric  light  and  power  facilities  of 
Milwaukee. 

The  bill  is  intended  to  empower  the 
city  of  Milwaukee  to  carry  out  the 
recommendations  which  the  public 
utilities  acquisition  committee  is  ex- 
pected to  make  in  a  report  to  be  sub- 
mitted in  the  very  near  future.  The 
bill  provides  for  the  usual  service-at- 
cost  agreement  plus  a  feature  which 
will  make  it  possible  for  the  city 
gradually  to  become  the  owner  of  the 
utility  property.  The  company,  under 
the  proposed  service-at-cost  agreement, 


would  be  removed  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  State  Railroad  Commission  ex- 
cept in  certain  minor  matters.  Under 
the  plan  the  city  will  also  extend  its 
credit  to  the  company  to  finance  exten- 
sions and  improvements  at  a  lower  rate 
of  interest  than  the  company  now  has 
to  pay. 


Interurbans  Insist  Upon  25  per 
Cent  Wage  Cut 

For  the  first  time  in  many  years  it 
appears  that  the  Rochester  &  Syracuse 
Railway  and  the  Empire  State  Rail- 
ways, Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  are  unwilling  to 
follow  the  lead  of  the  New  York  State 
Railways  in  regard  to  a  wage  agree- 
ment with  their  employees. 

It  was  generally  conceded  that  these 
two  companies  would  agree  to  accept 
the  decision  of  the  New  York  State 
Railways  and  Amalgamated  union  arbi- 
trators, that  a  reduction  of  11.7  per 
cent  from  the  wage  scale  in  force  prior 
to  May  1  was  the  proper  scale  in  view 
of  the  reduction  in  living  costs.  Of- 
ficials of  the  Rochester  &  Syracuse  Rail- 
way, however,  stuck  to  their  original 
proposition  that  the  reduction  would  be 
25  per  cent  retroactive  from  May  1. 

Arbitration  was  accordingly  resorted 
tc  and  evidence  submitted  by  both  fac- 
tions. The  company  contends  that  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  many  operatives 
live  in  communities  where  living  costs 
have  been  reduced  in  greater  propor- 
tion than  in  the  cities  the  men  can  af- 
ford to  accept  a  25  per  cent  reduction. 
As  the  complete  evidence  for  both  sides 
has  been  submitted  to  the  board,  it  is 
expected  that  a  settlement  will  be  made 
very  shortly. 

Facing  a  like  situation,  the  Empire 
State  Railways  is  making  an  attempt  to 
settle  the  difficulty  without  arbitration. 


News  Notes 


Wages  Cut  in  Erie. — The  wages  of 
employees  of  the  Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie 
Traction  Company,  Erie,  Pa.,  were  re- 
cently cut  by  a  board  of  arbitrators. 
The  cut  amounts  to  16!  per  cent. 

Wage  Cut  in  Reading. — The  Reading 
Transit  &  Light  Company,  Reading, 
Pa.,  has  reduced  the  wages  of  its  motor- 
men  and  conductors  4  cents  an  hour. 
The  maximum  pay  is  now  50  cents  an 
hour. 

Pay    of   Electrical   Workers   Cut. — 

Electrical  workers  employed  by  the 
Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company  have 
approved  a  new  wage  contract  taking  a 
20  per  cent  cut  in  wages,  elimination 
of  two  weeks'  vacation,  and  making  the 
new  scale  retroactive  to  June  16.  Nearly 
450  men  are  affected  by  the  cut.  Plat- 
form men  were  cut  10  cents  an  hour 
recently. 


Boulder  Watching  Trackless  Trolley. — 

In  view  of  extensive  paving  work  being 
done  in  Boulder,  Col.,  the  Western  Light 
&  Power  Company  had  considered  the 
trackless  trolley  as  a  substitute.  The 
substitution  was  found  not  to  be  pos- 
sible in  time  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  company  so  it  is  going  ahead 
with  its  present  system,  but  is  watch- 
ing closely  the  development  of  the 
trackless  trolley. 

Coinage  Legislation  Unlikely. — Indi- 
cations are  that  the  committee  on  coin- 
age, weights  and  measures  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  is  thoroughly  con- 
vinced that  small  coins  in  new  size  will 
make  for  needless  expenditures  on  the 
part  of  electric  railways  and  others 
using  fare  boxes  or  coin  devices.  As  a 
consequence  it  is  anticipated  that  no 
legislation  along  those  lines  is  likely  to 
be  recommended  at  this  session  of  Con- 
gress. 

Arbitrators  Must  Decide  Wage  Scale. 
— An  arbitration  board  will  decide  the 
wage  controversy  between  the  Auburn 
&  Syracuse  Railroad,  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
and  its  union  employees.  This  agree- 
ment was  made  after  Lawrence  Lippitt, 
acting  manager  of  the  road,  and  Henry 
Barrett,  president  of  the  union,  had 
failed  to  reach  a  settlement.  The  men 
are  seeking  a  nine-hour  working  day 
and  53  cents  an  hour  for  two-man  cars 
and  58  cents  for  operators  of  one-man 
cars.  The  present  wage  scale  is  45 
cents  an  hour  on  all  city  lines  and  47 
cents  on  the  interurban. 


Program  of  Meeting 


New  England  Street  Railway  Club 

The  annual  outing  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Street  Railway  Club  will  be  held 
on  Thursday,  July  28,  at  Mt.  Tom, 
Holyoke,  Mass.  The  start  from  Hol- 
yoke  for  Mt.  Tom  will  be  made  at  10 
a.m.,  daylight  saving  time.  A  stop  will 
be  made  at  10:30  at  Aldrich  Lake.  Here 
the  annual  ball  game  between  the  rail- 
way and  supply  members  will  be 
staged,  and  the  silver-mounted  bat  pre- 
sented to  the  winning  side.  Other 
sports  will  also  be  on  the  program. 
Luncheon  will  be  served  at  12:30.  At 
1:30  the  party  will  leave  Aldrich  Lake 
for  Mt.  Park  via  Amherst,  Hadley  and 
Northampton.  At  3  p.m.  there  will  be 
a  theater  party,  with  high-class  vaude- 
ville by  Keith's  circuit  players.  At  5 
p.m.  the  party  will  leave  Mt.  Park  for 
the  top  of  Mt.  Tom  via  the  inclined 
railway.  Dinner  will  be  served  at  6 
p.m.  at,  the  spacious  summer  house, 
more  than  1,200  ft.  above  sea  level. 
Those  who  desire  hotel  accommodations 
should  make  reservations  direct  to  T. 
J.  Behan,  manager,  Hotel  Nonotuck, 
Holyoke,  Mass.  Special  prices  have 
been  made  by  the  hotel  to  those  plan- 
ning to  attend  the  outing,  and  it  is  re- 
quested by  the  club  that  those  who  ap- 
ply for  reservations  make  it  known  that 
they  are  attending  the  club  outing. 
Suitable  arrangements  have  been  made 
to  take  care  of  those  who  prefer  to  go 
to  the  outing  in  their  own  automobiles.. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


147 


Municipal  Road  Claims  Profit 

$4,359  Net  Said  to  Have  Been  Earned 
on  a  Five-Cent  Fare  Line  on 
Staten  Island 

Grover  A.  Whalen,  commissioner  of 
plant  and  structures  of  New  York  City, 
on  July  18  filed  a  report  with  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  on  the 
operation  by  the  city  of  the  Staten 
Island  Midland  Railway  for  the  period 
of  seven  months  ended  June  30,  1921. 
According  to  Mr.  Whalen  the  report 
shows  that  the  road  has  been  operated 
successfully  and  profitably  at  a  5-cent 
fare.  He  explains  that  the  conditions 
during  the  period  of  operation  covered 
have  by  no  means  been  ideal  and  that 
great  difficulties  have  arisen  at  times. 
Nevertheless,  according  to  him,  opera- 
tion has-  been  covered  by  receipts,  and  a 
small  profit  has  been  made  even  above 
interest  and  depreciation  for  the  period 
ended  June  30,  which  included  all  the 
lean  months  of  the  year.  It  is  Mr. 
Whalen's  opinion  that  the  full  year 
of  operating  ending  Nov.  30  will  realize 
a  very  substantial  profit  above  all  costs 
of  operation.    He  says: 

I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith  a 
report  of  the  operations,  by  this  depart- 
ment, of  the  Staten  Island  Midland  Rail- 
way under  the  agreement  between  the  city 
and  the  receiver  dated  Nov.  5,  1920,  for  the 
period  from  Dec.  1,  1920,  to  June  30,  1921. 

The  total  revenue  from  operation  during 
this  period  amounted  to  $205,604.  Oper- 
ating expenses,  including  maintenance, 
operation  and  administrative  expenses 
amounted  to  $183,314,  leaving  a  net  balance 
after  all  operating  expenses  were  paid  of 
$22,289.  Deducting  the  special  franchise 
tax  and  tax  on  real  estate  used  in  opera- 
tion of  the  road  of  $9,977  leaves  a  net 
operating  revenue  of  $12,311. 

The  exact  determination  of  the  interest 
charges  on  the  moneys  so  far  expended  by 
the  city  for  equipment  cannot  be  made  at 
this  time.  After  consideration  it  was  de- 
termined that  interest  at  5  per  cent  would 
be  nearly  correct  in  view  of  the  interest 
due  on  daily  balances,  not  yet  determined, 
which  on  June  30  amounted  to  $24,120  ex- 
clusive of  the  revolving  fund  of  $50,000, 
which  has  not  yet  been  encroached  upon 
in  the  payment  of  actual  operating  ex- 
penses. Deducting  therefore  an  interest 
charge  of  $3,452  leaves  a  credit  balance  of 
$8,859. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine,  at  this  time, 
what  the  exact  depreciation  will  be  on 
equipment  now  in  use  and  now  under  pur- 
chase. Approximating,  however,  deprecia- 
tion on  equipment  in  use  during  this  pe- 
riod, gives  an  amount  of  $4,500  ;  which 
deducted  from  the  previous  balance  leaves 
a  final  net  balance  of  $4,359. 

Important  items  of  cost  entering  into 
operation  of  this  road  have  not  yet  been 
fully  determined,  but  I  am  firmly  of  the 
opinion  that  when  these  costs  are  finally  de- 
termined, there  will  be  an  additional  credit 
balance  to  be  added  to  the  one  above 
quoted  for  the  period  ended  June  30. 

Revenues  are  increasing  at  a  satisfac- 
tory rate,  having  increased  from  an  aver- 
age per  day  of  $794  in  December,  to  an 
average  per  day  of  $1,558  in  July.  The 
revenue  from  operation  for  the  month  of 
December  was  $24,631,  while  for  the  first 
thirteen  days  of  July  it  amounted  to  $20-, 
266. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  that  this  pe- 
riod ended  June  30  included  the  months 
of  minimum  revenue  and  maximum  ex- 
pense, namely,  December,  January  and  Feb- 
ruary and  that  it  included  only  one  month 
of  real  good  business,  namely,  June,  and 
that  the  five  months  still  remaining  in  the 
operating  year  will  include  the  months  of 
maximum  traffic,  namely  July  and  August, 
while  September  will  be  as  good  as  June; 
October  and  November  equivalent  or  better 


than  April  and  May  as  the  road  will  be 
better  equipped  to  handle  increased  traffic 
during  the  five  months  to  come. 

It  is  therefore  firmly  believed  that  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  operating  year  a  sub- 
stantial profit  will  have  been  earned  from 
the  operation  of  this  road  and  that  its 
division  with  the  receiver  under  the  agree- 
ment will  make  available  substantial  sums 
to  cover  the  cost  of  rental  for  the  use  of 
the  company's  property. 

Substantial  sums  have  also  been  ex- 
pended in  the  improvement  of  the  road  in 
accordance  with  paragraph  of  the  agree- 
ment. It  should  also  be  stated  at  this  time 
that  if  the  city  was  generating  Its  own 
power  further  substantial  earning  would, 
it  is  firmly  believed,  have  been  made. 

Certain  facts  are  to  be  borne  in  mind 
in  connection  with  this  operation,  namely : 

That  the  city  has  given  better  service  on 
these  lines  than  was  ever  given  under 
private  ownership  and  operation. 

That  the  resumption  of  service  on  these 
trolley  lines  has  made  areas  of  Richmond 
Borough  accessible,  has  stimulated  develop- 
ment, resulting  in  the  erection  of  additional 
buildings  and  helping  to  solve  the  city's 
housing  problem. 


Good  Year  for  Municipal  Railway 

The  receipts  for  the  San  Francisco 
Municipal  Railway  Lines  for  the  year 
ended  June  30,  1921,  were  $2,900,636,  an 
increase  of  6.3  per  cent  over  the  earn- 
ings for  the  previous  year.  Operating 
expenses  approximate  $2,090,000,  an  in- 
crease of  about  3  per  cent.  The  net 
operating  revenue  shows  an  increase  of 
about  18  per  cent.  The  amount  set 
aside  for  depreciation  will  aggregate 
about  $550,000,  which  is  the  largest 
in  the  history  of  the  road.  Bond  pay- 
ments are  made  out  of  the  depreciation 
reserves  and  already  $900,000  bonds 
have  been  redeemed  since  the  road  com- 
menced operation.  The  net  revenue  will 
more  than  pay  interest  on  bonds  and 
transfers,  leaving  a  surplus  for  the 
year's  operations. 


Gross  Increase  17  per  Cent 

339  Roads  Earned  $943,996,914  Gross  in 
1920,  an  Increase  of  $136,831,929 
Over  1919 

The  annual  compilation  of  the  gross 
and  net  earnings  of  the  electric  rail- 
ways of  the  United  States,  made  by  the 
Commercial  &  Financial  Chronicle, 
appears  in  the  issue  of  that  paper  for 
July  9.  The  figures  on  gross  are  made 
up  from  the  reports  of  333  roads, 
making  returns  for  the  calendar  year 
1920  and  1919,  and  for  six  roads  report- 
ing for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30. 
The  figures  on  net  are  for  the  same 
roads  except  for  five  roads,  mostly 
small  properties,  whose  net  was  not 
reported.  In  these  cases  the  same  oper- 
ating ratio  was  assumed  as  for  the 
other  properties  reporting  for  the  same 
period.  The  figures  as  given  by  the 
Chronicle  for  the  past  seventeen  years 
follow.  In  commenting  on  these  figures 
the  Chronicle  says: 

The  fact  that  notwithstanding  the  heavy 
augmentation  in  expense  (labor  and  coal 
were  considerably  higher  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  year  than  in  1919)  net  earnings 
registered  some  improvement  over  the  pre- 
vious year,  moderate  though  it  be,  cannot 
be  regarded  as  otherwise  than  encouraging. 

Attention  is  also  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  increase  in  gross  does  not 
necessarily  indicate  a  growth  in  traffic, 
but  it  undoubtedly  reflects  increases  in 
fares.  The  Chronicle  also  points  out 
that  the  tables  do  not  indicate  the 
aggregate  of  the  gross  and  net  earn- 
ings of  all  of  the  street  and  electric 
railway  undertakings  in  the  country. 
They  simply  make  use  of  all  the  figures 
at  hand,  and  there  are  many  companies, 
including  some  large  properties,  whose 
figures  are  not  available.  In  some  cases 
also,  the  figures  include  the  receipts 
from  the  sale  of  electricity  for  lighting 
and  power,  but  where  it  has  been  pos- 
sible to  separate  the  figures,  the  rail- 
way figures  only  have  been  used. 


GROSS  EARNINGS  OF  ROADS  REPORTING  TO  "CHRONICLE" 

Current  Previous 

Period —                                                                Year  Year  Increase 

1905  compared  with  1904   $306,067,145  $281,608,936  $24,458,209 

1906  compared  with  1905    300,567,453  269,595,551  30,971,902 

1907  compared  with  1906   306,266,315  280,139,044  26,127,271 

1908  compared  with  1907   351,402,164  348,137,240  3,264,924 

1909  compared  with  1908   374,305,027  345,006,370  29,298,657 

1910  compared  with  1909   435,461,232  405,010,045  30,451,187 

1911  compared  with  1910   455,746,306  428,631,259  27,115,047 

1912  compared  with  191 1    486,225,094  457,146,070  29,079,024 

1913  compared  with  1912.   529,997,522  500,252,430  29,745,092 

1914  compared  with  1913   553,095,464  548,296,520  4,798,944 

1915  compared  with  1914   567,901,652  569,471,260  *!, 569,608 

1916  compared  with  1915   626,840,449  574,382,899  52,457,550 

1917  compared  with  1916   670.309,709  618,529,309  51,780,400 

1918  compared  with  1917   696,066,585  649,550,990  46,515,595 

1919  compared  with  1918   783,514,781  663,572.571  119.942,210 

1920  compared  with  1919   943,996,914  807,164,985  136,831,929 

NET  EARNINGS  OF  ROADS  REPORTING  TO  "CHRONICLE" 

Current  Previous 

Period —                                                             Year  Year  Increase 

1905  compared  with  1904   $130,884,923  $118,221,741  $12,663,182 

1906  compared  with  1905                                            126,580,195  114,024,076  12,556,119 

1907  compared  with  1906   126,002,304  121,050,703  4,951,601 

1908  compared  with  1907   142,262,417  141,144,213  1,118,204 

1909  compared  with  1908   160,394,765  140,647,906  19,746.859 

1910  compared  with  1909   178,037,379  167,100,351  10,937,028 

191 1  compared  with  1910   186,001,439  175,527,542  10,473,897 

1912  compared  with  191  I   194,309.873  179,915,760  14,394,113 

1913  compared  with  1912   204,422,429  193,393,045  11,029,384 

1914  compared  with  1913.  . :   211,020,088  212,146,403  *],  126,315 

1915  compared  with  1914   214,319,303  217,440,533  *3, 121,230 

1916  compared  with  1915   234,402,450  215,917,573  18,484,877 

1917  compared  with  1916   221,090,740  228,585,929  *7, 495, 189 

1918  compared  with  1917   178.226,716  212,570,930  +34,344,214 

1919  compared  with  1918   185,077,301  168.770,930  16,306,371 

1920  compared  with  1919   192,360,849  186,248,269  6,112,580 


Per 
Cent 
8.68 
1 1 .49 
9.33 


0  87 
0  28 
9.13 
8.37 
7.16 
18  08 
16.95 


Per 
Cent 
10.71 
1 1  01 

4  09 

0  79 
14  03 

6.54 
5.96 
8  00 

5  70 
0.53 

1  .43 

8  56 
3  28 

16.16 

9  66 
3.28 

n 


*  Decrease. 


148 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4: 


$550,253  Earned  by  Boston  Elevated 

Ten-Cent  Fare  Gradually  Making  Headway  Against  Accumulated 
Deficit  of  $5,415,500 — Five-Cent  Lines  an  Experiment 

Operating  receipts  of  the  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway  for  the  year  just 
closed,  the  third  of  public  control,  exceeded  the  costs  of  operation  by  $550,253. 
This  has  made  it  possible  to  pay  off  the  deficit  of  $435,348  carried  over  from 
the  first  year  of  operation  and  to  leave  a  balance  of  $114,905.  This  added  to 
the  balance  of  last  year  makes  a  total  of  $131,985  as  the  first  payment  made  in 
restoration  of  the  reserve  fund. 


THESE  results  have  been  obtained 
without  impairment  of  the  service 
or  interruption  in  the  five-year 
program  originally  adopted  for  recon- 
struction of  track,  replacement  of  ob- 
solete and  worn  out  rolling  stock  and 
improvement  of  power  plant.  The  finan- 
cial history  of  operations  during  the 
three  years  is  shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing table. 

In  July,  1919,  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year  of  public  management  the  operat- 
ing receipts  under  a  5-,  then  a  lr  and 
finally  an  8-cent  fare  had  failed  to  meet 
the  operating  costs  of  the  year  by 
$5,415,500.  Of  this  amount  $3,980,151 
was  assessed,  as  provided  by  law,  upon 
the  cities  and  towns  served  by  the 
railways.  Of  the  remaining  amount 
$1,000,000  was  met  from  the  reserve 
fund  established  under  the  statute, 
which  was  thereby  exhausted.  The  bal- 
ance of  $435,348,  representing  an  in- 
crease in  wages  applicable  to  May  and 
June  under  a  retroactive  award  in  the 
latter  part  of  July,  could  not  be  made 
a  part  of  the  deficit  assessed  upon  these 
communities. 


In  July,  1920,  at  the  end  of  the  second 
year  of  public  control  operating  receipts 
under  a  10-cent  fare,  which  had  been 
put  in  force  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  had  exceeded  operating  costs  for 
the  year  by  $17,079. 

The  trustees  say  that  the  attempt  to 
answer  the  question  as  to  reduction  of 
the  10-cent  fare  finds  as  the  first  barrier 
the  provision  of  law  which  requires  the 
restoration  to  the  exhausted  reserve 
fund  of  $1,000,000,  and  the  repayment 
to  cities  and  towns  of  the  $3,980,151 
advanced  by  them  to  meet  the  deficit  of 
1919  before  any  reduction  can  be  made 
in  that  fare.  This  means  that  several 
years  may  elapse  before  the  excess  of 
receipts  over  expenditures  can  be  ap- 
plied in  lessening  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation to  the  car  rider,  unless  the 
relation  between  the  rider  and  the  tax- 
payer is  readjusted  by  some  legislative 
action.  A  statement  of  the  situation 
will  appear  as  a  part  of  the  annual 
report  of  the  trustees  to  be  filed  at  the 
State  House  in  January. 

In  commenting  on  the  introduction  of 
the  5-cent  fare  for  short-haul  riders 


the  trustees  say  this  is  still  an  experi- 
ment and  may  remain  such  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  If  a  reasonable  test 
proves  that  either  singly  or  collectively 
this  limited  cheap  service  invades  or" 
seriously  threatens  an  invasion  of  the 
net  revenue  of  the  railway  the  trustees 
will  be  forced  by  the  statute  to  advance 
the  local  fare  or  abandon  the  experi- 
ment.   The  trustees  say: 

The  paramount  requirement  under  the 
Statute  for  the  operation  of  this  railway 
upon  its  theory  of  a  service-at-cost  is  the 
necessity  for  securing  and  preserving  a 
revenue  that  will  maintain  it  upon  a  self 
supporting  basis.  This  is  the  all  important 
consideration  both  as  a  matter  of  law  and 
of  common  sense.  If  in  the  test  of  this 
local  cheap  and  limited  service  it  is  found 
that  the  net  revenue  of  the  system  is  ma- 
terially invaded  through  competition  with 
the  10-cent  fare,  the  experiment  fails.  Nor 
can  this  service  be  permitted  to  continue  if 
it  interferes  with  or  delays  an  otherwise 
possible  reduction  of  the  basic  flat  fare  for- 
travel  throughout  the  system. 

The  outcome  is  as  yet  problematical. 
Even  though  the  experiment  does  not  add 
enough  in  the  way  of  new  patronage  to  in- 
crease net  revenue,  if  its  effect  is  to  re- 
store lost  patronage  without  imposing  any 
substantial  burden  upon  those  who  use  the 
rest  of  the  system  this  result  might  well 
justify  the  continuance  of  the  service  as 
one  that  increases  the  usefulness  of  the 
railway,  a  most  important  reason  for  its 
existence.   

West  End  Lines  at  Pittsburgh 
May  Be  Foreclosed 

Judge  Charles  P.  Orr  of  the  United 
States  Court  on  July  14  granted  all 
contentions  of  the  Union  Trust  Com- 
panv  in  the  two-year-old  litigation  of 
the  $4,000,000  debt  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Railways  subsidiary  matured  by  in- 
terest default.  This  judgment  was  on 
a  mortagage  held  against  the  Pitts- 
burgh &  West  End  Passenger  Railway 
and  included  foreclosure  proceedings 
against  lines  operating  mainly  through 
the  West  End.  It  was  granted  in 
favor  of  the  Union  Trust  Company, 
Pittsburgh.  Unless  appeal  from  the 
decision  is  taken  these  lines  will 
probably  be  sold  next  September  or 
October  to  satisfy  the  mortgage.  The 
receivers  of  the  Pittsburgh  Railways 
state  no  appeal  will  be  made. 

The  Union  Trust  Company  is  trustee 
under  a  mortgage  executed  by  the 
Southern  Traction  Company  to  secure 
bonds  under  a  mortgage  dated  Oct.  1, 
1900.  The  name  of  the  mortgagor 
later  was  changed  to  the  Pittsburgh 
Railways.  The  mortgage  was  given  to 
secure  payment  of  $4,000,000  within 
fifty  years  from  Oct.  1,  1900,  with  in- 
terest at  5  per  cent  per  annum,  payable 
semi-annually. 

The  mortgage  contains  a  provision 
that  in  case  of  default  in  the  payment 
of  interest  for  a  period  of  thirty  days 
the  whole  principal  sum  of  bonds 
secured  by  the  mortgage  forthwith 
becomes  due  and  payable.  The  railways 
defaulted  in  the  payment  of  interest 
due  on  Oct.  1,  1918,  after  which  the 
Union  Trust  Company  declared  the 
principal  due.  Suit  was  instituted  two 
years  ago  for  permission  to  foreclose' 
on  the  mortgage  at  that  time.  Judge 
Orr  granted  the  company  the  right  to 
enter  foreclosure  proceedings.  An 
answer  was  filed  by  the  railways  and 
the  decree  on  July  14  is  the  decision 
of  the  court. 


ACTUAL  RECEIPTS  AND  COST  OF  SERVICE  OF  BOSTON  ELEVATED  RAILWAY 
DURING  THREE  YEARS  OF  PUBLIC  CONTROL 

Year  Ended  Year  Ended  Year  Ended 

RECEIPTS                                     June  30.  1921  June  30,  1920  June  30,  1919 

From  fares..   $33,122,199  $31,899,320  $24,472,430 

From  operation  of  special  cars,  mail  pouch  service,  express  and 

service  ears.  .   88.519  105,554  115.624 

From  advertising  in  cars,  on  transfers,  privileges  at  stations, 

etc   303.047  297,037  293,079 

From  other  railway  companies  for  their  use  of  tracks  and  facil- 
ities  30.024  47,637  48,815 

From  rent  of  land  and  buildings   115.809  87.259  73.099 

From  sale  of  power,  etc   121.566  115,188  125,534 

Total  "receipts"  from  direct  operation  of  the  road   $33,781,164  $32,551,994  $25,128,581 

Interest  on  deposits,  income  from  securities,  etc   419.122  119,521  96.994 

Total  receipts   $34,200,286  $32,671,515  $25,225,575 

Profit  and  loss,  delayed  items   23.863  17.685  *2,08O 

$34,224,149  $32,689,200  $25,223,495 

Cost  of  Service 

Operating  expenses: 

Maintaining  track,  line  equipment  and  buildings   $2,516,331  $3,524,507  $3,583,057 

Maintaining  cars,  shop  equipment,  etc   2,857,115  2,736.249  2.519,485 

Power   3,390,704  2,930,268  2,809,632 

Depreciation   2,004,000  2,004,000  2,004,000 

Transportation  expenses   1  1.506,157  10.781.788  9.293,160 

Salaries  of  administrative  officers   79,749  83,761  94,060 

Law  expenses,  injuries  and  damages,  and  insurance   1.158,094  1,107,005  1.162,547 

Other  general  expenses   1,106,881  963,643  896.232 

Backpay   65,527  200,000   

Total  operating  expenses   $24,684,558  $24,331,221  $22,362,171 

Taxes — Federal,  State  and  Municipal   $1,306,736  $1,075,497  $941,612 

Rent  for  leased  roads   2,673,166  2,607,566  2,587,130 

Proportion  of  rent  of  subwavs  and  tunnels,  paid  to  the  city  of 

Boston   1,543.324  1,531,474  1.491,999 

Proportion  of  rent,  of  Cambridge  Subway,  paid  to  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts   404,639  59,850   

Interest  on  Boston  Elevated  bonds,  notes  and  bills   1,483,625  1,593,258  1,423,143 

Miscellaneous  items   54,479  69,285  37,373 

Proportion  of  dividend  rental  under  acts  of  1918   1,523.367  1,403,970  1,360,220 

Total  cost  of  service   $33,673,896  $32,672,120  $30,203,647 

Net  profit  or  loss   550.253  17,079  *i.980J51 

Back  pay  applying  to  May  and  June,  1919,  which  had  not  been 

determined  at  time  deficit  was  assessed     *!i35,31t9 

*$5415,500 

Revenue  passengers  carried   337,381,994  324,192,374  331,348,124 

*  Figures  in  itali  cs  denote  deductions  or  deficits. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


149 


Bill  Permitting  Track  Abandon- 
ment Vetoed 

Governor  J.  J.  Blaine  of  Wisconsin 
has  vetoed  the  Morris  Bill  authorizing 
the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission  to 
permit  electric  railways,  city  or  inter- 
urban,  to  abandon  portions  of  their  line 
which  they  could  show  were  being  op- 
erated at  a  loss. 

In  vetoing  the  bill  Governor  Blaine 
is  reported  to  have  said  in  part: 

An  interurban  or  suburban  street  rail- 
way under  our  law  is  entitled  to  a  fare 
that  is  reasonably  compensatory.  Sub- 
urban communities  have  been  established  in 
and  about  the  larger  cities,  and  the  city 
together  with  those  communities  constitute 
an  area  that  should  be  served  by  the  trans- 
portation companies  operating  within  that 
area.  In  considering  the  rates  of  fare, 
therefore,  the  area  should  and  is  taken  into 
consideration  in  fixing  a  reasonable  com- 
pensation, or  fare. 

Theoretically,  there  can  be  no  loss  to 
the  utility  under  the  law,  and  it  is  for 
the  Railroad  Commission,  and  then  in  the 
courts,  to  establish  a  rate  that  will  give 
the  utility  a  reasonable  return.  Large 
communities  have  been  built  up  around  the 
larger  cities,  and  people  have  t>een  induced 
to  purchase  property  and  make  improve- 
ments and  establish  municipal  government, 
and  in  fact  large  investments  have  been 
made  by  individuals  and  municipalities,  in- 
ducements for  which  was  in  the  first  In- 
stance the  presence  of  transportation  com- 
pany furnishing  a  convenient  service  to  the 
city  of  which  such  communities  are  sub- 
urbs. Sound  public  policy  can  not  justify 
the  possibility  of  the  abandonment  of  a 
suburban  electric  line,  under  the  condi- 
tions I  have  described. 


City  Will  Value  Ottawa  Electric 
Railway 

At  the  request  of  the  City  Council  of 
Ottawa,  Ont.,  the  Hydro-Electric  Power 
Commission  of  Ontario  will  value  the 
property  of  the  Ottawa  Electric  Rail- 
way. T.  U.  Fairlie,  head  of  the  railway 
and  bridge  department  of  the  commis- 
sion, is  to  undertake  the  work.  Mayor 
Plant  has  announced  that  Mr.  Fairlie 
will,  in  all  probability,  make  two  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  valuations  of  the  prop- 
erty. 

The  first  valuation  will  be  based 
on  the  original  cost  of  the  road  less 
depreciation,  and  the  second  one  will 
be  a  valuation  based  on  the  cost  of  re- 
production of  the  road  at  the  present 
time,  less  depreciation. 


Another  Electric  Line  Emerges 
from  Receivership 

The  Denver  &  Interurban  Railroad, 
operating  from  Denver,  Col.,  to  Boulder 
and  Eldorado  Springs,  has  emerged 
from  the  receivership  brought  about  in 
1918  by  the  conditions  of  government 
control  of  the  railroads. 

The  Denver  &  Interurban  Railroad  is 
a  subsidiary  of  the  Colorado  &  South- 
ern, but  when  the  government  took  over 
the  Colorado  &  Southern,  along  with 
other  railroad  lines,  the  electric  line 
was  not  taken  over,  but  was  thrown  on 
its  own  resources. 

Then  followed  suit  for  defaulted  in- 
terest by  the  holders  of  the  bonds, 
resulting  in  the  appointment  by  Federal 
Judge  Robert  E.  Lewis  of  W.  H. 
Edmunds,  manager,  as  receiver. 

Under  the  federal  receivership  the 
fares  were  increased  to  compare  with 
the  rates  on  steam  lines  to  the  same 


points.  This  enabled  the  company  to 
better  its  earnings.  With  the  return  of 
the  railroads  to  private  ownership,  the 
Colorado  &  Southern  was  enabled  to 
resume  its  former  guardianship  of  the 
electric  line,  hence  the  discharge  of  the 
receiver  and  the  return  of  the  property 
to  its  owners. 

Mr.  Edmunds,  discharged  as  receiver, 
will  continue  to  operate  the  property 
under  his  former  title  of  manager. 


Eureka  Votes  to  Buy  Railway 

By  practically  a  unanimous  vote  of 
the  people  on  June  20  the  city '  of 
Eureka,  Cal.,  has  been  authorized  to 
issue  bonds  for  the  purchase  of  the 
Humboldt  Transit  Company,  which 
operates  in  that  city.  Railroad  Com- 
missioner Loveland  recently  brought 
out  the  fact  that  the  testimony  of  the 
chief  engineer  and  the  general  manager 
of  the  property  agreed  in  the  opinion 
that  not  even  operating  expenses  could 
be  made  in  the  future,  and  that  if  the 
city  should  decide  not  to  buy  the  rail- 
way, service  would  have  to  be  discon- 
tinued and  the  property  scrapped.  The 
Railroad  Commission  valued  the  prop- 
erty at  $100,000,  but  the  attorney  for 
the  Humboldt  National  Bank,  which 
represents  the  bondholders  of  the  rail- 
way, announced  later  that  the  bank 
had  been  authorized  to  submit  $75,000 
as  the  valuation  of  the  lines. 


Twin  City  Finances  May  Be 
Readjusted 

As  part  of  the  plan  for  complete 
financial  readjustment  of  the  Twin  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company  and  its  sub- 
sidiaries, the  Minneapolis  Street  Rail- 
way and  the  St.  Paul  City  Railway, 
the  company  will  ask  permission  from 
the  Minnesota  Railroad  &  Warehouse 
Commission  to  sell  $3,300,000  of  new 
securities.  Of  this  amount  $1,730,000 
will  be  utilized  for  reconstruction  and 
paving  ordered  in  St.  Paul  and  $84,370 
for  extensions;  $991,750  for  reconstruc- 
tion in  Minneapolis  and  $528,970  for 
extensions. 

Horace  Lowry,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, says  the  financial  rearrange- 
ments will  be  brought  before  the  com- 
mission when  that  body  is  asked  to 
make  a  complete  valuation  of  Twin 
City  Rapid  Transit  properties  subse- 
quent to  action  on  the  application  for 
a  temporary  fare  increase  made  to  the 
commission  on  June  21  and  now  pend- 
ing. 

Mr.  Lowry  said: 

There  is  no  mystery  in  the  relationship 
between  these  two  companies.  Financially 
they  touch  at  two  points.  The  Twin  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company  owns  all  the  capi- 
tal stock  of  each  company,  $5,0(10,000  in 
each  case.  This  is  one  point.  The  other 
is  a  $10,000,000  bond  issue  which  will  ma- 
ture in  1928  and  which  constitutes  a  mort- 
gage on  the  property  of  both  the  Minne- 
apolis Street  Railway  and  the  St.  Paul  City 
Railway. 

He  said  he  was  unable  to  answer  a 
question  as  to  whether  the  Twin  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company  might  be  liqui- 
dated, or  another  as  to  whether  the 
present  holding  company  and  its  two 
twin  city  subsidiaries  might  be  inte- 
grated, as  a  single  corporation. 


Financial 

News  Notes  J 

Interest  Defaulted  at  Des  Moines. — 

Interest  due  on  July  1  on  the  $4,821,000 
of  general  and  refunded  mortgage 
5-per  cent  bonds  of  the  Des  Moines 
(la.)  City  Railway  having  been  de- 
faulted, the  holders  have  been  requested 
by  the  committee  to  deposit  their  bonds 
with  the  Harris  Trust  &  Savings  Bank, 
Chicago. 

P.  R.  T.  Earns  $191,561  in  June.— 

For  the  first  six  months  of  1921  the 
Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany reports  a  net  income  of  $1,016,408 
against  $354,970  for  the  same  period  a 
year  ago.  Out  of  this  amount  a  5  per 
cent  return  on  P.  R.  T.  capital  is  to 
be  met.  The  deficit  has  been  reduced 
from  $1,117,935  as  of  Dec.  31,  1920,  to 
$851,526  for  the  eighteen  months' 
period  to  June  30,  1921. 

Receiver  Asked  for  Municipal  Road. 
— The  Taunton  Coal  Company  at  Taun- 
ton, Mass.,  has  asked  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  receiver  for  the  municipally- 
owned  Norton,  Taunton  &  Attleboro 
Street  Railway.  The  coal  company 
alleges  that  the  road  owes  it  $4,294 
in  payment  for  coal  purchased.  The 
railway  is  owned  by  the  cities  of  Attle- 
boro and  Taunton  and  by  the  towns  of 
Sandfield  and  Norton.  The  board  of 
directors  is  composed  of  representa- 
tives of  the  four  municipalities.  The 
president  of  the  road  is  Mayor  Leo  H. 
Coughlin  of  Taunton. 

Minneapolis  Seeks  Valuation  Expert. 

— Although  deadlocked  through  150 
ballots  on  organization  of  the  new  City 
Council  the  likelihood  is  that  the  con- 
servatives and  the  radicals  in  the  City 
Council  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  will 
unite  on  the  selection  of  an  expert  for 
the  valuation  of  the  property  of  the 
railway.  They  have  asked  the  city 
attorney  to  write  several  experts  who 
have  proferred  their  services  for  the 
work.  A  socialist  Alderman  has  moved 
for  a  test  of  the  law  which  puts  the 
rate-making  power  into  the  hands  of 
the  State  Railroad  &  Warehouse  Com- 
mission and  this  motion  will  be  consid- 
ered in  a  committee  of  the  whole. 

Deficit  Being  Piled  Up  in  Memphis. — 
The  gross  income  of  the  Memphis 
(Tenn.)  Street  Railway  for  June  was 
$17,508  below  the  income  for  June  of 
a  year  ago.  The  month's  operations 
added  $15,056  to  the  deficit,  which  has 
been  piling  up  since  July  1,  1919,  bring- 
ing the  accumulated  deficit  to  $179,759. 
More  than  930,000  fewer  passengers 
were  carried  than  during  June,  1920. 
For  June  the  gross  income  was  $251,724 
as  compared  with  $269,232  for  the  same 
month  last  year.  Operating  expenses 
were  reduced  from  $177,823  last  year 
to  $156,638  for  June  this  year.  The 
total  cost  of  the  service  for  the  month 
was  $266,780.  For  June,  1920,  it  was 
$287,402. 


150 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  4 


Mayor  Promises  Relief  from 
Jitneys 

Mayor  Charles  W.  Jewett  has  issued 
a  statement  pronouncing  himself  in 
favor  of  legislation  by  the  City  Council 
designed  to  eliminate  the  jitney  bus  as 
a  competitor  of  the  Indianapolis  Street 
Railway. 

His  statement  was  issued  after  he 
had  received  a  copy  of  a  letter  sent  by 
Dr.  Henry  Jameson,  chairman  of  the 
board  of  the  railway,  to  Russell  Willson, 
president  of  the  City  Council,  saying 
that  the  company's  loss  of  revenue  as 
a  result  of  the  operation  of  jitney 
buses  has  made  imperative  the  need  of 
a  city  ordinance  to  regulate  the  jitneys. 
Dr.  Jameson  said  railway  service  on 
certain  streets  of  the  city  must  be 
abandoned  or  the  fares  increased  if  an 
effective  jitney  bus  ordinance  is  not 
enacted. 

The  Mayor  said  in  part: 

The  regulation  of  jitneys  is  purelv  a  legis- 
lative matter,  and  the  power  to  curb  jit- 
ney bus  business  rests  solelv  with  the  Com- 
mon Council.  However,  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  jitney  bus  business  is  a  serious  menace 
to  our  railway,  and  if  the  Council  will  pass 
stringent  laws  prohibiting  the  activities  of 
the  jitney  buses  in  competition  with  the 
street  car  company.  I  will  sign  the  ordi- 
nance. Unless  the  jitney  bus  is  eliminated, 
irreparable  harm  will  come  to  the  city 
through  the  destruction  of  our  transpor- 
tation system.  I  am  opposed  to  an  in- 
creased fare  above  5  cents. 

Dr.  Jameson  said  the  number  of  jit- 
neys operating  in  the  city  has  increased 
steadily  the  last  few  weeks  until  now 
the  number  is  more  than  600.  These, 
he  said,  carry  an  average  of  20,000 
passengers  a  day. 

Mr.  Willson  said  that  he  did  not  be- 
lieve the  city  should  take  steps  grant- 
ing to  the  company  the  requested  relief 
from  jitneys  until  it  is  seen  what  atti- 
tude the  company  will  take  toward  the 
city  administration  in  regard  to  the 
proposed  new  franchise  ordinance. 


Company  Wins  Fight  for  Ten- 
Cent  Fare 

By  a  recent  ruling  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  the  Buffalo  &  Lacka- 
wanna Traction  Company,  Buffalo,  N. 
Y.,  which  has  the  franchise  for  the 
line  operated  by  the  Buffalo  &  Lake 
Erie  Traction  Company,  Erie,  Pa., 
through  the  south  side  of  Buffalo,  has 
been  authorized  to  charge  a  10-cent 
fare  without  transfers. 

Under  franchise  provisions  the  rail- 
way was  limited  to  a  5-cent  fare  and 
was  required  to  issue  tranfers  on  the 
lines  of  the  International  Railway  and 
to  accept  transfers  from  that  line.  One 
result  of  the  decision  is  that  passengers 
on  the  Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie  line  and 
those  who  transfer  to  the  Interna- 
tional Railway  will  have  to  pay  17 
cents  or  161  cents  ticket  rate. 

Colonel  Pooley,  the  Buffalo  member 
of  the  commission,  said  in  his  finding 
that  it  was  absolutely  impossible  for 


the  company  to  make  operating  ex- 
penses on  a  5-cent  rate.  Under  a  de- 
cision of  the  court  of  appeals  the  com- 
mission lacked  the  power  to  declare 
these  franchise  provisions  null,  but 
under  the  reorganization  act  the  com- 
mission was  able  to  effect  these 
changes. 


Washington  Rates  Debated 

Civic  Associations  Making  Determined 
Stand  in  Fare  Reduction — Each 
Company  Should  Stand  Alone 

Unusual  interest  was  manifested  in 
the  hearings  conducted  by  the  Public 
Utility  Commissioners  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  in  the  matter  of  railway 
fares.  The  hearing  was  characterized 
by  a  very  determined  drive  on  the  part 
of  the  citizens'  associations  looking  to 
a  material  reduction  in  rates.  One  of 
the  contentions  of  the  Washington  Rail- 
way &  Electric  Company,  which  owns 
the  Potomac  Electric  Power  Company, 
was  that  the  fare  on  its  cars  could  be 
reduced  to  7  cents  if  the  commission 
would  permit  an  increase  in  electric 
light  rates  from  8J  to  10  cents  a  kilo- 
watt-hour. 

The  contention  of  the  Capital  Trac- 
tion Company  was  that  a  6-cent  fare 
would  give  that  company  a  return  of 
6.32  per  cent  on  its  investment.  That 
company  contended  that  each  company 
should  stand  alone,  and  that  the  Wash- 
ington Railway  &  Electric  Company 
should  be  allowed  such  rate  of  fare  as 
was  justified  regardless  of  what  might 
be  justifiable  for  the  Capital  Traction 
Company. 

The  proposal  to  establish  zones  out- 
side of  which  an  extra  fare  would  be 
collected  is  being  combated  vigorously 
by  the  citizens'  associations  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  discourage  sub- 
urban development  and  make  for 
greater  congestion  in  the  first  zone.  It 
also  was  contended  that  suburbs  had 
been  developed  on  the  understanding 
that  there  would  be  one  fare  within  the 
District  of  Columbia. 


No  Funds  for  Rerouting 

Plans  for  extensive  rerouting  of  rail- 
way lines  in  downtown  Indianapolis, 
involving  an  expenditure  of  from  $50,- 
000  to  $60,000,  were  outlined  at  a  con- 
ference recently  of  the  City  Council 
committee  on  rerouting  and  its  sub- 
committee. The  chief  feature  of  the 
scheme  would  require  some  cars  to  be 
routed  around  the  eight  block  loop 
downtown  while  others  would  be  turned 
on  a  series  of  smaller  loops,  touching 
the  main  loop  at  some  point. 

Officers  of  the  Indianapolis  Street 
Railway  have  informed  city  officials 
that  no  plan  of  rerouting  which  would 
involve  the  expenditure  of  money  could 
be  carried  out  by  the  company  until  its 
financial  condition  is  improved. 


Motor  Bus  Men  Offer  to  Furnish 
Service 

The  Des  Moines  Motor  Bus  Associa- 
tion made  a  proposal  to  the  City  Coun- 
cil during  the  week  ended  July  16  for 
giving  the  city  transportation  service 
in  the  event  of  suspension  of  service  by 
the  Des  Moines  City  Railway.  In  brief 
the  proposal  is  as  follows: 

That  the  City  Council  grant  to  motor 
bus  operators  five-year  permits  to  operate, 
subject  to  city  service  and  routes. 

That  the  license  be  granted  on  a  line- 
company  unit  plan  under  which  a  single 
organization  would  be  held  responsible  for 
service  on  each  passenger  route  of  travel. 

That  bus  companies  with  preferred  lines 
be  forced  to  provide  service  on  lines  that 
are  not  so  profitable. 

That  the  basic  fare  be  5  cents. 

That  free  transfers  be  issued,  if  operat- 
ing experience  shows  that  they  can  be 
given  profitably;  if  not  a  1-  or  2-cent 
transfer  charge. 

That  200  buses  be  provided  within  a 
reasonable  time  after  car  service  is  sus- 
pended and  250  if  it  is  discovered  that  that 
number  is  needed  to  handle  the  rush-hour 
service. 

That  owl  service  be  supplied  at  a  10- 
cent  fare. 

That  power  be  reserved  by  the  Council 
to  suspend  permits  for  failure  to  perform. 

Consolidation  of  all  bus  companies 
would  be  the  ultimate  object,  but  at 
first  the  Council  is  asked  to  grant  per- 
mits on  a  line-company  unit.  This  will 
exclude  individual  owners. 

In  order  to  give  the  Council  power 
to  provide  service  on  lean  lines  the 
bus  men  propose  that  in  securing  per- 
mits to  operate  on  heavy  lines  the 
operators  must  guarantee  to  take  over 
certain  lean  lines. 

The  bus  men  propose  to  accept  a  tax 
considerably  higher  than  the  present 
one,  namely,  $25,  but  that  they  will 
oppose  a  wheel  tax.  Rather  than 
jeopardize  their  entire  offer,  however, 
they  are  willing  to  accept  a  wheel  tax. 

No  guarantee  of  service  is  offered  ex- 
cept the  right  reserved  to  the  City 
Council  to  revoke  permits  in  the  event 
of  unsatisfactory  service. 

No  action  was  taken  by  the  Council 
cn  the  offer  other  than  to  receive  and 
file  it.  The  proposition  probably  will 
not  receive  serious  consideration  until 
something  definite  is  worked  out  in 
connection  with  the  service-at-cost  plan 
submitted  by  the  railway  men's  union. 

Buses  Active  in  Toledo 

A  dozen  applications  to  operate  motor 
buses  under  Toledo's  new  bus  regu- 
latory ordinance  were  taken  out  after- 
court  efforts  of  the  busmen's  organiza- 
tion failed  to  get  a  review  of  the  case 
before  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  city  won  its  fight  in  the  lower 
courts  against  the  buses.  The  police 
were  ready  to  enforce  the  ordinance  on 
July  13. 

According  to  the  plan  of  regulation 
bus  owners  were  forced  to  take  out 
licenses  both  for  their  machines  and 
drivers  and  then  post  indemnity  bonds 
or  insurance.  They  had  to  file  routes 
and  schedules  with  the  safety  director 
and  have  his  approval. 

Several  chose  to  operate  parallel  to 
railway  lines,  but  the  congestion  of 
traffic  on  St.  Clair  Street  forced  them 
to  leave  their  favorite  loading  places. 
It  is  thought  many  will  be  driven  to 
operate  new  lines. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


151 


Connecticut  Jitney  Developments 

Bridgeport  Jitneys  Greatly  Reduced  in  Number — Railway  Must  Make 
Good — Legal  Fight  on  Company — Connecticut  Company 
Starts  Bus  Operation 

pete  directly  with  the  steam  railroad 
as   between  Bridgeport  and  Norwalk, 
'  also  connected  by  trolley,  the  commis- 
sion denied  applications. 

In  analyzing  and  passing  upon  the 
Bridgeport  situation,  the  commission 
feels  that  the  number  of  routes  should 
be  limited  and  that  it  is  better  at  the 
present  time  to  have  too  few  routes 
and  add  to  them  later  if  it  becomes 
necessary  than  to  make  the  mistake  of 
approving  unnecessary  routes  and  later 
find  that  such  routes  should  be  discon- 
tinued. An  opportunity  has  been  af- 
forded the  railway  to  fulfill  its  charter 
obligations  and  to  demonstrate  its 
ability  to  supply  adequate  service. 


Jitney1  events  in  Connecticut  have 
been  fast  and  furious  the  past  ten  days. 
Bridgeport  has  been  denied  most  of  her 
jitneys,  the  jitneymen  have  attacked  the 
constitutionality  of  the  new  law,  the 
insurance  companies  have  taken  a  hand, 
and  the  Connecticut  Company  has 
started  bus  operation. 

In  one  of  the  last  orders  which  it  is- 
sued before  the  new  law  became  effec- 
tive on  July  15  the  Connecticut  Public 
Utilities  Commission  ruled  all  but 
seventy-one  jitneys  off  the  streets  of 
Bridgeport.  Eight  routes,  including  four 
suburban,  have  received  permits  to  con- 
tinue in  operation,  utilizing  seventeen 
fewer  buses  than  were  recommended  by 
the  Common  Council  to  the  commission. 
About  a  year  ago  Bridgeport  was  trol- 
leyless.  Under  the  commission  ruling- 
Bridgeport  will  now  become  practically 
jitneyless. 

In  its  report  the  commission  calls  at- 


Validity  of  Jitney  Law  Attacked 

An  attack  on  the  constitutionality  of 
the  jitney  law  has  been  launched  in 
Hartford  in  behalf  of  Edward  P.  French 
of  New  Britain,  whose  petition  for  five 


missioner  shall  not  license  any  jitney 
car  until  the  latter  has  secured  a  certifi- 
cate from  the  utilities  commission;  it 
also  renders  futile  any  appeal  to  the 
courts  for  release. 

As  a  further  deterrent  to  jitney 
operators,  it  is  understood  that  various 
insurance  companies  have  notified  them 
that  they  cannot  continue  to  carry 
liability  insurance  on  any  public  service 
vehicle  which  does  not  have  the  certifi- 
cate from  the  utilities  commission  if 
it  is  a  jitney,  and  the  correct  license 
and  marker  under  the  vehicle  law  in 
any  case. 

Following  the  restrictions  of  motor 
buses  which  created  certain  gaps  in 
transportation  service  the  Connecticut 
Company,  under  its  new  authority, 
placed  several  buses  in  operation  on 
Friday,  July  15. 

The  service  instituted  is  as  follows: 

1.  From  East  Haven  to  and  through 
Branford.  This  is  a  cut-off,  as  the  com- 
pany has  a  rail  route  from  New  Haven 
to  East  Haven  to  Branford,  which  fol- 
lows the  shore  of  Long  Island  Sound 
between  the  last  two  cities. 

2.  From  New  Haven  through  Milford 


Reo  and  Packard  Buses  in  the  Service  op  the  Connecticut  Company 


tention  to  the  fact  that  the  jitney  prob- 
lem in  Bridgeport  was  more  compli- 
cated than  in  any  other  section  of 
the  State. 

The  commission  points  out  that  the 
inadequacy  of  the  trolley  service  occa- 
sioned the  large  development  of  jitney 
service.  It  finds  the  necessity  for  trol- 
ley service  in  Bridgeport  to  be  without 
question,  but  says  that  the  operation 
of  jitneys  in  Bridgeport  exists  to  an 
extent  not  only  to  prevent  the  success- 
ful operation  of  the  trolley,  but  to 
jeopardize  the  successful  operation  of 
the  jitneys  themselves  by  reason  of  the 
excessive  competition. 

In  speaking  of  the  routes  which  have 
been  approved  for  operation,  the  com- 
mission says  that  "while  in  many  in- 
stances these  routes  parallel  street 
railway  tracks  over  portions  of  the 
way,  they  supply  a  necessary  service 
from  such  territory  into  the  center  of 
the  city." 

In  denying  the  right  to  operate  over 
certain  roads,  the  commission  finds  that 
the  street  railway  tracks  and  facilities 
are  sufficient  and  that  the  company 
claims  to  be  willing  and  able  to  in- 
crease its  service  and  to  supply  ade- 
quate service  to  care  for  the  traffic. 

In  some  cases  where  the  routes  com- 


jitney  routes  in  that  city  was  denied  bv 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission.  In 
New  Haven  the  jitney  bus  owners 
banded  together  and  appeared  before 
Judge  John  E.  Keeler  in  the  Superior 
Court  in  Bridgeport  and  asked  for  a 
temporary  injunction  restraining  the 
city  of  New  Haven,  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut, the  Connecticut  Company,  and 
other  municipalities  from  interfering 
with  the  operation  of  jitneys  over  routes 
heretofore  operated.  In  both  places  it 
is  contended  that  the  law  runs  con- 
trary to  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  of 
the  Federal  Constitution  and  that  the 
public  convenience  and  necessity  are 
served  by  the  existing  jitney  routes, 
etc.  As  far  as  the  commission  is  con- 
cerned, Chairman  R.  T.  Higgins  said 
that  the  decision  would  stand  until  the 
courts  decide  whether  or  not  the  law 
is  constitutional  or  find  errors  in  indi- 
vidual cases.  An  error  in  an  individual 
case  would  affect  only  the  individual 
concerned.  If  the  courts  decide  against 
the  jitneymen  a  test  case  will  probably 
be  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court,  but 
whether  the  law  would  be  in  force  mean- 
while is  in  doubt.  But  there  is  another 
law — the  general  motor  vehicle  law — 
to  be  considered.  This  law  states  spe- 
cifically that  the  motor  vehicle  corn- 


to  Devon.  This  is  also  a  cut-off  on  that 
part  of  the  New-Haven-Bridgeport  line 
that  follows  the  shore  from  New  Haven, 
through  Milford  to  Devon. 

3.  A  suburban  route  near  Danielson, 
in  northeastern  Connecticut,  to  serve  a 
section  formerly  unserved. 

4.  From  Atlantic  Square,  Stamford, 
to  Glenbrook. 

On  all  routes  the  same  fare  is  charged 
on  the  bus  as  on  the  car  between  the 
same  points  and  transfers  are  issued 
to  and  from  the  buses.  Schedules  are 
arranged  for  buses  and  trolleys  to  meet. 

On  routes  1  and  3  the  buses  used  are 
Reo  chassis  with  Paterson  twelve-seat 
bodies;  on  route  2  Packard  chassis  and 
Paterson  twenty-seven-seat  bodies. 

As  to  how  far  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany will  ultimately  develop  its  bus 
service  it  is  too  early  to  state. 

The  company  did  some  excellent  work 
to  provide  the  service  at  the  time  the 
jitney  restrictions  became  effective,  pur- 
chasing chassis,  driving  them  to  Pater- 
son, N.  J.,  having  them  fitted  with 
bodies,  getting  them  back  to  Connecti- 
cut in  some  forty-eight  hours,  painting 
them,  licensing  them,  insuring,  lettering 
and  numbering  them  and  having  them 
in  service  a  few  hours  later. 


152 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No,  4 


Another  Survey  and  Valuation 
at  New  Orleans 

The  Commission  Council  of  New  Or- 
leans, La.,  has  yielded  to  the  request  of 
Commissioner  Maloney,  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Utilities,  and  has  en- 
gaged F.  W.  Ballard,  consulting  engi- 
neer, Cleveland,  Ohio,  to  make  another 
survey  and  valuation  of  the  property  of 
the  New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany. This  is  an  admission  on  the 
part  of  members  of  the  Council,  after 
the  frank  avowal  of  Commissioner 
Maloney,  that  they  are  unequal  to  the 
task,  due  to  inexperience,  of  passing 
satisfactorily  upon  the  merits  and 
demerits  of  the  vexatious  railway  prob 
lem  of  the  Crescent  City. 

Mr.  Ballard's  previous  valuation,  the 
lowest  of  several  estimates  submitted 
under  the  old  city  administration,  was 
$32,000,000.  His  new  valuation,  it  is 
assumed,  will  be  in  excess  of  his  pre- 
vious estimate.  This  belief  is  based 
upon  a  communication  written  quite  re- 
cently by  Mr.  Ballard  in  which  he  de- 
clared in  effect  that  intangible  assets 
of  public  utilities  should  be  considered 
where  valuation,  strictly  speaking,  was 
an  issue. 

While  Mr.  Ballard  made  no  reference 
to  the  New  Orleans  Traction  Company's 
valuation  in  his  letters,  it  is  known  that 
these  intangible  assets  were  not  in- 
cluded in  his  previous  estimate  of  the 
worth  of  the  property  of  the  New 
Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Company.  The 
decisions  of  the  courts  bear  out  this 
view  in  recent  litigation  affecting  the 
value  of  public  utilities. 

Mr.  Ballard's  duties  as  a  utility  ex- 
pert will  be  to  assist  the  city  authori- 
ties in  their  consideration  of  the  various 
plans  submitted  looking  to  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  pending  troubles,  for  the 
purpose  of  reaching  an  amicable  settle- 
ment without  recourse  to  the  courts. 
He  will  also  act  as  the  city's  expert 
representative  in  preparing  the  case 
instituted  by  the  city  and  now  pending 
in  the  Federal  District  Court  against 
the  railways  to  restrain  the  collection 
of  an  8-cent  fare. 


Three  Cheers  for  Fifth 
Avenue  Bus 

The  splendid  co-operation  and  gen- 
erosity of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Coach 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  in  the 
work  of  making  wounded  soldiers'  lives 
a  little  brighter  is  told  by  Alfred  C. 
Bennett,  a  member  of  the  Committee 
for  the  Sick  and  Wounded  Soldiers, 
American  Legion  Air  Service,  Post  501, 
who  called  upon  various  organizations 
to  assist  in  extending  free  pleasures  to 
the  men.  On  June  7  a  bus  with  three 
attendant?  called  at  the  Polyclinic 
Hospital,  50th  Street  and  Ninth  Avenue, 
took  the  men  to  the  Polo  Grounds,  where 
they  witnessed  the  base-ball  game,  and 
waited  to  transport  the  men  back  to 
the  hospital.  Mr.  Bennett  said  that  he 
asked  the  company  for  free  transporta- 
tion for  the  men  once  a  month,  but  that 
the  company  informed  him  a  bus  would 
call  once  a  week,  suggesting  that  it 


would  therefore  take  less  time  to  go 
the  rounds.  The  management  informed 
Mr.  Bennett  further  that  it  was  a  rare 
opportunity  for  the  bus  company  to  do 
something  to  bring  cheer  to  the  wounded 
men  and  to  co-operate  in  a  worthy  work 
of  this  kind. 


Louisville  Decision  Expected  Soon 

The  Federal  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals 
is  expected  to  render  a  decision  soon  in 
the  case  of  the  City  of  Louisville 
against  the  Louisville  Railway.  News 
to  this  effect  has  developed  the  evil  of 
speculation  in  receipts  issued  by  the 
company  for  the  extra  fare  collected 
under  the  order  of  the  injunction 
granted  by  Federal  Judge  Evans.  This 
order  restrained  the  city  from  interfer- 
ing with  the  collection  of  a  7-cent  fare 
which  the  company  obtained  last  Febru- 
ary. 

Five  tickets  to  a  strip  are  sold  for  35 
cents.  In  the  event  the  city  wins  its 
case  the  receipts  attached  to  the  strips 
will  be  worth  10  cents.  The  "market" 
price  of  the  receipts  now  stands  at  1 
cent  for  five  receipts.  Few  "sales"  are 
reported,  however,  as  citizens  holding 
receipts  seem  to  be  confident  that  the 
city  will  win.  Those  who  think  the 
company  will  win  did  not  bother  about 
saving  their  receipts. 

The  decision  of  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Appeals,  however,  is  regarded  by  both 
sides  in  the  case  as  a  mere  formality 
to  be  observed  in  bringing  the  case  be- 
fore the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 
Both  parties  have  announced  their  in- 
tention to  appeal. 


Buses  Bridge  Traction  Gap 

The  30-mile  gap  in  traction  service 
between  Louisville  and  the  Bluegrass 
section  of  Kentucky  has  been  bridged 
by  the  Capitol  Motor  Coach  Transit 
Company,  which  has  established  a 
motorbus  line  between  Shelbyville,  30 
miles  east  of  Louisville,  and  Frankfort, 
which  is  60  miles  east  of  Louisville. 
Three  round  trips  are  made  daily  by  the 
buses  of  the  company.  Stops  are  made 
at  all  points  between  the  two  cities. 
The  establishment  of  the  bus  line  con- 
nects Louisville  and  Shelbyville  on  the 
west  with  Frankfort,  Lexington,  Nich- 
olasville,  Georgetown  and  Paris  on  the 
east. 


Ambiguities  Removed 

The  Ontario  Legislature,  in  order  to 
remove  doubts  as  to  the  meaning  of  a 
paragraph  relating  to  the  "award,  con- 
ditions, tender  and  bylaw"  in  the  agree- 
ment between  the  City  Council  of 
Toronto  and  the  Toronto  Railway,  has 
passed  an  act  declaring  that  the  value 
of  the  company's  real  and  personal 
property  to  be  taken  over  by  the  city 
shall  be  determined  by  three  arbitra- 
tors, as  provided  in  the  Municipal  Act, 
sees.  335  and  336.  Sir  Adam  Beck  has 
been  appointed  by  the  City  Council,  and 
Sir  Thomas  White  by  the  company,  and 
Hume  Cronyn,  M.P.,  of  London,  Ont., 
has  been  chosen  by  them  as  the  third 
arbitrator. 


City  Seeks  to  Compel  Fare 
Reduction 

Suit  to  compel  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio) 
Traction  Company  to  publish  a  reduc- 
tion in  fares  from  the  present  rate  of 
8J  cents  to  8  cents  on  Aug  1  has  been 
filed  in  the  Superior  Court  by  Saul 
Zielonka,  city  solicitor.  The  city  will 
base  its  plea  on  the  purported  agree- 
ment made  by  the  company  on  July 
14  to  abide  by  an  ordinance  passed  a 
month  before,  amending  the  service-at- 
cost  franchise. 

According  to  the  petition  the  gross 
receipts  of  the  company  during  the 
months  of  May  and  June  have  been  in 
excess  of  the  amount  needed  to  meet 
payments  and  accruals  and  that  under 
the  terms  of  the  amended  franchise 
the  city  is  entitled  to  a  reduction  in 
fares.  The  company,  however,  failed  to 
carry  out  its  agreement  and  grant  the 
reduction,  it  is  charged  by  the  city. 

Reasons  given  by  the  company  for 
this  action,  the  petition  asserts,  were 
that  a  citizens'  committee  sent  a  peti- 
tion to  the  city  auditor  demanding  a 
leferendum  election  on  the  ordinance 
amending  the  franchise.  The  petition 
says  the  traction  company  contends  that 
the  ordinance  is  not  effective  until  voted 
favorably  by  the  people.  The  city  holds, 
according  to  the  suit,  that  the  ordinance 
being  an  amendment  to  the  original 
franchise  is  not  a  legislative  act,  author- 
ized by  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio, 
and  therefore  does  not  have  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  electors  at  a  referendum 
election.  The  referendum  petition,  ac- 
cording to  the  city  solicitor,  is  of  no 
value  because  it  seeks  a  referendum  on 
an  amendment  to  an  ordinance  passed 
before  the  initiative  and  referendum  act 
was  adopted  by  the  Ohio  Legislature. 


New  Rate  in  Effect  in  Knoxville 

Six-cent  fares  are  now  in  effect  in 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  without  a  court  fight 
on  the  part  of  the  Knoxville  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  as  was  predicted  when 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  granted 
the  increase  from  5  cents. 

The  city  had  announced  its  intention 
of  fighting  the  increase  on  the  grounds 
that  the  company  is  operating  a  com- 
mercial lighting  department  from  which 
it  derives  a  good  return.  The  city  of 
Knoxville,  through  its  attorneys,  now 
announces,  however,  that  the  order  in- 
creasing the  fare  will  not  be  appealed 
to  the  Supreme  Court. 

From  revenues  derived  from  the  in- 
creased fare  the  Traction  company  is 
planning  some  improvements,  including 
extension  of  its  lines,  additional  service 
and  a  faster  schedule. 


Ordinance  Against  One-Man  Cars. — 

The  City  Council  of  Steubenville,  Ohio, 
has  passed  an  ordinance  making  it  a 
punishable  offense  for  any  traction 
company  to  operate  a  one-man  car 
within  the  corporation  limits.  The  ac- 
tion followed  the  announcement  of  the 
intention  of  the  Wheeling  Traction 
Company  to  place  one-man  cars  in  op- 
eration in  Steubenville. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


153 


Seven  Cents  in  Nashville 

The  Nashville  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Nashville,  Tenn.,  has  been  al- 
lowed to  charge  a  straight  fare  of  7 
cents.  This  order  was  issued  recently 
by  the  Tennessee  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission. 

When  the  company  at  Nashville  was 
granted  an  increased  fare  about  two 
years  ago  the  commission  stipulated 
that  the  company  could  sell  tickets  at 
the  rate  of  four  for  25  cents,  or  for 
61  cents  each.  The  company  appealed 
to  the  commission  that  it  could  not  get- 
by  and  sell  tickets  at  that  rate.  The 
order  was,  thereupon,  modified  and  the 
fare  of  7  cents  straight  was  authorized. 


Seven  Cents  in  Toledo 

Notices  have  been  posted  in  the  cars 
operated  by  the  Community  Traction 
Company,  Toledo,  of  a  fare  increase 
from  6  to  7  cents  with  tickets  at  a  rate 
of  eight  for  50  cents.  The  change  will 
become  effective  on  Aug.  1. 


Agrees  to  Lower  Fares. — By  agree- 
ment between  the  city  of  Pottsville, 
Pa.,  and  the  Eastern  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
ways operating  in  that  city  fares  will 
be  lowered  from  10  cents  to  83  cents. 
Twelve  tokens  will  be  sold  for  $1.  This 
arrangement  will  be  in  effect  for  three 
months  at  the  end  of  which  time  if  not 
satisfactory  a  valuation  of  the  prop- 
erty will  be  made. 

Wants  Fare  Case  Reconsidered. — The 
Indianapolis  &  Cincinnati  Traction 
Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  has  filed 
a  petition  with  the  Indiana  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  asking  that  its  request 
for  a  10-cent  fare  within  the  city  of 
Indianapolis  be  taken  up  again.  The 
present  fare  is  5  cents.  The  case  was 
considered  by  the  commission  last  De- 
cember, but  no  action  was  taken. 

City  to  Fight  for  Five-Cent  Fare. — 
Mayor  Rosson,  of  Frankfort,  Ky.,  has 
announced  that  the  city  will  institute 
legal  steps  to  have  the  fare  reduced 
from  6  cents  to  5  cents.  The  1-cent 
increase  was  granted  by  a  city  ordi- 
nance which  provided  that  the  5-cent 
fare  should  be  restored  when  peace  had 
been  declared  with  Germany.  This  has 
been  done,  the  Mayor  states,  but  the 
company  is  still  collecting  6  cents. 

Relieving  Congestion  in  Tampa. — 
Safety  zones  for  passengers  getting  on 
and  off  street  cars  at  the  corner  of 
Lafayette  and  Franklin  Streets  and 
the  corner  of  Lafayette  and  Tampa 
Streets,  Tampa,  Fla.,  have  been  sug- 
gested by  T.  J.  Hanlon,  Jr.,  manager 
of  the  Tampa  Electric  Company,  as  a 
means  for  relieving  the  congestion  of 
traffic  at  these  two  busy  corners.  The 
zones  are  to  be  marked  on  the  pave- 
ment. 


Ten-Cent  Rate  in  Effect.— The  North 
Carolina  Public  Service  Company,  Salis- 
bury, N.  C,  put  into  effect  a  10-cent 
cash  fare  in  Concord  on  July  11.  No 
tickets  are  used.  The  State  Corpora- 
tion Commission  authorized  the  in- 
crease, on  June  25.  This  fare  super- 
sedes the  8-cent  fare  which  has  been 
in  effect  since  October  1,  and  which  was 
allowed  by  the  Local  Board  of  Alder- 
men without  the  necessity  of  going 
before  the  commission. 

Interurban  Rates  Advanced.  —  The 
South  Carolina  State  Railroad  Commis- 
sion recently  granted  permission  to  the 
South  Carolina  Light,  Power  &  Rail- 
ways Company,  Spartanburg,  S.  C,  to 
increase  its  railway  fares  in  the  inter- 
urban territory.  The  old  rate  was  7 
cents  and  it  is  now  10  cents  in  each  of 
three  zones,  making  an  increase  from 
21  cents  to  30  cents  for  approximately 
ten  miles.  The  new  order  became  ef- 
fective July  3. 

Eight-Cent  Rate  Continued.— The  In- 
diana Public  Service  Commission  re- 
cently approved  the  petition  of  the 
Hammond,  Whiting  &  East  Chicago 
Railway,  operating  between  Hammond 
and  East  Chicago,  for  an  extension  of 
its  8-cent  fare.  When  the  company 
appeared  before  the  commission  it  was 
brought  out  that  in  the  first  five  months 
of  the  year  343,843  fewer  passengers 
were  carried  on  the  Hammond-East 
Chicago  line  than  in  the  corresponding 
period  of  1920. 

Wants  to  Run  Buses. — C.  H.  Bosler, 
president  of  the  Tulsa  (Okla.)  Street 
Railway,  recently  applied  for  a  fran- 
chise to  establish  motor  bus  lines  when 
a  new  ordinance  was  proposed  by  the 
city  attorney  regulating  the  present 
jitney  lines  and  permitting  jitneys  to 
operate  on  streets  where  there  are  now 
railway  lines.  Mr.  Bosler  added  fur- 
ther that  his  receipts  were  $200  a 
month  less  than  they  were  a  few 
months  ago  and  that  a  wage  cut  would 
have  to  be  put  into  effect  within  a  short 
time.  The  matter  was  taken  under 
advisement. 

Authorizes    Increased    Rate.  —  The 

South  Carolina  Railroad  Commission 
recently  granted  permission  to  the 
Charleston  Consolidated  Railway  & 
Lighting  Company  to  increase  its  fare 
on  the  interurban  line  from  Charleston 
to  the  navy  yard.  The  company  peti- 
tioned for  a  7-cent  fare  with  a  ticket 
rate  of  four  for  25  cents  from  the  incor- 
porated limits  to  the  Navy  Yard  and 
from  the  Navy  Yard  to  North  Charles- 
ton 5  cents  with  three  tickets  for  10 
cents.  The  old  fare  to  the  yard  was  5 
cents. 

Will  Punish  Violators  of  Motor  Laws. 

— Local  authorities  in  Louisville,  Ky., 
have  started  a  strong  crusade  against 
violators  of  the  motor  laws,  and  are 
especially  strong  in  prosecution  of  mo- 
torists who  pass  standing  street  cars. 
There  have  been  so  many  accidents  of 
late  that  an  effort  was  made  to  give 
motorists  jail  sentences  when  fines 
failed  to  do  much  good.  One  man  was 
given  a  five-day  jail  sentence,  but 
brought    habeas    corpus  proceedings 


and  his  attorney  showed  that  the  pres- 
ent state  laws  do  not  contain  a  jail 
sentence.  The  courts  retaliated  by  mak- 
ing the  minimum  fine  $100  for  each 
speeder,  and  arrest  on  the  spot,  instead 
of  notifying  them  to  appear  in  court. 

Intrastate  Rates  Equalized  on  North 
Shore  Road. — A  recent  order  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  fixed 
the  rate  of  fare  for  intrastate  travel 
within  Illinois,  on  the  Chicago,  North 
Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad  at  3  cents 
a  mile.  Heretofore,  while  this  has  been 
the  rate  for  interstate  travel,  a  rate 
of  2  cents  a  mile  prevailed  for  local 
travel  in  Illinois,  and  2.7  cents  a  mile 
for  local  travel  in  Wisconsin.  An  order 
of  the  commission  on  June  14  increased 
the  Wisconsin  fare  to  equal  the  inter- 
state rate  and  a  subsequent  order  on 
July  2  raised  the  rate  in  Illinois  to  the 
same  basis.  The  cash  fare  on  trains  is 
now  3.6  cents  a  mile  with  a  minimum 
of  10  cents.  The  ticket  fare  is  3  cents 
a  mile  with  a  7-cent  minimum,  and  the 
twenty-five  ride  ticket  is  sold  at  2.5 
cents  a  mile,  except  to  Chicago. 

Compromise  Effected  in  Springfield. 
—Friction  between  jitney  operators  and 
the  Springfield  Street  Railway,  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  culminated  recently  in  a 
ruling  effective  on  Aug.  1  barring  jit- 
neys from  Main  Street.  The  transpor- 
tation committee  of  the  City  Council 
voted  to  accept  the  seven  new  routes 
submitted  by  Attorney  Cowett,  repre- 
senting the  jitneymen's  association  with 
the  modification  that  jitneys  shall  be 
barred  from  Main  Street  between  the 
station  arch  and  State  Street.  The  set- 
tlement allowing  four  jitney  operators 
on  the  State  Street  route  and  three  on 
each  of  the  others  amounts  to  a  com- 
promise between  the  railway  manage- 
ment and  the  jitney  men.  President 
Clark,  of  the  Springfield  Street  Rail- 
way, asked  that  jitneys  be  taken  off  all 
streets  on  which  trolleys  operate,  as 
the  receipts  in  Springfield  had  been 
greatly  decreased  in  comparison  with 
last  year. 

Collection  of  Ten-Cent  Fare  Deferred. 
— Invoking  authority  of  a  1921  law 
permitting  more  than  one  suspension 
of  a  proposed  increase  in  trolley  rates, 
the  Board  of  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sioners on  July  12  served  notice  on  the 
New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania  Traction 
Company,  Trenton,  N.  J.,  that  the  in- 
auguration of  a  10-cent  fare  by  the 
company  on  its  Princeton  branch  is 
withheld  until  Oct.  12.  The  10-cent 
fare  was  to  become  effective  on  April 
12  last,  but  the  board  suspended  the 
increase  until  July  12.  Unable  to  de- 
termine whether  the  increase  sought  is 
just  and  reasonable,  the  board  decided 
to  order  another  three  months'  sus- 
pension. During  that  time  an  opinion 
in  the  case  must  be  written.  The  board 
specified  that  the  second  suspension 
would  last  until  the  case  was  decided. 
In  its  petition  the  company  asked  per- 
mission to  charge  a  fare  of  10  cents  in 
each  of  its  four  zones  between  Trenton 
and  Princeton,  authority  to  issue  com- 
mutation strip  tickets  containing  eleven 
tickets  for  $1  and  also  school  children's 
strips  containing  forty  trips  for  $2. 


154 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


W.  S.  Finlay,  Jr.,  Heads  Metro- 
politan Section  of  A.  S.  M.  E. 

W.  S.  Finlay,  Jr.,  a  vice-president  of 
the  American  Water  Works  &  Electric 
Company,  New  York,  has  been  elected 
chairman  of  the  Metropolitan  Section, 
the  largest  of  the  local  sections  of  the 
American  Society  of  Mechanical  En- 
gineers. This  section  embraces  a  mem- 
bership of  more  than  3,000  in  the 
metropolitan  district.  G.  I.  Rhodes  of 
Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  secretary,  and 
Robert  B.  Wolf  of  R.  B.  Wolf  &  Com- 
pany, treasurer,  with  A.  E.  Allen,  West- 
inghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  constitute  the  executive  com- 
mittee. The  Metropolitan  Section,  or- 
ganized in  1910,  under  which  are  held 
public  forums  on  engineering  topics, 
has  sub-committees  on  power  engineer- 
ing, industrial  relations,  educational, 
manufacturing,  production  engineering 
and  legislation. 

Mr.  Finlay,  before  his  present  con- 
nection with  the  American  Water 
Works  &  Electric  Company,  was  the 
superintendent  of  motive  power  of  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
New  York,  having  been  the  successor  to 
the  late  H.  G.  Stott,  who  was  recog- 
nized as  the  most  able  power  plant  de- 
signer and  operator  in  this  country. 
Mr.  Finlay  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  soon  after 
his  graduation  from  Cornell  in  1904. 
He  was  born  in  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  in  1882 
and  received  his  preliminary  training 
in  the  public  schools  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Promotions  as  Well  as  Reassign- 
ments  on  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts 

Among  the  numerous  changes  that 
took  place  recently  on  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway  in  the 
way  of  reassigning  the  managers  to 
the  various  divisions,  as  was  announced 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
June  25,  there  were  several  to  whom 
the  changes  came  as  promotions.  This 
was  true  in  the  case  of  Charles  E. 
Whalen,  who  has  been  made  superin- 
tendent of  the  Lowell  district,  and  Fran- 
cis J.  O'Donoghue,  who  has  assumed  the 
position  of  manager  of  the  Haverhill 
district.  The  appointments  became 
effective  on  July  6. 

Mr.  Whalen  has  been  in  the  employ 
of  the  Eastern  Massachusetts  Company 
for  the  past  seven  years.  He  was  for- 
merly a  motorman  at  Milton  and  later 
was  brought  into  the  office  of  the  trans- 
portation department  to  assist  in  the 
work  of  equalizing  the  cars  among  the 
different  districts.  These  duties  in- 
volved the  allocating:  to  the  carhouses 
in  the  various  divisions  of  a  sufficient 
number  of  cars  to  furnish  the  service 
as  determined  by  their  schedules.  On  » 
system  composed  of  twelve  divisions  on 


which  schedule  revisions  and  reroutings 
are  continually  being  made,  proper  car 
distribution  forms  an  important  link  in 
efficient  operation. 

Mr.  O'Donoghue,  up  to  the  time  of 
his  appointment  as  manager  in  Haver- 
hill, was  superintendent  of  the  Brock- 
ton Division.  Prior  to  that  he  also  was 
employed  in  the  transportation  depart- 
ment engaged  in  the  same  sort  of  work. 
G.  F.  Chase,  formerly  local  manager  in 
Haverhill,  has  gone  to  Lawrence  as  the 
superintendent  of  that  division. 


Changes  on  Tri-City  Railways 

J.  G.  Huntoon,  who  has  been  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the 
group  of  properties  operated  by  the 
Tri-City  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Davenport,  Iowa,  has  resigned  as  gen- 
eral manager,  but  will  retain  the  office 
of  vice-president.  T.  C.  Roderick  has 
been  appointed  general  manager  of  the 
Tri-City  Railway  of  Illinois.  R.  J. 
Smith  has  been  made  general  manager 
of  the  Tri-City  Railway  of  Iowa.  Clark 
G.  Anderson  was  appointed  general 
manager  of  the  interurban  lines  of  the 
Clinton,  Davenport  &  Muscatine  Rail- 
way. E.  L.  Fischer  was  appointed  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Muscatine  city 
lines  of  the  Clinton,  Davenport  &  Mus- 
catine Railway. 

Mr.  Roderick  has  been  assistant  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Tri-City  Railway 
of  Illinois  and  of  Iowa  and  was  form- 
erly chief  engineer  of  the  Grand  Rapids 
(Mich.)  Railway.  Mr.  Smith  has  been 
engineer  of  way  and  structures  of  the 
United  Light  &  Railways  Company  and 
will  continue  to  act  in  this  capacity. 
Mr.  Anderson  has  been  assistant  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Clinton,  Davenport 
&  Muscatine  Railway  and  prior  to  com- 
ing with  this  company  in  1914,  was 
Commissioner  of  Public  Works  for  the 
city  of  Moline.  E.  L.  Fischer  is  also 
general  manager  of  the  Muscatine 
Lighting  Company  and  under  the  new 
arrangement  is  merely  taking  over  the 
additional  duties  of  looking  after  the 
local  street  car  lines. 


London  Transportation  Men  Visit 
American  Properties 

H.  E.  Blain,  C.  B.  E.;  C.  S.  Louch  and 
J.  L.  B.  Lindsay,  of  the  London  Under- 
ground Railways  and  Omnibus  Group, 
who  have  been  in  this  country  for  about 
six  weeks,  returned  to  England  on  July 
16.  During  their  stay  they  visited  a 
number  of  cities  in  this  country  and 
Canada  and  extended  their  trip  as  far 
west  as  Colorado  Springs.  They  found 
many  matters  to  interest  them  and 
expressed  themselves  before  leaving  as 
highly  pleased  with  the  results  of  the 
trip  and  appreciative  of  the  courtesies 
extended  to  them  by  the  officials  of  the 


railway  properties  in  the  cities  visited. 
On  July  14  they  gave  a  dinner  at  the 
Lotos  Club  to  some  of  the  railway  men 
in  New  York.  Among  those  present 
were:  Frank  Hedley,  H.  H.  Vreeland 
and  E.  F.  J.  Gaynor,  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company;  J.  A.  Ritchie  and 
G.  A.  Green,  Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Com- 
pany; E.  C.  Faber,  Barron  G.  Collier 
Company;  J.  H.  Pardee,  J.  G.  White 
Company;  C.  B.  Buchanan,  Virginia 
Railway  &  Power  Company;  B.  A.  Hege- 
man,  Jr.,  H.  A.  Hegeman,  C.  C.  Castle 
and  H.  L.  Howell,  National  Railway 
Appliance  Company. 


A.  J.  Purinton  Succeeds  the  Late 
Charles  Evans  on  Atlantic 
City  Road 

Election  of  officers  and  directors  of 
the  three  Atlantic  City  trolley  compa- 
nies took  place  recently.  A.  J.  Purinton, 
of  the  Atlantic  City  and  Shore  Railroad 
Company,  was  elected  a  director  and 
vice-president,  succeeding  the  late 
Charles  Evans.  Other  officers  elected 
were  I.  H.  Silverman,  president;  A.  W. 
From,  treasurer;  J.  M.  Campbell,  secre- 
tary. The  executive  committee  is  made 
up  of  H.  Silverman,  Harry  E.  Kohn  and 
A.  J.  Purinton,  while  the  board  of 
directors  is  composed  of  I.  H.  Kohn, 
Clarence  L.  Smith,  H.  R.  Coulomb,  Pen- 
rose Fleisher  and  Rolia  L.  Smith. 

The  officers  and  directors  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Suburban  Railway  are  L. 
R.  Isenthal,  president;  Irving  B.  Woods, 
vice-president;  J.  M.  Campbell,  secre- 
tary, and  A.  W.  From,  treasurer.  The 
directors  are  L.  R.  Isenthal,  R.  A.  Cale, 
Harry  E.  Kohn,  J.  M.  Campbell  and 
Irving  B.  Wood. 

The  Central  Passenger  Railway  offi- 
cers are  A.  J.  Purinton,  president;  J.  M. 
Campbell,  secretary,  and  A.  W.  From, 
treasurer.  Those  appointed  to  the  com- 
mittee are  I.  H.  Silverman,  A.  J.  Purin- 
ton, L.  R.  Isenthal.  Directors,  J.  M. 
Campbell,  A.  W.  From  and  H.  R. 
Coulomb. 


A.  Born  is  the  successor  of  E.  F. 
Gould  as  vice-president  of  the  Western 
Ohio  Railway,  Lima,  Ohio. 

H.  J.  Meyer  is  no  longer  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Pittsburgh  &  Beaver  Street 
Railway,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  as  master 
mechanic. 

D.  W.  Hanson  is  now  the  auditor  of 
the  Northwestern  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
way, Erie,  Pa.,  having  succeeded  A. 
Shiel  in  this  capacity. 

J.  H.  Reed  has  been  elected  vice- 
president  of  the  Pittsburgh  &  Beaver 
Street  Railway,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  to  suc- 
ceed J.  D.  Callery,  Jr. 

R.  L.  Swittenberg  is  the  successor 
of  R.  T.  Long  as  superintendent  of 
plants  and  line  department  of  the 
Southern  Public  Utilities  Company, 
Anderson,  S.  C. 

W.  M.  Krise,  assistant  superintendent 
of  the  Chambersburg,  Greencastle  & 
Waynesboro  Street  Railway,  Waynes- 
boro, Pa.,  has  severed  his  connection 
with  the  company. 


July  23,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


155 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 


DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER,  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


George  E.  Carson  has  been  named 
engineer  of  overhead  construction  on 
the  Ephrata  &  Lebanon  Traction  Com- 
pany, Lebanon,  Pa.  S.  H.  Suter  had 
previously  held  this  position. 

D.  L.  Reisinger,  master  mechanic  of 
the  Gallipolis  &  Northern  Traction 
Company,  Gallipolis,  Ohio,  has  severed 
his  connection  with  the  company  and 
his  place  is  now  filled  by  Homer 
Walters. 

Reuel  O.  Launey,  resigned  on  July  15 
as  auditor  of  the  Birmingham  Railway, 
Light  &  Power  Company,  Birmingham, 
Ala.  He  has  gone  to  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
where  he  has  assumed  duties  as  auditor 
of  the  Brooklyn  Edison  Company.  En- 
tering the  service  of  the  Birmingham 
Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company  in 
April,  1904,  as  earnings  clerk  in  the 
railway  department,  he  held  with 
credit  practically  every  position  in  the 
auditing  department  and  was  ap- 
pointed auditor  January  1,  1913.  On 
April  1,  1917,  he  was  appointed  auditor 
of  the  southern  properties  of  the  United 
Gas  &  Electric  Engineering  Corpora- 
tion in  addition  to  his  other  duties, 
which  position  he  held  until  May  5, 
1919,  when  that  corporation  withdrew 
from  the  control  of  the  southern  proper- 
ties. Since  January,  1917,  Mr.  Launey 
has  been  editor  of  the  Buzzer,  a  paper 
published  weekly  in  the  interest  of  the 
employees  of  the  company.  His  ideas 
are  responsible  for  its  reaching  and 
maintaining  its  high  standard  and  for 
the  place  it  holds  among  the  employees. 


Obituary 


E.  E.  Hudson,  president  of  the  Water- 
bury  Battery  Company,  Waterbury, 
Conn,,  died  on  June  27. 

Edward  J.  Ronan,  representative  of 
the  Gold  Car  Heating  &  Lighting  Com- 
pany, Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  died  on  July  3. 
Mr.  Ronan  had  been  connected  with  the 
company  for  a  period  of  twenty-one 
years. 

Jacob  Scott,  who  had  served  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Susquehanna  Traction  Com- 
pany for  twenty-five  years,  died  on 
June  11  in  Lock  Haven,  Pa.,  where  he 
was  the  most  extensive  property  owner 
and  president  of  the  Lock  Haven  Safe 
and  Trust  Deposit  Company.  He  was 
eighty-one  years  old. 

Frank  L.  Doolittle,  one  of  the  pro- 
jectors of  Huntington's  original  trac- 
tion line,  and  for  many  years  one  of 
the  most  prominent  figures  in  the  busi- 
ness life  of  Huntington,  died  recently 
at  Falls  Church,  Va.  He  and  others 
organized  the  original  street  car  com- 
pany which  secured  a  franchise  for  the 
operation  of  horse-drawn  cars  in  Hunt- 
ington. This  company  was  the  prede- 
cessor of  the  Consolidated  Light  &  Rail- 
way Company,  which  operated  one  of 
the  first  electric  railway  systems  in  this 
country. 


Tubular  Steel  Pole  Prices 
Are  Reduced 

Recent  Steel  Cut  Passed  on  to  Finished 
Product — Demand  Is  Light  as  Buy- 
ers Still  Hold  Off 

Prices  on  tubular  steel  line  poles 
have  been  reduced  in  line  with  lower 
costs  on  steel.  The  recent  general  cut 
of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation 
included  a  drop  of  $4  per  ton  on  skelp, 
from  which  line  poles  are  made.  There- 
fore prices  may  be  said  to  have  re- 
ceded in  about  the  same  amount  on 
the  date  this  decrease  was  made, 
namely,  July  7.  One  of  the  large  pole 
manufacturers  has  only  recently  passed 
on  this  price  drop,  however,  as  effec- 
tive the  first  of  this  week  a  reduction 
of  slightly  less  than  5  per  cent  has 
been  announced.  ThJs  is  the  second 
decrease  that  has  been  made  since  the 
first  of  the  year.  In  the  above  instance 
the  previous  drop,  made  last  February, 
amounted  to  $15  per  ton. 

The  general  attitude  of  buyers  in  this 
field  seems  to  be  to  await  further  price 
reductions.  Demand  has  consistently 
remained  quiet  the  greater  part  of  this 
year  and,  judging  from  the  inquiries 
received,  it  is  reported  that  interest 
among  electric  railways  is  not  increas- 
ing materially.  Producers  have  only 
fair  stocks  on  hand  as  production  is 
down  to  a  minimum.  With  many  tube 
mills  of  the  steel  producers  closed  down 
entirely  it  is  sometimes  difficult  for 
pole  manufacturers  to  replenish  their 
materia]  and,  because  of  this,  shipments 
occasionally  range  as  long  as  thirty  to 
sixty  days. 


New  City  Railway  in  Sydney, 
Australia 

Plans  are  under  way  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  new  city  railway  in 
Sydney,  Australia,  partly  underground, 
to  cost  about  £8,000,000.  In  addition  to 
this  the  suburban  railways  will  be 
equipped  for  electrical  operation  and 
extended  so  that  a  loop  will  be  formed 
around  the  city.  From  the  extension 
lines  will  lead  to  the  eastern  and  west- 
ern suburbs. 


Price  Reduction  of  10  per  Cent 
Applied  to  Motors 

A  general  reduction  in  prices  of  mo- 
tors of  10  per  cent  was  made  by  manu- 
facturers during  the  week  end  of  July 
9  to  12,  and  some  further  changes  have 
just  been  announced  as  of  July  19.  The 
change  affected  direct-current  motors 
and  polyphase  alternating-current  mo- 
tors and  motor  starting  and  control 
apparatus,  but  did  not  touch  fractional 
horsepower  motors.    Single-phase  mo- 


tors of  certain  manufacturers  were 
also  included  in  the  list,  but  this  change 
was  not  general.  Synchronous  motors 
have  been  excepted  from  the  cut.  This 
is  the  second  motor  price  cut  this  year, 
the  previous  one  of  10  per  cent  having 
taken  place  early  in  February. 

In  addition  one  prominent  manufac- 
turer reports  a  10  per  cent  reduction  on 
transformers  of  500-kva.  capacity  and 
above.  Another  prominent  manufac- 
turer has  taken  10  per  cent  off  all 
direct-current  generators  and  motor- 
generators. 


Signaling  Apparatus  for 
Australian  Railways 

Tenders  will  be  received  by  the  Vic- 
torian Government  Railways  Commis- 
sioners, Melbourne,  Australia,  until 
Aug.  10  for  250  impedance  bonds  for 
power  signaling  (Contract  34,130)  and 
56  miles  of  insulated  copper  wire  (Con- 
tract 34,131).  Tenders  will  also  be  re- 
ceived until  Aug.  17  for  renewals  for 
3,000  sets  of  caustic-soda  primary  cells 
(Contract  34,145).  Specifications  may 
be  seen  at  the  Department  of  Over- 
seas Trade,  35  Old  Queen  Street,  Lon- 
don, S.  W.  1,  England. 


Two  Sizable  Girder  Rail  Orders 
Placed  Recently 

Although  two  sizable  orders  for  gir- 
der rails  have  recently  been  placed  with 
the  leading  producing  interests,  these 
orders  apparently  are  not  indicative  of 
a  general  improvement  in  this  market, 
for  on  the  whole  conditions  are  quiet. 

The  Chicago  Surface  Lines  placed  an 
order  a  few  days  ago  for  4,000  tons 
of  129-lb.,  No.  403,  9-in.  girder  rail 
with  the  Lorain  Steel  Company.  This 
is  the  first  order  for  rails  placed  by  the 
Surface  Lines  since  before  the  war. 
Replacement  requirements  in  the  mean- 
time have  been  supplied  from  a  stock 
of  20,000  tons  purchased  in  1915,  when 
the  price  was  less  than  one-half  what 
it  is  now,  although  the  present  level  of 
girder  rail  prices  has  receded  consider- 
ably from  its  peak.  The  second  recent 
order  is  one  from  the  Toronto  (Canada) 
Transportation  Commission  for  4,000 
tons  of  girder  rails  and  500  tons  of  T- 
rails.  It  goes  to  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company. 


Ten  per  Cent  Reduction  on 
Trolley  Poles 

Lower  prices  on  trolley  poles  ap- 
parently have  had  little  or  no  effect  in 
the  way  of  stimulating  demand.  The 
second  price  drop  since  the  first  of  the 
year  has  been  made,  yet  sales  are  still 
light.  With  lower  prices  on  pipe  as 
announced  recently,  manufacturers  of 


156 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  4 


both  seamless  and  lap-welded  trolley 
poles  have  lowered  quotations.  The 
general  drop  has  been  about  10  per  cent 
and  was  made  on  different  dates  during 
the  early  part  of  July. 

A  previous  drop  of  approximately  20 
per  cent  was  put  into  effect  on  seam- 
less-steel trolley  poles  during  the  latter 
part  of  last  February.  A  fair  number 
of  poles  are  carried  in  stock  at  the  pres- 
ent time  and  on  standard  poles,  style 
A,  virtually  stock  shipments  can  be 
made.  Style  B  poles,  which  are  heavier, 
require  a  slightly  longer  time,  and  de- 
liveries range  up  to  thirty  days  on 
some  sizes,  especially  the  long  lengths. 


Insulator  Prices  Decline 

Second  Cut  This  Year  Comes  at  Time 
When  Orders  Show  Falling  Off 

Effective  July  15  and  18  in  different 
instances  several  manufacturers  of 
high-tension  porcelain  insulators  have 
announced  lower  prices.  On  suspension 
types  the  cut  amounts  to  5  per  cent, 
while  on  all  others  it  is  10  per  cent. 
Included  in  this  drop  are  some  of  the 
insulator  hardware  items.  Standard 
wiring  porcelain  was  also  reduced,  in 
a  representative  instance  the  discount 
being  increased  8a  points,  except  on 
short  tubes,  where  it  was  3g  points. 

This  is  the  second  price  decrease  to 
be  made  on  high-tension  insulators. 
The  first,  amounting  to  10  per  cent, 
occurred  during  the  last  half  of  Feb- 
ruary, but  it  did  not  cover  single-part 
pin-type  insulators.  Demand  shows 
considerable  falling  off  since  the  first 
of  the  year,  it  is  stated.  At  the  present 
time,  though  there  are  a  fair  number 
of  orders  being  received  from  central 
stations,  they  are  small  in  size,  and 
both  the  foreign  and  domestic  markets 
shape  up  as  quiet.  Electric  railways 
up  to  the  present  time  have  taken  little 
or  no  interest  in  the  market. 


Pole  Line  Hardware  Prices 
Again  Reduced 

Prices  on  pole-line  hardware  are 
again  down.  This  time  the  cut  ranges 
from  about  2 J  to  lh  per  cent  in  a  num- 
ber of  instances,  and  was  made  on 
varying  dates  from  the  first  to  the 
fifteenth  of  July.  Lower  costs  on  steel 
are  said  to  be  responsible  for  this  latest 
drop.  At  least  three  other  general 
price  reductions  have  been  reported  in 
the  galvanized  line  hardware  field  since 
the  first  of  the  year,  and  in  some  in- 
stances four  decreases.  The  first  cut  of 
5  to  15  per  cent  was  made  in  late  De- 
cember and  early  January,  the  second 
of  5  to  7J  per  cent  occurred  on  Feb.  15, 
and  the  third  reduction,  amounting  to 
7 i  to  10  per  cent,  was  effective  on  April 
11.  Early  in  June  at  least  one  manu- 
facturer and  a  manufacturer's  distrib- 
uter made  a  fourth  decrease  of  5  per 
cent,  so  that  with  this  latest  drop  prices 
are  well  down.  Demand  has  just  re- 
cently started  to  show  a  slight  improve- 
ment, it  is  reported,  though  factory 
stocks  are  still  quite  large. 

A  representative  distributer's  prices 


on  various  items  per  100,  f  .o.b.  Chicago, 
are  as  follows:  carriage  bolts,  1  in.  x 
4i  in.,  $1.93;  crossarm  braces,  H  in.  x  1 
in.  x  28  in.,  $13.19;  lag  screws,  I  in.  x  4 
in.,  $3.33,  and  machine  bolts,  I  in.  x  12 
in.,  $8.95. 


Rolling  Stock 


El     Paso     (Texas)      Electric  Company. 

through  Stone  &  Webster,  Inc.,  has  placed 
an  order  for  ten  safety  oars  with  the  fat. 
Louis  Car  Company. 

The  Denver  (Col.)  Tramway  is  consider- 
ing a  plan  to  purchase  twenty-seven  new 
Peter-Witt  motor  cars  and  to  rebuild  forty 
of  its  present  double-truck  cars  along  the 
lines  of  the  Peter -Witt  design. 

Columbus  (Cia.)  Railroad  Company  has 
ordered  four  safety  cars.  These  were  placed 
through  Stone  &  Webster,  Inc.,  with  the  St. 
Louis  Car  Company. 

Fonda.  Johnstown  &  Gloversville  Railroad 
Company,  Gloversville,  N.  Y.,  advises  that 
it  is  changing  over  its  pay-as-you-enter 
type  cars  to  permit  of  one-man  operation. 
They  will  be  put  into  service  on  August  1. 

Tampa  Electric  Company,  Tampa,  Fla., 
which  recently  ordered  twelve  Birney  safety 
ears,  as  noted  in  last  week's  issue,  placed 
this  order  with  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company. 

The  City  of  New  York,  N.  Y„  has  awarded 
a  contract  for  eight  trackless  trollibuses  to 
the  Atlas  Truck  Company  York,  Pa.  The 
contract  went  to  the  latter  company,  it  is 
stated,  because  it  uses  structural  steel 
throughout  in  the  construction  of  the  body 
frame.  The  cars  are  intended  for  use  in 
connection  with  the  municipal  line  operated 
on  Staten  Island.  Since  the  experimental 
vehicle  was  put  into  operation  at  Richmond, 
Va.,  a  number  of  weeks  ago,  the  Atlas  com- 
pany has  received  many  inquiries. 

Detroit  (Mich.)  Municipal  Railway  was 
mentioned  in  the  June  18  and  July  16  issues 
as  ordering  fifty  Peter  Witt  and  100  safety 
cars.  With  this  latest  order  the  number  of 
cars  bought  by  the  city  since  last  fall  totals 
250,  placed  as  follows:  Nov.  16,  1920, 
twenty-five  safety,  Osgood-Bradley ;  April 
15.  1921.  twenty-five  safety,  Osgood-Brad- 
ley; on  Mav  4,  100  safety,  J.  G.  Brill;  July 
12.  fifty  Peter-Witt,  Kuhlman  ;  July  12,  100 
safety,  divided  among  McGuire-Cummings 
twenty-five  ;  St.  Louis  Car  Company,  fifty, 
and  Osgood-Bradley,  twenty-five.  Besides 
these  orders  the  city  will  probably  ask  for 
bids  on  fifty  trackless  trolleys,  as  stated  in 
the  July  2nd  issue.  Specifications  on  the  100 
safety  cars  will  be  printed  in  an  early  issue. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Intercity  Terminal  Railway,  Argenta, 
Ark.,  will  provide  double  tracks  on  the 
bridge  connecting  Little  Rock  and  North 
Little  Rock  as  soon  as  the  free  new  bridge 
is  completed.  Cars  of  North  Little  Rock 
will  then  connect  with  Little  Rock  cars 
according  to  P.  C.  Warren,  of  the  Intercity 
Terminal  Company. 

Wilmington  &  Philadelphia  Traction  Com- 
pany, Wilmington,  Del.,  is  doing  a  great 
deal  of  work  necessary  for  the  new  street 
paving  operations.  The  company  has  fin- 
ished its  new  track  work  on  East  Ninth 
Street  and  has  finished  the  Shellpot  loop. 
New  tracks  have  been  laid  on  Lancaster 
Avenue  from  Union  Street  to  Woodlawn 
Avenue  and  new  rails  have  been  installed 
in  Washington  Street.  On  Eighth  Street 
new  rails  are  being  installed  and  these  are 
being  laid  from  Van  Buren  to  Broome 
Streets.    Other  work  is  in  prospect. 

Public  Service  Railway,   Camden,   N.  J., 

has  started  its  reconstruction  work  on 
Westfield  Avenue  between  Dudley  Tower 
and  Forty-second  Street.  The  tracks  will 
be  shifted  from  the  side  to  the  middle  of 
the  street.  Work  will  also  start  shortly 
on  Haddon  Avenue,  Collingswood. 

Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Railways  have  been 
authorized  to  construct  a  loop  in  the  East 
Liberty  district.  The  loop  will  run  from 
Penn  Avenue  along  Euclid  Avenue  to  Mi- 
gnonette and  St.  Clair  Streets.  The  receiv- 
ers received  permission  to  spend  not  more 
than  $40,000  in  this  construction  which  was 
necessary  in  view  of  the  heavy  traffic  in 
this  district. 


Dallas  (Texas)  Railway.,  will  at  once 
connect  its  tracks  on  Masten  Street  with 
the  tracks  on  St.  Paul,  according  to  Richard 
Meriwether,  vice  president  and  general 
manager.  This  connection  is  made  possible 
bv  the  removal  of  the  tracks  of  the  Texas 
&  Pacific  Railway  on  Pacific  Avenue.  The 
traction  company  several  weeks  ago  com- 
pleted its  Masten  Street  line  to  the  edge 
of  Pacific  Avenue,  but  work  was  then 
stopped  until  the  tracks  of  the  steam  rail- 
way had  been  removed.  Building  of  a 
double  track  line  of  St.  Paul  Street  from 
Elm  to  Commerce  to  make  possible  the  de- 
sired routing  of  cross-town  lines,  is  being 
urged  by  the  Dallas  Safety  Council.  Such 
a  line  would  greatly  relieve  the  conges- 
tion in  the  business  district,  it  is  pointed 
out. 


Trade  Notes 


The  Arrow  Pump  Company,  with  general 
sales  oces  in  the  Buhl  Building,  Detroit, 
announces  that  it  is  now  prepared  to  manu- 
facture centrifugal  and  other  rotating  types 
of  pumps  in  which  there  will  be  incorpo- 
rated a  unique  design  of  packing  gland  with 
ring  oiling  principle. 

Tool  Steel  Gear  &  Pinion  Company,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  announces  that  Richard  H. 
Worcester,  408  Boston  Building,  Honolulu, 
T.  H.,  now  represents  the  company  there. 
Two  new  salesmen  have  been  added  to  the 
company's  sales  force,  and  the  factory 
space  has  been  enlarged  approximately 
8,617  sq.ft. 

Automatic  Register  Company,  4117  Wash- 
ington Boulevard,  St.  Eouis,  Mo.,  manufac- 
turer of  automatic  fare  registers,  announces 
that  at  its  recent  annual  meeting  A.  D. 
Branham  was  re-elected  president,  William 
P.  Launtz,  vice-president,  and  George  S. 
Darrow  secretary  and  treasurer.  C.  H.  Wil- 
son was  also  made  vice-president,  succeed- 
ing M.  J.  Hopkins. 

Track  Specialties  Company,  29  Broadway, 
New  York  City,  announces  that  it  has  re- 
cently appointed  the  following  representa- 
tives: The  Busc'n  Corporation,  1130  Collins 
Street,  St.  Louis;  P.  W.  Wood,  811  Canal 
Bank  Building,  New  Orleans ;  R.  J.  Glen- 
dinning  &  Company,  1102  Newhouse  Build- 
ing. Salt  Lake  City,  and  C.  H.  Small, 
Monadnock  Building,  San  Francisco. 

The  M.  .1.  Dougherty  Company  has  com- 
pleted and  moved  into  its  new  quarters 
which  occupy  the  block  from  Twenty-fourth 
to  Twenty-fifth  Street  at  Washington  Ave- 
nue in  Philadelphia.  These  increased 
facilities  for  the  fabrication  of  piping  of 
every  design,  the  company  says,  enable  it 
to  offer  prices  and  deliveries  which  had 
never  before  been  possible  with  its  smaller 
factory. 

Union  Switch  &  Signal  Company,  Swiss- 
vale,  Pa.,  has  received  an  order  from  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  for  the  necessary 
materials  for  the  installation  of  an  alter- 
nating-current electro-pneumatic  interlock- 
ing at  Forest  Hills.  The  principal  features 
of  this  installation  will  consist  of  a  model 
14  interlocking  machine  made  up  of  thirteen 
levers  for  forty-one  signals  and  sixteen 
stops,  fourteen  levers  for  fourteen  single 
switches  and  three  double  slips,  and  five 
traffic  levers,  making  a  total  of  thirty-two 
working  levers  in  a  thirty-five-lever  frame. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Conveyors.  —  Conveyors  Corporation  of 
America,  Chicago,  has  issued  a  booklet  en- 
titled. "The  Proof  of  the  Pudding,"  which 
reproduces  seventy  letters  received  from 
users  of  the  company's  ash-handling  equip- 
ment. 

Fuse  Cutout. — Schweitzer  &  Conrad.  Inc., 
Chicago,  have  put  on  the  market  a  new 
2.200/6,600-volt  primary  fuse  cutout  under 
the  trade  name  Type  E  ejector  cutout.  It 
is  described  in  their  bulletin  103-A. 

Excavator  Crane — Bulletin  6-X  describes 
the  Pawling  &  Harnischfeger  Company, 
Milwaukee,  newly  developed  No.  206  ex- 
cavator-crane which  can  be  used  in  coal 
and  ash  handling  and  with  a  lifting  magnet. 

Welding. — Rail  Welding  &  Bonding  Com- 
pany, Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  just  issued  its 
'Welding  Instruction  Manual,"  which  deals 
particularly  with  the  Lincoln  carbon  arc 
process  of  welding  rail  joints.  Another 
portion  is  devoted  to  metal  electrode  weld- 
ing of  especial  interest  to  the  engineer  in 
building  up  car  wheels  and  other  shop  weld- 
ing work. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


□  ARR Y  L.BROWN,  Western  Edjl 


M.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS,  Managing  Editor 
W.A.BOWERS.Paciflc  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIER.Associate  Editor 
f^NAAp  FtfHINE.Editorial  Representative             GEORGE  BUSHFIELD. Editorial  Representative 
LW.W  MORROW. Special  Editorial  Representative  G.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editor 
 i_ 


C.W. STOCKS,  Associate  Edttof 


Volume  58 


AUG  1  *  l^ewyYork,  Saturday,  July  30,  1921 


Number  5 


Eliminate  Waste  in* 

Electric  Railway  Business 

IT  MIGHT  have  been  expected  that  the  first  work 
of  the  Federated  American  Engineering  Societies, 
after  Mr.  Hoover  was  elected  its  president  last  fall, 
would  be  a  study  of  the  reduction  possible  in  waste. 
When  Mr.  Hoover  was  called  upon  during  the  war  to  act 
as  food  director,  not  only  of  the  United  States  but  of 
a  considerable  part  of  the  world,  the  question  of  waste 
was  one  which  particularly  attracted  his  attention. 
With  his  training  as  an  engineer  he  recognized  that 
waste  represents  not  only  energy  which  is  lost  but 
energy  which  would  be  productive  if  properly  applied. 
In  consequence,  as  food  director  he  declared  war  against 
waste  in  food  by  issuing  his  famous  "clean  platter"  and 
other  regulations,  which  were  gladly  followed  by  the 
people  during  the  period  of  food  scarcity.  A  study  of 
industrial  waste  offers  a  much  broader  opportunity  for 
saving  than  even  waste  in  food.  The  electric  railway 
industry  was  not  one  of  those  especially  studied  by  the 
committee,  but  many  of  the  conclusions  reached  in  the 
report  just  completed  apply  with  almost  equal  force  to 
electric  railways. 

Fortunately  electric  railways  are  largely  free  from 
very  great  seasonal  variations  in  their  business.  With 
the  exception  of  roads  serving  summer  resorts,  the 
business  throughout  the  year  has  a  fair  regularity,  but 
it  is  possible  that  something  might  be  done  more  than  at 
present  toward  a  definite  plan  of  supply  of  men  to  help 
out  the  forces  of  the  summer  roads  and  toward  adjusting 
the  work  of  the  track  forces  on  an  eight  months'  if  not 
a  twelve  months'  basis.  A  more  fruitful  opportunity 
for  waste  reduction  probably  lies  in  the  lessening  of 
the  turnover  percentage.  The  report  estimates  the 
annual  avoidable  labor  turnover  in  the  metal  trades  at 
100  per  cent  and  the  cost  of  each  "separation"  as  from 
$50  to  $250  each.  If  the  first  figure  in  the  electric  rail- 
way industry  is  taken  as  only  50  per  cent  and  the  cost  of 
training  is  taken  as  only  $50,  the  cost  of  annual  turnover 
in  the  electric  railway  industry  would  amount  to  $6,000,- 
000  a  year.  Probably  50  per  cent  is  too  large  an 
estimate  now,  though  it  probably  would  not  have  been 
five  years  ago.  However,  much  can  be  accomplished 
along  these  lines.  Standardization  is  another  point  to 
which  the  report  calls  particular  attention,  and  it  even 
mentions  the  electric  railways  as  possibly  being  able  to 
do  more  than  they  are  now  doing  in  car  standardization. 

There  are  undoubtedly  other  ways  in  which  waste 
and  duplication,  which  is  the  same  as  waste,  can  be 
reduced  on  electric  railway  properties.  Each  manager 
might  well  consider  what  he  can  do  on  his  own  property, 
as  he  not  only  serves  his  own  company  but  increases  the 
community  wealth  in  any  saving  which  he  may  be  able 
to  effect. 

One  practice,  insignificant  perhaps  in  the  amount  of 
money  involved  as  compared  with  some  of  those  men- 
tioned in  the  report  but  nevertheless  involving  the  same 


principle,  is  common  in  the  industry  and  might  be 
mentioned  here.  This  is  the  plan  followed  by  some  com- 
panies of  circularizing  the  industry  for  information 
which  is  already  available,  either  in  the  reports  of  com- 
missions, the  data  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  association 
or  through  existing  publications.  Railway  companies 
realize  that  when  information  of  this  kind  is  solicited 
by  this  paper  the  material  is  published,  so  that  it  is 
available  for  everybody  and  the  company  should  be 
relieved  from  other  requests  for  similar  data.  Hence, 
requests  for  duplication  of  this  information  really  come 
under  the  ban  of  Mr.  Hoover's  principle  against  waste. 
In  fact,  a  good  principle  to  follow  is  that  work  which  is 
being  well  done  by  one  existing  agency  need  not  be 
duplicated  by  another. 


A  Study  in  Wage 
Readjustment 

REDUCTIONS  in  wages  commensurate  with  the 
.  reduced  cost  of  living  are  to  go  into  effect  in  New 
York  as  a  result  of  negotiations  between  management 
and  men.  In  the  case  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company  the  saving  is  estimated  at  $2,600,000  for  the 
year.  This  is  a  sum  whose  beneficial  effect  is  likely  to 
be  overestimated.  In  consequence  the  management  of 
the  company  has  found  it  necessary  to  issue  a  warning 
as  to  the  probable  effect  of  this  saving.  The  solution  of 
the  transit  problems  in  New  York  lies  in  making  the 
investment  of  the  company  and  the  city  self-supporting, 
so  that,  as  President  Hedley  of  the  Interborough  says, 
the  capital  required  by  the  city's  growing  transit  needs 
may  be  commanded.  The  wage  reduction  now  brought 
about  cannot  possibly  have  such  effect.  The  same  com- 
ment also  holds  true  of  the  savings  effected  through  the 
cut  in  wages  on  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  System. 
In  the  case  of  that  property,  however,  no  statements 
appear  to  have  been  bandied  about  by  self-seeking 
politicians  in  regard  to  the  probable  effect  of  the  saving 
there. 

These  are  the  purely  monetary  aspects  of  the  matter. 
There  is  another  side  to  this  question,  however,  that  is 
more  significant  in  its  way  than  the  help  these  savings 
in  dollars  and  cents  will  be  to  the  companies  still 
battling  against  the  odds  imposed  by  the  5-cent  fare. 
That  side  is  the  way  in  which  the  readjustment  down- 
ward was  brought  about.  The  negotiations  were  con- 
ducted by  the  companies  direct  with  committees  of 
their  own  men.  No  rancor  as  to  means  or  methods 
attended  the  conferences  in  either  case.  The  companies 
put  the  decrease  before  the  employees  in  the  spirit  of 
give  and  take,  the  same  that  prompted  the  companies  to 
disregard  wage  agreements  in  the  period  of  advancing 
prices  when  the  helping  hand  was  extended  to  the  men. 
The  employees,  on  their  part,  met  the  companies  in  the 
same  spirit.  As  Vice-President  Porter  of  the  Brooklyn 
City  Railroad  said,  the  spirit  in  which  the  negotiations 
were  conducted  was  most  gratifying  and  showed  a  keen 


158 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


appreciation  of  actual  conditions.  Moreover,  they  are 
significant  of  what  men  and  management  can  accomplish 
under  the  plan  of  employee  representation  in  which  both 
sides  are  free  to  proceed  without  being  embarrassed  by 
interference  from  outside  sources. 


Clear  Analysis  of  the 

Duties  of  a  Common  Carrier 

A CLEAR  analysis  of  the  duties  of  a  common  carrier 
is  contained  in  the  decision  rendered  on  July  21  by 
Judge  John  E  Keeler  of  the  Connecticut  Superior  Court 
in  the  case  of  some  of  the  jitney  bus  drivers  who  could 
not  understand  why  they  should  be  stopped  from  oper- 
ating. The  case  came  up  through  the  plea  for  an 
injunction  restraining  the  Public  Service  Commission 
from  carrying  out  certain  laws  enacted  at  the  last 
session  of  the  Legislature.  In  deciding  this  question 
adversely  Judge  Keeler  answered  two  kinds  of  argu- 
ments commonly  heard  in  cases  of  this  kind.  One  of 
these  is  from  those  citizens  who  find  it  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  an  added  transportation  facility  should  be 
abolished. 

"If  it  was  not  a  good  thing,"  they  argue,  "people 
would  not  patronize  it.  Competition  ought  to  be 
desirable.  It  will  keep  each  transportation  agency  up 
to  the  mark."  The  other  line  of  argument  often  put 
forward  in  cases  of  this  kind  is  based  on  the  question 
of  personal  liberty  and  runs  somewhat  as  follows:  "Why 
should  not  the  public  carrier  business  be  open  to  all? 
And  why  can  a  man  be  ruled  off  the  highway  because 
he  runs  the  bus,  but  be  free  to  use  it  if  he  runs  a  truck 
or  private  car?  Why  should  a  commission  give  a  license 
to  operate  on  the  streets  to  a  trolley  company  and  refuse 
the  same  permission  to  a  bus  company?  This  is  arbi- 
trary power  exercised  in  violation  of  constitutional 
rights." 

Now  all  these  questions  can  be  answered  very  easily 
and  simply  if  the  nature  of  the  common  carrier  busi- 
ness is  understood.  It  is  not  like  an  ordinary  mercantile 
business  where  the  proprietor  can  open  or  close  his  shop 
whenever  he  likes,  keep  what  goods  he  wants  and  sell 
for  any  price  he  chooses.  A  common  carrier  cannot  do 
any  of  these  things.  He  must  agree  to  provide  a  service 
at  times  both  when  it  is  not  profitable  to  do  so  as  well 
as  when  a  profit  can  be  earned,  and  he  is  limited  as  to 
the  charges  which  he  can  make  for  that  service.  His 
is  not  a  private  business.  It  is  a  quasi-public  undertak- 
ing though  conducted  as  a  private  corporation  for  profit, 
and  as  the  nature  of  the  business  is  such  that  it  can  be 
given  much  more  cheaply  if  carried  on  by  one  concern 
than  by  a  number,  the  authorities  are  acting  in  the 
interests  of  the  public  when  they  confine  the  service  to 
one  company  and  require  it  to  do  the  thing  right.  Hence, 
action  by  a  commission  in  favoring  one  concern  and 
forbidding  another  is  not  an  arbitrary  exercise  of 
power,  except  to  the  extent  that  any  decision  between 
individuals  as  to  appointment  to  do  certain  work  is 
arbitrary.  The  state  requires  the  commission  to  make 
a  decision  of  this  kind.  Finally,  action  by  a  commis- 
sion in  a  case  of  this  kind  is  in  the  interests  of  the 
public  as  a  whole,  so  that  it  is  a  legitimate  exercise  by 
the  state  of  its  admitted  police  power. 

Elements  in  Connecticut  with  a  stake  in  the  jitneys 
are  naturally  lambasting  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion over  the  law  which  Judge  Keeler  was  asked  to 
construe.  In  this  assault  they  are  aided  by  all  the 
avowed  enemies  of  the  Connecticut  Company.    As  a 


matter  of  fact,  the  law  is  harder  on  the  Connecticut 
Company  than  it  is  on  the  jitneys.  The  commission  has 
ruled  that  where  railway  service  is  adequate  or  can  be 
made  adequate  to  the  needs  for  transportation,  there 
is  no  room  for  the  jitney.  It  has  also  declared,  at  least 
in  effect,  that  where  the  trolley  furnishes  the  transpor- 
tation, it  must  make  good  or  go*  down  in  defeat.  The 
railway  knows  then  that  it  is  fighting  for  its  life  as 
never  before,  as  witnessed  by  the^  heroic  efforts  which 
it  is  making  to  increase  its  trolley  service  and  to  supply 
bus  facilities  where  the  comrriission  has  indicated  that 
this  is  what  is  expected  of  it'. 

The  situation  is,  in  fact,  fraught  with  greater  danger 
to  the  Connecticut  Company,  with  its  vast  investment 
in  immovable  assets,  than  it  is  to  the  bus  owners,  whose 
property  can  quickly  be  converted  to  other  uses.  In  an 
excess  of  zeal  to  guard  what  seem  to  them  to  be  their 
cwn  best  interests,  the  jitney  operators  appear  to  have 
lost  sight  entirely  of  this  fact. 


Due  Process  of  Law  Impossible 
in  Public  Rate  Decision 

" '  I  AHERE  is  no  way  in  the  world  for  a  public  utility 
A  to  be  heard  before  the  mass  of  the  public  who  are 
going  to  vote  to  fix  rates,  and  that  is  a  part  of  due 
process." 

A  United  States  District  judge  is  quoted  as  using 
these  words  in  summing  up,  in  a  recent  case,  the  in- 
equity of  settling  by  popular  vote  the  matter  of  public 
utility  rates.  Whether  it  formed  part  of  the  formal 
decision  or  not,  the  statement  quoted  is  undoubtedly 
true.  The  futility  of  submitting  a  question  of  this  kind 
to  popular  vote  has  been  almost  universal.  There  have 
been  only  two  or  three  instances  in  which  approval  has 
been  granted.  Hence,  appeal  to  the  courts  based  directly 
on  guarantees  of  the  Constitution  has  been  quite 
frequent. 

While  the  courts  have  very  clearly  stated  the  law 
regarding  the  confiscation  of  property,  none  of  the  de- 
cisions that  have  come  to  our  attention  has  referred  to 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  public-wide  hearing.  Those 
railway  companies  that  have  attempted  to  gain  public 
approval  of  an  increase  at  the  polls  have  in  many  cases 
utilized  every  known  means  of  getting  an  understand- 
ing of  their  case  to  every  one.  Yet  the  result  was  the 
usual  disappointment.  This  can  only  be  explained  by 
the  fact  which  is  outlined  clearly  in  the  expression 
quoted  above. 

Publicity  of  a  constructive  and  pleasing  nature  un- 
doubtedly can  be  made  to  accomplish  much  in  improving 
the  general  attitude  toward  a  traction  company,  but 
history  has  demonstrated  that  the  public  will  not  readily 
vote  to  pay  increased  utility  rates  in  response  to  the 
somewhat  intangible  plea  that  the  utility  will  thereby 
be  able  to  improve  its  service.  This  points  to  the  de- 
sirability, in  drawing  up  future  franchises,  of  avoiding 
any  condition  on  fare  changes  requiring  popular  ap- 
proval at  the  polls,  and  of  declining  to  acquiesce  in  the 
proposal  of  any  city  council,  where  it  has  full  authority 
in  itself  to  raise  fares,  to  sidestep  responsibility  by 
passing  the  question  on  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 

Even  in  those  sections  of  the  country  committed  to 
the  principle  of  the  referendum,  this  argument  would 
still  apply.  A  rate  of  fare  is  a  business  proposition,  and 
not  of  the  nature  of  laws  for  the  referring  of  which 
to  the  general  public  there  may  be  many  reasons  not 
applicable  to  utility  rate  questions. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


159 


Constructing  the  Overhead  in  Detroit 

Equipment  Employed  Is  Largely  of  Standard  Design — Earth-Boring  Machine  Speeds  Up  Work  of  Digging 
Holes  and  Setting  Poles — Backbone  Construction  Used  on  All  Curves — Special  Strain 
Anchors  on  Trolley  and  Corner  Construction  on  Feeder  Cables  Are  Features 


Typical  Appearance  of  the  Overhead  at  Special  Work  Location, 
Showing  Backbone  Construction 


A  DHERENCE  to  the  use  of  standard  fittings  and 
i-\  materials,  substantial  and  permanent  nature  of 
X  A.  the  construction  and  the  use  of  labor-saving  de- 
vices and  methods  characterize  the  overhead  work  of 
the  Detroit  Municipal  Railway,  just  as  they  were  pointed 
out  in  an  article  in  the  issue  of  July  23,  to  be  the  special 
attributes  of  the  track  construction.  Following  the 
requirements  of  a  city  ordinance,  tubular  steel  poles  are 
used  within  a  circle  approximately  2  miles  in  radius, 
with  the  center  at  the  City  Hall,  except  where  wood 
poles  are  already  existing.  Wherever  possible,  the  over- 
head of  the  street  railway  department  was  supported  on 
poles  of  the  Detroit  Edison  Company  or  the  Department 
of  Public  Works,  so  as  to  avoid  the  erection  of  a 
duplicate  pole  line.  The  steel  poles  are  30  ft.  high  and 
made  up  in  three  sections,  7  in.,  6  in.  and  5  in.  in 
diameter,  for  tangent  track  and  fitted  with  a  plain  cast- 
iron  cap  and  a  2-ft.  dog  guard  placed  to  extend  1  ft. 
above  and  1  ft.  below  the  ground  line.    The  bottom 


section  of  these  poles  is  extra  heavy,  the  other  sections 
being  of  standard  thickness.  For  use  at  strain  points 
the  steel  poles  are  made  up  of  8-in.,  7-in.  and  6-in. 
diameter  sections.  Outside  of  the  2-mile  radius, 
Western  red  cedar  class  B  poles  of  A.  E.  R.  E.  A. 
specifications,  mostly  30  ft.  high,  with  some  35-ft.  and 
40-ft.  poles,  are  used.  These  poles  were  treated  by  a 
process  including  a  four-hour  irhmersion  in  hot  creosote 
followed  by  a  four-hour  immersion  in  cold  creosote. 

The  steel  poles,  which  also  practically  conform  to  the 
A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  specifications,  are  set  in  concrete  6  ft. 
in  the  ground.  The  wood  poles  are  set  the  same  distance 
in  the  ground  and  provided  with  a  ring  of  concrete  1  ft. 
high  at  the  bottom  of  the  pole  and  a  concrete  collar  at 
the  ground  line.  To  improve  the  appearance  of  the  over- 
head construction  where  the  Charlevoix  Avenue  line 
crosses  East  Grand  Boulevard,  a  Massey  hollow  concrete 
pole  was  set  on  either  side  of  the  boulevard. 

The  No.  00  hard-drawn  round  trolley  wire  was  made 


At  Left,  the  Hole  Digger  Is  Also  Equipped  with  Winches  and  Derrick  and  Is  Used  to  Set  the  Poles.     At  Right,  Appearance 
of  Completed  Overhead  on  Tangent  Track.    Pole  Dine  at  the  Deft  Was  Set  by  the  Railway  Company 


160 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.'  58,  No.  5 


Temporary  Car  Shop  of  the  Municipal  System 


after  A.  E.  R.  E.  A.  specifications  by  the  Detroit  Copper 
&  Brass  Company.  This  was  used  over  tangent  track  and 
phono-electric  wire  over  the  curves.  The  hangers  used 
were  of  the  standard  round  top  design  and  supplied  by 
various  manufacturers.  Standard  single  and  double 
curve  pull-overs  were  employed.  Porcelain  strain  insula- 
tors were  used  exclusively,  for  the  reason  that  in  case  of 
breakage  the  loops  of  the  span  wire  lock  together  and, 
while  the  insulation  is  lost,  the  overhead  does  not  fall. 
Where  the  span  wires  are  attached  to  wood  poles  double 
insulation  is  provided  between  the  trolley  and  the  pole 
by  the  hanger  and  a  single  strain  insulator.  With  the 
steel  poles,  however,  an  extra  porcelain  insulator  is 
inserted  so  that  triple  insulation  is  secured. 

The  span  wire  is  tV-in.  seven-strand  galvanized  steel 
and  the  pull-off  wires  are  ]-in.  seven-strand  steel 
galvanized  wire.  All  curves  are  erected  with  a  backbone 
construction  using  either  »-in.  or  i-in.  seven-strand 
galvanized  steel  wire,  depending  on  the  strain  at  the 
particular  location.  By  using  this  backbone  construc- 
tion all  pull-offs  are  placed  radially  and  "pockets"  in 
the  overhead  work  avoided.  Up  to  the  time  of  this 
writing  the  overhead  construction  had  been  done  with 
the  use  of  an  ordinary  stationary  platform  tower 
mounted  on  a  motor  truck.  This  was  taken  down  at 
night  in  order  to  drive  through  the  streets  with  safety. 


Orders  have  been  placed,  however,  for  one  2^-ton  truck 
equipped  with  a  Trenton  tower  and  one  4-ton  platform 
truck  on  which  a  winch  will  be  mounted,  for  use  in  the 
further  construction  work.  All  of  the  trolley  and  span 
wire  was  strung  under  a  definite  tension  measured  by 
dynamometer,  and  all  poles  were  set  with  a  plumb  bob 
and  given  a  rake  of  1  ft.,  measured  at  the  top. 

A  feature  of  this  Detroit  overhead  construction  was 
the  use  of  a  new  anchor  strain  plate  designed  by  the 
General  Electric  Company  and  its  location  at  mid-span. 
It  is  shown  in  an  accompanying  picture.  One  of  these 
plates  is  installed  on  each  trolley  wire  and  the  two  are 
connected  with  two  lateral  wires  having  strain  insula- 
tors at  the  middle  point  and  terminating  in  a  ring  out- 
side the  trolley  wire.  These  rings  are  then  guyed  by 
diagonal  wires  running  to  the  four  poles  of  that  span. 
At  the  present  time  these  strain  anchors  are  installed 
only  at  the  approaches  to  curves,  but  it  is  planned  to 
install  them  on  tangent  track  every  1,000  ft.  later  on. 
As  the  strain  plates  are  installed  at  the  middle  of  a 
span,  the  anchor  may  be  installed  at  any  time  without 
disturbing  the  construction  already  in  place. 

The  500,000-circ.mil  feeder  cable,  where  it  is  installed, 
is  carried  on  an  insulator  mounted  on  a  Way  insu- 
lator pin  which  loops  over  the  cross-arm  so  that  the 
only  hole  made  in  the  cross-arm  is  that  for  the  through- 


At  Left,  Digging  a  Pole  Hole.    The  Auger  Is  Rotated  and  Forced  Downward.    In  Center,  Rotation  Stopped  and  Auger 
Being  Raised  to  Lift  Soil  Out  of  the  Hole.    At  Right,  Spinning  Auger  to  Remove  Soil 
Which  Is  Thrown  Around  the  Outside  of  the  Hole 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


161 


Type  of  Car  Being  Used  on  the  Detroit  Municipal  Lines 

bolt  fastening  at  the  pole.  A  unique  system  of  making 
short  turns  around  corners  with  the  feeder  cable  has 
been  adopted.  Instead  of  the  cable  being  carried  around 
the  turn  continuously,  it  is  cut  and  stub-ended  in  the 
two  directions,  one  piece  being  installed  higher  than  the 
other  at  the  corner.  A  piece  of  the  cable  is  then  installed 
vertically  between  the  two  and  connected  to  them  by 
Dossert  connectors  pulled  up  tight  with  a  wrench  and 
taped.    Accompanying  views  picture  this  construction. 

The  cross-arms  are  Washington  fir  and  the  braces 
and  other  pole-line  hardware  are  of  standard  A.  E.  R. 
E.  A.  design.  The  feeder  cable  is  of  standard  triple 
braid  weatherproof  stranded  copper  with  No.  0000  feed- 
in  taps.  No  negative  feeder  has  been  installed  as  yet 
except  that  making  connection  from  the  nearest  point 
of  a  car  line  with  the  Detroit  Edison  substation,  from 
which  direct-current  power  is  purchased.  As  already 
noted,  however,  the  trackwork  is  being  very  thoroughly 
bonded,  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  use  of  a  completely 
insulated  negative  return  system,  following  recom- 
mendations of  the  Bureau  of  Standards. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  phase  of  the  construc- 
tion work  in  connection  with  the  overhead  is  the  labor- 
saving  machine  used  in  digging  holes  and  setting  poles. 
Two  earth-boring  machines  equipped  with  winches  and 


This  Shows  the  Roof  Construction  and  Lighting  Arrangement 

derrick,  manufactured  by  the  Winthrop  Truck  Company, 
and  distributed  by  the  Western  Electric  Company,  are 
used  for  this  purpose.  The  following  is  the  procedure 
in  using  this  machine,  and  the  various  steps  are  clearly 
pictured  in  accompanying  illustrations. 

The  machine  is  mounted  on  caterpillar  tractors  and 
of  course  is  self-propelling.  A  pole  to  be  set  is  first 
snaked  by  the  tractor  to  a  position  close  to  the  hole. 
The  operator  then  runs  the  machine  into  a  position  such 
that  the  24-in.  auger  is  directly  over  the  point  at  which 
a  hole  is  desired.  It  should  be  said  in  passing  that  this 
tractor  will  go  anywhere,  over  curbing,  over  open  track- 
work  and,  like  the  army  tanks,  seemingly  knows  no 
obstructions.  With  the  machine  properly  set,  the  auger 
is  lowered,  revolved  and  forced  into  the  ground  approx- 
imately 2  ft.  until  the  auger  is  filled  with  earth.  The 
rotation  is  then  stopped  and  the  auger  raised  above  the 
hole  and  spun.  This  throws  the  dirt  out  centrifugally 
around  the  edge  of  the  hole.  The  auger  is  again  lowered 
and  the  hole  drilled  about  2  ft.  farther  into  the  ground 
and  the  operation  repeated.  A  hole  may  thus  be  dug  8 
ft.  deep  if  desired,  the  depth  to  which  the  Detroit  pole 
holes  are  bored  being  6  ft.  When  the  hole  is  dug  the 
machine  backs  away  slightly,  picks  up  the  pole  and,  with 
two  men  to  guide  it,  lowers  it  into  the  hole. 


Earth  Boring  Machine  and  Tractor  Dragging  Fole  Into  Position  Adjacent  to  Hole 


162 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


1 

- 

1 
1 

  ; 

K  -M 

ft 

At  Left,  New  Type  of  Strain  Plate  Mounted  at  Mid-Span  with  Guys  to  the  Four  Poles  of  the  Span.     In  Center,  Type  of 
Pole,  Crossarms  and  Hardware  Employed.     Feeder  Cable  Loop  Insulator  Pin  Which  Avoids  a  Hole  in  the  Crossarm. 
At  Right,  Dead-End  Method  Employed  in  Making  Short  Turn  of  the  Feeder  Cable 


The  propulsion  of  the  tractor  and  handling  of  the 
derrick  are  controlled  from  the  operator's  position  on 
the  machine.  The  rotation  and  raising  and  lowering  of 
the  auger  is  controlled  from  levers  extending  in  front 
of  the  machine  by  a  man  who  stands  on  the  ground.  On 
speed  tests,  the  hole  has  been  dug  and  pole  set  in  two 
minutes.  This  ordinarily  requires  about  four  minutes. 
Including  the  time  required  in  moving  from  one  position 
to  the  next,  a  pole  may  be  set  about  every  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes.  This,  of  course,  does  not  allow  for  break- 
downs, which  always  occur  with  any  piece  of  machinery 
subjected  to  very  heavy  duty  and  rough  handling.  The 
machine  is  served  by  four  men  on  the  average. 

At  present  all  power  used  by  the  municipal  railway 
is  furnished  by  the  Detroit  Edison  Company.  What  the 
future  power  supply  will  be  depends  on  the  working 
out  of  the  study  being  made  by  the  Public  Lighting 
Commission  to  determine  the  advisability  of  building  a 
large  new  modern  steam  plant  of  sufficient  capacity  to 
handle  the  street  lighting  and  lighting  of  public  build- 
ings and  the  railroad  load,  to  displace  the  present  small 


Another  View  of  the  Finished  Track  and  Overhead  Showing 
Safety  Stop  Signs  Employed  and  Concrete  Poles 
Erected  Adjacent  to  Boulevards 

steam  plant  used  for  street  lighting  and  the  lighting  of 
public  buildings  alone.  So  the  railway  department  is 
confronted  with  the  problem  of  arranging  for  a  tempo- 
rary supply  of  energy  for  the  next  two  years,  and  there- 
after, for  the  permanent  supply  either  with  the  Detroit 
Edison  Company  or  the  Municipal  lighting  plant.  At 
present,  the  only  power  equipment  owned  by  the  city 
is  the  feeder  plants  in  the  Detroit  Edison  substations 


and  positive  and  negative  feeder  cables  connecting 
the  lines,  the  power  company  having  furnished  every- 
thing else  needed. 

Outside  of  the  streets  already  occupied  by  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  Detroit  is  miserably  laid  out  for  a 
street  car  system.  The  streets  are  very  narrow,  the 
blocks  short  and  few  streets  run  through,  thus  making 
necessary  many  sharp  curves,  including  frequent  reverse 
curves  at  points  where  there  is  a  jog  in  the  street. 
Sufficient  clearance  for  the  passing  of  safety  cars  on 
the  curves  has  been  secured,  but  if  the  large  Peter  Witt 
type  cars  are  later  used,  the  vestibule  platforms  will 
have  to  be  narrowed  in  about  7  in.  to  give  proper  clear- 
ance. Some  of  the  short,  sharp  reverse  curves  make  this 
matter  of  clearance  a  difficult  problem.  Some  of  the 
routes  are  necessarily  rather  circuitous  and  some 
encounter  many  grade  crossings  with  steam  roads,  main 
line  and  switching  yards. 

These  various  things  will  tend  to  make  operation  diffi- 
cult and  slow  and  somewhat  hazardous.  The  city  is 
making  an  effort  to  remedy  these  conditions  as  far  as 
is  practical  by  engaging  in  a  great  street  widening 
campaign,  coincidently  with  the  railway  construction. 
Most  of  the  streets  on  which  car  lines  are  being  built 
are  either  only  26  ft.  or  34  ft.  wide.  These  streets  are 
being  widened  to  36  ft.  and  40  ft.,  this  work  usually 
following  along  after  completion  of  the  track.  The 
widening  and  paving  of  some  of  the  streets  in  which 
new  car  lines  are  being  built  will  open  up  badly  needed 
through,  short  cuts  between  sections  of  the  city  not  now 
having  any  direct  communication.  These  lines  will  thus 
be  subjected  to  the  conditions  imposed  by  more  or  less 
heavy  vehicular  traffic,  perhaps  further  impeding  rapid 
street  car  operation,  though  helping  materially  ,  to 
develop  the  city.  So  the  municipal  railway  officials  will 
have  operating  problems  to  keep  them  interested  after 
the  construction  work  is  done. 

The  cars  in  use  and  purchased  thus  far  (300  in  all) 
are  divided  250  of  the  standard  one-man  safety  type 
and  fifty  of  the  Peter  Witt  type.  The  present  cars  are 
equipped  with  Woods  locked  fare  boxes  and  air-operated 
International  registers,  center  lighting,  Nichols-Lintern 
indicating  signals,  headlights  mounted  on  the  roof  and 
an  electrical  interlock  making  the  car  inoperative  if 
both  trolley  poles  are  on  the  wire.  Some  complaint  has 
been  made  that  the  cars  were  noisy,  and  this  has  been 
attributed  by  some  to  the  rigid  type  of  track  construc- 
tion. An  investigation  with  some  experiments  showed 
that  the  noise  could  be  materially  lessened  if  some 
sound-deadening  material  was  put  in  the  roof  of  the 
car,  there  being  no  head-lining.  It  is  expected  that  this 
trouble  will  be  largely  overcome  in  the  cars  now  on 
order. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


163 


Commission  Popular  in  Keystone  State 

Pennsylvania,  with  Its  Less  Rigid  Commission  Laws  and  Decisions,  but  with  the  Largest  Number  of 
Public  Utilities  of  Any  State,  Is  Regulating  Very  Effectively — Safety  Work  an 
Important  Duty — Classification  of  Pennsylvania  Utilities 


STATE  regulation  of  railroads,  the  usual  initial  step 
toward  public  utility  regulation,  is  comparatively 
new  in  Pennsylvania,  the  first  law  controlling  them 
having  been  enacted  in  1907.  This  law  created  a  com- 
mission of  very  limited  powers,  lacking  in  the  main  the 
final  orders  mandatory  for  railroads  and  giving  but 
little  jurisdiction  in  many  important  phases  of  railway 
regulation  until  strengthened  by  later  amendments. 

The  law  controlling  railroads  was  in  many  respects 
copied  from  other  railroad  commission  laws  and 
resembled  closely  the  law  of  Wisconsin,  which  had  been 
in  active  use  for  several  years.  Later,  necessity  arising, 
the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  completed  another  law, 
regulating  at  this  time  not  only  railroads  but  all  public 
service  companies.    This  law  in  effect  is  as  follows: 

An  Act  defining  public  service  companies;  and  providing 
for  their  regulation  by  prescribing  and  defining  their  duties 
and  liabilities;  prescribing,  defining  and  limiting  their 
powers  and  regulating  their  incorporations  and  to  a  limited 


extent  regulating  municipal  corporations  engaged  or  about 
to  engage  in  the  business  of  pubjic  service  companies;  creat- 
ing and  establishing  a  Public  Service  Commission  for  the 
regulation  of  aforesaid ;  prescribing  and  defining  the  powers 
and  duties  of  such  commission  and  its  officers.    .    .  . 

For  the  purpose  of  regulating  these  public  service 
companies  and  of  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
the  Public  Service  Commission  was  created  which  con- 
sists of  seven  members,  who  are  appointed  by  the 
Governor  and  approved  by  the  Senate,  the  term  of  office 
being  ten  years.  This  long  term  of  office  is  an  unusual 
feature  which  provides  a  means  of  securing  great  con- 
tinuity of  administration.  By  the  usual  arrangement  in 
the  first  appointments  of  a  four-year  term  for  the  first 
commissioner,  five  for  the  second,  six  for  the  third  and 
so  on,  until  the  last  commissioner  has  a  ten-year  period, 
the  term  of  only  one  commissioner  expires  every  year. 
Each  commissioner  appointed  must  have  the  qualifica- 
tions set  by  the  law,  which  are :  He  must  be  a  resident 
of  the  commonwealth,  must  be  an  elector  therein  for 
a  year  before  his  appointment  and  not  less  than  thirty 
years  of  age.  Neither  shall  he  be  connected  directly  or 
indirectly  with  any  business,  employment  or  vocation 
the  duties  of  which  are  incompatible  with  the  duties  of 
his  office,  nor  shall  he  participate  in  any  hearing  or  pro- 
ceeding in  which  he  has  any  pecuniary  interest. 


The  personnel  of  the  commission  consists  of  seven 
commissioners  as  follows:  William  U.  B.  Ainey,  chair- 
man; James  S.  Benn,  Samuel  L.  Clement,  Jr.,  S.  Ray 
Shelby,  John  W.  Reed,  John  S.  Rilling,  Milton  J.  Brecht. 

The  secretary  of  the  commission,  John  G.  Hopwood, 
under  its  direction,  is  the  executive  officer,  besides 
having  jurisdiction  over  the  remainder  of  the  staff,  pre- 
paring and  issuing  its  determinations,  rulings  and 
orders. 

The  Attorney-General  of  the  Commonwealth  is  ex- 
officio  general  counsel  of  the  commission,  appointing  two 
attorneys  as  counsel  and  assistant  counsel.  These  are 
Frank  M.  Hunter  and  John  Fox  Weiss  respectively. 
The  duties  of  the  counsel  are  to  attend  hearings  before 
the  commission,  conduct  examination  of  witnesses  and 
represent  the  commission  in  the  courts  as  well  as  to  per- 
form all  other  professional  duties  required  of  them  by 
the  commission. 


The  staff  of  the  commission  is  subdivided  into  six 
bureaus,  namely: 

Engineering  under  Chief  Engineer  F.  H.  Snow; 
accounts  and  statistics  under  R.  F.  Busher;  accidents 
and  safety  under  John  P.  Doheney;  rates  and  tariffs 
under  P.  F.  Fickenscher;  public  convenience  under 
Major  E.  M.  Vale;  and  a  law  department  under  Coun- 
sellor Frank  M.  Hunter. 

Powers  and  Duties  op  Bureaus 

Engineering — The  chief  duties  of  the  engineering 
bureau  are  to  ma'ke  strict  investigations  and  act  in  an 
advisory  capacity,  reporting  directly  to  the  commission 
on  all  assigned  subjects.  By  law  several  valuations  are 
required,  such  as  original  cost,  reproduction  value  less 
depreciation  and  such  other  valuations  as  are  deemed 
necessary  by  the  bureau. 

In  connection  with  this  work  this  bureau  has 
developed  a  system  of  engineering  conferences  for  the 
purpose  of  saving  the  time  of  the  commission  and 
expediting  the  work.  At  these  engineering  conferences, 
made  up  of  engineers  representing  the  interested 
paj-ties  before  the  commission  and  presided  over  by  an 
engineer  representing  the  commission,  questions  of  the 
inventory  and  appraisal  are  discussed  item  by  item  and 


At  Left,  Vert  Objectionable  Grade  Crossing  in  State  Highway  Was  Abolished  by  a  Viaduct  Constructed  400  Ft.  Eastward. 
At  Right,  New  Concrete  Viaduct  with  Temporary  Wooden  Trestle  in  Background 


164 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


if  possible  agreed  upon.  If  agreement  is  not  possible, 
the  differences  are  noted  and  called  to  the  attention  of 
the  commision  or  are  left  open  for  the  presentation  of 
testimony  at  the  hearings.  The  results  of  these  con- 
ferences are  presented  to  the  commission  in  the  form 
of  a  signed  report,  enumerating  in  detail  the  items  con- 
cerning which  agreement  was  reached.  This  procedure 
has  been  found  to  reduce  very  materially  the  amount  of 
testimony  offered  at  the  formal  hearings  with  a  con- 
sequent reduction  in  the  volume  of  evidence  to  be  con- 
sidered by  the  commission,  as  well  as  a  reduction  in  time 
required  for  the  hearings. 

The  question  of  service  is  incorporated  under  the 
bureau  of  engineering  and  the  standards  to  be  con- 
formed to  are  set,  not  by  law,  but  by  precedent  cases. 
Service  complaints  are  thoroughly  investigated  and 
remedied  according  to  the  discretion  of  the  bureau. 

Accounts  and  Statistics — Strict  classification  of  all 
public  service  companies  with  a  particular  system  of 
accounts  to  be  adopted  and  used  by  each  class,  according 
to  the  volume  of  business  transacted  by  the  company,  is 
the  chief  activity  of  this  bureau.  The  issuance  of 
reports,  forms,  cost  data  and  the  filing  of  all  data  com- 
piled by  the  commission  in  its  official  business  con- 
stitutes the  remainder  of  this  bureau's  work.  The 
amount  of  business  transacted  by  this  department  is 
exceptionally  heavy  since  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania 
there  are  more  public  utilities  than  in  any  other  state, 
the  total  being  3,750. 

Accidents  and  Safety — Under  this  bureau  is  included 
all  regulation  and  inspection  of  safety  devices  for  every 
kind  of  public  service  company  as  well  as  all  reports 
pertaining  to  accidents  and  their  causes.  Grade  cross- 
ing improvements  must  be  approved  by  the  commission 
as  required  by  law,  and  since  the  road-building  program 
of  the  state  increases  yearly  the  amount  of  grade  cross- 
ing work  is  very  large. 

Under  this  department  comes  also  the  following: 
Inspection  and  approval  of  interlocking  systems,  signal- 
ing devices,  methods  of  construction  and  inspection  of 
power  lines,  especially  overhead  crossings. 

Valuable  statistics  are  compiled  by  this  department 
concerning  accidents  but  these  are  withheld  from  public 
inspection  except  by  permission  of  the  commission. 

The  bureau  of  accidents  receives  approximately  15,000 
reports  yearly  relating  to  accidents  of  a  public  service 
character,  all  of  which  are  tabulated  and  examined  with 
a  view  toward  suggesting  a  possible  remedy  for  a 
recurrence  of  collisions,  etc.,  under  similar  conditions. 
Particular  attention  is  paid  to  accidents  occurring  at 
grade  crossings  of  steam  railroads.  Records  show  that 
there  are  11,720  public  crossings  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
while  the  commission  is  moving  as  rapidly  as  time  and 
money  will  permit  in  bringing  about  eliminations,  it  will 
be  many  years  before  the  dangerous  grade  crossings 
will  have  been  eliminated. 

The  advent  of  the  automobile  introduced  a  factor  in 
grade  crossing  accidents  of  considerable  consequence, 
as  may  be  observed  from  the  fact  that  429  automobiles 
were  struck  at  these  places  during  the  year  1920,  and 
that  in  one  month  of  the  present  year  automobiles  were 
involved  in  thirty-four  of  the  thirty-seven  collisions 
with  trains.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  existence  of 
crossings  surrounded  with  dangerous  conditions,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  in  many  cases  the  recklessness  of 
the  traveler  over  the  crossing  is  responsible  for  the 
disaster. 

Under  the  direction  of  this  bureau  the  advance  warn- 


ing signs  adopted  by  the  American  Railway  Association 
are  being  placed  300  ft.  from  each  crossing.  The  rail- 
roads are  providing  the  signs  free  of  charge  with  the 
understanding  that  the  municipalities  erect  and  main- 
tain them.  The  expectation  is  that  before  the  end  of 
the  year  these  warnings  may  be  seen  on  all  the  high- 
ways in  the  state. 

Some  Peculiar  Accidents  Occur 

In  the  course  of  its  work  the  commission  occasionally 
deals  with  accidents  of  an  unusual  and  peculiar  kind. 
In  one  instance  two  street  railway  passengers  in  differ- 
ent cars  traveling  in  opposite  directions  were  leaning 
out  the  windows;  their  heads  bumped  and  one  of  the 
men  was  instantly  killed.  A  few  years  ago  a  fishing  rod 
carried  by  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  came  in  contact  with 
an  electric  wire  with  fatal  result,  and  was  it  not  the 
irony  of  fate  to  find  a  dead  tramp  in  a  railroad  wreck 
with  nothing  in  his  pockets  but  four-leaf  clovers? 

Public  Convenience — This  department  constitutes  a 
very  important  factor  in  the  commission's  work,  for 
through  it  pass  the  applications  for  incorporations  or 
right  to  do  business. 

To  the  bureau  of  public  convenience  there  have  been 
assigned  by  the  commission,  under  the  public  service 
company  law,  all  proceedings  relating  to  the  issuance 
of  certificates  of  public  convenience  and  certificates  of 
valuation,  evidencing  the  commission's  requisite  ap- 
proval under  the  various  provisions  of  the  act. 

These  proceedings  consist  of  contracts  between  mu- 
nicipal corporations  and  public  service  companies; 
incorporation  of  utility  companies ;  reorganization  and 
amendment  of  charters  of  such  companies ;  sale,  assign- 
ment, transfer,  or  lease  of  the  property  of  the  public 
service  corporations;  consolidation  and  merger  of  public 
utility  companies ;  acquisition  or  construction  by  a  mu- 
nicipality of  a  public  service  plant;  acquisition  of  the 
right,  title,  or  interest  in  the  stock  and  bonds  of  other 
public  service  corporations ;  construction,  alteration,  and 
relocation  of  any  crossing  at  grade,  above  grade,  or 
below  grade  at  a  point  where  the  tracks  of  a  railroad 
or  street  railway  cross  any  public  highway;  valuation 
of  the  property  and  assets  of  public  utility  corporations; 
right  of  foreign  public  service  companies  to  do  business 
in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

Passes  on  Contracts  and  Franchises 

The  character  and  scope  of  such  proceedings  directly 
under  the  supervision  of  the  bureau  may  be  better 
illustrated  by  the  following  statement  of  the  cases  sub- 
mitted during  the  year  1920: 

134  Service  contracts.     (Entered  into  between  utility  compa- 
nies and  municipalities. ) 

95  Franchise  contracts. 

132  Incorporations. 

10  Mergers  and  consolidations. 

137  Leases  and  sales. 

116  Railroad  and  railway  crossings. 

681  Motor  transportation,  or  taxi  transpor  tation,  lines. 

The  policy  of  the  commission,  as  sustained  by  the 
Appellate  Courts  of  the  State,  has  been  not  to  approve 
a  franchise  contract  which  fixes  the  rate  to  be  charged 
by  a  utility  company,  it  being  held  that,  under  the 
public  service  company  law,  the  commission  has  ex- 
clusive jurisdiction  to  fix  rates  which  a  utility  shall 
charge;  and  that,  under  the  police  power,  the  state  has 
the  right  to  delegate  to  the  commission  such  power. 

On  auto  transportation  lines,  the  commission  has 
adopted  the  policy  of  not  approving  applications  of  that 
nature  where  existing  and  operating  common  carriers 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


185 


are  furnishing  service  which  adequately  and  conven- 
iently accommodates  the  public. 

In  crossing-  proceedings,  the  commission  follows  the 
well-established  principle,  as  laid  down  by  the  courts 
of  the  state,  namely,  that  no  grade  crossing  over  a 
public  highway  by  the  tracks  of  a  railroad  or  street 
railway  will  be  approved,  unless  the  testimony  clearly 
establishes  an  imperious  necessity  and  the  fact  that  no 
construction  than  that  at  grade  is  possible.  A  large 
number  of  the  crossing  proceedings  filed  during  the  past 
year  were  for  the  abolition  of  dangerous  grade  cross- 
ings, or  the  construction  of  industrial  sidings  across 


Meter  testing  and  calibration  for  both  utilities  and 
their  consumers  are  problems  which  have  been  under- 
taken to  widely  varying  extent  by  the  different  state 
commissions.  In  many  instances  these  tests  are  required 
of  the  utilities  themselves.  In  Pennsylvania  a  very 
complete  laboratory  has  been  equipped  for  this  purpose 
under  the  direction  of  H.  B.  Pratt.  A  building  near 
the  Capitol  in  Harrisburg  has  been  adapted  for  this 
purpose,  in  which  two  floors  are  devoted  to  a  very  com- 
plete installation  of  electrical  generating  and  testing 
equipment.  Several  independent  forms  of  electrical 
energy  are  provided  from  remote-controlled  motor  gen- 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSION 
Top  row,  left  to  right,  Samuel  M.  Clement,  Jr.  ;  William  D.  B.  Ainey,  chairman ;  S.  Ray  Shelby.    Bottom  row,  left  to  right. 

James  S.  Benn,  John  W.  Reed,  John  S.  Rilling,  Milton  J.  Brecht. 


public  highways  to  serve  manufacturing  plants.  In 
every  case  where  the  commission  approves  a  grade  cross- 
ing, such  approval  is  made  subject  to  conditions  which, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  commission,  protect  and  safeguard 
the  public. 

Classification  of  the  utilities  show  there  are  twenty- 
seven  different  classes,  including  transportation  utili- 
ties such  as  airplane  companies,  which  makes  an  ad- 
mirable provision  for  the  future.  The  present  commis- 
sion allows  this  department  no  jurisdiction  over  munici- 
pal utilities  but  only  gives  it  power  over  those  privately 
owned,  a  feature  differing  radically  from  most  state 
commissions.  Jitney  regulation  was  established  in  this 
state  among  the  first. 


erators  located  in  the  basement  of  the  laboratory. 
Elaborately  appointed  testing  benches  provide  facilities 
for  rapid  connection  and  calibration  of  all  types  of 
measuring  instruments  and  meter  transformers.  All 
calibrations  are  referred  back  to  the  standard  cell  and 
potentiometer,  while  current  transformers  ai*e  tested 
by  the  Brooks  method,  using  two  wattmeters.  Portable 
Edison  storage  batteries  of  large  capacity  are  used  for 
direct-current  calibration.  Another  battery  of  larger 
capacity  forms  part  of  the  equipment  and  floats  upon 
the  direct-current  supply  busbars. 

The  law  in  Pennsylvania  provides  for  tests  of  utili- 
ties standards  only.  This  plan  is,  of  course,  open  to 
some  objection,  since  the  consumer  has  no  unbiased 


r 


166 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


source  of  testing.  However,  the  standards  of  the  utili- 
ties are  kept  in  accurate  calibration  by  periodic  tests 
and  adjustments  in  the  laboratory  of  the  commission, 
and  such  companies  are  encouraged  to  install  labora- 
tories and  follow  up  consistently  the  testing  of  con- 
sumers' meters.  In  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh,  where 
the  laboratories  are  more  complete,  the  standards  are 
calibrated  under  the  supervision  of  a  representative  of 
the  commission  without  making  use  of  the  Harrisburg 
equipment. 

Elaborate  card  catalog  records  of  all  meters  tested 
are  maintained  in  the  laboratories  of  the  commission 
at  Harrisburg. 

Rates  and  Tariffs 

The  scope  of  this  department  is  very  large,  embracing 
the  entire  fields  of  rates,  complaints  against  rates,  and 
reparations  or  excess  fare  awards.  The  number  of 
tariffs  handled  in  this  department  totals  2,000  per 
month.  This  totals  over  170,000  since  1914,  divided 
as  follows:  Railroad  tariffs,  140,000;  street  railroad 
tariffs,  2.391;  other  utilities,  30,000.  In  spite  of  the 
preponderance  of  railroad  tariffs  the  amount  of  work 
on  non-railroad  tariffs  is  the  largest  due  to  details  of 


LOST 


Sufficiently  Unique  to  Attract  Attention. 

Prevent  Accidents? 


Will  It 


appraisals  and  accounting  in  railway,  power  and  light 
utilities. 

In  the  field  of  street  railway  operation  all  cities  in 
Pennsylvania  charge  more  than  5  cents  for  fares,  the 
only  exception  being  in  small  towns  where  the  people 
would  walk  otherwise. 

The  commission  cannot  suspend  rates  but  in  place 
of  that  action  excess  fare  tickets  or  reparation  awards 
are  substituted.  This  department  also  has  direct  con- 
trol over  sales  and  mergers  of  utilities  but,  illustrating 
a  unique  feature  of  the  commission,  it  has  no  power  to 
control  stock  and  bond  issues. 

The  approval  of  the  commission  is  not  necessary  to 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  UTILITIES   IN  PENNSYLVANIA 

Repair  shops    16 

Auto  transit  companies   38 

Canal  and  navigation  companies   3 

Electric  light,  heat  and  power  companies   227 

Ferry  companies    25 

Artificial  gas  companies    76 

Natural  gas  companies   115 

Gas  and  electric  companies   12 

Inclined  plane  companies   5 

Pipe-line  companies    12 

Municipal  sewage  treating  works   14 

Steam  heating  companies   18 

Steam  railroads    130 

Electric  railway  companies   114 

Telephone  companies    196 

Toll  bridge  companies   196 

Turnpike  companies    72 

Water  companies   711 

Miscellaneous   5 

Total   1.820 


change  rates,  providing  the  previous  rate  was  not 
ordered  by  the  commission,  and  an  ample  notice  of 
thirty  days'  time  is  given  so  as  to  allow  for  complaints 
in  case  of  a  new  rate. 

Conclusion 

Conference  with  Hon.  W.  D.  B.  Ainey,  chairman  of 
the  commission,  and  one  of  the  leading  railway  commis- 
sioners of  the  country,  emphasized  the  significance  of 
the  Wilkinsburg  Electric  Railway  case  as  a  precedent 
for  future  decisions  involving  local  municipal  franchises. 
No  railway  may,  of  course,  enter  the  streets  of  a  city 
without  consent  of  the  municipal  authorities.  Consent 
may  be  granted  or  withheld  for  no  good  reason  and  the 
rate  of  fare  is  often  seriously  involved  in  such  a  grant. 
The  case  in  question,  supported  as  it  was  by  Superior 
and  Supreme  Court  decisions,  offers  an  adequate  remedy 
for  such  a  condition. 

Furthermore,  the  statute  to  the  effect  that  corpora- 
tions may  not  issue  stocks  or  bonds  except  for  cash  is 
carefully  enforced  by  the  commission. 

Commission  regulation  in  Pennsylvania,  though  not 
as  completely  developed  as  in  other  states  as  far  as 
rigid  control  is  concerned,  certainly  has  been  a  great 
success  as  evidenced  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  companies 
affected.  It  appears  to  have  not  so  many  bitter  enemies 
as  are  found  in  some  other  states,  which  can  be  prob- 
ably attributed  to  the  just  and  fair  administration  of 
the  state's  laws. 


Merchandising  Transportation 

A  Talk  on  the  Principles  of  Advertising  for  the  Promotion 
of  Traffic — The  Principles  Sought  in  Drafting  Adver- 
tisements Are  Given  and  Typical  Advertise- 
ments Are  Reproduced 

By  W.  H.  Boyce 

General  Manager  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company, 
New  Brighton,  Pa. 

THE  real  object  of  advertising  is  to  sell.  It  may 
be  to  sell  an  article,  an  idea  or  a  service.  If  an 
advertisement  designed  to  sell  street  car  rides  does  not 
sell  street  car  rides,  no  matter  what  other  virtue  it 
may  have,  it  is  a  failure  as  a  transportation  sales  force. 

Advertising  is  the  thing  that  should  make  our  trade 
increase.  Printed  matter  is  not  the  only  kind  of 
advertising.  Every  act  of  each  employee  is  an  adver- 
tisement. Reputation,  honesty,  politeness,  methods, 
neatness,  promptness,  and  thoroughness  are  advertise- 
ments. The  quality,  price,  frequency,  your  aggressive- 
ness, everything  is  an  advertisement — either  good  or 
bad. 

The  most  convincing — not  the  loudest — advertise- 
ment wins. 

One  of  the  best  advertisements  for  street  railways  is 
to  be  found  in  the  good  impression  carried  away  by  the 
car  riders  and  reported  to  their  friends  and  their 
neighbors. 

Advertising  directly  to  increase  the  sale  of  transpor- 
tation has  been  conducted  as  far  back  as  1917  by  the 
company  with  which  the  writer  is  connected.  At  that 
time  the  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company  ran  adver- 
tisements of  the  nature  of  those  shown  on  the  opposite 
page. 

Since  that  time,  advertisements,  along  the  same  line, 
samples  of  which  are  also  presented  on  the  opposite 
page,  have  been  effectively  used  from  time  to  time  by 
the  company. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


167 


We  Are  Selling  Street  Car  Rides 

When  we  advertise  our  business  we  do  so  to  simplify  the 
selling  of  our  product — street  car  rides.  This  is  obvious, 
but  the  way  in  which  we  advertise  and  how  this  advertising 
benefits  our  customers  is  decidedly  important,  as  it  is  an 
integral  part  of  our  "rapid  transit  merchandising"  policy, 
carefully  planned  and  effectually  carried  out.  With  us  it 
is  not  a  case  of  too  many  brands  of  the  same  article  or  too 
many  "slow  sellers."  No,  indeed!  On  the  other  hand,  we 
concentrate  on  the  highest  grade  of  rapid  transit  service, 
including  the  "last  word"  brand  of  street  cars  and  a  most 
generous  ride  for  which  we  charge  you  only  a 

5-Cent  Piece 


Service 

Do  You  Know: 

That  service  is  the  only  thing  we  have  to  sell? 
That  while  increased  cost  of  labor,  fuel  and  material  has 
added  greatly  to  operating  expenses  the  last  year, 

You  May  Ride  as  Far  for  5  Cents  Today  as  You  Did 
Before  We  Were  Obliged  to  Meet  This  Additional  Expense? 


We  Will  Carry  You  Farther  for  a  Nickel 
Than  Any  Other  Method 

Ever  think  of  it  before?  No  other  method  of  transporta- 
tion will  carry  you  as  far  for  so  little  money  as  street  rail- 
way lines.  Think  of  the  distance  from  Morado  to  Junction 
Park,  for  instance,  6  miles  for  5  cents. 

It's  cheaper  than  railroads,  automobiles,  horse  and  buggy 
or  even  shoe  leather. 

Yet  we  carry  daily  hundreds  this  distance,  who  never  stop 
to  consider  this  fact. 

Think  It  Over 


What  Is  Street  Car  Service? 

Street  car  service  is  not  altogether  a  matter  of  rules 
and  regulations — not  only  a  matter  of  cars  operating 
through  your  streets. 

Street  car  service  is  a  human  understanding  of  your 
needs,  and  the  ability  to  meet  those  needs  to  your  complete 
satisfaction. 

We  want  to  know  more  of  your  needs  and  attend  to  them 
for  you. 

Won't  you  write  and  tell  us  what  you  want  or  need? 


Typical  Display  Advertising  Announ  ement  by  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company 


Personally,  we  never  have  been  and  are  not  now 
inclined  to  the  belief  that  billboard  advertising  for  the 
merchandising  of  transportation  would  be  as  produc- 
tive as  newspaper  advertising,  car  cards,  company  pub- 
lications, and  circular  letters. 

Railway  advertising  must  be  of  the  positive  and  not 
of  the  negative  kind.  If  we  are  honest  with  our  em- 
ployees and  the  public,  we  do  not  have  to  waste  a  lot 
of  time  trying  to  recall  a  lot  of  our  former  statements ; 


hence,  we  can  devote  all  our  thoughts  and  energy,  when 
uealing  with  the  public,  to  the  selling  of  our  goods. 

Statements  to  our  employees  and  to  the  public  should 
be  easily  understood.  We  must  make  good  on  every 
promise,  stated  or  implied.  Only  in  this  way  can  we 
gain  the  confidence  of  the  people  with  whom  we  are 
dealing,  and  without  confidence  we  cannot  be  successful. 

Don't  forget  that  the  human  element  is  the  one  great 
thing  sought  for,  or  aimed  at,  in  selling  campaigns. 


True  economy  uses  opportunity.  It 
does  no  one  any  good  to  save  a  little 
money  if  by  so  doing  he  sacrifices  a 
more  valuable  opportunity.  Each  of 
our  street  cars  in  operation  offers  you 
an  opportunity  to  economize  time  and 
money.  We  suggest  that  you  improve 
the  opportunity. 


"Shop"  for  the  dealer  as  well  as  the 
article.  If  you  could  get  a  5  per  cent 
reduction  in  the  price  of  an  article  by 
going  a  block  farther  down  the  street, 
you  would  be  inclined  to  go  to  that 
much  trouble.  Do  you  know  that  the 
actual  intrinsic  value  of  the  service 
that  the  Beaver  Valley  merchant  is  able 
to  render,  by  reason  of  his  proximity, 
is  often  worth  more  than  the  5  per 
cent?  Try  our  local  merchants.  They 
will  make  good  on  price,  quality  and 
service. 


What  is  "street  car  service"?  Street 
car  service  is  not  altogether  a  matter 
of  rules  and  regulations — not  only  a 
matter  of  cars  operating  through  your 
streets.  Street  car  service  is  a  human 
understanding  of  your  needs,  and  the 
ability  to  meet  those  needs  to  your 
complete  satisfaction.  We  want  to 
know  more  of  your  needs  and  attend 
to  them  for  you.  Won't  you  write  us 
a  letter  and  tell  us  what  you  want  or 
need? 


Value  received.  When  you  pay  your 
street  car  fare  the  ride  you  secure  is 
the  only  physical  expression  of  the 
service  you  receive  from  us.  The  real 
value  lies  in  our  ability  to  furnish  the 
kind  of  transportation  you  expect. 
There  is  no  price  on  this.  You  get  it 
or  you  do  not.  We  want  to  give  you  a 
perfect  or  supremely  excellent  service. 
That's  our  ideal.    If  for  any  reason 


you  do  not  get  the  kind  of  service  you 
want  and  expect,  won't  you  be  kind 
enough  to  drop  us  a  note  giving  the 
facts  in  the  case?  To  be  successful  we 
must  furnish  the  kind  of  service  that 
you  want. 


Don't  walk!  Ride!  The  tired  worker 
will  enjoy  his  evening  meal  more  if  he 
rides  home  on  the  street  car.  Rest  of 
body,  mind,  and  complete  relaxation 
comes  when  you  ride.  Walking,  mind 
and  body  must  be  continually  alert  to 
the  dangers  of  the  street  lest  death  or 
injury  claim  you  as  a  victim.  The  sav- 
ing of  5  cents  won't  pay  many  surgeons' 
fees  or  much  of  a  doctor  bill.  Ride! 
Don't  walk!    Be  safe! 


Could  the  public  learn  by  some  com- 
parison? Double  the  number  of  patrons 
going  into  any  two  of  the  largest  but 
best-known  stores  in  Beaver  Valley  in 
a  week's  time;  count  all  the  patrons  of 
all  the  theaters  in  the  country  on  any 
big  Saturday;  take  and  double  the 
crowd  at  the  biggest  of  the  county 
fair  days,  and  the  street  car  conductors 
still  have  a  greater  number  of  custom- 
ers daily. 

In  view  of  that  do  you  still  think 
that  just  anyone  can  be  a  conductor — 
a  salesman  of  rides  on  these  lines? 
The  clerk  who  makes  fifty  sales  a  day 
may  be  good — a  street  car  salesman 
sells  ten  to  twenty  times  that  number 
daily.  Is  there  any  comparison?  Some 
stores  have  people  to  "wait  on  you." 
Good  stoi'es  generally  have  salesmen  to 
sell  and  serve  you. 


Our  conductors  are  salesmen  in  the 
true  meaning  of  the  word  if  they  meet 
our  expectation.  And,  although  we 
deal  in  a  necessity,  yet  we  go  to  greater 
extremes  in  training,  checking  up,  iron- 


ing out,  and  putting  on  the  proper 
finishing  touch  than  any  concern  deal- 
ing exclusively  in  luxuries. 


Just  "anybody"  cannot  be  a  con- 
ductor on  these  lines.  Our  rigid  tests 
of  intelligence,  education,  experience, 
and  thorough  investigation  cannot  be 
withstood  by  any  but  number  one  Class 
A  men.  After  all  that,  we  require  a 
medical  examination  of  each  man  that 
insures  to  you  and  his  fellow  employees 
his  freedom  from  any  skin,  constitu- 
tional, chronic  or  malignant  disease 
communicable  to  others. 

It  is  not  fair  to  the  service  we  wish 
to  give  that  you  should  commit  any 
untoward  act  that  would  tend  to  break 
the  spirit  or  lessen  the  desire  of  the 
new  employee  to  become  a  proficient 
conductor  on  these  lines.  Our  older 
men  are  experience  trained  in  dealing 
with  you  and  it  is  right  that  you  should 
expect  and  receive  a  complete  service 
from  them. 


Ride — and  get  there  first. 

Good  logic  for  the  salesman  out  to  see 
a  customer. 

Good  logic  for  a  housewife  out  with 
the  market  basket. 

Good  logic  for  the  shopper  on  the  way 
to  the  business  district. 

Good  logic  for  the  tired  worker  on  the 
way  home. 

Good  logic  for  the  suburban  dweller. 

A  ride  on  the  street  car  assures 
safety  in  travel. 

A  ride  on  the  street  car  assures  u 
missing  of  the  congested  traffic  of  pe- 
destrians. 

A  ride  on  the  street  car  is  a  bracer 
and  a  rest-up  as  well. 

Don't  walk  when  a  ride  on  the  street 
cars  will  save  you  time  and  energy  and 
keep  you  safe. 


Text  op  Other  Advertising  Announcements  b>-  the  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company 


168 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


Tooth  Contour  of  the  Helical  Gear 

The  Various  Design  Features  of  This  Type  of  Gear  Are 
Explained  and  the  Reasons  for  Its  Superiority  Over 
the  Spur  Gear  Are  Shown 

AT  FIRST  it  is  probably  not  evident  just  why  the 
l  \  helical  gear  has  characteristics  superior  to  those 
of  the  spur  type.  As  Messrs.  Phillips  and  Holy  pointed 
out  in  their  paper  printed  in  the  July  2  issue  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  there  are  several  undesir- 
able features  inherent  in  the  spur  gear,  although  many 
opportunities  for  improvement  which  existed  could  not 
be  utilized  because  the  multiplicity  of  standards  thereby 
introduced  would  nullify  the  benefits  to  be  derived 


(bear 


Pea. 


7JLj~oot  c/rc/e 


FIG.  3 


-■/Ipprox.  angle 
of  approach 


FIG.  4 


MESHING  ACTION  OF  INVOLUTE  AND  HELICAL  GEARING 

Fig.  1 — Sections  of  gear  and  pinion  teeth  of  both  helical  and 
spur  gears.     (Full  line  is  the  helical.) 

Fig.  2 — Illustrating  the  relative  amounts  of  rolling  and  sliding 
action.     (Above,  spur;  below,  helical.) 

Fig.  3 — The  angle  of  recess  is  greater  than  the  angle  of  approach 
with  the  helical  gear. 

Fig.  4 — With  the  spur  gear  the  two  angles  are  approximately 
equal. 

from  these  mechanical  perfections.  Therefore,  the  in- 
troduction of  the  helical  gear  for  railway  use  auto- 
matically clears  the  way  for  manufacturers  to  market 
a  gear  embodying  the  latest  development  in  two  forms, 
since  any  interchanging  of  the  two  types  is  impossible. 
At  the  same  time  the  helical  gear  corrects  the  "stepping 
over"  action  of  the  older  type  and  the  result  is  a  quieter 
running  gear  that  can  transmit  a  heavier  torque  for  a 
given  width  of  face. 

The  accompanying  drawings  show  how  the  tooth  con- 
tour and  the  meshing  action  of  the  two  types  vary. 
It  can  be  seen  from  the  full  outline  in  Fig.  1  that  the 
tooth  of  the  helical  gear  is  substantially  stronger  at 
the  base  than  the  old  14i-deg.  tooth.  The  strength  of 
this  new  tooth  is  approximately  200  to  250  per  cent  of 
that  of  the  spur-gear  tooth.  This  is  true  not  only 
because  there  is  more  metal  at  the  base,  but  also  be- 


cause the  tooth  is  shorter  and  consequently  the  moment 
of  the  forces  acting  on  it  is  less. 

From  Fig.  2,  the  amount  of  rolling  that  is  obtainable 
on  the  new  tooth  form  is  illustrated.  Small  black  and 
white  squares  indicate  the  length  of  tooth  contour  that 
mate  together.  For  instance,  a  length  of  contour  on 
the  gear  face  equal  to  the  first  square  starting  at  gear 
tip  rolls  and  slides  with  a  length  equal  to  that  of  the 
last  square  on  the  pinion  flank,  etc.  This  shows  rela- 
tive lengths  of  involute  contour  for  mating  gears. 

Over  the  entire  face  the  rolling  action  of  the  new 
tooth  form  varies  from  55  per  cent  to  70  per  cent  pure 
rolling  as  against  approximately  40  per  cent  for  the 
14i-deg.  spur  tooth.  This  is  an  increase  of  about 
50  per  cent  in  rolling  contact.  The  cause  of  this  is 
partly  due  to  the  14J-deg.  tooth  contour  being  neces- 
sarily corrected  for  interference,  undercutting  and 
methods  of  manufacturing,  whereas  the  new  tooth  con- 
tour is  involute  throughout,  partly  due  to  increase  in 
pressure  angle.  From  this  feature  alone  there  is  a 
decided  improvement  in  uniformity  of  velocity  ratio 
and  smoothness  of  operation  when  first  installed.  As 
the  bearing  wears,  these  advantages  over  the  14A-deg. 
contour  become  even  more  pronounced. 

In  Fig.  4  showing  the  angle  of  action  of  the  ordinary 
spur  gear  it  wi'l  be  noticed  that  the  angles  of  recess 
and  approach  are  approximately  equal.  In  helical  gear- 
ing a  better  design  has  been  obtained  by  the  use  of  a 
long  and  short  addendum,  i.e.,  a  long  addendum  on  the 
pinion  and  a  short  addendum  on  the  gear.  The  benefit 
derived  from  this  is  well  understood  to  the  trade  and  is 
due  to  the  increase  in  angle  of  recess  and  decrease  in 
angle  of  approach.  The  effect  of  this  is  to  reduce 
friction  and  aid  in  smoothness  of  operation  as  the  fric- 
tion of  the  arc  of  approach  is  greater  than  that  of 
recess.  The  design  as  shown  in  Fig.  3  is  such  as  to 
secure  an  angle  of  approach  approximately  70  per  cent 
of  that  of  recess.  It  will  be  noted  that  stubbing  the 
tooth  somewhat  slightly  reduces  the  total  angle  of  action 
for  the  new  tooth  form,  but  this  is  more  than  counter- 
acted by  the  added  angle  of  action  due  to  the  helix  angle. 


Convenient  Type  of  Pit  Jack 

ACCOMPANYING  illustrations  show  a  homemade 
l  pit  jack  which  was  constructed  in  the  shops  of 
the  Northern  Texas  Traction  Company  and  which  is 
giving  very  satisfactory  service.    The  pits  in  this  shop 


Pit  Jack  Which  Rolls  on  the  Rail  Flanges.    The  Bottom 
Half  of  a  Motor  Is  Lowered  with  the  Armature 
in  It  to  Facilitate  Repairs 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


169 


are  of  the  open  type  and  the  pit  jack  is  arranged  so 
that  it  rolls  along  on  the  inside  of  the  rail.  The  frame 
is  constructed  of  3-in.  channels  with  tn-in.  corner  gusset 
plates.  The  rolling  elements  are  made  of  No.  408  ball 
bearings  that  have  pitted  balls,  which  make  them  unfit 
for  other  service.  The  cylinder  has  a  side  adjustment 
of  12  in.  and  the  plunger  or  push  rod  has  holes  drilled 
1  in.  apart.  This  allows  a  i-in.  pin  to  be  inserted  at  any 
desired  height  as  a  safety  feature.  The  top  has  a  mini- 
mum height  of  3  ft.  2  in.  and  a  maximum  lift  of  5  ft. 
7  in. 

Portable  Substation  with  Collapsible 
Construction 

A  Standard  Flat  Car  Provided  with  a  Superstructure  Which 
Can  Be  Readily  Removed  Enables  Heavy  Parts  to 
Be  Handled  by  Cranes 

By  F.  J.  Foote 

Superintendent  of  Power  Ohio  Electric  Railway 

THE  accompanying  illustrations  show  a  500-kw. 
portable  substation  which  has  recently  been  con- 
structed by  the  engineering  department  of  the  Ohio 
Electric  Railway  and  which  has  now  been  placed  in 
service  near  Springfield,  Ohio.  The  chief  feature  of 
the  construction  lies  in  the  fact  that  portions  of  the 
roof  and  sides  of  the  car  can  be  readily  removed,  thus 
enabling  the  heavy  parts  of  the  equipment  to  be  reached 
by  crane  or  derrick.  This  makes  rapid  repairs  possible 
and  also  reduces  the  cost  of  such  repairs  when  com- 
pared with  what  would  be  necessary  for  a  portable  sub- 
station of  the  usual  type. 

One  of  the  company's  regular  steel  underframe  flat 
cars  was  used  and  the  superstructure  built  on  this,  the 
side  posts  being  placed  in  the  stake  pockets  along  the 
sides  of  the  car.  The  type  of  construction  used  and  the 
location  of  the  apparatus  can  be  readily  seen  in  the 
accompanying  illustrations. 

The  construction  of  the  high-tension  and  direct-cur- 
rent choke  coils  has  some  rather  unusual  features.  The 
high-tension  choke  coils  are  made  of  No.  2  solid  bare 
copper  wire  and  consist  of  twenty-five  turns  15  in.  in 
diameter  on  a  2-in.  spacing.  Each  coil  is  held  in  shape 
by  three  wood  clamps  running  the  full  length  of  the  coil. 
The  direct-current  choke  coil  is  an  extra  large  one,  30 
in.  in  diameter,  and  consists  of  ten  turns  of  400,000 


Transformer  Section  with  Portions  of  Side  and 
Roof  Removed 

circ.mil  covered  cable.  This  is  also  held  in  shape  by 
wooden  clamps.  This  direct-current  choke  coil  is  placed 
on  the  roof  of  the  car  and  all  parts  were  made  in  the 
company's  shops. 

The  equipment  of  this  portable  substation  consists  of 
a  500-kw.,  six-phase  rotary,  three  200-kva.,  26,000-volt 
to  390-volt,  oil-insulated,  self-cooled  transformers,  a 
two-panel  switchboard,  gap-type  lightning  arresters  and 
choke  coils. 


Type  of  Interurban  Car  for  Germany 

IN  DESCRIBING  some  design  and  structural  features 
of  a  type  of  interurban  car  recently  purchased  by  a 
railway  in  Germany,  Engineering  Progress  says  that 
despite  materially  greater  strength,  it  has  been  found 
that  iron  bodies  which  are  designed  as  a  beam  of  large 
cross-section  are  lighter  than  wooden  ones.  The  fault 
of  the  cars  built  of  wood  was  that  none  but  the  longi- 
tudinal beams  were  used  to  support  the  body.  The  cars 
with  bodies  having  a  wooden  framework  weighed  from 
19,000  to  20,900  lb.,  while  the  steel  bodies  weighed  no 
more  than  17,300  lb.  This  meant  a  saving  in  weight 
of  from  1,700  to  3,600  lb.  The  steel  car  has  given 
excellent  satisfaction. 


At  Left,  Portable  Substation  in  Service  on  Siding  ;  At  Right,  Generator  End  of  the  Substation 


170 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


Successful  Use  of  Welded  Joints  in  Baltimore 

Notable  Immunity  from  Broken  Joints  Has  Been  Experienced  in  Baltimore, 
Where  the  Welding  Is  Not  Carried  Across  the 
Entire  Width  of  the  Joint  Plate 

By  W.  W.  Wysor 

Chief  Engineer  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company  of  Baltimore 


OF  PARAMOUNT  importance  and  interest  since 
I  the  beginning  of  railroads  has  been  the  question 
of  joints.  The  joint  not  only  determines  the 
life  of  the  rail  but,  in  street  railways,  is  responsible 
for  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  maintenance  charges 
on  track  and  paving,  as  well  as  being  a  factor  in  acci- 
dents and  the  up-keep  of  rolling  stock. 

A  great  deal  of  time  and  study  has  been  devoted  by 
engineers  to  some  method  of  "eliminating"  the  joints, 
especially  in  paved  streets,  and  to  this  end  many  forms 
of  splice  bars  have  been  developed  and  placed  upon  the 
market.  While  the  modern  form  of  splice  bar  is  a 
decided  improvement  over  the  old  fish  plates,  it  has 
been  found  that  no  form  of  bolted  or  even  riveted 
joint  would  have  a  life  equal  to  the  unbroken  rail,  and 
in  their  efforts  to  reach  this  goal  engineers  have  turned 
their  attention  to  welding. 

The  welding  of  joints,  in  some  form  or  other,  has 
been  practiced  for  many  years  with  more  or  less  suc- 
cess, depending  largely  upon  the  thoroughness  with 
which  the  details  of  the  particular  process  have  been 
worked  out  and  the  skill  of  the  men  doing  the  work. 
Among  the  better  known  types  of  welded  joints  are. 
the  cast,  Lorain  and  thermit  weld.  All  of  these  have 
been  used  with  much  success  and  are  being  extensively 
employed  today.  Much  interest  has  been  manifested 
in  recent  years  in  seam-welded  joints,  and  it  is  this 
particular  type  of  joint  with  which  this  article  deals. 

A  seam-welded  joint  is  one  in  which  the  rails  are 
joined  by  standard  or  special  splice  bars  and  the  edges 
welded  to  the  head  and  base  of  the  rail.  The  welding 
may  be  done  by  means  of  an  electric  arc  or  by  gas 
flame,  but  the  electric  arc  is  most  generally  used. 

While  alternating  current  has  been  used  to  some  ex- 
tent in  arc  welding,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  direct  current 
has  been  used  exclusively  on  rail-joint  welding  of  this 
kind.  It  may  be  drawn  from  the  trolley  wire  direct 
by  inserting  in  the  circuit  suitable  resistance,  or  a 
motor-generator  set  may  be  used.  In  either  case  the 
joint,  consisting  of  splice  bars  and  rail,  becomes  one 
of  the  electrodes,  the  other  electrode  being  the  terminal 
of  the  lead  from  the  trolley  wire  or  from  the  motor- 
generator  set.  In  case  current  is  used  direct  from  the 
trolley  wire,  with  merely  resistance  in  the  circuit,  the 
joint  is  of  course  negative,  but  where  a  motor  generator 
set  is  used  it  is  the  usual  practice  to  reverse  the  polarity 
and  make  the  joint  positive.  The  negative  or  portable 
electrode  may  be  either  a  carbon  pencil  or  a  metallic 
rod.  Where  a  metallic  arc  is  used,  the  extra  metal 
for  welding  the  seam  is  contained  in  the  electrode  itself, 
but  where  a  carbon  arc  is  used  the  extra  metal  necessary 
is  supplied  in  the  form  of  a  rod  or  wire  cut  to  the 
length  of  the  weld  to  be  made  and  is  laid  along  the 
seam  to  be  welded  and  fused  with  the  joint  plate  and 
rail. 

In  Baltimore  we  use  a  motor-generator  set  and  the 
carbon  arc  process.     On  girder  rail  work  we  use 


SEAM-WELDING  RAIL  JOINTS 

No.  1 — Standard  A.R.A.  100-lb.  T-rail  with  joint  plates  in  place 
ready  for  welding. 

No.  2 — Standard  A.R.A.  100-lb.  T-rail  with  joint  welded  and 
bolts  removed. 

No.  3 — 7 -in.  grooved  girder  rail  with  completed  seam-welded 
joint. 

standard  splice  bars  24  in.  long  and  a  special  base  plate, 
this  base  plate  being  28  in.  long  by  10i  in.  wide  span- 
ning over  two  ties.  On  T-rail  work  we  use  a  splice  bar 
especially  designed  for  welding,  and  we  also  use  the 
same  base  plate  as  for  girder  rail. 

Up  to  the  present  time  we  have  welded  7-in.  girder 
rail,  L.  S.  Co.  Sec.  105-484,  and  standard  100-lb.  T-rail 
A.  R.  A.  type  A  only.  In  both  cases  we  purchased  the 
rail  drilled  with  one  hole  only,  5  in.  from  the  end  of 
the  rail.  The  splice  bars  were  punched  with  two  holes 
only,  10  in.  center  to  center.  The  rails  are  laid  and  the 
joints  are  applied  and  secured  in  place  temporarily  by 
two  1-in.  bolts.  This  is  sufficient  to  hold  the  rails 
together  and  keep  traffic  going  until  welding  can  be 
done.    The  track  is  first  brought  to  proper  surface  and 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


171 


alignment  before  the  welding  is  started.  When  we  are 
ready  to  weld,  the  rails  that  are  not  already  tightly 
abutted  are  driven  back  as  closely  together  as  possible. 
The  bolts  in  the  joint  plates  are  then  tightened  up 
with  a  long  wrench,  the  plates  being  driven  into  place 
by  slight  blows  of  a  sledgehammer  as  the  bolts  are 
tightened.  After  the  welding  is  done  the  bolts  are 
removed  and  used  on  other  joints. 

When  we  first  started  this  welding,  about  two  years 
ago,  we  did  not  employ  base  plates,  but  the  joint  plates 


.--Indicates  welding 


all 


~f—~l6 

■{■  IB"-  

'' Abbott Joint 
plate  ^S" long 


U  Joint  plate  10 f wide 

Side  Elevation  and  Section  of  L.484  105-lb.  Rail  With 
Seam-Welded  Joint 

were  welded  for  the  entire  length,  both  top  and  bottom. 
We  had  a  few  of  these  joints  break,  or  rather  the 
rail  broke  at  the  end  of  the  joint,  just  outside  the 
welding.  We  then  started  using  base  plates,  which,  as 
stated  above,  are  longer  than  the.  joint  plate,  and  we 
also  began  "staggering"  the  welds.  Instead  of  welding 
all  seams  full  length,  we  weld  the  top  seam  for  a  dis- 
tance of  16  in.,  leaving  4  in.  unwelded  on  each  end. 
The  bottom  seam  of  the  joint  plate  is  welded  in  two 
places,  each  8  in.  long,  the  weld  starting  1  in.  from  the 
end  of  the  plates,  and  a  gap  of  6  in.  is  left  in  the  center. 
The  base  plate  is  welded  for  a  length  of  16  in.  through 
the  center.  Since  this  method  was  adopted,  about 
eighteen  months  ago,  we  have  not  been  able  to  discover 
any  broken  rails  or  welds. 

The  reason  for  making  the  so-called  "staggered"  or 
lapped  seam  welds  is  twofold.  Wherever  the  weld 
terminates,  there  is  more  or  less  of  a  "nick"  in  the  rail 
and  also  a  metallurgical  change  in  the  rail  itself, 
although  just  what  this  change  is  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say,  and  where  these  "nicks"  or  changes  are  opposite 
each  other  the  tendency  is  for  the  rail  to  break  at  that 
point.  The  action  is  analagous  to  the  breaking  of  a 
rail  by  "nicking"  it,  head  and  base,  with  a  cold  chisel. 

Indicates  welding 


J>  Joint  plate 

10 ±" wide      -Tj"  . 

 ,0i"  


Side  Elevation  and  Section  of  A.R.A.  100-lb.  Rail  With 
Seam-Welded  Joint 

The  "staggering"  of  the  welds  tends  to  overcome  this 
trouble.  Again,  the  flexibility  of  the  rail  is  suddenly 
interrupted  by  the  extreme  rigidity  of  the  box-like 
joint.  The  "staggering"  of  the  welds  tends,  to  some 
extent,  to  break  up  this  rigidity. 

We  have  welded  by  this  process  about  4,000  joints 
and,  outside  of  about  fifteen  breaks,  which  occurred  in 
the  early  stages  of  our  work,  we  have  had  no  failures 
that  we  have  been  able  to  discover.  There  may,  of 
course,  be  failures  or  partial  failures  that  are  hidden 


by  the  paving,  but  if  so  they  have  not  become  serious 
enough  to  show  on  the  surface.  We  have  had  con- 
ductivity tests  made  of  the  joints  and  they  show  an 
average  conductivity  of  100  to  150  per  cent  as  compared 
with  the  rail. 

In  welds  of  this  kind,  or  any  other  kind  for  that 
matter,  too  much  importance  cannot  be  placed  on  the 
skill  of  operators.  We  have  a  foreman  in  charge  of 
this  work  who  is  himself  a  skilled  welder  and  he  trains 
all  of  the  other  men.  We  do  not  employ  for  this  work 
men  who  do  not  show  an  interest  in  welding,  and  we 
try  to  impress  upon  them  from  the  start  just  what  they 
are  trying  to  accomplish ;  that  is,  the  welding  of  the 
splice  bars  to  the  rail  and  not  merely  the  playing  of 
the  arc  on  the  welding  rod  until  it  is  melted. 

The  construction  of  joints,  both  T-rail  and  girder 
rail  are  clearly  indicated  by  the  accompanying  draw- 
ings and  photographs. 

Wages  Commensurate  with  Work  Done 

The  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company 

New  Brighton,  Pa.,  July  21,  1921. 

To  the  Editors : 

I  heartily  agree  with  your  editorial  "Get  Work  Com- 
mensurate with  Wages  Paid"  in  the  July  16  issue  of  the 
Journal. 

Acting  upon  this  theory,  we  had  a  section  put  into 
the  agreement  with  our  trainmen  last  year  (and  it  is 
also  in  our  present  agreement)  which  reads  as  follows: 

Where  experienced  trainmen  of  this  company  with  one 
or  more  years  of  experience  are  rehired  they  shall  be  paid 
at  the  rate  to  which  their  previous  experience  would  entitle 
them.  When  trainmen  with  one  or  more  years'  experience 
on  foreign  roads  are  employed  they  shall  receive  the  rate 
of  pay  to  which  their  previous  experience  would  entitle  them 
after  their  service  record  has  been  received  and  O.  K.'d  by 
this  company. 

This  has  been  the  means  of  our  securing  experienced 
men  who  had  formerly  been  in  our  service  or  in  the 
service  of  other  companies  and  who  during  the  period  of 
scarcity  of  labor  were  not  willing  to  start  at  the  low 
scale  of  wages.  The  results  have  been  quite  satisfac- 
tory. W.  H.  BOYCE, 

General  Manager. 


Havana  Railway  Has  Its  Troubles 

THE  needs  of  the  transportation  department  of  the 
Havana  Electric  Railway  required  during,  the  past 
year  that  every  effort  be  exerted  to  keep  the  greatest 
possible  number  of  cars  in  operation  and  also  add  to 
that  number  as  many  new  cars  as  could  be  constructed 
and  equipped.  Throughout  the  year  1920  this  was  made 
extremely  difficult  by  the  delay  and  irregularity  in  the 
receipt  of  imported  materials  of  all  kinds.  Especially 
was  this  true  during  the  first  nine  months  when  the 
stock  of  some  important  article  was  always  giving  out. 
While  shipments  were  being  held  up  by  embargoes  or 
were  aboard  ships  lying  in  Havana  Harbor  awaiting 
an  opportunity  to  unload,  it  was  often  necessary  to 
withhold  cars  from  service  for  lack  of  wheels  or  motors 
or  other  important  parts  that  could  not  be  provided. 
In  spite  of  these  difficulties  thirty-two  new  cars  were 
completed  and  delivered  to  the  transportation  depart- 
ment, the  work  on  eighteen  more  was  so  far  advanced 
that  they  were  expected  to  be  ready  for  use  in  January, 
and  nine  cars  were  entirely  reconstructed. 


172 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


Status  of  Powdered  Fuel 


Summary  of  Existing  Installations — Detail  of  Burners  and  Pulverizers — Test 
Results  from  Various  Localities — Comparisons  with  Stoker  Plants — 
Trend  in  Combustion  Methods  and  Firing  Equipment  Design 


HD.  SAVAGE  of  the  Combustion 
•  Engineering  Corporation  pre- 
sented a  paper  entitled  "The  Use  of 
Powdered  Fuel  Under  Steam  Boilers" 
before  the  American  Iron  &  Steel  In- 
stitute at  New  York  on  May  27.  In 
this  paper  Mr.  Savage  summarized  the 
situation  in  regard  to  the  use  of  pow- 
dered fuel  under  boilers  in  a  very  able 
manner. 

In  regard  to  the  preparation  of  the 
pulverized  fuel,  two  mills  have  become 
practically  standard,  respectively  called 
the  Raymond  and  the  Fuller.  Each  of 
these  mills  is  built  in  sizes  of  from  2 
to  6  tons  per  hour  rated  capacity  when 
grinding  to  a  fineness  so  that  95  per 
cent  of  the  coal  will  pass  100  mesh  and 
82  per  cent  through  200  mesh,  using 
bituminous  coal  of  less  than  1  per  cent 
moisture.  The  power  consumption  is 
from  15  to  20  hp.  per  ton  per  hour 
of  bituminous  coal  ground  to  these 
specifications  with  a  maintenance  cost 
of  approximately  5  cents  per  ton.  The 
grinding  of  anthracite  fuel  is  much 
more  difficult  and  entails  a  higher 
maintenance  cost,  but  prospects  are 
bright  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the 
Hardinge  mill  for  this  purpose. 

A  new  mill  is  being  developed  at 
the  present  time  which  uses  air  sep- 
aration, but  differs  otherwise  in  type 
and  principle  from  any  of  the  present 
standard  methods.  The  prospects  are 
good  that  this  mill  will  be  able  to  grind 
bituminous  coal  containing  about  3  per 
cent  moisture  with  only  about  half  the 
power  consumption  of  the  present  type 
mill. 

The  driers  have  been  standardized 
into  two  types,  called  the  single  shell 
drier  and  the  double  shell.  The  latter 
has  greater  capacity,  better  efficiency 
and  greater  freedom  from  internal 
fires,  and  the  first  cost  is  not  greatly 
different  for  the  two  types. 

The  conveying  equipment  has  become 
standardized  into  two  types,  the  screw 
conveyor  and  the  air  transport  system. 
Of  these  systems  the  Fuller-Kinyon 
pump  is  probably  the  simplest.  It  is 
essentially  a  high-pressure  feeder,  con- 
sisting of  a  hopper,  high-speed  screw 
and  a  delivery  nozzle.  Air  is  brought 
into  the  coal  at  about  40-lb.  pressure 
and  forced  through  pipes  of  varying 
sizes,  depending  on  the  capacity  for 
which  the  pump  is  designed. 

Existing  Installations 
The  first  commercial  installation  of 
any  importance  was  at  the  Oneida 
Street  plant  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  where  in 
1918  five  Edge  Moor  boilers,  each  of 
468  nominal  horsepower  capacity,  were 
equipped  and  have  been  in  successful 
operation  for  three  years  without  any 
operating  difficulties.  The  plant  ODer- 
ates  on  either  Illinois  and  Indiana 
screenings  or  Youghiogheny  coal.  Tests 
show  a  combined  efficiency  as  high  as 


85  per  cent  on  the  plants  of  this  com- 
pany. Another  important  installation 
is  the  plant  of  the  Allegheny  Steel 
Company  at  Brackenridge,  Pa.,  where 
nine  333-hp.  Wickes  boilers  and  two 
600-hp.  Stirling  boilers  have  been 
equipped.  The  plant  has  been  in  oper- 
ation for  about  two  years  and  a  half 
and  additional  boilers  are  now  being 
installed.  A  unique  feature  of  this 
plant  is  that  the  coal  is  used  as  it 
comes  from  the  mine  without  any 
driers  and  the  pulverizing  plant  is 
about  350  ft.  from  the  boiler  room,  to 
which  a  screw  conveyor  is  used  to 
transport  the  coal. 

At  the  Lima  Locomotive  Works, 
Lima,  Ohio,  there  are  equipped  six 
400-hp.  Wickes  boilers,  one  500-hp. 
Wickes  boiler  and  one  500-hp.  Heine 
boiler.  Bituminous  coal  from  the  Cen- 
tral Ohio  district  is  used  in  this  plant, 
analyzing  approximately  as  follows: 
Moisture,  3  per  cent;  volatile,  32.2  per 
cent;  fixed  carbon,  50.6  per  cent;  ash, 
17.2  per  cent;  sulphur,  1.94  per  cent; 
B.t.u.,  11,935. 

Designed  for  Three  Fuels 

There  are  five  500-hp.  Edge  Moor 
boilers   and   two   300-hp.   Edge  Moor 
boilers   equipped   with   the  pulverized 
fuel    equipment    in    Oklahoma  City, 
Okla.,  at  the  packing  plant  of  Morris 
&  Company.    This  plant  is  arranged 
to  operate  on  either  natural  gas,  fuel 
oil   or   powdered   coal,   whichever  the 
condition  of  the  market  warrants  as 
being    most    economical.     A  change 
from  one  fuel  to  another  can  be  made 
in  about  five  minutes.     At  this  plant 
the  fuel  used  is  from  the  McAlester 
district,   analyzing  as  follows:  Mois- 
ture, 5.2  per  cent;  volatile,  33.39  per 
cent;  fixed  carbon,  48.34  per  cent;  ash, 
13.07  per  cent;  sulphur,  0.63  per  cent; 
B.t.u.,    12,417.      The    results    of  the 
operation    have    been    good    and  ob- 
served periods  have  shown  efficiencies 
of  from  78  to  84  per  cent.    A  recent 
report  from   this   plant   covering  the 
first  nine  months  of  1920,  using  $4.13 
coal  and  including  a  20  per  cent  charge 
for  interest  and  depreciation,  shows  a 
net  cost   per   1,000   lb.   of    steam  of 
$0,385.     Other   installations    of  more 
recent  date  are  those  at  the  St.  Joseph 
Lead  Company,  Rivermines,  Mo.,  where 
two  Stirling  boilers  of  768  hp.  were 
installed  and  have  been  in  operation 
for  about  three  months.    They  are  be- 
ing operated  at  from  200  to  225  per 
cent  of  rating  with  flue  gas  tempera- 
tures from  580  to  609  deg.  F.  Another 
installation  is  one  of  eight  1,308-hp. 
Edge  Moor  boilers  at  the  new  Lakeside 
plant  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company.    Two  of  these 
boilers  are  equipped  with  the  Fuller 
system  and  six  with  the  Lopulco  sys- 
tem.   All  these  are  now  operating. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  installa- 


tions is  that  now  nearing  completion 
at  the  River  Rouge  plant  of  the  Ford 
Motor  Company,  where  powdered  coal 
is  being  installed  in  connection  with 
four  Ladd  boilers  of  2,640  nominal  hp. 
each.  These  boilers  are  the  largest 
that  have  as  yet  been  built  and  are 
intended  to  operate  at  from  200  to  250 
per  cent  rated  capacity.  They  will 
operate  on  a  combination  of  blast  fur- 
nace gas  and  powdered  coal,  and  the 
design  is  such  that  these  fuels  can 
be  used  either  separately  or  in  com- 
bination. The  gas  is  introduced  hori- 
zontally at  a  lower  level  than  the  coal 
through  the  medium  of  an  especially 
designed  grid  burner. 

At  the  plant  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company,  Lebanon,  Pa.,  there  are  four 
520-hp.  Babcock  &  Wilcox  boilers  that 
have  been  in  operation  approximately 
one  year.  The  British  Columbia  Sugar 
Refining  Company  at  Vancouver,  B.  C, 
has  two  504-hp.  Badenhausen  boilers, 
two  250-hp.  Babcock  &  Wilcox,  nine 
110-hp.  horizontal  return  tubular  and 
two  500-hp.  Stirling  boilers.  The 
Puget  Sound  Traction  Company  at 
Seattle,  Wash.,  has  ten  Babcock  & 
Wilcox  boilers  from  300  to  600  hp., 
which  have  been  in  operation  for  about 
two  years. 

The  foregoing  installations  are  the 
only  plants  of  any  size  using  the  pow- 
dered coal  equipment.  They  are  located 
in  various  geographical  locations  and 
operate  on  a  wide  range  of  fuel.  From 
records  of  the  plants  operating  results 
have  been  very  satisfactory,  according 
to  Mr.  Savage. 

Results  of  Tests 

A  great  number  of  tests  have  been 
made  on  powdered  coal  installations 
both  by  the  local  companies,  by  the 
Bureau  of  Mines  and  by  the  Combus- 
tion Engineering  Corporation.  The  re- 
sults of  these  tests  have  been  presented 
in  various  technical  articles  in  the 
technical  press  and  show  that  the  pow- 
dered coal  installations  are  operating 
very  satisfactorily.  The  effect  of  fine- 
ness and  of  moisture  in  coal  has  not 
been  very  marked,  but  questions  of 
high  ratings  at  high  efficiency  are  still 
rather  unsettled  as  until  recently  only 
a  few  plants  have  been  designed  for 
burning  powdered  coal  and  such  tests 
as  were  available  were  taken  on 
changeover  plants  formerly  using  other 
types  of  fuel-burning  equipment.  The 
tests  show  that  the  capacity  is  in  di- 
rect proportion  to  furnace  volume  and 
that  for  existing  furnaces  the  most 
efficient  rates  of  combustion  have  been 
obtained  when  using  1  to  li  lb.  of  fuel 
per  cubic  foot  of  furnace  volume. 

General  Discussion 

All  of  the  plants  now  operated  are 
designed  to  have  the  pulverized  coal 
stored  adjacent  to  the  boiler  and  fired 
through  the  medium  of  specially  de- 
signed feeders.  There  is  a  discussion 
at  present  in  regard  to  firing  the  pul- 
verized fuel  directly  from  the  mill  to 
the  combustion  chambers  without  an 
interval   of   rest.     But    this  method. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


173 


while  very  simple  and  practical  from  a 
mechanical  standpoint,  is  subject  to 
several  objections  brought  about  by 
questions  of  reliability  and  efficiency. 
There  are  many  mechanical  units 
connected  with  the  operation  of  the 
pulverizer  and  separator  equipments 
which  may  get  out  of  order  with  the 
result  that  fuel  would  fail  of  delivery 
to  the  boiler.  Also  in  these  systems 
the  same  air  is  used  for  separation 
and  for  firing,  and  it  is  very  difficult 
to  control  this  air  in  each  instant  so 
as  to  get  a  uniform  mixture  at  the 
burner.  The  most  serious  deficiency  of 
this  system,  according  to  Mr.  Savage, 
is  the  lack  of  reserve  supply  of  coal, 
which  throws  all  the  peak  demand  on 
the  coal-preparing  equipment  at  the 
time  when  the  station  load  is  at  peak, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  bunker 
supply  permits  separation  of  coal  at 
off-peak  intervals  and  also  gives  more 
reliability  in  the  burning  due  to  the 
elimination  of  hazardous  mechanical 
arrangements. 

In  regard  to  installation  costs,  Mr. 
Savage  states  that  if  a  modern  cen- 
tral station  using  high-grade  Eastern 
coal  and  average  load  factor  is  taken 
as  a  basis  for  the  test  it  is  doubted 
whether  the  net  saving  in  favor  of 
powdered  coal  would  be  better  than  10 
per  cent,  but  considering  the  price  such 
a  station  would  pay  for  coal  today 
the  saving  would  in  most  cases  war- 
rant the  additional  expense.  In  an 
industrial  plant  having  a  varying  mill 
load  the  saving  with  powdered  coal 
would  be  more  than  with  any  other 
type  of  plant,  due  to  its  ability  to 
serve  fluctuating  loads  and  to  the  sav- 
ing during  bank  periods.  In  regard 
to  the  cost  of  fuel  preparation,  Mr. 
Savage  states  that  in  his  opinion  the 
cost  of  firing  coal  from  coal  car  to 
ash  car  is  not  greater  in  a  pulverized 
coal  plant  than  in  a  modern  stoker 
plant.  This  conclusion  is  based  on 
some  detailed  calculations  presented  in 
the  paper  which  consider  all  the  aux- 
iliary power  for  driving  stokers  and 
also  the  saving  due  to  the  exhaust 
steam  heating  the  feed  water.  The 
figures  on  the  assumed  data  show  that 
the  plant,  when  operating  at  20,000 
hp.,  burns  31  tons  of  coal  per  hour 
with  a  power  requirement  for  prepar- 
ing the  coal  of  a  little  less  than  20  kw. 
per  ton. 

Improvements  in  Firing 

In  regard  to  the  troubles  in  connec- 
tion with  the  burning  of  powdered 
coal,  the  greatest  trouble  in  the  early 
attempts  was  from  slagging.  Proper 
furnace  design  and  correct  air  admis- 
sion have  practically  eliminated  this 
trouble  except  with  coal  having  a  low 
fusing  point,  but  even  with  these  coals 
the  trouble  is  confined  to  extremely 
high  rating  when  coal  in  excess  of  2 
lb.  per  cubic  foot  per  hour  is  burned. 
The  use  of  water  screens  and  multiple 
zones  and  other  improvements  are 
tending  to  eliminate  entirely  any 
trouble  from  slagging  under  high  rat- 
ing with  any  powdered  fuel.     In  re- 


gard to  the  ash,  at  Milwaukee  careful 
observation  showed  that  25  to  50  per 
cent  remained  in  the  combustion  cham- 
ber, 5  to  12  per  cent  is  collected  in 
the  second  and  third  pass,  25  to  35 
per  cent  is  caught  in  the  base  of  the 
stack  and  12  to  25  per  cent  is  lost  in 
the   stack.     Studies   are   being  made 


for  eliminating  the  ash  that  goes 
through  the  stack,  although  it  is  so 
fine  and  flocculent  that  it  causes  no 
serious  trouble.  There  has  occurred  no 
deterioration  of  the  furnace  brickwork 
and,  in  fact,  boiler  furnace  main- 
tenance has  been  reduced  through  use 
of  powdered  fuel. 


Elimination  of  Waste 


Reports  of  the  Federated  American  Engineering  Societies,  Prepared  Under  the 
Direction  of  Fifteen  Engineers,  Point  Out  Ways  of  Reducing  Loss 
from  This  Cause 


DURING  this  week  the  Federated 
American  Engineering  Societies  has 
made  public  extended  abstracts  of  the 
general  report  of  the  committee  on  the 
elimination  of  waste,  as  well  as  of  its 
detailed  reports  of  the  building  trade 
and  metal  trade.  An  account  of  the 
work  of  this  committee  was  published 
on  page  1091  of  the  issue  of  this  paper 
for  June  11.  The  reports  were  pre- 
pared under  the  direction  of  fifteen 
engineers,  known  as  the  committee  on 
elimination  of  waste  in  industry.  The 
six  industries  studied  were  the  building 
trade,  men's  ready-made  clothing,  boot 
and  shoe,  printing,  metal  trade  and 
textile  manufacturing. 

A  number  of  plants  were  studied  in- 
timately in  each  industry  and  a  larger 
number  gave  additional  information. 
The  committee  was  named  on  Jan.  12, 
1921,  and  six  months  later,  or  on  June 
15,  1921,  the  report  was  approved  as 
a  whole  by  the  committee.  While  the 
transportation  industry  was  not  con- 
sidered, some  of  the  conclusions  reached 
by  the  committee  are  applicable  to  all 
industries.  In  its  general  report  the 
committee  attributes  the  greater  part 
of  the  waste  in  industry  to: 

1.  Faulty  management  of  materials, 
plant,  equipment  and  men. 

2.  Interrupted  production,  resulting 
from  idle  men,  idle  materials,  idle 
plants,  idle  equipment. 

3.  Restricted  production  intentionally 
caused  by  owners,  management  or  labor. 

4.  Lost  production  caused  by  ill 
health,  physical  defects  and  industrial 
accidents. 

Under  faulty  management  the  com- 
mittee includes  lack  of  standardization 
and  machinery  and  methods,  lack  of 
cost  control  and  accounting,  high  labor 
turnover,  ineffective  workmanship  and 
faulty  sales  policies.  Under  the  topic 
of  interrupted  production,  the  commit- 
tee points  out  that  in  many  trades 
there  is  seasonal  unemployment,  as 
well  as  that  due  to  labor  disturbances. 
There  is  also  idle  equipment  because 
of  overbuilt  factories  and  idle  material. 
Restricted  production  is  brought  about 
sometimes  by  managements  and  often 
by  unions  by  restricting  the  use  of 
machinery  or  requiring  wasteful  meth- 
ods because  of  union  rules.  Under  lost 
production,  a  rough  estimate  is  given 
that  the  average  loss  per  person  per 
year  from  illness  is  thirteen  days,  and 
that  42  per  cent  of  this  illness  is  pre- 


ventable. This  is  exclusive  of  time  lost 
because  of  accidents. 

Suggestions  are  made  by  which  a 
number  of  these  causes  of  waste  can  be 
overcome. 

Report  on  Building  Trades 

In  its  report  on  waste  in  the  building 
trades  the  committee  estimates  that 
$500,000,000  a  year  in  wages  in  this 
industry  is  being  lost  through  unem- 
ployment. The  building  industry  ranks 
second  only  among  the  industries  of  the 
country  in  size  and  contributes  to  the 
wealth  of  the  nation  more  than  $3,000,- 
000,000  yearly.  The  chief  sources  of 
waste  are  irregular  employment,  inef- 
ficient management  and  wasteful  labor 
regulations. 

Referring  to  irregular  employment, 
the  report  says  that  the  building  trade 
workman  is  busy  on  the  average  about 
190  days  in  the  year,  or  two-thirds  of 
his  time.  The  public  should  be  edu- 
cated to  the  need  of  a  more  even  dis- 
tribution through  the  year  of  its  con- 
struction demands  and  requirements. 
Haphazard  management  in  planning  and 
controlling  work  and  lack  of  standards 
characterize  most  building  undertak- 
ings. Union  regulations  have  also 
produced  enormous  losses  through  di- 
rect or  indirect  restriction  of  output. 
Greater  co-operation  between  the  work- 
men and  the  employers  is  an  absolute 
essential. 

Management  is  blamed  for  failure 
to  furnish  continuity  of  employment, 
failure  to  plan  work  in  sufficient  detail, 
lack  of  proper  schedules  to  allow  proper 
co-ordination  of  scheduling,  purchasing 
and  delivery,  with  job  requirements; 
failure  to  use  proper  amount  or  type  of 
equipment,  general  failure  to  develop 
and  use  a  greater  amount  of  mechanical 
equipment,  etc.  Wasteful  labor  regula- 
tions, according  to  the  report,  consist 
of  requiring  skilled  men  to  do  work 
that  could  be  performed  by  the  un- 
skilled, of  restricting  individual  in- 
centive through  requiring  uniform 
wages,  of  limiting  the  number  of  ap- 
prentices, of  an  excessive  reduction  of 
working  hours,  of  restricting  output 
by  prohibiting  the  use  of  labor-saving 
devices,  and  of  jurisdictional  regula- 
tions. The  strike  is  one  of  the  greatest 
economic  wastes  to  be  found  in  the 
building  industry,  the  report  declares. 
In  1920  in  Massachusetts  138,519  work- 
ing days  were  lost  because  of  strikes 
and  lockouts,  and  if  this  figure  is  ap- 


174 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


plied  to  the  entire  building  industry,  a 
waste  of  some  3,000,000  days  per  year 
is  found. 

Report  on  the  Metal  Trades  Industry 

In  its  report  on  the  metal  trades  in- 
dustry, the  committee  estimates  that 
the  industry  as  a  whole  is  operating  at 
only  about  60  per  cent  of  normal  out- 
put. It  urges  manufacturers  to  hasten 
a  return  to  normal  conditions  by  pro- 
ducing goods  as  economically  as  pos- 
sible, so  as  to  make  selling  prices  low 
enough  to  attract  buyers.  Much  stress 
is  laid  in  the  report  on  the  cost  of  labor 
turnover.  The  average  labor  turnover 
for  the  year  1920,  for  the  plants  cov- 
ered by  these  studies,  was  160  per  cent, 
and  the  highest  turnover  was  366  per 
cent.  If  60  per  cent  of  the  separations 
are  assumed  as  unavoidable,  due  to 
deaths,  marriages,  etc.,  there  is  still 
left  in  the  average  figure  an  avoidable 
or  preventable  turnover  of,  say,  100  per 
cent,  and  the  industry  with  its  2,000,000 
employees  has  2,000,000  unnecessary 
separations.  Expert  estimates  of  the 
cost  of  labor  turnover  vary  from  $50 
to  $250  per  employee  hired,  trained  and 
separated.  With  an  average  figure  of 
only  $50,  this  item  would  mean  a  waste 
of  $100,000,000  due  to  this  one  cause  in 
this  one  industry. 

The  report  also  recommends  an  open 
interchange  of  ideas  and  business  re- 
sults by  managements,  both  in  the 
particular  industry  and  in  other  indus- 
tries, so  as  to  lead  to  a  higher  level  of 
methods,  service  and  general  business 
estimates.  It  also  urges  greater  stand- 
ardization, and  in  this  connection  it 
says: 

The  great  variety  of  designs  called 
for  by  those  who  buy  street  cars,  loco- 
motives, trucks  and  other  transporta- 
tion equipment  is  well  known  to  be 
capable  of  beneficial  limitation  if  all 
manufacturers  and  users  could,  through 
some  agency,  get  together  and  by  scien- 
tific study  of  the  problems,  not  only 
from  a  utility  or  service  standpoint  but 
from  a  manufacturing  standpoint  as 
well,  reduce  as  much  as  possible  the 
enormous  number  of  varieties,  styles 
and  types  now  required  to  be  built. 
Many  of  these  varieties  are  largely  a 
matter  of  personal  opinion  or  judgment 
of  the  buyers  who  have  not  had  the 
opportunity  to  study  the  subject  in  all 
its  phases.  A  great  deal  can  be  done 
toward  standardizing  the  designs  of 
these  products  and  thus  promoting  the 
best  interests  of  all  concerned. 


Correction  in  A.  S.  T.  M.  Report 

The  report  of  the  meeting  of  the 
American  Society  for  Testing  Materials, 
as  published  in  the  July  16  issue  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  page  103, 
intimated  that  the  proposed  tentative 
specifications  for  special  quality  carbon 
steel  rails  was  adopted  by  the  Associa- 
tion. Such  action  was  not  taken.  At  a 
meeting  of  Committee  A-l,  prior  to  the 
presenting  of  its  report  to  the  conven- 
tion, it  was  voted  to  withdraw  that  spec- 
ification, and  it  was  accordingly  re- 
ferred back  to  the  sub-committee.  Con- 
sequently, all  reference  to  it  in  Com- 
mittee A-l's  report  was  eliminated  and 


the  specification  was  not  submitted  to 
the  convention. 

Another  typographical  error  occurred 
under  the  topic  of  corrosion  of  iron  and 
steel  in  the  reference  to  the  tests  made 
in  the  Pittsburgh  district.  The  report 
as  published  stated  that  material  with 
0.06  per  cent  copper  or  more  failed  after 
five  months  exposure.  This  should  read 
fifty-two  months  "exposure. 


Iowa  Association  Meets 
at  Lake  Okoboji 

THE  Iowa  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion held  a  joint  meeting  on  June 
24  with  the  Iowa  section  of  the  N.  E. 
L.  A.  at  Lake  Okoboji,  la.  President 
H.  E.  Weeks,  vice-president  Tri-City 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  Davenport, 
la.,  was  re-elected  to  this  office  for  the 
ensuing  year,  as  were  also  the  other 
officers  of  the  association. 

Two  of  the  papers  presented  before 
this  meeting  have  already  appeared  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  one 
being  on  the  "Sale  of  Securities  by 
Utilities,"  by  H.  E.  Weeks,  which  ap- 
peared on  page  65  of  the  issue  of 
July  9,  and  the  other  on  "Valuation 
and  Rate  of  Return,"  by  L.  B.  King, 
appraisal  engineer,  United  Light  & 
Railways  Company,  Davenport,  la., 
which   appeared   on   page   104  of  the 


issue  of  July  16.  William  Chamberlain 
and  John  A.  Reed,  both  from  Cedar 
Rapids,  la.,  and  respectively  general 
counsel  for  the  United  Light  &  Rail- 
ways Company  and  the  Iowa  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  discussed  the  status 
of  the  Iowa  laws  pertaining  to  the 
regulation  of  utility  rates.  F.  J.  Hanlon, 
Mason  City,  la.,  gave  the  report  of  the 
legislative  committee  and  reviewed  the 
matters  that  had  come  before  the 
Legislature  of  interest  to  the  electric 
railways.  A  round-table  discussion  of 
wages,  the  open  shop,  rates  of  fare, 
jitneys,  etc.,  occupied  the  meeting  dur- 
ing the  afternoon. 

The  next  meeting  will  be  held  at 
Waterloo,  la.,  on  Sept.  16  and  17. 


Engineering  Foundation  Pushes 
Highway  Research 

PROF.  W.  K.  HATT  of  Purdue 
University  has  been  appointed  di- 
rector of  the  new  Advisory  Board  on 
Highway  Research  of  the  National 
Research  Council.  In  co-operation  with 
other  organizations,  active  research 
work  on  national  highway  questions 
will  be  started.  The  appointement  of 
other  committees  to  consider  vehicle 
designs,  economics  and  cost  of  trans- 
port, finance,  traffic  and  construction 
are  under  advisement. 


Bus  Committee  Meets 

ON  JULY  15  the  American  Associa- 
tion committee  on  trackless  trans- 
portation held  its  second  meeting  at 
headquarters.  This  meeting  was  for 
the  purpose  of  going  over  the  sub-com- 
mittee reports  that  had  been  prepared 
since  the  meeting  of  June  24.  Among 
those  present  were  H.  B.  Flowers, 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company 
of  Baltimore,  chairman,  and  the  follow- 
ing members;  C.  B.  Buchanan,  Virginia 
Railway  &  Power  Company;  F.  W. 
Fenn,  National  Automobile  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  New  York;  G.  A.  Green, 
Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Company;  H.  L. 
Howell,  National  Railway  Appliance 
Company,  New  York;  C.  W.  Kellogg, 
Stone  &  Webster  Company,  Boston;  C. 
J.  McPherson,  J.  G.  Brill  Company, 
Philadelphia;  H.  A.  Mullett,  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company; 
Albert  S.  Richey,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Others  in  attendance  were  J.  W.  Welsh, 
acting  secretary;  L.  D.  Miller,  Inter- 
national Motor  Truck  Company,  and 
E.  B.  Warriner,  assistant  secretary  Na- 
tional Automobile  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, New  York. 

The  sub-committees  presented  their 
reports  so  far  as  possible  but  many  had 
found  the  time  allowance  too  short 
properly  to  prepare  their  part  of  the  re- 
port. The  committee  discussed  in  de- 
tail the  question  of  publishing  figures 
concerning  the  cost  of  motor  bus  oper- 


ation. Mr.  Welsh  stated  that  there 
were  many  requests  for  this  sort  of  in- 
formation. Several  thought  such  fig- 
ures where  available  should  be  em- 
bodied in  the  report  or  at  least  made 
easy  of  access  for  those  interested. 

Another  meeting  is  to  be  held  the 
early  part  of  September  at  which  time 
the  sub-committee  reports  will  be  cor- 
related and  put  in  final  form  for  pres- 
entation at  the  convention. 


Stores  Accounting  Report 
Completed 

ON  JULY  25  the  Accountants  com- 
mittee on  stores  accounting  and 
the  Engineering  committee  on  purchase 
and  stores  met  jointly  at  association 
headquarters.  At  this  meeting  the  re- 
port of  the  committee  on  stores  account- 
ing was  completed  and  turned  over  to 
Acting  Secretary  Welsh  for  printing. 
The  report  presents  a  proposed  stand- 
ard classification  for  material  and  stock 
records  with  forms  to  illustrate  its  use. 
The  report  also  bears  the  approval  of 
the  purchase  and  stores  committee. 

Among  those  present  were  R.  A. 
Weston,  special  accountant  the  Con- 
necticut Company;  W.  H.  Staub,  United 
Railways  &  Electric  Company,  Balti- 
more; W.  L.  Davis,  Lehigh  Valley  Tran- 
sit Company,  Allentown,  Pa.,  and  John 
Fleming,  Capital  Traction  Company, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


175 


Convention  News 

ACTING  SECRETARY  WELSH  of  the 
association  announces  that  the  re- 
ports of  the  T.  &  T.  and  Engineering 
Committees  are  already  in  the  hands 
of  the  printer,  and  he  anticipates  now 
that  they  will  be  ready  for  distribution 
to  members  about  the  middle  of  Au- 
gust. In  view  of  the  fact  that  a  spe- 
cial feature  of  the  convention  this  year 
will  be  prepared  discussions  on  these 
reports,  this  early  distribution  will 
enable  a  careful  study  which  should  be 
reflected  on  the  floor  of  the  convention. 

The  1920  convention  proceedings  are 
now  practically  ready  for  distribution. 
The  delay  has  been  largely  due  to  a 
prolonged  strike  at  the  printing  plant 
in  Albany.  It  is  expected  to  ship  the 
completed  sets  the  early  part  of  Au- 
gust. 

Announcement  is  also  made  of  the 
appointment  of  E.  C.  Faber,  Aurora, 
Elgin  &  Chicago  Railroad,  as  chairman 
of  the  convention  entertainment  com- 
mittee. The  balance  of  the  personnel 
of  this  committee  will  be  announced 
shortly. 


Committee  on  Standard 
Classification 

THE  publication  in  recent  issues  of 
this  paper  of  a  series  of  accounting 
questions  and  answers  which  have 
received  the  approval  of  the  committee 
on  standard  classification  of  accounts 
of  the  Accountants'  Association  has 
brought  to  the  office  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  several  inquiries  as 
to  the  history  of  this  committee  and  its 
connection  with  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  With  the  assist- 
ance of  H.  L.  Wilson,  treasurer  Boston 
Elevated  Railway  and  chairman  of  the 
committee,  the  following  has  been  com- 
piled : 

The  American  Electric  Railway 
Accountants'  Association  held  an  or- 
ganization meeting  in  Cleveland  in 
1897,  and  at  that  meeting  it  was  the 
opinion  of  those  present  that  the  most 
important  thing  for  the  association  was 
the  adoption  of  a  standard  system  of 
accounts  by  which  an  intelligent  com- 
parison could  be  made  of  street  railway 
reports.  In  consequence  a  committee 
of  three,  composed  of  C.  N.  Duffy  of 
Chicago,  William  F.  Ham  of  Brooklyn 
and  J.  F.  Calderwood  of  Minneapolis, 
was  appointed  to  submit  such  a  class- 
ification. 

This  •  committee  promptly  performed 
its  work  and  submitted  a  report  at  the 
first  annual  convention  of  the  associa- 
tion, held  at  Niagara  Falls  in  October, 
1897.  This  report  was  carefully  con- 
sidered and  a  revised  report  was 
requested.  The  committee  was  con- 
tinued, and  at  the  next  annual  con- 
vention of  the  association,  held  in 
Boston  in  September,  1898,  it  submitted 
a  revised  report  which  was  adopted, 
and  the  classification  was  recommended 
for  general  use  by  all  railway  com- 
mittees. 

This  classification  was  in  such  form 
as  to  make  it  possible  for  the  smaller 


companies  to  keep  their  accounts  with- 
out undue  trouble  or  expense,  yet  was 
so  flexible  as  to  make  it  entirely  pos- 
sible and  practicable  for  the  larger 
companies  to  keep  their  accounts  in 
accordance  and  have  all  the  detailed  in- 
formation they  might  desire.  This 
classification  was  adopted  previous  to 
the  general  advent  of  interurban  roads, 
but  amendments  to  the  classification 
to  suit  interurban  practice  were  made 
and  adopted  at  the  convention  of  the 
association  held  in  Atlantic  City  in 
October,  1907. 

At  about  this  time  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  was  considering 
the  promulgation  of  a  system  of 
accounts  to  be  used  by  all  electric  rail- 
ways coming  under  its  jurisdiction, 
and  in  February,  1908,  the  commission 
issued  a  tentative  classification  which 
subsequently,  at  a  largely  attended 
meeting  held  in  Washington  on  May  12 
and  13,  1908,  was  somewhat  modified 
to  meet  the  views  of  those  representing 
the  electric  railways.  The  accountants' 
committee  and  representatives  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  spent 
the  following  week  in  making  up  a 
standard  classification  of  accounts, 
which  was  adopted  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  to  take  effect 
from  Jan.  1,  1909.  This  classification 
is  still  the  standard  classification  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  and 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Ac- 
countants' Association.  While  instruc- 
tions have  been  modified  since  that  date, 
the  text  of  the  accounts  has  not  been 
changed.  This  system  is  not  only  the 
official  one  of  the  I.  C.  C.  and  the 
American  Association,  but  it  has  been 
generally  adopted  by  all  the  State 
commissions  having  jurisdiction  over 
electric  railway  carriers'  accounts. 

At  the  time  the  text  was  prepared  it 
was  agreed  by  those  in  conference  that 
if  any  questions  were  submitted  direct 
to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
or  to  the  American  Association  before 
any  final  replies  were  sent  they  should 
be  jointly  considered  by  both  parties 
in  interest.  This  arrangement  has 
remained  in  force  ever  since,  and  the 
most  harmonious  relations  have  always 
existed  between  the  Bureau  of 
Accounts  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  and  the  Accountants' 
Association. 

Up  to  the  present  time  653  commun- 
ications have  been  submitted  direct  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
and  112  direct  to  the  Accountants' 
committee.  Some  of  the  inquiries  have 
contained  a  dozen  or  more  questions. 
Hardly  a  week  has  passed  and  at  cer- 
tain periods  hardly  a  day  without  some 
questions  relating  to  accounting  matters 
being  referred  to  the  committee,  and 
it  is  probably  true  that  no  committee 
of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Association  has  been  so  constantly 
called  upon  for  its  service  as  has  the 
committee  on  the  standard  classification 
of  accounts. 

Personnel  of  Committee 

There  have  been  but  few  changes  in 
this  committee  during  the  past  twenty- 


four  years.  The  present  committee 
consists  of  William  F.  Ham  of  Wash- 
ington, who  has  been  a  member  of  the 
committee  since  it  was  formed  in  1897; 
H.  L.  Wilson  of  Boston,  who  has  been 
a  member  of  the  committee  since  1898; 
W.  H.  Forse,  Jr.,  of  Anderson,  Ind., 
who  has  been  a  member  since  1907; 
R.  N.  Wallis  of  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  and 
P.  S.  Young  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  who 
have  been  members  since  1914. 

Other  members  of  the  committee  have 
been  as  follows:  C.  N.  Duffy,  1897-1905 
inclusive  and  1906-1908  inclusive;  J.  F. 
Calderwood,  1897-1905  inclusive;  H.  J. 
Davies  of  Cleveland,  1898-1900  inclu- 
sive; W.  G.  McDole,  1899-1907  inclu- 
sive; H.  C.  McKay,  1904-1905;  Frank 
R.  Henry,  1904-1907  inclusive;  E.  M. 
White,  1905-1906;  W.  B.  Brockway, 
1907-1914;  F.  E.  Smith,  1908-1914. 

C.  N.  Duffy  was  chairman  from  1897 
to  1905;  Mr.  Ham  from  1905  to  1911, 
and  Mr.  Wilson  since  1911. 


American  Electrolysis  Committee 
Completes  Report 

THE  American  committee  on  elec- 
trolysis, made  up  of  representations 
of  nine  national  organizations,  has  com- 
pleted another  report.  From  the  nature 
of  the  problem  it  was  decided  that  the 
entire  report  must  be  unanimously 
agreed  upon  by  all  the  representatives 
of  all  interests.  The  committee  on 
electrolysis  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association  has  accepted  the 
report  as  representing  a  valuable  con- 
tribution to  the  written  material  on  the 
subject  of  electrolysis.  Copies  of  the 
report,  which  goes  to  press  on  Aug.  1, 
will  shortly  be  available  to  members  at 
$1  each  upon  application  to  the  office 
of  the  railway  association. 

The  committee  was  first  organized  in 
1913,  and  in  1916  it  prepared  a  prelimi- 
nary report  confined  exclusively  to  a 
statement  of  facts  unanimously  agreed 
upon  and  drawn  up  with  the  idea  that 
it  would  form  the  basis  of  future  con- 
structive work.  The  entrance  of  the 
country  into  the  war  suspended  the 
work,  but  with  the  resumption  of  peace 
the  committee  was  reorganized  and  at- 
tacked its  problems  anew. 

The  work  was  subdivided  into  four 
parts,  each  of  which  was  handled  by  a 
separate  sub-committee;  namely:  Prin- 
ciples and  definitions;  design,  construc- 
tion, operation  and  maintenance;  meth- 
ods of  making  electrolysis  surveys;  the 
study  of  European  practice.  In  addi- 
tion to  those  there  was  a  special 
research  sub-committee  organized  to 
co-operate  with  the  Bureau  of  Stand- 
ards. 

The  American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation was  represented  on  the  commit- 
tee by  W.  J.  Harvie,  chairman  of  the 
American  Association  committee  on 
electrolysis;  G.  W.  Van  Dersee,  assist- 
ant general  manager  Milwaukee  Elec- 
tric Railway  &  Light  Company,  and  L. 
P.  Crecelius,  consulting  engineer,  each 
of  whom  served  on  different  sub-com- 
mittees. V.  B.  Phillips,  consulting  engi- 
neer, acted  as  expert  adviser  to  the 
association's  representatives. 


News  of  the  Eledric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE       ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


"Secret  Books"  Sought  by  State 

Another  move  in  the  fight  on  the  Chi- 
cago Surface  Lines  was  made  on  July 
19  when  State's  Attorney  Crowe  de- 
manded that  the  companies'  "secret 
books"  be  turned  over  to  him.  He  did 
not  intimate  the  purpose  for  this  de- 
mand, but  it  was  suggested  by  others 
that  it  had  been  inspired  by  Mayor 
Thompson,  with  whom  the  state's  attor- 
ney is  allied  politically. 

The  request  was  in  the  form  of  let- 
ters to  Henry  A.  Blair  and  Leonard  A. 
Busby,  executives  of  the  companies 
making  up  the  surface  lines.  Both 
sent  replies  "respectfully  declining"  to 
accede  to  the  demand  and  explaining 
that  there  are  no  "secret  books."  At- 
torney James  M.  Sheean,  for  the  Chi- 
cago Surface  Lines,  said: 

The  books  of  the  operating  company, 
the  Chicago  Surface  Lines,  show  all  operat- 
ing expenses.  After  they  are  audited  the 
city  gets  55  per  cent  of  the  net  divisible 
receipts  under  the  1907  traction  agreement 
with  the  city,  and  the  other  45  per  cent 
is  split  between  the  subsidiary  concerns. 
Mr.  Crowe's  demand  is  merely  a  scheme 
to  annoy  the  companies.  He  apparently 
wishes  to  know  how  the  stockholders  of  the 
various  companies  spend  their  dividend 
checks. 

Mayor  Thompson  has  been  trying  for 
several  years  to  get  possession  of  these 
individual  company  books  and  has  been 
refused  by  the  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion and  the  courts.  The  matter  was 
set  for  a  hearing  before  the  new  State 
Commerce  Commission  on  July  27.  Re- 
cently that  body  continued  until  Sept. 
13  the  hearing  on  the  proposed  abolish- 
ment of  skip  stops  in  Chicago. 


as  to  make  the  service  the  best  in  the 
country.  Philip  Hussey  was  the  oldest 
employee  at  the  outing.  He  has  been 
in  the  service  of  the  railway  for  fifty 
years. 

The  outing  was  a  success  and  fur- 
nished the  opportunity  for  renewing 
personal  acquaintances  that  are  not 
always  possible  during  working  hours. 
The  only  complaint  seemed  to  be  that 
the  outings  were  held  too  infrequently. 
Fifty-two  weeks  seemed  to  be  a  very 
long  interval. 


Connecticut  Company's  Outing 

The  annual  outing  of  the  employees 
of  the  Connecticut  Company  was  held 
July  21  at  Ocean  Beach,  New  London, 
Conn.  More  than  400  gathered  at 
Swift's  Pequot  Casino  for  a  shore 
dinner.  Music  for  the  occasion  was 
furnished  by  an  employees'  band  of 
twenty  pieces  under  the  direction  of 
I.  A.  May,  comptroller. 

After  dinner,  addresses  were  made 
by  Mayor  Morgan  of  New  London, 
and  James  Hammond,  secretary  of  the 
New  London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
Mayor  Morgan  complimented  the  Con- 
necticut Company  on  its  efforts  to 
render  efficient  service  and  wished  the 
company  the  best  of  success  in  the 
future.  Mr.  Hammond  said  that  he 
had  always  been  an  advocate  of  street 
railways  and  could  not  see  why  they 
should  not  always  be  a  success  when 
represented  by  such  a  highminded  type 
of  men. 

Remarks  were  also  made  by  Presi- 
dent Storrs  and  Vice-President  Punder- 
ford  of  the  railway.  Mr.  Storrs  an- 
nounced that  for  the  present  the  com- 
pany would  try  to  raise  its  standard 
of  efficiency  to  the  highest  per  cent  so 


Mr.  Chappelle  Returns  to  New 
Orleans 

C.  C.  Chappelle,  New  York,  repre- 
senting the  security  holders  of  the 
New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, New  Orleans,  La.,  has  returned 
to  that  city.  F.  W.  Ballard,  utility 
expert,  engaged  by  the  city  to  revalue 
the  property  of  the  railway,  is  expected 
in  New  Orleans  shortly.  It  is  antic- 
ipated that  Mr.  Ballard  will  bring  his 
previous  estimate  of  the  value  of  the 
property  of  the  company  of  $32,000,- 
000,  made  in  1918,  down  to  date.  The 
arrival  of  Messrs.  Chappelle  and  Bal- 
lard is  expected  to  hasten  action  on 
the  part  of  the  city  in  reaching  a 
decision  that  will  give  promise  of  a 
permanent  solution  of  the  city's  trol- 
ley problem. 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Chappelle  returns 
to  New  Orleans  clothed  with  power  of 
attorney  from  the  security  holders  of 
the  company  to  negotiate  a  settlement. 
He  said: 

I  have  returned  to  New  Orleans  in  the 
interests  of  the  security  holders"  commit- 
tees of  the  New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  whom  I  represented  in  the  nego- 
tiations "some  weeks  ago  and  whom  I  con- 
tinue to  represent. 

Due  to  ill  health  I  was  unable — in  con- 
nection with  those  negotiations — to  com- 
plete certain  investigations  in  reference  to 
operating  and  physical  conditions  of  the 
property. 

While  the  delay  is  to  be  regretted,  the 
general  exchange  among  yourselves  as  to 
views,  methods,  means  and  conditions  to  be 
met  for  the  permanent  solution  of  your 
utility  problem  should  be  helpful  and  prog- 
ress has  been  made. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  present  and  dis- 
cuss some  of  the  laws  of  economics  and 
business  principles  affecting  the  solution 
of  your  public  utility  problem. 

My  position  then  and  now  is  that  a  per- 
manent solution,  can  only  be  accomplished 
by  co-operation  of  the  public  and  through 
constructive  action  by  the  Commission 
Council.  I  can  add  nothing  further  to  my 
previous  expressions. 


Negotiations  to  Select  Neutral  Mem- 
bers.— Negotiations  are  taking  place  to 
select  a  neutral  member  of  the  board 
of  arbitration  in  the  wage  dispute  be- 
tween the  Schenectady  (N.  Y.)  Railway 
and  its  employees.  The  men  are  now 
working  at  45  cents  an  hour,  which  is 
the  company's  proposal  pending  the  re- 
sult of  the  arbitration  proceedings.  The 
rate  fixed  by  the  board  will  be  retro- 
active to  May  1. 


Ordinance  Introduced  to  Oust 
Detroit  United  Railway 

The  fight  between  the  city  of  Detroit 
and  the  Detroit  United  Railway  was 
renewed  when  the  ordinance  was  intro- 
duced into  the  City  Council  to  require 
and  direct  the  railway  to  cease  opera- 
tion of  its  cars  upon  and  over  sections 
of  Fort  Street  and  Woodward  Avenue 
where  franchises  have  expired,  and  re- 
move therefrom  all  its  property,  and 
providing  for  the  time  within  which  it 
shall  be  done. 

The  ordinance  was  introduced  upon 
the  request  of  Mayor  Couzens  after  the 
city's  offer  for  the  lines  in  question  had 
been  rejected  by  the  ccmpany.  The  or- 
dinance was  read  twice  by  title  and 
ordered  printed  and  laid  on  the  table, 
no  further  action  to  be  taken  for  one 
week.  This  is  the  first  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  Mayor  to  have  the  D.  U.  R. 
ejected  from  the  streets. 

While  it  has  been  conceded  that  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  the  company  from 
dispensing  with  service  on  the  lines 
immediately,  the  Mayor  believes  that 
such  action  will  not  be  taken  by  the 
company,  since  it  would  interrupt  inter- 
urban  service. 

According  to  Joseph  S.  Goodwin,  of 
the  municipal  system,  the  only  value 
that  the  tracks  represent  to  the  people 
of  Detroit  is  the  estimated  value  that 
can  be  placed  on  them  as  a  means  of 
transportation  for  the  people  until  such 
time  as  the  tracks  can  be  entirely  rebuilt 
to  carry  heavy  traffic,  or  until  more  ad- 
vanced means  of  transportation  are  pro- 
vided. The  Mayor  stated  that  out  of 
consideration  for  the  public  the  offer 
had  been  made  for  the  line  to  make  the 
transfer  of  ownership  as  easy  as  pos- 
sible for  the  railway  patrons. 

The  Mayor  proposes  to  lay  temporary 
tracks  necessary  to  preserve  service. 
To  care  for  the  Woodward  Avenue  traf- 
fic, railway  lines  will  be  built  by  the 
city  for  its  cars  on  paralleling  streets, 
one  block  each  side  of  Woodward 
Avenue. 

Since  the  recommendation  has  been 
handed  down  by  the  Utilities  Commis- 
sion as  to  the  proper  type  of  crossing 
to  install  where  the  city  tracks  cross 
existing  tracks  of  the  Detroit  United 
Railway,  work  is  being  pushed  with  a 
view  to  getting  the  crossings  installed 
so  that  service  can  be  started  on  the 
additional  city  lines. 

W.  E.  Davis,  Cleveland,  has  been 
named  as  the  third  member  and  chair- 
man of  the  board  of  arbitration,  which 
will  endeavor  to  fix  the  price  that  the 
city  will  pay  for  the  day-to-day  line. 
Prof.  Henry  E.  Riggs  and  William  H. 
Maybury  are  the  other  members  of  the 
board.  Professor  Riggs  will  be  the 
company's  representative.  Mr.  May- 
bury  will  represent  the  city. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


177 


Wage  Cuts  in  New  York 

Interborough,  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
and  Brooklyn  City  Employees  Accept 
Ten  per  Cent  Cut 

As  a  result  of  recent  negotiations 
between  Frank  Hedley,  president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  employees,  the  men  accepted 
a  10  per  cent  reduction  in  wages  effec- 
tive July  24.  The  new  agreement, 
which  will  remain  in  force  until  June 
30,  1922,  affects  about  15,000  men,  who 
shared  in  the  increase  of  June,  1920. 
Its  effect  upon  the  company  is  a  sav- 
ing of  about  $2,600,000. 

The  old  and  new  wage  agreements 
are  as  follows: 

—  Cents  per  Hour  — . 

Old  Rate     New  Rate 

Motormen   86  78 

Guards  '.   58  53 

Laborers   48-58  44-53 

Mechanical  fo.ces   65-80  58-72 

In  its  request  of  July  8  the  com- 
pany placed  before  the  committee  of 
the  Brotherhood  of  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Employees  the  fact  that  a 
receivership  certainly  faced  the  com- 
pany unless  some  tangible  saving  in 
the  revenue  could  be  effected.  On  re- 
ceipt of  the  acceptance  of  the  new 
working  arrangement  the  management 
expressed  its  appreciation  of  the  men's 
co-operation. 

A  similar  wage  reduction  -  for  em- 
ployees of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
Company  to  become  effective  Aug.  5, 
has  been  announced  by  L.  M.  Garrison, 
receiver  of  the  property.  This  reduction 
for  old  employees  averages  substan- 
tially 10  per  cent,  with  a  greater  re- 
duction in  rates  of  pay  for  some  classes 
of  new  employees. 

For  conductors  and  motormen  on  the 
surface  lines  the  following  schedule 
will  be  in  effect: 


as  may  be  necessary  to  maintain  a 
minimum  of  eight  hours  and  forty-five 
minutes  for  regular  runs,  will  be 
eliminated. 

For  conductors  and  trainmen  of  the 
rapid  transit  lines  the  scale  is  as  shown 
in  the  table  at  the  bottom  of  this  page. 

Under  the  old  rate  conductors  on  the 
rapid  transit  lines  for  the  first  six 
months  received  *59  cents,  next  twelve 
months  60  cents  and  after  eighteen 
months  62  cents.  The  guards  for  the 
first  six  months  were  paid  53  cents, 
next  twelve  months  54  cents  and  after 
eighteen  months  57  cents. 

Schedules  are  to  be  arranged  so  that 
50  per  cent  of  the  swing  runs  shall  be 
completed  within  a  spread  of  twelve 
hours,  and  the  other  50  per  cent  within 
a  spread  of  thirteen  hours. 

A  similar  reduction  in  rates  of  pay 
and  changes  in  working  conditions, 
effective  the  same  date,  will  be  made 
and  applied  to  all  other  classes  of 
hourly-rated  employees  whose  wages 
were  increased  in  accordance  with  the 
receiver's  notice  of  July  16,  1920. 

This  same  general  average  reduction 
in  rates  of  pay  will  also  apply  to  all 
classes  of  the  clerical  and  supervisory 
forces  which  received  the  increase 
authorized  by  the  receiver's  notice  of 
July  16,  1920.  In  cases  where  any  in- 
dividual or  class  in  the  clerical  and 
supervisory  forces  was  increased  last 
year  by  an  amount  less  than  the  per- 
centage applying  to  the  hourly-rated 
employees,  the  reduction  made  effec- 
tive Aug.  5,  1921,  will  be  correspond- 
ingly less. 

This  reduction  does  not  apply  to  the 
800  motormen,  signalmen  and  tower- 
men  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
system  who  are  members  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers. 
Their  agreement  does  not  expire  until 
Jan.  1,  but  it  is  reported  that  they 
are  considering  a  suggestion   by  the 


—  Cents  per  Hour  — . 
Old  Rate       New  Rate 


Grade  A  (5th  year  of  service  and  thereafter)   60 

B  (4th  year  of  service)   67  55 

C  (3rd  year  of  service)   62  52 

D  (2nd  year  of  service)   59  50 

E  (2nd  six  months  of  service)   *57  48 

F  ( 1st  six  months  of  service)   *57  45 


*  Same  rate  of  pay  prevailed  for  first  year. 


Existing  schedules  are  to  be  changed 
as  soon  as  practicable  so  as  to  provide 
for  all  regular  runs  a  minimum  of 
eight  hours  and  forty-five  minutes, 
with  a  maximum  of  ten  hours  and 
thirty  minutes,  with  the  understanding 
that  as  many  runs  be  made  ten  hours 
as  may  be  found  practicable. 

Work  in  excess  of  ten  hours  and 
thirty  minutes  to  be  paid  for  at  the 
rate  of  time  and  one-half. 

All  time  allowances  as  provided  for 
in  the  former  regulations,  except  such 


company  to  accept  a  similar  reduction. 

H.  Hobart  Porter,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Brooklyn  City 
Railroad,  stated  that  arrangements 
similar  to  those  announced  by  Re- 
ceiver Garrison  as  having  been  agreed 
to  by  the  employees  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  System  would  be  made 
with  the  employees  of  the  Brooklyn 
City  Railroad,  the  negotiations  lead- 
ing to  these  arrangements  having  been 
carried  out  jointly  by  the  receiver  and 
the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad. 


Cents  per  Hour 

Conductors.    Grade  A  (3rd  year  of  service  and  thereafter)   55 

B  (2nd  year  of  service)   54 

C  ( 1st  year  of  service)   53 

Trainmen.      Grade  A  (5th  year  of  service  and  thereafter)   51 

B  (3rd  year  of  service)   49 

C  (2nd  year  of  service) .  .   47 

D  (2nd  six  months  of  service)   46 

E  ( 1st  six  months  of  service)   45 


Montreal  Would  Cut  Men 
20  per  Cent 

An  amicable  outcome  is  expected  in 
the  negotiations  between  the  Montreal 
(Can.)  Tramways  and  its  employees 
arising  from  the  company's  proposal  to 
put  into  effect  on  Aug.  1  a  wage  reduc- 
tion of  20  per  cent.  The  majority  of 
the  men  are  showing  a  conciliatory  atti- 
tude, and  each  side  has  been  meeting 
the  wishes  of  the  other  in  the  matter 
of  conferences  to  discuss  the  situation. 
Several  of  these  informal  meetings 
have  been  held  within  the  past  week, 
but  on  July  25  matters  had  not  yet 
reached  a  stage  where  a  definite  result 
could  be  announced. 

The  present  rate  of  wages  is  as  fol- 
lows:   Conductors  and  motormen  first 

year,  45  cents  an  hour;  second  year, 
50  cents  an  hour;  third  year  and  subse- 
quent years,  55  cents  an  hour.  Inspec- 
tors, instructors  and  depot  clerks  (day), 
$175  a  month.  Depot  clerks  (night), 
first  year,  $160  a  month,  thereafter 
$170  a  month.  Track  sanders  (hill 
men),  85  cents  an  hour. 

This  scale  has  been  in  effect  since 
July  1,  1920,  and  represents  an  increase 
of  approximately  20  per  cent  over  that 
in  force  for  the  previous  year,  which 
in  turn  was  30  per  cent  higher  than 
that  in  force  before  July  1,  1919.  The 
company's  proposal,  therefore,  will  re- 
store the  scale  approximately  to  that 
in  effect  from  July  1,  1919,  to  July  1, 
1920. 

The  present  maximum  of  55  cents  an 
hour  represents  an  average  increase  of 
131  per  cent  over  the  maximum  of  25 
cents  in  force  in  1914,  although  in  the 
case  of  the  younger  men  the  percentage 
of  increase  was  considerably  higher. 

In  April  of  this  year,  J.  E.  Hutche- 
son,  general  manager  of  the  company, 
notified  A.  Lacombe,  president  of  the 
employees'  union,  that  it  was  the  com- 
pany's intention  to  terminate  the  exist- 
ing agreement  on  wages  and  working 
conditions,  which  was  entered  into  on 
Aug.  27  of  last  year,  and  was  based  on 
the  award  of  a  board  of  conciliation  and 
enquiry  appointed  by  the  Dominion  De- 
partment of  Labor.  The  agrement  cov- 
ered the  year  from  July  1,  1920,  to  June 
30,  1921,  and  was  automatically  renew- 
able by  default  of  either  party  to  give 
at  least  thirty  days'  notice  of  intention 
to  discontinue  the  same.  By  agreement, 
the  status  quo  was  continued  in  July, 
pending  the  company's  submission  of  a 
proposal  to  the  men,  and  early  in  the 
month  the  union  was  notified  of  the  pro- 
posed 20  per  cent  reduction.  Failing 
an  agreement  by  negotiation,  the  issue 
will  probably  be  submitted  to  arbitra- 
tion, and  there  seems  no  immediate 
danger  of  a  strike. 


Arbitrators  Reduce  Pay  Scale. — The 

pay  of  motormen  and  conductors  in 
the  employ  of  the  Youngstown  &  Ohio 
River  Railroad,  operating  an  interurban 
line  between  East  Liverpool  and  Salem, 
has  been  cut  5  cents  an  hour.  The  old 
scale  was  from  55  to  65  cents  an  hour. 
The  new  award,  the  result  of  arbitra- 
tion, is  retroactive  to  July  1. 


178 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


Mr.  Gadsden  on  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce Transportation  Committee 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
United  States  has  just  announced  its 
appointments  for  the  ensuing  fiscal 
year  of  the  personnel  of  two  commit- 
tees dealing  with  the  subject  of  trans- 
portation and  communication.  Under 
the  departmental  organization  of  the 
national  chamber,  an  executive  com- 
mittee for  the  department  of  trans- 
portation and  communication  has  been 
appointed,  the  members  representing 
the  various  divisions  of  the  industry. 
The  committee  consists  of  the  follow- 
ing men: 

Chairman,  Howard  Elliott,  New  York  ; 
vice-chairman,  Lewis  B.  Stillwell,  New 
York  ;  utilities — Edwin  O.  Edgerton,  San 
Francisco ;  railroads — George  A.  Post, 
New  York  ;  and  Wilmer  W.  Salmon, 
Rochester ;  marine — H.  H.  Raymond,  New 
York,  and  J.  M.  Whitsitt,  Charleston  ;  high- 
ways— A.  J.  Brosseau,  New  York  ;  electric 
railways — Philip  H.  Gadsden,  Philadelphia  ; 
waterways — Douglas  Fiske,  Minneapolis  ; 
port  terminals — B.  F.  Cresson.  Jr.  New 
York  ;  communications — John  J.  Carty, 
New  York  ;  postal — Lucius  Teter,  Chicago. 

The  chamber  has  also  appointed  a 
special  railroad  committee  with  George 
A.  Post,  chairman. 

The  departmental  plan  of  the  cham- 
ber with  respect  to  transportation  and 
communication  is  a  recent  develop- 
ment of  the  work  of  the  United  States 
Chamber  and  this  department  has  been 
organized  under  the  direction,  as  man- 
ager, of  J.  Rowland  Bibbins,  formerly 
supervising  engineer  of  The  Arnold 
Company,  Chicago.  The  department 
will  carry  on  the  former  work  of  rail- 
road and  marine  transport  with  Richard 
Waterman  and  N.  Sumner  Myrick.  for- 
merly secretaries  of  the  railroad  and  ma- 
rine committees,  and  this  work  will  be 
extended  into  other  related  fields  of 
transportation.  It  is  expected  that  high- 
ways, waterways  and  electric  railways 
will  occupy  immediate  attention. 


Wage  Reduction  Proposed  in 
Kentucky 

A  general  reduction  in  wages  of  all 
employees  of  the  South  Covington  & 
Cincinnati  Street  Railway,  amounting 
to  approximately  10  cents  an  hour,  has 
been  submitted  by  the  company  to 
members  of  the  railway  union  at  Cov- 
ington, Ky.,  for  their  approval. 

Provided  the  men  agree  to  accept  the 
new  wage  scale  it  will  go  into  effect 
on  Aug.  7,  when  the  present  agreement 
expires.  If  it  is  rejected,  the  question 
will  be  submitted  to  an  arbitration 
board  for  settlement. 

The  proposed  new  scale  for  conduc- 
tors and  motormen  on  the  Green  Line 
fixes  45  cents  an  hour  for  the  first 
three  months.  48  cents  an  hour  for  the 
next  nine  months  and  50  cents  an  hour 
thereafter.  Their  present  scale  is  54 
cents  an  hour  for  the  next  nine  months 
and  60  cents  an  hour  thereafter. 

The  new  scale  for  carhouse  men  and 
other  employees  ranges  from  30  cents 
to  51  cents  an  hour  against  the  present 
scale  of  from  45  cents  to  62 J  cents  an 
hour. 

Extra  men  at  present  are  guaranteed 


210  hours  or  $105  a  month.  They  are 
offered  a  straight  salary  of  $75  a  month 
under  the  new  scale.  The  present  scale 
has  been  in  effect  since  Aug.  7,  1920. 

The  new  scale  is  equivalent  to  the 
reduction  in  wages  recently  put  into 
effect  after  negotiations  between  em- 
ployees and  officials  of  the  Cincinnati 
(Ohio)  Traction  Company. 

The  men  have  since  rejected  the  re- 
duction proposal. 


Power  Hearings  at  Toledo  in 
August 

Announcement  has  been  made  at 
Toledo,  Ohio,  that  the  power  rate  hear- 
ing before  the  Ohio  Public  Utilities 
Commission  has  been  set  for  Aug.  3, 
4  and  5.  The  points  at  issue  will 
be  the  valuation  of  the  property  of 
the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company, 
used  in  producing  the  power;  the  de- 
preciation on  the  plant;  rate  of  return 
on  investment;  and  whether  or  not  a 
demand  charge  or  a  fixed  charge  shall 
be  made  along  with  a  consumption 
charge. 

The  Rail-Light  has  proposed  a 
charge  of  $30  a  year  per  kilowatt 
of  demand  and  11  cents  per  kilo- 
watt-hour for  energy  actually  used. 
This  is  regarded  as  so  excessive  by  the 
street  railway  commissioner  that  he 
has  made  no  offer  to  the  company. 

So  far  the  company  has  been  pay- 
ing approximately  2.40  cents  per 
kilowatt-hour  for  power.  Whatever 
excess  there  is  in  this  will  be  refunded 
to  Feb.  1  when  a  rate  is  finally  estab- 
lished and  approved  by  the  commis- 
sioner. 

Prof.  H.  E.  Riggs,  of  the  University 
of  Michigan,  who  was  engaged  to  value 
the  properties  and  assist  in  the  pres- 
entation of  the  case  has  worked  out 
five  valuations  on  different  bases.  The 
Rail-Light  wants  its  rate  to  be  set 
on  basis  of  a  1919  reproduction  valua- 
tion of  the  plant. 

It  is  believed  that  action  by  the 
utilities  commission  may  be  final  in 
settling  the  dispute  which  has  gone 
since  the  beginning  of  operation  under 
the  service-at-cost  plan.  It  also  may 
tend  to  wipe  out  considerable  of  the 
deficit  already  piled  up. 


Interurban  Cuts  Wages 

Announcement  has  been  made  by  the 
Marion  &  Bluffton  Traction  Company, 
Marion,  Ind.,  of  wage  cuts  effective  on 
Aug.  1  which  affect  every  class  of  em- 
ployees. The  average  reduction  will  be 
approximately  12i  per  cent,  with  the 
range  in  reductions  running  from  10  to 
15  per  cent.  Trainmen  will  have  their 
wages  reduced  5  cents  an  hour  while 
section  hands  will  be  cut  from  30  cents 
to  25  cents  an  hour  for  a  ten-hour  day. 

In  its  statement  announcing  the  re- 
duction the  company  declared  that  the 
lower  wage  scale  is  in  line  with  a  gen- 
eral retrenchment  policy.  It  is  alleged 
that  receipts  have  shown  a  notable  fall- 
ing off  during  the  past  year. 


Dayton  Strike  Settled 

The  strike  of  the  electric  railway  em- 
ployees at  Dayton,  Ohio,  was  termi- 
nated on  July  21,  following  the  signing 
of  an  agreement  between  the  Peoples' 
Street  Railway  and  the  Dayton  Street 
Railway  and  their  employees.  The 
walkout  occurred  on  July  6. 

Both  sides  claim  victory,  and  the  re- 
sumption of  service  finds  both  parties 
to  the  contest  in  amicable  mood,  ap- 
parently. The  principal  point  at  issue 
was  that  of  wages.  The  company  of- 
fered 45  cents  an  hour  and  the  men  de- 
manded 52  cents.  The  men  formerly 
received  62  cents,  but  under  the  agree- 
ment will  receive  48,  a  compromise  rate. 

The  men  feel  that  they  gained  not 
a  little  by  the  terms,  with  the  inclusion 
of  arbitration  and  working  agreement 
clauses  in  the  settlement.  The  company 
is  elated  over  the  settlement  in  favor  of 
the  "open  shop." 

As  a  result  of  the  settlement  of  the 
controversy  and  the  acceptance  on  the 
part  of  the  men  of  a  lower  wage,  the 
City  Commission  of  Dayton  is  expected 
to  reduce  the  fare  from  7  to  5  cents. 
Steps  are  beiner  taken  toward  that  end 
at  the  present  time. 

It  is  anticipated  that  similar  wage 
and  working  term  agreements  will  be 
entered  into  by  the  Oakwood  Street 
Railway  and  the  Dayton  &  Xenia  Elec- 
tric Railway. 


Canadian  Radial  Hearing's 
Concluded 

The  long  drawn-out  inquiry  into  the 
advisability  of  the  Hydro-Electric  Com- 
mission of  Ontario  embarking  on  a 
large  scheme  of  radial  railway  con- 
struction and  operation  terminated  on 
July  2  with  the  summing  up  by  I.  F. 
Hellmuth,  K.  C,  counsel  for  the  com- 
mission. Mr.  Hellmuth's  argument  was 
distinctly  hostile  to  the  undertaking. 

In  dealing  with  the  financial  aspects 
of  the  proposition,  he  referred  to  the 
evidence  of  E.  C.  Clarkson,  chartered 
accountant,  who  had  shown  the  large 
provincial  commitments  already  under- 
taken and  pointed  to  the  danger  of 
straining  provincial  credit  and  having 
to  pay  higher  rates  of  interest  for  bor- 
rowed money.  As  a  result  of  their  bor- 
rowings, the  government  and  the  Hydro 
Commission  had  forced  the  interest  rate 
on  capital  up  to  more  than  6  per  cent. 
Ontario  was  committed  to  the  policy  of 
public  ownership,  but  it  could  not  force 
this  policy  down  the  throats  of  United 
States  bankers  and  financiers  who  ad- 
vised the  investors. 

In  consequence  it  would  be  difficult 
to  float  bonds  for  publicly-owned  hydro 
radials  in  the  United  States.  Money 
could  not  be  raised  in  England.  Inves- 
tors there,  instead  of  buying  Canadian 
securities,  were  sending  what  they 
already  held  to  Canada  for  sale.  The 
money,  if  required,  would  have  to  be 
raised  in  Ontario.  . 

Testimony  at  the  hearings  has  been 
published  from  time  to  time  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  extending 
over  a  period  of  months. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


179 


Wages  Cut  on  Key  Route 

By  a  vote  425  to  201,  platform  men 
of  the  Key  Route  and  traction  lines 
of  the  San  Francisco-Oakland  Ter- 
minal Railway  have  voluntarily  ac- 
cepted a  reduction  in  their  wages  of 
6  cents  an  hour.  The  new  schedule 
will  become  effective  on  Aug.  1. 

W.  R.  Alberger,  general  manager  of 
the  company,  in  a  joint  statement  with 
W.  J.  Moorehead,  president  of  the 
union,  said  that  investigations  were 
made  and  statistics  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Labor  consulted 
in  fixing  the  rate. 

The  new   wage   scale  follows: 

Traction  Line — First  three  months, 
52  cents  an  hour. 

Next  nine  months,  55  cents  an  hour. 

Second  year  and  thereafter,  59  cents 
an  hour. 

Key  Route — First  three  months,  54 
cents  an  hour. 

Next  nine  months,  57  cents  an  hour. 

Second  year  and  thereafter,  61  cents 
an  hour. 

The  new  scale  is  the  result  of  con- 
ferences between  the  company  and 
the  union  officials.  These  conferences 
were  made  possible  by  an  agreement 
made  a  year  ago  whereby  either  side 
could  open  negotiations  for  an  adjust- 
ment of  wages  every  six  months. 


Plea  Rejected  to  Set  Aside 
Arbitration  Award 

A.  C.  Blinn,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Northern  Ohio 
Traction  &  Light  Company,  Akron, 
Ohio,  has  refused  union  pleas  to  set 
aside  the  recent  wage  arbitration 
award.  Following  the  decision  of  the 
arbitration  board,  the  men  appealed 
to  the  company  to  disregard  the 
award. 

In  a  letter  to  W.  B.  Fitzgerald,  vice- 
president  of  the  Amalgamated  Asso- 
ciation, Mr.  Blinn  reviewed  the  whole 
chain  of  circumstances  leading  up  to 
arbitration.  It  was  only  after  a  strike 
of  seven  days  during  which  the  public 
served  by  the  company  was  greatly  in- 
convenienced and  the  company  lost  in 
receipts  about  $150,000  that  the  men 
agreed  to  accept  arbitration.  Mr. 
Blinn  dismisses  the  contention  that  the 
wages  awarded  were  not  comparable 
with  wages  paid  on  other  properties 
by  citing  wage  scales  on  the  Cleveland 
interurbans. 

On  the  very  important  issue  of  the 
direct  request  to  ignore  the  award  of 
the  arbitration  board  Mr.  Blinn  said: 

This  award  was  from  1  to  2  cents  an 
hour  lower  than  the  offer  the  company 
marie  before  the  trainmen  went  out  on 
strike.  Neither  the  wage  offered  by  the 
company  to  prevent  a  str!ke.  nor  the  wage 
requested  by  the  men  was  involved  in  the 
arbitration  proceedings.  The  function  of 
the  board  of  arbitration  was  to  determine 
a  reasonable  wage  and  in  rendering  its 
award  we  must  assume  that  neither  the 
wage  offered  by  the  company  nor  the  wage 
requested  by  the  men  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  board's  judgment  as  to  what  was  a 
reasonable  wage  under  all  the  circum- 
stances ;  certainly  the  members  of  the 
board  were  not  entitled  to  consider  either. 

Inasmuch  as  both  sides  solemnly  aereed 
to  be  bound  by  the  award  of  the  arbitra- 
tors the  company  does  not  feel  that  it 
should    be    called    upon    to   disregard  the 


award  any  more  than  the  trainmen  would 
so  feel  in  the  event  the  board  of  arbitra- 
tion has  awarded  them  the  wage  they  re- 
quested and  the  company  should  now  be 
calling  upon  the  trainmen  to  disregard  the 
award  of  the  arbitrators  and  voluntarily 
reduce  their  wages.  If  the  trainmen  had 
been  awarded  the  wages  they  requested,  not- 
withstanding the  payment  of  it  might  have 
put  the  company  in  bankruptcy,  the  com- 
pany would  have  been  held  strictly  to  the 
award  and  it  would  have  been  subjected 
to  much  ridicule  by  your  organization  had 
it  suggested  that  the  award  be  set  aside 
in  its  favor. 

Your  request  cannot  be  granted.  To  do 
so  would  make  a  complete  farce  of  the 
arbitration  proceedings.  It  would  establish 
a  most  dangerous  precedent  by  which 
future  arbitrations  would  to  a  great  ex- 
tent be  affected  not  only  in  arbitrations 
between  this  company  and  its  employees, 
but  arbitrations  for  the  settlement  of  labor 
disputes  throughout  this  territory. 


Beaver  Valley  Wages  Reduced 

A  new  wage  agreement  was  con- 
cluded by  the  Beaver  Valley  Traction 
Company,  New  Brighton,  Pa.,  with  its 
trainmen  on  July  18.  The  rate  of  wages 
for  the  trainmen  in  the  employ  of  that 
company  and  the  Pittsburgh  &  Beaver 
Street  Railway  during  the  period  begin- 
ning May  1,  1921,  and  ending  April  30, 
1922,  both  inclusive,  follows : 


From  May  1,  1921,  to  May  31.  1921: 

First  three  months  54  cents 

Next  nine  months  57  cents 

After  one  year  63  cents 

From  June  1  to  June  30,  1921: 

First  three  months  49  cents 

Next  nine  months  52  cents 

After  one  year  58  cents 

From  July  1  to  April  30,  1922: 

First  three  months  44  cents 

Next  nine  months  47  cents 

After  one  year  53  cents 

The  5-cent  reduction   in  June  was 


made  effective  by  reason  of  an  agree- 
ment entered  into  on  June  7  and  made 
retroactive  as  of  June  1. 

As  noted  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  June  18,  W.  H.  Boyce, 
general  manager  of  the  company,  re- 
cently asked  his  trainmen  to  assume  a 
part  of  the  $93,000  loss  which  faces  the 
company  for  the  coming  year. 

Interurban  Men  Cut  16  2-3 
per  Cent 

The  wage  controversy  between  em- 
ployees and  management  of  the 
Rochester  &  Syracuse  Railway,  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y.,  was  settled  on  July  24  by 
a  decision  of  the  arbitration  board  an- 
nouncing a  16if  per  cent  cut.  This  re- 
duction brings  the  wages  of  platform 
men  from  62  to  52  cents  an  hour  for 
a  ten-hour  day.  A  proportionate  re- 
duction also  affects  substation  OTera- 
tors,  ticket  men,  bridge  and  shop  men. 
Common  laborers  must  submit  to  a  26 
per  cent  cut. 

The  Empire  State  Railway's  em- 
ployees will  receive  $4  94  a  day  or  25 
cents  less  than  the  Rochester  &  Syra- 
cuse men.  They  will  work  on  a  nine- 
hour-day  basis. 

Arrangements  are  pending  for  a 
private  arbitration  between  the  em- 
ployees and  management  of  the  Auburn 
&  Syracuse  property. 

Number  of  Trainmen  Reduced. — Fol- 
lowing refusal  of  members  of  the  union 
to  accept  a  wage  reduction  the  Wheel- 
ing (W.  Va.)  Traction  Company  laid 
off  forty  men  and  began  operation  of 
one-man  cars  in  order  to  curtail  ex- 
penses. 


Court  Orders  Wages  Reduced 

E.  J.  Triay,  receiver  for  the  Jackson- 
ville (Fla.)  Traction  Company,  has 
secured  an  order  from  Judge  R.  M. 
Call  of  the  United  States  Court  for 
the  southern  district  of  Florida,  author- 
izing the  reduction  of  wages  of  train- 
men, 2  cents  an  hour.  The  scale 
starting  at  40  cents  under  the  old 
order,  drops  now  to  38  cents. 

The  increase  in  fare  to  7  cents  has 
cut  travel,  according  to  statistics  pro- 
duced by  the  receiver  and  while  the 
advance  from  5  to  7  cents  was  a  40 
per  cent  increase,  receipts  have  ad- 
vanced only  7  per  cent  during  the 
twenty-eight  weeks  of  7-cent  fare. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  re- 
ceiver appealed  to  the  judge,  saying 
that  a  further  fare  increase- would  not 
suffice,  leaving  the  reduction  of  oper- 
ating expense  as  the  only  avenue  open. 
He  stated  that  other  departments 
were  accepting  reductions  similar  to 
those  proposed  for  the  trainmen — 5 
per  cent. 

Wages  of  the  trainmen  have  been 
increased  almost  100  per  cent  since 
1914. 


East  St.  Louis  Cuts  Wages 

A  threatened  strike  of  motormen  and 
conductors  (Amalgamated)  of  the  East 
St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  East 
St.  Louis,  111.,  has  not  materialized  fol- 
lowing the  failure  of  the  effort  of  the 
men  in  United  States  District  Court  to 
restrain  the  company  from  paying  51 
instead  of  70  cents  an  hour  on  the  July 
payroll. 

The  employees  had  declared  they  would 
not  accept  the  cut  in  pay  which  went 
into  effect  on  July  1.  The  Federal 
Court  ruling  was  handed  down  on  July 
23,  and  on  July  25,  all  of  the  employees 
of  the  company  had  accepted  their  pay 
envelopes. 

In  his  decision,  Federal  Judge  English 
also  denied  a  motion  to  dissolve  the  tem- 
porary injunction  restraining  a  board 
of  arbitration  from  holding  hearings 
in  an  effort  to  decide  a  wage  scale  for 
motormen  and  conductors,  the  board  be- 
ing composed  of  William  Maffitt  Bates, 
an  attorney,  as  chairman;  Hunter  B. 
Keith,  representing  the  union,  and  C.  E. 
Smith,  a  consulting  engineer,  represent- 
ing the  company. 

Judge  English  pointed  out  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Smith  was  forced  to  resign 
on  account  of  pressure  of  other  business. 
The  two  other  members  had  continued 
to  hold  meetings  and  Judge  English  in 
his  decision  held  that  without  Mr.  Smith 
the  board  had  no  authority.  In  effect, 
the  body  ceased  to  be  a  board  of  arbi- 
tration. 

W.  H.  Sawyer,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, has  offered  to  have  the  wage  ques- 
tion submitted  to  a  new  board,  but  the 
men  have  declined.  They  are  now  wait- 
ing on  the  final  decision  of  whether  the 
temporary  injunction  sha'l  be  made 
permanent.  In  the  meantime  the  com- 
pany went  back  to  and  is  naying1  the 
scale  which  the  War  Labor  Board  estab- 
lished and  which  was  in  effect  until 
April,  1920. 


180 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


son  said,  was  to  maintain  one  system 
of  electric  railways  on  a  financial 
basis  that  would  endure  for  years  to 
come. 


$93,500,000  Cut  in  Capital 

Pittsburgh    Reorganization     May  Be 
Carried  Out  on  This  Basis — 
Definite  Proposal  Made 

A  definite  plan  for  the  reorgani- 
zation of  the  Pittsburgh  Railways  was 
presented  to  the  Council  of  that  city 
on  July  25.  The  plan  was  embodied 
in  an  agreement  proposed  to  be  ex- 
ecuted by  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  the 
Philadelphia  Company  and  the  Pitts- 
burgh Railways. 

The  plan  contemplates  the  reorgani- 
zation of  the  Pittsburgh  Railways  or 
the  formation  of  a  new  company  to 
take  over  all  the  assets  of  the  railway 
and  to  be  limited  to  $62,500,000  in  the 
issuance  of  stock,  bonds  or  other  secur- 
ities in  substitution  for  securities  now 
outstanding,  amounting  to  $156,000,- 
000.  An  annual  return  of  6  per  cent 
for  ten  years  is  allowed  on  the  new 
capitalization,  which  is  the  value  of 
the  railways  properties  fixed  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission. 

The  city  and  contiguous  municipali- 
ties are  given  a  voice  in  the  annual 
operating  expenses  and  yearly  depre- 
ciation allowance,  under  the  plan,  anc 
a  fixed  annual  charge  is  agreed  upon 
in  lieu  of  tolls,  taxes  and  street  clean- 
ing, and  for  street  repaving  for  which 
the  company  is  obligated,  the  city  be- 
ing authorized  to  proceed  with  this 
work. 

The  plan  is  the  result  of  conferences 
of  A.  W.  Thompson,  president  of  the 
Philadelphia  Company,  with  Council 
and  Mayor  E.  V.  Babcock. 

The  agreement  that  is  now  proposed 
containing  the  provisions  as  accepted 
by  both  sides,  was  submitted  by  George 
N.  Monro,  Jr.,  special  assistant  city 
solicitor,  and  approved  by  City  Solic- 
itor Charles  B.  Prichard.  In  an  accom- 
panying letter  they  recommended  its 
execution. 

Contract  Cannot  Be  Flawless 

Mr.  Monro  in  his  letter  of  trans- 
mittal said  that  in  this  complex  matter 
one  could  not  be  expected  to  prepare 
a  contract  that  would  be  above  criti- 
cism or  that  would  contain  every  neces- 
sary detail.  The  negotiators  were 
firmly  convinced,  however,  from  their 
study  of  the  problem  that  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  contract  were  sound  and 
that  its  execution  would  go  a  long  way 
toward  ending  the  litigation  and  per- 
mitting the  reorganization  of  the  com- 
pany so  that  it  could  start  anew  by 
properly  functioning  in  the  public 
service. 

It  was  his  opinion  that  the  time  had 
come  for  the  company  and  the  city  to 
use  every  effort  to  stop  litigation  and 
have  the  property  returned  to  the  own- 
ers so  that  they  might  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  reorganize  on  a  sound 
financial   basis.     This   could   be  done 


only  by  fixing  a  fair  value  on  which 
the  securities  could  be  based  and  by 
agreeing  upon  a  fixed  return  beyond 
which  the  company  could  not  collect. 

He  made  it  plain  that  the  opinion  of 
the  negotiators  was  that  the  details 
of  the  reorganization  was  a  problem 
between  the  company  and  its  security 
holders,  their  lawyers  and  financiers. 
These  were  private  questions  of  no 
public  concern  and  the  city  should  not 
interest  itself  in  these  details. 

Should  Invite  Comment  on  Plan 

Mr.  Monro  recommends  that  before 
any  steps  are  taken  to  adopt  or  re- 
ject the  proposed  contract,  which 
states  the  terms  the  negotiators  are 
willing  to  recommend  for  adoption  by 
the  respective  principals,  the  contract 
should  receive  the  widest  publicity  and 
constructive  criticism  should  be  in- 
vited to  it.  The  controlling  thought  in 
the  preparation  of  the  contract  was 
that  the  community  is  entitled  above 
all  else  to  a  service  at  a  reasonable 
fare.  This  is  purely  a  matter  of  money 
and  management. 

$5,000,000  for  Betterments 

A  necessary  initial  step  in  the  reor- 
ganization is  the  raising  of  $5,000,000 
to  be  spent  in  betterments,  improve- 
ments and  rehabilitation  of  the 
railway  system.  The  Philadelphia 
Company  controlling  the  Pittsburgh 
Railways  proposes  to  assist  the  new 
company  in  borrowing  this  sum  in  the 
Pittsburgh  district.  The  obligation  so 
created  will,  of  course,  be  added  to  the 
proposed  capitalization.  In  this  con- 
nection it  is  stipulated  that  the  direc- 
tors of  the  new  company  shall  be 
residents  of  Pittsburgh. 

The  rate  of  fare  under  the  plan  is 
to  be  regulated  by  the  surplus  or  deficit 
in  receipts  compared  to  budget  require- 
ments and  guaranteed  return,  and 
either  the  city  or  the  company  is  em- 
powered to  apply  to  the  Public  Service 
Commission  for  an  increase  or  reduc- 
tion in  fares  as  the  surplus  or  deficit 
warrants. 

The  execution  of  the  agreement  and 
its  approval  by  the  Public  Service 
Commission,  with  the  capitalization  of 
$62,500,000,  will  terminate  the  case  in 
which  the  city  has  attacked  the  valua- 
tion of  the  railway  property.  This 
case  is  now  before  the  Superior  Court 
on  appeal. 

A.  W.  Thompson,  president  of  the 
Philadelphia  Company,  in  commenting 
on  the  text  of  the  proposed  plan  for 
the  reorganization  said  that  if  the 
companies  were  left  to  themselves  and 
urged  foreclosures  and  took  steps  to 
realize  everything  possible  in  their  in- 
terest from  the  present  situation, 
chaos  in  Pittsburgh's  street  trans- 
portation would  result.  The  purpose 
of  the  plan  now  advanced,  Mr.  Thomp- 


Federal  Courts  in  California  Rule 
on  King  Tax  Bill 

An  order  denying  the  motion  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company  and  the  At- 
chison, Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railway  for 
an  injunction  to  suspend  operation  of 
the  King  tax  bill  was  issued  on  June 
30  by  the  three  federal  judges  hearing 
the  action.  The  motion  included  an  ap- 
plication to  prevent  the  state  from  col- 
lecting any  tax  in  excess  of  the  pres- 
ent 54  per  cent  levy  on  gross  revenues, 
which  tax  the  King  bill  raises  to  7  per 
cent.  This  decison  of  the  court  pro- 
poses that  the  railroads  should  con- 
tinue to  pay  the  51  per  cent  tax,  how- 
ever, until  the  case  can  be  tried  on  its 
merits. 

The  opinion,  which  was  written  by 
Justice  W.  W.  Morrow  of  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  held 
that  the  railroads  should  attack  the 
King  bill  purely  on  constitutional 
grounds  and  should  not  bring  in  col- 
lateral issues  directed  against  the 
whole  tax  system.  The  decision  di- 
rected the  Southern  Pacific  to  pay  into 
the  state  treasury  $6,125,700  due  under 
the  51  per  cent  levy.  The  King  bill 
would  increase  this  figure  to  $8,167,600. 
The  Santa  Fe  was  ordered  to  pay 
$1,833,404  under  the  51  per  cent  tax. 
Its  annual  tax  under  the  King  bill  will 
be  $2,444,539. 


Interurban  Elects  New  Officers 

Isaac  Loewenstein,  president  of  the 
Charleston  National  Bank,  Charleston, 
W.  Va.,  has  been  elected  president  of 
the  Charleston-Dunbar  Traction  Com- 
pany, the  stock  of  which  he  recently 
purchased.  F.  M.  Staunton,  president 
of  the  Kanawha  Banking  &  Trust  Com- 
pany, has  been  elected  vice-president; 
A.  H.  Hill,  treasurer,  and  E.  W.  Alex- 
ander has  been  re-elected  superintend- 
ent. The  board  of  directors  is  com- 
posed of  Messrs.  Loewenstein  and 
Staunton,  F.  P.  Gross,  W.  A.  MacCorkle 
and  I.  N.  Smith. 

Mr.  Hill,  the  new  treasurer  of  the 
Charleston-Dunbar  Traction  Company, 
is  treasurer  of  the  Charleston  Interur- 
ban Company;  Mr.  MacCorkle  is  presi- 
dent, and  Mr.  Smith  is  general  man- 
ager. 

At  the  time  the  sale  of  the  Charles- 
ton-Dunbar Traction  Company  was  an- 
nounced Mr.  Loewenstein  said  he  was 
making  the  purchase  for  other  parties, 
but  that  he  could  not  at  that  time  make 
known  the  names  of  the  parties  for 
whom  he  was  acting. 

There  has  been  considerable  talk  of 
a  consolidation  of  the  two  roads,  but 
officials  of  both  roads  so  far  have  de- 
clined to  discuss  the  matter.  The  fact 
that  the  new  officers  of  the  Charleston- 
Dunbar  Traction  Company  are  also 
officials  of  the  Charleston  Interurban 
Company  gives  added  import  to  the  re- 
port that  a  consolidation  is  in  process. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


181 


Second  Fare  Zone  Results  in 
Profitable  Operation 

The  Manhattan  &  Queens  Traction 
Company,  New  York  City,  is  now 
operating  on  a  paying  basis  according 
to  W.  B.  Duncan  manager  for  the 
receivers.  This  success  is  due  to  the 
second  zone  fare  put  into  effect  many 
months  ago  by  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission following  a  strike  of  the 
employees  for  an  increase  in  wages. 

The  second  5-cent  fare  zone  begins  at 
Grand  Street,  Elmhurst.  Passengers 
travel  from  Manhattan  to  Elmhurst  for 
5  cents  and  from  that  point  east  to 
Jamaica  another  5-cent  fare  is 
collected. 

Mr.  Duncan  said  recently  that  from 
1913,  when  the  company  started  to 
operate  on  the  Queens  Boulevard,  until 
1916  2i  per  cent  a  year  was  paid  to 
stockholders.  The  year  following  there 
was  no  return  to  investors  and  in  1918 
$3,000  was  cleared  above  operating  ex- 
penses. In  1919  the  company  suffered 
a  deficit  of  $9,000  and  in  1920  and  until 
the  strike  of  this  year  there  was  a 
deficit  of  $19,000.  Mr.  Duncan  said  in 
part: 

Wages  of  employees  were  raised  128  .per 
cent  and  the  operating  expenses  were  like- 
wise on  the  increase. 

We  feel  that  no  one  is  paying  too  much 
for  the  convenience  of  a  ride  on  the  Queens 
boulevard  trolley.  We'  are  willing  to  con- 
cede anything  for  the  benefit  of  the  people 
if  they  do  not  demand  to  take  money  away 
from  us.  We  are  willing  to  meet  them 
halfway. 

We  cannot  reduce  our  revenue,  however, 
and  we  will  refuse  to  consider  it.  The 
second  fare  is  now  placing  the  company 
on  a  paying  basis  for  the  first  time  in  many 
years.  We  are  paying  our  wages  and  all 
other  bills. 

Eastern  Massachusetts 
Does  Better 

The  trustees  of  the  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts Street  Railway,  Boston,  Mass., 
report  for  six  months  ended  June  30, 
1921,  as  follows: 

1921  1920 

Operating  revenue 

and    income   $5,637,858  $6,679,949 

Operating  expenses 

and   taxes   4,462,613  6,668,555 

Gross  income....  1,175.244  11,394 
Bond     interest  and 

rentals    800,626  772,050 

Net  income   $374,618  def  $760,656 

In  the  six  months  of  1921  the  "cost 
of  service"  ($1,174,875),  as  defined  by 
Chapter  188  of  the  Special  Acts  of 
1918,  was  earned  by  a  slight  margin. 
In  the  same  period  of  1920  the  com- 
pany failed  to  earn  the  "cost  of  serv- 
ice" by  $1,368,605. 


United  Railways  Aided 

The  North  American  Company, 
owning  large  interests  in  the  United 
Railways,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  which  is  now 
in  receivership,  has  underwritten 
$1,474,000  of  bonds  for  an  extension 
of  twenty-six  months  at  8  per  cent, 
following  the  rejection  of  a  proposition 
to  issue  receiver's  certificates  in  this 
amount  at  an  interest  rate  of  10.198 
per  cent. 

The  original  bond  issue  of  the  old 
Lindell  Railway,  a  constituent  line  of 
the    United    Railways,   was    made  in 


1891.  It  bore  5  per  cent  interest  over 
a  twenty-year  period,  and  there  was 
a  renewal  for  ten  years  at  4i  per  cent. 
The  bonds  are  due  on  Aug.  1.  When 
the  question  of  refunding  was  taken 
before  the  Missouri  Public  Service 
Commission  recently  and  it  was  found 
that  receiver's  certificates  would  have 
to  bear  a  rate  of  more  than  10  per 
cent,  the  North  American  Company 
stepped  in  and  agreed  to  the  under- 
writing at  8  per  cent. 

The  application  of  Receiver  Wells  to 
accept  this  arrangement  was  approved 
in  Federal  Court  on  July  21. 

City  Seeks  to  Operate  Line  at 
Present  Suspended 

The  city  of  New  York  through  Cor- 
poration Counsel  John  C.  O'Brien  has 
filed  a  brief  with  Federal  Judge  Edward 
Garvin  in  Brooklyn  in  connection  with 
the  city's  application  for  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  order  of  Judge  Chatfield  re- 
straining the  city  from  intervening  in 
the  foreclosure  sale  of  property  of  the 
New  York  &  North  Shore  Traction 
Company. 

The  city  protests  that  the  receivers 
of  the  railway  have  refused  to  operate 
the  lines  although  they  had  been  fully 
authorized  to  do  so  and  that  they  pro- 
posed shortly  to  sell  the  property  as 
junk,  thereby  rendering  the  city  unable 
to  secure  its  claims  to  the  tracks  and 
wires  and  preventing  municipal  opera- 
tion except  at  great  expense. 

In  asking  for  the  modification  of  the 
order  of  Judge  Chatfield,  the  city  seeks 
the  right  to  operate  the  line  until  the 
legal  questions  of  ownership  are  settled 
"instead  of  allowing  the  property,  as 
at  present,  to  rust  and  rot." 

Seattle  Expects  to  Go  Behind 
in  1922 

Reductions  totaling  $620,321  are 
announced  by  Mayor  Caldwell  of 
Seattle,  Wash.,  in  the  cost  of  operating 
the  tax-supported  departments  of  the 
city  government  during  the  year  1922, 
as  compared  with  1921. 

Estimates  filed  by  the  street  railway 
department  showed  a  reduction  in 
operating  expense  for  next  year  of 
$621,142.  The  cost  of  operation  and 
maintenance  in  1922  is  estimated  to  be 
$4,703,586,  where  in  1921  it  was  $5,- 
334,728.  The  decrease  includes  a 
reduction  of  $423,760  in  trainmen's 
wages,  effected  by  rerouting  cars,  and 
use  of  more  one-man  cars.  The  esti- 
mate also  includes  a  decrease  of 
$100,000  in  the  cost  of  general  supplies, 
a  saving  of  $35,000  for  power  and  other 
small  economies. 

The  total  cost  of  the  railway  for 
the  year  1922,  if  it  paid  all  debts  of 
interest,  payment  of  principal,  is 
$6,898,085.  This  would  include  the 
$833,000  due  to  the  Stone  &  Webster 
interest  next  March,  and  a  $200,000 
depreciation  fund.  Estimates  of  the 
1922  revenues  are  in  preparation. 
Superintendent  Henderson  of  the  rail- 
way expresses  the  opinion  that  they 
will  be  insufficient  to  meet  the  year's 
expenses. 


$650,000  Loan  to  Cincinnati 
Traction  Company 

Terms  of  the  agreement  by  which  the 
Cincinnati  Street  Railway  will  lend  the 
Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Company 
$("■50,000  have  finally  been  agreed  upon. 
A  notice  of  this  was  received  by 
William  Jerome  Kuertz,  director  of 
street  railways,  Saul  Zielonka,  city 
solicitor,  and  Charles  Hornberger, 
service  director,  as  a  committee  repre- 
senting the  city  administration,  from 
Bayard  L.  Kilgour,  president  of  the 
Cincinnati  Street  Railway.  In  making 
the  loan,  it  is  expressly  stipulated  that 
the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  shall 
proceed  at  once  with  certain  improve- 
ments and  extensions  heretofore  agreed 
upon  with  the  director  of  street  rail- 
ways. 

Mr.  Kilgour  points  out  in  his  letter 
that  the  action  of  the  railway  in  making 
the  loan  is  entirely  "voluntary,"  and 
that,  "it  is  not  the  present  intention 
of  the  Cincinnati  Street  Railway  to 
make  any  loans  to  the  Cincinnati  Trac- 
tion Company  in  the  future."  He  states 
further  that  the  present  loan  must  be 
repaid  by  Jan.  1,  1922. 

Officials  of  the  traction  company  said 
that  as  soon  as  the  funds  from  the 
Cincinnati  Street  Railway  are  made 
available,  no  time  will  be  lost  in  begin- 
ning on  certain  improvements  and  ex- 
tensions listed  in  the  company's 
program. 

Employees  Asked  to  Become 
Shareholders 

The  Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light 
Company,  Akron,  Ohio,  has  started  a 
sale  of  its  7  per  cent  cumulative  pre- 
ferred stock  to  its  employees  and  cus- 
tomers. Every  employee  is  urged  to 
become  a  business  partner  and  a  share- 
holder in  the  company. 

This  campaign  is  being  launched  to 
add  new  capital  to  the  company  to 
enable  it  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
growing  city.  The  stock  is  offered  at 
$95  and  accrued  dividends  for  each  $100 
share.  The  dividends  are  payable  every 
three  months.  Two  plans  have  been 
proposed  under  which  the  public  may 
acquire  stock.  One  enables  the  pur- 
chaser to  secure  stock  immediately  by 
paying  cash.  The  other  provides  for 
time  payments  of  $10  per  share  at  the 
time  of  purchase,  $10  per  share  for 
seven  months  and  $15  per  share  as  final 
payment.  The  purchaser  has  the  option 
of  withdrawing  all  partial  payments 
any  time  prior  to  the  date  of  final  pay- 
ment, but  in  that  event  the  company 
agrees  to  pay  only  3  per  cent  on  the 
amounts  paid  in  up  to  the  time  ot 
withdrawal. 

The  Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light 
Company  comprises  242  miles  of  track 
of  which  100  miles  are  city  lines  in 
Akron.  In  addition  to  its  business  in 
Akron  the  company  sells  power  in 
twelve  adjacent  communities.  The 
company  states  that  its  stock  is  backed 
by  the  need  of  service  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  life  and  progress  of  the  com- 
munity. The  company  has  never  passed 
a  preferred  dividend. 


182 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


Ohio  Lines  Segregated 

System  Centering  at  Springfield  Broken 
Up  Into  Constituents  to  Facilitate 
Rehabilitation 

Interurban  and  city  properties  which 
have  heretofore  been  operated  as  a 
part  of  the  Ohio  Electric  Railway, 
Springfield,  Ohio,  have  come  under 
separate  management.  This  change 
resulted  from  the  cancellation  on  July 
18  of  the  operating  agreements  then 
existing.  The  formal  cancellation  of 
leases  will  follow  by  court  action. 
Petitions  have  already  been  filed 
toward  this  end. 

As  none  of  the  properties  has  been 
paying  any  interest  foreclosure  action 
will  probably  be  taken.  Following 
this  the  proposed  reorganization  will 
be  worked  out.  Several  of  the 
branches  which  are  not  considered  de- 
sirable in  the  reorganization  proposi- 
tion will  be  abandoned  and  the  tracks 
taken  up. 

Under  the  separation  proposition,  it 
is  planned  to  place  each  property  upon 
its  own  resources.  The  names  of  the 
lines  will  be  changed,  it  is  stated. 
This  will  be  especially  true  covering 
the  interurban  lines  in  the  Springfield 
and  Dayton  district.  The  original  line 
in  this  section  was  known  as  the  Day- 
ton, Springfield  &  Urbana  Railway. 

J.  H.  McClure  Will  Manage 

In  this  separation  of  control  of  in- 
terurban and  city  properties  the  In- 
diana, Columbus  &  Eastern,  formerly 
known  as  the  Dayton,  Springfield, 
Columbus  and  Lima  system,  with 
branches  from  Dayton  to  Union  City, 
Ind.;  Lima  to  Defiance  and  Columbus 
to  Grove  City,  has  come  under  the  ac- 
tice  management  of  J.  H.  McClure, 
receiver.  He  will  move  his  headquar- 
ters from  Lima  to  Springfield. 

The  Ohio  Electric  Railway  proper, 
as  distinguished  from  the  leased 
properties,  consisting  of  the  interurban 
line  from  Lima  to  Toledo,  and  the 
local  light  and  railway  properties  in 
Lima,  has  come  under  the  active  man- 
agement of  B.  J.  Jones,  receiver  for 
the  Ohio  Electric  Railway.  He  will 
move  his  headquarters  from  Spring- 
field to  Lima.  The  Indiana,  Columbus 
&  Eastern  properties  will  be  operated 
hereafter  from  Springfield,  and  Mr. 
Jones  will  direct  the  other  properties 
from  Lima. 

The  interurban  properties  known 
as  the  Columbus,  Newark  &  Zanesville 
system,  extending  from  Columbus  to 
Zanesville,  with  the  Buckeye  Lake  and 
Zanesville  city  property  and  light 
plant,  have  come  under  the  active  man- 
agement of  B.  A.  Berry,  receiver,  of 
Columbus.  Mr.  Berry  was  formerly 
commissioner  of  securities  of  Ohio  and 
was  recently  placed  in  charge  of  these 
properties.  These  will  be  operated 
substantially  as  at  present,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Indiana,  Columbus  & 
Eastern  system. 

Day  &  Zimmerman,  operating  engi- 
neers, of  Philadelphia,  act  as  hereto- 
fore in  an  advisory  capacity,  and  will 


have  supervision  of  the  general  oper- 
ations of  all  the  properties.  The 
name  of  each  road  will  be  changed,  so 
as  to  indicate  the  extent  and  character 
of  the  separate  properties. 


Savannah  Reorganization  Plan 
Out 

A  plan  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
Savannah  (Ga.)  Electric  Company  has 
been  presented  by  Philip  Stockton  and 
George  J.  Baldwin,  the  committee  un- 
der a  stockholders'  agreement  of  Dec. 
26,  1919.  It  is  proposed  to  organize 
a  new  company,  which  will  be  known 
as  the  Savannah  Electric  &  Power 
Company,  to  acquire  all  of  the  prop- 
erties of  the  Savannah  Electric  Com- 
pany and  its  subsidiaries. 

The  property  is  to  be  conveyed  sub- 
ject to  existing  mortgages  and  the 
bonds  issued  under  these  mortgages 
are  to  be  assumed  by  the  new  com- 
pany. There  would  be  new  bonds  to 
the  extent  of  $2,500,000.  The  stock 
to  be  issued  would  consist  of  $1,300,000 
of  debenture  stock,  series  A,  8  per 
cent  cumulative,  to  be  issued  to  finance 
the  balance  of  the  demand  notes  and 
unpaid  interest  thereon;  $1,000,000  of 
6  per  cent  cumulative  stock,  cumu- 
lative after  Oct.  1,  1926,  to  be  issued 
to  the  present  holders  of  $1,000,000  of 
6  per  cent  preferred  stock,  share  for 
share,  without  assessment  or  other 
costs;  and  $2,500,000  of  common  stock 
to  be  issued  to  the  present  holders 
of  $2,500,000  of  common  stock,  share 
for  share,  without  assessment  or  other 
costs. 

The  new  first  and  refunding  bonds 
and  the  debenture  stock  are  to  be  is- 
sued only  to  finance  obligations  which 
now  have  priority  over  the  preferred 
and  common  stock  and  to  provide  for 
the  construction  of  the  new  company, 
so  that  the  equity  of  the  stockholders 
will  in  no  way  be  impaired  by  the 
plan. 

The  committee  says  that  the  earn- 
ings on  the  basis  of  the  new  capitaliza- 
tion are  sufficient  to  pay  all  charges 
and  dividends  upon  the  new  debenture 
stock  and  preferred  stock  with  ample 
margin. 

Stone  &  Webster  have  been  ap- 
pointed reorganization  managers.  The 
time  within  which  the  plan  may  be 
declared  operative  is  limited  to  Sept. 
30,  1921. 


$382,065  Profit  Earned  by  P.  R.  T. 

The  audit  of  the  board  of  experts 
placed  on  the  books  of  the  Philadelphia 
(Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Company  on  be- 
half of  the  city  has  just  been  com- 
pleted. It  shows  that  the  gross  in- 
come of  the  company  for  the  year 
ended  Dec.  31,  1920,  was  $39,400,341, 
out  of  which  the  company  must  pay 
expenses  of  one  kind  or  another  of 
$39,018,276,  leaving  a  profit  of  only 
$382,065. 

The  revenue  from  transportation 
was  $39,301,973,  to  which  was  added 
revenues  of  other  operation  making  a 


total  of  $38,807,354  from  operation. 
Deducting  operating  expenses,  leaves 
a  net  income  of  $9,612,189.  Adding 
to  this  non-operating  income  gives  a 
total  net  income  of  $10,205,175.  Rentals 
for  leased  lines  amounted  to  $7,366,- 
500,  and  interest  charges,  ground  rents, 
amortization  charges,  etc.,  amounted 
to  $9,823,110,  leaving  the  company  a 
profit  of  $382,065  for  dividend  pur- 
poses. 

The  report  also  gives  information 
concerning  the  monthly  passenger 
revenues  and  a  statement  of  the  net 
profit  and  loss  for  each  of  the  twelve 
months,  together  with  pertinent  in- 
formation concerning  advances  to 
subsidiary  companies  during  the  year. 

Financial 
News  Notes  j 

Detroit  United  Bonds  Offered. — Dil- 
lon, Read  &  Company,  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  are  offering  for  subscription  to 
yield  more  than  8  per  cent  $4,000,000  of 
first  mortgage  collateral  8  per  cent 
sinking  fund  gold  bonds  of  the  Detroit 
(Mich.)  United  Railway,  maturities 
Aug.  1,  1922,  and  Aug.  1,  1941.  The 
total  authorized  issue  of  these  bonds 
is  $5,000,000.  They  are  being  put  out 
for  refunding  purposes. 

North  Carolina  Property  Sold. — The 

property,  including  franchises  of  the 
Cumberland  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Raleigh,  N.  C,  was  recently  bid 
in  for  a  committee  of  bondholders  by 
Herbert  L.  Jones,  president.  The  pub- 
lic sale  took  place  at  Fayetteville  on 
July  2.  The  price  was  $75,000.  It  is 
reported  that  the  bondholders  will  con- 
tinue the  road  in  operation. 

Bond  Issue  Proposed  for  Improve- 
ments.— A  bill  introduced  in  the  City 
Council  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  and  referred 
to  the  city  utilities  and  finance  com- 
mittees provides  for  the  issuance  and 
sale  of  $1,330,000  of  utility  railway 
bonds  in  order  to  carry  on  needed  exten- 
sion and  betterment  work.  The  bill  pro- 
vides for  the  retirement  of  these  bonds 
in  annual  payments  beginning  six  years 
from  date  and  ending  twenty  years 
from  the  date  of  issuance,  with  inter- 
est thereon  at  6  per  cent. 

Boston  Property  Pays  Interest. — The 

Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass.,  met  the  interest  on  its 
Series  A,  B  and  SA  mortgage  bonds  on 
July  1.  The  two  preceding  semi-annual 
payments  due  July,  1920,  and  January, 
1921,  were  deferred  due  to  the  poor 
financial  condition  of  the  company,  and 
are  still  unpaid.  However,  improve- 
ment in  conditions  made  it  possible  to 
meet  the  payments  on  July  1.  It  is 
reported  that  every  district  is  now 
earning  the  cost  of  service.  This  favor- 
able condition  is  attributed  mainly  to 
the  introduction  of  one-man  safety  cars. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


183 


City  Will  Move  for  Delay 

The  city  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  pro- 
poses in  its  answer  to  the  petition  of 
the  Minneapolis  Street  Railway  before 
the  Minnesota  Railroad  &  Warehouse 
Commission  to  move  for  delay  in  that 
the  city  is  not  prepared  to  make  the 
contest.  Objection  will  be  made  to 
jurisdiction  over  electric  railway  fares, 
on  the  ground  that  the  law  is  uncon- 
stitutional. 

At  the  hearing  of  July  15  in  the 
Duluth  Street  Railway  request  for  an 
increase  in  fare  for  emergency  purposes 
from  5  to  7  cents,  J.  B.  Richards,  city 
attorney,  held  that  no  emergency  exists 
and  that  any  change  in  fare  should 
await  the  valuation  of  the  company 
property.  The  company  replied  that 
it  is  losing  money.  The  Council  has 
rescinded  a  resolution  calling  for  $350,- 
000  expenditure  for  maintenance  and 
$300,000  for  extensions  and  improve- 
ments. A  decision  is  expected  by  July 
30. 

The  city  planning  board  of  St.  Paul 
is  making  a  survey  of  all  lines  of 
the  City  Railway  to  determine  whether 
all  districts  are  being  served  ade- 
quately and  continuously. 

Court  Orders  Fare  Cut  in 
Cincinnati 

In  a  decision  handed  down  by  Judge 
Frank  R.  Gusweiler,  the  Cincinnati 
(Ohio)  Traction  Company  has  been  or- 
dered to  reduce  fares  one-half  a  cent 
to  8  cents  on  Aug.  1,  and  to  advertise 
such  and  to  post  notice  of  the  reduc- 
tion in  the  cars.  The  company  also  has 
been  ordered  to  prescribe  rules  for  car- 
rying into  effect  the  provision  of  the 
ordinance  reducing  the  rate  of  fare  for 
school  children  to  5  cents. 

The  validity  of  the  ordinance  passed 
by  the  City  Council  in  amending  the 
service-at-cost  franchise  was  estab- 
lished by  the  court  in  reviewing  the 
case.  Judge  Gusweiler  held  that  inas- 
much as  the  amended  ordinance  had 
been  accepted  by  the  company  it  took 
the  form  of  a  contract  binding  on  both 
parties.  He  declared  that  under  the 
state  laws  and  under  the  United  States 
Constitution  this  contract  could  not  be 
altered  or  modified  by  the  initiative 
and  referendum  section  of  the  state 
constitution  adopted  in  1912. 

Judge  Gusweiler  said  that  the  ordi- 
nance reducing  fares  seeks  to  modify 
both  a  previous  ordinance  and  the  reso- 
lution of  the  Board  of  Administration 
adopted  in  1896,  the  days  before  the 
referendum.  He  states  that  the  city 
gives  the  company  a  consideration  by 
providing  that  the  company  shall  not 
be  authorized  or  required  to  pay  into 
the  reserve  fund  any  sum  in  addition 
to  the  initial  payment  of  $250,000  now 
in  the  fund.  The  court  concludes  by 
stating  that  the  city  of  Cincinnati  is 


entitled  to  specific  performance  of  the 
contract,  and  therefore  orders  the  com- 
pany to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the 
ordinance. 

The  citizens'  committee,  which  pre- 
sented a  petition  for  the  referendum, 
stated  that  it  would  probably  take 
some  further  action  in  the  case. 


Emergency  Bus  Line  in  Legal 
Tangle 

An  order  to  show  cause  why  an  in- 
junction should  not  be  issued  against 
the  operation  of  motor  buses  on  the 
Grand  Concourse,  details  of  which  are 
given  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, July  16,  1921,  was  served  on  July 
15,  on  Commissioner  G  rover  Whalen  of 
the  Department  of  Plants  and  Struc- 
tures of  New  York  City  under  whose 
direction  the  buses  are  being  operated. 

Suit  was  instituted  by  Jennie  T. 
Quinn,  represented  by  Alfred  T.  David- 
son, of  2396  Third  Avenue.  Affidavits 
supporting  the  action  were  signed  by 
Edward  A.  Maher,  Jr.,  and  Leslie  South- 
erland,  president  and  vice-president  of 
the  Third  Avenue  Railway.  Several 
employees  of  the  company  also  filed 
affidavits. 

Mr.  Whalen  said  the  suit  was  insti- 
tuted to  put  all  municipal  buses  out  of 
commission.  If  the  application  should 
prevail,  it  would  affect  every  bus  line 
now  in  operation  in  the  city  and  would 
compel  people  to  walk  along  all  the 
routes  abandoned  by  the  electric  rail- 
ways. 


Eight-Cent  Rate  to  Continue 
Indefinitely 

By  a  recent  ruling  of  the  State 
Railway  Commission  of  Nebraska  the 
Lincoln  Traction  Company  will  con- 
tinue indefinitely  its  8-cent  cash  fare. 
The  schedule  of  rates  is  8  cents  cash 
with  four  tokens  for  30  cents  within 
the  Lincoln  zone.  Between  outlying 
points  and  the  city  the  fare  is  10  cents. 
School  children  are  transported  for  5 
cents.  The  company  has  been  operat- 
ing under  a  temporary  ruling  since 
December,  1920,  and  this  schedule  ex- 
pired on  June  30,  1921. 


London  General  Omnibus  Plans 

New  Services 

According  to  Motor  Transport  for 
July,  1921,  the  London  General  Omni- 
bus Company  plans  to  open  up  large 
country  services  in  the  outer  circles 
of  Greater  London.  These  new  routes 
will  provide  facilities  between  points 
hitherto  without  direct  means  of  com- 
munication. The  routes  are  through 
somewhat  hilly  districts.  In  conse- 
quence a  considerable  number  of 
single-deck  buses  of  the  K  type,  espe- 
cially designed  for  these  services,  are 


in  course  of  construction.  The  new 
vehicles  will  each  seat  thirty-four  pas- 
sengers. They  are  expected  to  over- 
come the  difficulties  which  have  risen 
in  certain  localities,  where  the  exist- 
ence of  bridges  over  railways  of  in- 
sufficient strength  to  take  the  ordinary 
type  of  bus,  has  caused  considerable 
inconvenience. 


Case  to  High  Court 

Lower    Court    at    Louisville  Seeks 
Answers  on  Questions  of  Law 
from  Supreme  Court 

The  Louisville  Railway  case  has 
been  passed  by  the  United  States  Cir- 
cuit Court  of  Appeals  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  That,  in 
brief,  is  its  decision  regarding  the 
appeal  of  the  city  of  Louisville  from 
the  decision  of  Judge  Evans  barring 
interference  with  the  collection  of  a 
7-cent  fare  by  the  company. 

Holding  the  case  is  one  which  the 
Circuit  Court  should  not  decide,  Judge 
L.  E.  Knappen  announced  from  the 
bench  that  the  court  would  reserve 
decision  until  it  had  certified  certain 
questions  of  law  to  the  Supreme  Court. 
What  these  questions  are  was  not  made 
public. 

These  questions  are  expected  to 
reach  the  Supreme  Court  in  time  for 
the  October  term.  In  the  meantime, 
the  company  may  continue  to  collect 
the  7-cent  fare  by  authority  of  Judge 
Evans'  injunction. 

In  the  opinion  of  Churchill  Hum- 
phrey, attorney  for  the  company,  one 
of  the  questions  that  has  been  passed 
to  the  higher  court  is  the  construction 
of  Section  3  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  of 
the  Kentucky  Constitution,  which  says 
in  effect,  that  no  corporate  franchise 
shall  be  granted  unless  such  be  sub- 
ject to  alteration,  amendment  or  revo- 
cation. 

The  Supreme  Court,  it  was  said,  may 
merely  answer  the  questions  certified 
to  it  by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  or  it 
may  order  sent  to  it  for  its  perusal 
the  records  of  the  entire  case.  In  the 
first  event,  the  answers  would  come 
back  to  the  Circuit  Court,  which  would 
then  hand  down  a  decision.  In  the  lat- 
ter case,  the  decision  would  probably 
come  down  from  the  higher  court. 

The  city  contends,  according  to  coun- 
sel, that  the  franchise,  contracts  and 
agreements  calling  for  a  5-cent  fare 
are  binding  and  continuing  in  force, 
while  the  company's  contention  is  that 
the  contracts  are  purely  regulatory 
and  subject  to  change. 

Company  officials  estimate  that  if 
there  had  been  a  decision  favorable  to 
the  city,  it  would  have  to  refund  on 
rebate  slips  a  maximum  of  $142,000, 
It  estimates  that  it  has  sold  12,000 
strips  of  tickets  a  day  since  March  24. 
This  would  mean  a  refund  of  $1,200 
a  day  for  119  days.  The  company 
believes,  however,  that  not  more  than 
50  per  cent  or  60  per  cent  of  the  re- 
bate slips  have  been  saved.  The  com- 
pany collected  a  7-cent  fare  forty-one 
days  without  issuing  receipts. 


184 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


Commission  Will  Hear  Arguments 

The  California  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission set  July  26  as  the  date  for 
hearing  arguments  of  the  Los  Angeles 
Railway  in  support  of  its  application 
for  a  rehearing  of  the  rate  case  which 
has  been  before  the  regulatory  body 
for  a  long  time.  The  commission  re- 
cently handed  down  a  decision  estab- 
lishing a  6-cent  cash  fare,  but  specified 
that  tokens  be  sold  ten  for  50  cents, 
thus  retaining  the  5-cent  fare  for 
regular  riders. 

The  commission  in  its  decision  esti- 
mated that  one-third  of  the  riders 
would  pay  6  cents  cash  fare.  In  the 
application  for  a  rehearing,  the  rail- 
way contends  that  this  estimate  is  too 
high  and  declares  that  20  per  cent 
would  be  a  hopeful  estimate. 

The  valuation  of  the  company's 
property  used  in  establishing  the  base 
rate  of  profit  is  as  of  June  30,  1920. 
The  company  contends  that  improve- 
ments made  since  that  time  have  in- 
creased the  valuation  about  $5,000,000. 


Auto  Transportation  Act 
Interpreted 

In  an  order  granting  certificates  of 
necessity  and  convenience  to  both  the 
Barker  Motor  Company  and  the  firm 
of  Porter  &  Richards  for  the  operation 
of  auto  stages  between  Everett,  Stan- 
wood  and  Mount  Vernon,  the  State 
Department  of  Public  Works  of  Wash- 
ington makes  its  initial  announcement 
of  regulative  principles  adopted  in  re- 
lation to  auto  transportation  under  the 
laws  of  1921,  so  far  as  they  are  in- 
volved in  the  case  decided.  Both  com- 
panies were  operating  over  the  routes 
described  on  Jan.  15,  1921,  by  which 
they  are  automatically  entitled  to  cer- 
tificates under  the  act,  if  operating  in 
good  faith. 

Protest  against  the  good  faith  quali- 
fication for  exclusive  rights  on  the 
route  was  made  on  behalf  of  the 
Seattle,  Everett  and  Vernon  Stage 
Lines  Company,  on  the  ground  that  the 
two  operating  companies  had  not  com- 
plied with  the  jitney  bond  requirement 
of  1915,  for  the  privilege  of  entering 
and  leaving  stations  within  the  limits 
of  cities  of  the  first  class.  As  the 
attorney-general  has  held  prior  com- 
pliance with  the  municipal  jitney  bond 
requirement  to  be  a  condition  of  good 
faith  upon  stage  companies  entering 
first-class  cities,  it  is  expected  that  the 
department's  decision  to  disregard  the 
requirement  as  to  lines  established  be- 
fore the  present  certificate  of  neces- 
sity act  became  effective  will  be  the 
basis  of  litigation  on  the  part  of  con- 
testing stage  lines.  On  this  point,  the 
Department  of  Public  Works,  in  its 
ruling  on  the  Everett-Mount  Vernon 
contest,  says: 

We  are  not  inclined  to  hold  that  failure 
to  procure  a  bond  under  the  law  prior  to 
Jan.  15,  1921.  must  necessarily  taint  the 
operator  with  bad  faith  and  preclude  the 
issuance'  of  a  certificate  under  Chapter  3 
of  the  session  laws  of  1921.  There  is  such 
a  diversity  of  opinion  even  among-  lawyers 
as  to  whether  the  requirements  of  Chapter 
57  of  the  1915  laws  apply  to  stage  com- 
panies which  merely  enter  city  limits  for 


the  purpose  of  receiving  and  discharging 
passengers,  it  would  seem  harsh  to  hold 
that  every  such  operator  who  failed  to 
procure  a  bond  was  necessarily  acting  in 
bad  faith.  We  hardly  believe  a  layman 
should  be  penalized  for  failure  to  comply 
with  statutory  provisions  when  lawyers  of 
standing  and  ability  doubt  the  application 
of  the  law  to  his  case. 

A  wilful  and  inexcusable  violation  of 
the  plain  statute  or  ordinance  affecting  the 
operation  would  present  a  different 
question. 

This  latter  conclusion  is  as  near  as 
the  department  undertakes  an  expres- 
sion as  to  whether  failure  of  stage 
companies  to  comply  with  the  jitney 
bond  law  on  routes  entering  first-class 
cities  will  be  accepted  by  the  depart- 
ment as  a  lack  of  good  faith. 


Motor  Vehicles  Must  Pay  in 
Illinois 

An  amendment  to  the  motor  vehicle 
law  of  Illinois,  made  effective  July  1, 
1921,  provides  that  "all  vehicles,  trail- 
ers and  semi-trailers  used  for  carrying 
freight,  when  used  for  hire,  operating 
regularly  over  fixed  or  definite  routes 
between  two  or  more  municipalities,  or 
from  a  point  or  points  outside  of  munic- 
ipalities into  a  municipality  over  im- 
proved state  highways,  and  with  fixed 
schedules  or  rates,  shall  pay  an  addi- 
tional license  fee  of  \  cent  per  mile 
for  the  total  mileage  traveled 
over  such  improved  state  highways  by 
each  vehicle,  trailer  or  semi-trailer  in 
each  calendar  month." 

Furthermore,  all  similar  vehicles 
used  for  carrying  passengers,  when 
used  for  hire,  and  operating  regularly 
on  fixed  routes  over  improved  state 
highways,  and  with  fixed  rates,  must 
pay  "an  additional  license  fee  of  one- 
twentieth  of  lc.  per  mile  for  each  pas- 
senger seat,  multiplied  by  the  total 
number  of  miles  traveled  by  such  ve- 
hicle over  the  improved  highways." 

The  new  public  utilities  act  also  pro- 
vides that  no  person  shall  operate  any 
motor  vehicle  for  the  carriage  of  pas- 
sengers for  hire,  or  for  the  carriage  of 
freight  for  hire,  unless  he  shall  file  with 
the  commission  a  sworn  statement  of 
his  ability  to  pay  all  damages  which 
may  result  from  any  accidents  due  to 
the  negligent  use  of  the  vehicle,  or  file 
with  the  commission  security  or  bond 
guaranteeing  the  payment.  In  case  one 
person  operates  two  or  more  motor 
vehicles,  he  must  file  proof  of  his  ability 
to  pay  damages,  or  provide  a  bond,  and 
carry  insurance  against  damages,  to 
the  "amount  of  $10,000  for  each  motor 
vehicle.   

Maps  Prepared  to  Guide  Trainmen 

Maps  of  all  lines  showing  danger 
points  are  being  prepared  by  the  Los 
Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  for  the  use  of 
trainmen.  The  maps  will  indicate  fire 
stations,  garage  entrances,  busy  curves 
and  intersections,  schools,  grades  and 
other  points  of  risk.  This  plan  follows 
the  successful  use  of  line  transfer 
maps  which  were  furnished  trainmen 
when  the  new  coupon  transfer  was  in- 
troduced May  1.  These  maps  showed 
the  routes  of  lines  on  separate  sheets 
with  a  red  line  indicating  "in"  trip 
and  a  blue  line  showing  "out"  trip. 


Injunction  Refused  to  Connecticut 
Jitney  Men 

Judge  Keeler  of  the  Superior  Court 
for  New  Haven  County  has  refused  to 
grant  a  temporary  injunction  to  the  jit- 
ney men  to  restrain  the  prosecuting  offi- 
cers and  chiefs  of  police  in  New  Haven 
and  Derby  from  referring  complaints 
and  making  arrests  under  the  new  act 
regulating  buses  in  that  state.  The  act 
was  attacked  for  its  unconstitutionality 
on  various  grounds. 

All  Objections  Dismissed 

The  court  dismisses  all  nine  of  the 
objections  cited.  It  holds  the  new  law 
to  be  a  legitimate  exercise  of  the  police 
power  by  the  General  Assembly  with 
reference  to  a  business  peculiarly  af- 
fected by  a  public  interest  with  ample 
provision  by  way  of  review  to  insure  to 
any  one  concern  due  process  of  law 
whereby  his  constitutional  rights  may 
be  safeguarded.  In  disposing  of  the 
objection  that  the  legislation  takes  the 
plaintiff's  property  without  due  process 
of  law,  the  court  holds  that  clearly  no 
tangible  or  visible  property  of  the  plain- 
tiff was  so  taken.  It  says  that  prior 
to  the  enactment  of  the  statute  jitney 
proprietors  clearly  enjoyed  nothing 
properly  called  a  franchise.  They 
merely  followed  a  calling  subject  to 
some  degree  of  special  regulation  of 
law.  The  court  further  holds  as  lack- 
ing merit  the  two  grounds  of  objection 
that  the  act  grants  special  privileges  to 
certain  clases  of  persons  and  that  it 
deprives  the  plaintiff  of  equal  protec- 
tion of  the  law.  The  court  held  that 
these  objections  in  effect  presented  the 
same  questions.  The  ruling  of  the 
coui-t  was  that  an  electric  street  rail- 
way had  to  obtain  a  certificate  of  con- 
venience and  necessity  similar  to  that 
acquired  by  the  bus  owners  to  operate. 

Jitney  Operators  Arrested 

On  orders  of  City  Attorney  Sheridan 
Whitaker  of  New  Haven  all  jitney  driv- 
ers on  the  streets  after  noon  of  July  23 
were  arrested  charged  with  violations 
of  the  state  jitney  law.  Even  those 
jitneys  which  bore  "Free  Bus"  signs 
were  ordered  arrested. 

Attorneys  for  the  jitney  men  on  July 
25  went  before  the  City  Court  and 
asked  to  try  but  one  of  those  arrested, 
the  others  to  share  alike  in  the  ultimate 
result.  The  next  step  was  to  plead  not 
guilty  and  the  attorneys  filed  a  demur- 
rer, which  the  court  was  asked  to  over- 
rule so  the  case  could  be  taken  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  which  convenes 
the  first  Monday  in  August.  It  is 
planned  to  follow  the  same  procedure  in 
that  court  so  as  to  be  able  to  take  an 
appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  as  soon 
as  possible. 

A  move  to  take  the  case  to  the  Federal 
court  is  also  going  forward.  The  plan 
is  to  move  for  the  fixing  of  a  date  for 
a  hearing  on  an  injunction,  making  the 
jitney  men  the  plaintiffs  and  the  State 
of  Connecticut  the  defendant  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  depriving  some  of  its 
citizens  of  private  property  and  their 
livelihood. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


185 


Trolley  Bus  Installation  Proposed 
at  Akron 

The  officials  of  the  Northern  Ohio 
Traction  &  Light  Company,  Akron, 
Ohio,  have  agreed  to  install  at  least  one 
trolley  bus  on  the  West  Exchange  Street 
extension  as  soon  as  one  of  the  new 
vehicles  is  available.  The  announce- 
ment follows  a  series  of  conferences 
between  City  Councilman  Joseph 
O'Neill  and  the  traction  officials.  The 
city  councilman  proposed  to  use  the 
new  trolley  bus  on  all  city  car  line  ex- 
tensions so  as  to  eliminate  the  necessity 
of  laying  track. 

Advocates  of  the  extensions  would 
have  the  city  sell  bonds  for  the  pur- 
chase of  the  trolley  buses,  the  princi- 
pal and  interest  of  which  would  be 
guaranteed  by  the  railway.  This  would 
give  the  city  a  hold  on  the  company  in 
case  the  municipality  should  decide  to 
purchase  the  lines  when  the  present 
franchises  expire  in  1924.  City  officials 
estimate  at  present  20  miles  of  exten- 
sions are  needed.  Trolley  buses  could 
perform  this  service  on  an  investment 
of  $350,000,  it  is  said. 

The  traction  officials  estimate  the  cost 
of  overhead  wires  and  poles  necessary 
for  trolley  bus  operation  would  average 
from  $4,500  to  $7,500  a  mile.  Railway 
engineers  estimate  the  cost  of  track 
to  run  from  $45,000  to  $60,000  a  mile. 
Trolley  buses  are  estimated  at  $9,000 
each.  The  adoption  of  the  trolley  bus 
will  permit  the  extension  of  many  car 
lines  which  under  the  traction  com- 
pany's present  financial  status  would 
be  impossible. 

This  is  the  fourth  city  in  the  United 
States  so  far  which  has  adopted  the 
trolley  bus  as  an  auxiliary  to  street 
railway  systems.  Other  cities  in  their 
order  named  are  Richmond,  New  York 
and  Buffalo. 


Salt  Lake  &  Utah  Granted 
Fare  Increase 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
Utah  has  issued  an  order  granting  in- 
creases in  fare  on  the  Salt  Lake  &  Utah 
Railroad,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  also 
known  as  the  "Orem  line."  One-way 
tickets  are  to  be  increased  20  per  cent. 
Round-trip  tickets,  for  which  a  20  per 
cent  increase  was  asked,  are  permitted 
to  be  increased  1.8  per  cent  of  one-way 
fare.  One  thousand-mile  books  are  in- 
creased from  24  cents  to  2£  cents  a 
mile.  No  increase  in  500-mile  books, 
commutation  tickets  or  school  tickets  is 
allowed. 

The  application  of  the  railroad  com- 
pany was  for  authority  to  increase 
passenger  rates  and  excess  baggage 
rates  in  all  20  per  cent.  The  company 
set  up  a  book  value  on  the  property  to 
support  the  application.  The  commis- 
sion stated  that  it  found  the  income 
statement  indicated  so  clearly  the  need 
for  additional  revenue  that  it  felt  it 
unnecessary  to  await  the  actual  physi- 
cal valuation  of  the  property,  it  being 
apparent  that  the  book  values  showed 
that  the  company's  revenues  were  not 
sufficient.  The  commission  stated  that 
the  company  had  not  up  to  the  present 


been  able  to  set  up  a  depreciation  re- 
serve on  its  property  as  a  whole.  The 
only  class  of  property  that  had  been 
depreciated  was  rolling  stock  and  shop 
equipment. 


Eight-Cent  Fare  Decreased 
Traffic  Slightly 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  fares 
have  been  increased  from  5  cents  to  8 
cents  in  Portland,  Ore.,  within  the  past 
three  years,  the  number  of  passengers 
increased  the  first  two  years,  with  a 
slight  falling  off  in  traffic  when  the 
8-cent  fare  went  into  effect.    The  fig- 


ures are  as  follows: 

Fares 

Year  Rate  Collected 

1917  5-cent  fare   60,611,072 

1918  6-cent  fare   68,628,602 

1919  6-cent  fare   73,960,478 

1920  6-cent  fare  to  June 
15  and  8-cent  there- 
after   71,175,872 


Transportation  | 
News  Notes 

Operator's  Name  Posted. — The  Tren- 
ton &  Mercer  County  Traction  Com- 
pany, Trenton,  N.  J.,  has  adopted  the 
plan  of  posting  the  name  of  the  op- 
erator of  the  car  above  his  head  so  that 
passengers  may  become  acquainted  with 
him.  The  card  reads:  "The  operator 
of  this  car  is  ." 

New  Fare  in  Effect.— The  City  Light 
&  Traction  Company,  Seda.lia,  Mo.,  re- 
cently put  into  effect  a  6-cent  fare  for 
ourchasers  of  tickets  and  10  cents  for 
a  cash  rate.  Children  may  ride  for  half 
fare.  In  promulgating  the  new  sched- 
ule the  company  considered  the  protec- 
tion of  its  regular  patrons  who  by 
buying  tickets  will  pay  the  usual  rate, 
6  cents. 

Eight  Cents  in  Montgomery. — By  a 

recent  ruling  of  the  Public  Service 
Commission  the  Montgomery  (Ala.) 
Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company  has 
been  authorized  to  put  an  8-cent  cash 
fare  into  effect.  Ticket  buyers  will 
continue  to  pay  the  rate  which  has 
been  in  effect  many  months.  The  com- 
pany through  its  receiver,  Ray  Rush- 
ton,  applied  to  the  commission  several 
months  ago  for  a  10-cent  fare. 

Safety  Cars  Allowed  in  Los  Angeles. 
— The  Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Chamber  of 
Commerce  has  passed  a  resolution  in- 
dorsing the  continued  use  of  one-man 
safety  cars  in  Los  Angeles  "on  the 
grounds  that  they  greatly  reduce  acci- 
dents and  practically  eliminate  those 
accidents  entailing  injury."  The  or- 
ganization also  recommended  continued 
use  of  the  cars  to  demonstrate  more 
clearly  their  accident  prevention  fea- 
tures. 

Lower  and  Higher  Fares  in  Effect. — 
The  Lordship  Railway,  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  recently  announced  a  reduction 
in  fares  from  6  cents  to  5  cents  from 
Hollister  Avenue  to  Lordship  Beach. 
However,  the  trip  from   Golden  Hill 


Street  to  the  beach  will  cost  10  cents 
in  place  of  the  former  6  cents.  The 
railway,  which  has  charged  a  6-cent 
rate  for  the  past  two  years,  was  in- 
strumental in  developing  Lordship 
Beach. 

More  Trains  to  Improve  Service. — 

A  revision  in  the  schedule  of  trains 
on  the  Interstate  Public  Service  Com- 
pany's traction  line  between  Indianapolis 
and  Louisville,  whereby  the  service  on 
the  line  will  be  improved  and  more 
trains  operated,  became  effective  June 
15.  According  to  the  new  schedule,  one 
new  limited  interurban  will  be  oper- 
ated each  way  daily  between  Indian- 
apolis and  Louisville  and  changes  will 
be  made  in  the  number  of  local  trains. 

Hearing  Scheduled  on  Indianapolis 
Fares. — A  hearing  on  rates  of  fare  to 
be  charged  by  the  Indianapolis  (Ind.) 
Street  Railway  on  expiration  of  the 
sixty-day  test  period  of  5-cent  fare  and 
2-cent  transfers,  July  31,  will  be  held 
by  the  Public  Service  Commission.  Of- 
ficials of  the  railway  are  expected  to 
put  before  the  commission  the  losses 
occasioned  by  jitney  bus  competition, 
which  are  said  to  average  more  than 
$1,000  daily,  and  on  which  the  City 
Council  has  delayed  taking  action 
pending  further  developments. 

Reducing  Fares  to  Gain  Patronage. — 

The  Minneapolis,  Northfield  &  Southern 
Railway,  operating  from  Minneapolis 
to  Northfield  and  Faribault,  Minn.,  has 
tried  to  spur  up  its  business  by  order 
ing  a  reduction  in  fares  from  3.6  to  2  5 
cents  per  mile.  When  the  road  oper- 
ated before  the  war  on  a  low  price  basis 
it  did  a  large  volume  of  business.  The 
reduction  is  made  possible  by  the  re- 
turn of  this  class  of  intrastate  carrie- 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  Rail- 
road &  Warehouse  Commission.  The 
Minnesota  fare  is  legally  2  cents  per 
mile. 

Safety  Committees  Hold  Meeting. — 

The  June  get-together  meeting  in  honor 
of  the  Safety  Committees  of  the  Union 
Traction  Company  of  Indiana  was  held 
in  Anderson  on  June  6.  Besides  the 
usual  frivolity  which  goes  with  the 
"great-great-greatest  banquet'"  there 
were  some  serious  talks  by  H.  A. 
Nicholl,  general  manager  of  the  com- 
pany, and  Ross  Luellen,  safety  engi- 
neer. Mr.  Nicholl  reviewed  the  finan- 
cial condition  of  the  company,  point- 
ing out  that  the  people  who  have  stock 
in  it  have  not  received  a  penny  divi- 
dend since  1912.  He  further  stated 
that  no  extensive  downward  revision 
of  wages  had  been  made  and  that  it 
was  the  company's  intention  to  main- 
tain the  present  scale  of  wages  as  long 
as  conditions  made  it  possible.  He 
urged  strict  economy  by  every  em- 
ployee. Mr.  Luellen,  safety  engineer, 
brought  out  the  fact  that  some  excel- 
lent no-accident  records  are  being  made 
and  that  a  saving  of  power  which  means 
about  $40,000  a  year  to  the  company 
is  being  accomplished.  Other  speakers 
were  John  W.  McCardle,  chairman  of 
the  Public  Service  Commission  of  In- 
diana, who  was  the  guest  of  honor,  and 
John  F.  McClure  of  Anderson. 


186 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


Legal  Notes 


Connecticut — Injury  to  Person  at 
Waiting  Station. 
A  motorman  operating  a  car  in  a 
country  district  was  not  guilty  of  wan- 
ton misconduct  in  running  down  and 
killing  an  intending  passenger,  who  was 
standing  2  ft.  from  the  track,  signaling 
the  car,  and  was  struck  by  the  over- 
hang of  the  steps,  for  the  motorman 
was  entitled  to  anticipate,  for  a  time 
at  least,  that  the  person  killed  would 
withdraw  from  the  danger  point.  A 
person  waiting  at  a  station  is  in  a 
different  situation  from  the  traveler 
upon  a  highway  crossing.  [Pond  vs. 
Connecticut  Company,  111  Atlantic 
Rep.,  621.] 

Illinois — Ordinance  of  Park  Commis- 
sioners Granting  Rights  to  Bus 
Company  Held  Not  Invalid  as  Oc- 
cupation License. 
Though  a  municipality  has  no  inher- 
ent power  to  license  any  occupation  or 
require  the  payment  of  a  tax  for  en- 
gaging in  it,  it  has  power  to  impose 
such  conditions  for  the  grant  of  the  use 
of  its  streets  as  it  may  deem  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  public,  and  for  such 
purpose  may  require  a  contribution 
from  a  public  service  company,  as  a 
motor  bus  company,  and  it  cannot  be 
held  that  an  ordinance  of  park  commis- 
sioners granting  to  a  motor  bus  com- 
pany the  right  to  use  certain  streets, 
etc.,  and  exacting  certain  contributions 
therefor,  was  an  occupation  license  or 
passed  for  revenue  purposes,  and  there- 
fore invalid.  [People  ex  rel.  Hoyne, 
State's  Atty.,  vs.  Chicago  Motor  Bus 
Co.,  129  Northeastern  Rep.,  114.] 

Massachusetts — Intending  Passenger 
Hit  by  Car  Overhang  on  Curve. 
Where  it  was  obvious  to  an  intending 
passenger  that  a  car  would  not  stop  at 
the  usual  point  on  account  of  a  pile  of 
paving  stones,  the  motorman  need  not 
warn  the  passenger  that  the  car  would 
not  stop  and  that  she  might  be  struck  by 
the  rear  overhang  of  the  car.  [Fair- 
banks vs.  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  129 
Northeastern  Rep.,  367.] 

Michigan  —  Franchise   Is  Construed 
Strictly. 

A  franchise  given  to  an  interurban 
line  with  the  provision  that  passengers 
for  a  certain  fare  were  entitled  to  a  con- 
tinuous ride  from  the  township  "to  Gen- 
essee  Avenue,  in  Saginaw,"  was  held  to 
require  transportation  only  to  the 
junction  on  Genessee  Avenue  and  not 
along  that  avenue  after  it  was  reached. 
[Zilwaukee  Township  vs.  Saginaw-Bay 
City  Railway,  181  Northwestern  Rep., 
37.] 

New  York — Injury  to  Employee  While 
Riding  on  a  Pass  on  His  Way  to 
Work  Held  to  Be  Within  Compen- 
sation Law. 
Where  an  employee  of  a  railway  com- 
pany, furnished  with  a  pass  entitling 


him  to  ride  whenever  he  chose,  was  in- 
jured in  a  collision  when  aboard  a  train 
on  his  way  to  work,  the  remedy  is  not 
in  an  action  at  law,  but  under  the  Work- 
men's Compensation  Law,  since  the 
injury  arose  in  the  course  of  his  em- 
ployment. [Tallon  vs.  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Co.,  184  New  York  Supp., 
588.] 

New  York — A  Street  Railway  Can  Be 
Compelled  to  Raise  Its  Tracks  to 
Meet  Changes  in  the  Street  Grade, 
Though  Not  Ordered  to  Do  So  by 
Public  Service  Commission. 
Despite  Laws  1880,  Chap.  511,  the 
Belt  Line  Railway  Corporation,  occu- 
pying Fifty-ninth  Street  in  the  City  of 
New  York  can  be  compelled  to  raise  one 
of  its  tracks  to  meet  changes  in  the 
contour  of  the  surface  caused  by  repay- 
ing, though  not  ordered  to  do  so  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission.    [People  ex 
rel.  City  of  New  York  vs.  Belt  Line 
Railway  Corporation,  129  Northeastern 
Rep.,  217.] 

New  York — Pedestrian  Crossing  Street 
Held  Guilty  of  Contributory  Negli- 
gence. 

A  pedestrian  who  before  starting  to 
cross  a  street  saw  a  car  more  than  a 
block  away  rapidly  approaching,  and 
when  he  had  crossed  the  first  track  saw 
that  the  car  was  approximately  29:  ft. 
away,  but  thinking  that  he  could  get 
across  proceeded  without  increasing  his 
speed  and  was  struck,  is  guilty  of  negli- 
gence as  a  matter  of  law,  for  he  was 
as  much  obligated  to  look  out  for  his 
safety  as  was  the  motorman.  [McGuire 
vs.  New  York  Railways,  128  North- 
eastern Rep.,  905.] 

New  York — Sleighs  Need  Not  Carry 
Lights. 

A  sleigh  is  not  a  "vehicle  on  wheels," 
within  the  meaning  of  Highway  Law 
sec.  329a,  providing  that  every  vehicle 
on  wheels  shall  have  attached  thereto  a 
light  or  lights,  to  be  visible  from  the 
front  and  from  the  rear,  etc.  [Vadney 
vs.  United  Traction  Co.,  183  New  York 
Supp.,  926.] 

Rhode  Island — State,  Through  Com- 
mission,  Has  Authority  to  Rege- 
late Rates  of  Public  Utilities,  Such 
as  Street  Railroads. 
The  paramount  authority  of  the  State 
to  regulate  the  rates  of  public  utilities, 
such  as  street  railroads,  through  the 
agency  of  a  commission,  as  the  Public 
Utilities    Commission,   is   well  estab- 
lished.    [Public   Utilities  Commission 
vs.  Rhode  Island  Company,  110  Atlan- 
tic Rept,  655.] 

Wisconsin — Railroad  Track  Laid 
Across  a  Street  Is  "On"  Such 
Street,  Under  a  Speed  Ordi- 
nance. 

An  ordinance  limiting  the  speed  of 
an  interurban  electric  car  upon  track 
on  a  public  street  to  15  m.p.h.  applies 
at  the  crossing  to  an  interurban  road 
which  crosses  a  public  street.  [Merrill 
vs.  Chicago,  No.  Shore  &  Milwaukee 
R.R.,  177  Northwest  Rep.,  613.] 


New 
Publications 

Functions   of  Engineering   Station  of 

University  of  Illinois 

By  Charles  Russ  Richards.  Circular  No. 
9  of  the  Engineering  Experiment  Station, 
University  of  Illinois,  Urbana,  HI. 

This  bulletin  gives  details  of  the 
kinds  of  service  furnished  by  the  ex- 
periment station  and  lists  the  co-oper- 
ative investigations  now  in  progress. 

The  Engineering  Index 

Published  by  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers,  New  York.   586  pages. 

Since  1905  this  index  has  been  pub- 
lished annually,  up  to  1913  by  the  Engi- 
neering Magazine  Company,  and  since 
that  time  by  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  Some  700 
engineering  and  allied  publications  are 
listed. 

Management  Engineering — The  Journal 

of  Production 

Vol.  1  No.  1.  Published  by  the  Ronald 
Press  Company,  New  York. 

This  is  a  new  monthly  publication  de- 
signed "to  serve  those  who  are  respon- 
sible for  the  operation  of  industry." 
The  leading  articles  all  bear  on  this 
subject.  An  interesting  feature  is  that 
most  of  the  articles  carry  at  their  head 
their  numerical  classification  according 
to  the  Dewey  system.  This  classifica- 
tion is  not  extended  to  the  editorials. 

Report  on  Standardization  of  Petro- 
leum Specifications 

Bulletin  No.  5.  United  States  Bureau  of 
Mines,  Washington,  D.  C. 

This  bulletin  supersedes  Bulletins  1 
to  4  inclusive  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed by  direction  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  co-operate  with 
the  United  States  Fuel  Administrator. 

All  the  specifications  contained  in  the 
previous  bulletins  have  been  revised 
and  co-ordinated,  where  necessary,  and 
to  them  have  been  added  several  not 
previously  published.  Bulletin  5,  there- 
fore contains  complete  specifications 
for  all  petroleum  products  with  full 
descriptions  of  the  methods  of  testing 
employed  in  the  government  labora- 
tories. 

Pamphlets  and  Clippings  in  a  Business 
Library 

By  Virginia  Fairfax.  62  pages;  illus- 
trated. Journal  of  Electricity  and  Western 
Industry,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

This  book  is  a  reprint  of  a  series  of 
articles  from  the  Journal  of  Electricity. 
The  subject  matter  is  the  basis  of  a 
course  of  instructions  at  a  library 
school  and  is  the  result  of  the  author's 
experience  in  working  out  a  practical 
method  of  filing  pamphlets  and  clip- 
pings, based  on  approved  principles  of 
library  science.  The  text  is  divided 
into  five  chapters.  The  points  covered 
are  the  value  of  pamphlets  and  clip- 
pings when  required  for  ready  refer- 
ence ;  the  sources  and  selection  of  mate- 
rial; the  filing  equipment  needed  and  the 
alphabetical  subject  file. 


July  30,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


187 


Personal  Mention 


Messrs.  Bundy  and  Fast  Advanced 
on  the  Ohio  Electric 

J.  H.  McClure,  receiver  for  the  In- 
diana, Columbus  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company,  on  July  15  announced  the  ap- 
pointment of  F.  A.  Bundy  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  Lima  Division  of  the  Ohio 
Electric  Railway  to  succeed  C.  C.  Fast, 
who  has  been  promoted  to  general 
superintendent  of  transportation,  with 
headquarters  at  Springfield,  Ohio.  Mr. 
Fast's  jurisdiction  will  extend  over  the 
property  of  the  Indiana,  Columbus  & 
Eastern  Traction  Company,  the  Colum- 
bus, Newark  &  Zanesville  Electric  Rail- 
way and  the  Lima-Toledo  Division  of 
the  Ohio  Electric  Railway.  These 
changes  were  necessitated  by  the  resig- 
nation of  F.  J.  Moore  as  general  super- 
intendent of  transportation  at  Spring- 
field. Mr.  Bundy  was  formerly  master 
mechanic  for  the  Ohio  Electric  Railway 
at  Lima. 


"Dan"  Smith  in  the  Arena 

Enters  Mayoralty  Contest  in  Detroit — 
Has  Expressed  Himself  in  Favor 
of  Municipal  Ownership 

Daniel  W.  Smith,  well  known  to  the 
electric  railway  industry  throughout 
the  country  because  of  his  connection 
with  the  Peter  Smith  Heater  Company 
of  Detroit,  has  announced  his  candidacy 
for  the  nomination  for  the  mayor  of 
Detroit.  While  no  platform  has  yet 
been  announced,  Mr.  Smith  has  ex- 
pressed himself  as  in  favor  of  munic- 
ipal ownership  when  operated  on  eco- 
nomic lines  and  he  is  expected  to  put 
up  a  fight  in  keeping  with  his  record  as 
a  soldier.  Mr.  Smith's  hosts  of  friends 
in  the  industry  will  be  interested  in 
learning  that  he  has  jumped  into  the 
political  arena. 

Besides  the  numerous  friends  Mr. 
Smith  has  in  the  electric  railway  in- 
dustry, he  also  has  thousands  of  friends 
and  admirers  in  Detroit  where  he  has 
lived  throughout  his  entire  forty-six 
years.  Former  service  men  in  Detroit 
are  actively  supporting  his  candidacy, 
for  he  has  gained  their  friendship 
through  his  numerous  activities  in 
looking  after  the  wants  of  needy 
veterans.  During  the  Mexican  border 
trouble  in  1916  Mr.  Smith  was 
brigadier-general  of  the  Michigan 
National  Guard  and  saw  border  serv- 
ice in  that  capacity.  In  the  World 
War  Mr.  Smith  was  commissioned  a 
captain  in  the  Motor  Transport  Corps. 

Born  in  Detroit,  Dan  Smith  is  the 
son  of  Peter  Smith,  the  inventor  of 
the  well-known  heating  appliances,  and 
he  is  in  close  touch  with  conditions  in 
the  city  of  which  he  is  a  native.  He 
is  also  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Sattley  Coin  Counting 
Machine    Company,    treasurer    of  the 


Liberty  Foundry  and  president  of  the 
Daniel  W.  Smith  Company. 

Mr.  Smith  has  long  been  interested 
in  and  taken  an  active  part  in  the  vari- 
ous military  organizations  of  the  state 
and  of  the  country.  In  1892  he  en- 
listed as  a  private  in  Company  F, 
Michigan  National  Guard.  Later  he 
was  quartermaster  sergeant  of  Com- 
pany M,  33rd  Michigan  Infantry  and 
saw  active  service  in  Cuba  with  that 
organization.  On  his  return  in  1899 
he  was  made  second  lieutenant,  Com- 
pany C,  First  Michigan  Infantry,  and 
later  he  was  successively  captain  and 
adjutant  of  his  regiment.  In  January, 
1914,  he  was  made  a  major  and  de- 
tailed as  adjutant  general  of  the  First 


Daniel  W.  Smith 


Brigade,  Michigan  National  Guard.  He 
again  saw  active  service  on  the  Mexi- 
can border  in  1916.  When  the  United 
States  became  involved  in  the  World 
War  he  refused  a  lieutenant-colonelcy 
because  the  commission  would  neces- 
sitate his  being  detailed  to  Washington 
in  the  Department  of  Purchase  and 
Supplies  for  the  War  Department.  In 
order  that  he  might  get  across  he  ob- 
tained the  commission  as  captain  of 
the  Motor  Transport  Corps  and  was 
ordered  to  France,  but  the  armistice 
was  signed  while  he  was  on  the  seas. 

Among  the  various  organizations  of 
which  Mr.  Smith  is  a  member  are: 
United  Spanish  War  Veterans;  Ameri- 
can Legion;  Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars 
of  the  United  States;  Military  Order 
of  the  World  War;  Military  Order  of 
Foreign  Wars;  Detroit  Athletic  Club; 
Detroit  Boat  Club;  Detroit  Yacht  Club; 
Old  Club  at  St.  Clair  Flats;  Lochmoor 
Club,  and  Hunt  Club. 

Campaign  headquarters  are  being  ar- 
ranged in  the  Barber  Building  on  the 
Campus  Martius  and  Monroe  Avenue. 
The  campaign  is  to  be  conducted  purely 
upon  lines  of  efficiency  and  economy 
in  city  government.  His  candidacy  is 
bound  to  appeal  to  progressive  citi- 
zens, from  whom  he  expects  support. 


Mr.  Goff  Mediator  Again 

Cleveland  Banker  and  Railway  Man 
Named   for  Difficult  Post  by 
President  Harding 

F.  H.  Goff,  Cleveland,  appears  again 
in  the  role  of  the  great  pacificator. 
He  has  just  been  designated  by  Presi- 
dent Harding  as  an  official  go-between 
to  promote  a  settlement  of  outstand- 
ing railroad  claims  against  the  gov- 
ernment. Mr.  Goff  is  president  of  the 
Cleveland  Trust  Company,  a  director 
of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  and 
a  vice-president  of  the  Lake  Shore 
Electric  Railway,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

It  might  almost  be  said  that  to  Mr. 
Goff  these  positions  are  an  incident. 
They  are  when  the  opportunity  arises 
for  him  to  serve  in  a  public  capacity 
where  large  interests  are  at  stake. 
Men  like  Mr.  Goff  can  make  money 
any  time  anywhere.  Years  back  dur- 
ing the  stormy  session  at  the  confer- 
ences between  Mayor  Tom  L.  Johnson 
of  Cleveland  and  the  late  President 
Andrews  of  the  Cleveland  Railway,  at 
which  the  present  service-at-cost  plans 
were  laid,  Mr.  Goff  assumed  what  ap- 
peared then  to  be  the  suicidal  role 
of  buffer.  He  did  it  at  the  instance  of 
the  late  Judge  Tayler,  after  whom  the 
Cleveland  franchise  grant  is  named,  and 
he  succeeded  in  accomplishing  the  seem- 
ingly impossible.  This  was  perhaps 
the  first  time  that  he  came  promi- 
nently before  the  public.  He  was  then 
a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Estep, 
Dickey,  Carr  &  Goff. 

Those  were  the  days  when  Mr.  John- 
son was  holding  out  for  a  value  of 
$18,000,000  for  the  Cleveland  Railway 
lines,  the  railway  was  contending  for 
an  allowance  of  $30,000,000  and  Peter 
Witt,  the  same  Peter  who  later  origi- 
nated the  end-entrance  center-exit  car 
which  bears  his  name  and  who  now 
attends  the  railway  conventions,  took 
an  active  part  in  all  the  negotiations. 

Peter  was,  so  to  speak,  the  enfant 
terrible  of  the  proceedings.  Into 
them  Mr.  Goff  was  precipitated.  After 
the  warring  factions  at  the  hearings 
had  tired  of  hurling  names  at  one  an- 
other, Mr.  Goff  would  make  one  of  his 
polite  little  speeches  by  way  of  throw- 
ing oil  on  the  troubled  waters,  with 
the  result  that  success  crowned  the 
efforts  of  the  negotiations. 

All  this  may  sound  like  ancient  his- 
tory, but  it  fixed  the  place  of  Mr.  Goff 
in  public  service  so  firmly  that  his  is 
one  of  the  first  names  to  be  mentioned 
in  Ohio  whenever  a  problem  arises 
which  calls  for  the  excercise  of  un- 
usual patience,  skill  and  foresight  in 
reconciling  interests  that  appear  to  be 
divergent. 

As  was  said  before,  the  profession 
of  banking  may  be  only  an  incident 
to  Mr.  Goff,  but  then  it  is  an  inci- 
dent that  does  preclude  him  from 
accepting  all  the  honors  that  the  public 
seeks  to  thrust  on  the  man.  After  all, 
in  his  capacity  as  banker  Mr.  Goff  is 
really  serving  the  public  continuously 
by  conserving  the  funds  of  the  count- 
less  depositors   whose   funds   are  en- 


188 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


trusted  to  the  institution  of  which  he 
is  the  head.  And  he  has  done  so  well 
in  the  role  of  banker  that  the  Cleve- 
land Trust  Company  has  become  one 
of  the  two  or  three  largest  financial 
institutions  in  that  rapidly  growing 
community. 


Lewis  H.  Lee  to  Handle  Publicity 
of  Atlanta  Railway 

Lewis  H.  Lee,  of  New  York,  arrived 
in  Atlanta  recently  to  take  charge  of 
the  public  relations  department  of  the 
Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
replacing  Charles  Towne,  who  has  re- 
turned to.  the  New  York  office  of  the 
publicity  and  public  relations  organiza- 
tion of  Ivy  L.  Lee. 

Lewis  Lee  is  a  brother  of  Ivy  Lee, 
whose  publicity  organization  he  has 
been  associated  with  for  two  years. 
During  that  time  he  handled  the  pub- 
lic relations  work  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  and  the  American  Association 
of  Railway  Executives.  Prior  to  his 
connection  with  his  brother's  concern 
he  was  with  George  L.  Dyer,  Inc.,  a 
New  York  advertising  firm  of  national 
repute,  of  which  another  brother,  J.  W. 
Lee,  Jr.,  has  just  been  made  president. 

Mr.  Lee's  going  to  Atlanta  will  be  a 
source  of  great  pleasure  to  the  Atlan- 
tans  who  remember  him  as  a  youth 
and  to  the  hundreds  of  friends  of  his 
father,  Rev.  Dr.  Lee,  who  was  one  of 
the  foremost  figures  in  the  Southern 
Methodist  church.  Lewis  Lee  was  a 
student  at  the  Boys'  High  School  in 
Atlanta  and  after  his  family  moved  to 
the  Middle  West  completed  his  prepara- 
tory education  and  graduated  at  Dart- 
mouth with  the  class  of  1918.  During 
the  war  he  was  a  junior  lieutenant  in 
the  naval  flying  corps  and  was  awarded 
the  naval  cross  for  sinking  a  submarine 
during  his  service  "overseas." 

The  Lee  organization  has  recently 
been  employed  to  handle  the  publicity 
and  public  relations  angles  of  the 
Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
and  it  is  to  superintend  the  local  de- 
tails of  that  work  that  Mr.  Lee  goes 
to  that  city.  The  organization  formed 
by  Ivy  Lee  is  probably  the  greatest  of 
its  kind  in  the  world.  Its  services  have 
for  years  been  sought  by  the  largest 
corporations  of  the  country.  The  pub- 
lic relations  of  the  John  D.  Rockefeller 
interests  have  for  some  time  been  in 
the  hands  of  the  concern  and  many 
large  Eastern  corporations  and  inter- 
ests are  dependent  on  the  widely  known 
organization  for  counsel  in  matters  of 
that  sort. 


Operating  Staff  for  Boise 
Company  Appointed 

The  Boise  (Idaho)  Street  Car  Com- 
pany, formerly  the  Boise  Railway  Com- 
pany, which  some  time  ago  was  sold  to 
S.  F.  Watts,  whose  intention  it  was  to 
improve  and  restore  the  property,  now 
has  for  its  operating  personnel  W.  E. 
Pierce,  president;  L.  H.  Cox,  first  vice- 
president;  J.  L.  Eberly,  treasurer,  and 
F.  A.  Wingard,  general  manager  and 
superintendent. 


Frank  L.  Dame,  President 

North   American   Company   Elects  an 
Experienced  Operator  and  Financier 
as  Its  Head 

Frank  L.  Dame  was  elected  presi- 
dent and  Edwin  Gruhl  was  elected 
vice-president  of  the  North  American 
Company,  New  York,  at  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  board  of  directors. 
Vice-president  Gruhl  has  also  been  ap- 
pointed general  manager.  Harrison 
Williams,  who,  with  Mr.  Dame,  Clarence 
Dillon,  George  T.  Miller,  and  Edward 
H.  Wells,  was  made  a  director  in  June, 
1920,  is  chairman  of  the  board  and 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee. 
The  company  has  had  no  head  with  the 
title  of  president  since  the  resignation 
of  James  D.  Mortimer,  on  Nov.  1,  1920. 

Mr.  Dame,  by  training  and  experi- 
ence an  engineer,  is  a  man  who  has 
exerted  a  very  marked  influence  on 
utility   development  through  his  par- 


F.  L.  Dame 


ticipation,  at  first  in  charge  of  con- 
struction of  many  properties  in  the 
Northwest,  then  as  a  manager  and 
finally  through  his  connection  with 
several  of  the  largest  utility  holding 
companies. 

Mr.  Dame  began  his  business  career 
in  the  testing  room  of  the  Westing- 
house  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany in  Pittsburgh.  After  a  very  short 
training  his  first  construction  assign- 
ment was  at  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  and  in 
December,  1889,  he  was  sent  to  Port- 
land, Ore.,  as  the  engineer  of  that 
office  of  the  Westinghouse  Company. 
A  year  later  financial  depression  caused 
the  closing  of  this  office,  as  well  as 
some  others,  and  Mr.  Dame  entered 
the  public  utility  operating  field  as 
general  superintendent  of  the  Van- 
couver (B.  C.)  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany. The  end  of  1891  found  him 
again  located  in  Portland  as  engineer 
of  the  light  department  of  the  North- 
west Houston  Electric  Company.  In 
the  following  two  years  he  was  also 
active  in  street  railway  construction 
and  with  the  replacement  of  equipment 
in  several  Oregon  and  Washington 
cities.  This  was  the  beginning  of  an 
association  of  twenty-one  years  with 
the  General  Electric  Company,  during 


part  of  which  time  he  was  the  operat- 
ing head  of  various  utility  properties 
in  the  Northwest,  including  the  Seattle 
Consolidated  Street  Railway  and  the 
Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Company. 
This  period  covered  reconstruction  de- 
velopment, management  and  financing 
of  various  utilities,  and  also  many  offi- 
cial connections  with  corporations  not 
enumerated. 

In  1903  Mr.  Dame  went  to  Schenec- 
tady as  engineer  for  the  committee  on 
local  companies  of  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company,  which  was  in  charge  of 
all  public  utility  properties  then  con- 
trolled by  it.  In  the  following  year 
he  was  also  made  engineer  of  the 
newly  formed  Electric  Securities  Cor- 
poration, a  subsidiary  of  the  General 
Electric  Company.  In  1909  he  was 
chosen  vice-president  of  the  Electric 
Bond  &  Share  Company,  a  position 
which  he  relinquished  in  the  latter 
part  of  1912  to  take  a  long-needed 
rest. 

However,  in  1913  Mr.  Dame  again 
took  up  active  work  when  he  joined 
the  organization  of  Harrison  Williams, 
New  York.  Since  then  he  has  served 
as  an  officer  and  director  of  nearly  alt 
of  the  companies  in  which  Harrison 
Williams  has  a  controlling  interest,  in- 
cluding the  Central  States  Electric 
Corporation,  of  which  he  is  president; 
the  Cleveland  Electric  Illuminating 
Company,  of  which  he  is  vice-president, 
and  the  Republic  Railway  &  Light 
Company. 


Eustace  J.  Knight  has  succeeded  Ed- 
ward J.  Doyle  as  secretary  of  the 
American  Public  Service  Company, 
Chicago.  Mr.  Knight's  former  posi- 
tion as  assistant  secretary  of  the  com- 
pany has  been  filled  by  R.  E.  McKee. 
Mr.  Knight  has  also  been  appointed 
secretary  and  assistant  treasurer  of 
the  Middle  West  Utilities  Company, 
Chicago,  an  office  which  likewise  had 
been  held  by  Mr.  Doyle.  R.  E.  McKee 
has  been  made  assistant  secretary  and 
E.  K.  Davis  has  been  appointed  auditor. 

E.  R.  Butler  has  been  appointed 
trainmaster  of  the  southern  division  of 
the  Interstate  Public  Service  Company 
railway  lines  known  as  the  Indianapolis 
&  Louisville  Traction  Railway,  suc- 
ceeding R.  B.  Kent,  resigned.  Mr.  But- 
ler entered  the  employ  of  the  Indian- 
apolis, Columbus  &  Southern  Traction 
Company  as  a  conductor  in  1908,  there- 
after serving  as  conductor,  motorman 
and  dispatcher.  He  was  appointed 
trainmaster  of  the  latter  company  in 
July,  1919,  and  on  May  1,  1920,  was 
given  leave  of  absence  from  this  com- 
pany and  appointed  trainmaster  of  the 
Louisville  &  Northern  Railway  & 
Lighting  Company  and  the  Louisville  & 
Southern  Indiana  Traction  Company, 
which  have  since  been  taken  over  by 
the  Interstate  Public  Service  Company. 
In  his  new  position  Mr.  Butler  will 
have  charge  of  the  operation  from  Sey- 
mour, Ind.,  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  including 
the  city  and  suburban  lines  in  Jeffer- 
sonville  and  New  Albany. 


July  30,  1321 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


189 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 


DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Shipments  of  Cement  Now 
Exceed  Production 

Stocks  on  Hand  as  of  June  30  Above 
Normal,  but  Much  Less  than  in 
Previous  Two  Months 

The  approximate  production  of  fin- 
ished portland  cement  in  the  United 
States  during  the  first  half  of  1921, 
according  to  the  Geological  Survey,  was 
42,468,000  bbl.  This  amount  represents 
about  94  per  cent  of  the  quantity  made 
in  the  corresponding  period  of  1920. 

The  year  1921  began  with  mills  pro- 
ducing at  a  moderate  rate  and  ship- 
ments considerably  less  than  produc- 
tion, but  month  by  month  both  produc- 
tion and  shipments  of  finished  cement 
increased  at  a  rapid  rate,  shipments 
exceeding  production  in  May  and  June. 
Production  in  June  was  slightly  greater 
than  in  June,  1920,  and  also  a  little 
above  the  average  for  that  month  dur- 
ing the  last  five  years.  The  shipments 
in  June  of  more  than  10,500,000  bbl. 
were  larger  than  those  of  any  preced- 
ing June. 

Stocks  of  finished  portland  cement 
on  hand  as  of  June  30,  1921,  amounted 
to  11,150,000  bbl.,  compared  with  10,- 
300,000  bbl.  on  Jan.  31.  The  level  of  sur- 
plus stocks  reported  on  June  30  of  this 
year  is  slightly  above  normal,  though 
it  is  less  than  the  April  30  total  of  12,- 
600,000  bbl.  On  June  30,  1920,  stocks 
of  cement  in  the  country  totaled  9,000,- 
000  bbl.,  and  on  Dec.  31,  1920,  8,941,- 
046  bbl. 


Coal  Production  Below  1920 

Statistics  of  the  Geological  Survey 
of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  show 
that  in  point  of  production  of  soft  coal 
the  year  up  to  July  16,  1921,  was,  in 
round  numbers,  23,000,000  tons  behind 
1920,  67,000,000  tons  behind  1919  and 
about  91,000,000  tons  behind  the  war 
years.  The  average  production  per 
working  day,  which  declined  from 
1,267,000  tons  in  the  week  ended  July  2 
to  1,237,000  tons  in  the  week  of  July  9, 
dropped  still  further  to  1.227,000  tons 
for  the  week  ended  July  16.  This  is  a 
decrease  of  about  4  per  cent  in  two 
weeks. 

The  current  rate  of  production,  how- 
ever, is  still  far  above  consumption. 
Public  utilities  apparently  exhibit  no 
anxiety  over  their  coal  needs  in  the 
coming  winter  for  they  continue  to  hold 
off  on  buying.  Meanwhile  the  margin 
of  surplus  cars  available  is  not  great, 
due  to  the  large  number  of  bad-order 
cars.  If  even  a  moderate  revival  of 
business  takes  place  this  fall,  it  is 
stated,  the  limit  of  cars  available 
would  soon  be  reached. 

Prices  of  bituminous  coal,  the  spot 


index  of  Coal  Age  shows,  have  remained 
stationary  for  the  last  two  weeks  and 
are  now  fixed  at  an  almost  irreducible 
minimum  by  production  costs. 


Cedar  Pole  Stocks  Are  Good 

Producers    Expect    Good    Demand  by 
Next  Spring  and  Are  Going  Ahead 
With  Production 

A  survey  of  the  cedar  pole  market 
finds  generally  slack  conditions  of  buy- 
ing, though  by  no  means  a  pessimistic 
outlook  on  the  part  of  producers.  The 
first  half  of  the  year  has  been  pretty 
quiet  in  this  line,  with  prospects  that 
the  fall  will  show  some  improvement. 
Some  producers,  however,  do  not  look 
for  an  active  market  before  next  spring. 
There  is  much  work  being  held  in  abey- 
ance that  should  result  in  pole  buying, 
it  is  stated,  and  on  the  expectation  that 
by  next  spring  sales  should  be  brisk 
pole  producers  intend  to  go  right  ahead 
and  produce  a  normal  quantity  this  fall 
and  winter. 

There  have  been  some  inquiries  and 
orders  from  central  stations  but  up  to 
this  time  electric  railways  have  shown 
little  or  no  interest.  A  large  producer 
of  Southern  White  cedar  poles  reports 
that  though  April  and  May  were  quiet 
months,  June  sales  showed  up  better. 
One  of  the  factors  cutting  demand  for 
cedar  poles  has  been  the  increased  com- 
petition from  local  chestnut  poles  which 
make  their  appeal  on  the  ground  of 
lower  cost.  Existing  high  freight  rates 
on  pole  shipments  from  the  West  serve 
to  maintain  this  advantage  but  produc- 
ers are  hopeful  of  relief  being  afforded 
there  before  long. 

Competition  in  the  pole  market  is 
keen  right  now,  with  good  stocks  held 
at  distribution  points  and  immediate 
shipments  generally  made.  Prices  have 
not  changed  since  three  months  ago  on 
Western  red  cedar  poles,  at  which  time 
a  cut  of  15  to  22  per  cent  was  made. 
Northern  white  cedar  poles  have  not 
been  reduced,  it  is  stated,  and  in  the 
opinion  of  a  prominent  producer  are 
not  very  likely  to  be  reduced  because 
of  their  increasing  scarcity.  Current 
quotations  on  Western  red  cedar  poles 
are  as  follows:  f.o.b.  New  York,  30-ft. 
7-in.  top,  $9.55;  35-ft.  8-in.  top,  $16.10; 
40-ft.  8-in.  top,  $19.15,  and  the  same 
poles  f.o.b.  Chicago,  $8.30;  $13.90,  and 
$16.30  respectively. 


Railway  Supplies  for  Japan 

A  commission  merchant  from  Japan 
who  is  in  the  United  States  desires  to 
purchase  railway  supplies.  Further  in- 
formation may  be  had  by  referring  to 
No.  35,189,  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce,  Washington,  D.  C. 


W.  P.  Wire  Operation  at  50 
per  Cent  Capacity 

General  Demand  Slightly  Better  With 
Prompt  Shipments  and  Stocks  that 
Are  Still  too  Large 

Central  staiion  extensions  are  not 
making  very  noticeable  inroads  on  job- 
bers', distributers'  and  manufacturers' 
stocks  of  weather-proof  wire.  There 
is  some  central  station  buying  in  the 
Chicago  territory,  the  southeastern 
states  find  sales  holding  up  pretty  well 
on  Nos.  6,  8,  10  and  12  and  the  St.  Louis 
district  is  finding  a  slightly  increased 
demand  for  weather-proof  wire  in 
sizes  Nos.  6  and  8.  There  some  of  the 
jobbers  are  buying  to  keep  their  stocks 
on  an  even  level.  New  England  reports 
show  a  decided  change  for  the  better 
as  the  number  of  building  permits  and 
of  contracts  for  wiring  old  houses  is 
increasing  favorably,  calling  for  line 
extensions.  New  York  territory  is  not 
noticeable  in  its  purchasing. 

Still  there  has  been  considerable  res- 
idence building  in  the  Northwest,  south- 
ern California,  the  Intermountain  dis- 
tricts, the  Southeast,  in  some  parts  of 
the  New  York  territory  and  in  parts 
of  New  England,  and  this  should  en- 
courage sales  of  weather-proof  for 
street  extensions  outside  of  congested 
city  districts.  But  electric  railway  buy- 
ing and  central-station  buying  as  a 
whole  have  been  so  quiet  the  weather- 
proof wire  mills  are  running  at  a  rate 
of  about  50  per  cent  only.  Shipments 
naturally  are  good  and  stocks  are  still 
too  high  for  mill  comfort.  Bare  cop- 
per wire  is  quoted  at  14J-14i  cents 
bare  at  the  mill,  up-river  fine  para 
rubber  at  154  cents,  first  latex  crepe  at 
141  cents  and  spot  cotton  in  New  York 
at  12  cents. 

Weatherproof  wire  can  be  purchased 
at  a  relatively  low  rate,  about  a  15J 
cent  base  ruling  for  No.  6. 


Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean 
Company  Will  Electrify 

The  Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean  Com- 
pany proposes  to  electrify  all  its  lines, 
starting  with  that  from  Lyons  to  Mar- 
seilles, which  bore  a  traffic  of  14,000,000 
tons  of  freight  per  kilometer  in  1913. 
This  line,  according  to  the  "Fortnightly 
Survey  of  French  Economic  Conditions," 
N  ew  York  City,  compiled  by  the  French 
commission  in  the  United  States,  serves 
both  directly  and  indirectly  Modena, 
Grenoble,  St.  Etienne,  Geneva,  Roanne 
and  the  lines  from  Tarascon  to  Cette 
and  Grenoble  to  Marseilles.  So  inade- 
quate are  the  facilities  of  this  last  line 
at  present  that  much  of  the  traffic  has 
to  be  diverted  via  Valence. 

The  electrification  of  the  Lyons-Mar- 
seilles line  will  require  200,000  kw., 
of  which  150,000  kw.  must  be  supplied 
by  the  Alps-Rhone  region.  The  power 
stations  to  be  built  along  the  Rhone  will 
be  able  to  furnish  this  power,  and  plans 
are  being  made  accordingly.  The  P.  L. 
M.  Company  also  intends  to  construct 
a  power  plant  itself  which  will  be 
located  at  Mondargon. 


190 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  5 


It  further  proposes  to  develop  the 
power  resources  of  the  Bessorthe  River. 
The  upper  basin  would  permit  the  con- 
struction of  a  reservoir  of  15,000,000 
cu.m.  capacity.  The  fall  of  1,100  m. 
would  make  available,  once  the  reser- 
voir is  constructed,  10,000  kw.,  an  im- 
portant portion  of  the  power  needed  by 
the  company  in  this  neighborhood. 

The  Government  Railway  Administra- 
tion had  already  electrified  a  section  of 
line  in  this  region  in  1911.  In  the 
same  year  it  decided  to  extend  its  elec- 
trified line  another  35  km.  from  Mure 
in  Dauphine  to  Gap  in  Haute  Provence. 
If  the  saving  in  coal  on  the  govern- 
ment's line  from  Mure  to  Gap  be  taken 
as  basis  of  comparison,  the  electrifica- 
tion of  the  P.  L.  M.'s  Lyons-Marseilles 
line  should  mean  an  annual  coal  saving 
of  5,000,000  tons. 


Rolling  Stock 


$8,161,000  Spent  for  Electric 
Locomotives  in  1919 

Bureau  of  Census  Production  Figures 
for  Certain  Materials  Used  by 
Traction  Companies 

In  the  preliminary  statement  of  the 
1920  census  of  manufacturers  with  ref- 
erence to  the  manufacturing  of  electri- 
cal machinery  and  apparatus,  just  is- 
sued by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census, 
Department  of  Commerce,  several  items 
appear  which  may  be  of  interest  to 
traction  companies.  Comparative  fig- 
ures also  are  given  for  1914  and  1909. 


1919  1914  1909 

Electric  locomo- 
tives  $8,161,000  $3,721,000   

Railway  switches, 
signals  and  at- 
tachments  4,467,000    6,394.000  5,377,843 

Insulators   6,504,000      — not  specified — 

Lightning  arrest- 
ers, choke  coils, 
reactors  and 
other  protective 

devices   2,353,000    1,189,000  940,171 

Pole-line  hardware    9,379,000     — not  specified — 


Rails,  Ties,  Fish  Plates,  Tie  Plates, 
etc.,  Increase  Over  1919  Figures 

In  its  tables  of  detailed  statistics  of 
rolled  iron  and  steel  produced  in  the 
United  States  in  1920,  the  Iron  Age 
has  listed  a  few  products  of  interest  to 
traction  companies.  There  were  2,604,- 
116  gross  tons  of  steel  rails  produced  in 
1920,  but  in  1919  there  were  2,203,843 
tons  produced  here.  Production  of  steel 
railroad  ties  in  1920  was  the  highest 
since  1916,  the  respective  figures  for 
1916,  1917,  1918,  1919  and  1920  being 
34,311  gross  tons,  9,103  tons,  6,438  tons, 
16,645  tons  and  26,310  tons. 

Angle  splice  bars  in  1919  were  pro- 
duced to  the  extent  of  111,169  gross 
tons,  steel  and  iron  combined,  while  in 
1920  this  figure  jumped  up  to  175,278 
tons;  tie  plates  increased  from  205,210 
tons  in  1919  to  263,635  tons  in  1920; 
fish  plates  in  1919  amounted  to  11,850 
tons,  and  in  1920  they  came  to  16,603 
tons;  other  rail  joints  in  1919  amounted 
to  49,854  tons  and  in  1920  increased  to 
71,236  tons.  The  output  of  spikes, 
bolts,  nuts  and  similar  fastenings  is 
not  included. 


The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford 
Railroad,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  which  placed 
an  order  for  eight  60-ft.  steel  motor  cars 
and  fourteen  trailers  of  the  same  type  with 
the  Osgood-Bradley  Car  Company  about 
two  months  ago,  will  receive  these  cars  in 
the  fall  of  1921,  it  is  stated.  The  cost  of 
the  motor  cars  is  about  $70,000  each  and 
the  trailers  about  $35,000  each.  The  cars 
are  similar  to  those  now  in  use  on  the 
New  Haven's  electrified  division. 


Track  and  Roadway 


St.  Petersburg   (Fla.)   Municipal  Railway 

has  deferred  its  construction  work.  Efforts 
to  sell  $65,000  of  municipal  bonds  for  the 
building  of  two  loops  to  relieve  congestion 
on  the  downtown  divisions  have  failed. 
Should  further  efforts  fail  citizens  have 
pledged  to  take  the  issue  at  practically  par. 

Public  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J.,  is 

improving  the  grade  on  Haddon  Avenue. 
Camden,  for  a  distance  of  1700  ft.  and  is 
installing  new  rails  and  ties.  The  company 
will  also  lay  a  new  roadbed  from  Camden 
to  Collingswood. 

Trenton  &  Mercer  County  Traction  Cor- 
poration, Trenton,  N.  .1..  has  been  ordered 
bv  the  City  Commission  to  improve  the 
roadbed  on  certain  streets  in  Trenton. 
This  will  include  new  tracks  on  Olden,  Ham- 
ilton and  Pennington  Avenues. 

Oklahoma  Railway,  Oklahoma  City, 
Okla..  has  petitioned  the  city  for  a  three 
months'  extension  in  which  to  complete 
the  laying  of  tracks  between  McNabb  and 
Lincoln  Parks.  The  work  was  to  be  fin- 
ished by  Dec.  31.  The  railway's  reason 
for  not  finishing  the  work  on  time  appears 
to  be  the  hardship  of  construction  in  the 
winter  and  the  desire  to  rebuild  other  lines 
in  need  of  repair,  including  the  tracks  on 
Main  Street  west  of  Hudson. 

Seattle  (Wash.)  Municipal  Railways,  may 

be  forced  to  make  an  extension  on  Beacon 
Avenue  which  will  cost  about  $100,000.  The 
City  Council  recently  voted  to  add  this 
extension  to  the  eight  proposed  railway 
betterments. 

Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Eight  Com- 
pany, Milwaukee,  Wis.,  was  recently  before 
the  Railroad  Commission  as  a  result  of  the 
petition  of  the  City  Council  ordering 
double  tracking  of  the  North  Avenue  line 
from  Forty-fifth  Street  to  Lisbon  Avenue, 
a  distance  of  about  two  blocks.  The  com- 
mission at  the  same  time  considered  the 
petition  of  the  Citv  Council  for  an  exten- 
sion of  the  Thirty-fifth  Street  line  of  the 
company  on  Center  Street  between  Sherman 
Boulevard  and  Fifty-first  Street,  a  distance 
of  about  a  half  a  mile.  The  case  was  taken 
under  advisement. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


experience  to  advise  in  these  matters  and 
in  more  general  engineering  studies,  par- 
ticularly as  applied  to  the  smaller  com- 
panies. From  1902  to  1906  Mr.  Pneuman 
worked  as  an  inspector  on  the  elevated 
lines  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany and  attended  night  school  at  Pratt 
Institute  during  this  time.  From  1906  to 
1910  he  was  employed  in  the  factory  of 
the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company.  During  the  following  year 
he  was  foreman  of  maintenance  of  locomo- 
tives at  the  Stamford,  Conn.,  shops  of  the 
New  York.  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Rail- 
road. In  1912  he  became  master  mechanic 
of  the  Annapolis  Short  Line  at  Annapolis, 
Md..  which  was  then  operated  by  Allen  & 
Peck,  Inc.  Leaving  this  position  in  1914, 
he  became  chief  engineer  of  the  Buffalo, 
Lockport  &  Rochester  Railway,  continuing 
in  this  position  until  he  went  with  the 
Westinghouse  Company  again  in  1916,  this 
time  in  the  commercial  engineering  &e- 
partment. 


Trade  Notes 


A.  E.  Zacher  has  resigned,  effective  at 
once,  as  district  manager  of  the  Buffalo 
office  of  the  Economy  Fuse  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  Chicago,  111. 

John  D.  Nlcklis,  manager  of  the  supply 

department  in  charge  of  mill  supplies,  Man- 
ning, Maxwell  &  Moore,  Inc.,  119  West 
Fortieth  Street,  New  York  City,  has  been 
appointed  manager  of  supplies  and  pur- 
chases in  charge  of  centralized  purchasing 
at  the  home  office. 

Topping  Brothers.  122  Chambers  Street, 
New  York  City,  jobbers  of  railway  track 
supplies  and  heavy  hardware,  have  ap- 
pointed Spencer  Reed  Company,  1265  Boyl- 
ston  Street,  Boston,  its  representative  in 
the  New  England  territory.  Frank  F. 
Spencer  for  several  years  represented 
Joseph  T.  Ryerson  &  Son,  manufacturers 
of  machine  tools,  iron  and  steel  products, 
etc. 

The  International  Register  Company,  Chi- 
cago. Ml.  through  its  sales  agent,  the  Elec- 
tric Service  Supplies  Company,  has  leased 
112  International  portable  hand  registers  to 
the  Third  Avenue  Railway  Company,  New 
York  City.  These  registers  are  attached  to 
the  fare  box  and  used  as  an  additional 
check  on  fares.  About  250  of  them  were 
also  placed  with  the  Public  Service  Railway 
Company,  Newark,  N.  J.,  earlier  this  year, 
for  use  on  its  safety  cars. 

Handlon-Buck    Manufacturing  Company, 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  manufacturer  and  dealer  in 
electric  and  steam  railway  supplies,  an- 
nounces the  election  of  new  officers  at  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors. 
A.  H.  Handlon.  Jr.,  formerly  vice-president 
and  manager,  becomes  president  and  treas- 
urer ;  E.  R.  Handlon,  secretary,  has  been 
made  vice-president ;  E.  W.  Handlon,  for- 
merly vice-president  and  treasurer,  retains 
the  office  of  vice-president ;  and  R.  D. 
Teasdale  has  been  elected  secretary.  The 
death  of  A.  H.  Handlon.  president  of  the 
company,  as  announced  in  the  June  25  is- 
sue, left  a  vacancy  in  the  executive  per- 
sonnel. 


Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Eos  Angeles. 
Cal.,  has  abandoned  its  project  of  moving 
its  carhouse  at  Fifth  and  American  Ave- 
nues, Long  Beach,  to  the  west  end  terminal 
of  the  lines.  Mr.  Titcomb  said  that  all 
arrangements  had  been  completed  for  the 
transfer  until  the  new  city  charter  was 
adopted  which  placed  restrictions  on  the 
erection  of  carhouses  and  installation  of 
switching  facilities  on  and  around  Morgan 
Avenue. 

nun  ii  i  in  i  ii  1 1 1 !  i  n  1 1  d  <i  .in  ii  mininiiiNiii  ii  BjjMjnfi 

Professional  Note 


J.  M.  Pneuman,  for  the  past  five  years 
commercial  engineer  in  the  railway  de- 
partment of  the  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  is  now  acting 
as  a  consultant  on  equipment  maintenance 
matters.  He  is  giving  special  attention  to 
equipment  maintenance  problems,  or  as- 
sisting the  management  to  establish  proper 
maintenance  practices,  and  is  taking  care 
of  this  work  on  a  retainer  basis,  dividing 
his  time  among  the  several  companies  in 
Ohio  by  which  he  is  at  present  engaged. 
Mr.  Pneuman  is  well  qualified  through  long 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Belt  Conveyors. — The  Link-Belt  Company 
910  South  Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago,  has  is- 
sued a  new  book.  No.  215.  on  belt  conveyors 
in  which  it  describes  the  "Uniroll"  and 
"Multiroll"  idlers.  The  company  has  also 
issued  a  new  steel  chain  data  book,  No.  475. 

Water-Cooling  Apparatus.  —  The  Binks 
Spray  Equipment  Company,  3114  Carroll 
Avenue,  Chicago  is  distributing  a  small  cir- 
cular describing  its  "Spra-Rite"  cooling  pond 
equipment  for  steam  and  ammonia  con- 
densers. 

Brazing  Torch.  —  The  Production  Engi- 
neering Corporation,  40  Sudbury  Street, 
Boston,  is  distributing  a  circular  covering 
the  "Bantam"  electric-gas  brazing  torch,  re- 
cently developed  by  the  company. 

National  Board  of  Eire  Underwriters,  207 
East  Ohio  Street.  Chicago  has  issued  a 
fifty-two-page  booklet  on  its  "Organization, 
Purpose  and  Methods."  A  description  of 
the  services  rendered,  together  with  the 
working  method  of  the  organization  and 
numerous  illustrations  of  testing  methods 
and  the  various  labels  used,  are  given. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


tlARRY  L.BROWN, Western  Editor 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 

N.  A.BOWERS.Paclflc  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIEB.Assoclate  Editor 
G.J.MACMUBBAY.Newa  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE.Editorial  Representative 

L.W.W.MORROW.Special  Editorial  Representative  / 


C.W. STOCKS.  AssociaU  Editor 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  August  6,  1921 


Number  6 


Any  Car  Any  Time 
for  Any  Distance 

ELSEWHERE  in  this  issue  is  an  account  of  nearly 
two  years'  operation  of  the  unlimited  ride,  $1 
weekly  pass  at  Racine,  Wis.  When  this  plan  for  increas- 
ing off-peak  riding  was  first  broached,  it  was  assumed 
by  some  to  be  a  revival  of  the  European  style  pass, 
while  others  were  skeptical  about  a  form  of  selling 
transportation  that  left  no  tangible  record. 

As  regards  the  latter  point,  the  experience  of  the 
Racine  division  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company  indicates  that  it  was  not  even  necessary 
to  continue  recording  pass  presentations  on  the  former 
transfer  registers.  With  two  special  surveys  made  more 
than  a  year  apart,  showing  the  average  number  of  rides 
per  business  day  per  pass  holder  to  be  slightly  less  than 
four,  it  seems  proper  to  assume  that  the  average  number 
is  so  steady  that  multiplying  pass-holders  by  four  will 
give  a  reasonably  correct  figure  for  the  average  number 
of  daily  revenue  rides  taken  by  them.  This  holds  at  least 
for  the  towns  of  the  size  of  Racine  and  Kenosha  where 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  ride-making  conditions  is 
possible. 

As  regards  the  former  point,  this  pass  is  not  the  same 
as  the  European  kind  because  it  is  necessary  in  Racine 
for  a  pass  holder  to  be  better  than  a  compulsory  twice- 
a-day  rider  in  order  to  save  by  its  use.  The  figure  of 
average  rides  quoted  above  shows  that  this  principle  has 
been  effective.  While  the  pass-holder  pays  only  4  cents 
per  ride  he  gives  the  company  16  cents  per  day,  which  is 
more  than  would  be  likely  to  be  realized  from  either  cash 
or  ticket  riders.  No  one  can  say  how  much  more 
revenue  has  come  to  the  railway  through  the  pass,  but 
from  Mr.  Jackson's  account  it  is  apparent  that  the  pass 
has  definitely  helped  to  better  safety  car  operation,  to 
improve  off-peak  riding  and  to  foster  the  welcome  habit 
of  taking  any  car  any  time  for  any  distance. 


Changes  in  Taxation 

Could  Well  Be  Made 

THE  recommendations  of  Secretary  Mellon  to 
eliminate  the  higher  surtax  rate  if  carried  into 
effect  should  be  of  help  to  all  utilities  and  other  issuers 
of  investment  securities.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that 
these  higher  surtax  rates  have  been  so  high  in  the  past 
as  to  defeat  their  own  purpose.  If  the  rates  for  large 
incomes  were  lower,  the  holders  of  those  incomes  could 
again  afford  to  invest  in  public  utility  bonds  rather  than 
the  tax-exempt  issues  of  cities,  counties  and  states. 

Of  course,  the  clean  cut  thing  to  do  as  a  basis  of  any 
logical  taxation  system  is  to  provide  that  no  more  tax 
exempt  securities  be  issued — that  the  income  from  all 
classes  of  securities  be  treated  alike.  The  McFadden 
resolution,  now  before  Congress,  proposing  a  constitu- 
tional amendment  to  that  effect  should  be  supported  and 
pushed  to  an  early  adoption.  But  such  things  take  time 
and  meanwhile  revenues  must  be  collected  and  the  best 
immediate  moves  must  be  determined. 


The  recommendation  of  Secretary  Mellon  that  the 
transportation  tax  be  cut  in  half  should  be  of  help  to  the 
interurban  roads  as  well  as  trunk  roads.  On  the  other 
hand,  his  suggestion  that  the  normal  income  tax  be 
increased  to  15  per  cent  would  affect  many  companies 
adversely,  and  the  suggestion  sometimes  made  that  a 
special  tax  be  laid  on  undistributed  income  would  affect 
electric  railway  companies  still  more. 

The  fact  is,  as  President  Gadsden  pointed  out  recently 
before  a  committee  of  Congress,  the  conditions  under 
which  public  utilities  operate  are  so  different  from  those 
which  apply  to  most  other  corporations  as  strongly  to 
suggest  the  advisability  that  for  taxation  purposes  they 
should  be  in  a  class  by  themselves.  Their  rates,  return 
and  most  of  their  expenses  now  are  regulated  by  law ; 
in  taxation  only  are  they  put  in  a  class  with  other  com- 
panies. This  is  an  anomalous  condition  and  its  correc- 
tion can  well  be  considered  by  our  legislators. 


Efforts  to  Preserve 

Proper  Financial  Balance 

PRACTICAL  application  is  about  to  be  made  by  the 
North  American  Company  of  the  theories  of  finance 
stressed  by  Lucien  H.  Tyng,  chairman  of  the  sub-com- 
mittee of  the  American  Bankers'  Association,  in  the 
interim  report  made  recently  entitled  "The  Importance 
of  Adequate  Junior  Financing."  Mr.  Tyng  quoted  an 
elaborate  compilation  covering  a  period  of  fifteen  years 
to  prove  a  combined  note  and  bond  financing  among 
utilities  of  79.18  per  cent  and  a  combined  stock  finan- 
cing of  20.19  per  cent  as  against  a  theoretically  correct 
fifty-fifty.  He  said  that  it  served  no  useful  purpose 
simply  to  say  that  the  companies  must  do  more  junior 
financing  and  that  the  time  to  avoid  any  responsibility 
for  reorganization  was  when  dangerous  tendencies  be- 
came evident  and  before  disaster  has  happened.  Thus 
he  stressed  points  also  made  by  F.  K.  Shrader  before 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Association  at  its  meet- 
ing last  winter,  at  which  Mr.  Shrader,  an  investment 
banker,  warned  against  a  continuation  of  the  tendency 
of  the  past  to  borrow  money  rather  than  to  sell  share 
capital. 

This  is  the  warning  that  the  North  American  Com- 
pany is  heeding  under  the  plan  for  the  readjustment  of 
its  capital  outlined  in  a  recent  issue.  In  this  particular 
case  there  was  no  need  for  immediate  concern  for  the 
financial  future  of  the  company,  but  there  was  honest 
realization  on  the  part  of  the  directors  of  the  fact 
that  continued  exclusive  use  by  subsidiaries  of  bonds 
and  notes  to  finance  the  cost  of  added  facilities  tends 
in  time  to  produce  a  financial  structure  top-heavy  as 
regards  debts,  and  to  impair  the  credit  of  the  parent 
company  and  its  subsidiaries.  It  is  an  interesting 
change,  this  division  of  the  $29,793,300  stock,  all  com- 
mon, of  the  North  American  Company  into  even  parts 
of  common  and  of  6  per  cent  preferred,  with  the  new 
preferred  ranking  as  an  investment  issue  and  the  new 
common  as  an  issue  with  prospects  of  participation  in 


192 


Electric   Railway  Journal, 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


the  profits  to  a  degree  that  should  hold  it  near  par. 
No  less  interesting  in  its  way  than  this  change  is 
the  announcement  of  the  offering  of  $3,000,000  of  8 
per  cent  preferred  stock  over  the  counter  by  the  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company,  for  the 
same  principles  of  finance  are  involved.  The  cost  of  the 
money  to  the  company  may  be  a  trifle  higher  under  the 
present  plan  than  would  have  been  the  case  had  resort 
been  had  to  the  issuance  of  bonds  or  notes,  but  then 
a  redemption  privilege  has  been  inserted  in  the  stock 
that  may  prove  very  valuable  in  the  future  as  the  prac- 
tice in  the  past  with  the  bond  offerings  has  been  to  make 
them  non-callable. 

By  the  new  issue  of  stock  in  Milwaukee  the  proportion 
of  bonds  and  other  secured  obligations  to  stocks  out- 
standing has  been  changed  for  the  better  on  that  prop- 
erty because  of  the  arrangement  wherein  the  secured 
debt  stands  at  $37,532,000  contrasted  to  $17,350,000  of 
stock,  composed  of  $7,500,000  of  preferred  and  $9,850,000 
of  common.  These  are  not  the  theoretically  perfect  pro- 
portions advocated  by  Mr.Tyng,  but  they  are  an  approach 
toward  them  that  cannot  but  be  helpful  to  the  company. 


Brains  Plus  Machines 

Are  Cheaper  than  Muscle 

A VISITOR  to  the  Youville  Shops  of  the  Montreal 
Tramways  a  few  years  back,  say  early  in  1914, 
would  probably  have  pronounced  the  equipment  and 
practices  to  be  about  right.  The  buildings  were  modern, 
the  layout  was  good,  and  while  few  of  the  machines 
were  new  they  were  all  in  good  condition.  The  fact 
that  much  progress  has  been  made  recently  at  Youville, 
however,  is  disclosed  by  an  article  in  this  issue,  which 
tells  how  costs  have  been  controlled  through  a  complete 
analysis  of  shop  operations. 

Fortunately  for  Canada,  the  tramways  shops  were  so 
well  organized  that  when  the  war  broke  out  they  were 
able  to  take  on  a  huge  job  of  shell-making,  which  was 
completed  with  the  same  dispatch  that  is  expected  of 
a  concern  regularly  engaged  in  manufacturing.  This, 
of  course,  required  a  supplemental  force  of  men  and 
additional  machinery,  but  the  esprit  de  corps  which  was 
behind  the  shell  work  done  for  the  government  was  the 
regular  spirit  of  the  shops,  intensified  by  patriotism. 
The  stimulus  of  the  war  work,  added  to  the  necessity 
for  economizing  in  materials  and  labor,  was  a  contribut- 
ing factor  to  the  improvement  in  shop  methods  out- 
lined in  the  article. 

This  improvement  has  been  wrought  through  close 
attention  to  detail,  to  individual  operations.  Take,  for 
example,  lifting,  which  was  seen  to  be  a  time  and 
energy  consumer,  and  which  afforded  an  attractive 
opportunity  for  saving.  Lifting  was  minimized  by  the 
simple  expedient  of  keeping  heavy  pieces  on  as  nearly 
the  same  level  as  possible.  Lost  motion  in  transferring 
pieces  from  place  to  place  was  also  eliminated  by  care- 
ful routing  and  loss  of  effort  through  unfamiliarity  of 
men  with  jobs  was  reduced.  And,  not  least  in  impor- 
tance, reclamation  work  was  systematized  to  the  limit. 

The  Montreal  Tramways  has  been  doing  only  what 
other  railways  in  Canada  and  the  United  States  have 
been  forced  or  impelled  to  do  under  stress  of  the  same 
conditions.  It  does  not  pose  as  a  model;  in  fact,  the 
information  in  this  week's  article  was  obtained  entirely 
on  the  initiative  of  this  paper.  At  the  same  time  it  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  the  principles  so  well  exemplified 
at  Montreal  have  wide  application.    The  results  secured 


there  show  what  concentration  on  the  fundamentals  and 
the  resulting  judicious  use  of  machinery  will  do  in 
cutting  out  waste  in  the  shop. 


Two  Opposing  Policies 

Separated  by  a  Few  Miles 

THE  eyes  of  the  electric  railway  industry  are  now 
focussed  in  an  all-absorbing  manner  on  the  situa- 
tion in  Detroit  where  municipal  ownership  is  making 
miraculous  headway  both  in  respect  to  the  growth 
of  its  physical  property  and  its  popularity  with 
the  public.  Such  being  the  case,  a  rather  unique 
circumstance  in  regard  to  public  ownership  is  of  partic- 
ular interest.  On  June  4  there  were  quoted  in  this  paper 
several  paragraphs  from  an  article  in  the  Saturday 
Evening  Post  written  by  a  "country  banker."  He  tells 
how  a  certain  city,  undoubtedly  St.  Petersburg,  Fla., 
took  over  the  dilapidated  rolling  stock  and  plant  of  the 
railway  operating  there  after  it  had  become  bankrupt. 
The  transition  was  quick  and  simple.  The  city  fathers 
picked  their  operating  staff  and  the  new  manager  was 
allowed  to  proceed  unbridled  by  his  superiors  and 
unmindful  of  the  customary  financial  restrictions  and 
the  economies  of  the  problem.  He  promptly  junked  all 
old  equipment  and  purchased  new,  and  generally  re- 
vamped the  property  according  to  his  own  idea  of  ade- 
quacy. Our  observer  relates  that  the  fare  is  5  cents  and 
a  very  satisfactory  service  is  maintained.  However,  his 
inquisitiveness  failed  to  be  aroused  to  the  point  of 
learning  what  return  on  the  capital  a  rigid  system  of 
bookkeeping  would  show.  But  why  worry  about  such  an 
inconsequential  detail  if  the  local  riders  are  boast- 
ful of  their  service?  Their  ignorance  that  the  final 
reckoning  is  in  the  tax  rates  merely  adds  another  con- 
firmation to  the  truth  that  some  of  the  people  can  be 
fooled  all  the  time. 

Here  is  the  flagrant  inconsistency.  A  luring  oppor- 
tunity exists  in  Miami,  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  to  secure 
a  liberal  franchise  for  the  operation  of  a  railway  there. 
The  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  all  other  civic  bodies, 
as  well  as  the  City  Council,  are  extremely  anxious  to 
have  someone  look  into  the  proposition.  They  will 
gladly  assure  their  assistance  in  getting  a  franchise 
without  restrictions  as  to  rates,  paving  of  streets  or 
other  outside  expenses.  There  are  already  in  place  5 
miles  of  track  which  can  be  secured  at  a  price  consider- 
ably under  reproduction  cost.  These  two  cities,  com- 
parable as  to  permanent  and  transient  residents,  cer- 
tainly are  at  wide  variance  as  to  solution  of  their 
respective  transportation  problems. 

Is  one  a  case  of  optimism  and  over-confidence  and  the 
other  of  perhaps  adequate  detailed  study?  The  guess 
might  safely  be  hazarded  that  the  Miamians  are  not  the 
only  ones  to  have  investigated  with  thoroughness  the 
proposition,  for  as  yet  no  takers  have  been  reported. 
What  seems  so  strange  is  that  two  cities,  located  so 
close  to  each  other,  should  decide  upon  such  opposed 
methods  of  operation.  It  might  pay  those  in  whose 
hands  the  direction  of  Miami's  municipal  affairs  rest  to 
direct  their  efforts  toward  "selling"  the  natives  on 
their  becoming  the  owners  of  this  promising  property. 
Nevertheless,  the  potent  question  suggests  itself:  What 
are  the  characteristics  and  virtues  of  public  operation 
and  ownership  that  mark  it  as  apparently  a  desirable 
condition  in  one  place  and  exclude  it  from  consideration 
as  a  solution  in  a  neighboring  city?  Perhaps  the  balmy 
air  of  Florida  is  not  conducive  to  consistency. 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


193 


Panoramic  View  of  the  Main  Shop  Building 


Cutting  Out  Waste  in  the  Shop 

Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  Has  Well-Equipped  Shops  Which  Were  Utilized  for  War  Work — Salient  Prin- 
ciples Applied  in  Maintenance  Practice  Are  Minimizing  of  Lifting  Operations,  Effective  Routing 
of  Machine  Jobs  and  Permanent  Repair  of  Defective  Parts 


Finish  bore 


Rough  and  finish  turn 


r,  e^ff  =i  

li' — t  j___r__i^L  > 

Face  halves 


in  an 


Rough  bore  &  groove 
for  chucking 


Routing  Diagram  for  Finishing  Axle  Bearings 


IN  ITS  shops  at  Youville  the  Montreal  Tramways 
possesses  unusual  facilities  for  maintenance  work  on 
rolling  stock.  These  shops  were  described  in  the 
issue  of  this  paper  for  July  11,  1914,  page  60,  but  since 
they  were  built  many  improvements  in  details  have  been 
made.  The  panoramic  view  reproduced  shows  the 
general  appearance  of  the  front  of  the  main  buildings, 
while  the  outline  drawings  give  the  present  layout  of 
machines  for  finishing  axle  bearings. 

The  manufacturing  possibilities  of  the  shops  were  so 
good  that  the  Canadian  government  utilized  them  during 
the  war  for  shell  manufacture,  and  about  80,000  each  of 
6-in.  and  8-in.  H.E.  shells  of  fine  quality  were  turned 
out.  This  involved  the  installation  of  much  new 
machinery,  some  of  which  was  made  a  permanent  part 
of  the  shop  equipment  after  the  war  contracts  were  com- 
pleted. All  of  this  war  work  was  under  the  direction  of 
D.  E.  Blair,  superintendent  of  equipment  and  shops,  in 
addition  to  his  regular  duties. 

In  all  of  the  maintenance  work  the  aim  is  to  prevent 
recurrence  of  defects  by  replacing  worn  and  broken 
parts  with  others  of  more  substantial  nature,  as  will 
be  illustrated  in  the  present  article.  Climatic  conditions 
make  this  unusually  necessary,  as  the  effects  on  the 
paving  of  freezing  and  thawing  are  severe.  Each 
spring  there  is  an  epidemic  of  motor  frame  breakages 
due  to  this  cause,  an  especially  bad  season  resulting  in 
a  crop  of  250  or  more  motor  frame  breakages  during  the 
winter.  This  condition  also  causes  the  breakage  of  a 
very  large  number  of  truck  frames.  By  co-operation 
with  the  track  department  this  trouble  is  being  attacked 
at  the  root,  while  more  economical  repair  and  mainten- 
ance methods  are  being  introduced  in  the  shop. 

One  of  the  most  notable  recent  improvements  in  main- 
tenance procedure  has  been  in  the  handling  of  supplies, 
particularly  in  collecting  parts  of  equipment  from  the 
carhouses  and  in  furnishing  overhauled  parts.    This  is 


done  with  one  supply  car,  manned  with  a  crew  of  two, 
who  are  reinforced  locally  at  the  carhouses  by  two  addi- 
tional men.  In  a  working  day  of  nine  hours  this  car 
visits  all  of  the  five  carhouses  on  the  property,  whereas 
until  the  present  routine  was  adopted  two  cars,  for 
twelve  hours  per  day,  were  required.  The  car  is  loaded 
up  to  about  20  tons  on  each  trip.  It  also  handles  all 
incoming  mechanical  department  stores  from  down  town 
to  the  shops. 

This  supply  car  is  shown  in  one  of  the  illustrations. 
(See  also  issue  of  this  paper  for  Jan.  10,  1914,  page  88.) 
One  feature  is  the  gib  crane  of  3,000-lb.  capacity, 
operated  by  a  small  electric  motor  which  is  effective 
in  handling  wheels,  etc.,  and  which  has  a  working  radius 
of  12  ft.  The  supply  compartments  are  also  notable, 
particularly  those  for  armatures.  These  are  on  the  floor 
level  and  have  covers  hinged  at  the  bottom  so  that  they 
can  be  used  to  support  the  armatures  in  a  convenient 
position  for  attaching  the  chain  hooks  of  the  air  hoist 
suspended  from  an  I-beam  running  above  the  wall  racks 


Where  the  Air  Compressors  Are  Maintained  and  Tested 


Cabs  and  Machines 


in  the  General  Overhaul.  Shop 


The  Supply  Car  Which  Visits  All  Carhouses  Once  a  Day 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


195 


THE  WHEEL  AND  AXLE  STORAGE  AND  LOADING  PLATFORM  ALONGSIDE  THE  SUPPLY  CAR  TRACK 
At  left — General  view  of  the  platform.     In  center — The  lift  in  position  ready  to  be  loaded. 
At  right — Wheels  and  axles  raised  and  ready  to  roll  along  the  platform. 


in  the  carhouses.  Thus  the  armatures  are  handled  from 
the  carhouses  to  the  winding  stands  and  returned  to  the 
pit  jacks  in  the  carhouses  without  running  any  chances 
of  being  damaged  by  being  rolled  over  floors. 

A  loading  platform  for  wheels  has  recently  been  built 
in  the  wheel  shop.  It  merits  more  than  passing  notice 
due  to  the  reduction  which  it  has  made  in  the  cost  of 
handling  wheels.  Several  pictures  are  reproduced  to 
show  the  details.  The  main  purpose  of  this  platform  is 
to  permit  storing  of  wheels  on  the  axles  on  the  level  of 
the  floor  of  the  supply  car.  Incidentally  it  provides  a 
space  underneath  for  the  storage  of  gear  cases,  etc.  It 
is  a  time  saver  in  eliminating  a  comparatively  slow  lift 
by  the  supply  crane,  the  saving  amounting  to  from 
thirty  to  forty-five  minutes  per  day. 

The  platform  is  mounted  on  a  steel  underframe  of 
channel  sections  with  columns  of  6-in.  pipe  terminating 
in  flanges  top  and  bottom.  At  one  end  is  an  air-operated 
lift  consisting  of  a  rectangular  frame  of  channels,  lat- 
ticed to  stiffen  it  and  hinged  to  the  platform  underneath 
at  a  distance  of  several  feet  back  from  the  end.  At 


the  outer  end  of  the  lift  crane  is  a  cradle  made  of  two 
wood  blocks,  curved  slightly  on  the  upper  surfaces  to 
prevent  the  axle  from  rolling  off  until  the  lift  has  been 
raised  sufficiently  to  permit  the  wheels  to  roll  down  the 
strap  rails  laid  on  the  platform. 

The  lift  is  raised  and  lowered  by  means  of  a  cylinder 
removed  from  an  old  bulldozer,  with  a  control  lever 
mounted  alongside  the  lift  and  connected  with  the  valve 
on  the  cylinder  by  means  of  a  rod  visible  in  one  of  the 
pictures. 

On  the  platform  are  two  sets  of  rails,  offset  so  that 
the  wheels  and  axles  will  be  staggered  to  economize 
space. 

Reclamation  Work  Is  Well  Systematized 

Very  little  material  goes  to  the  junkman  from  the 
Youville  shops  which  offers  any  possibilities  in  the  way 
of  economical  reclamation.  Reclamation  work  is  handled 
here  according  to  a  manufacturing-type  program 
designed  to  incorporate  simplicity,  thoroughness  and 
common  sense. 


STEPS  IN  THE  OPERATION  OF  FINISHING  A  BEARING 
1.  Boring  mill  for  rough  boring  and  grooving.     2.  Halves  of      bushing  for  finished  boring  and  end  chamfering.    5.  Grinding  ma- 
bearing  rough  bored  and  grooved.    3.  Mandrel  for  holding  bearing      chine  for  inside  chamfering.     6.  General  view  of  bearing  section, 
for  rough  and  finish  turning.     4.  Chuck,  boring  bar  and  chuck      with  trucks  in  foreground. 


196 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


Truck  Photographs  Are  Numbered  to  Permit  Easy 
Identification  of  the  Parts 


The  reclamation  work  "heads  up"  in  the  reclamation 
storeroom,  entirely  separate  from  the  new  materials 
storeroom.  In  charge  of  this  is  a  specialist,  who  also 
has  charge  of  the  supply  car.  He  is  the  general  right- 
hand  man  to  the  shop  foreman  and  is  more  than  a  mere 
stockroom  clerk  because  he  initiates  changes  in  stock 
standards  as  necessary.  All  used  material  sent  in  from 
the  carhouses  is  received  here  even  if  it  is  apparently  of 
no  further  use.  That  which  is  fit  for  repairs  or 
reclamation  is  distributed  for  repairs  and  checked  off 
against  the  department  to  which  it  was  sent.  That 
which  seems  to  be  only  fit  for  the  scrap  pile  is  brought 
to  a  central  weigh  scale,  where  it  is  further  examined 
by  a  competent  mechanic,  who  selects  pieces  that  will 
serve  for  raw  material  or  which  can  be  put  to  further 
use  for  other  purposes.  The  real  scrap  is  then  weighed 
according  to  account  classification,  so  that  each  account 
receives  proper  credit.  It  is  then  loaded  onto  a  suitable 
truck  for  conveyance  to  the  stores  scrap  bins,  where  it 
is  sorted  and  sold  according  to  scrap  market  classifica- 
tion. Credit  is  thus  given  each  account  daily.  Brass 
and  copper  scrap  after  being  weighed  is  received  daily 
by  the  stores  department  in  locked  containers  and 
delivered  to  the  contracting  brass  foundry  by  the  car- 
load at  suitable  intervals.  Requisitions  for  supplies 
from  carhouses  are  sent  direct  to  this  department  and 
are  filled  as  far  as  possible  from  reclaimed  stock  on 
"No  Charge"  invoices.  Written  requisitions  are  then 
forwarded  to  the  stores  department  for  new  supplies. 
All  work  done  on  general  repairs  and  reclamation  is 


Brake  Head  Showing  Finished  Surfaces  Which  Make 
Contact  With  Brake  Beams 


charged  direct  to  the  operating  account  affected  as  the 
work  is  being  done.  An  interesting  feature  of  this 
department  is  a  series  of  classified  bins  in  which  are 
collected  various  small  O.K.  parts  of  damaged  and 
scrapped  apparatus.  These  are  easily  located  and  used 
to  good  advantage  in  the  manufacture  of  new  parts  on 
manufacturing  orders,  all  material  for  which  is  collected 
and  issued  by  the  material  clerk. 

Bearing  Work  Involves  Ingenious  Operations 

One  of  the  most  interesting  sections  of  the  shops  is 
that  devoted  to  bearings.  This  work  is  routed  in 
accordance  with  the  plan  shown  in  an  accompanying 
sketch.  The  machines  involved  are  so  placed  that  the 
work  goes  around  the  four  sides  of  a  rectangle,  and 
trucks  of  convenient  height,  shown  in  a  picture  repro- 
duced, are  used  to  carry  the  raw  material  to  the  ma- 
chines and  the  finished  material  back  to  stores.  Tables 
are  located  between  machines  so  as  to  eliminate  all 
handling  between  machines.  The  steps  in  the  work, 
which  is  a  contract  job,  are  as  below: 

1.  The  halves  of  the  bronze  bearings  are  first  surfaced 
on  the  flat  faces  in  a  shaper  at  present,  but  a  change- 
over to  a  milling  operation  is  under  way  because  a  stout 
lathe  left  over  from  war  work  is  available  for  this  job. 


A  Remodeled  Truck  Showing  Wood  Covers 
Over  Journal  Boxes 


2.  Next  comes  a  rough  bore  in  a  special  boring 
machine  in  which  the  halves  of  the  bearing  are  held 
in  a  stout  clamp  on  a  carriage  sliding  on  the  bed  and 
controlled  by  a  large  hand  wheel.  At  each  end  of  the 
bar  is  a  tool  holder  carrying  tools  for  cutting  a  V-groove 
in  each  end  of  the  bearing  for  use  in  supporting  it  dur- 
ing the  next  operation. 

3.  Next  is  the  over-all  rough  and  finish  turning,  in 
a  lathe  carrying  a  mandrel  with  V-ring  clamps  to  engage 
the  grooves  mentioned  above  in  true  reference  to  rough 
bore. 

4.  Then  comes  the  finish  bore  in  an  excellent  lathe 
inherited  from  war  work.  An  extra  stiff  boring  bar  is 
used,  and  its  inherent  stiffness  is  reinforced  by  an 
anchorage  at  the  rear  end,  not  visible  in  the  picture. 
In  this  operation  the  bearing  is  carried  in  a  collet 
chuck,  which  revolves  in  a  special  bearing  and  which  is 
furnished  with  split  liners  for  the  several  types  of 
bearing.  These  liners  are  split  alternately  from  the 
two  ends,  as  shown,  so  that  they  compress  cylindrically 
in  the  chuck.  The  boring  bar  carries  chamfering  tools 
for  rounding  off  the  flanged  end  of  the  bearing,  elimi- 
nating the  V-groove  there.    The  groove  is  allowed  to 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


J  97 


remain  on  the  other  end.  The  finish  bore  is  made  at 
high  cutting  speed,  up  to  200  ft.  per  minute  and  with 
fast  feed,  made  possible  by  the  stiffness  of  the  lathe. 
The  tolerance  allowed  in  this  bore  is  0.002  in.  above  or 
under,  which  is  possible  because  the  chuck  liner  grasps 
the  bearing  uniformly  over  its  entire  length. 

5.  The  final  operation  is  the  chamfering  of  the  inside 
edges  of  the  bearing  halves,  to  permit  the  oil  to  flow 
onto  the  bearing  surface.  This  is  done  on  a  special 
grinding  table,  through  the  surface  of  which  projects 
a  small  emery  wheel.  On  the  front  edge  of  the  table  is 
a  stop  which  insures  the  proper  angle  and  length  for 
the  chamfer. 

As  to  costs  of  labor  on  contract  on  this  bearing 
finishing,  the  following  sample  data  will  be  of  interest. 
With  the  men  making  72  cents  per  hour,  GE-203  axle 
bearings  average  about  47  cents  for  the  job.  GE-67 
bearings  average  about  51  cents.  During  the  war  the 
figures  reached  as  high  as  $1.  Westinghouse-533  bear- 
ings cost  about  50  cents.  These  prices  are  not  as  low 
as  could  be  obtained  if  the  work  were  steady.  Bearing 
work  is  a  "filling-in"  job  and  hence  is  intermittent. 

The  tramways  use  1,500  box-frame  motors.  These 
are  overhauled  on  a  regular  schedule  and  need  few 
emergency  repairs.    A  section  of  floor  is  set  aside  for 


Brake  Beam  with  Brake  Heads  Biveted 
in  Place 


such  repairs,  which  for  five  years  past  have  been 
handled  by  two  men  in  the  general  repair  shops.  The 
same  men  have  done  this  work  during  the  entire  period 
and  thus  have  become  expert.  The  average  shopping 
of  the  motors  for  such  repairs  is  at  two-year  intervals 
and  they  make  75,000  miles  in  this  period.  No  box- 
frame  motor  repairs  are  made  elsewhere  than  in  the 
general  shops. 

Repair  costs  have  been  reduced  and  much  noise 
eliminated  by  the  use  of  impregnated  wood  covers, 
mounted  by  means  of  flat  steel  springs  over  the  grease 
boxes.  Paraffined  wood  clamp  blocks  for  the  motor 
leads  have  reduced  grounding  of  leads  to  a  minimum. 
On  older  types  of  motors  the  cast-iron  cover  over  the 
commutator  has  been  replaced  by  one  of  sheet  iron,  thus 
reducing  weight,  eliminating  breakage  and  rendering 
the  covers  so  easy  to  put  on  as  to  eliminate  the  tempta- 
tion to  leave  them  off.  These  covers  have  been  used  now 
for  ten  years. 

Like  the  bearing  section,  the  armature  department 
has  a  rectangular  layout,  the  stripping,  winding,  com- 
mutator connecting,  etc.,  being  done  on  the  edge  of 
the  space.    A  trolley  crane  forms  a  belt  line  around 


Motor  with  Wood  Grease-Box  Covers,  Motor-Lead  Cleats 
and  Sheet-Iron  Commutator  Well  Cover 


the  section,  facilitating  the  transfer  of  armatures  from 
point  to  point.  Coil  winding  is  done  in  the  center  of 
the  space. 

Another  section  is  devoted  to  compressor  mainte- 
nance and  each  machine  is  overhauled  every  eighteen 
months.  The  period  will  be  reduced  in  due  course  to 
twelve  months.  The  Westinghouse  and  G.E.-CP-27  com- 
pressors are  standard.  When  piston  fits  are  first  worn 
out  the  cylinder  is  relined  and  bored  out  30  mils  under 
size,  the  piston  and  rings  being  turned  down  to  fit.  A 
special  jig  is  used  for  holding  the  rings  during  turning. 
On  the  second  overhaul  the  cylinder  is  bored  to  standard 
size  and  a  new  piston  and  new  rings  are  put  in.  As 
far  as  wear  is  concerned  the  rings  are  good  for  about 
ten  years'  life. 

Trucks  Being  Rebuilt  After  Nearly 
Twenty  Years 

Many  of  the  Tramways'  cars  are  equipped  with  cast- 
steel  trucks  built  locally  between  1901  and  1905.  These 
are  now  being  thoroughly  overhauled  or,  in  fact,  partly 
rebuilt.  The  pedestals  are  being  relined  with  a  steel 
channel  section  pressed  out  on  the  bulldozer.  When 
journal-box  guides  cannot  be  machined  to  the  new 
width  they  have  strips  welded  in.  Wood  covers,  im- 
pregnated, are  being  placed  on  the  journal  boxes.  These 
are  made  of  maple  or  other  hardwood  scrap  at  a  cost 
of  30  cents  each.  Their  use  eliminates  breakage  and 
insures  that  the  boxes  are  properly  closed  so  as  to  keep 
out  all  water. 


"Close-Up''  op  Truck  Pedestal  Showing  Details  of  Journal 
Box  Covers,  Pedestal  Lining,  Etc. 


198 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


A  most  important  improvement  is  the  finishing  of 
the  surface  of  the  brakeheads  which  make  contact  with 
the  brake  beams  and  the  riveting  of  these  in  place 
instead  of  bolting.  The  life  of  brakeheads  has  thus 
been  prolonged  five  times,  due  to  the  permanently  rigid 
connection.  Troubles  in  service  have  been  lessened  and 
maintenance  costs  have  been  reduced  to  a  large  extent. 
The  additional  work  necessary  has  thus  more  than  paid 
for  itself. 

A  plan  has  also  been  worked  out  for  replacing  worn 
metal  in  the  ball-and-socket  joint  of  Brill  brake  hangers. 
A  steel  liner  of  spherical  form  and  A  in.  thick  is 
pressed  into  the  socket,  where  friction  holds  it.  The 
liners  are  pressed  out  hot  in  the  bulldozer.  When  the 
ball  is  worn  it  is  reshaped  in  a  clean  die,  and  if  it  is 
much  worn  a  patch  J  in.  to  I  in.  thick,  according  to  the 
wear,  is  worked  in  behind  it.  By  this  plan  the  life  of 
the  hanger  is  extended  about  two  years  each  time  it  is 
relined. 

Another  useful  kink  in  truck  maintenance  is  the  fur- 
nishing of  photographic  prints  of  trucks  for  the  use  of 
maintainers  on  which  each  item  is  numbered  to  cor- 
respond with  an  accompanying  key.  This  eliminates 
confusion  as  to  what  part  is  meant  when  an  order  is 
given  or  a  record  made. 

Some  Other  Points  in  the  Shops  Which 
Attract  Attention 

In  shops  as  large  as  those  at  Youville  there  are  many 
sundry  practices,  some  of  which  are  wholly  or  partly 
novel.  No  attempt  has  been  made  here  to  list  these. 
Among  them  is  the  winding  of  heater  coils  with  the 
aid  of  a  home-made  machine  shown  in  one  of  the 
illustrations. 

Another  point  is  the  use  of  the  bulldozer,  which  has 
been  mentioned  several  times.  Work  for  this  machine 
is  allowed  to  accumulate  and  experts  put  through  the 
jobs  in  batches.  About  two  days  per  month  suffice  at 
present. 


In  painting  savings  are  being  made  by  eliminating 
unnecessary  operations  with  the  idea  that  a  coach  finish 
is  not  required.  While  simple  striping  is  still  retained, 
it,  as  well  as  the  numbering  and  lettering,  is  done  with 
yellow  paint  instead  of  gold  leaf  as  formerly  used.  The 
cars  are  kept  unusually  well  painted,  as  part  of  the 
general  and  continuous  advertising  campaign  of  the 
company. 

Security  Sales  to  Customers 

As  a  Result  of  a  Plan  Followed  by  the  City  Gas  Company 
of  Norfolk,  Many  of  Its  Customers  Are  Now 
Also  Security  Holders 

ONE  of  the  elements  of  making  purchase  of  utility 
securities  attractive  to  the  public  is  to  make  such 
purchase  on  some  easy  method  of  payment.  To  do  this 
the  City  Gas  Company  of  Norfolk,  a  subsidiary  of  the 
Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Company,  has  adopted  a 
method  which  is  proving  successful. 

Eight  per  cent  cumulative  preferred  stock  is  offered 
to  the  public  at  $100  per  share,  payable  in  ten  monthly 
installments.  Many  of  the  usual  difficulties  attendant 
upon  such  an  installment  plan  of  paying  for  stocks  are 
avoided  by  what  practically  amounts  to  a  card  catalog 
system.  The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  three 
useful  sides  of  the  card  catalog  folder  and  is  practically 
self-explanatory.  This  is  issued  in  duplicate;  one  is 
given  to  the  subscriber  and  one  remains  in  the  files  of 
the  City  Gas  Company  and  record  is  made  at  the  time 
of  payment  of  each  installment.  This  payment  is  made 
easier  in  the  case  of  gas  companies  on  account  of  the 
fact  that  many  patrons  come  to  the  office  of  the  company 
to  pay  their  bills  monthly,  but  the  system  is  certainly 
applicable  to  railway  use  as  well. 

Reports  from  Norfolk  indicate  that  the  plan  has  been 
very  successful  and  that  a  satisfactorily  large  amount 
of  preferred  stock  has  at  the  present  time  been  pur- 
chased by  customers. 


Contract  No  .. 

CITT  GAS  COMPANY  OF  NORFOLK 
Norfolk,  Va. 

I  hereby  subscribe  for   —  „  

Bhares  of  8r'0  Cumulative  Preferred  Stock  of 

CITY  OAS  COMPANY  OF  NORFOLK 

for  which  I  agree  to  pay  to  the  said  Company  $100.00  per 
share,  as  follows: 

t  herewith  (receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowl- 
edged) and  the  balance  in  nine  equal  installments  of 

$    „  each,  payable  on  or  before  the  day  of 

each  and  every  month  hereafter  until  the  full  f.mount  sub- 
scribed for  is  paid,  at  the  office  of 

CITY  OAS  COMPANY  OF  NORFOLK 
No.  200  Plume  Street 
NORFOLK,  VA 

upon  the  terms  and  conditions  hereinafter  contained  in  this 
folder  and  made  a  part  hereof. 


(To  be  signed  in  duplicate,  one  for  the  subscriber,  and  c 
City  Gas  Company  of  Norfolk) 


CONTRACT  No. 


TEEMS  AND  CONDITIONS 

1.  Inl*re»t  at  tho  rate  of  eight  per 
oeot .  will  be  credited  on  all  pay  mrnte 
from  datee  of  payment,  and  will  be 
charged  at  the  same  rale  on  all  di 


due. 


t  payrr 


ifrc 


Within  ten  days 
of  this  subscription 
certificate   (or   tho  i 
subscribed  for  will  be 
livered  to  theaubscribci 
at  tbe  Company's  oftiei 
date  with  the  Is' 
Dividends  on  tl 
accrue  only  after  I 


the  dal 
ifter 


paynr 


the  dal 


■  before  the  d.ii 
?nt  bctor 
it  of  this  i 
nts  air  cad 


not  made  by 


Ty  become  du 


payable,  or  thcCoi 
and  in  its  discretion,  ni 
licly  or  privately,  and 
contract  without  notice 

the  eubscriher  hereof  or 
the  proceeds,  less  f*.  00  c 
which  the  Company  mi 


f erred,  provided  the  usiicnil  ani 
nsstpnec  afcrec  a*  provided  {•->.£<■  f""i 
hereof,  and  further  provided  tin 
nsxknec  on  or  before  tV  date  whri 


theduplirat. 
office,  lint  ( 
ahull  remain 


:.the  Coi 
proof  r: 
dupl.c* 


Total  to  N.nth  Payrr 


Amount  due  on  Tenth  Payment 


TOTAL  AMOUNT 


Receipt  of  Payment  is  Acknowledged  by  Signature  of 
Company's  Agent  and  Date  of  Payment. 

Date 

Received  Payment 

X 

Date 

.Received  Payment 

2 

Date 

Received  Payment 

3 

Date 

Received  Payment 

4 

Date 

Received  Payment 

6 

D  \te 

Received  Payment 

e 

Date 

Received  Payment 

7 

|  8 

Date 

Received  Payment 

Date 

Received  Payment 

9 

Date 

Received  Payment 

10 

TYPE  OF  CARD  CATALOG  CONTRACT  USED  BY  CITY  GAS  COMPANY  OF  NORFOLK 
At  left,  form  of  contract  to  be  filled  out  and  signed  by  customer.    In  center,  terms  and  conditions  that  govern. 
At  right,  receipt  card  for  recording  payments  as  made. 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


199 


Traffic  and  Housing  in  Large  Cities* 

The  Connection  Between  the  Two  Is  Close — Local  Conditions  Will  Increase  or  Decrease  the  Annual  Rides 
per  Inhabitant — Definite  Relation  Found  Between  Track  and  Building  Develop- 
ment Within  Different  Areas  Equidistant  from  a  City  Center 

By  Dr.  Arthur  Ertel 

Secretary  Internationale  Strassenbahn  und  Kleinbahn  Verein,  Vienna 


THE  question  of  housing  in  cities  of  more  than 
100,000  inhabitants  today  is  largely  a  transporta- 
tion question.  The  recent  economic  conditions, 
the  effect  of  the  eight-hour  day  and  the  increased  prices 
of  construction  materials  have  greatly  affected  the 
street  railways,  and  the  higher  fares  which  they  have 
been  obliged  to  charge  have  cut  down  the  traffic  be- 
tween the  residential  districts  and  industrial  centers. 
In  fact,  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  when  there  will  be 
a  return  of  normal  conditions  to  the  railways,  although 
that  they  ultimately  will  recover  there  is  no  doubt  any 
more  than  that  the  entire  state  will  be  brought  back 
to  normalcy  in  due  time. 

Studies  of  the  relation  between  housing  and  trans- 
portation are  of  value  only  if  a  very  large  number  of 
individual  cases  is  investigated  and  if  proper  care  is 
taken  for  the  further  development  of  each  railway 
system. 

The  city  of  the  future  will  differ  materially  from 
that  of  the  present  with  its  closely  built  up  and  con- 
gested central  area,  +  so  that  wrong  conclusions  will  be 
drawn  if  present  experiences  are  used  without  modifica- 
tion as  a  basis  for  predicting  the  traffic  of  the  future. 
Future  city  development  will  be  characterized  by  a 
much  more  extensive  use  of  the  small  single-family 
house  with  gardens  and  much  more  open  space.  The 
large  factories  to  which  and  from  which  large  numbers 
of  working  people  flow  rythmically  will  stay  as  they  are. 

The  new  means  of  city  transportation  will  have  to  be 
fast,  and  the  fares  must  be  in  accordance  with  the 
means  of  the  users.  At  present  this  cannot  be  accom- 
plished, but  we  all  have  as  our  goal  the  final  restora- 


Recent  developments  in  electric  roads  have  not  in 
all  cases  been  particularly  fortunate.  In  some  cases 
too  much  red  tape  and  supervision  by  incompetent 
authorities  have  been  a  handicap,  and  in  many  other 
cases  the  street  railway  has  imitated  too  closely  its 
bigger  brother,  the  steam  railroad,  by  installing  far  too 
heavy  rolling  stock.    As  far  as  fare  systems  are  COn- 


Greater  Berlin 


Dusseldorf 


Hamburg 


Fran  I- fort  Co'oqne 

a.M. 

i        Area  within  city  limits 
|     |  200  -  250  inhabitants  per  hectare 

|  250-300         "         "  • 
KM  300-400 

HI  400-500   

rich  Over  500 


GRAPHICAL  REPRESENTATION  OF  SIZE  OF  CITY,  AREA 
OCCUPIED  BY  BUILDINGS  AND  DENSITY 
OF  POPULATION 

The  outer  circle  shows  the  size  of  the  city,  the  inner  circle  the 
area  occupied  by  buildings  and  the  shading  of  the  inner  circle 
the  population  density. 

cerned,  we  are  today  only  at  the  beginning.  We  cannot 
expect  good  results  if  every  passenger  has  to  pay  uni- 
formly for  the  distance  traveled.  If  we  make  the  long- 
distance city  fare  proportionately  too  low  the  urban 


I  -  Ham  bu  rg 


2  -  Munich 


3  -  Leipzig 


4  -  Dresde 


GRAPHICAL  REPRESENTATION  OF  AREA  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION  BEYOND  THE  5-KM.  RADIUS 
The  smallest  circle  shows  the  built-up  area,  each  dot  in  the      obstructions,  like  a  body  of  water,  or  the  proximity  of  a  com- 
shaded  portions  beyond  the  5-km.  circle  indicates  1,1100  population,      munity  under  different  political  control.     These  sectors  are.  for 
the   open   sectors   indicate   arrested   expansion   due   to    natural      Hamburg,  17%;  Munich,  1%;  Leipzig,  6.7%;  Dresden,  7.8%. 


tion  of  normal  times.  In  the  meantime,  the  number  of 
transportation  means  has  largely  increased.  As  the 
greatest  competitor  to  the  street  railways  the  automo- 
bile has  already  to  be  considered,  and  the  airplane  may 
follow  soon. 

♦Abstracted  from  Verkchrstechnik,  May-June,  1921. 

tEoiTOR's  Note:  Dr.  Ertel  is  speaking  primarily,  of  course,  of 
the  older  European  cities,  where  this  condition  prevails  to  a  much 
greater  extent  than  in  the  average  American  city. 


traveler  has  to  make  up  for  it.  If  we  ask  both  classes 
of  passengers  to  pay  proportionally  to  the  distance 
traveled  we  shall  lose  the  commuter.  Two  ways  have 
been  suggested  to  solve  this  problem.  One  which  was 
advocated  ten  years  ago  has  now  little  chance  of  realiza- 
tion; that  is,  to  give  free  transportation  to  every  resi- 
dent and  to  cover  expenses  by  taxes.  The  other  is  to 
defray  part  of  the  expense  of  building  and  operation  of 


200 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


300 


C200 
o 


150 


00 


50 


4*- 

'Defroi 

f 

yec 

irrie 

A/ 
• 

-mine 

1— 

<(J 

« 

y 

Bordeaux 

J- 

> 

in 

"i> 

/ 

*— 

/ 

i 

Dresden  j 

i — 

1  1 

/ 

'Frankfurt  a.  tl. 
ki.  .  tManchi 

Leeds. 

isfer 

Luricn 

/ 

/ 

v  /  luniLri 

s 

3$ 

t  Lologne 

s 

Dusse/bt 

JUKI  1 

If  ■/'on,  rtA/v^t 

/  f           \.ISfj"CI  II  l\ 

*.  'Genoa  — 

Is 

y-oru. 
erolam 

|f||Swei 

-\Hrivrp  Pi  f 

refroqracf 

1  1  1 

Moscow 

1 

^-Nuremberg 

1 
1 

1 

) 

1 

t" 

7" 

ienr 

MM 

0.5 
Mil 


1.0  1.5 
Inhabitants 


•Berlin 

(  hicacjO 

Lona 

'Paris 

on 
*.  —  - 

-Vien 
• 

na  — 

4        5       6  7 
Million  Inhabitants 


Yearly  Rides  Per 

Inhabitant  in 
Different  Cities 
in  Europe  and 
America 


2.0 


TABLE  SHOWING  POPULATION  AND  RIDES  PER  INHABITANT 
IN  LARGE  CITIES 


Germany 

Berlin   3  708 

Munich   0  596 

Dresden   0  576 

Cologne   0  572 

Frankfort   0  487 

Nurnberg-Furth   0  400 

Diisseldorf   0  371 

Chemnitz   0  297 

Madgeburg   0  278 

Bremen   0  269 

Stettin   0  258 

England 

London   7  312 

Glasgow   I  050 

Manchester   0  900 

Leeds   0  484 

Sheffield   0  470 

Dublin   0  380 

Former  Austria 

Vienna   2  030 

Prague   0  552 

Belgium  and  Holland 

Brussels   0  900 

Ghent   0  209 

Amsterdam   0  573 

Hague   0  321 


q  a. 


315 
173 
205 
170 
191 

93 
149 

85 
112 
I  I  I 

72 

244 
212 
184 
170 
167 
143 

154 


141 
48 

123 
97 


O  B 
Pl|  — 

America 

New  York   4  767 

Boston   1  099 

Detroit   0  515 

Washington   0  343 

Seattle   0  237 

Birmingham   0  150 

Chieago   2  447 

France 

Paris   2  822 

Bordeaux   0  262 

Amiens   0  093 

Havre   0  177 

Italy 

Genoa   0  440 

Turin   0  400 

Russia 

Petrograd   I  907 

Moscow   1.600 

Denmark 

Copenhagen   0  500 

Switzerland 

Zurich   0  188 

Basel   0  155 

Geneva   0  154 


321 
266 
377 
236 
437 
277 
250 

244 
258 
71 

99 


145 
105 


120 
I  10 


151 

172 
129 
122 


the  roads  by  a  special  assessment  upon  the  real  estate 
owners  of  the  communities  served.  However,  it  is  use- 
less to  discuss  the  fare  questions  until  our  (German) 
wages  and  material  costs  have  become  stabilized. 

In  1910  Germany  contained  forty-eight  cities  with  a 
population  of  13.8  millions,  or  21.3  per  cent  of  the  total 
population  lived  in  cities  of  this  size.  It  is  of  impor- 
tance to  determine  the  relation  of  area  of  city,  total 
buildings-covered  area,  and  density  of  population.  The 
first  diagram  shows  this  graphically  for  seven  large 
cities.  (Berlin,  Frankfort  a/M,  Cologne,  Diisseldorf 
and  Hamburg  in  Germany,  Zurich  in  Switzerland  and 
Vienna  in  Austria.) 

Provided  there  are  no  lateral  restrictions,  the  most 
natural  development  of  a  city  is  radial;  that  is  to  say, 
the  city  tends  to  take  the  circular  form.  Most  large 
cities  have  exceeded  their  5-km.  (3-mile)  radius,  and 
some  of  them  extend  already  beyond  their  10-km. 
(6-mile)  radius.  It  happens  frequently  that  the  center 
is  so  eccentrically  located  that  communities  under  a 
different  political  control  reach  into  the  city  area 
proper.     To  how  much  this  amounts  is  graphically 


shown  in  the  second  diagram,  where  it  is 
represented  by  sectors  graduated  by 
degrees.  This  diagram  shows  also  the 
number  of  city  residents  located  outside 
the  5-km.  radius  (each  black  circle  repre- 
senting 1,000  inhabitants).  From  1871 
to  1910  the  total  area  occupied  by  Ger- 
man cities  increased  210  per  cent. 

It  is  customary  to  judge  the  traffic  of  a 
city  by  the  number  of  yearly  rides  per 
inhabitant.  In  general,  this  gives  a  fairly 
truthful  picture  of  actual  conditions.  In 
some  cases,  however,  additional  facts  to 
understand  the  data  are  necessary.  The 
third  engraving  gives  these  values  for  a 
number  of  cities  in  Europe  and  America  in  a  target  dia- 
gram and  it  can  be  seen  that  practically  all  points  come 
between  a  minimum  and  maximum  curve.  But  how  can 
we  account  for  the  considerable  number  of  cities  lying 
below  or  above  the  curves?  In  cities  below  the  minimum 
curve  there  is  no  doubt  either  a  less-pronounced  necessity 
of  riding  or  an  extensive  use  of  transfer  tickets.  Not  so 
easy  is  the  explanation  of  the  many  cities  above  the  upper 
curve,  which  comprise  cities  of  quite  limited  size  and 
especially  American  cities.  No  doubt  the  large  areas 
of  such  places  like  Boston,  Detroit,  Washington,  Chi- 
cago, etc.,  account  largely  for  this  large  number  of 
rides.*  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  no  more  data  are 
available  for  this  investigation,  but  many  spread-out 
European  cities  also  show  high  traveling  rates. 

Characteristic  Curves  of  Cities  Analyzed 

For  the  more  accurate  investigator  these  general 
figures  are,  however,  not  precise  enough,  and  he  has 
to  investigate  more  closely  the  individual  cases. 

The  largest  German  city,  Berlin,  is  not  suitable  for 
such  an  investigation,  as  it  represents  the  conglomera- 
tion of  several  previously  independent  political  subdi- 
visions, which  had,  and  to  a  certain  degree  still  have, 
their  own  community  centers  and  consequently  their 
centers  of  traffic.  Cities  like  Vienna,  Munich,  Diissel- 
dorf, Cologne  and  Zurich  have  been  more  closely  in- 
vestigated by  the  author.  The  results  of  Vienna  and 
Cologne  are  given  on  this  and  the  following  page. 


['Editor's  Note:  In  some  eases  also,  probably,  the  figures  for 
population  have  been  taken  from  the  census  reports  for  the  central 
city  and  represent  a  smaller  number  of  people  than  those  actually 
tributary  to  the  railway.] 


90  36 
|>34 

80^32 
«30 

70|Z6 
|26 
£60*24. 

1  50  gZO 
8.  £l8 
^40c|£ 
c;  <4|4 

30^12 
510 

20  <o  8 

b 

I0g  4 
0  0, 


i 

\_ 

/■ 

/ 

\  \ 
\  N 

/ 

/  / 

V  

/  /_ 

\  

^7 

rA. 

I 

>  Y    1 '  0    T    I    3   4~~~5  6km. 

t 

1 

1 
1 

\ 

\3 

/  / 
/  /  t 
ft/ 

t 

/  t  / 
/  /  / 

1 1  1 
ll  1, 

/  I 

A  

II  / 
11/ 

wr 

is 

Kilometer  Circle 

Characteristic  Curves  of  Tramway  Development  in  Cologne 


August  6,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


201 


The  upper  right-hand  drawing  in  each  case  is  a  chart 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  city  included  within  the 
circular  arcs  drawn.  The  entire  system  is  not  shown 
in  either  case,  because  of  the  intersection  of  each  city 
by  a  river,  the  Rhine  in  the  case  of  Cologne  and  the 
Danube  in  the  case  of  Vienna.  In  consequence,  a 
sector  of  180  deg.  in  the  case  of  Cologne  and  of  225 
deg.  in  the  case  of  Vienna,  is  given  and  contains  the 
significant  routes.  The  lines  are  drawn  from  a  radial 
point,  which  in  Cologne  is  the  Heumarkt  and  in  Vienna 
is  Stefansplatz.  These  are  not  the  heaviest  points  of 
traffic,  but  are  taken  as  the  logical  radiating  point  in 
each  case. 

In  the  lower  left-hand  portion  of  the  diagram  repre- 
senting conditions  in  Cologne  are  curves  giving  the  fol- 
lowing data  as  they  occur  within  the  i-km.  rings  around 
this  radial  point.  No.  1  shows  the  number  of  intersec- 
tions of  radial  street  railway  lines  with  each  *-km.  arc. 
No.  2  shows  the  length  measured  in  kilometers  of  both 
radial  lines  and  crosstown  lines  within  each  circular 
ring.  No.  3  shows  the  same  except  that  the  radial  lines 
only  are  included.  No.  4  shows  the  same  for  the  cross- 
town  lines.  No.  5  gives  the  average  length  in  meters  of 
the  crosstown  lines  per  hectare  occupied  by  buildings 
within  each  ring.  No.  6  gives  the  same  data  for  the 
radial  lines  and  in  No.  7  the  length  of  both  radial  and 


Coal  Consumption  by  Users 

THE  Geological  Survey  of  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  has  recently  made  public  the  following 
summary  of  information  on  coal  consumption  in  the 
United  States.  The  department  points  out,  in  this  con- 
nection, that  consumption  is  not  the  same  as  production. 
Not  only  must  exports  and  imports  of  coal  be  taken  into 
consideration,  but  the  flow  of  coal  in  and  out  of  storage 
must  be  reckoned  with.  Further,  there  is  great  varia- 
tion in  the  quantity  of  coal  actually  consumed  from  year 
to  year,  depending  to  some  extent  on  the  weather  and 
to  much  greater  degree  on  the  activity  of  the  industries 
which  are  the  chief  consumers  of  coal. 

The  proportion  of  the  total  coal  consumed,  taken  by 
different  industries,  does  not  vary  so  greatly,  and  the 
percentages  shown  in  the  table  below  are  roughly  con- 
stant from  year  to  year.  The  table  represents  in  a 
general  way  the  conditions  during  1917,  a  year  of  large 
consumption.  The  principal  changes  since  1917  have 
been  an  increase  in  the  proportion  exported  and  a  trans- 


Kilometer  Circle 
Characteristics  Curves  of  Tramway  Development  in  Vienna 


crosstown  lines  are  included.  In  the  case  of  the  chart 
for  Vienna  there  are  only  five  curves.  No.  1  shows  the 
number  of  intersections  of  radial  lines  with  each  i-km. 
arc.  No.  2  shows  the  length  in  kilometers  of  both  radial 
and  crosstown  lines  within  each  circular  ring.  No.  3 
shows  the  same  except  the  radial  lines  only  are  included. 
No.  4  gives  the  average  length  in  kilometers  of  radial 
lines  on  each  hectare  occupied  by  buildings  within  the 
ring,  and  No.  5  gives  the  average  length  in  kilometers 
of  both  radial  and  crosstown  lines  for  each  hectare  occu- 
pied by  buildings  in  each  ring. 

To  compensate  for  abnormal  values  due  to  river  area 
within  the  city  in  each  case,  the  river  areas  have  been 
calculated  as  being  of  the  same  density  of  population  as 
the  remainder  of  the  city. 

The  regularity  of  the  curves  so  plotted  from  the  data 
so  obtained,  not  only  for  these  cities  but  for  the  other 
cities  investigated,  was  surprising.  The  other  cities 
considered  were  Munich,  Diisseldorf  and  Zurich,  and 
the  curves  in  all  were  of  the  analytical  character  of 
(X2  +  a)Y  =  bX 

Even  the  values  of  a  and  b  showed  a  surprising 
regularity  which  permits  of  the  conclusion  that  fur- 
ther developments  based  upon  these  rules  will  lead  to 
the  solution  of  future  economical  traffic  problems. 


fer  of  some  millions  of  tons  from  beehive  to  by-product 
coke.  The  proportion  consumed  by  the  two  types  of  coke 
ovens  combined  has  undergone  little  change. 


COAL  CONSUMED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  EXPORTED 

(The  figures  for  bituminous  coal  in  this  table  represent  in  somewhat  generalized 

form  the  calendar  year  1917;  those  for  anthracite,  the  coal  vear  ended  March  31, 
1917.) 

Quantity, 

(Net  Tons)  Per  Cent 

Bituminous  coal: 

Industrial  plants                                                            174,600,000  31.7 

Public  utilities: 

Electric                                                                      31,700,000  5.8 

Gas                                                                             4,960,000  0.9 

Railroads                                                                 153,700,000  27.9 

Domestic  consumers                                                    57,100,000  10.3 

Power  and  heat  at  mines                                              1 2, 1 00, 000  2 .  2 

Exports                                                                      22,900,000  4.1 

Bunkers: 

Foreign  trade                                                            6.700,000  1.2 

Coastwise  and  lake  trade                                            3,600,000  0.7 

Beehive  coke                                                                  52,240,000  9.5 

By-product  coke                                                             31,500,000  5.7 

551,100,000  100.0 

Anthracite: 

Domestic  consumers  (domestic  sizes)                              49,400,000  55.1 

Artificial  gas  plants                                                       1,650,000  1.8 

Steam  trade  (industries,  power  plants  and  heating  large 

buildings!                                                                 18,450,000  20.5 

Railroad  fuel                                                                6,400,000  7  1 

Power  and  heat  at  mines                                                9,350,000  10  4 

Exports                                                                   4.600,000  5.1 

89,850,000  100. 0 

Grand  total   640,950,000 


202 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


The  Imperial  Omnibus  in  Service 

Trial  Tests  Being  Made  in  Actual  Service  on  One  of  New 
York's  5-Cent  Bus  Lines— Takes  Well  with  the 
Riding  Public  and  City  Officials 

THE  Trackless  Transportation  Company  of  New 
York,  the  originator  of  the  low  center  of  gravity, 
underslung,  stepless  bus,  has  recently  put  one  of  these 
motor  cars  into  service  on  the  bus  routes  in  downtown 
New  York  which  are  operated  under  the  control  of  the 
department  of  plant  and  structures  of  the  city.  On  this 
route  there  are  many  other  types  of  motor  buses  but 
none  of  them  are  like  this  one  in  design.  By  means 
of  actual  service  tests  the  company  will  soon  be  able  to 
know  what  can  be  expected  of  the  new  bus  under  actual 
operating  conditions. 

The  motor  bus  is  of  a  new  type  and  has  been 
especially  designed  for  passenger  service.  Some  of  the 
factors  sought  are  maximum  of  safety  and  comfort  to 
passengers,  low  cost  of  maintenance  and  economy  of 
operation. 

The  bus,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations, 
has  a  low  underslung  body,  with  the  floor  but  26  in. 
above  the  level  of  the  street.  The  entrance  is  at  the 
right  forward  end,  is  spacious  and  has  but  one  step. 
This  allows  ready  egress  and  ingress  of  passengers  with 
a  minimum  of  delay.  The  bus  has  a  seating  capacity 
of  twenty-nine,  on  four  cross  seats  on  either  side,  two 
longitudinal  seats  over  the  rear  wheels  and  a  seat  across 
the  rear  of  the  body  large  enough  to  accommodate  five 
passengers.  Standees  to  the  number  of  twenty  can  be 
accommodated,  and  this  gives  a  maximum  load  of  forty- 
nine  passengers.  An  emergency  door  is  provided  at  the 
rear.  The  windows  are  raised  sash  and  when  opened 
cause  a  wire  guard  to  slide  into  place,  thereby  rendering 
it  impossible  for  a  passenger  to  put  out  his  arms  or 
head. 

The  body  is  of  steel-aluminum  construction  and  was 
built  by  the  Kuhlman  Car  Company,  Cleveland.  It  is  of 
the  truss  side  type,  with  the  lower  member  a  structural 
steel  angle  and  the  top  member  a  pressed  steel  letter- 
board.    The  posts  are  of  pressed  steel  and  the  roof  is 


Exterior  of  Motor  Bus  Showing  Low  Floor  and  Entrance 
with  Enclosed  Steps 

of  Haskelite.  The  interior  finish  is  of  birch,  stained 
mahogany  color  with  a  white  enamel  roof.  Illumina- 
tion is  furnished  by  seven  dome  lights.  There  is  also  a 
step  light  and  light  for  an  illuminated  destination  sign. 
Three  exhaust  ventilators  are  provided,  mounted  along 
the  center  line  of  the  roof.  Another  ventilator  is 
mounted  on  the  dash  of  the  bus. 

The  chassis  frame  is  of  special  design  and  of  a 


channel  section.  A  special  Buda  engine  of  the  ETU 
type,  with  Fuller  transmission  and  Clark  internal  drive 
rear-end  specially  designed  make  up  the  power  plant.  The 
transmission  has  four  speeds  forward  and  is  mounted 
amidships.    It  has  gears  of  very  wide  face. 

The  rear  axle  carries  65  per  cent  of  the  total  weight. 
The  chassis  weights  approximately  5,000  lb.  The  rear 
springs,  which  are  of  the  compensating  type,  are  60  in. 
in  length  and  are  hung  below  the  axle.  The  front  axle 
is  of  the  drop  construction  type  with  spring  pads  forged 
on  the  top  face  in  the  dropped  position.  This  spring 
arrangement,  using  springs  of  elastic  furnace  chrome 


Interior  Looking  Toward  the  Rear,  Showing  Seating 
Arrangement 


silico  manganese  steel,  together  with  giant  pneumatic 
tires  gives  very  easy  riding  qualities  and  provides  a 
maximum  of  comfort  for  the  passengers.  It  is  possible 
to  substitute  cushion  type  tires  for  pneumatic  tires 
where  desired,  which  would  reduce  height  of  floor  about 
2  in. 

The  chassis  as  equipped  has  an  electric  starting  and 
lighting  system,  speedometer,  power  tire  pumps,  fire 
extinguisher  and  motometer.  There  are  two  forms  of 
brakes.  One  is  a  service  brake,  which  is  of  the  propeller 
shaft-locomotive  type  that  works  on  the  drive  shaft ; 
the  other  is  an  emergency  internal  expanding  brake  on 
the  rear  axle. 

Two  wheel  gages  are  used.  The  rear  wheels  are 
placed  71  in.  apart  in  order  to  reduce  to  a  minimum 
the  chance  of  overturning.  The  front  gage  is  66i  in. 
which  is  desirable  in  order  to  give  as  small  a  turn- 
ing radius  as  possible.   The  wheelbase  is  183  in. 


Less  than  7  per  Cent  of  Average  Family 
Income  Goes  for  Utility  Services 

LESS  than  7  per  cent  of  the  average  yearly  income  of 
^  Ohio  families  is  spent  for  public  utility  service 
according  to  figures  compiled  by  the  Department  of 
Home  Economics  of  Ohio  State  University.  This  com- 
pilation shows  that  the  actual  amount  spent  in  1920 
by  the  average  family  having  an  annual  income  of 
$1,500  to  $6,000  for  the  services  of  the  utility  com- 
panies was  only  6.49  per  cent  of  the  total  income. 

The  families  included  in  the  survey  spent  1.01  per 
cent  of  their  income  for  electricity,  2.27  per  cent  went 
for  street-car  rides,  1  per  cent  for  telephone  service 
and  2.45  per  cent  for  gas. 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


203 


The  Weekly  $1  Pass  in  Wisconsin 

Experience  in  Racine  and  Kenosha  Indicates  Useful  Field  for  This  Method  of  Encouraging  Off-Peak 
Riding — Pass-Holders  Take  Nearly  Four  Rides  a  Day — Simplification 
of  Fare  Collection  Results  from  Use  of  Pass 

By  Walter  Jackson 

Consultant 


THE  Jan.  3,  1920,  issue  of  the  Electrical  Rail- 
way Journal  described  the  "Unlimited-Ride, 
Transferable  Weekly  Pass  at  Racine"  inaugurated 
Aug.  18,  1919.  The  management,  the  Milwaukee  Elec- 
tric Railway  &  Light  Company  first  introduced  this  pass 
before  the  safety  cars  were  installed  in  Racine,  so  that 
now  the  plan  has  been  tried  and  has  worked  on  both 
two-man  and  one-man  cars.  As  the  associated  Wiscon- 
sin Gas  &  Electric  Company  adopted  a  similar  plan  on 
Jan.  24,  1921,  in  Kenosha  it  seems  opportune  to  discuss 
the  nearly  two  years'  experience  of  the  Racine  lines. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  in  detail  the  reasons  for 
introducing  a  form  of  transportation  which,  theoreti- 
cally, allows  unlimited  riding  for  $1  per  week.  Stress 
should  be  put  upon  the  fact,  however,  that,  unlike  the 


The  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  and  Light  Company 

ttr€£KLY  BASS 

FEBRUARY  2&VWMARI  6,  1921  (inch) 


Pass  bearer  on  carsi 


.vaukee  lie  trie  Railway  and  l  ight  Com- 


pany within  the  one  fart liBitsfcf  the  Cily  If  Racine  for  a  period  of  seven 
( 7 )  days  as  shown  by  d|te£*nf  thf  face  IMOTIB 

Pass  must  be  shown  Conductor  uporientertng 
one  ( 1 )  passenger. 

Company  reserves  the  right  to  take  up  and  refund  pro-rata  unused  value 
of  pass. 


ng  car  and  is  good  only  for 


No. 


892 


Face  of  Pass  Showing  Markings  for  Conductor's 
Convenience 

passes  developed  on  European  street  railways,  the  cost 
is  such  that  the  holder  would  be  paying  more  than  the 
cash  or  general  ticket  rate  if  he  did  not  take  more  than 
two  rides  a  day.  Therefore,  the  idea  of  this  pass  is  not 
to  give  a  reduction  to  the  usually  compulsory  peak-hour 
rider  but  to  the  usually  voluntary  off-hour  rider. 

In  practice,  the  pass  acts  exactly  as  if  fares  were 
being  charged  on  a  distance  basis.  The  holder  who 
lives  close  in  may  take  luncheon  rides  regularly, 
whereas  the  holder  who  lives  near  the  end  of  the  line 
will  not  do  so  because  of  time  limitations.  Similar 
limitations  may  occur  in  connection  with  evening  travel. 
Hence,  in  the  long  run,  each  holder  tends  to  get  about 
the  same  mileage  despite  differences  in  the  number  of 
rides. 

Pass-Holders  Take  Nearly  Four  Rides  a  Day 

Knowledge  of  pass  experience  in  foreign  cities  with 
length  of  routes  comparable  to  Racine  anticipated  an 
average  of  four  rides  per  business  day.  This  has  been 
confirmed  by  two  checks  taken  a  long  time  apart.  For 
the  week  ended  Nov.  7,  1919,  it  was  found  that  the 
average  number  of  rides  per  pass-holder  on  a  weekday 
was  4.1  and  for  Sunday,  2.4,  including  rides  normally 


transfers.  For  the  week  ended  Jan.  16,  1921,  the  aver- 
age number  of  rides  reduced  to  a  revenue  basis  was 
26.5  or  slightly  less  than  four  a  day.  In  attaining  the 
latter  figure,  the  company  assumed  that  15  per  cent  of 
the  gross  rides  counted  were  transfers,  this  being  the 
transfer  proportion  of  the  other  traffic.  This  means 
that  the  patrons  who  take  as  many  off-peak  rides  as 
they  do  rush-hour  rides  (since  it  is  practically  impos- 
sible to  take  four  rides  during  rush  hours)  average  a 
fare  somewhat  less  than  4  cents. 

In  contrast  to  this,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  when 
the  pass  was  instituted,  the  fares  were  6  cents  cash 
with  five  tickets  for  30  cents,  good  at  all  hours  of  the 
day,  and  a  5«-cent  ticket  (ten  tickets  for  55  cents),  good 
for  transportation  between  the  hours  of  6  and  8  a.m. 


PENALTY   FOR  COUNTERFEITING 


The  laws  of  th. 
person  who  shall  faf  el 
railroad  ticket  or  ra 
porting  to  give  the  r 
company,  with  the  Jit' 


ished  by  imprisonnjen^  in  J 
seven  years  and  no 


ovide: 
k<l  alter 
or  any 
e  upon  a: 
t  th  injure  or  c 


on  4464e.  Any 
:ej>r  counterfeit  any 
instrument  pur- 
in  of  any  railroad 
uJ,  shall  be  pun- 
not  more  than 


Reverse  Side  on  Which  Conditions  op  Use  Are 
Printed 

and  5  and  7  p.m.  On  Nov.  23,  1919,  about  three  months 
after  the  installation  of  the  weekly  pass,  these  rates 
were  increased  to.  7  cents  and  six  tickets  for  35  cents, 
at  all  hours  of  the  day.  Even  with  the  so-called  work- 
men's tickets  abolished,  the  pass  had  to  compete  with  a 
reduced  rate  ticket.  This  fact  has  doubtless  kept  down 
the  purchase  of  passes,  which  require  a  dollar's  initial 
outlay  instead  of  35  cents. 

Reducing  the  matter  to  terms  of  revenue  rather  than 
rides,  we  find  that  the  pass-holder  yields,  say,  16  cents 
a  day,  while  the  cash  rider  probably  does  no  better  than 
14  cents.  The  ticket  rider  yields  still  less  except  for 
his  occasional  extra  ride.  If  the  ticket  rider  averaged 
three  rides  a  day  or  more  it  would,  of  course,  be  to  his 
interest  to  purchase  a  pass. 

In  this  connection,  the  point  has  been  raised  whether 
or  not  the  transferable  feature  leads  to  much  splitting 
in  the  use  of  the  pass.  A  little  thought  should  show 
that  this  is  rarely  practicable  from  purely  physical 
reasons.  A  holder  of  the  pass  necessarily  cannot  give 
it  to  another  until  he  has  returned  from  his  journey. 
Such  splitting  as  does  occur  is  carried  on  among  clerks 
who  have  successive  luncheon  periods,  but  even  here 
the  plaints  of  the  downtown  restaurant  keepers  bear 


204 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


witness  to  the  fact  that  these  clerks  formerly  patron- 
ized the  nearby  lunchroom  instead  of  riding  home.  An- 
other opportunity  for  splitting  the  use  of  passes  lies  in 
their  use  by  housewife  and  children,  but  this  is  encour- 
aged rather  than  discouraged  because  it  creates  volun- 
tary customers.  Aside  from  this,  children  would  enjoy 
the  lowest  ticket  rate  in  any  case. 

One-Third  op  Revenue  Passengers  Have  No 
Physical  Transaction  with  the 
Car  Operator 

During  the  first  week's  (August,  1919)  use  of  the 
pass,  the  sales  ranged  from  818  to  964  a  week  and  the 
percentage  of  revenue  was  10.2  per  cent  in  the  case  of  the 
larger  sales  figure.  Furthermore,  during  the  week  ended 
Aug.  24,  when  818  passes  were  sold,  there  was  a  drop 
of  1.5  per  cent  in  revenue  compared  with  the  preceding 
non-pass  week.  This  might  be  explained  by  the  natural 
assumption  that  the  first  buyers  would  largely  be  those 
whose  concerns  led  them  to  ride  more  than  usual.  The 
next  month  saw  the  sale  of  passes  exceed  the  1,000 


L.-I92/ 

~^  \  IS 

K?V\ 

Oct 


Jan.       Feb.      Mar.      Apr.       May      June      July       ^ug.  Sept. 

Seasonal  Fluctuations  in  Sale  of  Weekly  Passes,  in  Hundreds 


mark,  and  thereafter  revenue  increased  steadily  in  com- 
parison with  like  periods.  It  is  not  asserted  that  the 
pass  caused  these  enhancements  of  revenue.  During 
the  year  following  its  installation  Racine  was  an  in- 
creasingly busy  community. 

In  September  and  October,  1920,  came  faster  and 
more  frequent  service  through  the  use  of  the  safety 
cars  on  all  base  schedules.  This  improvement  stimu- 
lated traffic  further.  Thus  it  was  that  while  only  1,128 
passes  were  sold  the  week  ended  Sept.  28,  1919,  a  total 
of  1,528  passes  were  sold  the  week  ended  Sept.  26,  1920. 
Late  in  1920  Racine's  industries  began  to  suffer,  but, 
curiously  enough,  the  pass  sales  kept  climbing,  the  week 
ended  Dec.  26,  1920,  showing  2,080,  against  the  previous 
comparable  Christmas  shopping  week  of  1919,  when 
1,602  passes  were  sold.  The  week  ended  Dec.  21,  1919, 
was  high  water  mark  for  that  year,  with  a  sales  of 
2,055.  For  the  months  of  January  and  February,  1920 
and  1921,  the  sales  compare  as  follows: 


1920  1921 

Week  Ended  Week  Ended 

Jan.    4   1,413   Jan.  2 


1, 


Jan.  1  1    1,796  Jan.    9   2,046 

Jan.  18   1,879  Jan.  16   2,074 

Jan.  25   1,889  Jan.  23   2,255 

Feb.    1   1,813  Jan.  30   2,148 

Feb.   8   1,876  Feb.   6   2,177 

Feb.  15   1.932  Feb.  13   2,219 


Feb.  22   2,069    Feb.  20 


2,163 


One  of  the  interesting  observations  during  the  pres- 
ent industrial  depression  is  the  tendency  toward  the 
purchase  of  passes  by  those  who  are  seeking  work,  or 
perhaps  striving  to  kill  time  by  visiting.  The  possession 


of  an  unlimited-ride  pass  seems  to  give  them  a  lot  more 
satisfaction  than  if  they  were  to  spend  an  equal  amount 
of  money  for  fewer  rides. 

A  most  intensive  survey  would  probably  be  needed  to 
reveal  just  how  much  extra  revenue  is  due  to  the  use 
of  passes.  This  is  impracticable,  so  only  the  unques- 
tioned benefits  will  be  studied.  First,  the  fact  that 
today  approximately  32  per  cent  of  the  revenue  passen- 
gers are  pass-holders.  This  means  that  one-third  of  the 
riders  do  not  call  for  any  more  exertion  on  the  part  of 
the  car  operator  than  a  glance  at  the  color  and  inch-high 
numerals  of  the  pass.  These  riders  have  but  one  cash 
transaction  a  week  (when  they  purchase  the  pass)  and 
they  never  demand  or  have  arguments  about  transfers. 
As  all  but  22  per  cent  of  the  total  revenue  passengers 
present  some  form  of  ticket  fare,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
operation  of  safety  cars  in  Racine  is  close  to  the  ideal 
as  regards  their  most  mooted  point,  namely :  slowness  in 
fare  collection. 

For  the  first  three  or  four  months  following  the  in- 
stallation of  the  pass  it  was  customary  for  the  con- 
ductor to  ring  up  on  an  overhead  regis- 
ter each  pass  presentation,  the  cash 
and  metal  token  fares  going  into  a 
registering  farebox.  Following  a  shift 
in  equipment  which  placed  in  service 
in  Racine  cars  which  happened  to  be 
without  such  registers,  the  company 
concluded  that  the  experience  gained 
made  it  unnecessary  to  count  pass 
riders.  The  two  surveys  mentioned 
have  shown  that  the  multiplication  of 
the  number  of  passes  sold  by  four 
gives  a  sufficiently  accurate  estimate 
of  the  number  of  riders.  The  other 
revenue  passengers,  as  hitherto,  con- 
tinue to  drop  their  fares  in  the  box. 
A  second  advantage  is  that  the  car  operator  and  the 
pass  rider  have  a  minimum  of  friction  in  their  rela- 
tions. The  pass-holder  also  has  the  cheerful  feeling 
that  any  car  is  his  car  any  time.  He  comes  as  close  to 
regarding  the  car  as  his  personal  vehicle  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  make  a  public  conveyance.  It  is  only  human 
nature  for  him  to  ride  much  shorter  distances  than  if 
he  paid  separately  for  each  ride,  and  thus  he  acquires 
willingly  a  most  desirable  habit. 

Sales  in  1921  Greater  Than  in  1920 

So  successful  has  been  the  combination  of  one-man 
car  and  weekly  pass  that  it  has  offset  to  a  pleasingly 
large  extent  the  losses  that  must  be  expected  during 
the  present  depression.  Each  has  done  its  share  toward 
popularizing  the  service  with  both  the  public  and  the 
car  operators. 

An  examination  of  the  sale  of  passes  throughout  any 
extended  period  will  show  fluctuations  of  50  to  90  per 
cent.  Without  going  into  details  it  may  be  stated  that 
weather  conditions  favoring  automobiles,  factory  inven- 
tory periods,  holiday  weeks,  holiday  shopping  time,  and 
the  opening  and  closing  of  schools  are  the  chief  factors. 
School  children  are  large  users  of  the  pass  since  it 
enables  them  to  go  home  for  lunch  and  to  do  more  rid- 
ing when  visiting  their  friends.  Nor  is  it  a  bad  idea 
to  foster  the  car-riding  habit  at  the  most  impression- 
able time  in  the  automobile  era. 

The  latest  figures  from  Racine  show  pass  sales  to  be 
15  to  20  per  cent  ahead  of  the  same  period  of  1920. 
The  actual  sales  in  1921  were: 


Nov. 


Dec. 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


205 


Week  Ended: 

Feb.     27   2,169 

March   6   2,222 

March  13   2,206 

March  20   2,249 

March  27   2,131 

April      3   2,129 

April    10   1,986 

April    17   1,917 

April    24   1,986 

May      1   1,882 


Week  Ending 

May      8   1,914 

May    15   1,848 

May    22   1,821 

May    29   1.804 

June      5   1,595 

June     12   1,756 

June    19   1,680 

June    26   1.599 

July       3   1,581 


In  conclusion,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  turn  for  the 
better  has  not  yet  reached  Racine.  Another  hindrance 
to  traffic  since  April  8,  1920,  is  the  reconstruction  of 
the  State  Street  bridge,  which  has  had  the  effect  of 
cutting-  off  considerable  revenue. 

Encouraging  the  Short-Haul  and  Off-Peak 
Rider  in  Kenosha 

The  Kenosha  lines  of  the  Wisconsin  Gas  &  Electric 
Company  may  be  said  to  require  traffic  encouragement 
even  more  than  Racine.  While  Racine  has  a  population 
of  63,289  (Jan.  1,  1921,  estimate)  and  routes  averaging 
more  than  2  miles  from  the  business  and  amusement 
center,  Kenosha  has  only  43,710  people  with  routes  as 
follows : 


Miles 

Milwaukee  Avenue   1.21 

Elizabeth  Street   1.69 

Market  Street   1.64 

Sheridan  Road   1.30 

Grand  Avenue   1  30 


All  of  these  routes  converge  at  the  center  of  the  city. 
The  fares  are  7  cents  cash,  or  eight  metal  tokens  for 
50  cents;  children's  fares  4  cents,  and  the  weekly  pass 
for  $1.  The  passes  sold  during  the  first  week  ended 
Jan.  30,  1921,  were  392;  for  the  week  of  Feb.  6,  445; 
Feb.  13,  501;  Feb.  19,  465,  and  Feb.  26,  498.  For  the 
week  of  Feb.  13  the  passes  brought  approximately  15 
per  cent  of  the  revenue.  At  present  about  one-fifth  of 
the  revenue  riders  travel  on  passes.  More  recent  fig- 
ures are: 


Week  Ended: 

April  10   466 

April  17   474 

April  24   483 

May     1   471 

May    8   477 

May   15   456 

May  22   433 


Week  Ended: 

May  29   446 

June    5   403 

June  12   400 

June  19   402 

June  26   412 

April    3   514 


These  figures  reflect  the  tendency  toward  a  decline 
with  the  advent  of  automobile  weather.  The  Kenosha 
lines  have  had  harder  luck  than  Racine  as  regards 
bridges,  for  in  their  case  the  main  route  has  been  cut 
in  half  during  the  construction  of  a  new  high-level 
bridge  on  Main  Street  since  June  10,  1920.  Therefore, 
the  possibilities  of  the  pass  remain  to  be  determined, 
although  the  management  has  got  out  inserts  with  light 
bills  and  distributed  car  dodgers  to  advertise  the  pass 
more  extensively  than  has  been  done  at  Racine. 

Indeed,  as  regards  both  communities,  there  is  still 
room  to  sell  the  pass  to  a  larger  number  of  people  on  the 
basis  of  convenience  rather  than  economy.  Such  addi- 
tional patrons  are  very  desirable  because  they  will 
naturally  raise  the  average  rate  of  fare  from  this  class 
of  business. 


An  Illuminated  Time  Table 

A METHOD  of  lighting  time  tables  as  employed  at 
the  Waterloo  station  of  the  London  &  Northwest- 
ern Railway  was  described  recently  in  the  Railway 
Engineer.  The  time  tables  are  mounted  on  racks  in 
the  center  of  the  concourse,  being  pasted  on  inclined 


panels  of  clear  glass  illuminated  by  transmitted  light 
from  lamps  inside  the  rack.  Three  20-watt  lamps,,  dis- 
tributed behind  the  panel  and,  of  course,  serving  to 
illuminate  the  panels  on  the  reverse  side,  are  used. 
By  this  means  uniform  illumination,  equivalent  to  4 
foot-candles,  is  provided,  and  in  these  circumstances 
the  smallest  figures  can  be  read  with  ease.  As  the  light 
comes  entirely  from  behind  the  time  tables  there  is  no 
danger  of  inconvenient  shadows  being  cast  by  the  ob- 
server as  he  reads. 

On  the  Underground  Railways  illuminated  informa- 
tion signs  also  play  an  important  role,  saving  the  staff 
a  great  deal  of  questioning  by  the  public  and  materially 
assisting  them  in  directing  traffic.  Experiments  are 
also  being  conducted  with  a  form  of  sign  which  might 
be  placed  transversely  across  the  platform,  so  that  it 
could  be  seen  by  any  one  looking  out  of  the  window 
of  an  approaching  train. 


Statistics  on  Power  Generation 

ON  JULY  28  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
issued  a  bulletin  giving  statistics  of  the  production 
of  electric  power  by  public  utility  power  plants  in  the 
United  States  during  the  first  part  of  1921,  and  for 
several  previous  years.  A  chart  which  shows  the  aver- 
age daily  production  for  this  period  is  published  here- 
with. 

The  quantities  in  this  chart  are  based  on  returns 
received  from  about  3,200  power  plants  of  100-kw. 
capacity,  or  more,  engaged  in  public  service,  including 
central  stations,  electric  railways,  and  certain  other 
plants  which  contribute  to  the  public  supply.  The 
capacity  of  plants  submitting  reports  of  their  opera- 
tions is  about  95  per  cent  of  the  capacity  of  all  plants 
listed.  The  output  of  plants  which  do  not  report  is 
estimated. 

The  mean  daily  output  in  kilowatt-hours  for  January, 
February,  March,  April  and  May  was  114,200,000,  113,- 


Average  Daily  Production  of  Kw.-Hr.  by  Public  Utility 
Plants  in  the  United  States 

400,000,  109,600,000  108,000,000  and  105,400,000  re- 
spectively. The  proportion  produced  by  water  power 
was  as  follows:  37.9,  37.7,  39.6,  40.4  and  40.6  per  cent, 
respectively.  The  mean  daily  rate  of  production  of 
electricity  by  public  utility  plants  for  May,  1921,  is 
the  lowest  since  August,  1919.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  the  decrease  in  the  daily  output  of  elec- 
tricity by  public  utility  plants  since  January  as  shown 
by  the  curve  of  total  output  for  1921  is  probably  the 
normal  seasonal  decrease  due  to  the  increasing  hours 
of  daylight. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Steam -Heating  Electric  Trains 
in  Switzerland 

Single-Phase  Current  at  15,000  Volts  Is  Applied  Directly 
to  the  Water  in  a  Specially  Designed  Boiler,  Thus 
Generating  Steam  Which  Is  Used  for  Heating 

By  William  A.  Rosenberger,  M.  E. 

Zurich,  Switzerland 

WITH  electrification  of  the  Swiss  Federal  Rail- 
roads in  full  swing,  the  problem  of  heating  the 
trains  became  an  important  and  somewhat  disagreeable 
side  issue.  Although  early  during  the  recent  war  Swiss 
industry  had  been  forced  to  seek  ways  and  means  to 
replace  that  part  of  their  coal  and  fuel  imports  which 
their  neighbors  could  no  longer  let  them  have,  it  was 
not  until  some  time  after  the  conclusion  of  the  great 
conflict  that  Brown  Boveri  &  Company,  in  Baden, 
Switzerland,  together  with  Sulzer  Brothers  in  Winter- 
thur,  succeeded  in  applying  directly  and  for  the  first 
time,  a  single-phase  15,000-volt,  I65  periods  current  for 
the  purpose  of  steam  creation  by  electricity.  When  I 
say  "directly"  I  mean  without  transformation.  It  is, 
therefore,  now  possible  to  send  a  15,000-volt  current 
directly  into  the  water  of  a  suitably  constructed  boiler, 
in  which  all  the  electric  energy  is  transformed  into 
heat  and  used  to  generate  steam.  But,  if  this  is  pos- 
sible with  a  15,000-volt  single-phase  current,  it  is  also 
possible  with  a  26,000-volt  three-phase  alternating  cur- 
rent, which  certainly  represents  a  considerable  advance 
in  a  short  space  of  time,  for  only  two  years  ago  the 
outlook  of  ever  being  able  to  use  a  tension  exceeding 
8,000  volts  was  far  from  promising.  Today,  however, 
the  problem  seems  to  be  solved  so  that  in  Switzerland 
electric  trains  will  be  heated  by  "electric  steam." 

The  first  outfit  of  this  kind  made  its  maiden  trip, 
a  few  weeks  ago,  between  Bern  and  Thun.  The  elec- 
trical steam  generating  plant  of  this  heating  wagon, 
in  the  manufacture  of  which  the  two  previously  men- 
tioned Swiss  firms  had  each  their  part,  is  installed  in 


a  four-axle  freight  car  altered  for  this  purpose  by  the 
Swiss  Federal  Railroads.  About  the  only  outward 
distinguishing  sign  is  the  pantograph  current  collector, 
a  trapdoor-like  arrangement  on  top  of  the  roof,  and  a 
few  insulators. 

The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  first  experi- 
mental heating  wagon  of  this  type  coupled  in  between 
two  passenger  cars. 

The  heating  wagon  has  two  rooms  and  an  aisle  run- 
ning straight  through  which  serves  as  a  passageway 
for  travelers.  The  boiler  proper  is  of  the  horizontal 
type,  approximately  10  ft.  long  by  4  ft.  in  diameter. 


HIGH-TENSION    ROOM      *"v'  OPERATOR'S  ROOM 

—  f 


PASSENGER  AISLE 


Interior  Arrangement  op  Heating  Car 

At  one  end  is  located  a  water  circulating  pump  with 
its  driving  motor,  the  whole  being  placed  over  a  rect- 
angular water  supply  tank. 

The  high-tension  room  contains  a  4-kva.  transformer 
for  the  pump  driving  motor,  high-tension  fuses,  cur- 
rent and  voltage  transformers,  disconnecting  switches 
and  the  main  oil  switch.  This  equipment  is  well  pro- 
tected by  a  wire  mesh  partition,  having  a  small  passage 
door  which  is  interlocked  with  the  main  oil  switch  drive 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  operator  cannot  enter  the 
high-tension  room  unless  the  oil  switch  is  opened. 

The  boiler,  which  is  heavily  insulated  against  heat 
losses,  has  two  steam-tight  current-inlet  insulators,  of 
which  each  connects  with  a  system  of  electrodes  of 
special  design,  developed  by  the  engineers  of  Brown 
Boveri  &  Company.  These  electrodes  are  easily  adjust- 
able from  the  operator's  room  while  under  tension, 
thus  permitting  of  varying  the  load  between  300  and 


Experimental  Electric  Steam  Heating  Car  in  the  Middle  of  a  Train 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


207 


1,200  kw.  according  to  requirements.  As  a  rule  one  of 
the  electrodes  is  quite  sufficient  for  heating  under 
average  operating  conditions,  so  that  the  second  elec- 
trode constitutes  a  reserve  to  be  used  only  while  start- 
ing to  heat  up  a  train  or  during  most  severe  cold. 
According  to  Swiss  practice,  we  calculate  for  heating 
purposes  with  an  expenditure  of  energy  of  from  5.7  to 
8.5  watts  per  cubic  foot,  or  figuring  with  an  average 
passenger  coach  of  4,000  cu.ft.  each  coach  would  require 
from  23  to  34  kw.,  including  all  losses.  A  single  elec- 
trode could  therefore  supply  sufficient  steam  to  heat 
a  ten-car  passenger  train  under  average  conditions. 
This  heating  wagon  is  placed  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
center  of  the  train  in  order  to  reduce  steam  transmis- 
sion losses  to  a  minimum. 

While  it  is  by  no  means  impossible  or  even  imprac- 
ticable to  provide  for  an  entirely  automatic  operation 
of  this  equipment,  it  was  thought  preferable  with  this 
first  experimental  outfit  to  avoid  all  unnecessary  com- 
plication by  providing  for  an  attendant.  Nevertheless 
there  are  a  number  of  interesting  automatic  safety 
provisions,  such  as  the  automatic  lowering  of  the  cur- 
rent collector  when  the  door  between  the  operating 
room  and  the  high-tension  room  is  opened,  which,  at 
any  rate,  is  only  possible  after  the  main  oil  switch  has 
been  opened.  For  emergency  cases  a  safety  pull  is 
provided  by  means  of  which  the  oil  switch  is  opened 
and  the  current  collector  lowered,  while  at  the  same 
time  trapdoors,  provided  in  the  roof,  are  raised  to  offer 
escaping  steam  an  unrestricted  outlet  to  the  open  air 
and  facilitate  ventilation. 

The  oil  switch  also  opens  automatically  in  case  of 
any  short-circuit  within  the  boiler  or  any  part  of  the 
line  between  oil  switch  and  boiler,  as  it  does  also  as 
soon  as  the  speed  of  the  pump  driving  motor  drops 
off  below  a  certain  minimum,  or  when  the  air  pressure 
holding  the  current  collector  in  position  reaches  a  cer- 
tain minimum  value. 

In  addition  to  the  15,000-volt  heating  wagon,  two 
others  operated  at  1,000  volts  have  been  tried  out  by 
the  Swiss  Federal  Railroads.  One  of  these,  also  a 
Brown-Boveri-Sulzer  product,  is  now  doing  satisfactory 
service  on  the  Gotthard  line,  between  Erstfeld  and 
Bellinzona.  This  low-tension  heating  wagon  is  coupled 
directly  with  the  electric  locomotive  and  derives  its 
current  from  the  transformer  of  the  latter.  Its  oper- 
ation is,  contrary  to  the  15,000-volt  heating  wagon, 
entirely  automatic. 


Removable  Unit  Type  Circuit  Breaker 

TO  MEET  the  demand  of  central  stations  for  a  high 
interrupting  capacity  breaker  of  the  removable  unit 
type,  to  replace  breakers  inadequate  to  handle  the  exist- 
ing interrupting  capacity  of  a  section,  the  Condit  Elec- 
trical Manufacturing  Company  has  placed  on  the  mar- 
ket the  type  F-10  oil  circuit  breaker.  This  circuit 
breaker  is  compact  and  will  go  into  most  any  cell  for- 
merly occupied  by  an  oil  circuit  breaker  having  an 
interrupting  capacity  between  1,200  and  2,000  amp. 
per  phase  at  15,000  volts.  As  the  interrupting  capacity 
of  the  circiut  breaker  is  10,000  amp.  per  phase  at 
15,000  volts,  this  allows  central  stations  to  increase  the 
interrupting  capacity  of  their  equipment  from  five  to 
eight  times. 

As  these  breakers  are  not  supported  from  any  cell 
structure  it  is  only  necessary  to  install  the  tracks  on 
the  cell  floor.   No  overhead  framework  is  necessary  and 


in  general  no  change  is  required  in  the  masonry,  bus- 
bars or  connections  to  the  breaker. 

Type  F-10  oil  circuit  breakers  are  built  in  capacities 
from  500  to  1,200  amp.  at  15,000  volts  and  500  to  800 
amp.  at  25,000  volts,  single  throw,  and  can  be  fur- 
nished for  single  or  multiple  operation. 


New  Trolley  Transveyor  System 

THE  Whiting  Corporation  of  Harvey,  111.,  has  placed 
on  the  market  what  it  terms  the  short-turn  over- 
head trolley  system.  This  is  a  comparatively  new 
departure,  but  several  successful  installations  are  now 
in  use.  The  track  consists  of  two  parallel  standard 
rolled  channels  2i  in.  between  flanges  and  held  in  place 


Standard  Switch  and  Corner 

by  clamps.  It  is  designed  to  carry  loads  with  no  inter- 
mediate supports  except  at  the  splices,  corners  and 
switch  points.  The  corners  and  switch  connections  are 
interchangeable,  so  that  when  found  desirable  a  right 
corner  can  be  removed  and  a  double  switch  or  universal 
switch  can  be  bolted  in  the  same  place.  All  of  the  short- 
turn  corners  and  switches  have  a  track  curvature  of 
18  in. 

The  track  equipment  is  arranged  for  two-wheel,  four- 


VIEW  OF  SHORT-TURN  TROLLEY 
W,  wheels.    B,  ball  bearings.    R,  guide  rollers.     T,  supporting 
channels.    P,  pivots.    H,  hoist  connection. 

wheel  or  eight-wheel  trolleys.  These  trolleys  have  ball- 
bearing wheels  and  guide  rollers  which  run  between  the 
toes  of  the  channels. 


208 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


Winch  Mounting  and  Accessories 


Additional  sheaves  are  also  provided  on  either  corner 
so  that  the  line  can  readily  be  offset  this  far  when 
desired.  To  offset  the  hauling  line  still  further,  an 
anchor  chain  and  snatch  block  are  attached  to  the  end 
of  a  tie  rod  in  the  adjacent  track  (if  the  work  is  be- 
tween two  tracks).  By  adjusting  the  length  of  the 
chain  the  offset  can  be  regulated  as  desired.  The  side 
of  the  snatch  block  is  hinged  so  that  the  cable  need  not 
be  threaded  through  it  but  can  be  dropped  into  place 
by  opening  up  the  side.  The  car  is  used  on  a  temporary 
portable  T-rail  track  at  the  side  of  the  track  trench 
being  plowed. 

For  lifting  the  plow  off  the  ground  the  car  is  pro- 
vided with  a  power  derrick  operated  by  a  10-in.  air- 
brake cylinder  which  takes  air  from  the  air  reservoir 
of  the  car  itself.  The  1-ft.  throw  of  the  piston  in  this 
brake  cylinder  is  multiplied  by  the  mechanical  arrange- 
ment shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  in  a  ratio 
of  1  to  8,  so  that  for  the  1-ft.  movement  of  the  piston 
the  derrick  hook  is  moved  a  distance  of  8  ft.,  which  is 
sufficient  for  handling  the  plow. 

The  mechanical  arrangement  of  lever  and  rope  is 
such  that  the  ratio  can  be  easily  and  quickly  changed 


Turntable  and  Air  Cylinder  for  Derrick  of  Plow  Car 

Car  Equipped  to  Operate  Power  Plow 

A CAR  recently  fitted  up  in  the  shops  of  the  Market 
Street  Railway  of  San  Francisco  to  provide  a 
convenient  and  economical  means  of  plowing  up  the 
right-of-way,  consists  of  an  ordinary  work  car  from 
which  one  of  the  cabs  was  removed  and  on  which  were 
mounted  a  winch  with  its  accessories  and  a  derrick. 
The  arrangement  has  been  successful  in  doing  all  neces- 
sary plowing  and  rooting  out  ties  and  concrete  along 
the  right-of-way.  Furrows  11  ft.  outside  the  rails 
have  been  made,  and  where  anchorage  for  a  snatch 
block  is  available  this  distance  of  offset  could  be  greatly 
increased.  This  method  of  plowing  with  power  has 
been  used  for  eight  years  but  the  power  has  always 
been  furnished  by  a  6-ton  derrick  car.  A  few  months 
ago  plowing  had  to  be  done  while  the  derrick  car  was 
on  work  from  which  it  could  not  be  spared.  The  car 
here  described  was  constructed  to  serve  in  the  emer- 
gency. 

The  plow  is  drawn  by  a  cable  running  from  a  3-ton 
single-drum  winch  driven  by  a  GE-1,000  motor  with  an 
ordinary  type  K  controller.  The  cable  passes  between 
guide  sheaves  at  the  center  of  the  rear  end  of  the  car. 


Plow  in  Operation — Spare  Plow  Suspended  from  Derrick  Winch  on  the  Plow  Car 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


209 


August  6,  1921 


to  any  of  the  following:  1  to  8,  1  to  6,  1  to  4  or  1  to  2. 
The  1  to  8  ratio  is  sufficient  to  raise  a  weight  of  500  lb., 
this  capacity  increasing  of  course  as  the  ratio  is  de- 
creased. The  plow  weighs  about  450  lb.  The  derrick 
boom  is  swung  by  hand  into  any  desired  position  on  a 
circular  track  built  up  on  the  car  platform.  This  track 
has  a  stop  to  prevent  a  continuously  circular  motion, 
thus  insuring  that  the  flexible  air  supply  line  will  serve 
the  cylinder  in  all  positions  of  the  boom.  The  air  cyl- 
inder is  operated  by  an  ordinary  brake  valve  near  the 
winch. 

No  return  line  is  used  on  the  plow  with  this  rig. 
When  a  new  furrow  is  to  be  started  the  derrick  raises 
the  plow  and  the  car  moves  down  the  track  with  it  to  the 
point  where  the  furrow  is  to  start.  After  setting  the 
plow  in  place  the  car  moves  back,  paying  out  the  cable 
as  it  goes,  until  the  far  end  of  the  furrow  has  been 
reached.  The  plow  is  then  drawn  up  to  the  car  and  the 
operation  repeated. 

The  details  of  this  device  were  worked  out  by  W.  D. 
Chamberlin,  principal  assistant  engineer.  B.  P.  Legare 
is  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way,  Market  Street  Rail- 
way Co. 

An  Inexpensive  Coin  Counter 

AN  EXTREMELY  simple  and  inexpensive  coin- 
ii.  counting  machine  which  may  be  purchased  out- 
right rather  than  used  on  the  rental  basis  usually 
required  has  been  made  available  by  the  Coinometer 
Company,  Detroit,  Mich.  This  consists  of  a  motor- 
driven  disk  which  picks  up  individual  coins  of  all  de- 
nominations from  the  container  in  which  it  revolves, 
lifts  the  coins  up  to  the  top  of  the  disk,  whence  they  roll 
by  gravity  down  an  incline  extending  over  compart- 


25^    5*       1*      10*  50* 


Simple  and  Inexpensive  Coin-Counting  Machine 

ments  for  receiving  the  coins.  This  incline  has  a 
graduated  opening  which  permits  the  coins  to  drop 
through  into  the  proper  compartment  as  they  reach  the 
opening  of  proper  size.  The  disk  and  incline  are 
mounted  in  an  inclined  position  so  that,  while  carried 
edgewise,  the  coins  lean  back  against  the  support  and 
therefore  drop  through  the  opening  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  machine  will  count  accurately 
1,200  coins  per  minute  or  72,000  coins  per  hour.  It  is 
said  to  sort  a  mere  handful  or  a  bushel  of  mixed  coins 
with  guaranteed  accuracy  at  the  rate  noted  above  and 


every  coin  is  always  in  plain  sight  with  no  danger  of 
lost  money.  It  weighs  less  than  23  lb.,  is  21  in.  long 
by  10  in.  wide  and  10  in.  high.  It  is  constructed  of 
solid  metal  throughout  and  finished  in  black  enamel. 


A  New  Life  Guard 

ANEW  spring  life  guard  has  been  placed  on  the 
market  by  the  Root  Spring  Scraper  Company, 
Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  which  is  claimed  to  have  very  light 
weight.  Spring  steel  is  used  for  every  part  subject 
to  possible  breakage,  thus  giving  a  flexibility  which 
tends  to  overcome  breakage  and  also  decreases  the 
probability  of  injury  to  a  person  picked  up.    The  drop 


New  Life  Guard  That  It  Is  Claimed  Will  Not  Rattle  Down 


fender  is  made  entirely  of  spring  steel  with  the  mem- 
bers bent  in  such  a  manner  that  they  will  ride  over  the 
rail  and  pavement  without  catching  and  yet  pick  up 
any  object  encountered. 

The  operating  device  connecting  the  gate  to  the  drop 
fender  is  made  in  such  a  manner  that  the  trip  break 
is  below  or  slightly  past  center  when  the  guard  is  in 
normal  position.  There  is  thus  claimed  to  be  no  pos- 
sibility of  the  guard  being  tripped,  due  to  vibration 
or  shock.  It  is  claimed,  however,  that  the  guard  drops 
very  quickly,  the  speed  of  this  action  being  increased 
by  a  heavy  coil  spring,  when  anything  strikes  the  gate. 


Plan  to  Reduce  the  Time  and  Cost 
of  Air  Seasoning  Wood 

IN  CO-OPERATION  with  the  sawmills  and  wood 
utilization  plants  throughout  the  country,  the  Forest 
Products  Laboratory,  Madison,  Wis.,  is  organizing  an 
extensive  field  study  on  the  air  seasoning  of  wood.  This 
study,  it  is  believed,  will  be  of  extreme  interest  to  the 
lumber  manufacturer  and  to  the  wood-using  industries. 
The  purpose  is  to  determine  the  piling  practice  which 
will  result  in  the  fastest  drying  rates  consistent  with 
the  least  depreciation  of  stock,  the  least  amount  of 
required  yard  space,  and  the  least  handling  costs. 

The  air  seasoning  of  wood  is  an  bid  practice.  No 
systematic  attempt  has  ever  been  made,  however,  to 
work  out  the  exact  conditions  under  which  drying  time 
and  drying  costs  can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The 
new  project  will  furnish  a  comparison  of  the  effects  of 
such  piling  variables  as  sticker  heights,  the  spacing  of 
boards  in  layers,  the  heights  of  pile  foundations,  and 
the  directions  of  piling  with  relation  to  prevailing  winds 
and  yard  alleyways.  \ 

A  tentative  working  plan  of  the  air  seasoning  study 
has  been  prepared  by  the  Forest  Products  Laboratory, 
and  copies  are  being  sent  to  the  secretaries  of  the 
various  lumber  and  wood-using  associations,  state 
foresters,  forest  school  heads,  and  others  eminently 
qualified  to  comment  on  the  plan. 


210 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


Winning  Public  Support  and  Confidence* 

Some  Facts  Which  Few  of  the  Public  Know — The  Industry's  Responsibility  to 
Assume  Leadership  and  Let  the  Public  Know 

By  George  L.  Myers 

Assistant  to  the  President  Pacific  Power  &  Light  Company,  Portland.  Ore. 


THE  public  service  industry  is  in 
greater  need  of  the  support  and 
confidence  of  the  people  than  any 
other  industry  because  of  the  powers 
exercised  by  government  in  its  control. 
It  is  dependent  for  its  success  upon  the 
nature  of  regulation,  which  reflects  the 
political  policy  of  the  state.  The  pol- 
icy in  turn  is  determined  by  the  public 
sentiment,  which  is  nothing  but  the 
expression  of  the  people's  understand- 
ing and  knowledge.  The  lessentials 
fundamental  to  wholesome  and  con- 
structive public  sentiments  are  service 
and  knowledge.  Service  must  be  cour- 
teous, efficient  and  adequate.  The  per- 
sonnel of  an  organization  and  the 
physical  stability  of  its  property  deter- 
mine the  nature  of  its  service. 

Antipathy  Must  Be  Overcome 

Irrespective  of  the  fact  that  the  pub- 
lic service  industry  is  controlled  as  is 
no  other  industry,  in  none  other  is 
there  more  antipathy  on  the  part  of 
the  public.  The  fundamental  reasons 
which  come  to  mind  as  responsible  for 
this  antipathy  are  the  magnitude  and 
volume  of  the  business,  the  conditions 
of  natural  monopoly  within  the  terri- 
tories served,  the  exclusive  nature  of 
the  service,  the  quasi-governmental 
function  of  it,  the  convenience  in  its 
use  and  the  impersonal  relationships. 
The  volume  of  the  business  in  dollars 
and  cents  too  often  appeals  to  the 
public's  imagination  as  the  measure  of 
profit  rather  than  the  return  in  per- 
centage upon  the  investment  when 
there  is  no  understanding  of  what 
actually  constitutes  profit.  The  con- 
dition of  natural  monopoly  and  the  ex- 
clusive nature  of  the  service  strengthen 
the  conviction  that  there  must  be 
enormous  profits.  Also  the  sovereign 
powers  vested  in  a  public  service  com- 
pany and  the  essential  and  universal 
nature  of  the  service  give  to  the  public 
service  the  attribute  of  a  government 
service.  Many  pay  nothing  directly  for 
what  they  get  out  of  government. 
People  seem  to  have  an  inherent  sense 
of  propriety  without  responsibility  in 
a  public  service  company  in  return  for 
the  privileges  given  it  to  do  business, 
which  leads  them  to  regard  a  public 
service  company  as  a  vendor  of  benev- 
olent service. 

Public  utility  service  today  in  gen- 
eral is  not  supplied  by  local  plants 
with  their  operations  localized,  but  by 
what  might  be  properly  termed  for 
purposes  of  differentiation  a  system  or 
systems.  Capital  for  development  is 
drawn  from  all  sources  of  the  country, 
and  furthermore  control  is  often  vested 
far  from  the  existing  field  of  operation. 
These  conditions  have  broken  down  the 


*Short  abstract  of  address  at  the  Four- 
teenth Annual  Convention  of  the  Northwest 
Electric  Light  and  Power  Association, 
Multnomah  Hotel,  Portland,  Ore.,  June  16, 
1921. 


close  personal  or  local  relations  which 
formerly  existed  and  require  new  pol- 
icies that  will  break  down  the  barriers 
which  have  developed. 

Too  few  people  know  the  essential 
facts  and  principles  of  public  service 
finance.  There  is  still  much  agitation 
about  watered  stocks,  although  the  ele- 
ment of  capitalization  today  is  not  the 
basis  for  rates  and  return.  Many  have 
the  impression  capital  in  public  service 
companies  is  closely  held  and  that  only 
a  few  participate  in  the  earnings  avail- 
able to  pay  interest  and  dividends.  The 
fact  is  that  about  1,400,000  men  and 
women  in  the  electric  light  and  power 
industry  alone  ai'e  owners  of  stocks 
and  bonds  and  more  than  $300,000,000 
of  the  assets  of  insurance  companies 
is  invested  in  its  securities.  In  excess 
of  $1,700,000,000  in  bank  funds  are 
invested  in  public  utility  securities. 
Therefore,  while  there  has  been  a  tend- 
ency toward  centralization  in  manage- 
ment and  control  in  the  interests  of 
greater  efficiency  and  economy,  there 
has  been  a  growing  decentralization  in 
ownership. 

Another  factor  is  that  there  is  no 
general  knowledge  of  the  extent  to 
which  a  public  service  company  is  held 
accountable  to  authorities  of  govern- 
ment for  its  conduct  nor  of  the  restric- 
tions placed  upon  it.  The  measure  of 
government  control  to  safeguard  and 
protect  the  public  interests  should  be- 
come common  knowledge.  The  orders 
and  decisions  of  commissions  and  the 
opinions  of  courts  must  be  made  clear 
to  the  public  mind,  and  their  influence 
and  effect  brought  to  public  recognition, 
not  alone  in  cases  of  local  interest  and 
concern,  but  in  those  of  state  and 
national  determination  as  well. 

Responsibility  Is  On  Industry 

If  we  will  concede  the  public  must 
have  a  better  knowledge  and  under- 
standing of  the  facts  concerning  the 
industry  before  it  can  prosper  as  it 
deserves,  then  the  important  considera- 
tion is  the  policies  and  methods  where- 
by this  result  may  be  accomplished. 
The  responsibility  is  upon  the  industry, 
and  it  must  assume  the  leadership. 
Various  means  may  be  taken  to  get 
the  proper  contact  with  the  public 
whereby  the  proper  public  sentiment 
can  be  developed,  but  probably  the  most 
effective  means  is  through  the  press. 
The  press  must  be  impressed  with  the 
purpose  and  spirit  of  the  movement. 
Its  confidence  must  be  inspired  and 
interest  aroused.  There  is  another 
important  field  for  education  within 
the  industry.  There  is  not  a  sufficient 
understanding  of  the  facts  among  those 
who  are  employed  in  it.  Each  depart- 
ment head  and  employee  is  not  without 
his  coterie  of  friends  and  points  of 
personal  contact.  The  personnel  should 
be  made  to  understand  that  the  pros- 


perity of  the  company  and  the  industry 
depends  upon  public  sentiment  and  that 
they  have  their  part  in  making  it  favor- 
able or  unfavorable,  which  in  turn  is 
reflected  in  their  prosperity. 

The  company  publication,  or  what 
might  be  termed  in  common  parlance 
"the  house  organ,"  can  be  made  a  most 
effective  means  for  education,  as  it  can 
be  used  to  cement  the  organization  into 
a  more  interested  whole. 

The  industry  should  not  only  be  alert 
to  the  problem  of  getting  the  public 
informed,  but  it  should  act  in  a  manner 
to  command  public  respect.  It  is  often 
the  policy  not  to  dignify  unjust  criti- 
cisms and  untruthful  attacks  with  ref- 
utation, as  this  gives  rise  to  contro- 
versy, and  most  utilities  seek  to  avoid 
controversy,  but  why  let  the  lie  stand  to 
shame  the  truth  when  facts  are  avail- 
able? 

A  good  deal  of  what  has  been  said 
may  be  considered  by  some  to  be 
idealistic,  but  it  is  an  idealism  which 
can  be  made  of  practical  effect  if  there 
is  only  the  will  to  do  it.  The  industry 
is  in  need  of  some  idealism  and  a  spirit 
which  values  the  worthiness  of  its 
service  and  a  faith  in  the  common  sense 
and  fairness  of  the  people. 


New  England  Club  Has 
Outing 

Delegates  Frolic  at  Aldrich  Lake  and 
Enjoy  Trips  to  Mount  Tom,  Where  , 
Banquet  Closed  the  Day's 
Festivities 

THE  annual  outing  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Street  Railway  Club,  of  which 
Edward  Dana  of  Boston  is  president, 
was  held  on  July  28.  The  Holyoke 
Street  Railway  and  its  officials  were 
the  hosts  for  the  day.  Probably  no 
other  single  outing  of  the  club  was 
ever  more  successful,  not  only  from 
an  entertainment  point  of  view  but  in 
reflecting  what  can  be  accomplished  by 
the  pull-together  spirit  that  exists  be- 
tween the  railway  company,  its  em- 
ployees and  other  local  civic  organiza- 
tions that  have  the  welfare  and  growth 
of  the  community  at  heart. 

The  day  started  with  an  inspection 
of  the  shops  and  carhouses  of  the 
railway  company  in  Holyoke,  after 
which  three  special  cars  took  the  dele- 
gates and  invited  guests  to  Aldrich 
Lake  where  sports  were  enjoyed.  The 
baseball  game  between  the  railway  and 
supply  men  ended  in  a  tie  after  six 
innings,  hence  the  silver  mounted  bat 
which  was  won  last  year  by  the  supply 
men  still  remains  in  their  possession. 
John  Wilkinson,  Boston  Elevated  Rail- 
way, captained  the  railway  team,  and 
Joseph  G.  Dellert  of  Boston  was  the 
captain  for  the  supply  men.  Other 
sports  and  swimming  races  were  also 
enjoyed. 

Luncheon  was  served  at  the  lake, 
after  which  the  party  again  boarded 
the  cars  for  an  inspection  trip,  via  Am- 
herst, Old  Hadley  and  Northampton  en 
route  to  Mountain  Park.  Opportunity 
was  thus  given  to  see  a  large  part  of 


August  6,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


211 


the  trolley  system,  the  country  served, 
the  numerous  colleges  that  abound  in 
this  territory,  and  other  historical 
points  of  interest,  of  which  there  are 
many.  Arriving  at  Mountain  Park 
shortly  before  4  o'clock,  the  party  was 
entertained  at  a  special  matinee  of  six 
acts  by  the  artists  playing  at  the 
theater.  After  the  show  came  the  trip 
up  Mount  Tom  over  the  incline  rail- 
way. Prior  to  dinner  on  the  summit 
the  delegates  had  an  opportunity  to 
view  the  wonderful  scenery  of  central 
Massachusetts  from  the  vantage  point 
of  the  Summit  House.  Promptly  at 
7  o'clock  210  delegates  sat  down  to  a 
real  Mount  Tom  roast  chicken  dinner. 
Souveniers  of  Holyoke's  industrial  life 
were  furnished  by  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  to  each  visitor,  consisting  of 
writing  paper,  loose-leaf  booklets  or 
pads,  and  spools  of  thread. 

Following  the  dinner  a  short  busi- 
ness session  was  held  at  which  twenty- 
five  new  members  were  voted  into  the 
club,  making  a  total  of  ninety-one 
since  President  Dana  started  his  cam- 
paign    for      increased  membership. 


Mayor  John  F.  Cronin  of  Holyoke,  who 
had  been  with  the  party  all  day,  ex- 
tended an  official  welcome  on  behalf 
of  the  city.  A  vote  of  thanks  was  ex- 
tended to  L.  D.  Pellissier,  president  of 
the  Holyoke  Street  Railway  in  appre- 
ciation of  his  interesting  efforts  and 
the  success  that  has  attended  them. 
Replying,  he  expressed  his  keen  appre- 
ciation that  the  club  had  selected  Hol- 
yoke for  the  outing.  He  then  presented 
on  behalf  of  the  club  a  Seth  Thomas 
chime  mantel  clock  to  Fred  F.  Stock- 
well,  the  club's  treasurer,  for  his  un- 
selfish services,  and  a  purse  of  gold  to 
John  W.  Belling,  the  secretary.  Ac- 
ceptable remarks  were  made  by  both 
recipients.  After  the  banquet  moving 
pictures  provided  entertainment  in- 
cluding a  film  that  the  Holyoke  Street 
Railway  has  just  had  prepared  for 
advertising  Mount  Tom's  beauties 
throughout  the  country. 

The  committee  in  charge  consisted 
of  W.  W.  Field,  Boston,  chairman,  with 
L.  D.  Pellissier,  the  Holyoke  chairman, 
and  George  E.  Pellissier  as  vice-chair- 
man. 


Regulation  of  Public  Utilities 

Regulatory  Laws  Must  Conform  to  Economic   Laws — Division  of  Regulation 
Between  Judiciary  and  Legislative  Authorities  —  Utility  Boards  Should 
Be  Composed  of  Men  of  Broad  Vision 

By  Harvey  S.  Carr* 

Carr  &  Carroll,  Attorneys,  Camden.  N.  J. 


FROM  the  creeping,  creaking  stage- 
coach and  the  isolated  inn  of 
Plantagenet,  England,  to  the  vestibuled 
train  the  de  luxe,  the  fast  freight  line, 
the  whaleback  steamer  and  the  tower- 
ing grain  elevator  of  the  America  of 
today  is  a  far  cry.  Yet  it  is  to  these 
humble  and  remote  sources — the  state 
regulated  innkeeper,  hack  driver,  baker, 
farrier  and  tailor  of  mediasvel  times — 
that  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
turns  in  search  of  the  basic  principles 
governing  the  right  of  the  state  to 
regulate  the  great  modern  public  util- 
ities that  touch  the  daily  life  of  mil- 
lions of  our  people. 

In  God's  providence  the  empire  build- 
ers were  not  discouraged  by  regula- 
tion— the  Harrimans,  the  Hills,  the 
Morgans,  the  Goulds  and  the  Vander- 
bilts — these  men  of  vision  and  con- 
structive imagination  were  not  preceded 
by  heralds  bearing  aloft  "blue  sky" 
banners,  with  that  soul-inspiring  legend 
"Safety  First."  Neither  were  they  ac- 
companied through  the  forests  and  over 
the  majestic  rivers  and  mountains  by 
the  regulatory  bodies  of  forty-eight 
separate  states.  Some  of  them  may 
have  been  rude  and  crude,  whiskered 
and  wicked,  but  they  did  great  things 
and  posterity  is  their  debtor. 

With  the  concentration  of  power 
came  abuses,  actual  or  potential,  re- 
bates, discrimination  and  oppressions, 
and  the  public  sought  to  protect  itself 
by  regulatory  statutes,  boards  and  agen- 
cies. As  a  result  of  a  long  legal 
history,  it  may  now  be   accepted  as 

♦Abstract  of  paper  read  before  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  Bar  Association  at  Asbury 
Park.  June  29,  1921. 


settled  that  the  power  to  prescribe 
rates  is  legislative.  The  power  to 
determine  whether  rates  prescribed 
would,  if  enforced,  impair  or  destroy 
rights  of  property  that  are  protected 
by  constitutional  law  is  judicial. 

The  Value  of  the  Service  to  the 
Consumer 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  method  of 
review  by  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  appears  to  preclude  an  examina- 
tion and  disposal  of  the  whole  subject 
matter  of  the  inquiry.  The  cases  reach 
that  court  usually  upon  the  initiative 
of  the  public  utility  company  and  under 
the  Fifth  or  Fourteenth  Amendment 
upon  the  claim  that  the  instant  rate  re- 
sults in  the  taking  of  property  with- 
out due  process  of  law  and  is  therefore 
confiscatory. 

This  necessarily  limits  the  determina- 
tion of  a  finding  that  a  particular  rate 
is  or  is  not  confiscatory.  Hence,  the 
basis  of  the  adjudication  must  always 
be  the  aggregate  return  on  the  capital 
invested  and  not  the  value  of  the  ser- 
vice to  the  individual  user. 

So  the  supposed  danger  to  the  con- 
sumer resulting  from  excessive  charges 
growing  out  of  monopolistic  control  is 
lost  sight  of  and  never  becomes  a 
subject  of  adjudication.  The  utility  is 
on  the  defensive  and  seeks  to  protect 
the  confiscation  of  its  property  by  the 
public.  The  Supreme  Court  can  do  no 
more  than  to  enforce  a  vote  upon  con 
fiscatory  legislation,  hence  the  primary 
question  for  which  regulation  was  de- 
signed, viz.,  is  the  particular  rate  or 
charge  of  the  utility  unjust  or  oppres- 
sive? remains  unadjudicated. 


It  seems  a  curious  anomaly  of  our 
judicial  system  that  the  very  question 
that  state  regulation  was  intended  to 
cover  cannot  be  adjudicated  by  the 
court  of  last  resort. 

Economic  Law  and  State  Regulation 
Must  Coincide 
To  the  extent  that  a  rate  or  regula- 
tion is  in  conflict  with  economic  law  it 
is  erroneous.  Public  utility  boards 
must  adopt  the  broad  economic  view 
and  must  enforce  a  policy  based 
thereon  whether  it  is  immediately 
popular  or  not.  Rate  questions  become 
in  time  the  issues  of  a  political  cam- 
paign with  all  of  the  accompanying 
rancor.  It  is  difficult  for  a  utility 
board  not  to  be  influenced  by  such 
clamor,  especially  since  in  New  Jersey 
it  combines  with  legislative  power  the 
powers  of  prosecutor,  judge  and  jury, 
and  institutes  proceedings  on  its  own 
initiative. 

The  disputes  that  come  before  a  util- 
ity board  for  determination  are  usually 
far  more  serious  and  important  than 
suits  which  come  before  courts  of  law 
or  equity.  A  determination  of  a  util- 
ity board  in  a  populous  state  may  touch 
the  daily  life  of  millions  of  persons 
and  affect  property  values  running  into 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  An 
erroneous  decision  in  an  important 
matter  always  affects  the  public  in- 
juriously. If  the  rate  allowed  is  too 
high,  the  injury  is  direct.  If  too  low, 
the  injury,  although  consequential,  may 
be  far  more  serious  in  the  resultant 
impairment  of  service  and  impairment 
of  the  confidence  of  the  investing  pub- 
lic, from  whom  alone  the  needed  capital 
for  extensions  and  improvements  can 
come.  Hence,  it  is  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance that  a  public  utility  board,  wield- 
ing such  immense  power  for  weal  or 
for  woe,  and  whose  findings  as  a  prac- 
tical matter  are  subject  to  but  scant 
supervision  by  appellate  courts,  be  com- 
posed of  men  of  courage,  vision  and 
of  broad  and  accurate  economic  views. 
Many  of  the  men  who  have  served  on 
these  commissions  and  many  of  those 
still  serving  are  of  this  character. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  our  present 
commission  in  New  Jersey. 

Ultimately  informed  public  opinion 
will  control  the  situation.  If  this  were 
not  so  democracy  would  not  exist. 
Where  the  utility  has  taken  the  public 
into  its  confidence  and  cultivates 
friendly  relations  with  its  customers, 
conditions  are  much  improved,  and 
reasonable  requests  for  modification  of 
rates  have  not  been  seriously  opposed 
by  the  public. 

Conclusions 

1.  Rates  must  be  just  and  reason- 
able. 

2.  Fairness  of  the  individual  rates 
should  be  reached  by  allowing  the  util- 
ity to  earn  in  the  aggregate  a  suf- 
ficient sum  to  pay  its  operating  cost 
and  the  accumulation  of  a  reasonable 
surplus  to  provide  for  the  unforseen 
contingencies  of  the  future.  This  should 
be  the  basis  of  rate  making. 

3.  Rates  must  be  sufficient  to  attract 
capital. 


212 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


How  Taxation  Affects  Public  Utilities' 


Public  Utilities  Are  a  Separate  Class  in  Regulation  but  Are  Not  So  Treated  in 
Taxation — The  Supply  of  New  Capital  Is  Limited  by  the  Effects  of  the 
Present  Taxation  System 

By  P.  H.  Gadsden 

President  American  Electric  Railway  Association  ;  Chairman  of  Joint  Tax 
Committee  of  A.  E.  R.  A.,  N.  E.  L.  A.  and  A.  G.  A. 


4.  Rates  must  not  be  so  low  as  to  be 
confiscatory. 

5.  Efficient  and  economical  operation 
should  be  required,  encouraged  and  re- 
warded, and  should  be  reflected  in 
profits  and  dividends. 

6.  The  rate-making  machinery  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  a  special  tribunal 
composed  of  men  trained  in  that  class 
of  work.  The  rate  must  be  such  as 
will  afford  protection  of  the  individual 
consumer  from  oppressive  rates,  and 
yet  such  that  the  utility  will  be  per- 
mitted to  live  and  give  adequate,  effi- 
cient and  satisfactory  service. 

7.  The  legal  machinery  of  review  is 
inadequate  in  that  it  does  not  usually 
permit  a  review  of  the  merits  of  the 
entire  controversy. 

[The  complete  paper  gives  a  very 
able  presentation  of  the  historical  de- 
velopment of  Supreme  Court  regulatory 
decisions,  with  clear  interpretations  of 
each  decision  supported  by  legal  opin- 
ion.— Editors.] 


Pennsylvania  Electric  Association 

THE  Pennsylvania  Electric  Associa- 
tion will  hold  its  fourteenth  annual 
convention  from  Sept.  7  to  10  inclusive 
at  Bedford  Springs,  Pa.  There  will  be 
morning  and  afternoon  sessions  except 
on  Saturday  when  the  final  session  will 
be  held  in  the  morning. 

The  program  opens  on  Wednesday 
evening,  Sept.  7,  with  the  reception  to 
the  president.  On  Thursday  morning 
the  chief  features  will  be  the  address 
of  the  president,  Henry  Harris,  of  Wil- 
merding;  the  appointment  of  auditing 
and  nominating  committees  and  a  paper 
on  "The  Super-Power  Survey  as  It  May 
Affect  Pennsylvania,"  by  Harold  Good- 
win, Jr.  The  afternoon  session  will  be 
a  commercial  meeting  with  a  number  of 
reports  and  papers.  The  technical  ses- 
sion will  be  held  on  Friday  morning, 
Sept.  9,  while  the  accounting  session 
will  be  held  on  the  morning  of  Satur- 
day, Sept.  10.  Prominent  speakers  will 
address  the  public  policy  session  on  the 
evening  of  Friday,  Sept.  9. 

A  feature  of  the  entertainment  will 
be  furnished  by  the  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Company  of 
Pittsburgh.  Each  evening  the  Westing- 
house  band  will  play  at  Pittsburgh  and 
the  concert  will  be  reproduced  by  means 
of  the  radiophone  at  Bedford  Springs. 

A.  L.  Atmore,  1000  Chestnut  Street, 
Philadelphia,  is  chairman  of  the  pro- 
gram committee,  and  W.  K.  Kerford, 
Philadelphia  Electric  Company,  is 
chairman  of  the  entertainment  commit- 
tee. 


Industrial  Advertising  Conference 

THE  importance  of  industrial  adver- 
tising and  the  necessity  of  special- 
ized treatment  in  its  development  are 
recognized  in  a  plan  to  hold  an  Indus- 
trial Advertising  Conference  at  the  Mil- 
waukee Convention  (1922)  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World. 
The  movement  is  being  promoted  by  the 
Engineering  Advertisers'  Association  of 
Chicago  and  the  Technical  Publicity 
Association  of  New  York. 


WE  URGE  that  public  utilities  be 
placed  in  a  special  class  for  the 
purpose  of  taxation,  so  that  the  burden 
of  Federal  taxation  to  be  imposed  upon 
them  may  be  determined  in  the  light  of 
the  fact  that  they  are  regulated  indus- 
tries. Public  utilities  are  already  by 
law  treated  as  a  special  class  for  every- 
thing except  taxation.  Their  rates  and 
the  selling  price  of  their  products  are 
fixed  by  law.  They  are  compelled  to 
buy  their  labor  and  material  in  the 
open  market  and  to  sell  at  prices  fixed 
under  regulation.  The  public  utilities 
are  segregated  in  a  separate  class  with 
reference  to  their  operating  expenses. 
The  kind  and  quality  of  the  service 
rendered  by  them  is  largely  specified 
by  law.  The  ordinary  business  man  can 
adjust  his  affairs  to  the  varying  con- 
ditions of  the  time.  In  periods  of  de- 
pression he  can  retrench,  reduce  his 
activities,  and  cut  off  his  expenses.  The 
individual  can  do  the  same.  The  utili- 
ties cannot.  They  can  neither  adjust 
their  revenues  to  meet  increasing  oper- 
ating expenses  or  increased  taxation, 
nor  curtail  their  facilities  for  business 
operations. 

Again,  they  are  placed  in  a  special 
class  so  far  as  undertaking  new  busi- 
ness is  concerned.  The  merchant  or 
manufacturer  can  refuse  to  take  on 
business  when  he  sees  no  profit  in  it. 
Public  utilities  must  furnish  electric 
transportation,  gas,  electric  light,  and 
power  to  all  who  apply  for  it  under 
regulations  fixed  by  law. 

But  when  it  comes  to  taxation,  public 
utilities  have  up  to  this  time  been 
treated  as  any  other  business  corpora- 
tion, notwithstanding  the  fact  that  a 
public  utility's  return  on  its  investment 
is  limited  by  law,  whereas  the  ordinary 
business  corporation  is  free  to  make 
any  profit  which  business  conditions 
will  permit. 

For  these  reasons  we  urge  the  Ways 
and  Means  Committee  to  consider 
adopting  a  permanent  policy  of  setting 
aside  all  public  utilities — that  is,  regu- 
lated industry,  in  a  special  chapter  to 
be  treated  separately  for  the  purposes 
of  Federal  taxation. 

2.  The  American  Electric  Railway 
Association,  American  Gas  Association, 
and  the  National  Electric  Light  Asso- 
ciation, earnestly  protest  against  any 
increase  in  the  normal  income  tax  on 

*A  brief  presented  to  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
as  a  part  of  the  record  of  appearance  before 
that  committee  by  W.  V.  Hill,  representing 
the  A.  E.  R.  A„  N.  E.  L.  A.  and  A.  G.  A 


gas,  electric  railway,  and  electric  light 
and  power  companies,  and  urge  that 
the  normal  income  tax  on  public  utili- 
ties be  kept  as  at  present  at  10  per 
cent  and  not  increased  along  with  busi- 
ness corporations  generally  as  has  been 
proposed.  The  reason  for  this  distinc- 
tion is  apparent  to  anyone  who  is  con- 
versant with  the  history  of  public 
utilities  during  the  last  four  or  five 
years.  It  is  admitted  that  of  all  classes 
of  business  enterprise,  the  public  utili- 
ties have  suffered  the  greatest  injury 
as  a  result  of  the  war.  For  several 
years  when  every  other  class  of  busi- 
ness was  prospering  beyond  anything 
ever  anticipated,  the  net  income  of 
the  public  utilities  gradually,  month  by 
month,  diminished;  in  many  cases  divi- 
dends on  stocks  were  passed,  and  even 
interest  on  bonds  left  unpaid  at  a  time 
when  industry  generally  was  enjoying 
an  unparalleled  prosperity. 

We  urge,  therefore,  that  it  is  only 
fair  that  the  burden  of  Federal  taxa- 
tion on  public  utilities  should  be  made 
lighter  than  on  business  generally. 
Their  rates  for  service,  being  regu- 
lated by  law,  are  not  easily  adjusted 
to  increased  expenses.  Owing  to  the 
local  character  of  electric  railways, 
gas,  and  electric  light  and  power  com- 
panies, it  was  not  found  practicable 
during  the  war  for  Congress  to  take 
any  action  to  relieve  their  condition 
such  as  was  taken  in  the  case  of  the 
steam  railroads.  They  have  had  to 
bear  the  full  brunt  of  increases  in  the 
cost  of  labor  and  materials  without  any 
assistance  from  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it 
is  now  clearly  recognized  that  the 
services  they  render  are  essential  to 
the  national  life  Here  is  an  oppor- 
tunity, however,  for  Congress  to  show 
its  appreciation  of  the  plight  of  the 
public  utilities  of  this  country  and 
afford  them  some  measure  of  relief. 
It  was  in  recognition  of  these  facts 
that  the  committee  of  the  National  In- 
dustrial Conference  Board  in  its  report 
recommended  that  the  income  tax  on 
public  utilities  be  retained  at  10  per 
cent. 

3.  Tax  on  undistributed  income — A 
tax  on  undistributed  income  would  fall 
with  peculiar  hardship  upon  public 
utilities.  In  the  first  place,  in  a  regu- 
lated industry  there  is  no  opportunity 
for  unusual  or  excessive  earnings.  The 
rate  of  return  is  placed  at  a  maximum 
which  rarely  exceeds  8  per  cent,  so 
that  with  public  utilities  it  is  not  possi- 
ble to  declare  an  8  per  cent  dividend 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


213 


and  retain  an  equivalent  amount  in  the 
treasury  of  the  company  as  undistrib- 
uted earnings.  The  reason  which  is 
generally  urged  to  support  the  tax  on 
undistributed  income  does  not  apply  to 
regulated  industry.  There  is  one  reason, 
however,  which,  when  properly  under- 
stood, would  seem  to  show  that  it  is 
clearly  against  the  public  interest  that 
such  a  tax  should  be  applied  to  public 
utilities.  Owing  to  the  extraordinary 
increase  in  the  cost  of  operations,  both 
during  and  since  the  war,  with  the 
tardy  and  meager  increases  in  rates 
which  have  been  allowed,  the  public 
utilities  as  a  class  have  been  forced  to 
suspend  the  payment  of  dividends  and 
to  utilize  any  small  amounts  of  net 
income  for  the  purpose  of  providing 
for  those  necessary  extensions  and 
betterments  of  their  service  which  are 
insistently  demanded  of  them  by  the 
public.  It  is  generally  recognized  that 
the  credit  of  public  utilities  has  been 
affected  injuriously  by  the  experiences 
through  which  they  have  been  forced 
to  go.  For  years  they  have  been  unable 
to  secure  the  additional  new  capital 
necessary  to  provide  the  extensions  and 
betterments  to  plant  and  facilities  to 
keep  apace  with  the  development  of 
their  respective  communities.  In  this 
connection  I  refer  the  committee  to 
that  portion  of  the  report  of  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Reconstruction  and  Pro- 
duction referring  to  public  utilities. 
This  report  shows  that  public  utilities 
have  had  to  postpone  extensions  and 
enlargements  of  their  plant  and  facili- 
ties for  years.  At  the  same  time,  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  such  extensions  and 
betterments  have  had  to  be  made. 

They  have  been  made  out  of  the  net 
income  of  the  public  utilities  which 
othewise  might  have  been  declared  by 
way  of  dividends.  The  tax  upon  undis- 
tributed income  of  public  utilities  would 
still  further  reduce  the  available  funds 
now  being  used  for  extending  the  rail- 
way, gas  and  electric  light  and  power 
services  to  the  consumers  of  this  coun- 
try. If  such  a  tax  is  seriously  consid- 
ered by  this  committee  we  would  urge 
that  either  public  utilities  be  expressly 
exempted,  or  that  the  paragraph  should 
be  so  worded  as  not  to  apply  to  earnings 
which  are  reinvested  or  held  for  rein- 
vestment in  the  property  within  twelve 
months  after  the  year  in  which  they 
accrue,  or  which,  together  with  the 
earnings  distributed,  do  not  exceed,  say, 
10  per  cent  return  on  the  value  of  the 
property. 

4.  Tax-exempt  securities. — While  pub- 
lic utilities,  unfortu?iately,  are  not 
subject  to  any  excess-profits  tax,  and 
while  their  income  taxes  amount  to  a 
very  small  amount  of  money — they 
amounted  in  1918  to  only  about  $12,- 
000,000  for  the  three  industries  I  rep- 
resent— while  it  is  true  that  our  stock- 
holders and  bondholders  have  suffered 
so  that  their  taxes  have  been  very 
largely  reduced,  I  want  to  call  the  com- 
mittee's attention  to  the  serious  burden 
which  the  excess-profiis  taxes  and  the 
high  surtaxes  have  in  an  indirect  way 
upon  the  public  utility  business. 


We  have  recently  had  a  study  made 
of  the  effect  of  the  surtaxes  and  the 
income  taxes  upon  the  sale  of  public- 
utilities  securities.  We  have  been  very 
much  disturbed  to  find  that  under  the 
present  fiscal  and  taxation  laws  of  this 
Government  the  taxpayer  who  is  sub- 
ject to  a  surtax  of  over  3  per  cent  can 
not  afford  to  buy  a  public-utility  secur- 
ity paying  8  per  cent  or  less  in  pref- 
erence to  a  5  per  cent  tax-exempt  bond. 
That  means  that  practically  the  only 
purchases  of  our  securities  must  come 
from  the  people  who  are  in  the  $10,000 
class.  The  reason  for  it  is  that  the 
public  utility,  being  regulated  by  law, 
its  earnings  being  kept  down  to  prac- 
tically 8  per  cent,  cannot,  of  course, 
have  any  long-time  issue  securities  of 
a  greater  rate  of  interest. 

$1,250,000,000  Behind 

I  am  not  trying  to  inject  an  argu- 
ment for  exemption  of  securities,  but  I 
am  showing  how  vitally  interested 
public  utilities  are  in  any  law  which 
will  spread  out  the  burden  of  taxation 
and  which  will  make  it  possible  for 
Congress  to  reduce,  if  not  cut  out, 
these  very  high  income  taxes.  The 
public  utilities  of  this  country,  includ- 
ing the  steam  railroads,  must  every 
year  find  new  money  for  their  exten- 
sions and  betterments.  The  group  I 
represent  requires  about  $75,000,000  a 
year.  Altogether,  including  the  steam 
railroads,  we  need  about  $2,000,000,000 
of  new  money  every  year.  That  money 
must  be  obtained  in  the  open  market 
in  competition  with  these  municipal  se- 
curities. No  man  with  a  high  income 
can  afford  to  buy  our  securities,  because 
we  cannot  afford  to  pay  more  than 
6,  7  or  8  per  cent,  as  the  laws  say  we 
cannot  get  more  than  that  amount. 
The  investor  is  being  driven  by  that 
process  away  from  public  utilities  into 
municipal  bonds,  building  schoolhouses 
and  courthouses  and  public  roads.  The 
effect  of  that  is  this:  In  the  first  place, 
the  $2,000,000,000  of  betterments  which 
the  public  requires  can  not  be  made. 
They  have  not  been  made  in  four  years. 
We  estimate  that  public  utilities  are 
behind  in  actual  necessities — that  is, 
the  three  public  utilities  I  represent — 
at  least  a  billion  and  a  quarter  now, 
owing  to  the  inability  to  get  money. 

Driven  Toward  Municipalization 

The  second  effect  is  that  as  we  fail 
year  by  year,  owing  to  our  inability  to 
get  this  additional  new  capital  to  meas- 
ure up  to  the  standard  and  growth  of 
our  various  communities  and  fail  to 
render  the  facilities  which  the  com- 
munities must  have,  there  is  a  growing 
dissatisfaction  in  the  communities 
against  our  service  and  an  increasing 
demand  on  the  part  of  the  population 
to  take  them  over.  It  is  quite  apparent 
that  the  public  will  say:  "If  you  can- 
not raise  money,  we  can;  we  can  get 
all  the  money  we  need  at  5  per  cent." 
Therefore,  we  reach  this  anomalous 
situation  that  while  the  political  poli- 
cies of  this  Government  have  been 
definitely  and  firmly  fixed  in  opposition 


to  the  municipalization  of  these  utilities, 
the  financial  and  fiscal  policies  of  the 
Government  are  inexorably  driving  us 
into  it.  Therefore,  any  tax  whose  ten- 
dency is  to  spread  out  the  burden;  any 
tax  which  will  raise  money  sufficient  to 
enable  this  Government  to  relieve  the 
higher  brackets  on  the  surtax  and  the 
income  tax  is  working  in  the  interest 
of  the  public  utilities  and  immediately 
in  the  interests  of  the  users  of  those 
facilities  all  over  the  country. 


Engineering  Association  Nomina- 
tions for  1922  Officers 

THE  committee  on  nominations  for 
the  Engineering  Association  has  re- 
ported as  its  selection  for  officers  for 
the  ensuing  year  as  follows:  President, 
C.  S.  Kimball,  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
first  vice-president,  L.  C.  Datz,  Ameri- 
can Cities  Company,  Birmingham,  Ala.; 
second  vice-president,  H.  A.  Johnson, 
Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated  Rail- 
way, Chicago,  111.;  third  vice-president, 
A.  B.  Stitzer,  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis, 
New  York.  These  gentlemen,  together 
with  Charles  H.  Clark,  Cleveland  Rail- 
way; Roy  C.  Cram,  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.) 
Rapid  Transit  Company;  Daniel  Durie, 
West  Penn  Traction  Company,  and 
Charles  Rufus  Harte,  the  Connecticut 
Company,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  were 
nominated  as  members  of  the  executive 
committee.  J.  W.  Welsh  was  nominated 
for  secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  report  is  signed  by  Martin 
Schreiber,  Public  Service  Railway, 
chairman;  C.  C.  Beck,  Ohio  Brass  Com- 
pany, Mansfield,  Ohio;  D.  E.  Crouse, 
Rochester  &  Syracuse  Railroad,  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.;  John  Lindall,  Boston 
(Mass.)  Elevated  Railway,  and  F. 
McVittie,  New  York  State  Railways, 
Rochester. 


Safety  Car  Committee  Meets 

THE  American  Electric  Railway  As- 
sociation's committee  on  safety  car 
operation  had  a  meeting  on  Aug.  2  at 
the  association  headquarters,  New  York 
City.  Those  present  were  R.  P.  Stevens, 
chairman,  Republic  Engineers,  Inc.; 
James  P.  Barnes,  Louisville  Railway; 
H4  B.  Flowers,  United  Railways  & 
Electric  Company,  Baltimore;  W.  H. 
Heulings,  Jr.,  J.  G.  Brill  Company;  and 
C.  W.  Kellogg,  Stone  &  Webster,  Inc. 

The  scope  of  the  committee  as  out- 
lined by  the  executive  committee  of  the 
association  was  considered,  together 
with  various  suggestions  from  several 
members,  and  it  was  decided  to  confine 
the  work  this  year  to  the  consideration 
of  problems  closely  related  to  what 
might  be  termed  as  the  general  aspect 
of  safety  car  operation  as  affected  by 
legislation  and  regulatory  action  as  well 
as  public  and  labor  relations.  A  brief 
will  be  prepared  dealing  with  the  pres- 
ent use  and  benefits  derived  from  safety 
car  operation,  and  a  simple  question- 
naire will  be  sent  out  to  collect  informa- 
tion regarding  the  number  of  the  va- 
rious types  of  cars  operated  by  one 
man  which  are  now  in  use. 


214 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


Recent  Happenings  in  Great  Britain 

Coal  Strike  Settlement  Opportune — Tramway  Showing  Better — 
Glasgow  and  Manchester  Do  Well 

(From  Our  Regular  Correspondent) 

After  three  months — the  longest  coal  strike  on  record  in  England — the  coal 
miners'  strike  came  to  an  end  on  June  28  and  on  July  4  work  in  the  pits  was 
resumed  as  far  as  it  was  possible  at  the  time,  many  mines  having  been  flooded 
and  others  seriously  thrown  out  of  gear.  A  ballot  had  been  taken  some  little 
time  before  in  which  a  large  majority  of  the  miners  voted — the  percentage 
who  troubled  to  vote  was  quite  small — refusing  to  accept  the  terms  offered, 
though  these  were  accompanied  by  a  Government  offer  of  £10,000,000  for  easing 
tne  period  of  reduction  of  wages. 


AN  ATTEMPT  was  then  made  to  call 
±\.  oiu  other  trades  unions  by  way  of 
sympathetic  strike,  but  it  failed  miser- 
ably. Following  this  the  executive  of 
the  miners'  union  eagerly  sought 
conference  with  the  mine  owners  for  a 
settlement.  The  settlement  was  con- 
fined to  a  question  of  wages  and  the 
national  pool  of  profits  demand  was 
dropped  like  a  hot  coal. 

The  new  conference  was  held  in  the 
end  of  June  and  an  agreement  reached 
which  professes  to  be  permanent.  The 
miners  are  to  get  the  £10,000,000  so 
far  as  it  is  required  to  ease  specific 
hard  conditions  during  three  months' 
progressive  reduction  of  wages.  There- 
after the  industry  is  to  be  on  an  eco- 
nomic basis,  with  wage  boards  to  settle 
all  disputes. 

The  most  important  point  is  that  the 
profit-sharing  principle  is  to  be  more 
fully  adopted  than  it  has  ever  been  be- 
fore, the  workmen  obtaining  fixed  pro- 
portions of  all  surplus  profits.  In  this 
way  it  is  hoped  the  production  will  be 
increased — the  great  desideratum — and 
that  thereby  coal  prices  will  come 
down. 

Matters  have  been  so  arranged  that 
the  incentive  to  increased  production 
is  powerful.  In  the  early  days  of  July 
preparations  were  active  in  many 
branches  of  industry  for  resuming 
work  at  full  pressure.  It  is  reported 
that  there  is  an  accumulation  of  or- 
ders in  the  hands  of  manufacturers, 
and  as  soon  as  coal  is  plentiful,  and  it 
is  hoped  cheaper,  the  way  will  be  open 
for  development. 

A  sign  of  the  times  in  this  connec- 
tion is  that  the  employees  in  numerous 
important  industries,  including  the 
engineering  trades,  are  agreeing  with 
the  employers  to  accept  material  re- 
ductions in  wages,  the  impelling  force 
being  the  gradual  fall  in  the  cost  of 
living.  Wages  were  raised  because  of 
the  increase  of  the  cost  of  living;  now 
they  are  to  fall  correspondingly. 

The  tide  of  swelling  wages  in  the 
British  tramway  industry  has  at  last 
reached  its  maximum  and  is  now  about 
to  fall.  The  recent  Court  of  Inquiry 
set  up  by  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  it 
may  be  recalled,  recommended  that 
present  wages  should  be  stabilized  till 
Dec.  31  next.  In  view  of  the  reduc- 
tion then  beginning  in  the  cost  of  liv- 
ing, the  employers  refused  to  accept 
the  recommendation.  A  committee  of 
Joint  Industrial  Council  for  the  indus- 


try considered  the  position  and  on  June 
lu  submitted  recommendations  to  the 
c.uncil,  and  the  latter  body,  with  only 
one  dissentient,  adopted  them. 

The  effect  of  the  changes  thus 
brought  about  is  as  follows:  The  pres- 
ent rate  of  wages  will  be  maintained 
until  the  beginning  of  the  first  full- 
pay  period  in  August,  1921.  From  that 
date  reductions  from  and  additions  to 
wages  will  be  at  the  rate  of  one 
shilling  per  week  for  each  complete 
five  points  variation  either  way  in  the 
cost  of  living  index  figure  (as  published 
monthly  in  the  Labor  Gazette)  com- 
mencing from  the  figure  of  135  per 
cent  over  the  August,  1914,  cost  of  liv- 
ing. Thereafter,  wages  will  be  ad- 
justed by  this  method  every  three 
months,  the  adjustment  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  index  figure  for  the 
month  preceding.  In  the  case  of  em- 
ployees under  eighteen  years  of  age, 
the  reduction  or  addition  will  be  at  the 
rate  of  6  per  cent  per  week  for  each 
five  points  variation. 

The  arrangement  will  be  terminable 
by  three  months'  notice  from  either 
side  after  Dec.  31  next.  It  will  be 
seen  that  this  scheme  is  in  principle 
the  sliding  scale  which  has  been  in 
operation  in  a  good  many  British  in- 
dustries for  some  time.  For  the  last 
few  months  the  index  figure  has  been 
steadily,  though  not  very  rapidly,  fall- 
ing, and  it  is  not  probable  that  it  will 
rise  materially  again. 

In  June  more  examples  arose  of  the 
conversion  of  boilers  in  English  tram- 
way power  stations  for  burning  oil  in- 
stead of  coal.  In  this  way  various 
tramway  services  which  had  been  cut 
down  owing  to  the  coal  miners'  strike 
have  been  brought  back  to  something 
like  normal.  A  notable  case  of  recent 
conversion  is  that  in  the  Greenwich 
station  of  the  London  County  Council 
Tramways.  Four  Babcock  &  Wilcox 
boilers,  each  of  4,780  sq.ft.  heating 
surface,  have  been  changed  over.  Al- 
most every  day  in  the  latter  part  of 
June  announcements  were  issued  by 
the  steam  railway  companies  of 
restoration  of  trains  which  had  been 
withdrawn,  this  being  rendered  pos- 
sible by  the  conversion  of  locomotives 
to  oil  burning.  The  day  of  the  abso- 
lute monopoly  of  coal  as  a  source  of 
nower  in  this  country  seems  to  be  over. 
The  only  thing  that  can  restore  it  to 
its  old  position  is  a  great  fall  in  its 
price  and  that  seems  unlikely  soon. 


The  policy  of  increasing  the  fares 
on  Glasgow  Corporation  Tramways  has 
turned  out  a  great  success.  The  effect 
of  abolishing  the  half-penny  fare  and 
slightly  increasing  other  fares  has  been 
made  fully  manifest  in  the  accounts 
now  issued  for  the  year  ended  May  31 
last.  During  that  period  the  revenue 
amounted  to  £2,392,853.  This  is  an  in- 
crease of  £671,276  over  the  previous 
year.  The  total  expenditure  was 
£1.937,664,  an  increase  of  £379,503.  The 
net  revenue,  including  interest  on  in- 
vestments, is  £470,430,  compared  with 
£176,762.  After  setting  aside  £267,687 
for  renewal  of  track  and  depreciation, 
and  charging  rent  of  leased  lines,  inter- 
est, sinking  fund,  and  income  tax,  there 
remains  a  net  credit  balance  of  £105,796. 

For  the  previous  year,  after  making 
the .  corresponding  allowances,  there 
was  a  deficiency  of  £108,531.  It  should 
be  mentioned  that  the  interest  and 
sinking  fund  charges  are  very  small  as 
the  capital  expenditure  on  the  under- 
taking had  been  cleared  off  in  previous 
years.  It  is  proposed  to  use  the  sur- 
plus to  wipe  off  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  previous  years'  loss.  Apparently 
the  tramways  have  turned  the  corner. 

The  accounts  of  the  London  County 
Council  Tramways  for  the  year  ended 
March  31  last  are  in  strong  and  un- 
happy contrast  to  those  of  Glasgow. 
The  deficit  is  largely  due  to  the  heavy 
capital  charges,  while  in  the  case  of 
Glasgow  there  are,  as  noted  above, 
practically  no  capital  charges.  It  was 
made  known  some  little  time  ago  that 
the  London  undertaking  had  a  deficit 
of  over  £500,000  for  the  past  financial 
year,  and  the  details  now  available 
fully  bears  this  out. 

The  total  revenue  was  £4,904,427, 
being  an  increase  (largely  due  to  in- 
creased fares)  of  £608,581  compared 
with  the  previous  year.  The  work- 
ing expenses,  however,  increased  in 
greater  proportion,  the  total  being  £4,- 
623,654,  an  advance  of  £942,745.  The 
surplus  on  working  was  accordingly 
£280,773,  compared  with  £614,937. 
From  the  latter  sum  in  previous  year 
nothing  was  deducted  for  expenditure 
on  renewals,  but  after  allowing  for  in- 
terest, sinking  fund,  income  tax,  etc., 
there  was  a  deficit  of  £100,722.  On  the 
present  occasion  there  is  deducted  for 
renewals  from  the  surplus  on  work- 
ing a  sum  of  £215,639,  leaving  £65,134. 
The  net  charges  against  this  sum  (in- 
terest, redemption,  income  tax,  etc.) 
amount  to  £655,714,  so  that  the  deficit 
is  £590,580.  By  far  the  greater  part 
of  this  is  due  to  the  capital  charges. 
For  the  year  now  current  it  is  esti- 
mated that  the  deficiency  will  be  only 
£7,417,  the  expected  improvement  being 
mainly  due  to  increased  receipts. 

Manchester  Corporation  Tramways 
accounts  show  a  balance  after  meet- 
ing all  charges,  of  £124,428,  and  most 
of  this  is  set  aside  for  renewals.  For 
the  first  time  for  many  years  no  part 
of  the  surplus  has  been  handed  over 
for  relief  of  the  local  rates.  The  gross 
surplus  was  £305,834,  compared  with 
£379,632  in  the  previous  year. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Norfolk  Debates  Franchise 

A.  Merritt  Taylor  Says  Service-at-Cost 
Is  Not  What  It  Pretends  to  Be 
— Incentive  to  Profit  Lacking 

The  city  of  Norfolk,  Va.,  is  in  the 
throes  of  a  pre-election  discussion  of 
the  franchise  ordinance  which  has  been 
proposed  by  A.  Merritt  Taylor,  acting 
as  a  consultant  for  the  city.  Readers 
of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
will  recall  a  series  of  articles  last 
December  which  analyzed  this  rather  in- 
teresting situation  in  Norfolk  and  re- 
viewed Mr.  Taylor's  previous  report  on 
franchise  bases,  valuation,  service  re- 
quirements, and  fares  (see  issues  of 
Dec.  4,  1920,  page  1125,  Dec.  11,  1920, 
page  1186,  and  Dec.  25,  1920,  page  1289. 
Since  that  time  the  actual  franchise  has 
been  drawn  up  in  line  with  the  basis 
originally  outlined.  Among  its  provi- 
sions there  are  some  which  have  been 
the  cause  for  considerable  debate  be- 
tween various  groups  in  Norfolk.  On 
July  24,  Mr.  Taylor  discussed  the  fran- 
chise and  answered  his  principal  critics. 

Franchise  Provisions  Reviewed 
Some  of  the  high  points  of  the  fran- 
chise which  have  caused  this  discus- 
sion are  as  follows: 

A  provision  for  a  base  valuation  of  $8,- 
750,000,  which  lies  between  a  Jan.  1,  1920, 
price  of  $11,815,399  and  a  Jan.  1.  1914. 
price  of  $6, 368, 671.  This  value  includes 
$250,000  "going  value,"  but  this  is  to  be 
raised  to  15  per  cent  of  $8,500,000  when 
the  company's  service  is  restored  to  first 
class  condition.  The  company  is  to  be 
allowed  8  per  cent  cumulative  return  on 
this  rate  base  if  it  can  earn  it.  All  deficits 
in  any  year  are  to  be  added  to  the  present 
rate  base  until  amortized  ;  in  addition  the 
company  is  to  be  allowed  to  earn  the  an- 
nual cost  of  capital  invested  subsequent  to 
Jan.  1,  1920,  plus  a  margin  of  profit  of 
not  less  than  2  per  cent. 

A  provision  that  trackless  vehicles  are  to 
be  installed  on  certain  routes. 

A  provision  that  the  "Grantee  shall  use 
and  efficiently  maintain  the  most  approved 
fixtures  and  appliances  in  general  use  to 
prevent  injury  by  electrolysis  or  otherwise 
to  the  water  pipes  and  other  public  im- 
provements of  the  Grantor,"  and  shall  pay 
for  damages  due  to  failure  to  comply  with 
this  provision. 

A  provision  that  the  franchise  shall  run 
for  thirty  years ;  that  the  city  will  pur- 
chase from  the  Grantee  its  entire  system 
at  its  then  value  at  the  end  of  the  fran- 
chise term,  except  that  if  the  city  shall  is- 
sue another  franchise  with  practically  the 
same  provision,  it  shall  not  be  compelled 
to  buy.  This  particular  arrangement  is 
necessary  to  meet  provisions  of  the  Vir- 
ginia constitution,  which  limits  franchise 
terms  to  thirty  years. 

A  provision  for  a  local  commission,  which 
is  to  be  advisory  to  the  City  Council  and 
the  city  manager. 

A  provision  that  the  rate  of  fare  shall  be 
on  the  flat  rate  basis,  starting  at  7  c?nts, 
with  free  transfers.  But  that  this  rate 
may  be  changed  by  the  Council  on  its  own 
motion,  or  at  the  request  of  the  railway. 
But  the  railway  shall  always  be  accorded 
a  hearing  before  a  rate  change  and  shall 
have  the  right  after  the  ordinance  has 
been  in  force  a  year  to  raise  the  rates  if 
necessary  to  provide  the  returns  specified. 

Mr.  Taylor's  report  discusses  and  de- 
fends these  provisions  and  others  and 
ends  with  a  warning  against  municipal 
ownership  and  service-at-cost,  in  which 
he  says: 

I  hold  no  brief  for  suggestions  which 
have  been  made  tending  toward  municipal 


operation  of  your  street  railway  system  or 
municipal  regulation  of  wages  of  street 
railway  employees,  and  do  not  consider 
them  subjects  worthy  of  serious  considera- 
tion in  an  enlightened  community.  I  want 
to  warn  you  that  "service-at-cost"  is  a 
mythical  expression.  As  business  men,  you 
surely  recognize  that  any  enterprise  to  be 
healthy  must  perform  service  not  at  cost, 
but  at  a  reasonable  profit. 

By  critical  investigation  you  will  find 
that  so-called  service-at-cost  contracts 
have  either  been  brought  about  by  unjust 
coercive  methods  pursued  by  cities,  or  con- 
tain an  item  of  profit  as  an  element  of  cost 
and  are  thus  not  what  they  pretend  to  be. 


Roads  Centering  at  Indianapolis 
Cut  Wages 

Wage  reductions  of  3  cents  an  hour 
for  motormen  and  conductors  of  the 
Indianapolis  (Ind.)  Street  Railway,  the 
Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis  &  Eastern 
Traction  Company,  the  Interstate  Pub- 
lic Service  Company  and  the  Union 
Traction  Company  of  Indiana  became 
effective  on  Aug.  1  with  notices  posted 
by  these  companies.  Power  house,  shop 
and  trackmen  of  some  of  the  interurban 
companies  were  cut  similar  amounts. 

It  was  said  in  notices  posted  by  the 
Indianapolis  Street  Railway  that  the 
reduction  was  made  necessary  by  a 
decrease  of  44,000  revenue  passengers 
daily  caused  by  the  continuance  of  un- 
restricted jitney  bus  competition  and 
the  present  serious  industrial  depres- 
sion. The  interurban  companies  said 
they  were  compelled  to  reduce  wages 
because  business  has  fallen  off. 

The  wages  under  the  new  scales  of 
both  the  city  and  the  interurban  com- 
panies are  far  above  pre-war  scales. 

The  reduction  made  to  platform 
men  will  not  make  up  for  the  deficit 
caused  by  the  falling  off  of  business, 
estimated  at  more  than  $500,000.  The 
platform  men  of  the  company  formerly 
received  40  to  45  cents  an  hour,  depend- 
ing on  the  length  of  service,  and  inter- 
urban platform  men  from  42  to  47 
cents  an  hour. 


Interurban  Reduces  Wages 

Wages  were  reduced  on  Aug.  1  by 
the  Union  Traction  Company,  Ander- 
son, Ind.  The  announcement  was  made 
on  July  28.  The  new  scale  in  cents  per 
hour  for  trainmen  operating  city  cars 
is  as  follows: 

First   year    30 

Second    year   31 

Third  year   32 

Fourth    year  33 

Fifth   year    34 

After   fifth   year  35 

Operators  of  one-man  cars  will  re- 
ceive 2  cents  per  hour  over  this  scale. 

The  new  scale  of  the  interurban  men 
is  as  follows: 

First    year    39 

Second    year   .  .  .  .  .  40 

Third  year    44 

Fourth    year    ....  49 

Fifth    year    4J 

After  fifth   year  44 

This  is  a  flat  reduction  for  both 
classes  of  service  of  3  cents  an  hour. 


New  Franchise  Grant  Presented 
at  Fresno 

The  first  draft  of  the  proposed  inde- 
terminate franchise  which  the  Fresno 
(Cal.)  Traction  Company  is  asking  of 
the  city  of  Fresno  has  been  placed  in 
the  hands  of  city  officials  by  the  com- 
pany. The  offering  of  the  franchise 
grant  by  the  company  follows  negotia- 
tions with  the  city  opened  some  months 
ago  and  is  supposed  to  cover  both  the 
points  desired  by  the  city  as  well  as 
those  asked  by  the  company. 

After  the  franchise  draft  has  been 
submitted  to  the  city  attorney  for  in- 
spection, it  will  be  considered  by  the 
commission  as  a  whole.  The  company 
holds  a  number  of  franchises  on  dif- 
ferent lines  of  the  city  for  various 
terms  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  years. 
These  franchises  expire  at  different 
times.  The  first  grant  to  run  out  will 
expire  in  seven  years.  In  the  business 
sections  generally  the  franchises  still 
have  about  nineteen  years  to  run. 

The  position  of  the  company  is  that 
with  these  franchises  running  for  what 
are  called  short  terms  the  company 
cannot  borrow  the  money  needed  for 
street  work,  extensions  and  improve- 
ments. With  the  indeterminate  fran- 
chise the  officials  claim  they  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  securing  whatever 
money  is  needed.  Under  the  proposed 
grant  service  would  be  rendered  at  cost, 
a  stabilizing  fund  of  $25,000  being  set 
up  as  the  fare  barometer. 


Concessions  and  Compromise 
Fix  Award 

The  finding  of  the  board  of  arbitra- 
tion in  the  matter  of  wages  on  the 
Rochester  &  Syracuse  Railroad,  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y.,  was  referred  to  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  issue  of 
July  30,  1921.  In  detail  the  wages  are 
as  follows: 

Motormen  and  conductors  for  the 
first  six  months  of  service  have  been 
reduced  from  56i  cents  an  hour  exist- 
ing prior  to  May  1,  1921,  to  46i  cents 
an  hour.  For  the  second  six  months 
of  service  the  rate  has  been  reduced 
from  58 1  cents,  existing  prior  to  May 
1,  to  48  i  cents  an  hour.  Shopmen  in- 
volved in  the  arbitration  (except  the 
nine  car-cleaners  and  one  watchman 
employed  in  the  shops)  were  reduced 
16§  per  cent  below  the  wages  received 
prior  to  May  1. 

This  same  ruling  applies  to  substa- 
tion operators,  electrical  repairmen, 
freight  trainmen,  ticket  and  freight 
agents. 

Louis  L.  Waters,  the  neutral  mem- 
ber of  the  board,  declared  in  a  state- 
ment that  the  amount  of  reduction  was 
reached  only  by  concession  and  com- 
promise. That  the  financial  showing 
of  the  company  was  not  good,  the  arbi- 


216 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


trators  agreed.  Still,  Mr.  Waters  said 
the  proposed  23.5  per  cent  reduction  of 
the  company  and  the  11.7  per  cent  re- 
duction as  seeming  justified  to  the  men 
did  not  seem  a  just  award. 


Building  Program  Submitted  by 
Company  at  Fort  Wayne 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  board  of 
public  works  of  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  the 
president  of  the  Indiana  Service  Cor- 
poration, Robert  M.  Feustel,  outlined 
the  building  program  of  the  corpora- 
tion for  the  next  five  or  six  years, 
showing  extensive  improvement  re- 
quirements which  will  have  to  be  made 
to  meet  the  many  transportation  prob- 
°ms  of  the  city  during  the  period  out- 
lined. Among  the  things  which  Mr. 
Feustel's  letter  says  must  be  done 
within  this  period  are  the  following: 

Abandon  the  line  on  Pontiac  Street  from 
Hinna  Street  to  Anthony  Boulevara  in 
favor  of  a  double-track  line  from  Calhoun 
to  Hanna  Street,  then  out  Hanna  to  Mc- 
t-Tpp  Street  and  from  there  to  Wa>  ne  trace. 
1  Open  Oxford  Street  in  the  southwestern 
secHon  of  the  city  to  take  care  of  the 
greatly  increased  population  in  thai  sec 
tfon     This  would  be  entirely  new  trackage. 

Double  track  Creighton  Avenue  from  Cal- 
houn to  Vairh.-ld  Avenu,-.     Tins  to  be  done 
°  soon  as  business  becomes  normal 

Extend  a  line  into  the  Bloommgdale  sec- 
tion of  the  city.  This  would  involve  the 
widening  of  Third  Street  from  Franklin 
Avenue  t0  Runion  Avenue  sufficiently  to 
enable  the  company  to  lay  double  tracks 
on  this  street.  Mr,  Feustel  ymend 
that  the  absolute  minimum  width  of  this 
street  between  curb  lines  be  Si  it. 
bt  Double  track  West  Main  Street  from  the 
new  West  Main  Street  bridge  to  the  Lake 
ErTe  Railroad  tracks,  a  distance  of  ap- 
nroximately  1  mile. 

Extend  the  Columbia  Street  line  across 
thf  new  bridge  over  Delta  Lake  to  Anthony 
F"oulevard.  This  line  should  also  be  double 
tracked. 

In  his  letter  Mr.  Feustel  says: 
While  there  is  a  considerable  lull  in  our 
traffic  at  the  present  time  which  will  re- 
quire some  curtailing  of  city  service  for 
the  next  few  months  this  has  nothing  to 
do  with  what  should  be  our  possible  long- 
time construction  requirements  covering  a 
period  of  five  or  six  years.  In  these  difficult 
times  it  is  of  course  necessary  for  us  to 
conserve  all  construction  funds  and  this  out- 
line of  our  future  work  is  made  only  be- 
cause we  do  not  believe  that  payment 
should  be  placed  or  work  should  be  done 
in  these  dull  times  in  such  a  way  that  it 
will  make  it  difficult  or  impossible  to  make 
the  necessarv  transportation  extensions  in 
the  future  We  expect  to  make  application 
for  the  suggested  change  of  the  Pontiac 
line  at  once  and  will  follow  with  necessary 
petitions  on  the  other  locations  as  fast  as 
the  traffic  requirements  demand. 

Covington  Employees  Accept  Cut 

Employees  of  the  South  Covington  & 
Cincinnati  Traction  Company,  Coving- 
ton, Ky.,  at  a  special  meeting  voted  to 
accept  a  reduction  of  approximately 
10  per  cent  in  their  wages.  When  the 
proposition  was  first  presented  to  the 
men  they  voted  it  down  and  the-  selec- 
tion of  an  arbitration  committee  was 
in  progress  when  the  employees  re- 
versed their  decision.  The  new  wage 
scale  became  effective  on  Aug.  3.  Under 
the  new  scale  the  motormen  and  con- 
ductors will  receive  a  maximum  wage 
of  50  cents  an  hour. 


Railway  to  Build  Park^The  Phila- 
delphia (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Company 
is  planning  to  build  an  amusement  park 
on  W.  Market  Street  on  the  old  Burd 
Home  property.  The  company  believes 
this  project  will  beautify  the  section. 


Accident  to  Mule 

Texas   Court   Describes   Principles  of 
Mule  Valuation,  When  Struck  by 
Car — Mule  Owner's  Responsibility 

The  Northern  Texas  Traction  Com- 
pany now  knows  how  much  it  costs  to 
injure  a  mule.  So  does  Mr.  Stone,  the 
owner  of  the  mule.  The  question  of 
mule  valuation  was  the  subject  of  ex- 
tended litigation  recently  in  Fort  Worth, 
the  case  finally  coming  before  the  Court 
of  Civil  Appeals  in  Texas  where  a  de- 
cision was  given  on  May  26.  The  facts 
leading  up  to  the  litigation,  as  set  forth 
by  Judge  Fry  in  his  deciding  opinion 
and  repeated  here  in  somewhat  ab- 
breviated form,  follow: 

This  is  a  suit  for  $229,  damages  to  a 
mule  alleged  to  have  been  inflicted  by 
plaintiff  in  error  negligently  running  a 
street  car  against  the  mule,  which  with 
three  others  was  tied  to  the  rear  end  of  a 
wagon,  and  being  led  along  the  streets  of 
Fort  Worth.  The  cause  was  submitted  to 
a  jury  on  special  issues,  and  on  the  answers 
thereto  judgment  was  rendered  in  favor 
of  defendants  in  error  for  $201. 

The  jury  found  that  the  street  car  was 
running  at  a  greater  rate  of  speed  than 
18  miles  an  hour,  and  that  this  fact  was 
the  proximate  cause  of  the  injury  to  the 
mule  and  that  the  mule  was  of  the  market 
value  of  $220  in  Fort  Worth,  just  before 
the  accident,  and  $100  in  West,  after  it 
had  been  hurt,  and  treated  for  its  injury. 
It  was  also  found  that  Stone  expended  $10 
for  his  board  and  lodging  in  Fort  Worth 
in  order  to  treat  and  care  for  the  mule, 
that  medicine  for  the  mule  cost  $2.50,  and 
there  was  a  charge  of  $25  for  caring  for 
the  mule  after  it  was  sent  back  to  West, 
and  $8.40  for  freight  on  the  mule  back  to 
West.  It  required  twenty-two  questions  to 
elicit  this  highly  interesting  instructive  in- 
formation about  the  manner  in  which  the 
mule  was  hurt  ,and  the  time  spent  and 
tender  care  lavished  on  the  animal  to  nurse 
it  back  to  health  and  efficiency.  Not  more 
than  six  questions  would  have  been  suf- 
ficient. 

If  the  mule  was  injured  through  the 
negligence  of  plaintiff  in  t^ror,  the  meas- 
ure of  damages  was  the  difference  between 
its  market  value  in  Fort  Worth  before  the 
injury  and  the  market  value  thereafter. 
If.  however,  there  was  no  market  value 
for  the  mule  in  Fort  Worth,  as  Stone  testi- 
fied, after  it  was  injured  and  he  took  the 
mule  back  to  West  and  by  care  and  atten- 
tion restored  the  animal  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  sold  it  for  $100.  and  that  was  the 
reasonable  value,  then  the  measure  of  dam- 
ages would  be  the  difference  between  the 
market  value  of  the  mule  in  Fort  Worth 
before  it  was  hurt  and  the  reasonable  value 
of  the  mule  after  it  had  been  restored  to 
partial  usefulness,  less  the  necessary  and 
reasonable  amounts  expended  in  such  res- 
toration. While  it  is  true  that  the  measure 
damages  would  not  be  tne  difference  in 
market  value  of  the  mule  before  injured 
in  Fort  Worth  and  the  market  value  after 
it  was  restored  to  some  efficiency  at  West 
still  such  rule  would  not  injure  plaintiff 
in  error,  because  the  evidence  showed  that 
the  mule  was  worth  more  in  West  than 
it  would  have  brought  in  Fort  Worth.  If 
defendant  in  error  was  acting  properly  in 
trying  to  minimize  the  damages  by  caring 
for  the  mule,  he  should  be  reimbursed  for 
all  reasonable  sums  expended  in  such  care 
and  attention,  and  that  can  be  done  by 
deducting  these  sums  from  the  value  of  the 
mule  after  such  care  and  attention. 

The  evidence,  however,  fails  to  show- 
that  defendant  in  error  was  acting  reason- 
ably ;  for,  while  he  swears  the  mule  was 
not  worth  a  dime  in  Fort  Worth  after  he 
was  hurt,  the  uncontroverted  evidence 
shows  that  defendant  in  error  was  offered 
$35  in  cash  for  the  injured  mule  in  Fort 
Worth  at  the  time  of  the  accident,  but  he 
refused  it  and  chose  to  take  the  risk  of 
restoring  it  to  its  usefulness.  In  treating 
and  taking  care  of  the  mule  he  expended 
more  than  four-fifths  of  his  value  after 
being  restored  and  left  only  $19  to  be 
credited  to  plaintiff  in  error  on  the  original 
value.  Defendant  in  error  should  pay  for 
his  mistake  in  endeavoring  to  cure  the 
mule,  and  plaintiff  in  error,  if  liable  at 
all,  should  have  the  benefit  of  the  offer  of 
$35,  which  would  have  reduced  the  dam- 
ages to  $185  instead  of  $201. 

The  next  question  considered  was  the 
issue  submitted  by  the  trial  court  of 


whether  the  motorman  should  not  have 
given  "such  assistance  to  the  plaintiff 
as  was  reasonably  demanded  by  the  cir- 
cumstances to  obtain  clearance  and 
avoid  an  accident."  But  the  appel- 
late court  naturally  declares  that  the 
hypothesis  upon  which  this  charge  is 
based  is  not  clear.  On  this  point  the 
opinion  says,  in  part: 

How  the  motorman,  driving  a  street  car, 
could  give  assistance  to  the  owner  of  the 
lively  young  mule  tied  with  three  others 
to  the  rear  end  of  a  wagon  is  certainly 
not  disclosed  by  any  evidence  and  is  not 
based  on  any  law,  statute  or  otherwise.  If 
the  court  meant  that  the  motorman  should 
have  stopped  his  car,  if  he  saw  the  mule 
on  the  track,  until  it  could  be  persuaded 
or  forced  to  walk  in  a  safer  place,  he 
ought  to  have  said  so.  That  part  of  the 
charge  had  no  reference  to  the  facts  and 
could  have  no  other  tendency  except  to 
mislead  the  jury.  It  is  followed  by  lan- 
guage that  might  lead  the  jury  to  believe 
that  the  street  car  ought  to  have  steered 
around  this  unnatural  animal  "without 
pride  of  ancestry  or  hope  of  posterity,"  as 
an  automobile  would  do  ;  for  that  is  what 
is  meant  by  giving  "such  assistance  *  *  * 
as  the  circumstances  shall  reasonably  de- 
mand in  order  to  obtain  clearance  and 
avoid  accident." 

The  learned  judge  then  considers 
whether  the  mule  injured,  or  its  owner, 
was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence, 
as  well  as  whether  the  motorman  could 
have  avoided  the  accident  by  other 
means.    On  this  point  he  says: 

There  was  evidence  tending  to  show  that 
the  mule  was  three  or  four  feet  from  the 
track  when  the  front  of  the  car  passed, 
and,  as  stated  by  one  of  the  witnesses,  the 
mules  "were  kind  of  gay."  The  evidence 
presents  a  picture  of  a  countryman  from 
the  McLennan  County  village  of  West, 
coming  into  the  stirring  modern  city  of 
Fort  Worth,  with  two  mules  drawing  his 
wagon  and  four  untutored  country  mules 
attached  by  ropes  to  the  rear  end  of  his 
wagon.  To  these  denizens  of  the  field  and 
meadow,  honking  automobiles,  clanging 
street  cars,  and  the  turmoil  of  modern 
commercial  life  were  not  only  novel,  but 
alarming,  as  they  steered  their  perilous 
journey  through  the  city,  with  their  nerves 
keyed  to  a  high  pitch,  until  at  last  they 
reached  a  modern  convenience  called  an 
aqueduct.  But  unknown  to  them,  and 
while  wending  their  perilous  way  through 
this  labyrinthine  passage,  before  they  were 
aware  of  its  approach,  a  huge  vehicle  flits 
by,  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  what 
more  natural  than  that  the  nearest  mule 
to  this  unknown  vehicle  should  seek  in- 
stantly to  defend  itself  against  what  was 
deemed  to  be  an  attack  upon  its  personal 
liberty,  by  using  the  effective  weapons 
placed  in  its  possession  by  nature?  The 
jury  found  that  the  gay  and  festive  mule 
did  not  kick  the  car,  which  they  probably 
might  do  under  the  testimony,  although  no 
one  acquainted  with  the  total  depravity 
and  moral  obliquity  of  the  average  mule 
would  hesitate  to  credit  the  statement  that 
the  mule  now  under  investigation  adminis- 
tered a  swift  kick  to  the  car  as  it  was 
passing  its  ever-ready  heels.  There  was 
direct  testimony  to  this  effect. 

In  conclusion  the  judge  remanded  the 
case  for  retrial,  believing  that  the  jury 
should  have  considered  whether  the 
plaintiff  was  not  so  much  to  blame  for 
the  injury  as  to  absolve  the  railway 
company. 


Ford  Hasn't  Forgot 
Gasoline  Trolley 

In  an  interview  appearing  recently  in 
the  daily  press,  Edsel  Ford,  who  is  now 
president  of  the  Ford  Motor  Company, 
is  quoted  as  follows:  "Father  hasn't 
given  up  the  gasoline  'trolley'  car.  It 
has  been  dormant  for  some  time,  but 
recently  we  ran  one  down  the  Detroit, 
Toledo  and  Ironton  Railroad  to  Spring- 
field. We  believe  it  will  solve  many 
traction  problems." 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


217 


Arbitration  Award  Accepted 

Announcement  has  been  made  by 
officials  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Traction 
&  Light  Company,  Akron,  Ohio,  that 
the  company's  railway  employees  have 
agreed  to  abide  by  the  wage  award  of 
the  arbitration  board.  This  board  re- 
cently returned  a  finding  fixing  the 
rates  of  pay  of  the  men  from  1  to  2 
cents  per  hour  less  than  had  been  sug- 
gested by  the  company  in  its  original 
proposal  for  a  reduction  in  wages. 

The  opinion  apparently  prevailed 
among  the  men  that  the  arbitrators  to 
whom  the  wage  matter  was  referred 
had  been  swayed  in  their  decision  by 
the  offer  made  by  the  company  origi- 
nally to  the  men,  for  they  asked  A.  C. 
Blinn,  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  company,  to  set  aside  the 
arbitration  findings. 

This  Mr.  Blinn  refused  to  do.  He 
dismissed  the  contention  that  the  wages 
awarded  on  his  property  were  not  com- 
parable with  wages  paid  on  other  prop- 
erties, and  said  that  "we  must  assume 
that  neither  the  wage  offered  by  the 
company  nor  the  wage  requested  by 
the  men  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
board's  judgment  as  to  what  was  a 
reasonable  wage  under  all  the  circum- 
stances." 

He  said,  in  conclusion,  that  to  grant 
the  request  of  the  men  to  disregard 
the  findings  "would  make  a  complete 
farce  of  the  arbitration  proceedings." 

The  details  of  the  award  were  given 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
July  9,  page  68. 


Reduced  Wages— One-Man  Car 
Operation 

Although  union  employees  of  the 
New  Brunswick  Power  Company,  St. 
John,  N.  B.,  have  been  on  strike  for 
several  weeks  the  cars  are  operating 
and  it  is  expected  that  the  company  will 
emerge  from  the  struggle  with  a  com- 
pact, efficient  and  loyal  organization. 

The  labor  controversy  dates  back  to 
June  14  on  which  date  the  company's 
agreement  with  the  union  expired.  The 
company  gave  the  usual  thirty  days'  no- 
tice that  it  did  not  intend  to  renew  the 
agreement.  Numerous  consultations 
and  meetings  were  held  in  an  effort 
to  institute  a  working  agreement. 

The  company  desired  to  reduce  wages 
from  10  to  20  per  cent.  The  men  ap- 
plied for  a  conciliation  board  which 
under  the  law  must  be  considered  be- 
fore any  lockout  or  strike  can  take 
place.  The  company  declined  to  become 
a  party  to  the  board  so  the  three 
members  were  appointed  by  the  Minis- 
ter of  Labor.  A  verdict  was  brought 
in  that  wages  should  be  reduced  5i  per 
cent,  the  one-man  car  should  not  be  used, 
all  employees  should  be  taken  back 
under  the  old  agreement  and  that  the 
loyalty  stipulation  should  be  ignored. 

As  a  result  of  this  decision  the  com- 
pany notified  its  employees  that  com- 
mencing on  June  28  a  new  scale  would 
be  instituted  with  deductions  of  10  to 
20  per  cent  in  various  departments  and 
that  the  men  would  be  treated  on  an 
individual  basis.    The  former  employees 


did  not  return,  but  the  company  got 
enough  help  to  operate  the  cars  to  a 
limited  though  growing  extent.  The 
new  scale  runs  from  a  10  per  cent  to  a 
27  per  cent  reduction  and  one-man 
cars  have  supplanted  the  two-man  car 
operation. 


British  Columbia  Company  Seeks 
New  Franchise 

The  British  Columbia  Electric  Rail- 
way is  negotiating  a  new  franchise  for 
the  company  on  the  mainland.  In  a 
nutshell,  the  franchise  is  a  form  of 
service-at-cost  agreement,  covering  city 
and  interurban  railway,  light,  power 
and  gas  service.  It  provides  for  a 
maximum  return  of  6  per  cent  on  the 
company's  actual  invested  capital,  as 
will  be  ascertained  by  a  firm  of  audi- 
tors, but  new  capital  may  obtain  a  re- 
turn of  not  more  than  8  per  cent. 

At  the  same  time  the  company  is  not 
allowed  to  charge  more  than  its  pres- 
ent fares  and  rates,  with  the  exception 
that  its  car  fares  can  go  up  to  7  cents 
cash  or  four  tickets  for  25  cents.  The 
company  has  still  its  present  remedies 
for  inadequate  fares  on  the  interurban 
lines.  It  will  be  permitted  to  charge  a 
50-cent  minimum  monthly  on  gas  bills. 

The  service-at-cost  arrangement  pro- 
vides that  forthwith  and  every  three 
years  hereafter,  the  books  of  the  com- 
pany are  to  be  investigated  by  the  firm 
of  Price,  Waterhouse  &  Company,  ac- 
countants, and  rates  are  to  be  fixed  so 
as  to  pay  no  more  than  the  rates  of  re- 
turns as  stated  above.  If  adjustments 
have  to  be  made  as  between  various 
rates,  a  board  of  arbitration  is  pro- 
vided. 

In  order  to  avoid  any  inefficiency  in 
operation  which  is  apt  to  result  from  a 
straight  service-at-cost  franchise,  the 
draft  agreement  provides  that  any  bal- 
ance over  the  stated  rates  of  return  is 
to  be  divided,  one  half  going  to  the 
company  as  a  reward  for  efficiency  and 
the  other  half  to  remain  on  the  books 
untouched  to  provide  for  decrease  in 
lates  in  the  next  three-year  period. 

The  franchise  is  indeterminate,  in  a 
similar  manner  as  the  present  fran- 
chises. At  the  end  of  twelve  years  a 
conference  may  be  called  to  vary  the 
terms. 

The  company  surrenders  to  the  city 
or  the  government  or  any  combination 
of  civic  and  municipal  authorities  the 
right  to  buy,  not  only  as  regards  the 
railway  service,  which  was  solely 
within  their  rights  of  purchase  pre- 
viously, but  as  regards  the  light  and 
power  and  gas  systems.  They  can  also 
buy  these  separately,  but  they  cannot 
buy  everything  but  the  railway  and 
leave  the  company  with  that. 

The  franchise  does  not  guarantee  the 
company  any  return  on  investment.  If 
the  revenue  is  not  sufficient  for  any 
reason,  it  is  the  company's  loss. 

In  Vancouver  and  the  municipalities 
the  franchises  are  for  a  definite  term, 
but  at  the  end  of  that  time,  the  com- 
pany must  either  be  bought  out  or  the 
franchises  automatically  continue  for 
another  term. 


Montreal  Working  Toward 
Compromise 

The  wage  situation  between  the 
Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  and  its 
employees  remained  unsettled  on  Aug. 
2,  though  negotiations  were  still  con- 
tinuing, with  a  prospect  of  amicable 
agreement.  Following  the  visit  to  the 
city  of  Gideon  Robertson,  Federal  Min- 
ister of  Labor,  and  his  conferences  with 
both  parties,  the  company  offered  to 
substitute  a  wage  reduction  of  12 \  per 
cent  for  its  previous  proposal  of  a  20 
per  cent  reduction  on  the  prevailing 
scale,  but  without  a  contract  for  any 
specified  period. 

This  proposal  was  discussed  at  a 
joint  meeting  of  representatives  of  the 
company  and  the  men's  union,  held  on 
Aug.  1,  at  which  a  member  of  the  De- 
partment of  Labor  staff  represented  the 
Minister. 

The  union  representatives  contended 
for  a  10  per  cent  reduction  only,  with 
a  contract,  but  the  company  stood 
firmly  by  its  amended  offer. 

The  meeting  broke  up  with  the  under- 
standing that  another  would  be  held 
before  the  end  of  the  week,  when  the 
company  is  expected  to  state  its  final 
decision.  Whatever  the  outcome  may 
be  of  the  present  exchange  of  opinions, 
the  matter  will  be  submitted  by  the 
men's  committee  to  a  referendum  vote 
of  the  union,  the  alternative  issues 
being  acceptance  of  the  company's  offer 
or  insistence  upon  the  appointment  of 
a  board  of  arbitration  to  decide  the 
dispute. 

Gradual  Rehabilitation  in 
Salt  Lake  City 

With  a  view  to  improving  its  prop- 
erty, and  at  the  same  time  to  enhance 
the  appearance  of  the  city  streets,  the 
Utah  Light  &  Traction  Company,  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah,  has  enlarged  its  force 
of  workers  and  will  spend  $20,000  a 
month  for  the  next  several  months  in 
carrying  out  this  work. 

While  heretofore  there  have  been  six 
gangs,  consisting  of  forty-two  men 
each,  employed  by  the  company  in 
repairing  the  tracks  and  general  im- 
provements, twelve  gangs,  consisting  of 
126  men,  are  now  employed,  the  object 
being  to  complete  the  work  as  soon  as 
possible. 

The  enlarging  of  the  force  has  been 
facilitated  by  a  saving  of  $125,000  to 
the  company  as  a  result  of  the  recent 
decision  of  the  arbitration  board,  which 
stipulated  certain  reductions  in  the  pay 
of  employees.  This  money  will  be 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  above  repair 
work. 

It  is  believed  that  the  company,  in 
spending  this  amount  will  meet  the 
wishes  of  the  city,  which  has  asked  that 
improvements  be  made  in  the  tracks 
and  in  paving. 

The  fares  which  have  prevailed  here- 
tofore have  failed  to  furnish  sufficient 
revenue  for  the  company  to  undertake 
any  big  program,  but  with  the  program 
now  outlined  it  is  thought  that  within 
two  years  the  property  will  be 
thoroughly  rehabilitated. 


218 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


San  Francisco  May  Vote  to  Pur- 
chase Market  Street  Railway 

The  city  of  San  Francisco  began 
early  in  June  an  appraisal  of  proper- 
ties of  the  Market  Street  Railway 
with  the  idea  of  putting  the  question 
of  purchase  definitely  up  to  the  voters 
of  the  city  at  the  November  elections. 
As  the  matter  stands  now,  the  proce- 
dure will  be  for  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors to  decide,  after  the  valuation, 
upon  what  they  believe  to  be  a  fair 
price.  If  the  voters  indicate  their  will- 
ingness to  pay  that  price  there  will 
then  have  to  be  settled  the  question 
of  whether  the  company  will  accept  the 
price  and  terms  offered. 


Wages  Again  Reduced  by 
International  Railway 

The  basic  maximum  wage  for  train- 
men of  the  International  Railway,  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y.,  will  be  reduced  on  Aug.  15 
from  60  cents  an  hour  to  55  cents  an 
hour,  with  similar  adjustments  in  the 
hourly  rates  paid  other  employees. 

The  company,  desiring  to  put  off  the 
longest  time  possible  any  general  reduc- 
tion in  wages,  made  certain  adjust- 
ments as  of  May  1,  1921,  and  at  that 
time  stated  that  a  continuance  of  the 
60-cent  basic  wage  was  dependent  upon 
an  improvement  in  the  revenue  of  the 
company.  In  announcing  the  wage  cut 
the  company  said: 

Wages  since  May  1,  1921.  have  been  very 
generally  decreased  elsewhere  on  street 
railways,  and  indications  are  that  there  will 
be  further  reductions  in  the  future. 

Street  car  riding  on  the  International  sys- 
tem has  been  falling  off  at  an  alarming 
rate.  The  figures  for  May.  June,  July,  19  21. 
as  compared  with  1920  are  as  follows: 

—  Total  Passengers —  — Decrease    1921 — 
Carried  Under  1920 

1921  1920      Passengers  Per  Cent 

May  18,158,661  19.194,767  1,036.106  5  40 
June  17,529,883  19,007,069  1,477.186  7  77 
July         17,375,454  19,994,294    2.618,840      13  10 

For  the  six  months  ended  June  30,  1921, 
the  company  fell  short  by  $916,683  of  earn- 
ing a  fair  return  upon  the  value  of  its  prop- 
erty devoted  to  the  public  service  according 
to  the  formula  adopted  by  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  when  granting  the  7-cent 
fare — four  tickets  for  25  cents. 

This  great  falling  off  in  business  must  be 
met  with  a  cut  in  operating  costs. 

In  addition  to  other  economies  there  must 
be  a  substantial  reduction  in  'the  payroll  in 
order  that  the  company's  receipts  may  meet 
its  expenses. 


Fund  Raised  for  Paving 
Obligations 

A  plan  to  avert  an  impending  crisis 
between  the  city  of  Cape  Girardeau, 
Mo.,  and  the  street  railway  over  an 
ultimatum  delivered  by  the  city  in  the 
matter  of  the  paving  of  West  Broad- 
way is  believed  to  have  been  devised. 
The  City  Commission  ordered  the  Cape 
Girardeau- Jackson  Interurban  Railway 
to  remove  its  tracks  on  that  part  of 
West  Broadway  for  which  paving  con- 
tracts had  been  let,  but  the  company 
has  refused  to  act.  E.  A.  Hart,  general 
manager  of  the  Cape  Girardeau-Jack- 
son Interurban  Railway,  has  suggested 
that  the  city  and  civic  organizations 
provide  a  fund  of  $8,200  to  defray  the 
expense  of  taking  up  the  track  and  re- 
laying it  and  for  the  purchase  of  four 
new  cars.    In  return  the  company  will 


agree  to  perform  the  work  of  removal 
and  relaying  the  track  and  pay  inciden- 
tal expenses  and  will  place  the  new 
cars  in  operation  at  once  and  will  keep 
the  system  in  satisfactory  condition  for 
five  years. 


City  Loses  Suits  to  Recover 

Supreme  Court  Justice  Irving  Leh- 
man has  denied  the  application  of  the 
city  of  New  York  to  recover  upward  of 
$125,000  from  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company  because  "bonuses, 
presents  or  honoraria"  received  by  ex- 
ecutives were  charged  against  the  city 
as  part  of  the  construction  cost  of  sub 
ways  under  construction  in  1913.  In  a 
similar  action  he  decides  that  the  city 
is  not  entitled  to  recover  $1,990,800 
from  the  New  York  Municipal  Rail- 
ways Corporation,  the  subway  opera- 
ting subsidiary  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit. 

Justice  Lehman  points  out  that  the 
agreement  provided  a  time  limit  of 
thirty  days  in  which  protests  against 
the  decisions  of  Alfred  Craven,  the  then 
chief  engineer,  were  to  be  made. 


No  Trolleys  in  Des  Moines 

Electric  railway  service  in  Des 
Moines,  la.,  was  suspended  on  Aug.  4, 
following  a  federal  court  ruling.  Other 
carriers  of  all  descriptions  were  rushed 
into  service  on  Aug.  4  to  provide  trans- 
portation. The  court  had  previously  in- 
dicated that  the  shutdown  would  result 
unless  some  solution  was  found  for  the 
difficulties  between  the  city  and  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway  over  jitney  compe- 
tition and  other  matters. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  with- 
drawal of  the  trolleys  was  the  inability 
of  the  company  to  operate  successfully 
in  the  face  of  bus  competition.  Judge 
Wade  said  that  the  property  could  not 
be  operated  longer  without  prejudice  to 
the  bondholders. 

tf.  H.  Gadsden,  president  ol  tne 
American  Electric  Railway  Association, 
says  that  the  suspension  of  the  railway 
under  orders  of  the  federal  court  was 
due  primarily  to  lack  of  adequate  relief 
in  the  way  of  higher  fares  and  "law- 
less competition"  from  jitney  buses. 

The  troubles  of  the  company  at  Des 
Moines  were  reviewed  at  length  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  June 
11.  Developments  since  then  were  fol- 
lowed in  the  issue  of  July  23,  page  144. 


Supplementary  Bus  Service 
Planned 

The  fare  receipts  of  the  Tulsa  (Okla.) 
Street  Railway  on  the  East  First 
Street  division  alone  recently  have  been 
$200  a  day  less  than  they  were  a  few 
months  ago,  due  to  jitney  competition. 
It  was  erroneously  stated  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal,  issue  of  July 
23,  that  the  loss  in  receipts  was  $200 
a  month.  The  company  contemplates 
the  use  of  motor  buses  as  a  temporary 
experiment  where  it  feels  branch  lines 
ought  to  be  built  and  in  order  to  develop 
the  territory  to  the  point  where  the 
permanent  extensions  are  justified. 


News  Notes 


Franchise  Surrendered  for  Indeter- 
minate Permit. — The  Terre  Haute,  In- 
dianapolis &  Eastern  Traction  Com- 
pany, which  operates  the  local  system 
in  Richmond,  Ind.,  has  notified  the  City 
Council  there  that  it  would  surrender 
its  franchise  with  the  city  of  Richmond 
and  operate  in  the  future  under  the 
indeterminate  permit  issued  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission.  A  similar 
notice  was  filed  with  the  county  audi- 
tor of  Wayne  County  at  Richmond  cov- 
ering the  operation  of  the  interurban 
line  from  Richmond  west  to  the  Henry 
County  line. 

Railroad  Appeals  Bridge  Case. — The 
Brooklyn  (N.  Y.)  City  Railroad  has  ap- 
pealed to  the  Appellate  Division  from  a 
decision  of  Supreme  Court  Justice 
Kelby  appointing  three  commissioners  to 
determine  whether  the  city's  plan  to  run 
cars  across  the  Williamsburg  Bridge  is 
proper.  The  commissioners  have  re- 
ported favorably  on  the  scheme.  The 
company  holds  that  the  city  has  no 
franchise  and  no  certificate  of  necessity 
for  running  cars  on  the  bridge,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  illegal.  The  cor- 
poration counsel's  office  contends  that 
the  city  may  operate  across  the  bridge 
as  a  matter  of  right. 

Norwood  Approves  Franchise. — The 

Norwood  (Ohio)  City  Council  unani- 
mously passed  the  amended  franchise 
ordinance  recently  submitted  by  the 
Cincinnati  Ohio  Traction  Company,  and 
which  provides  for  the  reduction  in 
fares  on  August  1.  The  ordinance  as 
passed  is  similar  to  that  which  was 
passed  by  Cincinnati  City  Council  on 
June  14.  The  ordinance  is  to  be  effec- 
tive whenever  the  Cincinnati  ordinance 
under  which  fares  are  to  be  reduced  be-  • 
comes  effective.  The  ordinance  provides 
that  the  City  of  Norwood  waive  claim 
to  the  franchise  tax,  amounting  to 
$6,000,  until  1922. 

Prizes    Offered    for    Suggestions  — 

Prizes  of  $15,  $10  and  $5  were  re- 
cently awarded  E.  C.  Hunsucker  of  the 
Charlotte  street  railway,  R.  T.  Marlow 
and  H.  R.  Johnson  of  the  Winston- 
Salem  railway  property  for  the  most  val- 
uable and  timely  suggestions  affecting 
the  street  railway  service  of  the  South- 
ern Public  Utilities  Company  at  its  sev- 
eral branches.  The  first  prize-winner  em- 
phasized courtesy  and  patience  on  the 
part  of  the  employees.  The  second 
winner  discussed  the  need  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  training  school  for  new 
men  and  those  who  have  been  in  the 
service  less  than  two  years  and  the  last 
winner  suggested  that  the  first  and 
main  thing  for  a  successful  motorman 
was  to  learn  to  maintain  schedules. 
The  letters  were  published  in  the  July 
issue  of  the  Southern  Public  Utilities 
magazine. 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


21» 


bondholders  and  the  stockholders  are 
equally  content  with  the  develop- 
ments, and  observe  a  unity  of  interest 
in  the  continuance  of  the  present  steps 
in  the  handling  of  the  company. 


Utilities  in  Greater  Favor 

In  its  monthly  survey  of  business 
conditions  issued  on  July  25  the  Guar- 
anty Trust  Company,  New  York,  com- 
ments on  the  improved  condition  in  the 
bond  market  and  refers  particularly  in 
this  connection  to  public  utility  issues. 
On  this  matter  it  says,  in  part: 

The  market  for  public  utility  issues,  par- 
ticularly those  of  well-managed  and  con- 
servatively financed  power  and  light  com- 
panies, has  reflected  the  improved  position 
of  public  service  corporations.  Gross  earn- 
ings are  showing  an  improvement,  and, 
with  the  decline  in  labor  and  other  operat- 
ing costs,  an  even  greater  improvement  is 
being  shown  in  net  earnings.  Average  earn- 
ings of  14  representative  companies,  as  re- 
ported for  April,  1921,  showed  gross  earn- 
ings 16  per  cent  greater  than  for  April, 
1920.  The  corresponding  increase  in  net 
earnings  was  about  24  per  cent.  With  the 
growth  of  population  in  general  and  the  in- 
creasing concentration  in  industrial  centers 
that  the  last  census  indicated,  the  oppor- 
tunity for  expansion  of  public  utility  enter- 
prises is  such  as  to  make  probable  increased 
development  in  this  field. 


I.  C.  C.  Allows  Two  California 
Short  Lines  to  Quit 

So  far  as  known  the  first  railroad  to 
get  the  official  count  placing  it  in  the 
down-and-out  class  from  motor  truck 
competition  went  out  on  June  21  when 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
counted  ten  over  two  branch  lines  of 
the  Ocean  Shore  Railroad  in  California. 
One  line  runs  from  San  Francisco  to 
Tunitas  Glen  in  San  Mateo  County  and 
the  other  runs  from  Santa  Cruz  to 
Swanton  in  Santa  Cruz  County.  The 
official  knockout  of  the  railroad  by  the 
motor  truck  is  contained  in  this  decis- 
ion of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission: 

Construction  of  the  lines  in  question  was 
begun  in  1905  and  completed  in  1909,  with 
some  interruptions  due  to  financial  difficul- 
ties. The  completed  property  was  acquired 
by  the  applicant  in  1911  in  reorganization 
proceedings  following  a  receivership.  Gross 
revenues  have  never  equalled  operating  ex- 
penses and  a  deficit  amount  to  $407,848  at 
the  close  of  the  year  1920  has  been  met 
by  assessments  on  the  outstanding  stock 
aggregating  $29  a  share.  Traffic  dimin- 
ished progressively,  chiefly  because  of  in- 
creasing competition  by  motor  vehicles.  The 
territory  served  is  devoted  principally  to 
agriculture  and  lumbering.  No  objection 
to  the  granting  of  the  application  has  been 
filed  with  us.  The  record  is  clear  that  but 
little  use  has  been  made  of  the  service  in 
the  past  and  that  there  is  little,  if  any, 
prospect  that  the  lines  can  be  made  to 
serve  any  useful  purposes  in  the  future. 
We,  therefore,  find  that  the  present  and 
future  public  convenience  and  necessity 
permit  the  abandonment  of  the  lines. 


Receiver  Resigns  at  Montgomery 

Ray  Rushton  has  resigned  as  receiver 
for  the  Montgomery  Light  &  Traction 
Company,  Montgomery,  Ala.,  and  S.  B. 
Irelan,  already  holding  the  position  of 
receiver  for  the  Montgomery  Light  & 
Water  Power  Company,  has  been  ap- 
pointed by  Judge  Henry  D.  Clayton  to 
succeed  him. 

Accompanying  his  resignation,  Mr. 
Rushton  submitted  to  the  court  a  re- 
port in  which  he  refers  to  the  unsuc- 
cessful effort  to  secure  the  application 
of  the  service-at-cost  plan,  with  a  10- 
cent  fare  to  start,  to  the  railway  sys- 


tem. Regret  is  expressed  by  the  retir- 
ing receiver  at  the  opposition  shown 
by  the  city  commission  of  Montgomery 
to  the  plan  and  the  failure  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  to  apply  it. 
He  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  traction 
company  cannot  perform  its  functions 
and  duties  until  some  more  reasonable 
plan  is  adopted  than  that  now  in  force. 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  Mr. 
Rushton  said: 

Your  receiver  has  now  served  the  court 
and  the  property  for  a  period  of  two  years 
and  a  half.  During  that  time  under  the 
instructions  of  the  court,  everything  has 
been  done  that  was  possible  to  rehabilitate 
the  property  and  put  it  in  a  condition  to 
meet  its  obligations  to  the  public  and  its 
creditors,  in  the  hope  that  the  time  would 
come  when  the  owners  would  get  some  re- 
turn from  their  investment. 

The  Alabama  Public  Service  Commission 
seems  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  public 
will  be  better  satisfied  with  an  inferior 
service  and  a  lower  rate.  To  this  I  cannot 
agree.  It  is  true  that  there  are  some  few 
citizens  of  Montgomery  who  probably  ap- 
prove of  such  a  plan,  but  from  an  intimate 
contact  with  the  patrons  of  the  company,  it 
is  the  opinion  of  your  receiver  that  a  large 
majority  want  good  service  and  are  willing 
to  pay  for  its  reasonable  cost,  but  of  such 
facts  I  have  been  unable  to  convince  the 
commissioners. 


Fewer  Passengers  at 
Increased  Fares 

Effects  of  the  increased  fares  on 
Glasgow  Tramways  are  plainly  visible 
in  the  following  figures:  During  the 
financial  year  ended  May  31  the  traffic 
revenue  of  £2,388,444  showed  an  in- 
crease over  that  of  the  previous  year 
of  £671,953.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
number  of  passengers,  447,601,811, 
showed  a  decrease  of  61,738,075.  The 
traffic  revenue  per  car  mile  increased 
by  5.737d.  (to  21.307d.)  while  the  pas- 
sengers carried  per  car  mile  decreased 
by  2.612  (to  16.638). 


Kansas  City  Road  Making  Prog- 
ress Under  Receivership 

The  steady  progress  of  the  Kansas 
City  (Mo.)  Railways  under  the  re- 
ceivership has  been  the  subject  of 
comment  by  Kansas  City  business  men. 
The  company  is  giving  perhaps  the 
best  service  in  recent  years,  and  de- 
spite the  depression  alleged  to  exist 
in  business  generally,  is  showing  an 
increase  in  passengers  carried  over  last 
year. 

It  is  of  interest  that  fully  85  per 
cent  of  the  passengers  are  using  tokens 
with  which  to  pay  fare — about  70  per, 
cent  paying  with  the  metal  tokens 
costing  15  cents  for  two,  and  15  per 
cent  using  the  tickets  at  7  cents  in  lots 
of  five  or  multiples  thereof.  While 
nominally  a  7-cent  fare  prevails,  the 
public  does  not  take  advantage  of  that 
privilege,  but  on  the  average  pays 
more  than  71  cents. 

The  apparent  satisfactory  character 
of  the  progress  being  made  is  reflected 
in  the  absence  of  court  proceedings 
often  accompanying  the  operation  of 
a  receivership.    It  is  inferred  that  the 


Another  Drastic  Financial 
Reorganization 

Key  Route  Plans  to  Cut  Capital  from 
$48,219,000  to  $30,245,000  Including 
$1,500,000  of  New  Money 

The  financial  structure  of  the  suc- 
cessor company  to  the  San  Francisco- 
Oakland  Terminal  Railways  will  differ 
materially  from  that  of  the  present 
company  if  the  reorganization  which  is 
now  planned  is  carried  out  unchanged. 
Moreover,  the  capitalization  will  be 
scaled  many  millions,  for  it  is  proposed 
to  exchange  $48,219,000  of  the  present 
securities  for  $28,245,000  of  new  securi- 
ties. 

The  plan  eliminates  entirely  the  now 
outstanding  $15,125,000  of  common  stock 
of  the  present  company  and  places  the 
stock  control  of  the  operating  company 
with  the  holders  of  the  prior  preferred 
and  preferred  stock  who  formerly  were 
the  holders  of  bonds.  Holders  of  pres- 
ent preferred  stock  to  the  extent  of 
$13,050000  will  receive  in  exchange 
$6,525,000  of  new  common  stock,  or  one 
share  of  common  for  two  shares  of  pre- 
ferred. 

The  proposed  plan  complies  with  the 
principles  of  reorganization  approved  by 
the  Railroad  Commission.  As  long  ago 
as  Aug.  11,  1919,  that  body  indicated  to 
the  railway  that  the  only  permanent 
remedy  for  the  financial  difficulties  of 
the  company  was  a  thorough-going  re- 
organization. That  the  plan  now  ad- 
vanced is  such  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  whereas  the  total  value  of  the 
property  is  $37,232,000,  including  $1,- 
500,000  for  betterments,  there  will  be 
outstanding  only  $30,245,000  of  stocks 
and  bonds  of  the  successor  company. 
In  this  valuation  no  amount  has  been 
included  to  represent  going  concern, 
franchise  or  other  tangible  items. 

The  object  has  been  to  limit  the  prior 
preferred  stock  to  an  amount  on  which 
dividends  may  reasonably  be  expected 
to  be  earned  from  the  beginning.  On 
the  basis  of  1920  earnings,  the  amount 
available  for  interest  and  dividends  of 
the  reorganized  company  would  be  as 
follows: 

Gross  earnings  $6,829,970 

Net  before  depreciation,  but  after 

operating  expenses  and  taxes ..  $1,579,218 

Bond  interest   $612,331 

Note  interest   216,000 

Prior  preferred  dividend  393,277 

$1,211,608  1,221,608 

Balance   $357,610 

The  plan  contemplates  paying  in  cash 
all  coupons  on  outstanding  bonds  matur- 
ing prior  to  Nov.  19,  1919,  and  funding 
all  coupons  due  from  that  date  up  to  the 
time  of  the  distribution  of  the  new  se- 
curities. The  upaid  coupons,  it  is  esti- 
mated, total  $1,676,820.  Of  the  new 
first  mortgage  issue,  the  first  series  of 
$2,500,000  is  to  be  initially  issued  and 
sold,  and  of  this  the  owners  of  the  new 
common  stock  are  to  buy  $1,000,000. 


220 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58.  No.  6 


Municipal  Consent  Necessary  to 
Abandonment 

The  Board  of  Public  Utility  Com- 
missioners of  New  Jersey  has  granted 
permission  to  the  Bridgeton  &  Millville 
Traction  Company  to  discontinue  serv- 
ice and  remove  the  tracks  on  the  pri- 
vate right-of-way  upon  the  line  from 
the  crossing  of  the  Central  Railroad  on 
the  Bridgeton  turnpike  in  Tumbling 
Dam  Park,  Bridgeton.  Providing  the 
city  assents,  the  company  will  also  be 
permitted  to  remove  the  section  of  these 
tracks  on  the  public  highway.  Au- 
thority to  remove  about  10  miles  of 
track  running  between  Newport,  Port 
Norris  and  Bivalve  has  been  denied  by 
the  commission.  The  commission  stated 
in  its  opinion  that  the  company  did  not 
consult  any  of  the  municipalities  af- 
fected. 

_  Abandonment  of  this  section  of  the 
line,  the  commission  pointed  out,  would 
eliminate  the  only  electric  railway 
communication  between  Bivalve,  Port 
Norris,  Dividing  Creek  and  Newport, 
and  also  part  of  the  line  connect- 
ing Bridgeton  and  these  points.  Per- 
mission to  abandon  this  section  of  the 
line,  representing  about  26  per  cent  of 
the  revenue  tracks  of  the  company, 
was  sought  on  the  ground  that  its  op- 
eration is  not  profitable.  Some  evi- 
dence of  municipal  consent  must  be 
presented,  the  decision  of  the  commis- 
sion stated,  before  such  authority  will 
be  given. 


Little  Rock  Property  To  Be 
Appraised 

The  City  Council  of  Little  Rock, 
Ark.,  recently  authorized  C.  E.  Smith', 
St.  Louis,  to  be  retained  to  appraise 
the  property  of  the  Little  Rock  Rail- 
way &  Electric  Company  in  order  to 
check  up  the  company's  recent  report 
of  its  holdings  and  to  determine  if  the 
company  is  entitled  to  an  increase  in 
fares  from  6  cents  to  7  cents. 

The  Council  on  July  7  refused  per- 
mission to  the  company  to  collect  a 
7-cent  fare.  The  company  then  filed 
suit  in  the  Second  Division  Circuit  to 
restrain  the  city  from  prohibiting  the 


collection  of  the  advanced  rate.  It  also 
asked  for  a  temporary  restraining  or- 
der which  would  prevent  interference 
during  the  pending  of  the  suit. 

The  work  of  starting  the  valuation 
depends  upon  the  action  of  Judge  Guy 
Fulk  in  fixing  the  date  of  hearing  the 
petition  of  the  company  for  the  order 
to  prevent  the  city  authorities  from 
interfering  with  the  proposed  increase 
in  fares.  The  city  authorities  want 
the  work  to  begin  as  soon  as  possible, 
so  that  the  city  can  perfect  its  defense 
against  the  proposed  increase  in  railway 
rates. 

Traffic  Ratios  Computed 

Tabulation   Shows   Results   from  154 
Companies   Made   by  American 
Electric  Railway  Association 

The  Bureau  of  Information  and 
Statistics  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association  has  made  public 
the  results  of  a  recent  study  oh  traffic 
statistics  of  154  electric  railway  com- 
panies. These  figures  are  given  in  the 
accompanying  table.  Further  explana- 
tion made  by  the  Bureau  in  regard  to 
some  of  the  figures  follows: 

Certain  of  the  companies  in  the  city 
groups  also  do  some  interurban  service, 
but  it  is  impossible  to  segregate  the 
statistics.  Where  there  are  two  or 
more  companies  in  a  city,  the  figures 
from  all  were,  used  to  determine  the 
average  revenue  passenger  ride  per 
inhabitant.  Where  this  was  not  pos- 
sible, the  figure  was  rejected.  The 
averages  on  rides  per  inhabitant  are 
omitted  from  the  interurban  group  be- 
cause the  tributary  population  could 
not  be  determined.  As  methods  of 
counting  passengers  on  interurban 
lines  vary,  the  figures  on  numbers  of 
passengers  on  these  roads  are  not  com- 
parable. The  table  is  made  up  from  a 
table  of  statistics  obtained  from  154 
individual  roads,  and  the  figures  given 
as  averages  in  the  respective  groups 
are  the  arithmetical  averages  of  the 
figures  for  the  roads  in  that  group 
taken  individually,  and  not  the 
weighted  average  for  each  group  taken 
as  a  whole. 


Earnings  Shrink  in  Cleveland 

The  Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway  in 
June  carried  4,759,616  fewer  riders 
than  it  did  in  the  same  month  a  year 
ago.  This  is  a  loss  of  12.59  per  cent 
and  is  the  most  serious  decrease  in 
traffic  sustained  by  the  company  since 
the  present  business  depression.  In 
June,  1921,  the  company  carried  33,- 
047,581  riders  as  against  37,807,197  in 
June  of  1920. 

As  a  result  of  this  big  falling  off  in 
the  number  of  riders,  the  company  for 
June  showed  a  deficit  of  $44,953.  The 
company's  passenger  revenue  in  June 
was  $1,417,120,  a  decrease  of  2.37  per' 
cent  over  June,  1920,  when  the  rate 
of  fare  was  .  only  a  nickel  cash  or  five 
tickets  for  a  quarter  as  against  the 
present  6-cent  fare  or  nine  tickets  for 
50  cents. 

The  company's  interest  fund,  which 
is  the  fare  barometer,  showed  a  deficit 
of  67,006  on  July  1.  The  company's 
maintenance,  depreciation,  and  renewal 
reserve  account  shows  a  current  over- 
expenditure  up  to  the  present  time  of 
close  to  $500,000. 

Because  the  company  is  unable  to 
secure  new  capital,  owing  to  the  city's 
refusal  to  increase  the  company's  divi- 
dend rate  from  6  per  cent  to  7  per 
cent,  and  the  company's  inability  to 
sell  its  present  6  per  cent  stock  at  par, 
the  directors  have  authorized  the  offi- 
cers of  the  company  to  take  the  funds 
for  all  expenditures  for  new  work,  that 
should  come  from  new  capital,  out  of 
the  maintenance  allowance  until  such 
a  time  as  conditions  made  it  possible 
to  attract  new  capital. 


AVERAGE  SERVICE  RATIOS  OF  CITY  AND  INTERURBAN  COMPANIES  GROUPED 
ACCORDING  TO  NUMBER  OF  CARS  OPERATED 


RATIOS 


Average  number  of  properties 

analyzed  

Revenue  passenger  rides  per  in- 
habitant per  year  

Index*  

Revenue  passengers  per  car-mile. 

Index  

Revenue  passengers  per  mile  of 

single  track  

Index  

Car-miles  per  mile  of  single  track. 

Index  

Passenger  revenue  per  revenue 

passenger,  cents  

Index  

Car-miles  per  passenger  car  

Index  

Revenue  passengers  to  total  pas- 
sengers carried  [per  cent]  

Index  

Car-miles  per  car-hour. ........ 

Index  


 ■  City  Companies  Operating  • 

I  II  III  IV 

1  to  50  50to  250      250to     1,001  or 
Cars       Cars     1,000  Cars  More 
Cars 


Interurban  Companies  Operating 


I  II  III 

1  to  10   10  to  25  25  to  75 


IV 

76  or 


23 

133 
100 
5.25 
100 

205,900 
J  00 
36,650 
100 

0  0658 
100 

44,900 
100 

92.35 
100 
8  55 
100 


31 

288 
216 
6.21 
118 

263,500 
128 
42,100 
115 

0  .  066 
100 

46,850 
104 

86  45 
93.7 
8.94 
105 


14 

317 
238 
6  76 
129 

464,000 
226 
69,900 
191 

0  063 
95  7 

43.100 
96.0 

80.8 
87.5 
8.88 
104 


369 
278 
6  75 
129 

515,000 
251 
73,900 
202 

0  0705 
107 
39,500 
87.9 

79  5 
86  1 
9  05 
106 


Cars 

Cars 

Cars 

More 
Cars 

13 

16 

13 

8 

2  02 
100 

2.47 
122 

3.51 
174 

4.53 
224 

31,170 
100 

13.940 
100 

36,400 
117 

15,670 
112 

74.000 
117 

18,170 
112 

147,100 
473 
28,750 
206 

0  224 
100 

58,700 
100 

0  242 
108 

79,700 
136 

0  154 
68.4 
.63,400 
108 

0.092 
41  1 

56,170 
95  7 

96.6 
100 
13.26 
100 

95.3 
98  7 
13.89 
105 

93.  1 
96.4 
11.43 
86.4 

89.97 
93. 1 

1119 
84.5 

*This  index  is  obtained  by  assuming  the  value  of  the  ratios  in  Group  I  as  1 00  and  calculating  the  propor- 
tional deviation  of  the  other  groups. 


Negotiations  Under  Way  to 
Strengthen  Property 

Interest  due  on  May  1  on  the  $3,979,- 
000  of  outstanding  first  mortgage  5's  of 
1937  and  the  quarterly  interest  due  on 
June  1  on  the  outstanding  $650,000  of 
7  per  cent  notes  of  the  South  Carolina 
Light,  Power  &  Railways  Company, 
Spartanburg,  S.  C,  have  been  de- 
faulted. The  company  passed  into  re- 
ceivers' hands  last  February.  It  is 
believed  that  arrangements  will  be  carr 
ried  through  that  will  obviate  the  need 
for  foreclosure  and  sale  of  the  prop- 
erty. 

The  present  plan  is  to  have  the  peo- 
ple of  Spartanburg  vote  on  an  increase 
in  gas  and  electric  light  rates  and  the 
power  consumers  will  be  asked  to  enter 
into  contracts  for  the  rates  as  allowed 
by  the  court.  An  effort  will  also  be 
made  to  obtain  an  increase  in  railway 
fares. 

An  $8,000  Increase  in  Income 

The  June  report  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway,  Newark,  N.  J.,  shows  an 
increase  in  the  net  income  of  $8,901 
over  June,  1920.  The  net  for  June, 
1921,  was  $13,016.  In  the  matter  of 
traffic  the  railway  carried  37,292,708 
passengers,  of  whom  30,246,530  were 
revenue  passengers  and  the  others 
transfer  passengers  paying  1  cent  each. 

The  revenue  from  both  these  classes 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


221 


of  passengers  amounted  to  $2,162,948. 
However,  the  revenue  would  have  been 
increased  by  $68,000,  it  is  estimated,  if 
the  new  rate  for  transfers,  namely,  2 
cents,  had  been  in  effect.  This  is  as- 
suming that  the  increased  transfer 
charge  would  not  have  decreased  the 
number  of  transfer  passengers. 

The  average  fare  per  revenue  passen- 
ger including  transfer  passenger  was 
$0.07151  during  June  and  the  revenue 
per  car-mile  was  45.4851  cents. 

Financial 
News  Notes 

Stock  Dividend  at  Detroit. — The  De- 
troit (Mich.)  United  Railway  has  de- 
clared a  dividend  of  2i  per  cent,  payable 
in  stock  on  Sept.  1  to  stock  of  record  of 
Aug.  16.  This  is  a  stock  dividend 
similar  to  that  declared  three  months 
ago. 

Eureka   Bonds   to  be  Offered — The 

city  of  Eureka,  Cal.,  which  recently  took 
over  the  property  of  the  Humboldt 
Transit  Company  has  been  authorized 
by  the  citizens  to  float  a  bond  issue 
of  $130,000.  The  property  was  valued 
at  $75,000  and  the  remaining  $55,000 
will  be  used  for  extensions  and  better- 
ments. 

Receipts  Decline  in  East  St.  Louis. — 
The  receipts  per  day  of  the  East  St. 
Louis  &  Suburban  Railway,  East  St. 
Louis,  111.,  passenger  department  de- 
clined since  January  from  $3,490  to 
$2,740,  or  a  falling  off  of  21  per  cent. 
The  East  St.  Louis  Railway  shows  a 
similar  decline  since  January  from 
$3,150  to  $2,450,  or  22  per  cent. 

Belgian  Company  Extends  Its  Ac- 
tivities.— The  Compagnie  Generate  de 
Chemins  de  Fer  Secondaires  of  Brus- 
sels, has  changed  its  name  to  Com- 
pagnie Beige  de  Chemins  de  Fer  et 
d'Entreprises.  The  company  proposes 
to  operate  as  a  contractor  and  as  pro- 
motor  of  light  railways  in  countries 
both  in  and  outside  of  Belgium. 

No  Bidder  for  Georgia  Property. — 
Although  it  was  announced  some  time 
ago  by  Judge  B.  D.  Evans  of  the 
United  States  Court  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Georgia  that  the  City  & 
Suburban  Railway,  Brunswick,  Ga., 
would  be  sold  as  a  going  concern  to 
the  highest  bidder,  no  bid  for  the  prop- 
erty was  received  at  the  sale  on  July  5. 
The  line  will  probably  be  sold  as  junk. 

Municipal  Railway  Increases  Gross. 
— Municipal  railway  earnings  at  Ta- 
coma,  Wash.,  during  the  month  of 
June  were  $8,576,  as  against  $8,096  for 
May,  $8,492  for  April  and  $8,273  for 
March.  There  was  an  average  of  7,258 
passengers  carried  during  week  days, 
as  against  an  average  of  7,124  for 
May,  indicating  a  slight  resumption  in 
the  tideflats  industries  which  feed  the 
municipal  line. 


$992,000  of  Notes  Approved.— Per- 
mission to  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Trac- 
tion Company  to  use  the  proceeds  from 
a  bond  issue  of  $992,000  of  7  per  cent 
notes  for  improvement,  if  the  notes  are 
purchased  by  the  Cincinnati  Street  Rail- 
way, has  been  granted  by  the  Ohio 
Public  Utilities  Commission.  It  is  ex- 
pected that  the  notes  will  be  issued  at 
once,  as  the  traction  company  has  been 
awaiting  the  decision  of  the  state  com- 
mission to  act. 

Objection  to  Separate  Foreclosure. — 

The  Guaranty  Trust  Company,  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  has  filed  a  bill  in  the 
United  States  District  Court  taking  ex- 
ception to  the  decision  of  Judge  Orr,  in 
which  he  rules  that  the  Southern  Trac- 
tion Company,  one  of  the  three  under- 
lying companies  of  the  Pittsburg  Rail- 
ways may  foreclose  on  the  mortgage 
and  operate  its  West  End  lines  inde- 
pendently. It  is  contended  that  any 
such  action  might  delay  the  proposed 
reorganization  plan. 

Would  Extend  Notes  at  Increased 
Rates. — The  Interborough  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  has  ap- 
plied to  the  Transit  Commission  for 
permission  to  extend  the  date  of  the 
maturity  of  $39,416,000  of  its  notes  for 
one  year  from  Sept.  1  next,  and  to  in- 
crease the  interest  rate  from  7  to  8  per 
cent.  It  was  explained  that  the  con- 
dition of  the  money  market  would  make 
it  difficult  to  obtain  an  extension  of 
time  at  the  present  interest  rate,  and 
that  the  inability  of  the  company  to 
meet  the  notes  made  an  extension  im- 
perative. 

Request  to  Issue  Notes  and  Bonds. — 
The  Indiana  Railways  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Kokomo,  has  filed  a  petition  with 
the  Public  Service  Commission  of 
Indiana  asking  for  authority  to  issue 
and  sell  $250,000  of  its  first  collateral 
gold  notes  and  to  issue  $424,000  of  its 
first  refunding  mortgage  bonds  for  the 
reimbursement  of  its  treasury  and  for 
permission  to  use  the  bonds  as  collat- 
eral security.  According  to  the  petition 
the  money  is  required  to  reimburse  the 
treasury  for  expenditures  made  for  the 
improvement  of  the  company's  prop- 
erties. 

$573,169  Increase  in  Tube  Balance. — 
The  Hudson  &  Manhattan  Railroad, 
operating  under  the  Hudson  River  be- 
tween New  York  City  and  New  Jersey, 
reports  for  1920  gross  operating  rev- 
enues of  $9,016,253,  against  $7,978,910 
in  1919,  and  a  balance  after  interest 
and  reserve  for  contingencies  of  $596,- 
730,  compared  with  $23,561  in  the  pre- 
vious year.  After  deducting  full  inter- 
est on  adjustment,  income  5  per  cent 
bonds  in  1920  there  was  a  deficit  of 
$1,058,370.  The  net  income  from  rail- 
road operations  for  the  year  was  equal 
to  3.55  per  cent  on  the  outstanding 
debt  allocated  to  railroad  operations. 

Payment  Announced  on  Income 
Bonds. — The  directors  of  the  Hudson 
&  Manhattan  Railroad,  New  York,  N. 
Y.,  have  declared  an  interest  payment 
of  2\  per  cent  on  the  company's  $33,- 
102,000  of  5  per  cent  adjustment  in- 
come bonds,  payable  on  Oct.  1,  1921, 


out  of  the  surplus  income  for  the  six 
months  ended  June  30,  1921.  This  is 
the  second  installment  of  interest  to 
be  paid  on  these  bonds  since  Oct.  1, 
1916,  the  first  installment  of  2  per 
cent  having  been  paid  on  April  1, 
1921.  As  the  interest  on  these  bonds 
is  cumulative  after  Jan.  1,  1920,  a  bal- 
ance of  3  per  cent  of  cumulative  inter- 
est remains  unpaid. 

Service  Must  Be  Resumed.  —  The 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners 
has  ordered  the  Jersey  Central  Trac- 
tion Company,  Keysport,  N.  J.,  to  re- 
sume operation  of  its  cars  on  Carr  Ave- 
nue, Keansburg,  Monmouth  County.  The 
traction  company  submitted  an  appli- 
cation to  the  board  providing  for  the 
removal  of  their  tracks  on  Carr  Street, 
claiming  that  the  cars  were  operated 
only  during  the  summer  months  and 
that  even  then  the  traffic  was  very 
light.  The  Utility  Board  held  that  the 
continuance  of  the  Carr  Avenue  line 
was  necessary  in  order  that  adequate 
and  proper  service  be  provided. 

$12,800  Earned  in  Salt  Lake  City.— 
The  Utah  Light  &  Traction  Company, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  earned  a  balance 
after  depreciation  of  $12,800  for  the 
year  ended  Dec.  31,  1920,  compared 
with  $29,355  for  the  previous  year. 
Gross  earnings  were  $2,069,482,  and 
net  earnings  $580,199.  Other  income 
was  $401,748.  After  paying  interest 
on  bonds  and  making  other  deductions 
the  balance  was  $157,525.  Against  this 
sum  $144,725  was  set  aside  for  depreci- 
ation. The  total  number  of  passengers 
carried  in  1920  was  40,512,223,  com- 
pared with  39,521,505  for  the  previous 
year.  The  number  of  car  miles  in  1920 
was  5,316,917,  and  in  1919  5,303,783. 

Commonwealth  Company  Prospects 
Improve. — George  E.  Hardy,  president 
of  the  Commonwealth  Power,  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  says,  with  some  improvement  in 
market  and  financial  conditions  and 
taking  into  consideration  the  company's 
present  earnings  position,  it  should  be 
possible  in  the  near  future  to  formulate 
a  plan  looking  toward  the  liquidation 
of  the  floating  and  other  short-time  in- 
debtedness. The  company  reports  net 
income  for  June,  available  for  divi- 
dends, replacements  and  depreciation, 
of  $164,386  against  $8,398  in  June, 
1920.  The  account  for  the  six  months 
totals  $1,524,532,  compared  with  $1,- 
207,941. 

Suit    Brought    Over    Rentals.  —  The 

Ninth  Avenue  Railroad,  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  has  brought  action  against  the 
Forty-Second  Street,  Manhattanville  & 
St.  Nicholas  Avenue  Railway  and  the 
Third  Avenue  Railway  in  the  Supreme 
Court.  The  plaintiff  alleges  that  an- 
nual rentals  for  the  use  of  the  track 
on  Broadway  between  Sixty-first  and 
Seventy-first  Streets,  which  were  to 
continue  for  an  indefinite  period,  stop- 
ped on  Dec.  1,  1919,  and  obligations 
amounting  to  $42,000  have  since  ac- 
crued. The  agreement  involved  was 
made  on  Dec.  1,  1897,  between  the  de- 
fendant and  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway. 


222  • 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


New  Fares  in  Winnipeg 

Long   Litigation  Over  Commission's 
Jurisdiction  Settled  Amicably — 
Other  Matters  Being  Negotiated 

Negotiations  between  the  Winnipeg 
(Man.)  Electric  Railway  and  the  City 
Council  of  Winnipeg,  which  have  been 
in  progress  for  some  months  past  have 
consummated  in  the  passing  by  the 
City  Council  of  an  agreement  with  the 
railway  which  puts  an  end  to  the  fare 
controversy  and  all  litigation  connected 
therewith,  stabilizes  relations  between 
the  company  and  the  civic  authorities, 
and  augurs  well  for  harmony  and  con- 
tinued co-operation  between  the  com- 
pany and  the  city  in  the  future. 

As  reported  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  previously  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission  of  Manitoba 
granted  the  company,  on  tbree  differ- 
ent occasions,  higher  fares.  Exception 
was  taken  by  the  City  Council  to  the 
final  order,  which  was  made  Aug.  20, 
1920,  giving  the  company  a  7-cent  cash 
fare,  four  tickets  for  25  cents,  seven 
children's  tickets  for  25  cents  and 
abolishing  cheap  workmen's  fares. 
Holding  that  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission had  no  jurisdiction  to  alter 
fares  which  were  stipulated  in  the 
original  franchise,  the  City  Council 
went  to  the  Appeal  Court  of  Manitoba 
to  have  the  order  set  aside.  A  unani- 
mous decision  of  the  Appeal  Court 
given  April  4  last,  upheld  the  com- 
mission's order,  ruling  that  the  com- 
mission had  such  jurisdiction.  The 
City  Council  therefrom  decided  to 
carry  its  case  to  the  Privy  Council  in 
London,  England.  In  the  meantime, 
however,  the  Council  appointed  a 
special  sub-committee  to  try  to  effect 
a  settlement. 

As  a  result  of  conferences  attended 
by  A.  W.  McLimont,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  railway,  the 
counsel  for  the  company  and  members 
of  the  sub-committee,  an  agreement  was 
drawn  up  between  the  company  and 
the  sub-committee,  which  agreement 
was  ratified  by  the  City  Council  and 
came  into  effect  on  Aug.  1.  This  agree- 
ment restores  the  by-law  which  incorpo- 
rated the  franchise  as  being  "in  full 
force  and  effect  except  as  to  fares"  and 
placing  the  by-law  and  all  agreements 
and  dealings  between  the  city  and  the 
company  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission.  Under 
this  agreement  the  Council  agrees  to  a 
revised  rate  of  fares  (now  in  effect) 
and  provision  is  made  for  an  annual 
revision  of  fares  by  arbitration,  if 
necessary,  the  arbitrators  to  decide  a 
just  and  reasonable  fare,  having  regard 
among  other  things  to  the  value  of  the 
property. 

The  revised  rate  of  fares  which  went 
into  effect  on  Aug.   1  maintains  the 


7-cent  cash  fare,  with  four  tickets 
for  25  cents,  provides  for  a  5-cent 
cash  fare  on  Sundays,  nine  tickets  for 
50  cents  on  week  days  between  the 
hours  of  6  to  8  a.m.  and  5  to  6:30  p.m., 
while  school  children's  tickets  are  eight 
for  25  cents  as  against  seven  for  25 
cents  which  previously  obtained  for 
school  children. 

Negotiations  between  the  company 
and  the  city  will  be  continued  with  a 
view  to  settling  all  matters  regarding 
which  the  city  and  the  company  are 
at  present  at  variance. 


Low  Fare  Test  Fails 

Experiment  in  Cleveland  With  2|-Cent 
Fare  Will  Undoubtedly  Be 
Discontinued 

The  experiment  of  the  Cleveland 
(Ohio)  Railway  in  trying  to  stimulate 
riding  by  reducing  the  rate  of  fare  in 
a  limited  zone  in  the  down  town  sec- 
tion of  Cleveland  has  not  been  a  success. 
That  was  the  announcement  made  by 
John  J.  Stanley,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, to  his  board  of  directors  at  the 
meeting  on  July  28. 

The  experiment  of  charging  3  cents 

cash  or  a  21-cent  ticket  rate  of  fare 

in  the  down  town  part  of  the  city  in 

a  prescribed  area  was  sanctioned  by 

the  City  Council  at  the  suggestion  of 

Fielder   Sanders,   city   street  railway 

commissioner,  for   a   thirty-day  test, 

starting  July  11.    The  new  rates  most 

likely  will  be  discoutinued  at  the  end  of 

the  thirty  days.    Mr.  Stanley  said: 

The  result  has  been  very  disappointing 
because  we  believed  that  we  might  boost 
our  revenues  by  getting  the  riding  habit  in- 
stilled into  down  town  shoppers. 

Here  are  the  figures  showing  the 
number  of  riders  who  availed  them- 
selves of  the  3-cent  cash  or  2J-cent 
ticket  rate  in  the  zone  area  during  the 
first  two  weeks  of  the  experiment: 

Ticket  Cash 

Date  Riders  Fares  Total 

July  1  1    8,710  8,216  16,926 

Julv  12   10,145  8,499  18,644 

July  13   10,040  8,1 15  18,155 

July  14   11,104  7,645  18,749 

July  15   10,374  7,944  18,318 

July  16   8,334  7,731  16,065 

July  17   2,367  3,247  5,614 

July  18   10,747  6,914  17,661 

July  19   10,529  7,410  17,939 

July  20   10,307  6,562  16,969 

Julv  21                .  .  10,408  6,646  17,054 

July  22   10,162  6,856  17,018 

July  23   8,227  6,600  14,827 

Julv  24   2,812  3.698  6,510 

July  25   10,078  6,416  16,494 

The  city  street  railway  commissioner 
had  estimated  that  at  least  20,000  riders 
would  avail  themselves  of  the  low  fare 
every  day,  but  as  the  figures  indicate, 
at  no  time  did  the  total  number  even 
go  as  high  as  19,000.  This  means  that 
the  company  is  actually  losing  money, 
because  most  of  those  who  availed 
themselves  of  the  low  fare  would  prob- 
ably have  ridden  at  the  regular  fare 
of  6  cents,  company  officials  say. 


Sioux  City  Favors  Railway 

Council  Refuses  to  Issue  Licenses — Jit- 
neys Cease  Operating — Court 
Sustained  City 

The  City  Council  of  Sioux  City,  la., 
has  recently  ruled  that  jitneys  shall 
not  operate  in  that  city.  The  jitney 
operators  have  attempted  to  enjoin  the 
City  Council  from  arresting  an  operator 
who  might  run  without  a  license.  The 
court  refused  to  grant  such  an  injunc- 
tion. Then  the  operators  commenced 
action  to  compel  the  Council  to  grant 
licenses.  A  hearing  was  had  in  this 
matter  and  the  court  also  refused  to 
grant  this  relief. 

The  jitney  problem  in  Sioux  City 
dates  back  to  the  winter  of  1920  when 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  State 
provided  that  no  jitneys  could  operate 
in  an  Iowa  city  without  license  and 
made  it  an  indictable  misdemeanor  for 
them  to  do  so.  This  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature also  provided  that  the  City  Coun- 
cil might  accept  or  reject  the  appli- 
cation for  such  licenses. 

Before  the  present  action  of  the  City 
Council,  there  were  perhaps  forty  to 
fifty  jitneys  operating  in  Sioux  City. 
The  jitneys  were  making  the  short 
hauls  and  operating  upon  the  streets 
which  were  already  served  by  the 
street  cars.  The  jitneys  were  taking 
perhaps  $100,000  to  $150,000  each  year 
from  the  raih.  ay.  The  railway  was 
charging  a  6-cent  fare,  which  had 
been  voted  by  the  people  at  a  special 
election  to  amend  the  franchise.  The 
original  franchise  provided  for  a  5-cent 
fare. 

Court  Allowed  Seven-Cent  Fare 

With  the  increase  of  freight  rates 
and  the  increased  cost  of  labor,  this 
jitney  competition  made  it  entirely 
impossible  for  the  railway  property  to 
meet  operating  expenses.  No  dividends 
had  been  paid  since  1918.  It  was  nec- 
essary, then,  for  the  company  to  elimi- 
nate the  jitney,  or  obtain  higher  fares. 
Accordingly,  action  was  instituted  in 
the  Federal  Court  of  Sioux  City  to 
enjoin  the  City  Council  from  enforcing 
the  6-cent  provision  of  the  franchise 
on  the  theory  that,  because  of  these 
conditions  above  enumerated,  it  had 
become  confiscatory  and  therefore  in 
violation  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
The  Federal  Court  granted  a  temporary 
writ  of  injunction  and  authorized  the 
company  to  charge  a  7-cent  fare.  The 
company  operated  under  this  for  thirty 
days. 

When  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
appeared  before  the  City  Council  and 
asked  that  body  to  refuse  licenses  to 
jitney  operators  in  order  that  the  rail- 
way might  receive  the  money  otherwise 
taken  by  the  jitneys,  and  thus  accom- 
plish a  final  reduction  of  the  railway 
fare,  the  Council  refused  to  license 
jitney  operators  further,  and  arrested 
those  operating  without  license.  As  a 
result  no  jitneys  have  been  operated 
since  that  time. 

The  railway  then  entered  into  a 
stipulation  with  the  City  Council, 
defendants  in  the  injunction  proceeding, 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


223 


to  the  effect  that  the  court  might 
decree  in  the  said  proceeding  that  the 
railway  should  sell  four  tickets  for  25 
cents,  this  order  to  be  effective  so  long 
as  jitneys  were  not  running;  a  single 
fare  to  remain  at  7  cents. 


Reduced  Token  Fare  in 
Washington 

In  accordance  with  a  recent  ruling 
of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  a  reduced  rate 
of  fare  which  will  be  applied  uniformly 
to  the  several  railways  operating  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  will  become  effec- 
tive on  Sept.  1.  The  cash  fare  will 
remain  at  8  cents  with  a  reduced  token 
fare  from  7i  cents  to  7  cents.  The 
present  1-cent  charge  for  inter-com- 
pany transfers  and  the  existing  free 
transfer  privileges  will  continue. 

The  following  properties  are  in- 
cluded in  the  ruling:  Washington  Rail- 
way &  Electric  Company,  the  City  & 
Suburban  Railway,  the  Georgetown  & 
Tennallytown  Railway,  the  Washington 
Interurban  Railroad,  the  Capital  Trac- 
tion Company,  the  East  Washington 
Heights  Traction  Railroad  and  the 
Washington  -  Virginia  Railway.  The 
ruling  will  continue  in  force  until 
March  1,  1922,  when,  unless  the  com- 
mission rules  otherwise,  the  initial  rate 
of  fare  will  be  restored  to  that  in  effect 
on  Oct.  18,  . 1919. 

The  commission  in  its  findings  stated 
that  it  was  highly  desirable  in  the  pub- 
lic interest  to  maintain  a  uniform  rate 
of  fare  to  prevent  a  disarrangement  of 
railway  service  disastrous  to  both  the 
companies  and  the  public.  For  this 
reason  the  commission  believed  that  it 
could  not  reduce  fares  on  the  Capital 
Traction  Company's  lines  and  at  the 
same  time  continue  the  presnt  rates  on 
the  lines  of  the  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company. 

The  commission  stated  further  that 
it  was  its  opinion  that  no  appreciable 
relief  from  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
whereby  one  company  receives  less 
than  a  fair  return  and  the  other  an 
excessive  return,  can  be  obtained  unless 
some  new  ruling  on  taxation  is  formu- 
lated or  until  a  merger  is  brought 
about. 

Connecticut  Jitneys  to  Run 
Unmolested  Temporarily 

Unlicensed  jitney  operators  in  the 
State  of  Connecticut  have  until  Aug. 
16  to  continue  running  buses  unim- 
peded. Judge  Thomas  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  issued  an  injunc- 
tion on  July  30  which  terminated  the 
jitney  ban  temporarily  and  prevented 
the  police  authorities  from  making 
arrests.  The  ruling  is  the  result  of  the 
claim  on  the  part  of  the  busmen's  at- 
torneys that  the  men's  constitutional 
rights  were  being  invaded. 

Judge  John  E.  Keeler  of  the  Superior 
Court  had  previously  refused  to  issue 
an  injunction  to  prevent  the  police 
from  interfering  with  the  jitney  men 
who  had  been  refused  licenses  by  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  and  the 
men  proceeded  with  their  case  through 


the  state  ciriminal  and  the  supreme 
court  and  also  through  the  federal 
court. 

The  case  will  be  heard  at  New  Haven 
on  Aug.  16  before  a  special  court  of 
the  United  States.  Circuit  Judge  Wade 
Rogers  will  preside  and  with  him  will 
sit  Judge  Thomas  of  the  Connecticut 
District  Court  and  another  district 
judge  not  yet  selected.  If  the  federal 
judges  should  decide  in  favor  of  the 
busmen  the  then  prosecutions  in  the 
lower  court  will  cease  instantly.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  case  goes  against 
the  bus  operators  then  criminal  pro- 
ceedings will  be  started  at  once. 

In  New  Haven  the  jitneys  will  be 
operated  on  a  5-cent  fare  basis  pend- 
ing settlement.  A  session  will  be  held 
in  Bridgeport  to  discuss,  among  other 
things,  the  fare  question. 


Increased  Transfer  Charge 
in  Effect  in  New  Jersey 

New  rates  went  into  effect  on  Aug.  4 
on  the  lines  of  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way in  New  Jersey  in  accordance  with 
the  order  of  of  the  Board  of  Public 
Utility  Commissioners  rendered  July  14. 
As  indicated  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  July  16,  the  board  found 
and  determined  that  the  rate  which  had 
been  charged  by  the  company  for  trans- 
fers was  insufficient  and  ordered  the 
company  to  charge  a  fare  of  7  cents 
where  7  cents  had  been  charged  and  to 
charge  2  cents  for  a  transfer  where  a 
charge  of  1  cent  had  previously  been  in 
effect. 

According  to  computations  by  the  com- 
mission, the  extra  charge  of  1  cent  for  a 
transfer  will  afford  a  yearly  increase  in 
receipts  to  the  company  of  about  $715,- 
000.  It  is  also  held  that  this  increase, 
together  with  the  reduction  in  cost  of 
operation  and  wages  and  other  adjust- 
ments in  operating  expenses,  as  found 
by  the  board,  will  produce  a  sufficient 
revenue  to  enable  the  company  to  meet 
all  its  requirements  for  operating  ex- 
penses, taxes  and  depreciation  and  will 
afford  a  reasonable  return  upon  the 
value   of  the  property. 

The  commission  estimates  the  number 
of  passengers  to  be  transported  for  the 
year  beginning  Aug.  1,  1921,  as  follows: 

Base  rate  fares   361,130,000 

School  fares   5,300,000 

Total  first  fares  366,430,000 

Transfer  fares  on  2-cent  basis..  75,000,000 

Total  of  all  fares   441  430,000 

As  has  been  indicated  previously  the 
board  found  the  fair  value  of  the  prop- 
erty for  rate-making  purposes  to  be 
$82,000,000,  after  considering  all  the 
evidence  in  the  case  relating  to  value, 
the  historical  cost,  cost  of  reproduction 
new,  accrued  depreciation,  appreciation, 
going  value,  contingencies,  cash  work- 
ing capital,  materials  and  supplies  and 
all  other  elements  of  value,  tangible  and 
intangible. 

The  board  considers  a  return  of  $5,- 
842,500  a  fair  return  on  the  $82,000,000 
valuation,  this  return  amounting  to 
more  than  7  per  cent  upon  the  valua- 
tion. 


Emergency  Fare  Hearing 
Continued 

Hearing  of  the  petition  of  the 
Minneapolis  (Minn.)  Street  Railway 
before  the  State  Railroad  &  Warehouse 
Commission  for  an  emergency  increase 
in  its  rate  of  fare  from  6  cents  to  7 
cents  and  four  tickets  for  a  quarter  was 
continued  from  July  26  to  Aug.  23 
after  a  half-day  session.  The  matter 
was  put  over  at  the  request  of  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  city  government 
that  they  were  not  prepared  to  present 
their  argument.  A  representative  of 
organized  labor  made  a  verbal  state- 
ment against  the  proposed  increase.  He 
was  asked  to  file  a  brief  along  with  the 
other  parties  to  the  hearing. 

Horace  Lowry,  president  of  the  rail- 
way, said  that  before  the  war  the  com- 
pany earned  from  $1,800,000.  Earnings 
have,  however,  fallen  off  to  about 
$1,100,000  a  year.  He  said  that  Min- 
neapolis in  1918  valued  the  street  rail- 
way property  at  $24,000,000,  and  since 
then  the  value  had  increased  $1,000,- 
000.  The  book  value  of  the  property  is 
$29,500,000.    He  said: 

We  pay  taxes  on  a  valuation  of  about 
$23,000,000.  On  that  investment  a  return 
of  $1,000,000  is  only  about  4  per  cent. 
Present  earnings  at  a  6-cent  fare  are  in- 
adequate. We  have  $5,000,000  of  bonds 
maturing  next  January  on  which  we  are 
paying  7  per  cent  interest.  Unless  we  get 
money  to  pay  the  bonds  an  extension  of 
the  time  they  run  will  be  necessary,  and 
financial  men  tell  us  that  extension  will 
mean  an  addition  of  about  2  per  cent  in- 
terest. It  is  vitally  necessary  for  the 
street  railway  to  get  on  a  financial  basis 
to  do  refunding  and  provide  money. 

The  commission  denied  the  plea  of 
City  Attorney  C.  D.  Gould  for  dismissal 
of  the  case  on  the  ground  the  com- 
mission had  no  jurisdiction.  This  plea 
may  be  made  later  through  the  courts 
to  test  the  law  passed  by  the  1921  leg- 
islature putting  trolley  rate  making  un- 
der the  jurisdiction  of  the  commission. 

The  hearing  on  the  appeal  of  the  St. 
Paul  City  Railway  for  an  emergency 
rate  of  7  cents  has  also  been  put  over 
until  Aug.  23. 


Eight  Cents  in  Cincinnati 

Fares  were  reduced  half  a  cent  to 
8  cents  and  the  "pay-as-you-enter" 
system  was  re-established  on  lines  of 
the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany on  Aug.  1.  Reduction  in  fares 
was  accomplished  by  an  ordinance 
passed  recently  by  the  City  Council 
modifying  the  company's  franchise. 

For  the  next  three  months  the  fare 
will  be  8  cents  for  adults  and  4  cents 
for  children  ten  years  and  under.  The 
return  of  the  "pay-as-you-enter"  sys- 
tem is  due  to  trouble  experienced 
through  congestion  \t  certain  points 
under  the  "pay-as-you-leave"  system. 

Attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Citizens 
Committee  to  stay  the  .  reduction  in 
fares  until  after  the  November  elec- 
tion were  foiled  when  the  city  appealed 
to  the  courts  and  got  a  decision  to  the 
effect  that  the  ordinance  was  not  sub- 
ject to  a  referendum  vote.  A  suit  is 
pending  in  the  Ohio  Supreme  Court 
relative  to  the  matter.  It  will  be  heard 
within  a  few  weeks. 


224 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6- 


Utility  Law  Questioned 

Wording  of  the  Public  Utilities  Act 
of  1911  as  amended  by  the  1921  Legis- 
lature was  questioned  before  Chief 
Justice  Gummere  at  Newark  during  the 
hearing  of  an  application  by  the  New 
Jersey  &  Pennsylvania  Traction  Com- 
pany, Trenton,  N.  J.,  for  a  writ  of 
certiorari  enjoining  the  Public  Utility 
Commission  from  suspending  the  ten- 
cent  fare  application  of  the  company 
another  three  months. 

The  chief  justice  told  L.  Edward 
Herrmann,  counsel  for  the  board,  that 
the  language  of  the  law  was  ambiguous 
and  that  the  commission  should  seek 
to  have  the  Legislature  clarify  it.  The 
law,  according  to  Herrmann,  gives  the 
commission  the  right  to  suspend  a  rate 
for  six  months.  The  company  and  the 
chief  justice  disagreed.  The  chief  jus- 
tice allowed  the  writ  of  certiorari,  but 
refused  to  issue  an  order  enjoining  the 
commission's  suspension,  because  Mr. 
Herrmann  said  the  commission  would 
be  prepared  to  render  a  decision  on  the 
dime  fare  application  by  Aug.  10.  The 
company  operates  between  Trenton  and 
Princeton. 

Reduced  Fare  Results 
Disappointing 

City  officials  in  Kalamazoo,  Jackson, 
Battle  Creek  and  Lansing,  where  6-cent 
fares  went  into  effect  on  July  1,  see 
danger  of  a  return  to  higher  fares  as  a 
result  of  reports  submitted  by  the 
Michigan  Railway,  the  operating  com- 
pany, giving  the  total  fares  collected 
during  the  period  of  the  new  fare. 

The  report  will  show  that  during  the 
second  week  of  the  trial  total  fares 
were  smaller  than  in  the  corresponding 
week  a  year  ago.  Greater  use  of  auto- 
mobiles in  spite  of  the  business  depres- 
sion is  considered  the  cause  for  the  de- 
cline in  the  railway  patronage. 

At  the  time  the  reduced  fare  was 
granted  the  four  cities  by  Manager  J.  F. 
Collins,  it  was  intimated  that  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  reduction  must  be  de- 
pendent upon  an  increase  in  fares  col- 
lected and  the  corresponding  increase 
in  the  company's  revenue.  The  cities 
are  determined  to  insist  that  the  lower 
fare  be  continued  until  a  thorough  trial 
has  been  effected.  Competition  by  jit- 
neys is  playing  an  important  part  in 
the  discussions  between  city  and  com- 
pany. 

Lansing,  where  success  was  claimed 
by  city  officials  for  the  first  two  weeks 
of  the  experimental  reduction  in  fares, 
now  has  under  consideration  a  project 
calling  for  the  operation  of  motor  buses 
as  tributary  to  the  electric  lines,  with 
transfer  privileges  from  bus  to  bus  and 
car  to  bus,  or  vice  versa.  This  proposi- 
tion has  been  put  forward  as  one  solu- 
tion to  the  present  jitney  competition, 
for  it  will  enable  the  railway  to  serve 
those  parts  of  the  city  which  are  not 
now  tapped  by  the  car  lines  and  thus 
defeat  one  of  the  chief  sources  of 
strength  of  the  jitneys. 

The  reduction  in  fare  is  from  10  cents 
to  6  cents,  with  nine  tickets  for  50  cents. 
The  cut  in  fares  came  after  the  city 


officials  had  firmly  demanded  some  re- 
duction which  was  granted  by  General 
Manager  Collins  on  June  30.  In  his 
letter  granting  the  reduction  Mr.  Col- 
lins asked  that  the  committee  of  the 
City  Council  having  the  matter  within 
its  jurisdiction  investigate  the  affairs 
of  the  Michigan  Railway,  the  operating 
company,  and  audit  the  books. 


Eight-Cent  Fare  Asked 

Indianapolis  Street  Railway  Sees  in 
This  Rate  Its  Only  Hope- 
Suicide,  Says  City 

The  presentation  by  the  Indianapolis 
Street  Railway  of  a  petition  for  an 
8  cent  fare  with  a  2-cent  transfer,  the 
assertion  by  Samuel  Ashby,  Corpora- 
tion Counsel,  that  "Well,  we're  not  going 
to  have  an  8-cent  fare  in  this  city  if 
we  have  to  turn  the  whole  thing  over 
to  the  jitney  buses,"  and  the  presenta- 
tion by  company  officials  of  a  tale  of 
financial  woes  based  on  a  mass  of  statis- 
tics marked  the  conference  on  July  29 
of  members  of  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission, officials  of  the  city  and  officers 
of  the  company  on  the  street  railway 
situation.  The  conference  lasted  about 
two  hours. 

After  H.  H.  Hornbrook,  attorney,  had 
finished  presenting  the  company's  peti- 
tion for  an  increase  in  fare,  Mr.  Ashby 
said: 

It  occurs  to  me  that  if  the  Indianapolis 
Street  Railway  was  deliberately  trying  to 
ruin  itself  it  couldn't  have  devised  a  better 
scheme  than  such  a  petition  under  such 
conditions  as  we  have  now.  A  fare  such 
as  that  suggested  would  not  have  a  ten- 
dency to  help  this  situation.  Why.  it's 
almost  suicidal.  It  would  effect  an  increase 
in  the  jitney  competition  and  ruin  the 
company. 

Then  Mr.  Ashby  said  there  must  be 
no  such  thing  as  an  8-cent  fare. 

Mr.  Hornbrook  replied  that  there  was 
no  alternative  for  the  company  other 
than  to  ask  for  a  rate  sufficient  to  sup- 
port it.  He  said  jitney  competition  was 
authorized  by  the  city.  Mr.  Ashby  said 
the  Council  had  expressed  the  inten- 
tion of  curbing  the  competition.  Ferdi- 
nand Winter,  also  counsel  for  the  com- 
pany, said  that  since  last  spring  the 
City  Council  had  been  deliberating 
about  what  it  should  do,  and  that  mean- 
while the  company  had  been  losing 
$1,000  a  day. 

The  result  of  the  conference  was  that 
the  commission  took  the  evidence  pre- 
sented to  it  under  advisement  and  re- 
tired. 

Joseph  McGowan,  treasurer  of  the 
company,  was  the  only  witness  on  the 
stand.  He  presented  figures  to  prove 
that  jitney  competition  is  growing 
worse  all  the  time.  He  testified  that 
the  June  business  was  $965.53  be- 
low the  June,  1920,  business  and  that 
the  business  for  July,  1-17  was  $1,102 
a  day  below  that  of  July,  1920. 

For  the  six  months  ended  June  30 
the  company's  earnings  fell  short  by 
$183,000  of  providing  a  7  per  cent  re- 
turn on  $15,000,000. 

The  commission  merely  continued  the 
order  that  now  is  in  effect,  giving  the 
company  a  5-cent  fare,  with  a  2-cent 
charge  for  transfers. 


New  Ohio  Bus  Law  in  Effect 
Aug.  15 

Motor  vehicles  transporting  passen- 
gers for  hire  between  municipalities  in 
Ohio  will  be  subject  to  regulation  as 
public  utilities  beginning  Aug.  15,  on. 
which  date  the  Graham  bill  passed  by 
the  recent  Legislature,  becomes  effec- 
tive. 

Their  classification  as  a  public  utility 
will  require  all  such  lines  to  file  with 
the  Ohio  Public  Utilities  Commission,, 
schedules  of  rates  which  may  not  be 
increased  except  after  thirty  days'  no- 
tice by  publication  and  makes  them  in 
all  respects  subject  to  the  same  control 
as  is  exercised  by  the  commission  over' 
other  public  utilities. 

Hundreds  of  such  lines  are  in  opera- 
tion in  the  State,  using  both  motor 
buses  and  touring  cars,  most  of  them 
operating  in  competition  with  inter- 
urban  and  steam  railroads,  but  here- 
tofore without  any  regulation  whatso- 
ever. 

The  utilities  commission  has  pre- 
pared a  notice  of  the  new  law,  together 
with  suggested  forms  for  filing  sched- 
ules, which  are  being  mailed  out  to 
individuals  and  companies  conducting 
motor  transportation  lines  wherever  the 
commission  learns  of  such  lines  being 
in  operation. 

The  law  will  not  affect  motor  truck 
freight  and  express  lines  operating  on 
highways,  nor  motor  passenger  lines 
operating  within  municipalities. 

Court  Upholds  Seattle's  Right  to 
Regulate  Jitneys 

The  State  Supreme  Court  at  Olym- 
pia,  Wash.,  on  July  20  sustained  the 
right  of  the  city  of  Seattle  to  regulate 
jitney  traffic  on  its  streets.  The  deci- 
sion was  rendered  in  the  rejection  of 
an  appeal  of  H.  P.  McGlothern  against 
dismissal  of  an  injunction  action 
brought  against  the  city  to  restrain 
enforcement  of  the  regulation  ordinance 
under  which  187  applications  for  jitney 
operation  had  been  refused. 

In  the  King  County  Court,  Judge 
Walter  M.  French  had  dismissed  a  tem- 
porary injunction  granted  the  jitney 
operators  pending  final  decision.  The 
Supreme  Court  holds  that  this  contro- 
versy questions  the  city's  power  to  con- 
trol its  streets,  a  power  of  which  there 
can  be  no  doubt  under  a  rule  well  es- 
tablished in  this  State  and  generally. 
The  city  is  held  to  have  had  the  au- 
thority and  to  have  been  engaged  in 
proper  exercise  of  it  at  the  time  injunc- 
tion suit  was  brought. 

The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
makes  valid  the  jitney  ordinance  passed 
by  the  City  Council  in  June  a  year  ago. 
The  decision,  according  to  Corporation 
Counsel  Walter  F.  Meier's  office,  gives 
the  city  the  right  to  place  the  jitneys 
under  restriction,  to  require  all  jitney 
drivers  to  obtain  licenses  and  to  keep 
the  jitneys  off  certain  streets  served  by 
the  Seattle  Municipal  Railway. 

At  the  time  the  ordinance  was  passed, 
the  jitney  drivers  obtained  a  temporary 
restraining  order  that  has  been  in  effect 
for  a  year. 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


225 


Power  Engineers  Together 

Messrs.  Murray  and  Flood  Combine 
Forces  as   Consultants  on  Heavy 
Traction  and  Other  Subjects 

William  S.  Murray,  formerly  chair- 
man of  the  Super-Power  Survey,  and 
Henry  Flood,  Jr.,  formerly  engineer- 
secretary  of  the  Super-Power  Survey, 
have  formed  the  firm  of  Murray  & 
Flood,  Grand  Central  Terminal,  New 
York,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
a  consulting  engineering  practice.  The 
work  to  be  undertaken  will  comprise 
general  power  engineering,  public 
utility  interconnections,  power  plant 
engineering,  both  steam  and  hydro- 
electric, heavy  traction  railroads  and 
industrial  electrification. 

Mr.  Murray  was  for  many  years  the 
chief  electrical  engineer  of  the  New 
York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad. 
His  connection  with  the  road  began  in 
April,  1905,  when  he  secured  the  posi- 
tion of  electrical  engineer,  later  becom- 
ing consulting  engineer  with  the  road 
to  undertake  the  electrification  of  the 
Now  York  division.  The  electrification 
of  the  railroad  with  the  single-phase 
system  was  completed  in  1915  at  a  cost 
of  $25,000,000.  During  the  latter  part 
of  the  time  when  he  was  acting  as 
consulting  engineer  he  was  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  McHenry  &  Murray, 
which  was  formed  in  1913. 

Mr.  Murray  a  Lehigh  Graduate 

In  1917  Mr.  Murray  became  president 
of  the  Hoosatonic  Power  Company, 
which  owned  water  power  sites  of  that 
portion  of  the  Hoosatonic  River  with- 
in the  State  of  Connecticut.  He  was 
also  chief  engineer  of  the  Connecticut 
Power  Company,  which  purchased  the 
company  owning  these  power  sites. 
This  latter  company  has  recently  com- 
pleted the  hydro-electric  station  on  the 
Hoosatonic  known  as  the  Stevenson 
plant,  which  is  one  installation  of  a 
chain  of  developments  which,  when 
completed,  will  make  Connecticut's  con- 
tribution to  conservation  the  saving  of 
500,000  tons  of  coal  annually. 

Mr.  Murray  was  graduated  from 
Lehigh  University  in  1895  with  the 
degree  of  electrical  engineer.  Upon 
graduation  he  went  with  the  Westing- 
house  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, and  during  the  following  seven 
years  successively  passed  through  its 
manufacturing,  testing  and  construc- 
tion departments.  With  the  last-named 
department  he  was  associated  with 
the  first  high-tension  plant  installation 
in  the  State  of  Maine. 

Mr.  Flood  likewise  has  had  previous 
consulting  engineering  practice  in  New 
York  City.  His  most  recent  work  con- 
sists of  an  association  with  Dr.  John 
Price  Jackson  in  conducting  the  power 
survey  for  interconnecting  the  electric 
utilities   companies   of  western  Penn- 


sylvania, eastern  Ohio,  and  northern 
West  Virginia,  and  in  acting  as  engi- 
neer-secretary of  the  Super-Power 
Survey. 

Mr.  Flood  received  his  technical  edu- 
cation at  Cornell  University.  He  was 
for  a  number  of  years  associated  with 
the  electric  utility  industry,  starting 
with  the  Newburgh  Light,  Heat  & 
Power  Company  as  assistant  to  the 
manager  of  the  electrical  department. 
Later  he  was  associated  with  the 
Grand  Central  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany as  power  engineer  and  from 
there  went  to  the  Central  Hudson  Gas 
&  Electric  Company  as  chief  engineer, 
where  he  remained  for  seven  years. 
Following  this  he  was  mechanical 
engineer  for  the  American  Smelting  & 
Refining  Company.  It  was  this  com- 
pany he  left  to  take  up  work  as  a 
consulting  engineer. 


Mr.  McKinley  Attends  Inter- 
parliamentary Union 

William  B.  McKinley,  Senator  from 
Illinois  and  president  of  the  Illinois 
Traction  Company,  Peoria,  has  sailed 
again  on  a  foreign  mission.  He  left 
New  York  on  Aug.  4  on  the  George 
Washington  for  Stockholm  to  attend 
the  nineteenth  conference  of  the  Inter- 
parliamentary union,  composed  of  mem- 
bers of  the  national  legislative  bodies 
of  more  than  twenty  governments  in 
Europe,  Asia  and  America.  The  forth- 
coming meeting  will  be  the  first  since 
1914. 

Mr.  McKinley  has  long  been  a  deep 
student  of  economic  and  political  ques- 
tions and  has  made  himself  an  author- 
ity on  matters  involving  foreign  rela- 
tions. This  is  the  more  unusual  be- 
cause all  the  time  he  has  been  deeply 
concerned  with  the  management  of  his 
banking  interests,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
calls  made  on  his  time  for  advice  and 
help  in  the  administration  of  the  Illinois 
Traction  System,  probably  the  most  ex- 
tensive combined  city  and  interurban 
railway  system  and  lighting  propei-ty  in 
the  country.  Several  years  ago,  Mr. 
McKinley,  accompanied  by  a  party  of 
friends  went  on  a  trip  around  the  world, 
spending  considerable  time  in  the  prin- 
cipal foreign  cities. 


Robert  B.  Rifenberick,  formerly  con- 
sulting engineer  of  the  Detroit  (Mich.) 
United  Railway,  has  been  appointed 
valuation  engineer  of  the  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  Baltimore, 
Md.  Mr.  Rifenberick  was  connected 
with  the  Detroit  United  Railway  from 
1909  until  the  early  part  of  the  pres- 
ent year.  Before  that  he  was  consult- 
ing engineer  of  the  Cleveland  Electric 
Railway  and  previous  to  that  he  was 
engineer  in  charge  of  construction  on 
the  Cleveland  &  Eastern  Railway.  He 
was  long  in  the  services  of  the  steam 


railroads.  He  was  graduated  from  the 
Miami  University  Scientific  Training 
School  in  1885. 

H.  H.  Buckman,  master  mechanic  of 
the  Interstate  Public  Service  Company, 
Indianapolis,  Ind.,  has  tendered  his 
resignation  effective  Sept.  1,  1921. 
After  severing  his  present  connection, 
he  will  represent  the  United  Lead  Com- 
pany in  the  Middle  West,  with  head- 
quarters at  Indianapolis.  Mr.  Buck- 
man  has  been  with  the  Interstate 
organization  for  seventeen  years,  and  his 
energy  and  thorough  knowledge  of  his 
department  have  materially  assisted  in 
bringing  the  traction  system  of  the 
company  to  its  present  high  state  of 
efficiency.  Mr.  Buckman's  successor 
has  not  yet  been  appointed. 

Captain  George  F.  Daggett  has 
been  appointed  secretary  to  George 
McAneny,  chairman  of  the  Transit 
Commission.  Captain  Daggett  became 
chief  clerk  of  the  old  Public  Service 
Commission  soon  after  it  was  organ- 
ized in  1907.  Nine  years  later  he  was 
appointed  assistant  secretary.  He 
joined  the  war  forces  in  1917,  was  com- 
missioned as  captain  and  attached  to 
the  Army  Intelligence  Department  in 
Washington.  After  the  armistice  he 
returned  to  the  commission  as  chief  of 
the  Transit  Bureau.  He  resigned  in 
1920.  The  Transit  Commission  is 
seeking  to  bring  back  to  the  service 
men  whose  ability  has  been  proved. 

Louis  T.  Klauder  recently  resigned 
from  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Company  as  construction  engineer  to 
enter  the  consulting  engineering  field. 
Mr.  Klauder  was  graduated  from  the 
Williamson  School  in  1901  and  from  the 
Drexel  Institute  in  mechanical  and 
electrical  engineering  in  1908.  He  en- 
tered the  engineering  department  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Iron  Works  in  1901, 
later  resigning  to  become  associated 
with  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Company  in  1905.  With  the  latter 
company  he  occupied  in  turn  positions 
of  draftsman,  chief  draftsman,  assist- 
ant engineer  and  construction  engineer 
in  charge  of  plant  design  and  construc- 
tion. From  the  last-named  position  he 
has  just  retired  in  order  to  devote  his 
entire  time  to  consulting  work. 

C.  A.  Baxter  has  been  appointed  su- 
perintendent of  transportation  of  Chi- 
cago &  Oak  Park  Elevated  Railways, 
Chicago,  to  succeed  H.  G.  Harding,  who 
resigned  to  become  general  superinten- 
dent, Chicago  &  Interurban  Traction 
Company.  Mr.  Baxter  has  been  train- 
master of  the  Oak  Park  "L"  since  1912. 
He  began  work  in  the  electric  railway 
field  as  a  train  clerk  on  the  Metropoli- 
tan West  Side  Elevated  Railroad,  Chi- 
cago, in  1895.  A  year  later  he  became  a 
motorman  on  the  same  road,  continu- 
ing until  he  was  made  trainmaster  of 
the  Oak  Park  line  in  1912.  His  early 
experience  in  the  railroad  field  began 
when  he  was  fifteen  years  old  as  a 
telegraph  operator  and  station  agent 
on  the  Springfield-Sandusky  (Ohio) 
branch  of  what  is  now  the  Big  Four 
Railroad,  and  later  on  the  Burlington 
Railroad,  in  Nebraska  and  Kansas. 


226 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


J.    G.  HUNTOON 


Management  Localized 

Greater   Individual   Responsibility  to 
Cities  Will  Hereafter  Devolve  on 
Tri-City  Officials 

The  Tri-City  Railway,  Davenport, 
Iowa,  has  undergone  a  sweeping  reor- 
ganization of  its  personnel  to  the  extent 
that  it  will  divide  the  detailed  man- 
agement of  the  railway  in  Iowa  and 
Illinois,  localizing  the  interests  in  an 
endeavor  to  get  into  closer  personal 
touch  with  the  various  communities. 
This  is  the  first  step  in  a  general  reor- 
ganization of  the  system  and  a  general 
realignment  of  the  present  personnel. 

J.  G.  Huntoon,  general  manager  of 
the  Tri-City  Railway  since  1908, 
and  now  a  vice-president  of  the 
company,  retired  from  the  active 
capacity  of  manager  on  Aug.  1.  T. 
C.  Roderick,  present  assistant  general 
manager,  has  become  general  managet 
of  the  Tri-City  Railway  of  Illinois.  R. 
J.  Smith,  formerly  superintendent  of 
overhead  construction,  has  become  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Tri-City  Railway 
of  Iowa,  and  Clark  G.  Anderson,  assist- 
ant general  manager  of  the  interurban 
lines,  has  become  general  manager.  E. 
L.  Fischer,  general  manager  of  the 
Muscatine  Lighting  Company,  becomes 
general  manager  of  the  Muscatine  rail- 
way lines.  These  promotions  and 
changes  were  referred  to  briefly  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  July  23. 

This  reorganization  means  the  local- 


T.  C.  Roderick 


izing  of  lines  in  Illinois,  Davenport, 
Muscatine  and  the  interurban  lines 
under  existing  heads,  in  order  that 
greater  efficiency  may  be  obtained  in 
the  way  of  relieving  the  main  office  of 
much  detail.  Each  line  will  be  placed 
under  a  separate  head  and  all  books 
will  be  kept  in  the  respective  offices 
for  that  line. 

Mr.  Huntoon  has  desired  for  some 
time  to  relinquish  his  duties,  but  his 
resignation  was  refused  by  President 
B.  J.  Denman,  because  Mr.  Huntoon's 
services  were  considered  necessary  to 
the  successful  working  out  of  certain 
matters.  The  change  that  has  now 
been  brought  about  is  merely  the  con- 
summation of  a  long  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  general  manager  to  be  relieved 
of  detail  work,  in  order  to  be  free  to 
put  into  effect  broad  principles  ad- 
vanced by  him  for  establishing  closer 
personal  touch  with  the  three  cities. 

Mr.  Huntoon  is  by  no  means  sever- 
ing all  connection  with  the  line,  for 
he  will  remain  as  vice-president  of  the 
company.  He  is  a  railway  operator 
who  has  come  through  all  phases  of 


R.  J.  Smith 


the  work  to  general  manager.  In 
recording  Mr.  Huntoon's  life  history, 
one  Davenport  newspaper  says  that 
thirty-three  years  ago  he  set  out  one 
morning  looking  for  a  job.  A  gang 
was  at  work  laying  track  for  the 
Davenport  &  Rock  Island  Railway,  the 
pioneer  horse-car  line  of  that  city. 
John  Huntoon  was  hired  as  a  water 
boy,  and  he  later  became  timekeeper, 
then  cashier,  and  in  1895  succeeded 
Henry  Schnitzer  as  superintendent. 
In  1908  Mr.  Huntoon  stepped  up  an- 
other rung  when  he  became  general 
manager  and  vice-president  of  the  Tri- 
City  Railway,  succeeding  James  F. 
Lardner,  who  retired.  He  has  held 
that  position  continuously  since. 

Mr.  Roderick,  the  new  general  man- 
ager of  the  Rock  Island  and  Moline 
line,  is  backed  by  twenty-five  years' 
experience  in  traction  operation.  He 
went  to  the  Tri-City  in  March,  1918, 
from  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  where  he 
was  engineer  of  the  Grand  Rapids  Rail- 
way for  eleven  years.  Previous  to  that 
time  he  had  been  connected  with  the 
Citizens'  Street  Railway,  Detroit,  and 
with  the  Indianapolis  Street  Railway. 


c.  G.  A 


R.  J.  Smith,  who  becomes  the  new 
general  manager  of  the  Davenport 
line,  went  to  Davenport  in  1911  as 
assistant  construction  engineer  of  the 
Clinton,  Davenport  &  Muscatine  Rail- 
way. At  the  completion  of  this  interur- 
ban, Mr.  Smith  became  engineer  of  way 
and  structure  for  the  Tri-City  Railway 
and  since  the  year  1918  he  has  acted  in 
this  capacity  for  all  of  the  properties 
controlled  by  the  United  Light  &  Rail- 
way. 

Mr.  Anderson,  the  new  general  man- 
ager of  the  Clinton,  Davenport  & 
Muscatine  Railway,  had  been  assistant 
general  of  the  property  since  1914. 
For  the  four  years  prior  to  his  con- 
nection with  the  railway  he  was  the 
commissioner  of  public  works  of 
Moline,  having  been  in  the  service  of 
the  city  as  city  engineer  from  1905 
until  1910.  Mr.  Anderson  was  born  in 
Moline,  111.,  in  1873.  While  in  the 
University  of  Illinois  he  specialized  in 
civil  engineering  and  was  graduated 
wth  the  class  of  1898.  During  the  suc- 
ceeding seven  years  until  he  became 
city  engineer  of  Moline,  he  was  in  a 
general  engineering  practice  in  Peoria, 
111. 

Mr.  Fischer,  the  new  general  man- 
ager of  the  Muscatine  division  of  the 
company,  retains  his  position  as  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Muscatine  Light- 
ing Company,  to  which  he  was  ap- 
pointed in  1918.  Mr.  Fischer  is  a 
young  man  who  has  risen  rapidly  to 


August  6,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


227 


the  top.  His  first  position,  involving 
some  real  responsibility,  was  with  the 
Fort  Dodge  Gas  &  Electric  Company 
as  electrical  superintendent.  Although 
he  took  this  position  in  the  fall  of  1917 
he  was  promoted  to  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  same  company  in  the 
spring  of  1918.  In  August,  1918,  he 
resigned  to  become  general  manager 
of  the  Muscatine  Lighting  Company. 

Mr.  Fischer  entered  the  Iowa  State 
College  in  1908  and  was  graduated  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  in 
Electrical  Engineering  with  the  class 
of  1912.  His  first  railway  connection 
was  with  the  Fort  Dodge,  Des  Moines 
&  Southern  Railroad,  whose  employ  he 
entered  in  April,  1912,  as  general  store- 
keeper. In  the  fall  of  that  year,  how- 
ever, he  severed  his  connection  with 
the  railway  in  order  that  he  might  take 
up  experimental  work  at  the  Iowa 
State  College  for  a  few  months.  In 
November,  1912,  he  entered  the  employ 
of  the  Fort  Dodge  Gas  &  Electric 
Company  as  a  meter  man  and  in  two 
years  he  was  advanced  to  superin- 
tendent of  electrical  distribution.  Mr. 
Fischer  received  the  degree  of  electrical 
engineer  from  Iowa  State  College. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Obituary 

George  W.  Edwards 

George  W.  Edwards,  president  of  the 
Brooklyn  (N.  Y.)  Rapid  Transit  Em- 
ployees' Benefit  Association,  died  on 
July  30  following  an  operation.  In 
many  respects  Mr.  Edwards  was  a  very 
unusual  man.  He  had  a  positive  genius 
for  handling  men  and  it  was  for  this 
reason  that  he  was  appointed  by  the 
company  in  charge  of  its  welfare  activi- 
ties at  the  inception  of  that  work. 
"Pop"  Edwards  was  the  sobriquet  ap- 
plied to  Mr.  Edwards  by  the  men  on  the 
B.  R.  T.  This  title  was  well  chosen  for 
Mr.  Edwards  was  in  many  ways  a 
father  to  the  thousands  on  the  system. 
At  his  office  at  the  main  club  house  of 
the  company  in  East  New  York  the  men 
came  to  Mr.  Edwards  for  succor  and 
advice  on  all  sorts  of  questions  and  they 
found  in  him  a  most  sympathetic  coun- 
selor. He  had  come  up  from  the  ranks 
himself  and  had  never  lost  the  common 
touch  and  the  men  knew  that  what 
George  Edwards  told  them  he  told  them 
from  deep  convictions  of  his  own. 

Mr.  Edwards  started  is  as  a  brake- 
man  on  the  elevated  lines  in  New  York. 
He  went  to  work  for  the  elevated  in 
Brooklyn  as  a  train  dispatcher  when 
the  first  elevated  railroad  was  opened 
there  in  1885.  Later  he  was  made  su- 
perintendent and  then  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  Brooklyn  elevated.  In 
May,  1904,  he  was  made  secretary  of 
the  Employees'  Benefit  Association. 
Shortly  afterward  he  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  association.  When  the 
pension  department  was  organized  in 
1910  Mr.  Edwards  was  made  secretary 
and  member  of  the  board  of  pensions. 
In  1912  he  was  appointed  welfare  ad- 
ministrator of  the  entire  property.  Mr. 
Edwards  was  born  in  New  York  City 
sixty-six  years  ago. 


Buy  Coal  Now! 

Letter  From   Secretary   of  Commerce 
Advises  the  Buying  of  Coal  as 
Soon  as  Possible 

The  Secretary  of  Commerce  made 
public  on  July  18  the  text  of  a  letter 
chat  he  has  addressed  to  all  the  public 
utility  associations.    The  letter  reads: 

I  would  like  to  call  the  attention  of 
your  association  to  the  bituminous  coal 
outlook.  There  is  every  indication  that 
there  has  been  an  undue  slackness  in  the 
purchase  of  coal,  which  may  accumulate  to 
large  demands  in  the  autumn.  I  am  con- 
vinced that,  due  to  the  general  depression, 
the  prices  of  bituminous  coal  at  the  mines 
are  not  too  high  at  the  present  time.  This, 
I  think,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  numbers 
of  operating  coal  companies  are  making  no 
profit  whatever.  If  there  should  be  a  re- 
covery of  business  activities  in  the  autumn, 
taken  in  conjunction  with  the  large  increase 
in  percentage  of  disabled  cars  (from  5  per 
cent  to  16  per  cent  during  the  past  six 
months)  and  the  inability  of  the  railways 
to  finance  their  maintenance,  there  are 
possibilities  of  development  of  a  most  seri- 
ous situation  as  regards  coal  movement. 

I  cannot  but  feel  that  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  in  the  face  of  warnings 
they  have  sent  out  in  this  connection 
would  not  be  disposed  to  give  any  priority 
in  such  an  event.  It  seems  to  me,  there- 
fore, to  be  obvious  that  the  public  utility 
companies,  both  in  their  own  interests  and 
in  the  protection  of  the  public,  should  make 
early  provision  for  stocks  of  coal  sufficient 
to  carry  them  over  a  critical  period. 


cheap  at  its  present  low  price  of  26 
cents,  but  buying  interest  has  not  re- 
acted as  yet.  Zinc  is  a  shade  firmer, 
and  though  sales  are  still  quiet,  pro- 
ducers are  not  pressing  to  sell. 


Metal  Market  Unfavorable 

The  copper  market  situation  is  far 
from  favorable.  Prices  are  i  cent 
lower  than  when  last  quoted.  Pressure 
to  sell  by  outside  interests  is  held  re- 
sponsible for  the  weaker  prices,  but 
even  large  producers  have  lowered 
their  quotations  to  12.75  cents  for 
August  shipment.  With  small  pro- 
ducers copper  is  available  at  12.50  cents 
delivered  for  August  and  12.25  for 
prompt  shipment.  Consumers  have  not 
reacted  to  these  lower  prices,  however; 
in  fact,  as  selling  interests  become 
more  anxious  to  unload  buyers  hold  off 
all  the  more.  It  is  stated  that  as  low 
a  price  as  12.12i  cents  per  pound  de- 
livered has  been  made  by  second  hands. 
Wire  base  has  dropped  i  cent  to  14  to 
14.50  cents. 

The  Copper  Export  Association  on 
Aug.  15  called  in  for  redemption 
$1,000,000  of  its  8  per  cent  gold  notes, 
series  A,  due  Feb.  15,  1922.  The 
securities  to  be  redeemed  represent 
about  10,000,000  lb.  of  copper. 

The  value  of  non-ferrous  scrap 
metals  recovered  in  1920,  according  to 
the  Geological  Survey,  amounted  to 
$188,507,260,  or  $6,666,000  more  than 
in  1919.  Copper  recovered  in  1920, 
including  that  in  alloys  other  than 
brass,  had  a  value  of  $48,060,800,  com- 
pared with  $41,812,000  the  preceding 
year.  In  the  same  period  brass  scrap 
remelted  increased  from  $75,944,100  in 
1919  to  $77,454,000  last  year. 

The  lead  market  is  quiet  with  prices 
steady.    Tin  has  dropped  again  and  is 


Insulator  Market  Active 

Demand  for  High-Tension  Insulators  Is 
Falling  Off,  But  Previous  Orders 
Keep  Manufacturers  Busy 

Production  of  high-tension  insulators 
is  still  at  full  capacity  throughout  the 
industry,  but  as  deliveries  are  being 
made  faster  than  orders  are  received, 
it  is  a  question  just  how  long  this  will 
hold  true.  One  of  the  large  producers, 
for  instance,  has  enough  business  on 
hand  to  keep  going  full  time  for  two 
months,  though  it  is  admitted  there  is 
not  a  whole  lot  in  sight  after  that  time. 
Deliveries  have  been  steadily  improv- 
ing and  now  range  from  about  four 
to  six  weeks  on  suspension  types  and 
four  to  eight  weeks  on  pin-type  insu- 
lators, depending  upon  the  voltage.  No 
stock  has  yet  been  accumulated  on  the 
high-tension  types,  but  on  low  and 
medium  voltages  there  has  been  some 
accumulation.  Very  few  orders  are 
being  received  from  electric  railways, 
but  there  are  quite  a  number  from 
central  power  stations.  These  latter 
orders,  however,  are  small  in  size. 


Lamp  Production  Still  Low 

Production  of  lamps  has  been  show- 
ing a  falling  off  during  the  last  few 
months.  From  reports  on  factory  oper- 
ation it  would  seem  that  production 
now  is  on  a  basis  of  about  65  to  70 
per  cent  of  capacity,  and  when  it  comes 
time  for  the  two  weeks  summer  shut- 
down of  those  factories  which  expect 
to  close  it  is  probable  this  term  will 
be  extended  a  week  or  so. 

Although  factory  lamp  stocks  are 
pretty  large,  there  are  a  few  signs  that 
point  to  a  possible  reduction.  There 
has  been  a  noticeable  pick-up  in  activ- 
ity among  the  textile  mills  in  New 
England,  although  the  metal  industries 
there  and  in  general  are  still  dull.  The 
longest  days  of  the  year  are  a  month 
and  more  behind  us  and  the  earlier 
evenings  are  already  noticeable.  From 
some  quarters  it  is  reported  that  lamp 
distributors  have  been  cutting  down  on 
their  lamp  orders  to  a  greater  degree 
than  their  lamp  sales  have  dropped  off, 
indicating  a  reduction  of  their  stocks. 
If  this  is  so,  their  orders,  it  seems, 
should  soon  begin  to  increase  in  size. 
Of  course,  the  lighting  load  on  central 
stations  shows  a  decrease  throughout 
the  summer  months  this  year  as  well 
as  in  the  past,  and  in  addition  the  in- 
dustrial depression  has  kept  many 
lamps  dark. 


228 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  6 


Rolling  Stock 


Elmira  Water,  Light  &  Railroad  ^"m- 
pany,  Elmira,  N.  Y„  has  received  the  eight 
safety  ears  which  were  ordered  some  time 
ago  from  the  Osgood-Bradley  Car  Company. 

The  Columbus  <Ga.)  Railroad  has  or- 
dered four  new  cars  for  delivery  about 
Oct.  1.  These  cars  are  of  a  similar  type 
to  those  already  in  service. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company,  Eos 
\ngeles,  Cal.,  lias  recently  purchased  some 
additional  Birney  safety  cars  for  extend- 
ing its  service.  This  company  now  has 
sixty-nine  Birney  safety  cars  in  operation 
on  its  local  lines. 

The  New  Orleans  Railway  Si  Light  Com- 
pany, New  Orleans,  La,,  has  ordered  400 
Xichols-Lintern  mechanical  sander  equip- 
ments. These  will  be  installed  on  cars 
already  in  service  in  order  to  comply  with 
the  laws  recently  passed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  Louisiana. 

Detroit  (Mich.)  Municipal  Railway,  men- 
tioned in  the  July  23  and  other  issues  as 
purchasing  100  safety  cars  on  July  12, 
lias  issued  the  following  data  on  these 
cars. 

Number  of  cars  ordered   ...... .  .100 

Date  of  order  July  12.  19il 

Delivery  Approximately  three  months 

f  25   McGuire-Cummings   Mfg.  Ct 
Builder   -1  50  St.  Louis  Car  Company 

I  25  Osgood-Bradley  Car  Company 

Type  of  Car  ^^J? 

Seating  capacity  •  ■  ■  •  , 

Weight,  total  16.000  lb. 

Truck  wheelbase  8  ft. 

Interior  trim  Cherry 

Headlining  Agasote 

"Roof  Arch 

Air  brakes  Westinghouse-  DH1  6 

Axles   4  In- 

Bumpers  6  in  Channel  section 

Car  signal  system  Faraday 

Oar  trimmings  Statuary  Bronze 

Control   K  63 

Curtain  fixtures.  .  .Curtain  Supply  Company 

Curtain  material  O'Bannon  076 

Designation  signs  Keystone 

Fare  boxes  Johnson 

Fenders  or  wheelguards  H.B. 

Gears  and  pinions.  .  .  .  Westinghouse  Helical 

Heater  Equipment  Cutler-Hammer 

Headlights  Golden  Glow  No.  96 

Lightning  arresters  Westinghouse 

Motors  Westinghouse  508 

Paint .  Sherwin-Williams,  Old  Dutch  Enamel 
Registers.  ...  International.  R7  Air  operated 

Sanders  Osgood-Bradley  traps 

Sash  fixtures  Howard  &  Edwards 

Seats  Manufacturers'  Standard 

Seating'  material  Wood  Slats 

Step  treads  Feralun 

Trolley  catchers  or  retrievers  

Ohio  Brass  Company 

Trolley  base  Ohio  Brass  Company 

Trolley  wheels  or  shoes  Ideal  4  J  in. 

Trucks  Manufacturers'  Standard 

Ventilators  Manufacturers'  Standard 

Wheels  Steel.  26  in. 

Special  devices,  etc  

Nichols-Lintern  duplex  tail  lights 
Center  lighting  

Electric  Service  Supplies  Company 
Fixtures  and  opal  shade 


Track  and  Roadway 


Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis  &  Eastern 
Traction  Company,  Indianapolis  Ind.,  re- 
cently prevented  the  City  Council  from 
awarding  a  contract  for  the  improvement 
of  Seminary  Street  as  had  been  contem- 
plated owing  to  the  surrender  of  its 
franchise  under  which  it  operates  through 
Grecncastle,  Ind.  The  street  will  be  re- 
advertised  and  the  contract  probably 
awarded  in  August.  The  traction  company's 
line  runs  through  the  city  over  Seminary 
Street. 

Indiana  Service  Corporation,  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind..  will  not  build  the  much-needed  new 
line  to  the  thickly  populated  northwest  sec- 
tion of  Fort  Wayne  owing  to  the  fact  that 
remonstrators  have  been  successful  in  kill- 
ing the  proposed  paving  of  the  street  over 
which  the  line  was  to  run.  It  was  the  plan 
of  the  traction  company  to  install  the  new 
line  when  the  street  was  improved,  and 
in  a  letter  to  the  board  of  public  works 
recently  the  company  explained  that  it  will 
lie  impossible  to  lay  the  proposed  double 
track  unless  the  street  is  widened.  Now 
an  effort  is  being  made  by  the  councilman 
from  this  particular  section  to  get  through 
a  petition  for  the  widening  of  the  street. 
The  proposed  route  is  down  Franklin  Ave- 


nue from  the  end  of  the  Huffman  car  line 
to  Third  Street  and  thence  west. 

Detroit  (3Iich.)  United  Railway  has 
notified  the  Pontiac  City  Planning-  Com- 
mission that  rebuilding  of  trolley  lines  in 
that  city,  removing  the  third  track  from 
Saginaw  Street  and  double  tracking  the 
northwestern  division  in  that  city  is  very 
doubtful.  The  expense  would  total  about 
$300,000.  General  Manager  Burdick  an- 
nounces that  adequate  repairs  are  being 
considered. 

Seattle  (Wash.)  Municipal  Street  Rail- 
way, has  had  the  approval  of  the  Council 
in  its  extension  and  betterment  plan.  Re- 
cently by  a  vote  of  five  to  four,  the  Coun- 
cil adopted  a  report  adding  the  extension 
of  the  Beacon  Hill  car  line  at  a  cost  of 
$100,000  to  the  bill  providing  for  the  is- 
suance of  $1,330,000  of  railway  utility 
bonds. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 

Southern  Pacific  Company,  Oakland,  Cal., 

has  prepared  specifications  for  a  new  sta- 
tion and  for  rearrangement  of  tracks  after 
learning  that  private  plans  for  building 
a  combination  office  building  and  station 
at  Franklin  and  Fourteenth  Streets  could 
riot  be  financed.  The  plans  call  for  a 
building  on  Thirteenth  Street  midway  in 
the  block  and  for  the  removal  of  the  small 
buildings  now  there. 

Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Portland,  Ore.,  has  recently  placed 
in  operation  in  its  East  Lincoln  Street  sta- 
tion, the  largest  turbo-electric  generator 
in  this  territory.  The  generator  is  a  Gen- 
eral Electric  Curtis  turbo  type.  The  gen- 
erator has  a  rated  capacity  of  12,500  kw. 
Wood  waste  will  be  used  as  fuel,  but  fuel 
oil  can  be  used  if  necessary. 

.Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  has  bought  the 
plant  site  of  the  Pelton  Steel  Company, 
Kinnickianic  Avenue,  Milwaukee,  for  the 
extension  of  its  carhouse  and  shops. 


Trade  Notes 


The  Shire  Electrical  Products  Company, 
Marquette  Building,  Detroit,  has  developed 
a  "Startometer"  for  measuring  storage  bat- 
tery output  under  load. 

The  Whiting  Corporation,  Harvey,  111., 
has  developed  its  "short-turn  overhead 
trolley  system"  for  material  handling  em- 
ploying short-radius  curves,  switches,  cut- 
outs, etc. 

The  Automatic  Reclosing  Circuit  Breaker 
Company,  Columbus,  Ohio,  announces  the 
opening  of  an  office  at  110  Hale  Street, 
Charleston,  W.  Va.,  with  Donald  J.  Baker 
as  manager. 

The  Griscom-Russell  Company,  90  West 
Street,  New  -York  City,  has  recently  placed 
on  the  market  its  low-pressure  expansion 
joint  known  as  the  G-R  type  "C." 

The  Permutit's  Water  Softening  Patent 
Upheld. — In  a  suit  in  equity  by  Permutit 
Company,  440  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York 
City,  against  the  Harvey  Laundry  Com- 
pany, a  user  of  the  apparatus  in  ques- 
tion, and  the  Refinite  Company,  inventor 
and  manufacturer  thereof,  to  enjoin  in- 
fringements of  letters  patent  No.  1.195,923. 
Judge  Hazel  on  June  15,  in  the  United 
States  District  Court.  Western  District  of 
New  York,  handed  down  a  decision  in  favor 
of  the  Permutit  Company. 

The  Wheel  Truing  Brake  Shoe  Company, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  recently  celebrated  its 
twenty-third  anniversary  as  a  company. 
It  has  also  enlarged  its  factory  space  by 
the  erection  of  a  new  plant  into  which 
the  business  has  been  moved.  This  change 
has  at  least  quadrupled  facilities  for  man- 
ufacturing Wheel  Truing  Brake  Shoes,  it 
is  stated.  Business  is  not  as  large  in 
volume  as  in  the  first  half  of  last  year,  but 
though  orders  are  smaller  individually,  they 
are  reported  to  be  greater  in  number. 
Most  customers  specify  immediate  ship- 
ments, it  is  said,  indicating  that  reserve 
stocks  are  low.  Foreign  business  on  this 
particular  product  has  been  light,  though 
shipments  have  recently  been  made  to 
Melbourne,  Australia  and  Honolulu,  T.  H. 

The  Buffalo  Forge  Company,  Buffalo,  N. 
Y.,  is  now  pushing  construction  to  remodel 
the  entire  fan  shop.  This  shop,  when  com- 
pleted, will  be  one  of  the  largest  fan  shops 
in  the  United  States,  covering  64,235  sq.ft. 
including  23,873  sq.ft.  of  assembling  gal- 
leries. While  this  extension  is  in  progress 
production  continues  without  interruption, 


and  when  it  is  completed  all  fan  construc- 
tion will  be  accomplished  with  a  minimum 
handling.  The  material  racks  are  served 
by  an  electric  railway  truck  with  automa- 
tic lift  platform. 

American  Di-Electrics,  Ltd.,  71  West 
Broadway,  New  York  City,  announces  that 
the  address  of  E.  A.  Thornwell,  its  Atlanta 
(Ga.)  distributer,  has  been  changed  from 
Atlanta  Trust  Building  to  Candler  Building. 

Charles  S.  Crowell,  Philadelphia  manager 
of  the  Underfeed  Stoker  Company  of 
America,  left  the  latter's  employ  on  July  1. 
Mr.  Crowell  has  no  definite  plans  for  the 
future,  it  is  stated  but  after  a  short  vaca- 
tion will  remain  actively  in  the  combustion 
field. 

The  International  Western  Electric  Com- 
pany, 195  Broadway,  New  York  City,  an- 
nounces that  E.  C.  Richardson,  who  has 
been  manager  of  the  Western  Electric  Com- 
pania  Italiana  at  Rome  and  Milan  since 
1910,  and  who  also  saw  foreign  trade  serv- 
ice at  Antwerp  has  been  transferred  to 
Peking,  China,  as  general  manager  of  the 
China  Electric  Company — the  Far  Eastern 
subsidiary  of  the  American  electrical  con- 
cern. He  succeeds  C.  H.  Minor,  who  has 
supervised  the  operations  of  the  China  Elec- 
tric Company  ever  since  it  started  business 
early  in  1918.  Mr.  Minor  is  returning  to 
the  European  organization  of  the  Interna- 
tional company  and  will  make  his  head- 
quarters at  London. 

Cie  J.  G.  Brill,  Paris,  France,  which  was 
organized  in  1908  for  the  distribution  of 
the  products  of  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company, 
Philadelphia,  in  Spain,  France  and  Algeria, 
has  expanded  its  territory  to  include  Bel- 
gium. Italy,  Switzerland  and  Luxembourg. 
The  facilities  of  the  company  were  also 
recently  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  new 
forge,  machine  and  assembly  shops  and 
store  rooms  at  Gallardon,  40  miles  from 
Paris.  C.  B.  Dubbleman,  19  Rue  du  Par- 
nasse,  Brussels,  who  has  heretofore  been 
the  J.  G.  Brill  Company's  agent  in  Belgium 
and  Holland,  will  continue  as  its  represen- 
tative in  Holland,  but  will  represent  Cie 
J.  G.  Brill  in  Belgium.  Giovanni  Chechetti, 
Piaza  Sicilia  1,  Milan,  will  continue  to 
handle  the  Brill  products  in  Italy,  but  as 
the  representative  of  Cie  J.  G.  Brill. 

The  Nichols-Lintern  Company,  Cleveland. 
Ohio,  manufacturer  of  car  ventilators,  Sand- 
ers indicating  signals,  etc.,  reports  several 
recent  sizable  orders  for  mechanical  sanders, 
among  which  are  fifty-two  equipments  for 
the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Electric  Company  ; 
400  equipments  for  the  New  Orleans  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  (both  of  these  orders 
including  hoppers  and  all  accessories),  and 
150  equipments  for  the  Massachusetts 
Northeastern  Street  Railway.  Orders  have 
also  been  received  from  three  other  traction 
companies  and  two  steel  companies  recently. 
Since  Jan.  1,  1921,  it  is  stated,  a  total  of 
550  N-L  indicating  signals  have  been  speci- 
fied and  ordered.  The  Railway  &  Power 
Engineering  Corporation,  Ltd.  Toronto, 
Canada,  which  manufactures  and  sells 
Nichols-Lintern  products  in  Canadian  terri- 
tory, has  recently  received  orders  for  200 
equipments  of  N-L  indicating  signals  from 
the  Toronto  Transportation  Commission  and 
for  2.000  N-L  ventilators  from  the  Canadian 
Car  &  Foundry  Company. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


"Phono-Electric"  Trolley  Wire. — Bulletin 
No.  15,  the  June  1921  issue  of  "Phono- 
Electric."  published  irregularly  by  the 
Bridgeport  Brass  Company,  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  is  printed  in  French.  It  is  being 
distributed  among  the  electric  railway 
trade  in  France. 

The  R.  Thomas  &  Sons  Company,  East 
Liverpool,  Ohio,  manufacturer  of  porcelain 
insulators,  etc.,  has  just  issued  a  new  cata- 
log on  "Standard  Electrical  Porcelain" 
which  includes  a  number  of  interesting 
features.  Dimensions  of  the  various  prod- 
ucts are  given  in  both  inches  and  milli- 
meters, export  as  well  as  domestic  shipping 
weights  are  included  and  a  code  word  for 
each  item  is  listed. 

J.  G.  Brill  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
has  issued  Volume  11,  No.  12,  of  the  Brill 
magazine,  dated  June,  1921.  This  is  the 
second  copy  of  this  publication  to  be  is- 
sued since  May,  1918,  the  first  having  ap- 
peared in  June,  1920.  The  general  adop- 
tion of  the  safety  car  has  standardized 
equipment  to  such  an  extent  that  there  is 
less  interesting  material  available  for  pub- 
lication, and  hence  the  magazine  at  pres- 
ent appears  only  occasionally.  The  current 
issue  describes  cars  recently  shipped  to 
Brazil,  South  Africa  and  Cuba,  as  well  as 
gasoline-driven  motor  omnibuses  and  trail- 
ers made  by  the  company. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


U.XKRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS,  Managing  Editor 

N.  A.BOWERS.Paclflc  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SO.UIER.  Associate  Editor 
G.J.MACMUBBAY.Newi  Editor  DONALD  F. HI NE. Editorial  Representative 

L.W.W.MORROW.Speclal  Editorial  Representative 


C.W. STOCKS.  Associate  Editor 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  August  13,  1921 


Number  7 


Progress  in  the 

Accident  Situation  x>  * n  , 

WHILE  one  often  hears  that  there  has  been  a  great 
increase  in  the  number  of  electric  railway  acci- 
dents because  of  the  increase  in  automobiles  and  the 
many  reckless  automobile  drivers,  there  is  cheer  in  the 
study  of  accidents  in  Chicago  which  appears  elsewhere 
in  this  issue.  There  it  is  shown  that  while  the  number 
of  accidents  is  increasing  substantially,  the  number  of 
accidents  per  100  automobiles  registered  and  per  100,000 
street  car-miles  operated  is  showing  a  healthy  decrease. 
In  other  words,  the  effort  that  is  being  expended  so 
generally  to  prevent  accidents  is  really  bearing  some 
fruit.  Automobile  drivers  and  motormen  are  evidently 
becoming  more  careful,  or  perhaps  more  experienced  in 
anticipating  trouble  and  thus  avoiding  it. 

The  great  need  in  furthering  this  showing  seems  to  be 
a  better,  more  readily  usable  system  of  filing  accident 
report  data  both  by  railway  companies  and  by  the 
courts,  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  to  the  limit  against 
those  few  careless  or  reckless  drivers  for  whose  trans- 
gressions everyone  must  suffer,  and  vigorous  steps  to 
protect  the  interests  of  the  general  public  in  the  use  of 
the  streets  and  highways.  The  record  system  for  elec- 
tric railways  suggested  by  R.  F.  Kelker,  Jr.,  in  the 
article  referred  to,  appears  to  be  a  very  effective  way  of 
handling  this  detail  and  is  worthy  of  special  study. 
Anything  that  can  be  done  to  aid  in  visualizing  the 
accident  problems  and  in  analyzing  causes,  should 
receive  immediate  consideration.  The  plan  proposed  not 
only  does  these  things,  but  it  involves  practically  no 
expense — which  is  an  especial  appeal  in  these  times. 


City  Railways  as 

Carload  Freight  Distributers 

CITY  railways  have  often  been  proposed  as  dis- 
tributers of  freight  over  the  areas  which  they  reach. 
But  such  propositions  have  usually  included  only  l.c.l. 
or  package  freight,  the  railway  taking  the  place  of  the 
present  trucking  concerns  to  a  certain  extent.  Or,  if 
carload  freight  was  meant,  it  was  assumed  that  the 
consignee  would  have  to  pay  the  local  railway  a  switch- 
ing and  delivery  charge  in  addition  to  the  trunk-line 
charge. 

That  there  are  possibilities  beyond  this,  which  may 
be  of  real  value  to  electric  railways,  is  at  least 
deducible  from  some  decisions  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  affecting  the  Kansas  City  Railways. 
An  article  in  this  issue  relates  the  history  of  a  freight 
service  development  there  and  how  the  commission  has 
finally  granted  to  consignees  on  this  particular  branch 
of  the  Kansas  City  Railways  the  same  freight  rate 
that  applies  to  the  trunk-line  delivery  district.  The 
significance  of  an  extension  of  this  policy,  for  which 
this  case  may  be  a  satisfactory  precedent,  is  very  real. 
If  consignees  located  at  any  point  on  the  city  railway 
are  granted  the  same  carload  freight  rates  as  those 


in  the  trunk-line  switching  district,  the  local  railway 
would  soon  become  an  enlarged  terminal  railway  for 
all  carload  freight  distribution.  From  a  civic  stand- 
point, the  development  of  business  centers  on  land  less 
expensive  than  that  adjoining  railroad  sidings  would 
be  valuable.  Congestion  of  freight  traffic  would  be 
reduced  and  deliveries  expedited.  The  local  railway 
could  make  its  track  and  power  investment  work  dur- 
ing present  lean  hours. 

While  there  are  many  other  problems  than  the  legal 
and  rate  problems  to  consider  and  solve  before  any  such 
development  may  take  place,  yet  the  possible  signifi- 
cance of  this  western  precedent  should  be  carefully 
studied.  If  it  means  more  business  at  a  profit  for 
electric  railways,  it  should  be  followed  up. 


A  Reduction  in  Coal  Prices 

Would  Help  Business  Revival 

COAL  being  one  of  the  important  raw  materials  that 
go  into  the  manufacture  of  transportation,  electric 
railway  officials  may  well  concern  themselves  with  the 
possibilities  of  reducing  this  fundamental  expenditure, 
to  keep  pace  with  the  healthy  readjustments  taking 
place  in  the  expenditure  for  railway  labor.  They  have 
this  direct  interest  in  a  lowering  of  coal  prices  and  also 
an  interest  in  it  indirectly  for  the  reason  that  a  sub- 
stantial reduction  in  coal  prices  would  be  a  strong  in- 
fluence toward  the  revival  of  business  generally,  which 
means  an  improvement  of  the  market  for  transporta- 
tion. 

It  is  quite  broadly  felt  that  a  reduction  in  freight 
and  passenger  rates  on  the  steam  roads  would  tend 
strongly  to  stimulate  business.  Such  a  reduction  would 
be  much  more  readily  possible  if  a  substantial  decrease 
in  the  cost  of  coal  to  the  trunk  lines  themselves  could 
be  effected.  Such  a  reduction  would  be  doubly  effective. 
With  a  cut  of  25  cents  per  ton  to  the  railroad,  its  trans- 
portation cost  and  therefore  charge  could  be  reduced 
and  thus  the  ultimate  consumer  benefit  to  an  extent  of 
possibly  40  to  45  cents  per  ton. 

The  whole  country  is  interested  in  why  reductions 
are  not  made  and  the  outstanding  reasons  seem  to  be : 
the  high  labor  cost  in  the  mines,  manipulation  of  the 
market  and  speculation  by  coal  dealers  and  operators, 
too  high  margins  of  profit  all  around,  inclusion  in  the 
price  of  overhead  costs  on  undeveloped  holdings,  high 
freight  rates,  etc. 

Some  definite  evidence  of  the  effect  of  miners'  wages 
on  the  price  of  coal  is  afforded  by  the  following  cost 
figures  taken  from  a  mine  owned  by  a  large  traction 
company.  In  1917,  this  company  engaged  a  mine  oper- 
ator on  the  basis  of  a  mining  cost  of  90  cents  a  ton  with 
a  bonus  of  one-half  any  saving  under  this  figure.  With- 
out any  charge  for  depletion,  bond  interest,  sinking 
fund,  etc.,  the  pure  production  cost  for  April,  1921,  was 
$1.95  per  ton,  for  May  $2.28,  for  June  $2.07,  and  it  has 
averaged  $2  a  ton  for  some  time  past.    This  is  the 


230 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


direct  result  of  high  wages  and  decreased  efficiency  of 
the  men,  for  the  traction  company  buys  through  no  mid- 
dle man  and  thus  all  other  factors  entering  into  the 
ordinary  purchase  of  coal,  such  as  mentioned  above, 
are  eliminated.  Nor  can  the  high  cost  be  attributed  to 
low  production,  for  this  is  about  constant. 

The  United  Mine  Workers  are  operating  on  the  high 
scale  established  by  federal  arbitration  and  are  strongly 
opposing  any  attempt  to  lower  the  rates,  even  ar- 
rogantly claiming  that  no  reduction  will  be  accepted 
at  the  expiration  of  the  present  contract  on  April  1, 
1922.  Of  course  it  would  be  unjust  to  attempt  to  take 
the  desired  reduction  in  coal  cost  entirely  out  of  labor. 
All  these  other  factors  bearing  on  the  price  should  be 
carefully  considered  also.  But  it  would  seem  practical 
for  the  United  States  Department  of  Commerce,  in  its 
efforts  to  restore  business  to  normal,  to  take  a  deep 
interest  in  all  the  factors  of  the  present  coal  prices, 
with  a  view  to  exerting  its  influence  along  sound  lines 
toward  a  reduction  in  the  cost  of  this  basic  material  to 
all  industries.  If,  among  other  things,  a  wage  reduc- 
tion in  the  mines  should  be  forthcoming,  as  seems  likely, 
there  is  precedent  for  bringing  it  about  in  the  action 
of  the  Railroad  Labor  Board  which  recently  reduced  the 
wages  of  railroad  employees  from  the  level  established 
by  governmental  agency. 

It  should  be  made  clear  that  the  public  utilities  in 
urging  governmental  efforts  directed  toward  reduction  in 
the  price  of  coal  are  not  urging  regulation  either  of  the 
coal  industry  or  of  coal  prices.  A  regulated  industry 
itself,  the  public  utility  industry  does  not  recommend 
price  regulation  as  an  aid  to  a  healthy  business  condi- 
tion. But  if  the  government,  in  its  work  of  aiding 
industry,  can  do  anything  of  a  helpful  nature  along 
the  line  of  reducing  costs,  it  should  have  encouragement 
and  assistance. 


Constructive  Leadership 
as  Well  as  Regulation 

AN  EXAMPLE  of  the  opportunity  of  commissions  to 
.  assume  constructive  leadership,  and  not  merely  to 
regulate,  is  afforded  by  the  present  Connecticut  develop- 
ments. This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  impor- 
tant situations  in  the  railway  field  today  in  the  problem 
of  articulating  the  railway  and  the  bus  in  the  transpor- 
tation business,  or  of  finding  which  the  people  want  and 
which  can  do  certain  kinds  of  work  the  better.  These 
columns  have  already  carried  comment  on  the  clear 
definition  of  a  common  carrier  which  has  come  from  the 
court  procedure;  and  also  of  the  position  of  the  railway 
upon  whom  the  burden  of  making  good  or  going  broke 
is  squarely  placed.  Litigation  is  now  proceeding  in  both 
state  and  federal  courts,  with  the  really  final  verdict 
probably  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 

But  it  is  probably  not  appreciated  by  the  railway 
industry,  by  the  bus  interests  nor  by  the  public  to  what 
extent  they  are  all  indebted  to  the  Connecticut  commis- 
sion, and  largely  to  its  chairman,  Richard  T.  Higgins, 
for  the  constructive  nature  of  the  developments  that  are 
taking  place.  It  has  done  much  to  make  effective  in 
Connecticut  the  recommendations  of  the  Federal  Electric 
Railways  Commission.  The  entire  legislative  accom- 
plishment along  railway  and  bus  lines  was  the  result 
of  its  analysis  and  recommendation.  The  situation 
created  is  not  merely  one  of  eliminating  bus  operation 
from  the  railway  area.  That  may  be  one  immediate 
move,  but  the  broader  purpose  has  been  to  establish  the 


existing  agency,  the  trolley,  on  a  legitimate  basis  as 
regards  taxes,  paving,  fare  provisions,  etc.,  and  to 
regulate  competing  agencies  so  that  the  railway  may 
prove  its  ability  to  serve  the  public  and  the  public  may 
decide  if  it  really  wants  the  railway  or  the  bus. 
Variables  have  been  removed  as  far  as  possible.  The 
bus  has  been  recognized  as  necessary  in  certain  places. 
It  is  now  up  to  the  railway. 

While  the  Connecticut  commission  was  once  criticised 
for  entering  the  field  of  management  in  a  fare  adjust- 
ment, it  should  be  pointed  out  that  that  error  was  soon 
rectified  and  that  the  present  work  of  the  commission, 
is  even  more  constructive  than  mere  regulation.  It  is 
creative  and  in  the  interests  of  the  best  public  policy.  The 
story  is  not  yet  closed  in  Connecticut — it  is  a  long  one, 
but  one  can  be  sure  that  the  commission  under  its 
present  leadership  will  play  an  important  and  useful  part 
in  the  solution  of  one  of  the  vexing  problems  of  the 
local  transportation  business  today. 


Reorganization  Plans 

Are  Along  Right  Lines 

AS  A  RESULT  of  the  work  of  the  special  reorganiza- 
l  \  tion  committee  of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Association,  the  executive  committee  has  made  some 
constructive  recommendations  to  the  membership  of 
that  body.  These  are  reviewed  on  another  page  of  this 
issue,  and  copies  of  the  complete  report  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  will  be  mailed  from  the  secretary's  office 
as  soon  as  they  can  be  printed.  They  are  to  be  acted 
upon  by  the  association  at  the  annual  convention  in ' 
October. 

For  the  best  interests  of  the  association  and  of  the 
industry,  the  members  should  make  a  real  study  of  these 
recommendations.  It  should  be  noted  particularly  that 
the  committee  provides  that  at  this  year's  convention 
consideration  of  amendments  to  the  constitution  will 
not  be  limited  to  the  exact  wording  proposed  by  the 
executive  committee.  Modification  may  be  made  and 
new  amendments  introduced.  What  is  desired  is  the 
real  expression  of  the  majority  of  the  membership. 
These  facts  make  it  doubly  important  that  the  members 
study  these  recommendations,  not  only  to  examine  what 
the  executive  committee  has  recommended  but  also  what 
it  has  not  recommended. 

Every  change  which  the  executive  committee  recom- 
mends is  constructive  and  should  be  adopted.  Promi- 
nent ones  are  membership  definitions,  organization  and 
operation  of  the  executive  committee,  improvement  of 
election  procedure,  stimulation  of  committee  activity 
and  creation  of  the  separate  office  of  treasurer,  and 
making  him  a  member  of  the  executive  committee.  It  is 
significant  that  provision  has  been  made  for  admitting 
trackless  transportation  companies  to  membership. 
This  is  no  surrender  to  the  "jitney."  It  is  the  best  step 
toward  a  solution  of  the  place  of  the  bus  in  American 
urban  and  interurban  transportation. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  change  of  all,  one  upon 
which  President  Gadsden  has  laid  stress,  is  the  require 
ment  that  the  executive  committee  meet  monthly  and 
really  manage  the  affairs  of  the  association.  That  it  has 
not  been  done  in  the  past  is  no  reason  that  it  cannot  be 
done  in  the  future.  It  is  done  in  most  other  associations 
and  societies — in  all  of  them  which  really  accomplish 
anything  of  value,  it  appears.  A  meeting  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  association  on  a  regular  day  each 
month  should  be  as  much  a  part  of  the  duty  of  a  man 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


231 


accepting  the  office  as  is  any  one  of  his  - regular  cor- 
porate or  operating  duties.  The  provision  that  execu- 
tive committee  members  may  be  represented  by  personal 
proxies — a  practice  already  existing,  as  a  matter  of  fact 
— should  assure  good  attendance.  An  assurance  of 
greater  continuity  in  policy  in  managing  the  associa- 
tion is  contained  in  the  provision  for  three  year  terms 
for  the  manufacturer  and  operator  members  at  large 
with  one-third  elected  each  year.  This  is  a  healthy 
move. 

Another  move  that  is  very  good  is  the  provision  for 
pre-election  nominations.  This  is  regarded  by  some  as 
the  most  valuable  result  of  the  whole  work.  Its  advan- 
tage is  apparent. 

Committee  activity  has  always  been  recognized  as  a 
large  element  in  the  useful  life  of  the  association.  The 
provision  for  the  six  standing  committees  and  for  peri- 
odical committee  reports  to  the  executive  committee 
should  add  vitality  to  this  work  and  should  assist  in 
keeping  the  executive  committee  in  closer  active  touch 
with  the  association's  affairs. 

The  executive  committee  policies  formally  adopted, 
aside  from  constitutional  and  by-law  provisions,  should 
also  be  welcome.  Among  these  are :  Small  committees 
with  a  definite  plan  for  continuity  of  membership  and 
therefore  activity ;  co-operation  with  educational  insti- 
tutions; geographical  distribution  of  committee  meet- 
ings and  of  representation  on  committees  (this  latter 
has  been  done,  but  it  has  not  been  a  stated  policy)  ;  and 
active  co-operation  with  sectional  associations  and  offi- 
cial representation  at  their  meetings. 

Aera's  policy,  particularly  with  reference  to  co-opera- 
tion with  the  technical  press  and  to  avoiding  duplica- 
tion, was  brought  up,  but  no  formal  recommendation 
was  made.  President  Gadsden's  statement,  however, 
that  it  would  be  put  up  to  Mr.  Welsh  to  avoid  duplication 
is  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  Such  a  plan  if  part  of 
the  permanent  policy  of  the  association  would  help  to 
co-ordinate  all  of  the  energies  in  the  industry. 


The  Old  Order 

Changes  Slowly 

IT  IS  perhaps  not  unlikely  that  there  will  be  as  much 
discussion  on  what  the  executive  committee  did  not  do 
as  on  what  it  did  do.  By  this  is  meant  its  lack  of  action 
on  admitting  municipally  owned  railways  and  its  rejec- 
tion of  the  reorganization  committee's  recommendations 
regarding  vice-presidents  and  past-presidents. 

The  executive  committee  seemed  to  feel  that  the 
practice  of  having  its  potential  presidential  nominees 
in  training  should  be  continued  as  at  present.  As 
stated  in  the  report  of  the  reorganization  committee, 
its  purpose,  in  revising  the  set-up  of  vice-presidents, 
was  to  make  automatic  the  operation  of  the  resolution 
adopted  last  October  which  said: 

that  in  view  of  the  great  changes  which,  from  year  to  year 
and  almost  from  month  to  month,  mark  the  critical  period 
through  which  our  industry  is  passing,  it  shall  be  regarded 
as  the  fixed  policy  of  the  association  that,  in  the  selection 
of  all  its  officers,  the  association  will  be  guided  by  the 
requirements  at  the  time,  unaffected  by  the  choice  of  previ- 
ous years. 

Of  course  the  reorganization  committee's  method  of 
four  vice-presidents,  two  elected  each  year  for  two-year 
terms,  is  not  the  only  one.  Other  ways  have  been 
suggested.  One  is  that  the  association  elect  five  of 
fifteen  directors  each  year  for  three-year  terms  and 
empower  these  directors  to  elect  the  officers  from  their 


own  membership,  or  not,  as  they  deemed  best.  These 
directors,  the  officers,  the  affiliated  association  presi- 
dents and  the  two  junior  past-presidents  of  the  Ameri- 
can Electric  Railway  Association  would  constitute  the 
executive  committee.  It  will  be  recalled  that  Mr.  Shan- 
nahan  some  years  ago  headed  a  Transportation  and 
Traffic  Association  committee  which  recommended  the 
election  of  only  one  vice-president  by  each  of  the  affili- 
ated associations  so  that  there  shou'.d  not  be  a  succession 
extending  over  three  or  four  years  in  line  for  the  presi- 
dency of  these  associations.  The  fact  that  all  of  these 
suggestions  were  made  is  indicative  of  a  certain  feeling 
that  the  present  system  has  weaknesses  which  should 
be  corrected.  There  are  arguments  on  both  sides.  But 
the  association  should  not,  at  a  time  when  reorganiza- 
tion for  the  greatest  effectiveness  is  under  way,  let  the 
present  system  continue  without  full  discussion  and  as- 
surance that  it  is  the  best. 

The  question  of  service  of  past-presidents  on  the 
executive  committee  is  a  similar  but  somewhat  different 
one.  Some  have  said  it  is  irksome ;  it  has,  of  course, 
always  been  recognized  that  their  advice  was  valuable. 
But  even  if  nominally  they  have  no  vote,  past-presi- 
dents who  attend  executive  committee  meetings  regu- 
larly are  certain  to  exercise  great  influence  in  its 
deliberations.  The  reorganization  committee's  recom- 
mendation of  having  only  the  two  junior  past-presidents 
as  members  of  the  executive  committee,  and  these  with 
a  vote,  was  made  with  the  apparent  belief  that  the 
responsibility  for  management  should  be  squarely 
placed  on  men  elected  to  the  executive  committee  for 
definite  terms.  This  practice  is  followed  by  the  N.  E. 
L.  A.,  A.  I.  E.  E.  and  other  organizations  closely  allied 
with  the  electric  railway  industry.  After  a  specified 
term  of  active  office  in  those  societies  even  the  past 
presidents  return  to  the  ranks. 

On  the  question  of  admission  of  municipally  owned 
railways,  there  is  divergence  of  opinion  also.  As  on  the 
two  previous  questions,  where  there  is  divergence  it  is 
easier  to  let  present  rules  apply.  But  again  it  is  known 
that  many  association  members  are  in  favor  of  admit- 
ting municipal  railways  as  members.  This  question  was 
treated  editorially  in  these  columns  on  July  16. 


Discussion  by  Membership 
Is  What  Is  Now  Wanted 

THIS  extended  discussion  of  the  situation  is  not  to 
impress  upon  the  industry  the  individual  views  of 
the  editors  of  this  paper,  but  to  help  bring  the  matter 
squarely  before  the  membership  so  that  there  will  be 
full  and  free  discussion.  In  all  associations,  and  this 
is  no  exception,  there  is  the  frequent  accusation  that 
policies  are  "cooked  up"  in  the  East  and  all  that  the 
membership  can  do  is  to  "O.K."  or  reject.  Certainly 
this  is  not  now  so  in  the  American  E'.ectric  Railway 
Association  as  regards  the  present  matter.  The  door  i^ 
wide  open,  the  report  is  now  public  and  open  for  dis- 
cussion, and  is  to  be  acted  on  in  open  meeting  and  not 
by  ballot.  Free  discussion  is  invited  by  the  executive 
committee. 

The  Electric  Railway  Journal  is  glad  to  open  its 
columns  and  invites  a  free  and  full  discussion  of  this 
report  and  recommended  action.  Such  discussion  is 
needed  to  assure  intelligent  consideration  and  action 
at  Atlantic  City  in  October.  The  association  is  showing 
new  signs  of  life,  and  no  mistake  should  be  made  in 
recasting  its  organization  and  method  of  operation. 


232 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


Cutting  Coal  Consumption 
a  Third 


The  Improvements  Made  by  the  Engi- 
neering Department  of  the  American 
Railways  in  Power  Plant  of  Its  Sub- 
sidiary, the  Wilmington  &  Philadelphia 
Traction  Company,  Reduce  Labor  as 
Well  as  Fuel  Cost 


Remodeled  Power  Plant  Wilmington  &  Philadelphia  Traction  Company — New  Section  and  New  Chimney  at  Right 


AT  WILMINGTON,  DEL.,  is  located  the  power 
l\  plant  of  the  Wilmington  &  Philadelphia  Traction 
X  A.  Company,  which  furnishes  power  for  the  local 
railway,  light  and  industrial  power  requirements.  Since 
1916  this  property  has  been  under  the  control  of  the 
American  Railways,  the  headquarters  of  which  are  at 
Philadelphia.  This  plant  was  built  in  stages,  the  most 
recent  large  improvement  in  facilities  having  been  the 
construction  of  the  present  main  plant  under  the  direc- 
tion of  J.  G.  White  &  Company  in  1911.  The  demand  on 
the  plant  has  increased  to  such  an  extent  by  the  time  that 
the  American  Railways  took  over  the  property  in  1916 
an  increase  in  capacity  was  immediately  planned.  Even 
before  that  year  extensions  had  been  inaugurated  under 
the  direction  of  the  White  company. 

Without  going  into  the  history  of  the  local  power 
system  in  detail,  it  may  be  said  that  original'y  the  plant 
consisted  of  three  direct-current  engine-driven  units 
to  which  were  added  a  500-kw.  and  a  1,500-kw.  Allis- 
Chalmers  turbine  generator  units.  These  were  supple- 
mented before  the  present  management  took  charge  by 
a  4,400-kw.  General  Electric  turbine  unit.  The  plant 
also  comprised,  in  a  separate  building,  a  complete  equip- 
ment of  boilers  and  two  500-kw.  and  one  1,000-kw. 
turbo-generators,  inherited  from  another  power  enter- 
prise. This  is  now  known  as  plant  No.  2.  The  machin- 
ery had  been  badly  handled  so  that  this  plant  was  of 
little  service  in  taking  care  of  the  growing  power  de- 
mand. It  is  now  used  for  emergencies  only,  the  tur- 
bine room  doing  duty  as  a  machine  shop. 

Auxiliary  machines  in  the  main  plant  comprised  a 
1,000-kw.  rotary  converter,  a  500-kw.  motor-generator 
set  for  power  purposes  and  two  250-kw.  motor-gener- 
ator sets  used  as  feeder  boosters. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  great  war  the  company  had 


to  take  care  of  the  enormously  increased  demand  for 
power  only  the  assorted  equipment  listed  above,  part 
of  which  was  in  bad  repair.  As  soon  as  possible  a 
7, 500-kw.  General  Electric  turbine  unit  was  added,  but 
wartime  industries  overloaded  the  plant  seriously.  To 
add  to  the  difficulty,  the  4,400-kw.  generator  burned  out, 
requiring  rewinding  of  both  stator  and  field.  The 
blading  and  diaphragms  of  the  turbine  were  also  dam- 
aged. The  first  stage  had  to  be  rebladed  and  three 
new  diaphragms  were  required.  Opportunity  was  taken 
to  improve  the  ventilating  system  of  this  unit  by 
changes  in  the  foundation,  allowing  the  incoming  air 
to  enter  from  outside  the  building  instead  of  as  before 
from  the  hot  pump  pit  below.  This  change  also  facili- 
tated the  installation  of  an  air  washer  in  the  air  intake. 

The  original  two  Allis-Chalmers  turbines  were  also 
rebuilt  and  a  new  system  of  steam  piping  for  them  was 
installed. 

General  Rehabilitation  Undertaken 

The  demand  for  power  continued  to  increase  to  such 
an  extent  that  in  1917  plans  were  made  for  the  instal- 
lation of  a  12,500-kva.  Westinghouse  turbine-generator 
unit.  This  led  to  a  study  of  the  plant  as  a  whole  and 
an  extensive  program  of  changes,  now  practically  com- 
plete, was  laid  out.  The  result  has  been  that  the  coal 
consumption  of  the  plant  has  been  reduced  nearly  1  lb. 
per  kilowatt-hour,  or  from  about  3.1  to  2.1  lb.  The 
operating  cost  in  labor  has  also  been  reduced  about 
40  per  cent.  The  capacity  of  the  plant  has  been  more 
than  doubled,  last  year's  output  having  been  more  than 
70,000,000  kw.-hr.  The  saving  in  fuel  over  what  other- 
wise would  have  been  consumed  is  not  less  than  $150,- 
000  and  that  in  labor  $30,000  per  annum. 

The  new  turbine  unit  is  a  three-phase,  60-cycle, 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


233 


1,800-r.p.m.  machine.  The  voltage  generated  is  11,000, 
this  being  the  only  11,000-volt  machine  in  the  plant. 
The  best  efficiency  of  the  unit  is  at  about  10,000  kva. 
or  8,000  kw.,  at  which  load  the  steam  consumption  is 
13.3  lb.  per  kilowatt-hour,  with  150  deg.  superheat, 
195  lb.  throttle  pressure  and  28  in.  vacuum,  referred  to 
a  30-in.  barometer. 

The  installation  of  the  unit  presented  some  difficulty 
as  the  depth  of  the  basement  in  the  building  was  only 
10  ft.  below  the  engine  room  floor.  This  space  was 
also  partly  occupied  by  two  old  engine  foundations 
which  had  to  be  removed.  A  depth  of  22  ft.  was  neces- 
sary for  the  condenser  and  pumps. 

The  old  engine  foundation,  which  rested  on  solid 
rock  of  a  very  hard  kind,  had  to  be  blasted  out  with 
dynamite.  In  this  blasting  there  was  considerable 
danger  to  the  adjacent  units,  which  were  kept  in  con- 
tinuous operation.  Twelve  feet  of  rock  had  to  be  re- 
moved, and  the  foundations  of  the  building  and  of  the 
other  generating  units  had  to  be  underpinned  before 
foundation  work  for  the  new  unit  could  be  commenced. 

Flexible  Air-Washing  and  Cooling  System 

The  generator  of  the  new  unit  is  equipped  with  an 
air-washing  and  cooling  system  with  a  capacity  of 
35,000  cu.ft.  per  minute.  This  was  so  installed  that 
the  air  can  be  taken  either  from  outside  or  inside  the 
building  and  it  can  be  delivered  either  out  of  doors  or 
indoors.  This  makes  it  possible  to  accommodate  the 
ventilation  to  the  climatic  conditions. 

Unfortunately  the  space  available  for  the  new  unit 
was  not  what  might  have  been  desired  so  that  it  was 
difficult  to  accommodate  the  auxiliaries  in  making  the 
layout.  For  example,  the  air-washing  and  ventilating 
system  required  more  space  than  was  available  above 
ground.  It  was  necessary  therefore  so  to  design  the 
generator  foundation  as  to  provide  two  compartments, 
one  for  air  inlet  and  the  other  for  outlet.  This  part 
of  the  foundation  was  carried  down  8  ft.  below  the 
first  basement  floor,  and  underneath  this  floor  two  con- 


Looking  Down  the  Boiler-Room  Firing  Aisle 

crete  air  ducts  were  built,  each  5  ft.  x  7  ft.  One  is 
connecting  the  air  washer  with  the  air  inlet  chamber  in 
the  generator  foundation  and  the  other  connecting  the 
air  outlet  chamber  with  the  distribution  stack. 

Any  one  not  familiar  with  this  installation  would 
have  difficulty  in  locating  the  air-washing  system  of 
the  unit,  for  it  is  not  visible  at  the  floor  level.  This 
arrangement  has  the  advantage  of  leaving  all  floor 
spaces  in  the  basement  free  and  unobstructed,  thus 
facilitating  the  work  of  the  operating  crew. 

The  air  circuit  is  by-passed  around  the  washer  so 
that  the  latter  can  be  repaired  without  interfering  with 
the  generating  unit.  In  this  case  the  air  passes  through 
two  rows  of  fine  mesh  screen  before  entering  the  gene- 
rator. The  outdoor  intake  for  the  air  is  through 
louvers  and  brass  wire  screens  of  24  mesh,  No.  30  gage. 

The  turbine  is  direct-connected  through  a  6-ft.  x 
12-ft.  copper  expansion  joint  to  a  17,500-sq.ft.  surface 
condenser.     The  condenser  auxiliaries  comprise  two 


BRAN 


W    I  N 


General  Layout  of  the  Power  House 


234 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  7 


New  12,500-Kw.  Tcrrine  Unit 


Looking  Down  on  Feed-Water  Heater  of  20,000  Hp.  Capacity 


20,000-gal.  (per  minute)  centrifugal  circulating  pumps 
for  cooling  water,  two  350-gal.  centrifugal  hot-well 
pumps  and  two  dry-vacuum  pumps,  the  auxiliaries  thus 
being  in  duplicate,  only  one  set  of  pumps  being  in  use 
at  a  time.  One  each  of  the  circulating  pumps  and  of 
the  hot-well  pumps  is  motor-driven,  while  the  rest  are 
steam-driven.  The  motor-driven  pumps  were  installed 
both  to  insure  flexibility  and  to  assist  in  maintaining 
high  point  efficiency  through  control  of  the  heat  bal- 
ance. 

The  condenser  is  also  connected  to  a  30-in.  Cochrane 
multiport  free-exhaust  valve.  This  allows  the  exhaust 
from  the  turbine  to  pass  automatically  to  the  atmos- 
phere in  case  the  vacuum  is  lost  or  in  case  it  is  neces- 
sary to  run  the  turbine  under  high  pressure. 

Steam  is  furnished  to  the  turbine  through  a  12-in. 
pipe  which  connects  with  the  main  header  in  the  boiler 
room.  In  this  12-in.  pipe,  close  to  the  turbine,  is  a 
54-in.  Sweet  receiver  separator.  The  separator  is  in- 
tended merely  to  safeguard  the  turbine  in  case  the 


boilers  should  foam  or  too  high  a  water  level  be  car- 
ried in  the  boilers.  Mention  has  already  been  made 
of  trouble  in  this  plant  through  the  carrying  over  of 
water,  and  it  is  desired  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  this. 

The  general  placing  of  this  plant  is  unfortunate  in 
that  the  boiler  room,  Instead  of  the  turbine  room,  lies 
along  the  source  of  circulating  water,  Brandywine 
Creek.  This  makes  it  neeessary  to  carry  the  circulat- 
ing water  under  the  boiler-room  floor.  The  new  unit 
requires  an  entirely  new  layout  of  circulating  water 
system.  An  intake  pit  was  blasted!  from  the  solid  rock 
from  the  creek  to  a  point  inside  the  boiler-room  base- 
ment, to  a  depth,  to  bring  its  bottom  level  with  the 
bottom  of  the  creek.  A  grating  of  flat  steel  bars  was 
placed  over  the  Inlet  to  the  pit 

In  the  pit  inside  the  building  two  motor-operated  re- 
volving water  screens,  made  by  the  Chain  Belt  Engi- 
neering Company,  were  installed  to  prevent  the  ingress 
of  leaves,  etc.,  to  the  30-in.  suction  pipe  which  leads 
from  this  pit  to  the  condenser  circulating  pump.  As 
the  vicinity  of  this  intake  is  damp,  motors  of  the  water- 
proof type,  made  by  the  Lincoln  Electric  Company,  were 
installed  to  drive  the  screens. 

The  draft  tube  of  the  condenser  is  sealed  in  the  creek 
even  at  low  tide,  giving  a  22-in.  suction 
at  low  and  16-in.  suction  at  high  tide. 

When  the  new  turbine  unit  was  installed 
a  200-kw.  steam  and  motor-driven  ex- 


Sec+'ion  on  C.L.  of  Turbine 


Section  E-E 


D  %^ 

Section  B~B 


Some  Details  of  the  Generator  Ventilating  System 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


235 


The  Turbine  and  Motor-Driven  Exciter  Unit 


General  View  in  the  Turbine  Room 


citer  was  also  put  in,  its  capacity  being  sufficient  for 
the  entire  load  of  the  station  as  it  exists  today.  At  one 
end  of  the  unit  is  a  300-hp.  Kerr  turbine,  in  the  middle 
is  a  1,600-amp.,  120-volt  Burke  generator,  and  at  the 
other  end  is  a  Burke  motor  of  300-hp.  capacity.  The 
speed  of  the  unit  is  1,200  r.p.m.  The  motor  is  of  the 
slip-ring,  three-phase,  60-cycle,  2,300-volt  type. 

This  type  of  exciter  unit  was  selected  for  two  pur- 
poses, first,  to  assist  in  maintaining  the  heat  balance 
of  the  plant,  and,  second,  to  provide  the  maximum  of 
reliability.  The  turbine  is  provided  with  a  governor 
so  designed  that  it  can  be  set  by  hand  either  to  increase 
or  to  decrease  the  speed  of  the  turbine,  thus  relieving 
the  motor  of  all  or  part  of  the  load  or  throwing  the 
entire  load  on  the  motor  as  desired  to  maintain  the 
proper  temperature  in  the  feed-water  heater.  Further, 
if  the  motor  should  fail  or  trip  out  for  some  reason 
the  turbine  will  automatically  take  the  load  that  is 
being  carried  by  the  generator,  thereby  preventing  a 
shutdown  of  the  station. 

There  are  two  other  exciter  units  in  the  station,  one 
a  100-kw.  Genera"  Electric  machine,  turbine-driven,  and 
the  other  a  75-kw.  Westinghouse  machine,  motor-driven. 


All  of  the  exciters  are  controlled  through  a  separate 
switchboard  on  the  main  floor  through  solenoid- 
operated,  direct-current  circuit  breakers  operated  from 
the  main  switchboard. 

Improvements  in  the  Boiler  Equipment 

The  boiler  equipment  had  to  be  augmented,  of  course, 
to  make  up  for  the  increase  in  turbine  capacity.  The 
boiler  room  was  extended  100  ft.  and  new  overhead 
concrete-steel  bunkers,  coal  conveyors,  etc.,  were  in- 
stalled. Six  new  550-hp.  Edgemoor  water-tube  boilers 
were  added,  these  being  provided  with  Westinghouse 
underfeed  stokers.  The  boiler-room  improvements  also 
included  the  necessary  stoker  drive,  ash  pockets,  bunker 
spouts,  etc.  The  earlier  boilers  numbered  six  of  500-hp. 
and  two  of  550-hp.  capacity,  all  Edgemoor  and  of  the 
four-pass  type,  making  fourteen  boilers  in  all  at  the 
present  time. 

Incidentally  a  new  main  header  was  installed  for 


Appro* 
grade.  V 


Circulating  pump 
Cross  Section  of  West  End  of  Power  House 


236 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


several  of  the  old  boilers.  The  larger  of  these  boilers 
were  equipped  with  Westinghouse  stokers  and  the 
smaller  with  Taylor  stokers,  with  the  exception  of  two 
boilers  on  which  the  original  Wetzel  stokers,  designed 
for  natural  draft,  have  been  allowed  to  remain. 

The  increased  capacity  of  boilers  involved  a  cor- 
responding increase  in  boiler  feed  pumps,  formerly 
three  in  number.  It  was  deemed  most  economical  to 
put  in  two  new  turbine-driven  feed  pumps,  each  having 
a  capacity  of  850  gal.  per  minute,  sufficient  for  the 
entire  station.  They  will  produce  a  working  pressure 
of  250  lb.  per  square  inch,  or  an  excess  of  50  lb.  over 
the  boiler  pressure.  The  pumps  were  made  by  the 
Cameron  Steam  Pump  Company,  and  the  turbines  used 
for  driving  them  are  of  the  latest  Westinghouse  type. 

New  feed-water  mains  were 
provided   for   these  pumps, 
jjP  and  these  were  connected  at 

*  r  intervals  to  the  old  feed  line, 

giving  a  flexible  feed  system. 
Automatic  valves  are  in- 
stalled also  -to  connect  the 
feed  line  with  the  city  water 
system  in  emergency  and  to 
insure  water  supply  for  the 
cooling  of  bearings. 

Details  of  Stoker-Blower 
Units 

There  are  four  fans  in  the 
boiler  room  to  supply  air  to 
the  stokers.  Like  the  other 
auxiliaries,  these  are  de- 
signed to  assist  in  maintain- 
ing the  station  heat  balance. 
There  are  two  fans  of  50,000 
cu.ft.  capacity  each.  At  pres- 
ent these  are  motor-driven, 
but  later  they  will  be 
equipped  with  turbines  also. 
The  newer  units  are  respec- 
tively of  65,000  and  85,000 
cu.ft.  capacity  and  are  driven  both  by  turbines  and  slip- 
ring  induction  motors.  The  connection  to  the  turbines, 
which  are  of  the  high-speed  type,  is  through  reduction 
gears,  while  the  motors  are  direct  connected. 

The  blower  units  give  a  working  pressure  of  6  in. 
(of  water),  and  they  insure  a  high  degree  of  flexibility 
in  operation. 

Auxiliaries  in  the  Boiler  Room 

The  engineering  department  of  the  American  Rail- 
ways believes  in  the  use  of  the  latest  devices  for  im- 
proving boiler-room  operation.  To  this  end  the  boilers 
were  all  equipped  with  Diamond  soot  blowers.  Stetz 
continuous  feed-water  regulators  and  a  balanced-draft 
system  installed  by  the  Engineering  Company.  The 
feed-water  regulator  operates  independently  of  the 
regular  feed-water  line. 

A  new  Cochrane  feed-water  heater,  of  the  open  type, 
and  having  a  capacity  of  20,000  boiler-hp.,  was  provided 
to  take  the  exhaust  steam  from  all  auxiliaries  and  heat 
the  water  for  the  entire  plant.  Space  being  at  a  pre- 
mium for  this  unit,  it  had  to  be  set  up  on  a  pedestal 
behind  one  of  the  old  engine  units.  It  thus  takes  prac- 
tically no  floor  space. 

All  of  the  boilers  are  equipped  with  Foster  super- 
heaters to  provide  a  working  superheat  of  150  deg. 


This  Tank  Eliminates  the 
Water  Bill 


Each  boiler  is  furnished  with  a  Precision  "three-in-one" 
gage  to  permit  supervision  of  the  draft  conditions. 

For  the  new  boilers  a  brick  and  concrete  smoke  flue 
was  built  connecting  with  a  new  14-ft.  200-ft.  radial 
brick  chimney.  The  new  flue  is  an  extension  of  the 
old  steel  smoke  flue  leading  to  the  old  radial  brick 
chimney.  This  arrangement,  together  with  the  neces- 
sary flue  dampers,  gives  a  flexible  arrangement  of  flue 
and  stack  connections. 

An  improved  ash-handling  outfit  was  another  feature 
of  the  rehabilitation.  An  overhead  storage  bin  was 
erected  in  the  yard  and  furnished  with  a  Beaumont  ash 
hoist.  A  track  runs  along  behind  the  boiler  ash  hop- 
pers, from  which  the  ashes  are  collected  in  small  cars. 
These  are  hauled  by  electric  tractors  to  the  hoist.  From 
the  storage  bin  the  ashes  are  distributed  by  electric 
cars  belonging  to  the  company  and  designed  especially 
for  this  work. 

A  Novel  Coal-Handling  Outfit 

Now  a  word  as  to  coal  storage.  When  the  American 
Railways  took  charge  of  this  plant  little  space  was 
available  for  this  purpose.  A  new  piece  of  ground  was 
promptly  purchased  and  graded  to  the  same  level  as 
the  old  yard.  On  the  enlarged  space  a  drag-scraper 
coal-handling  system,  designed  by  the  R.  H.  Beaumont 
Company,  has  recently  been  installed.  This  system  con- 
sists essentially  of  a  cable  or  set  of  cables,  driven  by 
a  reversible,  motor-operated  drum  and  carrying  special 
scrapers  which  are  used  to  drag  the  coal  as  desired. 
The  driving  mechanism  is  mounted  in  an  operating 
tower  from  which  all  parts  of  the  yard  are  visible,  and 
the  cable  loops  around  pulleys  attached  to  substantial 
posts  set  around  the  edge  of  the  yard.  The  stakes  or 
posts  at  Wilmington  consist  of  12-in.  Bethlehem  sec- 
tion steel  beams  set  deep  in  rock  and  concrete.  With 
the  equipment  installed,  two  scrapers  can  be  used,  but 
one  is  sufficient  at  present.  One  man  can  handle  the 
work.  The  same  equipment  reclaims  the  coal  from 
storage,  delivering  it  to  the  crusher  through  a  conveyor. 
The  company  now  has  storage  capacity  for  from  10,000 
to  15,000  tons  of  coal  and  can  distribute  easily  60  tons 
per  hour  with  the  drag-scraper  outfit.  In  a  pinch  50 
tons  can  be  distributed  in  thirty  minutes  and  the  pile 
can  be  spread  evenly  to  a  depth  of  20  ft. 

The  power  plant  is  located  alongside  the  main  line 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  from  which  a  siding  runs 
into  the  yard.  In  regular  operation  some  coal  is  dumped 
from  the  cars  direct  to  the  crusher,  but  most  of  it  goes 
into  storage. 

From  the  crusher  the  coal  goes  to  an  elevator,  which 
delivers  it  to  an  inclined  belt  conveyor,  and  thence  to 
a  traveling  dumping  carriage,  which  distributes  it 
throughout  the  bunker  in  the  boiler  house.  This  bunker 
is  200  ft.  long  and  has  a  capacity  of  2,000  tons. 

Eliminating  the  Water  Bill 

The  company  formerly  purchased  most  of  the  boiler 
feed  water  from  the  city  system,  the  bills  amounting 
to  as  much  as  $1,200  per  month.  To  save  this  expense 
a  75,000-gal.  overhead  water-storage  tank  has  been  in- 
stalled in  the  yard  and  piping  laid  to  permit  this  to  be 
filled  direct  from  Brandywine  Creek.  Water  is  pumped 
into  this  tank  by  a  motor-driven  centrifugal  pump, 
which  is  controlled  by  a  float  in  the  tank,  insuring  a 
predetermined  level.  A  steam-driven  pump  is  also  con- 
nected in  the  pipe  line  as  a  reserve.  The  tank  was  built 
by  the  Chicago  Bridge  &  Iron  Works.   Two  sand  filters 


August  13,  1P21 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


237 


have  been  installed  in  the  water  system,  with  provision 
for  introducing  alum  later  if  this  is  found  necessary. 

Arrangements  have  recently  been  perfected  also  by 
which  the  500-kw.  Allis-Chalmers  unit  in  the  power 
plant  can  be  used  as  a  house-service  unit.  This  has 
been  furnished  with  step-down  transformers  to  reduce 
the  three-phase  voltage  from  2,300  to  440,  from  which 
power  is  drawn  for  the  plant  auxiliaries. 

This  turbine  will  be  operated  at  high  pressure,  the 
exhaust  steam  being  used  in  the  feed-water  heater. 
.  Conclusion 

This  article  does  not  purport  to  be  a  complete  list  of 
the  changes  which  have  been  made  in  the  Wilmington 
plant.  Others,  including  the  placing  of  the  main 
switchboard  in  a  gallery  instead  of  upon  the  main  floor, 
are  contributing  to  the  general  saving.  Much  credit 
is  due  the  mechanical  engineer  of  the  American  Rail- 
ways, A.  Kuylenstjerna,  working  with  the  general  man- 
ager, H.  J.  Crowley,  for  enlarging  and  rehabilitating 
this  plant  under  trying  conditions,  without  interfering 
with  service  and  Avith  a  gratifying  financial  return  for 
the  investment  made.  These  changes  have  enabled  the 
superintendent  of  power  generation  in  charge  of  the 
station,  George  T.  Bromley,  to  obtain  more  efficient 
operation. 

Des  Moines  Loses  Car  Service 

All  Kinds  of  Improvised  Vehicles  Used — Merchants'  Associ- 
ation Takes  Action  to  Relieve  Situation — Labor  Union 
Interests  Seeking  Restoration  of  Service 

DES  MOINES  now  occupies  the  unique  if  unenviable 
position  of  being  the  largest  city  in  the  United 
States  without  street  car  service. 

The  shutdown  of  traction  facilities  in  Des  Moines 
which  came  at  midnight,  Aug.  3,  following  an  order  to 
that  end  by  Judge  Martin  J.  Wade  of  the  Federal 
Court,  is  a  direct  result  of  the  lackadaisical  attitude 
maintained  by  the  City  Council  and  citizens  of  Des 


Moines  toward  the  transportation  problems  of  the  city 
during  the  past  year. 

As  a  result  of  the  shutdown,  transportation  has  been 
in  a  condition  of  chaos  ever  since  the  morning  of  Thurs- 
day, Aug.  4.  Buses  which  for  the  past  few  months 
have  been  petted  and  pampered  by  the  City  Council 
have  utterly  failed  to  meet  the  situation,  and  as  this 
article  is  written  the  business  interests  of  the  city  have 
evidently  finally  become  aroused  and  are  working  desper- 
ately to  find  a  solution. 

Business  men  are  being  backed  in  their  fight  by  the 
employees'  union,  which  has  the  support  of  union  labor 
in  general,  in  a  demand  to  the  City  Council  that  the 
buses  be  ruled  from  the  streets  and  some  plan  devel- 
oped which  will  permit  of  a  resumption  of  street  car 
service.  While  the  business  men  and  labor  leaders 
may  not  agree  as  to  details  they  are  unanimous  that 
service  must  be  restored. 

The  first  tangible  ray  of  hope  for  a  settlement  came  as 
a  result  of  a  meeting  Saturday  morning  between  officials 
of  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  and  of  the  Retail 
Merchants  Association.  While  both  parties  to  the 
conference  decline  to  give  definite  details  of  its  outcome 
it  is  said  that  F.  C.  Chambers,  general  manager  of  the 
Des  Moines  City  Railway,  was  commissioned  go  to 
Chicago  to  present  to  the  owners  and  bondholders 
the  counter  proposal  agreed  upon.  Information  as  to 
the  plan  is  not  authoritative  but  is  said  to  be  based 
upon  a  plan  for  a  7-cent  fare  with  the  buses  ruled  from 
the  streets,  the  owners  or  bondholders  to  advance  the 
$300,000  necessary  to  meet  the  overdue  interest,  and 
to  repurchase  equipment  which  will  restore  service  to 
a  125  car  basis.  The  main  stumbling  block  of  the  plan 
is  to  the  doubt  as  to  whether  the  $300,000  can  be  secured. 
Earlier  in  the  week  A.  W.  Harris  advised  two  of  the 
Des  Moines  daily  newspapers  that  he  would  not  put 
any  more  money  into  the  Des  Moines  property  until 
he  was  given  fair  treatment  by  Des  Moines. 

If  the  financial  obstacle  can  be  overcome  it  is  probable 


Buses  Attempting  to  Haul  the  Crowds 


Even  the  Police  Patrol  Wagons  Were  Used 


238 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  -No.  7 


that  Judge  Wade  will  be  asked  to  order  a  resumption  of 
service  and  the  General  Electric  Company  asked  to 
replace  the  substation  equipment  which  was  removed 
a  few  weeks  ago  and  which  caused  the  service  cut  of 
approximately  50  per  cent. 

While  the  retail  merchants  and  company  officials  were 
in  conference  a  delegation  of  union  labor  men  represent- 
ing practically  every  union  in  the  city  waited  on  the 
City  Council  and  demanded  that  the  Council  take  imme- 
diate steps  to  end  the  difficulties.  No  words  were 
minced  by  the  labor  leaders,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
meeting  members  of  the  Council  agreed  that  they  were 
willing  to  vote  for  an  anti-bus  ordinance  if  fares  could 
be  reduced  to  7  cents.  Mayor  Barton  agreed  to  get  in 
immediate  touch  with  Corporation  Council  Miller  who 
is  out  of  the  city  on  his  vacation  and  ask  him  to  return 
to  the  city  and  prepare  a  new  franchise  proposal.  Mem- 
bers of  the  Council  agreed  to  hold  a  Sunday  session  if 
Judge  Miller  could  return  to  the  city  by  that  time. 

Buses  Don't  Give  Enough  Service 

That  the  buses  have  failed  miserably  since  the  begin- 
ning to  meet  the  situation  is  proved  by  a  vote  taken 
by  one  of  the  daily  papers  late  last  week  as  to  the 
preference  of  citizens  as  between  street  cars  and  buses. 
In  a  two  days'  poll  1,056  people  voted  for  the  return  of 
street  cars  while  202  preferred  buses. 

Saturday  the  bus  operators  had  seventy-two  buses 
in  service  and  made  the  claim  that  on  Friday  they  had 
hauled  55,000  people.  Additional  buses  were  shipped 
to  the  city  daily  for  temporary  service,  but  the  bus 
owners  association  refused  to  make  preparations  for  a 
permanent  service  by  the  installation  of  satisfactory 
buses  unless  they  were  given  a  guarantee  by  the  City 
Council  of  at  least  a  year's  service  on  carline  streets. 
Of  the  seventy-two  buses  in  service  the  latter  end  of 
last  week  about  half  were  of  a  fairly  satisfactory  kind. 
The  remainder  were  makeshift,  many  of  them  being 
home-made  bodies  on  trucks.  So  far,  the  City  Council 
has  refused  to  make  any  arrangements  for  a  permanent 
grant  and  has  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  proposals  of  at  least 
three  men  who  claimed  to  represent  Eastern  capital 
which  would  take  over  the  transportation  of  the  city 
if  a  grant  was  given  to  them. 

As  yet  the  shutdown  of  the  city  plant  has  not  stopped 
service  of  the  Inter  Urban  Railway  which  is  owned  by 
the  same  interests  as  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway. 
The  main  power  plant  is  still  being  operated  to  furnish 
power  for  the  interurban  lines  although  no  definite 
statement  has  been  made  as  to  how  long  this  will  con- 
tinue. If  the  Inter  Urban  was  forced  to  abandon  serv- 
ice it  would  cause  serious  embarrassment  to  the  work 
of  dismantling  Camp  Dodge,  as  well  as  interfering  with 
the  annual  encampment  of  the  national  guard  of  Iowa. 
It  would  also  cause  serious  difficulties  for  the  Des  Moines 
Electric  Company  which  secures  its  coal  supples  from 
mines  located  on  the  interurban. 


The  comparative  cost  for  a  million  tractive-miles  be- 
tween the  former  steam  service  and  the  electric  service 
now  maintained  on  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway,  as 
given  recently  in  the  Railway  Electrical  Engineer,  shows 
that  electrification  is  responsible  for  a  121  per  cent 
saving.  The  cost  per  million  tractive-miles  of  steam 
operation  was  $29.90,  while  that  for  electric  was  $26.2Q* 
In  this  comparison  all  costs  entering  into  operation,  as 
well  as  interest  and  depreciation,  have  been  taken  into 
account. 


North  Shore  Makes  Safety  Record 

By  Active  Attention  to  Safety  Methods  the  Road  Has  Greatly 
Decreased  Its  Accident  Record  While  Doubling  Its 
Car  Mileage 

IN  AN  article  in  the  National  Safety  News  for  June, 
on  the  safety  work  of  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad  of  which  Britton  I.  Budd  is  presi- 
dent, it  is  pointed  out  that  while  this  company  has 
increased  the  number  of  passengers  carried  100  per 
cent,  the  car  mileage  100  per  cent,  the  passenger  revenue 
300  per  cent  and  the  freight  revenue  700  per  cent  in 
the  last  five  years,  it  has  cut  down  its  fatal  accidents 
77  per  cent  and  reduced  the  total  accident  costs  to  1.18 
per  cent  of  its  gross  revenue.  The  underlying  reason 
for  this  showing  is  attributed  mainly  to  the  attitude  of 
the  president  in  heading  an  extensive  safety  organiza- 
tion, the  functioning  of  which  was  described  in  this 
paper,  issue  of  Feb.  22,  1919,  p.  359.  The  men  all 
through  the  organization  have  been  encouraged  to 
make  suggestions  that  would  improve  the  safety  of  the 
road.  Furthermore,  the  company  has  taken  every  pos- 
sible means  of  preventing  accidents,  most  of  which  have 
been  treated  in  this  journal  in  prior  issues. 

One  interesting  detail  mentioned  in  the  article 
referred  to  is  the  practice  of  the  motormen,  upon  seeing 
a  trespasser  on  the  track,  to  throw  a  sealed  letter  out 
to  him  which  reads  as  follows : 

Don't  you  realize  there  is  serious  danger  to  anyone  walk- 
ing these  tracks,  owing-  to  the  fact  that  our  cars  are  run 
at  high  speed?  If  the  motorman  should  fail  to  see  you  in 
bad  weather,  or  while  rounding  a  curve  or  for  some  other 
reason,  you  would  be  placed  in  imminent  danger  of  being 
killed  or  injured.  It  is  our  desire  to  cultivate  the  safety 
work  on  this  road  to  a  point  where  every  accident  of  an 
unavoidable  character  will  be  eliminated,  and  we  hope  that 
you  will  at  once  discontinue  walking  on  these  tracks  so  that 
the  chances  of  your  being  injured  or  killed  will  be  done 
away  with. 

Another  interesting  point  related  is  the  practice  of 
the  company  in  maintaining  instruction  signs  for  the 
motormen  at  numerous  points  along  the  right-of-way. 
Every  approach  to  a  curve,  every  highway  crossing, 
every  railroad  crossing,  every  station  and  the  speed  at 
which  the  train  should  pass  such  points,  is  called  to  the 
motormen's  attention  1,000  ft.  away  from  that  point. 
The  signs  read  thus:  "Curve  100  ft.,  15  miles";  "Rail- 
road crossing  1,500  ft.,  20  miles."  There  is  thus  no 
chance  for  the  motorman  to  forget  danger  points  or 
what  speed  to  operate  in  passing  them. 

The  North  Shore  road  is  also  extending  its  safety 
work  to  the  communities  through  which  it  operates.  It 
is  organizing  civic  safety  associations  in  each  city  and 
is  sending  its  own  woman  lecturer  into  the  public 
schools  to  give  talks  on  safety  to  the  children.  Last  year 
this  woman  made  667  talks  in  seventy-seven  schools  and 
thus  reached  25,000  children  along  the  company's  right- 
of-way.  Furthermore,  the  company  is  placing  in  the 
hands  of  the  principal  of  every  school  in  the  territory 
served,  a  book  entitled  "Methods  for  Instruction  in 
Accident  Prevention  for  Use  in  Public  Schools."  The 
extent  to  which  the  co-operation  of  the  public  and 
community  leaders  in  this  work  is  being  secured  was 
well  demonstrated  by  a  recent  meeting  at  which  the 
Waukegan  Civic  Safety  Association  was  organized, 
where  the  principal  of  the  local  high  school,  the  editor 
of  the  local  newspaper,  the  judge  of  the  local  court,  the 
mayor  of  Waukegan  and  the  mayor  of  North  Chicago 
were  present  and  pledged  the  fullest  co-operation  to  the 
officers  of  the  road. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


239 


Measuring  Service  to  the  Public 

The  Riding  Public  Is  Interested  in  Three  Things:  Car  Frequency,  Speed  and  Fare 
— How  the  Status  of  the  Winnipeg  Railway  Was  Set 
Forth  in  These  Particulars 

By  C.  H.  D.  Dahl,  B.  A. 

Statistician  for  the  Winnipeg  Electric  Railway 


THERE  are  in  the  main  just  three  things  about  a 
street  railway  system  which  interest  the  ordinary 
car  rider.  One  is  how  long  he  must  wait  for  a 
car  on  which  to  ride,  the  second  is  how  much  he  must 
pay  in  order  to  ride,  and  thirdly,  he  is  interested  in  the 
speed  with  which  the  cars  travel.  Oh,  there  are  other 
factors  which  are  important,  such  as  the  courtesy  dis- 
played by  the  conductor  when  making  change;  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the  car,  its  sanitary  condition,  its 
riding  qualities  and  so  on,  and  a  number  of  other  things 
perhaps — but  these  miscellaneous  factors  occupy  only 
the  periphery  of  the  rider's  interest. 

Significance  of  Car-miles  Per  Mile  of 
Single  Track 

The  headway  of  cars  is  best  gaged  by  the  car-miles 
per  mile  of  single  track  within  a  specified  time.  Usu- 
ally a  calendar  year  is  employed  for  the  time  factor. 
The  headway  is  inversely  proportional  to  the  car-miles 


TABLE  I — SHOWING  INVERSE  RELATION  BETWEEN  CAR-MILES 
PER  MILE  OF  SINGLE  TRACK  PER  YEAR  AND  AVERAGE  HEAD- 
WAY OR  INTERVAL  BETWEEN  CARS 

'  Car-Miles  per  Mile  of  Single  Track  Average  Headway  or  Interval 

per  Year  Between  Cars 
98,550  4  minutes 

78,840  5  minutes 

65,700  6  minutes 

56,310  7  minutes 

49,250  8  minutes 

43,800  9  minutes 

39,420  10  minutes 


per  mile  of  single  track  per  year.  The  accompanying 
table  illustrates  this.  It  is  assumed  that  service  is 
furnished  by  the  cars  for  an  average  of  eighteen  hours 
per  day. 

Average  Fare  and  Speed 

As  a  measure  of  the  cost  per  ride  there  can,  of 
course,  be  no  better  measure  than  the  fare  paid.  The 
use  of  different  fares  by  different  classes  of  passengers, 
or  in  different  periods  of  the  same  year  as  a  result  of 
changes  in  fares,  or  differences  based  on  quantities  of 
tickets  purchased  make  it  desirable  to  employ  the  aver- 
age fare  for  the  period  as  a  gage  of  the  ride  cost.  The 
average  fare  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  total  passenger 
revenue  by  the  number  of  revenue  passengers. 

Perhaps  nothing  is  quite  so  testing  of  the  car  rider's 
patience  as  finding  himself  on  a  car  which  stops  on 
a  passing  track  for  any  length  of  time.  Delays  in 
loading  or  unloading  passengers  are  also  annoying,  for 
while  the  rider  is  willing  to  concede  some  time  for 
this  purpose,  in  fact  his  primary  interest  is  wrapt  up 
in  himself — it  may  be  that  he  is  tardy  for  tea,  for  the 
theater,  or  some  other  appointment;  possibly  he  is 
merely  a  victim  of  the  contagious  anxiety  displayed  by 
fellow  riders  to  get  somewhere  quickly — at  any  rate, 
delays  annoy  him.  It  the  jitney  possesses  any  pop- 
ularity as  a  means  of  urban  transportation,  then  the 
speed  with  which  it  gets  passengers  to  their  destina- 


tions is  very  largely  responsible  for  this  popularity. 
Lack  of  equivalent  speed  in  electric  railway  systems 
serves  as  a  subsidy  for  the  jitney. 

Use  of  Arrayed  Data  in  Making  Comparisons 

A.  W.  McLimont,  vice-president  of  the  Winnipeg 
Electric  Railway,  desired  to  place  before  the  public  of 
Winnipeg  the  facts  with  reference  to  the  quality  of 
service  and  fares  of  the  street  railway.  To  do  this, 
comparisons  of  car-miles  per  mile  of  single  track  per 
year  and  average  fares  were  made  with  nineteen  selected 
electric  railway  systems  of  United  States  cities  having 
populations  and  operating  conditions  somewhat  com- 
parable with  that  of  Winnipeg.  A  table  was  prepared 
in  which  the  cities  were  arrayed  according  to  size  from 
the  largest  down — the  names  of  the  cities  occupying  the 
middle  column  of  a  three-column  table.  The  first  column 
contained  the  car-miles  per  mile  of  single  track  for  all 
cities,  and  the  average  fares  were  similarly  arranged 
in  the  third  column.  In  order  to  identify  the  car-mile 
of  single  track  and  average  fare  belonging  to  any  par- 
ticular system,  a  small  exponent  or  index  figure  was 
placed  over  each,  corresponding  to  the  index  down  im- 
mediately above  the  name  of  the  city  in  which  the  sys- 
tem was  located.  To  bring  special  attention  to  the 
status  of  the  Winnipeg  system,  heavy  arrows  were 
drawn  from  the  name  of  the  city  to  car-miles  per  mile 
of  single  track  as  shown  for  Winnipeg  in  the  first 
column  of  the  table  and  from  the  name  of  the  city 
to  the  average  fare  for  Winnipeg  as  shown  in  the 
third  column. 

This  table  appeared  in  June  15  issue  of  the  Winnipeg 
Electric  Railway  Public  Service  News,  a  four-page 
paper  published  semi-monthly  for  the  purpose  of  inform- 
ing the  public  of  the  company's  problems  and  fostering 
more  amicable  relations  between  the  company  and  its 
patrons. 

Table  II  on  page  240  is  a  copy  of  the  table  in 
the  company's  paper  excepting  that  instead  of  showing 
the  names  of  the  cities  in  which  the  transportation 
systems  compared  are  located  these  are  represented 
by  the  various  letters  of  the  alphabet.  L  represents 
Winnipeg,  Canada.  In  the  table  as  printed  the  words 
"high  in  service"  were  printed  opposite  the  figures 
giving  car-miles  per  mile  of  track  for  Winnipeg  and 
the  words  "low  in  fare"  opposite  the  figure  showing 
the  municipal  fare.  The  figures  in  the  two  columns 
representing  Winnipeg  were  connected  with  "L"  by 
two  arrows.  All  data  were  taken  from  traffic  ratios 
received  from  the  American  Electric  Railway  Associ- 
ation and  are  therefore  actual. 

Table  II  affords  a  good  means  of  conveying  to  the 
public,  information  concerning  the  kind  of  service 
rendered  and  the  fare  situation  of  a  particular  system 
compared  with  other  systems,  but  it  is  just  a  step 
further  to  combine  the  car-miles  per  mile  of  single- 
track  factor  with  the  fare  and  speed  factors  and  arrive 
at  what  may  be  termed  an  efficiency  index. 


240 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


TABLE  II— SERVICE  AND  FARE  STATISTICS  FOR  1920  OF  WINNIPEG 
AND  OF  NINETEEN  UNITED  STATES  CITIES  HAVING 
POPULATION  OVER  100,000  BUT  UNDER  800,000 


Car  Miles  per  Mile  Cities  Arranged  in  Average  Fare 

of  Single  Track                      Order  of  Population  (Cents) 

98,3801  Al  7.516 

93,6509  m  7  35 

67,70112  C3  7.21 

84,4403  7.22 

78.55C5  ,-5  7.0' 

73.9IC6  6.99 

72,170H  G'  6.43 

71,2302  /J  s  6.213 

70,570'  79  6.214 

64,4704  J  io  6.210 

60,48013  6.  118 

5999017  L12  6.08 

5870011  6.019 

54,03018  NU  5.815 

47^9020  015  5  612 

46,4008  iJi6  5.611 

43,3201"  017  5.4" 

42,91019  P'8  5.06 

36,60015  ,S'i9  5.04 

24,63015  T20  5  020 


63,491  Average  6.2 

The  efficiency  index  is  the  product  of  three  percent- 
ages namely,  (1)  the  percentage  which  the  car-miles 
per  mile  of  single  track  of  a  particular  system  is  to  a 
given  base;  (2)  the  percentage  which  the  average  fare 
for  this  particular  system  is  to  a  given  basic  fare,  and 
(3)  the  percentage  which  the  speed  bears  to  a  basic 
speed. 

For  convenience  in  computing  the  first-named  per- 
centage 100,000  car-miles  per  mile  of  single  track  is 
adopted  as  a  base.  Another  merit  of  this  base  is  that 
it  is  large  enough  to  avoid  rating  practically  any  system 
over  100  per  cent  in  point  of  service  as  measured  by 
car-miles  per  mile  of  single  track. 

The  second  or  fare  percentage  is  reached  by  assum- 
ing 5  cents  as  the  basic  fare.  Few  if  any  electric 
i-ailways  will  be  rated  over  100  per  cent  on  this  basis 
now.  This  basic  fare  is  divided  by  whatever  fare  the 
percentage  is  desired  for. 

The  third  or  speed  percentage  is  arrived  at  by  assum- 
ing 10  m.p.h.  as  base.  This  makes  it  simply  necessary 
to  manipulate  the  decimal  point  to  get  the  percentage 
for  any  particular  system,  granted  of  course  that  the 
speed  is  given.  Table  III  shows  the  efficiency  indices 
for  the  twenty  systems  dealt  with. 

There  are  a  number  of  advantages  connected  with 
the  efficiency  index  as  described  in  this  article  but 
perhaps  the  most  important  are  as  follows: 


TABLE  III— EFFICIENCY  INDICES  OF  TWENTY  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 
SYSTEMS  FOR  YEAR  ENDED  DEC.  31,  1920 
Car  Miles 


per 

Mile  of 

Average 

Single  Track 

Fare 

Speed 

Effiieieney 

Location 

Percentage 

Percentage 

Percentage 

Index 

Per  Cent 

(->-) 

(y) 

(?) 

(xy2) 

1. 

L 

87 

7 

89 

3 

89 

5 

70.0 

2. 

D 

64 

5 

100 

0 

101 

8 

65  6 

3. 

F 

73 

9 

100 

0 

85 

8 

63  5 

4 

A 

98 

4 

69 

5 

92 

8 

63  2 

5. 

C 

84 

8 

78 

1 

88 

0 

58.0 

6. 

I 

93 

6 

72 

5 

84 

6 

57  5 

7 

N 

72 

1 

80 

5 

92 

9 

53  8 

8 

E 

78 

6 

68 

4 

91 

7 

49  4 

9 

Q 

60 

0 

92 

5 

88 

1 

49  0 

10. 

K 

58 

7 

89 

3 

91 

6 

48  0 

11 

G 

70 

6 

71 

5 

92 

8 

46  9 

12. 

B 

71 

2 

69 

5 

92 

9 

46  0 

13. 

M 

60 

5 

80 

5 

93 

4 

45.5 

■14. 

T 

47 

7 

100 

0 

88 

4 

42  0 

15. 

R 

54 

0 

82 

0 

86 

2 

38  2 

16. 

H 

46 

4 

83 

3 

90 

6 

35.  1 

17. 

J 

43 

3 

80 

5 

89 

9 

31  3 

18. 

S 

42 

9 

83 

3 

82 

7 

29  5 

19 

P 

36 

6 

66 

7 

90 

5 

22.  1 

20 

O 

24 

6 

87 

3 

87 

3 

18.5 

Average  (simple) 

63 

4 

80 

5 

90 

1 

46.0 

1.  The  index  is  based  on  absolute  units  so  that  it 
may  be  used  to  compare  different  systems  for  the  same 
period  or  the  same  system  for  different  periods. 

2.  The  index  is  a  composite  measure  of  the  three 
factors  concerning  service  which  interest  the  car-rider, 
viz.,  headway,  fare  and  speed. 

3.  The  index  is  quite  sensitive  to  differences  in  the 
measure  of  any  one  factor  of  service.  This  is  evident 
by  observing  the  range  of  the  indices  for  the  twenty 
systems  considered  in  Table  III. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  a  low  efficiency  index 
stamps  a  system  as  inefficient.  There  may  be  local 
conditions  in  the  form  of  city  by-laws,  topography, 
or  traffic  characteristics  which  influence  the  operation 
of  the  cars.  The  speed  factor  is  especially  susceptible 
in  these  regards.  But  in  a  broad  and  general  way 
the  use  of  the  efficiency  index  is  a  simple  yet  most 
effective  means  of  measuring  the  service  rendered  for 
the  riding  public  by  a  street  railway  system. 


Truck  Replaces  Supply  Car 

THE  New  York  State  Railways  recently  remodeled  a 
2-ton  White  truck,  purchased  in  1917,  for  use  as  a 
supply  truck.  As  will  be  observed  in  the  accompanying 
illustration,  a  frame  built  up  of  bar  steel  has  been 
bolted  to  the  body  just  behind  the  driver's  compartment 
and  is  held  vertically  by  two  bars,  one  on  each  side, 
extending  to  the  car  chassis.  An  I-beam  is  hinged  to  the 
supporting  frame,  thus  allowing  heavy  pieces  of  material 
and  equipment  to  be  picked  up  from  the  ground  beside 


Remodeled  Truck  for  Handling  Supplies 


the  truck  and  loaded  by  means  of  the  chain  hoist.  This 
supply  truck  replaces  a  double-truck,  two-man-operated 
supply  car.  The  substitution  of  this  means  for  trans- 
porting supplies  has  cut  the  cost  of  distributing 
materials  and  collecting  scrap  about  40  per  cent. 

The  New  York  State  Railways  already  has  a  simple 
and  effective  plan  for  dispatching  trucks  and  work 
trains,  so  that  the  adaptation  of  an  auto  truck  for  the 
purpose  previously  mentioned  involved  no  changes  in  the 
general  system  of  distributing  supplies.  This  well- 
worked-out  method  of  recording  truck  and  work  train 
movements  was  the  subject  of  a  paper  in  the  issue  of 
this  paper  for  Jan.  5,  1918. 


The  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers  has 
submitted  its  standards  (1921  edition)  to  the  Ameri- 
can Engineering  Standards  Committee  for  approval  as 
an  American  standard.  The  standards  submitted  rep- 
resent the  latest  revision  of  the  A.  I.  E.  E.  standardiza- 
tion rules,  revised  during  1919  and  1920. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


241 


The  Abandoned  Horse-Drawn  Vehicle 

Hose  Bridges  Carried  in  Trailer 

By  Substituting  a  Trailmobile  for  a  Horse-Drawn  Vehicle 
The   Baltimore    Property    Is   Saving   More  Than 
$1,000  a  Year 

By  Adrian  Hughes,  Jr. 

Superintendent  of  Power  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company 
of  Baltimore 

THE  employment  of  trailers  in  connection  with 
broadening  the  fields  of  usefulness  of  motor  trucks 
for  many  and  divers  purposes  has  for  so  long  been  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception  that  it  is  difficult  to 
find  a  new  adaptation  which  would  in  itself  be  unique. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  all  the  possibilities  of  the 
trailer  have  not  yet  been  exhausted  or  fully  appre- 
ciated by  many  motor  vehicle  users. 

The  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company  of  Balti- 
more, for  instance,  has  recently  put  in  service  a  trailer 
for  the  purpose  which  it  might  be  possible  to  term  a 
new  and  unique  application  of  this  very  useful  motor 
vehicle  appendage.  The  company  was  faced  with  the 
problem  of  replacing  the  heavy  horse-drawn  wagon  in 
the  trouble  department  for  carrying  hose  bridges  which 
are  used  to  bridge  over  lines  of  fire  hose  to  prevent 
blockades  of  traffic  in  the  vicinity  of  a  fire.  All  other 
horse-drawn  trouble  department  equipment  had  been 
replaced  with  motor  vehicles,  and  it  was  very  undesir- 
able and  uneconomical  to  have  to  maintain  two  horses 


This  Trailmobile  Is  Used  To  Carry  Hose  Bridges 

in  the  main  trouble  station  merely  for  the  occasional 
requirement  of  hose  bridges,  but  the  large  investment 
and  subsequent  maintenance  charges  necessary  for  a 
motor  truck  to  serve  the  purpose  could  not  be  justified, 
since  the  unit  would  be  standing  idle  most  of  the  time, 
inasmuch  as  fires  requiring  use  of  hose  bridges  are 
rather  infrequent.  Nevertheless  it  was  absolutely 
essential  to  eliminate  the  horses  and  yet  have  a  vehicle 
which  would  always  be  immediately  available  solely  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  the  hose  jumpers. 

The  answer  of  course  was  the  trailer  and,  after  the 
problem  was  carefully  investigated,  a  lj-ton  "trail- 
mobile"  chassis  was  purchased  and  a  body  designed 
and  built,  having  suitable  compartments  for  the  hose 
bridges,  the  spreaders,  lanterns  and  other  accessories. 
Each  of  the  seven  trouble  trucks  in  the  department  is 
equipped  with  couplers  so  that  the  trailer  may  be 
attached  to  any  of  them  when  the  hose  bridges 
are  needed.  The  draw-bar  of  the  trailer  is  so  arranged 
that  it  steers  the  front  wheels,  causing  the  trailer  to 
follow  around  turns  in  the  tracks  of  the  motor  truck 
and  thereby  making  it  unnecessary  for  the  driver  to 
use  extraordinary  precautions  in  maneuvering.  In  fact, 
the  driver  can  practically  ignore  the  presence  of  the 
trailer  in  all  operations  except  backing.  The  differ- 
ence in  size  of  the  two  vehicles,  as  shown  by  the  illus- 
trations, is  very  interesting.  The  abandoned  horse- 
drawn  wagon  carried  ten'  sets  of  hose  bridges  and 


The  Emergency  Motor  Truck  Carries  Two  Hose  Bridges  and  the  Trailer  Carries  Eight 


242 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  T 


the  trailer  carries  eight  sets.  Each  trouble  truck  is 
also  equipped  to  carry  two  sets  of  hose  bridges. 

The  results  obtained  have  been  very  satisfactory- 
The  bridges  may  now  be  transported  when  required 
with  much  greater  dispatch  than  was  formerly  attain- 
able with  the  heavier  and  slower  horse-drawn  wagon. 
Moreover,  it  is  expected  that  the  maintenance  charges 
for  the  trailer  will  be  practically  negligible,  especially 
as  concerns  the  usually  most  costly  item  encountered 
in  maintaining  trucks,  namely,  the  rubber  tires,  which, 
in  the  case  of  the  trailer,  are  not  subjected  to  tractive 
effort  and  therefore  escape  the  severe  wear  that  is 
naturally  inherent  with  all  forms  of  motor-driven 
vehicles.  Furthermore,  the  substitution  of  the  more 
modern  method  for  carrying  the  hose  bridges  has  re- 
leased considerable  valuable  space  formerly  required 
for  the  horses  and  wagon  at  the  Lombard  Street  trouble 
station,  and  the  space  is  now  available  for  more  im- 
portant purposes.  The  appreciable  economy  effected 
by  the  elimination  of  the  horses  for  the  comparatively 
infrequent  service  required  is  almost  too  apparent  to 
warrant  comment. 

However,  the  following  figures  will  indicate  approxi- 
mately the  amount  of  the  annual  saving  on  the  basis  of 
an  investment  of  $1,600  for  the  horse-drawn  wagon 
and  two  horses  and  $1,200  for  the  trailer: 


Horses  and 

Wagon  Trailer 

Investment                                                            $1,600  $1,200 

Annual  fixed  costs  at  12  per  cent                            192  144 

Annual  operating-  and  maintenance  costs..        1,140  150 

Total  annual  costs                                                  $1,332  $294 

Saving-    $1,038 


Thus  a  much  more  satisfactory  and  efficient  vehicle 
has  been  provided  to  replace  the  horse-drawn  vehicle, 
at  about  one-fourth  the  investment  necessary  for  a 
motor  vehicle,  and  at  a  saving  sufficient  to  pay  for  the 
trailer  in  fourteen  months. 

There  are  many  other  purposes  for  which  trailers 
could  be  used,  in  electric  railway  work  for  carrying 
equipment  which  is  not  in  constant  use,  such  as  devices 
for  reeling  and  rereeling  feeder  and  trolley  wire,  as 
well  as  derricks,  gin  poles  and  concrete  mixers  for 
use  in  connection  with  installation  of  poles,  etc. 


Case  Hardening — Core  and  Case 

THERE  seems  to  be  a  great  difference  of  opinion  in 
regard  to  the  question  of  which  is  more  important, 
the  case  or  the  core  in  case  hardening  steel  material. 

In  the  case-hardened  steel  the  seller  usually  dwells 
on  the  properties  of  the  core,  while  the  user  seems  to 
consider  the  case  of  more  importance  and  the  essential 
part.  Dr.  Aitchison,  in  a  recent  lecture,  stated  that 
both  are  of  equal  importance  in  the  manufacture  of 
case-hardened  parts.  The  case  should  be  hard  but 
should  also  be  tough,  because  to  withstand  abrasion  or 
blows  a  material  does  not  need  to  be  intrinsically  hard, 
but  it  must  be  durable  and  have  a  high  value  of  yield 
point.  The  best  test  of  the  qualities  of  a  case  is  the 
use  of  microscopic  inspection  to  note  the  quality  of  free 
cementite,  which  tends  to  produce  a  brittle  case.  The 
core  has  a  definite  function  to  perform,  it  should  be 
tough  and  should  possess  great  strength  because  in 
manufacture  of  transportation  equipment  parts,  light- 
ness is  an  essential  requirement.  If  the  fracture  ap- 
pears to  be  gray  and  fibrous  the  article  is  regarded  as 
sufficiently  tough. 


A  Community  Freight  Service 

Kansas  City  Railways  Builds  Local  Freight  Service  and 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  Grants  Terminal 
Rates  to  Patrons — Railway  Now  Has  a  Pros- 
pect of  Making  a  Profit 

AFTER  operating  a  terminal  freight  line  with  electric 
l  locomotive  for  fourteen  years  under  serious 
handicaps  as  to  rates,  the  Kansas  City  Railways  Com- 
pany has  been  granted  a  readjustment  under  which 
both  the  railways  company  and  the  consignees  will 
be  able  to  proceed  more  profitably.  Patience  and  per- 
sistence have  won,  and  the  railways  company,  which 
has  doggedly  continued  its  service  because  the  service 
was  needed,  finds  itself  now  in  position  to  enter  the 
period  of  radically  increasing  volume  with  a  prospect  of 
profit  in  this  service.  The  readjustment  consisted  in 
the  application  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
of  the  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  freight  rates  to  Westport,  Mo. 

Westport  is  the  title  of  a  suburban  community  well 
within  the  city  limits  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  served  as  to 
freight  carriage  by  an  electric  line  of  the  Kansas  City 
Railways,  cars  being  received  by  this  company  from  the 
Missouri  Pacific,  the  Frisco  and  the  Kansas  City 
Southern  at  Dodson,  8  miles  south  of  the  Westport 
station.  Westport  is  the  original  settlement  of  Kansas 
City,  Mo.  It  is  on  high  ground  5  miles  south  of  the 
Missouri  river  landing  of  those  ancient  days.  In  the  old 
days  a  steam  road  with  dummy  engine  equipment  filled 
in  a  service  to  the  Westport  district,  having  its  con- 
nections with  the  steam  roads  at  Dodson  and  taking 
cars  from  the  trains  before  these  trains  reached  the 
union  terminals.  There  has  been  no  facility  for  trans- 
ferring freight  cars  from  the  terminals  to  the  Westport 
district  otherwise  than  at  Dodson. 

In  1907  the  Kansas  City  Railways  (then  the  Metro- 
politan Street  Railway)  took  over  the  dummy  line  and 
electrified  it,  maintaining  and  improving  the  freight 
terminals  and  incorporating  the  rail  line  with  its  pas- 
senger-carrying electric  system.  Passenger  and  freight 
cars  use  the  same  tracks  for  the  8  miles  from  Dodson  to 
Westport,  diverging  at  the  edge  of  the  terminal  yards. 

The  company  has,  during  the  past  year,  been  handling 
about  fifteen  freight  cars  a  day  over  this  line.  This  is 
considered  an  abnormally  low  level  of  business,  and  the 
average  is  expected  to  increase  as  business  conditions 
improve. 

The  Country  Club  passenger  line,  with  double-truck 
cars,  has  a  three-minute  headway  in  rush  hours  of 
morning  and  evening,  during  which  periods  freight  cars 
are  not  run.  The  shortest  headway  throughout  most  of 
the  day,  excepting  rush  hours,  is  four  minutes,  and 
operation  of  the  freight  trains  occurs  even  in  the  four- 
minute  headway  period.  The  only  problem  is  one  of 
power,  the  operation  of  freight  trains  interfering  with 
schedules  when  passenger  cars  are  under  three-minute 
headway.  The  Country  Club  line  is  operated  between 
Forty-third  Street  (Westport)  and  Sixty-third  Street 
only.  Between  Sixty-third  Street  and  Dodson,  the 
southern  terminus,  passenger  service  is  with  one  double- 
truck  car  making  the  round  trip  on  thirty-minute 
schedule. 

The  convenience,  even  the  necessity,  of  a  freight 
terminal  at  Westport  has  been  more  and  more  empha- 
sized every  year.  Within  2  miles  of  the  Dodson  line 
were  the  areas  most  rapidly  developing  as  residence 
districts — one  of  these  sections  being  nationally  famous, 
as  the  "Country  Club  District."   Materials  for  residence 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


243 


construction  and  supplies,  except  for  this  freight  line, 
would  have  to  be  hauled  5  to  10  miles  up  grade,  some- 
times even  farther.  The  time  element  alone  warranted 
attention  to  the  Westport  facilities,  as  every  year  was 
showing  worse  delays  in  passage  of  freight  through 
the  Kansas  City  terminals. 

Through  all  these  years,  however,  freight  service  into 
Westport  over  this  line  has  been  hampered  by  the  rates. 
Dodson,  10  miles  south  of  the  Union  Station  at  Kansas 
City,  took  the  Kansas  City  rate  on  commodities  from  the 
south,  and  the  local  rate  from  Dodson  to  Westport  was 
added  for  shipments  into  Westport. 

For  several  years  the  Kansas  City  Railways  received 
only  a  switching  charge  of  $8  for  handling  the  cars  from 
Dodson  to  terminals.   This  was  collected  by  the  railways 


Map  Showing  "Dodson  Line,"  Which  Is  the  Basis  of  an  Inter- 
esting Freight  Rate  Decision  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission 

company  from  the  consignee,  who  then  could  collect  $4 
of  it  back  from  the  line  haul  road.  On  December  5, 
1920,  the  charge  was  increased  to  $15  per  car,  still 
collected  from  the  consignee,  who  still  was  able  to  collect 
$4  from  the  line  haul  road. 

The  Westport  consignee  therefore  paid  the  Kansas 
City  rate  plus  the  net  $11  of  switching  charge  Dodson 
to  Westport.  A  consignee  who  received  commodities  at 
the  Kansas  City  freight  terminals  paid  only  the  Kansas 
City  rate  and  no  switching  charge  (the  charge  being 
absorbed  by  the  line  haul  road)  ;  the  Westport  consignee 
was  therefore  at  a  disadvantage  of  $11  per  car.  But 
despite  this  disparity,  the  industries  grouped  along  the 
Dodson  line  persisted,  and  the  railways  company,  despite 
its  unprofitable  operation,  continued  to  give  the  com- 
munities the  freight  service,  both  interests  being  con- 
vinced that  eventually  their  rights  and  the  justice  of 
the  situation  would  be  recognized. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  after  con- 
tinued hearings,  issued  an  order,  effective  May  2,  1921, 
relieving  the  burden  from  the  consignee  and  providing 
an  adequate  compensation  to  the  railways  company  for 
its  service.  Under  this  order  the  freight  rate  to  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  applies  to  Westport,  Mo.,  on  lumber  and 


many  other  commodities,  from  many  southern  districts,, 
including  practically  all  points  in  Arkansas,  Oklahoma, 
Louisiana  and  Texas,  on  the  Missouri,  Pacific,  Kansas 
City  Couthern,  Frisco  and  connecting  lines.  This 
removes  the  differential  and  places  upon  the  line  haul 
roads  delivering  the  cars  at  Dodson  the  absorption  of 
the  charge  necessary  to  complete  the  entire  transporta- 
tion of  the  shipment  to  Westport  via  the  Kansas  City 
Railways — the  same  as  to  any  industry  within  the 
Kansas  City  switching  district. 

The  consignee,  because  of  this  readjustment,  finds 
himself  on  a  par  as  to  charges  with  others  of  his 
industry  in  Kansas  City  and  with  a  great  advantage  in 
the  convenience  of  the  delivery.  The  Dodson-Westport 
consignee  finds  his  shipments  close  to  his  hand,  the 
topography  and  conditions  of  the  area  permitting  easy 
extension  of  tracks  to  yards  or  factories.  These  ship- 
ments avoid  the  occasional  congestion  and  the  regular 
delaying  routine  of  the  Kansas  City  switching  district. 
It  is  estimated  that  by  the  changes  just  described  from 
one  day  to  a  week  are  being  saved  by  the  consignee. 


Removal  of  Glue  Stains 

CASEIN  and  vegetable  glues  containing  caustic  soda 
produce  stains  on  certain  kinds  of  wood,  notably 
the  oaks,  maple,  cherry,  elm,  ash,  birch  and  beech. 
Some  glues  stain  the  wood  more  than  others,  and  those 
that  contain  the  most  alkali  are  likely  to  be  most 
injurious.  The  staining  is  due  to  the  action  of  the 
alkali  in  the  g'.ue  on  the  tannins  and  other  constituents 
of  the  wood,  whereby  a  substance  related  to  ink  is 
formed.  No  means  have  yet  been  found  of  preventing 
this  chemical  action.  Precautions  can  be  taken,  how- 
ever, the  Forest  Products  Laboratory,  Madison,  Wis., 
believes,  which  will  keep  the  discoloration  from  the  fin- 
ished surfaces. 

Most  trouble  experienced  with  glue  stain  in  wood- 
working is  caused  by  the  penetration  of  the  glue  solu- 
tion through  thin  face  veneers.  This  seepage  is  very 
likely  to  occur  if  the  veneer  is  less  than  0.05  in.  thick 
and  somewhat  porous.  The  consistency  of  a  glue  in 
part  determines  whether  it  will  be  squeezed  through  the 
wood  or  not.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  under  similar 
conditions  a  thin  glue  will  penetrate  farther  than  a 
thick  glue.  For  this  reason  the  quantity  of  water 
that  is  added  to  a  glue  might  be  diminished  and  "fil- 
lers" added  when  staining  is  feared.  The  amount  of 
pressure  exerted  by  the  panels  in  the  press  is  also  a 
factor,  but  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  reduce  the  pres- 
sure in  order  to  check  the  flow  of  the  glue. 

If  a  panel  is  dried  promptly,  the  caustic  soda  solu- 
tion will  have  difficulty  in  coming  to  the  surface. 
Rapid  drying  can  be  brought  about  by  removing  the 
panels  from  the  press  as  soon  as  it  is  safe  to  do  so, 
and  placing  them  on  stickers.  The  amount  of  staining 
can  also  be  decreased  somewhat  by  placing  a  caul  or 
some  other  flat  object  between  adjacent  panels  in  the 
press. 

Casein  and  vegetable  glue  stains  can  be  almost  en- 
tirely removed  by  sponging  the  stained  surface  with  an 
oxalic  acid  solution,  prepared  by  dissolving  1  oz.  of 
oxalic  acid  crystals  in  about  12  oz.  of  water.  Still 
better  results  may  sometimes  be  obtained  by  moisten- 
ing the  wood  first  with  a  sodium  sulphite  solution  made 
up  in  the  same  concentration  as  the  oxalic  acid.  In 
this  way  very  stubborn  stains  can  be  almost  obliterated. 


244 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


Accident  Record  Shows  Improvement 

A  Study  Made  in  Illinois  Reveals  That  Safety-First  Work  Is 
Bearing  Fruit — Greater  Efficiency  by  Chauffeurs 
and  Motormen  Urged,  Also  Better 
Accident  Record  System 

A MEASURE  of  cheer  in  the  growing  accident  prob- 
lems involving  street  cars  and  automobiles  was 
brought  out  in  a  study  of  accident  data  in  Chicago 
recently  by  R.  F.  Kelker  Jr.,  engineer,  Chicago.  The 
results  of  this  study  are  presented  herewith  in  graphical 
form,  from  which  it  is  seen  that  while  the  number  of 
automobile  accidents  is  greatly  increasing,  the  number 
of  street  accidents  per  100  motor  vehicles  is  showing  a 
very  healthy  decrease.  Similarly,  the  number  of  acci- 
dents per  100,000  car-miles  operated  by  the  Chicago 
Surface  Lines  has  shown  a  good  decrease  in  the  last  ten 
years.  As  it  was  impossible  to  secure  the  number  of 
automobiles  used  in  Chicago  alone,  it  was  necessary  to 
make  use  of  the  registration  figures  for  the  entire  State 
of  Illinois  in  making  this  comparison.  From  these 
curves  it  is  seen  that  while  the  number  of  annual 
accidents  reported  by  the  Chicago  police  for  automobiles 


4 

$ 

A 

I. 

, 

f 

/ 

— 

— 

wo 

eh. 

J T~t — 

7,000 
5,000 
4,000 
JiPOO 

2,000  2,000 


4,000 
3,000 


Mr.  Kelker  believes  that  the  improvement  shown  in 
the  number  of  accidents  involving  street  cars  is  due  to 
the  greater  alertness  of  pedestrians  and  patrons  of  the 
cars,  to  the  replacement  of  horse-drawn  vehicles  by 
motor  vehicles  and  the  consequent  improvement  in 
uniformity  of  speed  of  all  vehicles  using  the  streets,  and 
to  better  training  and  discipline  of  motormen.  His  view 
is  that  further  reduction  of  this  ratio  can  be  secured 
only  by  special  study  to  determine  the  location  of 
dangerous  places  on  the  various  lines,  and  by  using  acci- 
dent data  to  forecast  the  probability  of  accidents  so  that 
the  causes  may  be  guarded  against  or  eliminated. 

Recommendations  for  Accident  Prevention 

Mr.  Kelker  has  for  many  years  been  closely  connected 
with  street  railway  operations  in  Chicago.  He  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  system  of  keeping  accident  records,  out- 
lined below,  will  greatly  facilitate  the  study  of  accident 
conditions  and  therefore  tend  to  reduce  the  number  of 
accidents.  In  the  main,  two  things  are  sought  in  the 
plan  proposed :  First  so  to  visualize  the  accidents  taking 
place  to  the  man  responsible  that  repeated  accidents  at 
any  location  will  promptly  be  noted;  and  second,  to 
make  readily  accessible  the  data  on 
any  class  of  accidents  on  any  line. 

To  accomplish  these  things  it  is 
suggested  that  a  large  scale  map  of 
the  car  lines  (about  3  in.  to  the  mile) 
mounted  on  a  soft  pine  board,  be  used 
for  locating  with  colored  pins  the  vari- 
ous accidents.  The  map  should  be 
divided  into  sections  to  show  the  vari- 
ous operating  divisions  and  then  sub- 
divided on  a  co-ordinate  system  for 
purposes  of  reference  and  for  use  in 
filing  reports.  All  accidents  would  be 
grouped  according  to  class  and  colors 
assigned  as  follows: 


-At 

mi  lei 

in 

million^ 

Cu 

rvt 

D 

/  ' 

'■ni 

is 
£ 

in 

SL 

TOO 

ca 

n  17 

'He 

= 

S- 

r 



10  II  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 
Years,  1910  to  1924  Inclusive 
Trend  of  Accidents  to  Motor  Vehicles  in 
Chicago  Streets 


10  II  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 
Years,  1910  to  1924  Inclusive 
Trend  of  Accidents  Involving  Street 
Cars  in  Chicago 


Group  Letter         Description  Color 

A  Alighting  and  boarding   Green 

B  Collision  with  vehicles   Red 

C  Struck  by  cars   White 

D  Operating  defects   Blue 

E  Collision  with  cars  Yellow 

M  All  other  accidents   Orange 


These  curves  were  plotted  on  logarithmic  paper  simply  as  a  means  of  making  them 
more  compact.    The  purpose  of  the  curve  is  mainly  to  show  the  trend  and  this  is  as 


well  portrayed  in  a  small  space  on 
on  regular  co-ordinate  paper. 


this  kind  of  paper  as  it  is  in  a  much  larger  space 


increased  from  1,130  in  1910  to  7,110  in  1920,  the 
reported  motor  vehicle  accidents  per  100  registered 
vehicles  decreased  from  5.65  to  1.24,  or  a  decrease  in  the 
ratio  of  22  per  cent.  In  1910  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines 
operated  92,809,508  car-miles  and  suffered  a  total  of 
3,969  accidents  as  reported  by  the  Chicago  police.  In 
1920  the  number  of  car-miles  operated  was  117,118,072 
and  the  number  of  accidents,  2,477,  or  a  reduction  in  the 
ratio  from  4.27  accidents  per  100,000  car-miles  in  1910 
to  2.11  in  1920,  or  50  per  cent. 

Mr.  Kelker  attributed  the  improvement  in  connection 
with  automobile  accidents  to  the  betterment  in  the 
mechanical  design  of  the  automobiles,  to  the  greater 
skill  on  the  part  of  drivers  and  to  the  increased  alertness 
of  pedestrians  and  drivers  of  horse-drawn  vehicles.  It 
is  his  view  that  the  best  means  for  securing  a  further 
reduction  in  these  ratios  is  to  raise  the  average  of  skill 
of  motor  drivers  through  the  prompt  prosecution  of 
those  drivers  who  by  carelessness  violate  the  law. 


would  be  other 


When  an  accident  is  reported,  a  pin 
of  the  proper  color  would  be  stuck  in 
the  map  in  the  proper  co-ordinate  sec- 
tion. Besides  the  pins  mentioned, 
which  would  have  solid  colors,  there 
pins  with  a  black  dot  on  the  head  to 
indicate  accidents  at  any  street  intersection,  the  solid 
colors  being  used  for  those  occurring  at  all  other  places. 

Then  the  accident  reports  or  the  memoranda  on  any 
accident  would  carry  the  name  of  the  line,  the  co- 
ordinates of  the  location  on  the  map,  and  the  group 
letter  to  determine  the  proper  filing  place.  Thus  the  key 
for  file  of  any  record  would  be  something  like  this: 
"Madison  H4  B,"  Madison  being  the  name  of  the  line, 
H4  the  map  co-ordinates,  and  B  the  class  of  accident. 
All  accident  records  would  be  filed  first  by  line,  then  sub- 
divided by  location  and  further  subdivided  by  class  of 
accident.  By  this  scheme  the  data  for  a  study  of  a  cer- 
tain class  of  accidents  on  one  line  or  for  the  whole 
system  could  be  readily  produced.  It  should  be  under- 
stood that  in  this  scheme  it  is  accidents  and  not  claims 
that  are  being  filed,  for  the  latter  would  only  encumber 
the  file  and  be  of  little  value  in  any  study  of  the  situa- 
tion to  reduce  the  number  of  accidents. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


245 


New  Processes  for  Treating  Coal 

Dirty  Coal  an  Economic  Waste — High  Cost  of  Coal  Makes 
Processes  Possible — Flotation  and  Gravity  Utilized 
in  Treatments — Oil  Used  as  a  Reagent 
in  New  Trent  Process 

WAR  conditions  forced  every  power  producer  to  use 
any  and  all  kinds  of  coal  that  he  could  get.  But 
these  same  conditions  caused  a  closer  study  of  the 
economies  of  power  production  and  plant  operation  to 
counteract  rising  costs  of  all  sorts.  It  was  soon  gen- 
erally recognized  that  it  is  a  waste  to  have  transporta- 
tion facilities  used  to  transport  fuel  that  is  dirty  and 
high  in  ash  content;  to  put  dirty  or  high  ash  coal  under 
boilers ;  and  to  fight  clinkers  and  transport  ash  cars. 
But  one  good  result  of  an  economic  situation  of  this 
character  is  that  it  usually  produces  remedies. 

In  the  coal  situation  the  first  remedy  was  to  wash  out 
the  dirt.  This  can  be  done  very  rapidly  if  the  coal  is 
large  size  but  is  difficult  to  accomplish  with  slack  coal. 
One  new  process  for  treating  coal,  recently  developed  in 
Belgium,  is  called  the  Rheolaveur  process,  and  is  de- 
scribed by  R.  Nelson  in  the  Electrician  for  July  8,  1921. 
A  strong  and  steady  flow  of  water  forces  the  coal  along 
a  trough  and  the  coal  shale  and  dirt  separate  by  stratifi- 
cation, the  rate  of  flow  and  length  of  trough  being 
made  suitable  for  complete  stratification.  The  dirt  is 
drawn  off  at  intervals  through  the  insertion  of  cast-iron 
boxes  which  are  equipped  with  hand  valves  for  control- 
ling an  upward  flow  of  water  which  prevents  the  coal 
coming  off  with  the  dirt.  At  the  end  of  the  trough  the 
clean  coal  is  delivered  to  hoppers.  In  washing  nut  coal 
only  two  boxes  are  necessary,  the  first  to  draw  off  most 
of  the  shale  and  the  second  to  draw  off  the  rest  of  the 
shale  and  some  coal  which  is  later  reclaimed  by  rewash- 
ing.  In  washing  small  coal,  four  boxes  and  two  troughs 
are  necessary.  The  process  claims  low  initial  cost,  low 
maintenance  cost,  easy  control,  simplicity  of  operating 
parts  and  economy  of  space. 

Flotation  Process 

In  the  treatment  of  fine  or  slack  coal,  the  newer 
processes  use  an  adaptation  of  methods  developed  in  the 
ore  industry.  One  of  these  described  by  Mr.  Nelson  is 
independent  of  gravity.  The  coal  to  be  treated  is 
ground  until  it  all  passes  a  iV-in.  mesh  screen.  The  coal 
is  then  mixed  with  three  or  four  times  its  weight  of 
water  and  a  small  quantity,  1  lb.  per  ton  of  coal,  of  some 
reagent  such  as  oil  or  a  coal  tar  product.  The  mixture 
is  then  agitated  by  a  power  mixer  to  produce  a  multi- 
tude of  air  bubbles.  The  coal  attaches  itself  to  these 
bubbles  and  floats  to  the  top  in  the  form  of  a  thick 
layer  of  froth.  The  dirt  and  ash-forming  material  sinks 
to  the  bottom  and  is  drawn  off  and  rejected.  Scrapers 
remove  the  froth  and  the  coal  is  then  dried. 

The  machine  consists  of  from  five  to  ten  "mixing" 
boxes,  each  with  a  "froth"  box.  The  material  passes 
from  mixer  No.  1  to  froth  No.  1,  to  mixer  No.  2  to  froth 
No.  2,  etc.  A  machine  capable  of  dealing  with  1,000 
tons  of  coal  a  day  is  about  37  ft.  x  16  ft.  x  15  ft.  in  size. 
In  a  typical  separation  of  Derbyshire  slack  the  process 
reduced  the  ash  from  29.5  per  cent  in  the  cinder  fuel  to 
9.86  per  cent  in  the  cleaned  coal. 

Use  of  Oil  as  Reagent 

The  latest  development  in  coal  cleaning  was  brought 
about  by  the  co-operation  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines  and 
the  Trent  Process  Corporation  of  Washington,  D.  C, 


and  is  described  in  Coal  Age,  July  28,  1921.  A  mixture 
of  pulverized  coal  and  water  is  stirred  with  oil  whose 
weight  is  about  30  per  cent  the  weight  of  the  fuel.  Due 
to  this  agitation  the  coal  particles  form  a  pasty  amal- 
gam with  the  drops  of  oil  which  is  heavier  than  water 
and  sinks;  the  ash  and  non-combustible  materials  which 
have  been  separated  by  the  pulverizing,  remain  in  sus- 
pension in  the  water,  are  not  affected  by  the  oil,  and 
may  be  drawn  off.  The  coal  amalgam  is  then  treated  to 
remove  the  water  and  then  used  as  fuel  either  wet  or  in 
dry  briquets.  This  process  is  new  and  is  apparently 
very  efficient  for  bituminous  coals  but  has  not  as  yet 
been  developed  on  a  commercial  scale. 


The  Situation  in  the  Petroleum  Industry 

THE  rate  of  growth  in  the  petroleum  industry  in 
recent  years  and  the  prospects  for  further  develop- 
ment are  matters  of  special  concern  at  present,  says 
the  Wall  Street  Journal,  so  prominent  is  the  position 
which  the  industry  has  attained  in  world  affairs.  Fig- 
ures obtained  from  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
on  production  in  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  the 
world,  throw  much  light  on  the  general  question  and 
are  especially  pertinent  to  the  question  of  generating 
electric  power  by  oil.  The  figures  for  the  year  1920 
indicate  that  the  production  of  crude  oil  in  the  United 
States  was  about  443,000,000  bbl.,  or  about  65  per  cent 
of  the  world's  production,  while  the  consumption  in  this 
country  was  over  530,000,000  bbl. 

Dr.  David  White  of  the  Geological  Survey,  in  an 
official  publication,  says  that  by  unexpected  good  for- 
tune in  the  search  of  new  supplies,  or  even  less  unex- 
pected curtailment  of  consumption,  the  petroleum  pro- 
duction of  the  United  States  is  likely  not  only  never 
again  wholly  to  meet  our  requirements,  but  even  is 
liable  to  start  soon  on  the  long  decline  to  waning  out- 
put. He  also  mentions  a  dangerous  growth  of  consump- 
tion demand,  such  as  motor  cars,  the  use  of  oil  under 
steam  boilers,  the  turning  from  coal  to  oil,  produced 
by  the  coal  strike,  and  the  program  of  the  Shipping 
Board. 

Speaking  about  the  effect  of  the  industrial  slump 
on  the  petroleum  industry,  A.  W.  Ambrose,  chief  pe- 
troleum technologist  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  says  that 
he  thinks  the  petroleum  industry  will  recover  far  more 
rapidly  than  many  other  commodities.  The  increased 
consumption  of  gasoline,  accounted  for  by  the  enor- 
mous growth  of  the  automotive  industry,  is  back  of  the 
sustaining  of  the  petroleum  industry.  The  oil  indus- 
try today  is  living  on  its  gasoline  sales  and  nothing 
else.  He  declares  that  as  soon  as  the  economic  depres- 
sion is  relieved  the  petroleum  industry  will  be  one  of 
the  first  to  benefit  and  demands  for  petroleum  will 
advance  rapidly  and  go  beyond  war-time  con&amption. 

The  real  motor-fuel  problem  is  not  concerned  with 
the  swings  of  the  business  pendulum,  although  the  pres- 
ent abundance  of  fuel  is  pointed  to  by  superficial  critics 
as  showing  how  wrong  have  been  the  predictions  of 
of  those  who  have  warned  us  of  a  future  shortage.  At 
present  the  underground  petroleum  reserve  in  the  United 
States  is  only  about  5,800,000,000  bbl.  Were  this 
oil  to  be  extracted  from  the  ground  at  a  rate  equal 
to  that  of  the  year  1920,  a  feat  that  is  not  out  of  the 
question  from  a  practical  standpoint,  the  reserve  would 
last  but  thirteen  years.  It  is  thus  evident  that  after 
a  few  years  we  must  expect  a  decline  in  the  domestic 
production  of  petroleum. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Operating  Company  Builds 
Switching  Locomotive 

A  45-Ton  Switching  Locomotive  Constructed  in  the  Shops 
of  the  Monongahela  Power  &  Railway  Company  Was 
Built  from  a  Discarded  Ruined  Freight  Car 

A CONTRACT  between  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road and  the  Monongahela  Power  &  Railway  Com- 
pany provides  for  the  switching  over  the  tracks  of  the 
latter  company  of  freight  in  carload  lots  from  the 
yards  of  the  Monongahela  division  to  the  tracks  of 
the  Little  Kanawha  Railroad,  controlled  by  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Railroad,  and  to  industries  in  South 
Parkersburg.  This  switching  service  increased  at  such 
a  rapid  rate  that  in  1920  the  Monongahela  Power  & 
Railway  Company  found  itself  without  adequate  motive 
power  to  handle  the  carloads  of  freight  offered  for 
delivery.  The  purchase  of  a  new  and  heavier  electric 
locomotive  was  necessary ,  and  accordingly  inquiries 
were  sent  to  the  principal  electric  companies  for  a  40 


Locomotive  Constructed  from  Old  Equipment 

to  45-ton  electric  locomotive  arranged  for  600-volt 
direct-current  operation.  The  bids  received  were  so 
unsatisfactory  that  the  company  decided  to  construct 
a  locomotive  in  its  own  shops. 

The  locomotive,  as  shown  in  an  accompanying  illus- 
tration, was  built  along  lines  of  a  standard  steeple  cab- 
type  locomotive.  A  standard  steel  box-car  center  with 
steel  bolsters  riveted  in  place  with  wing  gusset  plates 
was  used.  This  frame  was  purchased  on  a  pound  basis 
from  a  discarded  and  ruined  freight  car  equipment  and 
results  have  shown  that  it  possesses  the  required  stiff- 
ness, strength  and  other  essentials. 

The  longitudinal  sills  of  the  engine  body  consist  of 
six  7-in.,  90-lb.,  T-rails,  spaced  three  on  each  side  of 
the  steel  center,  and  an  insert  of  concrete,  filled  with 
scrap  iron,  was  placed  between  these  sills  to  give  added 
weight  to  the  locomotive.  The  floor  of  the  locomotive  is 
therefore  a  somewhat  massive  construction,  but  it  has 


the  weight  and  bulk  necessary  to  furnish  tractive  power 
to  the  engine. 

The  trucks  used  were  formerly  standard  freight 
trucks  of  the  arch-bar  type.  The  original  arch  bars 
were  replaced  with  longer  bars,  so  as  to  lengthen  the 
wheelbase  and  provide  space  necessary  for  hanging 
brakes  and  motors.  Cast-iron  wheels  of  M.  C.  B.  stand- 
ard design  of  wheel,  flange  and  tread  were  used.  The 
electrical  equipment  consists  of  four  G.  E.  No.  73  motors 
with  a  gear  ratio  of  17:73.  These  motors  were  care- 
fully constructed  with  new  commutators  and  some  other 
additional  repairs  were  made  which  were  found  neces- 
sary. Two  controllers,  type  K-34,  equipped  with  G-2 
auxiliary  ratchet  switches,  control  the  current  in  the 
power  circuit. 

The  air  brake  equipment  consists  of  two  A-6  air  com- 
pressors, each  of  18-cu.ft.  capacity,  which  work  in 
unison  to  provide  the  air  supply.  The  compressors  are 
located  one  under  each  hood,  while  all  the  additional 
air-brake  equipment  except  the  brake  cylinder  and  main 
reservoirs  are  located  inside  the  cab.  ■  The  brakes  are 
Westinghouse  type  A.M.M.  with  M-22-A  brake  valves 
and  M-l  triple  valves.  The  locomotive  is  provided  with 
air  sanders  which  deliver  sand  to  the  front  wheels  of 
each  truck.  The  general  dimensions  of  the  locomotive 
as  constructed  are: 


Length   34  ft 

Width....   9  ft. 

Height,  rail  to  running  board   12  ft 

Wheelbase   6  ft 

Trucks,  center  to  center   20  ft 

Axles   5j  in 

Journals   5  in. 

Brake  cylinder   12  in 


4  in. 
10  in. 


x  9  in. 
x  12  in. 


This  locomotive  as  constructed  is  giving  very  satis- 
factory service  and  the  entire  cost  was  but  $8,385.71.  It 
is  in  constant  service  and  handles  from  six  to  twelve 
freight  cars. 

New  Oil  Circuit  Breaker 

AS  AN  ADDED  economy  in  space  for  equipment  of 
power  houses  and  substations,  the  Condit  Electri- 
cal Manufacturing  Company  has  placed  on  the  market 
the  type  D-17  oil  circuit  breaker  with  a  relatively  high 
interrupting  capacity  but  of  comparatively  small  over- 
all dimensions. 

A  heavy  and  rugged  frame  construction  is  used 
throughout,  with  double  tanks,  supported  by  a  heavily 
ribbed  cradle,  which  in  turn  is  hung  by  strong  bolt 
construction  with  resilient  features.  The  purpose  of 
this  type  of  construction  is  to  absorb  the  mechanical 
shock  incident  to  rupturing  a  heavy  short  circuit,  and 
to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  hazard  which  usually  fol- 
lows the  throwing  of  hot  oil  and  gases  emitted  on 
heavy  short  circuits.  Double  tanks  as  furnished  on  the 
type  D-17  oil  circuit  breaker  take  care  of  this  hazard. 
The  inner  tank  contains  the  oil  in  which  the  switch 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


247 


contacts  are  immersed  and  is  heavily  reinforced  at  the 
top  by  a  deep  web  on  the  frame.  The  outer  tank  in 
connection  with  the  resilient  features  is  so  arranged 
as  to  chill  the  gases  and  to  prevent  the  hot  oil  from 
being  discharged  from  the  breaker. 

Type  D-17  oil  circuit  breakers  are  built  in  single 
units  for  500  to  1,200  amp.  capacity  at  15,000  volts 
and  500  to  800-amp.  capacity  at  25,000  volts,  single 
throw,  and  can  be  furnished  for  single  or  multiple 
operation. 

New  Cars  for  Texas  Electric  Railway 

Four  Interurban  Cars  Arranged  for  Operation  on  Both  600 
and  1,200  Volts  Placed  in  Service — Equipment  and  Car 
Construction  Provide  for  Hauling  Two  Trailers 

THE  Texas  Electric  Railway,  operating  277  miles 
of  line  between  the  cities  of  Dallas,  Waco,  Dension 
and  Corsicana,  recently  placed  in  service  four  new 
interurban  passenger  cars.  The  car  bodies  were  built 
by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company  and  the  trucks  by  the 
J.  G.  Brill  Company.  The  cars  are  equipped  with  four 
GE-225-B  motors  and  PC-101-B  control,  arranged  for 
operation  on  600  and  1,200  volts.  Air  brakes  are  West- 
inghouse  AMM  type,  with  12-in.  x  14-in.  brake  cylin- 
ders. The  air  compressor  is  of  the  General  Electric 
Type  CP-78-B1,  arranged  for  operation  on  600  and 
1,200  volts. 

Current  for  operating  the  control  apparatus  and  sup- 
plying the  lights  is  furnished  by  a  32-volt,  1.5-kw. 
motor-generator  with  compound  winding,  which  per- 
mits its  operating  on  either  600  or  1,200  volts.  Two 
General  Electric  J-37  headlights  with  250-watt,  32-volt 
special  bulbs  are  used.  The  interior  of  the  car  is 
lighted  by  eight  50-watt,  32-volt  lamps  with  Holophane 
reflectors. 

The  cars  have  steel  underframing  and  steel  super- 
structure and  as  they  were  specified  for  service  at 
65  miles  per  hour,  pulling  two  trailers,  the  underframe 
was  constructed  with  six  longitudinal  sills,  four  of 
which  are  continuous  from  bumper  to  bumper.  The 
side  sills  are  8-in.,  13.75-lb.  channels;  center  sills,  8  in., 
18-lb.  I-beams;  intermediate  sills,  8-in.,  11.25-lb. 
channel  and  bumpers,  8-in. ;   13.75-lb.  channels  bent 


Interior  of  New  Interurban  Cars  for  Texas  Electric  Railway 

to  radius  and  reinforced  with  four  ribbed  Hedley  anti- 
climbers.  The  bolsters  are  12-in.  x  1-in.  soft  steel. 
The  side  pier  posts  are  2  J-in.  x  2-in.  angles ;  side 
window  posts,  2  in.  x  2  in.;  tees  and  vestibule  corner 
and  end  posts,  3J-in.  x  34-in.  The  side  sheets  and  letter 
board  are  of  i-in.  patent  beveled  plates,  insulated  with 
pressed  cork  board. 

The  roof  carlines  are  i-in.  x  2-in.  soft  steel,  to  which 
is  applied  suitable  furring  for  nailing  the  f-in.  poplar 
roof,  which  is  covered  with  No.  8  canvas  duck.  The 
sash  and  doors  are  made  of  quarter  sawed  oak  and  the 
floors  of  hard  maple,  with  the  exception  of  the  toilet 
room,  which  is  covered  with  Mastic  flooring.  The  front 
and  rear  window  sash  and  lower  side  sash  are  glazed 
with  iVin.  plate  glass.  The  upper  Gothic  sash  are 
glazed  with  Imperial  prismatic  glass  of  special  design. 
Trucks  are  the  Brill  27-MCB-3X  type  with  5-in.  x  9-in. 
journals,  6-in.  axle  bearings,  forged  side  frames  and 
37-in.  rolled  steel  wheels. 

The  enamel  system  was  used  in  painting  and  the  cars 
are  finished  in  Pullman  green  body  color  with  white 
enameled  ceiling.  The  interior  finish  of  the  car  is 
dark  oak.  The  signal  system,  supplied  by  the  Ohio 
Brass  Company,  is  arranged  automatically  to  cut  in 
the  storage  battery  lights  upon  any  failure  of  line 
voltage.    The  accumulator  is  arranged  for  constant 


Exterior  of  Texas  Electric  Railway  Cars 


248 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


recharge  at  600  volts  when  the  car  is  operating  on 
either  600  or  1,200  volts.  The  seats,  supplied  by 
Heywood  Brothers  &  Wakefield,  are  upholstered  in 
Fabrikoid  and  built  to  the  railway  company's  specifica- 
tions. The  trap  doors  and  sash  fixtures  were  furnished 
by  the  O.  M.  Edwards  Company,  couplers  and  trolley 
catchers  by  the  Ohio  Brass  Company  and  the  heater 
equipment  by  the  Holden  &  White  Company. 
The  principal  dimensions  of  these  cars  are : 

Length  over  bumpers   55  ft.  1 1  in. 

Length  over  vestibule  sheeting   53  ft.  II  in. 

Width  over  side  sheets   9  ft. 

Length  of  smoking  compartment   17  ft.  bin. 

Length  of  main  compartment   21  ft. 

Seating  capacity,  main  compartment   38 

Seating  capacity,  smoking  Compartment   22 

Weight,  completely  equipped   86,600  lb. 


Titanium -Treated  Rails 

Service  Tests  of  Titanium-Treated  Rails  Extending  Over 
Six  Years  Confirm  Earlier  Test  Results — Thirty-seven 
Failures  per  100  Track-Miles  During  This  Period 

THE  result  of  an  extended  series  of  investigations 
begun  in  1913  to  determine  the  effect  of  the  use  of 
titanium  in  rail  steel  has  been  published  in  bulletin  form 
by  the  Titanium  Alloy  Manufacturing  Company, 
Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.  In  the  eight  bulletins  of  the  series 
which  have  been  issued  previously  there  appeared  the 
result  of  metallographic  and  physical  testing  work 
which  demonstrated  the  clearness  and  uniformity  of 
titanium-treated  rail  steel  and  the  physical  superiority 
of  this  more  uniform  steel.  The  service  results,  which 
have  now  been  added,  prove  conclusively  that  the 
evidence  brought  out  earlier  is  reliable  and  that  a 
uniformly  good  steel  will  make  possible  greatly  improved 
rails. 

Reasons  for  the  Investigation 

The  purpose  of  these  investigations  was: 

1.  To  show  in  detail  the  exact  structural  and  physical 
differences  between  titanium-treated  and  untreated  rails. 

2.  To  find  a  simple,  practical  method  for  determining 
the  efficiency  of  titanium  treatment  so  that  occasional 
improperly  treated  steel  may  be  identified  and  separated 
from  that  free  from  excessive  segregation. 

3.  To  follow  through  the  many  thousand  tons  of 
titanium-treated  rail  which  have  been  in  service  from 
four  to  six  years. 

The  control  of  segregaton  in  open-hearth  rail  steel 
has  always  been  a  matter  of  great  concern  to  the  rail 
makers.  During  the  years  1913  and  1914  samples  of 
A-rails  (top  rail  of  the  ingot)  from  111  different  heats 
of  standard  and  101  heats  of  titanium-treated  open- 
hearth  steel,  made  for  six  different  railroads,  were 
forwarded  to  the  laboratories  of  the  Titanium  Alloy 
Manufacturing  Company.  Here  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road segregation  specification  was  applied  to  each  of  the 
A-rail  samples  from  the  212  heats.  A-rails  from  only 
37  per  cent  of  the  heats  of  standard  open-hearth  steel 
passed  the  requirements,  whereas  A-rails  from  93  per 
cent  of  titanium-treated  heats  passed  the  specification. 

The  determination  in  steel  of  titanium  insoluble  in 
hydrochloric  acid  is  an  index  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
treatment  and  allows  the  identification  of  heats  in 
which  excessive  segregation  has  occurred.  The  process 
is  very  simple  and  can  be  made  quickly  and  accurately. 
This  determination  will  ordinarily  make  further  analyti- 
cal work  unnecessary  because  so  high  a  percentage  of 
titanium-treated  rail  steel  will  meet  the  required 
specifications  for  segregation.    It  has  been  suggested 


that  in  order  to  conform  to  regular  mill  practice  all 
rails  that  pass  the  usual  physical  requirements  be 
accepted  by  the  purchaser.  Samples  for  titanium 
determination  should  be  taken  by  the  inspector  for  the 
purchaser  and  sent  to  the  laboratories  or  those  of  any 
agency  it  might  employ. 

The  adoption  of  this  simplified  method  should  accom- 
plish the  following  results:  (1)  Eliminate  the  majority 
of  rail  failures;  (2)  assure  the  purchaser  of  rails  of 
more  uniform  steel  throughout  all  the  ingots  of  a  heat; 
(3)  permit  a  larger  yield  of  acceptable  rail  by  eliminat- 
ing serious  segregation  in  the  upper  portion  of  the 
ingots;  (4)  since  segregation  can  be  effectively  con- 
trolled, make  it  desirable  to  raise  the  carbon  content  of 
the  steel  slightly,  which  would  result  in  better  wearing 
steel. 

Titanium-Treated  Steel  Has  Least  Failures 

A  comparative  test  over  six  years  in  service  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  titanium-treated  steel  has  the  least 
failures.  In  1913  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad  obtained 
and  laid  in  tracks  14,310  tons  of  standard  90-lb.  A.  R. 
E.  A.  open-hearth  rail  steel  from  four  different  mills 
and  6,000  tons  of  titanium-treated  open  hearth  of  the 
same  weight  and  section.  This  tonnage  was  laid  so 
that  the  service  for  all  rail  was  approximately  the  same. 
Of  the  standard  open-hearth  steel  there  occurred  116 
failures  in  the  101  miles  of  track,  or  114  failures  per 
100  track-miles.  On  the  other  hand,  the  titanium- 
treated  open-hearth  steel  showed  an  average  of  but 
sixteen  failures  in  42  miles  of  track,  or  thirty-seven 
failures  per  100  track-miles. 

Similar  analyses  of  the  rail  failure  statistics  of  the 
American  Railway  Engineering  Association  for  1918 
showed  average  failures  per  year  in  service  per  hundred 
miles  of  track  to  be  13.7  for  standard  open-hearth  rails 
as  compared  with  6.8  for  titanium-treated  open-hearth 
rails.  Similar  figures  from  the  rail  failure  statistics 
contained  in  the  report  for  1919  show  14.6  and  4.9 
failures  respectively. 

Attention  is  also  called  to  the  fact  that  the  yield  from 
standard  open-hearth  steel  was  19.6  per  cent  less  than 
that  from  titanium-treated  steel,  due  to  the  greater  free- 
dom from  segregation  in  the  upper  part  of  the  ingots  of 
the  latter. 

The  war  caused  a  great  increase  in  the  knowledge  and 
use  of  alloy  steels  and  these  data  should  result  in  some 
great  improvements  in  the  quality  of  the  steel  rails 
and  special  track  work  used  in  the  railway  industry. 

Fin  Nut  Lock 

AN  INGENIOUS  form  of  nut  lock  is  being  used  on 
Ix.  nuts  of  the  third  rail  shoes  used  by  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  Company  and  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company  in  New  York,  as  well  as  at 
other  places  where  a  very  tight  lock 
is  desired.  The  nut  lock  is  made  of 
annealed  steel  and  consists  of  a  disk 
or  washer  with  inwardly  projecting 
fins  bent  up  so  as  to  be  of  cone  form. 
After  this  washer  is  screwed  on  the 
bolt,  with  the  fins  fitting  into  the 
thread,  the  lock  is  flattened  out  in 
its  original  form,  jamming  the  fins 
into  the  thread  of  the  bolt.  The  nut  lock  is  removed  by 
being  cut  off.  This  nut  lock  is  manufactured  by  the 
Nutlock  Corporation  and  is  known  as  the  Hold  Tite  Nut 
Lock. 


Hold  Tite  Nut 
Lock 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


249 


Executive  Committee  Holds  Important  Meeting 

Approves  the  Report  of  the  Reorganization  Committee  with  Some  Modifications 
— Appoints  J.  W.  Welsh  to  Secretaryship — Considers 
Convention  Program 


THE  executive  committee  of  the 
American  Association  held  an  im- 
portant all-day  meeting  at  association 
headquarters  on  Friday,  Aug.  5.  The 
morning  session  was  devoted  to  a  con- 
sideration of  miscellaneous  association 
matters  of  importance,  and  the  after- 
noon session  to  a  consideration  of  the 
report  of  the  special  reorganization 
committee. 

The  first  business  of  importance  was 
the  appointment  of  a  permanent  secre- 
tary to  fill  the  vacany  caused  by  E.  B. 
Burritt's  resignation.  The  reorganiza- 
tion committee  had  recommended  that 
J.  W.  Welsh  be  appointed  to  that  po- 
sition and  after  a  thorough  discussion 
of  the  situation,  the  executive  commit- 
tee took  unanimous  action  in  line  with 
this  recommendation. 

The  following  applications  from  com- 
panies for  membership  in  the  associa- 
tion that  have  been  received  since  the 
1920  convention  were  presented: 


The  applications  of  all  of  the  above 
companies  were  formally  approved. 

Resignations  of  a  few  railway  com- 
panies and  of  some  manufacturing  com- 
panies were  received.  Most  of  these 
have  not  paid  dues  for  the  past  one  or 
two  years.  The  secretary  stated  that 
an  effort  was  being  made  to  secure  the 
continued  membership  of  some  of  these 
companies. 

It  was  suggested  that  when  companies 
present  their  resignations  without  hav- 
ing made  payments  of  dues  in  full  to 
date  of  resignation,  the  secretary  of  the 
association  should  have  the  case  of 
these  unpaid  dues  taken  up  by  counsel, 
and  that  those  companies  not  making 
payment  in  full  be  dropped  from  the 
membership  list. 

President  Gadsden  made  a  statement 
to  the  executive  committee  with  refer- 
ence to  W.  0.  Gibson  and  the  final  re- 
sult of  the  analysis  of  the  association's 
finances  made  by  W.  R.  Boylan.  Mr. 
Gadsden  stated   that  Mr.   Gibson  had 


pled  guilty  in  court  on  Thursday,  Aug. 
4,  and  would  be  sentenced  on  Wednes- 
day, Aug.  10.  He  also  presented  a 
statement  by  Mr.  Boylan. 

With  the  defalcation  matter  closed 
in  this  manner  anyone  else  is  officially 
cleared  from  any  criminal  connection 
with  the  defalcation. 

The  executive  committee  considered 
the  status  of  several  committee  re- 
ports, advising  those  committees  as 
to  policy  in  making  their  final  and 
complete  reports. 

A  complete  discussion  of  the  conven- 
tion pi'ogram  as  now  proposed  was 
next  had.  There  was  an  evident  de- 
sire on  the  part  of  the  entire  executive 
committee  to  put  into  force  the  sugges- 
tions made  by  President  Gadsden  at  the 
Chicago  conference  that  there  be  ample 
provision  for  discussion  at  annual  con- 
ventions. The  subjects  committee  was 
advised  by  the  executive  committee  that 
it  desired  to  have  the  program  short- 


ened and  some  suggestions  along  this 
line  were  made;  that  it  desired  to  have 
authors  of  most  of  the  papers  limited 
to  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  to  present  the 
high  points  or  an  abstract  of  their 
papers  which  would  have  been  usually 
printed  and  distributed  and  that  ample 
time  be  scheduled  for  discussion  of  the 
subjects  presented.  Provision  is  also 
to  be  made  for  one  entire  session  which 
may  be  devoted  to  a  consideration  of 
the  changes  in  the  constitution  and  by- 
laws recommended  by  the  executive 
committee  following  the  report  of  the 
reorganization  committee. 

Reorganization  Report  Considered 

The  committee  devoted  the  entire 
afternoon  to  a  consideration  of  the  re- 
port of  the  special  reorganization  com- 
mittee. The  principal  points  of  this 
committee's  report  were  outlined  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  July  16, 
page  105.  The  executive  committee 
adopted  the  report  of  the  reorganiza- 


tion committee  with  some  modifications, 
and  will  present  an  amended  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws  to  the  membership 
for  action  at  the  October  convention. 
The  report  of  the  executive  committee 
recommending  these  changes  is  now  be- 
ing printed,  with  the  amended  consti- 
tution and  by-laws,  and  will  be  dis- 
tributed to  the  membership  at  an  early 
date. 

The  modifications  which  the  execu- 
tive committee  made  in  the  report  of 
the  reorganization  committee  follow: 

A  redefinition  of  the  officers  and 
membership  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee as  follows: 

A  president,  to  hold  office  for  one  year, 
eligible  to  re-election,  as  recommended. 

Pour  vice-presidents,  elected  each  year 
for  a  term  of  one  year,  designated  first,  sec- 
ond, third  and  fourth  vice-president,  eligible 
to  re-election,  rather  than  to  have  two 
elected  each  year  for  two-year  terms  _  not 
eligible  to  re-election,  and  without  designa- 
tion, as  recommended. 

Twelve  members  at  large,  six  representing 
manufacturing  companies,  six  representing 
operating  companies,  two  of  each  to  be 
elected  each  year  for  three-year  terms,  and 
not  eligible  to  re-election  to  the  same  office, 
as  recommended. 

A  treasurer,  to  hold  office  for  one  year, 
subject  to  re-election,  as  recommended. 

The  four  presidents  of  the  affiliated  asso- 
ciations, as  recommended. 

All  of  the  living  past  presidents,  ex-officio 
members  without  power  to  vote  ;  rather  than 
to  have  only  the  two  junior  living  past- 
presidents,  with  power  to  vote,  as  recom- 
mended. 

The  executive  secretary,  who  is  not  a 
member  of  the  executive  committee,  but 
who  attends  its  meetings  ;  he  may  not  be  the 
same  person  as  the  treasurer,  cus  recom- 
mended. 

A  new  provision  that  any  elected 
member  of  the  executive  committee  who 
is  unable  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
executive  committee  may  have  the 
privilege  of  sending  as  a  proxy  any 
officer  or  employee  of  the  same  com- 
pany member  which  that  committee 
member  represents.  The  further  pro- 
vision that  if  any  elected  member  of 
the  executive  committee  is  absent  and 
unrepresented  by  proxy  for  three  con- 
secutive meetings  of  the  committee,  his 
office  shall  automatically  be  vacant,  is 
also  added. 

A  modification  of  the  definition  of  a 
quorum  of  the  executive  committee  so 
that  seven  voting  members  are  a 
quorum  rather  than  a  majority. 

Provision  that  a  majority  of  the 
finance  committee  and  a  majority  of 
the  policy  committee  rather  than  the 
full  membership  of  both  of  them  shall 
be  chosen  from  the  voting  members  of 
the  executive  committee. 

The  executive  committee  approved 
the  suggestion  of  the  reorganization 
committee  that  a  special  amendment 
be  adopted  at  the  1921  convention  which 
would  not  limit  consideration  of  amend- 
ments to  the  exact  wording  presented 
by  the  executive  committee,  but  that 
new  and  reworded  amendments  would 
be  given  official  status  on  the  floor  of 
the  convention  in  order  that  the  most 
complete  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
membership  of  the  association  might  be 
obtained. 

The  executive  committee  also  ap- 
proved the  recommendations  of  the  re- 
organization committee,  given  below: 

That  provision  for  membership  of 
trackless  transportation  companies  be 
made. 


Railway  Member  Companies  Within  the  Borders  of  the  North  American  Continent 

Brooklyn  City  Railroad  Brooklyn.  N.  Y  Joined  June  11,  1921 

Valdosta  Street  Railway,  Valdosta,  Ga  Joined  July  14,  1921 

Sherbrooke  Railway  &  Power  Company,  Montreal,  Canada  Joined  July  18,  1921 

Railway  Member  Company  Beyond  the  Borders  op  the  North  American  Continent 
Pernambuco  Tramways,  Light  &  Power  Company,  Pernambuco,  Brazil,  Joined  March  2,  1.921 
Railway  Member  Company  Reinstated  Since  the  1920  Convention 

Chicago  &  Interurban  Traction  Company,  Chicago,  111  Resigned  July  11,  1921 

This  company  resigned  in  letter  of  June  5,  1920.  In  letter  of  July  11,  1921,  "indicated 
that  it  wished  reinstatement  and  asked  for  data  sheet  on  which  to  compute  dues  owing, 
which  are  for  the  years  1920  and  1921. 

Manufacturer  Member  Companies  Who  Have  Joined  Since  1920  Convention 

C-J-H  Service  Corporation,  Buffalo,  N.  Y  Joined  October,  1920 

William  V.  Dee  Company,  Bridgeport,  Conn  Joined  Feb.  7,  1921 

Kellogg  Switchboard  &  Supply  Company,  Chicago,  111  Joined  April  21,  1921 

McKinnon  Automatic  Lubricating  Vacuum  Company,  Holyoke,  Mass. .  Joined  October,  1921 

Milwaukee  Tank  Works,  New  York,  N.  Y  Joined  Dec.  7,  1921 

Republic  Truck  Sales  Corporation,  Chicago,  111  Joined  July  15,  1921 

Standard  Oil  Company,  Chicago,  111  Joined  June  30,  1921 


250 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


That  a  separate  classification  of 
membership  be  provided  for  consulting 
engineers,  management  and  holding 
companies,  investment  bankers,  etc. 

That  individual  members  from  non- 
member  companies  eligible  to  election 
be  not  admitted. 

That  the  executive  committee  hold 
regular  monthly  meetings. 

That  nominations  for  officers  be  made 
by  a  nominating  committee  and  an- 
nounced to  the  association  at  least 
thirty  days  before  the  annual  meeting, 
but  that  other  nominations  may  be  of- 
fered any  time  before  the  actual  elec- 
tion. 

That  definite  provision  be  made  for 
a  mid-year  meeting  now  held  as  a  mid- 
year conference,  but  without  any  spe- 
cial provision. 

That  certain  standing  and  continu- 
ing committees  be  provided  by  the  by- 
laws. 

That  dues  now  stated  in  the  by-laws 
shall  be  maximum,  which  may  be  low- 
ered, but  after  once  lowered  not  raised, 
by  the  executive  committee. 

That  more  careful  provision  be  made 
with  reference  to  members  in  arrears 
and  members  desiring  to  withdraw. 

That  A  era  be  continued  as  a  maga- 
zine, with  the  secretary  advised  against 
unnecessary  duplication. 

That  definite  steps  be  taken  with  ref- 
erence to  better  handling  of  the  funds 
of  the  association. 

All  of  the  above  are  provided  for  in 
the  amended  constitution  and  by-laws. 

With  reference  to  the  other  recom- 
mendations made  by  the  reorganization 
committee,  the  executive  committee  ap- 
proved all  of  them. 

The  reorganization  committee  had 
made  no  recommendations  with  refer- 
ence to  the  admission  of  municipally- 
owned  railways,  but  asked  the  execu- 
tive committee  to  consider  it  in  its  own 
meeting.  The  executive  committee  did 
so,  but  voted  not  to  recommend  to  the 
membership  that  municipally  owned 
railways  be  admitted  to  membership. 

The  reorganization  committee  had 
suggested,  in  response  to  questions 
raised  by  certain  members,  that  the 
executive  committee  consider  the  ad- 
visability of  incorporating  the  associa- 


tion. Meanwhile  the  reorganization 
committee  had  made  further  study  of 
the  matter  and  recommended  to  the 
executive  committee  that  the  associa- 
tion do  not  incorporate.  The  executive 
committee  approved  this  latter  recom- 
mendation. 

In  line  with  its  recommendation  that 
there  be  a  definite  by-law  provision  for 
nominations  in  advance  of  the  conven- 
tion, the  executive  committee  authorized 
President  Gadsden  to  appoint  a  nomi- 
nating committee  of  seven  immediately 
which  would  report  nominations  for  the 
1921  election  as  soon  as  possible. 

Those  present  at  the  morning  session 
were  President  P.  H.  Gadsden,  Vice- 
Presidents  R.  I.  Todd  and  C.  D.  Em- 
mons; President  W.  G.  Gove,  Messrs. 
F.  R.  Coates,  H.  R.  Mallison,  J.  N. 
Shannahan,  W.  H.  Sawyer,  E.  F.  Wick- 
wire,  B.  A.  Hegeman,  M.  B.  Lambert, 
proxy  for  H.  D.  Shute,  John  Barry, 
proxy  for  J.  R.  Lovejoy;  Past-Presi- 
dents G.  H.  Harries  and  C.  L.  Henry, 
and  the  following  who  had  been  espec- 
ially invited:  J.  K.  Choate,  E.  C.  Faber, 
J.  F.  Hamilton,  H.  B.  Flowers,  Harlow 
Clark  and  H.  V.  Bozell,  and  J.  W. 
Welsh,  secretary.  Of  these,  Messrs. 
Gadsden,  Emmons,  Sawyer,  Lambert, 
Barry,  Clark  and  Bozell  were  mem- 
bers of  the  reorganization  committee. 
Those  present  at  the  afternoon  meet- 
ing were  all  of  the  above  except  Messrs. 
Coates,  Hamilton,  Flowers,  Gove  and 
Hegeman  and  with  the  addition  of  J.  H. 
Pardee,  past-president  and  member  of 
the  reorganization  committee. 


W.  O.  Gibson  to  Be  Sentenced 

THE  former  bookkeeper  of  the  asso- 
ciation, W.  0.  Gibson,  pleaded  guilty 
to  the  charges  against  him  on  Thursday, 
Aug.  4,  as  was  announced  by  President 
Gadsden  at  the  executive  meeting  on 
Friday,  the  5th.  On  Wednesday,  Aug. 
10,  he  was  in  court  to  receive  sentence. 
Mr.  Gibson  requested  a  stay  of  sentence 
for  two  weeks.  This  was  granted  him, 
but  his  bail  was  cancelled  and  he  was 
remanded  to  jail. 

As  the  case  now  stands  Mr.  Gibson 
will  receive  his  sentence  on  Aug.  24, 
and  this  should  close  the  case  so  far 
as  the  association  is  concerned. 


Vernon  Room  Where  the  Meetings 
Will  Be  Held 

ACCOMPANYING  illustrations  show 
■  the  pavilion  of  Haddon  Hall  and 
the  seating  arrangement  of  the  room 
in  which  the  convention  of  the  Amer- 
ican Electric  Railway  Association  will 
be  held  in  October  The  hall  is  known 
as  "Vernon  Room"  and  is  of  ample  size 
for  metings  of  the  association,  measur- 
ing 85  ft.  x  51  ft.  Haddon  Hall  adjoins 
the  Chalfonte  Hotel,  which  appears  at 
the  left  in  the  photograph. 

The  convention  of  the  association  will 
be  held  on  Oct.  3-6. 


Tax  Plea  Commended 

THE  argument  presented  by  Presi- 
dent Gadsden  on  public  utility  taxa- 
tion before  the  Ways  and  Means  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  reported  in  last  week's  issue  of  this 
paper  is  the  subject  of  editorial  com- 
ment in  the  Public  Ledger  of  Philadel- 
phia for  Aug.  10.  The  editorial  says  in 
part: 

The  plea  that  public  utility  companies  be 
*  *  *  put  in  a  special  class  for  the  pur- 
poses of  taxation,  comes  with  more  than  the 
amount  of  plausibility  usually  assigned  to 
arguments  in  avoidance  of  taxation.  The 
plea  is  made  by  Philip  H.  Gadsden,  *  *  * 
one  of  the  country's  foremost  authorities  on 
public  utility  questions.  *     *  * 

It  is  an  argument  that  carries  weight. 
Viewed  theoretically,  there  may  be  a  funda- 
mental weakness  in  certain  of  its  clauses, 
for  the  regulatory  bodies  in  charge  of  pub- 
lic utilities  are  supposed  to  allow  for  some 
of  the  objections  made  by  Mr.  Gadsden  in 
setting  and  revising  rates.  But  any  one 
will  admit  that  there  is  usually  a  difference 
between  theory  and  practice.  In  practice  it 
is  an  expense  and  a  detriment  to  the  con- 
duct of  the  utilities  companies'  business 
every  time  they  are  forced  to  apply  for  a 
revision  of  rates.  So  the  fact  that  the  law 
would  presumably  allow,  for  instance,  for 
an  increase  of  rates  to  offset  increase  of 
taxation  is  not  a  convincing  answer  to  Mr. 
Gadsden's  argument,  especially  when  it  is 
taken  into  account  that  such  an  increase  of 
rates  would  amount  to  an  indirect  tax  on 
the  general  public  using  the  products  of  the 
utility  companies. 

Utility  companies  would  be  bound  to 
pass  on  this  tax  to  the  public  undiminished 
while  there  is  enough  elasticity  in  general 
business  to  make  it  possible  that  in  many 
instances  the  tax  would  be  absorbed  by  the 
industry  and  not  passed  on  to  the  public ; 
while  in  other  instances  it  would  be  passed 
on  only  in  diminished  amount.  Public  util- 
ities, as  legally  regulated  industry,  are 
actually  set  aside  by  law  as  a  special  class 
in  the  interest  of  the  public.  Why  it  is  not 
logical  to  perpetuate  this  distinction  in  the 
field  of  Federal  taxation? 


©Atlantic  Ci'y  Commercial  T-'o'o  Co. 


Exterior  and  Interior  of  Convention  Hall  at  Atlantic  City 


News  of  the  Ele&nc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


BSgfflgSH! 


"L"  Lease  Negotiations 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Anxious  to 
Operate  New  Line,  but  Seeks  to 
Avoid  Previous  Mistakes 

Conferences  are  being  continued  at 
Philadelphia  over  the  operation  of  the 
Frankford  elevated  and  so-called  Bustle- 
ton  line  by  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  Company.  The  attitude  of  the 
railway  is  that  it  is  not  willing  to  re- 
peat the  experience  of  1918  in  this  same 
matter  when  the  city  and  the  company 
agreed  to  the  terms  of  the  contract 
only  to  have  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission after  a  year's  consideration  of 
the  matter  deny  approval  to  the  lease. 
The  company  insists  that  a  represen- 
tative of  the  commission  shall  sit  in 
at  the  conferences  so  that  body  may 
be  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  angles 
which  the  negotiations  take. 

So  much  misstatement  appeared  fol- 
lowing the  conference  on  Aug.  1  that 
at  the  conference  on  Aug.  9  the  rail- 
way set  forth  its  attitude  as  a  matter 
of  record.  The  position  of  the  company 
right  along  has  been  that  it  would 
operate  the  Rhawn  Street  extension  of 
the  Frankford  "L"  and  also  the  Byberry 
extension  of  the  Bustleton  line,  if  de- 
sired by  the  city,  but  in  such  event 
the  Department  of  City  Transit,  with 
the  company's  engineers,  should  jointly 
prepare  the  best  estimate  possible  as 
to  the  cost  of  these  extensions  and  the 
loss  to  be  sustained  from  their  opera- 
tion; this  being  necessary  in  order  to 
prevent  later  misunderstanding. 

The  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany has  argued  against  the  city  build- 
ing its  own  powerhouses  entirely  for 
reasons  of  economy.  Since  the  city  is 
now  to  supply  its  lines  completely 
equipped  for  operation,  the  attitude  of 
the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  is  that 
the  added  investment  should  be  deter- 
mined and  the  increased  obligation  to 
be  assumed  by  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  in  paying  5  per  cent  interest 
upon  city  investment  should  be  figured 
out.  A  further  estimate  should  be  made 
in  this  connection,  as  of  the  latest  date 
possible,  to  determine  more  closely  the 
deficit,  heretofore  figured  at  $925,000, 
which  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  will 
sustain  in  the  operation  of  the  Frank- 
ford "L"  line  to  Bridge  Street  and  the 
Byberry  line  as  far  as  Bustleton. 

In  short,  the  plan  of  the  Philadelphia 
Rapid  Transit  contemplates  the  early 
operation  of  the  Frankford  elevated 
and  Bustleton  line,  with  free  trans- 
fers between  the  Frankford  elevated 
and  surface  feeder  lines,  the  city  to 
receive  5  per  cent  annually  upon  its 
investment,  while  the  railway,  in  order 
to  save  the  city  an  expenditure  of 
$1,318,000,  agrees  to  outlay  $632,000 
in  enlarged  facilities.  This  amount, 
added  to  the  $925,000  deficit  from  oper- 


tion,  makes  a  total  of  $1,557,000  to  be 
overcome  at  the  outset. 

As  a  further  help  to  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  issues  involved  the  rail- 
way has  included  in  a  pamphlet  which 
it  issued  recently  the  correspondence 
and  contract  embracing  negotiations  up 
to  the  time  of  submitting  the  draft  of 
the  lease  to  the  City  Council  on  March 
31,  1921,  including  the  joint  reports  of 
city  transit  and  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  engineers. 


Way  Cleared  for  Extension 

The  last  obstacle  to  the  extension  of 
the  line  of  the  Tacoma  Railway  & 
Power  Company  from  Sixth  Avenue 
along  Washington  Street  into  the 
Stevens  Street  district  was  removed  re- 
cently when  Attorney-General  L.  L. 
Thompson  at  Olympia  ruled  that  the 
City  Council  had  the  the  right  to  ex- 
empt the  railway  from  the  payment  of 
2  per  cent  gross  sales  tax  and  from  the 
payment  of  street  assessments.  It  re- 
mains now  for  the  City  Council  and  the 
company  to  settle  details. 

Mayor  Riddell  expresses  himself  as 
opposed  to  granting  a  release  of  the 
railway  from  its  franchise  obligations 
to  pay  the  city  a  gross  earnings  tax 
and  to  pave  between  the  rails.  He  does 
not  believe  the  City  Council  has  the 
power  the  Attorney-General  says  it  has. 

The  company  proposed  some  months 
ago  to  undertake  construction  of  a  line 
to  serve  the  college  of  Puget  Sound  and 
Stevens  Street  district,  provided  cer- 
tain relief  was  extended. 

In  his  decision,  the  Attorney-General 
states: 

The  Supreme  Court  has  held  in  numerous 
eases  that  the  city  charters  placing  further 
restrictions  upon  granting-  of  franchises  than 
those  provided  by  the  state  law  are  inoper- 
ative and  that  the  legislative  body  of  the 
city  is  restricted  in  its  rights  only  by  state 
law. 

Mr.  Cunningham  Discusses  the 
Railroads 

William  J.  Cunningham  is  contribut- 
ing a  series  of  articles  on  the  railroad 
problem  to  the  New  York  Evening  Post. 
One  of  the  series  appears  every  Tues- 
day. The  articles  will  run  for  an  in- 
definite period.  They  are  both  infor- 
mative and  interesting.  The  idea  actu- 
ating the  Post  was  to  secure  an 
expression  of  opinion  by  a  recognized 
authority  on  this  important  subject,  and 
no  other  man  that  the  Post  could  find 
combined  so  well  the  necessary  prac-* 
tical  experience  and  the  detached  point 
of  view  of  the  student.  Mr.  Cunning- 
ham has  been  a  practical  railroad  man 
and  has  a  national  reputation  as  a  rail- 
way statistician.  During  the  Govern- 
ment administration  of  the  railways 
he  filled  a  position  of  great  responsi- 
bility at  Washington  and  he  is  now  fill- 
ing the  James  J.  Hill  chair  of  trans- 
portation at  Harvard  University. 


Mayor  Signs  Ouster 

Detroit  Railway  Confronted  With  Ac- 
cepting $388,000  for  Lines  or 
$800,000  to  Scrap  Them 

Disregarding  the  protests  of  the 
merchants  located  on  Fort  Street  and 
Woodward  Avenue,  the  Detroit  City 
Council  passed  the  ordinance  ousting 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  from  these 
two  streets,  where  franchises  have  ex- 
pired. The  ordinance  has  been  signed 
by  Mayor  Couzens.  The  Mayor  and 
the  city  officials  still  believe  that  the 
city's  offer  of  $388,000  for  these  lines 
will  be  accepted  by  the  company  and 
that  the  tracks  will  not  be  torn  up. 

A  possible  settlement  of  the  con- 
troversy was  seen  in  the  Mayor's  an- 
nouncement that  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  would  be  permitted  to  operate 
its  cars  over  the  Fort  Street  and  Wood- 
ward Avenue  lines  after  the  lines  have 
been  acquired  by  the  city.  The  arrange- 
ment, the  Mayor  maintained,  would 
have  to  be  on  a  day-to-day  agreement 
on  a  car-mile  basis.  The  company  had 
previously  suggested  that  the  city 
would  be  permitted  to  operate  its  cars 
over  the  company's  tracks  on  Fort 
Street  and  Woodward  Avenue,  but  the 
city  is  insistent  that  title  to  the  lines 
in  these  streets  shall  lie  with  it. 

The  offer  which  the  city  has  made 
for  the  Fort  Street  and  Woodward  Ave- 
nue lines  is  apparently  the  city's  final 
action  with  regard  to  these  lines,  and 
unless  some  further  proposition  is 
made  by  the  company,  the  city  will  in- 
sist on  enforcing  the  ordinance  which 
orders  the  company  off  the  two  streets. 

Engineers  for  the  Street  Railway 
Commission  started  work  the  morning 
after  the  ordinance  was  passed  survey- 
ing Fort  Street  for  municipal  lines. 
Plans  will  be  laid  for  both  temporary 
and  permanent  tracks  so  that  as  little 
delay  as  possible  will  result  whatever 
action  is  taken  by  the  company.  The 
ordinance  goes  into  effect  thirty  days 
after  the  signing  by  the  Mayor  and  in 
ten  days  thereafter  service  must  be  dis- 
continued by  the  company.  Ninety  days 
after  the  ordinance  goes  into  effect  the 
tracks  must  be  removed  from  the 
streets. 

Alex  Dow,  director  of  the  company, 
has  stated  that  the  city's  offer  will  not 
be  accepted,  and  has  intimated  that  the 
passing  of  the  ordinance  might  mean 
discontinuing  service  immediately  on 
the  lines  in  question.  In  a  few  words 
the  company  is  confronted  with  the 
problem  of  accepting  the  city's  offer  of 
$388,000  for  the  lines  or  spending 
a  large  sum  to  tear  up  the  tracks  and 
restore  the  streets. 

Arbitration  with  regard  to  taking 
over  by  the  city  of  the  day-to-day 
agreement  lines  of  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  has  been  temporarily  halted 


252 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


by  the  adjournment  of  the  board  of 
arbitrators  until  September  when  the 
board  will  again  meet.  In  the  mean- 
time the  engineers  for  the  Street  Rail- 
way Commission  will  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  survey  the  cars  and  equip- 
ment which  the  city  may  acquire  with 
the  lines.  Owing  to  the  difficulty  in 
specifying  just  what  cars  were  pro- 
vided by  the  company  for  use  on  the 
day-to-day  lines,  many  cars  have  been 
designated  for  selection. 


$325,000  for  Track  Maintenance 

According  to  a  statement  of  F.  I. 
Fuller  first  vice-president  of  the  Port- 
land Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company. 
Portland,  Ore.,  the  company  expended 
$361,931  for  maintenance  and  recon- 
struction on  track,  paving,  overhead 
lines,  cars,  etc.,  on  the  city  lines,  exclu- 
sive of  depreciation  charges,  and  $160,- 
619  on  track  maintenance  and  recon- 
struction and  paving  only  on  city  lines 
during  the  first  five  months  of  1921. 

Mr.  Fuller's  statement  calls  attention 
to  the  efforts  of  the  company  to  take 
care  of  necessary  features  connected 
with  the  maintenance  of  its  lines,  as  set 
forth  by  its  representatives  when  the 
Public  Service  Commission  was  hearing 
its  petition  for  an  increase  in  fares.  H 
declares  the  corporation  acted  in  good 
faith,  and  is  fulfilling  its  obligations 
to  the  public  as  rapidly  as  possible 
considering  all  phases  of  the  situation. 

For  the  ensuing  five  months  of  June, 
July,  August,  September  and  October 
the  expenditures  for  maintenance  and 
reconstruction  on  track  and  paving  on 
work  already  ordered  and  in  sight  will 
amount  to  over  $325,000,  or  an  average 
of  $65,000  a  month,  about  three  times 
the  expenditure  for  the  same  period 
in  1920. 

Altogether  the  maintenance  work  on 
the  city  lines  and  equipment  of  the 
company  is  being  carried  on  on  a  much 
more  extensive  scale  than  at  any  period 
in  the  last  five  years. 


Suburban  Men  Again  on  Strike 

The  employees  of  the  Syracuse 
&  Suburban  Railroad,  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
went  on  strike  on  Aug.  4.  The  men 
dispute  the  statements  attributed  to 
officials  of  the  company  to  the  effect 
that  the  men  had  agreed  at  a  meeting 
with  the  officials  on  July  22,  to  arbi- 
tration proceedings.  They  declare  that 
at  that  time  C.  Loom  is  Allen,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  railway,  was  told  that  they 
could  not  accept  the  provisions  of  the 
arbitration  agreement  as  drawn  up  by 
him,   and  that  they  did  not  sign. 

This  is  the  third  suspension  of  op- 
eration by  the  road  in  a  period  of  a 
little  more  than  a  year.  There  was  a' 
strike  in  May,  1920,  which  the  men  won 
after  a  tie-up  of  several  days.  From 
Jan.  1  to  March  11  the  road  quit 
operation  under  the  claim  that  it  could 
not  operate  until  certain  franchise  con- 
ditions were  altered  and  wages  lowered. 
The  company  was  successful  in  ths 
former  and  temporarily  so  in  the  latter 
contention,  although  it  is  that  dispute 
which  is  the  cause  of  the  present  strike. 


Arbitration  Demanded 

Montreal  Company   Formally  Notified 
to  This  Effect— Wages  Cut  Only 
12|  Per  Cent 

The  Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  was 
officially  notified  on  Aug.  8  by  the  Fed- 
eral Department  of  Labor  that  the  em- 
ployees' union  had  applied  for  a  board 
of  arbitration  in  the  matter  of  the 
reduction  of  wages  proposed  by  the 
company.  The  men  have  chosen  as 
their  representative  Arthur  Sauve,  a 
member  of  the  Quebec  provincial  parlia- 
ment, but  he  has  not  yet  signified  his 
acceptance.  The  company  has  not  yet 
announced  any  decision  as  to  its  nomi- 
nation of  an  arbitrator  on  its  behalf. 
Failing  such  action  by  the  company,  the 
Federal  Act  gives  the  Labor  Depart- 
ment power  to  nominate  a  represen- 
tative for  the  company,  and  the  two 
nominees  will  then  choose  a  third.  The 
company,  however,  is  under  no  com- 
pulsion to  accept  any  award  made  by 
such  an  arbitration  board. 

Meanwhile  the  company  has  posted 
notices  that  a  wage  reduction  of  121 
per  cent  will  go  into  effect  on  Aug.  16. 
This  is  a  substitute  for  the  20  per  cent 
reduction  proposed  by  the  company  and 
the  10  per  cent  reduction  which  the 
men's  delegates  were  willing  to  sub- 
mit to  the  union  for  acceptance. 

Under  the  121  per  cent  reduction, 
first-year  motormen  and  conductors  will 
receive  39J  cents  an  hour,  second-year 
men  44  cents,  and  those  employed  more 
than  two  years  48  cents  an  hour.  One- 
man  car  operators  will  receive  4  cents 
an  hour  extra.  This  proposed  scale  is 
intended  by  the  company  to  run  from 
month  to  month,  subject  to  change  in 
accordance  with  circumstances.  The 
management  points  out  that  earnings 
have  been  reduced  by  the  industrial  de- 
pression, resulting  in  a  substantial  de- 
crease of  the  use  of  cars  by  the  work- 
ing classes. 

The  company  is  facing  the  necessity 
of  raising  between  $5,000,000  and  $10,- 
000,000  within  the  next  year.  Part  of 
this  is  needed  to  retire  maturing  obli- 
gations of  $3,000,000,  and  part  for  ex- 
tensions and  improvements,  on  which 
about  $1,500,000  is  being  expended  this 
season,  with  others  planned  for  next 
year. 

So  far,  although  both  sides  to  the 
dispute  are  maintaining  a  firm  atti- 
tude, there  is  no  serious  talk  of  a 
strike. 


Special  Master  in  New  Orleans 
Fare  Case 

Judge  Henry  D.  Clayton,  who  is  pre- 
siding in  the  Federal  District  Court  for 
the  eastern  district  of  Louisiana,  in  tbe 
pending  litigation  between  the  New 
Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Company  and 
the  city  of  New  Orleans,  has  appointed 

D.  B.  H.  Chaffe,  New  Orleans,  as  spe- 
cial master  to  hear  the  evidence. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  Judge  Rufus 

E.  Foster,  at  the  request  of  parties  at 
interest,  excused  himself  in  this  suit, 
which  was  brought  by  the  city  on  the 
ground  that  the  railway  was  without 


authority  to  continue  charging  an  8- 
cent  fare  as  the  ordinance  giving  it 
that  right  had  expired  by  limitation. 

In  naming  Mr.  Chaffe,  Judge  Clay- 
ton announced  that  it  would  be  imprac- 
tical for  the  court  to  hear  all  the  evi- 
dence. Mr.  Chaffe  was  ordered  to  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  take  testimony. 


Municipal  Road  "Saved"  by 
Councilmen 

Charles  M.  Robbins,  Attleboro,  Mass., 
is  a  peppery  individual.  He  dislikes  to 
vote  away  other  people's  money.  As 
a  member  of  the  City  Council  there,  he 
spoke  right  out  in  an  open  meeting  re- 
cently giving  his  views  about  the  mu- 
nicipally owned  Norton,  Taunton  & 
Attleboro  Street  Railway.  He  said 
that  he  felt  "that  we  (the  councilmen) 
ought  to  unite  and  pray  that  some  night 
the  earth  would  open  up  and  swallow 
the  confounded  road." 

Mr.  Robbins,  as  these  remarks  indi- 
cate, was  vexed.  He  had  reason  to  be 
vexed.  His  utterance  preceded  a  vote 
by  him  to  appropriate  $2,000  of  the 
funds  of  his  fellow  townsmen  to  meet 
a  deficit  in  the  operating  expenses  of 
the  road.  The  other  towns  involved 
with  Attleboro  in  the  responsibility  for 
running  the  road  had  previously  voted 
proportionate  amounts,  so  that  there 
was  little  else  for  Attleboro  to  do  than 
to  shell  out.  Mr.  Robbins  might  have 
to  vote  on  the  matter;  ht  might  even 
have  to  do  so  against  his  best  judg- 
ment, but  he  did  not  have  to  be  silent 
about  it. 

It  seems  that  this  road  has  been  a 
source  of  constant  annoyance  ever 
since  it  was  taken  over  by  the  munici- 
palities. The  private  company  was 
unable  to  make  the  road  pay,  and  the 
cities,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
have  been  no  more  successful  at  the 
task  of  keeping  expenditures  within 
income.  Creditors  are  no  respectors 
of  persons,  so  the  coal  man,  whose 
patience  had  been  exhausted  after  he 
had  made  futile  efforts  to  have  his  bill 
honored,  brought  suit  for  a  receiver 
for  the  property.  This  would  look  like 
another  rapacious  act  of  the  coal  man, 
but  that  individual  has  enough  sins 
charged  against  him.  If  the  coal  man 
hadn't  acted,  some  other  creditor  un- 
doubtedly would  have  done  so.  The 
coal  man  was  first.    That  is  all. 

After  the  money  had  been  set  aside  to 
pay  the  coal  man,  the  meeting  turned  to 
other  phases  of  the  road's  activities. 
Members  of  the  Council  began  to  delve 
into  the  operating  figures  of  the  road, 
but  the  results  were  by  no  means 
unanimously  agreed  upon.  Howard  G. 
Smith  discovered  the  road  to  be  a  los- 
ing proposition.  Councilor  French  saw 
a  deficit  of  $30,000.  Others  insisted 
that  the  road  was  making  money. 
Mayor  Brady  resented  charges  of  mis- 
management. Even  the  name  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  was  taken 
in  vain  in  connection  with  the  matter, 
although  the  responsibility  of  that  body 
for  the  plight  of  the  road  was  not 
readily  discernible. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


253 


Service-at-Cost  Recommended  for  Milwaukee 

Committee  Reports  Insuperable  Obstacles  to  Immediate  Public  Acqui- 
sition of  Local  Utilities  Under  Present  Available  Methods — 
Construction  of  Competing  Plant  Deemed  Not  Advisable 

The  city  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  is  recommended  by  the  Milwaukee  Street  Railway 
&  Electric  Power  Acquisition  Committee  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company  for  the  operation  of  the  company's 
local  electric  railway  and  electric  light  and  power  properties  under  a  service-at- 
cost  agreement,  with  provisions  which  would  result  in  the  ultimate  municipal 
ownership.  The  committee  held  that  there  were  insuperable  obstacles  to  the 
immediate  public  acquisition  of  the  properties  under  the  methods  now  provided 
by  the  law  for  such  acquisition,  primarily  because  of  the  inability  of  the  city  to 
obtain  sufficient  funds  to  consummate  such  a  purchase. 


THE  construction  of  a  competing 
plant,  aside  from  the  questionable 
wisdom  of  such  a  course,  was  not 
thought  to  be  an  alternative  open  to  Mil- 
waukee because  the  Milwaukee  Electric 
Railway  &  Light  Company  is  operating 
under  an  indeterminate  permit  which 
amounts  to  a  perpetual  franchise  that 
can  be  terminated  only  by  municipal 
purchase.  The  city  could  not  build  a 
competing  line  without  obtaining  a  "cer- 
tificate of  convenience  and  necessity" 
from  the  State  Railroad  Commission, 
which  would  require  a  showing  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  commission  that  the 
company  was  not  rendering  adequate 
service.  The  committee  considered  it 
beyond  the  range  of  probability  that 
such  a  certificate  could  be  obtained. 

While  the  committee  expressed  the 
view  that  it  could  not  assure  the  city  of 
the  success  of  the  proposed  "service-at- 
cost-and-acquisition"  contract,  it  was 
unanimous  in  its  opinion  that  this  of- 
fered the  most  promising  course  for  an 
attempt  to  better  conditions  and  was 
the  only  practical  method,  in  view  of 
the  city's  financial  situation  and  under 
existing  laws  by  which  ultimate  acqui- 
sition was  possible. 

The  committee  suggested  that  if  the 
1914  appraisal  of  the  property  by  the 
Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission,  with 
additions  to  property  since  that  date, 
were  accepted  both  by  the  company  and 
the  city  as  a  basis  of  negotiations  on 
the  subject  of  value,  the  prospect  of 
ultimate  agreement  on  this  point  would 
be  hopeful. 

The  committee  pointed  out  that  while 
other  means  of  transportation  will  be 
increasingly  used  in  the  future  electric 
transportation  on  rails  will  continue  to 
be  the  chief  reliance  for  mass  transpor- 
tation over  city  streets  for  an  indefinite 
period  of  time. 

While  the  committee  found  that  the 
city  had  the  legal  right  to  purchase  the 
local  public  utility  properties  at  any 
time,  this  was  at  the  present  time  con- 
sidered an  empty  right  because  of  the 
city's  inability  to  finance  the  purchase. 
The  construction  of  a  competing  plant 
was  not  considered  an  alternative.  The 
committee  concluded,  therefore,  that: 

The  question,  therefore,  as  to  the  desir- 
ability of  the  public  ownership  of  public 
utilities,  for  the  present  or  immediate  future, 
so  far  as  the  city  of  Milwaukee  is  con- 
cerned, is  purely  an  academic  question, 
since  there  is  no  practical  method  under 
the  law  as  it  has  existed  by  which  such 
public  ownership  can  be  brought  about. 

It  was  the  consideration  of  this  fact, 
among  others,  which  led  the  committee  to 


inquire  as  to  the  feasibility  of  other  meth- 
ods of  improving  the  public  utility  situation 
in  Milwaukee,  both  by  bettering  the  rela- 
tions between  the  public  utilities  and  the 
citizens  of  Milwaukee  while  the  utilities  are 
under  private  ownership,  and  by  bringing 
about  a  situation  under  which  the  city  can 
with  less  difficulty  acquire  such  utilities  at 
such  time  as  the  city  may  decide  to  do  so. 

The  committee  finally  decided  that  a 
so-called  "service-at-cost-and-acquisi- 
tion"  contract,  if  successfully  negotiated 
by  the  company  with  the  city,  might  tend 
to  accomplish  the  end  sought  by  the 
investigation.  A  bill  permitting  the 
city  to  negotiate  such  a  contract  with 
the  company  was  therefore  framed  by 
the  committee  and  upon  receiving  the 
approval  of  the  Common  Council  was 
submitted  to  the  State  Legislature. 
There  it  was  amended  to  provide  that 
such  a  contract  must  receive  the  ap- 
proval of  the  State  Railroad  Commis- 
sion before  becoming  effective.  The  bill 
as  amended  became  a  law. 

The  essential  features  of  the  proposed 
contract  as  outlined  in  the  committee's 
report  are  as  follows : 

1.  Agreement  as  to  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erties made  subject  to  the  contract  and  a 
definite  rate  of  return  on  such  value. 

2.  Right  to  purchase  the  property  by  the 
city  at  the  basis  of  value  agreed  upon  when- 
ever the  city  decides  to  do  so. 

3.  The  city  to  have  the  right  to  designate 
the  service  required  of  the  utility,  provid- 
ing of  course  that  the  service  will  be  of  such 
a  character  and  be  rendered  at  such  rates 
as  will  yield  the  return  agreed  upon,  on  the 
fixed  value  of  the  properties. 

4.  The  city  to  have  access  to  the  books 
of  the  utility  and  its  expenditures  to  be 
subject  to  the  city's  approval. 

5.  Right  of  the  city  to  participate  in  the 
financing  of  the  property. 

6.  The  management  of  the  properties  to 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  utility  until  such 
time  as  it  is  taken  over  by  the  city. 

In  discussing  the  fifth  point  the  re- 
port stresses  the  importance  of  utiliza- 
tion of  municipal  credit  in  financing 
public  utilities.  In  this  connection  the 
report  says  that  a  saving  of  more  than 
$6,000,000  in  interest  charges  might 
have  been  made  during  the  period  from 
1911  to  1919  inclusive  had  the  interest 
charges  of  the  electric  company  been  at 
rates  equivalent  to  those  paid  by  the 
city  during  the  same  period. 
The  conclusion  is  reached  that 
Your  committee  believes  that  the  time  has 
come  when  an  attempt  should  be  made  to 
relieve  the  cost  of  service  rendered  to  the 
citizens  of  Milwaukee  by  public  utilities  of 
excessive  interest  charges.  We  believe  this 
could  be  accomplished  by  a  fair  "service-at- 
eost-and-acquisition"  contract,  which  would 
permit  the  city  to  participate  in  the  financ- 
ing of  the  utilities  if  it  so  desired,  thus 
taking  advantage  of  its  superior  credit  to 
obtain  money  at  low  rates.  No  burden 
would  be  added  to  taxes,  because  the  inter- 

c-ould  be  paifl  by  the  Patrons  of  the 
utilities.  At  the  same  time,  any  excess 
beyond  necessary  requirements  which  might 
be  accumulated  in  any  reserve  fund,  instead 
of  b.eing  applied  toward  the   reduction"  of 


rates,  could  be  applied  toward  the  purchase 
of  bonds  of  the  utility  or  otherwise  used 
to  cut  down  the  capitalization  on  which  the 
return  to  the  utility  is  calculated.  This 
would  result  in  the  gradual  acquisition  by 
the  city  of  an  equity  in  the  property  of  the 
utility,  which  would  make  it  less  burden- 
some for  the  city  to  take  over  the  entire 
property  whenever  it  should  decide  to  do  so. 

The  committee  points  out  that  all  at- 
tempts to  increase  patronage  should 
proceed  along  lines  of  approved  business 
principles,  the  details  of  which  will  have 
to  be  worked  out  after  the  main  pro- 
visions of  the  proposed  "service-at-cost- 
and-acquisition"  contract  have  been  put 
into  effect.  The  committee's  answer  to 
the  question  whether  the  service  prob- 
lem could  not  be  better  worked  out 
under  public  ownership  was  of  the  same 
import.  The  committee  thought  that 
the  service  can  and  should  be  improved 
alike  under  public  and  private  owner- 
ship. The  question  of  electric  railway 
service  was  reviewed  in  some  detail  in 
the  committee's  report  on  that  subject. 

In  conclusion  the  committee  stated 
that  it  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  most 
hopeful  line  of  procedure  for  the  city  of 
of  Milwaukee  to  follow  in  an  endeavor 
to  improve  the  relations  between  the 
city  and  its  utilities  and  secure  better 
co-operation  and  understanding  while 
the  ownership  remained  in  private 
hands,  was  in  an  attempt  to  negotiate  a 
"service-at-cost-and-acquisition"  con- 
tract. The  committee  stated  that  it  be- 
lieved this  to  be  the  only  practical 
method  under  the  law  as  it  now  exists 
by  which,  should  the  city  desire,  public 
ownership  of  such  utilities  might  be 
brought  about. 

The  committee's  report  on  the  finan- 
cial history  of  the  company  alleged 
that  as  a  result  of  certain  transactions 
in  the  past,  "water"  had  been  injected 
into  the  capitalization  of  the  company, 
which  it  was  claimed— "total  $9,753,832 
or  nearly  the  total  face  value  of  the 
common  stock  outstanding,  which  is 
$9,850,000."  The  criticism  was  also 
made  that  in  the  years  1918  and  1919 
the  company  took  approximately 
$1,000,000  out  of  some  fifteen  reserve 
accounts  and  added  the  amount  to  sur- 
plus which  made  it  available  for  divi- 
dend purposes.  In  1920  the  report 
stated  the  company  paid  7i  per  cent  on 
its  common  stock  out  of  current  earn- 
ings and  43  per  cent  out  of  reserves 
previously  created.  The  common  stock 
thus  received  a  return  of  12  per  cent. 

In  advertisements  published  to  fur- 
ther the  sale  of  a  recent  $3,000,000  issue 
of  preferred  stock,  the  company  has 
made  the  following  comment  on  the  re- 
port of  the  Public  Acquisition  Com- 
mittee: 

Within  the  past  ten  days  the  company 
has  received  another  indorsement  of  equal 
interest  to  its  investors,  present  and  pros- 
pective. This  second  indorsement  was  con- 
tained in  the  report  of  the  city  of  Milwau- 
kee's committee  on  municipal  purchase,  etc. 
In  this  report,  covering  more  than  a  year 
of  inquiry,  the  committee  submitted  find- 
ings which  may  be  briefed  as  follows: 

1.  The  company's  indeterminate  permit  is 
in  effect  a  perpetual  franchise,  which  can 
be  terminated  only  by  municipal  purchase 
of  the  property  and  business. 

2.  The  city  has  no  means  of  raising  the 
huge  sum  needed  for  such  purchase. 

3.  The  state  would  not  permit  the  city  to 
build  competing  systems,  if  the  city  had 
funds  for  that  purpose. 

With  regard  to  the  value  of  the  company's 
property,  the  report  confirms  the  State's 
inventory  as  of  Jan.  1.  1914,  which  showed 


254 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


actual  values  larger  than  the  total  out- 
standing securities  and  obligations.  What- 
ever excess  of  capitalization  may  have 
taken  place  twenty  years  or  more  ago,  the 
stockholders  have  long  since  replaced  with 
solid  property  values,  at  their  expense,  out 
of  earnings  which  were  less  than  a  fair 
return.  The  report's  criticism  of  the  trans- 
fer of  surplus  from  reserve  to  dividend  fund 
calls  for  this  comment:  that  surplus  was 
legitimately  earned  years  before  State  reg- 
ulation became  effective,  and  was  the  undis- 
puted property  of  the  company's  stock- 
holders. 

The  company  recognizes  the  city's  legal 
right  to  purchase  its  property  and  business, 
at  their  full  fair  value,  any  time  the  city 
may  be  able  to  find  the  purchase  price. 
The  company,  in  such  event,  will  place  no 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  municipal  purchase, 
being  absolutely  assured  that  every  dollar 
of  investment,  past  or  future,  represented 
by  its  securities,  is  amply  protected  against 
a  penny  of  loss  in  case  of  such  purchase. 
Pending  action  to  purchase,  which  may  be 
many  years  in  the  future,  the  company  v 
welcome  the  city's  co-operation  in  all  meas- 
ures calculated  to  get  for  the  public  in- 
creased good  service  at  its  lowest  fair  cost. 

It  is  expected  that  the  members  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Acquisition  Committee 
will  be  appointed  members  of  a  commit- 
tee whose  function  it  will  be  to  negoti- 
ate a  "service-at-cost-and-acquisition" 
contract  with  the  company. 

The  Public  Utilities  Acquisition  Com- 
mittee, as  it  is  popularly  known  in  Mil- 
waukee, was  appointed  in  July,  1919,  by 
the  president  of  the  Milwaukee  Common 
Council  in  response  to  a  resolution  call- 
ing for  an  investigation  of  the  feasibility 
and  advisability  of  the  city  acquiring 
the  local  electric  railway  and  electric 
light  and  power  utilities.  The  commit- 
tee consisted  of  the  following:  Fred  S. 
Hunt,  a  local  manufacturer,  chairman; 
William  E.  Black,  an  attorney  at  law; 
J.  J.  Handley,  secretary  Wisconsin 
State  Federation  of  Labor;  Lyle  H. 
Olsen,  general  manager  of  the  Ameri- 
can Appraisal  Company;  and  three  mem- 
bers of  the  Common  Council,  namely, 
J.  W.  Radtke  and  Albert  Janicki,  Non- 
Parti  san,  and  John  Doefler,  Jr.,  Social- 
ist. The  committee's  report  as  submit- 
ted represents  eighteen  months'  study 
of  the  local  utility  situation  by  the  com- 
mittee and  by  a  staff  of  investigators 
working  under  the  supervision  of  its 
permanent  secretary,  M.  G.  Glaeser  of 
the  Economics  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versty  of  Wisconsin,  assisted  by  H.  G. 
Abendroth,  an  accountant. 


Surface  Men  Accept  Cut 

Following  the  reduction  in  wages  of 
employees  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.. 
the  receiver  of  the  New  York  Railways, 
operating  the  lower  Broadway  and 
ether  important  surface  lines,  con- 
ferred with  the  general  committee  of 
the  Brotherhood  of  New  York  Rail- 
ways Employees,  to  whom  he  explained 
the  necessity  of  a  reduction  in  operat- 
ing costs. 

The  receiver  asked  the  co-operation 
of  the  employees  in  this  matter.  The 
Brotherhood  thereupon  called  meetings 
of  its  various  locals.  As  a  result,  about 
92  per  cent  of  the  members  voted  to 
accept  a  voluntary  reduction  of  10  per 
cent  in  the  existing  scale  of  wages,  to 
take  effect  Aug.  7,  1921.  The  general 
committee  in  turn  voted  unanimously 
to  accept  on  behalf  of  the  Brotherhood 
such  10  per  cent  reduction  in  wages. 

The  maximum  and  minimum  wages 


have  been  approximately  as  follows: 
motormen  and  conductors  59  to  67  cents 
an  hour;  engineering  and  shop  force, 
52  to  70  cents  an  hour;  motor  power, 
52  to  90  cents  an  hour.  There  will  be 
no  change  in  hours  or  working  condi- 
tions. Motormen  and  conductors  work 
an  average  of  ten  hours  a  day  and  shop 
workers  nine  hours.  Time  and  a  half 
will  still  be  granted  for  overtime. 


Mutual  Insurance  in  Boston 

Elevated  Railway  Endeavors  To  Reduce 
Cost  of  Workmen's  Compensation 
Insurance 

Twelve  officials  of  the  Boston  (Mass.) 
Elevated  Railway  have  associated  them- 
selves together  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  a  new  liability  insurance  com- 
pany. A  charter  was  obtained  on  March 
8:  1921,  authorizing  the  Transit  Mutual 
Insurance  Company  to  conduct  a  gen- 
eral insurance  business  on  the  mutal 
plan.  On  March  13  the  State  Insur- 
ance Commissioner  issued  a  certificate 
to  this  company  to  do  business. 

The  reason  for  forming  the  new 
insurance  company  was  to  attempt  to 
reduce  the  cost  of  workmen's  compensa- 
tion insurance,  on  the  Boston  Elevated, 
the  advance  premium  of  which  has 
grown  from  $115,000  in  1912,  to 
$237,000  in  1921.  The  reason  for  this 
increase  has  been  due  partly  to  the 
increased  benefits  conferred  by  the 
Legislature  by  way  of  increasing  the 
benefits  to  employees. 

The  Transit  Mutual  Insurance  Com- 
pany commenced  business  on  April  1, 
3  921,  taking  two  offices  in  the  same 
building  with  the  Boston  Elevated  Rail- 
way. The  business  is  conducted  by 
four  employees,  manager,  stenographer, 
bookkeeper  and  investigator.  It  is  the 
intention  of  this  company  for  the  first 
year  not  to  solicit  or  accept  business 
other  than  its  present  policy  holders 
which  consist  of  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway  as  a  subscriber  under  the 
Workmen's  Compensation  Act,  and  sev- 
eral automobile  owners,  landlords  and 
tenants  public  liability  policies. 

All  accidents  to  employees  occuring 
over  the  entire  system  of  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway  are  reported  in  du- 
plicate to  the  insurance  company,  one 
copy  being  filed  in  the  office  of  the  in- 
surance company  and  the  other  being 
riled  with  the  Industrial  Accident 
Board,  which  has  jurisdiction  over  the 
administration  of  the  Workmen's  Com- 
pensation Act. 

The  Boston  Elevated  Railway  Com- 
pany has  approximately  10,000  em- 
ployees and  the  officials  having  charge 
of  these  employees  are  all  directors  of 
the  Transit  Mutual  Insurance  Company. 
Through  the  close  relationship  existing 
between  the  two  companies  very  effec- 
tive safety  work  has  been  done  since 
the  insurance  company  started  business. 
The  cost  of  accidents  to  employees  is 
set  against  the  record  of  the  foreman 
or  superintendent  in  charge  of  each 
plant  or  location  and  this  has  a  tend- 
ency to  promote  safety  activities  in 
each  department  to  maintain  a  good 
record  in  accident  prevention  work. 


The  personnel  of  the  board  of  direc- 
tors and  officials  is  particularly  favor- 
able to  the  success  of  the  new  company, 
all  having  had  a  wide  experience  in 
business  and  professional  activities. 
The  directors  and  officials  of  the  Transit 
Mutual  Insurance  Company  serve 
without  compensation.  The  names  of 
the  directors  and  officials  of  the  Transit 
Mutual  Insurance  Company  are:  Rus- 
sell A.  Sears,  president;  Stanley  R. 
Miller,  vice-president;  John  F.  Stevens, 
vice-president;  John  H.  Moran,  secre- 
tary; Henry  L.  Wilson,  treasurer;  H. 
Ware  Barnum,  Edward  Dana,  Frederick 
S.  Freeman,  John  Lindall,  H.  Bertram 
Potter,  James  Smith  and  Harry  M. 
Steward. 

Ralph  C.  Bush  was  appointed  man- 
ager of  the  Transit  Mutual  Insurance 
Company  at  a  meeting  of  the  board  of 
directors  held  on  March  17,  1921.  Mr. 
Bush  is  a  lawyer  and  has  been  em- 
ployed in  the  legal  department  of  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  since  1912. 
During  that  time  he  had  charge  of 
workmen's  compensation  matters  and 
during  the  last  year  was  engaged  in 
the  trial  of  accident  cases. 


Employee  Activities  Successful 
at  Kansas  City 

Annual  elections  have  taken  place 
among  employees'  organizations  and 
committees  of  the  Kansas  City  (Mo.) 
Railways.  The  first  in  importance  of 
these  events  was  the  election  for  serv- 
ice during  the  third  year  of  the  plan 
of  committeemen  to  serve  under  the 
representative  plan.  This  election 
aroused  keen  interest  among  employees 
at  all  points  and  visions  of  the  system. 
In  most  instances  there  were  several 
candidates  for  positions,  although  close 
and  exciting  races  resulted  the  best  of 
feeling  prevailed  in  the  contests.  There 
was  no  question  of  "policy"  involved  in 
any  contest,  the  aim  of  voters  being 
to  select  the  employees  best  qualified  to 
fulfill  duties. 

The  Kansas  City  Railways  Building, 
Savings  &  Loan  Association  held  its 
annual  meeting  recently.  F.  G.  Buffe, 
general  manager  of  the  company,  was 
elected  president,  and  E.  E.  Stigall, 
purchasing  agent,  vice-president.  I.  B. 
Nordyke  continues  as  secretary,  and  L. 
M.  Boschert  as  treasurer.  Twelve  hun- 
dred of  the  company's  employees  are 
members  of  the  association,  paying  in 
an  average  of  $10  a  month.  Applica- 
tions for  loans,  chiefly  for  home  build- 
ing, are  increasing  as  members  estab- 
lish savings  sufficient  to  begin  home 
planning. 

The  Railways  Employees  Brother- 
hood has  a  membership  of  2,600  out  of 
a  possible  3,000.  Dances  or  other  en- 
tertainments are  arranged  by  brother- 
hood committees  in  each  division  at 
least  once  in  two  months.  The  Brother- 
hood Baseball  League  has  this  year 
eight  teams,  an  increase  of  two  teams 
over  last  year.  Games  are  being  played 
at  Tramway  Park,  provided  by  the  com- 
pany. The  Brotherhood  operates  suc- 
cessfully a  grocery  store— successful 
not  only  in  giving  service,  but  in  mak- 
ing a  profit. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


255 


Wages  Cut  in  Dallas.— The  Dallas 
(Tex.)  Railway  has  announced  a  10  per 
cent  reduction  in  wages,  effective  at 
once. 

Reduced   Three   Cents   an   Hour. — A 

reduction  in  the  wages  of  the  motor- 
men  and  conductors  in  the  employ  of 
the  Beech  Grove  Traction  Company, 
Indianapolis,  Ind.,  will  take  effect  on 
Aug.  16.  Trainmen  will  be  reduced 
from  41  cents  an  hour  to  38  cents, 
trackmen  from  38  cents  to  30  cents, 
and  one-man  car  operators  from  46  to 
43  cents  an  hour. 

Railway  Man  Flies. — Horace  Lowry, 
president  of  the  Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn., 
has  just  completed  an  airplane  trip 
from  Minneapolis  to  Chicago.  The  trip 
was  made  without  event,  except  for  a 
stop  for  fuel  at  La  Crosse.  Mr.  Lowry, 
who  is  interesting  himself  in  aviation, 
wished  to  try  out  an  experimental  trip. 
With  A.  L.  Drum,  construction  engi- 
neer, he  reached  Chicago  in  time  for 
the  opening  of  the  Progress  pier  cele- 
bration. 

Transportation    in    Shanghai. — In  a 

speech  before  the  Civic  League  of 
Shanghai,  Donald  McColl,  manager  of 
the  Shanghai  Tramways,  gave  some 
very  interesting  material  regarding 
transport  in  cities.  His  talk  was  ap- 
plied especially  to  conditions  in  Shang- 
hai and  is  unique  in  its  charts,  maps 
and  diagrams  depicting  conditions  in 
that  city.  The  address  has  been 
printed  in  pamphlet  form  with  all  illus- 
trations, and  makes  a  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  transportation  literature  of 
China. 

Men's  Wages  Cut  Again.  —  For  the 
second  time  within  a  year  the  wages 
of  conductors  and  motormen  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Rockford  (111.)  Traction 
Company  have  been  reduced.  The  re- 
duction which  took  effect  on  Aug.  1 
amounts  to  5  cents  an  hour.  About  the 
middle  of  January  this  year  when  the 
fare  was  advanced  from  7  cents  to  8 
cents  the  pay  of  the  trainmen,  shopmen 
and  office  force  was  cut  7  cents  an  hour. 
The  details  of  this  cut  were  given  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  issue 
of  Jan.  22. 

Railway  Sued  in  Wage  Case. — 'One  of 
the  railways  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  that  did 
not  effect  a  wage  settlement  with  its 
employees  was  the  City  Railway.  That 
company  finds  itself  confronted  now 
with  a  petition  filed  in  the  Common 
rieas  Court  in  which  it  is  alleged  by 
five  employees  that  there  was  a  breach 
of  contract  on  the  part  of  the  company 
through  abrogation  of  its  bulletin  of 
July  6,  1920.  It  is  alleged  that  the 
bulletin,  whose  terms  were  to  have 
been  in  effect  a  year,  provided  that 
questions  "in  dispute  shall  be  immedi- 


ately submitted  to  a  board  of  arbitra- 
tion." 

City  Starts  Tearing  Up  Tracks.— 
Judge  Koch  at  Pottsville,  Pa.,  on  Aug. 
3  issued  an  injunction  against  the  chief 
burgess  and  fifteen  members  of  Ash- 
land Borough  Council  prohibiting  them 
from  tearing  up  the  tracks  of  the 
Schuylkill  Electric  Railway  until  a  hear- 
ing in  court.  The  trouble  arose  over  a 
demand  that  the  tracks  be  placed  in 
the  center  of  Center  Street  instead  of 
on  one  side,  where  new  paving  is  in 
progress.  The  railway  asserts  it  is 
financially  unable  to  meet  the  demands 
for  municipal  improvements,  coming 
from  virtually  every  town  on  its  route. 

Court  Action  Started  on  Alleged  Im- 
provements.— Court  action  has  been 
started  in  the  Superior  Court  to  compel 
the  city  of  Seattle  to  construct  addi- 
tional car  lines  on  East  55th  Street, 
beyond  Twenty-ninth  Avenue  N.  E.,  for 
which,  among  other  improvements,  it  is 
alleged  a  bond  issue  of  $790,000  was 
sold  May  21,  1919.  The  plaintiff  is 
G.  E.  Hayes,  for  himself  and  other 
owners  of  the  University  Heights  dis- 
trict, who  claim  they  purchased  real 
estate  on  the  assumption  that  values 
would  be  raised  by  the  improvement. 
A  mandatory  injunction  to  compel  con- 
struction of  the  line  is  asked. 

Voluntary  Reduction  of  Wages  Ac- 
cepted.— Voluntary  reduction  of  wages 
is  proposed  by  members  of  the  local 
union  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  with  a  view 
of  co-operating  with  the  Wilmington 
&  Philadelphia  Traction  Company,  in 
the  hope  of  helping  to  restore  pros- 
perity. Resolutions  have  been  adopted 
that  whenever  the  number  of  paying 
passengers  carried  in  any  month  is 
lower  than  that  of  the  average  earned 
in  the  corresponding  month  of  the  years 
1919  and  1920,  with  other  conditions  as 
at  present,  the  employees  will  accept  a 
reduction  of  5  cents  an  hour  for  that 
month. 

Wages  Cut  in  Harrisburg.  —  An- 
nouncement has  been  made  by  officials 
of  the  Harrisburg  (Pa.)  Railways  that 
effective  on  Aug.  16  the  wages  of  all 
carmen  will  be  cut  10  per  cent,  or  5 
cents  an  hour.  The  new  scale  will 
give  first-year  men  43  cents  an  hour, 
second-year  men  44  cents,  and  third- 
year  men  45  cents.  The  reduction  can- 
cels the  voluntary  5-cent  increase  made 
on  March  20,  1920.  The  reason  given 
for  the  reduction  was  the  decline  in 
riding.  The  Valley  Railways  also  an- 
nounced a  similar  reduction  to  take  ef- 
fect the  same  date.  These  two  com- 
panies serve  Harrisburg  and  adjacent 
counties. 

State  Rulings  Supreme.  —  According 
to  a  recent  ruling  of  Judge  John  H. 
Cotteral,  in  the  United  States  Court 
of  the  Western  Oklahoma  district,  the 
State  Corporation  Commission  has  un- 
disputed power  to  modify  or  abrogate 
contracts  made  between  two  public 
utilities.  This  decision  was  rendered 
in  the  case  of  the  Oklahoma  Gas  & 
Electric  Company,  seeking  an  injunc- 
tion to  restrain  the  Corporation  Com- 


mission and  the  Oklahoma  Natural  Gas 
Company  from  carrying  into  effect  the 
city  gate  rate  order  governing  charges 
for  natural  gas  delivered  to  local  dis- 
tributing companies.  The  court  held 
that  the  power  of  the  state  is  supreme 
and  that  it  can  change  existing  con- 
tracts. 

Referee  Suggested  at  New  Orleans. 

— The  Electrical  League  of  Louisiana 
has  injected  itself  into  the  New  Or- 
leans trolley  tangle.  It  has  addressed 
a  communication  to  the  Commission 
Council  suggesting  the  appointment  of 
a  referee  to  whom  shall  be  presented 
every  phase  of  this  now  nationally 
known  controversy,  and  it  proposes 
that  his  ultimate  decision  shall  be 
binding  upon  both  the  city  and  the 
New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany. It  is  suggested  that  a  man  with 
a  national  reputation  as  a  utility  ex- 
pert be  appointed.  Along  these  lines 
the  communication  names  Samuel  In- 
sull,  Chicago;  Henry  L.  Doherty,  New 
York;  Charles  H.  Edgar,  Boston,  and 
A.  Merritt  Taylor,  Philadelphia. 

Franchise  Amendment  in  Hamilton. 
— A  new  amendment  to  the  present 
franchise  of  the  Cincinnati  &  Dayton 
Traction  Company  operating  in  Hamil- 
ton, Ohio,  will  become  effective  as  soon 
as  the  company  is  able  to  provide  new 
and  modern  safety  car  equipment.  This 
amendment  provides  for  the  operation 
of  one-man  safety  cars  and  simultan- 
eously an  increase  in  fare  of  from  six 
tickets  for  25  cents,  and  half  fare  for 
children,  to  5  cents  straight  fare  for 
adults  and  children,  for  a  period  of  six 
months.  If  at  the  end  of  six  months 
the  straight  5-cent  fare  does  not  pro- 
vide sufficient  revenue  to  pay  all  oper- 
ating expenses  and  fixed  charges,  with 
a  proper  return  on  the  investment,  then 
the  fare  will  automatically  go  to  6 
cents. 

New  Franchise  in  Highland  Park. — 

The  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee 
Railroad  has  succeeded  after  several 
years  of  negotiations  in  securing  a  new 
thirty-year  franchise  through  Highland 
Park,  111.  The  franchise  was  approved 
by  the  City  Council  and  later  passed  by 
the  people  at  a  special  election.  The 
former  franchise  expired  several  years 
ago.  Among  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant provisions  of  the  new  fran- 
chise is  the  requirement  that  in  case 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad, 
whose  tracks  parallel  those  of  the  elec- 
tric line,  should  elevate  or  depress  its 
tracks  through  Highland  Park  at  any 
time,  the  electric  line  shall  likewise  ele- 
vate or  depress  its  tracks  simultan- 
eously. In  case  such  grade  separation 
is  built  the  franchise  becomes  per- 
petual. The  franchise  calls  for  a  num- 
ber of  improvements  in  the  way  of  pav- 
ing, a  new  station,  etc.,  to  be  built 
within  the  next  two  or  three  years.  All 
poles  set  in  the  future  as  the  old  ones 
are  replaced  must  be  of  ornamental 
steel  or  concrete.  Two  main  tracks 
through  the  city  are  permitted,  those 
now  existing;  but  in  case  of  elevation 
or  depression,  the  company  is  to  be  per- 
mitted to  build  four  tracks. 


256 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


Bill  Would  Handicap 
Financing 

Investment  Bankers  Opposed  to  Passage 
of  Dennison  Bill  Introduced  in 
House  of  Representatives 

Several  bills  now  pending  before  Con- 
gress have  for  their  purpose  suppress- 
ing the  fraudulent  offering  and  sale  of 
securities.  These  are  typical  blue-sky 
bills,  seeking  to  have  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment take  the  same  jurisdiction  over 
the  regulation  of  security  offerings  that 
is  now  taken  by  some  states. 

One  of  these  bills,  known  as  the  Den- 
nison bill,  which  ;is  pending  in  the 
House  Committee  on  Interstate  Com- 
merce, if  passed,  would  entail  great 
hardship  on  all  public  utilities  in  any 
financing  activities.  The  Investment 
Bankers'  Association  of  America  has 
taken  a  stand  against  this  particular 
bill.  That  body  contends  that  if  the 
measure  now  pending  is  enacted  into 
law,  it  would  compel  every  corpora- 
tion issuing  stock  and  every  borrower 
issuing  bonds  as  well  as  all  offerers 
of  securities  to  secure  the  advance  ap- 
proval of  such  issues  in  each  and  every 
state  where  the  offering  is  advertised, 
through  the  public  press,  the  periodi- 
cals of  country-wide  circulation,  is  sold 
through  the  mails  and  is  arranged  for 
sale  by  telegraph  or  telephone  in  states 
having  blue-sky  laws. 

The  Investment  Bankers'  Association 
further  explains  that  if  this  bill  be- 
comes a  law,  long-established  methods 
of  selling  securities  would  have  to  be 
changed,  or  banks  and  dealers  offering 
the  issues  would  become  involuntary 
criminals.  In  short,  before  any  securi- 
ties intended  for  country-wide  distribu- 
tion could  be  offered  for  sale  they 
would  have  to  be  approved  in  advance 
in  practically  every  one  of  the  thirty- 
eight  states  having  blue-sky  laws  in 
force.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  legis- 
lation of  the  Dennison  bill  type  is  con- 
sidered impractical,  it  would  add  an 
unwarranted  cost  to  legitimate  bor- 
rowing by  the  business  interests  of  the 
country. 

The  association  is  supporting  an- 
other bill,  known  as  H.  R.  7868.  This 
measure  is  intended  to  curb  the  sale 
and  offering  of  fraudulent  securities 
through  the  agencies  of  special  com- 
mittees in  each  Federal  Reserve  Bank 
district.  These  committees  would  be  so 
organized  that  as  soon  as  the  offering 
of  a  fraudulent  security  came  to  their 
attention  they  would  inform  the  Fed- 
eral Department  of  Justice,  so  that  the 
legal  machinery  could  be  set  in  motion 
not  only  to  stop  the  further  offering  of 
such  securities,  but  to  punish  the  of- 
fender if  he  continued  to  offer  them. 
This  bill  provides  that  there  shall  be 
no  interference  in  any  way  with  any 
state   blue-sky  law  now   in  force  or 


that  may  be  adopted,  but  that  it  shall 
supplement  such  blue-sky  laws.  The 
bill  proposes  a  somewhat  similar  type 
of  legislation  to  that  recently  adopted 
by  some  of  the  states,  notably  New 
York,  Maryland  and  New  Jersey. 

$12,000,000  Increase  in  Net  in 
Seventeen  Years 

Stone  &  Webster,  Inc.,  has  issued  a 
chart  showing  the  combined  earnings 
of  all  the  companies  under  its  manage- 
ment, the  relation  of  these  earnings 
each  year  to  the  outstanding  capital 
and  the  resulting  effect  upon  security 
values  as  reflected  in  market  quotations. 
The  operating  expenses  and  taxes  are 
shown  in  one  color,  interest  charges  in 
another,  dividends  in  a  third,  and  bal- 
ance for  reserves  and  replacements  in 
a  fourth  color. 

The  chart  shows  that  the  gross  earn- 
ings have  increased  from  $9,000,000  in 
1904  to  $40,000,000  in  1920,  and  the  net 
from  $3,000,000  in  1904  to  $15,000,000 
in  1920.  During  this  period  of  seven- 
teen years  there  have  been  only  two 
years,  1915  and  1919,  when  gross  and 
net  earnings  were  not  larger  than  in 
the  previous  year. 

The  capital  outstanding,  consisting  of 
bonds,  coupon  notes,  preferred  and  com- 
mon stock,  has  increased  from  approxi- 
mately $73,000,000  in  1904  to  $219,000,- 
000  in  1920.  In  1904  for  each  dollar  of 
the  gross  earnings  there  was  outstand- 
ing $8  of  capital,  divided  between  $3.50 


of  debt  and  $4.50  of  capital  stock.  In 
1920  for  each  dollar  of  gross  earnings, 
there  was  outstanding  $5.40  in  capital 
divided  between  $2.60  of  debt  and  $2.80 
of  capital  stock. 

The  statement  declares  that  during 
the  past  five  years,  out  of  a  combined 
balance  after  interest  charges  of  $35,- 
000,000  only  $15,000,000  was  distributed 
in  dividends  and  more  than  $20,000,000 
was  turned  back  into  the  properties. 


Stock   to    Retire   Debentures.  —  The 

stock  of  the  Texas  Electric  Railway, 
Dallas,  Tex.,  has  been  increased  from 
$10,000,000  to  $12,500,000  to  provide  for 
an  issue  of  first  preferred  stock  to 
retire  debenture. 


City  Expert's  Report  Expected 

Utility  Expert  Ballard,  who  has  been 
employed  by  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
La.,  to  make  another  valuation  of  the 
property  of  the  New  Orleans  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  is  now  actively  en- 
gaged at  the  task  and  is  being  assisted 
by  a  corps  of  aids.  Mr.  Ballard  is 
credited  with  the  statement  that  from 
the  present  outlook  he  will  not  be  ready 
to  submit  his  report  to  the  Commis- 
sion Council  before  Sept.  1. 

The  city  authorities  do  not  look  for 
a  settlement  of  the  railway  problem 
before  January,  1922,  even  if  the  re- 
port of  Mr.  Ballard  should  be  ready 
for  submission  to  them  in  September. 
The  officers  of  the  railway  themselves 
say  that  it  will  require  from  four  to 
six  months  to  install  the  needed  ma- 
chinery and  power  equipment  required 
to  bring  the  plant  up  to  the  standard 
of  efficiency  desired,  after  the  matter  of 
valuation,  rate  of  return  and  fare  has 
been  decided. 


Dangerous  Tendency  Shown 
in  Recent  Financing 

The  interim  report  of  the  subcom- 
mittee on  electric  securities  of  the  In- 
vestment Bankers'  Association  on  "The 
Importance  of  Adequate  Junior  Financ- 
ing," referred  to  in  the  ELECTRIC  RAIL- 
WAY Journal  for  July  2,  contained  the 
accompanying  table  prepared  for  the 
association  by  Frederick  M.  Peyser,  of 
the  Commercial  &  Financial  Chronicle. 
This  table  was  secured  by  going  over 
the  files  of  the  Chronicle  for  the  past 
fifteen  years,  listing  all  the  offerings 
or  notices  of  issue  of  securities  by 
note  percentages  were  88.58  as  against 
stock  percentage  of  11.42. 


electric  light  and  power,  gas,  traction, 
waterworks,  and  telephone  companies, 
and  then  classifying  them  into  tables 
of  the  total  bonds,  notes,  preferred 
stock,  and  common  stock. 

The  figures  as  given  for  the  total  of 
fifteen  years  show  a  combined  note  and 
bond  financing  of  79.81  and  a  combined 
stock  financing  of  20.19  as  against  the 
theoretical  50-50. 

The  figures  were  prepared  for  each 
year  and  then  arranged  in  three-year 
periods,  with  percentages  for  each  class 
of  security  for  each  period,  and  also 
with  percentages  of  each  class  of  se- 
curity for  the  fifteen-year  period. 

During  the  last  three-year  period 
(1918-1919-1920),  the  total  bond  and 


COMPILATION  SHOWING  PERCENTAGES  OF  SECURITIES  USED  IN  FINANCING 

Common       Per      Preferred     Per  Per  Per 

Stock         Cent        Stock       Cent        Notes         Cent        Bonds        Cent  Total 

1906  j 

1907;        $  1 95.399.687  2123    $21,381,475  2  32    $156,624,000  17.02    $547,007,400  59.43  $920,412,562 

1908  ) 

1909  1 

1910!  246,292,890  19  86      89,041,700  7  18      161,655,000  13  04      742,881,503  59  92  1,239,851,093 

1911  I 

1912  1 

1913  1-  164,458,440  10  64     133,919,400  8  66      288,493,888  18.66      959,224,661  62  04  1,546,096,389 

1914  I 
1915 

1916  190,972,883  14  02    I  1 3,460.621  8  33      351,234,625  25  78      706,686,472  5187  1,362,354,601 

1917 

1918 

1919  [■  99,226,400    6  63      71,731,321  4  79     684,407,513  45  69      642,423,104  42  89  1,497,788,338 

1920  | 
Total  ] 

for  15  \        896,330,300  13  65    429,534,517  6  54   1,642,415,026  25  01   3,598,223,140  54  80  6.566.502,983 

vears  I 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


257 


San  Diego's  First  Quarter  Good 

14  Per  Cent  More  Riders  at  5  Cents,  10 
Per  Cent  More  at  7  J  Cents,  and  Only 
H  Per  Cent  Fewer  at  10  Cents 

Operating  statistics  of  the  San  Diego 
Electric  Railway  for  the  first  quarter 
of  1921  appear  below.  The  figures  for 
1920  were  printed  on  page  875  of  the 
issue  of  this  paper  for  May  7.  The 
statistics  are  particularly  interesting 
because  of  the  zone  system  of  fares 
used  on  this  property.  The  revenue 
from  transportation,  compared  with  the 
first  three  months  of  1920,  increased 
from  $317,865  to  $346,962  or  9.15  per 
cent,  this  being  due  to  an  increase  of 
approximately  9  per  cent  in  revenue 
passengers.  This  average  came  through 
a  14.01  per  cent  increase  in  5-cent  short- 
haul  riders,  a  10.48  per  cent  increase 
in  7*-cent  (four  tickets  for  30  cents), 


19.55  per  cent,  while  leaving  1.43  in- 
stead of  1.94  seats  per  passenger  car- 
ried— a  decline  of  26.29  per  cent.  De- 
tail operating  data  presented  in  the 
two  accompanying  tables  show  also 
the  increase  in  revenue  per  car-mile 
from  35.09  cents  to  42  cents,  or  17  per 
cent. 


Pacific  Electric  Would  Abandon 
Its  Harbor  Lines 

The  Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  has  asked  the  California 
State  Railroad  Commission  for  permis- 
sion to  abandon  its  entire  local  railway 
system  of  some  5  miles  of  single  track 
in  the  Los  Angeles  Harbor  District  if 
the  property  owners  of  the  harbor  dis- 
trict continue  to  insist  that  the  com- 
pany double-track  its  system  on  Sixth 
Street  at  a  cost  of  $80,000.  ■  Announce- 


GENERAL  OPERATING  STATISTICS  OF  SAN  DIEGO  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 


Januarv-March 
1 92 1 

Revenue  from  transportation   $346,962 

Revenue  from  other  railway  operations   1,412 

Non-operating  income  ;   2,787 

Total  income   $351,162 

Revenue  Passengers  Carried: 
Cash  Fares 

5  Cents    2,176,534 

10  Cents   178,366 

Other   8,500 

Total  cash  fares   2,363,400 

Revenue  Tickets 

7*  Cents    2,171,606 

Other...   932,059 

Total  revenue  tickets   3,103,665 

Total  revenue  passengers   6,384,604 

Car-Miles  and  Car-Hours 

Car-miles  operated   833,793 

Car-hours  operated   89,410 

Car-miles  per  car-hour   9  32 

Revenue  passengers  per  car-mile  (exclusive  of  transfers)   6  56 

Total  passengers  per  car-mile  (inclusive  of  transfers)   7  66 

Seats  offered   9,164,314 

Seats  per  passenger   1.43 


Januarv-March 
1920 
$317,865 
17,945 
3,240 


$339,050 


1,909,012 
181.049 
8,474 

2,098,535 

1.965,491 
939,119 

2,904,610 

5,859,237 

943,854 
99,210 
9  51 
5  30 
6.21 
1 1,391,482 
1  94 


Per  cent 
Change 
9.  15 

93.11 
13.97 

3.57 


14  01 

US 
0  31 

12  62 

10.48 

0.75 

6  85 

8  97 

11.66 
9.88 
2.00 
23  72 
23  35 
19.55 
26.29 


two-zone  riders,  a  1.48  per  cent  de- 
crease in  10-cent  cash  two-zone  riders, 
and  a  0.75  per  cent  decrease  in  mis- 
cellaneous ticket  riders.  The  fact  that 
the  7i-cent  tickets  sold  in  larger  num- 
bers while  the  equivalent  10-cent  cash 
fare  decline  is  evidence  of  the  popu- 
larity of  the  company's  plan  to  im- 
prove fare  collection  and  schedules,  as 
well  as  to  stimulate  riding,  through  the 
sale  of  easy-to-use  and  easy-to-spend 
transportation. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  found  pos- 
sible to  decrease  car-miles  by  11  per 
cent  and  thus  to  increase  the  density 
of  traffic  (passengers  per  car-mile)  by 
23  per  cent.  This  is  also  reflected  by 
the  fact  that  the  seats  offered  were  re- 
duced from  11,391,482  to  9,164,314  or 


CAR-MILE    STATISTICS   IN   CENTS  PER  CAR-MILE,   SAN  DIEGO    ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 


Januarv-March 
1921 

Revenue  from  transportation   41.61 

Revenue  from  other  railway  operations   0.17 

Non-operating  revenue   0  33 

Total  income   42  1 1 

Revenue  Passengers  Carried  per  Car-Mile 
Cash  Fares 

5Cents   2.61 

lOCents   0.21 

Other   0.02 

Total  cash  fares   2.84 

Revenue  tickets 

7J  Cents   2.60 

Other   1.12 

Total  revenue  tickets   3  .72 

Note — Italics  denote  decrease. 


Janua'  v-March 
1920 
33  68 
1.90 
0.  34 

35  92 


2  02 
0.  19 
0  01 

2  .  22 

2  09 
0  99 


17  23 


29  21 
10  53 
10  00 

27.93 

24  40 

13.13 


Business  Poor  on  Electrified  Line 
in  South  Jersey 

According  to  the  twenty-fifth  annual 
report  of  the  West  Jersey  &  Seashore 
Railroad  for  the  year  1920,  the  net  in- 
come showed  a  deficit  of  $463,148.  The 
company  either  owns  or  operates  under 
trackage  rights  361  miles  of  track  and 
two  ferryboat  lines  of  2  miles.  The 
combined  compensation  and  operating 
results  for  1920  show  a  decrease  of 
$1,094,000  compared  with  1919. 

The  total  railway  operating  revenues 
were  $13,914,442  and  operating  ex- 
penses $13,999,620,  leaving  a  net  deficit 
from  railway  operation  of  $85,177.  De- 
ducting railway  tax  accruals  amounting 
to  $571,832,  which  amount  is  equivalent 
to  nearly  5  per  cent  return  upon  the 
capital  stock,  and  net  hire  of  equip- 
ment and  joint  facility  rents — which 
amount  to  $382,000,  makes  the  net  oper- 
ating deficit  $1,039,063;  other  opera- 
tions, however,  netted  a  profit,  so  that 
the  deficit  for  the  year  was  only  $363,- 
699  before  setting  up  the  sinking  fund 
reserve. 

More  than  60  per  cent  of  the  gross 
revenue  is  derived  from  passenger  traf- 
fic. The  company  relies  mainly  upon 
its  summer  business  to  earn  fixed 
charges  and  dividends  and  to  offset  the 
operating  deficit  that  accrues  during 
the  balance  of  the  year. 


ment  to  this  effect  was  made  on  July 
27  by  H.  B.  Titcomb,  vice-president  of 
the  railway.  The  company  is  operating 
its  local  lines  in  the  harbor  district  at 
a  loss,  and  additional  expenses  heaped 
upon  the  company  at  this  time  will 
merely  add  to  these  losses. 
Mr.  Titcomb  said: 

The  city  has  granted  permits  for  the 
operation  of  jitneys  on  Pacific  Avenue  and 
Sixth  Street,  and  these  buses  operate  over 
the  very  pavements  we  have  paid  for  and 
on  which  we  pay  taxes.  It  costs  the  Pacific 
Electric  33  per  cent  of  its  gross  for  taxes 
and  upkeep,  while  it  costs  the  jitneys  little 
or  nothing  by  comparison.  We  cannot  con- 
tinue operating  at  a  loss,  and  we  hope  the 
Railroad  Commission  will  be  able  to  see 
the  predicament  in  which  our  system  has 
been  placed  in  the  harbor  district.  The 
jitney  has  taken  a  large  toll  of  our  harbor 
city  travel,  and  if  we  are  compelled  to  make 
further  heavy  expenditures  there  we  will  be 
compelled  to  abandon  our  San  Pedro  system. 


3  08 


20  78 


I.  R.  T.  Notes  Extended— 
$4  000,000  Saving  in 
Expenses 

The  Transit  Commission  at  New 
York  City  has  authorized  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  to  extend  to  Sept.  1,  1922, 
its  $38,144,400  of  outstanding  7  per 
cent  convertible  gold  notes  which  be- 
come payable  on  Sept.  1,  1921.  The 
renewal  will  be  at  the  interest  rate  of 
8  per  cent.  In  a  circular  to  the  note- 
holders, the  company  declares  it  is  un- 
questionably to  the  interest  of  the 
holders  of  the  7  per  cent  notes  to  pre- 
serve the  existing  status  by  agreeing 
to  renew  the  notes  "rather  than  to 
precipitate  a  receivership  when '  the 
company  is  apparently  on  the  eve  of  a 
recovery  of  its  credit." 

Chairman  McEneny,  of  the  commis- 
sion, stated  that  the  commission  was 
of  the  opinion  that  the  interest  of  all 
concerned  will  best  be  served  by  rea- 
sonable extension  of  these  notes. 

Concerning  the  company's  condition 
and  prospects,  the  circular  to  note- 
holders says: 

The  company  has  completed  a  readjust- 
ment of  its  wage  rates,  effective  Julv  24, 
11)21,  by  which  its  employees,  to  help  avoid 
a  receivership,  have  agreed  to  accept  a  re- 
duction of  10  per  cent,  thus  effecting  a  sav- 
ing at  the  rate  of  $2,600,000  a  vear. 

Reductions  in  the  price  of  coal  and  sup- 
plies, together  with  operating  economies  due 
to  mechanical  improvements  devised  by  the 
management,  will  effect  a  further  annual 
saying  of  at  least  $1,500,000,  or  an  aggre- 
gate reduction  in  expenses  at  the  rate'  of 
more  than  $4,000,000  per  annum  for  the 
present  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1922. 

The  total  of  these  expected  economies 
very  closely  approximate  the  $1,464,000  by 
which  the  company  failed  to  meet  fixed 
charges  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30. 
1921,  during  which  period,  however,  the 
peak  of  extraordinary  costs  was  passed. 

It  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  with  these 


258 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  7 


economies  of  more  than  $4,000,000  the  com- 
pany will  be  able  to  pay  fixed  charges, 
including  interest  on  the  5  per  cent  bonds 
and  these  notes,  and  also  to  provide  for 
current  expenses. 

Thus  with  the  notes  extended  and  the 
continued  indulgence  of  its  general  cred- 
itors, the  company  should  be  able  to  main- 
tain, and  probably  gradually  improve,  its 
present  position  until  the  Transit  Commis- 
sion shall  have  had  an  opportunity  for 
action  in  the  premises. 

Financial 
News  Notes 

Haytian  Property  Sold. — An  order 
has  been  signed  by  Federal  Judge  Mack 
authorizing  the  sale  of  the  assets  of 
the  Haytian-American  Corporation  to 
five  creditor  banks  for  $650,000.  This 
was  the  only  bid  received.  The  banks 
are  the  Irving  National  Bank  of  this 
city,  the  Fletcher  American  National 
and  the  Continental  National  of  In- 
dianapolis, and  the  National  Exchange 
and  the  Second  National  of  Baltimore. 

Value  Placed  on  Massachusetts 
Property.  —  The  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  has  found  $150,000  to  be 
the  final  value  of  the  Conway  Electric 
Street  Railway.  The  line  extends  from 
Conway  to  Deerfield,  Mass.  The  com- 
mission finds  that  it  would  cost  $192,- 
505  to  reproduce  the  line.  The  corpo- 
rate operations  of  the  carrier  from 
April  2,  1895,  to  June  30,  1914,  the  val- 
uation date,  resulted  in  net  earnings  of 
$61,208.  The  carrier  never  has  paid 
dividends.  The  investment  in  road  and 
equipment  was  found  to  be  $234,305. 

Detroit  Bonds  Taken  Up. — Announce- 
ment has  been  made  that  the  $1,400,000 
first  consolidated  mortgage  bonds  of 
the  Detroit  &  Flint  Railway,  which 
matured  on  Aug.  1,  1921,  will  be  taken 
up  from  the  present  holders  upon  pres- 
entation to  the  Central  Union  Trust 
Company,  New  York.  The  Michigan 
Public  Utilities  Commission  has  ap- 
proved the  issue  of  $4,000,000  of  De- 
troit United  Railway  first  mortgage 
collateral  8  per  cent  sinking  fund 
bonds.  These  bonds  were  placed  for 
refunding  purposes. 

Tacoma  Seeking  to  Get  From  Under. 
— The  city  of  Tacoma,  Wash.,  has  been 
promised  a  hearing  before  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board  in  connection 
with  its  claim  for  cancellation  of  the 
debt  of  $232,000  advanced  by  the  Ship- 
ping Board  for  double-tracking  the  mu- 
nicipal railway  to  the  tide-fiats,  con- 
structed as  a  war  measure.  The  city 
takes  the  position  that  the  line  was  put 
in  as  a  war  measure  and  that  the  Fed- 
eral government  should  not  require  the 
city  to  shoulder  the  burdensome  line, 
which  since  the  war  has  been  a  con- 
tinuous liability. 

Lines  Running  to  Princeton  Consoli- 
dated.— Four  electric  railways  operat- 
ing between  Trenton  and  Princeton,  N. 
J.,  which  have  been  affiliated  for  some 
time,  have  been  consolidated  as  the 
Trenton-Princeton  Traction  Company. 
The  lines  amalgamated  are  the  New 


Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  Traction  Co.; 
Trenton,  Lawrenceville  &  Princeton 
Railway;  Trenton,  Lawrenceville  & 
Princeton  Railroad  and  Princeton  Street 
Railway.  The  lines  were  built  by  Albert 
and  Tom  L.  Johnson  and  their  associ- 
ates. The  consolidation  is  mostly  in 
the  interest  of  economy  in  adminis- 
tering the  affairs  of  the  companies. 

Another  Customer  Ownership  Cam- 
paign.— The  Evansville  Gas  &  Electric 
Company,  operating  the  city  railway 
lines  and  the  gas  and  electric  light 
plants  at  Evansville,  Ind.,  has  circu- 
lated folders  and  letters  appealing  to 
the  people  of  Evansville  to  buy  stock  in 
the  company.  The  500  employees  of 
the  company  are  aiding  in  selling  the 
stock.  Frank  J.  Haas,  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  company, 
says  that  about  30  per  cent  of  the  stock- 
holders of  the  company  are  women.  In 
the  present  stock  campaign  an  especial 
appeal  will  be  made  to  housewives  to 
buy  the  stock  offered  by  the  company. 

Change  in  Status  of  Bonds. — A  meet- 
ing of  holders  of  French  currency  bonds 
of  the  Quebec  Railway,  Light,  Heat  & 
Power  Company,  Quebec,  Canada,  was 
set  for  Aug.  11,  to  consider  the  proposal 
of  the  company  for  the  payment  of 
overdue  interest  coupons  and  the  con- 
version of  the  outstanding  bonds  into 
income  bonds,  after  the  making  of  the 
partial  cash  payment.  The  two  bond 
issues  affected  are  those  forming  part 
of  an  authorized  issue  of  60,000.000 
francs,  French  currency,  executed  in 
March,  1920,  and  part  of  an  authorized 
issue  of  13,000,000  francs  executed  in 
January,  1911. 

Railway  Loses  $342,681.— For  the  six 
months  ended  June  30,  1921,  the  Inter- 
national Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in- 
creased its  operating  revenue  over  the 
same  period  a  year  ago  from  $5,126,- 
729  to  $5,274,178.  Operating  expenses 
and  taxes  increased  more  than  $500,000, 
which  left  an  operating  income  of  only 
$388,973,  against  $770,183  a  year  ago. 
The  deficit  for  the  six  months  period  is 
$342,681,  against  a  deficit  for  the  first 
six  months  of  1920  of  $34,722.  The 
gross  revenues  failed  by  $916,683  to 
provide  for  depreciation,  taxes,  etc. 

Sale   Under   Foreclosure   Ordered. — 

Public  sale  of  the  property  of  the  Vin- 
cennes  (Ind.)  Traction  Company  was 
ordered  by  Judge  Francis  E.  Baker, 
United  States  district  judge,  in  a  de- 
cree of  foreclosure  filed  in  Federal 
Court  at  Indianapolis  on  July  22.  Ac- 
cording to  the  terms  of  the  decree  the 
sale  will  be  held  about  the  middle  of 
September.  It  is  ordered  that  no  bid 
of  less  than  $150,000  be  accepted.  The 
decree  is  the  result  of  a  petition  of  the 
Mercantile  Trust  Company,  St.  Louis. 
According  to  the  decree  there  are  now 
outstanding  bonds  amounting  to  $282,- 
251,  principal  and  accrued  interest. 
These  bonds  were  put  out  in  two  issues, 
the  first  for  $200,000  in  January,  1903, 
due  in  1923;  the  second  for  $50,000  in 
May,  1906,  due  in  1931. 

$55,789  Increase  in  Balance.  —  The 
Fonda,  Johnstown  &  Gloversville  Rail- 


road, Gloversville,  N.  Y.,  reports  for 
the  year  ended  Dec.  31  total  operating 
revenue  of  $1,431,562,  compared  with 
$1  251, 651  for  the  previous  year.  Oper- 
ating expenses  $920,879,  against  $903,- 
399;  railway  operating  income  $456,- 
786,  against  $383,688;  net  income  avail- 
able for  dividend  $111,576,  compared 
with  $55,787.  After  deducting  divi- 
dends on  preferred  stock  amounting  to 
$30,000  there  was  left  a  balance  to 
profit  and  loss  of  $81,576,  against 
$25,787  for  1919. 

Marietta  Line  Run  at  Loss. — The 
Monongahela  Power  &  Railway  Com- 
pany lost  the  sum  of  $924.61  in  operat- 
ing its  railway  system  in  Marietta, 
Ohio,  during  the  month  of  June,  ac- 
cording to  figures  submitted  to  the 
City  Council.  The  line  included  in  the 
statement  is  designated  under  the  sixty 
days'  trial  period  as  Route  No.  1. 
Council  ordered  the  company  to  pro- 
ceed immediately  with  the  removal  of 
the  rails  on  streets  where  the  lines 
have  been  abandoned.  City  Solicitor 
Ward  was  asked  for  an  opinion  regard- 
ing proper  procedure  and  he  stated  that 
it  was  his  understanding  that  the  rail- 
way had  given  up  its  rights  and  if  a 
majority  of  the  residents  favored  re- 
moval of  the  tracks  he  did  not  see  why 
Council  should  not  decide  favorably 
and  order  the  company  to  comply. 

New  Bond  Issue  for  Chicago  Motor 
Bus. — The  Lake  Shore  Motor  Bus  Cor- 
poration, which  is  the  successor  to  the 
Chicago  Motor  Bus  Company,  is  offer- 
ing through  the  Stanwood  Company, 
investment  bankers  of  Chicago,  an  issue 
of  $750,000  of  8  per  cent  first  mortgage 
and  collateral  trust  sinking  fund  bonds. 
The  amount  now  offered  is  half  of  an 
authorized  issue  of  $1,500,000.  The 
bonds  are  due  Dec.  1,  1935,  and  are 
being  sold  at  971  to  yield  about  8.40  per 
cent.  The  prospectus  of  the  company 
states  that  for  the  first  six  months  of 
the  current  year  the  bus  company  car- 
ried 3,541,747  passengers,  an  increase 
of  810,074  over  the  same  period  in 
1920.  It  also  states  that  as  soon  as 
feasible,  service  will  be  extended  to  the 
South  Side  in  Chicago.  The  company 
holds  a  franchise  for  this  extension. 

$9,172,500  of  Notes  Paid.— The  Phila- 
delphia Company,  operating  the  Pitts- 
burgh Railways,  has  called  for  payment 
before  maturity  the  outstanding  $9,172,- 
500  of  three-year  6  per  cent  secured 
gold  notes,  due  Feb.  1,  1922.  This 
clears  off  a  part  of  the  refinancing  pro- 
gram which  the  company  must  carry 
out  during  the  next  year.  In  addition 
to  the  three-year  notes,  which  have  been 
called  for  payment  on  Oct.  1  at  100i, 
the  company  has  an  issue  of  $9,794,000 
ten-year  5  per  cent  debenture  bonds 
falling  due  May  1,  1922.  Payment  of 
the  three-year  notes  has  been  provided 
for  through  funds  which  came  into  the 
company's  treasury  through  the  recent 
issue  of  $10,000,000  bonds  by  the  Du- 
quesne  Light  Company,  the  proceeds 
of  this  issue  having  been  turned  over 
to  the  parent  company  in  payment  for 
properties  acquired  by  the  light  sub- 
sidiary. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


259 


Trackless  Trolleys  Opposed 

The  International  Railway,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  may  withdraw  its  petition  asking 
permission  to  operate  trackless  trolleys 
on  Bailey  Avenue  result  of  the 

opposition  to  the  plan.  At  a  recent 
hearing  this  method  of  transportation 
was  strongly  objected  to  on  the  ground 
that  serious  damage  would  be  done  to 
the  pavement. 

Herbert  G.  Tulley,  president  of  the 
International  Railway,  and  Thomas 
Penney,  attorney  for  the  company,  ap- 
peared at  the  hearing  in  support  of  the 
petition.  Mr.  Tulley  said  that  he 
wanted  the  experiment  tried  until  Jan- 
uary, 1923,  but  he  would  not  guarantee 
the  property  owners  against  damage. 
He  said  further  that  it  was  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  some  kind  of 
service  in  the  northeastern  section  of 
the  city  that  he  wanted  to  try  the  track- 
less trolley. 

Mr.  Penny  declared  that  if  the  people 
were  averse  to  the  plan  the  petition 
would  be  withdrawn.  The  Council  de- 
cided to  defer  action  on  the  matter 
until  Sept.  9. 


Traffic  Laws  Must  Be  Observed 

Traffic  congestion  has  become  one  of 
the  biggest  problems  that  is  facing  the 
Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway.  The  Dallas 
Safety  Council,  which  was  organized 
several  months  ago,  is  co-operating  with 
the  railway  and  has  suggested  a  rear- 
rangement of  the  tracks  in  the  east  sec- 
tion of  the  business  district.  The  city 
of  Dallas  has  the  backing  of  the  railway 
and  the  Council  in  the  matter  of  enforc- 
ing traffic  rules  as  a  means  of  reducing 
accidents. 

The  city,  through  the  chief  of  police, 
recently  requested  the  railway  to  in- 
struct motormen  to  stop  their  car''  so 
that  the  rear  doors  would  open  o\:  che 
safety  zones  that  have  been  lined  off  in 
the  business  district,  and  also  that  when 
the  doors  of  cars  are  once  closed  and 
the  motorman  is  signalled  to  go,  the 
car  be  not  stopped  to  let  any  other  per- 
son board  it  or  for  other  reasons  except 
grave  emergency.  The  Council  has  been 
waging  an  intensive  campaign  against 
feckless  auto  driving.  It  announced 
that  one  of  the  first  evils  to  be  elimi- 
nated is  the  passing  of  street  cars  by 
autos  while  the  cars  are  discharging  or 
taking  on  passengers. 


St.  Paul  Fare  Hearing  Deferred 

After  a  morning  hearing  before  the 
Minnesota  Railroad  Warehouse  Com- 
mission on  July  28  the  application 
of  the  St.  Paul  City  Railway  for  an 
emergency  fare  of  7  cents  and  four 
tokens  for  a  quarter,  postponement 
was  allowed  to  Aug.  23,  the  day  set 
for  the  postponed  hearing  of  the 
Minneapolis  Street  Railway's  applica- 
tion for  a  similar  emergency  rate.  Both 
cities  now  have  a  6-cent  rate. 


The  postponement  was  made  on  plea 
of  Corporation  Counsel  Arthur  E.  Nel- 
son that  the  city  wanted  time  to  analyze 
the  company's  exhibits  and  to  prepare 
a  brief.  The  counsel  had  already  at- 
tacked the  validity  of  the  law,  which 
was  passed  by  the  1921  Legislature 
placing  the  rate-making  power  for 
electric  railways  in  the  commission.  If 
the  commission  grants  the  rate  this 
attack  will  be  taken  into  the  courts  for 
determination  of  the  constitutionality 
of  the  law. 

E.  W.  Bemis  is  the  expert  retained 
by  the  city  to  support  its  side  of  the 
fare  controversy.  Mention  of  the  post- 
ponement of  the  Minneapolis  Street 
Railway's  case  was  made  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal,  issue  of  Aug.  6. 

Points  Before  Court  in  Louisville 

Case 

The  City  Attorney  of  Louisville,  Ky., 
has  announced  the  questions  which  have 
been  certified  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  by  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Appeals  in  the  case  of  the  City  of 
Louisville  in  its  appeal  from  the  injunc- 
tion obtained  by  the  Louisville  Railway 
restraining  the  city  from  interfering 
with  it  in  the  collection  of  7-cent  fares. 
According  to  him  they  are: 

1.  Whether  the  acts  of  the  Kentucky  Leg- 
islature prior  to  the  present  constitution 
gave  the  city  power  to  contract  for  a  rate 
of  fare. 

2.  Whether  the  consolidation  of  the  com- 
panies in  1890  abrogated  the  contract. 

3.  Whether  the  acceptance  of  the  present 
constitution  by  the  Louisville  Railway  abro- 
gated the  contract. 

Attorney  Lawton  stated  that  these 
three  questions  will  be  certified  to  the 
Supreme  Court  as  soon  as  it  convenes 
in  October.  The  questions  other  than 
those  certified  to  the  Supreme  Court 
will  be  passed  on  by  the  Circuit  Court. 

Everybody  concerned  appears  to  be 
very  well  pleased  with  the  action  of  the 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  in  certifying 
to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  the 
questions  involved  in  the  7-cent  fare 
suit  of  the  city.  It  is  pointed  out  that 
the  case  would  have  gone  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  in  any  event  and  that  by 
the  action  of  the  Circuit  Court  decision 
will  be  rendered  more  promptly  and  the 
procedure  will  be  less  expensive. 

In  the  meantime  the  company  con- 
tinues to  collect  7-cent  fares  and  is  issu- 
ing rebate  slips  for  the  additional  2 
cents.  It  is  anticipated  that  so  far  as  the 
company  is  concerned  it  will  benefit 
materially  in  earnings,  even  if  the  de- 
cision is  against  it. 

A  local  newspaper  has  taken  up  the 
cudgels  in  defense  of  the  railway,  de- 
claring: 

If  the  city  should  finally  win.  all  those 
who  will  have  paid  7  cents  and  have  no 
means  of  recovery  will  remember  that  ma- 
chine politics  at  the  City  Hall  threw  into 
the  courts  a  matter  that  proper  city  admin- 
istration should  have  handled  in  an  admin- 
istrative way.  If  the  company  should  finally 
win,  a  way  out  will  have  been  shown  to  all 
utilities  subjected  to  political  persecution. 


Routes  of  New  Five-Cent  Lines 
Announced 

Edward  Dana,  general  manager  of 
the  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway, 
has  announced  that  additional  experi- 
mental districts  with  5-cent  local  fares, 
without  transfer  privileges,  will  be 
operated  commencing  Aug.  13.  In 
Charlestown,  all  surface  cars  will  be 
operated  to  Brattle  Street  station,  it 
is  stated,  the  local  5-cent  fare  to  be 
collected  pay-enter  inbound  and  pay- 
leave  outbound.  Ten-cent  fares  will  be 
collected  from  passengers  transferring 
to  elevated  or  Haymarket  Square  sub- 
way stations. 

In  Cambridge,  surface  cars  operated 
to  the  Harvard  Square  subway  station, 
lower  level,  will  be  run  pay-leave  in- 
bound and  pay-enter  outbound.  Local 
fares  will  be  5  cents,  without  trans- 
fer privilege.  Inbound  10-cent  through 
fares  will  be  collected  at  Harvard 
Square  subway  station. 

Dorchester  inbound  passengers  riding 
to  Andrew  Square,  Eggleston  Square  or 
Dudley  Street,  east  loop  or  lower  level, 
will  pay  10-cent  fare,  and  if  alighting 
before  arrival  at  the  station  will  be 
entitled  to  a  return  coupon,  good  on 
outbound  cars  only  on  the  date  issued 
and  the  next  day.  Outbound  5-cent 
local  fare  or  return  coupon  will  be  col- 
lected without  privilege  of  transfer. 

No  change  will  be  made  on  night  and 
early  morning  cars. 


Eight  Cents  in  Birmingham 

Eight-cent  fares  with  a  2-cent  trans- 
fer charge  were  granted  the  Birming- 
ham Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company 
by  the  Alabama  Public  Service  Com- 
mission in  an  order  made  public  on 
July  31.  The  increased  fares  took  ef- 
fect on  Aug.  2. 

Plans  for  a  fight  against  the  in- 
creased rates  granted  by  the  Public 
Service  Commission  and  an  attack  upon 
the  constitutionality  of  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Act  of  the  last  Legislature  of  Ala- 
bama, which  gives  the  Public  Service 
Commission  complete  and  exclusive 
control  of  the  rates  charged  by  all  pub- 
lic utilities,  are  being  discussed  by  the 
City  Commission  of  Birmingham. 

Tickets,  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
order  of  the  commission,  are  being  sold 
at  a  rate  of  fifteen  for  $1,  or  at  6§ 
cents  each  for  a  minimum  of  fifteen 
tickets.  Stations  for  the  sale  of  these 
tickets  have  been  established  by  the 
company  throughout  the  business  dis- 
trict, and  the  first  day  of  the  sale  sev- 
eral thousand  people  purchased  tickets. 
By  the  use  of  tickets,  where  no  trans- 
fer is  made,  regular  riders  secure  a 
reduction  of  one-third  of  a  cent  a  ride 
under  the  new  rates,  a  7-cent  fare  hav- 
ing been  in  effect  for  several  months. 

The  2-cent  transfer  charge  applies 
on  all  transfers  except  from  several 
lines  which  are  in  effect  extensions  of 
main  lines.  In  these  specific  cases  the 
transfers  are  issued  without  charge, 
and  riders  are  entitled  to  a  further 
transfer  to  other  lines  on  the  payment 
of  the  regular  2-cent  charge. 


260 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


Reduced  Rates  to  Win  Patrons 

Announcement  has  been  made  of  a 
restoration  of  reduced  round-trip  fares 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  Oregon  Elec- 
tric Railway  lines  in  the  Willamette 
Valley,  and  on  the  Spokane,  Portland 
&  Seattle  line  to  lower  Columbia  River 
points.  The  new  schedule  is  aimed  at 
competing  auto-bus  lines  and  has  been 
established  in  an  effort  to  restore  the 
passenger  traffic  to  its  former  basis. 
The  new  rates,  which  include  one-day 
round-trip  fares  and  week-end  round- 
trip  fares,  became  effective  July  14  and 
July  16  respectively.  They  have  been 
announced  to  expire  Sept.  30,  1921,  un- 
less cancelled  or  extended. 

The  new  rates  for  the  week-end 
round-trip  tickets  are  approximately  25 
per  cent  lower  than  the  present  rates. 
The  one-day  round-trip  tickets  are  15 
per  cent  under  the  present  rate.  The 
new  rates  are  for  round  trips  only  and 
have  no  effect  upon  one-way  service. 


"Pull  Together"  Campaign 
Successful 

"Let's  Pull  Together,"  is  the  slogan 
in  bold  face  type  on  cards  recently 
handed  to  passengers  on  lines  out  of 
Camden  by  the  conductors  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Public  Service  Railway. 
The  appeal  continues  with: 

Boost  for  better  car  service. 

We  appreciate  your  patronage  and  support. 

We  want  to  give  you  the  best  trolley 
service  that  is  possible. 

We  conductors  and  motormen  are  anxious 
to  please  you. 

We  want  better  feeling  and  closer  under- 
standing between  you  and  us. 

We  want  to  ask  you  for  suggestions  as 
to  how  we  can  serve  you  better. 

We  want  to  send  you  from  time  to  time 
statements  regarding  our  plans. 

We  want  the  interest  and  good  will  of 
our  car  riders. 

An  urgent  request  follows  for  pas- 
sengers to  sign  the  cards  and  return 
them  to  a  member  of  the  crew. 

The  effort  to  enlist  the  co-operation 
of  patrons  has  resulted  in  gratifying 
response.  Up  to  Aug  3  9,524  names 
with  addresses  were  turned  in  and  many 
helpful  comments  were  made.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  approximately  85 
per  cent  of  the  persons  who  responded 
to  the  company's  invitation  lived  in 
New  Jersey  and  about  one-third  of  these 
came  from  Camden.  Most  of  the  other 
persons  signing  cards  lived  in  Phila- 
delphia and  other  places  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Only  four  signers  made  any 
complaint  about  the  rate  of  fare.  Some 
of  the  remarks  were  commendatory. 


Long  Distance  Limited  Service 
Planned 

The  interurban  service  from  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.,  is  to  be  augmented  by  the 
establishment  of  the  longest  distance 
limited  service  in  the  country  in  a  short 
time.  The  Wabash  Valley  flyer,  which 
operates  between  Fort  Wayne  and  In- 
dianapolis, will  be  extended  to  take 
in  Lima,  Ohio,  making  a  complete  in- 
terstate run  on  limited  time. 

The  route  within  a  short  time,  offi- 
cials say,  will  continue  to  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  the  present  schedule  being  altered 
to   make   all   connections.     This  will 


make  Fort  Wayne  one  of  the  leading 
traction  centers  of  the  country.  The 
new  line  will  be  the  only  direct  route 
connecting  the  Ohio  cities  and  the 
Indiana  capital.  It  is  planned  to  estab- 
lish the  Lima-Cleveland  service  by 
Oct.  1. 

The  Lima  road  of  the  Ohio  Electric 
Railway,  under  the  receivership  of 
Henry  C.  Paul,  Fort  Wayne,  has  been 
improved  financially  and  physically. 
The  Indiana  Service  Corporation  is 
leasing  part  of  the  road  from  the  re- 
ceiver. 


Seattle  Confident  in  Fight  Against 
Jitneys 

Following  the  decision  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court,  in  which  the  rights  of 
the  city  to  ban  the  jitneys  from  the 
street  were  upheld,  Superintendent  of 
Utilities  Carl  H.  Reeves  issued  an  order 
forbidding  the  operation  of  any  jitneys 
in  Seattle.  From  this  ruling  sixty- 
five  drivers  are  protected  as  partici- 
pants in  the  McGlothern  suit.  This 
action  covers  a  petition  for  rehearing 
of  the  jitney  case,  in  which  a  tempo- 
rary injunction,  until  Aug.  20,  has  been 
issued.  Forty-three  other  jitney  drivers 
have  been  allowed  to  join  the  sixty- 
five  now  protected,  but  they  will  not 
be  protected  by  the  injunction  that  af- 
fects the  original  sixty-five. 

Since  the  order  by  Superintendent 
Reeves,  one  jitney  driver  has  been  ar- 
rested and  fined  $25  for  operating  with- 
out a  permit,  and  in  the  case  of  seven- 
teen others  arrested  judgment  has  been 
suspended  at  the  request  of  W.  B.  Craw- 
ford, attorney  for  the  Sound  Transit 
Company,  the  organization  of  drivers. 
Mr.  Crawford  contends  that  the  men 
under  arrest  are  entitled  to  the  thirty- 
day  immunity  granted  by  the  injunction 
to  Mr.  McGlothern  and  others. 

In  a  court  order  issued  by  Chief  Jus- 
tice Fullerton  of  the  Supreme  Court 
the  forty-three  drivers  are  permitted  to 
join  with  the  original  sixty-five  in  fil- 
ing a  petition  for  a  rehearing  and  a 
motion  for  modification  of  the  court 
order  issued  by  the  Supreme  Court  on 
July  22. 

About  120  jitneys  have  been  barred 
from  the  streets  by  the  order  of  Mr. 
Reeves.  The  ousting  of  the  jitneys  is 
believed  by  city  officials  to  be  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end  of  the  city's  long 
fight  to  prevent  the  jitneys  from  com- 
peting with  the  Municipal  Railway. 

Several  applications  have  been  filed 
with  the  City  Council  for  permits  to 
operate  5-cent  "feeder  line  jitneys" 
from  the  end  of  the  railway  lines.  Mr. 
Reeves  favors  granting  such  feeder  line 
permits  in  reasonable  numbers. 


Suburban    Fares     Reduced. — E.  G. 

Shoup  of  the  Peninsular  Railway,  San 
Jose,  Cal.,  recently  announced  lower 
fares  to  the  suburbs.  The  cuts  are 
from  San  Jose  to  Los  Gatos,  round  trip 
from  52  cents  to  40  cents;  San  Jose  to 
Campbell  from  30  cents  to  24  cents; 
from  San  Jose  to  Saratoga  from  52 
cents  to  40  cents. 


Court  Reverses  Itself 

Emergency  Rate  Allowed  In  Evening 
Rescinded   Next   Morning — 
Everybody  Wondering 

Judge  John  Rellstab  of  the  United 
States  Court  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  issued 
an  order  on  the  afternoon  of  Aug.  9 
authorizing  the  Public  Service  Railway 
to  increase  its  fare  from  7  to  8  cents, 
with  2  cents  for  a  transfer.  On  the 
morning  of  Aug.  10  the  judge  rescinded 
that  part  of  his  order  permitting  the 
increase  to  become  effective. 

Judge  Rellstab's  latest  order  states 
that  "after  further  reflection  upon  the 
consideration  of  the  authorities  and  in 
view  that  an  early  date  for  the  hearing 
has  been  set  in  this  case,  so  much  of 
the  rule  to  show  cause  which  author- 
izes the  company  to  increase  its  fares 
is  vacated." 

Application  for  a  preliminary  injunc- 
tion to  restrain  the  Public  Utility  Com- 
mission from  interfering  with  the  col- 
lection of  a  rate  of  fare  greater  than 
the  7-cent  rate  with  2  cents  for  trans- 
fers authorized  by  the  commission  was 
made  to  Judge  Rellstab  by  the  Public 
Service  Railway  on  Aug.  9  under  the 
provisions  of  an  act  of  Congress  passed 
in  1911. 

Counsel  for  the  company  convinced 
Judge  Rellstab  that  a  condition  existed 
which  would  result  in  confiscation  of  the 
company's  property,  and  the  advanced 
rate  was  granted,  to  become  effective 
when  the  company  had  filed  stipulations 
providing  for  a  refund  of  the  excess 
fare  in  the  event  that  the  appeal  was 
finally  determined  so  as  to  provide  for 
a  rate  of  fare  less  than  8  cents. 

The  recital  of  the  bill  by  the  rail- 
way is  in  a  large  measure  a  reiteration 
of  statements  already  made  before 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  and 
the  courts  in  previous  rate  cases. 
Statements  of  the  commission  that  the 
rate  allowed  by  the  board  will  provide 
a  7  per  cent  return  on  the  value  of  the 
company's  property  are  branded  in  the 
bill  as  palpably  incorrect. 

Under  Section  266  of  the  Federal 
Judiciary  Act  three  judges  must  hear 
the  appeal.  The  date  has  been  set  as 
Aug.  18  and  Judge  Rellstab  has  selected 
Judge  J.  W.  Davis  of  New  Jersey  and 
Victor  Wooley  of  the  Delaware  Circuit 
Court  to  sit  with  him. 

Governor  Edwards  said  that  it  was 
difficult  for  him  to  understand  why  the 
railway  did  not  exhaust  its  logical  re- 
sources in  the  State  before  taking  its 
case  to  the  Federal  Courts. 

Counsel  for  the  New  Jersey  Auto  Bus 
Owners'  Association  said  that  the  only 
solution  was  to  let  the  railway  charge 
all  it  desired  and  let  the  people  choose 
between  it  and  the  jitneys. 

The  commissioners  were  away  from 
the  State  on  a  short  vacation  when  the 
court  announced  its  ruling.  Mr.  Herr- 
mann, counsel  for  the  commission,  said, 
however,  that  from  the  little  informa- 
tion he  had,  he  doubted  the  legality  of 
Judge  Rellstab's  act.  This  statement 
by  Mr.  Herrmann  was  made  before  the 
supplemental  order  of  the  court  had 
been  announced. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


261 


24,343,493  Jitney  Passengers  in 
Newark  in  Six  Months 

During  the  first  half  of  this  year  the 
jitneys  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  carried  24,- 
343,493  passengers,  compared  with 
19,625,797  for  the  first  half  of  1920. 
The  report  of  the  Department  of  Rev- 
enues and  Finance  disclosed  that  jit- 
ney owners  collected  fares  aggregating 
$1,217,171  this  year  against  $981,289 
for  a  similar  period  last  year.  The 
figures  show  that  approximately  the 
same  number  of  buses  were  operated 
during  each  of  the  competitive  periods. 


Wheeling  Company  Acts  Against 
Buses 

Exciting  scenes  resulted  on  July  30 
when  C.  P.  Billings,  general  manager 
of  the  Wheeling  Traction  Company,  had 
warrants  issued  for  the  drivers  of  the 
buses  operating  between  Wheeling 
and  Bellaire,  Ohio,  and  Martins  Ferry, 
Ohio.  Mr.  Billings  charged  the  oper- 
ators of  the  buses  with  violating  the 
new  state  traffic  ordinance  by  failure 
to  pay  license.  The  drivers  were  ar- 
rested, and  after  being  freed  on  bond 
the  men  ran  the  buses,  giving  free 
rides.  It  later  developed,  however, 
that  the  statute  under  which  the  ar- 
rests were  made  did  not  become  effec- 
tive until  Aug.  9. 

Mobs  gathered  where  the  drivers 
were  arrested  and  threatened  the  con- 
stable making  the  arrests.  Later,  at 
Aetnaville,  Ohio,  parts  of  the  railway 
tracks  were  torn  up,  and  in  Martins 
Ferry,  just  above  Aetnaville,  the  tracks 
were  greased.  The  traction  system  was 
tied  up. 

There  was  a  riot  when  Mr.  Billings 
appeared  in  Bridgeport  in  response  to 
reports  street  cars  were  being  inter- 
fered with.  So  threatening  did  the 
attitude  become  against  him  that  the 
police  felt  called  upon  to  protect  him 
from  the  mob. 

The  trouble  was  the  climax  of  the 
fight  between  the  traction  company 
and  the  bus  lines  which  are  springing 
up  on  all  sides  in  competition  with  the 
trolley.  Recently  the  Wheeling  City 
Council  passed  an  ordinance  restrict- 
ing the  bus  lines. 


Jitney  Measure  Modified — Prop- 
erty Consents  Now  Necessary 

The  first  ordinance  regulating  jit- 
ney traffic  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  became 
effective  on  April  16.  It  prohibited 
jitneys  from  using  streets  on  which 
street  cars  operated.  The  second  regu- 
latory ordinance  was  passed  by  the 
City  Council  on  July  11,  was  signed 
by  the  Mayor  on  July  13.  It  becomes 
effective  on  Aug.  12.  This  second 
ordinance  represents  a  response  of  the 
city  to  the  demands  of  the  public  that 
consent  of  property  owners  be  secured 
before  jitney  routes  are  established. 

The  new  ordinance  provides  that 
written  consent  of  a  majority  of  front 
feet  property  owners  on  proposed  jit- 
ney routes  shall  be  filed  before  such 
proposed    route    can    be  established. 


The  majority  is  of  front  feet,  and  the 
property  owners  signing  must  reside 
in  Kansas  City.  There  are  other  re- 
strictions on  routing.  A  route  so 
established  may  be  maintained  for  one 
year;  the  license  continuing  unless 
withdrawals  of  consent  by  property 
owners  shall  reduce  the  consent-footage 
below  a  majority. 

The  type  and  number  of  jitneys  to  be 
operated  are  under  control  of  the  in- 
spector of  jitneys — no  more  than  those 
designated  in  the  application  and  ap- 
proved, to  be  allowed  on  any  route. 

The  new  measure  is  in  the  nature  of 
an  amendment  to  the  previous  ordi- 
nance and  continues  in  effect  the  rul- 
ing that  autos  for  public  hire  in 
so-called  jitney  service  shall  not  be 
operated  on  streets  where  railway 
facilities  are  provided. 


Commission  Issues  Jitney 
Certificate 

The  first  jitney  certificate  was  issued 
by  the  Maine  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion recently  to  Packard  &  Dunbar  for 
the  operation  of  a  bus  line  between 
Grennville  and  Lily  Bay,  and  from 
Greenville  to  Bangor.  By  a  new  law 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  took 
over  the  supervision  of  the  jitney,  which 
is  in  charge  of  G.  R.  Armstrong,  the 
commission's  expert  electrician. 

According  to  rules  and  regulations 
adopted,  time  and  fare  schedules  must 
be  posted  in  the  bus,  and  passenger- 
capacity  cannot  be  exceeded.  The  fare 
between  any  two  points  must  not  be 
less  than  the  fare  charged  by  any  steam 
or  electric  carrier.  Licenses  can  be 
revocated  at  any  time  after  a  hearing 
when  it  is  shown  that  the  public  good 
no  longer  requires  the  jitney  service  or 
when  rules  have  been  violated. 


Jitneys  Banned  in  Albany 

Pending  a  decision  on  the  application 
of  the  United  Traction  Company, 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  for  a  permanent  injunc- 
tion, jitney  operators  have  been  re- 
strained from  competing  with  the  rail- 
way. The  order  curbing  the  jitneys  was 
made  by  Supreme  Court  Justice  Harold 
J.  Hinman  of  the  Third  Judicial  Dis- 
trict, New  York  State.  It  specifies  by 
name  211  jitney  men  who  have  been 
running  buses  for  hire  without  securing 
certificates  of  "necessity  and  conven- 
ience" from  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion. The  order  is  returnable  on  Sept. 
10,  when  the  railway  case  will  be  argued. 
The  company  has  until  Aug.  19  to  serve 
the  injunction.  Those  not  mentioned  in 
the  injunction  may  continue  the  opera- 
tion of  buses  until  enjoined. 

The  company  contends  through  H.  B. 
Weatherwax,  the  vice-president,  that 
jitneys  have  been  operating  in  Albany, 
Troy,  Watervliet  and  Cohoes  in  viola- 
tion of  Section  26  of  the  transportation 
law.  The  buses  have  been  doing  a  good 
business  in  the  cities  affected  by  the 
strike  of  the  union  employees  of  the 
railway  now  in  its  seventh  month.  The 
company's  cars  are  now  being  operated 
by  non-union  employees. 


Low  Fare  Experiment  Abandoned 

A  low  rate  of  fare  for  a  limited  zone 
in  the  down-town  district  of  the  city 
does  not  stimulate  the  riding  habit. 
That  is  the  conclusion  of  officials  of  the 
Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway,  who  on  Aug. 
8  discontinued  the  experiment  of  charg- 
ing only  3  cents  cash  for  fare,  with  a 
2i-cent  ticket  rate,  in  the  down-town 
part  of  Cleveland.  The  plan  had  a 
thirty-day  test,  but  proved  a  failure. 
Instead  of  stimulating  the  riding  habit 
and  thus  bolstering  up  the  falling 
receipts  of  the  company,  the  plan  turned 
out  to  be  a  losing  venture. 

Starting  on  Aug.  9,  a  ride  in  the 
down-town  section  of  Cleveland  costs 
the  same  as  a  ride  any  place  else; 
namely,  6  cents  and  a  1-cent  charge 
for  transfer,  with  nine  tickets  for  50 
cents  and  1  cent  for  each  transfer. 

The  failure  of  the  plan  was  discour- 
aging to  officials  of  the  railway  and 
to  Fielder  Sanders,  city  street  railway 
commissioner,  who  had  hoped  that  it 
would  mean  increased  revenue  to  the 
company. 

In  commenting  upon  the  failure  of 
the  plan,  the  Cleveland  Plain  Dealer  on 
Aug.  7  said  in  an  editorial: 

The  down-town  low  fare  experiment  has 
proved  a  failure  and  comes  to  an  end  to- 
morrow. The  idea  was  that  if  people  could 
ride  within  a  restricted  area  in  the  con- 
gested section  at  a  reduced  rate  fewer 
would  walk  these  short  distances  and  a 
profitable  short  haul  business  might  be  built 
up.  But  the  public  failed  to  respond,  people 
continue  to  walk  about  the  down-town  sec- 
tion and  the  company  finds  the  experiment 
a  losing  one. 

While  the  general  results  of  the  test  are 
not  to  be  questioned  they  are  disappointing 
in  their  relation  to  two  car  lines  confined 
wholly  to  the  congested  area.  There  should 
be  some  plan  possible  for  keeping  a  reduced 
fare  in  force  on  the  Union  station  line  and 
the  pier  line. 

Here  are  the  cars  with  which  Cleveland 
meets  its  visitors.  Six  cents  seems  unneces- 
sarily high  for  a  ride  from  the  station  to 
the  Square  or  to  one  of  the  downtown 
hotels.  Six  cents  is  too  much  to  charge 
passengers  riding  from  the  foot  of  East 
Ninth  Street  to  the  Square.  Such  a  charge 
gives  the  stranger  an  unpleasant  impression 
that  the  city  is  inhospitable. 

It  is  taken  for  granted,  of  course,  that 
with  a  reduced  fare  on  these  two  lines  no 
transfers  could  be  issued.  The  average 
traveler  from  station  to  hotel  wants  no 
transfer.  Those  who  do  wish  to  take  some 
other  line  from  the  Square  would  not  object 
to  paying  the  higher  fare  and  the  transfer 
charge  in  addition. 

The  pier  line  used  to  carry  passengers 
for  1  cent.  That  was  probably  too  low, 
but  somewhere  between  1  cent  and  the  pres- 
ent 6-cent  charge  it  ought  to  be  possible 
to  find  a  figure  at  which  passengers  could 
be  carried  at  a  profit  reasonable  but  not 
excessive.  The  same  considerations  hold 
for  the  Union  station  line. 


Six  Cents  Predominant 
Fare  in  Ohio 

Figures  compiled  by  the  Ohio  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Utility  Information 
on  fares  in  effect  in  twenty-three  Ohio 
cities  having  a  population  of  more  than 
14,000  each  show  that  6  cents  is  the 
prevailing  car  fare  in  that  State. 

Of  the  twenty-three  cities  eleven 
have  a  6-cent  fare,  while  four  charge 
7  and  four  8  cents.  In  Cincinnati  and 
Youngstown  a  9-cent  rate  is  in  effect, 
while  Tiffin  charges  10  cents. 

A  report'  of  the  Ohio  Public  Utilities 
Commission  recently  published  showed 
that  the  interurban  railways  of  Ohio 
operated  at  a  loss  during  1920. 


262 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


Decision  Reversed  in  Connecticut 
Jitney  Case 

Judge  Edwin  S.  Thomas  of  the  Fed- 
eral Court  at  New  Haven  rescinded  on 
Aug.  8  his  restraining  order  of  July  30 
and  gave  notice  that  the  jitneys  would 
have  to  cease  operating  at  12  o'clock 
that  night.  The  ruling  of  the  court  is 
that  the  jitneys  must  not  attempt  to 
operate  again  until  the  Federal  Court 
of  three  judges  had  passed  upon  the 
application  of  the  jitney  men  for  an 
interlocutory  injunction. 

The  court  pointed  out  that  there  was 
no  good  claim  to  the  theory  of  the 
jitney  men  that  the  court  having  issued 
a  restraining  order  has  not  the  power 
to  vacate  or  modify  its  ruling.  The 
court  found  that  the  rights  of  the 
plaintiff  as  set  up  were  not  free  from 
doubt.  As  to  the  main  issue,  namely, 
the  constitutionality  of  the  state  law, 
Judge  Thomas  left  that  to  the  higher 
court,  which  is  to  sit  at  New  Haven 
on  Aug.  16.  The  court  was  not  con- 
vinced that  the  injury  to  the  jitney- 
men  would  be  irreparable  if  they  were 
compelled  to  stop  operating. 

Judge  Thomas  had  on  July  30  issued 
an  injunction  which  temporarily  ter- 
minated the  jitney  ban  and  prevented 
the  police  from  making  arrests.  In  this 
decision  Judge  Thomas  overruled 
Judge  Keeler  of  the  Superior  Court, 
who  had  previously  refused  to  issue  an 
injunction  to  prevent  the  police  from 
interfering  with  the  jitneymen. 

George  D.  Watrous,  who  appeared  in 
behalf  of  the  Connecticut  Company,  at 
a  hearing  on  Aug.  5,  pointed  out  that 
the  company  was  losing  from  $6,000  to 
$10,000  daily  as  the  result  of  jitney 
competition. 


Authorize  Ten-Cent  Rate.— The  State 
Railroad  Commission  of  Montana  has 
granted  the  application  of  the  Butte 
Electric  Railway  for  a  cash  fare  of  10 
cents.  Commutation  tickets  at  6i  cents 
in  books  of  any  multiple  of  four  will 
be  provided  under  the  board's  ruling. 

Pennsylvania  Line  Cuts  Rates. — The 
Pittsburgh,  Harmony,  Butler  &  New 
Castle  Railway,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  has 
filed  notice  with  the  Public  Service 
Commission  of  decrease  in  its  rate  for 
agricultural  and  other  lime  and  also 
for  various  kinds  of  shipments  in 
smaller  lots. 

Seven-Cent    Fare    Only  Allowed. — 

The  City  Council  of  Somerset,  Ky.,  has 
authorized  the  Kentucky  Utilities  Com- 
pany to  collect  a  7-cent  fare  in  that 
city.  The  company  asked  for  a  10-cent 
fare,  stating  that  it  could  not  operate 
for  less.  The  company  has  not  an- 
nounced whether  it  will  accept  the 
Council's  offer  and  resume  the  opera- 
tion of  cars. 


Interurban  Rates  Advanced.  —  Cash 
fare,  round-trip  and  commutation  rates 
on  the  interurban  lines  of  the  Denver 
(Col.)  Tramway  were  increased  20  per 
cent  on  Aug.  1  by  authority  of  the 
Colorado  Public  Utilities  Commission. 
The  order  further  provides  for  a  mini- 
mum cash  fare  of  10  cents  and  a  mini- 
mum round-trip  fare  of  25  cents. 

Freight  Service  Established. — A  new 
traction  freight  service  between  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.,  and  Lima,  Ohio,  was 
started  by  the  Indiana  Service  Corpo- 
ration on  Aug.  1.  The  object  of  the 
new  service  is  to  enable  Fort  Wayne 
shippers  to  send  freight  over  this  line 
one  day  and  have  it  distributed  out  of 
Lima  to  western  Ohio  points  the  next 
day. 

Premiere  of  Snapshots. — An  interest- 
ing illustrated  newspaper  "snapshots" 
giving  sidelights  on  the  employees  dur- 
ing the  busy  day  and  in  off  moments  is 
being  published  by  the  Georgia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
It  appeared  for  the  first  time  on  July  23 
and  will  hereafter  be  published  on  the 
second  and  fourth  Saturdays  of  each 
month. 

Wanted  —  Uniforms   to   Press.  —  To 

co-operate  with  the  men  in  maintaining 
neat  appearances  the  Los  Angeles 
(Cal.)  Railway  will  operate  its  own 
uniform  department  in  the  near  future. 
"Two  Bells,"  the  official  publication  of 
the  railway,  announces  that  Clayton  C. 
Beers  will  be  appointed  superintendent 
of  this  department.  A  feature  of 
special  interest  will  be  the  cleaning  and 
pressing  service. 

"Partners"  To  Appear  Semi-Monthly, 

— Partners,  the  official  publication  of 
the  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway,  has  grown 
in  size  and  in  numbers.  It  was  an- 
nounced in  the  Aug.  1  issue  that 
Partners  would  be  published  semi- 
monthly instead  of  monthly  "so  that 
employees  might  have  the  news  while 
it  is  hot."  The  editor  announces  that 
the  former  policy  will  be  continued;  i.e., 
constructive  criticism  and  descriptive 
articles.    New  features  will  be  added. 

Lower  Rates  in  Effect. — A  reduced 
fare  schedule  on  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany's line  between  Rockville  and 
Hartford  went  into  effect  recently. 
The  new  fare  will  be  30  cents  while 
the  interurban  line  rate  will  remain  at 
40  cents.  It  is  believed  that  the  Com- 
mon Council  of  Rockville  will  secure 
permission  for  a  20-cent  fare  between 
Rockville  and  Crystal  Lake.  The  pres- 
ent fare  is  30  cents. 

Prepared  to  Submit  Data. — Armed 
with  information  regarding  legislation 
and  regulation  of  jitney  traffic  in  west- 
ern cities,  members  of  the  Indianapolis 
City  Council  who  accompanied  the 
jitney  junketing  party  have  returned 
prepared  to  submit  to  the  Council 
recommendations  designed  to  clear  up 
the  jitney  situations  in  Indianapolis. 
Investigation  of  conditions  was  made 
in  Sioux  City  and  Des  Moines,  la.,  and 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

City  Fights  Fare  Rise. — Charles  L. 
Jewett,  head  of  the  city  law  department 


of  New  Albany,  Ind.,  appeared  before 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
Washington  to  submit  oral  arguments 
in  protest  of  the  advance  in  fare  from 
7  cents  to  10  cents,  effective  Oct.  1,  by 
the  Louisville  &  Northern  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  which  operates  the 
"Daisy"  line  between  New  Albany  and 
Louisville.  Last  January  the  commis- 
sion made  a  tentative  award  of  an 
8-cent  commutation  fare  and  a  10-cent 
cash  fare,  whereupon  the  company  filed 
exceptions. 

Allows  Eight-Cent  Rate.  —  Under  a 
recent  ruling  of  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission the  Hudson  Valley  Railway  has 
been  authorized  to  put  an  8-cent  fare 
into  effect  between  points  in  and  through 
each  zone  except  in  Troy  and  in  the 
urban  zones  of  the  cities  of  Saratoga 
Springs  and  Glens  Falls.  The  company 
will  also  be  permitted  to  increase  the 
twelve  and  twenty-four-trip  commuta- 
tion tickets  and  forty-ride  commutation 
ticket  books  good  between  Hudson  Falls 
and  Schuylerville,  Glens  Falls  and 
Thomson  and  Glens  Falls  and  Wilton 
may  be  advanced  from  $10  to  $15. 

Surface  Lines  Hearing  Deferred. — 
Hearing  of  the  Chicago  (111.)  Surface 
Lines  fare  case  has  been  deferred  until 
Sept.  14.  At  a  session  before  the  Il- 
linois Commerce  Commission  on  July 
27  State  Attorney  Crowe  renewed  his 
demand  for  the  corporate  books  of  the 
companies.  Counsel  for  the  Surface 
Lines  said  he  recognized  the  authority 
of  the  commission  to  examine  all  books, 
but  he  objected  to  anyone  else  claiming 
this  as  a  right.  It  was  agreed  that  this 
matter  would  be  taken  up  when  the 
hearings  begin. 

Would  Couple  Wages  With  Fares. — 
As  soon  as  the  announcement  had 
been  made  that  the  wages  of  the 
trainmen  and  other  employees  of  the 
International  Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
would  be  reduced,  Frank  C.  Perkins, 
commissioner  of  public  affairs,  asked 
the  City  Council  to  apply  to  the  Public 
Service  Commission  for  a  rehearing  on 
the  fare  case.  Corporation  Counsel 
Rann  opposed  such  a  move,  holding  the 
time  was  inopportune  for  a  rate  case 
and  that  the  city  might  lose  such  a 
proceeding  in  view  of  the  financial  con- 
dition of  the  railway.  The  reduction 
in  wages  was  noted  in  last  week's 
issue. 

Government  Utilizes  Traction  Cars. 

— Traction  cars  of  the  Louisville  & 
Southern  Indiana  Company  and  the 
Louisville  &  Northern  Lighting  & 
Power  Company  are  being  utilized  for 
transporting  the  United  States  mails, 
as  the  result  of  an  agreement  which 
has  just  gone  into  effect  with  the  Post 
Office  Department.  The  transportation 
of  the  mails  has  hitherto  rested  solely 
with  steam  trains  between  Louisville, 
New  Albany  and  Jeffersonville.  The 
new  arrangement  offers  a  speedier 
serviee,  cutting  down  the  time  by  a 
half  day.  Mail  from  New  Albany  to 
Indianapolis  will  be  carried  to  Jeffer- 
sonville by  electric  railway  cars  .in 
time  to  catch  the  afternoon  train  to 
Indianapolis. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


2C3 


Legal  Notes 


California — Assault  by  Employee  on 
Passenger  Who  Had  Left  the  Car. 
A  passenger  who  had  had  an  alter- 
cation with  the  conductor  over  the 
question  of  a  transfer  was  assaulted 
by  the  motorman  after  he  had  left 
the  car.  The  court  held  tha.t  it  was 
not  a  prerequisite  to  the  right  to  re- 
cover that  the  passenger  relation 
should  be  established,  provided  the 
employee  was  acting  with  the  scope  of 
his  employment.  [Galloway  vs.  United 
Railroads,  197  Pacific  Rep.,  663.] 

Federal  District  Court — Carrier  of 
Passeyigers  Must  Pay  for  Exam- 
ination  of   Baggage    on  Sundays 
and  Holidays 
The  ruling  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment requiring  baggage  brought  in  by 
trolley  car  passengers  on  Sundays  and 
holidays  to  be  impounded  for  inspec- 
tion on  the  next  working  day,  unless 
the  trolley   company  pays  the  extra 
compensation  for  inspection,  is  a  rea- 
sonable  exercise   of  the  department's 
power   to   make   regulations   for  the 
enforcement    of    Rev.    St.    Sec.  3100, 
and    the    court   cannot   substitute  its 
judgment  for  his.    [International  Rail- 
way vs.  Davidson,  Collector  of  Customs, 
271  Federal  Rep.,  313.] 

Federal  Supreme  Court — A  State 
May  Tax  a  Railway  Franchise  of 
a  Company  Engaged  in  Inter- 
state Commerce, 
A  company  owned  0.865  mile  of 
track  on  the  Eads  bridge  over  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Missouri  State 
Board  of  Equalization  taxed  the  0.346 
mile  of  track  in  the  state  on  the 
basis  of  value  per  mile  of  $537,630, 
made  up  as  follows:  Rolling  stock, 
poles,  wires  and  cash,  $32,630;  road- 
bed, $5,000,  and  "all  other  property," 
$500,000.  The  company  claimed  this 
last  item  consisted  of  its  franchise 
to  conduct  interstate  passenger  traffic 
and  that  such  taxation  was  unconsti- 
tutional. The  court  held,  however,  that 
this  value  was  not  merely  a  franchise 
to  do  an  interstate  business,  but  the 
company's  exclusive  right  to  operate 
over  the  bridge,  as  well  as  the  con- 
nections which  it  had  with  railways, 
at  the  end  of  the  bridge,  and  as  the 
company  was  capitalized  at  $1,000,000 
and  paid  a  return  thereon,  it  was 
proper  for  the  state  to  impose  an  or- 
dinary property  tax  upon  property 
having  a  situs  within  its  territory. 
[St.  Louis  &  East  St.  Louis  Electric 
Railway  vs.  State  of  Missouri,  41 
Supreme  Court  Rep.,  488.] 

Georgia — Rule  of  Comparative  Neg- 
ligence Stated. 
The  law  in  Georgia  gives  a  right  of 
recovery  to  an  injured  party  although 
his  own  negligence  may  have  been  a 
contributing  cause  of  the  injury,  pro- 
vided the  defendant's  negligence  con- 


stituting the  proximate  cause  of  the 
injury  is  greater  than  that  of  the 
plaintiff;  the  damage  to  be  diminished 
in  accordance  with  the  plaintiff's  con- 
tributing negligence.  [Fairburn  and 
Atlanta  Railway  &  Electric  Company 
vs.  Latham,  107  Southeastern  Rep.,  88, 
and  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany vs.  Reid,  107  Southeastern  Rep., 
100.] 

Indiana — The    Driver    of    a  School 
Wagon  is  an  Agent  of  the  Parent 
So  That  His  Negilgence  Will  Be  a 
Bar   to    Recovery    for    a  Child's 
Death  at  a  Crossing. 
The  driver  of  the  wagon,  which  is 
furnished  by  the  township  trustees  to 
transport  children  to  school  under  a 
statute  which  requires  the  trustees  to 
furnish  a  wagon  but  does  not  require 
a  parent  to  avail  himself  of  the  means 
so  furnished,  is  the  agent  of  a  parent 
who  intrusts  his  child  to  the  driver  for 
transportation.  Hence  the  contributory 
negligence  of  the  driver  in  crossing  a 
railway  track  bars  the  parent's  right 
to  recover  for  the  child's  death  from 
injury  in  a  collision.    [Union  Traction 
Company   of   Indiana   vs.    Gault,  130 
Northeastern  Rep.,  136.] 

Iowa — Alleged  Oral  Promises  and 
Representations  Held  Not  to  In- 
validate Contract  for  Right-of- 
Way. 

A  property  owner  agreed  to  convey 
to  the  public  for  highway  purposes  10 
ft.  in  width  of  his  lot  to  enable  an 
electric  railway  company  to  build  its 
tracks,  but  after  the  road  was  con- 
structed he  claimed  that  the  oral 
promises  of  the  company's  agent  in 
regard  to  the  type  of  ballast  to  be 
used,  stops  to  be  made  by  the  cars, 
etc.,  were  not  carried  out,  and  that  the 
contract  should  be  declared  invalid. 
The  court  held,  however,  that  definite 
contracts  should  not  be  treated 
lightly,  and  that  the  claims  made  did 
not  constitute  evidence  of  fraud. 
[Smith  vs.  Waterloo  C.  F.  &  N.  Ry., 
182  Northwest  Rep.,  890.] 

Massachusetts — Failure  of  Conductor 
to  Assist  Passenger  Held  Not  Neg- 
ligence. 

The  failure  of  the  conductor  to  assist 
a  woman  passenger  who  had  a  child  in 
her  arms  to  alight  from  the  car  does 
not,  in  the  absence  of  any  showing  of  a 
rule  or  custom  in  that  respect  or  of  a 
request  by  the  passenger  for  assist- 
ance, show  negligence  authorizing  re- 
covery for  injuries  caused  by  the  pas- 
senger's falling.  [Gatchell  vs.  Boston 
Elevated  Railway,  130  Northeastern 
Rep.,  94.] 

Massachusetts — A  Truck  Owner  Who 
Uses  Part  of  Street  Reserved  for 
Electric  Cars  Must  Protect  Him- 
self Against  Collision. 
A  motor  truck  in  winter,  when  there 
was  deep  snow  on  the  highway,  was 
traveling  on  the  track  of  the  electric 
railway  which  though  on  the  street  was 
on  its  southerly  side  and  separated  from 
the  traveled  way  by  a  guard  fence  and 


was  not  paved.  The  truck  broke  down 
and  while  it  was  thus  stalled  a  car  ran 
into  it.  There  was  no  red  light  on  the 
back  of  the  truck.  Two  employees  of 
the  railway  company  who  were  injured 
brought  suit  for  damages  against  the 
truck  owner.  The  company  also  sued 
for  damages  to  its  car  and  the  Supreme 
Court  upheld  the  verdicts  for  the  plain- 
tiffs in  all  three  suits.  [Bay  State 
Street  Railway  vs.  McCormick,  129 
Northeastern  Rep.,  598.] 

Minnesota — Release  May  Be  Voided 
for  Mutual  Mistake. 
A  release  from  all  damages  arising 
from  an  accident  may  be  voided  if  there 
is  clear  proof  of  mutual  mistake  as  to 
an  unknown  injury  caused  by  the  acci- 
dent, existing  at  the  time  of  the  settle- 
ment and  not  intended  to  be  included 
therein.  [Nygard  vs.  Minneapolis  St. 
Ry.  Co.,  179  Northwestern  Rep.,  642.] 

New  York — Complaint  by  Railway 
Held  to  State  Cause  for  Injunction 
Against  Operation  of  Moto-r  Bus 
Routes. 

Complaint  by  a  street  railroad  com- 
pany in  New  Yoi-k  City  to  enjoin  the 
operation  of  motor  bus  routes  attempted 
to  be  authorized  by  the  board  of  esti- 
mate and  apportionment,  was  held  to 
state  a  cause  of  action  for  injunction. 
[Brooklyn  City  Railway  vs.  Whalen, 
229  New  York  Supp.,  570.] 
New  York — Right  of  Street  Railway 
to  Charge  Two  Fares  Not  Affected 
by  Acts  of  Lessee,  Annexation  or 
Consolidation. 
A  street  railway,  on  termination  of 
its  lease  of  a  line  on  wnich  it  had  right 
under  its  charters  to  charge  two  fares, 
resumes  possession  with  such  right  un- 
affected by  the  fact  that  its  lessee  had 
voluntarily  charged  only  one  fare 
thereon.  If  originally  it  extended 
through  a  city  and  a  town,  and  under 
its  franchises  had  a  right  to  collect  a 
5-cent  fare  in  each,  such  right  was  not 
affected  by  the  annexation  of  the  town 
to  the  city,  or  by  the  subsequent  con- 
solidation of  the  city  with  another  city. 
[People  ex  rel.  Brooklyn  City  R.  Co. 
vs.  Nixon  et  al.,  184  N.  Y.  Supplement, 
369.] 

Wisconsin — Power  of  Cities  to  Require 
Railways  Operating  Over  Right-of- 
Way  to  Move  Tracks  Is  Limited. 
An  interurban  railway  which  owns 
the  portion  of  the  street  on  which  its 
tracks  are  situated,  subject  to  the  right 
of  the  public  to  use  it  for  highway 
purposes,  is  in  a  different  position  from 
a  company  operating  on  a  public  high- 
way. To  require  it  to  move  from  its 
present  location  to  other  property  on 
which  it  has  no  property  rights  would 
amount  to  taking  away  the  property 
right  that  it  now  has.  Cities  under 
the  general  charter  laws,  section  925-52, 
subdivision  31,  or  925-52,  subdivision  51, 
do  not  have  the  power  to  require  a 
company  to  move  its  track  under  such 
conditions.  [State  ex  rel.  City  of  West 
Allis  vs.  Milwaukee  Light,  Heat  & 
Traction  Co.,  180  Northwestern  Rep., 
938.] 


264 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


I.  C.  C.  and  Shipping  Board  Have 
Joint  Committee 

Commissioner  Charles  C.  McChord 
has  been  selected  chairman  of  the  joint 
committee  composed  of  three  members 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion and  the  United  States  Shipping 
Board  which  has  been  appointed  for 
the  purpose  of  providing  a  liason  be- 
tween the  two  governmental  bodies  and 
considering  overlapping  duties  of  the 
board  and  the  commission  due  to 
amendments  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Act  and  the  passage  of  the 
Merchant  Marine  Act. 

The  joint  committee  is  at  present 
considering  the  question  of  a  uniform 
through  export  bill  of  lading  but  so 
far  no  final  conclusions  on  the  matter 
have  been  reached.  Chairman  Mc- 
Chord said  on  July  30  that  this  subject 
will  be  taken  up  again  at  another  meet- 
ing which  he  plans  to  call  later,  although 
no  definite  date  for  it  has  been  deter- 
mined upon. 

Members  of  the  committee  in  addi- 
tion to  Chairman  McChord  are  Com- 
missioners Hall  and  Esch  representing 
the  I.  C.  C.  and  Commissioners  Edward 
C.  Plummer,  Frederick  I.  Thompson, 
and  Meyer  Lissner  representing  the 
shipping  board. 


Changes  on  Kankakee  Interurban 

Edward  J.  Blair,  formerly  assistant 
to  the  president,  Chicago  &  Interurban 
Traction  Company,  which  connects  Chi- 
cago with  Kankakee,  111.,  was  elected 
vice-president  of  the  company  at  the 
meeting  of  the  directors  on  July  22. 
W.  W.  O'Toole,  formerly  assistant 
auditor,  was  elected  auditor.  A.  G. 
Nelson  was  made  assistant  secretary 
and  assistant  treasurer  Other  officers 
re-elected  were  Samuel  Insull,  chair- 
man of  the  board  of  directors,  Britton 
I.  Budd,  president,  and  W.  W.  Craw- 
ford, secretary  and  treasurer.  Samuel 
Insull  and  W.  W.  Crawford  were 
elected  directors  for  a  term  of  three 
years  at  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders 
held  on  the  same  dav. 


C.  D.  Emmons,  president  of  the 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md.,  and  H.  B.  Flowers, 
second  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager of  that  company,  expect  to  sail, 
on  Aug.  13,  for  Europe,  where  they 
will  study  more  particularly  the  use 
of  trackless  trolleys  and  the  bus. 

J.  G.  Phillips  has  resigned  as  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  the  Mobile  Light 
&  Railroad  Company,  Mobile,  Ala.  Mr. 
Phillips  was  previously  general  man- 
ager of  the  Gary  (Ind.)  Street  Rail- 
way. Prior  to  that  connection  he  was 
engaged  on  valuation  work  with  Ford, 
Bacon  &  Davis,  engineers.   At  one  time 


he  was  connected  with  the  Hudson 
Valley  Railway,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  as 
superintendent  of  rolling  stock  and 
later  as  assistant  general  manager. 
Mr.  Phillips  has  not  announced  his 
future  plans. 


Mr.  Van  Ness  Made  Manager 

Weil-Known   Electrical   Engineer  Will 
Direct  Middle  West  Interurban 
for  Receivers 

The  Cincinnati,  Lawrenceburg  & 
Aurora  Electric  Street  Railroad,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  has  undergone  a  reor- 
ganization of  its  personnel  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  officials  in  charge  of  opera- 
tions. L.  G.  Van  Ness,  one  of  the  best- 
known  electrical  engineers  in  the  Middle 
West,  has  been  appointed  general  man- 
ager for  the  receivers,  Edgar  Stark  and 
C.  E.  Hooven.  Mr.  Van  Ness  succeeds 
E.  M.  Gumpf,  who  resigned  the  general 
managership  of  the  traction  company 
some  time  ago,  but  who  remained  on 
the  job  until  his  successor  took  active 
charge.  The  railway  has  been  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver  since  1913,  but 
was  apparently  emerging  from  its 
financial  troubles  when  the  War  Labor 
Board  increased  the  pay  of  interurban 
and  steam  railroad  employees. 

F.  E.  Nichols,  for  many  years  con- 
nected with  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany, has  been  put  in  charge  of  oper- 
ation of  the  road  under  the  supervision 
of  Mr.  Van  Ness,  who  has  been  a  con- 
sulting engineer  in  Cincinnati  for  the 
last  three  years,  with  an  office  in  the 
Union  Trust  Building. 

Mr.  Van  Ness  was  graduated  from 
the  University  of  Wisconsin  in  1896, 
and  after  leaving  college  served  two 
years  in  the  manufacturing  field.  From 
1898  until  1904  he  was  employed  as  a 
consulting  engineer  by  Emerson  Mc- 
Millan &  Company,  New  York,  operat- 
ing the  American  Light  &  Traction 
Company.  After  severing  his  connec- 
tion with  this  corporation,  Mr.  Van 
Ness  joined  the  engineering  staff  of  the 
North  American  Company. 

During  the  year  1906,  Mr.  Van  Ness 
went  to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  where  he 
supervised  the  construction  of  a  light 
and  power  plant  and  remained  on  the 
grounds  until  the  plant  was  in  opera- 
tion. He  went  to  Cincinnati  in  the  fall 
of  1918  and  opened  an  office  in  the  Union 
Trust  Building. 

Mr.  Nichols  is  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Kansas,  and  was  an  engineer 
in  the  employ  of  the  General  Electric 
Company  from  1902  until  last  June. 

Since  Mr.  Van  Ness  has  taken  charge 
the  Cincinnati,  Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora 
line  has  not  undergone  any  material 
change  in  operation,  but  the  new  man- 
agement has  several  plans  under  con- 
sideration to  increase  the  earnings  of 
the  company,  among  them  being  the  in- 
stallation of  a  freight  package  system. 


T.  T.  Fitzpatrick,  who  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  Monongahela  Power  & 
Railway  Company,  Fairmont,  W.  Va., 
for  some  time,  has  been  appointed  su- 
perintendent of  transportation  on  the 
Clarksburg  division.  He  succeeds  Carl 
B.  Johnson,  resigned. 

A.  W.  Buckley  has  been  appointed 
superintendent  of  substations  on  the 
Chicago,  South  Bend  &  Northern  In- 
diana Railway,  South  Bend,  Ind.  He 
has  been  with  the  company  since  Dec. 
16,  1920.  Before  that  Mr.  Buckley  was 
employed  by  the  Indiana  &  Michigan 
Electric  Company,  South  Bend,  at  the 
substations  of  that  company  which  fur- 
nishes power  for  the  Chicago,  South 
Bend  &  Northern  Indiana  Railway. 

Brigadier  General  George  H.  Harries, 
vice-president  of  H.  M.  Byllesby  & 
Company,  Chicago,  111.,  who  acted  as 
chief  of  the  allied  commission  in  charge 
of  prisoners  of  war  in  Germany  after 
the  armistice,  has  been  decorated  with 
the  order  of  Leopold  by  the  Belgian 
Ambassador,  Baron  deCartier,  in  recog- 
nition of  his  services  in  behalf  of  the 
Belgian  prisoners.  The  ceremony  took 
place  on  July  22,  at  the  Belgian  em- 
bassy in  Washington  in  the  presence  of 
officers  of  the  Belgian  and  American 


Edward  Carmin,  engineer  at  the 
Union  Traction  Company's  power  plant 
in  North  Anderson,  Ind.,  was  shot  and 
instantly  killed  recently  by  George 
Ewen  of  Summitville,  who  had  been 
employed  about  the  power  plant  as  a 
laborer  and  had  been  discharged  by 
Carmin. 

George  D.  Munsing,  for  several  years 
manager  of  the  old  Consumer's  Elec- 
tric &  Street  Railway,  now  the  Tampa 
Electric  Company,  at  Tampa,  Fla.,  died 
in  Red  Bank,  N.  J.  Mr.  Munsing  came 
to  Tampa  in  1895  and  was  there  until 
1902,  serving  under  both  the  Consum- 
er's Electric  Street  Railway  and  the 
Tampa  Electric  Company. 

Hart  A.  Fisher,  formerly  of  Joliet, 
brother  of  F.  E.  Fisher,  general  man- 
ager of  the  Chicago,  Ottawa  &  Peoria 
Railway  Company,  Ottawa,  111.,  and  a 
constructor  and  operator  of  steam  and 
electric  railroads,  died  recently  in 
Crockett,  Texas.  He  came  to  Joliet  in 
1903  from  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  he 
had  promoted  and  constructed  three  or 
four  of  the  most  successful  interurban 
railways  of  that  district.  With  his 
brother,  F.  E.  Fisher,  and  his  son, 
L.  D.  Fisher,  he  formed  the  Fisher  Con- 
struction Company.  This  company 
promoted  and  built  the  Aurora,  Plain- 
field  &  Joliet  Railway  and  the  Joliet  & 
Eastern  Railway.  Prior  to  entering 
the  field  of  electric  railway  develop- 
ment, Mr.  Fisher  was  in  steam  rail- 
road promotion  and  operation  for  many 
years.  He  was  the  builder  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Peoria  &  St.  Louis  Railroad. 


August  13,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


265 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 


DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Improved  Business  Condition 
Coming 

Credit  Conditions  Show  Evidences  of  Im- 
provement and  Return  to  Normal 
Level  Should  Come  Soon 

The  United  States  is  practically 
through  the  period  of  violent  business 
disturbance  which  began  in  May,  1920, 
according  to  a  review  of  business  con- 
ditions by  the  National  Bank  of  Com- 
merce in  New  York.  "We  will  from 
time  to  time  have  visible  evidences  of 
the  distressing  conditions  through 
which  the  country  has  been  passing," 
the  review  continues,  "but  these  oc- 
currences should  be  regarded  not  as 
indices  to  forward  conditions  but  as 
relating  to  the  past.  The  changes  which 
have  taken  place  have  not  as  yet  been 
recognized  by  the  business  public  for 
two  main  reasons.  The  period  of  nor- 
mal midsummer  dullness  now  at  hand 
has  obscured  the  certain  evidences  of 
improvement  and  thorough  comprehen- 
sion of  credit  conditions  is  lacking. 

"Failure  to  recognize  the  passing  of 
the  period  of  insufficient  credit  has  re- 
sulted from  lack  of  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  for  a  long  time  the  credit 
shortage  has  been  apparent  rather  than 
real  and  due  in  large  part  to  the  un- 
satisfactory character  of  some  of  the 
risks  offered.  There  is  now  no  bank 
credit  available  for  operations  designed 
to  hold  prices  at  fictitious  levels. 
Orderly  organized  marketing,  if  fair, 
succeeds,  but  attempts  to  hold  prices 
above  the  levels  determined  by  inter- 
national supply  and  demand  are  cer- 
tain eventually  to  fail. 

"The  main  requisite  for  a  return 
toward  normal  conditions  is  the  will 
to  try  for  business  on  a  level  where  it 
can  be  had.  The  period  of  general  liqui- 
dation of  the  raw  material  markets  of 
the  United  States  has  passed.  Recent 
declines  are  due  to  conditions  of  sup- 
ply and  demand  in  specific  lines.  This 
is  a  normal  condition.  Wholesale 
prices  of  many  classes  of  manufactures 
have  been  fully  deflated.  This  is  not 
true  in  all  lines,  but  recent  cuts  in  the 
price  of  steel  and  widespread  reduc- 
tions in  wages  indicate  that  adjustment 
in  wholesale  prices  will  not  be  long  de- 
layed. Price  stabilization  is,  therefore, 
not  far  ahead." 


Electrification  of  the  Japanese 
Railways 

Japan  intends  electrifying  the  entire 
railroad  system  of  the  country,  writes 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  corre- 
spondent in  Switzerland.  A  report  from 
London  is  to  the  effect  that  German 
manufacturers  of  electrical  machinery 
and  appliances  are  already  in  the  field 
endeavoring   to   secure   orders.    Of  a 


total  length  of  12,000  km.  of  the  Jap- 
anese railways  only  95  km.  have  been 
electrified  thus  far.  Work  on  the  elec- 
trification of  a  line  of  205  km.  will  be 
started  at  once.  A  large  power  station 
for  this  line  is  to  be  erected  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Yokohama  and  an- 
other one  near  Tokyo.  The  exjDenditure 
for  these  two  stations  will  be  about 
60,000,000  yen.  A  special  company  has 
been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  financ- 
ing the  electrification  of  the  railways. 


Fewer  Idle  Cars 

Freight  cars  temporarily  out  of 
service  due  to  the  business  depression 
totaled  555,168  on  July  23,  according 
to  reports  just  received  from  the  rail- 
roads of  the  United  States  by  the  car 
service  division  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Association.  This  is  a  reduction 
of  approximately  10,000  since  July  15. 
In  reaching  this  total,  the  car  service 
division  takes  into  account  the  total 
number  of  cars  now  in  excess  of  cur- 
rent freight  requirements  as  well  as 
the  number  of  cars  now  awaiting  re- 
pairs above  7  per  cent  of  the  total. 
Officials  of  that  organization  believe 
that  this  percentage,  while  higher  than 
the  accepted  maximum  of  the  pre-war 
period,  probably  represents  a  better 
standard  for  present  comparisons  due 
to  the  difficult  conditions  respecting 
labor  and  materials  during  the  past 
three  years. 

The  surplus  cars  on  July  23  num- 
bered 350,772,  which  was  a  reduction 
of  21,278  cars  compared  with  the  total 
on  July  15.  This  reduction  was  due 
principally  to  the  increased  demand  in 
the  central  Western  region  for  grain 
cars.  Surplus  box  cars  totaled  119,442, 
which  was  a  decrease  of  16,191  com- 
pared with  the  earlier  date,  while  sur- 


plus coal  cars  were  reduced  5,049  to 
a  total  of  168,568. 

Cars  in  need  of  repairs  on  July  15 
totaled  365,092,  or  15.9  per  cent  of  the 
cars  on  line  compared  with  354,611  or 
15.4  per  cent  on  July  1.  Allowing  for 
7  per  cent  being  normal,  cars  in  need 
of  repairs  above  normal  totaled  204,396, 
which  added  to  the  total  surplus  means 
555,168  cars  out  of  service  because  of 
business  conditions. 


Railroad  Crossing  Frogs 
Cheaper 

A  15  per  cent  reduction  in  the  price 
of  manganese  steel  castings  for  Balk- 
will  articulated  cast  manganese  rail- 
road crossings,  effective  after  Aug.  1, 
has  been  made  by  the  American  Man- 
ganese Steel  Company,  who  furnish  the 
manganese  castings  to  most  of  the  rail- 
road crossing  makers  of  the  United 
States.  This  is  the  second  reduction 
this  year,  and  it  is  hoped  will  stimu- 
late buying  badly  needed  crossings. 

Jamaica  Proposes  to  Electrify 
Railway 

The  government  of  the  island  of 
Jamaica  proposes  to  borrow  from 
$6,000,000  to  $7,000,000,  it  is  reported, 
for  taking  over  the  electric  railway  and 
lighting  system  of  Kingston  and 
for  electrifying  the  government-owned 
Jamaica  railway,  which  extends  127 
miles.  American  manufacturers  are 
preparing  to  submit  bids  on  the  proj- 
ect, funds  for  which  will  probably  be 
obtained  in  London,  it  is  stated. 


Census  Bureau  Reports  on 
Wire  Production 

Figures  Are  Based  Upon  Returns  from 
117  Establishments  as  Compared 
with  99  Establishments  in  1914 

A  preliminary  statement  of  the  1920 
census  of  manufactures  with  respect  to 
wire  drawing  mills  has  been  prepared 
by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census,  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce.  It  consists  of  a  de- 
tailed statement  of  the  quantities  and 
values  of  the  various  products  manu- 
factured during  the  year  1919. 


CENSUS  BUREAU'S  SUMMARY  CONCERNING  THE  WIRE  INDUSTRY— 1919 

1919  —  .  19,4 


No.  of  Value  of  No  of  Value  of 

Establishments     Products        Establishments  Products 

w.   Tote'                                                                        H7  $409,058,300  99      $172  600  500 

Wire  milk...                                                                  66  162,151,200  54  81841000 

Iron  and  steel rollinemills,  wire  departments                    25  191997  200  74  1  BhS2hj'wl 

Brass  and  copper  rollirg  mills,  wire  departments  Qn7eaenn 

and  other  concerns                                                  20  54,909,900  21)  "Vi'WI 

Quantity  Value  Quantity  Value 

Wire  and  manufactures  of   $401,376,400  $166  999  900 

St3-1  >.nd  iron   5.64/78  000  "  >  '  'oo 

Plain  wire,  tons                                                2,508,890  ..  2  435  500       "  *•■"*.><«> 

For  sale,  tons...                                               592,430  58,756,500  'W  900      '22  316  800 

Consumed  in  works,  tons                                  1,916,460  1975  600  "•,IM°° 

Galvanized  wire,  tons                                             922  970  1  '   

For  sale,  tons. .                                                 343,000  '  32,383,500  I 

Consumed  m  works,  tons                                    579  970  I  174  inn  n  <wn  .„„ 

Other  ciatsd  wirs  t=na                                           83  730  374,480  li  949,500 

For  sale,  tons  49,925  5.257  700  I 

Consumed  in  works,  tons   33,805 

Bare  wire,  tons   193  370 

For  sale,  tons...                                     [           |6l'660  '  68,011.300  "  84  920      "  26  206  00ft 

Consumed  in  works,  tons                                      31710  '  iO.iW.UW 

Rubber  insulated  cable,  *tons                                   24*570  i 8  738  f 00  1  • 

Paper  insulated  cable,  *tons                                      20',200  n',45l',400  48  390         I  5  709  ?orr 

Insulated  wire,  *tons                                                29,470  15  216  700  1  O./U9.500. 

Brass  wire  pounds                                             50,521,000  I6.O24.50O  39,614,500  6.3443M 

Not  including  insulated  wire  and  cable  made  in  establishments  purchasing  the  wire  value  tK4  lit  con 

l^^a^li^^oo^1^39'386'90^  ^V^^^«^£&& 


266 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  7 


Rolling  Stock 


The  Denver  (Col.)  Tramway  advises  that 
it  is  not  in  the  market  for  purchase  of  addi- 
tional rolling  stock  at  this  time,  as  was 
intimated  in  these  columns  in  an  item  in 
the  July  23  issue. 

The  Southwest  Missouri  Railroad,  Webb 
City  Mo.,  has  just  placed  an  order  for  eight 
one-man  safety  cars  with  the  National 
Safety  Car  &  Equipment  Company.  The 
operating  equipment  will  be  furnished  by 
the  General  Electric  Company,  and  Cincin- 
nati trucks  will  be  used. 

The  West  Penn  Railways,  Connellsville, 
Pa  is  equipping  several  cars  for  use  on 
various  branches  of  the  system.  Five  new 
700-type  cars  are  under  construction  for 
the  Coke  Region  division  and  ten  double- 
truck  passenger  cars  for  the  McKeesport 
division.  The  bodies  of  these  cars  are  be- 
ing built  by  the  Cincinnati  Car  Company. 
Five  double-end  type  200  cars  are  also  be- 
ing built  for  the  Kittanning  division,  the 
first  of  which  will  be  shipped  about  Aug.  10. 

Massachusetts  Northeastern  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  Haverhill.  Mass.,  advises 
that  it  has  equipped  all  its  cars  with  life 
guards  and  complete  sander  equipments. 
Twelve  cars  carry  air-operated  sanders 
and  133  have  the  mechanical  type.  Both 
the  sanders  and  the  life  guards  have  been 
installed  in  accordance  with  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Works  order  No.  300,  it  is 
stated. 

Delroit  (Mich.)  Municipal  Railway,  men- 
tioned in  the  issue  of  July  23  as  ordering 
100  Birnev  safety  cars  from  J.  G.  Brill 
Company  on  May  4.  states  that  delivery  of 
twenty-five  cars  is  to  be  made  by  Aug.  1  : 
twenty-five  more  by  Aug.  15  ;  the  third 
lot  of  twenty-five  by  Sept.  1.  and  the  re- 
mained by  Sept.  15.  Half  of  the  cars  will 
be  equipped  with  Westinghouse  air  brakes, 
DH-16,  and  half  with  General  Electric 
brakes,  CP-27.  Fifty  of  the  motors  are 
likewise  Westinghouse,  No.  50S  and  the 
other  fifty  are  General  Electric.  No.  264. 
Other  equipment  specified  on  the  cars  is 
the  same  as  on  the  100  safety  cars  previ- 
ously described. 


cost  the  railway  a  considerable  sum  of 
money. 

Knoxville  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  is  repairing  and  over- 
hauling its  line  between  Arlington  and 
Fountain  City.  The  president  of  the  com- 
pany has  announced  that  a  local  construc- 
tion company  is  doing  extensive  work  for 
both  the  company  and  the  city  on  the  Bur- 
lington line,  Park  Street  and  the  north 
end  of  Gay  Street. 

Nashville  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  will  discuss  with  the 
councilmen  and  city  representatives  the 
possible  extension  of  the  Buena  Vista  line 
from  Twenty  Third  Avenue  and  McDaniel 
Street  beyond  the  end  of  the  bridge  over 
the  Hyde's  Ferry  Pike  in  Bordeaux,  a  dis- 
tance of  li  miles. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  has  received 
some  of  the  electrical  equipment  for  the 
new  Vernon  automatic  substation  and  work 
has  started  on  the  foundation  of  the  sec- 
ond substation,  which  will  be  located  in 
Garvanza.  The  Vernon  building  will  be 
42  ft.  by  52  ft.  The  1,000-kw.  synchronous 
converter  to  be  installed  is  of  Westinghouse 
design.  The  feeders  and  high-tension  lines 
will  cost  an  additional  $20,000.  It  is 
planned  to  have  power  delivered  Nov.  1. 

Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Tower  Com- 
pany, Portland.  Ore.,  has  applied  to  the 
federal  power  commission  for  a  preliminary 
permit  for  a  proposed  future  addition  to 
its  Oak  Grove  project  on  Oak  Grove  Creek 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Clackamas  River,  in 
Clackamas  County.  Ore.  The  development 
contemplates  the  construction  of  a  low  di- 
version dam  in  the  Clackamas  River  and 
a  tunnel  or  canal  4  miles  long  connecting 
with  the  Oak  Grove  conduit. 


Trade  Notes 


Track  and  Roadway 


San  Francisco-Oakland  Terminal  Rail- 
ways. Oakland.  Cal..  is  now  engaged  in  the 
construction  of  1.500  ft.  of  additional 
second  track  along  Fourteenth  Avenue. 
The  track  will  bo  built  with  70  lb.  stand- 
ard "T"  rail.  The  cost  is  approximated  at 
$15,300. 

Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission.  On- 
tario. Can.,  will  have  construction  work  on 
the  railways  in  Windsor  started  within  a 
montn.  the  hydro-radial  by-law  having 
been  passed. 

Southern  Indiana  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Evansville,  Ind.,  is  considering  a 
proposal  to  move  the  tracks  at  Mesker 
Park  in  the  western  part  of  the  city  m 
order  to  facilitate  the  building  of  Little 
Cynthiana  Road.  The  county  commis- 
sioners have  approved  the  plan. 

New  Brunswick  Power  Company.  St. 
John  N.  B..  is  considering  the  expenditure 
of  $150,000  on  track  construction  during 
the  current  year. 

New  York  State  Railways.  Syracuse.  N. 
Y  has  agreed  to  do  its  share  in  the  paving 
plan  in  Manlius  Street.  Cortland  Avenue 
and  Gifford  Street.  The  railway's  plea  that 
it  lacked  the  funds  has  held  up  this  im- 
provement for  more  than  two  years. 

North  Carolina  Public  Service  Company, 
Salisbury,  N.  C,  is  relaying  its  tracks  on 
Harrison  Street  from  Main  to  Fulton 
Streets.  The  track  was  torn  up  to  per- 
mit  grading  work. 

Tulsa  (Okla.)  Street  Railway,  announces 
that  from  May  31,  1918,  to  May  31  of  this 
year  it  expended  $181,025  in  extensions  of 
lines  construction  of  carhouse  and  office 
building  double-tracking  and  installing 
new  car's  Work  is  now  in  progress  on  a 
$10  000  addition  to  the  company's  shops 
and  upon  repairing  and  double-tracking  the 
Kendall  division  at  a  cost  of  $40,000. 

Brantford  (Ont.)  Municipal  Railway,  has 
received  approval  from  the  City  Council 
for  the  proposed  extensions  in  Eagle  Place 
and  the  North  Ward. 

Scranton  (Pa.)  Railway,  must  move  its 
tracks  to  the  center  of  the  street  in  Dupont 
according  to  a  recent  opinion  handed  down 
bv  Judge  Woodward.  This  expense  to- 
gether with  the  paving  of  the  road  will 


Robert  S.  Hammond.  Pittsburgh  district 
sales  manager  of  Whiting  Corporation, 
Harvey,  111.,  manufacturer  of  cranes, 
foundry  equipment  and  railroad  specialties, 
has  been  transferred  to  the  Chicago  office 
in  the  same  capacity. 

The  Consolidated  Electric  Lamp  Com- 
pany, Inc.,  Danvers,  Mass.,  has  acquired 
the  'business  of  the  Chicago  Electric  Lamp 
Company  and  will  conduct  its  business  of 
lamp  distribution  from  the  factory  offices  at 
Danvers. 

Pacific  Clay  Products  Company,  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  will  replace  its  plant  at  Los 
Nietos,  Cal.,  for  the  manufacture  of  fire- 
brick and  other  refractory  products  with 
a  plant  that  will  have  an  initial  capacity 
of  about  25,000  firebrick  daily. 

luorrison  &  Risman,  Inc.,  jobber  and 
dealer  in  new  and  used  track  equipment, 
has  moved  its  New  York  City  office  to  26 
Cortland  Street,  with  R.  S.  Maddocks  in 
charge.  The  company's  main  office  is  at 
Buffalo,  N.  Y..  with  district  offices  also  at 
Pittsburgh  and  Philadelphia. 

The  Universal  Crane  Company,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  announces  that  the  Allied  Ma- 
chinery Corporation  of  America,  51  Cham- 
bers Street,  New  York  City,  has  been  ap- 
pointed its  foreign  representative  in  all 
countries  except  the  United  States  and 
Canada. 

The  Arrow  Pump  Company,  with  general 
sales  offices  in  the  Buhl  Building,  Detroit, 
announces  that  it  is  now  prepared  to  manu- 
facture centrifugal  and  other  rotating  types 
of  pumps  in  which  there  will  be  incorpo- 
rated a  unique  design  of  packing  gland  with 
ring  oiling  principle. 

F.  E.  L.  Whitesell  has  been  appointed 
New  England  representative  of  the  Rail- 
way &  Industrial  Engineering  Company, 
Greensburg,  Pa.,  with  offices  at  136  Federal 
Street,  Boston.  Mr.  Whitesell  has  been 
in  the  company's  sales  department  for  a 
number  of  years. 

The  Triangle  Conduit  Company,  Inc.,  50 
Columbia  Heights,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y..  an- 
nounces an  organization  change.  Thomas 
H.  Bibber  becomes  general  manager  of  the 
company's  Western  business.  Mr.  Bibber 
will  continue  to  handle  the  production  and 
sale  of  Tri  Cord,  in  addition  to  his  new 
duties. 

The  Crane  Company,  636  South  Michigan 
Avenue,  Chicago,  manufacturer  of  power 
house  specialties,  has  awarded  contract  for 
a  new  pipe  and  pipe-bending  shop,  with 
new  warehouse  adjoining,  at  Thirty-fourth 
Street  and  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad, 


Pittsburgh.  The  new  plant,  it  is  stated, 
will  cost  about  $800,000. 

Robert  I).  Black,  formerly  assistant  sales 
manager.  Black  &  Decker  Manufacturing 
Company,  Baltimore,  Md.,  has  been  made 
manager  of  the  company's  branch  office  at 
Philadelphia,  318  North  Broad  Street,  suc- 
ceeding W.  C.  Allen,  who  has  been  made 
a  special  factory  representative  with  head- 
quarters at  the  company's  Cleveland  office, 
6225    Carnegie  Avenue. 

The  Mica  Insulator  Company,  held  its 
annual  sales  convention  at  its  works  in 
Schenectady,  New  York,  during  the  entire 
week  of  June  20,  with  representatives  in 
attendance  from  New  York,  Cleveland, 
Cincinnati  and  Chicago.  The  convention 
was  marked  with  great  enthusiasm 
throughout  and  the  consensus  of  opinion 
was  that  the  future  outlook  for  the  mica 
insulation   industry  was  very  bright. 

Topping  Brothers,  122  Chambers  Street, 
New  York  City,  jobbers  in  railway  track 
supplies  and  other  heavy  hardware,  is  hav- 
ing a  new  four-story  and  basement,  rein- 
forced-concrete  warehouse  and  office  erected 
on  the  100-ft.  x  125-ft.  plot  corner  of  Varick 
and  Vandam  Streets.  The  company  plans 
to  move  into  the  new  building,  which  will 
afford  about  67,000  sq.ft.  of  floor  space,  be- 
fore May   1  next. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


The  Fitchbnrg  (Mass.)  Steam  Engine 
Company  has  issued  a  forty-page  catalog 
covering  its  different  types  of  steam  engines. 

The  Greenfield  Tap  &  Die  Corporation, 
Greenfield,  Mass.,  is  distributing  catalog 
No.  46.  covering  its  small  tools  and  pipe 
tools. 

The  Combustion  Engineering  Corporation, 
43  Broad  Street,  New  York  City,  has  put 
out  a  forty-one  page  pamphlet  entitled 
"The  Use  of  Powdered  Fuel  LTnder  Steam 
Boilers." 

The  Turner  Brass  Works,  Sycamore,  111., 

is  distributing  Bulletin  No.  5  covering  its 
"New  Line"  torches,  and  also  a  four-page 
leaflet  describing  the  "Turner"  gasoline- 
kerosene  torch. 

The  Hygrade  Lamp  Company,  Salem, 
Mass.,  has  issued  a  new  standard  price 
schedule  book,  in  which  it  describes  and 
illustrates  its  different  types  of  incan- 
descent lamps. 

The  American  Chamber  of  Commerce 'in 
London,  8  Waterloo  Place,  has  issued  a 
year  book  for  1921  in  which  are  listed  the 
names  and  addresses  and  business  classi- 
fication of  about  1,000  American  and  Brit- 
ish firms  including  electrical  manufacturers, 
interested  in  developing  business  between 
the1  two  countries. 

Signals  —  The  Consolidated  Car-Heating 
Company,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  has  issued  bulletin 
No.  Il-A,  giving  information  in  regard  to 
its  starting  and  stopping  signals  for  single 
car  and  train  operation,  also  information 
and  catalog  details  of  their  signal  light 
system,  high-voltage  buzzer  system,  high- 
voltage  bells,  push  buttons,  switches  and 
electric  couplers. 

Welding  Material  and  Equipment  —  The 
Wilson  Welder  &  Metals  Company,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  has  issued  Bulletins  No.  100  and 
101,  together  with  a  reprint  from  the  Iron 
Age,  describing  the  welding  of  a  large  tank 
car.  Bulletin  No.  100  describes  the  various 
grades  of  certified  welding  metal,  and  bul- 
letin No.  101  describes  their  small  light- 
weight portable  welding  instrument. 

The  Electric  Storage  Battery  Company, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  has  just  issued  bulletins 
Nos.  180  to  185  inclusive.  These  contain 
information  and  descriptions  of  the  latest 
development  in  the  Exide  storage  battery 
construction  and  describe  their  adaptability 
for  use  with  electric  trucks,  tractors,  mine 
and  industrial  storage  battery  locomotives, 
as  well  as  In  railway  signal  service.  Bulle- 
tin No.  181  gives  the  operating  character- 
istics of  lead  acid  storage  battery  and 
contains  much  information  of  value  to  those 
responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  this 
type  of  equipment. 

Cars  and  Car  Equipment — The  Westing- 
house Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
Fast  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  has  issued  an  eighty- 
eight-page  booklet  describing  the  various 
types  of  electric  cars  now  being  used  by 
numerous  electric  railway  companies.  This 
contains  data  as  to  the  seating  capacity, 
electricity,  electrica'  and  mechanical  equip- 
ment, weights  and  dimensions  of  these  cars, 
as  well  as  operating  characteristics  of  the 
various  railways  and  halftones  of  the  ex- 
teriors and  floor  plans  for  the  various  cars. 
This  book  should  be  of  value  to  electric 
railway  men  contemplating  the  purchase  of 
new  cars. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing*  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN, Western  Editor      N.  A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIEB.Amoclate  Editor      C.W.STOCKS,  Associate  Editor 

G.J.MACMUBBAY.News  Editor  DONALD  F.HtNE. Editorial  Representative 

L.W.W.MORROW.Speclal  Editorial  Representative 


volume 58  New  York,  Saturday,  August  20,  1921    i  Numbers 


Most  Power  Plants  Afford 

Some  Opportunity  for  Saving 

EVERY  worth-while  power  engineer  is  keen  to  find 
and  eliminate  some  energy  or  labor  loss.  This  is  his 
real  job,  even  if  he  is  mainly  an  operator  rather  than 
a  designer.  And  there  are  losses  enough  in  the  best  of 
power  plants,  some  inevitable,  many  otherwise.  Here  is 
where  the  engineer  who  deals  with  dynamics,  with 
motion,  has  an  advantage  over  the  one  whose  work  lies 
principally  with  statics;  that  is,  stresses  in  structures 
such  as  buildings  and  bridges.  The  power  expert  can 
see  immediate  effects  of  his  work,  say  in  reduction  in 
rate  of  fuel  consumption.  On  the  other  hand,  while 
good  work  in  bridge  design,  for  example,  is  reflected  in 
construction  cost,  the  structure,  once  built,  loses  inter- 
est for  the  designer.  He  cannot  be  constantly  at  work 
improving  it.  Power  plant  work  is,  therefore,  a  pecu- 
liarly fascinating  branch  of  engineering. 

That  there  are  so  many  chances  to  save  in  the  power 
plant  is  due  to  several  causes  that  do  not  necessarily 
reflect  discredit  upon  the  engineers  of  the  past.  Great 
improvements  have  recently  been  made  in  all  elements 
of  power-plant  equipment.  This  is  particularly  true 
with  those  which  have  been  the  most  notorious  energy 
wasters,  the  prime  movers.  Moreover,  the  power  plant 
has  come  to  be  considered  more  intelligently  as  a  unit, 
all  parts  being  expected  to  contribute  to  the  general 
efficiency.  For  example:  energy  necessarily  wasted  in 
auxiliaries  has  been  reclaimed  in  other  parts  of  the 
plant,  thus  maintaining  "heat  balance."  And  again,  the 
economies  of  the  power  plant  have  been  upset,  due  to 
relative  changes  in  costs  of  construction  materials,  fuel, 
money  and  labor  among  themselves  and  to  the  diminish- 
ing rates  of  cost  of  producing  a  unit  of  energy  to  its 
selling  price.  This  last-named  item  is  in  effect  the 
same  whether  the  utility  sells  the  energy  generated  or 
uses  it  in  furnishing  transportation  service.  These 
three  factors  in  combination  make  possible  such  savings 
as  were  chronicled  in  the  article  in  the  Aug.  13  issue 
and  which  were  made  in  the  power  plant  of  the  Phila- 
delphia &  Wilmington  Traction  Company. 

This  performance  suggests  a  brief  review  of  the 
problems  which  confront  the  power-saving  engineer. 
His  first  task  is  to  trace  the  heat  losses  to  their  sources, 
in  the  flue  gases,  in  the  condenser  circulating  water,  in 
radiation,  in  leakages,  etc.  Out  of  every  pound  of  coal 
burned  he  finds  the  first  taking  possibly  25  per  cent, 
the  second  60  per  cent  and  the  others  variously  dividing 
among  them,  say,  5  per  cent  of  the  remaining  15  per 
cent  of  the  heat  in  the  coal.  His  first  question  is  as  to 
the  reasonableness  of  these  several  losses.  If  one  looks 
large  compared  with  that  in  similar  plants  he  knows  he 
has  "found  the  scent." 

The  next  step  is  to  locate  the  possibilities  of  loss 
reduction.  If  the  flue  gas  losses  are  too  great  the  gases 
are  too  hot,  too  voluminous  or  of  wrong  composition, 
possibly  all  of  these.  This  means  better  design  and 
operating  practice  in  the  boiler  room.    If  the  rejection 


of  heat  frcm  the  prime  movers  is  excessive  there  is 
something  wrong  in  the  turbine  or  condenser  design, 
in  the  circulating  water,  in  the  pumps  or  in  the  operat- 
ing practice.  The  remedy  may  be  so  drastic  here  as  the 
purchase  of  a  new  unit.  The  smaller  losses  are  not  so 
important  as  those  mentioned.  But  lagging  to  control 
radiation,  lubrication  to  minimize  friction  and  good 
joinery  and  packing  to  eliminate  leakage,  all  play  their 
part.  Moreover,  radiation,  friction  and  leakage  all  come 
out  of  the  coal  pile,  no  matter  where  they  occur  in  the 
power  plant.  This  point  is  emphasized  since  a  heat- 
working  auxiliary  may  be  overlooked  because  it  is  ob- 
scure. Its  remote  location  may  lead  to  the  inference 
that  it  produces  insignificant  losses,  but  the  fallacy  of 
this  is  self-evident. 

So  much  for  thermal,  thermo-dynamic  and  dynamic 
losses.  Now  as  to  that  more  tangible  loss,  human 
energy.  At  present  labor  is  mainly  used  in  the  power 
plant  in  handling  materials,  i.e.,  coal,  ashes,  etc.,  and  in 
lubricating,  cleaning  and  overhauling  machinery.  The 
former  work  offers  the  principal  opportunity  for  saving. 
In  the  past  power  plants  generally  have  been  over- 
manned. Some  are  overmanned  today,  in  the  sense  that 
machines  could  be  had  to  do  their  work.  No  power 
plant  engineer  can  afford  to  overlook  the  progress  that 
has  been  made  in  the  past  few  years  in  the  development 
of  labor-saving  machinery. 

The  upshot  of  this  whole  matter  is  that,  in  connection 
with  every  power  plant  organization,  some  one  person 
should  have  the  responsibility  of  studying  constantly 
the  opportunities  for  saving.  He  may  be  one  of  the 
staff  or  an  outside  consultant.  Plans  should  be  in  hand 
for  contemplated  improvements  even  if  these  are  in  the 
distant  future,  so  that  each  detail  can  be  worked  out  in 
harmony  with  the  ultimate  aim.  Only  thus  can  the 
tearing  out  and  replacement  process  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum. 

Must  Operations  Cease 

to  Prove  Essentiality? 

DES  MOINES'  predicament  in  final  analysis  is  about 
the  same  as  that  which  prevailed  at  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  a  year  or  so  ago  when  the  citizens  were  com- 
pelled ty  the  shutdown  of  the  local  lines  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company  to  choose  between  street  cars  and 
jitneys.  But  the  present  indications  are  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Des  Moines  are  going  to  take  a  longer  time  than 
did  the  citizens  of  Bridgeport  to  learn  how  much  more 
serviceable  to  them  are  the  street  cars  than  the  buses. 

Conditions  in  Des  Moines  have  been  gravely  aggra- 
vated by  a  malicious  press  and  by  a  former  city  corpora- 
tion counsel  whose  greatest  ambition  seem  to  be  to 
harass  the  utilities  and  to  exact  the  city's  pound  of 
flesh  even  to  the  destruction  of  the  company.  Having 
but  recently  bound  itself  to  a  5-cent  fare,  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway  has  been  particularly  susceptible 
to  the  activities  of  this  shrewd  lawyer  and  to  the  con- 
tinual harping  of  the  papers  that  it  was  not  living  up 


268 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


to  its  contract.  The  facts,  however,  fail  to  disclose 
that  the  company  has  been  particularly  remiss  in  this 
respect. 

Among  other  things,  the  company  agreed  in  the  1915 
franchise  to  spend  $1,500,000  in  specified  improvements 
in  the  next  three  years.  Actually  it  spent  $2,500,000, 
but  on  account  of  the  great  rise  in  cost  of  materials  and 
equipment,  even  $1,000,000  in  excess  of  the  agreement 
was  not  sufficient  to  complete  the  program,  and  some 
promised  new  track  apparently  much  wanted  by  the 
residents  has  not  been  built.  Then,  of  course,  the  con- 
tract fare  of  5  cents  has  not  prevailed,  but  not  by  the 
grace  of  the  city.  The  courts  interfered  and  established 
a  6-cent  fare,  and  later  an  8-cent  fare.  Thus  foiled  in 
its  demand,  the  city  authorities  sought  recourse  by 
opening  wide  the  doors  to  jitney  and  bus  competition. 
The  invitation  was  promptly  accepted  to  such  an  extent 
that  20,000  people  a  day,  or  25  per  cent  of  the  total, 
were  soon  taken  from  the  street  cars.  A  further  blow 
came  when  the  court  allowed  the  manufacturer  to  re- 
move electrical  equipment  not  paid  for,  thus  shutting 
down  three  substations  and  a  large  generator  at  the 
power  house  and  necessitating  a  50  per  cent  cut  in  cars 
used.  At  this  disadvantage,  and  with  competition  in- 
creasing, continuation  of  railway  operation  was  of 
course  impossible. 

Thus  far,  then,  the  city  has  won  its  battle,  but  what 
of  the  future?  The  company  will  not  start  up  again 
until  the  ruinous  competition  of  the  buses  has  been 
removed.  If  the  buses  cannot  carry  all  of  Des  Moines' 
traffic,  they  can  ruin  the  railway's  ability  to  be  self- 
supporting.  If  buses  can  supply  all  the  transportation 
for  a  city  of  126,000,  which  seems  improbable  without 
intolerable  congestion  on  the  streets  and  in  the  buses, 
though  some  of  the  characteristics  of  Des  Moines  are 
favorable  to  bus  operation,  it  is  quite  certain  that  they 
cannot  do  it  on  a  5-cent  fare.  Evidently  some  solid 
doubts  of  this  nature  have  been  in  the  minds  of  the 
members  of  the  City  Council,  for  that  body  has  not 
seemed  to  take  very  seriously  the  several  propositions 
offered  by  the  bus  people,  which  is  about  the  only  credit- 
able thing  that  can  be  said  of  its  recent  actions  and 
inactions. 

It  will  not  take  many  weeks  of  the  present  congestion 
and  grave  shortage  of  transportation  facilities  to  con- 
vince the  great  majority  of  the  people  that  they  want 
the  street  cars  back.  It  may  take  some  little  time, 
however,  for  this  feeling  to  be  manifest  with  sufficient 
insistence  to  crystallize  the  indecision  and  lack  of  any 
plan  on  the  part  of  the  Council.  Meanwhile,  the  city 
suffers  immeasurable  discomfort,  inconvenience  and 
financial  loss. 

It  seems  incredible  that  things  should  have  to  come 
to  such  a  pass  before  public  officials  will  comprehend 
the  plain  economics  involved  and  what  is  really  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  people.  Yet  Toledo  had  to  go 
through  a  cessation  of  car'  service  before  it  could  under- 
stand that  the  company  was  in  earnest  about  its  need 
for  a  fare  increase ;  Bridgeport  learned  by  the  same 
process  that  it  had  to  regulate  the  jitneys,  and  now 
Des  Moines,  with  a  very  similar  case  in  Bay  City  and 
Saginaw,  Mich. 

Are  companies  to  be  forced  to  these  tactics  in  the 
many  other  cities  where  the  patience  of  man  and  the 
endurance  of  the  company  have  about  been  exhausted — 
New  Orleans,  Indianapolis,  Akron,  New  York,  Louis- 
ville, Chicago,  Dallas,  Detroit,  Birmingham,  etc.? 


Serious  as  is  the  situation  for  the  company  and  Des 
Moines,  it  nevertheless  has  placed  the  railway  at  an  ad- 
vantage in  securing  equitable  conditions  before  resum- 
ing operations.  There  is  no  disposition  to  "stick"  the 
city  because  of  this  position,  but  undoubtedly  the  city 
will  have  to  agree  to  certain  fundamental  requirements 
of  the  company  before  the  street  cars  will  run  again. 
Unfortunately,  even  with  all  requirements  satisfied,  it 
will  take  from  two  to  three  months  before  full  service 
can  be  restored  on  account  of  the  time  required  to 
finance  and  replace  the  electrical  equipment  that  has 
been  removed.  It  is  certainly  to  be  hoped  that  the 
officials  of  other  cities  will  profit  by  the  experience  had 
in  Des  Moines  and  evolve  a  policy  which  will  protect 
the  public  but  at  the  same  time  enable  the  local  railway 
company  to  continue  uninterrupted  its  faithful  and  es- 
sential service.  If  the  shutdown  in  Des  Moines  is  a 
strategic  move,  it  is  so  only  incidentally,  for  the  com- 
pany could  not  have  continued  under  the  circumstances. 
And  it  cannot  be  expected  that  the  beautiful  weather, 
courtesy  of  private  automobiles,  the  good  nature  en- 
gendered all  around  by  the  novelty  of  the  experience 
and  the  exceedingly  small  amount  of  riding  as  compared 
to  normal  will  continue  long  to  lighten  materially  the 
task  confronting  the  buses. 


Boston's  Prospects 
Much  Better 

BOSTON  newspapers  were  all  in  accord  in  their  com- 
ment on  the  report  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway 
for  the  year  closed  recently.  They  see  in  the  accumulated 
deficit  of  $4,980,000  a  formidable  barrier,  precluding 
any  immediate  prospect  of  relief  from  the  10-cent  fare, 
but  they  also  see  in  the  change  for  the  year  to  a  profit 
of  $550,253  from  a  profit  for  the  previous  year  of  $17,- 
079  a  most  encouraging  sign  for  the  future. 

It  was  during  the  trying  period  in  1919  that  the  large 
deficit  was  accumulated.  Since  then  the  record  has  been 
progressively  good.  Ten  cents  seems  large  for  a  ride 
where  5  cents  had  prevailed,  but  the  5-cent,  then  the 
7-cent  and  the  8-cent  fare  failed  to  prove  adequate.  It 
was  the  10-cent  fare  that  saved  the  situation.  This  the 
trustees  are  anxious  to  reduce.  They  labor  under  the 
necessity,  before  that  can  be  brought  about,  of  building 
up  the  reserve  fund  to  $1,000,000  and  of  reimbursing 
the  cities  and  towns  in  which  the  company  operates  to 
the  tune  of  $3,980,000,  advanced  by  the  communities 
in  the  lean  days  of  1919.  Just  as  the  tide  of  rising  costs 
in  that  year  ran  against  the  company  and  the  communi- 
ties, so  the  tide  now  is  in  the  other  direction.  It  is 
always  dangerous  to  prophesy,  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
for  the  coming  year  the  excellent  showing  for  the  period 
recently  closed  will  be  bettered  materially. 

One  thing  the  statement  of  the  trustees  has  done,  it 
has  made  plain  beyond  the  possibility  of  misconstruction 
the  actuating  ideas  behind  the  extension  by  the  company 
of  the  limited  5-cent  fare  service.  The  trustees  have 
clearly  in  mind  building  up  the  property  so  that  it  will 
be  of  the  greatest  public  service,  but  they  state  definitely 
that  the  5-cent  service  cannot  be  continued  if  it  inter- 
feres with  or  delays  an  otherwise  possible  reduction  of 
the  basic  flat  fare  for  travel  throughout  the  system. 
Should  a  reasonable  test  prove  that  this  service  invades 
or  seriously  threatens  an  invasion  of  the  net  revenues  of 
the  railway,  the  trustees  say  they  will  be  forced  to 
advance  the  local  5-cent  fare  or  else  to  abandon  the 
experiment. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


269 


Downtown  Substation  in  San  Francisco 

The  Market  Street  Railway  Has  Constructed  a  New  Substation  for  the  Heavy  Traffic  District  of 
San  Francisco  to  Take  Care  of  Excessive  Voltage  Drops 
During  the  Peak  Hours 


By  J.  E.  Woodbridge 

Resident  Engineer  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  San  Francisco 


Interior  op  Substation  with  Equipment  in  Operation 


AS  IN  most  large  cities,  the  substations  and  600-volt 
J-\  feeder  system  of  the  United  Railroads  of  San 
■L  Francisco  grew  out  of  old  steam  plants,  poorly 
located  for  supplying  the  most  congested  portion  of  the 
load.  The  downtown  district  of  San  Francisco,  includ- 
ing the  heavy  traffic  of  four  tracks  on  lower  Market 
Street,  has  been  until  recently  supplied  largely  from  the 
Bryant  Street  substation  (originally  a  steam  plant) 
situated  some  20,000  ft.  from  the  ferry. 

In  spite  of  a  large  tonnage  of  feeders,  the  voltage 
drop  during  the  peak  hour  from  5  to  6  p.m.  would  run 
as  high  as  250  volts,  giving  a  loss  of  approximately 
2,000  kw.  wasted  in  heating  overhead  copper  and  track 
return. 

The  United  Railroads  of  San  Francisco  bought  energy 
under  a  contract  rate  of  $7.50  per  thousand  kilowatt- 
hours  at  11,000  volts,  with  a  guaranteed  load  factor  of 
60  per  cent.  As  this  load  factor  is  not  reached,  the 
basis  of  the  contract  becomes  power  and  not  energy,  the 
price  being  approximately  $40  per  kilowatt  of  peak 
demand  per  annum. 

As  2,000  kw.  of  loss  at  this  rate  amounts  to  $80,000 
per  annum,  it  is  obviously  worth  while  to  give  careful 
consideration  to  any  means  by  which  this  loss  might  be 
materially  reduced. 


In  spite  of  municipal  competition,  the  traffic  of  the 
United  Railroads  of  San  Francisco  (now  the  Market 
Street  Railway)  has  been  steadily  growing,  increasing 
the  load  on  stations  and  feeders  to  the  value  reached 
during  the  Panama  Pacific  Exposition  and  requiring 
extensions  to  take  care  of  future  growth. 

The  writer  estimated  that  the  installation  of  a  4,000- 
kw.  substation,  suitably  located  in  the  downtown  dis- 
trict, would  reduce  the  feeder  losses  and,  thereby,  the 
peak  demand  by  approximately  1,200  kw.,  besides 
releasing  a  large  amount  of  copper.  Such  a  substation 
has  been  built  and,  at  this  writing,  has  been  in  full 
operation  less  than  one  month,  which  is  not  a  sufficient 
period  to  give  an  accurate  comparison  of  new  with  old 
system  peak  demands,  but  there  is  every  indication  that 
the  estimated  saving  will  be  exceeded. 

Converters  Preferred  to  Motor-Generators 

On  account  of  lower  first  cost  and  higher  efficiency, 
converters  were  chosen  for  this  service  instead  of 
motor-generator  sets  as  used  in  the  older  stations.  The 
use  of  converters  so  close  to  heavy  traction  loads 
involves  several  serious  difficulties,  all  due  to  the 
absence  of  direct-current  feeder  resistance  to  reduce  the 
rush  of  short-circuit  current  in  case  of  a  broken  trolley, 


270 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


Construction  Details  and  Equipment  Arrangement  for  New  Substation  of  the  Market  Street  Railway 

in  the  Downtown  District  of  San  Francisco 


■ssnm 


No.  1 — Exterior  of 
substation  as  partly 
completed. 

No.  2  —  Installing 
conduits  for  small  wir- 
ing in  floor  of  station. 

No.  3 — Looking  at 
the  glass  roof. 

No.  4 — General  view 
back  of  the  switch- 
boards. 

No.  5 — Oil  switches 
and  disconnecting 
switch  arrangement. 

No.  6 — Rear  view  of 
feeder  switchboard. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


271 


car-equipment  failure  or  other  fault  from  feeder  net- 
work to  ground.  The  old  specification  of  no  feeder  taps 
nearer  than  2,500  ft.  to  the  station  is  not  applicable 
where  the  heaviest  load  is  250  ft.  away,  and  2,500  ft.  is 
about  as  far  as  the  station  feeds.  The  manufacturers' 
specification  of  sufficient  feeder  resistance  to  limit  the 
short-circuit  current  of  one  feeder  to  three  times  full 
load  of  one  machine  is  also  not  applicable  where  one 
feeder  has  a  peak-hour  average  demand  of  3,000  amp., 
which  is  approximately  the  rating  of  one  converter. 
This  would  require  a  30  per  cent  drop  in  this  feeder  or 
about  a  500  kw.  loss  at  $40  per  kilowatt  per  annum. 
Precautions  of  various  sorts,  described  below,  were 
taken  to  protect  the  machines,  operators  and  circuit- 
breakers,  and  the  minimum  resistance  to  any 
one  point  on  the  trolley  network  was  made  at 
0.025  ohm,  which  would,  obviously,  limit  the 
current  to  20,000  amp.  at  500  volts.  This  resist- 
ance was  obtained,  in  most  cases,  by  bringing 
the  feeders  out  from  underground  to  overhead 
as  near  the  substation  as  possible  and  running 
the  balance  of  the  distance  in  weatherproof  cable 
at  a  higher  current  density  than  can  be  used 
underground  without  danger  of  burn-outs.  Add- 
ed resistance  was  necessary  in  only  two  feeders, 
involving  a  loss  of  approximately  10  kw.  in  each 
at  the  peak.  One  of  these  resistances  is  used  as 
an  elect. ical  furnace  with  air  taken  from  the 
air  blast  chamber  to  warm  the  office. 

Equipment  Features  Differ  From 
Usual  Practice 


for  each  of  eight  steps,  giving  a  total  ratio  range  of  12 
per  cent.  The  transformer  primaries  are  star-connected 
and  the  taps  for  this  purpose  are  brought  out  at  the 
neutral  end  of  each  primary,  giving  minimum  voltage 
between  the  taps  of  the  three  phases  and  from  con- 
tactors to  ground.  The  transformers  are  of  the  air-blast 
type  and  all  taps  for  this  purpose  are  brought  out 
through  the  tops  of  the  transformers  to  controllers 
located  immediately  above  them,  giving  a  convenient 
accessible  location  in  plain  view  for  these  devices 
"isolated  by  elevation."  The  transformers  are  located 
behind  the  main  switchboard,  and  the  voltage  control  is 
actuated  by  means  of  mechanical  shafting  from  hand 
cranks  on  the  face  of  the  board. 


The  converter  fields  are  shunt  wound,  this  de- 
parture from  standard  railroad  practice  having 
been  taken  for  several  reasons,  as  follows:  First, 
to  ease  the  severity  of  short  circuits ;  second,  to 
reduce  the  number  of  heavy  windings  and  joints 
of  large  capacity  in  the  machines;  third,  to  elim- 
inate the  equalizer  busbar,  switches  and  connec- 
tions and  to  simplify  operation,  and  fourth,  to 
improve  the  power  factor  on  the  assumption  that 
the  equipment  will  be  loaded  to  its  capacity  on  . 
the  basis  of  temperature  rise,  in  which  case  im- 
proved power  factor  is  a  decided  advantage.    The  ^ 
commutating  poles  are  of  the  high-reluctance  * 
design,  their  ampere  turns  being  greater  than 
those  of  the  armature.  v 

A  somewhat  unexpected  advantage  has  re- 
sulted from  the  shunt  characteristic.  As  the 
station  output  rises  in  the  late  afternoon,  from 
approximately  6,000  to  9,000  amp.,  the  voltage 
automatically  falls  off  from  550  to  500  volts. 
As  the  peak  is  occasioned  by  congestion  of  cars  on  the 
downtown  streets,  which  of  itself  necessitates  slow  run- 
ning, the  lower  voltage  undoubtedly  results  in  less  re- 
sistance loss  in  car  equipments  and  improved  system 
economy.  The  voltage  drop  is,  however,  so  much  less 
than  with  the  old  long  feeds  that  better  schedules  are 
maintained,  and  a  car  will  probably  be  dropped  from 
each  of  several  routes,  without  increase  of  headway. 

The  equipment  is  designed  to  make  it  possible  to  alter 
the  voltage  under  load  conditions  without  power-factor 
variation.  This  is  accomplished  by  taps  in  the  primary 
windings  of  the  step-down  transfomers,  these  taps  being 
brought  out  to  step-by-step  circuit-breaking  contactors, 
manually  operated,  with  auto-preventive  reactances  for 
maintaining  the  connections  while  stepping  from  tap 
to  tap.    The  transformer  ratio  is  changed  1%  per  cent 


Section  of  Station 

Voltage  control  was  considered  desirable  in  this 
case  because  of  the  convenience  of  such  control  in  the 
motor-generator  stations  of  the  same  system  and  the 
inconvenience  of  the  fixed  voltage  of  converters  as 
ordinarily  equipped.  One  of  the  chief  advantages  of 
voltage  control  is  the  ability  it  gives  to  transfer  load  to 
or  from  other  stations  at  will  on  trackage  fed  from  more 
than  one  station.  While  such  advantages  would  not 
warrant  the  cost  and  added  losses  of  induction  regula- 
tors or  booster  converters,  they  are  held  to  warrant  the 
added  cost  of  the  step-by-step  arrangement,  which  was 
$2,650  per  machine,  factory  cost. 

The  location  of  the  equipment  in  the  substation  differs 
somewhat  from  the  usual  design,  which  is  intended  to 
convey  the  power  generally  in  one  direction  from  incom- 
ing  high-tension    source   to    outgoing  direct-current 


272 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


delivery.  Such  an  arangement  involves  considerable 
running  around  by  the  operator — from  high-tension 
switch  control  to  starting  switch,  to  field  switch,  to 
direct-current  panel,  etc.,  which  slows  down  restoration 
of  power  in  emergencies.  The  substation  here  described 
is  designed  for  operation  by  one  man  per  shift;  for  this 
reason  all  operations  are  centralized  so  far  as  possible 
and  all  control  is  collected  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  the  telephone  booth,  which  is  treated  as  the 
operating  center  when  operation  must  be  made  most 
expeditious,  as  in  emergencies.  All  high-tension  dis- 
connecting switches  between  the  busbars  and  the  oil 
switches,  commonly  called  "bus  disconnects,"  including 
the  busbar  sectionalizing  switches,  are  located  within 
convenient  reach  from  the  main  floor  and  in  plain  view 
from  the  operating  position.  No  switches  whatever  are 
mounted  on  the  machines.  Negative  switches  are 
omitted  as  unnecessary  and  (the  machines  being  shunt 
wound)  no  equalizing  switches  are  required.    The  field 


This  is  done  to  avoid  risk  to  the  operator  and  nervous- 
ness on  his  part  from  the  danger  of  flashing  under 
emergency  conditions,  such  as  cutting  in  machines  on 
feeders  which  may  be  short  circuited.  The  arrangement 
of  the  converters  differs  in  another  radical  respect  from 
the  conventional,  reverting  to  a  practice  abandoned  for 
many  years,  in  that  the  bed  plates  are  set  on  timbers 
and  insulated  from  ground.  This  has  been  done  to 
eliminate  the  short-circuiting  effect  of  flash-overs  from 
positive  brush  rigging  to  pedestals  or  other  portions  cf 
the  frame  and  to  cut  out  the  severe  burning  that  would 
otherwise  occur  in  case  of  a  breakdown  from  armature 
conductors  to  core.  Each  frame  is  grounded  through  an 
indicating  lamp  and  suitable  resistance  to  give  notice  in 
case  of  insulation  failure.  Risk  of  shock  to  operators 
from  live  frames  is  eliminated  by  the  use  of  an  insulat- 
ing floor  as  described  later. 

Unusually  convenient  access  to  the  lower  half  of  the 
brush  rigging  is  obtained  by  mounting  the  negative 


Plan  of  Station  and  Arrangement  of  Apparatus 


switches  are  located  with  the  alternating-current  start- 
ing switches  on  the  main  switchboard.  On  account  of 
the  large  number  of  cables  to  each  starting  switch 
(fifteen,  each  2,000,000  circ.mil  in  size)  it  is,  of  course, 
advisable  to  have  the  starting  switches  between  the 
transformers  and  the  converters,  which  results  in  locat- 
ing the  transformers  behind  the  board.  Congestion  on 
and  around  the  main  switchboard  is  avoided  by  careful 
lay-outs  of  cable  runs  and  by  the  removal  from  the 
board  of  all  devices,  such  as  meters  and  relays,  which  do 
not  require  handling  in  emergencies. 

The  station  is  built  for  an  ultimate  capacity  of  four 
machines,  of  which  two  are  now  installed,  the  additional 
space  being  sufficient  for  two  3,000-kw.  units,  which 
would,  if  added,  give  a  total  capacity  of  10,000  kw.,  suffi- 
cient for  all  probable  downtown  demand  in  San 
Francisco  even  with  a  subway  under  Market  Street. 
In  order  to  avoid  an  awkward  location  of  the  operating 
center,  either  with  the  initial  or  final  equipment,  the 
two  machines  first  installed  are  located  in  the  middle  of 
the  station  with  room  for  one  additional  at  each  end. 

The  converters  face  opposite  to  those  in  the  usual 
design  of  substations,  the  collector  ring  end,  instead  of 
the  commutator  end,  being  toward  the  main  working 
passageway  and  switchboard. 


busbar  in  another  location,  by  the  omission  of  all 
shunts  and  by  keeping  all  cables  out  of  the  way.  A 
removable  bench  is  provided  to  give  a  safe,  convenient 
working  platform  under  the  commutators.  The  nega- 
tive busbar  is  so  assembled  that  it  can  be  increased  in 
section  or  extended  in  length  without  slacking  off  its 
connections. 

The  site  selected  for  the  station  is  a  piece  of  property 
41  ft.  front  by  80  ft.  deep  on  a  narrow  back  street, 
immediately  next  to  Market  Street.  This  site  was 
owned  by  the  United  Railroads  of  San  Francisco,  being 
the  location  of  an  old  horse-car  stable  of  the  Sutter 
Street  line  previous  to  the  San  Francisco  fire.  The 
building  is  reinforced  concrete  with  no  structural  steel 
below  the  roof  trusses.  The  problem  of  adequate  light- 
ing, always  difficult  on  a  site  surrounded  by  private 
properties  on  three  sides  with  a  narrow  street  on  the 
fourth,  has  been  solved  by  making  the  whole  of  the  roof 
of  glass.  Corrugated,  wired  glass  was  used  for  this 
purpose,  set  on  one-quarter  pitch  with  2-in.  slope  lap, 
and  has  proved  eminently  satisfactory  in  every  respect. 
There  is  no  leakage  in  downpours  or  driving  storms 
even  though  some  sheets  were  cracked  due  to  being  set 
on  non-parallel  purlins  and  overloaded  by  weight  of  men 
working  on  them  before  the  bad  supporting  conditions 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


273 


were  noted.  The  roof  does  not  sweat  or  let  in  too  much 
heat  under  San  Francisco  climatic  conditions.  Direct 
sunlight  is  so  diffused  that  there  is  no  objectionable 
glare  and  the  lighting  on  dark  days  is  infinitely  superior 
to  that  of  any  building  with  side  windows  or  even  with 
the  ordinary  skylights. 

Ventilation  is  another  feature  requiring  careful  atten- 
tion in  a  substation  of  this  character,  since  the  manu- 
facturers refuse  to  design  rotary  converters  with 
forced  ventilation,  leaving  this  as  about  the  only  class 
of  electrical  machinery  to  "stew  in  its  own  juice." 
The  heated  air  is  allowed  to  escape  from  this  station 
through  the  sides  of  a  monitor  of  the  usual  design,  and 
cool  air  enters  through  louvers  provided  at  both  ends 
to  admit  air  both  above  and  below  the  main  floor.  This 
suffices  for  the  two  machines,  but  mechanically  assisted 
draft  will  apparently  be  necessary  for  four. 

The  main  door  is  made  large  enough  to  admit  a  con- 
verter assembled  and  the  machines  were  shipped  that 
way.  To  avoid  waste  of  space  with  hinged  doors  and 
the  cost  of  jack-knife  or  roller  doors,  the  main  door  is 
mounted  on  vertical  slides  and  is  arranged  to  be  lifted 
by  the  crane.    No  door  latch  or  lock  is  required. 

The  air-blast  pressure  under  the  transformers  is  one 
ounce  per  square  inch  or  about  150  lb.  on  the  area  of  a 
door.  A  small  air  lock  is  provided  with  spring-hinged 
wickets  in  the  inner  and  outer  doors.  The  blower 
dampers  are  automatic. 

An  adjacent  building  was  2  in.  away  and  it  was 
considered  advisable  to  leave  no  forms  in  the  2-in. 
space  for  fear  of  a  complaint  on  the  score  of  noise. 
The  forms  were  ingeniously  designed  to  allow  their 
removal,  which  worked  out  successfully. 

The  location  of  the  telephone  booth  in  the  operating 
center  between  the  two  machines  necessitated  special 
soundproofing.  The  booth  is  of  single  wall  construction, 
lined  with  1  in.  of  hair  felt  with  an  inner  lining  of 
wallboard.  The  inner  windows  are  celluloids,  the  joint 
of  the  door  is  weather-stripped,  the  booth  is  mounted  on 
rubber  posts  and  the  floor  covered  with  a  rubber  mat. 
The  result  is  almost  absolute  quiet. 

The  main  floor  is  finished  with  1  in.  of  Trinidad  Lake 
asphalt  mastic,  which  was  preferred  to  concrete  as  less 
slippery,  less  dusty  and  softer  under  foot.  The  writer 
has  taken  11,000  volts  from  hand  to  ground  standing  on 
this  floor  without  sensation  except  when  taking  hold  of 
and  letting  go  the  circuit. 

The  high-tension  bus  structure  with  all  barriers  is 
concrete  cast  in  one  pouring.  Its  longitudinal  wall  runs 
up  between  the  line  and  bus  terminals  of  the  motor- 
operated  oil  switches,  thus  keeping  any  fireworks  on  the 
line  side  from  spreading  to  the  bus  side.  The  oil-switch 
cells  have  removable  doors  back  and  front  to  provide 
for  easier  maintenance  and  quick  cleaning  up  after 
breaking  heavy  loads. 

The  outside  disconnecting  switches  are  double  throw 
with  triple-pole,  rod-operated  short-circuiting  and 
grounding  switches  that  can  only  be  closed  on  the  back 
throw  when  the  line  is  disconnected  from  the  house. 
This  does  away  with  the  need  of  the  usual  dangerous 
grounding  wire. 

All  outgoing  direct-current  feeder  panels  and  circuit- 
breaking  equipment  are  mounted  on  timber  frame  work 
of  mill  construction  in  place  of  the  conventional 
grounded  steel  frames.  This  has  been  done  to  avoid  the 
chance  of  short  circuit  from  positive  busbar  or  bare 
copper  connections  to  the  steel  frame  when  working  on 
live  circuits.    Since  the  feeders  in  a  downtown  district 


must  always  be  energized  and  can  never  be  shut  down 
even  during  the  midnight  hours  on  account  of  "owl-car" 
service,  this  precaution  is  a  decided  safety-first  advan- 
tage. On  account  of  the  severe  circuit-breaker  duty 
occasioned  by  low  feeder  resistance  to  the  trolley  net- 
work, the  circuit  breakers  are  not  mounted  as  usual  on 
the  feeder  panels,  where  they  would  be  immediately 
above  the  head  of  the  man  operating  them.  They  are 
located  in  two  rows  above  and  behind  the  feeder  switch- 
boards, the  double  row  allowing  the  breakers  to  be 
located  on  32-in.  centers  with  the  panels  on  the  usual 
16-in.  centers.  Transite  barriers  are  mounted  between 
the  breakers,  thus  isolating  each  breaker  in  a  cubicle  or 
cell  somewhat  similar  to  the  cells  provided  for  high- 
tension  oil  switches,  but  open  at  the  top,  front  and 
bottom.  In  case  repairs  are  required  or  burned-out 
breakers  must  be  replaced,  the  operator  can  work  in 
such  a  cell  with  its  timber  frame,  slate  and  transite 
walls  in  comparative  safety  and  is  not  endangered  by 
accidental  grounds  or  arcing  from  adjacent  breakers. 

In  addition  to  the  usual  600-volt  main  busbar,  the 
feeder  panels  are  equipped  with  what  is  termed  a 
"hospital  bus"  supplied  from  the  main  busbar  through 
a  spare  circuit  breaker.  Each  feeder  switch  is  double 
throw  so  that  any  feeder  can  be  connected  via  the 
hospital  bar  to  the  spare  breaker.  All  feeders  can  be 
interconnected  through  the  hospital  bus  at  times  of  light 
loads  when  the  station  is  shut  down,  thus  allowing  the 
main  600-volt  busbar  to  be  de-energized  for  work  on 
same  or  on  the  circuit  breakers.  Each  feeder  is 
equipped  with  a  pilot  lamp  and  suitable  resistance  to 
indicate  approximate  voltage  delivered  via  multiple  con- 
nections from  other  stations.  This  detail  was  specified 
in  place  of  the  usual  voltmeter  plug,  as  it  was  found  that 
operators  will  not  take  the  time  to  plug  in  a  voltmeter 
on  a  cut-out  feeder,  but  will  cut  in  in  a  hurry  to  catch 
the  cars  before  they  slow  down,  with  serious  results  at 
times. 

In  order  to  ring  a  gong  when  the  breaker  opens,  each 
feeder  breaker  is  equipped  with  an  auxiliary  switch, 
serially  connected  to  another  auxiliary  switch  actuated 
by  the  corresponding  feeder  switch  which  stops  the 
gong  when  the  latter  switch  is  opened.  All  switches 
and  breakers  have  laminated  studs. 

The  direct-current  feeders  are  A-in.  paper-lead  cables 
varying  in  size  from  one  of  750,000  circ.mils  to  three 
cables  per  feeder  each  of  1,500,000  circ.mils.  Total  posi- 
tive outgoing  copper  is  17,250,000  circ.mils  and  negative 
current  is  returned  by  eight  2,000,000-circ.mil  bare 
cables  drawn  into  fiber  ducts. 

Switchboard  Details  Simplified 

The  line  and  converter  switchboard  has  been  simpli- 
fied by  the  omission  of  several  items  often  used  but 
found  unnecessary.  No  direct-current  starting  equip- 
ment has  been  provided,  since  with  the  variable  voltage 
alternating-current  starting  is  always  reliable.  Instru- 
ments have  been  kept  to  a  minimum.  Each  incoming 
line  has  pilot  lamps  and  an  ammeter  only.  Each  con- 
verter has  a  reactive  factor  indicator  on  the  low-tension 
side  and  a  direct-current  ammeter  only.  The  main 
direct-current  voltmeter  has  a  suppressed  zero  to  give 
an  open  scale.  A  200-volt  center-zero  voltmeter  is  pro- 
vided to  show  polarity  and  can  be  switched  from  either 
converter  to  positive  busbar  to  serve  as  a  paralleling 
voltmeter  to  avoid  plugging  a  voltmeter  from  bus  to 
machine  and  vice  versa.  Lamps  are  connected  from  the 
voltmeter  bus  to  the  battery  to  give  a  check  test  on 


274 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


polarity  or  to  serve  if  the  polarity  indicator  is  out  of 
commission. 

All  connections  between  transformers,  converters  and 
switchboards  are  made  with  2,000,000  circ.mil  cables, 
two  per  phase  and  four  per  direct-current  terminal, 
making  twenty  such  cables  to  each  converter.  The  cable 
racks  are  hardwood,  held  to  steel  straps  by  studs  and 
malleable  washers.  The  studs  between  phases  of  the 
alternating-current  conductors  are  brass,  all  others 
including  those  between  cables  of  the  same  phase,  steel. 
All  cable  lugs  were  sweated  on  the  ends  of  the  cables, 
standing  up  in  position. 

The  cost  of  the  development,  including  transmission 
lines  paid  for  by  the  company,  was  as  follows: 


Building   $51,000 

Equipment,  f  o  b.  factory   76,000 

Freight  and  installation  .'   21,000 

Conduits  and  manholes   33,500 

Cables,  positive,  installed   32,000 

Cables,  negative,  installed   7,500 

Transmission  lines  supplying   75,000 

Engineering  and  overhead   40,000 

Total   $336,000 


Automatic  protective  features  are  as  follows: 

The  machine  circuit  breakers  are  equipped  with  alter- 
nating-current low-voltage  release  attachments  con- 
nected to  centrifugal  speed-limit  switches  and  direct- 
current,  reverse-current  relays.  The  alternating-cur- 
rent converter  switches  are  equipped  with  inverse  time- 
limit  overload  and  instantaneous  low-voltage  relays,  the 
incoming  lines  with  reverse-power  relays. 

Plug  switches  are  provided  by  means  of  which  the 
winding  of  any  relay  may  be  energized  from  toy  trans- 
formers with  an  overload  current  capable  of  adjustment, 
and  in  the  case  of  the  incoming  lines  with  the  proper 
phase  and  polarity.  Thus  the  complete  test  of  any  relay 
may  be  made  a  routine  operation. 

The  watt-hour  meters  are  connected  to  triple-pole, 
double-throw  switches  for  testing  purposes,  which 
accomplish  the  following  results:  First,  the  current 
transformer  secondaries  are  cut  off  from  the  meters 
without  opening  the  circuits  of  the  current  trans- 
formers, but  leaving  the  current  coils  of  the  watt-hour 
meters  open.  The  potential  coils  of  the  two  torque 
elements  of  the  meter  are  connected  in  multiple  and  the 
current  coils  in  series.  As  a  result,  either  with  meter 
in  service  or  out  of  service,  the  meter  tester  may,  from 
the  front  of  the  board,  make  all  necessary  connections 
for  the  supply  of  and  delivery  from  a  phantom  load,  for 
testing  each  toraue  element  of  the  meter  and  for  making 
a  check  test  on  the  two  torque  elements  in  series.  The 
switch  may  then  be  sealed  in  the  running  position.  An 
indicating  lamp  is  connected  across  each  potential  coil 
of  each  meter  to  give  notice  of  the  blowing  of  any  fuse, 
either  primary  or  secondary. 

Current  for  lighting  the  station  is  taken  from  the 
direct-current  busbars  as  being  the  most  continuously 
energized  part  of  the  network.  At  night  the  station  is 
closed  down  and  all  alternating-current  equipment  is 
disconnected  for  a  general  clean-up  by  the  night  shift. 
All  direct-current  lighting  circuits  consist  of  four 
115-volt  lamps  in  series  charging  the  control  storage 
battery.  No  other  charging  equipment  is  required.  A 
iow-voltage  release  is  so  connected  as  automatically  to 
iight  from  the  battery  a  sufficient  number  of  lamps  to 
illuminate  the  control  center  when  direct-current  power 
I'ails  at  night. 


The  converters,  transformers  and  direct-current 
switchboards  are  of  Westinghouse  manufacture.  The 
high-tension  switching  equipment  is  General  Electric. 

The  station  was  designed  for  the  United  Railroads  of 
San  Francisco  by  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  consulting 
engineers,  who  also  superintended  the  construction  of 
the  building  and  of  the  conduit  system  required  there- 
with and  the  installation  of  all  equipment,  cables,  etc. 

Jig  for  Rebabbitting  Compressor 
Connecting  Rods 

The  Babbitting  of  Compressor  Connecting  Rods  Is  Facili- 
tated and  Proper  Alignment  and  Fit  Are  Assured  by 
the  Use  of  a  Simple  Jig 

ACCOMPANYING  illustrations  show  a  form  of  jig 
.  used  by  the  Ohio  Electric  Railway  for  rebabbitting 
the  connecting  rods  of  its  compressors.  The  jig  con- 
sists of  a  base  on  which  is  mounted  a  pin,  A,  a  clamp,  F, 
and  a  socket  hole,  C,  for  holding  the  pin  B.  In  babbit- 
ting a  connecting  rod,  it  should  first  be  fitted  with  a 
suitable  bushing  at  the  closed  end  D,  so  as  to  provide  a 
close  fit  on  the  piston  wrist  pin.  This  closed  end  is  then 
placed  over  the  pin  A  as  shown.  Next  the  pin  B  is  set 
in  its  socket  hole  at  C  and  the  open  end  of  the  connect- 
ing rod  is  adjusted  by  means  of  the  clamp  F  until  the 
pin  B  comes  centrally  with  the  hole  to  be  rebabbitted. 
Cardboard  fillers  are  used  between  the  halves  of  housing 
to  prevent  the  two  halves  from  being  cast  in  one  piece, 
and  also  to  prevent  the  babbitt  from  running  out.  Fire 
clay  is  used  to  stop  up  the  bottom  and  thus  insure  all 
openings  being  properly  closed  to  prevent  any  babbitt 
running  out.  The  pin  B  should  be  a  rather  loose  fit  in 
the  hole  of  the  socket  C,  as  it  is  necessary  to  lift  this 
pin  out  of  its  socket  in  order  to  remove  the  connecting 
rod  after  babbitting,  and  the  heat  from  the  babbitt 'will 


Top  View,  Jig  with  Connecting  Rod  After  Being  Babbitted. 
Bottom  View,  Connecting  Rod  in  Position  Ready  for  the 
Pouring  of  the  Babbitt 

expand  this  somewhat.  The  oil  groove  shown  in  the 
connecting  rod  of  the  accompanying  illustration  was  cut 
by  hand,  but  this  can  be  readily  cast  by  having  a  suit- 
able raised  form  on  the  pin  B,  in  which  case  some  kind 
of  a  dowel  or  key  should  be  put  on  the  stem  B  to  insure 
that  the  oil  groove  comes  in  the  right  place  each  time. 

The  use  of  this  jig  in  the  shop  of  the  Ohio  Electric 
Railway  has  considerably  reduced  the  time  necessary  for 
babbitting  connecting  rods,  and  accurate  fits  have 
inc  eased  the  time  necessary  between  rebabbitting. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


275 


Springs  for  Easy  Riding  Cars 

The  Ratio  of  the  Dead  Load  to  the  Live  Load  and  that  of  Maximum  Load  to  Average  Load 
Are  Factors  that  Give  Great  Difficulty  in  Designing  Springs 
with  Easy  Riding  Qualities 

By  L.  F.  Seelar 

Chief  Engineer  St.  Louis  Car  Company 


THE  selection  of  springs  is  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult tasks  which  confronts  the  designer  of  trucks 
for  street  and  interurban  cars.  On  the  heavier 
coaches  used  in  railway  service,  the  proportion  of  live 
or  passenger  load  is  so  small,  compared  with  the  total 
weight  of  the  equipment,  that  this  difference  plays  but 
a  small  part  in  the  selection  of  the  spring.  It  is  not 
unusual  to  find  that  the  weight  imposed  upon  the  bolster 
spring  by  the  light  body  amounts  to  but  one-sixth  of 
the  capacity  of  the  spring,  and  that  the  passenger  or 
live  load  will  amount  to  less  than  one-eighth  of  the 
light  weight  of  the  body.  Under  such  conditions,  it  is 
a  matter  of  no  great  difficulty  to  select  springs  that 
will  give  easy  riding  and  have  long  life. 

When  we  enter  the  field  of  street  car  design,  we  meet 
a  totally  different  condition.  The  day  has  long  passed 
since  weight  in  car  bodies  was  a  matter  of  minor  im- 
portance. For  the  past  ten  years  it  has  steadily  been 
impressed  upon  the  car  builder  and  designer,  by  the 
operating  officials,  that  weights  should  be  kept  to  a 
minimum.  This  reduction  of  weight  probably  reached 
its  climax  in  the  bringing  forth  of  the  safety  car,  in 
which  the  relation  between  the  weight  of  the  car  body 
and  that  of  the  passenger  load  is  equal  one  to  the 
other.  In  this  car  the  seated  passenger  load  is  equiv- 
alent to  one-third  the  weight  of  the  car  body,  and  as  it 
is  not  unusual  for  street  cars  to  carry  twice  their  seat- 
ing capacity,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  weight 
of  car  to  passenger  will  often  be  as  three  is  to  two, 
and  on  occasions,  no  doubt,  it  is  as  one  is  to  one.  It 
is  this  condition,  which  reaches  its  maximum  in  the 
safety  car  (ratio  of  dead  load  to  live  load),  that  causes 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  designing  springs  that  will 
give  easy  riding  qualities,  both  when  the  car  is  only 
carrying  the  average  load  and  when  loaded  to  its  maxi- 
mum capacity. 

It  has  become  almost  standard  practice  to  design  the 
bolster  springs  in  double  trucks  for  a  height  of  101  in. 
under  the  weight  of  the  body.  Conditions  imposed  in 
maintaining  step  heights  on  street  cars  make  it  almost 
impossible  to  increase  this  dimension.  At  the  same 
time,  owing  to  the  maintenance  of  clearance  between 
the  various  parts  of  equipment,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
obtain  more  than  2  in.  of  deflection  of  the  car  body 
between  its  height  without  load  and  with  maximum 
load. 

It  is  the  usual  practice  to  design  truck  parts  so 
as  to  give  a  clearance  of  3  in.  with  the  car  body  light 
and  1  in.  with  car  body  and  maximum  load.  This  inch 
of  clearance  is  often  found  to  have  entirely  disap- 
peared after  cars  have  been  in  service  from  one  to  two 
years,  due  to  wear  of  the  various  parts,  and  in  excep- 
tional cases  this  clearance  has  disappeared  within  six 
months.  The  spring  designer  must  have  a  lively  appre- 
ciation of  the  foregoing  conditions,  if  he  is  to  meet  with 
success  in  providing  a  spring  to  carry  minimum  and 
maximum  load  and  maintain  comfort  of  the  public. 


For  a  long  period  of  time  I  have  assumed  that  a 
deflection  of  car  body  of  1  in.  for  each  10,000  lb.  of 
load  imposed  would  give  easy  riding,  and  insure  a 
spring  capacity  tending  to  long  life  of  truck  parts. 
This  rule  cannot,  however,  be  followed  in  many  double- 
truck  street  cars  that  have  recently  been  built.  Thtre 
are  a  number  of  cars  now  in  service  in  which  the  body 
weight  runs  from  18,000  to  22,000  lb.  and  the  maxi- 
mum passenger  load  runs  from  20,000  to  25,000  lb.  As 
it  is  necessary  to  maintain  at  least  I  in.  between  the 
bands  of  the  springs  with  the  fully-loaded  car;  and 
as  the  passenger  load  would,  according  to  the  fore- 
going rule,  give  a  deflection  of  2  to  2£  in.,  it  is  apparent 
that  the  deflection  of  the  spring  would  be  from  2f  in. 
to  Si  in.,  a  condition  that  can  very  seldom  be  permitted. 
Where  the  rule  of  1  in.  deflection  for  each  10,000  lb. 
of  load  has  been  consistently  followed,  there  have  been 
very  few  complaints  of  cars  riding  hard  and  the  springs 
have  stood  up  remarkably  well  in  service. 

It  has  long  been  good  practice  to  load  bolster  springs 
in  double-truck  cars  and  side  springs  in  single-truck 
cars  at  two-thirds  of  their  capacity ;  that  is,  with  a 
car  body  weighing  20,000  lb.,  which  is  subjected  to  a 
maximum  passenger  load  of  20,000  lb.,  the  spring  capac- 
ity is  60,000  lb. 

As  the  average  load  carried  by  street  cars  is  about 
one-half  the  seating  capacity  or  one-sixth  of  the  max- 
imum load,  which  is  imposed  for  a  very  short  period 
of  time  (about  two  hours  in  eighteen),  springs  for 
street  cars  can  be  figured  at  higher  limits  than  those 
mentioned,  though  it  is  never  safe  to  go  over  80 
per  cent  of  the  capacity  of  the  spring. 

Methods  of  Constructing  Springs 
for  Easy  Riding 

In  order  to  maintain  easy  riding  under  the  conditions 
outlined,  four  courses  are  open: 

1.  To  put  in  plates  of  varying  thicknesses.  In  cases 
of  this  kind  it  is  customary  to  make  the  first  and  second 
plates  heavier  than  the  others.  Where  this  is  done 
there  is  a  compound  fiber  stress  set  up  which  is  hard  to 
determine,  and  as  the  capacity  of  the  spring  is  directly 
proportional  to  the  square  of  the  thickness  of  the 
plates,  it  is  a  difficult  matter  accurately  to  calculate  de- 
flections. This  method  should  never  be  followed  where 
any  of  the  three  others  can  possibly  be  used. 

2.  To  place  auxiliary  plates  within  the  main  spring. 
When  this  is  done  the  main  spring  is  calculated  to 
carry  the  weight  of  the  car  body  and  the  seated  pas- 
sengers. The  auxiliary  spring  is  then  designed  to  care 
for  the  standing  passengers  and  road  shocks.  The  two 
springs  must  be  so  proportioned  that  the  deflection  of 
the  main  spring  with  maximum  load  will  never  be  ex- 
ceeded. Therefore,  to  obtain  this  end  it  is  necessary 
that  the  auxiliary  spring  be  short  and  composed  of 
very  heavy  plates. 

3.  To  build  up  a  spring  of  a  large  number  of  thin 


•276 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


plates.  This  spring  is  open  to  the  objection  of  a  large 
total  deflection,  though  it  gives  the  greatest  flexibility 
and,  therefore,  is  very  easy  riding. 

4.  To  use  a  maximum  fiber  stress  of  120,000  lb. 
instead  of  the  80,000  lb.  formerly  used. 

For  a  great  many  years  80,000  lb.  was  considered 
as  the  elastic  limit  of  spring  steel.     Modern  heat 
treatment,  however,  has  shown  that  this  value  can  be 
increased,  and  it  is  possible  by  heat  treating  ordinary 
spring  steel  to  obtain  elastic  limits  of  from  135,000  lb. 
to  250,000  lh.   It  is  not  unusual  to  find  spring  manufac- 
turers demanding  steels  with  an  elastic  limit  of  from 
135,000  lb.  to  150,000  lb.    It  is  this  ability  to  increase 
"the  elastic  limit  by  heating  treatment  that  enables 
us  to  design  springs  that  are  light  in  weight  with  de- 
flection that  will  satisfy  the  mechanical  limitations 
imposed,  as  by  using  a  maximum  fiber  stress  of  120,000 
lb.  instead  of  the  80,000  lb.  formerly  used,  the  weight 
of  the  spring  is  reduced  and  the  deflection  increased. 
This  means  that  a  few  very  thick  plates  will  give  the 
same  riding  qualities  as  were  formerly  obtained  from 
a  great  many  thin  plates.    It  also  makes  it  possible  to 
reduce  the  size  of  the  spring,  as  the  strength  of  a 
spring  is  directly  proportional  to  the  square  of  the 
thickness  of  its  plates,  i.e.,  a  spring  30  in.  long  with 
four  plates  3  in.  x  I  in.  is  only  one-quarter  as  strong  as 
a  spring  30  in.  long  with  four  plates  3  in.  x  J  in.,  or 
stating  it  differently,  one  ^-in.  plate  is  equivalent  to 
four  |-in.  plates.    This  gives  a  50  per  cent  reduction 
in  weight  and  volume.    It  is  also  true  that  the  deflec- 
tion of  springs  is  proportional  to  the  thickness  of  the 
plates  so  that  the  deflection  of  the  A-in.  plates  is  one- 
half  that  of  the  1  -in.  plate  under  the  same  load. 

With  the  foregoing  facts  in  mind,  it  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  matter  to  design  a  spring  that  will  give 
nearly  the  same  riding  qualities  as  were  formerly  ob- 
tained and  at  the  same  time  approximate  the  same 
factors  of  safety  as  used  heretofore — and  as  will  be 
shown  by  the  following  example: 

Assuming  a  car  body  which  will  weigh  18,000  lb. 
and  seat  sixty  persons  at  an  average  weight  of  150  lb. 
each,  we  have  a  ratio  of  live  to  dead  load  of  1:2,  and 
as  this  car  will  carry  during  rush  hours  from  100  to 
120  persons,  live  load  can  very  well  equal  or  exceed  the 
-dead  load.  As  the  springs  must  be  designed  to  meet 
the  worst  condition  and  as  the  total  expected  load 
would  be  36,000  lb.,  the  springs  should  have  a  capacity 
of  3  X  36.000  2  or  54,000  lb.  in  order  not  to  exceed 
the  limit  previously  set  as  desirable. 

By  using  the  high  fiber  stress  of  120,000  lb.  and 
heat  treating  the  spring  to  raise  its  elastic  limit,  we 
would  only  have  a  fiber  stress  of  80,000  lb.  in  the 
spring,  due  to  load  with  maximum  loading  and  have 
one-third  of  its  capacity  to  absorb  road  shocks  as  at 
present.  As  the  average  load  is  less  than  one-half  the 
seating  capacity  of  the  car,  the  fiber  stress  in  the  spring 
due  to  load  would  only  be  42  per  cent  of  the  capacity 
of  the  spring.  Cars  usually  operate  eighteen  hours  per 
day,  and  are  seldom  worked  to  capacity  for  more  than 
two  hours  per  day,  so  that  there  is  ample  time  to  re- 
cover from  any  fatigue  set  up  in  the  period  of  maximum 
loading. 

The  second  consideration  of  design  is  that  of 
deflection.  As  we  are  assuming  a  spring  with  plates  of 
uniform  thickness  and  having  a  limitation  of  2-in. 
deflection  from  light  to  full  load,  this  fixes  the  deflec- 
tion from  free  to  light  load  height  as  the  deflection 
will  be  directly  proportional  to  the  load  imposed. 


Assuming  the  maximum  passenger  load  at  three 
times  the  seating  capacity,  we  have  a  live  load  of  180 
X  150  lb.  or  27,000  lb.,  with  a  2-in.  deflection;  this 
would  mean  a  load  of  13,000  lb.  per  inch.  As  the  car 
body  weighs  18,000  lb.,  the  deflection  under  light  load 
would  be  in  the  ratio— ^1 : 13,000  =  X:  18,000  or  1.384. 
Again  assuming  that  the  spring  will  stand  101  in. 
high  under  light  car  body,  we  have  a  free  height  of 
lis  in.  or  12  in.  As  the  capacity  of  the  spring  is 
54,000  lb.  and  the  deflection  ratio  is  13,000  lb.  per  inch, 
the  total  allowable  deflection  would  be  54,000/13,000  = 
4.154  in.  and  the  distance  between  bands  with  light  car 
would  be  4.154  in.  less  1.384  in.  or  2.77  in. — say  21  in. 
for  deflection  under  live  load  and  shock. 

Determining  Thickness  of  the  Plates 

We  can  now  determine  the  total  allowable  thickness 
of  the  plates  composing  the  spring  by  adding  to  the 
deflection  for  live  load  2.77  in.,  the  thickness  of  bands 
(usually  1  in.  each)  li  in.  and  deducting  the  same 
from  the  light  load  height  of  10%  in.,  which  gives  10.5 
in.  less  2.77  in.  -f-  1.5  in.  or  6.23  in.  for  two  halves 
or  3.12  for  one  side  of  the  elliptic  spring. 

We  are  now  ready  to  consider  the  third  point  of 
design — that  of  length.  In  order  to  gain  easy  riding 
a  spring  must  have  maximum  deflection.  Deflection 
is  proportional  to  the  square  of  the  length  so  that  a 
spring  should  have  the  greatest  possible  length,  con- 
sistent with  the  maximum  permissible  deflection.  As 
a  rule,  there  are  as  many  mechanical  limitations  to  the 
length  of  the  spring  as  there  are  to  its  height  and  they 
are  ordinarily  made  from  28  in.  to  36  in.  long.  Assum- 
ing a  length  of  31  in.  with  3-in.  bands,  we  have  an 
effective  length  of  spring  of  28  in.  The  width  of 
springs  may  be  determined  by  available  space  or  by 
requirements  as  to  capacity.  Car  springs  are  usually 
3  in.  wide  and  we  will  use  this  width  in  the  design  of 
the  assumed  spring. 

Having  determined  the  limiting  features  of  the 
spring,  we  are  ready  to  begin  its  detail  design : 

1.  It  must  have  a  capacity  of  54,000  lb./4. 

2.  The  deflection  should  not  be  more  than  4.154  in. 

3.  Its  effective  length  should  be  28  in. 

4.  The  total  thickness  of  plates  cannot  exceed  3.12 

in. 

5.  The  width  of  spring  is  3  in. 

Since  the  capacity  of  the  spring  plates  is  proportional 
to  the  square  of  their  thickness,  and  the  stiffness  of  the 
spring  is  affected  by  the  number  of  plates,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  find  the  greatest  number  of  plates  that  can  be 
used  in  order  to  give  the  required  capacity  in  the  space 
available. 

By  using  a  spring  plate  A  in.  thick  and  1  in.  wide 
as  a  basis  of  comparison  and  considering  the  available 
space  as  occupied  by  a  single  plate  we  can  obtain,  first, 
the  number  of  plates  and,  second,  their  thickness. 
"Machinery's  Hand  Book,"  page  421,  gives  the  capacity 
of  a  spring  1  in.  long,  1  in.  wide  and  A  in.  thick  as 
208  lb.  with  a  fiber  stress  of  80,000  lb.  With  a  fiber 
stress  of  120,000  lb.  its  capacity  would  be  50  per  cent 
greater  or  312  lb.  Since  the  length  is  28  in.  its  capacity 
would  be  312/28  or  11.14  lb. 

The  total  thickness  of  all  plates  being  3.12  in.  or 
50/16  nearly  the  capacity  of  a  single  plate  spring  would 
be  502  X  11-14  or  27,850  lb.  With  spring  plates  3  in. 
wide  the  capacity  will  be  27,850  X  3  or  83,550  lb. 

Since  the  load  (54,000  lb.)  is  distributed  over  four 
springs,  each  will  sustain  one-fourth  of  the  total  or 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


277 


13,500  lb.,  and  the  total  capacity  of  one  spring  plate 
divided  by  this  sum  will  give  the  required  number  of 
plates— thus,  83,550/13,500  =  6.2,  and  dividing  the 
allowable  thickness,  3.12  by  the  number  6.2  will  give 
the  thickness  of  each  plate — 3.12  in./6.2  =  0.5  in.  Again 
comparing  capacity  with  the  i-in.  spring  plate,  we  find 
that  the  capacity  of  the  i-in.  plate  is  as  the  square 
of  1  is  to  8  and  that  the  capacity  of  the  spring  is 
therefore  64  X  6  X  3  X  H-14  or  12,833  lb.,  which 
is  within  5  per  cent  of  the  desired  capacity  and  is  as 
close  a  result  as  it  is  ordinarily  possib'.e  to  attain. 

It  now  only  remains  to  check  the  deflection.  This 
can  be  done  by  the  use  of  the  formula  F  =  SL2/2Eh, 
in  which  S  equals  stress  per  square  inch,  L  the  effective 
length  of  spring  in  inches,  E  the  modulus  of  elasticity, 
30,000,000  lb.,  and  h  the  thickness  of  the  spring  plate. 
Or  by  means  of  the  table  given  on  page  421  of 
"Machinery's  Hand  Book,"  which  gives  the  deflection 
for  i-in.  plates  as  0.00157  at  80,000  lb.  fiber  stress  or 
0.002355  for  120,000  lb.  fiber  stress.  This  constant 
multiplied  by  the  square  of  the  length  (28  in.)  will  give 
the  deflection  for  one-half  of  the  spring — therefore,  the 
deflection  is  equal  to  2  X  784  X  0.00235  or  3.68  in.  or 
a  deflection  within  3  per  cent  of  that  desired. 

We  can  write  a  comparative  specification  showing 
qualities  desired  against  those  obtainable: 


Desired, 
In. 

Number  of  plates   6 

Width  of  plates   3 

Thickness  of  plates   i 

Length — center  line  of  bolt    31 

Width  of  band     3 

Thickness  of  band   § 

Capacity   13,500 

Total  deflection   4.15 

Free  height   Ill 

Height  with  car  body   10} 


Obtainable 
In. 
6 
3 

31* 
3 

12,833 
3  68 

II! 

I  OS 


The  results  obtainable  are  as  close  to  those  desired 
as  it  is  possible  to  attain  in  manufacturing  so  that  a 
spring  can  be  made  with  a  reasonable  certainty  of  its 
satisfactory  performance. 


Results  from  Cadmium-Copper  Trolley  Wire 

THE  Eugene  F.  Phillips  Electrical  Works,  Ltd., 
Montreal,  Canada,  has  given  out  some  results  of  a 
test  of  its  cadmium-copper  trolley  wire  on  the  lines  of 
the  Winnipeg  Electric  Railway.  A  curve  with  very 
heavy  traffic  was  equipped  for  this  test.  One  track  was 
strung  with  copper  trolley  wire  and  the  adjacent  track 
with  cadmium-copper  wire,  each  being  No.  00  and  hav- 
ing a  normal  diameter  of  365  mils.  Both  wires  were 
installed  on  May  8,  1919. 

On  Dec.  21,  1919,  after  being  in  service  228  days,  the 
maximum  wear  on  the  copper  wire  was  60  mils  or  16.44 
per  cent,  and  on  the  cadmium-copper  wire  20  mils  or 
5.48  per  cent.  The  average  wear  on  the  copper  wire  was 
20  mils  or  5.48  per  cent  and  on  the  cadmium-copper  wire 
5  mils  or  1.3  per  cent. 

On  May  8,  1920,  after  service  of  one  year,  the  average 
wear  on  the  copper  wire  was  45  mils  or  12.3  per  cent 
and  on  the  cadmium-copper  wire  15  mils  or  4.1  per  cent. 
On  Dec.  29,  1920,  after  602  days'  service,  the  maximum 
wear  on  the  copper  wire  was  115  mils  or  31.5  per  cent 
and  on  the  cadmium-copper  wire  30  mils  or  8.2  per  cent. 
On  this  basis  the  copper  wire  was  considered  as  worn 
out  and  was  removed  and  renewed  with  new  copper 
wire.  On  May  8,  1921,  the  diameters  were  again  meas- 
ured, after  730  days'  service  of  the  cadmium-copper  wire 


and  130  days'  service  of  the  replaced  copper  wire.  The 
maximum  wear  on  the  cadmium-copper  wire  was  40  mils 
and  on  the  replaced  copper  wire  20  mils,  the  averages 
being  30  and  12  mils  respectively. 

TEST  ON  CADMIUM-COPPER  TROLLEY  WIRE 


Breaking 

Ten&ile 

Elongation 

Size 

Weight, 

Strength 

in  10  In. 

Conductivity, 

B  &  S 

Lb. 

Lb.  per  Sq.In. 

Per  Cent 

Per  Cent 

0000 

8,890 

53,500 

6  5 

93.3 

000 

7,100 

54,100 

6  3 

92  7 

00 

5,905 

56,500 

6  0 

92  6 

0 

4.778 

57,600 

5  5 

92  5 

Results  from  these  tests  show  that  the  cadmium- 
copper  wire  has  superior  wearing  qualities,  and  its  con- 
ductivity averages  92.7  per  cent  of  the  international 
annealed  copper  standard.  Tests  of  tensile  strength, 
elongation  and  conductivity  are  given  in  the  accompany- 
ing table.  These  tests  were  made  by  McGill  University. 
The  results  indicate  that  the  tensile  strength  of  the 
cadmium-copper  wire  is  from  6  to  9  per  cent  higher 
than  that  of  hard-drawn  copper  and  the  conductivity  is 
34  to  4i  per  cent  lower. 


Electric  Tower  Wagon 


Electric  Truck  Fitted  as  Tower  Wagon 

THE  accompanying  illustration  shows  an  Orwell  elec- 
tric truck  fitted  as  tower  wagon  which  is  used  by 
the  Johannesburg,  South  Africa,  municipality  for  elec- 
tric railway  work.  The  speed  of  this  truck  is  about 
20  m.p.h.  and  it  has  an  operating  range  of  about  50 
miles.  The  distance  which  can  be  operated  per  charge 
has  been  sacrificed  for  speed,  as  the  truck  can  be  re- 
charged whenever  it  is  not  in  actual  service.  This 
truck  is  being  tried  somewhat  in  the  nature  of  an 
experiment,  as  the  municipality  now  uses  gasoline- 
driven  trucks,  and  if  it  proves  entirely  satisfactory  it 
is  contemplated  to  buy  other  electric  trucks  for  the 
work. 


278 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


Convenient  Forms  for  Recording  Inspection  and  Overhauling  Work 


Car  House 

BLANK  COMPAN 

DAILY   INSPECTION  SHEET 

Dm 

2 

if 

[ 

hi 

Ml 

!j 

1 '  r 
s 

a1 

i 
1 

i 

£ 

i 

I 

J 

J 

r 

BLANK  COMPANY 

WHEEL  CHANGERS  REPORT  BUFFALO 

REMOVED 

APPLIED 

Th»l  No. 

Ccit  No. 

VLrel  N«. 

Bi  d  or 

- 

2 

'  1 

1 

I 

j    Each  man  will  sign  under  parts  inspected  by  him. 

BLANK  COMPANY 

SPECIFICATION  OF  ROLLING  STOCK 


o  s 


Car  Body 

1  Open  or  Closed 

  41  Single  or  Double 

Type 

2  Date  Purchased 

  42  Weight  Per  Truck 

3  Builder 

43  Wheels  Dia 

4  Dale  Rfbu.1l 

  44  Wheels  Kind 

Wt. 

>.  Wtifhl  Per  Body 

4S  A i lei  Kind 

Dia 

General  Dimension! 

46  Axle  Wt.  Without  Gear 

6  Length  of  Body 

47  Truck  Centers 

7  Length  Over  all 

48  Wheel  Base 

6  Height  Rail  to  Trolley  Base 

49  Automatic  Slack  Adjuster 

',  v.'  .1.1.  U  .  .  A  ! 


o 


o 


Electrical  Equipment 

511  Type  of  Control  


■  Controllers  Weight 


Platform  Vest  it 


i  Weight  Per  Mott 


S6  Inter.  Door  Coritrol 


M  f iTicti1'  S'l'ii/.l  I.>i;hi 


S8  Circuit  Breaker  Type 


Brake  Equipment 

.'9  Hand  Brakes  


60  Air  Brakes 


1  Air  Brakes,  Weight 


Total  weight  Car  complete 


6  Floor  Maici 


Accessories  and  Tool* 

Jack  and  [ark  Handle 


!  Trolley  Catcher 


77  Take  One  Bo*t 


BLANK  COMPANV 


BLANK  COMPANY 

DAILY  CAR  HOUSE  REPORT 
24  HOURS  ENDING  MIDNIGHT 


CARS  PULLED  IN 


BLANK  COMPANY 

REPORT  OF  CARS  TURNED  IN 

19 

CAR  HOUSE 

3 

CAR  HOUSE 

Ce;.r 

Cur  Case 

Air  Compressor 

H«M!l.»hl 

1 

llMtH. 

"  Pipe*,  valtn. 

Jouro.il  Boi 

Bearing). 

L.gh.  C..<U.< 

Pu.h  Bwitm 

Brakes  Tight 

_Sien  

&I  Body  rland. 

—  Signal  lamps  

.  Spill  iwicch 

SttD* 

 Thin  fljngt  

Trr.lt<-V 

Curralrj. 

'<  r-uhr, 

Trvck 



Fender 

Field* 

-TOTAL   — 

O^rh  .a/bell 

1 

1.  Daily  inspection  sheet. 

2.  Report  of  wheels  changed. 


3.  Specification  of  rolling  stock. 

4.  Report  of  armature  changes. 

5.  Car  defect  report. 


6.  Daily  record  of  cars  pulled  in. 

7.  Summary  of  cars  turned  in 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


279 


Systematic  Maintenance  Good  Investment 

Methods  Used  and  Results  Obtained  by  One  Large  Railway  Indicate  that  Careful  Attention  to  Mainte- 
nance Details  Produces  Most  Satisfactory  Conditions — Concrete  Example  Discussed,  Using 
Data  Gathered  from  a  Survey  of  the  Shops  and  Records 


By  John  S.  Dean 

Railway  Motor  Engineering  Department,  Westinghouse  Ele 


•trie  &  Manufacturing  Company 


IN  ANY  CAMPAIGN  for  increased  revenues  one 
important  item  which  must  not  be  overlooked  is  the 
possible  economies  which  might  be  effected  ty  cer- 
tain changes  or  improvements  in  operating  methods. 
To  assist  in  pointing  out  some  of  the  possibilities  along 
this  line  a  concrete  example  will  be  discussed,  using 
data  and  figures  gathered  from  a  survey  of  the  shops 
and  records  of  one  of  the  large  railway  operating  com- 
panies with  the  following  characteristics: 

Service. — City  of  500,000  population  and  interurban 
service  to  adjoining  towns. 

Miles  of  Track. — City,  230  miles ;  suburban  and  inter- 
urban, 204  miles. 

Passengers  carried  per  year,  227,000,000.  . 


EQUIPMENT 
815  city   j  351  quadruple  equipment 
\  468  double  equipment 
Motor  oars        84  interurban — quadruple  equipment 
23  suburban — quadruple  equipment 
4  special  I  3  quadruple  equipment 
\  I  double  equipment 

1 9  city 
4  suburban 
60  snowfighting  equipments 

3  electric  locomotives 
53  freight,  track  department,  sand,  etc 
75  flat,  dump,  etc. 


Passenger 


Service 


Trail  cars 
!  Motor  cars 
,  Trail  cars 

SHOP  AND  CARHOUSE  EMPLOYEES 


[  Electrical  department  

!  Mechanical  department. . . . 

1  Air  brake  department  

Main  -hops  -!  Erecting  department  

]  Wood-working  department. 

Painting  department  

I  Reclamation  department. . . 


Total. 


Men 
45 
29 
16 
22 
78 
25 
22 

237 


Carhoue?s 


Cars 

No.  1  Station   228 

No.  2  Station   9  3 

No.  3  Station   135 

No.  4  Station   60 

No.  5  Station   17 

No.  6  Station   101 

No.  7  Station   34 

No.  8  Station   67 

No.  9  Station   22 


Cars  per 
Men  Man 
3.7 


62 
22 
47 
16 
54 
29 
15 
24 


4  2 

2.8 
3  7 
3.3 
3.4 
2.2 
3  7 


Total  919    269      3  .4  average  cars  per  man 

Very  complete  records  of  all  work  done  at  the  main 
shops  and  at  the  carhouse  are  made  and  kept  on  file 
available  at  any  time  for  ready  reference.  These  rec- 
ords are  used  by  the  officials  to  make  careful  studies  of 
equipment  failures,  and  result  in  improvements  to  over- 
come these  troubles.  Further,  from  these  records 
monthly  reports  are  made  to  the  management  covering 
a  general  summary  of  trouble  and  work  done  on  the 
equipment.  The  daily  inspection  sheets  are  each  signed 
by  the  men  doing  this  work  and  are  used  by  the  com- 
pany's legal  department  as  evidence  in  case  of  law 
suits.  Some  of  the  most  important  forms  used  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  are  reproduced  herewith.  In 
addition  to  the  above,  tabulated  blueprints  are  kept  up 
to  date  showing  important  details  of  all  passenger  and 
service  equipment,  also  car  assignment  sheets  giving 
the  most  important  details  of  all  cars  operating  from 
the  various  carhouses. 

The  following  system  of  inspection  and  general  over- 


The  Belt  Rail  Is  Being  Left  Off  the  Car  Side 

hauling  of  equipment  has  been  adopted  and  is  being  car- 
ried out  on  this  property : 

Daily  inspection  of  cars  with  old  style  motors  and 
brake  rigging. 

Light  inspection  every  week. 

Heavy  overhaul  every  one  and  one-half  to  two  years. 

The  daily  and  weekly  inspections  are  made  by  the 
regular  inspection  force  at  the  various  carhouses,  while 
for  the  general  overhauling  the  cars  are  put  into  the 
main  shops  and  the  trucks  and  all  equipment  taken  off 
and  thoroughly  overhauled.  During  this  time  the  car 
bodies  are  very  thoroughly  cleaned  and  varnished  or 
repainted. 

The  present  working  schedule  of  the  shop  for  the 
general  overhauling  is  from  eight  to  ten  cars  each 


STANDARD  FRAMES 


NO.  I 


No.  2 


No.  3 


No.4 


No.5 


RESISTANCE  AND  CURRENT  CARRYING 
VALUES  OF  EACH  OF  ABOVE  STEPS 

STEPS 

OHMS 

AMPERES 

!  +o  2 

1.28 

30.4 

2  to  3 

0.64 

30.4 

3  to  4 

0.80 

30.4 

4  to  5 

0.80 

30.4 

6  to  7 

0.56 

60.8 

7  to  8 

0.32 

60.8 

10  toil 

0.40 

60.8 

II  to  12 

0.80 

30  4 

12  to  13 

1.12 

30.4 

14  to  15 

0.214 

91.2 

15  to  Id 

0.400 

60.8 

17  to \r, 

0.214 

91.2 

18  to  19 

0.160 

91.2 

COMBINATION    STANDARD  LAYOUTS 

Based  upon,  weight  of  car,  type  of 
control,  No.  of  motors, type  and  hp. 
of  motor,  gear  ratio,  size  of  wheel 

CLASS 

STANDARD 
FRAMES 

STEPS 

TOTAL 
OHMS 

A 

l-l 

4 

5.76 

B 

1-2 

■  4 

4.40 

C 

3-4-5 

6 

2.18 

D 
E 

3-4-4 
2-2-2 

6 

........... 

3.14 
2.64 

F 

4-4-4 

5 

1.838 

G 

2-5-4-5-5 

7 

2.610 

H 

3-2-5 

6 

3.574 

Standard  Frames  of  Grid  Resistors  Using  Single 
Three-Point  Type  Grid 


280 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


week.  This  will  vary  depending  upon  the  amount 
and  importance  of  repair  and  upon  the  new  work  going 
through  the  shop. 

Shop  Rearrangement  to  Facilitate 
Maintenance 

Within  the  past  few  years  as  the  result  of  an  investi- 
gation instituted  by  some  of  the  officials  of  this  com- 
pany a  number  of  important  changes  were  made  in  the 
layout  of  the  main  shops  and  in  the  distribution  of  the 
work  whereby  the  handling  of  the  general  overhauling 
of  the  equipment  was  greatly  facilitated.  In  general 
the  changes  made  were  as  follows:  (1)  The  electrical 
department  was  moved  into  the  main  shops  near  the 
motor  and  truck  floor;  (2)  the  work  in  the  motor,  truck 
and  carpenter  shops  was  rearranged  to  permit  the  car- 
penters and  electricians  to  work  on  the  cars  at  the  same 
time;  (3)  carhouses  were  provided  with  necessary  tool 
equipment  to  do  their  light  repair  work,  thus  relieving 
the  shop. 

All  carhouses  are  clean  and  comfortable  with  well- 
lighted  and  orderly  arranged  pits,  in  which  are  to  be 

found  the  re- 
quired wrenches 
and  small  tools 
necessary  to 
handle  all  repair 
and  inspection 
work  on  the 
equipment. 
These  pits  are 
also  equipped 
with  the  neces- 
sary small  ma- 
chine tools  and 
hoists  to  take 
care  of  all  light 
repairs  at  a  sav- 
ing of  time  and 
money.  The  ma- 
terial used  is 
handled  on  an 
exchange  basis. 

Each  house  is  assigned  a  definite  amount  of  material, 
and  to  make  a  replacement  at  the  main  shops  the  old 
parts  must  be  turned  in  and  exchanged. 

Each  carhouse  is  in  charge  of  a  general  foreman,  who 
reports  directly  to  the  superintendent.  In  general,  the 
force,  which  will  vary  with  the  number  of  cars  parked 
in  the  carhouse,  consists  of  a  general  foreman,  an  as- 
sistant foreman  in  charge  of  inspection,  a  light  fore- 
man, a  general  utility  man,  a  controller  inspector  with 
helpers,  an  air  inspector  and  helpers,  a  brake  inspector 
and  helpers,  a  motor  inspector  and  helpers,  an  oiler, 
helpers  and  cleaners. 

Some  of  the  work  done  at  the  carhouses  consists  of 
daily  inspection  of  cars  with  old  style  motors  and  brake 
rigging;  weekly  inspection  of  cars;  sweeping  of  cars 
every  night;  washing  outside  of  cars  every  four  or  five 
days ;  washing  inside  of  cars  every  four  weeks ;  chang- 
ing wheels  on  cars,  changing  armatures  and  doing  light 
repair  work  on  crippled  cars ;  submitting  daily  reports 
on  all  crippled  and  O.K.  cars  and  reports  on  all  cars 
inspected. 

All  carhouse  foremen  are  furnished  with  a  summary 
of  the  weekly  records  of  crippled  cars  from  all  houses. 
This  scheme  has  created  a  friendly  competition  among 
the  various  foremen  which  tends  to  bring  out  the  very 


This  Type  of  Headlight  Has  Been 
Recessed  Into  the  Dash 


best  efforts  of  the  men  to  make  a  creditable  showing 
for  their  respective  houses. 

To  meet  the  severe  operating  conditions  during  the 
winter  season  ample  equipment,  consisting  of  sweepers, 
plows  and  other  apparatus,  is  available,  and  a  definite 
snowfighting  program  has  been  worked  out  and  is  put 
into  effect. 

The  reclamation  department,  which  was  recently  or- 
ganized, has  made  an  excellent  showing  during  its  short 
existence.  The  welding  room  is  the  most  promising 
division  of  this  department  as  it  has  made  possible  the 
salvaging  from  the  scrap  pile  of  a  large  number  of 
motor  and  truck  parts.  This  work  is  being  done  at  a 
large  saving  and  has  greatly  facilitated  the  overhauling 
work  on  equipment.  Some  of  the  results  obtained  in 
this  department  are  shown  by  the  figures  taken  from 
the  records  in  the  accompanying  table. 

An  illustration  on  page  281  shows  a  pile  of  dam- 
aged and  discarded  gear  cases  in  the  background,  while 
in  the  foreground  are  shown  four  similar  cases  that 
were  reclaimed.  Repairs  are  made  by  either  the  oxy- 
acetylene,  electric  or  thermit  process  of  welding,  de- 
pending upon  the 
size  of  the  piece 
to  be  repaired 
and  the  final  fin- 
ish to  be  given 
the  welded  sec- 
tion. In  doing 
this  work  much 
depends  upon  the 
skill  of  the  oper- 
ator, the  welding 
metal  and  the 
flux  used.  A 
skilled  workman 
by  using  the 
right  combina- 
tion of  welding 
metal  and  flux 
can  produce 
either  a  very 
hard  or  a  com- 
paratively soft  welded  joint. 

Another  illustration  shows  the  babbitting  depart- 
ment, which  is  fitted  with  two  gas-heated  pots,  one  used 
in  burning  off  the  grease  and  melting  the  babbitt  from 
the  old  shells  and  the  other  to  heat  the  clean  metal  used 
to  reline  the  bearing  shells.  A  high  grade  babbitt  metal 
is  used  and  great  care  is  taken  with  each  operation  to 
produce  reliable  bearings.    In  order  to  make  a  good 

Repaired  Parts                         Jan.    Feb.  March  April  May  June  July 

Gear  case  halves                             46       63  45       60  94  92  76 

Motor  frames                                   8        11  9        12  5  13  15 

Trucks  ,   20        12  19  20  14 

tinning  job  on  the  car  journal  brasses,  a  buffing  wheel 
has  been  installed  on  which  the  surface  to  be  tinned  is 
thoroughly  cleaned  and  polished.  A  further  improve- 
ment considered  for  this  department  is  the  installation 
of  an  automatic  temperature  controlling  device  for  the 
babbitting  pots  to  maintain  the  correct  working  tem- 
perature of  the  metal. 

With  the  great  variety  of  equipments  on  this  prop- 
erty, it  was  found  that  originally  sixty-two  different 
types  of  grid  resistors  were  used.  This  required  a  large 
stock  of  individual  castings  and  a  great  variety  of  as- 
sembled frames  in  order  to  make  the  necessary  repairs 


Recessing  the  Headlight  Into  the  Dash 
Eliminates  Trolible 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


281 


:    :JJT>  fir 


Damaged  Gear  Cases  and  Sample  Reclaimed  by  Welding 

when  needed.  This  question  was  given  careful  thought 
and  study,  which  finally  resulted  in  adopting  as  a  stan- 
dard a  single  three-point  type  grid  resistor  which  is 
now  being  applied  to  all  equipments  to  replace  the 
original  sixty-two  varieties.  This  single  grid  is  built 
up  into  five  standard  frames  which  can  be  arranged  in 
eight  groups  or  classes  suitable  for  all  of  the  equip- 
ments. This  arrangement  when  finally  installed  will  be 
a  big  factor  in  facilitating  repairs  on  the  grid  resistors. 

Methods  of  Winding,  Dipping  and  Baking 

The  winding  department  within  the  past  few  years 
was  brought  into  the  main  shop  nearer  the  motor  and 
truck  floor  and  this  change  has  saved  considerable  time 
and  money.  In  connection  with  the  regular  routine 
work  in  this  department  there  are  in  use  several  schemes 
which  are  worth  special  mention. 

Armature  coils  are  heated  in  an  electric  oven,  thus 
softening  the  insulation,  making  the  coils  more  pliable 
and  less  likely  to  have  insulation  damaged  while  winding. 

A  complete  outfit  is  in  operation  for  impregnating 
field  coils  with  insulating  compound. 

A  dipping  and  baking  plant  has  been  installed  to  treat 
armature  coils  and  completely  wound  armatures. 

Armatures  are  inclosed  in  a  flexible  wood  crate  while 
being  transferred  between  shop  and  carhouses.  This 
carrier  is  readily  applied  and  provides  ample  protection 
for  the  commutator  and  windings. 


The  commutators  on  all  machines  have  the  mica 
undercut  approximately  A  in.  All  repaired  armature 
windings  are  given  an  insulation  test  of  1,200  volts  and 
new  windings  2,000  volts  to  ground.  This  company  has 
a  definite  program  laid  out  covering  the  dipping  and 
baking  of  all  repaired  and  rewound  armatures.  Thib 
was  put  into  effect  more  than  a  year  ago  and  to  date 
results  have  been  very  gratifying.  In  addition  to  the 
above  all  new  field  coils  are  impregnated. 

The  baking  oven  has  natural  ventilation,  is  heated  by 
electricity  and  has  automatic  control  to  regulate  the' 
temperature.  Schenectady  black  varnish  is  used  and 
armatures  are  first  heated  about  twelve  hours,  then 
dipped  pinion  end  down  except  a  few  types  of  smaller 
sized  motors,  which  are  dipped  commutator  end  down. 
Armatures  remain  in  varnish  until  all  bubbling  ceases 
and  then  are  baked  for  forty-eight  hours  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  225  deg.  F.  The  results  obtained  from  treating 
armatures  in  this  manner  have  been  so  satisfactory  that 
this  company  is  planning  to  put  in  additional  equipment 
to  dip  and  bake  their  completely  wound  motor  frames. 

An  analysis  of  the  pull-in  reports  showed  an  unusual' 
number  of  broken  motor  cable  leads  especially  on  a 
certain  class  of  cars.    As  a  result  of  this  investigation 


300 
275 
250 
225 
200 

I/) 

D 

o  150 
P 

^125 
< 

100 
75 
50 
25 


*> 

t 

& 

y 

y 

Y 

\e__ 

per 

kn 

ont 

h 

If 

f 

f\ 

i 

Ave  i 

-age 

-Si 

*r  IT) 

°£±L 

-1916 


->k- 


■1919- 


O      Q      £  < 

 54c--,— -1920- 


*6 


Curves  Showing  Armatures  Repaired  and  Rewound 


Babbitting  Department 


these  cars  during  the  overhauling  period  are  having  the 
car  wiring  put  in  conduits  and  motor  cable  leads  se- 
curely cleated.  All  parts  of  the  cleats  are  made  a 
standard  size  and  the  motor  leads  are  all  brought  out 
in  the  same  relative  position  so  as  to  make  all  parts  on 
the  trucks  and  car  body  interchangeable.  All  cables  on 
the  trucks  are  provided  with  two  sets  of  quick  break 
connectors  so  that  the  leads  to  individual  motors  as- 
well  as  both  sets  of  motor  leads  can  be  readily  discon- 
nected from  the  car  body.  When  this  work  is  com- 
pleted it  promises  a  further  reduction  of  car  pull-ins 
from  motor  lead  troubles. 

One  detail  in  connection  with  the  reconstruction  work 
on  trucks  which  has  been  given  considerable  attention 
by  this  company  is  that  of  providing  hardened  steel 
bushings  at  all  wearing  parts  of  the  truck  frames.  This 
construction  provides  not  only  a  longer  life  but  also  an 
easy  means  of  repairing  parts  when  they  become  badly 
worn. 

As  a  result  of  experience  several  changes  have  been 
made  on  standard  car  equipment  which  show  what  can- 
be  accomplished  in  the  way  of  reduced  maintenance  by 
carefully  going  after  mere  details. 


282 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


The  belt  rail  is  left  off  the  sides  of  cars.  This  rail 
consisted  of  a  wood  strip  running  the  entire  length  of 
the  car  on  both  sides  about  half  way  between  the  under 
side  of  the  windows  and  the  bottom  of  car  body.  This 
strip  tended  to  catch  water  which  would  rust  the  side 
plates  of  the  car  body  at  this  point,  resulting  in  frequent 
repairs. 

The  fuse  box  on  the  same  cars  was  located  under  the 
car  at  the  side  near  the  door  and  was  either  continually 
grounding  due  to  drip  water  or  being  knocked  off  by 
passing  automobiles.  They  are  being  removed  and 
placed  under  the  car  just  ahead  of  the  main  air  reser- 
voir. 

By  a  comparison  of  the  headlights  shown  in  cars  in 
accompanying  illustrations  it  will  be  noted  that  one  ex- 
tends out  very  much  farther  than  the  other.  The  head- 
lights extending  out  so  far  have  been  a  source  of  con- 
tinual trouble  by  being  damaged  and  torn  off  by  the 
trolley  rope  on  the  car  ahead  when  operating  in  con- 
gested districts.  All  of  these  types  of  headlights  are 
being  reconstructed  in  the  reclamation  department  and 
remounted  as  shown.   This  has  eliminated  much  trouble. 

On  all  single-end  cars  the  apron  on  the  front  dash 
is  left  off  as  a  matter  of  economy.  This  apron  was 
originally  placed  over  the  dash  at  front  and  rear  to  keep 
small  boys  from  finding  a  good  foothold  to  ride  on  rear 


Apr  May  June  July  Aug.  Sept.  Oct.  Nov.  Dec  Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  Apr  May  June  July  Aug. 
K~-  —1919   —- — 1920  *\ 


Curves  Showing  Crippled  Cars  and  Pull-ins 

of  cars  and  this  protection  is  necessary  and  still  main- 
tained on  double-end  operated  cars.  However,  on  cars 
operated  in  one  direction,  this  protection  is  not  needed 
at  both  ends  of  the  cars  so  the  apron  is  left  off  at  the 
front  end,  thus  reducing  maintenance  costs. 

At  the  main  shop  all  assembled  motors  are  given  a 
no-load  running  test  to  check  the  bearings.  Similar 
tests  are  made  at  the  carhouses  on  all  box  frame  motors 
when  armatures  are  changed.  The  question  of  giving 
all  repaired  motors  a  running  load  test  at  the  shop  to 
weed  out  defective  workmanship  and  material  is  now 
being  considered  by  this  company.  When  armatures  or 
motors  are  changed  on  any  cars  at  the  shop  or  car- 
houses,  each  individual  motor  on  the  car  is  checked  for 
correct  connections  by  spinning  the  wheels.  This  is 
done  in  both  directions  to  insure  all  motors  working 
together.  The  car  before  being  put  in  regular  service 
is  always  given  a  trial  run  on  a  section  of  the  main 
track  to  try  and  locate  any  possible  trouble  with  the 
bearings  or  electrical  equipment. 

Some  Low  Maintenance  Costs 

In  addition  to  trying  to  improve  the  maintenance 
methods  this  company  gives  very  careful  attention  to 
operating  costs  on  details  as  the  management  is  a  firm 


Welding  Room 


believer  in  looking  after  the  small  things  on  the  prop- 
erty. The  following  cost  figures  show  what  has  been 
accomplished  along  this  line: 


Carbon  brushes  per  thousand  car-miles   $0.09 

Lubrication  per  thousand  car-miles   0.219 

Trolley  wheels  per  thousand  car-miles   0.  29 

Lamps  per  thousand  car-miles   0  .7i 

Brake  shoes  per  thousand  car-miles   0  .  90 


The  curves  shown  were  plotted  from  values  taken 
from  the  weekly  report  of  pull-ins  and  in  general  they 
show  that  the  peaks  during  the  winter  months  are  due 
to  severe  snow  conditions.  The  armature  curve  was 
given  an  upward  turn  due  to  lightning  trouble  during 
the  summer  months  and  the  general  trend  of  motor  lead 
and  field  troubles  is  downward.  The  percentages  of 
crippled  cars  averages  2.4  per  cent,  which  is  a  compara- 
tively low  figure. 

The  general  tendency  of  both  the  repaired  and  re- 
wound armature  curves  is  downward,  with  an  upward 
turn  in  the  winter  on  account  of  snow  conditions  and 
again  in  summer  due  to  severe  electrical  storms. 

The  high  peak  on  all  the  curves  occurred  during 
February,  1920,  and  it  will  be  recalled  that  this  was 
a  particularly  severe  period  in  regard  to  weather  con- 
ditions. The  peak  in  the  armature  curve  for  July, 
1920,  includes  seventy-six  failures  which  occurred  as 
a  result  of  a  severe  electrical  storm. 


Motor  Cable  Leads  Are  Securely  Cleated  in  Position 


August  20,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


283 


Des  Moines  Rides  Buses  and  Walks 

Public  Calamity  Being  Enacted  with  Meager  Public  Concern  —  Dilapidated  and  Crude  Buses  Trying  to 
Replace  Street  Cars,  While  Many  Walk  or  Stay  Home— No  Great  Effort 
Toward  Solution  Being  Made 

By  "Observer" 


DES  MOINES,  the  capital  city  of  Iowa,  with  a 
population  of  126,000,  has  harassed  its  street 
railway  company  until  it  has  been  forced  to  cease 
operation,  thereby  imposing  on  the  citizens  what  is 
little  short  of  a  public  calamity,  though  but  partially 
realized  as  yet  at  the  end  of  the  first  week,  when  this 
is  written.  Every  effort  was  made  by  the  company  to 
effect  a  settlement  of  the  difficulties  and  warning  was 
given  of  the  necessity  to  shut  down  unless  some  solution 
were  promptly  found.  The  city  authorities,  the  news- 
papers, and  the  people  generally,  seemed  to  believe  this 
was  only  a  bluff  and  refused  to  take  the  matter  seri- 
ously. The  shut-down  followed  at  midnight  on  Aug.  3. 
at  the  order  of  Federal  Judge  Martin  J.  Wade,  under 
whose  direction  the  property  had  been  operated  under 
receivership  since  January,  1921.  Operation  of  the 
lines  having  ceased,  the  bondholders  have  started  fore- 
closure proceedings. 

Now  Des  Moines  is  a  free-for-all  bus  town,  licenses 
being  issued  to  all  comers  regardless  of  the  type  or 
condition  of  vehicle  and  with  the  simple  requirement  of 
a  $25  license  fee  and  a  $5,000  indemnity  bond.  The 
$25,000  state  bond  for  vehicles  carrying  over  fifteen 
passengers  is  apparently  not  being  enforced.  At  the 
end  of  the  first  week  approximately  sixty  buses  of  all 
kinds  and  sizes  brought  in  from  Kansas  City  and  St. 
Joe,  Mo. ;  Hutchison,  Kan. ;  Sioux  City,  la. ;  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  etc.,  were  doing  their  utmost  in  an  unorganized 
and  inexperienced  way  to  make  these  few  do  the  work 
that  normally  requires  more  than  a  hundred  double- 
truck  street  cars.  The  results  are  pitiable  indeed,  yet 
the  public  officials  seem  to  be  complacently  viewing 
the  spectacle,  while  the  people  who  must  ride  suffer 
a  congestion  and  actual  danger  seldom  witnessed. 
Even  the  downtown  merchants,  whom  one  would  expect 
to  be  greatly  concerned,  are  only  passively  interested 
as  yet.  They  have  been  working  in  a  way  to  set  up  a 
plan  acceptable  to  company  and  city,  but  they  have  not 
displayed  the  determination  one  would  expect  of  them 
to  bring  about  a  prompt  settlement  and  return  of  the 
cars.  Of  a  number  of  merchants  interviewed,  none 
was  found  who  really  felt  keenly  the  absence  of  the 
cars,  though  a  few  seemed  aware  that  a  continuation 
would  undoubtedly  affect  their  business.  Two  com- 
plained that  business  had  been  so  poor  anyway  that 
they  guessed  it  could  not  be  made  any  worse.  Des 
Moines  has  been  very  hard  hit  in  a  business  way  be- 


cause of  its  very  large  dependence  on  the  farmers. 
The  people  riding  the  buses  for  the  most  part  seem 
to  be  taking  the  situation  somewhat  as  a  "lark"  and 
good  naturedly  making  the  most  of  the  intolerable  rid- 
ing conditions.  The  private  automobiles,  of  which  Des 
Moines  has  a  very  large  number  (Iowa  has  one  for 
every  6.7  inhabitants),  come  into  the  city  loaded  with 
friends  and  strangers  in  the  morning.  Practically  all 
automobiles  at  this  time  of  day  are  bound  for  the  down- 
town business  districts,  though  it  is  more  difficult  for 
the  unfortunate  pedestrian  to  intercept  a  ride  going 
home  in  the  evening,  when  the  route  of  the  private  car 
cannot  be  foretold.  However,  many  people  wait  thirty 
minutes  and  more  for  a  lift  in  a  private  automobile. 
Others  are  walking  six  and  seven  blocks  to  board  buses 
on  their  way  to  the  downtown  loop  so  that  many  of  the 
buses  are  well  loaded  for  the  return  trip  when  they 
arrive  downtown.  Great  numbers  of  people  are  walk- 
ing, and  great  numbers  of  women  and  non-necessity 
riders  are  staying  at  home  rather  than  endure  the 
discomforts,  not  to  say  embarrassments,  of  the  Des 
Moines  motor  bus  trip.  The  remark  is  frequently  heard 
that  a  person  is  actually  afraid  to  ride  in  the  buses. 
This  is  not  difficult  to  understand  when  one  observes 
the  crowding  of  thirty-five  and  forty  people  into  buses 
seating  twelve  to  eighteen.  The  low  headroom,  limited 
foot  space  and  general  compression  des  voyageurs 
makes  a  rush-hour  ride  one  not  to  be  readily  forgotten. 
Passengers  are  so  crowded  in  that  in  practically  every 
bus  they  fill  up  the  front  end  at  the  right  of  the  driver 
so  that  he  has  no  vision  to  the  right  at  all.  Indeed,  in 
some  buses  passengers  occupy  the  space  at  the  front 
of  the  car  on  both  sides  of  the  driver  so  that  he  has  no 
vision  in  either  direction  and  can  see  only  what  is  im- 
mediately in  front  of  him.  Therein  lies  the  greatest 
danger,  and  it  is  only  by  the  grace  of  God  that  a  serious 
accident  has  not  been  recorded.  Further  danger  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  buses  in  use  were  not  designed  for 
such  extreme  loads  to  begin  with,  and  furthermore, 
most  of  them  are  in  extremely  poor  condition. 

Other  evidences  of  the  effect  of  the  street  car  shut- 
down is  afforded  by  action  of  an  amusement  park  man- 
agement and  the  State  Fair  Association. %  The  manage- 
ment of  the  latter  issued  a  statement  to  the  effect  that 
without  street  car  transportation  the  Fair,  which  is 
scheduled  to  open  Aug.  24,  would  produce  a  deficit  of 
$150,000.   Last  year  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  pro- 


DAILY  AVERAGE  DATA  OF  5-C 

!  92 1  Number  Number 

Days  Covered  of  of 


Line                                           by  Cheek  Buses  Trips 

Walker   4-18  to  4-20  3  99 

Walker   5-16  to  5-18  5  165 

University   3-12  to  3-26  10  402 

University   4-25  to  4-30  10  362 

Sixth  Ave   2-  I  to  2-  2  5  219 

Sixth  Ave   3-28  to  4-  1  8  388 

Sixth  Ave   5-  9  to  5-14  8  357 

Clark   2-16  to  2-18  2  78 

Clark   4-1 !  to  4-16  5  162 

Clark....,   5-  2  to  5-  7  5  196 

Valley  Junction*   4-  4  to  4-  9  4  104 

Valley  Junction*   4-25  to  4-30  4  108 


*  Charge  10-cent  cash  fare  with  reduced  ticket  rate,  making  average  fare  7^cents. 


BUS  LINES  IN  DES  MOINES 


Total 

Number 

Passengers 

Earnings 

Earnings 

Bus- 

of 

per  Bus 

Total 

per  BuS 

per 

Miles 

Passengers 

per  Day 

Earnings 

per  Day 

■  Bus-Mile 

371.97 

1,074 

331 

$40. 16 

$16.46 

14.3c. 

620.79 

1,735 

347 

86.73 

17.35 

13.9c. 

1,310  04 

4,836 

487 

249  55 

25.00 

18.0c. 

1,176.63 

4,123 

412 

206,  15 

20.62 

16.5c. 

742  36 

2,600 

532 

133.00 

26  00 

17.7c. 

1,336  09 

5,051 

635 

252.53 

31  56 

17  Ic. 

1,228  65 

4,327 

624 

249.50 

30.77 

20.2c. 

243.2 

1,071 

536 

53  57 

26.78 

20.5c. 

500  6 

2,096 

465 

104.80 

23  26 

20.5c. 

607  1 

2,397 

497 

119.84 

24  83 

19  7c. 

601.76 

1,664 

459 

124.81 

34  61 

20.9c. 

625  2 

1,637 

609 

122.74 

30  70 

19.5c. 

284 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


A  Grocery  Store  on  Wheels  Converted  into  a  More  Profitable 
Forty-Seat  Bus  and  Named  by  Patrons  "Saint  Vitas" 
Because  of  Its  Riding  Qualities 


vided  sixty  cars  to  serve  the  State  Fair,  giving  a  forty- 
second  headway  all  day  up  to  7  p.m.  and  hauling  as 
many  as  75,000  people  in  one  day.  One  evening  after 
a  show  at  the  fair  grounds  two  full  round  trips  of  the 
sixty  cars  were  required  to  haul  a'\  the  people  home. 
The  manager  of  Riverview  Park  has  announced  that  he 
will  close  the  park  on  Sunday,  Aug.  14,  because  of  the 
falling  off  in  admissions.  At  least  80  per  cent  of  the 
25,000  a  week  who  patronize  this  park  are  car  riders. 
To  attend  the  park  now,  unless  they  live  directly  on  the 
line  of  buses  which  is  trying  to  serve  the  park,  patrons 
must  pay  one  fare  to  get  into  a  jammed  bus  to  ride 
downtown  and  then  fight  to  get  into  another  and  pay 
another  fare  to  proceed  to  the  park.  Naturally  they 
stay  at  home  rather  than  suffer  this  experience. 

Extent  of  Bus  Service 

Prior  to  the  shutting  down  of  street  railway  service, 
on  May  23  there  were  twenty-five  buses  operating  in 
competition  with  the  company,  on  July  6  there  were 
thirty-six  and  between  this  time  and  the  day  operation 
ceased,  Aug.  3,  not  more  than  two  or  three  additional 
buses  were  added  to  the  competitive  service.  A  check 
made  on  Aug.  5,  the  second  day  after  the  shutdown, 
showed  there  were  fifty  buses ;  on  Aug.  6,  fifty-six,  and 
on  Aug.  7,  fifty-six  maximum,  including  all  cars  haul- 
ing passengers  whether  bus  or  jitney  touring  cars. 
These  figures  were  obtained  through  an  accurate  check 
made  by  the  railway  company  and  are  considerably  less 
than  the  number  of  buses  claimed  by  the  bus  men's 
association  to  be  in  operation.  The  association  claimed 
to  have  eighty-six  buses  in  operation  for  the  rush  hour 
on  Aug.  10,  one  week  after  railway  operation  ceased, 


A  Great  Scheme  for  Fast  Loading  and  Unloading  but  Requir- 
ing Two  Men.    The  Steps  Fold  up  When  the 
Driver  Pulls  the  Rope 


but  judging  from  figures  given  out  previously  it  was 
estimated  that  there  possibly  were  sixty-five  buses. 

During  March,  April  and  May  of  this  year  five  differ- 
ent lines  of  buses  paralleling  street-car  lines  were  oper- 
ated. Buses  were  also  operated  spasmodically  on  other 
lines,  presumably  as  a  trial  of  the  possibilities.  Now 
an  effort  is  being  made  to  give  some  bus  service  along 
thirteen  of  the  fourteen  main  car  lines.  Four  of  these, 
however,  were  being  operated  with  but  one  bus,  giving 
an  average  interval  on  the  four  lines  of  thirty  minutes. 
Some  of  these  bus  lines  are  turned  back  about  1  mile 
short  of  the  end  of  the  car  line,  where  the  railway  has 
turned  back  its  tripper  cars.  The  buses  charge  a  5-cent 
fare  without  transfer,  whereas  the  railway  fare  was 

8  cents  cash,  two  tickets  for  15  cents,  with  universal 
transfer  and  2A-cent  tickets  for  high  school  pupils  and 
for  children  under  12  years  of  age.  In  April,  May  and 
June  over  18  per  cent  of  the  total  passengers  carried 
by  the  railway  used  transfers.  This  week  the  buses 
put  into  effect  a  six-for-a-quarter  ticket  good  between 

9  and  4  to  stimulate  shopping.  The  tickets  are  sold  on 
the  buses. 

While  the  bus  men  have  an  association,  comprising 
a  majority  of  the  individual  owners,  they  are  operating 
largely  as  individual  enterprises  and  agreeing  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  on  schedule  and  other  matters  of  service. 
Of  course  if  a  driver  gets  tired  during  the  dull  hours 
of  the  afternoon  he  drops  out  for  one  trip  so  that  the 
interval  is  rather  unreliable.  A  complete  check  made 
on  Aug.  5  of  the  bus  headway  on  each  line  between  the 
hours  of  7  and  10  a.m.  and  2  and  7  p.m.  disclosed  a  most 
erratic  service,  with  intervals  on  the  same  line  of  from 
two  minutes  to  forty-five  minutes. 


An  Old  Timer  Brought  Back  Into  Service 


One  of  the  Best  Buses  in  Des  Moines 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


285 


Of  course,  in  fairness  it  should  be  said  that  the  bus- 
men cannot  be  expected  to  establish  overnight  a  very 
complete  or  reliable  service,  or  to  equip  themselves  with 
first  class  buses.  Through  their  association  they  have 
been  endeavoring  to  secure  a  one-year  franchise,  upon 
receiving  which  they  guarantee  to  spend  a  considerable 
sum  of  money  for  new  buses,  adequate  to  handle  the 
city's  traffic.  Consequently,  the  buses  that  are  now 
being  supplied  are  such  as  could  be  purchased  for  com- 
paratively small  sums  and  financed  on  what  little  money 
the  driver  had  available  personally.  The  result  is  rather 
humorous,  if  one  can  forget  the  seriousness  of  the  situ- 
ation. The  patrons  have  a  good  many  of  the  buses 
named,  as  indicated  in  the  captions  under  the  accom- 
panying pictures.  They  range  in  size  from  a  seating 
capacity  of  eleven  up  to  forty  and  employ  old  four- 
cylinder  Cadillacs,  GMC,  Reo,  White,  Masters,  Stewart, 
Republic  and  other  chassis. 

It  is  not  thought  that  the  number  of  buses  in  oper- 
ation will  be  increased  materially  until  the  bus  owners 
can  be  given  some  assurance  by  the  City  Council  as  to 
what  their  life  will  be.  License  fees  for  the  buses  now 
in  operation  expire  on  Sept.  1  and  there  is  no  desire 
upon  the  part  of  bus  owners  to  pay  the  annual  fee 
until  some  plan  for  future  operation  is  worked  out.  It 
is  said  that  ten  buses  from  another  city  are  waiting  for 
shipment  to  Des  Moines  for  the  word  that  they  will  be 
given  a  lease  on  life  by  the  Des  Moines  City  Council. 

Bus  Men  Want  the  Business 
In  addition  to  the  efforts  of  the  local  bus  men's  asso- 
ciation to  secure  a  franchise,  several  other  interests  have 
been  actively  at  work  endeavoring  to  secure  a  franchise 
or  promote  a  company  to  finance  a  system  of  buses  to 


A  Sample  op  Bus  Body  Named  Appropriately  "Stock  Car" 


displace  the  street  railway  system.  Typical  of  these 
propositions  is  the  following  made  by  T.  J.  Fay,  presi- 
dent Fay  Motor  Bus  Company,  which  has  made  quite  a 
success  of  a  10-cent  motor  bus  line  in  Rockford,  111.,  and 
has  started  a  system  in  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  and  in  one  or 
two  other  places. 

The  Fay  Motor  Bus  Company,  co-operating  with  a  number 
of  substantial  business  men  of  Des  Moines,  hereby  makes 
you  a  tentative  offer  to  install  and  operate  in  the  city  of 
Des  Moines  a  complete  motor  bus  system,  consisting  of  at 
least  154  buses  of  an  average  seating  capacity  of  twenty 
passengers_per  bus. 

After  closely  observing  the  intracity  traffic  of  the  present 
motor  buses  and  traction  lines  now  operating  here,  and 
estimating  the  amount  of  passengers  that  offer  themselves 
for  transportation,  we  find  that  the  number  is  about  105,000 
passengers  in  each  day's  operation  at  the  present  time,  and 
as  conditions  improve,  we  will  furnish  all  of  the  additional 
equipment  necessary  to  give  adequate  transportation  for 
the  city  of  Des  Moines  at  a  fare  of  5  cents  from  all  out- 
lying districts  to  the  center  of  population  as  described  on 
the  accompanying  map  submitted  to  you,  and  issuing  a 
transfer  from  transfer  points  at  an  additional  charge  of  2 
cents,  enabling  a  passenger  to  go  from  any  part  of  the 
city  to  any  other  part  of  the  city  at  a  total  fare  of  7  cents. 
While  we  are  basing  these  lines  at  the  present  time  on 
general  transportation  lines  now  established,  we  stand  ready 
to  alter  or  to  add  additional  lines  as  the  necessity  arises. 

We  also  submit  a  survey  of  the  operation,  basing  the  costs 
of  same  on  an  experience  acquired  during  the  operation  of 
over  7,000,000  miles. 

Believing  that  the  city  should  be  recompensed  for  the 
use  of  such  streets  as  the  buses  would  operate  over,  and 
estimating  the  probable  cost  of  the  additional  wear  and 
tear  on  the  pavements  and  streets  of  such  routes,  we  would 
agree  to  recompense  the  city  for  such  operations  at  the 
rate  of  $25,000  for  each  year  of  such  operation.  We  also 
agree  to  clear  the  snow  during  the  winter  over  our  estab- 
lished routes  sufficient  to  allow  buses  to  operate  during  all 
weather  conditions,  and  also  agree  to  maintain  a  sufficient 
reserve  to  cover  any  just  claims  for  personal  injury  or 
property  damage  that  may  accrue  in  our  operation. 


Another  Relic  Enjoying  a  New  Life 


286 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


Inasmuch  as  it  is  a  very  serious  step  for  the  city  to 
enter  into  such  a  contract  as  we  propose,  and  also  a  very 
large  investment  for  those  people  interested  in  the  instal- 
lation of  this  system,  we  wish  to  have  this  considered  a 
tentative  proposition  and  would  suggest  that  if  you  intend 
giving  it  your  serious  consideration,  that  we  enter  into  the 
details,  routes  and  other  arrangements  more  definitely  and 
perhaps  work  out  a  number  of  details  in  this  problem  to 
a  more  mutual  conclusion,  as  we  estimate  the  investment 
of  this  bus  system  to  cost  close  to  $750,000,  including  equip- 
ment necessary  for  the  upkeep  of  such  a  large  organization. 

Comparison  with  Railway  Service 

The  downtown  district  of  Des  Moines  lies  just  about 
at  the  center  of  the  50  sq.m.  included  within  the  city 
limits.  For  this  reason  the  mileage  on  practically  all 
of  the  lines  is  unusually  uniform,  all  lines  radiating 
from  the  central  district  with  no  through  lines  and  no 
cross-town  lines.  The  average  length  of  all  the  lines 
is  4  miles,  giving  an  average  round-trip  distance  of  8 
miles.  This  characteristic  of  the  city  transportation  sys- 
tem results  in  fairly  short  haul.  The  easy  topography 
of  the  city,  the  fact  that  85  per  cent  of  the  streets  of 


SURVEY  OF  BUS  AND  TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEM  AT 
DES  MOINES,  IOWA,  SUBMITTED  BY  T.  J.  FAY 


Average  daily  number  of  passengers  carried  on  buses  and  traction  lines  1 05,000 
Number  of  buses  necessary  to  carry  105,000  passengers  per  day  at 

average  of  twenty-five  passengers  per  round  trip   140 

Additional  equipment  allowance  of  10  per  cent  (replacing  cars  in  re- 
pair shop)   14 

Total  buses  necessary   154 

Note:  (Due  to  the  fact  that  there  are  portions  of  the  day  when  the  full 
equipment  is  not  necessary,  buses  can  be  overhauled  and  repaired 
during  this  portion  of  the  day,  and  the  average  operating  efficiency 

should  easily  be  at  least  95  per  cent.)  

Number  of  bus  routes  operating  from  center  of  city  necessary  to  cover 

entire  eity   13 

Average  distance  of  each  round  trip   6  miles 

Receipts  per  trip  of  twenty-passenger  bus  with  average  round  trip  load 

of  twenty-five  passengers    $1  25 

Average  revenue  per  bus-mile   20]c. 

Number  of  trips  per  day  necessary  to  carry  105,000  passengers  at 

average  of  25  passengers  per  round  trip   4,200 

Number  of  trips  per  bus  per  day   30 

Average  number  of  miles  operated  per  day   25,200 

Average  number  of  mile-'  per  bus  per  day   1 80 

Gross  receipts  per  day  carrying  1 05,000  passengers   $5,250 

Transfers  to  be  issued  at  additional  price  of  2  cents  each,  making  cost 
of  riding  from  one  extreme  limit  of  the  city  to  the  opposite  city 

limit   7  cents 

Ordinary  fare  from  any  part  of  city  to  center  of  city.   5  cents 

Estimating  twenty-five  passengers  for  eacn  round  trip,  whereas  seating 
capacity  per  round  trip  is  forty  (with  additional  50  per  cent  stand- 
ing room,  or  possible  round  trip  capacity  of  sixty),  it  is  possible  with 
this  equipment  to  carry  an  additional  25  per  cent  or  a  total  of 


130,000  passengers  per  day.  This  increase  is  allowed  for  periods 
of  the  day  when  there  might  be  an  unusual  rush  

SURVEY  OF  COSTS  PER  DAY  FOR  OPERATION  OF  154  BUSES 


Overhead  (operating)   $R56  80 

Depreciation  ( 40  per  cent  a  year)   767  12 

Insurance  reserve  (casualty)   154  00 


Total  overhead   $1,777  92 

7  per  cent  interest  return  on  $700,000  investment:   134.  25 

Maintenance: 

Gasoline   $587.16 

Oil   52  84 

Tires   690  00 

Shop  repairs  (labor)   65  52 

Parts,  eto   166.32 


Total  maintenance  ■   $1,561  84 

•  Drivers' salaries   1,081  99 


Total  daily  cost  of  operation   $4,556  00 

Recapitulation 

Gross  receipts  ( 1 05.000  passengers  at  5  cents)   $5,250.  00 

Total  operating  cost  per  day: 

(154  buses  making  4,200  trips  per  dav  at  6  miles  per 

round  trip  or  25,000  miles  at  1 8  cents  per  mile)   $4,556  .00 


Net  proHt  per  day   $714.00 


Des  Moines  are  paved  and  that  the  peak  load  is  well 
distributed  both  morning  and  evening,  also  rather  favor 
the  possibility  of  providing  the  necessary  transporta- 
tion with  buses.  However,  the  handling  properly  of 
the  rush-hour  crowd  presents  a  problem  in  a  city  of 
this  size  on  which,  there  is  much  well  founded  doubt  that 
buses  could  possibly  be  adequate  to  the  requirements. 
While  the  city  authorities  have  apparently  preferred  to 
have  transportation  revolution  rather  than  evolution. 


they  have  evidently  been  wise  enough  not  to  sign  up  any 
contract  with  a  bus  concern  to  supply  the  city's  entire 
transportation  needs.  Of  course  such  a  franchise  would 
have  to  be  passed  upon  by  the  voters  before  becoming 
effective. 

The  normal  base  schedule  of  the  Des  Moines  City 
Railway  calls  for  seventy-nine  cars,  with  fifty-three 
additional  tripper  cars  during  the  rush  hour.  These 
132  cars  are  so  scheduled  that  190  cars  leave  the  down- 
town loop  during  the  maximum  hour.  During  this  rush 
hour,  on  a  certain  day  when  the  street  cars  and  thirty- 
six  buses  were  both  operating,  a  total  of  10,815  passen- 
gers were  handled  out  of  the  loop.  On  the  assumption 
that  all  of  the  passengers  carried  by  both  agencies  had 
been  carried  on  the  street  cars,  the  total  square  feet 
per  passenger  of  street-car  floor  space  provided  was 
4.2,  each  street  car  having  281  sq.ft.  or  a  total  for  the 
190  cars  of  53,390.  Assuming  an  average  floor  area  of 
74  sq.ft.  for  the  buses  in  order  to  give  an  equivalent 
floor  space  of  4.2  sq.ft.  per  passenger  with  buses,  it 
would  have  required  721  buses  during  the  hour  scheduled 
through  the  loop  to  handle  the  complete  traffic  of  10,815 
passengers.  This  would  mean  that  an  equipment  of  480 
buses  would  be  required,  assuming  a  schedule  speed  and 
length  of  haul  equal  to  that  of  the  railway.  When  132 
street  cars  were  provided  to  handle  this  load,  they  were 
not  crowded,  so  that  the  comparison  as  indicating  actual 
requirements  that  must  be  faced  by  the  buses  may  be 
overdrawn.  But  even  dividing  the  estimate  by  two,  the 
result,  240  buses,  would  be  a  very  long  way  from  the 
estimate  of  154  buses  as  made  by  Mr.  Fay.  The  follow- 
ing additional  data  will  be  of  interest  in  comparing  the 
railway  operation  with  the  proposal  of  the  bus  men. 

The  average  schedule  speed  of  the  railways  including 
layovers,  etc.,  was  9.5  m.p.h.  In  April  of  this  year  the 
operating  expenses,  including  3  per  cent  depreciation, 
were  34.62  cents  per  car-mile,  and  the  passenger  rev- 
enue, 35.01  cents.  In  June,  because  of  greatly  curtailed 
mileage  on  account  of  the  partial  shutdown  of  the  power 
system,  the  operating  expenses,  including  depreciation, 
were  42.21  cents  per  car-mile,  and  the  passenger  rev- 
enue, 47.09  cents.  The  revenue  passengers  per  car-mile 
in  January  of  this  year  were  5.60,  in  February  5.57,  in 
March  5.05,  in  April  4.63,  in  May  4.91,  and  in  June 
6.16.  These  figures  indicate  very  clearly  the  effect  of 
the  increasing  jitney  competition  which  began  in  Janu- 
ary and  the  60  per  cent  curtailment  of  car  mileage 
which  took  place  on  May  23,  due  to  power  shutdown. 
For  the  first  six  months  of  the  current  year  the  revenue 
passengers  per  car-mile  were  5.28  and  the  total  pas- 
sengers per  car-mile  6.31. 

A  good  idea  of  the  earnings  of  the  buses  in  Des 
Moines  under  competitive  conditions;  in  other  words, 
while  the  cars  were  running,  may  be  had  from  the 
accompanying  tables  of  data  gathered  from  checks  made 
on  the  days  indicated  this  year. 

The  proposition  of  the  bus  company  given  heretofore 
might  be  compared  with  the  statement  of  the  engineers 
of  another  well  known  and  competent  truck  manufac- 
turer who  appeared  before  the  City  Council  and  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  and  made  the  statement  that  if 
up-to-date  bus  service  was  provided  with  buses  costing 
$8,500,  the  daily  cost  of  operation  for  labor,  mainte- 
nance and  depreciation  would  be  $41,  and  that  on  a  5-cent 
fare  it  would  be  necessary  to  haul  forty  persons  each 
round  trip  for  eighteen  hours  a  day  to  earn  this  sum. 

Several  of  the  bus-owner  drivers  were  talked  to,  and 
they  seem  to  think  they  are  making  money  now  and 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


287 


plenty  of  it  on  a  5-cent  fare,  and  will  continue  to  do  so 
even  with  the  six-for-a-quarter  ticket  rate.  They 
seem  eager  for  the  opportunity  to  demonstrate  to  the 
people  of  Des  Moines  that  they  can  provide  adequate 
service.  Their  most  common  remark  is :  "You  give  us 
a  franchise  and  we  will  give  you  the  service."  Strange 
to  say,  they  are  asking  only  a  one-year  franchise,  and 
on  the  strength  of  this  declare  themselves  willing  to 
purchase  fine  new  buses  and  discard  the  present  make- 
shift contraptions.  Also,  on  the  strength  of  such  a 
franchise,  they  declare  they  had  been  assured  of  financ- 
ing by  one  of  the  large  manufacturers  of  trucks  and 
farm  implements.  A  franchise  cannot  be  granted,  how- 
ever, without  a  vote  of  the  people,  which  will  require 
considerable  time  and  there  is  much  doubt  that  it  would 
pass. 

Causes  op  the  Present  Situation 

The  franchise  under  which  the  Des  Moines  City  Rail- 
way has  recently  been  operating  is  a  twenty-five-year 
grant  passed  by  the  City  Council  Oct.  2,  1915,  and  ap- 
proved by  the  voters  on  Nov.  22,  1915.  The  original 
franchise  given  to  this  company  was  dated  Jan.  1,  1868, 
with  a  term  of  thirty  years.  From  the  date  of  this 
expiration  in  1898  until  the  new  franchise  was  started 
in  1915  the  company  was  almost  continually  in  the 
courts  over  a  controversy  as  to  whether  the  old  fran- 
chise was  actually  limited  to  a  period  of  thirty  years 
or  was  in  perpetuity.  The  supreme  court  of  Iowa  finally 
held  that  the  franchise  did  expire  on  Jan.  1,  1898,  and 
gave  the  company  two  years  in  which  to  secure  a  fran- 
chise or  remove  its  tracks  from  the  streets,  but  this 
legal  battle  and  a  belligerent  attitude  toward  the  people 
on  the  part  of  the  old  managements  did  much  to  develop 
an  antipathy  toward  the  company.  It  formed  a  good 
groundwork  for  the  succeeding  agitation  of  three  of 
the  four  local  newspapers  and  the  politicians. 

The  new  franchise  entered  into  as  late  as  1915  rather 
surprisingly  provides  that: 

The  maximum  rate  of  fare  for  a  single  continuous  ride 
within  the  limits  of  the  city  in  one  direction  over  any 
route  of  the  company  during  the  life  of  this  franchise  shall 
be  5  cents  in  cash.  The  company,  in  at  least  twenty-five 
convenient  places  within  the  city,  shall  sell  to  any  person 
applying  therefor  six  tickets  for  25  cents.  .  .  .  The  fare 
for  children  under  twelve  years  of  age  shall  be  2i  cents. 
On  the  payment  of  a  5-cent  cash  fare,  the  conductor  will 
give  the  child  a  ticket  which  will  be  accepted  as  fare  for 
another  ride  if  presented  by  a  child  under  twelve  years  of 
age.  High  school  pupils  on  their  way  to  and  from  school 
on  actual  school  days  between  the  hours  of  7:30  a.  m.,  and 
4.30  p.m.,  shall  be  carried  on  tickets  .  .  .  sold  in  books 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  for  50  cents.    ,    .  . 

The  franchise  also  provides  that  universal  free  trans- 
fer shall  be  issued,  and  a  transfer  upon  a  transfer.  The 
company  agreed  to  expend  $1,500,000  for  reconstruction, 
rehabilitation,  new  lines  and  extension,  according  to  a 
specified  itemization  contained  in  the  franchise,  within 
a  period  of  three  years.  In  connection  with  the  service 
to  be  rendered,  the  following  clause  quoted  from  the 
franchise  is  enlightening  in  analyzing  the  company's 
financial  situation: 

As  a  guarantee  of  the  service  provided  for  in  this  section, 
it  is  agreed  that  no  dividends  on  the  outstanding  stock  of 
the  company  shall  be  considered  or  allowed  in  determining 
the  quality,  quantity  or  kind  of  service  the  company  is  bound 
and  obligated  to  furnish  under  this  ordinance;  it  being- 
understood  and  agreed  that  subject  to  the  payment  of  all 
costs  of  operation,  including  taxes  and  interest  at  not  to 
exceed  5  per  cent  on  the  company's  indebtedness  represented 
by  bonds,  and  not  to  exceed  6  per  cent  of  the  remainder  of 
such  indebtedness,  and  the  setting  aside  of  a  depreciation 
fund  as  provided  in  Sec.  22  of  this  ordinance,  the  city  is 


entitled  to  have  and  the  company  is  bound  to  render  the 
first  class  service  as  defined  in  this  section. 

The  provision  with  regard  to  depreciation  is  that 

after  the  expiration  of  the  first  three  years,  the 

Company  shall  set  aside  and  charge  off  a  sufficient  depre- 
ciation fund  to  cover  replacement,  renewals,  new  equipment 
and  installations  necessary  to  maintain  the  entire  system 
and  preserve  the  property  of  the  company  ...  in 
modern  first  class  condition  suitable  for  the  carrying  on  of 
the  business  of  the  company. 

There  is  a  provision  whereby  the  company  agrees  to 
arbitrate  any  difference  which  may  arise  between  the 
company  and  the  city  or  between  the  company  and  its 
employees.  Another  significant  statement  is  that  "the 
company,  by  the  acceptance  of  this  ordinance,  agrees  to 
continue  to  contract  with  its  employees    .    .  ." 

The  sale  of  stock  and  bonds  is  under  the  supervision 
of  the  city  and  "discounts  upon  bonds  sold  by  the  com- 
pany shall  not  be  added  to  the  value  of  the  property 
for  any  purpose."  The  company  agreed  to  the  purchase 
of  the  street  railway  property  by  the  city  upon  six 
months'  notice  at  any  time  during  the  life  of  the  fran- 
chise. For  this  purpose  it  was  agreed  that  the  value 
of  the  property  as  of  Aug.  1,  1915,  was  $5,000,000. 

These  few  extracts  from  the  franchise  will  be 
illuminating  in  reviewing  the  development  during  the 
last  few  years. 

A  common  remark  heard  among  business  men  and 
on  the  street  in  Des  Moines  is  that  the  company  has 
not  lived  up  to  its  promises.    This  is  possibly  true  as 


DATA  FOR  SIX  MONTHS  ENDED  JUNE  30,  1921,  DES  MOINES  CITY 


RAILWAY 


Total  passengers  

Revenue  passengers  

Car-miles  

Passenger  revenue  

Operating  expense,  including  depreciation. 

Taxes  

Fixed  charges  


Total 
17,561,809 
14,649,652 
2.781,734 
1.1 10.267 
1,057.382 
84,000 
197,781 


Per 
Car-Mile 

6  31 
5  28 
1  00 

39  91  cents 
38  01  cents 
3  02  cents 

7  11  cents 


REVENUE  PASSENGERS  PER  DAY 
Under  Normal  Service 

Sun.,  May   8,  1921  

Mon.,  May    9,  1921  

Tues.,  May  10,  1921  

Wed.,  May  11,  1921  

Thurs.,  May  12,  1921  

Fri.,  May  13,  1921  

Sat.,  May  14,  1921  

77,351 


DES  MOINES  CITY|RAILWAY 
Under  Reduced  Service 

Sun.,  July  24,  1921  

Mon.,  July  25,  1921  "*! 

Tues.,  July  26,  1921  * 

Wed.,  July  27,  1921  W 

Thurs.,  July  28,  1921  ^ 

Fri.,  Julv|29,  1921  "" 

Sat.,  JulyJ30,  1921  £ 

53,550 


to  work  done,  but  not  as  to  money  expended.  In  fact 
the  company  has  jeopardized  its  financial  strength  in 
attempting  to  carry  out  its  promises.  Instead  of  ex- 
pending $1,500,000  in  the  first  three  years  of  the  fran- 
chise for  rehabilitation,  extensions,  etc.,  as  agreed  to  in 
the  franchise,  the  company  actually  expended  $2,427,- 
000,  though  failing,  on  account  of  the  great  increase  in 
cost  of  equipment  and  materials,  to  carry  out  the  full 
program  of  extensions  and  new  lines  by  an  amount 
which  would  now  cost  approximated  $400,000  to  com- 
plete. The  company  has  also  been  unable  to  keep  up 
with  the  paving  requirements  imposed  upon  it  by  the 
city  by  a  considerable  amount,  though  it  has  expended 
from  $50,000  to  $60,000  a  year  in  paving  maintenance 
alone.  Then,  as  to  the  rate  of  fare,  the  company  has 
also  not  lived  up  to  its  contract,  but  had  it  not  been 
aided  by  the  courts,  the  people  of  Des  Moines  would 
probably  have  been  without  transportation  several 
months  earlier. 

The  matter  of  wages  has  been  very  closely  associated 
all  along  with  the  efforts  made  to  secure  an  increase 
in  fare,  and  aggravated  by  a  very  difficult  labor  situa- 


288 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


tion.  The  present  trouble  first  started  when  the  com- 
pany asked  for  an  increase  in  fare  to  make  possible  the 
payment  of  inci-eased  wages  awarded  in  arbitration. 
This  went  to  a  vote  of  the  people  in  September,  1919, 
when  a  6-cent  fare  was  voted  down.  In  January,  1920, 
the  company  went  into  receivership.  A  further  wage 
arbitration  awarded  70  cents  an  hour  to  the  men,  and 
as  the  company  was  unable  to  pay,  the  men  struck.  On 
the  strength  of  a  decision  by  the  Iowa  Supreme  Court 
that  a  city  had  no  right  to  fix  the  rate  of  fare,  and  in 
order  to  get  the  cars  started,  Federal  Judge  Wade 
ordered  a  6-cent  fare  for  adults  to  be  put  into  effect 
on  Aug.  23,  1920,  the  reduced  rate  for  children  and 
high-school  students  continuing  as  specified  in  the  fran- 
chise. The  additional  revenue  was  to  be  applied  to  the 
payment  of  wages. 

Finding  itself  unable  to  proceed  longer  on  the  6-cent 
fare,  the  company  applied  to  Judge  Wade  for  a  cut  in 
service.  A  new  schedule  was  drawn  up  and  approved 
by  the  city  supervisor  and  the  date  set  to  put  it  in 
effect.  Corporation  Counsel  Byer  then  got  an  injunc- 
tion against  these  schedules  in  the  district  courts. 
While  there  was  some  doubt  as  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
this  court,  the  company  obeyed  the  injunction  but  again 
appealed  to  the  Federal  Court.  The  latter  dissolved  the 
injunction  and  ordered  the  district  court  to  keep  hands 
off.  The  reduced  schedule  was  put  into  effect  and  the 
company  ran  along  on  this  for  several  months  until  it 
became  necessary  to  make  a  further  cut  in  order  to  keep 
expenses  within  revenue.  In  December,  1920,  Judge 
Wade  appointed  a  master  to  make  an  investigation  and 
recommend  what  would  be  a  reasonable  fare  in  order  to 
put  the  company  on  its  feet.  After  investigation  the 
master  recommended  an  8-cent  fare  and  an  increase  in 
the  service  by  1,800  car-hours  per  day.  The  company 
revised  the  schedule  on  that  basis  and  on  Dec.  23,  at 
the  order  of  Judge  Wade,  began  the  operation  of  132 
cars  and  the  collection  of  an  8-cent  fare  with  two  tickets 
for  15  cents. 

Then  in  January,  1921,  having  been  defeated  in  its 
efforts  to  retain  the  5-cent  fare,  the  City  Council  opened 
the  doors  to  jitney  and  bus  competition,  with  the  results 
related  early  in  this  article.  The  schedule  of  132  cars 
remained  in  effect  until  May  23  of  this  year,  when  the 
court  approved  the  petition  of  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany to  remove  all  equipment  from  three  500-kw.  auto- 
matic substations  and  one  5,000-kw.  generator,  switch- 
ing equipment,  etc.,  from  the  power  house,  for  which 
the  manufacturer  had  not  received  payment.  This  made 
it  necessary  on  that  date  to  cut  the  service  to  sixty 
cars,  which  of  course  greatly  aggravated  the  local  trans- 
portation situation  and  served  as  a  strong  inducement 
for  additional  buses  to  start  in  business.  The  company 
continued  operation  on  this  basis,  losing  money  rapidly, 
until  midnight  on  Aug.  3,  at  which  time  all  operation 
ceased  as  ordered  by  Judge  Wade  upon  petition  of  the 
company.  All  through  the  difficulties  numerous  at- 
tempts were  made  and  various  plans  proposed  to  bring 
about  a  settlement,  but  to  no  avail.  Consequently,  ap- 
proximately 750  traction  employees  were  thrown  out 
of  jobs,  about  250  additional  having  been  laid  off  when 
service  was  cut  to  sixty  cars,  and  the  city  is  without 
transportation  save  what  can  be  supplied  by  an  unor- 
ganized group  of  sixty  or  seventy  heterogeneous  buses. 
The  railway  company  has  discharged  all  employees,  in- 
cluding trainmen,  linemen,  shopmen,  bam  forces,  and 
sixteen  out  of  thirty-four  power  house  employees.  The 
power  plant  has  been  continued  in  operation  to  supply 


energy  for  the  Inter-Urban  Railway  and  four  small 
towns  and  mines  and  various  other  industries  along  the 
interurban  right-of-way.  The  load  on  the  power  plant 
is  now  17,000  kw.  as  against  a  normal  load  of  50,000-kw. 
Only  the  main  department  heads  throughout  the  com- 
pany have  been  retained  on  the  payroll.  In  other  words, 
the  company  is  completely  shut  down,  and  some  $8,000,- 
000  worth  of  railway  property  is  standing  idle. 


Economies  from  Use  of  Ball  Bearings* 

Mechanical  Troubles  Have  Discouraged   Electric  Railway 
Men  From  the  Use  of  Ball  Bearings,  but  a  Satis- 
factory Type  Will  Effect  Large  Savings 

By  J.  T.  Porter 

Master  Mechanic  Northern  Texas  Traction  Company, 

THE  results  from  the  use  of  ball  bearings  for  the 
journal  bearings  of  electric  cars  has  been  some- 
what discouraging  to  the  mechanical  department  of 
electric  railway  companies.  Numerous  mechanical  trou- 
bles have  developed,  caused  by  poor  workmanship,  and 
the  time  and  labor  necessary  for  making  wheel  changes 
have  been  much  greater  than  is  necessary  when  friction 
type  of  journals  is  used.  This  latter  condition  is  due 
somewhat  to  the  truck  design  which  is  now  employed. 


COMPARATIVE  COSTS  OF  OPERATION  OF  BIRNEY  CARS  EQUIPPED 
WITH  BALL-BEARING  AND  FRICTION-BEARING  JOURNALS, 
NORTHERN  TEXAS  TRACTION  COMPANY,  YEAR  1920 

Cost  to  produce  and  deliver  power  to  ears,  per  kilowatt-hour   $0  02 

Using  the  test  made  at  Beaumont  as  a  basis  of  power  consumed  by 
both  types  of  bearings,  we  arrive  at  the  following  conclusions: 

Cost  per  car-mile  for  power,  ball-bearing  journals   $0  0228 

Cost  per  car-mile  for  power,  friction-bearing  journals   $0  0262 

Mileage  for  Birney  cars,  year  1920   1,967,005 

Cost  of  power  used  on  Birney  cars  with  ball-bearing  journals  .  $44,847.71 4 

Cost  of  power  used  on  Birney  cars  if  same  were  equipped  with  fric- 
tion-bearing journals   $51,535,531 

Actual  saving  in  power  during  the  year   $6,687,813 

Saving  per  1 ,000  car-miles   $3.40 

Cost  to  remove,  change  bearings,  change  wheels  and  replace  in  car, 

inclusive   $8.71 

Cost  to  replace  worn  or  defective  journal  ball  bearings,  year  1920...  .  $1,678  13 
Cost  per  1,000  car-miles  to  make  changes  of  the  seventy  pairs  of 
wheels  changed  in  1 920,  plus  the  cost  to  replace  worn  or  defective 

bearings   $0,917 

Saving  per  1,000  car-miles,  cost  of  wheel  changes  and  bearing  re- 
placements deducted   $2  2  36 

BALL  BEARINGS  VS.  FRICTION  BEARINGS  FOR 
BIRNEY  SAFETY  CARS,  BEAUMONT  TEST 


Power  Consumption 

Friction  bearings,  kilowatt-hours  per  car-mile  

Ball  bearings,  kilowatt-hours  per  car-mile  


1  31 
1.  14 


Difference,  kilowatt-hours  per  car-mile   0.17  or  14  9% 

On  a  basis  of  1 44  miles  per  day  the  ball  bearings  will  save  $89. 35  a  year.  Con- 
sidering the  difference  in  price  between  ball  bearings  and  friction  bearing  No.  2 1 8, 
the  ball  bearings  would  pay  for  themselves  in  two  and  one-half  years. 

Acceleration 

Ball  bearing,  miles  per  hour  per  second   2  88 

Friction  bearing,  miles  per  hour  per  second   2  .58 

Difference,  miles  per  hour  per  second  

Free  Running  Speed 

Ball  bearing  (maximum),  miles  per  hour  

Friction  bearing  (maximum),  miles  per  hour  


0  30  or  11.62% 

25  2 
23  8 


Difference,  miles  per  hour  

Retardation  from  Maximum  Speed 

Friction  bearing,  miles  per  hour  per  second  

Ball  bearing,  miles  per  hour  per  second  


1.4   or  5. 


3  13 
2  90 


Stop, seconds . 
Distance,  feet . 


Ball  Bearings 

  8.20 

  170  50 

Retardation  from  10  M.P.H. 

Stop,  seconds   4.9 

Stop,  feet   52.38 

Miles  per  hour  per  second   1  72 


0  23  or  7.93% 
Friction  Bearings 
7.43 
143  60 

3  75 
35  88 
2.28 


It  is  possible  to  obtain  about  2  per  cent  higher  schedule  speed  with  ball  bearings 

The  accompanying  tables  show  the  results  of  some 
tests  made  at  Beaumont,  Tex.,  on  cars  equipped  with 
ball  and  friction  type  bearings  and  will  serve  to  show 
the  economies  that  can  reasonably  be  expected. 


*This  is  an  abstract  of  the  discussion  presented  by  Mr.  Porter 
at  the  interurban  railway  section  of  the  Southwestern  Electrical 
&  Gas  Association  at  its  recent  convention  in  Galveston. 


Equipment  an 


d  Its  Maintenance 


Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


New  Type  Brake  Slack  Adjuster 

Type  of  Slack  Adjuster  in  Service  for  Several  Years  on 
European  Railways  Introduced  to  Railways  of  This 
Country  in  Connection  with  Safety  Car  Operation 

ATRIAL  is  being  made  on  one  of  the  safety  cars  of 
a  large  city  electric  railway  system  of  a  type 
of  slack  adjuster  whose  design  and  operation  differ 
somewhat  from  others  now  in  use  in  this  country.  This 
is  known  as  the  Durson  slack  adjuster  and  brake 
regulator.  It  has  been  used  successfully  on  the  railways 
of  Sweden,  Denmark,  Holland  and  Switzerland,  as  well 
as  on  street  railways  of  other  European  cities  for 
several  years. 

The  travel  of  the  brake  cylinder  piston  on  cars 
equipped  with  air  brakes  may  be  considered  as  made  up 
of  three  factors.  First,  the  travel  necessary  to  take  up 
the  shoe  clearance  and  bring  the  brakeshoes  into  contact 
with  the  wheels  if  all  adjustments  are  properly  made; 
second,  the  travel  necessary  to  take  up  any  wear  in  the 
brake  rigging  or  brakeshoes,  and,  third,  the  travel  after 
the  shoes  are  in  contact  with  the  wheels  due  to  the 
elasticity  of  the  brake  lever  system  and  the  play  in  the 
journal  boxes.  The  Durson  slack  adjuster  differs  in 
its  operation  from  other  types  of  slack  adjusters  now  in 
use  in  that  adjustment  is  automatically  made  for  the 


second  of  these  only;  that  is,  the  additional  travel  of 
the  brake  cylinder  piston  occasioned  by  wear  in  levers, 
fulcrum  pins  and  brakeshoes,  while  no  slack  is  auto- 
matically taken  up  for  the  travel  necessary  to  take  up 
the  shoe  clearance  and  to  take  care  of  the  elasticity  of 
the  brake-lever  system. 

With  the  Durson  brake  regulator  a  certain  pre- 
determined minimum  clearance  between  the  brakeshoes 
and  the  wheels  is  fixed.  Should  there  be  any  further 
slack  due  to  wear  of  parts,  wheels  or  shoes  the  adjuster 
comes  into  play  and  takes  it  up  by  the  turning  of  a 
threaded  shaft.  When  this  point  is  reached  the  brake 
shoes  touch  the  wheels  at  the  same  moment  that  the 
adjuster  would  otherwise  begin  to  act  and  the  friction 
moment  in  the  screw  thread  due  to  tension  in  the  brake 
rigging  is  then  sufficient  to  overcome  the  frictional 
resistance  in  the  adjuster  clutch  so  that  further  working 
of  the  adjuster  is  stopped. 

Installation  and  Operation  of  the 
Slack  Adjuster 

An  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  Durson  brake 
regulator  connected  in  the  brake  rigging  of  a  Birney 
safety  car.  The  brake  regulator  B  is  placed  between  the 
horizontal  brake  levers  H  and  H-l.  Attached  to  these 
levers  at  J  and  ,7-1  is  the  bar  1,  and  to  this  is  bolted 


Slack.  Adjuster  Connected  in  Safety  Car  Brake  Rigging 


290 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  8 


the  cam  guide  C,  whose  free  end  is  held  by  means  of  a 
roller  guide  bolted  to  the  horizontal  lever  H-l,  which 
moves  in  the  slot  as  the  brake  is  applied  and  released. 
To  the  joint  J-l  is  attached  the  rod  7.  The  other  end 
of  this  rod  7  passes  through  a  roller  R  moving  in  the 
slot  of  the  cam  guide  C.  Two  distance  plates  P  and  P-l, 
on  either  side  of  the  cam  guide  C,  transmit  the  motion 
to  the  roller  R-l,  which  follows  the  motion  of  R  and 
which  in  turn  is  connected  by  means  of  the  rod  6  to 
the  bracket  arm  A  of  the  brake  regulator.  Upon  the 
application  of  the  brake,  the  rollers  R  and  R-l  move 
along  the  slot  of  the  cam  guide  C  exactly  as  the  distance 
between  the  joints  J  and  J-l  is  shortened.  This 
motion  is  changed  from  longitudinal  to  transverse  when 
the  roller  R-l  mounts  the  cam  slot,  and  this  operates  the 
bracket  arm  A  of  the  brake  regulator. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  proper  uniform  clearances  and, 
therefore,  the  proper  piston  travel,  the  distance  that 
the  roller  R-l  moves  before  it  starts  to  mount  the  cam 
is  regulated  to  come  at  the  moment  when  the  brake- 
shoes  come  into  contact  with  the  wheels.  This  imme- 
diately starts  movement  in  the  bracket  arm  A  of  the 
brake  regulator  and  takes  up  the  slack  if  any  exists. 

The  brake  regulator  itself  consists  of  a  cold-rolled 
steel  shaft  S  to  which  two  end  jaws  are  connected. 


circular  ratchet  R  when  the  bracket  arm  A  is  moved  in 
a  clockwise  direction. 

In  operation,  when  the  rod  connecting  the  roller  R-l 
in  the  cam  slot  is  moved  in  a  transverse  direction  away 
from  the  regulator,  it  moves  the  bracket  A  in  a  clock- 
wise direction.  As  noted,  this  motion  is  transmitted  to 
the  shaft  and  the  revolution  of  the  shaft  in  the  female 
end  of  the  hollow  end  jaw,  which  has  a  triple  left-hand 
thread,  causes  the  distance  between  the  two  jaws  to  be 
increased.  This  will  take  up  any  slack  which  may  be 
present  until  the  brakeshoes  make  contact  with  the 
wheels. 

Tension  then  arises  in  the  entire  brake  rigging, 
and  when  this  occurs  the  friction  moment  between  the 
screw  shaft  S  and  the  female  thread  of  the  end  jaw  is 
greater  than  that  between  the  friction  plates  F  and  the 
ratchet  R.  As  a  consequence  further  motion  causes  the 
slipping  of  the  ratchet  R  between  the  friction  plates  F. 
A  handle  is  used  merely  for  the  purpose  of  decreasing 
the  length  of  the  regulator  when  it  is  necessary  to 
change  brakeshoes.  The  pawl  P  is  raised  by  means  of 
the  ring  r,  disengaging  the  friction  clutch,  and  the 
regulator  is  easily  screwed  in  to  any  desired  length. 
The  pipe  W  which  is  screwed  and  pinned  to  the  handle 
96  merely  acts  as  a  housing  for  the  screw  thread  on  the 


Section  of  Slack  Adjuster 


These  jaws  are  in  turn  bolted  to  the  horizontal  brake 
levers  and  form  a  connecting  rod  in  the  lever  system. 
The  shaft  is  attached  to  one  jaw  by  means  of  two  pins, 
P  and  P-l,  engaging  a  groove  in  the  shaft.  As  the 
thrust  is  taken  up  at  the  face  /,  which  is  finished,  the 
only  function  performed  by  the  pins  is  to  prevent  the 
jaw  from  dropping  from  the  shaft  when  the  apparatus 
is  removed.  The  other  end  of  the  shaft  has  a  triple 
left-handed  thread,  which  screws  into  the  other  jaw.  A 
collar  C  is  welded  to  the  shaft.  On  either  side  of  the 
collar  are  two  friction  plates  F,  which  are  free  to  turn 
about  the  shaft.  Three  bolts  B  are  set  in  holes  which 
are  drilled  through  the  friction  plates  F  and  the  collar 
C  by  means  of  which  the  motion  of  the  friction  plates 
F  is  transmitted  to  the  collar  C.  Between  the  two 
friction  plates  F  and  revolving  freely  on  the  collar  C 
is  a  circular  ratchet  R.  Three  springs,  held  in  place 
by  lock  nuts,  are  adjusted  to  bring  a  desired  degree  of 
friction  between  the  friction  plates  F  and  the  ratchet  R. 
Motion  therefore  of  the  ratchet  R  is  transmitted 
through  the  friction  plates  F  and  the  collar  C  to  the 
shaft  S  unless  the  friction  moment  of  the  shaft  S  is 
greater  than  that  between  the  friction  plates  and  the 
ratchet  R.  In  this  case  the  ratchet  R  slides  between  the 
friction  plates  without  imparting  its  motion  to  the 
shaft. 

The  ratchet,  friction  plates,  collar  and  springs  are 
inclosed  in  a  grease-filled  housing.  The  bracket  arm  A 
is  a  part  of  this  housing  and  transmits  the  motion  from 
the  cam  slot  as  already  described.  The  pawl  P  is  also 
connected  to  the  housing  as  shown  and  engages  the 


shafting.  It  slides  along  the  hollow  end  jaw  and  has  a 
clearance  of  but  iV  in.  This  hollow  jaw,  the  pipe  W 
and  the  center  housing  are  all  filled  with  a  grease  of 
such  a  consistency  that  it  will  neither  melt  in  summer 
nor  congeal  in  winter. 

All  moving  parts  of  the  Durson  brake  regulators  are 
protected  by  grease- packed  housings.  They  have  been 
in  use  for  years  on  the  street  railways  of  Copenhagen, 
Malmo  and  Stockholm,  as  well  as  on  railway  lines  in  the 
northern  part  of  Europe.  Conditions  of  snow  and  ice  in 
these  localities  are  very  severe  and  prove  the  working 
qualities  of  the  regulator  under  the  most  unfavorable 
circumstances. 

The  only  parts  of  the  apparatus  which  are  subject 
to  wear  are  the  friction  plates  and  the  circular  ratchet. 
These  surfaces  are  steel  against  steel.  The  construction 
of  the  regulator  is  such  that  even  in  case  of  an  accident, 
it  will  continue  to  function  as  an  adjustable  turnbuckle 
until  repairs  can  be  made. 


Spring  Leaves  Tempered  Separately 

In  connection  with  the  short  article  relating  to  the 
hardening  of  elliptic  springs  as  published  in  the  July 
16  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  page  102, 
the  statement  was  made  that  the  sets  of  leaves  were 
bunched  together  and  heated  in  an  oil-fired  furnace. 
This  is  in  error  in  that  the  leaves  are  tempered  sep- 
arately and  then  assembled  and  banded.  Also  the  fur- 
nace is  coke-fired  instead  of  being  oil-fired,  as  previously 
stated. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


291 


Cutting  Device  for  Asphalt  Pavement 

AN  ATTACHMENT  which  can  be  put  on  any  ordi- 
l  \  nary  work  car  has  been  devised  by  the  Market 
Street  Railway  of  San  Francisco  for  making  a  cut 
li  in.  deep  in  asphalt  pavement  along  the  track.  The 
cut  can  be  made  as  the  car  moves  along  at  a  rate  of 
4  to  5  m.p.h.  In  addition  to  the  saving  in  cost,  a  great 
advantage  claimed  for  this  device  is  its  speed  of  opera- 
tion. It  has  been  used  without 
interfering  with  the  traffic  on  lines 
where  service  was  being  main- 
tained on  a  three-minute  headway. 
The  method  has  been  so  successful 
that  it  has  been  adopted  as  stand- 
ard throughout  the  system  and  no 
more  pavement  cuts  along  the  track 
are  being  made  by  hand  on  recon- 
struction jobs. 

The  cut  is  made  by  a  tool  which 
projects  downward  from  a  shoe 
carried  by  a  work  car  and  set  to 
ride  on  the  pavement  at  18  in.  or 
24  in.  from  the  rail  head.  The 
framework  supporting  the  shoe 
consists  of  struts  attached  to  the 
car  at  three  points  by  means  of  pins 
and  suitable  mountings  on  the  car  body.  The  frame- 
work supporting  the  shoe  can  be  attached  to  the  mount- 
ings in  about  fifteen  minutes.  Once  fastened  in  place, 
hinged  joints  make  it  possible  to  swing  the  device  up 
out  of  the  way  under  the  car  body,  where  it  is  held  by 
hooks  until  the  car  arrives  at  the  point  where  the  work 
is  to  be  done.  The  apparatus  is  so  arranged  that  it 
can  be  used  not  only  while  the  car  is  moving  ahead  in 
the  usual  direction  of  traffic,  but  also  in  the  reverse 
direction  by  turning  the  apparatus  around.  This  opera- 
tion requires  only  about  ten  minutes 

When  ready  to  begin  cutting  it  is  only  necessary  to 
unhook  the  framework  and  swing  it  down  so  the  shoe 
rests  on  the  pavement.  In  this  position  the  strut  which 
thrusts  the  cutting  tool  down  into  the  pavement  is  not 
yet  vertical  nor  does  it  carry  any  weight.  When  the 
car  moves  forward  a  few  inches,  however,  the  hinge  in 
the  strut  opens  still  wider,  the  strut  takes  a  vertical 


Framework  for  Cut- 
ting Tool 


Pavement  Cutting  Tool  in  Operation 

position  and,  as  it  tilts  the  car  body  2  or  3  in.  out  of 
plumb,  takes  a  considerable  weight  off  the  car  springs 
and  the  cutting  tool  sinks  into  the  asphalt.  The  car 
can  then  move  forward  at  a  rate  of  4  to  5  m.p.h.  leaving 
a  clean  cut  in  the  pavement.  The  depth  of  the  cut  can 
be  adjusted  by  changing  the  bolts  which  attach  the  tool 
to  the  shoe;  the  usual  depth  is  li  in.  and  the  width  f  in. 


When  cutting  pavement  in  very  cold  winter  weather 
it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  put  a  load  on  the  car  to 
prevent  the  cutting  tool  from  "riding"  on  the  pavement 
surface.  It  was  found  that  the  best  cutting  tools  were 
those  forged  from  old  carbon  steel  gads.  These  were 
superior  to  high-speed  steel.  The  tool  becomes  dulled 
and  requires  to  be  replaced  after  cutting  about  600  ft. 
in  the  summer  time  or  300  to  400  ft.  in  the  winter  time. 

The  design  of  the  cutter  was  worked  out  by  W.  D. 
Chamberlin,  principal  assistant  engineer.  B.  P.  Legare 
is  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way. 

Convenient  Test  Box 

MOST  shop  men  are  familiar  with  some  form  of  bell 
box  or  test  and  inspection  box,  which  they  use  for 
testing  out  connections,  locating  trouble  and  ringing 
out  circuits.  It  is  sometimes  more  convenient  to  use  a 
light  for  indicating  when  the  circuit  is  closed  than  to 
rely  on  the  ringing  of  a  bell  or  buzzer.  The  box  illus- 
trated which  provides  for  both  a  light  and  a  bell  has 
been  found  very  convenient  for  this  work. 

The  box  on  which  the  various  testing  apparatus  is 


Connections  for  Test  Box 

mounted  and  in  which  space  is  provided  for  four  dry 
cells  is  made  of  I -in.  wood,  and  is  6  }  in.  x  9  in.  x  11  in. 
in  size.  A  cleat  of  sufficient  size  so  that  approximately 
30  ft.  of  lamp  cord  can  be  conveniently  wound  up  is 
fastened  to  one  end  of  the  box.  The  opposite  end  forms 
a  convenient  place  for  mounting  the  bell.  A  double  pole 
double  throw  switch  is  necessary  for  cutting  out  either 
one  or  the  other  of  the  circuits  which  is  not  in  use  and 
the  light  can  be  located  in  a  convenient  position  adjacent 
to  the  switch. 

As  test  boxes  are  sometimes  submitted  to  hard  usage, 
it  is  desirable  to  protect  the  light  in  some  manner.  A 
satisfactory  method  has  been  found  to  mount  the  lamp 
in  a  block  of  wood  about  1  in.  square  and  3  in.  long,  with 
a  hole  drilled  in  one  end  large  enough  to  receive  a  small 
24-volt  lamp.  For  convenience  in  mounting  and  con- 
necting, the  wooden  block  should  be  sawed  in  half  and 
the  wires  from  the  lamp  sockets  can  come  out  of  two 
holes  at  the  opposite  end.  By  screwing  the  two  halves 
together,  all  are  protected.  A  leather  handle  for  the  top 
of  the  box  is  also  a  convenience  for  carrying.  The 
accompanying  illustration  shows  a  form  of  box  for  this 
use,  together  with  a  wiring  diagram  for  connecting  four 
dry  cells,  so  that  all  four  will  be  used  for  ringing  the 
bell  and  two  of  them  for  the  lamp  circuit. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE       ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Another  Park  Planned 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Sees  Money- 
Making  Opportunity  in  Burd 
Home  Tract 

The  Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company  has  made  plain  its  pur- 
pose in  purchasing  the  so-called  Burd 
Home  property  in  Delaware  County.  It 
is  contemplated  by  the  company  to  use 
the  property  as  a  public  park  and  play- 
ground. The  tract  acquired  consists 
of  thirty-two  acres  lying  west  of  the 
city  limits.  It  was  taken  over  in  the 
interests  of  the  Willow  Grove  Park 
Company,  operating  Willow  Grove 
Park.  The  opinion  of  T.  E.  Mitten, 
president  of  the  railway,  is  that  the 
operation  of  the  now  proposed  Burd 
Home  Park  will  not  lessen  the  attend- 
ance at  Willow  Grove  because  there 
are  more  people  desirous  of  this  kind 
of  entertainment  than  both  of  these 
parks  can  supply. 

New  Park  Has  Many  Advantages 

The  Burd  Home  Park  will  be  operated 
through  the  Willow  Grove  Park  Com- 
pany, to  which  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  has  advanced  $340,000  to  make 
a  down  payment  upon  the  land  at  Burd 
Home  Park.  It  is  explained  that  this 
sum  is  expected  to  be  repaid  during 
1922  from  the  sale  of  the  street  front- 
age of  the  Burd  Home  Park  and  from 
the  earnings  of  Willow  Grove  Park. 

The  Willow  Grove  Park  Company's 
further  indebtedness  consists  of  $75,- 
000  due  in  1924  and  $239,500  due  in 
1925.  Both  of  these  amounts  are  se- 
cured by  purchase  money  mortgage 
upon  the  Burd  Home  Park  property  and 
the  opinion  of  the  management  is  that 
they  can  easily  be  paid  from  the  future 
earnings  of  Willow  Grove  Park. 

Willow  Grove  Park  Now  Pays 

This  proposal  by  the  company  to 
start  a  new  park  naturally  has  directed 
attention  to  the  activities  of  the  com- 
pany at  famous  Willow  Grove  Park. 
This  latter  park,  known  all  over  the 
country,  was  opened  in  1896,  and  up 
to  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Mitten 
management  in  Philadelphia  had  always 
been  a  loser.  In  1910  it  was  operated 
at  a  loss  of  more  than  $25,000.  The 
former  management  of  the  railway  in 
1910  made  new  long-term  contracts 
with  concessionaires  for  the  control  of 
all  of  the  principal  attractions.  The 
railway  did  not  receive  sufficient  reve- 
nue from  the  amusements  to  pay  the 
cost  of  the  music,  the  policing  and  the 
administration  of  the  park. 

The  Mitten  management  at  once  di- 
rected itself  to  making  Willow  Grove 
Park  self-supporting  by  a  more  effec- 
tive administration.  This  has  been  ac- 
complished with  such  effect  that  Willow 
Grove  Park  during  the  ten  years,  1911 


to  1920,  earned  a  net  income  of  $444,- 
117.  At  the  beginning  of  the  1921  sea- 
son the  Willow  Grove  Park  Company 
purchased  for  $125,000  from  the  Ryan 
Amusement  Company  all  of  its  amuse- 
ments and  buildings  representing  an  in- 
vestment of  $320,000,  which  the  con- 
cessionaire had  a  right  to  remove  under 
his  contract  expiring  in  1920  and  1921. 
The  operation  of  these  purchased  con- 
cessions will,  it  is  estimated,  produce 
$125,000  of  net  earnings  for  the  year 
1921. 

Mr.  Mitten  anticipates  that  Willow 
Grove  Park  should  in  1922  and  there- 
after earn  a  net  income  in  excess  of 
$200,000  per  annum.  He  is  frank  to 
say,  however,  that  Willow  Grove  Park 
as  a  revenue  producer  for  the  Philadel- 
phia Rapid  Transit  by  way  of  added 
passengers  carried  has  always  proved 
a  disappointment  because  of  the  cost 
of  operating  the  long  lines  over  the 
extreme  grades  encountered  on  the 
York  Road  and  Glenside  routes.  With 
its  present  7-cent  cash  fare  with  four 
tickets  for  25  cents,  with  the  added 
zone  outside  the  city  limits,  the  com- 
pany is,  however,  now  earning  suf- 
ficient on  the  York  Road  and  Glenside 
lines  for  them  not  to  be  a  burden  on 
the  rest  of  the  system. 


Indianapolis  Company  May  Con- 
tract with  City 

Regulations  under  which  the  Indian- 
apolis (Ind.)  Street  Railway  shall  op- 
erate, in  the  place  of  those  specified  in 
the  franchise  which  the  company  sur- 
rendered several  weeks  ago,  may  yet 
be  fixed  by  a  contract  between  the  city 
and  the  company. 

Dr.  Henry  Jameson,  chairman  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  company, 
called  on  Mayor  Jewett  recently  and 
before  he  left  the  City  Hall  he  said  the 
company  had  never  taken  the  stand  that 
it  would  not  agree  to  a  contract  ar- 
rangement. 

Samuel  Ashby,  Corporation  Counsel 
for  the  city,  and  other  city  officials  have 
understood  since  the  last  conference 
between  the  company  officers  and  city 
officials  that  the  company  would  not 
agree  to  the  contract  method  of  fixing 
the  regulations. 

Since  the  last  conference,  the  jitney 
bus  problem  has  become  acute,  and  the 
company  has  asked  the  City  Council  to 
pass  an  ordinance  regulating  jitney  bus 
competition.  Some  Council  members, 
however,  felt  that  the  company  should 
come  to  some  agreement  concerning 
regulation  by  the  city  before  action  was 
taken  in  regard  to  the  jitney  bus  situa- 
tion. 

The  city  officials  have  felt  that  the 
contract  method  would  be  the  best  pol- 
icy, both  for  the  city  and  for  the  com- 
pany. 


Report  Against  Radials 

Ontario  Commission  Reports  Adversely 
Upon  Great  Transportation  Project 
— Government  Policy  Fixed 

An  adverse  report  on  the  project  for 
constructing  and  operating  a  number 
of  electric  railways  by  the  Ontario 
Hydro-electric  Commission,  through  an 
issue  of  bonds  guaranteed  by  the  gov- 
ernment, has  been  made  by  the  com- 
mission which  was  appointed  by  the 
provincial  government  to  investigate 
the  matter. 

Decision  against  the  construction  of 
additional  lines  and  development  of  the 
"radial"  system  is  based  on  the  pres- 
ent financial  situation  in  the  electric 
railroad  industry  generally,  possible 
competition  with  the  Canadian  Na- 
tional Railways  by  paralleling  lines  and 
the  desirability  of  testing  the  effect  of 
highway  development  before  undertak- 
ing a  program  of  electric  railway 
building. 

The  reasons  that  were  cited  were  as 
follows: 

The  financial  condition  of  electric  rail- 
ways in  Ontario  and  the  United  States  has 
been  precarious  and  unsatisfactory  and  the 
outlook  discouraging  ;  the  evidence  sub- 
mitted indicates  that  the  proposed  electric 
railways  would  not  be  self-supporting. 
Their  construction  paralleling  and  compet- 
ing with  the  Canadian  National  Railways 
system  would  be  economically  unsound,  and 
a  serious  blow  to  the  success  of  government 
ownership.  Until  the  Chippawa  power 
scheme,  estimated  to  cost  $60,000,000  or  up- 
ward, is  completed  and  shown  to  be  self- 
supporting,  the  government  would  not  be 
justified  in  endorsing  the  construction  of  an 
electric  railway  system  at  an  initial  esti- 
mated cost  of  $45,000,000. 

The  endorsement  of  bonds  by  the  province 
for  systems  of  electric  railways  at  the 
instance  of  the  municipalities  concerned  is 
held  highly  dangerous  and  likely  to  lead  the 
province  into  great  financial  difficulties,  as 
it  would  give  rise  to  demands  for  like 
accommodation  from  other  localities  which 
it  would  be  hard  to  refuse.  The  expenditure 
of  $25,000,000  on  public  highways  in  the 
province  having  been  begun,  it  would  be 
unwise  to  commence  the  construction  of 
electric  railways  until  the  effect  of  highway 
improvement  has  been  ascertained  and  the 
use  of  them  by  motor  cars  and  trucks  made 
clearly  apparent.  The  rapidly  increasing 
debts  and  financial  commitments  of  the 
Dominion,  Province  and  municipalities  have 
aroused  well-founded  apprehension  and  are 
a  cogent  reason  against  the  embarkation  in 
the  construction  of  the  contemplated  elec- 
tric railways. 

The  report  is  signed  by  four  of  five 
members  of  the  commission:  Judge 
Sutherland,  the  chairman;  General 
C.  H.  Mitchell,  W.  A.  Amos  and  A.  F. 
Macallum,  C.  E.  The  minority  report 
by  Frederick  Bancroft,  labor  represen- 
tative, controverts  most  of  the  conclu- 
sions arrived  at  in  the  majority  report, 
recommending  that  the  government 
should  adopt  the  principle  of  publicly 
owned  and  operated  electric  railways. 
He  states  that  unemployment  conditions 
should  be  taken  seriously  into  account 
and  that  the  hydro-radial  development 
would  bring  considerable  relief. 

It  is  anticipated  that  the  report  has 
determined  the  policy  of  the  Drury 
Government  with  respect  to  the  project. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


293 


Interurban  Objects  to  Relocating 
Tracks 

The  Columbus,  Delaware  &  Marion 
Electric  Company,  Columbus,  Ohio,  has 
filed  in  the  Ohio  Supreme  Court  its 
answer  to  the  orders  of  the  state  high- 
way commissioner  and  the  county  com- 
missioners of  Franklin  County  requir- 
ing it  to  move  its  tracks  from  the  right- 
hand  side  of  the  road  to  the  opposite 
side  while  the  stretch  of  highway  be- 
tween the  north  corporation  line  of 
Columbus  and  the  village  of  Worthing- 
ton  is  being  improved.  The  ouster  peti- 
tion was  entered  by  the  Attorney- 
General.. 

The  company  charges  that  the  Ohio 
state  highway  commissioner,  among 
others,  ignored  the  proposal  of  the  state 
board  of  administration  to  furnish 
prison-made  paving  brick  at  $33.50  per 
thousand  and  awarded  a  contract  for 
brick  to  a  private  concern  at  an  in- 
crease in  price  of  30  per  cent. 

Claims  are  also  set  up  that  the  com- 
missioner failed  to  award  the  contract 
for  the  improvement  of  the  highway 
within  the  ten-day  period  allowed  by 
law;  that  the  improvement  was  con- 
tracted for  by  the  commissioner  without 
the  approval  of  the  state  highway  advis- 
ory board — since  abolished  under  the 
Ohio  reorganization  code,  which  became 
operative  July  1 — and  that  tne  commis- 
sioner had  been  enjoined  from  proceed- 
ing with  the  improvement  through  in- 
junction proceedings  brought  before  the 
Franklin  County  Common  Pleas  Court 
and  allowed  by  that  tribunal. 

The  stretch  of  road  to  be  improved  is 
one  of  the  most  important  arteries  of 
travel  leading  to  and  from  Columbus 
and  is  located  north  of  Columbus.  The 
Attorney  General's  suit  was  brought  to 
compel  the  railway  to  move  its  tracks 
temporarily  in  order  to  permit  the  im- 
provement to  be  made. 


Engineer's  Supplemental  Report 
Presented 

Mr.  Ballard,  the  valuation  expert  for 
the  city  of  New  Orleans,  La.,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  negotiations  between  the 
city  and  the  New  Orleans  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  presented  his  supple- 
mental report  on  Aug.  13.  Neither  he 
nor  the  Commission  Council  would  dis- 
close the  contents  of  his  findings.  Mr. 
Ballard  intimated,  however,  that  the 
recommendations  made  by  him  are  in 
line  with  terms  the  Council  believes  the 
railway  will  accept.  The  Council  was 
to  confer  on  the  report  on  Aug.  15. 

The  Council  at  its  meeting  on  Aug.  9 
appointed  Wylie  M.  Barrow,  special 
counsel  in  the  injunction  proceedings  in- 
stituted by  the  receiver  of  the  New  Or- 
leans Railway  &  Light  Company.  The 
suit  was  brought  against  the  city,  in  the 
federal  court,  to  restrain  it  from  inter- 
fering with  the  collection  of  an  8-cent 
fare  by  the  railway. 

The  appointment  was  made  at  the  re- 
quest of  City  Attorney  Kittredge,  who 
stated  that  the  appointment  of  some  one 
well  versed  in  public  utility  matters  as 
an  aid  to  him  in  the  conduct  of  the  case 
was  urgently  needed,  and  that  Mr.  Bar- 


row, as  assistant  to  the  Attorney  Gen- 
eral of  the  States  and  now  acting  as 
counsel  for  the  State  Railroad  Commis- 
sion, would  be  of  service  in  the  litigation 
pending  before  Special  Maste  Chaffe,  re- 
cently appointed  by  Judge  Foster  to 
hear  the  evidence  in  the  suit. 


10  Per  Cent  Wage  Cut  in  Dallas 

The  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  has  an- 
nounced a  reduction  of  10  per  cent  in 
the  pay  of  all  motormen  and  conduct- 
ors and  employees  in  the  mechanical 
and  track  departments  of  the  company. 
Richard  Meriwether,  vice-president  and 
general  manager,  declares  that  the  re- 
duction was  made  necessary  through 
failure  of  the  company  to  get  a  7-cent 
fare  from  the  city  and  the  falling  off  of 
about  $800  a  day  in  revenues  of  the 
company.  The  reduction  affects  about 
1,000  men  and  will  clip  something  like 
$8,000  a  month  from  the  company's 
payroll. 

The  action  was  decided  on  after  con- 
ferences with  the  employees,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  employees  agreed 
to  accept  the  reduction  without  protest. 
Platform  men  who  have  been  receiving 
from  46  to  50  cents  an  hour,  on  two-man 
cars,  and  50  to  54  cents  an  hour  on  the 
one-man  cars,  will  get  5  cents  an  hour 
less  under  the  new  scale.  Salaries  of 
office  employees  who  are  paid  by  the 
month  will  also  be  reduced  10  per  cent. 


Wage  Cut  Negotiated  in  Denver 

Negotiations  between  the  receiver  of 
the  Denver  (Col.)  Tramway  and  the 
representatives  of  the  employees  look- 
ing toward  a  wage  readjustment  were 
concluded  on  Aug.  9,  when  the  latter 
accepted  the  proposition  submitted  to 
them.  The  new  scale  became  effective 
on  Aug.  16  and  is  to  continue  for  a 
period  of  nine  months:  The  former 
rates  and  the  new  platform  wage  scale 
in  cents  per  hour  follow: 

Old  New- 
Rate  Rate 

First   three    months   53  45 

Next  nine  months   56  47 

Second  year    58  50 

Third  year  and  thereafter   —  52 

Present  trainmen  in  the  employ  of 
the  company  for  less  than  three  months 
will  receive,  after  the  effective  date, 
the  second  year  rate  or  50  cents  an  hour 
until  the  expiration  of  their  respective 
three-months'  period  and  thereafter  the 
maximum  rate  of  52  cents  an  hour. 

All  other  trainmen  now  in  the  service 
of  the  company  will  receive,  after  the 
effective  date,  the  maximum  rate  or  52 
cents  an  hour. 

Trainmen  entering  service  on  or  after 
Aug.  16  will  receive  the  lowest  rate  in 
the  wage  scale. 

A  bonus  system,  based  upon  perform- 
ance, is  to  be  worked  out  by  the  em- 
ployees, representatives  and  the  man- 
agement under  which  trainmen  will  be 
able  to  increase  their  monthly  wage 
somewhat. 

Reductions  in  the  wage  scales  of  all 
other  hourly  paid  employees,  corres- 
ponding to  the  reduction  in  the  train- 
men's scale,  were  also  made  effective  on 
Aug.  16. 


12  Per  Cent  Wage  Cut  in  Haverhill 

The  pay  of  the  300  employes  of  the 
Massachusetts  Northeastern  Electric 
Railway,  Haverhill,  Mass.,  will  be  re- 
duced 12  per  cent,  under  the  decision 
of  the  Arbitration  Board  filed  Aug.  11. 

When  the  wage  agreement  expired 
on  May  1,  the  employees  sought  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  old  rate  of  60  cents  an 
hour,  and  the  street  railway  officials, 
through  President  David  A.  Belden,  re- 
quested a  cut  of  10  cents. 

P.  F.  Sullivan,  ex-president  of  the 
Bay  State  Street  Railway,  Thomas  H. 
Mahoney  of  Boston  and  James  H. 
Vahey  were  appointed  as  arbitrators. 
The  finding  is  signed  by  Messrs.  Maho- 
ney and  Sullivan,  with  a  dissenting 
opinion  by  Mr.  Vahey. 

The  new  scale  is  retroactive  to  May 
1,  and  the  new  54  4-5  cents  per  hour 
will  continue  in  effect  until  May  1,  next. 

Arthur  G.  Wadleigh,  one  of  the  public 
trustees  of  the  Eastern  Massachusetts 
Street  Railway,  appeared  as  counsel  for 
the  Massachusetts  Northeastern. 


Columbus  Company  Struggling 
Against  Opposition 

The  troubles  of  the  Columbus  Rail- 
way, Power  &  Light  Company,  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  in  its  efforts  to  comply  with 
the  orders  of  the  City  Council  to 
extend  its  lines  to  the  suburb  of  Shep- 
ard  are  not  yet  over.  Condemnation 
proceedings  brought  by  the  railway  in 
the  probate  court  of  Franklin  County, 
following  unsuccessful  negotiations 
with  the  Columbus,  New  Albany  & 
Johnstown  Traction  Company  to  buy 
that  company's  line,  extending  from 
Columbus  to  Shepard,  a  distance  of  II 
miles,  have  been  held  up  by  suit 
brought  by  the  interurban  railway,  at- 
tacking the  jurisdiction  of  the  probate 
court. 

The  Franklin  County  Appellate  Court, 
in  which  the  injunction  proceedings 
were  brought  by  the  Columbus,  New 
Albany  &  Johnstown  Traction  Com- 
pany decided  against  that  line  and  in 
favor  of  the  probate  court,  and  the 
defeated  traction  company  now  seeks 
admission  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Its  petition  filed  in  the  Ohio  high 
court  a  few  days  ago  attacks  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Appellate  Court,  and  holds 
that  the  State  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion alone  has  jurisdiction. 


Before  and  After — In  Chicago 

What  Chicago  was  fifty  years  ago  in 
the  days  of  horse-drawn  rigs  and  what 
she  is  today  with  all  the  conveniences 
and  luxuries  which  electricity  can  sup- 
ply, is  told  in  a  recent  pamphlet  pub- 
lished by  the  Illinois  Committee  on  Pub- 
lic Utility  Information.  "Chicago's 
Genii,  The  Public  Utilities,"  reviews 
some  historical  data  concerning  the 
growth  of  the  electric  light,  power  and 
gas  service  in  this  great  city.  One  of 
the  best  examples  of  Chicago's  Half 
Century  Miracle  is  the  electric  railway 
system  which  ranks  first  in  the  number 
of  miles  of  tracks,  number  of  cars  and 
the  number  of  passengers  carried. 


294 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


Developments  Being  Awaited 

Detroit    United    Railway    Makes  No 
Moves  to  Comply  With  Recent 
Ouster  Ordinance 

Although  important  developments 
have  been  expected  in  Detroit  relative 
to  the  railway  situation  since  the  ordi- 
nance was  passed  by  the  City  Council, 
requiring  the  Detroit  United  Railway 
to  remove  its  tracks  from  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue,  no  move  has 
been  made  by  the  company  toward  com- 
plying with  the  ouster,  and  the  com- 
pany's contention  still  stands  that  the 
price  named  by  the  city  for  these  lines 
will  not  be  accepted. 

Construction  Work  Going  Ahead 

Construction  work  on  the  municipal 
ownership  lines  is  being  carried  out  ac- 
cording to  schedule,  and  the  Charlevoix- 
Mack-Buchanan  crosstown  line  has 
been  extended  about  2  miles  and  ten 
cars  added.  Other  sections  of  the 
municipal  lines  will  soon  be  in  opera- 
tion, according  to  Joseph  S.  Goodwin, 
general  manager  of  the  system.  The 
extension  of  the  crosstown  line  is  the 
first  since  crossings  were  installed  at 
intersections  with  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  tracks  and  other  railroads  ac- 
cording to  the  plans  authorized  by  the 
Michigan  State  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission. 

It  was  announced  by  the  city  officials 
that  the  extension  of  the  municipal 
crosstown  line  increased  the  receipts 
from  the  system  about  25  per  cent.  A 
statement  of  receipts  and  expenditures 
of  the  municipal  lines  for  the  first  six 
months  in  1921  is  to  be  issued  by  the 
City  Controller's  office  as  soon  as  all 
power  bills  for  the  operation  of  the 
lines  are  received. 

Mayor  Couzens  is  negotiating  with 
the  Ontario  Hydro-Electric  Power  Com- 
mission for  electric  power  from  the 
commission's  Niagara  development  to 
operate  the  municipal  lines  in  Detroit. 
Niagara  power  is  already  being  used 
across  the  Detroit  River  in  Windsor. 

Ouster  Ordinance  Attacked 

The  starting  of  petitions  calling  for 
a  referendum  on  the  ouster  ordinance 
has  been  intimated  as  the  first  move 
in  a  plan  to  terminate  the  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue  ouster  and  to 
have  the  existing  municipal  lines  oper- 
ated by  a  private  company.  The  plan 
is  backed  by  a  number  of  business  men, 
many  of  them  located  on  the  two  lines 
in  question.  The  plan  provides  for  the 
submission  of  two  questions  to  the 
voters. 

It  is  cited  that  under  the  referendum 
clause  of  the  city  charter,  an  ordinance 
passed  by  the  City  Council,  such  as  the 
ouster  ordinance,  must  be  submitted  to 
a  vote  of  the  people  on  presentation  of 
a  petition  signed  by  10  per  cent  of  the 
voters.  The  other  proposed  action  is 
an  initiative  ordinance  repealing  the 
municipal  street  railway  ordinance,  ap- 
proved by  the  voters  on  April  5,  1920. 
The  lease  of  the  lines  to  a  private  com- 
pany is  proposed. 


The  reasons  given  by  the  proponents 
of  the  plan  include  the  belief  that  the 
city's  interest  can  best  be  served  by 
halting  the  expenditure  of  city  money 
for  street  railway  purposes  and  by  pro- 
viding some  feasible  solution  of  the 
traction  problem.  In  event  of  the  fil- 
ing of  a  petition  providing  for  the  ref- 
erendum of  the  ouster  ordinance,  the 
ordinance,  it  is  cited,  will  be  automa- 
tically suspended  until  the  city  clerk 
has  certified  as  to  the  number  of  signa- 
tures on  the  petition.  If  sufficient  sig- 
natures have  been  obtained  the  ouster 
ordinance  cannot  become  effective  until 
after  the  ordinance  has  been  ratified  by 
the  voters. 


Montreal  Cut  Put  Into  Effect 

Developments  in  the  Montreal  (Que.) 
Tramways  wage  situation  have  followed 
a  quiet  course.  On  Aug.  16  the  com- 
pany put  into  effect  its  announced 
reduction  of  12J  per  cent.  This  cut 
it  substituted  for  the  20  per  cent 
reduction  first  proposed,  against  which 
the  union  representatives  protested, 
contending  for  a  reduction  of  only  10 
per  cent.  The  employees,  of  course, 
will  not  feel  the  effect  of  the  cut  until 
they  receive  their  half-monthly  pay 
checks  on  Aug.  31. 

The  company  having  failed  to  nomi- 
nate a  representative  on  the  board  of 
arbitration  for  which  the  employees 
applied  to  the  Federal  Department  of 
Labor,  the  Department  has  appointed 
A.  P.  Frigon,  a  Montreal  bond  dealer, 
to  act  for  the  company.  The  men's 
representative,  A.  Brossard,  a  Montreal 
lawyer,  will  confer  with  Mr.  Frigon 
with  a  view  to  choosing  a  third  arbi- 
trator, and  if  they  cannot  agree  upon 
a  nomination,  the  Department  of  Labor 
will  select  the  third  man. 

The  employees  will  remain  at  work 
under  the  reduced  scale,  pending  the 
outcome  of  the  arbitration.  Under  the 
Canadian  legislation  covering  indus- 
trial disputes  affecting  public  utilities, 
neither  party  is  obliged  to  accept  the 
award  of  an  arbitration  board,  but  the 
delay  secured  is  a  check  upon  rash 
action,  and  public  opinion,  based  upon 
the  presentation  of  both  sides  of  the 
case  before  a  properly-constituted  tri- 
bunal, is  generally  a  strong  factor  in 
bringing  about  ultimately  an  amicable 
settlement. 


Wages  Reduced  6  Cents  an  Hour 

A  new  wage  agreement  with  the  plat- 
form men  of  the  San  Francisco-Oakland 
Terminal  Railways,  Oakland,  Cal.,  went 
into  effect  on  Aug.  1.  The  new  scale 
follows : 

Traction  Division  —  First  three 
months,  46  cents  an  hour.  Next  nine 
months,  49  cents  an  hour.  Second  year 
and  thereafter,  53  cents  an  hour. 

Key  Division — First  three  months,  48 
cents  an  hour.  Next  nine  months,  51 
cents  an  hour.  Second  year  and  there- 
after, 55  cents  an  hour. 

This  scale  was  incorrectly  given  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  issue 
of  July  30. 


News  Notes 


Suburban  Strike  Settled. — The  strike 
on  the  Syracuse  &  Suburban  Railroad, 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  which  has  been  in  force 
two  weeks,  was  ended  on  Aug.  16,  and 
C.  Loomis  Allen,  general  manager  of 
the  road,  accepted  the  offer  of  the  men 
to  return  to  work  at  a  wage  schedule 
of  45  cents  an  hour.  The  men  struck 
when  they  quarreled  with  officials 
over  terms  of  an  impending  arbitration 
agreement. 

No  Wage  Cut  at  Present. — Officials 
of  the  Indiana  Service  Corporation, 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  will  not  take  up  the 
matter  of  a  wage  cut  on  the  city  lines 
before  the  middle  of  September.  Presi- 
dent Feustel  has  announced  that  al- 
though the  matter  of  a  cut  had  been 
considered,  a  promise  had  been  made  to 
the  employees  that  no  such  action  would 
be  taken  definitely  until  the  middle  of 
September  and  the  company  has  stated 
that  it  will  hold  to  its  promise. 

City  Won't  Appropriate  Money. — The 
new  transit  commission  of  New  York 
City  is  unable  to  carry  out  its  plan  for 
the  completion  of  transportation  facili- 
ties owing  to  the  city's  holding  up 
thirty-one  contracts.  At  a  recent  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  of  Estimate  the  Mayor 
refused  to  have  read  the  commission's 
request  for  approval  of  the  urgently 
needed  improvement.  It  was  stated  at 
the  transit  commission's  office  that  the 
construction  could  not  be  started  now 
until  next  spring  as  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate had  adjourned  its  regular  ses- 
sions until  Sept.  30. 

Compromise  in  Macon. — Trainmen  of 
the  Macon  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Macon,  Ga.,  have  agreed  to  a  wage  cut 
of  4  cents  an  hour.  The  company 
wanted  to  cut  the  wages  6  cents  an 
hour  but  agreed  to  compromise  on  4 
cents.  The  new  scale  ranges  from  36 
cents  an  hour  for  beginners  to  49  cents 
for  those  who  have  been  in  the  service 
for  more  than  a  year.  The  new  agree- 
ment was  signed  by  the  men  on  Aug.  3. 
It  will  be  binding  for  one  year.  The 
company's  business  has  decreased  20 
per  cent  during  the  past  year  compared 
with  the  previous  year. 

Vacation  Issue  Advanced  Again. — - 
In  the  wage  adjustment  of  the  plat- 
form men  of  the  Community  Traction 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  the  two  weeks' 
vacation  with  pay  was  given  up  by 
the  men.  After  the  election  of  a  new 
business  agent  of  the  union,  however, 
the  men  asked  for  re-opening  of  the 
vacation  issue.  The  new  agent  claims 
that  the  men  didn't  understand  what 
they  were  voting  for  when  they  ap- 
proved the  contract  which  eliminated 
the  vacations.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
anything  can  be  done  at  this  date  on 
the  vacation  issue.  The  contracts  are 
signed  and  the  action  taken  was  carried 
out  in  accordance  with  the  union  rules. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


295 


LilJilTD.KMiiliinin.U 


it,,-  -,n,Tf  r  n-:t 


Financial  and  Corporate 


Merger  in  Indiana 

Utilities    Serving    Seventeen  Counties 
to  Be  Brought  Together  Under 
One  Head 

Seven  Indiana  utilities  propose  to 
consolidate  as  the  Indiana  Electric 
Corporation.  Authority  to  carry  out 
the  plan  is  asked  in  a  petition  which 
was  filed  with  the  Indiana  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission.  There  will  be  a  public 
hearing  before  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission to  give  the  commission  infor- 
mation concerning  the  proposed  merger. 
Articles  of  incorporation  for  the  cor- 
poration, capitalized  nominally  at  $10,- 
00.0  have  been  filed  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  State 

The  companies  involved  in  the  merger 
are  the  Merchants'  Heat  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Indianapolis;  the  Indiana  Rail- 
ways &  Light  Company,  Kokomo;  the 
Elkhart  Gas  &  Fuel  Company;  the  Val- 
paraiso Lighting  Company;  the  Wabash 
Valley  Electric  Company,  Clinton;  the 
Putnam  Electric  Company,  Greencastle, 
and  the  Cayuga  Electric  Company.  The 
companies  serve  seventeen  counties. 

It  is  the  ultimate  intention  of  the  men 
backing  the  enterprise  to  locate  a 
power  house  on  the  Wabash  River  in 
Vigo  County,  probably  north  of  Terre 
Haute,  at  an  expenditure  of  several 
millions  of  dollars  and  to  connect  it 
with  a  system  of  transmission  wires 
which  will  deliver  electric  current  from 
the  Indiana  coal  fields  to  many  parts 
of  the  state.  A  triangular  transmis- 
sion line  300  miles  long  would  dis- 
tribute the  current,  one  line  extending 
from  the  central  plant  to  Kokomo,  an- 
other to  Indianapolis  and  the  third 
from  Kokomo  to  Indianapolis. 

The  incorporators  of  the  Indiana  Elec- 
tric Corporation  are  Joseph  H.  Brewer, 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  president  of  the 
Merchants'  Heat  &  Light  Company; 
Charles  O'Brien  Murphy,  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Merchants' 
Heat  &  Light  Company;  Paul  D.  Bird- 
sail,  secretary  of  the  Merchants  com- 
pany; Lex  J.  Kh-kpatrick,  Kokomo, 
vice-president  of  the  Indiana  Railways 
&  Light  Company;  Marshall  V.  Robb, 
Clinton,  secretary  of  the  Wabash  Val- 
ley Electric  Company.  The  board  of 
directors  is  made  up  of  the  incorpora- 
tors. Mr.  Brewer  is  president  of  the 
board  of  directors,  Mr.  Murphy  is  vice- 
president  and  treasurer,  Mr.  Kirkpat- 
rick  is  a  vice-president,  and  Mr.  Bird- 
sail  is  secretary. 

The  plan  of  financing  embraces  the 
acquisition  of  the  various  properties 
by  issuing  $4,000,000  in  common  stock 
and  $1,850,000  in  8  per  cent  preferred 
stock;  by  issuing  $3,250,000  in  7.5  per 
cent  fifteen-year  first  and  refunding 
bonds;  by  issuing  $2,250,000  in  7.5  per 
cent  seriel  bonds  maturing  within  fif- 
teen years;  by  issuing  $750,000  in  one- 
year  8  per  cent  notes. 


The  bankers  concerned  in  underwrit- 
ing the  securities  of  the  new  company 
are  Halsey,  Stuart  &  Company,  the 
Harris  Trust  Company,  and  Paine, 
Webber  &  Company,  all  of  Chicago. 

It  is  planned  to  have  the  Indiana 
Electric  Corporation  acquire  all  the 
properties  of  the  merged  companies 
free  from  all  liens.  The  petition  for 
authority  to  complete  the  merger  plan 
sets  out  that  a  sum  of  $600,000  will 
supply  sufficient  capital  necessary  for 
the  efficient  and  economical  operation 
of  the  utilities  owned  by  the  various 
corporations. 


Ohio  Electric  Segregation 
Approved 

Federal  Judge  John  M.  Killits  at  To- 
ledo has  issued  an  order  returning  aux- 
iliary lines  operated  by  the  Ohio  Elec- 
tric Railway  to  independent  control  and 
absolved  the  Ohio  Electric  of  all  liens, 
demands  and  claims  for  rental  by  the 
subsidiary  companies. 

The  order  was  issued  after  an  agree- 
ment had  been  executed  by  the  re- 
ceivers for  the  Indiana,  Columbus  & 
Eastern  Traction  Company,  The  Co- 
lumbus, Newark  &  Zanesville  Electric 
Railway,  and  the  Fort  Wayne,  Van 
Wert  &  Lima  Traction  Company. 

B.  J.  Jones  was  appointed  receiver  for 
the  Ohio  Electric  on  Jan.  26.  He  asked 
for  separation  of  the  companies  on 
June  15. 

Judge  Killits  also  approved  a  con- 
tract entered  into  by  J.  Harvey 
McClure,  receiver  for  the  Indiana,  Co- 
lumbus &  Eastern  Traction  Company, 
with  Day  &  Zimmerman,  Inc.,  Phila- 
delphia, who  will  operate  the  road. 
The  engineering  company  will  receive 
$1,000  a  month  and  expenses  as  com- 
pensation. 


Financial  Authority  Points  Out 
D.  U.  R.'s  Weak  Spots 

Lack  of  a  comprehensive  financing- 
plan  and  "absentee  ownership"  are 
pointed  out  by  the  Wall  Street  Journal 
as  the  weak  spots  in  the  financial  struc- 
ture of  the  Detroit  United  Railway.  The 
article,  critical  of  the  Detroit  United 
Railway,  appeared  in  the  issue  for  Aug. 
16. 

An  official  of  the  Street  Railway 
Commission  is  quoted  as  estimating  that 
the  Detroit  United  will  be  eliminated 
as  a  city  transportation  medium  in  De- 
troit within  five  years. 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  considers 
the  company's  interurban  lines  "the 
largest  and,  perhaps,  the  most  strateg- 
ically stiuated  in  the  country."  It  ap- 
parently sees  in  them  the  hope  of  the 
company  for  the  future,  for  it  says  that 
"freed  of  political  bickerings  and  expen- 
sive local  campaigns  the  company,  it  is 
expected,  will  be  in  a  more  satisfactory 
position  as  a  strictly  interurban  car- 
rier." 

Despite    the    arbitrary    attitude  of 

Mayor  Couzens  with  respect  to  the  very 

low  price  which  he  has  fixed  for  the 

Woodward  and  Fort  Street  lines  of  the 

company  the  Wall  Street  Journal  is  of 

the  opinion  that  "payment  for  lines 

taken  over  -will  finally  of  necessity  be 

based  on  a  just  estimate  of  their  value." 

In  conclusion  the  paper  says: 

There  have  been  two  weak  points  in  De- 
troit United's  financial  structure — lack  of  a 
comprehensive  financing  plan  and  "absentee 
ownership."  Practically  all  stock  is  held 
outside  Detroit,  much  of  it  in  Canada.  It  is 
not  impossible  that  after  the  present  politi- 
cal trouble  is  settled  the  company  may  find 
it  advantageous  to  offer  stock  to  Detroiters. 
The  7  per  cent  notes  are  due  in  19  23  and 
other  obligations  mature  up  to  1932.  It  is 
understood  that  a  definite  program  is  being 
worked  out  to  provide  for  this  situation. 


Adrian  Lines  May  Suspend 

Discontinuance  of  service  on  the  Ad- 
rian (Mich.)  Street  Railway,  a  Doherty 
property,  is  threatened  on  account  of  a 
boost  in  the  price  of  electric  current  by 
the  Toledo  &  Western  Railway  effective 
on  Aug.  20. 

The  railway  officials  claim  that  the 
Adrian  lines  have  been  losing  money 
for  some  time.  An  increase  in  fare 
from  5  to  10  cents  about  a  year  ago 
failed  to  make  up  for  the  loss  of  patron- 
age by  the  growth  of  automobile  travel. 

The  city  lines  have  always  paid  about 
$2  a  car  per  day  for  power  service 
from  the  Toledo  &  Western,  but  this 
line  is  in  the  hands  of  receivers  and  has 
raised  the  price  of  energy. 

It  is  said  that  the  Adrian  property, 
if  junked,  would  net  owners  about  $30,- 
000.  This  is  the  price  asked  for  the 
line. 

There  is  a  possibility  of  the  city 
buying  the  line. 


Monongahela  Stock  Sells  Well 

The  sale  of  preferred  stock  of  the 
Monongahela  Power  &  Railway  Com- 
pany, Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  which  was 
started  on  May  16,  1921,  has  greatly 
exceeded  expectations.  Tol  date  the 
company  has  sold  18,746  shares,  the  par 
value  of  which  is  nearly  $470,000.  The 
shares  which  have  been  sold  to  old 
stockholders  number  11,583  and  there 
have  been  7,163  new  stockholders  since 
the  sale  began. 

The  stockholders  who  bought  their 
shares  before  June  25  have  had  their 
quarterly  dividend  checks  mailed  to 
them.  The  dividend  is  at  the  rate  of 
6  per  cent  per  annum  on  the  par  value 
of  the  stock  or  nearly  8  per  cent  on  the 
amount  paid  for  the  stock. 

The  additional  stock  has  been  sold 
largely  throughout  the  territory  where 
the  company  operates,  that  is  to  say, 
in  Fairmont,  Mannington,  Clarksburg, 
Weston,  Shinnston,  Philippi  also  in 
Parkersburg  and  other  places  in  that 
vicinity. 

The  company  attributes  the  splendid 
success  of  this  sale  to  the  fact  that  it 
is  the  first  opportunity  that  local  people 
have  had  to  become  shareholders  in  the 
company.  Under  an  arrangement  which 
makes  the  acquisition  of  shares  particu- 
larly attractive. 


296 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  & 


Suspension  and  Receivership  in  Saginaw 

Failure  to  Curb  Jitneys  and  to  Grant  Fare  Relief 
Throws  Line  Into  Bankruptcy 

Since  midnight  of  Aug.  10  citizens  of  Saginaw  and  Bay  City,  Mich.,  have  been 
forced  to  rely  entirely  upon  jitneys  for  their  transportation,  for  at  that  time 
the  cars  of  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway  were  put  into  the  carhouses.  On 
that  day  the  company  asked  for  a  receiver  and  placed  itself  in  bankruptcy. 
The  proceedings  took  place  in  Bay  City  before  George  A.  Marsten,  referee 
in  bankruptcy  for  the  United  States  district  court  of  the  Eastern  District  of 
Michigan,  Judge  Arthur  L.  Tuttle  of  this  court  being  out  of  the  district.  Otto 
Schupp,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Saginaw,  was  named  receiver  to  conserve 
the  property  pending  the  appointment  of  a  trustee. 


THE  petition  in  bankruptcy  was  filed 
by  the  Commonwealth  Power,  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  as  the  heaviest 
creditor,  Booth  &  Boyd  Lumber  Com- 
pany, Saginaw,  and  the  Jennison  Hard- 
ware Company,  Bay  City.  The  Com- 
monwealth Company  is  also  the  owner 
of  the  bankrupt  corporation. 

The  railway  owes  the  Commonwealth 
Company  $1,415,509  for  money  advanced 
as  loans  to  pay  for  improvements,  inter- 
est and  operating  expenses  and  thus 
keep  the  property  going.  The  Common- 
wealth Company  could  not  continue  to 
put  money  into  a  steadily  losing  prop- 
erty. 

The  railway's  total  liabilities  in  bonds, 
notes  and  accounts  payable  and  the 
loans  from  the  Commonwealth,  but 
exclusive  of  stock,  are  given  as  $3,588, 
851,  with  assets  in  excess  of  $5,000,000. 

Following  the  decision  of  the  cred- 
itors to  file  a  petition  in  bankruptcy, 
the  board  of  directors  of  the  Saginaw- 
Bay  City  Railway,  with  all  members 
present,  adopted  resolutions  expresing 
willingness  to  have  the  company  ad- 
judged a  bankrupt,  as  the  only  possible 
recourse. 

John  A.  Cleveland,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Saginaw-Bay 
City  Railway,  said: 

This  action  is  deplorable,  but  as  our 
people  commonly  know,  it  was  inevitable. 
We  had  no  other  recourse.  We  could  get 
no  more  money  from  the  Commonwealth 
Company  to  carry  us  while  struggling  in 
a  vain  hope  of  being  allowed  to  charge 
fares  that  would  enable  us  to  pay  our  own 
way.  We  have  been  trying  for  several  years 
to  make  ends  meet  on  inadequate  fares 
and  to  get  fares  that  would  be  reasonable 
and  fair.  We  had  hoped  that  the  last  two 
propositions  submitted  to  our  two  cities 
would  carry  and  save  us  from  this  fate,  but 
the  proposed  new  franchise  in  Saginaw  and 
the  proposed  amendment  to  our  franchise 
in  Bay  City,  relieving  us  of  paving,  were 
decisively  defeated.  That  was  the  climax 
and  we  are  out  of  business  as  a  conse- 
quence. Despite  the  fact  that  the  people 
by  their  action  said  they  wanted  jitneys, 
I  do  not  believe  that  either  Saginaw  or 
Bay  City  is  a  jitney  town  or  wants  to  be 
known  abroad  as  such. 

More  than  300  men  are  thrown  out 
of  employment  in  Saginaw  and  Bay 
City  as  a  result  of  the  bankruptcy. 

Following  default  of  interest  due  on 
Aug.  1  on  Saginaw  Valley  Traction 
Company  first  mortgage  5  per  cent 
bonds  (a  lien  on  the  company's  prop- 
erty in  Saginaw  and  the  interurban  line 
to  Bay  City),  petition  was  filed  by  the 
Commonwealth  Power  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  which  is  the  heaviest  creditor 
and  also  owner  of  the  entire  capital 
stock  of  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway. 

B.  C.  Cobb,  vice-president  of  the  Com- 
monwealth Company,  stated  in  part: 


The  officials  of  the  Commonwealth  Power. 
Railway  &  -Light  Company,  owners  of  all  of 
the  stock  of  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway, 
regret  exceedingly,  and  I  believe  more  than 
anyone  else  possibly  can,  the  conditions 
that  have  made  necessary  the  cessation  of 
street  railway  service  in  Saginaw  and  Bay 
City.  The  Commonwealth  company  and  the 
Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway  have  done 
everything  in  their  power  to  keep  the  street 
cars  running  and  they  did  keep  them  run- 
ning and  serving  the  people  until  the  voters 
of  both  cities  made  it  impossible  to  con- 
tinue. 

The  street  railway  situation  in  Saginaw 
and  Bay  City  has  been  most  unfortunate 
for  the  last  three  years.  The  street  ears 
have  been  kept  running,  not  only  without 
any  return  on  the  investment,  but  with 
actual  and  large  deficits. 

Increase  Insufficient 

The  majority  of  the  city  authorities  in 
both  cities  have  all  along  disregarded  the 
fact  that  a  public  utility,  like  any  other 
business,  can  continue  to  serve  only  as  it  is 
allowed  to  earn.  Although  our  rates  of  fare 
were  increased  to  some  extent,  the  increase 
was  never  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  cope  with 
the  increased  cost  of  operation  and.  further- 
more, we  were  forced  to  miet  the  unreg- 
ulated and  unfair  jitney  competition  which 
city  authorities  not  only  allowed,  but  en- 
couraged. The  present  results,  therefore, 
were  inevitable. 

During  the  last  two  years  there  have  been 
several  strikes  and  consequent  interruptions 
in  the  street  railway  service  in  these  two 
cities,  owing  to  the  company's  inability  to 
increase  the  wages  of  its  men  because  it 
was  not  permitted  to  charge  fares  that 
would  make  it  possible  so  to  do. 

In  June  of  this  year  the  authorities  of 
these  two  cities  were  plainly  told  by  the 
company's  officials  that  unless  they  gave 
relief  in  the  way  of  increased  fares,  aban- 
donment of  the  burdensome  paving  charges 
and  the  elimination  of  jitneyrs,  the  company 
could  not  continue  to  serve  and  would  be 
forced  into  bankruptcy. 

The  majority  of  the  authorities  in  both 
cities  positively  refused  to  grant  us  this 
relief,  but  they  did  finally  adopt  and  sub- 
mit ordinances  to  the  voters  covering  the 
fare  and  paving  provisions  promised,  if  the 
ordinances  carried  to  regulate  the  jitneys. 
These  ordinances  were  defeated  in  both 
cities. 

In  addition  to  its  original  investment  in 
the  property  upon  which  it  received  a 
return  for  only  a  short  time,  the  Common- 
wealth company  is  a  creditor  of  the 
Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway  to  a  large 
amount  for  cash  loaned  it  to  pay  the  cost 
of  improvements,  interest  and  operating  ex- 
penses. When  the  voters  by  their  ballots 
said  that  the  service  rendered  was  no 
longer  desired,  there  was  nothing  left  for 
the  Commonwealth  company  to  do  but  stop 
putting  up  money,  regardless  of  its  faith  in 
the  future  of  the  two  cities  and  its  belief 
that  they  are  not  jitney  towns,  and  there 
was  nothing  that  the  Saginaw-Bay  City 
Railway  could  do  but  quit. 

In  addition  to  its  loss  on  its  original 
investment,  the  Commonwealth  company  is 
a  common,  unsecured  creditor  to  the 
amount  of  $1,415,509.  It  is  therefore  a 
big  loser  and  I  am  pleased  to  add,  a  good 
loser. 

Future  Up  to  Cities 

I  repeat  what  the  people  of  these  cities 
know,  that  these  companies  have  done 
everything  in  their  power  to  continue  serv- 
ice and  avert  this  calamity  not  only  to  the 
companies,  but  to  both  cities  and  to  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  both  cities.  It  is 
a  calamity  to  business.  It  is  a  calamity 
to  labor,  to  every  interest  and  phase  of  life 
and  we  deplore  it. 

The  future  is  up  to  these  two  cities.  No 
reasonable  street  railway  service  can  be 
maintained    unless    jitney    competition  is 


eliminated,  reasonable  fares  charged  and 
the  company  relieved  of  the  heavy  expense 
of  paving. 

I  do  not  believe  in  municipal  ownership- 
and  operation  of  public  utilities,  but  it  may 
be  considered  that  the  present  situation 
presents  to  Saginaw  and  Bay  City  an  oppor- 
tunity to  acquire  the  railway  property  at 
a  reasonable  price ;  but  having  made  the 
operation  of  the  railway  property  impos- 
sible, they  cannot  obtain  it  for  less  than  a 
reasonable  price.  So  far  as  the  Common- 
wealth Company  is  concerned,  its  net  earn- 
ings will  be  more  without  these  properties 
than  with  them  operating  at  a  loss. 

It  is  understood  that  steps  are  being 
taken  toward  the  formation  of  protec- 
tive committees  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
serving interests  of  the  bondholders. 

The  plight  of  the  company  has  been 
pointed  out  repeatedly  in  the  past. 
Things  kept  going  from  bad  to  worse, 
with  the  service  tied  up  four  times 
from  March  23,  1919,  to  the  time  of  the 
suspension.  Some  hope  to  the  company 
was  held  out  early  in  the  present  year 
by  a  series  of  conferences  with  city 
officials  looking  toward  operation  at. 
service  at  cost.  These  conferences 
grew  out  of  a  tie  up  of  the  system 
last  fall  for  twenty-four  days.  When 
the  proposed  new  grant  went  before 
the  people  on  July  19  it  was  voted 
down.  Toward  the  close  of  the  fran- 
chise negotiations  on  June  2,  Mr.  Cobb 
pointed  out  in  unmistakable  terms  that 
the  railway  had  reached  the  end  of 
the  rope  so  far  as  continuing  to  give 
service  at  a  loss  to  itself  was  concerned. 
His  warning  then  was: 

We  want  to  continue  giving  Saginaw  and. 
Bay  City  street  car  service  if  we  can,  but 
we  can't  under  existing  circumstances.  If 
we  don't  get  the  relief  we  have  asked  there 
is  only  one  thing  ahead — bankruptcy.  This 
is  no  bluff — no  "ifs"  or  "ands"  about  it — it 
is  purely  a  business  proposition.  The  com- 
pany is  at  the  end  of  its  rope  and  unable- 
to  go  any  further  unless  it  has  help  on  all 
the  things  enumerated  in  this  letter. 

The  City  Council  of  Saginaw  was  to 
meet  on  the  evening  of  Aug.  16.  \  It 
was  expected  that  an  inquiry  would  be 
ordered  to  compel  the  company  to 
resume  service  or  at  least  to  determine 
the  binding  effect  of  the  franchise. 
Thus  the  Council,  led  by  George 
Phoenix,  finds  itself  in  a  hole.  So  long 
as  the  street  cars  were  running  that 
body  had  something  to  rail  at,  but  it 
failed  to  realize  that  that  was  where 
it  was  strong  and  that  its  power  for 
evil  would  end  when  the  company  went 
bankrupt  and  the  cars  were  withdrawn. 
The  members  all  realize  it  now, 
Pheonix  more  than  any  of  the  others. 
He  now  finds  himself  under  the  irk- 
some necessity  of  providing  a  better, 
more  adequate  system  of  transporta- 
tion than  the  city  had  when  the  cars 
were  in  operation.  In  other  words,  he 
is  confronted  by  the  impossible. 

For  a  time  the  Mayor  followed  along 
with  Phoenix  and  the  others.  Toward 
the  last  of  the  long  controversy  he  did 
stand  for  a  serious  solution  of  the  rail- 
way problem  and  against  the  jitneys. 
He  is,  therefore,  in  a  position  now  to- 
sit  back  and  laugh  at  Phoenix  and  the 
others  and  to  say:  "I  told  you  so." 

All  that  the  city  now  has  at  its  com- 
mand for  transportation  is  a  motly- 
collection  of  nondescript  cars  and  boxes, 
going  by  the  name  of  buses  and  driven 
by  irrespon'sibles.  Some  of  these  rattle- 
traps are  filled  to  the  doors  during  rush 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  journal 


297 


hours,  with  people  hanging  on  and 
standing. 

Saginaw  and  Bay  City  are,  of  course, 
very  dead  towns  at  present.  Industry 
is  down;  not  more  than  25  per  cent  of 
labor  is  employed  and  in  this  clear, 
pleasant  weather  people  are  not  riding 
as  they  otherwise  would.  That  may 
give  the  jitneys  a  chance  to  plug  along 
for  a  while,  but  at  that,  the  better  ele- 
ment of  people  are  not  patronizing  the 
autos  as  they  did  the  street  cars,  and 
the  Mayor  says  he  is  already  getting 
letters  from  the  people  demanding 
street  car  service.  Merchants  are  not 
yet  saying  much,  though  some  of  them 
admit  some  falling  off  in  trade  even 
now. 

The  railway  carried  about  6,000,000 
passengers  in  Saginaw  in  a  normal  year 
and  4,500,000  in  Bay  City.  With  forty 
jitneys,  seating  sixteen  passengers  in 
regular  service  and  ten  on  the  sidelines 
for  emergencies,  as  they  say,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  imagine  how  adequately 
Saginaw  is  being  served.  Bay  City  has 
still  fewer  buses  operating  and  needs 
fewer,  for  if  ever  a  town  was  dead  and 
silent,  it  is. 


position  under  the  Adler  Bill,  as  alleged 
by  Mr.  Seaman. 

Judge  Wade  in  his  ruling  stated  that 
he  could  see  no  emergency  and  that  the 
litigation  could  wait  upon  the  return 
of  Judge  Faris. 


Mr.  Seaman  Still  at  It 

John  W.  Seaman,  a  small  stockholder 
who  has  filed  many  suits  against  the 
United  Railways,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  only 
to  be  defeated  in  all  the  cases  that  have 
been  decided,  is  seeking  again  to  have 
Receiver  Rolla  Wells  removed  under  the 
Adler  suit  appointment.  The  latest 
phase  in  much  involved  litigation  came 
on  Aug.  9,  when  Richard  McCulloch  and 
officers  of  the  corporation  asked  the  re- 
vocation of  Federal  Judge  Wade's  or- 
der which,  if  it  stands,  would  give  Mr. 
Seaman  another  day  in  court. 

Judge  Wade,  acting  in  the  absence  of 
Judge  Faris,  who  is  on  vacation,  dis- 
missed Mr.  Seaman's  petition  for  the 
appointment  of  a  new  receiver,  but 
granted  leave  to  renew  the  motion  when 
Judge  Faris  returns.  On  Aug.  9  the  de- 
fendant, the  corporation,  filed  a  motion 
to  have  Judge  Wade  rescind  this  grant, 
the  corporation  denying  that  there  was 
any  danger  of  a  foreclosure  on  the 
bonds  of  the  St.  Louis  &  Suburban 
Railway,  one  of  the  constituent  lines, 
or  that  Receiver  Wells  is  being  ham- 
pered in  financing  the  receivership  on 
account  of  doubt  of  the  validity  of  his 


$28,935,656  Lost  by  New  Haven 
on  Rhode  Island  Trolleys 

The  annual  report  of  the  New  York, 
New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  for 
the  year  ended  Dec.  31,  1920,  states 
that  during  the  year  the  Rhode  Island 
trolley  properties  were  disposed  of  by 
the  trustees  appointed  by  the  federal 
courts.  The  loss  sustained  by  the  New 
Haven  Company  amounted  to  $28,935,- 
656.  This  is  written  down  in  the  profit 
and  loss  statement  for  the  year.  The 
income  accounts  for  the  remaining  trol- 
ley properties  are  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying table.  The  results  of  ths 
year's  operations  were  unsatisfactory, 
but  at  present  there  are  signs  that  the 
situation  is  improving. 

The  period  of  advancing  costs  con- 
tinued into  the  year  1920  and  increases 
in  the  rate  of  wages  was  made  neces- 
sary on  all  of  these  electric  roads. 
Efforts  to  obtain  increases  in  revenue 
to  offset  the  mounting  costs  were  only 
partly  successful,  but  toward  the  close 
of  the  year  the  economies  that  had  been 
previously  inaugurated  together  with 
the  increased  revenue  accruing  from 
passenger  traffic  due  to  more  reasonable 
regulation  in  the  operations  of  motor 
buses  had  turned  the  scale  in  favor  of 
improved  net  revenues. 

Weather  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
months  of  January,  February  and 
March,  1920,  also  made  heavy  inroads 
into  the  net  revenues  of  all  properties. 
Energetic  efforts  have  been  made  to 
acquaint  the  public  with  the  facts  as  to 
the  financial  condition  of  the  company. 

Note  was  also  made  of  the  appeal  to 
the  Connecticut  Legislature  for  relief 
from  burdensome  obligations  and  for 
effective  control  of  motor  bus  operation, 
and  there  is  every  belief  that  construc- 
tive legislation  will  soon  be  passed,  in 
which  the  financial  relief  to  be  obtained, 
coupled  with  the  increased  revenue 
under  the  present  rates  of  fare,  should 
result  in  an  improved  financial  showing 
for  the  ensuing  year.  This  relief  legis- 
lation has  since  been  passed. 


$350,358  Net  Despite  Strike  and 
Auto  Competition 

The  first  full  year's  report  of  the 
Brooklyn  (N.  Y.)  City  Railroad,  which 
operates  217  miles  of  track,  has 
been  issued  for  the  year  ended  June 
30,  1921.  Notwithstanding  the  strike 
of  August,  1920,  which  cost  the  com- 
pany, including  direct  expenses  and 
loss  of  revenue,  approximately  $1,000,- 
000,  and  competition  from  city  con- 
trolled motor  buses,  the  deficit  after 
payment  of  operating  expenses,  taxes 
and  income  deductions  covering  fixed 
charges  and  rentals  of  tracks  and  cars 
was  $350,858. 

The  report  states  that  revenue  froiri 
transportation  shows  a  considerable  in- 
crease over  the  corresponding  period 
of  the  year  previous,  and  with  the  re- 
duction in  wages,  effective  on  Aug.  5, 
1921,  as  well  as  the  marked  reduction 
in  cost  of  materials  there  is  a  favorable 
outlook  during  the  current  year. 

Passenger  revenue  amounted  to  $10,- 
179,968,  which  together  with  revenue 
from  miscellaneous  sources,  made  the 
total  operating  revenue  for  the  year 
$10,457,171;  operating  expenses  were 
$9,715,667.  The  net  after  taxes  as- 
signable to  railway  operation,  which 
totaled  $500,515,  was  $240,989.  Fixed 
charges  were  $362,269  and  rent  of 
tracks,  cars,  etc.,  $321,421.  Non-oper- 
ating income  amounted  to  $91,843. 

Traffic  handled  during  the  year 
amounted  to  218,145,000  passengers, 
divided  as  follows:  Revenue  passen- 
gers, 205,002,000;  transfer  passengers, 
11,205,000;  free  passengers,  1,938,000. 
The  car-miles  run  were  23,600,000. 

The  report  also  refers  to  the  service 
over  the  Williamsburgh  Bridge,  which 
the  city  authorities  have  announced  they 
were  to  take  over.  At  present  through 
service  as  well  as  local  service  is  oper- 
ated. In  case  the  city  takes  over  this 
operation  the  railway  company  plans  to 
discontinue  all  bridge  service.  This 
will  result  in  an  increased  cost  and  in- 
convenience to  all  riders  to  Manhattan 
inasmuch  as  the  bridge  ride  will  cost 
an  extra  fare.  The  profit  from  the 
bridge  locals,  on  which  the  fare  is  2 
cents,  or  three  tickets  for  a  nickel, 
were  only  $25,483,  much  less  than  the 
extra  cost  incurred  in  routing  all  lines 
entering  the  Williamsburgh  Plaza  to 
the  Manhattan  end  of  the  bridge. 


INCOME  ACCOUNTS — TROLLEY  LINES  CONTROLLED  BY  NEW  YORK,  NEW  HAVEN  &  HARTFORD  RAILROAD 

Berkshire  St.  Ry.  The  Connecticut  Co.  New  York  &  Stamford  The  Westchester  N.  Y.  Westchester  & 

Railway  Street  Railroad*  Boston  Railwav 

Per  Cent  Per  Cent  Per  Cent                     Per  Cent  Per  Cent 

Change  Change  Change                      Change  Change 

Over  Over  Over                          Over  Over 

Actual         1919  Actual         1919  Actual         1919  Actual        1919  Actual  1919 

Operating  revenues                                          $1,050,545      18.18  $13,089,317        18.52  $494,443      13.92  $239,039      19.98  $912,265  21.22 

Operating  expenses                                             1,037,645      19.52  12,417,141        34.78  457,324      17.60          276,006      18.09  829,765  25.22 

Net  operating  revenue   $12,900       4-98  $672,176       63.40  $37,119      17.80         $36,967       3.41  $82,500  8.04 

Taxes.....      45,205       2.98  llb.lbl        17.12  24,260       2.46  12,081        1.37  170,234  15.18 

Operating  income   $5.3,305      13. SI  $53,591      104.20  $12,859      1,0.20         $49,048       2.27  $87,734      SI. 20 

Non-operating  income   5,715    237.50  11,340       94. 60  2,156    254  50  665      24.30  13,51  1  71.40 

Gross  income   $26,590    117.80  $42,251      102.80        $15,015       32.10         $48,383        1.88  $74,223  47.80 

Deductions  from  grofs  income  (a)  319,013       0  .51         1,393,840         4  .13      (i>)  100,962       3  .60      (c)  34,751        2.42     (d)  1,732,959       3  59 

Net  income  for  year   $345,603       4.85       $1,436,091   1,431.00         $85,947      14-08         $83,134        2  15         $1,807,183       j  87 

Profit  and  loss  account  at  end  of  year   $2,099,977      16.00       $1,051,763         60.4        $41S,8S9      29.00        $439,282     28.80       $13,67.1,636  17.20 

♦This  company  is  entirely  separate  from  the  New  York,  Westchester  &  Boston  Railway.  Figures  include  receiver's  account  for  the  29th  of  February  and  ten  months 

ended  Dec.  31,  1920.  ,  , 

Includes  interest  accruing  to  the  N.  Y.,  N.  H.  &  H.  R.R.,  but  not  included  in  the  income  account  of  that  company:  (a)  $213,550,  (6)  $42,533;    (V)  $26,784; 

(</)  $815,979. 


298 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


Cuban  Electric  Road  Sued 

The  Cienfuegos,  Palmira  &  Cruces 
Electric  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Cuba,  is  made  defendant  in  a  suit  filed 
in  the  Common  Pleas  Court  at  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  by  the  Davidson  Sulphate 
&  Phosphate  Company,  Baltimore,  Md., 
which  seeks  to  recover  $1,959,571  for 
breach  of  contract. 

The  Davidson  company  also  attaches 
six  electric  cars  under  construction  at 
the  plant  of  the  Cincinnati  Car  Com- 
pany, which  are  the  property  of  the 
defendant  company. 

The  petition  charges  that  the  defend- 
ant failed  to  carry  out  a  contract 
whereby  railroad  lines  were  to  be  con- 
structed from  the  wharf  at  Cienfuegos 
to  Caonao;  from  this  point  to 
Cumanayagua,  and  a  branch  line  to  a 
point  in  Cuba  known  as  the  Davidson 
Terminal.  Under  this  agreement  the 
plaintiffs  were  to  have  facilities  for 
shipping  100,000  tons  of  material 
mined  at  its  Cuban  mines  each  year 
and  were  to  have  certain  electric  power 
facilities.  As  the  result  of  the  failure 
to  carry  out  this  agreement  the  phos- 
phate company  charges  that  it  has 
been  obliged  to  pay  demurrage  charges 
at  Cuban  ports  due  to  delays  in  collect- 
ing its  product  for  shipment.  Filing 
of  the  suit  in  Cincinnati  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  cars  attached  are  being 
built  there. 


I  Financial 
News  Notes 

Rehabilitation    Plan    Fails.  —  The 

Geist  plan  to  rehabilitate  the  railway 
at  Lafayette,  Ind.,  has  been  abandoned 
following  a  meeting  of  the  citizens' 
committee  named  about  two  weeks  ago 
to  offer  $100,000  in  preferred  stock  to 
local  citizens.  The  prospects  are  that 
the  present  owners  will  abandon  the 
line  in  the  near  future. 

Gold  Notes  Offered.— Halsey,  Stuart 
&  Company  and  the  National  City  Com- 
pany are  offering  at  89 J  and  interest 
$500,000  fifteen-year  7  per  cent  secured 
sinking  fund  gold  notes  of  the  Chicago, 
North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad, 
Highwood,  111.  The  notes  known  as 
Series  "B"  are  dated  June  15,  1921, 
and  are  due  June  15,  1936. 

Abilene  Line  to  Resume. — The  Abi- 
lene (Tex.)  Street  Railway,  which  was 
taken  over  by  the  American  Public 
Service  Company,  will  be  put  in  opera- 
tion again  on  Sept.  10.  New  cars  will 
be  put  in  use  and  current  for  operating 
the  lines  will  be  furnished  from  the 
American  Public  Service  Company's 
new  $1,000,000  power  station  soon  to 
be  put  in  operation.  There  are  now  5 
miles  of  track.  An  extension  will  be 
built  at  once  to  the  new  McMurray 
Methodist  College,  now  under  construc- 
tion. 


Franchise    Tax    in    Dispute.  —  The 

Southern  Indiana  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, operating  the  city  railway  lines 
at  Evansville,  Ind.,  and  the  line  be- 
tween Princeton  and  Evansville,  will 
not  pay  its  franchise  tax  to  the  city 
of  Evansville  unless  required  to  do  so 
by  the  courts.  Frank  J.  Haas,  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  company,  main- 
tains that  the  company  is  not  operat- 
ing under  a  franchise  at  the  present 
time  and  should  not  pay  the  tax.  The 
company  surrendered  its  franchise  in 
1917,  but  continued  to  pay  the  fran- 
chise tax  until  1920.  It  is  believed  the 
case  will  be  taken  to  the  courts  for 
settlement. 

Exception  Taken  to  Separate  Fore- 
closure.— The  Guaranty  Trust  Com- 
pany has  filed  a  bill  in  the  United 
States  Court  taking  exception  to  the 
decision  of  Judge  Orr  in  which  he  rules 
that  the  Southern  Traction  Company, 
one  of  three  underlying  companies  of 
the  Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Railways,  may 
foreclose  on  mortgage  and  operate  its 
West  End  lines  independently.  It  is 
contended  that  any  such  action  might 
delay  the  proposed  reorganization  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Railways  and  would 
mean  protracted  litigation,  as  the 
Guaranty  Trust  Company  would  appeal 
to  a  higher  court.  It  is  also  stated  that 
the  value  of  Pittsburgh  Railways  as  a 
unified  system  will  be  impaired  if 
broken  up. 

Short  Dallas  Line  Abandoned. — The 
Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  has  been  author- 
ized by  the  City  Commission  to  aban- 
don its  Nettie  Street  line.  The  appli- 
cation of  the  company  for  authority 
to  abandon  this  line  set  forth  that  it 
was  eight  blocks  in  length  and  extended 
to  Commerce  Street,  but  did  not  con- 
nect with  the  tracks  on  that  street. 
Receipts  of  the  line  during  the  last  few 
months  have  averaged  about  $120  a 
month,  while  the  cost  of  operation  has 
been  $575  a  month.  Continued  opera- 
tion would  require  the  expenditure  of 
$2,500  on  track  improvements.  Inves- 
tigation by  the  Supervisor  of  Public 
Utilities  shows  that  $7,428  was  lost  by 
the  company  through  operation  of  this 
line  during  the  fiscal  year  ended  June 
30,  and  that  an  average  of  138  persons 
ride  this  line  a  day. 

Abandonment  Planned  in  Spokane. — 
The  Washington  Water  Power  Com- 
pany, Spokane,  Wash.,  has  applied  to 
the  city  for  permission  to  cancel  certain 
of  its  franchises.  The  idea  of  the  com- 
pany is  to  abandon  some  of  its  lines.  Ac- 
cording to  the  city  officials,  some  of  the 
company's  principal  lines  outside  of  the 
business  district  are  operated  without 
franchise  rights.  W.  E.  Coman,  second 
vice-president  and  general  manager  of 
the  company,  is  reported  to  have  said 
that  the  company  was  aware  that  some 
of  its  franchises  had  expired,  but  that 
it  had  no  intention  of  applying  for  a 
renewal  at  this  time.  No  part  of  the 
regular  service  will  be  disturbed  by  the 
discontinuance  of  the  two  lines  in- 
cluded in  the  pending  petition  of  the 
company.  It  was  expected  that  the 
whole  matter  would  be  considered  at  a 


public  hearing  to  be  held  on  Aug.  16.  A 
review  of  the  fare  and  the  jitney  situa- 
tions in  Spokane  is  published  on  page 
300  of  this  issue. 

Disappointing  Outlook  in  Brazil. — 
At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Brazilian 
Traction,  Light  &  Power  Company  in 
Toronto,  Ont.,  on  July  20,  Vice-presi- 
dent Miller  Lash  told  the  shareholders 
that  at  the  present  rate  of  exchange, 
earnings  for  the  first  half  of  the  pres- 
ent year  were  just  about  sufficient  to 
provide  for  bond  interest,  sinking  fund 
and  preferred  dividend  with  no  sub- 
stantial provision  for  capital  expendi- 
ture. It  was  impossible  to  sell  securi- 
ties at  the  present  time  and  to  provide 
working  capital.  Mr.  Lash  pointed  out 
that  conditions  were  improving  except 
for  the  drop  in  milreis,  which  had  de- 
clined from  271  cents  in  1919,  by  over  50 
per  cent,  to  101  cents.  He  intimated  that 
dividends  would  return  with  a  20-cent 
milreis.  He  pointed  out,  however,  that 
in  the  last  half  of  last  year  coal  had 
cost  $2,500,000  or  $29.70  a  ton.  In  the 
first  half  of  this  year  it  had  dropped  to 
$615,000  or  $12.09  a  ton.  The  drop  in 
exchange,  however,  had  almost  wiped 
out  this  difference. 

Woonsocket  Lines  Sold. — The  Woon- 
socket  properties  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Company,  which  include  all  the  re- 
maining property  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Company,  Providence,  R.  I.,  were  sold 
by  Arthur  A.  Thomas,  special  master, 
on  Aug.  6  to  C.  H.  Mandeville,  who 
announced  he  was  bidding  for  the 
United  Electric  Railways.  There  will 
be  $300,000  paid  in  cash,  but  there 
are  a  number  of  other  obligations 
that  Mr.  Mandeville  must  meet  or 
at  least  see  that  the  new  traction 
company  meets.  On  Aug.  12  the  Su- 
perior Court  confirmed  the  sale.  This 
approval  of  the  sale  by  the  court  has 
the  effect  of  bringing  under  the  control 
of  the  United  Electric  Railways  sub- 
stantially all  of  the  railway  properties 
in  the  State,  formerly  operated  by  the 
Rhode  Island  Company.  Furthermore, 
the  transfer  practically  winds  up  the 
affairs  of  the  Rhode  Island  Company, 
inasmuch  as  the  new  owners  of  the 
Woonsocket  lines  have  agreed  to  as- 
sume, with  reservations,  the  obligations 
of  that  company. 

Barcelona  Net  Up  14  Per  Cent. — 
According  to  the  sixth  annual  report 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Bar- 
celona Traction,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Ltd.,  for  the  year  ended  Dec.  31, 
1920,  the  net  income  from  all  sources 
including  that  derived  on  the  Barcelona 
tramways  was  $2,731,769  as  against 
$2,194,353  in  the  previous  year,  an  in- 
crease of  nearly  25  per  cent.  Interest 
on  bonds  for  the  year  amounted  to 
$1,963,485.  Depreciation  reserves  were 
also  made  by  the  chief  operating  com- 
pany. The  railway  itself  set  aside 
$293,364.  The  operating  results  of  the 
Barcelona  Tramway  Company  showed 
an  increase  in  gross  earnings  of  nearly 
25  per  cent  over  those  of  the  previous 
year,  but  owing  to  a  large  increase  in 
operating  costs  the  increase  in  net 
earnings  was  only  14  per  cent. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


21)9 


One-Man  Operation  Attacked 

New  Cars  Being  Used  to  Make  Political 
Capital  in  Milwaukee — Standard 
Cars  In  Use 

Alleging  that,  one-man  safety  car  op- 
eration was  unsafe,  Alderman  Carl 
Dietz  of  Milwaukee  recently  introduced 
a  resolution  in  the  Milwaukee  Common 
Council  calling  upon  the  City  Attorney 
to  petition  the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Com- 
mission for  an  order  prohibiting  one- 
man  cars  from  operating  in  the  city  of 
Milwaukee. 

Company  Explains  Position 

One-man  operation  was  introduced  in 
Milwaukee  city  service  on  the  Thirty- 
fifth  Street  crosstown  line  about  two 
months  ago.  On  Aug.  1  it  was  extend- 
ed by  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway 
&  Light  Company  to  the  Twenty-sev- 
enth Street  crosstown  line.  It  is  ex- 
pected that  it  will  be  further  extended 
to  the  other  crosstown  and  light  traffic 
lines  of  the  company. 

The  matter  was  thrashed  out  on  Aug. 
5.  1921  at  a  hearing  on  the  subject  be- 
fore the  committee  on  railroads  of  the 
Council.  Alderman  Dietz,  the  introduc- 
er of  the  attacking  resolution,  urged  its 
adoption  almost  entirely  on  safety 
grounds.  He  was  supported  by  two  or 
three  other  witnesses,  but  what  oppo- 
sition appeared  seemed  due  to  lack  of 
familiarity  with  the  safety  equipment 
of  the  car  rather  than  with  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  service  rendered  by  this 
type  of  equipment. 

The  company  was  represented  at  the 
hearing  by  its  President,  John  I.  Beggs, 
H.  A.  Mullett,  assistant  general  man- 
ager, and  W.  A.  Jackson,  general  at- 
torney. The  company's  position  as  ex- 
pressed by  its  representatives,  was  that 
due  to  the  present  state  of  unemploy- 
ment, shorter  hours  which  permit  peo- 
ple to  walk  to  and  from  work,  and  auto- 
mobile competition,  its  railway  revenues 
this  year  were  smaller  than  during  the 
previous  year.  The  deficit  would  have 
to  be  made  up  either  by  increasing  the 
rate  of  fare,  lowering  wages,  reducing 
service,  or  effecting  economies  in  op- 
eration. 

While  it  was  uncertain  whether  any 
one  of  these  means  would  be  sufficient 
to  meet  the  situation  alone,  the  com- 
pany was  first  attempting  to  effect  as 
many  economies  as  possible,  and  for 
that  reason  had  started  one-man  car 
operation. 

Recommended  by  City's 
Utility  Expert 

Attention  was  called  by  representa- 
tives of  the  company  to  the  recommen- 
dation made  some  time  ago  by  the  city's 
public  utility  expert  that  one-man  car 
operation  be  inaugurated  for  the  sake 
of  effecting  economies.  The  inaugura- 
tion of  one-man  car  operation  was  also 


urged  in  the  report  just  issued  by 
the  Public  Utilities  Acquisiton  Commit- 
tee of  Milwaukee,  which  was  signed, 
among  others,  by  three  of  the  leading 
members  of  its  Common  Council.  The 
representatives  of  the  company  pointed 
out  that  one-man  safety  cars  were  in 
use  all  over  the  country  and  that  they 
were  apparently  favored  by  municipal- 
ly-owned railway  utilities  such  as  those 
of  Detroit  and  Seattle. 

H.  A.  Mullett,  assistant  general  man- 
ager of  the  company,  described  the 
safety  equipment  of  the  cars  which  are 
being  used  in  one-man  service.  This  is 
the  Standard  Safety  Car  Devices  Cor- 
poration equipment  for  one-man  cars. 
The  cars  themselves  are  a  number  of 
a  lot  of  100  which  the  company  has  re- 
cently acquired.  They  were  especially 
designed  for  use  in  Milwaukee  and  may 
be  utilized  either  for  two-man  or  one- 
man  operation.  These  cars  seat  fifty- 
three  persons,  are  unusually  light,  com- 
fortable and  good  looking,  and  have 
produced  a  distinctly  favorable  impres- 
sion on  the  patrons  of  the  railway  com- 
pany. 

Testifies  for  One-Man  Car 
Testimony  in  favor  of  the  one-man 
safety  car  operation  was  given  by  E.  J. 
Steinberg,  resident  engineer  in  Mil- 
waukee for  the  Wisconsin  Railroad 
Commission,  who  said  that  this  type  of 
service  had  been  approved  by  the  com- 
mission for  the  Thirty-fifth  and  the 
Twenty-seventh  Street  crosstown  lines. 
He  pointed  out  that  the  company  was 
voluntarily  giving  better  service  on 
these  lines  with  one-man  cars  than  that 
required  by  commission  standards  of 
loading.  Another  witness  who  testified 
in  favor  of  one-man  operation  also 
stressed  the  fact  that  the  service  on 
the  Thirty-fifth  Street  line  had  been 
distinctly  improved  since  the  installa- 
tion of  one-man  operation  thereon.  The 
point  was  made  by  this  witness  that 
if  certain  practices  on  the  part  of  one- 
man  car  operators  were  deemed  unsafe, 
these  should  be  corrected,  but  that  this 
was  no  reason  why  one-man  car  oper- 
ation should  be  entirely  prohibited. 

At  the  end  of  the  hearing  further 
consideration  of  the  matter  was  post- 
poned for  a  period  of  thirty  days  in 
order  that  the  new  service  may  be  tried 
out  for  a  somewhat  longer  period  of 
time  before  final  judgment  was  passed 
on  the  matter.  It  is  expected  that  the 
Common  Council  will  uphold  the  com- 
pany in  its  use  of  one-man  safety  cars 
in  Milwaukee  city  service. 

In  an  advertisement  primarily  in- 
tended to  further  the  sale  of  its  secur- 
ities the  company  made  the  following 
comment  on  the  attack  upon  its  use  of 
safety  cars  in  city  service: 

Strict  economy  from  top  to  bottom  of  the 
organization  with  its  more  than  5,000  em- 
ployes is  the  only  means  of  assuring  reg- 
ular payment  to  our  thousands  of  home 
investors  of  their  income  from  the  business, 


in  times  like  these.  Nobody  has  to  be  told 
we  can't  spend  what  we  don't  earn ;  that 
we  can't  hire  more  men  than  wj  have  work 
for,  nor  pay  excessive  salaries,  nor  in  any 
other  way  give  out  more  than  we  can  take 
in.  This  Company  has  paid  every  debt  on 
the  due  date,  in  full,  since  it  was  organized 
twenty-five  years  ago  ;  it  has  paid  regular 
dividends  to  its  shareholders  for  over  twenty 
years,  and  it  intends  to  continue  doing  so. 
To  do  this  in  a  season  of  hard  times  means 
avoidance  of  waste  and  it  means  utilizing 
every  practical  means  for  saving.  This  is 
especially  true  of  the  street  railway  end  of 
the  business.  It  can  be  made  to  serve  better 
and  at  less  cost  by  using  one-man  safety 
cars  instead  of  heavy  two-man  cars  on 
some  of  the  streets  ;  so  the  Company,  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  other  cities  where 
the  change  has  pleased  the  public  by  giving 
more  frequent  service  with  equal  safety,  is 
gradually  introducing  this  economy  into  its 
business. 

Some  folks  who  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  business,  and  no  stake  in  it,  criticise 
such  economies,  in  order  to  make  political 
capital.  It  isn't  a  political  matter  at  all. 
It  is  question  of  providing  most  and  best 
service  at  least  coat  to  the  public  that  pays 
the  bills — and  this  is  a  job  for  the  com- 
pany's engineers  co-operating  with  the  city's 
and  the  state's  engineers.  We  are  not  going 
to  risk  the  safety  of  our  customers.  You 
can  bank  on  that.  But  we  are  going  so 
far  as  possible,  to  introduce  whatever  tried 
and  proved  new  methods  will  improve  the 
service  and  reduce  its  cost. 


Fare  Advance  Refused 

A  recent  ruling  of  the  State  Corpora- 
tion Commission  continues  in  effect  the 
5-cent  fare  on  the  lines  of  the  Lynch- 
burg Traction  &  Light  Company,  Lynch- 
burg, Va.,  for  six  months,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  the  commission  will  again 
review  the  situation.  In  its  petition  the 
company  asked  for  an  8-cent  fare  be- 
tween the  city  and  points  outside.  The 
opinion  was  written  by  Alexander  For- 
ward and  was  unanimously  approved  by 
the  commission. 

Some  months  ago  the  company  gave 
notice  that  it  would  on  May  11  apply  to 
the  commission  for  authority  to  publish 
and  file,  effective  June  1,  revised  tariffs 
for  railway  service  providing  a  uniform 
fare  of  6  cents,  with  an  alternative  pro- 
posal that  in  the  event  permission  for 
such  6-cent  fare  within  the  city  limits 
of  Lynchburg  was  not  granted  by  the 
City  Council,  then  application  would  be 
made  for  authority  to  charge  an  8-cent 
fare  applicable  between  points  in  the 
counties  of  Campbell  and  Bedford  and 
also  between  points;  in  those  counties 
and  points  in  the  city. 

The  commission  thereupon  fixed  the 
same  date,  May  11,  for  hearing  the  pro- 
posed fare  advances  of  the  company.  A 
hearing  was  accordingly  had  on  that 
day  and  upon  motion  of  opponents  a 
further  hearing  was  given  on  June  2, 
when  the  evidence  and  argument  having 
been  fully  presented,  the  entire  matter 
was  submitted  to  the  commission. 

Prior  to  the  first  hearing  the  City 
Council  of  Lynchburg,  which  is  admit- 
ted by  the  company  to  have  jurisdiction 
over  railway  fares  within  the  city  lim- 
its, refused  to  grant  the  increase  to  6 
cents,  so  that  the  company's  application 
to  the  commission  was  based  upon  a 
proposed  increase  in  fares  between  the 
city  and  outside  and  between  points 
outside,  of  8  cents  per  passenger. 

In  its  finding  the  commission  stated 
that  in  a  period  of  declining  costs  a 
reduction  in  operating  expenses  could  be 
anticipated  and  that  this  is  a  transition 
period  and  no  one  can  foretell  future 
price  levels. 


300 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


Taylor  Franchise  Upheld 

The  franchise  ordinance  drafted  by 
A.  Merritt  Taylor  and  recently  sub- 
mitted to  the  City  Council  of  Norfolk, 
Va.,  for  adoption  has  been  vigorously 
defended  by  Messrs.  Kerr,  Wright  and 
Doherty,  leading  business  men  of  Nor- 
folk and  former  members  of  the  Public- 
Utilities  Commission,  in  a  special  report 
on  the  franchise  made  to  the  City 
Council  on  Aug.  3. 

In  their  report  these  gentlemen  refer 
to  the  severe  criticism  of  the  Taylor 
franchise,  but  point  out  that  no  con- 
structive suggestions  have  been  ad- 
vanced as  a  substitute.  They  can  see 
no  better  remedy  than  the  one  sug- 
gested by  Mr.  Taylor,  a  practical  util- 
ities operator,  and  acknowledge  with 
indebtedness  his  comprehensive  recom- 
mendations with  respect  to  re-routing, 
improvement  of  present  service  and  a 
new  franchise. 

The  high  points  in  the  franchise 
ordinance  drafted  by  Mr.  Taylor  which 
have  caused  much  discussion  were 
reviewed  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Aug.  6. 


Commission  Orders  Amended 
Tariffs 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
Utah  has  decided  that  the  Utah  Rail- 
way must  amend  its  coal  carrying 
tariffs,  effective  not  later  than  Aug. 
8,  so  as  to  prevent  any  discrimination 
against  the  Salt  Lake  &  Utah,  an 
electric  interurban  operating  between 
Salt  Lake  City  and  Payson,  Utah,  and 
in  favor  of  either  the  Denver  &  Rio 
Grande  or  the  Los  Angeles  &  Salt  Lake 
railroad.  The  system  of  the  electric 
railway  comprises  75  miles  of  road. 

The  order  came  in  the  case  brought 
by  the  Salt  Lake  &  Utah,  commonly 
known  as  the  "Orem  Line,"  against  the 
Utah  railway.  It  was  complained 
that  the  Utah  railway  carries  in  its 
tariffs,  with  reference  to  joint  rates  on 
coal  routed  from  mines  on  the  Utah 
railway  to  and  through  Salt  Lake,  the 
proviso  that  the  rates  shall  be  applic- 
able "only  to  traffic  for  delivery  on 
team  tracks  of  the  Salt  Lake  &  Utah 
Railroad,  or  industries  served  by  it, 
when  so  routed  by  shipper." 

The  effect  of  this  was  that  if  the 
Salt  Lake  &  Utah  were  to  undertake 
to  haul  coal  for  shippers  who  were  on 
the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  or  the  Los 
Angeles  &  Salt  Lake  (Salt  Lake 
Route)  tracks,  additional  switching 
charges  had  to  be  made,  which  the 
interurban  had  to  absorb  or  else  lose 
the  traffic. 

The  Salt  Lake  Route  intervened  in 
the  case  by  claiming  that  it  had  made 
a  large  joint  investment  with  the  Utah 
railway  at  the  latter's  Provo  teroninals, 
and  also  that  the  two  rail  lines  owned 
2,000  steel  gondola  coal  cars  in  com- 
mon. 

These  joint  investments,  it  was 
contended,  made  the  rails  from  the 
Utah  railway  mines  to  Salt  Lake 
practically  one  complete  railroad,  and 
the    intervenor   claimed   that   it  was 


entitled  to  consideration  as  such.  The 
case  was  referred  to  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  July  16. 


Spokane  Jitneys  Run  Wild 

City  Shows  Its  Contempt  for  Utility 
Commission  by  Permitting  Com- 
petition With  Railway 

Jitneys  have  been  in  operation  in 
Spokane,  Wash.,  since  the  latter  part 
of  June  with  the  result  that  the  gross 
revenues  of  the  electric  railways  there 
have  been  reduced  and  the  service  on 
these  lines  materially  curtailed.  The 
Washington  Public  Service  Department 
in  May  issued  an  order  granting  the 
appeal  of  the  two  Spokane  railways, 
the  Washington  Water  Power  Company 
and  the  Spokane  &  Eastern  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  for  an  increase  in  fare 
from  6  cents  to  8  cents. 

The  City  Commissioners  through 
Mayor  Fleming  had  previously  an- 
nounced that  in  the  event  of  such  deci- 
sion by  the  state,  the  city  would  release 
the  jitneys  in  competition  with  the  rail- 
ways. 

Losing  their  fight  before  the  com- 
mission to  prevent  an  increase  in  fare, 
the  city  officials  prepared  to  put  their 
threat  into  operation.  Every  effort  was 
made  to  get  them  to  reconsider  this 
decision,  but  without  avail.  The  state 
officials  in  their  written  opinion  and 
decision  on  the  case,  expressed  the  hope 
that  the  city  was  not  in  earnest  in  such 
a  determination  and  pointed  out  the 
ultimate  harm  that  it  would  bring  to 
Spokane. 

Railway  Offers  Compromise 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  roused 
itself  and  a  committee  of  representative 
citizens,  headed  by  Ben  C.  Holt,  at- 
tempted to  bring  about  a  settlement  and 
compromise.  This  committee  secured 
from  the  railways  a  promise  of  a  7-cent 
fare  dependent  on  the  purchase  of 
tickets,  five  for  35  cents.  This  com- 
promise offer  was  curtly  rejected  and 
the  jitneys  released. 

Every  sort  of  a  car  was  pressed  into 
service  in  the  first  days  of  the  jitney 
service.  These  are  now  giving  way  to 
buses  which  carry  from  ten  to  twenty 
passengers.  A  railway  official  estimated 
early  this  month  that  the  two  com- 
panies have  suffered  a  loss  of  21,000 
fares  daily  or  about  one  third  of  the 
normal  patronage.  Of  this  number  it 
is  the  opinion  that  the  jitneys  are 
carrying  about  half,  while  the  others 
are  walking,  being  carried  by  friends  in 
their  cars  or  using  their  own  machines. 

This  official  said  that  so  far  as  his 
company  was  concerned,  the  loss  of 
patronage  had  been  fully  offset  by  the 
taking  off  of  the  tripper  service.  The 
tripper  cars  on  this  line  are  all  two-man 
cars,  so  that  with  the  increase  in  fare, 
the  decrease  in  the  payroll,  the  decrease 
in  other  costs  and  the  sale  of  the  juice 
for  commercial  use,  this  man  figures 
that  his  company  is  just  where  it  was 
before. 

The  fact  remains,  however,  that  with 
the  jitneys  in  operation  less  than  two 


months,  they  have  made  serious  inroads 
on  the  railway  business  and  forced  con- 
siderable curtailment  of  service  with 
the  abandonment  of  certain  unimpor- 
tant lines  already  contemplated  and 
asked  for  by  the  two  companies. 

The  more  conservative  and  far  seeing 
of  the  citizens  recognize  the  danger  to 
real  estate  values  in  outlying  districts 
and  the  inconvenience  to  those  resident 
in  them  and  strongly  oppose  the  licens- 
ing of  jitneys  by  the  City  Council. 
Spokane  is  a  city  with  widely  scattered 
residence  districts,  many  of  which  fre- 
quented by  the  working  class  have  no 
paved  arteries.  In  winter  and  the  wet 
weather  of  spring  and  fall,  jitney 
service  to  these  districts  will  be  next 
to  impossible.  However,  there  is  much 
sentiment  favorable  to  the  jitney  and 
people  are  riding  in  them  and  suffering 
crowding  and  inconvenience  cheerfully 
that  they  would  not  tolerate  as  a  reg- 
ular thing  on  the  electric  railway. 

Neither  the  city  officials  nor  the 
street  railway  officials  give  any  indica- 
tion of  quitting  the  fight.  Some  of  the 
railway  employees  incline  to  the  opin- 
ion, however,  that  the  only  way  to  bring 
the  matter  to  a  speedy  conclusion  for 
the  benefit  of  all  concerned  is  to  put 
the  cars  in  the  carhouses  and  demon- 
strate the  inadequacy  of  the  jitney 
service.  More  conservative  counsel  has 
so  far  prevailed  and  the  companies  are 
simply  cutting  down  the  service  as 
rapidly  as  the  jitney  makes  a  line 
unprofitable. 


Floats  Teach  Safety 

According  to  W.  F.  Hanna  of  the 
Safety  Committee,  No  Accident  Week  in 
Maryland  and  especially  in  Baltimore, 
accomplished  some  fine  results.  No  fa- 
talities due  to  traffic  accidents  were 
recorded,  although  some  accidents 
occurred. 

From  Sunday,  July  17,  through  Fri- 
day, July  22,  an  intensive  safety  cam- 
paign was  waged,  bringing  home  to  the 
residents  of  the  city  some  graphic  les- 
sons on  the  need  of  safety.  Each  day 
contributed  some  special  feature  in  a 
striking  manner.  One  day  was  known 
as  "Wagon  and  Truck  Day,"  and  an- 
other as  "Children's  Day."  The  slogan, 
"Don't  Get  Hurt,"  appeared  on  large 
white  streamers  attached  to  the  front 
and  rear  bumpers  of  every  trolley  car. 
July  20,  "Walk  Right  Day,"  featured  a 
hospital  scene  called  "The  Jay  Walkers' 
Ward." 

Another  interesting  tableau  was 
prepared  at  the  Carroll  Park  Shops  of 
the  United  Railways  &  Electric  Com- 
pany which  showed  on  a  flat  car  a 
wrecked  automobile  with  a  specter  of 
death  in  front  of  it.  The  car  operated 
through  the  streets  of  the  city  while 
mournful  tunes  were  played  by  a  school 
band. 

The  United  Railways  &  Electric  Com- 
pany gave  its  hearty  co-operation  to  the 
success  of  the  drive.  Mr.  Cullen,  assist- 
ant to  the  president  of  the  Baltimore 
property,  said  that  the  campaign  was  a 
great  success  and  that  the  lesson  of  the 
week  would  have  a  lasting  effect. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


301 


Fares  Advanced  Again  in  Toledo 

Street  Railway  Commissioner  W.  E. 
Cann  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  has  announced 
that  on  Aug.  20  fares  will  be  jumped 
another  notch  by  the  Community  Trac- 
tion Company  when  ticket  sales  are 
changed  from  eight  for  50  cents  to  six 
for  40  cents  with  the  7-cent  cash  fare 
and  1-cent  transfer  remaining-.  The 
commissioner  says  he  believes  this 
change  will  be  the  last  necessary  to 
bring  back  the  stabilizing  fund  to  nor- 
mal. The  last  raise  in  fare  was  put 
into  effect  by  the  railway  company  on 
Aug.  1. 

Only  25  per  cent  of  the  passengers 
are  paying  cash  at  the  present  time. 
This  makes  the  average  fare  only  a 
little  more  than  6i  cents.  On  a  straight 
6-cent  fare  the  railway  system  showed 
a  deficit  of  approximately  1  cent  per 
passenger. 

As  rapidly  as  economies  of  operation 
have  been  put  into  effect  the  car  riding 
has  decreased.  The  first  twenty-five 
days  of  July  brought  in  $12,638  less  rev- 
enue than  the  same  period  in  June. 
This  ratio  of  decrease  has  been  con- 
stant all  summer.  In  February  when 
the  service-at-cost  ordinance  went  into 
effect  the  revenues  were  averaging 
$12,000  daily.  That  figure  at  present  is 
about  $8,000. 


Connecticut  Jitney  Case  Argued 

Judges  Martin  T.  Manton,  Edwin  S. 
Thomas  and  John  C.  Knox,  in  the  court 
room  of  the  Federal  Building  at  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  on  Aug.  16,  heard  the  ap- 
plication of  the  jitneymen  of  New 
Haven  for  an  injunction  against  the 
enforcement  of  the  new  jitney  law  by 
the  state  authorities.  It  is  expected 
that  a  decision  will  be  rendered  by  Aug. 
22.  While  the  application  was  pre- 
sented by  local  jitneymen  at  New 
Haven  the  decision  of  the  court  will 
affect  the  entire  state. 

Attorney  Woodruff  for  the  jitneymen 
claimed  that  the  jitney  operators  by 
reason  of  the  application  of  the  law 
had  suffered  substantial  loss  while  being 
prevented  from  using  their  machines  to 
earn  a  living  and  that  their  constitu- 
tional rights  had  been  denied  them.  He 
said  that  service  furnished  by  the  buses 
was  demanded  by  public  convenience 
and  necessity.  He  attacked  the  arbi- 
trary attitude  of  the  commission,  but 
Judge  Manton  said  that  the  court  had 
nothing  to  do  with  that.  The  question 
it  must  consider  was  whether  or  not  the 
Legislature  had  the  power  to  enact 
the  present  law. 

Judge  Walter  C.  Noyes,  trustee 
of  the  Connecticut  Company,  argued 
against  the  granting  of  an  injunction. 
He  showed  where  the  state  has  power 
to  regulate  traffic  over  its  highways 
and  to  control  it.  The  new  statute  of 
Connecticut,  he  pointed  out,  is  similar 
to  the  statutes  of  other  states  which 
have  been  upheld  already  by  the  su- 
preme courts  of  those  states. 

Attorney  General  Healy  said  that  the 
plaintiff  had  an  inadequate  conception 
of  the  right  and  public  policy  of  the 
state. 


Tokens  in  Use. — The  Vicksburg  Light 

6  Traction  Company,  Vicksburg,  Miss., 
has  replaced  its  paper  tickets  with 
metal  tokens. 

Ticket  Fare  Cut. — In  Gadsden  the 
Alabama  Power  Company  has  made  a 
cut  of  10  cents  in  the  price  of  books 
of  16  tickets,  selling  them  for  90  cents 
instead  of  $1. 

Children's  Fares  Reduced. — The  Alton, 
Granite  &  St.  Louis  Traction  Company, 
Alton,  111.,  has  announced  the  use  of 
metal  tokens  instead  of  tickets.  A  re- 
duction in  children's  fares  from  5  cents 
to  4  cents  will  be  put  into  effect. 

Protests  High  Fare. — A  petition  has 
been  signed  by  many  residents  of  Potts- 
ville,  Pa.,  and  sent  to  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  requesting  that  body 
to  require  the  Eastern  Pennsylvania 
Railway  to  lower  its  fare  between  Potts- 
ville  and  St.  Clair.  The  petition  de- 
clares that  the  distance  is  only  3  miles 
and  that  a  10-cent  fare  is  not  war- 
ranted in  view  of  a  cent-a-mile  com- 
mutation rate  on  some  railroads. 

Awards  for  Safety  Records. — In  an 

effort  to  minimize  accidents  on  the  mu- 
nicipally-owned cars  of  St.  Petersburg, 
Fla.,  R.  E.  Ludwig,  director  of  utili- 
ties, has  put  into  effect  a  bonus  system 
under  which  motormen  will  receive  cash 
awards  or  vacations  for  working  for 
a  stipulated  period  without  accidents. 
Mr.  Ludwig  believes  that  this  plan  will 
not  only  lessen  the  number  of  accidents 
but  will  encourage  the  careful  handling 
of  the  cars. 

Petitions  for  One-Man  Cars. — The 
Peoria  Railway,  a  subsidiary  of  the 
Illinois  Traction  System,  has  presented 
to  the  Council  an  ordinance  giving  it 
the  right  to  operate  one-man  cars  in 
the  city  of  Peoria.  The  company  has 
furnished  the  Council  with  a  list  of 
cities  where  one-man  operation  of  cars 
has  been  successful.  The  company  fur- 
ther states  that  it  wishes  to  extend 
its  service  but  cannot  do  so  as  long  as 
two  men  are  required  to  operate  cars. 

City's  Expert  Preparing  Data. — Har- 
old M.  Olmstead  of  the  Delos  F.  Wilcox 
staff  is  going  over  the  books  of  the  Min- 
neapolis (Minn.)  Street  Railway  pre- 
paring for  the  city's  argument  at  the 
hearing  before  the  State  Railroad  & 
Warehouse  Commission  on  Aug.  23,  in 
which  the  city  will  combat  a  request  of 
the  railway  for  an  emergency  rate  of 

7  cents  with  four  rides  for  25  cents.  A 
similar  hearing  is  set  for  the  same  day 
in  the  case  of  the  St.  Paul  City  Rail- 
way, the  two  lines  being  component 
parts  of  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  and  their  interests  being 
similar  as  to  rates  of  fare. 


Change   in   Fare   Announced.  —  The 

Grays  Harbor  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Aberdeen,  Wash.,  has  announced 
a  change  of  fare  in  Aberdeen  and 
Hoquiam  from  6  cents  within  each  of 
the  cities,  and  a  12-cent  fare  between 
them,  to  a  straight  10-cent  fare.  The 
change  is  announced  as  the  result  of 
recent  jitney  competition  in  the  two 
cities  and  between  them.  The  City 
Council  of  Aberdeen  has  instructed  City 
Attorney  A.  E.  Cross  to  protest  the 
new  fare  before  the  Public  Service 
Commission.  According  to  a  recent 
ruling  of  the  State  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Works,  the  company  is  allowed  to 
charge  a  10-cent  cash  fare,  or  an  Si- 
cent  token  fare.  School  rates  remain 
unchanged. 


Roadway  and  Track 

By  W.  F.  Rench.  Published  by  the 
Simmons  Boardman  Publishing  Company, 
New  York.     242   pages.  Cloth. 

This  book  is  not  one  essentially  on 

location,   as   are   so   many  books  on 

track,  but  partly  on  construction  and 

more  particularly  on  maintenance,  care 

and  protection  of  track.    As  such  it 

should  be  very  useful  to  the  mainte- 

nance-of-way  engineer.   The  writer  was 

formerly  supervisor  of  the  Pennsylvania 

Railroad.   The  practice  described  is  in  a 

large  measure  that  of  that  company. 


Proceedings  of  Society  for  the  Promo- 
tion of  Engineering  Education 

Proceedings  of  the  twenty-eighth  annual 
meeting  of  the  society.  F.  I.  Bishop,  edi- 
tor. University  of  Pittsburgh,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 

This  volume  covers  the  meeting  held 
at  the  University  of  Michigan,  June  29 
to  July  2,  1920,  and  includes  a  number 
of  articles  of  interest  to  engineers  en- 
gaged in  electric  railway  work.  Special 
attention  was  devoted  at  the  meeting 
to  the  relation  to  technical  schools  of 
the  utilities  and  the  engineering  in- 
dustry. 


The  Business  Library 

By  Louise  B.  Krause,  Librarian  with  H. 
M.  Byllesby  &  Company,  Chicago.  124  pages  ; 
illustrated.  Journal  of  Electricity  and  West- 
em  Industry,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

This  is  the  second  edition  of  this 
book.  The  first  was  published  two 
years  ago.  Additions  have  been  made 
to  bring  up  to  date  the  list  of  articles 
of  value  on  the  subject  of  business 
libraries.  Some  of  the  subjects  covered 
are  the  organization  of  the  library,  the 
service  expected  to  be  rendered,  how  to 
file  periodicals,  government  documents, 
trade  catalogs,  photographs  and  lantern 
slides.  The  methods  advocated  for  the 
classification  and  cataloguing  of  the 
particles  filed,  the  mechanical  equip- 
ment needed  and  the  qualifications 
essential  for  the  business  libraries  are 
also  covered  in  detail. 


302 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  8 


Mr.  Brewer,  Promoter 

Grand  Rapids  Operator  and  Manager 
Putting  Through  Important  Merger 
in  Indiana 

Joseph  A.  Brewer,  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  president  of  the  American  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Company,  is  the  moving 
spirit  in  another  consolidation  of  utili- 
ties. This  time  the  properties  con- 
cerned are  all  in  Indiana.  They  operate 
in  seventeen  counties.  The  plans  be- 
ing advanced  propose  a  considerable 
extension  of  the  activities  of  the  com- 
panies which  it  is  intended  to  bring  to- 
gether under  one  head,  and  contemplate 
a  power  development  scheme  which  will 
involve  an  expenditure  of  several  mil- 
lions of  dollars  in  the  erection  of  a 
plant  in  the  Indiana  coal  field  with 
transmission  lines  to  Kokomo  and  In- 
dianapolis. The  new  company  will  be 
known  as  the  Indiana  Electric  Corpora- 
tion. Mr.  Brewer  will  be  its  president. 
Among  the  companies  which  will  be 
taken  over  is  the  Indiana  Railways  & 
Light  Company,  of  Kokomo. 

"Joe"  Brewer  is  a  Michigander.  He 
is  not  in  "Who's  Who,"  but  that  is  a 
reflection  on  "Who's  Who"  rather  than 
on  "Joe."  All  the  Central  West  knows 
Mr.  Brewer  intimately,  and  the  East 
knows  him  by  his  work  even  if  it  has 
had  only  a  small  share  heretofore  in 
assisting  him  in  his  financial  opera- 
tions. With  Mr.  Brewer  it  is  another 
case  of  truth  being  stranger  than  fic- 
tion. The  annals  of  American  business 
are,  of  course,  replete  with  examples 
of  men  who  have  risen  to  prominence 
from  humble  beginnings,  but  there  are 
angles  to  the  achievements  of  Mr. 
Brewer  that  differentiate  him  from 
ethers. 

Not  all  stenographers  become  public 
utility  owners.  Not  all  railroad  clerks 
become  railroad  presidents  or  rise  to 
prominence  in  the  railroad  world.  This 
is  mostly  the  fault  of  the  stenographers 
and  clerks.  Mr.  Brewer  at  fourteen  was 
both  stenographer  and  clerk  at  Grand 
Rapids.  He  learned  the  ropes  rapidly 
but  the  position  lacked  the  element  of 
contact  that  Mr.  Brewer  craved.  He 
decided  to  take  a  chance.  Hieing  him- 
self off  to  Detroit  he  set  up  shop  as  a 
public  stenographer.  If  there  is  any 
place  in  which  to  come  into  contact 
with  persons  of  mercurial  temperament 
it  is  as  a  public  stenographer.  Your 
customers  range  from  the  prima  donna 
of  the  traveling  theatrical  company  to 
— well,  most  anybody.  You  are  sup- 
posed to  react  to  the  state  of  mind 
of  your  client.  You  learn  a  lot  about 
human  nature. 

Having  established  this  point  of  con- 
tact with  the  dear  public,  Mr.  Brewer 
returned  to  Grand  Rapids  where  soon 
he  became  a  real  caterer  to  the  public 
by  purchasing  an  interest  in  the  Hol- 
land Gas  Company.    Thus  is  the  mys- 


tery solved  of  where  all  the  money 
went  that  was  earned  by  one  public 
stenographer.  The  public  is  usually 
ungrateful  and  gives  grudgingly  to  the 
utility  manager,  but  there  seems  to  be 
something  irresistible  about  the  urge 
onward  of  the  business.  Thus  it  was 
only  a  short  time  until  Mr.  Brewer 
took  over  the  Winona  Gas  Light  &  Coke 
Company,  Winona,  Minn.  A  little  later 
he  and  Charles  B.  Kelsey,  another 
utility  operator,  realized  that  they 
could  do  more  by  joining  forces  than 
by  operating  separately,  so  the  firm  of 
Kelsey,  Brewer  &  Company  was  formed. 

So  far  the  talk  about  Mr.  Brewer  has 
been  nothing  but  business.  Mr.  Brewer, 
however,  plays  as  hard  as  he  works. 
Northeast  of  Plainfield  Village,  Mich., 
Mr.  Brewer  has  a  farm  of  360  acres. 
Here  he  does  his  playing  by  supervis- 
ing one  of  the  most  complete  estab- 
lishments of  its  kind  in  the  State.  This 
is  the  man's  principal  hobby.  Despite 
the  demands  made  upon  his  time  by 
his  utility  and  banking  connections,  Mr. 
Brewer  has  served  as  president  of  the 
West  Michigan  State  Fair,  an  enter- 
prise of  no  mean  proportions. 

The  financial  manuals  list  Mr.  Brewer 
as  president  of  the  American  Public 
Utilities  Company,  president  of  the 
Jackson  (Miss.)  Public  Service  Com- 
pany, president  of  the  Wisconsin-Min- 
nesota Light  &  Power  Company  and 
president  of  the  Eastern  Wisconsin 
Electric  Company,  to  note  just  a  few. 
Forty-five  finds  Mr.  Brewer  still  going 
strong  in  the  field  of  public  service,  as 
is  attested  by  the  plans  being  matured 
for  the  $18,000,000  consolidation  in 
Indiana. 


railway  one  of  the  best  operated  com- 
panies in  the  country. 

Mr.  DeCamp  has  had  a  fund  of  both 
railway  operating  and  selling  experi- 
ence. He  first  became  interested  in 
street  railway  matters  in  1889,  when  he 
went  to  work  for  the  General  Electric 
Company.  Subsequently  he  was  con- 
nected with  the  old  Utica  &  Mohawk 
Valley  Railway,  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  system,  and  the  Third  Avenue 
Railroad,  thereafter  entering  the  sales 
field.  While  engaged  in  selling,  how- 
ever, he  has  always  kept  up  his  interest 
in  the  operating  field,  particularly  along 
the  lines  of  efficient  management  and 
operation. 

Transit  Engineer  Will  Study 
Foreign  Methods 

Robert  Ridgway,  chief  engineer  of  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission,  sailed 
recently  on  the  Olympic  for  a  five 
weeks'  stay  abroad,  where  he  will  study 
methods  of  construction  and  operation 
of  subways,  rapid  transit  lines  and  ur- 
ban transportation  generally.  Mr. 
Ridgway  is  expected  to  make  a  special 
study  of  the  underground  systems  of 
London,  Paris  and  Berlin,  to  obtain  in- 
formation that  will  help  him  in  laying 
out  new  lines  in  this  city  and  to  solve 
the  traction  problem  in  New  York.  He 
went  by  direction  of  the  commission. 
Clifford  M.  Holland,  chief  engineer  of 
the  New  York  and  New  Jersey  Tunnel 
Commission,  accompanied  him. 


H.  C.  DeCamp  Leaves  Sales  Work 
to  Become  Operator 

H.  C.  DeCamp,  for  the  past  eleven 
years  a  representative  of  the  railway 
department,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  Cincinnati  of- 
fice, has  been  appointed  assistant  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  City  Railway,  Day- 
ton, Ohio.  Mr.  DeCamp  is  very  well 
known  in  railway  circles,  particularly 
in  the  Middle  West,  where  he  has  for 
many  years  been  active  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Central  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation, which  he  has  served  in  various 
capacities  from  member  of  numerous 
committees  to  "parson"  on  the  annual 
cruise  this  last  summer.  For  many 
years  he  has  had  a  hobby  of  the  ways 
and  means  of  promoting  a  better  spirit 
and  better  salesmanship  on  the  part  of 
trainmen.  He  has  felt  that  the  train- 
men have  received  less  attention  than 
they  deserved,  and  at  one  time  wrote 
a  series  of  "Letters  of  a  Retired  Motor- 
man  to  His  Son,"  which  were  published 
in  Aera.  In  his  new  position,  with  the 
full  co-operation  of  the  officers  of  the 
company,  he  expects  to  work  out  these 
ideas  and  endeavor  to  make  the  city 


Harry  S.  Williams  Joins  Detroit 
Municipal  Railway 

Harry  S.  Williams  has  been  made  as- 
sistant superintendent  of  equipment  of 
the  Detroit  municipal  street  railway 
system.  Since  1914  he  has  been  en- 
gaged in  building  work  in  Detroit,  but 
prior  to  that  was  for  many  years  in 
electric  railway  work.  He  started  his 
railway  experience  in  the  construction 
department  of  the  Lima-Honeoye  Elec- 
tric Railway,  and  became  assistant 
superintendent  when  the  construction 
of  the  line  was  completed.  After  three 
years  he  became  connected  with  the 
construction  work  of  the  Oneida  (N. 
Y.)  Railway,  and  upon  completion  of 
this  was  transferred  to  Utica,  N.  Y., 
serving  for  a  time  in  the  power  depart- 
ment and  later  in  the  mechanical  de- 
partment. At  this  time  he  had  charge 
of  the  shops  and  carhouses  of  the  Utica 
&  Mohawk  Valley  Railway  Company, 
now  a  part  of  the  New  York  State 
Railways.  Following  the  electrifica- 
tion of  the  West  Shore  Railroad  from 
Utica  to  Syracuse,  he  was  made  elec- 
trical engineer  of  that  property,  with 
supervision  of  the  power  houses,  over- 
head and  third-rail,  in  addition  to  the 
car  equipment.  In  1910  he  became 
chief  engineer  of  the  Peter  Smith 
Heater  Company,  Detroit,  serving  in 
this  capacity  until  1914. 


Walter  J.  Derine  is  now  the  secre- 
tary of  the  Ohio  River  Electric  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  Pomeroy,  Ohio. 
The  position  until  recently  was  held  by 
J.  K.  Trimble. 


August  20,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


303 


Herbert  Ware  has  severed  his  con- 
nection with  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, at  Camden,  N.  J.,  after  a  service 
of  more  than  twenty-five  years.  For 
more  than  ten  years  he  served  as 
starter  at  the  Pennsylvania  terminal, 
at  Camden,  N.  J.  He  was  at  one  time 
assiscant  to  the  superintendent  of  em- 
ployment at  Camden.  He  started  with 
the  company  as  a  motorman. 

Walter  Jackson,  consulting  engineer, 
has  returned  from  a  three  months' 
study  of  transport  conditions  in  Europe. 
In  technical  matters  he  paid  particular 
attention  to  trackless  trolley  develop- 
ment and  the  amazing  growth  of  motor- 
bus  operation  both  in  city  and  country 
service.  Visits  were  made  to  London, 
Paris,  Vienna  and  Berlin  in  connection 
with  changes  in  rates  of  fare,  service- 
at-cost  contracts  and  public  ownership. 

George  C.  Graham  has  been  appointed 
superintendent  of  rolling  stock  and 
shop  of  the  Windsor,  Essex  &  Lake 
Shore  Rapid  Railway,  Kingsville,  Ont. 
Prior  to  his  present  appointment  he 
was  engaged  in  commercial  business 
in  Hamilton,  Ont.,  and  before  that  he 
was  for  six  years  superintendent  of 
rolling  stock  of  the  International  Rail- 
way, Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Until  January, 
1910,  Mr.  Graham  was  master  mechanic 
of  the  United  Traction  Company,  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.,  when  he  resigned  to  be- 
come superintendent  of  car  equipment 
and  shops  of  the  Los  Angeles  Pacific 
Company,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


R.  H.  Taylor,  Jr.,  manager  of  the 
Sault  Ste.  (Mich.)  Traction  Company, 
died  very  suddenly  on  Aug.  4  of  heart 
failure.  Mr.  Taylor  had  held  the  posi- 
tion of  manager  of  the  Sault  Ste.  prop- 
erty since  the  reorganization  of  the 
road  many  years  ago.  During  the 
World  War  he  served  as  sergeant  in 
the  160th  depot  brigade  and  is  said  to 
have  had  a  splendid  record. 

W.  C.  Connor,  former  mayor  of 
Dallas,  Tex.,  and  builder  of  the  first 
street  car  line  in  the  city  died  at  Long 
Beach,  Cal,  recently,  after  an  acute 
illness  of  only  a  few  days,  although  he 
had  been  in  failing  health  since  1906. 
Mr.  Connor  was  prominently  identified 
with  the  building  of  Dallas  since  1870, 
having  been  four  times  Mayor,  or- 
ganizer of  the  first  volunteer  fire  de- 
partment, builder  of  the  first  electric 
light  plant  in  Texas,  the  first  ice  fac- 
tory, the  first  street  car  lines  and  a 
pioneer  in  many  other  lines  of  indus- 
try. The  first  street  car  line  he  built 
employed  mule  cars  and  the  line  ran 
up  Main  Street  and  out  Ervay  Street 
to  Browder  Springs.  When  the  electric 
lines  superseded  the  mule  cars,  Mr. 
Connor  retained  his  interest  in  the  lines 
and  served  for  many  years  as  vice- 
president  of  the  Dallas  Consolidated 
Street  Railway  until  this  property  was 
conveyed  to  Stone  &  Webster. 


Good  Time  to  Build 

Important    Engineering    Firm  Bases 
This  Opinion  on  Survey  of 
the  Field 

Dwight  P.  Robinson  &  Company,  New 
York,  have  recently  compiled  and  issued 
a  chart  showing  price  tendencies  in 
nine  groups  of  commodities  from  1914 
to  July  1,  1921,  based  on  the  Bureau  of 
Labor  statistics.  Commenting  on  these 
curves  the  company  says  in  part: 

It  is  now  evident  that  price  recessions  in 
many  industries  have  been  arrested.  During 
a  recent  week  more  price  increases  than 
decreases  were  noted,  the  reverse  of  a  situa- 
tion which  had  existed  for  fifty-six  con- 
secutive weeks. 

Particular  attention  may  be  called  to  the 
curve  for  lumber  and  building  materials, 
which  has  begun  to  straighten  out.  Build- 
ing materials  have  taken  a  deflation  of  139 
points  from  their  peak,  as  contrasted  with 
the  average  deflation  for  all  industries  of 
124  points,  in  spite  of  a  more  than  normal 
demand  for  construction  material.  For  the 
month  of  January  contracts  awarded  were 
6  per  cent  behind  the  January  five-year 
average.  For  the  period  January  to  July  1 
they  were  9  i  per  cent  ahead  of  the  January 
to  July  1  five-year  average. 

There  is  not  very  much  industrial  con- 
struction going  forward.  When  the  large 
volume  of  this  class  of  work  starts,  the 
increased  demand  will  undoubtedly  have  a 
tendency  to  push  building  costs  up,  for  the 
same  laws  of  supply  and  demand  obtain  in 
the  construction  industry  as  in  other  lines 
and  it  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  in 
the  face  of  such  activity  there  will  be  an 
appreciably  greater  deflation. 

The  railroads  are  now  practically  assured 
of  government!  aid  and  accordingly  may 
soon  be  in  the  market  for  the  equipment 
and  materials  they  have  so  long  needed. 
Heavy  railroad  purchases  will  act  as  a 
strong  tonic  to  the  business  situation  and 
will  undoubtedly  affect  general  prices. 


Activities  of  Trade  Associations 

An  official  statement  having  to  do 
with  the  activities  of  trade  associations 
will  be  issued  the  latter  part  of  August. 
A  promise  to  this  effect  was  made  by 
Commerce  Secretary  Hoover  after  a 
conference  on  the  subject  between  Mr. 
Hoover  and  members  of  his  staff  with 
the  Attorney-General  and  members  of 
the  Department  of  Justice  staff.  Pend- 
ing the  issuance  of  the  statement,  Mr. 
Hoover  declines  to  comment.  The  At- 
torney-General stated  that  there  are  a 
great  number  of  trade  associations 
which  are  of  much  benefit  to  business 
and  that  the  activities  of  the  great  ma- 
jority of  these  organizations  are  not 
being  questioned.  He  said  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  simply  is  trying  to  find 
if  there  are  not  some  cases  in  which 
illegal  activities  are  being  carried  for- 
ward under  the  guise  of  trade  associa- 
tions. 

The  probabilities  are  that  the  official 
statement  which  is  to  be  issued  will  not 
go  very  far  toward  illuminating  the 
twilight  zone  which  covers  a  part  of  the 
field  of  some  of  the  existing  associa- 
tions. Since  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  is  expected  to  hand  down, 
during  the  October  term,  an  opinion  in 


the  hardwood  lumber  case,  which  may 
define  some  of  the  limits  of  the  fields 
of  the  trade  associations,  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  any  executive  department  is 
going  to  declare  any  very  definite  policy 
before  the  rendition  of  that  opinion. 

The  Department  of  Commerce  has  as- 
certained that  there  are  more  than  5,800 
trade  and  industrial  organizations  in 
the  country. 

French  Railway  Orders 
Equipment 

An  order  for  electrical  equipment 
amounting  to  $1,200,000  has  been  re- 
ceived by  the  Westinghouse  Electric 
International  Company  from  the  Midi 
Railway  of  France.  The  order  includes 
transformers,  synchronous  converters, 
lightning  arresters  and  other  substa- 
tion equipment.  The  Midi  Railway 
operates  an  extensive  system  start- 
ing from  Bordeaux,  running  through 
Toulouse  to  Cette,  with  many  branches. 
The  section  on  which  the  Westinghouse 
equipment  will  be  used  extends  from 
Pau  to  Toulouse  in  the  Pyrenees  Moun- 
tains near  the  Spanish  border.  The 
line  passes  through  Tarbes  and  St. 
Gaudens,  and  has  a  total  length  of 
more  than  100  miles. 


Large  Turbine  Generators  Tested 

The  capacity  of  the  testing  room  of 
the  South  Philadelphia  works  of  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company  was  taxed  to  capacity  re- 
cently when  169,000  kw.  of  steam  tur- 
bine generators  were  on  the  test  floor 
at  the  same  time.  Nearly  150,000  kw. 
of  this  amount  was  made  up  of  five 
turbines  for  some  of  the  largest  rail- 
way and  power  companies  in  the  United 
States.  These  included  a  35,000-kw.  tur- 
bine for  the  Hellgate  station  of  the 
United  Electric  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany of  New  York,  a  25,000-kw.  tur- 
bine generator  for  the  Gold  Street  Sta- 
tion of  the  Brooklyn  Edison  Company, 
a  25,000-kw.  turbine  for  the  Virginia 
Power  Company,  Cabin  Creek,  Va.;  a 
35,000-kw.  turbine  for  the  Calumet  sta- 
tion of  the  Commonwealth  Edison  Com- 
pany, Chicago;  a  25,000-kw.  turbine  for 
the  United  Electric  Light  Company, 
Springfield,  Mass.,  and  a  10,000-kw. 
turbine  for  the  American  Rolling  Mills, 
Middletown,  Ohio. 


Electrification  Data  Needed 

A  technical  commission  in  Portugal 
(No.  35,284)  desires  to  be  placed  in 
communication  with  firms  in  the  United 
States  engaged  in  undertakings  such 
as  the  electrification  of  railways  and 
transmission  of  electrical  power  and  to 
secure  literature  and  catalogs  from 
manufacturers  of  material  and  acces- 
sories pertaining  thereto. 


304 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No,  S 


Rolling  Stock 


The  Hydro-Electric  Railway,  Windsor, 
Out.,  intends  to  rehabilitate  its  present 
rolling  stock  and  buy  twenty  new  cars. 

The  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hart- 
ford Railroad,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  men- 
tioned in  the  July  30  issue  as  having  placed 
an  order  with  the  Osgood-Bradley  Car  Com- 
pany for  eight  steel  motor  cars  and  for 
fourteen  trailer  cars  of  the  same  type,  has 
given  the  following  data  on  these  cars: 

Number   of   cars   ordered    (motor)  8 

Date  of  order  Dec,  192(1 

Date  of  delivery   Dec,  1921 

Builder  of  car  body  Osgood-Bradley 

Car  Company 

Type  of  car  Motor-passenger 

Seating  capacity   84 

Weight — ■ 

Car  body   68,500  lb. 

Trucks  with  motors   69,700  lb. 

Equipment   5 ? '999  , 

Total   170,200  lb. 

Bolster  centers,   length  47  ft.  11  in. 

Length  over  all  72  ft.  73  in. 

Truck  wheelbase    8  ft.  1  in. 

Width  over  all    9  ft.  8_ft  m. 

Height  to  top  of  roof  13  ft.  3g  in. 

Body   All  steel 

Interior  trim   Steel  and  agasote 

Headlining   £rgas??te 

Roof   Monitor 

Air   brakes  Westinghouse  AMU-2-lb 

Armature  bearings   .  .  .Brass 

Axles   O.  H.  Steel 

Car  signal  system  Westinghouse  Air 

Car  lighting  Adams  &  Westlake  or 

Safety  Company 

Center  bearings   M.  C.  B. 

Side  bearings   Creco  roller 

Conduits  and  junction  boxes  Osgood- 
Bradley  pressed  steel  boxes 

Control   Westinghouse  multiple  unit 

Couplers     ....National  Malleable  Castings 
Company — extended  horn 

Curtain  fixtures  National — cam  type 

Curtain   material   Pantasote 

Gears  and  pinions   Nuttall  BP 

Heater  equipment .  .Consolidated — 52  Truss 
plank — 26  seat 
Headlights  .  .  .Golden  glow — 12-in.  reflector 

Journal    bearings   .   Brass 

Journal  boxes  ...Cast  steel  6*  in.  x  11  in. 
Lightning  arresters.  .Westinghouse  379-s  3- 
time  element  relav  with  392  overload  trip 

Motors  6  cars — 4  WTestinghouse  409-D 

2  cars — 4  Westinghouse  417 

Sash  fixtures  ■  •National 

Seats   Hey  wood  Brothers  &  Wakefield 

Seating  material   Pantasote 

Slack  adjuster  American  type  L 

Springs  Triple  elliptic 

Step   treads   Peralun 

Trucks  ...Standard  Motor  Truck  Company 

Ventilators   Osgood-Bradley 

Wheels   Steel-tired  42-m. 

Draft  gear.  .  .  .Radial  for  operation  on  loop 
at  lower  level  of  Grand  Central  Terminal 

Current  collector  Railroad  Company's 

Standard  A.C.  pantograph  and  D.C. 

third-rail  shoes 

The  body  design  of  the  trail  cars  is 
identical  with  that  of  the  motor  cars.  The 
trail  cars,  weighing  104,000  pounds,  are 
equipped  with  Westinghouse  ATU-1-16  air 
brakes.  The  wheelbase  of  the  truck  is  1  m. 
shorter  than  that  of  the  motor  cars.  The 
journal  boxes  are  5  in.  x  9  in.,  while  the 
wheels  are  36-in.  forged  steel  instead  of 
4°-in  steel-tired.  The  American  type  J 
slack  adjuster  is  used  instead  of  the  type 
L  used  on  the  motor  cars. 


Franchises 


resort  not  only  for  the  City  of  Fort  Worth 
but  for  all  the  country  within  a  hundred 
miles  of  the  city.  The  cost  of  the  line, 
according  to  Mr.  Barrett,  is  estimated  at 
$350,000. 


Track  and  Roadway 


The  Columbus  (Ga.)  Railroad  is  rebuild- 
ing its  track  on  the  North  Highland  line 
using  heavier  rails  and  additional  switches. 
This  was  found  necessary  in  order  to  oper- 
ate an  increased  schedule.  A  loop  is  also 
being  constructed  at  the  end  of  the  line. 

United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md..  will  extend  its  line  one  mile 
from  Carney,  Md. 

Winnipeg-  (Man.)  Electric  Railway,  is 
tearing  up  its  old  tracks  on  Main  Street  be- 
tween Sutherland  and  Selkirk  Avenue  and 
replacing  them  by  new  85-lb.  heavy  type 
standard  rail.  The  ties  are  also  being  re- 
newed, and  special  intersections  put  in  at 
Dufferin  and  Main,  Euclid  and  Main,  and 
Selkirk  and  Main.  Work  on  improving  the 
tracks  on  Sherbrooke  street  and  Sargent 
Avenue  is  also  proceeding. 

Public  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J., 
will  remove  its  tracks  in  the  middle  of  Val- 
leybrook  Avenue,  Lyndhurst,  N.  J.,  and 
install  a  double  track  system  in  that  thor- 
oughfare. 

Phillipsburg  (X.  J.)  Transit  Company,  has 

been  directed  by  the  city  commission  to 
make  improvements  between  the  tracks  on 
Lewis.  Heckman  and  South  Main  Streets, 
Phillipsburg. 

Oklahoma  Railway,  Oklahoma  City,  Okla., 
has  met  with  the  approval  of  the  citizens 
at  a  hearing  before  the  corporation  com- 
mission in  its  plan  to  spend  $100,000  in 
improvements  and  extensions,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  proposal  of  the  company  to 
abandon  a  section  of  track  on  Twenty- 
eighth  Street.  Other  changes  will  be  ap- 
proved, including  the  consolidation  of  the 
Capitol  and  Cnlbertson  lines,  in  a  way  to 
improve  the  service. 

Trenton,  Bristol  &  Philadelphia  Street  Rail- 
way. Philadelphia,  Pa.,  is  making  a  number 
of  improvements  to  the  bridge  spanning  the 
Neshaminy  Creek  at  Croyden.  Pa.  and  the 
bridge  is  now  closed  to  traffic. 

Wichita  Falls  (Tex.)  Traction  Company, 
will  at  once  begin  construction  on  the  new 
Ninth  Street  line,  from  Floral  Heights  into 
the  business  district  of  the  city.  Permit 
for  this  line  was  granted  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil recently.  The  new  line  will  traverse 
Ninth  Street  from  Broad  Street  and  will 
eliminate  a  loop  of  about  twenty  blocks, 
thus  effecting  a  material  saving  in  the  oper- 
ation of  cars  to  the  Floral  Heights  section. 
The  company  also  announces  that  a  new  line 
will  be  built  to  serve  the  southern  part  of 
the  city  which  has  been  developed  since  the 
Southland  line  was  built  several  years  ago. 

Dallas-Terrell  (Tex.)  Interurban  Rail- 
way will  enter  Dallas  via  Forney  Avenue, 
Stonewall  Street  and  Parry  Avenue,  ac- 
cording to  Richard  Meriwether,  vice-pres- 
ident and  general  manager  cf  the  Dallas 
Railway  and  also  vice-president  of  the  in- 
terurban company.  Application  will  soon 
be  made  to  the  City  Commission  of  Dallas 
for  trackage  rights.  Work  of  grading  for 
the  line  between  Dallas  and  Terrell  is  go- 
ing forward,  Mr.  Meriwether  said,  but 
several  small  stretches  of  right-of-way 
must  be  secured  before  the  grading  work 
can  be  completed. 

Charlottesville  &  Albemarle  Railway, 
Charlottesville,  Va,,  will  enlarge  Jefferson 
Park. 


Trade  Notes 


Shawnee-Teeumseh  (Okla.)  Traction  Co- 
pany  is  resetting  its  tracks  in  Tecumseh. 
When  the  franchise  was  granted  the  com- 
pany it  provided  for  a  double-track  line 
which  was  never  built.  The  line  was  built 
to  one  side  of  the  street  and  it  is  now  being 
removed  to  the  center  of  the  street  prepar- 
atory to  paving  the  road.  The  company 
has  *  also  replaced  the  wooden  structure 
across  the  North  Canadian  River  with  a 
new  steel  girder  bridge. 

Port  Worth-Eake  Worth  (Tex.)  Inter- 
urban, has  been  granted  a  permit  by  the 
County  Commissioner's  Court  of  Tarrant 
Countv  sitting  at  Fort  Worth.  Tex.,  for  the 
construction  of  an  interurban  line  from  Fort 
Worth  to  Lake  Worth,  a  distance  of  about 
ten  miles.  The  permit  was  granted  to  A. 
P.  Barrett.  W.  P.  Welty  and  J.  H.  Jackson, 
and  it  is  proposed  to  build  the  line  from  the 
terminus  of  the  Rosen  Heights  Street  car 
lin  ■  to  the  Municipal  Bathing  Beach  on 
Lake   Worth.     The    lake    is    the  outdoor 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Pacific  Gas  &  Electric  Company.  Sacra- 
mento, Cal.,  has  installed  a  new  12.500-kw. 
steam  turbo-generator  at  Station  "C,"  Oak- 
land.   It  is  a  General  Electric  machine. 

Interstate  Public  Service  Company,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  has  selected  a  tentative  site 
for  the  construction  of  a  dam  on  Fourteen 
Mile  Creek,  near  Charlestowr,  ind.,  with 
which  to  provide  power  for  an  extension 
of  the  company's  lines  from  Charlestown 
through  New  Washington  Madison,  and 
thence  to  Aurora,  connecting  with  the  line 
to  Cincinnati. 

Dominion  Power  &  Transmission  Com- 
pany, Hamilton,  Ont.,  suffered  a  loss  of 
more  than  $75,000  when  its  substation  on' 
Victoria  Avenue.  North  Hamilton,  was 
struck  by  lightning  during  a  recent  storm. 
Repair  work  is  well  under  way. 


The  Michigan  Railroad  Company,  Jack- 
son, Mich.,  has  equipped  fifty-four  of  its 
cars  with  the  new  Root  spring  lifeguard 
manufactured  by  the  Root  Spring  Scraper 
Company,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

3.  E.  Slimp,  after  a  two  months'  associa- 
tion wath  the  E.  T.  Chapin  Company,  as 
manager  of  sales,  located  at  Chicago,  has 
resigned.  The  E.  T.  Chapin  Company  is 
a  producer  of  Western  red  cedar  poles  and 
piling  and  has  its  home  office  at  Spokane, 
Wash. 

The  Belden  Manufacturing  Company, 
Chicago,  111.,  is  now  supplying  standard 
magnet  wire  in  even  quantities  of  %,  i  and 
1  lb.  on  small  substantial  fiber  spools,  the 
charge  for  which  is  very  small.  This  makes 
the  method  of  handling  quite  convenient 
where  small  quantities  are  used. 

The  Webster  &  Perks  Tool  Company, 
Springfield,  Ohio,  announces  that  the  grind- 
ing and  polishing  stand  and  accessory  de- 
partment of  its  business  has  been  sold  in 
its  entirety  to  the  Hill-Curtis  Company, 
Kalamazoo.  Mich.,  which  will  continue  this 
business.  The  Webster  &  Perks  Tool  Com- 
pany will  hereafter  concentrate  upon  the 
exclusive  manufacture  land  sale  of  the 
W&P  line  of  universal  and  plain  cylin- 
drical  grinding  machinery. 

The  Globe  Ticket  Company,  Philadel- 
phia', Pa„  celebrated  its  thirtieth  anniver- 
sary of  inctorporation  on  June  25  by  am 
excursion  of  its  employees,  numbering 
about  4501.  to  Atlantic  City.  All  were  en- 
tertained as  graests  of  W.  E.  Hering,  pres- 
ident of  the  company.  This  company  has 
just  enlarged  its  factory  space  by  almost 
20  per  cent,  so  that  it  now  occupies  eight 
floors  of  its  building  at  112-114  North) 
Twelfth  Street  Philadelphia. 

The  Root  S>n>ring  Scraper  Company,  Kala- 
mazoo, Mich.,  manufacturers  of  spring 
snow  scrapers  and  lifeguards,  reports  that 
shipment  was  recently  made  of  four  hun- 
dred scrapers  for  the  new  cars  now  being 
built  for  the  Detroit  Municipal  Railway. 
The  scrapers  were  delivered  to  the  manu- 
facturers of  the  cars  who  will  install  them. 
Several  smaller  orders  from  old  users  of 
the  equipment  have  also  been  filled. 

Albert  Taylor,  manager  North  Atlantic 
District,  the  Electric  Storage  Battery  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  died  suddenly  in  New 
York  on  July  6.  Mr.  Taylor,  who  was  a 
graduate  of  Princeton  University,  joined 
the  Electric  Storage  Battery  Company  in 
1898  as  a  salesman  in  its  New  York  office, 
having  previously  been  with  the  Edison 
General  Electric  Company,  the  United 
States  ETectric  Company  (absorbed  by 
Westinghouse),  and  the  Stanley  Electric 
Manufacturing  Company.  In  January,  1900, 
he  was  made  assistant  manager  of  the 
company's  New  York  office  and  two  months 
later  became  manager.  In  February,  1920, 
Mr.  Taylor  was  selected  as  manager  for 
the  North  Atlantic  District,  embracing 
branches  in  New  York,  Rochester  and  Bos- 
ton, and  covering  the  states  of  Maine,  New 
Hampshire.  Vermont.  Massachusetts  Rhode 
Island.  Connecticut.  New  York  and  part  of 
New  Jersey. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


The  Ward  Leonard  Electric  Company. 
Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y.,  has  issued  a  booklet 
describing  its  "vitrohm"  (vitreous  enameled) 
resistor  units. 

The  Delta-Star  Electric  Company.  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  is  distributing  bulletin  No.  36, 
devoted  to  Its  high-tension  air-brake  switch 
and  outdoor  substation  equipment.  This 
bulletin  contains  forty-eight  pages  and  will 
be  mailed  upon  request. 

The  William  B.  Scaife  &  Sons  Company, 
Oakmont,  Pa.,  has  issued  a  booklet  entitled 
"Facts  About  Water  Purification  for  Steam 
Generation."  This  treats  of  the  various 
substances  to  be  found  in  water  used  for 
steam  generation  and  describes  method  of 
softening  and  purifying  the  water  to  pre- 
vent scale  and  corrosion  in  the  boiler. 

The  Thompson  Electric  Company,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  has  issued  a  folder  describing 
its  safety  disconnecting  hangers,  which 
enable  high  lamps  to  be  lowered  away  from 
the  electric  circuit  for  cleaning  and  re- 
newals. The  use  of  these  hangers  makes 
reflector  and  lamp  cleaning  easy  and  safe 
and  much  more  likely  to  be  done  since  they 
bring  this  maintenance  work  down  to  the 
ground  instead  of  requiring  some  one  to 
climb  to  it. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL,  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor      N.  A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coait  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.Ncw  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIER.Associate  Editor      C.W. STOCKS.  Associate  Edlto' 

G.J.MACMUBBAY.New»  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE, Editorial  Representative 

L.W.W.MORROW.Special  Editorial  Representative 


volume  58  New  York,  Saturday,  August  27,  1921  Number  ? 


Wanted,  Specific  Data 

on  Electric  Locomotives  ^ 

HASN'T  there  been  enough  ■general  discussion  on 
certain  features  of  heavy  electrification?  Most 
engineers  agree  that  electrification  generally  will  de- 
crease the  operating  ratio  by  increasing  the  traffic  and 
by  saving  coal,  but  that  each  problem  is  a  case  for  spe- 
cial study  as  to  the  ultimate  saving  involved  and  the  sys- 
tem of  electrification  to  be  chosen.  All  the  foreign  com- 
missions have  ended  their  study  of  American  systems 
and  installations  by  saying  "it  depends  on  the  specific 
application." 

Why  should  there  not  be  some  more  definite  discus- 
sion on  the  electric  locomotive?  Shall  the  motors  be 
built  on  the  axles,  should  direct  gearing  or  quill  drive  be 
used,  should  connecting  or  coupling  rods  be  employed 
for  transmission,  and  how  does  freight  or  passenger 
service  affect  these  decisions?  What  is  the  best  method 
to  lubricate  the  motor,  and  where  should  the  motor  be 
placed  so  that  it  can  be  inspected  and  repaired  with  the 
greatest  ease?  What  kind  of  control  should  be  used 
and  where  should  it  be  located?  What  real  basis  for 
rating  the  motors  can  be  devised? 

On  matters  of  this  sort  there  seem  to  be  plenty  of 
opinions  of  a  diverse  character,  but  a  great  dearth  of 
reliable  data  collected  from  service  operations.  There 
have  been  enough  installations  of  various  kinds  to  ac- 
cord data  which  would  fix  some  features  of  design  and 
enable  railway  men  to  have  some  definite  knowledge  in 
regard  to  heavy  electrification  equipment.  Topics  along 
this  line  could  well  be  selected  for  some  of  the  coming 
association  or  club  meetings  on  heavy  electric  traction 
rather  than  the  general  economies  of  the  subject. 


How  About 

a  Cushion? 

THE  use  of  equipment  until  it  falls  to  pieces,  the 
deferred  maintenance  on  tracks,  the  worn  crossings 
and  high  rates  of  acceleration  and  braking  have  devel- 
oped the  fact  that  the  failure  of  many  car  parts  is  due 
to  fatigue  and  to  metal  crystallization  caused  by  shock 
loads. 

A  bad  track  necessarily  increases  the  stresses  on  a 
car  by  causing  the  frame  to  sway,  by  at  times  raising 
diagonally  opposite  wheels  and  by  throwing  parts  out 
of  line  on  curves.  It  also  injures  and  fatigues  the 
metal  in  the  axles,  breaks  bearings  and  causes  in- 
tangible deterioration  to  the  car,  since  the  springs  have 
a  limited  range  of  operation  and  serve  only  to  relieve 
the  shocks  and  strains  on  certain  parts. 

Another  result  of  these  conditions  is  the  effect  on 
service  quality.  Every  passenger  appreciates  a  car  that 
does  not  jump  or  jar  because  of  bad  tracks.  Every 
railway  manager  realizes  the  effect  of  bad  tracks  on 
schedules  and  power  consumption  and  desires  more 
riders  to  patronize  his  system.   What  are  the  remedies? 

There  are  two  which  come  to  mind.  One  of  these 
is  to  put  the  tracks  and  special  trackwork  in  good 


shape.  Money  is  not  plentiful  but  enough  should  be 
found  to  purchase  a  grinder  and  repair  tools  and  to 
pay  repair  gangs,  even  if  some  other  things  are 
neglected.  The  second  remedy  may  be  to  make  some 
change  in  car  designs  in  the  way  of  more  cushions  on 
the  car  parts.  Educated  to  some  extent  by  the  rubber- 
tired  vehicles  with  their  easy  riding  qualities,  people 
today  are  more  particular  about  this  point  than  they 
were.  They  like  easy  riding  street  cars  as  well  as 
automobiles.  This  is  a  matter  which  can  well  be  con- 
sidered by  car  designers.  Aside  from  the  advantages 
derived  in  gaining  public  favor  and  thereby  increasing 
patronage,  there  will  also  be  quite  tangible  results  in 
reduced  maintenance  costs. 


How  Can  Mass  Transport 
Remain  a  Monopoly? 

THE  disconcerting  ease  with  which  any  desired  kind 
of  automotive  service  can  be  established  by  com- 
panies or  individuals  is  something  that  threatens 
absolutely  to  imperil  the  permanence  and  the  growth 
of  the  cheaper  and  basic  forms  of  transport  on  rails 
which  still  remain  necessary  for  the  heavier  work  in 
moving  the  public.  An  unkempt,  irresponsible  example 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada  has  been  the  jitney. 
In  Great  Britain  a  new  antagonist,  in  addition  to  exist- 
ing bus  companies,  has  put  in  an  appearance  during 
this  year  through  the  falling  away  of  certain  war-time 
restrictions.  Any  one  who  now  desires  to  establish  a 
motor-bus  service  can  do  so  upon  payment  of  the 
national  license  fees  for  public  utility  vehicles  without 
depending  upon  the  consent  of  the  local  authorities. 
Thus,  in  any  city  where  the  community  itself  may  not 
have  secured  the  right  to  run  buses,  it  will  be  possible 
for  others  to  do  so  when,  where  and  how  they  please. 

Truly,  this  is  an  absurd  situation,  for  in  all  the 
generations  since  the  establishment  of  transportation 
franchises  those  who  served  as  public  carriers  have  had 
certain,  definite  responsibilities.  But  the  development 
of  the  automotive  vehicle  has  been  so  amazingly  swift 
that  the  law  is  still  a  long  way  from  dealing  with  it 
in  a  way  that  will  protect  those  who  have  invested  most 
in  giving  the  public  what  might  be  called  the  "substan- 
tial" transportation  service.  This  is  indicated  also  by 
the  fact  that  Parliament  has  just  refused  steam  rail- 
roads the  blanket  right  to  run  auxiliary  or  co-ordinating 
bus  services,  while  making  this  grant  freely  to  all 
others  except  municipalities.  The  reason  for  this 
invidious  exception  of  the  railroads  has  been  attributed 
to  a  deliberate  effort  to  stimulate  wasteful  competition 
instead  of  promoting  co-operation  on  the  part  of  many 
elements  of  the  public — especially  the  commercial  classes 
who  ought  to  know  that  in  the  long  run  all  waste  must 
be  paid  for. 

The  present  conditions  in  Great  Britain  offer  a  clear 
warning  to  both  the  electric  and  steam  railways  on  this 
side  that  they  had  better  hurry  to  get  all  the  motor-bus 
rights  possible  if  they  want  to  avoid  possible  like 


306 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


treatment  of  them  in  the  early  future.  Something 
more  constructive  than  anti-jitney  ordinances  is  needed 
if  all  the  mass  transportation  in  a  district  is  to  be  kept 
under  the  direction  of  the  organization  with  the  great- 
est resources  and  experience  and  of  proved  reliability. 
That  organization  is  the  electric  railway. 


Much  to  Be  Learned 
on  Both  Sides 

DURING  the  past  six  months  visitors  to  America 
have  included  railway  managers  and  engineers 
from  a  number  of  countries  abroad,  seeking  light  on 
various  traction  problems.  This  fact  should  not  beguile 
Americans  into  a  belief  that  their  practice  is  perfect 
or  even  better  in  all  respects  than  that  across  the 
Atlantic.  In  one  particular  it  is  true  America  leads  the 
world.  It  has  more  miles  of  track  electrically  equipped 
than  any  other  country,  and  for  this  reason  this  country 
may  be  ahead  in  many  technical  features  as  regards 
transportation  over  rails.  There  is  a  much  larger  field 
here  than  in  any  single  country  abroad  for  a  device 
which  promises  a  saving  in  operating  expenses,  so  it 
is  not  surprising  that  inventors  and  good  inventions 
abound.  It  is  not  that  European  managers  are  behind 
their  American  colleagues  in  appreciation  of  technical 
advances  but  there  is  not  the  same  opportunity  for 
their  development. 

On  the  other  hand,  an  obligation  to  depend  on  one's 
own  resources  has  often  been  the  means  of  developing 
an  acute  sense  for  utilizing  the  means  at  one's  disposal, 
and  it  is  probably  true  that  American  visitors  to 
foreign  shores  would  find  as  much  in  electric  railway 
lines  to  instruct  them  as  will  be  found  here  by  those 
who  come  here  from  Europe  and  South  America.  This 
is  particularly  true  in  the  commercial  aspects  of  the 
business  as  well  as  in  the  co-ordination  of  various 
means  of  transit,  such  as  bus  and  trolley.  Where  traffic 
is  scant,  prospective  passengers  have  to  be  urged  to 
take  the  cars,  and  this  has  made  the  art  of  merchandis- 
ing transportation,  with  all  that  that  expression  implies, 
one  worth  cultivating,  and  American  managers  could 
do  worse  than  to  adopt  some  of  the  best  traffic  stimu- 
lators used  abroad.  To  paraphrase  the  famous  saying 
of  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley,  "There  is  much  to  be  learned 
(said)  on  both  sides." 


Limited  Financing 
Can  Be  Done 

A GOOD  EXAMPLE  of  how  an  electric  railway 
company  may  overcome  the  extreme  difficulty  of 
securing  new  money  for  capital  expenditures  is  afforded 
in  the  accomplishment  of  the  Gary  Street  Railway, 
related  e'sewhere  in  this  issue.  The  officials  met  with 
that  refusal  from  the  usual  financing  agencies  with 
which  many  railway  executives  are  familiar,  and  they 
decided  to  see  what  could  be  done  at  home.  Some  badly 
needed  reconstruction  of  important  track  on  a  street 
undergoing  paving  provided  the  necessity  from  which 
sprang  new  ideas.  It  was  decided  to  try  out  the  employ- 
ees as  a  source  of  money,  and  the  response  was  imme- 
diate and  surprisingly  generous.  Having  themselves  a 
financial  interest  in  the  enterprise,  the  employees  there- 
after made  ideal  salesmen  to  peddle  more  of  the  same 
securities  to  the  public,  and  they  succeeded  and  inci- 
dentally earned  a  small  commission  on  each  bond  sold. 
The  plan  is  particularly  appropriate  for  the  small 


company  where  the  employees  can  be  closer  to  the  man- 
agement. But  it  has  also  been  followed  with  reasonable 
success  in  some  of  the  large  utility  companies.  Not 
only  does  it  accomplish  the  immediate  need  of  the  com- 
pany for  new  money,  but  it  gives  the  employees  a  new 
and  far  more  tangible  interest  in  the  success  of  the 
company  and  furthermore  extends  the  distribution  of 
these  securities  among  local  residents,  which  is  greatly 
to  be  desired.  Railway  companies,  both  large  and  small, 
may  well  indeed  seriously  examine  this  Gary  experi- 
ence. The  indirect  results  of  better  employee  and 
public  relations  may  be  of  even  greater  importance 
than  the  direct  result  of  securing  capital. 

When  one  sees  successful  financing  on  such  basis  as 
this,  it  seems  reasonable  to  suggest  that  no  railway 
company  should  be  willing  to  say  that  it  cannot  finance 
any  badly  needed  new  work  until  it  has  tried  and  ex- 
hausted the  possibilities  of  employee-customer  financ- 
ing. Of  course,  there  must  be  the  condition  that  the 
securities  so  offered  are  sound  and  the  prospects  of 
earning  the  promised  interest  or  dividends  good. 


Electrolysis — 

and  Remedies 

ELECTROLYSIS  is  to  railway  companies  like  induc- 
tive interference  to  power  companies — it  refuses  to 
take  a  standardized  treatment  and  causes  constant  irri- 
tation. 

Local  conditions  make  each  cause  of  electrolysis 
worthy  of  special  study.  The  effects  of  soil  corrosion, 
soil  constituents,  system  layout  and  equipment  and 
climate  conditions  are  so  marked  and  the  opinions  of 
engineers  differ  so  greatly  as  to  the  limits  to  be  set 
for  track  to  earth  potentials,  that  each  example  of  dis- 
ease affords  opportunity  for  a  special  clinic.  Many 
years  of  experience  in  many  localities,  however,  have 
afforded  data  and  remedies.  With  these  available  it 
should  be  possible  to  cure  each  case  after  the  correct 
diagnosis  has  been  made. 

There  have  been  pro  and  con  arguments  on  the  "pipe 
drainage"  system,  the  "insulated  negative  return"  sys- 
tem, the  "welded  track"  system,  and  there  is  the  rather 
unique  "three-wire"  system  used  in  Los  Angeles,  Win- 
nipeg, Omaha,  Milwaukee,  and  Wilmington.  In  some 
of  these  cities  the  three-wire  system  has  been  used  to 
supplement  or  to  supersede  other  systems.  The  data 
available  do  not  prove  it  to  be  a  cure-a'l  for  electrolysis 
but  do  prove  that  it  greatly  improves  conditions  if  used 
with  intelligence.  It  still  appears  that  a  well-bonded 
track  or  a  welded  rail  track  is  the  best  general  remedy, 
although  soil  conditions,  light  rails  and  heavily  motored 
equipment,  etc.,  may  require  the  supplementary  use  of 
other  systems. 

Electrolysis  is  a  fact  that  must  be  faced  and  the 
increased  use  of  underground  power  and  telephone 
cables,  water  and  gas  pipes,  reinforced  concrete  and 
steel  structures  have  increased  the  seriousness  of  its 
occurrence.  In  these  days  when  track  maintenance  has 
been  deferred  by  many  railway  properties,  it  would  be 
a  wise  move  to  check  up  on  track  and  electrolysis  condi- 
tions and,  if  necessary,  remove  the  causes  before  agita- 
tion by  others  affected  stirs  up  a  hornet's  nest  of  public 
sentiment.  The  railways  cannot  afford  to  antagonize 
public  sentiment  by  neglecting  to  remove  causes  for 
political  or  technical  bludgeoning  by  outsiders.  The 
fences  must  always  be  watched  carefully  in  the  railway 
industry. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


307 


Three-Wire  Railway  Distribution  in  Wilmington 

Improves  Regulation  and  Prevents  Electrolysis — Trial  Proves  System  Best  Adapted  to  Radial 
City  Districts — Substation  Equipment  Must  Be  Flexible 

By  A.  P.  Way 

The  American  Railways,  Philadelphia 


DURING  1915  there  was  a  consolidation  of  elec- 
i  trie  railways  in  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  one  large 
economy  was  accomplished  by  shutting  down  a 
steam  generating  plant  in  the  southwest  section  of  the 
town  in  order  to  carry  the  entire  railway  load  from  a 
larger  plant  in  the  northeast  section  nearer  the  load 
center.  This  necessitated  the  use  of  motor-driven 
boosters  to  deliver  satisfactory  operating  voltage  to  two 
long  suburban  lines;  also  the  distance  of  feeding  some 
other  divisions  was  materially  increased.  No  provision 
had  been  made  to  take  care  of  the  additional  return 
current  into  the  plant,  which  was  supplying  a  normal 
combined  load  of  about  3,000  amp.  with  short-period 
peak  loads  of  4,000  to  4,500  amp.  To  make  matters 
worse  in  regard  to  this  return  current,  the  Brandy- 
wine  Creek  was  located  between  the  plant  and  about 
90  per  cent  of  the  load  with  only  two  single  tracks  on 
bridges  and  insufficient  copper  to  supplement  the  rails. 

When  both  plants  were  operating  there  were  neu- 
tralizing potentials  in  the  territory  between  them,  mak- 
ing a  resulting  small  track  drop  between  stations  with 
a  corresponding  small  tendency  for  stray  current,  but 
when  all  current  flowed  in  one  direction  the  track  drop 
was  proportional  to  the  sum  rather  than  the  difference 
of  the  currents. 

It  did  not  take  long  for  the  gas,  water  and  telephone 
interests  to  find  that  their  underground  structures  were 
in  danger  and  they  promptly  notified  the  railway  com- 
pany. In  that  this  difficult  problem  was  worked  out  in 
close  co-operation  by  engineers  of  all  utilities  inter- 
ested, it  is  thought  that  a  story  as  to  how  results  were 
obtained  and  the  difficulties  encountered  would  be  of 
interest  to  railway  engineers. 

A  very  brief  study  of  the  distribution  and  a  few 
preliminary  tests  showed  clearly  the  cause  of  trouble, 
and  without  making  an  elaborate  survey  quick  remedies 
were  applied  to  remove  temporarily  the  stray  current 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  power  house  before  a  more 
thorough  study  could  be  made  for  more  permanent 
remedies.  It  was  found  that  all  the  underground  struc- 
tures were  carrying  considerable  current  toward  the 
power  house  and  these  showed  a  relatively  large  posi- 
tive potential  to  earth  and  to  rails  near  the  plant  with 
the  exception  of  the  lead-covered  power  cables  which 
were  liberally  drained  at  the  plant.  Further,  there  was 
considerable  potential  difference  between  different  un- 
derground structures  showing  that  there  was  a  tendency 
for  an  exchange  of  current  between  them.  To  change 
conditions  new  drainage  cab.es  were  erected  to  points 
along  telephone  cables  and  gas  and  water  pipes  on  the 
south  side  of  the  creek  and  the  underground  structures 
nearer  the  plant  were  further  drained  while  drainage 
of  power  cables  was  not  increased.  These  steps  were 
taken  to  reduce  potentials  between  underground  struc- 
tures and  to  reduce  potentials  to  earth  but  still  to 
favor  lead-covered  cables  to  some  extent.  Considerable 
rebonding  and  renewal  of  jumpers  about  special  work 
were  accomplished  as  promptly  as  the  much-disturbed 
labor  conditions  in  that  large  powder  manufacturing 
district  in  war  time  would  allow. 


A  number  of  conferences  of  engineers  of  the  utilities 
concerned  were  held  and  a  plan  was  presented  and  put 
in  operation.  It  was  conceded  that  two  or  three  sub- 
stations in  outlying  districts  would  be  the  best  remedy 
but  labor  was  scarce  and  manufacturers  could  not 
supply  the  necessary  equipment.  After  much  delay  two 
500-kw.  railway  rotary  converters  were  installed  in 
the  Fifth  Street  lighting  substation  near  the  center 
of  the  city  railway  load  and  1  i  miles  from  the  power 
house.  These  rotaries  took  care  of  nearly  20  per  cent 
of  the  total  load.  The  generators  and  switchboard  at 
the  power  house  were  arranged  to  supply  a  three-wire 
railway  distribution  with  the  neutral  connected  to  rails, 


Specimen  Chart  Showing  Over-All  Track  Drop  with  Two- 
Wire  and  Three-Wire  Distribution 

and  the  negative  bus  to  feeders  of  four  long  suburban 
lines  to  the  west  and  south  of  the  city,  two  of  which  had 
boosters.  The  positive  bus  was  connected  to  the  feed- 
ers nearer  the  station  and  to  the  north.  The  negative 
load  averaged  nearly  30  per  cent  of  the  remaining  load 
on  the  station.  This  arrangement  of  trolley  polarity 
and  relative  location  of  stations  is  shown  in  an  accom- 
panying illustration. 

Two  of  the  engine-driven  generators  were  arranged 
with  shunt  fields  separately  excited  through  D.P.D.T. 
field  switches  by  which  either  field  could  be  connected 
to  the  positive  or  negative  bus  as  desired.  A  simple 
fool-proof  interlocking  plug  switch  was  used  as  a 
mechanical  barrier  to  prevent  the  main  switch  being 
thrown  to  the  wrong  bus  and  also  to  supply  field  cur- 
rent to  the  proper  terminal  of  the  D.P.D.T.  field  switch. 
The  four  feeder  panels  were  provided  with  double- 
throw  switches  in  order  that  the  feeders  could  be  con- 
nected to  either  the  positive  or  negative  bus.  The 
series  boosters  automatically  functioned  properly. 


308 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


Legend 

600  V.  Insulator 
1200  V.  Insulator 
Insulated  Crossover 

-Positive  Trolley  fee1/  from  Filth  St.  substation 


75  Brandywine 
Springs 


Legend 
600  V.  Insulator 
1S0O  V.  Insulator 
Insulated  Crossover 

■  Positive  Trolley 

■  Negative  Trolley 


To  Brandywine 
Springs 


To  Stanton 
44  miles 


.To  Newcastle  3.8mi/es 

'{<  To  Delaware  City 
10.4  miles 


Above,  Original,  and  Below,  Present,  Arrangement  of  Three- Wire  Distribution  System  in  Wilmington 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


309 


Out  on  the  line  24-in.  section  insulators  were  pro- 
vided to  separate  positive  and  negative  trolleys.  Shorter 
ones  would  probably  have  been  adequate  but  those  used 
were  found  in  a  manufacturer's  stock  at  reasonable 
prices.  For  mechanical  reasons  a  long  section  insula- 
tor was  selected  instead  of  two  standard  8-in.  insulators 
and  those  used  have  given  perfect  satisfaction.  The 
location  of  these  insulators  was  carefully  selected  in 
order  to  reduce  the  probability  of  both  trolley  poles 
being  put  up  at  once  and  so  short  circuit  the  insulator, 
and  it  was  found  that  the  best  location  was  half  way 
between  intersecting  streets.  Through  an  error  oppo- 
site polarities  were  placed  on  each  side  of  some 
standard  8-in.  section  insulators,  in  which  case  arcs 
were  carried  and  maintained  across  insulators  by  pass- 
ing cars  until  the  insulators  were  destroyed  or  the 
breakers  at  the  plant  opened. 

City  Trolley  Positive,  Suburban  Negative 

The  current  for  the  four  suburban  lines  to  the  west 
and  south  of  the  city  passed  outward  over  the  same 
tracks  through  the  central  district  that  carried  the 
return  current  from  that  central  district,  so  that  the 
resulting  current  flow  in  the  city  tracks  was  much 
reduced,  which  correspondingly  reduced  the  average 
over-all  potentials  and  therefore  the  tendency  for  stray 
current.  This  practically  eliminated  the  positive  areas 
of  underground  structures  about  the  power  house  and 
the  current  flow  in  drainage  was  reduced  to  values  only 
one-third  or  a  quarter  of  previous  values.  This  is 
what  would  be  expected  when  the  total  resulting  cur- 
rent returning  to  the  station  was  approximately  only 
one-third,  although  the  railway  output  was  reduced  by 
only  about  20  per  cent  by  transferring  some  load  to 
the  Fifth  Street  substation. 

In  this  three-wire  distribution  in  Wilmington  only 
entire  feeders  were  reversed  in  polarity  since  it  would 
have  complicated  car  operation  to  subdivide  them  fur- 
ther. Moreover,  there  was  not  enough  copper  to  give 
satisfactory  voltage  on  further  subdivision.  However, 
in  these  long  sections  of  positive  track  there  was  a 
tendency  for  the  underground  structures  to  carry  a 
small  portion  of  current  and  deliver  it  to  cars  operating 
over  them.  This  caused  a  small  floating  positive  area 
along  these  structures  directly  under  the  cars,  but  since 
this  resulted  in  a  two-way  voltage  condition  at  any 
given  point,  of  relatively  short  duration  of  positive 
polarity,  it  was  considered  that  the  actual  corrosion  of 
these  structures  was  quite  negligible.  This  conclu- 
sion was  substantiated  by  a  very  painstaking  and 
practical  investigation  made  by  the  National  Bureau 
of  Standards  and  published  in  their  Technological 
Paper  72,  also  in  proceedings  of  A.I.E.E.,  1916.  How- 
ever, certain  owners  of  underground  lead  structures 
were  not  ready  to  accept  the  idea  of  practical  immunity 
from  damage,  particularly  in  the  case  of  the  nationally 
important  New  York-Washington  underground  tele- 
phone line  that  passed  for  a  number  of  miles  under  one 
of  these  tracks  of  reversed  polarity.  This  telephone 
cable  was  of  such  great  importance  during  the  war 
that  all  agreed  that  no  chances  could  be  taken.  In 
this  case  the  cable  was  made  negative  to  earth  at  all 
times  by  draining  it  at  a  number  of  points  through 
limiting  resistances  with  separate  line  connected  to  the 
negative  bus  of  the  Edison  direct-current  system  at  the 
Fifth  Street  substation,  the  neutral  of  which  is 
grounded  indirectly  to  the  railway  return  bus  and 
therefore  to  the  telephone  drainage.    Later  a  motor- 


driven  booster  was  used  as  it  was  more  economical. 
Two-way  voltage  conditions  also  existed  in  reference 
to  gas  and  water  pipes  in  some  localities,  but  these 
were  generally  of  short  duration  of  positive  polarity. 

Peculiar  Effects  on  Suburban  Sections 

The  distribution  of  current  to  long  suburban  sec- 
tions  of  positive  rail  beyond  a  city  network  of  normally 
negative  rail  leads  to  some  peculiar  conditions.  One 
suburban  line  of  positive  trolley  runs  to  the  northeast 
along  the  Delaware  River  for  14  miles  to  Chester, 
where  it  is  also  supplied  from  another  station.  Along 
this  line  near  Naaman,  about  8  miles  from  Wilmington, 
where  the  tracks  cross  a  small  stream,  it  was  noticed 
that  the  telephone  lead-covered  cables  showed  a  two- 
way  voltage  condition  to  earth  and  always  negative  to 
track  whenever  the  Wilmington  plant  was  running 
three  wire.  This  positive  condition  had  no  relation 
whatever  to  operation  of  the  cars  of  that  division  and 
it  was  evident  that  current  was  leaving  the  cables  for 
some  other  section  of  the  railway  distribution.  An 
explanation  was  advanced  that  some  division  of  posi- 
tive rail  was  responsible,  but  engineers  representing 
underground  structures  would  not  accept  this  statement 
until  it  was  definitely  proved  by  graphic  charts. 

Whenever  this  load  of  reversed  polarity  was  removed 
or  supplied  by  current  from  positive  trolley,  the  tele- 
phone cable  at  Naaman  was  decidedly  negative  to  earth 
at  all  times.  Apparently  the  tracks  did  not  carry  all 
the  positive  current  required  for  the  long  suburban 
line  to  Delaware  City,  and  some  of  the  current  actually 
did  flow  along  the  tracks  and  telephone  cable  to  the 
northeast  and  pass  into  moist  earth  near  Naaman  to 
reach  the  tracks  toward  Delaware  City  by  way  of 
parallel  low-resistance  paths  along  the  river,  although 
Naaman  and  Delaware  City  are  18  miles  apart  as  the 
crow  flies.  Part  of  the  positive  condition  of  te'ephone 
cables  under  the  Stanton  line,  which  was  remedied  by 
the  boosted  drainage  line,  was  similarly  caused  bv  cur- 
rent endeavoring  to  get  to  this  same  Delaware  City 
line  of  reversed  polarity. 

Failure  of  Generator  Forces  Changes 

However,  in  April,  1918,  before  the  difficulties  were 
corrected,  the  largest  railway  generator  in  the  Brandy- 
wine  plant  was  damaged  beyond  repair  which  required 
quick  action  and  allowed  radical  changes.  It  was 
deemed  inadvisable  to  replace  the  lost  railway  generat- 
ing capacity  in  the  Brandywine  plant,  as  it  was  some 
distance  from  the  load  center.  Fortunately,  at  an 
associated  railway  property  there  were  two  750-kw. 
rotaries  available  which  were  rushed  to  Wilmington 
and  installed  in  the  Fifth  Street  substation  with  the 
two  500-kw.  rotaries  already  in  operation.  This  in- 
creased the  substation  capacity  sufficiently  to  allow  it 
to  carry  75  per  cent  to  80  per  cent  of  the  entire  railway 
load.  Later  a  substation  was  installed  at  New  Castle 
which  supplied  the  Delaware  City  line  south,  thus  re- 
moving the  expensive  operation  of  the  booster  and  the 
difficulties  of  stray  current  from  this  long  suburban 
line.  With  the  Brandywine  plant  carrying  only  the 
load  north  of  the  Brandywine  Creek  and  the  Delaware 
City  line  supplied  separately,  it  was  found  that  the 
balance  of  the  load  could  not  be  carried  satisfactorily 
from  the  Fifth  Street  station  without  an  expensive 
installation  of  negative  copper  to  supplement  the  tracks 
with  some  adaptation  of  an  insulated  negative  return 
system   to   prevent   unreasonable   stray   currents,  or 


310 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


without  resorting  to  an  unlimited  pipe  drainage  system. 
This  latter  was  opposed  by  owners  of  underground 
structures  and  not  generally  approved  by  the  railway 
management.  Rather  than  install  another  substation 
beyond  the  city  limits  to  the  southwest,  the  three- 
wire  distribution  was  again  used,  but  quite  differently 
from  the  former  practice  at  the  Brandywine  plant. 

In  the  substation,  rotary  converters  could  be  arranged 
for  reversal  of  polarity  more  conveniently  than  gen- 
erators, as  they  could  be  maintained  as  self-excited 
machines.  A  plan  of  mechanical  interlocking  was  pro- 
vided by  field  plug  switches  to  prevent  the  main  switch 
from  being  thrown  to  the  wrong  bus,  and  the  switch- 
board was  provided  with  positive  and  negative  buses 


tribution  can  best  be  obtained  by  considering  the 
accompanying  illustration  which  assumes  a  total  of 
nine  cars  taking  50  amp.  each.  With  three  cars 
operating  on  negative  trolley  in  the  middle  of  the 
group  the  over-all  track  drop  from  D  to  A  would  be 
that  caused  by  150,  100  and  50  amp.  between  A  and  B, 
and  the  gradient  is  always  toward  the  station.  With 
all  cars  operating  from  positive  trolley  the  over-all 
track  drop  from  A  to  D  would  be  the  result  of  450, 
400,  350,  100  and  50  amp.,  or  seven  and  a  half  times 
the  drop  in  the  first  case,  assuming  that  the  load  is 
equally  distributed  and  the  track  is  all  of  the  same 
resistance  throughout.  Furthermore,  the  drop  from  B 
to  A  in  the  three-wire  systems  will  be  one-quarter  the 


ELECTROLYSIS  TESTS— WILMINGTON,  DEL. — COMPARISON  THREE-WIRE  AND  TWO-WIRE  OPERATION 


■  Time 

Date 

From 
Location — Front 
6/11/20  11.10 
1 1  30 
12.00 
II  30 
11.00 
II  30 
11.00 


Oper.      Positive  Post 

To 

d  Washinoton  Streets 


Negative  Post 


I  I  30 
I  2  00 
12.08 
12  00 


3-W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 


Earth   Cable  

Earth   Cable  

Earth   Water  

Earth   Water  

Gas   Earth  

Gas   Earth  

Cable  South  End . .  .  Cable  North  End 


Location— 
6/14/20 


•Delaware  Avenge  and 
3-W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 

2-  W 

3-  W 
2-W 


Adams  Street 

Cable   Earth 

Cable   Earth 

H.P.  gas   Earth 

H.  P.  gas  Earth 
Cable  South  End . 
Cable  South  End.. 
High  pressure  gas. 
High  pressure  gas. 
High  pressure  gas. 
High  pressure  gas. 

Cable   Gas 

Cable  ,   Gas  

Bell  cable   ...     Power  cable 

Bell  cable   Power  cable 

Cable   Track  

Cable   Track  


Cable  North  End . 
Cable  North  End. 

Water  

Water  

Rail  

Rail  


Chart  Dist. 
No. 

75 
75 
7b 
76 
77 
77 
78 


—Max.  Volts- 


11.30 

1  1  36 

2-W 

Cable  South  End  . . 

Cable  North  End  . 

78 

hocation- 

— Fro/it  oi 

id  Tatna 

II  Stree 

ts 

6/1 1/20 

2  00 

2  30 

3-W 

Cable  

Earth  

79 

2  30 

2  37 

2-W 

Earth  

79 

2  00 

2  30 

3-W 

Earth  

80 

2  30 

2  37 

2-W 

Earth  

Gas  

80 

2  00 

2  30 

3-W 

Earth  

Water  

81 

2  30 

2  42 

2-W 

Earth  

Water  

81 

2  00 

2.30 

3-W 

Cable  South  End  .  . 

Cable  Nortli  End.  . 

82 

2.30 

2  38 

2-W 

Cable  South  End. .  . 

Cable  North  End  .  . 

82 

Locotion- 

—Delawa 

re  A  rem 

e  and 

Jacl:so/t  Street 

6/14  20  3 

09 

3 

30 

3-W 

Cable  

Earth  

90 

3 

30 

4 

00 

2-W 

Cable  

Earth  

90 

3 

09 

3 

30 

3-W 

Cable  South  End..  . 

Cable  North  End.  . 

91 

3 

30 

4 

00 

2-W 

Cable  South  End... 

Cable  North  End  .  . 

91 

3 

17 

3 

30 

3-W 

Gas  

Earth  

92 

3 

30 

4 

00 

2-W 

Gas  

Earth  

92 

3 

16 

3 

30 

3-W 

Gas  

93 

3 

30 

4 

00 

2-W 

Gas  

Bell  cable  

93 

3-W 

Cable  

Ind 

2-W 

Cable  

Ind 

94 
94 
95 
95 
96 
96 
97 
97 

Ind. 

Ind. 

Ind. 

Ind. 

Ind. 

Ind. 

Ind. 

Ind. 


+ 

0  3 

0.31 

0.8 

0,9 

0.C88 

0.  100 

3 .  8MV 

4.4MV 


2.0MV 
1 .  6MV 


0.22 

0  4" 
0  016 
0  100 

0  06 


  1.5 

  1.6 

  0.12 

  0  14 

  0  18 

  0  30 

12MV   

12MV  4MV 


1  4 

2  2 


4  8MV 


0  4 

1  4 


1.0 

1  4 
0  25 
0  25 
0.4MV 
3  2 

0  4 
0  4 

3  8 

4  4 
0  6 
0  6 
0  3 
0  3 
2.2 

2  2 


■  —Average  Volts- 

+ 


0.08 
0.  13 
0.35 
0  3 
0  015 

0.  030 

1 .  5MV 


7MV 
9MV 


2  4MV 
0  I 
0  I 


7o 

60 
100 
99 
99 
40 
50 
100 


Alg. 
Aver. 


Remarks 


3.0MY  100 


00 


0.8 
0.35 
0  70 


0.6MV 
0  9MV 


0  04 


40 


Momentary 
Momentary 


0,030 
0  020 


I  8MV  100 


65 
100 
100 


60 
50 


60 
50 


Cable  negative  60% 
Cable  negative  1 00% 
Water  negative  99% 
Water  negative  99% 
Gas  negative  60% 

Current  flow  north 
100% 


0.8 

100  . 

.  .  Too  heavily  drained 

12 

100  . 

.  .  Too  heavily  drained 

0  04 

100  . 

. .  Gas  positive  1 00% 

0  08 

100  . 

0  08 

100  . 

.  .  Water  positive  1 00% 

0  16 

100 

.  .  Water  positive  1 00% 

2MY  ' 

'40  : 

.  .  Current  flow  north 

0  8 

100  . 

1.3 

100 

L4MV 

ioo  \ 

0  03 

100  . 

0  05 

035  . 

0  2' 

100 

0.6 

100  . 

0  4 

100  . 

0  8 

100  . 

0.  14 

100  . 

0.  14 

100  . 

0  di 

40 

2  0 

50 

0,3 

100  . 

0  3 

100 

15 

100 

2.0 

100  . 

0.4 

100  . 

0  4 

100 

0  1 

100  . 

0  1 

100 

1  2 

100  . 

1.2 

100  . 

of  1,200  volts  with  neutral  connected  to  rails  and  cer- 
tain feeders  were  provided  with  double-throw  switches 
similar  to  the  arrangement  at  the  Brandywine  plant 
for  its  feeder  panels. 

An  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  relative 
location  and  extent  of  positive  and  negative  trolley 
sections.  It  will  be  noticed  that  all  the  sections  sup- 
plied with  negative  trolley  have  sections  of  positive 
trolley  beyond  and  on  either  side  and  to  some  extent 
nearer  the  substation.  With  the  interconnection  of 
tracks  and  cross  lines  the  over-all  potential  drop  in 
any  section  of  one  polarity  is  small  and  the  exchange 
of  current  from  track  of  one  polarity  to  track  of  oppo- 
site polarity  is  much  less  than  by  the  original  plan 
when  the  long  lines  of  negative  trolley  extended  beyond 
the  city  limits.  The  station  output  averages  about 
2,000  amp.  with  peak  load  of  about  3,000  amp.,  20  to 
30  per  cent  of  which  is  supplied  to  negative  trolley. 

A  conception  of  the  principle  of  the  three-wire  dis- 


drop  between  the  same  points  under  two-wire  operation 
and  the  current  returning  to  the  plant  will  be  one- 
third. 

Tests  Show  Improved  Conditions 

After  the  installation  had  been  completed  for  some 
time,  a  joint  test  was  made  by  representatives  of  gas, 
water,  telephone  and  railway  interests  to  determine  the 
difference  between  two-  and  three-wire  distribution  out 
of  the  Fifth  Street  substation.  In  this  test  one-hour 
graphic  charts  were  used  almost  entirely,  showing 
about  half  an  hour's  record  of  three-wire  operation 
followed  by  about  half  an  hour's  record  of  two-wire 
operation  at  the  same  location  without  change  of  in- 
struments or  connections.  This  was  accomplished  by 
simply  throwing  the  double-throw  feeder  switches  at 
predetermined  times. 

Thirteen  of  the  fourteen  records  of  over-all  track 
voltage  drop  to  outlying  points  showed  a  reduction  of 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


311 


30  to  60  per  cent,  three  records  showed  short-period 
reversals.  Current  flow  in  telephone  lead-cable  drain- 
age was  reduced  by  about  40  per  cent.  Current  flow 
in  power  lead-cable  drainage  was  reduced  about  60  per 
cent,  and  current  in  the  drainage  of  gas  and  water 
pipes  was  reduced  about  50  per  cent.  In  the  area  sup- 
plied by  the  Fifth  Street  substation  current  flow  in 
underground  structures  was  reduced  from  10  to  80  per 
cent  but  in  some  outlying  sections  there  were  reversals 
of  current  flow  varying  from  10  to  30  per  cent  of  the 
time.  The  potentials  between  underground  structures 
and  from  structures  to  earth  were  generally  reduced 
as  would  be  expected.  A  total  of  about  300  graphic 
records  were  made  and  many  readings  with  indicating 
instruments  were  recorded,  but  the  former  were  relied 
upon  where  accurate  comparisons  were  to  be  made,  since 
they  introduced  the  time  element. 

A  sample  graphic  chart  is  shown  in  an  accompany- 
ing illustration,  as  is  also  a  form  used  in  tabulating 
records  for  comparison. 

Conclusions 

The  three-wire  distribution  as  first  installed  by  mak- 
ing remote  suburban  lines  operate  with  a  negative 
trolley  was  not  very  satisfactory,  and  it  would  doubt- 
less have  required  considerable  expense  to  make  it 
more  effective.  The  negative  trolley  section  hung 
approximately  midway  between  sections  of  positive 
trolley  is  much  better  in  that  the  average  potential 
gradients  are  always  toward  the  plant.  Furthermore, 
a  continuous  gradient  toward  the  end  of  the  line  all 
the  time  on  long  suburban  lines  with  negative  trolleys 
is  objectionable. 

The  three-wire  operation  of  Fifth  Street  substation 
substantially  reduced  over-all  track  potentials,  current 
flow  in  underground  structures,  drainage  currents  into 
substation,  potentials  between  structures  and  potentials 
between  structures  and  earth  to  such  values  that  equiva- 

S  S  ')  s 


Schematic  Arrangement  op  Generators  and  Switches  for 
Three-Wire  Operation 

lent  results  could  be  accomplished  only  by  a  very  heavy 
expenditure  for  return  copper  or  the  construction  of  a 
substation  to  take  care  of  suburban  lines. 

The  operating  voltage  at  cars,  particularly  at  remote 
points  in  the  neighborhood  of  junction  between  positive 
and  negative  trolleys,  was  considerably  improved. 

At  many  points  a  two-way  voltage  condition  existed 
between  some  underground  structures  and  earth  or 
other  structures,  but  where  the  positive  conditions  were 


of  relatively  short  duration  and  small  values  it  was 
considered  that  damage  could  not  easily  occur.  There 
have  been  one  or  two  locations  of  cable  failure  where 
these  two-way  voltage  conditions  of  short  duration  of 
positive  polarity  exist,  but  since  there  have  been  cable 
failures  where  cables  are  continuously  negative  it  is 
held  that  the  predominating  cause  is  something  other 
than  stray  currents. 

The  three-wire  railway  distribution  provides  a  very 
economical  and  practical  plan,  particularly  for  city  dis- 
tricts of  heavy  loads  where  there  are  numerous  parallel 


J50A 


■  Feeder. 


450A 


B     " >/?aj7 
3-Wire  Distribution 


It!      tj  r4  r4     tj  , 


■Feeder-'1 


a  *  Tro//e\j 


ISO 


\  Q 1  Cars 
50_  I  Ra,y 


B  C 

cl-Wire  Distribution 

Diagrammatic  Comparison  Between  Two-Wire  and  Three- 
Wire  Railway  Distribution 

and  intersecting  tracks.  The  expense  of  providing  the 
additional  distribution  bus  and  reversing  the  polarity 
of  one  or  more  machines,  or  its  equivalent,  is  very  rea- 
sonable. Care  should  be  taken  to  have  a  good  load 
factor  on  the  machines  carrying  the  reversed  polarity. 
The  greatest  economy  is  derived  in  the  saving  of  return 
copper.  At  Wilmington  there  are  only  about  2,400  ft. 
of  500,000  circ.mil  return  copper  cable  in  addition 
to  an  equivalent  of  1,200  ft.  of  1,000,000  circ.mil  cable 
necessary  to  connect  the  station  return  or  neutral  bus 
to  the  tracks  at  the  two  nearest  locations. 

In  Wilmington  today  the  three-wire  system  for  rail- 
way distribution  from  substations  has  been  applied 
with  success  to  the  entire  system  with  the  exception  of 
about  10  per  cent  of  the  load  north  of  Brandywine 
Creek,  which  is  carried  by  the  power  house  and  a  small 
substation  used  to  supply  a  suburban  line  south  of  the 
city. 

Motor  Trucks  in  New  England 

UNDER  the  title  "Root,  Hog  or  Die;  the  New 
Englander  and  His  Railroads,"  Philip  Cabot  dis- 
cusses New  England  transportation  problems  in  the 
August  Atlantic  Monthly.  While  most  of  the  article 
relates  to  steam  railroad  problems,  the  author  has  quite 
a  little  to  say  about  the  competition  being  given  to  the 
railroads  in  freight  transportation  by  motor  trucks. 
According  to  him,  at  the  present  time,  2,000,000  ton- 
miles  are  being  made  annually  by  trucks  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  five  years  hence,  if  this  growth  continues, 
the  figure  will  be  60,000,000.  The  cost  of  this  transit 
in  depreciated  highways  falls  principally  on  the  tax- 
payer, and  2,000  miles  of  highway  will  have  to  be 
reconstructed  in  Massachusetts  alone  during  the  next 
five  years.  The  cost  at  $40,000  a  mile  will  amount  to 
$80,000,000.  Even  a  tax  of  10  cents  a  ton-mile  (cor- 
responding to  about  $600  a  truck  per  year)  would  not 
cover  the  cost  of  destruction  to  the  roads  caused  by 
these  trucks.  The  proper  agency  for  carrying  freight 
in  New  England,  in  the  author's  opinion,  is  the  rail- 
road, except  for  distances  of  6  miles  or  less. 


312 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


The  Problem  of  the  Fare 


Lord  Ashfield  in  a  Magazine  Article  Analyzes  the  Factors  on  Which  Fares  Should  Be  Based  and 
Discusses  the  Relative  Merits  for  British  and  American  Cities 
of  the  Zone  or  Differential  Fare 


IN  THE  19th  Century  and  After  for  June,  1921,  Lord 
Ashfield,  chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  for  a 
number  of  the  transportation  systems  in  London, 
contributes  an  article  of  9,000  words  or  more  on  flat  and 
zone  fare  systems.  At  the  beginning  of  his  article  he 
points  out  that  London  and  New  York  present  parallel 
features  in  urban  transport,  but  that  New  York  has  the 
flat  fare  system  based  on  5  cents,  whereas  London  has  a 
differential  fare  system  ranging  according  to  distance 
from  Id.  to  Is.  or  more.    Continuing,  he  says,  in  part: 

Both  systems  appear  to  have  a  general  development  of 
passenger  traffic,  and  recent  figures  of  rides  per  head  as 
shown  below  are  uncannily  similar: 


RIDES  PER  HEAD 


1920 


London   jjf 

New  York   421 


1913 
301 
352 


The  average  fare  in  New  York  is  just  over  5  cents,  where- 
as in  London  it  is  just  over  lid.  or  about  a  half.  In  1920  in- 
vestigation of  financiers  and  experts  in  New  York  indicated 
that  8  cents  was  necessary,  and  in  London  the  figure  was 
nearly  3d.  This  raises  the  issue  of  the  comparative  merit  or 
demerit  of  the  contrasted  systems  of  fares.  The  subject  will 
be  discussed  under  four  heads,  namely:  (1)  The  fare  as  the 
index  of  the  value  of  the  service  received;  (2)  the  fare  as 
the  index  of  the  value  of  the  service  rendered;  (3)  the  fare 
in  relation  to  the  cost  of  service,  and,  finally  (4)  the  fare  in 
relation  to  public  or  civic  policy. 

If  persons  live  scattered  around  in  suburbs  and  work  in 
the  center  of  the  city  and  each  day  are  carried  to  and  from 
their  work,  the  value  of  the  service  received  by  each  of 
them  may  be  said  to  be  identical.  It  is  not  of  any  more  real 
value  to  be  carried  5  miles  than  3  for  this  necessary  pur- 
pose. In  fact,  the  travel  is  often  a  bother,  and  the  time 
occupied  is  an  expense.  Is  it  therefore  reasonable  to  add  to 
the  expense  by  charging  a  higher  fare?  There  in  brief  is 
the    economic    argument    which    leads    to   the    flat  fare 

 one  price  for  all  rides.     But  though  the  bare  service 

received  by  the  passenger  may  be  identical  in  value  for  all, 
the  effects  of  the  service  are  dissimilar,  and,  overlooking 
for  the  moment  other  considerations,  the  real  value  might 
just  as  well  be  reflected  in  the  fare  as  in  the  rent  or  rates. 
For  instance,  in  London  the  rent  for  equivalent  accommoda- 
tions normally  falls  as  the  center  is  left.  In  New  York 
it  is  reported  that  the  rent  for  the  same  accommodations 
in  upper  New  York  is  the  same  as  in  lower  New  York  and 
that  the  accommodation  is  the  same. 

The  flat  fare  of  America  is  the  consequence  of  an  acci- 
dental circumstance,  the  denominations  of  the  coinage.  The 
smallest  effective  coin  in  constant  use  in  England  is  a  penny. 
In  America  it  is  the  nickel.  This  disparity  in  value  at  the 
very  starting  point  of  a  fare  system  must  be  a  governing 
factor  in  the  development.  In  England  a  differential  fare 
scheme  must  start  with  a  penny  as  its  initial  fare  and  the 
question  is:  What  is  a  fair  pennyworth  of  travel?  In  the 
small  cities  it  was  found  that  the  cost  of  the  average  length 
of  journey  taken  in  them  was  amply  met  by  the  collection  of 
a  penny  from  every  passenger.  In  the  larger  cities,  where 
the  distances  to  be  covered  were  greater,  the  penny  was  in- 
sufficient, and  as  the  penny  was  deemed  the  indispensable 
starting  point  for  a  fare  system,  additions  were  made  to  it 
for  the  further  distances,  and  the  differential  fare  became 
inevitable. 

In  America  the  same  question  was  presented  except  that 
it  was:  What  is  a  fair  nickel's  worth  of  travel?  Apart 
from  the  recent  breakdown  of  the  5-cent  fare  owing  to  the 


war,  there  were  cases  in  which  the  extension  of  the  cities 
had  already  proved  too  great  a  strain  upon  it.  In  Chicago 
and  New  York  (1916)  the  length  of  journey  had  reached  6J 
and  51  miles  respectively  on  the  elevated  and  subway  lines, 
while  on  the  street  railways  it  exceeded  4  miles,  and  revi- 
sion in  some  form  could  not  long  have  been  avoided.  Would 
American  practice  follow  English  practice  and  from  the 
initial  flat  fare  develop  as  required  fares  at  higher  rates  for 
the  extending  routes  of  street  railways  ? 

The  5-cent  flat  fare  having  prevailed  for  so  long  a  period 
and  the  development  and  extension  of  the  cities  having 
taken  place  under  the  conditions  established  by  it,  it  has  be- 
come the  ingrained  custom  for  America.  The  greatest  re- 
sistance is  shown  to  the  introduction  of  the  zone  or  differ- 
ential fare.  It  is  realized  that  it  must  mean  alterations  in 
land  values  and  property  values,  distribution  of  population, 
decentralization  of  the  city  and  the  creation  of  local  centers 
of  activity  and  amusement.  Every  vested  interest  is  op- 
posed to  it.  It  is  a  change  of  a  revolutionary  character. 
Therefore  America  struggles  to  keep  the  flat  fare,  and  it 
has  disappeared  in  favor  of  a  zone  fare  system  in  thirteen 
cities  only. 

The  question  of  giving  change  is  also  a  consideration.  No 
one  cares  for  odd  cents. 

When  a  flat  fare  reaches  a  level  of  10  cents  its  accept- 
ance must  be  held  to  indorse  the  principle  that  every  ride, 
irrespective  of  length,  is  the  performance  of  service  of  equal 
value  to  every  rider.  But  as  a  measure  for  expanding  the 
volume  of  traffic  to  the  utmost  it  cannot  be  sound.  Surely 
some  must  pause  and  reflect  on  the  value  of  the  service  to  be 
received  before  paying  away  their  dimes  for  a  brief  journey. 
There  is  interesting  confirmation  of  this  in  the  average  car- 
loads of  American  and  English  street  railway  systems.  In 
spite  of  the  fiercer  temporary  congestion  in  American  cities, 
the  average  carload  on  an  English  system  is  about  half  as 
heavy  again  as  on  an  American  system.  This  is  the  re- 
freshing fruit  of  the  low  initial  fares  which  induce  casual 
riders  at  all  hours  of  the  day.  In  Berlin  also  an  increasing 
flat  fare  has  driven  away  passengers.  In  contrast  with  this 
the  underground  railway  of  Berlin,  which  had  a  differential 
fare  scheme  based  on  the  number  of  stations  covered  by  the 
journey,  has  at  least  been  able  by  more  flexible  adjustments 
of  its  fares  to  maintain  itself  in  a  solvent  condition.  There 
is  a  narrow  upward  limit  to  a  flat  fare.  It  tends  to  disaster 
where  this  narrow  limit  is  exceeded.  It  depends  for  its 
validity  upon  the  principle  that  all  journeys  are  of  equal 
value  to  the  passengers.  As  soon  as  the  passengers  become 
'  conscious  of  a  difference  in  the  value  of  the  rides  received 
they  become  willing  and  anxious  to  recognize  a  difference  in 
the  fare  paid.  In  fact,  they  are  found  to  insist  upon  a  sys- 
tem of  fares  which  commends  itself  to  them  as  equitable 
before  they  will  ride  freely. 

The  Fare  as  the  Index  of  Value  of  the 
Service  Rendered 

The  nature  of  the  service  rendered  in  general  is  the  pas- 
senger-mile, so  that  the  observation  of  this  principle  de- 
mands a  system  of  differential  fares  increasing  with  dis- 
tances covered.  At  the  outset,  however,  a  distinction  must 
be  drawn  between  a  zone  system  and  a  differential  system  of 
fares.  A  zone  system  of  fares  defines  a  series  of  areas  and 
establishes  a  rate  of  charge  for  each  area.  The  fare  paid 
for  a  journey  across  several  areas  is  the  sum  of  the  charges 
applicable  to  those  areas.  An  intending  passenger  near  to 
the  boundary  of  an  area  is  induced  to  walk  to  the  boundary 
to  save  one  of  the  charges.  This  feature  has  been  noticeable 
in  American  cities  where  outer  zones  have  been  added  to  the 
initial  5-cent  central  zone  at  a  charge  of  2  cents  per  zone 
covered.  It  is  a  common  defect  in  a  zone  system  that  the 
fares  are  not  overlapped.     This  inequity  is  the  mistake 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


313 


which  has  spoiled  and  wrecked  so  many  of  the  ventures  into 
zone  schemes  in  America. 

The  differential  system  of  fares  is  based  upon  stages,  be- 
ing- the  distances  between  station  and  station,  or  between 
point  and  point  used  in  denning  the  fares.  At  any  point 
there  is  a  complete  system  of  fares  for  that  point  in  relation 
to  every  other  point,  and  the  points  are  usually  of  such  a 
number  that  for  each  rate  of  fare  there  is  a  choice  of  two 
or  three  as  destinations  in  every  direction.*  Thus  the  fares 
are  always  flexible  and  capable  of  fare  adjustments  to  the 
total  distance  covered  wherever  the  passenger  starts  or 
finishes  his  journey.  This  is  the  system  of  fares  to  which 
experience  has  always  tended  in  this  country  [Great  Brit- 
ain]. Whatever  experiments  there  may  have  been  with  flat 
fares,  as  when  the  Central  London  Railway  was  the  "two- 
penny tube,"  they  have  uniformly  broken  down  into  a  differ- 
ential fare  scheme,  and  the  financial  results  of  the  change 
have  been  uniformly  beneficial. 

As  already  explained  the  Id.  fare  is  the  dominant  fare 
here,  and  every  scheme  of  fares  must,  at  any  rate  before 
the  war  change  in  price  level,  have  taken  it  into  account.  It 
was  too  low  a  unit  on  which  to  found  a  flat  fare  system. 
Thus,  as  soon  as  journeys  exceeded  a  length  of  2  miles  on 
the  average,  the  higher  fares  were  secured  by  additions  to 
the  Id.  for  the  further  distances.  Table  I  shows  the 
rates  of  fare  and  number  of  passengers  carried  at  each 
rate  of  fare  for  the  three  principal  agencies  of  passenger 
transport  in  London  in  1913. 


TABLE  I— SHOWING  PASSENGERS  (LAST  000  OMITTED)  AT 
DIFFERENT   RATES  OF   FARE  IN  1913  ON 
LONDON  TRANSPORTATION  SYSTEMS 


Per  Per  Per 

Under-  Cent  Motor      Cent         L.C.C.  Cent 

Ordinary                 ground  of  Omnibuses     of  Tram-  of 

Passengers            Railways*  Total  Total         ways  Total 
Number  of  passen- 
gers carried  at 
fares  of: 

Id.  orless                     22,376  33  464,933       69  368,714  86 

Over  Id.  up  to  2d  .       30,412  46  148,035       22  51,229  12 

Over  2d.  up  to  3d. .       12,814  19  43,462         6  6,717  2 

Over  3d                            997  2  19,898         3  450 


Total   66,599  676,328        ...  427,110 


Average  fare  paid  per 

ordinary  passenger         l  .8d.     ..  1.3d.     ..  0  9d. 

*  London  Electric  and  Central  London  Railways  only.  Other  records  not 
available  in  detail. 

The  percentages  reveal  the  relative  importance  of  the  dif- 
ferent fares.  The  question  whether  the  same  number  of 
people  would  have  paid  the  average  fare  as  a  flat  fare  is  the 
test  of  the  soundness  of  the  policy.  All  the  available  evi- 
dence is  against  the  proposition.  Almost  every  change  in 
fare  made  in  London  over  the  decade  that  preceded  the  war 
has  shown  as  its  immediate  results  something  approximat- 
ing to  the  same  gross  receipts.  The  passengers  rose  or  fell 
in  numbers  as  the  fare  fell  or  rose  in  rate.  The  product  was 
little  altered.  When,  however,  the  upward  change  in  fare 
was  justified,  the  volume  of  traffic  at  the  new  fare  was  not 
checked  except  temporarily,  but  soon  continued  to  rise  again 
with  the  general  growth  of  travel. 

The  critical  argument  in  favor  of  the  differential  fare  may 
be  studied  in  the  case  of  the  halfpenny  fare  conducted  on  the 
chosen  ground  of  Glasgow.  While  the  average  expenses  and 
charges  per  passenger  carried  never  fell  below  0.70d.,  as  much 
as  64  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  passengers  carried 
were  being  charged  no  more  than  a  halfpenny.  In  the  last 
full  year  of  their  currency  the  number  of  passengers  at  half- 
penny fare  was  305,000,000.  Ten  years  earlier  it  was  62,- 
000,000.  The  expansion  of  traffic  had  been  sensational  and 
warranted  their  introduction.  The  passengers  were  created 
from  those  who  previously  had  walked  on  account  of  the  Id. 
fare.  The  footwalks  were  cleared  of  pedestrians  and  the 
vacant  seats  in  the  tramcars  filled.  So  long  as  there  were 
vacant  seats  in  the  tramcars  it  was  expedient  to  fill  them  at 
any  price,  for  every  passenger  brought  in  helped  to  pay  a 
share  of  the  cost  of  operation  and  so  averaged  them  down 
to  a  smaller  sum  per  passenger.  The  Glasgow  halfpenny 
fares  were  withdrawn  on  May  31,  1920,  when  they  had  be- 
come uneconomic  in  reality  as  well  as  in  appearance. 

*  [Editors'  Note — In  other  words,  fares  are  not  determined  by 
fixed  zone  lines  but  by  the  distance  traveled  by  the  passenger.] 


A  converse  illustration  is  the  introduction  of  the  cheap 
midday  fare  of  2d.  on  the  London  County  Council  Tramways. 
The  motor  omnibuses  were  compelled  to  follow  the  practice 
in  self-protection.  The  results  for  the  motor  omnibuses  was 
that  in  a  week  198,000  passengers  used  the  cheap  tickets, 
represented  in  part  by  passengers  already  riding  at  the  ordi- 
nary fares  and  therefore  gaining  by  the  special  cheap  fares, 
and  in  part  by  further  passengers  induced  to  ride  by  reason 
of  the  cheaper  facility.  The  loss  on  the  former  passengers  is 
estimated  at  £9,500,  the  gain  on  the  latter  passengers  is  esti- 
mated at  £8,750,  so  that  the  ultimate  loss  is  £750  a  week. 
Here  the  abandonment  of  the  differential  fare  over  2d.  led 
to  a  diminution  of  earning  power  because  the  especially  at- 
tracted traffic  was  insufficient  to  balance  the  reduced  earn- 
ings from  the  existing  traffic. 

So  far  all  the  evidence  shows  that  the  settlement  of  a 
scheme  of  fares  on  the  basis  of  the  value  of  the  service 
rendered  is  generally  approved  and  leads  to  the  creation  and 
retention  of  the  maximum  volume  of  traffic.  This  feature 
is  a  most  important  argument  in  favor  of  the  differential 
fare.  The  short  distance  traffic,  which  a  differential  fare 
system  encourages,  is  ordinarily  casual  traffic,  arising  not 
at  the  times  of  peak  load  when  the  change-over  from  home 
to  business  or  business  to  home  is  taking  place,  but  through- 
out the  day.  It  occupies  the  vehicles  when  they  are  more 
nearly  empty  and  it  is  turned  over  quickly,  one  passenger 
succeeding  another  and  occupying  the  same  seat.  It  must 
have  been  a  misguided  transference  of  these  characteristics 
of  short  distance  traffic  which  led  up  to  the  cheap  midday 
fare  for  long  distance  traffic,  for  a  little  reflection  shows 
they  are  not  applicable.  Long  distance  traffic  is  not  casual, 
it  moves  with  a  purpose  and  therefore  is  not  stimulated  by 
cheapness  to  a  satisfactory  extent.  It  also  persists  in  oc- 
cupying the  seats,  for  it  cannot  be  turned  over.  Finally,  a 
differential  system  of  fares  seeks  a  satisfactory  average 
fare  over  all  passengers,  and  if  fares  are  introduced  below 
this  satisfactory  average  on  the  one  side,  they  must  be  bal- 
anced against  fares  above  this  satisfactory  average  on  the 
other  side. 

The  strongest  case  for  the  differential  fare  has  resulted 
from  the  general  advance  of  all  fares  consequent  upon  war 
conditions.  To  make,  as  in  America,  an  initial  charge  of  7, 
8,  9  or  10  cents  per  ride  is  obviously  a  depressing  treat- 
ment for  traffic.  As  the  desired  average  fare  gets  higher, 
it  becomes  more  surely  convenient  and  politic  to  reach  this 
average  by  actual  fares  both  above  and  below  it.  Table  II 
gives  the  results  for  the  revision  of  fares  on  the  Under- 
ground Railways  in  September  last  and  is  based  upon  an 
analysis  of  the  local  ordinary  traffic  for  a  week  in  Septem- 
ber, 1920  and  1921. 


TABLE  II — SHOWING  EFFECT  ON  TRAFFIC  OF  FARE 
INCREASE,  LONDON  UNDERGROUND  RAILWAYS 


February, 
P 

1920 

February, 

1921 

■  Loss  — ■ — . 

er  Cent 

Per  Cent 

Per  Cent 

of 

of 

of 

Passengers  Carried 

Number 

Total 

Number 

Total 

Number  Trtal 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5)  (6) 

Over  one  station  distance 

171,370 

6 

1 17,689 

4 

53,681  31 

Over  two  stations  dis- 

tance  

423,934 

14 

325.864 

12 

98,070  23 

Over  three  stations  dis- 

431,478 

14 

396,093 

15 

35,385  8 

Over  four,  five  and  six 

1,074,465 

36 

991,222 

37 

83,243  8 

Over  more  than  six  sta- 

906,956 

30 

839,857 

32 

67,099  7 

Total  

3,008,203 

2,670,725 

337,478  11 

The  table  shows  two  inter-related  but  expected  features. 
First,  that  the  longer  the  journey  taken  the  smaller  the 
percentage  loss  in  traffic.  The  percentages  in  the  last  col- 
umn fall  steadily.  Second,  that  the  higher  the  fare  the 
larger  the  proportion  of  long  distance  traffic  carried. 

The  Fare  in  Relation  to  the  Cost  of  Service 

The  third  principle  which  might  govern  the  determination 
of  a  scheme  of  fares  is  the  cost  of  service.  In  practice  it 
runs  so  nearly  parallel  with  the  value  of  the  service  ren- 
dered, unless  the  circumstances  are  exceptional,  that  there 
is  a  chance  of  the  two  aspects  not  being  clearly  distinguished. 
An  analysis  of  costs  shows  that  there  are  some  charges, 
like  terminal  and  overhead  expenses,  interest,  rentals,  re- 


4 


314 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


serves,  and  fixed  charges,  which  properly  may  be  divided 
equally  among  all  of  the  passengers  carried.  Another  set 
of  expenses  are  those  concerned  with  the  running  of  the 
cars,  and  these  may  properly  be  proportioned  to  the  pas- 
senger-miles run.  An  analysis  of  costs,  as  applied  to  the 
tube  railways  in  London,  shows  for  1913-1915  a  total  initial 
charge  per  passenger  of  0.95d.  and  in  1920  1.25d.  and  for  the 
train  working  and  track  expenses  per  passenger  mile,  for 
1913-15,  of  0.20d.  and  for  1920  of  0.40d.  A  comparison  be- 
tween the  scale  actually  adopted  for  ordinary  fares  in  the 
recent  revision  and  the  theoretical  scale  based  on  this  analy- 
sis is  set  out  in  Table  III. 

TABLE  III— SHOWING  THEORETICAL  AND  ACTUAL 
SCALE  OF  FARES 


Theoretical 
Scale,  d. 


6  05 

7  25 
8.45 


Distance  Not 
Exceeding, 
Mile 
1 

u 

? 

6i 

8 
10 
12 


Actual  Scale, 
d. 

1  50 

2  00 

3  00 

4  00 

5  00 

6  00 

7  00 

8  00 

9  00 


There  could  hardly  be  a  closer  approximation  between 
theory  and  practice.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  scales  com- 
mence with  a  moderate  initial  charge  and  that  as  the  dis- 
tance increases  the  addition  grows  less  in  proportion.  It 
gives  a  flattening  effect  with  the  accumulation  of  miles  but 
never  becomes  wholly  flat.  The  rate  per  mile  charged  to  pas- 
senger regresses  with  each  mile  of  the  journey.  Such  a  scale 
corresponds  intimately  to  the  value  of  the  service  rendered 
and  bears  fairly  on  the  passenger.  It  has  public  advantages 
in  relaxing  the  burden  for  the  outlying  suburbs  and  so  en- 
couraging the  spread  of  population.  This  flattening  out  of 
the  fare  scale  is  an  intermediate  state  between  acutely  dif- 
ferentiated fares  and  flat  fares. 

Already  the  public  or  civic  relationship  of  a  fares  policy 
has  been  anticipated,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  omit  them 
from  regard  for  long.  It  is  a  matter  of  serious  regret  thr^t 
fares  have  become  a  political  issue.  Maybe  it  is  safer  to 
discuss  America  than  London.  The  5-cent  flat  fare  was  an 
excellent  opening  for  the  transport  agency.  It  was  exceed- 
ingly remunerative,  readily  paid  and  effective  in  spreading 
out  the  town  beyond  walking  distance.  When  a  change  was 
needed  to  maintain  the  credit  and  efficiency  of  the  transport 
agency,  it  was  bitterly  resented.  A  big  American  city  is  a 
single  unit.  It  has  a  theater  center,  a  shopping  center,  a 
business  center  and  all  traffic  converges  upon  these  unique 
spots.  The  flat  5-cent  fare  encouraged  this.  The  zone  fare 
has  the  opposite  influence.  It  tends  to  decentralize.  As 
soon  as  it  costs  more  than  5  cents  to  reach  what  is  wanted, 
the  time  has  arrived  when  that  which  is  wanted  must  move 
and  disperse.  It  is  an  educative  contrast  to  survey  a  big 
American  city  and  London.  London  is  a  place  of  submerged 
towns,  but  though  they  are  submerged  they  are  not  lost. 
The  differential  fare  has  been  their  safeguard  and  prevented 
Westminster,  for  all  its  magnificence,  entirely  obliterating 
them. 

It  is  said  that  the  flat  fare  prevents  congestion  of  the 
population  on  an  urban  site,  but  are  American  cities  any 
less  congested  than  English  cities?  Boston,  Mass.,  for 
instance  and  Birmingham  are  alike  in  density  of  popula- 
tion, so  are  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Sheffield.  Brooklyn 
matches  Manchester;  Manhattan  equals  Bethnal  Green  or 
Shoreditch,  Southwark  or  Stepney.  There  is  nothing  to 
choose.  The  city  of  Paris  proper,  which,  almost  unique 
among  European  cities,  has  a  flat  fare,  is  the  most  con- 
gested of  all. 

From  a  public  point  of  view  the  most  significant  measure 
of  success  attaching  to  a  scheme  of  fares  is  the  enlargement 
of  the  habit  of  travel.  Freedom  of  movement  is  the  essen- 
tial condition  of  healthy  urban  lines.  In  New  York  and 
London  this  is  assured.  Every  citizen — man,  woman  or 
child — travels  on  the  average  over  400  times  a  year.  It  is 
hard  to  realize  what  a  vast  accomplishment  this  is.  The 
mere  time  consumed  must  be  a  goodly  slice  of  life.  And  all 
those  journeys  have  to  be  paid  for.   They  represent  for  Lon- 


don, in  a  typical  family  of  five,  a  sum  of  more  than  £16  out 
of  the  family  income,  four  weeks'  pay  for  a  workman.  Yet 
it  is  cheap.  Free  movement  results  in  a  growing  sense  of 
solidarity. 

In  conclusion,  while  there  would  appear  to  be  a  favorably 
balanced  argument  for  the  differential  fare,  sufficient  has 
been  said  to  show  that  there  can  be  no  dogmatism  about  a 
theory  of  fares.  There  is  certainly  not  one  fare  scheme 
adaptable  to  all  urban  conditions.  The  information  used  for 
this  article  was  collected  in  the  study  of  the  specific  problem 
of  fares  for  London,  and  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to  the 
right  scheme  of  fares  being  adopted.  Similar  studies  would 
lead  to  similar  right  solutions  for  other  cities,  and  this  arti- 
cle sketches  a  line  or  lines  of  approach  to  the  problem  of 
fares. 


Safety  Cars  Make  Good  in  Oakland 

ON  DEC.  1,  1920,  the  San  Francisco-Oakland  Ter- 
minal Railways  substituted  ten  standard  Birney 
safety  cars  for  five  two-man  cars  on  a  route  in  Oakland. 
These  cars  operate  over  eight  blocks  on  Broadway,  Oak- 
land's principal  business  street,  on  a  short  run  between 
Seventh  Street  and  Broadway  and  Alcatraz  Avenue  and 
are  sandwiched  in  between  larger  double-truck,  two- 
man  cars  on  long  through  runs. 

Over  these  eight  blocks  there  are  nine  other  car  lines 
averaging  182  cars  per  hour,  as  well  as  four  intersecting 
car  lines,  with  the  crossings  under  the  control  of  traffic 
officers.  On  these  four  intersecting  cross  streets  there 
is  a  total  service  of  170  cars  per  hour.  Broadway  also 
accommodates  a  very  heavy  movement  of  automobiles  in 
both  directions  as  well  as  a  large  amount  of  cross  traffic 
from  the  side  streets. 


COMPARATIVE  RESULTS  OF  SAFETY  CAR  OPERATION- 
OAKLAND,  CAL. 

10  One-  vs.    5  Two- 
Man  Cars  Man  Cars  Increase  or  Per  Cent 
April,  1921  Nov.,  1920  Decrease  Change 

Car-miles  operated   30,534  15,262  15,272  100.00 

Per  car-mile: 

Receipts    25.01c.  33.80c.  8.79c.  26.0 

Expenses— Platform..   7.42c.  11.05c.  3.63c.  32.8 

Power    1.72c.  4.65c.  2.9S-.  62.9 

Net  receipts*.   15  87c.  18  10c.  2.28c.  12.32 

Seat-miles   977,092  610,478  366,614  60.0 

Seat-miles  per  car-mile._„   32  40  8  20.0 

Per  100  seat-miles: 

Receipts    78.17c.  84.49c.  i.32c.  5.12 

Expenses— Platform  and  power...  28.56c.  39.25c.  10.69c.  27.20 

Net  receipts*   49  61c.  45.24c.  4.37c.  9.67 

Power  consumed  at  1.409  cents 

per  kilowatt-hour.    37,282  50,364  18,082  26.00- 

Power  consumed  per  ear-mile   1  22  3  30  2.08  63.0 

Revenue  passengers    127,294  85,970  41,324  48.0 

Revenue  and  transfer  passengers  154,432  104,208  50,224  48.2 

Passengers  (all  kinds)  per  c-m....  5  07  6.84  2.77  25.9 

Load  factor — per  cent  use  of  seats  15  .82  17  .12  1.80   

*  After  deduction  of  platform  and  power  expenses  only. 

Through  this  maze  of  traffic  the  movement  of  safety 
cars  has  been  accomplished  without  delay,  inconvenience 
or  accidents,  and  the  results,  as  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying table,  indicate  that  with  100  per  cent  increase 
in  cars  operated  and  60  per  cent  in  seat-miles  the  re- 
ceipts have  increased  48  per  cent,  although  the  number 
of  seats  per  car  has  decreased  20  per  cent.  An  analysis 
based  on  the  car-mile  as  a  unit  of  comparison  indicates 
receipts  decreased  26  per  cent  and  that  net  operating 
revenue  after  deducting  power  and  platform  expense 
(all  others  being  considered  unchanged)  decreased  but 
12.32  per  cent,  indicating  in  reality  a  gain  of  13.68 
per  cent  in  favor  of  the  safety  car. 

On  a  seat-mile  basis  due  to  a  traffic  gain  of  only  48 
per  cent  the  receipts  are  still  5.12  per  cent  off,  even 
though  platform  and  power  expenses  show  a  reduction 
of  27.2  per  cent.  The  benefit  from  the  change,  how- 
ever, is  more  clearly  reflected  in  the  gain  in  net  operat- 
ing revenue,  which  amounts  to  9.67  per  cent. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


315 


Bus  or  Retrack? 

A  Study  on  the  Place  of  the  Motor  Bus,  Particularly  in  Cases  Where  the  Existing  Traffic  on  Electric 

Railways  Is  Not  Sufficient  to  Justify  New  Rail  and 
Continuance  of  the  Paving  Burden 

By  Walter  Jackson 

Consulting  Engineer 


DURING  the  early  spring  of  1921  the  writer  had 
occasion  to  consult  for  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company 
and  others  on  a  number  of  situations  where  the 
motor  bus  is  well  adapted  to  supplement  and  even 
supplant  the  electric  car  with  advantage  to  the  operat- 
ing company. 

One  of  these  is  where  a  high-voltage  interurban 
railway  is  required  by  ordinance  to  make  stops  for 
local  passengers  in  one  of  the  towns  through  which  it 
operates.  No  city  car  for  the  voltage  used  is  prac- 
ticable, so  that  the  suggestion  has  been  made  that  the 
local  traffic  be  handled  by  motor  bus.  Such  a  plan 
would  not  only  relieve  the  interurban  cars  of  an  un- 
profitable class  of  traffic  but  by  cutting  out  these  local 
stops  would  increase  the  scheduled  speed  of  the  inter- 
urban cars.  In  this  instance  it  is  merely  a  question  of 
determining  whether  there  are  enough  local  city  riders 
a!ong  the  interurban  route  to  make  a  separate  bus  line 
worth  while.  Unlike  the  following  cases,  this  situation 
has  not  yet  been  analyzed  in  detail. 

Situation  2 — Crosstown  Route  on  M  Street 

A  second  and  far  more  important  case  is  that  of  a 
large  Eastern  electric  railway  which  had  a  number  of 
situations  involving  the  alternative  of  motor  buses,  for 
retracking  or  for  extensions  of  existing  lines.  One 
was  a  tie  line  (situation  2,  M  Street)  with  a  double 
track  1.1  miles  of  route  in  length,  connecting  two  trunk 
lines.  Most  of  the  traffic  consists  of  passengers  who 
transfer  to  or  from  one  of  the  intersecting  trunk  lines. 
During  the  greater  part  of  the  day  the  cars  on  this 
1.1-mile  route  are  operated  as  shuttles,  but  during  the 
usual  peak  hours  a  certain  number  of  cars  are  through- 
routed  over  this  line  from  one  of  the  two  trunk  lines, 
though  at  large  expense.  The  question  of  the  future 
of  this  route,  which  has  never  been  profitable,  came 
up  through  the  decision  of  the  city  to  repave  the  street. 
As  the  railroad  was  subject  to  the  usual  paving  burden, 
a  renewal  of  the  trackway  and  paving  for  18  in.  each 
side  of  the  rails,  the  cost*  would  have  been  as  fol- 
lows : 


IF  DOUBLE  TRACK 


Track  labor  and  material   $72,372 

Paving  labor  and  material   19,278 


Total   $91,650 

IF  SINGLE  TRACK 
Removing  one  track  and  repairing  and  relocating  the  other  track  in 
center  of  street 

Track  labor  and  material   $49,342 

Paving  labor  and  material   11,428 


Total  ,   .  $60,770 

Net  cash  cost  of  removing  track  poles  and  overhead  if  track  service 

isabandoned   $10,396 


An  analysis  showed  that  only  1,700  passengers  (850 
each  way)  made  use  of  this  route  on  business  days.  Of 

*Note:  All  figures  were  prepared  during  the  winter  of  1920-21 
and  early  spring  of  1921.  Present  costs  of  both  track  and  bus  are 
lower,  but  it  has  been  thought  wiser  to  make  no  changes  from 
the  figures'  in  the  original  reports. 


this  number  1,100  were  through-route  (3.4  miles)  rush- 
hour  riders  and  the  rest  were  transfer  passengers.  The 
headway  during  non-rush  hours  was  fifteen  minutes 
and  during  rush  hours  was  seven  and  one-half  minutes. 
Only  62,400  car-miles  were  run  on  the  1.1  mile  section 
of  this  route  during  a  year.  The  cost  of  the  proposed 
investment  in  track  and  paving  ($91,650)  at  8  per  cent 
would  amount  to  $7,332  per  year,  which  would  be  equiv- 
alent to  11.7  cents  per  car-mile. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  estimated  that  one  twenty- 
five-seat  all-steel  bus  at  $8,000  with  one  as  reserve 
would  do  the  same  shuttle  service.  As  the  factor  of 
cost  of  removing  old  track,  etc.,  would  be  the  same 
whether  bus  or  car  was  used,  the  relative  capital  re- 
quirements worked  out  as  follows : 


Buses  Cars 

First  cost  as  described   $16,000  $91,650 

Fixed  charges  per  year  with  62,400  vehicle-miles  (cents) .  .  .         2.1  1 1.  7 

74,000  vehicle-miles  (cents) .. .  1.7  9.9 


The  cost  of  operation  (for  a  two-man  car)  was  35 
cents  per  car-mile.    The  expenses  of  the  bus  on  the 


Situation  2 


basis  of  a  useful  life  of  the  bus  of  100,000  miles  and 
a  gasoline  consumption  of  6  miles  to  the  gallon  worked 
out  as  follows: 


OVER-ALL  COSTS  PER  BUS-MILE 

Cents 


Interest  on  investment   17 

Depreciation,  100,000-mile  life   8  0 

*Conducting  transportation   12  0 

Maintenance  of  equipment,  except  tires   4.0 

Repairs  and  renewals  pneumatic  tires   5  0 

Gasoline  and  lubrication   5  .5 

Garage  inspection  and  general  license  fees,  insurance   3  8 

Total   40.0 


'This  item  is  very  high  because  of  the  long  layovers  on  this  par- 
ticular route  and  because  the  wages  were  figured  as  two-thirds 
instead  of  one-half  the  car  wages.  On  routes  with  more  revenue- 
miles  per  hour,  as  on  fairly  long  runs,  this  figure  would  be  10 
cents  or  less. 

In  other  words,  the  bus  would  cost  40  cents  per 
vehicle-mile  as  against  45  cents  for  the  cars.  With  a 
larger  number  of  buses  certain  of  these  figures  could  be 
reduced  appreciably.  It  should  also  be  remembered 
that  the  great  advantage  of  the  motor  bus  to  the  elec- 
tric railway  in  instances  like  these  does  not  lie  so  much 
in  the  annual  savings  as  in  the  release  of  large  sums 
of  money  for  more  productive  purposes  than  the  i*e- 
tracking  and  repaving  of  unimportant  car  routes.  If, 
as  occurred  in  this  case,  the  proposal  to  supersede  track 
by  motor  bus  operation  leads  to  a  proposal  to  eliminate 


316 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


paving  and  other  burdens  if  the  track  is  retained,  so 
much  the  better.  The  progressive  management  cannot 
lose  either  way  by  any  plan  that  puts  the  two  methods 
on  a  fairer  basis  of  comparison. 

Situation  3 — Another  Crosstown  Route 

Situation  3,  which  may  be  called  A  Street,  resembles 
the  M  Street  situation  in  being  a  cross  connection  be- 
tween two  trunk  lines.  However,  it  is  only  0.6  mile 
long  and  almost  all  of  its  traffic  flows  toward  one  of 
the  trunk  lines  mentioned.  Through  service  is  given, 
but  as  the  distance  to  the  trunk  line  is  short  and  as 
the  through  cars  on  this  route  take  a  rather  circuitous 
route  in  going  to  the  city  most  of  the  residents  of  this 
district  walk  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  trunk  lines 
when  going  to  the  business  district.  When  the  time 
approached  for  retracking  and  repaying  the  estimates 
proved  to  be  as  follows : 

Estimate  of  cost  for  rebuilding  existing  double  track  with  7-in.  girder  rail,  re- 
paving  with  recut  granite,  grouted  joints  and  concrete  base  on  A  Street 

Special  work  for  turnout   $2,000 

6,500ft,  7-in.  girder  rail   22,750 

3,325  treated  ties   6.650 

6,650  ft.  track  hud  ready  for  paving,  stone  ballast   1  3,300 

Teaming,  watching,  etc   2,500 

Removing  6,650  yd.  existing  granite  paving   $2,660 

Removing  6,650  yd.  existing  track   1,665  4,325 

$51,525 

Plus  20  per  cent   '0.305 

$61,830 

Less  credit  for  scrap  material   3,990 

$57,840 

Add 

266  M  recut  granite  blocks   $5,320 

6,650  sq.yd.  concrete  base,  furnished  and  laid  in  track  and 

brows,  teaming,  etc   9,975 

6,650  yd.  paving,  ditto   9,310 

$24,605 

Plus  20  per  cent   4,921  $29,526 

Total  cost   $87,366 

Alternative  estimate  covering  five-year  rehabilitation  for 

same  location   $72,800 

A  factor  which  affected  the  situation  was  that  this 
part  of  A  Street  was  a  vital  part  of  the  positive  and 

negative  feeder  distribution 
system,  serving  as  a  tie 
between  two  operating  dis- 
tricts. Therefore,  if  the 
rails,  trolley  wires  and  feed- 
ers were  removed  because 
of  bus  operation,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  furnish 
equivalent  copper  at  an 
estimated  cost  of  $11,000. 

Examination  of  the  oper- 
ating statistics  showed  that 
the  number  of  car-miles  run 
on  the  0.6-mile  section  of  A 
Street  was  but  40,000  a 
year,  or  114  miles  per  week  day.  The  normal  headway 
was  fifteen  minutes  and  the  rush-hour  headway  ten 
minutes.  Only  500  people  a  day  used  the  service  within 
this  part  of  the  run.  Consequently  two  buses  during  the 
rush  hours  and  one  bus  during  the  other  hours  would 
meet  all  shuttle  service  requirements.  The  relative 
over-all  cost  was  then  worked  out  as  follows: 


Cost  o$  track  and  paving  renewals   $87,366 

Investment  charge  on  same  at  8  per  cent  a  year   7,200 

Investment  charge  per  car-mile  operated,  on  basis  of 

40,000  car-miles  per  annum   18  cents 

Although  this  route  is  run  with  safety  cars,  this  tremen- 
dous increase  in  overhead  would  make  the  over-all 

cost  per  car-mile  at  least   45  cents  or  $  1 8, 000 

The  outside  cost  of  two  twenty-five-seat  all-steel  buses 
at  $8,000  each,  plus  $11,000  for  new  feeders  and 
$7,718  net  cost  of  track  removal,  is  in  new  money. , .  .  $34,718 

Or  per  bus-mile  (40,000  miles)  per  annum   8.7  cents 


Situatio 


Assuming  twenty-five-seat  motor  bus  operation  to 
cost,  say,  45  cents,  instead  of  40  cents  per  bus-mile 
because  of  unusually  high  overhead  to  be  charged  against 
it,  we  still  break  even.  In  this  case,  then,  the  railway 
would  have  to  find  only  $34,718  instead  of  $87,366  in 
new  money,  the  difference  being  made  available  for 
more  productive  uses  than  retracking  and  repaving  this 
kind  of  location. 

It  has  been  stated  that  this  route  actually  handled 
more  passengers  en  route  on  the  overlapping  section  of 
its  run  than  it  did  in  its  own  territory.  So  the  ques- 
tion arises  as  to  how  to  take  care  of  these  strictly 
trunk-line  passengers.  In- 
asmuch as  this  trunk  line 
is  already  served  by  two 
routes,  it  was  suggested 
that,  instead  of  shortening 
the  A  Street  route,  it  be 
abolished  entirely,  because 
any  extra  carrying  capacity 
desired  could  be  obtained 
by  running  somewhat  larger 
cars  and  some  more  mile- 
age on  the  two  regular 
trunk-line  routes  or  on  only 
one  of  them. 

Without  going  into  de- 
tailed explanations,  it  may 
be  stated  that  the  net  result  of  eliminating  the  A  Street 
route  entirely  would  be  to  save  99,000  car-miles  per 
annum,  the  difference  between  the  160,000  miles  actually 
run  on  the  overlapping  section  and  the  61,000  car-miles 
which  would  have  to  be  added  to  one  of  the  trunk-line 
routes.  At  45  cents  per  car-mile  the  saving  of  99,000 
car-miles  would  be  $44,500  per  annum. 

Thus  this  particular  study  developed  a  condition 
where  the  replacement  of  cars  by  buses  makes  easier 
the  elimination  of  wasteful,  overlapping  mileage,  and 
so  leads  to  greater  savings  than  if  no  rerouting,  but 
simply  a  direct  replacement  of  car  by  bus,  had  been 
considered. 

It  may  be  of  value  to  add  that  if  the  buses  were  to 
duplicate  the  present  A  Street  route  for  its  full  length 
the  result  would  be  a  loss  instead  of  gain,  even  after 
taking  into  consideration  the  track  reconstruction  cost 
of  part  of  the  route  as  detailed. 

Situation  4 — Another  Example  of  Reducing 
Losses 

Situation  4  (C  Street)  relates  to  a  third  type  of 
cross  connection  through  almost  desert  territory.  The 
round-trip  runs  are  4  and  3  miles  respectively,  accord- 
ing to  where  cars  are  turned  back  on  one  of  the  trunk 
lines  intersected.  Only  £  mile  or  so  of  the  cross-connec- 
tion is  built  up  and  paved,  the  rest  of  the  run  passing 
through  swamps  and  an  oil  and  gasoline  storage  district 
that  offers  no  hope  for  future  traffic  development. 
Through  this  section  the  only  paving  is  the  granite 
strip  put  down  by  the  railway  and  used  cheerfully  by  all 
the  tank  motor  trucks  going  to  and  from  the  storage 
district.  The  city  will  have  to  pave  all  of  this  road 
sooner  or  later.  The  two-man  cars  on  this  route  oper- 
ate only  99,000  car-miles  a  year,  with  an  average  of  only 
1.05  revenue  passengers  per  car-mile.  Even  with  the 
inclusion  of  transfer  passengers,  there  are  less  than 
two  passengers  per  car-mile.  The  crew  expense  alone  is 
more  than  double  the  total  revenue.  On  a  typical  week 
day  300  car-miles  were  run  for  491  patrons. 


August  27,  1921 


In  place  of  the  99,000  car-miles  per  annum,  it  has 
been  suggested  that  the  company  operate  72,000  bus- 
miles,  giving  an  equivalent  service  on  C  Street  itself, 
namely,  2.7  miles  round  trip,  instead  of  running  up  any 
part  of  one  of  the  intersecting  trunk  lines.  A  twenty- 
five-seat  bus  would  be  more  than  ample,  and  two  of  this 
size  would  be  enough  to  maintain  the  present  fifteen- 
minute  headway. 

The  only  investment  items  chargeable  against  the 
motor  bus  in  this  case  comprise  the  price  of  two  twenty- 
five-seaters,  say  $16,000,  and  the  eventual  charge  of 
$11,000  for  replacing  the  rail  return  with  other  nega- 
tive feeder — a  total  of  only  $27,000  new  money,  of  which 
it  would  not  be  necessary  to  use  more  than  $16,000  at 
once.     Because  of  the  conditions  obtaining  on  this 


street,  the  rail  might  remain  in  place  purely  as  a  return 
circuit  until  such  time  as  the  street  is  repaved. 

In  contrast  with  this  sum,  the  $27,000  new  money 
that  bus  operation  would  entail  (aside  from  eventual 
removal  cost  of  track,  etc.),  is  the  company's  way  de- 
partment estimate  that  the  cost  of  retracking  and 
repaving  of  this  8,400  ft.  double  track  would  amount 
to  a  total  of  $160,000. 

Situation  5 — Possible  Elimination  of 
Unprofitable  Extension 

This  case  differs  from  the  foregoing  in  that  it  relates 
to  the  possibility  of  replacing  a  thin-traffic  terminal  sec- 
tion by  means  of  a  motor  bus  shuttle  instead  of  paying 
heavy  expenses  incident  to  the  widening  of  a  street. 
The  portion  to  be  widened  is  practically  one-quarter 
mile  long  and  is  in  good  territory,  but  the  district  for 
the  remaining  0.85  mile  of  this  route  is  hopeless  from 
a  traffic  standpoint  for  topographical  reasons.  It  is 
therefore  a  question  as  to  whether  it  would  not  be 
more  economical  to  terminate  the  car  line  at  the  point 
where  the  street  widening  is  to  begin  and  to  handle  the 
trifling  traffic  for  the  1.10  miles  beyond  by  means  of  a 
shuttle  bus. 

For  convenience,  the  whole  route  may  be  referred  to 
as  B  street.  On  inquiry  it  was  found  that  if  the  track 
and  line  on  the  last  0.85  mile  were  removed  now  the 
company  would  have  to  spend  $15,410  net  owing  to  the 
requirement  of  restoring  the  paving,  but  if  it  waits 
until  the  paving  is  renewed  in  the  course  of  time  by  the 
city  the  net  outlay  would  be  only  $1,460.  To  summarize 
the  actual  cash  outlay  in  each  proposition,  it  was  deter- 
mined that  the  company  must  either  lay  out  at  once 
$29,934  cash  for  the  street  widening  project  or  pay 
$14,000  for  two  sixteen-seat  buses  plus  $1,460  at  some 
time  in  the  future. 

As  regards  the  number  of  people  to  be  served  by  the 
buses  on  the  last  0.85  mile,  the  "on  and  off"  traffic  rec- 
ords showed  that  out  of  540  outbound  riders  on  a  busi- 
ness day,  240  were  in  the  first  quarter  mile  and  but 
180  in  the  last  section  of  0.85  mile.  Of  inbound  riders, 
only  224  got  aboard  in  the  0.85-mile  section  and  326  in 
the  quarter  mile  adjoining  the  proposed  terminus  of  the 


317 


shortened  car  line.  This  traffic,  or  even  twice  as  much, 
could  be  handled  with  one  bus  during  the  off-peak  hours. 
A  second  bus  could  go  on  for  three,  four  or  more  hours 
as  experience  would  dictate. 

In  view  of  the  few  stops  required,  the  single  bus  used 
all  day  should  make  four  round  trips  of  2.2  miles  each, 
or  8.8  miles  an  hour,  readily.  It,  or  the  relief  bus, 
would  make,  say,  160  miles  a  day  or  58,400  miles  per 
annum.  With  rush-hour  supplementary  mileage,  the 
total  might  be  placed  at  65,000  bus-miles  per  annum  in 
place  of  the  60,823  car-miles  it  was  suggested  to  re- 
move. The  comparative  costs  would  then  work  out  as 
follows : 


60,283  car-miles  at  45  cents  per  car-mile   $27,127 

65,000  bus-miles  at  40  cents  per  bus-mile   26,000 


Even  if  the  cost  of  car  operation  over  all,  because  of 
safety  car  service,  is  taken  at  40  cents,  in  contrast  with 
the  50  cents  over-all  cost  of  the  whole  system,  car  opera- 
tion would  still  cost  as  much  as  bus  operation  per 
vehicle-mile.  Should  the  bus  operation  be  debited 
$15,410  for  removal  of  track  and  line,  etc.,  the  added 
investment  charge  of  $1,233  would  be  on  the  basis  of 
65,000  miles  a  year  operation,  or  only  1.9  cents.  How- 
ever, in  practice,  a  higher  bus  cost  might  not  appear  at 
all  because  of  the  high  figures  assumed  for  small-num- 
ber bus  operation  in  these  estimates. 

Situation  6,  G  Street — Buses  for  a  "Once-Was" 
Trackway 

Once  upon  a  time,  as  in  the  fairy  stories,  a  suburban 
railway  system  had  come  into  the  city's  outer  territory 
via  1.3  miles  of  open  track  construction  to  make  a  cross- 
town  route  long  before  there  was  any  semblance  of  a 
town  in  that  territory.  Eventually,  0.46  mile  of  this 
1.3  miles  was  taken  up.  Today  the  district  is  still 
sparsely  settled,  but  the  dwellings  already  built  give 
promise  that  it  will  be  a  high  class  suburb  within  the 
next  two  or  three  years. 

The  city  now  intends  to  pave  what  we  will  call  G 


Situation  6 


Street  for  the  entire  1.3  miles,  including  the  0.8  mile 
vestigial  track  operated  by  the  city  railway  as  a  safety 
car  shuttle.  The  cost  of  extending  this  shuttle  0.46  mile 
so  that  it  will  intersect  with  a  trunk  line  at  each  end 
plus  the  cost  of  paving  obligations  works  out  as  shown 
in  the  following  statement: 


NINE-INCH  GIRDER  RAIL  CONSTRUCTION 
No  ballast  unless  actually  required,  concrete  paving  base  and  5-in.  grouted 


blocks  with  granite  joints: 

Trackwork   $25,710 

Overhead  constructioi   2,700 

Paving  and  base   14,500 


$42,910 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


318 


From  a  study  of  the  traffic  statistics,  the  following  set- 
up was  derived: 

COMPARISON  CAR  VS.  BUS,  G  STREET 
Present  car  operation,  fifty-three  round  trips  ofil.624  miles  each 

daily   86  1  miles 

Annual  car-miles   31,426 

Passengers  carried  on  weekdays,  approximately   200 

Cost  of  future  operation  if  line  is  extended  to  other  trunk  line, 

making  the  round-trip  distance  2.54  miles. 
Annual  car-miles  on  basis  of  three  round  trips  an  hour  and  2.54 

miles  per  round  trip,  approximately   50,000 

Cost  of  the  extension  (0.458  mile)  would  be.  $42,910 

8  per  cent  annual  investment  charge  on  this  extension  would  be..  .  $3,432 
Which  is  equivalent  on  50,000-mile  operation  to  a  fixed  car-mile 

charge  of   6  8  cents 

The  investment  charge  per  car-mile  on  two  $8,000  buses  at  50,000 

miles  would  be   2.  56  cents 

The  over-all  cost  of  50,000  car-miles  at  45  cents  per  car-mile  would 

be  $22,500 

The  annual  over-all  cost  of  operating  these  buses  would  be  40  cents 

X  50,000.  or  $20,000 

Saving  through  motor  bus  operation,  per  annum,  approximately.. .  $2,250 


In  conclusion,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  when  the 
original  full-length  route  was  in  operation  the  passen- 
gers, few  as  they  were,  insisted  upon  through  service 
so  long  as  they  saw  a  track  connection.  Should  motor 
buses  be  operated,  shuttle  service  will  be  considered  a 
matter  of  course,  thus  preventing  the  return  to  waste- 
ful, through  operation. 


Bus  Route  for  Pennsylvania 

Traction  Company  Finances  Supplemental  Motor  Bus  Com- 
pany to  Operate  Between  Oil  City  and  Franklin  to  Meet 
a  Popular  Demand — Operation  Started  July  15 

A RATHER  interesting  motor  bus  service  supplement- 
ing existing  trolley  lines  was  inaugurated  on  July 
15  by  the  Citizens  Transit  Company  with  a  twenty-five- 
passenger  Mack-Brill  bus. 

The  Citizens  Traction  Company  furnishes  local  and 
interurban  service  in  and  between  Oil  City  and  Frank- 
lin, two  cities  8i  miles  apart  on  the  Allegheny  River  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  Pennsylvania.  The  entire 
country  between  these  two  cities  is  very  mountainous, 
and  on  account  of  the  rugged  contour  the  electric  rail- 
way company  found  it  necessary  to  follow  the  ravines 
and  valleys  to  find  an  operative  grade.  This  made 
necessary  a  line  12  miles  long  in  order  that  through 
service  might  be  furnished  between  these  two  cities. 
The  shortest  route,  however,  lies  along  the  banks  of 


Exterior  of  Motor  Bus,  Showing  Inclosed  Steps  of 
Convenient  Height 


the  Allegheny  River,  and  there  was  at  one  time  a  line 
connecting  the  two  cities  along  the  north  bank  of  the 
river.  However,  for  li  miles  of  this  distance  the  hills 
rise  abruptly  from  the  riverbed,  so  that  the  electric 
railway  lines  necessarily  had  to  be  built  on  heavy  grades, 
a  construction  which  proved  to  be  exceedingly  difficult 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


and  operation  so  hazardous  that  service  on  this  14-mile 
link  was  ultimately  discontinued.  This  left  two  short 
routes,  one  between  Oil  City  and  Reno  Village  and  the 
other  from  Franklin  east  to  Rocky  Grove. 

In  December,  1920,  a  concrete  highway  constructed 
on  an  easy  grade  was  completed  from  Reno  Village  to 


Interior  of  Bus  Looking  Forward 


Franklin,  a  distance  of  41  miles,  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Allegheny  River.  With  the  completion  of  this  road 
the  Citizens  Traction  Company  met  a  popular  demand 
for  service  along  this  shortest  route  by  the  operation  of 
its  cars  from  Oil  City  to  the  village  of  Reno  and  con- 
necting with  the  recently  inaugurated  bus  route  from 
Reno  to  Franklin,  the  latter  service  being  conducted  by 
the  Citizens  Transit  Company,  incorporated  for  the  pur- 
pose, as  the  Citizens  Traction  Company's  charter  did  not 
include  railless  operation. 

The  bus  is  scheduled  to  make  one  round  trip  per 
hour  connecting  with  the  Oil  City-Reno  cars  at  Reno 
and  the  local  lines  in  the  heart  of  Franklin.  The 
through  fare  on  the  combination  bus  route  between  Oil 
City  and  Franklin  is  the  same  as  has  heretofore  been 
charged,  namely,  32  cents  by  cash  fares  or  30  cents  by 
tickets. 

The  body  is  the  Brill  design  for  this  capacity  of  bus 
and  is  mounted  on  a  Mack  2-ton  chassis,  model  AVDR, 
of  the  International  Motor  Company.  The  underframe 
is  of  composite  construction  and  the  body  of  wood 
sheathed  on  the  outside  with  No.  18  sheet  steel.  The 
two-leaf  folding  doors  are  manually  operated  from  the 
driver's  position  and  inclose  the  double  stationary  steps. 
There  is  also  an  emergency  door  in  the  center  of  the 
rear  end  of  the  body,  which  is  glazed  in  the  upper  por- 
tion, conforming  to  the  rest  of  the  construction.  An 
outstanding  feature  of  the  body  design  is  the  use  of 
single  drop  sash.  This  permits  lighter  roof  construc- 
tion and,  consequently,  lowers  the  center  of  gravity. 

The  interior  finish  is  of  ash  with  top  carlines  show- 
ing. Agasote  is  used  on  each  side  below  the  windows. 
Seating  accommodations  are  provided  by  five  Brill 
"Waylo"  stationary  type  seats  on  each  side  of  the  aisle 
and  a  seat  extending  across  the  rear  end  of  the  body 
for  five  passengers.  The  section  of  this  seat  in  front 
of  the  emergency  door  is  removable.  All  transverse 
passenger  seats  have  backs  and  cushions  of  the  spring 
type  upholstered  in  cane.  The  driver's  seat  is  uphol- 
stered in  leather. 

It  is  a  significant  point  to  note  that  the  management 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


319 


does  not  expect  an  increase  in  revenue  from  this  bus 
installation,  since  much  of  the  traffic  will  undoubtedly 
be  diverted  from  the  through  electric  railway  service 
furnished  via  Monarch  Park,  a  distance  of  12  miles. 


Electric  Railways  Operating 
Motor  Buses 

ACCORDING  to  a  census  of  automotive  equipment 
J~\  recently  taken  by  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
there  are  twenty-five  electric  railway  companies  in  the 
United  States  that  are  today  operating  passenger  motor 
buses.  These  companies  either  own  or  control  the 
operation  of  128  motor  vehicles  and  four  trailers  which 
represent  an  investment  of  approximately  $495,000. 

There  seems  to  be  only  one  type  that  predominates, 
namely  the  20  seat  vehicle,  of  which  there  are  27, 
with  the  17  passenger  second  with  21  vehicles.  The  16 
seat  vehicle  is  third  in  favor  with  17  and  of  the  12 
passenger  type  there  are  16.  There  are  eleven  30-pas- 
senger  bodies  and  ten  that  have  a  seating  capacity  of  18. 

The  prepayment  system  of  fare  collection  is  used  in 
the  majority  of  instances,  the  exception  being  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles,  which  uses  both  the 
prepayment  system  and  the  Ohmer  register;  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  Street  Railway,  Greenfield,  the  Rooke 
register,  and  the  Escanaba  Power  &  Traction  Company, 
the  overhead  register.  The  method  of  fare  collec- 
tion is  not  specified  by  the  Bakersfield  &  Kern  Electric 
Railway,  San  Francisco  Municipal  Railways,  Dubuque 
Electric  Company,  St.  Joseph  Railway,  Light,  Heat  & 
Power  Company  and  Lincoln  Traction  Company. 

The  accompanying  table  shows  the  seating  capacity, 
the  year  of  purchase  and  the  kind  of  tires  used. 


Buses  Do  Large  Business 

Statistics  from  Pacific  Coast  State  Show  that  One  Dollar 
of  Investment  Earns  Three  in  Revenue  per  Year — 
Margin  of  Profit  Not  Large 

AN  OUTSTANDING  feature  of  recent  development 
in  the  motor  bus  business  in  California  is  the 
consolidation  of  companies  in  the  interest  of  more  eco- 
nomical and  efficient  operation.  A  typical  case  is  the 
recent  formation  of  an  association  in  Stockton,  whereby 
sixty  cars  formerly  operated  by  a  number  of  small  com- 
panies and  individuals,  after  more  or  less  continuous 
competition  over  280  miles  of  highway,  have  been  put 
under  a  common  administration  which  is  expected  to 
make  material  improvement  in  service  and  profits  to 
owners.  Combinations  have  been  formed  in  both  south 
and  central  parts  of  the  state,  and  stage  depots,  where 
a  number  of  lines  have  a  common  terminal,  are  becom- 
ing popular. 

Records  of  the  California  Railroad  Commission  for 
the  year  ended  Oct.  31,  1920,  show  that  350  motor  bus 
passenger  carriers  reported  for  the  year  total  receipts 
of  $6,856,161  and  expenses  of  $6,028,821.  A  total  of 
157  freight  transport  carriers,  reporting  for  the  same 
period,  showed  receipts  of  $2,401,336  and  expenses  of 
$2,292,889.  The  tables  on  page  320  give  some  weighted 
averages  for  the  motor  bus  passenger  companies  affili- 
ated with  the  Motor  Carriers'  Association  of  California 
and  also  for  three  individual  typical  routes. 

With  improvement  of  operating  conditions,  better 
roads  and  more  business,  the  type  and  style  of  pas- 
senger cars  has  been  very  greatly  improved.  The  accom- 
panying illustrations  show  a  typical  passenger  car  of 
a  few  years  ago  and  the  present  modern  semi-closed 


DATA  COVERING  MOTOR  BUSES  OPERATED  BY  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  COMPANIES  (JULY,  1921) 


Name  of  Company 
Arkansas 
Intercity  Terminal  Ry.,  Ar- 


genta. 


California 

Bakersfield  &  Kern  Elec.R.R. 

Pacific  Electric  Ry.,  Los 
Angeles   

San  Francisco-Oakland  Ter. 
Rys. 

Pacific  Gas  &  Electric  Co., 
Sacramento  

California 

San  Francisco  Municipal  Rys 

San  Jose  Railroads  

Santa  Barbara  &  Suburban 

Ry  

Stockton  Electric  Ry.  Co. . .  . 

Connecticut 

The  Connecticut  Company  '.  . 

Iowa 

Dubuque  Electric  Company . 


Mack 
Oldsmobile 


Studebaker 

Ford 

Case 

Reo 

White 

Ford 

Dodge 

Dodge 


White 

White 

White 

Case 

Ford 

Studebaker 
G.  M.  C. 
Moreland 
Moreland 
Moreland 

Reo 

Packard 


Maryland 

Baltimore  Transit  Co.,  con- 
trolled by  United  Rys.  & 
Elec.  Co.,  of  Baltimore.  .  20  White 


Massachusetts 

1 

Bay  State  System  j  J 

Connecticut  Vy.  St.  Ry., 

Greenfield   3 

Holyoke  Street  Ry  /  2 

\  1 


Garford 
Reo 

Oldsmobile 

Cadillac 
Reo 

Internatl. 


s3  cs 

6° 


1915  20  2  tons 
1920    16     1  ton 


Tires 


Pneumatic 
Pneumatic 


1918  12    Pneumatic 

1920  12    Pneumatic 

1917  24    Solid 

1920  16    Pneumatic 

1921  18  2 \  tons  Pneumatic 

1916  12    Pneumatic 

1918  14    Pneumatic 

1919  14    Pneumatic 

1918  30    Pneumatic 

1919  30    Pneumatic 

1920  30    Pneumatic 

1916  16    Pneumatic 

1919  12  1  ton  Pneumatic 

1917  16    Pneumatic 

1920  16    Solid 

1915  16  :   Solid 

1916  16    Solid 

1917  32    Solid 

1921  12    Pneumatic 

1921  27    Pneumatic 

1918  15   

1917  17    Solid* 

(30    Pneumatio 

(«)  J  20    Pneumatic 

'20    Pneumatic 

1919  20    Pneumatic 

1921  16    Pneumatic 

1921  16    Pneumatio 


Name  of  Company  2;  H 

Michigan 
Escanaba Pwr. &Trac.  Co....     1  White 

Missouri 

St.  Joseph  Ry.,  Lt.,  Ht.  & 

Pwr.  Co   I    G.  M.  C. 

Nebraska 

Lincoln  Trac.  Co.  (not  in  use)  j  1  Oldsmobile 

\  1  Ford 

New  York 

Niagara  Gorge  Bus  Line          f  1  White 

(Controlled  by  Niagara  J  1  Stewart 

Gorge  R.R.  Co.),  Niag- 1  1  Mack 

ara  Falls   [  1  Packard 

Oklahoma 

Okmulgee  Tract'n  Company  I  6  Oldsmobile 
\  4  Lautz 

Pennsylvania 

Citizens'  Transit  Co.,  con- 
trolled by  Citizens'  Trac- 
tion Co.,  Oil  City   1  Mack 

Johnstown  &  Somerset  Ry. . .     1  Packard 

Texas 

Ft.  Worth  Auto  Bus  Co.,  con- 
trolled by  Northern  Tex- 
as Traction  Co   8  White 


Washington 

f  1  White 

Seattle  Municipal  Ry.  Co. ...  J  1  White 

1  Garford 

(  1  Garford 

Wisconsin 

MilwaukeeElec.Ry.&Lt.Co.  |  8  Reo"1^ 

(  1  Nash 


m6h 


1919  14 


03  J3 

Q 


1917 


i  ton 


Tires 


Pneumatic 


1920  12    Pneumatic 

1920  13    Pneumatic 

1918  22    Pneumatic 

1918  17    Pneumatic 

1920  30    Pneumatic 

1921  32    Pneumatic 

1920  1  Pneumatic 

1920  42  Solid 


1921     25  2  ton  Solid 

1921    22    Pneumatic 

1917    20    Pneumatic 

and  Solid 

1919    20    Pneumatic 

1919  20    Pneumatic 

1920  18    Pneumatic 

1920    18    Pneumatic 

1919  40    Pneumatic 

1919-20  20    Pneumatic 

1920  40    Pneumatic 


*  On  Sewell  Cushion  Wheels. 

(a)  Operated  on  contract  basis  for  railway  company. 


320 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


Typical  Early  Type  Motor  Bus  Operated  in 
California  Service 


Typical  Present  Day  Type  of  Semi-Inclosed  Bus  Now 
in  Extensive  Use 


bus  of  a  type  being  used  in  many  parts  of  the  state. 
Today  bodies  are  built  with  the  idea  of  giving  a  maxi- 


ANALYSIS  OF  PASSENGER  TRANSPORTATION  COSTS— MOTOR 
CARRIERS'  ASSOCIATION  OF  CALIFORNIA— YEAR 
ENDED  DEC.  31,  1920 

Unit 


Actual 

Number  of  companies   7 

Mileage  of  highway  used   1,182 

Passenger  cars   196 

Total  seating  capacity   2,67  I 

Bus-miles  operated   1 1 ,430,06 1 


Passengers  carried 


4,315,874 


Passenger  revenue   $2,149,541 


Operating  expenses   $2,319,135 


Per  mile  highway 
Average  per  bus 
I  Per  mile  highway 
I,  Average  per  bus 
)  Per  mile  highway 
I  Per  bus-mile 
I  Per  mile  highway 
I  Per  bus-mile 
I  Average  fare  per 
{  passenger 
!  Per  mile  highway 
\  Per  bus-mile 
Average  per  bus 
Average  per  bus 
Average  per  bus 


Item 


0  1656 
13  6 
9,690 
58,400 
3,660 
0  379 
$1,820 
18.8c. 

48.7c. 
$1,965 
20  35c. 
$101 
$372 
$3,970 


Taxes  and  licenses   $19,868 

Liability  insurance   $72,839 

Investment   $776,315 

NOTE.— There  are  a  total  of  eighteen  companies  in  the  passenger  motorbus 
transportation  service  operating  over  1,400  miles  of  highway,  and  having  available 
for  service  4 1 2  vehicles  capable  of  seating  5,603  passengers.  Only  seven  furnished 
complete  information  as  shown  above. 

ANALYSIS  OF  OPERATING  COSTS— TYPICAL 
PACIFIC  COAST  BUS  ROUTES 


Traffic  per  month  av- 
erage  

Maximum  mileage  per 
month  per  bus.  .  .  . 

Average  monthly  bus- 
mileage   

Passenger  revenue. . . 
Costs  of  Operation: 

Fuel  J 

Oil  \ 

Tires  

Repairs  (parts  and  la- 
bor)  

Depreciation  

Miscellaneous  

Drivers  


General  superintend- 
ence   

Other  expenses  

Insurance  

Rent  

Printing  and  adver- 
tising   

Office  expense  


g 

H  s  8-5 

*  £•-  | 

-  Z  HZ 
S  C  C  w 


300,000 
9,000 


505.000 
$114, 000 


$13,290 
15,507 


19,387 


19.051 


35.000 


3 

|st1 

£  CO  < 
I  So 

8  AS 


27  60 


2  63 

3  06 


3  80 


70.000 
$27,500 


3  77 


6  92 


39  25 


3  00 
3  50 


4  70 

3  00 


3  50 


I  00 

1 .50 


1 .00 
2  00 


29,096 
$7,836 

I  618 
69 
528 

(c)  125 
1.250 
115 

1,156 


350 


26  95 

2.12 

0  24 

1  82 

0  43 
4  30 

0.39 

3.98 


I  20 


166 
50 


100 
200 


Total..  

Taxes  and  licenses..  . 
Interest  at  7  per  cent   

Surplus  

No.  of  motor  buses  

Type  of  machine   White 

Model  

Seating  capacity  

(a)  Figures  for  May,  1921. 
mated. 


102,235      20  22 


16.240  23.20 


4,727 
44 

300 
2,765 


0  57 
0  17 

0  34 

0.68 

16  24 

0.  15 
1 .03 
9.53 


  7   

  White    White   

  15   

  14   

(6)  Figures  for  September,  1920.       (c)  Esti- 


mum  amount  of  comfort  to  the  passenger.  As  will  be 
noted  the  appearance  is  good  and  an  endeavor  has  been 
made  to  follow  the  best  practice  in  stream  lining. 

The  low  type  chassis  and  body  are  now  coming  into 
favor  as  it  seems  to  have  been  pretty  well  established 
that  a  lowering  of  the  center  of  gravity  results  in  a 
saving  on  tires  and  adds  materially  to  the  safety  of 
operation. 

Detroit  Trolley  Buses 

Bids  Asked  for  Trolley  Buses  that  Can  Easily  Be  Converted 
Into   Gas-Driven  Units — To   Have  All-Steel  Body 
Seating  Twenty-Nine  Passengers 

THE  Department  of  Street  Railways  of  the  city  of 
Detroit  has  recently  asked  for  bids  on  fifty  trolley 
buses.  Ten  of  these  are  for  immediate  delivery,  but 
the  others  are  not  to  be  delivered  until  the  first  lot  has 
been  tested  in  service  and  any  changes  shown  necessary 
in  such  operation  have  been  agreed  upon.  Mention  was 
made  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  July  2, 
page  37,  that  the  city  was  considering  the  use  of  this 
type  of  vehicle  for  supplementary  service  with  existing 
rail  lines. 

The  specifications  provide  that  the  chassis  must  be 
built  to  accommodate  either  electric  motors  or  gas 
engines,  so  that  in  case  operation  of  the  trolley  bus 
proves  unsuccessful  the  vehicles  can  be  easily  converted 
into  motor  buses.  Each  bus  is  to  seat  twenty-nine  pas- 
sengers and  must  weigh  light  not  less  than  9,000  lb. 
and  be  capable  of  transporting  a  load  of  7,500  lb.  With 
these  buses  it  is  proposed  to  maintain  a  minimum 
scheduled  speed  of  8.5  m.p.h.  with  nine  stops  per  mile 
and  an  acceleration  of  between  H  and  2.0  miles  per  hour 
per  second. 

The  specifications  call  for  a  metal  body  of  the  truss 
side  type  with  structural  steel  angle  sills  formed  to  the 
shape  of  a  wheel  housing  over  the  rear  axle.  Pressed 
steel  posts  and  letter  board  are  to  be  used  and  the  roof 
is  to  be  made  of  wood  or  Haskelite  so  that  persons  can 
be  supported  thereon  without  damage  to  the  roof.  Two 
trapdoors  are  to  be  put  in  the  floor  of  the  bus,  one  to  be 
over  the  rear  axle  housing  and  the  other  over  the 
motors.  An  entrance  and  exit  door  is  called  for  on  the 
right  hand  front  side.  It  is  to  have  about  26  in.  clear 
way.  The  doors  fold  outward  and  are  of  the  two-panel 
jacknife  type  and  are  operated  by  ball  bearing,  National 
Pneumatic  Company's  hand  lever  control.  In  the  rear 
there  is  an  emergency  door  controlled  by  an  electric  lock 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal, 


321 


under  glass  which  when  broken  releases  the  lock  and 
allows  the  door  to  be  opened.  The  windows  are  of  the 
raised  sash  type  and  push  up  so  as  to  give  12-in.  clear- 
way. The  inside  finish  is  birch,  stained  mahogany 
color,  and  the  roof  above  the  sash  white  enamel.  Light- 
ing is  obtained  from  six  23-watt  railway  lamps  on 
two  circuits.  One  circuit  covers  five  interior  lamps, 
while  the  other  covers  one  interior  lamp,  two  headlights, 
a  step  light  and  an  illuminated  sign  light. 

Miscellaneous  fittings  called  for  include  two  Nichols- 
Lintern  tail-lights,  a  Faraday  buzzer  system,  Cutler- 
Hammer   500-watt    296-volt   single-unit   truss  plank 


heaters,  two  of  which  are  connected  in  series ;  Rex  all- 
metal  rollers,  double  coated  curtain  material  and  Cur- 
tain Supply  Company's  fixtures.  Steel  tubing  is  used  as 
a  railing  to  separate  the  driver  from  the  passengers.  An 
operator's  mirror  22  x  8i  in.  is  located  so  that  the 
operator  can  obtain  a  full  view  of  the  passengers  in  the 
bus.  Three  exhaust  ventilators  are  located  on  the  center 
line  of  the  roof  and  are  covered  with  metal  shutters. 
Johnson  type  D  fare  boxes  are  conveniently  mounted  at 
the  entrance. 

The  bids,  which  were  opened  Aug.  18,  ranged  from 
$7,325  to  $10,500. 


New  Track  and  How  It  Was  Financed 

The  Gary  Street  Railway  Finances  Locally  the  Reconstruction  of  1.8  Miles 
of  Track  Using  Mechanical  Ties  to  Reduce  the  Thickness  of 
Concrete  and  Avoid  Too  Great  Rigidity 


AUTHORIZED  by  the  Public  Service  Commission 
l\  of  Indiana  to  issue  $75,000  of  first  mortgage 
X  JL  5  per  cent  gold  bonds  for  the  purpose  of  recon- 
structing 1.8  miles  of  single  track  on  Broadway,  the 
main  street  of  Gary,  Ind.,  the  Gary  Street  Railway  set 
out  to  dispose  of  these  bonds  through  the  usual  chan- 
nels. President  Charles  W.  Chase  went  east  to  dispose 
of  the  bonds  there,  while  T.  G.  Hamilton,  superin- 
tendent and  purchasing  agent,  went  to  Chicago  to  see 
what  could  be  done  in  that  city.  Both  returned  to 
Gary  unsuccessful.  But  having  faith  in  the  merit  of  the 
securities  offered  and  confidence  in  the  future  of  Gary 
and  its  street  railway  property,  they  determined  to  dis- 
pose of  these  bonds  locally. 

A  plan  was  evolved  to  first  interest  the  employees 
in  purchasing  these  bonds  and  then,  having  won  their 
active  interest,  to  endeavor  to  sell  bonds  to  the  public 
through  the  employees.  Since  the  total  outstanding 
first  mortgage  obligations  of  the  company  are  only 
$375,000,  including  the  present  issue,  whereas  the 
value  of  the  property  as  recently  established  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission  is  $1,800,000,  exclusive  of 
good  will  or  any  franchise  values,  the  officials  felt  per- 
fectly safe  in  inducing  the  employees  to  invest  their 
savings  with  the  company. 

A  letter  setting  forth  the  details  was  addressed  to 
each  employee  and  he  was  invited  to  buy  as  many 
bonds  as  he  could  for  $85  cash,  or  $87.50  payable  in 
ten  months;  that  is,  $4.37  from  each  semi-monthly 
pay,  per  bond.  While  the  management  has  felt  that  it 
was  very  close  to  its  employees,  the  response  that 
came  to  the  offer  of  bonds  was  a  surprise  even  to 
them.  Of  the  trainmen,  96.3  per  cent  bought  from 
one  to  five  bonds,  while  76  per  cent  of  the  shopmen, 
37.7  per  cent  of  the  trackmen,  57.5  per  cent  of  the 
salaried  employees  and  68.1  per  cent  of  the  linemen 
also  purchased  one  or  more  bonds.    Altogether,  of  the 


272  employees,  201  or  74  per  cent,  bought  bonds,  the 
total  amount  subscribed  being  about  $35,000. 

The  assistance  of  the  employees  was  then  secured 
in  disposing  of  additional  bonds  to  the  public,  to  whom 
they  were  offered  at  $90,  the  employee  making  the  sale 
receiving  a  commission  of  $2.50  for  each  $100  bond 
sold.  Through  them  and  the  efforts  of  the  officials 
direct,  an  additional  $25,000  of  bonds  were  disposed 
of  to  the  public.  Some  of  the  local  materials  dealers 
from  whom  materials  used  in  the  track  construction 
were  purchased,  accepted  some  of  these  bonds  in  part 
or  total  payment.  The  names  of  the  merchants  who 
purchased  bonds  were  posted  in  the  carhouse  so  that 
the  trainmen  and  other  employees  might  know  who 
was  helping  to  support  the  street  car  company  and 
incidentally  them. 

The  employees  seemed  to  take  a  great  interest  in 
this  proposition  and  a  number  of  them  who  could  not 
purchase  a  bond  came  in  to  see  the  superintendent  and 
tell  him  they  were  sorry  they  were  not  in  a  position 
to  take  a  bond  just  then.  At  the  time  of  this  writing 
more  than  $60,000  worth  of  the  bonds  had  been  dis- 
posed of  so  that  the  necessary  money  for  the  new  track 
was  assured  and  construction  work  was  well  under  way. 

Type  of  Track  Replaced 

The  track  that  is  being  replaced  was  built  in  1907, 
shortly  after  Judge  Gary  established  the  new  city 
among  the  sand  dunes  at  the  south  end  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan. It  was  laid  with  60-lb.  A.S.C.E.  T-rail  on  oak  ties 
directly  on  the  sand,  no  other  ballast  being  used.  A  con- 
crete curb  was  built  along  either  side  of  the  26-ft.  track- 
way through  the  center  of  the  broad  street  so  that  the 
sand  was  there  confined.  Simple  four-hole  angle  bars 
were  used  to  make  the  joints.  This  track  has  been 
subjected  to  a  four-minute  headway  of  local  street 
cars  all  day,  with  a  one  and  one-half-minute  headway 


k-  is"-  -H 


Cross-Section  op  Track  Construction  Showing  Concrete  Beam  Under  Each  Rail 


322 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


during  the  morning  and  evening  rush,  and  in  addition 
has  carried  the  cars  of  the  Gary  &  Southern,  the  Gary 
&  Valparaiso  and  the  Gary  &  Hobart  interurban  lines 
which  have  operated  over  it  hourly.  Many  of  the  ties 
are  still  good  and  are  being  reused  on  one  of  the  inter- 
urban lines. 

Mechanical  Ties  Employed  in  New  Track 

The  new  type  of  track  now  being  built  is  of  solid 
concrete  construction,  including  the  paving,  and  employ- 
ing Dayton  mechanical  ties,  Indianapolis  apex  elec- 
trically welded  joints  and  90-lb.  A.R.A.  T-rail  of  Illinois 
Steel  Company  section  9020  rolled  in  66-ft.  lengths. 
Several  reasons  were  involved  in  the  selection  of  these 


paving  desired  by  the  city  at  practically  no  greater  ex- 
pense than  a  good  construction  using  wood  ties  and 
employing  a  less  permanent  paving.  Furthermore,  the 
use  of  these  special  ties  provided  a  certain  amount  of 
resiliency  which  was  considered  highly  desirable  when 
going  to  an  otherwise  rigid  construction,  the  reduction 
of  noise  being  a  factor  in  this  case  also. 

An  accompanying  drawing  shows  a  cross-section  of 
the  track,  from  which  it  is  seen  that  the  concrete 
foundation  was  poured  practically  in  the  form  of  a 
beam  under  each  rail.  The  surface  of  the  trench  was 
prepared  so  that  the  thickness  of  concrete  along  under 
the  rails  was  about  7  in.  under  the  ties  and  this  was 
narrowed  up  to  about  3  in.  in  the  middle  of  the  track. 


VARIOUS  STAGES  IN  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TRACK  IN  GARY 


No.  1 — Construction  at  the  joints  where  special  joint  tie  and 
electrically-welded  plate  are  used.  Excavation  under  the  ties  at 
the  rails  to  form  longitudinal  beam  can  also  be  seen. 

No.  2 — Pouring  in  the  first  layer  of  concrete.  The  sand  soil 
is  first  packed  down  by  wetting  in  advance  of  the  concreting  by 
means  of  a  hose. 


No.  3 — Rail  and  ties  assembled  and  subgrade  excavated  ready 
for  pouring  foundation  concrete. 

No.  4 — Pouring  of  the  concrete  base  carried  up  even  with  the 
tops  of  the  ties  completed. 

No.  5 — Appearance  of  the  completed  track  showing  expansion 
joint  locations  in  the  distance. 


mechanical  ties  for  use  in  this  track.  Because  the 
local  city  authorities  were  making  extensive  use  of 
concrete  paving,  it  was  highly  desirable  that  the  street 
railway  should  use  the  same  type  of  pavement  so  that 
the  street  would  be  uniformly  surfaced.  The  use  of 
mechanical  ties  with  the  concrete  foundation  and  pav- 
ing construction  reduced  the  thickness  of  concrete 
required  by  such  an  amount  that  this  saving,  taken 
in  conjunction  with  the  greater  spacing  of  ties  and 
the  minimizing  of  labor  in  assembling,  made  it  pos- 
sible to  build  this  type  of  track  employing  the  concrete 


After  the  rails  and  ties  were  assembled,  the  track  was 
blocked  up  to  grade  and  alignment  and  the  concrete 
poured  up  to  the  level  of  the  base  of  the  rails.  This 
was  allowed  to  set  and  thereafter  the  paving  layer 
was  poured  and  the  whole  structure  allowed  to  cure 
three  weeks  before  traffic  was  permitted  over  it.  In 
adopting  this  more  permanent  type  of  construction  an 
agreement  was  reached  with  the  city  whereby  the 
width  of  street  to  be  paved  by  the  company  was  reduced 
from  26  ft.  to  20  ft. 

The  rails  were  supplied  in  66-ft.  lengths  and  drilled 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


323 


with  one  hole  afc  each  end,  used  to  hold  the  joint  plate 
in  position  until  welded.  The  use  of  this  extra  long 
rail  and  the  absence  of  any  drilling  of  rails  or  boring 
of  ties  minimized  the  amount  of  labor  required  on 
the  job.  A  brace  and  socket  wrench  were  used  to  set 
up  the  four  bolts  and  clips  on  each  mechanical  tie.  The 
joints  in  the  rails  were  staggered  and  a  special  Dayton 
mechanical  joint  tie  used  at  each  joint.  The  two  adja- 
cent ties  were  spaced  at  2-ft.  centers  from  the  joint  tie 
and  the  remaining  ties  at  3-ft.  centers.  At  the  joints, 
the  bond  was  formed  by  the  welding  of  the  Apex  plate  to 
the  rail  and  the  welding  of  the  rail  base  to  the  tie  plates. 
Cross-bonds  were  provided  every  800  ft.  by  welding 
old  60-lb.  rail,  inverted,  across  underneath  the  base  of 
all  four  rails  of  the  two  tracks.  One  of  these  cross- 
bonds  was  installed  at  either  side  of  each  railroad 
crossing  and  the  two  cross-rails  then  bonded  together 
with  a  5,000-circ.mil  cable  extending  through  the  cross- 
ing and  welded  to  the  cross-rail  on  either  side. 

An  expansion  joint  was  provided  every  40  ft.  in 
the  upper  or  pavement  layer  of  concrete.  These  joints 
were  made  by  inserting  in  the  opening  two  strips  of 
6-in.  x  A-in.  elastite  projecting  above  the  surface  of 
the  pavement  about  2  in.  The  two  strips  were  then 
hammered  down  into  the  opening  and  one  strip  bent 
over  either  way,  filling  the  surface  completely  and 
smoothing  over  the  separation  between  sections  so  that 
the  joint  is  not  felt  by  passing  vehicles. 

In  1920,  the  Gary  Street  Railway  carried  11,270,503 
passengers  and  operated  1,930,000  car-miles.  The  rate 
of  fare  is  8  cents  cash  or  fourteen  metal  tickets  for 
$1,  and  six  school  tickets  for  25  cents.  In  the  month 
of  May,  1921,  74.3  per  cent  of  the  passengers  paid 
cash,  23.4  per  cent  bought  tickets  and  2.3  per  cent  rode 
on  school  tickets.  In  June  the  corresponding  tickets 
were  69.5  per  cent  cash  fares,  28.7  per  cent  ticket  fares 
and  1.8  per  cent  school  tickets.  Despite  the  fact  that 
the  car  lines  cross  seventy-two  railroad  tracks  at  forty- 
one  locations,  the  average  schedule  speed  of  the  safety 
cars  used  is  8.1  m.p.h.  The  total  city  system  comprises 
31.4  miles  of  single  track.  Normally  the  company 
carries  about  40,000  passengers  every  week  day,  but 
at  the  present  time,  due  to  the  slack  business  at  the 
steel  mills,  the  daily  number  of  passengers  is  around 
25,000.  The  safety  car  earnings  run  from  42  cents  to 
58  cents  per  car-mile  on  week  days  with  seven  to  eleven 
passengers  per  car-mile.  These  figures  are  for  the 
month  of  June,  1921,  which  is  the  lowest  month  in 
point  of  traffic  that  the  company  had  had  up  to 
that  time. 

The  double-truck  Peter  Witt  type  cars  are  earning 
from  46  cents  to  76  cents  per  car-mile  and  carrying 
6.9  to  10.8  passengers  per  car-mile.  The  wages  paid  to 
trainmen,  most  of  whom  have  been  with  the  company 
six  or  seven  years  or  more,  is  71  cents  maximum  for 
two-man  cars  and  76  cents  for  safety  cars.  The  monthly 
operating  ratio  during  the  last  six  months  has  varied 
from  65  to  74  per  cent,  the  latter  having  prevailed  in 
June. 


The  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company 
is  equipping  all  its  interurban  cars  with  Miller  trolley 
shoes.  It  has  been  using  some  of  these  shoes  for  a 
long  time,  but  has  found  that  they  give  a  better  life  if 
all  cars  on  a  line  are  equipped  with  shoes  rather  than 
to  have  some  trolley  wheels  mixed  in.  The  wheels  seem 
to  pit  or  burr  the  wire  slightly,  producing  a  rough 
surface  which  makes  the  wear  on  the  shoes  more  rapid. 


Saginaw  Service  Still  Suspended 

Prospect  for  Resumption  by  Railway  Appears  Remote — 
Each  Succeeding  Day  Drives  Home  the  Inadequacy 
of  the  Bus 

SAGINAW  and  Bay  City  entered,  on  Aug.  24,  their 
third  week  without  electric  railway  transportation 
and  little  is  known  when  there  will  be  a  resumption  of 
service.  Otto  Schupp,  the  receiver  for  the  Saginaw-Bay 
City  Railway,  is  out  of  the  city,  and  company  officials 
profess  to  know  nothing  of  what  the  future  holds  for 
the  two  valley  cities. 

One  jitney  accident,  in  which  five  persons  were 
seriously  injured,  and  a  near  accident  have  awakened 
the  members  of  the  Council  to  the  fact  that  the  oper- 
ators of  jitney  buses  must  provide  adequate  insurance 
for  the  protection  of  the  riding  public.  Mayor  B.  N. 
Mercer  has  taken  the  stand  that  unless  operators  do 
this,  he  will  fight  to  the  end  that  the  jitneys  must 
cease  operations.  Commissioners  Holcomb,  Johnson 
and  Hammel  are  with  him  in  this  attitude,  but  Com- 
missioner Phoenix,  who  has  at  every  opportunity  taken 


Type  op  Vehicle  at  Depot  Gp.eeting  Visitors 


a  position  against  the  railway,  wants  to  require  only  a 
small  policy,  saying,  "I  will  not  vote  for  any  insurance 
which  will  drive  these  people  off  the  streets." 

This  commissioner  never  would  help  the  company  and 
at  an  informal  meeting  of  the  Council  and  the  bus 
operators,  urged  that  they  be  allowed  to  charge  1  cent 
for  a  transfer  to  "help  them  along."  He  has  introduced 
in  the  Council  an  ordinance  for  the  regulation  of  the 
buses  and  while  seeming  to  insist  upon  strict  measures, 
any  time  the  question  of  the  amount  of  insurance  to  be 
required  from  each  owner  comes  up,  he  backs  up  and 
stands  as  the  friend  of  the  bus  owner. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  fifty  buses  operating 
under  a  go-as-you-please  schedule.  As  a  result  during 
rush  hours  there  is  an  entire  lack  of  accommodations 
for  the  public.  In  fact  the  only  time  a  person  is 
reasonably  sure  of  having  a  seat  is  the  middle  of  the 
forenoon.  Double  fares  are  being  charged,  as  no  satis- 
factory arrangement  has  yet  been  worked  out  for 
issuing  transfers.  The  jitney  men  say  "just  as  soon 
as  the  ordinance  is  passed  and  if  we  can  work  under 
it  then  we  will  issue  the  transfers." 

No  figures  are  available,  but  it  is  freely  stated  that 
probably  not  more  than  twelve  of  the  bus  operators 
own  their  vehicles.    Citizens  generally  know  them  to 


324 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


be  irresponsible  from  a  financial  standpoint.  In 
political  circles,  Commissioner  Phoenix  is  given  credit 
for  wanting  to  frame  a  strong  ordinance,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  insurance  section.  When  the  buses  fail 
under  his  rule  it  is  expected  he  will  urge  that  the 
question  of  municipal  ownership  of  the  railway  be 
submitted  to  the  people.  Since  he  has  been  in  the 
Council  this  has  been  his  one  big  hobby.  How  far  he 
will  get  of  course  no  one  knows,  but  there  has  never 
been  any  pronounced  movement  along  this  line. 

To  protect  the  city's  interests,  it  is  expected  the 


Reo  Brs  Waiting  for  Patrons 


Council  will  notify  the  railway  this  week  to  operate 
its  cars,  and  then  as  a  matter  of  form  will  allow  thirty 
days  to  elapse  before  declaring  the  franchise  forfeited. 
What  effect  this  will  have  on  the  situation  is  not  known. 
The  United  States  District  Court  is  in  charge  of  the 
property  and  how  the  company  can  do  anything  has  not 
been  explained. 

The  members  of  the  Council  with  the  exception  of 
Commissioner  Phoenix  are  not  satisfied  to  forfeit  the 
franchise  and  if  the  receiver  decides  to  operate,  with 
the  jitney  competition  removed,  it  is  expected  that  the 
Council  will  be  glad  to  accept  the  proposition. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  the  jitneys  cannot  take 
care  of  the  transportation  needs  of  the  city.  Should 
manufacturing  conditions  improve  they  would  be 
swamped.  The  last  available  reports  on  the  labor 
situation  showed  only  about  45  per  cent  of  the  normal 
number  of  workers  employed. 

Otto  Schupp,  receiver  for  the  railway,  announced  on 
Aug.  24  that  a  rough  inventory  of  the  property  now 
being  made  will  be  completed  for  submission  to  the 
United  States  District  Court  during  the  week  ended 
Sept.  3.  Until  then  no  change  is  likely  in  the  status  of 
the  case,  Mr.  Schupp  said. 

The  Council  has  allowed  two  weeks  for  jitney  owners 
to  furnish  insurance  on  each  bus  at  the  rate  of  $5,000 
for  one  person,  and  $25,000  for  one  accident.  Mayor 
Mercer  held  out  for  a  $50,000  policy,  but  was  voted 
down  four  to  one. 

The  president  of  the  Fair  Association  appealed  to  the 
Council  to  allow  the  Michigan  Railway  to  operate  during 
fair  week.  The  usual  attendance  at  this  event  is  800,- 
000,  but  members  of  the  Council  were  not  in  favor  of 
this  proposal.  Transportation  to  the  fair  will,  therefore, 
depend  largely  upon  the  uncertain  public  jitneys.  The 
Fair  Association  has  a  $75,000  loss  to  meet  this  year. 

The  suspension  of  service  and  the  receivership  are 
the  culmination  of  about  two  and  a  half  years  of 
almost    continuous    difficulty — tie-ups,    strikes,  court 


actions  and  settlement  proposals.  They  were  the  direct 
result  of  the  action  of  the  people  in  rejecting  the 
franchise  presented  for  consideration  on  July  19,  last. 

In  all,  there  have  been  four  suspensions  of  service 
since  March  23,  1919,  to  the  present.  They  totaled 
37J  earless  days  with  twenty-four  days  the  longest 
suspension  and  two  days  the  shortest.  Three  times  the 
suspensions  resulted  from  strikes  for  higher  wages, 
which  the  company  refused  on  the  ground  that  it  could 
not  grant  them  without  increased  fares.  Once,  the 
first  time,  the  company  ran  its  cars  into  the  carhouses 
in  refusal  to  operate  for  the  old  5-cent  fare. 

The  election  on  Ju'y  19  came  as  a  result  of  repre- 
sentations by  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway  to  the 
Council  that  unless  some  provision  was  made  for  higher 
fares  and  relief  granted  from  jitney  bus  competition 
and  paving  burdens,  the  company  would  be  forced  into 
bankruptcy. 

In  a  series  of  conferences  between  city  and  company 
representatives  the  early  part  of  June,  the  service-at- 
cost  franchise  was  worked  out.  In  asking  for  this 
conference,  the  company  reminded  the  city  of  an  agree- 
ment reached  last  November,  when  the  cars  started 
after  their  twenty-four-day  tie-up,  in  which  the  Council 
agreed  to  take  up  consideration  of  a  new  thirty-year 
franchise  and  the  other  points  on  which  the  company 
asked  relief. 

The  history  of  that  tie-up  goes  back  to  last  fall,  when 
the  motormen  and  conductors  demanded  a  50  per  cent 
increase  in  pay,  only  to  be  told  by  the  company  that 
this  was  impossible  unless  the  city  granted  an  increase 
in  fares. 

After  appealing  to  the  Council  for  a  10-cent  fare, 
which  was  rejected  together  with  a  compromise  offer 
by  the  Council  of  an  8-cent  fare,  with  tickets  selling  at 
five  for  35  cents,  the  company  offered  another  com- 
promise: A  10-cent  fare  with  tickets  at  four  for  25 
cents,  but  this  was  ignored  by  the  Council. 

The  requests  for  higher  fares  denied,  the  railway 
officials  refused  the  demands  of  the  men,  who  then  went 
on  strike.  The  county  fair  was  on  at  the  time,  and 
although  the  strike  started  technically  on  Sept.  30  the 
tie-up  was  postponed  by  an  agreement  between  the  men 
and  the  Saginaw  County  Agricultural  Society  by  which 
the  employees  continued  to  run  the  cars  for  the  three 
days  remaining  of  the  county  fair  week.  They  were 
paid  by  the  fair  society,  which,  in  turn,  was  reimbursed 
by  the  company. 

The  following  Sunday  midnight  the  strike  started. 
Developments  came  rapidly.  The  city  went  into  Circuit 
Court  and  obtained  a  mandamus  ordering  the  company 
to  live  up  to  its  franchise,  then  had  the  officials  cited 
for  contempt  of  court  when  they  failed  to  observe  the 
court's  order.  The  carmen  reduced  their  wage  demands 
to  10  cents  an  hour — about  a  20  per  cent  increase. 
Then,  without  warning,  and  shortly  after  a  conference 
between  company  officials  and  the  Council,  the  company 
started  the  cars,  giving  the  men  the  demanded  increase. 

Two  weeks  elapsed  before  the  public  learned  the 
reason  for  this  sudden  resumption  of  service.  Then 
the  company,  in  a  communication  to  the  Council,  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  it  considered  the  Council  had 
promised  a  higher  rate  of  fare  would  be  granted  if 
service  were  restored,  something  all  the  members  of 
the  Council  denied  was  done.  The  Councilmen  asserted 
that  they  merely  told  company  representatives  they 
would  not  consider  any  rate  proposition  whatever  until 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


325 


the  cars  were  running,  refusing  to  treat  with  the  com- 
pany until  service  was  restored,  on  the  ground  that 
the  street  railway  heads  were  "outlaws"  while  they 
failed  to  obey  the  court's  order. 

Negotiations  continued  until  Nov.  1,  the  men  mean- 
while receiving  the  wage  increase  they  had  asked.  Then 
the  men,  refusing  to  accept  a  wage  cut  which  the 
company  announced  would  be  necessary  because  of  the 
Council's  alleged  failure  to  keep  its  agreement,  struck 
again,  starting  the  twenty-four-day  tie-up. 

The  public  utilities  committee  of  the  Board  of  Com- 
merce took  a  prominent  part  in  the  negotiations  that 
followed.  It  proposed  a  $200,000  bond  issue  by  the  city 
to  build  extensions,  and  a'.so  proposed  a  fare  increase 
to  the  company.  These  negotiations  at  first  failed  to 
produce  results,  as  did  efforts  by  the  Federation  of 
Labor  to  bring  about  adoption  of  the  Plumb  plan  for 
controlling  the  railway. 

The  city  went  into  court  again,  asking  that  the  com- 
pany be  compelled  to  live  up  to  its  franchise  and  that 
its  officials  be  punished  for  contempt  of  court.  Circuit 
Judges  E.  A.  Snow  and  Clarence  M.  Browne  upheld  the 
injunction  which  had  been  granted  several  weeks  pre- 
viously ordering  the  cars  to  run,  and  adjudged  the 
officials  in  contempt  of  court.  But  before  the  contempt 
proceedings  could  be  finished  the  company  obtained  a 
writ  of  certiorari  from  the  Supreme  Court,  which 
operated  as  a  stay  of  proceedings. 

The  cars  remained  idle  despite  the  court's  action  in 
upholding  the  injunction  ordering  them  to  start.  But 
meanwhile  the  Board  of  Commerce  committee  had  been 
active,  and  in  a  conference  on  Nov.  23  an  agreement 
was  reached  between  the  city,  the  company  and  the 
men  by  which  the  cars  were  started  Nov.  25. 

Under  this  agreement  the  men  submitted  to  a  wage 
cut  which  took  them  back  to  their  wages  before  the 
October  strike,  while  the  Council  agreed  to  regulate 


Bus  at  Curb  About  to  Discharge  Passengers 

jitney  bus  competition  and  immediately  to  take  up  con- 
sideration of  a  new  thirty-year  franchise,  the  cars  to 
run  meantime  at  the  6-cent  fare  then  in  force.  The 
franchise,  which  the  Council  on  that  date  agreed  to 
frame  and  to  submit  to  the  people,  is  the  one  which 
the  vcjters  so  emphatically  refused  to  accept  on  July  19. 

But  that  series  of  troubles  was  not  the  first  the  city 
had  experienced.  The  initial  tie-up  came  on  March  23, 
1919,  when  the  company  suspended  service  as  a  protest 
against  the  action  of  the  voters  on  March  5  in  refus- 


ing to  approve  the  6-cent  fare  granted  by  the  Council 
in  July,  1918.  This  tie-up  lasted  five  and  one-ha'f 
days,  ending  when  the  city  went  into  Circuit  Court 
and  obtained  an  order  compelling  the  railway  to  observe 
the  provisions  of  its  franchise  contract. 

The  second  suspension  started  July  25,  1919,  when 
the  company,  operating  at  a  six-for-a-quarter  rate  of 
fare,  refused  its  men  an  advance  in  wages  unless  the 
6-cent  fare  were  restored.  This  fight  the  company  won, 
restoring  service  July  31,  after  the  Council  adopted 
another  6-cent  fare  ordinance.  The  first  ordinance 
granting  this  rate  had  been  repudiated  by  the  people, 
but  the  second,  identical  in  every  way,  was  approved  by 
the  people  by  a  big  majority  in  September,  1919. 


Tentative  Settlement  Draft  Presented 

In  the  Vernacular,  Des  Moines  Is  Still  Walking,  but  Getting 
Nowhere — Presence  of  Mr.  Harris  in  City  Desired — 
Manager  Chambers  in  Chicago 

A  FTER  an  eight-hour  conference  between  F.  C.  Cham- 
J~\  bers,  general  manager  of  the  Des  Moines  (la.)  City 
Railway,  and  a  special  committee  from  the  Retail  Mer- 
chants' Association  on  Aug.  23,  Des  Moines  seemed  no 
nearer  a  solution  of  its  railway  difficulties  than  previous 
to  Mr.  Chambers'  visit  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Chambers 
brought  back  a  tentative  draft  of  a  new  franchise 
prepared  by  the  Harris  interests,  and  while  the  details 
of  the  draft  have  been  kept  secret,  it  is  understood 
that  the  main  stumbling  block  will  be  the  fare  provi- 
sions, as  retail  merchants  do  not  feel  that  an  8-cent 
fare  franchise  can  be  passed  in  Des  Moines  now. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  conference  was  a  request 
from  the  committee  that  Mr.  Chambers  return  to  Chi- 
cago and  attempt  to  have  A.  W.  Harris  come  to  Des 
Moines  personally  to  conduct  the  negotiations  with  the 
committee.  Mr.  Chambers  has  returned  to  Chicago  but 
no  announcement  by  him  had  been  made  up  to  Aug.  25. 

Seven  more  bus  licenses  were  granted  by  the  City 
Council  on  Aug.  23  under  an  agreement  that  the  ve- 
hicles would  be  allowed  to  continue  operation  until 
Sept.  2,  which  is  the  last  day  of  the  Iowa  State  Fair. 
All  outstanding  licenses  expire  automatically  on  Aug. 
31.  Ten  more  buses  are  said  to  be  on  the  way  from 
Kansas  City  and  operators  now  claim  that  106  buses 
are  in  operation.   This  the  railway  men  deny. 

Bus  operators  have  started  a  campaign  to  sell  the 
bus  proposition  to  the  city  and  called  a  mass  meeting 
of  all  civic  and  commercial  organizations  with  the  City 
Council  for  Aug.  25.  The  Council  accepted  the  invita- 
tion. This  will  be  first  of  a  series  of  meetings  to 
impress  upon  the  public  the  difficulties  which  buses 
have  encountered. 

Five  touring  cars  are  now  being  used  from  which  to 
supervise  and  direct  bus  operation,  and  guards  have 
been  placed  at  railroad  crossings  for  the  first  time.  The 
operators  have  agreed  to  place  all  new  buses  arriving  in 
the  city  on  the  fair  grounds  line  and  not  to  reduce  serv- 
ice on  other  lines.  It  is  claimed  that  twenty-five  buses 
will  operate  on  the  fair  grounds  line.  The  fair  started 
on  Aug.  24,  and  for  about  five  days  it  will  be  necessary 
to  transport  about  50,000  people  a  day. 

City  Councilman  John  Budd  on  Aug.  23  offered  a 
preliminary  plan  for  allowing  the  buses  a  three-year 
grant.  He  urged  that  a  reliable  corporation  be  granted 
a  franchise  and  the  present  makeshift  arrangement  be 
abolished.  Mr.  Budd  proposed  a  fleet  of  from  150  to  175 
buses  with  a  minimum  seating  capacity  of  twenty  for 
each  vehicle  and  a  limit  on  seating  capacity  of  thirty. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Hose  Dismantling  and  Assembling 
Machine 

A  New  Device — Cuts  Clamp  Bolts,  Removes  Nipples  and 
Couplings  and  Assembles  the  Various  Parts  of  Air, 
Steam  and  Signal  Hose,  Which  Speeds  Up 
This  Work  Considerably 

THE  Covington  (Va.)  Machine  Company,  Inc.,  has 
placed  on  the  market  a  new  type  of  machine  for  dis- 
mantling and  assembling  air-brake,  signal  and  steam 
hose.  In  addition  to  saving  much  time  in  performing 
this  work,  the  use  of  the  machine  insures  that  all 


Machine  for  Dismantling  and  Assembling  Hose 

clamps,  couplings,  nipples,  etc.,  are  not  strained  or  dis- 
torted in  the  removal  operation,  so  that  they  can  be 
used  again  without  danger. 

The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  machine  as 
constructed,  together  with  the  entire  equipment  of  tools 
for  performing  the  various  operations.  To  remove  the 
fittings  from  old  hose,  the  first  operation  is  to  cut  the 
clamp  bolts.  This  is  performed  by  a  special  shear  knife 
located  to  the  left  of  the  machine  in  the  illustration. 
The  operator  places  the  hose  in  position  and  by  pressing 
down  the  pedal  the  bolts  are  cut  without  injury  to  the 
hose  clamp. 

The  coupling  and  nipple  are  removed  by  a  single 
operation.  To  perform  this  operation  the  hose  is 
clamped  in  the  central  portion  of  the  machine  and  the 
nipple  and  coupling  pullers  are  dropped  into  position. 

The  pressure  for  clamping  the  hose  is  obtained  by 
moving  the  lever  shown  at  the  right  and  by  moving  the 
lever  at  the  center  of  the  machine  air  is  admitted  to  the 
pulling  cylinder,  which  removes  both  fittings,  together 
with  the  clamp  from  the  hose  without  injury.  The 
operation  for  stripping  the  various  types  of  hose  is  the 
same,  but  different  sized  tools  are  used  to  suit  the  differ- 
ent types  of  hose. 

To  assemble  the  fittings  the  new  hose  is  laid  between 
two  straight  clamping  blocks  which  are  brought  together 
by  the  air  pressure  in  the  clamp  cylinder.  These  blocks 
hold  the  hose  straight  and  without  danger  of  injury. 
The  coupling  is  held  in  the  same  fixture  as  is  used  for 
dismantling  and  the  nipple  is  placed  on  a  centering 


fixture.  The  sliding  heads  which  insert  the  fittings  are 
brought  together  by  moving  the  operating  lever  at  the 
center  of  the  machine  to  the  left.  The  heads  are  then 
released  and  the  hose  clamps  are  brought  together  by 
means  of  the  hand  wheels  and  special  jaws.  The  insert- 
ing and  screwing  up  of  the  clamp  bolts  complete  the 
operation. 

By  the  use  of  this  machine  it  has  been  found  that  a 
single  operator  can  readily  dismantle  100  air  hose  per 
hour  and  assemble  twenty  per  hour.  The  assembling 
operation  is  limited  somewhat  by  the  time  necessary  to 
screw  up  the  clamp  bolts,  as  this  is  the  longest  single 
operation  in  assembling. 


New  Locomotive  for  Tidewater  Southern 
Railway 

FOR  handling  increased  interurban  freight  traffic  in 
the  San  Joaquin  Valley  between  Stockton  and  Thur- 
lock,  Cal.,  the  Tidewater  Southern  Railway,  a  subsidiary 
of  the  Western  Pacific  Railway,  has  recently  placed  in 
operation  a  new  General  Electric  60-ton  electric  loco- 
motive embodying  several  interesting  features. 

Designed  for  operation  at  1,500  volts  direct  current, 
the  locomotive  is  37  ft.  4  in.  long,  9  ft.  7  in.  wide, 
with  a  total  wheelbase  of  25  ft.  5  in.  It  is  driven  by 
four  750/1, 500-volt  box-frame,  forced  ventilated  rail- 
way motors  through  a  single  reduction  gear  of  69:17 
ratio.  The  motors  are  arranged  for  shunted  field  opera- 
tion, which  gives  a  continuous  rating  on  1,500  volts  of 
14,500  lb.  continuous  tractive  effort  at  22  m.p.h.  It 
will  operate  at  reduced  speed  on  600  volts.  The  con- 
trol is  type  M,  single  unit  with  two  master  controllers 
giving  ten  steps  with  four  motors  in  series  and  seven 
steps  with  two  in  series  and  groups  in  multiple.  The 
motors  are  permanently  connected  in  groups  of  two  in 
series. 

The  motor  rheostats  and  various  parts  of  the  con- 
trol equipment  are  housed  under  the  sloping  end  cabs, 


1,500-Volt  Locomotive  for  Tidewater  Southern  Railway 


August  27,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


327 


conveniently  arranged  for  inspection  and  repairs.  Cur- 
rent is  collected  through  two  pole  trolleys  which  will 
operate  through  a  range  of  from  14  ft.  to  22  ft.  above 
the  rail. 

There  is  a  main  switch  with  a  magnetic  blowout 
for  opening  the  main  circuit  in  emergency,  or  for 
inspection,  and  a  complete  equipment  of  auxiliary 
switches  for  the  control  of  headlights,  cablights,  dyna- 
motor  blower  set,  compressor  and  compressor  relay, 
control  circuits,  heaters,  field  shunting  and  control 
transfer. 

Headlights  as  well  as  cablights,  control  and  com- 
pressor relay  are  operated  from  the  dynamotor,  except 
when  the  locomotive  is  being  run  on  600  volts,  when 
they  are  operated  from  the  trolley.  There  are  two 
CP-30  air  compressors  with  a  combined  piston  dis- 
placement of  70  cu.ft.  per  minute  when  delivering  air 
at  100  lb.  per  square  inch  pressure.  Air  is  supplied 
for  sanders,  bell  ringer  and  control,  in  addition  to  the 
air  brakes. 

The  present  electrified  system  of  the  Tidewater  South- 
ern Railway  is  arranged  for  1,200-volt  operation,  but 
will  be  changed  over  to  1,500  volts  in  the  near  future. 
The  new  locomotive  was  designed  for  operation  at  the 
higher  voltage  in  view  of  the  contemplated  change  in 
potential. 

The  locomotive  carries  all  its  weight  of  120,000  lb.  on 
the  drivers.  The  cab  is  of  the  sloping  end  steeple  type 
of  construction,  extending  practically  the  whole  length 
of  the  underframe,  which  consists  of  four  heavy  steel 
channels  extending  the  entire  length  of  the  platform, 
and  tied  together  by  heavy  steel  end-frame  castings. 
Each  channel  is  riveted  to  the  webs  of  the  end  frame 
castings  and  to  the  bolster  plates  on  the  bottom.  The 
bolsters  are  built  up  of  1-in.  steel  plates,  10  in.  in  width 
riveted  to  all  four  longitudinal  sills. 


Concrete  Breaker  in  Cleveland 

THE  accompanying  illustrations  show  a  new  machine 
developed  by  Charles  H.  Clark,  engineer  mainte- 
nance of  way,  Cleveland  Railway,  to  break  up  the  con- 
crete pavement,  or  the  concrete  under  and  between  the 
ties,  in  street  railway  tracks.  The  former  method  of 
using  a  ponderous  weight  is  replaced  by  employing  five 
hammers  of  less  weight,  and  dropped  on  a  point.  All 
the  hammers  can  be  used  at  one  time,  or  each  one 
independently.  In  case  of  manholes  or  soft  spots  this 
becomes  necessary. 

The  car  is  moved  at  the  rate  of  about  8  ft.  per  rninu* " 
by  the  use  of  a  separate  clutch.   The  operation  consists 


of  spotting  the  car  and  allowing  the  weights  to  drop 
continuously  till  the  concrete  is  shattered.  The  car  is 
moved  while  the  weights  are  going  up. 

The  chains  which  carry  the  weight  make  a  complete 
cycle  in  sixteen  seconds  which  means  two  blows  by  each 
weight  in  this  time,  or  a  total  of  about  thirty-eight 
blows  per  minute  for  the  five  hammers.  The  machine 
will  break  about  50  to  150  ft.  of  track  per  hour  with 
two  men  at  a  labor  cost  of  about  1  cent  to  2  cents  per 
foot  of  track. 


New  Ear  for  Trolley  Lines 

THE  General  Electric  Company  has  recently 
developed  a  new  form  of  strain  ear,  known  as  the 
Form  S,  for  use  in  trolley  construction.  It  consists  of 
two  parts,  the  shoe  and  the  body,  the  latter  being  made 
of  malleable  iron  and  the  former  of  either  iron  or  brass 
as  desired.   It  is  installed  without  the  use  of  solder. 

The  new  ear  has  several  distinct  advantages  over 
former  types,  in  that  it  has  a  renewable  shoe,  or  wear- 
ing part,  and  the  shoe  can  be  removed  without  the  use  of 
block  and  tackle,  or  without  disturbing  either  the  trolley 
or  anchor  wires.  In  applying  it  the  body  is  put  on  the 
wire  and  the  shoe  clamped  to  it  by  means  of  bolts  which 


Strain  Ear  Details 


fit  on  the  threaded  studs  on  the  shoe.  Once  the  body  is 
in  position  it  can  stay  there  indefinitely,  it  being  a 
simple  matter  to  remove  the  shoe  by  loosening  the 
clamping  nuts. 

In  clamping  the  shoe  into  position  the  wire  is  slightly 
bent  to  follow  the  inequalities  between  the  shoe  and  the 
body,  which  prevents  the  shoe  from  slipping  on  the  wire. 
The  anchor  wires  are  attached  to  extension  arms  with 
5-in.  centers,  preventing  the  trolley  harp  of  a  wild 
trolley  from  jamming  or  becoming  wedged  beneath  the 
trolley  and  anchor  wires.  The  shoe,  which  is  the  only 
wearing  part,  can  be  easily  removed  and  replaced  at  a 
low  cost  without  the  necessity  for  special  tools,  and  its 
cheapness  helps  considerably  in  lowering  maintenance 
costs. 


This  Concrete  Breaker  Will  Deliver  Thirty-eight  Blows  per  Minute 


328 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


Annual  Convention  Programs  Ready 

Programs  of  the  American  and  Affiliated  Associations  Include 
Important  Topics  and  Allow  Time  for  Discussion 


THE  following  tentative  programs 
for  the  American  and  four  affiliat- 
ed associations  have  been  prepared  for 
the  annual  convention  at  Atlantic  City, 
October  3  to  7.  While  possible  changes 
may  of  course  be  made  in  these  pro- 
grams before  Oct.  3,  such  changes 
should  be  slight  and  the  programs  here 
given  present  a  fairly  accurate  outline 
of  the  meetings  as  planned. 

Program  of 
American  Association 

(All  sessions  open) 
Monday,  Oct.  3,  1921 
9:30  a.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Registration    and     Distribution  of 
Badges  at  booth  at  Boardwalk  entrance 
to  pavilion  in  front  of  Haddon  Hall, 
corner  of  Boardwalk  and  North  Caro- 
lina Avenue. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  4,  1921 
9:30  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Convention  called  to  order. 
Annual  address  of  the  president. 
Annual  report  of  executive  commit- 
tee. 

Annual  report  of  the  secretary  and 
treasurer. 

Appointment  of  convention  commit- 
tees: 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

(b)  On  recommendations  in  presi- 
dent's address. 

Special  repoi't  of  executive  commit- 
tee relating  to  recommendations  on  cur- 
rent matters  and  changes  in  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws. 

Reports  of  committees: 

Aera  Advisory — Charles  L.  Henry, 
president  Indianapolis  &  Cincinnati 
Traction  Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind., 
chairman. 

Membership — F.  R.  Coates,  president 
Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company,  To- 
ledo, Ohio,  chairman. 

Company  Section — Martin  Schreiber, 
manager  Southern  Division  and  chief 
engineer  Public  Service  Railway  Com- 
pany, Camden,  N.  J.,  chairman. 

PAPER— Contrasted  Advantages  of 
Service-at-Cost  Contract  Franchise 
and  State  Regulation — Edward  Dana, 
general  manager  Boston  Elevated 
Railway,  Boston  Mass. 

FORMAL  DISCUSSION  — Robert  I. 
Todd,  president  Indianapolis  Street 
Railway,  Indianapolis,  Ind.;  S.  B. 
Way,  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 


Reports  of  committees: 

Publicity — Barron  G.  Collier,  presi- 
dent Barron  G.  Collier,  Inc.,  New  York 
City,  chairman. 

Committee  of  One  Hundred — Henry 
R.  Hayes,  Stone  &  Webster,  Inc.,  New 
York  City,  secretary-treasurer. 

Mail  Pay — L.  H.  Palmer,  assistant  to 
president  United  Railways  &  Electric 
Company,  Baltimore,  Md.,  chairman. 

National  Relations — Charles  L.  Henry, 
president  Indianapolis  &  Cincinnati 
Traction  Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind., 
chairman. 

Joint  Committee  of  National  Utilities 
Associations — P.  H.  Gadsden,  vice  pres- 
ident United  Gas  Improvement  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  Pa.,  chairman. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  5,  1921 

9:30  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Report  of  committee  on  nominations. 
Election  of  officers. 

Reports  of  committees: 

Electrolysis — W.  J.  Harvie,  general 
manager  Auburn  &  Syracuse  Electric 
Railroad  Company,  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
chairman. 

Trackless  Transportation — H.  B. 
Flowers,  vice-president  and  general 
manager  United  Railways  &  Electric 
Company,  Baltimore,  Md.,  chairman. 

One-Man  Car — R.  P.  Stevens,  presi- 
dent Republic  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, New  York  City,  chairman. 

TOPICAL  DISCUSSION  OF  ELEC- 
TRIC RAILWAY  FINANCE— H.  M. 
Addinsell,  Harris  Forbes  &  Company, 
New  York  City;  F.  E.  Frothingham, 
Coffin  &  Burr,  Boston,  Mass,  chairman. 
Other  speakers  to  be  announced. 

PAPER — Comparative  Position  of  the 
Industry  Today  and  Four  Years  Ago — 
Henry  A.  Blair,  chairman,  Chicago 
Surface  Lines,  Chicago,  111. 

FORMAL  DISCUSSION  —  Roger 
Babson,  president  Babson  Statistical 
Organization,  Wellesley  Hills,  Mass.; 
Edwin  Gruhl,  vice  president  North 
American  Company,  New  York  City. 

Thursday,  Oct.  6,  1921 

9:30  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Report  of  committee: 

Valuation  —  Martin  Schreiber,  chief 
engineer  and  manager  Southern  Divi- 
sion, Public  Service  Railway  Company, 
Camden,  N.  J.,  chairman. 

PAPER— The  Interest  of  Manufac- 
turers in  the  Present  Electric  Railway 
Crisis. — Author  to  be  announced  later. 


PAPER— Electric  Railways  and  Their 
Community  Uses — J.  R.  Bibbins,  man- 
ager Department  of  Transportation  and 
Communication,  United  States  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  Washington,  D.  C. 

ADDRESS  —  Herbert  Hoover  has 
been  invited  to  speak  on  the  subject, 
Use  of  Electric  Railways  in  Improving 
Industrial  Efficiency. 

Reports  of  Convention  committees: 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

(b)  On  recommendations  in  presi- 
dent's address. 

Unfinished  business. 

General  business. 

Installation  of  officers. 

Adjournment. 

Evening  Session 

A  general  meeting  of  the  American 
and  affiliated  Associations  has  been 
planned  for  one  evening  of  the  conven- 
tion. 

The  committee  on  subjects  is  arrang- 
ing for  a  speaker  of  national  promi- 
nence, while  the  committee  on  entertain- 
ment promises  additional  attractive 
features. 


Program  of 
Engineering  Association 

Monday,  Oct.  3,  1921 

9:30  a.m.  to  12:30  p.m. 
Registration  and  distribution  of 
badges  at  booth  at  Boardwalk  entrance 
to  pavilion  in  front  of  Haddon  Hall, 
corner  of  Boardwalk  and  North  Caro- 
lina Avenue. 

2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Solarium  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Convention  called  to  order. 
Annual  address  of  the  president. 
Annual  report  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee. 

Annual  report  of  the  secretary  and 
treasurer. 

Appointment  of  convention  commit- 
tees. 

(a)  On  resolutions. 
Reports  of  committees: 

Apprenticeship  Systems — F.  R.  Phil- 
lips, superintendent  of  equipment  Pitts- 
burgh Railways,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  chair- 
man. 

Heavy  Electric  Traction  —  Sidney 
Withington,  electrical  engineer  New 
York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad, 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  chairman. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  4,  1921 
2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Solarium  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Reports  of  committees: 

Power  Generation — A.  B.  Stitzer, 
chief  engineer  Republic  Engineers,  Inc., 
New  York  City,  chairman. 

Power  Distribution  —  Charles  R. 
Harte,  construction  engineer  the  Con- 
necticut Company,  New  Haven,  Conn., 
chairman. 

NOTE — The  joint  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  stores  accounting,  represent- 
ing the  stores  accounting  committee  of 
the  Accountants'  Association  and  the 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


329 


committee  on  purchases  and  stores  of 
the  Engineering  Association,  will  be 
held  in  Accountants'  Room  in  the  Hotel 
Chalfonte  at  2:30  p.m. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  5,  1921 
2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Solarium  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Reports  of  committees: 

Way  Matters — R.  C.  Cram,  engineer 
surface  roadway,  Brooklyn  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  chairman. 

Buildings  and  Structures  —  D.  E. 
Crouse,  chief  engineer  Rochester  & 
Syracuse  Railroad,  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
chairman. 

PAPER— Work  of  the  Underwriters' 
Laboratories  —  George  B.  Muldaur, 
general  agent  Underwriters'  Labora- 
tories, New  York  City. 

Thursday  Oct.  6,  1921 

2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Solarium  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Reports  of  committees: 

Equipment — Daniel  Durie,  general 
superintendent  West  Penn  Railways, 
Connellsville,  Pa.,  chairman. 

Unification  of  Car  Design — H.  H.  Ad- 
ams, superintendent  of  shops  and  equip- 
ment Chicago  Surface  Lines,  Chicago, 
111.,  chairman. 

Standards — Martin  Schreiber,  mana- 
ger' Southern  Division,  Public  Service 
Railway,  Camden  N.  J.  chairman. 
Report  of  convention  committees: 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

General  business. 

Election  of  officers. 

Installation  of  officers. 

Adjournment. 


Program  of 
Claims  Association 

Monday,  Oct.  3,  1921 
9:30  a.m.  to  12:30  p.  m. 
Registration     and     distribution  of 
badges  at  booth  at  Boardwalk  entrance 
to  pavilion  in  front  of  Haddon  Hall, 
Boardwalk  and  North  Carolina  Avenue. 
2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Hall  Pavilion  of 

Haddon  Hall 
Convention  called  to  order. 
Annual  address  of  the  president. 
Annual  report  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee. 

Annual  report  of  the  secretary-treas- 
urer. 

Appointment  of  convention  committees: 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

(b)  On  nominations. 

Reports  of  committees: 

On  constitution  and  by-laws. 

Interchange  of  Claims  Statistics — H. 
D.  Briggs,  assistant  general  claim  agent 
Public  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J., 
chairman. 

Membership — C.  G.  Rice,  manager  As- 
sociated Bureaus,  Pittsburgh  Railways, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  chairman. 

Resolutions — A.  G.  Jack,  claim  agent 
Wilmington  &  Philadelphia  Traction 
Company,  Chester,  Pa.,  chairman. 


Safety- 
Subjects — W.  G.  Fitzpatrick,  general 
claim  attorney  Detroit  United  Railway, 
Detroit  Mich.,  chairman. 

PAPER — Constructive  Argument  as 
Opposed  to  Constructive  Contentions 
in  Accident  Investigations  and  Adjust- 
ments— Louis  H.  Butterworth,  attor- 
ner  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  Boston. 
Discussion. 

PAPER — Essential  Points  to  Cover 
in  Accident  Investigation — R.  C.  Green, 
attorney  Cleveland  Railway,  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

Discussion. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  4,  1921 
2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 

Joint  Meeting  with  Transportation  & 
Traffic  Association. 

Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Reports  of  committees: 

Traffic  Regulation — H.  B.  Flowers, 
vice-president  and  genera]  manager 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md.,  chairman. 

Discussion. 

Joint  Committee  on  Safety  Work — 
E.  C.  Spring,  general  superintendent 
Lehigh  Valley  Transit  Company,  Allen- 
town,  Pa.,  chairman;  R.  E.  McDougall, 
general  manager  New  York  &  Harlem 
Railroad,  New  York  City,  co-chairman. 

Discussion. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  5,  1921 
2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Hall  Pavilion  of 

Haddon  Hall 
PAPER— What  Should  Be  the  Method 


of    Claim    Departments    in  Handling 
Accidents  and  Claims?  —  Walter  E. 
Robinson,  claim  agent  Cincinnati  Trac- 
tion Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Discussion. 

Free-for-all  discussions: 

(a)  Value  of  Publicity  in  Claims 
Work. 

(b)  Best  Method  of  Handling  Hos- 
pital Cases. 

(c)  Auto  Hazard. 

(d)  Using  the  Mails  to  Obtain  Wit- 
nesses' Statements. 

(e)  Claims  by  Company  for  Damage 
to  Its  Equipment  and  How  Such  Claims 
are  Handled. 

Report  of  convention  committees: 

(a)  On  Resolutions 

(b)  On  Nominations 
Election  of  officers. 
Installation  of  officers. 
Adjournment. 

Program  of 
Transportation  and  Traffic 
Association 
Monday,  Oct.  3,  1921 
9:30  a.m.  to  12:30  p.m. 
Registration     and     distribution  of 
badges  at  booth  of  Boardwalk  entrance 
to  pavilion  in  front  of  Haddon  Hall, 
Boardwalk  and  North  Carolina  Avenue. 
2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Convention  called  to  order. 
Annual  address  of  the  president. 
Annual  report  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee. 


Arrangement  of  Meeting  Halls  for  Annual  Convention  at  Atlantic  City 
A — Meeting  hall  of  the  American  and  the  Transportation  and  Traffic 

Associations. 

B — Meeting  hall  of  the  Engineering  Association. 
C — Meeting  hall  of  the  Claims  Association. 

Note — The  Accountants'  Association  will  hold  its  meetings  at  the  Chal- 
fonte Hotel,  except  as  noted  in  the  program. 


330 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


Annual  report  of  the  secretary  and 
treasurer. 

Appointment  of  convention  committees. 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

(b)  On  nominations. 
Report  of  committee : 

Merchandising  of  Transportation — 
J.  H.  Alexander,  vice-president  Cleve- 
land Railway,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  chair- 
man. 

Discussion. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  4,  1921 
2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Joint  meeting  with  Claims  Associa- 
tion. 

Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Reports  of  committees: 

Traffic  Regulations — H.  B.  Flowers, 
vice-president    and    general  manager 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md.,  chairman. 
Discussion. 

Joint  Committee  on  Safety  Work — 

E.  C.  Spring,  general  superintendent 
Lehigh  Valley  Transit  Company,  Allen- 
town,  Pa.,  chairman;  R.  E.  McDougall, 
general  manager  New  York  &  Harlem 
Railroad,  New  York  City,  co-chairman. 

Discussion. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  5,  1921 

2 :30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Joint  meeting  with  Accountants'  As- 
sociation. 

Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Reports  of  committees: 

Joint  Committee  on  Economics  of 
Schedules— Edward  Dana,  general 
manager  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass.,  chairman;  A.  G.  Neal, 
comptroller  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company,  Washington,  D.  C, 
co-chairman. 
Discussion. 

Joint  Committee  on  Express  and 
Freight  Traffic  Promotion  and  Costs — 

F.  W.  Coen,  vice-president  Lake  Shore 
Electric  Railway,  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
chairman;  L.  T.  Hixson,  auditor  Terre 
Haute,  Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company,  Indianapolis,  Ond.,  co-chair- 
man. 

Discussion. 

Thursday.  Oct.  6.  1921 

2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Report  of  committee: 

Personnel  and  Training  of  Transpor- 
tation   Employees — James    P.  Barnes, 
president  Louisville  Railway,  Louisville, 
Ky.,  chairman. 
Discussion. 
Suggestions. 
General  discussion. 
General  business. 
Report  of  convention  committees : 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

(b)  On  nominations. 
Election  of  officers. 
Installation  of  officers. 
Adjournment. 


Program  of 
Accountants'  Association 
Monday,  Oct.  3,  1921 

9:30  a.m.  to  12:30  p.m. 
Registration  and  distribution  of 
badges  at  booth  at  Boardwalk  entrance 
to  pavilion  in  front  of  Haddon  Hall, 
corner  of  Boardwalk  and  North  Caro- 
lina Avenue. 

2:30-p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Accountants'  Room 

in  Hotel  Chalfonte 
Convention  called  to  order. 
Annual  address  of  the  president. 
Annual  report  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee. 

Annual  report  of  the  secretary- 
treasurer. 

Appointment  of  convention  committees: 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

(b)  On  nominations. 
Reports  of  committees : 

Standai'd  Classification  of  Accounts 
— H.  L.  Wilson,  treasurer  Boston  Ele- 
vated Railway,  Boston,  Mass.,  chair- 
man. 

Representing  Accountants'  Associa- 
tion at  the  annual  convention  of  the 
National  Association  of  Railway  and 
Utilities  Commissioner.s — C.  S.  Mitchell, 
comptroller  Pittsburgh  Railways,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  chairman. 

PAPER— Electric  Railway  Cost  Ac- 
counting— John  Hall  Bowman,  C.  P. 
A.,  Price,  Waterhouse  &  Company,  New 
York  City. 

Discussion. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  4,  1921 

2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Meeting  held  in  Accountants'  Room 
in  Hotel  Chalfonte 
Joint  Report — Stores  Accounting. 


Nominating  Committee 
Appointed 

PRESIDENT  GADSDEN  an- 
nounced the  following  as  the 
nominating  committee  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  1921 
election.  The  committee  was 
requested  to  report  nominations  as 
soon  as  practicable: 

J.  H.  Pardee,  president  J.  G. 
White  Management  Corporation, 
New  York,  chairman. 

P.  S.  Arkwright,  president 
Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Atlanta,  Ga. 

F.  G.  Buffe,  general  manager 
Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Railways. 

W.  A.  Draper,  vice-president 
Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany. 

E.  C.  Faber,  Barron  G.  Collier, 
Inc.,  New  York. 

Thomas  Finigan,  American  Brake 
Shoe  &  Foundry  Company,  Chicago. 

The  appointment  of  this  com- 
mittee at  this  time  is  in  line  with 
the  announced  policy  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  and  is  an  invitation 
to  the  members  at  large  to  offer 
suggestions  to  this  committee  re- 
garding the  officers  to  be  elected 
this  fall. 


Stores  Accounting  Committee  of  the 
Accountants'  Association — R.  A.  Wes- 
ton, special  accountant  the  Connecticut 
Company,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  chair- 
man. Committee  on  Purchases  and 
Stores  of  the  Engineering  Associa- 
tion— H.  W.  Staub,  purchasing  agent 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md.,  chairman. 

Discussion. 

PAPER  —  Departmental  Accounting, 
including  Budget  Control  of  Construc- 
tion and  Operating  Expenditures — H.  C. 

Hopson,  C.  P.  A.,  61  Broadway,  New 
York  City. 
Discussion. 

PAPER — Construction  Accounting — 

W.  E.  Jones,  assistant  comptroller 
United  Electric  Railways,  Providence, 
R.  I. 

Discussion. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  5,  1921. 

2:30  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 
Joint  meeting  with  Transportation 
and  Traffic  Association. 

Meeting  held  in  Vernon  Room  of 
Haddon  Hall 
Reports  of  committees: 

Joint  Committee  on  Economics  of 
Schedules — Edward  Dana,  general 
manager  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  chairman;  A.  G.  Neal,  comp- 
troller Washington  Railway  &  Electric 
Company,  Washington,  D.  C,  co-chair- 
man. 

Discussion. 

Joint  Committee  on  Express  and 
Freight  Traffic  Promotion  and  Costs — 
F.  W.  Coen,  vice-president  Lake  Shore 
Electric  Railway,  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
chairman;  L.  T.  Hixson,  auditor  Terre 
Haute,  Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  co-chair- 
man. 

Discussion. 

Accounting  members  will  return  to 
Accountants'  Room  in  Hotel  Chalfonte. 

Reports  of  convention  committees : 

(a)  On  resolutions. 

(b)  On  nominations. 
Election  of  officers. 
Installation  of  officers. 
Adjournment. 


Entertainment  Committee 
Holds  Meeting 

THE  Entertainment  Committee  in 
charge  of  activities  for  the  Atlantic 
City  Convention,  Oct.  3-6,  of  which  E. 
C.  Faber,  New  York,  is  chairman,  held 
its  first  meeting  at  association  head- 
quarters on  Aug.  15. 

The  committee  considered  several 
plans  for  entertainment.  A  sub-com- 
mittee was  appointed  which  has,  since 
the  meeting,  visited  Atlantic  City  and 
prepared  several  suggestions  for  the 
entire  committee  to  consider  at  its 
meeting  Friday,  Aug.  26.  The  entertain- 
ment features  will  be  comprehensive, 
and  all  in  attendance  will  be  assured  of 
not  having  any  excess  time  on  their 
hands. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE       ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Daniel  W.  Smith  a  Seer 

No  Future  for  Surface  Electric  Rail- 
ways, Says  Candidate  for  Mayor 
of  Detroit 

The  possibility  of  the  railway  ques- 
tion in  Detroit,  Mich.,  again  being  made 
a  political  issue  in  the  coming  election 
for  Mayor,  became  evident  with  the  an- 
nouncement by  Daniel  W.  Smith,  candi- 
date for  Mayor,  that  a  communication 
has  been  prepared  and  will  be  sent  to 
the  Council  requesting  action  by  that 
body  directing  that  plans  be  prepared 
at  once  by  the  Mayor  and  the  Street 
Railway  Commission,  and  estimates  be 
obtained  on  the  cost  of  a  comprehensive 
rapid  transit  system  to  be  owned  and 
operated  by  the  city. 

Transportation  Report  in 
Preparation 

At  about  the  same  time  the  Street 
Railway  Commission  announced  that  a 
report  would  be  made  public  which 
covers  the  complete  transportation  sys- 
tem in  Detroit,  including  surface  lines, 
subway  and  elevated  road  possibilities. 
This  report  has  been  in  preparation  two 
months. 

The  reason  given  by  Mr.  Smith  for 
sending  his  communication  to  the  Coun- 
cil at  this  time  was  that  no  steps  have 
been  taken  by  Mayor  Couzens  leading 
to  rapid  transit.  It  was  further  claimed 
that  the  present  plan  for  municipal  rail- 
ways threatens  to  bring  the  city  to  the 
point  where  the  city's  bonding  limit 
would  be  reached,  without  provision  for 
a  rapid  transit  system  and  no  money 
available  for  carrying  out  such  a  sys- 
tem. 

In  referring  to  Mayor  Couzen's  pro- 
posed plan  to  operate  jitneys  and  buses 
on  Fort  Street  and  Woodward  Avenue, 
until  tracks  can  be  laid,  in  event  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  removes  its 
tracks  from  these  streets,  as  ordered  by 
the  city,  Mr.  Smith  states  that  the 
situation  which  will  result  from  such 
arrangement  may  reveal  the  lack  of 
vision  on  the  part  of  the  present  admin- 
istration in  carrying  out  the  program 
for  a  municipal  transportation  system. 

Mr.  Smith  questions  the  wisdom  of 
paying  $288,000  for  the  Fort  Street  and 
Woodward  Avenue  tracks  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  or  taking  over  any  of 
the  property  of  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
way on  streets  that  can  be  better  served 
by  rapid  transit. 

Subway  Suggested 

A  subway  is  suggested  to  be  run  in 
a  northerly  direction  from  the  heart 
of  the  city  to  the  Ford  plant,  or  some 
place  farther  north.  This,  it  is  stated, 
should  connect  with  the  rapid  transit 
elevated  lines  of  the  improved  type 
running  as  crosstown  or  east  and  west 


lines.  These  lines,  Mr.  Smith  states, 
should  be  augmented  with  motor  buses, 
trackless  trolleys  or  with  some  other 
surface  lines  all  fitted  into  a  system 
that  will  be  adequate  for  Detroit's 
needs.  Mr.  Smith  states  that  all  large 
American  cities  are  on  the  eve  of 
a  radical  change  in  transportation 
methods. 

Mr.  Smith  cites  that  jitneys  are  a 
product  of  hard  times,  but  that  the 
significant  point  remains  that  the  work- 
ing men  and  women  in  Detroit  even  in 
a  period  of  depression,  have  been  will- 
ing to  pay  a  fare  twice  that  collected 
on  the  electric  cars,  in  order  that  they 
may  shorten  the  running  time  between 
their  homes  and  places  of  employment. 

According  to  Mr.  Smith,  "the  hand- 
writing on  the  wall"  is  daily  becoming 
more  evident — that  there  is  no  future 
for  surface  electric  railways,  the  people 
demanding  more  speedy  means  of  trans- 
portation than  can  be  afforded  by  sur- 
face lines. 


Fresno  Franchise  Conferences  to 
Continue 

The  conference  held  early  in  the  pres- 
ent month  between  members  of  the  City 
Commission  of  Fresno,  Cal.,  and  officers 
of  the  Fresno  Traction  Company  over 
the  new  indeterminate  franchise  submit- 
ted to  the  commission  by  the  railway 
adjourned  without  any  settlement  of  the 
points  at  difference  between  the  com- 
mission and  the  officials  of  the  railway. 
In  the  opinion  of  City  Attorney  John- 
ston, the  franchise  in  the  form  in  which 
it  was  submitted  by  the  railway  would 
have  to  go  to  a  vote  of  the  people  of 
the  city  before  it  could  be  put  into  effect 
by  the  city  government.  Members  of 
the  City  Commission  agreed  that  it  was 
useless  to  go  into  a  discussion  of  the  de- 
tails of  the  city  charter  until  this  ques- 
tion had  been  settled. 

Opinion  Divided  Over  Recent  Statute 

The  attorneys  for  the  railway  are  un- 
derstood to  have  taken  the  position  that 
the  franchise  as  proposed  by  the  com- 
pany could  be  passed  by  the  City  Com- 
mission. It  was  suggested  by  Commis- 
sioner Anton  that  pending  another 
meeting,  the  City  Attorney  of  Fresno 
should  communicate  with  other  cities 
where  the  indeterminate  franchise  is  in 
effect  and  secure  the  opinion  of  the  City 
Attorneys  on  the  various  points  that  are 
in  doubt  in  the  present  situation  in 
Fresno. 

The  differences  of  opinion  that  exist 
as  to  the  probable  authority  of  the  city 
to  proceed  with  the  negotiations  have 
arisen  over  the  fact  that  in  1919  the 
State  Legislature  passed  a  general 
statute  for  granting  resettlement  fran- 
chises by  cities  operating  under  a  free- 
holder charter. 


Safety  Council  Progressing 

Community  Wide  Plan  Well  Under  Way 
to  Reduce  Accidents — Railways 
Co-operating 

The  Chicago  Safety  Council,  started 
April  16,  1920,  has  since  been  actively 
at  work  in  a  community-wide  plan  of 
education  to  reduce  the  loss  of  human 
life  and  property  through  accidents  and 
carelessness.  The  council  is  organized 
as  a  department  of  the  Chicago  Asso- 
ciation of  Commerce  and  functions  by 
means  of  four  divisions  and  twenty 
committees  and  operates  through  the 
homes,  schools,  churches,  industries 
and  civic  organizations,  thus  reaching 
and  instructing  practically  the  entire 
community  in  its  important  activities. 

A  school  for  safety  supervisors  was 
conducted  by  the  Safety  Council  from 
Sept.  14,  1921,  to  March,  1921,  with 
an  average  attendance  at  fifteen  meet- 
ings of  475  men,  the  school  graduating 
283  men  qualified  to  supervise  safety 
work  in  industry.  Beginning  Dec.  2, 
1920,  a  foreman's  safety  instruction 
course  was  conducted  from  which  310 
men  were  graduated  on  June  7.  Of 
these  graduates,  fifty  were  employees 
of  the  Chicago  Elevated  Railways.  The 
average  attendance  at  ten  meetings 
was  525  foremen,  representing  approxi- 
mately 50,000  workmen.  A  police  and 
traffic  committee  was  organized  and 
has  been  energetically  at  work  to  pre- 
vent traffic  accidents.  On  June  28  a 
motor  drivers'  safety  instruction  course 
was  concluded,  in  which  an  average  of 
610  chauffeurs  and  truck  drivers  re- 
ceived practical  instruction  in  safety, 
rules  of  the  road,  automobile  mechan- 
ics, etc.,  and  diplomas  awarded  to  469 
graduates.  A  juvenile  safety  commit- 
tee was  completed  which  is  now  mak- 
ing an  intensive  study  for  the  purpose 
of  minimizing  accidents  to  juveniles, 
representatives  of  the  Boy  Scouts, 
Camp  Fii-e  Girls,  boys'  clubs,  etc.,  serv- 
on  this  committee.  An  electric  trans- 
portation committee  was  also  organized, 
which  is  devoting  its  attention  to  the 
prevention  of  accidents  involving  the 
operation  of  street  cars,  elevated 
trains,  taxicabs,  motor  buses,  etc.  Be- 
ginning Oct.  9  a  "No  Fire,  No  Acci- 
dent Week"  will  be  promoted  in 
conjunction  with  the  semi-centennial 
anniversary  of  the  Chicago  fire.  Ex- 
tensive plans  are  being  laid  for  a 
safety  campaign  throughout  the  entire 
city. 

The  transportation  companies  in  Chi- 
cago are,  of  course,  taking  an  active 
part  in  this  work,  and  will  derive  con- 
siderable benefit  from  the  wide  activity 
along  safety  lines  that  is  being  fos- 
tered by  many  influential  men  and 
through  numerous  organizations  and 
committee. 


332 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


Making  American  Citizens 

North  Shore  Line  Is  Conducting  Eve- 
ning Classes  for  Its  Trackmen,  78 
per  Cent  of  Them  Foreigners 

The  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwau- 
kee Railroad  is  taking  an  interest  in 
making  American  citizens  of  its  track- 
men, most  of  whom  are  foreigners.  The 
company  believes  that  in  so  doing  not 
only  would  it  be  a  material  aid  in  the 
general  need  for  Americanization  work 
throughout  the  country,  but  that  it 
would  also  result  in  making  better  em- 
ployees of  the  men.  The  story  is  well 
told  by  Luke  Grant  in  the  July  issue 
of  The  North  Shore  Bulletin,  published 
by  the  company  for  the  entertainment 
and  edification  of  its  patrons. 

When  it  was  decided  a  few  months 
ago  to  begin  a  campaign  of  American- 
ization work  among  the  track  gangs 


preferred  to  have  American  citizens  on 
its  payrolls,  who  could  speak  and  write 
our  language,  and  that  may  have  in- 
fluenced some.  There  could  be  no  mis- 
taking, however,  the  earnestness  of 
most  of  the  men  to  attend  school  and 
their  eagerness  to  learn.  One  of  them 
expressed  what  was  in  the  mind  of 
many  when  he  said  through  an  inter- 
preter, he  would  give  $1,000  if  he  could 
learn  to  read  and  write  English. 

That  the  men  are  taking  a  great 
interest  in  the  work  is  shown  by  a 
glance  at  the  weekly  report  of  C.  G. 
Coodsell,  director  of  Americanization 
work,  showing  the  attendance.  A  full 
attendance  is,  of  course,  hardly  to  be 
expected,  because  at  times  there  is 
emergency  work  to  be  done  which  ne- 
cessitates the  men  absenting  themselves 
from  the  classes.  In  spite  of  that  a 
number  of  sections  showed  an  80  per 


North  Shore  Line  Trackmen  at  Waukegan  Court  House  to  Take  Out 

First  Papers 


of  the  North  Shore  Line,  a  general  sur- 
vey was  made  to  obtain  accurate  in- 
formation. The  survey  disclosed  that 
at  the  time  thei-e  were  129  men,  includ- 
ing foremen,  in  these  gangs  and  that 
101  of  them,  or  78  per  cent,  were  not 
American  citizens.  Twelve  men  were 
eligible  to  full  citizenship,  but  85  men, 
or  66  per  cent,  had  not  declared  their 
intentions  to  become  citizens,  although 
they  had  been  in  the  country  upward 
of  five  years.  In  fact  the  average 
length  of  time  in  the  United  States 
of  all  the  men  was  eleven  years.  The 
men  ranged  in  age  from  eighteen  to 
sixty  years,  the  average  being  thirty- 
six  years.  Eighty-two  men,  or  64  per 
cent,  could  not  write  the  English  lan- 
guage and  58  per  cent  could  not  read 
it.  Twenty-nine  of  the  men,  or  22  per 
cent,  could  not  speak  English  and  27 
per  cent  could  neither  read  nor  write 
their  native  tongue. 

When  the  subject  of  attending  eve- 
ning school  and  learning  to  read  and 
write  English  was  broached  to  the  men, 
the  response  was  instantaneous  and 
almost  unanimous.  True,  the  men  were 
given  to  understand  that  the  company 


cent  attendance  and  Section  No.  4  was 
100  per  cent.  That  section  appears  to 
have  100  per  cent  attendance  week 
after  week. 

On  the  whole  road  there  are  four- 
teen regular  section  gangs  and  one  ex- 
tra gang  and  the  schools  are  located  to 
make  it  as  convenient  as  possible  for 
the  men  to  attend.  The  classes  are  so 
arranged  that  each  gang  has  two  eve- 
nings a  week.  There  is  also  a  school 
for  foremen.  The  classes  are  given 
"home  work." 

The  teaching  of  English  among  the 
track  laborers  is  made  to  fit  in  nicely 
with  the  safety  work  conducted  by  the 
North  Shore  Line.  Each  month  a  spe- 
cial car  is  run  along  the  line  from 
Evanston  to  Milwaukee  and  it  picks  up 
the  track  gangs  wherever  they  happen 
to  be  at  work.  The  car  is  then  run 
to  the  nearest  side  track  and  a  safety 
meeting  is  held  at  which  some  speaker 
gives  the  men  an  instructive  talk  on 
safe  practices.  The  gang  is  taken  back 
at  the  end  of  the  meeting  and  the  car 
proceeds  to  the  next  point.  That 
method  insures  a  full  attendance  of  the 
men  at  safety  meetings,  because  they 


are  being  paid  for  their  attendance,  but 
if  they  do  not  understand  the  English 
language  they  cannot  derive  much 
benefit  from  the  talks. 

Behind  the  whole  plan  is  the  big  idea 
of  making  American  citizens  out  of  a 
class  of  laborers  who  are  under  a 
heavy  handicap.  Mr.  Goodsell,  the  di- 
rector, is  assisted  by  J.  S.  Hyatt,  engi- 
neer of  maintenance  of  way,  and  by  his 
assistant,  F.  J.  Cramer. 


Reduced  Pay  in  Allentown 

A  reduction  of  a  little  less  than  10 
per  cent  in  the  wages  of  motormen  and 
conductors  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Tran- 
sit Company,  Allentown,  Pa.,  became 
effective  on  Aug.  1.  The  following  is 
the  same  scale  that  was  in  effect  on 
Aug.  1,  1919: 

Cents 
Per  Hour 

First  year    44 

Second    48 

Third    50 

Twelve  cents  an  hour  extra  for  over- 
time.   A  guarantee  of  $2.25  a  day. 


Wages  Cut  4  Cents  an  Hour 

Approximately  $60,000  a  year  will 
be  saved  to  the  Memphis  (Tenn.)  Street 
Railway  by  the  wage  award  which  has 
been  made  by  the  arbitration  commit- 
tee. Wages  of  all  employees  are  cut  4 
cents  an  hour  by  the  award.  This 
amounts  to  $2.08  a  week  on  the  aver- 
age for  each  man.  The  new  wage 
scale  under  the  award  is  43  cents  an 
hour  for  first-year  men,  48  cents  for 
second-year  men,  and  53  cents  for  men 
with  three  years  or  more  service. 

W.  J.  Bacon,  representing  the  railway 
employees,  opposed  any  cut  in  wages. 
Thomas  H.  Jackson,  representing  the 
company,  sought  a  reduction  of  12  cents 
as  asked  by  the  company.  Judge  Ben 
L.  Capell  was  chairman  of  the  board. 


Franchise  Contracts  Discussed 

The  Illinois  Committee  on  Public 
Utility  Information  has  issued  a 
pamphlet,  "Rate  Contracts  Between 
Municipalities  and  Utilities,"  pre- 
pared by  Walter  A.  Shaw,  an  en- 
gineer and  at  one  time  a  member 
of  the  State  Utilities  Commission. 
Mr.  Shaw  discusses  the  question  of 
contracts  and  commission  rulings  from 
the  viewpoint  of  the  public  representa- 
tive. In  view  of  the  recent  agitation 
over  the  charge  that  the  Illinois  State 
Public  Utilities  Commission  broke  con- 
tracts existing  between  utilities  and 
municipalities  in  readjusting  rates  to 
meet  existing  conditions  the  booklet  is 
very  timely.  In  another  pamphlet,  the 
fifth  of  a  series  issued  by  the  Illinois 
Committee,  the  legal  status  of  rate 
contracts  between  utilities  and  mu- 
nicipalities is  discussed.  Material  in 
this  bulletin  consists  largely  of  cita- 
tions from  court  decisions,  findings  of 
commissions  and  views  of  men  who 
have  made  a  special  study  of  regulation 
and  franchises,  together  with  a  state- 
ment set  forth  in  question  and  answer 
form  relative  to  the  subject  of  so- 
called  rate  contracts. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


333 


Franchise  Vote  in  Houston  on 
Sept.  27 

The  City  Council  of  Houston,  Tex., 
has  set  Sept.  27  as  the  date  on  which 
an  election  will  be  held  at  which  quali- 
fied voters  will  pass  on  the  new  street 
railway  franchise,  which  has  just  been 
completed  after  extended  negotiations 
between  the  city  and  officials  of  the 
traction  company. 

The  new  franchise  provides  for  an 
extension  of  15  years  from  1935  of  the 
present  franchise  with  certain  changes. 
Valuation  of  the  property  of  the  Hous- 
ton Electric  Company  is  placed  at  $6,- 
000,000  plus  any  capital  expenditures 
since  March,  1920.  The  new  franchise 
also  provides  for  earnings  of  8  per  cent 
on  the  agreed  valuation  and  allows  W 
per  cent  depreciation. 

The  city  has  the  right  to  demand  a 
reduction  in  fare,  which  is  now  7  cents, 
when  earnings  of  the  traction  company 
reach  the  8  per  cent  authorized.  The 
city  also  has  the  right  to  call  for  a  re- 
valuation of  the  property  as  soon  after 
the  acceptance  of  the  franchise  as  the 
city  may  deem  expedient.  In  case  the 
voters  approve  the  franchise,  the  trac- 
tion company  is  given  thirty  days  in 
which  to  file  notice  of  its  acceptance. 


Helpful  Editorial  on  Accidents 

Efforts  by  the  management  of  United 

Railways,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  to  convince 

the  public  that  it  is  the  car  riders  who 

suffer   when    juries    return  excessive 

judgments  against  the  transportation 

company  is  showing  results  through  the 

press.    In  an  editorial  a  few  days  ago 

the  Post-Dispatch  said: 

Street  car  carelessness  cost  car  riders 
$715,268  last  year  That  is  what  the  United 
Railways  paid  out  in  verdicts  for  damages, 
court  fees  and  compromise  settlements  as 
shown  by  the  report  of  Col.  A.  T.  Perkins, 
manager  for  the  receiver.  In  theory  the 
company  paid  it.  But  this  is  only  a  pleas- 
ant fiction.  The  public  paid  it.  A  certain 
percentage  of  the  fares  went  for  that  pur- 
pose. That  is  one  reason  why  it  costs  7 
cents  to  ride  on  St.  Louis  street  cars. 

The  editorial  directed  attention  to  the 

fact  that  suing  the  railway  is  one  of  the 

most  popular  indoor  pastimes.  Last 

year  708  persons  tried  their  hand  at  it. 

The  plaintiffs  won  $515,268  and  the 

plaintiff's  lawyers  got  about  $225,000. 

The  cost  last  year  was  $318,000  more 

than  the  year  before,   and  the  way 

things  are  going  now  it  looks  as  if  the 

cost  this  year  will  be  more  than  $1,000,- 

000.   Says  the  Post-Dispatch  further: 

The  one  pleasant  fact  is  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  cases  are  compromised.  That 
shows  that  the  spirit  of  compromise  is  pres- 
ent, and  that  is  a  good  thing.  Where  there 
are  so  many  passengers  and  so  many  em- 
ployees there  is  bound  to  be  some  careless- 
ness and  some  accidents  which  call  for  ad- 
justment. The  more  they  are  settled  out  of 
court  the  less  the  cost  to  the  traveling 
public. 


Grand  Rapids  Case  Considered 
Again 

The  City  Commission  of  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich.,  met  as  a  committee  of 
the  whole  recently  to  discuss  anew  the 
proposal  to  grant  a  franchise  to  the 
Grand  Rapids  Railway  with  provision 
for  a  basis  of  return  commensurate 
with  the  needs  of  the  company. 


It  was  stated  by  Attorney  Knappen 
and  concurred  in  by  L.  J.  DeLamarter, 
manager  of  the  railway,  that  the  best 
of  three  proposals,  both  for  the  welfare 
of  the  public  and  the  company,  would 
be  a  valuation  of  $7,000,000  with  an  8J 
per  cent  return.  The  commissioners 
all  practically  agreed  that  the  $600,000 
revenue  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of 
the  city  as  well  as  the  company,  in 
order  that  the  service  might  be  im- 
proved. 

The  company  representatives  stated 
a  10-cent  fare  for  transient  and  casual 
riders,  with  tickets  sold  to  regular 
patrons  at  four  for  25  cents,  would  take 
care  of  the  revenue  at  the  present  time, 
and  that  later  this  fare  might  be 
lowered. 


A  Jitney  Editorial 

The  accompanying  editorial  appeared 
in  the  Aug.  16  issue  of  the  Greensburg 
(Pa.)  Record.  It  is  given  here  as  an 
indication  that  lessons  from  the  Des 


Jitney  or  Street  Car? 

Out  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  on  the  first 
day  of  this  month  all  street  car  service 
was  discontinued  because  of  the  in- 
ability of  the  street  car  company  to 
pay  running  expenses,  due  to  jitney 
competition. 

Can  the  reader  conceive  what  the 
situation  would  be  in  Westmoreland 
county  if  our  own  street  car  lines  were 
put  out  of  commission?  The  writer  has 
had  the  experience  of  being  in  one  city 
where  there  were  no  street  cars,  but 
that  was  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  in  the 
aristocratic  section  of  the  city  where 
practically  each  member  of  the  family 
had  a  "super-six"  and  the  maids  and 
butlers  rode  on  bicycles.  "We"  trav- 
eled on  "Shank's  Mare"  and  would 
have  given  a  great  deal  to  have  heard 
the  welcome  gong  of  a  street  car  and 
gladly  turned  our  shekels  over  to  a 
blue  coated  conductor,  with  the  confi- 
dence that  we  would  reach  our  desti- 
nation regardless  of  tire  and  engine 
troubles. 

When  it  comes  to  a  "toss  up"  be- 
tween the  street  car  and  the  jitney,  give 
us  the  good  old  street  car  that  is  there 
when  you  want  it,  and  you  know  that 
the  conductor  is  not  going  to  stick  a 
revolver  in  your  face  and  turn  your 
pockets  inside  out,  or  beat  it  out  a  side 
street  with  your  wife,  or  daughter,  for 
a  ransom — the  auto  bandit  never  kid- 
naps a  mother-in-law. 

If  a  street  car  company  can't  run  on 
a  five-cent  fare  then  give  'em  eight 
cents.  The  street  cars  are  compelled  to 
run  rain  or  shine,  hail  or  snow,  while  the 
jitney  driver  may  be  snoozing  away 
until  the  weather  becomes  favorable. 
The  jitney  has  its  place,  but  it  will  have 
to  get  on  a  trolley  and  make  a  noise 
like  a  street  car  before  it  can  fill  the  bill 
of  the  fast  growing  population  of  our 
towns  and  cities. 


Moines  jitney  experience  are  being 
learned  by  the  public  of  other  cities 
as  well.  The  editorial  is,  of  course,  only 
cne  of  a  great  number  of  such  com- 
ments, but  it  does  bring  home  strikingly 
the  lesson  of  the  trolleyless  city. 


New  Power  Contract  Submitted 
at  Toledo 

Street  Railway  Commissioner  Wilfred 
E.  Cann  has  announced  that  the  Toledo 
Railways  &  Light  Company  has  sub- 
mitted a  new  power  contract  which 
would  save  the  Community  Traction 
Company  approximately  $160,000  a  year 
over  the  rate  now  being  paid.  The  new 
contract  would  date  back  to  Feb.  1,  the 
time  when  the  service-at-cost  franchise 
went  into  effect.    The  report  says: 

After  numerous  conferences  with  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Toledo  Railways  & 
Light  Company,  we  have  received  what 
is  emphatically  stated  to  be  a  final  propo- 
sition on  the  power  rate  ;  this  new  rate 
to  be  $24  per  annum  per  kwh.  for  installed 
capacity  as  a  demand  charge  plus  9  milles 
per  kwh.  for  consumption  plus  the  opera- 
tion of  the  coal  clause. 

For  the  six  months  ending  juiy  31,  the 
rate  per  kwh.  on  the  basis  would  be  1.87734, 
and  the  ;otal  saving  in  the  power  bill  over 
the  same  period  would  amount  to  $77,327. 
For  the  operation  of  the  coal  clause  the 
net  cost  per  kwh.  for  the  next  six  months 
should  be  slightly  less  than  1.87,  and  the 
total  reduction  of  the  power  bill  for  the 
first  year  of  operation  should  be  ap- 
proximately $160,000.  This  offer  is  sub- 
mitted on  the  basis  of  a  one-year  contract 
only  and  with  the  idea  of  a  revised  rate 
beginning  Feb.  1  of  next  year.  Upon  the 
basis  of  $160,000  saving  in  power  cost, 
reducing  the  monthly  credits  to  the  main- 
tenance and  repair  fund,  increased  reve- 
nue from  interurban  travel,  and  the  strict- 
est economy  in  operation,  I  am  convinced 
that  by  Oct.  1  we  can  have  actual  cash 
credits  in  each  of  the  funds  equivalent  to 
the  accrued  set  up,  and  by  Feb.  1,  which 
will  complete  the  first  year  of  operation, 
the  deficit  to  the  stabilizing  fund  should 
be  reduced  at  least  $40,000  leaving  it  with 
a  balance  of  $220,000. 


Injunction  for  Jitneys  at  Rockford 

The  Fay  Motor  Bus  Company,  Rock- 
ford,  111.,  which  has  been  operating 
several  lines  of  buses  in  Rockford  for 
more  than  two  years,  under  a  certifi- 
cate of  convenience  and  necessity  is- 
seud  by  the  Illinois  Public  Utilities 
Commission,  recently  decided  to  go  into 
full  competition  with  the  city  lines  of 
the  Rockford  &  Interurban  Railway, 
and  attempt  to  supply  transportation 
throughout  the  city  at  a  5-cent 
fare.  The  bus  company  has  heretofore 
charged  10  cents  and  has  been  but 
partially  in  competition  with  the  rail- 
way, which  is  charging  a  rate  of  fare 
of  8  cents.  The  decision  to  operate 
throughout  the  city  was  not  preceded 
by  a  certificate  from  the  commission, 
and  consequently  the  railway  was  able 
to  secure  an  injunction.  This  promptly 
put  a  stop  to  such  operation. 

The  hearing  on  this  temporary  in- 
junction will  probably  be  had  on  Aug. 
29  or  shortly  thereafter.  Meantime 
Thomas  J.  Fay,  president  of  the  bus 
company,  is  endeavoring  to  secure  the 
passage  of  a  city  ordinance  permitting 
operation  of  buses  throughout  the  city 
on  a  5-cent  fare.  If  such  an  ordinance 
were  passed,  the  bus  company  assumes 
that  this  would  be  a  strong  inducement 
to  the  state  commission  to  grant  the 
certificate  required.  Mr.  Fay  has  been 
active  recently  in  an  endeavor  to  se- 
cure a  franchise  to  provide  the  com- 
plete transportation  service  in  Des 
Moines,  la.;  in  Decatur,  111.,  and  other 
places.  It  is  understood  that  his  10- 
cent  bus  lines  in  Rockford  have  been 
popular  and  profitable. 


334 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


Details  of  Detroit's  Trolley  Bus 
Bids  Announced 

The  following  bids  have  been  re- 
ceived by  the  Street  Railway  Commis- 
sion, Detroit,  for  furnishing  50  trolley 
buses,  specifications  for  which  are 
given  on  page  320  of  this  issue: 


At  present  the  railway  is  charging 
15  cents  a  car  mile  for  the  use  of  tracks 
and  power  and  75  cents  a  round  trip 
for  the  use  of  the  Terminal  Station. 
Under  the  new  arrangement,  it  was 
explained,  the  interurban  companies 
will  pay  between  21  cents  and  25  cents 
a  car  mile  for  tracks  and  power. 


Bid  per 

Bidder  Bus 
J.  G.  Brill  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.                                                          F.o.b.  Detroit 

First   10    $8,744.00 

Remaining  40    8,544.00 

Goodyear  pneumatic  tires  additional   300.00 

Standard  Motor  Truck  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Total  of  50    (war  tax  included)    8.950.00 

Pneumatic  tires,   additional    735.00 

Delivery  first  10  120  days  from  order. 
National  Safety  Car  Equipment  Co.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Total  of  50    7.325.28 

Delivery  first  10  from  7  to  10  weeks. 
St.  Louis  Car  Co.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Total  of  50   7,800.00 

Delivery  to  begin  100  days  after  order. 
Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Total  of  50  with  St.  Louis  Car  Co.  body  (war  tax  included)    8,065.09 

Total  of  50  with  Cincinnati  Car  Co.  body  (war  tax  included)    8,127.75 

Total  of  50  with  Osgood-Bradley  Co.  body  (war  tax  included)    8,230.55 

Total  of  50  with  Kuhlman  Car  Co.  body  (war  tax  included)    9,486.36 

Delivery,  one  complete  60  days,  20  in  60  to  90  days,  and  50  in  90  to  120  days. 
Mack  International  Motor  Truck  Corp.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Total  of  50   (war  tax  included)    9,988.00 

Total  of  10  (war  tax  included)    10,488.00 

Pneumatic  tires,   additional    350.00 

Delivery  of  first  10  in  80  days,  then  2  per  week.    Complete  in  108  work- 
ing days. 

Trackless  Transportation  Co.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Total  of  50   (exclusive  of  war  tax)    S, 195. 00 

Pneumatic  tires,  additional    200  00 

Delivery  from  90  to  120  days. 


Car  Men  Express  Views 

Employees  of  the  Memphis  (Tenn.) 
Street  Railway  have  been  conducting 
little  talks  in  the  News-Scimitar  on 
the  troubles  of  the  street  railway  man, 
his  ideas  on  service,  etc.  "Uncle  Billie 
Miller,"  in  the  opening  article  of  the 
series,  discussed  "When  to  Get  Trans- 
fers." Another  article  is  written  by 
B.  E.  Hudson,  a  veteran  motorman, 
who  speaks  on  behalf  of  all  his  asso- 
ciates of  the  Memphis  Street  Railway. 
He  makes  an  especial  appeal  to  auto- 
mobile drivers  to  allow  the  car  man  to 
have  the  right-of-way  on  his  own  car 
tracks.    He  says  in  part: 

We  motormen  want  to  make  our  sched- 
ules— we  want  to  carry  our  passengers  to 
their  destinations  quickly,  and  not  keep 
people  waiting  at  points  ahead. 

Help  us  to  make  good  records  with  the 
company — and  good  names  with  the  public. 


New  Plans  Submitted  for 
Handling  Freight 

Representatives  of  the  Indianapolis 
Street  Railway  and  of  Indiana  inter- 
urban companies  appeared  before  the 
Public  Service  Commission  recently  to 
show  the  necessity  for  a  terminal  charge 
at  the  freight  terminal  on  Kentucky 
Avenue.  The  companies  are  asking  for 
a  charge  of  3  cents  on  each  100  pounds 
of  freight  handled. 

Under  a  new  contract,  which  has 
been  entered  into,  additional  buildings 
will  be  constructed  in  ground  occupied 
by  the  Kentucky  Avenue  terminal,  and 
practically  all  freight  business  will  be 
moved  from  the  Terminal  Station.  The 
railway,  under  this  arrangement,  will 
have  nothing  further  to  do  with  freight 
facilities  other  than  furnishing  tracks 
and  power.  At  the  present  time  the 
railway  owns  all  the  facilities  at  the 
Terminal  Station  and  rents  them  to 
the  interurban  companies. 


The  commission,  when  passing  on 
street-car  rates  in  Indianapolis,  called 
attention  of  the  car  company  and  the 
traction  lines  to  the  present  inadequate 
facilities  for  handling  freight  at  the 
present  terminal  station.  The  com- 
panies were  ordered  to  submit  plans 
for  the  improvement  of  the  situation, 
and  the  Kentucky  Avenue  terminal  sta- 
tion idea  was  agreed  on  by  the  com- 
panies. Arthur  L.  Brady,  president 
of  the  Union  Traction  Company,  pre- 
sented the  plans  for  the  improvement. 

Wages  of  Municipal  Railway 
Employees  May  Be  Cut 

In  preparing  the  city  budget  for 
1922,  members  of  the  City  Council  of 
Seattle,  Wash.,  adopted  a  policy  of 
making  a  cut  of  50  per  cent  in  the 
blanket  increase  in  pay  granted  to  all 
city  employees  in  1919.  This  action 
would  mean  a  reduction  in  the  wages 
of  the  employees  on  the  Seattle  Muni- 
cipal Railway  of  25  cents  a  day  in  all 
cases.  The  present  wage  scale  is  $4.75 
for  the  first  three  months'  service,  $5 
for  the  second  three  months  and  $5.25 
thereafter.  This  time  last  year  the 
men  asked  for  an  increase  of  25  per 
cent  in  their  pay,  but  this  was  denied 
by  the  Council.  A  reduction  of  wages 
for  trainmen  has  not,  however,  been 
definitely  decided  upon  by  the  Council. 


Wage  Cut  Pending  Settlement. — Em- 
ployees of  the  Tacoma  (Wash.)  Munici- 
pal Street  Railway  have  signed  an 
agreement  which  reduces  their  wages 
from  3  to  5  cents  an  hour.  The  new 
scale  is  similar  to  that  in  effect  on 
Aug.  1.  1919,  providing  pay  of  50,  55 
and  60  cents  an  hour  instead  of  55,  59 
and  63  cents,  which  the  men  were  re- 
ceiving. This  cut  will  be  in  effect  on 
Aug.  31,  pending  negotiations. 


News  Notes 


May  Abandon  Line. — Unless  traffic 
increases  on  the  line  of  the  Asheville 
&  East  Tennessee  Railroad,  which  op- 
erates between  Asheville  and  Seaver- 
ville,  a  distance  of  9  miles,  the  line 
will  be  junked.  The  preference  for 
jitneys  is  assigned  as  one  reason  for 
the  unsuccessful  operation  of  the  elec- 
tric property. 

Wage  Cut  on  Interurban. — The  con- 
ferences between  the  officers  of  the  Ohio 
Electric  Railway,  Springfield,  Ohio,  and 
representatives  of  the  trainmen  have 
resulted  in  an  agreement  on  the  wage 
question.  The  new  scale  provides  a 
maximum  wage  of  49  cents  an  hour  for 
interurban  men,  which  is  a  cut  of  11 
cents  an  hour  from  the  old  scale.  The 
cut  for  the  first  year  is  8  cents  an  hour 
for  the  first  three  months  and  9  cents 
an  hour  for  the  next  nine  months.  City 
men  will  receive  a  maximum  of  46  cents 
an  hour,  or  11  cents  less  than  they 
receive  at  the  present  time.  The  cut 
for  the  first  year  amounts  to  8  cents  an 
hour  for  city  men. 

Government  Will  Appoint  Wage  Um- 
pire.— Developments  are  tardy  in  the 
wage  situation  between  the  Montreal 
Tramways  and  its  employees.  The  men 
are  working  under  the  12i-per  cent  re- 
duction put  in  force  on  Aug.  16,  pend- 
ing the  sitting  of  the  board  of  arbitra- 
tion granted  on  the  men's  application  to 
the  Federal  Department  of  Labor.  A. 
Brossard,  chosen  as  the  union  repre- 
sentative on  the  board,  and  A.  P. 
Frigon,  appointed  by  the  Federal  Min- 
ister of  Labor  to  represent  the  company 
on  default  of  the  latter  to  name  its  own 
representative,  have  failed  to  agree  on 
a  third  man  to  act  as  chairman,  and  he 
also  will  be  appointed  by  the  Minister. 


Coming  Association  Meetings 


Iowa  Electric  Railway  Association 

THE  Iowa  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion will  hold  its  mid-year  meeting 
for  operating  men  at  Waterloo,  Iowa, 
Sept.  15  and  16. 


Colorado  Electric  Light,  Power 
&  Railway  Association 

THE  Colorado  Electric  Light,  Power 
&  Railway  Association  will  hold 
its  eighteenth  annual  convention  in 
conjunction  with  the  second  annual  con- 
vention of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Division 
of  the  National  Electric  Light  Associa- 
tion at  the  Hotel  Colorado,  Glenwood 
Springs,  Col.,  Sept.  19,  20  and  21.  On 
the  same  date  a  meeting  of  the  account- 
ing section  of  the  N.  E.  L.  A.  will  be 
held  at  the  Hotel  Colorado,  and  it  is 
expected  that  members  from  all  over 
the  United  States  will  be  present. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1 


1 


$44,788,237  Value  Found 

Expert  for  City  of  New  Orleans  Revises 
His   Figures   Upward   More  Than 
$11,000,000 

F.  W.  Ballard,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  ex- 
pert employed  by  the  commission  gov- 
ernment of  New  Orleans,  La.,  to  ad- 
vise it  on  utility  problems,  has  re- 
ported his  findings.  Mr.  Ballard  values 
the  properties  of  the  New  Orleans  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  at  $44,788,237, 
on  which  amount  he  says  a  return  of 
8  per  cent  should  be  allowed.  He  rec- 
ommends no  change  in  the  rates  for 
energy,  but  proposes  a  7-cent  fare  and 
a  reduction  in  the  rate  for  gas  to  $1.30 
per  1,000  cu.ft.  He  approves  the  state- 
ment of  the  company  that  $23,242,000 
is  needed  for  improvements  during  the 
next  five  years.  He  favors  the  election 
of  residents  of  New  Orleans  to  the  di- 
rectorate of  the  company.  He  recom- 
mends an  indeterminate  franchise  for 
the  company.  His  statement  of  the 
value  of  the  various  departments  of 
the  company  is  as  follows: 


Railway    department  $21,379,414 

Electric  department   10,030,071 

Gas    department   7,523,365 


Total   $38,932,850 

Loans  to  city  '.  185,000 

Unamortized  obsolete  property..  5,670,387 


Total   $44,7SS,237 


In  the  total  for  the  railway  depart- 
ment there  is  an  item  of  $3,342,913  for 
intangibles,  franchises,  administration 
and  organization.  Mr.  Ballard  explains 
that  the  table  does  not  include  any- 
thing for  going  concern  value  nor  any 
allowance  for  promotion  expenses.  He 
does  not  believe  it  would  be  possible  at 
this  time  to  determine  these  costs,  and 
points  out  that  in  the  valuation  of  1918 
the  city  took  the  position  of  not  allow- 
ing for  these  items.  He  expresses 
doubt,  however,  "if  we  would  be  sus- 
tained in  this  contention  by  the  courts; 
the  probabilities  are  that  some  allow- 
ance would  be  made  for  these  items." 

The  report  of  Mr.  Ballard  has,  for 
the  time  being,  been  relegated  to  the 
background,  a  new  angle  to  the  contro- 
versy having  developed  as  the  result  of 
the  activities  of  Commissioner  Paul 
Maloney,  of  the  Department  of  Public 
Utilities.  Commissioners  Roy,  Black  and 
Murphy,  however,  are  not  unfavorably 
disposed  towards  the  Ballard  report. 
Even  though  Mr.  Ballard's  finding  is  not 
absolutely  in  harmony  with  their  views, 
they  realize  that  the  light  and  power 
problem  is  a  matter  which  should  be 
settled  at  once,  if  industrial  disaster  is 
to  be  averted.  Mayor  McShane  sides 
with  Commissioner  Maloney  in  opposing 
the  report. 

Commissioner  Maloney  is  for  scrap- 
ping the  Ballard  report  and  breaking 
off  relations  of  any  kind  with  utility 
experts.  With  this  idea  in  view,  he 
propounded  a  number  of  interrogations 
to  the  city  attorney,  the  gist  of  which 


was  whether  or  not  the  city  was  not 
the  rate-making  power  in  the  contro- 
versy. City  Attorney  Kittredge,  in 
making  reply,  holds  to  the  opinion  that 
the  Commission  Council,  and  the  Com- 
mission Council  alone,  is  vested  with 
this  authority. 

This  makes  for  a  brand  new  issue  in 
the  matter  and  has  contributed  not  a 
little  in  adding  to  the  complexities  of 
the  problem  and  in  increasing  the  lack 
of  harmony  in  taking  quick  action  upon 
the  Ballard  report.  Armed  with  this 
opinion,  Commissioner  Maloney  declares 
the  Commission  Council  has  the  same 
authority  to  fix  the  rates  of  fare  as 
the  Louisiana  Service  Commission  has 
to  fix  the  freight  and  passenger  rates 
over  rail  lines  in  the  State.  He  is  of 
the  opinion  that  the  New  Orleans  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  should  come  to 
the  Commission  Council  and  ask  for  the 
rate  it  wants  and  that  a  hearing  should 
then  be  had  to  determine  the  merits  of 
the  application. 

Thomas  F.  Cunningham,  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  in  criticising  the 
tardiness  of  the  city  in  reaching  a  set- 
tlement of  the  matter,  calls  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Commissioners  to  the  fact 
that,  in  their  failure  to  reach  a  solution 
of  the  railway  problem,  they  overlook 
the  greater  and  more  important  matter 
to  be  solved,  namely,  the  rehabilitation 
of  the  electric  light  and  power  plant. 

Mr.  Ballard,  who  reported  to  the  city 
last  year  a  valuation  of  $34,586,000  for 
the  property,  was  retained  again  by 
the  city,  as  he  expresses  it,  "to  take 
under  consideration  the  valuations 
which  have  been  made  and  to  bring 
these  values  up  to  date,  to  the  end  that 
a  settlement  may  be  made  of  the  pend- 
ing actions,  or  failing  that,  that  my 
report  to  you  may  be  one  that  can,  in 
the  light  of  all  the  decisions  of  the 
courts,  be  sustained  by  me  in  any  mat- 
ters which  it  may  be  necessary  to  liti- 
gate." 

George  C.  Earl,  general  superintend- 
ent of  the  Sewerage  &  Water  Board, 
has  submitted  a  report  to  Commissioner 
Paul  Maloney,  in  which  he  recom- 
mends acquisition  by  the  city  of  the 
street  railway,  electric  and  gas  proper- 
ties outright  at  the  lowest  value  the 
courts  will  sustain.    His  report  read: 

Every  effort  I  have  made  to  formulate 
an  adequately  safeguarded  privately-owned 
utility  franchise  which  would  induce  cap- 
ital to  undertake  to  maintain  a  utility 
service,  is  either  so  unattractive  to  private 
capital,  or  so  obviously  an  unnecessary 
burden  upon  the  taxpayers  that  I  have 
ceased  to  believe  that  a  mutually  acceptable 
and  adequately  safeguarded  franchise  is 
possible. 

Figures  given  out  by  the  New  Or- 
leans Railway  &  Light  Company,  show- 
ing its  earnings,  appear  to  bear  out 
Mr.  Ballard's  estimate  of  the  value  of 
the  company  and  its  co-related  inter- 
ests, and  the  possibility  of  an  8  per  cent 
return  on  a  valuation  of  $44,700,000, 
with  a  7-cent  fare. 


335 


$43,341  Deficit  in  Toledo  in  July 

At  the  regular  monthly  meeting  of 
he  board  of  control  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  it 
fas  shown  that  the  monthly  deficit  of 
he  Community  Traction  Company,  op- 
erating under  service-at-cost,  had  been 
decreased  by  $9,621,  as  compared  with 
the  previous  month,  although  receipts 
still  show  a  tendency  to  decline  each 
month.  There  was  not  a  quorum  of  the 
board  of  control  present  at  the  meeting 
so  all  business  was  held  over  until  Aug. 
22.  The  report,  however,  was  pub- 
lished. 

The  net  result  of  July  operation 
after  payment  of  operating  expenses 
and  credits  to  the  various  funds  shows 
a  deficit  of  $43,341.  The  gross  income 
from  all  sources  was  $274,185,  a  de- 
crease of  $2,488  over  the  previous 
month.  This  decrease  was  less  than 
that  noted  from  month  to  month.  The 
passenger  revenue  shows  a  decrease  of 
$5,321,  while  revenue  from  other 
sources  increased.  The  charge  to  main- 
tenance and  repairs,  due  to  extensive 
summer  work,  increased  in  July  by 
$8,877.  Car  mileage  for  the  month  in- 
creased 22,607  miles. 

The  city  lines  reflected  a  reduction  in 
car  mileage  of  168  car  miles  while  the 
Toledo  Beach  line  increased  the  daily 
average  by  205  car  miles.  During  July 
every  line  in  the  city  showed  a  daily 
loss  running  from  $3  to  $137  and  the 
net  decrease  in  riding  per  day  through- 
out the  system  ajnounts  to  $437. 

The  commissioner  has  accumulated  a 
surplus  of  $79,011  in  the  maintenance 
and  repair  fund  and  throughout  the  rest 
of  the  year  will  cut  down  the  monthly 
credit  to  this  fund  so  as  to  leave  a 
reserve  of  $5,000  by  Feb.  1. 

The  depreciation  fund  shows  $56,666 
on  hand.  There  was  credited  to  it  dur- 
ing the  month  $10,625.  The  whole  bal- 
ance represents  cash  with  the  exception 
of  $21,250.  The  sinking  fund,  which 
represents  the  city's  ownership  in  the 
property,  received  a  cash  payment  this 
month  of  $17,708,  its  full  allotment  for 
the  first  time  since  the  ordinance  has 
been  in  operation.  This  fund  now  is 
at  the  $106,249  level.  Cash  credits  to 
the  injuries  and  damages  and  tax  re- 
serves were  made,  giving  each  fund  a 
surplus. 


Financial  Relief  Absolutely 
Necessary 

Whether  Manistee,  Mich.,  will  con- 
tinue to  have  electric  railway  service 
will  depend  upon  the  decision  of  the 
State  Public  Utilities  Commission.  Re- 
cently the  City  Council  denied  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Manistee  Railway  for  per- 
mission to  abandon  service,  but  recom- 
mended that  the  company  seek  relief 
from  the  State  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission. 

Manager  Kressler  declared  that  his 
company  is  in  real  distress  financially. 
He  expressed  a  desire  to  turn  over  the 
lines  to  the  city  to  operate  or  to  permit 
the  city  to  dispose  of  the  franchise. 
The  number  of  passengers  carried  dur- 
ing June  was  given  as  13,998.  The  daily 
receipts  range  from  $28  to  $30. 


336 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


Havana  Income  Increased 

Net  of  the  Havana  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company  Increased  Nearly 
14  Per  Cent 

According  to  the  annual  report  of 
the  Havana  Electric  Railway  Light  & 
Power  Company,  Havana,  Cuba,  for 
the  year  ended  Dec.  31,  1920,  the  elec- 
tric railway  department  contributed 
44.2  per  cent  of  the  gross  earnings 
from  operations,  and  omnibuses  only 
0.4  per  cent.  The  balance  was  from  the 
sale  of  electricity  and  gas.  The  re- 
port states  that  the  gain  in  gross  earn- 
ings from  operation  of  the  entire  prop- 
erty were  22.14  per  cent  greater  than 
in  1919;  the  total  operating  expenses 
32.9  per  cent  greater;  the  total  net 
earnings  from  operation  11.9  per  cent 
greater,  and  after  deducting  United 
States  and  Cuban  taxes  the  gain  was 
13.8  per  cent. 

Railway  Contributes  Less  to  Income 

The  relative  standing  of  the  rail- 
way department  has  declined  seriously. 
In  1914  it  contributed  54.6  per  cent  of 
the  total  net  earnings  of  the  company, 
while  in  1919  it  gave  40.6  per  cent  and 
in  1920  only  30.2  per  cent.  The  marked 
decrease  in  1920  was  due  mainly  to 
the  increase  in  wages,  which  form  a 
much  larger  proportion  of  the  total 
operating  expenses  than  in  the  others 
and  for  which  there  has  not  been  time 
to  institute  any  compensating  econo- 
mies. The  loss  of  earnings  during  the 
strike  in  August  also  contributed.  For 
several  years  past  the  railway  has 
needed  cars  faster  than  it  was  possible 
to  supply  them,  hence  it  has  lagged 
somewhat  behind  the  others  in  the  de- 
velopment of  possible  business. 

In  connection  with  this  comparison 
railway  operation  has  materially  im- 
proved in  efficiency,  the  power  used 
has  increased  23  per  cent  since  1914, 
while  the  passenger  car  miles  operated 
has  increased  26.8  per  cent  and  the 


traffic  handled  73.6  per  cent.  The  in- 
crease of  passengers  relative  to  car 
miles  is  too  large,  which  indicates  that 
this  service  has  fallen  behind  and  needs 
to  be  extended.  Plans  for  an  improved 
passenger  car  are  now  being  worked 
out,  and  it  is  expected  to  increase  the 
capacity,  cut  down  the  dead  weight,  and 
decrease  the  time  required  for  build- 
ing. 

An  analysis  of  the  statistics  as  to 
railway  operation  shows  an  increase  of 
17.5  per  cent  in  the  earnings  per  car 
mile.  This  was  due  entirely  to  the 
heavier  loading  of  cars.  Even  with 
the  new  cars  added  to  the  service  in 
November  and  December,  the  number 
of  passengers  per  car  mile  was  not  re- 
duced and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that 
an  immediate  large  increase  in  the 
number  of  cars  would  prove  profitable. 


Receivership  May  Be  Lifted 

Amicable  settlement  of  the  financial 
affairs  of  the  Memphis  (Tenn.)  Street 
Railway  is  reported  to  be  in  a  final 
stage  of  completion.  The  actual  re- 
turn of  the  property  to  former  offi- 
cials and  management  of  the  railway 
may  be  deferred  for  some  time  owing 
to  the  problems  which  enter  into  relin- 
quishing the  lines,  but  a  public  an- 
nouncement of  a  settlement  is  expected 
this  month. 

Whether  the  problem  of  an  increased 
fare  entered  into  the  negotiations  be- 
tween the  creditors  and  the  manage- 
ment has  not  been  disclosed.  Negotia- 
tions between  New  York  capitalists 
holding  paper  of  the  railway  and  the 
former  management  have  been  in  pro- 
gress for  some  time  and  a  compromise 
has  been  considered  from  varied  angles. 
There  has  been  much  speculation  as  to 
the  conditions  of  the  proposed  reorgan- 
ization, but  nothing  definite  has  been 
divulged  which  would  tend  to  disclose 
upon  what  terms  the  various  creditors 
will  participate  in  the  reorganization. 


STATISTICS  OF  HAVANA  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  &  LIGHT  COMPANY  AS  TO 
TRANSPORT  OPERATIONS 

Reuen ues: 

Passenger  revenue  

Other  car  earnings  

Miscellaneous  earnings  

Stage  earnings  (animal)  

Omnibus  earnings  

Total  operating  revenue  

Operating  expenses: 

Maintenance  

Depreciation  reserve  

Transportation  

General  

Stage  expenses  (animal)  I  

Omnibuses.  


Total  

Net  earnings  from  operation  

Taxes  

Gross  income  

Deductions: 

Interest  

Trigo  annuities  

Total  deductions  

Net  income  to  profit  and  loss  

Traffic  handled: 

Passengers  carried  

Passenger  car  miles  

Car  mile  statistics: 

Passenger  earnings  (cents)  

Operating  expense^  (cents)  

Passengers  carried  

Difference,   (a)  Sold  July,  1919.   Ita lies  indicate  decrease. 


Per  Cent 

1920 

1919 

Change 

$4,850,969 

$4,185,488 

15.8 

135,860 

177,610 

23 . 55 

92,905 

(a) 

58,409 

46,950 

63.742 

26.30 

$5,126,685  . 

$4,485,249 

14  2 

$653,499 

$454,336 

43.8 

381,397 

228,845 

66  2 

2,505,108 

1.745,569 

43  5 

295,450 

229,397 

29.0 

(a) 

61,540 

41,51 1 

50,925 

18.5 

$3,876,965 

$2,770,612 

39.8 

$1,249,720 

$1,714,637 

27.1 

101.950 

108,200 

5.7 

$1,147,770 

$1,606,437 

28.8 

557,214 

567,261 

17.7 

3,368 

3,345 

0  7 

$560,582 

$570,606 

17.6 

587,188 

1,035,831 

iS.S 

97,019,389 

83,709,762 

15.9 

13,668,249 

13,507.527 

1.2 

35.49 

30.98 

14.5 

25  27 

17.98 

40.5 

7.  12 

6.21 

14.62 

Successor  Company  at  Savannah 
Chartered 

The  Savannah  Electric  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Savannah,  Ga.,  has  been  incor- 
porated to  take  over  after  foreclosure 
and  sale  the  Stone  &  Webster  proper- 
ties in  Chatham  County.  The  new  com- 
pany will  have  a  capital  stock  of  $4,800,- 
000  to  be  divided  into  shares  of  $100 
each,  of  which  $1,300,000  will  be  first 
preferred  stock,  $1,000,000  preferred 
stock  and  $2,500,000  common  stock.  The 
first  preferred  will  be  known  as  deben- 
ture stock  and  entitled  to  cumulative 
dividends  at  the  rate  of  8  per  cent  a 
year,  the  preferred  stock  at  the  rate 
of  6  per  cent.  The  three  classes  of  stock 
will  have  equal  voting  power. 

The  incorporators  named  in  the  peti- 
tion are  A.  A.  Lawrence,  E.  H.  Abra- 
hams, Paul  Fusillo,  John  J.  Bouhan, 
Alvah  Herzog,  H.  Mercer  Jordan,  Lewis 
A.  Mills,  Jr.,  Thomas  P.  Kearns,  W.  H. 
Bedgood  and  Robert  L.  Colding. 

While  no  announcement  to  that  effect 
has  been  authorized  it  is  generally  un- 
derstood that  the  formation  of  the  con- 
solidated company  foreshadows  an  ap- 
plication to  the  United  States  Court  for 
discharge  of  the  receivership  which  has 
continued  for  more  than  a  year.  The 
reorganization  plan  was  submitted  to 
the  stockholders  some  time  ago  by  a 
committee,  and  the  formal  application 
for  a  charter  for  the  new  concern  in- 
dicates that  the  stockholders  have  ap- 
proved the  plan.  No  immediate  changes 
in  the  policies  of  the  company  are  said 
to  be  contemplated  as  a  result  of  the 
reorganization. 

The  plan  for  the  reorganization  was 
reviewed  briefly  in  the  issue  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  July 
30,  page  182. 


Receiver's  Certificates  in  Default 
— Foreclosure  Ordered 

The  property  of  the  Second  Avenue 
Railroad,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  has  been 
ordered  sold  by  the  Supreme  Court  on 
Sept.  1  in  foreclosure  proceedings. 
The  sale  is  the  result  of  judgment  ob- 
tained for  default  on  principal  and  in- 
terest on  $3,140,000  of  receiver's  certifi- 
cates. The  suit  was  instituted  by  the 
protective  committee  representing  the 
holders  of  the  receiver's  certificate.  In 
addition  to  the  back  interest  now  due, 
there  are  back  taxes,  water  charges  and 
other  claims  of  approximately  $290,000. 
The  property  includes  approximately  23 
miles  of  track  and  a  carhouse.  The 
block  on  which  the  carhouse  is  situated 
comprises  fifty-two  city  building  lots. 
It  is  assessed  at  $1,395,000,  of  which 
$590,000  is  said  to  represent  the  value  of 
the  land. 


Electric  Lines  Improve  in  1920. — Ac- 
cording to  figures  recently  published  by 
the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission 
electric  railways  and  interurbans  oper- 
ating in  that  state  carried  177,795,571 
passengers  in  1920  against  161,995,506 
in  1919.  Total  earnings  increased  from 
$11,222,239  in  1919  to  $14,698,638  in 
1920. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


337 


Merger  Enabling  Legislation 
Approved 

Legislation  which  will  have  an  im- 
portant bearing  on  the  electric  railway 
situation  in  the  capital,  has  been  agreed 
upon  by  the  District  of  Columbia  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  measure  is  known  as  the  Woods 
bill  and  provides  authorization  for  a 
merger  of  the  Capital  Traction  Com- 
pany and  the  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company.  It  also  authorizes  a 
merger  of  the  combined  companies  with 
the  Potomac  Electric  Power  Company, 
but  precludes  any  merging  of  the  Wash- 
ington Railway  &  Electric  Railway 
Company  with  the  power  company. 

The  bill  relieves  the  railways  of  the 
obligation  of  paying  the  salaries  of 
crossing  policemen,  but  it  levies  a  tax 
of  50  per  cent  on  all  earnings  above 
7  per  cent  of  each  railway.  The  gross 
earnings  tax  is  reduced  from  2  to  1 
per  cent. 

In  case  of  a  consolidation  of  the  rail- 
way with  the  power  company,  separate 
accounts  must  be  kept  of  income  from 
railway  operations  and  from  the  sale 
of  power.  The  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion is  authorized  to  pass  upon  the  rea- 
sonableness of  all  expenditures  of  the 
railway. 

The  bill  further  provides  that  unless 
a  merger  is  effected  by  July  1,  1922, 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  may 
establish  two  rates  of  fare  on  the  lines 
of  the  two  companies. 


Strike  Loss  $1,564,124  in  Six 
Months 

During  the  first  six  months  of  1921 
the  United  Traction  Company,  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  suffered  a  loss  of  $1,564,124  and 
a  decrease  of  18,544,974  passengers  car- 
ried, according  to  the  report  which  the 
railway  has  filed  with  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission.  Five  of  the  months 
covered  are  included  in  the  strike  period. 
The  report  itself  says:  decrease  between 
1921  and  1920  due  to  strike  which  started 
Jan.  29,  1921.  Normal  conditions  have 
not  yet  been  reached  on  the  lines  of 
this  company. 

In  short,  the  cost  of  operating  the 
lines  of  the  United  Traction  System 
during  the  strike  period  was  consid- 
erably more  than  during  the  correspond- 
ing period  of  last  year  when  normal 
conditions  prevailed. 

During  the  first  six  months  of  this 
year  the  company  carried  4,504,418 
whereas  in  the  first  six  months  of  1920 
the  number  of  passengers  carried  was 
23,049,392,  the  loss  this  year  being  18,- 
544,974.  During  the  six  months  of  1921, 
one  month — January — witnessed  opera- 
tion under  normal  conditions. 

During  April,  May  and  June  of  the 
current  year  the  passenger  revenue 
was  $60,745,  while  during  the  same 
months  of  1920  it  had  been  $805,- 
152,  thus  showing  a  loss  for  the  quar- 
ter this  year  of  $744,406. 

Notwithstanding  the  small  income 
the  operating  expenses  for  the  quarter 
were  .>720,705,  as  compared  with 
$689,592  in  the  like  quarter  of  1920,  or 


an  increase  of  $31,112.  The  "conduct- 
ing transportation  expense"  increased 
from  $347,742  in  the  quarter  of  1920 
to  $458,712  in  the  quarter  of  1921.  This 
same  account  shows  an  increase  of 
$377,419  for  the  half  year.  General 
and  miscellaneous  expenses  rose  from 
$98,587  to  $117,058.  The  net  loss  for 
the  quarter  after  deducting  all  inter- 
est charges,  was  $809,393. 

The  passenger  revenue  during  the 
first  six  months  of  1921  was  $313,491, 
and  during  the  corresponding  months 
of  last  year  it  was  $1,564,958.  This 
year  the  net  loss  for  the  first  half  of 
the  year  was  $1,564,124,  and  during 
the  first  six  months  of  1920  there  was 
a  loss  of  only  $102,720. 

Debentures  Retired  by  Texas 
Electric  Railway 

The  Texas  Electric  Railway  of  Dal- 
las, Tex.,  has  filed  an  amendment  to  its 
charter  increasing  its  capital  stock 
from  $10,500,000  to  $12,660,000,  to  pro- 
vide for  the  issue  of  $2,160,000  of  first 
preferred  stock  to  retire  debentures  of 
that  amount.  The  amendment  was  filed 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  at 
Austin  by  Jack  Beall,  president  of  the 
company. 

Mr.  Beall  explained  that  the  increase 
in.  capital  is  not  being  made  with  a 
view  to  providing  capital  for  improve- 
ments or  betterments  of  any  kind,  but 
is  merely  to  carry  out  an  agreement 
made  at  the  time  of  the  consolidation  of 
the  Texas  Traction  Company  and  the 
Southern  Traction  Company  on  Jan.  1, 
1917,  under  the  name  of  the  Texas 
Electric  Railway.  At  that  time  a  writ- 
ten agreement  was  entered  into  that 
$2,160,000  in  debentures  would  be  tak- 
en up  by  an  issue  of  first  preferred 
stock  at  the  end  of  five  years.  Most  of 
the  new  stock  issue  holders  are  resi- 
dents of  Dallas  and  towns  along  the 
line  of  the  Texas  Electric  Railway. 


Transfer  of  Toronto  Railway  to 
City  Delayed 

Hope  has  been  abandoned  of  the 
City  of  Toronto,  Ont.,  taking  over  the 
property  of  the  Toronto  Railway  on  Sept. 
1.  The  arbitration  proceedings  under 
which  the  city  will  acquire  certain  of 
the  property  of  the  company  prior  to 
its  transference  to  the  Toronto  Trans- 
portation Commission  will  not  be  com- 
pleted until  after  that  date.  Partly  in 
consequence  of  this  state  of  affairs  the 
annual  general  and  the  special  meet- 
ings of  the  stockholders  of  the  Toronto 
Railway,  fixed  originally  for  Aug.  19, 
have  been  postponed  to  Sept.  30. 

In  a  statement  to  shareholders,  Sir 
William  Mackenzie,  president  of  the 
railway,  said: 

Every  effort  has  been  made  by  your  direc- 
tors to  hasten  the  negotiations  for  the  sale 
of  the  company's  power  and  radial  inter- 
ests. The  most  important  questions  have 
now  been  settled  in  principle,  and  the  draft 
agreement  submitted  by  our  solicitors  to 
the  Hydro  Commission  has  at  last  been 
returned  with  amendments  which  are  now 
being  discussed  between  our  own  and  the 
commission's  solicitors. 

There  remain  for  settlement  certain  ques- 
tions in  the  working-out  of  the  transaction 
which  possess  considerable  importance,  and 
it  will  not  be  possible  to  have  the  agree- 
ment finally  settled  and  a,  statement  of  the 


effect  of  it  prepared  and  sent  to  the  share- 
holders by  Aug.  19,  which  renders  a  further 
adjournment  essential. 

While  the  delays  which  have  taken  place 
are  regrettable  it  is  now  felt  by  your  direc- 
tors that  very  substantial  progress  has  been 
made  and  that  the  main  difficulties  have 
been  surmounted.  It  is  confidently  hoped 
that  no  adjournment  beyond  the  one  now 
indicated  will  be  necessary,  but  should 
such  be  you  will  be  notified  at  least  one 
week  before  the  date  of  meeting. 

On  Sept.  1,  when  the  commission  was 
due  to  take  over  the  lines,  the  traffic 
is  at  its  heaviest  on  account  of  the 
Canadian  National  Exhibition  then  being 
held,  and  it  is,  therefore,  not  proposed 
to  introduce  any  new  routing  imme- 
diately. In  addition  certain  physical 
alterations  and  connections  must  be 
made  before  new  cars  can  be  run,  or 
before  the  lines  formerly  owned  by  the 
city  and  those  of  the  railway  can  be 
connected.  These  alterations  and  con- 
nections cannot  be  made  till  after 
Sept.  1. 

I  Financial  I 
|  News Notes  j 

Deficit  Piling  Up  in  Findlay. — A  de- 
ficit of  $2,036  during  July  in  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Findlay,  Ohio,  city  lines 
under  service  at  cost  was  reported  by 
the  Street  Railway  Commission.  The 
seasonal  decline  in  traffic  was  advanced 
as  the  reason  for  the  drop  in  returns. 
The  stabilization  fund  has  dropped  from 
$20,000  to  $13,001  as  a  result  of  monthly 
deficits  since  March.  For  betterment 
the  company  has  expended  $4,200. 
Fares  are  now  10  cents  cash,  seven  tick- 
ets for  50  cents  or  two  for  15  cents. 
The  cash  fare  was  8  cents  when  the 
new  plan  was  put  into  operation. 

Plane  at  Cincinnati  Abandoned. — The 
Fairview  incline  plane  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  has  been  shut  down  perma- 
nently. Bert  L.  Baldwin,  an  en- 
gineer who  examined  the  plane, 
reported  recently  that  the  struc- 
ture was  beyond  repair  and  that 
if  that  mode  of  transportation  was  to  be 
continued  the  plane  would  have  to  be 
rebuilt  entirely.  To  do  that,  Mr.  Bald- 
win estimated,  would  cost  the  Cincin- 
nati Traction  Company  approximately 
$55,000.  In  view  of  the  cost  of  replac- 
ing the  incline  and  of  the  fact  that  it 
still  would  continue  to  be  a  hazard  trac- 
tion officials  agreed  to  abandon  the 
structure. 

Decrease  in  "Saltair"  Income. — The 
Salt  Lake,  Garfield  &  Western  Railroad, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  known  as  the 
"Saltair  Road,"  in  its  annual  report 
for  1920,  made  to  the  State  Utilities 
Commission,  shows  an  increase  in  op- 
erating expenses  of  $21,563  over  1919, 
and  a  decrease  in  income  of  $42,042 
compared  with  the  preceding  year.  The 
total  railway  operating  revenue  for  the 
year  was  $188,044,  an  increase  of  $35,- 
835  over  the  year  1919.  The  net  rev- 
enue from  the  Saltair  beach  properties, 
owned  by  the  railroad,  was  $15,755,  a 
decrease  of  $13,685  from  the  net  rev- 
enue of  the  preceding  year. 


338 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


One-Man  Cars  Saved  Tampa 

Manager  There  Summarizes  Lessons  of 
Three  Years'  Experience 
With  "Katydids" 

One-man  cars  are  the  biggest  factor 
in  maintaining  a  5-cent  fare  in  Tampa, 
Fla.,  according  to  T.  J.  Hanlon,  general 
manager  of  the  Tampa  Electric  Com- 
pany, which  operates  Birney  one-man 
cars  on  practically  every  division.  The 
cars,  nicknamed  Katydids  by  the  Tampa 
Tribune,  are  proving  time  savers  and 
nickel  gatherers. 

"We  get  many  a  nickel  that  we 
wouldn't,"  is  the  opinion  of  Peter  0. 
Knight,  vice-president  and  general 
counsel  for  the  company,  and  the  Stone 
&  Webster  supervising  director  for  all 
their  Florida  properties.  He  says  that 
the  one-man  car  enables  a  seven-minute 
schedule  where  a  fifteen  minute  sched- 
ule was  in  vogue  before,  and  that  the 
fellows  who  used  to  be  picked  up  by 
passing  friends  in  autos  generally  find 
a  street  car  passing  before  the  auto 
does,  and  hop  aboard. 

Mr.  Hanlon  and  Mr.  Knight  agree 
that  the  spirit  of  fairness  which  the 
citizens  and  their  officials  have  always 
shown  toward  the  company  at  Tampa 
is  a  factor  also  in  maintaining  a  lower 
rate. 

Questioned  by  the  correspondent  of 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  at 
Tampa  as  to  the  reasons  why  the  Tam- 
pa Electric  Company  has  been  able  to 
continue  the  5-cent  fare  Mr.  Hanlon 
stated  that  there  were  several  allied 
reasons  for  the  low  fare  in  Tampa. 
Among  these  he  declared  were  the 
spirit  of  co-operation  existing  between 
the  county  and  city  authorities  and  the 
company;  the  division  of  overhead 
charges  between  the  lighting  and  rail- 
way department  and  the  introduction 
of  the  Birney  car. 

In  speaking  of  the  latter,  Mr.  Hanlon 
said: 

I  am  told  that  there  was  considerable 
comment  when  the  Birney  cars  nisi  ap- 
peared on  the  streets  of  Tampa.  They 
were  such  a  complete  departure  from  the 
open  type  so  long  used  in  this  city.  Of 
course,  like  any  other  new  thing,  the  only 
real  test  is  what  experience  shows.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  public  found  that 
the  Birney  cars  made  faster  time  and 
came  more  frequently  than  the  two-man 
cars  they  had  replaced.  This  caused  the 
people  to  patronize  the  Birney  cars  more 
than  they  had  the  other  cars.  This  ver- 
dict was  rendered  in  the  increased  number 
of  fares  collected,  in  a  way  which  was  un- 
mistakable. 

The  way  the  Birney  cars  appealed  to 
our  men  was.  of  course,  of  importance  to 
us.  The  matter  has  worked  out  to  the 
complete  satisfaction  of  the  trainmen.  No 
one  ever  lost  his  job  due  to  the  Birney 
cars,  because  they  were  introduced  gradu- 
ally and,  as  a  matter'  of  fact,  as  many 
men  are  now  employed  as  when  these  cars 
were  first  introduced.  Then  again  we 
have  put  in  service  more  of  the  Birneys 
than  the  number  of  two-man  cars  re- 
placed. In  addition  to  the  above,  we  pay 
the  Birney  car  operator  10  per  cent  more 
than  other  trainmen. 

When  asked  about  the  effect  of  the 
Birney  cars  on  the  accident  situation, 


Mr.  Hanlon  consulted  his  records.  Ap- 
parently for  the  last  calendar  year  the 
Birney  cars  in  Tampa  ran  1,666,135 
miles  and  the  two-man  cars  1,326,402 
miles.  The  Birneys  in  that  period  had 
734  accidents,  the  two-men  cars  755  ac- 
cidents. Hence  each  Birney  ran  2,239 
miles  before  it  had  an  accident,  and 
each  two-man  car  only  ran  1,757  miles 
before  it  had  an  accident.  Over  27  per 
cent  more  miles  per  accident  for  the 
Birneys.    Mr.  Hanlon  said: 

The  question  you  have  asked  is  one  that 
came  up  continually  when  the  Birney  car 
was  introduced  in  Tampa.  We  have 
been  operating  the  Birneys  for  three  and 
one-half  years,  so  that  our  statistical 
record  of  accidents  as  between  one-man 
and  two-man  cars  is  based  on  a  great 
ileal  of  experience. 

Many  people  when  they  see  figures  like 
those,  think  them  paradoxical.  They  think 
taking  one  trainman  off  a  car  makes  its 
operation  more  hazardous.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  figures  showing  one-man  opera- 
tion, based  on  the  record  of  millions  of 
car  miles,  to  be  safer  than  two-man  opera- 
tion, are  just  what  we  ought  to  expect. 

Lots  of  people  said  that  one  man  couldn't 
do  two  men's  work.  Well,  it  doesn't  work 
out  that  way  at  all.  Our  men  prefer  the 
Birney  cars  to  run  on,  because  they  find 
tue  work  so  much  more  interesting, 
entirely  aside  frou:  the  10  per  cent  extra 
pay,  which  help?    of  on, arse. 

To  the  public  the  Birney  car  means  more 
service,  quicker  service  and  safer  service. 
To  the  trainmen  it  menus  n.  ire  interest- 
ing and  better  paid  work.  To  the  com- 
pany it  means  more  economical  opera- 
tion and  that  in  the  end  helps  the  public 
through  lower  fares.  Without  these  cars 
the  fare  would  be  7  or  8  cents. 

Questioned  as  to  why  the  economy  to 

the  public  and  company  and  increased 

pay  to  trainmen  couldn't  be  applied  to 

the  big  cars  as  well  as  to  the  little 

ones,  Mr.  Hanlon  said: 

That  matter  is  already  under  consider- 
ation. Of  course  we  will  first  equip  the  big 
cars  with  the  same  safety  devices  as  the 
Birney  cars  have  before  entrusting  them 
to  one  man  to  operate.  The  results  so  far 
have  been  satisfactory  to  the  public  and 
company  and  we  hope  to  continue  the  de- 
velopment of  one-man  safety  operation. 


Trailers  Dropped  Except  During 
Rush  Hours 

On  account  of  the  loss  of  traffic- 
owing  to  jitney  and  motor  bus  competi- 
tion, the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Rail- 
way has  revised  its  car  schedule  on  the 
Jefferson  Avenue  line.  The  interval  of 
time  between  cars  has  been  decreased 
and  trailers  have  been  dropped  except 
during  the  rush  hours  of  the  day. 

While  industrial  travel  has  been  ma- 
terially decreased  for  some  time  as  com- 
pared with  last  year's  traffic,  due  to  the 
reduction  in  forces  at  some  of  the  fac- 
tories, this  condition  is  gradually  im- 
proving. With  the  Ford  plant  in  High- 
land Park  running  with  a  record  out- 
put, but  with  a  decrease  in  workmen, 
and  other  auto  plants  increasing  their 
forces,  industrial  traffic  is  increasing. 

While  no  figures  are  given  out  by  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  as  to  the  loss 
in  traffic  due  to  jitney  competition,  the 
changes  in  schedules  were  made  in  an 
endeavor  to  regain  some  of  the  lost 
revenue  and  the  results  have  been  fav- 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


rable.  The  number  of  jitneys  in  the 
ty  of  Detroit  has  decreased  owing  to 
recent  Council  ordinance  requiring 
ich  jitney  driver  to  provide  a  bond  for 
1,000. 


Alton  Jitneys  Restrained 

Public  Autos  There  Required  to  Sus- 
pend by  Court — Must  Now  Secure 
Proper  Certificates 

Under  the  Illinois  Commerce  Com- 
mission law,  which  holds  that  a  trans- 
portation line  must  be  able  to  certify 
that  it  is  both  a  necessity  and  a  con- 
venience, the  United  States  District 
Court  in  East  St.  Louis  has  put  the  jit- 
ney buses  out  of  business  at  Alton,  III. 
This  was  accomplished  on  Aug.  17  when 
Federal  Judge  English  made  permanent 
a  temporary  injunction  granted  in  July 
at  the  request  of  the  receivers  of  the 
Alton,  Granite  City  &  St.  Louis  Rail- 
way restraining  the  several  jitney  men 
defendants  from  operating  the  buses. 
The  buses  threatened  by  their  compe- 
tition to  hurt  the  railway  to  an  extent 
that  might  require  it  to  suspend. 

The  contention  of  the  defense  that 
interstate  transportation  was  not  in- 
volved was  overruled,  the  railway  being 
in  the  hands  of  receivers.  It  is  now  in- 
timated that  the  bus  operators  may- 
apply  to  the  Illinois  Commerce  Com- 
mission for  permits,  but  in  the  mean- 
time the  buses  have  been  withdrawn 
from  service. 

Receivers  Resort  to  Court 

To  the  informal  representations  of  W. 
H.  Sawyer  and  Fred  E.  Allen,  the  rail- 
way receivers,  little  attention  was  paid 
by  the  Alton  city  officials  when  it  ap- 
peared that  unless  something  was  done 
to  curb  the  unfair  jitney  operation  the 
railway  must  cease  business.  The  re- 
ceivers had  been  laying  new  track  and 
repaving  part  of  the  streets  in  Alton, 
but  the  jitneys  continued  to  roll  over 
the  new  pavement  and  when  it  became 
evident  the  city  officials  would  take  no 
action,  the  matter  was  taken  into  the 
Federal  court. 

The  jitneys  were  not  operated  by 
transportation  companies  and  had  no 
authority  from  the  Illinois  Commerce 
Commission.  The  railway  fare  is  8 
cents.  The  jitneys  were  charging  a 
nickel.  They  took  the  cream  of  the 
short  haul  traffic.  They  did  not  operate 
at  all  hours.  They  left  the  traffic  of  the 
dull  periods  for  the  railway.  These  are 
merely  some  of  their  sins. 

As  soon  as  the  buses  quit,  the  reve- 
nue of  the  street  cars  in  Alton  showed 
a  decided  gain.  It  is  still  too  early, 
however,  to  indicate  just  how  much  av- 
erage increase  in  fares  will  result  from 
the  stopping  of  unfair  competition.  Mr. 
Sawyer  says  he  hopes  the  passing  of 
the  jitneys  will  put  the  railway  in  a 
position  to  carry  out  its  improvement 
plans  and  operate  successfully.  If  the 
jitney  men  go  before  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  they  can  be  com- 
pelled to  pay  taxes  as  transportation 
companies  and  be  forced  to  obtain  per- 
mits, which  may  take  much  time. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


339 


Jersey  Hearing  Postponed 

Argument  on  Appeal  of  Public  Service 
Railway  to  Ignore  Commission 
Ruling  Put  Over  to  Sept.  13 

Judges  Rellstab  and  Davis,  sitting  to- 
gether in  the  United  States  District 
Court  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  on  Aug.  18 
denied  the  motion  made  to  dismiss  the 
proceedings  in  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way fare  case  and  the  motion  to  include 
as  defendants  in  the  suit  the  municipal- 
ities served  by  the  railway.  Later  the 
judges  modified  this  order  to  the  extent 
of  recognizing  the  cities  as  "friends  of 
the  court."  In  this  way  they  have 
opened  means  for  the  participation  of 
the  cities  in  the  conduct  of  the  case  to 
an  extent  that  may  make  it  unnecessary 
for  the  municipalities  to  renew  their 
appeal  to  intervene  as  full  fledged  par- 
ties to  the  proceedings. 

At  the  close  of  the  session  of  the 
court  on  Aug.  18  it  was  decided  to  hear 
final  argument  on  Sept.  13.  The  appeal 
of  the  railway  is  for  an  order  from  the 
court  which  will  prevent  interference 
with  the  company  collecting  a  10-cent 
fare.  The  Board  of  Public  Utility  Com- 
missioners recently  decided  that  a  7- 
cent  fare  with  a  2-cent  transfer  charge 
should  be  established  in  place  of  the 
then  existing  7-cent  fare  with  a  charge 
of  1  cent  for  each  transfer. 

Most  of  the  session  on  Aug.  18  was 
given  over  to  argument  of  L.  Edward 
Herrmann,  counsel  for  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission,  who  contended  that 
the  Public  Service  was  not  attacking 
the  constitutionality  of  the  state  utility 
law,  therefore  could  not  appeal  under 
Section  266  of  the  federal  judiciary  act. 

This  was  admitted  by  Robert  H.  Mc- 
Carter  for  the  company.  He  then  point- 
ed out  to  the  court  that  Section  266  as 
amended  in  1913  provided  that  this  stat- 
utory court  could  issue  an  injunction  re- 
straining enforcement  or  execution  "of 
any  order  made  by  an  administrator  or 
commission  acting  under  and  pursuant 
to  the  statute  of  such  state." 

The  court  said  it  had  no  authority  to 
act  then  inasmuch  as  the  statute  re- 
quired three  judges  to  sit.  Judge  Rell- 
stab said,  however,  that  he  would  deny 
the  motion,  reserving  the  right  for  Mr. 
Herrmann  to  appeal  to  the  full  court 
when  it  convenes  Sept.  13. 


Interurban  Seeks  to  Restrain 
Autos 

Judge  Cross  of  the  Ottawa  County 
Circuit  Court,  sitting  at  Grand  Haven, 
Mich.,  on  Aug.  6,  refused  to  issue  a 
temporary  injunction  restraining  motor 
buses  and  motor  freight  vehicles  in  com- 
petition with  Grand  Rapids,  Grand 
Haven  &  Muskegon  Railway  from  oper- 
ating until  the  suit  brought  by  interur- 
ban against  operators  of  bus  lines  could 
be  tried.  Judge  Cross'  decision  permits 
stage  lines  to  operate  until  the  case  can 
be  tried  in  Circuit  Court  on  its  merits. 

The  bill  of  complaint  filed  by  the  rail- 
way alleged  that  the  defendant  motor 
lines  were  operating  in  defiance  of  the 
laws  of  the  State  regulating  the  oper- 
ation of  stage  coaches  over  the  high- 


ways; that  the  operators  of  the  motor 
vehicles  named  do  not  hold  franchises 
from  the  cities  and  villages  through 
which  they  pass,  as  required  by  the 
stage  coach  law,  and  that  certain  of  the 
operators  have  failed  to  comply  with 
provisions  of  the  law. 

The  bill  states  that  the  Grand  Rapids, 
Grand  Haven  &  Muskegon  Railway's 
earnings  have  been  greatly  decreased 
and  that  the  investment  in  the  railway 
is  jeopardized  by  the  unfair  and  un- 
regulated competition  of  the  autos. 


Increased  Service  Offered  If 
Jitneys  Are  Regulated 

The  Indiana  Union  Traction  Company 
has  submitted  to  the  City  Council  of 
Muncie,  Ind.,  a  proposal  to  give  Muncie 
a  service  with  cars  as  frequently  as 
seven  minutes  apart,  and  not  farther 
apart  than  twelve  minutes,  in  place  of 
the  present  fifteen  and  twenty-minute 
service.  The  company  asks  in  return 
the  enactment  of  an  ordinance  forbid- 
ding jitneys  to  operate  in  the  streets 
occupied  by  the  railway  and  giving  the 
company  permission  to  construct  a  line 
in  Madison  Street  from  Kiby  Avenue  to 
Fifth  Street,  this  being  an  extension 
of  the  Heekin  park  line,  for  the  pm-pose 
of  making  two  loops  in  the  eastern  and 
southern  part  of  town.  Under  the  ordi- 
nance suggested  there  would  be  nothing 
to  prevent  jitneys  from  operating  in  the 
territory  served  by  the  railway  as  long 
as  the  automobiles  do  not  use  the 
streets  in  which  the  railway  operates. 


Fare  Case  at  Birmingham 
Appealed  by  City 

Formal  notice  of  appeal  from  the  de- 
cision of  the  Alabama  Public  Service 
Commission  granting  an  8-cent  fare 
with  a  2-cent  transfer  charge  has  been 
filed  by  the  city  of  Birmingham  with 
the  Public  Service  Commission. 

Under  the  public  utilities  act,  adopted 
by  the  last  Alabama  Legislature,  all  ap- 
peals from  decisions  of  the  Alabama 
Public  Service  Commission  must  be 
made  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  Montgom- 
ery County.  Appeal  may  then  be  taken 
from  that  court  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Records  of  the  hearing  of  the  appli- 
cation of  Lee  C.  Bradley,  receiver  for 
the  Birmingham  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company,  which  resulted  in  the 
granting  of  the  increased  fares,  will  be 
certified  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  Mont- 
gomery. The  case  will  be  set  in  regu- 
lar order  before  the  judge  sitting  in  the 
Chancery  division. 

City  officials  state  that  the  validity 
of  the  Public  Utilities  bill,  giving  the 
Alabama  Public  Service  Commission 
exclusive  right  to  regulate  fares 
charged  by  public  utilities  of  the  state, 
will  be  attacked  by  separate  proceed- 
ings, which  they  say  will  be  filed  in 
court  in  a  short  time. 

A  ticket  provision  of  the  order  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission,  by  which 
the  railway  sells  fifteen  tickets  for  $1, 
is  proving  popular  in  Birmingham.  The 
tickets  are  being  used  very  extensively 
by  regular  patrons  of  the  system. 


Straight  Fare  in  Memphis 

Memphis  Goes  to  Seven  Cents  With  No 
Ticket  Sales— Riding  Still  Falling 
Off— Wages  Cut 

Passengers  on  the  cars  of  the  Mem- 
phis (Tenn.)  Street  Railway  were  greet- 
ed on  Aug.  19  with  the  announcement 
that  the  sale  of  ten  tickets  for  65  cents 
had  been  discontinued  that  thereafter  a 
straight  7-cent  fare  would  apply. 
Tickets  already  purchased  will  be  re- 
ceived as  fare  during  the  month  and 
after  Sept.  1  they  will  be  redeemed  at 
the  purchase  price. 

One  year  and  one  day  before,  the  fare 
had  been  advanced  from  6  cents  straight 
to  7  cents,  with  ten  tickets  for  65  cents. 
The  average  fare  per  passenger  re- 
ceived under  the  plan  that  has  now  been 
discontinued  was  6.9  cents,  so  that  the 
elimination  of  the  sale  of  tickets  will, 
if  traffic  holds  up,  add  but  little  to  the 
revenues  of  the  company.  Traffic  dur- 
ing August  has  been  at  the  lowest 
point  reached  during  the  year.  If  traf- 
fic conditions  improve  the  receivers  are 
hopeful  another  advance  may  be  avoid- 
ed, but  if  conditions  do  not  change  for 
the  better  an  advance  in  fare  to  8  cents 
cash,  with  ten  tickets  for  70  cents,  is 
in  prospect.  Two  months  must  elapse, 
however,  before  another  change  in  the 
rate  can  be  requested. 

20,000  Fewer  Passengers  in  July 

The  increase  in  fare  was  not  alto- 
gether unheralded  in  advance,  for  offi- 
cials of  the  railway  had  recently  re- 
ferred inquiries  about  the  fare  pros- 
pects to  the  record  in  the  recent  wage 
arbitration  and  to  further  declines  in 
gross  revenue  during  July.  Operations 
for  July  in  Memphis  added  $20,559  to 
the  deficit  in  the  fare  index  fund,  as 
compared  with  $15,056  for  June.  The 
company  carried  20,345  fewer  passen- 
gers in  the  thirty-one  days  of  July  than 
it  did  in  the  thirty  days  of  June.  The 
total  deficit  to  date  from  Aug.  1,  1919, 
is  $200,318. 

The  receivers  admit  that  they  were 
much  disappointed  at  the  recent  wage 
award,  which  resulted  in  a  cut  of  4 
cents  an  hour  in  the  pay  of  trainmen. 
The  receivers  asked  a  reduction  of  12 
cents  an  hour.  Based  on  July's  busi- 
ness, the  cut  of  4  cents  an  hour  would 
have  saved  the  company  about  $4,800, 
while  the  cut  of  12  cents  asked  by  the 
management  would  have  saved  about 
$15,000. 

In  his  testimony  before  the  wage  ar- 
bitration board,  T.  H.  Tutwiler,  receiver 
for  the  company,  stated  that  the  re- 
ceivers for  the  company  refrained  from 
increasing  the  fare  on  July  1  because 
they  expected  a  substantial  reduction 
in  wages,  in  keeping  with  the  reduced 
cost  of  living. 

The  order  under  which  the  receivers 
are  operating  provides  that:  In  the 
emergency  that  the  fare  index  fund  con- 
tinues to  decrease  for  two  succeeding 
months  after  an  increase  in  the  rate  of 
fare,  then  the  commission  may  announce 
an  emergency  change  in  the  rate  of 
fare  and  put  into  effect  the  next  indi- 
cated rate  of  fare  forthwith. 


340 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  -9 


New  Bus  Routes  Authorized  in 
Washington 

Extension  of  the  Washington  (D.  C.) 
Rapid  Transit  motor  bus  service  over 
four  new  routes  has  been  authorized  by 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission.  The 
commission  took  its  action  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  bus  company.  In  its  peti- 
tion to  create  the  new  routes,  the  bus 
company  stated  that  "after  five  months 
of  practical  experience  we  have  accu- 
mulated figures  which,  in  our  opinion, 
warrant  additional  bus  lines  in  this 
city."  In  extending  the  bus  lines,  the 
commission  also  allowed  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  passengers  the  machine 
can  carry  to  thirty-two — twenty-one 
seated  and  eleven  standing.  The  tran- 
sit company  asked  the  commission  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  passengers  to 
thirty-five,  but  the  commission  ruled 
that  such  an  increase  would  overload 
the  machines. 


buses  follows  street  car  lines  but  future 
plans  provide  for  a  network  of  bus  lines 
covering  the  residential  sections. 


Bus  Company  Enlarges  Operation 

The  Selectmen  of  Saugus,  Mass.,  have 
granted  to  the  Lynnfield  Community 
Bus  Company,  Inc.,  a  license  to  operate 
in  North  Saugus  through  Spring  Street 
or  Walnut  Street  to  the  Lynnfield  lines. 
This  license  was  granted  at  the  be- 
hest of  the  North  Saugus  Improvement 
Club,  which  requested  that  the  Lynn- 
field bus  be  allowed  to  run  in  opposition 
to  the  motor  bus  service  started  on 
Aug.  1  by  the  Eastern  Massachusetts 
Street  Railway,  which  has  since  been 
taken  off,  from  the  terminal  of  the  car 
line  at  the  Lynn  city  limits  to  Corbett's 
Square,  North  Saugus. 

The  motor  bus  line  of  the  railway 
did  not  prove  popular  with  the  North 
Saugus  residents.  They  have  preferred 
to  walk  a  distance  and  pay  a  higher 
fare  to  ride  on  the  Lynnfield  Communi- 
ty bus  rather  than  patronize  the  motor 
bus  operated  by  the  railway. 

This  bus  line  covers  a  part  of  the 
territory  once  served  by  the  trolley 
l.ne  from  Lynn  to  Wakefield.  The  trol- 
L-y  abandoned  operation  some  time  ago. 


Detroit  Bus  Company  Builds 
Own  Garage 

A  new  garage  for  the  Detroit  Motor 
Bus  Company  is  being  rapidly  pushed 
to  completion.  The  building  is  located 
at  the  foot  of  Terminal  street.  It  will 
be  120  ft.  x  140  ft.  in  dimensions,  one 
story  high.  The  materials  being  used 
in  erecting  it  are  brick  and  steel.  The 
estimated  cost  is  $75,000. 

W.  S.  Evans,  president  of  the  Detroit 
Motor  Bus  Company,  announces  that 
seventy  buses  will  soon  be  in  operation 
in  response  to  the  wide  demand  for  the 
opening  of  additional  routes  in  various 
sections  of  Detroit.  The  service  fur- 
nished by  the  company  has  become  re- 
markably popular,  so  much  so  that 
crowds  around  some  of  the  stations  be- 
come so  dense  at  times  during  the  even- 
ing hours  that  it  is  altogether  impos- 
sible to  accommodate  the  waiting  pas- 
sengers. Practically  every  part  of  the 
three  routes  now  being  traversed  by  the 


900  Buses  Dispatched  a  Day  from 
Seattle  Terminal 

The  Motor  Transportation  Service 
Company,  Railway  Exchange  Building, 
Seattle,  Wash.,  announces  that  the 
conversion  of  the  old  fire  station  at 
Third  Avenue  and  Pine  Street  into  a 
motor  bus  terminal  will  be  completed 
in  about  thirty  days.  New  loading  and 
unloading  platforms  will  be  provided. 
When  completed,  the  station  will  be  the 
terminus  for  every  motor  bus  concern 
operating  from  Seattle.  About  900 
motor  buses  will  enter  and  leave  the 
station  in  a  twenty-four-hour  day.  G. 
R.  Sumpter  is  president  of  the  company. 


Key  Route  Gets  Permission  to 
Operate  Motor  Buses 

An  ordinance  has  recently  been 
passed  by  the  city  of  Oakland,  Cal., 
permitting  the  San  Francisco-Oakland 
Terminal  Railway  to  extend  its  service 
on  the  West  Sixteenth  Street  and  Pied- 
mont Avenue  lines  by  using  the  motor 
bus.  Passage  of  the  ordinance  by  the 
City  Council  was  necessary  inasmuch 
as  a  previous  ordinance  restricted  the 
operation  of  jitney  buses.  The  opera- 
tion of  motor  buses  under  the  present 
regulation  extends  transportation  serv 
ice  from  the  termination  of  the  existing 
electric  railway  lines. 


Motor  Companies  Slow  to  Comply 
With  Law 

The  Graham  law,  which  classifies  in- 
ter-city motor  bus  lines  as  public  utili- 
ties and  makes  them  subject  to  regula- 
tion of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission 
of  Ohio,  is  being  complied  with  only 
half-heartedly.  As  a  result  the  com- 
mission is  about  to  begin  an  investiga- 
tion to  ascertain  why  so  few  of  the 
500  or  more  bus  lines  operating  in  the 
State  have  filed  tariffs.  At  the  time 
the  law  went  into  effect  on  Aug.  15  only 
six  lines  had  filed  their  tariffs  and  only 
two  of  these  conformed  to  regulations. 
A  fine  of  $1,000  a  day  is  provided  for 
negligence  in  filing  tariffs. 

The  commission  has  drafted  a  set  of 
rules  for  the  bus  lines  which  makes  it 
mandatory  for  them  to  file  time  tables, 
maintain  established  routes,  run  on  reg- 
ular schedules,  etc.  Annual  reports 
covering  financial  and  operating  trans- 
actions are  required  to  be  made. 


Bus  Service  Out  of  Columbus 

The  Ohio  Motor  Bus  Company,  now 
operating  a  bus  line  between  Colum- 
bus and  Westerville,  started  a  new 
line  from  High  and  Broad  Streets,  Co- 
lumbus, to  Bexley  on  Aug.  1.  The  buses 
operate  from  6  a.  m.  until  midnight, 
but  it  is  planned  to  establish  an  "owl" 
service.  The  fare  is  5  cents  to  Franklin 
Park  and  10  cents  to  Bexley.  An  8- 
minute  schedule  is  operated  during  the 
rush  hours. 


Trolley  Freight  Between  Camden 
and  Trenton 

The  Public  Service  Railway  will  es- 
tablish freight  service  between  Trenton 
and  Camden,  N.  J.,  beginning  Sept.  1. 
The  rates  have  not  yet  been  announced. 
Stations  will  also  be  established  at  Pal- 
myra, Riverside,  Beverly,  Burlington, 
Florence,  Roebling  and  Bordentown. 
There  will  also  be  "curb  stone"  stops  at 
Delair,  Cambridge,  Plaza  Park  and 
Fieldsboro.  Proprietors  of  garages 
near  these  stops  will  be  made  special 
agents.  Provisions  will  be  made  for 
persons  to  have  freight  picked  up  at 
places  along  the  line  which  are  not 
designated  as  freight  stops. 


Trackless  Trolley  Demonstrated  in 
Norfolk. — The  trackless  trolley,  which 
has  been  in  use  on  the  lines  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Railway  and  Power  Company  in 
Richmond,  Va.,  has  been  moved  by  the 
company  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  where  the 
value  of  the  vehicle  is  being  demon- 
strated to  the  public. 

Ticket  Fares  Cut  by  Suburban  Line. 
— The  board  of  directors  of  the  Home- 
stead &  Mifflin  Street  Railway,  Home- 
stead, Pa.,  has  ordered  a  reduction  in 
the  cost  of  ticket  fares.  Strip  tickets 
which  now  sell  at  fourteen  for  $1  will 
sell  at  sixteen  for  $1.  Cash  fares  will 
remain  at  8  cents. 

Temporary  Rates  Extended. — Tempo- 
rary rates  of  the  Fargo-Moorhead  Street 
Railway,  Fargo,  N.  D.,  have  been  ex- 
tended to  Sept.  3.  This  is  pending  a 
decision  in  the  case,  through  an  order 
issued  by  the  State  Railroad  Commis- 
sion and  officially  announced  in  its  last 
bulletin.    The  rate  is  7  cents. 

Fares  Advanced  to  Ten  Cents. — The 
Public  Service  Commission  has  given 
permission  to  the  Alabama  Power  Com- 
pany to  charge  10  cents  on  its  lines 
in  Huntsville.  The  company  was  oper- 
ating on  a  7-cent  fare  granted  last  year 
and  proved  that  this  rate  produced  a 
very  small  increase  in  revenue. 

Jitneys  Barred  from  Railway  Streets. 
— The  City  Council  of  Aberdeen,  Wash., 
recently  passed  an  ordinance  barring 
jitneys  from  all  streets  served  by  lines 
of  the  Grays  Harbor  Railway  &  Light 
Company.  Jitney  interests  have  secured 
legal  representation,  and  it  is  stated 
the  matter  will  be  carried  by  them  to 
the  courts. 

$10,000  Addition  a  Month  Expected. 
— The  increase  in  ticket  fare  at  Toledo, 
Ohio,  from  eight  for  50  cents  to  six  for 
40  cents,  which  went  into  effect  on  Aug. 
20,  is  expected  to  yield  about  $10,000  a 
month  additional  revenue.  Officials  of 
the  Community  Traction  Company  be- 
lieve that  by  next  spring  fares  will  be- 
gin to  return  step  by  step  bapk  to  a 
nickel  fare. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


341 


Rerouting  to  Expedite  Traffic. — The 

City  Council  of  Indianapolis  recently 
accepted  three  proposals  for  rerouting 
interurban  cars  and  West  Washington 
Street  cars.  The  recommendations  were 
put  into  effect  on  June  26.  Interurban 
routes  have  been  changed  so  as  to  elimi- 
nate traffic  from  the  already  congested 
trunk  lines  on  Virginia  and  Massachu- 
setts Avenues. 

City  Answers  Fare  Petition. — In  an 
swer  to  the  petition  of  the  Durham  (N. 
C.)  Public  Service  Company  before  the 
Corporation  Commission  for  a  10-cent 
fare,  the  city  attorney  has  prepared  a 
request  for  a  reduction  in  fares  from  8 
cents  to  7  cents.  The  city  contends  that 
an  increased  fare  will  work  to  the  det- 
riment of  the  company  since  there  has 
been  a  notable  decrease  in  passengers 
carried  since  the  fare  was  advanced 
from  7  cents  to  8  cents. 

Ten-Cent  Units  Desired.— The  Mill- 
ville  (N.  J.)  Traction  Company  has  ap 
plied  to  the  Public  Utility  Commission 
for  permission  to  increase  its  rates  from 
7  cents  to  10  cents.  Last  year  the  com  - 
pany abolished  commutation  tickets 
and  the  fare  from  Millville  to  Vineland 
was  increased  from  10  to  14  cents.  The 
company  recently  took  up  its  tracks 
from  Millville  to  South  Millville  due  to 
heavy  losses.  The  hearing  is  scheduled 
for  Sept.  6  at  Trenton. 

Plea  Made  for  Jitneys. — Fifteen 
thousand  persons,  most  of  whom  reside 
in  the  south  and  west  sections  of  In- 
dianapolis, are  said  to  have  signed  a 
petition  requesting  the  City  Council  to 
refrain  from  eliminating  the  jitney. 
The  petition  is  being  held  in  readiness 
for  presentation  to  the  Council  in  case 
the  ordinance  to  regulate  jitneys  is 
called  out  of  committee.  The  petition' 
said:  "We  know  what  the  street  car 
service  was  prior  to  the  introduction  of 
the  jitney  and  what  it  will  be  again  if 
you  permit  the  jitney  to  be  abolished." 

1,300,000  Fewer  Passengers  a  Month. 
— The  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany has  cut  its  service  about  10  per 
cent  because  the  company  is  handling 
1,300,000  fewer  passengers  each  month 
this  year  than  during  the  corresponding 
months  last  year.  Normally  about 
12,000,000  passengers  are  carried  each 
month.  Walter  A.  Draper,  vice-presi- 
dent, in  explaining  the  action  taken  by 
the  officials  of  the  company,  said  the 
closing  of  several  large  factories  in  the 
industrial  centers  was  responsible  for 
the  curtailment  of  service. 

City  Will  Not  Act.— The  City  Com- 
mission of  Hoquiam,  Wash.,  after  con- 
sideration of  the  drafting  of  an  ordi- 
nance denying  to  jitneys  the  use  of  cer- 
tain streets,  as  requested  by  the  Grays 
Harbor  Railway  &  Light  Company,  has 
announced  that  it  will  take  no  action 
in  the  matter.  The  commissioners  state, 
in  part:  "From  an  examination  of  the 
ordinance  submitted,  it  is  apparent  that 
the  ordinance,  if  passed,  would  abso- 
lutely prohibit  the  operation  of  stage 
lines  between  this  city  and  Aberdeen, 
as  well  as  local  jitneys.  Under  the 
form  of  city  government  here,  it  is  pos- 
sible for  a  petition  to  be  filed  initiating 


an  ordinance  whereby  the  same  may  be 
submitted  to  the  voters  of  the  com- 
munity for  acceptance  or  rejection." 
Eight-Cent  Zone  Rate  Allowed.— The 

State  Public  Utility  Commission  of 
New  Jersey  has  dismissed  the  applica- 
tion of  the  New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania 
Traction  Company  for  an  increase  from 

7  to  a  10-cent  fare  in  each  of  its  four 
zones  between  Trenton  and  Princeton, 
but  allowed  the  company  an  increase  of 
1  cent  for  each  zone,  making  cash  fare 

8  cents.  The  company,  however,  is  di- 
rected to  sell  four  tickets  for  30  cents. 
The  rate  of  fare  within  the  Trenton  city 
limits  must  remain  at  3  cents,  the  com- 
pany's franchise  containing  a  clause  to 
that  effect.  School  children  may  buy 
commutation  tickets  to  be  used  on 
school  days  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five 
tickets  for  $1. 

1  New  I 
I    Publications  j 

Steam  Boiler  Engineering 

Twenty-seventh    edition.  Published  by 

the    Heine    Safety    Boiler  Company.  St. 

Louis.  Mo.  Cloth,  6x9  in..  639  pages, 
400  illustrations. 

Combined  in  this  twenty-seventh  edi- 
tion of  "Helios,"  which  summarizes  the 
latest  commercial  developments  in 
boiler  design  practice,  are  the  experi- 
ence of  both  the  technical  staff  of  the 
Heine  Safety  Boiler  Company  and 
other  eminent  authorities.  Covering 
all  the  phases  of  boiler  practice  from 
design  to  installation,  tests  and  opera- 
tion, it  contains  all  the  data  and  infor- 
mation of  the  company's  long  experi- 
ence, to  which  is  added  sufficient 
theoretical  explanation  for  clarity,  so 
that  the  book  is  very  valuable  to  any 
steam  engineer. 


Analysis  of  Electric  Railway  Problem 

By  Delos  P.  Wilcox,  Ph.D.,  809  pages. 
Published  by  the  author.     New  York  City. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  hearings 
conducted  in  1919  by  the  Federal  Elec- 
tric Railways  Commission,  the  services 
of  Dr.  Wilcox  were  engaged  by  the 
commission  to  aid  it  in  analyzing  the 
testimony  gathered  and  to  make  sug- 
gestions to  the  commission  with  ref- 
erence to  its  report.  The  analysis  thus 
prepared  by  Dr.  Wilcox  forms  the 
greater  part  of  the  book  under  review. 
The  plan  followed  has  been  to  group 
selected  parts  of  the  testimony  under 
appropriate  chapter  headings  and  dis- 
cuss the  points  made.  Altogether  there 
are  fifty-four  chapters  in  the  book. 

Dr.  Wilcox  frankly  says  in  his  pref- 
ace, "My  analysis  of  the  evidence  pre- 
sented to  the  Federal  Electric  Railways 
Commission  confirms  me  in  the  opinion 
that  no  permanent  solution  of  the  elec- 
tric railway  problem,  consistent  with 
public  interest,  is  possible  except  in 
public  ownership."  This  viewpoint  is 
naturally  presented  throughout  the  vol- 


ume and  is  set  forth  in  the  fifty-four 
conclusions  in  Dr.  Wilcox's  summary, 
which  forms  part  of  the  fifty-fourth 
chapter  entitled  "Public  Ownership  and 
Operation  the  Ultimate  Solution."  The 
author  does  not  hesitate  to  admit  that 
there  are  many  difficulties  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  even  this  solution.  Thus, 
our  governmental  structures,  in  large 
measure,  are  unsuitable  for  the  assump- 
tion of  this  responsibility.  Railway 
properties  extend  beyond  the  boundary 
lines  of  municipalities  and  other  politi- 
cal subdivisions.  Municipal  powers  for 
incurring  debts  are  largely  exhausted. 
There  is  lack  of  free  development  of 
constructive  policies  in  public  admin- 
istration. Nevertheless,  he  thinks  that 
many  of  these  difficulties  are  artificial 
and  can  be  removed  in  time  and  that 
the  proper  policy  now  is  to  direct  atten- 
tion toward  the  removal  of  the  legal, 
financial  and  administrative  barriers 
now  opposed  to  this  objective. 

From  these  comments  the  idea  must 
not  be  derived  that  Dr.  Wilcox's  book 
is  only  a  plea  for  municipal  ownership 
and  operation.  It  contains  many  inter- 
esting facts  taken  from  the  steno- 
graphic reports  of  the  meeting  and  ar- 
ranged under  logical  heads  for  discus- 
sion and  comparison.  These  include 
statistics  of  the  results  of  fare  in- 
creases during  1917,  1918,  and  1919, 
taken  from  a  data  sheet  sent  out  by 
the  secretary  of  the  commission  in  De- 
cember of  the  latter  year,  a  list  in 
tabular  form  of  the  strikes  on  the  prin- 
cipal electric  railway  systems  in  the 
United  States  during  1919,  giving  date 
and  duration  of  strike  and  approximate 
loss  in  revenue,  a  table  giving  wages  of 
employees  on  unionized  properties,  etc. 
Six  chapters  are  devoted  primarily  to 
different  phases  of  the  labor  problem. 
One  of  these  is  entitled  "the  union 
labor  program"  and  describes  the  plan 
put  forth  by  the  union  officials  at  the 
hearing,  and  one  is  entitled  "the  right 
to  strike,"  a  weapon  which  the  author 
thinks  should  be  taken  away,  as  the 
public's  right  to  have  local  transporta- 
tion service  go  on  without  interruption 
is  paramount. 

There  are  two  appendices.  One  is  a 
discussion  of  the  local  transportation 
issues  in  New  Jersey  in  the  form  of  a 
report  transmitted  to  Governor  Ed- 
wards on  July  19,  1920.  The  other  is 
a  discussion  of  the  Denver  traction 
situation  in  the  form  of  a  report  pre- 
pared for  a  civic  commission  in  Denver. 

On  the  whole  railway  officials  will 
find  much  to  interest  them  in  the  book. 


Fare  Increase  Allowed 
in  Minneapolis 

The  petition  of  the  Minneapolis  Street 
Railway,  filed  on  June  24  and  heard  on 
Aug.  23,  for  a  cash  fare  of  7  cents  and 
four  tickets  for  25  cents,  has  been 
granted  by  the  state  commission,  ef- 
fective on  Sept.  1.  Further  action  of 
the  city  to  take  the  matter  into  the 
courts  depends  on  the  orders  of  the 
council.  The  hearing  of  a  similar  re- 
quest for  an  emergency  advance  in  fare 
by  the  St.  Paul  City  Railway  was  be- 
gun on  Aug.  25. 


342 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  9 


J.  H.  Sundmaker  Resigns 

Chief  Engineer  of  Ohio  Electric  Opens 
Consulting  Engineering  Office 
in  Cincinnati 

After  an  absence  of  eight  years  from 
Cincinnati  J.  H.  Sundmaker,  widely 
known  in  the  engineering  world,  has 
returned  to  his  birthplace  and  is  now 
in  private  practice  as  a  consulting  engi- 
neer, with  offices  in  the  Union  Trust 
Building.  During  these  eight  years 
Mr.  Sundmaker  was  chief  engineer 
and  director  of  all  subsidiaries  of  the 
Ohio  Electric  Railway,  with  headquar- 
ters at  Springfield,  Ohio. 

M,r.  Sundmaker's  resignation  as 
chief  engineer  of  the  Ohio  Electric 
lines  was  effective  on  July  31.  G.  D. 
Nieoll,  assistant  chief  engineer,  took 
over  the  supervision  of  the  engineering 
work  when  Mr.  Sundmaker  left.  It  is 
understood  that  Mr.  Sundmaker's  place 
will  not  be  filled  and  that  Mr.  Nicoll 
will  retain  his  present  title  as  assistant 
chief  engineer. 

Mr.  Sundmaker  has  been  identified 
with  the  Ohio  Electric  lines  for  the 
last  eight  years.  Millions  of  dollars 
have  been  spent  in  the  improvement  of 
these  lines  under  his  direction.  Mr. 
Sundmaker  is  optimistic  about  the 
future  of  interurbans.  He  believes  that 
the  Ohio  Electric  lines  can  be  made 
to  pay  a  good  return,  notwithstanding 
the  general  use  of  the  automobile  and 
the  motor  truck.  As  he  reviews  the 
past  and  looks  into  the  future  he 
states  that  he  feels  that  the  interur- 
bans have  come  to  stay  and  that  no 
amount  of  competition  can  interfere 
with  their  successful  operation  if 
business  is  coaxed  and  expenses  are 
reduced. 

Since  taking  up  his  position  as  chief 
engineer  in  1913,  the  year  that  the 
great  flood  swept  that  section  and 
caused  great  damage  to  property,  in- 
cluding that  of  the  Ohio  Electric  Rail- 
way, Mr.  Sundmaker  has  been  steadily 
at  work  building  up  the  system.  Not- 
withstanding the  present  financial  situ- 
ation in  which  the  roads  are  involved, 
the  lines  are  considered  in  splendid 
shape  for  service.  With  the  expendi- 
ture of  a  limited  amount  of  money  it 
is  pointed  out  that  the  roads  can  be 
made  to  give  a  substantial  return  on 
the  investments,  after  the  general  re- 
adjustment contemplated. 

Mr.  Sundmaker  states  that  if  the 
tracks  of  the  Ohio  Electric  Railway 
and  the  other  lines  operating  in  con- 
nection are  placed  entirely  on  private 
right-of-way  and  attention  paid  to  in- 
creasing business  the  interurbans  can 
be  reorganized  on  a  paying  basis.  He 
says  that  every  means  should  be  adopted 
to  move  tracks  from  locations  where 
expensive  construction  is  necessitated, 
such  as  in  paved  streets. 


Mr.  Sundmaker  has  the  honor  of 
building  the  longest  single  span  high- 
way bridge  in  the  United  States.  The 
new  bridge  was  built  in  1906  across  the 
Big  Miami  River  at  Elizabethtown, 
Ohio.  It  is  claimed  that  this  is  the 
longest  single  span  structure  of  its 
kind  ever  erected.    It  is  600  ft.  long. 

On  Nov.  3,  1909,  announcement  was 
made  in  Cincinnati  that  City  Engineer 
J.  H.  Sundmaker  had  prepared  a  most 
comprehensive  and  important  proposal 
for  the  welfare  and  advancement  of 
Cincinnati,  which  would  be  submitted 
at  the  next  meeting  of  the  City  Council. 
This  contained  detailed  specifications  for 
Cincinnati  electric  lines  and  a  union 
depot  scheme  for  steam  roads. 

Mr.  Sundmaker  has  always  lived  in 
Ohio.  Born  in  Cincinnati,  he  received 
his  early  education  in  the  primary  and 
elementary  schools  of  that  city.  Along 


Mr.  Crowley  General  Storekeeper 
of  International  Railway 

R.  J.  Crowley  has  been  appointed 
general  storekeeper  of  the  International 
Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Mr.  Crowley 
joined  the  International  Railway  in 
1918  as  general  clerk  to  the  superin- 
tendent of  equipment.  At  one  time 
Mr.  Crowley  was  in  charge  of  furnish- 
ing material  for  the  large  construction 
work  on  the  fire  equipment  department 
of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company.  Previous  to  that  he  was 
with  the  Norton  Company  at  the  time 
of  the  electrification  of  the  various 
street  railways  of  New  York  City  and 
also  during  the  building  of  the  Long 
Island  Traction  Company. 


J.  H.  Sundmaker 


in  1887  he  entered  an  engineering  class 
conducted  by  Prof.  William  Eisele, 
under  what  was  known  as  the  "co- 
operative plan  of  working  and  studying 
at  alternate  periods,  which  is  now  in 
operation  at  the  University  of  Cin- 
cinnati, the  idea  having  been  copied 
from  Professor  Eisele.  Completing  his 
education  under  the  guidance  of  Pro- 
fessor Eisele,  Mr.  Sundmaker  associat- 
ed himself  with  Col.  E.  F.  Jewett  in 
general  engineering  work.  Later  he  be- 
came engineer  for  Hamilton  County,  of 
which  Cincinnati  is  a  part.  During 
the  administration  of  Mayor  Leopold 
Markbreit  from  1908-1909  Mr.  Sund- 
maker was  city  engineer  of  the  city  of 
Cincinnati. 

When  Dr.  Charles  Schwab  was  elected 
Mayor  he  appointed  Mr.  Sundmaker 
Director  of  Public  Works,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  from  1910  to  1911.  In 
1913  Mr.  Sundmaker  went  to  Spring- 
field and  took  charge  of  operations  of 
the  Ohio  Electric  Railway  and  its  sub- 
sidiaries. 


"Bill"  Goodwin  Receives  Loving 
Cup 

The  presentation  to  W.  L.  Goodwin  of 
a  huge  silver  loving  cup  as  a  token  of 
esteem  and  devotion  introduced  a  per- 
sonal note  into  the  annual  outing  of  the 
Independent  Associated  Electrical  Con- 
tractor-Dealers held  at  Grant  City, 
Staten  Island,  on  July  30.  Mr.  Goodwin, 
who  is  assistant  to  the  president  of 
the  Society  for  Electrical  Development, 
was  the  guest  of  honor  and  the  presen- 
tation of  the  silver  loving  cup  came  as 
a  complete  surprise  to  him.  He  made 
acknowledgment  in  a  characteristic 
speech,  assuring  the  donors  that  while 
the  spirit  which  prompted  the  gift  was 
fully  appreciated,  he  considers  his  ef- 
forts a  duty  and  a  pleasure,  and  enter- 
tains no  thought  of  obligation  on  the 
part  of  those  who  enjoy  the  benefits. 


E.  F.  Weber  has  been  appointed  so- 
liciting agent  of  the  Chicago,  North 
Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad,  High- 
wood,  111.,  as  a  successor  to  L.  G. 
Vetter. 

C.  M.  Bange,  has  been  appointed  mas- 
ter mechanic  of  the  Interstate  Public 
Service  Company,  with  headquarters  at 
Scottsburg,  Ind.,  to  succeed  H.  H.  Buck- 
man,  whose  resignation  was  announced 
in  these  columns  on  Aug.  6. 

Kazutada  Sakurai,  equipment  engi- 
neer Tokyo  Municipal  Bureau  of  Elec- 
tricity, Tokyo,  Japan,  is  making  a  tour 
of  the  UniteS  States  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  the  electric  railways.  He 
is  particularly  interested  in  car  build- 
ing, car  repair  shops,  car  houses,  etc. 

Prof.  Arthur  M.  Greene,  of  Rensse- 
laer Polytechnic  Institute,  has  accepted 
the  call  of  the  trustees  of  Princeton 
University  to  become  dean  of  the  engi- 
neering school  and  professor  of 
mechanical  engineering.  He  will  take 
up  his  new  duties  in  September,  1922. 
Prof.  Greene  is  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  and  also  holds 
an  honorary  degree  of  D.Sc.  conferred 
in  1916.  He  has  taught  mechanical 
engineering  at  Drexel  Institute,  at  the 
Universities  of  Pennsylvania  and  Mis- 
souri, and  at  Rensselaer.  He  has  been 
prominent  in  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers  as  manager  and 
vice-president  and  at  the  present  time 
is  chairman  of  the  research  committee. 


August  27,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


343 


C.  D.  Emmons  has  succeeded  F.  E. 
Parwell  as  secretary  of  the  Waterloo, 
Cedar  Falls  &  Northern  Railway, 
Waterloo,  Iowa.  The  positions  of 
claim  agent,  electrical  engineer  and 
road  master  are  now  being  filled  re- 
spectively by  R.  G.  Murray,  S.  J.  Fair- 
banks and  C.  Formaker. 

J.  C.  Hector  resigned  in  July  from 
the  position  of  assistant  treasurer  of 
the  Bellingham  Division  of  the  Stone  & 
Webster  interests  in  the  Puget  Sound 
territory.  His  resignation  has  opened 
the  way  for  the  advancement  of  C.  E. 
Stroop,  chief  clerk  in  the  office  of  W.  E. 
Best,  assistant  treasurer  of  the  Seattle 
Division,  to  the  vacant  Bellingham  posi- 
tion. Mr.  Stroop  will  be  succeeded  in 
the  Seattle  offices  by  W.  N.  Ringrose, 
of  the  Bellingham  offices,  who  assumed 
his  new  position  Aug.  1.  Mr.  Hector, 
who  was  among  the  most  popular  fig- 
ures in  the  Bellingham  organization,  has 
gone  to  California,  where  he  has  joined 
a  brother-in-law  at  Los  Angeles,  in  the 
operation  of  a  group  of  producing  oil 
wells. 


R.  T.  Lozier,  consulting  electrical  en- 
gineer in  New  York,  died  Aug.  21,  of 
pneumonia.  He  was  52  years  old.  Mr. 
Lozier  was  connected  from  1883  to  1890 
with  the  Edison  interests.  Later  he 
was  associated  with  the  Allis-Chalmers 
Company. 

W.  C.  Rogers,  retired  Cincinnati 
business  man  who,  during  his  two  terms 
as  representative  from  Hamilton 
County  to  the  Ohio  Legislature  from 
1892  to  1896,  fathered  and  put  through 
the  Rogers  Bill,  granting  a  fifty-year 
franchise  to  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio) 
Street  Railway,  died  at  Oakland,  Cal. 
Mr.  Rogers,  who  was  seventy -five  years 
old,  was  well  known  in  Cincinnati  as  a 
theatrical  producer,  and  a  leader  in  the 
coal  business.  The  fifty-year  franchise, 
which  Mr.  Rogers  was  responsible  for 
obtaining  for  the  traction  company,  has 
been  the  center  of  discussion  during  the 
controversy  that  has  recently  been  tak- 
ing place  between  the  city  of  Cincinnati 
and  the  company. 

Epes  Randolph,  president  of  the  Ari- 
zona Eastern  and  the  Southern  Pacific 
de  Mexico,  and  one  of  the  pioneer  rail- 
road men  of  the  Southwest,  died  on 
Aug.  22.  Spending  his  early  years  in  the 
West,  he  was  assistant  engineer  for  va- 
rious railroads  in  the  South  and  Mexico 
from  1876  to  1885,  and  as  engineer  from 
that  time  until  1895,  when  he  was  super- 
intendent of  Southern  Pacific  lines  in 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico.  From  1901 
to  1904  he  was  vice-president  and  gen- 
era] manager  of  the  Los  Angeles  Rail- 
way and  Pacific  Electric  Railway,  and 
held  the  same  positions  later  in  other 
railway  companies  until  1911,  when  he 
was  appointed  to  the  positions  he  held 
at  the  time  of  his  death. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Increase  in  Coal  Production 

Current  Rate  Is  Still  a  Million  Tons  a 
Week  Behind  the  1914  Average 
for  Corresponding  Period 

For  the  first  time  in  two  months  the 
production  of  soft  coal  has  turned  def- 
initely upward.  The  output  during  the 
second  week  of  August  is  estimated  by 
the  Geological  Survey  at  7,726,000  net 
tons.  Not  only  was  this  an  increase  of 
551,000  tons  over  the  output  of  the  week 
preceding,  but  it  was  the  largest  attained 
in  any  week  since  June  11,  though  the 
present  rate  of  production  is  below  that 
in  other  recent  years.  In  the  correspond- 
ing week  of  1917  over  10,100,000  tons 
was  produced;  in  1918  the  figure  was 
11,770,000  tons;  a  year  ago  it  was  11,- 
813,000.  In  1919,  a  dull  year  for  the 
coal  trade,  the  corresponding  week 
showed  9,100,000  tons.  Even  in  1914,  a 
year  of  business  depression,  the  August 
output  averaged  8,700,000  tons  a  week. 
Before  the  current  rate  of  production 
can  equal  even  the  1914  rate  it  must  be 
increased  almost  another  million  tons  a 
week. 

Production  of  soft  coal  during  the 
first  190  working  days  of  the  past  five 
years,  the  period  over  which  records 
of  weekly  output  extend,  has  been  as 
follows : 


Years  of  activity 

1917  337.591,0011 

1918.  .  .  .359,409.000 
1920.  .  .  .320.807,000 


Years  of  depression 
1919.  .  .  .273,403,00 
1921  241,548,011 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  year  1921  is 
in  round  numbers  32,000,000  tons  behind 
1919,  79,000,000  tons  behind  1920,  and 
about  107,000,000  tons  behind  the  av- 
erage of  the  war  years.  Compared  with 
the  average  of  all  four  years,  it  is  81,- 
000,000  tons  behind. 

Undoubtedly  the  largest  factor  in  this 
subnormal  production  is  a  decrease  in 
consumption  resulting  from  the  de- 
pressed condition  of  industry.  The  lat- 
est month  for  which  consumption  data 
are  available  is  May,  1921.  In  that 
month  the  consumption  for  railroad  fuel 
was  probably  only  81  per  cent  of  the 
1920  average;  for  electric  utilities,  only 
78  per  cent;  and  for  coke  manufacture, 
only  38  per  cent.  Exports  in  May,  1921, 
were  but  87  per  cent  of  the  1920  aver- 
age.   

Storage  Battery  Demand  Mostly 
for  Replacements 

Buying  of  storage  batteries  for  con- 
trol and  lighting  of  multiple-unit  trains 
is  of  about  normal  activity,  according 
to  manufacturers'  reports.  There  has 
been  the  usual  steady  but  not  large 
volume  of  orders  from  railways  for  re- 
placements. This  type  of  battery,  de- 
signed to  furnish  the  power  for  operat- 
ing the  control  circuit  of  all  multiple- 


unit  equipment,  such  as  electric  loco- 
motives, subway,  elevated  and  inter- 
urban  trains,  depends  for  its  sales 
largely  of  course,  upon  the  purchase  of 
new  equipment.  It  is  stated  by  battery 
manufacturers  that  a  large  sale  of  new 
equipment  is  not  to  be  expected  just 
now,  but  they  are  looking  forward  op- 
timistically to  business  that  will  accom- 
pany the  purchase  of  electric  locomo- 
tives for  heavy  traction  work. 

Prices  of  batteries  have  not  changed 
materially  since  the  first  of  the  year 
when  they  took  a  slight  drop.  They 
have  followed  very  closely,  the  trend 
of  labor  and  raw  material  prices.  The 
present  price  of  lead,  at  present  4.4 
cents,  is  about  one-half  of  what  it  was 
a  year  ago,  though  prices  several 
months  ago  were  a  fraction  of  a  cent 
lower  than  they  are  now. 


Portland  Cement  Production 
Increases  in  July 

More  cement  was  produced  in  the 
United  States  in  July  than  in  June,  and 
more  cement  was  shipped  than  was  pro- 
duced, according  to  figures  prepared 
under  the  direction  of  Ernest  F.  Bur- 
chard  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey.  Both  production  and  ship- 
ments in  July  exceeded  the  average  for 
July  in  the  last  five  years. 

The  production  for  the  first  seven 
months  of  1921  is  more  than  97  per  cent 
of  the  quantity  manufactured  in  the 
corresponding  months  of  1920  and  more 
than  52  per  cent  of  the  total  production 
in  1920;  the  shipments  are  more  than 
96  per  cent  of  those  for  the  correspond- 
ing period  of  1920  and  more  than  52 
per  cent  of  those  for  the  whole  year 
1920. 

Stocks  at  the  end  of  July  were  over 
1,470,000  bbl.  larger  than  on  Dec.  31, 
1920,  and  a  little  above  the  average  for 
July  in  the  five  preceding  years,  though 
somewhat  less  than  at  the  end  of  June. 
The  production  of  finished  Portland 
cement  for  July  was  9,568,000  bbl., 
while  the  number  of  barrels  shipped 
was  10,301,000. 

The  production  of  clinker  (unground 
cement)  during  the  seven  months 
amounted  to  more  than  53,000,000  bbl., 
and  the  July  production  exceeded  9,000,- 
000  bbl.  July  stocks  of  clinker  are  re- 
ported as  more  than  4,300,000  bbl. 


Electric  Railway  Proposed  for 
Japan 

Application  has  been  made  to  the 
government  of  Japan,  according  to 
Electrical  Industries,  for  a  charter  *:o 
build  a  high-speed  electric  railway  be- 
tween Tokyo  and  Nikko,  a  distance  of 
eighty  miles. 


344 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  y 


Rolling  Stock 


Centralia    (III.)     Traction    Company  has 

purchased  two  new  safety  ears  built  by  the 
Cincinnati  Car  Company  and  purchased 
from  the  National  Safety  Car  &  Equipment 
Company,  St.  Louis.  The  Centralia  &  Cen- 
tral City  Traction  Company  has  also  bought 
two  cars  of  the  same  make  from  the  same 
firm. 

The  Columbus    (Ga.)    Railroad  Company 

has  given  out  the  following  information  on 
the  four  safety  cars  which  were  recently 
ordered  from  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
as  previously  mentioned : 

Number  of  cars  ordered  1 

Date  of  delivery  Oct.  15,  1921 

Builder  of  car  bodv,  St.  Louis  Car  Company 

Type  of  car  Single-truck  safety 

Seating  capacity   -32 

Weight   16,000  lb. 

Length  over  all  28  ft.  I  in. 

Truck  wheelbase   8  ft. 

Width  over  all   8  ft. 

Height,  rail  to  trolley  base  9ft.  9  in. 

Interior  trim  Bronze  and  mahogany 

Roof,  arch  or  monitor  Arch 

Air  brakes   Westinghouse 

Armature    bearings   Ball 

Axles   3i  in.  O.H.  steel,  heat  treated 

Car  signal  system  Faraday 

Car  trimmings   Bronze 

Couplers  Flat  steel,  1  in.  x  2 J  in. 

Curtain  fixtures  

Curtain  Supply  Company  (Pantasote) 
Curtain  material ...  Double-faced  Pantasote 

Designation  signs  Hunter  illuminated 

Door  operating  mechanism  

Air  or  hand  lever 

Fare  boxes   Johnson 

Fenders  or  wheelguards  .  .  .  H&B  lifeguards 

Gears  and  pinions  General  Electric 

Hand  brakes   

Steel  tubing  with  ratchet  wheel 

Heater  equipment   None 

Head  1  Mil-   Golden  Glow 

Journal  bearings  (if  ball  or  roller)  .  .Roller 

Lighting  arresters  General  Electric 

Motors,  type  and  number  GE.  258C 

Registers   International 

Sash  fixtures  Compression  springs 

Seats   

Haywood  Brothers  and  Wakefield  Company 

Seating  material   Wood  slats 

Pten  treads   Feralun.  3  in.  wide 

Trolley  catchers   or  retrievers   

Ohio  Brass  Company 

Trolley  base   Ohio  Brass  Company 

Trucks   St.  Louis  Car  Company 

Ventilators  ...Utility  Ventilation  Company 
Wheels  (type  and  size) .. Rolled  steel  16  in, 


Track  and  Roadway 


British  Columbia  Electric  Railway,  Van- 
couver, B.  C,  has  completed  the  repaving 
of  Government  Street  with  regard  to  the 
relaying  of  the  tracks.  Within  a  short  time 
the  city  will  complete  the  laying  of  the 
asphalt. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  will  start 
soon  on  the  reconstruction  of  Spring  Street 
from  First  to  Seventh  Streets.  The  work 
will  include  the  installation  of  new  ties  and 
rails  and  the  leveling  of  the  roadbed.  The 
present  72-lb..  6-in.  rail  will  be  replaced 
by  llli  lb..  7-in.  girder  rail.  Construction 
work  on  Maple  Avenue  from  Washington 
Street  to  Santa  Barbara  will  be  completed 
shortly. 

Savannah  (Ga.)  Electric  Company  will 
spend  $40,000  in  extensions  to  the  Tri-State 
Exposition  Grounds,  a  distance  of  about  31 
miles.  Work  will  be  started  as  soon  as  the 
franchise  is  granted.  It  will  be  necessary 
to  build  double  lines  of  tracks  on  AVest 
Broad  Street  from  the  present  double  line 
terminal  at  Thirty-ninth  Street,  south  to 
Forty-fifth  Street,  and  a  single  line,  with 
turnouts,  on  Forty-fifth  to  the  fair  grounds, 
where  a  terminal  will  be  made  between  the 
Morehouse  and  Johnson  buildings,  with  a 
loop  in  the  fair  grounds. 

Alton,  Granite  &  St.  Louis  Traction  Com- 
pany. Alton,  111.,  is  making  extensive  im- 
provements in  Alton.  Work  on  track  re- 
newal is  in  progress  on  State.  Third.  Piasa 
Streets  and  Broadway.  Other  track  work 
consists  of  putting  in  new  ties,  lining  and 
resurfacing.  The  work  is  estimated  at 
$150,000. 

Asheville  (N.  C.)  Power  &  Light  Comr 
pany  has  been  given  the  sum  of  $10,000  by 
J.  T.  Harney  to  help  defray  improvement 
expenses.     It  was  with  the  hope  that  the 


West  Asheville  car  line  could  be  extended 
to  Harney  Heights  in  order  to  give  service 
to  the  people  of  that  section  that  the  offer 
was  made.  The  Harney  brothers  have  sold 
large  tracts  of  land  in  this  vicinity  recently. 

Southern  Public  Utilities  Company,  Char- 
lotte, N.  C,  has  completed  its  reconstruc- 
tion and  paving  on  Liberty  Street,  Winston- 
Salem.  An  additional  switch  was  put  in  on 
this  street.  The  car  on  the  Liberty  Street 
in  new  track  construction  and  paving 
represents  an  investment  of  approximately 
$40,000. 

International  Railway,  Buffalo,  X.  Y.,  will 
be  asked  by  the  State  to  give  up  its  fran- 
chise of  the  old  Niagara  Falls  interurban 
line  unless  it  agrees  to  pay  its  share  of 
the  paving  between  the  tracks.  Through 
cars  between  Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls  are 
now  routed  over  the  high-speed  line.  Only 
local  cars  use  the  old  river  road  line. 

Shawnee-Teeumseh  Traction  Company, 
Shawnee,  Okla.,  has  begun  an  extensive 
program  of  reconstructing  bridges  and  im- 
proving its  lines.  A  new  steel  girder  bridge 
will  replace  the  wooden  structure  across 
the  North  Canadian  River.  The  company 
■also  intends  to  purchase  new  equipment  for 
both  the  rolling  stock  and  track  depart- 
ment in  order  to  increase  its  service'. 

Northern  Cambria  Street  Railway,  Patton, 
Pa.,  has  agreed,  it  is  reported,  to  do  about 
five  miles  of  construction  work  on  the  route 
between  Carrolltown  and  Spanglen.  The 
trolley  route  has  been  holding  up  construc- 
tion on  the  highway,  but  at  a  recent  con- 
ference the  State  Highway  Commissioner 
was  informed  that  the  company  would  make 
all  ntcessary  route  changes. 

Reading  Transit  It  Light  Company,  Read- 
ing, Pa,,  has  completed  an  extension  where- 
by through  express  service  from  any  point 
on  the  Reading  division  to  the  Norristown 
division  and  all  parts  of  Philadelphia  is 
possible.  This  new  piece  of  trackage  in 
Boyertown,  Pa.,  was  approved  by  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission.  Heretofore  the 
Reading  and  Norristown  divisions  have 
been  separated  by  the  Colebrookdale  branch 
of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railway. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Charlottesville  &  Albemarle  Railway. 
Charlottesville,  Va„  expects  to  purchase  one 
3.000-kw.  horizontal  steam  turbine  and  two 
boilers. 

London  &  1'ort  Stanley  Railway,  London, 
Out.,  has  completed  an  $8,000  terminal  im- 
provement plan.  At  the  town  station  in 
Port  Stanley  improvements  will  be  effected 
by  putting  in  a  concrete  foundation  and 
remodeling  the  interior. 

Indiana  Service  Corporation,  Fort  Wayne. 
Ind.,  will  spend  about  $125,000  in  pow  r 
improvements.  Very  soon  the  ground  will 
be  broken  for  a  new  power  distributing 
plant  on  Webster  Street.  The  improvement 
will  enable  the  company  to  secure  a  cen- 
tral distributing  point  for  power  generated 
at  the  power  house  on  Spy  Run  Avenue 
It  is  estimated  that  the  cost  of  the  new 
building  alone  will  exceed  $25,000.  while 
the  equipment  will  cost  $100,000  or  more. 
Other  changes  are  contemplated,  amon? 
them  being  the  erection  of  a  large  carhouse 
and  car  shops  on  the  property  along  Spy 
Pom  Avenue  to  the  north  and  west  of  the 
present  power  plant. 


Trade  Notes 


Recent  Incorporations 


American  Steel  &  Wire  Company  an- 
nounces the  appointment  of  H.  S.  Durant 
as  sales  agent  and  M.  W.  Floto  as  as- 
sistant sales  agent  at  its  Detroit  office,  to 
succeed  M.  Whaling  and  T.  J.  Usher,  Jr., 
resigned. 

Delta-Star  Electric  Company,  Chicago, 
has  opended  a  direct  district  office  at  294 
Washington  Street,  Boston,  Mass.  This  of- 
fice is  in  charge  of  Messrs.  Anderson  & 
Van  Rosen,  who  have  for  several  years 
been  connected  with  the  Delta-Star  Engi- 
neering Department  at  Chicago. 

The  Automatic  Reclosing  Circuit  Breaker 
Company.  Columbus,  Ohio,  announces  that 
it  has  engaged  the  services  of  Ralnh  R. 
Rugheimer.  who  will  be  responsible  for  its 
activities  in  the  coal  fields  of  eastern 
Kentucky,  Virginia  and  southeastern  Ohio. 
Mr.  Rugheimer  has  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  company's  apparatus  and  has  had 
considerable  experience  in  its  installation 
and  operation. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  East  Pittsburgh.  Pa.,  it  is  re- 
ported, is  the  company  which  the  govern- 
ment of  Chile,  South  America,  has  decided 
upon  to  go  ahead  with  the  electrification 
of  the  state  railway  which  runs  from  Val- 
paraiso to  Santiago,  with  a  branch 
cutting  up  to  Los  Andes  in  the  Andes 
Mountains  and  thence  across  to  Buenos 
Aires.  The  Westinghouse  company,  how- 
ever, as  yet  has  made  no  statement  in  the 
matter. 

The  Malcolmson  Briquet  Engineering 
Company  and  the  St.  Louis  Briquette  Ma- 
chine Company  have  consolidated  under  the 
corporate  name  of  the  Malcolmson  Engi- 
neering &  Machine  Corporation.  The  com- 
pany will  continue  to  act  as  engineers  and 
contractors  for  the  building  of  complete 
plants  for  fuel  briquetting,  and  for  drying 
crushing  and  screening  of  coal.  It  will  a'so 
maintain  an  engineering  department  devoted 
to  the  generation  and  use  of  steam,  special 
furnace  design  and  other  heat  problems. 
In  addition  it  will  manufacture  "Rutledge." 
"Komarek"  and  improved  roll-type  briquet- 
ting  presses,  fluxers  and  other  special 
machinery  and  machine  parts,  direct  and 
indirect  heat  dryers  and  vibrating  screens. 
The  officers  of  the  new  company  are:  C.  T. 
Malcolmson.  president  ;  G.  Komarek,  vice- 
president  ;  C.  E.  House  secretary,  and  W.  J. 
Monahan,  treasurer.  The  offices  of  the  com- 
pany are  located  in  the  Old  Colony  Building. 
Chicago;  SIS  Security  Building.  St.  Louis, 
and  39  Cortlandt  Street,  New  York  City. 

John  C.  Robinson,  after  thirty  years' 
continuous  service  in  Boston  as  manager  of 
New  England  sales  for  William  Wharton 
Jr.,  &  Company  has  terminated  that  con- 
nection. He  will  devote  himself  to  his 
interests  in  the  firm  of  Harrington,  Robin- 
son &  Company  of'  that  city,  an  organiza- 
tion well  known  in  the  iron  and  steel 
trade.  Starting  at  the  time  he  did,  Mr. 
Robinson  has  seen  and  participated  in  the 
many  changes  in  street  railwray  and  steam 
railroad  transportation  methods.  His 
pleasing  personality  coupled  with  his 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  track  busi- 
ness, has  made  him  a  host  of  friends 
in  both  fields,  as  well  as  in  the 
Wharton  Company.  The  office  of  the 
Taylor-Wharton  Iron  &  Steel  Company, 
and  William  Wharton  Jr.  &  Company  in 
the  future  will  be  located  at  Room  235, 
Boston  Safe  Deposit  Building,  201  Devon- 
shire Street.  Boston,  in  charge  of  Walter 
H.  Allen. 

A.  J.  Manson.  of  the  New  York  district 
office  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and 
Manufacturing  Company  has  been  appointed 
manager  of  the  railway  division  for  this 
district. 


Portland- Linnton      (Ore.)      Railway,  has 

been  incorporated  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$40,000.  The  incorporators  are  J.  B. 
Schaefer.  Louis  Osberg  and  S.  F.  Parr. 

Savannah  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Savannah.  Ga..  has  been  incorporated  with 
a  capital  stock  of  $4,800,000.  This  is 
the  successor  company  to  the  Savannah 
Electric  Company. 

Duncan,  Ardmore  &  Lawton  Diterurban 
Company  has  filed  its  charter  with  the 
Secretary  of  State  at  Oklahoma  City.  The 
company  is  capitalized  at  $10,000.  The  in- 
corporators are  J.  W.  Marshall,  A.  Harris 
and  F.  T.  Harris.  Headquarters  of  the 
company  will  be  at  Duncan,  Okla.  It  is 
proposed  to  promote  and  build  an  inter- 
urban line  from  Duncan  to  Ardmore  and 
Lawton. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Inspection    and    Energy   Meters.   —  The 

Economy  Electric  Devices  Company,  Chi- 
cago, has  issued  a  two-page  folder  giving 
particulars  of  results  secured  with  Econ- 
omy meters  on  the  cars  of  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway.  Besides 
the  advantages  from  the  standpoint  of  in- 
dicating the  proper  car  inspection  interval, 
the  meters  showed  energy  savings  as  high 
as  I  kw.-hr.  per  car-mile.  The  company 
has  now  contracted  for  inspection  dials  on 
meters  of  700  active  cars  which  include 
251  new  safety  cars. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


HARRY  L.BROWN, Western  Editor 


Volume  58 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS,  Managing  Editor 

N.A.BOWERS.Paclflc  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIEB.Associate  Editor      C.W. STOCKS.  AssoclaW  Editm- 
G.^.MACMUBRAY.News  Editor                   DONALD  F. HI NE, Editorial  Representative 
L.W.W.MORROW.Special  Editorial  Representative 
 .   


New  Y«rk,  Saturday,  September  3,  1921 


Number  10 


"i921  ■  

Can  Injunctions  Alone  P^Tldj  of^^J 
Crush  Competition?       -  - 

A VISITOR  to  a  neighboring  jitney-infested  city 
can  study  an  entirely  new  aspect  of  the  car 
versus  jitney  bus  problem.  One  of  the  dizzily  numerous 
ordinances,  commission  orders,  injunctions,  etc., 
apparently  forbids  the  jitney  buses  from  making  a 
direct  collection  of  fare  from  the  passenger.  But  has 
this  phased  (or  is  it  fazed?)  the  busmen  any?  Ap- 
parently not.  Booths  and  salesrooms  in  stores  have  been 
established  at  convenient  places  where  for  the  modest 
fee  of  25  cents  one  becomes  a  full  member  of  the 
Lively  City  Bus  Association.  Full  membership  covers 
the  right  to  buy  strip  tickets  at  5  cents  per  ticket, 
which  is  legal  tender  for  fare.  But  the  process  may  be 
short-circuited  in  this  way:  If  the  guileless  stranger 
on  offering  cash  is  spurned  by  the  law-observing  driver, 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  one  of  the  club  members 
in  the  bus  from  courteously  offering  to  sell  a  ticket  to 
the  outsider  and  thus  preserve  the  driver  from  the 
temptation  of  accepting  cash. 

"What  a  farce,"  many  a  reader  will  say,  and  rightly. 
But,  surely,  a  little  reflection  will  show  that  the  farce 
would  be  short-lived  if  there  were  not  in  the  community 
a  sufficient  number  of  people  determined  to  patronize  the 
jitney  bus  service  at  all  hazards.  It  is  possible  for  the 
courts  to  issue  all  sorts  of  injunctions,  but  the  long 
drawn  out  struggle  with  jitneys  even  in  Seattle,  where 
the  street  railway  is  clearly  not  being  run  for  profit, 
proves  that  the  self-propelled  vehicle  must  have  certain 
intrinsic  advantages  which  appeal  so  much  to  the  public 
that  it  will  not  willingly  relinquish  this  form  of  trans- 
portation despite  the  shabby  shape  in  which  it  has 
usually  appeared  to  date.  Should  the  day  come 
when  the  motor  buses  are  maintained  at  street  rail- 
way standards  by  reliable  operators  many  of  the 
present  objections  urged  will  lose  caste  with  that  in- 
fluential part  of  the  public  that  today  will  not  ride 
in  the  disreputable  looking  jitney  at  any  price.  Conse- 
quently, it  seems  worth  while  to  reiterate  the  advice 
that  the  electric  railway  in  making  the  motor-bus  a 
part  of  its  transport  system  must  go  the  jitney  busmen 
one  better  by  using  vehicles  and  giving  service  that 
will  be  so  obviously  superior  to  the  privateering  sort 
that  the  public  will  no  longer  go  out  of  its  way 
to  help  in  the  circumvention  of  orders  of  regulatory 
bodies. 


N.  E.  L.  A.  Is  Using 
the  Movies 

1AST  year,  in  the  issue  of  Sept.  25,  the  Electric 
^Railway  Journal  suggested  to  the  electric  rail- 
ways that  they  take  advantage  of  the  extraordinary 
educational  power  of  motion  pictures  as  a  means  of  fur- 
thering the  effort  to  win  public  understanding  and 
good  will.  It  was  also  suggested  that  the  national 
association  of  the  industry  could  well  undertake  the 
preparation  of  a  film  for  the  bi'oad  use  of  the  member 


companies.  Following  this  original  suggestion,  a  great 
deal  of  other  matter  was  published  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, giving  the  views  of  a  number  of  railway  men  on 
the  high  worth  of  the  idea  in  general  and  on  the  details 
of  its  execution.  There  seemed  to  be  a  great  deal  of 
interest  in  the  proposal. 

Since  then  several  companies  have  had  a  film  made 
as  an  individual  proposition,  but  for  various  reasons 
the  American  Association  has  been  unable  to  undertake 
this  new  phase  of  publicity  work  in  a  definite  way. 
Meantime,  the  National  Electric  Light  Association  has 
taken  up  this  method  of  expanding  its  publicity  work 
and  has  completed  a  very  interesting  short  film,  which 
was  first  shown  at  the  June  convention  in  Chicago  and 
is  now  being  distributed  to  the  central  station  com- 
panies for  general  use.  It  is  certainly  to  be  hoped  that 
this  very  effective  means  of  reaching  the  public  will 
receive  full  consideration  in  connection  with  the  con- 
templated publicity  campaign  of  the  Committee  of  One 
Hundred. 


Creditor  Asks  for 

Receivership  for  I.  R.  T. 

THE  application  of  a  creditor  of  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company  for  the  appointment  of  a 
receiver  for  that  company  was  not  unexpected.  For 
the  past  two  years  the  officers  of  the  company  have 
frankly  declared  that  an  increase  in  revenue  per  pas- 
senger was  necessary  for  the  solvency  of  the  company. 
The  immediate  cause  for  financial  embarrassment  is  the 
fact  that  the  company  has  $38,000,000  of  notes  coming 
due  Sept.  1.  If  these  should  be  extended  by  the  holders 
it  may  be  that  with  the  falling  prices  of  materials, 
lower  wages,  and  possibly  other  future  savings,  to- 
gether with  possible  future  relief  to  be  granted  by  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission,  a  receivership  can  be 
avoided.  During  the  next  few  weeks,  possibly  the  next 
few  days,  the  matter  will  be  decided,  as  Judge  Mayer, 
before  whom  the  proceedings  have  been  brought,  has 
asked  the  company  to  show  cause  on  Sept.  1  why  a 
receiver  should  not  be  appointed. 

In  the  meantime,  a  variety  of  explanations  have  been 
put  forth  from  different  sources  both  as  regards  the 
reasons  for  the  application  for  a  receiver  and  those 
which  have  brought  about  the  present  unfortunate 
financial  condition  of  the  company,  which  four  years 
ago  was  paying  dividends  of  20  per  cent  annually,  and 
which  as  late  as  1918  distributed  171  per  cent  in 
dividends  to  its  stockholders.  Certain  prominent  city 
officials  see  in  the  application  "another  attempt  through 
the  federal  courts  to  raise  carfares  in  this  city  to  8 
and  possibly  10  cents."  A  candidate  for  Mayor  who 
is  strongly  demanding  the  retention  of  a  5-cent  fare 
declares  a  receivership  unnecessary  if  the  property 
should  be  operated  by  a  man  of  the  type  of  Mr.  Mitten 
of  Philadelphia,  while  a  New  Jersey  financial  company 
which  has  had  previous  litigation  with  the  Interborough 
considers  the  actual  deficiency  much  more  than  that  set 


346 


Electric   Railway  Journal, 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


forth  in  the  annual  reports.  No  official  statement  had 
been  made  by  the  company  or  by  the  Transit  Commis- 
sion up  to  Aug.  31,  except  that  Mr.  McAneny,  chair- 
man of  the  commission,  said  its  plans  for  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  transportation  situation  in  New  York  would 
not  be  affected  to  any  appreciable  extent  whether  the 
company  remained  under  the  control  of  its  corporate 
officers  or  was  taken  over  by  a  receiver.  In  an  interest- 
ing address  delivered  Aug.  30  in  Cincinnati,  however, 
Mr.  Harkness,  a  member  of  the  commission,  in  dis- 
cussing transit  tendencies  in  New  York,  outlined  as 
some  of  the  causes  for  the  present  situation  the  drift- 
ing policy  adopted  by  the  local  authorities  in  regard  to 
the  question  of  fare  and  the  attitude  of  the  company 
with  its  present  franchise  of  "demanding  something 
and  conceding  nothing." 

Whether  the  application  for  a  receiver  will  be  granted 
or  not,  the  situation  undoubtedly  now  has  been  brought 
to  a  crisis.  An  important  and  fortunate  feature  in  the 
case  is  the  legislation  last  spring  by  which  far-reaching 
authority  to  grant  transit  relief  was  given  to  a  com- 
mission, which  has  since  been  appointed.  While  no 
report  has  yet  been  made  by  the  commission,  its  mem- 
bers in  the  past  have  a  high  reputation  for  good  judg- 
ment, and  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  find  a  solution 
for  the  exceedingly  tangled  transit  situation  in  New 
York. 

It  is  certainly  anomalous  that  an  enterprise  should 
experience  a  growing  loss  with  an  increasing  gross 
business,  yet  should  apparently  be  so  helpless  to  make 
a  change.  It  is  also  anomalous  that  in  a  city  covering 
so  large  an  area  and  so  dependent  for  its  prosperity 
upon  good  transportation  as  New  York  practically  every 
local  railway  company  is  in  financial  straits,  with  none 
in  notably  prosperous  condition. 


Passengers  per  Car-Mile 

Not  a  Sure  Service  Index 

THE  expression  "revenue  passengers  per  car-mile"  or 
"total  passengers  per  car-mile,"  while  the  most  con- 
venient single  term  available  as  an  index  of  traffic 
is  likely  to  be  most  misleading  if  taken  at  its  face 
value,  especially  if  comparison  is  being  made  between 
different  railways  and  even  successive  operating 
periods  of  the  same  railway.  The  less-used  figure  of 
"seats  per  passenger  carried"  is  also  subject  to  the 
same  danger  of  misinterpretation.  To  prove  this 
statement,  a  few  illustrations  will  be  presented. 

First,  assume  that  a  comparison  is  made  that  Road 
A  averaged  nine  passengers  per  car-mile  in  1920  and 
that  Road  B  averaged  but  six  passengers  per  car- 
mile.  It  does  not  follow  at  all  that  Road  A  had  more 
crowded  cars.  It  may  have  been  operating  forty- 
eight-seat  cars  at  five-minute  intervals,  while  Road 
B  may  have  been  running  thirty-two-seat  cars  at  two 
and  one-half  or  three-minute  intervals.  Thus  Road  B 
may  prove  to  have  carried  the  greater  number  of 
people  if  the  comparison  is  made  on  the  basis  of 
"passengers  per  mile  of  route  operated." 

Second,  density  of  traffic  and  standard  of  service 
are  entirely  different  things,  but  confused  if  regard 
is  taken  only  of  the  "passengers  per  car-mile"  sta- 
tistics. Suppose  that  through  the  inauguration  of  off- 
peak  fares,  short-ride  fares,  unlimited-ride  passes  or 
other  means,  there  occurs  a  heavy  increase  in  non-rush 
hour  travel.    This  would  be  reflected  by  an  increase 


in  the  unit  of  comparison  "passengers  per  car-mile" 
— by,  say,  20  per  cent;  but  it  would  be  wrong  to  sup- 
pose that  there  had  been  any  lowering  of  the  standard 
of  service.  The  reason  for  this  conclusion  is  the  fact 
that  practically  every  electric  railway  averages  one 
and  one-half  to  two  seats  per  passenger  carried  when 
taken  on  its  all-day  operating  basis,  whereas  it  may 
not  do  better  than  0.75  seat  per  passenger  carried 
during  the  rush  hours.  Any  increased  travel  during 
the  off-peak  hours  therefore  comes  at  a  time  when 
there  are  more  seats  than  passengers.  Hence,  an 
increase  in  the  average  or  all-time  "passengers  per 
car-mile"  figures  does  not  mean  that  the  public  is 
getting  less  service  than  before.  In  cases  of  this 
kind  it  means  just  the  opposite,  namely,  that  the 
public  is  making  better  use  of  the  railway's  facilities 
than  before.  Contrariwise,  an  increase  in  seats  or 
car-miles  per  passenger  carried  might  be  coincident 
with  poorer  service,  as  when  a  severe  fare  increase 
cuts  traffic  20  per  cent  while  the  daily  car  mileage  is 
cut  but  say  10  per  cent. 

Perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  recent  example  of 
this  is  in  the  5-cent  suburban  rides  of  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway.  Most  of  this  short-haul  travel 
flows  counter  to  the  heavier  long-haul  tidal  traffic 
carried  at  10  cents.  It  is  conceivable  that  one,  two, 
three  or  more  passengers  per  car-mile  could  be  added 
to  the  figures  of  straight  10-cent  travel,  and  yet  the 
10-cent  riders  would  have  practically  as  much  accom- 
modation as  before.  That  is  why  an  80  per  cent  in- 
crease in  the  local,  short-haul  traffic  of  the  Everett- 
Maiden  district  can  be  absorbed  so  readily.  An  ex- 
ample on  a  smaller  scale  is  that  of  Racine,  Wis.,  where 
the  users  of  the  unlimited-ride  dollar-a-week  passes 
are  found  to  average  nearly  four  rides  a  business  day. 
This  means,  of  course,  that  one  pair  of  rides  is  taken 
during  the  off-peak  hours,  thus  raising  the  density  of 
traffic  without  lowering  the  standard  of  service  or 
adding  unprofitable  mileage. 

In  between  Boston  and  Racine,  there  is  San  Diego's 
zone  fare.  The  fact  that  the  first  quarter  of  1921 
shows  a  14  per  cent  increase  in  the  5-cent  or  short- 
haul  riders  over  the  first  three  months  of  the  zone 
fare  (January-March,  1920)  indicates  that  the  reten- 
tion of  this  rate  for  more  than  one-third  of  the  patrons 
has  a  tendency  to  stimulate  short  rides  during  the  off- 
peak  hours.  Most  of  these  additional  short  rides 
would  not  come  unless  the  service  was  good,  because 
this  class  of  traffic  will  walk  if  headway  and  seating 
are  unsatisfactory.  A  104  per  cent  increase  in  the 
sale  of  two-zone  74-cent  tickets  at  San  Diego  also  in- 
dicates that  the  plan  of  selling  four  tickets  at  a  time, 
as  against  10  cents  cash,  induces  a  growing  propor- 
tion of  the  two-zone  riders  to  take  luncheon  rides  if 
they  are  not  too  far  away  from  their  work,  or  else 
to  be  more  liberal  in  other  non-compulsory  riding.  At 
any  rate,  the  fact  that  San  Diego  for  this  first  quarter 
of  1921  shows  about  24  per  cent  increase  in  pas- 
sengers per  car-mile  and  1.43  as  against  1.94  seats 
per  passenger  in  the  same  quarter  of  1920  is  far  more 
likely  to  be  proof  of  the  better  use  of  the  plant  for 
the  permanent  good  of  the  customer  than  proof  of  an 
arbitrary  cut  in  service  for  the  temporary  good  of 
the  company.  In  this  case,  both  patron  and  operator 
benefit,  whereas  an  inexperienced  reading  of  the  "pas- 
senger per  car-mile"  and  "seat  per  passenger"  figures 
would  lead  to  caviling  rather  than  praise  of  the  man- 
agements involved. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


347 


Utah  Light  &  Traction  Optimistic 

Wartime  Conditions  Are  Improved  and  the  Labor  Situation  Is  Satisfactory — The  Public  Co-operates  to 
Remove  Paving  Burden — Unique  Publicity  Methods  Are  Employed  in  Utah — The  Company  Has 
a  Splendid  Carhouse  and  Self -Contained  Repair  Department 


Carhouse  of  Utah  Light  &  Traction  Company 


THE  Utah  Light  &  Traction  Company  operates  in 
Salt  Lake  City  under  a  franchise  which  expires  in 
1955.  In  keeping  with  its  environment,  the  com- 
pany is  optimistic  and  is  devoting  its  efforts  toward  a 
speedy  consummation  of  its  financial  and  transportation 
ideals.  Like  the  story  of  other  railway  properties,  the 
war  brought  on  a  series  of  wage  increases,  followed  by 
fare  increases,  until  the  present  schedule  of  a  7-cent  cash 
fare  or  sixteen  tickets  for  a  dollar  was  instituted.  The 
peak  of  the  financial  difficulties  seems  to  have  been 
reached  in  that  a  wage  reduction  has  been  agreed  upon 
recently.  The  money  thus  saved  has  been  utilized  to 
care  for  deferred  track  maintenance. 

Salt  Lake  City  has  a  population  of  about  120,000  and 
is  a  miracle  city  when  its  history  and  location  are  con- 
sidered. The  optimism  and  hard  work  of  the  pioneers 
have  transformed  a  desert  into  a  rich  agricultural  dis- 
trict, with  the  city  as  its  metropolis.  Today  the  parks, 
broad  streets  and  imposing  business  blocks  of  Salt  Lake 
City  compare  favorably  with  those  of  any  other 
American  city.  The  railway's  property  in  the  city  was 
completely  rehabilitated  during  1907,  1908  and  1909  by 
the  Harriman  interests,  so  that  now  it  is  modern  in 
every  respect.  The  company's  tracks  thoroughly  cover 
the  city  and  extend  into  all  the  important  suburbs  and 
suburban  towns,  serving  a  population  of  approximately 
141,000  people  with  a  mileage  of  single  track  of  146  and 
total  passengers  carried  during  the  year  1920  of 
40,500,000, 

The  Utah  Power  &  Light  Company  owns  the  $1,000,- 
000  capital  stock  (entire  issue)  of  the  Utah  Light  & 
Traction  Company  and  leases  and  operates  for  ninety- 
nine  years  from  Jan.  1,  1915,  all  the  electric  power,  light 
and  gas  properties  of  the  Utah  Light  &  Traction  Com- 
pany. 

Some  of  the  power  properties  owned  by  the  Utah 


Light  &  Traction  Company  and  now  operated  by  the 
Utah  Power  &  Light  Company  are: 


Pioneer  hydroplant   6,500  kw. 

Weber  hydroplant   2,500  kw. 

Granite  hydroplant   1,500  kw. 

Stairs  hydroplant   1,800  kw. 

Jordan  steam  plant   16,000  kw. 


The  railway  company  has  car  tracks  on  66  miles  of 
72  total  miles  of  paved  streets  in  Salt  Lake  City.  These 
paved  streets  are  from  72  to  132  ft.  wide  and  the  com- 
pany has  been  required  to  pave  and  maintain  a  street 
width  of  21  ft.  8  in.  on  all  its  double-track  installations. 
This  paving  investment  requires  about  |  cent  per  reve- 
nue passenger  to  care  for  interest,  depreciation  and 
maintenance  and  places  a  heavy  financial  burden  on  the 
railway.  Prospects  are  encouraging  for  legislative  re- 
lief, but  in  the  meantime  the  railway  is  using  every 
possible  expedient  to  extend  service  without  increasing 
the  investment  in  paved  streets. 

A  beginning  was  made  in  1920  to  establish  elevated 
center  parkways,  44  ft.  wide  and  6  in.  high,  on  certain 
of  the  streets  to  carry  the  double  tracks  of  the  railway. 
This  parkway  has  a  6-in.  curb  and  is  grass  covered 
excepting  at  street  intersections.  Due  to  the  dry  climate 
irrigation  is  necessary  to  maintain  the  grass  and  an 
underground  pipe  is  placed  in  the  parkways  to  afford 
water,  furnished  by  the  city,  from  sprinklers  arranged 
at  convenient  intervals.  The  artistic  effect  of  the  in- 
stallation is  very  good  and  the  reaction  on  public- 
sentiment  has  been  splendid.  It  affords,  in  effect,  a 
private  right-of-way  to  the  railway,  reduces  accidents, 
permits  cheaper  construction  in  that  standard  72  lb. 
rails  are  used,  reduces  maintenance  and  at  the  same 
time  is  acceptable  to  the  public  since  the  street  is  72  ft. 
wide  and  ample  space  remains  for  other  traffic. 

Another  installation  utilizes  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
city  parks  parallels  the  street  for  quite  a  distance.  The 


348 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


company  has  installed  its  tracks  in  the  park  on  a  grass 
parkway  near  the  street  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give 
it  the  equivalent  of  a  private  right-of-way  without 
detracting  from  the  beauty  of  the  park.  The  results 
of  these  methods  of  installation  are  encouraging  and 
combined  with  the  favorable  legislative  attitude  and 
the  good  will  of  the  public  will  probably  result  in  the 
ultimate  solution  of  the  paving  situation. 

Routes  and  Schedules 

The  city  has  a  level  downtown  district  and  an  out- 
lying hilly  district  with  heavy  grades.  It  is  unique  in 
that  the  city  blocks  are  10-acre  plots  as  adopted  by 
the  early  Mormon  settlers  and  measure  792  ft.  from 
street  center  to  street  center.  The  railway  feeders  are 
placed  underground  in  the  business  districts  and  the 
trolley  support  is  of  span  construction  using  steel  poles 


map  of  salt  lake  city  showing  street  car  routes 

Key  numbers  show  patrons  the  route  to  take  to  a  desired  des- 
tination. 


with  ornamental  cast-iron  bases.  The  transportation 
system  is  based  on  twenty-six  routes  each  of  which 
traverses  both  the  level  downtown  section  and  the 
heavy  grades  of  the  Wasatch  foothills.  Each  of  the 
172  passenger  cars  displays  its  route  number  on  its 
dash  and  a  complete  schedule  and  map  of  the  route  is 
published  and  distributed  by  the  railway.  This  little 
publication  is  in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet  about  5  in. 
long  by  3  in.  wide  containing  forty  pages  of  material. 

This  booklet  describes  the  routes  by  streets,  and  indi- 
cates the  scheduled  leaving  time  of  cars  from  the  end 
of  the  line  and  the  time  cars  leave  downtown.  It  con- 
tains also  sectional  plats  of  Salt  Lake  City  with  each 
of  the  routes  indicated  thereon.  The  routes  are  num- 
bered from  1  to  26  inclusive  and  the  booklet  is  so 
arranged  that  the  route  number  covering  any  portion 
of  the  city  may  readily  be  obtained  by  turning  to  the 
large  scale  city  plat  in  the  center  of  the  booklet.  After 
the  reader  finds  the  route  number  from  this  complete 
plat,  it  is  easy  from  page  1,  which  carries  an  index  of 
all  routes,  to  find  the  pages  which  give  a  sectional  plat 
to  large  scale  accompanied  by  a  description  of  where 


any  particular  route  starts  and  finishes,  including  a 
complete  time  schedule  for  inbound  and  outbound  cars 
at  several  locations.  The  booklet  also  takes  advantage 
of  Salt  Lake  City's  attractions  to  point  out  different 
points  of  interest  to  tourists  with  directions  for  reach- 
ing them. 

Salt  Lake  City,  due  to  its  wide  streets,  permits  good 
schedules  and  offers  but  little  opportunity  for  traffic 
congestion.  On  several  of  the  main  intersections  in 
the  towntown  districts  a  traffic  officer  is  stationed  in  a 
tower  near  the  curb  and  controls  the  traffic  by  means 
of  a  four-way  red  and  white  signal  lamp  suspended  at 
the  center  of  the  street  intersection.  In  this  district 
safety  aisles  are  maintained  by  the  use  of  portable 
pedestals  connected  by  chains.  Iron  pipe  is  cast  in  cone- 
shaped  concrete  bases  and  several  such  pedestals  are 
connected  together  depending  upon  the  traffic  demands. 

The  cars  are  very  attractive  modern  type  of  pay-as- 
you-enter  design  and  operate  with  fare  boxes.  They 
are  painted  a  buff  and  yellow  and  are  washed  fre- 
quently in  order  to  maintain  them  in  an  attractive 
condition  despite  the  action  of  smelter  fumes  or  other 
detrimental  atmospheric  effects.  No  one-man  cars  are 
used  in  the  city,  as  labor  opposed  their  use  during  the 
war  and  financial  conditions  have  been  unfavorable  since 
that  time.  Salt  Lake  City  has  no  large  manufacturing 
industry  and  has  plenty  of  room  to  expand  in  all  direc- 
tions, so  the  railway  company  is  not  subjected  to  very 
great  shifts  in  traffic  or  to  industrial  peak  loads. 

Special  Trackwork  and  Equipment 

The  company  has  discontinued  the  use  of  manganese 
inserts  at  intersections  and  instead  uses  bolted  built-up 
special  trackwork.  The  bolts  are  "drive  fits"  with  the 
threaded  ends  of  small  diameter  so  as  to  avoid  injury. 
The  filler  is  planed  down  and  a  tapered  steel  insert 
36  in.  long  is  placed  on  top.  These  inserts  are  changed 
as  they  become  worn,  and  this  policy  greatly  aids  in 
reducing  the  noise  at  crossovers. 

Due  to  climatic  and  soil  conditions  and  to  questions 
of  maintenance,  the  company  has  shown  a  marked 
tendency  toward  the  location  of  all  controls  and  ap- 
paratus in  the  car  and  not  under  it.  The  signal  bat- 
teries are  located  over  the  entrance  doors  with  a 
consequent  great  reduction  in  maintenance,  and  even 
the  headlight  resistances  have  been  maintained  at  zero 
cost  since  they  were  located  on  the  ceiling  of  the 
vestibule.  To  avoid  breakage  and  obtain  low  main- 
tenance cost,  many  of  the  headlights  on  the  interurban 
cars  have  been  placed  on  top  of  the  car,  just  over  the 
front  window  instead  of  on  the  dash.  These  headlights 
are  arranged  so  as  to  burn  250-watt  Mazda  lamps  with 
adjustments  for  a  fixed  beam  angle  and  intensity.  The 
air  governor  has  also  been  located  above  the  doors  in 
the  vestibule,  and  in  this  location  operates  much  more 
satisfactorily.  The  location  of  the  air  valve,  door  lever, 
gong,  stool  sockets  and  other  controls  has  been  deter- 
mined by  a  vote  of  the  employees  and  is  standard  for 
all  cars.  An  improvised  "buggy  top"  door  mechanism 
is  used  on  the  changed  over  pay-as-you-enter  cars, 
whereby  one-eighth  turn  of  a  10-in.  lever  opens  or  closes 
the  vestibule  doors. 

A  unique  type  of  work  car  has  been  made  which  can 
be  used  as  a  reel  car,  track  harrow  or  both.  Near 
smelters  and  where  slag  gets  on  the  tracks  this  car  is 
used  as  a  harrow  to  loosen  the  lava  roadbeds.  The 
harrow  proper  consists  of  an  old  crossover  hung  on  a 
■windlass  operated  chain  under  the  center  of  the  car- 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


349 


In  this  framework  are  fixed  thirteen  pointed  steel  teeth 
each  of  which  is  2  in.  square  and  about  18  in.  long. 
When  needed,  the  crossover  with  the  teeth  inserts  is 
dropped  on  the  track  and  dragged  along  the  ground 
between  and  outside  the  rails  to  break  up  the  slag.  The 
device  has  proved  very  efficient  for  certain  conditions. 

The  company  has  developed  many  ingenious  ways  of 
using  scrap  pieces  of  equipment,  such  as  steel  and  old 
rail.  A  very  convenient  light  crane  car  has  been  con- 
structed almost  entirely  from  old  72-lb.  rails.  The  sills 
of  the  car  and  the  crane  proper  form  a  very  rigid 
built-up  structure  which  has  proved  very  useful  on  the 
system. 

Carhouses  and  Shops 

The  carhouses,  shops  and  yards  of  the  railway  com- 
pany are  located  about  six  blocks  from  the  center  of 
the  downtown  district.  These  buildings  occupy  an  entire 
block  680  ft.  square.  The  carhouse  proper  is  about 
430  ft.  x  230  ft.  and  is  equipped  with  several  tracks 
which  have  a  1  per  cent  slope  toward  the  rear.  The 
carhouses,  shops  and  store  buildings  are  well  designed 
mission  type  structures  of  red  brick,  steel  and  concrete. 


carhouse  would  cause  delay  due  to  the  presence  of  a 
sprinkler  system.  Any  tendency  for  slack  in  overhead 
conductors  is  also  eliminated  and  an  exceptional  method 
of  isolation  is  conveniently  obtained  with  a  switch  and 
circuit  breaker  for  each  section. 

The  carhouse  is  equipped  with  a  two-deck  Interna- 
tional sprinkler  system.  This  sprinkler  system  is  uni- 
versal throughout  the  structures  and  is  controlled  from 
several  locations  by  electrically  operated  push-buttons. 
A  water  storage  tank  for  reserve  is  located  on  the  block. 

The  shops,  offices  and  storerooms  are  well  lighted  and 
conveniently  arranged.  The  storeroom  has  a  main  floor, 
balcony  and  basement  and  is  protected  from  fire  by  a 
complete  sprinkler  system.  Especially  constructed  rooms 
are  used  in  the  basement  for  the  storage  of  oil  and 
paint,  while  spare  parts  and  smaller  stores  are  kept  in 
indexed  steel  bins  or  trays  on  the  main  floor.  The 
company  carries  a  large  stock  of  material  and  stores 
due  to  its  distance  from  railway  supply  manufacturers. 

The  carpenter  and  slight  repair  shop  has  five  tracks, 
each  of  one-car  capacity,  and  is  well  equipped  with  small 
tools  and  benches.    For  the  repair  of  the  outside  ve- 


FAST  SCHEDULES  AIDED  BY  GOOD  TRACK  LOCATIONS 


No.  1 — Double-track  construction  in  elevated  center  parkway. 
No.  2 — Double-track  construction  in  park  adjacent  to  a  street. 


No.  3 — A  flexible  safety  aisle  in  a  congested  district. 
No.  4 — Reel  car  used  to  support  a  unique  track  harrow. 


The  front  is  arranged  in  a  series  of  arches,  each  of 
which  spans  two  tracks  in  the  carhouse.  In  the  end 
wall  of  each  bay  over  the  supporting  pier  is  the  mono- 
gram of  the  company  with  dimensions  about  6  ft.  square. 
Motor-operated  rolling  steel  doors  are  fitted  under  each 
arch.  The  roof  has  over  200  skylights  in  it,  each  of 
which  is  about  8  ft.  x  16  ft.  In  the  carhouse  the  tracks 
are  on  concrete  pit  walls  for  a  length  of  about  200  ft., 
the  pit  floors  having  a  1  per  cent  grade.  These  pits 
are  placed  under  each  track  with  shallow  pits  on  either 
side.  These  shallow  pits  collect  the  snow  or  water  that 
drops  from  the  sides  of  the  car  when  in  storage  after 
a  trip,  permit  easier  journal  inspection  and  facilitate 
car  washing.  Each  pit  is  lighted  by  lamps  which  are 
about  10  ft.  apart  on  either  side  of  the  pit  wall.  Over 
each  track  a  trolley  trough  has  been  made  of  4-in.,  5  Mb. 
channel  iron  with  edges  turned  down.  These  channels 
are  electrically  bonded  and  insulated  from  the  steel 
roof  trusses  by  means  of  wooden  blocks.  The  advantage 
of  the  channel  type  of  overhead  construction  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it.  permits  rapid  movement  of  a  car  forward 
or  backward  without  changing  the  trolley,  which  in  this 


neered  car  side  panels  20-gage  sheet  iron  is  now  used 
instead  of  wood  veneer,  which  depreciated  rapidly  be- 
cause of  local  service  conditions.  Great  care  is  taken 
to  install  this  sheet-iron  veneer  so  as  to  avoid  the 
entrance  of  any  moisture,  and  the  experience  with  this 
type  of  construction  has  been  very  satisfactory. 

The  paint  shop  has  four  tracks  each  with  a  capacity 
of  two  cars.  On  an  average  of  once  in  three  years  each 
car  receives  one  coat  of  a  special  enamel  paint  on  the 
main  body  and  about  every  eighteen  months  a  coat  of 
varnish  is  used  on  the  other  parts.  The  enamel  paint 
which  is  used  has  been  selected  after  a  great  deal  of 
experience  with  several  types  of  paints  and  enamels  and 
has  given  remarkable  satisfaction.  Two  painters  and 
one  helper  care  for  all  the  work  in  the  paint  shop.  A 
balcony  in  the  paint  shop  is  used  to  eliminate  dust  and 
dirt  when  painting  or  varnishing  seats,  sashes,  or 
other  small  parts. 

The  sandhouse  is  equipped  to  use  either  wet  or  dry 
sand  and  contains  stoves,  elevators,  screens  and  bins. 
The  sand  is  sacked  from  the  bins  and  then  the  sacks 
are  located  in  a  sand  car  which  is  spotted  near  the 


350 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


incoming  cartracks.  Each  returning  crew  upon  reach- 
ing the  sand  car  places  its  quota  of  sand  in  the  car 
before  checking  in.  This  arrangement  has  proved  su- 
perior to  other  methods. 

The  main  repair  shop  is  equipped  with  forging  ma- 
chines, 1,100-lb.  air  hammer,  a  punching  machine,  drill 
presses,  an  acetylene  outfit,  a  complete  rail  bending  and 
cutting  outfit,  and  other  standard  equipment.  Due  to 
its  location,  the  company  is  forced  to  be  practically 
self-contained  with  respect  to  its  repairs  and  has  devel- 
oped a  very  good  repair  shop  and  some  ingenious  and 
unique   "shop  kinks"  from  its  experiences.     It  has 

L_ 


"1 


r 


Plat  Showing  Layout  of  Shops  and  Carhouses 


recently  reground  all  the  cylinders  of  the  car  com- 
pressors and  put  in  slightly  larger  pistons  with  splendid 
success. 

A  rather  unique  operation  performed  by  the  company 
was  the  use  of  old  rolled-steel  wheels  and  axles  for 
making  brake  hangers.  The  scrap  material  was  cut 
into  suitable  length  with  the  acetylene  torch  and  then 
drawn  into  li-in.  round  bars.  The  bars  were  then 
forged  in  an  Ajax  forging  machine  to  a  ball  on  each 
end,  after  which  the  balls  were  flattened  by  the  hammer 
and  punched  to  fit  the  brake-head  cone. 

This  method  was  used  when  steel  was  expensive  and 
hangers  produced  were  excellent,  but  the  present  prac- 
tice is  to  use  li-in.  round  mild  steel  in  connection  with 
a  H-in.  Ajax  forging  machine  and  a  1,100-lb.  steam 
hammer.  The  hangers  are  all  case  hardened  after  form- 
ing. Two  hangers  are  used  on  each  brake  beam  and 
about  1,200  are  in  service.  The  renewals  amount  to 
about  200  per  year  on  the  cars,  which  are  mostly  four- 
motor  types  weighing  from  40,000  to  56,000  lb. 

Steel  scrap  wheels  are  formed  by  the  splendid  shop 
equipment  into  the  following  tools :  Open-end  and  socket 
wrenches ;  anvil  tools  and  tongs ;  air  hammer  swages 
and  formers ;  f orging-machine  dies ;  asphalt-cutting 
chisels  and  stone-masons'  hammers. 

Seven  of  the  pits  in  the  repair  shops  are  equipped 
with  car  hoists,  which  greatly  facilitate  repair  opera- 
tions. The  street  brooms  are  subjected  to  a  thorough 
soaking  in  a  special  pit  before  being  placed  in  operation, 
as  this  process  results  in  a  large  saving  due  to  the 
decreased  brittleness  of  the  brushes.  The  transfer 
table  has  been  equipped  with  snowplows  with  resultant 


decreased  trouble  from  snow  in  winter  operation.  Pre- 
vious to  the  installation  of  these  plows  on  the  table 
much  delay  was  caused  by  the  transfer  table  pit  filling 
with  snow.  For  snow-fighting  work  and  for  hauling 
gravel  and  other  construction  materials,  the  company 
has  three  locomotives,  one  switch  locomotive  and  fifty 
work  cars. 

Public  Policy  and  Publicity 

The  railway  management  realizes  that  public  rela- 
tions comprise  a  large  percentage  of  railway  "operating 
success,  and  this  company,  under  the  able  direction 
of  H.  W.  Dicke,  general  manager,  has  secured  the  co- 
operation and  good  will  of  the  public  to  a  remarkable 
extent.  One  of  the  chief  instruments  for  informing 
the  public  of  railway  conditions  is  a  publication  called 
Car  Fax,  which  is  freely  distributed  on  all  cars  at 
frequent  intervals.  The  public  is  informed  of  the  plans 
of  the  company  and  is  made  aware  of  all  railway  con- 
ditions through  this  publication.  A  case  in  point  is 
that  preliminary  to  the  recent  wage  reduction  Car  Fax 
informed  the  public  that  the  money  saved  would  go 
toward  deferred  track  maintenance,  and  when  the  re- 
duction was  obtained  this  announcement  was  imme- 
diately followed  up  by  the  appearance  of  repair  gangs 
on  the  main  streets.  Letters  from  the  public  commend- 
ing or  criticising  the  service  or  the  personnel  of  the 
organization  are  printed  in  this  little  pamphlet  and  it 
serves  to  bind  the  personnel  of  the  railway  organiza- 
tion together  and  inspire  them  to  greater  efforts  in  the 
line  of  securing  public  good  will. 

As  an  example  of  the  type  of  material  published  in 
Car  Fax,  the  issue  of  July  23,  1921,  gives  a  complete 
resume  of  the  financial  condition  as  affected  by  the 
7-cent  fare  and  ventures  to  prophesy  the  future  under 
that  fare.  The  issue  starts  out  with  the  headline  "What 
the  7-Cent  Fare  Has  Done."  "On  July  3,  1920,  the 
present  rate  of  fare  (7  cents  cash,  6i-cent  ticket  in 
books  of  sixteen  for  $1,  and  the  4-cent  school  ticket  in 
books  of  fifty  for  $2)  became  effective.  With  the  close 
of  the  month  of  June,  1921,  therefore,  we  have  the 
results  of  operation  for  one  year  on  the  so-called  7-cent 
fare,  and  Car  Fax  is  sure  that  its  readers  are  curious 
to  know  just  how  much  'profits'  the  Utah  Light  &  Trac- 
tion Company  has  made  and  is  making  on  the  7-cent 
fare." 

The  paper  goes  on  to  state  that  the  company  has 
always  held  to  the  policy  that  the  patrons  were  entitled 


TABLE  I- 


16,052,259  (u>  7c. 
14,749,896  @  b\ 
890,204  @  5c 
1,197,643  <§j  4c 
151,308  (g>  3c 
5,569,953  no  charge 


$1,123,658.  13 
921,868.50 
44,510  20 
47,905  72 
4,539.24 

20,513.95 


-STATISTICS  FOR  ONE  YEAR  WITH  THE  7-CENT  FARE  AS 
PUBLISHED  IN  CAR  FAX 

Operating  Revenue: 

Cash-fare  passengers  

1  Adult-ticket  passengers. . 
Adult-ticket  passengers.. . 
School-ticket  passengers.. 
iSchool-tieket  passengers. 

Transfer  passengers  

Express,  mail  and  miscellaneous  revenue. 

Total   $2,162,995.74 

1  The  5-cent  adult  tickets  and  the  3-eent  school  tickets  shown  above  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  public  on  July  3,  1 920,  and  according  to  the  Public  Utility  Com- 
mission's order  the  company  was  obliged  to  honor  them  up  to  July  31,  1920. 


to  know  everything,  and  that  if  they  did,  the  company 
as  well  as  its  patrons  would  fare  better  than  they  would 
if  each  were  suspicious  and  distrustful  of  the  other. 
During  the  past  twelve  months  a  total  of  38,737,540 
passengers  were  carried,  and  the  total  amount  of  money 
collected  was  $2,142,481.79,  or  an  average  of  5.53  cents 
from  each  passenger.  The  exact  number  of  each  class 
of  passengers  carried,  together  with  the  revenue  re- 


September-  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


351 


ceived  therefrom,  as  well  as  from  the  carrying  of 
express,  mail,  etc.,  is  given  in  the  printed  statement. 

The  company's  costs  for  operating  this  property  dur- 
ing the  past  year  were  as  follows : 

Operating  Expenses: 
Repairs  and  upkeep  of  track  and  pavement  . ,  ,         $  1 66,327  56 

Repairs  and  upkeep  of  ears   I  36,553  35 

Power  to  operate,  heat  and  light  cars   235,501 .91 

Wages  of  conductors  and  motormen   747,628  16 

General  and  miscellaneous  expenses  (including 

accidents)   206,770  33 

Taxes  and  licenses   123,000  00 

depreciation  reserve   144,725.  00 

Total  operating  costs   $1,760,506  31 

Net  operating  revenue   $402,489  43 

Property  investment   $8,669,695  13 

Rate  of  return  upon  the  investment  ($402,489  43  :-:  $8,669,695.  13)— 4  64% 

2  The  amount  of  depreciation  reserve  was  fixed  by  the  Public  Utility  Com- 
mission. 

The  figures  used  as  the  property  investment  is  the  value  placed  upon  this  prop- 
erty for  rate-making  purposes  by  the  Public  Utility  Commission  as  of  June  30, 
1918,  plus  additions  to  property  from  that  date  to  December  31,  1920. 

The  net  operating  revenue  of  $402,489.43  for  the 
past  year  represents  an  annual  return  of  4.64  per  cent 
upon  the  investment  in  the  property,  or  just  about 
enough  to  meet  the  interest  at  5  per  cent  on  the  money 
borrowed  (through  the  sale  of  mortgage  bonds)  on  the 
property.  Car  Fax  goes  on  to  state  that  no  dividends 
have  been  paid  by  the  Utah  Light  &  Traction  Company 
for  five  and  one-half  years,  and  that  profits  are  abso- 
lutely unknown.  In  fact,  states  the  paper,  "There  can 
be  no  profits  under  governmental  regulation  of  public 
utilities."  All  that  the  owners  of  public  utility  securi- 
ties can  hope  for  is  a  fair  return  in  the  nature  of 
interest  upon  their  holdings. 

In  predicting  results  of  operation  during  the  coming 
year  under  the  existing  conditions,  Cor  Fax  states  that 
it  will  not  venture  to  hope  for  a  reduction  in  carfare 
because  the  company  will  have  to  spend  considerably 
more  money  for  repairs  to  track,  pavement  and  cars 
than  it  has  been  spending  during  the  past  few  years. 
The  paper  then  goes  on  to  state  that  with  a  return  of 
only  4.46  per  cent  upon  the  investment  in  the  property 
as  compared  with  obtainable  returns  of  better  than 
6  per  cent  upon  U.  S.  Liberty  bonds  and  from  8  to  10 
per  cent  upon  investments  in  reputable  businesses,  the 
public  can  readily  understand  why  the  railways  are 
hard  up.  The  company  is  optimistic,  however,  and  hopes 
that  with  the  decreasing  costs  for  materials  and  wages, 
the  time  will  come  when  the  property  will  be  prosper- 
ous and  it  will  be  able  to  expand  and  extend  its  lines 
into  every  section  of  the  community.  It  points  out  that 
the  street  railway  is  a  necessity  to  any  community,  and 
that  it  will  greatly  aid  in  the  growth  and  development  of 
any  community.  Car  Fax  concludes  by  stating  that  the 
company  appreciates  the  confidence  of  the  people  and 
wants  to  reciprocate  by  placing  all  of  its  cards  on  the 
table  face  up. 


TABLE  II- 


-UTAH  LIGHT  &  TRACTION — OPERATING  STATISTICS 
FOR  LAST  FOUR  YEARS 


1917  1918  1919  1920 

Gross  earnings   $1,597,315  $1,602,000  $1,855,281  $2,069,482 

Operating  expenses  and 

taxes   1,133,307  1,142,893  1,245,752  1,489,283 

Depreciation   30,000  25,000  150.000  144,725 

Operating  ratio   0  73  0  73  0  75  0  79 

Car-miles   5.627,762  5,466,576  5,303,783  5,316,913 

Car-hours   366,086  544,084  525,216  528,022 

Number  of  cars   86  83  80  80 

Total  passengers   40,320,109  36,174,985  39,521,505  40,512,223 

Passengers  per  car-mile..  .  7  1  6.6  7  4  7.6 

Passengers  per  car-hour.. .  71  66  4  75.3  76  8 

Car-miles  per  car-hour. .. .  9.9  100  10.1  100 

Earnings  per  car-mile.  ..  .  $0  28  $0.29  $0  .35  $0  .39 

Earnings  per  car-hour. ..  .  $2  82  $2  .95  $3  .54  $3  09 

Expenses  per  car-mile.  ..  .  $0.20  $0  21  $0  26  $0  32 

Expenses  per  car-hour   $2  03  $2  14  $2  .66  $3  .10 

Jitneys  cause  no  trouble  in  Salt  Lake  City,  because 
regulatory  legislation  was  passed  before  they  obtained 


a  foothold.  Power  is  purchased  from  the  Utah  Power 
&  Light  Company  under  very  favorable  rate  schedules, 
since  it  is  largely  hydro-electric.  Thus,  the  railway 
company  has  been  spared  two  of  the  trials  encountered 
by  many  other  operators — the  coal  shortage  and  the 
jitneys. 

Conclusion 

The  Utah  Light  &  Traction  Company  is  a  splendid 
example  of  Western  traction  and  illustrates  by  its 
prosperous  condition,  optimistic  attitude  and  ingenious 


View  of  Main  Street,  Salt  Lake  City 

installations  the  results  that  ability  can  accomplish  with 
a  railway  property  under  severe  handicaps  inherent  in 
an  agricultural  community  very  distant  from  industrial 
centers.  It  is  unique  in  that  it  operates  in  a  city  and 
district  where  conditions  are  such  as  to  give  a  very 
static  daily  and  yearly  passenger  traffic  free  from  fluc- 
tuations due  to  industrial  or  climatic  changes. 


Extensive  Electrification  Plans 

World's  Survey  Shows  that  Many  Countries  Are  Preparing- 
to  Substitute  Electricity  for  Steam — The  Present 
Shortage  of  Coal  Is  an  Important  Factor 

THE  Electric  Railway  &  Tramway  Journal  for  July 
8  is  a  "Special  World  Issue"  and  contains  data  in 
regard  to  proposed  electrifications  in  many  countries. 
The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  more  important 
data  given: 

South  America  and  West  Indies 

In  the  Argentine  the  electrification  of  the  suburban 
lines  of  the  Buenos  Aires  Western  Railway  is  mak- 
ing progress.  The  entrance  to  Buenos  Aires  is  over 
the  city  lines  of  the  Anglo-Argentine  Tramway  Com- 
pany.   Other  railway  electrification  is  in  contemplation. 

In  Bolivia  electric  power  will  be  used  on  a  trans- 
Andine  line  from  Las  Paz  to  Yungas  now  under  con- 
struction. Electricity  was  selected  because  of  the  high 
price  of  coal  and  the  presence  of  large  water-power 
resources  along  the  route.    There  is  at  present  a  56- 


352 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


mile  electric  railway  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
republic. 

Considerable  additional  electrification  is  proposed  in 
Brazil,  following-  the  completion  of  a  section  of  the 
Paulista  Railway,  already  described  in  this  paper. 

In  Chile  tenders  have  been  invited  for  the  electrifica- 
tion of  the  Valparaiso-Santiago  and  the  Santiago- 
Talea  lines,  a.nd  the  electrical  equipment  of  a  20-mile 
section  of  the  Nitrate  Railways  is  being  seriously 
considered. 

A  report  has  been  made  to  the  government  of  Jamaica 
of  the  cost  of  electrifying  its  railway  system  of  197 
miles.  The  expense  is  estimated  at  £1,257,000  and  the 
proposal  is  urged  by  commercial  interests  in  Jamaica. 

Europe 

Austria  is  intending  to  equip  652  km.  of  railway 
route,  the  work  to  be  completed  by  June  30,  1925.  Of 
this  length  412  km.  are  single-track  lines  and  240  km. 
are  double-track  lines.  Hydro-electric  power  will  be 
used. 

As  a  result  of  a  trip  of  inspection,  a  commission  of 
the  Belgian  State  Railways  has  recommended  the  adop- 
tion on  that  system  of  1,500-volt  direct  current  with 
third  rail. 

It  has  been  estimated  by  the  three  principal  railway 
companies  in  France  that  the  electrification  of  8.800 
km.  of  their  lines  will  effect  an  annual  economy  of 
1,500,000  tons  of  coal  (based  on  the  traffic  of  1913). 
An  official  commission  to  study  the  relative  advantages 
of  the  different  systems  has  made  a  tour  of  the  United 
States  and  other  countries,  and  has  recommended  high- 
tension  direct  current. 

In  Great  Britain  it  is  believed  that  nothing  further 
is  likely  to  be  done  until  the  railways  return  to  private 
control  and  the  electrification  of  railways  advisory 
committee  has  presented  its  report.  This  committee 
has  now  been  sitting  more  than  twelve  months.  An 
interim  report  in  July  recommended  standardization 
of  both  methods  and  appliances.  A  few  of  the  lines 
are  making  extensions  of  their  electrical  divisions. 

Italy  has  extensive  electrification  plans  because  of 
the  high  cost  of  coal  and  the  large  amount  of  water 
power  available  in  the  Alps  and  Apennines.  At  present 
the  three-phase  system  of  working  predominates,  this 
being  used  on  390  km.  of  route  and  650  km.  of  track, 
but  there  is  some  trackage  equipped  with  direct  cur- 
rent, including  a  high-voltage  direct-current  railway 
between  Turin  and  Lanzo.  The  railway  administration 
proposes  a  program  of  future  electrification  covering 
2,000  km.,  the  total  length  of  the  state  railway  system 
being  14,000  km.  It  is  expected  that  this  equipment 
would  effect  an  economy  of  about  500,000  tons  of  coal. 
Active  work  has  been  begun  on  a  2,400-volt  line  from 
Rome  to  Port  of  New  Ostia,  a  distance  of  25  km. 
Both  electric  locomotives  and  motor  car  trains  will  be 
used,  and  it  is  hoped  the  line  will  be  in  operation  by 
1922. 

The  mountain  division  of  the  North  of  Spain  Rail- 
way (42  km.  in  length)  is  being  electrified,  and  several 
other  projects  will  probably  be  taken  up  soon. 

In  Sweden  the  hydro-electric  department  has  asked 
the  government  to  include  estimates  of  51,050,000 
kroner  in  the  budget  of  1921  for  the  extension  of  hydro- 
electric works,  some  of  which  are  intended  for  use  in 
connection  with  a  supply  of  power  to  the  proposed 
Stockholm-Gothenburg  Railway,  and  the  railway  ad- 
ministration has  asked  for  a  vote  of  26,000,000  kroner 


or  1922  in  addition  to  the  23,000,000  kroner  approved 
for  1921  for  the  execution  of  works  for  the  conversion 
of  the  same  railway.    The  cost  of  the  complete  elec- 
trification of  the  line  is  estimated  at  about  90,000,000 
kroner. 

The  Swiss  seem  definitely  to  have  adopted  the  single- 
phase  system  which  is  in  use  on  the  St.  Gotthard  line, 
the  latest  line  to  be  equipped  and  the  most  important 
through-line  between  Switzerland  and  Italy.  Generally 
7,500  volts  will  be  used  on  the  trolley  line  during  the 
period  of  operation  by  both  steam  and  electricity,  and 
15,000  volts  Will  be  used  when  steam  traction  is  sup- 
pressed. 

A  part  of  the  proposed  program  of  the  Soviets  in 
Russia,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  construction  of  a  super- 
power system  and  considerable  railway  electrification. 

Asia,  Australia  and  Africa 
The  electrification  program  of  the  Japanese  rail- 
ways is  reported  to  include  from  500  to  700  miles  dur- 
ing the  next  five  years,  starting  with  lines  around 
Tokio.  Work  has  also  been  begun  on  a  tube  line  in 
that  city. 

The  electrical  equipment  of  some  of  the  suburban 
divisions  of  the  steam  railroads  entering  Bombay, 
India,  is  being  seriously  considered. 

The  Ceylon  government  has  ordered  a  detailed  survey 
made  of  that  island's  hydro-electric  resources  with  a 
view  of  possible  electrification  of  some  of  the  lines. 

Melbourne,  Australia,  is  completing  its  electrification 
of  suburban  lines  which  will  involve  sixteen  substa- 
tions, 145  miles  of  track,  and  702  cars.  Forty-four  and 
a  half  miles  are  now  in  operation,  and  the  last  of  the 
system  as  at  present  planned  will  be  completed,  it  is 
thought,  in  February,  1923.  The  capital  cost  of  the 
present  scheme  when  completed  will  be  approximately 
£5,000,000.  Considerable  suburban  electrification  will 
also  probably  be  undertaken  at  Sydney,  Australia. 

The  contract  for  the  electrification  of  a  mountain 
section  of  the  Midland  Railway  of  New  Zealand  has 
been  placed  with  the  English  Electric  Company.  The 
section  is  a  little  more  than  8  miles  in  length,  of  which 
5  miles  are  in  a  tunnel. 

The  general  manager  and  chief  engineer  of  the 
hydro-electric  department  of  the  Tasmanian  govern- 
ment, after  an  inspection  of  properties  of  this  kind 
in  the  United  States,  Canada  and  Switzerland,  recom- 
mends development  of  that  country's  hydro-electric 
resources.  He  reports  26,000  hp.  is  already  being  used, 
70,000  hp.  is  being  developed,  and  it  is  hoped  eventually 
to  develop  400,000  hp.  Several  electrifications  are  pro- 
posed. 

Some  work  has  already  been  done  on  developing 
hydro-electric  power  in  Java,  and  it  is  expected  that 
when  a  station  in  the  residency  of  Batavia  is  finished, 
part  of  its  current  will  be  used  in  the  operation  of  the 
Batavia  Railway. 

The  South  African  Parliament  has  authorized  the 
prompt  electrification  of  two  sections  of  government 
railways,  and  tenders  have  been  called  for  from  various 
countries.  One  section  is  for  a  suburban  division  with 
heavy  passenger  traffic  extending  out  from  Cape  Town. 
The  length  of  route  is  22J  miles,  of  which  15*  miles  is 
double  track.  Sixty-four  motor  cars  and  sixty  trail 
cars  would  be  required.  The  other  division  is  a  moun- 
tain section  between  Durban  and  Pietermaritzburg,  a 
distance  of  70  miles.  The  cost  for  the  equipment  of 
this  line,  including  power  stations,  is  £2,921,400. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


353 


Merchandising  Transportation 

In  This  Final  Talk  of  the  Series  on  the  Merchandising  of  Transportation  the  Author  Explains  How  Sales 
Can  Be  Increased  Through  the  Good  Will  of  the  Public  and  How  that 
Good  Will  May  Be  Cultivated 

By  W.H.  Boyce 

General  Manager  Beaver  Valley  Company,  New  Brighton,  Pa. 


Fifth  Annual  Newspaper  Men's  Dinner.  Mr.  Botce  Entertains  the  Newspaper  Men  in  the  Vicinity  of  New  Brighton  Once  a 
Year  at  Dinner.    In  This  Group  He  Will  Be  Seen  the  Third  from  the  Left  of  the  Middle  Row 


THE  most  valuable  asset  a  street  railway  can  have 
on  its  books  is  the  good  will  of  the  public. 
Manufacturers  rate  the  value  of  good  will  at 
millions  of  dollars,  and  good  will  is  simply  the  result  of 
the  confidence  which  people  in  general  have  in  the 
character  of  an  organization. 

To  build  up  good  will  and  extend  your  radius  beyond 
your  present  circle  is  your  responsibility.  Advertising 
is  one  of  the  mediums  that  will  carry  the  character  of 
your  railway  organization  to  your  public  and  help  form 
opinion. 

Public  opinion  is  the  greatest  power  in  the  world. 
Without  properly  formed  public  opinion  a  company  is 
lost.  Favorable  public  opinion  can  be  cultivated  for  your 
property  if  you  are  alive  to  the  fact  that  you  are  dealing 
with  human  beings. 

Successful  business  men  have  long  since  demon- 
strated that  success  is  achieved  through  the  cultivation 
of  elements  of  human  interest  in  business.  You  like  to 
trade  at  such  places — places  where  there  is  a  friendly 
desire  to  satisfy  in  every  particular.    We  understand 


The  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company 


We  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  letter,  which  has  been  referred  to  the 
proper  department.  You  will  receive  a  reply  just  as  soon  as  the  matter  about 
which  you  write  can  be  thoroughly  investigated. 

We  wish  to  assure  you  by  this  card  that  your  wishes  expressed  will  re- 
ceive  our  immediate  attention. 

Yours  Respectfully, 
BEAVER  VALLEY  TRACTION  CO. 


where  this  is  the  case  that  the  heart  is  right,  yet  there 
may  sometimes  be  financial  reasons  why  in  every  par- 
ticular satisfaction  cannot  be  given.  All  electric  railway 
companies  have  their  financial  troubles,  yet  all  of  us  can 
do  more  to  have  our  public  understand  these  difficulties. 
In  such  cases  advertise  them  through  your  employees 
(who  should  be  put  in  possession  of  the  facts)  at  your 
clubs,  in  the  lodges,  on  the  golf  course,  and  through 
newspaper  copy,  circular  letters  and  car  cards. 

Present  conditions  call  for  economy  in  operation.  You 
may  not  be  able  to  do  all  you  want  to  reach  your  ideal, 
but  for  the  salvation  of  your  company  do  all  that  you 
can. 

Traditional  practice  is  not  enough  today.  Times  and 
conditions  have  changed.  Some  railway  operators  have 
not.  Wake  up!  Eight  million  men  have  bought  auto- 
mobiles which  are  taking  your  traffic  and  at  the  same 
time  increasing  your  operating  expenses  through 
increasing  your  operating  difficulties  and  accident 
hazards. 

Wake  up.   Leave  the  wake.   Burn  the  crape.   Put  pep, 


Dollar  Day,  Beaver  Falls,  Pa.,  Thursday,  Feb.  17, '21 

THE  GREATEST  BARGAIN  DAY  EVENT 
OF  THE  YEAR 
SAVING  MEANS  RIGHT  BUYING 
Now  is  the  time  to  buy,  when  prices  have  been  cut  to 
almost  pre-war  times.    Watch  the  Daily  Papers  for  the 
Dollar  Day  Merchant's  Ads.    When  you  come  to  Beaver 
Falls,  look  for  the  Dollar  Sign  Stores. 

Half-fare  tickets  will  be  sold  by  the  Beaver  Valley 
Traction  Co.,  upon  presentation  of  this  card  ONLY. 

Tickets  good  on  that  date  from  8:00  A.M.  to  4:30  P.M. 
Any  complaints  should  be  made  with  Number  of  Street 
Car,  hour  and  conductor's  number,  to 

F.  F.  BARTH,  Secretary, 

Retail  Merchants'  Board. 


Card  of  Acknowledgment  Sent  to  Letters 
of  Complaint 


Postal  Card  Sent  Out  by  Retail  Merchant  Board,  Feb.  17,  1921, 
Explaining  About  Reduced  Fares 


354 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


new  ideas  and  new  thought  into  the  merchandising  of 
transportation. 

Cultivate  your  public  with  the  knowledge  that  "all 
eggs  look  alike  but  they  'ain't.'  "  You  may  be  able  to 
reach  the  auto-riding  highbrow,  but  don't  overlook  all 
of  your  every  day  car  riders.  Many  of  them  are  influen- 
tial office-holding  persons.  They  are  all  public-opinion 
formers  and  car  riders.  If  you  can't  speak  their 
language,  get  some  one  who  can.  Your  experience, 
integrity  and  good  intentions  alone  are  not  enough.  But 
when  all  of  them  are  backed  by  continuous  interest  on 


the  part  of  your  employees  and  yourself — then  a  differ- 
ent story. 

Don't  forget  that  the  heart  must  be  right. 

Your  interest  in  all  civic  matters,  the  expenditure  of 
your  time,  money  and  effort  in  local  commercial  or  civic 
bodies,  these  are  evidences  of  your  good  faith. 

If  you  are  too  busy  attending  to  details  to  undertake 
this  work,  why  should  I  waste  my  time  writing  these 
articles  and  you  waste  yours  reading  them.  True 
economy  must  prompt  you  to  get  proper  and  sufficient 
assistants  to  care  for  small  matters. 


FINAL  WARNING 

10  Day  Sale  ol 

STREET  GAR 
TICKETS 

Closes  at  Midnight 

21 

Buy  enough  to  last  you. 
three   months    at  least. 

They   will   not   be  sold 
.ig.iin  within  three  months 
BUY — BUY  NOW 

100  Tlcketsat  $4.50 

By  using-tickets  you — 

Save  three  cents  on  each 
round  trip  to  Beaver  Falls 
from  Beaver  or  Rochester. 

A  4  cent  saving  round 
trip  Monaca  to  Beaver 
Falls. 

A  five  ceht  reduction  on 
\hc  round  trip  Beaver  to 
Morado. 

A  six  cent  reduction  on 
the  round  trip  Rochester 
to  Ambndge.  It's  a  re- 
duction of  1-2  cent  eaclv 
(are  zone  on  both  lines. 


Pittsburgh  &  Beaver 
Street  Railway  Co., 

The  Beaver  Valley 
Traction  Company, 

W.  H.  BOYCE. 

General  Manager. 


To  acqvii'- 


i  existing 


Wave  You 


Give  yJ^T°*»£. 


>  <°  keep  aj  u.or, 


j^end  the 


tcetsi 


The  hu 
Hcnt  i 
fried 


ho  d,- 


10  DA* 


sale or 

T^f  C^*^  3,rtet  Car  Bargain  Event  Be- 

,  „„m  B|     suits  in  $15,000  Beturo  r 
On  Tickets 


******  AP«^ttCanm« 

1 to  Tburstay,  *P"'       of  our  o«>«  ,.„«. 


ticket  _sile  success ■ 

-et  Car  B&rrain  Evmt  Rp. 


w^jwksw  sis* 

:„.».  ^^S^^^s^iwii     ley  "action  C»*> 


'  «  nwnj  of, 

■  "Ui  ,,f 

■  lo  work 
;  tonsid 

.ro"s-  w. , 

be„«-f„  „,  ,h|. 

«i  lickctj 
.  *»'ve  some  of 
"""Wl.-ackrc 


Ti^E  LIMIT 


are  en- 
'eraiioi,. 
•vant 


'en  r/aj.s 
cannot  b: 
S'Uramc. 


'11  he 


only.  A/,e. 
-v  "leni  ir0„ 
here  win 


T  that 


ot  be 


'Old  for 

you  / 
w 


i.  ry 


DECIDE  A(;  .„,  ""'nc,>- ''ays. 
'"S  'aid  off,  "P'"ie,s  from  he-/ 

theni,  i„  .  ,  ,Ve  will  ,|e-/ 
"'«»  a»  .hose  hu,    "  a<,™rtiw-/ 

*'"<*  hsted        ^ormore  j 
^UV  AT  THlsRopANK 


Features  of  the  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company  Publicity 

From  April  11  to  April  21,  1921,  the  company  had  a  "bargain"  sale 
of  tickets,  or  a  reduction  of  10  per  cent.  These  tickets  were  on  sale  at 
various  banks,  stores  and  factory  offices  and  were  good  until  used. 
This  bargain  sale  was  advertised  as  shown  in  the  upper  series  of  illus- 
trations. 

The  lower  series  of  illustrations  show  how  the  Beaver  Valley  Traction 
Company  co-operated  with  the  merchants  of  its  localities  by  reducing 
its  fares  for  special  events  such  as  "dollar"  days,  and  the  exhibition  of 
Charlie  Chaplin  in  "The  Kid."  The  reproductions  show  how  many  of 
the  merchants  called  attention  in  their  newspaper  advertisements  to 
this  fare  reduction  by  the  company. 


Traction  Co. 
Will  Have  a 
Bargain  Day 

Fur  lbt>  ItrsI  tLrao  In  the  bistory  ot 

Foiog  to  conduit  a  genuine  disc 
salf  It  is  planned  to  plat*  on 
market  Tor  ton  days  book3  of  Lli 

Hon  In  i"e  rate  of  fare  locally.  The 
present  faro  fa  IIvo  cants  and  tbifl 

the  Unite  J  States  wtiera  in"  nlckle. 

The  local  Use*  have  taken  tti-s  loid 
ir  Steel  a j  projects  that 


;  for 


nntry  The  local  VuAds 
i  Tnib'k;ty  campaigns  rn 


YOU  CAN  BUY 
STREET  CAR 
TICKET  AT  THE 
FOLLOWING  BANKS: 


'Firs 


National  Dark.  Beaver  Fall: 
T  Reeves  Co  ,  Braver  Fall 
iere'  National  Dank,  [leave 


Union  National  Bank,  New  Brigh- 

Old  National  Bank.  New  Brighton 
Ft.    Mclntojh    National  Bank, 
Beaver. 

Beaver  Truet  Companv,  Reaver 
Firet  National  Bank,  Rochester 
Rooneaer  Trust  Company,  Ro- 


Ambrldge  Sa^lngi  £  Tril'i 


100 


TICKETS 


$4.50 


These  tickets  were  pur- 
chased by  the  banks  dur- 
ing the  Bargain  Sale  Ap- 
ril 111  to  21st.  They  are 
not  on  sale  except  Ht  the 
banks  named. 

The  BEAVFR.  VALLEY 
TRACTION"  CO., 

W.  H.  Boycc, 
Ceneral  Manager. 


Bo6Ss  L  Brandon  Co. 

 DRY  CCK 

Special  Street  Car  Fare 
tor  Suburban  Day 

Next  t| 

r..1  C-U*g- 


^  S  S  5  SAVED  IN  OUR  LAD 
LAME 


l/2  FARE 

On  Street  Cars  —  Civ. 
Post  Caxds  To 
Condurtcr 


THREE  RACKS 


Regent  Theatre 


FLAVU*  fAi  L> 


P"bruary  28th,  M^rcb  1st  aad  "nd 


Charlie  Chaplin  in  'The  KID" 


CONDUCTORS 
ON  STREET 
CARS- 


ha^.n-? 

i  logclh- 


id.njj  the  j1jo«  fr«m  Uvaver,  Bridg*water,  rV 
r,    fr.-eJom.   Convoy  or    Monac.i  you"  save  IK 

Save  tune  MTitinc  in  lini>.  Tirt.et  pood  al  any 
•i.auc«  bhjuing  1Li>  |.irturr.aiitl  car  tickcti  poo-l 
tk-  ol  lUc  d»v  or  r.i^ht  tlicic  tlrTcc  tlayj.  Just 

?  eoi.Jorlor  lor  n  lle»Dt  licfcrl      Co<t  fifty 


r  IS  c 


PAY  YOUR  FARE 


HASS0N  BROS. 


AMERICA'S  BEST  SHOWS 


JUNCTION  PARK 
June  1 1  to  23d 

AND  RIDE  HOME  FREE  ON  THE 
STREET  CARS 


and  . 


,0  at'lind  ih,-  oola! 


iu  can  ridj1  from  Conway.  Freedt-m,  Monaca, 
,  Vauf^rl,  College  HjII,  Morado,  Beaver  FalU, 
nghton  for  our-ualf  fare 
:t — j>ay  your  (ore  going  and  fctop  at  the  main 
^  of  Juuction  Pnrk  and  you  will  be  gwtn 
lo  lake  you  Lowe.  Good  only  6  P.  M.  to 
bt  each  day  and  tickets  geod  onJy  on  day 


DOLLAR  DA  Y— THURS- 
DAY, FEB.  17th 

\'/2  Street  Car  Fare 


Where  Dreams  Become  True 

Renter  Becomes  Owner  in  60  Day: 


v~2m  BER 

 I       MH^^  Everything  Rea^ 


INTER-CITY  FUEL  COMP^> 

 AolK.-.^-  


STREET  CAR  FARE 
1-2  Fart  ea  Snborban  Day 

SUBU 
THl 

SUBURBAN  DAY  SALE  OP 


Fall 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


555 


After  all  is  said  and  done  all  methods  of  merchandis- 
ing transportation  are  partly  wasted  without  the  good 
will  of  the  public.  It  is  yours  for  the  asking  and 
doing — 

Good  Will  of  Public  Can  Be  Had 

IF  the  heart  is  right; 

IF  you  are  not  a  double  dealer; 

IF  you  are  a  good  mixer  or  know  you  can  afford 
to  employ  one  or  more ; 

IF  you  can  take  the  time  to  read  of  what  the  other 
fellow  is  doing; 

IF  you  are  not  so  smothered  with  detail  that  you  do 
not  find  time  to  do  new  constructive  thinking; 

IF  you  realize  that  some  of  the  sales  methods  of  other 
successful  men  are  applicable  to  your  business; 

IF  you  "keep  your  ear  close  to  the  ground" ; 

IF  you  are  human  and  realize  that  your  business 
success  comes  from  human  beings; 

IF  you  are  not  penny-wise  and  pound-foolish  with 
expense  accounts ; 

IF  you  know  that  adverse  public  opinion  costs  you 
car  riders  and  damage  claims ; 

IF  you  deal  fairly  and  squarely  with  employees  and 
public ; 

IF  you  realize  that  there  is  a  lot  in  that  Golden  Rule ; 

IF  you  know  that  your  regulations  and  rules  should 
be  tempered  with  human  kindness,  but  not  to  the  extent 
of  lax  discipline; 

IF  you  let  the  members  of  your  organization  (who  are 
just  disseminators  of  "inside  stuff")  know  what  is 
going  on ; 

IF  you  do  not  permit  favoritism  to  be  shown; 

IF  you  realize  that  today  the  trouble  with  that 
individual  might  have  been  overwork,  financial  or 
domestic ; 

IF  you  know  that  there  have  been  known  cases  of 
supervising  officers  being  of  insufficient  mental  capacity, 
out  of  touch  with  the  rank  and  file,  or  tyrannical ; 


The  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company 

New  Brighton,  Pa.,  Feb.  17,  1921. 

Dear  Sir  : 

You  have  a  fine  store.  Show  windows  nicely  dressed.  Sales 
people  neat  appearing  and  courteous.  You  have  a  large 
stock.  You  can  give  a  prospective  purchaser  a.  lar^e 
selection. 

But  you  cannot  make  large  sales  nor  many  sales  unless  you 
get  people  into  the  habit  of  coming  to  your  store.  You  know 
the  most  buying  is  done  in  the  crowded  store.  More  goods 
are  sold  to  the  "sight"  buyer. 

You  go  to  New  York,  to  the  shop  or  to  the  mill,  just  so  that 
you  can  see  the  goods.  Manufacturers  have  traveling  sales- 
men for  the  purpose  of  "showing  the  goods."  That  con- 
clusively proves  that  the  sale  made  through  exhibition  of 
the  goods  is  the  satisfied  sale,  and,  also  that  exhibiting;  the 
goods  sells. 

Now  we  are  getting  to  the  point. 

Telephone  orders  must  be  delivered.  The  expert  telephone 
salesman  has  not  yet  been  developed  ;  in  the  present  stage 
they  are  order  takers,  and  in  reality  do  not  sell  or  increase 
business  for  you. 

To  encourage  shopping  by  telephone  detracts  from  the  num- 
ber of  sales  possible  when  the  customer  calls  in  person, 
and  increases  your  number  of  deliveries.  The  telephone,  of 
course,  has  its  use  in  the  business  but  as  a  sales  adjunct 
it  does  not  compare  favorably  with  the  personal  contact. 
Can  you  not  so  frame  your  advertising  that  it  will  get  more 
people  into  your  store?  Here  is  where  our  interest  comes 
in.  Get  them  to  ride  down.  It  keeps  them  in  a  good  humor. 
When  the  people  are  riding  you  are  selling  more  goods. 
When  they  walk  or  stay  at  home  your  business  falls  off. 
You  could  even  afford  to  refund  the  car  fare  on  purchases 
over  a  certain  amount. 

In  what  way  can  we  help  you  to  get  the  people  to  visit 
your  store? 

Very  truly  yours, 

General  Manager 


WE  SAVE  YOU  TIME 


Why  Not  Assume  the  Same  Attitude  Towards  Us 
as  You  Do  to  the  Trade*  or  Professional  Man? 


.,11  lip  Ihc 


l»b!c  and  Ihml 
ter  a  dollar  lol 


■  to  wait  a  few  minutes  for  a  street  car  your 
mmediately  ruffled,  the  system  is  rotten,  and 
.  the  world  is  coming  to  an  end.    You  pay 
and  ask  for  a  transfer.    We  get  no  tip.  we 


IF  you  know  that  fair  dealing  draws  men  together 
and  that  square  dealing  holds  them  together; 

IF  you  feel  that 
the  transportation 
game  is  the  great- 
est game  ever; 

IF  you  are  a 
hard  player  and  a 
good  loser; 

IF  you  are  not 
"Mister"  to  all  the 
people  in  your 
community ; 

IF  you  remem- 
ber that,  "A  soft 
answer  .  .  .  ."; 

IF  you  recog- 
nize all  the  rights 
of  others; 

IF  you  know 
that  America's 
transportation  fa- 
cilities have  done 
much  toward  de- 
mocracizing  her; 

IFyouknowthat 
it  is  more  blessed 
to  commend  than 
to  condemn; 

IF  you  can  be  true  to  yourself. 

IF  you  play  the  game  fairly — and  put  all  the  cards 
on  the  table. 

But,  it  is  now  2:30  a.m.  IF  I  don't  get  to  bed  I  won't 
be  in  shape  tomorrow  to  meet  the  "IFS."  I  must  not  get 
into  that  condition ;  for,  believe  me,  being  able  to 
recognize  the  "IFS"  and  call  them  by  their  first  names 
is  a  paying  proposition  in  the  cultivation  of  the  good 
will  of  the  public  and  the  merchandising  of  transporta- 
tion. 


m 


At  the  populai 
notKtng  cl  it. 
keeping  you  * 
If  you  ha 
temper  it  in 
to  your  viev 
us  a  nickle- 

get  kicked  and  yet  give  prompt  and  complete 
The  Doctor  keeps  you  waiting.    Offer  him  a  nickleand 
see  what  you  get  —  nux  vomica  we  bet. 
The  Manicurist  keep*  you  waiting,  so  docs  the  Hair 
Dresser. 

The  Lawyer  keeps  you  waiting. 
The  Barber  keeps  you  waiting. 

Everywhere  you  wa.t  end  conjider  the  lime  well  ?pent  and  will  pay 
laige  'vim-  and  tips  (or  the  privilege  ol  waiting 
We  don't  want  you  to  wait  on  cars;  we  would  tike  to 
have  a  car  at  your  elbow  the  instant  you  decide  to  ride, 
and  thus  demonstrate  to  you  that  service  is  what  we 
aim  to  give.  Just  how  much  service  your  nickle  will 
buy  is  in  direct  proportion  to  what  state  of  mind  you 
are  in  and  how  you  view  our  efforts. 

Sound  Reasonable?    Read  It  Over,  Think  It  Over. 


THE  BEAVER  VALLEY  TRACTION  CO. 

==51h  =51|l=l|[r=  Hlc=r== 


Advertisement  on  Delays 


The  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company 

New  Brighton,  Pa.,  Jan.  28,  1921. 

To  General  Manager  of  the  Factory  Addressed. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  order  that  we  may  promote  the  punctuality  of, 
and  give  improved  transportation  service  to  your 
employees,  will  you  kindly  fill  out  and  mail  the  fol- 
lowing facts  in  the  inclosed  envelope: 

Number  of  persons  employed  during  normal 
times   

Number  now  working  

Time  work  starts  

Time  of  quitting  

Number  of  female  workers  

It  will  also  help  us  to  serve  you  better  if  you  will 
advise  us  when  you  increase  or  decrease  the  number 
of  your  employees. 

Signed     

Name  of  Plant  

Return  to : 

W.  H.  Boyce,  General  Manager, 
New  Brighton,  Pa.,  in  the 
inclosed  envelope. 


Circular  Letter  Sent  to  Each  Store  Proprietor  in  the  District 
in  February  of  This  Year 


Circular  Letter  Sent  to  Each  Factory  in  the  District 
in  January  of  This  Year 


356 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal, 


357 


Manila  Railway  Business  Growing 


ONE  of  the  largest  utility  properties  outside  the 
United  States,  conducted  by  an  American  com- 
pany, is  the  Manila  Electric  Company,  which 
operates  the  electric  railway  and  light  system  at  Manila, 
Philippine  Islands.  The  outstanding  capital  stock 
(all  common)  is  $5,000,000,  on  which  the  company  has 
paid  dividends  every  year  since  1906.  The  rates  from 
1906  to  1914  varied  from  3  per  cent  to  7  per  cent;  since 
1914  the  rate  has  been  6  per  cent  each  year.  The  earn- 
ings of  the  company,  both  gross  and  net,  have  been 
larger  this  year  than  last,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
Philippine  Islands  have  felt  the  world-wide  business 
depression  of  the  last  twelve  months.  But  it  has  not 
been  as  acute  there  as  in  many  parts  of  the  United 


States,  as  there  have  been  no  large  manufacturing 
plants  to  close  down. 

The  company  owns  52  miles  of  track,  about  130  pas- 
senger motor  cars  and  a  number  of  trailers,  the  latter 
used  principally  during  the  rush  hours.  At  present  the 
company  has  a  number  of  open  cars,  but  these  are  being 
converted  to  semi-convertible  end-entrance  cars.  The 
cars  are  divided  into  two  sections  to  provide  accommo- 
dations for  first-class  and  second-class  riders.  The  two 
compartments  are  separated  by  a  leather  strap  extend- 
ing across  the  aisle.  Otherwise  there  is  no  difference 
between  the  accommodations  supplied  to  first  and  sec- 
ond-class passengers,  and  when  the  car  reaches  the  end 
of  the  line  the  compartments  are  reversed.    Eighty  per 


358 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


cent  of  the  traffic  is  second  class.  The  first-class  fares 
are:  cash,  6  cents,  and  tickets,  5  cents.  The  second- 
class  fares  are :  cash,  5  cents,  and  tickets,  4  cents. 

At  present  power  is  being  supplied  from  a  steam 
station  of  over  10,000-kw.  capacity  and  a  new  5,000- 
kw.  turbine  generator  is  now  being  installed.  Most 
of  the  coal  used  comes  from  China,  and  the  com- 
pany has  recently  completed  a  large  storage  bunker  with 
circular  crane,  as  shown  in  one  of  the  accompanying 
illustrations.  Other  typical  views  are  shown.  The 
property  is  operated  by  the  J.  G.  White  Management 
Corporation. 


German  Conditions  Not  Favorable 

Some  Properties  Are  Being  Taken  Over  in  Whole  or  in  Part 
by  Municipalities,  but  Cities  Have  Difficulty  in 
Financing  Improvements 

AFTER   the   German   revolution   a   number   of  German 
street  railway  systems  were  taken  over  in  part  or  in 
whole  by  the  municipalities.  This  policy  was  accepted  with- 
out opposition  in  most  cases  by  the  owners.    Track  and 
rolling  stock  had  deteriorated  considerably  during  the  war 


J, 

y 

> 

■„ 

% 

J. 

rg 

56,130,000  of  the  total  capital  stock  of  103,530,000  marks. 
Private  investors  thus  retain  the  controlling  interest,  while 
the  state  is  the  largest  stockholder.  After  1943  the  state 
may  take  over  the  property  at  a  price  based  on  the  average 
gross  revenue  of  the  previous  five  years.  The  state  also 
guarantees  interest  and  amortization  of  the  bonds. 

Public  ownership  of  the  railway  properties  has  not 
greatly  improved  their  financial  status.  In  fact,  it  has  been 
rather  the  reverse,  and  a  number  of  cities  are  actually 
contemplating  the  transfer  of  the  railway  back  to  a  private 
organization  in  which  it  is  intended  to  keep  a  part  interest. 
This  seems  imperative  for  the  reason  that  the  large  capital 
investments  required  for  making  up  the  deficit  and  for 
renewals  of  rolling  stock,  track  and  the  necessary  main- 
tenance generally  exceed  the  financial  ability  of  the  city's 
treasury.  Moreover,  the  organization  of  the  municipalities 
is  not  elastic  enough  financially  to  raise  new  funds,  city 
loans  being  out  of  favor  with  the  public.  For  providing 
fresh  capital,  the  commercial  company  proves  by  far  the 
better  organization. 

The  statistics  in  the  accompanying  charts  give  a  general 
idea  of  the  status  of  German  street  railways.  They  are 
from  a  paper  presented  at  the  Vienna  meeting  of  the  Inter- 
nationale Strassenbahn  und  Kleinbahn  Verein,  by  Prof. 
Dr.  Helm. 


~i'/T 


y  so 
tit. 


-4 


Years  Years  Years 

-\J ileage  Statistics  and  Capital  Invested  in  German  Street  and  Interurban  Railways — Division  of  Capital  in  City 

Electric  Railways — Statistics  of  Passenger  Traffic 


and  large  capital  investments  would  have  been  required 
in  the  early  future.  This  fact  and  the  great  cost  of  mate- 
rials greatly  facilitated  negotiations  for  the  transfer  of 
ownership.  The  method  of  municipalizing  differed  in  vari- 
ous cases.  The  most  frequent  forms  were  the  following: 
(1)  Purchase  of  the  assets;  (2)  purchase  of  the  capital 
stock,  after  which  in  two  cases  the  company  was  dissolved; 
(3)  purchase  of  part  of  the  company's  stock,  in  most  cases 
the  control,  whereby  the  company  retained  ownership. 

The  most  extensive  transaction  of  the  kind  mentioned 
was  the  taking  over  by  the  city  of  Berlin  of  the  Berlin 
street  railway  system,  which  was  owned  by  the  Grosse  Ber- 
liner Strassenbahn  Aktiengesellschaft.  This  transaction 
was  effected  by  the  purchase  of  all  of  the  assets  of  the 
company  by  the  municipality,  at  a  price  40  per  cent  higher 
than  the  nominal  share  capital,  which  at  that  date  was 
about  100,000,000  marks.  The  purchase  price  was  paid  in 
bonds  issued  by  the  city.  In  Leipzig  the  stockholders  re- 
ceived city  bonds  at  par,  plus  a  small  cash  bonus  per  share 
for  their  property.  In  Erfurt  the  city  acquired  two-thirds 
of  the  capital  stock  of  the  company,  the  transfer  being 
made  at  1,030  marks  per  share,  while  the  last  stock  ex- 
change quotation  was  1,580  marks.  The  management  gives 
as  a  reason  for  such  sacrifice  that  it  regarded  "the  future 
financial  situation  of  the  formerly  prosperous  and  sound 
enterprise  as  hopeless."    In  Hamburg  the  state  took  over 


Auto  Men  Adopt  Truck  Speed  and  Weight 
Allowances 

AT  A  RECENT  session  of  the  motor  truck  members 
.  of  the  National  Automobile  Chamber  of  Commerce 
new  standards  for  body  weight  allowances,  gross  weight, 
chassis,  body  and  total  load  and  new  standards  for  speed 
were  adopted. 

Under  the  new  standard  the  speeds  adopted  are 
now,  for  trucks,  including  gross  weight,  chassis,  body 
and  total  load,  up  to  2,800  lb.  when  equipped  with 
pneumatic  tires,  25  miles  per  hour;  with  a  load  up  to 
4,000  lb.  on  solid  tires  25  miles  per  hour;  8,000  lb.,  20 
miles  per  hour ;  12,000  lb.,  18  miles  per  hour ;  16,000  lb., 
16  miles  per  hour;  20,000  lb.  and  over,  15  miles  per 
hour. 

These  speed  ratings  will  be  recognized  by  the  manu- 
facturers as  a  maximum  and  will  not  be  exceeded  under 
any  conditions.  Body  weight  allowance  adopted  for 
1  and  li-ton  trucks  was  limited  to  1,200  lb.;  for  2 
and  2A-ton  trucks,  1,500  lb.;  for  3,  31  and  4-ton  trucks, 
2,000  lb.;  fcr  those  of  5  tons  capacity  and  over, 
2,500  lb. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


359 


Packard  Trolley  Bus  Complete  with  the  Standard 
Gas-Engine  Chassis 

Details  of  Packard  Trolley  Bus 

Trial  Tests  in  Detroit  of  New  Vehicle  Make  Favorable  Im- 
pression on  City  Officials  —  Brill  Body  on  Packard 
Chassis  with  Westinghouse  Electrical  Equipment 

THE  trolley  bus  recently  built  by  the  Packard  Motor 
Car  Company  of  Detroit  to  prove  the  adaptability 
of  the  Packard  truck  to  electrical  equipment  has  been 
given  a  try-out  over  a  special  line  built  on  Harper 
Avenue  by  the  Detroit  Municipal  Railway  System. 

This  trolley  bus  differs  in  some  aspects  from  others  in 
that  it  is  designed  so  it  can  be  readily  converted  into 
a  gasoline-driven  unit  without  any  material  changes 
in  construction.  It  also  carried  two  trolley  poles,  one 
for  each  wire.  While  ultimate  service  with  the  trolley 
bus  would  undoubtedly  require  a  loop  for  turning,  tests 
have  demonstrated  that  it  was  possible  to  Y  the  vehicle 
in  a  narrow  street,  the  same  as  any  self-propelled  unit. 
The  operation,  however,  required  one  shift  of  the  trol- 
ley poles.  With  the  two  poles  used  such  an  operation 
was  thought  to  be  impossible,  but  it  is  evident  the  bus 
can  run  backward  under  its  own  power. 

The  foot  type  of  control  used  affords  smooth  accelera- 
tion, and  tests  showed  it  could  attain  a  speed  of  15 
m.p.h.  in  ten  reconds.  The  maximum  speed  of  the 
vehicle  is  22  m.p.h.  A  motor-driven  sequence  switch 
controls  the  operation  of  the  resistance  notches  as  well 
as  the  transition  from  series  to  parallel  operation.  The 


Front  End  of  Chassis  Showing  Method  of  Mounting 
Equipment 

speed  of  this  sequence  switch  motor  is  directly  affected 
by  the  current  in  the  propulsion  motors. 

The  design  of  the  bus  is  shown  in  accompanying 
illustrations.  It  has  a  seating  capacity  of  twenty-five 
with  considerable  space  for  standees.  The  floor  height 
is  about  2  in.  more  than  the  modern  safety  car  and  two 
steps  are  necessary  for  boarding.  The  body  is  about 
25  ft.  long.  The  complete  vehicle  weighs  11,800  lb., 
of  which  57.5  per  cent  is  carried  on  the  rear  wheels. 
The  chassis,  including  motors,  control  apparatus  and 
resistors,  weighs  7,190  lb.,  which  is  175  lb.  less  than  if 
equipped  with  a  gas  engine. 

The  body,  built  by  J.  G.  Brill  Company,  is  mounted  on 
standard  ED  Packard  chassis.  Two  25-hp.  Westing- 
house  safety  car  motors  mounted  in  tandem  furnish 
propulsion.  The  total  gear  reduction  from  motor  to 
wheels  is  1.75: 1.   The  wheels  mount  34-in.  cushion  tires. 

The  current  collecting  devices  consist  of  two  separate 
trolley  bases  with  18-ft.  poles,  swivel  harps  and  5-in. 
trolley  wheels  having  U-shaped  grooves.  The  trolley 
bases  are  mounted  on  the  longitudinal  axis,  one  30  in. 
back  from  the  other,  with  the  front  base  elevated  10  in. 
above  the  rear  base.  The  running  board  is  approxi- 
mately 11  in.  above  the  ground. 

The  control  apparatus  includes  two  small  electrically 
operated  line  switches  complete  with  overload  trip,  six 
small  resistance  and  transition  switches,  a  foot  con- 
troller, a  manually  operated  reverser,  a  motor  cut-out 


Resistors,  Fuses  and  Motor  Cut-out  Switch  in  Left-Hand 
Side  of  Hood 


The  Controller  and  Contactors  Are  Located  on  the  Right- 
Hand  Side  of  the  Partition 


360 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  10 


switch  and  a  set  of  starting  resistors.  All  of  this 
apparatus  is  mounted  within  the  usual  engine  hood, 
the  resistors  being  mounted  on  one  side  of  the  center 
line  whereas  the  circuit  interrupting  devices  and  other 
important  control  items  are  located  on  the  other  side 
where  they  are  ventilated,  yet  protected  from  the 
weather  as  shown  in  the  illustrations.  The  partition 
dividing  the  hood  into  two  compartments  is  of  a  heat 
resisting  insulating  material  which  acts  more  or  less 
as  a  switchboard  for  the  control  apparatus. 

The  reverse  and  overload  reset  levers  project  through 
the  dash  at  a  point  convenient  to  the  operator. 


Selling  Transportation  at  Pageant 

Electric  Lines  in  Chicago  Capitalized  Opportunity  to  Tell 
Nearly  One  Million  People  in  Attendance  at  Pageant  of 
Progress  Facts  About  the  Railways 

THE  Chicago  Elevated  Railways,  Chicago  Surface 
Lines  and  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Rail- 
road made  the  most  of  the  recent  Pageant  of  Progress 
held  on  the  Municipal  Pier  in  Chicago,  July  30  to  Aug. 
14,  to  interest  the  people  in  attendance  in  the  magni- 
tude of  the  enterprises  carried  on  by  the  local  com- 
panies and  to  "sell"  them  on  the  character  of  service 


and  new  trailers  now  being  installed  in  Chicago.  The 
observer  was  reminded  that  in  1860  the  longest  ride 
for  a  single  fare  was  2  miles,  while  it  is  now  33  miles. 

On  a  board  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  booth  were 
graphically  shown  some  figures  giving  an  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  Surface  Lines'  business,  the  amount 
of  money  invested  and  the  rush-hour  problems.  The 
main  points  brought  out  here  were  that  the  number  of 
passengers  carried  in  a  year  by  the  Surface  Lines  is 
practically  equal  to  the  population  of  the  entire  world; 
that  the  trackage  is  equal  to  a  double-track  line  between 
Chicago  and  Buffalo;  that  more  than  50  per  cent  of  all 
the  revenue  collected  goes  to  wages,  while  only  4.71  per 
cent  goes  to  the  company ;  that  the  cars  travel  more  than 
118,000,000  miles  a  year;  that  the  company  employs 
more  than  15,000  employees,  etc. 

In  the  center  of  the  booth  was  a  four-wing  board  on 
which  were  mounted  enlargements  of  pictures  showing 
the  great  traffic  congestion  and  therein  explaining  some 
of  the  causes  of  delay  to  the  street  cars.  A  transfer- 
counting  machine  which  will  count  accurately  800  trans- 
fers a  minute  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention,  this 
being  operated  almost  continually  and  impressing  how 
the  company  values  and  accounts  for  all  transfers.  The 
thing  which  perhaps  startled  the  visitors  most  of  any- 


Sixty  Tears  of  Street  Car  Transportation  as  Depicted  by 
Chicago  Surface  Lines 

supplied.  During  the  sixteen  days  of  the  pageant  there 
was  an  average  daily  attendance  of  55,000,  of  whom  a 
large  proportion  stopped  at  the  railway  booths  long 
enough  to  show  interest  and  carry  away  new  impres- 
sions and  copies  of  the  city  map  and  small  booklet  pre- 
pared by  the  Illinois  Committee  on  Public  Utility 
information  entitled  "Chicago's  Genii,  the  Public  Utili- 
ties," and  containing  some  very  interesting  information 
about  each  of  the  local  public  utilities.  All  three  of  the 
booths  were  filled  with  people  practically  all  of  the  time 
and  those  who  represented  the  companies  report  great 
interest  and  believe  that,  judging  from  the  large  num- 
ber of  questions  asked  and  discussions  entered  into,  the 
cause  of  the  local  railways  was  greatly  helped. 

John  E.  Wilkie,  assistant  to  general  manager  Chicago 
Surface  Lines,  having  in  mind  the  general  diffidence  of 
the  public  toward  statistics,  endeavored  so  to  portray 
four  or  five  main  points  that  the  guests  would  naturally 
absorb  them,  or  at  least  take  away  the  correct  impres- 
sion. Across  one  end  of  the  booth  in  which  the  Surface 
Lines'  exhibit  was  displayed  was  a  series  of  beautifully 
water-colored  pictures  showing  the  progress  of  the  type 
of  cars  used  since  1860,  carrying  the  memory  of  the 
"old  timers"  back  to  the  horse-car  days  and  through  the 
cable  cars,  early  electric  cars,  to  the  modern  street  cars 


A  Few  Startling  Facts  Presented  in  a  Way  to  Make 
an  Impression 

thing  was  the  large  box  made  up  to  represent  the  bulk 
of  one  day's  supply  of  transfers  used  on  the  Surface 
Lines.  This  is  almost  astounding  even  to  a  railway 
man.  It  is  shown  in  an  accompanying  picture  and  it 
measures  7  ft.  7  in.  x  4  ft.  10  in.  x  3  ft.  10  in. 

A  good  deal  of  interest  was  also  manifest  in  the  pic- 
ture shown  by  two  photoscope  machines  which  ran  con- 
tinually. One  of  these  was  intended  to  teach  safety- 
first  lessons  and  showed  chiefly  boarding  and  alighting 
accidents  and  affording  some  humor  as  well  as  serious 
thought.  The  other  photoscope  showed  pictures  taken 
at  some  of  the  beaches,  parks,  ball  parks,  Art  Institute, 
Field  Museum  and  various  spots  of  beauty  and  pleasure 
about  the  city,  and  each  view  carried  directions  as  to 
how  to  get  there  by  street  car. 

Having  anticipated  warm  weather  and  shortage  of 
drinking  facilities,  the  Surface  Lines'  booth  became  very 
popular  as  a  watering  spot.  On  the  first  day,  before 
the  concessionaries  got  started,  a  police  detail  was 
necessary  to  line  the  people  up  for  a  drink  and  one 
hundred  5-gal.  bottles  of  water  were  served  that  Sun- 
day afternoon.  Another  popular  feature  of  the  exhibit 
was  the  map  of  the  city  telling  about  points  of  interest 
and  how  to  get  there.  About  30,000  copies  a  day  of 
this  map  were  given  away. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


361 


METROPOLITAN  ELEVATED  RAILROAD 

1895  1920 

Population  served                                                               339,287  642,562 

Property  value  (Logan  Square)                                                $100  $750 

SOUTH  SIDE  ELEVATED  RAILROAD 

1893  1920 

Population  served                                                                 93,374  420,716 

Property  value  (Sixty-third  and  Halsted)                                    $40  $1,750 

OAK  PARK  ELEVATED  RAILROAD 

1893  1920 

.  Population  served  :  ■                    94,602  156,982 

Property  value  (Oak  Park)  :                                      $50  $300 

NORTHWESTERN  ELEVATED  RAILROAD 

1900  I92C 

Population  served                                                                   238,679  431,636 

Property  value  (Wilson  Avenue*                                                 $60  $2,000 


It  is  to  be  regretted  that,  despite  various  attempts, 
the  exhibit  of  the  Chicago  Elevated  Railways  would  not 
photograph,  for  it  represented  a  very  fine  piece  of  work. 
It  consisted  in  the  main  of  a  huge  map  of  the  city 
mounted  in  a  beautiful  frame  and  showing,  with  the 
help  of  excellent  illumination,  the  lines  of  the  several 
elevated  railways.    Ribbons  attached  to  the  map  at  a 


The  Thing  Which  Produced  the  Most  Exclamations 

certain  section  of  the  elevated  lines  extended  out  to 
tables  of  data  on  the  sides  of  the  booth  where  figures 
showed  the  relative  population  served  and  property 
value  when  the  line  was  built  and  in  1920.  The  prin- 
cipal data  thus  shown  are  of  interest  to  the  railway  field 
and  are  given  in  the  table  above. 

Numerous  pictures  also  showed  how  territory  looked 
when  the  elevated  was  first  bui'.t  and  how  it  looks  now. 
Other  pictures  showed  some  of  the  elevated  construc- 
tion work,  different  types  of  equipment,  etc.  A  map  of 
the  elevated  railways  contained  in  a  folder,  pointing 
out  numerous  places  of  interest  in  Chicago  and  how  to 
get  there,  was  also  given  away.  Prominent  display 
was  also  given  to  the  figures  showing  that  2,500,000,000 
people  have  been  carried  in  thirteen  years  without  a 
fatal  accident  to  a  passenger. 

The  exhibit  of  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee 


Railroad  consisted  mainly  of  a  darkened  booth  in  which 
a  motion  picture,  entitled  "Along  the  Green  Bay  Trail," 
which  is  a  very  interesting  little  story  designed  to 
attract  passenger  travel  to  the  electric  line  between 
Chicago  and  Milwaukee,  was  shown.  This  picture  was 
run  continually  and  it  was  surprising  the  number  of 
people  who  would  stop  at  the  booth  and  see  the  picture 
clear  through. 

Wage  Reductions  Approach  Deflated  Cost 
of  Living 

AVERAGE  wage  reductions  of  approximately  15.9 
fx  per  cent  since  the  first  of  this  year  for  over 
4,540,000  workers  in  industrial  concerns  in  twenty  key 
industries  throughout  the  United  States  are  shown  in 
an  analysis  of  industrial  wage  tendencies  made  by 
the  J.  L.  Jacobs  Company,  engineers  and  statisticians 
of  Chicago.  The  survey  made  includes  a  digest  of 
reports  from  official  documents  and  reliable  periodicals, 
covering  693  establishments  or  industrial  groups  which 
are  typical  of  the  industrial  and  utility  activities  of 
the  country. 

The  summary  analysis  from  the  693  establishments 
reporting  show  that  approximately  43  per  cent  of  these 
industries  reduced  wages  20  per  cent  or  over;  that  19.9 


WAGE  REDUCTIONS  BY  INDUSTRIES 

Estimated  No.  Average  Wage 


Employees 

Reduction, 

Industries 

Affected 

Per  Cent 

Cottonfmanufacturing  

  205,000 

26.5 

  7,000 

24.3 

  14,500 

23  6 

  25,000 

22.0 

Electrical  manufacturing  

  70,000 

21  5 

  15,000 

20  8 

Iron  and  steel  manufacturing  

  400,000 

20  7 

Mining  

  125,000 

20  4 

  100,000 

20  3 

Building  materials  manufacturing   

  6,500 

18  7 

  35,000 

18  6 

Rubber  goods  manufacturing  

  10,000 

18  3 

  20,000 

18.2 

......  380,000 

18  1 

Paper  manufacturing  

  23,000 

16.7 

Men's  clothing  manufacturing  

  100,000 

16  7 

15.9 

  105,000 

14.7 

  200,000 

13.7 

  50,000 

12  0 

Steam  railroads.  

  1,829,000 

12  0 

  705,000 

17  6 

Total  

  4,540,000 

15  9 

per  cent  reduced  wages  between  15  per  cent  and  19 
per  cent;  that  30.4  per  cent  reduced  wages  between  10 
per  cent  and  14  per  cent,  and  that  about  6.5  per  cent 
reduced  wages  less  than  10  per  cent.  This  average 
wage  reduction  of  15.9  per  cent  for  industrial  workers 
throughout  the  country  is  still  below  the  average  reduc- 
tion in  the  cost  of  living  as  reported  by  the  United 
States  Department  of  Labor,  or  16§  per  cent. 

The  outstanding  reductions  of  wages  that  have  been 
made  in  the  last  sixty  days  are  among  the  public  util- 
ities, the  building  trades  and  the  iron  and  steel  indus- 
tries. Nearly  half  of  the  total  reductions  in  wages 
among  the  public  utilities  since  the  first  of  the  year 
have  been  announced  in  the  last  sixty  days.  The  avail- 
able reports  show  that  109  utility  companies,  chiefly 
street  railways,  have  reduced  wages  from  5  per  cent 
to  40  per  cent,  the  majority  of  the  reductions  lying  in 
the  range  from  10  per  cent  to  20  per  cent.  No  impor- 
tant strikes  were  reported  following  the  wage  reduc- 
tions by  these  utilities.  In  the  building  trades  there 
has  been  a  continued  voluntary  action  on  the  part  of 
workers  to  accept  lower  rates  of  pay  in  the  hope  of 
increasing  building  activities.    In  some  instances  the 


THE  pULKsjvNfc  QAYw 

SUPPLY  OF 

TRANSFERS 
-  4,000,000 

i„*if.  TRANSFER  SUPS 

*W50  founds 


362 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


reductions  reported  and  accepted  were  the  second  that 
have  been  made  since  the  beginning  of  the  year.  The 
iron  and  steel  workers  have  received  the  second  and 
in  some  cases  the  third  reduction  since  the  beginning 
of  the  year.  Wage  reductions  in  this  industry  average 
about  20.7  per  cent. 

The  table  on  page  361  shows  the  average  wage 
reductions  and  approximate  number  of  workers  affected, 
distributed  according  to  the  key  industries.  Were  the 
railroad  employees,  whose  salaries  were  reduced  ap- 
proximately 12  per  cent,  taken  out  of  this  group,  the 
reduction  of  the  remaining  2,700,000  employees  would 
average  18.7  per  cent. 


Effect  of  Brakes  or  Slipping  Wheels 
on  Tires  and  Rails 

THE  rapid  acceleration  and  the  deceleration  now  used 
on  street  railways  have  introduced  some  rather 
dangerous  effects  caused  by  the  brakes  or  by  slipping 
wheels  acting  on  the  tires  and  rails.  C.  P.  Sandberg 
in  a  paper  read  at  the  Engineering  Conference, 
London,  1921,  treats  of  these  actions  in  a  very  inter- 
esting manner.  The  energy  absorbed  by  the  brakes 
is  immediately  converted  into  heat  and  this  heat  must 
be  dissipated  chiefly  by  conduction  into  the  mass  of 
metal  behind  the  slipping  surfaces.  The  rate  of  such 
heat  conduction  is  limited  and  if  the  rate  at  which  heat 
is  generated  is  greatly  in  excess  of  this  limit  a  marked 
local  rise  of  temperature  will  take  place.  If  the  sur- 
face temperature  does  not  exceed  the  lower  limit  of  the 
critical  range  of  the  material  then  no  marked  changes 
will  occur  beyond  those  due  to  mechanical  deformation 
and  abrasion,  but  if  the  critical  temperature  is  exceeded, 
then  in  any  ferrous  material  containing  over  about 
three-tenths  per  cent  carbon  very  definite  structural 
changes  will  occur.  If  the  thickness  of  the  heated 
layer  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  whole  mass,  then 
when  the  heating  effect  ceases  the  surface  will  be 
very  rapidly  cooled  by  conduction,  and  if  the  initial  tem- 
perature is  high  the  outer  layer  of  metal  will  be  left 
in  a  very  hard  or  martensite  state.  The  surface  hard- 
ening in  itself  would  not  result  in  any  detrimental 
effects  were  it  not  for  other  phenomena  that  occur  due 
to  this  action.  A  study  of  surfaces  under  this  condi- 
tion indicates  that  the  thermal  formation  of  a  hardened 
outer  skin  is  accompanied  by  the  sliding  of  one  surface 
over  the  other  to  a  point  at  which  both  surfaces  have 
become  so  heated  that  they  are  soft  and  plastic  and  tend 
to  seize  together  at  numerous  points  of  contact.  While  so 
united  the  surface  layers  are  dragged  bodily  forward, 
forming  an  overlap  in  advance  of  each  area  of  adhesion 
and  a  tear  behind  it.  The  adhesion  is  only  momentary 
and  the  surfaces  are  quickly  dragged  apart  and  recom- 
mence to  slip  over  one  another  until  sufficient  rise  of 
temperature  and  softening  have  occurred  to  cause  an- 
other seizing.  This  alternate  action  of  seize  and  slip 
probably  occurs  many  times  per  second  during  the 
application  of  brakes  and  gives  rise  to  the  jarring  or 
squeaking  noises  which  accompany  such  applications. 
The  result  is  to  produce  a  series  of  surface  tears  or 
cracks  upon  both  brake  shoes  and  the  wheels  or  rails, 
the  cracks  running  in  a  direction  at  right  angles  to 
that  of  the  motion  and  forming  at  regularly  spaced 
intervals,  evidently  bearing  a  relation  to  the  periods  of 
seize  and  slip.  These  notches  and  rough  surfaces  put 
the  material  in  a  condition  for  very  easy  failure  under 
ordinary  load  and  increase  the  maintenance  costs. 


Discussion  on  Association  Reorganization 

FOLLOWING  the  suggestions  of  President  Gadsden 
and  the  executive  committee  of  the  American 
Association  that  the  reorganization  question  be  fully 
discussed,  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  has  solicited 
letters  on  the  subject,  both  editorially  and  by  a  few 
personal  communications  and  has  offered  space  in  its 
columns  for  the  purpose.  The  following  letters  on  this 
subject  will  prove  of  interest  and  value  to  the  association 
in  its  study  of  the  executive  committee's  recommenda- 
tions. 

Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company 

Boston,  Mass.,  Aug.  18,  1921. 

To  the  Editors : 

I  have  read  with  considerable  interest  the  contem- 
plated action  in  regard  to  reorganization  of  the  associa- 
tion. I  have  not  as  yet  had  an  opportunity  thoroughly 
to  analyze  the  situation,  but  in  compliance  with  your 
request  I  am  expressing  certain  opinions  which  come 
to  me  in  my  first  analysis. 

I  believe  that  the  changes  recommended  by  the  execu- 
tive committee  are  all  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
association  and  the  policies  adopted  by  the  executive 
committee  also  seem  to  me  to  tend  toward  more  con- 
structive effort  in  the  work  performed  throughout  the 
year.  One  point  which  I  did  not  notice  mentioned  and 
about  which  I  feel  very  strongly  is  the  desirability  of 
limiting  the  committee  work  to  that  amount  of  work 
which  can  be  accomplished  effectively  without  burden- 
ing the  member  companies  with  undue  requests  for 
information.  I  think  there  has  been  a  tendency  in 
the  past  to  provide  a  list  of  subjects  for  a  committee 
which  in  view  of  the  practical  limitations  of  time  has 
not  resulted  in  concentration  of  the  efforts  of  the  com- 
mittee on  the  amount  of  work  which  they  can  do  well 
and  thereby  produce  constructive  results;  in  other 
words,  spreading  the  work  too  thinly.  This  plainly  is 
not  in  the  interests  of  progress,  but  tends  to  an  in- 
different attitude  and  does  not  produce  results. 

I  note  the  recommendation  that  individual  members 
from  non-member  companies  be  not  admitted.  I  appre- 
ciate the  basis  upon  which  such  a  decision  was  reached, 
but  it  seems  to  me  manifestly  unfair  because,  if 
temporarily  the  powers  that  be  in  control  of  a  property 
feel  that  from  a  policy  standpoint  they  do  not  desire 
to  become  a  member,  the  association  is  prevented  from 
availing  itself  of  the  ability  and  desire  to  work  of 
a  capable  executive  or  officer  of  that  company  who  might 
personally  be  inclined  and  be  of  value  to  the  industry. 
It  seems  to  me  it  is  a  discrimination.  I  can  see  where 
should  a  bright,  energetic  individual  in  a  company  be- 
come associated  and  interested  in  the  work  he  might 
be  the  factor  which  would  secure  for  the  association 
the  membership  of  his  company. 

As  regards  the  question  of  admission  of  municipally 
owned  railways,  there  is  ample  ground  for  divergence 
of  opinion,  but  from  a  broad  viewpoint  consistent  with 
modern  conditions  and  for  the  good  of  the  industry  and 
its  credit  at  large,  it  would  seem  to  me  as  if  here  again 
it  was  short-sighted  policy  to  close  the  doors  against 
men  many  of  whom  have  drifted  from  privately  oper- 
ated companies  to  the  service  and  are  not  less  capable 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


363 


street  railway  operators.  If  they  increase  in  numbers 
and  feel  this  disbarment,  there  is  likelihood  of  a  sepa- 
rate organization,  which  certainly  is  not  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  industry  as  a  whole. 

As  regards  the  training  of  potential  presidential 
nominees,  while  in  theory  it  may  sound  correctly,  if  by 
chance  in  the  appointment  to  the  lowest  vice-president's 
position  there  comes  a  man  who  is  not  of  sufficient 
caliber  for  constructive  leadership  it  is  not  to  the  inter- 
est of  the  association  to  have  him  take  the  reins.  On  the 
other  hand,  while  the  arrangement  provides  that  it 
is  not  absolutely  necessary,  it  is  unfortunate,  both  for 
the  individual  and  for  the  effect  it  has  in  general,  to  be 
working  along  the  line  of  succession  and  then  have  to 
break  it.  Too  often  in  the  past  this  arrangement  has 
led  to  charges  of  clique  control.  An  association  as 
broad  and  far-reaching  as  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Association  must  in  all  events  be  free  from  any 
such  impression  if  it  is  to  be  of  utmost  service  to  this 
tremendous  industry.  The  requirements  of  the  time 
must  dictate  without  any  embarrassment  about  leaders. 

I  prefer  the  committee's  recommendation  of  two 
junior  living  past-presidents  with  power  of  vote  rather 
than  all  of  the  living  past-presidents  without  power  of 
vote,  as  I  believe  that  the  reorganization  committee  con- 
clusions of  the  responsibility  for  management  being 
placed  squarely  on  the  men  elected  is  preferable  to 
the  indeterminate  dropping  in  of  living  past-presi- 
dents. It  would  of  course  be  wise  to  permit  living 
past-presidents  without  vote  to  attend  meetings  out  of 
courtesy  and  to  secure  the  benefit  of  their  experience, 
so  that  under  the  recommendation  of  the  reorganization 
committee  both  advantages  are  possible,  whereas  under 
the  recommendation  of  the  executive  committee  they  are 
not.  Edward  Dana,  General  Manager. 

East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  Company 
East  St.  Louis,  III.,  Aug.  26,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

In  your  report  of  the  meeting  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Association 
held  on  Aug.  8,  you  in  effect  asked  for  a  discussion  of 
the  revised  constitution  as  drafted  by  the  executive 
committee.  As  the  intent  of  the  adoption  of  the  revised 
constitution  is  to  rectify  past  errors  and  is  a  very 
important  step,  it  seems  but  proper  and  meet  that  there 
should  be  a  thorough  discussion  so  that  those  who  have 
not  had  the  advantage  of  attending  the  reorganization 
and  executive  committee  meetings  may  be  better  en- 
abled to  form  their  opinions  as  to  the  merits  of  the 
proposed  changes. 

All  in  all,  the  revised  constitution  appears  to  me  to 
be  a  real  step  in  advance,  which  will  enable  the  associa- 
tion to  go  forward  on  a  more  business-like  and  efficient 
basis  than  ever  before. 

I  am  particularly  impressed  with  the  underlying 
thought  that  members  of  the  executive  committee  are 
in  the  future  to  do  real  work  and  take  real  responsi- 
bility. This  is  as  it  should  be.  No  man  should  accept 
office  who  is  not  prepared  to  accept  the  work  and  re- 
sponsibility. The  revised  constitution  makes  it  very 
evident  that  the  executive  committee  is  a  working, 
managerial  committee. 

Another  helpful  step  is  the  formation  of  sub-commit- 
tees with  real  responsibilities,  which  will  report  to  the 
executive  committee  at  its  monthly  meetings.  Hereto- 
fore sub-committees  have  been  few  in  number  and  there 
have  been  no  meetings  of  the  executive  committee  for 


them  to  report  to,  except  two  or  three  times  a  year. 
Forcing  a  sub-committee  to  report  to  the  executive 
committee  once  a  month,  and  having  it  placed  on  record 
as  to  what  its  report  is  and  what  its  recommendations 
are,  puts  the  sub-committee  members  where  they  must 
take  real  responsibility  and  analyze  the  work  assigned 
to  them,  at  least  to  the  extent  that  they  may  be  able 
to  make  a  report. 

I  am  also  much  impressed  with  the  new  method  of 
appointing  the  nominating  committee  long  enough  in 
advance  of  the  annual  meeting  so  that  the  nominating 
committee  itself  may  have  an  opportunity  to  sound 
the  sentiment  of  the  membership,  and  the  members 
may  have  an  opportunity  to  express  their  views  as  to 
the  future  officers.  This  appointment  of  a  nominating 
committee  in  advance  appears  most  advantageous  from 
every  standpoint,  and  will  especially  remove  any  cause 
for  complaint.  Every  one  will  have  an  opportunity  to 
express  his  views  in  plenty  of  time,  and  the  new  officers 
elected  will  be  as  nearly  as  possible  the  choice  of  the 
membership  at  large,  or  if  this  is  not  the  case  it  will 
be  due  entirely  to  the  fault  of  the  membership.  Another 
factor  is  that  nominations  and  elections  have  always 
taken  place  at  the  same  meeting,  and  there  has  often 
been  necessity  for  undue  haste  and  the  complication  of 
finding  out  not  only  whom  the  nominating  committee 
desired  to  nominate  for  officers  but  what  timber  was 
available.  For  these  reasons  and  others,  the  adoption  of 
the  revised  constitution  will,  all  in  all,  be  a  real  step  in 
advance,  but  there  are  several  sections  which  should,  I 
believe,  be  given  very  thorough  consideration. 

The  executive  committee  realized  that  although  they 
had  given  very  considerable  thought  and  study  to  the 
revised  constitution,  there  were  possibly,  and  in  fact 
probably,  portions  of  the  constitution  which  others,  or 
even  they  themselves,  might  wish  to  change  upon 
further  thought  or  information.  Accordingly  the  mat- 
ter was  left  in  such  shape  that  amendments  to  the  con- 
stitution can  be  modified  or  new  ones  moved  and  adopted 
on  the  floor  of  the  convention,  if  desired  by  the  con- 
vention. This  action  was  taken  premeditatedly  and 
purposely  so  that  the  convention  would  not  be  forced 
to  accept  the  revised  constitution  as  drafted,  but  that, 
as  finally  adopted,  it  could  and  would  be  the  sentiment 
of  the  convention. 

Election  of  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents 

Among  the  sections  which  provoked  considerable 
discussion  among  the  executive  committee  members 
themselves  was  the  question  of  designation  of  vice- 
presidents.  It  has  been  our  practice  in  the  past  to 
designate  vice-presidents  as  first,  second,  third  and 
fourth  vice-presidents,  and  also  as  a  rule  to  elect  the 
senior  available  vice-president  as  president,  move  all 
the  other  vice-presidents  up  one  notch  and  elect  a  new 
man  as  fourth  vice-president. 

The  old  or  present  constitution  does  not  call  for  such 
designation,  but  it  was  perfectly  constitutional  and  legal 
to  follow  this  procedure.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  has 
become  so  established  by  custom  as  to  be  almost  obliga- 
tory on  the  nominating  committee. 

At  the  last  annual  meeting  a  resolution  was  passed  to 
the  effect  that  in  the  future  the  policy  of  the  association 
should  be  to  elect  as  president  the  man  who  was  con- 
sidered best  fitted — taking  all  things  into  account — to 
lead  us  as  president  for  the  next  year,  regardless  as  to 
whether  he  had  previously  been  a  vice-president  or 
had  held  any  other  office  in  the  association. 


364 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


But  the  underlying  thought  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee in  adopting  the  portion  of  the  revised  constitu- 
tion which  covers  this  point  was,  as  I  understand  it, 
that  we  should  return  to  the  old  order;  that  is,  that 
the  regular  routine  should  be  to  elect  a  fourth  vice- 
president  and  promote  each  of  the  other  three  vice- 
presidents.  The  revised  constitution  does  not  say  that 
this  should  be  done,  nor  need  it  necessarily  be  done, 
but  the  new  constitution  has  gone  a  step  further  than 
the  old  constitution  ever  did,  in  that  the  constitution 
itself  calls  for  designation  of  vice-presidents. 

In  the  discussion  the  executive  committee  brought 
out  very  definitely  the  fact  that  all  of  the  executive 
committee  were  not  agreed  as  to  either  what  the  con- 
stitution should  say  or  what  our  procedure  should  be  in 
the  future.  It  was  contended  by  the  majority  that  in 
order  to  achieve  the  best  results  during  his  term  of 
office  the  president  should  be  one  who  had  had  past 
experience  with  the  business  of  the  association  for  say 
the  past  three  years.  The  main  contention  of  the  mi- 
nority was  that  the  convention  should  be  left  absolutely 
free  to  elect  as  their  president  for  the  ensuing  year  the 
man  who  at  that  time  was  available  and  appeared  to 
them  to  be  the  best  man  to  lead  them  for  the  ensuing 
year.  This  may  be,  though  not  necessarily,  absolutely 
contradictory  to  electing  one  of  the  vice-presidents  to 
the  presidency,  and  the  main  thought  of  the  minority 
was  that  we  should  elect  each  year  the  man  best  fitted 
to  be  president  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  not  elect  (as 
vice-president)  each  year  the  man  who  we  thought 
would  in  four  years  be  the  best  available  man  for  the 
presidency. 

If  it  is  the  sentiment  of  the  October  convention  that 
we  should  return  to  the  old  order  and  elect  a  fourth  vice- 
president  and  promote  the  other  vice-presidents,  then 
the  constitution,  in  so  far  as  this  part  is  concerned, 
should  be  adopted  as  written.  If  it  is  the  thought  of  the 
convention  that  the  membership  should  not  be  limited, 
by  insinuation  or  otherwise,  as  to  who  at  any  future 
time  should  be  elected  president  for  the  ensuing  year, 
then  the  constitution  as  drafted  should  be  changed  and 
should  state  that  there  should  be  four  vice-presidents 
without  designation.  This  was  the  way  the  constitution 
read  when  it  was  recommended  to  the  executive  com- 
mittee by  the  reorganization  committee. 

To  state  the  matter  boldly,  this  question  may  be 
said  to  resolve  itself  into  whether  we  shall  so  arrange 
elections  that  a  man  shall  be  chosen  president  on  account 
of  his  positive  qualifications  for  the  place  or  because  his 
negative  qualifications  are  not  enough  to  disqualify  him. 

Shall  Municipal  Railways  Be  Admitted? 

Another  point  which  brought  forth  considerable  discus- 
sion was  the  question  of  admitting  municipal  railways  to 
membership  on  the  same  basis  as  company  members. 
This  matter  first  came  up  last  December  at  the  Chicago 
meeting,  at  which  time  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
make  a  report  as  to  the  advisability  of  admitting  munici- 
pal companies  to  full  membership,  there  being  a  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  or  not  the  constitution  provided  for 
their  admittance. 

The  committee  took  a  referendum  vote,  as  it  were, 
among  the  members  of  the  executive  committee  and 
prominent  executives  of  the  industry,  some  fifty  alto- 
gether, and  reported  back  that  of  those  who  had  re- 
turned answers  to  the  questionnaire,  thirty-seven  were 
in  favor  of  admitting  municipalities,  and  five  were  not 
in  favor  of  admitting  them. 


When  the  matter  came  up  in  the  reorganization  com- 
mittee some  who  had  previously  been  in  favor  of  ad- 
mitting municipalities  voted  in  favor  of  not  admitting 
them,  as,  although  those  opposed  to  admitting  munici- 
palities were  very  few  in  number,  they  were  most 
definite  as  to  the  mischief  to  be  wrought  to  the  asso- 
ciation and  the  industry  by  admitting  municipal  rail- 
ways to  membership. 

The  result  was  that  when  the  matter  came  up  for 
final  vote  in  the  executive  committee  the  vote  was  al- 
most unanimous  to  exclude  municipal  railways  from 
membership  in  our  association.  Judging  from  the  re- 
plies received  when  the  referendum  was  conducted,  there 
is  unquestionably  a  division  of  thought  in  our  member- 
ship as  to  which  is  the  proper  course  for  the  associa- 
tion to  take.  Those  contending  for  the  admission  of 
municipal  railways  stated  that  due  to  the  fact  that 
executive  or  secret  sessions  of  this  association  are  now 
a  thing  of  the  past  and  that  it  is  our  policy  to  teach 
the  truth  openly  and  frankly,  no  harm  could  come  to 
the  association  by  admitting  municipal  railways,  and 
that  this  frank,  open-door  policy  would  in  the  end  be 
advantageous  rather  than  otherwise.  It  was  brought 
out  that  practically  every  act  of  ours  is  now  open  to  in- 
spection and  that  all  and  any  data  sent  out  by  the  asso- 
ciation can  be  secured,  if  desired,  by  individuals  or 
by  municipal  railways  without  being  members,  and 
moreover,  that  the  association  had  nothing  which  it 
desires  to  conceal,  but  that  it  truly  desires  to  acquaint 
the  public  and  also  the  municipal  railways  as  to  facts. 

Those  opposing  municipal  railways  being  admitted 
to  membership  were  just  definitely  opposed  to  munici^- 
pal  railways  and  therefore  wanted  none  of  them  in  any 
way  connected  with  the  association. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  understood  that  no 
member  of  the  executive  committee  advocated  munici- 
palizing street  railways,  nor  were  any  members  of 
the  executive  committee  in  favor  of  such  municipaliza- 
tion, but  the  minority  were  in  favor  of  admitting  such 
systems  to  membership  on  the  basis  that  it  was  the 
better  policy  for  the  association  and  the  industry. 

The  revised  constitution  as  first  drafted  by  the 
reorganization  committee  definitely  admitted  municipal 
companies  to  membership  but  the  constitution  was  re- 
drafted, so  far  as  this  matter  was  concerned,  before  it 
was  reported  back  to  the  executive  committee,  and  as  it 
is  now  drafted  no  municipal  railway  can  be  admitted. 

It  is  possible  that  a  number  of  executives  not  belong- 
ing to  the  executive  committee  who  previously  were 
in  favor  of  admitting  municipal  railways  have  by  this 
time  changed  their  minds,  as  did  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  executive  committee,  but  unless  a  very 
large  number  have  done  so,  the  majority  of  prominent 
executives  to  whom  the  referendum  was  sent  are  still 
in  favor  of  admitting  municipal  railways  to  member- 
ship. The  original  referendum  showed  that  of  execu- 
tives not  members  of  the  executive  committee  twenty- 
three  were  in  favor  of  admitting  municipalities  and 
two  were  opposed  to  it. 

Past-Presidents  on  the  Executive  Committee 

The  revised  constitution  as  first  drafted  by  the 
reorganization  committee  and  reported  to  the  execu- 
tive committee  proposed  that  the  two  junior  past- 
presidents  should  be  members  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee, with  vote.  The  present  constitution  provides  that 
all  past-presidents  shall  be  members  ex  officio  of  the 
executive  committee,  without  vote,  and  the  revised  con- 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


365 


stitution  as  finally  left  by  the  executive  committee  is 
practically  worded  as  is  the  present  constitution,  that 
is,  all  past-presidents  of  the  association  are  members 
ex  officio  of  the  executive  committee. 

The  discussion  regarding  this  matter  was  in  no  way 
personal  but  the  reorganization  committee  reported  in 
favor  of  limiting  the  membership  of  the  executive 
committee  to  the  two  junior  past-presidents  only  after 
considerable  thought  was  given  this  matter.  It  is 
realized  that  past-presidents  carry,  even  without  vote, 
a  very  considerable  weight  in  any  discussion  which  may 
arise  in  executive  committee  meetings,  and  the  newer 
members  of  the  executive  committee  have  a  normal 
human  tendency  to  accede  to  the  desires  of  past-presi- 
dents, even  though  the  thought  of  the  new  member  is 
that  such  a  course  is  not  in  keeping  with  his  own 
present-day  views  as  to  what  is  best  for  the  associa- 
tion as  of  today. 

On  the  questions  which  came  up  for  real  discussion 
in  working  out  the  revised  constitution,  it  was  notice- 
able that  past-presidents  present,  speaking  broadly  and 
generally,  were  in  favor  of  continuation  of  past  policies. 

"Aera" 

There  was  one  question  which  brought  forth  consid- 
erable discussion  in  the  reorganization  committee,  and 
that  was  the  future  policy  of  Aera.  The  Aera  advisory 
committee  was  asked  to  make  a  report,  and  in  their 
report  they  were  very  definite  that  Aera  should  be  con- 
tinued along  the  lines  of  the  past,  with  the  exception 
that  it  should  broaden  out  and  cover  even  more  ground 
than  was  attempted  in  the  past.  This  committee  report 
was  so  definite  that  a  large  majority  of  the  reorgani- 
zation committee  after  hearing  the  report  were  in  favor 
of  continuation  of  Aera  along  the  general  lines  of  the 
past,  with,  however,  the  recommendation  that  duplica- 
tion of  articles  appearing  in  or  belonging  to  the  techni- 
cal press  should  be  eliminated,  and  that  we  should 
co-operate  with  the  technical  press  rather  than  be  con- 
sidered as  a  distinct  competitor.  The  Aera  advisory 
committee  being  naturally  composed  of  members  who 
have  previously  been  prominently  identified  with  Aera, 
and  who  were  appointed  due  to  the  fact  that  they 
desired  in  general  a  continuance  of  Aera's  policy,  it 
was.  not  in  any  way  unnatural  that  this  report  should 
be  favorable  to  the  continuance  of  Aera.  As  to  whether 
an  unprejudiced  committee  not  so  closely  identified  in 
the  past  with  Aera  would  have  brought  in  the  same 
report  is,  of  course,  open  to  question.  The  net  result 
of  the  discussion,  however,  was  that  the  situation  was 
not  changed  and  it  was  the  thought  that  Aera  should 
be  continued,  but  substituting  co-operation  for  dupli- 
cation and  competition.  If  this  be  carried  out  the 
solution  will  probably  be  acceptable  to  a  great  big 
majority  of  the  membership.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
there  is  a  strong  feeling  on  the  part  of  a  considerable 
number  that  Aera  should  not  and  cannot  compete  as 
a  magazine  with  the  technical  press,  but  should  limit 
itself  to  appeals  to  company  section  membership  and 
to  information  and  data  which  are  needed  by  the 
industry  but  are  not  available  through  other  sources. 

So  far  as  the  constitution  is  concerned,  no  change  was 
necessary,  unless  it  was  desired  absolutely  to  stop  pub- 
lication of  any  magazine  or  bulletin,  and  the  future 
policy  of  Aera  rests  with  the  executive  committee 
through  the  executive  secretary  and  the  sub-committee 
on  publications,  under  whose  charge  will  come  the  prep- 
aration and  publication  of  Aera. 


Now,  just  one  word  in  conclusion.  I  have  written 
the  above  simply  so  that  executives  of  member  com- 
panies may  give  some  thought  before  they  arrive  at 
Atlantic  City  as  to  just  what  we  should  or  should  not 
do  in  our  new  constitution.  The  association  will,  under 
the  revised  constitution,  receive  much  benefit  due  to 
the  executive  committee  in  the  future  really  function- 
ing as  business  managers  of  the  association,  but  the 
greatest  good  of  all  will  be  for  the  new  constitu- 
tion to  reflect  the  thoughtful,  analytical  views  of  the 
membership.  W.  H.  Sawyer,  President. 


New  York,  Aug.  18,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

Unfortunately  for  the  purpose  of  present  discussion, 
I  am  unable  to  attach  sufficient  importance  to  the  pro- 
posed changes  in  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the  Ameri- 
can Electric  Railway  Association  to  justify  me  in  mak- 
ing any  extended  comment.  Rules  for  the  guidance  of 
men  of  affairs,  such  as  the  proposed  requirement  for 
monthly  meetings  of  the  executive  committee,  seem 
arbitrary  and  are  to  be  avoided  in  the  by-laws  of  all 
corporations  and  associations  like  the  one  under 
discussion. 

The  success  of  the  efforts  which  the  association  will 
put  forth  to  benefit  the  industry  supporting  it  will 
depend  not  so  much  on  the  form  of  organization  as 
it  will  upon  the  substance  of  its  leadership.  The  right 
kind  of  leadership  will  develop  forward-looking 
policies  that  may  eventually  assist  in  the  rehabilitation 
of  an  industry  that  is  now  all  but  financially  bankrupt. 

James  D.  Mortimer. 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  23,  1921. 

To  the  Editors : 

The  recommendations  of  the  special  reorganization 
committee  of  the  American  E'.ectric  Railway  Associa- 
tion were  discussed  editorially  in  your  columns  on  Aug. 
13.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  proposals  made  by 
that  committee  affect  only  the  work  of  the  parent  asso- 
ciation. Meanwhile  the  discussion  has  caused  attention 
to  be  directed  toward  the  possible  need  for  the  organi- 
zation of  a  similar  committee  to  study  the  work  of  the 
Engineering  Association. 

It  has  been  felt  in  some  quarters  that  the  Engineering 
Association  could  greatly  increase  its  effectiveness  if 
some  things  were  done  in  the  way  of  reorganizing  its 
methods,  somewhat  along  the  lines  which  have  been 
prepared  for  the  parent  body.  The  question  of  size  of 
committees  has  assumed  a  prominent  place  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  have  given  thought  to  this  subject.  At 
present  the  committees  are  fairly  large,  with  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  members  on  the  standing  committees. 
It  is  seldom  that  a  full  committee  meeting  is  held. 
Perhaps  the  nearest  approach  to  this  was  reached  this 
year  when  eleven  of  the  twelve  members  of  one  com- 
mittee were  present  at  a  meeting. 

The  number  of  meetings  which  can  be  held  is  limited, 
first,  by  the  difficulty  in  getting  members  to  travel  long 
distances  and,  second,  by  the  cost  of  attendance,  which 
is  now  a  direct  burden  upon  the  member  companies 
whose  men  are  upon  the  committees.  It  is  thought  that 
this  burden  tends  to  restrict  membership  in  committees 
to  those  companies  both  able  and  willing  to  bear  the 
expense.  This  may  tend  to  keep  good  committeemen 
from  active  participation  in  the  work.  Another  handi- 
cap to  large  committees  is  the  difficulty  and  expense  in 


3G6 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


providing  copies  of  correspondence,  and  the  correspon- 
dence of  an  active  standing  committee  assumes  large 
proportions.  Again,  the  cost  of  preparation  of  reports 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  provide  for  the  membership 
becomes  a  burden  upon  the  unfortunate  company  whose 
representative  happens  to  be  a  chairman.  It  is  stated 
that  one  important  report  due  to  be  issued  this  year 
required  the  constant  work  of  two  stenographers  for 
two  weeks. 

The  number  of  subjects  assigned  to  standing  com- 
mittees is  frequently  too  large,  and  even  progress  re- 
ports on  many  of  them  are  not  forthcoming.  Fortunate 
indeed  is  the  committee  which  can  adequately  report  on 
more  than  three  subjects. 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  that  smaller  com- 
mittees should  be  the  rule  and  that  there  should  be 
more  committees.  For  instance,  the  American  Railway 
Engineering  Association  has  five  or  six  committees 
covering  subjects  which  the  Engineering  Association 
attempts  to  cover  by  one  standing  committee.  With 
smaller  committees,  each  handling  an  important  sub- 
ject, there  should  be  a  much  better  opportunity  for 
careful  study  of  subjects  and  the  reports  on  them  could 
thus  be  treated  more  completely.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  standing  committees  now  have  to  divide  into  numer- 
ous sub-committees  in  order  to  get  any  work  done,  but 
this  method  divides  the  responsibility  somewhat  and 
often  results  in  lack  of  production,  with  a  tendency 
toward  acceptance  of  sub-committee  reports  by  main 
committees  without  careful  study  of  details. 

The  task  of  assembling  a  report  of  any  one  of  the 
large  standing  committees  becomes  a  burden  upon  the 
chairman  which  consumes  a  great  deal  of  time.  Only 
the  pride  of  the  chairmen  in  having  a  creditable  report 
keeps  them  from  giving  up  the  jobs  in  despair. 

The  matter  of  selection  of  subjects  also  seems  to 
require  a  more  careful  consideration  than  has  been 
given  heretofore.  Those  subjects  which  are  of  the 
greatest  practical  value  should  have  first  consideration, 
and  subjects  which  mainly  call  for  theoretical  considera- 
tion might  well  be  assigned  to  individuals  for  treatment 
in  monograph  form.  It  is  no  secret  that  some  of  the 
best  reports  in  the  past  practically  have  been  the  work 
of  one  man. 

Many  subjects  cannot  well  be  handled  by  large  com- 
mittees because  of  the  lack  of  adequate  information 
from  member  companies,  who  are  generally  becoming 
more  and  more  adverse  to  answering  questionnaires. 
Some  better  means  for  getting  such  information  should 
be  found,  and  perhaps  the  best  way  to  get  it  is  to  em- 
ploy a  research  engineer  who  can  visit  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  properties  to  gather  authoritative  data  covering 
a  definite  line  of  inquiry.  Such  a  method  of  getting 
valuable  and  needed  information  would  also  tend  toward 
increasing  the  use  of  association  standards  through  the 
personal  contact  of  the  research  engineer  with  the  rep- 
resentative "local  conditions"  which  now  mitigate 
against  the  adoption  of  standards. 

It  is  also  thought  that  the  committee  reports  should 
not  all  be  dumped  in  a  mass  upon  a  busy  engineer's  desk 
about  a  month  before  the  annual  convention.  He  can- 
not possibly  find  time  to  digest  them  sufficiently  to 
prepare  suitable  discussion,  and  one  great  failing  now 
found  is  the  lack  of  constructive  discussion  of  reports 
on  the  floor  of  the  convention.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  plan  of  having  the  reports  printed  in  bulletin 
form  and  released  to  the  technical  press  and  printed  in 
Aera  as  soon  as  they  are  prepared  would  be  a  great  step 


in  advance.  This  is  now  done  by  the  American  Railway 
Engineering  Association,  and  the  plan  seems  worthy  of 
study  relative  to  applying  it  to  the  work  of  the  Engi- 
neering Association.  But  in  order  to  make  it  effective 
there  should  be  more  certainty  of  continuity  of  com- 
mittee membership  and  committee  activity.  As  it  now 
stands,  all  active  committee  work  halts  about  July  1 
and  remains  dormant  until  about  Jan.  1.  In  other 
words,  from  five  to  six  months  are  practically  fruitless 
so  far  as  committee  work  and  study  are  concerned  and 
the  hardest  work  has  to  be  done  in  the  late  spring  and 
early  summer  when  the  heat  and  regular  work  of  the 
members  conspire  against  good  work. 

The  writer  ca'ls  attention  to  these  matters  in  the  hope 
that  your  columns  will  be  utilized  for  the  purpose  of 
discussing  means  which  may  be  adopted  to  secure 
greater  and  better  results  from  the  activities  of  the 
Engineering  Association,  as  the  work  of  this  allied 
association  affects  practically  all  branches  of  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry  and  every  possible  step  should  be 
taken  to  make  its  work  of  the  greatest  possible  service 
to  the  member  companies.  R.  C.  Cram, 

Engineer  of  Surface  Roadway  for  Receiver. 


England's  Method  of  Handling  Railroad 
Labor  Problems 

THE  British  Railways  were  returned  to  the  owners 
on  Aug.  14,  after  having  been  under  government 
operation  since  1914.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  the  new 
method  adopted  by  the  owners  and  the  labor  organiza- 
tions for  handling  labor  problems.  The  plan  involves 
a  national  wages  board  or  board  of  final  appeal,  a 
central  wages  board,  railway  councils,  sectional  railway 
councils  and  local  departmental  committees.  The  plan 
applies  to  all  employees  in  the  transportation  depart- 
ment from  station  masters  and  freight  agents  down, 
to  all  engineering  and  signal  employees  and  to  other 
employees  outside  the  shops. 

The  National  Wages  Board  is  to  deal  with  subjects 
relating  to  rates  of  pay,  hours  and  working  rules 
referred  to  it  by  the  Central  Wages  Board.  It  is  to  be 
composed  of  six  railway  men,  six  employees  and  four 
public  representatives,  with  an  independent  chairman 
appointed  by  the  government.  It  is  given  twenty-eight 
days  to  reach  a  final  decision  on  any  subject.  Strikes 
are  not  to  occur  during  this  period  because  of  the  dis- 
pute before  the  board. 

The  Central  Wages  Board  contains  an  equal  number 
of  representatives  from  the  employees  and  the  railways 
and  does  the  real  work  in  adjusting  labor  problems. 
The  Railway  Councils  are  regional  co-operative  boards 
who  deal  with  regional  applications  of  national  rules, 
etc.  The  Sectional  Co-operative  Councils  are  five  in 
number  for  each  regional  council  and  deal  with  more 
restricted  labor  problems  and  represent  different  de- 
partmental groups  in  a  given  region.  Local  depart- 
mental committees  are  still  smaller  subdivisions  of  the 
regional  organization,  dealing  with  local  rules  and  con- 
ditions in  each  department. 

The  keynote  is  equal  representation  in  the  sub- 
ordinate boards  of  the  employees  and  the  railway 
operatives  and  the  public  is  represented  only  on  the 
national  board.  Regional  and  even  departmental 
applications  of  national  agreements  are  provided  and 
this  marks  the  great  difference  between  the  American 
and  English  method  for  handling  railroad  labor  prob- 
lems. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


367 


New  Molding  Material  for  Cast  Welds 

Blow  Holes  in  Thermit  Welds  Are  Eliminated  by  the  Use  of 
a  New  Molding  Material  and  New  Style  Mold  Boxes 
The  Material  Is  Furnished  at  Cost 

ANEW  GRADE  of  molding  material  for  thermit 
welding  has  recently  been  developed  by  the  Metal 
&  Thermit  Corporation,  New  York,  which,  as  proved  by 
extensive  researches  and  practical  experiments,  when 
used  in  accordance  with  the  regular  thermit  practice, 
will  definitely  prevent  blowholes  and  assure  sound  welds. 
This  new  molding  material  has  already  been  introduced 
in  many  of  the  larger  railway  shops.  The  new  material, 
designated  as  "thermit  molding  material,"  is  quite  differ- 
ent from  ordinary  molding  material,  and  in  all  thermit 
work  either  this  or  a  substitute  which  has  been  tested 
and  approved  by  the  Metal  &  Thermit  Corporation 
should  be  used.  In  view  of  the  great  importance  of 
using  this  new  molding  material  it  is  now  being  sold 
practically  at  cost. 

The  design  of  the  new  molding  material  is  based  on 
the  theory  that  good  silica  sand  will  stand  the  heat  of 
the  thermit  reaction  very  well  and  that  the  weakness  in 
all  molding  material  is  the  clay  binder.  Therefore,  there 
should  be  as  little  clay  as  possible  in  the  mixture,  in 
order  to  make  the  mold  more  refractory  and  to  increase 
its  porosity.  It  is  logical,  therefore,  that  the  use  of  a 
plastic  clay  has  been  selected  instead  of  a  fire  clay,  as 
formerly.  The  sand  and  plastic  clay  are  ground 
together  in  a  foundry  pan  or  moller,  with  the  intention 
of  coating  each  grain  of  sand  with  a  minimum  thickness 
of  clay.  This  has  resulted  in  a  good,  clean  molding 
material,  which  should  be  rammed  hard  in  the  mold, 
which  will  stand  up  well  under  the  preheating  flame  and 
which  is  extremely  porous  to  the  gases  generated  in  the 
mold,  resulting  in  a  sound  weld  with  a  very  clean 
exterior.  Although  suitable  molding  material  can  be 
made  by  increasing  the  clay  content  slightly  and  mixing 
the  clay  and  sand  thoroughly  by  hand,  it  is  not  so  good 
as  that  made  with  a  smaller  clay  content  in  the  foundry 
pan  or  moller. 

The  mixture  now  being  used  is  composed  of  three 
parts  clean,  sharp  silica  sand  ( 100  per  cent  of  which 
should  pass  through  a  screen  having  a  0.03  in.  square 
opening,  and  40  per  cent  of  which  should  be  retained 
on  a  screen  having  a  0.012  in.  square  opening)  mixed 
with  one  part  Welsh  Mountain  plastic  clay.  These  parts 
are  first  thoroughly  mixed  in  the  moller  together  with 
one-fortieth  part  glutrin  by  volume  and  sufficient  water 
(one-twelfth  part)  to  bring  to  the  proper  consistency. 
If  mixed  by  hand,  the  sand  and  clay  must  be  dried 
before  mixing  (care  should  be  exercised  not  to  subject 
the  clay  to  a  temperature  higher  than  400  deg.  F.)  and 
thoroughly  mixed  before  adding  the  glutrin  and  water. 
The  glutrin  should  be  mixed  with  the  water  before 
being  added  to  the  sand  and  clay. 

In  case  a  plastic  clay  fatter  than  the  Welsh  Mountain 
be  used,  the  mixing,  of  course,  will  have  to  be  more 
thorough  and  less  clay  used.  Welsh  Mountain  clay  is 
being  used  in  the  present  mixture  because  in  carefully 
run  tests  it  has  proved  to  be  the  most  refractory.  The 
use  of  the  new  molding  material  necessitates  harder 
packing  next  to  the  weld ;  in  fact,  the  regular  thermit 
rammer  may  be  supplemented  by  the  use,  for  instance, 
of  a  tool  having  an  end  I  in.  x  11  in.,  so  that  the 
operator  may  be  able  to  peen  the  sand  next  to  the  wax 
collar  and  the  various  patterns. 

It  is  absolutely  essential,  in  the  production  of  sound 


welds,  to  be  sure  that  no  loose  sand  exists  in  the  mold 
when  the  thermit  steel  is  poured.  This  is  why  very 
hard  ramming  is  advocated,  also  why  it  is  most 
important  to  blow  out  all  loose  material  from  the 
interior  of  the  mold  by  putting  the  preheating  burner 
in  the  riser  before  the  heating  gate  is  plugged  and  to  be 
sure  that  no  sand  is  detached  by  the  operation  of  insert- 
ing this  heating  gate.  The  burner  should  be  removed 
from  the  riser  before  plugging  the  heating  gate, 
because  otherwise  it  may  detach  some  sand  which  could 
not  be  blown  out  after  the  plug  is  in  place.  The  heating 
gate  plug  should  be  thoroughly  dry;  and,  if  it  has  been 
carried  in  stock  for  some  time,  it  should  be  warmed 
before  using. 

By  perforating  the  side  and  bottom  of  the  mold  box, 
the  escape  of  the  gases  which  pass  through  the  molding 
material  is  greatly  facilitated.  Holes  2  in.  in  diameter, 
spaced  3  in.  or  4  in.  apart,  are  sufficient.  To  facilitate 
the  escape  of  gas  from  the  bottom  of  the  mold  box,  the 
mold  should  rest  on  blocks,  not  directly  upon  the  foundry 
floor.  As  unnecessary  molding  material  simply  increases 
the  resistance  to  the  passage  of  gas,  the  mold  box  should 
be  made  as  small  as  possible  commensurate  with  safety. 
For  example,  in  welding  a  4-in.  x  1-in.  section,  only 
about  4  in.  of  sand  is  necessary  at  all  points,  except, 
perhaps,  on  the  pouring  gate  side.  It  is  most  important 
thoroughly  to  vent  the  mold  box  by  forcing  a  rod  or 
wire  down  at  a  number  of  points  to  within  \  in.  or  so  of 
the  collar.  Care  should  be  taken  that  these  do  not  touch 
the  collar  because  such  vent  holes  will  fill  with  steel  and 
will  therefore  not  facilitate  the  escape  of  gas. 


Device  for  Installing  Hose  Fittings 

THE  accompanying  illustration  shows  shop-con- 
structed apparatus  used  for  the  inserting  of  nipples 
and  couplings  in  air-brake  hose  at  the  Thirty-sixth 
Street  inspection  and  overhauling  shop  of  the  Brooklyn 


Apparatus  for  Inserting  Nipples  and  Couplings  Into 
Air  Brake  Hose 

Rapid  Transit  Company.  Previous  to  the  construction 
of  this  apparatus  the  nipples  and  couplings  were  in- 
serted by  placing  the  hose  in  a  vise  and  pressing  the 
metal  parts  into  the  rubber  tubing  by  hand. 

The  apparatus  for  holding  the  hose,  as  illustrated, 


368 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


consists  of  two  clamping  blocks,  the  upper  one  of  which 
is  hinged.  The  opening  and  closing  of  this  clamp  are 
accomplished  by  means  of  an  air  cylinder,  which  forms 
a  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  company's  cars  and  is 
used  for  the  locking  and  unlocking  of  automatic  coup- 
lers. This  air  cylinder  is  connected  to  the  top  clamping 
block  by  means  of  a  lever  and  its  operation  opens  up  or 
closes  the  clamping  portion.  The  part  which  fits  around 
the  hose  is  lined  with  canvas  to  prevent  injury  to  the 
hose  and  also  to  provide  increased  friction  for  clamp- 
ing. With  the  hose  placed  in  position  it  is  held  clamped 
by  turning  an  air  cock,  which  admits  air  to  the  air 
cylinder.  The  nipple  or  coupling  is  then  fastened  to  a 
threaded  piston  of  another  air  cylinder  and  by  the  use 
of  a  brake  valve  air  is  admitted  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  force  the  fitting  into  the  end  of  the  hose.  The  pres- 
sure and  speed  are  regulated  to  suit  conditions.  The 
air  cylinder  used  for  this  latter  operation  was  con- 
structed in  the  shop.  By  the  use  of  this  apparatus  one 
man  can  fit  the  couplings  and  nipples  into  a  hose  in  a 
very  short  time  and  the  job  is  thus  rendered  very 
attractive  as  well  as  providing  an  efficient  means  for 
doing  this  type  of  work. 


Power- Operated  Signals 

ANEW  type  of  signal  motor  has  been  developed 
in  France  and  is  now  marketed  by  Tyer  &  Com- 
pany of  London.  With  this  type  of  motor,  which  is 
being  tried  out  on  many  English  railways  and  is  used 
on  French  lines  to  a  large  extent,  the  power  to  operate 
the  motor  is  obtained  from  two  sets  of  six  Leclanche 
cells  in  parallel.  Current  is  applied  only  when  the 
signal  is  being  lowered  and  the  signal  is  held  "off" 
by  a  small  battery  at  the  signal  box,  so  there  is  con- 
siderably less  consumption  of  power  than  is  generally 
thought.  The  motor  is  situated  on  the  signal  post  at 
any  favorable  location  and  takes  up  an  incased  space 
15  x  12  x  12  in.  deep.  The  mechanism  is  tested  to 
lift  120  lb.  The  voltage  of  the  motor  battery  is 
ten,  the  starting  current  is  2  amp.,  this  gradually 
increasing  to  31  amp.    The  resistance  of  the  armature 


is  0.14  ohms  and  that  of  the  field  is  0.205  ohms.  The 
motor  is  readily  adapted  to  be  operated  from  power 
supp'y  mains  by  changing  the  winding  slightly.  A 
detailed  description  of  the  Tyer  motor  is  given  in  the 
Raihvay  Engineer  for  August,  1921. 

The  power-operated  signal  is  being  used  to  an  in- 
creasing extent  because  of  its  many  advantages  in  the 
protection  of  the  apparatus  associated  with  its  applica- 
tion. The  advantages  for  such  signals  are:  1.  There 
is  no  strain  on  the  signalmen  as  there  are  no  heavy 
weights  to  lift.  2.  The  accurate  "on"  and  "off"  position 
of  the  arm  is  assured.  3.  No  adjustment  of  wire  is 
needed  to  meet  changes  of  temperature.  4.  Fewer 
wires  are  present  on  the  tracks  for  men  to  trip  over 
or  to  be  covered.  5.  The  distance  from  the  signal 
box  is  immaterial  and  the  signal  may,  therefore,  be 
fixed  in  the  best  position  for  the  driver's  view.  6. 
There  is  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  working  levers 
because  the  signal  may  be  controlled  by  a  switch  pro- 
viding the  latter  be  interlocked  with  the  relative  stop 
signal. 

With  the  power-operated  signal  the  source  of  power 
is  at  the  signal  and  a  line  wire  is  run  from  the  lever 
in  the  signal  box  to  the  signal.  The  wire  is  con- 
nected to  a  switch  on  the  lever  in  the  locking  mech- 
anisms, and  when,  and  not  until,  the  lever  is  fully 
reversed  a  contact  is  made  which  electrically  connects 
a  small  battery  in  the  signal  box.  This  battery  oper- 
ates a  relay  at  or  near  the  signal  post  and  the  relay, 
when  operated,  permits  a  current  from  the  battery 
which  operates  the  motor  on  the  signal.  The  signal 
arm,  when  it  has  been  "owered  to  the  "off"  position, 
automatically  cuts  off  the  motor  battery  from  the 
motor,  and  the  arm  is  held  in  the  "off"  position  by  an 
electrically  operated  brake.  When  the  lever  has  been 
pulled  to  reverse,  the  first  movement  back  to  normal 
will  break  the  contact  on  the  lever  and  release  the 
electric  brake  on  the  signal  lever  so  that  the  signal 
will  at  once  go  to  the  "on"  position.  It  is  usual  to 
employ  an  electric  repeater,  controlled  by  contacts 
operated  by  the  signal  arm,  to  indicate  the  condition 
of  the  arm. 


A.  R.  A.  Mechanical  Division  Will  Not  Meet 

This  Year 

Postponed  Meeting  Has  Been  Permanently  Put  Off,  but  Reports  of  Eight  Com- 
mittees Which  Were  to  Have  Been  Presented  at  the  Meeting 
Are  to  Be  Submitted  to  Letter  Ballot 


AT  A  meeting  of  the  Association  of 
Railway  Executives  held  in  New 
York,  July  1,  1921,  it  was  decided  that 
there  should  be  no  meeting  of  the  Me- 
chanical Division  of  the  American 
Railway  Association  this  year.  A  meet- 
ing was  to  have  been  held  in  Chicago, 
June  29  and  30,  but  it  was  postponed. 
This  action  was  decided  upon  after  the 
following  resolution  had  been  adopted : 

"Whereas  in  view  of  the  imperative 
need  for  the  exercise  of  all  possible 
economy,  it  is 

"Resolved,  That  annual  or  special 
meetings  or  conventions  of  all  organiza- 
tions under  the  supervision  of  this 
body  be  indefinitely  postponed  or  cur- 
tailed in  every  possible  way." 

Following  the  decision  of  the  general 
committee  of  the  Mechanical  Division 


not  to  hold  a  meeting  this  year  it  was 
decided  to  submit  through  a  letter  bal- 
lot to  the  members  the  recommendations 
of  the  various  committees  which  were 
to  have  been  presented  at  the  meeting 
in  June.  These  reports  include:  (1) 
Specifications  and  tests  for  materials; 
(2)  report  on  joint  inspection  of  stand- 
ard materials;  (3)  report  of  arbitration 
committee;  (4)  report  on  car  construc- 
tion; (5)  report  of  committee  on  load- 
ing rules;  (6)  report  on  brake  shoe 
and  brake  beam  equipment;  (7)  report 
of  committee  on  tank  cars;  (8)  report 
on  train  brake  and  signal  equipment. 

The  committee  on  specifications  and 
tests  for  materials  recommended  a  re- 
vision of  the  standard  specifications  for 
carbon  steel  axles  for  cars,  locomotive 
tenders  and  engine  trucks,  also  a  revi- 


sion of  the  present  specifications  for 
steel  castings  for  cars  and  locomotives, 
combining  these  two  into  one  specifica- 
tion. The  committee  further  recom- 
mended that  the  association  give  seri- 
ous consideration  to  establishing  a  defi- 
nite time  limit  for  revisons  of  specifica- 
tions and  other  standards  which  will 
appear  in  the  Manual,  this  limit  to  be 
preferably  three  years,  during  which 
no  changes  should  be  allowed  except  for 
reasons  important  to*  the  interests  of 
the  association,  and  then  only  if  the 
proposed  changes  received  at  least  a 
two-thirds  vote  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  division. 

The  committee  on  brake  shoe  and 
brake  beam  equipment  reported  that 
the  subject  of  brake  shoe  key  design 
and  details  involved  in  the  fit  of  the 
shoe,  head,  face  and  key  had  been 
investigated  and  an  examination  of  a 
large  number  of  brake  shoes  on  cars 
disclosed  the  condition  of  the  keys  being 
all  the  way  down  and  still  a  loose  fit. 
This  indicated  the  desirability  of  a 
change  in  the  key  design.  The  com- 
mittee submitted  a  new  design  of  key 


September  3,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


36i> 


with  a  suggestion  that  this  be  tried 
out  for  further  consideration.  The  pro- 
posed key  is  thinner  at  the  point,  and 
has  a  somewhat  greater  taper  than  the 
standard  key,  so  that  it  becomes  h  in. 
thick  at  a  point  31;]  in.  from  the  end 
instead  of  just  under  the  head.  The 
drawing  shows  a  tolerance  of  £2  in.  in 
thickness,  which  is  a  practical  working 
limit  if  the  key  is  drop  forged  or  rolled. 


Iowa  Association  Program 

THE  program  for  the  mid-year  meet- 
ing of  the  Iowa  Electric  Railway 
Association,  to  be  held  in  Waterloo, 
Iowa,  on  Sept.  15  and  16,  has  been  ten- 
tatively arranged  to  include  the  fol- 
lowing main  topics  of  discussion  at  the 
meeting. 

A  paper  on  "Transportation"  will  be 
presented  by  Maurice  A.  Welsh,  super- 
intendent Waterloo,  Cedar  Falls  & 
Northern  Railway,  Waterloo,  Iowa. 
Frank  R.  Grant,  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  will  present  a  paper  on  "Dipping 
and  Baking  Armatures."  R.  J.  Smith, 
general  manager  and  engineer  mainte- 
nance of  way  Tri-City  Railway  of  Iowa, 
will  read  a  paper  on  "Laying  and  Main- 
taining Track."    The  subject  of  a  paper 


to  be  presented  by  Herbert  J.  Connell, 
trial  attorney  Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs 
Street  Railway,  Omaha,  Neb.,  is  "The 
Relation  of  the  Claim  Department  to 
the  Transportation,  Track,  Overhead 
and  Mechanical  Departments."  A  pa- 
per on  the  "Relative  Maintenance  Costs 
of  One-Man  to  Two-Man  Cars"  will  also 
be  presented. 

The  exact  place  of  holding  the  meet- 
ing has  not  yet  been  determined.  This 
and  further  program  details  will  be 
announced  in  a  later  issue. 


National  Safety  Council 

THE  National  Safety  Council  has 
decided  to  hold  its  annual  conven- 
tion in  Boston,  Mass.,  from  Sept.  26  to 
30.  The  national  body  recently  re- 
ceived an  invitation  from  the  Boston 
organization,  and  after  consideration 
agreed  to  make  the  Hub  the  scene  of 
its  meeting  this  fall. 

The  local  safety  councils  in  Massa- 
chusetts have  just  held  a  "safe  roads" 
campaign  in  which  several  of  the  larger 
street  railways  took  especial  interest. 
H.  B.  Potter,  assistant  general  man- 
ager of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 
is  president  of  the  Boston  branch  of  the 
Safety  Council. 


Nominating  Committee 
Correction 

DUE  to  error  in  transcription,  the 
name  of  W.  H.  Heulings,  Jr.,  of 
J.  G.  Brill  Company,  Philadelphia,  was 
omitted  from  the  list  of  the  nominating 
committee  of  the  American  Association 
as  printed  in  last  week's  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal. 

The  full  committee  therefore  consists 
of  the  following:  J.  H.  Pardee,  P.  S. 
Arkwright,  F.  G.  Buffe,  W.  A.  Draper, 
E.  C.  Faber,  Thomas  Finigan  and  W.  H. 
Heulings,  Jr. 

As  noted  last  week,  this  committee  is 
desirous  of  receiving  suggestions  from 
the  members  of  names  for  the  various 
offices  to  be  filled.    If  the  members  as- 
sume that  the  executive  committee  of 
the  future  will  be  made  up  according 
to  the  revised  constitution  as  proposed, 
there  will  be  elected  this  year: 
One  president. 
Four  vice-presidents. 
Six  members  at  large  from  operating 
companies,  with  terms  expiring,  two  in 
1922,  two  in  1923  and  two  in  1924. 

Six  members  at  large  from  manufac- 
turing companies,  with  similar  terms. 
One  treasurer. 


T.  &  T.  Subjects  Committee 

THE  Transportation  &  Traffic  Asso- 
ciation announces  the  following  as 
its  subjects  committee  to  report  to  the 
convention  on  subjects  for  the  coming 
year: 

G.  T.  Seeley,  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Elec- 
tric Company,  Youngstown,  Ohio,  chair- 
man; J.  P.  Barnes,  Louisville  Railway, 
Louisville,  Ky.;  J.  K.  Punderford,  the 
Connecticut  Company,  New  Haven, 
Conn.;  C.  E.  Morgan,  Brooklyn  City 
Railway,  Brooklyn  N.  Y.,  and  Edward 
Dana,  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  Boston, 
Mass. 

The  committee  desires  suggestions 
from  the  members  at  large  so  that  its 
reports  will  be  truly  representative  of 
live  subjects  in  the  transportation  and 
traffic  field. 


Valuation  Committee  Report 
Ready 

THE  American  Association  valuation 
committee  held  an  important  meet- 
ing at  association  headquarters  on  Sat- 
urday, Aug.  27.  The  report  of  the  com- 
mittee was  completed  and  it  is  expected 
that  it  will  be  available  in  pamphlet 
form  previous  to  the  Atlantic  City  con- 
vention. The  committee  has  made  some 
important  recommendations  in  the  re- 
port which  will  be  discussed  at  the  con- 
vention. 

Those  present  were  Martin  Schreiber, 
Public  Service  Railway  of  New  Jersey, 
Camden,  N.  J.,  chairman;  W.  H.  Saw- 
yer, E.  W.  Clark  &  Company  Manage- 
ment Corporation,  Columbus,  Ohio;  J. 


H.  Hanna,  Capital  Traction  Company, 
Washington,  D.  C,  and  W.  H.  Maltbie, 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md. 


Engineering  Subjects  Committee 

THE  membership  of  the  subjects 
committee  of  the  Engineering  Asso- 
ciation has  been  announced  as  follows: 
L.  V.  Datz,  American  Cities  Company, 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  chairman;  A.  B.  Stit- 
zer,  Republic  Engineers,  Inc.,  New 
York;  C.  H.  Clark,  Cleveland  Railway, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  H.  A.  Johnson, 
Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated  Rail- 
way, Chicago,  111. 

This  committee  is  to  report  as  usual 
at  the  convention  on  subjects  for  consid- 
eration during  the  coming  year.  The 
committee  is  asking  for  suggestions 
from  the  members  at  large  to  assist  in 
formulating  its  report,  so  that  subjects 
to  be  considered  certainly  will  be  those 
in  which  the  members  at  large  will  be 
interested. 


Entertainment  Committee  Ready 

THE  entertainment  committee  held  a 
fine  meeting  at  association  head- 
quarters on  Saturday,  Aug.  27.  Under 
the  direction  of  E.  C.  Faber,  chairman, 
the  committee  prepared  an  entertain- 
ment program  that  will  be  sure  to 
please  the  convention. 

Some  surprises  are  in  store  for  mem- 
bers and  the  committee  is  to  be  con- 
gratulated on  its  originality  in  devising 
means  for  keeping  everybody  at  the 
October  convention  happy. 


Judge  Paroles  Gibson 

AS  WAS  noted  previously  in  these 
columns,  the  defaulting  bookkeeper 
of  the  association,  W.  0.  Gibson,  was  to 
present  himself  for  sentence  on  Wednes- 
day, Aug.  31.  When  he  did  so,  Judge 
Rosalsky,  who  had  been  advised  of  Mr. 
Gibson's  efforts  at  restitution,  read  from 
a  New  York  statute  dealing  with  such 
cases.  From  this  statute  it  appears 
that  the  judge  is  given  discretion  to 
place  the  defendant  on  probation,  in 
case  the  defendant  has  made  restitution 
or  efforts  at  restitution  that  satisfy  the 
aggrieved  parties.  President  Gadsden 
of  the  association  was  placed  on  the 
stand,  and  after  stating  the  steps  Gib- 
son had  taken  to  make  restitution  said 
he  was  willing  for  the  judge  to  exercise 
his  discretion  and  place  Gibson  on  pro- 
bation with  proper  restrictions. 

The  steps  which  Gibson  has  taken 
toward  restitution  are,  first,  to  give  a 
check  to  the  association  for  something 
in  excess  of  $5,800;  and  second,  to 
make  certain  arrangements  looking 
toward  a  settlement  in  the  future  of  a 
substantial  portion  of  the  missing  funds. 
This  was  apparently  the  maximum  Mr. 
Gibson  and  his  family  could  do,  and  it 
was  considered  advisable  to  place  him 
on  probation  and  allow  him  to  make 
efforts  to  repay  additional  amounts,  as 
he  proposed. 

Accordingly,  Judge  Rosalsky  placed 
Mr.  Gibson  on  probation  for  a  period 
of  fifteen  years.  He  is  ordered  to  report 
in  person  on  the  12th  of  December  of 
each  year  for  fifteen  years.  He  is 
ordered  to  report  to  the  probation 
officer,  either  in  person  or  by  satis- 
factory communication,  once  each  week, 
for  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  The  court 
thus  retains  jurisdiction  over  the  case 
during  this  whole  time  through  the 
office  of  the  probation  officer. 


S70 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


Recent  Happenings  in  Great  Britain 

More  Evidence  of  Near  Return  to  Normal  in  Railway  Field — Glasgow 
Turns  to  the  Bus — A.  R.  McCallum  Quits  the  Underground 

From  Our  Regular  Correspondent 

The  railway  and  tramway  undertakings  are  at  last  beginning  to  get  over  the 
results  of  the  war.  Possibly  one  cause  of  the  great  outburst  of  activity  by  the 
steam  railway  systems  in  the  end  of  July  and  the  beginning  of  August  was  the 
fact  that  the  period  of  government  control,  which  had  lasted  since  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  was  to  come  to  an  end  in  the  middle  of  August.  Then  through  the 
operation  of  the  sliding  scale  wages  have  begun  to  came  down  in  accordance 
with  the  fall  in  the  official  index  figure  of  the  cost  of  living,  and  coal  is  of  course 
abundant  since  the  miners'  strike  ended. 


FOR  the  present  holiday  season  the 
railway  companies  have  offered 
passenger  facilities  better  than  any 
of  the  past  seven  years.  Excursion 
trains  and  cheap  tickets  are  in  opera- 
tion everywhere.  The  cheap  fares, 
however,  are  only  cheap  by  compari- 
son with  the  present  ordinary  fares; 
absolutely,  they  are  about  the  same 
as  the  pre-war  ordinary  fares. 

Tramway  facilities  have  also  been 
increased,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Au- 
gust bank  holiday  (which  is  a  general 
holiday)  more  lavish  services  were  run 
than  for  years  past.  The  wages  slid- 
ing scale  for  tramways  was,  however, 
more  recently  agreed  to  than  in  the 
case  of  the  railways,  so  that  the  owners 
of  the  tramway  undertakings  have  not 
yet  begun  to  feel  the  benefit  of  lower 
wages.  Within  the  last  few  weeks  the 
index  figure  of  the  cost  of  living  has 
ceased  to  fall — partly,  at  least,  owing 
to  the  prolonged  drought — and  until  it 
resumes  its  downward  course  wages 
will  cease  falling. 

Motor  Vehicle  Is  Popular 

Another  striking  development  of  the 
present  holiday  season  is  that  of  motor 
passenger  vehicles.  Last  summer  saw 
some  activity,  but  now  it  may  be  said 
generally  that  all  the  most  pleasant 
parts  of  England  and  Scotland  are 
covered  by  services  of  motor  omnibuses 
and  motor  coaches.  The  runs  vary 
from  an  hour  or  two  up  to  a  duration 
of  a  week  or  more.  The  latter  are  of 
course  organized  tours.  The  main 
roads  of  the  country  are  gradually  be- 
ing restored  to  good  order,  and  more 
money  is  available  for  the  purpose 
from  the  tax  on  motor  vehicles.  Petrol 
is  abundant,  and  this  form  of  holiday 
business  is  evidently  profitable.  In  this 
connection  it  may  be  said  that  com- 
petition with  tramways  is  only  inci- 
dental, and  of  course  tramway  routes 
cover  only  a  small  proportion  of  the 
roads  followed  by  the  automobiles. 

Hitherto  the  Glasgow  Town  Council 
has  done  nothing  in  the  way  of  motor 
omnibuses,  and  has  been  content  to 
work  one  of  the  most  efficient  and 
profitable  tramway  undertakings  in  the 
country.  It  is  now  proposing,  however, 
to  seek  Parliamentary  powers  to  operate 
motor  omnibuses  both  inside  and  out- 
side the  city.  Doubtless  these  vehicles 
will  be  auxiliary  to  and  not  competitive 
with  the  tramcars. 

The  British  steam  railway  companies 
have  had  a  set-back  in  an  effort  they 


made  in  the  end  of  July  to  get  general 
powers  to  carry  both  passengers  and 
goods  by  motor  vehicles  on  the  public- 
roads.  For  some  time  there  has  been 
under  the  consideration  of  Parliament 
a  government  measure  called  the  rail- 
ways bill — a  long  and  complicated  bill 
for  meeting  the  post-war  situation  after 
the'  railways  are  freed  from  state  con- 
trol. It  provides  for  the  amalgamation 
of  the  railways  of  the  country  into  a 
few  great  companies,  and  sets  up  a 
great  deal  of  new  government  regula- 
tion. The  railway  companies  brought 
forward  a  new  clause  for  insertion  in 
the  bill  to  enable  them  to  operate  motor 
vehicles  on  the  highways.  The  road 
transport  companies  and  firms  and  the 
omnibus  companies  as  well  as  the  pri- 
vate automobile  interests  took  alarm 
at  the  threatened  powerful  competition 
and  a  fight  was  expected,  but  just  when 
it  would  have  begun  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Commons  ruled  the  pro- 
posed clause  out  of  order  as  bsing  be- 
yond the  scope  of  the  bill. 

He  laid  it  down  that  if  such  powers 
were  to  be  granted  it  must  be  by  sepa- 
rate legislation.  Whether  the  railway 
companies  will  promote  such  legislation 
remains  to  be  seen.  Despite  the  outcry 
that  has  been  raised  against  the  rail- 
way companies'  proposal,  they  have  a 
good  case  for  it  in  at  least  one  direc- 
tion. That  is  the  transportation  of 
goods  for  comparatively  short  dis- 
tances. They  convey  the  goods  by  road 
from  the  consignor  to  a  railway  sta- 
tion, load  them  into  a  train,  discharge 
them  at  another  station,  and  then 
take  them  by  road  to  the  consignee. 

Freight  Transportation  Costly 

Where  the  railway  haul  is  not  long, 
this  is  a  slow  and,  expensive  process 
compared  with  what  it  would  be  if  the 
companies  could  transport  the  goods 
by  road  direct  from  the  sender  to  the 
receiver.  Of  course  that  is  what  the 
road  transport  companies  are  doing 
now,  so  that  the  latter  got  a  fright. 
They  are  now  safe — for  the  present 
at  any  rate.  Should  the  railway  com- 
panies make  another  effort  to  get  the 
powers  they  want,  they  will  also  be  able 
to  contend  that  in  very  many  districts 
they  are  the  largest  local  ratepayers. 

It  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  the 
London  County  Council  has  decided  to 
promote  no  bill  in  the  next  session  of 
Parliament  to  authorize  the  construc- 
tion of  additional  tramways.  In  recent 
years  the  great  bulk  of  such  proposals 


have  been  rendered  nugatory  by  the 
veto  of  the  metropolitan  borough  coun- 
cils. The  highways  committee  of  the 
Council  also  thinks  that  the  Minister 
of  Transport  would  report  adversely 
on  the  schemes.  The  members  consider 
that  a  remedy  will  not  be  forthcoming 
until  there  has  been  a  complete  and 
considered  reorganization  of  the  exist- 
ing systems  of  passenger  transport  in 
the  London  area.  The  Council  has  al- 
ready represented  to  the  government 
the  necessity  of  legislation  to  provide 
for  the  unified  operation  of  local 
passenger  transport  undertakings  in 
Greater  London.  Meantime  the  Council 
and  the  London  General  Omnibus  Com- 
pany have  arranged  an  extension  of  the 
through-booking  scheme  between  the 
tramcars  and  the  omnibuses. 

Power-Saving  Devices  Being  Used 

The  London  County  Council  is  now 
adopting  experimentally  on  twenty-two 
cars  a  power-saving  device  which  is 
reported  to  be  in  use  on  certain  Ameri- 
can tramways  and  is  employed  by  the 
Metropolitan  Electric  Tramways  in 
Middlesex.  Its  purpose  is  to  grade  the 
economy  of  the  motormen  in  their  use 
of  propulsion  current. 

It  is  proposed  the  Birmingham  City 
Council  should  seek  powers  in  the  next 
session  of  Parliament  to  run  trackless 
trokey  cars  over  any  tramway  route  in 
the  city.  An  example  is  given  of  a 
particular  tramway  which  needs  recon- 
struction. To  reconstruct  it  would  cost 
£95,000  at  present  prices,  and  the 
service  would  be  run  at  a  loss.  To  in- 
stall the  railless  system  would  cost  £54,- 
000  less  and  there  would  be  an  esti- 
mated profit  of  £3,000  a  year. 

The  ballot  of  the  members  of  the 
Amalgamated  Engineering  Trade 
Union  resulted  in  a  majority  in  favor 
of  accepting  the  employers'  proposal 
for  reductions  in  wages.  Thus  a  strike 
has  been  averted.  Reductions  have 
been  accepted  by  other  unions  also,  so 
that  there  is  some  hope  of  the  country 
being  placed  on  an  economic  basis. 

The  dividends  declared  by  the  Lon- 
don underground  railway  companies 
for  the  half  year  ended  June  30  last 
show  material  improvements  as  com- 
pared with  recent  half  years,  attrib- 
utable doubtless  to  the  increased  fares. 
The  London  General  Omnibus  Company 
has  also  done  better. 

Mr.  McCallum  Resigns 

A.  R.  McCallum,  who  two  years  ago, 
along  with  other  officers  of  the  London 
underground  railway  companies,  visited 
the  United  States  to  make  a  study  of 
electric  traction  conditions  there,  has 
resigned  his  position  as  chief  assistant 
to  the  mechanical  engineer  for  the  un- 
derground railways  in  order  to  take  up 
an  appointment  with  C.  P.  Sandberg 
Brothers,  consulting  engineers,  who  are 
well  known  in  America  as  well  as  in 
this  country.  Mr.  McCallum,  who  is  a 
B.Sc.  of  London  University  and  was  a 
pupil  with  Dick,  Kerr  &  Company  in 
their  Preston  works,  has  been  assistant 
mechanical  engineer  to  the  underground 
railways  for  nine  years. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Another  Week  Lost 

Discussion   at   New  Orleans  Believed, 
However,  Not  to  Be  Entirely 
Without  Benefit 

The  City  Commissioners  of  New  Or- 
leans have  frittered  away  another  week 
in  conference  with  City  Attorney  Kit- 
tredge  without  result.  Meanwhile,  tes- 
timony in  the  street  railway  case,  in 
the  Federal  District  Court,  involving 
the  right  of  the  city  to  interfere  with 
the  receiver  in  the  collection  of  an 
8-cent  fare,  has  been  postponed  by 
Special  Master  Chaffee,  from  Aug.  20 
to  Aug.  29.  Postponement  was  made 
by  Mr.  Chaffee  in  the  hope  that  the 
city  and  the  New  Orleans  Railway  & 
Light  Company  might  be  able  to  reach 
an  agreement  by  compromise  out  of 
court. 

The  Ballard  report,  on  valuation  and 
rate  making,  was  submitted  to  the 
Commission  Council  on  Aug.  24  by 
Commissioner  Maloney  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Utilities,  with  the  in- 
dorsement: "Respectfully  submitted 
without  comment." 

Mayor  McShane  has  at  last  taken  a 
fling  at  solving  the  railways  problem. 
He  thinks  his  plan  will  make  for  the 
settlement  of  the  matter,  with  some 
modifications,  perhaps,  by  the  city. 
Briefly  stated,  the  McShane  plan  offers 
to  help  the  railways  secure  $5,000,000 
of  new  money,  said  to  be  needed  to 
replace  present  antiquated  equipment, 
and  allows  the  company  an  8  per  cent 
return  on  that  amount.  The  Mayor  is 
of  opinion,  however,  that  the  property 
is  worth  only  $40,553,500  and  not  $44,- 
700,000,  as  fixed  by  the  utility  experts, 
called  upon  by  the  city  to  estimate 
its  value,  the  last  of  whom  was  Mr. 
Ballard. 

So  as  not  to  appear  hostile  to  the 
company,  Mayor  McShane  supplements 
these  allowances  in  his  proposed  plan 
of  settlement,  with  the  further  allow- 
ance of  an  8  per  cent  return  upon  the 
difference  between  his  estimate  of  the 
value  of  the  property,  namely,  $40,- 
553,500  and  that  fixed  in  the  Ballard 
report,  viz:  $44,700,000,  or  $4,156,500. 
This  means  an  8  per  cent  return  on 
$4,156,500,  in  addition  to  the  8  per 
cent  return  which  he  is  willing  to 
allow  on  the  $5,000,000  of  new  money 
to  be  borrowed.  On  the  balance  of  the 
securities  of  the  company  the  Mayor 
says  he  is  only  willing  to  allow  the 
interest  called  for  on  the  bonds,  which 
varies  from  41  per  cent  to  7  per  cent. 

Under  this  plan  Mayor  McShane  de- 
clares the  company  would  be  allowed 
a  return  of  $2,791,915  a  year,  as  against 
a  return  of  $4,031,560  called  for  under 
the  Chappelle  plan,  and  $3,129,000  and 
$400,000  new  money,  called  for  under 
the  plan  of  the  Committee  of  Forty. 

Commissioner   Murphy,   of  the  De- 


partment of  Finance,  whose  plan  for 
the  settlement  of  the  tangle  more 
nearly  approaches  that  of  the  utility 
experts  of  national  reputation,  has  been 
attending  the  daily  executive  confer- 
ences and  has  formed  his  own  con- 
clusions as  to  the  prospects  of  these 
"talks"  leading  to  a  settlement.  As  a 
result  he  is  insisting  upon  an  immedi- 
ate adjustment  of  the  matter.  In  a 
published  statement,  Commissioner 
Murphy  said: 

If  the  surplus  is  protected  and  the  rates 
of  interest  on  all  of  the  new  company's 
securities  are  properly  fixed  by  the  Com- 
mission Council  (which  is  one  function  of 
the  rate  making'  body)  I  am  firmly  of  the 
opinion  that  an  8  per  cent  return  on  the 
agreed  valuation  offers  greater  protection 
to  the  public  for  constantly  increasing  and 
expanding-  the  service  without  increasing 
rates  and  fares. 

I  stand  willing,  however,  to  accept  any 
rate  of  return  which  will  result  in  settling 
this  problem  along  the  lines  of  sound  and 
correct  principles.  I  believe,  however,  that 
no  settlement,  no  matter  how  just  or  sound, 
can  succeed  without  intelligent  public  un- 
derstanding. 

A  conference  was  held  on  Aug.  25 
and  26  by  Mayor  McShane  and  the 
members  of  the  Commission  Council 
with  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Citizens'  Committee  of  Forty.  The 
meeting  took  place  in  the  directors' 
room  of  the  Hibernia  Bank  &  Trust 
Company.  R.  S.  Hecht,  president  of 
the  bank,  who  was  chairman  of  the 
conference,  expressed  the  belief  at  the 
close  of  the  meeting  that  the  railway 
tangle  was  nearing  a  settlement,  but 
beyond  making  this  statement  neither 
he  nor  the  parties  to  the  conference 
would  disclose  what  had  transpired.  It 
is  understood  that  a  valuation  of  ap- 
proximately $44,700,000  was  tentatively 
agreed  upon  by  a  majority  of  the  con- 
ferees. Another  meeting  scheduled  for 
Aug.  27  was  called  off. 

Commissioner  Maloney  of  the  De- 
partment of  Public  Utilities,  when 
asked  whether  the  Ballard  report  or 
a  report  of  some  kind  placing  a  valua- 
tion upon  the  property  with  an  ade- 
quate measure  of  return,  would  come 
up  for  discussion  and  consideration  at 
the  Aug.  30  meeting  of  the  Council, 
replied  that  nothing  in  this  direction 
would  be  attempted  until  some  agree- 
ment had  been  reached  as  to  a  fair 
valuation  of  the  property.  Unless  a 
compromise  as  to  valuation  and  rate  of 
return  was  effected  with  the  railway 
company,  the  matter  would  be  left  to 
the  courts  for  settlement.  The  out- 
come would  be  unsatisfactory  in  that 
event,  to  both  the  railway  and  the 
people. 

Special  Master  Chaffee  has  again  con- 
sented to  postpone  taking  testimony 
until  Sept.  5.  This  is  taken  to  show 
that  nothing  was  accomplished  during 
the  week  at  the  daily  conferences  at- 
tended by  the  Mayor,  the  City  Com- 
missioner, the  City  Attorney  and  such 
members  of  the  executive  committee  of 
forty  as  dropped  in  from  time  to  time. 


Another  Municipal  Route 

First   of   Important   Crosstown  Lines 
in  Detroit  Placed  in  Operation 
by  City 

The  first  of  the  big  crosstown  lines 
planned  as  part  of  the  municipal  sys- 
tem of  street  railways  in  Detroit, 
Mich.,  was  put  into  operation  on  Aug. 
25,  when  cars  were  started  on  the 
Charlevoix-Buchanan  route  over  a  dis- 
tance of  10J  miles  with  a  single  track 
mileage  of  21.  This  car  line  now 
serves  districts  not  touched  by  car  lines 
heretofore.  A  portion  of  the  line  had 
been  in  operation  previously.  One-man 
safety  cars  are  now  being  operated, 
but  it  is  intended  to  replace  part  of 
these  cars  with  Peter  Witt  type  cars 
under  contract  to  be  delivered  in  the 
fall.  At  the  same  time  the  Van  Dyke 
Avenue  line  was  put  into  operation 
giving  service  to  a  residential  section 
which  had  been  without  car  service. 
The  Van  Dyke  line  is  a  tributary  to 
the  new  crosstown  line. 

On  the  day  service  was  started  on 
the  new  line  the  suit  started  last  Sep- 
tember by  residents  of  Eliot  Street  to 
enjoin  the  construction  of  the  municipal 
line  on  their  street,  one  of  the  thor- 
oughfares traversed  by  the  new  cross- 
town  line,  was  dismissed  by  Judge 
Dingeman  in  the  Wayne  Circuit  Court. 

The  city  now  has  cars  operating  over 
32  miles  of  lines.  The  short  sections 
which  served  a  purely  local  patronage 
are  now  connected  into  a  network  of 
lines  serving  the  east  side.  The  cross- 
town  line  connects  this  system  with 
the  west  side  of  the  city  and  further 
service  will  be  installed  in  a  few  days 
by  opening  up  the  Moran-Palmer  lines. 

It  is  further  reported  that  other  ex- 
tensions of  the  municipal  lines  will  be 
announced  as  soon  as  the  day-to-day 
agreement  lines  constructed  by  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  are  taken  over 
by  the  city,  after  the  report  of  the 
Board  of  Arbitration  which  is  to  con- 
vene again  on  Sept.  6.  The  effective- 
ness of  the  city  lines  depends  to  a  great 
extent  upon  the  Fort  Street  and  Wood- 
ward Avenue  lines  now  operated  by 
the  Detroit  United  Railway,  which  are 
still  the  subject  of  controversy  and 
which  the  city  needs  to  reach  the  heart 
of  the  city. 

Future  Service  to  Be  Discussed 

Although  the  Ottawa  (Ont.)  Electric 
Railway  has  two  more  years  under  its 
contract  to  furnish  transportation 
service  to  the  residents  of  the  city, 
agitation  has  been  renewed  looking 
toward  the  enactment  of  a  service-at- 
cost  arrangement.  The  Board  of  Trade 
is  making  provisions  for  a  general  field 
day  some  time  in  September,  when  the 
whole  question  of  future  service  by  the 
railway  will  be  discussed. 


372 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


Service  Resumed  at  Des  Moines  for  State  Fair 

Company  Guaranteed  Against  Loss — Terms  of  Proposed  New 
Franchise  Grant  Now  Available 

The  most  important  development  in  the  railway  situation  at  Des  Moines,  la., 
during  the  week  ended  Aug.  27  was  the  temporary  resumption  of  railway  serv- 
ice after  a  three  weeks'  shutdown,  to  continue  only  for  the  period  of  the  Iowa 
state  fair.  The  resumption  of  service  came  as  a  result  of  a  petition  filed  with 
Judge  Wade  of  the  federal  court  by  attorneys  for  the  State  Agricultural 
Society.  The  petition  was  not  filed  until  after  officials  of  the  Agricultural 
Society  had  made  a  trip  to  Chicago  to  go  over  the  situation  with  Mr.  Harris  and 
his  associates. 


A  LTHOUGH  bus  men  had  made  em- 
AA  phatic  claims  as  to  their  ability  to 
take  care  of  the  fair  crowds, 
officials  of  the  fair,  even  with  assurance 
of  supplemented  service  of  shuttle 
trains  on  the  Rock  Island  Railroad, 
were  doubtful  of  the  outcome  and  fear- 
ful that  with  inadequate  transportation 
facilities  attendance  at  the  fair  would 
be  seriously  curtailed. 

In  filing  their  petition  with  Judge 
Wade  the  fair  officials  agreed  to  guar- 
antee the  Des  Moines  City  Railway 
against  financial  loss  during  the  period 
of  the  fair.  City  officials  took  no  part 
in  either  the  filing  of  the  petition  or 
the  hearing  upon  it. 

Emergency  Service  Only 

Judge  Wade  acted  solely  upon  the 
emergency  presented  by  the  fair  offi- 
cials and  in  making  his  order  for  the 
temporary  resumption  was  specific  that 
it  would  cover  only  the  period  of  the 
fair  and  that  service  was  to  cease  on 
Sept.  2.  Officials  of  the  railway  were 
agreeable  to  the  proposition  and  serv- 
ice was  resumed  on  the  afternoon  of 
Aug.  26.  The  service  was  restored  on 
exactly  the  same  basis  as  was  being 
given  at  the  time  it  stopped  on  Aug.  3. 
Fifty-nine  cars  are  in  service  and  owl 
cars  are  being  run. 

Immediately  upon  the  resumption  of 
railway  service  the  buses  lengthened 
their  routes  to  take  in  the  railway 
loop  downtown.  When  the  railway 
service  was  stopped  buses  shortened 
their  routes  in  the  downtown  section. 
No  attempt  was  made  by  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway  to  give  special 
service  to  the  fair  grounds,  only  six 
cars  being  operated  on  that  line.  The 
main  desire  of  the  fair  officials  in  se- 
curing the  return  of  the  cars  was  to 
insure  Des  Moines  people  being  trans- 
ported from  their  homes  to  the  down- 
town section.  Buses  are  handling  the 
bulk  of  the  business  to  the  fair  grounds, 
almost  any  vehicle  that  would  run  be- 
ing converted  into  a  so-called  truck. 
One  transfer  company  has  put  several 
of  its  motor  driven  moving  vans  into 
service  to  and  from  the  fair  grounds. 

Judge  Wade's  order  for  the  restora- 
tion of  service  during  the  period  of  the 
fair  is  as  follows: 

A  strong  appeal  has  been  made  by  offi- 
cers of  the  state  and  the  directors  of  the  de- 
partment of  agriculture  for  the  state  of 
Iowa,  that  an  order  be  made  providing  for 
street  car  service  during  the  state  fair.  The 
bondholders  have  been  consulted  and  in 
view  of  the  importance  of  service  during 
the  fair,  not  only  to  the  people  of  Des 
Moines  but  to  the  people  of  the  state,  it  is 
my  judgment  that  the  cars  should  be  op- 
erated. 


Of  course  if  there  should  be  a  deficit  in 
such  operation  it  must  be  paid  by  some  one. 
I  have  no  power  to  require  the  bondholders 
to  pay  any  deficit  and  therefore  I  only 
have  power  to  authorize  service  on  condition 
that  if  there  should  be  a  deficit  in  actual 
operating  expenses  it  shall  be  paid  by  the 
agricultural  association  or  some  others.  It 
is  my  hope  that  with  the  demand  for  serv- 
ice during  the  days  of  the  fair  enough  of 
money  can  be  collected  for  fares  to  pay 
actual  expenses.  I  am  advised  that  those 
interested  are  willing  to  guarantee  any  loss 
in  operation. 

Although  it  is  impossible  to  establish 
more  than  the  minimum  service  that  was  in 
operation  at  the  time  of  suspension  and  to 
avoid  any  possible  misunderstanding  the 
order  is  made  positive  that  such  service 
shall  immediately  suspend  upon  the  close 
of  the  fair  and  remain  suspended  under 
the  order  heretofore  made  pending  fore- 
closure. 

It  is  ordered  and  adjudged  that  the  re- 
ceivers shall  as  soon  as  practicable  restore 
the  service  as  near  as  practicable  to  that 
which  was  suspended  under  order  of  this 
court  on  Aug.  2.  1921,  such  restored  service 
to  continue  only  until  the  close  of  the  state 
fair  and  not  later  than  Sept.  2.  1921. 

This  order  is  conditioned  upon  a  guaran- 
tee to  be  approved  by  the  receivers,  by 
some  individual  or  organization  to  pay  to 
the  receivers  any  deficit  in  actual  cost  of 
putting  the  cars  in  operation  and  operating 
the  same  as  herein  required. 

Des  Moines  bus  operators  began  a 
campaign  of  "education"  for  the  peo- 
ple of  Des  Moines  on  Aug.  25  with  a 
meeting  at  the  Grant  Club  of  rep- 
resentatives of  improvement  leagues, 
women's  clubs,  trades  unions,  Rotary, 
Kiwanis  and  Lions'  clubs,  and  all  mem- 
bers of  the  City  Council.  This  meet- 
ing was  the  first  of  a  series  which  is 
to  be  held  to  sell  the  bus  idea  to  the 
people  of  the  city.  C.  W.  Lyon,  at- 
torney for  the  Motor  Bus  Association, 
was  the  speaker  at  the  meeting  and  ad- 
vised his  hearers  that  with  an  assur- 
ance from  the  City  Council  of  a  lease 
of  life  the  bus  owners  would  within 
ninety  days  furnish  service  entirely 
adequate,  and  that  an  organization 
capitalized  at  $1,600,000  could  be 
formed  to  finance  operation. 

Mr.  Lyon  explained  that  the  present 
emergency  is  an  entirely  unfair  test 
for  the  buses  and  that  the  people  could 
not  expect  men  with  $300,000  invested 
to  provide  the  financial  backing  neces- 
sary to  establish  proper  service  when 
they  had  no  assurance  that  they  could 
continue  to  operate.  In  answer  to  a 
question  he  claimed  that  provision  had 
been  made  which  would  insure  keep- 
ing the  streets  open  when  snow  was  on 
the  ground. 

The  promise  of  the  bus  men,  in  the 
event  they  are  awarded  a  franchise 
grant,  was  briefly  as  follows: 

Furnish  necessary  motor  buses  within 
sixty  or  ninety  days  from  date  of  signing 
the  contract. 

Operate  at  a  5-cent  fare  for  one  contin- 
uous ride. 

Carry  children  under  twelve  years  at 
half  fare. 


Carry  high  school  children  for  2|  cents 
between  hours  of  7:30  a.m.  and  4:30  p.m. 

Carry  children  under  six  years  free  when 
accompanied  by  parent. 

Carry  policemen  and  firemen  free. 

Operate  hourly  owl  service  at  a  10-cent 
fare. 

Comply  with  insurance  and  bonding  laws. 
Operate  on  light  and  heavy  lines  as  con- 
sidered necessary. 

Comply  with  speed  regulations. 
Pay  reasonable  street  repair  taxes. 
Standardize  buses. 

Welcome      inspection      looking  toward 
proper   heating,   lighting   and  sanitation. 
Maintain  proper  garage  and  repair  shops. 
Make  convenient  routing  schedules. 

Bus  operators  claim  there  are  now 
approximately  110  buses  in  service  and 
that  during  the  time  the  street  cars 
were  out  of  service  the  buses  were 
carrying  more  passengers  per  day  than 
the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  did  dur- 
ing the  month  of  July. 

A  number  of  buses  from  other  cities 
have  been  shipped  in  during  the  past 
week,  but  on  the  other  hand  some  of 
the  buses  which  have  been  in  service 
and  which  were  pronounced  the  most 
satisfactory  of  those  running  have 
gone  out  of  service  because  of  the 
need  for  repairs. 

Negotiations  between  the  Des  Moines 
City  Railway  and  the  special  commit- 
tee from  the  Retail  Merchants'  Asso- 
ciation looking  toward  a  new  franchise 
to  end  the  Des  Moines  railway  difficul- 
ties were  expected  to  be  resumed  early 
in  the  week  ended  Sept.  3. 

F.  C.  Chambers,  general  manager 
and  operating  receiver,  who  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  merchants'  committee  re- 
turned to  Chicago  for  further  confer- 
ence with  A.  W.  Harris  relative  to 
certain  features  of  the  franchise,  re- 
turned to  Des  Moines  on  Aug.  26,  but 
did  not  bring  the  completed  draft  of 
the  franchise  with  him.  The  draft  had 
not  been  received  on  Aug.  27,  but  was 
expected  by  early  mail  on  Aug.  29. 

New  Franchise  Grant  Appears 

After  the  franchise  as  submitted  by 
the  Harris  interests  is  threshed  out 
with  the  committee,  it  will  then  be  pre- 
sented to  the  City  Council.  Mr.  Cham- 
bers said  to  a  representative  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  on  Aug. 
27  that  the  provisions  of  the  franchise 
would  not  be  made  public  until  after 
the  draft  had  been  presented  to  the 
City  Council. 

The  draft  which  will  be  under  con- 
sideration during  the  week  just  ended 
has  been  changed  considerably  from  the 
one  submitted  to  the  Merchants'  Asso- 
ciation committee  ten  days  ago. 

After  being  sifted  and  favorably 
passed  upon  by  the  special  committee 
of  the  Merchants'  Association  the  draft 
of  the  new  franchise  for  the  Des  Moines 
City  Railway  was  presented  to  the  City 
Council  on  Aug.  31.  At  the  special 
session  of  the  Council  it  was  ordered 
referred  to  the  corporation  counsel  for 
advice  and  it  is  expected  to  be  back 
in  the  Council's  hands  for  first  reading 
by  Sept.  2. 

There  must  be  three  readings  by  the 
Council  and  then  if  favorably  acted 
upon  the  measure  must  be  upon  file 
for  one  week  before  election  is  called. 
It  must  then  be  advertised  for  thirty 
days  before  being  voted  upon  by  the 
people. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


373 


The  principal  provisions  of  the  fran- 
chise are  the  sliding  scale  of  fares  to 
start  at  8  cents  straight,  to  be  lowered 
or  raised  as  the  financial  condition  of 
the  company  warrants.  Before  the 
fare  is  reduced  from  8  cents,  $6,000,000 
in  accrued  interest  and  debts  must  be 
met.  It  is  proposed  to  amortize  this 
sum  over  a  five-year  period.  No  divi- 
dends will  be  paid  on  the  common  stock 
until  fare  has  been  lowered  to  7  cents, 
when  41  per  cent  will  be  paid.  If  the 
fare  goes  below  5  cents  6  per  cent  will 
be  paid. 

Provision  is  made  for  reducing  fares 
as  earnings  warrant,  to  ten  tickets  for 
75  cents,  ten  for  65  cents  and  ten  for 
55  cents  between  reductions  so  as  to 
even  the  fares  mentioned  above.  Pro- 
tection from  bus  competition  is  pro- 
vided by  a  clause  which  prevents  buses 
from  discharging  passengers  within 
1,000  ft.  of  car  track  unless  passengers 
have  entered  the  bus  at  a  distance 
greater  than  1,000  ft.  from  the  tracks. 

Children's  fares  during  specified 
hours  of  school  days  are  to  be  21  cents. 
Regular  children's  fares  are  to  be  half 
of  the  adult  fare.  The  owl  car  fare 
is  to  be  10  cents.  One-man  cars  are 
to  be  allowed.  The  railway  will  be 
permitted  to  operate  a  supplementary 
bus  system. 

All  disputes  are  to  be  settled  by  an 
arbitration  board  appointed  by  the  Iowa 
Supreme  Court  to  consist  of  three  dis- 
trict judges  chosen  from  outside  Polk 
County.  In  the  event  the  franchise  is 
passed  the  power  facilities  will  be  in- 
creased and  132  cars  will  resume  ser- 
vice. 

Indications  are  that  the  franchise 
will  have  the  united  support  of  the 
business  and  commercial  organizations. 

The  City  Council  on  Aug.  31  renewed 
for  a  period  of  one  year  the  bus  licenses 
which  expired  on  Sept.  1  on  condition 
that  they  may  be  revoked  at  the  will 
of  the  Council. 


Railway  Contends  Commission 
Has  Jurisdiction 

That  the  Michigan  Utilities  Commis- 
sion should  be  the  one  to  judge  and  not 
Judge  Cross  of  the  Ottawa  County  Cir- 
cuit Court  is  the  opinion  of  the  Michi- 
gan Railway  as  expressed  in  a  hearing 
on  Aug.  29  of  the  injunction  proceed- 
ings brought  by  the  city  of  Holland  and 
Park  township  against  the  Michigan 
Railway.  The  court  has  reserved  de- 
cision. 

The  arguments  submitted  were  on  an 
order  to  show  cause  in  the  case  of  the 
city  of  Holland  against  the  Michigan 
Railway  to  prevent  the  railway  from 
raising  its  rate  of  fare  from  15  cents 
to  35  cents  between  Macatawa  and  Hol- 
land in,  alleged  violation  of  franchise 
agreements.  Holland  City  and  Park 
township  were  represented  by  City  At- 
torney Charles  H.  McBride  of  Holland. 

The  suit  was  the  result  of  the  Michi- 
gan Railway's  boost  in  fares  to  3  cents 
a  mile  granted  by  the  Michigan  Utili- 
ties Commission.  It  is  claimed  under 
the  franchise  held  by  the  Michigan 
Railway  and  under  an  agreement  with 


the  city  of  Holland  that  the  city  fares 
are  fixed  at  5  cents  and  rates  between 
Holland  and  Macatawa  at  15  cents  for 
the  round  trip. 

The  hearing  was  to  determine 
whether  the  Michigan  Railway  should 
be  permitted  for  the  present  to  collect 
a  35-cent  fare  between  Holland  and 
Macatawa. 


Saginaw  Has  Bus  Offer 

Company  from  Detroit  Makes  Proposal, 
but  Wants  Practical  Assurance 
Against  Possible  Loss 

Officials  from  the  Wolverine  Transit 
Company,  Detroit,  have  presented  to 
the  city  of  Saginaw,  Mich.,  through  the 
Council  and  directors  of  the  Board  of 
Commerce  a  plan  whereby  Saginaw  is 
to  be  given  high-class  motor  bus  service 
on  streets  formerly  traversed  by  cars 
of  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway, 
which  suspended  service  three  weeks 
ago  when  the  company  was  placed  in 
bankrupcy  through  a  petition  filed  in 
the  United  States  district  court  for  the 
eastern  district  of  Michigan. 

The  transit  company  men  offered  to 
invest  $90,000  as  a  down  payment  for 
thirty  motor  buses,  the  Board  of  Com- 
merce, city  government,  or  some  other 
organization  to  take  it  upon  itself  to 
sell  15,000  books  of  240  tickets  at  $10  a 
book.  They  also  offered  universal 
transfers,  indemnity  insurance,  limited 
to  $10,000  for  one  person  or  $30,000 
one  accident.  Before  they  will  make 
any  effort  to  secure  the  buses  the 
promoters  want  the  tickets  disposed  of 
and  the  money  retained  by  a  trustee  to 
be  appointed  by  the  city  or  the  Board 
of  Commerce  to  be  used  to  make  the 
final  payment  on  the  buses.  According 
to  the  plan,  the  trustee  will  be  given 
a  mortgage  on  all  the  equipment  to 
assure  faithful  performance  of  the 
contract  and  to  assure  that  they  will 
abide  by  the  necessary  rules  and  regula- 
tions to  govern  schedules,  rates  of  fare, 
etc. 

The  Council  as  usual  after  hearing 
the  proposition  called  in  the  commerce 
directors  and  then  gracefully  slipped 
out  from  under.  It  was  a  case  of  good 
politics  with  them  so  the  voters  would 
not  blame  them  for  any  poor  service 
which  might  result  if  Saginaw  has  its 
usual  severe  winter.  The  commissioners 
believed  the  Board  of  Commerce  could 
handle  the  proposition  better  than  the 
city's  duly  elected  representatives. 

At  this  time  it  is  known  what  the 
commerce  body  will  do  in  the  matter, 
but  if  the  members  can  raise  the  $150,- 
000  advance  fares  it  is  expected  that 
the  bus  company  wlil  go  through  with 
its  part  of  the  program.  In  the  event 
that  they  fail  in  giving  the  necessary 
service,  and  decide  to  quit  operations, 
the  trustee  can  foreclose  the  mortgage 
and  then  the  city  will  have  the  buses 
to  operate. 

The  transit  officials  did  not  ask  to 
have  the  jitneys  restrained  from  operat- 
ing on  the  streets  asserting  they  could 
get  the  business  because  of  the  class 
of  their  equipment  and  the  service  they 
proposed  to  give. 


Those  present  at  the  meeting  almost 
to  a  man  asserted  that  not  in  the 
history  of  the  street  railway  had  service 
been  on  such  a  high  plane  as  during 
the  last  year,  but  at  no  time  did  the 
Council  or  the  Board  of  Commerce  ever 
make  any  effort  to  sell  tickets  in 
advance  to  help  the  electric  road. 

Residents  have  now  begun  to  realize 
the  railway  officials  were  sincere  when 
they  said  they  had  to  have  additional 
compensation  with  jitneys  eliminated  or 
they  would  be  forced  to  suspend  for 
good  and  the  friends  of  the  railway  are 
predicting  that  the  electric  cars  will 
not  operate  again  until  the  people  get 
a  real  taste  of  what  it  means  not  to 
have  street  cars. 


Municipal  Railway  Has  Competi- 
tion from  Eighty  Buses 

With  every  indication  that  the  vari- 
ous jitney  interests  in  the  city  of 
Seattle,  Wash.,  intend  to  carry  their 
legal  battle  for  existence  and  reinstate- 
ment to  a  finish,  city  officials  are  pre- 
paring to  do  everything  in  their  power 
to  terminate  as  soon  as  possible  the 
protection  to  the  sixty-five  buses  owned 
and  operated  by  members  of  the  Sound 
Transit  Company  and  those  operated 
by  the  company  itself.  All  others  have 
been  off  the  city  streets  for  nearly  two 
weeks,  with  the  exception  of  six,  which 
are  being  permitted  to  run  as  feeders 
to  the  Seattle  Municipal  Railway  in 
the  district  north  of  Cowan  Park, 
where  there  is  no  railway  service. 

The  Sound  Transit  C  ompany's  buses, 
however,  are  permitted  to  operate 
without  interference  of  the  city  until 
the  State  Supreme  Court  decides 
whether  it  will  grant  a  rehearing  of 
the  McGlothern  suit,  in  which  the  tem- 
porary injunction  against  the  city  was 
obtained,  and  under  protection  of  which 
the  buses  are  operating. 

Officials  are  preparing,  if  possible,  to 
prevent  continuance  of  the  McGlothern 
temporary  injunction  if  the  jitney  in- 
terests should  carry  their  litigation  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Sound  Transit  Company  is  now 
operating  nine  jitneys  in  addition  to 
those  owned  by  the  sixty-five  protected 
intervenors  in  the  McGlothern  suit, 
making  a  total  of  approximately  eighty 
buses  operating  in  the  city. 


Pasadena  Would  Curb  Jitneys 

The  Pasadena  Chamber  of  Commerce 
is  in  favor  of  an  ordinance  forbidding 
the  operation  of  jitneys  on  electric  rail- 
way routes,  the  establishment  of  an 
auto  feeder  by  the  Pacific  Electric 
Railway,  the  granting  of  universal 
transfers  and  a  5-cent  fare  throughout 
the  city.  These  sentiments  were  voiced 
recently  in  a  communication  to  the 
Board  of  City  Directors  embodying  the 
recommendations  of  the  Chamber's 
committee  on  transportation.  This 
committee  has  been  at  work  on  Pasa- 
dena's transportation  problems  for 
some  time  now.  The  matter  will  be 
considered  again  at  some  future  date. 


374 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


$250,000  Terminal  to  Be  Built  in 
Salt  Lake  City 

Decision  has  been  made  to  build  a 
joint  terminal  of  the  Bamberger  Elec- 
tric and  the  Orem  Railroads,  and  the 
work  of  erecting-  the  first  and  most 
important  unit  of  this  interurban 
terminal,  at  the  corner  of  South  Temple 
and  West  Temple  Streets,  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  will  begin  within  a  short 
time.  The  architects,  Young  &  Hansen, 
have  been  directed  to  proceed  at  once 
to  the  formation  of  detailed  plans  and 
specifications  upon  which  bids  can  be 
prepared  for  contractors. 

Tentative  plans  call  for  the  expendi- 
ture of  more  than  $200,000,  including 
the  cost  of  the  excavations  and  cement 
work  already  completed.  The  building 
will  probably  be  of  steel  and  cement 
construction,  with  a  frontage  on  West 
Temple  Street  of  192  ft.  and  a  South 
Temple  Street  frontage  of  nearly  100 
ft.  The  building  will  be  three  stories 
in  height,  and  the  ground  floor  will  be 
set  apart  for  stores  and  station  room, 
while  the  upper  floors  will  be  devoted 
to  offices  for  the  electric  roads  and  for 
other  tenants. 

The  site  of  the  present  temporary 
terminal  will  not  be  needed  for  the 
new  building  and  will  continue  to  serve 
as  a  station  until  the  work  is  completed. 


Service  at  Cost  Rejected 

The  City  Council  of  Vancouver,  B. 
C,  rejected,  on  Aug.  22,  the  proposed 
service-at-cost  franchise  covering  the 
railway,  light,  power  and  gas  services 
of  the  British  Columbia  Electric  Rail- 
way. The  matter  was  shelved  for  six 
months,  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  way 
of  opening  fresh  negotiations. 

The  company  is  now  at  liberty  to 
reinstate  its  application  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Canada  for  a  Dominion  chai'- 
ter,  bringing  it  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Board  of  Railway  Commission- 
ers, action  which  public  bodies  generally 
have  approved. 

The  rejection  of  the  franchise  can  be 
attributed  to  criticism  by  citizens 
generally  and  the  lack  of  any  feeling 
that  a  franchise  was  necessary.  The 
fares  under  the  present  franchise  are 

5  cents,  but  the  company  is  allowed  by 
special  permission  of  the  city  to  charge 

6  cents  until  July  1,  1922. 


Seattle's  Mayor  Favors 
Trolley  Bus 

In  a  letter  to  the  City  Council  re- 
cently, Mayor  Hugh  M.  Caldwell  recom- 
mended the  use  of  the  trackless  trolley 
for  First  Avenue  and  First  Avenue 
South,  replacing  existing  street-car 
tracks,  and  obviating  necessity  of  large 
expenditures  for  new  rails  in  connec- 
tion with  the  contemplated  paving- 
there.   Mayor  Caldwell  said: 

According  to  our  last  street  railway  re- 
port it  is  costing  us  about  28  cents  a  mile 
for  our  street  car  system.  If  these  figures 
(18  cents  a  mile  for  the  trolley  bus)  are 
correct  you  can  see  that  there  would  be 
quite  a  saving  by  installing  the  trackless 
trollev  on  First  Avenue.  The  cost  of  in- 
stalling the  trackless  trolley  on  First  Ave- 
ivie  would  be  much  smaller  than  in  the  case 
of  a  new  line  or  extension,  for  the  reason 


that  the  trolley  poles  and  cross  wires  and 
one  trolley  wire  each  way  are  already  in 
place. 

The  estimated  cost  of  renewing 
trackage  on  First  Avenue  from  Pine 
to  Atlantic  Street  is  $200,000.  That 
amount  has  been  included  in  an  exten- 
sion ordinance  now  pending  in  the  City 
Council  for  betterments  to  the  Munici- 
pal Street  Railway. 


Best  Way  to  Fair — Traction 

The  best  way  to  the  best  state  fair  is 
by  electric  railway.  So  think  five  lucky 
prize  winners  of  a  recent  letter-writ- 
ing contest  on  "Why  is  the  traction  the 
best  way  to  the  best  state  fair,"  started 
by  the  Illinois  Traction  System,  Peoria, 
111.  The  champions  of  the  railway  had 
to  rhapsodize  in  not  more  than  200 
words  and  the  winners  found  it  diffi- 
cult with  that  limitation  to  give  suffi- 


Onr  Patrons  Say  Its 
"THE  BEST  WAY  TO  „ 
THE  BEST  STATE  FAIR 


Low  liAtos -f  requent  Trains 
ILLINOIS  STATE  FA.1R3 
SpritiQfiold-AVG.  19-27 

ILLINOIS  TRACTION 
SYSTEM 

(■n'KlNLEV  L1M-S) 

Prize-Winning  Letter  Advertisement 

cient  praise  to  the  electric  carrier.  The 
contest  closed  on  July  31.  It  attracted 
great  attention.  Hundreds  of  letters 
from  Illinois  flooded  the  contest  depart- 
ment, while  many  were  received  from 
states  far  off.  The  first  prize  was  won 
— yes,  by  a  woman,  Miss  Josephine  K. 
Madden,  Springfield,  111.  A  woman 
always  knows  a  good  thing — a  street 
railway. 

Reduced  Wages  in  Muskogee. — A  10 

per  cent  wage  reduction  was  put  into 
effect  on  the  lines  of  the  Muskogee 
(Okla.)  Electric  Traction  Company.  As 
the  scale  now  stands  it  is  the  same  as 
it  was  a  year  ago.  Since  last  spring 
traffic  on  this  property  has  fallen  from 
350,000  to  240,000  a  month.  Though 
the  fares  were  increased  to  8  cents 
last  year,  Manager  Cutlip  has  an- 
nounced that  the  revenues  have  fallen 
off  about  40  per  cent. 


James  Dalrymple,  manager  of  Glas- 
gow Tramways,  and  R.  J.  Howley  have 
been  called  in  as  experts  to  advise  the 
Croydon  Town  Council  as  to  the  future 
of  their  municipal  tramways. 


Wages  Adjusted  on  Seattle 
Municipal  Railway 

All  wage  differences  between  the 
trainmen  of  the  Seattle  (Wash.)  Mu- 
nicipal Railway  and  the  City  Council 
were  amicably  settled  recently  when 
the  budget  committee  changed  the 
classification  of  motormen  and  conduc- 
tors and  granted  them  the  same 
monthly  compensation  as  that  paid  to 
policemen  and  firemen.  This  action  was 
taken  at  the  request  of  the  trainmen, 
representatives  of  whom  protested 
against  the  proposed  25-cent  cut  in 
wages  of  railway  employees  previously 
agreed  upon  by  the  Council.  The  plan 
adopted  will  work  a  reduction  in  the 
railway  payroll,  but  not  so  large  a  one 
as  the  original  25-cent  flat  decrease 
would  have  effected.  With  the  $10 
deduction  already  made  in  the  salary 
of  firemen  and  policemen,  trainmen 
will  now  receive  the  following  rates  of 
pay:  new  men,  $135  a  month;  after 
one  year's  service,  $145;  after  two 
years,  $150;  and  after  three  years,  $155. 

Figures  compiled  by  D.  W.  Hender- 
son, general  superintendent  of  the  rail- 
way, show  that  a  saving  of  only  $60,- 
254  a  year  will  be  effected  in  payrolls 
of  the  railway  by  placing  the  trainmen 
on  the  same  salary  basis  as  firemen  and 
policemen,  instead  of  the  daily  scale  of 
from  $4.75  to  $5.25  now  in  effect.  Mr. 
Henderson's  figures  show  that  under 
the  present  day  wage  scale,  trainmen 
receive  59.375  cents  an  hour  on  the 
$4.75  basis,  and  65.625  cents  an  hour 
on  the  $5.25  day  scale.  Under  the  new 
schedule  they  will  receive  56.250  cents  an 
hour,  at  $135  per  month,  as  beginners; 
60.417  cents  an  hour  at  $145  after  one 
year;  62.5  cents  an  hour  at  $150  after 
two  years,  and  64.583  cents  an  hour 
on  the  basis  of  $155  a  month  after 
three  years. 

The  actual  payroll  of  the  trainmen 
under  the  day  wage  is  now  $88,905  a 
month ;  under  the  new  monthly  schedule 
it  would  be  $86,432  a  month,  a  decrease 
of  $2,476,  or  2.785  per  cent.  The  total 
payroll  per  year  under  the  present  scale 
is  $2,163,449,  and  on  the  monthly  salary 
basis  it  will  be  $2,103,195,  or  a  decrease 
of  $60,254.  The  new  wage  scale  be- 
comes effective  in  January,  1922. 


Wheeling  Men  Accept  Wage  Cut 

The  employees  of  the  Wheeling  (W. 
Va.)  Traction  Company  have  accepted 
a  wage  reduction  of  10  per  cent,  and 
the  company  has  abandoned  its  one- 
man  cars,  which  were  placed  in  opera- 
tion following  the  refusal  of  the  men 
at  first  to  accept  the  reduction.  The 
reduction  in  part  was  accepted  at  the 
third  vote.  Last  spring,  when  the  wage 
agreement  expired,  the  company  in- 
sisted on  a  10  per  cent  cut.  The  men 
flatly  refused.  The  case  went  to  arbi- 
tration and  the  board's  finding  was  in 
favor  of  the  men.  The  company,  bound 
by  the  decision,  then  asked  the  men  to 
accept  voluntarily  the  10  per  cent  re- 
duction in  wages.  When  the  men  first 
refused  the  company  placed  one-man 
cars  in  operation  on  the  interurban 
lines. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


375 


Bus  Service  Unreliable  After 
Trolley  Quit 

The  city  authorities  of  Bartlesville 
and  Dewey,  Okla.,  have  joined  in  a  pe- 
tition to  the  State  Corporation  Com- 
mission asking  it  to  assume  jurisdiction 
over  automobiles  and  jitneys  operating 
on  the  hard  surfaced  highway  between 
those  two  cities,  a  distance  of  about  4.5 
miles. 

Formerly  an  electric  railway  oper- 
ated in  Bartlesville  and  an  interurban 
line  to  Dewey.  Jitneys  were  permitted 
to  compete  with  the  railway  and  it  was 
compelled  to  ask  for  higher  fares.  In 
July,  1918,  the  commission  raised  its 
fare  to  7  cents  between  points  in  the 
city  and  its  environs,  and  14  cents  be- 
tween Dewey  and  Bartlesville.  The 
jitneys  then  cut  their  fare  to  10  cents. 
Unable  to  meet  this  competition  the 
railway,  about  two  years  ago,  was  com- 
pelled to  suspend  operations.  Since 
that  the  citizens  of  Bartlesville  and 
Dewey  have  had  to  rely  on  automobiles 
and  jitney  service. 

The  mayors  of  the  two  cities,  joining 
in  the  petition,  state  that  between  250 
and  300  people,  who  live  in  Bartlesville, 
work  in  Dewey  and  a  similar  number, 
who  live  in  Dewey,  work  in  Bartlesville. 
These  people  lequire  regular  and  re- 
sponsible transportation  operated  at 
certain  periods.  The  petitioners  state 
that  so  many  automobiles  are  engaged 
in  transporting  passengers  that  none 
can  afford  to  run  on  schedule  and  give 
adequate  service  and  that,  on  this  ac- 
count, citizens  are  greatly  handicapped 
and  placed  at  large  expense  and  great 
inconvenience. 

The  petition  asks  the  commission  to 
assume  regulation  of  jitneys,  to  author- 
ize one  or  more  responsible  individuals 
or  corporations  to  operate  automobile 
lines  upon  regular  hourly  schedules,  to 
require  license  fees  and  place  the  own- 
ers of  the  lines  under  bonds  for  $1,000 
and  to  make  them  responsible  for  loss 
of  life  or  property,  and  to  limit  the 
maximum  fare  to  25  cents. 

The  commission,  as  yet,  has  never  as- 
sumed jurisdiction  over  jitney  traffic  in 
Oklahoma.  A  date  for  the  hearing  of 
the  case  has  not  yet  been  set. 


Interborough  Employees  Buy 
Homes 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit  employ- 
ees are  evidently  solving  the  housing 
problem  in  their  own  way.  According 
to  a  recent  announcement  of  the  United 
Citizens'  Home  Committee,  members 
and  directors  of  which  are  Inter- 
borough employees  and  whose  object  is 
to  obtain  property  for  the  erection  of 
homes  for  its  14,000  members,  forty- 
five  lots  on  Bronxwood  Avenue,  between 
229th  and  231st  Streets  have  been  pur- 
chased. 

According  to  S.  H.  Kowitt,  secretary 
of  the  committee,  the  lots  will  be  dis- 
tributed among  members  of  the  organi- 
zation, and,  following  out  the  co-opera- 
tive arrangement,  each  member  inter- 
ested in  the  enterprise  will  pay  25  per 
cent  of  the  cost  of  the  building  and  will 
own  his  lot  outright.     Each  house  will 


contain  five,  six  or  seven  rooms.  The 
cost  of  construction  is  placed  at  $800 
a  room. 

The  United  Citizens'  Housing  Com- 
mittee was  incorporated  under  the  laws 
of  New  York  State  January  last. 


Property  Owners  Assume  Cost 
of  Paving 

In  an  order  issued  on  Aug.  25  the 
Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission  has 
required  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  to  extend  its 
double  track  on  Center  Street,  Mil- 
waukee, from  Sherman  Boulevard  to 
Fifty-first  Street,  a  distance  of  about 
one-half  mile.  The  commission  points 
out  in  the  order  that  in  reaching  this 
determination  it  is  acting  on  the  in- 
ference from  the  facts  presented  that 
the  company  will  not  be  held  to  the 
usual  track  area  paving  cost  demand, 
since  contracts  for  the  paving  of  the 
street  have  been  let  and  the  abutting 
property  owners  have  already  been  as- 
sessed for  the  entire  cost  of  the  paving 
exclusive  of  street  intersections. 

The  commission  admits  that  the  im- 
mediate prospective  revenue  from  the 
extension  in  question  would  hardly  war- 
rant it  in  ordering  the  extension,  were 
the  company  under  obligation  to  meet 
the  usual  requirements  with  respect  to 
paving.  The  work  on  the  extension  is 
to  be  completed  on  Dec.  1,  1921. 

The  extension  was  petitioned  for  by 
the  city  of  Milwaukee  and  a  hearing 
in  the  case  was  held  on  July  5.  The 
city  then  submitted  general  evidence 
regarding  the  growth  and  development 
of  the  neighborhood  to  be  served  by  the 
proposed  extension  and  the  company 
submitted,  among  other  data,  estimates 
of  the  cost  of  construction  and  operat- 
ing the  extension.  The  proposal  was 
made  that  instead  of  constructing  the 
track  extension  requested,  the  service 
be  supplied  by  means  of  trackless  trol- 
ley. 

Estimates  showing  the  comparative 
cost  of  constructing  and  operating  the 
two  types  of  service  were  submitted 
by  the  company.  While  the  commis- 
sion thought  that  the  trackless  trolley 
has  an  important  field  and  hoped  to  see 
a  fair  trial  of  this  type  of  operation  in 
the  near  future,  it  was  not  convinced 
that  the  test  should  be  made  at  this 
point.    It  said  in  this  conection: 

We  believe  the  trackless  trolley  has  an 
important  field  and  hope  to  see  a  fair  trial 
of  this  type  of  operation  in  the  near  future, 
but  we  are  not  convinced  that  this  test 
should  be  made  at  this  point.  The  track- 
less trolley  has  not  been  demonstrated  in 
this  vicinity  or  under  conditions  similar  to 
those  existent  on  Center  Street.  If  it 
should  not  prove  satisfactory,  the  pavement 
would  have  been  laid  and  the  cost  of  con- 
structing the  tracks  and  cutting  through 
this  pavement  would  be  enormously  higher 
than  the  cost  of  constructing  them  now. 

Furthermore,  it  is  expected  that  the 
tracks  on  this  part  of  Center  Street  will 
be  connected  up  with  the  tracks  east  of 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway 
after  the  tracks  of  the  latter  have  been 
raised  and  the  Center  Street  Subway  com- 
pleted. Center  Street  will  then  become  a 
long  cross-town  line  and  there  may  be  need 
for  its  extension  yet  further  west.  The 
construction  of  the  tracks  can  now  be  made 
in  advance  of  the  pavement  at  a  minimum 
of  expense  to  t^e  railway  and  we  feel  that 
under  all  the  circumstances  the  experiment 
with  the  track'ess  trollev  should  not  be 
made  at  this  point. 


News  Notes 


Aquatic  Sports  Provided  by  Railway. 

— The  Charlottesville  &  Albemarle  Rail- 
way, Charlottesville,  Va.,  has  built  a 
swimming  pool,  300  ft.  by  90  ft.  ad- 
joining Jefferson  Park.  The  pool  cost 
$20,000  and  has  added  greatly  to  the 
traffic  which  is  being  handled  on  the 
Jefferson  Park  line. 

City  Seeks  to  Recover  Damages. — 
The  City  of  Covington  (Ky.)  has 
brought  suit  against  the  South  Coving- 
ton &  Cincinnati  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, to  recover  $18,950  for  the 
resurfacing  of  Madison  Avenue  be- 
tween the  tracks.  This  is  the  first 
step  in  a  legal  battle  to  determine 
whether  the  traction  company  is  liable 
for  the  cost  of  this  improvement.  The 
city  contends  that  the  contract  with  the 
traction  company  requires  that  they 
pay  for  the  maintenance  of  the  street 
between  the  tracks. 

Intensive  Campaign  for  Business 
Successful. — The  Minneapolis,  North- 
field  &  Southern  Railway,  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  made  a  202  per  cent  increase  in 
freight  business  in  July,  1921,  over 
July,  1920.  W.  R.  Stephens,  assistant 
to  the  president  of  the  road  announced. 
Of  this  increase,  66  per  cent  was  in 
new  milk  business.  Passenger  business 
of  the  railway  showed  a  gain  of 
39  per  cent  in  the  same  time.  Mr. 
Stephens  said  the  gain  was  due  to  in- 
creased service,  the  organization  of 
a  freight  department  and  "going  after 
the  business."  Since  July  17,  passen- 
ger volume  has  been  benefited  by  the 
reduction  in  the  price  of  the  fare  to 
2*  cents  a  mile. 

Bus  Rights  Should  Be  Only  Temporary. 

—The  Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit 
Company  has  explained  its  policy  with 
respect  to  the  building  of  an  extension 
to  the  plant  of  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Com- 
pany. It  wants  any  rights  which  may 
be  granted  for  the  operation  of  buses 
between  the  plant  and  its  lines  made 
for  only  a  temporary  period.  Some 
months  ago  the  railway  applied  to  the 
city  authorities  for  a  franchise  on  the 
boulevard  from  Ramona  avenue  to  Old 
York  road.  While  it  recognized  that 
transportation  service  was  needed  it 
realized  that  for  many  years  such 
service  must  be  rendered  at  a  loss 
to  the  operating  company.  The 
ordinance  introduced  in  Councils  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  company,  was 
so  amended  by  Councils  that  when 
passed  and  signed  by  the  Mayor 
its  terms  were  impossible  of  acceptance. 
While  the  matter  is  in  this  state  the 
company  feels  that  such  certificates  as 
are  granted  by  the  Commission  should 
be  temporary  in  their  nature  and  sub- 
ject to  cancellation  when  and  as  ade- 
quate transportation  facilities  are  pro- 
vided by  railway  in  co-operation  with 
the  city. 


376 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


Appointment  of  Receiver 
Asked  for  I.  R.  T. 

Creditor  With  Claim  of  $57,074  Seeks 
to  Keep  Lines  Intact — Equipment 
Debt  $3,000,000 

The  American  Brake  Shoe  &  Foundry 
Company  has  filed  an  equity  suit  in 
the  United  States  District  Court  at 
New  York  asking  for  the  appointment 
of  a  receiver  for  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company.  Action  was 
taken  shortly  after  the  stock  market 
closed  on  Aug.  27. 

Claiming  $57,074  long  overdue,  the 
foundry  company  declares  the  Inter- 
borough has  more  than  $3,000,000  in 
floating  indebtedness  besides  other  huge 
outstanding  obligations.  The  $3,000,000 
debt,  including  materials,  equipment, 
taxes  and  supplies,  ithe  complainant 
states,  is  now  overdue  and  the  Inter- 
borough unable  to  pay. 

The  complainant  declares  that  certain 
creditors  are  pressing  for  payment,  that 
suits  threaten,  that  executions  may  be 
levied  on  the  equipment  and  property 
of  the  defendant,  and  that  there  is 
grave  danger  the  Interborough  may 
thereby  be  deprived  of  the  use  of  its 
equipment  and  rolling  stock.  It  also 
is  alleged  that  for  the  benefit  of  the 
public  and  the  creditors  it  is  desirable 
that  the  operation  of  the  subway  and 
elevated  lines  be  kept  intact. 

Frank  Hedley,  president  of  the  Inter- 
borough, said  the  company  had  not  yet 
agreed  to  the  appointment  of  a  receiver 
and  hoped  to  avert  it  by  obtaining  a 
one-year  extension  on  obligations  which 
mature  on  Sept.  1  and  by  the  "further 
indulgence  of  its  general  creditors." 
For  two  weeks,  according  to  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Interborough,  it  has 
been  trying  to  obtain  renewals  of  $38.- 
144.000  in  7  per  cent  notes,  which  fall 
due  Sept.  1. 

These  notes  were  issued  in  Septem- 
ber, 1918.  by  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company 
and  the  War  Finance  Corporation.  Re- 
cently the  Transit  Commission  on  rep- 
resentations that  there  was  no  other 
way  to  avoid  a  receivership  approved 
an  extension  of  the  notes  for  one  year 
at  8  per  cent.  On  Aug.  6  the  Inter- 
borough sent  letters  to  holders  of 
record  urging  that  the  notes  be  re- 
newed on  these  terms.  It  was  said  at 
the  Interborough  offices  that  a  majority 
of  the  holders  had  given  their  assent, 
but  not  all. 

President  Hedley's  statement  fol- 
lows: 

Saturday  the  American  Brake  Shoe  & 
Foundry  Company  filed  a  creditor's  bill 
in  the  United  States  Court  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York  on  its  own  behalf  and 
on  behalf  of  all  creditors  of  the  Inter- 
borough Rapid  Transit  Company,  who  may 
.ioin  in  the  suit,  asking  that  a  receiver 
be  appointed  in  order  that  all  creditors 
may  be  treated  alike  and  that  there  may 
be  no  multiplicity  of  actions  brouerht  by 
creditors  and  noteholders  in  different 
courts. 


Tlie  Interborough  company  has  appeared 
In  this  suit,  but  it  has  not  yet  filed  its 
answer  or  consented  to  the  appointment 
of  a  receiver.  It  has  twenty  days  in  which 
to  answer,  and  during  that  time  it  is  hoped 
that  all  of  its  notes  maturing  on  Sept.  1 
next  will  have  been  extended  for  a  year, 
and  with  further  indulgence  of  its  general 
creditors  a  receivership  may  yet  be  averted. 

If,  however,  it  shall  become  necessary 
ultimately  to  have  a  receiver,  the  filing  of 
the  bill  this  forenoon  confers  jurisdiction 
upon  the  court  which  is  now  administering 
the  affairs  of  several  other  traction  com- 
panies. It  is  believed  this  course  will  be 
of  advantage  to  all  interests  involved. 

The  filing  of  this  bill  does  not  change 
the  situation  as  to  the  extension  of  the 
three-year  notes. 

The  application  was  heard  before 
Judge  Mayer  on  Sept.  1.  Counsel  for 
the  railway  company  admitted  that  the 
company  was  unable  to  pay  its  notes 
and  requested  an  adjournment.  The 
court  allowed  this  request  and  set  Sept. 
8  for  continuing  the  hearing  in  the 
case. 

Exclusive  of  those  operated  by  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  all 
of  the  subway  lines  in  the  city  of  New 
York  are  operated  by  the  Interborough. 
and  the  lease  of  the  Manhattan  Railway 
covers  the  Second,  Third,  Sixth  and 
Ninth  Avenue  elevated  lines.  The  ap- 
plication states  in  this  connection  that 
altogether  the  subway  system  com- 
prises 47  miles  of  railroad  and  146 
miles  of  single  track  and  that  the  ele- 
vated lines  cover  37  miles  of  railroad 
and  130  miles  of  single  track. 


Accidents  Increase  in  1920 

Accident  figures  in  1920  on  the  rail- 
ways in  New  York  City  show  a  de- 
crease of  37  per  cent  over  1919  in  the 
number  of  persons  struck  by  cars  and 
a  reduction  of  11  per  cent  in  the  num- 
ber of  persons  picked  up  by  car 
fenders.  Still,  in  the  total  number  of 
mishaps  including  delays  the  1920  fig- 
ure of  35.250  is  16  per  cent  greater 
than  in  1919.    The  comparison  follows: 


1919  1920 

Persons  struck                        1.431  892 

Picked  up  on  fenders               171  152 

Boarding  and  alighting.  .  .    1,101  724 

Car  collisions                            64  4  531 

Vehicle   collisions                   3,367  2,816 

Derailments                             3.897  3,623 

Equipment  troubles   10,861  11,215 

Other  accidents                       2,270  2.101 

Other  delays                           7,036  13,196 


Totals    30,278  35.250 


$35,859  Profit  in  Seattle  in  July 

The  report  of  the  Seattle  (Wash.) 
Municipal  Railway  for  July  shows  a 
profit  of  $35,859,  but  without  deduc- 
tion of  $70,250  for  bond  redemption. 
Mayor  Hugh  M.  Caldwell  said: 

Whi'e  a  profit  is  shown  in  the  report,  a 
notation  explains  that  nothing  has  been  set 
aside  for  bond  redemption.  This  amounts 
to  $70,250  a  month.  At  the  present  rate, 
we  will  have  to  so  on  a  warrant  basis 
again,  probably  on  February  1  and  set  aside 
all  receipts  to  meet  the  $833,000  redemption 
charge  due  on  March  1  next,  the  first  pay- 
ment on  retirement  of  the  $15,000,000  pur- 
chasing bonds.  The  monthly  charge  of  $56.- 
719  for  depreciation,  however,  has  been 
made  in  these  figures,  although  that  sum 
has  not  actually  been  set  aside. 


Readjustment  of  Capitalization 
Approved 

The  stockholders  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  on 
Aug.  26  voted  in  favor  of  increasing 
the  authorized  capital  stock  of  the 
company  from  $30,000,000  to  $60,000,- 
000,  to  consist  of  600,000  shares  of  6 
per  cent  cumulative  preferred  stock  of 
a  par  value  of  $50  each,  and  600,000 
shares  of  common  stock  of  a  par  value 
of  $50  each,  and  also  voted  in  favor 
of  the  issue  of  one  share  of  such  pre- 
ferred stock  and  one  share  of  common 
stock  in  exchange  for  each  share  of 
the  present  outstanding  stock  of  $100 
par  value. 

Following  the  special  meeting  of  the 
stockholders,  the  directors  declared 
quarterly  dividend  No.  1  of  11  per  cent 
(75  cents  per  share)  on  the  new  pre- 
ferred stock,  and  dividend  No.  1  of  li 
per  cent  (75  cents  per  share)  on  the 
new  common  stock,  both  dividends  pay- 
able on  Oct.  1  to  holders  of  record  of 
Sept.  15.  Dividends  of  li  per  cent  each 
on  the  new  preferred  and  new  common 
stock  are  equivalent  to  an  annual  rate 
of  6  per  cent  as  compared  with  5  per 
cent  heretofore  paid  on  the  present 
stock  of  like  par  value. 

The  plans  for  the  changes  in  the 
capitalization  of  the  company  were  re- 
viewed at  length  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  July  16,  page  110. 


Eight  per  Cent  Stock  Offering 
Successful 

The  customers'-stock-ownership  cam- 
paign conducted  by  the  Public  Service 
Corporation  of  New  Jersey  recently 
terminated  with  a  record  of  20,700 
shares  of  preferred  stock  sold.  The 
story  of  the  8  per  cent  stock  offering 
was  told  in  detail  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal,  issue  of  June  4. 

Officials  consider  the  sale  a  very 
successful  one.  They  report  that  most 
of  the  stock  was  bought  by  the  work- 
ing classes  and  that  initial  payments 
were  not  withdrawals  from  savings 
accounts.  It  was  also  learned  many 
shares  were  sold  outside  of  the  state. 


I.  C.  C.  Authorizes  $2,200,000 
Issue  by  Electric  Line 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion has  authorized  the  Waterloo, 
Cedar  Falls  &  Northern  Railway, 
Waterloo,  la.,  to  issue  $2,200,000  of 
general  mortgage  7  per  cent  gold 
bonds  to  be  pledged  with  the  United 
States  as  collateral  security  for  $1,885,- 
000  in  loans  from  the  United  States: 
to  issue  and  sell  at  par  for  cash  $700,000 
of  common  stock;  and  to  issue  lease 
warrants  or  notes  aggregating  $132.- 
159  in  connection  with  the  fulfillment 
of  equipment.  Of  t;h:s  $700,000  of 
stock  proposed  to  be  issued  $207,000  is 
to  be  issued  and  sold  at  par  to  meet 
current  liabilities.  The  proceeds  of  the 
entire  issue  are  to  be  used  as  follows: 

1.  For  funding  maturities.  $547,126. 

2.  For  paying  open  accounts,  $18,674. 

3.  For  cash  payments  on  new  suburban 
passenger  cars.  $37,000. 

4.  For  holding  in  the  treasury  for  capi- 
tal expenditures,  maturing  interest,  and 
other  proper  purposes,  $97  200. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


377 


Line  Formerly  Leased  Wants 
Property  Distributed 

The  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad,  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  has  brought  suit  in  the 
New  York  Supreme  Court  against  the 
Sixth  Avenue  Railroad,  Job  E.  Hedges 
as  receiver  of  the  New  York  Railways, 
and  others.  The  Eighth  Avenue  Rail- 
road contends  that  a  lease  negotiated 
more  than  twenty-one  years  ago  with 
the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  as 
operator  of  the  Sixth  Avenue  Railroad 
ceased  upon  the  appointment  of  Job 
Hedges  as  receiver  of  the  New  York 
Railways,  successor  lo  the  Metropoli- 
tan Street  Railway. 

It  is  alleged  that  the  Eighth  Avenue 
Railroad  leased  to  the  Metropolitan 
Railroad  on  Nov.  23,  1895,  all  of  its 
railroad  and  other  property  for  ninety- 
nine  years,  effective  Jan.  1,  1896.  In 
accordance  with  the  lease  the  plaintiff 
alleges  that  it  is  a  tenant  in  common 
with  the  defendant  in  connection  with 
the  ownership  of  such  property  known 
as  the  "Church  Farm,"  bounded  by 
Vesey,  Chambers,  Greenwich  and  Dey 
Streets  and  West  Broadway.  It  main- 
tains that  this  is  the  only  property  it 
owns  jointly  with  the  defendant. 

The  plaintiff  alleges  that  it  is  entitled 
to  possession  equivalent  to  one-half  and 
that  the  lease  consummated  for  the  use 
of  the  property  involved  ceased  on  Aug. 
1,  1919,  the  day  Federal  Judge  Mayer 
designated  Job  Hedges  as  receiver  of 
the  New  York  Railways,  then  leasing 
the  Sixth  Avenue  Railroad. 

A  judgment  for  an  immediate  parti- 
tion and  distribution  of  the  property  is 
petitioned  by  the  claimant. 


Valuation  Figures  Under  Fire  in 
Merger 

Opposition  to  the  valuation  basis  pro- 
posed by  the  new  Indiana  Electric 
Corporation  marked  the  opening  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  hearing  on 
Aug.  26  on  the  corporation's  petition 
to  acquire  seven  Indiana  utility  com- 
panies and  issue  securities.  The  cor- 
poration's figures  were  based  on  the 
seven-year  price  average  of  1914-1920, 
but  counsel  for  cities  participating  in 
the  hearing  objected  that  the  average 
was  too  high  because  of  war  prices. 

The  commission  ordered  the  corpora- 
tion to  make  a  valuation  based  on  the 
ten-year  price  average,  without  com- 
mitting itself  to  the  average  unit  price 
theory.  Counsel  for  the  corporation 
contended  that  the  seven-year  basis 
was  fair  because  of  fundamental  eco- 
nomic changes  resulting  from  the  war, 
which  would  obtain  for  an  indefinite 
period.  The  corporation  also  pro- 
ceeded with  a  view  to  determining 
value  on  the  reproduction  cost  new 
basis,  but  during  the  hearing  Commis- 
sioner Barnard,  who  presided,  indi- 
cated that  the  commission  was  not 
bound  to  accept  this  theory.  After 
several  expert  engineers  were  heard, 
the  hearing  went  over  for  a  week. 
Most  of  the  evidence  had  to  do  with 
the  Merchants  Heat  &  Light  Comnany 
of  Indianapolis  and  the  Indiana  Rail- 
ways &  Light  Company  of  Kokomo. 


Companies  participating  in  the  pro- 
posed merger  are:  The  Merchants 
Heat  &  Light  Company,  Indianapolis; 
the  Indiana  Railways  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Kokomo;  the  Wabash  Valley 
Electric  Company,  Clinton ;  the  Putnam 
Electric  Company,  Clinton  and  Clover- 
dale;  the  Valparaiso  Lighting  Com- 
pany; the  Elkhart  Gas  &  Fuel  Company 
and  the  Cayuga  Electric  Company. 
Plans  for  the  merger  include  the 
establishment  of  a  large  power  plant 
on  the  Wabash  River  in  Vigo  County. 
The  Joseph  H.  Brewer  interests,  which 
acquired  the  Merchants  Heat  &  Light 
Company,  Indianapolis,  in  1914,  are 
backing  the  merger. 


$60,000,000  Terminal  and  Electri- 
fication Plan  Disapproved 

The  application  of  the  New  York 
Central,  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chi- 
cago &  St.  Louis,  and  the  New  York, 
Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railroad  Com- 
panies for  authority  to  erect  a  passen- 
ger terminal  in  Cleveland  has  been  de- 
nied by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission.  That  body  said: 

We  are  not  persuaded  by  the  evidence 
now  before  us  that  the  terminal  problem 
has  received  adequate  consideration  in  the 
public  square  plan  either  from  the  local  or 
the  railroad  point  of  view,  that  this  plan  is 
compatible  with  the  public  interest,  in  its 
present  form,  or  that  we  ought,  by  granting 
the  certificates  of  public  convenience  and 
necessity  which  are  sought,  to  lend  our 
sanction  to  the  enormous  expenditure  of 
capital  which  the  plan  involves. 

The  commission  added  that  it  was 
possible  a  further  presentation  of  evi- 
dence might  lead  to  a  different  conclu- 
sion. 

The  proposed  station  was  to  cost  $60,- 
000,000.  The  tracks  were  to  pass  30 
ft.  below  the  street  level  at  the  Public 
Square.  All  tracks  within  the  terminal 
limits  were  to  be  operated  by  electric- 
ity and  the  electrification  of  the  steam 
lines  was  to  extend  beyond  these  limits 
over  the  trackage  to  be  provided  along 
the  existing  right-of-way.  It  was  in- 
tended to  have  a  system  of  station 
tracks  for  the  interurbans. 


Financial 

News  Notes 


Fresno  Interurban   Reports   Loss. — 

The  Fresno  (Cal.)  Interurban  Railway 
after  deducting  interest  charges,  rentals 
and  taxes  reports  a  net  corporate  loss 
of  $7,721  for  the  year  1920.  The  ac- 
cumulated deficit  at  the  end  of  the  year 
amounted  to  $59,523. 

Discount  on  Bonds  Large. — The  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission  of  Indiana  has 
authorized  the  Interstate  Public  Serv- 
ice Company  to  sell  $184,000  of  5  per 
cent  first  and  refunding  gold  mort- 
gage bonds  at  75  per  cent  of  par.  The 
bonds  are  of  a  1913  issue. 

Interurban  Confers  With  Commission 
on  Suspensions.  —  Attorneys  for  the 
Ohio  Electric  Railway,  Springfield, 
Ohio,  have  discussed  with  members  of 


the  Ohio  Public  Utilities  Commission 
the  necessary  steps  to  be  taken  to  dis- 
continue service  on  some  branch  lines, 
but  no  applications  have  been  filed  yet 
to  vacate  the  Defiance  branch. 

Shore  Line  Tracks  Will  Be  Removed. 

— The  tracks  between  Old  Saybrook  and 
East  Lyme,  property  of  the  Shore  Line 
Electric  Railway,  New  London,  Conn., 
will  be  torn  up.  This  removes  all  hope 
that  traffic  might  eventually  be  re- 
newed. West  from  Saybrook  Junction, 
as  far  as  Guilford,  the  tracks  will  re- 
main undisturbed  for  the  present. 

$1,500,000  of  Notes  Placed.— The  Ha- 
vana Electric  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Havana,  Cuba,  announces 
that  it  has  sold  to  its  bankers,  Speyer 
&  Company,  $1,500,000  of  five  year  7 
per  cent  gold  notes  dated  Sept.  1,  1921. 
The  issue  is  secured  by  deposit  of 
$3,000,000  of  the  company's  general 
mortgage  5  per  cent  bonds. 

Order  Entered  for  Discharge  of  Re- 
ceiver.—The  final  order  in  the  case  of 
the  New  York  Trust  Company  against 
the  West  Virginia  Traction  &  Electric 
Company,  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  praying 
for  the  release  of  Joseph  D.  Whitte- 
more  as  receiver  for  the  utility  has 
been  filed  with  John  H.  Conrad,  deputy 
clerk  of  the  United  States  Court  for 
the  Northern  district  of  West  Virginia. 
This  order  was  received  from  Judge 
W.  E.  Baker  at  Elkins,  and  called  for 
the  discharge  of  Mr.  Whittemore  as 
receiver  for  the  company  and  also  for 
the  cancellation  of  his  bond.  The  case 
is  now  closed.  It  was  heard  first  in 
this  city  before  Judge  Baker  on  May 
5,  1921. 

$1,401,000  of  Bonds  Offered.— Tucker 
Anthony,  New  York;  Robert  Garrett 
Sons,  Baltimore,  and  Brooke,  Stokes  & 
Company,  Philadelphia,  are  heading  a 
syndicate  which  is  offering  an  issue  of 
$1,401,000  Utah  Light  &  Traction  Com- 
pany 8  per  cent  first  mortgage  col- 
lateral bonds  due  1934  at  991,  to  yield 
slightly  more  than  8  per  cent.  The 
bonds  will  be  guaranteed  both  as  to 
principal  and  interest  by  the  Utah 
Power  &  Light  Company,  parent  con- 
cern of  the  Utah  Light  &  Traction 
Company.  They  are  secured  by  the 
deposit  of  an  equal  principal  amount 
of  Utah  Light  &  Railway  5  per  cent 
consolidatd  mortgage  bonds  due  1934. 

Would  Have  Water  Works  Line  Carry 
Passengers. — Citizens  on  the  line  of  the 
mile-and-a-quarter  municipally  owned 
trolley  line  from  the  Twin  City  lines 
to  the  water  filtration  plant,  which  is  in 
Anoka  County  adjoining  Minneapolis, 
are  agitating  for  passenger  service. 
The  line  is  utilized  now  for  freight 
service  to  the  plant.  A  former  agita- 
tion was  quieted  when  the  city's  legal 
department  ruled  against  it  because  of 
the  liability  involved.  The  residents 
now  want  some  arrangement  made  with 
the  Minneapolis  Street  Railway  to  op- 
erate the  line.  The  company  believes 
the  revenue  would  not  pay  the  cost  of 
operation.  This  line  operates  one  block 
over  the  tracks  of  the  local  company  in 
Minneapolis. 


378 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


Wheeling  Decision  Stands 

I.  C.  C.  Sees  No  Reason  Why  It  Should 
Change  Its  Finding  in  This 
Important  Case 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion, in  a  decision  just  made  public  in 
the  case  of  William  Wylie  Beall  vs. 
the  Wheeling  (W.  Va.)  traction  Com- 
pany, has  affirmed  the  findings  made 
in  its  original  report.  Irrespective  of 
the  terms  of  incorporation  of  the  rail- 
way, the  commission  is  convinced  that 
the  company  is  now  rendering  an  inter- 
state interurban  business,  the  charges 
for  which  are  within  its  jurisdiction. 
The  case  is  considered  a  fundamental 
one,  so  much  so  that  the  National  As- 
sociation of  Railway  &  Utility  Com- 
missioners was  granted  leave  to  inter- 
vene. Commissioners  Campbell  and 
Eastman  dissented. 

In  its  original  report,  referred  to  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
April  23,  page  789,  the  commission 
found,  among  other  things,  that  the  in- 
terstate passenger  fares  of  the  Wheel- 
ing Traction  Company  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  passengers  between  Steuben- 
ville,  Ohio,  and  Wellsburg,  W.  Va., 
and  between  Steubenville  and  Weirton, 
W.  Va.,  were  just  and  reasonable  fares, 
and  that  the  intrastate  fares  of  the 
company  for  the  transportation  of  pas- 
sengers in  intrastate  commerce  between 
Steubenville  and  Brilliant,  Ohio,  were 
unduly  preferential  to  intrastate  pas- 
sengers, unduly  prejudicial  to  inter- 
state passengers,  and  unjustly  dis- 
criminatory against  interstate  com- 
merce. In  consequence  it  prescribed 
intrastate  fares  which  would  remove 
such  preference  and  discrimination. 

The  contention  of  the  petitioners  as 
stated  upon  reargument  was  that  the 
traction  company  renders  a  strictly 
street-railway  service,  over  the  charges 
for  which  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  had  no  jurisdiction.  They 
pointed  out  that  defendant  had  no  sta- 
tion buildings  along  its  line,  did  not 
do  a  freight  business  in  the  manner  in 
which  steam  roads  do,  and  had  no 
through  routes  and  joint  freight  rates. 
In  support  of  their  contention  the  pe- 
titioners cited  the  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  in  the  Omaha  case. 

The  commission  says  it  has  not  at- 
tempted or  asserted  the  right  to  regu- 
late the  fares  of  an  electric  railway 
for  travel  within  a  municipality.  As 
stated  previously,  the  commission  found 
no  reason  to  modify  the  finding  stated 
in  its  original  report  to  the  effect  that 

The  interstate  passenger  fares  of  the 
Wheeling  Traction  Company  .  .  be- 
tween Steubenville  and  Wellsburg,  and  be- 
tween Steubenville  and  Weirton  are  just 
and  reasonable  fares  for  interstate  trans- 
portation over  defendant's  lines  between 
those  points  ;  and  that  the  maintenance  of 
intrastate  fares  .  .  .  between  Steuben- 
ville and  Brilliant  lower  than  the  just  and 
reasonable  interstate  fares  has  resulted  and 
will  result   in  undue  prejudice  to  persons 


traveling  in  interstate  commerce  over  de- 
fendant's lines  in  the  state  of  Ohio  and 
between  points  in  the  state  of  Ohio  and  the 
above-mentioned  points  in  the  state  of  West 
Virginia  ;  in  undue  preference  of  and  ad- 
vantage to  persons  traveling  intrastate  over 
defendant's  lines  between  the  points  here 
involved  in  Ohio  ;  and  in  unjust  discrimina- 
tion against  interstate  commerce. 

We  further  find  that,  whether  the  afore- 
said passenger  fares  pertain  to  transpor- 
tation in  interstate  commerce  or  to  trans- 
portation in  intrastate  commerce,  the  trans- 
portation services  are  performed  by  the 
defendant  under  substantially  similar  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions. 

Mr.  Eastman  said  that  he  approached 
the  case  with  the  conviction  that  the 
activities  of  the  commission  should  be 
confined,  so  far  as  the  law  permitted, 
to  matters  of  national  consequence. 
According  to  him  the  electric  railways 
in  the  present  case  did  not  possess  the 
"characteristics  of  an  interurban  line" 
in  any  greater  degree.  He  said  that 
no  one  else  except  the  Wheeling  Trac- 
tion Company  mainfested  serious  con- 
cern for  the  protection  of  interstate 
commerce.  According  to  Mr.  East- 
man the  concern  of  the  railway  was 
clearly  a  matter  of  revenue.  He  said 
in  conclusion: 

I  am  unable  to  find  in  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Act  any  intent  of  Congress  that 
we  should  have  power  to  raise  the  intra- 
state fares  of  electric  railways  which  hap- 
pen to  be  engaged  to  some  extent  in  inter- 
state commerce,  as  most  of  them  are, 
merely  because  of  a  belief  that  such  fares 
are  lower  than  they  ought  reasonably  to 
be  and  in  the  absence  of  evidence  that  the 
free  course  of  interstate  commerce  is  in 
any  substantial  way  obstructed  or  hindered. 
The  complaint  should  be  dismissed. 


Seven-Cent  Fare  to  Make  Munic- 
ipal Line  Self-Sustaining 

Announcement  was  made  on  Aug.  20 
by  the  Transportation  Commission  at 
Toronto,  Ont,  regarding  the  new  rate 
of  fares  that  will  be  in  force  on  the 
railway  when  the  city  takes  over  the 
Toronto  Railway  and  merges  it  with 
the  Toronto  Civic  Railway.  Instead 
of  a  straight  5-cent  fare  the  commis- 
sion has  fixed  the  rate  at  7  cents  cash 
for  adults,  or  four  tickets  for  25  cents 
and  sixteen  tickets  for  $1,  or  fifty 
tickets  for  $3.  Under  the  latter  rate 
the  cost  of  each  car  ride  will  be  6  cents. 
The  night  rates  for  all  passengers  will 
be  15  cents  cash.  As  for  children's 
fares,  infants  in  arms  will  be  carried 
free,  as  now,  but  for  all  others  irre- 
spective of  age,  not  exceeding  51  in.  in 
height,  the  rate  is  4  cents  cash  or  seven 
tickets  for  25  cents. 

In  making  /the  announcement  the 
commission  pointed  out  the  increases 
did  not  provide  for  the  rehabilitation 
of  the  system,  which  would  be  a  grad- 
ual process.  The  commissioners  said 
that,  in  considering  the  increases,  they 
had  been  guided  by  the  terms  and  con- 
ditions of  their  appointment,  which  pro- 
vided that  they  should  fix  such  tolls 
and  fares  as  would  be  sufficient  to  make 
all  transportation  facilities  self-sus- 
taining. 


Discontinuance  Threatened 

Lansing    May    Lose    Railway  Service 
Unless  Return  Is  Allowed  to  the 
Ten-Cent  Fare 

At  a  conference  on  Aug.  24  be- 
tween city  officials  of  Lansing,  Mich., 
and  representatives  of  the  Michigan 
United  Railway,  John  F.  Collins,  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the 
company,  declared  that  unless  a  fare 
increase  is  granted  service  in  Lansing 
will  have  to  be  suspended.  Mr.  Col- 
lins favors  a  cash  fare  of  10  cents,  with 
four  tickets  for  25  cents.  The  present 
rate  is  6  cents  cash,  with  nine  tickets 
for  50  cents. 

The  four  principal  cities  in  which 
the  company  operates  are  Jackson,  Bat- 
tle Creek,  Kalamazoo  and  Lansing.  In 
June,  1920,  the  company  increased  its 
fares  in  all  of  these  cities  to  10  cents 
cash,  with  four  tickets  for  30  cents,  and 
5  cents  for  children.  The  increased 
fares  were  put  into  effect  in  Kalamazoo, 
Lansing  and  Jackson  by  order  of  their 
City  Commissions,  and  in  Battle  Creek 
by  order  of  the  City  Commission  upon 
recommendation  of  the  State  Utilities 
Commission.  Battle  Creek  authorities 
asked  the  State  Commission  for  advice 
as  to  what  fares  Battle  Creek  people 
should  pay  and  the  State  Commission 
recommended  the  10-cent  fare  with 
four  tickets  for  30  cents  and  5  cents 
for  children. 

In  Kalamazoo,  after  the  City  Com- 
mission had  decided  on  the  higher  fare, 
it  submitted  the  case  to  the  State  Com- 
mission for  similar  advice,  and  the 
State  Commission  ordered  the  higher 
fare  for  Kalamazoo. 

These  fares  were  later  reduced  to  6 
cents  cash,  nine  tickets  for  50  cents, 
5  cents  for  children.  This  reduction 
was  made  originally  by  the  City  Com- 
mission of  Lansing.  The  railway 
showed  the  Commission  that  it  was 
already  losing  money  and  that  this 
reduction  of  fares  would  increase  its 
losses.  The  Commission  took  the  view 
that  the  reduced  fares  would  increase 
the  volume  of  traffic  and  result  in 
larger  earnings  than  had  been  possible 
under  the  10-cent  rate. 

Since  compelled  to  adopt  these  lower 
fares  in  Lansing,  the  railway  felt  that 
it  would  not  be  just  to  its  patrons  in 
Kalamazoo,  Jackson  and  Battle  Creek 
to  ask  them  to  pay  a  higher  fare  than 
the  people  of  another  city  were  pay- 
ing, so  it  decided  to  put  in  the  same 
reduced  fare  in  all  four  cities  and  in 
good  faith  await  results. 

In  the  meantime  the  Jackson  City 
Commission  engaged  five  men  to  in- 
vestigate the  affairs  of  the  company, 
audit  its  books  and  determine  the 
value  of  the  property  used  in  the  serv- 
ice of  this  and  other  cities.  Kalamazoo 
referred  the  matter  to  the  State  Com- 
mission. Lansing,  however,  insisted 
upon  going  it  alone. 

For  the  year  ended  May  31  the  com- 
pany lost  in  these  cities  the  following: 

Lansing    $55,587 

Battle  Creek    92,131 

Kalamazoo    97,744 

Jackson    157.643 

$403,105 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


379 


Indianapolis  Takes  Warning  from  Des  Moines 

President  of  Council  Says  Repetition  of  Folly  of  Des  Moines 
Would  Retard  City  Ten  Years 

Indianapolis  is  another  city  confronted  with  the  jitney  problem.  It  appears 
more  than  likely,  however,  that  Indianapolis  will  not  repeat  the  folly  of  Des 
Moines  and  Saginaw.  It  is  true  that  negotiations  for  a  settlement  of  these 
problems  in  Indianapolis  have  been  in  a  deadlock  for  several  weeks,  but  at 
conferences  during  the  week  ended  Aug.  27  it  appeared  a  contract  may  be  made 
between  the  city  and  the  company  fixing  the  regulations  over  the  company  to 
take  the  place  of  those  provided  in  the  franchise  surrendered  by  the  railway  in 
June  under  the  terms  of  a  law  enacted  by  the  last  Legislature. 


AT  THE  conference  Russell  Willson, 
president  of  the  Council  and 
L  chairman  of  a  Council  committee 
which  investigated  jitney  bus  and  rail- 
way problems  in  Des  Moines,  Sioux 
City  and  Kansas  City,  read  a  list  of 
recommendations  concerning  the  local 
problem  which  he  made  to  the  Council 
at  the  last  meeting.  The  recommenda- 
tions urged  the  Council  to  take  steps 
toward  regulating  the  jitneys,  but  not 
until  after  it  has  been  assured  that  the 
railway  and  the  city  are  to  come  to  an 
agreement  as  to  the  city  regulations 
over  the  company. 

Mr.  Willson  thought  that  jitney  regu- 
lation should  include  provisions  to  pro- 
hibit jitneys  from  operation  in  streets 
with  railway  lines,  to  compel  jitney  op- 
erators to  put  up  indemnifying  bonds 
and  pay  higher  license,  and  to  compel 
them  to  follow  a  specified  schedule  and 
route.  Proposals  were  made,  it  was  un- 
derstood, which  can  not  be  agreed  to  ex- 
cept by  the  full  board  of  directors  of 
the  Indianapolis  Street  Railway  and 
the  City  Council.  It  seemed  likely  that 
several  conferences  will  take  place  at 
which  the  various  proposals  will  be 
thrashed  out  before  a  full  announce- 
ment is  made  as  to  the  points  under 
consideration. 

A  definite  understanding  has  been 
reached  to  attempt  to  fix  the  regula- 
tions of  the  city  over  the  company  by 
a  contract  between  the  city  and  the 
company,  Corporation  Counsel  Ashby 
said.  At  the  last  conference,  held  sev- 
eral weeks  ago,  the  company  represen- 
tatives, through  their  attorney,  appar- 
ently turned  down  the  city's  proposal  to 
fix  regulations  by  a  contract,  in  favor 
of  the  alternative — that  they  be  fixed 
by  ordinance.  The  city  favored  the 
contract,  Mr.  Ashby  brought  out,  be- 
cause it  desired  the  rights  and  author- 
ity of  the  city  over  the  company  to  be 
fixed  permanently  and  not  be  left  to 
continual  bickering  between  the  com- 
pany and  the  city. 

Mr.  Willson's  statement  and  recom- 
mendations to  the  Council  follow  in 
part: 

From  the  committee's  investigation,  as 
detailed  in  the  report  submitted  to  the 
Council,  it  is  my  profound  personal  opinion  : 

1.  We  are  not  concerned  primar  ily  with 
either  the  welfare  of  the  railway  or  the 
jitney  bus.  If  regulatory  legislation  for 
the  jitney  bus  is  necessary,  it  should  not 
be  viewed  in  the  light  of  relief  for,  or  aid 
to,  the  railway,  but  purely  and  solely  as  a 
matter  of  benefit  to  the  public — to  the  city 
— and  to  its  individual  citizens. 

2.  The  situation  existing  between  the 
railway  and  the  city  is  very  similar  to  the 
condition  in  Des  Moines.  The  Indianapolis 
Street  Railway  has  surrenderd  its  fran- 
chise and   is   operating   under  an  indeter- 


minate permit  issued  by  the  State.  It  has 
been  the  city's  endeavor  for  some  weeks  to 
reach  an  understanding  with  the  railway 
as  to  the  future  authority  of  the  city  over 
the  company,  and  to  induce  the  company 
to  continue  to  perform  some  of  the  obliga- 
tions and  conditions  of  its  previous  charter. 

The  company  recently  stated  to  the  city 
that  it  would  enter  into  no  contract  with 
the  city.  The  city  has  insisted  that  the 
obligations  to  be  performed  by  the  company 
under  its  old  charter  should  be  renewed  by 
contract,  as  the  company's  contention,  at 
the  time  the  law  was  passed  permitting 
it  to  surrender  its  charter,  was  that  it  was 
concerned  only  with  the  valuations,  rate 
of  fare,  etc.,  and  that  it  would  continue 
to  meet  its  other  charter  obligations  even 
if  operating  under  an  indeterminate  permit. 
Therefore,  the  city  especially  feels  that  the 
company  should  now,  by  contract,  make 
good  these  assertions.  The  city  also  feels 
that  the  rights  and  authority  of  the  city 
over  the  railway  should  be  fixed  and  de- 
termined once  and  for  all  by  contract,  so 
that  there  will  not  be  continual  bickering 
and  travail  from  day  to  day.  Even  though 
the  city's  rights  are  defined  by  law,  what 
the  city  wants  is  a  practical,  working 
agreement  between  itself  and  the  company 
without  the  probability  of  facing  an  appeal 
to  the  state  public  service  body  on  any  and 
every  order  that  the  city  may  make. 

Therefore,  it  seems  to  me  that  if  we  are 
to  consider  the  matter  of  regulation  of 
jitney  traffic,  especially  if  It  is  to'  be  con- 
sidered at  the  railway's  request,  and  as  a 
means  of  enlarging  the  company's  receipts, 
the  company  shall  at  the  same  time  con- 
sider the  city's  demands  :  and  if  jitney 
traffic  is  regulated  by  ordinance  in  such  a 
way  as  to  offer  relief  to  the  railway,  this 
shall  be  effected  at  such  time  as  the  com- 
pany agrees,  in  terms,  to  contract  as  to  its 
duties  and  obligations  to  the  city. 

3.  It  is  impossible  for  a  railway  in  any 
city  to  operate  in  successful  competition 
against  unrestricted  and  unregulated  jitnev 
bus  traffic.  The  buses  take  the  short  hauls, 
and  leave  the  long  and  unprofitable  hauls 
to  the  company.  They  operate  upon  rail- 
way streets,  often  upon  pavement  paid  for 
exclusively  by  the  railway,  and  in  snowy 
weather  they  operate  exclusively  on  the 
car  tracks  after  they  have  been  swept  by 
the  railway.  In  fact,  without  regulatory- 
laws  their  operation,  it  seems  to  me,  con- 
stitutes entirely  unfair  competition,  and  as- 
suming that  a  railway  is  adequately  serv- 
ing the  community  the  unrestricted  opera- 
tion of  jitney  buses  constitutes  a  real 
menace  to  that  community's  welfare. 

4.  This  does  not  mean  that  a  railway 
should  be  relieved  from  meeting  fair  and 
legitimate  jitney  competition.  If  a  car  com- 
pany's service  is  adequate  and  it  is  meet- 
ing just  obligations  toward  the  city,  it  is 
my  opinion  that  while  such  adequate  serv- 
ice continues,  and  while  the  company 
continues  to  meet  its  obligations  toward 
the  city,  the  city  should  see  to  it  that 
there  is  no  jitney  competition  on  railway 
lines.  In  my  estimation  that  is  the  one 
regulation  that  essentially-  makes  for  fair 
competition.  The  other  measures  for  reg- 
ulation, such  as  a  bond,  schedules,  licenses, 
etc.,  are  for  the  benefit,  convenience  and 
safety  of  the  public  generally.  The  provi- 
sion restricting  jitneys  from  railway  lines 
is  primarily  one  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
pany. If  parallel  with  car  lines,  it  is  fair- 
competition  and  the  passenger  may  choose 
the  conveyance  he  prefers. 

5.  It  is  entirely  bad  for-  a  city  to  allow 
unregulated,  unrestricted  jitnev  bus  traffic  : 
not  only  from  a  standpoint  of  unfair  com- 
petition with  its  street  car  company,  but 
especially  from  the  standpoint  of  the  public, 
the  city  and  the  safety  of  the  individual. 

6.  If  eventually  motor  tr  ansportation  is 
entirely  to  supplant  trolley  transportation 
in  the  city,  the  jitney  or  motor  bus  has 
not  as  yet  reached  the  stage  of  perfection 
necessary  therefor. 


7.  Proper  ly  to  serve  the  public  it  is  neces- 
sary, in  my  estimation,  that  the  jitnev  bu« 
be  required  to  file  a  bond  covering  liability 
tor  personal  injuries,  to  follow  a  definite 
schedule  and  a  definite  route,  to  be  driven 
by  one  who  meets  certain  requirements  as 
to  age  and  abrlrty  to  drive,  to  pay  an  ade- 
quate license  to  the  city,  and  not  to  be  over- 
loaded. In  addrtion  to  the  above,  at  such 
time  as  the  city  is  guaranteed  adequate 
railway  service  and  the  company,  by  con- 
tract, agrees  to  continue  to  perform  those 
cftv  \£ °rmf'  charter  obligations  which  the 
city  sees  fit  to  retain,  and  the  city  can  be 
reasonably  assured  that  there  will  be  no 
increase  in  rate  of  fare,  I  believe  that 
Jitney  competition,  by  ordinance,  should  be 
SnnarafinLs.''em0Ved  fl°m  Streets  c°"tain! 

Mr.  Willson  says  that  both  Kansas 
City  and  Sioux  City  having  seen  Des 
Moines  as  a  horrible  example,  have 
avoided  making  the  same  mistakes; 
Kansas  City  by  regulating  its  jitney 
traffic  and  Sioux  City  by  annihilating 
its  jitneys.  He  says  the  committee 
found  that  each  city  had  its  own  pecu- 
liar problems,  just  as  has  Indianapolis. 
The  chief  peculiarity  at  Indianapolis 
was  that  there  is  now  no  contract  or 
working  agreement,  or  basis  of  any 
kind  existing  between  the  company  and 
the  city.  This,  of  course,  is  not  true 
in  any  of  the  other  cities. 

_  In  Mr.  Wilson's  judgment,  the  situa- 
tion m  Des  Moines  is  deplorable,  and 
is  one  of  the  worst  conditions  which 
could  befall  any  American  city.  In 
his  estimation  the  visitation  upon  In- 
dianapolis of  such  a  condition  as  now 
exists  m  Des  Moines  would  be  the  big- 
gest single  disaster  that  could  befall 
the  city— it  would  retard  the  city's  in- 
dustrial and  physical  growth  at  least 
ten  years,  and  the  attending  publicity 
would  cost  the  city  and  its  citizens 
millions  of  dollars,  hundreds  of  indus- 
tries, and  thousands  of  homes  and  in- 
habitants. 


City  Wants  Lower  Fares 

A  reduction  in  fares  to  5  cents  is  the 
answer  of  the  city  of  Little  Rock  to  the 
Little  Rock  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany's suit  to  restrain  the  city  from 
prohibiting  the  collection  of  an  ad- 
vanced fare.  The  suit  was  filed  recent- 
ly m  Second  Division  Pulaski  Circuit 
Court. 

In  its  answer  the  city  alludes  to  the 
terms  of  the  franchise  under  which  the 
company  is  now  operating  in  which  the 
company  bound  itself  to  charge  a  fare 
not  to  exceed  5  cents  for  a  period  of 
fifty  years  after  September,  1901  The 
city  further  stated  that  on  petition  of 
the  railway  in  May,  1920,  the  City 
Council  passed  an  amendment  to  the 
franchise  permitting  a  6-cent  fare  for  a 
period  of  one  year,  provided  at  the  ex- 
piration of  that  time  the  charge  would 
automatically  return  to  5  cents  It 
holds  that  a  5-cent  fare  is  just,  reason- 
able and  will  yield  to  the  plaintiff  a 
just  return. 

C.  E.  Smith  has  been  retained  by  the 
city  to  appraise  the  property.  J  H 
Perkins,  engineer  of  the  American 
Cities  Company,  which  controls  the 
railway  at  Little  Rock,  will  represent 
the  traction  company.  Reference  to 
the  proposed  valuation  was  made  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
Aug'.  6. 


380 


Electric   Railway  journal 


Vol.  58,  No..  10 


Jitney  Law  Upheld 

United  States  Court  at  New  Haven  Has 
Refused  Injunction  to  Prevent  Utility 
Commission  Applying  Recent  Law 

The  recent  act  conferring  on  the  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Commission  of  Connecticut 
authority  to  grant  or  to  refuse  licenses 
for  the  operation  of  jitneys  is  not  un- 
constitutional as  alleged  by  the  jitney 
men.  The  decision  to  this  effect  was 
handed  down  on  Aug.  30  by  the  three 
judges  of  the  United  States  District 
Court  for  Connecticut  who  heard  the 
appeal  of  the  jitney  men  at  New  Haven 
on  Aug.  16.  The  court  points  out  that 
the  jitney  men  have  adequate  redress 
in  the  state  courts  for  any  injuries 
done  them. 

The  court  referred  to  the  decision  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  the  State  holding 
the  jitney  act  constitutional.  The  court 
held  that  the  several  objections  urged 
as  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  act 
were  not  well-founded.  These  claims 
were  as  follows: 

1.  That  the  act  confers  arbitrary  powers 
on  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  and  per- 
mits th;  commission  to.  discriminate  against 
the  plaintiffs  and  therefore  deny  to  them 
the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

2.  That  the  statute  constitutes  an  unlaw- 
ful delegation  of  legislative  powers  to  the 
administrative  body. 

3.  That  it  is  unconstitutional  and  violates 
the  due  process  of  law  g-uaranteed  by  the 
fourteenth  amendment  in  that  it  confers  an 
unregulated  discretion  and  arbitrary  power 
upon  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  to 
grant  or  refuse  or  revoke  a  license. 

4.  That  the  statute  in  not  requiring  the 
commission  to  grant  a  hearing  in  the  issu- 
ance, refusal  or  revocation  of  a  license, 
denies  due  process  of  law. 

The  court  said: 

The  streets  are  the  property  of  the  pub- 
lic. (Davis  v.  Mass.  167  U.  S.  43.)  They 
are  under  the  control  of  the  public  and 
therefore  subject  to  the  police  powers  of 
the  State,  excepting  where  the  power  is 
de'egated  by  statute  upon  a  municipality 
or  other  agency.  (Hendrick  v.  Maryland, 
235  U.  S.  611  ;  Nolen  v.  Riechman.  225  Fed. 
812).  The  right  to  exercise  the  police  pow- 
er is  a  continuing  one  and  may  be  exer- 
cised so  as  to  meet  the  ever  changing  con- 
ditions and  necessities  of  the  public. 

Those  who  make  investment  for  this  pur- 
pose as  the  plaintiffs,  do  so  and  hold  their 
property  and  the  right  to  use  it  subject  to 
such  other  and  different  burdens  as  the 
Legislature  may  reasonably  impose,  for  the 
safety,  convenience  and  welfare  of  the  pub- 
lic. The  State  Legislature  may  regulate 
the  use,  by  automobile  and  motor  cars  of 
the  highways  of  the  State.  (Hendrick  v. 
Maryland,  235  U  S.  611).  It  may  also  au- 
thorize municipalities  to  regulate  the  use 
of  streets  by  vehicles  and  may  exclude  ve- 
hicular traffic.  (Barnes  v.  Essex  Co.  Park 
Comm.,  86  N.  J.  Law,  141.) 

The  suit  was  instituted  by  the  jitney 
men  operating  in  the  city  of  New  Haven 
for  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  pros- 
ecuting attorneys  of  New  Haven  City 
County  Courts,  the  chief  of  police,  the 
city  of  New  Haven  and  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  state  police  from  enforcing 
the  law  enacted  at  the  recent  session  of 
the  Legislature  which  made  it  a  penal 
offense  for  the  plaintiffs  to  carry  on 
their  business  as  jitney  bus  carriers. 
The  Connecticut  Company  operating 
electric  railways  in  the  territory  affect- 
ed by  transportation  through  jitney 
service  appeared  by  intervention  and 
was  a  party  to  the  suit. 

When  the  Public  Utilities'  Commis- 
sion handed  down  its  decisions  on  the 
applications  for  jitney  licenses  two 
months  ago  it  suggested  that  in  certain 
places  where  licenses  were  refused  to 


individual  operators  the  Connecticut 
Company  put  buses  into  service.  Act- 
ing on  this  suggestion  the  Connecticut 
Company  now  has  in  operation  two 
buses  between  East  Haven  and  Bran- 
ford,  four  between  New  Haven  and 
Devon,  two  in  the  vicinity  of  Stamford, 
two  in  Brooklyn  and  one  in  High  Street, 
Hartford.  These  bus  lines  are  under- 
stood not  to  be  paying,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  the  Devon  line. 


Wheeling-Pleasant  Valley  Buses 
Have  Quit 

The  Motor  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
which  has  operated  between  Wheeling 
and  Pleasant  Valley,  W.  Va.,  for  sev- 
eral months,  withdrew  all  buses  on 
Aug.  20  and  announced  its  decision  to 
give  up  the  fight  with  the  Wheeling 
Public  Service  Corporation.  Officials 
of  the  company  say  this  decision  was 
caused  through  the  passage  of  a  city 
ordinance  a  few  weeks  ago.  It  was 
generally  understood  that  the  company 
was  preparing  to  fight  the  injunction 
case  instituted  by  the  railway.  Class- 
ing the  legislation  as  one  of  the  most 
one-sided  pieces  of  lawmaking  ever 
written  by  any  body  of  men,  Henry 
Kiel,  manager  of  the  bus  company, 
declared  that  Council  had  forced  him 
to  suspend  his  line.  He  charged  that 
the  ordinance  as  it  was  passed  is  a 
railway  measure  and  has  left  the  bus 
interests  without  a  leg  to  stand  on. 


Date  Fixed  for  Rehearing 
Los  Angeles  Rate  Cases 

The  California  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission has  set  Sept.  26  and  27  for 
the  rehearing  of  the  rate  increases 
sought  by  the  Los  Angeles  Railway 
and  Pacific  Electric  Railway;  Sept.  26 
being  the  date  for  the  Los  Angeles 
Railway  and  Sept.  27  for  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway.  The  hearing  will  be 
conducted  in  Los  Angeles. 

The  former  hearing  for  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway  was  held  during  July, 
1920,  at  which  time  the  commission 
granted  emergency  increases  in  freight 
and  passenger  rates  along  the  lines  as 
those  granted  to  the  steam  roads  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
while  the  Railroad  Commission  reserved 
the  rights  upon  invitation  of  the  Pacific 
Electric  to  investigate  its  affairs  and 
make  a  service  survey  with  view  of 
effecting  certain  economies  in  the  oper- 
ation of  its  lines.  Since  July,  1920, 
the  commission's  engineers  have  been 
actively  engaged  in  making  this  survey, 
the  conclusion  of  which  will  enter  into 
the  rehearing  on  Sept.  27;  also,  at  this 
hearing  the  problem  of  adjusting  the 
Hollywood  rates  and  service  will  be  ex- 
tensively dwelt  upon. 

The  Los  Angeles  Railway  case  will 
again  go  into  the  subject  of  the  appli- 
cation of  the  company  for  an  increase 
in  rates  on  its  lines  in  the  city  of  Los 
Angeles,  the  railway  having  not  seen 
fit  to  accept  the  increases  granted  re- 
cently by  the  commission,  as  outlined 
previously  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal. 


Commission  States  Reasons  for 
Fare  Authorization 

In  its  recent  finding  authorizing  the 
Minneapolis  (Minn.)  Street  Railway  to 
put  into  effect  a.  7-cent  cash  fare  with 
four  tickets  for  25  cents  the  State  Rail- 
road &  Warehouse  Commission  has 
summarized  its  reasons  for  permitting 
the  advanced  rate.  This  finding  was 
referred  to  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Aug.  27,  page  341. 

The  commission  states  that  the  emer- 
gency which  the  Council  found  existing 
in  1920  has  not  been  fully  relieved  by 
the  present  fare;  the  increasing  oper- 
ating expenses  and  a.  decreased  net 
revenue  have  brought  about  a  condition 
whereby  the  company  has  not  been 
able  to  earn  a  fair  return  on  the  in- 
vested capital.  Pending  the  valuation 
proceedings,  which  will  not  be  termi- 
nated for  several  months,  there  is  no 
available  data  whereby  it  could  fix  a 
valuation  upon  which  to  base  a  perma- 
nent rate  which  would  change  the  au- 
thorized rate  as  fixed  by  the  city  of 
Minneapolis  by  its  ordinance  of  Aug. 
6,  1920,  and  which  rate  under  chapter 
278,  laws  of  Minnesota,  for  1921,  "shall 
be  and  remain  the  authorized  and  law- 
ful charge." 

The  1920  ordinance  was  cited  in  this 
ruling  and  the  subsequent  emergency 
on  account  of  which  the  Council  au- 
thorized a  7-cent  cash  fare  with  four 
tickets  for  25  cents,  provided  that  until 
Dec.  15,  1920,  the  fares  shall  not  exceed 
6  cents.  The  company  did  retain  the 
6-cent  fare  after  Dec.  15,  and  on  June 
24  applied  to  the  commission  for  the 
same  rate  of  fare  which  had  been  au- 
thorized by  the  City  Council  of  Minne- 
apolis in  its  ordinance  of  Aug.  6,  1920. 

By  this  decision  of  the  commission 
the  motion  of  City  Attorney  Neil  M. 
Cronin  for  a  rejection  of  the  railway's 
plea  was  overruled. 

Petticoat  Lane  Loses  Cars  in 
Rerouting 

Rerouting  of  cars  of  the  Kansas  City 
Railways  under  the  Beeler  plan,  is 
proceeding.  The  earlier  of  the  new 
routes  established  were  chiefly  connec- 
tions of  lines  formerly  terminating  in 
the  business  district,  the  changes  of 
routing  being  slight. 

One  of  the  most  radical  changes  in 
the  program  was  put  into  effect  on 
July  10.  Two  lines  which  formerly 
entered  the  business  district  were  con- 
nected and  routed  on  Twelfth  Street, 
on  the  south  edge  of  the  business  sec- 
tion. The  results  of  this  routing  were 
considered  a  test  of  the  ultimate  suc- 
cess of  the  whole  program. 

Whereas  complaints  might  have  been 
expected  from  business  men  and 
patrons,  there  was  no  criticism  from 
either  source.  The  rerouting  in  this 
case  eliminated  from  the  course  of 
the  two  lines  passage  through  long 
stretches  of  the  congested  downtown 
district,  where  streets  are  narrow. 
The  route  on  Twelfth  Street  is  one 
block  from  Petticoat  Lane,  or  Eleventh 
Street,  the  heart  of  the  women's  shop- 
ping district. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


381 


Motor  Buses  in  West  Danbury 

The  Danbury  &  Bethel  Street  Rail- 
way, Danbury,  Conn.,  plans  a  motor 
bus  service  to  West  Danbury.  The 
schedule  of  the  bus  will  be  similar  to 
that  of  the  trolley.  Transfers  will  be 
issued  to  all  other  lines  of  the  city 
and  transfers  from  trolley  lines  will 
be  accepted  on  the  bus.  The  method  of 
payment  will  be  pay  as  you  leave. 

Judge  J.  Moss  Ives,  receiver  for  the 
railway,  has  recently  purchased  two 
other  buses.  One  will  be  used  in 
Bethel  to  carry  passengers  from  the 
railroad  station  to  the  end  of  the  line 
and  the  other  will  be  kept  for  emer- 
gency purposes. 


Bus  Petition  Rejected 

The  Council  of  Cedar  Rapids,  la., 
has  rejected  a  proposition  of  S.  J.  Mar- 
kin,  Minneapolis,  to  put  buses  in  oper- 
ation on  the  streets  of  Cedar  Rapids 
in  competition  with  the  local  electric 
railway. 

The  Council  assumed  the  attitude 
that  the  railway  paid  heavy  taxes  and 
that  the  city  could  not  afford  to  antago- 
nize it  by  cutting  down  its  revenues. 
Another  objection  to  the  buses  was  that 
the  crowded  condition  of  First  Avenue, 
the  principal  business  street,  would  not 
permit  of  bus  traffic.  Mr.  Markin  also 
sought  to  run  a  15-cent  bus  line  be- 
tween Cedar  Rapids  and  Marion,  a 
neighboring  city.  He  had  obtained  per- 
mission from  the  Marion  City  Council, 
but  failed  at  Cedar  Rapids. 


Six-Cent  Fare  in  Duluth — 
City  Fights  Ruling 

The  State  Railroad  &  Warehouse 
Commission  has  authorized  the  Duluth 
(Minn.)  Street  Railway  to  increase  its 
fares  from  5  cents  to  6  cents.  Follow- 
ing this  announcement,  City  Attorney 
John  B.  Richards  applied  to  the  dis- 
trict court  asking  for  a  stay  and  in- 
junction against  operation  of  the  order. 
The  injunction  is  requested  until  the 
court  can  pass  upon  the  merits  of  the 
case.  The  railway  had  asked  for  a  7- 
cent  fare.  The  city  valuation  expert 
is  now  making  a  valuation  survey  of 
the  property.  His  figures  will  be  of- 
fered in  evidence  by  the  city  in  its 
suit. 


Must  Not  Solicit  Passengers 

Soliciting  from  taxicabs  for  passen- 
gers is  no  longer  permitted  in  Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  The  City  Council  has  passed  an 
ordinance  which  makes  it  unlawful  for 
drivers  of  taxicabs  to  solicit  fares  while 
driving.  This  practice  has  caused  un- 
necessary congestion  and  many  traffic 
tie-ups  in  the  downtown  district  and 
has  hampered  the  fire  department.  The 
ordinance  provides  fines  from  $5  to 
$100  for  violations.  The  chief  reasons 
for  drawing  up  the  ordinance  were 
complaints  by  the  fire  department  offi- 
cials that  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
make  a  "run"  to  the  center  of  the 
city  because  of  the  traffic  congestion 
due  mostly  to  taxicabs  soliciting  pas- 
sengers. 


1  ransportation  ) 
News  Notes  [ 

Grants  and  Denies  Jitney  Applica- 
tions.— The  City  Council  of  Seattle  has 
granted  three  applications  for  permits 
to  operate  jitney  buses  on  "feeder" 
lines  north  of  Cowen  Park,  but  has 
denied  an  application  for  a  jitney  route 
to  operate  in  competition  with  the 
Rainier  Valley  car  line. 

Decreased  Traffic  Due  to  Jitneys. — 
For  the  twelve  months  ended  July  31, 
1921,  the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power 
Company,  Richmond,  Va.,  carried  2,324,- 
728  fewer  passengers  than  for  the  pre- 
vious year.  The  railway  officials  esti- 
mate that  jitneys  are  taking  about 
$600  a  day  from  their  railway. 

Ten  Cents  Authorized. — The  Grays 
Harbor  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, operating  between  Montesano, 
Aberdeen  and  Hoquiam,  Wash.,  has 
been  permitted  to  charge  a  rate  of  10 
cents  a  ride  on  city  and  interurban  cars, 
or  three  rides  for  25  cents,  according 
to  a  ruling  of  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Works  on  July  29.  The  city  officials 
of  Montesano  had  protested  against 
the  recent  change  in  fares,  which  pro- 
vided for  a  6-cent  fare  in  the  city  and 
a  10-cent  fare  on  the  interurban,  stat- 
ing that  no  effort  had  been  made  to 
prevent  jitney  competition. 

Requests  Lower  Rates. — Following- 
approval  of  the  City  Council  of  Tacoma, 
Wash.,  City  Attorney  J.  Charles  Den- 
nis has  been  instructed  to  prepare  a 
formal  petition  to  the  Department  of 
Public  Works  at  Olympia  requesting 
the  Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Company 
to  sell  thirteen  tickets  for  $1  instead 
of  the  present  plan  of  selling  twenty- 
five  tickets  for  $2.  The  move  is  the 
result  of  a  petition  filed  with  the  City 
Council  by  Lorenzo  Dow,  who  points 
out  that  the  wages  of  railway  men  have 
been  reduced,  prices  on  materials  cut, 
and  he  felt  that  it  is  unjust  to  require 
the  people  now  to  pay  $2  in  advance 
for  twenty-five  tickets.  A  letter  has 
been  sent  to  the  railway,  enclosing  Mr. 
Dow's  communication,  and  stating  that 
the  City  Council  is  in  sympathy  with 
such  a  suggestion,  and  asking  the  com- 
pany to  consider  it  favorably.  City 
Councilmen  believe  that  the  company 
would  increase  its  business  by  a  change 
of  policy  in  its  ticket  sale. 

Buses  Comply  With  Law. — Under  the 
bus  regulation  ordinance  at  Toledo, 
Ohio,  thirty-six  motor  cars  have  regis- 
tered and  deposited  their  indemnity 
bonds  with  the  city  authorities.  Already 
there  have  been  charges  of  racing 
and  combination  on  the  part  of  buses 
on  the  Dorr  Street  line.  Most  of  them 
operate  in  this  part  of  the  city.  Inde- 
pendent buses  came  to  Toledo  to  oper- 
ate and  were  attacked  by  the  organized 
busmen  there.  Offenders  are  threat- 
ened with  revoked  licenses  unless  sched- 


ules are  properly  maintained.  Resi- 
dents of  Point  Place,  a  lakeside  sub- 
urb, have  voted  to  remain  loyal  to  the 
street  cars  which  operate  in  their  por- 
tion of  the  city.  A  special  line  was 
constructed  some  years  ago  to  serve  the 
community.  It  is  a  branch  of  the 
Toledo,  Ottawa  Beach  &  Northern  Rail- 
road and  is  operated  by  the  Toledo  Rail- 
ways &  Light  Company.  Recently  buses 
have  made  such  inroads  that  the  rail- 
way service  was  threatened.  The  prop- 
erty owners,  however,  in  a  meeting- 
voted  290  to  10  in  favor  of  patronizing 
the  street  cars. 


McGraw    Electric    Railway  Directory 
for  August,  1921 

The  McGraw  Electric  Railway  Di- 
rectory is  the  cumulative  result  of 
more  than  twenty-five  years'  work.  In 
the  current  issue  more  than  1,025  com- 
panies furnished  new  reports,  and 
more  than  5,000  changes  were  made 
from  the  preceding  edition.  The  ap- 
pendix contains  a  list  of  electric  rail- 
ways that  are  operating  motor  buses, 
and  in  the  data  published  in  the  body 
of  the  book  statistics  are  given  of  the 
number  of  motor  buses  operated. 


The  Engineer 

By  John  Hays  Hammond.  Published  by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  1921 
Cloth  4x7  in.,  194  pages. 

To  open  the  eyes  of  the  youth  in  a 
quandary  as  to  what  career  to  follow 
and  to  aid  him  in  analyzing  his  fitness 
for  engineering  is  the  purpose  of  the 
famous  mining  engineer  in  this  valu- 
able outline.  Setting  forth  the  quali- 
ties essential  to  success  in  engineering 
as  imagination,  integrity  of  purpose, 
accuracy  of  thought,  capacity  for  judg- 
ment, ingenuity,  curiosity,  creative  in- 
stinct and  analytical  ability,  a  standard 
is  set  by  which  one  may  measure  his 
own  fitness.  Taking  up  successively 
the  various  main  branches  of  engineer- 
ing endeavor,  the  achievements  to  be 
expected  in  each  field  are  vividly  por- 
trayed. 

Mr.  Hammond  points  with  empha- 
sis to  the  value  to  the  engineer  of 
a  fundamental  working  knowledge  of 
the  English  language.  Finally,  he  pic- 
tures the  engineer  of  the  future  as  a 
man  of  ever-increasing  importance  and 
value  to  the  community,  both  in  his 
own  profession  and  as  an  executive  in 
government  affairs,  because  his  own 
training  and  preparation  have  imparted 
to  him  those  very  qualities  of  precision, 
honesty,  aggressiveness  and  analytical 
ability,  which  are  the  prerequisites  of 
true  statesmanship.  An  engineering- 
training,  he  concludes,  so  enlarges  the 
vision  as  to  enable  one  so  trained  to 
see  national  problems  in  their  broadest 
aspects  and  thus  be  able  to  solve  them 
accurately  and  permanently. 


382 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


A  Rapid  Rise  to  Manager 

But  28  Years  Old,  L.  P.  Sweatt,  Jr., 
Is  Picked  for  Division  Executive 
of  Alabama  Power 

When  the  post  of  manager  of  the 
Eastern  Division  of  the  Alabama  Power 
Company  was  vacated  by  the  promo- 
tion of  J.  M.  Barry,  there  was  no  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  the  officials  of  that 
company  as  to  the  proper  man  for  the 
place.  L.  P.  Sweatt,  Jr.,  had  shown 
such  a  marked  aptitude  for,  and  knowl- 
edge of,  the  complex  problems  to  be 
handled  by  a  division  manager,  that  he 
was  immediately  promoted  to  the  posi- 
tion. Since  the  appointment,  he  has 
fully  justified  this  belief  and  has  made 
good  in  every  way.  Mr.  Barry  has  been 
promoted  to  assistant  chief  engineer 
of  the  company,  in  charge  of  all  con- 
struction work,  with  headquarters  at 
Brimingham. 

Mr.  Sweatt  was  born  in  Montgomery, 
Ala.,  in  1893,  but  moved  to  Birming- 
ham with  his  parents  in  1902,  where  he 
attended  grammar  and  high  school, 
graduating  from  the  Central  High 
School  in  1910.  During  the  summer 
vacation  period  and  at  odd  times  dur- 
ing school  days,  he  worked  in  the  shop 
of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad 
in  Birmingham  under  the  personal  su- 
pervision of  the  master  mechanic. 
After  graduating  from  high  school,  he 
worked  for  nearly  two  years  on  the 
construction  of  the  new  shop  and  power 
plant  for  the  railroad  at  Boyles,  Ala. 
Upon  completion  of  the  power  plant  at 
this  point,  he  was  transferred  to  the 
electric  department  and  served  as  as- 
sistant engineer  operating  the  power 
plant  until  1912,  when,  realizing  a  long 
desired  ambition,  he  entered  the  Ala- 
bama Polytechnic  Institute  at  Auburn, 
to  supplement  with  theory  the  prac- 
tical knowledge  gained  with  the  Louis- 
ville &  Nashville. 

This  practical  power  house  experi- 
ence caused  him  to  apply  for  a  posi- 
tion in  the  power  house  at  school,  and 
he  was  immediately  appointed  assist- 
ant power  plant  engineer.  His  work 
was  very  satisfactory  and  one  year 
later  he  was  made  chief  engineer  for 
the  entire  power  plant  supplying  light 
and  power  to  the  college  and  the  city 
of  Auburn.  Working  and  studying  at 
the  same  time  proved  such  a  satisfac- 
tory arrangement  that  Mr.  Sweatt  com- 
pleted the  full  electrical  course  in 
three  years  and  graduated  in  1915.  He 
immediately  entered  the  services  of  the 
Alabama  Power  Company  as  a  helper 
on  substation  maintenance,  but  was 
soon  made  a  foreman,  and  in  this  ca- 
pacity built  the  high-tension  substa- 
tion at  Sylacauga  and  changed  the 
Anniston  substation  from  an  indoor  to 
an  outdoor  type. 

In  1917  Mr.  Sweatt  was  transferred 
to  the  commercial  department,  leaving 
the  field  for  the  office,  where  he  as- 


similated the  thorough  commercial 
training  that  has  since  proved  to  be 
of  great  value  to  him  as  a  division 
executive.  In  1919  he  returned  to  the 
operating  department  as  superintendent 
of  the  Western  Division,  being  later 
invested  with  the  title  of  division  man- 
ager, and  his  work  proved  so  satis- 
factory that,  as  before  stated,  in  the 
early  part  of  this  year  he  was  sent  to 
Anniston  as  manager  of  the  Eastern 
Division,  and  is  at  present  proving 
himself  as  adaptable  there  as  he  had 
shown  himself  to  be  in  other  positions. 

Mr.  Barry,  who  was  Mr.  Sweatt's 
predecessor,  was  manager  of  the  East- 
ern Division  for  two  years,  coming  to 


L.  P.  Sweatt,  Jr. 


the  Alabama  Power  Company  from  the 
Pacific  Gas  &  Electric  Company,  Cal., 
where  he  had  held  several  important 
positions  in  the  operating,  maintenance, 
and  construction  department.  He  is  a 
native  of  San  Francisco  and  is  pos- 
sessed of  a  very  unusual  engineering 
and  executive  ability.  At  present  he  is 
principally  occupied  in  the  construction 
of  the  "Mitchell  Dam"  120,000-hp. 
hydro-electric  plant  at  Duncan's  Rif- 
fle on  the  Coosa  River. 

The  Eastern  Division  of  the  Alabama 
Power  Company  controls  the  electric 
railway  system  in  Gadsden  and  Annis- 
ton, comprising  a  total  trackage  of  22.2 
miles  and  operating  a  total  of  28  pas- 
senger cars.  This  division  of  the  com- 
pany controls  the  sale  of  electrical 
energy  directly  to  consumers  in  local 
operations  of  about  15  town  and  cities. 
Indirectly,  through  other  public  serv- 
ice companies,  five  others  are  furnished 
with  energy.  In  the  area  served  there 
is  an  approximate  population  of  80,000. 


F.  D.  Mahoney,  commercial  manager 
of  the  Alabama  Power  Company,  Bir- 
mingham, Ala.,  was  recently  elected 
president  of  the  Alabama  Light  & 
Traction  Association,  an  old  organiza- 
tion composed  of  officials  of  certain 
public  utilities  in  that  state.    Mr.  Ma- 


honey, who  was  formerly  second  vice- 
president,  succeeds  H.  H.  Horner. 

E.  Don  McKibben,  for  fifteen  years 
an  employee  of  the  railway  department 
of  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Electric  com- 
pany in  the  New  Castle  district,  has 
been  appointed  superintendent  of  Cas- 
cade Park.  He  assumed  his  new  duties 
on  July  7  and  at  once  began  the  work 
of  aiding  in  making  the  park  season 
in  New  Castle  a  most  promising  one. 
Mr.  McKibben  is  widely  known  all  over 
the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  system  and  he 
carries  into  his  new  work  the  best 
wishes  of  his  friends. 

Frank  Gest,  for  ten  years  in  charge 
of  the  garage  of  the  Pacific  Northwest 
Traction  Company,  Seattle,  Wash.,  and 
for  four  years  previously  foreman  of 
the  machine  shop  at  Georgetown,  re- 
signed his  position  in  July  to  accept  one 
as  foreman  of  the  machine  shop  of  the 
Seattle  school  board  and  also  to  have 
charge  of  the  automobiles  of  the  dis- 
trict. Mr.  Gest's  many  friends  in  the 
company  organization  will  regret  his 
departure,  while  wishing  him  success 
in  his  new  place.  He  has  been  suc- 
ceeded in  the  company  garage  by  S.  S. 
Woodin,  who  for  some  time  has  been  an 
assistant  mechanic. 

John  C.  Collins,  who  has  been  travel- 
ing supervisor  of  safety  for  the  Los 
Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway,  has  come  into 
charge  of  the  safety  bureau  with  the 
promotion  of  Hugo  K.  Visscher,  for- 
mer supervisor  of  safety,  to  the  posi- 
tion of  assistant  superintendent  of  op- 
eration. In  his  work  on  the  cars 
Mr.  Collins  has  become  well  known 
to  trainmen  and  they  realize  his 
extensive  effort  to  help  the  cause 
of  safety  first.  He  has  shown  ways 
of  avoiding  many  accidents  that  have 
been  overlooked  even  by  men  years  in 
service,  and  as  supervisor  of  safety  he 
aims  to  be  of  still  greater  help.  He 
has  been  with  the  Los  Angeles  Rail- 
way for  about  twenty  years  and  worked 
up  from  the  train  service  to  his  pres- 
ent important  position.  For  several 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  instruc- 
tion department. 


Obituary 


Epes  Randolph 

Epes  Randolph,  president  of  the 
Arizona  Eastern  Railroad  and  the 
Southern  Pacific  of  Mexico,  whose  death 
was  announced  last  week,  was  one  of 
the  pioneer  railroad  men  of  the  South- 
west. He  not  only  was  a  railroad 
builder  of  the  Southwest  and  in  Old 
Mexico,  but  had  an  important  part  in 
traction  development,  notably  in  Cin- 
cinnati and  in  Los  Angeles,  where  he 
was  formerly  executive  head  of  the 
Los  Angeles  Railway  and  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  he  was  an  active  director  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  Railway  lines.  He  was 
also  president  of  the  California  De- 
velopment Company  and  of  the  East 
Coast  Oil  Company. 


September  3,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


383 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 


DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


He  began  his  railroading'  work  in 
1876,  and  from  that  year  to  1885  he 
had  served  a  half-dozen  companies. 
Among  them  were  the  Alabama  Great 
Southern,  the  Chesapeake,  Ohio  and 
Southwestern  and  the  Kentucky  Cen- 
tral. He  was  a  civil  engineer  by  pro- 
fession and  in  that  period  he  was  en- 
gaged in  location,  construction  and 
maintenance  work,  serving  as  assistant, 
locating,  resident  and  division  engi- 
neer and  operating  in  several  eastern 
states,  Texas  and  Mexico. 

Mr.  Randolph  in  1835  became  chief 
engineer  of  the  Kentucky  Central,  with 
headquarters  in  Covington,  Ky.  At  the 
same  time  he  served  as  chief  engineer 
of  the  Cincinnati  Elevated  Railway 
and  the  Transfer  &  Bridge  Company, 
for  which  he  built  a  bridge  over  the 
Ohio  River,  connecting  Covington  and 
Cincinnati. 

In  1890  he  was  made  chief  engineer 
and  superintendent  of  the  Newport 
News  &  Mississippi  Valley  Company, 
the  Ohio  &  Big  Sand  Railroad  and  the 
Kentucky  &  South  Atlantic  Railroad, 
with  headquarters  in  Lexington.  The 
year  1891  found  him  in  Louisville  as 
chief  engineer  and  general  superintend- 
ent of  the  Chesapeake,  Ohio  &  South- 
western and  the  Ohio  Valley  Compa- 
nies. Mr.  Randolph  resigned  in  1894, 
taking  a  trip  to  the  West  for  his  health. 
Although  not  in  active  service,  he  con- 
tinued as  adviser  of  several  railroading 
and  traction  projects,  notably  the 
bridge  over  the  Ohio  River  from  Louis- 
ville to  Jeffersonville,  Ind. 

A  year  after  his  resignation  he  be- 
came connected  with  the  Southern 
Pacific  Railroad  and  the  most  impor- 
tant period  of  his  career  began.  For 
six  years  he  was  superintendent  of  the 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico  Divisions, 
with  headquarters  at  Tucson,  Ariz., 
where  he  made  his  home. 

In  1901  Mr.  Randolph  came  to  Los 
Angeles  to  become  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Los  Angeles 
Railway  and  the  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way. He  remained  in  Los  Angeles  three 
years,  locating,  building  and  operating 
some  700  miles  of  electric  lines  in  Los 
Angeles  and  vicinity.  While  actively 
engaged  in  this  work,  Mr.  Randolph 
was  instrumental  in  projecting  and 
constructing  some  of  the  most  exten- 
sive lines  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way. He  returned  to  Tucson,  Ariz.,  in 
1904  to  become  president  of  the  Gila 
Valley,  Globe  &  Northern  Railway  and 
of  the  M  aricopa,  Phoenix  &  Salt  River 
Valley  Railroad,  as  well  as  the  Harri- 
man  lines  in  Old  Mexico.  He  became 
president  of  the  consolidated  companies 
when  the  Cananea,  Yaqui  River  &  Pacific- 
Railroad  lines  in  Mexico  were  absorbed 
by  the  Southern  Pacific  Company  of 
Mexico  and  the  other  roads  were 
merged  with  the  Arizona  Eastern  Rail- 
way. 

Mr.  Randolph's  death  occurred  very 
suddenly.  Although  for  many  years  ill 
with  tuberculosis  he  had  made  a  vali- 
ant fight  against  the  disease,  and  he 
had  been  recently  attending  actively  to 
duties  in  connection  with  his  executive 
positions. 


New  Scrap  Classification 

Division  of  Purchases  and  Supplies  of 
American  Railway  Association  Re- 
vises Old  Material  Schedule 

The  American  Railway  Association, 
division  4,  purchases  and  supplies,  has 
prepared  a  new  scrap  iron  and  steel 
classification  which  will  come  up  for 
adoption  at  that  body's  next  meeting, 
which  will  take  place  in  the  spring  of 
1922.  The  classification  is  of  esp?cial 
interest  to  old  material  dealers  because, 
if  adopted,  it  will  be  used  by  all  of 
the  railroads  and  will  eliminate  the 
special  classifications  now  in  use. 

The  proposed  classification  follows 
the  old  store-keepers'  classification  more 
closely  than  any  of  the  other  various 
classifications.  Thus  far  the  only  criti- 
cism of  it  reported  by  the  dealers  is 
that  it  does  not  stipulate  that  No.  1 
steel  rails  is  intended  to  cover  rails  used 
for  rerolling  purposes. 

Axles,  steel — Car  and  locomotive,  6  in. 
diameter  and  over  at  center. 

Axles,  steel — Car  and  locomotive,  under 
6  in.  diameter  at  center. 

Axles,  steel,  hollow  bored. 

Axles,  iron — Car  and  locomotive,  all  sizes. 

Angle  bars,  splices  and  fish  plates,  iron. 

Brake  beams,  uncut. 

Builtup  bolsters. 

Couplers  and  knuckles,  steel  and  steel 
knuckle    pins,    punches,    finger    pins,  bits, 

To-ols  and  tool  steel — Worn  out  steel  tools, 
tool  steel,  files,  including-  old  claw  bars, 
pinch  bars,  spike  mauls,  track  wrenches, 
picks,  axes,  adzes,  chisels,  drills,  hammers, 
knuck'e  pins,  punches,  finger  pins,  bits, 
draft  keys,  bar  steel  weighing  under  10  lb. 
per  piece. 

Frogs  and  switches, uncut — Steel  andiron 
frog's  and  switches  that  have  not  been  cut 
apart,  exclusive  of  manganese  material. 

Malleable — All  malleable  castings. 

Rail,  iron,  No.  1 — Iron  tee  rail,  3  ft.  long 
and  over,  tee  section  40  lb.  per  yard  and 
over,  free  from  frog-,  switch,  guard  or 
crooked  rail. 

Rail,  iron,  miscellaneous — All  iron  rail, 
not  otherwise  specified,  including  guard 
rails,  switch  points  and  frogs,  when  cut 
apart.  Does  not  include  frog  fillers  or 
plates. 

Rail,  steel,  No.  1 — Standard  section  steel 
tee  rails,  50  lb.  per  yard  and  over.  5  ft. 
long  and  over,  free  from  badly  bent  and 
twisted  rails,  frog,  switch  and  guard  rails 
and  rails  with  split  heads  and  broken 
flanges.  Note:  All  rail  suitable  for  relay- 
ing- must  be  classified  as  relaying-  rail 
separate  from  all  scrap  rail. 

Rail,  steel,  No.  2 — Cropped  rail  ends  under 
3  ft.  long,  50  lb.  and  over,  standard  section. 

Rail,  steel,  No.  3 — 3  ft.  long-  and  over, 
50  lb.  and  over,  standard  section  having 
split  heads  or  ball  of  rail  worn  with  wheel 
flanges,  curved  and  bent  rails,  free  from 
frog,  switch  and  guard  rails. 

Rail,  steel,  No.  .} — All  sections  of  rail  not 
coming  under  specifications  of  No.  1,  2  or  3 
rail,  including  frogs  cut  apart,  guard  rails 
and  switch  points.  Does  not  include  frog 
fillers  or  plates. 

Spring  steel  No.  1 — Flat  spring  steel,  in- 
cluding elliptic  springs  from  which  bands 
have  been  removed. 

Spring  steel  No.  2 — All  coil  springs,  made 
from  steel   ,\  in.  and  over. 

Manganese  steel — To  include  all  kinds  of 
manganese  rail,  frogs  and  switch  points, 
cut  or  uncut. 

Steel,  high  speed — High  speed  steel  turn- 
ings (butts  and  ends  report  separately). 

Tires  No.  1 — All  locomotive  or  car  tires 
36  in.  and  over  inside  diameter,  smooth 
inside,  not  grooved  for  retaining  rings  or 
lipped. 

Tires  No.  2 — All  tires  not  included  in  tires 
No.  1. 

Wheels,  No.  1 — Includes  all  solid  cast  iron 


car  and  locomotive  wheels  ;  no  allowance 
for  grease  and  dirt. 

Wheels,  No.  2 — Includes  all  kinds  of  built- 
up  or  steel-tired  wheels  (specify  kind  in 
offering-) . 

Wheels,  No.  3 — Includes  all  solid  rolled, 
forged  or  cast  steel  car  and  locomotive 
wheels  (specify  kind  in  offering). 

Wrought,  railroad  No.  2 — All  wrought 
under  6  in.  long,  not  specified  under  No.  1 
railroad  wrought;  to  include  track  spikes, 
bolts,  nuts,  rivets  and  lag  screws. 

ATo.  3  brass — Journal  bearings  free  from 
babbitt. 

'  No.  5  brass — Yellow  brass  castings,  to 
include  coach  trimmings,  light  brass,  hose 
couplings,  pipe,  tubes,  etc. 

Copper  cable,  insulated — Specify  kind. 

Copper,  No.  1 — Wire  free  from  insulation, 
flue  ferrules,  pipe  and  tubes. 

Copper,  No.  .) — Battery  copper. 

Lead — Battery. 

Lead — Battery  mud  or  sediment  (specify 
wet  or  dry). 

Zinc — Battery  or  sheet  (specify  kind). 


Drop  of  3  Points  in  Index  of 
Railway  Material  Prices 

The  index  for  street  railway  material 
for  July,  1921,  as  computed  by  Albert 
S.  Richey,  electric  railway  engineer,  is 
164,  as  compared  with  167  in  June  of 
this  year.  A  year  ago  the  index  stood 
at  237,  while  the  peak,  which  was 
reached  in  September,  1920,  was  247. 
Prices  as  they  existed  in  1913  are  taken 
as  the  base,  which  is  100. 

The  index  of  street  railway  wages 
has  taken  a  drop  of  5  during  the  last 
month,  the  figure  for  August  being  218. 
This  is  a  drop  of  but  13  points  since 
August,  1920,  at  which  time  the  index 
was  231,  but  one  less  than  the  peak 
also  reached  in  September,  1920. 

The  average  street  railway  fare  Mr. 
Richey  gives  as  7.2  cents  for  August. 
This  is  a  drop  of  .01  cent  during  the 
last  month  and  a  drop  of  .04  cent  since 
May,  1921,  when  the  peak  was  reached. 
The  average  as  given  for  1913  was  4.84 
cents. 

It  can  be  seen  that  while  street  rail- 
way material  cost  64  per  cent  more  than 
it  did  in  1913  and  wages  are  118  per 
cent  higher,  fares  are  only  49  per  cent 
higher  than  their  1913  average. 


Proposed  Subway  and  Tunnel  for 
Havana,  Cuba 

Plans  for  the  subway  system  and 
tunnel  proposed  for  the  city  of  Havana, 
says  Commerce  Reports,  have  been 
exhibited  to  a  representative  of  the 
American  consulate  general  at  Havana, 
Cuba.  Indications  are  that  the  neces- 
sary concessions  for  the  work  have  been 
approved  by  the  Cuban  Railroad  Com- 
mission, and  that  the  Cuba  North  & 
South  Railroad,  organized  to  promote 
this  project,  has  been  completed  in  ac- 
cordance with  Cuban  laws  governing 
the  organization  of  companies  for  rail- 
road construction.  A  representative  of 
the  firm  of  engineers  in  charge  (Sr. 
Serafin  Sanchez  Govin,  No.  62  Villegas 
Street,  Havana),  holding  a  full  power 
of  attorney  to  act  for  the  Cuba  North 


384 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  10 


&  South  Railroad,  declared  his  inten- 
tion of  going  to  New  York  in  October 
or  November  to  arrange  for  the  neces- 
sary capital  and  expressed  a  desire  to 
receive  correspondence  from  persons  in 
the  United  States  who  may  be  inter- 
ested in  either  the  structural  or  the 
investment  possibilities  of  the  project. 

Heater  Manufacturers  Ready 

Railways  Should  Order  Heater  Repair 
Parts  Now  to  Insure  Prompt 
Deliveries 

Orders  for  electric  railway  heaters 
this  season  have  not  been  up  to  the 
standards  of  other  years,  manufactur- 
ers report,  although  there  have  been 
several  instances  where  the  demand 
has  been  but  slightly  subnormal  due 
to  a  few  deliveries  that  have  followed 
orders  for  new  rolling  stock.  TEie 
buying  of  heater  repair  parts,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  very  backward  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  the  season  is  fast  ap- 
proaching for  the  railways  to  be  put- 
ting their  heater  equipments  in  order. 
Such  feeble  activity  in  the  repair-part 
line  suggests  that  the  general  atti- 
tude of  buyers  seems  to  be  to  await 
actual  necessity  before  placing  orders. 

Manufacturers  and  distributers  claim 
that  they  are  in  a  fairly  good  position 
in  regard  to  deliveries;  much  better 
than  they  were  at  this  time  last  year, 
when  much  difficulty  existed  in  secur- 
ing raw  material.  Stocks  are  not 
large,  but  are  commensurate  with  the 
present  demand.  If  railways  whose 
needs  are  pressing  but  which  are  an- 
ticipating future  requirements  should 
suddenly  decide  to  place  their  orders 
considerable  delay  and  congestion  will 
be  inevitable. 

Prices  have  seen  but  slight  changes 
on  the  whole.  One  jobber,  however, 
reports  a  reduction  of  10  to  12  per 
cent  on  prices  existing  several  months 
ago.  Manufacturers  as  yet  have  not 
seen  fit  to  I'educe  prices,  claiming  that 
costs  do  not  yet  warrant  any  reduc- 
tion and  that  heater  prices  never  did 
soar  out  of  sight. 

The  subnormal  activity  in  the  de- 
mand for  heater  repair  parts  perhaps 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  compara- 
tively mild  weather  of  last  winter. 
However,  if  the  predictions  of  the  seers 
are  to  be  given  credence  that  we  are 
due  for  a  hard  winter  this  year,  the 
railways  had  better  get  busy  so  that 
they  may  not  be  caught  unprepared. 


Calcutta  Electrification 
Considered 

Advices  through  the  Guaranty  Trust 
Company,  New  York  City,  state  that 
the  electrification  of  the  suburban  rail- 
ways within  25  miles  of  Calcutta,  India, 
is  considered. 


Electric  Railway  Projected  in 
Piedmont  Province,  Italy 

The  Department  of  Commerce  ad- 
vises that  a  committee  has  been  formed 
to  draw  a  plan  for  the  construction  of 
a  new  electric  railway  from  Mondovi  to 
Cuneo,  in  northern  Italy. 


Rolling  Stock 


Los    Angeles    (Cal.)    Railway    is   in  the 

midst  of  an  extensive  program  of  rebuild- 
ing 9  8  cars.  Reconstruction  has  passed 
the  half-way  mark  and  50  new  car  motors 
of  the  latest  type  have  been  received  and 
are  being  installed  at  a  total  cost  of  about 
$75,000.  The  cars  being-  rebuilt  are  to 
have  larger  loading  platforms,  thus  in- 
creasing their  length  about  10  ft.  The  new 
motors  are  Westinghouse  526,  50-hp.  ma- 
chines, of  the  ventilated,  box  type. 


Franchises 


Central  California  Traction  Company, 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  has  made  application 
for  a  franchise  for  a  period  of  fifty  years 
to  construct,  maintain  and  operate-  a  rail- 
road track  of  standard  gauge  in  Stockton, 
San  Joaquin  County. 

Portland-LinntOn  (Ore.)  Railway  has  been 
granted  a  franchise  to  build  and  operate 
a  street  railway  from  Portland  to  Linnton 
using  certain  trackage  of  the  United  Rail- 
ways. It  is  believed  that  work  on  the 
line  will  be  started  soon  and  it  is  esti- 
mated that  $40,000  will  be  expended  on 
the  new  line. 

Graham,  Va.,  is  offering  for  sale  and 
advertising  for  sealed  bids  by  Aug.  20  a 
franchise  to  construct,  operate  and  main- 
tain an  electric  street  railway  in  that  town. 

Charleston-Dunbar  Traction  Company, 
Charleston,  W.  Va.,  has  applied  through  its 
president,  Isaac  Lowenstein,  for  a  franchise 
which  will  give  a  direct  connection  between 
both  companies  operating  in  Charleston. 
The  franchise  asked  for  would  permit  the 
Charleston-Dunbar  cars  to  use  the  inter- 
urban  company's  tracks  on  Charleston 
Street  between  Elk  River  and  Edgewood 
and  thus  obviate  the  Charleston-Dunbar 
long  detour  through  the  west  side.  Pres- 
ident Lowenstein  explained  that  the  pur- 
pose of  the  application  for  the  franchise 
was  to  secure  a  harmonious  working  ar- 
rangement between  the  lines  of  the  Charles- 
ton-Dunbar Company  and  the  Interurban 
company  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  he  in- 
timated that  the  plans  now  in  process  of 
formation  may  ultimately  lead  to  the  opera- 
tion of  the  two  lines  under  a  joint  manage- 
ment that  would  be  to  all  purposes  prac- 
tically a  consolidation. 

Track  and  Roadway 


Concepcioii-Horqueta     Railway    may  be 

extended  to  the  Brazilian  border  in  accord- 
ance with  a  project  now  under  considera- 
tion by  Brazil  and  Paraguay.  The  line 
would  be  linked  up  from  Bella  Vista  with 
the  Noroeste  at  Campo  Grande  or  at  Pedro 
Juan  Caballere  with  the  branch  of  the 
Sorocabano  now  being  built  west  from 
Botucatu.  Traffic  for  this  railway  would 
consist  principally  of  cattle  and  hides. 

Ottawa  (Ont.)  Electric  Railway  is  relay- 
ing 1J  miles  of  track  with  80*  lb.  T-rail 
and  is  equipping  a  new  transformer  room 
at  a  substation. 

Dallas-Terrell    Interurban    Railway  will 

start  work  about  Sept.  1,  according  to  C. 
W.  Hobson,  vice-president  of  the  Dallas 
Railway,  which  is  to  build  the  new  line. 
Mr.  Hobson  said  that  the  proposed  road 
would  cost  approximately  $1,800,000.  Nearly 
all  of  the  right-of-way  has  been  obtained 
and  orders  for  materials  are  being  placed. 
The  line  is  being  constructed  in  compliance 
with  the  terms  of  the  franchise  under  which 
the  Dallas  Railway  is  operating. 

Wichita  Falls  (Tex.)  Traction  Company 
is  building  approximately  4,000  ft.  of  new 
track  through  paved  streets.  The  com- 
pany expects  to  build  this  track  with  75-lb. 
standard  T-rail  with  special  trackwork  of 
120  lb.  high  T-rail.  The  contract  for  all 
special  trackwork  has  been  let  to  the 
Lorain  Steel  Company,  Johnstown,  Pa., 
and  shipment  is  expected  to  be  made 
within  the  next  fifteen  days.  Dayton 
mechanical  steel  ties  and  joint  ties  set 
on  2-ft.  centers  are  to  be  used  for  all  of 
this  work.  The  company  also  expects  to 
build  some  2  miles  of  track  in  other  parts 
of  the  town,  beginning  at  the  intersection 
of  Broad  and  Thirteenth  Street,  and  run- 
ning south  on  Thirteenth  Street,  making 
an  intersection  with  the  present  line,  which 
is  known  as  the  Southland  line.  This, 
when  completed  will  save  an  operation  of 
some  sixteen  blocks  on  each  round  trip. 
Plans  are  also  being  made  to  build  in  the 


near  future  a  line  across  the  Wichita 
River  into  the  refinery  district. 

Danville  Traction  &  Power  Company, 
Danville,  Va.,  has  been  overhauling  one  of 
its  double  tracks  on  Main  Street  from  the 
Municipal  Building  to  Mt.  Vernon  church. 
The  grade  of  the  tracks  has  been  raised 
three-quarters  of  an  inch. 

Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 

Lexington     (Ky.)     Utilities    Company  is 

preparing  to  spend  $100,000  for  new  build- 
ings and  new  equipment. 

The  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company 
has  begun  to  replace  the  chain  grates  in 
its  steam  plant  on  the  Mississippi  River  in 
Minneapolis  with  Westinghouse  underfeed 
stokers.  The  six  boilers  already  re-equipped 
have  increased  their  rating  from  175  per 
cent  to  300  per  cent.  The  plant  altogether 
has  twenty-eight  boilers  and  ultimately  all 
will  be  equipped  with  the  stokers,  the  pur- 
pose being  to  keep  the  steam  plant  up  to 
the  complete  quota  of  demand.  This  steam 
plant  was  first  equipped  in  1903  with  West- 
inghouse Roney  stokers.  In  1910  these  were 
changed  to  chain  grates.  The  capacity  of 
the   plant   is   50,000  kw. 

Salt  Lake,  Garfield  &  Western  Rail- 
road, Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  suffered  a  fire 
on  Aug.  8,  which  almost  totally  destroyed 
its  carhouses  and  rolling  equipment.  The 
loss,  whicn  is  estimated  at  $150,000,  is 
fully  covered  by  insurance.  No  serious 
curtailment  of  traffic  has  resulted,  as  plans 
were  immediately  put  into  effect  for  the 
hiring  of  equipment  with  which  to  con- 
tinue service.  The  carhouses  will  be  re- 
built. 


Trade  Notes 


D.  J.  ISokes  has  been  appointed  manager 
of  the  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  office  of  the  Au- 
tomatic Reclosing  Circuit  Breaker  Com- 
pany, of  Columbus,  Ohio,  with  headquar- 
ters at  110  Hale  Street,  Charleston. 

R.  L.  McLellan,  formerly  of  the  Chicago 
office  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  has  been  ap- 
pointed assistant  to  director  of  heavy  trac- 
tion, with  headquarters  at  the  New  York 
office. 

The  Crane  Company,  manufacturer  of 
pipe  valve  fittings,  steam  fittings,  etc.,  is 
constructing  a  new  one-story  building 
100  ft.  x  145  ft.,  adjoining  its  present  works 
at  490  Cherry  Street.  New  York  City.  The 
cost  is  estimated  at  $28,000.  The  new  build- 
ing will  be  used  for  assembling  purposes 
and  to  provide  storage  space  for  material 
being  held  for  export. 

The  Glidden  Company,  Chicago,  through 
its  president,  Adrian  D.  Joyce,  has  be»n 
successful  in  making  arrangements  for  the 
manufacture  and  distribution  of  ripolin 
enamel  paint  in  America.  It  will  be  more 
extensively  advertised  and  merchandised 
than  ever  before.  It  is  known  in  this 
country  largely  for  its  merit  as  a  long 
life  interior  and  exterior  architectural 
enamel  and  in  European  countries  has  at- 
tained its  greatest  distinction  as  the  best 
finish  for  all  types  of  railway  rolling  and 
signal  equipment.  This  enamel  will  be 
manufactured  according  to  the  original 
formulae  in  the  various  factories  compris- 
ing the  Glidden  organization.  Quantities 
of  ripolin  have  been  imported  to  take  care 
of  the  demand  until  the  American  manufac- 
turers can  produce  it  themselves  under  the 
supervision  of  foreign  experts,  who  are  now 
on  their  way  to  this  country. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Ohmer  Fare  Register  Company,  Dayton, 
Ohio,  is  now  distributing  throughout  the 
railway  field  a  booklet  on  the  Ohmer  sys- 
tem of  fare  collection.  The  influence  of  a 
printed  record  on  the  conductor  is  outlined 
as  well  as  the  possibilities  of  the  company 
in  making  use  of  the  information  on  this 
record. 

General  Electric  Company,  has  just  made 
available  bulletin  No.  46041  which  fully  de- 
scribes a  device  known  as  the  type  H-2 
A-C  temperature  indicator.  This  instru- 
ment affords  the  operator  an  easy  and  con- 
venient means  of  determining  at  the  switch- 
board the  hot-spot  temperature  of  the  wind- 
ings of  transformers  under  all  operating 
conditions.  The  bulletin  also  contains  a 
complete  wiring  diagram  for  this  apparatus. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS,  Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor      N.  A.  BOWERS, Pacific  Coait  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIER.Asgoclate  Editor      C.  W. STOCKS.  Associate  BdlUa 

Q.J.MACMURRAY.Newi  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE. Editorial  Representative  '•'    .'  } 

L.W.W.MORROW.Special  Editorial  Representative 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  September  10,  192 J  J2 


Number  11 


 '  ^ry 

In  the  article  already  referred  to,  attention  was  prop- 
erly focussed  upon  the  pump  house.  There  is,  however, 
a  physically  inconspicuous  structure  located  part  way 
between  the  pump  and  power  houses  which  should  not 
be  overlooked.  This  is  the  sealing  well.  It  is  the  termi- 
nal of  the  draft  pipe  from  the  condensers,  its  function 
being  to  insure  the  utilization  of  as  much  suction  head 
as  possible  in  the  circulating  system.  Of  course,  all 
condensers  have  draft  tubes,  which  have  to  be  sealed,  but 
the  form  which  this  one  takes  is  a  little  out  of  the  ordi- 
nary. The  sealing  well  is  of  further  interest  as  the 
possible  future  source  of  water  for  the  neighboring 
towns.  That  there  would  be  ample  water  for  this  pur- 
pose can  be  seen  from  a  simple  calculation.  Assume  an 
average  load  of  10,000  kw.  on  the  plant  for  twenty-four 
hours  per  day.  Then  if  each  kilowatt-hour  requires  16 
lb.  steam  and  each  pound  of  steam  40  lb.  of  condensing 
water,  the  total  daily  weight  of  water  will  be  154,000,- 
000  lb.  and  its  volume  more  than  19,000,000  gal.  At  200 
gal.  per  day  this  would  provide  water  for  95,000  people, 
which  is  more  than  the  population  which  will  need  to 
be  served  for  some  time  to  come.  However,  whether 
the  sealing  well  ever  becomes  a  source  of  water  supply 
or  not,  it  is  performing  an  important,  albeit  simple, 
function. 

The  sealing  well,  the  pump  house,  the  pipe  line,  the 
spillway  over  which  the  waste  water  slips  back  into  the 
river,  and  the  auxiliary  cooling  ponds  of  the  Kenova 
power  plant,  taken  all  together,  form  an  equipment 
which  is  playing  an  important  part  in  the  reduction  in 
coal  consumption  from  more  than  3  to  2  lb.  per  kilowatt- 
hour  which  has  recently  been  accomplished.  They  rep- 
resent money  well  invested. 


A  West  Virginia  Railway 

Power-Plant  Pump  House  on  Stilts 

SO  IMPORTANT  in  power  plants  is  the  provision  of 
ample  and  reliable  supply  of  condenser  circulating 
water  that  in  many  if  not  in  most  cases  the  location  of 
the  plant  is  determined  largely  with  reference  thereto. 
In  examining  a  plant,  therefore,  among  the  first  ques- 
tions asked  by  the  observing  engineer  are  those  refer- 
ring to  this  feature. 

In  the  design  and  construction  of  condensing-water 
systems  many  items  have  been  standardized  and  have 
therefore  become  commonplace  to  engineers,  but  in  each 
worth-while  plant  there  are  outstanding  novelties  that 
repay  careful  study.  An  example  is  furnished  by  the 
improvements  recently  completed  in  the  power  plant  at 
Kenova,  W.  Va.,  which  furnishes  power  to  the  Ohio 
Valley  Electric  Railway.  These  improvements  are  cov- 
ered in  some  detail  in  an  article  in  this  issue.  Here  the 
supplying  of  water  in  sufficient  volume  was  complicated 
by  the  distance  of  the  power  house  from  the  natural 
source,  the  neighboring  Big  Sandy  River,  and  the  con- 
siderable elevation  of  the  station  above  the  river.  Worse 
yet,  the  river  is  subject  to  annual  floods,  and  the  bank 
where  the  pumping  plant  would  need  to  be  placed,  if  the 
river  water  was  to  be  utilized,  is  quicksand  to  a  consid- 
erable depth.  Previously  the  circulating  water  was 
cooled  near  the  plant  by  means  of  ponds,  but  when  forced 
to  secure  more  water  and  cooler  water  the  engineers 
"took  the  bull  by  the  horns"  and  designed  a  plant  for 
erection  on  the  bank.  They  had  to  do  some  careful 
planning  to  insure  satisfactory  results. 

The  first  consideration  involved  in  the  design  was  re- 
liability. To  get  this  meant  that  the  machinery  used 
must  be  simple  and  rugged.  Induction  motors  of  the 
slip-ring  type  met  these  specifications,  as  did  also  cen- 
trifugal pumps  located  under  low-water  level  and  direct- 
connected  to  the  pumps.  Of  course  the  motors  had  to 
be  placed  above  high-water  level.  The  weight-carrying 
bearings,  one  to  each  unit,  were  incorporated  in  the 
motor  frames  and  are  thus  always  accessible.  Reliabil- 
ity was  further  assured  by  the  provision  of  duplicate 
units,  and  by  retaining  the  former  cooling  ponds  for 
emergency  use. 

The  other  main  design  factor  was  sufficiency  of  sup- 
ply. This  was  insured  by  the  use  of  liberal  motor  and 
pump  capacities  and  by  installing  pipe  lines  of  large 
cross-section. 

Referring  further  to  the  structural  difficulties  imposed 
by  flood  and  quicksand  conditions,  it  will  be  noted  that 
the  structure  had  not  only  to  be  placed  on  a  solid  footing 
but  it  had  also  to  be  made  strong  to  resist  the  surge  of 
the  water.  Provision  had,  in  addition,  to  be  made 
against  erosion  of  the  bank  on  which  the  foundation  was 
placed.  These  facts  need  to  be  held  in  mind  as  the  ac- 
count of  the  actual  construction  k  read,  in  order  that 
the  real  lesson  of  the  story  may  be  appreciated.  The 
unusual  form  of  the  structure  which  is  consequent 
upon  these  facts  then  appears  to  be  a  logical  one. 


Mr.  Harkness  Discusses 

New  York  Transit  Situation 

AS  INDICATED  last  week,  the  affairs  of  the  Inter- 
.  borough  Rapid  Transit  Company  in  New  York  City 
were  again  placed  in  a  critical  situation  by  the  applica- 
tion for  a  receivership.  Another  factor  which  enters 
into  this  situation  and  which  ultimately  will  probably 
have  a  greater  influence  than  anything  else,  not  only  on 
the  solution  of  the  difficulties  of  the  Interborough  but 
on  the  whole  New  York  City  traction  situation,  is  the 
impending  report  of  the  New  York  Transit  Commission. 
This  report  is  expected  about  Sept.  15,  and  while  there 
is  no  official  indication  as  to  the  nature  of  its  contents 
and  recommendations,  the  remarks  of  one  of  the  mem- 
bers, LeRoy  T.  Harkness,  before  the  American  Bar 
Association  at  Cincinnati  doubtless  is  an  indication  of 
the  attitude  of  the  commission. 

Mr.  Harkness'  statement  presents  what  is  probably  as 
broad  and  impartial  an  analysis  of  the  New  York  trac- 
tion situation  as  has  ever  been  made.  It  treats  can- 
didly and  frankly  of  a  situation  filled  with  complexities, 
and  a  long  history  of  financial,  engineering,  social  and 
political  developments.  The  address  is  given  in  sub- 
stantially complete  form  elsewhere  in  this  issue,  as  it  is 


386 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


believed  that  it  will  prove  useful  to  railway  men  and 
men  in  public  life  who  are  interested  in  the  solution  of 
metropolitan  transit  problems  any  place  in  this  country. 

Mr.  Harkness — and  this  probably  means  the  entire 
commission — has  not  dealt  lightly  with  either  railway 
management  or  politician  where  he  believes  them  to  be 
at  fault.  Such  candid  and  fearless  studies  and  analyses 
of  traction  problems  cannot  but  eventually  result  in 
equitable  solutions  even  though  that  may  entail  some 
discomfiture  and  some  radical  measures  in  the  process. 


Present  Indianapolis 

Difficulties  Not  Deep  Seated 
TNDIANA  having  passed  a  law  permitting  utilities 
A  to  surrender  local  franchises  and  place  themselves 
entirely  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  state  public  ser- 
vice commission  with  the  authority  of  an  indeterminate 
state  permit,  the  Indianapolis  Street  Railway  chose  to 
exercise  this  option.  All  was  well  until  the  company  had 
to  ask  the  city  to  legislate  the  jitneys  off  the  streets. 
Then  the  city,  having  no  contract  with  the  company, 
wanted  to  know  what  guarantee  and  what  control  of 
service  it  would  have  in  return  for  removing  this 
ruinous  and  acknowledged  unfair  competition.  It 
wants  the  company  to  sign  a  contract  restoring  local 
control,  at  least  as  to  matters  other  than  valuations  and 
rates  of  fare.  It  would  thus  appear  that  the  plea  of 
the  company  for  elimination  of  the  jitney  is  being  used 
as  an  opportunity  to  force  submission  to  what  may  be 
an  undesirable  contract. 

Two  thoughts  are  inspired  by  this  situation.  First, 
it  brings  out  clearly  the  injustice  of  having  the  street 
cars  subject  to  state  regulation  while  jitneys  are  sub- 
ject to  city  regulation  and  outside  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  state  commission.  What  is  manifestly  unfair 
competition  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  commission  to 
remove  or  correct,  and  no  regulation  of  the  railway, 
however  enlightened,  can  place  it  in  a  position  ade- 
quately to  serve  the  public  and  earn  a  fair  return  in  the 
face  of  unregulated,  irresponsible  and  practically  tax- 
free  jitney  or  bus  competition. 

If  the  two  forms  of  transportation  are  desired  by  the 
public,  they  should  be  under  the  same  regulating  body, 
else  there  will  inevitably  be  the  clashes  between  com- 
pany and  regulating  body  added  to  clashes  between 
regulating  bodies,  with  politics  on  both  sides.  This 
is  a  situation  that  must  be  recognized.  For  if  the 
unfair  competition  springing  from  such  divided 
authority  is  permitted  to  continue  long,  the  street 
railway  will  have  to  cease  operation.  Fortunately,  the 
city  council  of  Indiana's  capital  city  seems  to  have  a 
much  better  and  fairer  conception  of  the  position  of 
the  street  railway  than  did  the  council  in  Des  Moines, 
and  there  is  also  a  fuller  appreciation  of  what  a  com- 
plete shut  down  of  car  service  would  mean  to  the  city, 
so  that  it  seems  likely  that  the  jitneys  will  be  properly 
dealt  with  before  the  railway  is  forced  to  the  extreme 
action  that  became  necessary  in  the  Iowa  capital. 

The  second  suggestion  which  naturally  presents  itself 
is  with  reference  to  the  needlessness  of  the  contention 
of  the  Indianapolis  city  council  that  the  railway  must 
contract  again  with  the  city  in  order  to  provide  a 
working  agreement  that  will  avert  the  probability  of  an 
appeal  to  the  state  commission  on  every  order  that  the 
city  may  make.  This  seems  to  be  begging  a  point  for 
an  issue,  for  the  city's  rights  and  interests  are.  amply 
protected  without  a  contract.  It  always  has  the  right 


to  be  heard  before  the  commission,  and  certainly  its 
arguments  will  have  at  least  equal  weight  with  those 
of  the  company. 

Hence  it  would  seem  that  with  so  slight  a  difference 
between  the  company  and  city  and  with  such  an  ap- 
parently good  understanding  of  the  real  transportation 
problem  of  today,  the  city  council  should  not  continue 
long  to  decline  to  relieve  the  street  railway  from  the 
present  unfair  competition.  Certain  it  is  that  whether 
the  existence  of  unregulated  jitney  competition  is  due  to 
indifference  or  willful  retaliation  of  the  city  council  or 
to  divided  regulation,  or  to  some  other  reason,  both 
forms  of  transportation  cannot  continue  to  exist  in 
competition  with  each  other  in  a  business  which  is 
undeniably  best  handled  as  a  monopoly.  Some  answer 
must  be  found  soon,  and  this  applies  in  practically 
all  cities  as  well  as  in  Indianapolis.  And  if  the  city 
officials  are  truly  desirous  that  the  decision  made  shall 
be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  people  of  the  city, 
there  is  no  danger  of  a  cessation  of  street  car  service. 


Good  Will  the  Main  Object 
in  Traffic  Advertising 

A MAN  who  is  responsible  for  some  of  the  most 
elaborate  traffic  advertising  in  the  world  was  asked 
by  a  representative  of  this  paper  whether  the  expense 
justified  the  results.  "If  you  mean  whether  the  extra 
traffic  brought  in  would  pay  for  this  advertising,"  he 
replied,  "I  will  say  no.  But  that  is  not  the  underlying 
reason  for  this  publicity.  We  would  keep  it  up  if  we 
didn't  have  room  for  another  passenger.  It  is  good  will 
we  are  after  in  this  work.  Every  person  who  has  the 
problem  of  'Where  or  how  or  when  to  go'  settled  for 
him  by  these  advertisements  is  a  better  friend  of  ours 
than  he  was  before  we  took  an  interest  in  his  spare 
time.  Whether  a  man  goes  to  such  and  such  a  place  or 
not  or  whether  he  personally  needs  that  time-table 
data,  we  want  him  to  feel  on  reading  the  poster  that 
we  are  alive;  that  we  are  always  thinking  of  his  needs, 
present  or  future.  We  don't  take  the  all-too-common 
attitude  that  the  patron,  whether  regular  or  transient, 
knows  the  roadway  and  train  designations  as  well  as 
our  own  transportation  staff.  So  we  would  rather  do 
too  much  than  do  too  little  to  guide  the  'fare  guest,'  to 
use  a  happy  German  term  for  the  person  on  whom  our 
business  existence  depends." 

This  broad-minded  view  of  traffic  advertising  Is 
precisely  that  of  the  real  business  man  in  relation  to 
his  own  products.  He  does  not  try  to  trace  the  sale 
of  every  pair  of  shoes  to  a  specific  advertisement.  It 
is  enough  for  him  if  the  public  acquires  the  idea  that 
he  is  awake  to  the  problems  of  the  shoe  user.  There 
is  good-will  value  in  his  advertising  tennis  shoes  in 
summer  and  overshoes  in  winter,  even  if  they  sold  them- 
selves. So,  too,  the  great  mass  of  passengers  who  take 
their  two  rides  a  day  unvaryingly  may  not  need  any 
time-tables,  traffic  posters,  thorough  destination  signs 
or  street  stops,  but  every  evidence  they  see  of  a  desire 
to  help  the  passengers  who  do  need  these  aids  goes  down 
to  that  good-will  account  which  can  prove  so  helpful 
when  fares  are  to  be  adjusted,  accidents  to  be  paid  for 
or  new  contracts  to  be  entered  into  with  the  community. 
Therefore,  let  not  the  advertising  account  be  scanned 
too  closely  in  relation  to  passenger  increase,  but 
rather  let  it  be  treated  as  a  good-will  account  of  in- 
tangible but  undoubtedly  high  value  to  the  well-being  of 
the  concern  as  a  whole. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


387 


Novel  Condenser  Pump  House 

American  Railways  Power  Plant  at  Kenova,  W.  Va.,  Recently  Enlarged  in  Capacity,  Now  Derives 
Circulating  Water  from  New  Electrically  Driven  Centrifugal  Pumps,  Housed  in  a 
Structure  Which  Is  Designed  to  Be  Flood  Proof 


THE  Ohio  Valley  Electric  Railway,  the  headquar- 
ters of  which  are  at  Huntington,  W.  Va.,  draws 
its  power  supply  from  a  plant  located  at  Kenova, 
operated  by  the  Consolidated  Light,  Heat  &  Power 
Company.  Both  of  these  properties  are  controlled  by 
the  American  Railways  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Due  to  the  rapidly  increasing  load  on  this  power  plant, 
which  was  originally  designed  by  James  Fagan,  it  has 
been  necessary  to  make  successive  improvements  within 
the  past  few  years,  one  of  the  most  notable  of  which 
has  been  the  installation  of  a  pumping  plant  for  con- 


Pumping  Plant  from  Land  Side  in  Flood  Season,  Showing 
Transformers  in  Position  on  Balcony 


denser  circulating  water  on  the  bank  of  the  Big  Sandy 
River  near  the  plant. 

The  increasing  demand  on  the  plant  can  be  realized 
from  the  fact  that  its  output  is  now  70,000,000  kw.-hr. 
per  annum,  as  compared  with  15,000,000  kw.-hr.  eight 
years  ago.  The  overload  on  the  plant,  in  overtaxing 
the  condensers  due  to  their  limited  supply  of  cool  con- 
densing water,  resulted  in  a  coal  consumption  of  about 
34  lb.  per  kilowaft-hour. 

Due  partly  to  the  installation  of  the  new  condensing- 
water  circulating  equipment,  the  coal  consumption  has 
been  cut  down  to  about  2  lb.,  and  it  is  estimated  that 
the  cost  of  the  improvement,  $150,000,  will  have  been 
covered  by  the  saving  effected  in  about  ten  months 
of  operation.  A  vacuum  of  from  28  to  29  in.  referred 
to  a  30-in.  barometer  can  now  be  maintained. 

Power  Plant  Has  an  Assorted  Equipment 

When  this  plant  was  taken  over  by  the  American 
Railways  in  1910  the  generating  equipment  in  the  sta- 
tion consisted  of  three  600-kw.  and  one  1,200-kw. 
cross-compound  engine-driven  generators,  and  the  boiler 
equipment  comprised  four  400-hp.  Altman-Taylor  boil- 
ers and  three  300-hp.  vertical  Berry  boilers.  The  plant 
was  operated  with  jet  condensers,  the  condensing  water 
beinfr  cooled  in  a  pond.    This  was  considered  the  most 


economical  arrangement  because  when  the  power  plant 
was  originally  installed  various  considerations  dictated 
the  wisdom  of  placing  it  about  1,600  ft.  back  from 
the  Big  Sandy,  on  an  elevation  well  above  high-water 
mark  in  the  flood  season.  The  river  rises  normally 
about  30  ft.  each  spring,  the  flood  occurring  in  March 
or  earlier.  The  record  high  water  was  that  of  1913, 
when  the  rise  was  40  ft.  No  spraying  devices  were 
used  in  connection  with  the  pond  in  the  original  plant. 

Shortly  after  the  plant  was  taken  over,  two  1,000-kw. 
Allis-Chalmers  turbines  were  put  in,  one  being  a  high- 




Pumping  Plant  on  the  Bank  of  the  Big  Sandy  River, 
with  Power  Plant  in  Distance 

pressure  and  the  other  a  low-pressure  machine.  A 
spray  system  was  installed  in  the  pond,  and  an  exten- 
sion to  the  boiler  house  was  built  to  house  seven 
additional  B.  &  W.  boilers,  three  of  which  were  used 
to  replace  the  old  Berry  boilers. 

As  soon  as  this  equipment  was  installed  the  demand 
on  the  station  increased  so  rapidly  that  it  was  decided 
to  install  a  7,500-kw.  General  Electric  turbine  with 
a  surface  condenser.  When  this  unit  was  operated  in 
connection  with  the  spray  pond,  the  load  continuing 
rapidly  to  increase,  it  was  found  that  the  capacity  of 
the  pond  had  been  exceeded. 

Further,  an  additional  generating  unit  was  found 
necessary,  and  a  12,500-kva.  ( 10,000-kw.  at  80  per  cent 
power  factor)  General  Electric  turbine  was  installed. 
This  made  absolutely  necessary  the  increase  in  facil- 
ities for  supplying  circulating  water  and  the  decision 
was  l'eached  to  install  an  electrically-driven  pumping 
plant  that  would  provide  for  future  as  well  as  imme- 
diate needs.  The  details  of  this  are  given  in  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs  and  the  accompanying  illustrations. 

The  new  pumping  plant  displaces  the  old  spray  pond 
as  far  as  the  original  purpose  of  the  latter  is  con- 
cerned, but  the  pond  is  kept  in  good  condition  for 
emergency  service,  as  a  reserve  against  breakdown  of 
the  water  main  connecting  the  pumping  station  with 


388 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


the  power  plant.  It  also  serves  a  purpose  as  a  settling 
pond  from  which  water  can  be  taken  for  boiler-feed 
and  other  plant  purposes,  a  desirable  feature  in  view  of 
the  sediment  contained  in  the  Big  Sandy  River  water. 

In  the  boiler  room  two  1,000-hp.  B.  &  W.  boilers 
were  installed  to  furnish  the  steam  required  for  the 
increased  turbine  capacity.  These  are  equipped  with 
B.  &  W.  superheaters  and  Westinghouse  underfeed 
stokers.  These  boilers  can  be  operated  at  200  per  cent 
above  normal  rating.  Besides  these  boilers  the  plant 
now  contains  eleven  other  boilers  of  400-hp.  rating 
each,  the  total  rated  boiler  capacity  thus  being  6,400. 

Summing  up  the  present  turbine  and  engine  instal- 
lation it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  somewhat  assorted.  In- 
herited from  the  early  days  are  the  1,200-kw.  cross- 
compound  Wetherill-Corliss  engine-driven  unit  and  two 
600-kw.  units  with  Harrisburg  Foundry  &  Machine 
Company  engines,  one  of  the  600-kw.  units  having  been 
displaced.  These  three  machines  have  General  Elec- 
tric generators.  There  are  also  the  two  1,000-kw. 
Allis-Chalmers  units,  the  low-pressure  machine  using 
exhaust  steam.    Jet  condensers  are  used  with  these 


Construction  View  of  Pump  House,  River  at  Low  Level 


machines,  which  are  called  upon  only  in  emergency. 
Finally,  there  are  the  newer  10,000-kw.  and  7,500-kw. 
turbines  with  surface  condensers. 

Flood  Conditions  a  Controlling  Factor  in  New 
Pumping  Plant 

Coming  now  to  the  new  pumping  plant,  it  may  be 
said  in  general  that  it  comprises  a  reinforced  concrete 
structure  to  house  ultimately  three  vertical,  electrically 
driven  pumping  units,  each  of  a  capacity  of  20,000  gal. 
per  minute.  Of  these  only  two  are  installed  at  present. 
The  pumps  are  set  below  low-water  level  and  the  motors 
above  high-v/ater  level,  considering  the  record  rise  of 
1913.  The  construction  of  the  plant  was  begun  in 
October,  1918,  and  it  was  completed  in  the  summer  of 
1919. 

The  structural  steel-concrete  structure  has  the  form 
shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration,  with  the  pump 
chamber  floors  well  below  river  level,  and  the  motor 
room  high  above,  supported  on  substantial  columns. 
The  steel  for  the  building  is  a  complete  structure  in 
itself,  although  it  is  incased  in  concrete. 

The  structure  rests  on  a  sandy  soil,  and  it  was  neces- 
sary to  go  down  about  40  ft.,  nearly  to  bedrock,  with 


the  foundations,  for  the  purpose  of  locating  the  pumps 
below  low-water  level  and  also  to  obtain  a  solid  founda- 
tion for  the  whole  structure.  The  foundation  space 
was  inclosed  with  sheet  steel  piling,  which  was  neces- 
sary to  keep  out  the  quicksand  during  construction. 
After  the  excavation  had  been  carried  down  to  the 
depth  mentioned,  short  wood  piles  were  driven  and  a 
27-in.  concrete  cap  was  cast  over  their  tops. 

In  order  permanently  to  prevent  spreading  of  the 
quicksand,  the  sheet-steel  piling  was  left  in  place,  but 
was  cut  off  by  means  of  a  gas  torch  so  as  to  salvage 
all  that  was  not  needed  for  permanent  use. 

A  Motor  Room  on  Stilts 

Resting  on  the  foundation  are  the  walls  for  the 
three  pump  chambers  and  the  intake,  as  well  as  the 
concrete-steel  columns  of  the  superstructure.  The 
form  of  the  walls  is  shown  in  the  outline  drawing 
reproduced.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  walls  of  the 
intake  are  of  irregular  form.  This  was  selected  to  give 
the  maximum  resistance  to  the  earth  pressure,  as  well 
as  to  accommodate  the  screens  and  gates.    The  pump 


Motor  Room,  with  Switchboard  in  Background 


chambers  are  roofed  with  concrete  slabs,  which  also 
serve  as  a  floor  for  the  superstructure. 

The  columns  supporting  the  motor  house  are  of 
latticed-type  section,  incased  in  concrete.  Lattice  col- 
umns and  girders  were  used  because  when  they  are 
incased  in  concrete  the  concrete  forms  a  solid  mass. 
This  part  of  the  structure  was  necessarily  of  open  form 
to  present  a  minimum  of  resistance  to  the  floods.  A 
floor  was  installed  half  way  up  to  give  access  to  the 
shaft  steady  bearings  and  to  stiffen  the  columns. 

Design  features  of  this  superstructure,  in  addition 
to  economy  in  the  use  of  materials,  were  (1)  strength 
to  resist  floods,  and  (2)  stiffness  to  prevent  vibration 
from  the  motors  set  high  above  the  foundation. 

The  motor  house,  built  atop  this  novel  support,  is 
of  attractive  design,  the  ai'chitectural  features  having 
been  determined  by  the  fact  that  one  of  the  railway 
company's  lines  passes  over  a  viaduct  within  a  hundred 
feet  of  the  building.  The  walls,  of  brick,  were  built 
on  a  reinforced  cap  on  the  columns,  with  brick  pilasters 
and  terra  cotta  cornices  for  adornment. 

The  pumps,  located  well  below  low-water  level  on  the 
floor  of  the  pump  pits,  are  of  special  design  for  their 
particular  duty   in   this  plant.     Their  speed   is  600 


390 


Electric    railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


r.p.m.  and  they  have  an  "unloading-  characteristic," 
that  is,  the  power  which  they  demand  is  in  direct  pro- 
portion to  the  head.  They  are  designed  for  a  maximum 
head  of  60  ft.,  although  the  usual  working  head  will  be 
about  40  ft.,  and  an  efficiency  at  full  load  of  82  per 
cent. 

The  location  of  the  pumps  under  water  insures  water 
sealing  at  all  times — in  other  words,  they  are  self- 
priming.  There  is  thus  no  danger  of  loss  of  water 
through  leakage,  an  important  feature  as  the  pumps 

are  so  far  from 
the  power  plant. 
Obviously,  seri- 
ous trouble  in 
the  condenser 
system  would  be 
caused  by  the 
pumps  "losing 
water"  or  fail- 
ing to  start  up 
the  water  circu- 
lation promptly. 
The  flow  o  f 
water  to  each 
pit  is  controlled 
by  two  36-in.  x 
48-in.  Newburgh 
sluice  gates. 
These  are  water- 
tight and  they 
permit  the  clos- 
ing off  of  a  pit, 
so  that  the 
water  can  be 
pumped  out  to 
permit  repairs 
to  the  pump. 
Near  the  mouth 
of  the  main  in- 
take is  an  in- 
clined trash 
rack  and  in  the 
intake  to  each 
pump  pit  is  a 
traveling  screen 
made  by  the 
Chain  Belt  En- 
gineering Com- 
p  a  n  y.  Each 
screen  slides  in 
guides  formed 
of  angle  irons 
mounted  in  the  concrete  walls  of  the  divided  intake. 
A  grab-bucket  derrick  is  installed  near  the  intake  for 
the  purpose  of  clearing  it  of  the  debris  which  at  times 
accumulates  in  large  quantities. 

The  motors  driving  the  pumps  are  of  the  induction 
type,  with  slip  rings  to  permit  the  insertion  of  start- 
ing resistance  in  the  secondary  circuit.  Their  syn- 
chronous speed  is  the  rated  speed  of  the  pumps,  600 
r.p.m.,  and  their  capacity  425  hp.  each.  They  are  sup- 
plied with  power  through  a  bank  of  three  200-kva., 
self-cooling,  oil-cooled  transformers,  mounted  on  a 
bracket-supported  balcony  behind  the  motor  house.  In 
addition  there  is  a  bank  of  three  150-kva.  transformers 
for  emergency  use.  These  lower  the  voltage  of  the 
three-phase  current  from  the  power  house  from  11,000 
to  440.    The  switchboard  controlling  the  motors  and 


Section  A-A 
Details  of  Sealing  "Well 


power  circuits  is  located  in  the  motor  room  near  the 
wall  next  to  the  transformer  balcony. 

To  facilitate  repairs  the  motor  room  is  equipped  with 
an  Alfred  Box  traveling  hand-operated  crane. 

Rotating  Parts  Hang  from  One  Bearing 

The  rotating  element  of  a  pump-motor  unit,  com- 
prising motor  armature,  shaft  and  pump  impeller,  and 
weighing  from  5,000  to  6,000  lb.,  is  supported  by  one 
bearing  of  the  "thrust"  type,  located  on  the  top  of 
the  motor  frame.  This  bearing  is  water-cooled.  Steady 
bearings,  as  shown  in  one  of  the  reproduced  drawings, 
are  provided  for  the  5-in.  shaft  at  several  levels. 

With  the  present  arrangement  of  motor-pump  unit 
a  pump  can  be  put  into  action  in  less  than  one  minute. 
This  quick  start  is  possible  because  all  that  is  neces- 
sary is  to  throw  in  the  motor  switch.  The  pumps  are 
always  primed  because  they  are  located  below  low-water 
level  and,  as  there  is  a  check  valve  in  each  discharge 
pipe  line,  no  manual  operation  of  a  valve  is  necessary. 


Plan  of  Pump  Pits  and  Intake 

Oil  for  the  thrust  bearing  is  circulated  by  means  of 
a  small  belt-driven  rotary  pump,  hung  below  the  motor 
frame. 

The  pumps,  motors,  transformers  and  electrical  aux- 
iliaries were  furnished  by  the  Allis-Chalmers  Company. 
The  electrical  work  and  installation  of  the  machinery 
are  to  be  credited  to  the  local  force  of  the  utility  com- 
pany. 

Ingenious  Sealing  Well  Utilizes  Suction  Head 

The  discharge  from  each  pump  is  through  24-in. 
cast-iron  pipe,  the  three  pipes  uniting  in  a  36-in.  main. 
From  this,  branches  lead  to  the  several  condensers. 

The  main  discharge  pipe  from  the  condensers  is  also 
36  in.  in  diameter.  It  leads  down  the  hill  to  a  sealing 
well  of  concrete,  of  9  ft.  inside  diameter  and  30  ft. 
inside  depth.  This  return  or  draft  pipe  leads  down 
centrally  through  the  well,  nearly  to  the  bottom,  from 
which  the  end  is  supported  by  T-irons  "concreted  in." 

A  conical  spreader  was  cast  in  the  well  bottom  to  pre- 
vent formation  of  eddies.  The  sealing  of  the  draft 
tube  in  this  well  eliminates  about  20  ft.  of  head  from 
the  circulating  water  circuit. 

From  the  sealing  well  a  54-in.  interlocking-tile  sewer 
overflow  leads  to  the  driver  bank,  discharging  1,100  ft. 
downstream  from  the  pumphouse.  The  discharge  Is 
over  a  planked  spillway  in  which  a  drop  of  more  than 
20  ft.  occurs  at  low  water.    This  gives  a  source  of 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


391 


water  power  which  may  be  utilized  at  some  future  time. 
Also  the  sealing  well  may  at  some  time  be  tapped  for 
water  supply  for  the  neighboring  population,  as  this 
water  is  reasonably  free  from  sediment  due  to  the 
screening  and  the  opportunity  for  settling. 

This  plan,  reproduced  on  page  388,  shows  a  6-in.  cast- 
iron  pipe  which  carries  the  overflow  from  the  old  spray 
pond.  It  leads  from  a  cistern  located  near  the  pond 
wall  to  a  point  on  the  river  bank  below  the  pump  house. 
This  pipe  line  is  utilized  in  washing  the  intake  screens 
of  the  pump  house,  as  it  furnishes  a  head  of  80  ft., 
which  is  ample  for  the  purpose. 

The  general  development  of  this  plant  is  due  to  the 


foresight  and  careful  planning  of  General  Manager 
H.  J.  Crowley  and  President  Van  Horn  Ely.  A  word 
of  credit  is  due  the  engineers  who  are  responsible  for 
the  construction  described,  which  was  of  more  than 
ordinary  engineering  difficulty,  due  to  the  nature  of  the 
soil  on  the  river  bank  and  to  the  frequent  inundation 
of  this  bank.  The  whole  design  was  made  under  the 
direction  of  A.  Kuylentsjerna,  mechanical  engineer 
American  Railways  Company,  and  the  erection  was 
done  under  the  supervision  of  James  Fagan,  engineer 
of  the  company,  located  at  Huntington.  The  steel  work 
was  furnished  and  erected  by  the  Pitt  Construction 
Company  of  Pittsburgh. 


Bonded  Intersections  Recommended 

Study  by  Bureau  of  Standards  Results  in  Recommendation  for  Interconnection 
of  Track  Crossings  of  Detroit  United  Railways 
and  Municipal  System 


IN  A  REPORT  recently  rendered  by  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  to  the  Michigan  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission in  the  controversy  of  long  standing  between 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  and  the  Street  Railway 
Department  of  the  city  of  Detroit  as  to  whether  the 
track  intersections  of  the  two  companies  should  be  in- 
sulated or  bonded  the  Bureau  of  Standards  reaches  the 
conclusion  that  best  results  would  obtain  if  the  two 
systems  were  electrically  interconnected.  In  the  course 
of  the  construction  of  the  Detroit  municipal  system  it 
became  necessary  to  cross  the  tracks  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  at  numerous  points,  and  the  officials  of 
the  municipal  system  desired  to  make  these  crossings 
of  the  bonded  rather  than  the  insulated  type.  This 
form  of  crossing  was  objected  to  by  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  and  subsequently,  through  the  action  of  the 
State  Legislature,  the  question  was  placed  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission.  On 
June  1,  1921,  the  commission  requested  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  to  take  charge  and  make  an  investigation, 
and  report  which  type  of  crossing  should  be  used.  The 
bureau  was  requested  to  make  such  investigation  as 
was  deemed  necessary  and  received  full  authority  to 
do  so.  In  co-operation  with  the  two  railway  companies 
and  an  electrical  engineer  of  the  commission  a  study 
was  made  of  the  various  factors  affecting  the  problem, 
including  the  measurement  of  roadbed  resistance,  the 
magnitude  of  current  drainage  under  various  condi- 
tions, etc. 

The  arguments  presented  by  the  city  in  favor  of  inter- 
connecting the  two  systems  and  in  opposition  to  insulat- 
ing the  crossings  were  that  (1)  bonded  crossings 
conform  to  standard  practice;  (2)  the  American  Com- 
mittee on  Electrolysis  and  the  Bureau  of  Standards 
recommend  the  bonding  of  different  railway  systems  at 
points  of  intersection;  (3)  experience  of  insulating 
joints  in  Detroit  under  conditions  practically  identical 
with  the  present  has  proved  unsatisfactory;  (4)  effec- 
tive insulation  cannot  be  maintained,  and  (5)  insulat- 
ing crossings  will  result  in  potential  differences  between 
tracks  which  may  endanger  the  lives  of  animals,  par- 
ticularly horses. 

The  arguments  presented  by  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
way in  favor  of  insulated  crossings  and  in  opposition 
to  bonded  crossings  are  as  follows: 


1.  Interconnection  of  the  two  systems  would  establish  a 
condition  whereby  the  Detroit  United  Railway  would  not  be 
able  to  control  the  current  originating  on  its  system,  and 
thereby  involve  it  in  liabilities  for  damage  caused  by  stray 
current  over  which  it  would  have  no  control. 

2.  The  city,  in  employing  a  type  of  roadbed  construction 
of  lower  electrical  resistance  to  earth  than  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  roadbeds,  creates  a  low  resistance  leakage 
path  through  which  the  D.  U.  R.  current  will  stray  to  earth 
and  underground  structures. 

3.  Voltage  drops  on  the  Detroit  United  Railway  tracks  are 
said  to  be  reasonably  low  and  the  resistance  of  the  roadbeds 
reasonably  high,  both  conditions  tending  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  stray  current  from  the  tracks.  This  condition 
would  be  disturbed  by  the  interconnection  of  the  tracks  of 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  and  those  of  the  city,  by  reduc- 
ing the  effective  roadbed  resistance  of  the  former  system. 
To  offset  this  condition,  the  D.  U.  R.  contends  that  it  will 
have  to  install  insulated  negative  feeders  at  a  considerable 
expense  in  order  to  balance  the  potentials  and  prevent  the 
escape  of  stray  current. 

Anticipating  the  report  of  the  American  Committee  on 
Electrolysis,  the  Detroit  United  Railway  contends  that  the 
tendency  toward  electrolysis  mitigation  is  in  the  direction  of 
the  elimination  of  stray  current,  and  that  in  asking  for  the 
interconnection  of  the  track  system  the  city  is  requiring 
something  that  will  sooner  or  later  impose  additional  expense 
on  the  Detroit  United  Railway  in  order  to  conform  to  pre- 
scribed requirements. 

It  is  said  that  the  Bureau  of  Standards'  statements  re- 
garding the  interconnection  of  tracks  are  in  general  valid, 
but  that  they  do  not  contemplate  interconnection  under  such 
conditions  as  prevail  in  Detroit.  Furthermore,  they  apply 
only  from  a  strictly  technical  standpoint,  and  without  con- 
sideration of  the  fixing  of  liabilities  or  improving  the  condi- 
tions of  one  part  at  the  expense  of  the  other. 

The  report  then  presents  a  discussion  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  involved  in  the  interconnection  of 
tracks  and  makes  the  observation  that  in  an  extensive 
and  complicated  system,  such  as  will  exist  in  Detroit 
with  the  completion  of  the  city  tracks,  about  100  cross- 
ings will  exist.  Without  this  interconnection  of  tracks 
at  these  intersections  each  system  will  be  more  or  less 
independent  of  the  other  and  will  be  called  upon  to 
return  the  current  originating  on  its  own  lines.  This 
condition,  aggravated  by  the  intermittent  character  of 
street  railway  loads  and  the  unbalanced  loading  on  the 
several  lines,  will  result  in  high  potential  differences 
between  the  two  systems  at  many  points.  These  poten- 
tial differences  will  cause  stray  currents  to  concentrate 
near  the  points  of  intersection,  and  underground  struc- 
tures such  as  pipes  and  cable  sheaths  which  are  in  the 
path  of  these  stray  currents  will  act  as  shunts  to  con- 


392 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  II 


vey  them.  Even  under  the  most  favorable  arrangement 
of  loading  and  return  feeders  these  potential  differences 
could  not  entirely  be  eliminated  and  would  undoubtedly 
be  a  constant  source  of  danger  to  underground  struc- 
tures in  the  vicinity  of  the  crossings. 

If,  however,  all  points  of  intersection  are  bonded  the 
two  systems  will  act  as  a  common  network  and  currents 
will  readily  flow  from  one  system  to  the  other  to  equal- 
ize the  potential  differences  due  to  the  unequal  loading 
on  the  various  tracks.  Long  lines,  over  which  relatively 
high-voltage  drops  would  otherwise  exist,  will  be  inter- 
sected by  tracks  of  the  other  system  and  parallel  paths 
will  thereby  be  provided  and  the  voltage  drops  reduced. 

Discussion  of  the  City's  Arguments 

The  report  then  takes  up  a  detailed  discussion  of 
each  of  the  arguments  presented  by  the  city,  but  finds 
that  none  of  them  is  particularly  valid  except  the  one 
stating  that  effective  insulation  cannot  be  maintained. 
In  regard  to  this  point  the  Bureau  of  Standards  ex- 
plains that  with  a  large  track  mileage,  a  large  number 
of  crossings  and  the  close  paralleling  of  many  lines  of 
two  systems  it  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  inter- 
change of  current  between  the  two  track  systems  even 
though  all  intersections  were  insulated.  In  many  cases 
a  long  length  of  track  on  one  system  will  be  shunted 
by  parallel  track  of  the  other  system,  and  if  an  attempt 
is  made  to  insulate  them  from  each  other  the  entire 
voltage  drop  on  such  a  section  of  track  may  be  con- 
centrated across  the  two  insulating  joints  and  result 
in  excessive  leakage  at  those  points.  A  condition  sim- 
ilar to  this  has  been  found  to  exist  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Hart  Avenue  substation  where  the  city  now  has 
cars  in  operation  on  Charlevoix  Street  and  St.  Jean 
Avenue. 

Insulating  joints  exist  between  the  two  tracks  at 
St.  Jean  and  Mack,  which  the  city  put  in  according  to 
the  wishes  of  the  Detroit  United  Railway  in  order  to 
effect  a  crossing.  In  order  to  take  care  of  the  current 
from  the  city  cars  while  on  this  ci-ossing  the  negative 
buses  of  the  two  systems  are  connected  at  the  Hart 
Avenue  substation.  A  current  exchange  of  from  0  to 
500  amp.  takes  place  over  this  bus  tie,  the  direction 
being  from  the  city  bus  to  the  Detroit  United  Railway 
bus.  The  report  states  that  as  there  are  no  metallic 
connections  between  the  two  track  systems  it  is  evident 
that  this  current  interchange  takes  place  through  the 
earth  between  them,  and  in  so  doing  may  traverse  pipes 
and  cables  with  consequent  injury  to  them. 

Measurements  were  made  on  June  17  at  this  substa- 
tion to  determine  the  magnitude  of  the  current  drained 
from  pipes  under  various  conditions  and  also  to  note 
the  variation  in  the  current  interchange  between  the 
two  negative  buses  under  corresponding  conditions. 
These  two  quantities  were  measured  over  a  period  of 
one  hour,  during  which  time  the  crossing  at  St.  Jean 
and  Mack  was  connected  by  cables  for  a  short  time. 
Also  for  a  period  of  four  minutes  the  power  supply  for 
the  cars  on  the  city  system  was  interrupted  in  order 
to  determine  what  effect  this  would  have  on  the  cur- 
rent interchange  between  the  buses  and  the  magnitude 
of  the  drainage  current  from  the  water  pipes.  The 
record  shows  that  no  material  change  occurred  in  the 
drainage  current  from  the  water  pipes  for  the  various 
conditions  imposed.  It  also  shows  that  there  is  no 
material  change  in  the  current  interchange  between  the 
buses  whether  the  crossing  at  St.  Jean  and  Mack  is 
insulated  or  connected. 


It  is  pointed  out  that  these  measurements  indicate 
that  a  considerable  leakage  takes  place  between  the 
two  systems  when  no  metallic  connection  exists  between 
them,  but  that  the  quantitative  evidence  is  relatively 
of  little  value  because  conditions  as  they  now  exist  are 
only  temporary  and  will  be  materially  changed  with 
the  completion  of  the  track  and  with  the  more  exten- 
sive operation  of  city  cars.  However,  they  do  indicate 
that  effective  insulation  between  the  two  systems  can- 
not be  maintained  and  that  considerable  leakage  be- 
tween them  will  take  place  through  the  earth. 

Discussion  of  D.  U.  R.  Arguments 

Of  the  arguments  presented  by  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  the  disparity  in  the  roadbed  resistance  of  the 
two  companies  is  the  only  one  considered  by  the  bureau 
to  be  valid  and  the  only  one  which  might  qualify  the 
advantages  of  interconnection.  From  the  measure- 
ments that  were  made  to  determine  the  relative  road- 
bed resistances  it  was  found  that  for  the  city  tracks 
they  ranged  from  0.0313  to  0.0746  ohms  per  1,000  ft. 
of  double  track,  with  locations  selected  to  include  all 
types  of  construction.  Measurements  made  on  four 
different  locations  on  the  Detroit  United  Railway  tracks 
indicated  resistances  ranging  from  0.0689  to  0.16  ohms 
per  1,000  ft.  of  double  track.  The  locations  selected 
included  various  types  of  construction,  ranging  in  age 
from  three  years  to  ten  years. 

The  report  points  out  that  the  reason  for  the  evi- 
dently higher  average  resistance  of  the  D.  U.  R.  road- 
beds is  a  subject  of  more  or  less  speculation.  It  states 
that  the  early  contention  of  the  D.  U.  R.,  that  cinders 
employed  in  the  sub-base  of  some  of  the  early  tracks 
built  by  the  city  and  the  use  of  steel  ties  contributed 
to  a  low  roadbed  resistance,  is  not  substantiated  by  the 
tests.  A  short  section  of  track  which  had  been  tem- 
porarily filled  in  with  cinders  was  found  to  have  a 
higher  resistance  to  earth  than  any  other  section  of  the 
city  track  on  which  measurements  were  made,  and  the 
roadbed  on  Charlevoix  Street  in  which  wood  ties  were 
employed  was  one  of  the  lowest  resistance  roadbeds 
tested. 

It  was  found  that  the  roadbed  resistance  of  the 
D.  U.  R.  tracks  increased  with  age,  which  fact  is  also 
supported  by  tests  made  by  the  Bureau  of  Standards 
on  experimental  roadbeds  over  a  period  of  three  years, 
although  the  change  was  small.  It  is  pointed  out  that 
while  the  age  of  the  roadbed  may  be  one  factor  con- 
tributing to  the  difference  in  resistances  between  the 
two  systems,  it  is  believed  that  the  type  of  construc- 
tion is  a  more  important  factor.  In  all  of  the  city 
lines  a  concrete  pavement  is  employed  which  makes  inti- 
mate contact  with  the  web  and  head  of  the  rail  as 
well  as  with  the  base.  The  D.  U.  R.  employs  a  type  of 
construction  in  which  the  concrete  is  brought  up  around 
the  base,  but  is  not  in  contact  with  the  web  and  head 
of  the  rail,  brick  or  stone  blocks  laid  with  dry  mixture 
of  cement  and  sand  being  laid  adjacent  to  the  rail. 

A  careful  inspection  of  the  D.  U.  R.  track  and  the 
testimony  of  the  engineers  indicates  that  after  a  period 
of  years  with  the  continual  pounding  of  car  wheels 
over  the  tracks,  together  with  the  action  of  frost,  the 
pavement  becomes  loose  and  porous  about  the  rails  and 
intimate  contact  with  the  concrete  is  frequently  lost. 
This  seems  to  account  for  the  difference  in  resistance 
between  the  new  and  old  lines  of  the  D.  U.  R.  and  also 
between  these  and  the  city  lines.  The  report  then  states 
that  if  the  city  construction  can  withstand  the  disin- 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


393 


tegrating  influences  of  traffic  and  frost  and  the  rails 
maintain  an  intimate  bond  with  the  concrete,  the  road- 
beds will  probably  not  undergo  a  change  in  resistance 
with  time  as  the  D.  U.  R.  roadbeds  appear  to  have  done. 

All  of  the  resistance  measurements  of  the  roadbed 
were  made  under  dry  weather  conditions  and  after  a 
period  of  a  number  of  days  without  rain.  Judging 
from  many  measurements  made  by  the  bureau  on 
numerous  tracks  under  different  weather  conditions 
and  over  a  period  of  years,  it  seems  altogether  probable 
that  when  wet  the  D.  U.  R.  tracks  with  the  porous 
pavement  would  have  lower  resistance,  while  moisture 
would  have  very  little  effect  on  the  new  city  tracks 
with  tight  pavement. 

Concluding  the  discussion  on  this  subject,  the  report 
points  out  the  desirability  of  considering  the  problem 
under  ultimate  conditions,  when  the  city  system  will 
comprise  a  number  of  the  day-to-day  lines  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  rather  than  under  the  present  tem- 
porary conditions.  With  this  in  mind,  the  bureau  finds 
that  while  it  is  probable  that  for  years  to  come  the 
average  resistance  of  the  city  roadbeds  will  be  some- 
what lower  than  the  D.  U.  R.  lines,  this  disparity  and 
the  injury  to  underground  structures  which  might  re- 
sult from  it  appear  to  be  more  than  offset  by  the 
greater  advantages  which  will  result  from  the  inter- 
connection of  the  two  systems. 

Return  Circuit  System 

The  contention  of  the  Detroit  Railway  that  the 
bonded  crossings  would  change  the  disposition  of  the 
leakage  currents,  and  require  the  installation  of  an  in- 
sulated negative  feeder  system  to  correct  this,  does  not 
appear  to  be  well  founded,  the  report  continues.  While 
the  two  systems  will  probably  have  common  points  of 
power  supply  in  some  cases,  and  while  the  greatest 
benefit  to  be  derived  from  the  interconnection  of  track 
does  not  obtain  with  coincident  points  of  power  supply, 
it  is  nevertheless  not  apparent  that  the  D.  U.  R.  will 
have  to  install  insulated  negative  feeders  to  match  any 
system  of  this  kind  which  may  be  installed  by  the  city 
for  the  return  of  the  current.  The  condition  of  non- 
coincident  points  of  power  supply  will  be  approached  if 
the  insulated  negative  feeders  of  the  city  system  con- 
nect to  the  track  network  at  points  remote  from  the 
common  source  of  power  supply.  Current  originating 
on  the  network  near  the  substation  from  either  rail- 
way system  will  be  returned  over  the  D.  U.  R.  feeders 
which  presumably  connect  to  the  track  close  to  the  sup- 
ply station,  while  current  originating  on  the  two  net- 
works at  more  remote  points  can  be  returned  over  the 
insulated  negative  feeders  installed  by  the  city.  Each 
system  of  feeders,  however,  will  return  the  amount  of 
current  used  by  its  own  cars,  provided  the  negative 
buses  of  the  two  systems  are  not  interconnected,  and 
this  will  be  quite  independent  of  the  voltage  drops 
which  may  exist  on  the  various  feeders.  If  the  power 
supply  points  do  not  coincide,  then  still  further  advan- 
tage may  result  from  interconnection  of  track,  for  the 
voltage  drops  in  the  two  track  systems  will  be  neutral- 
ized and  the  potential  differences  greatly  reduced. 

The  bureau  reaches  the  conclusion  that  the  inter- 
connection of  different  track  systems  at  all  points  of 
intersection  undoubtedly  conforms  to  the  best  modern 
practice,  and  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  such 
interconnection  are  so  apparent  and  the  arguments  are 
so  valid  that  to  depart  from  this  procedure  would  be 


considered  only  where  local  conditions  are  of  such  a 
peculiar  character  as  to  vitiate  the  well-known  prin- 
ciples involved  in  interconnection.  Except  for  the 
difference  in  roadbed  resistances  of  the  two  systems, 
the  conditions  in  Detroit  are  in  no  way  different  from 
those  usually  existing  where  two  track  systems  inter- 
sect, and  in  fact  the  large  number  of  crossings  involved 
in  Detroit  offer  unusual  opportunity  to  utilize  the  ad- 
vantages of  interconnection.  Since  the  advantages  to 
be  derived  from  interconnection  far  outweigh  the  pos- 
sible disadvantages  resulting  from  a  difference  in  the 
roadbed  resistances  of  the  two  systems,  the  bonding  of 
all  crossings  is  strongly  recommended. 


Instructions  for  Police  on 
Railway  Duty 

FOR  the  guidance  of  the  police  while  on  duty  on  the 
property  of  the  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company, 
W.  H.  Boyce,  general  manager,  has  issued  to  them  a 
copy  of  a  pamphlet  called  "Instructions  for  Police."  On 
account  of  the  class  of  workers  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
Brighton,  Pa.,  with  whom  the  conductors  formerly  had 
a  great  deal  of  trouble,  the  railway  company  found  it 
necessary  during  the  past  fifteen  years  to  employ  one 
or  more  police  at  all  times.  The  chief  of  police  acts 
as  inspector  also,  being  on  duty  from  4  p.m.  to  1  a.m. 
In  addition  to  this  man,  who  is  the  only  regular  police- 
man, there  are  other  employees  of  the  organization, 
such  as  dispatchers  and  inspectors,  who  are  sworn  in  as 
special  policemen  with  a  view  of  keeping  down  dis* 
turbances  on  the  cars  and  about  the  property.  These 
men  are  so  empowered  by  law  that  there  is  no  question 
about  their  being  legally  authorized  to  handle  such 
cases  as  may  arise. 

In  order  to  insure  harmony  of  working  conditions 
a  few  general  regulations  were  thought  to  be  necessary, 
and  with  that  purpose  in  view  a  set  of  instructions  were 
prepared  to  increase  the  co-operation  among  the  various 
departments.  There  is  reprinted  in  the  pamphlet  the 
act  relative  to  the  appointment  of  police  for  street  pas- 
senger railways  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. This  says  that  a  street  railway  may  apply  to  the 
Mayor  of  the  city  in  which  the  railway  is  operated  to 
commission  persons  to  act  as  private  policemen  for  the 
railway  company.  All  the  general  rules  and  duties  of 
the  officers  are  outlined  so  that  they  may  know  just  how 
far  their  jurisdiction  extends  and  just  what  to  do  in  any 
circumstances.  The  pamphlet  also  includes  the  laws  on 
arrests  and  warrants,  the  law  on  resisting  an  officer, 
the  law  on  breach  of  peace,  and  an  act  which  deals  par- 
ticularly with  preventing  fraud  against  common  car- 
riers. With  such  a  guide  in  their  work,  it  was  believed 
that  the  police  would  be  better  able  to  perform  their 
duties  with  dispatch  and  the  least  inconvenience  to  all. 

At  one  time  a  certain  element  in  that  community  had 
an  idea  that  it  could,  and  at  times  it  did,  run  things 
to  suit  itself  on  some  of  the  cars  and  in  some  of  the 
parks  of  the  company.  That  condition  has  been  done 
away  with,  however,  but  in  starting  to  break  up  the 
practice  it  was  necessary  at  first  to  have  as  many  as 
seventeen  policemen  on  duty  on  days  of  large  traffic. 
But  now  it  is  known  that  the  policy  of  the  company  is, 
"If  we  don't  get  them  today,  we  will  get  them  tomorrow, 
next  week,  next  month,  or  even  next  year  if  it  is  possible 
to  locate  them."  Consequently  arrests  have  decreased 
each  year  and  have  been  reduced  from  more  than  400 
several  years  ago  to  thirty-five  last  year. 


394 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


The  Field  of  the  Trolley  Bus 

Statistical  Analysis  Indicates  Cost  of  Trolley  Bus  Operation 
Is  Less  than  the  Motor  Bus  or  Safety  Car  on  More 
Than  Eighteen-Minute  Headway 

SOME  comparative  figures  on  cost  of  motor  bus,  trolley 
bus  and  trolley  operation  have  recently  been  compiled 
by  Karl  F.  Simmon  of  the  railway  department  of  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company.  In 
any  consideration  of  the  economical  field  of  the  trolley 
bus,  according  to  Mr.  Simmon,  there  are  many  elements 
that  enter  and  some  of  the  more  important  are  the  fol- 


P 


Operating  Costs  ■ 
trolley  bu5,  motor  bus 

AND  SAFETY  CAR. 


ZO  30  40 

HEADWAY  -  MINUTES 


50 


lowing:  (1)  Existing  transportation  available,  (2)  are 
rural  or  paved  roads  involved,  (3)  density  of  passenger 
traffic,  (4)  condition  of  existing  roads,  (5)  yearly  tax 
burdens  for  buses,  ( G )  labor  and  material  costs,  and 
(7)  power  equipment  available. 

The  taxicab  or  "service  at  call"  vehicles,  the  gas  bus, 
trolley  bus,  safety  car  or  double-truck  car,  all  have  an 
economical  field,  and  in  order  to  determine  roughly  what 
these  are  for  gas  bus,  trolley  bus  and  safety  car  some 
comparative  figures  have  been  compiled.  In  this  com- 
parison it  is  assumed  that  the  motor  bus  and  trolley 
bus  have  the  same  seating  capacity,  namely,  thirty,  and 
that  the  safety  car — which  is  of  the  single-end  type — 
seats  thirty-five.  The  comparison  is  then  shown  in  the 
accompanying  table  and  curves. 

While  many  assumptions  are  involved  in  this  calcula- 

ASSUMPTIONS    MADE   IN7  CALCULATIONS  AND  RELATIVE  COSTS 


Seating  capacity  

Schedule  speed  

First  cost  

Cost  of  paved  city  single  track,  per  mile.. 
Cost  of  paved  city  double  trock,  per  mile. 
Cost  of  rural  improved  single  track,  per 

mile  

Cost  of  rural  improved  double  track,  per 

mile  

Cost  of  200  ft.  siding  

Cost  of  No.  0000  trolley  construction,  per 

mile  

Cost  of  No.  0000  feeder,  per  mile  

Cost  of  operation  (cents  per  car-mile^ : 

Conducting  transportation  

Cost  of  power.  

Gasoline  and  oil  

General  and  miscellaneous  expenses.. . . 

Maintenance  track  and  roadway  

Roadway  tax  

Otner  way  and  structure  expense  

Maintenance  of  car  and  vehicle  

Depreciation;  life  in  years  


Motor 

Trollev 

Single-End 

Bus 

Bus 

Safetj  Car 

30 

30 

35 

10 

10 

10 

$7,000 

$8,oec 

$6,250 

$50,000 

J90.C00 

$30,000 

$54,000 

$3,500 

$5,000 

$3,700 

7.3 


6  0 
4  0 


$610 

7  3 

2.5 

"4'0 

"  i .  0 
I  05 

5.0 


$610 

7.3 

2.5 

"  4.0 
19 

060 
I  50 
12 


tion  and  diagram  the  tendencies  are  self-evident.  An 
analysis  of  the  curves  seems  to  indicate: 

1.  That  the  cost  of  the  gas-driven  motor  bus  does 
not  decrease  materially  as  density  of  service  increases. 

2.  That  if  the  safety  car  tracks  are  laid  on  a  rural  or 
improved  road,  the  safety  car  ceases  to  be  more  econom- 
ical than  the  motor  bus  when  the  headway  is  materially 
increased  beyond  forty  minutes. 

3.  That  the  trolley  bus  or  safety  car  service  is  funda- 
mentally more  economical  than  the  motor  bus  service 
for  frequent  service  due  to  the  cost  of  gasoline  and 
maintenance  of  gas  engine  equipment. 

4.  That  railless  vehicles  show  up  to  advantage,  due 
to  practically  free  use  of  roads,  whereas  rail  vehicles 
must  maintain  both  rails  and  a  portion  of  the  street 
paving  surface. 

5.  That  safety  car  transportation  excluding  paving 
expense  is  more  economical  for  service  where  the  head- 
way is  less  than  seventeen  minutes.  If  paving  burdens 
are  imposed  on  the  vehicle  running  on  rails  its  econom- 
ical field  may  be  materially  reduced. 

Only  actual  trolley  bus  service  will  tell  the  real  story 
as  there  are  many  unknowns  that  cannot  be  evaluated 
at  present. 

Something  New  in  Interurban  Time-Tables 

THE  Fort  Wayne,  Van  Wert  &  Lima  Traction  Com- 
pany, of  which  S.  W.  Greenland  is  general  manager 
for  the  receiver,  has  issued  a  new  form  of  time-table 
for  the  convenience  of  travelers  who  may  desire  to  know 
what  connections  with  other  electric  lines  may  be  made 
at  either  end  of  the  line  named.  This  new  time-table 
folder  presents  in  a  compact  form  the  main-stop  sched- 
ules of  all  other  electric  lines  running  out  of  either 
Fort  Wayne  or  Lima,  the  two  terminal  cities  of  the 
Van  Wert  line.  The  table  occupies  one  side  of  the 
folder,  while  on  the  other  side  is  presented  the  local 
time-table  of  the  Van  Wert  line  and  various  other  gen- 
eral information  about  excess  cash  fares,  class  of  trains, 


L-4 

L 

L 

L 

L 

INDIANA  SERVICE 

L-J 

L 

Dm 

CORPORATION 

Z  "0 

6  00 

5  20 

4  15 

3  00 

1  00 

12  15 

11  00 

9  00 

6  45 

 Ft.  Wayne  *r 

6  32 

*. 

8  35 

10  45 

11  10 

2  20 

4  00 

5  15 

e  52 

7  05 

6  04 

5  20 

3  49 

1  52 

1  18 

11  50 

9  50 

7  40 

 Huntington  

5  30 

6  13 

7  30 

9  40 

10  26 

1  18 

3  08 

4  15 

*  8 

7  46 

6  35 

7  00 

6  06 

4  26 

2  27 

2  03 

12  27 

ID  it. 

8  27 

Wabash   

6  30 

6  16 

8  56 

9  5J 
9  30 

12  35 

2  27 

a  ft 

3  00 

,» 

8  17 

6  40 

4  54 

2  53 

2  40 

12  53 

10  53 

9  00 

 Peru  

6  15 

8  25 

12  02 

2  00 

11  55 

9  30 

7  55 

5  55 

3  55 

1  55 

11  55 

Indiana rmlifi .  . .  u 

S  00 

7  00 

9  00 

11  00 

.75 

9  05 

7  45 

7  45 

5  43 

3  45 

1  38 

11  45 
1  20 

9  a: 

L^nansnnrt 

5  30 

7  35 

8  41 

11  16 

1  12 

12  00 

9  20 

9  20 

7  10 

5  20 

3  00 

11  10 

 Lafiyetle  Li 

6  00 

7  20 

9  40 

11  50 

L 

L 

L 

L 

L-4 

L 

L 

L 

L 

4  00 

3  00 

2  00 

1  00 

12  00 

10  00 

9  00 

8  05 

7  00 

6  30 

 Ft.  Wavne  ir 

e  46 

7  58 

8  57 

9  50 

11  50 

1  50 

3  03 

-  55 

4  05 

2  55 

2  05 

12  55  10  55 

10  00 

8  65 
10  30 

8  05 

7  10 

_.:..__e:urfion..'..._.L. 

5  25 

7  05 

7  56 

8  55 

10  55 

12  55 

1  55 

G  30 

5  55 

4  30 

5  15 

3  55 

2  30'  1230 

9  55 

8  30 

 MUFKlB  It 

5  00 

7  20 

9  20 
8  32 

11  20 

7  15 

3  15 

1  15 

11  15 

9  00 

flfirti-r  Am 

6  35 

10  35 

6  45 

4  45 

2  45 

12  45 

10  20 

4  45 

7  00 

9  00 

FT.  WAVNE  AND 

DECATUR  TRACTION 

11  05 

9  00 

5  30 

3  00 

1  DO 

11  00 

9  00 

7  00 

....Ft.  Wayne  lr 

e  45 

8  57 

10  57 

12  67 

2  57 

4  57 

7  55 

10  55 

12  00 

9  55 

6  30 

3  57 

1  57 

11  57 

9  57 

7  57 

.Decatur  U 

6  45 

8  00 

10  00 

12  00 

2  00 

4  00 

7  00 

10  00 

FT. WAYNE  A  NORTH- 

WESTERN  RY.  CO. 

5  49 

4  29 

3  29 

2  19 

1  09 

11  59 

10  49 

9  39 

8  29 

7  09 

 Ft  Wayne... ..Ar 

7  29 

9  19 

10  29 

11  39 

12  49 

1  59 

3  09 

4  (9 

C  50 

5  40 

4  30 

3  20 

2  10 

1  00 

11  50110  40 

9  30 

8  11 

 Garreil  

6  30 

8  20 

0  30 

10  40 

11  50 

1  OC 

2  10)  £  20 

6  05 

4  65 

3  43 

2  35 

1  25 

12  15 

11  05 

9  65 

8  35 

...KendalMlle  l< 

C  00 

7  45 

9  05 

10  15 

11  25 

12  35 

1  45. 

x  ... 

7  2t 

6  It) 

5  00 

3  50 

2  40 

1  30 

12  20 

11  10 

10  00 

8  40 

 Waterloo  L» 

5  50 

7  40 

9  00 

10  10 

11  20 

12  30 

1  40 

13 

THE  OHIO  ELECTRIC 

RAILWAY 

L 

L 

L 

L 

L 

L 

L 

L 

7  30 

5  30 

3  35 

2  33 

1  35 

11  35 

10  00 

9  35 

7  25 

e  w 

6  35 

8  45 

10  25 

11  45 

12  25 

2  25 

3  45 

OS 

B  13 

6  19 

4  14 

3  22 

2  14 

12  If 

10  51 

10  16 

8  06 

e  47 

 Ottawa  

5  42 

7  50 

10  51 

11  39 

1  39 

2  57 

3  39 

■:  ?5 

6  32 

4  26 

3  3fi 

:  2  26 

12  ?' 

11  Of  10  28 

8  18 

7  OC 

 Leiosic  

5  29 

7  37 

9  27 

10  37 

11  27 

1  27 

2  46 

-j  27 

S  45 

6  52  4  43 

3^57 

2  46 

12  37 

11  27 

10  47 

8  37 

7  24 

 Deshler  

5  10 

7  16 

9  10 

10  17 

11  10 

1  10 

2  23 

3  10 

10  CO 

e  05 

5  50 

&  10 

1  3  50 

1  52 

12  50 

11  52 

9  45 

8  45 

6  00 

8  00 

9  00 

10  00 

12  00 

1  05 

.               '      —  .  

1    .     1    "  1    .    J  . 

Central  Portion  of  Time-Table  Showing  Connections 
with  Other  Electric  Lines 

how  to  stop  a  car  at  night,  baggage  service,  mileage 
books,  interline  tickets,  children's  fares,  requirements 
for  special  cars,  etc. 

This  folder  eliminates  the  difficulty  experienced  by 
many  people  desiring  to  patronize  electric  lines  in  de- 
termining the  connections  that  can  be  made. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


395 


Tendency  in  Train  Operation 


An  Appreciable  Rise  in  Motor  Temperature  Follows  the  Attachment  of  a  Trailer  to  a  Motor  Car — Operat- 
ing Expenses  Should  Be  Less  with  Multiple-Unit  Trains  Than  with  Motor  Car  and  Trailer 
and  the  Investment  Is  Often  Less  When  Necessary  Track  Changes  Are  Considered 

By  G.  M.  Woods 

General  Engineering  Department,  Westing-house  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company 


,.:,„,,,  ... 


|:s|: 


Motor  and  Trailer  Operation  in  Brooklyn 


THE  TENDENCY  in  street  railway  practice  is 
toward  train  operation  for  heavy  traffic.  Sev- 
eral operators  who  heretofore  have  consistently 
favored  single-car  operation  now  feel  that  the  time 
has  come  when  train  operation  is  the  only  solution  to 
their  traffic  problems.  Undoubtedly  a  reduction  in  the 
number  of  units  reduces  the  congestion,  and  a  two- 
car  train  will  cross  a  street  intersection  just  as  quickly 
as  a  single  unit.  The  question  of  the  relative  merits 
of  multiple-unit  trains  and  motor  car  and  trailer 
trains  is  of  primary  importance. 

The  relative  advantages  of  the  two  systems  have 
been  discussed  at  various  times,  but  at  present  the 
problem  in  some  respects  must  be  considered  in  a  new 
light.  The  street  railways  have  just  passed  through 
a  period  of  "starvation."  Their  equipment  and  prop- 
erty as  a  whole  have  deteriorated  in  many  instances 
and  must  be  revamped  similar  to  many  steam  roads. 
This  period  has  also  had  favorable  aspects,  for  it  has 
resulted  in  a  better  understanding  on  the  part  of  the 
public,  increased  fares,  and  a  thorough  appreciation  of 
the  commercial  side  of  the  street  railway  business. 
The  rehabilitation  of  the  railways  will  take  p'.ace  under 
new  conditions  and  the  relative  values  of  the  factors 
entering  into  the  choice  of  equipment  will  be  changed. 
The  public  will  be  given  more  thought  in  the  purchase 
of  new  equipment,  and  cars  of  good  riding  qualities 
and  pleasing  appearance  will  be  bought.  The  cars  must 
also  be  of  such  type  that  adequate  service  can  be  fur- 
nished at  minimum  operating  expense  during  all  hours 
of  the  day.  The  public,  in  return  for  the  increased 
fare  it  is  paying,  expects  new  equipment  and  better 


service.  At  the  same  time  the  standards  of  economy 
which  have  been  set  up  must  be  maintained. 

In  the  past  the  purchase  of  new  equipment  for  train 
operation  has  been  greatly  influenced  by  the  fact  that 
in  many  cases  cars  with  motors  large  enough  to  haul 
trailers  a  few  hours  per  day  were  already  owned.  The 
motors  were  of  the  non-ventilated  type,  and  while  tem- 
peratures were  frequently  higher  than  desirable,  the 
large  copper  section  of  the  conductors  and  the  high 
thermal  capacity  permitted  of  overloads  for  short 
periods  without  excessive  motor  maintenance.  The 
motors  of  this  class  now  available  on  most  properties 
will  soon  be  obsolete  and  will  be  replaced  by  ventilated 
motors  with  suitable  capacity  for  the  all-day  service, 
but  not  with  sufficient  capacity  to  haul  a  trailer  during 
the  most  severe  traffic  conditions  of  the  day.  It  is 
obviously  incorrect  to  purchase  new  trail  cars  to  be 
hauled  by  electrical  equipment  which  has  only  a  few 
more  years  of  useful  life  and  which  can  be  replaced 
only  at  excessive  first  cost. 

Comparison  of  Motor  Temperatures 

The  graphs  of  temperature  rise  show  at  A  the  tem- 
perature rise  of  an  inclosed  motor  used  in  single-car 
operation.  At  the  start  of  the  day's  run  the  motor 
temperature  was  slightly  above  air  temperature  on 
account  of  its  not  having  cooled  completely  after  the 
service  of  the  preceding  day.  The  temperature  gradu- 
ally increased  until  the  rise  reached  62  deg.  C.  and 
remained  fairly  constant  until  the  car  was  taken  out 
of  service. 

Graph  B  shows  the  temperature  rise  of  the  same 


396 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


motor  when  the  car  hauled  a  trailer  on  another  route 
for  one  trip  of  one  and  one-half  hours  in  the  morning 
and  for  one  and  three-quarter  hours  in  the  evening. 

The  only  effect  of  the  morning  trailer  hauling  was  to 
cause  the  motor  temperature  to  rise  more  rapidly  than 
if  the  previous  load  had  been  continued,  but  if  the 
trailer  had  been  hauled  for  two  trips,  or  three  hours, 
the  temperature  rise  would  have  nearly  reached  60  deg. 
C.  When  the  trailer  was  added  in  the  afternoon  the 
temperature  rise  increased  to  80  deg.  C.  Attention  is 
called  to  the  fact  that  the  trailer  hauling  resulted 
in  a  temperature  rise  18  deg.  C.  higher  than  the  opera- 
tion without  trailer,  although  the  all-day  service  in  both 
cases  gave  the  same  root  mean  square  current  value. 
When  the  trailer  was  detached  the  service  became  much 
easier  and  the  temperature  of  the  motor  decreased 
rapidly.  On  the  test  without  trailer  operation  the  serv- 
ice remained  at  nearly  the  same  severity  until  the  last 
trip,  which  was  the  most  severe  of  the  day. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  addition  of  a  trailer  greatly 


100 


i 

?Trcr// 

?r  ha 

uled 

Tt 

> 

\ 

t 

X 

— <; 

B 

>: 

V 

/ 

\\ 

/ 

V 

Trails 

r  hauled 

\ 

V 

i/f 

A  =  Non-ventilated  motor, single  car  operations 
B=Non-         >•         »    ,  frailer  operation 
C'Seir         ■■              ,  » 

v_- 

ft 

If 
1 

\ 

> 

1 

Kii-aay  n.//o.  currenr ,  amp. 

V— 

N 

°0  4  8  12  16  20 

Hours  from  Beginning  of  Days  Run 

Temperature  Curve  of  Ventilated  and  Non-Ventilated 
Motors  with  and  Without  Trailer 


increases  the  loads  imposed  on  a  motor  in  any  given 
service.  In  the  example  chosen  a  route  on  which  single 
cars  were  normally  operated  and  another  route  on 
which  trailers  were  operated,  both  having  the  same 
all-day  route  mean  square  current,  were  taken  so  as  to 
illustrate  the  higher  temperatures  reached  when  trailers 
are  hauled.  It  is  believed  that  the  full  effect  of  these 
short-time  overloads  is  not  usually  appreciated. 

Graph  C  shows  the  performance,  with  trailer  opera- 
tion, of  a  ventilated  motor  of  such  capacity  that  if 
operated  in  the  service  without  trailer,  the  maximum 
temperature  rise  would  be  the  same  as  that  of  the 
non-ventilated  motor.  The  increase  of  temperature 
was  more  rapid  at  the  beginning  of  the  day  than  for 
the  non-ventilated  motor.  When  the  trailer  was  added 
the  rate  of  increase  was  very  nearly  the  same  as  that 
for  the  non-ventilated  motor  because  the  temperature 
was  nearly  15  deg.  C.  higher  and  therefore  more  heat 
was  radiated  and  the  load  imposed  was  not  much  in 
excess  of  the  motor's  continuous  rating.  At  the  end  of 
the  trailer  operation  the  ventilated  motor  was  still 
approximately  15  deg.  C.  hotter  than  the  non-ventilated 
motor.  After  the  trailer  was  detached  the  temperature 
of  the  motor  increased  slowly  until  a  constant  tempera- 
ture, practically  the  same  as  that  of  the  non-ventilated 
motor,  was  reached.  At  the  end  of  the  one  and  three- 
quarter  hours'  trailer  hauling  in  the  afternoon,  the 


temperature  rise  was  96  deg.  C,  which  is  34  deg.  higher 
than  the  temperature  rise  would  have  been  in  the 
service  without  trailer,  although  the  average  all-day 
service  was  of  the  same  severity. 

Short-Time  Loads  Are  Important  Factors 

Short-time  overloads,  such  as  those  caused  by  run- 
ning on  a  grade  with  cars  standing  full  of  passengers, 
produce  temperature  rises  considerably  in  excess  of 
those  shown  on  the  curve.  Hence,  it  is  evident  that 
short-time  loads  are  very  important  factors  in  the 
application  of  the  ventilated  motor.  Because  of  the 
more  rapid  rise  of  temperature  the  addition  of  a  trailer 
requires  a  greater  increase  in  motor  capacity  with  the 
ventilated  than  with  the  non-ventilated  motor. 

After  the  trailer  is  detached,  the  temperature  of 
the  ventilated  motor  decreases  rapidly  because  of  the 
smaller  mass  of  metal  and  the  action  of  the  ventilating 
fan.  The  ventilated  motor  has  such  marked  advan- 
tages in  weight  and  cost  that  its  continued  use  is 
assured.  It  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  that  trailer  oper- 
ation not  only  imposes  an  additional  load  on  the  motor 
when  the  stops  are  most  frequent  and  operating  condi- 
tions most  severe,  but  also,  by  the  reduction  in  speed 
it  decreases  the  amount  of  air  which  passes  through 
the  motor  with  a  resulting  decrease  in  service  capacity 
for  this  operation. 

A  study  of  the  equipment  required  to  provide  service 
on  an  important  city  line  recently  disclosed  the  interest- 
ing facts  that  not  only  were  the  operating  expenses 
less  for  multiple-unit  cars  than  for  motor  cars  and 
trailers,  but  the  initial  investment  was  also  less.  The 
chief  savings  were  in  power,  labor  and  maintenance. 
The  power  saving  is  due  to  the  use  of  a  lighter  car 
with  equipment  exactly  suited  to  the  service  to  be  per- 
formed. When  a  motor  car  is  to  haul  a  trailer  a  few 
hours  per  day,  it  is  unnecessarily  heavy  and  the  motors 
are  of  uneconomically  high  capacity  and  speed  for 
single-car  operation. 

When  a  trailer  is  coupled  to  a  motor  car,  even  where 
there  are  no  grades,  the  rate  of  acceleration  is  reduced, 
due  to  only  part  of  the  weight  of  the  train  being  on 
the  axles  in  which  motors  are  mounted.  This  reduced 
rate  of  acceleration  takes  place  at  the  time  when  speed 
and  quick  "get  away"  are  most  important  in  order  to 
keep  moving  under  congested  traffic  conditions.  The 
reduction  in  schedule  speed  requires  more  cars  to  main- 
tain the  necessary  headway  and  hence  increases  the  cost 
of  platform  labor.  On  some  railway  properties  where 
trailers  are  hauled,  the  nominal  running  time  is  kept 
the  same  as  for  single-car,  non-rush  operation  and  a 
considerable  increase  in  layover  time  is  allowed.  This 
scheme  has  certain  marked  advantages,  but  it  should 
not  be  permitted  to  obscure  the  fact  that  the  car-hours 
are  actually  increased. 

The  maintenance  of  cars  exclusive  of  electrical  equip- 
ment should  be  slightly  less  for  multiple-unit  than  for 
trailer  operation,  because  the  shocks  are  less  severe. 
In  the  particular  railway  service  mentioned,  the  motor 
car  mileage  was  27  per  cent  greater  for  the  multiple- 
unit  cars,  but  the  motor  weight  was  approximately 
one-half  that  for  the  cars  intended  for  hauling  trailers. 
The  maintenance  of  motors  per  car-mile  for  the  multiple- 
unit  cars  should,  therefore,  be  from  65  to  75  per  cent 
of  that  for  the  other  cars.  The  result  is  that  the 
maintenance  of  the  multiple-unit  electrical  equipments 
was  approximately  90  per  cent  of  the  electrical  equip- 
ments for  trailer  hauling. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


397 


Boston  Car  Equipped  for  Three-Car,  Multiple-Unit 
Train  Operation 

When  trouble  occurs  on  a  motor  car  hauling  a  trailer, 
both  cars  are  tied  up,  whereas  if  trouble  occurs  on  one 
car  of  a  two-car  train,  only  one  is  affected.  When 
multiple-unit  operation  is  employed,  the  individual  units 
can  be  used  interchangeably,  and  thus  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  cars  in  the  barn  during  non-rush  hours.  The 
percentage  of  multiple-unit  motor  cars  available  for 
minor  repairs  and  inspection  is,  therefore,  greater  than 
the  percentage  of  motor  cars  available  where  trailers 
are  hauled.  The  result  is  that  a  less  percentage  of 
spares  need  be  provided  for  multiple-unit  operation  than 
for  trailer  operation,  and  while  the  cost  of  a  single 
motor  car  and  trailer  may  be  less  than  that  of  two 
motor  cars  suitable  for  multiple-unit  operation,  the 
total  investment  is  frequently  greater.  Some  form  of 
switching  equipment  is  usually  required  for  handling 
trailers,  and  even  where  an  old  passenger  or  work  car 
is  used  its  value  is  properly  chargeable  to  the  invest- 
ment for  rolling  stock.  The  switching  of  trailers  also 
increases  the  crew  expense. 

In  recent  years  the  general  use  of  low-floor  cars  with 
24-in.  and  26-in.  wheels  makes  it  difficult  to  provide 
sufficient  motor  capacity  to  haul  trailers  under  severe 
traffic  conditions  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  satisfac- 
tory gears  and  clearances  under  the  motor  and  gear 
case.  Control  equipment  more  suitable  for  multiple- 
unit  operation  and  for  mounting  under  low-floor  cars 


Multiple-Unit  Train  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway 
&  Light  Company 

or  in  cabinets  in  the  cars  is  available  for  all  modern 
cars. 

There  are  a  number  of  lines  on  which  trailers  cannot 
be  used  satisfactorily,  due  to  severe  grades  or  snow 
conditions  during  the  winter  months.  Most  passengers 
have  the  feeling  that  trailers  are  unsafe  and  this  feel- 
ing is  enhanced  by  the  occasional  running  away  of 
trailers  on  grades.  Even  on  level  lines  there  is  more 
jerking  in  stopping  and  starting  a  trailer  than  on  a 
motor  car  and  passengers  generally  prefer  the  motor 
car. 

In  the  past  there  have  been  a  number  of  electric  rail- 
way lines  on  which  it  was  generally  agreed  that 
multiple-unit  operation  was  superior  in  many  ways  to 
trailer  operation.  There  has  been  the  impression  in 
some  quarters  that,  where  physically  possible,  trailer 
operation  is  more  economical  than  multiple-unit  opera- 
tion and  that  multiple-unit  operation  has  only  a  certain 
inherent  flexibility  which  cannot  be  obtained  with  trail- 
ers. If  the  comparison  is  made  on  a  correct  basis  at 
the  present  time,  the  cost  of  multiple-unit  operation 
rarely  will  be  found  to  exceed  that  of  trailer  operation. 
Railway  operators  planning  the  purchase  of  new  equip- 
ment for  train  operation  will  do  well  to  investigate 
thoroughly  the  relative  advantages  of  trailers  and 
multiple-unit  trains  under  their  particular  conditions 
before  deciding  on  the  type  of  equipment. 


Two-Car  Train,  Charleston  Consolidated  Railway.    Cars  Equipped  with  HL  Control  for  Multiple-Unit 

Operation  in  Navy  Yard  Service 


398 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Perpetual  Inventory  as  a  Part  of 
Accountants'  Records 

Method  of  Compiling  and  Maintaining  Inventory — Typical 
Record  Forms — Arguments  For  and  Against  Other 
Methods — Co-operative  Solutions  by  Engineer- 
ing and  Accounting  Departments 

By  I.  A.  May,  C.P.A. 

Comptroller  the  Connecticut  Company 

THE  perpetual  inventory  has  been  discussed  at  length 
by  accountants  and  engineers  during  the  past  few 
years  and  all  agree  as  to  its  value  in  the  railway 
industry.  But  as  to  the  method  to  be  used  in  compil- 
ing and  maintaining  the  inventory  there  is  no  such 
universal  agreement.  This  is  the  question  that  is  dis- 
turbing and  results  in  bringing  out  different  ideas. 

Actually,  perpetual  inventory  is  nothing  more  than 
a  detailed  history  of  the  construction  of  the  several 
parts  of  the  plant.  It  seems  to  be  a  dream  to  certain 
engineers,  but  it  is  merely  an  extension  of  the  con- 
struction records  already  found  in  the  accounting  de- 
partment of  every  street  railway  company. 

If  the  accounting  department  is  unable  to  answer 
such  questions  as,  "What  did  a  certain  power  house, 
transmission  line  or  distribution  system  cost?  What 
is  the  value  of  this  portion  of  track  or  the  investment 
in  that  type  of  car?"  then  the  accounting  department 
system  is  not  complete  or  has  not  been  expanded  suf- 
ficiently. With  a  proper  system  the  accounting  depart- 
ment should  be  able  to  give  all  such  information  down 
to  the  details  of  the  cost  of  each  unit  in  a  power  house 
from  foundation  to  smokestack. 

Adequate  cost  and  construction  records  are  essential 
to  the  intelligent  operation  of  any  railway  system.  Not 
only  are  they  useful  and  necessary  in  the  company's 


THE  CONNECTICUT  COMPANY 

  192, — 

ftnnrnnriatinii  No                    1  ""fj^h      '  '"r-   Mafn  1  !nf                   SPtf'«g»  T>lrttrl 

EUlmW. 

Low**! 

Month 

Expwotd 

M 

M 

BOAD 

Form  to  Be  Filled  Out  Upon  Completion  of  Work 


operation  but,  if  well  kept,  they  may,  as  was  pointed 
out  editorially  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  June 
11,  1921,  page  1067,  be  the  means  of  a  decided  money 
saving  in  the  event  of  civil,  regulatory  or  appraisal 

cases. 

The  "Authorization"  or  the  "Authority  for  Expendi- 
tures" systems,  if  complete,  in  any  accounting  depart- 
ment show  the  actual  expenditures  on  construction  work 
or  additions.  The  accompanying  Form  C  601,  as  used 
by  the  Connecticut  Company,  is  typical.  Also,  when  any 
work  has  been  completed  a  properly  designed  form  can 
be  filled  out  and  forwarded  to  the  engineer  under  whose 
direction  the  work  was  done.  A  typical  form  of  this 
type  is  shown  as  Form  C  690. 

The  engineer  in  charge  can  then  show  the  correct 
distribution  of  costs  in  the  blank  columns  and  return 
the  form  to  the  comptroller's  office  for  final  adjustment, 
and  the  form  when  complete  reflects  the  exact  cost  of 
the  job  and  can  be  filed  for  reference.  Unit  costs  com- 
puted from  such  forms,  with  due  allowance  for  market 
and  local  conditions,  afford  valuable  data  for  making 


1^1  EXPENDITURES  UNDER  tPPHOPBUTIONS. 

AUTHORIZATION  No    .   LOCATION 

 "  NAME  CHARACTER  OF  WORK  


DIVISION 

PROPERTY  OF  

 ^  AMOUNT  AUTHORIZED,  $  

DAT!  APPROVED  ENGINEER  IN  CHARGE   SUPERINTENDENT 


ol 

NAME 

PARTICULARS 

AMOUNT 

sEnvrd 

SOI 

Right 
of  Way 
302 

304  * 

Ballwt 
SOS 

Ties 
306 

_ 

AUTHORIZATION  NO 

Supplemental 

TOTAL 
Amount 

Supplemental 

TOTAL 

Supplemental 

TOTAL 
Amount 

Operallnfl  Expenses 

Additions  and  Betterments 

C.  R.  &  L.  Co. 

TOTAL 

CLASSIFICATION 

FINAL  DISTRIBUTION 

SUNDRIES 

Operating 
Expenses 

Balance 
AkalLihle 

Amount 

Account 

s  

i  

j  - 

-1  1 

1 

L... 

J  — 

Typical  Form  Used  to  Authorize  Expenditures.    Ixiwer  Portion  Shows  the  Reverse  of  the  Right  Half  of  the  Upper  Portion 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


399 


estimates  on  contemplated  projects  of  a  similar  char- 
acter. 

From  such  construction  forms  the  material  for  the 
perpetual  inventory  is  readily  obtained  by  any  of  sev- 
eral methods.  An  extra  clerk  could  be  employed  to 
write  up  what  might  be  called  the  construction  ledger. 
Another  way  would  be  to  keep  it  on  a  card  index  basis. 

A  proper  co-operation  between  the  engineering  and 
accounting  departments  would  then  obtain  a  perpetual 
inventory  by  a  relatively  simple  extension  to  existing 
practice  in  each  of  the  departments.  The  engineering 
office  should  be  in  possession  of  all  maps,  blueprints, 
mileage  charts,  detailed  unit  costs  of  construction  and 
the  accounting  office  should  be  in  possession  of  all  ledger 
figures,  construction  records  and  cost  books. 

In  an  article  by  E.  A.  W.  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  May  14,  1921,  page  893,  it  is  suggested 
that  the  engineering  office  prepare  all  detailed  esti- 
mates (without  costs)  and  then  forward  them  to  the 
accounting  office  to  be  checked  and  compared  with 
similar  work  and  that  the  accounting  office  then  should 
make  up  the  cost  data  on  the  estimates  from  data  in 
its  files.  The  writer  does  not  agree  to  this  procedure, 
but  thinks  that  the  engineering  office  should  compile 
the  complete  estimates  and  then  submit  them  to  the 
accounting  office  for  checking  and  suggestions,  after 
which  they  should  be  placed  in  final  shape  by  the  engi- 
neering office  and  referred  to  the  executive  officers  of 
the  company  for  approval. 

A  Perpetual  Inventory  Can  Be  Obtained 
from  Existing  Departments 

To  return  to  the  perpetual  inventory,  some  have  sug- 
gested that  a  separate  department  be  created  to  handle 
the  work.  The  writer  does  not  agree  with  such  a  sug- 
gestion for  several  reasons : 

1.  Since  there  are  a  certain  number  of  fundamental 
departments  inherent  in  any  railway  organization  and 
as  the  engineering  and  accounting  departments  are  in 
this  category,  no  special  departments  should  be  estab- 
lished whose  functions  conflict  with  or  overlap  those  of 
properly  functioning  fundamental  departments. 

2.  A  separate  inventory  department  would  be  com- 
pelled to  call  upon  the  engineering  and  accounting  de- 
partments continually  for  data.  It  would  be  compelled 
to  check  its  figures  with  the  ledger  accounts  of  the 
accounting  department.  These  conditions  would  result 
in  duplication,  lost  motion  and  inefficiency. 

3.  The  accounting  department  has  the  necessary 
office  equipment  and  clerical  staff  already  in  operation 
and  any  duplication  of  investment  in  such  items  would 
not  be  warranted,  particularly  as  such  a  department 
would  need  to  operate  only  a  portion  of  the  time.  , 

4.  If  the  accounting  department  is  functioning  prop- 
erly any  question  of  cost  regarding  any  portion  of  the 
plant  can  be  answered. 

5.  The  men  in  such  a  department  would  not  be  in 
close  touch  with  actual  construction  or  cost  conditions. 
The  engineer  and  accountant,  inherently,  are  in  posi- 
tions where  intimate  relations  with  the  job  are  main- 
tained. 

The  perpetual  inventory  can  be  easily  obtained  by 
properly  co-ordinating  existing  departments  in  a  rail- 
way organization  and,  in  view  of  its  usefulness,  should 
be  a  feature  of  all  railway  accounting  systems.  The 
costs  involved  in  its  maintenance  are  of  little  magni- 
tude compared  to  the  present  and  potential  economies 
made  possible  by  having  it  available. 


Signal  System  for  Expediting  the 
Starting  of  Trains 

TO  EXPEDITE  the  starting  of  trains  a  new  system 
of  communication  has  just  been  placed  in  opera- 
tion at  the  Long  Island  Railroad's  Flatbush  Avenue 
Station  in  Brooklyn. 

By  the  installation  of  an  electrically  controlled  mecha- 
nism provision  has  been  made  for  prompt  communica- 
tion between  the  gatemen  on  both  upper  and  lower  levels 
and  train  conductors.  This  is  accomplished  by  means  of 
boxes  located  on  each  platform,  called  "conductor's  sta- 
tions," which  are  equipped  with  "communicating  but- 
tons" and  colored  signal  lights,  connecting  with  similar 
apparatus  found  at  train  gates  and  in  the  signal  tower. 

The  new  system  operates  as  follows:  Ten  minutes 
before  a  train  is  scheduled  to  leave,  or  as  soon  as  it  is 
ready  for  occupancy,  the  conductor  goes  to  the  "con- 
ductor's station"  nearest  the  head  end  of  the  train, 
opens  the  locked  box,  then  presses  buttons  which  flash 
a  white  light  at  the  gates  on  the  upper  and  lower  levels 
of  the  terminal,  thereby  notifying  gatemen  that  the 
train  is  ready  to  receive  passengers  and  indicating  that 
the  gates  may  be  opened. 

One  minute  before  leaving  time  the  gatemen  at  the 
upper  and  lower  levels  press  a  button  on  the  gatepost 
which  illuminates  red  lights  at  the  "conductor's  sta- 
tion." The  conductor  then  pulls  out  the  buttons  under 
these  red  lights,  which  indicates  to  the  gatemen  that 
their  signals  had  been  received,  and  immediately  there- 
after the  conductor  pushes  in  a  button  that  indicates  to 
the  towerman  at  "F.  T."  tower  (which  tower  controls 
all  train  movements  in  and  out  of  the  Flatbush  Avenue 
Terminal)  that  the  train  is  ready  to  proceed.  The 
towerman  acknowledges  this  information  by  pushing  a 
button  which  illuminates  a  green  light  at  the  "conduc- 
tor's station,"  whereupon  the  conductor  pulls  out  the 
button  under  the  green  light,  closes  and  locks  the  "sta- 
tion" and,  after  ascertaining  that  all  passengers  are 
loaded,  gives  the  motorman  the  signal  to  proceed. 

In  order  to  take  care  of  the  passengers  using  the 
gate  on  the  subway  level,  as  well  as  those  using  the 
entrances  on  the  upper  and  lower  levels,  three  "com- 
municating buttons"  have  been  installed  on  the  south 
side  of  Platform  No.  1.  This  "conductor's  station"  is 
operated  in  the  same  manner  as  the  "stations"  on  other 
platforms,  with  the  exception  that  communication  is 
effected  with  three  gatemen  instead  of  two. 

The  railroad  management  expects  that  this  new  sys- 
tem will  greatly  facilitate  the  handling  of  passenger 
trains  at  the  Flatbush  Avenue  Terminal. 


Lighting  London  Subway  Connections 

AN  INTERESTING  development  in  the  lighting  of 
l  subways  is  to  be  seen  at  the  Charing  Cross  under- 
ground station  in  London,  where  the  great  increase  in 
traffic  during  the  last  few  years  has  necessitated  the 
addition  of  several  new  passages,  connecting  the  under- 
ground and  the  various  tube  railways.  The  lighting 
is  effected  by  small  lamps  placed  in  recesses  in  the 
side  walls. 

The  border  of  the  recesses  carrying  the  lamps  is 
extended  somewhat  so  as  completely  to  screen  the 
filament  from  the  view  of  the  passengers.  The  light 
is  well  diffused  by  the  surrounding  white  walls  of 
the  passage  and  the  method  of  screening  the  filaments 
seems  to  have  a  distinct  advantage  for  this  class  of 
work. 


400 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Baltimore's  New  Type  Safety  Cars 

Wider  Door  Opening,  Special  Seating   Arrangement  and 
Wider  Aisle  Than  Standard  Safety  Cars  Are  Some 
Features  That  Give  Very  Satisfactory  Results 

By  L.  H.  Palmer 

Assistant  to  President,  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md. 

BRIEF  mention  was  made  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  May  7,  1921,  page  881,  of  the  purchase 
of  ten  one-man  ears  by  the  United  Railways  &  Electric 
Company  of  Baltimore,  and  the  issue  for  July  31,  1920, 
described  the  initial  operation  of  thirty-three  so-called 
standard  one-man  cars  on  one  of  the  company's  heavy 
transfer  lines.  These  latter  cars  have  been  in  service 
since  July  1,  1920.  After  these  cars  had  been  in 
operation  a  short  time  it  was  found  that,  due  to  the 
heavy  riding  and  particularly  to  the  heavy  interchange 
of  passengers  (because  this  line  intersects  most  of  the 
main  trunk  lines  of  the  system  and  acts  as  a  belt  line), 
the  movement  of  the  cars  was  delayed  because  of  the 
single  narrow  door  which  permitted  only  one  passenger 
to  alight  from  or  board  the  car  at  a  time.  One  of  the 
principal  criticisms  of  the  public  in  connection  with  the 
use  of  these  cars  was  caused  by  this  feature.  The 
fact  that  passengers  tended  to  congregate  around  the 
front  door  aggravated  the  situation.  This  latter  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  in  many  cases  the  passengers  were 
riding  only  a  few  blocks,  owing  to  the  character  of 
the  route  traffic. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions  and  the  continued 
study  of  the  problem  by  the  company's  engineers  when 
it  was  decided  to  purchase  additional  equipment  for 
another  line,  in  the  early  part  of  1921,  it  was  deter- 
mined that  we  would  go  to  a  car  having  a  wider  door 
opening  which  would  permit  of  separate  exit  and 
entrance.  Specifications  were  accordingly  drawn  up 
with  this  idea  in  view,  and  the  new  car  embodied  these 
improved  passenger  interchange  facilities.  By  refer- 
ence to  the  floor  plan  and  photographs  shown  in  accom- 
panying illustrations  a  clearer  understanding  of  the 
changes  in  the  design  of  this  car  from  the  so-called 
standard  will  be  obtained. 

In  addition  to  the  wider  door  opening,  a  change  in 
the  arrangement  of  seats  at  each  end  of  the  car  to 
give  more  standing  room  was  worked  out.    In  order 


Double-Entrance  Safety  Car  in  Service 


that  the  transverse  seats  might  be  kept  opposite  each 
other,  and  in  order  to  obtain  the  maximum  seating 
capacity,  the  longitudinal  seats  at  the  ends  of  the  car 
body  are  not  of  the  same  length,  but  so  far  it  is  found 
that  the  somewhat  shorter  well  at  the  No.  2  end  of 
the  car  works  out  almost  as  satisfactorily  as  the  longer 
one  at  the  No.  1  end.  The  car  is  4  in.  wider  than  the 
standard  car  and  this  additional  width  has  gone  into 
the  aisle,  which  is  another  feature  that  has  greatly 
facilitated  the  better  movement  of  passengers  and  con- 
tributed to  their  comfort.  The  present  car  is  30  ft. 
1  in.  long,  that  is  241-in.  longer  over  bumpers  than 
the  older  design,  and  seats  thirty-three  passengers  as 
compared  with  thirty-two  on  the  other  car. 

Appreciating  the  desirability  of  maintaining  the 
principle  of  standardization  as  much  as  possible,  in 
practically  all  respects  except  those  relating  to  facilities 
for  passenger  interchange,  the  design  of  the  standard 
safety  car  has  been  retained,  but  the  improvements 
referred  to  and  which  are  clearly  indicated  on  the 
floor  plan  and  photographs  shown  herein  have  mate- 
rially increased  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  this 
type  of  car,  and  the  results  of  practically  a  month's 
operation  have  entirely  satisfied  the  company  that  the 
present  design  is  an  improvement  over  the  old  one, 
and  that  the  arguments  which  have  been  advanced  in 
connection  with  recent  discussion  and  correspondence 


At  Left,  the  Wide  Aisle  Gives  Free  Movement  of  Passengers.    At  Right,  Door  and  Step  Arrangement 


September  10,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


401 


30'-/"over  bumpers 


'x  164 


fl6V4v^0ff-  —  2-7' ■ 


Floor  Plan  of  Baltimore  One-Man  Car 


in  the  technical  press  on  this  subject  are  entirely  justi- 
fied. With  the  changes  outlined,  moreover,  the  increase 
in  weight  of  the  car,  as  shown  on  our  own  scales, 
is  but  450  lb.  the  new  car  weighing  17,350  lb.  as 
compared  with  16,900  lb.  for  the  older  type. 

The  cars  are  equipped  with  Westinghouse  DH-16 
compressors  and  S-12  governors,  and  two  Westinghouse 
508  motors  with  K-63  double-end  control.  Peacock  style 
G  hand  brakes  were  used.  The  brakes  on  the  old  cars 
were  not  efficient  and  had  to  be  redesigned,  and  the 
experience  gained  in  this  regard  was  used  in  installing 
an  adequate  hand  brake  on  the  new  cars,  with  rod 
connections  from  the  brake  staff  to  the  brake  beams, 
instead  of  cables.  The  Brill  standard  safety  car  trucks 
79 — El  with  friction  bearing  were  used. 

These  cars  were  put  in  operation  on  the  Fremont 
Avenue  line  the  first  of  August,  displacing  ten  of  the 
older  type,  and  are  operating  in  daily  service  with  the 
remainder  of  the  older  cars.  Results  to  date  have  been 
exceedingly  satisfactory,  and  have  fully  justified  the 
decision  to  redesign  and  improve  the  so-called  standard 
car,  for  service  in  Baltimore. 

During  periods  of  light  riding,  there  is  little  dif- 
ference between  the  operation  of  the  two  types  of 
front-entrance  one-man  cars,  but  when  riding  is  heavy, 
particularly  during  the  morning  and  evening  rush 
periods,  the  superiority  of  the  newer  type  with  wider 
door  opening  over  narrow-door  design  is  very  evident. 

A  recent  series  of  observations  made  with  a  stop 
watch,  between  the  two  types  of  cars  during  the  rush 
hours,  at  points  where  heavy  loading  both  on  and  off 
the  car  took  place,  shows  that  the  new  type  of  car  has 
reduced  the  average  seconds  per  stop  20  per  cent, 
namely,  from  twenty-two  seconds  to  seventeen  and  one- 
half  seconds,  and  the  average  seconds  stop  per  passenger 
17  per  cent  from  1.8  second  to  one  and  one-half  seconds 
per  passenger.  We  anticipate  that  still  more  favorable 
results  will  ensue  as  the  public  becomes  more  familiar 
with  the  new  equipment.  There  is  naturally  some  lack 
of  most  efficient  use  because  more  than  half  of  the 
cars  in  service  are  of  the  older  type,  and  there  is  some 
hesitation  and  confusion  on  the  part  of  passengers  in 
availing  themselves  simultaneously  of  the  entrance  and 
exit  facilities.  This  is  gradually  improving  and  we  feel 
that  were  the  whole  line  equipped  with  the  new  design, 
a  still  better  showing  would  be  made.  The  figures 
given  are  for  an  average  of  twenty-one  stops  for  each 
type  of  car,  taken  at  the  same  points  and  during  the 
same  rush  periods. 

No  difficulties  have  arisen  in  the  collection  of  fares, 


and  our  observations  indicate  that  this  is  controlled 
as  well  as  on  the  older  type.  When  the  doors  are 
opened,  the  operator  asks  passengers  to  board  by  the 
right  hand  step,  and  this  request  is  sufficient,  so  that 
there  has  been  no  increase  in  missed  fares. 

Altogether  we  feel  that  this  new  type  is  a  logical 
development  and  is  eminently  satisfactory,  and  believe 
that  where  heavy  traffic  is  to  be  handled,  serious  con- 
sideration should  be  given  by  railway  managers  to  the 
purchase  of  front-entrance  one-man  cars,  equipped  with 
separate  exit  and  entrance  passageways. 


Fare  Box  That  Makes  Change 

THE  Automatic  Coin  Change  &  Record  Machine 
Company,  New  York  City,  has  developed  a  new 
type  of  fare  box  especially  adapted  for  use  on  electric 
roads.  This  machine  automatically  collects  and  retains 
the  stipulated  amount  required  for  fares,  makes  and 
delivers  the  correct  change  to  passengers,  sorts  and 
stacks  the  coins  received,  records 
the  number  of  persons  paying, 
totals  the  amount  of  money  re- 
ceived, records  transfers  received 
and  rings  a  bell  for  every  trans- 
action. The  machine  is  15  2  in.  x 
9i  in.  x  7  in.  in  size  and  weighs  36 
lb.  It  is  arranged  for  convenient 
mounting  on  a  pedestal,  and  can  be 
detached  so  as  to  be  carried  from 
one  end  of  a  car  to  the  other  as 
required. 

The  top  portion  of  the  machine  is 
occupied  by  a  row  of  coin  re- 
ceptacles, each  marked  with  con- 
spicuous figures  to  indicate  the 
value  of  the  coin  to  be  received. 
When  a  passenger  places  a  coin  in 
its  receptacle,  a  small  indicator  is 
raised  which  shows  the  amount  of 
change  that  is  to  be  delivered  to  the 
passenger.  The  inserting  of  a  coin 
unlocks  the  machine's  mechanism 
and  permits  the  operator  to  raise  a 
lever.  The  initial  movement  of  this 
lever  closes  the  coin  discharge  box 
which  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  machine.  Further  move- 
ment of  the  lever  drops  the  coin  received  into  its  proper 
tube  and  discharges  the  coins  to  be  given  as  change. 
The  release  of  the  lever  opens  the  discharge  box  so 


Change  Issuing 
Machine 


402 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


that  the  passenger  can  receive  his  change.  If  the  fare 
is  7  cents  and  the  passenger  inserts  a  50-cent  piece  into 
the  machine,  7  cents  is  retained  by  the  machine  when 
the  conductor  raises  the  lever  and  43  cents  change  is 
delivered  to  the  passenger  directly  from  the  machine. 
The  coins  received  are  sorted  and  stacked  in  tubes,  thus 
keeping  each  denomination  by  itself.  At  the  same  time 
the  number  of  fares  collected  is  recorded  on  one 
register,  while  the  total  amount  of  money  collected  is 
recorded  on  another.  Should  a  passenger  find  it  neces- 
sary to  tender  a  bill  for  his  fare,  the  machine  issues 
change  for  $1  by  the  operator  pressing  a  small  lever  at 
the  side.  At  the  same  time  one  fare  is  registered  and 
a  small  indicator  is  raised  showing  the  amount  of  change 
which  is  to  be  delivered.  The  discharge  tubes  for  hold- 
ing coins  to  be  issued  as  change  are  separate  from  the 
receiving  tubes,  but  the  former  can  be  replenished  from 
the  latter  or  otherwise  as  desired.  The  various  tubes 
are  arranged  with  a  bottom  slide,  so  that  their  entire 
contents  can  be  dropped  at  one  operation.  The  box  is 
arranged  so  that  it  can  be  locked,  making  it  impossible 
for  any  money  which  has  once  entered  the  machine  to 
be  handled  by  unauthorized  persons.  The  machine 
can  be  set  for  any  desired  fare  from  5  cents  to  10  cents, 
by  changing  the  penny  slide.  If  the  exact  fare  is 
deposited,  of  course  no  change  is  delivered,  but  the 
transaction  is  recorded  in  the  usual  manner. 

A  Transfer  Register  for  Incoming  Passengers 
Forms  a  Part  of  This  Machine 

In  addition  to  the  fare  collection  and  change-making 
mechanism,  the  machine  is  provided  with  a  transfer 
register  for  incoming  transfers  and  a  record  box  which 
holds  a  roll  of  paper  printed  to  cover  the  different  items 
on  which  the  railway  company  wishes  a  report  from  the 
conductor.  An  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  sec- 
tion of  one  of  the  printed  rolls.  Of  course,  the  report 
may  be  changed  to  suit  any  condition  as  desired  by  the 


^ — i--n    v -r- h    r  i    i    i  - 

P,  s  0  GE    *  o  . 

Car     no  j  route  no |  R  u  n     mo  |  conductor  ^kdge  no  j  moto  r  ma  n 

DATE   |  START  |  T  i  m  £    |    END    |  T  imL  |FARfi  |  tAiH    ]  T  t  *"  T  r     |R£v£NVE|  PA 

S  US  |READ  inG 

1         1         1         1         1         1         1        .1         1  1 

BA  D<5E  NO- 

CAR.     NO|R.OuTe.NO    |          rsi       MOjCONOL'CTOR.j^AO&E  MO 
DATEL  IJ5TAR.T  |  TIME  [FMD    |TtME    |  r  "  °  ",11  f.V  'Tnjf 

<  f  %  iRf  A  DJWf. 

Printed  Record  for  Conductor 


railway  company.  In  making  out  his  report,  the  con- 
ductor enters  the  various  items  as  designated,  closes  the 
cover  and  turns  the  knob  and  the  blank  is  then  ready  for 
the  next  record.  The  operating  lever  of  the  machine 
has  a  removable  handle  which  can  be  retained  by  the 
operator  in  the  event  that  it  is  necessary  for  him  to 
leave  the  car. 

Some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  the  machine  are, 
that  the  passenger  inserts  his  own  coin,  or  coins,  into 
the  machine  and  receives  his  own  change  from  the 
machine.  The  conductor  does  not  touch  the  money  in 
any  manner  whatsoever.  The  machine  is  absolutely 
locked  and  cannot  be  operated  unless  a  fare  is  collected. 
As  the  coins  are  inserted  in  the  machine,  they  are  sorted 
and  stacked  in  tubes  according  to  denomination.  The 
stacked  coins  can  be  taken  directly  from  the  tubes  and 
dropped  into  coin  wrappers  ready  for  deposit  in  banks 
if  desired. 

In  addition  to  being  a  time  saver  the  fare  box  ma- 
chine insures  mechanical  accuracy  in  making  change 
and  permits  the  conductor  to  attend  to  his  other  duties 
in  a  more  efficient  manner. 


Discussion  on  Association  Reorganization 

FOUR  COMMUNICATIONS  discussing  the  recom- 
mendations with  reference  to  the  reorganization  of 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Association  and  its 
affiliated  associations  were  published  in  last  week's 
issue.  The  communication  given  beloiv  is  likewise 
directed  toward  this  same  subject.  The  columns  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  will  be  open  to  its  readers 
for  the  discussion  on  these  points  in  the  other  three 
issues  which  will  precede  the  convention. 

The  Connecticut  Company 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  Sept..  6,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

Answering  your  request  to  comment  upon  the  report 
of  the  reorganization  committee,  I  am  sure  I  don't 
know  what  to  say  other  than  what  I  have  said  so  many 
times  before. 

The  original  group  that  organized  the  association 
provided  the  most  excellent  medium  for  the  exchange 
of  information  and  discussion  of  policy  throughout  the 
electric  railway  fraternity  of  the  country.  The  by-laws 
as  originated  by  that  group  and  amended  from  time  to 
time  have  in  general  been  sufficient  for  the  guidance 
of  the  activities  of  the  association,  but  I  think  all  of 
us  who  have  had  anything  to  do  with  the  workings 
of  the  association  for  the  past  few  years  have  felt  that 
the  affairs  of  the  association  and  the  electric  railroad 
interests  of  the  country  have  outgrown  the  prescribed 
limits  of  the  association  and  its  duties  and  activities 
as  denned  by  the  by-laws. 

Of  course,  the  last  few  years  have  very  materially 
changed  all  the  standards  as  to  policy  and  operating 
methods  of  the  electric  railroads  and  likewise  have 
brought  about  the  great  changes  in  the  work  which  the 
association  should  do  to  be  of  great  value  to  the  indus- 
try. This  naturally  brought  about  a  real  need  for  an 
entire  revision  of  the  machinery  of  the  association. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  reorganization  committee  has 
done  an  exceptionally  good  job,  and  while  there  may 
be  reasons  for  not  heartily  approving  this,  that  or  the 
other  proposal  as  presented,  the  general  result  is  most 
excellent  and  I  believe  that  the  final  recommendations 
as  coming  from  the  executive  committee  should  receive 
the  hearty  approval  of  all  concerned. 

Personally  I  think  it  would  be  better  if  the  original 
recommendation  of  the  committee  is  adopted  relative 
to  the  relation  of  past-presidents  to  the  executive  com- 
mittee. I  have  heard  criticism  of  the  requirement  for 
a  fixed  date  for  executive  committee  meetings,  but  I 
think  this  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  of  the  features 
presented  as  the  association  needs  the  constant  attention 
and  guidance  of  those  individuals  in  the  industry  who 
are  actively  engaged  in  the  promotion  of  the  industry 
itself. 

I  sincerely  trust  there  will  be  no  material  modification 
from  the  proposal  as  presented  to  the  convention. 

You  see  that  I  can  say  nothing  whatever  that  will  be 
of  any  help  in  the  real  discussion  of  the  issues,  I  am  so 
thoroughly  convinced  of  the  necessity  for  making  the 
changes  and  the  desirability  of  adopting  the  plan  as 
presented  by  the  committee  and  approved  by  the  execu- 
tive committee.  L.  S.  Storrs,  President. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


403 


Transit  Tendencies  in  New  York  City* 

By  LeRoy  T.  Harkne?s 

Member  of  the  New  York  Transit  Commission 


THE  New  York  City  transit  situa- 
tion, with  its  many,  varied  and 
complicated  problems,  presents,  in  per- 
haps the  extreme  form,  the  crying  need 
for  the  adoption  and  application  of  pub- 
lic utility  policies  that  are  in  full  accord 
with  changed  conditions. 

Transit  has  long  been  a  political  foot- 
ball, and  that  condition  will  continue 
while  old  sores  remain  and  there  is  con- 
tinual friction  between  the  traction  com- 
panies and  the  public.  The  attempt  is 
now  being  made  in  New  York  City  to 
develop  a  comprehensive  and  thorough- 
going plan  of  readjustment  that  will  re- 
move the  old  sores  and  causes  of  fric- 
tion and  permit^transit  to  be  viewed  in 
its  true  light  as  an  economic  propo- 
sition. 

The  general  features  of  the  New  York 
situation  are  well  known.  Systems  of 
transit  lines  aggregating  1,800  miles  in 
single  track  mileage,  with  outstanding 
securities  approximating  at  par  a  bil- 
lion dollars,  are  either  in  or  on  the  verge 
of  receiverships.  In  other  parts  of  the 
country  the  financial  difficulties  of  trac- 
tion companies  growing  out  of  the 
World  War  have  been  met  partially  or 
completely  and  in  general  the  situations 
are  not  acute.  In  New  York  City  no  re- 
lief has  been  obtained  by  the  transit 
companies  except  through  a  cutting 
down  of  the  number  of  free  transfer 
points  largely  through  the  separation 
of  lines  under  receiverships. 

In  addition  to  the  inflation  produced 
by  the  World  War,  the  New  York  con- 
ditions are  exceptional  because  of  the 
element  of  a  tremendous  suddenly  add- 
ed competition  due  to  carrying  out  the 
1913  program,  which  involved  the  more 
than  doubling  of  the  rapid  transit  lines 
within  a  period  of  five  years.  Through 
the  abolition  of  free  transfers  a  large 
part  of  the  public  is  paying  an  increased 
fare  and  the  congestion  is  becoming  pro- 
gressively worse.  On  most  of  the  lines 
conditions  in  the  rush  hours  are  a  phys- 
ical and  moral  menace. 

The  condition  of  the  companies  as 
viewed  by  the  investing  public  may  per- 
haps most  readily  be  shown  by  contrast- 
ing the  market  prices  of  certain  securi- 
ties in  1917  and  1921,  which  is  done  in 
the  following  table: 


BONDS 

■ —  January — 

 ■  1917—  • —  1921  — 

H.  L.  Bid  Acked 

N.  Y.  Railways,  Refg. 

4's                            76;  54  18  20} 

N.  Y.  Railways,  Adj. 

5's                            60}  22J         3 J  32 

Third  Avenue,  Refg. 

4's                             825  65  40J  4 1  £ 

Third  Avenue,  Adj.  5's    81  38  25  25| 

I.  R.  T.  Refg.  5's              99J  76}  49  49} 

Bklyn.  Union  El.  1st 

5's                            101}  88J  57J  58 

Manhattan  Consol.  4's    945  8IJ-  53  56} 

STOCKS 

I.  R.  T.  Consol   17"         5|  4}  4| 

I.  R.  T.  Refg   72}         395  11}  Hi 

Third  Avenue   67}        175  13}  14 

Manhattan  El   132        115  48  49 

B.  R.T   82         36  97,  10 

"Abstract  of  a  paper  read  before  the  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Section  of  the  American  Bar 
Association,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Aug.  30,  1921. 


The  author  first  briefly  recounts  a  his- 
tory of  the  development  of  the  electric 
railways  in  New  York  City  and  the  con- 
ditions which  brought  about  the  depressed 
financial  condition  of  these  properties.  He 
then  outlines  the  purpose  and  powers  of 
the  present  Transit.  Commission.  In  con- 
clusion he  says:  "In  meeting:  the  govern- 
mental problems  resulting  from  or  brought 
to  a  focus  by  the  World  War,  there  is 
needed  proper  statesmanship  that  will  not 
confine  itself  to  measures  of  repression  but 
will  consider  it  its  main  and  most  im- 
portant duty  to  search  out  and  to  relieve 
the  underlying  causes  of  public  dissatisfac- 
tion and  unrest.  The  situation  of  electric 
traction  throughout  the  country  furnishes 
not  only  the  most  immediate  but  also  one 
of  the  biggest  instances  of  the  opportunity 
lor  the  exercise   of  such  statemanship." 


The  question  naturally  occurs:  If 
most  of  the  cities  in  the  country  have 
relieved  their  traction  situations  by  in- 
creases in  fares,  why  has  not  New  York 
City  done  so?  To  those  who  have  ex- 
amined the  situation  superficially  a  suf- 
ficient answer  has  been  found  in  the 
hostility  of  the  city  administration.  The 
city  administration  has  been  vigorous- 
ly and  bitterly  opposing  an  increased 
fare.  It  has  done  nothing  to  relieve  the 
situation  except  in  so  far  as  minor  and 
isolated  bus  operation  has  served  a  few 
thousand  people  and  a  few  localities. 
But  the  city  administration  would  not 
have  persisted  in  this  course,  nor  would 
it  have  been  sustained  by  public  opinion, 
if  the  differences  and  difficulties  had 
not  gone  far  deeper  than  a  mere  matter 
of  an  increased  rate  of  fare.  The  scan- 
dals connected  with  traction  reorganiza- 
tion and  speculation  have  probably  been 
more  flagrant  in  New  York  than  in  any 
other  city  in  the  country.  The  traffic 
congestion  and  poor  service  have  been 
such  as  to  cause  real  suffering.  The 
past  intolerance  of  public  opinion  on  the 
part  of  railroad  operators  and  their  in- 
terference in  politics  and  legislation 
have  not  been  forgotten.  This  is  the 
background  of  the  transit  fight  in  New 
York  City,  and  because  of  it  a  very 
large  part  of  the  community  has  looked 
upon  the  company  requests  for  rate  in- 
creases with  suspicion  and  considered 
them  as  attempts  again  to  exploit  the 
public  for  speculative  and  stock-job- 
bing purposes.  It  is  this  very  strong 
feeling  that  the  municipal  administra- 
tion has  shrewdly  appealed  to,  and  its 
strength  is  perhaps  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  in  the  pending  municipal  cam- 
paign the  opposition  parties  are  endeav- 
oring to  avoid  the  traction  issue  by 
also  declaring  for  a  continuance  of  the 
5-cent  fare. 

The  unfortunate  part  of  the  entire 
situation  is  that  with  traction  in  an  ad- 
mittedly deplorable  condition  and  grow- 
ing progressively  more  incapable  of 
meeting  the  public  needs,  the  local  au- 
thorities have  followed  a  drifting  pol- 
icy, have  been  guided  by  expediency  and 
not  principle,  and  have  offered  no  real 
solution.  What  has  been  lost  sight  of 
is  the  fact  that,  even  admitting  all  the 
alleged  misdeeds  of  the  past,  transit  in 
a  city  like  New  York  is  absolutely  vital 


to  the  well-being  of  the  community.  It 
must  be  put  upon  a  basis  where  ade- 
quate service  can  and  will  be  provided. 
If  the  difficulty  lies  in  the  present  char- 
acter of  the  relationship  of  the  compa- 
nies to  the  public  and  the  city,  and  in 
existing  organization  and  financing, 
necessary  changes  must  be  made  to  put 
the  companies  in  a  position  where  they 
can  meet  the  public  needs.  The  policy 
of  mere  obstruction  in  the  long  run 
must  prove  disastrous  to  the  city,  to  the 
public  and  to  the  investors  alike. 

It  is  this  critical  situation  that  led  to 
the  transit  legislation  of  this  year,  which 
will  later  be  considered  at  some  length. 

Properly  to  appreciate  the  real  issues 
and  the  special  problems  to  be  solved 
it  is  necessary  to  go  back  and  briefly 
outline  the  development  of  transit  in 
New  York  and  note  the  underlying 
causes  of  the  present  antagonisms. 

General  Outline  of  New  York 
Transit  History 

In  the  earliest  days  New  York  transit 
companies  were  directly  chartered  by 
special  statutes.  Some  surface  lines  are 
still  being  operated  under  old  steam  rail- 
road charters.  Other  lines  are  succes- 
sors in  ownership  to  old-time  plank-road 
companies.  In  the  main,  however,  the 
present  surface  lines  grew  out  of  the  old 
horse-car  companies  that  were  devel- 
oped during  the  period  prior  to  1890. 
The  old  horse  car  lines  were  projected 
during  the  times  when  the  city  was  rap- 
idly growing  and,  therefore,  were  in  the 
main  consistently  profitable.  Naturally, 
at  that  time,  their  value  as  an  aid  in 
the  general  development  was  appreci- 
ated and  there  was  little  or  no  objection 
to  their  perpetual  franchises  and  the 
lack  of  financial  returns  directly  to  the 
city.  Unfortunately,  in  certain  in- 
stances— notably  the  so-called  "Jake" 
Sharp  franchise  for  the  Broadway  line 
— there  was  flagrant  corruption  and 
bribery  and  the  public  has  since  been 
led  to  believe  that  this  condition  was 
far  more  prevalent  than  it  really  was. 

From  1865  to  1890  was  the  main  pe- 
riod of  elevated  railroad  development 
during  which  the  Manhattan  Elevated 
System  and  the  Brooklyn  Union  and 
Kings  County  Elevated  Systems  were 
constructed.  In  the  first  stage  of  this 
development — prior  to  1875 — the  fran- 
chises were  granted  by  special  acts  of 
the  legislature,  and  afterward  by  sep- 
arate commissions  appointed  under  the 
rapid  transit  act  of  1875.  Here  too,  of 
course,  the  lines  were  privately-owned 
under  perpetual  franchises  with  practi- 
cally an  entire  absence  of  provision  for 
public  control. 

In  1875  an  amendment  to  the  state 
constitution  was  adopted  which  prohib- 
ited private  or  local  bills  granting  rail- 
road rights. 

This  stopped  the  evil  of  special  legis- 
lative railroad  grants.  The  attaching, 
by  the  municipalities,  of  conditions  as 
to  rates  of  fare  in  giving  their  consent 
has  furnished  an  important  element  in 
the  situation  and  presented  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  legislature  under  the 
reserved  police  power  can  over-ride  the 
action  of  a  municipality  in  attaching  a 


404 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


fare  limitation  in  its  consent.  It  is  on 
this  question  that  the  fare  litigation  of 
the  past  few  years  has  largely  turned. 
(Matter  of  Quinby  vs.  Public  Service 
Commission,  223  N.  Y.  244;  Matter  of 
International  Railway  Co.  vs.  Public 
Service  Commission,  226  N.  Y.  474; 
People  ex  rel.  Garrison  as  Receiver  vs. 
Nixon,  229  N.  Y.  63.)  In  the  Garrison 
case  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  effect  de- 
cided that  the  legislature  had  the  power 
to  alter  rates  of  fare  in  franchises  or 
consents  granted  prior  to  1875  and  sub- 
sequent to  1907  (the  date  of  the  enact- 
ment of  the  public  service  commissions 
law)  but  left  open  the  question  as  to  the 
power  of  the  legislature  over  the  fare 
limitations  in  municipal  consents  grant- 
ed between  1875  and  1907.  Recently  the 
Appellate  Division  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  First  Department  has  sus- 
tained the  validity  of  the  transit  legisla- 
tion of  1921  which  expressly  gives  the 
commissions  power  to  raise  rates  de- 
spite provisions  in  local  consents  (City 
of  New  York  vs.  McAneny,  decided 
July  1,  1921). 

The  decade  from  1890  to  1900  marked 
in  New  York  as  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  the  development  of  electric 
traction.  The  prospects  for  its  suc- 
cess were  exceedingly  bright  but  unfor- 
tunately it  was  in  great  part  financed 
on  a  highly  speculative  basis  and  was 
attended  with  the  then  common  practice 
of  stock  watering. 

Looking  back  over  this  period  we  see 
that  it  was  the  time  of  company  ex- 
ploitation. The  grants  were  all  perpet- 
ual, in  most  cases  without  provision  for 
any  payment  to  the  city  and  without 
control  by  the  municipality  over  con- 
struction or  operation. 

The  construction  of  the  elevated  rail- 
roads failed  to  keep  pace  with  the 
growth  of  the  city  and  the  construction 
of  additional  lines  was  constantly  agi- 
tated, finally  resulting  in  the  passage 
of  the  Rapid  Transit  Act  of  1891.  This 
act  provided  that  the  Rapid  Transit 
Board  could  lay  out  routes  without  ref- 
erence to  whether  they  were  connec- 
tions or  extensions  of  existing  lines, 
and,  after  obtaining  the  necessary  con- 
stitutional consents,  should  offer  the 
franchise  for  sale  at  public  auction. 
Acting  under  the  broad  powers  con- 
ferred upon  it  by  this  act  the  new  board 
promptly  adopted  a  route  and  general 
plan  for  an  underground  railroad  under 
Broadway  with  elevated  extensions  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  city,  but  the 
franchise  when  offered  for  sale  at  public 
auction  failed  to  elicit  a  satisfactory 
bid. 

Then  came  the  then  revolutionary 
proposal  that  the  city  should  build  and 
own  the  new  roads  and  lease  them  for 
terms  of  years  to  operating  companies. 
The  Rapid  Transit  Act  was  so  amended 
in  1894  and  the  Rapid  Transit  Board 
promptly  proceeded  to  take  the  neces- 
sary steps  preliminary  to  making  a  con- 
tract, but  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome 
were  so  many  and  so  great  that  it  was 
not  until  Feb.  21,  1900,  that  the  board 
was  in  a  position  to  enter  into  the  first 
contract.  It  then  contracted  on  behalf 
of  the  city  with  John  B.  McDonald  (Con- 


tract No.  1)  to  construct,  equip  and  op- 
erate the  so-called  Manhattan-Bronx 
Rapid  Transit  Railroad.  The  construc- 
tion price  was  $35,000,000  with  certain 
additions  for  real  estate  and  terminals. 
The  contractor  was  obligated  to  furnish 
the  equipment.  The  lease  was  for  fifty 
years  with  a  twenty-five-year  renewal. 
The  rental  was  the  minimum  permitted 
by  the  act — interest  on  bonds  issued  by 
the  city  for  construction  plus  1  per  cent. 

When  this  work  was  well  under  way 
the  Rapid  Transit  Board  also  let,  in 
1902,  to  interests  affiliated  with  Mr. 
McDonald,  the  contract  (Contract  No. 
2)  for  the  construction,  equipment  and 
operation  of  the  so-called  Brooklyn- 
Manhattan  Rapid  Transit  Railroad,  be- 
ing an  extension  of  the  first  subway  to 
Brooklyn.  The  rental  provision  in  this 
later  contract  was  substantially  the 
same,  but  the  original  lease  term  was 
shortened  from  fifty  years  to  thirty- 
five  years. 

Realizing  that  the  construction  of  the 
first  subways  was  but  a  beginning  and 
that  extensive  additional  lines  were 
necessary  to  keep  up  with  the  increase 
in  traffic,  the  Rapid  Transit  Board,  as 
soon  as  the  first  contracts  were  placed, 
proceeded  with  plans  for  new  subways 
and  continued  negotiations  for  leasing 
them.  As  a  result,  it  was  finally  pos- 
sible in  1913  to  enter  into  what  are 
know  as  the  Dual  Subway  Contracts, 
which  involved  a  joint  city  and  company 
expenditure  estimated  at  that  time  at 
$335,000,000  and  which,  by  reason  of 
increased  war  costs,  has  gone  well  over 
the  $400,000,000  mark. 

In  these  contracts  the  companies 
would  not  agree  to  rental  provisions 
similar  to  those  in  the  first  contracts. 
Looking  at  the  situation  from  their 
standpoint,  however,  it  must  be  said 
that  there  was  justification  for  their  in- 
sistence upon  having  a  prior  lien  on  the 
earnings.  The  Dual  Subway  plan  in- 
volved the  more  than  doubling  within 
a  period  of  five  years  of  rapid  transit 
lines  in  the  city  at  a  cost  then  estimated 
at  about  $335,000,000.  This  unparal- 
leled expansion  was  necessary  for  the 
well-being  of  the  city  and  for  that  rea- 
son it  was  thought  that  the  city  could 
afford  to  enter  upon  it  even  in  the  face 
of  inevitable  deficits  during  the  early 
years  of  operation.  On  the  other  hand 
private  capital  had  to  look  at  the  mat- 
ter solely  from  a  hard-headed  dollar- 
and-cents  point  of  view  and  could  hard- 
ly be  expected  to  enter  upon  the  project 
unless  its  returns  were  amply  safe- 
guarded and  it  was  protected  from 
deficits  almost  from  the  start. 

Under  the  new  plan  the  city's  re- 
turns were  subordinated  to  the  com- 
panies earning  their  existing  income 
and  6  per  cent  upon  the  new  money  pro- 
vided by  them.  The  situation  was  some- 
what akin  to  the  city's  taking  a  second 
mortgage.  The  various  estimates  used 
in  forecasting  financial  results  were  all 
dependent  upon  certain  assumptions  as 
to  increase  of  population,  ratios  of  op- 
erating expenses  and  the  like  which 
were  bound  to  be  more  or  less  colored 
by  one's  point  of  view.  Even  the  most 
favorable  estimates  indicated  that  the 


city  would  have  to  bear  deficits  for  a 
number  of  years  to  come  and  therefore 
be  subjected  to  the  experience  of  rais- 
ing amounts  to  pay  these  operating  defi- 
cits either  from  its  tax  levy  or  through 
some  refunding  operations.  The  allow- 
ance to  the  companies  as  part  of  their 
preferential  payments  of  their  then  ex- 
isting profits, — $3,178,000  a  year  in  the 
case  of  the  Interborough  and  $1,500,000 
in  the  case  of  the  B.  R.  T., — placed  a 
heavy  burden  upon  these  roads,  repre- 
senting as  it  did  the  extraordinary 
profits  swollen  by  the  intense  traffic  con- 
gestion of  the  two  years  ending  June  30, 
1911.  Naturally,  as  new  lines  were 
placed  in  operation  they  would  relieve 
this  congestion  and  thereby  cut  down,  if 
they  did  not  for  a  time  destroy,  these 
profits,  but,  unless  the  right  of  recap- 
ture were  exercised,  the  new  lines  would 
have  to  bear  this  burden  for  half  a  cen- 
tury. 

The  foregoing  very  generally  outlines 
the  history  of  the  development  of  tran- 
sit in  New  York  City.  One  tendency 
is  very  plain:  municipal  ownership  is 
not  a  new  thing  in  New  York  but  repre- 
sents a  settled  policy  long  in  effect  and 
steadily  growing  in  popular  favor  and 
importance  since  its  original  adoption 
in  1894.  From  it  flows  two  results  that 
are  setting  in  train  tendencies  that  even 
now  point  rather  definitely  to  certain 
conclusions.  In  the  first  place,  the  city 
in  1894  in  effect  decided  to  go  into  the 
railroad  business  and  has  already  put 
into  operation  two  great  transit  pro- 
grams— the  subway  expansions  of  1900- 
1902  and  1913 — with  a  city  investment 
of  over  $250,000,000.  As  a  railroad 
owner  the  city  cannot  stand  still.  It 
must  not  only  continue  to  expand  its 
own  lines  but  the  logic  of  events  points 
to  its  also  increasing  and  already  domi- 
nant position  in  the  transit  field  by 
swallowing  private  lines.  In  the  second 
place,  the  city  must  take  steps  to  pro- 
tect its  investment  under  the  1913  con- 
tracts and  set  up  a  new  kind  of  partici- 
pation that  will  insure  its  receiving  a 
proper  return  so  as  to  relieve  its  tax 
budget  and  also  to  provide  funds  for 
further  subway  extensions. 

Underlying  Causes  of  Antagonism 

Bad  service  is,  of  course,  a  continual 
irritant.  But  back  of  that  there  is  in 
the  mind  of  the  public  the  remembrance 
of  past  transactions.  To  appreciate 
the  public  point  of  view  and  the  diffi- 
culty that  always  besets  any  attempt  to 
consider  transit  problems  on  their  mer- 
its it  will  be  helpful  to  consider  a  few 
of  the  more  notable  grounds  of  contro- 
versy. 

In  the  early  days  there  was  flagrant 
corruption  in  obtaining  some  of  the 
franchises  and  the  "Jake"  Sharp  manip- 
ulation of  the  Broadway  surface  line  is 
the  example  most  often  referred  to. 
The  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  financ- 
ing, too,  has  left  bitter  memories  in  its 
wake. 

In  1902  when  the  subway  work  was 
well  under  way  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  to  which  Mr.  McDon- 
ald had  assigned  the  operating  rights 
under  Contracts  1  and  2,  leased  in  per- 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


405 


petuity  the  Manhattan  Elevated  Sys- 
tem under  a  lease  which  provided  that 
the  lessee  should  pay  the  interest  on 
approximately  $45,000,000  of  the  les- 
sor's bonds  and  pay  7  per  cent  per  an- 
num upon  the  $60,000,000  of  the  lessor's 
capital  stock,  together  with  taxes  which 
amount  to  over  $2,000,000  annually. 
This  lease  has  been  the  subject  of  se- 
vere public  criticism,  especially  during 
this  period  of  increased  costs  when  the 
operation  of  the  combined  elevated  and 
subway  system  was  burdened  with  pay- 
ing what  were  in  effect  7  per  cent  divi- 
dends to  the  Manhattan  stockholders, 
while  the  net  receipts  from  operation 
were  so  low  as  to  threaten  a  receiver- 
ship at  almost  any  time. 

The  Manhattan  Company  also  carried 
a  heritage  of  public  antagonism  because 
of  its  past  collisions  with  the  public. 
One  of  the  bitterest  of  these  fights  was 
the  one  for  the  reduction  of  the  fare 
from  10  to  5  cents,  which  was  finally 
forced  by  the  enactment  of  Chapter  743 
of  the  Laws  of  1894. 

Soon  after  the  building  of  the  first 
subways  came  the  Interborough-Met- 
ropolitan  combination.  The  competition 
between  the  Interborough  Company's 
subway  and  elevated  systems  and  the 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway's  system 
reached  the  point  where  it  was  possible 
for  certain  financial  interests  to  force  a 
combination.  There  was,  therefore,  or- 
ganized a  holding  company  first  known 
as  Interborough-Metropolitan  Company, 
which  held  practically  all  the  stock  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany and  of  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company.  This  was  most  un- 
fortunate for  rapid  transit,  because, 
aside  from  the  throttling  of  competition 
through  combination  it  largely  turned 
the  control  of  the  Interborough  proper- 
ties over  to  those  interested  in  the 
street  surface  lines  and  thereby  pre- 
vented the  city's  operator  from  consid- 
ering the  matter  of  rapid  transit  devel- 
opment solely  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
rapid  transit  operator. 

This  also  gave  ground  for  public  re- 
sentment because,  without  the  city  hav- 
ing any  say  in  the  matter,  the  city  rail- 
road, upon  which  approximately  $50,- 
000,000  of  public  money  had  been  spent, 
was  made  one  of  the  main  points  in  a 
financial  maneuver  that  was  actuated 
primarily  to  throttle  competition  and 
raise  the  market  value  of  the  various 
securities. 

During  the  period  from  1890  to  1900 
there  also  took  place  the  consolidation 
in  one  form  or  another  of  the  surface 
and  elevated  lines  in  Brooklyn  to 
form  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
System.  The  scandals  connected 
with  the  Metropolitan  Street  Rail- 
way combination  fortunately  were 
not  duplicated,  but  in  some  of  the  com- 
panies there  undoubtedly  was  consider- 
able water  and  the  consolidation  was  at- 
tended with  a  burst  of  speculation,  B. 
R.  T.  stock  at  one  time  being  forced  up 
to  around  130. 

Another  matter,  perhaps  small  in 
comparison  but  affecting  a  class  of  the 
community  least  able  to  bear  a  loss — 
the  tort  creditors — was  the  corruption 


of  juries  in  accident  cases.  It  is  great- 
ly to  the  credit  of  the  present  heads  of 
the  companies  that  in  this  respect  they 
themselves  cleaned  house  and  did  it 
with  ability  and  thoroughness. 

At  the  time  the  Dual  Subway  contracts 
were  entered  into  there  was,  of  course, 
no  thought  that  shortly  more  than  a 
year  later  a  world  war  would  break  out. 
The  prospective  burden  upon  the  city  in 
carrying  its  investment  was  serious 
enough  under  normal  conditions,  but 
the  effect  of  increased  costs  due  to  the 
war  has  completely  altered  the  situa- 
tion. The  city  has  not  yet  received  in- 
terest and  amortization  charges  on  its 
new  investment.  Even  with  preferen- 
tial rights  the  Contract  No.  3  company 
deficit  now  amounts  to  over  $25,000,000 
and  the  Contract  No.  4  company  deficit, 
to  over  $10,000,000.  The  extent  of  the 
city's  burden  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  in  its  annual  budget  it  is  now  in- 
cluding an  amount  approximating  $10,- 
000,000  to  meet  interest  and  sinking 
fund  deficits  on  the  rapid  transit  ac- 
count. Having  in  view  the  large  cumu- 
lative company  deficits  (and  under  Con- 
tract No.  3  the  deficits  are  cumulative 
at  compound  interest),  which  must  be 
wiped  out  before  the  city  receives  its 
fixed  charges,  it  is  probable  that  if  the 
contracts  are  permitted  to  continue  as 
at  present  the  city  will  never  receive 
any  return  under  them.  This  not  only 
subjects  the  tax  budget  to  this  enor- 
mous drain  but  also  operates  as  a  bar  to 
needed  further  subway  expansion  be- 
cause, until  it  is  in  receipt  of  sufficient 
current  funds  to  carry  the  annual 
charges  on  this  investment,  the  city  can- 
not exempt  equivalent  amounts  from  the 
debt  limit  and  use  them  for  any  new 
work. 

The  declaration  of  large  dividends  by 
the  Interborough  Company  and  its  at- 
titude in  respect  to  changes  in  its  con- 
tracts with  the  city  had  had  an  import- 
ant effect  in  preventing  a  readjustment. 
The  1913  estimates  indicated  a  number 
of  lean  years,  due  to  putting  the  new 
lines  in  operation  and  the  attendant 
heavy  interest  burden.  Then  came  the 
World  War  and  the  consequent  certain- 
ty of  inflation.  These  factors  should 
have  dictated  extreme  prudence  and  the 
husbanding  of  resources.  In  spite  of 
this,  however,  the  Interborough  Com- 
pany declared  dividends  of  20  per  cent 
in  1915,  1916  and  1917,  and  17i  per  cent 
in  1918.  When  it  felt  the  full  effect  of 
its  interest  burdens  and  war  costs  it 
applied  to  the  city  authorities  for  a 
modification  of  the  subway  contracts  so 
as  to  provide  for  an  increased  rate  of 
fare.  The  company,  however,  was 
averse  to  any  other  change  in  the  city's 
interest.  This  had  a  most  far-reaching 
effect  on  the  working  out  of  a  solution 
of  the  transit  problem.  The  public  not 
unnaturally,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
company  had  so  recently  been  declar- 
ing such  unusually  large  dividends,  was 
suspicious  of  its  good  faith  and  antago- 
nized by  the  attitude  of  demanding 
something  and  conceding  nothing. 

Before  considering  possible  measures 
of  relief,  it  will  be  of  assistance  briefly 
to  chart  the  underlying  causes  of  the 


present  unsatisfactory  relationship  be- 
tween the  companies  and  the  public  and 
the  city. 

Public  Grievances 

1.  Service  has  been  bad  and  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  public  has  under- 
gone real  inconveniences  and  sometimes 
actual  suffering  twice  a  day  for  six  days 
a  week.  Many  of  the  roads  are  in  badly 
depreciated  condition;  for  example, 
some  still  using  rolling  stock  thirty 
years  old. 

2.  The  public  believes,  in  view  of  the 
enormous  traffic  in  New  York  City,  that 
transit  is  or  should  be  very  profitable. 
(The  unduly  large  dividends  paid  in  re- 
cent years  by  the  Interborough  Com- 
pany are  taken  as  strong  confirmation 
of  this  belief). 

3.  With  this  belief  the  only  explana- 
tion that  accounts  to  the  public  satis- 
faction for  the  bad  service  is  that  the 
companies  are  really  making  large 
profits  but  are  concealing  them  through 
excessive  rentals  and  capitalization  and 
using  these  excesses  again  as  a  reason 
for  cheapened  service  to  pay  returns  on 
water. 

4.  The  very  unsatisfactory  situation 
of  the  city's  great  investment  in  the 
subways. 

These  are  grievances  and  in  so  far  as 
they  are  justified  in  fact  constitute,  of 
course,  valid  objections  to  increased 
fares. 

Beyond  this,  and  one  of  the  main 
grounds  of  public  antagonism,  is  the 
past  interference  of  public  utility  in- 
terests in  politics.  The  public's  idea  of 
the  influence  now  wielded  by  those  in- 
terests is  exaggerated,  but  the  enmity 
resulting  from  past  struggles  is  lasting. 

Company  Grievances 

On  the  private  side  the  investors,  too, 
have  their  grievances.  The  transit 
properties,  even  though  impaired, 
represent  investments  running  into  the 
hundreds  of  millions  and  furnish  an  in- 
dispensable service  to  which  we  have 
become  so  accustomed  that  we  take  it 
largely  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  with- 
out any  adequate  realization  of  the  ex- 
tent to  which  the  well  being  of  the  com- 
munity is  founded  upon  it.  The  securi- 
ties of  the  companies  are  widely  distrib- 
uted, generally  in  small  holdings,  and 
the  public  interests,  as  well  as  good 
morals,  require  the  protection  of  proper 
bona-fide  investment. 

For  the  past  few  years  all  the  com- 
panies have  been  hard  hit  by  the  same 
trouble  that  has  affected  every  individ- 
ual and  business  in  the  country — the  de- 
creased purchasing  power  of  money. 
Operating  expenses  that  before  1914 
would  run  around  50  per  cent  of  reve- 
nue have  jumped  to  85  or  90  per  cent, 
or  higher.  As  a  result  of  this  decrease 
in  purchasing  power,  wages  have  had  to 
be  largely  increased.  The  companies 
have,  therefore,  been  in  the  position  of 
having  to  meet  the  existing  economic 
situation  in  paying  bills,  but  have  been 
unable  (except  partially  in  the  case  of 
abolition  of  or  charges  for  transfers) 
to  have  that  situation  recognized  in 
respect  of  payment  to  them  for  the 


406 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


services  they  render.  With  business 
generally  meeting-  such  a  situation  by 
raising  charges,  holders  of  utility  se- 
curities are  aggrieved  by  the  refusal  to 
let  them  follow  the  same  economic  law 
even  in  cases  where  returns  will  not 
pay  operating  expenses  to  say  nothing 
of  interest  on  bonds. 

There  are  two  other  subordinate  but 
nevertheless  important  grievances  of 
the  transit  companies:  Street  paving 
and  maintenance  charges  and  taxation. 

The  companies  are  required  by  law  to 
pave  and  maintain  the  paving  between 
the  tracks  and  for  a  certain  distance 
outside  the  tracks.  They  claim  that 
while  these  charges  may  have  been 
proper  in  days  gone  by  when  horse  car 
operation  did  damage  the  pavement, 
they  are  not  proper  now  when  the  elec- 
tric-car operation  does  practically  no 
damage  and  when  the  great  wear  and 
tear  is  occasioned  by  heavy  trucking. 
The  paving  expenses  for  the  year  end- 
ing June  30,  1920,  were: 


B.R.T.  Surface  Line?   J449.308  35 

New  York  Railways   288.282  46 

Third  Avenue  Railroad  .  527,691  08 

Tot.il   $1,265,281  89 


The  burden  of  taxation  has  been 
steadily  increasing.  New  York  state 
and  city  taxes  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1920,  were: 


Interborough  Rapid  Transit  System.    $2, 529, 517  54 


Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit,  System   2,005,89?  33 

New  York  Railways  System   1,007.850  58 

Third  Avenue  Railroad  System,  ,  756,019  4* 

Total   $6,294,279.88 


A  large  part  of  this  taxation  is  im- 
posed through  the  special  franchise 
taxes,  the  theory  of  which  is  that  the 
companies  should  be  required  to  pay 
taxes  commensurate  with  the  value  of 
the  rights  granted  by  the  public.  How- 
ever just  such  a  tax  may  be  in  principle, 
the  burden  on  transit  operation  is  ex- 
ceedingly heavy.  Moreover  the  adop- 
tion of  the  principle  of  regulation  as  ex- 
emplified in  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sions law  has  worked  a  change  from 
the  situation  as  it  existed  at  the  time 
the  special  franchise  tax  was  first  en- 
acted. The  better  view  is  that  the  re- 
turn to  the  public  should  be  in  service 
and  not  in  taxation  and  that  if  the  rev- 
enues become  more  than  needed  for  ad- 
equate service,  the  proper  remedy  is  a 
reduction  in  rates.  At  the  present  time 
as  the  subway  properties  are  owned  by 
the  city,  the  Interborough  and  B.  R.  T. 
are  substantially  free  from  taxation  in 
connection  with  the  operation  of  city- 
owned  properties,  while  the  elevated 
and  surface  lines  bear  an  increasingly 
heavy  burden. 

The  public  and  private  attitudes  may, 
therefore,  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Public  :  Dislike  and  distrust  founded 

on 

1.  Bad  service. 

2.  Belief  in  existence  of  excessive  re- 
turns, rentals  and  capitalization. 

3.  Belief  that  rights  and  functions 
exercised  by  the  companies  are  antago- 
nistic to  the  public  interest. 


4.  Unsatisfactory  situation  of  the 
city's  transit  investment. 

Private:  Distrust  and  bitterness 
founded  upon  believed  injustice 

1.  In  not  being  allowed  the  same  priv- 
ilege as  business  generally  of  increas- 
ing rates  to  meet  increased  costs, 

2.  In  unfair  street  paving  and  main- 
tenance charges,  and 

3.  In  excessive  taxation. 

In  working  out  any  solution  of  the 
transit  problem,  these  other  elements 
must  be  considered. 

The  companies  took  franchises  and 
contracts  based  on  5 -cent  fares  with  the 
expectation  of  large  profits  both  from 
dividends  and  increases  in  the  market 
value  of  securities.  Most  of  the  stocks 
were  speculative  to  a  high  degree.  The 
companies  heretofore  have  insisted  on 
the  rigidity  of  the  5-cent  fare — Ameri- 
can urban  traffic  was  based  upon  it, 
franchises  had  been  granted  and  con- 
tracts let  in  reliance  upon  it  and,  there- 
fore, it  could  not  be  disturbed.  This, 
before  the  war,  was  the  companies'  po- 
sition. They,  however,  have  changed 
their  base  and  see  now,  not  profit  but 
loss  and  possible  disaster  in  a  fixed  rate 
of  fare.  In  short,  they  ask  that  the  un- 
derlying basis  upon  which  they  entered 
the  transit  field  be  changed  from  risk 
to  protection,  their  securities  from  a 
speculative  to  a  stabilized  character. 
With  such  a  radical  change  it  would 
seem  that  they  themselves  should  recog- 
nize the  entire  justice  of  requiring  the 
readjustment  of  their  engagements  with 
the  public  as  expressed  in  outstanding 
franchises  and  contracts  to  accord  with 
the  new  base. 

Furthermore,  a  readjustment  neces- 
sarily involves  the  element  of  consoli- 
dation, for  otherwise  a  flexible  fare  does 
not  seem  practicable.  Relatively,  the 
surface  lines  are  much  worse  off  than 
the  rapid  transit  lines  and,  therefore, 
more  in  need  of  relief.  But  an  in- 
creased fare  on  the  surface  lines  alone 
would  drive  the  greater  part  of  their 
traffic  to  the  rapid  transit  lines  and 
leave  them  worse  off  than  before.  A 
similar  raise  of  fare  on  the  rapid  tran- 
sit lines  would  give  them  more  than 
they  need  and,  therefore,  amount  to 
overcharging  the  public  using  them. 

In  the  case  of  the  surface  lines,  and  to 
a  much  lesser  and  possibly  negligible 
extent  in  the  case  of  the  elevated  lines, 
the  projection  of  the  lines  was  original- 
ly on  a  competitive  basis.  There  are 
even  now  existing  a  multitude  of  com- 
panies that  were  engaged  in  the  build- 
ing of  these  lines.  Gradually  the  lines 
were  absorbed  in  large  systems,  espe- 
cially during  the  period  of  electrifica- 
tion. Despite  this  absorption  and  the 
substitution  of  virtual  monopoly  for 
competition,  there  was  little  or  no  at- 
tempt to  revamp  the  lines  to  accord 
with  the  changed  conditions.  Further- 
more, in  1900-1902  and  in  1913,  the  city 
placed  under  contract  great  subway  sys- 
tems that  radically  altered  the  trans- 
portation map.  Again,  there  was  no 
attempt  to  revamp  the  surface  lines  to 
meet  the  changed  conditions  and  this 
suddenly  added  great  competition.  The 
reason  for  this,  in  most  cases,  of  course, 


is  patent.  The  existing  lines  were  cov- 
ered by  existing  and  generally  blanket 
mortgages  and  the  franchises  and  finan- 
cial structure  was  too  rigid  readily  to  be 
changed.  So  that  there  is  also  involved 
the  important  element  of  revamping  ex- 
isting lines  to  meet  present  needs  and 
conditions. 

Elements  of  a  Solution 

This,  then,  in  general  was  the  situa- 
tion and  the  "set-up"  when  the  compa- 
nies felt  the  full  force  of  the  increased 
prices  growing  out  of  the  World  War. 
In  December,  1918,  important  companies 
of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  System 
went  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  to  be 
followed  soon  after  by  the  New  York 
Railways  Company  operating  most  of 
the  surface  lines  in  the  Borough  of  Man- 
hattan. The  Interborough  Company  has 
only  avoided  a  receivership  with  ex- 
treme difficulty.  The  efforts  of  the  com- 
panies to  secure  increased  rates  of  fare 
were  bitterly  fought  in  the  legislature 
and  the  courts.  The  disintegration  of 
the  big  B.  R.  T.  and  the  New  York 
Railways  systems  began  and  was  con- 
tinued by  sluffing  off  through  the  re- 
ceiverships of  important  lines.  Service 
became  progressively  worse  and  public 
resentment  increasingly  bitter.  This 
condition  continued  for  over  three  years 
before  a  real  effort  was  made  construc- 
tively to  meet  the  situation. 

Early  in  this  year's  session  of  the 
legislature  Governor  Miller,  in  a  special 
message,  directly  faced  the  issue  and 
recommended  the  delegation  and  con- 
centration of  all  the  powers  the  legis- 
lature could  grant  to  a  commission  to 
be  composed  of  three  members.  This 
precipitated  one  of  the  bitterest  politi- 
cal fights  in  years  and  the  legislation 
was  vigorously  attacked  on  the  ground 
that  it  violated  the  principles  of  home 
rule  for  municipalities  and  was  a  "fare 
grab."  Of  course,  the  bill  did  not  raise 
any  rate  of  fare  but  merely  empowered 
the  new  commission  to  raise  a  rate  if 
necessary  and  the  home  rule  argument 
largely  lost  its  force  because  of  the 
utter  failure  of  the  local  authorities  to 
attempt  any  constructive  measures  of 
relief. 

The  legislation  (Chapter  134  of  the 
Laws  of  1921  as  amended),  however, 
bears  upon  its  face  proof  of  the  en- 
deavor to  reach  down  and  remove  the 
underlying  difficulties  and  causes  of  an- 
tagonism. It  provides  for  the  commis- 
sion preparing  a  plan  of  readjustment 
that  will  accomplish  as  nearly  as  may 
be  the  following  three  main  purposes: 

1.  The  combination,  rehabilitation,  im- 
provement and  extension  of  existing  rail- 
roads so  that  the  service  thereon  may  be 
increased  and  improved  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent possible. 

2.  The  receipt  as  soon  as  practicable  by 
the  city  of  sufficient  returns  from  the  oper- 
ation of  the  railroads  so  that  the  corporate 
stock  or  bonds  issued  by  the  city  for  the 
construction  of  rapid  transit  railroads  may 
be  exempted  in  computing  the  debt  incur- 
ring power  of  the  city  under  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  state,  and 

3.  The  assuring  to  the  people  of  the  city 
the  continued  operation  of  the  railroads 
at  the  present  or  lowest  possible  fares  con- 
sistent with  the  just  valuations  of  the 
railroads  and  their  safe  and  economical 
operation. 

To  carry  out  such  a  plan  of  readjust- 
ment the  commission  is  vested  with  the 


September  10,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


407 


broadest  powers  to  vary  rates  (includ- 
ing the  power  to  vary  rates  fixed  in 
municipal  consents  and  contracts),  to 
revise  existing-  contracts  and  to  make 
new  ones  and  to  value  and  acquire  rail- 
road properties  for  and  in  the  name  of 
the  city.  Provision  is  made  for  submit- 
ting the  plan  and  contracts  to  the  local 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment, 
but  if  that  board  finally  refuses  to  ap- 
prove, the  ultimate  power  to  carry  the 
plan  into  effect  is  vested  in  the  com- 
mission. 

An  important  and  interesting  feature 
of  the  legislation  is  that  respecting  val- 
uation.   This  provision  is: 

In  connection  with  the  preparation  of 
such  plan  the  commission  shall  cause  a 
valuation  to  be  made  of  the  property,  other 
than  franchise  or  going-  value,  necessarily 
used  in  public  service  of  the  railroads  it 
proposes  to  include  therein.  Such  valuation 
shall  be  made  with  due  regard  to  the 
estimated  prospective  earning  capacity  of 
the  property  necessarily  used  in  the  public 
service  at  the  rate  or  rates  of  fare  that 
the  company  prior  to  the  taking  effect  of 
this  act  was  entitled  to  charge  in  view 
of  the  provisions  of  the  contract  or  fran- 
chise under  which  the  property  is  oper- 
ated or  held  or  of  any  lawful  order  in 
force  fixing  or  regulating  rates  of  fare  and 
of  the  competition  of  other  lines  and  with 
due  regard  to  all  other  pertinent  facts  and 
conditions ;  but  such  valuation  shall  not  in 
any  case  exceed  the  fair  reconstruction  cost 
of  the  property  less  depreciation.  Such 
valuation  shall  be  in  such  detail  and  shall 
include  such  elements  of  cost  or  values  and 
shall  be  made  in  such  manner  as  the  com- 
mission may  prescribe.  Such  valuation  as 
finally  determined  by  the  commission  shall 
be  the  basis  for  all  allowances  to  the  rail- 
road companies  under  the  plan  and  for 
thereafter  fixing-  the  return  on  the  property 
so  valued,  anything  in  this  chapter  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  theory  of  this  provision  is  that 
in  approaching  this  subject  the  point 
of  view  would  be  largely  that  of  a  bank- 
ing house  considering  the  purchase  of 
a  transit  property.  Its  natural  first 
question  would  be:  "What  will  the 
property  normally  earn  considering  any 
franchise  or  charter  limitations  and  any 
other  incumbrances?"  So,  if  under  the 
plan  it  be  decided  to  take  over  any 
given  road,  the  normal  earnings  would 
first  be  considered  and  capitalized. 
The  earnings  would,  of  course,  be 
upon  the  basis  of  the  present  fare  en- 
gagements— almost  universally  5  cents 
— hut  the  returns  would  be  es- 
timated during  a  normal  period — for 
example,  averaged  over  the  next  ten 
years— for  present  conditions  are  ab- 
normal and  taking  over  roads  on  pres- 
ent earnings  would  amount  to  virtual 
confiscation.  Against  the  figure  thus 
obtained  would  be  checked  a  figure  ob- 
tained on  some  reproduction  cost  basis. 
It  will  be  seen  that  these  provisions 
are  very  general  and  much  more  indefi- 
nite than  formulas  usually  applied  in 
rate  cases.  This  is  necessarily  so,  first, 
because  a  rigid  formula  could  not  be 
adopted  that  would  be  sure  to  meet 
the  widely  varying  circumstances  and 
conditions  of  the  many  different  lines 
and  second  because  if  it  were  attempted 
to  handle  this  valuation  in  the  same 
manner  rate  case  valuations  usually 
are  handled  years  would  elapse  before 
the  work  would  be  completed. 

The  practical  aspects  of  making  these 
valuations  offer  many  interesting  fea- 
tures. It  is  not  purposed  to  duplicate 
the  usual  "nut  and  bolt"  inventoi'y 
where  everything  in  the  minutest  detail 


has  to  be  examined  and  counted.  In 
general  it  should  be  possible  to  take  the 
plans  and  records  and  compute  quanti- 
ties from  them  and  check  conditions  by 
a  field  inspection.  It  is  believed  that  in 
this  way  substantially  the  same  results 
would  be  obtained  without  the  usual 
large  expenditure  of  time  and  money. 

In  a  public  letter  dated  Feb.  11, 
1921,  Governor  Miller,  in  describing  the 
purposes  of  the  legislation  recommend- 
ed by  him,  outlined  a  possible  plan  of 
readjustment,  as  follows: 

1.  The  value  of  the  physical  property 
used  in  the  public  service,  without  refer- 
ence to  present  capitalization,  should  be 
determined.  The  data  for  such  valuation 
of  many  of  the  lines  must  already  be  in 
the  possession  of  the  present  commission. 
It  should  not  take  long  to  make  a  valua- 
tion of  the  others. 

2.  Eliminate  all  outstanding  inter-com- 
pany leases. 

3.  Retire  outstanding  securities,  except 
such  underlying  liens  as  cannot  readily  be 
retired,  for  which  provision  looking  to 
eventual  payment  must  be  made. 

4.  Vest  in  the  city  title  to  all  lines  not 
already  owned  by  the  city,  free  and  clear 
of  all  incumbrances,  except  such  under- 
lying liens. 

5.  Make  a  lease  to  a  new  company, 
which  shall  provide  for  amortization  of 
the  determined  valuation  and  for  adequate 
reserves  for  depreciation,  contingencies, 
and  the  like. 

6.  Mortgage  such  lease  to  an  amount 
approved  by  the  commission,  and  issue 
stocks  and '  bonds  not  in  excess  of  the 
valuations  determined  by  the  commission, 
in   exchange  for  the   securities  retired. 

7.  To  promote  prompt  reorganization 
and  revamping  of  lines  without  assessing 
security  holders,  defer  interest  and  divi- 
dends for  one  or  two  years,  as  might  be 
determined  bv  the  commission,  and  at  the 
end  of  such  period  prescribe  a  rate  of  fare 
sufficient  to  pay  all  charges  provided  for 
in  the  lease. 

8.  As  an  incentive  to  efficient  manage- 
ment provision  could  be  made  for  increased 
return  on  capital  as  fares  are  decreased, 
and  a  reduced  return  as  they  are  increased. 

9.  Looking  to  the  eventual  transfer  of 
general  regulatory  powers  to  the  single 
state-wide  public  service  commission,  pro- 
vision could  be  made  for  a  board  of  con- 
trol, on  which  the  city  and  the  company 
should  have  proper  representation.  The 
alternative  to  that  would  be  representa- 
tion bv  the  city  on  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  company.  The  board  of  control  plan 
is  probably  preferable,  and  that  board 
might  well  have  the  powers  of  the  present 
Transit  Construction  Commission. 

10.  As  all  approved  charges  will  ade- 
quately be  provided  for  under  the  plan, 
the  provisions  of  the  dual  contracts  for 
preferential  payments  could  be  eliminated 
and  such  other  changes  made  as  will  fit 
these  contracts  into  the  plan,  and  as  may 
appear  to  be  in  the  public  interest. 

11.  Provision  for  the  imperative  and  im- 
mediate needs  of  the  city  for  further  tran- 
sit facilities  should  be  made  promptly. 

To  many  a  plan  involving  these  fun- 
damentals would  seem  extremely  radi- 
cal. The  situation  in  New  York  City, 
however,  is  acute.  Palliatives  will  not 
do.  The  case  has  gone  beyond  that  and 
calls  for  surgery.  So  that  the  unusual 
scope  and  nature  of  the  plan  to  be 
adopted  must  be  considered  in  relation 
to  the  most  unusual  conditions  that  im- 
peratively call  for  a  remedy.  Having 
set  out  at  considerable  length  the  gen- 
eral history  of  transit  and  some  of 
the  underlying  difficulties  and  having  in- 
dicated the  fundamentals  of  a  plan  of 
readjustment,  it  should  be  helpful  if  in 
conclusion  the  endeavor  is  made  very 
briefly  to  attempt  to  forecast  the  ad- 
vantages that  might  be  expected  to  flow 
from  the  adoption  of  such  a  plan. 

Advantages  to  the  City 

Ownership — The  city  would  get  the 
ownership  of  the  transit  lines.  They 
would  be  subject  to  a  lease  or  leases, 


but  the  value  of  the  lines  would  be 
amortized  by  the  earnings  and  at  the 
end  of  the  term  the  city  would  own  the 
entire  transit  system  free  and  clear. 
Furthermore,  as  time  passes  the  city 
through  the  mounting  up  of  the  amor- 
tization funds  could  terminate  the 
leases  and  acquire  possession  on  in- 
creasingly easy  terms. 

Division  of  Profits — If  it  should  be 
decided  that  the  parties  in  interest 
should  divide  any  surplus,  instead  of 
having  it  applied  either  to  reduction  in 
rates  or  improvement  in  service,  the 
city's  present  investment  would  furnish 
ample  consideration  for  the  city  insist- 
ing on  a  large — or  possibly  a  predom- 
inant— percentage  of  the  profits.  On 
the  basis  of  proper  capitalization  with 
preferential  profits  eliminated  and  with 
the  main  existing  obstacles  to  fare  re- 
adjustment removed,  the  transit  system 
should  be  profitable  and  on  the  return 
of  normal  conditions,  if  that  course 
should  seem  preferable,  the  city  should 
receive  substantial  profits  from  its 
transit  lines. 

Receipt  of  Fixed  Charges  on  Subway 
hi  vestment — Through  the  revision  of 
the  dual  contracts  and  the  elimination 
of  preferential  profits,  the  city  would 
get  out  of  its  present  unsatisfactory 
position  and  would  receive  presently 
interest  and  sinking  fund  payments  on 
its  investment  in  the  new  subways.  Ex- 
pressing it  in  another  way:  If  the  city 
does  not  take  advantage  of  this  op- 
portunity to  adjust  the  situation  it 
would  have  to  continue  to  pay  out  of 
taxes  about  $10,000,000  a  year  as  in- 
terest and  sinking  fund  payments  on 
city  bonds.  Therefore,  by  this  adjust- 
ment the  city  would  insure  the  receipt 
of  the  fixed  charges  on  its  bonds. 

Exemption  of  City  Bonds — Such  an 
arrangement  would  put  the  city  bonds 
issued  for  transit  purposes  on  a  self- 
sustaining  basis  and  permit  of  their 
exemption  in  computing  the  debt  limit. 
This  would  increase  the  city's  debt  in- 
curring capacity  for  transit  improve- 
ments by  more  than  $200,000,000. 

Indirect  Advantages — Of  perhaps  less 
material  return  to  the  city  directly,  but 
very  material  to  its  citizens,  would  be 
the  revamping  and  rehabilitation  of  the 
transit  lines  that  is  a  necessary  element 
of  the  readjustment.  This  would  per- 
mit of  the  substitution  of  good  service 
where  it  is  bad  and  would  not  only 
substantially  ease,  if  not  eliminate,  the 
existing  dissatisfaction,  but  would  be 
reflected  in  all  the  varied  business  and 
financial  activities  and  social  and  liv- 
ing conditions  affected  by  the  character 
and  extent  of  transit  service.  The 
results  should  be  especially  apparent 
in  the  increased  value  of  real  estate — 
the  city's  main  source  of  revenue. 

Advantage  to  the  Private  Investors 

While  the  profit  making  and  specula- 
tive elements  would  be  eliminated  the 
real  values  in  the  transit  properties 
should  be  protected  and  securities  sta- 
bilized by  the  official  valuation  findings 
and  a  proper  provision  for  secured 
i-eturns.     The  big   profit  making  and 


408 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


speculative  days  have  gone  in  transit 
in  New  York  City  and  most  investors 
realize  that  fact.  A  reasonable,  assured 
return  on  a  fair  valuation  seems  to  be 
the  only  basis  on  which  the  consolidated 
systems  can  permanently  be  financed. 

Although  it  may  be  felt  that  with  the 
transit  companies  under  the  present  cir- 
cumstances it  is  a  case  of  "any  port  in 
a  storm,"  nevertheless,  considering  such 
a  readjustment  from  their  standpoint 
broadly  and  fairly,  it  would  not  only 
give  them  a  very  good  port  but  one 
in  the  long  run  better  for  their  secur- 
ity holders  than  the  pre-war  one. 

Nor  are  the  immediate  or  proximate 
financial  results  of  operation  the  only 
factors  to  be  considered.  Transit  con- 
ditions on  many  of  the  lines  are  nothing 
short  of  disgraceful  because  of  depre- 
ciation in  structure  and  equipment  and 
of  cutting  down  of  service,  both  to  save 
expense.  The  roads  and  their  equip- 
ment must  be  rehabilitated  and  ade- 
quate service  must  be  restored.  To  do 
this  new  money  in  substantial  amounts 
will  be  needed  and  more  and  better 
service  must  be  given  with  consequently 
increased  operating  costs.  Under  the 
present  circumstances  the  companies 
cannot  meet  these  requirements.  A 
continuance  of  present  conditions,  there- 
fore, means  a  continuance  of  impaired 
service.  That  the  public  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  submit  to,  especially  if  the 
companies  are  offered  and  refuse  a  fair 
plan  of  adjustment.  The  result  would 
be  that  the  companies  would  engage 
in  intensified  differences  with  the  public, 
in  which  they  would  be  bound  to  lose  in 
the  long  run.  Instead  of  this,  under 
the  plan  proposed  the  main  causes  of 
friction  would  be  removed;  the  com- 
panies would  be  assured  of  a  fair  re- 
turn on  actual  values  and  their  secur- 
ities would  be  stabilized. 

Advantages  to  the  Public 

It  remains  to  consider  such  a  read- 
justment from  the  standpoint  of  the 
third  party  in  interest— the  public  as 
distinguished  from  the  municipality. 
Taking  up  the  public  grievances  as 
already  listed: 

1.  Bad  Service— The  rehabilitation  of 
lines  and  the  modernization  of  equip- 
ment would  physically  fit  the  lines  for 
giving  proper  and  adequate  service. 
The  question  of  how  intensively  those 
facilities  are  operated  would  thus  be- 
come a  matter  of  the  traffic  available 
and  the  cost  of  operation  with  the  deter- 
mination of  how  much  service  is  to  be 
rendered  in  public  control. 

2.  Excessive  Returns — This  fear  on 
the  part  of  the  public  should  be  dis- 
posed of  by  the  determination  of  the 
real  values  of  the  transit  properties 
and  the  elimination  of  "water"  of  every 
description. 

3.  Antagonistic  Rights — A  part  of 
the  community  will  probably  never  be 
satisfied  with  anything  less  than  com- 
plete municipal  operation.  Generally, 
however,  the  elimination  of  perpetual 
franchises  and  other  private  rights  and 
the  restricting  of  the  companies  to  the 
voles  of  lessees  or  operators  should  sat- 


isfy any  reasonable  objection  to  pres- 
ent conditions. 

4.  The  unsatisfactory  situation  with 
respect  to  the  present  city's  transit 
investment  would  be  remedied. 

The  transit  situation,  and  especially 
the  present  public  resentment,  should 
be  considered  from  a  far  broader  view- 
point than  that  of  merely  a  settlement 
of  an  increased  fare  question  of  local 
nature.  The  dissatisfaction  and  unrest 
caused  by  the  present  ownership  and 
operation  of  public  utilities  is  acute. 
The  effect  politically  is  apparent  and 
political  success  often  goes,  not  to  the 
deserving,  but  to  the  one  who  can  damn 
railroad  interests  the  loudest.  In  meet- 
ing the  governmental  problems  result- 
ing from,  or  brought  to  a  focus  by,  the 
World  War,  there  is  needed  proper 
statesmanship  that  will  not  confine  it- 
self to  measures  of  repression  but  will 
consider  it  its  main  and  most  important 
duty  to  search  out  and  to  relieve  the 
underlying  causes  of  public  dissatisfac- 
tion and  unrest.  The  situation  of  elec- 
tric traction  throughout  the  country 
furnishes  not  only  the  most  immediate 
but  also  one  of  the  biggest  instances 
of  the  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of 
such  statesmanship.  On  the  one  hand 
is  involved  the  proper  protection  of  an 
investment  running  into  the  billions  in 
one  of  the  country's  major  industries 
and,  through  protecting  that  industry 
by  readjusting  it  to  meet  modern  con- 
ditions and  policies,  to  reduce  or  elimi- 
nate one  of  the  most  prolific  and  im- 
portant causes  of  public  dissatisfaction 
and  unrest. 


Railway  Accountants  Discuss 
Commercial  Power  Customers 

Delegates  Enjoy  Toledo  Beach — Discuss 
Power  Accounts  and  Methods  for 
Computing  Costs  at  Points 
of  Delivery 

THE  forty-first  meeting  of  the  Cen- 
tral Electric  Accountants'  Associa- 
tion was  held  in  Toledo,  Ohio,  Aug.  26 
and  27,  1921.  This  meeting  was  one  of 
unusual  interest,  there  being  an  at- 
tendance of  forty-eight,  representing 
practically  the  entire  railway  member- 
ship of  the  association.  Luncheon  was 
served  Friday,  Aug.  26,  at  the  Toledo 
Yacht  Club,  and  all  sessions  were  held 
at  this  club.  The  two  papers  were 
given  by  J.  N.  Hagan  and  F.  E.  Eaton, 
entitled  "Power  Costs  and  Method  of 
Arriving  at  the  Same  at  Point  of  De- 
livery" and  "Handling  of  Light  and 
Power  Consumer  Accounts"  respec- 
tively. 

In  his  paper  Mr.  Eaton,  who  is  head 
bookkeeper  of  the  Toledo  Railways  & 
Light  Company,  discussed  briefly  the 
method  used  for  handling  commercial 
customers  by  his  company. 

The  operations  essential  to  the  han- 
dling of  customers'  accounts  are  classed 
in  three  divisions:  (a)  Origin  of  in- 
formation, (b)  record  of  information, 
(3)  recapitulation.  The  customer's 
account  is  started  on  the  books  when 
he  signs  an  application  or  contract  for 


service.  This  contract  is  now  the  au- 
thority for  the  issuance  of  work  orders 
to  the  proper  departments  to  give  the 
customer  his  connection  to  the  lines. 
The  executed  order  is  returned  to  the 
contract  department,  where  complete 
information  is  transferred  to  the  origi- 
nal application  and  is  then  turned  over 
to  the  house  card  clerk,  who  records 
the  necessary  information. 

The  bookkeeper  then  takes  the  order 
and  from  it  makes  up  the  customer's 
ledger  sheet,  on  which  is  recorded  such 
information  as  name,  address,  meter 
number  reading,  etc.  Also,  the  meter 
reader  slip  is  sent  to  the  meter  reading 
department.  These  slips  are  bound  to- 
gether in  covers  provided  for  them  and 
are  routed  according  to  districts  in 
which  the  territory  served  is  divided. 
These  books  contain  an  average  of  from 
200  to  300  slips,  covering  streets  and 
numbers  running  consecutively  north 
and  south  or  east  and  west.  Following 
this  the  meters  are  read  and  the  meter 
books  are  returned  to  the  bookkeeping 
department  to  have  the  indexes  re- 
corded and  bills  made  out. 

At  the  completion  of  the  billing  for 
each  period,  which  may  be  monthly,  bi- 
monthly or  tri-monthly,  based  on  the 
number  of  consumers  served,  a  reca- 
pitulation of  the  month's  earnings  or 
revenue  is  made  on  a  form  of  stationery 
which  shows  classification  of  kind  of 
current  used,  whether  used  for  domes- 
tic or  commercial  purposes,  and  further 
classified  as  to  whether  the  current  is 
charged  for  at  regular  meter  rates, 
contract  or  flat  rate,  readiness  to  serve, 
or  minimum  charges  for  services  ren- 
dered. This  recapitulation  is  added 
from  the  ledger  or  listing  machines  and 
the  results  checked  and  verified  by 
comptometer,  the  totals  of  the  distribu- 
tion columns  verifying  the  grand  total. 
The  recapitulation  of  the  month's  reve- 
nue from  all  divisions  is  then  combined 
and  reported  to  the  auditing  depart- 
ment and  charged  by  them  against  the 
bookkeeping  department. 

Ledgers  are  bound  bi-monthly,  at  the 
close  of  the  billing  period  and  at  the 
close  of  the  discount  period.  This  di- 
vides the  labor  in  finding  balances  and 
does  not  burden  the  bookkeeper  un- 
necessarily, particularly  during  the 
billing  period,  as  the  balance  taken  at 
close  of  same  is  merely  applying  the 
cash  received  against  arrears  unpaid 
at  the  close  of  discount  period. 

In  entering  cash  and  charges  on  the 
merchandise  ledgers,  which  are  set  up 
in  the  same  rotation  as  the  electric  and 
gas  consumers'  ledgers,  the  flag  system 
is  used.  After  the  sales  and  cash  for 
each  day  are  entered,  a  recapitulation 
is  made  of  the  previous  balance,  new 
entry  and  present  balance  at  close  of 
each  day's  business;  in  this  manner 
taking  daily  balances  of  each  clerk's 
work  is  a  great  help  in  preventing 
errors,  which  would  be  hard  to  locate 
in  a  balance  of  a  month's  business. 

For  taking  care  of  complaints  forms 
are  provided  on  which  requests  for  in- 
vestigations and  inspections  are  made. 
In  order  that  errors  in  recording  work 
orders  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  a  sys- 
tem is  installed  whereby  all  work  orders 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


409 


that  have  been  entered  on  ledgers  are 
checked  by  a  competent  employee,  par- 
ticularly to  see  that  the  meter  constants 
and  rates  are  recorded  correctly.  Con- 
sumers and  extension  deposits  are  kept 
in  separate  ledgers  and  are  handled  by 
one  of  the  older  employees  in  length  of 
experience  and  service  and  are  bal- 
anced monthly  with  the  control  as 
shown  on  the  general  ledgers  of  the 
auditing  department.  A  card  system 
and  loose-leaf  ledger  sheets  are  used. 

These  operations  and  methods  as  out- 
lined have  given  abundant  satisfaction 
in  accuracy  and  efficiency  and  any  time 
are  open  to  personal  inspection,  and 
any  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  same 
will  be  given  prompt  attention. 

The  paper  by  Mr.  Hogan  on  power 
costs  is  abstracted  elsewhere  in  this 
issue  of  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Freight  and  Express  Accounts  was 
adopted  on  the  basis  of  the  steam  rail- 
road practice  in  the  settlement  of  dif- 
ferences on  monthly  accounts,  the 
minimum  amount  of  settlement  being 
25  cents. 


The  Astray  Freight  Waybill  author- 
ized at  the  January  meeting  was  re- 
ported by  the  committee  as  ready  for 
the  printer,  and  it  will  be  put  into  oper- 
ation at  once.  The  committee  was 
authorized  to  complete  the  form  for  an 
Interline  Unit  Waybill  to  be  used  by 
member  lines. 

It  was  decided  that  the  next  meeting 
of  the  association  would  be  held  at 
Indianapolis,  Ind.,  on  .lan.  27  and  28, 
1922.  One  of  the  special  features  of 
this  meeting  was  the  attendance  of  the 
wives  and  families  of  the  members.  On 
Saturday  some  of  the  accountants  and 
their  families  availed  themselves  of  the 
invitation  of  the  Community  Traction 
Company  and  spent  the  day  at  Toledo 
Beach,  where  all  had  an  enjoyable  time 
and  good  things  to  eat. 

The  following  were  elected  to  mem- 
bership in  the  association :  J.  F.  Keller, 
auditor  of  freight  and  ticket  accounts, 
Dayton  &  Troy  Electric  Railway,  Tip- 
pecanoe City,  Ohio;  F.  M.  Kemp,  as- 
sistant treasurer,  Gary  &  Valparaiso 
Railway,  Gary,  Ind.,  and  D.  A.  Moore, 
secretary  and  treasurer,  Community 
Traction  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio. 


Power  Costs  at  the  Point  of  Delivery  on  Interurban 
Electric  Railways* 

Power  Costs  Must  Be  Segregated  When  Commercial  Consumers  Are  Supplied- 
Demand,  Energy  and  Customer  Costs  Explained — Intelligent  Rate 
Schedule  Must  Be  Based  on  Accurate  Power  Cost  Data 


WHEN  the  majority  of  interurban 
electric  railways  were  built  but 
little  consideration  was  given  to  the 
possibility  of  supplying  commercial 
loads  from  the  railway  transmission 
systems.  In  most  instances  excess  ca- 
pacity was  installed  to  permit  of  future 
expansion  of  the  railway.  Fixed  charges 
and  a  large  part  of  operating  expenses, 
relating  to  the  existing  power  system, 
were  not  increased  by  the  addition  of 
small  commercial  loads.  In  many  cases 
the  railway  managements  considered 
that  the  only  increased  expense  would 
be  in  the  coal  bill,  which  at  that  time 
was  a  relatively  small  item.  Based  on 
this  hypothesis,  very  low  rates  were 
made  to  attract  as  much  commercial 
business  as  possible. 

At  this  time  a  majority  of  interur- 
ban railways  are  carrying  commercial 
power  and  lighting  loads  amounting  to 
between  10  per  cent  and  30  per  cent 
of  the  entire  output.  Due  to  increase 
in  both  railway  and  commercial  loads, 
many  power  plants  have  been  enlarged. 
The  increasing  importance  of  accu- 
rately determining  the  cost  of  power  at 
the  point  of  delivery  is  obvious. 

The  cost  of  supplying  electric  energy 
to  consumers  is  made  up  of  three  ele- 
ments, namely:  (1)  That  portion  of 
the  total  expenses  fixed  by  the  maxi- 
mum demand  on  the  system,  which  is 
often  termed  "Demand  Cost";  (2)  that 
portion  of  the  total  expenses  which  is 
proportional  to  the  energy  used,  called 


•Abstract  of  article  by  J.  S.  Hagan, 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  before  Central  Electric  Railway 
Accountants'  Association,  Toledo,  Ohio, 
Aug.  26,  1921. 


the  "Energy  Cost,"  and  (3)  that  por- 
tion of  the  total  expense  which  is  nearly 
proportional  to  the  number  of  cus- 
tomers served,  which  may  be  called  the 
"Customer  Cost."  It  is  evident,  there- 
fore, that  there  is  no  single  unit  of 
measurement  which  will  accurately  de- 
fine power  costs,  as  we  think  of  the 
cost  of  an  ordinary  commodity.  Ob- 
viously, since  there  are  two  cost  fac- 
tors in  addition  to  that  proportional 
to  the  actual  energy  used  by  any  cus- 
tomer, the  time-worn  nhrase,  "Cost  per 
kilowatt-hour,"  does  not  express  the 
cost  of  supplying  a  particular  con- 
sumer, but  rather  it  expresses  the 
average  cost  of  supplying  a  kilowatt- 
hour  to  the  average  consumer  on  the 
entire  system.  If  the  load  curves  of 
all  consumers  were  exactly  similar, 
with  peak  loads  occurring  at  the  same 
time  of  day  and  year,  then  "Cost  per 
kilowatt-hour"  would  be  a  true  measure 
of  the  cost  of  supplying  power.  How- 
ever, fortunately  for  all  concerned,  the 
peak  loads  of  all  consumers  do  not  oc- 
cur at  the  same  time.  Further,  the 
ratio  of  maximum  demand  to  average 
demand  or  load  factor  is  different  for 
the  several  consumers  or  classes  of  con- 
sumers. 

Necessary  to  Separate  Costs 

In  the  problem  of  the  interurban  rail- 
way it  is  necessary  first  to  arrive  at 
the  division  of  demand,  energy  and  con- 
sumers' costs  for  that  portion  of  the 
installation  used  jointly  by  railway  and 
commercial  loads.  This  includes  the 
costs  incident  to  the  power  plant  and 
main  transmission  system,  but  not  in- 


cluding the  railway  and  commercial 
power  substations.  To  obtain  an  exact 
division  of  the  costs,  each  railway  sub- 
station and  transformer  substation  on 
the  main  transmission  line  should  be 
considered  as  a  separate  load. 

Inasmuch  as  the  demand  cost  is  fixed 
by  the  peak  load  on  the  system,  it  is 
necessary  to  determine  the  degree  to 
which  each  substation  is  responsible  for 
the  peak  load,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
capacity  of  the  power  system.  Off- 
hand, it  would  appear  that  the  portion 
of  the  demand  cost  chargeable  to  each 
substation  would  be  in  the  ratio  of  the 
load  on  that  station  to  the  total  peak 
load  on  the  system  at  the  time  of  the 
system  peak  load.  It  will  be  seen  that 
this  is  not  the  correct  viewpoint,  when 
it  is  pointed  out  that  at  the  time  of 
the  peak  load  in  a  given  year  a  large 
number  of  consumers  may  not  be  using 
any  power.  While  it  is  true  that  cer- 
tain consumers  probably  will  have  their 
peaks  coincident  with  the  system  peak 
load  each  year,  it  is  also  true  that  a 
portion  of  the  peak  load  will  be  made 
up  of  different  consumers  in  succeed- 
ing years.  If  it  were  possible  to  obtain 
continuous  load  curves  of  every  sub- 
station and  of  the  power  plant  over  a 
long  period,  the  portion  of  the  demand 
cost  which  each  substation  theoretically 
should  bear  could  be  calculated.  Prac- 
tically, this  is  not  feasible. 

The  load  curves  of  interurban  power 
stations  have  characteristics  different 
from  those  of  the  ordinary  central  sta- 
tion. During  the  hours  of  operation 
of  the  railway,  the  railway  load  is 
fairly  constant.  On  ordinary  week- 
days a  slight  peak  occurs  during  the 
morning  and  evening  rush  hours.  How- 
ever, on  holidays,  or  when  some  local 
attraction  results  in  passenger  traffic 
above  normal,  the  power  plant  may  be 
called  upon  to  supply  a  practically  con- 
stant railway  load,  considerably  higher 
than  the  weekday  peak.  The  interur- 
ban railway  peak  load,  therefore,  may 
occur  at  any  time  during  the  day  or 
evening  and  probably  will  vary  in  time 
in  different  years.  It  is  apparent  that 
a  commercial  load  which  occurs  during 
any  hour  of  the  day  or  evening  may 
coincide  with  the  railway  peak. 

The  peak  load  on  a  power  plant  or 
on  any  part  of  a  system  is  always  less 
than  the  sum  of  the  peak  loads  of  the 
constituent  parts,  due  to  a  time  dif- 
ference between  the  peaks  of  the  indi- 
vidual loads.  This  introduces  a  di- 
versity factor  which  may  be  defined  as 
the  ratio  of  the  sum  of  the  consumers' 
demands  to  the  peak  demand  on  the 
system  measured  at  the  point  of  sup- 
ply. Coming  back  to  the  question  of 
determination  of  the  division  of  demand 
cost  between  substations,  it  is  reason- 
able to  assume  that  the  demand  cost 
chargeable  to  each  substation  is  pro- 
portional to  the  maximum  demand  of 
that  substation,  taking  into  account  the 
diversity  factor  between  the  various 
loads.  As  an  example,  suppose  that 
there  are  but  two  substations,  "A" 
and  "B."  Suppose  the  maximum  de- 
mand of  substation  "A"  is  8,000  kw., 
that  of  "B"  6,000  kw.,  and  that  the 
maximum  demand  on  the  power  station 


410 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


is  10,000  kw.  The  diversity  factor  of 
the  substation  loads  is  then 


8,000  +  6,000 


1.4 


10,000 

Substation  "A"  should  be  charged  with 
,000 


the  demand  cost  of 


1.4 


5,710  kw. 


6,000 

and  substation  "B"  — — —  =  4,290  kw. 
14 

In  calculating  this  division  of  the  cen- 
tral station  demand  cout,  the  maximum 
demand  of  each  railway  and  commer- 
cial substation  should  include  power 
plant,  transformer  and  line  losses,  which 
can  be  calculated  approximately.  Neg- 
lecting power  factor,  line  losses  of  a 
transmission  system  at  any  instant  are 
not  proportional  to  the  power  delivered, 
but  to  the  square  of  the  power  de.ivered. 
In  practice  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
with  exactness  the  line  loss  properly 
chargeable  to  each  consumer.  In  so 
far  as  the  main  transmission  line,  used 
jointly  by  railway  and  commercial 
power,  is  concerned,  it  is  usually  suf- 
ficient to  assume  that  the  total  line 
loss  is  divided  in  proportion  to  the 
energy  consumption  of  the  various  sub- 
stations. 

The  power  demand  of  each  substa- 
tion can  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  maxi- 
mum demand  meters.  The  demand  of 
large  commercial  power  substations 
serving  a  diversity  of  loads  is  difficult 
to  estimate  and  always  should  be  ob- 
tained either  by  the  use  of  maximum 
demand  meters  or  recording  watt- 
meters. In  this  manner  the  total  de- 
mand costs  of  power  plant  and  trans- 
mission lines  may  be  divided  between 
lailway  and  commercial  power  loads. 

Each  commercial  substation  with  its 
distributing  system  must  be  considered 
separately,  and  the  total  costs  incident 
to  that  particular  distribution  system 
should  be  divided  in  the  manner  pre- 
viously described.  The  demand  costs 
which  consumers  receiving  power  from 
a  given  substation  should  bear  consist 
of  the  part  of  the  main  power  system 
demand  costs  determined  above  plus  all 
of  the  demand  costs  of  the  substation 
distribution  system.  The  division  of 
this  total  demand  cost  of  a  particular 
substation  could  be  made  between  every 
consumer  receiving  power  from  that 
system.  It  is  apparent  that  this  cal- 
culation of  the  division  of  demand  costs 
could  be  carried  down  to  the  individual 
consumer,  but  for  practical  purposes  it 
is  sufficient  to  determine  the  division 
between  only  a  few  classes  of  similar 
load  characteristics. 

The  determination  of  energy  costs 
for  each  consumer  requires  but  little 
comment.  The  total  energy  cost  of  the 
central  station  and  the  energy  cost  per 
kilowatt-hour  at  the  power  plant  bus- 
bars can  be  determined,  as  outlined  be- 
fore, from  data  easily  obtained.  It  is 
again  pointed  out  that  losses  in  the 
distribution  system  should  be  added  to 
the  energy  delivered,  to  obtain  the  total 
energy  consumption  charged  to  any 
consumer  or  class  of  consumers.  Be- 
cause of  the  difficulty  in  accurately 
separating  losses  in  power  station  step- 


up  transformers  and  mam  transmission 
line,  this  energy  loss  may  be  divided 
on  a  kilowatt-hour  basis,  where  energy 
is  metered  at  the  substations. 

The  third  part  of  the  cost  of  power, 
namely,  the  customer  cost,  takes  care 
of  capital  charges  on  customers'  ac- 
count and  expenses  incidental  to  billing 
and  inspecting. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this 
discussion  is  upon  the  determination 
of  power  costs,  and  not  upon  rates  to 
consumers.  While  the  fixing  of  rate 
schedules  should  be  preceded  by  a 
thorough  study  of  the  costs,  upon  which 
any  logical  system  of  rates  is  based, 
there  are  many  other  factors  involved. 

Rate  schemes  are  in  use  which  take 
proper  account  of  the  division  of  power 
costs  and  yet  are  very  simple.  Even 
though  it  may  be  necessary  to  deviate 
somewhat  from  the  theoretical  costs  of 
service  for  different  classes  of  con- 
sumers, it  is  folly  to  attempt  the  de- 
termination of  equitable  rates  without 
first  knowing  with  a  fair  degree  of 
accuracy  the  cost  for  each  class  of 
consumer. 


Dinner  to  Returning  Engineers 

A DINNER  will  be  tendered  at  the 
Engineers'  Club  on  Oct.  10  by 
the  national  engineering  societies  to  the 
returning  members  of  the  deputation 
which  represented  the  John  Fritz  Medal 
Board  in  Europe.  The  guests  will  in- 
clude representatives  of  the  British 
and  French  societies  by  which  this 
delegation  was  received.  Invitations 
have  also  been  extended  to  many  men 
prominent  in  public  life,  including 
Secretary  Hoover,  Viscount  Bryce  and 
Secretary  Hughes. 

Ambrose  Swasey  of  Cleveland  is 
chairman  of  the  John  Fritz  deputation, 
and  the  foreign  organizations  which 
will  be  represented  include  both  British 
and  continental  engineering  societies. 
A  committee  of  arrangements  has  been 
appointed  consisting  of  the  secretaries 
of  the  A.  S.  M.  E.,  A.  I.  M.  &  M.  E., 
A.  S.  C.  E.,  A.  I.  E.  E.  and  United 
Engineering  Society. 


Iowa  Association  Meeting 

THE  mid-year  conference  of  the 
Iowa  Electric  Railway  Association 
has  been  definitely  scheduled  to  take 
place  on  Sept.  15  and  16  at  the  Russell- 
Lamson  Hotel,  Waterloo,  Iowa.  The  first 
session  of  the  meeting  will  be  at  9:30 
Thursday  morning,  w!'ile  an  inspection 
trip  and  a  banquet  an  l  entertainment 
have  been  arranged  for  Thursday 
afternoon  and  evening.  The  third  and 
final  session  will  begin  at  9  o'clock  Fri- 
day morning.  Supplementing  the  in- 
formation as  to  program  printed  in  last 
week's  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  the  following  information  is 
available:  F.  V.  Skelley,  Davenport; 
F.  B.  Hudson,  Omaha;  J.  E.  Kuntz, 
Cedar  Rapids,  and  D.  D.  Bentzinger, 
Burlington,  will  discuss  the  paper  on 
"Transportation"  by  Maurice  A.  We'sh. 
The  paper  by  H.  J.  Connell  on  the  rela- 
tion of  the  claim  department  to  the  other 


departments  of  a  railway  is  to  be  dis- 
cussed by  W.  P.  Thomas,  Omaha;  J.  E. 
Marcussen,  Davenport,  and  Dan  Finch, 
Des  Moines.  R.  J.  Smith's  paper  on 
"Laying  and  Maintaining  Track"  will 
be  discussed  by  R.  H.  Findley,  Omaha; 
T.  E.  Rust,  Waterloo,  and  W.  L.  Wil- 
son, Des  Moines.  The  paper  by  Frank 
R.  Grant  on  "Dipping  and  Baking 
Armatures"  will  be  discussed  by  Tom 
Wood,  Omaha;  W.  G.  Lamb,  Waterloo; 
C.  M.  Feist,  Sioux  City,  and  John 
Sutherland,  Davenport.  A  discussion 
on  the  relative  cost  of  maintaining  one- 
man  and  two-man  cars  will  be  led  off 
by  John  Sutherland,  C.  M.  Feist,  W.  G. 
Lamb  and  Tom  Wood.  John  Suther- 
land, Davenport,  will  act  as  chairman 
of  the  meeting. 


Pacific  Railway  Club  Active 

THE  Pacific  Railway  Club  held  its 
fifth  annual  electric  railway  night 
Thursday  evening,  Aug.  11.  George  H. 
Harris,  assistant  to  the  vice-president 
and  general  manager,  San  Francisco- 
Oakland  Terminal  Railways,  who  is  the 
club's  president,  presided.  There  were 
over  three  hundred  steam  and  electric 
road  officials  and  employees  present. 

The  following  papers  were  read: 
"The  Electric  Suburban  Railway,"  by 
E.  E.  Thornton,  San  Francisco-Oakland 
Terminal  Railways;  "The  Possible 
Field  for  Trackless  Trolleys,"  by  A.  V. 
Thompson,  General  Electric  Company; 
"History  and  Comments  on  the  Third 
Rail  System,"  by  C.  E.  Hatch,  North- 
western Pacific  Railroad. 

Following  the  reading  of  these 
papers,  the  meeting  adjourned  to  the 
Market  Street  Railway's  new  downtown 
substation,  where  an  address  was  made 
by  J.  E.  Woodbridge,  resident  engineer 
for  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  by  whom  the 
station  was  designed.  Mr.  Woodbridge 
explained  the  details  of  design  and 
construction  and  also  the  method  of 
operation.  The  station  was  placed  in 
operation  to  illustrate  this  talk. 


Modification  in  Program 

THE  title  of  the  paper  to  be  pre- 
sented by  H.  C.  Hopson  at  the 
Tuesday  morning  meeting  of  the  Ac- 
countants' Association  has  been  changed 
from  that  given  in  the  issue  of  Aug.  27 
to  "Adaptation  of  Routine  Accounting 
Results  to  Particular  Uses." 


Leaflet  on  Des  Moines 

THE  advertising  department  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation has  prepared  a  leaflet  giving 
some  facts  with  regard  to  the  Des 
Moines  situation,  extracts  from  papers 
commenting  on  the  bus  service  in  that 
citv.  etc. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE       ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


City  Takes  Toronto  Railway 

Operation  Assumed  by  New  Transpor- 
tation Commission,  But  Purchase 
Details  Remain  to  Be  Adjusted 

Toronto  has  taken  over  the  property 
of  the  Toi-onto  Railway.  The  lines  are 
"being  operated  by  the  city  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  lines  of  the  Toronto  Civic 
Railway.  The  statement  made  previous- 
ly in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  to 
the  effect  that  the  details  of  the  nego- 
tiations would  not  be  completed  by 
Sept.  1  was  correct,  but  it  was  decided 
to  go  ahead  with  the  transfer  of  the 
road  to  the  city  at  this  time.  It  is  an- 
ticipated that  all  the  negotiations  in 
connection  with  the  purchase  will  be 
completed  by  Jan.  1  next  and  that  the 
Toronto  Railway  will  be  liquidated  be- 
fore that  time. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  financial 
arrangements  have  not  all  been  per- 
fected, it  was  announced  that  payment 
of  the  principal  on  the  balance  of  the 
outstanding  per  cent  first  mortgage 
T)onds  of  the  Toronto  Railway,  which 
fell  due  on  Sept.  1,  would  have  to  be  de- 
ferred until  the  company  was  in  receipt 
of  funds  arising  from  the  sale  of  its  as- 
sets to  the  city  and  of  its  subsidiaries 
to  the  city  and  province.  As  a  conces- 
sion to  the  bondholders  concerned,  the 
•directors  announced  that  interest  on  the 
"bonds  would  be  paid  as  usual  and  that 
from  the  date  of  maturity  until  the  date 
of  payment  of  the  principal  of  the 
"bonds,  the  interest  rate  would  be  volun- 
tarily increased  from  4J  to  6  per  cent. 
The  bond  issue  was  originally  for  $4,- 
550,000.  It  was  dated  Sept.  1,  1892.  Of 
the  original  sum  $2,275,000  has  been  re- 
tired by  the  sinking  fund,  leaving  a  bal- 
ance of  the  same  amount.  The  state- 
ment to  the  bondholders  said: 

The  arbitration  proceedings  will  of  neces- 
sity occupy  some  weeks,  and  until  the 
award  is  made,  the  company  will  not  be 
entitled  to  payment  for  its  property.  It  is. 
therefore,  unable  to  provide  the  necessary 
funds  for  the  redemption  of  its  bonds  on 
Aug.  31.  The  interest  due  on  that  date 
will  be  paid  as  usual. 

The  bonds  are  of  first  charge  on  the 
undertaking'  of  the  company  until  taken 
over  by  the  city  and,  therefore,  upon  the 
money  payable  by  the  city  as  compensation. 
The  directors  counsel  the  bondholders  not 
to  sacrifice  their  bonds,  as  they  are  amply 
secured  and  will  be  paid  at  their  full  face 
-value. 

H.  H.  Couzens,  general  manager  of 
the  Toronto  Transportation  Commis- 
sion, has  assumed  the  management  of 
the  properties  taken  over.  One  of  the 
first  acts  of  the  city  was  to  cancel  after 
midnight  on  Aug.  31  all  bus  service  li- 
censes granted  for  use  in  the  city  by 
-the  Board  of  Police  Commissioners. 
When  bus  owners  operating  services  in 
the  city  were  granted  their  licenses, 
they  were  notified  that  the  right  to  op- 
erate would  not  be  good  after  Sept.  1. 

According  to  the  Toronto  Globe  Sir 
William  Mackenzie,  president  of  the  To- 


ronto Railway,  is  credited  with  the 
statement  that  the  stockholders  of  the 
railway  were  badly  used.  In  comment- 
ing on  this,  the  Globe  said  that  there 
will  be  very  general  agreement  with 
that  statement,  but  there  will  be  as  gen- 
eral a  dissent  from  Sir  William's  sug- 
gestion that  the  action  of  the  city  in 
any  way  prejudiced  the  interests  of  the 
shareholders.    The  Globe  said  in  part: 

He,  himself  (Sir  William),  is  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  grievous  losses  that 
have  fallen  upon  the  investors  who  bought 
the  Toronto  Railway  shares  in  boom  years 
of  1911  and  1012  at  prices  ranging  from 
$130  to  $160  a  share  and  who  are  now 
confronted  with  a  stock  market  valuation 
around  $70  for  the  same  shares. 

If  Sir  William,  looking  back  over  thirty 
years  of  street  railway  direction  and  con- 
trol in  Toronto,  can  feel  that  he  did  the  best 
lie  could,  either  for  the  citizens  or  the 
shareholders  of  the  Toronto  Railway,  he 
must  hold  himself  to  a  far  less  strict  stand- 
ard of  conduct  than  he  would  exact  from 
any  of  his  subordinates.  When  he  tells  of 
how  badly  the  shareholders  have  been 
treated,  the  answer  of  the  citizens  must  be: 
"Thou  art  the  man." 

The  Globe  is  further  of  the  opinion 
that  the  citizens  of  Toronto  "who  en- 
abled the  company  to  pay  dividends  on 
$6,000,000  of  watered  stock  as  well  as 
the  charges  on  the  borrowed  capital 
invested  in  the  enterprise,  were  com- 
pelled to  use  obsolete  rolling  stock 
dragged  over  worn-out  rails."  The  Globe 
says  that  the  extensions  to  which  the 
people  of  Toronto  believed  themselves 
entitled  under  the  franchise  to  the  To- 
ronto Railway  were  refused  and  that  a 
system  of  civic  railways  had  to  be  built 
by  the  city  on  the  outskirts  and  oper- 
ated at  a  loss,  while  the  Toronto  Rail- 
way fed  fat  on  the  highly  profitable 
traffic  of  the  central  district. 

While  the  city  does  not  of  course  ac- 
quire title  to  the  road  until  the  award 
of  the  arbitrator  has  been  received  and 
the  papers  to  the  negotiations  finally 
signed,  the  commission  in  charge  of  the 
property  has  gone  ahead  on  the  assump- 
tion that  the  road  must  be  made  to 
pay  from  the  very  start.  As  the  result 
of  its  consideration  of  the  whole  prob- 
lem, it  was,  therefore,  decided  that  in- 
stead of  the  straight  5-cent  fare  the 
cash  for  adults  should  be  7  cents  or 
four  tickets  for  25  cents  and  sixteen 
tickets  for  a  dollar,  or  fifty  tickets  for 
$3.  Night  rates  for  all  passengers  will 
be  15  cents.  As  for  children's  fares,  in- 
fants in  arms  are  carried  free,  but  for 
all  others,  irrespective  of  age,  not  ex- 
ceeding 51  in.  in  height,  the  rate  is  4 
cents  cash  or  seven  tickets  for  25  cents. 

It  is  reported  that  the  Mayor  de- 
clared that  he  wou'd  not  sign  the  docu- 
ments necessary  to  the  transfer  of  the 
property  because  of  the  7-cent  fare  de- 
cision and  issued  instructions  for  the 
railway  to  be  temporarily  operated  by 
the  municipal  officials  at  the  old  rate 
of  fare,  which  averaged  about  3h  cents, 
compared  with  the  higher  fare  required 
by  the  commission  to  pay  expenses. 


Situation  in  Des  Moines 

No  Agreement  on  Offer  of  Employees — 
City  Files  Answer  to  Foreclosure 
Proceedings 

City  officials  and  the  railway  failed 
to  agree  on  union  employees'  proposal 
for  resumption  of  service  in  Des  Moines. 
Company  officials  declare  that  the  men's 
plan  does  not  give  adequate  financial 
guarantee,  particularly  to  cover  possible 
damages.  W.  E.  King  of  Toltz,  King 
&  Bay,  Minneapolis,  was  called  into 
conference  with  Corporation  Counsel 
Miller  on  Sept.  7  and  it  is  reported  that 
he  will  be  employed  by  the  city  during 
the  franchise  negotiations. 

Electric  railway  service  in  Des 
Moines  was  shut  down  again  on  Friday 
night,  Sept.  2,  after  eight  days'  serv- 
ice during  the  period  of  the  Iowa  State 
Fair.  Operation  of  cars  during  the 
period  of  the  state  fair  showed  sufficient 
receipts  to  cover  operating  expenses 
with  no  provision  for  interest  and  de- 
preciation. 

After  a  mass  meeting  of  the  railway 
men's  union  on  Friday  application  was 
made  to  Judge  Martin  J.  Wade,  on 
behalf  of  the  union,  to  order  a  resump- 
tion of  service  for  a  period  of  thirty 
days  while  the  franchise  negotiations 
are  under  way. 

In  their  offer  the  union  employees 
agree  to  guarantee  expenses  to  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway  during  the  trial 
period  under  an  arrangement  similar 
to  that  made  by  the  State  Fair  Asso- 
ciation. 

This  offer  is  that  the  revenue 
during  the  thirty-day  period  will  be 
used  to  pay  all  expenses  except  those 
for  labor,  any  balance  of  revenues  to 
be  prorated  among  them,  but  no  allow- 
ance to  be  made  for  the  payment  of 
taxes,  bond  interest  or  depreciation 
charges  during  the  period  of  thirty 
days.  This  arrangement  is  similar  to 
the  conditions  laid  down  in  the  agree- 
ment with  the  State  Fair  officials  for 
the  resumption  of  street  car  service 
temporarily. 

The  text  of  the  men's  offer  in  part 
follows : 

Whereas,  we,  the  employees  of  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway,  members  of  Division 
No.  441,  believe  it  to  be  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  citizens  of  Des  Moines  to  be  pro- 
vided with  the  best  street  car  service  pos- 
sible, pending  a  final  settlement  of  the 
differences  between  the  city  and  company  ; 
and. 

Whereas,  we  have  been  informed  that  the 
company  will  discontinue  service  at  mid- 
night today  unless  it  is  guaranteed  against 
loss ;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  we,  the  members  of  Divi- 
sion 441,  employees  of  the  company,  in- 
struct our  officers  to  notify  the  City  Council 
and  all  others  concerned  that  we  will  op- 
erate the  cars  for  a  period  of  thirty  days 
and  will  agree  to  accept  as  wages,  divided 
pro  rata  per  hour,  such  amount  as  may 
be  after  paying  actual  operating  expenses. 
Provided,  however,  that  interest,  taxes  and 
depreciation  shall  not  be  considered  as 
operating  expenses  during  this  period. 


412 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Corporation  Counsel  Miller  announced 
on  Sept.  3  that  he  would  also  make 
application  to  Judge  Wade  for  a  res- 
toration of  service  on  the  offer  made 
by  the  men.  Judge  Miller's  statement 
came  after  a  conference  with  F.  C. 
Chambers,  general  manager  of  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway. 

Saturday  brought  another  develop- 
ment with  the  filing  of  the  city's  reply 
in  federal  court  to  the  foreclosure  com- 
plaint. The  city  maintains  that  the 
franchise  under  which  the  Des  Moines 
City  Railway  has  been  operating  is 
still  in  force  and  that  the  franchise  is 
the  only  authority  for  the  company  to 
occupy  the  streets.  Claim  is  made  that 
suspension  of  service  is  a  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  franchise  and  that  occupa- 
tion of  the  streets  without  operation 
of  service  constitutes  an  obstruction  of 
the  streets,  and  that  if  it  continues 
"the  city  will  deem  it  necessary  to 
tear  up  the  tracks,  poles  and  wire  and 
clear  the  city  streets." 

In  the  event  that  a  sale  of  the  prop- 
erty is  made  the  city  asks  that  it  be 
made  as  soon  as  possible,  and  "that 
the  property  so  sold  be  treated  as  a 
unit  and  subject  to  the  ordinances  pre- 
serving to  the  city  the  franchise  in- 
tact." The  city  also  points  out  that 
the  purchaser  at  any  sale  takes  the 
properties  subject  to  the  lien  and 
franchise  of  the  city.  The  reply  is  the 
first  definite  declaration  of  policy  by 
the  city  during  the  controversy. 

The  franchise  prepared  by  the  Har- 
ris interests  had  not  yet  been  returned 
on  Sept.  31  to  the  City  Council  by  Cor- 
poration Counsel  Miller. 

Upon  complaint  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  schools  that  buses  were  failing 
to  meet  the  situation  and  were  keeping 
children  from  school,  operators  agreed 
to  reduce  the  fares  to  21  cents  for 
school  children  and  to  provide  extra 
buses  for  certain  schools. 


P.  R.  T.  Wage  Cut  Hinted 

A  wage  cut  affecting  the  employees 
of  the  Philadelphia  (Pa  )  Rapid  Transit 
Company  looms  up  qs  a  possibility. 
Thomas  E.  Mitten,  president  of  the 
company,  said  recently  that  the  wage 
scale  must  continue  to  follow  the  aver- 
age scale  of  Chicago,  Cleveland,  Detroit 
and  Buffalo  even  if  reductions  result. 
Mr.  Mitten's  remarks  were  made  at  a 
picnic  and  dinner  tendered  to  500  offi- 
cials and  departmental  heads  of  the 
Co-operative  Welfare  Association  of 
the  company.  The  affair  was  held  at 
the  Willow  Grove  Casino. 

Mr.  Mitten  reviewed  the  important 
developments  in  the  history  of  the  com- 
pany during  the  last  eleven  years,  and 
said  that  Philadelphia  had  been  trans- 
formed "from  the  worst-served  city  in 
1910  to  a  service  which  compares  fav- 
orably with  that  of  rny  other  city." 
Touching  on  keeping  up  with  the  four- 
city  average  Mr.  Mitten  said: 

No  matter  how  much  our  inclination  may 
run  in  the  direction  of  retaining  the  present 
65-cent  wage  as  we  had  hoped,  we  must 
now,  in  fairness  to  the  car  rider  and  to  the 
P.  R.  T.  stockholders,  be  as  exact  in  making 
reductions  in  accordance  with  the  four-city 
average  as  we  were  in  grabbing  off  the 
increase  when  the  four-city  average  made 
that  a  fair  thing  for  us  to  do. 


Seattle  Jitneys  Must  Go 

The  State  Supreme  Court  on  Sept.  2 
denied  the  petition  for  a  rehearing  of 
a  group  of  Seattle  jitney  drivers.  This 
petition  was  recently  filed  by  the  H.  P. 
McGlothern  group  of  jitney  drivers  and 
a  second  group  of  drivers  later  inter- 
vened in  the  suit. 

This  decision  upheld  the  order  of  the 
Superior  Court  and  means  the  jitneys 
must  leave  the  streets  of  Seattle.  Their 
only  recourse  is  to  appeal  to  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  where  the 
chances  for  obtaining  a  review  of  the 
jitneurs'  litigation  against  the  city  of 
Seattle  is  very  remote,  according  to 
those  familiar  with  the  situation. 


Milwaukee  Company  Inaugurates 
Limited  Interurban  Service 

The  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  has 
announced  a  limited  service  from  Mil- 
waukee to  Watertown,  located  about  50 
miles  away  from  Milwaukee,  at  the  ter- 
minus of  one  of  the  company's  inter- 
urban lines.  The  service  will  consist  of 
two  trains  each  way  daily,  except  Sun- 
days and  holidays.  In  view  of  the 
lower  fare  on  the  electric  railway  as 
compared  with  the  steam  road  rate  for 
the  same  trip  it  is  hoped  materially  to 
increase  the  company's  interurban  busi- 
ness on  this  particular  line.  At  the 
same  time  announcement  has  been  made 
of  changes  in  the  leaving  time  of  inter- 
urban trains  operating  on  some  of  the 
other  interurban  lines  of  the  company 
to  aid  connections  and  to  increase 
through  traffic  on  the  interurbans. 

Beginning  June  1,  the  company 
placed  on  sale  new  twenty-five-ride  com- 
mutation tickets  between  Milwaukee 
and  the  more  important  stations  on  the 
interurban  system  at  very  attractive 
rates.  These  will  be  limited  to  the  use 
of  the  purchaser  and  will  be  good  for 
six  months.  There  will  also  be  on  sale 
500-mile  mileage  books  at  about  21 
cents  per  mile  plus  90  cents  war  tax, 
or  at  a  total  of  $12.15.  The  mileage 
book  will  be  transferable,  good  for  one 
year  from  date  of  purchase  and  will 
permit  of  its  being  used  by  any  num- 
ber of  persons  at  one  time.  On  Sept.  1 
the  company  will  begin  selling  forty- 
four-ride  commutation  ticket  books  for 
the  individual  use  of  the  school  chil- 
dren. 

The  company's  announcements  of  pro- 
posed changes  in  service  and  in  ticket 
rates  have  been  made  through  adver- 
tisements in  the  various  local  papers 
and  through  a  small,  attractive  leaflet 
which  will  be  distributed  on  the  cars 
and  at  the  various  terminals.  The  leaf- 
let contains  a  form  for  making  sugges- 
tions for  the  betterment  of  the  inter- 
urban service.  The  interurban  rates 
of  the  company  are  3  cents  per  mile 
cash,  2.75  cents  per  mile  if  single  tick- 
ets are  bought,  2.25  cents  per  mile  when 
500-mile  mileage  books  are  bought,  2 
cents  per  mile  with  twenty-five-ride 
books  and  as  low  as  1J  cents  per  mile 
if  fifty-two-ride  non-transferable  one- 
month  books  are  bought.   In  connection 


with  the  inauguration  of  limited  service, 
the  company  will  also  undertake  to 
transport  free  of  charge  a  certain 
amount  of  baggage. 


New  Orleans  Council  Approves 
Maloney  Plan 

The  trolley  troubles  of  New  Orleans 
which  have  dragged  settlement  for 
these  many  months  appear  to  have 
reached  an  end,  in  a  plan  of  action 
proposed  by  Commissioner  Paul  Malo- 
ney of  the  Department  of  Public 
Utilities,  at  a  special  meeting  of  the 
Commission  Council  on  Sept.  3. 

The  Maloney  scheme,  it  may  be 
stated,  has  received  the  indorsement 
of  the  civic,  commercial  and  financial 
bodies  of  New  Orleans  and  was  ap- 
proved at  the  meeting  of  the  council 
by  a  vote  of  4  to  1,  Mayor  McShane 
alone  standing  out  against  settling  the 
controversy  on  a  basis  of  $44,700,000, 
for  making  the  rate  of  return,  though 
not  opposed  to  the  Maloney  estimate  of 
$44,700,000,  as  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty. 

Neither  Judge  Foster  of  the  Federal 
District  Court,  who  will  of  necessity  be 
required  later  on  to  pass  upon  the 
recommendations  of  Commissioner  Ma- 
loney and  the  Commission  Council, 
when  the  matter  is  brought  to  his  at- 
tention officially,  nor  Receiver  J.  D. 
O'Keefe  of  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
pany would  comment  upon  the  new 
plan  of  settlement.  It  is  planned,  how- 
ever, to  ask  Special  Master  Chaffee  of 
the  Federal  Court  to  postpone  the  hear- 
ing which  was  to  have  started  on  Sept. 
6  for  a  period  of  three  weeks,  in  order 
to  give  the  security  holders  of  the  com- 
pany time  to  assimilate  the  plan. 

C.  C.  Chappelle,  representing  the 
New  York  Security  Holders  Committee, 
was  the  only  voice  raised  in  a  criticism 
of  the  Maloney  plan.  He  thought  the 
restrictions  and  conditions  imposed 
under  the  Maloney  plan  were  unique  in 
public  utility  financing  and  regulations, 
and  that  this  departure  from  approved 
standards  and  principles  might  have 
the  effect  of  preventing  investors  from 
financing  the  reorganization.  He  in- 
tends to  return  to  New  York  immedi- 
ately. 

The  city's  ultimatum  is  as  follows, 
briefly  speaking: 

Valuation,  $44,766,000;  rate  of  re- 
turn, 7  J  per  cent.  Immediately  on  re- 
organization and  discharge  of  receiver- 
ship, the  rates  and  charges  to  be  as 
follows,  for  a  test  period  of  six  months: 

Car  fare,  7  cents  with  universal 
transfers;  gas  rate,  $1.30  per  1,000 
cubic  feet;  electric  rates  unchanged; 
the  city  to  have  a  perpetual  option  on 
the  following  utilities  of  the  company 
as  of  Dec.  31,  1920: 

Gas  plant,  $8,652,000;  Electric  Light 
&  Power  Co.,  $10,048,000;  Street  Rail- 
way, $20,000,000.  The  company  to  be 
reorganized  within  a  period  of  six 
months,  the  Commission  Council  to 
have  one-third  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
on  the  directory  of  the  new  organiza- 
tion, who  shall  be  neither  state  nor  city 
officials. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


413 


Interurbans  Run  in  Albany 

Amalgamated     Requires  Schenectady 
Railway  Employees  to  Operate  in 
Strike  Zone 

There  is  no  change  in  the  Albany- 
Troy-Rensselaer  strike  situation  and  the 
endurance  contest  between  the  United 
Traction  Company  and  its  former  em- 
ployees will  apparently  continue  for 
some  time  yet,  although  it  is  generally 
conceded  that  the  strike,  as  such,  is 
over. 

Interurban  cars  from  Schenectady 
were  run  into  the  strike  zone  in  Albany 
and  Troy  on  September  1  for  the  first 
time  since  the  strike  was  started  in 
January,  the  cars  so  operating  carry- 
ing no  local  passengers  within  the  city. 

The  operation  of  interurban  cars  in- 
to the  strike  zone  of  Albany  and  Troy 
is  the  result  of  the  order  of  the  exec- 
utive committee  of  the  Amalgamated 
Association  given  out  in  Detroit  on  Aug. 
31  to  obey  the  request  of  the  Schenec- 
tady Railway  and  the  Hudson  Valley 
Railway  to  run  into  the  strike  zone. 

Politics,  both  big  and  small,  is  being 
played  with  the  traction  situation.  In 
Schenectady  George  R.  Lunn  expects  to 
win  for  mayor  on  the  Democratic  ticket 
this  fall  and  next  fall  become  the 
logical  Democratic  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor on  the  strength  of  having  avert- 
ed a  strike  of  railway  men  in  Schenec- 
tady and  the  cities  west  of  Albany.  In 
Albany  Patrick  E.  McCabe,  former 
Tammany  boss  of  Albany  County,  is 
running  on  an  independent  platform  for 
Mayor,  declaring  for  a  5-cent  fare  and 
the  eternal  damnation  of  the  United 
Traction  Company. 

Jitney  Situation  in  Courts 

The  attitude  of  the  United  Traction 
Company  is  that  the  strike  is  over. 
The  officers  of  the  company  expect  that 
the  fall  and  winter  months  will  bring  a 
return  of  most  of  the  former  patrons, 
who  are  now  walking  or  jitney  riding. 

The  entire  jitney  situation  is  now  in 
the  Supreme  Court  before  Justice  Har- 
old L.  Hinman.  It  is  generally  conced- 
ed that  the  New  York  State  statutes 
and  constitution  afford  a  wider  protec- 
tion to  interests  holding  transportation 
franchises  as  against  competitive  trans- 
portation systems  than  do  the 
statutes  of  some  other  states,  and  that 
in  all  probability  the  proceedings  now 
pending  before  Judge  Hinman  will  re- 
sult in  a  set-back  to  all  jitney  opera- 
tions in  the  State,  unless  the  Legisla- 
ture shouM  by  chance  intervene,  a  pro- 
ceeding which  appears  very  unlikely. 

After  reciting  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions in  the  three  cities,  the  decision 
of  the  Amalgamated  read  in  part: 

The  feeling  of  your  general  executive 
board  is  that  the  order  is  put  up  to  the 
association  for  the  purpose  of  placing  us  in 
an  embarrassing  position  with  no  altern- 
ative except  to  violate  the  principles  of 
collective  contract. 

Now,  therefore,  your  board  lays  down 
to  you  as  the  establishing  of  a  decision 
upon  the  question,  a  rule  to  be  followed : 
That  you  live  up  to  your  contract  and  ope- 
rate your  cars  into  the  terminals  of  Al- 
bany and  Troy,  with  the  direct  understand- 
ing that  you  are  to  cany  the  regular  pas- 
sengers of  your  own  roads  in  and  out  of 
those  cities  in  a  manner  that,  in  fully  con- 
serving your  agreement  relations,  you  will 


do    nothing    detrimental    to    your  fello 
workers  that  are  waging  a  struggle  for  the 
right  of  organization  in  those  cities.  You 
are   hereby   instructed   to   carry   out  this 
rule. 

Every  means  available  within  this  asso- 
ciation will  be  used  to  assist  the  men  of 
Albany  and  Troy  now  engaged  in  fighting 
the  lockout,  and  at  least  $7,000  a  week 
will  be  placed  behind  these  men  until  the 
convention  of  the  association  can  act  upon 
the  matter. 

In  addition  to  this,  officers  of  the  inter- 
national asociation  will  be  sent  to  our 
various  local  divisions,  to  explain  to  them 
that  the  rumors  that  are  being  spread  that 
the  lockout  is  lost  and  that  the  amalga- 
mated is  not  behind  the  Albany  and  Troy 
members  of  this  association,  are  absolutely 
untrue,  and  to  appeal  to  the  membership 
of  those  local  divisions,  that  each  of  these 
locals  pledge,  through  their  membership, 
financial  aid  and  assistance  in  addition  to 
what  the  convention  may  do  for  them. 

We  will  place  this  situation  before  the 
representatives  of  the  various  political  par- 
ties of  the  state  of  New  York  and  lodge  with 
state,  city  and  county  officials  an  appeal 
that  they  give  their  assistance  and  exercise 
their  good  offices  to  bring  about  an  honor- 
able settlement  of  the  lockout  situation  in 
Albany  and  Troy,  on  the  ground  that  the 
company  is  operating  under  concession  and 
solely  by  the  right  of  franchise  of  the 
people,  and  that  the  people's  rights  should 
and  must  be  respected  and  served  by  them. 


Birmingham  Files  Injunction 

Following   Appeal   From   Decision  of 
Commission  the  City  Files  Injunc- 
tion Proceedings 

Injunction  proceedings  have  been  filed 
by  the  city  of  Birmingham  against  Lee 
C.  Bradley,  as  receiver,  and  the  Bir- 
mingham Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  in  the  Chancery  Division  of 
the  Circuit  Court,  attacking  the  con- 
stitutionality of  the  Alabama  public 
utilities  act.  The  city,  by  these  pro- 
ceedings, seeks  to  restrain  the  receiver 
and  the  Birmingham  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company  from  collecting  the  8- 
cent  fares  and  the  2-cent  transfer 
charge  put  into  effect  weeks  ago  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission. 

The  court  is  asked  in  the  proceedings 
to  declare  the  franchises  of  the  com- 
pany forfeited  for  alleged  violations  of 
the  contracts  between  the  city  and  the 
company,  and  to  enjoin  the  collection 
of  any  fare  in  excess  of  the  sum  of 
5  cents,  which  is  provided  in  the  old 
contract  between  the  city  and  the  com- 
pany. 

Vigorous  attack  on  the  constitution- 
ality of  the  public  utilities  bill,  which 
gives  the  Alabama  Public  Service  Com- 
mission exclusive  right  to  regulate  the 
rates  charged  by  public  utilities  in  the 
State,  is  made  in  the  suit.  It  is  charged 
that  the  Birmingham  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company  was  largely  responsi- 
ble for  the  adoption  of  the  bill. 

The  case  has  not  yet  been  set  for 
hearing.  Under  the  law  the  receiver 
and  the  company  have  thirty  days  in 
which  to  answer  the  proceedings. 
When  the  answers  have  been  filed  the 
case  will  be  set  down  for  hearing. 

The  time  for  appeal  from  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Alabama  Public  Service 
Commission  granting  the  8-cent  fare 
has  not  yet  been  announced.  This  ap- 
peal was  filed  in  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Montgomery  County.  Under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  public  utilities  act,  an 
appeal  from  one  of  the  decisions  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  can  only  be 
filed  in  the  Circuit  Court. 


Toledo  Prospect  Better 

First  Year's  Operation  at  Service-at- 
Cost  May  See  Deficit  Wiped  Out 
and  System  Stabilized 

There  will  be  no  electric  railway  ex- 
tensions in  Toledo,  Ohio,  for  at  least  a 
year.  This  announcement  has  been 
made  by  Street  Railway  Commissioner 
Wilfred  E.  Cann.  It  is  believed,  how- 
ever, that  the  completion  of  the  first 
year's  operation  under  the  service-at- 
cost  plan  will  see  the  deficit  largely 
wiped  away  and  the  system  in  a  fair 
way  to  reduce  fares  and  greatly  better 
operation. 

During  the  present  summer  40  per 
cent  more  repair  work  and  track  im- 
provement have  been  undertaken  than 
in  the  last  three  years.  Many  down- 
town intersections  have  been  repaired 
and  replacements  have  been  made  in 
some  long  stretches  of  track.  Commis- 
sioner Cann  said: 

While  car  riding  continues  to  fall  off — ■ 
there  were  55,000  fewer  passengers  carried 
in  the  first  twenty-five  days  of  August  than 
in  the  same  number  of  davs  in  July — we 
have  been  able  to  stem  the  deficit. 

I  thought  10  cents  a  car-mile  for  mainte- 
nance would  be  none  too  much  when  I  came 
here.  That  ratio  has  been  turning  in 
$58,000  to  $60,000  a  month  to  the  mainte- 
nance fund.  That  figure  has  been  cut 
down  because  we  weren't  spending  the 
money  that  fast. 

We  have  been  able  to  economize  through 
the  elimination  of  the  Huron  line,  speeding 
up  service,  cutting  out  surplus  employees, 
doing  away  with  dead  car  mileage,  and 
splitting  lines  in  the  downtown  district.  I 
believe  that  by  Oct.  1  we  will  have  cash  in 
all  the  funds  up  to  their  limit  and  then  we 
can  start  putting  money  back  into  the 
stabilizing  fund. 

August  Statement  Awaited  with 
Interest 

The  stabilizing  fund  now  stands  at 
$140,000.  It  must  come  up  to  $500,000 
before  the  reduction  of  fares  is  possi- 
ble. 

It  is  believed  the  statement  of  opera- 
tions for  August,  to  be  presented  to  the 
board  of  control  at  its  meeting  on  Sept. 
12,  will  be  the  best  yet  brought  out  by 
the  commissioner.  Fare  raises  have 
changed  the  complexion  of  operations. 

The  Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Com- 
pany has  made  arrangements  for  the 
lifting  of  the  $12,000,000  mortgage 
against  its  properties.  This  indenture 
also  binds  the  holdings  of  the  Commu- 
nity Traction  Company.  It  was  agreed 
at  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  prop- 
erty that  a  large  cash  forfeit  would  be 
made  by  the  Doherty  companies  if  the 
mortgage  was  not  lifted  by  December. 

Morton  Seeley,  attorney  for  the  Tole- 
do Railways  and  Light  Company  has 
been  in  New  York,  arranging  for  the 
new  financing  of  the  local  properties. 


Third  Wage  Cut  in  Effect 

Trainmen  of  the  McKeesport  branch 
West  Penn  Railways,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
have  been  notified  of  a  wage  reduc- 
tion amounting  to  5  cents  an  hour. 
Motormen  and  conductors  will  now  re- 
ceive 48  cents  an  hour  for  the  first 
three  months  of  service,  53  cents  for 
the  next  nine  months,  and  55  cents 
for  all  time  after  a  year's  service.  This 
is  the  third  reduction  in  effect  since 
May. 


414 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Suburban  Men  Cut  15  per  Cent 

A  wage  cut  of  15  per  cent,  retro- 
active to  July  1,  has  been  announced 
by  the  arbitration  board  in  the  case  of 
the  Middlesex'  &  Boston  Street  Rail- 
way, Newtonville,  Mass.  This  award 
will  make  the  wages  of  blue-uniform 
men  for  the  ensuing  year  as  follows: 
First  three  months,  42i  cents;  next  nine 
months,  47  cents;  thereafter,  51  cents 
an  hour.  This  compares  with  50  cents, 
55  cents  and  60  cents  an  hour  under  the 
heretofore  existing  scale.  The  award 
was  accepted  by  the  union. 

Owing  to  the  retroactive  feature  of 
the  award,  the  employees  will  be 
obliged  to  refund  to  the  company  the 
excess  wages  received  under  the  old 
scale  since  July  1.  Negotiations  were 
commenced  prior  to  that  time,  but 
were  not  completed  until  recently,  so 
the  company  continued  to  pay  the  old 
scale  with  the  understanding  that  the 
employees  would  refund  any  difference 
which  might  exist  when  the  arbitrators 
finally  settled  the  new  rate. 

The  arbitration  board  consisted  of 
Colonel  Charles  R.  Gow  Pitt  Drew  and 
James  H.  Vahey.  Messrs.  Gow  and 
Drew  formulated  the  majority  report, 
which  fixed  the  new  scale.  Mr.  Vahey 
presented  a  minority  ieport  dissenting 
from  the  award. 

The  majority  members  accepted  the 
company's  contention  that  the  existing 
high  wage  scales  were  the  result  of  a 
series  of  upward  boosts  in  rates  which 
were  in  every  case  intended  to  enable 
the  employees  to  meet  the  increased 
cost  of  living.  This  cost  has  now  re- 
ceded materially,  according  to  the  re- 
port, and  therefore  a  downward  revi- 
sion of  wages  is  justified. 

In  his  dissenting  opinion,  Mr.  Vahey 
maintained  that  the  rates  fixed  are 
entirely  inadequate,  and  claims  that  the 
majority  finding  was  based  on  the  law 
of  supply  and  demand  for  labor,  that 
is,  on  the  ability  of  the  company  to 
employ  men  at  lower  wages  because  of 
the  present  widespread  conditions  of 
unemployment.    Mr.  Vahey  said: 

When  employees  agree  not  to  strike,  when 
they  surrender  this  industrial  weapon,  and 
when  they  agree  with  the  employers  to  sub- 
mit their  question  of  wage  rates  to  a  board 
•  of  arbitration,  both  sides  are  thereby  pie- 
eluded  from  invoking  the  law  of  supply 
and  demand. 

And  yet  the  majority  of  the  board  allows 
the  wage  rates  to  be  fixed  by  the  hunger 
of  unfortunates  who  are  at  present  out  of 
a  job. 


Trolley  Crashes  Into  Hotel 

An  electric  train  consisting  of  three 
freight  cars  en  route  from  Worcester 
to  Springfield,  Mass.,  on  Aug.  31 
jumped  the  track  on  the  incline  of 
State  Street,  Springfield,  and  crashed 
into  a  stone  and  brick  building  occu- 
pied principally  by  the  Victoria  Hotel. 
The  impact  tore  away  the  supporting 
pillars  and  the  falling  walls  exposed 
the  sleeping  rooms  on  the  upper  floors. 

The  express  messenger  in  one  of  the 
cars  was  the  only  person  who  received 
serious  injuries.  The  motorman  was 
only  slightly  hurt,  but  a  hotel  guest 
was  severely  cut.  The  damage  to  the 
building  is  estimated  at  $50,000.  Two 
of  the  express  cars  were  destroyed  and 


the  other  is  almost  a  total  loss.  Man- 
ager Flanders  of  the  Springfield  Street 
Railway  began  an  investigation  at  once. 
He  himself  is  of  the  opinion  that  slip- 
pery rails  was  the  cause  of  the  acci- 
dent. 


Railway  Doing  Its  Best 

Company  at  Portland,  Ore.,  Is  Putting 
Money  Back  Steadily  Into 
Its  Properties 

In  a  petition  to  the  Public  Service 
Commission  of  Oregon  the  City  Coun- 
cil of  Portland,  through  City  Attorney 
Grant,  urges  that  the  Portland  Railway, 
Light  &  Power  Company  be  required 
to  perform  certain  maintenance  and  con- 
struction work  on  railway  lines  in  Port- 
land or  reduce  the  fares  on  such  lines. 

The  city,  in  its  petition,  maintains 
that  the  company  has  failed  entirely  to 
do  extra  maintenance  work,  and  has 
also  failed  to  do  a  large  part  of  recon- 
struction work,  all  of  which  was  set  up 
by  the  company  as  one  of  the  reasons 
necessary  for  an  increased  fare  granted 
on  June  20,  1920,  by  the  Public  Service 
Commission. 

Franklin  T.  Griffith,  president  of  the 
company,  denies  the  allegations  of  the 
City  Council,  asserting  that  not  only  has 
the  company  carried  out  its  obligations, 
but  in  addition  it  is  the  only  employer 
of  large  numbers  of  men  in  the  State  of 
Oregon  that  has  a  greater  force  at  work 
than  is  shown  in  the  records  one  year 
ago. 

In  its  petition  to  the  Public  Service 
Commission,  the  city  contends  that  when 
the  railway  requested  an  increase  from 
a  6-cent  to  an  8-cent  fare,  representa- 
tion was  made  that  the  additional  rev- 
enue was  required  to  perform  recon- 
struction work  estimated  to  cost  $656,- 
900;  also  that  for  a  period  of  twelve 
months  following  the  allowance  for  in- 
creased fare,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
spend  $10,000  a  month  for  maintenance 
work  which  had  been  deferred  because 
of  lack  of  funds.  The  city  alleges  that 
the  company  has  failed  to  perform  the 
extra  maintenance  work,  and  has  also 
failed,  neglected  and  refused  to  do  a 
large  part  of  the  reconstruction  work. 

President  Griffith  stated  that  during 
the  period  from  July  1,  1920,  to  July  31, 
1921,  the  company  actually  expended  on 
maintenance  and  reconstruction  of  its 
railway  system  a  total  of  $869,389,  and 
that  the  number  of  reconstruction  jobs 
under  way  will  require  an  additional 
$193,782  to  complete.  This  is  exclusive 
of  the  increased  maintenance  program. 
Mr.  Griffith  said: 

It  is  true  that  prior  to  the  inauguration 
of  the  8-cent  fare,  the  railway  was  unable 
to  expend  the  sums  of  money  necessary  for 
proper  and  .complete  maintenance.  The  8- 
eent  fare  materially  helped  the  situation, 
but  the  8-cent  fare  was  calculated  to  pro- 
vide a  sufficient  revenue  for  normal  mainte- 
nance and  operation,  and  was  not  intended 
to  and  has  not  provided  any  surplus 
revenues  to  care  for  deferred  maintenance 
or  reconstruction. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  under  present  reduced 
railway  earnings,  the  8-cent  fare  is  insuffi- 
cient to  provide  for  normal  maintenance 
and  operation,  and  a  reasonable  return 
upon  the  value  of  the  property.  This  con- 
dition is  due  to  the  widespread  unemploy- 
ment in  Portland,  which  is  reflected  in  a 
reduction  of  railway  patronage,  which  will 
doubtless  continue  until  there  is  a  general 
improvement    in    business  conditions. 


Wages  Reduced  on  Market  Street 
Railway,  San  Francisco 

The  wages  of  all  platform  men  in 
the  employ  of  the  Market  Street  Rail- 
way, San  Francisco,  Cal  ,  were  reduced 
4  cents  an  hour  beginning  Sept.  4,  and 
a  new  wage  scale  was  put  into  effect 
for  all  men  employed  after  that  date. 

During  the  period  of  rising  prices 
from  1917  to  1920  xhe  company  ad- 
vanced the  wages  of  its  platform  men 
from  a  maximum  of  33  cents  an  hour 
and  a  minimum  of  25  cents  to  a  maxi- 
mum of  56  cents  an  hour  and  a  mini- 
mum of  50  cents.  The  average  wage 
in  1917  was  30  cents  an  hour;  in  1920 
and  today  the  average  is  54  cents. 

William  von  Phul,  president  and  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  company,  in  ad- 
dressing the  men,  said: 

Based  on  the  reports  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Labor  prepared  for  the  San 
Francisco  and  Oakland  Districts,  the  cost 
of   living  reached    its   maximum   in  June, 

1920.  Since   that    time   and   up   to  June. 

1921,  the  Department  of  Labor  reports  a 
decrease  in  all  items  of  expenditure  consti- 
tuting the  average  budget  of  20.14  per  cent. 
The  department  similarly  reports  a  de- 
crease of  13.10  per  cent  in  all  items  of 
expenditure  for  June,  1921,  as  compared 
with  December,  1919. 

During  the  period  preceding  the  reorgan- 
ization of  the  United  Railroads,  San  Fran- 
cisco, the  property  was  operated  not  only 
without  any  return  to  its  owners,  but  in- 
terest on  the  $23,500,000  of  4  per  cent 
sinking  fund  gold  bonds  of  the  then  oper- 
ating company  was  not  paid  and  no  divi- 
dends have  been  paid  on  the  stocks  of  the 
new  Company. 

For  the  last  few  months  the  earnings  of 
the  company  have  fallen  off  on  account  of 
the  reduction  in  receipts  and  it  is  necessary 
that  expenses  be  reduced. 

For  these  reasons,  effective  on  Sept.  4. 
1921,  there  will  be  a.  reduction  of  4  cents 
an  hour  in  the  wages  of  all  platform  men 
now  in  the  service  of  the  company.  The 
2-eent-an-hour  increase  effective  after  each 
six  months  of  the  first  year  of  employ- 
ment and  a  final  increase  of  2  cents  up 
to  a  maximum  of  52  cents  an  hour  after  a 
further  period  of  one  year  will  still  apply 
to  all  platform  men  in  the  service  on  Aug. 
30,  1921. 

In  addition  to  the  above  modification  of 
the  wages  of  present  employees,  a  new 
scale  will  become  effective,  applying  only 
to  men  employed  on  and  after  Aug.  31, 
1921,  providing  an  additional  period  of  six 
months,  which  does  not  apply  to  present 
employees.  The  new  scale  in  cents  per 
hour  will  be  as  follows: 


First  Six  Months   42c. 

Second  Six  Months  46c. 

Third  Six  Months   48c. 

Next  Twelve  Months   50c 

Thereafter   52c. 


The  management  realizes  the  service 
rendered  by  the  platform  men  and  has  been 
reluctant  to  make  any  change  in  the  wage 
scale,  but  does  so  with  the  knowledge  that 
the  employees  of  the  company  realize  the 
situation  and  will  continue  to  render  the 
same  co-operation  which  they  have  in  the 
past. 


Wage  Hearing  Set 

The  arbitration  board  is  now  ready 
to  settle  the  dispute  between  the  em- 
ployees and  officials  of  the  Schenectady 
(N.  Y.)  Railway.  J.  Teller  School- 
craft was  recently  selected  third  mem- 
ber of  the  board,  the  two  others  being 
Talmadge  C.  Cherry,  representing  the 
company,  and  Lawrence  E.  Gerrity, 
representing  the  union. 

All  meetings  will  be  held  in  the 
county  court  house.  They  will  be 
started  at  once.  Prior  to  June  1  the 
men  were  receiving  60  cents  an  hour. 
The  wages  on  that  day  were  cut  25 
per  cent.  If  the  board  awards  any- 
thing over  45  cents,  that  amount  will 
be  retroactive  from  June  1. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


415 


Interborough  Optimistic 

Security  Holders  Renew  Notes  in  Order 
to  Prevent  Appointment  of 
Receiver 

It  was  announced  on  Sept.  6  at  the 
offices  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  financial 
agents  for  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  that  the  renewals  on 
the  $38,144,400  worth  of  three-year  7 
per  cent  gold  bonds  to  next  Sept.  1 
had  reached  $33,000,000.  This  leaves 
about  $5,144,400  in  renewals  to  come  in 
before  the  hearing  on  Sept.  9. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  the  total  of 
$33,000,000  represented  only  the  actual 
amount  of  notes  already  deposited  for 
renewal,  and  that  notifications  of  inten- 
tion to  renew  had  been  received  from 
holders  of  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars  of  additional  notes.  Many  of 
the  holders  have  been  on  their  vaca- 
tions and  were  able  to  send  only  no- 
tices, and  hundreds  of  the  Interbor- 
ough's  letters  requesting  renewals  have 
been  returned  because  of  changes  of 
address  and  other  postal  difficulties. 
The  holders  are  scattered  through  forty- 
six  States  and  seventeen  foreign  coun- 
tries. 

On  their  success  in  obtaining  renew- 
als on  these  notes  at  8  per  cent,  so 
that  the  principal  of  $38,144,400  would 
not  have  to  be  paid  until  next  year,  the 
officials  of  the  Interborough  base  their 
hope  of  averting  the  receivership,  be- 
cause they  are  able  to  meet  their  cur- 
rent bills  or  obtain  the  "indulgence  of 
creditors."  The  large  total  of  renewals 
has  increased  the  hope  that  the  Inter- 
borough counsel  on  Friday  will  be  able 
to  tell  Judge  Mayer  that  the  company 
will  fight  the  application  of  President 
Clarence  H.  Venner  of  the  Continental 
Securities  Company  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  receiver. 

Court  Opposes  Receiverships 
for  Corporations 

As  indicated  briefly  in  the  account 
of  the  Interborough  receivership  pro- 
ceedings which  appeared  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  for  Sept.  3, 
page  376,  Judge  Mayer  left  the  matter 
open,  at  least  until  Sept.  9.  The  court 
clearly  intimated  that  he  was  opposed 
to  any  more  receiverships,  especially  of 
large  corporations,  if  there  was  any 
way  of  avoiding  them.  In  setting1  the 
day  for  further  argument  Judge  Mayer 
said : 

Both  in  public  interest,  and  in  the  inter- 
est of  security  holders,  there  should  be  no 
receivership  for  this  company  if  it  can  pos- 
sibly be  prevented.  These  are  tender  times, 
and  many  complications  might  arise  in  case 
of  the  receivership  for  this  corporation, 
which  would  have  a  drastic  effect  upon  the 
convenience  and  the  comfort  of  a  lar.ee 
community.  I  realize  that  the  arguments 
this  morning,  are  upon  the  matter  of  ad- 
journing the  appointment  of  a  receiver.  As 
to  the  actual  merits  of  the  original  motion, 
to  appoint  a  receiver  on  the  bill  of  com- 
plaint, the  court  will  take  up  that  matter 
on  its  merits  later.  I  shall  adlourn  this 
motion  until  Friday  of  next  week,  or  Sep- 


tember 9,  upon  express  condition  that  coun- 
sel get  together  and  see  if  some  arrange- 
ment cannot  be  made  by  which  this  proceed- 
ing can  be  obviated. 

If,  however,  this  cannot  be  done,  counsel 
may  feel  free  to  come  to  me  any  time  on 
proper  notice  to  the  court  and  other  coun- 
sel for  such  action  as  may  be  deemed  fit. 
I  take  this  stand  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  company  has  but  $1,365,000  of  current 
bills  which  have  been  running  for  only 
three  or  four  months,,  and  also  in  view  of 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  note- 
holders who  have  consented  to  an  extension 
of  time  for  the  three-year  7  per  cent  notes. 

At  the  hearing  before  the  court  on 
Sept.  1  James  L.  Quackenbush,  coun- 
sel for  the  railway,  asked  the  court  to 
dismiss  the  application  for  receiver- 
ship. This  Judge  Mayer  refused  to 
grant,  stating  that  the  case  was  ready 
for  argument  and  it  must  go  ahead. 
In  his  argument  against  the  appoint- 
ment, Mr.  Quackenbush  told  the  court 
that  the  Interborough  had  in  round  fig- 
ures $35,000,000  in  stock,  $160,000,000 
first  mortgage  5  per  cent  bonds  and 
$40,000,000  of  7  per  cent  notes,  the 
proceeds  of  the  bonds  and  notes  having 
been  sold  for  the  construction  of  sub- 
ways for  public  service.  It  was  only 
the  credit  of  the  Interborough  hereto- 
fore, he  said,  that  made  possible  the 
construction  of  the  subway  system  in 
New  York.  It  has  grown  to  be  indis- 
pensable to  the  public.  He  reminded 
the  court  that  the  total  claims  against 
the  Interborough,  including  current 
obligations,  amounted  to  only  $1,365,- 
000,  or  less  than  ten  days'  receipts. 
The  tort  claims  against  the  company 
he  said  amounted  to  less  than  $100,000. 
Mr.  Quackenbush  said : 

"We  have  never  defaulted  on  a  single  obli- 
gation we  ever  contracted  for.  It  is  true 
that  we  have  been  slow  paying  for  the  past 
two  years,  but  in  spite  of  adverse  condi- 
tions we  had  to  meet  we  have  paid,  and  I 
would  remind  those  who  are  assailing  our 
credit  that  we  are  still  the  largest  taxpay- 
ers in  New  York  City.  I  admit  the  change 
made  against  the  company  that  it  exhausted 
its  credit  three  years  ago,  through  circum- 
stances that  it  could  not  control,  and  was 
obliged  to  issue  these  notes  which  do  not 
become  due  until  the  end  of  this  day. 

We  have  at  this  moment  more  than  76 
per  cent  or  over  $29,000,000  of  the  outstand- 
ing notes  deposited,  and  it  is  my  firm  belief 
before  the  day  is  over  we  will  have  most 
of  the  24  per  cent  still  outstanding.  If  a  re- 
ceivership should  be  precipitated  at  this 
moment,  I  do  not  know  when  the  Interbor- 
ough may  ever  again  be  able  to  go  before 
the  public  for  the  purpose  of  procuring-  the 
necessary  means  to  give  them  the  conveni- 
ences in  the  way  of  transportation  that 
they  need. 

In  so  far  as  this  action  is  concerned,  or  in 
the  alleged  claims  which  it  asserts  the 
Interborough  is  not  able  to  pay,  I  can  onlv 
point  to  its  financial  solvency  by  the  way  of 
statements  open  to  the  public.  However, 
the  time  may  come  when  I  may  have  to 
come  before  this  court  and  either  consent 
to  such  an  application  as  has  been  made  or 
to  ask  myself  that  a  receiver  be  appointed. 

In  view  of  the  opinion  of  the  court 
and  the  hearty  response  of  the  security 
holders  to  the  request  of  the  Inter- 
borough that  they  renew  their  notes, 
the  officials  of  the  company  feel  hopeful 
that  a  receivership  can  be  avoided.  It 
is  hoped  to  have  all  the  notes  renewed 
before  the  hearing  on  Sept.  9  and  that 
arrangements  can  be  made  for  satisfy- 
ing current  claims  against  the  com- 
pany. 


$10,000,000  Increase  in  Ohio 
Valuations 

Tax  valuations  of  Ohio  street,  sub- 
urban and  interurban  railroads  have 
been  boosted  $10,119,330  over  the  1920 
valuations,  according  to  the  1921  figures 
announced  on  Aug.  26  by  the  State  Tax 
Commission. 

The  total  valuations  of  properties  of 
eighty-two  companies  are  placed  at 
$197,874,300.  The  1920  total  was  $187,- 
754,970. 

The  valuations  of  sixteen  companies 
were  decreased  this  year,  twenty-three 
were  left  the  same  as  last  year,  and 
increases  were  made  in  forty-three  in- 
stances. 

Included  in  the  new  valuations  were 
the  following: 

Ohio  Electric  Railway,  $10,622,980:  last 
year,  $11,672,440;  decrease,  $1,049,460. 

Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company.  $14,- 
137,460:  last  year,  $13,718,360;  increase, 
$419,100. 

Cleveland  Railways,  $32,696,760;  last 
year,  $29,243,960  ;  increase,  $3,352,800. 

Cleveland,  Southwestern  &  Columbus  Rail- 
way, $4,651,260:  last  year,  $4,734,980. 

Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Eastern  Railway* 
$2,181,950;  last  year,  $1,916,540. 

Cincinnati  Street  Railway,  $21,194,960  ; 
last  year,  $20,716,930;  increase,  $478,030. 

Cincinnati  &  Dayton  Traction  Co.,  $1,736,- 
380:  last  year,  $1,637,720. 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Com- 
pany, $24,777,930  :  last  year,  $22,642,470  ; 
increase,  $2,133,460. 

Ohio  Traction  Company,  operating  Cin- 
cinnati &  Hamilton  Traction.  $2,457,600  • 
last  year,  $838,270  ;  increase,  $1,619,330 

Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company,  $2,301,- 
470;  last  year,  $2,362,170. 

Lake  Shore  Electric  Railroad,  $5,114,390  : 
last  year,  $4,988,240. 

Columbus  Railway,  Power  &-  Light  Com- 
pany, $17,825,190  ;  last  year,  $17,097,520. 


Cities  Oppose  Indiana  Utility 
Merger 

The  petition  of  the  Indiana  Electric 
Corporation  to  issue  securities  for  the 
purchase  of  seven  Indiana  utilities, 
which  has  been  the  subject  of  an  ex- 
tended hearing  before  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission,  was  discussed  on  Sept. 
2  at  a  conference  attended  by  Governor 
McCray  and  members  of  the  commis- 
sion. Governor  McCray,  following  the 
conference,  said  the  matter  is  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  the  commission  and 
that  he  has  complete  confidence  in  its 
ability  to  reach  a  fair  decision. 

In  answer  to  the  charge  that  the 
corporation  would  not  be  able  to  meet 
its  fixed  charges,  counsel  for  the  cor- 
poration filed  a  memorandum  with  the 
commission  showing  an  estimated  an- 
nual increase  of  surplus  after  payment 
of  all  charges,  including  depreciation. 
"Any  computations  of  earnings  based 
on  conditions  now  existing  and  likely  to 
prevail  in  the  future,"  said  the  memo- 
randum, "and  with  proper  deduction 
for  depreciation  and  other  chai-ges  will 
show  net  earnings  ample  to  meet  all 
proposed  fixed  charges  of  the  peti- 
tioner." 

Harry  O.  Garman,  engineer  for  the 
commission,  has  testified  that  the  value 
of  properties  which  the  corporation 
proposed  to  acquire  and  merge  is  $10,- 
284,361,  or  slightly  more  than  half  of 
the  value  ascribed  to  the  properties  by 
attorneys  for  the  corporation.  Mr. 
Garman  was  called  as  a  witness  at  the 
request  of  attorneys  for  cities  and  in- 


416 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


terests  opposing  the  issuance  of  $21,- 
000,000  of  securities,  which,  they  say, 
is  in  excess  of  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty. 

Witnesses  for  the  corporation  con- 
tend that  the  value  of  the  property  is 
approximately  $19,000,000,  and  its  at- 
torneys are  asking  the  commission  to 
allow  them  to  issue  securities  to  the 
amount  of  $21,000,000,  the  margin 
being  intended  to  cover  the  loss  entailed 
by  selling  the  securities  at  a  discount. 
Mr.  Garman  placed  the  reproduction 
cost  of  the  companies  at  $12,180,443. 
He  said  that  the  difference  between  the 
present  value  and  the  reproduction  fig- 
ures is  due  to  depreciation. 


Start  of  Akron  Appraisal  Delayed 

The  plan  of  bringing  A.  S.  Richey  of 
the  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute  at 
Worcester,  Mass.,  to  Akron  by  the  city 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  valuation 
of  the  Akron  city  lines  of  the  Northern 
Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Company  has 
been  delayed  for  the  reason  that  there 
is  an  insufficient  sum  in  the  city's  pub- 
lic utility  fund  to  pay  Mr.  Richey  for 
his  services.  The  city's  legal  depart- 
ment has  held  that  the  ordinance  hir- 
ing Mr.  Richey  could  not  become  effec- 
tive until  the  necessary  funds  are  in 
the  treasury. 

Mayor  Carl  Beck  announces,  how- 
ever, that  an  effort  is  now  under  way 
to  devise  a  plan  to  have  a  valuation 
of  the  property  taken  before  Jan.  1, 
1922.  It  is  expected  this  plan  will 
come  before  the  Council  at  an  early 
meeting.  Mayor  Beck  announces  that 
the  appraisal  should  be  taken  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible  for  the  reason 
that  such  action  will  tend  to  hasten 
the  solution  of  the  local  traction  prob- 
lem. The  Mayor  points  out  that  rail- 
way service  in  the  city  cannot  be  ma- 
terially improved  and  developed  until 
the  proposed  new  franchise  becomes 
effective.  He  adds  that  by  delaying  the 
taking  of  the  appraisal  until  after  the 
first  of  the  year  the  passage  of  the 
franchise  would  be  delayed  about  four 
months. 

Negotiations  between  the  city  and 
the  company  looking  toward  a  satisfac- 
tory solution  of  a  method  whereby  the 
valuation  may  be  taken  immediately, 
despite  the  fact  that  there  are  no  funds 
in  the  treasury  for  this  purpose,  are 
progressing  satisfactorily  and  it  is 
probable  that  an  adjustment  will  be 
reached  at  an  early  date. 


Electric  Railway  Service 
Suspended 

Manistee,  Mich.,  is  without  electric 
railway  service  as  the  result  of  the 
action  of  the  Consumers  Power  Com- 
pany, owner  of  the  lines,  in  putting  the 
cars  in  the  carhouses  at  midnight  on 
Sept.  1.  Since  that  time  this  city  has 
been  without  electric  railway  service. 

Jitneys  have  been  pressed  into  serv- 
ice to  serve  the  outlying  factories  and 
the  suburbs  of  Filer  City,  Oak  Hill  and 
Maxwelltown.  The  motor  buses  which 
have  been  in  service  this  summer  be- 
tween this  city  and  the  summer  resorts 


at  Orchard  Beach  will  be  brought  into 
the  city  and  used  on  the  streets  for- 
merly used  by  the  car  lines. 

Manager  C.  S.  Kressler  of  the  Manis- 
tee Railway  gave  the  following  ex- 
planation of  the  situation: 

We  haven't  any  money  to  operate  cars 
longer,  and  as  there  is  no  prospect  of  ob- 
taining relief  we  had  no  alternative  but  to 
suspend  service. 

I  had  hopes  that  enough  factory  man- 
agers would  be  present  at  the  commission 
meeting  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  that 
would  have  saved  the  service.  But  the  little 
interest  shown  convinced  me  that  they1  did 
not  care  what  course  we  took. 

I  still  have  hopes  that  street  car  service 
can  be  resumed  in  the  near  future.  If  we 
are  permitted  to  lie  idle,  in  the  meantime, 
this  will  be  possible,  but  if  an  attempt  is 
made  to  force  operation  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  the  company  to  go  into  the  hands 
of  receivers,  and  probably  complete  bank- 
ruptcy, which  means  that  the  rolling  equip- 
ment will  be  disposed  of  and  the  tracks 
torn  up. 


Small  Surplus  Earned  by  Sacra- 
mento Northern  Railroad 

According  to  the  annual  report  of 
the  Sacramento  Northern  Railroad  of 
California  for  1920,  the  company 
earned  about  $30,000  in  excess  of  the 
interest  on  its  bonded  debt,  although 


the  accompanying  statements  show  a 
deficit.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  a 
deduction  of  $50,241  is  included  under 
the  item  "Deductions"  for  "amortiza- 
tion of  discount  on  funded  debt." 

Altogether,  the  company  did  not  make 
a.  very  bad  showing,  operating  as  it  did 
under  handicaps  and  in  a  year  when 
many  roads  found  it  difficult  to  make 
both  ends  meet.  Railway  operating 
expenses  increased  about  $240,000  over 
the  previous  year.  The  item  of  bond 
interest  also  increased  due  to  the  fact 
that  interest  on  the  "B"  issue  did  not 
become  a  fixed  charge  until  July  1, 
1919. 

The  income  account  for  the  year  1920 
compared  with  1919  is  shown  in  the 
appended  statement. 


B.  R.  T.  Assures  Employees 
Against  Loss  of  Thrift 
Accounts 

Considerable  concern  has  been  caused 
to  many  employees  in  the  metropolitan 
district  through  the  recent  taking  over 
of  the  affairs  of  the  National  Thrift 
Bond  Corporation,  New  York  City,  by 
the  banking  department  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  Among  the  employees 
who  invested  with  the  company  were 
a  considerable  number  of  men  and  wo- 
men in  the  service  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  but  the  total 
of  their  subscriptions  is  understood  not 
to  have  been  large.  Lindley  M.  Garri- 
son, receiver  of  the  railway,  with  the 
approval  of  the  court,  has  determined 
to  protect  against  loss  employees  who 
have  subscribed  to  the  bonds.  As  soon 
as  the  details  have  been  worked  out 
the  management  will  arrange  to  take 
over  the  thrift  receipts,  etc.,  so  the 
employees  will  receive  the  money  which 
they  invested. 

The  plan  under  which  the  Thrift 
Corporation  worked  was  sound  in 
theory,  but  the  depreciation  in  security 


values  proved  its  undoing.  The  com- 
pany invested  in  Liberty  Bonds  and 
the  securities  of  political  subdivisions, 
depositing  its  purchases  with  the 
Equitable  Trust  Company  as  trustee 
and  issuing  its  own  participating  cer- 
tificates in  $10  denominations  against 
the  bonds  pledged  as  collateral.  It  is 
confidently  expected  that  the  company 
will  eventually  pay  dollar  for  dollar, 
but  it  is  of  course  very  uncertain  how 
long  it  may  be  before  the  company  can 
dispose  of  the  collateral  without  suffer- 
ing a  loss. 

By  the  very  liberal  offer  of  that  com- 
pany the  employees  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company  are  assured  of 
the  return  at  an  early  date  of  all  of 
their  money. 


INCOME  ACCOUNT  — SACRAMENTO  NORTHERN  RAILROAD 

~  -1920- 


Actual 

Operating  revenue   $1,648,017 

Operating  expenses   1,266,463 

Depreciation   184,219 

Total  operating  expenses   $1,450,682 

Netrevenue — Railway  operations   1 97,335 

Auxiliary  operations,  net   14,681 


Per  Cent 
of 

Operating 
Revenue 
100  00 
76.80 
II  28 


Net  operating  revenue. . . 
Taxes — Railway  operation. 


Operating  income. . . 
Non-operating  income. 


Gross  income  

Interest  on  funded  debt  

Interest  on  unfunded  debt  

Amortization  of  discount  on  funded  debt. 
Miscellaneous  debits  


$212,016 
73,571 

$138,445 
32,414 

$170,859 
140,126 
1,612 
50,241 
1,047 

$193,026 
(  )  22,167 


Total  deductions  

Net  corporate  income  

Road  and  equipment  account   $9,932,572 

Miscellaneous  physical  property   203. 1 67 

Total   $10,135,739 

Capital  stock   $4,480,598 

Funded  debt   5,222,866 


Total  securities  outstanding. 


$9,703,464 


88  08 
11.95 
0.89 

12  84 

4.47 

8  37 
1  96 

10  33 
8  51 

.09  1 
3.04 
.06  j 

11.70 
1  37 


1919 
$1,506,734 


Per  Cent 
Change 
Over  1919 
9.3 


$1,210,767 
295,967 
12,244 

$308,211 
61,531 

$246,680 
29,980 

$276,660 
1 17,610 

52,218 


$9,651,320 
154,904 

$9,805,224 
4,469,023 
5,225,360 

$9,694,383 


1.2 


$169,828  14.8 
106,832  110.5 


3.0 


(a)  This  was  offset  by  the  current  profit  and  loss  balance,  leaving  a  net  profit  balance  of  $2,334,  which 
amount  was  applied  to  amortize  a  like  amount  of  the  balance  of  $39,7 1 5  reorganization  expenses. 
Figures  in  boldface  indicate  decrease. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


417 


Zurich  Abandons  Zones 

Commutation  Tickets   Popular  When 
Short  Ride  Fares  Are  Withdrawn 
—Deficit  at  End  of  Year 

The  report  of  the  Zurich  Municipal 
Street  Railways  for  the  calendar  year 
1919  indicates  that  the  transport  sys- 
tem serving  the  chief  industrial  city 
of  Switzerland  has  been  hampered  by 
war  and  post-war  conditions  from  en- 
joying extensions  that,  in  at  least  one 
instance,  were  approved  as  early  as 
1913.  Seven  other  extensions  were  ap- 
proved but  funds  were  voted  only  for 
one  during  1919.  This  left  the  total 
number  of  route  miles  at  23.7  (38.3 
km.)  or  1.1  miles  (1.8  km.)  per  10,000 
inhabitants.  The  total  number  of 
single-track  miles  was  53.1  (85.6  km.). 

Rails  were  renewed  on  several  routes 
and  rehabilitated  on  one.  The  addition 
of  an  electric  track  switch  raised  the 
number  of  these  automatic  devices  to 
thirty-five.  In  carhouse  rehabilitation, 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
undertaking  wooden  instead  of  metal 
rolling  doors  were  used.  The  rolling 
stock  was  increased  from  224  to  231 
motor  cars  and  from  63  to  82  trailers. 
Energy  consumption  averaged  1.49  kw- 
hours  per  car-mile,  a  car-mile  in  this 
case  being  figured  with  motor-car  miles 
as  unity  and  trailer-car  miles  as  one- 
half  the  energy  consumption. 

The  total  number  of  car-miles  oper- 
ated was  8,214,245  (13,248,782  car-km.) 
of  which  1,846,336  car-miles  (2,977,- 
962  car-km.)  were  trailer  miles.  One 
route  is  always  operated  with  trailers. 
The  increase  in  service  was  13.51  per 
cent,  despite  which  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers fell  1.2  per  cent  (from  57,753,- 
813  to  57,058,905)  and  the  density  from 
7.8  to  6.7  passengers  per  car-mile. 
Rides  per  inhabitant  per  annum  drop- 
ped from  272  to  270.  Because  of  a 
100  per  cent  increase  in  fare  to  the 
most  numerous  riders,  as  hereinafter 
detailed,  the  revenue  per  passenger  rose 
from  11.74  rappen  to  17.96  rappen. 
The  earnings  per  car-mile  increased 
33.11  per  cent  or  from  58.1  to  77.3 
rappen  per  car-km.  At  the  pre-war 
rate  of  exchange  (100  rappen  =  1 
franc  =  19.3  cents)  the  gross  receipts 
per  car-mile  work  out  as  17.9  cents  in 
1918  and  23.9  cents  in  1919.  The  total 
revenue  increased  from  6,781,355  francs 
to  10,246,629  francs  ($1,308,793  to  $1,- 
977,599)  or  50.69  per  cent  while  operat- 
ing expenses  jumped  50.44  per  cent  to 
10,186,867  francs  or  $1,966,065. 

The  net  result  for  the  year  1919, 
making  allowance  for  renewals,  re- 
serves and  4|  per  cent  return  on  in- 
vestment was  a  deficit  of  1,259,111 
francs  or  $243,008  while  the  total  deficit 
including  losses  in  1914  and  1915  was 
2,842,256  francs  or  $548,555. 

An  analysis  of  the  accompanying 
table  of  fares  paid  shows  that  55.3  per 
cent  of  the  trips  were  made  on  the 
20  rappen  (say  4  cents  nominally) 
fare  whereas  in  the  preceding  year, 
when  the  zone  system  was  used,  23.9 
per  cent  of  the  one-ride  passengers  had 
enjoyed  a  10-rappen  and  12  per  cent  of 


the  one-ride  passengers  a  15-rappen 
fare.  The  rest  of  the  rides  were 
divided  among  a  variety  of  subscribers, 
including  14.8  per  cent  of  any-hour 
riders,  10.2  per  cent  of  mid-day  and 
evening  riders  and  4.4  per  cent  of  early 
morning  riders.  The  abolition  of  10 
and  15-rappen  fares  led  to  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  sale  of  workmen's  early 
hour  and  of  off-peak  (noon  and  night) 
tickets.  The  workmen's  ticket  which 
may  be  presented  by  anybody  up  to 
7:45  p.m.,  is  sold  on  a  thirty-one-ride 
basis  and  costs  but  10  rappen  per  ride 
if  every  trip  is  used.  The  off-peak 
ticket  cover  twenty-one  rides  and  aver- 
ages 14.2  rappen  per  trip  if  completely 
used.  It  is  therefore  possible  for  the 
thrifty  Switzer  to  get  his  early  morning 


Car -Km.  per  46 
Inhabitant  44 

42 

Route- Km.  40 

38 

Total  36 
Passengers  34 


Car-Km.per  24 
Route -Km.  M 
(Traffic  Density^ 
Population 

Rides  per  ,6 
Inhabitant 


Car  -  Km, 

Passengers 
per  Car -Km. 
Route  length 
in  Km.  per  10,000 

Inhabitants 


raw 

19)5 

1916 

1917 

1918 

1919 

P 

/' 

/ 

P 

+- 

57,058,905 

Passengers 


40.24.  Km. 

329,244  Car -Km. 
270  Trips 

210,992  Inhabitants 
13,248,782  Car-Km. 


431  Passengers 
1,90  Km. 


Graphs  of  City  Traffic 

ride  for  10  rappen  and  his  luncheon 
round  trip  and  return  home  at  night 
for  14.2  rappen  per  ride.  The  practical 
effect  of  these  rates  is  to  favor  the 
regular  short  ride  customer  as  long 
riders  naturally  have  less  time  to  ride 
home  for  lunch. 


$2,900,636  Net  Reported  by 
Municipal  Railway 

Comparative  receipts  of  the  San 
Francisco  (Cal.)  Municipal  Railway  for 
the  fiscal  year  1919-1920  and  1920-1921 
were  reported  in  the  San  Francisco 
Municipal  Record  for  July  28.  The 
statement  follows: 

Increase  or 
Decrease  of 


Line 

A  (Park)  

B  (Beach)  

C  (California  St.) 

D  (Presidio)  

E  (Union  St.).  . . 
F  (Stockton  St.). 
H  (Van  Ness  Ave.) 
J  (Church  St.) . 

K  (Tunnel)  

L  (TaravalSt.) 

Bus  No.  1  

Bus  No.  2  


School  tickets.. . . 

Q.  M.  tickets  

Special  cars  

Cond.  shorts  

TJ.  R.R.  transfers. 
Miscellaneous.. .  . 


Deduct  U.  R.R. 

transfers  issued 
Deduct  insurance 

on  auto  busses.. 


1920-1921 

1919-1920 

1920-1921 

Over 

Receipts 

Receipts 

1919-1920 

$308,237 

$321,825 

$13,580 

397,585 

422,418 

24,834 

333,639 

352,001 

18,362 

308,981 

303,722 

*5,259 

243,261 

241,002 

*2,261 

168,306 

181,923 

13,618 

)  209,708 

223,190 

13,481 

359,819 

393,948 

34,129 

321,089 

368,928 

47,838 

8,897 

10,056 

1,159 

14,982 

16,380 

1,397 

7,693 

9,433 

1,739 

$2,682,197  $2,844,825 

$162,627 

17,699 

19,763 

2,063 

3,928 

3,551 

*376 

241 

337 

96 

525 

493 

*30 

4,708 

*4,708 

40,353 

31,667 

*8,686 

$2,749,651 

$2,900,636 

$150,985 

6.235 

14,400 


Netreceipts.  $2,729,015  $2,900,636  $171,620 
Denotes  decrease. 


Montreal  Tramways  Does  Better 

The  Montreal  Tramways  Commis- 
sion has  issued  the  annual  statement 
of  the  year's  operation  of  the  Montreal 
Tramways  to  June  30  last.  It  shows 
gross  receipts  for  the  year  amounting 
to  $11,773,005,  as  compared  with  $10,- 
782,470  in  the  preceding  year. 

Operating  expenses  were  higher  in 
the  year,  being  up  about  $500,000  to 
$6,327,841.  This  left  operating  profit 
at  $47,442,  up  from  $46,606  the  pre- 
vious year.  Maintenance  and  renewals 
are  up  some  $400,000,  to  $2,529,055. 
Surplus  balance  is  given  at  $378,708, 
against  $243,124  the  previous  year, 
after  taking  into  consideration  allow- 
ances due  the  company. 

City  rental  of  $500,000  and  contin- 
gent reserve,  both  payable  when  earned, 
reduce  the  showing,  making  a  deficit  on 
the  year  of  $239,022,  against  $364,700 
the  previous  year. 


STATISTICS  OF  ZURICH  TRAMWAYS  FOR  1918  AND  1919 


Character  of  Fare 

Single  ride  tickets   1918  1919 

at   10  Rp  

at   15  Rp  

at   20  Rp.      20  Rp. 

Commutation  tickets:  Number  of  Tickets 


1918 
901,928 
125,669 
7,365 
41,235 
18,133 


General  

Suburban  

Off  peak  

Early  a.m  

Three  months. .. 

To  I'ongg  

Six  months   3,457 

One  year  

School  tickets   911 

Interline  A   138 

Interline  B   248 

Telegraph,  telephone 

and  mail  employees  


Total  gross  

Refund  for  unused  tickets . 


1919 

528,545 


277,690 
84,234 


33,815 
4,443 
534 
1,015 
283 
415 


Total  neu 


1918 

Total 

13,972,820 
7,029,053 
4,519,609 

25,521,482 


17,951,228 
3,141,725 
154,665 
2,004,070 
6,527,880 

'2,489,040 

'130,326 
2,760 
4,960 

508,550 


57,753,813 


Number  of  Trips  ■  

1919  1918  1919 

Total    Per  Cent  Per  Cent 


Per  Cent  o! 

(Income) 
1918  1919 


3r,692,299 
31,692,299 


23.91 
12.03 
7.73 


55.34 


43.67  55.34 


8,456,720  30  73  14  77 

  5.37   

5,831,490  0  26  10  19 

2,527,020  3.43  4.41 

  11.18   

4,064,160    7.11 

3,198,960  4  26  5.59 

768,960    1.35 

156,772  0.22  0.27 

5,660   

8,300  0  01  0.01 

555,521  0  87  0  96 

57,265,862  100.00  100.00 

206,957   

57,058,905 


20 

45 

15 

43 

13 

23 

61 

80 

49 

12 

61 

80 

33 

16 

15 

46 

4 

14 

0 

33 

8 

12 

1 

82 

2 

46 

7 

95 

6 

02 

3 

03 

4 

55 

1 

0  7 

0 

05 

0 

06 

0 

01 

0 

01 

0 

39 

0 

45 

100 

00 

100 

00 

418 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Trade  Body  Committee  Opposed 
to  Reorganization  Plan 

Reorganization  of  the  Pittsburgh 
(Pa.)  Railways  with  "one  owner,  one 
franchise,  one  debt  and  one  operator" 
is  urged  in  a  report  .submitted  by  the 
joint  committee  on  better  street  car 
service  of  the  Allied  Boards  of  Trade 
and  adopted  by  the  boards'  executive 
committee.  The  report  contains  nine- 
teen objections  to  the  reorganization 
plan  already  proposed  and  submitted 
to  Council  for  approval.  The  report 
will  be  submitted  to  constituent  bodies 
of  the  Allied  Boards  of  Trade  for  their 
individual  action  before  being  formally 
taken  before  Council. 

The  report  contends  that,  in  the 
reorganization,  all  leases  of  under- 
lying companies  should  be  surrendered 
for  cancellation  on  the  grounds  that 
they  have  previously  been  the  largest 
factor  in  preventing  successful  opera- 
tion of  the  company.  It  holds  that  the 
valuation  of  $62,500,000  is  excessive 
and  that  this  figure  was  reached  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission,  using  war- 
time prices  as  a  basis  of  calculation. 

One  clause  of  the  report  urges  that 
an  agreement  for  an  indefinite  fran- 
chise be  reached  and  that  the  city  re- 
frain from  tying-  its  hands  on  the  terms 
of  the  proposed  franchise  agreement. 
It  also  urges  that  the  city  reserve  the 
right  to  purchase  the  entire  system  at 
any  time  at  a  price  not  to  exceed  the 
Public  Service  Commission's  valuation. 
It  holds  the  agreement  should  stipulate 
for  no  collection  of  increased  fare  until 
the  proposed  increase  is  approved  by 
the  Public  Service  Commission  and 
the  Appellate  Courts. 

The  report  maintains  there  should 
be  provision  for  through  routing  of 
cars  in  the  contract.  It  also  takes  up 
certain  specific  points  of  the  proposed 
agreement  and  attempts  to  show 
wherein  their  acceptance  would  prove 
either  foolhardy  or  burdensome. 


Canadian  Roads  Show  Deficits 

Of  the  66  electric  railways  operating 
in  Canada  during  the  year  1920  only 
13  declared  dividends.  A  further  12 
companies  made  a  surplus,  and  the  re- 
maining 41  showed  deficits.  The  aver- 
age fare  coHeeted  per  passenger  was 
5.37  cents,  as  against  5.01  cents  for  the 
preceding  year. 

According  to  a  bulletin  just  issued 
by  the  Dominion  Bureau  of  Statistics, 
the  total  capitalization  of  these  66 
electric  railways  was  $170,826,404, 
made  up  of  $91,321. 955  of  stocks  and 
$79,504,449  of  funded  debt.  As  a 
whole,  these  railways  showed  a  net 
operating  revenue  of  $9,804,762.  as 
against  $9,312,884  for  the  year  1919. 
Total  operating  revenues  increased 
from  $40,698,586  in  1919  to  $47,047,246, 
and  expenses  increased  from  $31,385  - 
702  to  $37,342,483.  After  paying  taxes, 
interest,  etc.,  there  was  a  net  corporate 
income  of  $954,818,  as  against  $3,704,- 
066  for  1919  and  after  making  deduc- 
tions for  dividends  there  was  a  total 
deficit  of  $2,421,286. 

There  was  an  increase  of  7.4  per  cent 


in  the  number  of  passengers  carried, 
and  an  increase  of  15.3  per  cent  in 
passenger  receipts.  The  number  of 
employees  was  17,341,  an  increase  of 
401,  while  the  total  payroll  amounted 
to  $24,435,932,  an  increase  of  19.4  over 
the  previous  year. 


Michigan  Commission  Charges 
Bad  Faith 

The  Michigan  State  Public  Utilities 
Commission  has  refused  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  the  right  to  issue  a 
stock  dividend  amounting  to  $385,000. 
The  opinion,  written  by  William  W. 
Potter,  says  in  part: 

The  approval  of  the  issuance  of  a  stock 
dividend  is  a  matter  of  discretion.  This 
commission  oug'ht  not  to  exercise  its  discre- 
tion in  favor  of  a  company  which  violates 
the  law  of  the  State  and  flouts  its  pledged 
word.  The  issuance  of  a  stock  dividend 
means  only  that  the  surplus  earnings  are 
transferred  to  capital  and  certificates  of 
stock  issued  against  them. 

If  the  company  has  earned,  as  it  claims, 
a  fair  return,  an  addition  to  its  surplus, 
capitalizing-  the  contributions  of  the  public 
to  the  company's  stockholders,  results  in 
the  public  being  compelled  to  contribute  a 
fair  return  on  a  surplus  accumulated  from 
what,  in  excess  of  a  fair  return,  the  com- 
pany has  taken  from  the  public. 

The  Detroit  United  Railway  already  has 
so  many  bonds  and  so  much  capital  stock 
outstanding  that  its  shares  are  worth  con- 
siderably less  than  par  in  the  open  market. 

To  say  the  least,  the  actual  value  of  the 
company's  lines  where  franchises  have  ex- 
pired, oi'  will  expire,  is  uncertain,  specula- 
tive and  conjectural  and  forms  an  altogether 
unsatisfactory  basis  for  a  stock  dividend. 
The  company's  immediate  prospective  losses 
appear  to  demand  the  most  skillful  husband- 
ing of  its  surplus,  rather  than  the  creation 
of  a  liability  in  perpetuity. 

The  reference  to  th<?  company  float- 
ing its  pledged  word  is  believed  to  refer 
to  the  railway's  refusal  to  file  its  fare 
rates  according  to  the  Glaspie  Act. 


Business  Splendid,  Report  of 
Motor  Bus  Company 

Accomplishments  of  Detroit  Motor 
Bus  Company,  Detroit,  Mich.,  for  first 
full  year  of  operations  exceeded  expec- 
tations. First  line  was  opened  June 
11,  1920,  with  six  buses  covering  a  four- 
mi'.e  route  on  Jefferson  Avenue.  Gross 
earnings  now  are  averaging  $3,500 
daily,  compared  with  $500  the  first  day. 

During  six  months  and  twenty  days 
of  1920,  gross  earnings  were  $250,000. 
For  six  months  ended  June  30,  1920, 
gross  was  $324,820  and  for  July 
$108,160.  The  following  table  shows 
how  service  has  been  expanded  and 
monthly  gross  earnngs  increased : 


Buses  Miles  Gross 

1H21              Operated  Covered  Earnings 

July                           59  259.434  $108,160 

June                          47  205,600  80,524 

May                          37  172,432  66,845 

April                           29  133,408  53,521 

March                       28  132,337  46,982 

February                   27  112,393  35.956 

January                    27  125,685  41.000 


August  figures  show  68  buses  in  oper- 
ation over  19  miles  of  route.  Gross 
earnings  for  the  month  are  expected  to 
be  about  $110,000.  After  reserves  for 
depreciation,  the  company  shows  a  sur- 
plus of  $62,000  from  its  operations. 

Paid-in  capital  is  $453,040  out  of 
$1,500,000  authorized.  The  first  divi- 
dend of  11  per  cent  was  paid  July  1, 
1921.  Capital  purchases  are  being  made 
out  of  surplus  and  it  is  understood 
little  additional  stock  will  be  offered. 


Toledo  Railway  &  Light 
Changes  Name 

The  Toledo  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Toledo,  Ohio,  controlled  by 
Henry  L.  Doherty  &  Company,  has 
called  a  special  stockholders'  meet- 
ing for  Oct.  6,  to  vote  on  a  plan 
to  change  the  name  of  the  company, 
increase  its  capital  stock  from  $15,000,- 

000  to  $25,000,000,  and  merge  it  with 
the  Acme  Power  Company,  another 
Doherty  property. 

As  the  company's  railway  properties 
have  been  transferred  to  the  Commu- 
nity Traction  Company,  a  municipal 
project,  the  company  proposes  to 
change  its  name  to  the  Toledo  Edison 
Company.  It  is  planned  to  issue 
$4,000,000  preferred  stock  at  this  time, 
to  provide  for  developments  and  as  a 
part  of  the  plan  for  permanent  finan- 
cing of  the  company. 

If  the  plan  is  approved,  it  means  the 
cleaning  up  of  practically  all  of  Toledo 
Railway  &  Light  bonds,  and  freeing  the 
Community  Traction  Company  of  obli- 
gations. The  $1,900,000  mortgage  on 
the  latter  company,  which  was  extended 
some  time  ago,  will  be  taken  up. 

1  Financial 

|    News  Notes  | 

Line  Abandoned.  —  Permission  has 
been  granted  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.) 
Railway  to  abandon  the  line  from  the 
junction  of  La  Salle  and  Washington 
Street  south.  The  territory  is  served 
by  the  Washington  line,  which  largely 
duplicated  transportation.  For  this 
reason  the  city  regulatory  authorities 
permitted  the  track  removal. 

Receivership  Terminated. — By  a  de- 
cree entered  in  the  Superior  Court  on 
Sept.  6  by  Justice  Tanner,  the  receiver- 
ship of  the  Rhode  Island  Company, 
Providence,  R.  I.,  has  been  terminated. 
The  decree  directs  the  receivers  to 
deliver  about  $1,070,000  in  cash  and  all 
their  books  and  accounts  to  the  United 
Electric  Railways  Company.  The  Rhode 
Island  Company,  organized  to  take  over 
the  largest  part  of  the  trolley  lines  in 
this  state,  went  into  a  receivership  on 
January  30,  1919. 

More  Franchises  Surrendered. — No- 
tice of  the  surrender  of  eight  fran- 
chises from  counties  and  municipalities 
has  been  filed  with  the  Indiana  Public 
Service  Commission  by  the  Terre 
Haute,  Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Trac- 
tion Company  and  the  Indianapolis  & 
Northwestern  Traction  Company.  The 
surrenders  were  made  under  the  pro- 
visions of  an  act  of  the  last  Legisla- 
ture. The  companies  will  operate  under 
an  indeterminate  permit  from  the  com- 
mission. The  franchises  were  from 
the  following  cities  and  counties: 
Fi-ankfort,  Zionville,  Boone  County, 
Clinton  County,  Crawfordsville,  Mont- 
gomery County,  Englewood  and  Leba- 
non. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


419 


anteed  the  company  an  8  per  cent  re- 
turn. He  said  that  temporarily  bus 
feeders  would  have  to  be  used,  but  that 
later  an  entire  street-car  system  would 
be  in  operation. 


"Club-Plan"  Buses  Busy 

Police  Officials  at  Bridgeport  Restrained 
From  Interfering  With  These 
Vehicles 

Another  complication  has  been  added 
to  the  bus  situation  in  Connecticut. 
Judge  John  J.  Walsh,  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  signed  an  injunction  re- 
straining Superintendent  of  Police  Flan,- 
agan  and  Assistant  Prosecuting  At- 
torney Vincent  L.  Keating  from  re- 
straining the  Bridgeport  Bus  Associa- 
tion from  operating  their  150  buses  un- 
der the  "c'.ub  plan." 

The  bill  of  complaint  was  drawn  up 
by  DeForest  &  Klein,  and  Attorney  Kil- 
patrick  is  named  as  the  complainant. 
Immediately  upon  his  return  to  Bridge- 
port with  the  signed  injunction  Attor- 
ney Kilpatrick  delivered  it  to  Attorney 
Klein,  and  the  latter  communicated  with 
City  Sheriff  Dan  D'Elia,  who  was  given 
copies  of  the  order  for  immediate  serv- 
ice upon  the  superintendent  of  police 
and  the  assistant  prosecutor. 

Buses  to  Be  Operated  at  Once 

President  Kilpatrick  stated  that  the 
buses  of  the  association,  which  were 
stopped  from  operating  on  Sept.  1, 
would  be  operated  on  their  regular 
schedule  at  once. 

The  injunction,  which  is  returnable 
on  Oct.  4,  follows  in  part: 

Now  therefore,  you,  the  said  Patrick  J. 
Flanagan,  superintendent  of  police  of  the 
said  city  of  Bridgeport,  and  Vincent  L. 
Keating,  the  assistant  prosecuting  attorney 
of  the  said  city  court,  your  servants,  agents 
and  attorneys  under  a  penalty  of  $5,000  are 
hereby  sternly  commanded  and  enjoined 
that  you  do  from  henceforth  wholly  and 
absolutely  resist  from  in  any  manner  inter- 
fering with  the  use  by  the  plaintiffs  of  the 
said  conveyances  for  their  own  transporta- 
tion over  and  along  said  highway  until 
the  first  Tuesday  in  October,  1921.  or  until 
further  order  of  the  court  or  the  under- 
signed in  the  premises. 

On  Sept.  1  the  buses  were  stopped 
from  operating  by  Superintendent  Flan- 
agan, after  Jacob  Sherwindt  had  been 
fined  $5  and  the  costs  for  a  violation  of 
the  jitney  law.  There  followed  two  days 
of  conferences  between  President  Kil- 
patrick and  Attorney  Klein.  On  Sept. 
3  the  bill  of  complaint  asking  for  the 
injunction  was  drawn  up,  setting  forth 
the  following  claim: 

Bill  of  Complaint 

1.  The  plaintiffs  are  and  for  some  time 
previous  have  been  organized  and  associ- 
ated as  a  partnership  under  the  said  name 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  and  protecting 
their  mutual  rights  and  interests  in  trans- 
porting and  conveying  themselves  over  and 
along  the  public  highways  of  the  said  city 
of  Bridgeport  and  the  adjoining  territory. 

2.  For  said  purpose,  they  have  at  large 
expense  procured  for  themselves  convey- 
ances known  as  motor  buses  and  have 
been  and  are  now  desirous  of  lawfully  oper- 
ating same  over  said  highways  for  the 
convenience  of  themselves. 

3.  The  defendants  claiming  to  act  by 
virtue  of  their  authority  as  public  execu- 
tive officers  in  the  said  city  of  Bridgeport 
have  assumed  to  prohibit  and  interfere  with 
these  by"  the  plaintiffs  of  said  conveyances 
for  their  own  transportation  over  the  said 


highways  and  have  threatened  and  are  law- 
fully threatening  to  use  force  and  violence 
to  restrain  and  interfere  with  the  exercise 
by  plaintiffs  with  said  right  in  using  said 
highways  for  said  purposes. 

4.  By  reason  of  the  said  unlawful  acts 
of  the  defendants  the  plaintiffs  have  been, 
and  are  prevented,  from  exercising  said 
rights  to  use  their  said  privileges  for  the 
purpose  aforesaid  and  are  therefore  and 
have  been  put  to  great  inconvenience,  loss 
and  expense,  and  will  continue  to  be  so 
interfered  with  and  deprived  of  said  rights 
and  to  suffer  great  inconvenience,  loss  and 
expense  unless  said  unlawful  acts  of  the 
defendants  shall  be  restrained  and  pre- 
vented by  injunction. 

5.  The  plaintiffs  have  no  adequate  remedy 
for  their  loss.    The  plaintiffs  claim: 

(a)  $10,000  damages. 

(b)  By  way  of  equitable  relief  an  in- 
junction restraining  the  defendants,  each 
and  every  one  of  their  servants,  agents, 
and  attorneys  from  further  interfering  with 
restraining  or  preventing  by  force,  threats, 
or  otherwise  the  plaintiffs  from  operating 
their  said  conveyances  over  said  highways 
for  said  purpose. 

William  F.  D.  Kilpatrick  of  Bridgeport 
is  recognized  in  $50  to  prosecute.  Of  this 
writ  with  your  doings  thereon  make  due 
service  and  return. 


Five-Cent  Fare  Privilege 
Extended 

Additional  5-cent  local  fares  were 
established  by  the  Boston  (Mass.)  Ele- 
vated Railway  on  Aug.  13.  The  lines 
affected  are  those  in  Cambridge,  Dor- 
chester, Roxbury  and  Charlestown  ter- 
minating at  Sullivan  Square  or  Harvard 
Square. 

In  Charlestown  new  rates  of  fare 
and  method  of  operation  will  be  put 
into  effect  on  Main  Street  and  Bunker 
Hill  Street  lines,  running  between  Sul- 
livan Square  station  and  Brattle  Street 
station  subway,  providing  5  cent  local 
fare  without  free  transfer,  or  a  dime 
with  free  transfer. 

Two  lines  will  be  run  between  Sul- 
livan Square  station  and  Brattle  Street 
subway  station,  one  via  Main  Street, 
the  other  via  Bunker  Hill  Street,  using 
the  tracks  in  the  subway  now  used  by 
cars  of  the  Eastern  Massachusetts 
Street  Railway  Company.  Prepayment 
cars  will  be  used  on  both  routes. 

The  5  cent  fare  privilege  will  be  fur- 
ther extended  on  Sept.  24  to  eight  addi- 
tional local  lines  radiating  from  Dudley, 
Egleston  Square  and  Forest  Hills. 
The  story  of  the  new  payment  system 
on  the  lines  of  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway  was  given  in  detail  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  issue  of 
July  9. 


Would  Furnish  Complete  Service 

Long  Beach  (Cal.)  residents  can  be 
assured  of  a  complete  transportation 
system  if  the  city  will  enter  into  an 
agreement  with  the  Pacific  Electric 
Railway  to  arrange  a  fare  schedule 
that  will  net  a  fair  return.  This 
opinion  was  recently  expressed  by  Paul 
Shoup,  president  of  the  Pacific  Elec- 
tric property,  during  a  visit  to  Long 
Beach. 

Mr.  Shoup  explained  how  the  plan 
worked  in  Fresno,  where  the  city  guar- 


Jitneys  Ordered  to  Stop 

Chief    Executive   of    Kansas    City  to 
Compel  Compliance  With  City 
Ordinance 

The  Mayor  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  on 
Aug.  29  ordered  the  suspension  of  jit- 
ney service  on  a  northeast  jitney  route 
because  of  non-compliance  with  the 
regulatory  ordinance.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  jitneys  are  still  operat- 
ing on  many  routes,  though  spasmodi- 
cally. 

The  ordinance  requires  that  opera- 
tors of  jitneys  shall  secure  petitions 
containing  names  of  the  owners  of  a 
majority  of  the  front  feet  of  property 
cn  proposed  routes.  Jitneys  were  per- 
mitted to  operate  while  petitions  were 
being  circulated,  but  in  no  case  has 
an  operator  been  able  to  obtain  the 
"majority  petition."  In  several  in- 
stances petitions  presented  were  found 
upon  examination  to  lack  the  neces- 
sary majority,  and  jitneys  which  had 
continued  on  the  assumption  that  the 
petitions  were  satisfactory  were  or- 
dered to  suspend. 

Jitneys  covering  routes  to  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  city  continued  run- 
ning several  days  after  they  were  or- 
dered to  quit.  They  displayed  signs  of- 
fering rides  free.  Patrons  usually 
gave  the  drivers  tips.  The  practice 
was  prohibited.  Some  jitneys  are  oper- 
ating under  signs  indicating  interstate 
traffic,  as  "Intercity  Bus,"  or  with 
names  of  cities  in  Kansas,  adjoining 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  displayed.  Some 
buses  merely  extended  their  routes  a 
few  blocks  in  order  to  secure  a  ter- 
minal in  the  adjacent  state. 

A  restraining  order  has  been  asked 
by  the  jitney  association  to  enable  the 
jitneys  to  operate  without  "consents" 
required  by  petitions.  Up  to  Sept.  1 
no  such  order  had  been  issued. 

An  earlier  ordinance  ruled  jitneys 
off  of  streets  having  street  railway 
tracks.  The  park  board  has  prohibited 
jitneys  from  operating  on  boulevards. 


Perfect  Safety  Score  Made  by 
Pacific  Electric  in  June 

In  a  movement  of  4,110,000  motor 
miles,  equivalent  to  encircling  the  globe 
164  times,  the  Pacific  electric  lines  run- 
ning out  of  Los  Angeles  to  points 
throughout  Southern  California  went 
through  the  entire  month  of  June,  1921, 
without  a  single  mishap  in  the  way  of 
a  casualty  accident  in  the  operation  of 
its  cars  and  trains  over  its  1,100  miles 
of  lines.  The  record  is  the  more  re- 
markable in  the  light  of  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  casualties  on  railway  lines 
are  attributable  to  recklessness  for 
which  the  carrier,  its  agents  or  em- 
ployees are  in  no  way  responsible  and 
against  which  no  effective  precaution 
can  be  taken. 


420 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Boston's  "No  Accident  Week" 

Drive  Will  Begin  Sept.  25,  Coincident 
with  the  National  Safety 
Council  Convention 

A  state-wide  "No-Accident"  Week, 
Sept.  25  to  Oct.  1,  is  to  be  held  in 
Massachusetts  coincident  with  the  an- 
nual session  of  the  National  Safety 
Council,  which  is  scheduled  to  take 
place  this  year  in  Boston.  An  elabo- 
rate program  of  safety  activities  has 
been  worked  out  in  great  detail.  The 
plans  for  this  "No-Accident"  Week  in- 
clude a  large  amount  of  co-operation 
from  the  electric  railways. 

A  special  electric  railway  committee 
on  safety  matters  has  been  functioning 
in  Massachusetts  for  nearly  a  year  in 
connection  with  the  Massachusetts 
Safety  Council,  which  is  in  reality  a 
union  of  the  local  units  of  the  National 
Safety  Council.  H.  B.  Potter,  assist- 
ant general  manager  of  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway,  is  chairman  of  the 
electric  railway  committee,  which  num- 
bers among  its  members  representa- 
tives of  the  Worcester  Consolidated, 
Boston  &  Worcester,  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts, Union,  and  other  large  Mas- 
sachusetts electric  railways.  Gener- 
ous contributions  have  been  made  by 
the  various  electric  railways  toward 
defraying  the  expenses  of  the  conven- 
tion and  the  "No-Accident"  campaign. 

During  the  progress  of  the  campaign 
special  electric  railway  cars  bearing 
appropriate  banners  advertising  the 
safety  work  will  be  operated  through 
all  the  cities  and  towns  reached  by 
electric  railway  tracks  and  will  make 
themselves  conspicuous  by  blowing 
whistles  at  frequent  intervals.  They 
are  scheduled  to  run  every  day  through- 
out the  week.  Dasher  signs  bearing 
the  motto  "Don't  Get  Hurt"  are  to  be 
furnished  to  companies  and  carried  on 
all  cars  during  the  whole  seven  days. 
Larger  display  posters  are  to  be  fur- 
nished for  subway  and  elevated  sta- 
tions, terminals  and  waiting  rooms. 

Although  the  street  railway  end  is 
only  one  detail  of  the  main  program, 
which  is  to  include  no-accident  propa- 
ganda in  shops,  factories,  stores, 
schools  and  on  the  highways,  it  is  ex- 
pected that  very  considerable  benefits 
will  result  to  the  railway  companies. 
A  special  drive  is  to  be  conducted  to 
secure  better  co-operation  from  auto- 
mobilists  and  motor-truck  drivers  in 
preventing  collisions  with  street  cars. 

Governor  Channing  H.  Cox  is 
greatly  interested  in  the  coming  events. 
He  has  volunteered  the  use  of  the 
State  House  Auditorium  for  the  con- 
vention sessions  of  the  National  Safety 
Council.  The  Governor  will  address  one 
of  the  meetings. 


Establishes  Freight  Business 

Freight  earnings  on  the  West  Penn 
Railways,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  increased 
during  the  business  depression  as  the 
passenger  earnings  decreased.  Whole- 
sale houses  finding  business  falling 
rapidly  diverted  deliveries  to  its 
freight   service,   discontinuing   use  of 


trucks.  The  company  is  now  negotiat- 
ing with  the  Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Railways 
for  the  Pittsburgh  Terminal  service 
with  fair  prospects  of  a  favorable  ar- 
rangement. Officials  of  the  railway 
hope  that  having  established  this  busi- 
ness it  will  continue  when  conditions 
return  to  normal. 


Be  "On  Your  Toes" 

The  significance  of  safe  operation 
and  courteous  treatment  of  passengers 
is  told  by  W.  E.  Dunn,  vice-president 
of  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  in 
the  Aug.  29  issue  of  Two  Bells,  the 
official  publication  of  the  company.  Mr. 
Dunn's  remarks  were  occasioned  by  a 
statement  in  a  previous  issue  of  Two 
Bells  to  the  effect  that  the  complaint 
department  would  pretty  soon  be  out 
of  a  job.  He  said  that  he  remembered 
and  had  been  inspired  by  the  lively 
rivalry  that  had  existed  among  the 
divisions  for  first  place  in  the  safety 
contest.  He  praised  the  men  for  their 
splendid  record,  and  said  that  he  felt 


"I  don't  know  which  is  more  im- 
portant, safety  in  operation  or  cour- 
tesy in  operation.  If  a  car  is 
smashed  in  a  collision,  that  car  can 
be  repaired  and  put  back  into  serv- 
ice; but  if  the  public  is  hurt  by  a 
collision  of  ideas  or  a  collision  be- 
tween the  mind  of  the  trainmen  and 
the  public  mind,  there  ensues  a  dam- 
age that  cannot  be  easily  remedied. 

"Public  favor  is  sometimes  a  very 
hard  thing  to  gain,  and  once  gained 
it  should  be  treated  as  a  priceless 
jewel." 


proud  to  be  associated  with  a  property 
which  was  attracting  the  attention  of 
operators  of  great  systems  in  other 
cities.  Mr.  Dunn  emphasized  the  ex- 
acting attitude  of  the  public  and  the 
need  for  employees  to  be  "up  on  their 
toes"  at  all  times. 


Another  Successful  Five-Cent 
Line 

Ft.  Madison,  la.,  now  occupies  the 
unique  distinction  of  being  the  only 
city  in  Iowa  to  retain  5-cent  fares.  The 
Mississippi  Valley  Electric  Company, 
which  operates  there,  has  been  able  to 
hold  down  to  the  traditional  fare  only 
because  there  is  an  unusual  condition 
in  Ft.  Madison.  In  the  first  place,  the 
city  has  a  population  of  12,000  people, 
and  there  are  only  4  miles  of  track. 
Power  obtained  from  the  Keokuk  dam, 
only  25  miles  away,  is  cheap.  Contracts 
for  this  power  were  made  before  the 
war.  Another  feature  in  keeping  ex- 
penses down  has  been  the  operation  of 
one-man  cars.  Still  another  factor  has 
been  the  absence  of  buses  or  jitneys. 
The  Mississippi  Valley  Electric  Com- 
pany bought  the  plant  six  years  ago 
from  the  Ft.  Madison  Street  Railway 
when  it  was  a  losing  proposition.  In 
spite  of  improving  service,  the  new 
company  has  been  able  to  put  the  line 
on  a  paying  basis. 


Interurban  Fare  Ruling 
Reargued 

The  State  Supreme  Court  recently 
heard  the  appeal  of  the  Georgia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga., 
from  the  decision  of  the  lower  courts  in 
the  matter  of  7-cent  fares  on  its  inter- 
urban lines  to  College  Park  and  Decatur. 

The  Railroad  Commission,  in  granting 
the  7-cent  fare  in  the  city  of  Atlanta, 
held  that  it  had  no  authority  to  regu- 
late the  fares  to  College  Park  and  De- 
catur, because  of  existing  contracts  be- 
tween these  municipalities  and  the  pow- 
er company.  Thereafter  the  power  com- 
pany sought  to  institute  7-cent  fares  of 
its  own  accord,  and  the  municipali- 
ties instituted  injunction  proceedings  in 
the  superior  court,  where  each  of  them 
was  successful.  The  courts  granted  the 
injunction  restraining  the  power  com- 
pany from  charging  7-cent  fares  on 
the  lines  between  College  Park  and  De- 
catur. 

The  power  company  appealed  to  the 
supreme  court,  and  the  case  was  ar- 
gued last  winter.  Since  this  argument, 
it  appears  that  Associate  Justices  Hill 
and  Atkinson  have  been  disqualified 
through  the  fact  that  they  are  related 
to  persons  who  own  stock  in  the  power 
company.  In  their  places  were  Justices 
Meldium  of  Savannah  and  Wright  of 
Rome.  No  decision  has  been  handed 
down. 


Jitneys  Will  Be  Barred 

As  t  he  res  alt  of  action  taken  by 
City  Manager  Locke  and  the  city  com- 
missioners of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  jit- 
ney buses  will  undoubtedly  be  barred 
from  those  streets  on  which  the  rail- 
way operates  lines.  The  Grand  Rapids 
Railway  recently  protested  against  jit- 
ney competition  and  the  matter  was 
referred  to  the  city  manager  and  a 
special  committee  of  commissioners  for 
investigation.  The  company  presented 
figures  which  showed  large  losses  due 
to  jitney  competition. 

City  Manager  Locke  in  explaining 
the  proposed  action  said  that  it  was 
not  the  intention  to  abolish  the  jitney 
in  the  city,  but  that  the  lowest  pos- 
sible electric  railway  fare  was  desired. 
Further,  he  said  that  the  jitneys  should 
not  be  permitted  to  operate  on  streets 
occupied  by  car  lines. 

This  ruling  will  be  put  into  effect 
as  present  licenses  expire.  A  reduction 
in  car  fares,  made  effective  recently, 
makes  the  cash  fare  in  Grand  Rapids 
10  cents,  with  four  tickets  for  25  cents. 


Lower  Fares  Increase  Traffic. — Since 
fares  have  been  reduced  a  half  a  cent 
to  8  cents  and  the  "pay-as-you-enter" 
system  re-established  on  the  lines  of 
the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany, there  has  been  a  noticeable  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  passengers. 
William  Jerome  Kuertz,  Director  of 
Street  Railways,  said  that  on  Aug.  1, 
when  the  reduction  went  into  effect,  the 
number  of  fares  increased  6,000.  The 
fares  collected  were  295,517  on  Aug.  1, 
as  compared  with  289,176  on  the  pre- 
vious Monday. 


September  10,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


421 


Increased  Rates  Refused — 
Service  Cut 

The  South  Carolina  Railroad  Com- 
mission has  refused  the  petition  of  the 
Augusta-Aiken  Railway  &  Electric  Cor- 
poration for  an  increase  in  zone  fares 
from  5  cents  to  9  cents  a  zone.  At  the 
same  time  the  railway  was  authorized 
to  reduce  its  service  f,0  per  cent. 

Several  months  ago  the  company  re- 
quested an  increased  zone  rate  between 
Augusta  and  Aiken.  A  hearing  was 
held  on  March  16  and  much  testimony 
was  submitted.  In  its  findings  the 
commission  states  that  conditions  in 
the  communities  served  by  the  railway 
were  far  from  normal  and  that  a  solu- 
tion to  the  problem  was  needed  which 
would  retain  the  traffic  and  at  the  same 
time  reduce  operating  expenses. 

It  was  a  question  of  reducing  service 
or  increasing  rates.  The  commission 
was  of  the  opinion  that  in  view  of  the 
present  conditions  the  people  could 
better  put  up  with  a  reduced  service 
than  with  higher  fares.  The  order 
went  into  effect  on  Aug.  28. 


Inspiring  Employees  to  Merchan- 
dise Transportation  Service 

Upon  taking  up  his  new  position  as 
general  manager  of  the  Tri-City  Rail- 
way of  Iowa,  Davenport,  recently,  R. 
J.  Smith  sent  out  a  letter  to  each  em- 
ployee at  his  home  which  was  intended 
to  inspire  a  better  idea  of  the  mer- 
chandising aspects  of  his  job.  The 
letter  was  very  well  received,  and  is 
considered  worth  reproducing.  The 
part  of  the  letter  dealing  with  this 
aspect  follows: 

"We  are  manufacturers  and  sellers  of 
transportation,  and  as  such  we  shall  require 
a  good  property  throughout  and  the  brain 
and  heart  of  each  individual  of  us — brain 
to  plan,  and  heart  to  keep  at  it  and  enjoy 
it.  Of  these  three  requisites  only  the  prop- 
erty is  at  all  lacking.  In  some  respects,  as 
for  example  certain  trackage,  we  shall  have 
to  bend  our  every  effort  to  improve  the 
property.  Many  of  us  forget  the  selling 
end  of  the  business.  It's  of  no  use  to  make 
a  commodity  that  you  don't  dispose  of. 
Empty  car  seats  are  transportation  unsold. 
The  manufacturer  must  sell  his  product. 
Let's  sell  ours.  How? 

By  doing  as  other  merchants  do — furnish 
a  good  article  ;  charge  a  fair  price  ;  adver- 
tise ;  and  be  friends  with  the  customer. 

What  have  you  and  I  to  sell?  More  than 
just  a  ride.  For  8  cents  we  are  now  selling 
not  only  a  ride  from  500  ft.  to  50,000  ft.  in 
length,  but  also  cool  breezes  in  summer, 
snug  warmth  in  winter,  safety,  reliability, 
cleanliness,  decency,  good  light  for  reading, 
room  for  carrying  bulky  articles,  a  lost- 
and-found  service,  general  information, 
watchfulness  over  children  and  the  infirm, 
and  finally  an  insurance  policy  covering 
person  and  property.  A  splendid  package 
for  8  cents  !  Surely  a  good  article  at  a  fair 
price.  We  salesmen,  then,  can  take  pride 
in  handling  such  a  line  of  goods. 

Therefore  advertise  this  excellent  buy. 
Talk  and  act  its  virtues  every  chance  you 
get.  Study  to  improve  the  quality  and 
then  advertise  the  improvement. 

And  let's  make  every  customer  feel  that 
we  are  glad  to  have  him  with  us  and  want 
him  to  come  again.  Pleasure  in  our  work 
of  serving  him,  courtesy  and  good  appear- 
ance will  help  us  immeasurably  in  making 
him  feel  how  really  interested  we  are  in 
giving  him  the  most  for  his  money. 

Our  principal  salesmen  are  those  among 
you  who  operate  the  cars.  You  are  the 
business  getters,  for  you  come  in  direct 
contact  with  the  customers,  and  it  is  your 
personal  responsibility  to  attract  every  pos- 
sible rider.  Your  acquaintance  is  enor- 
mous, and  to  all  these  people  you  oper- 
ators are  the  representatives  of  the  com- 
pany— you  are  the  company.  They  judge 
it  by  you.  See  to  it  that  their  judgment  is 
favorable.  The  personal  contact  with  the 
customer  is  invaluable.  Use  it  to  serve  and 
to  sell. 


For,  that  is  the  heart  of  the  problem — to 
sell.  If  we  can  sell  all  we  can  make,  we 
shall  do  our  job  well. 

You  have  heard  that  the  street  car  is 
passing  on — is  a  dead  one.  The  ablest 
students  of  transportation  state  that  for 
dependability,  speed,  safety  and  cheapness, 
nothing  has  yet  been  devised  to  equal  the 
electrically  driven  car  on  rails.  We  shall 
have  such  cars  for  some  considerable  time. 

And  we  must  remember  this.  It  is  not 
the  Pierce-Arrow  nor  the  Ford  which  we 
have  most  to  fear.  Our  greatest  competi- 
tor is  shoe  leather.  We  must  sell  the 
services  of  the  Tri-City  Railway  of  Iowa 
until  no  one  will  think  of  refusing  to  pay 
our  small  fee  and  receive  the  great  bene- 
fits we  are  so  ready  to  give. 

Efficiency  in  operation,  integrity  in  col- 
lection, and  courtesy  with  our  patrons  will 
put  this  company  upon  its  feet  and  make 
better  jobs  for  us  all.  Our  boss  is  the  Pub- 
lic.   Let's  please  it. 


Cash  Fare  Advanced.  —  Permission 
has  been  granted  to  the  Frankford, 
Tacony  &  Holmesburg  Street  Railway, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  to  charge  an  8-cent 
cash  fare  with  eight  tickets  for  50 
cents,  zone  limits  at  Blakiston  and 
Decatur  Streets  and  a  monthly  book  of 
tickets  for  $4.50.  The  new  rates  will 
continue  in  effect  for  a  year. 

Increased  Fare  Allowed. — The  Athens 
Railway  &  Electric  Company,  Athens, 
Ga.,  was  recently  authorized  by  the 
State  Railroad  Commission  to  increase 
its  fares  from  6  cents  to  7  cents.  The 
order  became  effective  on  Sept.  1. 

Fare  Rise  Granted.— The  State  Rail- 
road Commission  of  Georgia  recently 
issued  an  order  authorizing  the  Val- 
dosta  Street  Railway  to  increase  its 
carfare  from  6  cents  to  7  cents.  The 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  city 
wrote  the  commission  that  it  approved 
of  the  increase. 

Popularizing  Parcel  Post. — Letter 
mail  boxes  have  been  placed  on  the 
Lake  Minntonka  cars  of  the  Twin  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  marked: 
"Minneapolis  to  Tonka  parcel  post 
service.  Deposit  request  for  pickup  in 
this  box  and  carrier  will  call  at  your 
door  for  package.  Trucks  will  arrive 
at  this  point  at  —  a.m.  E.  A.  Purdy, 
postmaster."  This  is  designed  to  ex- 
pedite and  make  popular  the  new  par- 
cel post  delivery  by  automobile  truck. 

Will  Appeal  Ten-Cent  Fare.— Fol- 
lowing the  decision  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  authorizing  the  Buffalo 
&  Lackawanna  Traction  Company, 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  to  charge  a  10-cent  fare 
without  transfer,  the  councilmen  have 
directed  Corporation  Counsel  Rann  to 
appeal  the  ruling.  The  railway  will 
first  apply  for  a  rehearing.  If  this  is 
denied  a  certiorari  proceeding  to.  re- 
view the  commission's  decision  will  be 
started. 

Arrangements  Made  for  Classifying 
Freight. — The  Northwestern  Ohio  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company  has  arranged 
with  the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Rail- 
way for  the  issuance  of  class  rates  on 
freight  from  all  points   in  Michigan 


served  by  the  Detroit  United  to  points 
on  the  Northwestern  Ohio  system.  The 
Detroit  United  serves  practically  all 
of  Southeastern  Michigan  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  large  business  will  be  the 
result  under  class  rates. 

Railway  Co-operates  With  Auto 
Club.  —  The  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  has  notified  the  New 
Jersey  Automobile  &  Motor  Club  that 
it  will  co-operate  in  the  campaign  to 
rid  the  streets  of  broken  glass  and 
bottles.  N.  W.  Bolen,  general  super- 
intendent of  the  railway,  says  that  all 
the  motormen  and  conductors  will  be 
instructed  to  remove  broken  glass  from 
the  streets  or  report  it  to  the  proper 
authorities  when  they  discover  it  along 
the  tracks.  The  order  will  also  apply 
to  glass  scattered  along  the  streets 
following  collisions. 

Applies    For    Ten-Cent    Fare. — The 

New  York  State  Railways  applied  to  the 
Public  Service  Commission  on  Aug.  6  for 
a  10-cent  fare  in  Oneida  and  between 
the  zone  of  Wampsville  and  Kenwood. 
The  fare  at  present  is  5  cents.  B.  E. 
Tilton,  vice-president  of  the  company, 
said  he  thought  the  decreased  patron- 
age was  due  more  to  business  depres- 
sion than  to  jitney  competition.  J.  E. 
Duffy,  general  superintendent  at  Oneida, 
stated  that  although  there  was  no  bus 
competition  in  the  city  of  Oneida  there 
was  considerable  in  outlying  districts, 
especially  between  Oneida,  Sherrill  and 
Kenwood. 

Jitney  Dispute  Before  High  Court. — 

Claiming  that  a  half  dozen  jitney  buses 
have  been  operating  between  Penns- 
grove  and  Carney's  Point,  N.  J., 
without  approval  of  the  Public  Utility 
Commission,  the  Salem  &  Pennsgrove 
Traction  Company  on  July  28  carried 
the  dispute  to  the  New  Jersey  Supreme 
Court.  The  railway  charges  that 
licenses  were  granted  to  the  jitney  men 
by  Upper  Penns  Neck  Township  since 
March  15,  the  date  when  the  1921  law 
placed  the  jitneys  under  the  regulation 
of  the  Commission.  Supreme  Court 
Justice  Katzenbach  has  directed  the 
jitney  operators  to  show  cause  in 
Camden,  N.  J.,  why  the  jitneys  should 
not  desist  from  operating,  pending  ap- 
proval of  their  municipal  licenses  by 
the  Commission. 

Bus  Permits  Granted. — Nine  applica- 
tions for  the  privilege  of  operating  bus 
lines  within  New  Jersey  were  granted 
on  Aug.  23  by  the  Board  of  Public  Util- 
ity Commissioners.  Nineteen  other  ap- 
plications were  denied  on  the  ground 
that  existing  electric  railways  with 
which  the  proposed  bus  lines  would 
compete  now  furnish  adequate  service. 
Eight  of  the  applications  granted  were 
for  routes  in  Camden  County,  between 
Camden  and  Brooklawn,  Camden  and 
Gibbstown,  Camden  and  Blackwood, 
Swedesboro  and  Camden,  Williamstown 
and  Camden  and  Camden  and  Highland 
Park.  Franchise  was  also  granted  for 
operation  of  buses  between  Butler  and 
Newark.  Provision  was  made  in  each 
case  that  local  traffic  within  the  areas 
served  by  electric  railway  systems 
would  not  be  carried. 


422 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Mr.  Hukill  Traffic  Manager 

New  York  Central  Man  Joins  F.  H. 
Wilson,  a  Former  Associate,  on 
Cleveland  Southwestern 

Edmund  L.  Hukill  is  the  new  traffic 
manager  of  the  Cleveland,  Southwest- 
ern &  Columbus  Railway,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  succeeding  C.  C.  Collins,  who  re- 
signed on  July  15.  Mr.  Collins,  who  had 
been  traffic  manager  of  the  interurban 
line  for  more  than  four  years,  has  not 
announced  his  plans  for  the  future. 

Mr.  Hukill  is  new  to  the  electric 
railway  industry,  having  been  asso- 
ciated with  steam  railroads  prior  to 
assuming  duties  as  traffic  director  of 
the  Ohio  interurban  line.  When  he  ac- 
cepted the  position  with  the  Cleveland, 
Southwestern  &  Columbus  Railway, 
Mr.  Hukill  was  special  representative 
of  the  assistant  general  manager  of 
the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  D.  R. 
MacBain,  Cleveland. 

Mr.  Hukill's  experience  as  a  railroad 
man  began  in  1907  when  he  started 
work  in  the  freight  offices  of  the  Lake 
Shore  Railroad  in  Chicago.  He  was 
there  two  years  when  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Sandusky,  Ohio,  where  he  re- 
mained four  years.  In  1915  he  was 
transferred  to  Toledo,  where  he  was 
chief  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  terminal 
yardmaster  and  later  in  the  traffic  de- 
partment of  the  New  York  Central. 

In  1918  Mr.  Hukill  became  associated 
with  F.  H.  Wilson,  who  was  then  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  the  New  York 
Central  and  who  is  now  president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Cleveland 
Southwestern.  Mr.  Hukill  was  in  the 
office  of  Mr.  Wilson  until  the  latter 
went  with  the  Cleveland  Southwestern 
in  March  of  this  year.  Since  March, 
Mr.  Hukill  had  been  in  the  office  of 
Mr.  MacBain. 

Mr.  Collins  has  been  traffic  manager 
of  the  Cleveland,  Southwestern  & 
Columbus  Railway,  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
since  1917.  His  career  as  a  railway 
man  was  begun  in  1890  and  has  been 
largely  concerned  with  traffic  problems. 
In  that  year  he  became  chief  clerk  in 
the  traffic  department  of  the  Columbus 
&  Eastern  Railroad.  This  road  was 
later  merged  with  the  Columbus,  San- 
dusky &  Hocking  Railway  upon  its 
completion  and  Mr.  Collins  was  made 
division  freight  agent  at  Toledo.  When 
the  road  was  sold  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Lines  in  1898,  Mr.  Collins  engaged  in 
business  in  Porto  Rico. 

Upon  his  return  to  Ohio  and  follow- 
ing a  short  connection  with  the  De- 
troit, Toledo  &  Ironton  Railroad  he 
was  appointed  general  express  and  pas- 
senger agent  of  the  Columbus,  London 
&  Springfield  Railway,  Springfield, 
Ohio,  the  position  he  held  until  1907. 
At  that  time  he  entered  the  service  of 
the  Western  Ohio  Railroad,  Lima,  Ohio, 
and  a  year  later  was  made  traffic  man- 


ager of  the  system.  He  resigned  this 
position  in  1911  to  take  a  similar  one 
with  the  Lehigh  Valley  Transit  Com- 
pany, Allentown,  Pa.  Mr.  Collins  was 
one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Central 
Electric  Railway  Association,  and  has 
displayed  an  active  interest  in  its  af- 
fairs. 


Bion  J.  Arnold  the  Subject  of  a 
Magazine  Sketch 

Bion  J.  Arnold,  engineer,  and  a  pio- 
neer in  electric  railroad  projects,  is  the 
subject  of  an  interview  by  Neil  M. 
Clark  in  the  American  Magazine  for 
August.  More  than  forty  years  ago,  in 
the  small  town  of  Ashland,  Neb.,  Mr. 
Arnold's  greatest  sport  was  watching 
repair  work  in  progress  on  the  bridge 
of  the  Burlington  Railroad  over  Salt 
Creek  near  the  Platte  River.  He  was 
fascinated  by  the  locomotive  and  hoped 
for  a  day  when  he  could  "make  engines 
go."  His  genius  for  invention  found 
expression  in  an  engine  he  himself 
built  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  This  en- 
gine is  now  in  his  office  in  Chicago. 
Despite  opposition  to  his  ambition,  lack 
of  facilities  and  a  none  too  strong 
physique,  he  went  ahead.  His  technical 
training  was  obtained  at  Hillsdale  Col- 
lege. His  early  position  as  a  drafts- 
man in  Milwaukee  and  another  building 
a  300-hp.  cross-compound  engine  for  a 
Dubuque  company,  started  Mr.  Arnold 
on  the  road  to  success.  The  various 
achievements  in  the  years  that  followed 
are  well  known  to  engineers  every- 
where. "To  want  something  so  hard 
that  it  hurts  if  you  can't  get  it"  gives 
some  idea  of  Mr.  Arnold,  the  man.  He 
says  that  nothing  can  stop  a  man  who 
has  that  desire  and  that,  in  his  own 
particular  case,  obstacles  became  step- 
ping-stones to  his  objective. 


F.  H.  Harris  Leaves  Charleston 
Consolidated 

F.  H.  Harris,  superintendent  of 
equipment  of  the  Charleston  Consoli- 
dated Railway  &  Lighting  Company, 
Charleston,  S.  C,  recently  resigned  to 
accept  an  appointment  as  master  me- 
chanic of  the  Charleston  (W.  Va.)  In- 
terurban Railroad.  Before  his  depar- 
ture for  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  to  take 
up  his  new  duties  on  Sept.  1  the  shop 
employees  presented  him  with  a  silver 
tea  set  and  all  expressed  their  best 
wishes  for  his  success  in  his  new  posi- 
tion. His  thirteen  years'  association 
with  the  employees  of  the  Charleston 
Consolidated  had  made  many  ties  that 
were  hard  to  break.  The  position  made 
vacant  by  Mr.  Harris  has  been  filled 
by  Ernest  C.  Barker,  formerly  in 
charge  of  the  electrical  department  of 
the  railway  shops  of  the  Charleston 
Consolidated  Railway  &  Lighting  Com- 
pany. 

Mr.   Barker  was  born  in  Barking, 


Essex,  England.  He  was  educated  in 
English  schools  and  came  to  the  United 
States  while  a  young  man,  in  1906.  He 
went  into  the  shipping  department  of 
the  Western  Electric  Company,  New 
York,  testing  telephone  switchboards 
for  shipping.  About  a  year  later  he 
tested  and  installed  meters  for  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Electric  Company  in  Hack- 
ensack,  N.  J.,  while  in  1908  he  had 
charge  of  wireless  operation  on  one  of 
the  ocean. liners  of  the  American  Steam- 
ship Line.  In  the  latter  part  of  1908 
he  went  into  the  repair  shops  of  the 
New  Jersey  &  Hudson  River  Railroad 
&  Ferry  Company,  and  remained  on  the 
property  when  it  became  the  Bergen 
division  of  the  Public  Service  Railway. 

Mr.  Barker  went  to  the  New  York 
Subways  to  wire  the  new  cars  for  10- 
car  train  operation,  and  was  there 
about  a  year.  He  then  returned  to 
the  Bergen  division  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway,  entering  the  repair  shops 
at  Edgewater  as  electric  repairman  and 
became  foreman  of  the  shops  in  1917, 
In  February,  1919,  he  accepted  a  posi- 
tion in  the  Charleston  Consolidated 
Railway  &  Lighting  Company  shops  at 
Charleston,  S.  C,  as  electrical  foreman, 
and  was  appointed  master  mechanic 
Aug.  16,  1921. 


Thomas  G.  Hill  now  occupies  the  po- 
sition as  chief  claim  adjuster  of  the 
Capital  Traction  Company,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

F.  C.  Eckmann,  general  manager  and 
purchasing  agent,  has  become  vice- 
president  of  the  Joliet  &  Eastern  Trac- 
tion Company,  Joliet,  111.,  following  the 
resignation  of  Robert  Kelly. 

A.  E.  Robertson,  formerly  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Coal  Belt  Electric  Railway, 
Marion,  111.,  has  been  appointed  presi- 
dent of  the  company  to  succeed  J.  G. 
Drew  of  St.  Louis.  Also  O.  E.  Coyne  is 
the  successor  of  H.  H.  Berry  as  super- 
intendent of  the  property. 

Kazutada  Sakurai,  equipment  engi- 
neer of  the  Municipal  Street  Railway 
lines  in  Tokio,  Japan,  has  recently  ar- 
rived in  New  York,  where  he  expects 
to  make  his  headquarters  for  the  next 
year  or  two  in  his  study  of  American 
electric  railway  car  shops,  carhouses, 
and  car  buildings.  Mr.  Sakurai  has 
spent  about  seven  months  in  Chicago 
making  similar  studies.  He  may  be 
reached  in  care  of  the  Japanese  Consul- 
General,  165  Broadway. 

C.  M.  Bange,  whose  appointment  as 
master  mechanic  of  the  Interstate  Pub- 
lic Service  Company,  with  headquar- 
ters at  Scottsburg,  Ind.,  was  an- 
nounced in  these  columns  on  Aug.  27, 
was  for  three  years  master  mechanic 
of  the  Detroit,  Rochester  &  Romeo 
Railway.  For  five  years  he  served  as 
master  mechanic  of  the  Detroit- 
Ypsilanti-Ann  Arbor  &  Jackson  Rail- 
way. Both  of  these  companies  now 
form  a  part  of  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
ways. He  served  as  superintendent  of 
power  and  equipment  of  the  southern 
division  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Trac- 
tion &  Light  Company  for  two  years 
and  for  eleven  years  was  superintend- 


September  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


423 


ent  of  equipment  and  overhead,  Elmira 
Water,  Light  &  Railroad  Company, 
Elmira,  N.  Y. 

Frederick  I.  Cox,  of  New  Jersey,  was 
nominated  on  July  22  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  place  of  Edgar  E.  Clark,  chair- 
man, who  has  resigned.  It  was  said 
that  Judge  Clark  felt  that  he  had 
reached  a  time  in  his  life  when  he  could 
no  longer  afford  to  serve  the  public  at 
the  comparatively  small  compensation, 
and  will  go  into  private  business.  Mr. 
Cox  was  selected  by  President  Harding 
as  a  representative  of  the  great  body 
of  commercial  traveling  men.  The 
President  has  set  a  policy  of  appoint- 
ing to  the  board  men  characteristic  of 
various  elements  of  the  national  life 
affected  by  the  railroads.  Mr.  Cox  was 
born  in  Dover,  0.,  in  1849. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER,  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Martin  J.  White,  chief  supervisor  of 
the  city  buses  of  the  New  York  De- 
partment of  Plant  and  Structures, 
died  Sept.  1  at  the  age  of  forty-four. 
Mr.  White  took  charge  of  the  bus  sys- 
tem a  year  ago.  He  graduated  from 
Manhattan  College  in  1897. 

William  H.  Guyton,  superintendent  of 
transportation  East  St.  Louis  &  Subur- 
ban Railway,  died  recently.  Mr.  Guy- 
ton  began  his  street  railway  career  as 
a  conductor  in  Kansas  City  and  later 
in  St.  Louis  and  was  a  conductor  with 
the  Old  Day  Line  Company,  one  of 
the  predecessors  of  the  East  St.  Louis 
&  Suburban  Railway.  He  later  be- 
came superintendent  of  this  company 
when  it  was  consolidated  with  the  East 
St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  and 
subsequently  became  superintendent  of 
the  entire  system. 

George  C.  Killeen,  superintendent  of 
the  Southern  New  York  Power  &  Rail- 
way Corporation,  Cooperstown,  N.  Y., 
died  on  Aug.  31.  Mr.  Killeen  was  a 
native  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J.  His  age  was 
46  years.  After  attending  the  public 
schools  of  Middletown,  N.  Y.,  where 
most  of  his  early  life  was  passed,  he 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Middletown 
Traction  Company,  with  which  he  re- 
mained four  years.  Later  he  removed 
to  Staten  Island,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged with  the  Staten  Island  Railway, 
remaining  there  for  two  years  and 
going  afterward  to  Brooklyn,  where 
he  held  for  ten  years  a  responsible 
position  as  master  mechanic  and  where 
he  did  some  excellent  work  directing 
new  installations  and  development 
plans.  Five  years  ago  he  came  to  the 
Southern  New  York  company  as  mas- 
ter mechanic  and  later  was  made  super- 
intendent both  of  the  shops  and  of  the 
company's  power  plants  and  trolley 
lines.  In  the  latter  position  he  was 
proving  most  capable  and  efficient  and 
his  loss  will  be  felt  not  only  by  the 
officials  but  by  all  employees  of  the 
company  as  well. 


Lower  Prices  on  Some  Poles  and 
Cross-Arms 

Reductions  were  reported  last  week 
in  certain  poles  and  cross-arms.  Chi- 
cago, St.  Louis  and  New  York  terri- 
tories report  that  Northern  white-cedar 
poles  in  lengths  from  25  ft.  with  4-in. 
top  to  35  ft.  with  7-in.  top  were  re- 
duced about  Aug.  19  in  varying  amounts 
from  15  to  25  per  cent,  depending  on 
size,  grade  and  classification.  Utilities 
around  St.  Louis  showed  a  tendency  to 
hold  off  buying  until  the  fall  demands 
make  it  necessary,  and  the  reduced 
prices  are  stimulating  pole  sales.  Pres- 
ent inquiries  indicate  a  rather  healthy 
business  for  the  next  few  months. 
Stocks  are  in  good  shape. 

Around  Chicago  the  demand  has  been 
slow  and  uneven,  and  pole  movement 
has  not  reacted  as  yet  tc  the  price  cost. 
Buying  around  New  York,  too,  is  rather 
quiet. 

Yellow-pine  cross-arms  have  come 
down  about  10  per  cent  in  the  past  ten 
days.  No  change  has  been  reported  in 
fir  arms.  Railways  and  utilities  in  the 
Southwest  are  providing  a  fairly  good 
call  for  these  yellow-pine  arms. 


Coal  Output  Has  Found  a  Level 

Production  of  soft  coal,  says  the 
weekly  report  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  appears  to  have 
found  a  level  for  the  time  being  at 
about  7,750,000  tons  a  week.  The  total 
output  during  the  week  ended  Aug.  27 
is  estimated  at  7,755,000  net  tons,  as 
against  7,771,000  and  7,713,000  tons  in 
the  weeks  of  Aug.  13  and  20,  respec- 
tively. Preliminary  reports  indicate 
no  great  change  during  the  week  Aug. 
29  to  Sept.  3.  Stationary  production 
at  this  season  of  the  year  is  exceptional. 
The  normal  trend  is  upward  fairly 
steadily  from  April  to  November. 


High -Voltage  Transmission 
Equipment  for  Midi 
Railway 

The  order  for  electrical  equipment 
for  the  Midi  Railway  in  France,  as  an- 
nounced in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal for  July  20,  will  be  used  on  the 
transmission  system  being  built  by  the 
Midi  Company  for  supplying  power  to 
operate  the  railways  and  also  industrial 
concerns.  ,  The  Westinghouse  Com- 
pany will  use  its  Essington  works,  near 
Philadelphia,  for  the  manufacture  of  a 
large  part  of  this  machinery  and  equip- 
ment, the  order  for  which  totals  be- 
tween $1,200,000  and  $1,500,000. 

The  equipment  includes  only  ap- 
paratus for  the  construction  and 
operation  of  this  power  line  at  154,000 
volts.  Eleven  6,660-kva.  single-phase, 
50-cycle  outdoor-type  transformers  with 


a  voltage  ratio  of  60,000  to  89,000  will 
be  connected  in  star  on  the  high-volt- 
age side  to  give  the  transmission  volt- 
age of  154,000.  For  step-down  service 
14  6,600-kva.  86,700  to  34,600-volt  trans- 
formers will  be  required.  These  will  be 
connected  in  groups  of  three  for  3-phase 
operation  and  connected  in  star  on 
the  high-tension  side  for  150,000  volts. 
Also  they  will  be  designed  with  a  terti- 
ary winding  for  6,600  volts  delta  con- 
nected for  supplying  power  to  syn- 
chronous condensers.  For  line  regula- 
tion 2  15,000-kva.  and  4  2,000-kva.  self- 
starting  synchronous  condensers  are  to 
be  installed.  They  are  6,600-volt  3-phase 
50-cycle  machines,  operating  at  600 
r.p.m.  Lightning  protection  will  be 
afforded  by  13  154,000-volt  3-pole  elec- 
trolytic arresters. 


Crocker-Wheeler  Company  Sells 
Canadian  Plant 

The  plant  and  business  of  the  Cana- 
dian Crocker- Wheeler  Company,  Ltd.. 
St.  Catharine's,  Ont,  have  been  pur- 
chased by  the  newly  incorporated  Eng- 
lish Electric  Company  of  Canada, 
which  is  a  subsidiary  of  the  English 
Electric  Company  of  London,  England. 
Gordon  F.  Perry,  president  of  the  Na- 
tional Iron  Corporation,  Ltd.,  Toronto, 
is  chairman  of  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  English  Electric  Company  of 
Canada,  Ltd.,  and  the  Canadian  con- 
cern will  have  on  its  board  of  directors 
a  number  of  other  men  prominent  in 
industrial  and  financial  circles  in 
Canada. 

It  is  understood  that  this  company 
has  obtained  a  large  order  from  the 
Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission  of 
Ontario  and  several  weeks  ago  the 
company  was  awarded  a  large  con- 
tract by  the  Toronto  Transportation 
Commission.  The  Canadian  company 
holds  the  exclusive  manufacturing 
rights  for  Canada  in  perpetuity  for  all 
lines  manufactured  by  the  English 
Electric  Company,  Ltd.,  and  will  also 
act  as  selling  agent  for  the  latter  com- 
pany. The  Canadian  company  has  the 
right  to  sell  its  own  products  in  the 
United  States  as  well  as  in  Canada, 
and  is  to  have  the  use  of  all  patent  de- 
signs and  processes  of  the  British  com- 
pany. 

Special  attention  will  be  paid  by  the 
company  to  the  manufacture  of  elec- 
trical equipment  and  rolling  stock  for 
railways  and  tramways,  and  of  switch 
gear  and  control  apparatus  of  all  kinds. 

The  parent  company  in  England  is 
said  to  be  the  largest  manufacturer 
of  electrical  supplies  and  allied  ma- 
chinery and  equipment  in  the  British 
Empire,  and  the  directorate  includes 
some  of  the  most  prominent  men  in 
Great  Britain.  The  company  main- 
tains  eight  branches   in   the  United 


424 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  11 


Kingdom  and  ten  abroad.  The  parent 
company  is  now  undergoing  a  world- 
wide development  and  is  putting  up 
several  new  plants,  particularly  in 
France  near  Lyons,  and  in  Belgium 
near  Liege.  A  new  plant  has  been 
erected  at  Tarbes  and  the  works  in 
Ghent  will  also  be  extended  shortly. 


Electrification  Postponed 

The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  West- 
ern Railroad  recently  rejected  all  bids 
received  for  electrical  equipment  for 
the  electrification  of  a  section  of  its 
line  in  the  anthracite  region  of  Penn- 
sylvania. It  is  expected  to  advertise 
for  new  bids  at  an  early  date.  Gibbs  & 
Hill,  New  York,  are  consulting  engi- 
neers. 

The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  West- 
ern is  the  only  road  at  present  actually 
in  the  market  for  electrical  equipment. 
While  the  plans  of  that  company  are 
pretty  definite,  they  have  not  been  an- 
nounced beyond  the  statement  of  Presi- 
dent Truesdale  in  the  last  annual  re- 
port that  a  mountainous  section  of  the 
company's  line  in  Pennsylvania  would 
probably  be  electrified  soon,  although 
the  recent  advertisements  for  bids  gave 
no  clue  to  probable  time  that  will  elapse 
before  work  is  begun. 


Wire  Makers  Considering  Monthly 
Survey 

Manufacturers  of  insulated  wire  now 
have  the  opportunity  to  have  their 
product  included  in  the  survey  now 
being  made  for  twenty  other  industries, 
the  reports  of  which  are  published  by 
the  Department  of  Commerce  in  the 
monthly  Survey  of  Current  Business, 
first  issued  under  the  date  of  July  .1, 
1921.  Herbert  Hoover,  Secretary  of 
Commerce,  has  appointed  W.  M. 
Steuart,  who  is  director  of  the  Survey 
of  Current  Business,  as  his  represen- 
tative to  meet  in  New  York  City  on 
Sept.  13  the  manufacturers  of  insulated 
wire,  represented  by  four  groups — 
bare  wire,  rubber-covered  wire,  weather- 
proof wire  and  magnet  wire.  It  is 
his  intention  to  have  Mr.  Steuart  dis- 
cuss with  them  the  best  methods  to 
adopt  for  obtaining  from  each  group 
monthly  reports  on  production,  current 
stock  and  distribution  in  their  respec- 
tive industries. 

If  insulated  wire  manufacturers  suc- 
ceed in  having  their  products  included 
in  this  survey,  they  will  have  before 
them  current  comparative  information 
never  before  available  which  should 
enable  them  to  better  forecast  the  vol- 
ume and  conserve  the  stability  of  their 
industry. 


Westinghouse  Order  from  Japan 

The  Westinghouse  Electric  Interna- 
tional Company  has  received  an  order 
for  two  electric  freight  locomotives 
from  the  Japanese  Government  to  be 
used  in  service  near  Tokio.  These  loco- 
motives, which  will  weigh  62  tons  and 
have  a  capacity  of  1,000  horsepower 
each,  will  operate  on  the  1.500-volt  di- 
rect-current system. 


Rolling  Stock 


Preston  Car  &  Coach  Company,  Ltd., 
Preston,  Ont,  has  entered  into  an  arrange- 
ment with  car  manufacturers  in  the  United 
States,  who,  it  is  understood,  have  orders 
from  the  Toronto  Transportation  Commis- 
sion and  from  other  Canadian  sources, 
whereby  the  manufacturing  for  the  Ca- 
nadian trade  will  be  done  by  the  Preston 
Co.  It  is  understood  that  shareholders  will 
give  their  approval  to  the  arrangement 
when  details  are  placed  before  them  at  the 
meeting  which  has  been  called  for  the 
purpose. 

Bamberger  Electric  Kailroad.  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  has  included  in  its  program 
this  fall  the  purchase'  of  twenty  box  cars 
of  the  latest  type.  They  are  constructed 
with  steel  underframes  and  equipped  with 
the  latest  improvements.  The  first  one  of 
these  cars  has  just  arrived,  and  two  others 
are  expected  shortly.  The  remainder  of 
the  cars  will  be  received  later  in  the  fall. 
The  new  cars  were  ordered  to  replace  some 
of  the  older  equipment,  and  to  provide 
better  and  more  service  for  Salt  Lake  and 
Ogden  merchandise.  The  company  is  con- 
structing its  own  passenger  cars,  and  is 
keeping  an  adequate  supply  on  hand  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  passenger  business. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Detroit    (Mich.)    Municipal    Railway  has 

commenced  operation  on  the  Charlevoix- 
Buchanan  crosstown  line. 

Midland  Pennsylvania  Railway,  Potts- 
ville.  Pa.,  will  be  built  shortly  according 
to  the  new  owners  who  recently  bought 
the  right-of-way  for  $33  000.  Tracks  had 
never  been  laid  by  the  original  owners. 

Petaluma  &  Santa  Rosa  Railroad,  Peta- 
luma,  CaL.,  has  asked  the  city  to  build  a 
new  bridge  over  to  D  Street  which  will  be 
wide  enough  for  the  electric  trains  to  cross. 
If  this  is  done  the  railway  will  share  the 
expense  with  the  city. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  has  asked  the  trustees  of  the  city  of 
Whittier  for  permission  to  remove  its  tracks 
on  Greenleaf  Avenue.  The  tracks  extend 
about  two  blocks  from  Philadelphia  south 
on  Greenleaf. 

Meridian  Light  &  Railway  Company, 
Meridian,  Miss.,  must  level  its  track  on  the 
Twenty-fourth  Avenue  car  line  or  else 
remove  it.  The  city  has  reached  this  point 
in  this  paving  program  and  will  proceed 
to  pave  over  the  tracks  unless  the  com- 
pany takes  immediate  action. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Company  will 
build  an  extension  to  one  of  its  lines  from 
Price  Hill  to  Covedale.  The  North  Amer- 
ican Railway  Construction  Company,  Chi- 
cago, has  been  awarded  a  contract  for  this 
improvement,  which  will  cost  approximately 
$20,000. 

Grand     Rapids     (Mich.)     Railway  may 

eliminate  interurban  traffic  from  its  tracks 
in  the  city.  Engineers  of  interurban  rail- 
roads have  been  inspecting  all  the  prop- 
erty along  Front  Avenue  between  Bridge 
and  Shawmut  Streets  with  a  view  of 
acquiring  it  for  a  union  station,  the  neces- 
sary yard*  and  sidewalks. 

Northern  ,;Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Com- 
pany; Akron,  Ohio,  is  making  extensive  re- 
pairs to  its  track  in  Akron,  Canton  and 
Massillon.  In  Akron  repairs  are  being 
made  to  tracks  in  Main  Street  from  Fed- 
eral Street  to  Thornton.  The  East  Akron 
carhouse  and  tracks  layout  are  being  ■  fin- 
ished at  an  approximate  cost  of  $30,000. 
In  Canton  double  track  on  South  Main 
Street  from  Sixth  Street  S.  W.  to  Navarre 
is  being  renewed.  Single  track  on  East 
Tuscarawas  is  being  replaced  by  double 
track  at  an  approximate  cost  of  $136,000. 
In  Massillon  about  50o  ft.  of  track  has 
been  renewed  at  the  City  Hospital. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


The  Hydro-Electric  Railway  will  install 
additional  rotary  converters  at  Windsor 
and  Amherst  burg,  Onti,  wifth  an  auto- 
matic sub-station  at:  the  latter  point. 

Bamberger  Electric  Railroad,  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  and  the  Orem  Railroads  wi'l 
have  a  joint  terminal  at  the  corner  of 
South    Temple   and   West   Temple  Streets. 


Salt  Lake  City.  The  cost  is  estimated  at 
more  than  $200,000. 

Tacoma,  Wash.,  has  purchased  a  trans- 
former weighing  80,000  lb.  to  be  installed 
in  its  new  substation  at  North  Twenty- 
first  Street.  This  shortest  street  railway 
line,  which  went  into  operation  recently, 
will  be  used  in  transferring  the  transformer 
to  its  concrete  platform  built  for  it  be- 
tween Washington  and  Adams  Streets  on 
Twenty-first  Street.  The  line  will  be  taken 
up  as  soon  as  this  transformer  has  been 
removed. 


Trade  Notes 


The  Green  Engineering  Company,  East 
Chicago,  Ind.,  has  placed  on  the  market  its 
Green  sidewall  waterboxes  for  furnace 
settings. 

Industrial  Products  Company,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  has  recently  placed  on  the  mar- 
ket a  first  aid  dressing  for  serious  burns 
and  scalds.  It  consists  of  a  solution 
of  bicarbonate  of  soda  and  mineral  placed 
in  a  patented  container. 

Automatic  Sliding  Trolley  Company  has 
been  organized  at  Frankfort,  Ind.,  and  in- 
corporated under  Indiana  laws  with  a  capi- 
tal stock  of  $10,000.  The  company  will 
manufacture  automatic  sliding  trolleys  and 
other  devices  for  street  railways.  Or- 
ganizers of  the  company  are  William  Rob- 
inson, E.  C.  Spray  and  J.  A.  Lucas. 

Westinghouse  Electric  International 
Company  has  opened  an  office  in  Shang- 
hai, owing  to  the  growth  of  business  in 
China.  This  office  will  have  eventually 
several  branches  throughout  the  country  in 
order  to  adequately  handle  inquiries  and 
negotiations  for  electrical  equipment.  J. 
D.  Birrell,  who  has  long  been  engaged  in 
business  in  the  Far  East,  is  the  manager 
of  the  new  office. 

Edward  A.  Craig,  manager  of  the  export 
department  of  the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake 
Company,  Wilmerding,  Pa.,  died  on  Aug. 
28.  He  was  first  taken  ill  while  he  was 
making  preparations  for  his  transfer  to  the 
West,  where  he  was  to  reorganize  the 
Westinghouse  Pacific  Coast  Brake  Company 
and  the  Pacific  Coast  district.  Mr.  Craig's 
position  in  the  air  brake  organization  was 
in  many  respects  unique.  His  connection 
with  the  company  began  in  1888,  when  he 
became  a  messenger  at  the  age  of  fifteen. 
His  first  promotion  was  to  secretary  of  the 
general  superintendent  of  the  works.  This 
led  to  his  appointment  as  assistant  audi- 
tor and  then  as  auditor  and  assistant  sec- 
retary. In  1906  the  air  brake  company 
established  the  Southeastern  District  and 
in  the  selection  of  a  manager  for  that 
office,  the  choice'  fell  upon  Mr.  Craig,  who 
conducted  its  affairs  with  marked  success 
until  1920.  In  January  of  that  year  the 
company  organized  the  export  department 
and,  in  the  consideration  of  an  executive 
head  for  that  department,  the  manage- 
ment once  more  showed  its  faith  in  Mr. 
Craig's  ability  by  giving  him  the  appoint- 
ment. Mr.  Craig  grew  up  with  the  or- 
ganization and  never  forgot  his  former  as- 
sociates in  the  shops  even  after  taking  up 
executive  work. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Demand  Meter.  —  The  Esterline-Angus 
Comoany,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  has  recently 
developed  a  graphic  kilowatt-ampere  de- 
mand meter. 

Panels. — The  Automatic  Electrical  De- 
vices Company,  120  West  Third  Street, 
Cincinnati,  is  distributing  bulletin  624.  de- 
scribing its  new  "Unipanel"  refinements. 

Electric  Welder. — The  Automatic  E'ec- 
trical  Devices  Company,  120  West  Third 
Street.  Cincinnati,  has  issued  bulletin  623. 
describing  its  automatic  arc  welder. 

Temperature  Regulation.  —  The  Gold  Car 
Heating  &  Lighting  Company,  Bush  Term- 
inal. 220  Thirty-sixth  Street,  Brooklvn,  Is 
distributing  a  new  catalog  on  its  electric 
thermostat  temperature  regulating  systems. 

Portable  Compressors,  "Portable  Air  Serv- 
ice" is  the  title  of  a  four-page  leaflet  dis- 
tributed by  the  Ingersoll-Rand  Drill  Com- 
pany. 11  Broadway.  New  York  City,  de- 
scribing the  different  types  of  "Ingersoll- 
Rand"  portable  compressors. 

Texas  Company,  New  York,  is  issuing  a 
booklet  called  "Lubrication  of  Steam  Tur- 
bines." It  describes  various  lubricating 
methods  and  oiling  systems  besides  dis- 
cussing the  effects  of  heat,  water,  deposits, 
cleaning,  starting  and  oil  coolers  on  the 
effectiveness  of  lubrication. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


HARRY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL,  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 

N  A. BOWERS. Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIER.  Associate  Editor 
G.J.MACMURRAY.Newa  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE.Editorial  Representattre 

L.W.W.MORROW.Speclal  Editorial  Representatiye 


C  W. STOCKS,  Associate  Editor 


New  York,  Saturday,  September  17,  1921 


Volume  58 


Number  12 


Jim  Burleson  fly/ 


-R- 


D 


anExamHle    SEP  17  1921 

ANIEL  in  ahe^icjn's  denJi^ij,  an  -.easy  job  compared 
to  that  of  Jnfe^urlesDii.  as'" narrated  by  H.  A. 
Lemmon  in  this  issue.  It  is  a  little  epic  of  how  a  street 
car  conductor,  through  the  power  of  his  personality, 
tamed  the  Mexicans  at  the  apex  of  their  anti-gringo 
feeling,  mere'y  as  a  part  of  his  day's  job.  "Human 
nature"  is  probably  the  only  reason  to  assign  for  the 
fact  that  only  death  and  the  funeral  procession  brought 
recognition  of  his  work. 

Unheralded  and  unsung,  it  is  the  Jim  Burlesons  that 
really  can  solve  the  question  of  "public  relations"  in 
the  railway  industry  and  cause  the  expression  to  be 
forgotten  as  a  problem.  In  no  other  public  utility  is 
there  so  much  contact  between  employees  and  the  pub- 
lic, but  this  powerful  agency  is  but  little  used  by  rail- 
way managements.  Publicity  with  personality  is  a 
necessity  and  the  educated  crew  is  the  agency  to  obtain 
it.  Let  us  have  more  recognition  and  use  for  the  Jim 
Burlesons  as  transportation  salesmen. 


The  Silver  Tongue  and 

the  Transportation  Superintendent 

IN  ADDITION  to  the  other  qualities  which  are  neces- 
sary or  desirable  in  a  superintendent  of  •transporta- 
tion, that  of  being  able  to  deliver  a  lucid  public  address 
should  not  be  overlooked.  A  "good  talker"  is  especially 
needed  in  this  position  because  he  has  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  inspiring  the  platform  men  and  supervisors  with 
the  real  spirit  of  service  and  salesmanship.  He  needs 
to  discuss  with  the  men,  sometimes  in  large  numbers, 
the  delicate  question  of  wages  and  working  conditions. 
He  is  the  intermediary  between  the  management  and  the 
largest  group  of  employees.  And  quite  frequently  he 
has  an  opportunity  to  address  organizations  of  citizens, 
which  he  should  be  prepared  and  eager  to  do.  The 
superintendent  has  a  wonderful  opportunity.  If  his 
men  and  the  public  are  convinced  of  his  sincerity  and 
know  that  his  words  do  not  outrun  his  deeds,  he  will 
always  be  a  welcome  speaker  at  gatherings  of  employees 
and  others.    If  he  is  not,  something  is  wrong. 

A  good  talker  is  not  necessarily  one  who  comes  within 
the  class  of  "spellbinder,"  but  is  rather  the  speaker  who 
is  in  sympathy  with  his  audience,  has  a  real  message 
which  this  audience  wants  or  needs,  has  a  reasonable 
command  of  the  English  language  and  is  willing  to 
forget  himself.  The  electric  railway  business  does  not 
otter  many  opportunities  for  the  display  of  elocutionary 
or  oratorical  talent.  However,  here  as  in  all  other  fields 
of  human  endeavor,  the  man  who  can  think  on  his  feet 
and  express  himself  clearly  has  the  advantage  over  the 
diffident  man,  everything  else  being  equal.  It  must  be 
granted  that  everything  else  is  not  always  equal,  be- 
cause the  reserved  man  is  apt  to  be  one  who  thinks 
more  deeply  than  another  who  is  more  loquacious.  This 
does  not  vitiate  the  statement,  however,  that  the  clear 


thinker  who  expresses  himself  forcibly  and  trenchantly 
has  the  advantage  in  getting  his  ideas  over.  Young 
men  who  are  training  for  ultimate  superintendencies 
ought  not  to  neglect  this  side  of  their  education. 


Your  Problems  Are  Not  Unique — 

Come  and  Discuss  Them  with  Others 

IF  THERE  was  ever  a  time  in  the  history  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association  when  inti- 
mate counsel  and  discussion  between  the  various  elec- 
tric railway  men  was  necessary  and  valuable  it  is  at 
present.  Engrossed  perhaps  in  the  detailed  problems 
of  his  individual  property,  each  railway  man  is  apt  to 
regard  his  own  problems  as  unique,  but  fundamentally 
they  are  the  same  as  those  faced  by  other  railway  men, 
and  there  is  no  one  but  can  both  give  and  gain  some- 
thing valuable  at  the  convention  which  is  to  be  held  at 
Atlantic  City. 

Some  have  indicated  that  the  absence  of  exhibits 
would  detract  so  much  from  the  convention  that  their 
attendance  was  doubtful.  But  while  that  particular 
feature  of  the  convention  will  be  missing,  it  will  give 
both  cause  and  opportunity  for  every  one  to  devote  him- 
self more  assiduously  to  gaining  benefit  from  the 
sessions  of  the  parent  and  its  affiliated  associations. 

The  industry  today  is  on  the  mend.  But  this  fact 
does  not  remove  the  other  fact  that  it  is  still  in  a  criti- 
cal condition  and  needs  and  deserves  the  leadership 
which  can  develop  and  grow  as  a  result  of  constructive 
discussion  of  its  problems. 

There  are  at  least  four  major  problems  today.  One 
of  these  is  that  of  the  trackless  transportation,  and 
there  can  be  no  definite  conclusion  reached  at  this  early 
stage  either  on  the  attitude  of  the  public  or  on  the 
technical  or  economic  factors  themselves,  as  compared 
with  railway  transportation.  Another  problem  is  the 
public's  attitude  with  reference  to  municipal  ownership 
or  to  partnership  with  railways.  This  emphasizes  today 
the  question  of  public  relations  and  franchises.  An- 
other problem  is  the  financial  one,  by  which  is  meant 
that  of  adjusting  the  financial  structure  to  meet  both 
the  best  business  practice  and  best  public  policy  of 
today.  This  point  has  already  been  emphasized  by  the 
Federal  Electric  Railways  Commission  and  later  by 
President  Gadsden  in  the  suggestion  of  making  the 
nominal  capitalization  equal  the  valuation.  A  fourth 
and  equally  important  subject  is  the  labor  situation,  not 
only  as  it  has  presented  itself  in  the  past  from  the 
standpoint  of  wages,  agreements,  and  dickering  with 
unions,  but  the  more  constructive  question  of  how  best 
to  place  railway  labor  on  the  plane  of  skilled  labor,  so 
that  trainmen  at  least  will  have  more  of  the  transporta- 
tion business  or  sales  attitude. 

Certainly  with  problems  such  as  these  confronting 
the  industry  there  is  plenty  to  talk  about  at  Atlantic 
City.  The  program  as  arranged  touches  most  of  these 
subjects  as  well  as  others  and  provides  ample  time  for 


426 




Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


discussion.  In  addition,  the  mechanism  of  the  associa- 
tion is  being  better  fitted  to  the  times  and  the  advice 
and  counsel  of  every  man  active  in  the  business  are 
needed  in  this  work.  The  best  constitution  and  associa- 
tion organization  should  result. 

What  is  needed  is  a  rousing  attendance  of  enthu- 
siastic railway  men  at  Atlantic  City  from  Oct.  3  to 
Oct.  6.  If  you  have  not  already  done  so,  make  your 
plans  to  come. 


Seats  per  Passenger 
as  a  Traffic  Unit 

THE  point  was  made  in  an  editorial  in  the  issue  of 
Sept.  3  that  the  expressions  "Revenue  passengers 
per  car-mile,"  "total  passengers  per  car-mile"  and 
"seats  per  passenger  carried,"  if  used  as  indexes  of 
traffic  density,  are  apt  to  be  misleading  when  applied 
to  properties  operating  under  different  conditions. 
Examples  were  given  to  prove  this  contention,  particu- 
larly how  well-filled  cars  during  the  off-peak  hours 
would  have  the  same  effect  on  increasing  the  ratio 
between  passengers  and  car-miles  as  if  these  added 
passengers  came  during  the  rush  hours.  Since  the  pub- 
lication of  that  editorial  a  correspondent  has  expressed 
the  belief  that  some  estimates  made  in  the  editorial 
for  the  average  value  of  the  unit  "seats  per  passenger" 
are  too  low.  The  figure  given  was  from  one  and  one-half 
to  two  seats  per  passenger,  when  taken  on  an  all-day 
operating  basis,  and  0.75  seats  per  passenger  during 
the  rush  hours. 

Unfortunately,  statistics  in  regard  to  this  ratio,  if 
it  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  seat-miles  by  the 
passenger-miles,  are  very  meager.  The  practice  of 
keeping  a  record  of  the  seat-miles  operated,  though 
comparatively  new,  is  now  followed  by  some  electric 
railway  properties,  but  it  is  obvious  that  the  passenger- 
miles  on  a  property  having  a  flat-fare  system  can  be 
obtained  only  by  a  special  traffic  count,  which  of  course 
is  expensive  and  applies  only  to  the  period  of  observa- 
tion. Some  figures  from  traffic  counts  indicate  that 
the  ratio  mentioned  above  has  been  observed,  but  others, 
including  some  quoted  by  the  correspondent,  give  a 
ratio  between  seat-miles  and  passenger-miles  of  from 
2  to  24  for  an  all-day  average,  and  these  are  probably 
in  the  majority. 

Fortunately,  so  far  as  the  practical  application  of 
this  index  to  a  single  property  is  concerned,  a  man- 
ager does  not  have  to  depend  on  "passenger-miles,"  a 
figure  useful  but  difficult  to  obtain.  Instead  of  the 
ratio  between  "seat-miles"  and  "passenger-miles"  he 
can  use  the  ratio  between  "seat-trips"  and  "passenger- 
trips,"  the  former  being  easily  calculated  on  any  prop- 
erty where  "seat-miles"  are  kept  and  the  latter  being 
simply  the  passengers  carried.  The  ratio  thus  obtained 
will  help  a  manager  to  determine  whether  a  company 
is  becoming  more  economical  in  seat  operation  from 
time  to  time.  Obviously  where  "trips"  are  used 
instead  of  miles,  the  comparison  is  upset  if  there  is 
any  material  change  in  the  length  of  the  average  trip. 
For  this  reason  a  comparison  on  this  basis  between  two 
properties  is  of  no  value,  because  the  runs  may  be  much 
longer  on  one  property  than  on  the  other.  But  on 
individual  properties,  where  the  runs  are  of  the  same 
length  or  approximately  so  from  one  year  to  another, 
this  difference  cancels  itself.  The  aim  of  the  manager 
should  be  to  reduce  the  ratio  of  seats  per  passenger 
without  crowding  the  cars. 


Welding  the 
Scrap  Pile 

"TX  TE  DON'T  have  a  scrap  pile  any  more,  we  are 
VV  too  poor  to  buy  anything,  so  we  weld  and  con- 
tinue to  weld  and  use  everything  so  long  as  it  will 
be  good  for  anything."  The  foregoing  is  a  typical 
remark  by  shop  foremen  and  it  reflects  a  creditable 

condition  if  it  results  in  real  saving,  but  

Too  frequently  the  welds  break  next  day  or  next 
week,  too  frequently  damage  to  a  welded  scrap  pile 
occurs  due  to  small  jars,  too  frequently  service  tie- 
ups  occur  which  result  in  bad  schedule  mix-ups  and 
irritated  passengers,  too  frequently  the  labor  and 
material  cost  involved  in  repairing  junk  apparatus  for 
a  few  days'  service  results  in  spending  instead  of 
saving. 

Only  an  adequate  cost-accounting  system  in  street 
railway  shops  and  adequate  service  records  will  de- 
termine when  to  add  to  or  take  from  the  scrap  pile. 
Guesswork  is  out  of  place  in  the  railway  business  and 
repair  operations  should  be  carefully  weighed  on  an 
economic  basis.  Of  course  the  workmen  take  a  kind  of 
pride  in  doing  a  repair  job  that  is  difficult  and  in 
keeping  an  old  cripple  still  in  service,  but  the  item  of 
cost  must  not  be  neglected  or  the  result  will  be  false 
economy.  Accurate  cost  analyses  and  a  good  cost- 
accounting  system  are  the  reliable  methods  to  obtain 
real  savings.  Another  element  in  the  business  is  the 
effect  on  merchandising.  It  does  not  seem  good  business 
to  take  chances  in  service  or  to  leave  decrepit  equipment 
operating  on  the  streets.  There  is  more  to  the  railway 
business  than  merely  economizing  in  production  costs. 
It  pays  to  advertise  and  to  take  no  chances  with  public 
sentiment. 


Machines  Save  Money 
in  the  Shops 

SHOP  labor  used  to  be  cheap — it  isn't  now.  Shop 
machines  used  to  be  designed  for  low-speed  carbon 
tools — they  aren't  now.  "It  is  the  war"  as  usual  that 
caused  the  changes,  but  the  question  is,  how  many 
shops  have  taken  advantage  of  new  knowledge, 
machines  and  tools  to  save  money?  Every  job  takes 
labor,  time  and  money,  and  the  use  of  modern  high- 
speed tool  steels  in  modern  machines  equipped  with 
new  devices  such  as  self-centering  or  magnetic  chucks 
will  save  all  three  elements. 

The  old  machines  in  the  shop  will  not  stand  the 
stresses  resulting  from  the  use  of  high-speed  tool  steels 
and  fast-cutting  speeds.  The  old  machines  and  tools 
formed  the  basis  for  railway  shop  speed  and  practice, 
and  it  may  be  that  even  the  war,  with  its  reaction 
on  shop  work  in  other  industries,  never  caused  a  quiver 
in  many  railway  shops. 

It  might  pay  shop  foremen  to  look  around  in  some  re- 
organized industrial  shops  and  investigate  modern 
practice  and  machinery  to  see  if  the  junking  of  some 
of  the  old  equipment,  tools  and  methods  in  their  shops 
in  favor  of  the  new  would  not  result  in  saving  money, 
time  and  labor  on  every  shop  job.  It  is  up  to  the  fore- 
men to  show  the  railway  executives  how  to  save  money 
in  the  shops  by  taking  advantage  of  present  knowledge 
and  equipment,  because  the  executives,  too  frequently, 
can  see  only  the  requisition  for  the  expenditure  of  the 
initial  money  for  the  machinery.  Some  remarkable 
economies  can  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  modern  equip- 
ment and  railway  foremen  should  keep  posted. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


427 


Testing  Railway  Motor  Detail  Parts 

All  Operations  of  Manufacture  Must  Be  Carefully  Worked  Out  and  Every  Detail  Must  Be  Followed  Closely 

to  Insure  that  All  May  Perform  Correctly  When  They  Are 
Assembled  in  the  Completed  Motor 


Railway  Motor  Engineering 


By  John  S.  Dean 

Department,  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company 


TO  AID  the  shop  in  its  work  and  to  provide  against 
failure  of  motor  detail  parts,  process  specifications 
are  prepared  covering  the  most  important  manu- 
facturing operations  and  these  approved  methods  are 
carefully  followed  throughout  the  factory.  These  speci- 
fications are  the  result  of  experimental  and  research 
work,  field  investigation 
and  study,  and  a  number 
of  years  of  experience. 

In  the  manufacture  of  a 
railway  motor  all  detail 
parts  that  enter  into  its 
construction  are  built  up 
complete  in  the  various 
feeder  sections  of  the  shop, 
and  are  sent  to  the  assem- 
bling department  to  be  put 
together.  This  method  of 
manufacturing  under  con- 
ditions of  high  special- 
ization has  a  number  of 
advantages,  such  as:  (1) 
Experienced  supervision ; 
(2)  skilled  and  trained  la- 
bor; (3)  specially  designed 
tools,    jigs    and  fixtures; 

(4)  maximum  production; 

(5)  minimum  costs;  (6) 
large  output;  (7)  improved 
product. 

On  the  other  hand,  this 
method  of  manufacturing 

demands  that  all  of  these  detail  parts  be  very  accurately 
made  and  carefully  checked  and  tested  in  order  that 
they  can  be  readily  assembled  into  a  completed  motor 
with  the  least  possible  expenditure  of  time  and  labor. 
For  this  reason  all  of  these  parts  before  being  sent 
out  from  the  various  feeder  sections  in  which  they  are 
made  receive  a  very  thorough  inspection  and  test  to 
insure  that  they  measure  up  to  a  certain  predetermined 
fixed  standard  both  mechanically  and  electrically. 

The  mpst  important  tests,  which  will  be  described  in 
detail  later  on,  are  given  in  the  table  on  page  430, 
which  shows  to  what  extent  all  possible  precautions  are 
taken  to  eliminate  defects  and  to  insure  reliable  detail 
parts  in  the  production  of  a  rugged  and  dependable 
railway  motor. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  armature  fans,  which 
are  made  of  malleable  iron  or  cast  steel  and  are  of  com- 
paratively large  diameter,  are  quite  frequently  out  of 
balance.  This  is  due  to  certain  of  the  unmachined 
sections  being  cast  heavier  in  various  parts  of  the  fan. 
To  correct  this  trouble,  which  would  cause  the  finished 
armature  to  be  out  of  balance,  all  fans  after  final 
machining  are  pressed  on  an  arbor  and  given  a  static 
balance  test.  This  balancing  is  done  either  by  chipping 
away  the  heavy  sections  or  by  welding  additional  metal 
to  the  light  sections  of  the  fan. 


IN  THREE  preceding  articles  which  ap- 
peared in  the  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 
JOURNAL,  under  the  titles  "Testing  Metals 
and  Alloys"  (Aug.  16,  1919)  and  "Testing  of 
Insulating  Materials"  (May  21  and  July  16, 
1921),  the  author  described  the  methods  used 
in  selecting  and  testing  various  raw  materials 
that  enter  into  the  make-up  of  the  detail  parts 
of  a  railway  motor.  In  the  building  of  these 
detail  parts  it  is  not  only  essential  to  have  ap- 
proved materials  which  measure  up  to  the  test 
requirements,  but  in  addition  it  is  of  vital  im- 
portance that  the  various  operations  during 
the  process  of  manufacturing  be  carefully 
worked  out  and  followed  in  every  detail  to 
insure  that  each  part  will  measure  up  to  its 
requirements  and  correctly  perform  its  function 
when  assembled  in  the  completed  motor. 


All  shafts  have  the  fits  for  bearings,  spiders  or 
laminations,  and  for  the  pinion,  ground  to  exact  size 
on  a  Norton  motor-driven  grinding  machine.  The 
straight  fits  for  bearings,  spider,  etc.,  are  gaged,  using 
a  micrometer,  while  the  taper  fit  for  the  pinion  is 
checked  by  means  of  a  special  tapered  gage  so  designed 

that  it  can  be  used  without 
removing  the  shaft  from 
the  centers  of  the  grinding 
machine.  This  operation  is 
shown  in  one  of  the  accom- 
panying illustrations.  This 
method  of  machining  and 
testing  these  fits  produces 
a  shaft  with  very  accurate 
and  reliable  fitting  surfaces. 


Laminations  Made  to 
Driving  Fit 

The  armature  lamina- 
tions are  either  built  up 
directly  on  the  shaft  or 
assembled  on  a  spider.  In 
either  case  the  spider  or 
shaft  is  machined  from 
0.002  in.  to  0.004  in.  over- 
size to  secure  a  tight  driv- 
ing fit  of  the  laminations, 
thus  holding  them  securely 
and  preventing  loose  iron 
in  service.  These  lamina- 
tions are  put  in  place  by 
hand  and  forced  down  by  means  of  a  special  hydraulic 
ram.  After  the  end  plate  has  been  driven  on,  the  core 
is  pressed  and  securely  locked  under  a  heavy  tonnage. 
The  tonnage  used  for  this  operation  varies  with  the 
size  of  the  machine.  For  a  25-hp.  motor,  pressures  used 
are  from  approximately  30  to  40  tons.  This  operation 
insures  a  core  which  is  tight  and  free  from  vibration, 
in  service. 

In  the  case  of  an  armature  where  the  laminations  are 
built  up  on  a  spider,  the  shaft  is  pressed  in  the  core 
after  these  laminations  are  assembled,  pressed  and 
clamped  on  the  spider  as  a  unit.  This  operation  is 
done  on  a  150-ton  horizontal  type  hydraulic  press. 
When  a  key  is  used,  the  pressure  required  on  a  40-hp. 
motor  is  from  40  to  50  tons.  On  motors  of  larger  size, 
and  where  the  key  is  omitted  from  the  shaft,  they  are 
put  in  using  pressures  ranging  from  60  to  90  tons. 

The  core  when  completed,  with  shaft  pressed  in,  and 
before  the  commutator  and  the  windings  are  put  in 
place,  is  given  a  static  balance  by  placing  it  on  two 
hardened  steel  parallel  bars.  The  balancing  is  done  by 
pouring  hot  metal  in  the  balancing  pockets  which  are 
opened  up  on  the  light  side  of  the  core.  These  pockets, 
which  are  distributed  around  under  the  surface  of  the 
commutator  end  coil  support,  are  opened  up  for  use  by 
drilling  holes  into  them.    This  test  is  necessary  to 


428 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


Accurate 
Machining 
and  Testing  of 
Detail 
Motor  Parts 
Are  Necessary 

to  Insure 
Efficient  Service 
to  the  User 


No.  1 — Grinding  and  Gaging  Pinion  Fits  on  Armature  Shafts. 

No.  2— Pressing  Assembled  Laminations  on  Cores,  Using  100- 
Ton  Hydraulic  Press. 

No.  3 — Pressing  and  Tightening  Commutators,  Using  100-Ton 
Hydraulic  Press. 


No.  4 — Short-Circuit  Test  on  Commutators. 

No.  5 — Pressing  Shafts  in  Armature  Cores,  Using  150-Ton  Hy- 
draulic Press. 

No.  6 — Static  Balancing  of  Assembled  Armature  Cores  Prevents 
Failures  in  Service. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


429 


secure  a  well-balanced  armature  and  to  prevent  pound- 
ing and  vibration  of  the  armature  which  rapidly  dete- 
riorates the  bearings  of  a  motor. 

Commutator  Building  Tests  Are  Very  Important 

In  the  construction  of  the  commutator,  great  care  is 
taken  to  select  clean-cut  segments  free  from  sharp 
edges  and  fins.  These  segments  after  being  bright 
dipped  are  assembled  in  special  clamps  and  the  V's  are 
machined,  after  which  they  are  given  a  500-volt  test 
between  bars  for  short  circuits.  In  all  machining 
operations  it  is  essential  to  use  tools  which  are  cor- 
rectly ground  to  prevent  the  dragging  over  of  the 
copper  and  the  short  circuiting  of  adjacent  segments. 
The  built-up  segments  are  assembled  on  the  bushing, 
and  during  this  operation  it  is  very  important  to  keep 
all  parts  clean  and  free  from  moisture  in  order  to 
prevent  bars  from  short  circuiting.  To  check  for 
defects  that  may  develop  during  the  building  process 
the  commutator  again  receives  a  short  circuit  test  of 
500  volts  alternating  current  momentarily  between  all 


No.  7 — Temperature  Test  on  Commutators  Before  Pressing 
and  Tightening 


adjacent  individual  bars.  After  this  test  a  ground  test 
of  5,000  volts  is  applied  momentarily. 

If  the  commutator  passes  the  above  tests  satisfac- 
torily, it  is  put  in  an  oven  and  baked  for  several  hours 
at  a  maximum  temperature  of  150  deg.  C.  The  outfit 
used  for  this  purpose  consists  of  an  electrically  heated 
oven  with  automatic  thermostatic  control  so  adjusted 
as  not  to  exceed  the  required  maximum  temperature. 
The  commutators  when  removed  from  this  oven  prior 
to  being  pressed  are  checked  by  means  of  a  pyrometer 
to  make  sure  that  all  parts  are  at  the  correct  tempera- 
ture for  pressing.  It  is  then  placed  in  a  100-ton  press 
and  while  under  pressure  (ranging  from  20  to  25  tons 
for  a  40-hp.  motor)  the  clamping  ring  is  drawn  up 
tight.  This  procedure  makes  the  built-up  mica  flexible 
and  permits  of  all  metal  parts  being  drawn  up  in  place 
securely,  thus  producing  a  compact  commutator  that 
will  not  allow  shifting  of  the  segments  in  service. 
After  pressing,  the  completed  commutator  receives  a 
final  test  of  300  volts  alternating  current  between  bars 
and  a  final  ground  test  of  5,000  volts. 

Mounting  Commutators  on  Shaft 

When  the  commutators  are  received  in  the  winding 
department  they  have  the  sharp  corners  of  the  slots  in 
the  necks  carefully  rounded  so  as  to  eliminate  all  sharp 


edges  that  might  tend  to  start  breaks  in  the  armature 
windings  directly  back  of  the  commutator  neck.  The 
mica  at  the  front  "V"  is  protected  with  insulating 
material  which  receives  a  special  treatment  of  varnish 
before  baking.  The  commutators  are  then  placed  on  the 
assembled  core  which  is  mounted  in  a  60-ton  hydraulic 
press  and  forced  in  place,  using  a  pressure  of  from  10 
to  12  tons  in  the  case  of  a  40-hp.  motor. 

After  being  wound  in  metal-reinforced  molds  and 
Dartly  insulated  the  armature  coils  are  heated  in  an 
oven  and  while  hot  pressed  to  a  definite  size.  They 
are  then  taped,  dipped  in  a  high-grade  insulating  var- 
nish and  baked.  The  dipping  and  baking  are  repeated, 
after  which  insulating  cells  are  placed  on  the  straight 
parts  of  the  coil  and  taped.  The  complete  insulated 
coils  are  then  dipped  and  baked  twice.  The  finished 
coils  are  checked  and  tested  between  individual  con- 
ductors for  short  circuits  at  600  volts  alternating  cur- 
rent momentarily,  using  a  bench  type  testing  box. 

The  assembled  core  of  the  armature,  after  being 
insulated  at  the  front  and  rear  coil  supports  and  before 


No.  8 — Testing  Partly-Wound  Armatures  for  Grounds  with 
Portable  Testing  Box 

starting  to  wind,  has  its  commutator  tested  for  grounds 
using  4,800  volts  alternating  current.  The  core  is  then 
laid  off  by  the  demonstrator  and  the  location  of  the 
starting  coil  in  the  slots  and  the  location  of  the  start- 
ing leads  on  the  commutator  are  carefully  marked  for 
the  winder's  information.  The  coils  are  then  placed 
in  the  slots  and  the  bottom  leads  are  connected  to  the 
commutator,  after  which  the  windings  and  commutator 
are  again  tested  for  grounds  at  4,800  volts  alternating 
current  using  a  portable  testing  box.  If  the  armature 
passes  the  above  test  it  is  turned  over  to  the  connecting 
department  where  the  windings  are  carefully  lighted 
out,  using  a  110-volt  lighting  out  line.  All  leads  are 
checked  and  the  unconnected  top  leads  are  arranged 
in  logical  order  for  connecting.  When  this  test  is  com- 
pleted the  top  leads  are  connected  in  the  commutator 
in  the  order  as  arranged  during  the  lighting  out  test, 
which  should  give  the  correct  winding  connections.  As 
a  final  check  on  these  connections  the  completely  wound 
and  connected  armature  is  tested  for  short  circuits, 
open  circuits  and  cross  connections,  using  a  portable 
armature  testing  yoke  such  as  shown  in  one  of  the 
illustrations.  The  armature  is  then  given  a  ground  test 
at  4,400  volts  alternating  current,  after  which  it  is 
ready  to  be  soldered  in  the  machine  which  is  shown 
on  page  430. 


430 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


Armature  Connections  and  Commutators  Receive  Attention 
No.  9 — Lighting  Out  Armature  Connections. 

No.  10— Machine  for  Soldering  Armatures — Test  Soldering  Pot 
Equipped  with  Automatic  Temperature  Control. 

No.  11 — Using  a  Portable  Testing  Box  to  Test  a  Complete 
Armature  for  Grounds. 

No.  12 — Testing  a  Complete  Armature  for  Short  Circuits. 


After  the  armature  has  been  wound  and  all  leads 
driven  into  the  commutator  neck,  these  connections  are 
brushed  with  a  non-acid  flux  made  from  alcohol  and 
rosin  and  the  armature  is  placed  in  a  vertical  position 
commutator  end  down  in  the  soldering  pot,  and  the  hot 
metal  is  forced  to  flow  around  these  connections  by 
forcing  two  plungers  down  into  the  auxiliary  pots  con- 
taining the  molten  solder.  It  requires  about  two 
minutes'  contact  to  make  a  good  soldered  job  of  all  con- 
nections, after  which  the  plungers  are  raised  and  the 
solder  flows  back  into  the  pots.  This  method  of  solder- 
ing makes  a  thorough  job  and  prevents  any  excess 
solder  getting  back  of  the  commutator  neck,  which 
would  very  likely  cause  a  short  circuit  in  the  windings. 
During  this  operation  the  temperature  of  the  solder  in 
the  pots  is  kept  at  450  deg.  C.  by  means  of  an  automatic 
temperature  controlling  device  attached  to  the  soldering 
pots. 

All  newly-wound  armatures,  after  being  soldered  and 
temporarily  banded,  are  heated  in  an  oven  for  twelve 
hours  at  a  temperature  ranging  from  95  to  105  deg.  C. 
thoroughly  to  dry  out  and  drive  off  all  moisture.  While 
hot  they  are  dipped  in  a  high  grade  of  baking  insulating 
varnish — "Amber  Insulator" — for  about  five  minutes, 
then  allowed  to  drain  for  about  fifteen  minutes, 
after  which  they  are  placed  in  an  oven  equipped  with 
automatic  temperature  control  and  baked  for  fqrty- 
eight  hours  at  a  temperature  ranging  from  95  to  105 
deg.  C.  The  time  of  drying  out  and  baking  varies  with 
the  size  of  the  armature;  the  above  values  apply  to  an 
armature  for  a  40-hp.  motor*..*  Experience  has  shown 
that  this  treatment  greatly  increases  the  life  of  the 
winding  and  adds  to  the  ruggedness  of  the  armature  as 
it  (1)  seals  up  any  insulation  cracked  during  the  wind- 
ing, (2)  keeps  out  the  moisture,  (3)  tightens  the  coils 
in  the  slot,  and  (4)  insures  that  all  winding  material 
has  been  treated. 


TESTS  ON  RAILWAY  MOTOR  DETAIL  PARTS 

Fans. .  .  After  final  machining   Static  balance 

Shafts — Grinding   Gaging  fits 


Core 


I  Com- 
I  muta- 
tor 


[  Clamping  laminations   Tonnage 

■I  Pressing  in  shaft   Tonnage 

(  Assembled  core   Static  balance 

Building  tests  ;  {  g^dr cuit 


Assembly . 


Armature 
Details 


Baking  and  clamping. 


I  Temperature 
\  Tonnage 


,  .    .  /  Short  circuit 

Final  test I  Ground 


Coils  Final  test  ,  '. 

Mounting  commutator  on  shaft  of  spider.  . 


Assem- 
bly 


Winding  and 

connections 


Short  circuit 
Tonnage 

Short  circuit 
.  Grounds 


Winding  and  commutator  Ground 
Connections   Lighting  out 


Commutator  test. 


[  Winding  and  commutator 


Frame 
Details 


*Final  testing  of  complete  armatures. 


Brushholder. 


Short  circuit 
Open  circuit 
.  Ground 

Soldering  pot,  soldering   Temperature 

Dipping  and  baking  Temperature 

Banding  .Tension 

'  Short  circuit 
Open  circuit 
Grounds 
Bar  to  bar 
Gage  carbon 

box 
Spring  ten- 
sion 
Ground 

Brushholder  support  {  Ground t6St 

Bear-     '  Babbitting   Temperature 

mgs    |  pressing  ;n  housing   Tonnage 

,  Housings  and  axle  cap  Leaks  in  oil  wells 

Field  coils  /  Short  circuit 

\  Open  circuit 

|  Dipping  and  baking  assembled  frame   ^Temperature^ 

Final  testing  of  completed  frame   j  Qr^n^  *6"* 

*  These  operations  and  tests  are  not  made  commerc  ially  on  all  machin 


September  17,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


431 


Armatures  after  being  dipped  and  baked  are  heated 
in  an  oven  to  a  temperature  of  90  deg.  C.  and  while  hot 
are  banded  in  a  specially-designed  motor-driven  band- 
ing lathe  fitted  with  an  adjustable  tension  device  to 
regulate  the  pull  on  the  wire  while  banding.  Arma- 
tures for  40-hp.  motors  are  banded  with  a  high-grade 
tinned  steel  piano  wire  No.  14  B  &  S  gage  put  on  at  a 
tension  of  200  lb. 

Final  Test  of  Complete  Armature 

When  permanently  banded,  the  completed  armature 
is  turned  over  to  an  inspector  who  carefully  checks  all 
important  dimensions  and  further  tests  the  windings 
for  short  circuits,  open  circuits,  cross  connections,  etc., 
by  means  of  the  portable  testing  yoke.  If  it  passes  this 
test  it  is  given  a  high-voltage  insulation  test  of  4,000 
volts  to  ground  using  a  portable  testing  box.  The  com- 
mutator is  then  undercut  and  the  windings  are  given  a 
heavy  coat  of  a  good  grade  of  protecting  and  insulating 
varnish  applied  by  means  of  an  air  spray  paint  pot, 
after  which  the  armature  is  sent  to  the  assembling 
floor  to  be  placed  in  the  motor  frame. 

In  the  case  of  the  armatures  that  are  shipped  out  as 
spares  where  it  is  not  possible  to  give  them  a  running 
commercial  test,  there  being  no  frames  available,  a  bar 
to  bar  test  is  made.  This  test  measures  the  voltage 
drop  between  adjacent  commutator  bars  and  is  made  to 
check  any  possible  defects  in  the  windings  and  solder- 
ing that  ordinarily  are  detected  during  the  running 
commercial  test. 

Brush  holders  Are  Gaged  Carefully 

After  the  carbon  boxes  of  the  brushholders  are 
machined  they  are  hand  fitted  and  carefully  gaged  with 
allowable  working  limit  of  exact  size  plus  0.002  in.  to 
exact  size  plus  0.004  in.,  which  insures  a  good  snug  fit 
of  the  carbon  in  the  finished  brushholder.  This  is  very 
important  to  insure  carbons  that  will  not  chatter  and 
break  and  that  will  not  develop  rapid  side  wear  in 
service.  The  pressure  fingers  after  being  assembled  in 
place  and  adjusted  are  measured  for  tension  by  means 
of  a  spring  balance  and  are  finally  set  at  a  pressure 
ranging  from  5  to  7  lb.  per  carbon.  After  being 
insulated  and  finally  completed  the  brushholders  are 
delivered  to  the  inspection  table,  where  they  are  again 
carefully  gaged  and  checked  in  special  clamping  blocks 
to  see  that  the  distance  from  the  center  line  of  the 
supporting  pin  to  the  center  line  of  the  box  is 
accurate,  thus  insuring  correct  neutral  setting  when  the 
brushholder  is  clamped  in  the  motor  frame.  The  final 
test  consists  of  a  5,000-volt  ground  test. 

Separate  brushholder  supports  with  insulated  studs 
are  used  in  connection  with  the  brushholder  construc- 
tions of  certain  larger  type  motors.  When  assembled 
these  are  given  a  pulling  test  of  3  tons.  This  is  essen- 
tia] to  eliminate  all  defective  and  poor-fitting  insulating 
tubes.  This  test  is  made  on  a  specially  designed 
machine  fitted  with  a  set  of  high  multiplying  power 
compound  levers.  The  test  insures  the  use  of  mechan- 
ically strong  supports  that  will  withstand  the  severe 
vibration  and  shocks  to  which  they  are  subjected  in 
service.  After  these  supports  have  passed  the  mechan- 
ical test  they  are  given  a  high  voltage  ground  test  of 
5,000  volts  similar  to  that  applied  to  the  complete  brush- 
holder. 

The  armature  and  axle  bearings  are  made  either  of 
malleable  iron  or  a  high  grade  of  bronze  alloy,  depend- 
ing upon  the  type  of  motor  and  size  of  axles.   They  are 


Testing  Brushholders  and  Eliminating  Leaky  Housings 
No.  13 — Portable  Testing  Box  Used  for  High-Voltage  Insulation 

Test  on  Brushholders. 

No.  14 — Pulling  Test  on  Insulated  Brushholder  Supports. 

No.  15 — Testing  Oil  Wells  of  Housings  for  Leaks  and  Casting 

Defects. 

No.  16 — Bar  to  Bar  Test  on  a  Complete  Armature. 


432 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


No.  17 


-Pyrometer  and  Automatic  Temperature  Control  for  Babbitting  Parts.    No.  18 — Pressing  Bearings  in  Housings. 
Using  50-Ton  Hydraulic  Press.    No.  19 — Testing  Field  Coils  for  Short  Circuits 


accurately  machined  and  carefully  gaged  to  secure 
interchangeability  of  all  parts.  The  babbitting  or  tin- 
ning of  all  bearings  is  done  by  expert  workmen  who 
have  been  carefully  trained  and  are  skilled  in  this  kind 
of  work.  The  bearing  metal  used  is  a  carefully- 
selected  high-grade  babbitt  prepared  in  the  alloy  depart- 
ment under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  metallurgist  of 
the  research  department,  which  guarantees  a  uniform 
reliable  bearing  metal.  During  the  process  of  babbitt- 
ing the  alloy  is  heated  in  pots  that  are  fitted  with  auto- 
matic temperature  control  which  holds  the  temperature 
of  the  molten  metal  within  certain  predetermined  limits 
of  462  deg.  to  480  deg.  C.  This  has  been  found  to  give 
the  most  satisfactory  results  in  connection  with  this 
work.  After  babbitting,  some  of  the  common  sizes  of 
armature  bearings  are  broached,  which  gives  a  compact 
and  smooth  bearing  surface. 

All  castings  for  housings  are  given  a  test  to  elim- 
inate leaky  oil  wells.  Each  individual  casting  has  car- 
bon oil  poured  into  its  oil  well  and  this  is  allowed  to 
stand  for  live  minutes  to  test  for  cracks  and  defects 
in  the  casting.  All  castings  that  show  signs  of  leaking 
oil  are  discarded.  This  test  is  important  and  guarantees 
the  use  of  castings  that  will  not  allow  the  oil  to  leak  out 
through  the  casting  instead  of  lubricating  the  bearings. 
This  precaution  reduces  one  of  the  possibilities  of  hot 
bearings  due  to  insufficient  oil.  After  this  test  the 
castings  are  boiled  in  a  concentrated  solution  of  lye  in 
order  to  clean  off  all  the  core  and  molding  sand.  This 
operation  is  found  necessary  in  order  to  get  rid  of  all 
the  sand  and  grit  which  might  otherwise  be  carried  by 
the  oil  to  the  journals  and  damage  the  bearings.  As  a 
further  precaution  against  loose  particles  of  sand,  the 
inside  of  the  oil  wells  of  all  other  motor  castings  is 
painted  while  hot  with  a  special  grade  of  air-drying 
gray  enamel. 

The  field  coils  after  being  wound  are  insulated  and 
impregnated  in  order  to  improve  their  moisture  repel- 
ling, heat  resisting  and  insulating  properties.  They 
are  carefully  gaged  and  checked  to  keep  them  within 
predetermined  maximum  limiting  dimensions  so  they 
will  have  a  snug  fit  on  the  poles  and  can  be  readily 
assembled  in  the  motor  frame  with  sufficient  clearance 
to  allow  for  proper  ventilation.  All  coils  are  given  a 
short  circuit  test  which  eliminates  all  coils  that  have 
had  the  insulation  damaged  during  the  process  of 
manufacture.  They  are  also  tested  for  open  circuits,  on 
the  same  test  set  used  in  making  the  short  circuit  test, 
by  short  circuiting  the  leads  or  terminals  of  the 
individual  coils. 

To  meet  certain  requirements  of  operation  under 
severe  weather  conditions,  some  types  of  motor  frames, 


after  coils  are  assembled  in  place  with  connections 
made,  have  the  entire  frame  dipped  in  a  good  grade  of 
insulating  varnish  and  are  then  baked.  This  treatment 
is  similar  to  the  method  outlined  in  connection  with  the 
dipping  and  baking  of  armatures. 

Under  certain  conditions  some  assembled  frames  of 
railway  motors  are  connected  up  to  a  testing  circuit  and 
direct  current  is  passed  through  all  of  the  field  coils 
and  their  polarity  checked  by  means  of  a  compass 
needle  or  a  polarity  indicator  made  up  from  a  small 
piece  of  steel  banding  wire  magnetized  and  suspended 
at  its  center  by  a  thin  thread.  This  test  is  made  to 
check  the  assembly  of  coils  on  the  poles  and  the  wiring 
around  frame  connections  to  insure  against  reversed 
coil  windings. 

The  field  coils  and  wiring  around  fields  are  given_a>. 
high-voltage  insulation  test  at  4,000  volts,  alternating 
current  to  ground,  momentarily.  This  test  is  made  by 
using  a  portable  testing  box.  The  frame  is  then  sent 
to  the  motor  building  floor,  where  the  armature  and 
bearing  housing  are  assembled  in  place,  after  which  the 
completed  motor  is  sent  to  the  testing  department  for 
its  commercial  or  engineering  tests. 


Train  Stop  Part  of  Signaling  System 

THE  train  stop  on  the  Metropolitan  Railway  of 
London  is  a  part  of  the  signaling  apparatus  which 
in  the  event  of  the  signal  being  passed  when  at  danger 
puts  on  the  brakes  and  shuts  off  the  power  to  bring  the 
train  to  a  stop.  The  brakes  are  applied  by  a  vertical 
lever,  known  as  the  trigger  and  fixed  on  the  right  side 
of  the  leading  locomotive  coming  in  contact  with  the 
train  stop  arm,  which  mechanically  opens  a  valve  in 
the  train  pipe.  The  opening  of  this  valve  allows  the 
air  for  holding  off  the  brakes  to  escape,  the  brakes 
throughout  the  train  being  immediately  applied,  the 
power  cut  off  and  the  train  stopped.  After  this  applica- 
tion and  before  the  brakes  can  be  released  the  motor- 
man  must  get  down  on  the  line  and  reset  the  trigger 
on  the  train  to  the  vertical  position. 

The  train  stop  arm,  4  in.  wide  where  it  engages  the 
trigger,  is  fixed  on  the  right  side  of  the  line  opposite 
the  signal,  and  when  in  the  "stop"  position  is  3  in. 
above  the  rail  level,  the  center  of  the  arm  being  8  in. 
from  the  running  edge  of  the  rail.  On  a  train  leaving 
a  block  section  the  signal  in  the  rear  comes  to  the  "off" 
position  and  the  train  stop  arm,  operated  by  a  motor 
fixed  in  a  cast  iron  box  and  bolted  to  the  ties,  moves  to 
its  off  position,  the  arm  then  being  below  the  top  of 
the  rail,  unable  to  engage  the  trigger  on  the  train 
when  passing. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


433 


Control  Trailers  Used  in  Washington 

In  Order  to  Use  Its  Two-Car  Train  Service  on  Stub-End  Lines  the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric 
Company  Has  Equipped  Some  of  the  Remodeled  Trailers  with 
Control  Equipment  and  Necessary  Switches 


SINCE  the  publication  of  the  article  in  the  ELECTRIC 
Railway  Journal  for  January  22,  1921,  describing 
the  trailers  remodeled  from  open  Narragansett  cars 
by  the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Company  two  of 
these  trailers  have  been  equipped  with  control  equip- 
ment, using  straight  "K"  type  control.  Further  details 
regarding  the  mounting  of  door  engines  and  door  and 
step  control  are  now  available.  The  provisions  made 
for  operating  the  two-car  trains  from  the  trailers  were 
found  necessary  in  order  to  adapt  the  two-car  train  oper- 
ation to  stub-end  lines  where  it  was  necessary  to  oper- 
ate from  either  end  of  the  train.  This  was  accomplished 
by  using  the  remote  control  reverser  and  line  switches 
on  the  motor  car  and  by  equipping  the  trailer  with  a 
separate  resistance  and  one  type  K-66  controller  with 
additional  necessary  circuits.  Two  additional  jumpers, 
making  four  in  all,  are  used  between  the  cars.  These 
are  connected  from  receptacles  mounted  on  the  dash. 
Two  are  used  with  the  control,  door  signal  lights,  buzzer 
and  motorman's  bell  signal  wire  and  two  with  the  main 
motor  wires  and  negative  bus  lines.  The  positive  bus 
lines  are  carried  one  on  each  side  of  the  coupler.  The 
coupler  is  of  the  Tomlinson  air-connecting  type.  On 
account  of  the  electric  switches  used  it  is  necessary  to 
carry  a  current-collecting  plow  on  both  cars  and  always 
to  operate  from  the  plow  on  the  leading  car. 

The  leads  from  each  plow  are  brought  to  a  double- 
pole,  double-throw  changeover  switch  mounted  in  the 
vestibule  of  the  motor  car,  and  from  this  switch  the 
current  is  fed  into  the  two  bus  lines.  An  accompany- 
ing illustration  shows  this  switch.     The  use  of  this 


switch  was  necessary  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  two 
plows  being  connected  so  as  to  short  circuit  the  line. 
To  make  sure  that  the  plow  on  the  leading  car  will  be 
used  the  ratchet  switch  wires  from  each  controller  are 
brought  to  two  contacts  on  this  switch.  The  connection 
between  these  wires  is  made  when  the  switch  is  thrown 
in  either  direction,  thus  interlocking  the  controller  on 
the  leading  car  with  the  plow  on  that  car.  In  order  to 
eliminate  a  "push-in"  if  one  plow  is  disabled,  the  con- 
troller on  the  end  of  the  motor  car  adjacent  to  the  trailer 
is  arranged  to  operate  from  either  plow.  An  accom- 
panying illustration  shows  the  arrangement  of  the 
jumper  leads,  together  with  the  couplers  and  connections 
between  cars. 

Some  Details  of  Door  and  Step  Control 

As  stated  in  the  previous  article  regarding  these  cars, 
they  are  equipped  with  pneumatic  folding  doors  and 
folding  steps,  which  are  of  an  improved  type  furnished 
by  the  National  Pneumatic  Company.  The  doors  and 
steps  are  operated  by  a  G.M.  2S-in.  x  41-in.  door  engine 
placed  in  a  pocket  over  the  door.  The  valve  for  operat- 
ing the  engine  to  open  or  close  the  doors  and  steps  is 
located  directly  on  the  engine,  which  insures  a  minimum 
consumption  of  air.  As  the  conductor  is  stationed  in 
the  center  of  the  bulkhead  opening  on  the  car  floor 
proper  above  the  platform  level  a  pedestal  control  stand 
is  used.  The  operation  of  the  valve  on  the  door  engine 
is  effected  by  a  small  handle  at  the  conductor's  station 
through  a  series  of  shafts,  levers  and  rods. 

By  placing  the  door  engine  in  the  pocket  above  the 


At  Left,  View  of  Arrangement  of  Jumpers  and  Bus  Lines  Between  Motor  and  Trail  Cars  ;  At  Right,  Double 
Pole  Changeover  Switch  Used  for  Connecting  Leads  from  Plow 


434 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


doors  on  a  i-in.  x  5-in.  steel  plate  which  continues  to 
both  door  shafts  a  more  substantial  construction  is 
obtained.  The  door  shafts  pass  through  this  plate  with 
their  bearings  riveted  to  it.  The  seats  of  the  engines  in 
turn  are  bolted  through  the  plate  and  door  header.  The 
door  shafts  are  operated  from  the  engine  by  connecting 
rods  through  adjustable  levers  on  the  top  of  the  door 
shafts  in  the  pocket.  The  steps  are  operated  from  the 
bottom  of  the  door  shafts  through  a  slide  bar  type  con- 
nection. 

The  great  advantage  of  this  construction  is  that  the 
engine  and  the  door  shafts  are  tied  together  as  one 
mechanical  unit.  A  diagram  of  this  construction  is 
shown  in  an  accompanying  illustration.  Other  advan- 
tages are  the  accessibility  of  the  engine  and  connections 
for  inspection,  adjustment  and  oiling,  the  fact  that  these 
parts  are  practically  inclosed  in  a  dirt  and  dust  proof 
inclosure  and  the  high  drainage  point  which  eliminates 


Pneumatic  Company's  standard  type  with  combination 
ball  bearings  and  thrust  collar  construction,  which  take 
both  the  side  and  end  thrust  wear. 

The  steps  are  of  the  three-arm  type,  ball  bearing,  with 
adjustable  balance  spring  to  insure  even,  smooth  opera- 
tion both  opening  and  closing.  The  arms  are  mounted 
on  the  shaft  by  which  the  step  is  operated  by  an  adjust- 
able lever  and  connections  through  the  slide  bar  to  the 
door  shaft.  By  using  the  same  ball-bearing  and  thrust- 
collar  construction  as  on  the  door  shafts  a  self -aligning 
step  is  obtained.  Further,  the  steps  may  be  struck  by 
obstructions  on  the  street  and  the  hangers  thrown  out 
of  line  to  a  decided  degree  before  the  step  would  fail  to 
operate  because  of  the  thrust-collar  construction. 

The  cars  are  equipped  with  the  National  Pneumatic 
Company's  motorman's  signal  light  system,  which  gives 
the  motorman  a  light  in  his  cab  when  all  doors  in  the 
train  are  closed  and  constitutes  the  starting  signal.  The 


Door  Engine  Installation  in  Header  Over  Door 


i 


moisture  from  the  engine  valve  and  prevents  freezing 
trouble  in  winter. 

The  air  supply  for  the  engine  is  taken  directly  from  the 
train  line  at  regular  service  pressure.  The  consumption 
of  air  is  about  ^  °^  a  cubic  foot  for  each  complete 
opening  and  closing  cycle.  The  air  is  strained  through 
a  curled  hair  strainer  before  reaching  the  engine  valve 
to  eliminate  particles  of  sand  or  pipe  scale.  The  engine 
has  splash  feed  lubrication,  similar  to  the  automobile 
transmission  principle,  and  will  run  two  years  with  one 
filling,  the  grease  which  works  out  with  the  exhaust  air 
being  returned  to  the  gear  for  further  service. 

The  opening  and  closing  movements  of  the  doors  and 
steps  are  checked  or  cushioned,  thus  preventing  the 
abuse  and  deterioration  due  to  "slamming."  The  regula- 
tion of  this  "cushioning"  feature  is  accessible  only  to 
the  shop  men  by  means  of  proper  tools.  This  is  done  to 
prevent  the  train  crews  from  changing  or  tampering 
with  the  speed  of  the  doors  and  thus  altering  the 
"cushion."  The  speed  of  the  doors  is  predetermined  and 
set  before  the  cars  go  into  service,  which  eliminates 
abusive  use  by  the  train  crews  and  saves  adjustment, 
wear  and  tear  on  door  panels,  glass  breakage  and 
reduces  maintenance  cost  on  all  parts  of  the  doors,  steps 
and    rigging.    The    door    shafts    are    the  National 


door-switch  contact  for  passing  the  signal  light  to  the 
motorman  is  mounted  directly  on  and  mechanically  con- 
nected to  the  engine  to  reduce  the  possibility  of 
mechanical  or  electrical  failure.  In  addition  to  fhis  it  is 
so  arranged  that  should  there  be  a  mechanical  or  elec- 
trical failure  the  motorman  would  get  the  danger  signal 
and  would  not  start  the  train  until  the  trouble  was 
located. 

In  adopting  the  pneumatically  operated  doors  and 
steps  the  railway  had  in  mind  the  advantages  from  a 
fare  collection  standpoint,  there  being  no  physical  effort 
necessary  on  the  conductor's  part,  so  that  he  is  more 
physically  and  mentally  alert  to  attend  to  his  work.  This 
is  an  especially  important  factor  when  trains  are 
operated  between  single-car  units  on  the  same  tragk. 


Standards  recently  approved  by  the  American  Engi- 
neering Standards  Committee  include  four  copper 
specifications  submitted  by  the  American  Society  for 
Testing  Materials  as  "tentative  American  standard." 
They  are  as  follows:  Soft  or  annealed  copper  wire; 
Lake  copper  wire,  bars,  cakes,  slabs,  billets,  ingots, 
and  ingot  bars;  electrolytic  copper  wire  bars,  cakes, 
slabs,  billets,  ingots,  and  ingot  bars;  and  battery  assay 
of  copper. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


435 


Atlanta  Making  Electrical  Survey 

A  Complete  Miniature  Equivalent  of  the  Electrical  Distribution,  Overhead  and  Track  Circuits  Aids 
Electrical  Department  of  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company  in  Its  Study  to  Revamp 
Its  Distribution  System  and  Relocate  Substations 


IN  ORDER  to  get  a  real  test  of  various  proposed 
schemes  for  revamping  its  distribution  and  over- 
head system  and  for  relocating  its  entire  group  of 
substations,  the  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  has  constructed  a  complete  miniature  of 
the  electrical  system  of  the  At.anta  railway  property. 
The  two  accompanying  illustrations  show, 
first,  a  complete  view  of  the  entire  miniature 
layout  and,  second,  a  close-up  view  of  the 
central  portion  of  the  city,  which  will  indicate 
some  of  the  details  of  construction  of  this 
miniature  system. 

The  present  arrangement  in  Atlanta  is,  as 
noted,  that  there  are  two  main  stations 
located  rather  close  to  the  center  of  the  city, 
which  is,  of  course,  the  main  or  practical  load 
center  of  the  railway  system.  These  two 
stations  are  fed  with  energy  from  incoming 
high-tension  transmission  lines  from  the  com- 
pany's state-wide  distribution  system  con- 
nected with  its  water  power  and  steam  gene- 
rating stations.  As  Atlanta  has  grown  dur- 
ing the  past  few  years,  it  has  necessitated 
sending  more  and  more  of  this  electrical 
energy,  after  transformation  into  direct  cur- 
rent, to  the  outlying  portions  of  the  city  to 
take  care  of  the  rapidly  increasing  railway 
load.  It  appeared  to  the  electrical  department 
that  probably  it  would  be  most  economical, 
with  existing  apparatus  and  information 
available,  to  locate  the  substations  nearer  the 
outer  edge  of  the  city,  so  that  the  electrical 
energy  would  not  have  to  be  transmitted  clear 
to  the  center  as  alternating  current  and 
redistributed,  practically  back  over  the  same 
course,  to  the  outlying  portions. 

It  appeared  that  possibly  a  belt,  or  600-volt 
bus,  with  a  radius  of  a  mile  or  more,  perhaps, 
should  be  installed  with  substations  located  at 
strategic  points  along  this  circular  bus. 
Energy  could  be  delivered  to  these  sub- 
stations and  after  transformation  distributed 
both  in  and  out  from  this  circular  bus,  thus  making 
probably  the  most  efficient  combined  transmission  and 
distribution  system.  Another  advantage  of  a  scheme 
such  as  this  would  be  that  almost  the  best  possible 
type  of  network  would  be  created  so  that  if  any  one 
substation,  or  even  two  substations,  went  out  of  com- 
mission, the  rest  could  carry  the  load  most  effectively. 

The  above  conclusions  were  reached  merely  as  a 
result  of  a  preliminary  investigation,  and  it  was 
thought  that  the  quickest  way  to  determine  the  real 
answer  to  the  most  economical  location  of  substations 
and  the  most  economical  use  of  copper  in  the  distribu- 
tion and  overhead  system  would  be  to  make  actual 
experiments  on  the  system.  This  would  have  involved 
an  impossible  cost  and  so  the  idea  was  adopted  of 
building  a  complete  miniature. 

A  map  of  Atlanta  was  laid  out  on  a  vertical  board 
some  8  ft.  or  9  ft.  high  and  12  ft.  or  14  ft.  long  or 


wide.  On  this  map  the  system  was  constructed  as 
follows :  For  every  single  track,  that  is,  every  pair 
of  rails,  a  wire  was  laid  which  had  exactly  the  same 
resistance  per  unit  of  track  as  represented  on  the  map 
as  did  the  actual  track  between  the  same  two  points 
on  the  system,  so  far  as  could  be  determined,  taking 


Central  Portion  of  Atlanta  Miniature  System 

into  consideration  the  earth  resistance  also.  Thus, 
single-tracked  streets  carry  one  wire  and  double- 
tracked  streets  two  wires.  The  overhead  was  con- 
structed on  small  poles  or  pins  representing  poles,  and 
each  overhead  contact  trolley  is  represented  in  the 
miniature  by  a  small  wire  of  exactly  the  same  resist- 
ance between  any  two  points  on  the  map  as  between  the 
two  corresponding  points  on  the  real  system.  Likewise, 
the  feeder  system  is  reproduced  on  the  poles,  all  taps 
being  reproduced  exactly  as  they  exist  on  the  actual 
property.  Substations  are  represented  by  large  blocks, 
as  indicated  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  To  rep- 
resent the  loads,  for  each  of  the  various  types  of  cars 
in  use  at  Atlanta  a  small  resistance  unit  has  been 
made  up,  so  that  when  placed  by  clips  between  the 
trol'ey  wire  and  track,  its  resistance  is  such  that  it 
will  draw  1/100  of  full-load  current  when  6  volts  is 
applied  across  the  trolley  and  track. 


436 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


A  large  storage  battery  constitutes  the  power  plant 
for  providing  energy.  This  is  a  6-volt  battery,  1/100 
of  the  voltage  used  in  service  in  Atlanta.  By  means 
of  the  plug  board  at  the  left  of  the  miniature  map, 
this  6-volt  battery  can  be  connected  to  any  one  or 
any  number  of  various  points  which  may  be  chosen  as 
distribution  centers  or  locations  of  possible  future 
stations.  From  this  plug  board  there  are  semi-per- 
manent connections  to  the  various  possible  places  on 
the  system  that  are  being  considered  as  substation 
sites.  Voltmeters  and  ammeters  and  millivoltmeters 
are  available  with  accurately  calibrated  leads,  to  meas- 


chosen  as  possible  substation  sites,  energy  applied  there 
with  the  resulting  distribution  characteristics  noted. 
Other  substation  sites  are  chosen,  ring  buses  at  600 
volts  can  be  installed,  the  distribution  system  entirely 
revamped  in  the  miniature  and  the  result  accurately 
noted.  The  load  drawn  from  various  substations  at 
various  assumed  positions  is  also  studied,  so  that  it  will 
be  possible  to  determine  whether  one-unit  or  two-unit 
or  three-unit  substations  are  needed  at  certain  points. 
Anticipating  results  somewhat,  the  electrical  department 
feels  that  the  survey  may  show  the  economical  advan- 
tage of  applying  automatic  substations  at  several  points 


Complete  Atlanta  Railway  System  Constructed  in  Miniature  for  Test  Purposes 


ure  the  line  voltage  at  various  points,  the  current  in 
various  feeders,  and  the  line  drops  between  various 
points  on  the  system  respectively. 

A  large  blueprint  hanging  on  an  adjacent  wall  has 
plotted  on  it  the  several  distributions  of  cars  which  it 
is  desired  to  study.  For  instance,  there  is  on  this 
blueprint,  in  symbols,  the  location  of  each  car  on  the 
system  at  the  maximum  peak  of  the  system.  Other 
distributions  of  cars  may  also  be  indicated  on  this 
blueprint.  When  it  is  desired  to  study  any  particular 
load  on  the  miniature,  the  various  resistances  repre- 
senting street  car  .  loads  are  placed  on  this  miniature 
map  in  the  position  indicated  on  the  blueprint  of  the 
system  and  there  is  reproduced  then  the  instantaneous 
load  representing  some  certain  average  time. 

And  so  studies  are  being  made.    Different  points  are 


on  such  a  ring  bus  as  being  the  most  economical  sub- 
station scheme  for  the  system.  This,  of  course,  is 
only  a  prediction. 

The  map  is  made  up  on  a  scale  of  200  ft.  to  the 
inch.  Voltage  and  current  values  are  1/100  of  actual 
values,  as  indicated.  The  peak  load  on  the  miniature 
is  something  over  600  volt-amperes,  corresponding  to 
a  6,000-kw.  peak  load  on  the  system  in  reality. 

This  whole  installation  has  been  designed  and  con- 
structed under  the  direction  of  H.  L.  Wills,  the  elec- 
trical engineer  of  the  Georgia  Railway  &  Power 
Company.  The  results  of  the  actual  study  are  not  avail- 
able as  yet,  as  the  study  has  not  been  completed,  but 
they  will  doubtless  prove  interesting  when  they  are 
available  as  indicating  the  value  of  such  a  laboratory 
scheme  of  making  surveys  of  this  sort. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


437 


Reconstructed  Car  Shops  in  Winnipeg 


Repair  Shops  Rebuilt  in  Winnipeg 

A  Disastrous  Fire  Last  Year  Destroyed  the  Shops  and  Car- 
houses  of  the  Winnipeg  (Canada)  Electric  Railway — 
These  Have  Been  Rebuilt  and  Greatly  Improved 

By  W.  N.  Smith 

Consulting  Engineer  Winnipeg  Electric  Railway 

THE  carhouses  of  the  Winnipeg  (Canada)  Electric 
Railway,  at  Main  Street  and  Assiniboine  Avenue, 
in  Winnipeg,  were  destroyed  by  fire  on  April  7,  1920. 
They  had  been  constructed  in  1901  with  brick  walls 
and  roof  of  3-in.  T.  &  G.  boards  on  steel  beams, 
with  tar  and  gravel  roofing  and  flat  glass  skylights  over 
the  two  center  bays.  There  was  a  21-in.  fire  wall 
between  the  carhouse  and  machine  shops  in  the  rear 
with  three  through  repair  tracks,  two  of  which  had  pits 
underneath.  The  openings  in  the  fire  wall  were  pro- 
tected by  Underwriters'  tin-clad  fire  doors  and  these 
were  closed  by  the  men  on  duty  before  the  fire  reached 
the  west  end  of  the  carhouses.  These  fire  doors, 
although  so  badly  charred  that  they  had  to  be  renewed, 
prevented  the  fire  breaking  through  to  the  machine  shop. 

The  fire  wall  and  the  brick  wall  on  the  south  side 
between  the  carhouse  and  storerooms  were  severely 
tested  by  the  intense  heat  of  the  fire  and  the  brick 
"spalled"  on  the  face,  but  these  walls  and  the  repair  pit 
walls  were  found  to  be  sufficiently  strong  to  be  used 
again  in  the  reconstruction.  The  walls  on  the  Main 
Street  and  Assiniboine  Avenue  elevations  were,  how- 
ever, pulled  down. 

It  was  decided  to  use  reinforced  concrete  with  brick 
walls  for  the  reconstruction.  On  the  Assiniboine  Ave- 
nue side  8-in.  brick  walls  with  "HB"  reinforcement 
and  13-in.  pilasters  every  12  ft.  were  used  to  lighten 
the  dead  load  and  save  underpinning  the  old  founda- 
tions, which  would  otherwise  have  been  necessary  due 
to  the  increased  dead  load  from  the  concrete  roof  slab. 
In  the  spandrels  between  the  pilasters  "Fenestra"  steel 


sash  were  installed,  double-glazed  with  cast-wired  glass 
on  the  outside  and  16-oz.  sheet  on  the  inside  to  reduce 
the  heat  losses  in  winter.  This  double  glazing  saves 
approximately  40  per  cent  of  the  heat  units  ordinarily 
lost  through  a  single-glazed  window. 

The  track  doors  on  the  Main  Street  front  are  of  wood 
hung  on  heavy  strap  hinges  and  have  wired  glass  panels 
in  the  upper  portion.  There  are  twelve  pairs  of  these 
doors.  The  building  is  132  ft.  wide,  divided  into  four 
33-ft.  bays  with  12-in.  x  12-in.  concrete  columns.  Where 
the  columns  occur  the  hinges  were  built  into  the  con- 
crete, and  intermediate  columns  of  channel  iron  were 
used  to  support  the  remaining  doors. 

Skylight  Construction  Overcomes  Trouble 
From  Condensation 

Considerable  trouble  had  been  experienced  in  the  old 
carhouse  from  condensation  on  the  skylights  and  roof. 
To  overcome  this  the  skylights  were  constructed  of  cast- 
wired  glass  on  galvanized  iron  frames  and  a  flat  ceiling 
light  with  16-oz.  glass  was  built  in  below  the  skylight 
curb  walls  at  the  ceiling  line.  Ventilators  with  regulat- 
ing dampers  were  carried  through  these  ceiling  lights  to 
carry  off  the  moisture  and  smoke  from  the  car  heaters. 
The  concrete  roof  slab  was  insulated  as  follows : 
"Insulite"  (a  compound  wood  pulp  product  of  high 
insulating  value)  was  cemented  with  hot  asphalt 
directly  on  top  of  the  slab  and  on  the  Insulite  a  Barrett 
specification  felt  and  gravel  roof  was  built  up.  This, 
together  with  the  double  glazing  of  the  skylights,  has 
proved  quite  satisfactory  during  the  past  winter. 

The  lighting  consists  of  eleven  rows  of  lights, 
placed  above  the  runways  between  tracks,  the  outlets 
being  at  24-ft.  centers  and  equipped  with  150-watt 
distributing-type  porcelain  enameled  reflectors.  Four 
300-watt  "nitro"  lamps  with  weatherproof  angle  reflec- 
tors are  placed  above  the  entrance  doors  to  light  the 
tracks  outside,  together  with  an  arc  lamp  at  the  street 


Jhh*  ^fe^ 


End  Elevation  op  Reconstructed  Shops 


438 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


A 


1  1! 

i]  a  s 

i     [U  S 

s]     [H  3 

J     [a]  [i 

3]     [a]  is 

—  SS'-O'-—   

Section  op  New  Shop  Building 

line.  The  repair  pits  are  lighted  with  angle  reflectors, 
throwing  the  light  out  horizontally  from  the  side  walls 
and  column  bases  in  the  pit.  All  the  above  lights  are 
controlled  from  a  panelboard  located  beside  the  office  of 
the  carhouse  foreman.  In  addition  to  the  above  there 
are  twenty-one  plug  receptacles  on  the  columns  in  the 
repair  pit  and  above  the  track  level  for  extension-cord 
lamps.  All  wiring  is  run  in  conduit  using  110  volts 
alternating  current. 

The  trolley  wires  are  supported  on  brackets  fastened 
to  a  wooden  trough  which  is  supported  by  the  concrete 
roof  beams.  The  trough  was  painted  on  all  sides  before 
erection  to  preserve  the  timber.  Pieces  of  2-in.  x  12-in. 
plank  4  ft.  long  were  fastened  to  the  concrete  roof 
beams  by  expansion  bolts.  These  pieces  project  18  in. 
on  each  Bide  of  the  beams  and  the  trolley  trough  is 
bolted  to  these  pieces  6  in.  from  the  ends,  so  that  there 
is  no  possibility  of  a  metallic  contact  with  the  reinforc- 
ing rods  in  the  beams  should  a  trolley  pole  jump  the 
wire  when  a  car  is  being  moved  inside  the  barn. 

A  fan  and  steam  coils  located  in  the  machine  shop 
supply  heat  for  both  shop  and  carhouse.  Four 
galvanized-iron  ducts  are  carried  overhead  with  outlets 
every  24  ft.  looking  downward  at  45  deg.  Two  of  these 
are  carried  under  the  roof  beams  on  each  side  bay. 


The  two  center,  bays  are  heated  by 
four  ducts  in  the  repair  pit  slung 
under  the  wooden  sidewalks  that  run 
between  the  tracks.  Regulating 
dampers  are  placed  on  all  the  main 
ducts.  From  3.5  to  5  lb.  of  steam 
pressure  is  carried  on  the  steam 
coils.  The  condensation  is  returned 
to  the  boilers  by  "Cole"  tilting 
return  traps. 

The  concrete  roof  slab  is  44  in.  on 
12-ft.  spans  with  I -in.  round  bars. 
The  beams  have  a  span  of  33  ft.  and 

  are  supported  by  concrete  columns 

12  in.  x  14  in.    Where  available,  the 

I old  footings  were  used,  and  where 
new  footings  were  necessary  these 
are  of  reinforced  concrete.   The  roof 

1 beams  and  slab  were  pitched  so  as 
to  shed  rain  water  to  six  hoppers 
in  the  roof.   Pratt  &  Ross,  architects 
and  engineers,  were  responsible  for 
the  design  and  construction. 
The  company  also  built  a  small  brick  and  stucco 
office  building  facing  Main  Street  immediately  in  front 
of  the  stores.    This  provides  accommodation  .  for  the 
supervisors  and  cashier  on  the  ground  floor  and  for  the 
construction  department  on  the  second  floor.  Ample 
toilet  accommodation  for  motormen  and  conductors  is 
provided  for  in  the  basement. 


Track  Labor  Costs 

Relaying  Operations  Reduced  in  Connecticut  by  the  More 
Extended  Use  of  Machinery,  Better  Organization, 
Smaller  Gangs  and  Other  Improved  Methods 
— Interesting  Statistics  Given 

By  P.  Ney  Wilson 

Formerly  Roadmaster  the  Connecticut  Company.  New  Haven,  Conn.  ; 
Now  Assistant  to  the  Engineer  of  Surface  Roadway, 
Brooklyn.  (N.  T. )  Rapid  Transit  Company 

VHE  Connecticut  Company  has  obtained  some 
interesting  results  by  comparing  the  labor  cost  per 
foot  of  single  track  relaid  in  1914  to  the  same  unit  as 
determined  during  relaying  operations  in  1920.  Before 
this  analysis  was  made  it  was  expected  that  the  unit 
costs  would  rise  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  the  rate 
of  pay  per  hour  for  labor.   In  fact,  we  thought  our  costs 


t: 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


439 


Jacking  Old  Track  Out  of  the  Street — When  Jacked  Out  the  Steam  Shovel  Loads  the  Surplus  Material  Onto  Trucks 


would  be  even  higher  than  this  due  to  the  inefficiency 
of  labor  during  the  war  period.  While  it  was  perfectly 
evident  that  the  men  in  the  trench  were  not  producing 
as  much  work  per  day  in  1920  as  they  were  in  1914,  we 
were  somewhat  surprised  to  find  that  the  use  of  labor- 
saving  machinery,  smaller  gangs,  better  organization 
and  other  improved  methods  more  than  offset  the  indif- 
ference of  the  man  with  the  pick  and  shovel. 

In  1914  no  special  track  machinery  was  used,  all 
trackwork  being  done  by  hand.  The  rate  per  hour  for 
labor  was  15  cents.  In  1920  we  used  a  power  shovel, 
tamping  machines,  arc  welders,  etc.,  paying  labor  50 
cents  per  hour.  For  obvious  reasons  small  gangs  were 
used  and  we  were  in  closer  contact  with  them.  We 
believe  that  a  first-class  track  foreman  can  handle  only 
twenty  men  efficiently,  and  this  belief  was  borne  out  by 
the  results  obtained. 

The  psychological  effect  of  being  close  to  the  men  in 
the  gangs  should  be  considered,  as  surprising  results 
may  be  gained  when  there  is  a  correct  mental  attitude 
in  the  men  in  the  trench.  This  was  only  possible  occa- 
sionally during  the  war  period,  as  the  demand  for  labor 
was  so  great  that  indifferent  workmen  were  the  rule. 
One  exception  to  this  rule  was  called  to  our  attention. 
The  same  gang  rebuilt  a  certain  piece  of  track,  laying 
half  of  it  in  the  fall  and  completing  it  in  the  spring. 

The  cost  for  labor  for  the  first  half  of  the  work  was 
$1.73  per  foot  of  single  track,  whereas  the  cost  of  the 
same  unit  for  the  second  half  of  the  work  was  only 
$1  34.  In  the  second  instance  the  men  were  facing  the 
end  of  the  job  and  were  induced  to  try  to  finish  it  as 
soon  as  possible,  whereas  under  the  first  condition  they 
were  just  beginning  the  work  and  were  making  wartime 
motions  and  receiving  a  day's  pay.  The  following 
figures  give  the  cost  of  labor  per  foot  of  single  track  in 
various  relaying  jobs  during  1914  and  1920: 

COST  OF  LABOR  IN  VARIOUS  JOBS  PER  FOOT  OF  SINGLE  TRACK 

■""  Per  Cent  Increase 

Case  No.  1914  1920  I9200ver  1914 

L     |  $1.19  $1.65   

2  1.07  2.06   

3  1.09  1  61   

4  1.08  1.75   

5  .90     

6  1.09     

7  .79  ■■■■   

Average   $1.03  $1.77  72 

Rate  per  hour   15  .50  233 

NOTE. — Unit  costs  per  foot  in  this  table  do  not  include  paving  charges,  main- 
tenance of  machines,  overhead,  etc.,  but  include  labor  charges  only. 


The  question  naturally  arises  whether  the  1920  work 
was  fairly  comparable  with  that  in  1914.  Most  of  the 
operations  consisted  of  relaying  7-in.  70-lb.  plain  girder 
(high  T)  rail  in  macadam  streets  and  was  carried  on 
by  the  same  foremen  who  held,  throughout  the  period 
covered,  the  same  nucleus  of  a  track-laying  organization. 
An  intimate  study  of  the  conditions  involved  shows  the 
comparison  to  be  as  fair  as  any  comparison  can  be. 
Slightly  different  conditions  were  encountered  on  each 
street  as  compared  with  other  streets,  but  we  considei 
that  the  averages  take  care  of  these  inequalities. 

The  results  are  surprising  and  may  be  a  coincidence. 
However,  the  economies  effected  are  certainly  encourag- 
ing.   

Valtellina  Locomotive  Rheostat 

THE  new  type  of  locomotive  furnished  by  the  West- 
inghouse  company  for  the  Valtellina  electrification, 
which  is  three-phase,  has  a  model  arrangement  for  the 
liquid  resistances  used  to  control  the  induction  motors. 
The  rheostat  consists  of  a  metal  tank  with  conic  ribs 
and  plate  electrodes,  between  which  the  electrolyte — 
a  soda  solution — closes  the  circuit  when  the  solution  i* 
raised  by  compressed  air.  The  valve  controlling  the  air 
is  operated  manually  by  a  lever  in  the  engineer's  cabin, 
but  is  also  controlled  by  a  spring  which  is  actuated  by 
the  moving  element  of  a  wattmeter.  The  current  coil 
of  the  wattmeter  is  in  the  grounded  phase  and  the 
potential  coil  is  between  the  two  overhead  lines.  At 
starting,  the  driver  places  the  lever  in  a  certain  posi- 
tion, thereby  admitting  air  to  the  liquid  rheostat,  which 
causes  it  to  start.  If  the  input  increases  beyond  the 
value  corresponding  to  the  lever  position  the  deflection 
on  the  wattmeter  is  increased  accordingly,  and,  by 
means  of  the  spring,  partly  closes  the  air  valve  and  so 
reduces  the  input  to  the  proper  amount. 

In  this  way  the  locomotive  automatically  takes  a 
constant  input  when  starting,  this  input  being  deter- 
mined by  the  position  of  the  lever.  Pulsations  in  the 
supply  pressure  are  also  compensated  for  in  this  man- 
ner. 

When  a  slow  speed  is  attained  the  liquid  starter  is 
automatically  short-circuited.  The  volume  of  the  soda 
solution  is  about  900  liters  and  the  liquid  is  actively 
circulated  to  assist  cooling  and  so  to  provide  more  uni- 
form resistance  and  less  evaporation. 


440 


electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


Automatic  Train  Registering 

The  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  Has  Installed  Two 
Registering  Instruments  in  the  Chief  Dispatcher's 
Office  to  Show  Time  Trains  Pass  Various 
Points  and  Stations 

By  A.  A.  Roberts 

Assistant  Signal  Engineer  Brooklyn  (N.  Y. ) 
Rapid  Transit  Company 

A NOVEL  and  interesting  system  for  registering  the 
passage  of  trains  has  recently  been  installed  by  the 
signal  department  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany that  provides  the  centi-al  dispatching  office  with 
a  continuous,  graphic  time  record  of  train  movements 
at  certain  critical  locations.  Two  registering  instru- 
ments known  as  "Hedwaygraphs"  are  used.  These 
devices  are  manufactured  by  the  Cleveland  Electrical 
Instrument  Company,  which  adapted  for  the  purpose  one 
of  its  standard  types  of  recording  pyrometers.  An 
accompanying  illustration  shows  the  two  Hedwaygraphs 
mounted  directly  behind  the  chief  dispatcher's  desk  on 
the  top  of  a  cabinet,  the  interior  of  which  contains  the 
controlling  relays  and  most  of  the  local  wiring. 

One  of  the  two  instruments,  each  of  which  is  equip- 
ped for  making  four  independent  records,  is  employed 


Two  Hedwaygraphs  Are  Located  in  the  Chief 
Dispatcher's  Office 

to  register  the  time  of  trains  passing  on  each  of  the 
four  tracks  of  the  Broadway  subway  at  the  Thirty- 
fourth  street  station  in  Manhattan.  The  other  instru- 
ment makes  a  similar  record  for  the  two  tracks  over 
the  Williamsburg  Bridge  near  the  Essex  Street  station 
and  also  for  the  two  tracks  of  the  Montague  Street 
tunnel  near  the  Court  Street  station. 

Each  Hedwaygraph  consists  essentially  of  a  24-in. 
dial  of  paper  rotated  by  a  self-winding  clock  mecha- 
nism and  inclosed  in  a  circular  case  of  spun  sheet  metal. 
A  glass-paneled  cover  permits  ready  inspection  of  the 
chart  at  all  times.  The  chart  is  virtually  a  twenty-four 
hour  clock  dial  divided  by  radial  lines  into  hours  with 
subdivisions  of  ten  minutes  each.  Circular  bands  near 
the  margin  of  the  dial  serve  mainly  to  obtain  a  suitable 
color  contrast,  so  that  blue  printed  copies  of  the  record 
may  be  made  without  difficulty.  The  automatic  record 
of  the  passing  of  trains  is  obtained  by  the  discharge 
of  a  spark  from  suitable  electrodes  which  puncture  the 
charts.  A  view  of  the  four  adjustable  spark  electrodes 
mounted  in  an  insulating  plate  of  Bakelite  is  shown  in 
one  of  the  illustrations.  The  discharge  passes  through 
the  paper  dial  to  a  common  electrode  located  under  the 
chart  and  directly  beneath  the  four  upper  spark  points. 


The  time  interval  between  trains  under  conditions 
of  maximum  traffic  is  seldom  less  than  ninety  seconds, 
corresponding  to  a  linear  distance  of  approximately 
0.06  in.  on  the  circumference  of  the  inner  band  of  the 
dial,  which  is  18i!  in.  in  diameter.  Since  successive 
punctures  are  readily  distinguished  even  when  spaced 
at  distances  considerably  smaller  than  0.06  in.,  little 
difficulty  is  encountered  from  indistinct  traces. 

Method  of  Control  Used 

The  method  of  control  employed  and  the  sequence  of 
the  various  operations  that  take  place  in  producing  a 
record  on  the  chart  may  be  easily  understood  by  refer- 


UPPER  ELECTRODES 


HEDWAYGRAPH 


VIBRATOR 


INDUCTION  COIL  5 


SPECIAL  WO-OHM 
SLOVY  RELEASING 
RELAYS 


LINE 
RELAYS 


TK  RELAYS 
OPERATED 
BY  PASSAGE 
OF  TRAINS. 


JJO  VOLTS 
DC 


LvJ  IvJ 

as 


4  VOLTS -25-* 


m  S 


m  in 


I/O  VOLT  BATTERY 
FOR  INTERLOCKING. 

Wiring  Diagram  for  Control  of  Hedwaygraphs 

ring  to  the  typical  wiring  scheme  shown.  The  four 
tracks  indicated  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  diagram 
represent  the  location  at  which  a  check  on  the  uni- 
formity of  train  movements  is  desired.  The  track  cir- 
cuits and  track  relays  are  those  employed  for  the  block 
signal  system.  These  track  relays  are  located  adjacent 
to  the  track  circuits  and  control  energy  taken  from 
local  storage  batteries  through  the  company's  telephone 
cables  to  the  line  relays,  which  are  located  in  the  cabinet 
in  the  dispatcher's  office  and  serve  to  repeat  the  opera- 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


441 


tion  of  the  track  relays  and  thus  to  confine  locally  most 
of  the  special  wiring-.  These  relays  are  of  the  simple 
and  inexpensive  type  commonly  made  use  of  in  tele- 
graph systems. 

Special  100-ohm  relays  were  furnished  for  this  in- 
stallation by  the  Chicago  Railway  Signal  &  Supply  Com- 
pany. These  are  of  the  familiar  type  used  in  direct- 
current  block  signal  work,  but  having  certain  modifica- 
tions designed  to  secure  a  retardation  of  approximately 
one-quarter  second  in  the  time  required  for  the  con- 


A  train  entering  upon  the  governing  track  circuit, 
for  instance  on  track  No.  1,  starts  the  sequence  of  events 
by  shunting  open  the  track  relay,  which  in  turn  opens 
the  corresponding  line  relay  No.  1.  A  back  contact  on 
the  line  relay  then  completes  the  circuit  from  the  four- 
cell  local  battery  that  energizes  the  special  relay  and 
closes  the  contact  thereon.  This  condition  holds  until 
the  track  and  line  relays  are  again  energized  due  to  the 
train  leaving  the  track  circuit.  At  this  instant  a  circuit 
is  completed  from  the  local  battery  through  the  primary 


Chart  Showing  Actual  Record  for  Twenty-four  Hours — Insert  Shows  Mounting  of  Four  Adjustable  Spark  Electrodes 


tacts  to  open  after  the  relays  become  de-energized-  The 
degree  of  time  delay  in  contact  opening  necessary  to 
produce  a  spark  discharge  of  the  proper  duration  was 
determined  experimentally  previous  to  the  selection  of 
the  type  of  control  apparatus  to  be  used.  Adjustable 
resistances  inserted  in  the  coil  circuit  of  the  special 
relays  furnish  a  simple  means  of  varying  the  retarda- 
tion sufficiently  to  meet  all  requirements. 


of  the  induction  coil  and  front  contacts  of  the  line  and 
special  relays  that  energizes  the  coil  and  causes  the 
discharge  of  the  secondary  to  puncture  the  chart. 

This  system  has  now  been  in  successful  operation  for 
about  eight  months  and  the  instruments  and  control 
apparatus  require  very  little  attention.  Maintenance 
consists  mainly  in  the  occasional  cleaning  of  the  elec- 
trodes and  their  replacement  at  infrequent  intervals. 


442 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


What  Is  Service?* 

By  H.  A.  Lemmon 

PiERFECT  service  is  electric  energy  always  available 
without  interruption  at  a  constant  standard  voltage. 
From  El  Paso  we  operate  a  street  car  line  into  Juarez, 
a  little  city  just  across  the  Rio  Grande  in  Mexico. 
About  ten  years  ago  relations  between  the  two  coun- 
tries were  somewhat  strained.  Our  army  had  dropped 
a  few  shells  into  the  Mexican  city,  and  if  there  were 
any  Mexicans  who  were  lying  awake  nights  consumed 
with  love  for  their  American  cousins,  they  very  effectu- 
ally concealed  that  passion. 

Operating  our  street  cars  across  the  two  inter- 
national bridges  was  attended  with  difficulty — with 
adventure;  in  fact,  our  cars  had  a  way  of  losing  their 
windows  on  the  journey,  and  our  conductors  of  coming 
back  without  any  cash,  but  plenty  of  torn  clothes  and 
black  eyes  and  explanations.  There  were  reasons  why 
we  determined  to  keep  going,  and  selecting  car  crews 
was  quite  an  important  task. 

Employed  on  the  El  Paso  lines  was  a  conductor 
named  Jim  Burleson.  Burleson  hadn't  attracted  any 
particular  attention.  He  was  just  an  ordinary,  quiet, 
peaceab'e  chap,  with  a  dry  sense  of  kindly  humor,  who 
attended  strictly  to  the  business  of  the  company  and 
made  it  his  own  business.  Some  one  suggested  placing 
Jim  on  the  Mexican  line.  He  took  it  as  all-in-the-day's 
work. 

He  didn't  know  much  Spanish,  but  he  learned  to  say 
"Gracias  Sehor"  and  picked  up  a  few  more  words,  until 
he  could  exchange  a  sentence  or  two  of  amiable  banter 
with  every  frowsy  sefiorita  and  dirty  Mexican  kid  who 
ventured  to  get  on  his  car.  Mexicans  and  Americans, 
they  all  looked  alike  to  Jim,  and  all  received  the  same 
kindly  treatment.  He  came  home  with  the  cash,  with  all 
of  his  windows  intact  and  with  no  black  eyes,  and 
because  he  did  these  things  he  just  dropped  out  of  sight, 
as  it  were.  No  one  paid  any .  attention  to  him.  He 
didn't  figure  in  the  day's  news  one  way  or  the  other. 

And  then  one  day  Jim  Bur'eson  contracted  pneu- 
monia. Forty-eight  hours  later  he  was  dead.  The 
newspapers  of  El  Paso  recorded  Jim's  passing  away  in 
a  four-line  conventional  notice.  He  had  lived  and  he 
died  in  a  little  shack  near  the  carhouse  and  was  without 
surviving  relatives  to  arrange  the  details  of  the  last 
ceremonies.  A  group  of  his  fellow  employees  got  to- 
gether and  appointed  themselves  pallbearers.  They 
went  even  further  and  engaged  a  carriage  to  convey 
the  minister  to  the  cemetery. 

At  the  appointed  hour  the  funeral  started,  but  in 
some  respects  not  quite  according  to  the  original  con- 
ception. Instead  of  merely  a  few  of  his  fellow  work- 
men and  the  carriage  containing  the  minister,  there 
appeared  upon  the  scene  and  in  the  procession  the  old, 
gray-haired,  gray-bearded  Mayor  of  Juarez,  who  had 
sworn  never  again  to  set  foot  on  American  soil;  his 
City  Councilmen,  a  delegation  of  Mexican  customs  offi- 
cials, a  group  of  other  Mexican  federal  officials,  and  a 
little  escort  of  Mexican  soldiers  (in  civilian  clothes 
because  of  the  strained  relations  and  because  of  the 
international  law).  And  there  also  was  the  Mayor  of 
El  Paso  and  his  fellow  members  of  the  City  Council, 
representatives  of  the  United  States  Customs  Service, 
an  unofficial  representation  of  officers  and  soldiers  from 

♦From  a  paper,  "Public  Relations,"  read  at  the  convention  of 
managers  of  New  England  companies,  New  London,  Conn.,  by 
Mr.  Lemmon,  as  printed  in  Stone  &  Webster  Journal.  August.  1921. 


Fort  Bliss,  and  carriage  after  carriage  filled  with  the 
substantial  citizenry  of  the  bustling  Texas  city.  And 
even  this  was  not  all.  There  were  over  a  half  mile 
of  Mexican  people  on  foot  and  in  rented,  broken-down, 
dilapidated  carriages,  who,  for  the  time  being,  had  set 
aside  their  hatred  of  the  gringo.  Among  them  were 
the  school  teachers  and  mothers  of  Mexican  children, 
and,  perhaps,  greatest  tribute  of  all,  three  huge  wagon- 
'oads  of  dirty,  ragged,  unkempt  Mexican  school  children 
themselves. 

Every  school  in  Juarez  was  closed  the  entire  day  of 
Jim  Burleson's  funeral;  every  business  house  was 
closed  that  afternoon,  and  in  the  little  old  church  for 
which  Juarez  is  far-famed  throngs  of  worshippers 
crowded  in  from  morning  until  away  late  in  the  night, 
offering  prayers  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  a  man 
who  didn't  measure  service  with  a  voltmeter. 

What  is  service? 

Changes  in  Retail  Prices  of  Food 

THE  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor,  through  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  has  completed  the  compilations 
showing  changes  in  the  retail  cost  of  food  in  August 
in  fourteen  principal  cities  of  the  United  States. 

During  the  month  from  July  15  to  Aug.  15,  1921, 
there  was  an  increase  in  all  of  these  cities.  In  Phila- 
delphia there  was  an  increase  of  6  per  cent;  in  Bridge- 
pert,  Chicago,  New  Haven,  Providence,  and  Washing- 
ton, 5  per  cent;  in  Kansas  City,  4  per  cent;  in  St.  Louis, 
Springfield,  111.,  and  Birmingham,  3  per  cent;  in  Peoria, 
2  per  cent;  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Denver,  Little  Rock, 
1  per  cent. 

For  the  year  period  Aug.  15,  1920,  to  Aug.  15,  1921, 
there  was  a  decrease  of  28  per  cent  in  Denver,  Little 
Rock,  St.  Louis  and  Salt  Lake  City;  27  per  cent  in 
New  Haven  and  Birmingham;  26  per  cent  in  Peoria 
and  Springfield,  111.;  25  per  cent  in  Philadelphia;  24 
per  cent  in  Kansas  City;  23  per  cent  in  Bridgeport, 
Chicago  and  Providence;  and  21  per  cent  in  Washington. 


Corrosion  of  Cables  in  St.  Louis* 

THE  latter  part  of  June,  1913,  the  Union  Electric 
Light  &  Power  Company  of  St.  Louis  began  the 
operation  of  a  substation  at  which  power  was  received 
from  the  Mississippi  River  Power  Company,  Keokuk, 
Iowa,  and  distributed  to  its  city  substations  through 
seven  13,200-volt,  25-cycle,  and  13,000-volt,  60-cycle, 
three-phase,  cambric  insulated,  underground  cables. 
The  United  Railways  Company  also  received  power  at 
this  substation  and  converted  it  there  into  direct 
current  for  the  operation  of  some  of  its  cars.  The 
cables  of  the  two  companies  occupy  the  same  duct  run 
for  a  considerable  part  of  their  length.  Part  of  the 
duct  was  tile  and  another  part  was  fibrous  conduit. 

Burnouts  on  these  cables  began  to  occur  and  these 
became  serious  in  1914  and  reached  a  maximum  in 
1916.  A  thorough  investigation  of  the  trouble  was 
begun  by  engineers  of  the  two  companies  with  the 
co-operation  'of  the  Bureau  of  Standards. 

When  all  the  data  were  collected  and  analyzed  there 
appeared  to  be  five  causes  for  the  burnouts,  which  in 
the  order  of  their  importance  are  as  follows:  (1) 
Electrolysis  due  chiefly  to  lack  of  drainage  at  the 
time  the  cables  were  installed;  (2)  overheating  due  to 

♦Abstract  of  paper  by  K.  H.  Logan,  United  States  Bureau 
of  Standards. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


443 


deterioration  of  the  insulation,  caused  possibly  by 
mechanical  injury  to  the  lead  sheaths,  possibly  by  near- 
ness of  the  ducts  to  the  street  surface  and  possibly  by 
the  restriction  of  circulating  air  because  the  duct  was 
too  small;  (3)  chemical  corrosion  during  periods  in 
which  the  street  railway  substations  were  inoperative 
due  to  the  collection  of  alkali  about  the  sheaths  as 
the  current  flowed  to  them  through  the  earth;  (4) 
surges  set  up  by  switching  and  burnouts;  (5)  mechani- 
cal injuries,  etc. 

Need  of  Definition  for  "Heavy  Electric 
Traction"  Suggested 

New  York,  Sept.  8,  1921. 

To  the  Editors : 

The  editorial  in  the  issue  of  your  magazine  of  Aug. 
27  on  "Wanted,  Specific  Data  on  Electric  Locomotives" 
is  very  well  taken,  and  no  doubt  will  have  a  very  direct 
bearing  in  future  committee  work  pertaining  to  heavy 
traction  matters  in  general. 

With  the  thought  in  mind  referred  to  in  your  edi- 
torial, would  it  not  be  consistent  at  this  time  to  under- 
take some  definition  or  limitation  regarding  heavy 
traction  electrical  engineering?  I  have  in  mind  matters 
pertaining  to  electric  locomotives  in  general.  By  way 
of  illustration,  each  month  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal will  usually  have  some  reference  to  an  electric 
locomotive  either  being  built  or  put  into  service  by  some 
steam,  electric  railroad  or  traction  company.  The  ap- 
paratus may  be  either  a  5-ton,  250-volt  mine  engine  or 
a  250-ton,  11,000-volt  equipment  for  a  steam  railroad 
such  as  the  Pennsylvania  or  New  Haven  might  use.  ■ 

Obviously  such  steam  railroads  as  are  interested  in 
freight  transportation  over  long  distances  and  with 
train  tonnages  well  over  2,000  tons  are  not  interested 
in  the  5-ton,  250-volt  equipment.  No  disparagement  is 
intended  of  the  engineering  talent  used  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  smaller  equipment,  but  it  must  be  admitted 
that  there  is  a  wide  difference  in  the  engineering  pro- 
cedure responsible  for  the  two  classes  of  engines.  Ex- 
tending the  comparison  even  further,  is  it  not  a  fact 
that  in  general  the  railroads  of  the  United  States,  with 
the  enormous  tonnages  handled  annually  and  the  large 
units  in  which  this  tonnage  is  moved,  have  very  little, 
if  anything,  to  learn  from  European  practice  in  this 
particular  field  of  electric  motive  power?  For  light 
passenger  service  and  terminal  electrification  the  dif- 
ference is  somewhat  less. 

If  electrification  is  to  bring  about  the  results  as  re- 
ferred to  in  your  editorial  by  "decreasing  the  operating 
ratio,"  it  is  evident  that  the  size  or  tonnage  of  trains 
must  be  increased  or  the  running  time  between  ter- 
minals must  be  reduced,  or  both  must  be  accomplished 
to  bring  about  an  adequate  saving  as  a  return  in  the 
investment.  In  either  case  a  larger  horsepower  or 
tractive  effort  must  be  available  at  the  head  of  the 
train.  It  is  self-evident  that,  if  we  are  to  take  the 
present  tonnage  handled  by  our  larger  steam  locomo- 
tives as  a  bench  mark,  we  must  necessarily  design  an 
electric  locomotive  of  considerably  larger  horsepower 
than  the  steam  engine  which  it  will  replace. 

Is  it  not  consistent  then  at  this  time  to  assume  a 


premise  for  any  discussion  of  "Heavy  Electric  Trac- 
tion" based  on  the  above  principle?  Could  it  not  be 
consistently  shown  that  an  electric  locomotive  weighing 
less  than  100  tons,  or  some  other  similar  weight,  should 
not  be  classed  as  a  heavy  traction  unit?  Likewise,  loco- 
motives with  axle  loads  less  than  a  minimum  value 
should  not  be  considered.  An  overhead  system  for 
heavy  traction  should  operate  above  a  minimum  pre- 
scribed voltage.  These  suggestions  are  not  intended  as 
a  reflection  on  the  engineering  deductions  which  brought 
about  the  adoption  of  any  particular  system  (such  as 
the  600-volt  third  rail),  but  more  as  a  basis  for  classifi- 
cation. As  an  example,  it  would  hardly  be  expected  that 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  would  extend  its  third-rail 
system  between  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  It  has 
been  conclusively  shown  that  for  general  use  of  the 
electric  motive  power  for  freight  transportation  services 
over  long  distances,  a  much  higher  voltage  and  much 
larger  sizes  of  units  must  necessarily  come  into  use 
than  those  in  use  fifteen  years  ago. 

If  the  engineering  efforts  of  the  many  committees 
working  on  heavy  traction  are  to  be  favorably  received 
by  the  managers  and  directors  of  steam  railroads  it  will 
be  chiefly  through  the  channel  of  development  along  the 
lines  of 

(a)  Larger  and  heavier  freight  train  units. 

(b)  Faster  freight  train  schedules  between  ter- 
minals. 

If  you  can,  in  some  manner,  start  something  along 
the  lines  above  suggested,  I  am  confident  that  the 
"heavy  traction"  subject  will  be  more  interesting  to  the 
average  steam  railroad  official  than  it  has  been  in  the 
past..         "Engineer,  Heavy  Electric  Traction." 

Maying  Valuations"  Under  Special 
Circumstances 

New  York  City,  Aug.  22,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

We  have  read  the  recent  articles  on  the  subject  of 
valuation,  which  were  written  by  A.  E.  Knowlton  and 
published  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  *  with  a 
good  deal  of  interest.  Valuation  is  one  of  the  vital 
elements  in  almost  every  rate  determination  and  our 
constant  contact  with  proceedings  of  that  character 
causes  us  to  scrutinize  all  literature  on  the  subject  very 
carefully. 

Mr.  Knowlton's  point  of  view  is  decidedly  interesting 
and  the  results  accomplished  were  undoubtedly  effective. 
We  feel,  nevertheless,  that  the  following  comment  is 
pertinent. 

The  study  used  and  required  in  this  case  was  of  a 
highly  organized  company  managed  by  exceptionally 
competent  people  and  having  an  unusually  good  record 
system.  It  is  obvious  from  Mr.  Knowlton's  ai'ticles 
that  a  good  deal  of  the  speed  and  success  which  were 
obtained  was  due  to  the  condition  of  the  records.  This 
is  highly  creditable  to  the  Connecticut  Company  and  is 
an  example  which  might  be  followed  to  general  advan- 
tage. It  is  an  unfortunate  fact,  however,  that  there  are 
not  many,  even  of  the  larger  companies,  which  have 
such  well-organized  record  systems  as  this  company. 
Another  helpful  feature  in  connection  with  the  work 
was  that  Mr.  Knowlton  and  his  associates  were  not  only 
familiar  with  the  property  but  were  known  to  be  fa- 
miliar with  it  and  competent  to  pass  upon  the  facts.  In 

•See  issue  of  May  21,  1921,  page  947;  issue  of  May  28,  1921, 
page  985. 


444 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


other  words,  from  the  standpoint  of  expert  witnesses, 
the  presumption  was  in  their  favor  rather  than  against 
them. 

Mr.  Knowlton  and  his  associates  were  in  the  employ 
of  a  public  service  commission  which  could  in  a  large 
measure  direct  the  manner  in  which  the  facts  should 
be  assembled.  Its  decision  was  presumably  to  rest  upon 
those  facts,  and  it  probably  realized  that  if  the  results 
obtained  were  even  reasonably  satisfactory  there  would 
be  no  appeal.  The  commission  was  not  in  the  position 
of  a  litigant — certainly  not  in  the  situation  of  a  litigant 
meeting  opposition  of  the  harassing  type  which  is  some- 
times met  in  rate  cases.  The  ordinary  company  could 
not  rest  a  case  upon  general  proof  such  as  the  com- 
mission could  employ — in  fact,  we  doubt  whether  a 
valuation  of  this  sort  would  be  admissible  as  evidence  at 
all  under  ordinary  circumstances. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  view  taken  of  this 
problem  by  the  Connecticut  Commission  was  a  broad, 
practical  one  and  decidedly  in  the  interest  of  securing 
a  generally  satisfactory  result  in  a  minimum  of  time. 
We  think,  however,  that  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
has  as  a  duty  the  necessity  of  advising  its  company  sub- 
scribers against  adopting  valuation  methods  of  this  sort 
in  rate  proceedings  in  which  they  are  litigants.  We 
are  fearful  that,  despite  the  precedent  established  in 
Connecticut,  a  company  which  might  have  a  good  deal 
at  stake  but  which  attempted  to  adopt  this  method  of 
valuation  might  put  itself  in  a  situation  where  its 
evidence  would  not  be  entertained  and  that  its  case 
would  fall. 

We  do  not  intend  this  letter  to  be  a  condemnation  or 
even  a  criticism  of  the  method  employed  but  merely 
desire  to  point  out  that  the  plan  adopted  worked  in 
this  instance  because  of  special  circumstances.  The 
letter  is  prompted  by  our  constant  interest  in  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry  and  our  desire  to  have  those 
similarly  interested  avoid  any  of  the  pitfalls  which  we 
might  see.  H.  C.  Hopson. 


Competitive  Merchandising  Necessary 

Milwaukee,  Wis.,  Sept.  9,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

Neither  court  injunctions  nor  municipal  ordinances 
nor  state  laws  can  or  should  crush  the  competitors  of 
the  street  railway,  or  prevent  the  introduction  of  the 
jitney,  the  motor  bus,  the  trackless  trolley  or  other 
swift  and  mobile  vehicles  where  public  necessity  or  pub- 
lic preference  calls  for  them. 

The  street  railway  industry,  whimpering  in  courts, 
councils  and  legislatures  for  protection  against  the  re- 
sults of  its  own  slothf ulness,  its  own  lazy  failure  to 
provide  the  new  line  of  goods  demanded  by  the  public,  is 
ridiculous. 

Instead  of  asking  to  be  protected  against  competi- 
tion, the  industry  must  get  busy  and  do  some  intelligent 
competing  on  its  own  account.  It  can  if  it  will  install 
and  operate  the  new  seiwices,  supplementing  and  in 
part  profitably  replacing  its  existing  service,  more 
cheaply,  efficiently  and  safely  than  its  shoestring  com- 
petitors. This  is  the  way  and  the  only  way  that  the 
street  i-ailway  industry  can  be  relieved  and  saved  from 
destructive  competition,  with  the  public  approval.  If 
it  won't  adopt  this  way  it  will  and  should  go  broke  and 
pass  out  of  the  hands  of  its  present  owners  into  the 
hands  of  city  hall  politicians.  I  may  add  right  here 
that  several  years  of  constant  knocking  of  their  own 


business  as  a  business  by  owners  and  operators  of 
American  street  railways  has  not  only  damned  its  credit 
with  investors  but  has  also  made  city  hall  politicians 
shy  about  asking  the  public  to  buy  it;  even  the  poli- 
ticians begin  to  regard  the  street  railway  industry  as 
a  white  elephant. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  aggressive  merchandising  man- 
agement applied  to  the  street  railway  business  can  again 
make  it  what  it  used  to  be — as  dependable  a  producer  of 
net  income  as  any  other  utility.        Frank  Putnam. 

More  Discussion  on  Association 
Reorganization 

Shall  Other  Forms  of  Transportation 

Be  Admitted? 

F.  R.  Coates,  president  the  Community  Traction  Com- 
pany, Toledo,  Ohio,  has  addressed  the  following  letter  to 
a  large  number  of  the  members  of  the  association, 
touching  upon  a  very  important  point.  This  letter  is 
here  reproduced,  with  Mr.  Coates'  consent. 

The  Community  Traction  Company 

Toledo,  Ohio,  Sept.  6,  1921. 

Dear  Sir:  You  have  received  the  special  report  of 
the  executive  committee  to  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Association  covering  proposed  revision  of  the  con* 
stitution  and  by-laws.  If  you  will  refer  to  the  first 
paragraph  on  page  8  of  the  report  you  will  learn  that  it 
is  proposed,  under  certain  restrictions,  to  let  down  the 
bars  of  membership  to  other  forms  of  urban  and  inter- 
urban  transportation  than  that  form  indicated  by  the 
name  of  our  association.  Such  a  movement  at  this 
time  is  prejudicial  to  our  interests  and  is  entirely  un- 
necessary and  uncalled  for. 

We  are  an  electric  railway  organization  and  should 
stand  our  ground  on  the  foundation  we  have  built. 
Our  method  of  transportation  is  not  dead  or  dying, 
although  it  has  been  rather  ill  the  past  several  years. 
Why  should  it  not  have  been,  with  the  kicks  and  cuffs 
it  has  received,  and  from  the  unfair  competition  which 
has  sprung  up  in  many  quarters?  And  are  we  not  our- 
selves greatly  responsible  for  past  conditions?  Have 
we  always  come  out  frankly  and  openly  and  presented 
our  problems  to  the  public?  Has  the  public  always  been 
treated  in  a  manner  calculated  to  make  friends? 

There  are  millions  of  dollars  invested  in  electric  rai1- 
ways  in  this  country.  Shall  we  protect  this  investment, 
or  are  we  complacently  going  to  watch  its  dissipation? 
It  is  a  foregone  conclusion  that  we  will  protect  our  in- 
terests with  all  the  force  and  ability  at  our  command. 
So  let  us  wake  up!  Instead  of  affording  strength  to 
the  other  methods  of  transportation  by  giving  them 
the  opportunity  to  become  members  of  our  organization, 
let  us  direct  our  efforts  toward  the  removal  of  all  unfair 
competition  by  having  enacted  ordinances  and  legisla- 
tion which  will  regulate  "other  than  electric  transpor- 
tation units  or  companies"  similarly  as  we  are  regulated. 
Let  us  devote  our  energies  toward  placing  our  service, 
our  public  relations  and  our  investment  on  the  highest 
possible  plane. 

We  must  face  this  issue  fairly  and  squarely. 

Please  give  serious  thought  to  the  question  of  admis- 
sion into  our  organization  of  forms  of  transportation 
other  than  our  own.  Go  to  the  Atlantic  City  convention 
and  cast  your  vote  so  as  to  insure  a  continuance  of  the 
electrical  transportation  industry.  F.  R.  Coates. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Air  Compressor  Piston  Clearances 

Small  Clearance  Between  the  End  of  the  Compressor  Piston 
and  the  Cylinder  Head  Is  Very  Important  if  Effi- 
cient Operation  Is  to  Be  Maintained 

By  F.  J.  Foote 

Superintendent  of  Power,  Ohio  Electric  Railway 

THE  writer  has  found  that  many  repairmen,  includ- 
ing some  very  good  mechanics,  do  not  understand 
the  importance  of  keeping  the  clearance  between  the  end 
of  compressor  pistons  and  the  cylinder  heads  down  to 
the  smallest  practical  amount.  One  case  came  to  the 
writer's  attention  where  the  clearance  by  accident  was 
about  1  in.,  and  the  workman  on  the  job  could  not  under- 
stand why  the  compressor  would  only  pump  up  to  about 
one-half  the  normal  pressure  at  full  speed. 

The  reason  for  keeping  this  clearance  small  is  to  pre- 
vent the  air  left  in  the  clearance  space  at  the  end  of  a 
stroke  from  expanding  and  occupying  so  large  a  per- 
centage of  the  cylinder  volume  on  the  return  or  intake 
stroke  as  to  reduce  the  free  air  taken  in.  The  air  left 
in  the  clearance  space  must  expand  down  to  a  pressure 
slightly  below  the  atmosphere  before  any  free  air  will 
be  drawn  into  the  cylinder,  and  the  larger  the  clearance 
space  the  less  free  air  will  be  compressed  per  stroke. 

The  natural  law  which  governs  this  problem  is  that 
for  any  given  quantity  of  air  at  a  constant  temperature, 
the  volume  will  be  inversely  as  the  pressure,  or  stated 
in  another  way:  Pressure*  X  Volume  =  A  constant. 
For  example,  if  the  pressure  is  doubled  the  volume  will 
be  only  one-half,  or  again  if  the  volume  should  be 
doubled  the  pressure  would  then  be  only  one-half  and 
so  on. 

To  illustrate  this,  take  the  case  of  a  single-acting  air 
compressor  with  cylinder  5J-in.  diameter  and  4l-m. 
stroke.  The  piston  will  have  an  area  of  practically  24 
sq.in.  and  will  create  a  piston  displacement  of  102  cu.in. 
per  stroke. 

Let  us  assume  that  the  actual  clearance  between  the 
piston  and  the  cylinder  head  is  i  in.  and  that  the  space 
in  the  parts  between  the  valves  and  cylinder  is  also 
equivalent  to  this.  We  will  then  have  a  clearance  space 
equal  to  I  in.  for  the  5i-in.  cylinder,  or  6  cu.in.  Let  us 
assume  that  the  compressor  is  pumping  against  100  lb. 
gage  pressure  (114.7  lb.  absolute),  then  the  air  left  in 
the  clearance  space  will  be  at  114.7  lb.  absolute  pressure 
at  the  end  of  the  stroke.  We  will  assume  that  this  air 
must  expand  down  to  14.6  lb.  absolute  (  A  lb.  below 
atmosphere)  before  any  outside  air  will  enter  the 
cylinder. 

With  the  above  facts  in  mind  let  us  consider  what 
happens  to  the  small  quantity  of  air  confined  in  the 
clearance  space  at  the  end  of  the  stroke.  It  has  been 
shown  that  the  volume  of  this  air  is  6  cu.in.  and  that 
it  is  under  114.7  lb.  absolute  pressure.  Now  applying 

•Pressure  here  means  absolute  pressure,  which  is  14.7  lb.  per 
square  inch  greater  than  gage  pressure  for  ordinary  altitudes. 


our  law  (Pressure  X  Volume  =  A  constant)  we  get, 

114.7  X  6  =  688.2 
This  688.2  is  then  the  "constant"  for  this  small  quantity 
of  air,  and  no  matter  how  much  the  pressure  is  reduced, 
by  the  backward  stroke  of  the  piston  the  pressure 
multiplied  by  the  volume  at  any  point  will  equal  688.2. 
Therefore  when  the  pressure  is  reduced  to  14.6  lb.  as 
above,  the  volume  will  be  688.2  ~  14.6  =  47.14  cu.in., 
which  is  46.3  per  cent  of  the  total  displacement,  from 
which  we  see  that  little  more  than  one-half  of  the  effec- 
tive volume  of  the  cylinder  is  filled  with  outside  or  free 
air  per  stroke. 

If  the  clearance  between  the  piston  and  the  cylinder 
head  is  reduced  to  h  in.,  which  would  be  about  the 
proper  amount,  the  clearance  in  the  ports  will  be  the 
same  as  before  so  that  we  would  have  a  clearance 
equivalent  to  i  in.  plus  h  in.  or  &  in.  Computing  the 
actual  volume  of  the  clearance  we  get  3.75  cu.in.  Apply- 
ing our  law  to  this, 

114.7  X  3.75  =  430.1 
430.1  is  then  our  constant  for  the  quantity  of  air  in  this 
smaller  clearance  space,  and  when  this  air  is  expended 
down  to  a  pressure  of  14.6  lb.  per  sq.in.  the  volume 
will  be,  according  to  our  law, 

430.1  ~  14.6  =  29.6  cu.in. 
which  is  29  per  cent  of  the  total  piston  displacement  as 
against  46.2  per  cent  in  the  case  of  the  larger  clearance. 
The  capacity  of  the  compressor  would  therefore  be 
increased  in  the  ratio  of  17.2  to  53.8,  or  32  per  cent,  by 
reducing  the  clearance  between  piston  and  cylinder  head 
from  J  in.  to  rfa  in. 

The  foregoing  proves  conclusively  the  very  great 
advantage  of  keeping  the  clearance  down  to  the  smallest 
practicable  working  limit.  Having  shown  the  impor- 
tance of  small  clearance,  let  us  go  a  step  further  and 
point  out  a  few  of  the  causes  of  clearance  being  too 
large  and  the  cure  for  same. 

Causes  and  Cures  for  Large  Clearance 

Cylinder  head  gaskets  may  be  too  thick.  The  writer 
has  seen  rubber  gaskets  i  in.  and  ft  in.  thick  used. 
The  obvious  thing  is  to  use  paper  gaskets  or  something 
similar  to  this  and  get  them  about  as  thin  as  per- 
missible. Rainbow  or  any  other  rubber  compound  is 
not  suitable  for  cylinder-head  gaskets  as  the  oil  attacks 
the  rubber  and  soon  ruins  it. 

Worn  bearings  and  especially  worn  connecting-rod 
ends  should  be  avoided.  It  is  the  practice  in  some  shops 
to  continue  taking  up  these  connecting-rod  bearings  till 
the  babbitt  is  practically  worn  out.  When  this  is  done 
the  effective  rod  length  constantly  grows  shorter  as 
most  of  the  wear  comes  on  the  side  next  to  the  piston, 
with  a  consequent  increase  in  the  clearance  between 
piston  and  cylinder  head.  A  suitable  jig  for  re-babbit- 
ting these  rods  should  be  provided,  and  the  rods  should 
be  re-babbitted  whenever  the  rod  bearings  show  appre- 
ciable wear. 


446 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


A  jig  for  this  purpose  devised  by  the  writer  and  used 
for  several  years  by  the  Ohio  Electric  Railway  was 
published  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Aug. 
20,  1921.  This  jig  is  made  so  as  to  give  the  babbitt 
rod  bearings  the  proper  size  to  fit  the  crank  pin  without 
any  machine  work  and  also  to  make  the  rod  the  correct 
length,  thus  preventing  any  mistake  being  made  in  the 
rod  length  after  re-babbitting. 

There  are  some  other  things  that  may  affect  the  clear- 
ance slightly,  but  the  two  mentioned  are  the  most  usual 
causes. 

It  is  very  desirable  that  some  kind  of  test  be  made 
on  compressors  each  time  they  are  overhauled  to  deter- 
mine if  they  will  pump  up  to  the  required  pressure  in 
a  reasonable  length  of  time.  There  are  various  meth- 
ods, more  or  less  elaborate,  for  doing  this,  but  where 
the  power  conditions  are  reasonably  steady  and  all  com- 
pressors the  same  size,  a  very  simple  and  fairly  satis- 
factory test  is  to  connect  a  small  reservoir  of  15  or 
20  cu.ft.  capacity  to  the  compressor  and  note  the  time 
it  takes  to  pump  up  to  100  lb.  If  this  is  done  on  all 
compressors  and  a  record  kept  of  same,  a  standard  time 
that  should  not  be  exceeded  will  soon  be  found. 

A  more  exact  and  scientific  method  is  to  count  the 
number  of  revolutions  of  the  crankshaft  required  to 
pump  up  the  pressure  on  a  given  reservoir  from  70  lb. 
to  100  lb.  This  is  particularly  advisable  in  locations 
where  the  power  used  in  operating  the  compressor  is 
variable.  I  am  informed  that  one  compressor  maker 
contemplates  the  use  of  a  cork  gasket,  which  will  prob- 
ably make  it  necessary  to  let  the  piston  extend  slightly 
beyond  the  end  of  cylinder  at  the  end  of  a  stroke  so 
that  the  clearance  will  be  less  than  A  in.,  which  is  con- 
sidered to  be  entirely  practical. 


allowed  to  slip,  thus  allowing  the  operator  to  turn  as 
sharp  or  as  wide  a  corner  as  he  may  select.  All  the 
clutches,  brakes  and  lever  mechanism  for  steering  are 
located  in  the  revolving  upper  works,  where  they  are 
much  more  accessible  than  when  a  portion  or  all  of  this 
mechanism  is  located  on  the  car  body. 


A  Crawling  Tractor  Crane 

A CRAWLING  tractor  crane,  manufactured  by  the 
Industrial  Works,  Bay  City,  Mich.,  has  been 
developed  to  meet  the  use  for  a  full-revolving  tractor 
crane  which  can  be  operated  independently  of  rails. 
The  crane  is  built  in  two  types — the  type  BC,  with 
a  capacity  of  20,000  lb.  at  12-ft.  radius,  is  equipped 
with  continuous-crawling  tractor  belts;  and  the  type 
BT,  with  a  capacity  of  18,000  lb.  at  10-ft.  radius,  is 
equipped  with  four  broad-gage  tractor  wheels.  Having 
exceptionally  large  capacities  in  ordinary  lifting,  they 
prove  a  valuable  adjunct  in  those  many  erection  jobs 
which  are  inaccessible  to  the  railroad  crane.  They  can 
be  equipped  to  handle  a  hook  and  block,  grab  bucket, 
drag  scraper  bucket,  wood  grapple,  electric  lifting 
magnet,  shovel  dipper  and  piledriver  leads  with  drop 
hammer.  Operation  is  by  means  of  an  internal- 
combustion  engine.  When  not  in  operation  no  fuel  is 
consumed  and  it  is  not  necessary,  as  often  with  a 
steam-operated  machine,  to  have  a  licensed  engineer  as 
operator. 

The  steering  of  the  crawling  tractor  crane  while 
propelling  is  controlled  by  the  operator,  from  his  posi- 
tion in  the  revolving  upper  works,  by  manipulation  of 
the  friction  clutches  and  brakes  controlling  the  motion 
of  each  tractor  belt.  By  means  of  these  clutches  and 
brakes  either  tractor  belt  can  be  readily  and  instantly 
disconnected  from  the  motor  while  the  other  belt 
continues  traveling  at  the  normal  rate  of  speed.  The 
disconnected  tractor  belt  can  be  held  stationary  by 
applying  the  brake,  can  be  allowed  to  coast  with  the 
brake  and  clutch  both  disengaged,  or  the  clutch  can  be 


New  Pneumatic  Scoop 

EXCAVATION  work  in  stiff  clay,  hard  pan  and  fine 
gravel  is  ordinarily  laborious  and  expensive  where 
the  large  steam  shovel  or  trenching  machines  cannot  be 
used  and  the  material  must  be  loosened  for  removal  by 

means  of  the  hand  pick.  An 
air-driven  spade  pick  has 
recently  been  placed  on  the 
market  by  the  Ingersoll- 
Rand  Company,  New  York, 
to  handle  this  sort  of  work. 
It  is  known  as  the  No.  56-H 
"Little  David"  hammer  and 
scoop.  The  tool  consists  of  a 
long  stroke  hammer  fitted 
with  special  handle  and  pro- 
vided with  a  scoop  held  in 
place  by  a  safety  retainer. 
In  operation  the  blows  of  the 
hammer  drive  the  scoop  into 
the  ground,  prying  loose  the 
material  for  removal.  The 
air  hammer  is  of  the  same 
rugged  type  as  has  proved 
successful  in  other  work  of  a 
similar  character,  such  as 
picking  coal,  tearing  out 
light  concrete,  etc. 

On  contract  jobs  covering 
both  tunnel  and  trench  ex- 
cavation in  clay,  these  tools 
have  been  found  to  be  important  labor  savers,  increasing 
the  rate  of  earth  removal  per  man  from  100  to  150  per 
cent  or  more.  In  one  sewer  tunnel  job  in  Detroit  where 
the  bore  is  about  9  ft.  6  in.  in  diameter  they  are  averag- 
ing 17  lin.ft.  of  sewer  per  day  of  eight  hours  with  four 
miners  or  about  11  cu.yd.  per  man  per  day.  The  material 
on  that  job  is  a  medium  hard  blue  clay,  fairly  stiff,  no 
bracing  or  timbering  being  needed  to  hold  the  roof. 


Air-Driven  Spade  Pick 


Mix  Thermit  Thoroughly  Before  Using 

OCCASIONALLY  thermit  welders  find  that  they  are 
unable  to  produce  the  requisite  amount  of  steel 
from  the  thermit  which  they  are  using.  This  is  entirely 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  ingredients  (iron  oxide  and 
aluminum)  have  become  unmixed.  The  importance  of 
mixing  thermit  thoroughly  before  using  cannot  be  too 
strongly  emphasized,  whether  a  whole  bag  or  part  of 
a  bag  is  to  be  used.  It  is  logical  also,  as  the  iron  oxide 
is  in  the  form  of  a  flake  and  the  aluminum  is  in  the  form 
of  a  little  round  ball,  that  as  they  are  so  different 
in  specific  gravity,  they  will  segregate  in  the  vibration 
caused  by  transit.  The  bag,  therefore,  should  be 
dumped  and  the  material  thoroughly  mixed  by  hand 
before  putting  it  into  the  crucible.  In  a  recent  case 
the  Metal  &  Thermit  Corporation,  New  York,  N.  Y., 
investigated  the  variations  in  the  speed  with  which 
thermit  reactions  took  place ;  this  variation  was  found  to 
be  due  to  segregation  of  materials  and  was  entirely 
eliminated  by  remixing. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


447 


Improved  Slack  Adjuster 
Construction 

In  Order  to  Provide  a  Simpler  Type  of  Construction  and 
Thus  Reduce  Maintenance,  a  Type  of  Automatic  Brake 
Slack  Adjuster  Has  Been  Improved  to  Meet  the 
Exacting  Conditions  of  Railway  Service 

IN  THE  May  25,  1918,  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  page  1019,  a  description  was  given  of  the 
Gould  type  slack  adjusters  as  they  had  been  developed 
for  installation  on  cars  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
System.  Since  that  time  W.  H.  Sauvage,  designing 
engineer  for  the  Gould  Coupler  Company,  has  made 
further  essential  improvements  in  this  type  of  adjuster, 
and  the  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  latest 
improved  type  as  applied  to  the  brake  rigging  of  a 
safety  car.  This  type  of  construction  has  been  devel- 
oped in  an  effort  to  simplify  the  construction  and  to 
reduce  the  number  of  parts,  and  at  the  same  time  to 


This  causes  the  adjusting  rod  spring  G  to  be  compressed 
to  the  exact  extent  of  the  excess  travel  through  the 
movement  of  the  adjusting  rod  dog  box  F  to  the  right. 
The  adjusting  rod  grip  dog  is  shown  at  H  and  this 
permits  movement  of  the  adjusting  rod  dog  box  to  the 
right,  but  grips  the  push  rod  firmly  and  prevents  any 
movement  toward  the  left.  As  soon  as  the  brakes  are 
released  the  pressure  exerted  by  the  spring  G  due  to 
its  being  compressed  causes  the  push  rod  casing  II  to 
move  to  the  right,  thus  increasing  the  distance  between 
the  points  of  attachment  to  the  live  and  dead  levers 
at  K  and  L,  and  the  excessive  motion  due  to  wear  is 
taken  up.  Six  grip  dogs  M  are  used  on  the  main  push 
rod.  These  permit  movement  of  the  push  rod  casing  H 
toward  the  right,  but  grip  the  push  rod  and  prevent 
any  movement  toward  the  left.  The  springs  shown 
at  N  and  P  keep  the  dogs  locked  and  prevent  movement. 

In  applying  the  slack  adjuster  to  the  brake  rigging 
of  a  car  the  distance  between  the  adjusting  bolt  head 
and  the  clevis  is  adjusted  so  as  to  give  the  desired 


Dead  lever 


Slack  Adjuster 
Applied    in  the 
Brake  Rigging  of 
a  Safety  Car 


Adjustment  for  brake 
shoe,  clearance- 


A — Yoke. 

B — Yoke  screw  casting. 
C — Clevis. 

D — Regulating'  bolt. 
E — Live  lever  adjusting 

rod  pin. 
F — Adjusting  rod  dog 
box. 

G — Adjusting  rod  spring. 


provide  a  heavy,  rugged  construction  which  can  be 
applied  to  any  of  the  members  of  the  brake  rigging  of 
an  electric  car  and  provide  for  automatically  taking  up 
;any  wear  which  may  occur  in  the  brake  rigging,  brake- 
shoes,  or  wheels,  and  which  would  otherwise  require 
frequent  adjustments  to  be  made  in  the  shops. 

The  principal  changes  in  the  type  of  construction 
which  have  been  made  are  in  the  adjusting  rod  and  its 
method  of  action.  At  the  same  time  advantage  has 
been  taken  in  this  redesign  to  use  a  special  steel  for  the 
push  rod  which  is  acted  upon  by  the  grip  dogs.  In  the 
accompanying  illustration,  showing  this  adjuster  applied 
to  the  brake  rigging  of  a  safety  car,  the  adjusting  rod 
details  are  shown  at  A,  B,  C  and  D.  With  the  brakes 
properly  adjusted,  an  application  moves  the  top  of  the 
live  lever  to  the  right  and  the  distance  between  the 
head  of  the  regulating  bolt  D  and  the  adjusting  clevis  C 
provided  for  brakeshoe  clearance  is  taken  up,  so  that 
the  head  of  the  bolt  comes  into  firm  contact  with  the 
clevis.  With  all  parts  in  proper  adjustment  the  slack 
adjuster  acts  as  a  turnbuckle  between  the  live  and  dead 
levers.  When  wear  occurs  at  the  brakeshoes,  wheels, 
or  in  any  of  the  brake  rigging  parts,  the  head  of  the 
adjusting  bolt  D  seats  on  the  clevis  C  before  the  brakes 
are  fully  applied.  The  further  movement  of  the  live 
lever  causes  the  adjusting  yoke  A  to  move  to  the  right. 


H — Push  rod  casing, 
K — Live  lever  pin. 
L — Dead    lever  pin. 
M — Grip  dogs. 
N — Adjusting  dog 

spring. 
P — Push  rod  spring, 
i? — Push  rod. 
£ — Push  rod  head. 


Direction  of  movement 


brakeshoe  clearance  with  a  predetermined  piston  travel. 
If  it  is  desired  to  operate  with  a  different  piston  travel 
or  brakeshoe  clearance  adjustment  can  be  made  by 
removing  the  pin  at  E  and  turning  the  clevis  C  and  the 
adjusting  bolt  D  to  lengthen  or  shorten  the  distance 
between  the  head  and  the  clevis  as  desired. 

The  fundamental  characteristic  of  Gould  Universal 
slack  adjusters  as  designed  by  Mr.  Sauvage  is  the  use 
of  grip  dogs  in  place  of  ratchets  or  screws  to  hold  the 
parts  in  locked  position.  The  improved  type  as  just 
described  operates  on  the  same  general  lines  as  ad- 
justers in  successful  operation  on  many  steam  and 
electric  roads  for  the  past  fourteen  years.  Adjusters 
that  require  the  body  and  truck  brake  levers  to  go  into 
full  release  position  before  they  operate  need  powerful 
release  springs  for  releasing  the  brakes  and  operating 
the  adjuster.  If  these  get  weak  or  fail,  the  adjuster 
does  not  operate  successfully.  The  improved  Gould  ad- 
juster is  designed  for  operation  in  both  tension  and  com- 
pression members  and  does  not  rely  on  release  springs 
for  proper  operation.  The  regulating  force  is  applied 
directly  to  the  adjuster  whenever  the  brakes  are  applied 
and  all  excess  piston  travel  is  compensated  for  im- 
mediately after  each  brake  application.  The  adjust- 
ment made  is  therefore  independent  of  release  springs 
or  wear  in  holes,  pins,  wheels  or  brake  shoes. 


448 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


A  Gas-Propelled  Weed  Cutting  Machine 

THE  picture  reproduced  herewith  shows  a  weed  and 
grass-cutting  machine  built  at  the  shops  of  the 
Texas  Electric  Railway  for  use  on  its  interurban  lines. 
The  machine  is  designed  to  remove  grass  and  weeds 
growing  between  the  rails  and  for  a  distance  of  2  ft. 
10  in.  on  each  side.  This  is  accomplished  by  rotating 
at  1,100  r.p.m.  a  3-in.  shaft  which  is  attached  to  a 
four-wheeled  car.  The  weeds  and  grass  are  torn  and 
cut  by  a  series  of  stiff  wire  cables  spaced  3  in.  apart 


A  Weed  Cutter  from  Texas 

on  the  shaft  and  secured  with  set  screws.  The  motive 
power  for  operating  the  shaft  is  a  15-hp.,  1,200-volt,  d.c. 
motor  belted  to  it.  The  shaft  can  be  raised  or  lowered 
by  a  series  of  level's  to  clear  cattle  guards  and  other 

obstructions. 

The  car  itself  is  propelled  by  a  six-cylinder  gasoline 
motor  taken  from  a  damaged  automobile.  Located  over 
and  parallel  to  one  set  of  wheels  is  the  motor  which 
drives  them  through  a  chain  passing  over  a  sprocket 
on  the  end  of  the  axle.  The  car  can  be  run  at  a  speed 
varying  from  4  to  40  m.p.h.,  but  4  m.p.h.  is  the  average 
speed  when  cutting  through  heavy  grass  and  weeds. 
Two  men  are  required  to  operate  the  apparatus,  while 
the  average  cost  per  car-mile  is  70.2  cents.  This  cost 
includes  labor,  repairs  to  machinery,  oil,  gasoline,  etc. 
The  same  work  performed  by  hand  would  cost  several 
times  this  amount.  One  of  these  machines  will  easily 
take  care  of  300  miles  of  track. 


How  to  Machine  Aluminum 

THE  use  of  aluminum  to  an  increasing  extent  in  the 
railway  industry  to  secure  lightness  of  parts  has 
introduced  questions  regarding  proper  methods  for 
machining.  Some  very  good  practical  advice  on  this 
subject  is  given  in  a  handbook  published  by  the  British 
Aluminum  Company. 

For  turning,  drilling  or  milling,  a  high  speed  is  best 
and  the  tool  should  have  acute  cutting  edges,  preferably 
finished  on  an  oil  stone.  For  the  clearance  angle  of  a 
lathe  tool  15  deg.  to  20  deg.  is  advised  and  with  a  smaller 
angle  a  5  deg.  top  rake  is  given.  This  top  rake  should  be 
modified  according  to  the  rigidity  of  the  work,  as  with 
light  work  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  tool  to  dig  into  the 
metal.  Cutting  speeds  of  about  600  ft.  per  minute  are 
permissible  and  a  heavier  and  faster  speed  may  be  used 
than  can  be  used  with  brass. 

For  screwing  purposes  the  British  Aluminum  Com- 
pany supplies  a  special  alloy  and  recommends  the  use 


of  paraffin  as  a  lubricant  instead  of  turpentine,  which 
tends  to  leave  a  resincus  deposit  and  may  cause  the 
screw  to  bind. 

In  milling  the  best  results  are  said  to  be  obtained  by 
the  use  of  a  built-up  tool,  the  cutters  being  ground  with 
sharp  corners.  The  cutters  should  only  cut  at  the 
extreme  points  and  not  have  a  scraping  action  as  with 
brass.  Cutter  speeds  of  500  to  600  ft.  per  minute  are 
used.  For  grinding  aluminum  the  wheel  of  any  type 
such  as  emery,  corundum  or  carborundum  should  first 
have  a  piece  of  paraffin  wax  held  against  it  to  fill  up  the 
pores.  The  company  states  that  crystolon  grinding 
wheels  give  best  results. 

It  is  advised  that  filing  be  done  with  a  single  cut  file, 
as  other  files  are  plugged  easily  and  require  frequent 
cleaning  with  a  brush.  A  quick  method  of  cleaning  is 
to  immerse  the  file  in  a  strong  solution  of  caustic  soda 
which  dissolves  aluminum,  but  the  file  so  treated  must 
afterward  be  washed  in  water  and  dried  in  sawdust  as 
it  will  rust  quickly.  For  finished  filing  the  file  should  be 
kept  wet  with  paraffin  or  even  with  water. 


Adjustable  Change  Carrier 

ANEW  change  carrier  which  is  to  be  manufactured 
by  A.  F.  Nelson,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  and  distributed 
by  the  Cleveland  Fare  Box  Company,  has  the  particular 
feature  that  it  can  be  adjusted  to  eject  from  one  to 
five  coins  of  any  denomination  by  simply  turning  a 
thumb  screw  at  the  base  of  each  barrel.  It  is  a  lever- 
operated  changer, 
utilizing  a  flat 
spring  made  of 
special  n  o  n  -  corro- 
sive metal  and  bent 
to  the  proper  form 
without  tempering, 
instead  of  the  usual 
steel  spring,  a  fea- 
ture which  it  is 
claimed  will  elimi- 
nate breakage.  The 
carrier  is  made 
entirely  of  liberty 
silver  to  avoid  rust 
or  tarnish  and 
rather  generously 
proportioned  to  give 

a  capacity  which  is  said  to  be  33  per  cent  greater  than 
any  other  change  carrier  on  the  market.  When  made  up 
with  four  barrels  it  weighs  12  ounces  and  measures  5  in. 
wide  by  51  in.  high  over  all.  The  barrels  are  4  in.  long. 
The  top  of  the  device  is  hinged  so  that  it  may  be  raised 
more  readily  to  insert  coins  or  for  the  purpose  of  empty- 
ing all  of  the  coins  out  of  the  changer,  upon  making  the 
turn-in. 

The  usual  location  of  the  barrels  has  been  reversed 
so  that  those  containing  the  smaller,  more  frequently 
used  coins  are  on  the  right-hand  side.  This  is  claimed 
to  save  the  conductor  from  the  necessity  of  reaching 
across  the  carrier  to  the  left-hand  side  many  times, 
lessening  his  work  and  quickening  change  making. 

The  ready  adjustment  of  the  ejector  is  said  to  be 
particularly  advantageous  when  a  conductor  changes 
from  hand  collection  to  fare  box  collection  in  taking 
out  different  cars,  for  it  is  only  a  matter  of  a  few  sec- 
onds to  readjust  the  ejector  to  fit  the  case.  The  device 
is  called  the  "Rapid  Ready-Lever  Change  Carrier." 


New  Adjustable-Ejector 
Change  Carrier 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


449 


Programs  of  Meetings 

National  Association  of  Railway  & 
Utilities  Commissioners 

THE  thirty-third  annual  convention 
of  the  National  Association  of  Rail- 
way &  Utilities  Commissioners  will  be 
held  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Oct.  11  to  14  in- 
clusive. The  headquarters  and  place 
of  meeting  will  be  the  Ansley  Hotel. 
The  following  program  is  announced : 

Tuesday,  Oct.  11 

Morning  Session:  Address  of  welcome 
— Thomas  W.  Hardwick,  Governor  of 
Georgia;  annual  address  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  association — James  A. 
Perry  of  Georgia.  Afternoon  Session: 
Report  by  John  E.  Benton,  general  so- 
licitor of  the  association. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  12 

Morning  Session:  Consideration  of 
reports  of  standing  committees;  an- 
nual election  of  officers.  Afternoon 
Session:  Address  by  Hon.  Joseph  B. 
Eastman,  member  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission ;  round-table  discussion, 
topic:  "After-the-War  Phases  of  Regu- 
lation," chairman,  Hon.  E.  I.  Lewis, 
member  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion, formerly  State  Commissioner  of 
Indiana. 

Thursday,  Oct.  13 

Morning  Session:  Reports  of  three 
committees — valuation,  litigation  and 
state  and  federal  legislation.  Afternoon 
Session:  Round-table  discussion,  topic: 
"Automobile  Transportation — Omnibus 
and  Jitney,"  chairman,  Hon.  George 
McAneny,  chairman  New  York  Transit 
Commission;  automobile  drive  about  the 
city  of  Atlanta  as  guests  of  the  Presi- 
dents Club  of  Atlanta.  Thursday 
Evening:  Annual  dinner  at  Piedmont 
Driving  Club  as  guests  of  Presidents 
Club  of  Atlanta. 

Friday  Oct.  14 

Morning  and  Afternoon  Sessions: 
Devoted  to  reports  of  committees  and 
discussions;  some  time  during  this  day 
the  convention  will  be  addressed  by 
M.  H.  Aylesworth,  executive-manager 
of  the  National  Electric  Light  Associa- 
tion. 


be  delivered  by  John  E.  Cullen,  United 
Railways  &  Electric  Company,  Balti- 
more, Md.,  entitled  "The  Attitude  of  the 
Public  Toward  the  Railway  s  Participa- 
tion in  No-Accident  Week  Campaigns." 
A  discussion  will  follow  on  "National- 
izing and  Standardizing  Railroad  Cross- 
ing and  Grade  Signs,"  by  R.  S.  Mes- 
enger,  claim  agent  of  the  Rochester  & 
Syracuse  Railroad,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 


Pacific  Claim  Agents  Meet 

THE  Pacific  Claim  Agents  Associa- 
tion  held   its   annual    meeting  in 
Butte,  Mont.,  on  Aug.  25,  26  and  27, 


with  representatives  of  most  of  the 
leading  Pacific  coast  electric  railway 
companies  in  attendance.  A  series  of 
eight  papers  were  presented  at  the 
meeting,  all  covering  live  questions  in 
the  claims  department. 

The  following  officers  were  elected  for 
the  ensuing  year:  President,  Frank  D. 
Oaklen,  Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway, 
Tacoma,  Wash.;  first  vice-president,  C. 
M.  McRoberts,  Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Rail- 
way; second  vice-president,  P.  0.  Solon, 
Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Tacoma,  Wash.;  third  vice-president, 
J.  W.  Grace,  Sacramento  (Cal.)  North- 
ern Railway. 


Convention  Entertainment 
Features 

IN  AN  attractive  leaflet  just  issued  by 
association  headquarters,  there  is 
outlined  in  connection  with  the  daily 
program  of  the  convention  at  Atlantic 
City  the  various  entertainment  features 
which  have  been  arranged  for  the  idle 
hours. 


National  Safety  Council 

AT  THE  Tenth  Annual  Congress  of 
the  National  Safety  Council  to  be 
held  at  the  State  House,  Boston,  Sept. 
26  to  Sept.  30,  there  will  be  meetings 
of  the  Automotive  Section,  Chemical, 
Construction,  Education,  Electric  Rail- 
way, Engineering,  Mining  and  many 
others. 

The  first  session  of  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Section,  to  be  held  on  Sept.  27, 
will  include  an  address  by  F.  R.  Coates, 
president  and  general  manager  of  the 
Toledo  Railway  &  Light  Company,  en- 
titled "Reflections  of  the  Executives  on 
Safety,"  and  "Rejecting  the  Grundys 
from  Safety  First,"  a  discussion  by 
Miss  Laura  Roadifer  of  the  Philadel- 
phia (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Company. 
At  the  second  session  an  address  will 


FEATURES 

 OT 


CONVENTION 


\  ATLANTIC 
CITY 

OCTOBER  id  to 


Attractive  Cover  of  Convention  Leaflet 

Early  birds  at  Atlantic  City  will  find 
arrangements  for  the  golf  tournament 
to  start  on  Sunday,  Oct.  2,  all  ready 
for  them.  A  Sunday  evening  musical 
concert  at  the  Marlborough-Blenheim 
has  also  been  arranged. 

On  Monday  evening  the  annual  re- 
ception has  been  scheduled  in  the  Vene- 
tian ballroom,  Hotel  Ambassador,  at 
8  p.m.,  which  hotel  has  been  designated 
as  the  social  headquarters  for  the  con- 
vention. 

On  Tuesday  evening  a  combined  din- 
ner and  evening  meeting  have  been  ar- 
ranged as  previously  announced,  this 
also  to  be  held  at  the  Hotel  Ambassa- 
dor, Renaissance  Room. 


On  Wednesday  evening  in  the  same 
room  at  the  Hotel  Ambassador  will  be 
held  the  annual  ball. 

No  special  arrangements  have  been 
made  for  the  last  evening,  Thursday, 
but  the  entertainment  committee  calls 
attention  to  the  various  attractions  at 
the  theaters  along  the  Boardwalk. 

As  usual  the  entertainment  commit- 
tee has  provided  an  interesting  pro- 
gram for  the  ladies  in  attendance  at 
the  convention.  On  Monday  afternoon 
will  be  held  the  obstacle  golf  tourna- 
ment. 

On  Tuesday  afternoon  there  will  be 
an  informal  afternoon  tea  for  the 
ladies  at  the  Hotel  Ambassador,  with 
special  orchestra.  On  Wednesday  after- 
noon the  usual  ladies'  bridge  tourna- 
ment will  be  held  and  on  Thursday 
afternoon  in  the  Trellis  Room  of  the 
new  Ritz-Carlton  will  be  held  a  ladies' 
tea  party.  Music  will  be  furnished  by 
Veschey's  Parisian  band. 

The  leaflet  also  contains  all  of  the 
regular  program  material,  the  whole  ar- 
ranged by  days.  It  forms  an  interest- 
ing reminder  of  the  advantages  of  at- 
tending the  convention  and  should  tend 
to  encourage  those  who  may  at  present 
be  in  doubt  to  come  to  Atlantic  City  as 
they  should. 


Executive  Committees  Meet 
at  Atlantic  City 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  nest- 
ings of  the  Amei-ican,  T.  &  T.  and 
Engineering  Associations  have  been 
called  to  convene  at  Atlantic  City  on 
Sunday  and  Monday,  Oct.  2  and  3.  All 
of  them  will  be  held  at  the  Marl- 
borough-Blenheim  as  follows: 

The  meeting  of  the  American  execu- 
tive committee  will  be  hold  on  Monday, 
Oct.  3,  at  11  o'clock. 

The  meeting;  of  the  T.  &  T.  executive 
committee  will  be  held  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, Oct.  2,  at  9  o'clock  Eastern  stand- 
ard time,  in  the  committee  room  on  the 
first  floor  below  the  office. 

The  meeting-  of  the  Engineering  ex- 
ecutive committee  will  be  held  in  the 
committee  room  on  the  first  floor  below 
the  office  on  Sunday  morning.  Oct.  2, 
at  11  o'clock,  Eastern  standard  time. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Detroit's  Municipal  to  Buy 
Canadian  Power 

Negotiations  are  being  continued  be- 
tween the  city  and  the  Hydro-Electric 
Power  Commission  of  Ontario  for  the 
importation  of  power  to  Detroit  to  oper- 
ate the  municipal  street  railway  sys- 
tem. The  commission  has  offered  power 
to  the  city  at  $36  per  horsepower,  but 
Mayor  Couzens  is  confident  that  he  will 
be  able  to  obtain  it  at  a  lower  price  than 
that. 

The  Mayor  intimated  that  he  favored 
importation  of  power  commencing  on  a 
small  scale,  possibly  not  more  than  10,- 
000  or  15,000  hp.  By  bringing  power 
in  on  a  small  scale  at  first  the  Mayor 
says  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  make 
any  great  capital  investment  and  the 
commission  could  provide  the  city  with 
15,000  hp.  from  the  lines  already  run- 
ning between  Windsor  and  Niagara 
Falls. 

Mayor  Taking  No  Chances 

According  to  the  Detroit  Free  Press 
the  Mayor  is  quoted  as  saying:  "I  be- 
lieve we  will  do  better  by  importing 
only  a  small  amount  at  the  beginning. 
Take  any  large  business  and  the  men 
behind  it  will  tell  you  that  had  they 
started  business  on  a  large  scale  they 
would  have  made  a  mistake.  If  we  go 
into  this  business  on  a  small  scaie  at 
first,  we  will  make  fewer  mistakes,  and 
as  there  is  practically  no  capital  invest- 
ment, we  stand  no  chance  of  a  loss." 

When  negotiations  first  started  with 
the  Ontario  commission,  the  Mayor  be- 
lieved that  eventually  it  would  be  possi- 
ble to  provide  sufficient  power  to  enable 
the  city  to  retail  it  to  industrial  con- 
cerns. 


a  portable  substation  which  was  des- 
troyed by  fire  as  the  result  of  lightning. 
This  was  located  on  the  line  of  the  Chi- 
cago &  Interurban  Traction  Company 
at  a  point  known  as  Stone  Quarry, 
about  midway  between  Harvey  and  Chi- 
cago Heights,  111.  The  car  on  which  the 
substation  equipment  was  mounted  was 
built  with  a  wood  underframe  and 
corrugated  iron  superstructure.  The 
equipment  and  car  were  a  practically 
complete  loss.  The  substation  was  cov- 
ered by  insurance. 

On  the  same  evening  lightning  caused 
an  interruption  in  the  high-tension 
power  supply  of  the  Chicago,  North 
Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad,  which  was 
so  serious  that  service  was  off  on  the 
north  end  of  the  line  from  6  o'clock 
until  the  following  morning. 


Labor  Men  Told  What  They 
May  Expect 

The  city  administration  and  the 
street  railway  commission  will  not  dis- 
cuss wages  and  working  conditions 
until  the  entire  municipal  system  has 
been  completed,  Mayor  Couzens  re- 
cently informed  the  Detroit  Federation 
of  Labor. 

The  Mayor  stated  that  the  street 
railways  now  operating  did  not  bring 
in  returns  sufficient  to  pay  the  bond 
interest  nor  the  taxes  nor  put  anything 
aside  for  a  sinking  fund  and  that  the' 
city  was  in  no  position  to  discuss  wages 
or  working  conditions  until  the  whole 
system  was  in  operation  so  it  could 
determine  its  financial  situation  under 
the  complete  scheme. 


Chaotic  Conditions  in  Dayton 

Immediate  Action  Necessary  if  Transportation  Catastrophe  Not 
Unlike  Des  Moines  Is  to  Be  Avoided 

The  electric  railway  situation  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  presents  a  problem  probably 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  Ohio  municipalities.  The  most  pressing  immedi- 
ate need  is  to  restore  co-operation,  such  as  existed  between  the  operating  com- 
panies prior  to  the  trainmen's  strike  in  July.  There  are  four  independently 
operated  systems  in  Dayton  and  they  have  been  rent  by  dissension  since  the 
strike. 


Lightning  Destroys  Substation 

A  terrific  electrical  storm  swept  over 
Chicago  and  the  surrounding  country 
in  the  early  evening  on  July  7  and 
caused  considerable  disturbance  to  the 
various  electric  railways.  The  accom- 
panying picture  shows  the  remains  of 


A  S  A  result  of  the  difference  among 
/A  the  railways,  the  bus  lines,  which 
■*  ■*  have  been  in  operation  since  July, 
are  making  a  very  strong  bid  for  the 
passenger  business  of  the  city,  but 
to  date  their  success  has  been  of  no 
large  consequence  other  than  the  as- 
sistance obtained  from  the  City  Com- 
mission, which,  following  the  strike, 
passed  an  ordinance  compelling  the 
railways  to  reduce  fares  from  7  to  5 
cents. 

In  addition  to  the  four  railway  sys- 
tems, two  interurban  companies — the 
Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton  Trac- 
tion Company  and  the  Dayton  &  Xenia 
Traction  Company — operate  lines  from 
the  heart  of  the  city  to  the  outlying 


Portable  Substation  Destroyed  by  Lightning  and  Fire 


suburbs.  The  other  interurban  lines, 
which  merely  enter  the  municipality, 
are  the  Dayton  &  Western  Traction 
Company,  the  Dayton  &  Troy  Traction 
Company,  the  Dayton,  Covington  & 
Piqua  Traction  Company  and  the 
Indiana  &  Eastern  Traction  Company. 

The  break  among  the  city  railway 
systems  resulted  when  the  People's 
Railway  and  the  Dayton  Street  Rail- 
way granted  their  employees  48  cents 
an  hour,  instead  of  45  cents,  which  the 
motormen  and  conductors  on  the  lines 
of  the  City  Railway  and  the  Oakwood 
Street  Railway  are  receiving  today. 
Officials  of  the  latter  companies  would 
not  yield  to  the  demands  of  their  em- 
ployees, and  as  a  result  many  of  the 
men  operating  the  cars  on  these  lines 
are  non-union,  while  the  union  is  picket- 
ing and  urging  the  people  not  to  ride 
on  the  cars  operated  by  these  com- 
panies. 

When  the  men  went  on  strike  the 
Oakwood  Street  Railway  and  the  City 
Railway,  which  is  the  largest  of  the 
four  systems,  informed  their  employees 
that  they  could  not  pay  them  more 
than  45  cents  an  hour  and  that  if 
this  pay  was  not  satisfactory  the  men 
need  not  return  for  work.  Following 
the  first  day  of  the  strike,  the  city 
manager  of  Dayton  informed  the  offi- 
cials of  the  Oakwood  and  the  City  Rail- 
ways that  if  they  did  not  operate  their 
cars  the  city  would. 

Non-union   men  were   employed  to 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


451 


take  the  places  of  the  strikers,  and 
in  twenty-four  hours  after  the  city 
manager's  order  was  issued  every  car 
on  the  lines  of  these  two  companies 
was  running.  In  the  meantime  the 
People's  Railway  and  the  Dayton 
Street  Railway  settled  the  controversy 
with  their  employees,  who  returned  to 
their  posts,  after  an  idleness  of  four 
days,  for  48  cents  an  hour.  This  was 
3  cents  more  on  the  hour  than  the 
motormen  and  conductors  were  receiv- 
ing on  any  of  the  other  city  railway 
systems.  Prior  to  the  strike  trainmen 
employed  by  the  four  companies  were 
getting  62  cents  an  hour. 

Bus  Lines  Now  Operating 

Immediately  following  the  strike  the 
City  Commission  licensed  bus  lines, 
.vhich  are  still  in  operation.  These 
carriers  to  date  have  offered  most 
competition  to  the  City  Railway  and 
the  Oakwood  Street  Railway,  which 
are  the  only  roads  that  refuse  to  rec- 
ognize the  union.  The  trade  of  the 
buses,  which  are  competing  with  the 
railways  under  conditions  most  un- 
favorable to  the  trolleys,  is  largely 
drawn  from  union  sympathizers  and 
visitors. 

The  Oakwood  Street  Railway  prob- 
ably felt  the  effect  of  the  strike  less 
than  any  of  the  other  lines,  because  70 
per  cent  of  its  employees  are  non-union 
and  the  places  of  the  union  men  were 
easily  filled. 

Shortly  after  the  People's  Railway 
and  the  Dayton  Street  Railway  settled 
their  differences  with  employees  the 
City  Commission  adopted  an  ordinance 
requiring  the  operating  companies  to 
reduce  fares  as  follows:  Adults,  5 
cents;  children,  3  cents;  transfers,  1 
cent.  Under  the  old  system  fares  were 
7  cents  for  adults  and  4  cents  for  chil- 
dren, with  transfers  free.  The  rail- 
ways put  the  new  rate  in  effect  on 
Aug.  27,  although  the  date  specified  in 
the  ordinance  was  Sept.  17. 

Dayton  has  not  been  free  in  the  past 
from  occasional  bickerings  between  the 
railways  and  the  city,  but  with  the 
adoption  of  the  commission  form  of 
government,  which  gave  the  city  offi- 
cials a  wider  range  of  action,  the  rail- 
ways and  other  utilities  came  under 
fire.  In  other  words,  in  the  public 
utility  industry  Dayton  has  become 
known  as  a  "tough"  town  in  which  to 
operate.  Despite  all  these  hindrances 
the  railways  have  thus  far  evaded  re- 
ceivership. 

New  Fare  Ordinance  Opposed 

W.  A.  Keyes,  president  of  the  Day- 
ton Street  Railway,  said  that  the  new 
ordinance  regulating  fares  eventually 
would  mean  the  confiscation  of  the 
company's  assets.  When  the  time  ar- 
rived that  his  company  could  no  longer 
operate  under  the  new  fare  provision, 
it  reserved  the  right  to  adopt  such  a 
course,  without  regard  to  the  fare  ordi- 
nance, as  was  best  calculated  to  pro- 
tect the  interests  of  the  stockholders. 

The  railway  officials  opposed  the  new 
fare  ordinance  on  the  ground  that  the 


City  Commission  was  making  no  stren- 
uous effort  at  the  time  the  measure 
was  passed  to  eliminate  the  bus  lines. 
The  bus  lines,  according  to  the  trac- 
tion officials,  were  to  cease  operation 
after  the  railways  had  restored  ade- 
quate transportation  service.  Today 
the  bus  lines  are  operating  on  a  basis 
of  $11  a  month,  $10  of  which  is  na- 
tional tax  and  $1  city  tax. 

The  railway  officials  contend  that  if 
the  City  Commission  permits  the  bus 
lines  to  operate  on  the  present  basis 
it  will  drive  the  railways  from  the 
field.  On  the  other  hand,  the  question 
is  raised  as  to  where,  in  the  event  they 
cease  to  function,  is  the  city  going  to 
collect  the  $250,000  revenue  which 
comes  from  the  railways  yearly.  In 
addition  to  the  $250,000  tax,  the  rail- 
ways bear  a  certain  portion  of  the  cost 
of  improving  streets  on  which  their 
cars  operate.  Under  the  present  ar- 
rangement the  bus  lines,  for  $11  a 
month,  are  permitted  to  operate  over 
streets  which  the  railways  help  to  keep 
in  condition.  They  are  also  permitted 
to  do  business  without  indemnity  in- 
surance. 

Compelled  to  Cut  Wages 

Henry  Gebhart,  general  manager  of 
the  Oakwood  Street  Railway,  said  that 
the  road  was  compelled  to  cut  the  em- 
ployees' wages  to  meet  operating  ex- 
penses. Last  year  the  company,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Gebhart,  had  to  borrow 
money  to  meet  its  obligations.  Mr. 
Gebhart  said  that  before  the  company 
would  continue  such  a  policy  it  would 
junk  the  equipment.  In  an  interview 
with  a  representative  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  Mr.  Gebhart  said : 

The  amazing  thing  is  the  fact  that  em- 
ployees on  our  road  wanted  a  higher  wage 
on  an  open-shop  basis  than  the  men  em- 
ployed on  the  line  of  the  Cincinnati,  Hamil- 
ton &  Dayton  Traction  Company,  which  is 
the  only  strictly  closed-shop  line  operating 
in  this  territory. 

Another  important  feature  is  that 
no  wage  agreements  are  made  between 
the  companies  and  employees.  Every- 
thing is  done  by  bulletin.  The  action 
of  the  People's  Railway  and  the  Day- 
ton Street  Railway  in  granting  their 
employees  48  cents  an  hour  instead  of 
45  cents  did  not  meet  with  the  approval 
of  the  two  other  city  systems.  This 
has  caused  dissatisfaction  on  both  sides 
and  may  provp  detrimental  to  the  com- 
bined systems  at  this  particular  time, 
when  the  bus  lines  are  attempting  to 
disrupt  this  business. 

The  Bulletin  of  July  19  setting  forth 

the  scale  of  wages,  with  arbitration, 

accepted    by    the    employees    of  the 

People's  Street  Railway  follows: 

1.  Properly  authorized  officials  of  the 
company  shall  meet  and  treat  with  a  prop- 
erly accredited  committee  of  the  employees 
upon  any  and  all  grievances  and  complaints, 
except  that  of  dishonesty,  that  may  arise 
between  them  during  the  life  of  this  bulle- 
tin. If  an  agreement  cannot  be  reached  in 
this  manner,  the  question  in  dispute  shall 
be  immediately  submitted  to  a  board  of 
arbitration,  composed  of  three  men,  one  of 
whom  shall  be  selected  by  the  company, 
one  shall  be  selected  by  the  employees, 
both  to  be  selected  within  a  period  of  ten 
days  from  date  of  notice  of  submission  to 
arbitration.  The  third  arbitrator  shall  be 
selected  by  the  two  arbitrators  first  chosen, 
provided  they  can  agree  within  a  period  of 


five  days  ;  upon  failure  to  agree  within  the 
specified  time  they  shall  jointly  request 
the  appointment  of  a  third  arbitrator  by 
the  Judge  of  the  United  States  Court  for 
this  District. 

When  this  board  is  complete  they  shall 
meet  daily  for  the  consideration  of  such 
matters  as  are  properly  before  them  and 
report  their  finding  promptly  in  writing  to 
the  parties  hereto.  The  decision  of  a  ma- 
jority of  this  board  shall  be  final  and  bind- 
ing upon  the  parties  hereto. 

2.  That  all  employees  of  the  company 
shall  immediately  return  to  their  respective 
positions  as  they  were  on  July  5,  1921, 
without  discrimination. 

3.  That  all  regular  runs  shall  be  nine 
hours  as  near  as  schedules  may  permit,  and 
that  time  and  one-half  be  paid  for  all  time 
in  excess  of  regular  scheduled  runs. 

4.  All  employees  to  return  promptly  to 
their  respective  posts  of  duty  upon  a  wage 
of  44  cents  an  hour  for  men  of  less  than 
three  months  of  service,  46  cents  an  hour 
for  those  of  three  months  and  less  than 
one  year  of  service,  48  cents  an  hour  to 
those  of  one  year  or  more,  for  a  period  of 
six  months  ;  or,  all  employees  of  the  com- 
pany shall  return  to  their  respective  posi- 
tions as  provided  above,  and  without  a  rate 
of  wages  for  a  period  of  thirty  days,  the 
rates  of  wages  shall  then  be  submitted  to 
a  board  of  arbitration  as  above  provided, 
who  in  fixing  the  award  shall  give  con- 
sideration to  two  points:  First,  a  living 
wage  for  the  employees ;  second,  the  com- 
pany's ability  to  pay.  The  findings  of  the 
board  shall  be  for  a  period  of  six  months 
from  date  of  resumption  of  service. 

5.  That  each  conductor  shall  be  furnished 
with  the  necessary  amount  of  change  for 
the  proper  operation  of  his  car. 

6.  Negotiations  upon  a  new  bulletin  shall 
be  opened  up  thirty  days  prior  to  the  date 
of  expiration  of  this  bulletin. 

7.  The  company  will,  as  in  the  past, 
maintain  the  open  shop  policy.  This  bulle- 
tin and  the  provisions  herein  shall  be  in 
force  on  and  after  July  6,  1921,  until  July 
5,  1922.  A  modification  or  repeal  of  the 
present  fare  ordinance  will  automatically 
ooen  up  the  wage  provisions  herein  for 
adjustment  after  the  six  months  period 
stated  above. 

The  same  working  agreement  was 
accepted  by  the  motormen  and  con- 
ductors on  the  line  of  the  Dayton 
Street  Railway,  although  the  bulletin 
is  worded  a  little  differently. 

The  recent  strike  was  a  repetition  of 
the  one  in  1920,  when  the  men  were 
out  on  all  systems  for  twenty-one  days. 
This  year  the  strike  lasted  sixteen 
days,  although  some  of  the  railways 
operated  cars  during  the  strike  con- 
troversy. 

New  Bus  Ordinance  Introduced 

The  City  Attorney  of  Dayton  has 
prepared  a  new  bus  line  ordinance 
which  if  passed  by  the  City  Commission 
will  virtually  put  the  bus  owners  out 
of  business.  This  measure  has  been 
given  its  first  reading  by  the  commis- 
sion. 

The  city  manager  must  approve  all 
applications  for  licenses. 

Penalties  for  violation  of  the  ordi- 
nance range  from  $50  to  $500  and  im- 
prisonment from  ten  days  to  six  months. 

Bus  owners  say  the  license  fee,  in- 
demnity bonds  and  front  and  rear  exit 
provisions  of  this  measure  if  unaltered 
will  prohibit  the  operation  of  buses  in 
Dayton.  They  are  planning  to  circu- 
late a  referendum  petition  on  the  ordi- 
nance. 

Efforts  are  being  made  by  Charles 
Mendenhall,  City  Commissioner,  who 
represents  the  labor  element,  to  have 
certain  provisions  in  the  ordinance 
changed,  so  as  to  enable  the  bus  line 
owners  to  continue  operation. 

The  proposed  ordinance  becomes 
operative  thirty  days  after  the  date  of 
passage. 


452 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


Wage  Decrease  Advised 

Nebraska  Commission  Denies  Applica- 
tion for  Fare  Increase  and  Advises 
Wage  Reduction 

The  Nebraska  State  Railway  Com- 
mission has  denied  the  Omaha  &  Coun- 
cil Bluffs  Street  Railway  an  emergency 
relief  rate  of  8  cents,  recently  request- 
ed on  account  of  a  decrease  of  nearly 
6  per  cent  in  gross  revenua  for  the 
year.  The  company  applied  for  this 
temporary  rate  pending  the  determina- 
tion of  a  permanent  rate  case  now  be- 
fore the  commission,  the  hearing  upon 
which  was  resumed  Sept.  12.  In  its 
finding  on  the  temporary  rate  applica- 
tion the  commission  recommended  that 
the  company  reduce  the  wages  of  train- 
men from  10  to  15  per  cent.  The  board 
of  directors  of  the  railway  met  Sept. 
8  and  decided  to  hold  in  abeyance  the 
wage  reduction  until  R.  A.  Leussler, 
general  manager,  shall  have  made  a 
thorough  survey  of  wage  conditions  for 
street  railway  employees  throughout 
the  country. 

On  Aug.  10,  1919,  the  commission 
authorized  the  following  temporary 
rates  which  are  now  in  effect  pending 
the  outcome  of  the  application  for  per- 
manent rates:  Cash  fare  7  cents  or 
four  tickets  for  25  cents;  children  5  to 
12  years,  ten  tickets  for  30  cents;  school 
tickets  5  cents  each.  The  application 
just  denied  asked  for  a  cash  fare  of  8 
cents  or  four  tickets  for  30  cents,  with 
children's  tickets  at  4  cents. 

Caustic  Comment  by  Commission 

The  railway  estimated  that  the  pro- 
posed 8-cent  rate  would  yie'd  increased 
revenue  of  $722,725  a  year  and  con- 
tended that  this  sum  was  required  if  a 
fair  return  on  the  value  of  the  property 
was  realized.  The  commission  found 
that  the  reduction  in  the  number  of 
revenue  passengers  has  been  4  or  5  per 
cent  compared  with  the  same  period 
a  year  ago,  and  stated  that  this  rate 
of  loss  continued  up  to  the  week  of 
Aug.  15,  1921,  when  the  loss  was  6.1 
per  cent. 

The  following  are  excerpts  from  the 
order  of  the  State  Railway  Commis- 
sion, denying  the  emergency  rate  of  8 
cents : 

Under  the  estimates  based  on  April.  1921. 
the  net  income  would  have  lacked  $111,460 
of  paying  the  interest  on  the  Nebraska  por- 
tion of  the  outstanding  bonds,  which 
amount  to  $10,000,000.  The  actual  inter- 
est deficit,  January  to  July,  inclusive,  was 
$27,009.19  ;  that  is,  the  company  lacked 
that  much  revenue  to  meet  its  bond  inter- 
est. On  this  basis,  the  total  deficit  for  the 
year  would  amount  to  $49,730.04.  which 
is  $61,730  less  than  estimated.  The  appli- 
cant has  outstanding  $4,000,000  in  pre- 
ferred stock,  covering  1he  property  as  a 
whole.  Dividends  at  5  per  cent  on  this 
preferred  stock  would  amount  to  $200,000. 
This  added  to  the  prospective  deficit  in  bond 
interest  indicates  a  total  deficit  for  the 
year  of  $250,000.  There  is  thus  presented 
a  serious  situation,  for  the  company  must, 
if  it  maintains  its  credit,  at  least  pay  the 
interest  on  outstanding  bonds,  and  it  should, 
if  its  general  credit  is  to  be  maintained,  be 
able  to  nav  the  dividends  on  its  preferred 
stock.  This  is  essential  to  the  continuation 
of  good  service,  and  the  public  for  this 
reason  is  as  vitilly  concerned  in  the  pay- 
ment of  interest  and  dividends  as  are  the 
stockholders  and  the  management. 

The  ppplicant  asserts  that  its  onlv 
remedy  is  to  increase  rates  again.  It  is 
quite    obvious,    however,    that    it   does  not 


require  $725,000  of  added  money  merely  to 
meet  interest  on  the  bonds  and  dividends 
on  the  preferred  stock.  This  is  an  emer- 
gency proceeding  and  applicant  stipulates 
orally  that  it  will  accept,  as  a  measure  of 
its  immediate  necessity,  a  net  return  suf- 
ficient to  pay  the  interest  on  its  bonds  and 
dividends  on  its  preferred  stock. 

Consideration  of  the  evidence  in  this 
record  and  of  general  industrial  and  finan- 
cial conditions,  of  which  it  must  take 
cognizance,  leads  the  commission  to  the 
conclusion  that  relief  for  the  company  lies 
not  in  again  raising  its  rates  but  in  re- 
ducing, if  that  be  possible,  its  operating 
costs.  Wages  paid  labor  have  receded  to 
a  marked  degree  throughout  the  country 
An  exhaustive  investigation  made  by  this 
commission  during  the  summer  of  1920 
prompted  by  a  threatened  strike,  disclosed 
that  the  applicant  was  at  that  time  paying 
trainmen  wages  in  most  cases  as  high  and 
in  several  cases  higher  than  is  paid  in 
other  occupations  of  a  comparable  nature. 

The  time  appears  to  be  ripe,  therefore, 
for  action  on  the  part  of  the  applicant  look- 
ing to  a  readjustment  of  its  labor  costs 
down  to.  a  basis  comparable  with  that  ex 
perienced  by  other  industries.  Laboring 
men  in  other  walks  of  life  whose  wages 
have  been  reduced  and  who  are  compelled 
to  use  the  street  cars  to  go  to  and  from 
their  work  have  a  right  to  ask  that  wages 
paid  to  street  railway  men  be  reduced 
also,  if  that  is  necessary  to  prevent  a 
further  increase  in  fare  ;  this  being  on  the 
assumption  that  street  railway  wages  were 
raised  during  the  period  of  the  war  to  meet. 
abnormal  conditions. 

The  commission  also  went  on  to  point 
out  that  other  economies  could  be  ex- 
pected as  a  result  of  a  reduction  in  ma- 
terial costs,  and  that  if  it  reduced 
wages  and  used  a  portion  of  its  depre- 
ciation reserve  allowance,  it  should  be 
well  able  to  meet  its  interest  on  bonds 
and  dividends  on  preferred  stock,  mak- 
ing unnecessary  the  increase  in  rate 
which  has  been  asked. 

The  commission  also  pointed  out  that 
the  existing  industrial  depression,  a 
large  number  of  unemployed  and  th' 
prevailing  discontent  were  such  that  :t 
was  impossible  to  estimate  or  forecast 
the  effect  of  an  increase  in  fare,  were 
it  granted.  The  increase,  unless  it 
were  very  slight,  might  result  in  accel- 
erating the  present  loss  in  traffic  where 
added  revenue  could  not  be  secured, 
and  in  its  opinion  the  necessities  of  the 
company  at  this  time  were  not  suffi- 
ciently great  to  make  it  necessary  for 
the  company  to  assume  the  hazard  of 
such  a  loss.  If,  however,  the  company, 
after  putting  into  effect  the  suggested 
economies,  still  does  not  succeed  in  ac- 
complishing results  desired,  then  the 
only  alternative  will  be  an  increase  in 
rates. 

In  a  supplementary  expression 
Thorne  H.  Brown,  member  of  the  State 
commission,  stated:  "This  utiHty  (the 
street  car  company)  is  second  to  none 
in  the  country  in  point  of  service  and 
modern  equipment.  It  has  made  an 
enviable  record  during  the  period  of 
high  operating  costs." 


Railway  Officials  at  Clam  Bake — Ed- 
ward H.  Chapin,  vice-president  of  the 
National  Car  Wheel  Company  of  Roches- 
ter, entertained  the  officials  of  the  New 
York  State  Railways  at  a  clam  bake  at 
his  cottage  at  Conesus  Lake  near  Gene- 
seo,  N.  Y.,  on  Sept.  1.  Upwards  of  fifty 
or  sixty  were  present.  Last  year  Mr. 
Chapin  entertained  the  officers  of  the 
same  company  at  a  large  dinner  at  his 
house  in  Geneseo.  A  very  enjoyable 
time  was  had  by  all  on  both  occasions. 


Detroit  Ouster  Delayed 

Merchants  Want  Issue  Put  Before 
People — Other  Railway  Matters 
Also  Submitted 

The  proposed  ouster  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  from  Fort  Street  and 
Woodward  Avenue  in  the  city  of  De- 
troit has  been  delayed  by  the  filing 
of  petitions  by  interested  business  men 
located  on  the  thoroughfares  in  ques- 
tion. The  petitioners  ask  that  the  issue 
be  put  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  Under 
the  provisions  of  the  ouster  ordinance 
passed  by  the  City  Council,  the  com- 
pany would  have  had  to  commence 
removing  its  tracks  on  Sept.  2. 

The  steps  taken  by  the  business  men 
on  both  streets  where  franchises  have 
expired  are  a  continuation  of  the  pro- 
tests against  the  removal  of  the  tracks, 
voiced  when  the  ordinance  came  up  for 
action  in  the  City  Council  following 
the  company's  refusal  to  accept  the 
offer  of  $388,000  for  the  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue  lines  made  by 
the  Street  Railway  Commission. 

The  filing  of  the  petitions  to  put 
the  question  on  the  ballot  will  delay 
the  ouster  proceedings,  and  has  been 
termed  a  stumbling  block  to  the  munic- 
ipal program  by  Mayor  Couzens. 
Other  Questions  Go  to  Vote 

Two  other  questions  pertaining  to 
street  railways  will  probably  be  voted 
on  at  the  primaries  on  Oct.  11.  A  res- 
olution has  been  presented  to  the 
Council  at  the  request  of  Mayor 
Couzens  providing  for  a  vote  on  a 
charter  amendment  enabling  the  Street 
Railway  Commission  of  the  city  of 
Detroit  to  acquire,  construct  or  pur- 
chase and  to  own,  maintain  and  oper- 
ate gasoline  motor  buses,  trackless 
trolleys  or  such  other  type  of  trackless 
transportation  as  may  be  deemed  nec- 
essary or  desirable  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  transportation  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  city  within  a  distance 
of  10  miles  from  any  portion  of  its 
corporate  limits  that  the  public  con- 
venience may  require,  together  with  all 
required  equipment. 

The  other  question  to  be  incorporated 
in  the  amendment  is  a  provision  that 
contracts  of  construction,  purchase  or 
other  matters  entered  into  by  the  Board 
of  Street  Railway  Commissioners  shall 
not  be  required  to  be  made  through  the 
department  of  Purchases  and  Supplies 
and  shall  not  require  the  confirmation 
or  approval  of  the  Common  Council. 

The  buses  and  equipment  referred  to 
may  be  operated  either  independently 
of,  or  in  conjunction  with  the  Municipal 
Street  Railway  System.  This  will  set- 
tle an  issue  existing  among  the  council- 
men  as  to  whether  or  not  purchases 
for  the  Street  Railway  Commission 
must  be  made  through  the  Department 
of  Purchases  and  Supplies  the  same 
as  for  other  city  departments. 

Arbitration  of  the  price  to  be  fixed 
on  the  day-to-day  lines  which  the  city 
seeks  to  take  over  from  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  was  further  delayed 
for  additional  investigation  with  regard 
to  the  value  of  materials  and  equip- 


September  17,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


453 


ment  involved.  The  taking  of  testimo- 
ny in  the  hearing'  relative  to  the  valua- 
tion of  the  29  miles  of  day-to-day  lines 
was  reported  as  completed  at  the  City 
Hall.  It  is  not  expected  that  a  final 
evaluation  will  be  reached  or  the  find- 
ings of  the  board  presented  for  several 
days. 


200,000  Fewer  Riders  a  Day 
in  Cleveland 

Further  efforts,  some  of  them  of  the 
most  drastic  nature,  are  being  taken 
by  the  Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway  in  an 
effort  to  end  heavy  losses  the  company 
is  incurring  by  reason  of  a  tremendous 
falling  off  in  its  receipts,  due  to  heavy 
decreases  in  the  number  of  car  riders. 

The  company  is  now  carrying  200,- 
000  fewer  riders  each  day  than  the  same 
time  a  year  ago.  During  July,  for  ex- 
ample, the  number  of  car  riders  for  the 
month  dropped  to  32,396,891,  a  decrease 
of  nearly  17  per  cent  over  the  number 
carried  in  July,  1920.  Passenger  earn- 
ings were  $1,382,733.  This  is  a  loss  of 
more  than  7  per  cent  over  the  same 
month  a  year  previous,  although  the 
cash  fare  is  now  1  cent  higher  than  it 
was  then  and  the  ticket  rate  is  \  cent 
higher. 

As  a  result  of  the  decrease  in  the 
number  of  car  riders  resulting  in  great 
losses  of  revenue,  the  company's  inter- 
est fund,  which  is  the  fare  barometer, 
now  shows  a  deficit  of  $139,254.  It 
originally  contained  $500,000  and  calls 
for  a  fare  reduction  when  it  reaches 
$700,000  and  a  fare  increase  when  it 
drops  below  $300,000.  However,  the 
company  is  now  operating  at  the  maxi- 
mum rate  of  fare  permitted  by  the  ordi- 
nance, namely,  6  cents  cash,  nine  tickets 
for  50  cents,  with  a  1-cent  charge  for 
transfer. 

Steps  now  being  taken  to  curtail  the 
company's  losses  are: 

1.  Operation  of  one-man  cars  at  least  on 
one  line. 

2.  Establishment  of  a  five-day  work  week 
for  employees  in  the  company's  main  shops 
at  Harvard  Avenue  and  East  Forty-ninth 
Street. 

3.  Curtailment  of  all  except  vitally  essen- 
tial maintenance  wor  k. 

4.  Further  salary  and  wage  reductions 
now  under  consideration  as  well  as  reduc- 
tion in  the  daily  hours  for  shop  men  from 
nine  to  eight  hours. 

Operation  of  the  one-man  cars  takes 
effect  on  the  Harvard-Dennison  cross 
town  line  beginning  Sept.  16.  The 
eighteen  cars  on  that  line  will  be 
manned  by  only  a  motorman.  This 
will  decrease  the  number  of  conductors 
by  twenty. 

So  as  to  prevent  any  confusion  when 
one-man  car  operation  goes  into  effect, 
the  company  moved  the  fare  box  for- 
ward and  for  a  week  prior  to  the 
change  the  conductor  has  been  collect- 
ing fares  and  issuing  transfers  at  the 
front  end  of  the  car. 

John  J.  Stanley,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, says  that  if  the  one-man  opera- 
tion is  a  success,  cars  on  other  lines 
will  be  operated  in  a  similar  manner. 

In  July  the  company's  mileage  run 
was  3,026,802,  a  decrease  of  11  per  cent. 
In  view  of  the  heavy  decrease  in  travel 
due  to  the  industrial  depression,  further- 
cuts  have  been  ordered. 


Saginaw's  Patience  Tried 
During  Fair  Week 

Five  weeks  ago  the  Saginaw-Bay 
City  Railway  went  into  the  hands  of  a 
receiver.  Since  then  Saginaw  along 
with  Bay  City,  a  neighboring  corn- 
community,  has  been  forced  to  accept 
jitney  buses  as  the  only  means  of 
transportation.  "How  much  longer  is 
this  going  to  last?"  has  been  a  question 
asked  many  times  recently,  but  the 
owners  of  the  railway  and  Otto  Schupp, 
the  receiver  appointed  by  the  United 
States  district  court,  have  had  nothing 
to  say.  Apparently  the  suspension  is 
indefinite. 

County  Fair  Week 

This  week  the  annual  county  fair  is 
taking  place.  The  traffic  has  been  so 
heavy  that  the  jitneys  and  other  make- 
shift conveyances  which  have  been 
brought  into  use  have  failed  to  carry 
the  crowds.  As  a  result  Mayor  B.  N. 
Mercer,  who  has  always  contended  the 
city  should  have  electric  railway  serv- 
ice exclusively,  has  asked  all  owners  of 
automobiles  on  the  way  to  the  fair  to 
pick  up  people  not  so  fortunate.  In 
1920  more  than  250,000  persons  went 
through  the  turnstiles  at  the  fair 
grounds.  The  fair  management,  cog- 
nizant of  the  need  for  electric  railway 
service,  did  everything  in  its  power  to 
get  street  cars  running  for  this  week, 
but  the  company  said  it  was  beyond  its 
jurisdiction  to  resume  service,  and  the 
receiver  has  been  out  of  the  city  for  the 
past  two  weeks  and  could  not  be 
reached.  Even  had  Mr.  Schupp  been  in 
town  it  is  doubtful  if  a  satisfactory 
arrangement  could  have  been  made. 

Since  the  railway  suspended  the 
Council  has  had  up  for  consideration 
the  matter  of  passing  a  suitable  ordi- 
nance regulating  the  buses,  but  it  has 
not  been  passed  for  the  simple  reason 
the  members  started  in  to  require  a 
suitable  indemnity  bond  for  compensa- 
tion if  any  of  the  passengers  were  in- 
jured and  the  jitney  owners  said  that  if 
the  Council  passed  the  ordinance  they 
would  ask  a  referendum  on  the  ques- 
tion. The  members  of  the  Council  then 
gracefully  backed  down. 

Mayor  Favors  Insurance 

The  Mayor  took  the  stand  that  each 
bus  should  carry  a  policy  which  would 
provide  $5,000  for  the  injuries  to  one 
person,  or  $5,000  for  one  accident.  The 
bus  owners  claimed  the  premium  was 
prohibitive.  The  other  members  finally 
agreed  to  a  $25,000  policy  for  one  acci- 
dent and  now  matters  have  reached  a 
point  where  the  Councilmen  are  about 
ready  to  accept  a  policy  of  $1,000  for 
one  person  and  $5,000  for  one  accident. 

Several  companies  have  offered  to 
come  into  the  city  and  operate  motor 
buses,  but  as  yet  nothing  has  come  of 
these  offers.  One  Detroit  concern 
wanted  $150,000  worth  of  transportation 
sold  in  advance,  but  this  was  finally  dis- 
approved by  the  board  of  commerce  com- 
mittee which  investigated  the  proposi- 
tion. The  Imperial  Omnibus  Company, 
New  York,  has  forwarded  a  proposition 


to  establish  a  line  in  Saginaw  and  offi- 
cials of  the  company  may  be  invited  to 
present  their  plan. 


Wage  Cut  in  Topeka 

Wages  of  employees  of  the  Topeka 
(Kan.)  Railway  have  been  cut  from 
7i  to  10  per  cent,  effective  to  Dec.  31. 

The  new  wage  award  in  cents  per 
hour  is  as  follows : 

Two-man  One-man 


cars 

cars 

First  six  months  

40 

43 

Second  six  months  

41 

44 

Third  six  months  

42 

45 

Fourth  six  months  

43 

46 

Fifth  six  months  and  after 

47 

50 

In  a  statement  issued  in  connection 
with  the  Topeka  wage  adjustment 
Judge  W.  L.  Huggins  said  that  the 
railway  property  was  suffering  finan- 
cially from  the  jitney  competition  in 
the  city,  that  only  a  very  meager  re- 
turn upon  its  investment  was  being- 
made.  However,  living  costs  have  come 
down  20  per  cent  since  the  former  wage 
award  of  1920  and  that  it  was  on  this 
decrease  that  the  recent  cut  was  based. 


10  Per  Cent  Wage  Cut 
in  Fort  Wayne 

Officials  of  the  Indiana  Service  Cor- 
poration, Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  have  an- 
nounced a  reduction  in  wages  effective 
on  Sept.  16  of  approximately  10  per 
cent,  affecting  practically  all  employees. 
A  decrease  in  business,  with  a  falling 
off  in  the  number  of  passengers  han- 
dled on  the  city  lines  during  the  previ- 
ous month  as  compared  with  the  same 
month  of  last  year,  is  given  as  the  rea- 
son for  the  action. 

Robert  Feustel,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, in  commenting  on  the  reduction, 
said : 

Our  company  has  been  up  against  the 
same  decreases  in  business  that  have 
affected  all  other  lines  of  industry.  These 
decreases  have  been  continuous  since  the 
first  of  this  year.  We  have  been  slow  in 
making  the  reductions  in  wages  because 
we  were  slower  than  some  of  the  indus- 
tries in  making  increases  in  the  past. 

Our  increases  in  the  past  were  made 
regardless  of  our  ability  to  afford  them, 
but  because  the  increased  cost  of  living- 
made  increased  wages  absolutely  necessary. 
For  six  months  after  our  increase  in  fares 
the  Fort  Wayne  city  lines  were  on  a  self- 
sustaining  basis,  but  from  March.  1921, 
the  net  revenues  have  decreased  rapidly. 

There  were  225,000  fewer  passengers 
handled  on  the  Fort  Wayne  city  lines  in 
August  this  year  than  were  transported  in 
August,  1920. 

We  are  making  an  average  cut  of  10  per 
cent,  whereas  the  last  increases  made  in 
1920  averaged  25  per  cent.  With  the  next 
scale  of  wages  in  effect,  80  per  cent  of  the 
Fort  Wayne  city  trainmen  will  receive  50 
cents  an  hour.  This  rate  is  still  100  pet- 
cent  increase  over  the  average  trainmen's 
wages  in  effect  in  1914. 

We,  of  course,  cannot  tell  what  the  fu- 
ture will  do  for  us.  but  the  best  service 
that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  give  is  the 
aim  of  the  company.  This  property  must 
continue  the  building  up  process  for  good 
service  that  has  been  in  effect  for  the  past 
four  years  if  a'l  of  our  communities  are 
to  be  well  served. 


May  Electrify  Lines. — It  was  an- 
nounced at  San  Francisco  on  Sept.  6 
that  William  Sproule,  president  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company,  had  been 
authorized  by  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  railway  to  investigate  the  feasi- 
bility of  electrifying  the  Southern  Pa 
cific  lines  between  San  Francisco  and 
peninsula  points. 


454 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


Receivership  Terminated 

United  Electric  Railways  at  Providence, 
R.  I.,  Freed  from  Receiver — 
Old  Claims  Liquidated 

By  decree  entered  in  the  Superior 
Court  on  Sept.  6  by  Justice  Tanner 
the  receivership  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Company,  Providence,  R.  I.,  has  been 
terminated.  The  decree  directs  the  re- 
ceivers to  deliver  about  $1,070,000  in 
cash  and  all  their  books  and  accounts 
to  the  United  Electric  Railways.  The 
Rhode  Island  Company,  controlled  by 
the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hart- 
ford Railroad,  which  set  out  to  control 
the  trolley  lines  in  Rhode  Island,  went 
into  receivership  on  Jan.  30,  1919. 

The  receivers  for  the  railway  were 
Frank  H.  Swann,  Theodore  F.  Green 
and  Z.  W.  Bliss.  The  United  Electric 
Railways  at  the  time  the  hearing  was 
held  controlled  the  greater  portion  of 
all  general  claims  against  the  estate 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Company  and 
maintained  that  a  continuance  of  the 
receivership  would  be  an  unnecessary 
expense. 

It  appears  that  the  following  claims 
against  the  Rhode  Island  Company  have 
been  liquidated  and  allowed  pursuant 
to  orders  and  decrees  of  the  court  by 
William  B.  Greenough,  special  master, 
to  whom  they  were  referred: 

New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hart- 
ford Railroad    $4,123,411 

New  England  Investment  &  Se- 
curities   593,992 

Rhode    Island    Company    5  per 

cent  secured  gold  notes   1.696,625 

Miscellaneous   general  contracts 

and  property  damage  claims.  .  10,707 

Other  claims   35.148 

Total   $6,459,815 

The  first  three  classes  of  claims  have 
been  acquired  by  the  United  Electric 
Railways.  In  addition  to  the  liquidated 
claims  allowed  by  Mr.  Greenough  there 
are  now  on  file  and  pending  before  him 
tort  claims  to  the  extent  of  $3,030,903. 
Also  pending  before  R.  E.  Lyman,  spe- 
cial master,  is  a  claim  of  the  Sea  View 
Railroad  amounting  to  $1,181,000.  An 
agreement  has  been  reached  in  regard 
to  this  last  claim  by  which  it  has  been 
acquired  by  the  United  Electric  Rail- 
ways. 

The  outstanding  tort  claims  against 
the  Rhode  Island  Company  estate  are 
said  by  the  receivers  to  amount,  when 
liquidated  and  allowed,  to  not  more 
than  $175,000.  Of  these  the  United 
Electric  Railways  has  acquired  judg- 
ment claims  of  the  face  amount  of 
$24,800,  and  negotiations  are  pending 
for  the  balance  of  these  claims. 

General  and  tort  claims  not  entitled 
to  preferential  treatment  have  been 
made  the  subject  of  an  offer  on  the 
part  of  the  United  Electric  Railways 
to  pay  25  per  cent,  if  agreements  are 
made  before  next  April. 

Cash  in  the  hands  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Company  receivers  approximates 


$1,700,000.  All  of  the  properties  oper- 
ated by  the  Rhode  Island  Company,  ex- 
cept the  Union  Railroad,  Pawtucket 
Street  Railway,  the  Providence  Cable 
Tramway  and  the  Rhode  Island  Subur- 
ban Railway,  were  operated  at  a  deficit 
and  the  cash  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
receivers  was  received  from  the  oper- 
ation of  these  properties. 

The  deed  of  conveyance,  dated  Aug. 
12,  1921,  transferred  all  the  properties 
purchased  by  C.  H.  W.  Mandeville 
under  a  decree  of  sale  to  the  petition- 
ing company  and  the  receivers  deliv- 
ered possession  to  the  United  Electric 
Railways  at  midnight,  Aug.  19.  The 
petition  before  the  court  for  the  dis- 
missal of  receivers  sets  forth  that  the 
need  no  longer  exists  for  continuing 
the  receivership. 


Bond  Issue  Offered 

Bonds  amounting  to  $600,000  will  be 
placed  on  sale  shortly  by  the  Johnstown 
&  Somerset  Railway,  Swnierset,  Pa. 
The  bonds  will  be  in  denominations  of 
$1,000  and  $500.  Somerset  county 
residents  recently  bought  $400,000  of 
the  railway  bonds.  This  makes  $1,000,- 
000  up  to  date  against  the  $1,500,000 
voted  by  the  directors  of  the  property 
when  they  took  up  the  work  of  financ- 
ing building  operations  about  three 
months  ago. 

In  connection  with  this  bond  issue 
it  is  said  that  the  company  will  shortly 
meet  its  interest  obligations  at  the 
Equitable  Trust  Company,  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  the  financial  agent  of  the  trac- 
tion concern. 


Binghamton  Deposit  Agreement 
Changed 

Holders  of  the  5  per  cent  first 
mortgage  consolidated  gold  bonds  of 
the  Binghamton  (N.  Y.)  Railway  have 
been  notified  by  the  Fidelity  Trust 
Company,  Buffalo,  of  certain  changes 
in  the  bondholders'  agreement.  The 
most  important  change  says  that  "the 
period  of  five  years  is  specified  as  the 
period  in  which  the  depositors  will  be 
entitled  to  the  return  of  the  securities 
which  they  have  deposited  hereunder 
or  the  receipt  of  new  securities  on 
reorganization  or  readjustment." 

Perry  E.  Wurst,  Buffalo,  secretary 
of  the  committee,  says  that  inasmuch 
as  the  changes  materially  affect  the 
rights  of  depositors  any  depositor  may 
withdraw  from  the  agreement  at  any 
time  upon  surrender  of  his  certificate 
of  deposit  and  upon  payment  of  11  per 
cent  of  the  face  of  each  bond  deposited. 
The  assessment  of  11  per  cent  covers 
contribution  toward  the  compensation, 
expenses  and  obligations  of  the  com- 
mittee. Those  who  surrender  their 
certificates  will  receive  bonds  to  the 
amount  represented  by  the  certificates 
surrendered. 


Steam  Line  Seeks  Electric 

Western  Pacific  Would  Formally  Ac- 
quire Extensive  Holdings  of  Cali- 
fornia Electric  Line 

The  Western  Pacific  Railroad  has 
applied  to  the  California  Railroad  Com- 
mission for  authority  to  acquire  the 
Sacramento  Northern  Railroad  proper- 
ties as  feeders  to  its  system  and  to 
approve  the  financial  arrangements  for 
consummating  the  transaction.  It  is 
proposed  to  acquire  the  Sacramento 
Northern  Railroad  through  a  new  com- 
pany, the  Sacramento  Northern  Rail- 
way, organized  as  a  subsidiary  of  the 
Western  Pacific.  The  Sacramento 
Northern  Railroad  joins  in  the  applica- 
tion requesting  authority  to  sell  all  of 
its  properties,  rights  and  franchises  to 
the  Northern  Railway  for  the  sum  of 
$730,000  cash. 

The  Western  Pacific  Railroad  Cor- 
poration of  Delaware,  which  is  the 
owner  of  all  the  capital  stock  of  the- 
Western  Pacific  Railroad  now  owns 
more  than  97  per  cent  bonds  of  the- 
Sacramento  Northern  Railroad  and: 
trust  certificates  representing  more 
than  95  per  cent  of  the  outstanding 
stock. 

The  Sacramento  Northern  Railway 
now  seeks  authority  from  the  commis- 
sion to  issue  and  sell  for  not  less  than 
100  par  9,950  shares  of  its  capital  stock 
to  the  Western  Pacific  Railroad  and! 
from  the  proceeds  to  obtain  the  $730,- 
000  to  be  paid  to  the  Sacramento- 
Northern  Railroad  for  its  properties 
and  franchises  the  remainder  to  be 
used  as  working  capital.  The  Western- 
Pacific  Railroad  asks  to  be  allowed  to  use 
money  from  the  sale  of  its  $20,000,000' 
first  mortgage  5  per  cent  bonds,  previ- 
ously authorized,  to  acquire  the  stock 
of  the  Sacramento  Northern  Railway, 
the  subsidiary  corporation  in  the  trans- 
action. 

The  Sacramento  Northern  Railroad 
has  outstanding  $5,224,373  of  bonds  and 
outstanding  stock  as  follows:  $1,808,- 
362,  first  preferred;  $793,152,  second 
preferred,  and  $1,883,382  of  common 
stock,  all  of  which  is  deposited  in  trust 
with  the  Union  Trust,  San  Francisco, 
under  a  voting  trust  agreement.  Under 
the  arrangement  approved  by  the  bond- 
holders and  stockholders  the  bonds  of 
the  Sacramento  Northern  Railroad  are 
to  be  exchanged  for  Western  Pacific 
Railroad  bonds  in  the  ratio  of  100  to 
80  and  the  stock  is  to  be  purchased  at 
$27.50  a  share  for  the  first  preferred. 
$15  a  share  for  the  second  preferred 
and  $6  a  share  for  the  common. 

In  support  of  its  application  to- 
acquire  the  extensive  electric  lines  of 
the  Sacramento  Northern,  the  Western 
Pacific  states  that  it  is  in  great  need 
of  branches  and  feeders  to  furnish 
traffic  to  its  main  line  and  the  present 
electric  system  is  admirably  adapted 
to  its  purpose. 

The  acquisition  of  these  electric  lines, 
it  is  pointed  out,  will  avoid  expensive 
duplication  and  the  sale  will  be  of 
mutual  benefit  as  the  Northern  Elec- 
tric line  is  now  being  operated  at  a 
loss. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


455 


Interborough  Receivership  Case 
Again  Postponed 

Judge  Julius  M.  Mayer  in  tne  f  ederal 
District  Court  Sept.  9  adjourned  until 
Sept.  21  the  hearing  on  the  application 
for  a  receiver  for  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company  recently  made 
by  the  Continental  Securities  Company. 
Judge  Mayer  in  granting  an  adjourn- 
ment said:  "In  view  of  the  notes  being 
scattered  throughout  the  world  and  in 
view  of  several  of  the  bondholders  be- 
ing out  of  town  on  vacation,  I  adjourn 
this  proceeding  to  permit  deposit  of  the 
outstanding  notes  and  shall  not  appoint 
a  receiver  for  this  company  unless  it  is 
unavoidable."  The  previous  history  of 
these  proceedings  was  described  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  issue  of 
Sept.  3,  page  376. 

James  L.  Quackenbush,  attorney  for 
the  Interborough,  in  reviewing  the  situ- 
ation in  connection  with  the  three-year 
Interborough  notes  maturing  Sept.  1 
this  year,  said:  "Since  the  argument  a 
week  ago  and  up  to  the  close  of  business 
yesterday  710  holders  had  deposited 
notes  to  the  principal  amount  of  $4,432,- 
200  and  have  agreed  to  the  extension. 
This  brings  the  total  deposits  and  ex- 
tensions up  to  $33,444,100,  which  is 
equivalent  to  87.68  per  cent  of  the  notes 
outstanding.  While  this  result  is  most 
gratifying  in  the  amount  of  notes 
represented,  the  number  of  depositors, 
4,140  out  of  a  total  of  7,610  known 
holders  of  these  notes,  indicates  that 
the  3,430  non-depositors  for  the  most 
part  are  holders  of  small  amounts." 

William  D.  Guthrie,  representing  the 
Empire  Trust  Company  and  supporting 
the  Interborough's  petition  for  an  ad- 
journment, said  that  his  company  is 
trustee  of  97  per  cent  of  the  Inter- 
borough Rapid  Transit  stock,  composed 
of  340,000  shares.  Elijah  Zoklin,  at- 
torney for  the  Continental  Securities 
Company,  in  opposing  an  adjournment, 
told  the  court  that  there  should  be  im- 
mediate action  on  the  application  for 
a  receiver  in  view  of  the  company's 
having  no  funds  and  was  unable  to  ob- 
tain additional  securities  to  satisfy 
matured  obligations.  Dwight  W.  Mor- 
row of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company  ap- 
peared in  behalf  of  the  holders  of  the 

5  per  cent  bonds  and  7  per  cent  notes 
of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany. The  group  of  bankers  he  repre- 
sented, he  said,  had  no  interest  what- 
ever in  the  bonds  or  stocks  of  the  Inter- 
borough Consolidated  Company  nor 
had  they  any  interest  in  any  of  the  New 
York  surface  lines.  His  sole  connection 
with  the  transit  situation  in  New  York 
City,  he  said,  was  as  representative  of 
the  group  of  bankers  who  secured  for 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  ap- 
proximately $200,000,000  in  connection 
with  construction  of  extended  subways. 

Mr.  Morrow  added  that  J.  P.  Morgan 

6  Company  have  always  been  of  the 
opinion  that,  receivership  or  no  receiver- 
ship, holders  of  the  5  per  cent  bonds 
and  7  per  cent  notes  will  ultimately  be 
paid  principal  and  interest.  He  was 
very  much  averse  to  a  receivership 
because  there  are  so  many  small  holders 


of  securities  to  whom  the  interruption 
of  interest  would  be  a  severe  hardship 
and  who  in  fact  might  be  compelled  to 
part  with  their  bonds  and  notes  at  a 
great  sacrifice.  Therefore,  such  a  result 
should  be  avoided  if  possible. 


Increased  Fare  Has  Little  Effect 
on  Receipts 

The  7-cent  fare  on  the  lines  of  the 
Louisville  (Ky.)  Railway  put  into  effect 
following  an  injunction  granted  by 
Judge  Walter  Evans  scarcely  has  im- 
proved the  company's  general  financial 
status  since  Feb.  21,  it  has  been 
declared. 

In  the  six  months  period  from  Feb. 
21  to  Aug.  25  the  increase  under  the 
7-cent  fare  over  the  same  period  in 

1920  was  approximately  $175,000.  This 
is  an  8.4  per  cent  increase  in  gross 
revenue,  instead  of  20  per  cent  as 
expected.  But  the  expense  for  track 
maintenance,  fuel  and  wages  in  the 
half-year  period  will  be  approximately 
$150,000  greater  than  in  1920,  accord- 
ing to  officials. 

There  has  been  a  great  decrease  in 
the  number  of  passengers  carried  dur- 
ing the  year.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
total   number  of  cash   passengers  in 

1921  will  be  between  65,000,000  and 
68,000,000.  In  1920  80,000,000  cash 
passengers  were  carried. 

Officials  said  that  while  it  was  true 
that  the  jitney  buses  had  diverted  some 
of  the  passengers  who  formerly  rode 
on  street  cars,  the  big  decrease  could 
not  be  explained  except  as  due  to 
general  business  depression  and  a 
consequent  curtailment  in  the  number 
of  car  passengers.  Automobile  use 
also  has  increased,  it  was  said. 


Payments  Deferred  Until  Termi- 
nation of  Receivership 

Upon  receipt  of  a  letter  from  George 
B.  Tripp,  receiver  of  the  South  Carolina 
Light,  Power  &  Railways,  A.  B.  Leach 
&  Company,  Inc.,  representative  of  the 
stockholders,  sent  out  a  letter  to  the 
noteholders  stating  that  no  payment 
would  be  made  on  the  $650,000  of  7  per 
cent  notes  until  the  receivership  had 
been  terminated,  but  that  it  had  every 
reason  to  believe  that  within  a  reason- 
able time  the  receiver  would  be  success- 
ful in  developing  the  situation  so  that 
the  property  could  be  returned  to  the 
company  and  a  financial  agreement 
made  satisfactory  to  the  stockholders. 

In  the  communication  to  Leach  & 
Company  Mr.  Tripp  outlines  the  pro- 
gress of  the  railway  under  the  receiver- 
ship, which  was  authorized  in  February 
of  this  year.  The  recent  increases  in 
fares  and  power  could  not  be  deter- 
mined at  the  time  of  his  writing  (July 
30),  but  that  beginning  Aug.  1  it  was 
expected  that  the  net  income  would 
show  a  substantial  amount  over  oper- 
ating expenses  and  fixed  charges.  The 
receiver  also  expressed  the  hone  that 
in  September,  when  the  municipal  elec- 
tions took  place,  amendments  could  be 
secured  and  modifications  made  in  the 
regulation  of  electric  railway  service. 


 ^ 

Financial 
News  Notes 

Line  Operating  Again — After  being 
idle  for  six  months  over  a  wrangle  to 
increase  fares,  the  city  lines  of  the 
Kentucky  Utilities  Company  in  Somer- 
set were  placed  in  operation  again  on 
Aug.  26,  with  new  cars,  and  with  a 
7-cent  fare  in  effect. 

Wants  to  Abandon  Another  Line — 
The  Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  An- 
geles, Cal.,  has  sought  permission  of  the 
State  Railroad  Commission  to  abandon 
its  line  between  San  Bernadino  and  Ar- 
rowhead. The  line  is  more  than  7  miles 
long. 

Municipal  Bonds  for  Sale — It  will  be 
necessary  for  the  residents  of  Eureka, 
Cal.,  to  buy  in  $25,000  of  bonds  for  the 
purchase  and  rehabilitation  of  the  Hum- 
boldt Transit  Company.  The  city  now 
has  in  prospect  $105,000  of  the  required 
$130,000,  the  First  National  Bank  hav- 
ing fulfilled  its  agreement  to  take  that 
amount.  The  plans  to  have  the  city 
take  over  the  property  have  been 
reviewed  previously  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal. 

Stockholders  Will  Be  Protected.— Fol- 
lowing the  application  for  a  receiver- 
ship for  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  a 
committee  was  formed  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  stockholders  of  the 
Manhattan  Railway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Alvin  W.  Krech  is  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee. A  depositary  agreement  is  in 
process  of  preparation  under  which  the 
Equitable  Trust  Company  will  act  as 
the  depositary. 

Sale  Under  Foreclosure  Postponed. 
— The  sale  of  the  property  of  the  Sec- 
ond Avenue  Railroad,  New  York,  N.  Y., 
which  was  set  for  Sept.  1,  has  been 
adjourned  until  Dec.  1.  The  sale  was 
under  foreclosure  proceedings  insti- 
tuted to  satisfy  mortgage  judgment  on 
its  defaulted  bonds,  amounting  to 
$3,473,511.  Part  of  the  property  to  be 
sold  consists  of  the  carhouse  block 
bounded  by  First  and  Second  Avenues 
and  Ninety-sixth  and  Ninety-seventh 
Streets.  The  company  also  has  22  miles 
of  tracks. 

Railway  Being  Reorganized — The 
Brunswick  &  Interurban  Railway, 
Brunswick,  Ga.,  now  being  organized 
will  be  the  successor  company  to  the 
Brunswick  Street  Railway.  The  new 
incorporators  are  all  members  of  the 
Young  Men's  Club,  who  submitted  a 
plan  for  the  operation  of  the  local  prop- 
erty. When  the  final  order  of  sale  is 
issued  by  Judge  Evans  it  is  believed 
sufficient  capital  stock  will  have  been 
paid  in  to  purchase  the  property  and 
carry  out  the  plans  of  reorganization. 
It  was  announced  in  the  Aug.  6  issue  of 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  that 
no  bid  for  the  property  had  been  re- 
ceived and  that  the  line  would  probably 
be  sold  as  junk. 


456 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


will  look  for  justice  from  the  public 
and  remedial  legislation  from  Congress 
in  the  form  of  relief  from  taxation 
and  other  burdens. 


Duluth  Fights  Fare  Increase 

City  Gets  Injunction  Against  Increase 
and  Appeals  from  the  Decision 
of  the  Commission 

An  injunction  was  granted  Duluth  on 
Sept.  10  by  the  District  Court  whereby 
the  Duluth  (Minn.)  Street  Railway  was 
prevented  from  putting  into  effect  an 
increase  in  fare  granted  by  the  State 
Railroad  &  Warehouse  Commission. 
The  order  of  the  court  is  to  remain  in 
effect  until  three  judges  pass  on  the 
merits  of  the  request  of  the  railway. 

Commission  Cut  Company's  Demand 

The  State  Railroad  •&  Warehouse 
Commission,  to  which  the  Duluth  Street 
Railway  appealed  for  a  7-cent  fare  or 
four  tickets  for  a  quarter,  denied  this 
request,  but  ordered  a  6-cent  fare  to 
go  into  effect  Sept.  1  pending  a  per- 
manent fare  arrangement,  contingent 
on  a  valuation  of  the  company's  prop- 
erty now  being  made.  The  railway 
asked  for  6  cents  at  a  time  when  the 
high  costs  of  operation  were  pressing 
it  very  hard,  but  the  city  refused  the 
increase,  the  people  voting  against  it 
twice,  although  the  issue  both  times 
was  complicated  by  collateral  matter. 

Following  the  decision  of  the  com- 
mission, John  B.  Richards,  city  attor- 
ney, stated  that  the  issue  would  be 
taken  into  the  District  Court  immedi- 
ately in  an  attempt  to  obtain  an  in- 
junction forbidding  the  collection  of  a 
higher  fare  until  November  at  least, 
when  the  valuation  of  the  property  has 
been  finally  determined. 

In  his  demand  for  a  stay,  Mr.  Rich- 
ards took  the  position  that  there  was 
no  basis  for  the  claim  that  there  was 
an  emergency  within  the  meaning  of 
the  statute.  The  commission  author- 
ized the  increase  on  that  basis,  while 
denying  that  the  company  needed  the 
7-cent  fare  requested  in  its  petition. 

Commissioners  F.  W.  Putnam  and 
Ivan  Bowen  filed  a  majority  order 
granting  the  increase,  while  Chairman 
O.  P.  C.  Jacobsen  issued  a  dissenting 
opinion  denying  the  existence  of  the 
emergency  and  suggesting  that  through 
the  co-operation  of  the  City  Council 
economies  might  be  effected. 

City  Welcomes  Delay 

The  entire  legal  battle  is  expected  to 
take  several  months,  and  such  a  delay 
would  be  welcomed  by  the  city  be- 
cause, by  November,  Byron  C.  Gifford, 
the  city  valuation  expert,  will  have 
completed  his  survey  of  the  company's 
property  and  the  commission  will  then 
be  enabled  to  make  its  final  decision  as 
to  a  proper  fare  to  be  determined  by 
allowing  the  company  a  reasonable  re- 
turn on  a  fair  valuation. 

In  its  decision  the  commission  said: 

A  fare  of  6  cents  will  produce  an  increase 
in  revenue  of  approximately  $189,000  per 
annum.  This  amount  of  additional  reve- 
nue is  necessary  to  enable  the  company  to 


meet  the  existing  emergency.  The  commis- 
sion further  finds  that  the  rate  of  fare  of 
6  cents  cash  is  a  reasonable  fare  and  will 
not  return  the  Duluth  Street  Railway  more 
than  a  reasonable  return  on  the'  fair  value 
of  the  street  railway  property  within  such 
city  as  an  operating  system. 


Legal  Battles  in  Bridgeport 

The  jitney  -  Connecticut  Company  - 
Utilities  Commission  controversy  in 
Bridgeport  continues  to  be  a  legal 
skirmish  with  first  one  side  and  then 
the  other  the  victor. 

The  third  injunction  since  state 
enforcement  agencies  commenced  carry- 
ing out  the  provisions  of  the  new  jitney 
law  was  granted  the  Bridgeport  Bus 
Association  by  Judge  Walsh  of  the 
Common  Pleas  Court.  It  restrained  the 
police  from  enforcing  the  order  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  until  Oct. 
11. 

On  Sept.  1  the  buses  were  stopped 
by  the  police  and  there  followed  two 
days  of  marking  time  and  this  calm 
was  followed  by  the  injunction  pro- 
ceedings. The  buses  had  been  oper- 
ating as  free  buses  or  on  the  club  plan 
but  the  police  arrested  the  drivers 
for  not  having  a  "J"  marker  as  per 
the  order  of  the  Utilities  Commission. 
After  the  buses  stopped  the  Connecticut 
Company  increased  its  service  and 
taxicabs  with  "0"  markers  entered  into 
the  game. 

Following  the  injunction  the  jitneys 
began  operating  in  full  force  without 
interference  from  the  police.  The 
status  at  present  leaves  the  jitneys 
in  possession  of  the  field  with  tenta- 
tive moves  by  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany to  quash  the  injunction. 

Chairman  R.  T.  Higgins  of  the  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Commission  has  announced 
that  the  commission  had  tentatively 
agreed  on  Sept.  22  as  the  day  for  a 
rehearing  on  petitions  for  jitney  routes 
in  Bridgeport.  The  new  hearings  are 
to  be  held  in  response  to  a  petition  of 
the  board  of  Aldermen  of  Bridgeport. 
The  petition  also  requested  the  com- 
mission for  a  hearing  on  a  reduction 
of  trolley  fares,  but  this  matter  will 
not  be  touched  upon  in  the  hearing 
scheduled  for  Sept.  22. 


Will  Not  Fight  Fare  Reduction 

At  a  special  directors'  meeting  held 
last  month  it  was  decided  that  the 
Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Washington,  D.  C,  would  abide 
for  the  present  on  the  decision  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  which 
authorized  a  fare  reduction  to  five 
tokens  for  35  cents  effective  on  Sept.  1. 

In  a  statement  giving  the  company's 
views  on  the  cut  in  fare  Mr.  Ham  of 
the  railway  stated  that  the  new  ^rates 
would  receive  a  fair  trial  though  it  was 
conclusively  proved  that  they  would 
not  net  an  adequate  return.  Mean- 
while  the   directors   of   the  company 


Albany  Jitneys  Suppressed 

Breach  of  Injunction  Order  Held  by 
Judge  to  Be  Criminal  Contempt 
of  Court 

Supreme  Court  Justice  Harold  J. 
Hinman,  in  the  Albany,  N.  Y.,  special 
term  on  Sept.  11,  fined  eleven  jitney 
men  $100  each,  with  the  alternative  of 
serving  thirty  days  in  jail,  for  criminal 
contempt  of  court  in  violating  his  in- 
junction order  and  announced  he  would 
sign  a  blanket  injunction  applicable  to 
all  jitney  operators  "who  persist  in 
defying  the  law." 

The  court,  in  passing  sentence,  also 
gave  warning  that  the  punishment 
meted  out  for  the  first  convictions  will 
not  be  the  measure  of  future  penalties. 
This  is  regarded  as  the  signing  of  the 
death  warrant  for  the  jitneys  that  have 
been  operating  in  territory  served  by 
the  electric  railway.  Justice  Hinman 
said : 

Such  publicity  has  been  given  the  fact 
that  the  operation  of  jitneys  has  been  held 
to  be  illegal  that  no  person  can  longer 
believe  he  is  engaged  in  a  legitimate  busi- 
ness in  continued  operation.  There  can  be 
no  further  excuses  for  violation  of  the  law 
and  persistence  must  be  deemed  willful, 
They  have  doubtless  seen  other  means  in- 
tended to  enforce  the  law  laughed  and 
scoffed  at  and  fail  in  its  purpose. 

A  further  appeal  by  the  men  con- 
victed is  considered  unlikely.  Those 
represented  by  Mr.  Murray,  by  the 
pleas  of  guilty  interposed  by  him  in 
their  behalf,  are  precluded  from  taking 
an  appeal.  The  others,  it  is  pointed 
out,  were  in  default,  because  even 
though  they  appeared,  they  failed  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity, 
given  them  in  the  order  served  on 
them,  to  show  cause  why  they  should 
not  be  adjudged  guilty  on  the  evidence 
contained  in  the  moving  papers  of  the 
traction  company's  attorneys. 

Willful  Violation  Charged 

An  appeal  to  the  appellate  division 
may  be  taken  by  Mr.  Murray,  however, 
from  the  order  overruling  his  de- 
murrer to  the  traction  company's  com- 
plaint, on  which  the  injunction  order 
was  granted.  Such  an  appeal,  how- 
ever, would  have  no  bearing  on  the 
status  of  the  defendants  convicted  of 
violating  the  temporary  injunction 
while  it  was  in  effect. 

Following  the  argument  on  the  de- 
murrer to  the  injunction  order,  granted 
against  211  alleged  jitney  operators 
named  in  the  application  of  the  United 
Traction  Company  several  weeks  ago, 
John  E.  MacLean  and  J.  Stanley  Car- 
ter, representing  the  company,  pre- 
sented a  petition  charging  seventeen  of 
the  defendants  with  willful  violation  of 
the  order  forbidding  them  from  illegally 
competing  with  the  company  by  operat- 
ing automobiles  without  the  consent 
of  the  local  municipalities  or  a  certifi- 
cate of  convenience  and  necessity,  re- 
quired by  section  26  of  the  transporta- 
tion law. 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


457 


Court  Prevents  Fare  Increase 
in  Twin  Cities 

In  both  Hennepin  and  Ramsey 
County  District  Courts  the  order  of 
the  Minnesota  Railroad  &  Warehouse 
Commission  granting  an  emergency 
increase  in  trolley  fares  from  6  to  7 
cents,  as  outlined  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal,  issue  of  Sept.  3,  page 
380,  has  been  suspended,  for  further- 
hearing  as  to  the  merits  of  the  cases. 
This  means  that  the  Minneapolis  Street 
Railway  and  the  St.  Paul  City  Railway 
could  not  put  into  effect  the  advance 
rates  ordered  effective  Sept.  1.  The 
court  took  cognizance  of  the  cases 
through  appeal  by  the  city  attorney  in 
Minneapolis  and  the  Corporation 
Counsel  in  St.  Paul.  The  Minneapolis 
hearing  began  Sept.  12,  the  St.  Paul 
hearing  will  begin  some  time  in  October. 

Judge  J.  C.  Michael  of  Ramsey 
County  said  that  the  contention  that 
the  finances  of  the  St.  Paul  company 
necessitated  an  increase  "seemed  to  be 
considerably  exaggerated."  He  said 
that  "no  valuation  of  the  railway  prop- 
erty was  made  by  the  commission  and 
the  city's  request  for  a  reasonable  post- 
ponement to  enable  it  to  make  a  valua- 
tion of  the  properties  as  required  by 
law  in  such  cases  was  denied  by:  the 
commission." 

0.  P.  B.  Jacobsen,  chairman  of  the 
commission  and  the  dissenting  member 
when  the  order  was  issued,  said:  "I 
believe  the  testimony  of  the  experts 
introduced  by  the  street  railway  com- 
pany failed  to  disclose  any  urgent  need 
for  an  increase  in  fares  at  present  or 
until  such  time  as  this  commission  is 
able  to  obtain  a  reliable  valuation  of  the 
company's  property." 

Judge    E.    A.    Montgomery    in  the 

Hennepin  County  District  Court  said: 

In  the  first  place,  I  hold  that  the  law 
is  constitutional.  As  to  the  question  of 
the  rate,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  evidence 
before  the  commission  was  sufficient  to 
justify  the  finding  that  the  company  was 
not  getting  a  fair  and  reasonable  return  on 
its  investment.  I  very  much  doubt  whether, 
under  the  evidence  presented  to  the  com- 
mission, any  emergency  was  proved  to 
justify  the  commission  in  fixing  its  tem- 
porary increase  at  this  time.  I  am  very 
clear,  however,  after  rea.ding  the  order  of 
the  commission  and  all  the  evidence  in  the 
return  and  all  matter  presented  to  me  upon 
this  hearing,  that  there  is  no  emergency 
existing  which  would  justify  carrying  into 
effect  the  order  of  the  commission  granting 
the  street  car  company  an  increase  to  7 
cents.  No  emergency  existing,  the  fair  and 
just  thing  to  do  now  is  to  suspend  the 
order  of  the  Railroad  &  Warehouse  Com- 
mission until  the  hearing  of  an  appeal  fixed 
by  the  city.  I  therefore  will  make  an  order 
suspending  the  operation  of  the  increase 
until  the  final  determination  of  the  case 
which  is  now  in  appeal  is  made. 


Jitney  Licenses  Allowed 

Pending  approval  of  the  Park  Board, 
jitney  licenses  were  issued  recently  to 
operators  in  Tulsa,  Okla.,  over  the 
objections  of  the  Oklahoma  Union  Rail- 
way and  the  Tulsa  Street  Railway. 
The  line  will  run  from  the  post  office 
out  Denver  Avenue  arid  Easton  Street 
through  Owen  Park  to  the  monument 
in  Irving  Place. 

The  Oklahoma  Union  Railway  pro- 
tested that  the  establishment  of  the 
line  would  probablv  result  in  the  rail- 
way's abandoning  its  Owen  Park  serv- 
ice.   The  Tulsa  Street  Railway  claimed 


that  a  jitney  line  on  West  Easton  Street 
would  cause  a  cut  in  service  on  its  Main 
Street  line. 


Three-Cent  Fare  Petitions  Filed 

Signed  by  13,582  names,  Councilman 
Oliver  T.  Erickson's  initiative  petition 
has  been  filed  with  City  Comptroller 
Carroll  of  Seattle,  Wash.  The  petition 
provides  for  the  maintenance  and 
operation  of  the  Municipal  Street  Rail- 
way out  of  funds  raised  by  taxation, 
and  payment  of  interest  and  principal 
cf  the  $15,000,000  debt  owed  by  the  «.ity 
to  the  Stone  &  Webster  interest  out 
of  operating  revenues  only. 

Although  the  proposal  makes  no 
specific  mention  of  the  amount  of  fare 
to  be  charged  on  city  street  cars  under 
this  proposed  plan,  the  petitions  have 
been  known  during  their  circulation  as 
"Three-Cent  Fare  Petitions,"  because 
that  is  the  fare  which  Councilman 
Erickson  has  estimated  would  be 
required  to  meet  the  interest  payments 
if  all  other  charges  were  made  to  taxes. 

Under  the  city  charter,  initiative 
petitions  must  be  signed  by  10  per 
cent  of  the  number  of  voters  who  cast 
ballots  for  office  of  Mayor  at  the  last 
municipal  election  before  such  petition 
can  be  placed  on  the  ballot.  This  ini- 
tiative measure  must  bear  the  names 
of  8,470  registered  voters  if  it  is  to 
be  voted  on  at  the  next  municipal 
election  in  May,  and  work  of  checking- 
over  the  signers  is  under  way.  Council- 
man Erickson  announces  that  an  active 
campaign  in  support  of  this  measure 
will  be  started  early  in  November 
under  auspices  of  the  Public  Owner- 
ship League,  which  sponsored  the 
circulation  of  the  petitions.  Following 
is  the  petition: 

We,  the  undersigned  qualified  voters  of 
the  City  of  Seattle,  Washington,  propose 
and  ask  the  enactment  as  an  ordinance  of 
the  following  bill,  or  measure,  to-wit:  An 
ordinance  relating  to  the  municipal  street 
railway  system  of  the  city  of  Seattle,  and 
declaring  the  fiscal  policy  of  the  city  in 
relation  thereto. 

Whereas.  It  is  to  the  public  interest 
that  the  City  of  Seattle  declare  and  es- 
tablish a  fiscal  policy  in  relation  to  the 
municipal  street  railway  system  whereby 
the  cost  and  expense  thereof  shall  be 
borne,  as  nearly  as  may  be.  by  all  who 
benefit  thereby  ;  now,  therefore. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  City  of  Seattle  as 
follows : 

Section  1.  That  from  and  after  the  first 
day  of  January  following  the  taking  effect 
of  this  ordinance,  all  cost  and  expense  of 
the  maintenance  and  operation  of  the  Mu- 
nicipal Street  Railway  system  of  the  Citv 
of  Seattle  shall  be  paid  wholly  out  of  the 
revenues  of  the  City  of  Seattle  derived 
from  taxation. 

Section  2.  That  from  and  after  the  taking 
effect  of  this  ordinance,  the  City  Council 
of  the  City  of  Seattle  shall  annually,  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  law.  provide  for 
the  levy  of  tax  on  all  the  taxable  property 
of  Seattle  sufficient  to  defray  the  cost  and 
expense  of  the  maintenance  and  operation 
of  said  railway  system  for  the  ensuing  "ear 

Section  3.  That  the  cost  and  expense  of 
maintenance  and  operation,  as  used  in  this 
ordinance,  shall  be  computed  pursuant  to, 
and  in  accordance  with,  the  requirements 
of  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Washington  or 
of  any  commission  or  bureau  thereunto  au- 
thorized by  such  laws. 

Section  4.  That  there  be  and  hereby  is 
created  a  fund  to  be  known  as  the  "Ex- 
tension and  Depreciation  Reserve  Fund." 
into  which  the  City  Council  shall  set  aside, 
monthly,  from  the  gross  receipts  of  the 
municipal  street  railway  system,  an  amount 
not  exceeding  1£  cents  for  each  pay  pas- 
senger, exclusive  of  policemen  and  firemen. 
The  amount  thus  set  aside  shall  be  ex- 
pended solely  for  extensions  and  renewal 
of  track  and  equipment. 


Seattle  Jitneys  Will  Try  U.  S. 
Supreme  Court 

Jitney  interests  in  Seattle  recently 
took  the  only  means  left  to  them  to 
escape  temporarily  the  ban  of  the  city, 
backed  by  the  final  order  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court,  when  they  served 
notice  that  they  will  present  to  Chief 
Justice  Emmit  N.  Parker  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court  a  petition  for  writ  of 
error  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  As  a  result  of  this 
action,  Chief  Justice  Parker  directed 
that  the  final  order  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court,  vacating  the  injunction 
which  now  protects  the  Sound  Transit 
Company  buses,  be  held  in  abeyance 
until  after  this  petition  is  heard  in 
Olympia. 

The  city,  expecting  receipt  of  the 
final  order,  planned  to  put  it  into  effect 
immediately  and  oust  the  jitney  buses 
from  the  street.  It  was  anticipated, 
however,  that  the  jitney  interests  might 
endeavor  to  prolong  their  existence  by 
an  appeal  to  the  federal  court,  and  the 
city  is  prepared  to  resist  this,  con- 
tending that  the  case  has  no  federal 
aspect,  as  pointed  out  by  all  court 
decisions  rendered  so  far  in  the  city's 
long  battle  with  the  jitneys. 

A  compromise  proposal  has  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  City  Council  by  the  Auto 
Drivers'  Union,  whose  buses  are  at 
present  banished  from  city  streets  by 
the  jitney  regulatory  ordinance,  as  the 
union  drivers  do  not  enjoy  the  protec- 
tion of  the  McGlothern  injunction.  The 
union  drivers  proposed  to  limit  their 
operation  to  long  haul  lines  and  to  limit 
the  number  of  buses  operating  there, 
where  they  would  be  in  competition 
with  the  railway.  The  proposition  was 
referred  to  the  public  utilities  com- 
mittee. 

Twin  City  Railways  Handle 
Fair  Crowd 

To  handle  the  crowds  that  annually 
attend  the  Minnesota  State  Fair,  this 
year  from  Sept.  3  to  Sept.  10,  the  Twin 
City  Lines  placed  all  the  front-exit  cars 
in  operation  on  the  interurban  uouey 
line,  the  fare  between  the  two  cities  be- 
ing 12  cents  in  two  payments.  Al- 
though somewhat  confusing  to  the 
traveling  public  because  the  cars  are 
front  exit  the  first  half  of  the  distance 
and  front  entrance  the  last  half  of  the 
distance  between  the  starting  points  in 
the  two  cities;  and  pay-as-you-enter  for 
the  first  half  and  pay-as-you-leave  the 
second  half,  the  system  worked  well. 

Persons  entering  the  cars  between 
the  municipal  limits  of  either  city  and 
the  neutral  zone  division  line  within  the 
limits  of  St.  Paul,  on  payment  of  fare 
received  an  identification  slip  which 
they  surrendered  on  exit.  Persons  rid- 
ing the  entire  distance  paid  a  second 
cash  fare  of  6  cents  upon  leaving.  The 
street  railway  opened  a  fixed  car  load- 
ing terminal  at  the  fair  grounds  this 
year,  which  facilitated  removal  of  the 
big  crowd  at  rush  times.  The  average 
attendance  at  the  fair  was  50,000  daily 
and  a  good  proportion  of  the  people 
attending  the  fair  used  the  street  car 
service. 


458 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


Public  Service  Railway's  Last  Stand 

Company  Covering  Practically  All  Jersey  Fights  in  Court  for  Increase 
in  Fare  Denied  to  It  by  Public  Regulatory  Body 

Federal  Judges  Rellstab  and  Davis  of  New  Jersey  and  Wooley  of  Delaware 
in  the  United  States  District  Court  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  heard  argument  on  Sept. 
13  in  connection  with  the  application  of  the  Public  Service  Railway  for  a  pre- 
liminary injunction  to  enjoin  the  State  Public  Utility  Commission  from  interfer- 
ing with  the  company  in  instituting  a  10-cent  fare.  The  commission  recently 
denied  the  company  a  10-cent  fare  and  directed  it  to  continue  its  7-cent  fare, 
but  allowed  it  an  increase  from  1  to  2  cents  for  transfers.  This  increase  the 
company  contends  is  totally  inadequate  to  its  needs  and  insists  that  if  a  sub- 
stantial fare  increase  is  not  granted,  it  will  be  forced  into  bankruptcy. 


T 


I  HE  railway  was  represented  by 
Frank  Bergen,  general  counsel, 
former  Attorney  General  Robert 
H.  McCarter  and  Richard  V.  Lindabury, 
special  counsel.  The  utility  board's  in- 
terests were  looked  after  by  L.  Edward 
Herrmann,  general  counsel.  Attorney 
General  Thomas  F.  McCran  was  present 
for  the  State,  which  is  a  co-defendant  in 
the  suit.  Newark,  Jersey  City,  Eliza- 
beth and  Passaic  were  represented  by 
counsel  who  made  application  to  be 
admitted  as  co-defendants  in  order  to 
fight  the  prospective  fare  boost. 

George  L.  Record,  special  counsel  for 
Jersey  City,  in  renewing  his  applica- 
tion, denied  at  a  preliminary  hearing, 
to  have  Jersey  City  admitted  as  a  co- 
defendant,  insisted  that  the  city  had  an 
interest  apart  from  the  State  in  the 
proceedings.  He  argued  valuation  was 
necessary  in  rate  making. 

To  this  Judge  Rellstab  replied: 

Where  a  deficit  has  resulted  the  v-ilut- 
tion  cuts  no  figure.  Is  that  not  the  opinion 
of  the  court  of  last  resort  in  New  Jersey? 

In  reply  Mr.  Record  said: 

I  attack  the  theory.  I  say  that  in 
normal  times  there  is  no  decision  of  our 
courts  where  valuation  is  not  the  determin- 
ing factor. 

Judge  Wooley  pointed  out  that  if  a 
number  of  municipalities  were  admitted 
as  co-defendants,  the  issues  in  the  case 
might  be  confused  in  the  multiplicity 
of  ideas. 

Mr.  Record  said  the  company  was 
asking  the  public  to  pay  the  company's 
business  losses,  which  he  contended  the 
directors  of  the  company  were  solely 
responsible  for. 

Mr.  McCarter  said  that  Congress  had 
by  statute  foreseen  that  the  public  had 
an  interest  in  rate  making  cases  and 
had  given  their  interests  into  the  hands 
of  the  attorney  general.  It  was  the  duty 
of  that  official,  Mr.  McCarter  said,  to 
look  after  the  public's  interests.  He 
said  he  noted  that  the  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, with  his  assistants,  was  present. 

Mr.  McCarter  said  that  the  ordi- 
nances of  Newark  and  Jersey  City  fix- 
ing fares  had  been  repealed  and  this 
fact,  he  insisted,  nullified  most  of  the 
argument  of  Mr.  Record.  He  said  fur- 
ther that  Jersey  City  could  certiorari 
the  rate  in  the  State  Supreme  Court  if 
not  satisfied  with  it  and  the  same 
course  could  be  followed  by  other  cities. 
He  objected  to  the  admission  of  any  of 
the  cities  in  the  case  except  as  "friends 
of  the  court"  by  briefs. 

Frank  H.  Sommer  of  Newark,  asso- 
ciated with  counsel  for  the  municipali- 
ties, said  that  nothing  should  operate 


against  the  rights  of  the  municipalities 
to  be  heard.  Judge  Wooley  speaking 
for  the  court  said  that  there  was  not 
sufficient  time  to  consider  the  questions 
raised  and  render  an  opinion  immedi- 
ately, but  a  decision  would  be  rendered 
at  the  proper  time. 

The  main  case  was  then  taken  up. 
Mr.  McCarter  said  he  would  not  press 
at  any  length  the  attack  on  the  consti- 
tutionality of  the  New  Jersey  rate- 
making  law  and  Attorney  General  Mc- 
Cran said  this  would  shorten  his  argu- 
ment as  he  was  prepared  to  defend  the 
state  statute. 

Valuation  Testimony  Ruled  Out 

The  court  refused  to  admit  as  evi- 
dence the  great  mass  of  testimony  taken 
by  the  utility  board  on  the  question 
of  the  valuation  of  the  company's  prop- 
erty on  which  the  7-cent  rate  was  fixed. 
The  court  said  this  testimony  could  not 
be  admitted  as  a  whole,  but  intimated 
that  part  of  it  would  be  accepted  if  the 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners 
would  indicate  those  parts  pertinent  to 
the  present  argument.  Mr.  Herrmann 
for  the  board  took  exception  to  this 
ruling. 

Mr.  Bergen's  brief  sketched  the  or- 
ganization of  the  company  and  pointed 
out  that  in  the  years  1918,  1919  and 
1920,  "the  company  earned  $1,635,691 
less  than  the  amount  necessary  to  pay 
its  operating  expenses,  taxes  and  fixed 
charges  and  of  course  nothing  on  its 
capital  stock  of  $48,731,600  outstand- 
ing." Because  of  the  failure  to  allow 
an  adequate  rate,  the  railway  property 
bad  depreciated  so  that  "in  the  past 
four  years  physical  property  of  the 
plaintiff  worth  $5,000,000  has  been  actu- 
ally taken  and  used  by  the  public  with- 
out compensation,  and  its  property  is 
still  being  taken  for  that  purpose  in 
direct  violation  of  the  fourteenth 
amendment."  Mr.  Bergen  said  further 
that  "according  to  the  defendant's  own 
order  property  of  the  plaintiff  to  the 
amount  of  $2,000,000  has  been  con- 
sumed since  1917  in  serving  the 
public." 

Decision  of  the  higher  courts  of  New 
Jersey  and  other  States,  as  well  as  nu- 
merous decrees  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  were  quoted  by 
Mr.  Bergen,  in  support  of  the  legal 
propositions  set  forth  in  the  brief.  He 
pointed  to  the  O'Brien  case  wherein 
the  courts  held  that  the  company  was 
entitled  to  an  increase  in  rate  sufficient 
to  meet  increased  costs  and  added  that 


the  utility  board's  action  "in  refusing 
to  respect  the  law  as  stated  in  the 
O'Brien  case  was  emphatically  con- 
demned by  the  Supreme  Court  of  New 
Jersey,"  the  brief  adding:  "We  have 
therefore  two  solemn  adjudications  of 
the  highest  courts  of  New  Jersey  in  this 
very  matter  which  entitle  the  plaintiff 
to  the  relief  sought  by  its  bill — that  is 
an  increase  of  revenue  at  once." 

Mr.  Bergen  stated  that  although  he 
did  not  think  it  necessary  to  discuss  or 
decide  the  question  of  the  valuation  of 
the  company's  property  on  the  pend- 
ing motion,  the  company  was  quite  will- 
ing to  meet  it.  The  brief  declared  that 
the  utility  board  in  arriving  at  a  value 
of  $82,000,000  rejected  most  of  the  in- 
tangible values  and  ignored  the  fact 
that  every  consolidation  agreement  by 
which  the  plaintiff  was  enlarged  and 
every  lease  now  operated  "was  when 
made,  and  still  is  strictly  legal  in  every 
particular."  It  is  asserted  that  the 
application  for  injunction  is  based  "on 
substantial  facts  which  cannot  be  seri- 
ously disputed  and  rules  of  law  that  are 
settled  beyond  controversy." 

What  are  declared  to  be  "a  few  of  the 
important  particulars  in  which  the  re- 
ports of  the  defendant  and  the  orders 
based  on  them  are  plainly  erroneous" 
are  set  forth  in  the  brief.  Summarized 
they  are: 

1.  In  ascertaining  the  present  value  of 
the  tangible  property  of  a  utility  company 
by  the  reproduction  method  present  costs 
must  be  used.  The  defendant  recognized 
this  rule  of  law  but  added  only  $12,000,000 
to  its  estimate  of  pre-war  cost  of  construc- 
tion which  testimony  and  affidavits  demon- 
strate is  much  less  than  should  have  been 
allowed.  In  an  affidavit  Prof.  Henry  C. 
Anderson  estimates  the  difference  at  $43,- 
000,000. 

2.  No  allowance  was  made  for  the  value 
of  the  contract  under  which  the  railway 
receives  current  to  propel  its  cars,  although 
the  courts  have  repeatedly  held  that  such 
a  contract  is  valuable  and  must  be  included 
in  the  valuation  of  a  utility  for  the  purpose 
of  a  base  rate. 

3.  Allowance  was  not  made  for  "Cost  of 
Money"  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars, 
although  "no  one  disputed  the  correctness 
of  the  figures  or  denied  that  the  expendi- 
ture is  a  legitimate  part  of  the  cost  of  con- 
struction of  the  plaintiff's  property."  It  is 
pointed  out  that  the  utility  board  excluded 
this  item  from  its  valuation  of  the  property 
and  said  it  would  consider  it  in  fixing  a 
rate  of  return  but  failed  to  do  so. 

4.  The  proof  shows  that  $5,000,000  worth 
of  the  plaintiff's  physica1  property  has  been 
taken  for  public  use  without  compensation 
during  the  last  five  years  and  that  taking 
is  still  going  on. 

5.  The  railway  owes  the  electric  com- 
pany $2,500,000  for  power  which  indebted- 
ness was  allowed  to  accrue  because  the 
plaintiff  was  seeking  increased  rates  but  if 
such  increase  is  not  allowed  the  electric 
company  must  and  therefore  will  discon- 
tinue furnishing  power. 

6.  The  experience  of  the  plaintiff  from 
Aug.  4  to  Sept.  6  indicates  that  the  income 
from  the  additional  cent  for  transfers  will 
amount  to  $266,911  less  per  annum  than 
the  utility  board  estimated,  and  instead  of 
there  being  an  increase  of  1.31  per  cent 
in  passengers  as  the  board  figured,  there 
will  be  a  decrease  of  6.94  per  cent,  making 
the  company's  gross  revenue  $1,999,266  less 
than  the  utility  board  figured  it  would  be. 

7.  In  the  O'Brien  case  and  in  the  more 
recent  case  decided  last  July,  the  courts 
of  New  Jersey  have  held  that  the  plaintiff 
is  entitled  to  an  increase  of  rates  sufficient 
to  pay  for  the  increased  expenses  of  main- 
tenance and  operation  and  taxes.  "No 
increase  in  rates  allowed  by  the  defendant 
to  the  plaintiff  since  Jan.  1,  1918,  has- 
obeyed  those  decisions." 

8.  During  the  past  eighteen  years  the 
company  has  expended  more  than  $2,000,000' 
a  year  on  the  average  to  maintain  its 
property.  Such  amounts  must  continue  to 
be  spent  if  the  property  is  to  be  kept  up 
and  the  money  must  be  obtained,  sixty 
per   cent  from   a  depreciation   fund,  and' 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


459 


forty  per  cent  new  capital.  The  rates 
allowed  by  the  utility  board  do  not  permit 
the  company  to  earn  any  depreciation  fund 
and  it  will  be  impossible  to  get  new  capital 
without  a  substantial  increase  in  revenue. 

"The  recital  of  fact  could  be  much 
extended,"  Mr.  Bergen  says  in  conclud- 
ing his  brief,  "but  it  is  unnecessary. 
From  what  clearly  appears  it  is  mani- 
festly impossible  for  the  plaintiff  to 
continue  to  operate  or  to  maintain  the 
unity  of  its  property,  unless  additional 
income  is  provided  at  once  and  the  com- 
pany protected  in  the  exercise  of  its 
rights  by  the  injunction  of  this  Court." 

Messrs.  McCarter  and  Lindabury  be- 
fore going  into  a  discussion  of  the  facts 
pointed  out  that  the  plaintiff  has  an 
inherent  right  to  appeal  to  the  United 
States  Court  for  relief.  Among  author- 
ities quoted  sustaining  the  company's 
petition  were  the  late  Chief  Justice 
White  and  Justice  Peckham  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court. 

In  discussing  the  law  and  the  facts 
the  brief  goes  into  the  board's  order 
and  report  with  great  particularity  and 
combats  the  findings  therein  expressed, 
supporting  the  plaintiff's  contention 
with  quotations  from  decisions  in  simi- 
lar cases.  The  lawyers  contend  that 
the  board's  orders  and  reports  are  fal- 
lacious and  altogether  wrong  and  are 
based  on  a  misapprehension  of  the 
board's  duty. 

After  setting  forth  the  general  prin- 
ciples involved  and  treating  them  and 
the  law  applicable  to  them  the  special 
counsel  direct  their  attention  to  what 
they  term  the  "improprieties"  of  the 
board's  report.  These  are  set  forth 
under  sixteen  headings  each  of  which 
is  discussed  in  more  or  less  detail  and 
which  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  failure  to  give  to  the  Ford,  Bacon 
&  .Davis  report  the  presumptive  evidence  to 
which  it  is  entitled  by  the  statute. 

2.  The  board  improperly  ignored  the 
railway  s  power  contract  with  the  Public 
Service  Electric  Company. 

3.  The  board's  figure  of  $12,000,000  for 
what  is  called  "appreciation"  is  ridiculously 
small. 

4.  The  board  erred  in  rejecting  as  an 
element  of  value  the  amount  actually  ex- 
pended in  procuring  capital  required  for 
the  work  of  construction  bv  the  plaintiff 

5  The  report  is  obviously  wrong  in  that 
it  allows  so  little  revenue  that  it  will  be 
impossible  for  the  plaintiff  to  obtain  any 
new  capital. 

6.  The  report  is  wrong  in  that  it  makes 
no  provision  whatever  to  reimburse  the 
plaintiff  for  the  deficiency  in  operation  dur- 

'"scoyre^  1918>  1919  and  1920,  aggregating 
$1,060, 691. 

7.  The  board  totally  ignored  the  fact 
that  the  railway  is  indebted  to  the  electric 
company  in  the  sum  of  $2,500,000  for  power 
furnished. 

8.  The  board  grossly  erred  in  only  allow- 
ing the  sum  of  $12,000,000  for  what  it  called 

going  value." 

9.  The  board's  treatment  of  the.  subject 
of  depreciation  of  the  value  of  the  physical 
property  of  the  plaintiff  is  erroneous. 

10.  The  board  erred  in  making  no  allow- 
ance for  unearned  profits  during  the  past 
three  years. 

11.  The  income  purported  to  be  provided 
by  the  board's  figures  assuming  their 
accuracy  in  all  respects  is  itself  insufficient 
and  confiscatory. 

12.  The  board  having  required  in  1918 
that  the  company  should  annually  appro- 
priate $800,000  for  depreciation  and  ex- 
penses for  replacements  and  renewals,  and 
being  aware  that  owing  to  its  minimized 
revenue,  the  company  has  only  been  able 
during-  the  three  years  to  appropriate 
$448,002  for  the  purpose,  nevertheless  in- 
stead of  allowing  a  rate  that  will  promptly 
make  up  this  deficit  spreads  it  out  over  a 
period   of  five  years. 

13.  The  board  erroneously  concludes  that 
the  sum  of  $715,000  will  be  annually  raised 


from  the  additional  1  cent  permitted  to  be 
charged  for  an  initial  transfer. 

14.  The  board  has  improperly  minimized 
the  amount  of  the  plaintiff's  revenue  that 
will  be  required  to  pay  for  accidents. 

15.  The  board  improperly  underestimated 
the  taxes  the  company  will  be  required 
annually  to  pay  amounting  to  at  least 
$100,000. 

16.  The  amount  allowed  by  the  board 
for  depreciation  and  maintenance  is  at  least 
$1,200,000  less  than  the  sum  that  must  be 
spent  within  the  next  year. 


Fare  Changes  on  Michigan 
Property 

A  10-cent  cash  fare  with  four  tickets 
for  25  cents  and  children's  fare  at  5 
cents  was  put  into  effect  on  Sept.  5  by 
the  Michigan  Railroad  in  Jackson  and 
Battle  Creek.  The  same  rate  was 
authorized  in  Lansing  except  that  the 
cash  fare  was  8  cents. 

The  Michigan  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission, in  whose  hands  the  matter  of  a 
temporary  fare  was  put  for  Kalamazoo, 
made  the  rate  for  that  city  the  same 
as  Lansing.  The  commission  made  an 
audit  and  an  appraisal  of  the  Kalamazoo 
property.  A  hearing  has  been  set  for 
Sept.  21  and  an  authorized  rate  of  fare 
is  looked  for  sufficient  to  pay  operating 
expenses  and  taxes  and  to  net  a  fair 
return  on  the  value  of  the  property. 

In  Jackson  the  Mayor  appointed  a 
Citizens'  Committee  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  rate  of  fare,  much  on  the 
same  principle  as  the  commission's 
plan  for  Kalamazoo.  Lansing  will  also 
make  an  audit  of  the  books  and  an 
appraisal  of  the  property. 

The  story  of  the  fare  troubles  in  the 
cities  in  which  the  Michigan  Railroad 
operates  was  told  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  Sept.  3. 


Chicago's  Eight-Cent  Fare 
Attacked 

The  fight  for  a  5-cent  fare  on  the 
Chicago  Surface  Lines  was  renewed 
before  the  Illinois  Commerce  Commis- 
sion on  Sept.  14.  For  several  days  pre- 
ceding this  hearing  the  city  attorneys 
issued  statements  charging  that  the 
companies  had  been  making  excessive 
profits  and  that  the  8-cent  fare  was  un- 
reasonable. 

Williston  Fish,  general  manager  of 
the  Surface  Lines,  gave  out  a  state- 
ment in  which  he  showed  that  the  $8,- 
237,948  which  had  been  referred  to  by 
the  city  as  "profits"  for  seven  months 
ended  July  31  were  only  the  net  earn- 
ings after  deduction  of  operating  ex- 
penses. He  explained  that  from  this 
amount  the  city  would  get  $1,970,997 
as  its  share  of  the  net  divisible  receipts. 
Further  deduction  of  $4,809,159  would 
be  made  for  interest  on  bonded  debt 
and  loans,  also  $207,083  for  sinking 
fund  requirements,  and  $109,447  for 
corporation  expenses  and  federal  cor- 
poration taxes.  This  would  leave  net 
for  stockholders  $1,141,263. 

The  amount  left  after  paying  the 
city's  55  per  cent  would  mean  a  return 
at  the  rate  of  6.73  per  cent  per  year 
on  the  recognized  valuation  of  the  prop- 
erties. In  view  of  declining  business  it 
was  estimated  that  the  return  for  the 


year  would  not  exceed  6.5  per  cent. 
This  was  identical  with  the  return  for 
the  year  ended  Jan.  31,  1917,  which  had 
been  referred  to  by  the  city  as  a  "ban- 
ner year"  under  a  5-cent  fare.  The 
fact  that  the  companies  will  not  have  a 
larger  return  under  an  8-cent  fare  was 
due  to  greatly  increased  wages  and 
material  costs.  The  management  in- 
sists that  a  5-cent  fare  is  impossible 
and  it  would  only  be  feasible  to  grant 
a  7-cent  fare  by  a  drastic  cut  in  the 
wage  scale. 


Seven   Cent   Fare   Ends   Tieup. — An 

agreement  was  reached  recently  be- 
tween the  City  Council  of  Somerset  and 
the  Kentucky  Utilities  Company  where- 
by the  company  will  charge  a  7-cent 
fare  for  operation  of  the  railway  line. 
The  company  discontinued  service  sev- 
eral months  ago  because  the  Council 
would  not  grant  a  10-cent  fare. 

Another  Bus  Line  Started — The  Con- 
necticut Company  recently  organized  a 
new  bus  line  in  Hartford.  The  bus  had 
its  trial  trip  on  Aug.  27  and  carried 
such  distinguished  passengers  as  Mayor 
Brainard,  Chief  of  Police  Farrell,  Police 
Commissioner  Cady  and  others.  The 
bus  is  No.  16  and  .starts  from  Union 
Station,  going  over  the  High  Street 
route. 

Bus  Line  for  New  Orleans — A  local 
automobile  delivery  company  has  asked 
for  a  franchise  to  operate  bus  lines  on 
the  principal  streets  of  New  Orleans 
and  has  promised  to  order  fifteen  buses 
when  a  favorable  answer  has  been  re- 
ceived. The  application  states  that 
ultimately  they  expect  to  have  200  buses 
in  operation,  each  one  to  cost  $5,100 
and  to  seat  thirty  passengers.  The  pro- 
posed fare  is  to  be  6i  cents. 

Improved  Service  Praised — According 
to  the  annual  report  of  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission  service  on  the  lines  of 
the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric 
Company,  Washington,  D.  C,  has  been 
improved  by  a  rerouting  scheme  and  by 
the  addition  of  a  few  one-man  safety 
cars.  On  the  subject  of  jitneys  the  re- 
port states  that  during  the  year  twen- 
ty-seven applications  were  approved  for 
the  operation  of  jitneys  over  prescribed 
routes. 

Jitneys  Not  Very  Active — Jitney 
buses  are  not  causing  nearly  so  much 
trouble  as  they  did  just  after  the  7- 
cent  fare  on  the  lines  of  the  Louisville 
(Ky.)  Railway  went  into  effect.  Driv- 
ers have  found  that  there  is  no  money 
in  it,  while  the  city  officials  are  now 
forcing  the  autos  to  quit  blocking  cor- 
ners in  the  business  sections,  and  pros- 
ecuting them  for  violation  of  traffic  reg- 
ulations, parking  laws,  etc.  A  few  more 
weeks  and  it  is  believed  the  jitneys  will 
be  out  of  business. 


460 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


L.  C.  Bewsey  Local  Manager 
in  Kalamazoo 

L.  C.  Bewsey,  electrical  and  mechan- 
ical engineer,  has  been  appointed  super- 
intendent of  the  Michigan  Railway 
Company's  lines  in  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 
At  one  time  Mr.  Bewsey  was  super- 
intendent of  transportation  of  the 
Buffalo,  Rockport  &  Rochester  Railway, 
which  has  headquarters  at  Rochester, 
N.  Y.  From  1911  until  he  went  to 
Rochester,  Mr.  Bewsey  was  the  local 
superintendent  for  the  Union  Traction 
Company  of  Indiana  at  Indianapolis. 
Mr.  Bewsey  was  born  in  Clinton,  Ind., 
in  1882.  His  first  railroad  experience 
was  as  a  fireman  and  brakeman  for  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  and  the  Big 
Four  Railroad.  In  1899  he  entered  the 
service  of  the  Lafayette  (Ind.)  Railway 
and  served  as  motorman  and  shop  fore- 
man until  he  became  connected  with  the 
Union  Traction  Company.  In  1909 
when  the  "Muncie  Meteor"  was  put  on 
by  the  Union  Traction  Company,  he 
became  motorman  and  continued  in  that 
position  until  he  was  appointed  local 
superintendent. 


Toledo  Claim  Agent  Elected 
County.  Recorder 

Arthur  D.  Hill  has  just  left  the  To- 
ledo Railways  &  Light  Company  to 
take  the  position  of  recorder  of  Lucas 
County,  Ohio,  having  been  elected  on 
the  Republican  ticket  for  a  two-year 
term.  Mr.  Hill  is  a  much  valued  mem- 
ber of  the  Doherty  family  in  Toledo. 
His  rise  in  the  company  has  been  rapid, 
due  both  to  his  ability  and  capacity  for 
making  friends  and  for  always  working 
for  the  success  of  the  company  and  the 
men  in  position  over  and  under  him. 

Mr.  Hill  first  became  connected  with 
the  company  in  August,  1913,  as  chief 
clerk  for  the  claim  department.  He 
continued  in  this  work  until  he  went  to 
the  Mexican  border  in  June,  1916.  After 
returning  from  France  in  1919  he  re- 
turned to  the  claim  department,  and 
when  the  separation  of  the  traction 
property  from  the  light  and  power 
properties  came  in  February  of  this 
year  he  was  appointed  claim  agent  for 
the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company, 
the  Toledo  Beach  Company,  the  Toledo, 
'  Ottawa  Beach  &  Northern  Railway,  and 
the  Adrian  Street  Railway.  He  also 
was  in  charge  of  the  safety-first  work. 

His  war  record  has  been  as  brilliant 
as  his  success  with  the  company.  In 
fact,  he  is  an  old-t;me  military  man. 
He  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Ohio 
National  Guard  in  1895  and  was  in  the 
military  service  continuously  for  over 
twenty-four  years,  having  served  in 
every  grade  of  the  service  from  that  of 
private  to  that  of  major.  He  com- 
manded the  first  battalion  of  the  Sixth 
Ohio  Infantry  on  the  border,  and  after 


war  was  declared  with  Germany  and 
the  Sixth  Ohio  Infantry  was  made  the 
147th  Infantry,  he  commanded  the  first 
battalion  of  the  147th  in  France.  It  is 
said  that  he  left  the  service  with  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  every  officer 
and  man  who  served  under  him,  an  en- 
viable record  indeed. 


Mr.  Coryell  in  Oklahoma 

A.  B.  Coryell,  who  at  present  is 
superintendent  of  power  for  the  Laurel 
Light  &  Railway  Company,  Laurel, 
Miss.,  has  been  appointed  general  su- 
perintendent of  the  Muskogee  (Okla.) 
Electric  Traction  Company  and  the 
Shawnee  &  Tecumseh  Traction  Com- 
pany with  headquarters    at  Muskogee. 

Mr.  Coryell  has  a  wide  knowledge  of 
the  utility  field,  having  had  more  than 
thirty  years'  experience  in  the  con- 
struction and  management  of  electric 
railway,  light,  power  and  gas  proper- 
ties. He  expected  to  take  up  his  new 
duties  about  Sept.  15.  His  successor 
has  not  yet  been  appointed. 

Previous  to  his  present  connection  in 
Laurel,  Miss.,  Mr.  Coryell  was  power 
superintendent  of  the  Port  Huron  Gas 
&  Electric  Company,  Port  Huron,  Mich. 
Previous  to  that  he  was  in  business  for 
himself  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  During  the 
time  that  he  has  had  charge  of  the 
construction  and  management  of  dif- 
ferent properties  his  connections  have 
been  mainly  in  the  southern  states.  He 
was,  however,  for  four  years  superin- 
tendent and  purchasing  agent  of  the 
Moncton  Tramways,  Electricity  &  Gas 
Company,  Moncton,  N.  B. 


C.  M.  Chandler  Again  Head  of 
Georgia  Railroad  Commission 

C.  Murphy  Chandler  was  elected 
chairman  of  the  Georgia  Railroad  Com- 
mission for  his  sixth  consecutive  term 
at  a  meeting  of  the  commission  held 
Aug.  28.  Mr.  Chandler  was  elected  to 
this  place  by  unanimous  vote  of  the 
other  members,  Paul  B.  Trammell, 
James  A.  Perry,  J.  D.  Price  and  John 
T.  Boifeuillet.  At  the  same  meeting 
Mr.  Trammell  was  ]  e-elected  vice- 
chairman. 

Chairman  Chandler  has  served  twelve 
years  as  a  member  of  the  Railroad 
Commission  until  April  1  this  year. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legis- 
lature as  a  representative  of  DeKalb 
County  when  first  named  to  the  posi- 
tion twelve  years  ago.  He  resigned 
as  member  of  the  Legislature  to  take 
up  the  new  duties.  He  had  served  six 
terms  in  the  Legislature. 

During  his  term  as  chairman  of  the 
State  Railroad  Commission  Mr.  Chand- 
ler has  presided  over  some  of  the  most 
famous  and  most  important  railroad 
and  public  utility  cases  that  have  ever 
been  considered  in  Georgia.     He  suc- 


ceeded Fuller  E.  Callaway,  of  La- 
Grange,  as  a  member  of  the  commis- 
sion, and  succeeded  H.  Warner  Hill  as 
chairman  of  the  body. 

Mr.  Trammell  was  re-elected  to  the 
commission  last  fall.  He  has  presided 
as  vice-chairman  in  several  important 
cases  when  Mr.  Chandler  was  absent 
from  the  city. 

Transportation  Commission  Now 
Operating  Toronto  Railway 

With  the  formal  passing  of  the 
Toronto  (Ont.)  Railway  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  citizens  of  Toronto  on  Sept. 
1,  General  Manager  H.  H.  Couzens 
of  the  Toronto  Transportation  Com- 
mission was  appointed  general  manager 
of  the  property  and  D.  W.  Harvey, 
assistant  manager  of  the  civic  car  line, 
was  made  assistant  manager.  R.  J. 
Fleming,  former  general  manager,  will 
continue  in  the  service  of  the  Toronto 
Railway  as  operating  head  of  the 
Toronto  &  York  Radial  Railway,  which 
is  owned  by  the  Toronto  Railway. 

The  members  of  the  Toronto  Trans- 
portation Commission  are  P.  W.  Ellis, 
chairman,  Frederick  Miller,  George 
Wright,  and  H.  H.  Couzens. 

W.  G.  Foster  now  fills  the  position 
of  auditor  of  the  Aurora,  Plainfield  & 
Joliet  Railroad,  Joliet,  111.  Chester  G. 
Moore  was  formerly  the  auditor  on  this 
property. 

Neill  W.  Funk,  superintendent  of  the 
claim  department  of  the  Louisville  (Ky.) 
Railway,  and  son  of  the  late  Thomas 
Funk,  for  years  superintendent  of  the 
company,  while  recovering  from  serious 
injuries  at  his  home,  had  a  fall  last 
week  in  which  he  fractured  his  leg.  Mr. 
Funk  was  in  an  automobile  accident 
some  weeks  ago  while  returning  from 
an  outing  of  the  Round  Table  Club. 

R.  E.  Shartell  has  been  appointed  to 
the  organization  of  the  Minneapolis, 
Northfield  &  Southern  Railway,  Min- 
neapolis, Minn.,  in  the  capacity  of  pur- 
chasing agent  and  claim  agent.  Also, 
E.  T.  Selmer  has  been  added  to  the 
staff  in  the  capacity  of  general  freight 
and  passenger  agent.  Art  Cutland  now 
fills  the  position  of  engineer  mainte- 
nance of  way  and  roadmaster,  left  va- 
cant by  E.  L.  Norton. 

Robert  D.  Armstrong,  examiner  for 
the  Public  Service  Commission  of  In- 
diana, has  resigned,  effective  Oct.  1. 
He  will  complete  advanced  courses  in 
an  Eastern  law  school  and  return  to 
Indianapolis  to  practice  law.  He  will 
be  succeeded  by  Frank  Faris,  assistant 
examiner.  Mr.  Armstrong  has  been  a 
member  of  the  commission  staff  since 
leaving  the  army  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  was  also  connected  with  the 
commission  before  the  war.  He  has 
conducted  the  hearings  avA  prepared 
orders  for  the  commission  in  a  number 
of  important  cases. 

W.  Harry  Stone,  who  was  superin- 
tendent of  electrical  construction  and 
has  been  with  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.) 
Railway  for  many  years,  has  resigned 
and  entered  business  with  his  sons. 
Mr.   Stone  has  taken  an  agency  for 


September  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


461 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


urn. 


art  materials,  with  offices  in  the  Pa- 
cific Electric  Building,  Los  Angeles. 

M.  Holt  is  no  longer  connected  with 
the  St.  Paul  Southern  Electric  Rail- 
way, St.  Paul,  Minn.,  as  auditor.  His 
duties  have  been  taken  over  by  the 
assistant  general  manager,  C.  T. 
Kuckler. 

Edward  Flad,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  member 
of  the  Missouri  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion since  April  15,  1917,  has  tendered 
his  resignation  to  Governor  Hyde  to 
become  effective  Oct.  1.  He  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Gardner  for  a  term 
expiring  April  15,  1923.  His  relations 
with  the  other  members  of  the  com- 
mission have  always  been  pleasant,  but 
a  desire  to  return  to  his  old  profes- 
sion of  civil  engineer  had  become  so 
strong  that  he  felt  he  could  not  resist 
it  any  longer.  He  will  return  to  St. 
Louis  when  his  resignation  becomes 
effective  and  resume  his  profession. 
His  work  on  the  commission  has  been 
regarded  highly  because  of  his  long  ex- 
perience and  wide  knowledge  of  engi- 
neering. 


Obituary 


L.  D.  Howard  Gilmour,  general  solic- 
itor of  Public  Service  Railway,  New- 
ark, N.  J.,  died  after  an  operation  for 
appendicitis  Aug.  21.  Mr.  Gilmour  had 
gone  to  the  hospital  on  the  day  before 
and  had  been  attending  to  his  regular 
work  practically  up  to  the  time  he  was 
taken  to  Newark  from  his  home  at 
Fair  Haven.  He  was  a  familiar  figure 
in  the  state  and  noted  for  his  kindness 
and  genial  disposition. 

J.  J.  Landers,  auditor  of  the  York, 
(Pa.)  Railways  and  president  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Account- 
ants' Association,  died  on  Sept.  9.  Mr. 
Landers  had  been  connected  with  pub- 
lic utility  undertakings  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  business  career,  mostly  in 
accounting  work.  Mr.  Landers  was  born 
in  1876  in  Bucks  County,  Pa.  At  an 
early  age  he  moved  to  Philadelphia. 
He  received  his  education  at  St.  Jo- 
seph's College  and  shortly  thereafter 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Philadelphia 
Traction  Company,  later  the  Union 
Traction  Company,  as  chief  clerk  to  the 
superintendent  of  power.  This  position 
he  held  until  1899,  when  he  went  to 
Scranton  as  the  chief  clerk  in  the  audit- 
ing department  of  the  Scranton  Rail- 
way. In  1903  he  was  appointed  cashier 
of  the  Conneaut  &  Erie  Traction  Com- 
pany, then  under  construction.  When 
operations  started  he  assumed  the  du- 
ties of  treasurer  and  manager.  In  1905 
he  was  appointed  superintendent  of  the 
Rock  Hill  (S.  C.)  Light  &  Water  Com- 
pany, and  after  two  years  in  the  South 
returned  to  Pennsylvania  as  auditor  for 
the  York  Railways  and  subsidiaries. 
Mr.  Landers  was  for  three  terms  vice- 
president  of  the  Accountants'  Associa- 
tion and  last  year  was  promoted  from 
the  office  of  first  vice-president. 


A  Flurry  in  Copper 

Shading  of  Prices,  After  Attempt  to 
Hold  Up  Levels,  Expected  Unless 
Demand  Improves 

Copper  is  slightly  more  active  than 
it  has  been  for  some  time  with  prices 
still  firm.  Most  of  the  larger  produc- 
ers are  now  quoting  12  to  12i  cents  a 
pound  for  Lake  and  electrolytic  copper. 
Inquiries  from  domestic  and  foreign 
consumers  are  increasing. 

During  the  past  week  those  in  con- 
trol of  the  copper  situation  put  up  their 
prices  I  to  he.  per  lb.,  and  the  others 
followed  in  the  hope  of  getting  the 
higher  prices,  but  fearful  of  the  out- 
come of  such  a  move.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  there  seems  to  be  no  excuse  what- 
ever for  putting  up  prices  i  to  lc.  under 
the  conditions  prevailing  at  present. 
The  market  has  been  in  a  stagnant  con- 
dition for  so  long  that  consumers  could 
not  be  expected  to  crowd  each  other  to 
pay  the  advances. 

The  reaction  was  that  domestic  con- 
sumers showed  more  interest  in  the 
market,  and  while  they  had  been  hesi- 
tating somewhat  after  the  advance  was 
made,  it  is  the  opinion  in  the  trade  that 
practically  all  the  users  are  bare  of  sup- 
plies and  would  find  it  necessary  to  get 
into  the  market  to  cover  for  their 
requirements. 

It  is  learned  that  more  than  one 
selling  interest  was  in  favor  of  a  still 
greater  advance  in  quotations,  but  the 
more  conservative  interests  are  opposed 
to  such  a  move,  pointing  out  that  sev- 
eral months  ago  when  the  demand  was 
holding  comparatively  well,  a  sharp  up- 
turn in  quotations  caused  the  with- 
drawal of  buyers  from  the  market,  and 
resulted  in  the  lowest  quotations  on 
record. 

While  none  of  the  leading  authorities 
in  the  industry  is  looking  forward  to 
any  great  buying  movement,  it  is  felt 
that  users  having  been  holding  off  for 
so  many  months  will  be  compelled  to 
enter  the  market  for  their  needs  in  the 
near  future,  and  unless  an  attempt  is 
made  to  rush  up  quotations,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  a  healthy  and  steady  in- 
crease in  buying  will  be  experienced. 

The  revived  interest,  however,  was 
short  lived,  for  domestic  consumers 
again  withdrew  from  the  copper  mar- 
ket and  as  a  result  there  is  some  un- 
settlement  in  the  situation.  It  is  merely 
a  repetition  of  what  has  occurred  on 
numerous  occasions  in  the  past.  Just 
when  consumers  appear  to  be  ready  to 
come  into  the  market  for  fair  quanti- 
ties of  the  metal  some  of  the  big  in- 
terests insist  upon  advancing  quota- 
tions and  the  result  has  again  been  the 
same,  namely,  the  withdrawal  of  buyers 
and  the  struggle  between  buyers  and 
sellers  for  supremacy  as  to  pi'ices. 


Domestic  consumption  so  far  this 
year  has  averaged  about  52,000,000 
lb.  a  month,  or  at  the  annual  rate  of 
about  624,000,000  lb.  a  year.  If  no 
change  occurs,  therefore,  in  the  rate  of 
deliveries,  there  will  have  gone  into  con- 
sumption during  1921  approximately 
1,180,000,000  lb.  of  copper.  As  near  as 
can  be  estimated  the  refinery  output  of 
this  country  for  the  first  seven  months 
of  this  year,  which  includes  imports  of 
copper  matte  from  South  America,  ag- 
gregated about  560,000,000  lb.,  or  an 
indicated  excess  of  deliveries  over  re- 
finery output  of  about  136,000,000  lb. 
Carrying  this  method  of  figuring  a  little 
further,  or  to  include  an  estimate  of  the 
full  year  on  the  basis  of  unchanged 
monthly  refinery  output  and  domestic 
and  foreign  deliveries,  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  indications  point  to  a  re- 
duction in  the  surplus  stocks  of  metal 
of  upward  of  400,000,000  lb.  Even  if 
the  actual  refinery  output  proves  larger 
than  it  is  possible  now  to  estimate, 
there  is  also  a  strong  likelihood  of  in- 
creased sales  of  copper  in  the  last 
quarter  of  this  year,  which,  although 
not  immediately  translated  into  deliv- 
eries, would  have  a  stimulating  effect  on 
the  market  because  of  the  plain  infer- 
ence of  marked  reduction  in  surplus 
soon  after  the  beginning  of  1922. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  is  well 
within  the  realm  of  possibility  that 
something  will  happen  in  the  copper 
market  similar  to  that  which  has  re- 
cently taken  place  in  cotton.  With  no 
increased  consumption  to  speak  of  in 
cotton,  but  with  a  bearish  government 
report  as  to  the  1921  crop  outlook,  there 
has  been  wild  speculation  in  cotton  fu- 
tures and  prices  have  advanced  85  per 
cent. 


Railway  Motor  Repair  Parts 
Reduced  10  per  Cent 

One  of  the  largest  manufacturers  of 
railway  equipment  on  Sept.  1  made 
public  a  price  reduction  of  10  per  cent 
in  the  repair  parts  for  railway  motors, 
controllers  and  air  brakes.  This  cut 
also  applies  to  circuit  breakers,  car 
switches  and  fuse  boxes.  Other  manu- 
facturers have  not  made  any  definite 
cuts  along  this  line  but  claim  that 
their  prices  are  gradually  being  revised 
according  to  changes  in  labor  and  raw 
material  prices.  Apparently  they  have 
not  seen  fit  to  bring  about  a  sweeping 
reduction  in  an  effort  to  stimulate 
buying  as  one  has  done. 

Demand  for  motor  repair  parts  is,  of 
course,  fairly  constant  and  has  been 
of  good  volume,  it  is  reported.  Deliv- 
eries are  favorable  since  shipments 
can  be  made  immediately  from  stock 
for  parts  of  standard  equipment  in 
general  use. 


462 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  12 


Prices  of  Overhead  Line 
Material  Cut 

On  Sept.  7  practically  all  manufac- 
turers of  overhead  trolley  line  material 
announced  a  price  reduction  on  all  mal- 
leab'e  iron  parts  ranging  from  2  to  7 
per  cent.  This  includes  the  whole  line 
of  malleable  iron  suspensions,  turn- 
buckles,  ears,  clamps,  strain  plates, 
frogs,  etc.  No  change  was  made  in  the 
prices  of  bronze  and  composition  ma- 
terial. 

Several  of  the  large  manufacturers 
report  that  there  is  a  very  steady  de- 
mand of  this  class  of  supplies,  most  of 
the  sales  going  to  fill  maintenance  re- 
quirements. Stocks  are  in  good  shape 
and  it  is  possible  for  buyers  to  receive 
shipments  of  any  regularly  listed  ar- 
ticles in  about  a  week's  time. 


New  Brill  Company  in  Canada 

J.  G.  Brill  Company,  Philadelphia, 
announces  the  formation  of  a  new  com- 
pany for  the  sale  and  construction  of 
electric  and  steam  railway  rolling  stock 
in  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  This  new 
company,  which  is  known  as  the  "Cana- 
dian Brill  Company,  Ltd.,"  has  taken 
over  the  plant  and  equipment  of  the 
well  known  Preston  Car  &  Coach  Com- 
pany, Ltd.,  Preston,  Ontario,  and  has  a 
number  of  orders  now  in  process  of 
construction. 

This  plant  is  a  modern  car  shop  hav- 
ing 11|  acres  of  ground  located  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  city.  Railroad  facili- 
ties for  the  shipment  of  its  products  to 
all  parts  of  Canada  are  provided  by  the 
Grand  River  and  Grand  Trunk  Rail- 
ways. 

The  executives  of  the  "Canadian 
Brill  Company,  Ltd."  are:  Samuel  M. 
Curwen,  president;  H.  K.  Hauck,  1st 
vice-president;  Alfred  Clare,  2nd  vice- 
president;  H.  D.  Scully,  general  man- 
ager and  secretary;  and  E.  P.  Rawle, 
treasurer.  Mr.  Scully,  who  has  been 
officially  identified  with  many  impor- 
tant Canadian  enterprises,  is  located  in 
Preston  and,  as  the  resident  manager, 
will  direct  the  operation  of  this  new 
Brill  plant. 


Extension  of  Electrification  in 
Australia 

It  is  reported  in  the  Times  (London) 
Trade  Supplement  that  the  Victorian 
Railways  Commissioners  (Australia) 
are  about  to  convert  a  further  100J 
miles  of  their  lines  from  steam  to  elec- 
tric traction  and  that  the  work  is  to  be 
completed  by  the  end  of  February,  1923. 
In  addition  to  this  electrification,  which 
covers  the  passenger  carrying  routes,  a 
number  of  lines  exclusively  used  for 
freight  traffic  are  to  be  converted  and 
the  electric  system  extended  over  sev- 
eral of  the  busier  sections  of  the  coun- 
try lines.  This  work  will  entail  the 
overhead  wiring  of  considerably  over 
100  miles  of  track,  the  erection  of  a 
number  of  sub-stations  additional  to 
those  already  in  use,  the  replacement  of 
the  existing  signaling  equipment,  and 
the  construction  of  several  workshops 
fully  equipped  with  machine  tools. 


Rolling  Stock 


Toronto  (Ont.)  Transportation  Commis- 
sion has  ordered  seven  motor  buses  for  ex- 
perimental purposes  during  next  winter. 
One  bus  will  be  supplied  by  the  Leyland 
Company.  London,  England,  another  by  the 
Eastern  Motor  Truck  Company,  Hull,  which 
will  be  built  similar  to  those  operated  by 
the  Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Company,  New 
Vork,  while  the  fourth  bus  will  be  supplied 
by  the  Associated  Equipment  Company, 
London,  and  the  fifth  bus  by  the  Fifth  Ave- 
nue Coach  Company,  New  York.  The  cost 
of  each  bus  will  average  between  $13,000 
and  $14,000. 


Franchises 


Indiana  Service  Corporation,  Flort  Wayne, 
liul.,  has  petitioned  the  Board  of  Public 
Works  of  that  city  for  franchises  covering 
the  proposed  changes  and  extensions  of 
the  city  street  car  lines  on  Pontiac  Street, 
Oxford  Street  and  West  Main  Street.  The 
lines  in  some  instances  will  be  double- 
tracked  and  certain  of  the  extensions  will 
require  the  opening  of  new  streets.  A 
period  of  five  years  is  asked  for  in  the 
construction  of  the  double-track  lines  on 
Oxford  Street  from  Calhoun  Street  to 
Turpie.  The  company,  however,  in  its  peti- 
tion agrees  to  complete  the  Pontiac  and 
West  Main  Street  changes  by  the  fall  of 
L922,  It  is  stated  by  the  officials  of  the 
Indiana  Service  Corporation  that  a  petition 
will  soon  be  presented  to  the  board  of 
public  works  asking  that  a  franchise  be 
granted  which  will  permit  the  double- 
tracking  of  the  Columbia  Street  line  to 
Anthony  Boulevard.  This  work  will  also 
be  completed  before  the  end  of  1922.  If 
the  franchise  is  granted  the  delay  until 
that  time  will  be  necessary  in  order  to  per- 
mit the  completion  of  the  fill  at  the  new 
bridge  over  Delta  Lake. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Claremont  (N.  H.)  Railway  expects  to 
re-lay  2  miles  of  track  with  A.  S.  C.  E. 
70-lb.  T-rail  with  continuous  joints,  to 
reclaim  1,500  joints  of  60-lb.  T-rail  with 
continuous  joints  and  to  replace  the  ties 
in  3  miles  of  track  with  standard  chestnut 
ties. 

Mesaba  (Minn.)  Street  Railway  has  com- 
pleted most  of  the  road  and  trackwork  on 
the  new  right-of-way  at  Hibbing,  and  the 
stringing  of  trolley  wires  will  be  finished 
shortly.  The  engineers  of  the  company 
will  provide  some  means  of  electric  car 
service  although  this  will  be  a  problem 
until  the  new  power  plant  is  built  in 
Hibbing. 

Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Portland,  Ore.,  has  completed  en- 
gineering estimates  and  plans  for  a  $30,000 
street  improvement  job  on  Third  Street, 
between  Washington  Street  and  the  ap- 
proach to  the  steel  bridge  at  Franders 
Street.  The  work  involves  the  complete  re- 
construction of  the  track,  roadway  and  pav- 
ing on  the  west  half  of  the  street,  only  one 
side  of  which  will  be  improved  at  this 
time,  so  as  to  avoid  serious  impairment 
of  traffic.  The  work  will  require  about  one 
month. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Claremont  (X.  H.)  Railway  will  build  a 
35-ft.  extension  to  its  carhouse.  It  will 
also  build  a  workshop  15  ft.  x  35  ft. 

Cincinnati    (Ohio)   Traction  Company  has 

awarded  the  general  contract  for  a  $30,000 
electric  transformer  station,  which  will  be 
built  on  Walnut  Street,  to  the  Hazen-Jones 
Construction  Company  of  Cincinnati.  It 
will  be  of  concrete  and  steel  construction. 
The  improvement,  one  of  a  series  being 
built  about  Cincinnati,  will  enable  the  trac- 
tion company  to  obtain  its  motive  power 
from  the  Union  Gas  and  Electric  Company. 

The    Tokio    (Japan)    Municipal  Railway 

lost  by  fire,  on  Aug.  21,  the  Hamimatsu- 
Cho  repair  shop  and  carhouse,  which  is 
the  largest  one  of  the  Tokio  municipal 
system.  According  to  information  received 
by  Kazutada  Sakurai.  equipment  engineer 
of  the  street  railway  lines  in  Tokio,  who  is 


now  in  New  York,  about  100  double-truck 
cars,  principally  of  wooden  body  construc- 
tion, were  destroyed.  One  thing  which  the 
meager  information  so  far  received  does 
not  txplain  is  how  such  a  disastrous  fire 
could  occur  in  this  carhouse,  which  is  of 
the  most  modern  type  of  reinforced  con- 
crete construction. 


Trade  Notes 


William  Colin  Robinson,  vice-president 
and  chief  engineer  of  the  Underwriters' 
Laboratories,  died  on  July  31. 

Railway  &  Industrial  Equipment  Com- 
pany, Houston,  Tex.,  has  been  organized 
by  Arch  McDonald,  D.  L.  O'Connor  and  J. 
S.  O'Connor,  and  will  do  business  generally 
in  the  South,  especially  in  Texas,  and  also 
in  Mexico,  in  the  line  of  railway  and  in- 
dustrial supplies  and  equipment. 

John  A.  Roebling's  Sons  Company,  Tren- 
ton, X.  J.,  manufacturer  of  wire  rope  and 
other  wire  products,  has  preliminary  plans 
under  way  for  a  new  one-  and  two-story 
addition,  500  x  850  ft.,  for  the  production 
of  copper  and  other  wire,  estimated  to  cost 
about  $150,000. 

The  Service  Bureau  of  the  American 
Wood  Preservers'  Association  has  just 
been  established,  with  headquarters  at  1146 
Otis  Building,  Chicago.  It  is  intended  to 
make  the  Service  Bureau  a  headquarters 
for  the  source  of  reliable  information  on 
the  practice  of  and  the  results  obtained 
from  the  art  of  wood  preservation. 

Metals    Coating:    Company    of  America, 

manufacturers  and  distributors  of  the 
Schoop  metal  spraying  process,  by  means 
of  which  metallic  coatings  of  any  kind  may 
be  sprayed  onto  any  surface,  is  now  in 
full  operation  at  its  new  plant,  495-497 
North  Third  Street.  Philadelphia,  having 
removed  from  its  former  locations  in  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  and  Wroonsocket,  R.  I. 

The  Brush  Electrical  Engineering  Com- 
pany, Leicestershire,  England,  lost  by  fire 
recently  one  of  its  timber  sheds  containing 
a  valuable  stock  of  seasoning  timber  for 
rolling  stock  manufacture.  Manufactur- 
ing operations  have  not  been  curtailed  in 
the  least,  nor  will  any  unemployment  be 
caused.  The  large  stocks  of  cars,  buses 
and  similar  work  in  process  of  manufac- 
ture were  not  harmed. 

Dwight  P..  Robinson  &  Company,  New 
York,  have  been  retained  by  the  Bra- 
zilian Federal  Government  to  supervise  a 
large  amount  of  enginering  and  construc- 
tion work  in  connection  with  the  govern- 
ment's plans  for  the  reclamation  of  its 
semi-arid  states.  This  work,  which  is 
located  in  the  states  of  Cara  and  Para- 
hyba,  will  include  the  construction  of  five 
large  dams,  involving  nearly  a  million 
cubic  yards  of  concrete,  to  create  storage 
reservoirs.  The  ultimate  importance  and 
economic  value  of  this  project  is  com- 
parable to  the  irrigation  work  carried  on 
since  1903  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Insulators. — The  Porcelain  Insulator 
Corporation,  Lima.  N.  Y.,  is  distributing 
bulletins  No.  1  and  2,  covering  its  "Pinco" 

insulators. 

Siurge  Arresters.  —  The  Electro  Service 
Company.  Marietta.  Ga.,  is  distributing  a 
four-page  pamphlet  illustrating  the  "Ben- 
nett" surge  arresters. 

Resistor  Arc  Welder. — The  General  Elec- 
tric Company,  Schenectady,  N.  Y„  is  dis- 
tributing a  four-page  pamphlet  covering 
its  type  AW  resistor  arc  welder. 

Switches  and  Accessories.  —  The  Hprt  & 
Hegeman  Manufacturing  Company,  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  has  issued  catalog  H,  covering 
its  "H  &  H"  barrier  600-volt  switches  and 
all  types  of  switches  and  accessories. 

Safety  Starting  Switches. — The  Westing- 
house  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company 
East  Pittsburgh.  Pa.,  is  manufacturng  a 
switch  with  quick-make  and  quick-break 
action,  known  as  type  WK-55,  for  both  al- 
ternating-current and  direct-current  motors. 

Small  Motor  Starter. — A  new  type  of 
motor  starter,  the  WK-30,  has  been  de- 
veloped by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  East  Pittsburgh 
Pa.,  for  starting  small  alternating-current 
motors  by  connecting  them  directlv  to  the 


"Better  Salesmanship  in  Transportation"  Issue 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Volume  58 


[Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Reviev)! 

New  York,  Saturday,  September  24,  1921 


Number  13 


Selling  Transportation  — 

the  Subject  of  This  Issue 


R  A 


SEP  24  19fl 


MANY  keen  observers  have  declared  that  electric 
railways  have  not  paid  enough  attention  to  mer- 
chandising their  product.  This  may  be  because  of  a 
feeling  that  if  good  service  was  given  business  would 
come  as  a  matter  of  course.  Nevertheless,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  business  can  be  increased  by  attention  to 
methods  well  recognized  in  other  lines  as  desirable 
for  stimulating  trade.  The  reports  during  the  past 
two  years  of  the  committee  on  merchandising  transpor- 
tation show  at  once  the  growing  interest  in  this  phase 
of  the  work  and  excellent  examples  of  how  to  go  about  it. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  number  largely  to  tell  what 
the  sales  department  can  do,  what  it  should  consist  of 
and  how  all  of  the  different  departments  can  help  in 
the  sale  of  transportation. 

One  purpose  of  the  sales  effort  on  an  electric  railway 
should  be  to  increase  the  riding  from  necessity  riding 
to  that  which  can  be  obtained  if  the  riding  habit  is  well 
developed  in  the  community  served  by  the  railway.  To 
secure  this  result  the  public  should  be  saturated  with 
the  idea  of  the  desirability  and  economy  of  riding. 
This  is  one  of  the  duties,  perhaps  the  primary  duty,  of 
the  sales  department,  and  for  a  nation  which  has  the 
reputation  of  always  being  in  a  hurry,  it  ought  not  to 
be  a  difficult  task  in  most  cities  by  stressing  the  time- 
saving  idea  to  increase  the  riding  habit. 

The  owner  or  manager  of  a  successful  department 
store,  however,  does  not  stop  at  creating  a  desire  in 
the  minds  of  his  patrons  for  merchandise  of  various 
kinds.  He  knows  that  that  alone  will  not  sell  goods. 
He  tries  to  meet  the  desire  which  he  has  created  for 
the  articles  which  he  has  for  sale  by  putting  the 
merchandise  up  in  an  attractive  way.  He  must  also 
charge  an  attractive  price  for  it,  although  this  does  not 
mean  that  the  goods  must  be  sold  at  cost  or  less  than 
cost.  The  price  is  not  controlling  in  the  sale  of  either 
transportation  or  general  merchandise.  Provided  the 
goods  are  what  are  wanted  and  the  seller  has  the  repu- 
tation of  being  satisfied  with  a  reasonable  profit,  the 
public  is  not  apt  to  complain  about  the  price. 

It  is  here  that  all  of  the  departments  can  help.  To 
some,  the  connection  between  the  track  engineer  and 
the  sale  of  transportation  may  appear  very  far  apart. 


Nevertheless  the  connection  is  very  close.  Bad  track 
discourages  travel.  In  like  manner  the  superintendent 
of  equipment,  the  designer  of  cars,  the  schedule  maker 
and  other  heads  of  departments  have  an  important 
influence  over  the  popularity  of  the  electric  railway, 
in  accordance  with  the  efficiency  with  which  they  carry 
on  their  respective  duties.  They  are  helping  to  put  the 
package  of  transportation  up  in  the  form  wanted  by 
the  prospective  passenger  or  buyer. 

Finally,  the  whole  organization  should  be  inspired 
through  the  chief  active  executives  with  the  sales  idea. 
It  will  pay. 


Jl  Critical  Demand 

for  Financial  Leadership 

WHILE  the  present  issue  is  devoted  largely  to  a 
plea  for  sales,  leadership  in  the  electric  railway 
industry,  a  demand  which  is  at  least  as  critical  must 
not  be  overlooked.  This  is  the  demand  for  financial 
leadership  in  the  industry.  It  is  less  tangible  to  talk 
about ;  it  is  not  something  which  can  be  expected  of  the 
whole  organization  as  can  salesmanship;  it  must  be 
confined  to  and  expected  of  only  a  very  few  of  the 
higher  executives,  but  the  necessity  for  it — immediately 
— is  very  real.  This  idea  is  suggested  incidentally,  too, 
in  Mr.  Goodwin's  article.  In  the  composition  of  his 
board  of  directors  it  will  be  noted  that  a  balance  is 
suggested  between  the  three  groups  of  sales,  financial, 
and  engineering  and  operating.  Engineering  and  oper- 
ating talent  the  industry  has  and  can  be  proud  of.  But 
Mr.  Goodwin  might  have  said  as  much  about  the  neces- 
sity for  financial  statesmanship  as  he  does  of  sales 
statesmanship  in  the  directing  personnel  of  the  com- 
pany. 

Bankers,  as  such,  are  not  what  the  industry  needs. 
There  is  enough  ready  talent  for  the  mere  marketing 
of  securities  once  issued.  What  is  needed  is  real  finan- 
cial genius  in  the  rebuilding  of  the  financial  structures 
of  many  companies.  It  is  well  recognized — emphasized 
definitely  during  the  past  few  years  of  adjustment  and 
readjustment — that  the  greatest  load  carried  by  some 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL,  Editors  HENRY    H.    NORRIS,    Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.  BROWN,  Western  Editor  N.  A.  BOWERS,  Pacific  Coast  Ed'tor  H.  S.  KNOWLTON.  New  England  Editor  C.  W,  SQUIER,  Assurhitc  Editor 

C.  W.  STOCKS,  Associate  Editor  G.  .1.  MAC  MURRAY',  News  Editor  DONALD  F.  HINE,  Editorial  Representative 


464 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


companies  is  the  load  of  the  existing  financial  organi- 
zation. Not  that  it  was  originally  faulty.  It  merely 
doesn't  suit  now.  What  to  do  can  be  determined  only 
by  real  ability.  Credit  relief  is  necessary,  but  at  beet 
temporary;  it  will  make  the  job  easier.  But  the  desi- 
rability— the  necessity — of  something  more  fundamental 
is  evident.  There  must  be  constructive  leadership  in 
determining  the  most  sound  and  practicable  financial 
policies  for  electric  railways. 

From  time  to  time  special  commissions  investigate 
and  report  with  suggestions.  Public  service  commis- 
sions take  a  hand.  Occasionally  receiverships  occur. 
All  of  these  are  mere  symptoms.  The  real  solution 
must  be  found  from  the  inside.  The  opportunity  and 
the  obligation  therefore  rest  on  those  now  in  positions 
of  financial  responsibility  in  the  railway  industry. 

Come  to  Jltlantic  City 

Prepared  for  Discussion 

WITH  the  advance  papers  in  the  hands  of  the  mem- 
bership and  the  convention  so  close  at  hand,  it  is 
greatly  to  be  hoped  that  a  large  number  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Association 
are  preparing  or  have  already  prepared  discussions  of 
the  various  committee  reports.  These,  almost  without 
exception,  represent  an  amount  of  hard  work  little 
realized  by  those  who  have  not  served  on  the  com- 
mittees. The  need  of  full  and  general  discussion  is 
particularly  great  in  the  case  of  the  Engineering  Asso- 
ciation, for  whether  "standards"  shall  be  stepping 
stones  or  stumbling  blocks  in  an  industry  or  art  depends 
on  careful  determination  and  accurate  statement.  As  in 
the  case  of  the  man  who  was  in  doubt  as  to  whether  to 
buy  a  camisole  or  a  casserole,  the  answer  depends  on 
whether  the  "chicken"  is  "alive  or  dead." 

A  well-chosen  standard  represents  the  average  judg- 
ment of  the  men  who  prepared  it.  But  changes  in 
materials  and  methods  may  materially  alter  conditions 
and  so  make  modifications  necessary;  or  misunder- 
standing, due  to  poor  wording  or  what  not,  may  demand 
a  clearer  expression.  Knowledge  of  the  need  of  these 
comes  most  quickly  and  best  from  the  men  who  actually 
do  the  work. 

Other  years,  at  the  booths,  a  large  amount  of  most 
valuable  practical  information  has  been  "swapped"; 
indeed,  a  good  many  consider  these  over-the-exhibits 
discussions  more  valuable  than  those  in  the  regular 
sessions,  and  the  latter  have  suffered  considerably  in 
consequence.  This  year,  however,  with  no  exhibits,  and 
with  special  efforts  being  made  by  the  association  and 
by  committee  chairmen  and  members  personally  to 
secure  comments,  there  should  result  such  attendance 
and  discussion  as  cannot  fail  to  be  most  valuable,  both 
to  the  association  and  to  those  who  take  part  in  it. 

ZNjew  Commission's 

First  Important  Decision 

SIX  CENTS  is  to  continue  to  be  the  fare  in  Utica, 
N.  Y.  This  is  the  decision  of  the  new  Public  Service 
Commission  in  its  first  important  rate  case.  In  this 
late  day  nothing  extraordinary  in  the  way  of  interest 
attaches  to  a  fare  decision  such  as  this,  but  in  the 
present  instance  the  case  takes  on  special  significance 
because  of  the  standard  of  future  action  which  is  set 
down  by  the  commission.    Fault  is  found  by  the  com- 


mission with  the  basis  of  value  set  up  by  the  railway, 
and  the  pronouncement  is  made  that  "public  utilities 
just  as  other  departments  of  business  must  expect  to 
cope  with  periods  of  depressions,  just  as  at  other  times 
they  enjoy  periods  of  prosperity  and  full  dividends." 
This  is  good  as  a  theory,  but  in  the  case  of  the  New 
York  State  Railways  it  does  not  appear  that  the  com- 
pany ever  enjoyed  any  periods  of  prosperity  and  full 
dividends.  Moreover,  it  would  seem  that  the  commis- 
sion is  oversanguine  as  to  the  results  likely  to  be 
attained  in  reduced  expenses  through  the  use  of  one- 
man  cars  and  by  the  general  lowering  of  the  prices  of 
commodities  needed  by  the  railway  in  the  conduct  of 
its  business.  These  are  just  a  few  of  the  things  in 
which  it  would  appear  that  the  judgment  of  the  com- 
mission is  not.  likely  to  be  approximated. 

But  whether  or  not  the  commission  is  proved  to  be 
correct  in  its  judgment,  the  decision  ought  to  set  at 
rest  the  opinion  which  gained  circulation  during  the 
session  of  the  Legislature  at  which  the  new  regulatory 
body  was  created  that  the  public  utilities  would  have 
an  easy  time  of  it  before  the  incoming  body.  Coming  as 
the  ruling  does  almost  on  the  eve  of  the  November 
elections,  the  opponents  of  Governor  Miller  have  been 
handed  a  resounding  whack  that  will  be  heard  through 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  state.  It  may  be  that 
the  New  York  State  Railways  will  be  able  to  accomplish 
under  the  continued  6-cent  fare  in  Utica  all  that  the 
commission  anticipates,  but  if  Syracuse,  in  which  the 
same  company  is  operating  at  an  8-cent  fare,  is  any 
criterion,  then  the  likelihood  is  remote  of  its  getting  on 
as  gloriously  in  Utica  as  the  commission  expects. 

Safety  in  Bus  Design  an  Important 
Factor  in  Selling  Transportation 

IN  THE  PAST  many  patrons  of  the  motor  bus  have 
commented  seriously  on  the  accident  hazard  of  this 
type  of  vehicle.  Fear  of  overturning,  irresponsible 
driving,  poor  brakes,  etc.,  have  kept  away  many  pro- 
spective passengers.  During  the  past  year  considerable 
pioneering  work  has  been  done  by  the  manufacturers 
of  motor  buses,  as  is  evidenced  by  a  glance  at  different 
designs  of  bus  bodies  published  elsewhere  in  this 
issue.  They  show  that  serious  thought  has  been  given 
to  the  question  of  both  chassis  and  body  design  from 
the  standpoint  of  safety  and  comfort  of  passengers  as 
well  as  f(jr  easy  ingress  and  egress. 

That  there  will  not  be,  for  a  long  time  to  come  at  least, 
a  standard  bus  body  for  each  of  the  several  carrying 
capacities  is  probably  more  nearly  the  fact  than  with 
the  case  of  the  rail-borne  vehicle.  This  is  evident 
particularly  when  a  study  is  made  of  the  various  chassis 
now  in  use  in  motor-bus  operation.  There  are,  how- 
ever, several  salient  facts  that  seem  to  stand  out  as 
being  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  especially  so  if 
the  bus  manufacturers  want  their  products  used  by 
the  electric  railway  industry. 

The  railway  executive  has  always  made  every  effort 
to  transport  his  patrons  to  their  destinations  in  safety. 
This  is  one  of  the  essentials  in  railroading.  So,  when 
considering  the  purchase  of  rail-less  vehicles,  his  first 
thought  will  naturally  be  toward  safety.  Buses  to  meet 
this  requirement  must  have  a  large  factor  of  safety 
against  their  chance  of  overturning  in  case  of  skidding 
and  striking  obstructions  or  holes  in  the  highways. 
While  the  method  of  rear-end  drive  has  much  to  do 
with  the  question  of  the  height  of  floor  and  the  resultant 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


465 


center  of  gravity  above  the  street,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  rear  wheel  tread  should  be  widened  out  pro- 
portionately with  the  floor  height  to  meet  this  re- 
quirement. What  valid  reason  exists  to  make  the  rear 
tread  of  passenger  carrying  motor  buses  the  same  as 
the  standard  railway  tread,  namely,  564  in.? 

Another  thought  as  to  safety  comes  to  mind,  namely, 
the  street  accident  or  collisions  with  other  vehicles. 
The  bus  being  mobile  and  not  tied  to  any  particular 
course  along  the  highway  as  is  the  case  of  the  trolley 
car,  the  operator  can  by  quick  perception  of  the  situa- 
tion avoid  many  collisions.  Not  so  with  the  operator 
of  the  trolley  car.  He  can  only  avoid  collisions  by  stop- 
ping unless  the  obstruction  clears  away.  In  the  case 
of  the  motor  vehicle  there  is  a  large  proportion  of  acci- 
dents that  can  be  eliminated  if  the  vehicle  could  but 
be  steered  easily  and  the  driver  be  able  to  take  quick 
advantage  of  his  distance.  With  a  narrower  front 
wheel  tread,  which  will  permit  of  quicker  and  shorter 
turns  than  if  both  axles  treaded  alike,  the  street  acci- 
dent liability  can  be  reduced  without  affecting  the 
factor  of  safety  against  overturning. 

These  factors,  together  with  ample  braking  surfaces 
designed  for  smooth  retardation,  though  sufficiently 
rapid  to  bring  the  vehicle  to  rest  promptly  without 
unnecessary  skidding  on  smooth  surfaces,  and  careful 
drivers  so  located  that  they  have  a  clear  vision  forward 
and  on  both  sides,  should  allay  any  fears  on  the  part 
of  the  passengers  or  operators  against  increased  acci- 
dent hazard  due  to  bus  operation. 

^Modern  Housing  vs. 
Profitable  Transit 

THERE  was  a  time  when  transportation  lines  for 
cities  were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  run  through  the 
regions  of  densest  population  because  their  builders 
frankly  were  out  to  get  a  return  on  their  investment. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  United  States,  particularly,  many 
lines  were  also  built  through  sparsely-settled  districts, 
but  in  these  instances  the  promoters  generally  were 
hopeful  that  the  money-making  density  would  come  in 
time.  No  restrictions  on  the  height  of  buildings  or  on 
the  relation  of  open  spaces  to  built-over  areas  were 
known  or  thought  of  in  those  earlier  days  of  electric 
railroading. 

Today  the  situation  is  vastly  different.  First  of  all 
there  is  a  much  greater  interest  in  securing  park  areas 
and  large  open  spaces  around  public  buildings  or  civic 
centers.  Second,  and  far  more  important,  is  the  garden 
city  housing  movement.  The  projectors  of  garden 
cities  deliberately  plan  for  a  density  of  population,  say 
twelve  per  acre,  which  is  far  below  the  density  required 
to  make  the  city  railway  a  profitable  venture  (approxi- 
mately 200  is  the  figure  for  Manhattan  Borough,  New 
York).  Third,  the  usual  garden  city  is  not  the  rec- 
tangular roaded  affair  for  which  trackways  are  most 
suitable,  but  is  likely  to  be  made  up  of  curved  streets 
following,  more  or  less,  the  natural  grades  of  the  ter- 
rain. 

It  would  seem  from  the  nature  of  this  development 
that  while  the  city  of  the  future  will  be  more  healthful 
for  the  inhabitants,  it  will  offer  less  opportunity  for 
profit-making  transportation.  Either  of  two  results 
must  flow  from  this  change:  Transportation  must  be- 
come a  community  affair  in  which  the  city  absorbs  all 
losses  through  the  tax  rate,  or  else  the  district  affected 


must  pay  a  direct  subsidy  to  the  transportation  com- 
pany. Otherwise  the  transportation  company  must 
make  the  service  for  such  communities  self-sustaining 
by  charging  a  higher  rate  of  fare  than  in  the  poorer 
but  more  populous  districts.  The  latter  alternative  is 
not  at  all  fanciful  but  is  already  a  fact  in  Great 
Britain,  where  the  motor-bus  service  introduced  as  the 
natural  transport  means  for  such  districts  tends  to 
average  a  higher  rate  per  mile  than  the  service  by 
car.  In  these  cases,  also,  the  flexibility  of  the  graduated 
fare  makes  it  possible  to  have  an  apparently  like  but 
actually  different  scale  of  fares  through  the  simple 
expedient  of  giving  shorter  stages  per  penny  via  bus 
than  via  car. 


Determine  the  Traffic  Possibilities — - 
Then  Jlct  Jiccordingly 

THERE  is  a  question  as  to  how  far  an  interurban 
railway  can  go  profitably  in  attempting  an  intensive 
campaign  of  advertising  and  solicitation  for  new  traffic, 
If  the  business  being  handled  is  a  large  proportion  of 
the  total  available  in  the  territory,  there  is  little  to  be 
gained  in  such  a  campaign.  But  if  the  business  handled 
is  only  a  small  part  of  the  traffic  moving  between  the 
points  under  consideration  or  originating  within  the 
territory  served  by  the  electric  line,  then  there  is  room 
for  development. 

For  example,  the  Waterloo,  Cedar  Falls  &  Northern 
Railway,  Waterloo,  Iowa,  is  handling  85  per  cent  of 
all  traffic,  freight  and  passenger,  originating  within 
and  moving  between  the  limits  of  its  lines.  With  that 
condition,  it  would  obviously  be  a  waste  of  effort  and 
money  to  undertake  any  special  work  to  secure  the  other 
15  per  cent,  a  good  deal  of  which  is  probably  identified 
with  the  competitive  railways  in  some  way  that  would 
prevent  any  possibility  of  securing  it  for  the  electric 
line.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad  probably  hauls  not  to  exceed  25 
per  cent  of  the  traffic  moving  between  Milwaukee  and 
Chicago,  having  a  field  of  75  per  cent  on  which  to  work. 
With  such  a  proportion  of  the  business  going  over  other 
lines  and  such  splendid  termini  as  Chicago  and  Mil- 
waukee, the  possibilities  for  securing  more  business  are 
very  real  and  one  may  easily  justify  a  considerable 
advei'tising  outlay  and  an  intensive  solicitation  pro- 
gram. 

These  two  examples  are  perhaps  the  two  extremes. 
Few  electric  lines  have  the  business  of  the  territory 
served  so  completely  in  hand  as  the  Iowa  company,  par- 
ticularly in  a  case  involving  steam  lines.  And  few  lines 
have  the  possibilities  in  uncultivated  business  that  the 
North  Shore  Line  has,  of  which  it  is  quite  evidently  not 
unmindful,  considering  the  development  work  that  is 
being  done.  By  determining  the  total  amount  of  busi- 
ness being  handled  by  all  the  transportation  agencies, 
then,  once  or  twice  a  year,  and  taking  into  account  the 
nature  of  the  territory  served,  an  interurban  can  arrive 
at  a  rough  measure  of  how  heavily  it  can  afford  to  go 
into  new  traffic  solicitation  for  the  next  year.  The 
article  on  advertising  and  soliciting  for  traffic,  else- 
where in  this  issue,  will  supply  a  few  ideas  on  how  new 
business  can  be  secured.  In  general,  it  might  be  said 
that  almost  universally  in  the  interurban  field  there 
could  be  a  much  more  determined  and  resourceful,  per- 
sistent and  intensive  solicitation  to  traffic  than  exists, 
with  woi'th  while  results. 


466 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Basically  Success  in  Selling  Transportation  Depends  Upon  Fundamental  Principles  of  Sales- 
manship —  Whether  the  Commodity  Be  Transportation,  Merchandise  or  Personal  Service, 

the  Principles  of  Presentation  Are  the  Same 


Wanted — A  Transportation  Sales  Manager 

By  William  L.  Goodwin 

Assistant  to  the  President  the  Society  for  Electrical  Development,  Neiv  York,  N.  Y. 


SALESMANSHIP,  definitely  recognized  by  the 
inclusion  of  a  sales  manager  as  a  leading  executive 
of  the  railway  organization,  is,  in  a  word,  a  sugges- 
tion which  appears  to  me  to  offer  the  opportunity  to 
railway  executives  today. 

Perhaps  I  should  explain  why  I,  who  am  not  an 
electric  railway  man,  dare  make  such  definite  sugges- 
tions. In  September,  1920,  I  received  through  J.  G. 
Barry,  manager  railway  department  General  Electric 
Company,  Schenectady,  an  invitation  from  Harry  Reid. 
president  Interstate  Public  Service  Company  of 
Indianapolis,  to  address  the  fall  meeting  of  the  Central 
Electric  Railway  Association.  My  first  reply  contained 
this  expression : 

As  you  perhaps  realize,  this  street  railway  business  is 
quite  foreign  to  the  work  I  have  been  undertaking.  I  have 
never  attempted  in  any  way  to  help  the  street  railway 
industry  because  I  know  nothing  about  this  highly  special- 
ized business — hence  I  hesitate  to  accept. 

However,  the  message  was  transmitted  to  Mr.  Reid;  it 
brought  forth  a  reply  that  the  invitation  stood,  and  I 
would  be  asked  to  talk  on  the  subject  of  "Co-operation," 
with  the  qualification:  "This  is  a  broad  subject,  and 
Mr.  Goodwin  is  at  liberty  to  handle  it  in  any  way  he 
may  see  fit." 

Having  no  specialized  knowledge  of  the  street  rail- 
way industry,  but  a  background  of  some  twenty  years  in 
practical  selling  and  trade  co-operation,  I  felt  that  this 
permitted  broad  latitude,  and  the  invitation  was 
accepted.  The  study  which  I  made  then,  the  talk  I 
gave  there,  and  the  arguments  which  have  ensued,  have 
caused  more  study  and  analysis  of  the  situation,  from 
which  I  believe  some  useful  conclusions  may  be  drawn. 

Not  being  dependent  upon  the  electric  railway  indus- 
try for  my  livelihood  I  exercised  the  privilege  of  a 
frank  expression  in  my  Indianapolis  talk.  I  wished 
there,  as  I  wish  now,  that  my  ideas  may  be  of  value. 
Again  when  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  requested 
an  article  I  felt  that  unless  the  privilege  of  free  expres- 
sion was  granted  no  good  would  result.  The  privilege 
granted,  let  us  hope  that  at  least  one  idea  will  come  to 
you  from  this  effort. 

My  observation  of  the  electric  railway  industry  and 
the  outstanding  facts  which  present  themselves  to  me 
can  be  summed  up  in  the  broad  statement:  "The  indus- 
try is  sick;  far  too  many  companies  are  in  the  hands  of 
receivers,  and  the  majority  of  the  remainder  are  seek- 
ing havens  of  safety."  And  I  think  all  will  admit  that 
the  electric  railway  industry  is  sick,  very  sick,  but  it 
is  not  suffering  from  an  incurable  ailment.  The  illness 
is  not  one  that  could  be  singled  out  as  a  specific  ailment. 
It  is  a  complication  of  many  ailments,  which  I  will 
touch  upon  later.  That  the  ailment  is  curable  I  am  con- 
vinced; that  the  solution  will  be  found  is  certain. 


The  Ultimate  Salesman  on  the  Job  and  How  He  Is 
Introduced  to  the  Patrons  by  the  Georgia 
Railway  &  Power  Company,  Atlanta 


It  must  be  found,  and  found  quickly. 

But  why  mention  specifically  the  one  hundred  and  one 
ills  of  the  electric  railway  industry?  How  to  correct 
them  is  what  we  are  concerned  about.  This  naturally 
leads  to  the  question:  "Why  should  an  American 
industry  of  such  essential  and  important  value  to  our 
citizenship  be  in  this  condition?"  and  the  self-deter- 
mined answer  which  I  assign  is  "incompetent  manage- 
ment." I  use  the  term  "incompetent"  in  the  broad 
sense,  since  success  or  failure,  when  attributed  to  an 
industry  or  parts  of  an  industry,  in  the  last  analysis, 
must  reflect  a  debit  or  credit  on  the  side  of  competent 
or  incompetent  management  as  reflected  in  dividends. 

Over  a  long  period  of  time,  competent  management 
reflects  an  ability  to  employ  invested  capital  at  a  profit- 
able return.  Incompetent  management  indicates  a  lack 
of  ability  to  employ  capital  continuously  at  a  fair  rate 
of  return.  Since  the  electric  railway  industry  is  not 
earning  a  proper  return  on  the  invested  capital  and 
since  investment  in  the  industry  is  frowned  upon  by 
experienced  investors,  responsibility  for  this  condition 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


467 


must  be  placed  in  the  management  of  the  electric  rail- 
way companies. 

Volumes  could  be  written  upon  the  underlying  reasons 
for  failure,  and  the  subject  offers  ample  opportunity  for 
our  most  experienced  debaters,  but  summarizing  all  the 
causes  and  reducing  them  to  a  single  statement  I  still 
believe  that  the  electric  railway  industry  is  the  only 
great  American  industry  that  has  attempted  to  operate 
without  a  sales  department.  Here  is  the  fundamental 
reason  for  the  present  condition  of  the  electric  railway 
companies  of  this  country. 

But  right  here  is  an  opportunity.  The  very  fact  that 
the  industry  is  in  this  condition  should  immediately 
suggest  to  the  live  executive  the  many  ways  in  which 
the  business  cannot  only  be  brought  back  to  a  normal 
state  but  can  be  made  a  very  substantial  and  consistent 
profit  earner. 

Competition  Must  Be  Met 

Transportation  is  too  important  a  part  of  civilization 
to  be  ignored.  The  public  is  going  to  have  transporta- 
tion and  transportation  which  will  gain  its  approval. 
Grumbling  about  the  problems  encountered  and  the  com- 
petition met  and  offering 


each  contending  superior  merit  for  his  products  and 
superior  service  for  his  company.  Ignorance  and  indif- 
ference are  common  to  all  industries,  and  in  the  sales  of 
electrical  products  generally  and  also  of  electrical 
energy  the  public  was,  and  to  a  large  extent  still  is, 
totally  ignorant  of  the  real  nature  of  the  product. 
But  by  a  constant  high-pressure  active  sales  effort 
individually  and  collectively  they  meet  this  ignorance 
and  indifference  and  orders  are  secured.  As  against 
your  regulation  by  the  state  or  municipal  bodies  and 
the  difficulties  resulting  therefrom,  they  have  the  Sher- 
man law,  the  Clayton  law,  a  monopoly  or  combination 
law  in  every  state,  inspection  of  their  products,  regula- 
tion of  the  methods  of  installation,  bond  laws,  lien  laws, 
and  a  dozen  other  restrictive  measures  which  you  have 
not  and  which  do  not  discourage  them  in  the  least,  nor 
cause  them  to  attribute  failure  to  these  agencies. 

There  is  one  thing  more  which  you  have  recently 
had  a  taste  of,  and  which  is  a  matter  of  common  prac- 
tice in  other  lines  of  business.  I  refer  to  competitors 
who  are  ignorant  of  cost  and  persist  in  selling  their 
goods  at  ruinous  prices.  True,  they  fall  by  the  wayside 
occasionally,  but  others  spring  up  rapidly  and  the  merry 

race  goes  on.    The  right 


P 


alibis  for  inability  to  cope 
with  the  situation  get 
one  nowhere.  The  ques- 
tion is  merely  one  of 
competition,  and  in  time 
men  will  develop  who  are 
capable  of  meeting  this 
situation  and  they  will  be 
the  successful  executives 
of  the  future.  This  is 
simply  history  repeating 
itself,  but  why  wait  for 
the  development  of  another 
generation     for  relief? 

You,  the  present  operatives  of  the  electric  railway  com- 
panies, have  the  ability  to  meet  the  situation,  if  you  will 
but  take  yourselves  away  from  your  problems  long 
enough  to  get  a  picture  of  what  is  on  the  horizon.  Let 
us  assume  that  the  business  of  transportation  is  sound, 
and  its  service  is  necessary  and  desirable.  Then  let  us 
assume  that  the  industry  has  found  itself  in  its  present 
state  because  of  excessive  competition.  Do  you 
recognize  your  present  condition  as  the.  result  of  com- 
petition? The  professional  politician,  the  demagogue 
newspaper,  an  ignorant  or  indifferent  public,  regulation 
or  restriction  covering  fares  to  be  charged  are  all  as  real 
forms  of  competition  as  are  the  jitney,  the  walker,  the 
stay-at-home  and  the  pleasure  automobile.  In  a  broad 
sense  let  us  recognize  them  as  competition  and  let  us 
compare  this  form  of  competitive  restriction  and  regu- 
lation with  what  every  other  form  of  business  has  to 
contend  with  and  then  realize  that  your  proposition  is 
no  more  difficult  than  that  of  your  successful  associate 
in  your  community. 

Let  us,  for  example,  take  some  of  the  conditions  in 
other  branches  of  the  electrical  industry — the  manufac- 
turing, jobbing  and  retailing  fields.  Whatever  their 
problems,  invariably  they  are  met  by  sales  methods. 
You  have  the  professional  politician  who  is  constantly 
criticising  you  for  his  personal  advancement.  The 
jobber  and  the  contractor  each  have  thousands  of  com- 
petitors who  never  tire  of  criticising  them  whenever 
they  see  an  opportunity.  You  have  the  newspapers; 
they  have  the  intensive  advertising  of  the  competitor, 


RACTICAL  knowledge  of  operating 
problems  in  the  electric  railway  industry 
has  no  value,  in  the  final  analysis,  if  it  can- 
not be  translated  into  dividend  earning 
ability.  Passing  the  buck  of  responsibility 
gets  us  nowhere.  The  time  has  come  when 
you  must  produce  dividends  or  step  aside 
and  allow  others  to  do  so. 


sales  arguments  soon  ac- 
quaint the  purchaser  with 
the  facts.  Goods  are  sold 
at  a  higher  rate  because 
the  seller  has  established 
his  good  will.  Value  and 
dependable  service  offset 
the  lower  price.  In  your 
case  you  have  the  jitney 
offering  for  a  nickel  a 
ride  that  you  know  can 
not  be  produced  at  double 
the  price.  Is  not  your 
answer  a  selling  proposi- 
tion? If  you  can  establish  the  fact  that  your  com- 
modity is  worth  what  you  ask  for  it  and  you  have 
the  confidence  of  your  customers,  they  will  buy  your 
product  in  spite  of  a  lower  price  and  a  poorer  quality. 
But  the  burden  of  such  work  is  on  you.  For  a  time 
you  are  going  to  have  a  very  difficult  job  in  convincing 
your  customers,  because,  generally  speaking,  you  do  not 
enjoy  their  good  will.  Good  will  in  business  is  nothing 
but  a  consistent  and  persistent  repetition  of  the  quali- 
ties of  your  product  or  service  rendered.  You  have 
had  the  product  and  you  have  rendered  the  service,  but 
you  have  failed  persistently  and  consistently  to  keep  the 
qualities  of  your  product  before  your  customers.  If 
everybody  in  the  community  is  damning  street  car 
service  and  you  know  it  is  good,  why  not  tell  them 
about  it?  But  if  you  keep  silent  long  enough,  the  fact 
has  been  established  and  sooner  or  later  you  are  in- 
clined to  believe  it  yourself. 

If  you  will  analyze  any  of  the  large  successful  indus- 
trial corporations  in  this  country  you  will  readily 
discover  that  their  principal  executives  possess  real  sales 
instincts.  Presidents,  vice-presidents  and  general  man- 
agers are  nothing  more  than  a  selection  of  the  most 
competent  sales  minds  in  the  institutions.  Every  prob- 
lem in  the  final  analysis  is  approached  from  a  sales 
standpoint.  Talk  to  any  of  the  great  legal  minds,  even, 
in  our  largest  manufacturing  companies,  and  you  will 
recognize  instantly  a  keen  sense  of  sales  instinct.  Deci- 
sions affecting  internal  or  external  problems  are  always 
given  with  the  interest  of  the  customers  ever  in  mind 


468 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


The  law  is  very  definite  and  specific.  Sales  departments 
are  told  what  they  can  not  do,  but  the  sales  instinct 
of  the  legal  mind  always  suggests  to  the  sales  depart- 
ment what  it  can  do  as  a  way  out.  That  is  the 
effect  of  sales  instinct  in  the  legal  mind.  Does  the 
counsel  of  an  electric  railway  company  advise  his  exec- 
utives from  this  standpoint?  If  he  does,  then  he  has 
a  legal  mind  with  a  sales  instinct,  but  if  his  advice  is 
always  solely  from  the  standpoint  of  the  company  and 
its  rights  and  if  he  constantly  urges  on  the  executives 
the  need  of  standing  on  their  rights,  then  the  decision 
is  a  legal  one  and  the  reaction  on  the  industry  is  only 
what  you  now  face. 

In  considering  the  problem  of  your  industry,  or  in 


THE  question  of  overcapitalization,  that 
our  professional  politicians  like  so  much 
to  talk  about,  is  incidental  in  relation  to  the 
failure. 

The  question  of  overcapitalization  would 
in  time  have  readjusted  itself  had  proper 
sales  effort  been  put  forth. 

Many,  if  not  most,  industrial  enterprises  are 
overcapitalized,  and  yet  they  are  successful. 
The  number  of  companies  or  corporations 
conducted  upon  a  conservative  capital  basis 
is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule,  yet  we 
can  daily  observe  and  record  successes  in 
spite  of  this  overcapitalization. 


fact,  any  activity  for  profit,  knowledge  is  of  little  or 
no  value  unless  you  can  translate  it  into  dividends  com- 
mensurate with  investment  and  risk.  Industrially 
speaking,  what  is  the  value  of  knowledge  of  operating, 
engineering,  financial  problems,  of  the  handling  of  men, 
of  schedules,  or  any  other  subdivision  of  the  business, 
if  the  operation  does  not  produce  profit?  There  is 
ample  knowledge  in  the  industry  of  operating  problems 
— to  apply  this  knowledge  profitably  is  a  selling  job. 

The  Transportation  Commodity  and  Its  Value 

An  electric  railway  company  has  a  commodity  to 
sell  that  is  just  as  tangible  as  merchandise,  be  it  either 
necessities  or  luxuries,  just  as  tangible  as  banking 
service,  just  as  tangible  as  professional  service,  engi- 
neering, medical  or  scientific,  and  just  as  tangible  as 
the  service  of  selling  amusement. 

In  the  electrical  industry  as  a  whole,  the  commodity 
is  either  electrical  energy,  transportation  or  commod- 
ities. Transportation  and  electrical  energy  represent 
intangible  forms  of  service,  principally  because  the 
"man  in  the  street"  has  little  or  no  opportunity  of 
applying  relative  values.  Whatever,  then,  the  price 
charged,  there  is  a  natural  tendency  toward  suspicion 
of  an  excessive  charge. 

From  infancy  we  are  taught  relative  values,  and  this 
simple,  yet  fundamental,  principle  of  relativity  stays 
with  us  throughout  our  life.  But  in  service  commod- 
ities, such  as  electrical  energy  and  transportation,  no 
such  principles  of  value  have  been  established.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  as  a  fundamental  proposition, 
we  are  attempting  to  sell  something  of  unknown  value, 


"unknown"  in  the  sense  that  we,  of  the  industry,  have 
failed  to  establish  the  value.  Such  intangible  forms  of 
service  must  be  translated  into  relative  values  in  order 
that  the  average  mind  may  comprehend  value  received 
for  money  paid.  To  my  mind,  here  we  hit  upon  the 
fundamental  fault  in  past  and  existing  methods  of  sell- 
ing such  a  commodity  as  transportation.  In  almost 
every  line  of  human  endeavor,  measures  of  standard 
have  been  established,  be  it  yardstick,  the  quart  meas- 
ure or  the  pound  weight.  The  fact  that  in  this  par- 
ticular case  we  are  selling  car  rides  makes  no  difference. 

Here  is  another  way  of  expressing  it.  Trade  is 
founded  upon  the  principle  of  the  exchange  of  services 
for  money.  "Services"  in  the  broad  sense  may  be 
interpreted  as  the  exchange  of  commodity  or  service, 
at  a  profit.  You  are  selling  street  car  transportation; 
I  am  buying  it.  Your  success  depends  upon  your  ability 
to  sell  what  you  have  to  me  at  a  profit  and  to  make  me 
satisfied  with  the  sale.  In  this  case  we  are  talking 
of  a  car  ride  at  a  given  figure.  If  I  get  the  value 
for  my  money  and  don't  know  it,  it  is  your  fault.  The 
burden  of  proof  is  always  on  the  seller.  Here,  I  think, 
the  electric  railway  industry  has  failed  to  realize  its 
responsibility. 

Let  us  analyze  service  and  see  whether  or  not  sales- 
manship is  the  foundation  of  success. 

Everywhere  we  look  and  everywhere  we  turn,  we  see 
evidences  of  real  selling  effort  to  attract  our  attention 
to  this  or  that  commodity. 

In  the  field  of  luxuries  such  as  automobiles,  musical 
instruments  and  home  furnishings  generally,  proper 
salesmanship  induces  us  to  buy  many  times  our  re- 
quirements and  at  values  greatly  in  excess  of  our 
ordinary  needs. 

Banking,  which  has  to  do  purely  with  the  producing 
of  profit  in  the  handling  of  money,  has  felt  the  neces- 
sity of  employing  the  most  modern  methods  of  sales- 
manship, and  every  successful  bank  on  this  continent 
today  features  the  value  and  character  of  the  service 
it  renders  as  a  means  for  holding  its  present  clients 
and  acquiring  new  ones. 

In  the  field  of  amusement  the  most  intensive  applica- 
tion of  sales  principles  is  involved.  People  have 
literally  been  brought  to  a  condition  of  mind  that  they 
consider  amusement  almost  a  necessity. 

Only  in  the  professions  do  we  find  the  lowest  degree 
of  scientific  sales  methods,  and  this  is  largely  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  professions  long  since  established 
ethics  which  frowned  upon  salesmanship.  But  the  pro- 
fessions are  still  in  the  classification  of  individual 
effort,  and  the  compensation  received  by  the  average 
professional  man  is  directly  in  proportion  to  the  degree 
to  which  he  applies  or  fails  to  apply  sales  ability. 

The  electric  railway  industry  for  one  reason  or  an- 
other has  failed  to  follow  some  of  its  early  experiences 
of  proved  value.  Very  recently,  consideration  of  the 
application  of  scientific  principles  of  selling  transporta- 
tion has  again  been  taken  up.  But  nowhere  do  we  find 
in  the  electric  railway  industry  well-defined  sales 
departments,  headed  by  men  with  sales  instinct. 

In  spite  of  this,  there  are  many  examples  of  excellent 
sales  ability  in  the  transportation  business.  Perhaps 
a  discussion  of  some  of  these,  coupled  with  an  inter- 
pretation or  discussion  of  what  I  mean  by  the  more  or 
less  intangible  and  usually  undefined  term  "salesman- 
ship," may  prove  of  interest.  It  may  also  help  lead 
to  my  suggestion  as  to  how  the  railway  may  organize 
for  this  sales  effort. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   k  a  i  l  w  a  k  Journal 


469 


Probably  one  of  the  most  consistent  examples  of 
salesmanship  in  transportation  is  the  case  of  the 
California  Street  Cable  Railway  of  San  Francisco. 
This  company  has  constantly  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
its  patrons  and  the  San  Francisco  public  since  the  first 
wheel  was  turned.  I  cannot  recall  $1  that  ever  was 
spent  for  newspaper  publicity,  nor  do  I  recall  any 
specific  case  where  publicity  of  any  kind  was  used  in 
the  company's  cars  or  elsewhere. 

For  many,  many  years  I  personally  walked  several 
additional  blocks  to  ride  on  this  railroad  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  the  time  element  of  service  from  the  given 
point  to  which  I  traveled  was  about  five  minutes  longer 
than  a  more  convenient  electric  road.  But  T,  together 
with  many  thousands  of  others,  had  been  sold  as 
youngsters  to  the  transportation  of  this  railroad.  1 
am  now  convinced  that  the  directing  genius  of  the  road 
had  a  high  sense  of  selling  ability.  The  many,  many 
courtesies  which  were  daily  evidenced  by  the  gripmen 
and  conductors  on  this  railroad  brought  them  close  to 
the  hearts  of  the  people  of  San  Francisco. 

I  cannot  recall  a  single  instance  in  which  the  question 
of  time  element  in  trips  ever  interfered  with  courtesy 
and  convenience.  Cars  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the 
block,  or  at  the  beck  and  will  of  the  rider.  I  have 
actually  seen  these  cars  stop,  both  going  up  and  down 
hills,  on  grades  of  from  10  to  15  per  cent.  These  were 
always  made  in  a  courteous  way,  with  evident  pleasure 
to  the  car  operators. 

There  were  no  signs  on  the  cars  "Do  Not  Talk  to 
the  Motorman."  In  light  of  the  speed  at  which  the 
cars  traveled  and  the  equipment  provided  for  emergency 
stops,  this  was  probably  unnecessary,  but  the  fact  re- 
mains, nevertheless,  that  there  was  a  feeling  on  the 
part  of  the  car  rider  that,  once  boarded  on  a  California 
Street  Railway  cable  car,  your  safety  was  assured,  and 
your  comfort  and  pleasure  was  a  consideration. 

The  old  Sutter  Street  Railway  of  San  Francisco  was 
another  typical  example.  Both  of  these  roads  were 
close  and  keen  competitors;  in  fact,  they  operated  on 
parallel  streets  three  blocks  apart.  There  is  hardly 
anything  that  I  could  say  about  the  California  Street 
Railway  that  I  could  not  say  with  equal  emphasis 
about  the  Sutter  Street  Railway;  In  both  cases  the 
employees  were  of  the  highest  intelligence;  they  re- 
mained in  the  service  of  the  company  for  long  periods 
of  time;  the  equipment  in  both  cases  wras  maintained 
at  the  highest  possible  physical  standpoint,  and  as  I 
recall  these  bright,  shining,  clean,  convenient  modes 
of  transportation,  with  equipment  designed  particu- 
larly to  meet  the  needs  of  San  Franciscans  who  de- 
lighted in  riding  on  the  outside,  or  open  type  car,  I 
can  again  realize  that  here  was  an  earnest  effort  to 
meet  the  need  of  customers  by  supplying  equipment 
and  service  in  conformity  with  their  desires. 

Probably  the  next  nearest  example  that  I  may  cite, 
even  recognizing  that  there  is  a  lapse  of  some  thirty 
years  between  the  time  that  the  incidents  have  occurred, 
and  which  left  such  an  impression  upon  me,  is  the 
modern  day  method  of  selling  transportation  as  ex- 
emplified by  the  Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Company.  Any 
car  rider  in  the  metropolitan  district  of  New  York 
will  realize  instantly  when  boarding  one  of  these  coaches 
that  the  management  as  well  as  the  operating  person- 
nel of  the  buses  represents  men  of  well-formed  sales 
habits  and  ideas.  The  chauffeurs  of  these  buses  have 
a  keen  sense  of  human  instinct,  and  can  actually  convey 
these  buses  through  the  most  crowded  section  of  New 


York,  and  can,  almost  with  an  uncanny  instinct,  select 
their  customers  waiting  on  street  corners  at  a  consid- 
erable distance  before  they  approach  them. 

Here,  again,  the  equipment  is  kept  in  the  highest  pos- 
sible physical  condition,  and  a  rider  on  a  Fifth  Avenue 
coach  cannot  help  but  realize  a  feeling  of  company 
interest  when  patronizing  these  buses.  And  remember 
the  slogan  on  each  bus — "Civility." 

On  any  bright  Sunday  it  is  impossible  to  secure  seat 
accommodation;  true,  the  buses  and  their  routes  lend 


CTRANGE  though  it  may  seem,  it  is 
^  nevertheless  a  fact,  invariably  the  less 
the  competition,  the  less  the  success  of  the 
enterprise. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  acquire  statistics 
to  determine  if  it  is  not  a  fact  that  more  fail- 
ures have  been  recorded  where  exclusive 
privileges  are  granted  than  through  any 
system  of  competition. 

An  exclusive  privilege  without  proper 
regulation  and  direction  stultifies  initiative 
and  causes  us  to  assume  such  a  self-satisfied 
attitude  of  mind  that  we  become  lazy  to  our 
responsibility  and  indifferent  to  our  oppor- 
tunity. After  a  time  we  commence  to  feel 
that  we  are  serving  by  sufferance,  and  this 
underlying  thought  or  principle  has  perhaps 
done  more  to  injure  the  electric  railway  in- 
dustry than  any  highly  competitive  system 
that  ever  might  be  encountered. 


themselves  to  such  desires  on  the  part  of  their  patrons, 
but  the  fact  remains  that  public  prejudice  against  either 
the  management,  the  equipment,  or  the  security  of 
transportation,  any  or  all,  would  result  in  a  public 
reaction  that  would  make  the  bus  a  very  undesirable 
conveyance. 

And  bear  in  mind  that  the  fare  on  these  buses,  so 
long  as  my  recollection  goes  back,  has  always  been  10 
cents,  and  there  is  no  criticism,  apparently,  on  this 
charge,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  buses  are  operated 
over  routes  established  by  the  city  in  certain  sections 
of  the  metropolitan  district  at  one-half  this  fare. 

The  question  of  the  cost  of  transportation  after  all 
is  secondary  to  its  value.  My  personal  experience  has 
been  during  the  past  four  years  that  I  actually  seek  a 
Fifth  Avenue  coach  in  preference  to  a  Broadway  surface 
car,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  time  element  between 
my  office  and  home  is  considerably  less  on  the  street 
car  than  it  is  on  the  coach.  When  we  consider  that  the 
Fifth  Avenue  coach  line  is  under  the  same  management 
as  the  Interborough  Subways  and  other  transportation 
systems  in  metropolitan  New  York,  the  natural  query 
is  why  this  fine  discrimination  in  service  and  the  atti- 
tude of  the  people  one  toward  another. 

Apparently  the  operators  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Coach 
Company,  including  the  motormen  or  chauffeurs  and 
the  conductors,  realize  they  are  in  competition  with 
other  modes  of  transportation,  and  it  is  this  realization 
of  competition  undoubtedly  which  reflects  the  character 


470 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13. 


of  the  service  rendered ;  in  other  words,  salesmanship 
is  the  predominating,  managing  influence  of  the  Coach 
Company  and  has  been  instilled  into  every  one  of  the 
operators  having  to  do  with  it. 

Many  similar  cases  could  be^cited. 

Evidences  of  salesmanship  in  the  steam  railway  field 
are  too  numerous  to  mention  at  length,  but  a  few  ex- 
amples of  early  sales  effort  may  suffice:  the  Santa  Fe 
and  its  Harvey  dining  service,  the  Southern  Pacific  and 
its  poppies,  the  Northern  Pacific  and  its  great  big  baked 
potato  for  10  cents,  the  Milwaukee  and  its  popular  din- 
ing car  conductors,  the  Canadian  Pacific  illustrated  and 
descriptive  time-tables  and  hotel  system,  the  extra 
fare  trains  of  many  roads,  where  you  are  rebated  upon 
failure  of  the  company  to  make  schedule,  the  amusement 
parks  of  most  early  ventures.  These  and  many  similar 
are  all  evidences  of  a  lost  art  in  selling  transportation. 

A  comparison  between  the  Fifth  Avenue  coach  sys- 
tem with  other  methods  of  transportation  in  the  metro- 
politan district  does  not  reflect  credit  on  the  latter. 
Many,  if  not  most,  of  the  surface  cars  are  poorly  kept. 


QUESTIONS  of  publicity  have  a  definite 
relationship  to  the  product  to  be  sold. 
Publicity  as  such  has  no  value  unless  we 
have  something  to  sell  at  a  profit,  and  the 
product  we  offer  for  sale  must  have  merit. 
It  is  useless  to  spend  money  for  publicity  in 
promoting  a  product  without  merit,  and 
merit  is  of  no  value  unless  people  can  be 
made  to  understand  it. 


The  platform  men  are  far  separated  from  their  patrons. 
Either  the  operating  schedules  are  so  fast  or  the  rules 
of  discipline  so  rigid  that  the  platform  men  carry  an 
expression  of  intense  pain  in  the  performance  of  their 
duties.  Riding  on  surface  cars  in  the  metropolitan  dis- 
trict has  long  ceased  to  be  a  pleasure;  it  is  a  painful 
duty  which  the  patron  must  perform. 

Of  course  no  one  rides  in  a  subway  for  mere  pleasure, 
but  that  is  no  reason  why  the  journey  should  not  be 
made  pleasurable.  It  is  difficult  to  keep  the  cars  clean. 
The  underground  mileage  operates  against  this,  but 
does  this  justify  trains  being  turned  back  at  the  end 
of  runs  littered  with  papers,  dust  and  dirt  which  could 
easily  be  removed  and  would  be  removed  if  salesmanship 
were  employed?  In  the  entire  subway  operation,  com- 
fort and  convenience  have  been  made  secondary  to 
efficiency,  and  every  car  rider  feels  this  the  minute  he 
enters  a  subway  station. 

Value  of  the  Service  Must  Be  Determined 

The  great  contest  which  is  on  at  the  present  time 
between  almost  every  electric  railway  company  and  its 
local  community,  between  operating  costs  and  fare  in- 
come can  be  corrected  by  proper  sales  methods. 

There  are  two  ways  to  fix  the  price  of  transportation. 

1.  Fix  the  fare  first,  and  then  give  as  much  (or  as 
little)  as  that  fare  will  buy.  This  has  been  the  prac- 
tice of  the  past,  and  broadly  speaking,  is  the  practice 
of  today.  It  has  resulted  in  failure.  It  does  not  em- 
ploy or  consider  sales  instinct  or  application. 

2.  Establish  a  standard  of  service  and  then  fix  the 
fare  at  a  figure  that  will  maintain  this  standard.  Adjust 


the  fare  from  time  to  time  as  standards  of  service  and 
other  factors  change  from  time  to  time.  This  should 
be  the  1921  model.  It  is  based  on  scientific  selling, 
salesmanship,  sales  instinct.    Do  not  be  misled. 

You  must  establish  a  measure  of  transportation  value. 
Whether  you  use  a  yardstick,  a  quart  measure  or  a  bal- 
ance scale,  the  measure  must  be  one  which  the  public 
understands.  Relatively  speaking  the  electric  railway 
companies  offer  more  for  the  money  than  any  other 
industry  or  business  institution  in  the  community,  but 
they  have  failed  utterly  to  acquaint  their  patrons  with 
the  character  and  value  of  the  service  rendered.  The 
keen  sales  manager  realizes  this  only  too  well.  He  will 
rapidly  reach  a  common  understanding  of  what  the 
transportation  company  has  to  sell  and  how  it  shall  be 
sold. 

The  Public  Must  Be  "Sold"  on  This  Value 

American  people  with  whom  we  must  deal,  even 
though  the  majority  do  not  realize  it,  possess  a  keen 
subconscious  realization  of  human  psychology,  know 
the  value  of  commodities  or  service  in  relation  to  the 
purchasing  power  of  the  nickel,  and  will  be  quick  to 
grasp  the  situation,  once  it  is  properly  presented  sub- 
consciously. They  know  the  value  of  an  average  car 
ride  is  worth  more  than  a  nickel,  and  what  they  are 
really  doing  is  testing  your  selling  ability. 

Give  them  the  facts  in  true  selling  form,  and  profit 
for  your  effort  is  assured. 

They  are  not  of  socialistic  tendencies,  and  Americans 
will  pay  for  what  they  get,  when  they  know  the  truth 
and  value  of  transportation,  and  it's  up  to  you,  Mr. 
Street  Railway  Executive,  to  produce  the  goods. 

Your  business  is  selling  transportation  at  a  profit. 
Whether  the  fare  be  5  or  10  cents  is  immaterial.  It 
may  be  5  cents  in  Pessimistdunk,  7  cents  in  Mediadunk, 
and  10  cents  in  Optimistdunk.  The  variables  in  each 
case  will  determine  results,  but  the  net  return  from  the 
operation  should  be  relative,  all  factors  considered. 

A  Radical  Change  of  Policy  Necessary 

There  are  only  two  ways  out — public  ownership  or 
change  of  policy.  The  first  would  be  a  national  calam- 
ity ;  the  second  would  be  the  salvation  of  the  industry. 
Change  of  policy  need  not  mean  change  of  management. 
Increased  fares  are  but  temporary  expediencies — with 
them  must  come  an  understanding  on  the  part  of  the 
public  of  a  measure  of  service  and  a  recognition  of  a 
modified  policy. 

The  electric  railway  company  is  looked  upon  as  a 
corporation  whose  temperature  is  always  below  freez- 
ing. Raise  its  temperature  by  employing  sales  methods. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  and  should  be  the  most  human 
thing  in  the  community.  Salesmanship  in  transporta- 
tion means  to  sell  more  rides  to  more  people  and  always 
at  a  profit. 

One  way  not  to  do  this  is  to  post  up  too  many 
directions  for  the  car  riders  to  absorb  at  one  time. 
Well-worded  regulations  are  necessary.  But  sometimes 
I  see  them  given  in  such  large  doses  that  I  am  minded 
to  ask  how  much  does  a  patron  have  to  learn  and  what 
antics  does  he  have  to  go  through  in  addition  to  paying 
his  fare  in  order  to  get  his  ride. 

Other  conditions  which  should  not  exist  are: 
Men,  equipment,  schedules,  tracks  and  the  physical 
properties  with  the  appearance  of  neglect.    Street  cars 
littered  with  indiscriminate  advertising,  from  vague, 
patent  medicines  to  other  joy  killers.    Platform  men. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


471 


improperly  equipped  from  every  angle  to  perform  their 
duties.  And  the  thousand  and  one  other  negative  sell- 
ing suggestions  which  are  successfully  destroying  an 
otherwise  profitable  business. 

Make  Your  Community  Proud  of  Your  Company 

Talk  about  the  city — about  things  along  your  right- 
of-way.  Let  the  people  know  you  are  interested  in  civic 
affairs.  People  like  to  know  about  important  industries. 
Talk  about  your  receipts,  your  expenses,  your  fixed 
charges,  cost  of  maintaining  track,  etc.  Be  liberal  in 
transfer  time  privileges  or  eliminate  them  entirely. 
Public  opinion  is  discernible;  psychology  plays  an  im- 
portant part  in  molding  favorable  opinion.  Favorable 
public  opinion  is  an  asset — it  is  difficult  to  acquire  and 
when  once  possessed,  guard  it  zealously. 

You  need  the  help  of  business  men,  you  need  the  help 
of  the  whole  community.  Such  appeals  are  always  re- 
ceived in  terms  of  reciprocity.  If  you  want  others  to 
help  you,  you  must  be  willing  to  help  them. 

The  electric  railway  industry  has  held  itself  aloof, 
either  from  community  co-operation  or  industrial  co- 
operation. I  have  attended  many  conventions  in  the 
electrical  industry.  I  have  observed  men  from  every 
other  branch  of  the  industry  in  attendance  at  your  con- 
ventions, either  for  the  purpose  of  selling  their  wares 
or  acquiring  information,  but  if  you  tabulated  the  at- 
tendance of  all  the  electric  railway  men  in  the  country 
at  all  the  other  trade  conventions  in  the  country,  you 
would  be  ashamed  to  discuss  the  result.  The  sooner 
electric  railway  men  recognize  this  principle  and  affiliate 
with  other  successful  companies  and  organizations,  the 
sooner  will  they  acquire  sales  instinct. 

Here  is  another  job  for  the  sales  director  or  sales 
manager.  Unquestionably  more  real  information  of 
value  can  be  secured  from  an  attendance  at  a  convention 
representing  commercial  men  than  ever  could  be  ac- 
quired by  attending  solely  conventions  of  operating  elec- 
tric railway  men.  You  must  take  yourself  away  from 
your  own  problem  long  enough  to  find  out  how  the  other 
fellow  handles  his  problem. 

You  are  breathing  rarefied  air;  the  atmosphere  in 
which  you  live  does  not  contain  a  sufficient  amount  of 
oxygen  to  keep  you  healthy.  Think  of  business  as  you 
would  a  vacation.  Get  away  from  the  daily  grind  of 
your  business ;  go  to  the  mountains  or  the  seashore 
and  get  that  relaxation  and  inspiration  that  enables  you 
to  take  up  your  duties  with  renewed  energy.  In  other 
words,  mix  with  fellows  in  some  other  line  of  business, 
particularly  in  other  divisions  of  the  electrical  business. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  read  one's  own  writings, 
but  after  all,  it  is  wise  also  to  read  what  the  other  fel- 
low writes. 

What  Is  Salesmanship? 

For  any  industrial  operation  to  be  successful,  there 
must  be  in  the  institution  a  certain  proportion  of 
individuals  blessed  with  what  we  clearly  recognize  as 
"sales  instinct."  The  recorded  instances  of  success 
without  this  sales  instinct  are  so  exceptional  that  it  is 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  find  them;  at  least  a 
sufficient  number  to  merit  any  consideration. 

Sales  instinct  dictates,  first,  a  knowledge  of  product; 
second,  a  knowledge  of  policy,  and  third,  the  right  thing 
to  say  at  the  right  time.  The  skilled  salesman  comes 
home  with  the  order,  and  a  profit  results  from  the 
transaction.  Industrially,  we  are  a  nation  of  skilled 
salesmen.    Once  we  instill  in  the  electric  railway  indus- 


try this  necessary  fundamental  instinct,  we  will  have 
started  on  our  journey  toward  success. 

Sales  instinct  may  be  likened  to  psychology;  no  two 
men  employ  the  identical  method  in  similar  cases.  The 
personal  equation  always  enters.  Did  any  one  with  a 
knowledge  of  selling  ever  hear  of  a  standardized,  stand- 
ard package,  capsule  form  of  sales  argument?  Did  any 
salesman  ever  formulate  his  sales  argument  and  then, 
when  admitted  to  the  office  of  the  executive  or  purchas- 
ing agent,  ever  carry  out  an  argument  so  formulated? 

On  the  contrary,  the  number  of  failures  in  industry 
which  have  been  recorded  through  a  lack  of  sales 
instinct  are  so  numerous,  and  can  be  so  definitely  proved, 
that  one  hesitates  almost  to  think  about  it. 

Sales  ability  recognizes  competition,  no  matter  in 
what  form  it  appears;  it  will  be  merely  a  matter  of 
every-day  routine.  Analyze,  if  you  will,  the  personnel 
of  our  most  successful  industrial  corporations,  confine 
your  analysis  further  to  the  electrical  industry,  and  you 
will  find  the  men  at  the  head  of  these  institutions,  and 


POSITIONS  VACANT 


COMMERCIAL  manager  The  man  we 
want  is  not  fully  developed  in  the  street 
railway  business.  He  may  not  be  a 
street  railway  man  even,  but  if  selected 
he  must  be  a  "go-get  'er  "  His  duties 
will  be  to  increase  business.  He  will  be 
required  to  sell  rides  in  1-arge  numbers. 
Doing  that  he  may  have  to  create  the 
reason  for  the  ride.  Salary  as  high  as 
your  qualifications.  In  reply  tell  what 
you  would  do  to  mercnandise  transpor- 
tation on  a  street  railway  How  would 
you  do  it  and  can  you  do  it?  Applica- 
tions confidential  of  course.  P-342,  Elec 
Ry.  Journal.  Real  Estate  Trust  Bldg.. 
Phila 

STATISTICIAN  wanted  ;  must  have  sev- 
eral   ye.ars_  experience    in  electric^rajl-: 


3 


1  iack 
wa 
VV 
Yo 


v 

32 

Srai 

wit 
rail 
ma; 
Tlo: 
roai 


J 


Somebody  Is  Apparently  Waking  Up!    This  Advertisement 
Appeared  in  the  Sept.  17  Issue  of  Electric 
Railway  Journal 

those  all  the  way  down  the  line  in  charge  of  operations, 
to  be  men  of  sales  instinct,  call  them  executives,  man- 
agers, or  what  not. 

If  they  are  successful,  they  possess  sales  instinct, 
otherwise  they  are  soon  relegated  to  the  scrap  heap 
of  routine  positions. 

It  is  recognized,  and  undoubtedly  is  a  fact,  that  the 
less  competition,  the  less  the  opportunity  for  success. 
The  principal  trouble  with  the  electric  railway  company, 
it  has  net  had  real,  s-evere  competition,  in  the  usual 
recognizable  form.  Hence  it  has  not  felt  the  necessity 
of  developing  sales  methods  and  employing  sales  instinct 
to  meet  its  competition.  It  has  viewed  its  problem 
from  an  operating  basis,  and  operators,  as  such,  do  not 
recognize  their  competition  when  they  see  it.  Hence, 
they  do  not  know  how  to  combat  it. 

Why  talk  about  competition?  The  electric  railway 
company  has  no  competition  in  the  broad  sense,  except 
the  competition  which  it  creates  itself.  What  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  real  salesman!  The  only  company  in  the 
community,  with  the  whole  community  as  a  prospect 
twice  every  day !  Boards  of  councilmen,  politicians,  and 
demagogue  newspapers  should  be  easy  prey  for  the  real 
salesman.  There  is  a  constant  attempt  to  justify  fail- 
ure on  the  form  of  competition  encountered.  A  success- 
ful salesman  has  no  alibis  to  offer.  A  lost  order  is  of 
passing  moment  in  his  career.  He  seeks  new  fields,  new 
prospects,  and  builds  new  customers. 


472 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


The  stay-at-home,  the  walker,  the 
rider  is  the  lost  customer.  He  will 
brought  back  with  renewed  effort, 
selling. 

You  very  properly  are  asking  by 
answer  to  all  this  talk?  What  is 
new  about  this?  How,  concrete- 
ly, would  you  introduce  this  sales 
manager  or  sales  instinct?  Let 
us  take  a  look  at  the  existing 
organization  of  a  typical  or  aver- 
age railway. 

The  president  or  general  man- 
ager is  usually  selected  for  his 
financial  or  operating  executive 
ability,  and  this  is  as  it  should 
be.  But  executive  ability  utterly 
fails  in  accomplishing  its  pur- 
pose unless  it  possesses  a  suffi- 
cient understanding  of  the  prob- 
lem in  hand  so  to  organize  the 


jitney,  the  bicycle 
be  lost  until  he  is 
founded  on  right 

now,  "What  is  the 


ments  which  we  call  "legal,"  "transportation,"  "power 
and  overhead,"  "equipment,"  "way,"  and  "accounting." 
Now  let  us  analyze  these  departments  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  personnel  in  charge. 

The  legal  department,  in  the  matter  of  franchises, 

public  relations  and  claims, 
drives  the  hardest  possible 
bargain,  theoretically,  from 
the  standpoint  that  the  most 
that  can  be  secured  in  a 
given  case  or  the  least  that 
can  be  given  accrues  to  the 
best  interest  of  the  com- 
pany. 

The  transportation  de- 
partment, or  the  operators 
of  the  cars,  controlling  men 


Pohcy  and  information 


company  or  institution  that  the  business  can  be  operated 
at  a  profit. 

Merchandising  transportation,  which  is  probably  an 
appropriate  expression  to  cover  the  broad  field,  means 
selling  transportation  at  a  profit.  But  we  cannot  under- 
take a  merchandising  proposition  without  sales  man- 
agement or  sales  direction. 

But  what  do  we  find?  We  find  that  the  president  or 
general  manager  has  set  up  a  number  of  sub-depart- 


A  Suggested  Organization  for  an  Electric  Railway  to 

and  runs,  approaches  the  problem  from  the  standpoint 
that  the  man-power  operating  the  cars  has  the  same 
relation  to  the  physical  operation  of  the  road  as  the 
motor  under  the  car.  Platform  men  are  really  individ- 
ual salesmen  of  the  transportation  company,  but  they 
are  trained  as  car  operators  and  not  as  individual  sales- 
men. The  successful  platform  man  should  be  selected 
upon  his  ability  to  cultivate  good  will  of  his  patrons  and 
to  cause  them  to  enjoy  street  car  riding.   A  five-minute 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


473 


discussion  with  the  average  motorman  or  conductor  will 
convince  you  that  the  motorman  is  primarily  interested 
in  getting  his  car  over  the  ground  and  the  average  con- 
ductor is  so  involved  in  collecting  fares  and  keeping  time 
schedules  that  courtesy  to  patrons  is  of  secondary 
moment. 

The  fault  is  probably  due  to  the  system  under  which 
the  men  are  employed ;  they  are  employed  as  car  opera- 
tors and  not  as  company  salesmen. 

Next  let  us  consider  the  schedule  makers  in  this  de- 
partment. They  are  charged  primarily  with  the  prob- 
lem of  dealing  in  loads  and  schedules.  The  pleasure 
they  derive  from  their  work  is  their  ability  to  keep 
cars  loaded  to  maximum  capacity  and  schedules  based 
on  maximum  efficiency.  At  the  slightest  sign  of  a  slack- 
ening of  traffic,  schedules  are  reduced,  and  in  multiple- 
car  equipment  cars  are  taken  off.    The  result  of  this 


other  departments  of  operation — power  and  overhead, 
equipment,  way  and  accounting.  These  divisions  of 
electric  railway  operation  are  so  intangible  to  the  aver- 
age layman  or  passenger  that  we  can  easily  group  them 
under  a  general  department  of  operating  and  providing 
the  character  of  equipment  and  service  essential  to  suc- 
cess. 

This  does  not  minimize  the  necessity  of  their 
recognizing  their  relation  to  the  final  sale.  They  do 
not  come  in  direct  contact  with  the  sale,  which  is  the 
point  now  in  mind. 

Recognizing  that  the  present  condition  is  one  of  long 
standing  and  will  take  a  considerable  time  to  correct,  you 
should  first  start  by  a  general  reorganization  of  your 
internal  affairs  and  put  your  house  in  order.  Let  us 
maintain  your  present  executive  head  under  the  title 
of  president  and  general  manager.    Now  let  us  set  up 


VICE 

-PRESIDENT 

AND 

CHIEF 

ENGINEER 

Mechanical 
Engineer 

Master 
Mechanic 

Shop 
Foremen 
etc. 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

AND 

TREASURER 


Electrical 
Engineer 


Purchasing 
Agent 


Superintendent 

Of 

Lines 


Power 
Su  perintendent 


—  Transmission 


Distribution 

and 
Overhead 


Power 
Station 
Engineers 


Substation 
Enqineers 


' —  Signal 


3* 


Comptroller 


Auditor 


Accountants 


Cashiers 
ek. 


Employ  the  Principle  of  Salesmanship  in  Transportation 

condition  is  obvious  to  all — it  ceases  to  become  a  pleas- 
ure to  ride  during  the  busy  hours  because  of  the  over- 
crowded condition  of  the  cars,  and  during  the  slack 
hours  because  car  schedules  are  so  designed  that  the 
average  patron  is  so  annoyed  in  waiting  for  cars  that 
he  is  in  an  unpleasant  frame  of  mind  when  he  enters 
the  car  and  drops  his  nickel  into  the  conductor's  fare 
box. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  review  the  conditions  in 


those  departments  necessary  to  present  your  service, 
with  intelligent  salesmanship  as  a  foundation. 

I  have  prepared,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  editors,  a  chart  which  embodies 
my  ideas  of  an  organization  based  on  this  sales  idea. 
It  is  only  a  sample  chart  and  is  not  intended  to  be  com- 
plete or  all  inclusive.  But  it  does  point  out  where  I 
think  salesmen  should  be.  Each  of  the  heavily  bordered 
blocks  represents  a  man  chosen  for  his  "sales  instinct." 


472 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


The  stay-at-home,  the  wa 
rider  is  the  lost  customer, 
brought  back  with  renewe: 
selling. 

You  very  properly  are  asking  by 
answer  to  all  this  talk?  What  is 
new  about  this?  How,  concrete- 
ly, would  you  introduc 
manager  or  sales  instinct?  Let 
us  take  a  look  at  the  existing 
organization  of  a  typical  or  aver- 
age railway. 

The  president  or  general  man- 
ager is  usually  selected  for  his 
financial  or  operating  executive 
ability,  and  this  is  as  it  should 
be.  But  executive  ability  utterly 
fails  in  accomplishing  its  pur- 
pose unless  it  possesses  a  suffi- 
cient understanding  of  the  prob- 
lem in  hand  so  to  organize  the 


er,  the  jitney,  the  bicycle 
fe  will  be  lost  until  he  is 
effort,  founded  on  right 


which  ^ 
erhead,' 


ve  call  "legal,"  "transportation."  "power 
'  "equipment,"  "way,"  and  "accounting." 
Now  let  us  analyze  these  departments  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  personnel  in  charge. 

the  matter  of  franchises, 
public  relations  and  claims, 
the  hardest  possible 
bargain,  theoretically,  from 
the  standpoint  that  the  most 
that  can  be  secured  in  a 
given  case  or  the  least  that 
given  accrues  to  the 
best  interest  of  the  com- 


pany. 

The  transportation 
partment,  or  the  operator 
of  the  cars,  controlling  mei 


de- 


fSOSL  ™d  formation 


company  or  institution  that  the  business  can  be  operated 
at  a  profit. 

Merchandising  transportation,  which  is  probably  an 
appropriate  expression  to  cover  the  broad  field,  means 
selling  transportation  at  a  profit.  But  we  cannot  under- 
take a  merchandising  proposition  without  sales  man- 
agement or  sales  direction. 

But  what  do  we  find?  We  find  that  the  president  or 
general  manager  has  set  up  a  number  of  sub-depart- 


A  Suggested  Organization  for  an  Electric  Railw 

and  runs,  approaches  the  problem  from  the  standpoint 
that  the  man-power  operating  the  cars  has  the  same 
relation  to  the  physical  operation  of  the  road  as  the 
motor  under  the  car.  Platform  men  are  really  individ- 
ual salesmen  of  the  transportation  company,  but  they 
are  trained  as  car  operators  and  not  as  individual  sales- 
men. The  successful  platform  man  should  be  selected 
upon  his  ability  to  cultivate  good  will  of  his  patrons  and 
to  cause  them  to  enjoy  street  car  riding.   A  five-minute 


September 


24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


discussion  1 


with  the  average  motorman  or  conductor  will 
convince  you  that  the  motorman  is  primarily  interested 
in  getting  his  car  over  the  ground  and  the  average  con- 
ductor is  so  involved  in  collecting  fares  and  keeping  time 
schedules  that  courtesy  to  patrons  is  of  secondary 
moment. 

The  fault  is  probably  due  to  the  system  under  which 
the  men  are  employed;  they  are  employed  as  car  opera- 
tors and  not  as  company  salesmen. 

Next  let  us  consider  the  schedule  makers  in  this  de- 
partment. They  are  charged  primarily  with  the  prob- 
lem of  dealing  in  loads  and  schedules.  The  pleasure 
they  derive  from  their  work  is  their  ability  to  keep 
cars  loaded  to  maximum  capacity  and  schedules  based 
on  maximum  efficiency.  At  the  slightest  sign  of  a  slack- 
ening of  traffic,  schedules  are  reduced,  and  in  multiple- 
car  equipment  cars  are  taken  off.    The  result  of  this 


other  departments  of  operation — power  and  overhead, 
equipment,  way  and  accounting.  These  divisions  of 
electric  railway  operation  are  so  intangible  to  the  aver- 
age layman  or  passenger  that  we  can  easily  group  them 
under  a  general  department  of  operating  and  providing 
the  character  of  equipment  and  service  essential  to  suc- 

This  does  not  minimize  the  necessity  of  their 
recognizing  their  relation  to  the  final  sale.  They  do 
not  come  in  direct  contact  with  the  sale,  which  is  the 
point  now  in  mind. 

Recognizing  that  the  present  condition  is  one  of  long 
standing  and  will  take  a  considerable  time  to  correct,  you 
should  first  start  by  a  general  reorganization  of  your 
internal  affairs  and  put  your  house  in  order.  Let  us 
maintain  your  present  executive  head  under  the  title 
of  president  and  general  manager.    Now  let  us  set  up 


VICE -PRESIDED 
CHIEF  ENGINEER 


VICE-PRESIDENT 
TREASURER 


^1 


Electrical 

Purchasing 

Civil 

Chief 

Agent 

Engineer 

Statistician 

r 

<»9«    I  It 

"t'"kr  I  \m 


:    rerhegd  I  1 


EmV  tlie  Principle  of  Salesmanship  in  Transportation 

condition  is  obvious  to  all — it  ceases  to  become  a  pleas- 
ure to  ride  during  the  busy  hours  because  of  the  over- 
Towded  condition  of  the  cars,  and  during  the  slack 
because  car  schedules  are  so  designed  that  the 
patron  is  so  annoyed  in  waiting  for  cars  that 
an  unpleasant  frame  of  mind  when  he  enters 


hour, 


he  j 


the 

box. 

It  : 


car  and  drops  his  nickel  into  the  conductor's  fare 
not  necessary  here  to  review  the  conditions  in 


those  departments  necessary  to  present  your  service, 
with  intelligent  salesmanship  as  a  foundation. 

I  have  prepared,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  editors,  a  chart  which  embodies 
my  ideas  of  an  organization  based  on  this  sales  idea. 
It  is  only  a  sample  chart  and  is  not  intended  to  be  com- 
plete or  all  inclusive.  But  it  does  point  out  where  I 
think  salesmen  should  be.  Each  of  the  heavily  bordered 
blocks  represents  a  man  chosen  for  his  "sales  instinct." 


474 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


We  will  have  first  a  sales  department,  then  a  legal 
department,  then  an  engineering  department  and  last 
a  financial  department.  Each  of  these  departments 
will  be  in  charge  of  a  vice-president — the  senior 
vice-president  in  charge  of  the  sales  department,  and 
next  in  order  legal,  engineering  and  financial.  The 
chart  herewith  in  the  main  would  outline  an  organiza- 
tion of  such  departments  with  additions  or  subtractions 
dependent  upon  individual  cases. 

I  think  the  idea  which  I  wish  to  convey  is  largely 
evident  on  the  chart  itself.  The  sales  department  is 
charged  with  selling  transportation  at  a  profit.  It  is 
responsible  for  all  relations  with  customers  (the  riding 
public),  it  is  charged  with  relations  with  the  general 
public.  The  man  at  the  head  of  this  department  must 
be  a  man  who  first,  last  and  all  the  time  is  a  salesman. 
All  other  qualifications  are  secondary  to  it. 

The  sub-departments  of  the  sales  department  must 
also  be  manned  by  men  whose  outstanding  quality  is 
sales  instinct.  They  must  naturally  have  ability  to 
organize  and  handle  their  departments.  The  director  of 
transportation,  for  example,  must  be  a  man  with  ability 
to  organize  and  direct  human  energy.  He  must  be 
able  to  fraternize  with  his  men,  and  from  his  own  sales 
ability  and  sales  spirit  to  inculcate  in  them  the  ability 
to  handle  in  a  satisfactory  way  the  patrons  of  the  com- 
pany. Under  such  organization  and  direction,  platform 
men  become  the  individual  salesmen.  On  them  rests 
largely  the  ability  to  maintain  proper  relations  with 
customers. 

The  transportation  engineer,  too,  as  well  as  the  super- 
intendent of  transportation,  must  be  a  salesman.  He 
must  approach  his  problems  not  only  from  the  stand- 
point of  efficient  operation,  but  also  to  satisfy  the  needs 
of  the  community;  in  fact,  the  latter  is  his  principal 
job.  Time  schedules,  while  essential  to  successful 
operation,  should  not  be  permitted  to  interfere  with 
the  convenience  and  comfort  of  patrons.  They  should 
be  fitted  to  that  convenience. 

The  transportation  department  is  not  the  only  sub- 
sales  department.  Certainly  the  passenger  agent  and 
the  freight  and  express  agent,  with  their  forces,  must 
be  the  very  essence  of  salesmanship.  The  publicity 
director  must  recognize  that  advertising  is  only  a  piece 
of  salesmanship.  There  is  precedent  enough  in  success- 
ful utility  companies  for  placing  the  claims  department 
in  the  sales  department  to  justify  that  suggestion  here. 
We  must  keep  in  mind  that  it  is  salesmanship  of  the 
broadest  order  that  we  are  talking  about,  and  not  merely 
stimulation  of  a  few  more  car  rides.  The  claim  agent 
is  in  a  most  advantageous  position  to  exercise  real  sales 
ability. 

It  may  be  wondered  at  that  I  insist  that  the  general 
counsel  be  as  much  of  a  salesman  as  the  sales  manager, 
but  I  think  that  earlier  in  this  paper  I  have  indicated 
the  relation  of  the  legal  adviser  to  the  sales  policy  of 
the  company.  Certainly  some  of  the  greatest  salesmen 
in  the  industrial  field  today  are  the  principal  legal  vice- 
presidents.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  greatest 
hindrances  to  successful  sales  efforts  on  the  part  of 
whole  organizations  are  attorneys  who  judge  or  predi- 
cate their  actions  on  technicalities  rather  than  on  sales 
instinct. 

While  not  advisable  to  place  them  in  the  sales  depart- 
ment, I  have  provided  connection  between  both  the  super- 
intendent of  waiting  stations  and  the  purchasing  agent 
to  the  sales  manager  for  contact  on  the  question  of 
policy.    The  reasons,  I  believe,  are  very  evident.  And 


that  there  should  be  a  very  close  relationship  between 
the  statistical  department  and  the  sales  manager  is 
axiomatic.  The  statistician  should  certainly  be  gov- 
erned by  sales  direction.  It  is  through  him  that  the 
sales  manager  acquires  information  regarding  those 
more  tangible  forms  of  competition,  such  as  the  stay- 
at-home,  the  walker,  the  private  automobile  (with  its 
increasingly  helpful  hand  to  passers-by),  the  taxicab, 
the  jitney  and  the  bicycle. 

I  repeat  that  the  organization  indicated  in  this 
diagram  is  but  a  suggestion  which  I  am  using  as  a 
graphic  picture  to  indicate  what  I  mean  by  the  impor- 
tance of  placing  men  with  sales  instinct  in  railway 
organizations  as  an  answer  to  what  to  do  in  order  to 
institute  the  radical  change  of  business  policy  which 
the  industry  really  needs. 

I  have  no  thought  that  the  personnel  of  the  electric 
railway  should  immediately  be  transformed  to  conform 
with  the  ideas  here  suggested,  but  a  step  might  be  taken 
at  once;  viz.,  those  executives  and  others  indicated  in 
the  diagram  as  essentially  sales  positions  might  well 
take  a  course  in  salesmanship ;  they  might  devote  a  part 
of  their  time  to  an  extensive  study  of  selling,  salesman- 
ship, sales  psychology,  and  sales  instinct. 

Whether  these  qualities  are  natural  or  acquired  makes 
no  difference.  For  the  present,  a  school  in  salesmanship 
could  be  started  in  each  company,  and  it  would  probably 
be  astonishing  to  realize  how  quickly  the  men  would 
respond  to  the  ideal.  As  new  men  are  hired,  particular 
emphasis  should  be  given  to  sales  instinct. 

As  to  how  the  men  would  be  rewarded,  either  in  com- 
pensation or  other  ways,  for  their  particular  selling 
ability,  is  a  matter  that  would  not  necessarily  lend  itself 
to  any  standardized  practice.  Each  sales  executive 
would  determine  from  the  broad  principles  involved  the 
best  practice  to  apply  in  his  particular  case.  If  the  right 
man  is  selected  as  the  vice-president  and  sales  manager, 
or  such  other  title  as  may  be  most  appropriate  to  his 
position,  his  sales  instinct  will  soon  be  reflected 
throughout  the  organization,  and  the  existing  counsel, 
president  and  general  manager,  and  all  others  will 
sooner  or  later  acquire  a  broad  conception  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  and  policies  involved,  and  the  reaction 
throughout  the  organization  will  be  speedy  and  profit- 
able. 

But  the  trainmen  are  the  salesmen,  and  they  should 
be  employed,  first,  for  their  sales  ability.  The  sales 
executive  with  real  sales  instinct,  having  his  finger  on 
every  vibration  of  the  entire  system,  will  know  the 
right  thing  to  say  at  the  right  time,  will  outline  for  the 
advertising  department  the  broad  ideas  to  be  expressed, 
and  the  advertising  department  will  translate  these  ideas 
or  expressions  into  appropriate  language  for  public  con- 
sumption. 

But  the  printed  word  must  be  backed  up  by  perform- 
ance, and  performance  to  the  car  rider  is  what  he  sees 
and  feels  and  absorbs  by  instinct,  psychology,  or  what- 
ever else  you  chance  to  call  it,  and  he  will  not  be  fooled 
by  any  clever  expression,  beautiful  pictures  or  other 
appeals  not  supported  by  a  mental  and  physical  realiza- 
tion of  a  modified  policy  in  service. 

A  sales  manager  is  not  a  panacea  for  your  every  ill — 
the  professional  politician,  the  demagogue  newspaper 
and  the  ignorant  or  indifferent  public  will  always  be 
with  you — these  are  merely  forms  of  competition — 
recognize  them  as  competition  and  combat  them  by 
proper  sales  methods.  That  is  the  job  of  your  sales 
manager. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


475 


,   t 

Some  Operating  Economies  Made  Possible  by  Increased  Schedule  Speed,  Better  Distribution  of 
Service  and  Rerouting — Obtaining  the  Most  in  Service  and  Earnings  from  Car-Hour  Expenditures 


Greater  Operating  Efficiency 
Enables  Better  Merchandising  of  the  Service 

By  F.  G.  Buffe 

General  Manager  for  the  Receivers  the  Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Railways 


Corner  of  Main  and  Twelfth  Streets,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  at  5  p.m. 


A  westbound  car  is  shown  stopping  in  the  berth  just  west  of 
Main  Street.  At  the  right  of  the  picture  is  seen  a  front-end 
collector  wearing  the  new  portable  farebox  waiting  for  a  car  to 
pull  into  this  eastbound  double  berth.  Two  cars  have  just  left 
this  stop  and  have  crossed  Main  Street  and  are  proceeding  across 
Walnut    Street   to   the   double-berth    stop   between    Walnut  and 


Grand,  skipping  both  Main  and  Walnut.  The  traffic  officer  is 
allowing  north  and  south  bound  traffic  to  proceed  after  he  has 
passed  the  east  and  west-bound  cars  across  the  intersection.  The 
double-berthing  signs  are  shown  at  the  left  of  the  west-bound  car. 
Seven  cars  are  in  sight,  as  the  headway  at  this  point  at  5  p.m.  is 
forty-five  seconds  in  the  maximum  direction. 


A PLANT  manufacturing  transportation  reckons  the 
expense  of  production  in  car-hours.  Every  sixty 
minutes  of  measured  time  means  a  money  outlay 
for  platform  wages,  power,  maintenance  and  the  other 
expenses  which  go  up  and  down  with  this  extremely 
busy  little  unit  of  measurement.  At  least  60  per  cent 
of  an  electric  railway's  maintenance  and  operating  cost 
varies  directly  with  the  number  of  car-hours  operated. 
Therefore,  one  of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest 
field  for  making  major  economies  lies  in  utilizing  car- 
hours  so  that  the  public  and  the  company  receive  from 
them  as  nearly  as  possible  100  per  cent  efficiency. 
Cars  standing  in  congested  districts  waiting  to  get 
through  bottle  necks;  cars  consuming  too  much  time 
loading  and  unloading;  cars  not  getting  through  heavy 
traffic  points  on  schedule  time;  cars  routed  so  as  to 
provide  excess  and  duplicate  service  are  all  expense 
producers  and  revenue  reducers.  Such  cars  are  not 
only  depriving  the  public  of  service,  but  are  increasing 
the  company's  operating  expenses,  making  higher  fares 
necessary  and  detracting  from  the  quality  of  the 
product  which  the  plant  is  turning  out  to  sell. 

Many  crimes  are  committed  in  the  name  of  economy, 


and  very  often  methods  are  employed  for  this  purpose 
which  when  analyzed  not  only  fail  of  the  result  expected 
but  actually  entail  added  expense  either  through  in- 
creased overhead  cost  or  lack  of  efficiency  in  some  other 
direction.  There  have  been  bonus  systems  instituted 
which  only  resulted  in  increasing  wages  under  another 
name.  The  library  of  perhaps  every  company  in  the 
country  contains  handsomely-bound  copies  of  elaborate 
efficiency  reports  upon  one  phase  or  another  of  its  busi- 
ness, prepared  at  large  expense,  which  could  not  today 
be  located  were  it  not  for  a  good  cross  index  filing 
system.  One  useless  car,  useless  either  because  of 
congestion  or  poor  routing,  operating  eighteen  hours 
a  day,  365  days  a  year,  will  eat  up  $12,000  in  wages, 
power  and  other  direct  costs. 

The  best  merchandising  transportation  advertisement, 
after  all,  is  service,  and  without  it  all  the  advertisements 
and  all  the  propaganda  in  the  world  will  not  convince 
the  car-riding  public  that  it  is  getting  what  it  should 
get  for  the  increased  fare  it  has  been  made  to  pay.  In 
practically  every  fare  increase  in  the  country  the  public 
has  countered  by  demanding  service,  and  that  town  in 
which  there  is  the  least  complaint  over  fares  is  the 


476 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


one  in  which  the  street  car  company  is  furnishing  the 
public  the  maximum  in  car  service. 

In  Kansas  City  we  found  that  our  biggest  field  for 
improving  service  and  effecting  operating  economies 
that  counted  was  in  the  better  arrangement  of  our 
car-hours  and  getting  more  out  of  them  than  we  had 
before.  After  doing  all  the  minor  things  that  could 
be  worked  out  we  reached  the  conclusion  that  drastic 
and  radical  measures  would  have  to  be  adopted  to  give 
the  public  the  best  our  facilities  afforded  and  to  effect 
economies  which  were  imperative. 

Due  to  the  topography  of  Kansas  City,  and  especially 
the  severe  conditions  in  the  retail  district,  operation 
of  an  electric  railway  system  is,  to  say  the  least,  ex- 
tremely difficult.  The  retail  business  and  office  build- 
ings of  the  city  are  concentrated  within  a  comparatively 
small  area,  six  blocks  north  and  south  and  five  east  and 
west.    In  the  maximum  rush  hour,  through  the  inter- 


an  intersection  during  the  hour  between  5  and  6  in 
the  evening.  These  cars  were  provided  and  dispatched, 
but  only  190  were  able  to  get  through  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  intersection  was  plugged  for  practically  the 
entire  time  either  by  cars  or  vehicles,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence the  public  was  deprived  of  fifty-three  cars 
when  most  needed  although  the  company  had  provided 
them  and  was  paying  the  car-hour  expense  they  entailed. 

The  services  of  John  A.  Beeler  and  his  staff  were 
enlisted,  and  together  with  our  own  transportation  de- 
partment force,  more  than  a  year  was  spent  working 
out  this  problem.  Recommendations  were  made  from 
month  to  month  and  changes  were  gradually  instituted 
in  which  public  officials  gave  good  co-operation.  The 
measures  for  relief  which  were  adopted  and  which  are 
now  in  effect  are  principally  as  follows: 

Car  stops  were  relocated  and  combined,  making  what 
is  practically  a  skip-stop  system  in  the  business  district. 


Double-Berth  Stop  on  Eighth  Street  Near  Grand  Between  Grand  and  Walnut 


The  severe  grade  on  which  the  cars  must  stop  and  the  narrow 
street  make  this  one  of  the  most  difficult  operating  points.  At 
this  intersection  243  cars  pass  between  5  and  6  p.m.,  and  at 


Eighth  and  Walnut  Streets,  258  pass  during  the  hour.  A  car 
stop  sign  and  an  information  sign  just  above  are  seen  at  the  right 
of  the  illustration. 


sections  within  this  area  5,000  car  movements  were 
formerly  made,  of  which  an  astonishingly  large  propor- 
tion were  left-hand  turns.  Extremely  narrow  and  con- 
gested streets  further  aggravated  the  situation.  To 
make  matters  worse,  because  of  the  topography  of  the 
district  only  two  east  and  west  lines  were  possible.  In 
addition  to  the  car  movements,  there  were  at  the  same 
time  more  than  400  jitneys  plying  their  trade  in  this 
district  and  a  good  proportion  of  the  40,000  automobiles 
owned  by  Kansas  City's  350,000  citizens.  The  absence 
of  parking  restrictions  converted  the  narrow  streets 
into  outdoor  garages,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for 
vehicular  traffic  to  pass  between  car  tracks  and  parked 
automobiles. 

This  situation  became  so  bad  that  in  December,  1919, 
we  showed  speeds  as  low  as  0.8  m.p.h.  through  two 
blocks  representing  the  point  of  maximum  congestion. 
This  condition  would  exist  for  fully  fifteen-minute  pe- 
riods. During  the  rush  hour  the  average  speed  of 
street  cars  and  vehicular  traffic  was  reduced  practically 
to  a  walk.  All  principal  intersections  were  choked  with 
traffic.    At  one  corner  243  cars  were  scheduled  through 


Cars  on  the  two  heavy  east  and  west  streets  were 
made  to  clear  in  one  movement  the  heaviest  intersec- 
tions and  to  stop  at  designated  points  regardless  of 
corners. 

Double  berthing  was  arranged  at  all  downtown  stops. 

Traffic  officers  were  instructed  to  pass  cars  across 
intersections  in  pairs  and  simultaneously  in  opposite 
directions  whenever  possible. 

Automobile  parking  restrictions  were  put  into  effect 
during  rush  hours. 

Additional  street  collectors  were  employed  so  as  to 
facilitate  loading  and  unloading,  and  to  see  that  the 
doors  are  closed  promptly  as  soon  as  proper  loads  are  on 
the  cars. 

Cars  were  made  to  stop  but  once  at  each  passenger 
stopping  point  and  proceed  after  the  doors  are  once 
closed. 

These  and  other  minor  remedies  upon  adoption  pro- 
duced the  most  gratifying  results.  They  have  now  been 
in  effect  for  more  than  a  year  and  a  half.  In  the  direc- 
tion of  heavy  travel  during  the  evening  rush  hour  on 
five  principal  streets  in  the  business  district  the  aver- 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


477 


age  increase  in  the  number  of  cars  passed  is  30  per  cent 
and  the  average  speed  of  cars  has  been  increased  42 
per  cent.  In  other  words,  the  car  rider  is  now  receiv- 
ing 30  per  cent  more  service  at  the  right  time  and  is 
being  carried  out  of  the  congested  district  42  per  cent 
faster  than  formerly. 

Because  these  "bottle-necks"  were  opened  so  that 
scheduled  cars  are  enabled  to  pass  through  on  schedule 
time,  headways  are  regular,  delays  due  to  congestion 
are  practically  eliminated  and  the  entire  system  moves 
easily  and  without  confusion.  As  a  result,  several 
hundred  car-hours  per  day  were  saved  in  cars  sent 
from  the  carhouses  to  fill  spaces  formerly  caused  by 
the  inability  of  scheduled  cars  to  get  through  the  con- 
gested district.  Every  car-hour  paid  for  was  available 
for  public  use  and  returned  its  correct  proportion  of 
revenue.  The  public  talked  of  increased  service,  when 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  company  had  not  increased  the 
number  of  cars  dispatched  but  had  only  made  it  pos- 
sible to  put  its  transportation  service  at  the  disposal 
of  the  public  when  and  where  it  was  needed. 

The  system  average  schedule  speed  has  increased 
from  8.8  m.p.h.  to  9.3,  an  increase  of  more  than  5i 
per  cent.  The  resulting  economies  and  better  service 
can  be  easily  computed.  1  ' 

Major  Rerouting  Difficult  but  Effective 

The  next  strenuous  problem  attacked  was  that  of 
rerouting  the  lines.  This  was  an  extremely  difficult 
task  and  required  not  only  careful  and  conscientious 
work  to  reach  the  best  solution,  but  extremely  diplomatic 
handling  in  order  to  secure  permission  of  the  city  au- 
thorities. To  change  routes  of  years  standing  is  a 
radical  move,  and  is  immediately  met  by  the  resistance 
of  business  interests  which  feel  that  they  will  suffer 
a  loss  with  the  change  of  routing. 

However,  the  plan  recommended  by  Mr.  Beeler,  with 
a  .number  of  modifications,  described  on  page  957, 
Volume  56,  Electric  Railway  Journal,  was  finally 
adopted  by  the  City  Council  and  much  of  it  has  been 
put  into  effect.  Changes  have  been  made  very  gradually, 
one  line  at  a  time,  so  as  to  avoid  inconvenience  to  the 
public,  and  to  date,  although  some  of  the  largest  and 
heaviest  lines  have  been  changed,  there  has  been  no 
complaint  but,  instead,  universal  commendation. 


Dispatcher's  Booth  and  Attendant  at  a  Busy  Corner, 
Motorcycle  Inspector  and  Uniformed  Inspector 

Unfortunately,  it  was  not  possible  to  put  Mr.  Beeler's 
report  into  effect  in  its  entirety,  and  certain  changes 
insisted  upon  by  public  authority  have  reduced  the 
estimated  savings  which  were  inherent  in  the  plan. 
Nevertheless,  the  fact  remains  that  for  the  first  six 
months  of  this  year  there  has  been  saved  in  platform 
labor  and  power  an  average  of  $22,000  per  month,  and 
in  July,  due  to  added  rerouting  under  the  ordinance, 
this  saving  was  increased  to  $31,000. 

The  Kansas  rerouting  is  still  being  discussed  by  the 
city  authorities  of  Kansas  City,  Kan.,  and  the  receivers, 
and  should  permission  be  given  to  install  the  plan 
proposed,  which  is  a  modification  of  that  outlined  by 
Mr.  Beeler,  it  will  mean  an  additional  saving  of  approx- 
imately $8,500  a  month. 

The  rerouting  has  resulted  in  a  20  per  cent  decrease 
in  intersection  car  movements  in  the  downtown  dis- 
trict, has  eliminated  left-hand  turns  to  a  large  extent, 
and  has  consequently  increased  the  ease  and  rapidity 
with  which  cars  are  moved.  The  economies  from  the 
rerouting  arise  from  the  absence  of  duplication  and  the 
fact  that  cars  are  kept  moving  throughout  the  length 
of  their  routes  over  producing  territory.  All  downtown 
loops  and  dead  mileage  have  been  eliminated  wherever 
possible. 


Street  Collectors  Are  Supplied  with  a  Belt-Type  or  Tripod-Type  Farebox  for  Use  in 
Front-End  Collection  in  Congested  Districts 


478 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Routes  have  been  concentrated  also  so  as  to  keep  pace 
with  the  business  growth  and  development  of  the  city, 
and  service  has  been  correspondingly  regulated. 

Receivers  Go  the  Limit  on  Service 

Coincident  with  the  appointment  of  Senator  Francis 
M.  Wilson  and  Colonel  Fred  W.  Fleming  as  receivers 
in  October  of  last  year,  a  decided  increase  in  service 
was  inaugurated.  Jitney  competition  was  then  at  its 
maximum,  400  jitneys  daily  carrying  an  average  of  from 
40,000  to  50,000  passengers.  The  receivers,  although 
previously  acquainted  with  the  street  railway  busi- 
ness other  than  as  passengers,  decided  that  the  only 
limit  to  car  service  in  Kansas  City  would  be  cars  and 
facilities.  The  Board  of  Control's  rush-hour  standard 
of  4  sq.ft.  per  passenger  and  a  non-rush  standard  of 
a  seat  per  passenger  was  discarded  and  service  exceed- 
ing this  placed  on  all  lines.    Therefore  a  large  part  of 


Editorial  Comment  from  the  Kansas  City  "Star" 

the  savings  effected  through  rerouting  and  other  car- 
hour  economies  have  been  used  in  giving  Kansas  City 
without  question  the  finest  street  railway  service  it 
has  ever  enjoyed,  and  as  far  as  I  know  the  equal  of 
any  being  furnished  anywhere  in  the  country  today. 
It  certainly  is,  as  measured  by  any  comparative  load- 
ing and  service  standards  authorized  by  commissions. 

At  the  time  service  was  so  increased  other  economies 
in  the  transportation  department  were  inaugurated  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  many  of  which  had  been  put  into 
effect  prior  to  the  receivership,  and  the  results  of  which 
were  utilized  to  give  this  greatly  enhanced  service. 
These  are  more  or  less  familiar  to  every  one,  including, 
wherever  possible,  turn-back  schedules  so  as  to  keep  the 
maximum  number  of  cars  in  the  districts  of  maximum 
population  and  travel.  In  other  words,  an  effort  was 
made  so  to  arrange  schedules  as  to  give  zone  service 
where  it  could  possibly  be  done.  This  resulted  not  only 
in  economies  in  schedules,  but  in  maintaining  headways 
to  correspond  with  the  traffic  density  of  the  various 
sections  of  the  city,  and  not  to  run  expensive  car-hours 
where  they  were  not  needed. 


Safety  cars,  of  which  this  company  operates  100, 
were  adopted  as  early  as  April,  1919.  At  the  present 
time  approximately  20  per  cent  of  the  daily  car-hours 
are  safety  car-hours.  Allowing  for  40  per  cent  de- 
crease in  headways  and  a  corresponding  increase  in 
service,  this  means  a  direct  daily  saving  of  $400  under 
the  amount  it  would  require  with  the  larger  units. 

Labor  turn-over  has  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  in 
the  history  of  the  company.  In  August  it  was  less  than 
2  per  cent.  This,  coupled  with  intensive  instruction 
and  the  easier  and  less  congested  movement  of  cars 
through  the  business  district,  has  resulted  in  a  24  per 
cent  decrease  in  all  classes  of  accidents  for  the  first 
six  months  of  this  year  as  compared  with  the  first  six 
of  last  year. 

The  reduction  in  the  number  of  transfers  as  a  result 
of  the  rerouting  is  another  important  effect.  The  nec- 
essity for  transferring  has  been  reduced  at  least  25 
per  cent  with  the  routes  already  changed,  and  studies 
show  that  with  the  entire  rerouting  in,  the  150,000 
daily  transfers  should  be  reduced  to  not  to  exceed 
100,000. 

Today  690  maximum  rush-hour  cars  are  being 
operated  as  against  640  a  year  ago.  Car-hours  have 
been  increased  from  7,400  to  7,900  a  day  with  a  corre- 
sponding increase  of  4,600  car-miles.  When  it  is  con- 
sidered that  every  car  is  getting  through  congested 
points  on  schedule  time,  that  turnbacks  on  all  prin- 
cipal lines  are  returning  cars  to  the  business  district 
when  needed,  and  that  combination  of  routes  has  elimi- 
nated downtown  loops  and  service  duplications,  it  can 
easily  be  seen  that  the  actual  increase  of  service  to 
the  public  is  much  greater  than  as  represented  by 
the  actual  increase  in  the  number  of  hours  operated. 
Kansas  City  is  today  receiving  at  least  a  30  per  cent 
better  street  railway  service  as  service  is  measured  by 
loading  standards,  headways,  car  availability  and  speed 
than  it  did  prior  to  the  changes  related. 

Improved  Service  Has  Won  Public  Favor 

Without  one  line  of  advertising  or  publicity  of  any 
kind  this  transportation  service  is  merchandising  itself. 
The  receivers  have  made  plain  to  Kansas  City  that 
notwithstanding  that  every  possible  economy  has  been 
and  will  continue  to  be  made,  it  will  not  be  in  those 
directions  that  will  curtail  car  service.  As  a  result 
of  this  continued  policy  there  has  been  a  most  astonish- 
ing reversal  in  public  opinion  in  Kansas  City.  This 
is  perhaps  well  illustrated  by  the  change  in  attitude  of 
the  Kansas  City  Star,  as  shown  by  the  accompanying 
editorial  quoted  from  the  Star,  which  has  always  been 
very  antagonistic  to  the  company.  Although  the  re- 
ceivership is  not  yet  a  year  old,  jitney  competition 
has  practically  been  eliminated  almost  entirely  through 
the  force  of  public  opinion.  The  number  of  jitneys 
has  been  reduced  from  400  to  130,  and  through 
ordinances  recently  passed  these  are  now  operating 
illegally  and  unless  legal  complications  arise  they  should 
disappear  from  the  streets  entirely  within  another 
thirty  days.  The  first  ordinance  was  one  prohibiting 
jitneys  on  car  track  streets.  The  next  ordinance 
required  them  to  secure  the  consent  of  51  per  cent  of 
the  property  frontage  from  property  owners  on  all 
residence  streets  upon  which  they  operated.  They  failed 
to  do  this  on  every  route  and  have  been  ordered  off 
the  streets  of  the  city. 

Contrary  to  most  cities  during  the  past  three  months 


An  Excessive  Street  Railway 
Valuation 

Not  only  on  the  showing  made  by  Colonel  Fred  W.  Flem- 
ing- for  the  receivers  of  the  Kansas  City  Railways  Company, 
but  on  the  basis  of  common  knowledge  as  well,  the  assessed 
valuation  of  the  railways  property  recommended  by  the 
Missouri  tax  commission  is  excessive. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  company  had  a  substantial 
investment  value  and  a  rosy  speculative  value.  That  time 
is  long  past.  The  speculative  value  faded  under  the  stress 
of  war  conditions.  It  carried  a  large  share  of  the  real 
investment  value  with  it. 

With  the  company  hopelessly  bankrupt,  the  old  valuation 
figures  became  meaningless.  The  Star  doesn't  pretend  to 
know  what  the  property  would  bring  at  a  sale.  But  with 
the  company's  present  prospects,  with  the  competition  of 
the  automobile  and  with  the  necessity  of  a  high  fare  that 
prevents  what  might  be  considered  a  normal  expansion  of 
business,  it  feels  confident  that  the  system  would  bring 
nothing  like  the  $19,000,000  valuation  recommended  by  the 
tax  commission.  Moreover,  other  property  in  Jackson 
County  is  on  a  50  per  cent  valuation,  so  the  street  railway 
is  heavily  penalized  in  being  assessed  at  what  is  supposed 
to  be  a  100  per  cent  valuation,  but  which  is  much  more 
than  that. 

This  newspaper  is  not  concerned  with  saving  tax  money 
for  the  owners  of  the  property.  It  is  concerned  that  the 
street  car  riders  shall  not  be  burdened  with  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  of  taxes  beyond  what  are  fairly  due. 
Under  the  present  circumstances  every  dollar  of  excessive 
taxes  means  skimping  the  service  or  maintaining  a  burden- 
some rate  of  fare,  or  both. 

In  the  interest  of  the  development  of  Kansas  City,  which 
needs  cheaper  and  more  adequate  street  railway  service, 
the  Star  hopes  the  board  of  equalization  will  see  its  way 
clear  to  make  the  street  railway  assessment  nearer  in  line 
with  the  existing  actual  valuation. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


479 


of  extreme  industrial  depression,  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers has  not  decreased  under  those  carried  a  year 
ago,  but  has  shown  about  a  3  per  cent  increase.  The 
public  and  the  press  are  both  keenly  alive  to  the  policy 
of  the  receivers  and  there  has  been  in  Kansas  City  no 
agitation  for  a  decreased  fare. 

The  receivers'  policy  has  been  better  to  merchandise 
their  product,  not  through  maintaining  the  selling  price 
and  reducing  the  cost,  but  in  return  for  the  fare  paid 
to  reduce  the  operating  cost  and  give  back  to  the  public 
part  of  the  saving  in  increased  comfort  and  increased 
service.  It  has  been  a  far-sighted  policy  of  reconstruc- 
tion not  influenced  by  loading  standards,  slide  rule 
calculations  or  false  economies.  The  policy  is  well 
summed  up  in  the  statement  of  one  of  the  receivers  in 
giving  his  orders  to  the  operating  department: 

"I  don't  care  anything  about  hearing  of  4  sq.ft.  of 


space  per  passenger  or  speaking  of  human  beings  as 
if  they  were  articles  of  merchandise.  I  have  ridden 
street  cars  for  years,  am  a  strap  hanger  and  a  seat 
rusher  by  nature,  and  common  sense  teaches  me  what 
square  service  to  the  public  means.  Our  first  job  is 
to  show  the  people  of  Kansas  City  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  a  public  service  corporation  to  serve  the  public,  and 
whenever  it  ceases  to  do  this  the  very  name  is  a 
fraud  practised  upon  the  people  and  it  ought  to 
take  in  its  sign  and  quit  business.  Our  job  is  to 
please  the  people  who  ride  our  cars,  and  within  a 
reasonable  limit,  wherever  legitimate  requests  are 
made,  they  will  be  complied  with  or  good,  sufficient 
and  satisfactory  reasons  given  why  they  cannot  be." 

Dispatching  System  Keeps  Proper  Spacing 

The  dispatching  system,  the  company  police  force, 
and  the  inspectors  on  the  Kansas  City  Railways  are 
other  effective  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  transporta- 


tion department  for  facilitating  movement  of  traffic, 
preventing  congestion,  eliminating  delays  and  other- 
wise saving  car-hours  and  better  serving  the  public. 
Although  most  of  these  methods  are  in  use  to  a  certain 
extent  on  other  systems,  a  brief  description  may  be 
of  some  interest  in  showing  the  relation  to  more 
economical  and  more  regular  service. 

All  cars  are  operated  on  regular  schedules.  The 
dispatching  force  reports  to  an  official  known  as  the 
chief  dispatcher,  located  in  the  office  of  the  superin- 
tendent of  transportation.  On  every  line  dispatchers 
are  located  at  important  points  and  at  terminals.  At 
the  more  important  places  small  dispatchers'  booths, 
with  the  permission  of  the  city,  have  been  erected  at 
the  corner.  Dispatchers  at  the  heavy  points  are  on 
duty  eighteen  hours  a  day,  and  at  other  points  during 
the  rush-hour  periods.    These  dispatchers  are  of  course 


in  constant  touch  with  the  office  of  the  chief  dispatcher. 
Their  duties  consist  of  checking  the  cars  to  see  that  they 
are  running  on  schedule  time.  Any  gaps  in  the  spacing 
that  occur  are  filled  at  once  by  taking  cars  from  other 
lines,  by  ordering  space  cars  sent  from  division  points, 
or  by  emergency  turnbacks. 

Because  of  this  system  of  dispatching  and  the  ability 
to  correct  bad  spacing,  it  is  not  necessary  in  schedule 
making  to  leave  slack  in  the  schedules  or  to  arrange 
for  layovers  at  the  end  of  the  line  other  than  the 
time  necessary  for  switching.  This  means  a  tremen- 
dous saving  in  the  course  of  a  year  in  car-hours  operated 
in  providing  equal  service. 

At  extremely  heavy  loading  points  in  the  downtown 
district  starters  speed  up  loading  by  starting  cars  by 
whistle  signals.  It  is  their  duty  to  note  when  a  car 
is  sufficiently  loaded  and  then  give  the  signal  to  proceed, 
and  to  co-operate  with  crossing  policemen  so  that 
whsn  right  of  way  is  given  there  is  no  delay  in  start- 


Anti-Parking  Latvs  Allow 
Higher  Schedule  Speeds 
in  Kansas  City 

The  two  views  at  the  top  show 
the  appearance  of  Tenth  Street 
before  and  after  the  passage  of 
the  anti  -  parking  ordinance. 
Note  the  heavy  grade  and 
derail. 

The  two  illustrations  at  the 
bottom  are  views  of  Walnut 
Street  taken  before  the  pas- 
sage of  the  anti-parking  law 
and  showing  double  parking 
and  lack  of  clearance. 


480 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


ing  the  car.  Street  collectors  and  trainmen  also  work 
in  connection  with  the  starter  at  these  locations. 

Uniformed  inspectors  are  employed,  who  act  in  the 
nature  of  supervisors.  During  the  rush  hours  these 
men  are  stationed  at  all  heavy  points  and  act  in  case 
of  emergency,  assisting  traffic  officers  in  getting  cars 
through.  In  addition  they  take  immediate  charge  of 
any  important  situation  that  arises. 

As  an  experiment  some  time  ago  an  inspector  mounted 
on  a  motorcycle  was  added  to  the  force.  He  is  stationed 
at  a  central  point  downtown  and  is  able  quickly  to  reach 
any  point  in  the  central  zone  where  trouble  occurs. 
This  experiment  has  been  so  successful  that  several 
more  will  be  added  to  the  force  of  inspectors. 

The  company  also  maintains  an  extremely  efficient 
force  known  as  the  police  department.  This  force  is 
made  up  of  ex-policemen  and  its  organization  is  similar 


to  an  ordinary  police  department  with  a  day  captain 
and  a  night  sergeant  on  duty  at  all  times.  These  men 
are  commissioned  special  police  officers.  They  co- 
operate with  the  city  police  department  and  are  stationed 
at  such  heavy  loading  points  as  ball  parks,  pleasure 
parks,  theaters,  coliseum,  and  wherever  usually  heavy 
crowds  are  anticipated.  They  assist  in  loading  the 
cars,  preserving  order,  clearing  up  automobile  conges- 
tion, and  in  any  other  way  that  a  commissioned  officer 
can  assist  traffic. 

As  a  result  of  the  policy  outlined  above  and  of  the 
extremely  large  operating  economies  made  possible  by 
some  of  the  methods  explained,  and  a  return  of  a  large 
part  of  these  savings  to  the  public  in  service,  we  have 
increased  the  quality  and  quantity  of  our  product  and 
it  is  rapidly  merchandising  itself  in  an  increased  public 
confidence  and  public  good  will. 


The  Employee  Is  the  Direct  Salesman  to  the  Public  of  the  Transportation  Which  the  Company 
Produces — Much  Depends  on  Whether  He  Knows  His  Business 


Relationship  Between  Management  and  Men 

— A  Traffic  Factor 

By  James  P.  Barnes 

President  Louisville  (Ky.)  Railway 


THE  obligations  of  management  ai-e  threefold  and 
may  be  briefly  summarized  as  follows : 
1.  Adequate  service  to  the  public. 

2.  Fair  wages  and  conditions  to  the  employees. 

3.  Fair  return  to  the  investor. 

These  obligations  are  as  fundamental  and  important 
each  to  the  others  and  all  to  the  undertaking  as  are 
the  individual  legs  of  a  tripod.  Let  one  fail  and  the 
whole  structure  totters  and  falls.  Moreover,  each  ex- 
presses an  obligation  as  well  as  an  inherent  right. 

The  public  is  entitled  to  adequate  service.  This  is 
its  right,  but  coincident  therewith  exists  the  obligation 
on  the  public  of  fair  treatment  to  employee  and  in- 
vestor. 

The  employee's  right  to  fair  wage  and  working  con- 
ditions is  beyond  argument,  but  here  again  are  the 
parallel  obligations  on  the  employee  of  adequate  public 
service  and  fair  return  to  the  investor. 

The  right  of  the  investor  to  fair  return  for  the  use 
of  his  property  in  public  service  is  equally  fundamental, 
but  only  upon  condition  of  adequate  service  and  fair 
treatment  of  employees. 

In  this  triangle  of  relationships  there  exists  for  a 
single  right  a  double  obligation  upon  each  side.  Each 
side  of  the  triangle  touches  the  two  other  sides,  and 
symmetry  is  lost  when  pressure  is  uneven  and  the 
balance  is  destroyed  between  privilege  and  obligation. 

It  is  the  primary  duty  of  management  to  maintain 
the  proper  balance  between  the  three  parties  at  interest 
or  the  three  forces  at  work,  and  this  three-phase  nature 
of  management  must  be  always  maintained.  Manage- 
ment should  stand  as  the  trustee  for  the  public  when 
it  is  dealing  with  the  employees  and  the  investor;  as 


the  trustee  of  the  employees  when  they  are  dealing 
with  the  public  and  the  investor,  and  as  the  trustee  of 
the  investor  when  he  is  dealing  with  the  public  and  the 
employees. 

Now  a  trustee  is  one  who  is  intrusted  with  the  prop- 
erty (or  interests)  of  others  and  is  bound  to  administer 
those  things  intrusted  to  his  care  in  the  interests  of 
the  rightful  owner.  The  management  of  a  public  utility 
is  in  its  highest  and  best  sense  a  trust  to  be  administered 
in  the  interest  of  the  public,  the  employees,  and  the 
investor.  Nor  is  this  an  anomalous  situation,  for  only 
by  the  fair  and  proper  treatment  of  all  of  these  three 
parties  at  interest  can  the  life  and  usefulness  of  a 
public  utility  be  truly  preserved. 

Having  in  mind  the  three-sided  responsibility  and 
outlook  of  management,  then,  let  us  consider  some  of 
the  details  of  its  particular  relationship  with  the  em- 
ployees. The  management  stands  as  the  representative 
of  the  public  and  the  investor  when  they  are  dealing 
with  the  employees  and  as  the  representative  of  the  em- 
ployees when  they  are  dealing  with  the  public  and  the 
investor.  It  follows  then  that  the  task  of  the  manage- 
ment is  first  and  foremost  to  find  a  point  of  balance 
where  these  contrasting  duties  can  be  consistently  dis- 
charged. This  position  is  necessarily  one  of  absolute 
and  impartial  justice  to  all  three  parties  at  interest 
for  the  undue  favoring  of  one  party  carries  with  it, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  discrimination  against  the  other 
two.  The  problem  of  human  relations  here  involved 
is  the  problem  of  weighing  and  balancing  interests 
sometimes  partially  or  wholly  conflicting,  though  often 
identical. 

Jt  is  now  the  generally  accepted  basis  of  management 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


481 


that  the  public  is  entitled  to  the  service  it  wants.  At 
the  risk  of  digression  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  say  that 
the  problem  of  the  management  on  the  side  of  public 
relations  today  consists  almost  wholly  of  the  honest 
endeavor  to  determine  what  kind  and  quality-  of  service 
the  public  really  wants  (i.e.,  is  willing  in  the  mass  to 
pay  for)  and  to  adjust  the  service  rendered  so  as  to 
satisfy  the  public  demand  to  the  greatest  possible  extent. 
The  function  of  modern  management  is  not  the  arrange- 
ment of  arbitrary  schedules  with  existing  facilities  in 
a  mere  effort  to  satisfy  the  apparent  demand  as  in- 
dicated by  riding  habits  with  present  facilities.  Mod- 
ern and  progressive  manage- 
ment must  seek  below  the 
surface  and  endeavor  to  deter- 
mine what  facilities  as  well  as 
what  arrangement  of  facilities 
are  desired  by  the  public. 

The  management  must  fear- 
lessly follow  out  the  develop- 
ment of  popular  demand  and 
be  prepared  to  meet  any  con- 
clusion the  logic  of  circum- 
stances may  indicate.  If  the 
public  demand  is  truly  for 
new  or  novel  means  of  trans- 
portation in  whole  or  in  part, 
even  to  the  point  of  the  aban- 
donment of  considerable  por- 
tions of  present  plant,  how 
much  better  is  it  to  go  coura- 
geously forth  in  an  effort  to  meet,  standardize  and  sup- 
ply that  demand  than  to  sit  dolorously  wringing  the 
hands  and  complaining  of  "fickle  sentiment"  while  some 
broader-visioned,  perhaps  newly  organized,  competitor 
prepares  to  absorb  the  business  that  is  ready  and  wait- 
ing for  the  hand  of  him  who  will  reach  out  to  grasp  it! 
Without  an  open  mind  there  shall  be  no  progress,  and 
he  who  clings  to  the  dead  past  will  be  buried  with  the 
rest  of  its  dead. 

Modern  management  should,  by  virtue  of  its  angles 
of  contact  with  public  demand,  be  the  first  to  sense 
desire  for  change  and  improvement.  With  this  demand 
formulated  in  definite  terms,  trusteeship  asserts  itself 
and  management  becomes  the  pleader  with  the  employee 
and  the  investor  for  that  which  the  public  requires. 
Public  demand  will  in  the  long  run  be  satisfied  so  far 
as  it  is  reasonably  possible,  and  management  can  have 
no  greater  asset  than  the  ability  quickly  to  appreciate 
and  promptly  to  meet  the  public  need. 

Sympathetic  Understanding  of  Employees'  Needs 
also  Necessary 

It  is  equally  true  that  the  employee  will  have  in  the 
long  run  that  to  which  he  is  fairly  entitled  in  the  way 
of  both  wage  and  working  conditions.  In  the  past 
far  too  much  time  has  been  consumed  in  negotiation 
of  small  advantages  and  burdensome  conditions  both 
on  the  part  of  management  and  employees,  and  far 
too  little  time  has  been  devoted  by  either  to  the  earnest, 
straightforward  attempt  to  analyze,  understand  and 
sympathetically  treat  the  ideals,  desires  and  strivings 
of  the  other. 

With  very  few  exceptions,  the  executive  of  today  has 
passed  through  a  course  of  practical  railroading  which 
by  a  mere  effort  of  memory  should  recall  to  him  the 
nature  and  conditions  of  all  phases  of  activity  in  the 
organizations  whose  affairs  he  administers.    Unless  he 


IN  this  article  Mr.  Barnes 
points  out  how  the  public, 
the  employees  and  the  investor 
have  mutual  obligations  and 
rights,  while  the  management 
is  the  trustee  whose  duty  it  is 
to  preserve  a  proper  balance 
between  the  three  parties  in 
interest. 


can  know  and  understand  these  things,  his  right  to 
the  trusteeship  of  management  is  or  should  be  forfeit. 
Sympathetic  understanding  of  conditions  surrounding 
each  class  of  work  upon  a  property  is  fundamental  in 
just  and  correct  dealing  with  the  employees  involved, 
and  as  no  man  can  of  his  own  activity  keep  in  touch 
with  all  these  things,  save  on  very  small  properties, 
it  follows  that  the  first  requisite  for  sympathetic  and 
just  relations  is  a  sympathetic  and  just  organization 
for  the  handling  of  these  relations. 

The  distinction  between  duties  of  staff  and  line 
officers  is  nowadays  too  well  understood  to  require  more 
than  mention,  and  the  modern 
manager  will  avail  himself  of 
these  two  types  of  organization 
which  may  almost  universally 
be  concentrated  in  one  general 
organization.  The  duties  of  a 
department  head  are  dual  in 
that  he  must  represent  his 
employees  in  dealing  with  the 
management  and  the  manage- 
ment in  dealing  with  his  em- 
ployees. Here  are  the  staff  and 
line  duties  almost  exactly  de- 
fined and,  as  the  staff  officer 
advises  and  confers  as  to  suc- 
cessful strategy  and  tactics,  so 
will  the  department  head  advise 
and  confer  as  to  successful  pol- 
icy and  fair  dealings. 
Now  the  successful  functioning  of  a  staff  depends  upon 
thorough  understanding  and  frank  discussion  of  fun- 
damentals as  to  both  conditions  and  symptoms.  So  the 
staff  organization  must  for  successful  functioning  com- 
prise all  department  heads  and  the  type  of  organization 
adopted  by  modern  management  should  for  the  sake 
of  prompt  and  efficient  work  be  divided  into  as  few 
major  departments  as  possible.  Within  each  of  these 
departments  should  be  a  distinct  staff  organization 
functioning  in  precisely  similar  manner  to  the  general 
staff  and  serving  as  a  clearing  house  for  many  depart- 
mental matters  which  would  otherwise  occupy  the  time 
and  delay  the  work  of  the  general  staff. 

To  illustrate:  It  has  been  found  that  the  work  of 
large  organizations  can  be  successfully  handled  with  a 
manager's  staff  of  say  five  department  heads  represent- 
ing respectively  the  transportation  and  traffic,  engineer- 
ing, legal  (including  claims),  accounting  and  financial 
departments.  Observe  how  closely  this  classification 
follows  the  lines  of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Association  and  its  affiliated  bodies  and  that  each  of 
these  department  heads  is,  in  the  work  of  the  associa- 
tion, furnished  with  a  reference  library  especially 
devoted  to  his  own  line  of  every-day  activity. 

Rules  for  Staff  Meetings 

Staff  meetings  should  be  frequent  and  regular  so 
that  policies  shall  be  consistent  and  logical  but  not  so 
frequent  as  to  interfere  with  proper  performance  of 
line  duties.  Generally  speaking,  not  oftener  than  once 
a  week  and  not  less  often  than  once  a  month  should 
suffice.  Staff  meetings  should  be  held  in  an  atmosphere 
of  utmost  frankness.  Personal  animus  and  sensitive- 
ness to  criticism  should  be  left  at  the  door  and,  if 
possible,  the  claim  check  lost  entirely.  The  rule  of 
discussion  should  be  "criticism  of  every  point  where 
weakness  is  apparent,  but  no  criticism  that  is  not 


482 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


constructive."  We  all  know  lightning  storms  are  bad, 
but  it  does  no  good  to  complain  of  their  effects  unless 
the  complaint  results  in  more  efficient  arresting 
apparatus. 

There  has  been  too  much  in  the  past  of  the  so-called 
executive  session,  which  sometimes  savors  of  conspiracy 
and  is  always  subject  to  such  interpretation.  That 
this  criticism  may  not  arise,  let  there  be  no  taboo  on 
subjects  of  discussion  at  staff  meetings.  Let  the  one 
touchstone  be  "for  the  good  of  the  property  or  of  the 
industry"  and  let  discussion  be  free  and  open  with 
reasons  given  and  opinions  exchanged.  If  possible  by 
discussion,  even  though  more  time  be  taken  (it  is 
seldom  wasted ) ,  let  decisions,  especially  as  to  major 
points,  be  unanimous. 

Going  from  the  staff  meeting  after  full  and  free 
discussion  and  with  knowledge  of  all  facts  and  conditions 
bearing  upon  the  points  at  issue,  our  line  officer  is 
doubly  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  his  duty  and  the 
further  dissemination  of  the  real  truth  about  company 
affairs. 

Being  a  public  servant  our  business  is  a  matter  of 
public  concern,  and  there  is  no  place  in  our  program 
for  "confidential  memoranda"  or  "inside  information." 
Rather,  let  all  confidential  matter  take  such  form  that 
employee,  public  and  investor  can  be  confident  of  its 
correctness  and  straightforward  truth,  and  let  all  inside 
information  be  available  to  and  understandable  by  all 
who  wish  to  see  the  inside.  Many  a  bitter  complainant 
has  been  converted  into  a  stanch  friend  by  a  glimpse 
of  the  inside  difficulties  surrounding  the  thing  or 
element  of  service  which  touches  his  interests.  Con- 
sistent truth  telling  will  in  the  end  result  in  a  reputa- 
tion for  truthfulness,  and  he  who  makes  none  but 
reliable  statements  will  in  the  end  enjoy  the  reputation 
of  reliability. 

In  the  relationship  between  management  and  men 
it  is  of  especial  importance  that  the  barriers  to  mutual 
understanding  and  confidence  be  removed.  Here,  as 
elsewhere,  the  initiative  is  with  the  management,  and 
perfect  frankness  regarding  all  matters  of  operation 
and  finance  is  fundamental.  No  good  rule  was  ever 
weakened  by  explanation  of  the  reasons  for  it,  and  no 
bad  one  ever  strengthened  by  refusal  to  discuss  its 
purport.  No  honest  plea  for  relief  or  assistance  was 
ever  weakened  by  disclosure  of  the  actual  need.  "Tell 
the  truth  and  shame  the  devil"  is  a  schoolboy  motto, 
but  a  good  rule  for  adult  mankind  none  the  less. 
Honesty  is  the  best  policy  if  policy  it  be  rather  than 
principle,  and  only  upon  such  a  basis  can  mutual  confi- 
dence be  established  sufficient  to  meet  and  overcome 
the  emergencies  which  will  arise. 

Teach  the  Nature  of  the  Dual  Trusteeship 

Let  every  officer  who  has  authority  over  men,  and 
especially  those  who  exercise  discretionary  authority, 
be  fully  instructed  as  to  the  dual  trusteeship  of  his 
employment.  Let  him  Understand  that  he  is  staff  and 
line  officer  both,  and  that  he  can  carry  the  burden  of 
his  responsibilities  on  both  shoulders  only  walking 
straight  with  head  up  and  eyes  to  the  front.  Even- 
handed  justice  and  a  fair  distribution  of  burdens  and 
courtesies  to  all  will  bring  sunshine  to  the  cloudiest 
atmosphere  and  produce  relations  like  those  which 
surrounded  a  certain  carhouse  foreman,  who  because 
of  efficiency  was  promoted  to  fill  a  vacancy  at  a  larger 
carhouse.  Twenty-odd  of  his  men,  understanding  only 
that  he  had  been  transferred,  called  at  the  superin- 


tendent's office  to  request  that  he  be  left  at  their  head 
"because  he  treated  us  square."  When  they  learned 
that  the  transfer  was  in  fact  a  promotion  they  sent 
him  a  note  of  congratulation  and  cheerfuly  reported 
to  his  successor.  Such  relations  are  the  stuff  of  which 
success  is  built,  and  it  is  not  in  the  carhouses  of  such 
foremen  or  such  men  that  strife  is  born. 

It  is  not  severe  discipline  but  uneven  discipline  that 
hurts  the  hearts  of  men.  The  surest  way  to  general 
dislike  is  the  playing  of  favorites  to  a  few  who  usually 
join  the  hue  and  cry  in  the  end,  and  this  rule  applies 
throughout  the  organization  from  the  humblest  straw- 
boss  or  foreman  to  the  titular  head  of  the  concern. 
Moreover,  it  cannot  be  effectively  impressed  by  preach- 
ments, for  here  as  elsewhere  the  initiative  rests  with 
the  management,  and  the  contacts  of  every-day  business 
must  be  arranged  to  function  from  the  very  fountain- 
head  of  all  authority  with  equality  of  justice  to  all. 

Every  office  door  should  be  open  to  all  men  whose 
activities  come  under  the  direction  of  that  office.  Many 
men  will  suffer  for  days  together  under  trying  condi- 
tions or  under  what  they  feel  to  be  unjust  discrimina- 
tions. When  such  a  man  reaches  the  pitch  that 
determines  him  to  lay  his  troubles,  real  or  fancied, 
before  "the  boss"  a  discouragement  or  undue  difficulty 
in  reaching  his  interview  may  leave  him  a  disgruntled 
and  dissatisfied  worker,  when  a  sympathetic  reception, 
a  friendly  interview  and  a  frank  discussion  might  not 
only  have  turned  a  knocker  into  a  booster  but  have 
brought  out  suggestions  of  real  merit  for  the  simplify- 
ing or  expediting  of  other  men's  work  as  well  as  his 
own.  The  old  saw  that  there  never  was  but  one  man 
who  was  always  right  and  he's  dead,  carries  more  than 
a  grain  of  truth,  and  the  foreman  or  superintendent 
who  inclines  a  sympathetic  ear  to  the  troubles  or 
inconveniences  of  his  men  will  not  only  know  better 
and  be  better  known,  like  better  and  be  better  liked, 
but  will  find  his  business  efficiency  improved  by  the 
thoughts  that  will  be  brought  to  his  desk. 

Definitely  organized  vehicles  for  suggestion  and 
discussion  regarding  every-day  matters  of  operation  and 
maintenance  may  well  be  instituted  and  a  good  central 
figure  for  this  pui-pose  is  a  safety  committee  or  council 
with  numerous  committees  functioning  in  all  depart- 
ments. On  one  property  where  a  dinner  is  given 
monthly  for  employees  of  the  carhouse  operating  the 
highest  mileage  per  accident  the  number  of  miles  per 
accident  has  been  more  than  doubled  over  the  entire 
property.  Some  of  the  carhouses  have  gone  so  far 
(and  this  is  the  suggestion  of  the  platform  men  them- 
selves) that  a  chart  is  posted  conspicuously  bearing 
the  names  of  all  platform  men  and  a  black  cross  marked 
opposite  the  appropriate  name  for  each  accident  so 
that  all  may  know  the  individual  safety  record  of  each 
fellow  employee.  No  disciplinary  action  is  based  upon 
the  record  of  black  crosses  but  the  self-discipline 
brought  about  thereby  and  manifested  in  greater 
caution  of  operation  is  making  better  operators  and 
better  men  of  many  whose  only  fault  was  heedlessness. 

Relationship  between  the  management  and  employees 
becomes,  then,  just  this  series  of  relationships  between 
man  and  man,  man  and  foreman,  foreman  and  superin- 
tendent, superintendent  and  department  head,  staff  and 
line  officer  which,  founded  on  square  dealing  and 
sympathetic  consideration  of  both  sides  of  every  ques- 
tion, and,  carried  out  upon  the  basis  of  the  triangular 
relationship  with  double  obligation,  makes  for  under- 
standing, confidence  and  cohesion. 


September-  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal, 


483 


But  relationship  between  management  and  men  is 
not  completely  or  correctly  functioning  unless  it 
recognizes  and  affects  the  means  and  methods  of  carry- 
ing out  the  employee's  double  obligation  to  public  and 
investor,  which  completes  his  side  of  the  square  deal. 

Duties  of  Employees  to  Investor  and  Public 

Adequate  service  is  the  right  of  the  public.  To 
render  such  service  is  the  duty  of  the  employees.  Fair 
return  is  the  right  of  the  investor.  To  secure  fair 
return  is  the  duty  of  the  employee.  The  individual 
employee,  particularly  he  who  comes  in  daily  contact 
with  the  public,  is  seldom  in  a  position  to  see  the 
problem  of  service  as  a  whole.  Like  a  well-cut  jewel, 
perfect  service  has  many  faces,  and  the  outlook  from 
one  of  these  differs  from  the  outlook  from  any  of  the 
others.  The  point  where  the  work  of  each  employee 
affects  the  safety,  comfort  and  convenience  of  the  public 
is  for  that  employee  the 


outlook  from  his  particu- 
lar face.  Be  he  trainman, 
car  cleaner,  trackman  or 
what  not,  each  employee 
can  know  the  effect  which 
his  own  work  should  have 
on  the  public  and  by  that 
standard  may  he  measure 
the  performance  of  his 
obligation  to  render  ade- 
quate service.  The  motor- 
man  who  jerks  his  car, 
the  conductor  who  insults 
the  complainant,  the  car 
cleaner  who  passes  by  a 
smudged  spot  and  leaves 
a  potential  clothing  stain, 
the  trackman  who  leaves 
rough  spots  to  jar  equip- 
ment and  destroy  the 
nerves  and  comfort  of 
passengers  and  passers- 
by;  each  in  his  particular 
face  cf  the  jewel  of  serv- 
ice is  failing  in  his  indi- 
vidual responsibility  to 
the  public  and  is  render- 
ing imperfect  or  unsuccessful  in  his  particular  place  the 
attempts  of  the  management  to  achieve  adequate  service. 

No  service  can  be  best  service  unless  every  man  con- 
cerned in  the  rendering  of  it  puts  forth  his  best  effort 
to  make  it  so.  And  every  one  in  the  employ  of  a  railway 
company,  from  the  track  laborer  to  the  motorman,  from 
the  transfer  clerk  to  the  switchboard  operator,  is  con- 
cerned in  rendering  service  and  can  by  his  best  and 
only  by  his  best  bring  that  service  to  the  point  where 
with  honest  pride  all  can  say :  "We  render  to  the  public 
the  best  service  that  can  be  given."  Not  for  less  than 
his  best  effort  can  the  employee  discharge  his  obliga- 
tion to  the  public,  and  if  the  discharge  of  the  obligation 
is  less  than  his  best  so  is  he  entitled  to  less  than  the 
mcst  that  can  be  done  for  him. 

Just  as  distinct  though  less  obvious  is  the  employee's 
duty  to  the  investor.  Tracks,  cars,  wires  and  buildings 
are  the  property  of  the  investor  and  are  lent  for  the 
public  service.  Abuse  of  this  property  resulting  in  too 
rapid  deterioration  or  premature  scrapping  constitutes 
a  breach  of  the  employee's  obligation  to  deal  fairly 
with  the  investor.    Proper  economical  use,  such  use  as 


Perfect  Service  Is  Like  a 
Well-Cut  Jewel 

Mr.  Barnes  says: 

THE  individual  employee,  particularly  he  who 
comes  in  daily  contact  with  the  public,  is  seldom 
in  a  position  to  see  the  problem  of  service  as  a 
whole.  Like  a  well-cut  jewel,  perfect  service  may  have 
many  faces,  and  the  outlook  from  one  of  these  differs 
from  the  outlook  from  any  of  the  others.  The  point 
where  the  work  of  each  employee  affects  the  safety, 
comfort  and  convenience  of  the  public  is  for  that  em- 
ployee the  outlook  from  his  particular  face.  Be  he 
trainman,  car  cleaner,  trackman  or  what  not,  each  em- 
ployee can  know  the  effect  which  his  own  work  should 
have  on  the  public,  and  by  that  standard  may  he  meas- 
ure the  performance  of  his  obligation  to  render  adequate 
service.  The  motorman  who  jerks  his  car,  the  conductor 
who  insults  the  complainant,  the  car  cleaner  who  passes 
by  a  smudged  spot  and  leaves  a  potential  clothing  stain, 
the  trackman  who  leaves  rough  spots  to  jar  equipment 
and  destroy  the  nerves  and  comfort  of  passengers  and 
passersby;  each  in  his  particular  face  of  the  jewel  of 
service  is  failing  in  his  individual  responsibility  to  the 
public  and  is  rendering  imperfect  or  unsuccessful  in  his 
particular  place  the  attempts  of  the  management  to 
achieve  adequate  service. 


one  would  give  one's  own,  is  the  fair  measure  of  the 
employee's  duty  to  the  investor  in  the  use  of  this  prop- 
erty, and  only  by  such  use  can  the  obligation  of  the 
employee  to  the  investor  be  discharged  and  the 
employee  become  entitled  to  all  that  may  be  his  right 
from  the  investor. 

Again,  the  employee's  double  obligation  places  him 
in  the  position  of  mediator  between  public  and  investor. 
Having  in  charge  the  comfort  of  the  one  and  the  prop- 
erty of  the  other,  he  is  in  a  position  oftentimes  to 
protect  and  defend  the  interests  of  the  one  from  the 
attack  or  injustice  of  the  other.  To  the  public  he  says, 
"Without  the  good  will  of  the  investor  and  the  invest- 
ment of  his  funds,  I  cannot  obtain  the  equipment  to 
render  you  the  service  you  desire."  To  the  investor, 
"Without  the  good  will  of  the  public  obtained  through 
adequate  service,  I  cannot  earn  the  hire  of  your  prop- 
erty."   He  can  explain  the  desires  of  the  public  to  the 

investor  and  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  investor  to  the 
public  for  he  is  in  touch 
with  both  and  his  daily 
work  teaches  him  the 
needs  and  obligations  of 
both.  Now  these  things 
being  so  and  the  em- 
ployee for  the  most  part 
being  engaged  full  time 
in  his  daily  work  it  be- 
comes the  function  of  the 
management,  with  whom 
is  the  initiative,  to  bring 
these  things  to  the  atten- 
tion of  employee,  public 
and  investor.  Let  the  em- 
ployee know  by  square 
dealing  throughout  the 
organization  that  the 
square  deal  brings  the 
best  results.  Let  the 
public  know  by  service 
rendered  and  shifted  or 
altered  to  meet  changing 
requirements  that  square 
dealing  with  the  public  is 


the  rule  of  good  opera- 
tion. Let  the  investor  know  through  his  board  of 
directors  the  getting  of  a  square  deal  means  the  giving 
of  two  square  deals.  Let  service  be  measured  by  the 
Golden  Rule. 

The  Rule  of  the  Square  Deal 

Remembering  that  the  square  is  not  merely  a  four- 
sided  polygon  but  is  made  up  of  two  pairs  of  parallel 
lines,  each  square  to  the  other,  let  all  functions  of 
management  in  relation  to  employees  and  to  public  and 
investor  be  discharged  according  to  the  rule  of  the 
square  deal.  This  in  its  simplest  terms  is  the  heart 
of  the  relationship  between  the  management  and  men : 
Square  dealing,  based  on  sympathetic  understanding 
and  honest  endeavor  not  only  to  protect  rights  but  to 
discharge  obligations. 

An  organization  thoroughly  permeated  with  these 
ideals  will  bring  about  satisfaction  to  public,  employee 
and  investor  alike;  will  meet  no  insurmountable 
obstacles  and  few  difficulties;  will  function  in  bad  times 
as  in  good;  will,  in  short,  perform  that  ideal  thing- — 
A  Public  Service. 


484 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  IS 


Street  Railway  Tracks  Are  the  Show  Windows  of  the  Industry — Object  of  Track  Is  to  Sell 
Rides — Track  Maintenance  the  Keynote  in  Transportation  Sales 


The  Track  Department 
As  a  Factor  in  the  Sale  of  Transportation 

By  William  R.  Dunham,  Jr. 

Formerly  Engineer  Maintenance  of  Way  the  Connecticut  Company, 
Now  Chief  Engineer  Engel  &  Hevenor,  New  York 


A  Show  Window  That  Sells  Rides 


SALES  depend  upon  the  attractive  or  pleasing  dis- 
play of  the  article  offered.  Salesmanship  consists 
in  offering  inducements  to  the  prospective  pur- 
chasers as  well  as  consummating  the  deal.  The  purpose 
of  the  writer  is  to  try  to  show  how  the  upkeep  of  the 
track  structure  of  an  electric  railway  will  offer  induce- 
ments to  the  public  to  buy  transportation.  The  track 
and  pavement  are  the  show  windows  of  the  industry, 
for  they  show  the  buyer  what  he  may  expect  in  the 
way  of  comfort  when  he  purchases  his  transportation. 
They  are  always  before  the  eyes  of  the  prospective 
patrons  and  make  or  mar  the  pleasure  of  riding. 

The  comfort  and  safety  of  the  traveling  public  who 
patronize  the  trolley  car  depend  on  the  track  to  a 
great  degree.  With  this  thought  in  mind,  it  becomes 
evident  that  good  track  makes  for  the  sale  of  trans- 
portation, and  it  is  only  for  selling  transportation 
that  the  trolley  came  into  being  and  exists.  Street 
car  rails  or  tracks  are  but  an  improved  pavement  for 
one  class  of  vehicle,  and  the  smoother  and  easier  this 
pavement  is  kept  the  greater  inducement  for  customers 
to  buy  the  transportation  offered. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  railway  managements 
the  track  is  the  fundamental  part  of  the  railroad.  It 
is  necessary  to  care  for  the  transportation  needs  of  the 
community  in  addition  to  being  the  window  display. 

Managements  can  spend  money  to  best  advantage  on 
track  and  should  not  cut  the  maintenance  fund  during 
every  wave  of  economy  and  should  not  put  in  cheap 


track  at  any  time.  It  is  true  that  about  the  only  place 
to  cut  expenses  is  in  maintenance — cars  will  run  a  long 
while  on  bad  joints,  but  after  a  while  deferred  main- 
tenance means  a  new  track  or  no  transportation  and  a 
resultant  outlay  that  amounts  to  more  than  would  have 
been  necessary  to  keep  the  old  track  in  repair. 

It  is  good  business  and  sound  economics  to  put  in 
the  best  possible  track  on  new  construction  jobs.  The 
over-all  cost  of  installation  plus  maintenance  will  always 
be  less  for  the  good  construction,  and  sufficient  experi- 
ence and  data  are  available  to  enable  any  management 
to  put  in  a  good  track. 

Track  is  the  advertising  agency  of  the  railway  busi- 
ness and  has  nothing  to  do  with  production  costs.  Its 
business  is  to  sell  rides  and  it  should  be  supported  to 
that  end  and  its  success  measured  by  the  business 
brought  into  the  industry.  The  track  advertises  the 
railway  business  twenty-four  hours  a  day,  year  in  and 
year  out,  and  its  business  is  to  make  sales  at  the 
established  price. 

It  is  doubtful  if  many  maintenance  engineers  look 
upon  themselves  as  sales  engineers  for  transportation, 
yet  all  their  endeavors  to  keep  their  tracks  in  good  con- 
dition have  a  bearing  on  the  receipts  of  the  company — • 
for  a  smooth-running,  easy-riding  track  offers  an 
inducement  to  ride — it  sells  transportation.  All  the 
efforts  of  the  maintenance-of-way  men,  therefore,  are 
directed  toward  selling  transportation,  and  every 
improvement  in  track  conditions  is  a  bid  for  riding. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


485 


The  Advertising  Force  at  Work- 


Make  sales  by  making  good  tracks  and  maintaining 
good  tracks  and  then  go  after  production  costs. 

One  element  in  the  functioning  of  the  maintenance 
force  is  its  relation  to  the  public  and  the  municipal 
highway  officials.  Here  is  a  fine  place  to  sell  transpor- 
tation. Letters  complaining  of  bad  tracks  or  pavements 
should  be  answered  and  the  complaints  considered. 
Free  advice  should  be  thankfully  received  even  if  not 
acted  upon. 

The  highway  officials  also  must  be  treated  fairly  and 
must  be  sold  street  railway  transportation.  These 
officials  get  the  complaints  of  the  public  and  often  have 
the  authority  to  order  ill-advised  remedies  or  changes. 
It  is  good  business  to  educate  these  officials  and  to 
maintain  cordial  relations  with  them,  so  they  can  under- 
stand the  viewpoint  and  problems  of  the  transportation 
and  maintenance  men  in  the  railway  organization. 

The  Evolution  of  the  Track 

Many  improvements  have  been  made  in  track  con- 
struction for  street  cars  since  the  industry  was  started. 
It  began  with  a  light  iron  strap  spiked  down  on  wooden 
stringers  in  the  horse  car  days  and  weighing  30  lb.  to 
the  yard;  and  then  changed  to  a  light  T-rail,  18  lb.  per 
yard,  heavier  and  laid  on  ties  with  no  ballast.  From 
these  beginnings,  the  industry  has  advanced  until  the 
modern  track  uses  rails  weighing  as  high  as  140  lb.  per 
yard  with  stone  or  concrete  for  ballast,  and  the  ballast 
drained  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  the  deterioration 
due  to  the  presence  of  water.  Improvements  in  joints, 
the  weakest  factor  in  the  track  structure,  has  kept  pace 
with  the  better  rails.    It  is  a  long  step  ahead  from  the 


Asphalt  Next  to  Rails  Rapidly  Deteriorates 


A  Job  of  Special  Trackwork  That  Makes  for  Comfort 


light  four-bolt  joint  previously  used  to  the  improved 
joint  of  today — be  it  the  heavy  twelve-bolted  joint  or 
the  welded  joint,  which  means  no  joint  at  all  so  far  as 
the  effect  on  the  purchaser  of  transportation  is  con- 
cerned. 

Perhaps  no  greater  attempt  for  smoothness  of  riding 
has  been  brought  out  than  the  easy  approach  to  curves, 
through  the  use  of  spirals  or  easements.  It  is  not  so 
hard  to  remember,  when  the  car  in  turning  a  street 
corner  would  change  its  direction  of  movement  with  a 
suddenness  which  was  most  uncomfortable — but  now, 
with  the  use  of  the  easement,  the  change  in  direction 
is  made  more  gradual,  and  the  comfort  of  riding  is 
enhanced,  so  the  curve  approach  is  a  piece  of  salesman- 
ship. 

Curved-head  rails  are  one  of  the  latest  salesmanship 
features  produced  by  the  up-to-date  sales  or  way 
engineer.  He  will  tell  you  that  it  puts  off  rail  corruga- 
tions or  cuts  maintenance  costs,  but  either  one  of  these 
statements  is  merely  another  way  of  saying  that  it 
makes  riding  more  comfortable— for  the  less  that 
maintenance  costs,  the  better  and  more  comfortable  the 
riding  will  be,  and  the  greater  the  inducement  to  ride. 
A  similar  effect  is  obtained  by  tilting  the  rails,  and  this 
has  positive  effects  on  the  purchasers  of  transportation. 
They  have  asked,  "What  makes  this  track  ride  so 
smoothly?"  after  the  improvement  has  been  made.  So 
the  difference  in  the  riding  qualities  of  the  track,  as 
noticed  by  the  layman,  are  not  always  to  its  discredit. 

As  an  advertising  feature  for  a  company,  the  track 
is  always  before  the  public.  Its  condition,  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  adjoining  pavement,  is  inseparable,  and 


Cars  Should  Cross  This  Without  Jar 


486 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


while  the  condition  of  the  pavement  will  not  induce 
riding,  it  is  an  index  of  the  condition  of  the  track,  for 
good  pavement  cannot  exist  in  connection  with  poor 
track.  Good  track  and  pavement  is  the  "show  window" 
of  the  transportation  sales  shop.  It  shows  what  the 
purchaser  can  expect  for  his  money,  and  while  he  is 
perfectly  willing  to  be  shaken  up  and  jolted  around  on 
a  "scenic  railway,"  he  expects,  and  is  entitled  to,  a 
smooth  ride  for  his  fare  when  going  to  and  from  his 
pleasure  or  business. 

It  is  not  necessary  in  the  present  stage  of  the  art  to 
spend  large  sums,  relatively  speaking,  to  keep  tracks 
smooth.  With  the  various  types  of  welding,  in  many 
instances  poor  joints  can  be  taken  care  of  as  fast  as 
they  develop,  and  while  the  perfect  welding  and  welder 
have  not  yet  arrived,  it  is  poor  salesmanship  to  put  off 
this  class  of  work  until  that  happy  time  comes.  The 
man  who  has  paid  for  his  transportation  is  not 
interested  in  knowing  that  2  per  cent  of  the  welded 
joints  have  been  broken  and  you  are  waiting  until  the 
art  is  perfected  before  you  do  any  repair  work,  but  he 
is  vitally  interested  in  the  fact  that  98  per  cent  of  the 


Ready  to  Weld  Joints 


joints  have  held  up,  for  in  that  amount  his  riding  is 
made  more  comfortable. 

He  won't  say  so,  nor  will  he  understand  even  that 
the  joints  are  welded — he  only  knows  that  his  riding  is 
a  smooth  accomplishment.  Perhaps  that  is  one  of  the 
discouraging  phases  of  selling  transportation — if  it  is 
comfortable  riding  there  is  usually  no  comment;  the 
discomforts  are  the  facts  dwelt  on. 

The  construction  of  modern  track  for  street  railways 
is  the  result  of  years  of  careful  study  on  the  part  of 
many  engineering  minds.  It  has  swung  from  rigid  to 
elastic  construction,  with  exponents  of  both  types  still 
in  evidence.  As  the  pavement  is  usually  rigid,  the 
elastic  type  of  track  results  in  excessive  pavement 
repairs — and  usually,  disintegrating  pavement  is  a 
public  irritant  of  great  potency.  The  advocates  of  this 
tj  pe  of  construction  point  to  the  greater  costs  of  track 
and  equipment  maintenance,  if  the  rigid  type  is  used. 
The  modern  pavement,  however,  usually  has  a  concrete 
foundation  which  surrounds  a  good  part  of  the  rails,  so 
that  resilience  through  the  use  of  wooden  ties  cannot  be 
obtained  without  breaking  the  bond  between  the  con- 
crete and  the  rail.  As  this  permits  seepage  of  water 
into  the  substructure,  it  begins  to  disintegrate  with 
resulting  bad  effects  to  both  track  and  pavement,  for 
nothing  is  so  demoralizing  to  a  track  structure  as 
water.  To  overcome  this  and  also  to  take  care  of 
ground  water,  the  modern  track  is  subdrained.  This 
alleviates  but  does  not  entirely  remove  the  effects  of 
the  moisture.  The  ties  become  soft  and  spongy,  allowing 
the  rails  to  work,  and  in  the  winter  frost  action  heaves 


the  pavement,  and  surface  water  seeping  down  along 
the  rails  carries  surface  dirt  which  works  in  between 
the  paving  top  and  base  until  the  rails  have  the  appear- 
ance of  being  below  grade  and  are  between  two  ridges 
of  pavement.  A  very  unsightly  condition  and  not  con- 
ducive to  the  comfort  of  other  users  of  the  highway 
results.  There  may  be  instances  of  elastic  track  con- 
struction where  the  track  and  pavement  remain  in  good 
condition.  However,  it  hardly  seems  practicable.  The 
semi-elastic  type  of  track  construction  assumes  to  give 
resilience  by  interposing  an  elastic  cushion,  usually  in 
the  shape  of  a  wooden  tie,  under  the  rails.  This  tie  is 
imbedded  in  concrete  which  also  imbeds  the  rail  base 
between  the  ties.  In  theory,  the  wheel  loads  go  through 
the  rails  at  the  ties  only,  and  the  resiliency  of  the  wood 
relieves  the  hammer  blow  of  the  wheels.  Just  what 
happens  to  the  concrete  between  the  ties  and  what  its 
function  may  be  is  not  quite  clear,  nor  is  it  clear  how 
the  resiliency  in  the  wooden  ties  is  taken  up  so  that 
the  movement  in  the  rail  does  not  break  the  bond 
between  the  rail  and  concrete  paving  base.  The  ques- 
tion as  to  how  the  rails  are  held  so  rigidly  by 
the  concrete  paving  base  that  they  do  not  move  and  so 
disintegrate  the  pavement,  and  yet  are  so  resilient  that 
they  do  move  but  do  not  wear  out  under  the  hammering 
of  the  wheels,  is  an  interesting  one.  They  furnish  a 
rigid  support  for  the  pavement  and  a  resilient  way  for 
the  car  wheels,  two  apparently  opposite  results. 

The  rigid  type  of  construction  is  the  other  extreme. 
It  is  designed  as  its  name  implies — not  to  move.  In 
this  type,  the  substructure  is  drained  to  provide  for 
ground  water;  steel  ties  are  imbedded  in  concrete, 
which  extends  up  high  enough  on  the  rails  to  act  as  a 
base  for  the  paving;  the  paving  surface  is  made  as 
impervious  to  surface  water  as  it  is  possible  to  water- 
proof it,  either  by  cement  grout  or  pitch  in  the  paving 
joints  and  along  the  rails  or  by  a  concrete  pavement  to 
the  top  of  the  rails.  Whatever  resiliency  is  obtained  in 
this  type  of  construction  is  that  which  is  inherent  in 
the  rails  themselves. 

The  advocates  of  elastic  track  construction  point  to 
the  evils  of  rail  corrugation,  which  must  occur  in  the 
rigid  type  of  construction,  but  this  effect  also  occurs 
in  the  elastic  or  resilient  type.  There  are  many 
theorizers  on  the  causes  of  rail  corrugation,  and  as 
many  theories.    Every  one  of  them  can  be  proved. 

Track  construction  in  itself  can  be  made  to  sell 
transportation.  Many  examples  are  available  where 
citizens  write  in  to  the  railway  company  to  advise  it 
how  to  construct  track  on  a  new  job  or  to  complain 
about  some  feature  of  the  construction  work.  It  seems 
that  every  patron  thinks  he  knows  how  to  make  good 
track,  and  the  interested  group  of  citizens  found  on  a 
new  construction  job  is  evidence  of  these  conditions. 
Such  advisory  letters  should  be  answered  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  salesman  answers  the  inquiry  of  a 
customer. 

Then,  again,  in  doing  construction  work  it  is  good 
salesmanship  to  do  it  rapidly  and  without  troubling 
other  traffic.  It  is  bad  salesmanship  to  make  all  auto- 
mobiles drop  down  over  a  6-in.  curb  of  pavement  or 
dirt  when  crossing  a  street  on  which  a  railway  company 
is  doing  construction  work.  A  little  effort  and  a  little 
money  to  prevent  these  things  will  pay  dividends 
through  the  reaction  of  public  sentiment. 

The  main  point  in  selling  transportation,  however,  is 
not  the  type  of  construction  so  much  as  it  is  the  keeping 
of  the  track  in  the  best  possible  line  and  surface  and 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


487 


giving  the  smoothest  ride  for  the  money  that  can  be 
obtained.  The  type  selected,  therefore,  should  be  deter- 
mined on,  by  what  it  will  cost  to  maintain  the  track 
after  it  has  been  built.  This  cost  must  include  the 
maintaining  of  the  pavement,  which  is  the  advertising 
side  of  the  proposition,  for  the  prospective  passenger 
will  judge  of  the  track  and  the  service  by  the  sightliness 
of  the  street  surface  as  this  first  meets  his  eyes. 

Make  and  Maintain  Good  Joints 

The  joint  is,  structurally  speaking,  the  weakest  part 
of  the  track,  the  part  that  has  been  more  thought  over 
perhaps  than  any  other  feature.  With  the  advent  of 
the  heavy  deep  rails,  steel  channel  bars  have  been  used 
with  six,  eight  and  twelve  bolts  to  hold  them  in  place. 
They  have  been  welded  by  pouring  molten  iron  around 
the  rail  ends,  with  several  ways  of  melting  the  iron; 
special  forms  of  bars  have  been  applied  to  the  webs  of 
the  rails,  these  bars  being  then  welded  to  the  webs  in 
spots  by  the  passage  of  a  heavy  electric  current  through 


formed.  This  small  depression  rapidly  grows  worse  as 
its  depth  increases,  until  the  whole  joint  disintegrates. 
It  can  be  remedied  at  the  start  by  grinding  the  two  rail 
ends  level,  using  one  of  the  numerous  forms  of  grind- 
ing machines  now  on  the  market.  The  depression  can 
also  be  built  up  by  welding  steel  onto  the  rail  head, 
using  the  electric  arc  and  a  steel  rod,  the  excess  steel 
deposited  being  ground  off  with  a  grinding  machine. 
Another  method  is  to  weld  the  joint  plates  to  the  rails 
and  then  build  up  the  heads  of  the  rails  as  this  prac- 
tically removes  the  joint.  The  welding  and  grinding 
require  care,  but  laborers  with  a  fair  degree  of  intel- 
ligence can  be  trained  in  a  short  time  to  do  this  sort  of 
work.  This  trouble  does  not  ordinarily  occur  with 
joints  which  are  welded  when  the  track  is  constructed. 

The  larger  roads  have  separate  gangs  of  men  who  do 
nothing  but  weld,  but  any  road  large  enough  to  operate 
cars  is  large  enough  to  have  at  least  one  welding  and 
grinding  outfit,  providing  it  wishes  to  sell  transporta- 
tion by  means  of  smooth  riding  track,  and  if  properly 


Examples  of  Poor  Merchandising 


the  bars  and  rails,  and  the  application  of  a  heavy  pres- 
sure against  the  plates ;  by  drawing  an  electric  arc 
along  the  top  and  bottom  edges  of  the  plates  at  the 
junction  of  the  rail  heads  and  rail  bases,  depositing 
steel  from  the  arc  by  melting;  or  by  laying  a  steel  rod 
along  the  top  and  bottom  edges  of  the  plates  and  melt- 
ing it  into  the  rail  and  plate  with  an  electric  arc  so  that 
they  are  welded  together.  The  plates  have  also  been 
riveted  together  through  the  rail,  and  one  type  of  joint 
has  molten  spelter  poured  in  between  the  plates  and 
rails — the  whole  being  riveted.  All  these  methods  are 
being  used  in  an  endeavor  to  keep  the  rail  ends  from 
moving. 

The  application  of  each  method  depends  on  the  use 
of  a  relatively  high  temperature,  and  as  the  tempera- 
ture is  confined  to  a  short  section  of  the  rail  near  the 
end  this  makes  a  critical  point  where  the  heat  crystal- 
lizes the  steel  and  a  fractured  rail  may  result,  usually 
just  back  of  the  line  of  molten  metal  in  the  cast-welded 
joint  or  the  ends  of  the  bars  in  the  electric-welded 
joints.  This  break  is  not  perhaps  a  frequent  occur- 
rence, but  dees  occur  often  enough  to  prevent  use  of 
these  forms  of  joints  by  many  way  engineers.  So  far, 
perhaps,  the  welded  type  of  joint  is  the  better  practice. 

With  the  bolted  type  of  joint,  the  continual  passing  of 
car  wheels  over  the  rail  ends  gradually  depresses  the 
head  of  the  receiving  rail  and  a  "cupped  joint"  is 


handled  such  an  outfit  makes  for  economical  track 
maintenance. 

Rail  corrugation  is  one  type  of  track  deterioration 
the  cause  of  which  every  maintenance  man  knows,  and 
there  are  as  many  theories  for  it  as  there  are  track  men, 
and  a  few  more.  It  occurs  in  all  types  of  construction, 
most  frequently  in  the  grooved  or  tram  sections  of 
rails,  occasionally  in  the  plain  or  standard  girder  types; 
on  tangent  and  curved  track,  but  generally  on  rails  the 
heads  of  which  are  on  a  slope  horizontally  toward  the 
gage  line.  There  is  one  remedy,  an  expensive  one,  and 
that  is  grinding  out  the  corrugations.  The  rail  head, 
when  corrugated,  has  a  series  of  waves  along  the  sur- 
face. The  passing  of  car  wheels  over  these  waves  jars 
the  whole  track  and  pavement  structure,  loosening  the 
rails  from  the  ties  and  breaking  up  the  pavement  sur- 
face. It  is  also  very  noisy  and  disagreeable.  The  cor- 
rugation should  be  ground  out  as  soon  as  it  occurs, 
although  it  has  been  known  to  disappear  after  a  time, 
hut  in  selling  transportation,  no  chances  should  be  taken 
and  it  is  better  to  renew  the  rail  if  no  grinding  outfit 
is  available. 

Special  Trackwork  Cosly  But  Essential 

The  most  expensive  part  of  the  railway  track  is  the 
special  trackwork,  and  next  to  the  joint,  perhaps  more 
thought  has  been  given  to  its  design  than  to  any  other 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


one  feature  of  the  track  structure.  The  first  cost  is 
high,  the  life  is  short,  and  the  cost  of  renewal  is  large, 
compared  with  the  same  length  of  tangent  track. 

Special  trackwork  is  a  convenience  and  necessity  for 
crossing  tracks  or  switching  smoothly  and  rapidly. 
More  complaints  can  arise  because  of  50  sq.ft.  of  bad 
special  trackwork  than  from  the  occasional  pounds 
caused  by  bad  joints  on  miles  of  straight  track. 

Special  trackwork  is  very  expensive  to  install  and  to 
maintain,  but  money  is  well  spent  in  this  manner  for 
crossings  are  aggravating  sources  of  trouble  from  a 
sales  standpoint.  If  switching  causes  a  car  to  stop  or 
slow  up,  causes  the  motorman  to  throw  the  switch  by 
hand  or  causes  a  bad  jolt,  the  passengers  are  irritated 
and  become  nervous.  Another  factor  in  causing  rough 
riding  is  that  at  some  congested  crossovers  the  traffic 
officers  or  late  schedules  will  force  the  motorman  to 
operate  the  car  at  high  speed,  even  though  against  the 
company  rules,  and  the  passengers  get  the  benefit  of  all 
the  rough  spots. 

Another  point  in  regard  to  special  trackwork  is  that 
it  should  be  smooth  so  as  not  to  irritate  or  cause  jars 
to  other  vehicular  traffic.  In  Little  Rock,  for  example, 
the  automobile  owners  commented  very  favorably  on  the 
fact  that  the  street  railway  had  put  in  special  trackwork 
which  caused  no  rough  riding  in  the  automobiles. 

Another  case  that  comes  to  mind  that  hurt  sales  is 
where  a  pavement  and  special  trackwork  repair  job  at 
an  important  crossing  was  prolonged  until  the  volume 
of  complaints  became  enormous.  Quick  repair  with  the 
least  interference  with  other  traffic  or  the  appearance  of 
the  street  is  an  essential  requirement  to  maintain  public- 
good  will. 

Speed  of  movement  can  be  increased  at  crossover  and 
switching  points  by  the  use  of  special  trackwork  and 
electric  track  switches.  The  electric  switches  save 
money  in  the  long  run  and  also  do  away  with  schedule 
delays  caused  by  the  motorman  having  to  stop  his  car, 
get  down  and  throw  the  switch.  A  psychological  factor 
is  the  fact  that  the  pasengers,  when  they  see  a  motor- 
man  throw  a  switch  by  hand,  think  the  method  crude, 
but  when  the  switch  operates  by  electricity  they  think 
the  idea  splendid  and  guess  as  to  how  the  feat  is  accom- 
plished. 

Foundations  and  Pavements  Discussed 

The  best  foundation  possible  should  be  put  in  at  all 
special  trackwork  locations,  using  ballast  well  tamped 
under  the  ties,  and  well  drained.  Provision  should  also 
be  made  for  draining  surface  water  away  from  the 
structure,  especially  at  the  switches  and  frogs;  if  pos- 


sible, the  track  elevation  should  be  such  that  surface 
water  will  flow  away  from  rather  than  toward  the 
layout. 

Undoubtedly  the  best  type  of  pavement  around  frogs 
and  switches  is  granite  block  on  a  concrete  foundation 
with  cement  grouted  or  pitch  and  pebble  joints.  Cement 
grouted  pavement  will  undoubtedly  be  more  permanent, 
but  granite  block  with  pitched  joints  will  be  easier  to 
remove  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  renew  the  worn 
pieces.  The  average  life  of  frogs  and  switches,  under 
fairly  heavy  traffic,  is  about  five  years,  and  as  the  pave- 
ment is  broken  up  from  the  constant  pounding  before 
it  becomes  necessary  to  renew  the  pieces,  it  is  well  to 
have  the  pavement  of  a  type  easily  removed  and  when 
removed  fit  to  use  again.  Undoubtedly  a  granite  block 
pavement  with  pitch  filled  joints  comes  nearest  to  these 
requirements.  A  hard  brick  pavement  with  cement 
grouted  joints  could  be  used,  although  the  constant  jar 
of  the  wheels  passing  over  the  various  gage-line  inter- 
sections will  tend  to  disintegrate  this  pavement  more 
quickly  than  it  will  the  granite  block.  With  either  type 
of  pavement  and  joints  between  the  pavement  steel 
switch  pieces  and  rails  should  be  waterproofed  with  an 
elastic  material  such  as  pitch  or  asphalt.  Cement  grout 
should  not  be  used  for  this  purpose  as  it  will  shatter 
quickly,  thus  letting  water  seep  between  the  rails  and 
pavement  with  consequent  rapid  disintegration  of  both. 

The  conclusions  to  be  drawn,  therefore,  are  that  the 
maintenance  of  a  track  structure  and  pavement  are  of 
vital  importance  to  the  advertising  and  sale  of  trans- 
portation; that  the  sale  of  transportation  is  as  neces- 
sary to  a  manufacturer  of  transportation  as  is  the  sale 
of  any  other  commodity,  and  while  people  will  ride  of 
necessity,  the  ease  and  comfort  of  riding  should  be  so 
pronounced  that  the  non-riding  public  would  get  the 
riding  habit,  not  from  necessity  but  because  it  is  easy. 

Managements  should  see  that  the  maintenance  depart- 
ment has  the  best  equipment  and  skill  at  its  service  if 
they  wish  to  sell  transportation.  This  equipment  and 
skill  is  needed  for  several  reasons — it  means  speed  in 
repair  work  and  minimum  cost,  and  it  means  good 
advertising  in  that  the  public  takes  pride  in  seeing 
modern  equipment  used  by  the  railway  and  is  convinced 
it  is  up  to  date  and  that  the  management  knows  its 
business. 

The  writer  believes  that  the  way  engineers  can  go  a 
long  way  to  obtain  this  result  by  looking  at  their  work 
from  the  viewpoint  of  salesmanship.  While  the  cars 
deliver  the  goods,  the  track  advertises  and  displays  them 
and  also  makes  for  safe  and  comfortable  riding  and 
easy  delivery. 


Installation  of  Steel  Ties  in  Detroit 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


489 


The  Efficiency  of  a  Street  Railway  Organization  and  the  Class  of  Service  Furnished  Are 
Accurately  Reflected  by  the  Condition  of  the  Rolling  Stock  Equipment 


Relation  of  the  Equipment  Man  to  the 
Sale  of  Transportation 

By  J.  S.  McWhirter 

Master  Mechanic  Third  Avenue  Railway,  New  York 


Adequate  Overhauling  Facilities  Make  Reliable  Equipment 


T! 


^HE  QUESTION,  "What  part  does  the  car  equip- 
ment man  take  in  the  sale  of  transportation?" 
may  be  answered  by  the  analogy  between  the 
organization  of  the  supply  company  and  that  of  the 
electric  railway.  Like  the  factory  engineer  or  manager 
of  the  supply  company,  the  car  equipment  man  does 
not  come  in  contact  with  the  customer  as  does  the  sales- 
man or  the  transportation  man.  But  as  the  efforts  of 
the  salesman  fail  unless  he  is  backed  up  by  the  factory 
engineer  or  manager,  so  will  the  efforts  of  the  trans- 
portation man  fail  unless  he  is  backed  up  by  the  car 
equipment  man.  Therefore,  the  part  of  the  car  equip- 
ment man  in  the  sale  of  transportation  is  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  company's  customers  from  the  car 
equipment  standpoint,  in  order  that  the  transportation 
man  may  have  the  strongest  "factory"  support  in  the 
sale  of  his  product. 

First  of  all,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  customer,  is 
the  general  appearance  of  the  car,  in  which  painting 
and  cleaning  play  a  large  part.  The  use  of  a  bright 
and  pleasing  combination  of  colors  is  the  basis  of  an 
attractive  appearance,  which  must  be  maintained  free 


from  dirt  and  dinginess.  The  average  appearance  is 
improved  by  the  practice  of  touching  up  and  revarnish- 
ing  at  frequent  intervals  as  compared  with  burning  off 
and  repainting  at  longer  intervals. 

The  appearance  of  the  car  windows  is  as  important 
as  the  appearance  of  the  painted  surfaces.  Dirty  win- 
dows are  perhaps  the  mo$t  obvious  indication  that  the 
customer  is  not  receiving  the  grade  of  service  which  he 
expects.  Floors  are  also  closely  observed  by  the  cus- 
tomer, and  while  he  realizes  the  impossibility  of  spot- 
lessness,  he  is  quick  to  resent  any  unnecessary  accu- 
mulation of  dirt  or  refuse.  Hence  the  car  equipment 
man  must  make  car  cleaning  one  of  his  most  important 
duties,  while  in  the  design  of  equipment  his  efforts  must 
be  directed  toward  the  elimination  of  dirt  pockets  and 
ease  of  cleaning. 

Discomfort  and  Annoyance  Within  the  Car 
Must  Be  Minimized 

After  a  passenger  has  boarded  a  car  it  is  most  essen- 
tial that  he  be  carried  without  discomfort.  Here  the 
seat  and  seating  arrangement  play  an  important  part. 


490 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


The  contour  of  the  cushion  and  back,  the  height  of  the 
cushion  above  the  floor,  and  the  allowance  of  knee  and 
foot  space  are  the  first  considerations.  Next  is  the 
question  of  arrangement.  While  there  is  an  undoubted 
preference  in  the  mind  of  the  average  car  rider  in  favor 
of  the  cross-seat  he  is  generally  willing  to  sacrifice  this 
preference  on  short  rides  in  favor  of  the  ease  of  access 
which  is  secured  with  the  longitudinal  seat.  Then  there 
is  the  question  of  the  seating  material,  the  factory 
worker  generally  being  indifferent  to  the  material  while 
the  office  worker  and  shopper  prefer  rattan  seats.  Here 
the  car  equipment  man  must  weigh  the  economy  of  the 
longitudinal  or  wood  slat  seat  against  the  possible  gain 
in  patronage  or  good  will  to  be  secured  with  cross  seats 
or  rattan-covered  cushions  and  backs. 

For  those  passengers  who  cannot  be  accommodated 
by  the  seats,  hand  holds  must  be  provided.  The  con- 
siderations are  that  these  must  be  sanitary  and  suffi- 
cient in  quantity. 

The  window  is  an  important  point  of  contact  between 
the  car  equipment  man  and  the  car  rider.  While  it  is 
not  necessary  for  window  sash  to  be  movable  during 
the  "closed  car"  season,  in  the  summer  time  it  is  desir- 
able that  the  lower  sash  may  be  readily  and  safely 
opened  or  closed  by  the  passenger.  Another  chance  for 
irritation  which  the  equipment  man  can  avoid  is  loose 
or  rattling  sash  or  glass. 

From  the  passenger's  viewpoint  the  push  button  sig- 
nal system  is  important.  He  has  a  right  to  expect  that 
his  signal  given  on  any  push  button  will  be  audible  to 
the  operator  of  the  car.  As  it  is  not  the  number  of 
push  buttons,  but  rather  their  reliability,  which  is 
important,  a  push  button  so  located  as  to  be  convenient 
to  each  exit  may  replace  a  number  of  push  buttons  on 
the  window  posts  with  economy  and  increased  relia- 
bility. 

Heating  and  ventilation  require  careful  design  by  the 
car  equipment  man.  The  main  considerations  are  the 
maintenance  of  a  moderate  temperature  and  the  avoid- 
ance of  drafts  and  foul  air.  The  first  two  considera- 
tions can  only  be  secured  with  cars  whose  doors  are  so 
interlocked  with  the  controller  or  brake  that  they  must 
be  closed  while  the  car  is  running,  and  when  these  con- 
ditions have  been  met  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  propor- 
tion the  ventilating  system  to  remove  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  foul  air.  Thermostatic  heat  control  has  been 
found  superior  to  hand  regulation  to  provide  the  proper 
temperature,  but  the  car  equipment  man  must  not 
neglect  its  maintenance  as  proper  operation  depends  to  a 
large  extent  on  this. 

The  Operation  of  the  Motive  Power  and  Brakes 
Must  Be  Smooth  and  Free  from  Jerks 

• 

Smooth  acceleration  is  desirable  from  the  passenger's 
viewpoint,  while  the  opening  of  the  circuit  breakers 
or  a  flashing  of  the  controller  are  very  alarming  to  the 
more  timid.  The  car  equipment  man  can  generally 
provide  smooth  acceleration  by  a  careful  adjustment  of 
the  resistance  steps.  The  annoyance  of  blowing  circuit 
breakers  is  best  avoided  by  the  use  of  line  switches 
located  under  the  car  floor,  but  fuses  must  be  used  with 
the  line  switches  to  secure  full  protection.  The  flash- 
ing of  controllers  is  greatly  reduced  by  the  line  switches, 
which  remove  the  breaking  of  the  heavy  arcs  from  the 
controllers,  but  even  with  this  protection,  controller 
frames  must  be  well  grounded. 

As  smooth  acceleration  is  desirable  so  also  is  smooth 
braking.    Brake  handles  and  valves  must  be  kept  in 


such  a  condition  that  the  operator  will  have  no  trouble 
in  applying  and  releasing  the  proper  amount  of  air,  and 
the  brake  release  springs  must  provide  for  prompt  re- 
leasing of  the  brakes. 

The  Running  Gear  Is  Also  an  Element  in 
Maintaining  Good  Will 

Probably  the  source  of  greatest  annoyance  toward 
electric  railway  car  equipment  is  the  flat  wheel.  In 
too  many  cases  poorly  laid  out  brake  rigging  has  been 
responsible  for  an  excess  of  flats.  Yet  flat  wheels  will 
always  develop,  and  that  car  equipment  man  will  cause 
the  least  annoyance  who  will  get  his  flat  wheels  off  the 
road  the  soonest. 

Noisy  gears  are  close  seconds  to  flat  wheels  as  sources 
of  annoyance.  Now  that  the  split  gear  is  a  thing  of 
the  past  and  efficient  noise-reducing  gear  lubricants  are 
available,  the  problem  is  largely  one  of  the  worn  axles 
and  axle-bearing  housings.  The  elimination  of  these 
requires  an  expensive  program  of  arc  welding  and  re- 
boring  for  the  maintenance  department,  yet  the  car 
equipment  man  finds  this  the  most  economical  course  in 
the  long  run. 

Loose  and  rattling  truck  parts  give  the  public  the 
impression  that  a  car  is  on  the  way  to  the  junk  heap. 
When  this  condition  prevails  the  car  equipment  man  is 
more  apt  to  be  at  fault  than  the  truck  and  careful 
attention  is  needed. 

The  car  rider  appreciates  an  easy-riding  car  just  as 
he  appreciates  an  easy-riding  automobile.  Some  de- 
signs of  trucks  are  hopeless  misfits  from  this  important 
viewpoint,  but  it  is  the  duty  of  the  car  equipment  man 
to  provide  easy-riding  trucks  to  the  greatest  of  his 
ability. 

Continuity  of  Service  Is  Important 

Continuity  of  service  is  as  important  to  the  electric 
railway  as  it  is  to  the  power  company.  Delays  in  either 
case  result  in  loss  of  revenue.  Motor  failures  are  an 
important  source  of  delays  which  can  be  largely  pre- 
vented. Flashing  can  be  prevented  by  close  attention 
to  brushes,  brush-holders  and  commutators.  Coil 
trouble  can  be  minimized  by  dipping,  baking  and  hot 
banding.  The  remaining  electrical  troubles  are  more 
easily  avoided. 

While  certain  car  riders  are  impatient  of  folding 
doors  and  steps,  it  has  been  found  that  the  elimination 
of  boarding  and  alighting  accidents  produces  much  more 
good  will  than  is  lost  by  the  use  of  these  safety  devices. 
It  may  be  noted  that  the  accident-saving  efficiency  of 
these  devices  is  materially  increased  when  they  are  so 
interlocked  with  the  control  or  brake  apparatus  that 
the  car  cannot  be  started  until  the  doors  are  closed. 
Another  element  of  good  will  is  the  number  of  pick-ups 
which  are  being  scored  by  automatic  wheel  guards  in 
knock-down  cases.  The  maintenance  of  these  safety 
devices  is  an  additional  expense  to  the  car  equipment 
man,  but  he  is  glad  to  maintain  them  for  the  benefit  of 
the  organization  as  a  whole. 

The  hand  brake  is  a  safety  feature  of  the  modern 
car  which  the  customer  expects  will  be  available  for  his 
protection  when  needed.  The  co-operation  of  the  trans- 
portation man  with  the  car  equipment  man  is  necessary 
to  keep  the  hand  brake  in  operating  condition,  but  the 
latter  should  provide  a  brake  with  which  the  car  can 
be  controlled  as  readily  throughout  its  range  as  with 
the  air  brake  throughout  the  entire  range  of  piston 
travel  of  the  air  brake. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


491 


While  the  human  element  in  car  operation  is  fallible 
the  car  rider  expects  the  car  equipment  to  be  infallible, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  car  equipment  man  to  meet 
this  expectation.  Brakes,  wheels,  sanding  apparatus 
and  the  emergency  features  required  for  stopping  the 
car  must  be  in  safe  operating  condition  at  all  times,  but 
this  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  they  must  be 
well  maintained. 

The  part  of  the  car  equipment  man  in  the  sale  of 


transportation  is  thus  to  provide  to  the  best  of  his 
ability  bright,  clean,  well-maintained  cars  which  are 
suited  to  the  requirements  of  the  car  rider,  and  which 
operate  smoothly,  reliably  and  with  a  maximum  of 
safety.  If  he  would  succeed  in  fulfilling  his  part  he 
must  be  willing  to  devote  all  of  his  thought  and  an 
eternal  vigilance  to  the  task.  The  points  enumerated 
constitute  the  major  portion  of  his  creed.  It  is  evident 
that  he  must  be  a  man  of  broad  gage. 


Car  Design  Is  Intimately  Connected  with  Volume  of  Traffic — How  the  Car  Can  Be  Made 
Attractive  to  Patrons  and  Thus  Increase  Business 


The  Car  as  a  Transportation  Salesman 

By  Norman  Litchfield 

New  York 


WHO  is  the  true  sales  agent  of  the  electric  rail- 
way— the  president?  Hardly,  for  at  best  he 
can  come  in  contact  with  but  few  of  the  road's 
patrons.  The  general  manager?  Perhaps  more  nearly 
so,  but  he  is  apt  to  be  too  busied  with  the  prevention 
and  settlement  of  strikes,  the  hammering  down  of  the 
ever-soaring  operating  rates,  placating  commissions, 
and  buried  under  the  multitudinous  tasks  that  form  the 
heavy  chain  which,  like  Marley's  ghost  in  Dickens' 
famous  story,  he  is  doomed  to  carry  clanking  behind 
him  throughout  his  existence. 

And  so  we  would  find  it  if  we  traveled  down  the  line 
of  the  various  officials,  that  one  and  all,  necessary 
though  their  functions  be,  are  tied  and  bound  by  their 
duties  so  that  as  salesmen  of  their  company's  only 
product,  transportation,  they  fail  to  get  acquainted  with 
their  customers  and  make  sales — a  very  picture  of 
unsuccessful  salesmanship.  They  play  rather  the  part 
of  the  production  end  of  the  plant,  analyzing  the  needs 
of  the  market  and  providing  the  necessary  output  and 
an  attractive  product. 

How  does  a  customer  get  to  know  a  manufacturing 
concern?  Through  its  salesmen,  of  course;  that  goes 
without  question.  Then  how  does  a  patron  get  to  know 
a  railway?  Chiefly,  and  in  the  case  of  the  average  elec- 
tric railway,  almost  entirely  through  its  cars.  We  may 
therefore  fairly  state  that  the  cars  form  the  sales  force 
of  the  railway.  If  the  headway  be  too  great  and  Sales- 
man Trolley  Car  does  not  show  upon  the  job  at  the 
psychological  moment  and  Salesman  Jitney  steps  in, 
he  gets  the  business.  Why  not?  "Absence  makes  the 
heart  grow  fonder"  was  never  said  of  a  trolley  car, 
that's  sure.  And  if  Salesman  Trolley  is  dirty  and  his 
shoes  need  shining  and  he  is  loud  and  noisy,  who  wants 
to  associate  with  him?  A  wise  receiver,  now  gone  to 
his  rest,  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  first  receipts  in 
painting  his  cars,  and  the  attitude  of  his  public  quickly 
changed.  No  matter  how  decrepit  the  internals  might 
be,  the  surface  looked  clean  and  shiny,  and  people  were 
willing  to  ride  in  it.  It's  the  rosy  cheek  that  sells 
apples;  it  even  often  gets  husbands,  and  so  why  not 
patrons  ? 

If  we  agree  that  the  trolley  car  is  the  road's  most 
potent  salesman,  we  may  then  proceed  to  analyze  the 


characteristics  which  make  for  success  and  point  out 
some  of  the  errors  time  has  shown  to  exist,  and  so  pave 
the  way  for  a  better  understanding  with  our  patrons 
and  a  surer  marketing  of  our  product. 

Let  us  assume,  therefore,  to  begin  with,  that  the 
transportation  department  has  provided  a  schedule 
with  headway  sufficiently  close  so  that  I,  the  patron, 
when  I  come  into  the  market,  find  Salesman  Car  con- 
veniently near  when  I  call  for  him.  Note  that  phrase, 
"When  I  call  for  him." 

If  he  thrusts  himself  noisily  upon  me  when  I  don't 
want  to  hear  him,  disturbing  my  work  and  mayhaps 
my  rest,  you  may  be  assured  I  will  have  none  of  him 
and  will  turn  to  Friend  Jitney,  who,  though  he  squawks 
a  bit  too  much,  yet  travels  on  rubber  heels. 

Noise  Must  Be  Reduced 

Therefore,  to  begin  with,  we  must  provide  means  of 
making  our  cars  run  quietly.  Notable  work  has  been 
done  along  this  line  in  the  use  of  helical  gears  for 
motors,  strict  truck  maintenance,  eliminating  loose  and 
rattling  parts,  non-chattering  brake  hangers  and  the  use 
of  wooden  blocks  for  the  support  of  brake  rigging. 
Another  aid  is  the  pit  grinder,  which  can  help  make  the 
soul-racking  flat  wheel  a  thing  of  the  past.  Then,  too, 
the  science  of  lubrication  has  been  developed  to  the  point 
that  on  a  well-conducted  property  the  hot  box  is  a  rarity 
where  formerly  it  was  a  troublesome  pest.  In  this  part 
of  the  subject  comes  the  question  of  the  car  weight,  for 
it  is  undeniably  more  difficult  to  operate  heavy  cars 
quietly  than  light  ones,  not  so  much  because  of  any 
inherent  defect  in  the  car  itself,  but  because  of  the 
greater  blow  given  at  rail  joints  and  crossovers.  Who 
has  not  lived  at  some  time  near  crossovers,  where  one 
could  almost  tell  the  class  number  of  the  car  by  the 
noise  it  made? 

No  specific  cure-all  for  noise  can  be  given,  but  those 
items  already  mentioned  have  done  their  part  in  making 
a  more  favorable  attitude  of  the  public  toward  the 
roads. 

The  car  approaches,  and  I  attempt  to  board.  If  many 
people  are  leaving  the  car,  do  I  have  to  stand  out  in 
the  wet  and  cold  until  the  last  man  has  disembarked 
before  I  can  enter?    Or,  on  the  other  hand,  do  I  still 


492 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Types  of  Cars — Interior  Views 

No.  1 — Center-Entrance  Car  with  Staggered  Arrangement  of  No.  5 — Safety  Car  with  Division  for  Colored  People. 

Seats  to  Equalize  Load.  No.  6 — Safety  Car  with  Separating  Partition  for  Operator. 

No.  2 — Double-End  Car  with  Longitudinal  Seats.  No.  7 — Center-Entrance  Trailer. 

No.  3 — Center-Entrance  Car  with  Longitudinal  Seats  Near  Well  No.  8 — Peter  Witt  Car  with  Longitudinal  and  Cross  Seats, 

and  Cross  Seats  Near  Ends.  No.  9 — Double-End  Car  with  Cross  Seats. 

No.  4 — Center-Entrance  Car  with  Cross  Seats.  No.  10 — Peter  Witt  Car  with  Stanchions  Instead  of  Hand  Straps. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


493 


have  to  stand  out  in  the  weather  while  the  conductor  is 
laboriously  collecting  the  fares  of  a  long  line  of  pas- 
sengers ahead?  How  often  is  my  enthusiasm  for  a 
road  dampened  before  ever  I  have  left  the  pavement? 
So  herein  has  come  about  the  development  of  five  dis- 
tinct classes  of  car: 

1.  Rear  entrance,  front  and  rear  exit  with  separate 
motorman  and  conductor. 

2.  Center  entrance  and  exit,  with  crew  of  two. 

3.  Front  entrance  and  exit,  with  crew  of  two. 

4.  Front  entrance  and  center  exit,  with  crew  of  two. 

5.  Front  entrance  and  exit,  with  one-man  crew. 

We  cannot  now  go  into  a  discussion  of  the  relative 
merits  of  these  different  types  of  car.  Like  salesmen,  a 
different  type  is  needed  for  each  set  of  conditions.  But 
in  each  class  there  are  certain  constructional  details 
which  bear  vitally  on  the  selling  of  transportation,  and 
it  is  with  these  we  wish  to  deal. 

Steps  and  Doors 

First  among  these  comes  the  question  of  the  number 
of  steps,  whether  one  or  two.  In  answering  this  it 
must  be  made  clear  just  what  is  meant  by  the  "number 
of  steps."  Is  it  to  mean  simply  external  steps  or  is  it 
to  include  all  the  upward  rises  from  the  street  level 
to  the  car.  If  external  steps  are  the  criterion,  there 
can  be  but  one  answer,  namely,  one  step,  largely  for  the 
reason  that  folding  doors  and  steps  have  become  a 
sine  qua  non  of  safe  operation,  and  it  is  not  practicable 
to  use  two  external  steps  and  have  them  fold.  If  it 
means,  on  the  other  hand,  the  total  external  and 
internal  steps,  then  the  question  becomes  not  of  one 
or  two  steps  but  rather  of  one,  two  or  three  steps,  count- 
ing the  external  step  as  one,  the  platform  as  two  and 
the  body  floor  as  the  third.  As  to  which  is  the  more 
preferable  arrangement,  this  question,  like  many 
others,  cannot  be  settled  entirely  by  itself,  its  solution 
generally  being  a  compromise  between  the  desirable  rise 
of  each  step  and  the  height  of  the  top  of  the  motor 
from  the  track. 

We  must  therefore  first  give  consideration  to  what 
constitutes  a  desirable  height  of  step.  This  is  deter- 
mined by  considerations  of  comfort,  safety  and  speed 
of  interchange  of  passengers.  For  stairs  a  rule  in 
common  use  by  the  architects  provides  that  the  sum  of 
the  lift  and  tread  shall  equal  18  in.,  this  giving  a  pro- 
portion which  has  been  found  by  experience  to  be  one 
which  is  comfortable  and  which  makes  a  flight  of  steps 
which  can  be  traversed  at  a  reasonable  rate  of  speed. 
This  matter  of  tread  and  lift  proportion  is  one  which 
is  frequently  misunderstood,  it  being  sometimes  thought 
that  if  the  step  is  low  it  will  be  comfortable,  which  is 
not  the  fact  if  the  tread  is  not  properly  proportioned. 
I  have  in  mind  one  stairway  on  a  suburban  line  which 
has  badly  proportioned  low  steps  which  are  a  constant 
source  of  complaint — verbal  if  not  written — on  the  part 
of  the  road's  passengers. 

For  the  first  step  from  the  street  level  to  the 
external  step  or  well  of  center-entrance  cars  it  would 
be  desirable  to  limit  the  height  to  12  in.  It  must  be 
admitted  at  once,  however,  that  this  has  been  accom- 
plished in  but  few  instances,  and  then  somewhat  at  the 
sacrifice  of  other  important  features,  and  the  best  that 
can  be  accomplished  is  about  14  or  15  in.  In  fact,  this 
may  be  considered  to  be  about  the  general  standard 
height,  practically  no  cars  now  being  built  with  any- 
thing over  15  in.  where  external  steps  are  used. 

Having  determined  14  in.  as  the  height  of  the  first 


step,  the  two  others  become  dependent  on  the  height 
of  the  body  floor  from  the  rail,  which  in  itself  is 
dependent  on  the  height  of  the  motor.  Much  effort  has 
therefore  been  expended  by  the  motor  designers  to 
produce  a  motor  of  minimum  diameter.  This  has  re- 
sulted in  a  car  floor  averaging  about  34  in.  from  the 
rail,  with  a  maximum  of  say  36  in.  With  14  in.  first 
step,  this  leaves  from  20  to  22  in.  to  be  divided  up 
between  step  to  platform  floor  and  step  to  car  floor. 
Now,  it  is  particularly  on  the  step  from  the  folding 
step  to  the  car  platform  that  the  matter  of  proper  pro- 
portion of  tread  to  life  becomes  important.  Using  the 
formula  already  quoted,  with  tread  say  10  in.  or  so, 
the  proper  lift  becomes  8  in.  Two  conditions  prevent 
the  attainment  of  this  ideal,  the  one  the  necessity  for 
drawbars  in  many  cases  under  the  platform  and  the 
other  the  vastly  increased  use  of  the  life  guard  installed 
under  the  platforms  and  for  the  successful  operation 
of  which  sufficient  clearance  must  be  maintained  be- 
tween it  and  the  platform  arms  for  the  body  of  a  grown 
man  or  woman.  This  means  a  platform  floor  height  of 
about  27  in.,  making  the  lift  from  the  external  step 
to  the  platform  floor  about  13  in.  This  is  uncomfortable 
and  makes  for  accidents  in  boarding  and  alighting. 
This  leaves  the  lift  from  the  platform  to  the  car  floor 
about  7  to  9  in. 

To  sum  up,  therefore,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  selec- 
tion of  step  heights  is  not  one  that  can  be  made  at 
will,  but  is  controlled  by  well-defined  conditions,  and 
that  for  the  end-entrance  car  the  average  figures  are: 


Doirable 

Actual  Average 

  12  in. 

14  in. 

  8  in. 

13  in. 

Platform  to  car  floor  

  7  to  9  in. 

7  to  9  in. 

Total  lift  

  27  to  29  in. 

34  to  36  in. 

We  have  therefore  been  forced  to  put  our  patrons  to 
discomfort  at  the  very  entrance  to  the  end-entrance  car, 
although  the  matter  is  one  which  has  been  much  im- 
proved in  recent  types  as  compared  to  designs  of  some 
years  ago. 

With  the  center  entrance  and  exit  there  does  not 
exist  the  necessity  for  body  clearance  underneath  the 
car  framing  and  hence  better  conditions  are  found.  It 
also  is  almost  universal  to  use  sliding  doors,  without 
external  steps,  a  common  feature  being  to  have  a  center 
well  from  14  to  15  in.  above  the  rail,  a  step  from  well 
to  car  floor  of  from  9  to  10  in.  and  a  ramp  from  this 
point  to  the  necessary  motor  clearance  level. 

In  the  end-entrance,  center-exit  car  the  exit  is  built 
with  the  car  floor  flush  and  with  two  internal  steps  of 
dimensions  about: 


From  floor  to  first  step   10  in. 

From  first  to  second  step   10  in. 

From  second  step  to  rail   14  in. 


Total   34  in. 


Confronting  the  would-be  passenger  at  the  time  of 
boarding  are  the  doors  with  which  all  modern  cars  have 
their  platforms  equipped  inclosing  the  car  and  protect- 
ing the  crew  and  the  passengers  from  inclement 
weather.  How  shall  they  be  operated,  by  hand  or  by 
power  ? 

That  is  a  question  that  must  be  left  to  the  opinion 
of  the  individual  operator,  for  as  far  as  the  passenger 
is  concerned  both  work  reasonably  well,  and  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  his  desire  for  the  company's  product 
will  be  affected  one  way  or  the  other,  whether  the  "gates 


494 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  13 


are  set  ajar"  by  compressed  air  or  by  brute  force.  On 
the  other  hand,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  crew,  the 
pneumatic  operation  so  lessens  their  labor  that  it  should 
tend  materially  toward  giving  them  an  attitude  favor- 
able to  the  interests  of  the  company,  and  so  help  to 
improve  the  quality  of  the  company's  only  output,  trans- 
portation, which  is  delivered  to  the  customer  through 
the  medium  of  the  crew,  who  if  they  be  worn  out  and 
grouchy  inevitably  arouse  in  the  passenger  a  feeling 
of  hostility.  And  it  should  be  noted,  as  the  writer  has 
frequently  observed,  that  this  hostility  is  not  directed 
against  the  individual  conductor  or  motorman,  but 
against  the  railroad  and  its  management.  That  might 
form  an  interesting  subject  for  thought  on  the  part  of 
some  of  the  expert  psychologists  who  masquerade  on  our 
payrolls  in  the  guise  of  publicity  men. 

Hence  the  welfare  of  the  crew  is  in  no  small  sense 
vital  to  the  successful  marketing  of  transportation,  and 
pneumatic  operation  of  doors  and  steps  should  go  a  long 
way  in  obtaining  the  desired  result,  and  it  may  be 
remarked  in  passing  that  manufacturers  state  that  the 
large  majority  of  the  cars  built  in  the  last  five  years 
have  been  furnished  with  pneumatic  doors.  If  it  be 
a  safety  car,  then  pneumatic  operation,  preferably  foot 
controlled,  is  a  necessity  to  permit  the  operator  to  be 
free  at  all  times  to  make  change,  issue  transfers,  etc., 
and  get  away  promptly. 

Closely  connected  therewith  too  is  the  matter  of 
safety,  for  if  the  doors  be  pneumatically  operated  it  is 
possible  and  customary  to  interlock  them  with  the  con- 
trol and  the  brakes  so  that  they  cannot  be  opened  until 
the  car  has  stopped,  or  to  start  the  car  until  the  doors 
are  fully  closed.  Some  one  may  ask,  How  does  such  an 
arrangement  sell  transportation?  The  answer  may  be 
somewhat  negative,  but  is  none  the  less  apt,  that  a  hurt 
passenger  can  lose  the  company  many  more  dollars  than 
the  amount  settled  by  the  claim  agent,  for  it  is  certain 
that  no  amount  of  money  ever  made  up  for  the  loss  of 
an  arm  or  a  leg,  and  the  maimed  passenger  becomes  the 
worst  possible  kind  of  publicity  agent  whose  workings, 
while  not  always  visible,  are  surely  there,  undermining 
the  company's  credit  and  stealing  its  patrons. 

While  therefore  the  pneumatic  door  devices  may  cost 
more  than  the  manual  arrangement,  the  balance  seems 
to  be  in  their  favor,  and  we  can  rightfully  say  that  they 
too  aid  in  "selling  transportation." 

Fare  Collection 

We  have  thus  assumed  that  our  passenger  is  safely 
on  board  the  car,  housed  safe  and  snug,  but,  alas,  if  it 
be  a  prepayment  car,  and  the  crowd  be  great,  he  may 
still  be  standing  in  the  street,  held  up  by  the  line  of 
people  in  front  of  him,  who,  oddly  enough,  are  trying 
to  present  some  money  to  the  railway  company,  a 
strange  and  unusual  proceeding!  And  more  strangely, 
it  is  often  here  that  apparently  the  most  effort  is  made 
to  slow  up  the  proceedings,  as  it  were.  One  would 
expect,  rather,  that  the  fare  collector  would  be  trained 
by  the  starving  company  to  pounce  upon  his  victim  and 
extract  the  necessary  nickel  from  him  with  the  mini- 
mum of  delay.  It  sometimes  appears  that  so  much 
attention  has  been  paid  to  the  prevention  of  the  loss 
of  the  fraction  of  a  per  cent  of  the  revenue  through 
the  peculations  of  the  crew  that  it  has  entirely  blinded 
our  eye  to  the  fact  that  we  are  not  getting  our  pas- 
senger on  quickly  enough  and  with  due  regard  to  their 
comfort.  Protecting  railings  should  be  carefully  studied 
and  reduced  to  a  minimum  and  the  farebox  placed 


where  it  will  allow  the  general  average  pick-up  load  to 
board  the  car  and  have  the  doors  shut  before  the  first 
man  pays  his  fare.  This  presupposes  the  fare  box 
entirely  off  the  platform,  and,  if  weather  conditions 
permit  it,  away  with  bulkheads  and  everything  else  that 
hinders  free  movement  of  passengers !  Adequate  change- 
making  machines  and  foot-operated  registering  devices 
all  help,  but  there  is  still  room  for  improvement  and  the 
door  is  wide  open  to  the  inventor  who  perfects  better 
and  more  automatic  means  of  fare  collection  and  regis- 
tration. 

So  at  last  we  have  our  passenger  safely  in  the  car, 
having  had  due  regard  to  his  safety,  his  comfort  in 
climbing  the  steps,  etc.,  and  have  succeeded  in  separat- 
ing him  from  his  nickel  (I  write  in  New  York),  or  in 
more  generous  towns  his  dime.  It  is  astonishing  when 
one  jots  it  all  down  to  see  what  care  and  attention  has 
been  paid  to  the  mere  getting  our  friend  on  and  into 
the  car.  I  doubt  if  our  millions  of  riders  ever  begin 
to  appreciate  it,  but  make  but  one  error  in  any  of  these 
points  and  they  will  appreciate  your  mistake,  never 
fear,  and  the  public  is  a  past-master  at  the  expression 
of  such  appreciation. 

Comfort  in  Seating 

Having  paid  his  fare,  the  passenger  naturally  turns 
his  thoughts  toward  the  possibility  of  a  seat,  and  he 
attempts  to  thread  his  way  through  the  throng,  which, 
regardless  of  the  type  of  car,  always  congregates  around 
the  entrance,  resting  its  weary  frame  against  anything 
leanable  against.  His  comfort  is  then  vitally  affected 
by  two  things  which  are  practically  inseparable  in  their 
importance,  namely,  the  aisle  width  and  the  character  of 
seat.  Here  comes  in  the  consideration  of  what  consti- 
tutes the  aisle  and  what  the  most  desirable  type  of  seat. 
The  latter  really  comes  first,  and  the  selection  should  be 
made  according  to  the  character  of  the  service.  If  it 
be  one  of  frequent  interchange  of  passengers,  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  load  changing  several  times  in  a  trip,  the 
longitudinal  seat  is  desirable,  as  it  gives  the  widest  and 
most  flexible  aisle,  allowing  free  movement  of  passen- 
gers so  that  they  are  more  likely  to  distribute  them- 
selves throughout  the  length  of  the  car,  and  further- 
more the  short  rider  is  not  much  interested  in  having 
a  cross  seat. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  service  is  one  where  the 
load  is  picked  up  in  a  small  area  and  carried  some 
distance  to  various  points  where  they  disperse  to  their 
homes,  then  the  cross-seat  arrangement  becomes  the 
proper  one,  provided  the  way  clearances  are  such  that  a 
reasonable  width  of  car  can  be  used.  For  it  must  be 
remembered  that,  regardless  of  what  width  we  make 
the  actual  seat,  for  comfort  each  person  should  have 
about  18  in.,  and  unless  we  put  arms  on  the  seat  will 
take  that  much,  whether  we  as  operators  like  it  or  not. 
Therefore  with  two  cross  seats,  one  on  either  side  of 
the  central  aisle,  6  ft.  are  going  to  be  occupied  by  the 
seated  passengers,  and  unless  a  reasonable  width  of  car 
is  possible  the  clear  aisle  will  be  so  narrow  that  conges- 
tion will  result  and  passengers  will  be  seriously  incon- 
venienced and  annoyed.  If  it  is  less  than  this  the 
aisle  is  bound  to  be  congested  and  passengers  seriously 
inconvenienced  and  annoyed. 

Then  comes  the  question  of  the  space  that  shall  be 
allotted  between  cross  seats.  It  certainly  should  be 
sufficient  to  allow  a  fairly  tall  passenger  to  sit  in  com- 
fort, not  always  in  a  rigidly  upright  position  as  some 
cars  require,  and  further  to  place  a  reasonably  sized 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


495 


bag  under  his  knees  and  in  front  of  the  seat.  To 
attempt  to  work  too  closely  is  but  folly,  as  it  does 
not  please  the  passengers  and  tends  to  slow  up  passenger 
movement  so  that,  if  the  headway  be  close,  less 
passengers  can  be  carried  past  a  given  point  than  if 
fewer  seats  were  furnished.  In  fact,  it  would  seem 
that  in  two  things  there  has  been  somewhat  of  a  tend- 
ency to  go  too  far,  the  one 
in  the  extreme  lightening 
of  the  car  and  the  other  in 
the  crowding  in  of  seats, 
merely  as  a  talking  point 
that  so  many  seats  have 
been  provided. 

Having  seated  him  or 
herself  in  the  corner  next 
the  window,  the  passenger 
attempts  to  rest  his  arm  on 
the  window  sill,  and  often 


dow  seat?  The  answer  is  obvious  that  it  is  too  bad  we 
are  forced  by  our  narrow  city  streets  to  omit  the  arm  at 
the  aisle  so  as  to  give  more  free  aisle  room.  Here  the 
advantage  in  flexibility  of  passenger  movement  out- 
weighs the  discomfort  to  the  individual  and  is  therefore 
properly  condoned,  but  not  so  at  the  window.  By  all 
means  let  us  have  the  arm  rest. 

For  windows  we  have  the 
choice  of  one  of  four  ar- 
rangements :  First,  the 
double  sash  in  its  two  vari- 
eties, one  with  the  lower 
sash  designed  to  raise,  the 
other  with  the  lower  sash 
stationary  and  the  upper 
sash  designed  to  drop ; 
second,  the  patented  semi- 
convertible  arrangement  in 
which  the  whole  sash  lifts 


7 


Tyes  of  Cars — Exterior 
Views 

No.  1 — Safety  Car. 

No.  2 — End-Entrance  Car  with 
Cross  Seats. 

No.  3 — End-Entrance  Car  with 
Longitudinal  Seats. 

No.  4 — End-Entrance  Car  with 
Double  Folding  Steps. 


■i  n-  «r  mm 


Tijes  of  Cars — Exterior 
Views 

No.  5 — Peter  Witt  Car. 
No.  6 — Center-Entrance  Trailer. 
No.  7 — Center-Entrance  Trailer 
with  Double  Doors. 
No.  8 — Safety  Car. 


finds  it  missing;  a  slight  inconvenience,  but  nevertheless 
one  which  is  not  only  an  inconvenience  but  something  of 
an  irritation,  and  the  small  amount  of  weight  that  is 
saved  by  its  omission  certainly  does  not  justify  the  pos- 
sibility of  making  the  passenger  uncomfortable  and  put 
him  in  a  mood  wherein  he  is  apt  to  find  fault  with  the 
company.  It  is  all  very  well  to  argue  that  the  aisle  seat 
is  built  without  an  arm  rest,  therefore  why  not  the  win- 


into  the  roof,  necessitating  a  rather  awkward  and  dis- 
pleasing looking  ceiling  arrangement;  third,  the  single 
sash  designed  to  drop  into  a  pocket,  and,  fourth,  the 
single  sash  arranged  to  be  removed  permanently  during 
summer  weather. 

Which  pleases  the  patrons  of  the  road  most?  I 
wonder  if  that  question  has  always  been  uppermost  in 
the  minds   of  designers.     It   sometimes   seems  not, 


496 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Double-End  Car  with  Longitudinal  Seats 

43' 


Double-End  Car  with  Cross  Seats 


Double-End  Car  with  Cross  Seats 


46'- 6"  -  -  •  "  -  -pi 

Front  Entrance  Car  with  Emergency  Exit 


Center  Entrance  Car 


|<   50'-0'/a"over  bumpers  -  >| 

Peter  Witt  Car 

Plans  (Drawn  to  the  Scale  of  i/s  In.  =  1  Ft.)  of  Typical  Double-Truck  City  Cars 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


497 


whereas  it  should  be,  for  it  does  not  take  many  addi- 
tional passengers  to  pay  for  whatever  may  be  the  addi- 
tional cost  of  upkeep  or  power  consumption  of  one 
arrangement  over  the  other. 

Let  us  analyze  the  matter.  In  the  first  place,  no  one 
in  these  days  of  good-looking  houses,  cars  and  auto- 
mobiles likes  to  ride  on  a  car  which  has  not  a  pleasing 
interior;  secondly,  he  wants  to  be  able  to  see  out  with 
the  least  obstruction  to  his  vision;  further,  he  desires 
to  be  as  cool  as  possible  in  the  warm  summer  sun,  and 
yet  hates  to  get  chilled  and  wet  if  the  summer  shower 
suddenly  descends.  And  all  the  time  we  must  remember 
that  if  he  is  sitting  in  a  cross  seat  he  demands  his  full 
18  in.  width  of  seat.  That  is  a  specification  of  desires 
that  is  troublesome  of  fulfillment,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
numerous  varieties  of  window  construction  that  have 
been  brought  out. 

The  decision,  if  it  were  left  to  the  passenger,  I 
believe,  would  be  for  the  single  sash  dropping  into  a 
pocket  for  longitudinal  seats,  and  for  cross  seats  a 
single  stationary  sash,  removed  altogether  in  summer 
time,  with  a  good  substantial  curtain  that  he  can  pull 
down  in  case  of  rain. 

Now,  the  latter  arrangement  undeniably  puts  a  big 
burden  on  the  railroad  company,  requiring  it  to  pro- 
vide large  space  and  arrangements  for  storing  the  sash 
in  the  summer  time,  and  probably  the  best  compromise 
is  the  double  sash,  with  the  lower  sash  arranged  to  lift 
just  as  far  as  it  can  be  made  to  do  so. 

Heating  and  Ventilating  Go  Hand  in  Hand 

The  reverse  of  these  conditions  obtains  in  winter  time, 
for  then  the  passenger  wants  the  window  closed  and  a 
reasonable  heat  provided.  The  heating  of  the  car,  it 
may  at  once  be  said,  has  been  pretty  thoroughly  worked 
out  and  the  heater  companies  are  prepared  to  provide 
heaters  which  will  maintain  an  even  temperature  of 
about  50  deg.  F.,  which  is  the  most  comfortable  for 
passengers,  who  as  a  general  rule  in  city  cars  do  not 
wish  to  remove  their  overcoats  or  their  furs  with  which 
they  have  provided  themselves  in  cold  weather.  But 
this  requires  attention  of  one  sort  or  another  to  main- 
tain the  even  temperature  desired,  as  much  or  even 
more  discomfort  being  caused  by  an  overheated  car  as 
by  a  cold  one.  The  true  solution  seems  to  be  the  use 
of  a  thermostat  automatically  controlling  the  heaters, 
and  while  they  are  not  as  yet  entirely  perfected,  yet 
they  have  been  brought  to  a  stage  of  development  where 
they  perform  fairly  satisfactorily,  and  the  large  amount 
of  power  saved  by  their  use  considerably  overbalances 
the  cost  of  their  upkeep. 

Closely  in  hand  with  the  matter  of  heat  goes  that  of 
ventilation,  a  subject  on  which  there  has  been  and  even 
yet  is  about  as  much  misinformation  and  ignorance  as 
any  subject  with  which  designer  and  operator  have 
to  do. 

It  was  the  old  theory  that  poor  ventilation  was  caused 
by  an  excess  in  the  air  of  carbon  dioxide,  the  waste  gas 
that  we  breathe  out  from  our  lungs. 

Careful  experiments  made  some  years  ago  at  one  of 
our  large  universities,  however,  threw  some  light  on  the 
interesting  and  disputed  subject.  A  number  of  men 
were  inclosed  in  a  large  glass  box  and  kept  under  obser- 
vation while  they  pursued  various  activities  such  as 
reading,  writing,  etc.  In  the  meanwhile  no  fresh  air 
was  admitted  into  the  box;  it,  however,  was  equipped 
with  electric  fans,  which  at  the  beginning  of  the 
experiment  were  not  in  motion.  After  a  time  the  in- 
mates began  to  show  signs  of  physical  exhaustion,  and 


then  the  fans  were  set  in  motion  and  the  men  imme- 
diately revived  and  picked  up  their  work  again,  and  con- 
tinued working  without  serious  discomfort  even  though 
no  "fresh"  air  had  been  admitted  and  the  C02  content 
of  the  air  was  very  much  higher  than  generally  con- 
sidered desirable. 

Further  practical  experience  has  been  along  the  same 
lines,  so  that  it  seems  to  be  pretty  well  established  that 
to  secure  satisfactory  and  comfortable  ventilation 
enough  cool,  fresh  air  must  be  admitted  to  prevent  foul 
odors,  and  it  must  be  in  gentle  motion  so  as  to  provide 
sufficient  evaporation  from  the  skin  of  the  passengers 
so  that  they  will  not  suffer  from  excess  bodily  tem- 
perature, and  at  the  same  time  the  motion  of  the  air 
must  not  be  violent  enough  to  cause  a  strong  draught. 
It  is  not  possible  in  an  article  of  this  character  to  dis- 
cuss the  merits  of  various  systems  of  ventilation,  and 
it  can  merely  be  pointed  out  that  the  foregoing  consti- 
tute the  fundamentals  of  good  ventilation  and  that  the 
findings  are  rather  against  the  pre-heating  of  the  in- 
coming air  and  the  use  of  any  type  of  ventilating 
system  which  will  not  cause  the  free  admission  of  cool, 
fresh  air  when  the  car  is  moving  slowly  or  is  stopped 
altogether. 

The  American  rider,  as  a  rule,  is  a  cleanly  and  some- 
what particular  person,  and  to  a  large  extent  his  nose 


Standard  Double-End  Safety  Car 


rules  him  in  his  judgment  of  the  railway  company.  The 
matter  of  ventilation,  therefore  is  one,  aside  from  a 
matter  of  health,  that  should  receive  careful  and  in- 
telligent attention  and  should  not  be  lightly  shoved 
aside  for  purely  constructional  reasons. 

Curtains  Help 

The  next  thing  that  affects  our  riders'  comfort  and 
convenience  is  that  of  the  window  curtain.  Some  dis- 
cussion has  arisen  of  late  whether  these  are  not  merely 
a  useless  extravagance.  This  seems  doubtful.  The 
railway  company  in  accepting  its  passenger  tacitly 
agrees,  within  reason,  to  carry  him  to  his  destination 
in  safety  and  comfort,  and  in  both  of  these  items  the 
curtain  plays  its  part.  Most  all  riders  are  readers, 
and  no  one  can  read  with  full  sunshine  on  the  printed 
page  letter  in  comfort  or  in  safety,  for  the  glare  on  the 
white  page  is  an  acknowledged  severe  strain  on  the 
eyes  and  one  which  should  be  avoided.  Again,  in  case 
of  sudden  storms  arising  in  the  summer,  when  the 
windows  are  open  and  have  remained  open  for  some 
time,  even  the  most  ardent  advocate  of  this  or  that 
style  of  window  will  agree  that  occasionally  (some  of 
us  think  frequently)  the  windows  stick  and  it  is  impos- 
sible to  close  them.  Then  the  question  of  the  presence 
or  the  absence  of  the  window  curtain  comes  very  much 
to  the  front  and,  if  absent,  ruined  costumes  and  dis- 
gusted riders  result. 

Conditions  vary  of  course,  and  too  sweeping  a  con- 
clusion should  not  be  drawn,  but  in  the  main,  and  with 
reasonable  prices  in  a  period  of  the  President's  "nor- 
malcy," which  it  is  to  be  hoped  is  at  least  on  the  horizon,. 


498 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  IS 


the  verdict  is  for  them,  as  constituting  one  of  the  small 
things  that  represent  "service." 

Lighting  Arrangements  Not  Unimportant 

Being  seated  comfortably,  housed  snug  and  warm  and 
dry,  and  being,  as  aforesaid,  a  somewhat  literary  per- 
son, the  rider  opens  his  newspaper  or  his  favorite 
"movie  magazine"  and  starts  to  read.  Now,  in  the 
matter  of  illumination,  I  think  we  are  more  inclined 
to  be  overgenerous  than  stingy.  Many  of  our  cars 
belong,  so  far  as  age  is  concerned,  to  the  era  of  the 
old  "16-candle  power"  carbon  filament  lamps,  and  the 
lighting  system  was  laid  accordingly.  Even  then,  if 
the  voltage  regulation  was  reasonably  good,  the  amount 
of  illumination  provided  was  large  and  the  cars  pre- 
sented generally  a  decidedly  brilliant  appearance.  To 
realize  this,  we  have  only  to  turn  our  minds  back  to 
the  wonderful  center  oil  lamp  of  the  old  horse  cars  with 
its  many-faced  prismatic  reflectors,  whose  sum  total 
of  candle  power  was  so  small  that  it  seemed  like  the 
coal  fire  of  Scrooge's  clerk,  which  if  poked  at  all,  went 
out,  giving  up  the  ghost  and  saying,  "What's  the  use?" 

Then  later  came  the  marvelous  Mazda  lamp  of  today, 
a  very  scientific  baby  whose  christening  was  not  in 
candle  power,  of  the  meaning  of  which  we  had  a  glim- 
mer of  understanding,  but  in  something  called  "watts," 
so  that  we  hardly  realized  that  we  were  obtaining  a 
unit  of  double  the  brilliancy,  and  we  stuck  them  in  our 
cars,  lamp  for  lamp,  in  the  old  socket  just  as  they 
were,  turned  on  the  "juice,"  and  sat  back  and  exclaimed, 
"My,  isn't  it  fine  and  bright!"  And  the  funny  thing  of 
it  is  that  we  are  hurting  rather  than  helping  our  eyes. 
For  the  eye  is  so  constructed  that  light  is  admitted  to 
the  retina,  whose  function  is  somewhat  that  of  the 
"movie"  screen,  through  the  pupil,  which  is  a  shutter, 
or  rather  an  aperture,  which  automatically  opens  or 
shuts  to  admit  more  or  less  light  to  the  retina  as  it 
finds  it  well  for  the  general  well  being  of  the  eye.  This 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  when  we  enter  a  dark  room  at 
first  we  can  see  nothing,  but  gradually  things  begin  to 
appear  out  of  the  darkness  and  we  are  able  to  find  our 
way  about,  even  though  falteringly.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  pupil  has  opened  to  its  widest  extent, 
admitting  all  the  light  there  is  and  producing  thereby 
a  faint  picture  on  the  retina.  Equally  so,  when  sud- 
denly exposed  to  a  very  intense,  brilliant  light,  the 


pupil  immediately  contract®  and  admits  a  smaller 
amount  of  light  to  the  retina,  and  hence  the  picture  is 
somewhat  dimmer. 

Now,  while  the  Mazda  lamp  as  a  whole  unit  gives  a 
degree  of  illumination  which  may  not  be  considered 
excessive,  nevertheless  the  filament  itself  is  extremely 
brilliant,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  we  cannot 
look  directly  at  the  filament  without  instinctively  turn- 
ing away  with  our  eyes  smarting.  It  is  desirable, 
therefore,  that  the  lamp  be  shaded  so  that  in  an  ordi- 
nary standing  or  sitting  position  the  eye  will  not  see 
the  bare  filament,  and  by  so  doing  a  less  total  amount 
of  illumination  is  required  for  the  reason  before  stated, 
that  the  pupil  stays  wider  open.  This  cuts  down  the 
power  consumption  for  illumination  and  is  therefore 
desirable.  The  shading  further  permits  us  to  use  a 
smaller  number  of  high-power  lamps,  thus  reducing 
the  first  cost  and  the  maintenance,  and  giving,  if  intel- 
ligently placed,  equally  satisfactory  illumination. 

Push  Buttons  May  Be  His  Last  Impression 

Our  rider  nears  the  end  of  his  trip,  and  as  he 
approaches  his  destination  he  desires  to  warn  the  car 
operator  that  he  wants  the  car  to  stop.  By  and  large, 
the  obvious  way  for  him  to  do  it  is  by  the  convenient 
push  button,  one  of  the  symbols  of  authority  of  which 
the  American,  native  born  or  melting  potted,  is  ever 
fond. 

Starting  out  as  an  unmitigated  nuisance,  as  it  admit- 
tedly was  in  the  old  days  of  dry  batteries  and  house- 
bell  wiring,  it  has  evolved  into  a  sturdy  piece  of  ap- 
paratus that  needs  only  a  reasonable  upkeep  to  have 
it  render  its  service  quietly  and  unobtrusively  to  the 
passenger,  allowing  him  to  leave  the  car  with  kindly 
feelings  toward  the  company  and  its  plea  for  a  fairer 
show  in  the  municipality  in  which  he  lives.  Don't 
forget  that  last  impressions  are  often  controlling. 

With  a  few  steps  the  passenger  is  off  the  car  and  our 
responsibility  toward  him  is  ended.  What  a  cycle  of 
human  interest  it  has  been  from  the  moment  that  his 
eyes  scanned  the  horizon  for  his  car  until  we  let  him 
off  at  his  corner,  bound  for  his  home  or  his  work. 
And  the  cycle  repeats  itself  millions  of  times  each 
day  throughout  the  country.  And  on  the  skill  with 
which  the  cycle  is  traversed  depends  the  success  or 
failure  of  our  service. 


At  Left,  a  Clean  and  Roomy  Entrance  Invites  Attention.    At  Right,  White  Enameled  Stanchions 
and  Hand  Straps  for  the  Comfort  of  Standing  Passengers 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


499 


Merchandising  Is  Different  in  Railroading  than  in  Private  Enterprises — To  Determine  What 
Constitutes  Efficient  Service,  Traffic  Surveys  Are  Made  and  All  Runs  Are  Charted 


Making  Transportation  Serve — and  Sell 

By  Clinton  E.  Morgan 

Assistant  General  Manager  Brooklyn  City  Railroad  Company 


Borough  Hall,  Brooklyn,  Showing 
in  Elimination  of  Congestion 


IN  THE  USAGE  of 
transportation  the 
word  "merchan- 
dising" conveys  a 
meaning  not  wholly 
clear.  From  whatever 
angle  we  attack  the 
question  of  transpor- 
tation we  are  met  by 
conditions  not  found 
in  the  ordinary  forms 
of  business,  and  which, 
therefore,  do  not  lend 
themselves  to  the 
methods  and  policies 
therein  employed. 

Possibly  it  should 
be  true  that  the  prin- 
cipal problems  of  "sell- 
ing" transportation  do 
not  differ  greatly  from 
the  principal  problems 
of  the  average  mer- 
chant, but  whether  this  be  so  or  not  the  essential  facts 
of  the  transportation  industry  unquestionably  exclude 
"merchandising"  when  we  attempt  to  apply  this  term  to 
the  business  of  running  a  street  railway  system. 

It  is  plain  that  the  street  railway  systems  carry 
obligations  and  enjoy  rights  in  a  sense  wholly  distinct 
from  those  of  merchandising.  All  this  is  true  even 
of  large  corporations  which  are  a  collection  of  indi- 
viduals as  holders  of  stock. 

This  general  view  is  put  forth  with  the  idea  of  dis- 
pelling any  misconceptions  that  may  arise  from  the 
use  of  the  term  "merchandising."  It  is  the  duty  of 
railways  to  deal  with  conditions  as  they  are,  not  as 
they  have  been  or  should  be.  It  does  not  aid  effective 
policies  to  deal  loosely  with  terms  that  may  lead  both 
the  public  and  the  workers  in  the  transportation  indus- 
try astray. 

In  Brooklyn,  where  a  situation  scarcely  without  par- 
allel in  the  country  has  existed,  the  obstacles  to  suc- 
cessful management  have  been  greater  than  those  faced 
by  private  enterprise,  even  in  abnormal  periods.  Added 
to  the  difficulties  resulting  from  resumption  of  inde- 


Loop  and  How  Study  Has  Resulted 
Due  to  a  More  Even  Car  Floiv 


pendent  operation  and 
the  disentanglement 
of  the  surface  lines 
from  the  great  net- 
work of  transporta- 
tion, involving  subway 
and  elevated  systems, 
were  new  and  indirect 
difficulties  presented 
by  a  combination  of 
municipal  and  private 
ownership. 

The  Brooklyn  City 
Railroad,  while  under 
separate  management 
and  control,  cannot  be 
regarded  for  purposes 
of  management  or  of 
public  policy  as  dis- 
tinct from  the  great 
network  of  transpor- 
tation interests  of 
which  it  forms  a  part. 
To  make  the  situation  still  harder  the  management  of 
these  lines  was  confronted  not  only  with  the  unusual 
troubles  of  an  unusual  traction  situation  but  also  by  a 
hostile  municipal  administration.  The  management  was 
even  forced  to  resort  to  the  courts  to  eliminate  unfair 
bus  competition  and  to  be  enabled  to  exercise  its  fran- 
chise rights. 

Dealing  with  the  question  of  merchandising  Brook- 
lyn's transportation  in  sense  of  marketing  or,  better 
still,  providing  service,  we  may  pursue  some  lines  of 
analogy  between  the  storeman  and  the  street  railway 
operator  in  a  discussion  germane  to  the  symposium 
which  this  number  of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
embraces.  The  storeman  relies  to  a  great  extent  on 
direct  advertising,  and,  while  this  method  is  followed 
in  varying  degrees  by  transportation  systems,  selling 
in  Brooklyn  is  being  accomplished  by  the  indirect 
method. 

This  policy  is  grounded  on  the  belief  that  the 
first  demand  of  the  public  is  service  and  that  when 
this  service  is  supplied  the  result  will  be  appropriate 
public  acknowledgment  with  resultant  increase  in  earn- 


TABLE  I- 


-SUMMARY  OF  FOUR  DAYS  TRAFFIC  CHECK,  SHOWING  OLD  AND  NEW  RUNNING  TIMES  BETWEEN 

THE  VARIOUS  TIME  POINTS 


Buffalo  Avenue  to  Kingston. 

Sterling  Place  

Washington  and  Bergen  

Vanderbilt  Avenue  

Flatbush-Atlantie  

Livingston  Street.  

Borough  Hall  


April  16,  1921 

April  17,  1921 

April  19,  1921 

April  20,  1921 

Total 

Average 

Number 

Total 

Average 

Number 

Total 

Average 

Number 

Total 

Average 

Number 

Total 

Average 

New 

Old 

Trips 

Time 

Time 

Trips 

Time 

Time 

Trips 

Time 

Time 

Trips 

Time 

Time 

14 

624 

4} 

6 

27} 

4} 

12 

54 

4} 

12 

56 

4} 
4} 

4} 

6 

14 

84} 

6 

6 

32} 

5} 

12 

52} 

4} 

12 

51} 

5 

4} 

14 

57} 

4 

6 

29} 

5 

12 

60 

5 

12 

67 

5} 

5 

6  J 

14 

31 

2 

5 

14} 

3 

12 

27} 

2} 

12 

27S 

2} 

2} 

3 

14 

49} 

35 

5 

15 

3 

12 

38} 

3 

12 

39 

3 

3} 

3 

13 

37 

3 

6 

14} 

2} 

12 

30 

2} 

12 

32 

2} 

2} 

li 

13 

86 

6} 

6 

32 

5} 

12 

71} 

6 

12 

72 

6 

6 

6} 

500 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


ings  and  a  better  understanding  on  the  part  of  the 
car  rider,  whose  co-operation  is  essential  to  success. 

In  former  days  little  thought  was  given  to  trans- 
portation in  the  nature  of  a  sale.  It  was  simply  a  case 
of  putting  what  you  had  on  the  street  and  the  public 
could  ride  or  not.  It  was  ample,  however,  when  the 
companies  were  not  required  to  seek  business  through 
the  devices  of  the  salesman.  This  attitude  has  made 
the  problem  more  difficult,  for  the  time  when  the  public 
looks  upon  the  advances  of  transportation  companies 
without  skepticism  has  not  yet  arrived.  In  Brooklyn, 
however,  this  skepticism  is  fading,  but  owing  to  the 


w  1 


 LEGEND  

Brooklyn  City  Railroad  Company 
Nassau  Electric  Railroad  Company 
"rooklyn.  Queens  County  &  Surburban  RR  Co. 
Coney  Island  &.  Brooklyn  Railroad  Company 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company 
{Including  fines  across  Brooklyn  iWilliamsburah  Bi 
South  Brooklyn  Railway  Company 
Coney  Island  StGravesend  Railway  Co 
Present  Borough  Limits 
Former  Southern  Crty  LimBs  of  Brooklyn 


Map  of  the  525  Miles  of  Surface  Lines  in  Boroughs  of  Brooklyn  and  Queens 

complications  which  an  unfriendly  city  administration 
had  produced,  the  general  public  still  harbors  doubt. 

We  believe  that  the  transportation  companies  cannot 
reasonably  ask  the  public  for  substantial  support  unless 
they  give  the  equivalent  of  that  support  in  adequate 
service.  This  attitude  is  based  not  upon  altruism  or 
upon  any  vague  theory  of  rights  but  upon  the  funda- 
mentals of  an  existing  situation. 

"Service"  is  difficult  of  definition.  Service  that  is 
considered  adequate  for  one  property  is  entirely  in- 
adequate for  another.  This  is  true  even  as  to  lines  on 
the  same  property.  Efficient  service  must  be  built  upon 
two  prime  factors — the  attitude  of  the  car  riders  and 
the  economic  cost  of  meeting  that  attitude.  In  Brooklyn 
the  problem  of  the  surface  lines  took  definite  and  in- 
tensive form  when  the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad,  by 
decree  of  the  federal  court,  was  separated  from  the 


other  surface  and  rapid  transit  lines  operating  in  the 
borough  and  resumed  independent  operation,  follow- 
ing the  failure  of  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  to 
meet  the  obligations  incurred  as  lessor.  Since  that  time 
— Oct.  19,  1919 — every  effort  has  been  made  to  main- 
tain car  service  that  would  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  public.  How  successful  these  efforts  have  been  is 
shown  by  the  results  flowing  from  unified  operation 
of  all  the  borough  surface  lines  under  one  directing 
head.  On  Feb.  15,  1920,  the  receiver  for  the  three 
other  surface  lines  with  which  the  Brooklyn  City  Rail- 
road had  formerly  been  associated  as  a  part  of  the 
B.  R.  T.  system  entered  into  an  agree- 
ment with  H.  Hobart  Porter,  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the 
Brooklyn  City  Railroad,  to  supervise 
for  him  operation  of  all  the  other  sur- 
face lines  of  the  Nassau  Electric  Rail- 
road, the  Brooklyn,  Queens  County  & 
Suburban  Railroad  and  the  Coney 
Island  &  Brooklyn  Railroad. 

During  the  past  year,  notwithstand- 
ing the  trainmen's  strike  in  August, 
1920,  and  the  opening  of  the  new  rapid 
transit  lines,  which  have  greatly 
changed  the  traffic  flow,  the  manage- 
ment has  been  able,  by  consistent  ap- 
plication of  a  fixed  policy,  to  study  the 
traffic  needs  of  each  line  separately 
and  to  handle  more  passengers  at  a 
lower  cost  per  passenger  than  hereto- 
fore. Results  have  proved  that  this 
policy  was  sound,  as  the  car  riders 
have  been  given  a  quicker  and  better 
service. 

The  surface  lines  of  Brooklyn  oper- 
ate 524.887  miles  of  track  and  are 
owned  and  operated  by  seven  com- 
panies as  shown  in  table  below. 

Of  the  above,  all  except  the  Brook- 
lyn City  Railroad  are  controlled  by  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company's 
system. 

Following  the  return  of  the  Brook- 
lyn City  Railroad's  property  to  its 
owners  in  1919,  and  owing  to  the 
diversified  ownership  of  the  lines,  it 
became  necessary  to  break  up  several 
routes.    The  result  was  the  forming 
of  new  riding  habits  by  the  public. 
Soon  after  this  changed  condition 
of  riding  habit  a  thorough  traffic  survey  was  made  of 
all  surface  lines.    The  object  was  to  find  where  patrons 
were  located,  their  riding  habits,  distance  traveled,  and, 
this  ascertained,  to  adjust  the  service  to  their  needs, 
with  the  view  of  determining  the  percentage  of  loading 
of  the  entire  line.  The  further  aim  was  to  determine  the 
methods  used  in  the  analysis,  some  of  which  are  used 
generally  throughout  the  country.    In  addition  to  these 
usual  methods,  and  owing  to  the  importance  of  complet- 

Miles  of  Track 

The  Brooklyn  City  Railroad   232.104 

The  Nassau  Electric  Railroad   146.409 

The  Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  Railroad   52.488 

The  Brooklyn,  Queens  County  &  Suburban  Railroad  64.956 

The  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad   5.205 

The  South  Brooklyn  Railway   16.028 

The  Coney  Island  &  Gravesend  Railroad   7.697 

Total  mileage    524.887 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


501 


Time  in  Minutes  of  Schedule 


Passenger  Counts  Plotted  Graphically  to  Show  Passengers  on  Cars  at  Each  Five-Minute  Interval 

in  Comparison  with  Seating  Capacity 


ing  this  survey  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  many 
novel  methods  were  and  are  now  being  employed  to 
determine  the  necessary  factors  incident  to  providing 
the  proper  service  in  the  most  economical  way. 

In  determining  the  service  requirements,  each  line 
was  checked  from  the  beginning  to  the  destination  by 
stationing  a  trained  checker  at  various  points  approxi- 
mately five  minutes  from  each  other,  regardless  of 
distance.  This  virtually  amounted  to  taking  a  cross- 
section  analysis  of  the  line.  The  men  make  a  check 
of  the  line  in  both  directions  during  the  twenty-four 
hour  period  on  the  trunk  lines,  twenty-four  hours  per 
day,  seven  days  per  week,  and  on  the  lines  of  lesser 
travel  from  four  to  six  days. 

These  passenger  counts  are  then  tabulated  for  the 
given  line  and  are  plotted  graphically,  together  with 
the  location  points.  From  such  calculations  the  vari- 
ous loading  percentages  in  either  direction  on  the 


entire  line  from  0  to  100  per  cent  are  readily  deter- 
minable. 

While  the  checks  are  being  made  by  checkers  sta- 
tioned five  minutes  apart,  as  explained,  experienced 
operators  and  motormen  are  assigned  to  the  line  for 
the  purpose  of  checking  up  the  actual  running  time 
between  any  two  time  points  for  the  various  types  of 
equipment,  so  that  the  correct  running  time  can  be 
incorporated  in  the  contemplated  schedule. 

This  enables  us  to  make  comparisons  with  similar 
traffic  charts  showing  the  number  of  seats  at  the  same 
points.  From  these  records  it  is  easy  to  determine 
the  exact  loading  of  the  lines,  enabling  the  schedule  de- 
partment to  build  schedules  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  line  by  providing  the  maximum  cars  at  the  100 
per  cent  points,  cutting  back  cars  on  either  end  of  the 
line  at  points  where  the  percentage  of  loading  has  cor- 
respondingly dropped. 


Graphical  Analysis  of  a  Schedule  from  Which  the  Movement  of  a  Car  Can  Be  Seen  at  All  Times 


502 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


1  J  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  1112  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  TO  ?l  Zi  23  E4  E5  E6  ZJ  28  29  30  3! 


Graphic  Portrayal  of  Daily  Car  Revenues  and  Platform 
Costs   for  a   Typical   Route,    Together  with  Semi- 
Monthly  Percentage  of  Revenue  Paid  Out  for 
Platform  Labor.    Used  to  Determine  the 
Riding  Pulse  of  the  Community 

The  curves  at  top  of  page  501  give  a  series  of  these 
runs,  the  ordinates  showing  passengers  carried  and  the 
abscissae  the  length  of  run  in  minutes.  Further,  to  illus- 
trate the  nature  of  these  curves  a  curve  showing  a  single 
run,  i.e.,  that  inclosed  in  an  insert  in  the  lower  right- 
hand  corner  of  the  curve  referred  to,  has  been  enlarged 
and  is  reproduced  below.  In  this  run  it  will  be  seen  that 
if  a  car  as  originally  scheduled  from  point  A  to  point  F 
was  operated  between  these  points  only,  it  would  result 
in  the  operation  of  unwarranted  service  between  points 
.4  and  C  and  points  D  and  F.  These  graphs  enable  the 
transportation  department  not  only  to  determine  the 
loading  of  a  line  but  also  the  loading  of  each  half  trip. 
They  also  show  where  the  turnbacks  can  profitably  be 
established  in  order  to  facilitate  handling  the  greatest 
number  of  people  on  the  line  with  the  most  comfort. 

After  the  schedule  department  has  obtained  these 


60,  


Passengers  carried. 

C 


Insert  Enlarged  Better  to  Show  How  Each 
Run  Is  Plotted 

data,  it  can  make  up  the  schedules  on  standard  A.  E. 
R.  A.  forms,  using  as  a  basis  the  headway  sheets. 

Before  a  schedule  is  put  into  effect  it  is  -laid  out 
graphically,  showing  the  movement  of  each  car  from 
the  time  it  leaves  the  carhouse  on  its  run  until  it  pulls 
in,  together  with  all  layover  time,  and  actual  running 
time. 

A  portion  of  a  graphic  chart  is  illustrated  on 
page  501.  This  graph  is  taken  from  a  schedule  of  a 
typical  line  in  Brooklyn  and  it  shows  that  the  service 
is  turned  back  at  six  points,  i.e.,  it  is  a  line  with  six 
terminals.  The  section  shown  is  from  the  morning  rush 
hour  period  of  the  complete  chart,  and  it  will  be  noted 
that  the  basic  schedule  is  made  up  of  through  service 
from  A  to  F .    As  the  rush-hour  riding  tapers  off,  the 


short-line  service  operating  between  C  and  D  as  well 
as  the  service  from  B  to  E  is  dropped,  leaving  a  through 
service  during  the  non-rush  hour  period.  This  through 
service  is  likewise  curtailed  in  line  with  the  traffic  re- 
quirements, being  turned  back  at  points  B,  C,  D  and  E, 
in  line  with  the  decrease  in  riding. 

In  addition  to  enabling  the  operating  department  to 
provide  the  correct  service,  the  plotting  of  these  traffic 
studies,  together  with  the  schedules,  is  of  material 
advantage  to  the  operating  company  in  the  matter  of 
complaints  as  to  service,  etc.,  from  the  public  and  regu- 
latory bodies. 

When  several  lines  are  routed  over  the  same  track 
for  a  part  of  their  run,  it  is  the  custom  to  build  the 
schedule  for  the  joint  trackage  first  in  order  to  keep 
the  cars  spaced  equally  at  all  points  where  the  greatest 
congestion  occurs.  This  much  of  the  schedule  having 
been  determined,  the  outlying  schedules  of  each  route 
are  built  to  conform  thereto. 

When  a  schedule  becomes  effective,  the  line  super- 
visory force  and  all  of  those  connected  with  the  direct 
operation  of  the  line  are  schooled  so  that  all  are  familiar 
with  the  schedule,  it  being  the  duty  of  the  division 
operating  force  to  operate  the  line  in  accordance  with 
the  schedule  and  enforce  the  discipline  necessary  to  the 
observance  of  the  schedule  running  time. 


o  o 

PASSENGER  RECORD 


Taken  at 


R.  R.  Co. 
191 


ENROUTE  TO 


ENROUTE  TO 


O. 


PASSENGER  COUNT 


.o 


inspector  No- 


Summary  Record  Sheet  for  Tabulating  Individual  Counts. 
Insert — Form  Used  by  Individual  Traffic  Checkers  in 
Making  Passenger  Counts  at  Five-Minute 
Schedule  Intervals 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


503 


The  schedule  being  technically  correct  and  providing 
for  accurate  spacing,  the  next  important  item  is  to 
maintain  the  operation  and  spacing  as  called  for  in  the 
schedule,  as  the  proper  spacing  results  in  the  selling 
of  the  transportation  to  the  respective  rider  on  sight, 
particularly  when  the  cars  are  operated  on  a  frequent 
headway.  When  a  car  rider  observes  a  car  approach- 
ing in  the  near  distance  he  will  unhesitatingly  wait 
for  it,  but  when  there  is  no  car  in  sight  the  result  in 
many  cases  is  the  loss  of  the  passenger.  Particularly 
is  this  true  if  the  destination  of  the  passenger  is  within 


the  superintendent's  office  the  gross  revenue  per  line 
for  the  day,  together  with  the  platform  cost  for  service 
rendered  on  such  line.  The  superintendent's  office  com- 
piles such  figures  for  all  lines  operated,  making  a 
report  each  morning,  which  is  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  superintendent  and  the  management  by  9  o'clock, 
showing  the  total  gross  revenue  and  platform  cost  for 
the  preceding  day  by  lines,  as  well  as  by  depots  or 
carhouses. 

From  this  statement  the  revenue  and  platform  cost 
are  plotted  graphically  for  each   line  as  illustrated 


-.  Order  No.  S-1728 


Brooklyn,  N    V  ,  May  til,  1920 


Brooklyn  City  Railroad  Company 

Coney  Island  and  Gravesend  Railway  Company 
South  Brooklyn  Railway  Company 

LINDLEY  M.  GARRISON.  Receiver  of 

Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company 
The  Nassau  Electric  Railroad  Company 
Brooklyn,  Queens  County  and  Suburban  Railroad  Company 
Coney  Island  and  Brooklyn  Railroad  Company 


TO  AL.L  CONCERNED: 


COMPLAINTS 


ntirely  too  many  complair 
i  the  pari  of  our  Condw 


We  have  received,  particularly  during  the  last  few  months, 
ing  misconduct  and  the  use  of  discourteous  and  profane  language  i 
Motormen  to  the  patrons  of  this  Company. 

Employes  engaged  in  public  service  are  constantly  brought  face  to  face  with  situations  requir- 
ing them  to  exercise  great  patience,  self-control  and  good  ludgment.  However,  there  is  absolutely  no 
excuse  for  giving  offense — no  matter  what  the  provocation — and  a  situation  can  always  be  best  met 
by  our  employes  curbing  their  tongue.  Keep  your  temper,  speak  quietly  and  avoid  giving  offense. 
By  conducting  yourselves  in  this  manner,  assisting  passengers  who  need  your  help  and  doing  your  best 
to  increase  their  comfort  while  under  your  care,  you  will  discharge  your  passengers  in  a  happier  and 
more  contented  frame  of  mind  and  feel  far  better. satisfied  with  yourself. 

Remember  that  without  the  fares  that  these  passengers  pay.  it  would  not  be  possible  to  pay 
you  your  wages.  They  are  your  own  personal  customers  and  it  is  lo  your  advantage  to  have  more 
and  better  satisfied  passengers. 

The  reputation  of  a  Company  depends  lo  a  large  extent  upon  the  civility,  honesty  and  good 
judgment  of  its  employes  together  with  their  ability  to  get  along  with  all  kinds  and  classes  of  people 
The  habit  of  courtesy  is  as  easy  to  cultivate  as  that  of  rudeness  and  pays  belter. 

Discourtesy  to  passengers  is  a  most  serious  matter  and  the  matter  is  being  brought  to  your 
special  attention  with  the  understanding  that  it  will  not  be  tolerated  under  any  circumstances  and  that 
severe  discipline  will  be  applied  in  all  cases  where  an  employe  wilfully  and  knowingly  insults  a 
passenger  because  such  an  employe  is  not  worthy  of  holding  a,ny  position  with  the  Company. 

Put  a  little  SMILE  in  your  language  when  dealing  with  the  traveling  public. 


WILLIAM  SftBERT, 


WILLIAM  SIEBERT, 


WILLIAM  SIEBERT. 


This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  received  and  read  copy  of  BULLETIN  ORDER  No.  S- 1 728. 
dated  May  1st,  1920.  relative  lo  complaints  issued  by  the  Superintendent  of  Surface  Transporta- 
tion, and  thoroughly  understand  what  is  expected  of  me  in  the  future  in  regard  lo  my  dealings  with  the 
traveling  public 

  Badge  No  


Depot 


SUBJECT  No.  2— TRANSFERS 


SUBJFXT  No   3— PROTECTING  PASSEN- 
GERS WHEN  BOARDING  AND 
ALIGHTING 


o  o  — • 

Office  of  Superintendent  of  Transportation 

  192 

File  No   

To   

Dear  Sir: 

A  patron  of  the  Company  has  complained  about  your  treatment 
of  him  while  a  passenger  on  your  oar  on    

It   is  understood  that  in  many  instances  a  passenger  may  be 
the  aggressor,  and  that  your  work  is  often  performed  under  trying 
circumstances.     This  does  not  Justify  you.  however,  in  losing  your 
patience  or  in  being  discourteous  to  any  passenger,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances.    Remember  that  it  alwayB  takes  two  to  have  an  argument, 
and  if  you  conduct  yourself  In  a  dignified,  oourteous  manner,  you 
not  only  will  find  that  you  have  the  sympathy  and  respect  of  your 
passengers,  but  you  will  make  of  them  your  friends. 

When  you  are  asked  a  question,  give  a  polite  answer;  when  a 
passenger  oomplains  to  you  about  rules  you  are  trying  to  enforce, 
toll  him  In  a  quiet  manner  that  you  are  simply  obeying  your  instruc- 
tions. Your  passengers  have  a  right  to  expect  courteous  treatment 
from  you,  and  while  they  may  not  always  return  It,  you  gain  nothing 
by  entering  into  an  argument  with  them  or  answering  them  In  any  but 
a  polite  way. 

Yours  truly, 

Supt.  of  Transportation. 

I  have  read  the  foregoing,  and  understand  what  is  expected 
of  me  in  the  future  in  regard  to  being  courteous  to  my  passengers 
and  answering  their  questione  in  a  civil  manner* 


Forms  Used  in  Schooling  Trainmen.    At  Left,  Bulletin  Notice  Relative  to  Complaints.  At  Top,  Right — Pages  from 
Trainmen's  Courtesy  Code.    At  Bottom,  Right — Form  Letter  to  Individual  Traimnen 
Used  When  Personal  Complaints  Are  Made  of  Their  Action 


a  comparatively  short  distance.  The  traffic  surveys 
referred  to  enable  the  transportation  department  to 
determine  the  frequency  of  the  headway.  In  any  case 
it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  keep  the  cars  of  any 
route  properly  spaced,  without  which  an  unbalanced 
loading  condition  and  operation  of  unprofitable  mileage 
ensues. 

Delays,  rerouting,  cut-backs,  turn-backs  and  pull-ins 
are  all  reported  to  the  office  of  the  superintendent  of 
transportation,  who  thus  can  correct  any  irregularities. 

Shortly  after  midnight  the  carhouse  clerks  tabulate 
the  conductors'  remittances  for  each  line,  reporting  to 


on  page  502  with  percentage  ratio  of  the  two  plotted 
each  half  month. 

Coincident  with  the  plotting  of  the  platform  cost, 
such  costs  are  checked  with  the  scheduled  allowance  to 
determine  their  correctness  and  checkmate  any  un- 
authorized service  being  operated  or  the  failure  of  any 
division  to  operate  the  schedule  as  provided.  Other 
reports  made  to  the  superintendent  of  transportation 
show  any  discrepancies  in  or  additions  to  the  authorized 
schedules  and  their  reasons  therefor. 

Having"  the  reports  covering  the  preceding  day's 
operation  early  in  the  morning  the  management  is  able 


504 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


TABLE  II — METHOD  OF  TABULATING  TIME  CHECKS  ON 
ST.  JOHN'S   PLACE  ROUTE  TO   DETERMINE  THE 
ACTUAL  RUNNING  TIME  BETWEEN  FIXED  POINTS 


Car 
Number 
5092 
5075 
4589 
4597 
4593 
5092 
4589 
5072 
4594 
4597 
4588 
4593 
5081 
3139 


to 

3 

m 
4 
5 

44 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 


Total   62+ 


Average. 
5088 
4598 
4591 
5077 
5090 
5083 


Total   27* 


Average. 
4582 
4595 
4581 
5082 
4591 
5075 
5086 
5072 
5092 
4579 
4588 
4593 


4* 

4 

5 

5 

4 

4 

4 

5 

44 
44 
5 


Total   54 


Average. 
5086 
4588 
4591 
4579 
5088 
5086 
4591 
4597 
4586 
4584 
4597 
5073 


Total   56 


Average. 


44 


54 

6 

6 

7 

5 

5 

6 

6 

6 

Si 
7i 
7 


84* 


32J 


4 

5 
4 
5 
4 
5 

4* 
4 
4 
4 

44 
4* 

52|. 


4i 

4* 

4 

4 

4 

4 

5 

3i 

4  I 

4 
4 

5 
5 


514 


44 


5P2 

—  60 

3* 

5" 

4 

4 

4 

34 

4 

4 

4 

4 

34 

34 

44 

6 


bD  £ 
.5  CO 
-StS 

C3  C 

24 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

24 

2 

2 

3 

3 

2 

2 


4 
4 
4 
4 

34 

3 

4 

34 

3 

3 

34 
3 
3 
4 


2 
I 

3 

3 

24 

3 

3 

2 

3 

3 

3 

24 
4 


574 


31 


494  37 


86 

64 

5 

6 

5 

5 

5 

6 


29* 


4 

5 
4 
6 
5 
6 
5 
5 
5 

44 
5 

_54 

60 


2 
2 
3 
2 
2 
2 
3 
3 
2 

14 
1 

3 

274 


3 

4 

4 

3 

3 

4 

2 

3 

4 

4 

2 

24 

3 


32 


384  30 


54 

6 

5 

54 
5 
64 
5 

54 

6 

54 

54 

6 


67 


274 


39 


324 


72 


211 


H 
27 
32 
28 
30 
29 
29 
28 
29 
28 
31 
30 
28 
34 
23 

408 


29 
31 
21 
27 

27* 
30' 

165* 


24 

30 

28 

27 

26 

27 

28* 

29* 

284 

27 

27 

314 

334 


29 

21 

26 

28 

28 

304 

28 

28 

28 

30* 

30 

30* 

345* 


to  analyze  the  operation  of  each  individual  line  and  to 
make  changes  in  the  succeeding  day's  operations.  Any 
immediate  necessity  for  changing  the  schedule  or  re- 
routing to  improve  the  net  result  is  also  immediately 
evident  from  an  analysis  of  the  daily  curves  plotted 
from  these  reports. 


In  addition  to  the  statements  and  graphic  charts 
described,  tables  are  prepared  covering  individual  lines 
and  showing  by  months  the  gross  revenue,  platform 
cost,  car  mileage  and  passengers  carried,  together  with 
the  increase  or  decrease  over  the  previous  year  and 
the  percentage  thereof. 

To  arrive  at  the  earnings  per  car-mile  for  the  various 
types  of  equipment,  the  expenses  are  allocated  on  the 
car-mileage  basis  for  the  equipment  on  the  specified 
line.  Thus  the  cost  per  car-mile  for  such  line  can  be 
determined  with  reasonably  accuracy.  Inasmuch  as  the 
reports  give  the  revenue  by  line,  it  is  easy,  through 
this  method,  to  determine  at  once  whether  or  not  the 
specific  line  is  actuaily  meeting  its  proper  proportion 
of  the  expenses. 

With  these  data  at  hand,  the  management  is  able  to 
keep  its  finger  on  the  "riding  pulse"  of  the  community 
and  the  service  rendered  and  to  change  the  schedules 
to  meet  changing  conditions  without  waiting  to  secure 
more  detailed  information  from  actual  figures  sub- 
mitted later  by  the  accounting  department. 

In  conjunction  with  this  method  of  analyzing  trans- 
portation, the  conductor  and  motormen,  dealing  direct 
with  the  public,  must  be  taken  into  account  as  the  sales- 
men employed  in  the  direct  marketing  of  this  trans- 
portation. They  are  being  schooled  continuously  in 
politeness  and  courtesy  so  they  will  attract  patronage 
and  rid  street  car  transportation  from  irritating  dis- 
turbances and  avoidable  delays.  In  this  connection  the 
salesmen  for  the  street  car  company  may  be  likened 
to  the  salesmen  for  almost  any  concern  or  business 
which  is  endeavoring  to  place  its  wares  before  the 
buyer.  But  there  is  this  difference:  Instead  of  spas- 
modic visits,  as  in  the  case  of  the  commercial  salesman, 
successful  transportation  requires  the  establishment  of 
a  frequent  service,  so  that  the  customers — the  riders — 
are  approached  with  never  ceasing  regularity;  the  serv- 
ice being  in  charge  of  polite  and  courteous  salesmen, 
the  conductors  and  motormen. 

"Merchandising  Transportation"  in  this  sense  does 
not  mean  simply  running  a  given  number  of  car?,  nor 
a  certain  number  of  car-miles,  nor  even  furnishing  a 
given  number  of  seat-miles  on  a  given  line.  Rather, 
as  described,  it  involves  the  policy  of  first  ascertaining 
the  transportation  needs  of  the  patrons  and  then  giving 
them  the  best  possible  service  at  a  minimum  cost.  It 
is  this  policy  and  these  ends  which  are  fundamental  in 
keeping  transportation  "sold"  and  inviting  new  cus- 
tomers. 


Left,  Flatbush  Avenue  Looking  Toward  Prospect  Park.    Right,  View  on  DeKalb  Avenue,  Where  the  Heaviest  Surface  Car 
Line  Is  Operated.    Rush-Hour  Schedules  Call  for  Headways  of  Less  Than  Sixty  Seconds 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


505 


What  Some  of  the  Interurban  Railways  of  the  Middle  West  Are  Doing  This  Year  to  Stimulate 

Traffic— Earnings  Holding  Up  Well 


Soliciting  and  Advertising 
For  Freight  and  Passenger  Traffic 


By  "Observer" 


Illinois  Traction  System  Booth  Maintained  at  the  State  Fair  as  the  Official  Information  Bureau 


F] 
i 


IGHTING  for  business"  about  expresses  what 
is  being  done  this  year  by  those  interurban  rail- 
ways in  the  Middle  West  which  are  showing 
gross  earnings  approximately  equal  to  or  better  than 
last  year.  It  is  notable  that  the  success  of  these  com- 
panies, in  contrast  to  the  showing  of  some  of  the  others 
that  have  experienced  a  rather  discouraging  falling  off 
in  revenue,  is  attributable  in  good  measure  to  the  greatly 
increased  and  persistent  sales  activities  of  the  manage- 
ment and  traffic  and  advertising  departments.  In  other 
words,  business  has  been  sustained  almost  by  main 
strength.  Falling  off  in  riding  of  regular  travelers  has 
been  offset  by  stimulating  more  casual  riding  and  by 
going  strongly  after  the  transportation  of  convention 
parties  and  all  other  kinds  of  group  movements. 

In  general,  more  solicitation  and  more  intensive 
solicitation,  more  advertising,  better  service  and  more 
attractions  in  the  way  of  excursions,  etc.,  are  the  things 
that  have  been  done  to  hold  up  the  earnings  in  the  face 
of  general  business  depression.  And  with  it  all  is 
probably  a  better  understanding  of  the  need  of  and 
ways  to  merchandise  electric  railway  transportation. 
Undoubtedly,  also,  the  competition  of  the  steam  rail- 
roads and  motor  buses  and  trucks  has  served  as  a  spur 
to  increased  effort  on  the  part  of  traffic  men. 

The  following  survey  of  some  features  of  what  some 
of  the  electric  railways  of  the  Middle  West  are  doing 
to  attract  and  create  traffic  for  their  lines  may  con- 
tain ideas  that  can  be  used  to  advantage  elsewhere. 

One  of  the  best  sources  of  freight  traffic  for  the 
Illinois  Traction  System  this  year,  according  to  C.  F. 


Handshy,  general  manager,  has  been  the  road-building 
program  in  which  the  State  is  engaged.  The  company 
works  closely  with  the  contractors  and  the  materials 
supply  dealers,  and  by  virtue  of  this  has  thus  far  been 
able  to  get  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  hauling  of 
road  materials  for  hard  roads  built  parallel  to  or  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  traction  system.  Hard  roads  under 
construction,  contracted  for  or  planned  for  the  near 
future  parallel  the  lines  of  the  Illinois  Traction  System 
between  St.  Louis  and  Springfield,  Springfield  and 
Decatur,  Springfield  and  Peoria,  Bloomington  and 
Decatur,  and  Decatur  and  Danville.  For  example,  the 
mileage  of  the  Illinois  Traction  System  between  Spring- 
field and  St.  Louis  is  99.1  miles,  while  contracts  have 
been  issued  for  89.71  miles  of  hard  road  between  these 
two  points.  For  this  construction  work  the  Illinois 
Traction  System  will  haul  fully  75  per  cent  of  the 
materials  used. 

The  volume  of  traffic  which  this  extensive  construc- 
tion program  means  may  be  realized  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  1  mile  of  the  Illinois  standard  18-ft.  con- 
crete road  requires  approximately  twenty-two  carloads 
of  sand,  thirty-six  cars  of  gravel,  seventeen  cars  of 
cement  and  one  carload  of  reinforcing  steel.  In  addi- 
tion, the  contractor's  receiving  station  and  much  of 
the  equipment  must  be  moved  once  for  about  every 
8  miles  of  road  built,  each  such  move  meaning  a  special 
freight  job  for  the  traction  company.  At  each  point 
where  the  contractor  makes  a  set-up  or  receiving  station 
the  railway  installs  a  siding  with  a  capacity  for  about 
twelve  cars.     The  railway  furnishes  and  claims  the 


506 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


507 


material  used  in  the  siding,  but  the  contractor  pays 
the  cost  of  putting  it  in  and  taking  it  out. 

Thus,  while  the  Illinois  Traction  System  anticipates 
that  the  hard  roads  will  take  away  a  certain  amount 
of  the  short-haul  riders,  it  is  making  the  most  of  the 
situation  by  securing  the  business  of  hauling  the 
necessary  materials.  The  main  interurban  lines  of  the 
Illinois  Traction  System  comprise  418  miles  of  con- 
nected line,  paralleling  which  there  is  probably  in  the 
neighborhood  of  200  miles  of  concrete  road  for  which 
the  Traction  System  has  secured  or  will  secure  the 
haulage  of  materials. 

The  freight  revenue  of  the  I.  T.  S.  is  now  approxi- 
mately one-third  of  the  total  revenue  of  the  interurban 
system.  Of  this,  approximately  one-half  is  derived 
from  hauling  coal  originating  at  mines  served  by  the 
company.  The  efforts  of  the  traffic  department  during 
the  past  year  have  been  largely  directed  to  increasing 
the  tonnage  that  can  be  handled  profitably.  This  has 
included  the  establishment  of  new  industries  along  the 
electric  lines  which  may  be  expected  to  produce  traffic 
for  years  to  come,  the  continuance  of  overnight  service 
for  merchandise  and  important  carload  freight,  a  con- 
siderable broadening  of  the  tariff  arrangement  all 
around,  enabling  the  company  to  inaugurate  joint  rates 
with  over  300  steam  railroads  and  to  quote  through 
rates  into  practically  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  the 
consummation  of  a  physical  connection  with  the  Illinois 
Terminal  Railroad  at  Edwardsville,  111.  The  last  named 
meant  an  amount  of  business  such  that  the  total  expense 
of  making  the  connection  was  paid  off  the  first  month. 
Altogether,  the  railway  now  has  about  200  industries  on 
its  418  miles  of  interurban  line.  Many  of  these  are 
grain  elevators  and  coal  mines. 

I.  T.  S.  Advertising  for  Traffic 

The  use  of  billboard  and  novelty  advertising  on  the 
part  of  the  Illinois  Traction  System  has  been  largely 
discontinued,  but  the  use  of  newspapers,  which  are 
considered  the  best  medium  for  reaching  the  public, 
has  been  continued  at  the  rate  of  about  $1,500  a  month. 
Approximately  200  daily  and  weekly  newspapers  are 
used  regularly,  of  which  171  have  contracts  with  the 
traction  company  by  which  space  is  exchanged  for 
transportation.  This  space  is  used  largely  to  advertise 
excursions  and  now  and  then  for  general  good  will 
publicity.  One  of  the  most  successful  of  these  excur- 
sions was  a  Saturday-Sunday-Monday-Decoration  Day 
excursion.  The  three-day  limit  and  the  rate  of  one 
and  one-quarter  times  the  single  fare  proved  very 
popular  and  attracted  over  4,000  people  to  make  the 
trip  between  St.  Louis  and  Springfield,  111.  The  same 
kind  of  an  excursion  permitting  people  to  go  on  Satur- 
day and  Sunday  and  return  Monday  was  provided  over 
Labor  Day,  and  this  was  likewise  successful.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  newspaper  advertising,  these  excursions  are 
advertised  by  slides  in  the  motion  picture  theaters  and 
by  fliers  in  the  cars  and  in  the  stations  and  stores 
around  the  various  towns.  In  contrast  with  these 
three-day  excursions,  the  Sunday  excursions  conducted 
during  the  past  summer  between  Springfield  and  St. 
Louis  for  a  rate  of  one  and  one-half  the  regular  one- 
way fare  have  not  proved  very  successful. 

St.  Louis  baseball  games  are  featured  frequently  in 
the  advertising  copy  of  the  Traction  System  and  this 
has  proved  to  be  a  good  drawing  card.  A  recent 
contest  inaugurated  by  E.  E.  Soules,  publicity  manager, 
offering  prizes  for  the  best  200-word  letters  telling  why 


the  Illinois  Traction  System  is  "the  best  way  to  the 
best  State  fair,"  resulted  in  a  large  amount  of  exceed- 
ingly favorable  newspaper  publicity.  There  were  571 
entries  in  the  contest,  and  the  newspapers  in  all  the 
towns  along  the  system  took  considerable  interest  in 
the  contest  and  gave  a  good  deal  of  space  to  it,  often 
front-page  space.  In  addition,  of  course,  the  traction 
company  advertised  the  contest  in  the  daily  papers  and 
then  capitalized  on  the  winning  letters  for  further  com- 
plimentary copy  about  the  traction  company.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  five  prizes  awarded,  the  company  acknowl- 
edged the  letters  of  all  other  entries  who  had  taken 
the  trouble  to  write  letters  saying  nice  things  about 
the  company,  by  sending  them  a  friendly  letter  and  a 
deck  of  Traction  Playing  Cards  or  a  railroad  map  of 
Illinois,  which  have  been  much  in  demand.  This  is 
believed  to  have  aided  in  creating  a  good  feeling  among 
the  many  contestants,  as  indicated  by  the  number  of 
thank  you  letters. 

A  new  feature  of  publicity  recently  started  is  a  neat 
folder  timetable  printed  monthly  which  has  all  tables 
on  one  side  when  unfolded.  On  the  opposite  side  are 
a  few  pictures  of  freight  and  passenger  equipment,  a 
map  of  the  system,  list  of  company  officials,  general 
information  and  two  columns  of  "news  note"  in  which 
are  given  notices  of  various  coming  events  to  take  place 
at  points  on  the  system,  items  of  interest  about  cities 
along  the  line,  some  general  good  will  matter,  etc. 

An  especially  effective  piece  of  advertising  run  dur- 
ing the  year  was  a  full  page  of  pictures  with  interesting 
captions  in  the  rotogravure  section  of  a  Peoria  Sunday 
newspaper.  This  portrayed  many  features  of  the  Trac- 
tion System  and  appeared  as  editorial  matter  rather 
than  as  advertising.  Special  pictures  were  secured  for 
this  and  it  made  a  very  attractive  page. 

The  great  value  of  motion  picture  advertising  is  not 
being  overlooked  by  the  I.  T.  S.  During  the  past 
summer  a  series  of  seven  travelogue  films  ranging  in 
length  from  55  ft.  to  63  ft.  have  been  shown  in  fifteen 
motion  picture  theaters  in  St.  Louis,  which  is  the  only 
city  on  the  system  where  satisfactory  distribution  can 
be  obtained.  These  films  are  of  a  strictly  advertising 
nature  and  they  appear  under  the  common  heading  of 
"Evelyn's  Traction  Log."  The  main  points  designed 
to  be  brought  out  in  these  seven  films  are  frequency 
of  service,  location  of  the  interurban  terminal  in  St. 
Louis,  the  block  signals,  the  McKinley  bridge,  the  parlor 
cars,  picnic  travel  and  the  sleeper  service.  The  films 
are  run  in  that  order,  changing  to  the  next  in  sequence 
each  week. 

The  motion  picture  series  is  run  in  each  house  several 
times  over  during  the  summer.  Each  film  gives  a  short, 
interesting  sketch  wherein  Evelyn,  an  actress,  brings 
out  the  feature  of  the  traction  line  forming  the  subject 
of  that  film.  The  total  cost  of  this  advertising,  includ- 
ing the  making  of  the  films  and  their  distribution  and 
display  in  the  fifteen  theaters  from  May  to  September, 
is  $250  a  month.  The  publicity  department  is  now 
working  on  a  film  for  advertising  the  freight  facilities 
of  the  company  to  be  shown  before  various  business 
associations  and  civic  organizations. 

Another  advertising  scheme  of  the  Illinois  Traction 
System  which  costs  little  and  has  proved  quite  effective 
is  the  operation  at  the  Illinois  State  Fair  each  year 
at  Springfield  of  a  booth  which  the  fair  authorities 
designate  as  the  official  information  booth.  Several 
attendants  are  stationed  there  to  make  sleeping  or 
parlor  car  reservations,  follow  up  any  freight  prospects, 


508 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


explain  the  signal  exhibit,  distribute  such  souvenirs 
as  traction  postcards,  blotters,  fans,  maps,  etc.,  and  to 
answer  the  thousand  and  one  questions  that  are  asked. 
This  year  the  publicity  department  kept  a  record  of  the 
questions  asked  for  one  day  and  made  up  a  story  based 
on  this  to  which  a  number  of  the  newspapers  gave 
prominent  space,  one  of  them  under  the  heading  "Is 
It  Any  Wonder  I.  T.  S.  Man  Grows  Gray  Hair  Over- 
night?" 

Newspaper  Coupon  Scheme  Attracts  Traffic 

Richards  Breckinridge,  general  freight  and  passenger 
agent  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Railroad,  when  inter- 
viewed as  to  what  he  had  done  to  improve  traffic,  said: 
"The  only  thing  I  can  think  of  is  making  my  force 
work  their  heads  off  and  even  participating  to  some 
extent  myself."  However,  the  A.,  E.  &  C.  is  showing  an 
increase  in  revenue  over  last  year  so  far  this  year. 
This  may  be  partially  explained  in  what  follows  and 
by  the  spirit  of  intense  work  indicated  in  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge's jocular  remark.  He  is  having  success  again  this 
summer  in  attracting  excursion  business  through  the 
co-operation  of  one  of  Chicago's  evening  newspapers. 
An  excursion  from  Chicago  to  Glenwood  Park,  39  miles 
distant,  was  run  four  business  days  one  week  and  five 
business  days  the  following  week  at  the  end  of  August 
at  a  special  fare  of  75  cents  and  war  tax,  one  way, 
as  compared  with  the  regular  rate  of  $1,  which  could 
be  secured  by  presenting  at  the  newspaper  office  a 
series  of  coupons  from  six  issues  of  the  paper.  The 
newspaper  received  the  coupons  and  sold  the  tickets, 
which  were  good  only  for  the  dates  issued  and  on 
the  special  train.  The  railway  then  simply  billed  the 
newspaper  for  the  number  of  passengers  hauled  on  each 
excursion.  About  400  people  a  day  made  the  trip  to 
Glenwood  Park.  Mr.  Breckinridge  is  convinced  that 
newspaper  advertising  is  the  greatest  producer  of  traffic 
of  any  form  of  advertising. 

While  business  on  a  great  many  interurban  lines  has 
fallen  off  very  sharply,  both  passenger  and  freight,  that 
of  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukeee  Railroad  has 
held  up  remarkably  well.  Britton  I.  Budd,  presi- 
dent, explains  that  this  is  not  particularly  because  there 
is  any  improvement  in  business,  but  rather  that  the 
company  has  been  doing  more  soliciting  for  business. 
The  number  of  passengers  is  only  slightly  under  what 
it  was  last  year,  but  the  revenue  is  equal  to  last  year 
due  to  an  increase  in  the  long-haul  riding  and  a  slight 
increase  in  fare  which  evened  up  the  intra-  and  inter- 
state rates. 

For  a  time  the  merchandise  dispatch  business  of 
the  company  fell  off  very  greatly,  but  is  now  back 
practically  equal  to  last  year.  This  does  not  mean  that 
the  individual  shippers  are  forwarding  anywhere  near 
as  much  tonnage,  but  it  means  that  the  number  of 
customers  patronizing  the  road  has  been  doubled  and 
nearly  trebled.  The  best  part  of  this  is  that  having 
won  all  these  new  customers,  when  business  picks  up 
the  railway  seemingly  should  hold  them  all  and  the  prob- 
lem will  not  be  to  get  business  but  to  know  how  to 
handle  what  is  offered. 

Sources  of  Passenger  Traffic 

Practically  100  per  cent  of  the  travel  of  theatrical 
people  between  Milwaukee  and  Chicago,  amounting  to  an 
average  of  fifty  fares  a  week  in  each  direction,  is 
secured  by  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee 
Railroad.    This  is  accomplished  through  personal  solici- 


tation cf  the  business  each  week  and  through  special 
service  which  the  electric  line  supplies.  This  consists 
of  an  arrangement  whereby  all  of  the  baggage  of  each 
"act"  is  checked  directly  from  the  theater  in  one  city 
to  the  destination  theater  in  the  other  city.  A  special 
baggage  car  is  run  each  way  every  Sunday  night  so 
that  the  baggage  is  received  after  the  last  performance 
Sunday  evening  and  delivered  to  the  stage  of  the  desti- 
nation theater  early  the  following  morning.  The  trans- 
fer man  at  the  receiving  end  collects  from  the  "act," 
while  the  transfer  man  at  the  destination  end  collects 
from  the  stage  manager.  This  service  has  included 
the  handling  of  various  kinds  of  stage  animals,  includ- 
ing horses  and  elephants,  etc.,  which  are  loaded  into 
the  baggage  car  at  the  Congress  Street  station,  just  off 
the  downtown  loop,  of  the  elevated  railways  in  Chicago, 
where  a  large  capacity  elevator  is  available. 

Excellent  Record  Brings  Praise 

Not  only  is  the  transportation  of  the  theatrical  people 
secured  when  the  troupes  are  changing  from  Milwaukee 
to  Chicago  bookings,  and  vice  versa,  but  also  when 
they  are  moving  from  Milwaukee  to  points  requiring 
a  transfer  to  other  lines  in  Chicago.  The  electric  line 
has  made  such  an  excellent  record  in  serving  these 
people  and  making  special  arrangements  to  make  con- 
nections with  outbound  trains  from  Chicago  that 
the  theatrical  people  are  universally  enthusiastic  for 
the  North  Shore  Line  and  are  constantly  giving  the 
line  a  good  word  in  their  travels. 

This  through  checking  of  baggage  from  point  of 
origination  to  destination  points,  as  used  for  the 
theatrical  people,  is  also  available  for  the  general  public. 
An  arrangement  has  been  in  operation  for  some  time 
with  the  Commonwealth  Checking  Company,  Chicago, 
and  Milwaukee  Transfer  Company  whereby  they  make 
use  of  three  coupon  checks,  covering  the  records  of  the 
transfer  company  at  either  end  and  the  electric  line 
between  cities.  The  originating  transfer  company  collects 
for  the  transfer  charges  at  both  ends  of  the  railway. 

That  this  checking  convenience  is  bringing  a  good 
deal  of  patronage  to  the  company  can  perhaps  be  shown 
by  the  fact  that  the  number  of  pieces  of  baggage  han- 
dled by  the  North  Shore  Line  this  year  as  compared  to 
last  has  increased  nearly  600  per  cent.  Baggage  is 
carried  on  nine  trains  a  day  each  way.  In  other  words, 
traveling  men  can  leave  either  terminal  city  at  almost 
any  time  of  the  day  and  have  their  baggage  checked 
from  a  Milwaukee  hotel  to  a  Chicago  hotel  and  travel 
on  the  same  train  that  they  do.  This  is  bringing  the 
business  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  traveling  sales- 
men to  the  electric  line. 

Considerable  patronage  for  the  North  Shore  Line 
has  been  assured  through  the  sale  of  twenty-five  ride 
tickets  and  1,000-mile  books  by  the  traffic  department 
to  large  concerns  which  have  salesmen  and  representa- 
tives traveling  between  Milwaukee  and  Chicago  fre- 
quently. A  firm  having  many  men  traveling  makes 
a  good  saving  by  this  means,  as  the  rate  by  ticket  or 
mileage  book  is  24  cents  per  mile  as  against  the  regular 
rate  of  3  cents  a  mile.  Consequently,  a  large  number  of 
these  special  rate  books  and  tickets  have  been  sold  by 
representatives  of  the  traffic  department.  A  campaign 
put  on  to  sell  this  form  of  transportation  this  summer 
resulted  in  more  transportation  of  this  kind  being  sold 
in  one  month  than  had  been  sold  in  the  entire  year  of 
1920.    While  this  plan  reduces  the  revenue  received 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


509 


from  the  passenger  riding  on  the  lower  rate,  it  insures 
his  riding  the  electric  line  every  trip  for  some  time  to 
come,  and  the  saving  effected  makes  the  advance  ticket 
easy  to  sell. 

A  revenue  of  $45  a  day  on  the  average  is  derived 
from  a  contract  with  the  distributing  agency  for  the 
Chicago  afternoon  newspapers.  About  three  tons  of 
newspapers  a  day  are  delivered  to  the  North  Shore 
Line  at  the  Congress  Street  station  of  the  elevated  rail- 
ways. The  truck  drivers  place  the  papers  on  the 
elevator  and  they  are  lifted  to  an  elevated  platform, 
where  they  are  put  in  a  special  chute  which  delivers 
the  papers  directly  into  a  baggage  car.  This  car  leaves 
the  Loop  not  later  than  1:40  p.m.  and  completes  all 
deliveries  to  north  shore  towns  as  far  as  Waukegan, 
111.,  by  3:15  p.m.  The  newspaper  publishers  estimate 
the  weight  involved,  based  on  the  number  of  packages, 
and  send  the  railway  company  monthly  a  check,  accom- 
panied by  a  statement  of  the  tonnage.  There  is  no 
time  for  the  railway  company  to  take  weights.  A  rate 
of  75  cents  per  100  lb.  is  secured  for  this  business 


work  done  by  Mr.  Shappert  is  the  large  amount  of 
personal  service  rendered  to  the  various  organizations 
and  individuals,  ever  having  it  in  mind  to  capitalize 
the  advantage  that  this  service  gives  him  in  business 
for  the  North  Shore  Line.  In  his  solicitation  work  he 
makes  extensive  use  of  the  associations  of  commerce 
in  cities  not  only  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  but  in 
cities  at  distant  points,  wherever  there  is  a  possibility 
that  their  members  can  utilize  the  North  Shore  Line 
to  advantage  in  their  business  pursuits  or  on  some 
special  trip. 

He  makes  the  comment  that  any  traffic  man  who 
does  not  utilize  and  work  with  the  commerce  associa- 
tions is  overlooking  a  very  important  source  of  informa- 
tion and  selling  assistance. 

Advertising  for  traffic  is  a  consistent  part  of  the 
efforts  put  forth  by  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad  to  influence  travel  over  its  lines,  and 
the  duller  times  are  the  more  the  company  advertises. 
The  normal  advertising  appropriation  for  the  current 
year  was  to  have  been  approximately  $35,000,  but  on 


1 


Chicago  North  Shore  £  Milwaukee  r m. 

Chicago  to  Milwaukee  [very  Hour  on  the  Hour 

!,.'  BAGGAGE  HANDLED 

lilfc,  «  »       TO  ALL  NORTH  SHORE  POINTS 


THE  ROAD  IF  SERVICE 


CHICAGO 
PASSENGER  STATION 
Z09  S.  WABASH  AVE. 


Attractive  and  Expensive  Advertisements  of  the  North  Shore  Line 
At  left,  advertisement  on  building  wall  opposite  Wilson  Avenue  station  of  the  Chicago  Elevated  Railways.    At  right,  billboard  adver- 
tisement facing  down  Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago,  for  which  the  North  Shore  Line  paid  $1,000  for  thirty  days. 


and  when  the  contract  was  secured  the  rate  was  25  cents 
per  100  lb.  in  excess  of  that  charged  by  the  American 
Railway  Express  Company.  Since  that  time,  however, 
the  latter  rate  has  increased  to  $1  per  100  lb.,  so  that 
the  newspaper  agency  is  benefiting  from  a  lower  rate 
at  present  as  well  as  better  service,  although  the  matter 
of  service  was  the  consideration  which  won  the  con- 
tract. In  dropping  off  papers  at  various  stations  the 
North  Shore  enforces  an  order  that  the  car  must  come 
to  a  complete  stop  before  the  package  is  dropped.  This 
is  a  service  which  has  been  greatly  appreciated,  as  the 
papers  are  not  torn  and  soiled. 

A  good  example  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by 
carefully  following  conventions  and  looking  ahead  to 
future  traffic  is  afforded  from  a  recent  instance.  F.  W. 
Shappert,  traffic  manager,  attended  the  last  convention 
of  the  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  at  Atlanta,  Ga., 
used  his  influence  to  secure  the  next  convention  for 
Milwaukee,  and  then  signed  up  seventy-one  clubs  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  for  as  many  chartered  cars 
over  the  North  Shore  Line  from  Chicago  to  Milwaukee 
for  the  1922  convention. 

One  of  the  most  effective  phases  of  the  solicitation 


account  of  the  business  depression  advertising  was 
intensified,  and,  as  a  result,  between  $45,000  and  $50,000 
will  be  spent  this  year  in  this  manner.  The  advertis- 
ing work  is  handled  by  John  J.  Moran. 

It  is  hardly  possible  for  a  person  to  be  long  in  any 
one  of  the  cities  served  by  the  North  Shore  road  with- 
out being  reminded  of  its  service  in  some  attractive 
way.  Car  cards  are  carried  in  the  elevated  and  surface 
cars  in  Chicago,  Waukegan,  Racine  and  Milwaukee.  A 
30-in.  advertisement  is  carried  once  a  week  in  each  of 
the  local  newspapers  in  the  cities  along  the  line  between 
terminals.  In  Milwaukee  and  Chicago  papers  600-line 
advertisements  are  carried  once  a  week  or  more,  fre- 
quently when  some  special  occasion  warrants  special 
advertising.  Another  very  effective  advertising  medium 
used  is  the  Cusack  Company's  billboards.  The  total 
monthly  expenditure  for  billboard  advertising  this  year 
is  running  regularly  $550  a  month,  while  $1,000  addi- 
tional was  spent  for  the  month  of  August  for  a  single 
billboard,  14  ft.  x  50  ft.,  which  is  wonderfully  located 
where  it  is  seen  by  thousands  of  Chicago  motorists 
and  pedestrians  every  day  as  they  drive  or  walk  along 
Michigan  Avenue  toward  the  bridge  connecting  Michi- 


510 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


gan  Avenue  with  the  Lake  Shore  Drive  on  the  North 
Side.     This  is  pictured  herewith. 

Each  of  the  regular  billboard  advertisements  is 
located  at  an  exceptionally  strategic  point.  In  Chicago 
a  very  attractive  advertisement  occupying  the  wall  of 
a  building  advertises  the  road  to  the  passengers  of 
the  elevated  railroad  and  to  the  large  population  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Wilson  Avenue  district,  the 
board  being  located  at  the  corner  of  Wilson  and  Broad- 
way. This  advertisement  occupies  a  space  137  ft.  x  31 
ft.  and  costs  the  railway  $100  a  month,  including  the 
original  painting  and  maintenance  painting  twice  a 
year.  In  this  case  the  company  floodlights  the  adver- 
tisement itself.  At  the  corner  of  Kedzie  Avenue  and 
Madison  Street,  another  important  outlying  business 
section  on  the  West  Side  in  Chicago,  the  company  has 
a  14-ft.  x  50-ft.  illuminated  billboard  on  which  the 
monthly  rental  is  $100. 

Five  other  billboards  in  Chicago  are  erected  on  the 
property  of  the  elevated  railways.  One  of  these  is 
located  on  the  street  level  at  Wilson  and  Broadway,  one 


film  that  the  name  of  the  railroad  appears  is  on  the 
side  of  the  cars  as  the  train  comes  to  rest  in  the 
Milwaukee  terminal.  Consequently,  it  has  been  possible 
to  show  the  picture  as  an  educational  film  in  all  of  the 
principal  theaters  in  Chicago  and  North  Shore  towns, 
and  also  in  the  towns  in  southern  Illinois  and  those  in 
Indiana  close  to  the  Illinois  line  and  in  towns  as  far 
west  as  Rockford,  111. 

Altogether,  the  film  has  been  shown  in  some  200 
theaters  at  picked  locations,  and  this  is  done  without 
cost  for  the  showing,  the  only  expense  involved  being 
$5  per  day  per  film  to  the  booking  agency.  The  cost 
of  producing  this  film  was  approximately  $2,000,  in- 
cluding seven  standard  prints  which  are  used  in  the 
theaters.  In  addition  to  these  prints,  the  company  has 
three  non-inflammable  prints  which  cost  $100  each  and  a 
small  portable  motion  picture  machine  which  cost  $250, 
which  have  been  used  by  representatives  of  the  com- 
pany before  various  business  men's  meetings,  private 
clubs,  associations  of  commerce,  etc.,  probably  averag- 
ing at  least  one  showing  a  week  somewhere.    At  Chi- 


Important  Comparison  of  Rates 


FROM 

To  Cleveland 

To  Toledo 

To  Detroit 

One 

ft) 

Round  Trip 

One 

Way 

Roun 

Trip 

One 

W.r, 

Round  Trip 

I 

SUn 

Gnlni 

SUM 

EjKHic 

Skn 

EkdK 

9w 

Butt 

Slum 

Oniric 

Sleam 

TOLEDO    .  - 

S3.08 

S4  17 

55  78 

5.8  34 

FREMONT  - 

2.27 

3.23 

4  21 

0  26 

$  .60 

SI  lb 

51.67 

SZ  32 

S2  06 

(3.39 

S4  07 

56.78 

BELLEVUE  - 

1.94 

2.49 

3  02 

4.98 

1.30 

1.77 

2.43 

3  54 

2.49 

4.00 

4.83 

8.00 

NORWALK  - 

1.57 

2.16 

2.92 

4.32 

1.67 

2.24 

3  08 

4  48 

2.87 

4  46 

5.48 

8.92 

SANDUSKY  - 

1.62 

2.32 

3.02 

4.66 

1.51 

1  84 

2.81 

3  08 

2.71 

4  06 

5.21 

8.12 

LORAIN     -  - 

.70 

1  04 

1.30 

2  08 

2.48 

4  0b 

4.59 

8.12 

3.68 

5.06 

6  99 

10.12 

CLEVELAND - 

3.08 

4  17 

5  78 

e  34 

4  28 

6  39 

8  18 

12.78 

Fast  Through  Limited  Service  Every  2  Hours 
SHIP  YOUR  GOODS  VIA  ELECTRIC  PACKAGE 
The  L  a  k  e  Shore   E 1  e  e  t  r  i  e   Railway  Company 


July  4th 

Suggestion 


Milwaukee 


—The  gateway 
to  Northern  Lakes 
and  Woods 


North  Shore  Trains 


— The  great  way 
to  Milwaukee 


Sheboyg.n.  Sheboygu.  F.U.,  Port  W^irgflt,,,,  Ply. 
mouth,  CryiUl  Like. 


Chicago  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  R.  R. 


Do  Not  Think  or  Speak  Too  Harshly 


If  Something  Should  Go  Wrong 

With  Our  Service  Occasionally. 

Always  Remember  That  We  Regret  It 
More  Than  You. 

Our  Endeavor  Always  Is 

To  Give  Good  Service  and  Please  Our  Patrons 


The  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  Company 


At  Left,  Advertisement  of  Rates  by  Lake  Shore  Electric.    At  Right,  a  Bit  of  Candor  by  Same  Company. 
In  Center,  45-In.  Neivsjxiper  Ad  of  North  Shore  Line 


on  the  South  Side  on  Thirty-ninth  Street  between  State 
Street  and  Wabash  Avenue,  one  opposite  the  Marsh- 
field  Avenue  elevated  station  on  the  West  Side,  one 
at  Fifteenth  and  State,  and  an  important  one  on  the 
Van  Buren  Street  bridge  of  the  elevated  facing  Jack- 
son Boulevard.  These  are  all  illuminated  signs.  There 
are  also  illuminated  and  non-illuminated  signs  at  points 
outside  of  Chicago. 

Motion  Picture  Advertising  Very  Effective 

Since  April  of  this  year  extensive  use  of  a  motion 
picture  film  has  produced  results  which  lead  the  officials 
of  the  company  to  believe  that  this  is  the  most  effective 
method  of  advertising  for  traffic.  The  motion  picture 
used  is  a  one-reel  story  having  the  title  "Along  the 
Green  Bay  Trail."  It  depicts  the  mode  of  travel  in  the 
days  of  the  Indian  and  compares  this  with  the  modern 
high-speed  travel  in  comfort  and  luxury  over  the 
electric  line.  The  comparison  of  the  two  modes  of 
travel  gives  an  opportunity  to  picture  many  of  the 
beautiful  stretches  of  scenery  along  the  electric  line 
and  the  high  type  of  rolling  stock  and  roadbed  employed 
in  the  modern  means  of  travel.  The  scenario  develops 
a  very  interesting  little  story,  and  the  only  place  in  the 


cago's  elaborate  Pageant  of  Progress  it  was  shown 
sixty  times  a  day,  and  as  a  result  several  specific  in- 
stances of  its  influence  in  "selling"  the  road  were 
experienced.  One  woman  watched  the  film  through  and 
then  asked  numerous  questions  and  later  came  back  and 
informed  the  attendant  at  the  booth  that  she  was  tak- 
ing a  party  of  thirty-five  to  Milwaukee  over  the  electric 
line  that  night.  A  man  who  became  interested  in  the 
picture  chartered  two  cars  to  take  a  party  of  125  to 
Milwaukee,  explaining  that  he  had  seen  the  company's 
advertisements,  but  had  not  realized  the  advantages  of 
the  North  Shore  Line  until  he  saw  the  motion  picture. 
Several  other  instances  of  definite  business  for  the 
company  are  known  to  have  developed  from  the  show- 
ing of  this  film  at  the  pageant. 

Arrangements  have  been  completed  for  showing  the 
film  at  the  Lake  County,  111.,  Fair,  the  Ozaukee  County 
Fair  at  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  and  at  the  Electric  and  Food 
Show  in  Milwaukee,  all  this  fall. 

Lake  Shore  Believes  in  Advertising 

J.  F.  Starkey,  general  passenger  agent  Lake  Shore 
Electric  Railway,  Sandusky,  Ohio,  summarizes  his  recent 
activities  as  follows: 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


511 


"I  advertise  constantly  in  the  newspapers,  giving  the 
public  the  time  of  all  our  trains,  and  when  anything 
of  special  importance  is  to  occur  along  the  line  I  ad- 
vertise it  in  all  the  papers,  using,  usually,  a  5-in.  double 
column  display  for  about  a  week  previous  to  the  affair. 
I  carry  a  two-color  advertisement,  111  in.  x  16 i  in., 
in  the  front  of  each  compartment  of  all  our  cars,  chang- 
ing it  about  every  four  months.  Beginning  with  the 
late  spring  I  advertise  the  summer  resorts,  of  which 
we  have  several  along  our  line,  and  at  other  times  any- 
thing that  I  think  will  attract  the  eye  and  get  us 
patrons. 

"I  have  advertised  quite  extensively  the  fact  that 
our  rates  are  lower  than  the  steam  line  rates,  especially 
since  the  advance  of  the  latter  to  3.6  cents  a  mile.  In  the 
cars  I  carried  not  merely  the  statement  that  our  rates 
are  lower,  but  compiled  a  table  of  comparative  rates 
between  main  points  and  with  cards  about  10  in.  x 
14  in.  gave  the  fact  wide  publicity  throughout  the 
cities  and  towns  which  we  serve.    At  first  some  steam 


are  made  good  for  twelve  days  returning  and  at  about 
the  same  percentage  of  reduction  as  noted  above.  We 
offer  special  car  rates  that  bring  us  much  additional 
revenue,  particularly  during  the  summer  seasons.  These 
rates  are  about  70  per  cent  of  the  regular  round  trip 
rates." 

Through  Passenger  Service  Successful 

J.  A.  Greenland,  general  passenger  and  freight  agent 
Indiana  Service  Corporation,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  had 
this  to  say  about  building  up  traffic : 

"I  think  the  biggest  thing  we  have  done  is  the  in- 
auguration of  fast  county-seat-stop  trains  between 
Indianapolis  and  Fort  Wayne,  which  service  has  been 
extended  just  recently  to  Lima.  These  trains  are  very 
seldom  late  and  are  handling  an  increasing  number  of 
people.  Every  day  we  hear  compliments  on  this  service 
and  hope  when  business  picks  up  to  put  on  more  such 
trains.  We  have  just  closed  a  successful  campaign  for 
Niagara   Falls  excursion   traffic   and   are   very  much 


Better  Than  Express  Service  at  Practically  Freight  Rates 


Service  That  Appeals  to  Business 

S  a  shipper  you  have  a  direct  interest  in 
1  railroad  transportation-  You  want  the 
best  you  can  get  at  the  lowest  cost  to  you. 

Above  everything  else  you  want  a  serv- 
ice that  is  fast  and  reliable;  a  Service 
that  can  be  depended  upon  in  all  seasons  throughout 
the  year 

Such  a  Service  has  been  developed  for  your  partic- 
ular benefit  by  the  NORTH  SHORE  LINE.  It  is 
a  Specialized  Service  for  communities  on  the  north 
shore,  between  Chicago  and  Milwaukee.  It  is  faster 
than  the  best  Railroad  Express  service  at  a  much 
lower  rate. 

Since  the  Merchandise  Despatch  Service  of  the 
NORTH  SHORE  LINE  was  inaugurated  nearly 
three  years  ago  it  has  never  suffered  interruption. 
When  other  transportation  lines  were  tied  up  by 
snowstorms,  the  electric  line  gave  Continuous  Service 
to  its  patrons. 

Give  the  NORTH  SHORE  LINE  a  chance  to 
prove  the  superiority  of  its  Specialized  Service.  A 
trial  will  convince  you. 


Proof  of  Superiority 

HEN  the  NORTH  SHORE  LINE  claims 
that  its  Merchandise  Despatch  Service  is 
superior  to  all  others,  it  has  proof  to  estab- 
lish that  claim.  It  gives  a  superior  quality 
of  Service  because  its  customers  receive 
personal  attention  which  they  do  not  get  from  ordi- 
nary transportation  lines. 

Shipments  received  at  the  Montrose  and  Broadway 
Station  in  Chicago  up  to  midnight  are  unloaded  in  the 
Milwaukee  Station  ready  to  be  called  for  at  7  o  clock 
the  following  morning.  Day  shipments  are  handled 
with  equal  promptness. 

Here  is  a  concrete  illustration,  an  everyday  occur- 
rence 

the  South  Side  in  Chicago 
:rom  Milwaukee     He  left 
and  Wabash 


s  local 


A  merchant  whose  score 
found  it  necessary  to  gee  metchandi 
the  NORTH  SHORE  Passenger  Station  at 
at  8  o'clock  on  the  Limited  He  ate  breakfast  on  the  dining  car, 
reached  Milwaukee  and  purchased  the  required  goods:  boarded  a 
Limited  leaving  Milwaukee  at  u  o  clock  noon:  had  luncheon  on 
the  dining  car;  reached  his  store  in  Chicago  returned  to  the  Mont- 
rose  and  Broadway  Station  with  his  delivery  truck  and  found  the 
merchandise  already  there.  He  said  it  was  the  best  Service  he 
had  ever  seen.    He  is  a  regular  customer  now 


Use  the  Electric   and   Save  the  Highways 


Illinois 
Traction 
System 

(M?  Kin  ley  Lines) 


Two  Inside  Pages  of  Four-Page  Folder  Sent  to  Prospective  Merchandise  Customers 

by  North  Shore  Line 


Cover  of  the  I.  T.  S. 
Timetable 


line  representatives  took  exception  to  this,  but  we 
defended  our  action  simply  by  claiming  the  right  to 
resort  to  any  legitimate  means  of  securing  traffic,  and 
nothing  further  has  been  heard  of  it. 

"Through  close  touch  with  connecting  lines  we  urge 
the  sale  of  through  tickets  whenever  possible,  and,  of 
course,  through  the  Central  Electric  Traffic  Association, 
each  traffic  manager  seeks  to  help  a  sister  line  all  he 
can.  In  connection  with  the  Western  Ohio  Railway, 
the  Toledo,  Fostoria  &  Findlay  Railway  and  the  Fostoria 
&  Fremont  Railway  we  offer  a  week-end  reduced  rate 
to  Sandusky  during  the  Cedar  Point  season.  This  rate 
is  about  80  per  cent  of  the  regular  fare.  To  Indiana 
interurban  lines  as  well  as  the  Wabash  and  Clover  Leaf 
steam  lines  we  offer  the  same  reductions  as  a  basing 
rate,  and  during  the  season  we  have  many  excursionists 
to  Cedar  Point,  Cleveland  and  Niagara  Falls.  We  also 
sell  many  tickets  to  Niagara  via  our  line  to  Cleveland, 
the  C.  &  B.  Transit  Company  from  Cleveland  to  Buffalo 
and  the  International  Railway  to  Niagara.    These  rates 


pleased  with  the  business  we  have  received.  We  handle 
the  people  through  to  Toledo  by  our  line  and  the  Ohio 
Electric  Railway  carries  them  to  Cleveland,  where  they 
take  the  Cleveland  &  Buffalo  boat  line  to  Buffalo." 

Another  thing  that  the  Indiana  Service  Corporation 
has  done  is  to  originate  a  timetable  which  shows  all 
the  through  connections  with  other  electric  lines  at  the 
terminals  of  its  lines.  This  has  proved  to  be  a  great 
convenience  to  patrons  who  find  it  very  difficult  to  figure 
out  through  connections  where  a  number  of  timetables 
must  be  consulted.  It  is  serving  to  induce  more  inter- 
line riding.  This  plan,  of  course,  serves  to  stimulate 
traffic  for  other  companies  as  well  as  the  Indiana 
Service  Corporation,  but  the  idea  is  that  the  plan  will 
later  become  reciprocal. 

The  Interstate  Public  Service  Company,  which  oper- 
ates the  unified  and  greatly  improved  interurban  line 
between  Indianapolis  and  Louisville,  has  been  very  suc- 
cessful in  building  up  both  its  passenger  and  freight 
business.    The  installation  of  fine  new  all  steel  cars  and 


512 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


fast  through  schedules  has  attracted  a  considerable 
increase  in  the  number  of  passengers.  Similarly,  the 
inauguration  of  an  overnight  freight  service  over  practi- 
cally the  entire  system  has  attracted  a  large  amount  of 
tonnage.  No  small  factor  in  the  success  of  the  company 
in  thus  rapidly  building  up  its  business  has  been  an 
active  traffic  department,  backed  up  by  good  service  and 
unusually  good  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  operating 
department.  Speaking  in  general  terms  on  this  subject, 
Bert  Weedon,  traffic  manager,  summarized  the  requi- 
sites of  a  successful  interurban  as  being,  first,  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  territory;  second,  ample  equipment 
to  care  for  the  need  of  this  territory;  third,  a  freight 
organization  with  ability  to  cope  with  competitors; 
fourth,  thorough  and  constant  solicitation ;  fifth, 
reliable  freight  schedules  which  will  supply  the  demand 
for  transportation. 

Sunday  excursions,  running  from  Indianapolis  to 
Louisville  one  week  and  from  Louisville  to  Indianapolis 
the  following  week,  were  inaugurated  on  July  31  to 
extend  through  August.  On  July  31  a  three-car  train 
carried  a  total  of  ninety-six  passengers  out  of  In- 
dianapolis and  a  total  of  206  into  Louisville.  On  Aug.  7 
114  people  were  carried  out  of  Louisville  and  a  total 
of  262  into  Indianapolis,  a  three-car  train  out  of  Louis- 
ville having  been  relieved  by  two  cars  additional  from 
Columbus  to  Indianapolis.  The  round-trip  rate  given 
was  $3  between  the  terminal  cities,  with  a  correspond- 
ingly low  rate  from  intermediate  cities.  L.  M.  Brown, 
superintendent  of  transportation,  reports  that  these 
excursions  were  a  profitable  undertaking. 

Detail  Information  About  Shippers  Is  Helpful 

The  Chicago,  Ottawa  &  Peoria  Railway,  Joliet,  111., 
is  working  intensively  to  secure  all  available  business, 
if  one  may  judge  by  information  furnished  by  A.  M. 
Farrell,  general  freight  and  passenger  agent.  The  com- 
pany prepares  for  intensive  solicitation  by  delegating 
one  of  its  traffic  agents  to  call  upon  every  merchant  or 
manufacturing  concern  at  any  point  along  the  line  and 
secure  information  indicated  on  a  questionnaire  which 
he  fills  out  as  a  result  of  his  interview.  This  question- 
naire, when  completed,  gives  the  name,  address,  nature 
of  business,  from  what  point  on  the  company's  line 
this  concern  receives  freight  or  express,  the  names 
of  the  shippers,  who  controls  the  routing  and  if  con- 
trolled by  the  consignee,  a  copy  of  the  routing  order, 
freight  received  from  foreign  lines  and  whether  this 
is  transported  by  steam  or  electric  railway  or  motor 
truck.  The  questionnaire  also  calls  for  information  as 
to  whether  the  concern  ships  any  freight  or  express, 
and  if  so,  how  it  is  transported,  what  the  routing  orders 
are,  and,  if  any  shipments  are  made  by  trucking  com- 
pany, the  rates  are  secured  if  possible.  A  final  question 
is  whether  this  concern  or  party  has  any  grievance  with 
any  department  of  the  railway  company. 

By  a  study  of  the  information  thus  secured  it  is 
often  possible  to  show  shippers  where  the  electric  line 
can  make  them  a  saving  either  of  money  or  time  in 
the  handling  of  their  business.  This  is  working  out 
to  the  mutual  benefit  of  all  interested  parties.  When 
any  routing  orders  are  received  they  are  personally 
placed  by  the  railway  company's  solicitor,  which  gives 
him  a  chance  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  the  shipper 
has  any  other  shipments  that  can  be  handled. 

Mr.  Farrell  has  found  that  the  passenger  business 
of  his  company  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  advertis- 
ing which  is  done  in  newspapers  and  upon  direct  solicita- 


tion. A  good  deal  of  passenger  traffic  is  secured  through 
the  handling  of  lodges  and  various  organizations  on 
picnics  and  conventions,  mostly  to  Starved  Rock,  111. 
When  advance  notice  of  such  a  group  movement  is 
obtained  the  railway  company  has  a  circular  printed 
for  the  organization  which  covers  the  full  details  of 
its  picnic  and  the  attractive  features  of  the  point  at 
which  the  outing  is  to  be  held.  These  circulars  are 
then  distributed  among  the  members  of  the  organization 
and  prove  a  very  desirable  form  of  advertising,  for 
the  reason  that  the  suggestions  of  the  company  go 
into  the  homes  of  members  of  the  lodge  or  other  organi- 
zation backed  up  by  the  committee  of  the  lodge  in  charge 
of  the  picnic,  whose  names  are  printed  on  the  circular. 
Often,  where  members  are  unable  to  take  advantage 
of  the  trip  at  just  that  time,  they  avail  themselves  of 
a  similar  trip  later  on. 

Mr.  Farrell  makes  the  observation  that  all  electric 
lines  should  inaugurate  an  extensive  plan  for  solicitation 
of  business  moving  between  their  stations  and  keep  in 
close  touch  with  the  consignor  and  consignee  in  order 
to  straighten  out  any  difficulties  that  might  arise  and 
thus  establish  confidence  in  the  electric  lines.  He  con- 
siders that  every  electric  line  should  solicit  business 
just  as  the  wholesale  grocery  salesman  solicits  orders 
for  his  house.  He  contends  that  it  is  the  continual 
repetition  in  advertising  and  solicitation  that  brings 
results  and  works  out  to  the  mutual  benefit  of  railway 
and  shipper. 

C.  P.  Ryan,  general  passenger  and  freight  agent 
Indiana  Railways  &  Light  Company,  Kokomo,  Ind.,  ex- 
plained that  for  certain  reasons  the  traffic  department 
has  been  able  to  do  but  little  advertising  or  solicitation 
of  freight  and  passenger  business  during  the  last  six 
or  eight  months.  He  says:  "Our  main  efforts  are 
directed  toward  our  agents  along  the  line  of  inducing 
them  to  be  courteous  and  obliging  to  those  who  would 
ship  freight  or  take  passage  on  our  cars.  We  urge 
them  to  promise  nothing  but  what  can  be  fully  accom- 
plished by  our  service,  and  we  believe  that  this  system, 
in  the  absence  of  actual  advertising  and  solicitation, 
has  accomplished  a  great  deal  toward  putting  this  com- 
pany on  the  list  regarded  as  reliable  in  its  dealings 
with  other  business  men." 

The  creed  of  E.  Hamprecht,  general  freight  agent 
Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern  Traction  Company, 
Findlay,  Ohio,  in  soliciting  business  is  thus  summed  up: 

"I  find  good  service  is  the  greatest  advertisement. 
Give  all  you  can  for  the  money  and  make  the  patrons 
feel  that  you  are  interested  in  their  walfare.  Do  as 
you  promise  and  keep  in  constant  touch  with  shippers 
and  consignees.  If  this  is  done  it  will  not  be  long 
until  the  returns  will  be  noticeable." 

H.  A.  Benjamin,  general  freight  and  passenger 
agent  Waterloo,  Cedar  Falls  &  Northern  Railway, 
Waterloo,  Iowa,  is  quoted  as  follows: 

"We  have  always  tried  to  notify  the  industries  which 
we  serve  of  the  movements  of  their  business  both  in 
and  out  bound,  and  on  their  inbound  business  to  fur- 
nish the  time  of  arrival  some  twenty-four  hours  in 
advance.  We  have  found  that  they  are  very  appreciative 
of  this  information.  In  my  opinion,  in  order  for  a 
railroad  to  increase  its  business  it  should  establish 
service  that  is  reliable  and  continue  this  service  in  such 
a  way  that  the  public  learns  to  have  confidence  in  it. 
This  must  be  accompanied  by  close  personal  contact 
with  those  served." 


September  24,  1921 


Electric    kailway  Journal 


&13 


The  Chicago  &  Joliet  Electric  Railway,  which  operates 
out  of  Chicago  and  connects  at  Joliet  with  the  Chicago, 
Ottawa  &  Peoria  Railway,  has  found  a  profitable  source 
of  passenger  business  in  a  joint  arrangement  for  carry- 
ing passengers  from  Chicago  to  the  beautiful  Starved 
Rock  State  Park,  located  on  the  latter  line  83  miles 
from  Chicago.  Through  tickets  are  sold  in  each  direc- 
tion and  the  cost  of  advertising  is  proportioned  between 
the  two  roads.  Attractive  folders  and  space  in  Chicago 
newspapers  have  been  used  in  the  advertising  program. 
Notwithstanding  the  industrial  depression,  W.  H.  Heun, 
superintendent  of  transportation,  reports  that  his  com- 
pany has  advertised  the  passenger  service  this  season 
to  about  the  same  extent  as  in  previous  years  in  order 
to  keep  before  the  people  the  points  of  interest  and 
the  electric  routes  for  reaching  them.  He  commented 
that  special  care  is  taken  in  making  arrangements  for 
picnics  to  promise  only  what  can  be  carried  out  to  the 
full  satisfaction  of  the  patrons  as  to  transportation  and 
park  privileges,  this  leading  to  repeated  annual  trips 
of  excursion  parties.  He  believes  that  truth  in  ad- 
vertising is  an  important  factor  in  soliciting  excursion 
business  and  has  been  the  means  of  holding  as  well  as 
increasing  traffic. 


Railways  Could  Profitably  Undertake 
Joint  Advertising  Campaigns 

By  J.  C.  Schade 

General  Manager  Winona  Interurban  Railway,  Warsaw,  Ind. 

WE  OFTEN  HEAR  it  said  that  advertising  in  the 
railway  field  is  limited  and  this  is  a  true  state- 
ment if  we  decide  to  follow  the  time-worn  paths  of  the 
old  school.  It  must  be  admitted  that  service  is  the 
foundation  of  railway  publicity,  and  in  order  that 
advertising  may  be  effective  service  must  be  made  to 
back  up  the  whole  proposition. 

But  it  does  not  follow  that  when  we  have  advertised 
the  fact  that  "Cars  run  every  hour  between  Podunk 
and  Squeedunk"  that  the  field  has  been  covered !  We 
should  go  further  and  tell  the  people  of  "Podunk" 
something  about  the  interesting  things  which  may  be 
found  in  "Squeedunk."  What  is  meant  by  this  is  that 
a  successful  railway  publicity  campaign  must  create 
a  desire  among  the  people  of  one  locality  to  see  what 
is  actually  going  on  in  some  other  locality.  It  makes 
no  difference  how  small  the  town  may  be,  there  is 
always  something  of  interest  to  draw  the  outsider. 

For  example,  the  attractions  of  Indiana  are  its  lakes 
and  summer  resorts  dotting  the  whole  northeastern 
part,  its  great  manufacturing  industries  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Gas  Belt  section,  its  State  parks  in  the 
southern  part  and  its  great  educational  centers.  Any 
one  of  these  things  would  be  suitable  subject  matter 
for  advertising  copy.  Similarly  interesting  points  and 
industries  may  be  found  in  other  localities  and  it  would 
seem  to  me  in  looking  at  the  proposition  from  this 
angle  that  we  are  overlooking  an  opportunity  in  the 
advertising  field  when  we  do  not  take  advantage  of  the 
splendid  material  scattered  around  in  our  front  yards. 

Looking  back  over  a  period  of  years,  we  may  find 
here  and  there  an  effort  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
electric  railways  to  advertise  things  of  local  interest, 
but  in  the  main,  our  efforts  have  been  largely  directed 
toward  a  scramble  of  local  time  cards,  which  if  taken 
senarately  indicate  to  the  public  that  there  are  only  one 
or  two  electric  railways  operating  in  the  entire  country. 


In  this  connection,  it  would  seem  that  we  are  all 
more  or  less  at  fault.  We  do  not  place  sufficient  im- 
portance upon  the  question.  For  example,  pains  should 
be  taken  to  inform  travelers  in  South  Bend  how  best 
they  can  get  to  Louisville.  It  would  be  good  advertis- 
ing to  put  this  information  into  the  hands  of  the  public 
in  an  intelligent  way.  It  is  good  business  to  show 
people  how  they  can  go  from  Podunk  to  Squeedunk 
and  better  business  to  show  them  how  to  get  from 
Squeedunk  to  any  other  place. 

Getting  back  to  the  question  of  feature  advertising 
— we  tried  it  out  in  a  small  way  this  year.  With  the 
assistance  of  some  of  the  Indiana  lines,  25,000  four- 
page  pamphlets  (reproduced  herewith)  which  were 
descriptive  of  the  lakes  and  summer  resorts  located 
in  the  territory  served  by  the  Winona  Lines  were  dis- 
tributed. The  results  have  been  most  gratifying.  In 
checking  up  with  the  various  hotel  managements,  it 
was  learned  that  a  large  number  of  new  people  had  been 
attracted  to  these  places,  because  of  the  publicity 
afforded  by  the  pamphlet. 

Let  us  suppose  that  all  of  the  attractions  in  Indiana, 


Two  Outer  Pages  of  Attractive  "Outing  Folder" 
Distributed  by  Winona  Interurban 


Ohio  or  Michigan  were  treated  in  this  manner  and  that 
the  advertising  campaign  was  put  out  on  a  co-operative 
basis  by  the  several  interurbans  interested.  There 
could  be  no  question  about  successful  returns.  The 
normal  American  citizen  is  chock-full  of  play ;  his 
curiosity  is  easily  aroused;  make  a  noise  and  he  wants 
to  investigate.  Why  not  "blow  the  horn"  and  give 
him  a  chance  to  come  and  look?  It  is  up  to  the  electric 
railways  to  stimulate  interest  in  places  that  will  mean 
traffic  for  them. 

The  Central  Electric  Traffic  Association  is  to  be  com- 
mended upon  its  recent  effort  to  unify  the  rates  of  fare 
to  conventions  and  large  gatherings.  It  is  now  no 
longer  necessary  to  secure  the  consent  of  individual 
carriers  to  establish  reduced  fares.  The  Traffic  Asso- 
ciation has  delegated  this  power  to  a  committee  and 
the  result  is  that  the  central  territory  railways  ai-e 
operating  as  a  unit. 

Let  us  hope  that  in  years  to  come  we  may  operate  as 
a  big  family,  joining  in  one  big  effort  to  tell  the  people 
of  Squeedunk  about  the  wonderful  things  which  are 
to  be  found  in  Podunk,  to  tell  the  poor  fellow  at  South 
Bend  how  to  get  to  Louisville  over  four  different  trac- 
tion systems  without  referring  to  a  grip  full  of  time 
cards,  and  to  remove  the  "whereases"  and  "wherefores" 
of  the  individual  lines  and  operate  as  an  industry. 


514 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  IS 


The  Latest  Addition  to  the  Transportation  Salesman's  Stock  in  Trade  Opens  Up  Many  New 
Avenues  tor  Selling  Transportation  and  Developing  New  Car  Riders 


A  New  Merchandising  Agent 
The  Rail-less  Vehicle 


An  Editorial  Discussion 


A  N 

A 


ND  what  of  the  rail-less  vehicle — the  trolley  bus 
and  the  motor  bus?  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
transportation  man,  in  his  role  of  salesman,  in 
his  attempt  to  furnish  a  product  to  meet  the  customer's 
wishes,  in  his  effort  to  do  business  as  any  first-class 
business  man  by  supplying  his  customers  with  complete 
needs  in  his  line,  the  least  that  can  be  said  of  bus  trans- 
portation is  that  it  deserves  careful  study  and  analysis. 
If  it  will  serve  the  transportation  man  in  his  business 
he  should  grasp  the  opportunity  to  use  it  not  only  in  the 
places  where  he  knows  he  cannot  afford  to  operate  rail 
service  but  to  supplement  existing  routes  where  it  is 
necessary  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  traveling  public. 
For,  today,  there  is  a  real  demand  on  the  part  of  the 
public  to  ride  on  rubber  tires  out  in  the  open  and  for 
that  privilege  in  some  cases  it  is  willing  to  pay  a  higher 
rate  of  fare.  The  use  of  the  bus  on  the  part  of  the 
traction  companies  also  affords  them  many  new  avenues 
of  selling  transportation,  thereby  increasing  their  own 
usefulness  to  the  community,  in  that  they  are  able  to 
serve  a  larger  territory  and  a  greater  number  of  pa- 
trons. It  also  affords  a  means  of  maintaining  the 
transportation  monopoly  which  community  welfare  de- 
mands, thereby  keeping  out  the  competitor  who  seeks 
to  provide  service  to  points  now  readily  reached  by 
the  existing  transportation  agency. 

As  yet,  unfortunately  perhaps,  the  railway  man  has 
failed  to  grasp  the  many  opportunities  that  lay  before 
him  for  bus  service.  But  the  transportation  salesman 
who  is  a  close  observer  of  traffic  and  the  whims  of  the 
traveling  public  is  watching  the  rail-less  vehicle.  He 
believes  it  is  a  new  and  undeveloped  means  for  increas- 
ing his  volume  of  business  both  by  adding  new  cus- 
tomers and  by  securing  more  purchases  from  old  cus- 
tomers. This  type  of  vehicle,  he  claims,  has  both  an 
economic  and  a  merchandising  sphere  in  passenger 
transportation  and  it  should  receive  the  attention  of 
every  railway  executive. 

Purely  from  the  standpoint  of  selling  transportation, 
therefore,  which  is  the  fundamental  service  of  electric 
railways,  it  would  seem  that  rail-less  vehicles  can  be 
used  in  both  complementary  and  supplementary  service. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  public  likes  to  ride  on 
rubber  tires,  and  also  that  the  public  wants  increased 
service  in  many  places.  As  stated  before,  the  rail-less 
vehicle  thus  affords  a  merchandising  agency  to  satisfy 
these  demands.  Taking  into  consideration  the  psychol- 
ogy of  the  public  it  deserves  study  by  railway  men.  At 
a  minimum  of  investment,  it  sells  transportation  that 
is  new  and  that  is  needed. 

By  complementary  service  is  meant  the  various 
classes  of  extensions  and  feeder  service.  For  instance, 
extension  or  feeder  service  can  be  run  from  the  end  of 


the  main  street  line  where  there  are  several  hundred 
families  within  1  or  2  miles.  The  installation  of  bus. 
service  in  such  cases  not  only  supplies  cheaply  a  trans- 
portation need  but  also  develops  more  riders  for  the 
main  railway  system.  Then  again,  bus  service  is  fea- 
sible for  outlying  or  remote  townships  or  suburban 
centers  that  are  infrequently  served  by  steam  railroads' 
and  that  also  have  no  interurban  connections.  Such 
service  develops  traffic ;  enables  the  townspeople  to  reach 
a  real  shopping  center  and  fosters  community  interest. 

The  bus  also  offers  a  means  to  aid  urban  crosstown 
traffic  by  connecting  the  open  links  to  form  belt  lines 
around  the  main  and  congested  traffic  center  and  to  aid 
through  traffic  by  connecting  open  links  in  interurban 
systems.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that  these  ap- 
plications of  the  rail-less  vehicles  will  sell  transporta- 
tion and  develop  new  business. 

By  supplementary  service  is  meant  that  which  assists 
in  carrying  traffic  on  what  might  be  called,  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  existing  routes.  For  example,  in  many  cities 
there  is  an  opportunity  to  use  the  rail-less  vehicles  on 
boulevards  or  other  streets  which  are  not  served  by 
railway  vehicles  in  a  sort  of  de  luxe  service  on  which 
a  higher  fare  can  be  charged.  This  also  often  aids  the 
main  transportation  agency  by  relieving  overloaded 
heavy  traffic  lines.  The  coach  systems  of  New  York, 
Detroit  and  Chicago  are  outstanding  American  ex- 
amples of  this  supplementary  service. 

The  rail-less  vehicle  can  also  be  used  on  routes  which 
are  overcrowded  during  rush  hours.  Here  the  rail-less 
vehicle  is  able  to  aid  the  rail  system  not  only  by  trans- 
ferring a  certain  number  of  passengers  to  the  de  luxe 
service,  but  also  by  giving  an  ordinary  service.  This 
kind  of  operation  need  not  be  confined  and  preferably 
should  not  be  confined  to  the  same  streets  on  which  the 
rail  cars  operate,  but  should  be  given  simply  between 
the  same  termini.  In  this  way  it  is  evident  that  a 
territory  not  heretofore  directly  furnished  with  trans- 
portation is  traversed  and  becomes  a  source  of  some 
considerable  traffic.  Such  supplementary  service  is  good 
business,  as  it  makes  for  better  service  and  pleases  the 
public.  In  general,  it  appears  that  it  can  be  offered 
most  economically  by  a  rail-less  vehicle. 

What  About  the  Economics? 

In  a  general  way  the  economic  situation  today,  at 
least  so  long  as  the  public  roadway  is  used,  in  addition 
to  the  merchandising  element,  provides  certain  saving 
arguments  for  the  rail-less  vehicle. 

There  exists  in  practically  every  traction  community 
today  a  want  for  additional  transportation  service.  The 
existing  railways  have  found  that  it  is  increasingly  dif- 
ficult to  finance  these  extensions  with  rail  service  and 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


515 


Trolley  Bus  Developed  by  Trackless  Transportation  Com- 
pany, Neiv  York,  N.  Y.    Seating  Capacity  Twenty- 
nine.    General  Electric  Equipment  Used 

often  if  these  extensions  were  built  the  fare  necessary 
to  come  anywhere  near  meeting  the  cost  of  the 
service  operated  would  be  so  high  that  riding  would 
be  discouraged,  with  the  result  that  the  losses  would 
have  to  be  borne  by  profitable  lines. 

In  such  cases  the  railway  can  not  afford  in  this  day 
to  neglect  to  provide  for  the  growth  of  the  community. 
If  it  does  it  will  not  be  long  before  independent  oper- 
ators enter  the  field,  and  instead  bf  co-operation  to  ren- 
der the  most  economical  form  of  transportation  to 
answer  the  needs  of  the  community  there  at  once  begins 
direct  competition.  These  operators  will  attempt  to 
carry  passengers  not  alone  from  the  terminus  of  the 
existing  railway  line  but  will  duplicate  existing  rail 
service  in  an  endeavor  to  reap  as  large  a  profit  as  pos- 
sible. The  usual  result  has  already  been  demonstrated 
in  several  communities. 

It  is  not  always  to  be  expected  that  at  the  start  bus 
operation  will  be  self-supporting.  That  has  long  been 
true  of  rail  extensions  as  well,  but  with  the  bus  it  is 
possible,  due  to  its  mobility,  to  shift  its  route  from  time 
to  time  so  as  to  accommodate  the  greatest  number  of 
persons.    This  fact  alone  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  bus 


"Rail-less"  Car  Developed  by  J.  G.  Brill  Company,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.    Seating  Capacity  Twenty-eight. 
General  Electric  Equipment  Used 

transportation  will  play  such  a  real  part  in  the  future 
passenger  transportation  field.  Already  under  private 
individual  ownership  the  motor  bus  has  fulfilled  a  popu- 
lar demand  and  it  is  now  incumbent  upon  the  existing 
traction  companies  to  supply  this  service  as  a  part  of 
their  own  organization  where  the  circumstances  warrant. 

It  is  obvious  that  one  organization  furnishing  co- 
ordinated service  will  supply  better  transportation  than 
can  several  companies  or  individuals  supplying  dupli- 
cate and  competing  service.  President  Gadsden  of 
the  American  Railway  Association  said  nearly  a  year 
ago  "that  the  railways  themselves  must  adopt  and  use 
the  motor  bus  in  its  correct  economic  sphere." 

The  traction  companies  have  within  the  last  year  or 
two  begun  to  recognize  the  attitude  of  the  public  mind 
toward  the  motor  bus.  Information  gathered  shows 
that  about  twenty-five  electric  railways  are  now  oper- 
ating approximately  130  vehicles  either  in  complemen- 
tary or  supplementary  service.  In  some  cases  the  fares 
charged  are  a  part  of  the  street  car  fare,  while  in 
others  an  endeavor  is  made  to  maintain  bus  operation 
on  its  own  feet. 

As  yet,  however,  only  a  start  has  been  taken  by  the 


'Trollibus"  Built  by  Atlas  Truck  Company,  York,  Pa.,  foi 
Operation  by  the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Company. 
Seats  Thirty  Passengers.    General  El?ctric 
Equipment  Used 


Trolley  Bus  Designed  by  Packard  Motor  Car  Company, 
Detroit,  Mich.    Brill  Body  on  Standard  Packard 
ED  Chassis.    Seats  Twenty- five  Passengers. 
Westinghouse  Equipment  Used 


516 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


traction  companies  in  using  rail-less  transportation  as 
an  adjunct  of  their  service.  Its  many  possibilities  have 
not  really  been  recognized  by  the  operators  of  rail- 
borne  vehicles. 

Transportation  Advantages 

From  a  transportation  standpoint  the  motor  bus  and 
trolley  bus  appear  to  have  distinct  characteristics  not 
possible  of  the  rail-borne  vehicle.  The  motor  bus  has 
two  that  make  it  the  most  mobile  unit.  One  of  these 
is  its  ability  to  be  shifted  at  the  will  of  the  operator 
from  one  street  to  another  as  traffic  conditions  change; 


practice  which  is  of  great  value  to  those  that  must 
patronize  public  service  conveyances.  This  method  of 
loading  and  unloading  eliminates  a  class  of  accidents 
prevalent  with  rail-borne  vehicles  that  has  made  it 
necessary  to  promulgate  police  restrictions  which  often 
impede  instead  of  facilitate  other  forms  of  vehicular 
street  traffic. 

It  is  not  considered  at  all  necessary  for  a  railway  to 
build  up  an  entirely  separate  operating  and  mainte- 
nance organization  if  it  decides  to  operate  buses.  To- 
day the  majority  of  companies  maintain  a  well-equipped 
garage  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  master  mechanic 


Fig.  1 — The  Ultimate  Truck,  Type  AJL.  Designed  and  built  by 
Vreeland  Motor  Company,  Inc.,  Newark,  N.  J.  Seating  capacity 
twenty-two.     Uses  Buda  motor  with  Sheldon  worm  drive. 

Fig.  2 — Motor  bus  developed  by  International  Motor  Company, 
New  York,  using  Brill  wood  body  on  standard  AB  chassis,  with 
longer  springs  and  wheelbase.  Special  rubber  spring  blocks  in 
spring  suspension  housings  give  easy  riding  with  solid  tires. 
Seating  capacity  twenty-five. 

Fig.  3 — Standard  type  of  transit  body  built  by  Paterson  Vehicle 
Company,  Paterson,  N.  J.,  mounted  on  Reo  chassis,  for  use  by 
Danbury  &  Bethel  Street  Railway. 

Fig.  4 — White  Motor  Bus,  used  by  Gloucester  Auto  Bus  Com- 
pany, Gloucester,  Mass.  Two-ton  capacity  chassis,  mounting 
wood  body,  seating  twenty-seven  passengers. 


Fig.  5 — The  Imperial  Omnibus.  Designed  and  built  by  the 
Trackless  Transportation  Company,  New  York.  A  low  center 
of  gravity  type  omnibus.  Buda  motor  and  Clark  type  rear  wheel 
internal  drive.  Kuhlman  truss  side  all  steel  body.  Seating  capac- 
ity twenty-nine. 

Fig.  6 — Day-Elder  motor  bus,  manufactured  in  Newark,  N,  J. 
Zig-zag  seating  arrangement  gives  wide  aisles  and  makes  for 
easy  unloading  when  crowded.  Buda  motor  and  Sheldon  worm 
drive  rear  end  used.    Seating  capacity  twenty-five. 

Fig.  f — Low  floor  type  of  motor  bust  developed  by  Republic 
Truck  Sales  Corporation.  Alma.  Mich.  Uses  Knight  sleeve  valve 
motor  with  rear  wheel  internal  drive.  Seating  capacity  twenty- 
five. 


the  other  is  its  ability  to  avoid  traffic  "jams"  or  getting 
tied  up  on  account  of  accidents  to  other  units  or  fires 
along  the  route  of  operation.  With  the  trolley  bus  much 
of  this  mobility  is  found  wanting — due  to  being  tied  to 
overhead  wires  for  power.  While  it  is  true  that  it 
can  pass  around  other  vehicles  stalled  on  the  street,  it 
must  nevertheless  follow  a  fixed  route. 

Sidewalk  loading  is  also  possible  for  each  unit — a 


to  look  after  the  present  automotive  equipment  now 
used  by  their  track  and  line  departments.  It  is  but 
a  step  forward  for  this  same  maintenance  force  to  care 
for  the  passenger  bus,  and  so  far  as  mechanical  details 
are  concerned  it  is  impossible  to  see  any  difference 
except  that  perhaps  it  needs  closer  inspection  for  it 
must  not  be  allowed  to  fail  in  service.  Nor  is  a  sepa- 
rate transportation  organization  necessary  except  in 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


517 


so  far  as  bus  operators  are  concerned.  Supervision 
can  and  should  be  given  by  the  traffic  inspection  force 
used  for  the  existing  rail  lines. 

About  the  only  thing  that  would  be  duplicated  if 
rail-less  service  was  rendered  would  be  the  accounting 
system  to  determine  the  cost  of  operation.  There 
appear  to  be  two  methods  that  can  be  followed — one  is 
to  keep  separate  accounts,  which  at  the  end  of  the 
fiscal  period  would  be  added  in  with  the  cost  of  rail 
service,  while  the  other  is  to  keep  the  entire  cost  of 
operation  separate  and  add  only  the  net  result  into 
the  income  account. 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  motor  bus  and  trolley  bus  will 
supplant  at  present  much  if  any  of  the  existing  rail 
lines. 

The  field  of  the  bus,  it  appears,  is  not  to  sup- 
plant existing  trolley  routes  but  rather  in  furnishing 
complementary  and  supplementary  service  thereto.  The 
bus  can  do  a  real  work  in  developing  new  territory 
adjacent  to  growing  communities  and  can  also  aid  in 
establishing  community  spirit  between  neighboring 
towns  and  villages  until  sufficient  density  of  traffic  has 


been  developed  to  warrant  the  necessary  expenditure 
for  rails,  power  plants  and  distribution  systems;  that 
is  to  say,  a  more  extensive  transportation  system. 

Editorially  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  has 
already  taken  the  position  that  there  is  a  distinct  field 
for  this  mode  of  transportation,  and  that  it  should  be 
operated  as  an  adjunct  by  existing  traction  companies. 

There  is  no  fear  that  many  rail  systems  will  be  sup- 
planted by  bus  systems.  It  is  self-evident,  however, 
that  the  facts  as  they  now  exist  indicate  a  growing 
public  use  for  rail-less  vehicles  in  transportation.  The 
field  has  been  over-emphasized  by  some  and  under- 
emphasized  by  others.  It  appears  that  those  who  know 
most  about  transportation,  urban  and  interurban,  are 
the  ones  to  apply  the  most  sound  business  and  sales 
ability  toward  the  correct  application  of  this  method 
of  transportation. 

Of  course  the  ever-rising  question  of  cost  is  in  the 
mind  of  every  one  who  would  like  to  study  this  situa- 
tion. Several  studies  have  been  made  to  determine  the 
facts,  and  these  are  now  being  published.  One  of  these 
studies  follows. 


An  Analysis  Indicates  that,  Based  on  Cost  of  Service  Alone,  the  Rail-less  Vehicle,  with  Its 
Smaller  Fixed  Charges,  Can  Compete  with  Rail-Borne  Vehicles  in  Certain  Circumstances 


The  Bus  Transportation  Field 

By  C.  W.  Stocks 

Associate  Editor  "Electric  Railway  Journal,"  New  York,  N.  Y. 


THE  cost  of  rendering  service  using  the  motor  bus, 
the  trolley  bus  and  safety  car  as  part  of  a  co-ordi- 
nated system  has  for  some  time  past  been  a  mat- 
ter of  much  conjecture.  In  an  attempt  to  determine 
the  facts  as  they  exist  a  comprehensive  study  has  been 
made  of  the  cost  to  build  and  operate  a  3-mile  line  under 
varying  headways  with  each  type  of  equipment.  In  this 
study  data  were  drawn  from  experience  in  so  far  as  they 
were  available.  The  figures  are  based  on  the  theory 
that  the  3-mile  line  is  an  extension  of  an  existing  trans- 
portation system,  either  a  bus  system  or  a  trolley  line. 
If  the  existing  transportation  system  is  a  trolley  line, 
there  would  naturally  be  advantages  in  the  use  of  the 
same  kind  of  equipment  on  the  extension  and  these 
would  be  reflected  in  considerably  lower  maintenance 
and  transportation  costs  than  those  indicated  in  the 
tables.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  city  system  was  oper- 
ated by  buses,  the  same  economies  would  follow  the  use 
of  buses  on  the  extension.  The  figures,  like  estimates 
of  this  kind,  are  intended  to  reflect  average  conditions 
and  costs  only.  Individual  cases  are  quite  apt  to  show  a 
divergence  from  them. 

Another  factor  which  has  not  been  included,  because 
it  has  been  impossible  to  evaluate  it,  is  that  of  relative 
obsolescence  of  the  three  classes  of  vehicles.  Neverthe- 
less, it  is  probable  that  as  the  electric  railway  art  is 
older  there  is  comparatively  less  chance  of  radical 
changes  in  the  art  than  with  the  newer  type  of  vehicles. 

It  should  be  understood  that  this  analysis  does  not 
involve  the  question  of  supplanting  rail  service  with 
service  by  rail-less  vehicles.    If  this  is  contemplated  it 


becomes  necessary  for  the  new  form  of  service  to  earn 
not  only  its  own  fixed  charges  but  also  the  deprecia- 
tion, fixed  charges  and  taxes  on  the  investment  in  rails 
and  distribution  system  supplanted.  Such  items  must 
be  added  to  the  total  cost  of  service  shown  in  the  sup- 
porting tables  and  curves  for  the  rail-less  vehicles  to 
be  used,  in  order  to  get  a  strictly  comparable  basis  with 
the  safety  car. 

Based  on  the  hypothesis  just  stated,  the  analysis  indi- 
cates that  where  the  traffic  is  thin  the  field  of  the  high- 
way-borne vehicle  is  superior.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
traffic  requirements  increase,  the  lower  cost  of  operation 
of  light,  rail-borne  vehicles  gradually  offsets  the  fixed 
charges  for  the  necessary  rail  investment,  so  that,  with 
the  assumptions  used,  headways  of  less  than  2i  minutes 
can  be  operated  most  economically  with  rail-borne 
safety  cars. 

The  analysis  also  shows  that  the  motor  bus  has  the 
most  varied  field  and  is  cheaper  where  traffic  re- 
quires less  than  116  seats  per  hour.  This  means  that 
schedules  calling  for  headways  of  fifteen  minutes  or 
more  can  be  operated  economically  only  with  the  motor 
bus.  The  trolley  bus,  due  to  the  investment  required 
for  overhead  wires  and  the  slightly  greater  cost  of  the 
vehicle  itself,  even  though  its  bare  operating  costs  are 
less  than  the  motor  bus,  has  its  field  of  economic  opera- 
tion between  the  motor  bus  and  the  rail-borne  vehicle. 
Traffic  requirements  calling  for  headways  ranging  from 
two  and  one-half  to  twelve  and  one-half  minutes  which 
furnish  from  720  down  to  150  seats  per  hour  can  best  be 
handled  by  the  trolley  bus. 


ICor 

20 


30 


40       50      60       0         10       20       30       40       50      60  0 
60  MIN.    HEADWAY,      39,420    MILES    PER  YEAR 


ICar 

20 


30 


40  50 


60 


20 


30 


40 


20 


30 


40 


20 


30 


40 


!Cars 

!Cars 

50      60        0        10       EO       30       40       50      60  0 
30  MIN.    HEADWAY,    78,840    MILES    "PER  YEAR 


20 


30 


40 


60 


/ 

/  ZGars\ 

k»rs\ 

50      60        0        10       20       30       40        50      60  0 
20  MIN.    HEADWAY,    118,260    MILES     PER  YEAR 


20 


30 


40 


^ars 

x 

50 


60  0  10  20  30  40  50  60  0 
15  MIN.     HEADWAY,     157,360     MILES     PER  YEAR 


20 


30 


40 


/  \4 

Cars 

/  \ 

.Car\ 

50      60        o        10       20       30      40       50  60 

10  MIN.     HEADWAY,    236,520    MILES     PER  YEAR 


Ga<4 

20 


30 


40 


50  60 


20 


30 


40 


7^  MIN.     HEADWAY,    315,360    MILES    PER  YEAR 


50       60        0        X)      20       30      40       50       60  0 
5  MIN.    HEADWAY,    473,040     MILES    PEP  YEAR 


20 


30 


40 


50  60 


X 

/ 

J 

Cars\ 

0 


50  60 


50  60 


50 


60 


Z\    MIN.  HEADWAY 

946,080  MILES  PER  YEAR  963,326  MILES  PER  YEAR  952,971  MILES  PER  YEAR 

Reading  from  Left  to  Right,  Operating  Schedules  for  the  Motor  Bus,  the  Trolley  Bus 
and  the  Safety  Car  at  the  Headways  Assumed 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


519 


It  is  only  natural  that  the  bus  is  shown  to  be  the 
most  economical  for  operation  under  long  headways; 
that  is,  where  the  traffic  is  thin.  In  reality  this  appears 
to  be  the  field  which  has  the  greatest  possibility  of 
future  development,  for  practically  all  of  the  needed 
extensions  that  the  railways  should  have  built  in  the 
past  few  years  are  just  suited  for  exploitation  by  the 
rail-less  vehicle. 

It  is  evident  that  even  with  present  costs  of  new 
construction  urban  transportation  facilities  cannot  be 
built  so  as  to  operate  at  the  rate  of  fare  in  effect  on 
systems  built  under  pre-war  conditions.  The  invest- 
ment for  track  alone  would  provide  many  vehicles. 

This  difference  in  investment  necessary  as  between 
the  several  modes  of  transportation  is  sufficient  to  war- 
rant the  railway  operator  in  adopting  the  bus  for  orig- 
inal development  purposes  on  (1)  extensions  to  existing 
rail  lines;  (2)  for  crosstown  services,  especially  between 
factory  districts  and  housing  developments  that  have 
no  direct  rail  service;  (3)  for  belt  lines  in  urban  cen- 
ters to  connect  mid-points  of  rail  routes  so  as  to  facili- 
tate passenger  convenience  and  reduce  the  time  spent 
in  traveling  via  a  roundabout  rail  route.  As  the  den- 
sity and  permanency  of  the  traffic  develops  other  types 
of  vehicles  may  be  found  more  economical  of  operation. 

Both  the  motor  bus  and  trolley  bus  are  also  possible 
of  use  to  supplement  existing  rail  service  where  traffic 
has  outgrown  present  track  facilities.  In  the  case  of 
the  motor  bus,  though,  it  is  not  necessary  to  confine  its 
route  of  operation  to  that  of  the  existing  rail  service, 
but  simply  between  the  same  termini.  Even  an  en- 
tirely alternate  route  through  adjacent  territory  can  be 
used,  thus  opening  up  new  territory  not  heretofore 
directly  furnished  with  transportation.  Another  un- 
deniable field  for  the  motor  bus  is  to  outlying  suburban 
points  even  as  far  as  20  miles  where  only  several  trips 
a  day  are  necessary  to  meet  the  traffic  requirements. 

The  3-mile  route  was  selected  as  the  basis  for  compu- 
tation in  the  belief  that  from  an  analysis  of  the  cost  of 
service  thereon  the  relative  practicability  of  each  mode 
of  transportation  could  be  indicated.  Such  a  length  of 
line  may  also  be  considered  as  the  average  needed  ex- 
tension branching  off  of  an  existing  route  or  for  a  new 
route  starting  from  some  civic  center  and  tapping  ter- 
ritory not  served  by  other  forms  of  transportation. 

Among  the  factors  considered  in  making  the  analysis 
were  those  of  service,  speed  and  mobility  of  operation. 
The  service  was  laid  out  to  operate  on  headways  vary- 
ing from  sixty  to  two  and  one-half  minutes  in  order  to 
determine  the  variations  in  cost  of  service  as  the  num- 
ber of  vehicles  and  car-miles  increased.  The  whole 
analysis  was  predicated  on  the  standard  classification  of 
accounts  for  electric  railways.  By  so  doing  direct  com- 
parisons as  to  costs  for  each  form  of  vehicle  can  be 
made. 

For  convenience  of  operation  and  ability  to  maintain 
the  proper  headways  a  double  set  of  overhead  wires 
were  strung  for  trolley  bus  operation  in  view  of  the 
tight  schedule  when  the  headway  was  reduced  to  twenty 
minutes.  Double  tracks  were  considered  necessary  for 
operation  of  safety  cars  when  running  on  less  than  a 
fifteen-minute  headway. 

It  is  estimated  that  approximately  the  same  amount 
of  traffic  can  be  handled  on  each  form  of  vehicle, 
although  undoubtedly  a  safety  car  can  carry  a  greater 
number  of  standees.  It  was  assumed  that  the  motor 
bus  and  trolley  bus  would  seat  twenty-nine  and  the 
safety  car  thirty.    On  the  basis  of  maximum  capacity, 


TABLE  I— INVESTMENT  ACCOUNT  UNIT  COSTS 


Unit 

Vehicles   Each 

SeatirgeapaOty   Each 

Garage  or  carhouse,  including 

shop  space   Per  vehicle 

Land  for  garage  or  carhouse.  Per  vehicle 

Shop  tuols  and  machinery .  .  .  Per  vehicle 

Electric  lines    /  Single  pair. .  Route-mile 

1  Double  pair  Route-mile 

Distribution  system 

f  Single  track  Route-mile 

I  Double  track  Route-mile 

Track  construction 

f  Single  track  Per  mile 

1  Double  track  Per  mile 


Motor 
Bus 


Trolley 
Bus 


Safety 
Car 


$7,500 

$8,000 

$6,000 

29 

29 

30 

$750 

$750 

$750 

250 

250 

250 

250 

250 

250 

4,500 

6,000 

3,500 
7,000 

30,000 
60.000 

the  buses  would  each  carry  forty-five,  as  compared  to 
fifty-three  on  the  safety  car. 

The  unit  prices  used  in  calculating  the  total  invest- 
ment for  each  mode  of  transportation  are  given  in 
Table  I.  The  prices  used  are  believed  to  be  conservative 
and,  except  for  the  cost  of  vehicles,  represent  pre-war 
prices.  Present-day  prices  were  taken  for  the  rolling 
stock  in  each  case. 

In  calculating  the  cost  of  service  many  items  of  ex- 
pense were  found  to  vary  directly  with  the  number  of 
car-miles  operated,  while  with  others  the  expense  does 
not  vary  with  the  service.  For  instance,  much  of  the 
expense  incident  to  the  way  and  structure  maintenance 
for  rail  service  is  due  to  the  elements,  irrespective  of 
the  number  of  cars  operated  if  the  same  operating 
efficiency  is  maintained  at  all  times.  For  this  reason  the 
maintenance  figures  per  car-mile  for  track  include  a 
fixed  expense  of  $466.66  per  mile  of  route,  a  total  of 
$1,400  to  cover  the  cost  of  removal  of  snow  and  ice, 
cleaning  and  sanding  track,  etc.  Electric  line  main- 
tenance, likewise,  includes  $166  per  mile  of  route,  or 
$500  to  cover  the  cost  of  painting  poles,  repairs  to 
broken  wires  and  damage  caused  by  storms. 

The  allowances  for  superintendence  of  equipment,  for 
transportation  and  for  general  and  miscellaneous  ex- 
penses represent  the  practice  of  up-to-date  operating 
electric  railway  companies.  This  service  was  taken  as 
being  a  part  of  a  co-ordinated  system. 

TABLE  II— UNIT  COSTS  USED  IN  CALCULATING  COST  OF  SERVICE 


Motor 
Bus 


Trolley 
Bus 


Unit 

Way  and  Structure  Accounts: 

Highway  expense  _  Route-mile  $75 

Track  maintenance  and  bonding 

Fixed  expense   Route-mile   

Variable  expense   Vehicle-mile   

Electric  line  maintenance 

Fixed  expense   Route-mile   

Variable  expense   Vehicle-mile   

Maintenance  buildings,  fix- 
tures and  grounds   Investment    2  per  cent     2  per  cent 

Depreciation  track   Investment 

Depreciation  electric  lines.  .  .  Investment 

Depreciation  of  buildings. .  .  .  Investment 
Equipment  Accounts: 

Superintendence   Vehicle-mile 

Maintenance  of  vehicles. ....  Vehicle-mile 

Service   equipment  mainte- 
nance  Total  $100 

Shop  equipment  maintenance    Total  $100 

Shop  expenses   Vehicle-mile    0.3  cents 

Depreciation  vehicles  and  ?  f  *  I  PP^B 
equipment   Investment 


2  per  cent 

1 . 6  cents 
5  0  cents 


$75 


$166 

0  4  cents 


6  per  cent 
2  per  cent 

1 . 6  cents 
3 .  0  cents 


0 


$100 
$100 

3  cents 


Investment 


12  5 

per  cent 
1 0  per  cent 


12  5 

per  cent 
1 0  per  cent 


22  cents 


Depreciation  shop  equipment 

Power  Accounts: 

Gasoline — wholesale   Gal.  | 

Unit  cost 

Gasoline  consumption   Miles  per  gal 

Lubricants   Bus-mile 

Cost  of  power,  at  2\  cents 

kw.-hr   Vehicle-mile 

Conducting  Transportation: 

Superintendence   Vehicle-mile 

Wages  of  operators   Man-hour 

Cleaning  and  washing   Vehicle  year 

Other  transportation  expenses  Vehicle-mile  Balsrce  to  make  0  5  cen 

with  cleaning  and  wash 

Traffic  expenses — Advertising  Vehicle-mile  0  16  cents    0  16  cents 
General  and  miscellaneous 

expenses   Vehicle-mile  3 .  9  cents 

Taxes  on  physical  property. .  Investment    2  per  cent 

State  license   Vehicle  $50 

City  permit  or  car  license  .  .  Vehicle  $25 

Fixed  charges — interest   Investment    7  per  cent 


Safety 
Car 


$466 

0  9  cents 

$166 

0  3  cents 

2  per  cent 
4  per  cent 
6  per  cent 
2  per  cent 

1 . 6  cents 
2  0  cents 

$100 
$100 

0  3  cents 

8  333 
per  cent 
1 0  per  cent 


7.0 
4  cents 


3  cents 
65  cents 
,100 


16  cents     3  62  cents 


3  cents 
65  cents 
$100 


3 . 9  cents 
2  per  cent 


1 . 3  cents 
65  cents 
$100 
ts  per  mile 
ing 

0.  16  cents 

3 .  9  cents 
2  per  cent 


7  per  cent     7  per  cent 


520 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


TABLE  III. — ANALYSIS  OF  COST  OF  SERVICE  ON  A  3-MILE  EXTENSION" 


.Motor 
Bus 

Headway  (minutes)   60 

Mileage  run  per  year   39,420 

Car-miles  per  ear-hour   6 

Necessary  vehicle?   2 

Revenue  seats   29 

Revenue  seat-miles   1,143,180 

Dead  time  in  schedule   40% 

Total  investment   $17,700 

Cost  of  Service  (cents  per  vehicle-mile): 

Maintenance  of  way  and  structures  .  0  647 

Depreciation  of  buildings   076 

Depreciation  <  f  track   

Depreciation  i  f  electric  line  

Total  way  and  structures.   0.  723 

Maintenance  of  equipment   8  908 

Depreciation  of  vehicles   4  756 

Depreciation  of  shop  machinery.  .  127 

Total  equipment   13  791 

Power   3.543 

Conducting  transportation. .    12  641 

Traffic   160 

General  and  miscellaneous   3  900 

Total  operating  expense   34  758 

Taxes   898 

Licenses  and  permits   380 

Fixed  charges   3  143 

Cost  of  service   39  179 


Trollev 
Bus 
60 

39,420 
6 
2 

29 


Safety 
Car 

60 

39,420 
6 
2 

30 


1,143,180  1,182,609 
33t%  30% 
$32,200  $115,200 


2  315 
076 


2  055 

4  446 

6  908 

5  073 
127 


12  108 

3  160 
12  641 
160 

3  900 


6  095 
076 

9  132 

1  .598 

16  901 

4  408 

2  537 
127 

7  072 

3  620 
12  641 

160 
3  900 


36  415 
I  634 


5  718 
43  767 


44  294 

5  845 


20  456 
70  595 


Motor 
Bus 
30 

78,840 
6 
3 

29 


Trollev 
Bus 
30 

78,840 
6 
3 

29 


Safety 
Car 
30 

78,840 
6 

3 

30 


2,286,360  2,286.360  2,365,200 
40%       33 !-%  30% 
$26,550     $41,550  $122,550 


0  342 
057 


0  399 

8  564 
3  658 
095 


I  376 
057 


I  027 


3  667 
057 

4  566 
799 


2  460       9  089 


6  654 
3  805 
095 


12  317      10  554 


3  543 
12  633 
160 
3  900 

32  952 


674 

285 


2  357 
36  268 


3  160 
12  633 
160 
3  900 

32  867 

1  054 


3  688 
37  609 


4  154 

I  903 
095 

6  152 

3  620 
12  633 
160 
3  900 

35  554 

3  109 


Motor 
Bus 
20 

I  18,260 
9 
3 

29 


Trolley 
Bus 
20 

1 18,260 

9 
3 

29 


Safety 
Car 
20 

118,260 
9 
3 

30 


Motor 
Bus 
15 

157,680 
8  • 
4 

29 


Trolley 
Bus 
15 

157,680 
8 
4 

29 


Safety- 
Car 
15 

157,680 
8 
4 

30 


3,429,540  3,429,540  3,547,800 
8'%        None  None 
$26,550     $46,050  $122,550 


4,572,720  4,572,720  4,730,400 
20%      11.  1%  6}% 
$35,400     $55,400  $129,300 


10  882 
49  545 


0 

228 

1 

051 

2 

845 

0 

181 

0 

888 

2 

443 

038 

038 

038 

038 

048 

038 

3 

044 

2 

283 

914 

533 

685 

399 

0 

266 

2 

003 

6 

460 

0 

219 

1 

621 

5 

163 

8 

570 

6 

570 

4 

070 

8 

526 

6 

526 

4 

026 

2 

379 

2 

537 

1 

268 

2 

378 

2 

537 

1 

268 

063 

063 

063 

063 

063 

063 

1 1 

012 

9 

170 

5 

401 

10 

967 

9 

126 

5 

357 

3 

543 

3 

160 

3 

620 

3 

543 

3 

160 

3 

620 

9 

022 

9 

022 

9 

022 

9 

925 

9 

925 

9 

925 

160 

160 

160 

160 

160 

160 

3 

900 

3 

900 

3 

900 

3 

900 

3 

900 

3 

900 

27 

903 

27 

415 

28 

563 

28 

714 

27 

892 

28 

125 

449 

779 

2 

073 

449 

703 

1 

640 

190 

190 

1 

571 

2 

726 

7 

254 

1 

572 

2 

459 

5 

740 

30 

113 

30 

820 

37 

890 

30 

925 

31 

054 

35 

505 

Ample  allowances  have  been  included  for  depreciation. 
Buildings  were  assumed  to  have  a  life  of  fifty  years, 
track  structures  twenty-five  years,  electric  lines  sixteen 
and  two-thirds  years.  The  life  of  the  motor  bus  and 
trolley  bus  was  taken  at  eight  years,  while  that  of  the 
safety  car  was  assumed  to  be  twelve  years.  Shop  tools 
and  machinery  were  estimated  to  last  ten  years. 

The  estimates  for  power  are  based  entirely  on  pur- 
chased power  at  a  rate  of  2i  cents  per  kilowatt-hour  at 
the  car  so  as  to  forego  the  necessity  of  calculating  power 


 Legend  

(1)  Operating  expenses  less  wages  of 
operators  and  depreciation 

(2)  Depreciation  allowance 

(3>  Operating  expenses  less  wages 
—      of  operators 

(4)  Fixed  ch aretes  and  taxes 

(5)  Cost  of  service  less  waqes 
of  operators 


Motor  Bus 

/< 

'ft™ 

€> 

% 

(1) 

i 

0  (0  20  30  40  50  60 


 ^Safety 

Car 

> 

— r — 
/  \ 

fA 

W 

if 

4 

1 1\\ 

/ 

iff* 

70 
66 
66 
64 
62 
60 
58 
56 
54 
52 
is  50 
l.46 
O  46 

°-AZ 
42  40 


Full  lines  exclude  wages 
of  operators 

Dotted  lines  show  full  cost 
of  service,  wages  of 

operators  65  cents 

per  hour 


20  30  40  50  60  0  10  20  30  40  50  60 


0   5  10  15  20  25  30  35  40  45  50  55  60 
Headway,  Mlnu+es 

Graphical  Analysis  of  Items  Involved  in  the  Cost  of  Service 


plant  and  substation  costs.  Power  consumption  was  fig- 
ured at  1.4  kw.-hr.  and  1.6  kw.-hr.  per  mile  respectively 
for  the  trolley  bus  and  safety  car.  These  figures  are 
predicated  on  250  watt-hours  per  ton-mile  for  the  rub- 
ber-tired vehicle  as  against  200  watt-hours  per  ton- 
mile  for  the  safety  car.  Gasoline  consumption  for  the 
motor  bus  was  estimated  at  7  miles  per  gallon  at  a 
wholesale  cost  of  22  cents  per  gallon. 

Separate  schedules  for  each  of  the  several  headways 
taken  were  figured  for  each  mode  of  transportation. 

The  schedule  speed,  however, 
was  taken  at  10,  9  and  84 
miles  per  hour  for  the  motor 
bus,  the  trolley  bus  and  the 
safety  car  respectively.  This 
gives  a  one-way  trip  in  eight- 
een, twenty  and  twenty-one 
minutes.  It  was  assumed 
that  the  rail-less  vehicle, 
due  to  its  greater  mobility, 
could  hold  a  faster  schedule 
than  the  safety  car.  The 
schedules  as  assumed  are 
shown  in  the  accompanying 
diagrams.  From  these  dia- 
grams it  will  be  noted  that 
for  each  of  the  headways 
the  actual  speed  in  miles  per 
hour  for  each  of  the  three 
vehicles  is  the  same  until  the 
headways  are  reduced  to 
seven  and  one-half  minutes 
or  less ;  then,  due  to  the  dif- 
ference in  speed  and  layover 
time  necessary,  the  car-miles 
per  car-hour  for  both  forms 
of  rail-less  vehicles  are 
greater  than  for  the  rail- 
borne  safety  car. 

Operator's  wages  were 
taken  at  the  same  rate  for 
each  form  of  vehicle,  for  it 


i  / 

t 

4/ 

/ 

/ 

M 

) 

-h 
i 

i 
i 

7 

by. 

-'1 

fie) 

i— 

ttpl. 

— 4 

/ 

It 

JvfC 

■ / 

~i — 
/ 

j  / 

/ 

y 

j  / 

P 

,/ 

If 

September  24,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


521 


TO  AN  EXISTING  TRANSPORTATION  SYSTEM  FOR  VARIOUS  HEADWAYS 

.Motor  Trolley  Safety  Motor  Trolley  Safety  Motor  Trolley  Safety  Motor  Trolley  Safety 

Bus  Bus  Car  Bus  Bus  Car  Bus  Bus  Car  Bus  Bus  Car 

10  10  10  7i  7i  7i  5  5  5  2h  2i  2h .  .Headway  (minutes) 

236,520  236,520  236,520  315,360  315,360  315,360  473,040  473,040  473,040  946,080  963,326  952,971 ..  Mileage  run  per  year 

9  9  9  96  8  8  9  9  8  98625  8J  ..  Car-miles  per  car-hour 

5  5  5  6  7  7  9  9  10  18  19  20. .  Necessary  vehicles 

29  29  30  29  29  30  29  29  30  29  29  30.  .Revenue  seats 

6,859,080  6,859,080  7,095,600  9,145,440  9,145,440  12,460,800  13,718,160  13,718,160  14,791,200    27,936,454  28,589, 1 30.  .Revenue  seat-miles 

10%  None  None  4%  II  1%  None  10%  None  None  10%  4  .16%  5%  . .  Dead  time  in  schedule 

$44,250  $64,750  $237,750  $53,100  $83,450  $252,350  $79,650  $102,150  $274,500  $159,300  $196,650  $348,000.  .Total  investment 

Cost  of  Service  (cents)  : 

0.127  0.738  2.035  0  099  0.663  2  836  0.077  0.583  1.634  0  052  0  507  1.431..     Maintenance  of  way  and  struct. 

.032  .032  .032  .029  .033  .033  .029  .029  .032  .029  .029  .032..    Depreciation  of  buildings 

  3.044    2.283    I  522    .756..    Depreciation  of  track 

  .457  .533    .342  .400    .228  .266    .112  .132..    Depreciation  electric  line 

0.159       1  227  5.644  0.128  1.038  4.552  0.106  0.840  3.454  0.081  0  648  2  351..       Total  way  and  structures 

8.494  6.484  3.984  8.464  6.464  3.964  8.442  6.442  3.940  9.420  6.420  3  920..    Maintenance  of  equipment 

1.982  2  .114  1.057  1.784  2  220  1.110  1.790  1.903  1.059  1.783  1.971  1.050  ..    Depreciation  of  vehicles 

053  .053  .053  .047  .048  .055  .048  .048  .053  .047  .049  .052..    Depreciation  of  shop  mach'y 

v  10  529  8.651  5.094  10.295  8  732  5.129  10.280  8.393  5.052  11.250  8.440  5.022..       Total  equipment 

3.543  3.160  3.620  3.543  3  1 60  3  620  3.543  3.160  3.620  3.543  3.160  3. 620.. Power 

9.022  9.022  9.022  8.570  9.925  9  925  9.022  9.022  9.925  9.022  9.336  9. 782.  .Conducting  transportation 

.160  .160  .160  .160  .160  .160  .160  .160  .160  .160  .160  .160.. Traffic 

3  900  3.900  3.900  3.900  3  900  3.900  3.900  3.900  3.900  3.900  3.900  3. 900.  .General  and  miscellaneous 

27  313  26  120  27.440  26.596  26  915  27.286  27.011  25.475  26 .  Ill  27.956  25.644  24.835..          Total  operating  expense 

.374  .548  2.010  .338  529  I  600  .337  .431  1.160  .337  .407  .732. .Taxes 

159    .  142    .143    .142   Licenses  and  permits 

1309  1.916  7.036  I  178  1852  5  602  1  179  1.511  4  062  1  180  1.422  2. 550. .Fixed  charges 

29.155  28  584  36  486  28.254  29  296  34  488  28  670  27.417  31  334  29  615  27.473  28  117. . Cost  of  service 


is  believed  that  those  who  are  operating  with  one 
man  per  car  would  have  to  pay  the  same  rate  irre- 
spective of  the  form  of  vehicle.  The  base  rate  was 
taken  at  60  cents  per  hour,  with  5  cents  per  hour 
added  for  loadings  such  as  pull-in  and  pull-out  time, 
making  out  reports  and  the  like.  This  wage  figure 
is,  however,  subject  to  many  variations  due  to  purely 
local  conditions  which  are  not  at  all  universal. 

As  will  be  noted,  there  is  considerable  leeway  or 
layover  time  in  many  of  the  schedules,  while  in  some 
cases  no  layover  time  is  allowed.  In  actual  operation 
tight  schedules  are  difficult  to  maintain,  but  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  this  study  is  of  operation  on  an  extension 
and  not  through  central  business  districts  where  de- 
lays might  be  encountered  due  to  vehicular  traffic,  it  is 
believed  that  these  tight  schedules  are  feasible. 

Working  from  these  assumptions  to  determine  the 
cost  of  service,  the  results  shown  in  Table  III  were 
obtained.  The  results  are  also  shown  diagrammatically, 
the  costs  for  each  class  of  service  being  plotted  to  the 
same  scale  so  as  to  show  more  readily  the  variations 
that  exist  in  the  three  modes  of  transportation. 

Conclusions 

From  an  analysis  of  the  curves  it  is  evident  that 
under  the  conditions  assumed  the  relative  fields  for  the 
use  of  these  three  different  forms  of  transportation, 
namely,  the  motor  bus,  the  trolley  bus  and  the  safety 
car,  are  distinctly  divided.  Two  sets  of  curves  showing 
the  cost  of  service,  with  and  without  wages  of  oper- 
ators, are  given  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  what 
an  important  part  this  expense  bears  to  the  total  cost 
of  service  for  each  vehicle. 

The  field  of  the  motor  bus  appears  to  be  the  most 
varied.  It  is  apparent  that  on  schedules  with  head- 
ways of  fifteen  minutes  or  more  calling  for  a  maximum 
of  116  seats  per  hour  in  each  direction  the  motor  bus 
on  the  basis  assumed  can  be  operated  more  cheaply 
than  the  other  types  of  vehicles.  It  has  a  field  of  its 
own  in  the  exploitation  of  new  routes,  and  in  addi- 
tion, even  with  this  seemingly  small  number  of  seats 
per  hour,  it  is  believed  that  there  are  many  places  in 


and  around  traction  centers  where  such  service  would 
be  welcomed. 

The  trolley  bus  has  its  field  of  operation  in  between 
that  of  the  motor  bus  and  safety  car.  It  is  but  natural 
to  believe  that  as  the  traffic  increases  and  a  larger  in- 
vestment is  warranted  the  cost  of  operation  should  de- 
crease and  so  pay  the  larger  fixed  charges  rendered 
necessary.  The  trolley  bus  appears  to  be  able  to  accom- 
plish this.  Its  cost  of  operation  is  lower  than  the  motor 
bus  for  headways  below  fifteen  minutes,  but  for  head- 
ways of  less  than  two  and  one-half  minutes,  or  where 
more  than  696  seats  per  hour  are  required  in  each  direc- 

60 


i — I    l  r 

Investment  -  fbr  Roil  less  Vehicles  in 
PerCent  of  that  of  the  Safety  Car 


15      ZO     25     30     35  40 
Headway  in  Minutes 


55  60 


100 
90 
80 
70 
60 
50 
AO 
30 
20 
10 


Tot 
Mile 

al  In 

vesfi 

nent 
at  \ 

-  Re< 

juire 

men1 
Heac 

"■s  pe 
ivvat 

r 
s 

\ 

of  Route 

i 

/arious 

i 

s 

1 

^fety  car 

:> 

Tr 

ol/ey 

bosf 

notor\bhs^  " 
1          1  1 

Headway  in  Minu+es 
Investment  ver  Mile  of  Route 


522 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


tion,  rail-borne  service  can  be  operated  more  cheaply. 
This  analysis  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  road 
vehicles  will  not  be  subjected  to  any  road  tax  above  the 
usual  license  fees  which  have  already  been  included. 
If  such  a  tax  should  be  imposed,  the  relative  economies 
of  the  different  modes  of  transit  would  be  changed. 

Any  individual  operator  can  easily  substitute  for  the 
assumptions  made  actual  cost  figures  to  fit  individual 
conditions.  Such  a  substitution  might  vary  the  conclu- 
sions considerably,  especially  if  a  different  length  of 
route  were  taken  and  the  operating  conditions  were 
such  that  the  schedules  as  laid  out  could  not  be  main- 
tained with  more  or  less  layover  time. 

Credit  for  collaboration  in  the  preparation  of  this 
article  should  be  given  to  Albert  S.  Richey,  electric 
railway  engineer,  Worcester,  Mass.  All  of  the  assump- 
tions used  and  the  method  of  calculation  followed  were 
agreed  upon  after  conference. 


Another  Trolley  Bus  Tested 

Details  Follow  in  All  Essential  Features  the  Specifications 
Issued  by  the  Detroit  Street  Railway  Department,  Which 
Incorporated  Some  Novel  Features 

TESTS  on  an  improved  new  type  of  trackless  trolley 
car  or  trolley  bus,  manufactured  by  the  Trackless 
Transportation  Corporation  of  New  York,  were  com- 
pleted last  week  at  the  General  Electric  Company's 
plant,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  where  the  electrical  equip- 
ment is  being  installed.  This  new  trackless  trolley  will 
shortly  be  placed  in  operation  in  Detroit  by  the  officials 
of  the  Municipal  Railway  and  will  be  used  for  demon- 
stration purposes.  It  incorporates  a  number  of  new 
features  both  in  design  and  operation  not  found  in 
any  previous  bus  installation. 

The  bus  demonstrated  at  Schenectady  is  an  adaptation 
of  electric  drive  to  the  standard  low  center  of  gravity 
gasoline  motor  bus  built  by  the  Trackless  Transporta- 
tion Corporation.  The  driving  motors  and  control  are 
placed  beneath  the  hood.  The  collector  consists  of  a 
standard  U.  S.  trolley  base,  a  14-ft.  Shelby  seamless 
steel  trolley  pole  with  a  double-contact  sliding-type 
collector  head.    This  collecting  head  is  swiveled  on  the 


pole  and  provides  sufficient  flexibility  for  making  close 
contact  with  the  overhead  under  all  service  conditions. 

The  main  dimensions  of  the  bus  are:  Length  from 
spring  horn  to  back  of  body,  25  ft. ;  wheelbase,  183  in. ; 
over-all  width,  88  in. ;  over-all  height,  8  ft.  2  in.  loaded 
and  8  ft.  4  in.  light;  weight  10,700  lb. 

The  chassis  is  of  pressed-steel  frame  with  specially 
designed  front  axle  and  internal  gear  rear  axle.  The 
propeller  shaft  is  equipped  with  service  brakes  and 
there  are  external  drum-type  brakes  on  the  rear  wheels 
for  emergency. 

The  driving  mechanism  consists  of  two  600-volt  GE- 
258  railway  motors  connected  in  tandem  and  drives  the 
standard  rear  axle  through  the  usual  universal  joints. 
The  maximum  speed  will  be  about  25  m.p.h. 

The  control  is  of  the  series-parallel  type  consisting  of 
eight  electrically  operated  contactors  and  a  foot 
operated  master  controller  of  the  non-automatic  type. 
This  allows  the  operator  to  select  the  most  suitable 
speed  for  operation.  The  control  has  four  steps  in 
series  and  three  in  parallel,  which  is  ample  for  starting 
easily  without  a  hammer  blow  on  the  gearing  or  dis- 
comfort to  passengers. 

Overload  protection  is  provided  by  two  600-volt 
cartridge  fuses  M.E.C.  standard.  Experience  has  proved 
that  overload  protection  by  means  of  circuit  breakers 
is  unsuitable  to  the  trackless  vehicle. 

The  following  is  a  resume  of  the  principal  facts  about 
the  Trackless  Transportation  Corporation's  vehicle: 


Seating  capacity   29  passengers 

Track  of  rear  wheels   71  in. 

Track  of  front  wheels   665  in. 

Size  of  front  tires   36x6  pneumatic 

Size  of  rear  tires   40x8  pneumatic 

Height  from  ground  to  roof.   8  ft.  2  in.  pneumatic 

Height  from  ground  to  floor  (light)   27  in. 

Height  from  ground  to  floor  (loaded) .  264  in. 

Inside  width  on  seat  line   82  in. 

Inside  length  on  seat  line   20  ft..  5J  in. 

Inside  height  from  floor  to  ceiling   6  ft.  5  in. 

Height  from  ground  to  step   1 6  in. 

( 10-in.  riser  on  step — one-step  and  in' . 
Chassis  interchangeable  for  gas  or  electric  drive. 

Lighting  6-volt  storage  battery  charged  by  automobile  type  generator  belted  to- 
driving  motors. 

Window  posts,  centers   29  in. 

Width  of  seats   33  in. 

Lights   Seven  flush  receptables,  step  light 

destination  light — tail  light — two 
headlights.  |  Q 

Curtains   Standard  Curtain  Supply  Company 

Buzzer   Signal  system  stardaid. 

Fare  box   Standard 


Views  of  Some  of  the  Details  of  Detroit's  New  Trolley  Bus 

At  left,  right-hand  side  of  the  front  with  the  hood  removed,  hood  removed,  showing  the  connections  of  the  contactors,  and 

showing  the  method  of  arranging  the  contactors.  The  two  GE-258,  the  method  of  arranging  the  conductors  in  the  small  space  allowed. 

600-volt  railway  motors  in  tandem  can  be  seen  immediately-  under  At  right,  view  of  driver's  seat,  showing  also  the  location  of  the 

the  contactor  hood.     In  center,  left  side  of  the  front  with  the  controller  and  other  operating  apparatus. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


523 


FOLLOWING  are  given  two  further  comments  on 
the  proposed  reorganization  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association,  which  will  be  considered  at 
the  coming  convention: 

Mr.  Shannahan  Recommends  Open  Field 

Peck-Shannahan-Cherry  Inc. 

Hampton,  Va.,  Sept.  14,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

I  have  read  with  interest  the  letter  of  J.  D.  Mortimer 
regarding  the  proposed  changes  in  the  constitution  and 
by-laws  of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Association, 
in  which  he  states  that  the  success  of  the  association 
will  depend  rather  upon  the  substance  of  its  leadership 
than  upon  its  form  of  organization. 

It  strikes  me  that  it  is  entirely  possible  that  the  sub- 
stance of  its  leadership  will  depend  to  a  considerable 
extent  on  its  form  of  organization,  or,  at  least,  upon  the 
method  pursued  in  creating  the  leadership.  It  is  com- 
paratively easy  for  the  nominating  committee  to  select 
a  fourth  vice-president  for  the  ensuing  year,  but  it  is  a 
more  difficult  matter  for  it  to  select  a  man  to  be  presi- 
dent four  years  hence,  which  is  exactly  what  is  proposed 
to  be  done  by  the  section  of  the  constitution  providing 
for  the  election  of  officers.  It  may  be  argued  that  the 
constitution  as  written  does  not  necessitate  the  auto- 
matic promotion  of  the  vice-presidents,  but  every  one 
familiar  with  the  facts  knows  that  it  has  been  the 
custom  so  to  do,  and  frequently  custom  provides  a  more 
rigid  law  than  the  written  statute.  More  than  once 
during  the  past  decade  this  custom  has  given  difficulty, 
and  why  it  should  be  perpetuated,  rather  than  leaving 
the  nominating  committee  free  to  select  the  man  who 
at  the  moment  most  nearly  meets  the  exigencies  of  the 
hour,  is  difficult  to  say. 

Is  it  not  a  fact  that  striking  the  shackles  from  the 
nominating  committee  might  result  in  the  kind  of 
leadership  which  would  develop  the  forward  looking 
policies  which  may  so  materially  assist  in  the  rehabili- 
tation of  the  electric  railway  industry? 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Comments  from  Mr.  Shoup 

Southern  Pacific  Company 

San  Francisco,  Sept.  13,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

You  ask  me  for  some  comments  on  the  proposed  A.  E. 
R.  A.  constitution. 

The  changes  in  the  constitution  are  of  minor  im- 
portance. Whether  the  association  succeeds  or  fails 
depends  upon  the  energy  and  thought  its  members  put 
into  the  work,  and  particularly  the  officers  who  accept 
the  direction  of  its  affairs.  If  it  is  a  constructive 
policy  worth  while,  then  the  association  is  worth  while 
and  not  otherwise.  The  form  through  which  it  operates, 
if  practicable,  is  quite  secondary  to  the  operation  itself. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  executive  committee  is  too 
large.  The  privilege  of  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee to  send  a  substitute  is  a  doubtful  one.  A  man 
is  selected  for  such  work  because  of  his  personal  quali- 
fications. His  company  is  not  elected.  Would  it  not 
be  better  to  have  a  smaller  committee  which  carried  the 
full  responsibility  and  would  be  present  at  nearly  all 
meetings? 


The  provision  with  respect  to  membership  for  track- 
less transportation  companies  ought  to  be  carefully 
worded.  If  it  should  mean  the  admission  of  motor 
buses,  I  suspect  that  there  will  be  trouble  out 
our  way. 

The  various  changes  that  make  for  systematic  and 
regular  consideration  of  the  problems  confronting  the 
industry  are  very  good.  Paul  Shoup, 

Vice-President. 


Railways  Must  Take  Up  Buses  Now 

Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  15,  1921. 

To  the  Editors : 

Having  returned  from  a  couple  of  months  study 
of  the  enormous  development  of  the  motor  bus  in  Great 
Britain — from  London's  2,700  working  vehicles  a  day 
to  the  humblest  countryside  service — I  find  it  harder 
than  ever  to  understand  those  who  vainly  believe  that  in 
this  country  the  motor  bus  is  not  going  to  get  beyond  the 
anarchistic  jitney  stage.  It  is  true  that  electric  rail- 
ways will  never  be  supplanted  by  this  catch-as-catch-can 
or  go-as-we-please  service  of  the  individual  operator, 
although  they  can  be  and  have  been  ruined  by  such 
competition.  Yet  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
motor  bus  will  always  remain  in  the  ragamuffin  stage, 
for  even  the  worst  enemy  of  the  electric  railway  recog- 
nizes that  that  stage  must  not  be  allowed  to  continue. 

It  does  not  seem  that  we  will  have  to  wait  much 
longer  for  the  motor  bus  to  appear  in  much  more 
dangerous  form.  Hitherto,  when  an  electric  railway 
has  "downed  tools"  it  has  been  able  to  fold  arms  calmly 
while  a  host  of  irresponsibles  tried  to  fulfill  its  func- 
tions. Sooner  or  later  an  influential  part  of  the  public 
has  seen  the  point  and  asked  the  electric  railway  to 
resume.  But  in  several  recent  cases,  a  new  phenomenon 
has  appeared.  Motor-bus  projectors  have  definitely  of- 
fered to  replace  all  of  the  electric  railway  service  at  a 
fare  below  that  which  the  electric  railway  management 
insists  it  must  have.  It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to 
analyze  their  figures,  but  simply  to  point  out  the  appear- 
ance of  a  new  and  more  dangerous  competitor. 

The  electric  railways  must  not  be  led  astray  by  the 
fact  that  the  operating  expenses  of  a  car-seat  mile  are, 
for  so  large  a  portion  of  the  output,  less  than  those  of  a 
bus-seat  mile.  The  real  question  is:  Can  the  finan- 
cially unencumbered  motor  bus  offer  a  lower  rate  of 
fare  than  an  electric  railway  which  is  trying  to  carry 
the  accumulated  overhead  and  taxes  of  one  or  two  gene- 
rations? Apparently  a  well-organized  bus  system  will 
be  able  to  do  so  in  many  of  the  top-fare  communities 
where  the  average  length  of  ride  is  between  1  and  2 
miles. 

At  least  one  thing  is  clear:  Electric  railways  must 
hasten  to  secure  all  the  bus  rights  possible  before  jit- 
neys have  been  operating  long  enough  to  secure  a  vested 
interest  in  local  mass  transportation.  The  recent  New 
Jersey  bus  measure  which  specifically  exempts  pre- 
existent  operators  from  seeking  a  certificate  of  public 
necessity  and  convenience  illustrates  what  I  mean  by 
"vested  interest."  The  right  to  run  motor  buses  should 
not  be  confined  to  cross-town  connections  and  exten- 
sions, but  should  be  of  such  breadth  that  the  electric 
railway  system  will  be  able  to  say  truthfully  that  it  is 
prepared  to  give  any  kind  of  mass  transportation  that 
can  be  obtained  by  either  joint  or  separate  operation  of 
trackways  and  buses.  Walter  Jackson. 


524 


bLEciRic    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Iowa  Operating  Men  Meet 

Claims  Work  from  Legal  Standpoint  and  Great  Need  for  Co-operation  of  All  Departments  Discussed — 
Track  and  Equipment  Men  Talk  About  Their  Problems  and  Bring  Out 
Experience  of  General  Interest 


TRACKWORK,  motor  mainte- 
nance, problems  of  the  transpor- 
tation department  and  co-opera- 
tion between  all  departments  and  the 
claims  department  were  the  subjects 
considered  and  freely  discussed  by  the 
regular  meeting  of  the  Iowa  Electric 
Railway  Association  held  at  Waterloo, 
Iowa,  Sept.  15  and  16,  and  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  the  operating  men.  Two 
papers  dealing  with  the  topics  named 
appear  elsewhere  in  this  issue.  The 
meeting  was  .presided  over  by  R.  J. 
Smith,  Davenport,  on  Thursday,  in  the 
absence  of  Chairman  John  Sutherland, 
Davenport,  who,  however,  was  present 
and  presided  Friday.  At  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  convention  Mr.  Sutherland 
was  unanimously  elected  to  act  again 
next  year  as  chairman  of  the  operat- 
ing men's  meeting  for  the  third  time. 

M.  A.  Welsh,  superintendent  of  trans- 
portation, Waterloo,  Cedar  Falls  & 
Northern  Railway,  read  a  paper  in 
which  many  aspects  of  the  general 
transportation  situation  were  reviewed. 

In  discussing  Mr.  Welsh's  paper  C. 
M.  Feist,  Sioux  City,  made  the  point, 
in  relating  the  experience  of  his  com- 
pany with  safety  cars,  that  if  a  com- 
pany can  afford  to  buy  standard  Birney 
cars,  this  is  the  thing  to  do  rather  than 
to  attempt  to  substitute  rebuilt  old 
type  cars.  He  said  that  the  additional 
cost  of  operating  the  rebuilt  type  in 
one  year  would  go  a  long  way  toward 
purchasing  the  standard  car.  T.  E. 
Woods,  Omaha,  Neb.,  said  that  the 
Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Street  Railway 
now  has  in  operation  five  standard 
safety  cars  which  are  used  on  five  runs 
from  5  a.m.  to  midnight,  so  that  the 
only  chance  the  equipment  department 
has  to  inspect  them  and  maintain  them 
is  during  the  night,  and  the  results 
have  been  very  satisfactory. 

Mr.  Welsh  reviewed  the  history  of 
the  difficulties  in  securing  permission 
to  operate  one-man  cars  in  Waterloo. 
One-man  operation  was  finally  made 
possible  by  an  injunction  secured 
against  the  newspapers  preventing  them 
from  publishing  an  ordinance  prohibit- 
ing the  operation  of  such  cars,  an  Iowa 
law  providing  that  no  ordinance  shall 
become  effective  until  published.  The 
ordinance  has  never  been  published. 
The  company  operated  remodeled  cars 
with  one  man  for  six  years  prior  to 
the  purchase  of  standard  Birney  cars, 
with  which  the  Waterloo  city  lines  are 
now  100  per  cent  equipped.  Later,  a 
committee  of  the  City  Council  went  all 
over  the  country  to  take  depositions  on 
this  subject,  and  after  this  study  was 
made  the  City  Council  avoided  re- 
sponsibility by  placing  the  matter  di- 
rectly to  a  popular  vote,  which  over- 


whelmingly approved  the  one-man  cars. 
Mr.  Welsh  made  the  comment  that  he 
believed  that  whatever  sentiment  was 
manifest  against  the  one-man  operation 
was  largely  manufactured  by  city  offi- 
cials and  was  not  real  or  spontaneous, 
and  that  this  applied  not  only  to  Water- 
loo but  to  many  other  cities.  Mr. 
Welsh  declared  that  the  best  defense 
against  any  claim  is  to  prevent  the  ac- 
cident, and  that  the  safety  car  goes  a 
long  way  toward  doing  this. 

Discussion  of  Claims  Work 

In  discussing  the  paper  on  co-opera- 
tion between  the  claims  department  and 
other  company  departments  by  H.  J. 
Connell,  W.  P.  Thomas,  Omaha,  Neb., 
told  of  the  experience  of  the  Omaha 
company  in  endeavoring  to  impress  the 
claims  work  upon  student  trainmen.  He 
said  they  had  formerly  tried  to  teach 
the  duties  in  this  connection  to  the  men 
during  the  period  they  spent  in  a  train- 
ing school,  but  that  while  the  company 
had  a  competent  instructor,  the  train- 
men were  more  interested  in  learning 
the  operating  side  of  the  business  and 
they  did  not  absorb  a  great  deal  of  the 
claims  side.  The  plan  followed  now  is 
to  have  a  representative  from  the 
claims  department  ride  on  the  cars  with 
the  trainmen  and  go  over  actual  cases 
with  them  to  teach  them  wherein  they 
should  have  done  differently  and  to 
outline  the  various  phases  of  this  work, 
as  well  as  to  emphasize  the  method  of 
avoiding  accidents.  Mr.  Thomas  said 
that  this  system  of  instruction  on  the 
claims  work  has  been  found  to  be  much 
more  successful  than  the  instruction  of 
the  men  in  training  school  or  in  hold- 
ing smokers  or  meetings  at  which  these 
things  are  discussed.  It  was  also 
brought  out  that  the  Omaha  company 
had  had  good  success  in  collecting  dam- 
ages from  automobilists  who  had  run 
into  and  damaged  street  railway  prop- 
erty. Such  cases  had  been  undertaken 
only  where  the  company  had  a  clear 
case,  and  the  outcome  in  every  one  has 
thus  far  been  successful. 

Track  Maintenance  Work 

T.  E.  Rust,  Waterloo,  in  discussing 
the  paper  on  track  maintenance  by  R. 
J.  Smith,  said  that  in  maintaining  the 
city  lines  in  Waterloo  the  street  rail- 
way had  been  largely  in  the  position 
of  having  to  wear  out  the  cast-off 
equipment  of  the  interurban  system 
operated  by  the  same  company.  He 
said  that  he  was  swinging  back  to  the 
use  of  bolted  work  for  railroad  cross- 
ings and  getting  away  from  manganese 
special  trackwork  for  the  reason  that, 
while  the  latter  is  good,  it  goes  to 
pieces  all  at  once  when  it  has  reached 
its  life,  while  a  bolted  intersection  can 


always  be  repaired  and  its  life  ex- 
tended in  emergency.  In  purchasing 
special  trackwork  the  Waterloo  com- 
pany follows  the  practice  of  supplying 
two  sets  of  drawings  to  the  manufac- 
turer, who  is  required  to  return  one 
set  with  all  of  the  drilling  dimensions 
and  locations  marked  on  it,  and  this 
is  then  kept  for  the  company's  perma- 
nent record.  Thereafter,  when  it  is 
necessary  to  renew  any  piece,  the  drill- 
ing measurements  are  taken  off  the 
drawings,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity 
to  make  bolt-hole  measurements  in  the 
field,  which  is  very  difficult  to  do.  Mr. 
Smith. raised  the  question  whether  any 
difficulty  was  found  in  following  this 
practice,  due  to  worn  bolt  holes  and 
creeping  of  the  rail  with  which  the  new 
piece  must  be  connected.  Mr.  Rust 
explained  that  no  particular  difficulties 
of  this  nature  had  been  found.  He 
added  that  the  greatest  weakness  in 
railroad  crossing  trackwork  is  in  the 
bolts  and  that  he  uses  nothing  smaller 
than  11-in.  treated  bolts. 

In  building  city  track  on  gravel  bal- 
last Mr.  Rust  follows  a  plan  of  keeping 
the  track  open  for  about  two  weeks 
after  it  is  constructed  in  order  to  per- 
mit the  ballast  and  roadbed  to  settle. 
This  is  done  mainly  because  of  the  fact 
that  the  company  has  no  tamper.  Dur- 
ing this  period  while  the  track  is  kept 
open  it  is  gone  over  to  keep  it  to  grade 
and  alignment.  This  plan  results  in 
practically  avoiding  any  settling  of  the 
pavement  when  the  track  is  closed  in. 
He  said,  however,  that  the  use  of  a 
tamper  is  a  better  practice  if  one  is 
available.  Sometimes  a  heavily  loaded 
car  is  run  over  this  open  track  re- 
peatedly to  hammer  it  down  and  cause 
as  much  settling  as  possible  before 
paving. 

Mr.  Feist  brought  up  the  question 
as  to  the  cause  of  a  number  of  broken 
rails  which  had  been  experienced  in 
Sioux  City  in  new  track  built  with  80- 
lb.  T-rail  on  steel  ties  and  set  in  con- 
crete, with  the  joints  welded  with  a 
resistance  type  arc  welder.  Eight 
cases  of  broken  rail  occurred  in  the 
first  eight  months,  the  break  taking 
place  about  8  in.  from  the  joint.  Mr. 
Smith  pointed  out  that  this  might  be 
due  to  defective  welding  which  altered 
the  structure  of  the  metal  and  made  it 
unable  to  withstand  the  very  high  in- 
ternal stresses  set  up  in  rail  concreted 
in. 

Turning  to  the  subject  of  interurban 
track  maintenance,  Mr.  Smith  told  of 
his  experience  with  the  use  of  weed 
killers.  He  said  he  had  followed  the 
theory  of  the  manufacturers  of  the 
chemical,  of  using  a  heavy  treatment 
the  first  year,  a  lighter  treatment  the 
second  year,  still  lighter  the  third  year, 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


525 


skip  the  fourth  year,  and  then  a  light 
treatment  each  year,  but  this  plan 
had  not  worked  out  satisfactorily.  He 
though  the  results  obtained  depended 
much  on  the  type  of  ballast  and  kind 
of  weed,  etc.  The  weather  has  been 
said  to  have  a  good  deal  of  influence 
also  on  the  effectiveness  of  the  killer. 
Some  contend  that  it  should  be  applied 
after  a  long  dry  spell  when  the  weeds 
are  dry  and  will  drink  in  the  chemical. 
Others  claim  that  it  is  better  to  apply 
the  chemical  in  wet  weather  so  that  it 
soaks  into  the  roots.  Mr.  Smith  said 
he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  very  difficult  to  say  which  was  the 
better  plan,  but  that  he  was  convinced 
that  it  is  worth  while  to  use  the  weed 
killer  and  that  it  saves  a  substantial 
amount  of  money  as  compared  to  the 
cost  of  removing  the  weeds  by  hand. 
His  thought  is  that  the  labor  that  is 
used  in  weeding  the  line  could  thus  be 
released  for  use  in  other  much  needed 
trackwork.  He  said  that  his  company 
had  skipped  one  season  in  using  the 
killer  and  had  regretted  it. 

As  to  the  method  of  applying  the 
chemical,  he  thought  the  scheme  nf 
spraying  under  pressure  was  better 
than  the  gravity  sprinkling.  The  base 
of  the  chemicals  used  is  arsenic.  It 
has  been  very  difficult  to  determine 
whether  any  sterilization  of  the  road- 
way is  secured  from  the  use  of  the 
weed  killer.  Sometimes,  when  one  pre- 
dominating weed  is  killed  off,  while  it 
does  not  reappear,  it  is  promptly  suc- 
ceeded by  another  kind  of  weed.  He 
said  he  knew  of  a  five-year  test  made 
by  a  manufacturer  which  did  not  ster- 
ilize the  ground,  but  he  was  satisfied 
that  even  in  the  absence  of  steriliza- 
tion it  was  worth  while  on  account  of 
the  saving  in  labor  made  possible. 

Mr.  Rust  explained  that  the  60-mile 
line  from  Waterloo  to  Cedar  Rapids 
had  been  treated  with  weed  killer  on 
July  1  of  this  year,  and  that  while  the 
growth  of  weeds  was  very  dense  and 
rank,  the  roadbed  was  thoroughly 
cleaned  up.  However,  a  certain  amount 
of  regrowth  was  appearing  by  the  end 
of  August.  None  of  those  present  who 
had  had  experience  with  weed  killers 
could  say  that  it  had  any  bad  effect  on 
the  ties. 

Dipping  and  Baking  of  Armatures 

Frank  R.  Grant  of  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
Des  Moines,  Iowa,  presented  a  paper 
describing  methods  used  and  results  ob- 
tained from  dipping  and  baking  rail- 
way motors. 

Mr.  Feist,  in  discussing  Mr.  Grant's 
paper,  took  the  position  that  he  was 
unable  to  see  how  dipping  and  baking 
of  motors  by  the  Sioux  City  Service 
Company  would  represent  a  saving. 
He  cited  a  rather  remarkable  motor 
service  record.  The  records  of  the 
company  show  that  on  ninety-six 
motors  of  one  type  in  use  for  ten 
years  a  total  of  fifty-nine  sets  of  coils 
have  been  used.  On  seventy-six  motors 
of  another  type,  also  ten  years  old, 
nineteen  sets  of  armature  coils  has  been 


used.  These  two  instances  are  at  the 
rate  of,  respectively,  six  and  two  arma- 
ture failures  a  year  for  ten  years. 

R.  H.  Llewellyn,  general  foreman  in 
the  shops  of  the  Waterloo,  Cedar  Falls 
&  Northern  Railway,  told  of  the  ex- 
perience he  had  in  dipping  and  baking 
armatures  during  the  last  three  years. 
Trouble  was  had  at  first  when  the  arma- 
tures were  dipped  with  the  commutator 
end  down,  due  to  the  hot  varnish  leav- 
ing pockets  behind  the  risers,  in  which 
dirt  and  copper  dust  collected,  forming 
a  paste  and  causing  trouble.  The  prac- 
tice now  followed  is  to  dip  with  the 
pinion  end  down,  a  clamp  for  the  com- 
mutator end  having  been  made  to 
handle  armatures  in  this  manner.  Dur- 
ing the  baking  process  the  armatures 
are  rolled  to  prevent  the  varnish  from 
running  to  one  side.  They  are  baked 
for  thirty-six  hours  at  165  deg.  C.  and 
then  painted  with  a  light  coat  of  var- 
nish and  baked  twenty-four  hours 
more.  In  the  last  three  years  six 
motors  have  failed  because  of  loose  con- 
nections at  the  risers  and  this  difficulty 
has  been  eliminated  by  the  use  of  a 
spongy  compound  furnished  by  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company  to  pack  in  the  leads.  The 
practice  followed  by  the  Waterloo  com- 
pany is  to  wrap  the  armatures  and  bake 
them  for  twelve  hours  before  banding. 
This  is  done  to  get  the  coils  thoroughly 
moistened  and  flexible  before  the  band- 
ing and  final  dipping.  Another  prac- 
tice is  to  avoid  soldering  the  clips  on 
any  one  band  consecutively.  To  do  so 
cp uses  the  band  to  become  too  hot  and 
expand,  allowing  a  slippage  of  the 
coils.  The  practice  followed  is  to  solder 
a  clip  at  a  time  on  each  band,  giving 
the  band  a  chance  to  cool  off  before  the 
next  clip  is  soldered  on  that  band. 

Mr.  Llewellyn  said  that  the  Waterloo 
company  is  not  having  one-fifth  the 
tiouble  with  armatures  now  that  it  did 
before  it  began  the  practice  of  dipping 
and  baking  armatures.  There  is  one 
bad  feature  that  if  a  failure  does  oc- 
cur it  is  necessary  to  rew'ind  the  whole 
armature  on  account  of  the  stiffness 
and  hardness  of  the  coils.  Another  ad- 
vantage of  the  process,  however,  is  that 
the  hard  varnish  prevents  trouble  when 
a  flashover  occurs  between  the  com- 
mutator and  case. 

W.  B.  Brooks,  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  said  that 
his  company  knew  that  the  dipping  and 
baking  process  is  a  success  because  of 
the  material  falling  off  in  the  sale  of 
coils.  A  question  had  been  raised  by 
two  members  about  the  value  of  this 
process  in  eliminating  moisture,  they 
having  stated  that  the  dipping  had  a 
tendency  to  trap  moisture  and  seal  it 
in.  Mr.  Brooks  replied  that  this  was 
not  a  very  pertinent  point  because  the 
percentage  of  armatures  lost  because 
of  moisture  was  very  small.  Motors  in 
service  will  dry  themselves  out.  He  ex- 
plained that  the  main  object  in  dipping 
and  baking  is  to  do  away  with  vibra- 
tion, which  is  the  big  cause  of  trouble. 
The  main  reason  for  dipping  as  against 
rolling,  painting  or  spraying  is  simply 


that  it  involves  less  labor  cost.  He 
also  explained  that  the  heat-radiating 
ability  of  a  dipped  and  baked  armature 
is  much  greater.  Mr.  Wood,  Omaha, 
Neb.,  and  Mr.  Sutherland,  Davenport, 
reported  very  good  success  with  the 
dipping  and  baking  practice.  No  one 
present  was  ab'e  to  supply  any  good 
figures  as  to  the  cost  of  dipping  and 
baking. 

The  delegates  to  the  convention  were 
the  guests  of  C.  D.  Cass,  general  man- 
ager Waterloo,  Cedar  Falls  &  Northern 
Railway,  for  luncheon,  and  thereafter 
were  taken  on  a  special  two-car  train 
for  a  trip  to  Cedar  Rapids  and  back 
over  the  company's  60-mile  high-speed 
line.  At  Cedar  Rapids  the  party  visited 
the  shops  of  the  Cedar  Rapids  &  Mar- 
ion City  Railway,  and  made  a  tour  over 
several  lines  of  the  city  property  under 
escort  of  E.  C.  Allen,  general  manager. 
In  the  evening  a  banquet  was  held  at 
the  Russell-Lamson  Hotel,  Waterloo,  at 
which  entertainment  was  afforded  by 
very  splendid  local  talent. 


The  Relation  of  the  Claim 
Department  to  Other 
Departments 

BY  H.  J.  CONNELL 

Trial  Attorney  Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs 
Street  Railway 

GIVEN  the  best  organized  street 
railway  company  conceivable,  it 
goes  without  saying  that  there  must, 
as  a  matter  of  necessity,  exist  between 
the  claim  department  and  each  and 
every  other  department  of  the  company 
a  close  inter-relation  and  interdepen- 
dence. These  characteristics  may  exist 
with  little  or  no  co-operation  between 
the  claim  and  other  departments,  but 
without  some  co-operation  existing  the 
organization  is  absolutely  doomed, 
sooner  or  later,  and  generally  quickly, 
to  failure.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  say 
that  co-operation  is  necessary.  If  I 
make  no  other  point  clear,  let  me  drive 
home  the  proposition  that  two  great 
factors,  understanding  and  co-opera- 
tion, are  absolutely  essential  to  the  suc- 
cess and  very  life  itself  of  the  corpora- 
tion's existence. 

I  have  noted  at  different  times  in 
some  organizations  the  existence  of 
petty  jealousies  between  different  de- 
partments. Suggestions  or  recommen- 
dations from  one  department  to  another 
may  be  looked  upon  as  interference 
with  authority,  and  received,  therefore, 
with  disfavor  and  without  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  good  which  the  merit 
of  the  suggestion  may  justly  deserve. 
This  is  not  teamwork.  The  natural 
pride  which  the  head  of  a  department 
should  have  is  to  welcome  any  sugges- 
tion or  plan  which  may  improve  the 
efficiency  of  his  unit,  even  though  the 
idea  was  born  in  the  mind  of  a  man 
not  connected  with  his  own  organiza- 
tion. 

It  is  just  as  important  for  the  su- 

*  Abstract  of  paper  presented  before  Iowa 
Electric  Railway  Association  at  Waterloo. 
Iowa,  Sept.  15,  19  21. 


526 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


perintendent  of  transportation  to  be  an 
ideal  claim  man  as  it  is  for  him  to  be 
an  ideal  operating  manager.  The  claim 
and  transportation  departments  are 
more  closely  identified  than  any  two 
other  departments.  They  should  work 
hand  in  glove.  The  aim  of  one  should 
be  the  aim  of  the  other,  the  methods 
employed  the  same  for  both. 

There  is  a  question  of  whether  the 
claim  department  or  the  transportation 
department  should  assume  the  task  of 
instruction.  In  my  opinion,  the  instruc- 
tor should  be  a  competent,  trained  man, 
taken  directly  from  the  ranks  of  prac- 
tical operating  men,  knowing  every- 
thing about  a  car  and  how  to  run  the 
thing,  and  knowing  also  everything 
about  accidents,  how  to  prevent  them 
as  far  as  possible,  and  what  to  do  after 
one  has  occurred.  The  instruction  de- 
partment should  be  under  the  direction 
not  of  the  claim  department,  but  of  the 
operating  or  transportation  depart- 
ment. But  the  claim  department  should 
be  constantly  consulted  and  should  be 
constantly  offering  suggestions  when 
new  situations  arise,  so  that  the  in- 
structor can  be  kept  up  to  the  minute 
on  every  phase  of  accident  work. 

I  have  always  advocated  a  follow- 
up  system  of  instruction,  under  which 
the  men  at  different  intervals  of  time 
are  taken  off  the  cars  for  a  freshening 
up  on  accident  work.  This  can  be  done 
either  by  the  original  instructor  or  in 
talks  to  the  men  by  someone  connected 
either  with  the  legal  or  claim  depart- 
ment who  is  fully  equipped  for  the 
task,  and  by  regularly  posted  bulletins, 
keeping  the  men  in  touch  on  the  bulle- 
tin board  with  new  features  arising  in 
claim  work.  Our  company  had  inau- 
gurated, prior  to  the  war,  a  system 
under  which  the  men  were  brought  in 
at  intervals  and  polished  up  on  their 
accident  information.  However,  due  to 
the  emergency  situation  during  the 
war,  and  the  unsettled  labor  conditions 
following  that  period,  this  policy  was 
necessarily  abandoned,  and  at  the  pres- 
ent time  we  are  somewhat  weak  along 
this  line  and  are  left  again  to  another 
feature  of  co-operation  between  the 
claim  and  transportation  departments. 

Whenever  an  accident  is  reported  in- 
accurately, or  without  sufficient  detail, 
the  matter  is  immediately  referred  to 
the  transportation  department,  where- 
upon the  erring  employee  is  given  a 
hearing  by  the  superintendent.  The 
same  procedure  is  followed  where  it 
appears  that  the  motorman  or  conduc- 
tor were  apparently  negligent  in  an 
accident.  In  this  way  a  constant  check 
is  kept  on  the  men  at  large  and  it  is 
seldom  that  a  man  is  found  wanting 
more  than  once  in  the  same  particular. 
Were  the  claim  agent  to  sit  back,  satis- 
fied in  his  false  security,  only  to  take 
care  of  the  claims  that  come  to  his 
office,  without  turning  a  hand  to  rem- 
edy conditions  requiring  attention,  or 
to  co-operate  with  the  transportation 
department  in  this  check-up  or  follow- 
up  system,  he  would  not  be  fulfilling 
the  ideals  which  should  rightly  belong 
to  his  office,  and  he  would  be  working 


toward  the  injury,  rather  than  the 
betterment  of  his  employer.  I  think 
it  very  essential  that  a  lively  interest 
among  the  employees  in  accident  pre- 
vention and  in  accident  cure  should 
constantly  be  maintained,  and  among 
the  small  companies  the  job  is  less  dif- 
ficult than  where  a  large  number  of 
employees  are  on  the  pay  roll.  Every 
day  new  and  different  kinds  of  acci- 
dents are  occurring  which  before  had 
never  been  thought  of  by  even  the  most 
experienced.  Striking  examples  of  such 
class  of  accidents  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  men,  with  suggestions  how 
they  could  have  been  avoided,  tend 
toward  the  maintenance  of  a  constant 
vigilance  on  their  part,  are  very  helpful 
and  instructive  and  at  the  same  time 
keep  up  the  esprit  de  corps  of  the 
organization.  The  system  just  referred 
to  requires  the  utmost  co-operation  be- 
tween the  two  departments. 

Co-operation  of  Other  Departments 
Needed  Too 

The  same  considerations  that  apply 
to  the  relation  between  the  claim  and 
operating  departments  apply  with  equal 
force  and  effect  to  the  relationship  of 
the  claim  department  to  the  other  de- 
partments enumerated  in  the  subject 
of  this  discussion.  An  unsafe  switch, 
wye  or  crossing,  where  cars  have 
jumped  the  track,  is  first  detected  by 
reports  received  by  the  claim  depart- 
ment of  similar  accidents  occurring 
over  a  course  of  time  at  the  same  lo- 
cation. Without  co-operation  the  track 
department  might  remain  in  total  ig- 
norance of  the  defective  condition  for 
a  consideratble  period  of  time.  Acci- 
dents and  claims  otherwise  avoidable 
would  be  multiplied. 

Some  accidents  are  unavoidable  and 
cannot  be  anticipated  or  guarded 
against.  An  example  of  this  occurs  to 
my  mind  in  the  case  of  a  pedestrian  on 
the  street  crossing  behind  one  of  our 
cars  just  entering  a  curve.  The  trol- 
ley wheel  jumped  the  wire,  ran  up  over 
a  trolley  hanger,  became  fixed  and 
lodged  thereon,  the  trolley  pole  was 
wrenched  free  from  the  socket  of  the 
trolley  base  and  fell  to  1he  street,  strik- 
ing the  pedestrian  upon  the  head  and 
inflicting  a  very  serious  fracture  of  the 
skull.  Claimant,  of  course  was  in- 
nocent and  free  from  negligence.  What 
was  the  cause  of  the  accident?  Was 
there  negligence  on  the  part  of  the 
company? 

Investigation  disclosed  that  had  the 
trolley  pole  been  more  securely  fastened 
in  the  socket  the  whole  trolley  base 
might  have  been  wrenched  from  the 
car.  We  have  had  examples  in  our  ex- 
perience of  this  nature  of  accident.  It 
was  disclosed  that  the  trolley  pole  was 
fastened  securely  enough  to  permit  its 
use  safely  for  all  practical  purposes. 
The  overhead  trolley  construction  did 
not  give  way,  which  might  have  been 
the  case  had  the  pole  not  been  wrenched 
free.  Then  came  the  question  as  to  the 
trolley  frog  and  hanger  involved  in  the 
accident,  and  it  was  developed  that 
these  two  instrumentalities  were  of  the 


latest  improved  type,  both  from  a 
mechanical  and  safety  standpoint.  They 
were  the  best  on  the  market  and  had 
been  selected  not  only  for  their  ef- 
ficiency in  operation  but  also  from  con- 
siderations of  safety  and  accident  pre- 
vention. Our  superintendent  of  elec- 
tric lines  has  been  in  close  touch  with 
accident  work  and  with  accident  pre- 
vention, and  the  result  of  the  trial  of 
the  case  in  question  championed  the 
cause  of  co-operation  and  proved  that 
where  it  exists  the  company  has  but 
little  to  fear. 

We  brought  into  the  courtroom  every 
appliance  on  the  car  and  in  the  over- 
head trolley  system  which  was  con- 
nected with  this  accident  and  exhibited 
them  to  the  jury,  explained  their  con- 
struction and  the  use  to  which  they 
were  put.  The  plaintiff  had  alleged  de- 
fective and  unsafe  construction  and 
when  our  evidence  was  complete  was 
at  a  loss  to  find  one  point  upon  which 
to  base  an  argument  of  negligence  on 
the  part  of  the  company.  Our  offer  to 
claimant  before  trial  was  in  the  sum  of 
$7,500,  for  we  realized  the  seriousness 
of  the  injury  and  feared  the  effect  of 
sympathy  and  prejudice.  The  verdict 
of  the  jury,  in  the  same  amount  as  our 
offer,  was  the  talk  of  court  house  at- 
taches for  several  weeks.  Needless  to 
say,  the  amount  of  the  judgment  was 
paid  into  court  within  three  days  and 
the  case  disposed  of.  Had  there  been 
defective  trolley  construction,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  verdict  would  have 
reached  the  sum  of  $20,000  or  more. 

Closed  doors  on  the  rear  and  front 
platforms  of  all  cars  operated  by  the 
company  have  reduced  to  a  minimum 
the  boarding  and  alighting  accidents, 
much  dreaded  in  former  years.  The 
closed  door  construction  has  been  the 
result  of  numerous  conferences  between 
the  different  departments  and  a  strong 
advocacy  in  favor  of  their  use  by  the 
legal  and  claim  departments. 

Not  a  long  time  ago  headlights  on 
the  cars  were  insufficient  on  a  dark 
night  for  the  motorman  to  distinguish 
a  vehicle  stalled  on  or  near  the  track 
within  sufficient  distance,  in  all  cases, 
to  stop  the  car  and  avert  a  collision. 
Improved  headlights  now  in  use  have 
practically  eliminated  this  class  of  ac- 
cident and  are  the  result  of  constant 
poundings  on  the  part  of  the  claim  de- 
partment. Examples  of  possible  co- 
operation are  legion.  I  cite  these  few 
merely  to  illustrate  my  point. 

Relations  Between  Legal  and 
Claim  Depatrments 

A  modern  lawyer  who  is  equipped  to 
handle  for  the  company  in  court  the 
damage  suit,  so  full  of  possible  traps 
and  pitfalls  for  a  corporate  litigant, 
may,  if  he  is  not  duly  cautious,  look 
upon  himself  as  a  sort  of  little  tin  god 
on  wheels  and  become  imbued  with  the 
idea  that  all  information  should  be 
served  to  him  on  a  silver  platter,  and 
that  investigations  of  accidents  are 
within  the  province  only  of  the  humb'e 
claim  agents  and  their  assistants.  In 
the  dignified  isolation  of  such  superi- 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


527 


ority  he  will  sooner  or  later  be  con- 
fronted with  a  situation  with  which 
even  his  eminent  learning  and  ability 
cannot  cope.  If  you  know  any  such 
fellow  in  your  organization  advise  him 
to  come  off  his  perch.  He  must,  in  or- 
der to  be  fully  armed,  keep  himself 
constantly  in  active  touch  with  all  the 
details  and  workings  of  the  claim  de- 
partment. He  is  the  surgeon  called  by 
the  company  to  attend  its  case.  He 
must  look  for  his  supply  of  medicines, 
dressings  and  surgical  instruments  to 
the  claim  department,  which  is  the 
source.  He  must,  for  efficiency,  be  in- 
formed with  the  history  of  the  case 
from  the  time  the  accident  first  oc- 
curred down  to  the  last  instruction  to 
the  jury,  and  exception  taken.  He 
cannot  acquire  this  knowledge  unless 
he  is  at  all  times  within  reach  of  the 
claim  department.  My  experience  has 
shown  me  that  there  is  no  measurement 
for  the  aid  and  assistance  to  the  trial 
attorney  which  comes  to  him  from 
knowing  the  nature  and  progress  daily 
of  the  investigation  of  the  individual 
accident.  In  every  major  or  serious 
accident  he  should  be  on  the  ground 
before  the  debris  has  been  cleared 
away.  He  should  take  note  of  all  physi- 
cal '-evidences  remaining  after  the  acci- 
dent. He  should  immediately  suggest 
to  the  claim  department  such  lines  of 
investigation  as  may  occur  to  him  to  bs 
proper  for  the  preparation  of  a  success- 
ful defense. 

Only  last  week,  in  our  city,  an  indi- 
vidual who  had  partaken  in  unsafe 
quantities  of  the  "cup  that  cheers"  at- 
tempted, while  driving  a  flivver,  to  pass 
a  street  car  going  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, and  in  so  doing  struck  an  automo- 
bile parked  at  the  curb,  with  the  rather 
unexpected  (to  him)  results  that  his 
automobile  was  overturned  some  one 
hundred  feet  further  down  the  street, 
effecting,  for  other  occupants  of  his 
flivver,  a  fractured  skull,  a  broken 
back,  a  fractured  arm  and  minor  in- 
juries. The  police  department  in- 
formed our  company  of  the  accident  im- 
mediately, for  the  reason  that  on  more 
mature  reflection  the  driver  claimed  in 
an  incoherent  fashion  that  the  street  car 
had  run  into  him.  Our  claim  depart- 
ment was  already  at  work  upon  investi- 
gation, for  the  motorman  had  called 
the  carhouse  foreman,  who  had  in  turn 
immediately  notified  the  claim  depart- 
ment. It  was  disclosed  that  our  com- 
pany was  neither  directly  nor  indirectly 
involved  and  that  the  street  car  had 
not  so  much  as  touched  the  unfortun- 
ate flivver.  Within  three  hours  after 
the  accident  notice  of  the  same  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  legal  department  and 
the  writer  personally  called  at  the 
police  station  to  interview  the  driver. 
He  was  still  intoxicated,  despite  his 
vehement  claims  to  the  contrary  and 
even  went  so  far  as  to  assert  that  he 
hadn't  "had  a  drop."  The  -day  follow- 
ing the  accident  two  suits,  each  for 
$50,000,  were  filed  against  this  com- 
pany. 

Am  I  not  better  qualified,  six  months 
or  so  from  this  date,  to  defend  success- 
fully these  cases,  than  I  would  be  in 


the  situation  that  immediately  before 
trial  the  files  were  first  presented  to 
me  and  I  noted  from  some  written 
statements  or  memorandums,  long  since 
"cold,"  that  probably  the  driver  was 
drunk,  and  that  at  least  one  or  two 
persons  were  of  the  opinion  that  he  was 
drunk?  I,  the  fellow  upon  whom  will 
later  devolve  the  task  of  proving  it, 
know  now,  personally,  he  was  intoxi- 
cated. From  my  personal  observation 
and  information  derived  from  the  in- 
vestigation I  know  now  just  how  the  ac- 
cident occurred. 

We  are  all  human,  none  of  us  perfect. 
The  best  that  we  can  do  is  constantly 
to  strive  in  our  personal  and  business 
life  toward  perfection.  If  I  could  leave 
with  you  one  thought  the  observance  of 
which  will  tend  toward  the  reduction 
of  accidents,  or  the  preparation  of  suc- 
cessful defenses  thereon  after  they 
have  occurred,  I  could  originate  no  bet- 
ter slogan  or  standard  than  that  con- 
tained in  the  following  three  words : 

"Knowledge  —  understanding  —  co- 
operation." 

Knowledge,  thorough  and  complete, 
on  every  phase  of  the  accident  ques- 
tion; understanding,  of  what  to  do, 
when  to  act  and  where,  before,  if  pos- 
sible, if  not,  after,  the  accident  has 
happened;  co-operation  between  each 
and  every  department  in  the  organiza- 
tion, co-operation  which  is  unselfish, 
whole-hearted  and  without  stint  or  com- 
promise. If  these  qualities  are  instilled 
in  every  cog  of  our  great  machine  from 
the  president  of  the  concern  down  to 
the  lowliest  messenger  boy  we  shall 
soon  find  ourselves  almost  within  reach 
of  that  enviable  position  of  a  certain 
claim  agent  whose  motto,  hung  and  em- 
blazoned in  large  letters  in  his  office, 
greeted  the  eye  of  every  claimant  call- 
ing there,  and  bespoke  the  following 
trite,  concise  and  independent  message, 
"Not  a  Damn  Cent." 


Track  Maintenance  and 
Construction  Kinks* 

By  R.  J.  Smith 

General  Manager  and  Engineer  of  Way 
Tri-City  Railway,  Davenport,  Iowa 

CONDITIONS  prevalent  in  the 
street  railway  industry  during  the 
past  five  years  have  so  reduced  track 
forces  that  roadbed  has  been  allowed 
to  wear  out  faster  than  it  could  be 
maintained.  Due  to  this  fact,  track 
forces  have  become  little  more  than 
emergency  gangs,  temporarily  repair- 
ing track  which  has  caused  derailment. 

•Various  expedients  have  been  em- 
ployed in  the  Tri-Cities  to  effect  econo- 
mies in  the  maintenance  of  special 
trackwork.  Last  winter  a  tongue  in 
an  old  Pennsylvania  pinless  switch 
broke  about  6  in.  from  the  heel.  A 
pattern  was  made  in  our  repair  shop 
and  taken  to  a  local  steel  foundry, 
where  a  new  tongue  was  cast  of  elec- 
tric steel.  Very  little  grinding  was 
necessary  on  this  casting.    It  was  in- 

*Abstract  of  paper  read  before  Iowa 
Electric  Railway  Association  at  Waterloo, 
Iowa,  Sept.  16,  1921, 


stalled  Jan.  6,  1921.  Today  it  shows 
practically  no  wear.  The  pattern  cost 
$13  and  is  available  for  future  use  at 
several  other  locations  where  the  same 
type  and  size  of  tongue  is  in  service. 
The  casting  cost  $20,  while  a  new  man- 
ganese tongue  would  have  cost  $56. 

A  number  of  hard  centers  set  in  spel- 
ter with  rapid  renewable  bolts  in  iron- 
bound  manard  construction  special 
work  became  loose.  They  were  repaired 
without  spelter  by  shimming  them  to 
the  proper  level  with  triangular  shims 
and  tightening  with  new  bolts.  After 
the  cars  had  run  over  them  a  few  days 
they  were  again  tightened  and  the  holes 
filled  with  hot  asphalt.  After  several 
months  they  still  remained  tight  and 
are  giving  good  service.  In  a  few  cases 
it  has  been  necessary  to  replace  the 
hard  center.  A  i-in.  plate  the  size  of 
the  old  center  was  used,  to  which  were 
riveted  small  pieces  of  l-in.  plate  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  the  throat-way 
for  the  wheel  flanges.  They  were 
raised  to  the  proper  level  by  shimming 
in  the  manner  described  above  and 
welded  to  the  ends  of  the  rail  in  the 
casting.  This  work  cost  $15  as  com- 
pared with  $50  for  a  new  manganese 
center. 

At  several  special  work  locations 
frogs  have  broken  or  worn  out  com- 
pletely, and  since  no  new  ones  were 
available  it  has  been  necessary  to 
manufacture  them  in  our  own  small 
construction  shop.  Such  frogs  were 
made  of  high  T  and  girder-grooved  rail. 
Accuracy  in  obtaining  the  proper 
curvature  was  secured  by  using  a  temp- 
let made  of  two  strips  of  wood  \  in. 
thick,  nailed  together  and  sawed  out  to 
conform  to  the  proper  angle  and  curva- 
ture. Rails  of  correct  length  were  bent 
and  the  top  half  of  one  rail  and  the 
lower  half  of  the  other  rail  cut  out 
with  a  torch  where  they  intersect.  They 
were  then  welded  to  a  base  plate  24  in. 
x  36  in.  x  |  in.  Plates  were  also  welded 
to  the  web  of  the  rail  and  the  throat- 
way  ground  out  with  a  track  grinder. 
The  total  cost  of  these  frogs  was  from 
$50  to  $80,  and  they  are  giving  very 
good  service  after  a  year's  wear.  Bolted 
T-rail  frogs  have  been  repaired  at  a 
cost  of  $20.  For  making  these  home- 
made frogs  it  is  very  desirable  to  have 
a  plane  table  built  of  rail  and  concrete, 
but  as  yet  we  have  not  been  able  to 
construct  such  a  bed  and  have  con- 
tented ourselves  with  laying  out  some 
T  rail  at  14  in.  centers  upon  a  support 
of  timbers  about  30  in.  high.  A  small 
swinging  crane  constructed  of  T  rail 
was  rigged  up  upon  a  post  adjacent  to 
this  table. 

Broken  running  and  bearing  rails  on 
steam  road  crossings  have  been  re- 
moved and  new  rails  installed  in  their 
places.  Until  recently,  bolt  holes  in 
the  rails  were  burned  in  with  an  oxy- 
acetylene  cutting  torch.  However,  in 
the  case  of  high-carbon  open-hearth 
rails,  this  burning  of  holes  is  detri- 
mental to  the  metal  in  the  web,  so  that 
whenever  the  time  permits  we  are  drill- 
ing, the  holes  in  the  repair  shop  on  a 
press,  the  proper  spacing  being  secured 
by  the  use  of  a  templet. 


528 


Electric   Railway  Journal, 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Very  little  construction  or  even  re- 
construction of  track  has  been  done 
on  our  properties  in  the  last  few  years. 
Briefly,  our  practice  is  this:  Standard 
construction  consists  of  7-in.,  80-lb. 
T-rail  laid  on  creosoted  red  oak  ties, 
spaced  2-ft.  centers  with  8  in.  of  crushed 
stone  under  the  ties.  Where  it  is  pos- 
sible the  subgrade  is  rolled  with  a  15- 
ton  roller.  A  6-in.  layer  of  stone  is 
laid  and  rolled,  then  the  track  con- 
structed upon  this  ballast  bed.  After 
the  track  is  spiked  and  the  joints  weld- 
ed it  is  filled  with  stone  to  the  top  of 
the  tie  and  then  tamped  to  grade  by  a 
four-tool  electrically  driven  air  tamper. 
Before  the  track  is  concreted  regular 
car  service  is  permitted  to  operate  over 
it  for  a  period  of  two  or  more  days,  de- 
pending upon  the  frequency  of  service. 
Then  the  track  is  tamped  a  second 
time,  which  requires  about  half  the 
time  used  in  the  first  tamping.  The 
paving  base  consists  of  a  5-in.  layer 
of  1:3:6  mixture  of  concrete.  Brick 
are  laid  on  a  1-in.  1:4  grout  bed  and 
filled  with  a  1:2  grout.  All  paving  is 
covered  with  sand  to  prevent  too  rapid 
drying  of  the  filler,  and  vehicular  traffic 
is  not  permitted  on  a  newly  grouted 
pavement  for  at  least  five  days.  Rail 
is  hauled  on  the  side  of  a  differential 
dump  car.  This  car  has  a  hollow  built- 
up  bolster  on  each  truck,  which  is 
larger  than  the  standard  tie.  Two  ties 
are  cut  to  a  6-ft.  length  and  inserted 
into  these  bolsters,  projecting  about  3 
ft.  from  the  side  of  the  car.  Five  rail 
are  laid  upon  these  ties  with  a  5-ton 
electric  crane  and  chained  to  the  trucks. 

Because  of  labor  difficulty  and  ex- 
pense, it  has  been  our  practice  to  use 
machinery  wherever  it  was  possible  to 
finance  its  purchase.  For  instance,  an 
excavator  is  used  for  trench  work  in 
city  lines  and  ditching  on  the  interur- 
bans;  a  differential  dump  car  is  used 
for  distributing  rock  ballast,  hauling 
away  dirt  and  delivering  rail,  sand 
and 'brick  to  the  job;  a  5-ton  electric 
crane  is  used  to  unload  rock  ballast 
from  steam  equipment  to  stock  piles 
or  to  our  own  work  cars,  also  to  handle 
special  trackwork,  and  in  some  in- 
stances to  excavate  with  clam  shell; 
pneumatic  machines  tamp  the  track; 
resistance  type  electric  welders  weld 
the  joints  and  cross  bonds;  wheel  and 
reciprocating  grinders  are  employed; 
tie-rod  holes  are  either  drilled  with  an 
electrically  driven  machine  or  cut  with 
the  oxyacetylene  torch;  electrically  or 
gasoline  driven  concrete  mixers  place 
the  paving  base,  grout  bed  and  filler, 
and  lastly,  a  conveyor  is  used  to  unload 
brick  and  cement  from  cars  and  to  dis- 
tribute brick  from  the  side  of  the  street 
to  the  track  proper  where  the  paving 
is  being  done. 

As  machinery  is  brought  more  into 
the  practice  of  constructing  and  main- 
taining track,  it  is  found  necessary  to 
vary  the  way  organization  to  suit,  and 
this'  variation  tends  toward  hig1 
grade  foremen,  more  specialty  men  and 
fewer  assistants,  who  used  to  be  carried 
as  "straw  bosses"  or  "pushers."  These 
latter  are  largely  replaced  by  men  of 
similar    ability    who    have,  however, 


made  a  specialty  of  one  or  two  opera- 
tions, such  as  welding  and  grinding, 
torch  work  and  the  like.  It  has  also 
been  essential  in  addition  to  training 
the  head  foreman  to  understand,  and 
even  manipulate  various  mechanical 
devices,  to  carry  on  the  payroll  a  man 
of  foreman's  rank  who  is  an  excellent 
mechanic  and  whose  duties  are  very 
largely  confined  to  keeping  the  equip- 
ment in  condition.  Furthermore,  the 
ordinary  laborer  cannot,  so  much  as 
formerly,  be  left  to  his  own  devices,  but 
must  be  to  a  certain  extent  trained  in 
the  new  methods.  All  of  this  change 
in  organization  and  equipment  means 


increased  overhead  expense,  so  that  in 
times  of  retrenchment  it  is  a  real 
problem  to  retain  the  backbone  of  the 
organization.  The  only  solution  of  this 
formidable  problem,  and  that  only 
partial,  is  to  instill  such  a  spirit 
throughout  the  backbone  aforesaid  that 
it  will  cheerfully  bend  itself  to  any 
work,  however  menial,  even  to  the  use 
of  the  shovel.  In  other  words,  we  ex- 
pect head  foremen  to  become  laborers 
upon  occasion,  and  by  this  better  spirit 
and  their  greater  intelligence  and 
training  to  compensate  the  company 
for  the  difference  existing  between 
their  salaries  and  the  wages  of  common 


Be  On  Time 

PRESIDENT  GADSDEN  announces 
that  the  convention  meetings  will 
run  on  schedule.  This  is  absolutely 
necessary  in  order  that  the  amount  of 
work  planned  can  be  transacted.  He 
says  that  the  American  Association 
meetings  will  convene  promptly  at  9:30, 
regardless  of  the  number  in  attendance. 


Reduced  Rates  for  Convention 

T  F  350  certificates  are  filed  with  the 
A  special  railroad  agent  at  Atlantic 
City  by  those  attending  the  convention 
a  reduced  rate  amounting  to  a  fare  and 
a  half  for  the  round  trip  will  be  granted 
by  practically  all  of  the  railroads  in  the 
United  States.  The  plan  has  been  ap- 
proved by  the  Trunk  Line  Association 
and  by  the  New  England,  the  Central, 
and  Western  Passenger  Associations. 

A  certificate  stating  that  the  purchas- 
er is  planning  to  attend  the  Atlantic 
City  convention  should  be  requested 
when  the  regular  one-way  ticket  is  pur- 
chased, and  this  certificate  should  be 
filed  on  arrival  at  Atlantic  City  at  the 
registration  booth  of  the  association.  If 
the  necessary  number  of  certificates 
are  filed  at  Atlantic  City  they  will  be 
validated  and  will  entitle  each  person 
holding  a  certificate  to  a  return  ticket 
by  the  same  route  over  which  he  came 
at  one-half  of  the  regular  one-way  adult 
fare  from  the  place  of  meeting  to  the 
point  at  which  the  certificate  was 
issued.   

Convention  Specials 

The  "Chicago  Special"  for  the  At- 
lantic City  Convention  will  leave  at 
10:  30  a.m.  central  time,  Sunday,  Oct.  2, 
over  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  arriv- 
ing at  Atlantic  City  at  10:10  a.m.  on 
Monday.  It  is  expected  that  two  or 
more  special  cars  will  be  attached  to 
the  Manhattan  Limited  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  the  delegation  from  Denver 
and  other  western  states  will  join  the 
Chicago  crowd.  Persons  in  the  Chicago 
territory  are  invited  to  make  their  ar- 
rangements through  H.  J.  Kenfield,  of 
Electric  Traction. 

The  "St.  Louis  Special"  will  leave  St. 
Louis  at  12:02  p.m.,  Saturday,  Oct.  1, 
over  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  arriv- 


ing at  Atlantic  City  at  2:06  p.m.,  Sun- 
day, after  a  change  to  special  parlor 
cars  at  North  Philadelphia.  Those  in 
the  St.  Louis  territory  should  make 
their  arrangements  through  B.  W. 
Frauenthal,  general  traffic  agent  of  the 
United  Railways  Company,  St.  Louis. 


Nominating  Committee  Activities 

The  Nominating  Committee,  J.  H. 
Pardee,  chairman,  will  not  present  its 
report  until  Monday  or  Tuesday  of 
convention  week.  The  committee  was 
instructed  to  report  as  early  as  feasible, 
but  at  no  particular  date.  Invitations 
have  been  sent  to  the  entire  membership 
to  make  suggestions  to  this  committee 
and  these  will  still  be  welcomed  up  to 
the  final  meeting  of  the  committee  on 
Monday,  Oct.  3,  at  Atlantic  City.  Sug- 
gestions should  be  addressed  to  the 
chairman  in  care  of  J.  W.  Welsh,  secre- 
tary, at  association  headquarters,  New 
York.   

Engineering  Association 
Reports  Discussed 

THE  committee  on  standards  of  the 
Engineering  Association  met  at  as- 
sociation headquarters  on  Sept.  15  to 
pass  upon  all  features  of  committee 
reports  coming  under  the  committee's 
jurisdiction.  Reports  from  the  follow- 
ing committees  were  presented  for  con- 
sideration: Buildings  and  structures, 
stores  accounting,  wood  preservation, 
power  distribution,  power  generation, 
way  matters  and  equipment. 

In  the  main  the  recommendations  of 
the  committees  were  approved  as  in- 
corporated in  the  reports  which  have 
been  printed  and  distributed  to  the 
members  of  the  association.  A  few 
apparent  discrepancies  were  referred 
back  for  correction,  and  several  recom- 
mendations were  referred  for  action  to 
the  convention. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  meet- 
ing was  the  discussion  on  standards  to 
be  submitted  to  the  American  Engi- 
neering Standards  Committee  for  in- 
dorsement. 

During  the  discussion  the  way  com- 
mittee was  complimented  on  the  form 
in  which  its  recommendations  were 
framed. 


News  of  the  Eledric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      "       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Vote  on  Ouster 

People  of  Detroit  Will  Be  Permitted  to 
Say  If  Railway  Shall  Be 
Dispossessed 

When  confronted  with  petitions  for  a 
referendum  on  the  ouster  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  tracks  from  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue,  the  City  Coun- 
cil decided  to  submit  the  question  to  the 
voters  at  the  November  election.  The 
ordinance  passed  by  the  Council  order- 
ing the  tracks  removed  from  the  streets 
in  question  where  franchises  have  ex- 
pired, will  be  held  in  abeyance  to  allow 
the  vote  since  enough  signatures  were 
attached  to  the  petitions  to  prevent  the 
ordinance  from  going  into  effect.  A 
direct  vote  will  be  taken  and  it  must  be 
decided  by  a  majority  of  the  people  as 
to  whether  they  desire  the  tracks  of 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  removed. 

The  Council  could  of  course  have  re- 
pealed the  Castator  Ordinance.  This 
measure  ordered  the  company  off  the 
streets  within  ninety  days  and  would 
have  gone  into  effect  if  the  petitions 
had  not  been  circulated.  It  was  passed 
by  the  Council  and  approved  by  th 
Mayor  after  the  company  had  refused 
the  Street  Railway  Commission's  offer 
of  $388,000  for  the  tracks. 

One  other  point  in  the  controversy 
between  the  company  and  the  city  was 
settled  when  the  Council  approved  an 
agreement  reached  by  the  company  and 
the  city  providing  for  the  centering  of 
the  company's  tracks  on  Grand  River 
Avenue  from  Joy  Road  to  the  City 
Limits.  The  contract  for  paving  Grand 
River  Avenue  at  that  point  has  been  let 
and  it  is  expected  work  will  be  started 
immediately.  The  company  will  meet 
the  cost  of  centering  the  tracks  in  the 
street  and  will  do  the  work  under  citv 
supervision  so  that  the  line  will  be  in 
accordance  with  municipal  ownership 
standards.  When  the  franchise  expires 
on  that  section  of  the  line  the  city,  ac- 
cording to  the  agreement,  will  buy  the 
tracks  from  the  company  for  $127,827, 
less  depreciation.  The  city  recently 
started  court  action  to  compel  the  com- 
pany to  remove  the  tracks  from  the 
side  to  the  center  of  the  street.  Pro- 
ceedings were  stopped  when  the  agree- 
ment was  reached. 

Ten  miles  more  of  municipal  owner- 
ship lines  are  to  be  started  in  operation 
soon,  being  the  double  track  Clair- 
mount-Owen  cross-town  line,  which  ex- 
tends for  5  miles  from  Grand  River 
Avenue  on  the  west  to  Milwaukee  Ave- 
nue. Track  construction  is  practically 
completed  and  the  overhead  is  being 
placed.  This  line  will  not  connect  up 
immediately  with  other  municipal  rail- 
way lines  but  will  be  linked  up  with  the 
main  municipal  system  by  the  day-to- 
day lines  when  they  are  taken  over  by 
the  city. 


No  further  action  has  been  taken  by 
the  Street  Railway  Commission  with 
regard  to  acquiring  trackless  trolleys 
or  trollibusses  as  part  of  the  city  equip- 
ment and  further  trials  of  these  buses 
will  probably  be  made  in  the  near 
future.  An  amendment  to  the  city 
charter  will  be  voted  on  which  pro- 
vides for  giving  the  Street  Railway 
Commission  authority  to  buy  buses  or 
other  forms  of  transportation  equip- 
ment which  are  deemed  advisable  for 
purchase.  The  Council  members  in  vot- 
ing for  the  amendment  supported  the 
provision  that  the  Council  reserve  the 
right  to  reject  or  confirm  contracts  for 
the  trollibuses. 


Large  New  Power  Plant  for 
Winnipeg  Property 

Arrangements  have  been  completed 
for  the  financing  of  a  $10,000,000  power 
development  project  at  Great  Falls  on 
the  Winnipeg  (Can.)  River.  A.  W. 
McLimont,  vice-president  of  the  Winni- 
peg Electric  Railway,  has  recently  re- 
turned from  a  trip  east  where  he  was 
in  consultation  with  the  firm  of  Nesbit, 
Thomson  &  Company,  Montreal,  who 
will  finance  the  undertaking. 

When  completed  the  plant  will  have 
a  capacity  of  168,000  hp.  Work  has  be- 
gun and  about  200  men  are  now  em- 
ployed. This  force  will  later  be  in- 
creased to  between  1,500  and  2,500  men, 
and  the  whole  plant  is  expected  to  be 
finished  in  1927. 

The  undertaking  will  be  carried  out 
under  the  charter  of  the  Manitoba 
Power  Company,  Ltd.,  which  is  taking 
over  the  assets  of  the  Winnipeg  River 
Power  Company.  Sir  Augustus  Nanton, 
Winnipeg,  who  is  also  a  director  of  the 
Winnipeg  Electric  Railway,  will  be 
president  and  A.  W.  McLimont  will  be 
vice-president,  of  the  Manitoba  Power 
Company,  Ltd. 


Trackless  Trolley  Considered  in 
St.  Louis 

A  proposal  is  before  the  St.  Louis 
Board  of  Public  Service  and  the  Munici- 
pal Bridge  Commission  for  permission 
to  operate  trackless  trolleys  around  a 
down-town  loop  in  St.  Louis,  across  the 
free  bridge  and  to  a  loop  in  East  St. 
Louis.  It  is  thought  that  the  one-way 
fare  will  be  5  cents. 

George  H.  Tontrup,  president  of  the 
National  Safety  Car  &  Equipment  Com- 
pany, is  back  of  the  scheme  and  it  is 
his  desire  to  put  the  system  into  opera- 
tion as  soon  as  the  cars  are  built  and 
the  trolleys  erected  which,  he  says, 
will  take  less  than  two  months. 

Mr.  Tontrup  estimates  the  cost  at 
$10,000  per  mile  and  he  proposes  to 
install  the  system  on  a  trial  basis 
preliminary  to  a  permanent  franchise. 


Progress  Reported 

Prospects  for  Settlement  at  New 
Orleans  Assuming  Concrete 
Form 

The  solution  of  the  problems  con- 
fronting the  New  Orleans  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  New  Orleans,  La.,  sug- 
gested in  the  report  of  Commissioner 
Maloney  of  the  Public  Utilities  depart- 
ment would  appear  now  to  be  dependent 
upon  action  taken  in  New  York  City. 
Telegrams  received  at  New  Orleans  on 
Sept.  10  from  those  in  touch  with  the 
situation  there,  where  a  conference  of 
the  security  holders  of  the  company 
was  begun  on  Sept.  8,  indicate  that  the 
prospect  for  a  settlement  is  now  assum- 
ing concrete  form. 

•  The  report,  as  a  whole,  while  not 
approved  editorially  by  the  local  pa- 
pers, is  conceded  by  them  to  present 
a  tangible  means  of  putting  an  end  to 
conditions  which  must  inevitably  pro- 
duce further  discomforts  to  the  public 
and  retard  the  industrial  growth  of  the 
city. 

One  of  those  pleased  with  the  out- 
look is  R.  S.  Hecht,  president  of  the 
Hibernia  Bank  &  Trust  Company  and 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  forty. 
In  discussing  the  matter  on  Sept.  10 
Mr.  Hecht  announced  that  he  had  re- 
ceived word  from  New  York  which  indi- 
cated that  the  eastern  bondholders 
favored  the  so-called  Maloney  plan  of 
settlement. 

In  support  of  this  opinion  he  issued 
the  following  statement: 

Based  on  the  information  before  us  we 
feel  justified  in  saying,  however,  that  the 
general  disposition  of  the  security  holders 
appears  to  be  to  meet  the  city  in  the  same 
spirit  of  compromise  which  the  Council  has 
shown  toward  the  company.  While  there 
seems  to  be  a  good  deal  of  disappointment 
among  them  that  the  rate  of  return  was  not 
made  8  per  cent,  we  are  inclined  to  believe 
that  both  the  valuation  and  the  rate  of 
return  fixed  in  the  city's  proposal  will  be 
accepted. 

Everybody  seems  to  be  ready  to  admit 
now  that  the  future  operations  of  the  com- 
pany will  be  absolutely  subject  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  Council  through  its  regulatorv 
powers,  but  there  are  some  minor  detail's 
which  will  no  doubt  require  a  thorough 
discussion  between  the  Council  and  the 
representatives  of  the  security  holders  be- 
fore the  matter  can  be  finally  settled. 

The  security  holders  emphasize  that  they 
are  exceedingly  anxious  to  get  the  matter 
settled  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  and 
they  expect  their  representatives  to  be  able 
to  reach  New  Orleans  within  a  week  to 
bring  their  formal  answer  and  their  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  best  method  of  working 
out  a  reorganization  plan  which  will  be 
permanent  and  will  make  the  future  financ- 
ing as  inexpensive  as  possible.  We  feel 
very  much  encouraged  over  the  outlook 
and  believe  that  a  satisfactory  agreement 
will  be  reached. 

Assistant  Attorney  General  Luther 
Hall  addressed  a  communication  to  the 
Commission  Council  on  Sept.  7  warn- 
ing that  body  that  it  is  without  author- 
ity to  negotiate  with  the  railway  on 
any  basis  that  will  carry  a  higher  fare 
than  5  cents,  as  provided  in  the  fran- 
chise. 


530 


Electric   Railway  journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Des  Moines  Muddling  Along 

Disgust    Is    Increasing    With  Present 
Make-Shift  Bus  Transportation- 
Proposal  from  Mr.  Fay 

T.  J.  Fay,  president  of  the  Fay 
Motor  Bus  Company,  Rockford,  111., 
made  a  definite  proposition  to  the  City 
Council  of  Des  Moines,  la.,  on  Sept.  16 
for  taking  over  the  transportation  prob- 
lems of  the  city  under  a  two-year  fran- 
chise. Mr.  Fay's  proposal  received  no 
immediate  attention  from  the  Council. 
It  was  simply  "received  and  filed."  His 
offer  provides  for  a  5-cent  fare  with  uni- 
versal transfers  and  eight  tickets  for 
a  quarter  for  school  children.  Mr.  Fay 
advised  the  Council  that  he  could  show 
ample  financial  backing  and  that  if  the 
franchise  was  granted  to  him  he  would 
guarantee  to  have  100  buses  in  opera- 
tion within  sixty  days  and  sixty  more 
in  an  additional  thirty  days. 

According  to  Mr.  Fay  studies  that  he 
has  made  would  tend  to  show  that  160 
buses  are  ample  to  handle  the  situation 
in  Des  Moines.  This  figure  is  based 
upon  an  average  seating  capacity  of 
twenty  with  ten  additional  capacity 
without  discomfort.  According  to  Mr. 
Fay  these  figures  were  secured  after 
his  company  has  carried  10,000,000  pas- 
sengers under  conditions  not  widely  dif- 
ferent from  those  which  prevail  in  Des 
Moines. 

Fay  Outlines  His  Plan 
The  Fay  proposal  provides  for  the 
city  being  reimbursed  for  wear  and  tear 
on  pavements  by  the  payment  of  $25,- 
000  a  year  by  the  bus  company.  City 
Councilmen  expressed  themselves  as 
feeling  that  this  figure  is  ridiculously 
low,  considering  the  damage  that  has 
already  been  done  to  the  paving  in  Des 
Moines  by  the  buses. 

Attorneys  for  the  present  bus  op- 
erators have  expressed  themselves  as 
being  opposed  to  any  amalgamation 
with  the  Fay  interests.  They  contend 
that  they  made  the  first  proposition  to 
the  Council  and  that  they  are  entitled 
to  the  first  consideration  if  a  bus  fran- 
chise is  awarded  by  the  Council. 

The  City  Council  took  its  first 
definite  stand  in  the  regulation  of  buses 
during  the  week  ended  Sept.  17  when 
it  ordered  buses  placed  on  three  lines 
now  without  service,  and  also  demanded 
that  two  additional  buses  be  placed  on 
the  Southwest  Ninth  Street  line. 

The  proprietor  of  a  truck  sales  com- 
pany which  has  been  supplying  buses  to 
some  of  the  local  operators  made  a 
statement  in  a  daily  newspaper  last 
week  that  the  buses  could  not  operate 
successfully  at  a  5-cent  fare  and  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
customers  of  the  company  had  pulled 
off  three  buses  because  they  were  not 
paying. 

Ten  additional  buses  arrived  in  Des 
Moines  on  Sept.  14,  having  been  driven 
the  entire  distance  from  Connecticut. 
They  were  apportioned  to  various  exist- 
ing lines  in  the  city. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
sentiment  is  steadily  growing  in  favor 


of  the  railway  as  the  people  tire  of  the 
discomforts  of  the  present  makeshift 
bus  transportation. 

Corporation  Counsel  Miller  made  his 
preliminary  report  to  the  City  Council  on 
Sept.  19  upon  certain  features  of  the 
franchise  submitted  by  the  Harris  in- 
terests in  behalf  of  the  Des  Moines  City 
Railway.  It  was  expected  that  Judge 
Miller's  final  report  would  go  to  the 
Council  on  Sept.  23  or  24.  The  report 
submitted  constituted  only  certain 
changes  which  Mr.  Miller  would  recom- 
mend that  the  Council  make  before  su>> 
mitting  the  franchise  to  the  city  for  a 
vote.  Among  the  changes  suggested  by 
Judge  Miller  are  the  following: 

Complete  change  of  labor  arbitration 
clause  and  the  substitution  for  three  dis- 
trict judges  provided  in  the  original  fran- 
chise members  of  the  State  Railway  Com- 
mission  acting  as  individuals. 

City  car  supervisor  to  be  a  graduate  en- 
gineer of  at  least  ten  years'  experience  in 
electric  railway  operation  to  be  elected  by 
the  City  Council  and  responsible  to  it  alone, 
although  to  be  paid  by  the  city.  Under 
existing  franchise  supervisor  is  paid  by  the 
company. 

Definite  sliding  scale  of  fares  to  be  con- 
tracted by  the  railway  before  franchise  is 
submitted.  Franchise  should  provide  for 
satisfactory  service  and  necessary  repairs 
before  payment  of  any  dividends  on  com- 
mon stock. 

Clause  suggested  by  which  company  will 
agree  to  handle  disputes  with  employees 
by  arbitration. 

Question  of  extension  should  be  arbi- 
trable and  company  should  not  have  the 
right  to  veto.  Use  of  one-man  cars  recom- 
mended where  practicable. 

The  bus  owners  made  what  is  consid- 
ered a  good  political  move  when  on  Sept. 
21  they  started  service  on  Center  Street, 
which  formerly  had  no  service.  The 
line  is  in  one  of  the  best  residential 
sections  of  the  city  located  at  a  consid- 
erable distance  from  two  existing  car 
lines. 


Saginaw  Knows  the  Bus  Won't  Do 

This  is  the  seventh  week  that  Sagi- 
naw and  Bay  City  have  been  without 
electric  railway  service  and  nothing 
definite  has  been  done  to  provide  Sagi- 
naw with  a  form  of  transportation  on 
which  to  build  for  the  future.  Even 
the  friends  of  the  buses  are  frank  to 
admit  they  will  not  do  and  if  the  cities 
are  not  to  have  electric  railway  cars 
some  other  means  must  be  provided  to 
take  care  of  the  people.  It  is  now 
well  known  that  the  jitneys,  number- 
ing about  sixty-five  and  owned  and 
operated  by  individuals,  cannot  be 
properly  regulated.  Many  drivers  do 
not  appear  on  the  streets  until  6:30  or 
7  o'clock  and  a  majority  are  running 
on  a  go-as-you-please  schedule.  When 
business  is  quiet,  they  lay  off,  and  only 
work  during  rush  hours. 

Members  of  the  Council  will  attend 
the  demonstration  of  the  trackless 
trolley  which  will  be  given  in  Detroit 
the  early  part  of  next  week,  and  it  is 
expected  that  a  representative  of  the 
Imperial  Omnibus  Company,  New  York, 
will  come  to  Saginaw  right  afterward 
to  survey  the  city's  requirements  and 
present  a  proposition  to  the  people 
through  the  Council. 

Members  of  the  Council  have  been 
considering  a  regulatory  ordinance  re- 
garding jitneys  for  several  weeks  past, 
but  apparently  are  as  far  off  from 


adopting  it  as  when  they  first  con- 
sidered it.  The  matter  of  the  owners 
furnishing  a  suitable  indemnity  bond 
has  been  the  bone  of  contention.  Every 
member  of  the  Council  has  gone  on 
record  as  favoring  a  large  bond,  but 
when  the  jitney  men  threatened  to  ap- 
peal to  the  people  the  Councilmen 
backed  down  and  are  about  ready  to 
agree  on  a  $5,000  policy  for  one  accident. 
They  do  not  want  to  have  the  jitney 
men  go  through  with  their  threat,  and 
they  are  afraid  if  they  fix  the  maxi- 
mum at  $5,000  the  people  will  object. 
So  in  the  meantime  passengers  ride  at 
their  own  risk. 

Otto  Schupp,  receiver  for  the  railway, 
says  the  company  is  still  working  on 
the  inventory  and  until  it  is  completed 
and  filed  with  the  referee  in  bankruptcy 
he  knows  of  no  new  developments. 


Little  Damage  to  San  Antonio 
Utilities 

Damage  to  the  property  of  the  San 
Antonio  (Tex.)  Public  Service  Com- 
pany as  a  result  of  the  flood  on  Sat- 
urday, Sept.  10,  was  slight.  At  the 
New  York  office  of  the  American  Light 
&  Traction  Company,  which  controls 
the  electric  light  and  power,  street  rail- 
way and  gas  utilities  in  San  Antonio,  it 
was  stated  that  there  was  little  or  no 
physical  damage  to  any  of  the  com- 
pany's property.  Only  one  of  the  com- 
pany's plants,  a  comparatively  small 
one,  known  as  Station  B,  was  reached 
by  flood  water,  and  it  was  not  believed 
that  the  total  cost  of  clearing  away 
debris  and  making  necessary  repairs 
would  exceed  $15,000  or  $20  000.  Elec- 
tric service  was  interrupted  shortly 
after  the  flood  started,  but  was  restored 
8  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  same 
day.  Traction  service  was  resumed  on 
Sunday  morning.  The  gas  service  was 
affected  the  least. 


Mr.  Mitten  Wants  His  Status 
Re-established 

Thomas  E.  Mitten,  chairman  of  the 

executive  committee  of  the  Philadelphia 

(Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Company,  on  Sept. 

19  addressed  the  executive  committee 

of  the  board  of  directors  as  follows: 

General  supervision  of  P.  R.  T.'s  rehabili- 
tation and  its  operating  organization  has 
now  been  continuously  under  my  direction 
for  more  than  ten  years  ;  the  extent  of  my 
obligation  and  compensation  being  estab- 
lished under  an  arrangement  made  with  B. 
T.  Stotesbury  and  approved  by  the  board  of 
directors. 

The  scope  of  my  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties, during  this  period,  has  been  so 
changed  and  enlarged  as  to  make  a  review 
of  the  whole  matter  desirable. 

With  this  in  mind,  I  would  request  that 
the  present  agreement  be  considered  as  ex- 
piring March  31,  1922. 

In  commenting  on  Mr.  Mitten's  letter 
the  Philadelphia  Ledger  says  that  it  is 
generally  believed  that  Mr.  Mitten  de- 
sires to  step  out  of  active  charge  of  the 
company's  affairs  and  place  the  details 
of  running  the  road  into  the  hands  of  a 
group  of  executives  whom  he  has 
trained  in  the  electric  railway  business 
and  who  are  now  identified  with  the 
Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company 
or  allied  lines. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


531 


Amalgamated  Seeking  to  Save 
Albany  Situation 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Amal- 
gamated Association  in  convention  in 
Georgia  passed  a  resolution  endorsing 
the  1,400  Albany  and  Troy  strikers  who 
"are  on  the  firing  line,"  and  voted  to 
assess  each  of  the  132,000  members  50 
cents  with  authority  for  a  further  as- 
sessment if  required  to  keep  up  the 
struggle  until  an  honorable  settlement 
or  adjustment  can  be  reached  between 
the  company  and  its  former  employees, 
it  is  evident  that  the  strike  has  been 
won  by  the  United  Traction  Company. 

On  the  Sunday  before  Labor  Day, 
President  Droogan  of  the  Albany  local 
came  out  in  an  open  letter  indorsing 
the  independent  candidacy  of  Patrick  E. 
McCabe  for  Mayor  of  Albany,  he  being 
the  only  candidate  who  has  made  an 
issue  of  the  strike  and  the  only  man 
seeking  office  who  has  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  laboring  man.  Mr.  Droo- 
gan in  a  very  stormy  sessions  of  the 
Albany  local  was  bitterly  assailed  for 
having  dragged  the  union  into  politics, 
but  he  asserted  he  did  it  merely  as  a 
private  citizen  and  not  as  the  union 
head.  Mr.  Droogan  attended  the  con- 
vention at  Atlanta,  but  it  is  understood, 
he  is  to  be  asked  to  step  down  and  out 
of  the  leadership  on  his  return. 

Should  he  do  so  much  of  the  cause 
of  difference  between  the  United  Tract- 
tion  Company  and  its  former  employees 
will  have  been  eliminated,  as  the  fight 
of  the  company  to  break  the  union  was 
to  a  very  considerable  extent  an  effort 
to  break  Droogan,  whose  tactics  of 
abuse  of  the  company  have  for  years 
been  a  source  of  rancor. 

The  immediate  result  of  Mr.  Droo- 
gan's  letter  espousing  the  candidacy  of 
Mr.  McCabe  was  the  driving  onto  the 
cars  of  some  5,000  to  10,000  members 
of  other  unions  who  had  refrained  from 
riding  all  during  the  period  of  the 
strike.  This  was  best  evidenced  that 
same  day  at  the  ball  grounds,  where  the 
Sunday  before  only  about  a  dozen  pas- 
sengers had  been  carried.  The  day  Mr. 
Droogan's  political  statement  appeared, 
fully  2,500  boarded  the  cars.  While  the 
strike  is  all  over  but  the  shouting,  the 
remote  possibility  still  exists  that  some 
eleventh-hour  agreement  may  be 
patched  up  between  now  and  the  eve  of 
election  in  order  to  gain  votes. 

Practically  all  of  the  former  employ- 
ees of  the  railway  are  working  at  occu- 
pations which  from  a  salary  standpoint 
are  about  as  lucrative  as  their  former 
jobs,  according  to  reports. 


Watchful  Waiting  in  Connecticut 

President  Lucius  S.  Storrs  of  the 
Connecticut  Company  stated  upon  his 
return  from  California  last  week  that 
there  would  be  no  fare  decrease  at  pres- 
ent to  meet  the  competition  of  the  new 
motor  bus  business. 

The  trustees  of  the  company  held 
their  regular  meeting  Sept.  3  but  did 
not  take  up  the  fare  question.  Mr. 
Storrs  pointed  out  that  while  the  rail- 
way company  was  paying  its  way  it  has 
many  obligations  to  meet  and  a  fare 


decrease  will  have  to  wait  for  some 
time.  A  decrease  will  be  granted,  how- 
ever, just  as  soon  as  conditions  permit. 

Mr.  Storrs  stated  that  he  did  not 
have  knowledge  of  the  full  plans  of  the 
promoters  of  the  Advertisers'  Special 
Coach  service  but  if  the  service  is  a 
jitney  service  proper  steps  will  be 
taken  to  prevent  any  violation  of  exist- 
ing laws. 

Samuel  Silvergilt,  secretary  of  the 
motor  bus  interests,  called  a  meeting 
of  all  drivers  at  1  p.m.,  Sept.  8,  in  New 
Haven  to  outline  plans  and  give  out 
supplies  for  initiating  the  service  on 
four  local  cross-town  lines. 


Orders  Being  Placed  for  Material 
for  Running  Change 

Orders  for  new  cross-overs  and  spe- 
cial work  are  being  placed  by  the  Brit- 
ish Columbia  Electric  Railway,  Van- 
couver, B.  C,  in  connection  with  the 
changing  of  the  rule  of  the  road  from 
left  to  right  at  the  end  of  the  present 
year.  There  are  on  the  mainland  sys- 
tem of  the  company  thirty-three  cross- 
overs which  must  be  removed  and  re- 
placed. Some  of  them  may  be  taken 
up  and  no  new  cross-overs  installed  as 
the  necessity  has  gone. 

In  New  Westminster,  new  special 
work  will  be  necessary  at  the  interur- 
ban  station.  None  of  this  will  be  in- 
stalled before  the  change  is  made,  but 
the  intention  is  that  cross-overs  will  be 
blocked  up  temporarily  until  the  gangs 
can  reach  them.  Electric  switches,  of 
which  there  are  fifteen  on  the  main- 
land, will  be  hand  operated  until  the 
work  of  transferring  them  to  the  op- 
posite tracks  can  be  completed.  Some 
work  will  also  be  necessary  in  read- 
justing the  trolley  wire  alignment  at 
curves. 

The  actual  date  of  making  the 
change  has  not  been  decided.  It  was 
proposed  to  make  it  on  or  about  Jan. 
1,  1922,  but  the  possibility  of  snow  at 
any  time  during  the  winter  makes  the 
change  hazardous.  The  company  has 
placed  orders  for  new  castings  for  two 
of  its  snow  sweepers,  leaving  the  others 
for  left-hand  operation  in  case  snow 
should  come  before  the  change  is  made. 


Trainmen  Reduced  Twelve  Cents 
an  Hour 

By  a  recent  decision  of  the  arbitra- 
tion board  selected  under  the  agreement 
of  April  28,  1921,  between  the  officials 
of  the  Auburn  &  Syracuse  Electric 
Railroad,  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  the  Amal- 
gamated employees,  wages  prevailing 
for  the  year  ended  April  30,  1921,  were 
reduced  as  follows: 

Cents  per  hour 
Old  New 

City  trainmen    60  48 

Interurban  trainmen   62  48 

Freight  and  express  trainmen    65  50J 

In  the  case  of  all  other  employees 

the  decrease  in  the  cost  of  living  was 

applied  to  the  rate  in  effect  for  the 

year  ended  April  30.  The  results  arrived 

at  were  obtained  on  the  basis  of  the 

reduction  in  cost  of  living  in  Auburn, 

which  was  found  to  be  and  agreed  upon 

as  22.6  per  cent. 


The  board  consisted  of  Henry  J.  Bar- 
rette,  president  of  the  local  division  of 
the  Amalgamated  Association,  who  rep- 
resented the  men;  Lawrence  E.  Lippitt, 
auditor-treasurer  of  the  Auburn  & 
Syracuse  Electric  Railroad,  who  rep- 
resented the  company,  and  Richard  C.  S. 
Drumond,  former  city  attorney,  who 
acted  as  the  chairman  of  the  board 
which  passed  upon  the  matter. 


News  Notes 


Franchise  Vote  in  October. — The  date 
for  the  referendum  election  in  Houston, 
Tex.,  on  the  new  street  railway  fran- 
chise drawn  in  favor  of  the  Houston 
Electric  Company  has  been  changed  to 
Oct.  4.  The  City  Council  had  previously 
set  Sept.  27. 

May  Request  Arbitration. — It  is  ex- 
pected that  employees  of  the  Hull 
(Que.)  Electric  Railway  will  soon  re- 
quest an  arbitration  board  for  a  settle- 
ment of  negotiations  over  a  7-cent  an 
hour  reduction  in  wages  proposed  by 
the  management.  The  new  wage  scale 
which  would  mean  about  a  20  per  cent 
cut  would  bring  the  pay  back  to  the 
1920  level.  Negotiations  have  been  go- 
ing on  in  a  quiet  way  with  the  expecta- 
tion that  the  men  would  accept  the 
reduction. 

Michigan  Towns  Test  Rate  Law — 
Avon  township,  which  is  in  Oakland 
County,  and  the  city  of  Pontiac  have  ad- 
vised the  Detroit  United  Railway  that 
an  appeal  to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  is  being  made  against  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Michigan  Supreme  Court, 
which  in  June  sustained  the  D.  U.  R. 
in  a  case  which  had  been  started  by 
Avon  township  and  upheld  the  validity 
of  the  Smith  rate  law.  Under  the  Smith 
rate  law  franchises  between  communi- 
ties and  electric  railroads  could  be  set 
aside  and  new  rates  fixed  by  the  Michi- 
gan State  Public  Utility  Commission. 
It  is  not  expected  that  the  case  will 
come  up  for  a  hearing  as  to  its  final 
disposition  before  early  next  year. 

Decides  in  Favor  of  Railway.— The 

judges  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  on 
appeal  refused  to  grant  an  injunction 
upon  petition  of  A.  M.  Scott  and 
others  against  the  Charleston  (W. 
Va.)  Interurban  Railroad  involving  the 
use  of  Ruffner  Avenue  for  rail- 
way purposes.  This  action  of  the 
Supreme  Court  removes  the  last  ob- 
stacle to  the  new  system  of  operating- 
cars  on  Capitol  Street  and  the  east  end. 
The  proposal  of  the  railway  was  fought 
from  the  beginning  by  residents  of  Ruff- 
ner Avenue  and  others.  It  is  under- 
stood the  new  system,  which  will  be 
started  when  a  railway  is  built  on  Ruff- 
ner Avenue,  will  furnish  three-minute 
service.  Capitol  Street  would  be  made 
a  one-way  street  for  traction  cars  as 
well  as  Washington  and  Virginia 
Streets. 


532 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  13 


$40,000,000  Fair  Purchase  Price 

Engineer  for  City  of  San  Francisco  Fixes  This  Sum  as  Amount 
Municipality  Should  Pay  for  Market  Street  Railway 

M.  M.  O'Shaughnessy,  city  engineer  of  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  has  submitted  to 
the  Mayor  and  Board  of  Supervisors  a  valuation  of  the  properties  of  the  Market 

Street  Railway  in  which  he  recommends  $40,000,000  as  the  fair  price  which  the 

city  should  pay  for  the  property.  He  refers  to  the  wide  variation  in  values 
under  previous  valuations  of  the  property  and  says  that  in  his  judgment  it  is 
conservative  to  state  that  the  reproduction  cost  new  less  depreciation  as  of  today 
cannot  be  less  than  $35,000,000. 

THE  report  was  made  at  the  re-  Yearly  saving  in  taxes.   .......  .  $551,000 

,     „  „           •  Damages  in  operation  reduced  by 

quest  oi  the  Board  ot  Supervisors  automobile  and  jitney  regulation  50,000 

and  is  believed  to  be  preliminary  Adjustment    of   Market    St.  Ry. 

,  .  ,.  ,      ,,  power  contract    3o0,0<J0 

to  the  adoption  of  an  ordinance  by  the  Adjustment  of  car  schedules  with 

board  calling  for  a  referendum  on  the       non-competitive  conditions    500.000 

,                       ,.          m i  •       *<•  Combination    of    work    m  shops, 

purchase  of  the  properties.     Ihis,  it       etc   70,000 

done,  would  be  under  Charter  Amend-  Elimination  of  presidents  and  di- 

^  „ t      o/i  lv       ,i        -j.     4.  rectors,  and  legal  expense'   275,000 

ment  No.  30,  enabling  the  city  to  ac-  Increase  in  receipts  from  elimina- 

quire  public  utility  properties  and  pay  tion     of     competitive  jitney 

2  t.    f  ■  operation    500,000 

for  same  out  of  earnings.   1__ 

$2,296,000 

Vote  in  November  Unlikely  _,,     „,    .  .    .  .. 

I  he  Municipal  Railway  is  now  pay- 
When  various  civic  organizations  ing  a  greater  wage  to  its  employees 
urged  the  submission  of  the  purchase  than  the  private  company  and  Mr. 
plan  to  the  voters  and  an  appropria-  O'Shaughnessy  has  made  a  careful 
tion  of  $15,000  for  a  survey  was  made  computation  of  the  annual  increase  of 
in  the  budget,  it  was  expected  that  the  wages  to  be  incurred  by  placing  those 
question  would  come  up  at  the  munic-  men  on  the  municipal  scale.  On  this 
ipal  election  next  November.    Officials  point  he  says: 

doubt  now  whether  this  can  be  done,  This  added  expense  would  amount  to 
and  say  there  is  hardly  time  in  which  $1,715,000.  By  deducting  this  from  the  sav- 
,.  ings  ot  unified  operation  an  annual  in- 
to pass  the  necessary  ordinances  even  crease  of  $575,000  in  net  earnings  can  be 
if  the  city  and  the  corporation  can  come  made.    This  amount  with  the  net  income 

.                            ,  ,i  ■  lrom  operation  would  at  present  more  than 

to  an  agreement  upon  the  price.  meet  interest  at  5  per  cent  on  the  $40,000,- 

Reporta  on  valuation  of  the  property  000  valuation  which  I  place  on  the  prop- 

u   j           •„  „i     1    „           i     v      ,1    erty.     If  the  unified   holding  is  conducted 

had  previously  been  made  by  the  com-  as  Economically  and  safely  as  the  munici- 

pany's    engineers    and    the    California  pal  railway  has  heretofore  been  operated, 

RailvnaH     rnvmni^irm        Tlvit     of    the  there   is  110  doubt  that  the  Proposed  pur- 

rcainoad    commission.      mat    01    tne  cnase  will  be  an  advantage  to  the  city. 

latter,  made  in  approving  the  reorgan- 
ization plan  which  became  operative  High  Ideals  Necessary 
last  April,  was  $41,424,961,  represent-  Many  other  changes  suggest  them- 
ing  physical  value  only.    The  company's  selves  to  the  city's  engineer.    Of  some 
engineers,  on  the  same  basis,  arrived  0f  them  he  says- 

at  a  valuation  of  $51,856,218.  .        ,          '                  ,       ,,    .  , 

T                  .        7,           ,      ,.          j.    ,,  Universal    transfers    could    be  adopted 

In    discussing   the    valuation    ot    the  which  would  promote  more  car  riding  and 

Railroad    Commission    Mr.    O'Shaugh-  increase  revenues,  and  besides  be  a  great 

-     ,  convenience   to  the  public   in   saving  time 

nessy     States     that     the     commission  S  in  making  trips  from  different  portions  of 

valuation  was  consistent  at  the  time  it  the  city  now  served  by  the  two  lines.  Con- 

,       ,,           it.-        u       j  ditions  on  Market  Street  could  be  improved 

was    made,   the   value   being   based    on  by  restricting  rapid  transit   to  the  center 

values  in  1918,   1919  and   1920.     The  tracks,    with    a    longer    distance  between 

i                         j     i  1      1 1         ,    ,  stops  and  confining  the  service  to  cars  for 

valuation  arrived  at  by  the  city  s  engi-  the'  outside  districts ;  the  outer  tracks  on 

neer,    however,    covered    a    five-year  Market   Street   would   be  used   for  local 

nprinrl    frrmi   191"*  +r>  1 Q1 7    thi«  nArinH  sh°rter  hauls  and  frequent  stops  would  be 

period,  irom  191cS  to  iyi/,  this  period  made  with  greater  safety  and  convenience 

having  been  selected  as  basic  for  the  to  the  public.    Economies  could  be  effected 

valuation    whi«-h    was    ha spd    on    lahnv  by  discontinuing  unnecessary  car  lines,  as 

valuation   wnicn   was    Dased   on   laDOl  many  0f  tneSe  now  operated  by  the  com- 

and  material  costs  in  that  period.  pany  are   due   to   franchise   requirements  ; 

new  extensions  of  track  could  be  made  into 
Mr    D'Shaithnfwv  HnpFFTTT  districts  now  without  service  due  to  dual 
MR.  U  b HAUGHNESS J    HOPEFUL  ownership  which  has  heretofore'  restricted 
Tho     Marl-ot     Cf,.00t     Pnilwnir    wa  o  extensions:    the    jitneys    should    be  abso- 
Ihe     Maiket     btieet     Railway    was  iutely  forbidden  to  travel  on  streets  now 
finally    reorganized    in    April    of   this  served  by  ears,  as  it  is  an  economic  waste 
year  from  the  old  United  Railroads  of  to  have  a  dual  service  for  the  same  object 
San  Francisco.    The  new  company  has  Success    of    the   unified  ownership, 
a  total  capitalization  of  $47,973,000  as  says  Mr.  O'Shaughnessy,  would,  how- 
compared  with  $82,411,600  par  value  of  ever,  depend  on  conducting  the  system 
capitalization  of  the  former  company.  on  the  same  high  ideals  and  good  busi- 
Mr.    O'Shaughnessy   estimates    that  ness  principles  which  have  controlled 
the  following  economies  will  be  obtained  the  operation  of  the  present  Municipal 
by  municipal  ownership:  Railway  in  the  past  nine  years. 


Toronto  Arbitration  Started 

Present  Value  of  $20,447,612  Placed  on 
Road  by  Expert  for  Railway — 
Three  Arbitrators  Sitting 

The  board  of  arbitration  which  is  to 
determine  the  amount  that  the  city  of 
Toronto,  Ont.,  is  to  pay  for  the  plant 
and  properties  of  the  Toronto  Railway, 
taken  over  by  the  city  upon  the  expira- 
tion of  the  franchise  on  Sept.  1  last, 
commenced  taking  evidence  on  Sept.  13. 

The  board  of  arbitration  consists  of 
Major  Hume  Cronyn,  London,  chair- 
man; Sir  Adam  Beck  representing  the 
city  of  Toronto  and  Sir  Thomas  White 
representing  the  Toronto  Railway.  The 
fees  of  the  members  of  the  board  of 
arbitration  have  been  fixed  not  to  exceed 
$250  per  day. 

Company  Heard  First 

In  opening  N.  W.  Rowell,  of  counsel 
for  the  company,  stated  that  a  com- 
pleted inventory  of  the  properties  and 
plant  had  been  made.  The  railway  was 
of  the  overhead  trolley  type,  consisting 
of  139.03  miles  of  railway  converted 
into  single  track,  of  which  129.58  were 
on  public  streets  and  9.44  miles  in  car- 
houses.  There  were  152  special  track 
intersections,  709  motor  cars,  made  up 
of  475  double-truck  cars,  253  single- 
truck  and  251  P.  A.  Y.  E.  cars;  there 
were  also  121  trailers,  5  sprinklers,  19 
sweepers  and  26  repair  and  miscellane- 
ous cars. 

With  respect  to  traffic  21,816,551  car 
miles  were  run  in  1920;  307  cars  were 
operated  in  minimum  hours  and  797 
during  maximum  periods,  while  197,- 
346,726  passengers  were  carried  and 
77,911,713  transfers  issued. 

It  was  decided  to  limit  the  number  of 
witnesses,  including  experts,  to  twenty- 
four  for  each  side. 

W.  J.  Hagenah,  Chicago,  specialist  in 
the  investigation  of  public  utilities  and 
formerly  of  the  Wisconsin  Railroad 
Commission,  was  the  first  witness 
for  the  company.  He  stated  that  he 
was  given  absolute  charge  to  value  the 
properties  of  the  railway,  employing  in 
doing  so,  a  staff  of  fifteen  to  twenty 
and  going  as  high  as  forty.  He  stated 
that  19  miles  should  be  taken  up  and 
replaced  at  once;  12  miles  was  in  gen- 
erally fair  condition;  14  miles  in  better 
than  50  per  cent  condition  and  45  miles 
in  excellent  condition. 

Average  Prices  Used 

The  valuation  was  made  on  the  basis 
of  the  average  value  of  labor  and  ma- 
terial for  the  three  years  up  to  August, 
1921,  because  it  would  take  three  years 
to  build  the  system.  Mr.  Hagenah  set 
down  the  present  value  of  the  entire 
system  at  $20,447,612,  while  the  re- 
placement value  was  considered  at  $27,- 
161,649. 

A  full  account  of  the  taking  over  of 
the  railway  system  by  the  Toronto 
Transportation  Commission  on  behalf 
of  the  city  corporation  was  published  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
Sept.  10. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


533 


Boston's  Industrial  Slump  Hit 
Elevated  Hard 

The  revenue  of  the  Boston  (Mass.) 
Elevated  Railway  for  July  was  $192,- 
089  less  than  the  same  month  last  year. 
Expenses  for  the  month  exceeded  re- 
ceipts by  $142,486.  On  July  1  there 
was  a  surplus  of  $131,985,  which  has 
since  been  changed  to  a  deficit  of 
$10,501. 


The  total  bonded  indebtedness  was 
$250,000  and  the  bonds  are  to  be 
accepted  at  60  per  cent  of  the  face 
value  on  the  purchase  price.  The 
court's  costs,  taxes,  pay  of  Receiver 
George  Whysall  and  the  trustees  of  the 
road  in  the  two  years  it  has  been  in 
the  hands  of  the  receiver  amount  to 
approximately  $17,500.  These  are 
declared  to  be  entitled  to  priority 
over  other  claims.   Other  claims  having 


REVENUE  OF  BOSTON  ELEVATED  RAILWAY 

Third  Trustee  Second  Trustee  First  Trustee 
Year  Ended      Year  Ended      Year  Ended 

June  30,'192l  June  30,  1920    June  30,  1919 

Revenue  from  fares   $33,122,199      $31,899,320  $24,472,429 

Revenue  passengers   337,381,994      324,192,374  331,348,124 

Rate  of  fare   10  cents  1 0  cents      5,7,  and  8  cents 

COMPARATIVE  DIVISION  OF  EXPENSES 

Wages   $16,753,667  $16,381,206  $13,554,684 

Materials  and  supplies   2,899,983  3,321,672  4,096,538 

Injuries  and  damages   627,629  627,626  805,353 

Depreciation   2,004,000  2,004,000  2,004,000 

Fuel   2,399,277  1,996,717  1,901,597 

Taxes   1,306,736  1,075,497  941,612 

Rent  of  leased  lines   2,673,166  2,607,565  2,587,129 

Subway  and  tunnel  rentals   1,947,963  1,591,324  1,491,999 

Interest  on  borrowed  money   1,483,625  1,593,258  1,423,142 

Miscellaneous  items   54,479  69,285  37,373 

Dividends   1,523,367  1,403,970  1,360,220 

Profit  or   550,253  17,080   

Loss   4,980,152 

Back  pay  435,348 

5,415,500 


Year  Ended 
June  30,  1918 
$18,781,370 
376,466,229 

5  cents 


$9,147,757 
2,680,424 
817,227 
352,670 
1,381,957 
905,033 
2,547,421 
991,551 
1,238,374 
16,050 
None 


598,442 


In  a  statement  dated  Sept.  6  Edward 
Dana,  general  manager  of  the  company, 
said  that  this  was  the  result  of  country- 
wide conditions  affecting  the  company's 
gross  business  as  indicated  by  the  de- 
crease in  revenue  passengers  in  other 
large  cities  this  year  as  compared  with 
last  year.  The  figures  used  by  Mr. 
Dana  follow: 

July,  1921      July,  1920 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  73,799,633  75,789,538 

Philadelphia   54,031,261  63,089,650 

Boston   25,279,587  26,640,614 

Detroit   23,181,841  32,136,658 

St.  Louis   23,162,769  24,534,799 

Cleveland   23,029,791  27.978.414 

Pittsburgh   21,168,000  23,478,000 

Baltimore  ;   20,233,905  22,369.206 

Minneapolis   18,207,344  19,882,822 

Chicago  Elevated   13,802,153  17,024,667 

Cincinnati   8.632,780  10.175.578 

Toledo   4,1  18,848  4,568,013 

The  accompanying  table  indicates 
the  revenue  and  the  division  of  ex- 
penses during  the  last  four  years. 


preference  as  to  their  order  made  a 
total  of  $97,261. 

Receiver  Whysall  has  on  hand  cash 
and  quick  assets  of  the  company  to  the 
amount  of  $12,880.  The  order  of  the 
court  has  been  concurred  in  by  all 
parties  interested  in  the  disposition  of 
the  road. 


Court  Fixes  Status  of  Claims 
Against  Road  Sold  Under 
Foreclosure 

The  status  of  the  various  claims 
against  the  Springfield  Railway,  Termi- 
nal Power  Company,  Springfield,  Ohio., 
and  arrangements  for  completing  the 
transfer  of  that  concern  to  the  bond- 
holders, who  have  bid  it  in,  are  ruled 
upon  by  Judge  Slater  in  the  United 
States  District  Court  at  Cincinnati 
(Ohio). 

To  complete  their  purchase  it  is 
directed  that  the  bondholders,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  $25,000  which  they  already 
have  paid  and  the  $245,500  of  the 
company's  bonds  which  are  to  be 
applied  as  part  of  the  purchase  price, 
must  also  pay  the  further  sum  of 
$84,390,  in  installments  of  $28,126,  in 
thirty,  sixty  and  ninety  days.  The  bid 
of  W.  P.  Sturtevant,  New  York,  for 
the  bondholders'  committee  was  $300,- 
000. 


St.  Joseph  Valuation  Case  Not 
Carried  Up 

Events  which  followed  the  granting 
of  the  injunction  of  Judge  Van  Valken- 
burgh  in  the  federal  court  at  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  last  fall,  restraining  the 
Public  Service  Commission  from  enforc- 
ing its  order  fixing  fares  on  the  rail- 
way lines  of  the  St.  Joseph  Railway, 
Light,  Heat  &  Power  Company,  led  the 
commission  not  to  perfect  its  appeal 
in  the  case.  For  one  thing  the  company 
returned  to  the  commission,  and  it 
became  necessary  to  grant  a  rate 
higher  than  the  one  which  formed  the 
basis  of  the  suit.  That  development, 
in  connection  with  other  considerations, 
led  the  commission  to  conclude  that  it 
would  not  appeal  from  the  court 
decision. 

The  grounds  of  the  court's  opinion 
restraining  the  commission  from 
enforcing  its  original  fare  order  were 
the  wrong  methods  used  by  the  com- 
mission in  valuation — specifically,  the 
use  of  original  co^t  figures,  and 
standards  of  prices  of  a  past  period 
and  of  a  pre-war  period.  At  the  time 
of  the  court  decision,  which  was  re- 
viewed at  length  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Nov.  27,  1920,  page 
1122,  members  of  the  commission 
were  quoted  as  saying  that  if  the 
opinion  was  allowed  to  stand  the 
whole  system  of  rate  making  of  the 
commission,  affecting  many  utilities, 
would  have  to  be  made  over. 

In  deciding  the  St.  Joseph  case  the 


court  went  at  length  into  a  discussion 
of  the  "present  fair  value"  as  the 
correct  basis  for  rate  making  and  con- 
cluded that  since  present  fair  value 
was  not  sought  by  the  commission  its 
resulting  computation  necessarily 
reduced  the  total  valuation  so  sub- 
stantially as  to  make  the  rate  based 
thereon  inadequate  and  practically 
confiscatory.  It  is  understood  that  in 
considering  the  second  appeal  of  the 
company  for  relief  the  commission  did 
allow  due  weight  to  some  of  the  con- 
siderations in  rate  making  outlined  by 
the  court  in  its  original  restraining 
order. 


New  Company  at  Toledo 

Light  and  Power  Interests  in  $25,000,- 
000  Corporation  Which  Meets 
Mr.  Doherty's  Promises 

The  Toledo  (Ohio)  Edison  Company, 
has  been  incorporated  to  take  over  the 
lighting  and  power  business  of  the 
Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company,  the 
railway  lines  of  which  are  included  in 
the  Community  Traction  Company, 
formed  some  time  ago  to  take  over  the 
city  railway  lines  at  Toledo. 

The  new  corporation  is  capitalized  at 
$25,000,000.  It  will  include  the  A^Bie 
Power  Company,  the  Toledo  Railways  & 
Light  Company,  the  Toledo  Gas,  Light 
&  Heating  Company,  and  several  of  the 
smaller  Doherty  subsidiaries  at  Toledo. 

The  Toledo  &  Western  Railroad,  the 
Maumee  Valley  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, the  Adrian  Street  Railway  and 
other  traction  interests  will  be  kept  as 
separate  companies. 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  has 
authorized  the  new  company  to  issue 
$4,000,000  of  preferred  stock  as  pro- 
vision for  the  permanent  financing  of 
its  business  in  Toledo.  Of  this  issue 
$2,500,000  will  be  first  preferred  8  per 
cent  cumulative  stock  and  $1,500,000 
will  be  7  per  cent  cumulative  preferred 
stock. 

The  commission  has  also  autnorized 
the  company  to  issue  $13,500,000  of  first 
mortgage  7  per  cent  bonds.  The  pro- 
ceeds of  this  issue  will  be  used  to  refund 
the  $12,000,000  issue  of  Toledo  Traction, 
Light  &  Power  bonds  which  are  due  in 
1922.  A  portion  of  this  issue  will  be 
used  to  remove  the  encumbrance  from 
the  railway  property  turned  over  to  the 
Community  Traction  Company,  last 
February. 

Henry  L.  Doherty  and  the  Cities  Serv- 
ice Company  guaranteed  to  the  city  of 
Toledo  that  the  property  now  included 
in  the  system  of  the  Community  Trac- 
tion Company  would  be  freed  of  debt 
and  liens  before  December  of  this  year. 

It  is  planned  to  unite  the  development 
of  all  the  lighting,  power,  heating  and 
artificial  gas  production  under  the  new 
company  and  provide  the  means  for 
extending  service  as  the  city  grows. 

Frank  R.  Coates,  president  of  the 
Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company,  has 
sent  out  the  call  for  a  stockholders' 
meeting  to  be  held  Oct.  10  to  approve 
of  the  change  in  name  and  the  new 
financing  of  the  company. 


534 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


1,500,000  Fewer  Passengers 

Traffic  Falling  Off  in  Cincinnati 
Despite  Recent  Reduction 
in  Fares 

Despite  the  recent  reduction  in  fares 
on  tne  lines  of  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio, 
Traction  Company,  a  preliminary  re- 
port of  the  numner  of  riders  for  the 
month  of  August  shows  a  decrease  of 
approximately  1,500,000  revenue  pas- 
sengers as  compared  with  the  same 
period  last  year.  Figures  as  to  the 
actual  receipts  and  the  exact  amount 
of  the  deficit  based  upon  the  number 
of  passengers  will  be  ready  within  a 
short  time. 

Officers  of  the  traction  company, 
as  well  as  William  J.  Kuertz,  director 
of  street  railroads,  appear  to  be  san- 
guine that  whatever  deficit  may  have 
been  incurred  by  reason  of  the  falling 
off  of  passengers  during  August  will 
be  made  up  in  September. 

Saturday  Travel  Very  Light 

The  loss  of  revenue  passengers  dur- 
ing last  month  is  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  large  department  stores  were 
closed  one-half  day  Saturdays  during 
the  summer  months  and  also  to  the 
fact  that  factories  shut  down  on  Fri- 
day nights  for  the  week-ends  instead 
of  reopening  their  plants  for  a  half- 
day  Saturdays.  Records  indicate  the 
number  of  revenue  passengers  on  Sat- 
urdays has  been  especially  light. 

The  situation  is  being  viewed  with 
keen  interest  by  the  city  officials,  since 
it  will  have  a  decided  bearing  upon  the 
fare  in  November,  on  the  first  day  of 
which  a  further  reduction  in  fares  to 
7i  cents  is  scheduled  under  the  ordi- 
nance passed  two  months  ago  by  the 
City  Council,  modifying  the  terms  of 
the  service-at-cost  franchise  under 
which  the  company  is  operating. 

A  reduction  in  fares  to  8  cents  was 
made  possible  only  on  Aug.  1,  because 
the  ordinance  modifying  the  franchise 
provided  that  the  payment  of  the  annual 
franchise  tax,  to  be  paid  by  the  com- 
pany when  earned  for  the  current  year 
and  also  for  last  year,  was  to  be  de- 
ferred until  April  1,  1922.  Further- 
more this  tax  was  not  to  be  calculated 
as  a  deficit  for  rate-making  purposes. 
This  fact,  together  with  a  saving  of 
several  hundred  thousand  dollars  by 
the  company  in  the  reduction  of  the 
wages  of  platform  men,  created  a  sur- 
plus sufficient  for  use  to  predicate  a 
reduction  in  fares. 

Present  Rate  May  Continue 

The  modification  ordinance  provides 
in  substance  that  unless  the  reductions 
are  made  on  Aug.  1  and  Nov.  1  the 
terms  of  the  original  service-at-cost 
franchise  again  become  operative.  In 
view  of  this  situation,  unless  the  re- 
ceipts of  the  company  during  Septem- 
ber are  sufficient  to  take  care  of  oper- 


ating costs  and  also  provide  a  surplus 
to  wipe  out  the  deficit  for  August,  it 
is  not  improbable  that  the  rate  of  fare 
will  remain  as  it  is,  if  it  is  not  in- 
creased. 


Commission  Side  Heard  in  New 
Jersey  Case 

L.  Edward  Herrmann,  counsel  for 
the  Board  of  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sioners of  New  Jersey,  made  a  prelim- 
inary statement  to  the  special  statutory 
court  consisting  of  Federal  Judges 
Woolley,  Rellstab  and  Davis  on  Sept. 
14  before  he  started  his  argument 
against  the  Public  Service  Railway's 
appeal  for  an  injunction  which  would 
prevent  interference  with  the  collection 
of  a  10-cent  fare. 

Mr.  Herrmann  said: 

No  increased  fare  is  going  to  give  relief. 
Much  falling  off  in  profits  follows  each 
increase,  and  much  of  it  is  brought  about 
by  similar  vilifications.  You  have  heard 
described  the  terrible  nightmare  of  bank- 
ruptcy and  disaster. 

There  have  been  no  deficits  as  claimed 
bv  the  company.  They  (the  Public  Ser- 
vice) ingeniously  tried  to  include  in  operat- 
ing expenses  interest  on  leases,  rentals  and 
also  guaranteed  dividends.  Ratepayers  can 
not  be  mulcted  to  pay  these  extravagant 
rentals  or  charges. 

A  man  can't  be  compelled  to  pay  exces- 
sive rents  for  a  house  just  because  the 
owner  has  mortgaged  it  for  twice  as  much 
as  the  property  is  worth.  If  the  company 
goes  into  bankruptcy  it  will  be  through  its 
own  misdeeds.  All  it  is  entitled  to  is  a 
fair  return  on  a  fair  value.  The  Utilities 
Board  is  obligated  only  to  see  that  it  gets 
this  fair  return.  The  company  can  appro- 
priate it  to  any  channel  it  sees  fit.  This 
issue  is  not  before  the  court. 

The  court  announced  at  the  outset 
of  the  hearing  that  no  decision  had  been 
reached  on  the  appeal  of  the  munici- 
palities for  admission  as  defendants. 
The  cities  claim  that  a  10-cent  fare  will 
be  confiscatory  of  the  rights  of  the 
people. 

The  commission  was  not  entirely  suc- 
cessful in  the  other  issue  it  raised  be- 
fore the  court  at  the  forenoon  session, 
that  of  the  introduction  of  the  13,000 
pages  of  testimony  taken  in  the  rate 
cases  before  the  board  as  evidence  in 
this  proceeding.  An  hour's  deliberation 
by  the  three  judges  ended  in  the  con- 
clusion that  only  such  parts  of  the 
record  as  were  pertinent  would  be  ad- 
mitted. 

Inquiry  Planned  Into  Buffalo 
Fare  Charges 

Upon  the  recommendation  of  Public 
Affairs  Commissioner  Frank  C.  Per- 
kins, the  Socialist  member  of  the  Buffalo 
City  Council,  the  Council  adopted  reso- 
lutions authorizing  Corporation  Coun- 
sel William  S.  Rann  to  examine  the 
books  of  the  International  Railway  to 
determine  whether  the  city  should  ask 
the  Public  Service  Commission  to 
restore  the  5-cent  fare.  The  Inter- 
national now  charges  a  7-cent  fare 
within  the  city,  with  four  tokens  for 
25  cents. 


Commissioner  Perkins  told  the 
Council  that  the  total  operating  reve- 
nue of  the  International  Railway  for 
the  first  six  months  of  the  year  is 
greater  than  the  operating  revenue  of 
the  company  for  the  corresponding 
period  of  last  year.  Wages  have 
been  reduced  by  the  company  and 
Commissioner  Perkins  declared  that 
from  $2,000,000  to  $3,000,000  is  now 
being  used  out  of  earnings  to  rehabili- 
tate the  system,  which  has  been  neg- 
lected since  the  early  days  of  the  war. 


Youngstown  Adopts  Pass 

Unlimited  Weekly  Rides  for  $1.25  as  a 
Stimulant  to  Increase  Business — 
Present  Fare  Nine  Cents 

Under  the  terms  of  an  ordinance 
passed  on  Sept.  19  by  the  City  Council 
of  Youngstown,  Ohio,  supplementary  to 
the  service-at-cost  ordinance  under 
which  the  city  street  railway  service  is 
furnished,  the  way  has  been  cleared  for 
The  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway,  a 
subsidiary  of  The  Pennsylvania-Ohio 
Electric  Company,  to  make  an  eight- 
week  trial  use  of  the  "weekly  pass."  If 
the  plan  proves  successful  in  that  pe- 
piod  it  will  be  continued  as  a  regular 
feature. 

The  date  on  which  the  use  of  the 
"weekly  pass"  will  start  has  not  been 
definitely  decided,  but  it  is  planned  by 
the  company  to  begin  the  use  of  the 
pass  on  Monday,  Oct.  3.  The  ordinance 
was  passed  unanimously  by  City  Coun- 
cil, both  city  authorities  and  company 
officials  being  of  the  opinion  that  the 
innovation  will  act  as  a  stimulant  to 
traffic  in  the  city. 

The  plan  for  the  use  of  the  pass  in 
Youngstown  is  similar  to  that  in  vogue 
in  Racine,  Wis.,  and  other  cities.  The 
pass  will  sell  for  $1.25  and  will  be  good 
for  an  unlimited  number  of  rides  for 
the  bearer  within  the  period  of  a  week, 
from  Sunday  midnight  till  midnight  of 
the  following  Sunday.  The  passes  will 
be  good  for  any  ride  within  the  city 
fare  limits  at  any  time  during  the 
day  or  night,  on  exactly  the  same 
basis  as  a  cash  fare  or  the  city  tickets 
which  are  sold  in  strips  of  six.  No 
transfers  will,  however,  be  issued  to 
bearers  of  the  passes,  who,  of  course, 
will  use  their  unlimited  passes  for  any 
continuance  of  their  rides. 

The  passes  will  be  used  as  supple- 
mentary to  the  present  rates  of  fare, 
which  are  9  cents  cash,  six  tickets  for 
50  cents  and  1  cent  additional  for  a 
transfer.  The  passes  will  be  sold  at 
the  ticket  offices  of  the  company  and  on 
the  cars  by  conductors  and  operators 
and  will  be  placed  on  sale  each  week 
two  or  three  days  before  the  day  on 
which  their  use  will  begin,  so  as  to  dis- 
tribute the  sale  of  the  tickets  over 
several  days. 

Street  car  riders  and  the  public  in 
general  will  be  acquainted  with  the  use 
and  advantages  of  the  "weekly  pass" 
through  newspaper  advertising  and 
street  car  window  posters  prior  to  and 
following  the  introduction  of  the  use  of 
this  form  of  ticket. 


September-  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


535 


Ten-Cent  Fare  Denied  in  Utica 

Case  There  of  Unusual  Interest  Because  of  Comment  by  Commission 

— First  Important  Fare  Decision  by  New  Body 

Permission  has  been  denied  by  the  State  Public  Service  Commission  to  the 

New  York  State  Railways  Company  to  increase  fares  in  Utica  from  6  cents  to 

10  cents.  The  opinion  was  prepared  by  Chairman  William  A.  Prendergast. 
It  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  entire  commission  and  emphatically  outlines 
the  policy  of  the  commission  in  similar  cases.  The  ruling  covers  the  first  fare 
increase  case  of  any  importance  to  be  decided  by  the  new  commission. 

A STATEMENT  of  particular  sig-  In  commenting  on  these  figures  the 
nificance  in  the  commission's  commission  says: 
opinion  is  as  follows:  Jn  setting  up  these  appraisals  the  corn- 
Public  utilities  just  as  other  departments  D"»£"  e?PerJst^-.  Camp Ti'  ul3  ?S£S^]SX 
of  business  must  expect  to  cope  with  peri-  fought  to  establish  a -  wholly  theoret  cal 
ods  of  depression  and  short  earnings,  just  fJHost  seems  to  have  been  Tar^elv  dfs"- 
as  at  other  times  they  enjoy  periods  of  nal. c°st  ?eemj\.t°  nV  +i  •  "v,  Ifo„  3  „ 
nrosneritv  and  full  dividend*      Tf  thP  rmh  carded.     In  addition  to  this  the  place  of  a 

the  agreed  earning  rate  in  times  of  pros-  foregoing  claimed  reproduction  values.  It 

peritv                                                     ^"  cannot   be  presumed  that  the  commission 

is  confined  to  any  one  such  type  of  valua- 

On  Dec.  22,  1920,  the  company  ap-  tion.    ,Th?  judgment  of  courts  up  to  this 

, .  j    ,  time  clearly  states  it  is  not.    In  addition, 

plied  tor  permission  to   set  up  a  new  business  experience  and  common  justice  to 

rate  of  at  least  10  cents  per  passenger  the  public  demand  that  it  should  not  be. 

ii       i       •  i          ,                    ft       xt,  •  To  reiterate  an  argument  which  has  been 

in    the   territory   known   as   the   Utica  used  very  frequently  of  late  by  regulatory 

zone,  described  as  "the  lines  operating:  bodies  it  would  be  grossly  unfair  to  the 

•              .,       j.  tti  ,            .  ,    .            TT,.  public  to  use  the  extraordinary  dislocation 

in  the  city  of  Utica  and  between  Utica  m  prices  due  to  a  world  war  as  the  ground- 

and  the  villages  of  Whitesboro,  New  work  for  the  fixation  of  a  proper  rate 

York  Mills,  New  Hartford  and  Clinton."  aThe  courts  have  repeatedly  ruled  that 

Approximately  60  miles  of  trackage  are  the  estimated  cost  of  reproduction  is  merely 

nfF„„i-nA  u-,  +u,-„                      n   one  method  of  reaching  just  decisions.  It 

affected  by  this  petition.     Operation  m  cannot  be  used  without  reason  and  its  use 

this  zone  is  conducted  under  a  franchise  in  a  period  when  prices  have  been  subject 

from  thp  citv  of  TTticn  nnrl  nthpv  local  t0  such  violent  fluctuations  as  have  char- 

ii om  me  city  oi  Utica  ana  otnei  local  acterized  the  past  five  years  would  leave 

authorities,  on  the  basis  of  a  fare  per  little  of  fairness  in  the  term  "fair  value," 

naqsprtrpr  of  ^  cento      Tn  1Q1S  in  ™n  which   means  essentially  the  just  amount 

passenger  oi  o  cents,    in  191«  in  con-  on  which  a  pubiiC  utility  company  is  en- 

sideration  of  acute  cost  conditions  due  titled  to  earn  a  return, 

to  the  war,  permission  was  granted  by  The   commission   regards  the  city's 

the  local  authorities  to  charge  a  fare  evidence  on  the  question  of  the  value 

of  6  cents,  which  has  since  been  in  effect.  0f  the  property  employed  by  the  com- 

On  the  opening  of  the  fare  proceed-  pany  to  be  of  a  much  more  definite  char- 

ings  before  the  commission  the  city  en-  acter.    On  this  point  it  says : 
tered  an  objection  to  the  jurisdiction  of 

11  •  •  j  j,  ■  ,  In  its  computation  the  citv  has  used 
the  commission,  on  the  ground  of  exist-  the  actual  figures  given  by  the  company 
ing  franchise  relations  between  the  city  in  years  past  in  its  sworn  tax  reports, 

„„j  4.1. „                         rrn.-      u-    i.-  figures  used  by  it  in  reports  filed  with  the 

and  the  company.     This  objection  was  Public   Service  Commission,    and   in  addi- 

overruled    by    the    presiding    commis-  tion  has  as  to  certain  periods  taken  the 

sionpr     Tnrlo-P    TCpllno-o-       <3nhcpnnpntl  v  e,xact   cost    figures   as    they   appear  upon 

Sioner,    judge    AeilOgg.      Subsequently  the  company's  books.      For  these  reasons 

the  city  sought  court  intervention   to  the  city's  valuations  are  based  upon  de- 

nrpvpnt  action   hv  thp  cnrtimiwinn    hnt  terminable  quantities.    Through  its  experts 

prevent  action  Dy  tne  commission,  out  it  has  submitted  evidence  of  the  actual 

was   unsuccessful.     The   hearing   upon  cost  of  the  railway  property  used  in  ren- 

the  netition  rVipn  nrocppderl  dering  service  in  the  Utica   district  and 

tne  petition  tnen  proceeded.  proved  that  the  normal  reproduction  cost 

In  support  of  its  claim  to  a  larger  (pre-war)  would  not  exceed  the  actual  cost, 

return    thp    corrmanv    suhmittpd    thrpp  So   fa,r   as  tne  tangible   property  is  con- 

i •  x.     x          company    SUDmitteu    tnree  cerned,  there  is  no  considerable  difference 

distinct  appraisals.     These  it  described  between  the  city's  figures  and  the  company's 

in  its  brief  as  follows:  SSfT^ii^S  tS2C  flgure" 1;  , buS  th?  CT~ 

.                  .     ,    ,        .            j .       ,        ,  pany  tails  to  make  any  deduction  for  de- 

An    appraisal    based    on    the    trend  preciation   or   exhaustion   of  capacity  for 

and  average  prices  of  the  years  1912,  faerr^en^;tp-^!icfal  Pr,°Peit&  and,  H  makes 
mi  a        j             i                   xi      /-.\  larger  additions  for  intangible  values,  thus: 
1914  and  191o  known  as  the  (1)  pre- 
war valuation.    (2)  An  appraisal  based  City  Company 
on  average  prices  from  the  years  1915  Road  and  equipment— cost  $3,500,472  3,695,077 

t«   miA         1     ■  /os     a  -i     Accrued  depreciation   1,335,721  none 

to  1919  inclusive.     (3)    An  appraisal     . 

reflecting  1920  prices,  known  as  the  re-    .  Present  value. .    $2,164,751  $3,695,077 

j                     I                                    ,  j  Materials  and  supplies...  .           125,000  282,623 

production    COSt    new     or    present-day  Cash— working  capital   51,855 

Valuation  Interests  during  construc- 

.     .  .    .  ,  tion   80,000  546,303 

Ine  Commission  points  OUt  that  the  Taxes  during  construction            10,000  82,134 

company's  proof  was  therefore  confined  Organization  and  develop- 

to  a  single  element  of  "fair  value,"   !  

namely,  cost  of  reproduction,  new,  on      Total   *$2,429,75i  **$6, 168,456 

thp  hfKiis;  of  Ml  nricpss  nrpvnilincr  hpforp  *  Includes  $10,000  added  for  bridge  at  final  hearing. 

tne  oasis  01  <  1 )  prices  prevailing  oetore  **  The  total  mciudea  $121,779  for  preliminary  ex- 

the   War,    (2)    prices    in   1915-1919   and  penses,  $254,942  for  cost  of  financing  and  numerous 

(3)   prices  in  1920.     The  results  of  the  °ther  item.,,  including  $764,825  going  concern  value. 

three  valuations  were  as  follows:  The  large  "overheads"  in  the  company's 

valuation    are   based    on    the   theory  that 

x^toi  r™t  tne  Prol>erty   is   to   be   constructed    as  a 

V,M  rw«        Now  whole,   whereas  the   city's   overheads  are 

F'e'°5,osts        ^ow  based   largely  on   the   company's  records, 

Pre-warprices                      $3,977,700     $6,168,456  which  show  that  the  necessary  engineering, 

191 5-1 919  average.  yUbMl  «.«Q«.5I2  law  and  administration  services  In  con- 
January  I,  1921                       7.801.837      11,940,796  nection  with  construction  are  furnished  by 


the  regular  staff  of  the  company  whose 
salaries  are  charged  to  operating  expenses. 
If  they  are  now  treated  otherwise  it  would 
be  necessary  to  revise  the  operating  ex- 
pense accounts  by  excluding  a  portion  of 
the  salaries  of  the  officials  concerned  and 
such  revision  would  produce  larger  net 
earnings.  When  a  company  has  once 
charged  off  an  item  as  expense  it  has  been 
reimbursed  by  the  public,  which  is  under 
no  obligations  to  pay  interest  upon  the 
item  perpetually  on  the  impossible  hy- 
pothesis that  the  property  is  to  be  repro- 
duced at  some  one  time. 

A  point  is  made  by  counsel  that  owing 
to  the  inadequacy  of  rate  of  fare  the  com- 
pany has  not  received  a  proportionate 
part  of  the  cost  of  its  property  equal  to 
the  depreciation  or  exhaustion  of  capacity 
for  service.  The  proof  of  this  point  is 
not  convincing.  From  the  exhibit  filed 
by  the  company  subsequent  to  the  last  hear- 
ing, it  appears  that  the  company's  earn- 
ings were  amply  sufficient  to  provide  for 
depreciation  as  well  as  an  adequate  return 
from  1907  to  1917,  inclusive.  This  is  not 
the  case,  however,  since  1917,  owing  to  the 
greatly  increased  cost  of  material  and 
labor.  Seven  per  cent  on  the  original  in- 
vestment (1  per  cent  for  sinking  fund  and 
6  per  cent  for  return)  would  amount  to  ap- 
proximately $260,000  a  year  or  $780,000 
for  three  years,  as  compared  with  a 
stated  income  of  $346,000  or  a  deficiency 
of  $434,000.  The  war  conditions  of  the 
year  since  April.  1917,  are  such  as  to  re- 
quire of  the  commission  special  considera- 
tion. The  calamity  of  the  war,  the  im- 
possibility of  obtaining  labor  and  material 
of  the  proper  character  except  at  abnor- 
mally high  prices,  and  a  limited  amount 
of  such  as  it  was  possible  to  obtain,  re- 
sulting in  unusual  burdens  upon  all  enter- 
prises of  a  business  character,  furnished 
a  reason  for  assuming  that  this  deficiency 
°£  S4,3,4'?00  under  such  special  circumstances 
should  be  regarded  by  the  commission  for 
the  present  proceedings  as  a  part  of  the 
rate  base  which  will  then  amount  to  $2,- 
864.000,  or  8  per  cent  on  the  amount  $229  - 
120,  although  it  is  not  conceded  that  8 
per  cent  is  an  irreducable  allowance. 


Revenues  and  Expenses  Allocated 

The  company's  allocation  of  revenues 
and  expenses  to  the  Utica  6-cent  fare 
zone  was  as  follows: 


Operating  revenue  

Operating  expenses  

Net  operating  revenue. . 
Taxes  

Operating  income  (available 


1919 

1920 

$1,200,335 

$1,288,523 

1,029,334 

1,169,034 

$171,000 

$1 19,489 

73,935 

65,000 

$97,065 

$54,489 

The  commission  said  that  on  the  basis 
of  the  1920  income  the  company  would 
fall  short  of  the  amount  required  for 
an  8  per  cent  return  on  investment  and 
adequate  provision  for  depreciation  by 
the  sum  of  $196,631,  as  follows: 

Return     on    investment     8%  on 

$2,864,000   $229,120 

Additional  for  depreciation   36,000 

Total   $265,120 

Operating  income  1920  ,  .  $54,489 
Adjustment   14.000  68,489 

Net  addition  to  be  paid 

bypassengers   $196,631 

In  this  connection  the  commission 
said: 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  are 
not  dealing  with  the  conditions  of  1920, 
nor  the  previous  abnormal  years,  but  with 
the  present  period  which  is  one  of  profound 
economical  adjustment.  It  is  with  this 
pregnant  fact  before  us  that  a  decision  in 
this  and  similar  cases  must  be  made.  The 
fact  is  that  the  proceeds  of  revised  wage 
relations  has  already  reached  this  com- 
pany. 

In  estimating  reductions  the  commis- 
sion said  it  considered  only  those  which 
were  applicable  to  personnel  and  did  not 
take  into  account  the  reductions  in  the 
cost  of  supplies.    As  the  commission 


536 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


sees  it  the  situation  resolves  itself  into 
this: 

Not  addition  to  be  paid  by  passengers. .  .         $  I  96,63 1 
Adjustment  for  payrolls  of  January- 
April,  1920   66X90 


$262,721 

Less  expenses  which  it  i- 
estimated  will  be  sa  ved : 
In   wages  (arbitration 

award   $74,000 

From  one-man  ear  ope- 
ration  95,000 

On  materials  and  supplies  35.000 

  $204,000 


$58,721 

In  conclusion  the  commission  said  in 
part: 

It  must  be  understood  that  even  if  the 
company  should  fail  to  make  up  this  defi- 
cit of  $58,721,  it  would  still  be  earning 
at  the  6-cent  fare  approximately  6  per 
cent  of  its  investment  and  on  previous 
deficiencies  and  earnings.  In  addition  to 
the  6  per  cent,  the  company  would  also 
be  getting  a  further  allowance  of  $36,000 
for  depreciation.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, there  would  be  no  justification 
for  any  increase  in  fare.  Public  utilities 
just  as  other  departments  of  business  must 
expect  to  cope  with  periods  of  depression 
and  poor  earnings  just  as  at  other  times 
they  enjoy  periods  of  prosperity  and  full 
dividends. 

If  the  public  is  expected  to  make  up 
every  deficiency  in  order  to  give  a  good 
round  rate  of  earning  power  then  the  pub- 
lic is  entitled  to'  the  benefits  of  surplus 
prosperity.  While  a  franchise  rate  once 
fixed  must  not  be  presumed  to  me  immu- 
table, the  reasons  advanced  for  changing 
it  should  be  of  the  most  controlling  char- 
acter. In  this  case  the  local  authorities 
have  already  conceded  an  advance  in  pas- 
senger fare  from  the  original  franchise 
rate  from  5  cents  to  6  cents.  The  local 
authorities,  therefore,  cannot  be  charged 
with  failure  to  appreciate  the  additional 
revenue  requirements  of  the  railroad  due 
to  the  war  conditions. 

With  the  subsidence  of  these  conditions 
it  is  not  in  order  for  the  railroad  to  be 
seeking  further  advances,  especially  in  the 
form  of  its  present  utterly  extravagant  re- 
quest for  a  10-cent  fare.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  company  so  to 
administer  its  affairs  through  economies 
and  improvements  that  the  fare  to  be 
charged  to  the  public  will  be  at  the  lowest 
possible  minimum  consistent  with  good 
service  and  an  adequate  return  to  the 
investors. 


Emergency  Rate  Case  Hearing 
Postponed 

Appeal  proceedings  by  the  city  of 
Minneapolis  from  the  order  of  the 
Minnesota  Railroad  &  Warehouse  Com- 
mission granting  the  Minneapolis 
Street  Railway  an  emergency  increase 
in  fare  from  6  cents  to  7  cents  have 
been  postponed  by  Judge  E.  S.  Mont- 
gomery of  the  District  Court  in  Henne- 
pin County  to  Oct.  24.  The  restrain- 
ing order  was  issued  by  the  court  on 
Sept.  3. 

Postponement  was  asked  by  the  rail- 
way company  to  permit  it  to  produce 
certain  witnesses  necessary  to  proper 
presentation  of  its  case.  The  company 
suggested  thirty  to  ninety  days.  The 
city  will  object  to  the  introduction  of 
figures  and  testimony  at  that  time 
other  than  to  show  that  the  company 
cannot  earn  enough  on  the  rate  of  6 
cents  to  keep  up  reasonable  service  and 
meet  fixed  charges.  Other  data  will  be 
for  presentation  before  the  state  com- 
mission at  a  future  hearing  as  to  a  per- 
manent rate  based  on  valuation  of  the 
company's  property,  a  work  on  which  ex- 
perts for  the  city  and  railway  com- 
pany have  been  engaged  for  some  time. 


Interurban  Fares  Fixed  Pending 
Valuation 

An  injunction  has  been  issued  by  the 
Ingham  Circuit  Court  restraining  the 
Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Railway  from 
collecting  more  than  \\  cents  a  mile 
over  four  of  its  interurban  lines.  The 
action  was  taken  under  the  so-called 
Glaspie  bill,  which  supplants  the  Smith 
rate  bill  under  which  utilities  had  been 
operating  in  the  State.  The  petition 
for  the  injunction  came  as  a  result  of 
the  company's  failure  to  file  a  new  rate 
schedule  as  demanded  by  the  new  law. 
Under  the  Glaspie  bill  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  is  not  permitted  to 
charge  over  li  cents  a  mile  on  its  lines 
until  such  time  as  the  Michigan  Publx 
Utilities  Commission  has  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  complete  an  inventory  of  its 
properties  and  business  and  fix  a  per- 
manent rate  of  fare. 

The  Glaspie  bill  was  framed  and  put 
through  the  last  Legislature  by  Repre- 
sentative A.  B.  Glaspie,  of  Pontiac  and 
Oxford.  Representative  Glaspie  was 
assisted  in  the  framing  of  the  bill  by 
Judge  Glenn  C.  Gillespie,  who  has  been 
actively  engaged  in  the  prosecuting  of 
several  cases  against  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  to  determine  whether  that  cor- 
poration had  the  right  to  override  exist- 
ing franchises  which  were  disregarded 
at  the  time  the  Smith  rate  law  went 
into  effect  two  years  ago. 

In  explaining  the  changes  in  fares, 
Assistant  General  Manager  E.  J.  Bur- 
dick  is  reported  to  have  said: 

The  new  rates  on  all  the  lines  will 
differ  materially  from  those  that  have 
been  in  effect  through  the  so-called  Smith 
bill,  which  is  supplanted  by  the  Glaspie 
measure.  The  Glaspie  measure  calls  for  a 
temporary  reduction  on  all  the  Detroit 
United  Lines,  according  to  the  utilities  com- 
mission, to  a  rate  of  \\  cents  a  mile  instead 
of  the  2-cent  rate  now  being  charged. 
"While  this  will  largely  decrease  the  cost 
of  riding  on  the  interurban  lines,  there  will, 
however,  be  some  cases  in  which  the  cost  of 
riding  will  be  increased.  These  increases 
come  through  the  abolition  of  the  5-mile 
zone  around  the  several  cities  involved, 
this  zone  havifig  been  created  by  the 
Smith  bill.  In  this  zone  the  2-cent  rate 
was  not  permitted  to  apply,  except  on 
through  fares,  and  original  franchise  fares 
prevailed.  There  is  no  zoning  outside  of 
the  limits  of  citv  railway  systems  under 
the  Glaspie  bill 

In  connection  with  this  matter  the 
Michigan  State  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission has  ordered  a  new  appraisal  of 
the  properties  of  the  railway  for  use 
as  a  basis  of  fixing  fare  rates  on  its 
interurban  lines.  The  work  will  require 
about  six  months.  Representatives  of 
the  company  proposed  that  the  commis- 
sion use  the  Cooley  appraisal  but  this 
was  declined.  Professor  Cooley  made 
first  appraisal  in  1915  and  since  then  the 
orginal  data  was  supplemented  from 
time  to  time  to  make  it  an  up-to-date 
report. 


One-Man  Cars  for  British 
Columbia 

One-man  cars  will  probably  be  in- 
stalled in  the  Vancouver  and  Victoria 
systems  of  the  British  Columbia  Elec- 
tric Railway  shortly.  Ten  one-man 
safety  cars  will  probably  be  purchased 
to  provide  additional  rolling  stock  while 


the  rule  of  the  road  is  being  changed 
at  the  end  of  this  year.  At  present  it 
is  proposed  to  operate  one-man  cars 
only  on  shuttle  lines  in  Vancouver,  but 
downtown  lines  in  Victoria  will  prob- 
ably be  operated  the  same  way  at  an 
early  date.  Representatives  of  the 
platform  employees  have  approached 
the  premier  of  the  province,  but  it  is 
not  expected  any  difficulties  will  be 
placed  in  the  way  of  the  company  from 
that  source. 


Fares  Raised  Again  at  Toledo 

For  the  second  time  within  six  weeks 
the  fare  of  the  Community  Traction 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  has  been  in- 
creased. Tickets  will  now  sell  at  the 
rate  of  six  for  40  cents,  or  6|  cents 
each,  as  against  a  rate  placed  in  ef- 
fect on  Aug.  1  of  eight  tickets  for  50 
cents,  or  6i  each.  The  cash  fare  of 
7  cents  and  the  1-cent  charge  for  trans- 
fers remains  the  same,  to  which  point 
i:,  was  raised  from  6  cents  cash  and  1 
cent  for  transfers  on  Aug.  1. 

The  company  can  change  its  rate  of 
fare  every  ten  days  if  necessary.  It 
is  operated  under  an  ordinance  which 
provides  for  whatever  rate  of  fare  may 
be  necessary  to  maintain  funds  for  re- 
placements, working  capital  and  amor- 
tization and  to  pay  interest  charges 
on  its  bonds  and  dividends  on  its  pre- 
ferred stock.  A  committee,  composed 
of  city  and  company  representatives, 
meets  every  ten  days  to  see  if  the 
profits  are  large  enough  or  too  large 
and  has  full  authority  to  change  rates 
any  time  it  sees  fit. 


Scenic  Route  Drops  Trolley  for 
the  Bus 

The  Niagara  Gorge  Railway,  Niagara 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  has  discontinued  its  trolley 
service  between  Niagara  Falls  and 
Lewiston  and  between  Lewiston,  Fort 
Niagara  and  Fort  Niagara  Beach. 
Outstanding  tickets,  the  company 
announces,  will  be  accepted  for  passage 
on  the  Gray  bus  lines  which  are  also 
operated  by  the  Gorge  Company.  The 
buses  will  continue  to  operate  during 
the  fall  and  winter  months  on  a  two- 
hour  schedule. 

Explaining  its  action,  the  Niagara 
Gorge  Railway  says  that  increasing 
use  of  automobiles  has  reduced  pas- 
senger traffic  over  its  lines  to  such  an 
extent  that  operation  now  is  unprofit- 
able. The  company,  however,  will  con- 
tinue to  operate  the  Niagara  Gorge 
belt  line  service  in  co-operation  with 
the  Park  and  River  division  of  the 
International  Railway,  Buffalo.  On  this 
portion  of  the  line  the  difficulties  of 
operation  would  be  great  during  the 
winter  while  the  tourist  traffic  would 
naturally  be  very  light. 

A  franchise  exists  for  the  operation 
of  the  Lewiston-Youngstown  division 
of  the  road  which  requires  the  opera- 
tion of  at  least  two  cars  a  cVy.  On 
the  Lewiston-Falls  division  the 
franchise  allows  for  a  suspension  of 
service  between  Oct.  1  and  June  1. 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


537 


Ten-Cent  Fare  Petition  Renewed 

The  Helena  Light  &  Railway  Com- 
pany, Helena,  Mont.,  has  renewed  its 
application  before  the  State  Railroad 
Commission  for  a  cash  fare  of  10  cents 
with  tickets  at  6i  cent.  The  company 
claims  that  the  8-cent  rate  with  tickets 
at  5  cents  has  failed  to  bring'  the  re- 
venues up  to  the  expenses  and  further 
relief  is  needed. 

When  the  company  petitioned  last 
May,  the  fare  was  7  cents.  At  that 
time  in  its  decision  the  commission 
ordered  an  8-cent  rate  for  a  period  of 
ninety  days. 

The  proposed  10-cent  cash  fare  ap- 
plies to  the  city  alone.  To  East  Helena 
the  proposed  rate  is  15  cents. 

Reference  to  the  8-cent  fare  award 
was  made  in .  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  May  28. 


Jitneys  Appear  in  Cincinnati 

A  new  bus  line  has  made  its  appear- 
ance in  Cincinnati.  The  "jitneys"  are 
being  operated  by  three  local  men  from 
Rose  Hill  to  the  heart  of  the  city. 
E.  F.  Hagaman,  William  Thompson  and 
Fred  Hershiar,  after  consulting  with 
Mayor  John  Galvin  and  other  city  of- 
ficials as  to  the  legality  of  the  pro- 
cedure, made  their  appearance  on  Aug. 
27  with  three  automobiles.  The  pro- 
moters disclaim  any  connection  with 
the  Detroit,  Mich.,  -promoter  who  re- 
cently received  considerable  publicity 
on  a  similar  project,  which  never  ma- 
terialized. 

Mr.  Hagaman  said  the  new  interests 
intend  to  increase  the  service  by  the 
addition  of  more  cars  and  new  routes 
running-  over  the  other  arteries  of  Cin- 
cinnati as  soon  as  their  business  will 
permit  them  to  do  so.  According  to 
the  present  schedule  the  "jitneys"  start 
at  7  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  oper- 
ate at  twelve-minute  intervals  until 
midnight,  Sundays  included. 


One-Man-Car  Issue  Before 
Commission 

In  a  final  effort  to  avert,  if  possible, 
the  installation  of  one-man  cars  on  the 
lines  of  the  Tri-City  Railway  on  the 
Illinois  side  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
Mayor  H.  M.  Schriver  and  City  Attor- 
ney John  L.  Scott  of  Rock  Island,  111., 
have  been  in  Chicago  several  days 
where  they  are  fighting  the  case  before 
the  Illinois  Public  Utilities  Commission. 
The  officials  of  the  Tri-City  Railway 
are  attempting  to  show  that  the  in- 
stallation of  one-man  cars  is  imperative 
if  the  Tri-City  Railway  is  to  operate 
on  a  profit.  Some  time  ago  the  Mayor 
and  the  City  Commission  of  Rock  Is- 
land rejected  the  one-man  car  type 
which  caused  the  company  to  take  the 
case  to  the  Illinois  Public  Utilities 
Commission.  The  company  also  asks 
permission  to  operate  the  same  type  of 
cars  in  Moline,  East  Moline,  Silvis  and 
Milan.  Officials  of  these  cities  have 
joined  the  Rock  Island  mayor  in  the 
matter.     The   company   first  installed 


one-man  cars  on  the  Bridge  Line  and 
asked  the  Rock  Island  Commission  to 
grant  thirty  days  trial.  The  company 
then  asked  permission  to  extend  the 
service  on  the  Third  Avenue  and  the 
Long  View  lines. 


State  Powerless  Before  Jitneys 

There  is  no  law  for  the  regulation 
of  rates  and  practices  of  jitneys  operat- 
ing between  cities  and  towns  of  Okla- 
homa and  the  State  Corporation  Com- 
mission cannot  control  such  carriers. 
This  conclusion  was  recently  reached 
after  an  investigation  into  the  laws 
relating  to  transportation  companies 
conducted  by  E.  F.  McKay  of  the  com- 
mission. 

The  investigation  was  started  at  the 
behest  of  the  mayors  of  Dewey  and 
Bartlesville,  who  stated  in  their  appli- 
cation that  they  were  unable  to  control 
the  buses  operating  between  both  cities 
and  wanted  the  commission  to  fix  rates 
and  schedules.  The  matter  was  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  Sept.  3. 


Safety  Cars  for  Peoria 

Twenty  standard  Birney  safety  cars 
are  to  be  installed  by  the  Peoria  Rail- 
way, a  subsidiary  of  the  Illinois  Traction 
System,  during  September,  for  the  com- 
plete equipment  of  three  lines.  These 
will  be  the  first  cars  to  be  opera ocu 
with  one  man  in  Peoria.  The  installa- 
tion has  been  made  possible  only 
through  a  revision  of  the  contract  with 
the  local  union  and  an  amendment  to  a 
city  ordinance,  both  of  which  contained 
clauses  requiring  two-man  operation  of 
all  street  cars. 

The  new  safety  cars  will  be  installed 
on  the  basis  of  an  approximately  25 
per  cent_increase  in  number  of  cars. 
The  Illinois  Traction  System  is  now 
operating  cars  of  the  light  weight 
safety  type  in  Champaign  and  Decatur, 
111.,  Wichita  and  Topeka,  Kan.,  and  has 
one-man  operation  of  older  cars  in  a 
number  of  other  towns. 


Guaranteed  6  per  Cent  Looks 
Good  to  Them 

The  Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway  has 
accepted  a  new  franchise  for  extending 
its  lines  on  St.  Clair  Avenue  from  its 
present  Nottingham  Road  terminus  to 
Bliss  Road,  a  distance  of  IS  miles.  Con- 
struction is  to  be  begun  during  the  next 
few  months.  Financing  of  this  exten- 
sion was  a  problem  that  looked  to  be 
unsolvable  until  owners  of  industrial 
plants  in  the  territory  touched  by  the 
extension  stepped  forward  and  agreed 
to  buy  the  company's  6  per  cent  stock 
at  par.  The  stock  is  now  selling  on 
the  open  market  around  86,  but  pro- 
vision in  the  company's  grant  forbids 
its  sale  by  the  company  at  any  figure 
under  par.  As  the  people  refused  to 
sanction  an  increase  in  the  dividend 
rate  to  7  per  cent,  the  company  has 
been  unable  to  finance  any  other  ex- 
tensions through  the  sale  of  stock. 


Transportation  | 
News  Notes 

One-Man  Cars  Prohibited— The  Ma- 
con Railway  &  Light  Company,  Macon, 
Ga.,  has  been  restrained  from  using 
one-man  safety  cars  on  lines  of  heavy 
travel.  The  City  Council  first  author- 
ized this  method  of  transportation  and 
later  rescinded  its  order. 

Fares  Back  to  Five  Cents— The  City 
Council  of  Ironwood,  Mich.,  has  voted 
to  reduce  the  fares  on  the  lines  of  the 
Ironwood  &  Bessemer  Railway  &  Light- 
ing Company  from  6  cents  to  5  cents. 
This  is  the  second  reduction  in  three 
months.  The  fares  were  advanced  to 
7  cents  last  fall. 

Ten  Cents  Cash  Suggested.— The  Tri- 
City  Railway  &  Light  Company  is  re- 
ported to  have  suggested  to  the  city  of 
Muscatine  a  fare  of  10  cents,  with  books 
of  tickets  at  50  cents  which  would  en- 
title the  holder  to  a  5-cent  fare.  The 
effect  would  be  to  require  the  occasional 
rider  to  pay  a  rate  commensurate  with 
the  service  he  received,  while  retaining 
to  the  regular  patron  the  benefit  of  the 
low  fare. 

Seven  Cents  in  Phillipsburg.  —  The 
Phillipsburg  (N.  J.)  Transit  Company 
has  received  an  order  from  the  Public 
Utility  Commission  allowing  it  to  raise 
the  fare  from  5  to  7  cents  within  the 
town  limits.  The  petition  for  increased 
fares  was  filed  on  May  4,  1920,  and  was 
opposed  by  the  municipal  authorities 
on  the  ground  that  the  service  given  by 
the  railway  was  not  up  to  the  standard 
called  for  under  its  franchise  ordinance. 

Tokens  Replace  Tickets — The  Louis- 
ville (Ky)  Railway  has  replaced  its 
paper  tickets  with  metal  tokens  about 
the  size  of  a  dime.  The  tickets  were 
sold  in  strips  of  five  with  receipt  at- 
tached for  35  cents.  The  tokens  will 
be  sold  at  the  same  rate  while  the  en- 
velope which  contains  them  is  a  receipt 
for  35  cents,  and  can  be  used  by  the 
patron  in  the  event  that  the  city  wins 
its  5-cent  fare  suit.  In  this  case  the 
company  will  have  to  refund  2  cents  on 
each  fare  represented  by  the  receipts. 

Court  Restrains  Jitneys.  —  Electric 
railways  cannot  withstand  the  competi- 
tion of  the  jitneys  is  the  opinion  of 
Justice  Frank  S.  Katzenbach,  of  the 
New  Jersey  Supreme  Court.  The  jurist 
made  this  anouncement  during  the 
mandamus  proceedings  involving  ten 
jitneys  operating  between  Salem  and 
Pennsgrove.  The  Salem  &  Pennsgrove 
Traction  Company  brought  about  the 
proceedings.  It  claims  that  the  jitney 
men  had  no  licenses  from  the  Board  of 
Public  Utility  Commissioners.  Justice 
Katzenbach  upheld  the  railway  and  said 
that  the  jitneys  would  eventually  drive 
the  traction  companies  out  of  business. 
The  jitney  men  must  now  suspend  oper- 
ating between  the  two  towns  until  their 
applications  are  approved  by  the  Board 
of  Utility  Commissioners. 


538 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


Personal  Mention 


Heads  Mexican  Railroad 

H.  B.  Titcomb,  Vice-President  of  Pacific 
Electric,  Is  Chosen  President  to 
Succeed  Col.  Randolph 

Herbert  B.  Titcomb,  vice-president 
of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  was  chosen  president  and 
director  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Rail- 
road of  Mexico,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  by  the  death  of  Col.  Epes  Ran- 
dolph on  Aug.  22,  1921.  Mr.  Titcomb 
will  have  headquarters  at  Tucson,  Ariz., 
and  at  Empalme,  Mexico.  The  Pacific 
Electric  Railway  is  a  Southern  Pacific 
subsidiary. 

Mr.  Titcomb,  who  was  elected  vice- 
president  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way, with  headquarters  at  Los  Angeles, 
but  three  years  ago,  has  been  the  execu- 
tive in  charge  of  that  property,  for 


H.  B.  Titcomb 


since  his  assuming  this  position  Presi- 
dent Paul  Shoup  has  had  his  office  in 
San  Francisco  as  operating  executive 
of  the  Pacific  system  of  the  Southern 
Pacific.  Mr.  Titcomb,  in  rising  to 
occupy  this  important  place  in  the 
transportation  world,  has  earned  his 
advancement  step  by  step  through  his 
own  individual  effort  and  because  of 
his  thorough  knowledge  of  every  phase 
of  railroading. 

There  is  a  very  large  field  for  Mr. 
Titcomb  in  his  new  position  with  the 
Southei-n  Pacific,  as  he  is,  with  his  vast 
experience,  most  capable  to  handle  the 
new  work  before  him.  In  his  new 
capacity  Mr.  Titcomb  is  expected  to 
build  up  the  system  which  spreads  its 
tentacles  fan-wise  through  old  Mexico 
— the  system  which  was  wrecked  and 
nearly  ruined  by  the  Mexican  revolu- 
tion which  preceded  the  Obregon  ad- 
ministration. Countless  miles  of  road- 
bed were  destroyed  and  the  work  of  re- 
building started  by  Colonel  Randolph 
will  be  carried  on.  Service  which  be- 
came intermittent  must  be  restored. 
These  tasks  lie  within  the  keeping  of 
the  road's  new  chief  executive,  whose 


work  in  handling  the  Pacific  Electric 
affairs  during  the  three  years  at  the 
head  of  its  organization  has  been  very 
commendable. 

No  one  has  at  this  time  been  ap- 
pointed to  the  post  vacated  by  Mr.  Tit- 
comb with  the  Pacific  Electric  lines. 

Mr.  Titcomb  has  spent  thirty  years 
of  intensive  service  with  the  Southern 
Pacific  Company.  Graduating  from 
Cogswell  Polytechnic  College  in  1891  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  as  a  draftsman,  working  up  from 
this  position  to  assistant  engineer  of 
the  construction  division  in  1898.  He 
was  appointed  roadmaster  of  the  West- 
ern division  a  year  later  and  was  suc- 
cessively roadmaster  of  the  Shasta  and 
Sacramento  divisions  from  1900  to  1904. 
After  serving  as  assistant  resident 
engineer  he  held  a  like  position  until 
1906  at  San  Joaquin,  and  at  Los  Angeles 
from  that  time  until  1909.  Mr.  Titcomb 
was  then  promoted  to  district  engineer 
at  Los  Angeles,  holding  this  position 
until  1914,  when  he  was  made  mainte- 
nance of  way  assistant  to  the  assistant 
chief  engineer  at  San  Francisco.  In 
1917  he  became  superintendent  of  the 
Stockton  division,  going  from  there  to 
Los  Angeles  to  become  vice-president  of 
the  Pacific  Electric. 

Mr.  Titcomb  was  born  in  Indianapolis, 
Ind.,  in  1871,  but  as  a  small  boy  he  came 
to  California  and  located  on  a  farm  with 
his  parents  in  Modesco. 

Mr.  Smith  Resigns  from  McGraw- 
Hill  Company 

F.  E.  Smith,  having  finished  the  work 
for  which  he  was  especially  engaged 
about  eighteen  months  ago  by  the  Mc- 
Graw-Hill Company,  Inc.,  has  resigned 
his  office  as  controller  of  the  company. 
He  is  returning  to  Fort  Myers,  Fla., 
where  he  has  real  estate  interests  and 
where  he  will  resume  his  connection 
with  the  First  National  Bank  of  Fort 
Myers,  which  he  gave  up  in  1918  to 
join  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation. 
Mr.  Smith  is  a  past  president  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Account- 
ants' Association,  and  was  for  fifteen 
years  auditor  of  the  Chicago  Union 
Traction  Company  and  of  its  successor, 
the  Chicago  Railways.  He  resigned 
from  the  Chicago  Railways  in  1914 
when  he  moved  to  Florida.  Mr.  Smith's 
special  work  with  the  McGraw-Hill 
Company,  Inc.,  was  to  prepare  and  put 
into  operation  a  system  of  accounts  in- 
cluding monthly  cost  statements. 

M.  B.  Baer,  formerly  chief  clerk  of 
the  traffic  department  of  the  Bamberger 
Electric  Railroad,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 
has  been  appointed  general  soliciting 
agent  for  the  road.  Mr.  Baer  has  been 
in  the  employ  of  the  company  for  the 
past  five  years.  The  position  of  chief 
clerk  will  be  filled  by  Loney  Flint,  a 
newly  added  member  of  the  personnel. 


Mr.  Cooper  Resigns 

Has  Been  Secretary  of  Southwestern 
Electrical  &  Gas  Association  for 
Nine  Years 

H.  S.  Cooper,  who  has  been  secretary 
of  the  Southwestern  Electrical  &  Gas 
Association  for  the  past  nine  years  and 
has  also  been  a  public  utility  advisory 
engineer  in  Dallas,  has  resigned  his  sec- 
retarial office.  He  is  planning  now  to 
take  a  vacation  to  which  he  is  un- 
doubtedly entitled  after  thirty -five 
active  years  in  the  public  utility  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Cooper  was  one  of  the  or- 
ganizers of  the  Southwestern  Electrical 
&  Gas  Association  and  served  a  term 
as  president  before  he  became  secre- 
tary in  1912. 

Mr.  Cooper  is  a  native  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight  in  England,  where  he  was  born 
in  1856.  In  1876,  after  he  had  moved 
to  America,  he  began  the  manufacture 
of  agricultural  machinery  and  shortly 
thereafter  entered  the  electrical  field. 
In  1893  he  was  appointed  general  man- 
ager of  the  Schenectady  properties  of 
the  Electrical  Development  Company, 


H.  S.  Cooper 


which  consisted  at  that  time  of  the 
electrical  and  gas  lighting  and  the  rail- 
way systems  of  Schenectady,  all  of 
which  Were  then  in  the  hands  of  a  re- 
ceiver. Later  these  properties  were 
reorganized  and  placed  on  a ,  paying 
basis  by  Mr.  Cooper.  Subsequently  he 
directed  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
Ithaca  (N.  Y.)  Railway,  and  later  be- 
came connected  with  the  Electrical  De- 
velopment Company  in  New  York.  In 
July,  1904,  he  accepted  the  position  of 
general  manager  of  the  Galveston  City 
Railway,  and  continued  with  that  com- 
pany and  its  successor,  the  Galveston 
Electric  Company  until  1910.  About 
this  time  he  was  retained  to  supervise 
the  design  and  construction  of  the  new 
Hotel  Galvez  at  Galveston.  In  1912  he 
was  elected  secretary  of  the  Southwest- 
ern Electrical  &  Gas  Association. 


New  York  Commission  Appoints 
Mr.  Vanneman  Chief  Engineer 

The  New  York  Public  Service  Com- 
mission on  Sept.  20  announced  the  ap- 
pointment of  Charles  R.  Vanneman  as 
chief  enginer  of  the  commission.  Mr. 
Vanneman  was  with  the  old  Public 


September  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


539 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 


DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Service  Commission  of  the  Second  Dis- 
trict up  to  the  time  of  the  creation  of 
the  present  commission.  He  was  ap- 
pointed in  '1910  to  the  old  commission 
as  inspector  of  transportation.  His 
new  position  as  chief  engineer  places 
him  in  charge  of  engineering  and  in- 
spection work  for  the  commission  of  all 
steam  railroads,  street  railroads,  grade 
crossings  and  electric  light,  gas,  tele- 
phone and  telegraph  companies  through- 
out the  state. 


A  Public-Spirited  Service 

Infrequently,  indeed,  are  the  virtues 
of  the  street  railway  manager  extolled 
in  the  daily  press.  It  might  be  claimed 
that  they  have  none  worthy  of  mention. 
Perhaps  they  haven't,  but  they  just  suc- 
ceed without  them.  However,  there  is  a 
little  appreciative  and  sympathetic 
paragraph  that  appeared  recently  in  the 
Boston  News-Bureau  showing  that  it 
has  some  realization  of  what  transpor- 
tation men  have  been  confronted  with 
during  the  past  few  years: 

There  is  a  man  in  Boston  who  is  doing 
valiant  service  in  the  public  interest  whose 
work  is  not  receiving  the  praise  it  de- 
serves. Reference  is  made  to  Homer  Lor- 
ing,  who,  for  a  paltry  salary  of  $5,000  as 
trustee,  is  struggling  to  keep  the  Bay  State 
Street  Railway  on  its  financial  feet.  The 
employees,  the  public  and  the  security  hold- 
ers are  quick  to  condemn  him  for  any 
situation  which  doesn't  happen  to  fit  in  with 
their  own  particular  idea  of  how  to  run  a 
street  railway.  Mr.  Loring  courageously 
sticks  to  his  job  and  doesn't  allow  ignorant 
criticism  to  "get  him."  He  did  not  accept 
the  thankless  task  because  he  wanted  it ;  he 
doesn't  need  the  salary  and  he  is  on  his 
third  year  of  service,  although  he  had 
agreed  to  accept  but  one.  He  will  probably 
retire  at  the  end  of  the  current  year  and 
the  road  will  lose  one  of  its  real  assets. 
He  has  long  been  an  advocate  of  "service 
at  cost"  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  with 
the  generally  disturbed  conditions  of  busi- 
ness since  the  property  was  reorganized, 
his  theory  has  not  had  a  fair  chance  to 
demonstrate  its  Dossibilities. 


M.  D.  Payne,  who  has  been  superin- 
tendent of  transportation  in  Gadsden 
division  of  the  Alabama  Power  Com- 
pany for  several  years,  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  Duncan's  Riffle,  Ala.,  having 
been  sent  there  to  help  in  railway  con- 
struction. 

Charles  L.  Edgar,  president  of  the 
Edison  Electric  Illuminating  Company, 
Boston,  has  been  elected  president  of 
the  New  England  section  of  the  N.  E. 
L.  A.  Mr.  Edgar  has  been  prominently 
identified  with  N.  E.  L.  A.  work,  both 
in  the  national  and  local  organizations, 
for  a  number  of  years.  He  has  served 
several  times  as  vice-president  of  the 
N.  E.  L.  A.  and  was  president  in  1903. 

E.  Arnold  has  been  appointed  master 
mechanic  of  the  Cleveland  Alliance  & 
Mahoning  Valley  Railroad,  Ravenna, 
Ohio.  He  is  the  successor  to  W.  C. 
Carter,  who  recently  resigned.  Mr. 
Carter  has  not  as  yet  accepted  any 
other  connection.  Mr.  Arnold  was  at 
one  time  connected  with  the  Cleveland, 
Southwestern  &  Columbus  Railway, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  having  entered  their 
employ  in  1904.  He  remained  there 
until  September,  1919,  when  he  resigned 
to  go  with  the  National  Tube  Company, 
Lorain,  Ohio.  It  was  the  latter  com- 
pany that  he  has  just  left  to  become 
master  mechanic  of  the  Cleveland,  Alli- 
ance &  Mahoning  Valley  Railroad. 


Cut  in  Cement  Prices 

Reduction  Made  of  30  Cents  a  Barrel — 
Production  During  August 
Increased 

Announcement  was  made  last  week 
to  the  effect  that  manufacturers  have 
taken  off  30  cents  a  barrel  on  the  price 
of  cement.  Although  there  had  been 
reason  to  suspect  that  some  price 
change  might  occur  before  the  first  of 
the  year  the  trade  had  not  been  expect- 
ing it  to  come  so  suddenly  nor  with  so 
much  precision.  It  became  effective 
simultaneously  with  the  issuance  of  the 
announcement,  first  by  the  Atlas  Port- 
land Cement  Company,  and  was  im- 
mediately followed  by  similar  price  cuts 
by  other  cement  manufacturers. 

The  dealers  immediately  followed 
suit  with  a  reduction  in  price  to  their 
customers.  Instead  of  the  quoted  price 
today  being  $3.00  to  $3.20  a  barrel,  tne 
dealers  are  now  asking  $2.90. 

The  reason  for  the  price  cut,  it  is 
said,  is  that  important  savings  have 
been  made  by  the  Atlas  Portland  Ce- 
ment Company  in  the  cost  of  manu- 
facturing its  product.  It  has  passed  the 
benefit  of  these  savings  on  to  its  cus- 
tomers. These  savings  have  been 
effected  by  greater  efficiency  among  the 
mill  employees,  resulting  in  lower  costs 
of  production.  Coal  and  other  raw  ma- 
terials are  cheaper. 

Some  of  the  biggest  buyers  stated 
that  as  the  new  cut  narrowed  manu- 
facturers' margins  almost  to  the  vanish- 
ing point,  a  condition  of  stabilization 
might  soon  be  expected  as  far  as  prices 
were  concerned.  The  prediction  was 
made  that  by  spring  cement  prices 
would  rebound.  In  fact,  the  general 
trend  of  the  market  continues  to  be 
toward  a  higher  price  level  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  normally  prices  begin  to 
weaken  at  the  approach  oi  auuunm. 

Production  and  shipments  of  Portland 
cement  in  the  United  States  continued 
to  increase  during  August,  1921,  and, 
according  to  available  statistics,  scored 
new  high  records  for  that  month.  The 
August  production  exceeded  the  aver- 
age for  August,  1917-1921,  by  about  15 
per  cent.  Production  for  the  first  eight 
months  of  1921  was  about  99  per  cent 
of  the  quantity  produced  during  the  cor- 
responding period  of  1920  and  exceeded 
the  average  for  the  first  eight  months 
of  1917  to  1921  by  about  8.5  per  cent. 

As  is  usual  in  summer,  the  August 
shipments  exceeded  production,  and  the 
total  for  the  eight  months  just  ended 
was  equivalent  to  more  than  99  per  cent 
of  the  record  quantity  shipped  in  the 
first  eight  months  of  1920.  The  aver- 
age for  the  same  period  during  the  five 
years  1917-1921  was  exceeded  by  about 
9.5  per  cent. 


Stocks  of  finished  cement  at  mills  at 
the  end  of  August  were  approximately 
8,280,000  bbl.,  compared  with  8,941,000 
bbl.  on  Jan.  1,  1921,  and  with  the  aver- 
age of  about  9,600,000  bbl.  for  August 
during  the  last  five  years. 


Higher  Steel-Sheet  Base  Does  Not 
Affect  Electrical  Sheets 

Toward  the  end  of  last  week  most  of 
the  prominent  independent  manufac- 
turers of  sheets  advanced  their  prices 
$5  per  ton.  Black  sheets  went  from 
2.75  cents  to  3  cents,  galvanized  from 
3.75  cents  to  4  cents,  and  blue  annealed 
from  2.25  cents  to  2.5  cents  per  pound, 
Pittsburgh  base.  Considerable  booking 
was  done  before  the  old  price  was 
cleared  off  the  boards.  At  this  time  the 
leading  sheet  producer  has  not  made 
any  advance  in  price  to  the  new  bases 
taken  by  the  independents. 

As  far  as  can  be  learned,  there  has 
been  no  advance  in  electrical  steel 
sheets  for  magnetic  use.  This  market 
is  still  quiet,  although  it  is  reported 
better  than  it  was  in  the  early  summer. 
Under  this  condition  it  is  considered 
unlikely  that  a  higher  price  will  be 
placed  on  it  at  this  time  unless  it  reacts 
in  that  direction  through  the  influence 
of  the  general  sheet  market. 


Gear  Cases  in  Good  Demand 

Although  one  or  two  manufacturers 
of  gear  cases  report  that  the  demand 
for  their  product  is  still  below  the 
average  and  that  electric  railways  seem 
to  be  making  no  attempt  to  provide  for 
their  winter  needs,  the  majority  of  pro- 
ducers have  found  conditions  consid- 
erably more  favorable  and  are  making 
what  are  considered  good  sales.  As  has 
been  the  rule  in  the  electric  railway 
industry  for  the  past  few  years,  their 
purchases  have  been  only  of  sufficient 
volume  to  satisfy  current  needs.  How- 
ever, this  volume  of  buying  is  said  to 
represent  a  sizable  total. 

Under  the  present  condition  of  the 
industry  it  appears  as  though  activity 
in  the  gear-case  line  had  come  early. 
Undoubtedly  it  has  to  a  certain  extent 
and  some  give  the  explanation  that 
requirements  to  replace  those  lost  by 
breakage  last  winter  were  practically 
nothing,  as  track  and  roadway  condi- 
tions were  exceptionally  favorable. 
Since  this  winter  demand  was  almost 
negligible,  and  railways  in  most  cases 
kept  buying  so  close  to  actual  needs 
that  they  were  not  left  with  heavy 
stocks;  they  are  now  obliged  to  replace 
much  equipment  that  will  not  survive 
any  longer.  Also  these  advance  orders 
indicate  that  some  railways  are  in 
slightly  better  financial  condition  and 
that  some  money  is  being  expended  in 


540 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  13 


anticipating  the  winter's  needs,  espe- 
cially for  equipment  that  has  been 
neglected  and  is  likely  to  be  wanted  on 
short  notice. 

A  good  volume  of  advance  orders  is 
yet  expected  from  lines  that  have  only 
covered  their  present  needs,  and  with 
the  raw  material  supply  improving  and 
a  constantly  better  attitude  on  the  part 
of  labor  it  is  hoped  that  prices  may  be 
reduced.  Prices  under  present  condi- 
tions, however,  are  as  low  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  make  them,  manufacturers 
state.  Stocks  are  good  on  both  sheet 
steel  and  malleable  iron  cases,  conse- 
quently deliveries  are  not  awaiting  any 
manufacturing  processes.  The  fact  that 
numerous  inquiries  are  incoming  is  cer- 
tainly indicative  of  an  ever  improving 
market. 


More  Interest  in  Labor  Saving 
Shop  Tools 

The  fact  that  some  dealers  and  manu- 
facturers of  labor  saving  tools  and  ma- 
chinery such  as  coil  winding,  armature 
banding  and  commutator  slotting  ma- 
chine report  numerous  inquiries  for  this 
type  of  shop  equipment  can  be  inter- 
rupted as  indicating-  that  whenever 
possible  electric  railways  are  anxious 
to  provide  themselves  with  such  appa- 
ratus as  will  enable  them  to  lessen 
maintenance  and  repair  costs.  The  ten- 
dency, it  is  reported,  is  to  purchase  and 
install  these  labor  saving  devices  be- 
cause the  beneficial  effect  of  their  use 
is  quickly  apparent  in  respect  to  their 
high  quality  of  work,  labor  saving  and 
the  decreased  time  rolling  equipment  is 
out  of  service. 

As  far  as  manufacturing  conditions 
are  concerned,  there  have  been  no 
changes  recently,  although  it  is  stated 
that  readjustments  will  be  made  as  soon 
as  costs  permit.  Deliveries  can  be  made 
in  a  reasonable  time,  since  all  raw 
material  is  readily  obtainable.  Plants 
turning  out  this  sort  of  machinery  are 
running  at  from  one-third  to  one-half 
capacity. 

Electrical  Materials  Little 
Affected  by  Higher 
Cotton  Prices 

With  the  higher  cotton  prices  which 
have  been  holding  quite  steadily  for 
the  past  two  weeks  at  just  under  20 
cents  a  pound,  there  has  been  some  in- 
quiry as  to  whether  or  not  certain  elec- 
trical materials  containing  cotton  have 
reacted  to  higher  levels  or  are  liable  to 
go  there  in  the  near  future.  So  far  as 
can  be  learned,  there  has  been  no  ad- 
vance in  general.  The  exceptions  found 
are  in  flat  insulations.  Certain  woven 
white  tapes  have  been  marked  up  4  per 
cent,  and  one  brand  of  sheet  varnished 
cambric  is  reported  15  per  cent  higher. 
No  change  was  noted  in  varnished  cam- 
bric tape,  insulated  wires  and  cables  or 
non-metallic  flexible  conduit.  Local  re- 
ports of  higher  prices  on  loom  and  in- 
sulated wire  are  undoubtedly  the  result 
of  local  conditions  in  distributing  chan- 
nels and  not  of  the  increase  in  raw  ma- 
terial prices. 


Rolling  Stock 


British  Columbia  Electric  Railway,  A  an- 
couver,  B.  C,  will  probably  purchase  10 
one-man  safety  ears  to  provide  additional 
rolling  stock  while  the  rule  of  the  road  is 
being  changed  at  the  end  of  the  year  from 
left-hand  running  to  right-hand  running. 

Holvoke  (Mass.)  Street  Railway  states 
that  it  expects  to  purchase  2  motor  buses 
in  the  near  future.  No  information  is  given 
in  regard  to  the  type  or  seating  capacity 
of  the  vehicles  that  it  contemplates  order- 
ing nor  is  any  mention  made  of  the  kind 
of  service  in  which  they  will  be  employed. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Boston     (Mass.)     Elevated    Railway  has 

placed  an  order  for  900  tons  of  girder  rails. 
200  tons  of  standard  T  rail  and  1.250  pairs 
of  rail  joints.  The  Bethlehem  Steel  Com- 
pany will  supply  this  material. 

Houston  (Te.v.)  Electric  Company  will 
start  on  improving  its  lines  if  the  new 
franchise  is  approved  by  the  city  at  the 
election  on  Oct.  4.  This  statement  was  re- 
cently made  by  Luke  C.  Bradley,  district 
manager  of  the  Stone  &  Webster  Company 
in  Texas. 

Tulsa     (Okla.)     Street    Railway    and  the 

Oklahoma  Union  Railway  will  rearrange 
their  routings  so  as  to  utilize  the  under- 
bade crossing  at  Quannah  Avenue.  This 
crossing  was  recently  ordered  constructed 
by  tile  State  Corporation  Commission.  The 
oider  required  the  City  of  Tulsa  and  the 
Missouri.  Kansas  &  Texas  Railway  to  join 
in  tlie  construction  of  two  crossings  over 
the  Katy  right  of  way  in  Tulsa. 

Chattanooga  Railway  &  Eight  Company, 
Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  is  rebuilding  its  Alton 
Park  ine  from  Main  Street  to  Twenty- 
Eighth  Street  with  6-in.  100-lb.  rail,  which 
represents  4,981  ft.  of  single  track  and  286 
ft.  of  double  track.  The  East  Chattanooga 
line  is  being  rebuilt  from  Jefferson  to 
Stewart  Street  with  41-in.  70-lb.  rail.  It 
involves  a  length  of  1.228  ft.  of  double 
track  and  5,341  ft.  of  single  track. 

Portland  Railway.  Eight  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Portland,  Ore.,  recently  completed 
reconstruction  and  improvement  work  on 
East  Twelfth  Street,  and  the  intersections 
of  East  Eleventh  and  East  Twelfth  and 
Hawthorne  Avenues,  at  a  cost  of  $60,000. 
A  number  of  carlines  have  been  re-routed 
and  in  many  cases  the  installation  of  new 
curves  and  other  special  work  has  elim- 
inated the  use  of  switches  and  cross-overs. 
The  company  also  has  under  way  other  re- 
construction  work   that   will   cost  $36,000. 

Columbus  Railway,  Power  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Columbus.  Ohio,  has  contracted  for 
and  expended  in  general  improvements 
$2,908,498  since  the  present  fare  ordinance 
became  effective  (April  3.  1920),  according 
to  a  recent  statement  by  C.  L.  Kurtz,  pres- 
ident of  the  property.  Doing  away  with 
overhead  high-tension  wires  and  substitut- 
ing underground  conduits  in  the  down- 
town section  have  cost  $650,000.  An  ex- 
penditure of  $381,000  was  made  for  repairs 
to  the  intersections  of  Chittenden  Avenue. 
Naghten,  Chestnut  and  Spring  Streets  with 
Fourth  Street.  Increasing  the  capacity  of 
power  stations  has  cost  $1,315,000  and  new 
substations  have  cost  $450,000. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway  has  ap- 
plied to  the  Public  Utilities  Commission 
for  permission  to  establish  a  station  and 
shelter,  with  approaches,  tracks,  etc.,  ad- 
joining Lechmere  Square,  Cambridge,  for 
the  conyenient  transfer  of  passengers  be- 
tween cars  operating  through  the  Boylston 
Street  Subway.  Tremont  Street  Subway  and 
over  the  viaduct  from  the  North  Station  in 
Boston  to  Lechmere  Square  in  Cambridge. 


Professional  Notes 


Coverdale  &  Colpitts,  consulting  engineers, 
66  Broadway,  New  York,  announce  the  en- 
gagement as  a  member  of  their  staff  of 
George  W.  Burpee,  formerly  managing  en- 
gineer of  Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr  & 
Company,  and  lately  of  its  successor, 
Dwight  P.  Robinson  &  Company.  Mr.  Bur- 
pee is  a  member  of  the  American  Society 
of  Civil  Engineers  and  of  the  Engineering 
Institute  of  Canada. 

F.  H.  Sauter,  formerly  associate  editor 
of  the  Locomotive  Dictionary,  has  accepted 
a  position  with  Gibbs  &  Hill,  consulting 
engineers,  New  York  City.  His  work  with 
this  firm  will  have  to  do  with  the  de- 
velopment of  railway  electrification.  Mr. 
Sauter  was  connected  with  the  General 
Electric  Company  from  1894  until  1903. 
when  he  joined  the  Schenectady  Railway  as 
assistant  master  mechanic.  At  one  time 
he  was  also  in  the  service  of  the  American 
Locomotive  Company,  Schenectady.  N.  Y., 
where  he  held  various  positions  including 
those  of  designer  of  steam  and  electric 
locomotives. 


Trade  Notes 


George  W.  Thomas,  president  and  co- 
founder  of  the  R.  Thomas  &  Sons  Com- 
pany, East  Liverpool,  Ohio,  manufacturer 
of  insulators,  died  on  Aug.  7,  1921,  at  the 
age  of  seventy. 

Automatic  Reclosing  Circuit  Breaker 
Company  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  has  announced 
the  opening  of  a  Philadelphia  office'  at  1613 
Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Penn.  H. 
A.  Van  Dyke  has  been  placed  in  charge  of 
this  office. 

Barney  &  Smith  Car  Company,  Dayton, 
Ohio,  lias  been  recommended  by  its  receiver, 
Valentine  Winters,  that  further  operations 
at  the  plant  be  discontinued  and  that  the 
plant  be  sold.  Mr.  Winters  informed  the 
court  that  since  the  receivership  was  es- 
tablished the  loss  to  the  plant  has  been 
$157,330.  What  further  action  has  been 
taken  by  the  receivers  has  not  yet  become 
known. 

E.  T.  Hungerford  Brass  &  Copper  Com- 
pany.   510    Arch    Street,    Philadelphia,  has 

purchased  the  merchandise  stock  of  the 
A.  P.  Swoyer  Company  and  has  leased  the 
premises  formerly  occupied  by  it  at  17 
North  7th  Street,  Philadelphia.  Possession 
was  taken  by  the'  Hungerford  Company 
Sept.  1.  It  is  intended  to  carry  a  full  line 
of  brass,  copper,  tobin  bronze,  nickel  silver 
and  monel  metal  products  in  sheets,  rods, 
tubes,  wires,  etc. 

Henry  C.  Esling,  secretary  of  the  J.  G. 
Brill  Company  for  the'  past  thirteen  years, 
died  on  Sept.  IS.  at  his  home  in  Philadel- 
phia after  a  brief  illness.  He  was  fifty-eight 
years  of  age.  Mr.  Esling  was  a  member 
of  the  Philadelphia  bar  and  prior  to  his 
affiliation  with  the  electric  railway  car- 
building  industry  was  associated  in  the 
practice  of  law  with  Francis  Rawle.  He 
was  a  director  of  the  Pennsylvania  Manu- 
facturers' Association  Casualty  Insurance 
Company  and  of  the  Beneficial  Savings 
Fund  Society  of  Philadelphia. 


Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  is  installing  new 
concrete  pits  in  its  repair  beds  at  the  East 
Dallas  carhouse.  These  pits  will  greatly 
facilitate  repair  work. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  proposes  to  build  a  freight  house  and 
station  on  Philadelphia  Street  just  west  of 
Whittier  Avenue.  Whittier. 

Harrisburg  (Pa.)  Railways  recently 
placed  a  contract  for  two  Heine  boilers 
of  600  h.p.  equipped  w  ith  Coxe  stokers  and 
also  conduits  for  new  coal  bunker  at  cen- 
tral power  station.  These  boilers  are  ex- 
pected to  be  in  service  by  Jan.  1,  1921. 

New  Orleans,  Ea.,  H.  K.  Johnson,  builder 
of  the  Orleans-Kenner  interurban  line  has 
filed  application  with  Commissioner  Paul 
Malone-y  of  the  Department  of  Public  Util- 
ities for  a  franchise  for  an  electric  light  and 
power  plant  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Safety  Limit  Switch. — A  new  crane  safety 
limit  switch,  known  as  tvpe  LC,  has  been 
put  on  the  market  by  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  East 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Oil  Circuit  Breakers. — The  Westinghouse 
Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company,  East 
Pittsburgh.  Pa.,  has  issued  special  publi- 
cation 1643.  entitled  'Application  of  Oil 
Circuit  Breakers." 

Motors.  —  The  Mechanical  Appliance 
Company,  Milwaukee,  has  issued  bulletins 
Nos.  401,  402,  403,  404  and  405,  covering 
the  "Watson"  direct-current  motors,  alter- 
nating-current motors,  multispeed  motors, 
slip-ring  and  high-torque  motors  and  ball 
bearing  motors  respectively. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


HENBT  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Kditors 


HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 


HABBY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor      N. A. BOWERS. Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIEB.Associate  Editof     E. W. STOCKS.  Associate  EdiM* 


O.J.MACMUBBAY.News  Editor 


DONALD  F.HINE.Edltorial  BepresentatlTe 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  October  1,  1921'  qct  3~  ^m&e?-  u 


There  Is  a  Good  Program 

for  Atlantic  City  Next  Week 
ALTHOUGH  there  will  be  no  exhibits  at  the  conven- 
-Z"\  tion  this  year,  the  program  of  papers  and  reports 
to  be  presented  is  so  attractive  that  a  good  attendance 
should  be  assured.  A  perusal  of  the  reports  and  papers 
already  issued  in  advance  shows  them  to  be  of  unusually 
high  character  and  on  subjects  which  are  of  the  livest 
interest  now  in  electric  railway  circles.  While  annual 
conventions  in  the  past  have  always  been  accompanied 
by  exhibits,  the  association  has  precedents  for  gather- 
ings without  that  accompaniment  in  the  midyear  con- 
ferences and  in  the  one-day  annual  meetings  which  were 
held  during  the  war.  That  these  meetings  have  been 
considered  worth  while  by  the  membership  at  large  has 
been  attested  by  the  good  sized  attendance.  By  so  much 
more  should  electric  railway  men  consider  as  worthy  of 
their  presence  a  four-day  simultaneous  meeting  by  five 
electric  railway  associations.  All  who  can  should  be  at 
Atlantic  City  next  week. 


The  high  prices  which  are  still  •-ejiarged  for  many 
materials  and  for  labor  have  been  a  stumbling  block. 
General  Atterbury's  statement  which  appeared  in  the 
daily  press  on  Sept.  27  describes  the  situation  succinctly 
so  far  as  it  concerns  the  railroads.  How  far  the  present 
unemployment  situation  will  change  this  condition 
remains  to  be  determined.  The  conference  begins  its 
work  under  good  auspices,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  a 
remedv  will  be  found. 


Electric  Railways'  Interests 

in  Reducing  Unemployment 

THE  unemployment  conference  now  being  held  in 
Washington  is  of  interest  to  the  electric  railways  in 
two  ways.  One  is  through  their  gross  receipts.  The 
man  who  is  working  has  to  travel  to  and  from  his  place 
of  occupation  and  usually  uses  the  street  car  twice  a  day 
to  do  so.  Moreover,  he  is  earning  money,  and  both  he 
and  his  family  are  bound  to  spend  some  of  it  each  day 
in  electric  railway  travel.  The  second  interest  which 
the  electric  railway  companies  have  in  the  unemploy- 
ment conference  is  that  they  are  large  employers  of 
labor.  Even  in  present  conditions  they  have  many  men 
on  their  payroll,  but  in  more  favorable  circumstances — 
that  is  to  say,  if  the  electric  railway  industry  had 
returned  to  normal — they  would  be  the  .direct  employers 
of  many  more,  not  only  in  transportation  on  additional 
cars  but  in  track  and  car  maintenance  and  to  some 
extent,  probably,  in  new  construction.  Moreover,  they 
would  be  large  purchasers  of  equipment  and  thus 
indirectly  provide  work  for  many  more. 

Undoubtedly  there  is  much  work  in  this  country 
which  was  postponed  during  the  war  and  is  needed  now 
to  overcome  the  uncared  for  depreciation  of  the  past 
five  years  and  to  make  up  for  the  work  which  was  sus- 
pended while  the  energies  of  the  nation  were  devoted  to 
the  manufacture  of  war  material.  The  electric  railway 
industry  presents  one  example  only.  There  are  others, 
as  in  the  steam  railroad  industry  and  housing.  The 
problem  is  how  to  make  this  work  available  to  the  vast 
army  of  unemployed — estimated  to  number  from  three 
to  five  and  one-half  millions — and  provide  the  money  to 
remunerate  them. 

Obviously  in  commercial  industries  this  work  can  be 
begun  only  if  the  whole  enterprise  will  show  a  profit, 
and  this  after  all  will  undoubtedly  be  found  to  be  the 
reason  for  the  delay  in  most  of  the  instances  cited. 


Ts 


Association  Standards  and 

Standardization  in  General 

\ET,E  complaint  is  often  heard  that  association 
standards  are  not  used  as  they  should  be.  There 
is  undoubtedly  some  basis  for  such  a  complaint,  but  it 
gives  no  reason  for  discouragement  or  reduction  in  the 
expenditure  of  time  and  effort  in  this  work.  The  fact 
is  that  honest,  earnest  and  intelligent  effort  directed 
toward  standardization  is  never  lost.  It  always  pro- 
duces some  effect  in  raising  practice  to  higher  and 
higher  levels. 

That  standardization  effort  is  not  lost  can  be  seen 
from  a  definition  of  the  term.  No  matter  how  the  idea 
is  stated  the  fundamental  principle  is  substantially  this: 
Standardization  is  the  codifying  of  existing  knowledge 
in  such  a  way  as  to  place  within  the  reach  of  everybody 
the  results  of  the  best  experience  and  thought  of  the 
leaders  in  practice  and  analysis.  Obviously  such  work 
cannot  be  without  result.  Isn't  this  what  every  associa- 
tion committee  is  trying  to  do  in  its  particular  field? 
Isn't  this  what  is  needed  to  improve  construction  and 
operation  on  every  electric  railway  property  ?  Isn't  this 
the  principal  reason  for  the  existence  of  the  association 
anyway?  Certainly,  yes.  And  even  if  every  railway 
does  not  use  the  association  standard  rail  or  standard 
wheel,  it  does  benefit  from  the  codifying  of  informa- 
tion gathered  and  analysed  patiently  year  after  year. 

The  purpose  of  standardization  in  all  lines  is  to 
reduce  effort  and  cost.  Whenever  a  new  installation 
is  to  be  made  or  a  new  procedure  inaugurated,  the  first 
step  is  to  ascertain  the  best  present  practice  in  connec- 
tion therewith.  If  any  appropriate  standards  have 
been  adopted  by  authoritative  bodies,  so  much  the  better. 
The  principle  applies  to  even  so  simple  a  matter  as 
the  layout  of  a  desk.  Some  desks  would  stand  quite 
a  little  standardization.  This,  however,  is  a  "touchy" 
matter  and  the  illustration  will  be  pushed  no  further. 
In  the  case  of  such  important  matters,  however,  as 
electric  railway  supplies,  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by 
the  use  of  standards  are  so  great  that  the  latter  should 
be  used  unless  there  is  overwhelming  reason  to  the 
contrary.  The  first  advantage  is  in  the  assurance  that 
the  best  known  practice  is  being  followed.  Another 
is  that  the  railway  will  ultimately  reap  the  benefit  of 
lower  manufacturing  costs.  Still  another  is  in  securing 
the  interchangeability  of  parts,  and  a  fourth  is  that 
repair  parts  can  be  had  more  promptly  than  otherwise. 

It  is  quite  a  job  to  utilize  fully  the  standardization 


542 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


work  of  the  association  committees  as  it  develops,  but 
the  job  is  worth  while.  Lack  of  familiarity  with  this 
work  is  one  cause  of  failure  to  use  it.  A  pressing  prob- 
lem before  the  association  is  to  "sell"  the  standards 
to  the  membership.  This  ought  not  to  be  necessary, 
but  unfortunately  it  is  so.  After  the  association  has 
done  its  duty,  it  is  up  to  every  railway  manager,  in 
co-operation  with  his  department  heads,  to  see  that 
the  property  is  benefited  tp  the  utmost  from  the  asso- 
ciation work. 

But  even  if  the  greatest  possible  use  is  not  being 
made  of  association  standards,  great  use  is  being  made 
of  them.  The  committees  are  building  a  valuable  litera- 
ture around  electric  railway  practice.  And  the  spirit 
with  which  the  committees  function  every  year,  and  in 
particular  have  functioned  during  the  past  year,  shows 
that  their  members  realize  that  they  are  making  a  real 
contribution  to  the  good  of  the  industry. 


Why  Railways  Fail — 

Ordinary  Selling  Publicity  Needed 

ALTHOUGH,  as  a  class,  electric  railways  are  giving 
l  \  more  thought  to  publicity  of  their  service  than 
in  past  years,  some  still  fail  to  realize  how  imperative 
such  publicity  has  become  since  the  advent  of  the 
jitney  or  the  motor  bus.  It  is  in  the  transportation 
business  now  as  it  is  in  any  other  industry  where 
there  is  competition — the  least  remissness  or  dozing 
is  seized  upon  by  the  rival  claimant  to  patronage.  An 
account  of  an  actual  case  will  make  the  point  clear. 

For  possibly  fifteen  years  past  it  has  been  customary 
for  the  interurban  cars  of  a  certain  route  to  run  to  a 
loop  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  an  important  steam 
railroad  station  in  an  Eastern  city.  Because  of  the 
greater  frequency  of  the  electric  service  between  this 
city  and  the  other  terminus  of  the  interurban,  most 
strangers  have  favored  the  electric  railway.  These  out- 
siders have  always  formed  a  respectable  fraction  of 
the  total  riding,  so  that  one  would  expect  that  any 
radical  change  in  routing  would  be  brought  to  their 
attention.  This  has  not  been  the  case.  In  our  innocence, 
one  morning,  we  went  to  the  loop  from  which  we  had 
taken  this  car  dozens  of  times  in  past  years  and  waited, 
and  waited  and  waited.  Every  variety  of  interurban 
but  the  one  that  we  wanted  came  by.  Finally,  one  of 
a  group  of  nearby  jitney  drivers  asked  where  did  we 
want  to  go?  On  our  naming  the  town,  he  hee-hawed  and 
said,  "Them  intaoibans  only  goes  to  the  city  line  now. 
You'll  nevuh  git  the  nine-fifteen  if  yuh  waits  f'r  a  car, 
but  my  bus  '11  git  the  connection  O.K."  So  we  foreswore 
our  good  resolutions  and  made  the  connection. 

When  one  considers  that  a  simple  sidewalk  sign  or 
a  piece  of  enameled  tin  suspended  from  a  span  wire 
would  have  apprised  the  prospective  passenger  of  this 
change,  it  is  inexplicable  why  nothing  of  the  kind 
was  done  except  to  assume  that  the  management  ex- 
pected the  stranger  to  know,  by  intuition,  the  changes 
in  service  as  minutely  as  itself.  We  know  of  one 
merchant  who  merely  moved  three  or  four  numbers  up 
the  main  street,  but  nevertheless  kept  advertising  his 
removal  for  a  year  thereafter.  Here  was  a  man  who 
knew  better  than  to  take  chances  with  his  clientele,  and 
he  was  telling  about  it  in  paid  newspaper  space,  too — 
not  in  cost-free  signs.  Better  too  much  than  too  little 
publicity  is  a  safe  rule  for  the  electric  railway  in 
these  days  when  no  one  can  stand  at  a  corner  very 
long  without  being  solicited  by  taxi  or  jitney  driver. 


Beautifying  Waste  Ground 
Is  a  Paying  Proposition 

HAVE  you  any  possibilities  in  the  way  of  garden 
spots  around  your  shops,  carhouses,  power  houses, 
substations  and  miscellaneous  buildings?  If  you  have,, 
now  is  a  good  time  to  plan  and  plant  for  next  spring. 
There  is  an  increasing  appreciation  of  the  practical 
benefits  of  simple  but  tasteful  planting  around  electric 
railway  buildings.  Visitors  to  such  properties  as  those 
in  Portland,  Ore.;  Harrisburg,  Pa.;  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
and  many  other  cities  carry  away  a  pleasant  impres- 
sion of  what  they  have  seen,  which  is  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  surroundings  of  necessarily  prosaic  buildings. 
There  are  several  reasons  why  these  pay  in  dollars  as 
well  as  esthetic  satisfaction.    Here  are  three  of  them. 

In  the  first  place  men  work  with  most  satisfaction, 
and  therefore  best,  in  attractive  surroundings.  There- 
are  few  who  do  not  enjoy  green  foliage  and  bright 
blossoms,  especially  those  engaged  in  manual  work. 
Again,  vines,  shrubbery  and  flower  beds  around  utilitar- 
ian buildings,  such  as  shops  and  the  like,  will  produce 
a  general  effect  which  could  be  had  only  at  much  greater 
cost  by  architectural  embellishment.  In  addition  to 
these  considerations,  if  a  shop  or  substation,  for 
example,  is  located  where  it  is  seen  by  many  patrons, 
its  grounds,  however  small,  offer  a  wonderful  oppor- 
tunity for  some  good  publicity  work.  Attractiveness  at 
this  point  is  one  of  those  superficial  but  important 
suggestions  of  good  management. 

Here,  fortunately,  is  one  place  on  an  electric  railway 
where  big  results  can  be  secured  at  practically  no  cost. 
Plants  can  be  had  for  little  or  nothing,  and  in  many 
cases  the  men  who  are  employed  about  the  plant  will 
gladly  undertake  to  prepare  the  soil  and  tend  the 
garden.  All  that  is  needed  is  some  one  imbued  with 
the  right  idea  and  capable  of  exerting  a  little  "punch" 
to  put  the  thing  over. 


What  Is 

the  Answer? 

STATISTICS  have  the  reputation  of  being  dry,  but 
the  following  indicate  a  problem  in  concrete  form. 
In  1912  the  steam  railroads  earned  a  return  of  about 
5  per  cent  on  their  property  investment;  in  1920  they 
earned  less  than  one-third  of  1  per  cent.  In  1912 
operating  expenses  took  70  cents  out  of  every  dollar  of 
operating  revenue;  in  1920  they  took  94  cents.  In  1912 
labor  took  43  cents  out  of  every  dollar  of  operating 
revenue;  in  1920  labor  took  60  cents.  Yet  in  1920  with 
only  8  per  cent  more  mileage  and  30  per  cent  more 
investment  the  railroads  were  able  to  produce  58  per 
cent  more  ton-miles  and  45  per  cent  more  passenger- 
miles  than  in  1912.  Operating  revenue  also  increased 
120  per  cent  in  the  same  period,  yet  there  was  a  decrease 
of  90  per  cent  in  net  operating  income. 

It  is  said  that  freight  and  passenger  rates  are  at 
the  economic  peak,  that  wages  must  be  maintained  and 
that  transportation  is  a  necessity,  yet  these  figures  show 
that  with  splendid  operating  efficiency  the  railroads 
earn  no  return.  Who  takes  the  loss?  Thousands  of 
workers,  banks  and  insurance  companies  who  have  in- 
vested their  capital  in  railroads  and  who  now  say  "no" 
to  every  request  for  more  capital. 

The  same  conditions  prevail  in  general  in  the  electric 
railway  industry,  and  there  are  only  two  things  to  do 
to  relieve  the  situation:  cut  down  expenses  and  sell 
more  transportation. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


543 


Single  Phase  Gives  Way  to  the  Automatic  Substation 

York  Railways  Discards  6,600-Volt  Single  Phase  on  the  18-Mile  Hanover  Interurban  Line  for  Direct 
Current  from  Two  500-Kw.  Automatic  Substations — New  Cars  of  Same  Capacity 
Are  Nearly  16  Tons  Lighter  than  Those  Replaced 


ROD 


THAT  portion  of  the  York  Railways  high-speed 
interurban  line  between  the  York  city  limits  and 
Hanover,  Pa.,  after  thirteen  years  operation  at 
6,600  volts  single  phase,  has  been  converted  to  a 
direct-current  system.  The  total  length  of  the  line  from 
the  center  of  York  to  its  terminus  in  Hanover  is  18.58 
miles,  3  miles  of  which  is  within  the  city  limits  of 
York  and  Hanover,  and,  of  course,  was  operated  at 
600  volts  direct  current.  Two  500-kw.  automatic  sub- 
stations now  furnish  the  power  to  this  newly  changed- 
over  section  of  the  line  which  has  been  left  insulated 
for  the  high  potential.  A  much  more  satisfactory 
service  is  now  being  furnished  with  a  type  of  car  of 
the  same  seating  capacity  as  the  former  car  but  weigh- 
ing almost  16  tons  less  and  having  a  total  motor  rating 
smaller  by  40  hp. 

There  were  many  considerations  which  influenced  the 
redesign  of  the  line  for  entire  direct-current  operation. 
Needless  to  say,  when  direct  current  can  be  fed  into 
the  trolley  with  all  the  advantages  of  alternating-cur- 
rent transmission  through  the  medium  of  the  automatic 
substation,  and  when  such  a  system  allows  an  added 
flexibility  in  operating  methods  and  a  decreased  com- 
plexity of  equipment,  high  voltage  single  phase  is  placed 
at  a  distinct  disadvantage.  Particularly  is  this  condi- 
tion true  when  with  a.c.  operation  the  rolling  stock  must 
also  be  equipped  to  use  current  in  either  form. 

All  five  of  the  original  cars  were  each  equipped  with 
four  Westinghouse  75-hp.  135-A  motors,  connected  for 
multiple  operation  with  the  unit-switch  pole  system. 
The  passenger  cars,  capable  of  seating  fifty-two  people, 
weighed  86,600  lb.  They  had  a  free  running  speed 
of  about  45  m.p.h.  As  one  of  the  illustration  shows, 
the  cars  were  equipped  both  with  two  trolleys  and 
with  a  pantograph. 

A  weighty  factor  influencing  the  change  was  the 
high  maintenance  cost  of  these  cars. 

An  added  disadvantage  that  prompted  the  change 
was  that  the  direct-current  equipment  on  several  other 
of  the  shorter  interurban  lines  could  not  be  used  on 
this  line.    This  meant  a  very  severe  handicap  in  the 


way  of  flexibility  with  the  result  that  a  larger  number 
of  cars  must  be  kept  available  in  operating  condition 
for  a  given  amount  of  service.  The  quality  of  service 
under  these  conditions  was  not  up  to  the  standard 
that  the  company  wished  to  furnish. 

Six  steel  fifty-two  passenger  Brill  cars  now  furnish 
transportation  between  York  and  Hanover.  The  two 
extra  cars  are  available  for  service  not  only  on  this 
line,  but  on  the  other  interurban  lines.  These  cars 
weigh  55,200  lb.  each.  They  are  equipped  with  Brill 
MCB  trucks  and  four  Westinghouse  65-hp.  CV-4  field- 
control  motors  using  Westinghouse  HL  control.  The 
brake  equipments,  together  with  the  CP27-B  air  com- 
pressors, were  furnished  by  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany. These  cars  have  a  maximum  speed  of  45  m.p.h. 
and  are  run  in  two-  or  three-car  trains,  according  to  the 
volume  of  traffic.  Hourly  service  is  furnished  in  both 
directions,  while  there  are  two  trips  of  the  freight  car 
per  day.    The  actual  running  time  is  but  fifty  minutes. 

Two  500-kw.  substations  were  installed  to  furnish 
direct  current  to  the  old  alternating-current  section. 
One  of  these  is  8  miles  from  York  at  Martin's  Siding, 
and  the  other  is  15.7  miles  from  York  at  Gift's  Run 
near  the  end  of  the  line.  Both  of  these  stations,  together 
with  the  automatic  control  equipment,  were  installed 
by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany. How  compact  and  attractive  they  are  can  be 
observed  from  the  photographs  reproduced.  Operating 
results  from  these  stations  have  been  entirely  satisfac- 
tory. Experiment  has  shown  that  the  Martin's  station 
is  out  twenty-eight  minutes  of  every  hour  with  normal 
service.  Both  stations  have  low  direct-current  output 
relays  with  a  time  setting  of  ten  minutes,  which  is 
used  because  this  is  the  interval  of  layover  at  the  end 
of  the  line,  thus  eliminating  an  unnecessary  shut  down, 
followed  immediately  by  a  demand  for  power.  Power 
is  furnished  to  these  stations  through  a  new  three- 
phase,  60-cycle,  11,000-volt  line. 

The  question  as  to  what  to  do  with  the  overhead 
line  was  another  problem.  The  overhead,  as  used  for 
6,600-volt   operation,  consisted   of   the  Westinghouse 


544 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


Views  of  the 

Revamped 
Hanover  Line 
Installation 

of  the 
York  (Pa.) 
Railway 


No.  1  —  Neat  and 
compact  500-kw.  sub- 
station a  t  Martin's 
Siding. 

No.  2  —  500-kw.  ro- 
tary, also  showing 
brush  lifting  mecha- 
nism, alternating-cur- 
rent panel  and  one 
transformer. 

No.  3 — Plan  of  the 
latest  thing  in  the  de- 
sign of  small  automatic 
inclosed  substations  for 
railway  use. 

No.  4 — Lightning 
protection  of  Martin's 
substation. 

No.  5  —  Relay  and 
direct-current  panel 
with  load-limiting  re- 
sistors above. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


545 


design  of  1907.  This  was  a  messenger  which  sup- 
ported, at  intervals  of  10  ft.,  a  No.  0000  copper  running 
wire.  This  was  afterward  changed  by  the  addition  of 
a  No.  0000  galvanized  steel  running  wire  which  was 
supported  by  2-in.  clips  under  the  copper  wire.  This 
construction  was  heavy  and  rigid,  but  during  its  use 
with  the  6,600-volt  pantograph  collection,  the  line 
was  remarkably  free  from  breaks,  or  interruption  of 
any  kind  due  to  overhead  troubles. 

Upon  the  installation  of  the  1,600-volt  direct-current 
system  it  was  decided  to  continue  to  use  the  No.  0000 
steel  running  wire,  but  to  remove  the  No.  0000  copper 
wire,  and  to  cut  the  hangers  down  to  two  to  a  span, 
a  spacing  of  approximately  50  ft.  The  condition  of 
the  old  No.  0000  copper  running  wire  was  such  that 
its  use  as  a  running  wire  was  impractical,  and,  as  the 
steel  wire  was  in  position  but  practically  worthless  if 
removed,  it  was  decided  to  use  it  in  connection  with 
sliding  contact  shoes  on  the  trolley  poles  on  the  cars. 
The  old  copper  wire  has  been  moved  over  to  the  line 
poles  and  used  as  a  part  of  the  direct-current  line  feeder 
system.   The  use  of  the  steel  messenger  and  steel  trolley 


public  because  of  a  quality  of  service  which  has  gained 
its  confidence  and  support,  many  other  benefits  are 
being  anticipated.  They  may  be  hard  to  detect  at  first 
but  will  bulk  large  over  a  period  of  several  years. 
Track  maintenance  must  necessarily  demand  less  outlay 
and  attention  when  the  weight  of  the  rolling  stock  is 
decreased  by  more  than  a  third.  A  lighter  car  is 
also  bound  to  have  a  subtractive  effect  on  the  power 
demand,  a  condition  especially  welcomed  because  the 
power  taken  to  start  the  old  cars  on  direct  current 
was  very  great  and  the  total  amount  taken  within  the 
city  was  considerable. 


Improved  Traffic  Conditions  in 
San  Francisco 

AN  ACCOUNT  was  published  on  page  49  of  the  issue 
L  of  this  paper  for  July  9  of  the  routes  on  Market 
Street  in  San  Francisco,  on  the  lower  end  of  which 
there  are  four  tracks.  Two  of  these  belong  to  the 
Municipal  Railway  and  two  to  the  United  Railroad. 
The  accompanying  table  shows  statistics  of  the  cars 


At  Left,  This  Is  the  Present  Type  of  Equipment  Which  Is  Giving  Such  Satisfactory  Service. 
At  Right,  Interior  View  of  the  Hanover  Line  Passenger  Cars 


wire  necessitates  feed  taps  at  every  third  pole.  The 
construction  described  above  provides  an  overhead  which 
is  sufficiently  resilient  and  flexible  to  permit  the  pole 
safely  to  follow  the  wire  without  undue  wear  on  either 
wire  or  shoe. 

In  changing  to  direct  current,  consideration  was 
given  to  stripping  the  old  cars  of  all  their  alternating- 
current  equipment,  leaving  only  the  apparatus  required 
for  direct  current.  Even  though  this  were  done  it  was 
found  that  the  cars  so  revamped  would  still  be  approxi- 
mately 15,000  lb.  heavier  than  new  steel  Brill  cars. 
It  is  quickly  seen  that  the  energy  saving  alone  would 
justify  the  purchase  of  the  new  lighter  cars,  since  they 
have  the  same  passenger  carrying  capacity  and  also 
are  able  to  maintain  a  better  schedule.  The  transmis- 
sion has  also  eliminated  the  use  in  the  power  station 
of  two  450-kw.  Westinghouse  frequency  converters,  each 
consisting  of  a  2,300-volt,  three-phase  synchronous  motor 
driving  a  single-phase,  660-volt,  25-cycle  generator. 

Taking  everything  into  consideration  the  installation 
of  the  automatic  substation  is  looked  upon  as  the  cor- 
rect solution  for  that  particular  property.  Schedules 
have  been  very  closely  adhered  to  and  no  failures  of 
equipment  have  occurred,  although  a  few  minor  adjust- 
ments to  be  expected  on  any  new  installation  have 
been  made.    Besides  an  increased  satisfaction  to  the 


and  passengers  carried  during  the  rush  hours  on  the 
six  lines  of  the  Municipal  Railway  which  operate  over 
this  part  of  Market  Street  for  a  considerable  distance. 
The  reduction  outbound  in  loading  in  July,  1921,  is 

DAILY  AVERAGES— SIX  HEAVIEST  LINES  MUNICIPAL  RAILWAY 
FROM  MARKET  STREET  FERRY 

Average 

Outbound  5  p.m.  to  6  p.m.  Cars         Passengers    Pass,  per  Car 

November,  1918   85  6,480  76  2 

March,  1919   97  8,650  89  2 

May,  1920   102  9,336  91  5 

February,  1921   109  9,940  91.2 

July,  1921    107  8,453  79.0 

Inbound  7:35  a.m.  to  9: 1 5  a.m. 

October,  1919   139  1 1.221  80  7 

May,  1920   160  I  1.327  70  8 

February,  1921    161  12,001  74  5 

attributed,  at  least  in  part,  to  some  rerouting  carried 
out  in  February. 

Traffic  west  of  the  Twin  Peaks  district  on  the  munici- 
pal railway  has  increased  24A  per  cent  in  cars  and  100i 
per  cent  in  passengers  between  March,  1919,  and 
August,  1921.  Part  of  this  is  due  to  discontinuance  of 
bus  operation  and  part  to  an  extension  of  one  of  the 
lines. 


The  super-power  report  made  under  the  direction  of 
the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  now  is  in  proof  form  and 
probably  will  be  released  for  publication  shortly. 


546 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


The  Urban  Transportation  Field  Analyzed 

The  Trolley  Bus,  with  Its  Lower  Investment  and  Corresponding  Fixed  Charges,  Is  Shown  to  Be  the  Most 
Economical  Vehicle  to  Operate  Except  Where  Heavy  Rush-Hour  Traffic  Has  to  Be 
Handled  or  Where  the  All-Day  Traffic  Is  Extremely  Light 

By  J.  C.  Thirlwall 

Railway  Engineer  General  Electric  Company,  Schenectady,  N.  T. 


THE  recent  successful  tests  of  the  trackless  trolley 
bus  at  the  General  Electric  Company's  works  in 
Schenectady  and  on  the  lines  of  the  Virginia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company  at  Richmond  and  Norfolk,  Va., 
have  created  a  demand  by  railway  officials  for  accurate 
information  as  to  the  conditions  under  which  such 
vehicles  can  be  utilized  to  the  best  advantage  and  for 
a  comparison  of  the  relative  operating  costs  of  rail 
cars,  gasoline  motor  buses  and  trolley  buses  taking 
electric  power  from  a  central  station.  Thoughout  this 
article  the  term  "motor  bus"  applies  to  the  gasoline 
driven  vehicle  and  the  term  "trolley  bus"  applies  to  the 
vehicle  operating  on  the  highway  that  takes  power  from 
overhead  wires. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  tabulate  on  a  compara- 
tive basis  the  respective  costs  of  all  three  types  of  trans- 
portation under  varying  conditions  of  load  and  fre- 
quency of  service  including  fixed  charges  on  the  total 
investment  required  in  each  case.  An  attempt  is  also 
made  to  show  the  difference  in  annual  costs  between  a 
new  line  or  an  extension  built  and  equipped  at  today's 
construction  costs  and  the  re-equipping  of  an  existing 
route  in  which  the  tracks  and  structures  were  built  at 
pre-war  costs,  materially  less  than  now  prevail. 

A  summary  of  the  calculations  indicates  that  for 
traffic  which  in  rush  hours  would  require  safety  cars 
to  operate  on  a  three-minute  headway  or  less  rail-borne 
traffic  is  more  economical  than  the  rubber-tired  bus,  and 
for  the  property  that  has  rails,  overhead,  stations  and 
shops  available,  which  were  built  at  pre-war  cost,  the 
rail  car  can  successfully  compete  with  its  pavement 
rivals  up  to  about  six-minute  minimum  headways. 

Beyond  this  point  the  electric  trolley  bus  appears  to 
have  the  advantage,  since  its  slightly  higher  eost  of 
operation  is  more  than  offset  by  the  saving  in  fixed 
charges  on  the  investment  required. 

The  motor  bus,  though  carrying  the  smallest  invest- 
ment charges,  regardless  of  traffic  density,  is  inherently 
so  much  more  expensive  to  operate  that  it  does  not 
become  a  competitor  of  the  rail  car  until  minimum  rail 
headways  of  ten  minutes  are  reached  on  new  routes  and 
of  twenty  minutes  on  existing  rail  lines. 

As  between  the  motor  bus  and  the  trolley  bus,  the 
latter  is  the  more  economical  up  to  headways  of  sixty 
minutes  or  longer.  Only  with  very  infrequent  service 
do  the  greater  investment  charges  of  the  trackless 
trolley  system  (covering  interest,  etc.,  on  the  overhead 
line  and  stations)  offset  its  lower  operating  cost. 

Tabulated,  these  costs  are  as  follows,  the  most 
economical  type  of  vehicle  being  indicated  for  minimum 
headways : 


Rail  cars   3  minutes  or  less 

Rail  cars  or  trolley  bus   3  to   6  minutes 

Troiley  bus     6  to  60  minutes 

Motor  bus   60  minutes  or  more 


Of  course,  as  the  tabulations  show,  the  difference  in 
favor  of  the  trolley  bus  as  compared  to  the  rail  car 


operating  on  headways  of  seven  and  one-half  or  ten 
minutes  to  an  existing  route  is  too  small  to  warrant 
even  the  suggestion  that  rails  and  equipment  should 
be  scrapped  and  replaced  with  the  new  form  of  trans- 
portation. It  is  not  until  minimum  headways  of  fifteen 
or  twenty  minutes  are  reached  that  the  estimated  sav- 
ing of  the  trolley  bus  over  an  existing  rail  route 
becomes  sufficient  to  justify  such  a  suggestion. 

To  illustrate  these  conclusions  and  to  show  the 
premises  on  which  they  are  based  a  number  of  tables 
have  been  prepared  and  are  here  presented  in  which 
a  direct  comparison  is  made  of  the  elements  of  invest- 
ment cost  for  a  rail  system  and  for  the  two  types  of 
buses.  The  actual  cost  of  laying  rail  in  paved  streets, 
of  erecting  overhead  trolley  lines  or  of  building  power 
stations,  substations  or  shops  varies  considerably,  of 
course,  as  between  different  localities,  but  the  unit 
costs  taken  are  believed  to  represent  fair  averages  for 
present  construction. 

Average  Investment  Costs  Assumed 

For  instance,  a  figure  of  $60,000  per  mile  has  been 
taken  for  single  track  with  turnouts  laid  in  a  paved 
street,  $75,000  for  single  track  with  more  turnouts  for 
shorter  headways,  $100,000  for  a  route-mile  of  light 
double  track  for  safety  cars  and  $120,000  for  a  route- 
mile  of  heavy  track  for  double-truck  cars.  In  some 
localities  tracks  may  be  laid  for  less  than  these  figures ; 
in  most  large  cities  they  would  be  considerably  exceeded, 
but  they  are  believed  to  indicate  with  a  fair  degree  of 
accuracy  the  magnitude  of  the  biggest  item  of  invest- 
ment that  can  be  saved  by  the  use  of  the  rubber-tired 
vehicle. 

Overhead  trolley  lines  using  wooden  poles  with  cross 
spans  can  be  erected  for  about  $5,000  a  mile  where 


TABLE  I— AVERAGE  CONSTRUCTION  COSTS 


Single  track  per  route-mile   $60,000  to  $75,000 

Double  track  per  route-mile   100,000  to  120,000 

Trolley  lines  per  route-mile   5,000  to  6,500 

Transmission  line  per  route-mile   1,800 

Generating  station  per  maximum  kilowatt  output    125 

Substation  (automatic),  per  maximum  kilowatt  output..  40  to  50 

Shops  per  car  used   1,500  to  2,500 

Double-truck  cars   12,000 

Safety  cars   6,300 

Trolleybuses   8,000 

Motor  buses   8,000 


only  one  trolley  wire  and  no  feeders  are  required,  and 
for  double  track,  with  ordinary  feeders,  should  not 
exceed  $6,000  per  route-mile.  The  double  trolley 
required  for  the  trolley  buses  costs  about  $500  per  mile 
more  than  the  ordinary  type  of  construction,  $1,000 
more  per  mile  when  the  line  is  run  on  both  sides  of 
the  street.  The  transmission  line  is  estimated  at  $3,500 
per  mile,  and  it  is  assumed  that  the  length  of  the 
transmission  system  is  one-half  that  of  the  distribution 
lines. 

Generating  stations  are  estimated  at  $125  per  kilo- 
watt of  capacity  required  by  the  maximum  load,  includ- 
ing electric  heating  of  cars  and  automatic  substations 


■October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


547 


at  $40  to  $50  per  kilowatt.  Shop  buildings  and  car- 
houses  are  figured  at  $2,500  per  car  for  the  large 
double-truck  cars  and  at  $1,500  per  car  for  safeties  and 
for  buses. 

Double-truck  cars  are  assumed  to  cost  $12,000  each, 
safety  cars  $6,300  and  thirty-passenger  buses,  either 
gas  or  electric,  $8,000  apiece. 

A  summary  of  these  unit  cost  figures  is  shown  in 
Table  I. 

The  rail  car  requires  an  investment  in  each  of  the 
foregoing  items;  the  trolley  bus  dispenses  with  the 
track,  but  necessitates  the  use  of  all  other  details,  while 
the  motor  bus  requires  only  an  investment  in  the 
vehicles  themselves  and  in  storage  and  shop  facilities. 

Motor  Bus  Has  Smallest  Investment 
On  fairly  long  headways,  i.e.,  from  eight  to  twenty 
minutes,  the  fixed  charges  on  the  rail  route  will  exceed 
the  operating  costs,  and  even  on  a  heavy  traffic  route 


classes  of  service  where  its  higher  operating  costs  far 
outweigh  its  saving  in  fixed  charges,  but  it  can  only 
continue  to  operate  on  selected  short-haul  routes  and 
where  it  can  evade  the  responsibilities  of  good  service 
without  attempting  to  provide  the  necessary  extra 
equipment  for  properly  handling  the  morning  and  night 
traffic  peaks,  for  which  every  traction  company  is 
expected  to  equip  itself. 

Operating  Costs  Compared 
Table  III  is  a  comparison  of  operating  costs  per  car- 
mile  of  four  classes  of  cars.  The  rail  car  data  are  the 
average  of  the  actual  records  of  a  number  of  companies 
using  both  safety  cars  and  double-track  cars;  the  gaso- 
line bus  costs  are  derived  from  the  records  of  five 
representative  bus  companies  shown  in  Table  II.  Three 
of  these  use  small  cars  seating  less  than  twenty-three 
passengers;  for  these  the  gas  and  oil  costs  have  been 
adjusted  to  a  weight  of  10,000  lb.  and  for  two  companies 


8o,oon 


10      12      14     16      18  20 
Safety  Car  Rush  Hour  Headways  in  Minutes 

Fig-.  1 — Present  day  investment  per  mile  of  route  for  rail  service 
•  compared  to  investment  for  bus  service  of  equal  capacity. 

Fig.  2 — Investment  per  mile  of  route  for  rail  service  based  on 
pre-war  costs  for  track  and  structures  and  present  costs  for 
rolling  stock  compared  to  the  investment  per  mile  of  route  for 
bus  service  of  equal  capacity. 

Fig.  3 — Annual  fixed  charges  per  route-mile  based  on  present 
construction  costs. 

Fig.  4 — Annual  fixed  charges  per  route-mile  based  on  pre-war 


6      8     10       12      14      Vo     16  20 
Safety  Cor  Rush  Hour  Headways  in  Minutes 

costs  for  track  and  structures  and  present  costs  for  rolling  stock. 

Fig.  5 — Annual  operating  costs  per  route-mile  for  rush-hour 
rail  service.  Headways  compared  to  bus  service  of  equal  capac- 
ity.   Longer  headways  during  normal  hours. 

Fig.  6 — Total  annual  operating  costs  and  fixed  charges  per  mile 
of  route  based  on  present  construction  costs. 

Fig.  7 — Total  annual  operating  costs  and  fixed  charges  per  mile 
of  route  based  on  pre-war  costs  for  way  and  structures  and  present 
costs  for  rolling  stock. 


they  will  amount  to  40  per  cent  of  the  total  costs  of 
operating  the  line.  The  handicap  of  these  heavy  invest- 
ment charges  has  given  the  motor  bus  its  opportunity 
and  enabled  the  jitneys  in  many  instances  to  compete 
successfully  with  the  established  traction  lines.  The 
motor  bus  has  a  higher  power  bill  and  a  higher  main- 
tenance cost  than  the  safety  car,  and  the  depreciation 
of  its  driving  equipment  is  decidedly  more  rapid  than 
that  of  electric  motors  and  control  on  the  rail  cars. 
But  even  so,  for  many  conditions  of  traffic,  it  is  the 
more  economical  of  the  two  methods  of  transportation. 
/Its  proponents  have  frequently  tried  to  force  it  into 


corrections  have  been  made  on  the  basis  of  using  solid 
instead  of  pneumatic  tires. 

In  the  case  of  the  trolley  bus,  the  allowances  for  trans- 
portation charges  and  general  expenses  are  assumed  to 
be  the  same  as  with  the  safety  car  and  the  gasoline  bus ; 
its  maintenance  of  way  and  structure  expense  covers 
repairs  and  renewals  on  the  overhead  trolley  lines  only; 
its  maintenance  of  equipment  is  based  on  the  body  and 
chassis  and  tire  expense  of  the  gasoline  car,  and  motor 
and  control  maintenance  of  the  safety  car.  For 
instance,  safety  cars,  on  an  average,  cost  only  1.7 
cents  per  car-mile  to  maintain,  of  which  only  about  0.6 


548 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


TABLE   II— OPERATING   COSTS  OF   MOTOR  BUSES — CENTS  PER 
BUS-MILE 


TABLE  III— OPERATING  COSTS— CENTS  PER  CAR-MILE 


Maintenance  I  2  3 

Tire  renewals   2  1  1.0  15 

Body  repairs   0.9  0.6  1.4 

Engine,  gearing  and  control  ...  5  7  40  48 

Shop  and  other  expenses   19  12  1.6 


4  5  Average 

4  4  5  6  2.9 

0  9  0.9       0  9 

3  3  3.3       4  3 

1.0  10  13 


Total  maintenance  

10 

6 

6 

g 

9 

3 

9 

6 

10 

g 

Gasoline  

4 

0 

5 

3 

7 

1 

2 

7 

4 

9 

Lubricants  

0. 

8 

1 

2 

1 

5 

0 

9 

1 

5 

4 

8 

6 

5 

8 

6 

3 

6 

6 

4 

17 

3 

19 

8 

15 

9 

12 

2 

10 

6 

Total  operating  costs  

32 

7 

33 

1 

33 

8 

25 

4 

27 

8 

Depreciation  

3 

2 

2 

4 

6 

7 

9 

1 

4 

9 

Total  maintenance  with  solid  tire 

co=t^  on  four  and  five   

10 

6 

6 

8 

9 

3 

7 

7 

7 

5 

Gasoline   and   oil  corrected  for 

10,0001b.  wt.  on  3,  4,  5  

4 

8 

6 

5 

10 

8 

5 

6 

7 

7 

Other  expenses  corrected  for  one- 

man  operation,  1  and  2  

12. 

2 

12 

3 

15. 

9 

12 

2 

10. 

6 

Total  operating  cost  of  10,000-lb. 

bus  with  solid  tires  and  one-man 

operation  

27 

6 

25 

6 

36. 

0 

25 

5 

25 

8 

9  4 
4  8 

1.2 

6  0 
15  2 


8  4 
7  I 


12  6 


NOTE: 

1.  Chicago  Motor  Bus  Company. . . 

2.  Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Company... 

3.  Baltimore  Transit  Company. .  .  . 

4.  Fort  Wortli  Auto  Bu-:  Company. 


1919 
1920 
1920 
1919 


5.  Goodyear  Heights  Bus  line   1920 


28.  I 


10,000-lb.  bus  solid  tires 

10,000-lb.  bus  solid  tires 
7,500-lb.  bus  solid  tires 
5,700-lb.  bus  solid  rear  tires 
8,000-lb.  bus  pneumatic  front  tires 


cents  is  for  repairs  to  the  electrical  equipment.  The 
motor  buses  cost  on  an  average  8.5  cents,  of  which  2.0 
cents  goes  for  the  maintenance  of  solid  tires,  1.5  cents 
for  the  body  and  truck  and  5  cents  for  the  engine  and 
transmission. 

The  trolley  bus  would  presumably  have  the  same  cost 
for  tires,  body  and  truck  upkeep,  but  only  0.5  cent  for 
the  motors  and  control,  making  its  total  maintenance  4 
cents  per  mile,  or  4.5  cents  less  than  the  gasoline  vehicle. 

On  the  power  account,  due  to  higher  friction,  the 
trolley  bus  will  take  more  power  per  ton-mile  than  the 
rail  car,  but  its  lighter  weight  will  somewhat  more  than 
offset  this  and  make  its  total  power  cost  a  trifle  less 
than  that  of  a  safety  car.  A  motor  bus  weighing  10,000 
lb.  in  frequent  stop  service  can  make  only  about  4 
miles  to  a  gallon  of  gas,  or  5.5  cents  per  mile  if  gas  is 
figured  at  22  cents  per  gallon,  and  oil  and  grease  add 
about  1.5  cents  to  this;  it  has  therefore  a  total  power 
expense  of  7  cents  per  mile,  or  4.7  more  than  the  electric 
bus. 

The  depreciation  of  a  motor  bus  is  recognized  to  be 
much  more  rapid  than  that  of  a  rail  car;  apparently 
this  is  due  to  the  comparatively  short  life  of  its  engine 
and  transmission.    The  economic  life  of  a  street  car 


Double- 

Single- 

Truck 

Truck 

Trolley 

Motor 

Car 

Safety  Car 

Bus 

Bus 

52 

32 

30 

30 

36,000 

1 6,000 

10,000 

10,000 

Maintenance  of  way  and  structure.. . 

3  0 

2.0 

0.7 

0.0 

Maintenance  of  equipment  

3.4 

1  7 

4.0 

8.5 

Power  

5.9 

2.5 

2.3 

7.0 

All  other  expense  

19  0 

12  0 

12  0 

12.0 

Total  operating  expense  

31.3 

18  2 

19.0 

27  5 

and  its  equipment  is  at  least  fifteen  years.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  body  and  truck  of  any  well 
built  bus  should  last  that  long.  But  from  all  records 
available,  the  gas  engine  and  transmission  have  a  life 
of  not  over  four  to  five  years,  and  since  their  first  cost 
is  about  25  per  cent  of  the  equipped  bus,  the  total 
depreciation  is  considerably  higher  than  for  the  electric 
car.  We  have  taken  them  respectively  at  4.6  per  cent 
on  the  rail  cars  and  on  the  trolley  bus  and  at  8  per  cent 
on  the  motor  bus. 

Total  fixed  charges  on  the  rail  system  are  assumed 
to  be  15  per  cent,  9  per  cent  for  interest,  2.8  per  cent  for 
taxes  and  insurance  and  3.2  per  cent  for  depreciation  on 

TABLE  IV — FIXED  CHARGES  ON  TOTAL  INVESTMENT 
IN  PER  CENT 

Rail  System      Trolley  Bus      Motor  Bus 


Interest  charges   9.0 

Taxes  and  insurance   2  8 

Depreciation  (sinking  fund)   3.2 

Total   15.0 


9.0 
2  8 

3.7 

15  5 


9.0 
2  8 

6.9 

18  7 


the  entire  physical  property.  Since  the  cost  of  cars, 
with  their  comparatively  short  life,  is  a  bigger  propor- 
tion of  the  total  investment  in  a  trolley  bus  installation, 
depreciation  is  figured  at  3.7  per  cent  and  total  fixed 
charges  at  15.5  per  cent.  For  the  motor  bus  installa- 
tion, for  the  above  reasons,  total  depreciation  is  figured 
at  6.9  per  cent  and  total  fixed  charges  at  18.7  per  cent. 

In  the  tabulation  which  follows  the  upper  figures  are 
based  on  entirely  new  construction  at  today's  prices, 
the  lower  apply  to  the  company  which  can  use  track, 
overhead,  stations  and  shops  constructed  at  pre-war 
values,  assumed  to  be  50  per  cent  lower  than  at  present. 

In  every  case  except  that  of  "G,"  it  is  assumed  that 
a  greater  number  of  buses  than  rail  cars  would  be 
required  for  rush-hour  service,  on  the  basis  that  a 
modern  double-truck  street  car  can  carry  away  120 


TABLE  V— COSTS  PER  ROUTE-MILE  FOR  BUILDING  AND  EQUIPPING  RAILWAY  SYSTEM  AND 


—  Case  A- 

-Light.  Traffic  — ■ 

--Case  B- 

—Medium  Traffic- 

Case  C — ', 

Moderately  Heavy  Traffi 

c    Case  E 

i — Heavy  Traffic 

Safety 

Trolley 

Motor 

Safety 

Trolley 

Motor 

Safety 

Trolley 

Motor 

Safety 

Trolley 

Motor 

Car 

Bus 

Bus 

Car 

Bus 

Bus 

Car 

Bus 

Bus 

Car 

Bus 

Bus 

Schedule  speed  (m.p.h.)  

9 

10 

10 

9 

10 

10 

9 

10 

10 

9 

10 

10 

Normal  headway — thirteen  hours  daily — 

15 

15 

15 

10 

10 

10 

7< 

1  7i 

7i 

5 

4.6 

4.6 

Rush  hour  headway — five  hours  daily — 

10 

6i 

6J 

7  i 

5 

5 

4 

2  7 

2  7 

3 

2.  1 

2. 1 

Seats  furnished  per  hour,  normal  headway. . 

128 

120 

120 

192 

180 

180 

256 

240 

240 

384 

390 

390 

Maximum  rush  hour  carrying  capacity  .... 

390 

405 

405 

520 

540 

540 

975 

990 

990 

1,300 

1,300 

1,300 

Cars  required,  including  spares.  .  . 

1  56 

2  00 

2  20 

2  00 

3  10 

3  33 

3  80 

5  00 

5  40 

5  10 

6.60 

7.00 

Annual  car  or  bus  miles  

58,500 

68,200 

68,200 

84,800 

97,600 

97,600 

127,000 

148,800 

148,800 

182,000 

220,600 

220,600 

Cost  of  Road  and  Equipment  : 

Trackway — Single  track  

Trackway — Double  track  

Overhead  system — trolley  and  transmission 

Power  station  and  substation  

Shops  or  garages  

Rolling  stock  


$60,000 

'  6,700 
6,000 
2,300 
9,800 


$6,900 
7.600 
3,000 

16,000 


$3,300 
17,600 


$75,000 


6,800 
8,000 
3,000 
12,600 


$6,900 
1 0, 1 00 
4,200 
22,400 


$4,500 
24,000 


$100,000 
7,000 
14,400 
5,600 
23,800 


$7,400 
17,600 
7,500 
40,000 


$8,100 
43,200 


$100,000 
7,500 
19,300 
7,700 
32,200 


$7,900 
23,200 
9,900 
52,800 


Fixed  charges  (as  in  Table  IV)   $12,700  $5,200 

Operating  costs  (as  in  Table  III)   10,600  13,000 


Total  costs  per  year   $23,300 

Cents  per  car-mile   40  0 

On  basis  of  :  rack  and  structure  costs — 
50  per  cent  of  above. 

Total  investment   $47,300 


$18,200 
26  7 


$3,900 
18,800 

$22,700 
33.3 


$15,800 
15,400 

$31,200 
36  7 


$6,800 
18,500 

$25,300 
25  8 


$5,300 
26,800 

$32,100 
32  8 


$22,600 
23,100 

$45,700 
36  0 


$11,200 
28,300 

$39,500 
26.5 


$9,600 
41,100 

$50,700 
34.0 


$25,000 
33,000 

$58,000 
31.8 


$14,500 
42,100 

$56,600 
25  5 


Fixed  charges .  . 
Operating  costs 


7,100 
10,600 


3,800 
13,000 


3,600 
18,800 


8,800 
15,400 


5.100 
18,500 


4,900 
26,800 


13,100 
23,100 


8,700 
28,300 


8,800 
41,100 


14,900 
33,000 


1 1,400 
42,100 


Total  costs  per  year   $17,700     $16,800  $22,400 

Cents  per  car-mile   30  3         24  6  32.8 

*Seats  52,  has  a  maximum  load  of  120  passengers  and  weighs  36,000  lb. 


$24,200     $23,600     $31,700        $36,200     $37,000     $49,900  $47,900 
28  5        24  3        32.4  28.6        24.8        33.5  26.3 

With  one-man  operation  costs  would  be  reduced  $17,000  per  year. 


$10,500 
56,000 


Total  investment   $84,800     $33,500     $20,900      $105,400     $43,600     $28,500      $150,800     $72,500     $51,300      $166,700     $93,800  $66,500 


$12,400 
60,800 

$73,200 
33.  1 


$24,800     $19,300        $58,900     $33,000     $26,300        $87,300     $56,300     $47,300        $99,500     $73,300  $61,200 


1 1,400 
60,800 


$53,500  $72,200 
23.7  32.7 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


549 


passengers  without  undue  crowding,  a  safety  car  sixty- 
five  and  a  thirty-passenger  bus  not  over  forty-five,  if 
the  buses  are  to  be  kept  within  the  weight  and  price 
limits  specified.  A  comparison  based  on  a  car  for  car 
replacement  is  obviously  unfair,  except  where  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  people  to  be  carried  is  within  the  seat- 
ing capacity  of  either  type  of  vehicle. 

A  number  of  comparisons  have  been  worked  out  for 
different  densities  of  traffic  from  very  light  to  extremely 
heavy,  each  based  on  a  completely  equipped  line  4  to 
5  miles  long,  and  all  costs  reduced  to  the  unit  basis 
of  a  single  route-mile. 

With  these  prefatory  statements,  Table  V  is  believed 
to  be  self-explanatory.  It  indicates  clearly  that  the 
railway  is  still  the  most  economical  means  of  handling 
very  dense  traffic,  and  that  for  very  short  headways 
there  is  little  to  choose  in  first  cost  or  operating  charges 
between  a  comparatively  small  number  of  large-capacity 
double-truck  cars  of  modern  design  and  the  larger  num- 
ber of  safety  cars  required,  as  shown  in  case  "E."  To 
handle  such  traffic  as  this,  headways  with  the  compara- 
tively small  capacity  buses  become  so  short  as  to  be 
prohibitive,  and  their  higher  operating  costs  far  over- 
balance their  savings  in  fixed  charges. 

But  for  many  other  conditions,  particularly  those 
which  are  typical  of  the  majority  of  lines  in  medium 
sized  cities,  where  the  maximum  traffic  does  not  require 
headways  of  less  than  five  or  six  minutes,  the  trolley 
bus  should  save  enough  in  overhead  charges  to  justify 
its  use  in  preference  to  either  rail  car  or  motor  bus. 

Conclusions  from  Analysis 

For  instance,  Table  V,  Case  "A"  pictures  a  very  com- 
mon situation  i.e.,  a  line  on  which  an  all-day  headway 
of  fifteen  minutes  with  a  medium  sized  railway  car  is 
sufficient,  but  on  which  the  morning  and  evening  loads 
require  a  ten-minute  headway.  We  assume  that  safety 
cars  would  be  used  on  the  rail  route  and  that  they 
would  maintain  a  schedule  of  9  miles  per  hour.  If  buses 
were  used,  presumably  they  could  run  somewhat  faster 
due  to  their  ability  to  run  past  slower  moving  vehicles 
and  because  of  their  smaller  load  in  rush  hours.  The 
figures  are  based  on  a  4.5-mile  route,  on  which  the 
safety  cars  require  sixty  minutes  for  the  round  trip 
and  the  buses  fifty-four  minutes.    Even  so,  to  carry 


away  an  equal  number  of  passengers  during  the  rush 
hours  will  require  eight  buses  on  a  6.75-minute  head- 
way as  against  six  safeties,  ten  minutes  apart.  One 
spare  car  is  allowed  in  the  case  of  the  safety  car 
line  and  for  the  trolley  bus  route,  and  two  spares  if 
motor  buses  are  used,  because  of  the  greater  chance 
of  failure  with  the  gasoline  engine. 

Power  requirements  are  based  on  the  rail  cars  taking, 
at  the  car,  150  watt-hours  per  ton-mile,  and  the  trolley 
bus  taking  195  watt-hours  per  ton-mile,  for  all  energy 
requirements  except  heat.  These  figures  are  increased 
15  per  cent  for  line  losses  and  25  per  cent  more  for 
conversion.  Heaters  are  assumed  to  take  a  continuous 
maximum  input,  on  either  vehicle,  of  12  amp. 

Of  the  total  investment  required  for  a  new  rail  line, 
under  these  conditions,  60  per  cent  is  saved  by  using 
the  trolley  bus  and  75  per  cent  by  equipping  with  motor 
buses,  and  the  saving  is  very  material  even  against 
the  company  using  old  rail  and  structures.  The  fixed 
charges  are,  therefore,  distinctly  lower  for  the  bus 
systems,  but  the  motor  buses  cost  so  much  more  to 
operate  that  the  total  annual  cost  of  the  line  using  them 
is  practically  the  same  as  for  the  new  rail  road,  and 
30  per  cent  higher  than  for  the  existing  rail  system. 

The  operating  cost  of  the  trolley  bus,  however,  is  so 
little  more  than  that  of  the  rail  route  that  it  does  not 
offset  the  savings  in  the  fixed  charges,  and  its  total 
cost  of  service  is  the  lowest  of  the  three  systems. 

Another  common  traffic  condition  is  shown  in  Case 
"B,"  a  route  that  would  be  satisfactorily  handled  with 
safety  cars  on  ten-minute  normal  and  7.5-minute  rush 
hour  headways,  and  where  buses  would  have  to  run 
on  a  five-minute  spacing  to  give  equivalent  rush-hour 
capacity. 

Here  again  the  use  of  the  trolley  bus  is  the  cheapest 
way  to  equip  a  new  line  or  to  extend  an  old  one ;  the 
motor  bus  is  the  most  expensive  means. 

As  the  traffic  grows  more  heavy,  as  in  Case  "C," 
the  advantage  of  the  trolley  bus  over  the  rail  car  dimin- 
ishes, but  its  advantage  over  the  motor  bus  continues 
in  the  same  proportion  as  before.  The  figures  indicate 
that  to  re-equip  an  existing  line  would  show  a  total 
loss  rather  than  a  gain  by  abandoning  rail  operation. 

With  headways  as  short  as  shown  in  Case  "D"  rail 
operation  is  practically  as  cheap  as  trolley  bus  service, 


for  providing  equivalent  passenger  capacity  WITH  TROLL) 

S  —  Case  E— Very  Heavy  Traffic  ■       -—Case  F — Very  Light  Traffic— 


Double 

Safety 

Tr'olley 

Motor 

Safety 

Trollev 

Motor 

Truck  Car* 

Car 

Bus 

Bus 

Car 

Bus" 

Bus 

8.5 

8.5 

9.5 

9  5 

10 

10 

10 

4 

2.4 

2.  15 

2.  15 

20 

20 

20 

2 

1.1 

0  75 

0  75 

20 

20 

20 

780 

800 

840 

840 

96 

90 

90 

3,600 

3,580 

3,600 

3,600 

195 

135 

135 

8 

14  6 

19  4 

20  2 

0  75 

0  75 

0  75 

243,000 

423,000 

530,000 

530,000 

39,300 

39,300 

39,300 

$55,000 

$120,000 

$1 10,000 

7.500 

7,500 

$8,000 

6,700 

$6,900 

.64,100 

53,900 

67,800 

3,000 

2,500 

20,000 

21,900 

29,100 

$30,300 

1.100 

1,100 

$1,100 

95,900 

91,500 

154,700 

161,700 

4,700 

6.000 

6,000 

$307,500 

$284,800 

$259,600 

$192,000 

$70,500 

$16,500 

$7,100 

$46,200 

$42,700 

$40,200 

$35,900 

$10,600 

$2,150 

$1,320 

76,100 

77,000 

100,800 

146,000 

7,150 

7,450 

10,810 

$122,300 

$1 19,700 

$141,000 

$181,900 

$17,750 

$9,600 

$12,130 

50.5 

28  2 

26.6 

34.2 

45  0 

24.5 

30  8 

$202,000 

$198,000 

$217,000 

$177,000 

$37,600 

$11,250 

$6,550 

30,400 

29,700 

33,600 

33,100 

5,650 

1,750 

1,210 

76,100 

76,900 

100,800 

146,000 

7,150 

7,450 

10,810 

$106,500     $106,600      $134,400     $179,100  $12,800        $9,200  $12,020 

43  8  25.2  25.4  33.7  32.5  23.4         30  5 


if  BUSES  OR  MOTOR  BUSES 
—Case  G— Very  Light  Traffic- 


Safety  Trolley  Motor 

Car  Bus  Bus 

10  10             10. .  Schedule  speed  (m.p.h.) 

30  30            30.  .  Normal  headway — thirteen  hours  daily — (minutes) 

30  30            30.  .  Rush  hour  headway — five  hours  daily — (minutes) 

64  60            60..  Seats  furnished  per  hour,  normal  headway 

130  90            90 .  .  Maximum  rush  hour  carrying  capacity 

0.5  0  .5           0  5 ..  Cars  required,  including  spares 

26,300  26,300      26,300  .  Annual  car  or  bus  miles 

Cost  of  Road  and  Equipment: 

$55,000   Trackway — Single  track 

  Trackway — Double  track 

6,700      $6,900   Overhead  system — trolley  and  transmission 

2,000        1,700   Power  station  and  substation 

800  800         $800. .  Shops  or  garages 

3,100  4,000        4,000  .  .  Rolling  stock 

$67,600  $13,400       $4,800..     Total  investment 

$10,100  $2,100         $900.  .  Fixed  charges  (as  in  Table  IV) 

4,800  5,000        7,230.  .  Operating  costs  (as  in  Table  III) 

$14,900  $7,100      $8.130..     Total  costs  per  year 

56  8  27  0          30  9..      Cents  per  car-mile 

On  basis  of  tiack  and  structure  cost — 
50  per  cent  of  above 

$35,400  $8,700      $4,400  ..     Total  investment 

5,300  1,300           800.  .  Fixed  charges 

4,800  5,00          7,230.  .  Operating  costs 


$10,100      $6,300       $8,030.  .  Total  costs  per  year 
38.4         24.0        30.5. .  Cents  per  car-mile 


548 


Electric   Railway   Jo  urn al 


ir  -mi-kkatjm;  m 


mi  iTi  in  nrsES—  cents  per 


Total  ii 
I.'u'l.'rV", 


T..t,il  ..jHrnlmB  r-ost  of  10.000-lb. 
I,u-  with        nrc-  and  one-mnn 

operation   27  6     25  6     36.0     25  S      25  ( 

NOTE: 

1  I'M'  ^-m  M..T..I   li.,-  (   ,  -.11       Ifl.llflfl-ll,    I.H-  -..ll.j  . 

2  I- if r li  W.-I..J.  I1,....  i,  r,,,,,,,,,,,        iim    i  l-ii,  i,„-       I  hi.  - 


cents  is  for  repairs  to  the  electrical  equipment.  The 
motor  buses  cost  on  an  average  8.5  cents,  of  which  2.0 
cents  goes  for  the  maintenance  of  solid  tires,  1.5  cents 
for  the  body  and  truck  and  5  cents  for  the  engine  and 
transmission. 

The  trolley  bus  would  presumably  have  the  same  cost 
for  tires,  body  and  truck  upkeep,  but  only  0.5  cent  for 
the  motors  and  control,  making  its  total  maintenance  4 
cents  per  mile,  or  4.5  cents  less  than  the  gasoline  vehicle. 

On  the  power  account,  due  to  higher  friction,  the 
trolley  bus  will  take  more  power  per  ton-mile  than  the 
rail  car,  but  its  lighter  weight  will  somewhat  more  than 
offset  this  and  make  its  total  power  cost  a  trifle  less 
than  that  of  a  safety  car.  A  motor  bus  weighing  10,000 
lb.  in  frequent  stop  service  can  make  only  about  4 
miles  to  a  gallon  of  gas,  or  5.5  cents  per  mile  if  gas  is 
figured  at  22  cents  per  gallon,  and  oil  and  grease  add 
about  1.5  cents  to  this;  it  has  therefore  a  total  power 
expense  of  7  cents  per  mile,  or  4.7  more  than  the  electric 
bus. 

The  depreciation  of  a  motor  bus  is  recognized  to  be 
much  more  rapid  than  that  of  a  rail  car;  apparently 
this  is  due  to  the  comparatively  short  life  of  its  engine 
and  transmission.    The  economic  life  of  a  street  car 


and  its  equipment  is  at  least  fifteen  years.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  body  and  truck  of  any  well 
built  bus  should  last  that  long.  But  from  all  records 
available,  the  gas  engine  and  transmission  have  a  life 
of  not  over  four  to  five  years,  and  since  their  first  cost 
is  about  25  per  cent  of  the  equipped  bus,  the  total 
depreciation  is  considerably  higher  than  for  the  electric 
car.  We  have  taken  them  respectively  at  4.6  per  cent 
on  the  rail  cars  and  on  the  trolley  bus  and  at  8  per  cent 
on  the  motor  bus. 

Total  fixed  charges  on  the  rail  system  are  assumed 
to  be  15  per  cent,  9  per  cent  for  interest,  2.8  per  cent  for 
taxes  and  insurance  and  3.2  per  cent  for  depreciation  on 


the  entire  physical  property.  Since  the  cost  of  cars, 
with  their  comparatively  short  life,  is  a  bigger  propor- 
tion of  the  total  investment  in  a  trolley  bus  installation, 
depreciation  is  figured  at  3.7  per  cent  and  total  fixed 
charges  at  15.5  per  cent.  For  the  motor  bus  installa- 
tion, for  the  above  reasons,  total  depreciation  is  figured 
at  6.9  per  cent  and  total  fixed  charges  at  18.7  per  cent. 

In  the  tabulation  which  follows  the  upper  figures  are 
based  on  entirely  new  construction  at  today's  prices, 
the  lower  apply  to  the  company  which  can  use  track, 
overhead,  stations  and  shops  constructed  at  pre-war 
values,  assumed  to  be  50  per  cent  lower  than  at  present. 

In  every  case  except  that  of  "G,"  it  is  assumed  that 
a  greater  number  of  buses  than  rail  cars  would  be 
required  for  rush-hour  service,  on  the  basis  that  a 
modern  double-truck  street  car  can  carry  away  120 


TABLE  V— COSTS  PER  ROUTE-MILE  FOR  I 
LiahtTraffic —  — Case  B — Medium  Troffii—  i 
'rnlley     Motor        Safety     Trolley  Motor 


IILDING  AND  EQUIPPING  RAILWA 


Normal  bead*  ay  'thirteen  I 
Rush  hour  headway— 6vo  t 
Seals  furm-lird  [irr  Lour.  n..rm 
•  required,  including  ■ 


i  daily- 


.n  I.. I  . 


Sboraorj 
Total  i 


Road  and  I  .  .  i 

—Double  trnck  ,  . 
system— trolley  and 
(Jon  tnd   nip  - ,r...i. 


o,x:.',.v:..v 


7,100  3.800  3,600 
10,600      13.000  18,800 

$17,700    116,600  122,400 


•Scuts  52.  ban  a. 


10 

71 

71 

7* 

5 

5 
ISO 
540 

97,600 

180 

3*33 
97.600 

256 
975 
3  80 
127,000 

2.7 

s'oo 

148.800 

2  7 
240 

5  40 
146.800 

1.300 
5  10 
182,000 

390 
1.300 

220,600 

2  1 
390 
1,300 

220,600 

56.900 

4^00 
22.400 

'  $4,565 
24,000 

$100.0011 
7,000 

i.bOO 
23.800 

$7,400 
17.600 

40  000 

$8,100 
43,200 

$100,0(10 
19  300 
32^200 

$7,900 
21.200 
9.900 
52.600 

j  in.  5oa 
56,000 

143,600 

$28,500 

$150,800 

$72,500 

$51,300 

$166,700 

$93,800 

$66,500 

16.800 
18,500 

$5,300 
26,800 

$22,600 

$11,200 
28,300 

$33,'000 

$14,500 

$12,400 

60.800 

$25,300 

25.8 

$32,100 

32.8 

$45,700 

$39,500 

26.5 

$50,700 

34.0 

$5BJ)00 

$56,600 

$73,200 
33  1 

133.000 

126,300 

$87,300 

$56,300 

$47,300 

$99,500 

$73,300 

$61,200 

5,100 
18,500 

4.900 
26,800 

13.100 
23,100 

8,700 
28.300 

8.800 
41,100 

14.900 
33.000 

11,400 
47.100 

123.600 

24.3 

$31,700 

32.4 

I3i,.20ll 
2K  (» 

$37,000  $49,900 
24.8         33  5 
educed  $17,000  per  j 

.nil 

23  7 

October  1,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


549 


passengers  without  undue  crowding,  a  safety  car  sixty- 
five  and  a  thirty-passenger  bus  not  over  forty-five,  if 
the  buses  are  to  be  kept  within  the  weight  and  price 
limits  specified.  A  comparison  based  on  a  car  for  car 
replacement  is  obviously  unfair,  except  where  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  people  to  be  carried  is  within  the  seat- 
ing capacity  of  either  type  of  vehicle. 

A  number  of  comparisons  have  been  worked  out  for 
different  densities  of  traffic  from  very  light  to  extremely 
heavy,  each  based  on  a  completely  equipped  line  4  to 
5  miles  long,  and  all  costs  reduced  to  the  unit  basis 
of  a  single  route-mile. 

With  these  prefatory  statements.  Table  V  is  believed 
to  be  self-explanatory.  It  indicates  clearly  that  the 
railway  is  still  the  most  economical  means  of  handling 
very  dense  traffic,  and  that  for  very  short  headways 
there  is  little  to  choose  in  first  cost  or  operating  charges 
between  a  comparatively  small  number  of  large-capacity 
double-truck  cars  of  modern  design  and  the  larger  num- 
ber of  safety  cars  required,  as  shown  in  case  "E."  To 
handle  such  traffic  as  this,  headways  with  the  compara- 
tively small  capacity  buses  become  so  short  as  to  be 
prohibitive,  and  their  higher  operating  costs  far  over- 
balance their  savings  in  fixed  charges. 

But  for  many  other  conditions,  particularly  those 
which  are  typical  of  the  majority  of  lines  in  medium 
sized  cities,  where  the  maximum  traffic  does  not  require 
headways  of  less  than  five  or  six  minutes,  the  trolley 
bus  should  save  enough  in  overhead  charges  to  justify 
its  use  in  preference  to  either  rail  car  or  motor  bus. 
Conclusions  from  Analysis 

For  instance,  Table  V,  Case  "A"  pictures  a  very  com- 
mon situation  i.e.,  a  line  on  which  an  all-day  headway 
of  fifteen  minutes  with  a  medium  sized  railway  car  is 
sufficient,  but  on  which  the  morning  and  evening  loads 
require  a  ten-minute  headway.  We  assume  that  safety 
cars  would  be  used  on  the  rail  route  and  that  they 
would  maintain  a  schedule  of  9  miles  per  hour.  If  buses 
were  used,  presumably  they  could  run  somewhat  faster 
due  to  their  ability  to  run  past  slower  moving  vehicles 
and  because  of  their  smaller  load  in  rush  hours.  The 
figures  are  based  on  a  4.5-mile  route,  on  which  the 
safety  cars  require  sixty  minutes  for  the  round  trip 
and  the  buses  fifty-four  minutes.    Even  so,  to  carry 


away  an  equal  number  of  passengers  during  the  rush 
hours  will  require  eight  buses  on  a  6.75-minute  head- 
way as  against  six  safeties,  ten  minutes  apart.  One 
spare  car  is  allowed  in  the  case  of  the  safety  car 
line  and  for  the  trolley  bus  route,  and  two  spares  if 
motor  buses  are  used,  because  of  the  greater  chance 
of  failure  with  the  gasoline  engine. 

Power  requirements  are  based  on  the  rail  cars  taking, 
at  the  car,  150  watt-hours  per  ton-mile,  and  the  trolley 
bus  taking  195  watt-hours  per  ton-mile,  for  all  energy 
requirements  except  heat.  These  figures  are  increased 
15  per  cent  for  line  losses  and  25  per  cent  more  for 
conversion.  Heaters  are  assumed  to  take  a  continuous 
maximum  input,  on  either  vehicle,  of  12  amp. 

Of  the  total  investment  required  for  a  new  rail  line, 
under  these  conditions,  60  per  cent  is  saved  by  using 
the  trolley  bus  and  75  per  cent  by  equipping  with  motor 
buses,  and  the  saving  is  very  material  even  against 
the  company  using  old  rail  and  structures.  The  fixed 
charges  are,  therefore,  distinctly  lower  for  the  bus 
systems,  but  the  motor  buses  cost  so  much  more  to 
operate  that  the  total  annual  cost  of  the  line  using  them 
is  practically  the  same  as  for  the  new  rail  road,  and 
30  per  cent  higher  than  for  the  existing  rail  system. 

The  operating  cost  of  the  trolley  bus,  however,  is  so 
little  more  than  that  of  the  rail  route  that  it  does  not 
offset  the  savings  in  the  fixed  charges,  and  its  total 
cost  of  service  is  the  lowest  of  the  three  systems. 

Another  common  traffic  condition  is  shown  in  Case 
"B,"  a  route  that  would  be  satisfactorily  handled  with 
safety  cars  on  ten-minute  normal  and  7.5-minute  rush 
hour  headways,  and  where  buses  would  have  to  run 
on  a  five-minute  spacing  to  give  equivalent  rush-hour 
capacity. 

Here  again  the  use  of  the  trolley  bus  is  the  cheapest 
way  to  equip  a  new  line  or  to  extend  an  old  one;  the 
motor  bus  is  the  most  expensive  means. 

As  the  traffic  grows  more  heavy,  as  in  Case  "C, 
the  advantage  of  the  trolley  bus  over  the  rail  car  dimin- 
ishes, but  its  advantage  over  the  motor  bus  continues 
in  the  same  proportion  as  before.  The  figures  indicate 
that  to  re-equip  an  existing  line  would  show  a  total 
loss  rather  than  a  gain  by  abandoning  rail  operation. 

With  headways  as  short  as  shown  in  Case  "D"  rail 
operation  is  practically  as  cheap  as  trolley  bus  service, 


FOR  PROVIDING  EQUIVALENT  PASSENGER  CAPACITY  WITH  TROLLEY  Bl 

JSES  OR 

BISES 

 C,i< 

Double 
Truck  Car' 
8  5 

!■:  -Wry 
Car* 
6  5 

Honw  Trr.ili 
Trolley 

Bus 

Motor 
Bun 
9.5 

-Case  F— 
Safety 
Car 

Vrvl.icLt' 
Trollcv 
Bus 
10 

rnffic-  — C 
.Motor 
Bua 
10 

ascG— V 

Sulctv 

Car 

10 

T  '  \t'' 

Bua 

Traffic- 
Mot  -r 
Bus 
10. 

Schedule  speed  i  m  p  h  • 

2.  15 

2.  15 

20 

20 

20 

30 

30 

30 

Normal  headway— thirteen  hours  daily— (minutes) 

3  60° 
243,000 

600 
3.580 

423.000 

0.75 
53o'.000 

0  75 
840 
3.600 

530,000 

39°  j" 

20 

o!" 
39,300 

20 

135 
0  75 
39,300 

035 
26,300 

30 

o's 

26.300 

30. 

90; 

26,300 

Rush  hour  headway— five  hours  doily— 1  minutes) 
--.1-  fnr,.j-r,..(  p.  -  l,..ur.  »..r(i,:,l  ln-:uln 

Mimimii.i  r.i-h   ,r  crivir.ii  ...parity 

Car*r^uir«l,inc1udm8*parcs 

1120.000 

$55,000 

$55,000 

Cost  of  Road  and  Equipment: 
Trackway— Sinalo  tradi 

Slio.nno 
7,500 
53.900 
21  9i)0 
91,500 

Trackway— Double  track 

64  500 

2o!ooo 

95.900 

67]  800 
29.100 
154.700 

16?.' 700 

IJ00 
4,700 

$6,900 
2,500 

ILIO0 

6.700 
2.000 

3.100 

4,000 

*ooo' 

i  iv.-rh.  ml  -i-tciii   -tn.il.  v  mill  I  rani  mission 
Power  station  and  substation 

•307,500 

$2B4,B00 

$259,600 

$192,000 

$70,500 

$16,500 

$7,100 

$13,400 

$4,800. 

Total  investment 

"moo 

$42,700 
77,000 

$40,200 
100,800 

146  000 

$10,600 
7,150 

$2,150 
7,450 

SL320 

$2,100 
5.000 

$900 

7.230. 

f-iidi  clinriiOJ,  la-  in  Table  IV) 
Operating  costs  (as  in  Table  IIP 

1121,300 
SO  5 

$1 19,700 
26  2 

$141,000 

26.6 

$1BL900 

$17,750 
45.0 

$9,600 
24.5 

$12,130 

$14,900 

$7,100 
27  0 

*83039 

Total  casta  per  vcar 
Cent,  per  car-mile 
On  ba.-is  of  Hack  and  structure  cost— 

•202.000 

$198,000 

$217,000 

$177,000 

$37,600 

$11,250 

$6,550 

$35,400 

$8,700 

$4,400. 

50  prr  rent  of  nbuve 
Total  investment 

30.400 
76. 1 00 

29.700 
76,900 

33.600 
100.800 

^  33  J  00 

5,650 
7,150 

1,750 
7,450 

S,3°° 

1.300 
5.00 

800. 
7.230 

Fixed  charges 
Operating  costs 

'1116.500 

43.8 

$134,400 

J  170,1  no 

33.7 

$12,800 

32.5 

$9,200 
23  4 

$12,020 
30  5 

$10^00 

$(,  ion 
24  0 

Total  cost*  per  year 
Cent-,  per  cur-mile 

550 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


even  in  the  case  of  new  construction ;  on  the  old  rail, 
it  is  decidedly  more  economical. 

Case  "E"  shows  a  very  heavy  traffic  route,  on  which 
could  be  used  large  modern  double-truck  cars,  of  the 
Peter  Witt  type,  on  four-minute  and  two-minute  head- 
ways. It  might  be  practicable  to  use  safety  cars  on 
such  a  route,  though  the  rush-hour  headways  would 
be  pretty  short,  but  no  real  advantage  would  be  gained, 
their  total  cost  of  service  being  practically  equal  to 
that  of  the  large  cars.  If  the  Witt  cars  could  be 
operated  by  one-man,  as  many  operators  are  coming 
to  believe  they  can,  they  will  show  by  far  the  lowest 
cost  of  any  vehicle  that  could  be  employed. 

The  enormous  number  of  buses  that  would  be 
required  for  this  kind  of  traffic,  necessitating  headways 
of  forty-five  seconds,  throws  them  out  of  the  competi- 
tion. Their  use  would  not  only  tremendously  increase 
street  congestion  but  would  very  considerably  increase 
the  cost  of  service. 

The  only  place  where  the  gasoline  motor  bus  can 
successfully  compete  with  the  rail  system  is  where 
traffic  is  so  light  that  headways  of  twenty  minutes 
or  longer  afford  sufficient  service.  In  cases  "F"  and 
"G"  the  cost  of  service  with  the  trolley  bus  and  the 
motor  bus  on  twenty-  and  thirty-minute  all-day  head- 
ways are  compared  with  a  safety  car  installation  operat- 
ing at  the  same  speed  and  frequency.  With  twenty- 
minute  service  the  old  rail  route  about  balances  in 
total  cost  with  the  motor  bus  line;  at  today's  construc- 
tion expense,  the  motor  bus  is  distinctly  cheaper.  At 
thirty  minutes  the  advantage  is  decidedly  in  favor  of 
the  gas  car.  But  at  either  headway  the  trolley  bus  will 
have  the  lowest  total  cost  of  the  three,  and  calculations 
indicate  that  its  advantage  over  the  gasoline  driven 
vehicle  holds  up  to  headways  of  one  hour  or  longer. 

Electrically  Propelled  Units  Most  Economical 

In  conclusion,  we  believe  that  there  is  still  a  broad 
field  of  transportation  on  city  streets  for  which  the 
rail  car  is  best  suited  and  in  which  it  is  the  most  eco- 
nomical means  of  carrying  passengers,  but  there  is 
another  and  perhaps  equally  important  field,  in  which 
the  trackless  trolley  bus  can  furnish  equivalent  service 
at  a  lower  cost  than  can  the  rail  system.  Even  in 
comparison  with  the  rail  system,  the  field  for  the  gaso- 
line motor  bus  is  very  limited  (on  headways  of  twenty 
minutes  or  longer),  while  as  compared  with  the  trolley 
bus,  it  has  no  place  in  a  city  transportation  system, 
except  where  it  is  impossible  to  erect  an  overhead 
trolley  line. 

But  the  possibility  that  the  trolley  bus  holds  out 
of  enabling  transportation  companies  to  extend  their 
lines  into  the  suburbs  or  into  new  sections  of  a  city, 
with  an  investment  60  per  cent  to  80  per  cent  less  than 
is  required  for  a  track  system,  and  to  be  able  to  operate 
cars  over  the  new  route  for  two-thirds  of  the  cost  of 
motor  buses,  means  that  an  important  contribution 
to  the  art  of  transportation  has  been  effected.  With 
these  vehicles,  it  should  be  possible  to  extend  very  con- 
siderably the  services  of  the  city  transportation  com- 
panies and  to  benefit  simultaneously  the  traveling  public 
and  the  electric  railway  security  holder. 

[Note. — Mr.  Thirlwall's  article  was  received  prior  to 
the  publication  of  the  article  on  the  same  subject  last 
week  and  represents  an  independent  study  on  the  same 
subject.  Mr.  Thirlwall  has  been  asked  to  comment  on 
last  week's  article  and  writes  that  he  will  do  so  at  an 
■early  date. — Eds.] 


The  "Rail-less"  Car 

J    G.  Brill  Company  Has  Developed  the  "Rail-less"  Car, 
Which  Utilizes  a  Novel  Current  Collector — Foot- 
Operated  Master  Controller  System  Used 

AFTER  an  exhaustive  study  of  existing  vehicles  begun 
l  some  months  ago  the  officers  of  the  Brill  Company 
recently  started  experimenting  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
veloping a  type  of  "rail-less"  car  which  in  their  opinion 
would  meet  the  requirements  of  American  transit  in- 
terests. These  requirements  called  for  furnishing  eco- 
nomical transportation  under  more  or  less  special 
conditions.  A  short  600-volt  d.c.  double-wire  line  was 
ultimately  erected  in  the  Philadelphia  plant  and  an 
experimental  vehicle  constructed,  the  flexibility  of  which 
is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations,  as  well  as 
the  ease  with  which  it  can  get  around  other  automobiles 
and  trucks  on  the  street. 

Current  Collector  and  Control  System 

These  experiments  made  it  apparent  that  the  success 
of  the  vehicle  depended  primarily  on  the  overhead  cur- 
rent collector  and  the  control  apparatus.  Several  dif- 
ferent types  of  current  collectors  were  tried  but  in 
each  case  were  found  unsuitable.  The  design  of  the 
collector  last  developed  and  which  apparently  will  give 
the  best  results  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tion. An  examination  will  show  two  under-wire  sliding 
shoes  with  grooves  which  engage  the  two  overhead  wires 
when  directly  over  the  center  of  the  car.  This  device 
ingeniously  includes  a  series  of  pivots  which  facilitate 
action  in  every  direction,  longitudinal,  vertical  and  hori- 
zontal, as  the  "rail-less"  car  deviates  from  a  path 
directly  under  the  wires.  A  wooden  trolley  pole  19  ft. 
long  is  used  in  conjunction  with  a  standard  trolley  base 
arranged  to  exert  a  total  spring  pressure  of  38  lb.  on 
the  two  overhead  wires.  This  pressure  has  been  found 
to  be  sufficient  to  keep  both  shoes  of  the  collector  in 
position  as  long  as  the  car  is  not  more  than  16  ft.  off 
center. 

Power  Current  Outside  Car  Body 

All  electrical  equipment  controlling  the  600-volt  power 
current  is  located  underneath  the  car  body.  Therefore, 
in  case  of  a  blowout  in  the  electrical  equipment  there 
is  less  liability  of  danger  to  passengers.  The  current 
relay  contactor  system  which  was  designed  by  Cutler- 
Hammer  Company  is  operated  by  a  foot  master  con- 
troller, located  on  the  floor  in  front  of  the  driver's  seat, 
and  interlocked  with  a  reversing  switch. 

Either  one  or  two  25-hp.  motors,  connected  in  tandem, 
such  as  used  on  standard  safety  cars,  may  be  used  on 
this  vehicle,  as  the  contemplated  service  requires.  Such 
motor  equipment  permits  operation  at  a  maximum  speed 
of  from  25  to  30  m.p.h.    Motors  are  mounted  directly 


Length  over  all   22  ft.  0  in. 

Outside  width  of  body   7  ft.  6  in. 

Amount  of  street  space  occupied  per  passenger  seat   6.68  sq.ft. 

Outside  width  of  chassis   34  in. 

Over-all  height   9  ft.  6  in. 

Height  of  bus  floor  from  ground   33 1 :  in. 

Tread  of  front  wheels   60  in. 

Tread  of  rear  wheels  (dual  tires)   68  in. 

Wheelbase  of  chassis   120  in. 

Body  overhang  at  rear   60  in. 

Minimum  turning  radius  (on  a  loop)   20  ft.  0  in. 

Cross-seat  centers   29  in. 

Weight  of  body   2,800  lb. 

Weight  of  chassis   3,750  lb. 

Weight  of  electrical  equipment   2,000  lb 

Weight  of  accessories   750  1b. 

Tctal  weight   9,3001b. 

Weight  per  passenger  seat   332  lb. 

Per  cent  weight  on  rear  wheels   55 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


551 


on  the  chassis  frame  and  drive  the  rear  wheels  through 
a  propeller  shaft.  A  Sheldon  rear  end  worm  drive  is 
used. 

Overman  cushion  tires  are  used  throughout.  Those 
on  the  rear  wheels  are  of  the  dual  type.  Both  the 
service  and  emergency  brakes  are  of  the  internal  ex- 
panding type,  the  former  being  operated  by  a  pedal 
under  the  driver's  right  foot  and  the  latter  by  a  brake 
handle  near  his  right  hand.  The 
chassis  and  steering  arrange- 
ment permit  the  turning  of  this 
car  within  a  diameter  of  40  ft. 
without  disengaging  the  current 
collector  from  the  wires. 

In  designing  this  "rail-less" 
car    body    particular  attention 


Stationary  double  steps  are  provided  at  this  door  open- 
ing. An  emergency  door,  22  in.  wide,  is  located  in  the 
center  of  the  rear  end  of  the  body  with  a  hinged  step 
which  drops  into  position  when  this  door  is  opened.  All 
side  and  rear  windows  are  fitted  with  single  sash  which 
drop  into  pockets.  This  reduces  the  weight  of  the  car 
at  the  roof  and  lowers  the  center  of  gravity. 

Another  innovation  included  in  this  "rail-less"  car  is 
a  driver's  seat,  the  back  of  which 
may  be  adjusted  by  means  of  a 
simple  mechanism  to  suit  the  leg 
length  of  the  operator.  It  may 
be  set  back  approximately  3  in. 
if  additional  room  is  required  for 
a  tall  man  or  half  that  distance 
if  that  is  all  that  is  desired.  This 


THE  "RAIL-LESS" 

~No. ,  1 — Seating'  arrangement  shown.  Also  note  method  of 
mounting  trolley  pole. 

No.  2 — How  easy  it  is  for  a  truck  to  pass  one  by  on  the  road. 

No.   3 — Current  collector  for  which  patents  have  been  applied  for. 

No.  4 — Showing  flexibility  and  ability  to  load  at  the  curb  even 
with  center  trolley  construction. 


CAR  IN  PICTURES 

No.  5 — Interior  arrangement.  Note  the  luxurious  seat 
upholstery. 

No.  6 — Interior  at  driver's  seat.  The  left  foot  pedal  operates 
the  master  controller  in  front  of  the  steering  wheel,  the  one  on 
the  right  controls  the  service  brake.  The  circuit  breaker  is  under 
the  seat. 


was  paid  to  developing  one  of  substantial  construction 
which  would  be  suitable  for  rail-less  service.  A 
composite  underframe  was  built  with  the  side  sills  of 
yellow  pine,  the  end  sills  of  oak  and  the  crossings  of 
suitable  steel  channels  securely  tied  together  with  steel 
angle  brackets.  This  underframe  is  firmly  attached  to 
the  chassis.  The  corner  and  side  posts  and  the  belt  rail 
are  of  ash  with  poplar  letter  panels,  all  sheathed  on  the 
outside  with  No.  18  sheet  steel. 

The  plain  arch  roof  is  supported  on  wooden  rafters 
augmented  by  three  steel  rafters.  Four  Brill  exhaust 
ventilators  are  mounted  on  the  roof. 

The  two-leaf  folding  service  door,  29  in.  wide,  on  the 
forward  right  hand  side  is  manually  operated  by  a 
suitable  handle  near  the  driver's  left  hand.  In  opening, 
this  door  folds  outwardly  against  the  body  corner  post. 


seat  is  stationary  and  like  all  other  seats  is  upholstered 
in  Fabrikoid  imitation  leather.  Seating  accommodations 
for  twenty-eight  passengers  are  provided.  A  trans- 
verse seat  extends  completely  across  the  rear  end  with 
a  single  movable  section  which  folds  up  against  the 
emergency  door,  a  longitudinal  seat  along  the  two  rear 
windows  on  each  side  of  the  aisle,  four  cross  seats  with 
32-in.  cushions,  a  longitudinal  seat  for  two  passen- 
gers on  the  right-hand  side  next  to  the  door  opening 
and  a  single  longitudinal  seat  behind  the  driver,  all  of 
the  stationary  type.  Figuring  2.5  sq.ft.  per  passenger 
the  maximum  capacity  of  the  bus  is  fifty  passengers. 
With  twenty-eight  seats  this  gives  twenty-two  standees. 
The  aisle  width  between  the  cross  seats  is  17  in.  Three 
pipe  stanchions  between  the  longitudinal  seats  at  the 
rear  are  provided  for  the  use  of  standing  passengers. 


552 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


The  interior  finish  is  of  natural  ash  with  agasote  below 
the  windows. 

Current  for  electric  lighting  is  generally  obtained 
from  the  trolley  circuit,  but  a  storage  battery  is  carried 
on  the  floor  to  the  left  of  the  driver's  seat  for  use  in 
case  of  emergency. 

Other  details  are  given  in  the  table  on  page  550. 


Taxation  for  Railway  Construction 

Low  Street  Railway  Fares  Can  Be  Provided  With  the  Help 
of  the  Landlord — Ample  Authority  in  New  York  State 
to  Impose  a  Special  Assessment 

IN  AN  ARTICLE  which  he  contributed  to  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  for  Feb.  5,  1921,  Louis  B. 
Wehle,  a  member  of  the  recent  Federal  Electric  Rail- 
ways Commission,  said:  "There  are  cities  in  which 
extensions  of  rapid  transit  and  subway  can  be  paid  for, 
either  wholly  or  in  part,  out  of  special  assessments 
upon  enhanced  property  values  so  that  the  car  fares  can 
remain  low  and  so  allow  the  cities  to  avoid  congestion, 
while  at  the  same  time  securing  justice  to  the  old 
investors  in  the  property." 

This  suggestion  attracted  much  attention,  and  on 
request  Mr.  Wehle  has  elaborated  the  idea  in  an  article 
which  appears  in  the  current  issue  of  the  National 
Municipal  Review.  An  abstract  of  this  article  is  pub- 
lished below: 

Nobody  wants  high  street  railway  fares.  The  company 
managers  are  compelled  to  urge  them  only  as  a  last  resort. 
If  they  were  sure  of  low  costs,  they  would  much  prefer  low 
fares,  which  mean  better  and  steadier  business. 

The  question  is  how  can  low  fares  be  assured?  We  know 
that  fares  must  be  sufficiently  low  to  enable  the  cities  to 
follow  a  normal  uniform  growth,  avoiding  congestion.  But 
we  know,  too,  that  the  service  must  at  the  same  time  insure 
rapid  transportation  from  home  to  office  or  work  shop.  This 
means,  particularly  in  the  large  cities,  a  continual  extension 
of  the  rapid  transit  facilities  which  do  not  operate  on  the 
street  surface.  Such  facilities  are  very  costly;  they  entail 
a  high  capitalization  and  have  everywhere  either  caused  or 
threatened  to  force  higher  fares.  And  higher  fares  can 
thwart  the  very  purpose  of  rapid  transit  extensions,  since 
they  will  tend  to  create  the  very  congestion  which  those 
extensions  are  intended  to  prevent. 

The  Way  Out:  Assess  the  Landowner 
for  Construction 

From  this  dilemma  there  is  a  plain,  simple  escape.  Not 
a  new  remedy,  but  an  old  one  which  has  been  in  use  in 
connection  with  other  public  improvements  for  many  years 
all  over  the  United  States,  and  resort  to  that  remedy  has 
since  1909  been  permitted  in  connection  with  street  rail- 
ways by  the  laws  of  New  York  State.  The  question  is, 
when  will  the  American  cities  adopt  it? 

When  a  city  builds  a  new  street  or  a  fire  hydrant,  the 
landowners  along  that  street  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  hy- 
drant are  assessed  by  the  city  to  pay  for  it.  Public  opinion 
and  the  courts  have  approved  for  generations  this  proced- 
ure with  reference  to  these  and  other  improvements,  such 
as  sidewalks,  sewers,  water  systems,  parks,  and  more  re- 
cently also  in  connection  with  electric  light  systems;  and 
the  landowner  is  thoroughly  in  accord  with  it  because  his 
is  the  primary  benefit  of  the  improvement,  while  the  benefit 
to  the  taxpayer  is  only  a  general  and  more  remote  one. 

So  let  it  be  with  the  rapid  transit  lines  of  a  large  city. 
Take  New  York  as  an  example.  New  York  City  has  pledged 
its  credit  to  the  extent  of  more  than  $250,000,000  to  build 
a  vast  subway  system.  The  companies,  in  effect,  operate 
the  subways  on  a  basis  of  rentals  which  pay  for  them  at 
the  end  of  a  long  term  of  years.  The  fares  must  be  high 
enough  to  enable  the  companies  (after  first  retaining  cer- 
tain earnings  for  their  own  account)  to  pay  those  rentals. 


In  other  words,  the  taxpayers'  credit  builds  the  subways 
and  then  these  same  taxpayers,  as  car  riders,  put  up  the 
money  with  which  the  subways  are  paid  for. 

The  Federal  Electric  Railways  Commission 
on  the  Landowners 

But,  what  of  the  landowner?  He  frequently  pockets  a 
profit  of  from  one  hundred  to  several  hundred  per  cent  on 
his  investment,  a  profit  which  the  taxpaying  and  riding- 
public  has  donated  to  him.  Please  read  what  the  Federal 
Electric  Railways  Commission  said  about  the  New  York 
landowner  in  its  report  to  the  President  in  August,  1920: 

"Your  commission  would  urge  that  in  every  community, 
where  and  to  such  extent  as  may  be  practicable,  consider- 
ation be  given  to  the  advisability  of  requiring  extensions 
and  rapid  transit  systems  of  subway  and  elevated  to  be 
paid  for,  not  out  of  new  capital  invested  through  the 
medium  of  bonds  or  stocks,  which  means  for  all  time  an 
added  burden  upon  the  car  rider,  but  from  special  taxes 
assessed  against  the  owners  of  property  in  the  district  the 
value  of  which  is  enhanced  by  such  extensions.  The  prin- 
ciple is  peculiarly  applicable  to  improvements  of  city  trans- 
portation systems,  because  of  the  enormous  increases  in 
real  estate  values  created  when  new  extensions  open  up 
new  territory  or  when  the  creation  of  rapid  transit  facili- 
ties make  outlying  territory  more  available. 

"That  such  a  solution  is  just  is  rather  significantly  shown 
by  the  fact  that  in  a  number  of  cities,  landowners  in  out- 
lying districts  have  offered  spontaneously  to  contribute  large 
sums  to  the  company  to  assist  it  in  constructing  certain 
extensions.  The  present  predicament  of  the  street  railway 
companies  is  in  many  places  partly  due  to  overbuilding,  a 
fault  traceable  to  political  or  business  pressures  exerted  by 
speculators  in  suburban  lands  who  had  little  or  no  financial 
responsibility  in  connection  with  the  street  railway  exten- 
sions, which  they  caused  to  be  built  for  their  immediate 
benefit.  This  action  of  the  suburban  landowners  of  certain 
cities,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  significant  expression  of 
enlightened  self-interest  and  a  sound,  constructive  recogni- 
tion of  a  fundamental  principle  of  justice.  The  establish- 
ment of  that  principle  by  law,  whether  by  changes  in  city 
ordinances,  state  statutes,  or  state  constitutions  should,  in 
our  opinion,  not  be  delayed.  This  thought  is  especially 
recommended  to  the  attention  of  a  number  of  communities 
which  are  now  facing  the  necessity  of  extensions  or  rapid 
transit  improvements." 

When  the  Federal  Commission  points  out  that  in  a  num- 
ber of  cities  landowners  have  voluntarily  offered  to  con- 
tribute large  sums  to  the  company  to  assist  in  constructing 
extensions,  we  see  that  the  principle  of  assessing  the  land- 
owner has  developed  spontaneously  as  a  resultant  of  the 
economic  forces  involved.  The  next  step  is  to  give  to  that 
spontaneous  resultant  a  legal  status,  so  that  an  obligation 
to  contribute  shall  bear  equally  upon  all  landowners.  It 
will  doubtless  surprise  many  to  learn  that  this  step  has 
already  been  taken  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

New  York  City's  Neglected  Law 

It  seems  to  have  been  generally  overlooked  that  the 
statutes  of  New  York  today  provide  in  detail  permissively 
for  assessing  landowners  for  the  cost  of  street  railway  con- 
struction. The  rapid  transit  act  since  its  amendment  in 
1909  has  provided  that  New  York  City  may  construct  rapid 
transit  railroads,  paying  for  them  with  funds  raised  by  the 
issuance  of  rapid  transit  bonds  or  of  assessment  bonds. 
Such  line  "shall  be  a  local  improvement  the  cost  of  bonds 
of  which  railroad  may  be  met  in  whole  or  in  part  by  assess- 
ment on  the  property  benefited."  It  is  then  provided  that 
the  Public  Service  Commission,  with  the  approval  of  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  or  other  analogous 
local  body,  "shall  have  power  to  determine  whether  all  or 
any,  and  if  any,  what,  portion  of  the  cost  and  expense 
necessary  to  be  incurred  for  any  such  road  shall  be  assessed 
upon  property  benefited  thereby,"  etc.  The  entire  machinery 
for  assessment  is  fully  provided  for,  and  the  assessment 
and  interest  may  be  paid  in  installments  over  a  period  of 
nine  years.  But  this  permissive  law  has  never  been  used. 
It  seems  to  the  writer  that  it  might  well  be  employed  as  it 
stands,  but  that  if  it  were  practicable  to  do  so  it  should  be 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


553 


made  more  just  and  therefore  perhaps  more  readily 
acceptable  by  amending  it  to  provide  that  the  cost  of  con- 
struction be  defrayed  in  the  first  instance  out  of  a  general 
city  bond  issue,  the  determination  of  benefits  to  the  land- 
owner, and  the  amount  of  his  assessment  being  then  post- 
poned until  some  time  after  the  construction  of  the  railway, 
when  the  results  are  largely  matters  of  actuality  instead 
of  prophecy. 

Stop  and  consider  what  it  would  mean  in  the  future  de- 
velopment of  New  York  City  if  the  landowners  were  to 
contribute  one-fifth  of  their  new  land  value  toward  paying 
for  the  subway  or  elevated  line  which  creates  that  new 
value.  First  it  would  mean  a  continuance  of  relatively  low 
fares  and  even  possibly,  in  the  end,  a  reduction  of  fares. 
It  would  lessen  the  strain  on  the  city's  credit,  and  definitely 
eliminate  the  possibility  of  certain  large  tax  burdens.  Then 
it  would  mean  an  avoidance  of  congestion  with  its  train  of 
evil  consequences  and  would  permit  long-range  city  plan- 
ning for  the  public  health  and  welfare. 

The  subway  and  elevated  extensions  needed  in  New  York 
City  today  darkly  threaten  its  taxpayers  and  are  a  grave 
challenge  to  its  credit.  Daniel  L.  Turner,  at  that  time  chief 
engineer  in  the  office  of  the  Transit  Construction  Commis- 
sioner, issued  in  1920  a  thorough  analysis  and  survey  of 
the  present  and  future  traction  needs  of  Greater  New  York. 
If  the  extensions  are  to  keep  pace  with  the  city's  needs,  then, 
according  to  Mr.  Turner,  about  $250,000,000,.  of  extensions 
must  be  built  in  the  next  twenty-five  years.  Even  if  we 
should  proceed  on  a  far  more  reduced  basis,  it  seems  cer- 
tain that  within  the  next  ten  years  at  least  $30,000,000  will 
have  to  be  spent  alone  for  extensions  into  new  territory  on 
Long  Island,  where  streets  have  today  not  even  been  laid 
out.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  whatever  that  the  new  land 
values  which  will  be  created  in  that  undeveloped  territory 
will  be  fully  as  great  as  those  created  in  1908  by  the  exten- 
sion from  137th  Street  to  Spuyten  Duyvil  of  the  Broadway 
Subway?  An  assessment  system  should  be  devised  which 
will  fix  upon  the  landowner  in  the  heart  of  the  city  the 
obligation  to  contribute  by  assessment  to  the  construction 
costs,  whether  he  be  benefited  by  central  improvement  such 
as  additional  trunk-line  tracks,  or  by  a  suburban  exten- 
sion, and  which  will  fix  upon  the  suburban  owner  liability 
not  only  for  the  cost  of  the  extension  which  most  obviously 


benefit  his  property,  but  also  for  the  cost  of  the  extra 
central  tracks  or  tunnels  made  necessary  in  the  heart  of 
the  city  by  such  a  suburban  extension.  It  would  be  a  dif- 
ficult administrative  and  legal  problem  to  work  out  the 
determination  of  benefits  and  assessments  where  so  many 
intangible  elements  are  to  be  dealt  with.  Yet  scientific 
handling  of  the  problem  can  doubtless  evolve  a  system  which 
would  equitably  place  upon  the  land  in  the  center  of  the 
city  and  upon  the  suburban  owners  in  large  part,  if  not 
entirely,  the  cost  of  all  future  main-line  and  outlying  sub- 
urban construction.  A  lien  of  indeterminate  amount  would 
be  automatically  placed  upon  the  land  lying  within  a  cer- 
tain distance  of  the  improvement;  the  amount  of  the  actual 
increase  in  land  value  would  be  determined  by  appraisal 
some  time  after  the  construction;  and  the  landowner  would 
then  be  given  the  option  to  pay  the  assessment,  if  any,  in 
installments  over  a  period  of  years.  "Assessment,  if  any," 
because  in  the  case  of  central  city  property  it  frequently 
happens  that  a  rapid  transit  improvement  adds  no  value 
and  sometimes  even  impairs  value. 


Attractive  Car  Posters  for  Selling  Rides 
and  Emphasizing  Safety 

DURING  this  summer  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines 
has  utilized  some  unusually  attractive  three  or 
more  color  car  posters  for  calling  attention  in  an  invit- 
ing way  to  places  of  interest  and.  events  as  a  means  of 
inducing  car  riding.  Two  of  these  posters  were  repro- 
duced in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  July  9, 
1921,  page  62,  and  two  more  are  presented  herewith, 
as  well  as  a  third  having  "safety  first"  as  its  theme. 
Just  how  many  fares  were  secured  as  the  result  of 
the  appeal  of  these  attractive  car  cards  is  a  matter 
of  speculation,  as  there  is  no  way  to  determine.  But 
when  one  stops  to  think  that  approximately  3,000,000 
people  a  day  use  the  surface  cars  and  are  almost  certain 
to  see  the  poster,  occupying  as  it  does  the  prominent 
position  in  the  front  and  rear  bulkheads  of  every  car 
directly  in  front  of  the  aisle,  the  value  of  this  adver- 


on  Chicago's  $5,000,000 

Municipal  Pier 

Swept  by  Cool  Breezes 
JULY  30'."  to  AUG.  14? 


I  SURFACE  LINES 


Ask  they  Conductor 
how  to  get  th*i*&- 


"Come  uAtp  these  yellow  sands" 


Chicagos  Lake 
Front  -  -One 
Big  Pleasure 
Beach 


CHICAGO 
SURFACE  ONES 

Ask  the  Conductor  how  to  get  tnere 


CHICAGO 
SAFE 

1.982  Killed.  49.550 
Injured  In  Chicago  and 
Cook  County  In  1920 

Let  us  take  the "Less" 
out  of  "Careless"  by 
using  Care  always. 


These  Attractive  Posters  Were  Issued  This  Summer  by  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines 


554 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


tising  medium  will  be  understood.  These  posters  are 
so  large  (18  in.  x  36  in.  )and  so  well  gotten  up  that 
their  merchandising  value  would  seem  to  be  very  high. 

Incidentally,  some  trouble  was  had  with  the  train- 
men tearing  off  the  lower  part  of  the  posters  as  it 
obstructed  their  view  through  the  bulkhead  windows 
into  the  car.  So  on  each  of  the  cards  reproduced  here- 
with holes  were  cut  at  a  point  in  the  design  where 
they  worked  in  well  and  at  about  the  level  of  the  con- 
ductor's eyes,  so  that  he  could  see  through.  This  seems 
to  have  overcome  the  objection  of  the  trainmen. 

The  safety  poster  was  produced  by  the  Chicago  Sur- 
face Lines  in  conjunction  with  the  transportation  com- 
mittee of  the  Chicago  Safety  Council  and  was  used  by 
the  elevated  lines  and  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad  also.  The  design  and  art  work 
of  all  these  Chicago  posters  was  done  by  Barron  G. 
Collier,  Inc. 

The  Electric  Railway,  Track  and  All 

Sales  Managers  of  the  Future  Will  Make  the  Electric  Rail- 
way a  100  per  Cent  Investment  by  Selling  the 
Use  of  Idle  Tracks  and  Equipment 

By  M.  B.  Lambert 

Manager  Railway  Department,  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company 

THE  auto  truck  and  the  auto  bus  and  now  the 
trackless  trolley  bus  occupy  the  center  of  the  stage 
in  the  technical  and  popular  press,  and  hence  also 
occupy  much  thought  in  the  minds  of  those  interested 
in  their  use  and  sale.  This  is  quite  natural  and  timely 
for  two  good  reasons:  First,  these  instruments  of 
transportation  have  demonstrated  their  utility  and 
economy  in  the  transfer  of  passengers  and  goods  from 
one  place  to  another,  within  well-i-ecognized  limitations, 
and,  second,  far  less  invested  capital  is  required  for 
their  use,  largely  because  the  "people"  at  large  furnish 
the  track  and  right-of-way  almost  free  of  charge.  Time, 
of  course,  will  adjust  the  latter;  steps  have  already 
been  taken  in  numerous  communities  and  states  toward 
levying  additional  taxes  or  fees  on  heavy  tonnage  trucks 
and  auto  buses  operating  regular  passenger  routes. 

The  time  seems,  therefore,  very  propitious  to  stop, 
look  and  listen  and  call  attention  to  the  old  reliable 
electric  railway,  track  and  all,  of  yesterday,  tomorrow 
and  the  future.  What  the  auto  bus  and  auto  truck  and 
the  trackless  trolley  bus  will  do  or  can  do  is  no  longer 
in  doubt ;  they  have  had  a  good  running  start  and  are 
well  on  their  way,  but  the  more  a  great  many  see  of 
them  the  more  firmly  are  they  turning  their  heads  back 
with  favor  on  the  old  reliable  street  railway,  track 
and  all.  Visualize  the  rehabilitated  street  railway,  with 
light  weight  yet  durable  double-truck  cars  not  exceed- 
ing 30,000  lb.  each,  and  safety  cars  for  many  routes, 
and  instead  of  the  monster  girder  rails  a  much  lighter 
construction  replacing  them,  because  the  lighter  cars  will 
not  require  such  heavy  rails.  With  such  equipment  the 
operating  cost  will  be  far  less.  The  all-around  economy, 
safety,  capacity  for  moving  people  rapidly  and  the  logic 
of  the  whole  proposition  combined  force  one  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  old  reliable  electric  railway,  track 
and  all,  is  here  to  stay. 

The  electric  railway,  of  course,  will  have  a  huge  debt 
of  gratitude  to  pay  to  the  auto  bus  and  the  auto  truck 
for  forcing  it  to  be  up  and  doing  its  job.  As  a  result 
of  the  auto  bus  and  the  auto  truck,  the  electric  railway 
will  unquestionably  take  on  new  life  and  the  develop- 
ment and  improvements  that  it  will  undergo  during  the 


next  few  years  will  not  only  greatly  benefit  civilization 
and  the  electric  railway  itself,  but  will  also  greatly 
benefit  the  auto  truck  and  auto  bus  by  helping  to 
create  greater  usefulness  for  these  vehicles  in  their 
respective  fields. 

The  expensive  tracks  of  hundreds  of  interurban, 
suburban  and  city  railways  are  laying  idle  many  hours 
of  the  day  and  night  patiently  waiting  for  the  trans- 
portation salesman  to  recognize  their  value  and  sell 
their  use  to  the  community  twenty-four  hours  each 
day.  The  track  says  to  the  pavement,  when  the  latter 
crunches  and  cracks  under  the  heavily  loaded  trucks: 
"I  wonder  why  the  city  authorities  allow  you  to  be 
broken  up  while  I  lie  idle  here  and  those  heavy  leads 
could  roll  along  on  me  more  silently  and  with  far  less 
cost."  The  pavement  groans  back  and  says:  "Wait 
until  next  year  and  the  people  find  out  what  their  taxes 
are  for  paving,  then  perhaps  they  will  realize  more 
fully  the  economic  value  of  the  electric  railway,  track 
and  all." 

The  manager  in  charge  of  transportation  sales  of 
the  electric  railway  of  the  future  will  study  the  whole 
transportation  game  and  will  make  the  most  of  every 
dollar's  worth  of  investment.  He  will  utilize  every 
economical  instrument  of  transportation  in  its  proper 
field  of  usefulness,  namely,  the  auto  bus,  the  auto  truck, 
the  trackless  trolley  bus. and  the  old  reliable  electric 
railway,  track  and  all.  He  will  study  the  transporta- 
tion requirements  of  the  community  he  serves  for  both 
passengers  and  goods.  He  will  know  what  the  needs 
of  the  civic  authorities  are  in  the  movement  of  garbage, 
street  cleaning,  snow,  etc.,  and  jointly  with  them  will 
establish  receiving  stations  and  move  these  materials 
in  bulk  to  the  dumping  place.  He  will  know  the  traffic 
requirements  of  all  business  houses  in  the  community 
and,  in  co-operation  with  the  city  authorities,  will  estab- 
lish receiving  and  distributing  stations  at  advantageous 
points  about  the  city  so  that  all  freight  will  roll  over 
the  tracks  to  these  places  at  night  and  will  be  dis- 
tributed by  auto  trucks  early  in  the  forenoon  of  each 
day,  and  thus  will  he  help  the  city  authorities  to  solve 
one  of  their  ever-increasing  problems,  the  congestion 
of  business  and  pleasure  vehicles  on  city  streets. 

One  of  the  first  things  the  sales  manager  of  the  inter- 
urban and  suburban  line  will  do  naturally  is  to  sell  the 
use  of  idle  tracks  and  equipment  by  hauling  freight 
and  package  goods.  The  automatic  substation  and  the 
efficient  field  control  motors  on  electric  locomotives 
and  baggage  cars  now  make  it  possible  and  profitable 
for  the  management  of  such  roads  to  make  the  road 
work  while  everybody  sleeps  so  that  they  will  wake  up 
each  morning  and  find  their  goods  ready  for  use,  having 
traveled  two  or  three  hundred  miles  during  the  night 
over  the  old  reliable  electric  railway,  track  and  all. 

Visualizing  the  whole  problem  in  one  broad  glance, 
the  electric  railway  is,  after  all,  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  a  very  essential  and  useful  tool  in  community  life. 
Heretofore,  only  a  very  limited  use  has  been  made  of 
this  tool.  It  can  and  will  be  made,  by  the  sales  man- 
agers of  the  future,  a  100  per  cent  investment,  serving 
the  communities  in  hundreds  of  ways,  handling  pas- 
sengers and  goods  more  economically,  more  reliably 
and  more  safely,  with  less  congestion  and  more  rapidity 
than  any  other  instrument  of  transportation.  Then 
the  auto  bus,  the  auto  truck  and  the  trackless  trolley 
will  fall  in  line  in  their  proper  place,  merely  as  adjuncts 
or  serving  tenders  to  the  old  reliable  electric  railway, 
track  and  all. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


555 


Annual  Convention  Issue 

American  Electric  Railway  Association 

New  York  City,  Sept.  26,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

I  wish  to  extend  to  you  my  very  sincere  congratu- 
lations on  the  annual  convention  issue  of  the  Journal. 
I  recognize  in  the  keynote  of  "Salesmanship"  the  de- 
velopment of  an  idea  expressed  by  Mr.  McGraw  in 
an  interview  early  in  the  spring. 

I  think  you  have  done  a  real  job  in  presenting  such 
a  complete  picture  of  the  possibilities  of  merchandis- 
ing transportation  in  every  department  of  electric  rail- 
way operation. 

I  am  sure  this  will  be  of  great  value  to  the  industry 
generally.  It  is  full  of  optimism  and  should  be  an 
inspiration  to  electric  railway  managers  throughout 
the  country.  James  W.  Welsh, 

Secretary. 


Trac\  Voltage  with  Three-Wire  System 

Winnipeg  Electric  Railway  Company 

Winnipeg,  Canada,  Sept.  10,  1921. 

To  the  Editors : 

The  accompanying  chart  may  be  of  interest  to  some 
of  your  readers  as  showing  the  value  of  the  three-wire 
system  for  reducing  track  potentials  and  the  stray 
currents  assumed  to  result  therefrom  in  underground 
structures  adjacent  to  electric  railways.     This  chart 


Track  Potential  on  Mile  Section  in  Winnipeg,  Using 
Two-Wire  and  Three-Wire  System 


was  taken  last  February  at  a  time  when  railway  loads 
are  usually  heavier  on  account  of  the  severe  weather, 
and  the  resistance  of  the  earth  is  at  a  maximum  by 
reason  of  its  frozen  condition,  thus  diverting  less  stray 
current  than  usual  from  the  rails,  and  causing  the 
latter  to  carry  more  current  than  during  the  summer 
months,  thus  causing  a  maximum  fall  of  potential  from 
point  to  point  in  the  track.    It  covers  about  a  mile  of 


track  carrying  the  heaviest  traffic  on  the  principal  busi- 
ness street  of  Winnipeg. 

You  will  notice  that  during  the  morning  peak,  the 
average  track  potential  drop  is  10  volts.  During  the 
period  of  three-wire  operation  the  average  is  practically 
zero,  and  the  evening  peak  is  almost  imperceptible. 

Our  system  is  now  completed  and  we  are  getting 
practically  this  same  result  over  almost  the  entire  city, 
even  to  the  outskirts.  W.  Nelson  Smith, 

Consulting  Electrical  Engineer. 


New  High-Power  Staff  Brake 

THE  Ackley  Brake  &  Supply  Corporation,  New  York 
City,  has  developed  a  high-power  gearless  staff  brake 
for  electric  railway  service.  This  is  the  invention 
of  Lars  G.  Nilson,  and  is  called  the  Volute  brake.  It 
consists  of  a  grooved  winding  drum  designed  for  attach- 
ment to  the  lower  end  of  a  winding  staff.  The  winding 
radius  of  this  drum  is  large  at  the  upper  end  to  provide 
for  quick  take-up  of  the  brake  chain  and  tapers  irregu- 
larly to  the  lower  end.  At  a  point  about  midway  on  the 
drum  the  effective  winding  radius  passes  through  zero 


New  Type  of  High-Power  Gearless  Staff  Brake 


and  the  remaining  portion  of  the  groove  has  a  slightly 
negative  radius  relation. 

For  any  given  pull  exerted  on  the  brake  handle,  the 
tension  of  the  brake  chain  in  winding  depends  inversely 
upon  the  distance  of  the  center  of  the  chain  from  the 
center  of  the  staff.  With  the  usual  plain  winding  staff 
this  center  to  center  distance  is  about  H  in.  With  the 
Volute  design  this  distance  is  i  in.  in  the  brake  applica- 
tion range.  The  Volute  drum  thus  provides  a  multi- 
plying power  of  about  two  and  one-half  times  that  of 
the  plain  staff  brake.  This  has  been  demonstrated  by 
both  dynamometer  tests  and  in  operating  service. 

The  Volute  drum  is  made  of  cast  steel  and  the  deep 
flanges  bounding  the  chain  winding  groove  provide  the 
necessary  strength  and  thickness  and  serve  to  prevent 
the  chain  overlapping.  The  head  of  the  drum  is  cored 
out  to  receive  the  squared  end  of  the  staff  and  a  hole 
through  the  head  and  the  squared  staff  provides  for 
chain  attachment.  The  frame  for  the  drum  is  also  made 
of  cast  steel  in  one  piece.  The  upper  top  surface  is 
corrugated  to  provide  extra  security  against  slipping 

when  this  is  bolted  to  the  car  platform.    The  drum  is 


556 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


locked  in  the  frame  by  means  of  a  rust-proof  bearing 
of  brass  at  the  top,  which  fits  into  the  bearing  well  of 
the  frame  and  is  held  by  cupping  over  the  well  at  several 
points.  Slots  are  cut  into  the  frame  portion  surround- 
ing the  well  to  shed  dirt  and  keep  water  away  from  the 
bearing. 

This  type  of  winding  drum  provides  for  graduating 
both  the  application  and  the  release  of  the  brake.  Fol- 
lowing the  take-up  the  chain  is  on  the  minimum  radius 
of  the  drum  and  therefore  the  brake  handle  or  wheel 
moves  through  a  relatively  large  arc  in  applying  the 
brake  shoe  pressure.  This  graduating  feature  is  also 
of  advantage  in  preventing  wheel  locking  and  facilitat- 
ing proper  coasting. 

Some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  this  new  type  of 
brake  are  its  simplicity  and  ruggedness,  as  there  are 
but  three  essential  parts,  the  drum,  frame  and  bearing. 
This  design  of  brake  can  be  adapted  to  all  types  and 
sizes  of  cars  and  is  the  equivalent  of  a  geared  brake 


with  a  ratio  of  more  than  3  to  1.  The  weight  and  cost 
are  much  less  than  that  of  the  geared  type  of  brake  as 
the  complete  brake  with  frame  weighs  less  than  one- 
half  of  the  geared  type.  This  type  of  brake  takes  very 
little  more  space  than  the  plain  staff  brake  and  much 
less  than  any  geared  brake,  and  it  can  be  readily 
installed  without  changes  in  the  brake  leverage  system. 

Among  other  applications  of  this  brake  the  Atlantic 
City  &  Shore  Railroad  is  equipping  eighty  cars  with 
this  type. 

Graham  Chassis  Used  in  Danbury 

THROUGH  a  misinterpretation  of  telegrams  the  type 
of  motor-bus  chassis  shown  in  Fig.  3  on  page  516 
of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Sept.  24,  1921, 
was  erroneously  credited  to  the  Reo  Motor  Car  Com- 
pany. The  motor-bus  body  illustrated  was  built  by  the 
Paterson  Vehicle  Company  and  mounted  on  lj-ton 
Graham  truck  chassis,  giving  very  satisfactory  service. 


Bus  Operators  Admitted  by  Amalgamated 

81,777  New  Members  Enrolled  Since  Last  Meeting— 351  Written 
Contracts — Constructive  Spirit  Evidenced  Through- 
out at  Atlanta  Convention 


THE  Amalgamated  Association  of 
Street  &  Electric  Railway  Em- 
ployees of  America  met  for  its  seven- 
teenth convention  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  on 
Sept.  12  to  20.  The  most  striking  and 
important  development  of  this  meet- 
ing was  the  expression  by  various 
officers  of  the  association  of  their  be- 
lief that  the  interest  of  street  railway 
employees  would  be  best  served  by  a 
harmonious  relation  and  co-operation 
between  electric  railway  employees  and 
the  companies  for  which  they  work. 

The  opening  meeting  of  the  conven- 
tion might  have  been  a  "get  together 
meeting"  between  the  employees,  the 
officers  of  the  local  traction  company 
and  the  State  and  city  officials. 

Mediation  Urged 

The  policy  of  avoiding  strikes  wher- 
ever possible  and  of  accepting  media- 
tion and  arbitration  before  resorting  to 
extreme  measures  was  firmly  main- 
tained by  the  association.  The  asso- 
ciation followed  recommendations  of 
International  President  W.  D.  Mahon, 
Detroit,  and  of  the  general  executive 
board,  and  sustained  very  conservative 
policies  regarding  disputes  with  em- 
ploying companies. 

The  association  voted  to  urge  that 
provisions  for  six-day  working  weeks 
and  eight-hour  days  be  incorporated  in 
future  proposed  contracts  between  the 
organization  and  employing  companies. 
The  importance  of  educational  work 
both  inside  and  outside  the  association 
as  a  means  for  improving  working  con- 
ditions and  of  securing  favorable  legis- 
lation was  stressed  throughout  the  con- 
vention. 

Samuel  Gompers,  president  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  was  a 
visitor  to  the  convention  and  spoke 
twice  to  the  delegates.  He  urged  them 
to  keep  up  their  courage  during  "the 
present  period  of  industrial  stagna- 
tion," and  during  their  trials  to  "hold 
themselves  in  leash  and  move  onward 


and  forward  gradually  and  steadily  in 
the  industrial  development  of  the  coun- 
try." 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  Mr. 
Gompers  said  that  union  men  opposed 
any  reduction  in  wages  because  re- 
duced wages  result  in  reduced  pur- 
chasing power,  which  in  turn  would  in- 
crease the  already  alarming  and  in- 
creasing amount  of  unemployment  in 
the  United  States. 

Practically  no  changes  in  the  major 
policies  and  principles  of  the  organiza- 
tion were  made  at  the  meeting,  and 
the  convention  was  featured  by  the  con- 
structive spirit  evidenced  throughout 
its  deliberations.  A  very  important  in- 
novation by  the  association  was  the 
recommendation  that  an  old-age  pen- 
sion should  be  established,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  union  members  who  have 
retired  after  twenty-five  years  of  serv- 
ice in  the  union.  Under  the  recommen- 
dations, which  will  be  voted  on  by  the 
local  unions,  those  entitled  to  the  old- 
age  benefit  will  receive  $800  a  year 
when  they  retire  from  active  work. 

A  motion  to  establish  a  greater  de- 
fense fund  for  use  in  strikes  was  de- 
feated, although  the  association  con- 
sidered the  strike  of  the  Troy  and 
Albany  traction  employees  as  being  just 
and  voted  to  levy  an  assessment  of  50 
cents  per  member  toward  a  fund  to 
assist  these  two  locals. 

Reports  showed  that  the  association 
has  enrolled  81,777  new  members  since 
the  1919  convention,  and  that  there  are 
now  351  written  contracts  between  em- 
ployers and  affiliated  locals.  The  audit 
committee  announced  that  there  was 
now  a  balance  of  $1,031,535  in  the  as- 
sociation treasury.  The  total  member- 
ship of  the  organization  was  reported 
as  about  150,000. 

Motor  Bus  Operators  Admitted 

The  one-man  car  question  was  de- 
bated with  much  interest.  The  asso- 
ciation voted  that  one-man  cars  should 


be  fairly  and  legitimately  opposed 
wherever  possible,  in  order  to  promote 
the  safety  of  the  public.  It  was  stated 
that  one-man  cars  are  already  being 
abandoned  in  many  cities,  and  are  be- 
ing replaced  by  motor  buses.  A  motion 
to  admit  to  membership  street  motor- 
bus  operators  was  carried.  The  asso- 
ciation went  on  record  as  advocating 
the  passage  of  state  laws  making  driv- 
ers of  vehicles  stop,  look  and  listen  be- 
fore crossing  interurban  roads. 

Full  approval  of  the  North  Dakota 
State  bond  issue  for  co-operative  state- 
owned  enterprises  was  given  by  the 
association,  and  it  was  recommended 
that  locals  and  individuals  lend  their 
financial  support  to  the  movement. 

Among  the  resolutions  adopted  was 
one  asking  that  Congress  recognize  the 
"republic  of  Ireland,"  and  another  ask- 
ing President  Harding  to  pardon  Eu- 
gene V.  Debs,  socialist  leader  now  in- 
carcerated in  the  Atlanta  Federal  Peni- 
tentiary. Resolutions  were  also  passed 
requesting  Congress  to  pass  a  soldier 
bonus  law. 

All  business  sessions  of  the  conven- 
tion were  closed  to  the  public  and  the 
press,  a  guard  being  kept  at  the  door 
at  all  times.  There  were  297  delegates 
present. 

The  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, which  operates  the  street  cars  of 
Atlanta,  co-operated  with  the  local  as- 
sociation members  in  entertaining  the 
visitors. 

W.  D.  Mahon,  Detroit,  was  re-elected 
international  president  for  the  twenty- 
ninth  consecutive  time.  W.  B.  Fitzger- 
ald, Troy,  N.  Y.,  was  re-elected  first 
international  vice-president;  P.  J. 
O'Brien,  Springfield,  Mass.,  second 
vice-president;  L.  D.  Bland,  Chicago, 
treasurer,  and  R.  L.  Reeves,  Chicago, 
secretary.  J.  B.  Lawson,  Shreveport, 
La.,  was  re-elected  chairman  of  the  gen- 
eral executive  board  at  the  post-con- 
vention session  of  that  body.  Delegates 
to  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
elected  were:  William  Quinlan,  Chi- 
cago; Fred  Schultz,  Cleveland,  Ohio; 
James  Rogers,  New  Orleans,  La.,  and 
A.  Conn,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Oakland,  Cal.,  will  be  the  meeting 
place  of  the  1923  convention. 


October  1,  1921  Electric   Railway    Journal   557 


Radical  Readjustment  Proposed  in  New  York  City 

Transit  Commission  Suggests,  Among  Other  Things,  Unification  of  Entire  Transit  System,  Ownership  by 
City,  Operation  by  Three  Operating  Companies  Under  Management  of  One  Holding  Company, 
Surrender  of  All  Existing  Franchises  of  Whatever  Nature 


RECOMMENDING  municipal  owner- 
ship of  all  New  York  City's  trans- 
portation agencies  but  at  the  same  time 
recommending  private  operation,  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission  has  filed 
its  plan  of  readjustment  for  New  York 
City  street  railroads,  the  i-eport  being 
given  to  newspapers  at  5  p.m.,  Thurs- 
day, Sept.  29,  for  Friday  morning  pub- 
lication. The  commission  consists  of 
George  McAneny,  chairman;  LeRoy  T. 
Harkness  and  John  F.  O'Ryan,  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Miller  under  au- 
thority of  an  act  passed  by  the  New 
York  State  Legislature  last  spring.  (See 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  issues  of 
April  2,  16  and  23.) 

Ever  since  its  appointment  the  com- 
mission has  been  making  studies  of  the 
situation  and  the  present  report  has 
been  awaited  with  keen  interest,  partic- 
ularly in  New  York  City,  where  the 
traction  situation  is  apparently  the 
principal  political  issue. 

The  commission  has  stated  its  con- 
clusions of  the  principles  upon  which 
any  satisfactory  solution  to  the  New 
York  situation  can  be  based  under  four- 
teen headings.  These  are  given  in  the 
panel  on  page  560. 

The  Transit  Commission  was  organ- 
ized the  early  part  of  this  year  and 
succeeded  to  the  powers  and  duties  of 
the  former  Transit  Construction  Com- 
missioner. Within  a  week  of  taking 
office,  it  organized  a  bureau  of  valuation 
and  through  its  bureau  of  accounts  has 
made  a  comprehensive  analysis  of  the 
finances  of  the  operating  measures  of 
each  of  the  roads.  It  will  hold  a  series 
of  public  hearings  at  an  early  date  to 
determine  in  particular  the  attitude  of 
the  companies  toward  the  plan  pro- 
posed, and  opportunity  will  be  afforded 
for  criticism  and  constructive  sugges- 
tion. 

The  Situation  Described 

The  early  part  of  the  report  of  the 
commission  describes  the  situation  of 
the  transportation  lines  in  New  York 
City,  as  well  as  the  financial  condition 
of  the  companies.  It  declares  that  on 
June  30,  1920,  the  aggregate  of  the  net 
assets  of  all  the  companies  was  $55,- 
908,893  while  the  aggregate  of  the  cur- 
rent liabilities  was  $111,044,653.  These 
included  arrears  of  taxes  unpaid,  inter- 
est on  underlying  bonds,  rentals  over- 
due, and  accounts  and  bills  payable. 
The  report  says  that  the  spectacle  of 
the  city  depending  on  the  present  em- 
barrassed and  generally  ill-equipped 
agencies  for  a  service  essential  to  its 
daily  existence  is  a  sorry  one.  More- 
over, if  the  roads  were  fully  restored 
tomorrow,  there  would  be  no  promise 
against  a  recurrence  of  the  condi- 
tions of  today. 

In  the  judgment  of  the  commission 


a  complete  change  both  in  the  organiza- 
tion and  in  the  methods  of  financing  the 
system,  as  well  as  its  relation  to  the 
public,  must  be  effected.  To  bring 
about  such  a  change  was  frankly  the 
purpose  of  the  legislation  under  which 
the  commission  is  acting. 

No  Change  in  Fare 

It  is  the  further  conclusion  of  the 
commission  that  until  there  has  been 
ample  demonstration  of  the  general 
results  of  operation  of  the  new  plan 
and  until  the  changes  and  economies 
the  plan  has  in  view  are  tested  fully, 
there  should  be  no  change  in  the  present 
rate  of  fare.  The  commission  will  re- 
quire, therefore,  that  the  rate  for  the 
first  year  following  the  initiation  of  the 
plan  shall  remain  at  5  cents. 

In  any  consideration  of  the  rate  of 
fare  to  be  charged  there  should  be 
taken  into  account  the  fact  that  one 
result  of  the  past  three  years'  policy 
of  inaction  has  been  to  hide  a  substan- 
tial increased  fare  in  the  present  dis- 
integrated and  depreciated  service. 
Through  the  doubling  of  fares  and  the 
elimination  of  free  transfers  the  net 
return  per  ride  for  each  passenger 
carried  on  the  surface  lines  in  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx  has  been  in- 
creased from  3.674  cents  in  1918  to 
4.342  cents  in  1921;  in  Brooklyn  the 
average  of  3.341  cents  in  1918  has  been 
increased  to  4.415  cents  in  1921.  In 
other  words,  the  surface  lines  in  Man- 
hattan, Brooklyn  and  the  Bronx  are 
already  receiving  a  net  increase  of  about 
one  cent  per  passenger  over  the  net 
return  of  1918. 

There  has  been  no  such  direct  increase 
upon  the  subway  and  elevated  lines 
where  continuous  rides  are  the  rule. 
There  the  added  cost  to  the  passenger 
has  been  in  discomfort  and  loss  of  time. 
But  even  there  the  payment  of  the  city's 
deficits  through  taxation  is  adding 
almost  exactly  one  cent  to  the  subway 
fare.  In  short,  increased  fares  have 
not  been  avoided.  They  have  been  se- 
cured through  indirection. 

The  commission  appreciates  that  if 
proper  and  necessary  service  is  to  be 
restored,  and  the  revenues  gained 
through  charging  of  double  fares  and 
the  cutting  out  of  transfers  given  up, 
this  hidden  increase  must  be  first  ab- 
sorbed. In  other  words,  savings  must 
be  effected  that  will  offset  the  hidden 
rate.  The  commission  appreciates  as 
well  that  various  fixed  charges  must 
be  eliminated,  and  many  costs  reduced, 
to  offset  further  burdens  placed  upon 
the  present  system. 

If  the  present  situation  were  accepted 
as  the  basis  of  fare  fixing — a  solution 
the  commission  declines  to  consider — 
without  allowance  for  profits  of  any 
nature,  preferential  or  otherwise,  the 


following  deficiencies  would  have  to  be 
overcome : 

(a)  The  gross  revenues  of  the  operating 
companies  for  the  year  ended  June  30.  1921, 
was  in  round  numbers  $133,000,000,  and 
the  costs  of  operation,  taxes,  rentals  and 
interest,  $150,000,000.  The  deficits,  hereto- 
fore cited,  are  therefore  $17,000,000 

(  b )  The  deficits  in  the  interest 
and  sinking-  fund  account  of  the 
city  which  in  1921  amounted  to 
$9,500,000  will  advance  in  1922  to 
approximately  $10,000,000;  the 
total  to  be  provided  from  revenue 
for  the  city's  account,  therefore, 
will  be    10.000.000 

(c)  The  cost  of  eliminating 
double  fares,  and  of  restoring 
free  transfers  upon  the  surface 
lines  will  be  for  each  year  not 

less  than    9.000,000 

(d)  And  one-third  of  the  cost 
of  neglected  repair  work  and  in- 
cidental rehabilitation,  if  this 
expense  can  be  spread  over  three 

years,  would  add  not  less  than.  .  5,000,000 


The  total  thus  required  (with- 
out allowance  for  the  cost  of  re- 
storing full  train  and  car  service, 
which  cannot  be  estimated  with 
any  exactness,  and  without  pro- 
vision for  the  full  replacement 
of  worn-out  and  obsolete  equip- 
ment) would  be   $41,000,000 

Against  this  sum  there  may  be  counted 
a  reduction  of  $5,000,000  to  be  se- 
cured through  the  wage  adjustments  of 
a  month  ago.  This  will  bring  the  net 
additional  indicated  need  on  the  pres- 
ent basis  approximately  to  $36,000,000. 

$36,000,000  Obstacle 

It  is  true  that  the  above  figures  are 
based  upon  the  present  accounts  and 
financing  of  the  companies.  In  a  rate 
case  the  intensive  scrutiny  of  accounts 
undoubtedly  would  result  in  heavy  cuts. 
But  the  net  figure  of  $36,000,000  indi- 
cates the  size  of  the  obstacle  to  be 
overcome — after  three  years'  policy  of 
drift — to  re-establish  and  maintain  the 
5-cent  fare. 

It  will  appear  that  if  the  only  method 
of  relief  was  upon  the  basis  of  present 
organization  and  financial  structure,  the 
prospect  for  maintaining  the  5-cent 
fare  would  not  be  hopeful. 

But  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  commis- 
sion that  if  the  reorganization  plan  it 
presents  be  adopted,  with  (a)  the  re- 
arrangement and  more  effective  co-ordi- 
nation of  the  transit  system,  (b)  the  re- 
duction of  rentals  and  interest  charges 
that  it  has  in  view,  (c)  the  elimination 
of  taxes  and  other  public  charges,  from 
which  the  municipalized  lines  naturally 
would  be  free,  (d)  the  reductions  of  cost 
effected  through  consolidation  of  power 
plants  and  of  other  facilities  used  in 
common,  and  (e)  the  material  savings 
that  will  occur  in  the  reduction  of  over- 
head and  operating  charges,  the  indi- 
cated deficiencies  may  be  substantially 
overcome  and  the  5-cent  fare  con- 
tinued beyond  the  year  of  trial. 

While  naturally  every  endeavor  will 
be  made  to  attain  this  end,  the 
question  finally  can  be  determined  only 
by  a  demonstration  of  the  results  of 


558 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


operation  of  the  consolidated  system 
such  as  the  plan  proposes. 

The  commission  thinks  that  the  en- 
forcement of  a  plan  based  upon  the 
principles  cited,  beyond  securing  the 
economies  and  benefits  of  consolidation 
and  ending  a  condition  of  financial 
chaos  and  paralysis,  will  clean  out  the 
separate,  special,  private  interests  with 
their  persistent  friction  and  conflicting 
policies  and  substitute  a  new  basic  or- 
ganization in  which  the  interests  of 
the  city  and  of  private  investors  would 
be  common.  If  these  principles  be  rec- 
ognized and  given  effect,  it  will  follow 
that  while  opportunities  for  the  making 
of  money  through  the  speculative  man- 
ipulation of  transit  securities  will  cease, 
bova  fide  investors,  on  the  other  hand, 
assured  of  adequate  protection,  should 
not  hesitate  to  lend  as  further  funds  are 
required.  The  advantages  that  will 
flow  to  the  traveling  public  from  the 
plan  are  obvious.  Nor  does  the  com- 
mission see  in  it  any  unfairness  either 
to  the  operating  companies  or  to  the 
present  owners  of  their  securities. 

In  readjusting  securities  on  the  basis 
of  honest  value  which  the  commission 
has  in  view,  it  declares  it  will 
insist  upon  the  elimination  of  "water" 
of  every  description  and  the  frank  rec- 
ognition of  a  depreciation  that  invest- 
ors have  long  since  discounted.  In  re- 
quiring that  existing  "preferentials" 
be  given  up,  as  a  part  return  for  the 
stability  the  plan  would  give  to  real 
investment,  the  commission  says  it 
again  seeks  to  cut  out  whatever  has 
become  unstable  or  artificial  in  transit 
finance.  Preferential  allowances  held  to 
be  fair  and  necessary  when  the  dual 
contracts  were  negotiated  ten  years  ago 
are  not  fair  under  the  conditions  of  to- 
day. If  the  subway  operators  argue 
that  their  preferentials  should  be  con- 
tinued, and  that  a  fare  should  be  fixed 
sufficient  to  cover  them,  they  would 
claim  in  effect  that  they  alone  are  en- 
titled to  100  per  cent  protection  against 
the  losses  and  shrinkages  of  the  war, 
while  the  city,  the  private  investors  and 
every  other  party  to  the  old  agreements 
have  been  required  to  carry  very  sub- 
stantial losses,  direct  and  indirect. 

The  elimination  of  inter-company 
leases  will  put  an  end  to  another  form 
of  abuse  in  transit  finance  and  avoid 
the  continuance  of  undue  favor  to  any 
particular  class  of  security  holders. 
Under  the  plan  all  such  leases  would  be 
discontinued  and  the  lines  of  lessor  com- 
panies merged  with  the  unified  system 
upon  the  same  terms  as  to  the  recogni- 
tion of  actual  value  and  the  allotment 
of  interest-bearing  securities  that  apply 
to  all  others. 

In  accordance  with  the  foregoing 
findings  the  commission  submits  the 
following  general  outline  of  its  plan 
and  of  the  mechanism  through  which  it 
is  to  be  put  into  effect: 

THE  PLAN 

General  Scope  and  Object 

The  plan  provides  for  the  valuation, 
consolidation  and  municipal  ownership 
of  all  transportation  facilities  deemed 
by  the  transit  commission  to  be  useful 


and  essential.  Such  facilities  are  to  be 
acquired  without  cost  to  the  city  by 
amortizing  out  of  earnings  the  valua- 
tions fixed  by  the  Transit  Commission. 
All  existing  corporations  and  their  fran- 
chises, inter-leases  and  securities  are 
gradually  to  be  eliminated  or  extin- 
guished, except  such  underlying  liens 
carrying  a  low  rate  of  interest  as  the 
commission  deems  it  advisable  not  to 
disturb.  Existing  securities,  with  such 
exceptions,  are  to  be  replaced  by  an 
issue  of  bonds  of  a  consolidated  com- 
pany representing  a  fair  and  honest 
valuation  of  the  properties.  Payment 
of  these  bonds  with  interest,  and  a  sink- 
ing fund  charge  sufficient  to  retire  them 
within  a  reasonable  period,  which  will 
be  less  than  the  term  of  the  present 
subway  leases,  is  to  be  secured  by  a  pur- 
chase money  mortgage  and  assured  by 
a  rate  of  fare  based  on  cost,  automat- 
ically determined  by  the  condition  of  a 
contingent  reserve  or  barometer  fund. 

Valuations  according  to  existing  se- 
curity issues  and  present  capitalization 
will  be  disregarded  and  the  entire  finan- 
cial structure  of  the  consolidated  com- 
pany will  be  based  upon  a  new  valua- 
tion, which,  under  the  rapid  transit 
legislation  of  this  year,  is  rapidly  being 
completed.  By  this  means  the  "water" 
in  present  financing  and  capitalization 
will  be  eliminated  and  the  new  valua- 
tion will  represent  the  real  values  in  the 
transportation  properties. 

In  view  of  the  large  investment  of 
the  city  in  and  its  ownership  of  the  ex- 
isting subway  lines,  the  benefits  of  a 
unified  system  can  best  be  secured 
through  the  immediate  municipal  own- 
ership of  all  transportation  facilities 
deemed  useful  and  essential  in  a  com- 
prehensive system,  and  their  operation, 
under  effective  public  control  by  com- 
pany agencies  to  be  created  for  the 
purpose.  If  the  city  authorities  shall 
oppose  immediate  municipal  ownership 
of  the  transit  system,  with  its  present 
opportunity  to  reform  completely  the 
existing  situation,  the  commission  is 
prepared  to  consider  the  alternative 
course  of  vesting  title  to  all  properties 
not  now  owned  by  the  city,  including 
the  subway  leases,  in  the  consolidated 
company,  with  provision  for  deferred 
ownership  by  the  city.  Such  a  course 
will  permit  the  general  features  of  the 
plan  to  be  carried  out,  but  will  add  to 
the  difficulties  and  tend  to  impose  a 
higher  fare. 

Consolidation 

Under  the  plan,  ownership  will  be 
acquired  by  the  city  without  financial 
outlay  on  its  part.  Existing  companies 
will  turn  in  to  the  consolidated  company, 
and  through  it  to  the  city,  all  properties 
and  rights  in  return  for  new  leases 
which  will  provide  for  amortization  out 
of  the  earnings  of  the  consolidated  sys- 
tem of  the  valuation  fixed  by  the  com- 
mission. 

The  existing,  separate  systems  to  be 
consolidated  at  the  start  into  three 
new  operating  groups  to  be  made  up 
as  follows: 

Group  No.  1 :  The  subway  and  ele- 
vated railroads  now  operated  by  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 


and  leased  by  it  from  the  city  and  the 
Manhattan  Railway  Company. 

Group  No.  2:  The  subway,  elevated 
and  surface  railroads  now  or  formerly 
in  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  system. 

Group  No.  3:  The  surface  railroads 
of  the  Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the 
Bronx. 

The  surface  railroads  in  Queens  and 
Richmond,  in  whole  or  in  part,  to  be 
allocated  to  Group  No.  2  or  Group 
No.  3,  as  may  be  determined. 

Bus  lines  necessary  for  the  logical 
development  of  the  unified  system  to  be 
created  and  allocated  as  feeders  to  the 
foregoing  group.  Where  necessary  or 
desirable,  some  of  the  existing  surface 
lines  may  be  transformed  into  bus  lines. 

All  existing  power  facilities  to  be 
consolidated  and  operated  for  the  com- 
mon benefit  of  the  entire  system. 

To  pave  the  way  for  the  eventual, 
complete  consolidation  into  one  system, 
and  to  secure  the  benefits  of  private 
operation  under  public  control,  the 
Transit  Commission  will  cause  to  be 
organized  four  corporations — "A,"  "B," 
"C"  and  "D"  companies — each  with  a 
nominal  number  of  capital  shares. 

"A"  company  will  be  the  controlling 
and  financial  company,  and  general 
supervisor  of  the  affairs  of  "B,"  "C" 
and  "D"  companies,  which  will  be  ex- 
clusively operating  companies.  The 
shares  of  stock  of  the  operating  com- 
panies will  be  owned  by  "A"  company, 
whose  shares  in  turn  will  be  held  in 
trust  by  the  Transit  Commission,  or 
by  whatever  body  may  succeed  it. 

"B"  Company  will  operate  under 
lease  the  properties  embraced  in  Group 
No.  1,  "C"  Company  the  properties  em- 
braced in  Group  No.  2  and  "D"  Com- 
pany the  properties  embraced  in  Group 
No.  3. 

General  financial  control  and  super- 
vision of  the  entire  system  will  be 
lodged  in  a  board  of  control,  which 
will  also  constitute  the  directorate  of 
"A"  Company.  It  will  consist  of  seven 
members,  to  be  chosen  as  follows:  One 
each  by  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
three  operating  companies,  "B,"  "C" 
and  "D,"  three  by  the  Mayor  of  the 
city,  and  the  seventh  member  by  vote 
of  the  other  six,  or,  in  the  event  of 
their  inability  to  agree,  then  by  the 
Transit  Commission  or  by  whatever 
body  may  succeed  it. 

The  powers  of  the  board  of  control 
are  to  be  those  of  a  financial  nature, 
as  above  indicated,  together  with  such 
other  powers  of  supervision  and  direc- 
tion as  may  properly  be  conferred  upon 
it  by  the  contracts  to  be  entered  into. 
It  will  be  responsible  for  the  distribu- 
tion and  management  of  all  the  sur- 
plus revenues  of  the  operating  com- 
panies after  payment  of  their  own  op- 
erating expenses,  will  have  sole  charge 
of  the  issuing  of  all  securities,  will 
make  all  payments  for  interest,  and 
have  the  custody  and  management  of 
the  amortization,  contingent  reserve, 
and  other  funds. 

The  functions  of  the  Transit  Com- 
mission in  respect  to  construction 
should  be  vested  in  the  board  of  con- 
trol, and  from  time  to  time,  as  experi- 
ence warrants,  all  the  remaining  func- 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


559 


tions  of  the  Transit  Commission,  ex- 
cept those  involving  exercise  of  the 
police  power,  to  which  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  will  succeed,  should  be 
vested  in  the  board  of  control,  permit- 
ting the  abolition  of  the  Transit  Com- 
mission. Legislation  to  this  end  will 
be  recommended  by  the  commission. 

The  Operating  Companies 

To  provide  for  the  eventual  consoli- 
dation into  one  operating  company,  the 
board  of  control  will  have  the  power, 
after  a  specified  number  of  years,  to 
consolidate  further  the  groups  and  op- 
erating companies  provided  for  under 
this  plan  into  one  or  two  operating 
companies,  as  it  may  deem  best. 

It  may  be  noted  not  only  that  this 
control  differs  from  past  methods,  in 
that  it  is  placed  where  it  can  be  exer- 
cised most  efficiently  and  economically, 
but  that  the  city's  participation  is 
placed  on  an  equality  with  that  of  the 
private  investors,  giving  the  city  for 
the  first  time  real  and  substantially 
complete  home  rule  with  respect  to 
transit. 

If,  as  expected  under  the  plan,  self- 
ish and  antagonistic  interests  are  elimi- 
nated, and  the  interests  of  the  city 
and  the  company  investors  made  com- 
mon, it  should  be  possible  to  have  a 
large  part  of  the  detail  work  now  done 
by  the  staff  of  the  Transit  Commission 
performed  by  the  staffs  of  the  operat- 
ing companies,  and  thus  cut  down  the 
large  force  of  public  employees  neces- 
sary under  present  conditions.  In  view 
of  the  base  of  the  interests  of  the  city 
and  the  company  investors  being  com- 
mon, the  expenses  of  the  board  of  con- 
trol should  be  treated  as  an  operating 
expense  and  paid  out  of  railroad  earn- 
ings. 

The  operating  management  of  "B," 
"C"  and  "D"  companies  shall  be  vested 
in  their  respective  boards  of  directors 
under  the  terms  of  their  leases.  The 
board  of  directors  of  "B"  Company 
shall  be  elected  by  the  holders  of  the 
bonds  issued  in  exchange  for  the  se- 
curities and  properties  constituting 
Group  No.  1.  Similarly,  the  directors 
of  "C"  and  "D"  companies  will  be 
elected  by  the  holders  of  the  bonds 
issued  in  exchange  for  the  securities 
and  properties  constituting  Group  No. 
2  and  Group  No.  3  respectively.  Man- 
agement will  thus  represent  investment 
instead  of  speculation 

Mechanism  of  Transfer  of  Prop- 
erties to  the  City 

The  present  subway  leases  to  be  re- 
formed or  superseded  by  agreement,  so 
as  to  abolish  all  preferential  payments 
and  place  company  and  city  invest- 
ments on  a  parity.  Ownership  of  all 
subway  equipment  not  already  owned 
by  the  city  to  be  vested  in  the  city 
without  outlay  by  the  city  in  return  for 
a  new  lease. 

The  reformed  subway  leases,  com- 
prising the  Interborough  System,  to- 
gether with  the  lines  constituting  the 
Manhattan  Elevated  Railroad  System, 
to  be  assigned  and  transferred,  with 
the  consent  of  stockholders,  or,  failing 


that,  by  means  of  foreclosure  sale,  to 
"A"  Company  in  exchange  for  "A" 
Company  bonds,  equal  in  amount  to  the 
valuation  of  the  properties  of  the  In- 
terborough and  Manhattan  Companies, 
made  by  the  Transit  Commission  pursu- 
ant to  Chapters  134  and  .335  of  the  laws 
of  1921. 

These  bonds  to  be  exchanged  for  out- 
standing securities  issued  against  the 
properties  transferred  on  terms  to  be 
fixed  in  the  final  statutory  plan  and  con- 
tract, reached  if  possible  by  agreement 
between  protective  committees  of  se- 
curity holders,  but  otherwise  to  be 
determined  by  the  Transit  Commission. 

Pursuant  to  the  terms  of  the  final 
statutory  plan  and  contract,  "A"  Com- 
pany will  forthwith,  by  appropriate 
instrument,  vest  in  the  city  all  of  its 
right,  title  and  interest  in  and  to  the 
properties  acquired,  in  return  for  a 
lease  of  the  properties  transferred,  com- 
prising Group  No.  1,  to  "B"  Company 
for  operation,  under  the  general  terms 
hereinafter  stated. 

The  bonds  of  "A"  Company,  issued  in 
exchange  for  the  properties  transferred 
to  it  and  by  it  vested  in  the  city,  shall 
be  secured  by  a  purchase  money  mort- 
gage which  shall  be  a  specific  lien  upon 
the  properties  transferred  and  a  gen- 
eral lien  upon  all  of  the  property  of 
"A"  Company,  including  its  interest  in 
the  leases  to  the  operating  companies. 
These  bonds  shall  bear  interest  at  the 
rate  of  five  per  cent  per  annum,  with 
an  additional  one  per  cent  set  aside  to 
amortize  the  valuation  as  fixed  by  the 
Transit  Commission.  The  bonds  will 
be  further  secured  by  provision  in  the 
final  statutory  plan  and  contract  for 
the  maintenance  of  a  rate  of  fare  auto- 
matically determined  to  meet  at  all 
times  cost  of  operation,  bond  interest, 
and  one  per  cent  for  amortization. 

Under  conditions  hereinafter  stated, 
in  order  to  provide  an  incentive  to  effi- 
cient and  economical  management,  it 
will  be  possible  for  the  bonds  to  earn 
an  additional  one  and  one-half  per  cent 
of  interest. 

In  similar  manner  the  lines  now  or 
formerly  comprising  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  System,  surface,  subway 
and  elevated  (and  if  it  is  finally  deemed 
best,  the  surface  lines  in  Queens  and 
Richmond),  will  be  transferred  to  "A" 
Company  in  exchange  for  its  bonds, 
equal  in  amount  to  the  valuation  of  said 
properties,  as  determined  by  the  Tran- 
sit Commission,  which  properties  shall 
be  by  "A"  Company  vested  in  the  city 
in  return  for  a  lease  to  "C"  operating 
company  upon  terms  similar  to  those 
provided  in  the  case  of  "B"  Company. 

In  a  similar  manner  the  lines  now 
comprising  the  various  surface  lines  in 
Manhattan  and  the  Bronx,  or  such  of 
them  as  shall  be  deemed  by  the  Transit 
Commission  to  be  useful  and  essential, 
shall  be  transferred  to  "A"  Company  in 
exchange  for  its  bonds  equal  in  amount 
to  the  valuation  of  said  properties  as 
determined  by  the  Transit  Commission, 
which  properties  shall  be  by  "A"  Com- 
pany vested  in  the  city  in  return  for  a 
lease  thereof  to  "D"  operating  company, 
upon  terms  similar  to  those  provided  in 
the  case  of  "B"  and  "C"  Companies. 


Upon  the  completion  of  the  amortiza- 
tion period  of  the  purchase  money  bonds 
issued  by  "A"  Company,  the  city's  title 
to  all  the  transit  lines  will  be  free  and 
clear  of  such  liens,  but  the  city  shall 
have  the  right  to  extinguish  the  bonds 
underlying  any  line  or  lines  at  any  time 
after  ten  years,  upon  payment  of  the 
then  unamortized  portion  of  the  bonds. 

"A"  Company  shall  raise  by  the  issue 
of  notes,  or  other  form  of  short  term 
securities,  sufficient  funds  for  financing 
the  unified  system  and  providing  neces- 
sary working  capital  during  the  early 
period  of  its  development.  Such  funds 
shall  be  utilized,  among  other  things, 
for  the  establishment  of  the  contingent 
reserve  or  barometer  fund  hereinafter 
provided  for.  Such  additional  capital 
as  may  be  needed  for  transit  construc- 
tion or  equipment,  other  than  that  fur- 
nished by  the  city,  shall  be  raised  by 
the  sale  of  new  bonds  to  be  issued  by 
"A"  Company,  as  may  be  determined 
upon  by  the  board  of  control. 

Rate  of  Fare 

There  shall  be  no  increase  in  the 
5-cent  rate  of  fare,  unless,  after  one 
year's  demonstration  of  the  results  of 
operation  of  the  consolidated  system, 
with  its  new  and  many  opportunities 
for  substantial  economies,  an  increase 
is  demonstrated  to  be  necessary.  Then 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  each  succeeding 
fiscal  year  the  rate  of  fare  will  be  de- 
termined automatically  by  the  status 
of  the  contingent  reserve  or  "barome- 
ter" fund,  and  shall  be  put  into  effect 
by  the  board  of  control.  During  each 
year  of  operation  under  the  plan  the 
rate  of  fare  shall  be  adequate  to  pro- 
vide for  cost  of  operation  and  interest 
and  sinking  fund  upon  the  bonds  and 
other  current  obligations  of  the  consoli- 
dated system,  including  provision  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  contingent  re- 
serve or  barometer  fund. 

This  will  operate  as  follows: 
After  payment  of  operating  expenses 
and  fixed  charges  (the  fairness  of  the 
amounts  of  which  is  insured  by  the 
valuation  of  the  properties  by  the  Tran- 
sit Commission  and  the  control  over 
expenditures  by  the  board  of  control), 
the  surplus  moneys  are  to  be  paid  into 
a  contingent  reserve  or  barometer  fund. 
If  the  available  surplus  keeps  this  fund 
above  a  specified  maximum,  the  fare 
is  to  be  automatically  lowered;  if  the 
fund  falls  below  a  specified  minimum, 
the  fare  is  to  be  automatically  increased 
until  the  reserve  is  restored. 

Examples  Cited 

For  example:  Assume  that  the  nor- 
mal amount  of  the  barometer  fund  is 
fixed  at  $25,000,000.  If  it  rises  to  $35,- 
000,000,  the  fare  is  to  be  decreased;  if 
it  falls  to  $15,000,000,  the  fare  is  to  be 
increased. 

In  short,  the  purpose  of  this  is,  after 
fixing  the  base  of  proper  valuation  and 
determining  the  operating  expenses 
and  fixed  charges,  to  make  the  decision 
as  to  the  rate  of  fare  as  automatic  as 
is  humanly  possible.  Upon  the  new 
basis  the  public  can  be  assured  that  all 
money  expended  is  properly  expended 
for  necessary  cost,  and  the  rate  of  fare, 


560 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


therefore,  will  reflect  the  actual  and 
necessary  cost  of  the  transportation 
that  the  public  gets,  uninfluenced  by 
any  opportunity  of  private  gain  based 
upon  stock  ownership. 

Transfers  on  all  of  the  lines  of  each 
of  the  three  operating  systems  will  be 
established  at  proper  points  as  rapidly 
as  financial  conditions  will  permit. 

Each  operating  company  will  pay  its 
own  operating  expense  and  retain  its 
own  maintenance  and  depreciation  re- 
serve as  authorized  by  the  terms  of  its 
lease,  and  turn  over  all  surplus  funds 
to  "A"  Company.  "A"  Company  will 
pool  the  moneys  so  received  and  dis- 
tribute same  as  follows: 

(a)  It  shall  pay  to  the  holders  of  its 
securities  the  fixed  return  prescribed, 
and  to  the  city  the  interest  upon  its 
rapid  transit  investment. 

(b)  It  shall  pay  into  an  amortization 
fund  the  specified  rate  for  the  amorti- 
zation of  its  bonds,  and  to  the  Comp- 
troller of  the  city  of  New  York  a  speci- 
fied rate  for  the  amortization  of  the 
corporate  stock  of  the  city  issued  for 
rapid  transit  construction. 

(c)  It  shall  make  good  any  deficit  in 
the  cost  of  operation  in  any  preceding- 
year  sustained  by  any  one  of  the  three 
operating  companies. 

(d)  It  shall  out  of  the  remaining 
surplus  maintain  the  above  mentioned 
contingent  reserve  or  barometer  fund. 

Incentive  for  Efficient  Service 

In  order  to  provide  an  incentive  for 
efficient  and  economical  management, 
there  shall  be  set  aside  each  year  by 
the  board  of  control  out  of  the  surplus 
earnings  of  the  unified  system,  after 
the  payment  of  all  obligations  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  barometer  fund,  a 


sum  to  be  distributed  or  used  for  the 
joint  benefit  of  the  operating  personnel 
of  the  unified  system  and  the  holders 
of  the  consolidated  company's  bonds. 
This  fund,  within  the  limits  of  the  avail- 
able surplus,  shall,  for  the  purpose  of 
computing  allotments  prescribed,  equal 
three  per  cent  interest  on  the  purchase 
money  bonds  issued  by  the  consolidated 
company.  When  the  amount  so  avail- 
able has  been  determined  by  the  board 
of  control  it  shall  be  allocated,  one-half 
for  the  benefit  of  the  operating  per- 
sonnel as  hereinafter  indicated,  and 
one-half  for  the  payment  of  additional 
interest  upon  the  outstanding  purchase 
money  bonds,  but  subject  to  the  condi- 
tion that  with  any  increase  or  decrease 
of  fare  above  or  below  the  rate  of  5 
cents,  such  funds  shall  be  decreased  or 
increased,  as  the  case  may  be,  on  the 
basis  of  one  per  cent  interest  on  the 
bonds  with  each  cent  of  fare  variation. 

In  similar  manner,  out  of  the  remain- 
ing one-half  of  the  fund  referred  to, 
there  shall  be  allocated  under  the  con- 
tingencies mentioned  a  like  amount  for 
the  benefit  of  the  operating  personnel 
of  the  unified  system,  which  allocated 
sum  shall  be  expended  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  board  of  control  for  the 
collective  benefit  of  the  operating  per- 
sonnel. 

If,  however,  the  board  of  control  so 
determines,  the  said  sum  may  be  ex- 
pended under  the  direction  of  the  board 
of  control  to  provide  benefits,  such  as 
insurance  and  pensions,  for  the  operat- 
ing personnel  and  to  reward  employees 
who  in  various  groups  have,  during  the 
preceding  year,  rendered  conspicuously 
efficient  service. 

There  will  be  included  in  the  contracts 
for  the  transfer  of  the  several  lines 


to  the  consolidated  company  provision 
for  obligations  to  contract  and  to  cred- 
itors and  to  holders  of  receivers'  cer- 
tificates of  indebtedness,  employing  for 
this  purpose,  so  far  as  can  be  agreed 
upon,  the  bonds  and  short  term  secur- 
ities of  the  consolidated  company,  due 
allowance  therefor  being  made  in  the 
price  at  which  the  respective  properties 
are  to  be  taken  over. 

Term  of  Leases  and  Amortization 

The  term  of  the  leases  shall  be  for 
so  long  as  is  necessary  to  amortize  the 
valuation  as  fixed  by  the  Transit  Com- 
mission. 

All  leases  to  be  subject  to  extinguish- 
ment or  recapture  by  the  city  at  the  end 
of  ten  years  upon  payment  of  the  then 
unamortized  part  of  the  valuation  of 
the  leased  properties. 

As  the  amortization  funds  will  be 
managed  by  the  board  of  control,  on 
which  the  city  will  be  adequately  rep- 
resented, their  proper  and  conservative 
management  in  the  city's  interest  will 
be  assured.  In  order,  however,  to  meet 
the  objections  to  the  past  management 
of  sinking  funds,  the  final  statutory 
plan  and  contract  will  require  the  adop- 
tion of  the  more  clean-cut  method  of 
buying  or  calling  in  each  year  a  part 
of  the  outstanding  securities  and  can- 
celing them.  This  will  wipe  out  a 
definite  part  of  the  debt  each  year  and, 
although  its  cost  is  somewhat  greater 
than  on  the  compound  interest  basis, 
the  commission  believes  that  it  possesses 
many  advantages.  After  some  years 
the  debt  should  sufficiently  be  reduced 
to  ease  greatly  the  cost  of  meeting  fixed 
charges  and  thereby  pave  the  way  for 
bettered  service  or  possibly  decreased 
fares. 


Fourteen  Conclusions  of  Analysis  of  Transit  Commission  on  Which 

Readjustment  Plan 
Is  Based 


It  is  the  conclusion  of  the  commission 
that  tlie  plan  of  reorganization  should  be 
based   upon   the   follow  ins  principles: 

1.  That     all    existing:    lines — subway, 

elevated   and  surface  should  be  unified 

for  purposes  of  future  operation,  and 
placed  under  control  of  a  single  super- 
visory authority  in  which  the  operating 
companies  and  the  city  shall  participate 
upon   equal  terms. 

2.  That  the  railway  properties  still 
held  in  private  ownership,  whether  under 
direct  title,  franchises,  contracts  or 
leases,  should,  so  far  as  required  for  the 
purposes  of  the  unified  system,  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  city,  their  owners  re-x 
ceiving  in  return  new  securities,  based 
upon  the  actual  value  of  the  lines  for 
operating  purposes. 

3.  That  the  continued  possession  of 
any  of  the  roads  for  purposes  of 
operation  be  conditioned  upon  the  accept- 
ance from  the  city  of  new  leases, 
granted  for  restricted  periods,  and  that 
the  revenue  derived  from  such  operation 
be  used  only  for  the  payment  of  actual 
operating  costs  and  the  interest  and  sink- 
ing fund  charges  upon  the  new  secur- 
ities— plus  certain  limited  percentages  of 
profit  allowed  when  earned  as  an  in- 
centive to  good  management. 

4.  That  the  new  securities  be  amor- 
tized in  favor  of  the  city,  subject  to  the 
right  of  the  city  to  retake  any  speci- 
fied one  of  the  lines  upon  the  payment 
of  any  then  unamortized  proportion  of 
the  securities. 


the 


That  provision  be  also  made  from 
revenue   of   the  roads   for  payment 


in  each  year  of  the  interest  and  sink- 
ing fund  charges  upon  the  city's  invest- 
ment in  the  dual  subways ;  as  well  as 
upon  all  subsequent  rapid  transit  in- 
vestments of  the  city. 

6.  That  as  a  condition  precedent  to 
participation  in  the  proposed  reorgan- 
ization the  preferential  allowance  of 
profits  granted  to  any  one  of  the  com- 
panies as  a  consideration  for  rights 
yielded  under  previous  contracts  or 
leases,  as  well  as  any  claims  based  upon 
the  unpaid  accumulation  of  such  pref- 
erential profits,  be  given  up ;  and  that 
all  inter-company  leases  or  other  un- 
dertakings covering  the  use  either  of 
lines  or  equipment  be  canceled. 

7.  That  the  lines  retained  in  the  re- 
organized system  be  arranged  so  as  to 
eliminate  gradually  all  duplication  of 
service  so  that  the  rapid  transit  roads 
will  serve  the  long  hauls  and  the  sur- 
face cars — or  buses — the  local  and  con- 
necting hauls. 

8.  That  only  such  lines  as  in  the 
judgment  of  the  commission  are  adapt- 
able to  such  a  system  be  acquired,  or 
accorded  any  value  for  purposes  of  such 
acquisition. 

9.  That  as  rapidly  as  may  be  possible 
financially,  full  and   continuous  service 


be  restored  upon  all  of  the  lines,  free 
transfers  re-established  and  postponed 
repairs  given  proper  attention. 

10.  That  all  train  and  car  schedules 
be  so  arranged  as  to  provide  adequately 
tor  the  comfort  and  convenient  service 
of  the  traveling  public  at  all  hours  of 
the  day. 

11.  That  in  order  further  to  relieve 
present  conditions,  and  to  provide  for 
the  great  increases  of  traffic  certain 
to  develop  in  the  near  future,  immediate 
provision  be  made  for  the  planning  and 
building   of   additional   new  subways. 

12.  That  provision  be  made  for  winding 
up  the  affairs  of  the  present  operating 
companies  at  the  earliest  practicable 
time  upon  the  basis  of  the  adjustment 
suggested,  for  the  satisfactory  settle- 
ment by  them  of  their  current  liabilities 
before  transfer  of  their  lines  to  the  city 
and  for  the  termination  of  all  receiver- 
ships. 

13.  That  in  order  to  preserve  a  unified 
rat*  of  fare  on  all  the  lines,  all  sur- 
plus earnings  be  pooled  and  that  a 
proper  'fund  be  established,  to  consist  of 
such  surplus  earnings  and  such  tem- 
porary borrowings  as  may  be  necessary, 
to  cover  current  contingent  needs. 

14.  That  the  rate  of  fare  shall  not  be 
fixed,  in  any  discretionary  sense,  either 
by  the  commission,  or  by  any  other 
authority  but  that  it  shall  be  determined 
from  year  to  year  automatically  ac- 
cording to  the  actual  costs  of  operation. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


561 


Recent  Happenings  in  Great  Britain 

British  Railways  Returned  by  Government  to  Owners — Wages  Being 
Reduced— Motor  Bus  Trip  of  300  Miles 

(From  Our  Regular  Correspondent) 

The  period  of  control  by  the  government  of  British  railways  came  to  an  end 
on  Aug.  15.  As  noted  in  my  last  article  the  companies  anticipated  the  change  by 
restoring  many  pre-war  facilities.  On  Aug.  19  the  long  and  complicated  rail- 
ways bill,  which  has  been  before  Parliament  since  last  May,  received  Royal 
assent  and  became  an  act  of  Parliament.  It  has  little  or  no  bearing,  however, 
on  street  tramways.  One  of  the  clauses  authorizes  the  Minister  of  Transport 
to  grant  orders  to  railway  companies  for  the  requisition  by  the  latter  of  light 
railways,  but  by  an  amendment  which  was  adopted  tramways  are  specifically 
excluded  from  the  provision  of  the  clause. 


THIS  year,  like  last,  the  govern- 
ment has  failed  to  carry  out  its 
promise  to  pass  into  law  the  elec- 
tricity supply  bill,  the  plea  being  want 
of  time.  The  promise  now  is  to  try  to 
pass  the  measure  next  year.  In  this 
bill  the  owners  of  electric  traction 
undertakings  have  considerable  interest. 
The  electricity  supply  act  of  1919  is 
intended  to  develop  the  production  and 
use  of  electricity  for  all  purposes. 
Under  its  powers  the  Electricity  Com- 
missioners have  delimited  large  supply 
districts  and  the  work  is  still  going 
on.  The  scheme  provides  for  the  for- 
mation of  a  joint  electricity  authority 
for  each  district,  consisting  of  repre- 
sentatives both  of  public  bodies  and  of 
private  enterprise.  The  act,  however, 
was  passed  in  a  truncated  form,  and 
it  contains  no  powers  for  the  electricity 
authorities  to  raise  capital  for  the  pur- 
pose of  developing  supply.  To  remedy 
this  defect  the  present  bill  was  intro- 
duced last  year  and  again  this  year, 
but  the  ordinary  parliamentary  session 
of  1921  has  come  to  an  end  without 
anything  further  being  done.  Until  a 
bill  of  the  sort  is  passed  the  act  of  1919 
will  remain  a  dead  letter  for  practical 
purposes.  A  great  deal  of  opposition 
was  aroused  to  the  bill  apparently  be- 
cause many  representatives  of  private 
enterprise  think  that  it  will  increase 
the  present  bureaucracy. 

Under  the  sliding  scale  agreed  on 
some  time  ago  the  first  reduction  of 
tramwaymen's  wages,  amounting  to  3s. 
a  week,  came  into  operation  during 
August.  This  was  because  the  official 
index  figure  of  the  cost  of  living  for 
July  had  fallen  to  119  per  cent  above 
the  August,  1914,  level.  The  datum  line 
figure  is  135  per  cent,  and  there  is  a 
reduction  of  Is.  a  week  in  wages  for 
every  five  points  of  a  fall.  The  latest 
return  shows  that  the  index  figure  has 
ceased  to  fall,  but  it  may  resume  its 
downward  tendency  before  the  next 
quarterly  revision  of  wages  in  Novem- 
ber. 

The  advisory  committee  of  the  elec- 
trification of  railways  (appointed  by 
the  Minister  of  Transport)  has  issued 
its  final  report.  It  confirms  and  sup- 
plements the  interim  report  of  July  last 
year.  The  committee  does  not  seek  any 
hard  and  fast  standardization  of  plant 
or  equipment,  but  within  limits  leaves 
the  railway  companies  to  do  what  they 
consider  best,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Minister.     Regulations  will  be 


issued  providing  generally  for  a  stand- 
ard system  of  three-phase  alternating 
current  generation  and  of  direct-current 
distribution  at  1,500  volts  from  sub- 
stations, with  liberty  to  use  a  multiple 
or  sub-multipla  of  1,500. 

Collection  can  be  either  by  conductor 
rail  or  overhead  wire.  If  a  conductor 
rail  is  used,  it  may  be  either  of  the  top 
contact  or  under  contact  type,  and  it  is 
to  be  located  1  ft.  4  in.  from  the  gage- 
line  of  the  nearest  track  rail.  In  the 
case  of  the  overhead  wire  conductor  its 
normal  situation  will  be  over  the  center 
of  the  track  at  a  height  of  3  ft.  above 
the  maximum  load  gage  and  at  a  maxi- 
mum height  of  20  ft.  above  track  rail 
level.  No  restrictions  are  placed  on  the 
drop  in  potential  in  earthed  return 
conductors. 

The  London  street  traction  authori- 
ties, both  municipal  and  company,  have 
succeeded  in  inducing  the  Commissioner 
of  Metropolitan  Police  to  reverse  his 
decision  that  from  Oct.  1  no  excess  pas- 
sengers would  be  allowed  in  tramcars 
and  omnibuses.  The  police  proposal 
was  to  go  back  to  pre-war  regulations, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  long  before  the 
war  such  regulations  had  been  abol- 
ished in  most  towns  in  Britain.  They 
are  a  relic  of  the  horse  traction  days 
when  cruelty  to  animals  had  to  be  taken 
into  consideration. 

A  deputation  representing  both  com- 
pany and  municipal  undertakings  in- 
terviewed the  assistant  commissioner  of 
police  in  the  end  of  August  and  pointed 
out  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
run  a  sufficient  number  of  cars  and 
buses  during  the  morning  and  evening 
rush  hours  to  provide  seating  accommo- 
dation for  all  who  want  to  travel.  Some 
must  stand  inside  or  be  left  behind.  It 
was  also  shown  that  the  travel  habit 
in  London  has  so  grown  that  it  is  now 
the  greatest  in  any  city  in  the  world. 
Moreover,  the  police  have  no  control 
as  to  overcrowding  on  the  underground 
railways,  so  that  restriction  on  the 
tramcars  and  buses  would  be  unfair. 
The  police  promised  to  give  further  con- 
sideration to  the  matter  and  on  Sept. 
6  the  commissioner  announced  that 
"straphanging"  would  be  allowed  to 
continue  until  a  sufficient  number  of 
vehicles  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  public 
were  provided.  Probably  that  means  a 
long  time,  as  it  is  not  difficult  to  show 
that  the  police  idea  is  impracticable. 
Even  if  the  thing  could  be  done,  it 
would  be  ruinous  financially,  as  great 


numbers  of  vehicles  would  be  idle 
except  during  the  rush  hours. 

During  the  past  session  of  Parlia- 
ment a  number  of  applications  were 
made  by  local  authorities  to  enable  them 
to  run  motor  omnibuses  both  inside  and 
outside  their  areas.  In  a  number  of 
cases  in  the  past  municipalities  have 
been  empowered  to  work  omnibuses 
outside  their  boundaries.  The  local  leg- 
islation committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, considering  schemes  of  the  kind 
this  year,  took  into  consultation  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Ministry  of  Transport, 
and  the  result  has  been,  as  shown  in  a 
report  by  the  committee,  that  it  has 
limited  the  power  granted  outside  a 
council's  area  to  such  routes  as  would 
be  extensions  of  or  in  connection  with 
existing  omnibus  routes.  The  Ministry 
of  Transport  is  to  decide  on  any  claims 
against  the  municipalities  for  recon- 
struction or  adoption  of  roads  in  the 
outside  areas. 

The  extent  of  the  development  of  the 
motor  omnibus  in  England,  during  the 
summer  time  at  any  rate,  is  evidenced 
by  the  fact  that  the  correspondent  of 
a  daily  newspaper  has  succeeded  in 
traveling  all  the  way  from  Dover  in 
the  southeast  of  England  to  Blackpool 
in  the  northwest  of  the  country  by 
motor  bus,  with  the  exception  of  four- 
teen miles  which  were  covered  by  tram- 
car.  The  journey  occupied  six  days 
and  the  aggregate  of  fares  was  £2  16s.- 
6d.  The  distance  in  a  straight  line  is 
nearly  300  miles. 

A  strong  effort  is  being  made  by 
Railless,  Ltd.,  for  the  extension  of  the 
use  of  the  system  of  trackless  trolley 
cars.  In  the  end  of  August  a  represen- 
tative party  inspected  the  installation 
at  York  which  has  been  in  operation  for 
about  a  year.  One-man  cars  are  used 
and  the  service  is  highly  efficient.  The 
system  has  worked  successfully  in  a 
few  other  towns  for  some  ten  years, 
but  has  not  been  widely  adopted.  The 
York  installation,  being  so  recent,  is  of 
the  most  improved  type.  I  mentioned 
some  time  ago  that  the  Birmingham 
City  Council  is  adopting  the  trackless 
system  on  a  tramway  route  which  re- 
quires reconstruction. 

The  in  situ  treatment  of  the  tread 
of  tramway  rai.s  has  been  adopted  suc- 
cessfully in  various  places  in  England, 
but  has  not  been  found  to  be  of  much 
benefit  on  the  London  County  Council 
Tramways.  It  may  be  recalled  that  by 
the  alternate  application  of  heat  by  a 
flame  and  of  cold  by  water  the  tread  of 
the  rail  is  hardened,  so  that  it  wears 
longer.  As  neither  rail  nor  paving  has 
to  be  disturbed,  the  process  has  been 
called  the  in  situ  treatment.  The  Lon- 
don tramway  undertaking  differs  from 
most  others  in  the  fact  that  the  mag- 
netic track  brake  is  used  as  a  service 
brake.  The  result  is  that  at  stopping- 
places  where  there  is  a  frequent  serv- 
ice of  cars  the  rail-tread  becomes  suffi- 
ciently heated  by  the  track  brakes  to 
destroy  the  special  tempering  produced 
by  the  in  situ  process,  so  that  the  metal 
in  the  top  of  the  rail  reverts  to  some- 
thing like  the  temper  it  would  have  if 
not  so  treated  at  all. 


News  of  the  Eledric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Elevated  Road  Urged 

Proposal  at  Detroit  Referred  by  Council 
to  Its  Street  Railway  Commission 
—Trackless  Trolley  Tested 

The  City  Council  of  Detroit,  Mich., 
has  decided  to  submit  the  proposition 
of  the  Michigan  Elevated  Railway  to  the 
Street  Railway  Commission  for  a  deci- 
sion as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  plan 
and  a  possible  route,  with  a  view  to 
making  the  elevated  line  part  of  the 
municipal  system  eventually. 

The  president  of  the  elevated  com- 
pany appeared  before  the  City  Council 
asking  permission  to  erect  an  elevated 
line  on  Elizabeth  Street  from  the 
Michigan  Central  Depot  to  Woodland 
Avenue,  a  distance  of  about  H  miles. 
It  was  claimed  that  cars  could  be  oper- 
ated over  the  distance  proposed  in  four 
minutes  and  that  the  elevated  company 
could  operate  on  less  than  a  5-cent 
fare. 

Members  of  the  Council  cited  the  fact 
that  that  body  was  without  authority 
to  grant  permission  for  the  construction 
of  the  elevated  line  since  the  city  is 
empowered  to  build  only  surface  lines. 
The  matter  will  be  cleared  up  some- 
what at  the  November  election  since  the 
proposed  charter  amendment  if  passed 
will  give  the  city  power  to  engage  in 
transportation  by  methods  other  than 
surface  lines.  It  was  further  cited  that 
inasmuch  as  sooner  or  later  the  city 
railway  system  will  be  entirely  con- 
trolled by  the  city,  it  would  be  better 
to  await  the  result  of  the  vote  on  the 
charter  amendment  to  make  sure  that 
the  city  will  have  power  to  acquire 
the  elevated  system  before  granting  the 
permission.  The  Mayor  had  decided 
to  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  Council 
if  the  plan  was  approved. 

The  village  of  Ford,  one  of  Detroit's 
down-river  suburbs,  is  without  street  car 
service  to  Detroit,  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  having  stopped  operating  its 
cars  through  the  village  at  midnight, 
Sept.  22.  The  company's  franchise  in 
the  village  expired  last  March  and  when 
the  company  failed  to  grant  the  de- 
mands of  the  village  for  more  frequent 
car  service,  an  injunction  was  obtained 
restraining  the  company  from  operat- 
ing through  the  village.  Service  was 
stopped  by  the  company  before  the 
injunction  went  into  effect.  Officials  of 
the  village  stated  that  since  Detroit 
would  sooner  or  later  have  municipal 
ownership,  they  did  not  want  to  be 
involved  with  a  thirty-year  franchise 
granted  to  the  company  while  Detroit 
is  willing  to  take  over  the  system.  If 
some  satisfactory  arrangement  is  not 
reached  by  the  company  and  the  village 
by  Oct.  13,  the  company  will  be  required 
to  remove  its  tracks. 

In  a  statement  attributed  to  E.  J. 
Burdick,  assistant  general  manager  of 


the  Detroit  United  Railway,  it  was 
pointed  out  that  the  company  had 
endeavored  to  reach  an  amicable  set- 
tlement, and  in  good  faith  offered  to 
operate  according  to  the  village's  de- 
mand for  the  period  of  one  month, 
during  which  time  the  traffic  might  be 
checked.  This  offer  was  rejected  by 
the  village.  The  company  feels  that 
the  village's  action  is  not  in  accord 
with  the  wishes  of  the  majority  of 
citizens. 

A  new  type  of  trackless  trolley  has 
been  tried  out  on  a  stretch  of  the 
muncipal  line  on  Harper  Avenue  in 
Detroit  for  municipal  street  railway 
officials.  It  was  demonstrated  by  the 
Trackless  Transportation  Company, 
New  York,  and  known  as  the  Imperial 
Omnibus. 


Arbiters  Uphold  60-Cent  Rate 

Employees  of  the  Schenectady  (N.  Y.) 
Railway  were  upheld  in  their  wage 
contention  when  former  Mayor  J.  Teller 
Schoolcraft,  chairman  of  the  board  of 
arbitration,  announced  on  Sept.  22  the 
board  had  decided  upon  a  wage  of  60 
cents  an  hour — the  scale  before  the 
company  put  into  effect,  on  June  1,  a 
25  per  cent  cut. 

The  decision  holds  that  the  60-cent 
rate  shall  prevail  in  Schenectady  as 
long  as  the  company  receives  a  7-cent 
fare.  Under  the  decision  of  the  arbi- 
trators, nothing  but  a  reduction  in  the 
company's  revenue  through  lowering 
of  the  fare  would  justify  a  wage  cut. 

The  men  submitted  the  wage  ques- 
tion to  arbitration  last  June,  accepting 
the  decreased  rate  of  45  cents  an  hour 
with  the  understanding  that  if  they 
should  be  granted  more  than  45  cents, 
the  award  should  date  back  to  June  1. 
About  600  employees  are  affected.  It 
is  said  the  back  pay  will  amount  to 
more  than  $75,000. 

The  decision  is  based  wholly  upon  a 
letter  which  former  General  Manager 
James  P.  Barnes,  vice-president  of  the 
Louisville  (Ky.)  Railroad,  is  said  to 
have  submitted  to  union  officials  in 
May,  1920,  guaranteeing  60  cents  an 
hour  in  consideration  of  the  increase 
in  fares  to  7  cents  on  Schenectady  lines. 
This  letter  was  introduced  in  evidence 
at  the  hearing  and  was  held  valid.  The 
majority  of  the  arbitrators  held  the 
agreement  should  be  binding  upon  the 
company  until  rescinded. 

It  is  apparent  from  the  decision  and 
opinion  of  the  majority  that  no  weight 
was  given  to  other  evidence  introduced, 
such  as  living  costs  and  increased  costs 
of  operation  and  maintenance.  Both 
sides  agreed  to  abide  by  the  decision  at 
the  time  the  question  was  submitted. 

The  scale  on  the  United  Traction 
Company's  lines  in  Albany,  Troy, 
Watervliet,  Cohoes  and  Green  Island 
now  is  45  cents. 


Philadelphia  Wages  Cut 

Present  Reduction  One  Cent  an  Hour — 
This  and  Previous  Cut  Save  Com- 
pany Large  Sum 

The  employees  of  the  Philadelphia 
Rapid  Transit  Company  agreed  on  Sept. 
24  to  accept  a  reduction  in  wages  of  1 
cent  an  hour.  The  cut  will  become 
effective  on  Oct.  1.  The  Co-operative 
Welfare  Association,  the  employees' 
organization,  computed  the  amount  of 
the  drop  and  fixed  the  effective  date. 

This  is  the  second  wage  cut  accepted 
by  the  employees  in  five  months.  On 
May  1  they  agreed  to  a  reduction  from 
72i  cents  an  hour  to  65  cents.  The  last 
drop  represents  an  8-cent  decline  in  the 
hourly  rate  from  the  peak  wage  stand- 
ard set  in  the  post-war  period.  The  cut 
now  about  to  go  into  effect  was  delayed 
from  Aug.  15  to  Oct.  1  to  compensate 
for  the  delay  in  the  wage  adjustment 
upward  occurring  at  the  time  of  the 
earlier  advances  in  the  war-time  period. 

An  official  statement  made  by  the 
company  says: 

The  Buffalo  wage  adjustment  was  in 
general  5  cents  an  hour  for  all  hourly  rate 
occupations.  Under  the  four-city  average  a 
reduction  of  5  cents  per  hour  in  one  city 
would  represent  a  reduction  of  11  cents 
applied  to  Philadelphia,  but  as  we  have  not 
observed  the  fraction  of  J  cent  an  hour 
in  our  rates  of  pay,  the  reduction  in  Phila- 
delphia on  account  of  a  5  cent  reduction  in 
one  of  the  four  cities  would  be  made  1 
cent  per  hour. 

In  the  monthly  rate  clerical  occupations 
in  the  general  offices  and  also  in  the  cleri- 
cal and  supervisory  monthly  rate  occupa- 
tions at  the  depots,  shops,  yards,  etc.,  in 
Buffalo  these  occupations  did  not  partici- 
pate equally  with  the  trainmen  and  other 
operating  department  occupations  in  the 
war-time  wage  increases,  so  that  the  ad- 
justment at  this  time  in  these  rates  in 
Buffalo  is  less  than  the  reduction  in  the 
hourly  rate  occupations  and  was  fixed 
generally  at  $5  or  $2.50  per  month. 

Reductions  of  $5  or  $2.50  a  month  in 
one  of  the  four  cities  would,  under  the 
four-citv  average,  produce  a  monthly  re- 
duction in  Philadelphia  of  $1.25,  or  62J 
cents  respectively.  P.  R.  T.  adjustments  in 
monthly  rate  occupations  have  been  made 
by  the  $5  unit,  and  while  it  may  at  any 
time  be  decided  that  a  smaller  unit,  say 
$2.50,  would  be  proper,  yet  in  this  instance 
where  the  monthly  reduction  would  be  but 
$1.25  or  62|  cents,  the  clerical  and  super- 
visory monthly  rate  occupations  should  not 
at  this  time  be  reduced  as  a  result  of  the 
recent  Buffalo  wage  reduction. 

Resolved,  That  in  accordance  with  the 
wage  reduction  of  5  cents  an  hour  made 
effective  in  Buffalo  on  Aug.  15,  1921,  the 
hourly  rate  occupations  in  Philadelphia  be 
reduced  1  cent  an  hour,  effective  on  Oct. 
1,  1921. 

The  rate  of  wages  in  Philadelphia  is 
governed  by  the  standard  in  four  other 
cities — Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Detroit  and 
Chicago.  The  average  in  those  cities 
fixes  the  wage  paid  in  Philadelphia. 


Trackless  Trolley  for  Windsor. — The 

Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission  of 
Ontario,  in  response  to  a  demand  for 
extensions  to  the  electric  railway  sys- 
tem at  Windsor,  Ont.,  purchased  two 
years  ago  from  the  Detroit  United 
Railway,  has  decided  to  try  out  the 
trackless  trolley. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


563 


Women  Demand  Settlement 

Insist  That  Electric   Railway  Service 
Shall  Be  Restored  in  Des  Moines 
at  Once 

Business  women  in  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  took  a  hand  in  the  railway 
muddle  during  the  week  ended  Sept. 
24,  when  a  group  of  them  went  before 
the  City  Council  with  a  demand  that 
the  Council  take  some  action  to  relieve 
the  situation  at  once.  The  delegation 
representing  the  ladies  had  more  than 
5,000  signed  ballots  expressing  the 
wishes  of  that  number  of  business 
women  and  school  teachers  as  to  the 
settlement  of  the  traction  problem. 

The  ballots  asked  for  an  expression 
on  four  different  phases  of  the  trans- 
portation question  in  a  canvas  lasting 
two  days,  5,538  ballots  were  secured, 
and  of  this  number  all  but  nineteen 
voted  for  the  re-establishment  of  elec- 
tric railway  service.  Only  sixty-six 
voted  for  buses  as  against  street  cars 
and  238  expressed  themselves  as  being 
against  an  immediate  8-cent  fare.  As 
to  the  question  of  the  immediate  re- 
establishment  of  electric  railway  serv- 
ice 99  were  opposed  while  the  remain- 
der felt  that  the  need  was  critical. 

Miss  Luella  Clark,  spokeswoman  for 
the  delegation,  told  the  Council  that 
Des  Moine's  "is  facing  its  most  critical 
situation  now."    She  said: 

We  have  been  exposed  to  unusual  and 
extraordinary  risks  until  we  are  tired  of  it. 
The  buses  are  inadequate.  What  we  women 
want  is  adequate  and  decent  transportation 
at  once  regardless  of  any  desire  of  Mr. 
Harris  to  make  us  wait,  or  of  any  group 
of  business  men  to  teach  us  a  lesson. 

We  have  believed  that  you  were  not  cer- 
tain of  the  feeling  of  the  majority  of  per- 
sons who  were  dependent  upon  citv  trans- 
portation, and  that  is  the  reason  that  this 
vote  has  been  taken.  Ballots  were  dis- 
tributed to  women  who  work  downtown 
and  to  school  teachers  to  secure  tangible 
expressions  as  to  the  feeling  of  the  women. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address  to 
the  Council  by  Miss  Clark  she  and  the 
twenty-five  women  who  accompanied 
her  were  told  that  a  determined  effort 
would  be  made  to  start  cars  as  soon  as 
the  franchise  has  been  voted  upon  by  the 
Council.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the 
Council  that  there  were  possibilities 
of  appealing  to  Judge  Wade  to  order 
restoration  of  service  at  the  time  the 
Council  acted  upon  the  franchise. 

Corporation  Counsel  Miller  was  called 
out  of  a  sick  bed  to  attend  the  Council 
meeting.  He  told  of  a  three-hour  con- 
ference attended  by  M.  Haddon  Mc- 
Lean, president  of  the  Des  Moines  City 
Railway;  J.  G.  Gamble,  attorney  for 
the  company,  and  himself,  at  which 
the  financial  provisions  of  the  proposed 
franchise  were  discussed. 

Judge  Miller  outlined  to  the  Council 
and  the  business  women  the  franchise 
situation  as  it  exists  today  and  stated 
that  it  will  require  $1,500,000  available 
immediately  to  place  the  company  in  a 
position  to  restore  service  in  full  at 
once.  Judge  Miller  also  called  the  at- 
tention of  the  delegation  to  the  fact 
that  without  an  order  from  Judge 
Wade  of  the  Federal  Court  the  Coun- 
cil was  powerless  to  restore  service. 

After  waiting  upon  the  Council  the 
delegation    of    women    visited    F.  C. 


Chambers,  general  manager  of  the  rail- 
way, and  placed  their  case  before  him. 
Mr.  Chambers  was  unable  to  give  the 
women  any  definite  encouragement  as 
to  restoration  of  service  before  the 
franchise  difficulties  were  ironed  out. 

Union  employees  of  the  company  in- 
dicated that  they  would  contest  certain 
provisions  of  the  franchise  suggestions 
made  by  Corporation  Counsel  Miller, 
particularly  the  arbitration  clause  and 
the  one-man-car  clause.  Objection  filed 
with  the  City  Council  by  C.  C.  Put- 
nam, attorney  for  the  executive  com- 
mittee, proposed  that  the  old  arbitra- 
tion clause  be  inserted  in  the  new  grant 
or  that  acceptance  of  the  current  con- 
tract between  the  company  and  the 
men,  be  made  a  condition  of  the  fran- 
chise. 


United  Traction  Strikers  Appeal 
Contempt  Judgment 

John  F.  and  William  H.  Murray  have 
taken  an  appeal  to  the  Appellate  Di- 
vision from  the  decision  of  Justice 
Charles  E.  Nichols  adjudging  Henry 
Carrigan  and  John  Carr,  former  em- 
ployees of  the  United  Traction  Com- 
pany, Albany,  N.  Y.,  guilty  of  contempt 
of  court.  They  were  charged  by  the 
company  with  wilfully  disobeying  the 
injunction  order  granted  by  Justice 
Harold  J.  Hinman  forbidding  striking 
employees  from  interfering  with  the 
present  workers,  patrons  or  property  of 
the  company. 

It  was  alleged  they  assaulted  one  of 
the  men  who  has  been  on  strike  after 
he  returned  to  work  in  Cohoes.  The 
case  was  heard  by  Justice  Nichols  in 
Schoharie  County.  Carrigan  was  fined 
$100  and  Carr  $50,  each  to  serve  thirty 
days  in  jail  if  the  fines  were  not  paid. 
The  Appellate  Division  expected  to  ad- 
journ on  Sept.  27  and  it  is  improbable 
the  appeal  can  be  heard  at  this  term. 

Stone  &  Webster  Approve 
Franchise 

The  proposed  franchise  for  the  Hous- 
ton (Tex.)  Electric  Company  meets  with 
the  approval  of  the  Stone  &  Webster 
management  and  if  the  people  should 
approve  of  it  at  the  coming  election  on 
Oct.  4,  the  company  will  immediately 
begin  improvements  to  the  system 
amounting  to  $1,000,000. 

This  statement  was  recently  made  by 
Luke  C.  Bradley,  district  manager  at 
Houston.  Mr.  Bradley  said  that  though 
there  was  financial  depression  he  be- 
lieved that  the  company  could  borrow 
the  necessary  money  and  that  securities 
would  be  offered  for  sale  which  would 
establish  co-operation  between  the  peo- 
ple of  Houston  and  the  city  in  the  de- 
velopment of  its  electric  railway. 

As  referred  to  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  of  Aug.  27  the  new 
franchise  provides  for  certain  changes 
and  an  extension  of  fifteen  years  from 
1935.  Valuation  of  the  property  of 
the  Houston  Electric  Company  has 
been  placed  at  $6,000,000  plus  any  cap- 
ital expenditures  since  March,  1920. 
The  new  franchise  provides  for  earn- 
ings of  8  per  cent  on  agreed  valuation. 


Disagreement  Delays  Franchise 
Settlement 

While  the  possibility  still  exists  that 
some  way  will  be  found  to  get  the 
Grand  Rapids  (Mich.)  Railway  out  of 
the  difficulties  that  beset  it,  the  Council 
and  the  company  appeared  on  Sept.  22 
to  be  deadlocked  over  the  matter  of  the 
valuation  to  be  included  in  the  new 
franchise  for  the  company  first  taken 
up  for  consideration  last  February. 

The  city  persists  in  sticking  to  a 
historical  valuation  of  $4,634,757  with 
enough  additional  as  going  value  to 
bring  the  total  amount  up  to  $5,076,000. 
This  figure  the  company  considers 
wholly  inadequate.  In  a  spirit  of  help- 
fulness the  railway  pruned  its  original 
figure  to  $6,500,000  and  then  to  $6,270,- 
000  as  a  final  value.  Thus  the  city  and 
the  company  are  still  more  than  $1,000,- 
000  apart.  The  alternative  has  been 
proposed  of  submitting  the  matter  to 
the  Railroad  Commission  for  decision, 
but  the  need  for  immediate  action  would 
seem  to  preclude  this  proposal  being  ac- 
cepted, particularly  as  the  commission 
would  probably  have  to  go  over  the 
whole  case. 

L.  J.  De  Lamater,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  company,  in- 
sists that  the  railway  shall  be  allowed  a 
valuation  that  will  at  least  cover  the 
bonded  indebtedness.  If  the  company  is 
granted  a  new  franchise  it  will  agree  to 
pay  no  dividends  on  its  common  stock 
for  three  years.  It  is  now  behind  $350,- 
000  in  the  payment  of  dividends  on  the 
preferred  stock.  As  to  the  financing 
necessary  at  the  present  time,  the  com- 
pany is  willing  to  submit  its  financial 
program  to  the  city  for  approval. 

The  suggestion  has  even  been  made 
by  Mr.  De  Lamater  that  the  city  pur- 
chase the  road  or  that  it  take  over  the 
property,  operate  it  at  a  5-cent  fare  and 
make  up  any  deficit  in  expenses  by  a 
charge  against  the  taxpayers  as  a 
whole. 

The  City  Commissioners  ignored  this 
proposal  at  the  session  of  that  body 
at  which  it  was  made.  Mr.  De  Lamater 
said  he  realized  that  the  proposal  was 
an  unusual  one,  but  that  "looking  on  it 
in  a  business  way  it  is  after  all  a  prac- 
tical idea." 

Wage  Conference  Suggested  at 
Richmond 

Thomas  S.  Wheelwright,  president 
of  the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Richmond,  Va.,  has  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  members  of  local  Amalga- 
mated Association  notifying  them  that 
he  could  not  obligate  his  corporation 
to  continue  the  present  wage  scale 
agreement  for  another  year  and  sug- 
gesting that  they  appoint  a  committee 
to  confer  with  him  regarding  a  new 
contract. 

The  company  now  pays  conductors 
and  motormen  from  43  to  47  i  cents 
an  hour  on  cars  requiring  both  a  con- 
ductor and  a  motorman,  and  52*  cents 
an  hour  to  the  operator  of  a  one-man 
car.  A  beginner  gets  43  cents  an  hour 
and  47*  cents  after  he  has  been  in  the 
employ  of  the  company  one  year. 


564 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


Transportation  Costs  Sought 

Massachusetts  Body   Inquiring  Into 
Matter   Under  Instructions 
From  Last  Legislature 

In  its  effort  to  determine  the  com- 
parative cost  of  different  methods  of 
transportation  of  passengers  over  the 
public  highways,  which  the  Legislature 
has  instructed  it  to  investigate,  the 
Massachusetts  Department  of  Public 
Utilities  held  its  first  public  hearing  at 
Boston,  Mass.,  on  Sept.  22.  The  hear- 
ing went  into  generalities,  in  which  the 
Public  Utilities  Department  itself  and 
the  electric  railways  were  charged  with 
having  stifled  the  jitney  service. 

The  principal  aggressor  was  Senator 
Gardner  W.  Pearson,  Lowell,  who  con- 
tended that  the  Public  Utilities  Depart- 


Description 
Verv  light. . .  . 

Light  

Medium  

Heavy  

Very  heavy. . . 


ment  was  responsible  for  "the  breaking 
down  of  the  street  railway  system  in 
Massachusetts."  Chairman  Heni'y  C. 
Attwill  of  the  Commission  sought  in 
vain  to  draw  some  supporting  specifica- 
tions from  the  speaker. 

Only  one  witness  dealt  with  facts 
and  figures,  and  after  he  had  spoken 
the  commission  closed  the  hearing,  with- 
out announcing  what  form  its  investi- 
gation will  take  in  the  future. 

The  expert  testimony  offered  was  by 
Clarence  W.  Kellogg,  Stone  &  Webster 
Ccmnany.  He  discussed  mainly  the 
question  of  safety  cars  and  pictured 
the  different  situations  which  call  for 
various  forms  of  transportation,  such 
as  the  rapid  transit  system,  the  electric 
railway,  the  trollev  bus  and  the  motor 
bus,  or  jitney.  His  principal  point 
was  to  show  that  in  its  proper  place 
the  one-man  safety  car,  shows  rela- 
tively fewer  accidents  and  a  lower  cost 
of  settling  accidents  than  the  average 
two-man  car.  The  decrease  in  acci- 
dents per  10,000  miles  amounts,  he 
said,  to  31.7  per  cent. 

Mr.  Kellogg  said  that  from  a  study 
made  of  seventeen  companies  carrying 
240,642,000  passengers  in  eleven  States, 
where  there  were  almost  as  many  mile? 
operated  by  one-man  cars  as  by  two- 
man  cars,  the  number  of  accidents  per 
10.000  miles  was  3.69  on  the  one-man 
cars  and  5.40  on  the  two-man  cars.  The 
average  accident  cost  per  1,000  miles 
on  the  one-man  cars  was  $14.77  as 
against  $16.06  on  the  two-man  type. 

These  figures  on  safety  seem  con- 
trary to  the  prevailing  general  idea  of 
the  one-man  car,  and  contrary  to  the 
argument  which  operators  have  used 
on  various  occasions  against  the  car. 
Mr.  Kellogg  explained  that  it  was  but 
natural  to  expect  more  safety  on  the 
one-man  type  car  because  all  the 
responsibility  is  thrown  upon  the  opera- 
tor.   There  is  no  opportunity  then  for 


divided  responsibility,  as  is  the  case 
with  two  men,  where  one  neglects  a 
detail  because  he  relies  upon  the  other 
to  attend  to  it.  In  addition  to  this 
the  one-man  car  cannot  start  before  the 
door  is  closed,  and  the  door  of  the  car 
cannot  be  opened  before  the  car  has 
stopped. 

As  to  cost  Mr.  Kellogg  explained  that 
rapid  transit  must  be  provided,  with  its 
necessary  heavy  cost  of  construction, 
where  the  traffic  density  is  great,  65,000 
passengers  going  each  way  hourly,  as 
in  New  York.  On  the  other  hand  the 
motor  bus  is  the  best  out  in  the  subur- 
ban section  where  there  are  only  a  few 
passengers  to  move,  because  the  initial 
cost  of  the  motor  bus  is  small  and  the 
flexibility  of  the  service  permits  of  its 
use  elsewhere  between  the  traffic  peaks. 


Can  Also  Be 

Handled 
Economically 
by 


Street  car 
Motor  bus 


Between  these  extremes  there  is  room 
for  the  regular  electric  railway  and  the 
trolley  bus  and  it  might  be  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  street  railway  to  use  the 
several  types  in  order  that  they  may 
be  co-ordinated  for  an  economic  han- 
dling of  all  the  traffic. 

Mr.  Kellogg  presented  the  accompany- 
ing tabulation,  which  are  British  con- 
clusions as  to  the  best  vehicle  for  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  traffic.  It  is  based  upon 
extensive  studies  in  England. 


Lower  Wages  in  Effect 

Wages  of  the  trainmen  of  the  In- 
diana Service  Corporation,  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.,  were  reduced  on  Sept.  16  as  re- 
corded in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, issue  of  Sept.  17. 

The  new  scale  in  cents  per  hour  for 
two-man  and  one-man  car  operators  on 
the  city  lines  is  as  follows: 


First  six  months   41 

Second  six  months   43 

Second  vear   45 

Third  year   48 

Fourth  year   50 


This  new  scale  is  100  per  cent  greater 
than  was  in  effect  in  1914.  The  maxi- 
mum pay  for  the  interurban  trainmen 
will  be  48  cents  over  a  spread  of  three 
years.  The  accompanying  table  gives  a 
tabulation  of  wages  in  cents  per  hour 
paid  to  Fort  Wayne  city  operators  from 
1914  to  date. 


Pay  of  Laborers  Cut 

The  wages  of  300  common  laborers 
employed  by  the  Portland  Railway, 
Light  &  Power  Company,  Portland,  Ore., 
were  reduced  approximately  20  per 
cent  recently,  when  an  arbitration 
board  of  three,  appointed  to  settle  a 
dispute  between  the  employees  and 
the  company,  made  a  report.  The  old 
maximum  wage  was  $4.40  a  day  or  55 
cents  an  hour  for  an  eight-hour  day. 
Under  the  new  schedule,  47*  cents  an 
hour  will  be  paid  to  employees  who 
have  been  in  the  service  one  year  or 
more;  45  cents  will  be  the  maximum 
wage  for  men  in  service  of  the  com- 
pany six  months;  and  40  cents  an  hour 
will  be  the  wage  of  those  in  service  less 
than  six  months. 

The  board  of  arbitration  requested, 

however,  that  all  men  now  employed  as 

common  laborers  who  had  been  in  the 

employ  of  the  company  less  than  six 

months  be  placed  in  the  45-cents-an- 

hour  class.    The  majority  report  said: 

The  continuance  of  wages  on  a  war-time 
schedule  unquestionably  produces  unem- 
ployment. This  fact  was  among  those  con- 
sidered in  arriving  at  a  decision.  The 
majority  members  of  the  board  believe 
that  general  prosperity  cannot  return  until 
general  liquidation  has  been  accomplished 
and  wages,  foodstuffs,  merchandise,  rents 
and  all  other  basic  elements  have  read- 
justed themselves  to  their  proper  relations. 
This  readjustment  must  be  world-wide. 


Suburban  Buses  Must  Serve 

By  a  vote  of  4  to  1,  the  head  of  the 
street  department  alone  dissenting,  the 
City  Council  of  Lincoln,  Neb.,  voted 
Sept.  5  in  favor  of  a  suburban  bus 
ordinance  which  carried  as  a  principal 
provision  the  rule  that  if  a  bus  owner 
professes  to  serve  he  must  actually  do 
so.  The  Council  attempts  in  this  ordi- 
nance to  classify  the  suburban  bus  as 
against  the  bus  running  to  far-away 
points  and  the  bus  running  wholly 
within  the  city.  There  is  an  ordinance 
already  on  the  books  pertaining  to  the 
city  buses  and  there  is  no  attempt  to 
interfere  with  those  coming  in  from 
far  distant  points. 

The  ordinance  provides  that  suburban 
bus  owners  shall  apply  to  the  city  for  a 
license.  They  shall  answer  certain 
questions  and  pay  a  filing  fee  of  $5.  If 
the  Council  grants  the  application,  the 
operator  shall  give  eight  consecutive 
hours  of  service  on  seven  days  of  the 
week  if  the  suburban  point  is  within  10 
miles  of  the  city.  The  ordinance  will 
not  take  effect  for  fifteen  days.  This 
means  that  the  suburban  buses  now  in 
operation  between  Lincoln  and  Have- 
lock  and  Lincoln  and  College  View  may 
operate  through  Fair  Week. 


FORT  WAYNE  CITYfLINES 
Two-Man  Cars 

1914        1916        1917        1918        1919  1920 


First  six  months                                                               19           21  23  30  33  46 

Second  six  months                                                            20           21  23  31  34  48 

Second  year                                                                    21           22  24  33  36  50 

Third  vear                                                                  22          23  25  34  37i  53 

Fourth  year                                                                    23           24  26  ..  ..  55 

Fifth  year   24  25  27 

One-Man  Cars 

First  six  months   25  33  36  46 

Second  six  months   25  34  37  48 

Second  year   26  36  39  50 

Third  year   27  37  40*  53 

Fourth  year   28  ..  ..  55 

Fifth  year   29 


-  Kind  of  Passenger  Traffic  —    Can  Only  Be 

Passengers            Handled  Is  Best 

One  Way  Per  Economically  handled 

Maximum  Hour            by  by 

Up  to    3,000  Motor  bus  Motor  bus 

3.000  to    5,000    Motor  bus 

.     .  .             ...            5.000  to    8,500    Street  car 

  8,500  to  12,000  Street  car  or 

train   

  Above  12,000  Train  Train 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


565 


Wages  and  Fares  Coupled 

Mobile  Company  and  Employees  Will 
Put  Both  Questions  Up  to  Com- 
mission in  Future 

Another  railway  company — this  time 
one  in  the  far  Southern  State  of  Ala- 
bama— has  found  a  means  of  putting 
squarely  up  to  the  public  regulating 
authorities  the  necessity  and  responsi- 
bility for  recognizing  the  wage  problem 
in  connection  with  a  determination  of 
rates.  The  Mobile  Light  &  Railroad 
Company,  through  its  president,  J. 
Howard  Wilson,  has  recently  concluded 
a  new  temporary  wage  agreement  with 
its  union  employees,  which  agreement 
contemplates  a  future  wage  adjustment 
by  the  Alabama  Public  Service  Com- 
mission, at  the  same  time  that  body 
undertakes  to  fix  a  new  rate  of  fare. 

Temporary  Seven-Cent  Fare 

The  Mobile  Company  is  at  present 
operating  on  a  temporary  7-cent  cash- 
fare  basis,  with  tickets  at  6  cents.  This 
rate  was  granted  for  two  years,  which 
period  will  expire  on  April  14,  1922. 
At  that  time  it  will  devolve  on  the 
commission  to  fix  a  new  fare.  The 
law  of  Alabama  requires  that  rates  so 
fixed  shall  be  sufficient  to  permit  the 
utility  to  furnish  adequate  service,  to 
maintain  its  plant,  facilities  and  equip- 
ment in  good  order,  and  to  enable  it, 
in  addition  to  other  legitimate  expenses, 
"to  earn  a  fair  net  return  on  the  rea- 
sonable value  of  its  property  devoted  to 
the  public  service." 

The  new  temporary  wage  agreement 
just  consummated,  effective  from  Sept. 
1,  provides  for  a  reduction  in  the  wage 
scale  of  41,  43  and  48  cents  an  hour, 
for  first,  second  and  third  year  plat- 
form men,  respectively.  The  previous 
rate  was  43,  45  and  50  cents.  The  dif- 
ferentia] for  operators  of  one-man  cars 
was  reduced  from  5  to  4  cents  an  hour. 
Carpenters,  machinists  and  blacksmiths 
were  reduced  6  cents  an  hour.  This 
scale  is  to  continue  in  effect  until  April 
15,  1922. 

New  Rate  to  Be  Sought  in  April 

Meanwhile,  as  provided  in  the  new 
agreement,  the  railway  is  to  request  the 
commission  to  fix  the  new  rate  of  fare 
to  succeed  the  present  one  after  the 
middle  of  April,  while  the  employees 
are  to  place  their  wage  question  before 
the  same  body,  requesting  it  to  fix  a 
scale  of  pay  which  "will  be  fair,  just 
and  impartial  to  the  company  and  its 
employees,  as  well  as  to  the  riding 
public." 

The  commission  will  be  asked  to  give 
due  consideration  to  the  cost  of  living, 
and  to  wage  scales  in  effect  in  other 
cities  for  electric  railway  employees, 
and  both  the  company  and  the  em- 
ployees have  agreed  to  be  bound  by 
whatever  decision  the  commission  shall 
arrive  at,  and  for  whatever  period  the 
commission  shall  determine. 

It  is  understood  that  if  the  Alabama 
Public  Service  Commission  agrees  to 
undertake  the  responsibility  of  fixing 
a  wage  scale  in  this  instance,  it  will  be 


through  voluntary  action  on  its  part, 
for  there  is  no  provision  in  the  law  for 
such  procedure. 

Auxiliary  Motor  Bus  Lines  to 
Akron  Railway 

Announcement  is  made  by  A.  C. 
Blinn,  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Northern  Ohio  Traction  & 
Light  Company,  Akron,  Ohio,  that 
auxiliary  bus  lines  are  to  be  established 
by  the  company  in  Akron  within  a 
short  time.  An  initial  order  for  three 
closed  steel  motor  bus  bodies  has  been 
placed  with  the  G.  C.  Kuhlman  Car 
Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

It  is  expected  that  additional  buses 
will  be  purchased  by  the  company  as 
rapidly  as  traffic  demands.  It  is  also 
probable  they  will  be  utilized  m  Canton 
and  Massillon,  where  the  company  has 
side  lines  connecting  with  its  inter- 
urban  lines  between  Tjhrichsville  and 
Cleveland. 

The  buses  will  seat  twenty-five  pas- 
sengers and  in  addition  will  have  room 
for  ten  or  fifteen  standees.  The  entrancec 


Omaha  Wages  Cut 

Trainmen  Reduced  About  12  per  Cent 
Following  Suggestion  of  Railway 
Commission 

The  Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Street 
Railway,  Omaha,  Neb.,  announced  a 
reduction  of  approximately  12  per  cent 
in  the  wages  of  trainmen,  effective  on 
Oct.  1.  The  scale  which  has  been  in 
effect  is  53  cents  an  hour  for  the  first 
three  months  of  service;  55  cents,  next 
nine  months;  57  cents  after  first  year 
of  service.  The  new  scale  will  reduce 
those  rates  per  hour  to  46,  48  and  50 
cents,  respectively. 

This  action  by  the  company  is  pur- 
suant to  a  recent  recommendation  by 
the  Nebraska  State  Railway  Commis- 
sion. Other  reductions  will  be  made  in 
the  various  departments,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  clerical  staff,  whose  pay 
was  not  materially  increased  during  the 
period  of  the  war.    The  company  said: 

The  Nebraska  State  Railway  Commission 
suggested,  in  view  of  the  company's  falling 
off  of  revenues  during  the  last  year,  on  ac- 
ount  of  business  depression  and  unemploy- 


Packard-Kuhlman  Bus  to  Be  Used  in  Akron 


is  on  the  right  hand  side  at  the  front. 
Folding  doors  and  steps  are  a  part  of 
the  equipment.  The  buses  are  to  be 
lighted  by  electricity.  There  will  also 
be  a  buzzer  system  with  push  buttons  at 
each  side  post.  They  are  equipped  with 
regulation  heaters,  and  fare  boxes  will 
be  established  at  the  right  of  the  driver 
against  the  railing.  The  color  is  to  be 
of  a  maroon  with  the  name  of  the  com- 
pany in  gold  letters  on  each  side. 

The  seats  are  to  be  upholstered  in 
leather  of  a  dark  green  color;  floors 
are  to  be  covered  with  linoleum.  Win- 
dow screens  are  attached  to  the  bottom 
of  the  side  and  rear  windows,  all  win- 
dows having  inside  curtains.  Both 
cross  and  longitudinal  seats  are  to  be 
used. 

The  chassis  is  made  by  the  Packard 
Motor  Car  Company,  is  to  be  equipped 
with  approved  type  of  wheels  and  pneu- 
matic tires.  The  drive  will  be  left  hand. 
The  springs  are  to  be  of  longer  and 
easier  riding  construction  than  used  in 
ordinary  commercial  service.  The  cost 
of  the  new  bus  complete  is  approxi- 
mately $8,000. 

First  delivery  of  three  buses  is 
promised  by  the  Kuhlman  Car  Com- 
pany within  eight  or  ten  weeks. 


ment,  and  resulting  in  a  decline  of  passen- 
ger traffic,  as  an  alternative  instead  of  de- 
creased fares  at  this  time,  a  policy  of 
economy,  the  prime  factor  of  which  is  a 
reduction  of  wages. 

The  directors  recognized  instantly,  of 
course,  the  force  and  logic  of  the  commis- 
sion's utterances,  and  naturally  had  not, 
therefore,  been  unmindful  of  what  you  and 
everyone  has  known,  that  wages  everywhere 
are  being  reduced  from  the  abnormal  war 
standards. 

The  reduction  is  in  line  with  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  State  Railway  Commission,  and 
is  based  upon  the  average  reduction  found 
reasonable  for  steam  railway  employees  by 
the  United  States  Railroad  Labor  board. 

It  is  a  smaller  reduction  than  the  aver- 
age reduction  brought  about  last  spring  for 
packing  house  employees.  It  is  likewise  a 
much  smaller  per  cent  of  decrease  than 
taken  by  other  employees  of  Omaha  gen- 
era lly  and  employees  generally  throughout 
the  industries  of  the  nation. 

Compared  with  reductions  in  the  pay  of 
street  railway  employees  in  other  cities 
the  reduction  made  by  this  company  is  less 
than  the  average  reduction,  which  average, 
in  these  other  cities  is  about  15  per  cent. 
In  some  of  the  cities  street  car  employees' 
wages  have  been  reduced  as  much  as  20  to 
28  per  cent. 

Shortly  before  the  war  the  Omaha 
company  increased  the  scale  for  carmen 
from  28-33  cents  an  hour  to  33-35  cents 
an  hour.  Then  a  further  increase  was 
made  to  35-40  cents,  following  which 
occurred  a  strike  a  year  ago  last  winter. 
Negotiations  resulted  in  another  in- 
crease to  51-55  cents  and  a  year  ago  the 
scale  of  53-57  cents  was  established. 


566 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  14 


$15,000,000  Development  Awaits 
Change  in  Public  Sentiment 

The  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany has  begun  work  on  a  new  dam 
in  the  Appomattox  River  at  Petersburg, 
replacing  a  very  old  dam  which  was 
abandoned  some  years  ago  and  increas- 
ing the  amount  of  power  available  in 
the  Petersburg  industrial  district.  This 
district  includes  the  wonder  city  of 
Hopewell,  built  by  the  DuPonts  during 
the  war.  Although  Hopewell  was  a 
"war  baby"  it  now  gives  promise  of 
permanent  manufacturing  stability.  The 
new  installation  will  cost  about  $75,000. 

Some  years  ago  elaborate  plans  were 
prepared  for  the  development  of  the 
water  power  in  the  Appomattox  River. 
It  was  then  proposed  to  acquire  more 
than  30,000  acres  of  land  to  protect 
the  riparian  rights,  and  build  one  or 
more  large  dams  some  distance  above 
the  city,  the  work  to  cost  in  all  more 
than  $2,000,000.  These  plans  were  held 
in  abeyance  during  the  way  period 
and  may  be  abandoned  because  the  cost 
of  capital  to  carry  out  the  undertaking 
is  considered  prohibitive.  To  finance 
the  extension  now  being  made  it  has 
been  necessary  to  borrow  money  at  10 
per  cent,  although  the  success  of  the 
undertaking  is  assured  in  advance. 

Thomas  S.  Wheelwright,  president  of 
the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, said  on  Sept.  27  that  the  company 
has  for  some  years  had  in  mind  a  gen- 
eral plan  for  the  development  of  water 
power  in  the  Rappahannock  River  at 
Fredericksburg,  the  James  River  at 
Richmond,  the  Appomattox  at  Peters- 
burg and  the  Roanoke  at  Roanoke 
Rapids,  N.  C.  Surveys  were  made  of  the 
watersheds  of  these  four  rivers  to 
ascertain  the  average  volume  of  water 
and  the  extent  of  the  fall.  Preliminary 
estimates  were  that  the  whole  cost 
(would  be  in  the  neighborhood  of 
$15,000,000,  an  amount  impossible  to 
raise,  according  to  Mr.  Wheelwright, 
until  times  change  and  until  there  is 
a  decidedly  different  attitude  on  the 
part  of  the  law-making  and  regulatory 
authorities  toward  such  investments. 


Pretentious  Bus  Proposal 
Made  in  New  York 

A  description  of  100  bus  routes  to 
cover  all  five  boroughs  of  New  York 
City  and  over  which  it  is  proposed  to 
operate  2,000  buses  has  been  sent  to  the 
Board  of  Estimate  by  Benjamin  Shep- 
ard,  an  attorney,  of  154  Nassau 
Street,  acting  for  Austin  P.  Fox  of 
the  City  Transit  Company.  The  com- 
pany made  application  for  franchises 
several  months  ago,  and  was  asked  for 
more  specific  information  as  to  the 
routes  and  the  type  of  bus. 

In  a  letter  accompanying  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  routes  Mr.  Shepard  says  the 
buses  can  be  put  in  operation  within 
thirty  days  after  approval  of  the  fran- 
chise by  installing  from  100  to  500 
buses,  and  a  like  number  every  thirty 
days  thereafter.  The  fare  would  be  5 
cents  on  the  main  lines,  with  transfer 
privileges,  and  1  cent  on  each  of  the 
four  bridge  local  lines.     The  average 


cost  of  the  buses,  which  would  be  of 
single  and  double  deck  types,  would  be 
$10,000,  and  the  entire  outlay  for  buses 
more  than  $20,000,000. 

Mr.  Shepard  would  not  give  the 
names  of  those  who  are  to  furnish  cap- 
ital for  the  enterprise. 


Vancouver  Residents  Inconsistent 

Following  the  rejection  of  a  service- 
at-cost  franchise  by  the  City  Council 
of  Vancouver,  B.  C,  petitions  have 
been  lodged  with  the  Council  by  resi- 
dents of  various  districts  for  exten- 
sions to  the  British  Columbia  Electric 
Railway's  lines  and  improvements  to 
service.  The  reply  of  W.  G.  Murrin, 
assistant  general  manager  of  the  com- 
pany, was  that  not  a  cent  can  be  spent 
on  improvements  until  the  affairs  of 
the  company  are  so  stabilized  that  it 
can  raise  money.  The  City  Council 
threatens  to  put  on  motor  buses.  On 
one  of  the  proposed  lines,  the  first  re- 
quirement of  a  motor  bus  or  jitney 
service  would  be  the  paving  of  a  mile 
of  street,  an  expenditure  which  the  city 
is  not  likely  to  incur  at  present. 


Report  of  Traffic  Survey  Made  in 
Nashville 

The  traffic  survey  report  of  Nash- 
ville, made  by  Ross  W.  Harris,  con- 
sulting engineer  at  the  instance  of  the 
Tennessee  Public  Service  Commission 
jointly  for  the  City  of  Nashville  and  the 
Nashville  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
has  been  submitted  to  these  bodies 
with  recommendations  and  suggestions 
for  the  elimination  of  vehicular  and  car 
congestion  in  the  city. 

Among  the  suggestions  made  were 
the  shorter  routing  of  cars  on  the  long- 
er lines,  the  elimination  of  parking  of 
autos  on  certain  narrow  streets,  the  ex- 
tension and  opening  of  several  of  the 
business  streets,  the  rerouting  of  cars 
on  certain  lines,  new  construction  and 
transition  of  certain  tracks.  Mr.  Har- 
ris said: 

The  streets  of  Nashville  in  the  down- 
town districts  are  extremely  narrow  and 
afford  insufficient  capacity  to  accommodate 
the  traffic  as  now  regulated.  It  is  observed 
that  the  parking  of  automobiles  on  certain 
streets  in  the  downtown  district  has  been 
extensively  practiced  and  thus  valuable 
street  capacity  is  utilized  by  stationary 
vehicles  greatly  to  the  interference  of  street 
car  passage  and  other  moving  bodies. 

Since  the  report  has  been  submitted 
the  City  Council  of  Nashville  has  passed 
a  bill  prohibiting  the  parking  of  autos 
and  other  vehicles  on  certain  downtown 
streets,  except  during  early  morning 
hours  to  7  a.m.  and  late  evening  hours 
from  7  p.m.  This  has  helped  consid- 
erably in  giving  a  freer  flow  of  traffic, 
thereby  enabling  the  electric  railway 
cars  to  make  routes  on  better  schedule. 

In  regard  to  the  central  transfer  sta- 
tion which  is  in  use  in  Nashville,  Mr. 
Harris  points  out  its  advantages,  but 
reports  it  is  inadequate  in  size  properly 
to  serve  the  public,  its  facilities  having 
been  exceeded  by  the  traffic  demands. 
At  the  present  time  all  electric  rail- 
ways enter  and  leave  this  central  sta- 
tion. 


Montreal  Wage  Reduction  Held 
Not  Unreasonable 

The  wage  reduction  of  12  i  per  cent 
put  into  effect  by  the  Montreal  (Que.) 
Tramways  in  August  is  likely  to  re- 
main in  force  without  further  protest 
from  the  employees,  as  the  result  of 
the  award  of  a  board  of  arbitrators 
announced  on  Sept.  24.  The  board  was 
granted  by  the  Dominion  Department 
of  Labor  on  the  application  of  the 
union,  the  department  naming  a  chair- 
man, the  men  choosing  a  representa- 
tive, and  the  department  then  nominat- 
ing a  representative  for  the  company 
after  the  latter  had  failed  to  take  any 
action  to  do  so. 

The  hearings  before  the  board  con- 
sisted entirely  of  evidence  submitted 
by  the  men  in  opposition  to  the  re- 
duction, the  company  not  recogizing  the 
existence  of  the  board  in  any  way. 

A  majority  award  made  by  the  chair- 
man, Judge  Bazin,  and  the  department- 
appointed  representative  of  the  com- 
pany, A.  P.  Frigon,  held  that  in  view 
of  lowered  living  costs  the  company's 
financial  position  and  the  existing  in- 
dustrial crisis,  the  reduction  is  not  un- 
reasonable. 

A  minority  report  by  A.  Brossard, 
K.  C,  the  union's  representative,  dis- 
sented and  recommended  that  the  scale 
in  force  before  Aug.  16  be  restored. 

Both  reports  were  discussed  at  a 
meeting  of  the  union,  held  after  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  award,  and  although 
the  men  refused  to  accept  the  majority 
award  and  claimed  to  be  victims  of  in- 
justice, no  definite  steps  were  taken 
further  to  oppose  the  reductions.  The 
prevailing  opinion  is  that  in  view  of 
depression  and  unemployment  condi- 
tions, the  operatives  will  decide  to  let 
matters  rest  as  they  are. 


Insufficient  Notice  of  Wage 
Reduction 

The  order  of  the  receiver  of  United 
Railways,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  reducing  the 
wages  of  about  125  electrical  workers 
form  10  to  15  per  cent  below  the  exist- 
ing scale  of  from  551  to  841  cents  an 
hour,  has  been  held  up  by  Judge  Lamm, 
special  master  in  the  United  States 
District  Court,  who  found  that  sufficient 
notice  had  not  been  given  the  em- 
ployees. 

It  was  held  that  the  wage  award 
made  to  the  employees  by  the  Missouri 
Public  Service  Commission,  sitting  as 
a  board  of  arbitration  and  effect- 
ive Sept.  1,  1919,  was  a  contract  and 
could  not  be  terminated  by  either  the 
receiver  or  the  electrical  workers  with- 
out giving  sufficient  notice.  The  receiv- 
er had  posted  a  notice  in  August  that 
the  new  wage  scale  would  go  into  ef- 
fect on  Sept.  1.  The  master  held  that  if 
a  new  notice  were  posted  before  Oct.  1, 
the  wage  cut  could  become  effective  on 
Nov.  1.   This  notice  has  been  posted. 


The  city  of  New  York  has  announced 
a  public  demonstration  of  the  trackless 
trolley  between  Meiers  Corners  and 
Linoleumville,  Staten  Island,  Oct.  8. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


567 


Drastic  Reorganization 

Stockholders  and  Unsecured  Creditors 
of  Interurban  Railway  Completely 
Wiped  Out 

Companies  are  being  organized  in 
both  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  to 
take  over  the  properties  of  the  Western 
New  York  &  Pennsylvania  Traction 
Company  sold  under  foreclosure  some 
time  aeo.  These  companies  will  be 
merged  into  a  single  corporation  under 
the  name  of  the  Olean,  Bradford  & 
Salamanca  Railway.  It  is  expected 
that  the  new  securities  will  be  available 
for  distribution  shortly  after  Oct.  1, 
but  the  plans  for  the  reorganization 
are  subject  to  approval  by  the  Public 
Service  Commissions  of  both  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania. 

The  reorganization  is  a  drastic  one 
in  the  sense  that  if  the  plan  now  pro- 
posed is  carried  out,  the  stockholders 
and  unsecured  creditors  of  the  old  com- 
pany will  have  no  interest  or  share  in 
the  new  corporation.  The  entire  elec- 
tric railway  property  will  be  owned  by 
the  depositing  bondholders. 

Under  the  new  plan  the  fixed  charges 
of  the  new  corporation  will  be  sub- 
stantially reduced.  It  is  proposed  to 
raise  $224,000  from  the  old  first  and 
refunding  mortgage  bondholders,  or  in 
the  event  of  their  failure  to  provide 
the  necessary  funds,  it  is  intended  to 
sell  such  securities  on  the  same  terms 
to  an  underwriting  syndicate.  The 
money  will  be  used  for  such  cash  re- 
quirements as  are  necessary  in  con- 
nection with  the  purchase  of  the 
property. 

As  part  of  the  foreclosure  proceed- 
ings the  property  of  the  Western  New 
York  &  Pennsylvania  Traction  Com- 
pany in  New  York  was  purchased  on 
behalf  of  the  bondholders'  committee 
at  public  sale  on  June  4,  and  the  prop- 
erty in  Pennsylvania  was  similarly 
purchased  on  June  15.  Of  the  total  of 
$2,240,000  of  bonds  outstanding  $2,066,- 
000  were  deposited  under  the  protective 
agreement. 

The  capitalization  of  the  old  company 
exclusive  of  $1,000,000  of  common  stock 
was  $4,067,255,  consisting  c£  $92,000 
of  first  mortgage  bonds  of  the  Olean 
Street  Railway  (Bolivar  Extension), 
$136,000  of  first  mortgage  bonds  of  the 
Olean  Street  Railway,  $2,240,000  of  first 
and  refunding  5  per  cent  bonds,  $599,- 
355  of  6  per  cent  cumulative  preferred 
stock,  and  $1,000,000  of  5  per  cent  non- 
cumulative  second  preferred  stock. 

The  capitalization  of  the  new  com- 
pany will  total  $4,260,000  consisting  of 
$92,000  of  first  mortgage  bonds  of  the 
Olean  Street  Railway  (Bolivar  Exten- 
sion), $136,000  of  first  mortgage  bonds 
of  the  Olean  Street  Railway,  $224,000 
of  first  and  refunding  mortgage  7  per 
cent  bonds  Series  A,  $1,120,000  of  7 
per     cent     non-cumulative  preferred 


stock,  and  $2,688,000  of  common  stock. 
Each  depositor  under  the  protective 
agreement  dated  April  19,  1920,  for 
each  $1,000  of  bonds  of  the  present 
company  with  all  coupons  attached 
since  Jan.  1,  1920,  is  to  receive  $200  of 
common  stock  of  the  new  corporation, 
whether  or  not  the  depositor  has  pur- 
chased the  bonds  and  securities  of  the 
new  corporation,  and  in  addition  to 
receiving  the  $200  of  common  stock 
each  depositor  is  to  be  entitled  on  pay- 
ment of  $100  to  purchase  $100  of  first 
and  refunding  mortgage  7  per  cent 
bonds,  series  A;  $500  of  7  per  cent  non- 
cumulative  preferred  stock,  and  $1,000 
of  common  stock. 


Toronto  Purchase  Arbitration 
Hearings  Continued 

W.  J.  Hagenah,  Chicago,  expert  for 
the  Toronto  Railway,  continued  his 
evidence  before  the  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion last  week  much  along  the  same 
lines  as  the  previous  week's  testimony. 
Dealing  with  the  value  of  track  and 
roadbed,  Queen  Street  was  given  the 
general  value  of  70  per  cent;  the  track 
on  Ossington  from  Queen  to  Dundas 
was  found  to  be  perfect  and  set  down  at 
98  per  cent  of  original  value,  while  the 
average  came  to  80  per  cent.  Front 
Street  between  Church  and  Sherbourne, 
however,  was  worth  only  about  20  per 
cent,  from  Church  to  Yonge  60  per  cent 
and  from  Yonge  to  York  where  the 
track  was  new  it  was  placed  at  95  per 
cent. 

The  Gerrard  Street  line  was  stated 
to  have  a  present  value  of  $101,885, 
with  a  replacement  value  of  $145,509; 
its  condition  was  71  per  cent  new.  Har- 
bord  between  Spadina  Avenue  and 
Bathurst  was  rated  at  75  per  cent  and 
70  per  cent  west  of  Bathurst.  The 
whole  of  the  King  Street  line  was 
averaged  at  67  per  cent,  with  a  pres- 
ent value  of  $102,658  and  replacement 
value  of  $145,041. 

At  this  juncture  W.  N.  Tilley,  K.C., 
one  of  the  city's  counsel,  suggested  that 
the  city  of  Toronto  was  not  going  to 
accept  the  basis  of  cost  of  labor  and 
material  averaged  over  the  last  three 
years  as  shown  in  Mr.  Hagenah's  re- 
port. After  some  discussion  between 
the  Board  of  Arbitration  and  counsel 
no  decision  was  reached.  Mr.  Hagenah 
resumed  his  evidence. 

All  other  streets  were  treated  along 
similar  lines,  showing  a  varying  per- 
centage from  55  per  cent  up  to  90  per 
cent.  The  board  then  determined  to 
hear  argument  as  to  whether  or  not 
the  three-year  basis  of  cost  should  be 
accepted  as  the  manner  of  determin- 
ing the  value  of  the  railway  plant  at 
the  time  of  taking  over  by  the  city  of 
Toronto. 

The  hearing  was  then  adjourned  un- 
til Tuesday  of  the  following  week. 


Segregation  Details 

Toledo  Stockholders  to  Vote  on  Oct.  10 
on  New  Financial  Plan  Separating 
Properties 

Facts  additional  to  those  noted  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Sept. 
24  are  now  available  about  the  plans 
which  will  come  up  for  approval  at  the 
special  meeting  of  stockholders  of  the 
Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company 
called  for  Oct.  10  in  Toledo  to  change 
the  name  of  the  corporation  from  the 
Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Company  to 
the  Toledo  Edison  Company.  Since  the 
segregation  of  the  railway  properties 
in  Toledo  under  the  name  of  the  Com- 
munity Traction  Company,  the  Toledo 
Railways  &  Light  Company  has  been 
solely  a  generating  and  distributing 
company  for  electric  light  and  power 
and  gas.  In  connection  with  the  change 
of  name  the  Acme  Power  Company, 
operating  a  large  central  generating 
station  in  Toledo,  will  be  consolidated 
with  the  Toledo  Edison  Company. 

The  authorized  capital  stock  of  the 
new  company  will  be  $15,000,000  of  com- 
mon stock,  $6,000,000  of  prior  preferred 
8  per  cent  cumulative  stock  and  $4,000,- 
000  of  preferred  stock  7  per  cent  cumula- 
tive. In  addition  the  company  will  have 
an  authorized  amount  of  $13,500,000 
first  mortgage  7  per  cent  bonds,  due 
1941,  and  the  $1,875,400  of  the  Toledo 
Gas,  Electric  &  Heating  Company  con- 
solidated mortgage  5s,  due  1935,  will  re- 
main outstanding.  Upon  completion  of 
the  financing,  the  Toledo  Edison  Com- 
pany will  have  outstanding  only  these 
two  bond  issues  and  will  be  well  sup- 
plied with  working  capital. 

Of  the  stocks  of  the  Toledo  Edison 
Company,  the  $12,904,000  par  value  of 
common  stock,  or  approximately  93  per 
cent  of  the  outstanding  amount,  will  be 
owned  by  Toledo  Traction,  Light  & 
Power  Company,  which  also  will  own 
$1,500,000  par  value  of  the  Toledo  Edi- 
son Company  preference  stock  7  per 
cent  cumulative  series  A,  $7,925,000,  or 
100  per  cent,  of  the  Community  Trac- 
tion Company  first  mortgage  6  per  cent 
gold  bonds  and  $500,000  par  amount  of 
the  Community  Traction  Company  8 
per  cent  cumulative  preferred  stock.  Of 
the  $6,661,675  par  value  of  Toledo  Trac- 
tion, Light  &  Power  Company  preferred, 
$6,425,410  is  owned  by  the  Cities  Serv- 
ice Company,  and  of  the  $7,966,250  of 
the  Toledo  Traction,  Light  &  Power 
Company  Common  stock  outstanding, 
95.71  per  cent  or  $7,624,500  is  owned  by 
the  Cities  Service  Company.  The  To- 
ledo Edison  Company  properties,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  Community  Trac- 
tion Company,  are  under  the  operating 
management  of  Henry  L.  Doherty  & 
Company. 

The  Toledo  Edison  Company  has  sold 
to  a  banking  syndicate  headed  by  Har- 
ris, Forbes  &  Company,  as  syndicate 
managers,  and  the  National  City  Com- 
pany $13,500,000  of  its  first  mortgage 
7  per  cent  gold  bonds  of  the  series  due 
in  1941.  Those  bankers  offered  the 
issue  at  96i  and  interest  to  yield  about 
7.33  per  cent. 

In  connection  with  the  financing  of 


568 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  14 


the  Toledo  Edison  Company,  the  Na- 
tional City  Company,  New  York,  and 
the  Union  Trust  Company,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  have  purchased  $2,500,000  of  the 
Toledo  Edison  Company  prior  preferred 
8  per  cent  cumulative  stock,  which  is 
now  being  offered  to  investors. 


Presentation  of  Reorganization 
Testimony  Completed 

Sanction  is  being  sought  from  the 
Public  Service  Commission  of  Rhode 
Island  to  reorganize  the  Newport  & 
Fall  Ri  ver  Street  Railway  as  the  New- 
port Electric  Corporation.  The  com- 
pany operates  the  electric  railways  in 
Newport.  Portsmouth,  Middletown  and 
Jamestown  and  furnishes  electric  light 
in  these  and  other  places.  The  peti- 
tioners contend  that  with  the  reduction 
in  costs  now  apparent  through  the 
operation  of  one-man  cars  and  as  a 
result  of  other  economies  the  new  com- 
pany should  be  able  from  the  start  to 
meet  all  the  obligations  imposed  under 
the  proposed  plan  for  refinancing  the 
properties. 

Permission  is  being  sought  for  ap- 
proval of  the  issuance  of  $160,000  of 
7  per  cent  notes,  maturing  as  follows: 
$20,000  on  Oct.  1,  1922;  $20,000  on  Oct. 
1,  1923;  $20,000  on  Oct.  1,  1924,  and 
$100,000  on  Oct.  1,  1925,  secured  by  the 
$240,000  bonds  on  deposit.  Also  an 
issue  not  to  exceed  $160,000  of  8  per 
cent  notes  maturing  Oct.  1,  1927.  Of 
this  issue  $40,000  is  to  be  paid  to  the 
Newport  County  Electric  Company  for 
unpaid  interest  due  on  $240,000  of  first 
mortgage  bonds  which  matured  on  Aug. 
1,  1918,  and  which  are  now  held  by  the 
reorganization  committee  of  the  Bay 
State  Street  Railway.  Of  the  issue 
$120,000  is  to  be  offered  to  the  stock- 
holders at  par  in  proportion  of  10  per 
cent  of  their  holdings  and  the  proceeds 
up  to  $80,000  are  to  be  used  to  make 
cash  payment  on  the  first  mortgage 
bonds  in  the  hands  of  the  receivers  of 
the  Bay  State  Company. 

Frank  D.  Lisle,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, presented  the  case  before  the 
commission.  He  outlined  in  detail  the 
history  of  the  company  and  its  connec- 
tion with  the  Old  Colony  Street  Railway 
and  the  incidents  which  led  up  to  the 
appointment  of  the  receiver  of  the  Bay 
State  Street  Railway.  He  said  that 
the  petitioning  corporation,  the  Newport 
County  Electric  Company,  was  the 
successor  of  the  Newport  &  Fall  River 
Street  Railway,  the  change  of  name 
having  been  granted  at  the  January 
session,  1920,  of  the  Rhode  Island  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  Mr.  Lisle  said  that 
under  the  proposed  plan  there  would  be 
an  increase  of  only  $80,000  in  the  cap- 
italization notwithstanding  that  the 
petition  called  for  the  issuance  of  $320,- 
000  in  new  bonds. 

After  Mr.  Lisle  had  concluded  his 
statement  Chairman  Bliss  of  the  com- 
mission announced  that  the  matter 
would  be  taken  under  consideration, 
and  requested  Mr.  Lisle  to  file  certain 
papers  and  figures  concerning  the  cap- 
italization and  valuation  of  the  corpo- 
ration and  its  properties. 


Syracuse  Going  Behind  on  an 
Eight-Cent  Fare 

Figures  made  public  by  B.  E.  Tilton, 
vice-president  and  general  manager  of 
the  New  York  State  Railways,  Syra- 
cuse Lines,  and  summarizing  opera- 
tions for  the  four  months  ended  Aug. 
31,  showed  that  the  local  lines  during 
that  period  ran  short  $185,309  of  earn- 
ing surplus,  contingencies  and  the  8 
per  cent  return  on  valuation  fixed  by 
the  Public  Service  Commission. 

Total  revenues  aggregated  $745,677, 
including  $717,906  from  transportation, 
and  total  operating  expenses  amounted 
to  $648,254,  with  a  net  revenue  from 
railway  operations  of  $97,423.  Offset- 
ting this  apparent  revenue  was  an  item 
of  $46,058  for  taxes  assignable  to  rail- 
way operations,  leaving  an  operating 
income  of  $51,365.  To  this  was  added 
the  non-operating  income  of  $1,184, 
bringing  the  gross  income  to  $52,549. 

Offsetting  this  gross  income  total  is 
an  item  for  $237,859,  representing  the 
amount  which  should  be  earned  for  sur- 
plus, contingencies  and  the  8  per  cent 
return  allowed  by  the  commission  on 
the  valuation  of  $8,919,000,  fixed  by 
the  commission's  finding  in  the  8-cent 
fare  decision  April  19  last. 

The  gross  income  shown  by  the  re- 
port ran  short  $185,309  of  reaching  the 
amount  which  should  have  been  earned 
by  the  Syracuse  lines  during  the  four- 
month  period. 

This  deficiency  is  charged  by  com- 
pany officials  to  the  slump  in  riding 
which  followed  the  business  and  man- 
ufacturing depression  during  the  same 
period. 

The  receipts  for  August  were  $15,- 
111  less  than  the  receipts  for  the  same 
month  last  year,  despite  the  8-cent 
fare;  the  receipts  for  July  $12,500  less 
than  the  same  month  last  year,  while 
the  receipts  for  June  and  May  of  the 
current  year  were  respectively  $1,200 
and  $30,000  ahead  of  the  receipts  for 
the  same  month  last  year.  The  differ- 
ence for  May  is  not  a  fair  comparison 
because  during  five  days  in  May,  1920 
the  system  was  shut  down  by  a  strike. 


New  Jersey  Consolidation 
Disapproved 

The  application  for  consolidation  of 
the  associated  companies  of  the  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  Traction  Com- 
pany, operating  in  Trenton  and  Prince- 
ton, was  disapproved  on  Sept.  24  by 
the  State  Public  Utility  Commission  be- 
cause of  the  method  of  the  transfer  of 
stock  of  the  companies.  The  proposed 
merger  included  the  New  Jersey  & 
Pennsylvania  Traction  Company,  the 
Lawrenceville  &  Princeton  Railroad, 
the  Trenton,  Lawrenceville  &  Princeton 
Extension  Company  and  the  Princeton 
Street  Railway.  The  New  Jersey  & 
Pennsylvania  Company  is  the  owner  of 
the  other  companies,  and  the  consolida- 
tion was  sought  to  expedite  the  han- 
dling of  the  financial  and  other  affairs 
of  the  concerns.  The  parent  company 
has  a  capitalization  of  $1,100,000. 

The  plan  of  the  company  in  the  pro- 


posed consolidation  was  to  reduce  its 
$500,000  stock  outstanding  to  $350,000 
at  par;  the  outstanding  stock  of  the 
Trenton,  Lawrenceville  &  Princeton 
Company  amounting  to  $200,000  to  be 
reduced  to  $132,000;  the  outstanding 
stock  of  the  Trenton,  Lawrenceville  & 
Princeton  Extension  Company  amount- 
ing to  $50,000  to  be  increased  to  $53,- 
000;  the  $7,000  stock  of  the  Princeton 
Street  Railway  to  be  reduced  to  $5,000. 

In  commenting  on  the  project  the 
utility  board  stated: 

This  is  a  proceeding  which  has  in  the 
past  met  with  the  disapproval  of  this  board. 
Where  the  securities  of  underlying  com- 
panies are  wholly  owned  by  another  com- 
pany with  which  merger  is  to  be  effected, 
the  only  procedure  necessary  in  such  case 
is  to  cancel  the  stock  of  the  underlying 
companies. 

The  board  also  maintained  that  where 
mergers  are  concerned  and  stocks  are 
transferred,  the  securities  of  a  com- 
pany newly  formed  must  bear  a  proper 
relation  to  the  value  of  the  property  in 
the  newly  formed  company  after  con- 
solidation. 


$71,194,759  Historical  Repro- 
duction Cost 

Valuation  of  the  properties  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  is  placed  at  $71,194,759  as  repre- 
senting historical  reproduction  cost  un- 
depreciated by  Richard  Sachse,  chief 
engineer  of  the  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission in  a  report  made  public  on 
Sept.  19.  The  valuation  is  of  Dec.  31, 
1920.  Operative  property,  which  is  the 
only  part  considered  in  rate  making,  is 
placed  at  $63,412,675  according  to  the 
'historical  reproduction  method.  The 
report  consists  of  three  large  volumes 
and  represents  two  years  work  of  the 
engineering  department. 

The  report  will  be  submited  in  the 
hearing  of  the  application  of  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway  for  increase  in  rates 
set  before  the  commission  en  banc  for 
Oct.  11.  It  does  not  represent  finding 
of  value  by  the  commission,  it  is 
pointed  out,  but  will  be  considered  to- 
gether with  such  other  exhibits  as  to 
valuation  as  may  be  presented  at  the 
hearing. 

As  is  usual  in  those  cases  two  other 
sets  of  valuations  are  made  which, 
under  the  rulings  of  the  courts,  must 
be  taken  into  consideration  by  the  com- 
mission in  arriving  at  present  value. 
These  are  the  historical  reproduction 
cost  less  depreciation  and  cost  new 
less  depreciation.  Historical  reproduc- 
tion cost  less  depreciation  is  placed  at 
$56,372,096,  operative  property  being 
set  down  at  $50,752,455  and  non-oper- 
ative property  at  $5,619,641. 

Reproduction  cost  new  under  a  five- 
year  period  ended  Dec.  31,  1920,  of 
both  operative  and  non-operative  prop- 
erty is  given  at  $103,600,000;  less  de- 
preciation, $82,700,000.  The  operative 
property  under  reproduction  cost  new 
undepreciated  is  $92,400,000. 

In  addition  to  the  valuation  report 
there  will  be  presented  at  the  hearing 
by  departments  of  the  commission  re- 
ports touching  the  financial,  operating 
and  traffic  conditions  of  the  company. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


569 


Receivers  Seek  Right  to  Abandon 
Part  of  Line 

Harry  A.  Dunn  and  J.  Frank  John- 
son, receivers  for  the  Toledo  &  Western 
Railroad,  Toledo,  Ohio,  has  filed  an  ap- 
plication in  federal  court  for  instruc- 
tions with  respect  to  terminating  a 
franchise  for  the  operation  of  electric 
railway  lines  in  Blissfield,  Mich. 

The  action  is  being  taken  as  the 
result  of  a  movement  to  pave  Adrian 
Street  in  Blissfield.  The  railway  has 
a  franchise  to  operate  lines  on  Adrian 
Street  and  it  is  contended  by  the  re- 
ceivers that  officials  of  the  city  are 
planning  to  require  the  company  to 
pave  its  tracks  and  3  ft.  on  each  side 
of  the  tracks. 

This  improvement  would  cost  $30,000, 
the  petitioners  aver,  and  the  company 
cannot  afford  to  pay  it.  The  receivers 
declared  they  had  been  advised  by  their 
attorney  that  the  franchise  could  be 
terminated  and  it  is  on  this  matter  that 
a  court  ruling  is  sought. 


Petition  for  Indiana  Merger 
Denied 

The  Public  Service  Commission  of 
Indiana  has  denied  the  petition  of  the 
Indiana  Electric  Corporation  for  author- 
ity to  buy  seven  Indiana  public  utilities 
and  for  authority  to  issue  a  total  of 
$12,100,000  of  stocks,  bonds  and  notes 
with  which  to  finance  the  purchase  and 
to  assume  a  total  of  $8,962,000  liens 
against  two  of  the  selling  companies. 

In  denying  the  petition  the  commis- 
sion said  that  it  is  favorably  inclined 
toward  the  petitioner's  project  propos- 
ing a  centralized  power  plant  in  the 
heart  of  the  Indiana  coal  field,  if  such  a 
project  could  be  made  to  provide  low- 
cost  current,  but  that  it  is  of  the  opin- 
ion that  such  a  project  could  not  be 
carried  out  along  the  lines  proposed  by 
the  petitioner. 

Commissioner    George    M.  Barnard, 

who  had  charge  of  the  case  for  the 

State,  wrote  the  order.    He  summarized 

in  the  following  brief  statement  the 

reasons  why  the  commission  declined  to 

grant  the  request: 

The  commission  is  not  unmindful  of  the 
possible  benefits  that  might  accrue  to  the 
citizens  of  the  various  communities  through 
the  establishment  of  a  central  generation 
plant,  serving  the  consolidated  properties. 
Under  the  law,  however,  any  consolidation 
of  utility  properties  must  have  a  proper 
basis  of  value,  a  proper  relation  between 
value  and  securities  and  a  sufficient  annual 
income  to  carry  proper  capital  charges. 
Permitting  the  consolidation  on  the  basis 
proposed  would  have  capitalized  excessive 
values  against  the  consumers.  This,  of 
course,  is  improper.  The  petition  was, 
therefore,  denied. 


Valuation   Hearing   Postponed. — The 

hearing  of  the  case  of  the  valuation  of 
United  Railways,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  before 
the  Missouri  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion, set  originally  for  Sept.  27  at  Jef- 
ferson City,  has  been  postponed  until 
Oct.  18,  at  St.  Louis.  Col.  A.  T.  Per- 
kins, manager  for  the  receiver,  and  a 
staff  of  engineers,  attorneys  and 
accountants  are  completing  the  com- 
pany's case  to  be  presented  to  the  com- 
mission. 


Financial 
News  Notes 

Gold  Notes  Offered.— Stone  &  Web- 
ster, Inc.,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  are  offer- 
ing at  96H  and  interest  to  yield  about 
8  per  cent  $750,000  7  per  cent  gold 
notes  of  the  El  Paso  (Tex.)  Electric 
Company.   The  due  date  is  July  1,  1925. 

Can't  Suspend  Service.  —  The  Ohio 
State  Utilities  Commission  recently 
refused  the  petition  of  the  Ohio  Service 
Company,  Coshocton,  Ohio,  to  abandon 
service  at  Uhrichsville  and  Dennison, 
Ohio.  The  railway  claimed  that  jitneys 
were  responsible  for  the  loss  in  revenue 
suffered  by  the  railway. 

Refunding  Bonds  Offered. — Chandler 
&  Company,  Inc.,  New  York,  are  offer- 
ing for  subscription  $560,000  of  Lexing- 
ton (Ky.)  Utilities  first  lien  and  refund- 
ing 6  per  cent  gold  bonds,  Series  "B." 
The  proceeds  of  the  bonds  are  to  be 
used  to  retire  underlying  bonds,  for 
extensions  and  improvements  and  for 
other  corporate  purposes. 

Income   Considerably    Reduced — For 

the  seven  months  ended  July,  1921,  the 
Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  realized  a  net  in- 
come of  only  $372,784  against  a  net  of 
$643,670  for  the  same  period  a  year 
ago.  The  gross  revenues  were  $8,127,- 
194  against  $7,100,242  for  the  first  sev- 
en months  of  1920. 

510,700  Fewer  Passengers  in  Toledo. — 
The  Community  Traction  Company, 
Toledo,  Ohio,  carried  510,700  fewer  pas- 
sengers in  August  of  this  year  than  in 
July.  Street  Railway  Commissioner 
Wilfred  E.  Cann  believes  that  the  in- 
creased fares  in  effect  since  July  will 
make  a  much  better  financial  showing. 
He  has  decided  to  lay  off  forty-five 
platform  men  to  economize  on  labor. 

New  Company  Elects  Officers. — The 

Savannah  Electric  &  Power  Company, 
Savannah,  Ga.,  organized  as  the  suc- 
cessor under  foreclosure  to  the  Savan- 
nah Electric  Company,  has  elected  offi- 
cers as  follows:  President,  A.  A.  Law- 
rence; vice-president,  W.  H.  Bedgood; 
secretary,  Thomas  F.  Kearns;  treasurer, 
E.  S.  Abrahams;  directors,  A.  A.  Law- 
rence, E.  S.  Abrahams,  Louis  A.  Mills, 
W.  H.  Bedgood  and  Thomas  F.  Kearns. 

May  Save  Line.  —  Despite  tfte  fact 
that  officials  of  the  Asheville  &  East 
Tennessee  Railroad,  Asheville,  N.  C, 
recently  announced  that  service  would 
be  suspended  on  Oct.  1,  citizens  of  Ashe- 
ville and  Weaverville  are  starting  a 
campaign  to  raise  $5,000  for  the  con- 
tinued operation  of  the  line.  One  plan 
suggested  is  that  the  property  owners 
along  the  line  pay  the  railway  a  tax 
while  others  are  asked  to  subscribe  to 
stock. 

Profit  for  Shore  Line  in  July.— The 

Shore  Line  Electric  Railway,  Norwich, 
Conn.,   was   operated   at   a   profit  of 


$7,439  during  July,  according  to  a  report 
filed  with  the  clerk  of  the  Superior 
Court  by  Receiver  Robert  W.  Perkins. 
This  is  the  first  month  in  1921  that  has 
shown  a  profit.  All  other  months  of  the 
year  show  losses  varying  from  $1,027 
in  June  to  $6,112  in  February.  The 
losses  for  the  first  six  months  were  as 
follows:  January,  $3,749;  February, 
$6,112;  March,  $3,264;  April,  $2,296; 
May,  $1,411;  June,  $1,027. 

Receiver  Seeks  Court's  Instruction. — 
Application  has  been  made  for  an  order 
authorizing  Rollo  Wells,  receiver  of 
United  Railways,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  to  pay 
semi-annual  interest  due  on  Oct.  1  on 
$9,790,000  St.  Louis  Transit  Company 
bonds.  Interest  amounts  to  $244,750. 
Application  has  also  been  made  for  ex- 
tension of  time  within  which  to  adopt 
or  renounce  contracts  entered  into  be- 
tween St.  Louis  Transit  Company  and 
Missouri  Electric  Railroad,  Florissant 
Construction  Company,  Real  Estate  & 
Investment  Company  and  Merchants 
Express  Company. 

Abandonment  Announced  in  Spokane. 
Discontinuance  of  service  on  the  Lid- 
gerwood1  line  and  removal  of  its  tracks 
was  announced  on  Oct.  9  by  the  Wash- 
ington Water  Power  Company,  Spokane, 
in  a  letter  filed  with  City  Clerk  Fred 
Kellam.  This  step,  the  company  states, 
is  taken  as  the  result  of  the  controversy 
over  paving  North  Division  Street,  in 
which  the  city  tried  to  force  upon  the 
company  a  large  expenditure,  chiefly  for 
the  benefit  of  its  competitors,  the  jit- 
neys. The  abandonment  of  the  Lidger- 
wood  line  is  the  most  important  step 
thus  far  resulting  from  the  releasing 
of  jitneys  by  the  City  Council  last  June. 

Public  Service  Issues  Equipment 
Trust  Certificates. — Plympton,  Gardiner 
&  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  and  Cas- 
satt  &  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  are 
offering,  at  100  and  accrued  interest,  to 
yield  7.25  per  cent,  $1,540,000  Public 
Service  Railway  71  per  cent  equipment 
trust  certificates,  series  E.  The  certifi- 
cates are  dated  Aug.  2, 1920,  and  mature 
semi-annually  until  1930.  They  are 
secured  on  the  following  equipment:  200 
safety  cars,  100  trail  cars,  15  snow 
plows  and  15  snow  sweepers.  The  cost 
of  this  equipment  was  $2,434,400.  The 
total  cash  paid  was  $894,000,  or  36  per 
cent  of  the  cost  of  the  rolling  stock. 

Interurban  Bondholders  Organize. — 

Thomas  H.  Jones,  Williamson  Building, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  is  secretary  of  a  com- 
mittee headed  by  I.  F.  Freiberger,  vice- 
president  of  the  Cleveland  Trust  Com- 
pany, Cleveland,  Ohio,  which  has  been 
requested  by  the  holders  of  a  large 
amount  of  the  first  mortgage  5  per  cent 
gold  bonds  of  the  Western  Ohio  Rail- 
way, Lima,  Ohio,  to  act  as  a  committee 
for  the  protection  of  the  bondholders. 
The  bonds  mature  on  Nov.  1,  1921,  and 
the  railway  will  not  be  able  to  pay  them 
at  maturity.  A  bondholders'  protective 
agreement  is  in  course  of  preparation 
under  which  the  Union  Trust  Company, 
Cleveland,  is  designated  as  depositary. 
The  bondholders  are  invited  to  forward 
their  bonds  for  deposit  with  the  May 
1,  1921,  and  later  coupons  attached. 


570 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


police  power  to  regulate  it  passed  an 
initiated  ordinance  authorizing  a  6-cent 
fare  and  thereby  changed  the  rate  of 
fare  from  the  franchise  rate. 

The  case  was  taken  under  advisement. 


Jitney  Problem  Solved 

Public   at   Springfield,   Mo.,  Approves 
Plan  of  Buses  Owned  by 
Electric  Railway 

Through  the  persistent  efforts  of  the 
electric  railway  management  in  Spring- 
field, Mo.,  to  provide  adequate  trans- 
portation facilities  without  the  aid  of 
the  jitney  as  a  competitor,  the  bus  prob- 
lem in  this  city  has  been  solved. 

Since  1914  constant  effort  had  been 
made  by  the  Springfield  Traction  Com- 
pany to  obtain  relief  from  the  unfair 
and  destructive  jitney  competition,  but 
city  officials  were  reluctant  to  tackle 
the  proposition.  The  buses  were 
allowed  to  run  promiscuously  and  at 
random  at  first.  Then  through  an  elec- 
tion, they  were  supposed  to  be  placed 
under  restriction  which  would  confine 
them  to  territory  not  served  by  the 
railway.  This  plan  would  have  pro- 
duced fairly  good  results,  but  the  terms 
of  the  ordinance  adopted  at  the  polls 
were  not  observed  and  as  a  result  the 
railway  was  being  seriously  injured. 

The  company  then  endeavored  to 
meet  the  situation  by  asking  the  city 
for  permission  to  operate  jitneys  in 
place  of  cars  on  some  of  its  weak  lines, 
the  company's  buses  to  enjoy  the  same 
liberties  as  were  accorded  the  privately- 
owned  jitney  buses.  In  this  the  pri- 
vately-owned buses  seemed  to  be 
favored. 

As  a  last  resort  an  initiative  election 
was  called  in  which  the  people  of 
Springfield  were  asked  to  give  the  rail- 
way the  exclusive  right  of  operating 
buses  on  the  streets  of  Springfield.  The 
election  was  held  on  Aug.  2  and  the 
result  was  a  victory  for  the  railway. 
This  phase  of  the  contest  is  especially 
of  interest  for  the  reason  that  the  jitney 
bus  owners  recognized  no  union  and 
their  employees  were  not  organized 
whereas  the  railway  employees  were  all 
members  of  the  railway  union  and  gave 
their  hearty  support  to  the  traction 
company  in  this  election. 

Following  the  election  the  traction 
company  took  over  all  buses  and  con- 
tinued jitney  service  under  the  terms 
of  the  new  ordinance  adopted  at  the 
election  and  the  plan  now  seems  to  be 
meeting  with  the  general  approval  of 
the  public. 

The  ordinance  as  passed  by  the  peo- 
ple revokes  all  bus  licenses  in  force 
prior  to  the  passage  of  the  ordinance 
and  further  provides  that  licenses  to 
operate  buses  shall  be  issued  only  to 
a  corporation  duly  incorporated  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  Missouri  relat- 
ing to  street  railway  companies  which 
at  the  time  of  applying  must  be 
actually  engaged  in  the  operation  of  a 
railway  system.  However,  no  car  lines 
now  being  operated  shall  be  discon- 
tinued. The  fare  is  5  cents  with  regular 
transfer  privileges. 


Another  important  section  of  the 
ordinance  states  that  no  jitney  bus 
route  shall  be  established  or  operated  in 
territory  now  or  hereafter  adequately 
served  by  a  street  car  line,  nor  shall 
any  jitney  bus  be  required  to  operate 
in  territory  where  there  is  not  sufficient 
patronage  reasonably  to  support  it, 
after  a  fair  trial. 


Higher  Court  Will  Decide 
Fare  Issue 

City  Argues  Fare  Was  Fixed  by  Con- 
tract— Receiver  Contends  Regulatory 
Authority  Fixes  Fare 

Decision  as  to  whether  the  present 
rates  of  fare  charged  by  the  Receiver 
of  The  Denver  (Col.)  Tramway  Com- 
pany are  to  be  retained  or  whether  the 
fare  shall  revert  to  the  6-cent  rate 
formerly  in  effect  now  rests  with  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals 
of  the  Eighth  District. 

United  States  District  Judge  Robert 
E.  Lewis,  District  of  Colorado,  on 
March  10,  1921,  held  that  the  6-cent 
fare  then  in  effect  was  confiscatory  and 
isued  an  order  authorizing  the  receiver 
to  put  into  effect  a  fare  not  in  excess  of 
8  cents  cash  and  two  tickets  for  15 
cents.  The  city  of  Denver  was  also 
enjoined  from  enforcing  the  collection 
of  the  6-cent  fare  and  from  interfering 
with  the  collection  of  the  higher  rates. 
An  appeal  from  the  lower  court's  ruling 
in  this  case  was  taken  by  the  City  of 
Denver  to  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  and  was  argued  orally 
on  Sept.  13.  John  E.  Carland,  federal 
judge  of  Washington,  D.  C,  presided 
and  with  him  on  the  bench  were  Till- 
man Johnson,  federal  judge  of  Utah, 
and  F.  A.  Youmans,  federal  judge  of 
Arkansas. 

The  city  of  Denver  in  its  brief  filed 
with  the  higher  court  asked  that  the 
order  of  the  lower  court  be  reversed 
and  that  the  entire  case  be  dismissed, 
contending  that  the  lower  court  had  no 
jurisdiction  in  issuing  the  order  inas- 
much as  the  fare  was  fixed  by  contract 
and  not  in  pursuance  of  regulatory 
authority  and  that  therefore  whether 
or  not  the  6-cent  fare  was  confiscatory 
was  immaterial  and  the  injunction  un- 
warranted. 

The  attorneys  for  the  receiver  con- 
tended that  the  fare  was  never  fixed  by 
contract  but  was  fixed  in  the  exercise 
of  the  regulatory  powers  of  the  city  and 
that  as  a  matter  of  law  the  city  did  not 
have  the  power  or  authority  to  fix  a 
fare  by  contract  but  only  to  fix  one  by 
regulation.  Furthermore  that  even 
conceding  for  the  purpose  of  precedent 
that  the  fare  was  contractual  and  that 
the  city  had  the  power  so  to  contract, 
nevertheless  the  contract,  if  ever  there 
was  one,  was  abrogated  and  superseded 
by  the  city  when  in  the  exercise  of  its 


One-Man  Car  Approved 

Operation  Indorsed  by  Milwaukee  Safety 
Commission — Municipalities  Cited 
as  Users  of  Cars 

The  Milwaukee  Safety  Commission 
has  indorsed  one-man  safety  car  opera- 
tion in  the  city  of  Milwaukee  by  The 
Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company.  The  report  of  the  commit- 
tee to  this  effect  was  transmitted  to  the 
committee  on  railroads  of  the  Council 
on  Sept.  2.  The  commission  held  that 
the  design  and  special  safety  equip- 
ment of  the  800-type  cars,  as  the  safety 
cars  are  known  in  Milwaukee,  make 
them  safe  in  operation,  and  that  from 
a  safety  standpoint  there  could  be  no 
objection  found  to  their  use. 

As  reported  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  of  Aug.  20,  page  299,  the 
commission  was  asked  to  investigate 
one-man  safety  car  operation  in  Mil- 
waukee following  the  introduction  in 
the  Common  Council  of  a  resolution 
calling  upon  the  City  Attorney  to 
petition  the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Com- 
mission to  prohibit  this  form  of  opera- 
tion  in  the  city.  The  investigation 
made  by  the  commission  was  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  whether  one- 
man  safety  cars  and  the  method  by 
which  they  are  operated  are  safe  for 
passengers,  pedestrians  and  vehicles. 
The  investigation  was  divided  into  three 
phases — the  safety  appliances  of  the 
car  itself,  the  method  of  operation  of 
the  car,  and  the  results  of  its  operation 
in  other  cities. 

The  safety  appliances  of  the  safety 
car  were  described  to  the  commission 
at  two  of  its  meetings  by  H.  A.  Mul- 
lett,  assistant  general  manager  of  the 
company,  and  W.  H.  Beattys,  Jr.,  of" 
the  Safety  Car  Devices  Company.  The 
commission,  as  an  official  body,  also 
made  two  investigation  trips  on  the 
type  of  car  under  discussion,  during 
which  the  control  and  air  brake  equip- 
ment of  the  car  was  demonstrated  by 
an  expert  operator.  Both  of  these 
trips  were  made  under  regular  traffic 
conditions. 

In  addition,  individual  members  of 
the  commission  on  safety  rode  the  cars 
incognito  under  regular  operating  con- 
ditions on  the  Twenty-seventh  and 
Thirty-fifth  Street  crosstown  lines  of 
the  company  where  one-man  safety 
car  operation  has  been  in  effect  for 
some  weeks.  As  a  result  of  this  phase 
of  the  investigation  the  commission 
was  of  the  opinion  that  "the  standard 
(sic)  safety  car  known  in  Milwaukee 
as  the  '800-type'  embodies  every 
feature  that  has  up  to  the  present  time 
been  devised  and  proved  practicable 
to  make  street  car  operation  safe." 

In  addition  to  the  descriptions  of 
safety  appliances  of  the  car  and  of" 
its  demonstration  under  actual  operat- 
ing conditions,  there  was  submitted  to 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


571 


the  commission,  on  behalf  of  the  com- 
pany, a  memorandum  prepared  by 
Alexander  Shapiro,  statistician,  giving 
a  survey  of  the  one-man  car  operation 
on  electric  railways  in  the  United 
States.  The  memorandum  gave  the 
origin  and  history,  extent  of  past  and 
present  use,  its  advantages,  refuted 
arguments  which  are  as  a  rule  made 
in  attacking  one-man  safety  car  opera- 
tion, and  finally  discussed  the  situa- 
tion in  Milwaukee.  Stress  was  laid 
in  this  memorandum  on  the  use  of  one- 
man  safety  cars  by  various  municipal 
railways  in  the  United  States  and  on 
the  favorable  accident  record  of  safety 
car  operation.  There  was  also  sub- 
mitted to  the  commission  by  The  Safety 
Car  Devices  Company,  a  tabulation  giv- 
ing the  accident  record  of  safety  cars 
on  a  number  of  electric  railways  in  the 
United  States  as  compiled  by  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association. 

The  second  phase  of  the  Safety  Com- 
mission's investigation  of  safety  car 
operation  in  Milwaukee  concerned  itself 
with  the  actual  method  of  operation  of 
the  car.    On  this  point  its  report  says: 

Safe  operation  of  all  vehicles,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  ;s  contingent  upon  the  mental 
alertness  of  the  operator.  This  commission 
has  been  assured  by  the  electric  company 
that  no  men  are  chosen  for  duty  on  the 
one-man  cars  who  have  not  been  with  the 
company  at  least  two  years,  and  in  addition 
have  passed  special  tests  to  measure  their 
fitness  for  this  particular  work. 

As  exceptional  distractions  to  the  oper- 
ator of  a  one-man  car  should  tend  to  in- 
crease the  accident  hazard,  the  commission 
made  two  requests  of  the  electric  company : 

1.  That  motormen  on  these  cars  would 
not  be  permitted  to  collect  fares  while  the 
cars  were  in  motion.  This  guarantee  has 
been  given  and  the  order  is  now  in  effect. 
It  is  the  observation  of  the  commission 
that  the  order  is  being  strictly  carried  out 
by  the  operators  of  the  cars.  .  .  . 

2.  The  company  was  asked  if  it  intended 
to  run  the  "800  type"  car  with  less  than 
two  men  on  heavy  traffic  lines.  Their  re- 
ply was  that  most  decidedly  the  carj  would 
!not  be  run  with  one  man  on  the  lines 
where  it  is  apparent  or  could  be  shown 
that  the  safety  or  operation  would  be  in 
any  way  inferior  to  that  existing  with 
the  present  equipment. 

With  the  pledges  given  by  the  electric 
company  as  outlined  above,  The  Milwaukee 
Safety  Commission  believes  the  one-man 
standard  safety  car  of  the  "800  type"  to 
be  a  vehicle  which  will  not  tend  to  increase 
traffic  accidents,  but  rather  effect  a  reduc- 
tion in  them,  particularly  of  the  numerous 
so-called  boarding  and  alighting  type. 

Make-up  of  Commission 

The  Milwaukee  Safety  Commission  is 
an  official  body  appointed  by  the  Mayor. 
Its  membership  consists  of  a  number 
of  local  business  men,  representatives 
of  various  city  departments  such  as 
the  police,  schools,  etc.,  and  representa- 
tives of  various  civic  organizations. 
One  of  the  members  of  the  commission 
is  John  Anderson,  chief  engineer  of 
power  plants  of  The  Milwaukee  Elec- 
tric Railway  &  Light  Company. 

The  800-type  car  referred  to  by  the 
Milwaukee  Safety  Commission  in  its 
report  is  a  double  truck  car  seating 
approximately  fifty-five  people.  It  was 
especially  designed  for  use  in  Mil- 
waukee and  may  be  operated  by  two 
men  or  one  man.  It  is  equipped  with 
the  standard  Safety  Car  Devices  Com- 
pany control  and  air  brake  equipment 
for  safety  cars.  It  is  an  especially 
light,  roomy  and  attractive  car  and  has 
been  very  favorably  received  by  the 
Milwaukee  public. 


Jitney  Battled  for  Five  Years 

Seattle  Finally  Succeeds  in  Regulating  Pirates  Who  Are  Taking 
$350,000  a  Year  from  Municipal  Railway 

Seattle  has  won  its  fight  of  five  years  to  clear  the  jitneys  from  its  streets. 
The  possibility  does  remain  of  further  appeal  of  the  matter  direct  to  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  but  the  decision  by  the  State  Supreme  Court  on  Sept. 
13  denying  the  petition  of  the  jitney  men  for  a  review  of  the  case  by  the  higher 
court  would  appear  to  be  final.  Following  the  Supreme  Court  decision,  the 
remittitur  or  final  order  vacating  the  McGlothern  injunction,  which  has  hitherto 
protected  the  buses  of  the  Sound  Transit  Company,  was  forwarded  to  Major 
Carl  B.  Reeves,  Superintendent  of  Public  Utilities.  He  immediately  notified 
the  jitney  drivers  that  they  were  to  clear  the  streets  of  their  cars.  The  order 
was  compiled  within  an  hour's  time,  and  without  demonstration  or  difficulty 
of  any  kind.  As  a  result  all  jitneys  have  now  been  removed  from  city  streets, 
except  the  six  cars  allowed  to  operate  as  feeders  to  the  Seattle  Municipal  Railway. 


THE  only  recourse  that  the  jitney 
drivers  now  have  is  a  direct  ap- 
peal to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  petitioning  for  a  writ  of 
error.  In  the  event  the  federal  tribunal 
should  grant  the  request  for  a  review 
of  the  case,  the  bus  owners  might  then 
apply  to  the  State  Supreme  Court  for 
a  continuation  of  the  McGlothern  in- 
junction, but  would  have  to  post  a 
bond  conditioning  payment  of  the  dam- 
ages resulting  to  the  railway  from  the 
operation  of  the  jitneys  during  this 
delay. 

In  opposing  the  application  for  a 
writ  of  review  before  the  State  Su- 
preme Court,  Corporation  Counsel 
Walter  F.  Meier  demanded  a  bond  for 
$300,000,  while  attorney  for  the  jit- 
neys asked  that  it  be  placed  at  not  more 
than  $5,000. 

Lower  Fares  in  Sight 

Following  the  removal  of  jitneys, 
Chairman  C.  B.  Fitzgerald  of  the 
finance  committee  of  the  City  Council 
announced  that  he  is  working  on  a 
proposition  to  reduce  fares  on  the 
Municipal  Railway  from  8J  to  6?  or  5 
cents.  Mr.  Fitzgerald  is  conferring 
with  state  accountants,  estimating  the 
cost  of  operating  the  railway,  and 
projecting  into  the  future  possible  sav- 
ings that  may  be  made.  He  states  that 
the  exact  amount  of  revenues  coming 
to  the  railways  as  a  result  of  the  ban 
on  jitneys  cannot  be  exactly  stated  until 
the  receipts  have  been  observed  over  a 
period  of  time,  but  he  expresses  the 
belief  that  these  may  be  sufficient,  with 
ether  savings,  to  make  a  reduction  in 
fares  possible. 

Since  it  acquired  the  railway  lines 
of  the  Puget  Sound  Traction,  Light  & 
Power  Company  on  March  31,  1919,  the 
city  has  been  particularly  energetic  in 
its  efforts  to  rid  the  municipal  railway 
of  jitney  competition,  which  has  bitten 
deeply  into  the  earnings  of  the  lines. 
D.  W.  Henderson,  general  superintend- 
ent of  railways,  on  April  23  of  this 
year,  advised  Mayor  Hugh  M.  Caldwell 
that  on  the  basis  of  jitney  checks  taken 
in  January  of  this  year,  the  municipal 
railways  would  have  an  increase  of  rev- 
enue amounting  to  $350,000,  if  they 
could  handle  all  the  passengers  carried 
on  jitneys  for  a  year,  at  the  8J-cent 
fare  prevailing. 

The  battle  against  the  jitneys  was 
started,  however,   on   Sept.  21,  1916, 


when  an  ordinance  regulating  jitneys 
was  introduced  in  the  City  Council. 
This  ordinance  authorized  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Utilities  to  issue  cer- 
tificates expiring  on  the  last  day  of  each 
year,  indicating  the  route,  terminals 
and  schedule  of  operation.  Appeal 
from  the  decision  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Public  Utilities  was  to  the  Board  of 
Public  Works,  with  further  provision 
for  appeal  to  the  City  Council.  The 
rates  of  fare  provided  were:  adult  pas- 
sengers, 10  cents;  children  under  twelve 
years  of  age,  5  cents. 

On  May  11,  1920,  an  ordinance  (No. 
40886)  was  approved  regulating  jitneys 
which  provided  that  applications  for 
permits  to  operate  should  be  investi- 
gated by  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Utilities,  who  should  submit  report  to 
the  City  Council,  which,  in  turn,  could 
either  grant  or  deny  the  permit.  The 
permits  were  to  specify  route,  terminals, 
schedule  and  rate  of  fare  and  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  passengers  allowed  to 
be  carried  in  the  car  for  which  permit 
was  granted.  Permits  were  to  expire 
on  the  last  day  of  the  year  in  which 
issued. 

Previous  Opinion  Cited 

On  June  9,  1920,  the  United  States 
District  Court  for  the  Western  District 
of  Washington,  Northern  Division,  in 
the  case  of  Schoenfeld  vs.  The  City  of 
Seattle  (Fed.  265-726)  held  that  the 
operation  of  jitney  buses  on  streets 
could  be  denied  or  restricted,  on  the 
theory  that  "the  right  to  use  the  public 
streets  of  a  city  for  the  operation  of 
jitney  buses  thereon  as  a  private  busi- 
ness is  a  matter  of  privilege,  not  of 
right,  and  can  be  prohibited  by  the  city, 
or  permitted,  under  such  terms,  includ- 
ing the  regulation  of  fares,  as  the  city 
may  prescribe." 

On  July  6,  1920,  there  issued  out  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  King  County  in 
the  case  of  H.  P.  McGlothern  vs.  The 
City  of  Seattle,  Restraining  Order  and 
Order  to  Show  Cause,  which  prevented 
the  City  of  Seattle  from  enforcing  the 
provisions  of  Ordinance  No.  40886. 

On  July  6,  1920,  the  City  Council  of 
the  City  of  Seattle  adopted  the  report 
of  its  city  utilities  committee,  reading 
as  follows: 

Your  committee  on  city  utilities  recom- 
mends: That  all  applications  now  pending 
be  denied,  and  that  the  reports  of  the  Su- 
perintendent of  Public  Utilities  thereon  be 
placed  on  file.    That  the  Corporation  Coun- 


572 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


sel  be  requested  to  prepare  such  ordi- 
nance as  may  be  necessary  to  prohibit 
interurban  buses  from  doing  a  local  busi- 
ness within  the  city  limits. 

The  committee,  in  making  the  above 
recommendation  that  applications  for  jit- 
ney permits  now  pending  be  rejected,  which 
applications  were  to  serve  sections  of  the 
city  already  supplied  with  adequate  street 
car  service,  wishes  it  understood  that  bona 
fide  applications  for  permits  to  serve  dis- 
tricts now  without  street  car  facilities  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  people  or  such 
districts  to  reach  the  cars  of  the  Municipal 
Street  Railway  and  be  transported  to  and 
from  their  homes  for  a  10-cent  fare,  divided 
50-50  between  the  jitneys  and  the  street 
railway,  will  be  considered  by  the  com- 
mittee on  their  merits  when  received,  bear- 
ing in  mind  tentative  routes  as  follows: 

From  East  Sixty-fifth  Street  and  Ra- 
venna Boulevard  to  connections  with  Cowen 
Park  and  Ravenna  cars  at  Fourteenth  Ave- 
nue N.  E.  ;  also  from  Fourteenth  Avenue 
N.  E.  and  East  Fortieth  Street  to  the 
Laurelhurst  district ;  also  from  Beacon 
Avenue  and  Spokane  Street  to  Beacon  Ave- 
nue and  Thirty-ninth  Avenue  S.,  and  also 
on  Beach  Drive  from  Orleans  Street  to 
Bruce  Street. 

Routes  Outlined  and  Then  Dropped 

On  July  19,  1920,  temporary  injunc- 
tion was  granted  and  order  signed  in 
the  McGlothern  case. 

On  Aug.  14,  1920,  the  Superintendent 
of  Public  Utilities,  as  a  compromise 
with  the  jitney  interests,  submitted  to 
the  City  Council  various  jitney  routes, 
the  main  purpose  of  which  was  to  keep 
them  away  from  the  street  car  lines, 
thus  providing  service  where  there 
seemed  to  be  a  public  demand.  Owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  jitney  interests 
could  not  come  to  any  agreement  among 
themselves  as  to  the  routings  to  be  ap- 
proved, the  whole  matter  of  routing  was 
dropped  by  the  City  Council. 

On  Nov.  2,  1920,  there  was  submit- 
ted to  the  electorate  of  the  City  of 
Seattle  a  measure  initiated  by  the  jit- 
ney interests,  relating  to  the  operation 
of  jitneys  which  provided,  in  a  manda- 
tory way,  for  the  issuance  by  the  City 
Comptroller  of  permits  immediately 
upon  applications  being  filed  and  show- 
ing being  made  that  surety  bond  re- 
quired under  Chapter  57  of  the  Laws 
of  1915,  had  been  filed  with  the  Sec- 
retary of  State.  The  application  was 
to  specify  the  route,  terminals  and 
schedule.  The  vote  on  this  initiative 
proposition  was  as  follows:  For, 
24,915;  against.  41,364. 

On  Nov.  17,  1920,  the  Superior  Court 
disposed  of  the  temporary  injunction  in 
the  McGlothern  case  by  the  entry  of  a 
judgment  denying  a  permanent  injunc- 
tion. By  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court 
the  city  was  prevented  from  enforcing 
this  ordinance. 

On  April  23,  1921,  the  general  super- 
intendent of  the  municipal  railway  ad- 
vised the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Seattle 
that  on  the  basis  of  jitney  checks  taken 
on  Jan.  26,  1921,  if  the  street  railway 
could  handle  all  of  the  passengers  car- 
ried on  the  jitneys  for  a  year,  at  the 
8J-cent  fare,  the  railway  would  have 
an  increase  of  revenue  amounting  to 
$350,000.  The  check  of  Jan.  26,  1921, 
as  compared  with  the  check  of  Oct.  14, 
1920,  showed  the  following: 

Jan,  26,  Oct.  14, 

1921  1920 

Cars  in  operation                                    119  90 

Passengers  carried                                11,065  8,899 

Number  of  trips                                   1,908  1,633 

On  April  23,  1921,  the  general  super- 
intendent of  railways  submitted  to  the 


Mayor  a  summary  of  jitney  checks 
taken  Saturday,  April  16,  1921,  and 
Tuesday,  April  19,  1921,  which  showed 
2,455  trips  and  16,392  passengers  car- 
ried. 

State  Supreme  Court  Upheld  City's 
Power  of  Regulation 

On  July  20,  1921,  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State  of  Washington,  in  the  Mc- 
Glothern case,  concurred  in  by  five  of 
the  nine  judges  of  the  court,  upheld  the 
city's  power  to  regulate  jitneys  under 
Ordinance  No.  40886.  In  this  case  the 
Corporation  Counsel  secured  an  order 
in  the  Supreme  Court  modifying  the 
terms  of  the  temporary  injunction  so 
that  there  was  no  legal  objection  to 
the  city's  enforcement  of  the  provisions 
of  Ordinance  No.  40886  as  to  all  per- 
sons except  McGlothern  and  the  inter- 
veners in  his  case. 

On  July  28,  1921,  the  Auto  Drivers' 
Union,  Local  No.  234,  the  members  of 
which  were  not  covered  by  the  Mc- 
Glothern injunction,  in  a  communica- 
tion signed  by  its  secretary,  indicated 
its  willingness  to  accept  the  routes  and 
regulations  agreed  upon  by  the  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Utilities. 

On  Aug.  2,  1921,  approximately  160 
of  the  220  jitneys  operating  in  Seattle 
were  advised  by  the  city  that  they 
would  not  be  allowed  to  operate  after 
that  date. 

On  Aug.  3,  1921,  eighteen  jitney  driv- 
ers were  arrested  for  operating  with- 
out a  permit  and  upon  trial  were  fined 
$25  each. 

On  Aug.  3,  1921,  the  attorney  repre- 
senting the  jitneys  which  had  been  ex- 
cluded from  the  public  highways,  ap- 
peared before  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Washington  and  endeav- 
ored to  secure  an  order  allowing  them 
to  intervene  in  the  McGlothern  case, 
but  their  petition  as  granted  was  con- 
strued by  the  Corporation  Counsel  only 
to  allow  them  to  intervene  as  "friends 
of  the  court"  and  not  to  grant  inter- 
vener's rights. 

On  Aug.  19,  1921,  application  for 
rehearing  by  the  Supreme  Court  was 
filed  by  the  plaintiffs  in  the  McGlothern 
case.  The  result  of  the  filing  of  this 
petition  was  to  keep  the  temporary  in- 
junction in  effect. 

Complaint  Made  Against 
Non-Union  Buses 

On  Aug.  26,  1921,  the  secretary  of 
the  Central  Labor  Council  of  the  City 
of  Seattle,  in  a  communication  to  the 
Mayor,  City  Councilmen,  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Utilities,  Corporation 
Counsel  for  the  City  of  Seattle  and 
Prosecuting  Attorney  for  King  County, 
complained  that  "the  union  jitney  buses 
were  put  off  the  streets  while  the  non- 
union buses  continued  to  operate  un- 
molested." 

The  communication  further  advised: 

We  feel  that  a  great  injustice  is  being 
done  our  members  through  this  action  and 
desire  to  request  that  you  use  your  best 
offices  to  the  end  that  a  square  deal  may 
be  given  the  union  boys  by  allowing  them 
to  operate  until  such  time  as  you  are  in 
a  position  to  make  the  order  prohibiting 
them  from  using  the  streets  to  apply  to 
all  alike,  whether  union  or  non-union. 


Chicago  Fare  Case  to  Start 
on  Oct.  3 

Taking  of  evidence  in  the  fare  case 
against  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines  will 
begin  on  Oct  3.  Announcement  to  this 
effect  was  made  by  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  on  Sept.  16  at  the 
conclusion  of  arguments  lasting  three 
days.  The  companies,  through  Attor- 
ney Harry  P.  Weber,  had  contended 
that  the  commission  had  no  right  to 
disturb  the  present  situation  on  peti- 
tion of  the  city  because  of  the  pendency 
.  of  appeals  brought  by  the  city  against 
the  existing  fare  order.  Chairman 
Smith  stated  that  the  commission  was 
not  bound  by  strict  rules  of  pleading 
observed  in  the  courts.  He  said  the 
essential  issue  is  the  reasonableness  of 
rates  of  fare  charged  by  the  companies 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  commission  to 
determine  this  as  soon  as  possible. 

It  is  likely  that  the  hearings  before 
the  new  commission  will  be  extensive. 
The  former  commission  spent  more 
than  a  year  on  the  case  which  resulted 
in  the  fixing  of  an  8-cent  fare  on  July 
1,  1920,  and  a  valuation  last  November. 
The  new  state  and  city  administrations 
are  pledged  to  give  a  5-cent  fare  if  pos- 
sible and  it  has  been  claimed  that  this 
can  be  done  by  the  institution  of  econo- 
mies. The  companies  have  shown  by 
figures  that  a  reduction  of  even  1  cent 
in  the  rate  of  fare  would  have  to  be 
accompanied  by  a  large  wage  decrease 
and  that  a  6-cent  or  5-cent  fare  is  im- 
possible. 

Hearings  on  the  question  of  reducing 
fares  on  the  Chicago  Elevated  Railroads 
were  started  before  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  on  Sept.  27.  The 
company  was  cited  to  appear  before  the 
commission.  This  was  said  to  be  a  sur- 
prise to  the  city  authorities  who  had 
been  centering  their  attack  on  the  Chi- 
cago Surface  Lines.  The  elevated  lines 
have  had  a  10-cent  fare  with  four 
tickets  for  35  cents  since  last  August. 
According  to  President  Britton  I.  Budd 
this  is  not  an  excessive  charge  and  he 
recently  gave  out  some  figures  that  the 
company  was  earning  only  3  per  cent 
on  the  valuation  of  $86,250,000  fixed  by 
the  former  commission. 

The  statement  of  President  Budd 
showed  that  the  earnings  after  operat- 
ing charges  were  $2,590,804  for  the 
year  ended  June  30.  After  taking  out 
interest  charges  there  remained  only 
$102,016,  compared  with  $97,817  for  the 
previous  year. 


City  Must  Respect  the  Law 

Supreme  Court  Justice  Cropsey  in 
Brooklyn  has  granted  an  injunction  re- 
straining George  Cornell  from  operating 
a  bus  line  to  Far  Rockaway  from  Rock- 
away,  in  competition  with  the  Ocean 
Electric  Railway.  The  court  held  the  bus 
line  is  being  operated  without  a  proper 
franchise.    Justice  Cropsey  said: 

There  is  no  emergency  shown  here.  It 
may  be  that  more  transit  facilities  are 
needed  in  the  section  in  question,  but  if 
so  the  city  should  act  in  accordance  with 
the  law  and  have  the  service  improved. 
The  city  cannot  and  should  not  proceed 
in  an  illegal  manner. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


573 


Jersey  Appeal  Concluded 

Argument  Finished  to  Permit  Railway 
to  Charge  Ten  Cents  Despite 
Commission  Ruling 

Decision  has  been  reserved  by  Fed- 
eral Judges  Rellstab  and  Davis  of  the 
Trenton  District  and  Federal  Judge 
Victor  Wooley  of  Delaware  on  the  ap- 
plication of  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Newark,  N.  J.,  to  enjoin  the 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners 
of  New  Jersey  from  interfering  with 
the  establishment  by  the  company  of  a 
10-cent  fare.  Argument  was  concluded 
at  Trenton  on  Sept.  26,  the  case  hav- 
ing been  reopened  to  give  interested 
municipalities  a  day  in  court  as  co-de- 
fendants. 

Cities  Allowed  to  Intervene 

Argument  in  behalf  of  the  munici- 
palities generally  was  made  by  George 
L.  Record  and  Frank  H.  Sommer.  Mr. 
Record  contended  that  the  purpose  of 
the  company  in  the  present  proceedings 
is  to  establish,  through  the  granting  of 
a  temporary  injunction,  a  rate  based 
upon  the  high  prices  and  cost  of  oper- 
ation prevailing  during  the  war  and 
the  immediate  post-war  period.  Final 
determination  of  the  proceedings,  he 
predicted,  would  consume  three  or  four 
years,  and  in  the  meantime,  if  the  com- 
pany's application  prevailed,  the  public 
will  be  compelled  to  pay  exorbitant 
rates  or  will  be  forced  to  assume  the 
burden  of  proof  in  a  litigation  to  force 
a  modification  of  rates. 

E.  G.  C.  Bleakley,  as  counsel  for 
Camden,  made  the  point  that  the  prac- 
tical effect  of  a  10-cent  fare  will  be  to 
decrease  rather  than  to  increase  the 
gross  receipts  and  that  Camden,  as 
well  as  other  municipalities  which  tax 
the  company  on  the  basis  of  receipts, 
will  be  a  consequent  loser.  Conceding 
for  the  purpose  of  argument  that  the 
company  needs  additional  revenue,  Mr. 
Bleakley  said  it  is  for  the  court  to  de- 
termine whether  a  10-cent  fare  will  ac- 
complish that  result.  Another  point 
urged  by  Mr.  Bleakley  was  that  any 
rate  fixed  should  not  he  limited  solely 
to  cash  fares,  but  that  strip  tickets 
should  be  issued  at  reduced  rates.  The 
practical  effect  of  this,  he  said,  would 
be  to  increase  the  number  of  riders  and 
to  lessen  the  delay  of  collecting  fares, 
especially  during  rush  hours. 

At  the  hearing  before  the  court  on 
Sept.  15  argument  by  L.  Edward  Herr- 
mann, counsel  for  the  Public  Service 
Commission,  was  concluded.  He  in- 
sisted, in  short,  that  due  consideration 
had  been  given  by  the  commission  to 
all  the  questions  involved  in  the  valua- 
tion. Mr.  Herrmann  sought  to  have 
admitted  as  evidence  more  than  13,000 
pages  of  testimony  taken  by  the  board 
in  the  rate  case  and  about  600  exhibits, 
but  the  court  ruled  that  only  such  parts 
of  this  record  as  were  pertinent  would 
be  admitted. 

The  methods  used  by  Colonel  Black 
in  the  so-called  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis 
appraisal  were  attacked  by  the  counsel 
for  the  commission,  but  Judge  Wooley 
said  that  to  his  mind  it  did  not  make 


any  difference  how  the  board  arrived 
at  a  valuation.  If  the  valuation  was 
right,  it  was  right  and  the  plaintiff  was 
out  of  court.  If  it  was  wrong,  there 
might  be  confiscation  of  property.  That 
was  the  real  question  to  be  settled  in 
the  federal  court.  The  issue  turned 
between  the  valuation  of  the  board  and 
that  of  the  company.  Judge  Wooley  in- 
dicated that  the  desire  of  the  court 
was  to  have  the  utility  commission 
answer  in  detail  the  charges  of  the 
company. 

Mr.  Herrmann  cited  the  opinion  of 
Justice  Hughes  in  the  Minnesota  rate 
case  where  it  was  held  that  valuation 
in  abnormal  times  must  be  a  matter  of 
judgment  and  reason  coupled  with  the 
cost  to  reproduce  the  property.  He 
regarded  it  as  unreasonable  that  the 
railway,  which  never  paid  a  dividend  in 
excess  of  3  per  cent,  should  now  be 
seeking  a  return  of  7  per  cent. 

Attorney-General  McCran  argued 
for  the  State.  He  contended  that  the 
court  could  not  fix  a  rate,  but  that  the 
state  could.  The  court  could  only  con- 
sider the  question  whether  or  not  the 
utility  commission  had  fixed  a  rate 
which  was  confiscatory.  Mr.  McCran 
insisted  that  there  had  been  a  return 
of  7  per  cent  to  the  company  on  stock 
if  proper  allowance  were  made  for  the 
rentals  paid  to  the  subsidiary  com- 
panies. In  short,  he  insisted  that  un- 
less the  court  decided  the  members  of 
the  commission  were  incompetent,  the 
court  must  accept  their  finding  as  conv 
petent  and  just. 

Company  Must  Have  Relief 

Richard  V.  Lindabury  concluded  the 
argument  for  the  company  and  closed 
the  case.  He  said  that  the  situation 
was  such  that  unless  the  court  granted 
relief  the  company  must  lose  its  prop- 
erties, with  great  loss  to  stock  and  bond- 
holders and  inconvenience  to  riders.  He 
declared  it  was  a  matter  of  mathe- 
matics. Prices  of  all  things  were  more 
than  double  while  the  fare  was  but  a 
little  more.  In  detail  he  showed  that  the 
increase  in  the  price  of  labor  ordered 
by  the  War  Labor  Board  resulted  in 
doubling  the  wages  the  company  was 
obliged  to  pay.  He  told  of  all  mate- 
rials increasing  in  price  200  to  300  per- 
cent and  went  into  the  merits  of  all  ap- 
plications of  the  company  to  get  "a 
just  and  equitable  rate"  from  the 
utility  board,  and  ended  by  declaring 
that  the  utility  board  had  not  risen  to 
the  full  heights  of  its  duty  to  protect 
the  company.  He  defended  the  action 
of  the  company  in  appealing  to  the 
federal  court  to  prevent  the  confiscation 
of  the  property  by  the  rate  fixed  by  the 
utility  board. 

The  commission  recently  allowed  the 
company  an  increase  of  from  1  to  2 
cents  on  its  transfers,  but  refused  to 
allow  more  than  a  7-cent  fare.  In- 
stead of  taking  this  ruling  to  the  state 
courts,  the  company  sought  a  prelimi- 
nary injunction  in  the  federal  court, 
claiming  the  order  violated  the  federal 
constitution  in  that  it  was  confiscatory 
and  if  allowed  to  stand  the  company 
would  be  forced  into  bankruptcy. 


1  ransportation  | 
News  Notes 

Fare  Boxes  Pay  Big. — -Fare  boxes  re- 
cently installed  on  cars  of  the  Com- 
munity Traction  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio, 
cost  $90,000  for  the  equipment  and  in- 
stallation. They  have  paid  for  them- 
selves twice  over  in  three  months,  de- 
clares Street  Railway  Commissioner 
Wilfred  E.  Cann. 

Tokens  Will  Replace  Tickets — Metal 
tokens  will  replace  paper  tickets  on 
the  lines  of  the  East  St.  Louis  &  Sub- 
urban Railway,  East  St.  Louis,  111., 
according  to  a  recent  announcement  of 
W.  H.  Sawyer,  president  of  the  com- 
pany. The  tokens  can  be  purchased  at 
the  rate  of  two  for  15  cents,  the  cash 
fare  remaining  at  8  cents. 

Uniform  Stage  Rate  Authorized — On 
Sept.  7  the  United  States  Stage  Line, 
operating  between  Los  Angeles  and  Im- 
perial Valley  points,  was  authorized 
by  the  California  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission to  place  its  rates  on  a  uniform 
basis  of  3J  cents  a  mile.  This  will  result 
in  sixty-three  reductions  and  21  in- 
creases in  the  stage  company's  rate 
schedule  according  to  the  announcement 
of  the  commission. 

All  One-Man  Cars  in  St.  Thomas. — 
The  St.  Thomas  (Ont.)  Municipal 
Street  Railway  has  converted  all  cars 
for  one-man  operation.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  change  has  resulted  in  im- 
proved service  and  financial  advantage. 
Acting  under  recent  provincial  legisla- 
tion the  city  started  a  Sunday  service 
this  year,  bu£  the  railway  committee 
has  advised  Council  to  discontinue  Sun- 
day operation  as  it  is  a  losing  venture. 

Louisville  Hearing  in  November — 
The  City  of  Louisville,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  City  Attorney  Joseph  F.  Lawton 
and  his  assistant,  is  busy  preparing  the 
city's  side  of  the  argument  in  the  suit 
which  is  pending  against  the  Louisville 
Railway,  the  city  disputing  the  right  of 
the  defendant  to  charge  a  7-cent  fare, 
the  collection  of  which  was  authorized 
by  decision  of  Judge  Evans  of  the  Fed- 
eral District  Court.  The  case  was  car- 
ried to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  and  it  is  expected  that  a  hearing 
will  be  set  for  some  time  in  November. 

Jitney  Ordinance  Upheld.  —  Judge 
Dew  in  the  Circuit  Court  at  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  on  Sept.  17  upheld  the  city 
ordinance  that  requires  jitney  operators 
to  secure  the  signatures  of  51  per  cent 
of  property  owners  on  street  over  which 
they  operate.  The  court  denied  a 
restraining  order  that  would  have  pre- 
vented the  city  from  interfering  with 
jitney  operators  under  the  ordinance 
and  declared  the  city  has  full  control 
over  streets.  Mayor  Cowgill  followed 
the  ruling  with  an  order  to  arrest  all 
jitney  men  violating  the  ordinance,  in- 
cluding those  taking  "gifts"  for  rides 
in  cars  labeled,  "this  ride  is  free." 


574 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


Mr.  Brown  Back  in  Buffalo 

After  Four  Years  in  New  Orleans  He 
Becomes  General  Manager  of  Two 
Separate  Properties 

Nelson  H.  Brown  has  been  appointed 
general  manager  of  the  Buffalo  &  Lack- 
awanna Traction  Company  and  also 
general  manager  of  the  Depew  &  Lan- 
caster Railway  Corporation,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.  These  two  companies  are  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  properties,  the  Buffalo 
&  Lackawanna  Traction  Company  being 
in  charge  of  Harry  Evers,  while  the 
Depew  &  Lancaster  Railway  is  owned 
by  local  interests  and  has  as  its  presi- 
dent John  J.  Lenahan,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Prior  to  being  identified  with  these 
two  companies,  Mr.  Brown  was  for  four 


panies  radiating  from  Worcester.  He 
held  this  position  until  September,  1912, 
when  he  resigned  to  accept  the  position 
of  superintendent,  claim  agent  and 
roadmaster  of  the  Albany  Southern 
Railway  with  headquarters  at  Rens- 
selaer, N.  Y. 

Mr.  Brown  remained  with  the  Albany 
Southern  Railway  until  Jan.  1,  1913, 
when  he  was  induced  to  accept  a  posi- 
tion as  assistant  superintendent  of 
transportation  of  the  International 
Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  on  account  of 
the  broader  field  of  opportunities  which 
the  position  with  that  company  opened 
to  him.  On  Jan.  1  of  the  same  year  he 
was  promoted  to  the  position  of  super- 
intendent of  the  Buffalo  division  and  in 
November,  1915,  was  made  general 
superintendent  of  the  company.  The 
International  Railway  operates  all  of 
the  street  railway  lines  in  the  cities 
of  Buffalo,  Niagara  Falls  and  Lockport, 
including  many  interconnecting  inter- 
urban  lines.  In  1917  Mr.  Brown  was 
transferred  from  this  position  to  that 
of  manager  of  the  electric  railway 
properties  of  the  New  Orleans  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  both  of  which  are 
subsidiaries  of  the  United  Gas  &  Elec- 
tric Corporation. 


connection  with  the  organization  and  the 
transfer  of  the  properties  acquired  have 
been  accomplished,  and  the  properties  are 
now  being  operated  by  the  company,  it  is 
apparent  that  the  time  has  come  for  the 
election  of  a  permanent  president ;  and 
I,  therefore,  hereby  tender  my  resignation 
of  the  office  of  president,  to  take  effect 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  board,  but  not  later 
than  Oct.  1,  1921. 


N.  H.  Brown 


years  manager  of  the  New  Orleans 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  New  Or- 
leans, La.,  and  before  going  there  was 
for  five  years  general  superintendent 
of  the  International  Railway,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.  In  all,  he  has  spent  twenty-seven 
consecutive  years  in  street  railway 
work. 

Mr.  Brown  is  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
where  he  remained  until  the  age  of 
eighteen,  when  he  accepted  a  position 
with  the  New  York  Central  Railroad 
in  the  mechanical  department  at  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y.,  in  1891.  He  continued 
with  the  New  York  Central  until  1894 
when  he  entered  the  street  railway  field 
with  the  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Rail- 
way as  a  conductor  and  motorman.  He 
was  subsequently  promised  to  the  posi- 
tions of  station  clei"-^,  station  foreman 
and  supervisor,  when  in  February,  1907, 
he  resigned  to  become  identified  with 
the  Worcester  (Mass.)  Consolidated 
Street  Railway  as  general  inspector  for 
the  purpose  of  making  an  investigation 
of  the  property. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  Mr. 
Brown  was  made  superintendent  of  the 
Worcester  &  South  Bridge  Street  Rail- 
way, which  controls  several  small  corn- 


United  Electric  Official  Resigns 

Requesting  that  he  be  relieved  of  his 
duties  not  later  than  Oct.  1,  Zenas  W. 
Bliss,  one  of  the  state's  representatives 
on  the  board  of  directors  of  the  United 
Electric  Railways,  Providence,  R.  I.,  has 
resigned  as  president  of  the  corpoi*ation. 
His  resignation  was  received  by  the 
directors  at  their  last  meeting,  but  was 
then  laid  on  the  table  for  action  at 
some  future  time. 

Bank  Commissioner  George  H.  New- 
hall,  the  other  representative  of  the 
state  on  the  company's  board  of  direc- 
tors, was  elected  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  corporation  when  the  tem- 
porary officers  were  chosen.  Although 
he  has  not  yet  resigned  from  those 
posts,  it  was  said  that  such  action  on 
his  part  would  not  come  as  a  surprise. 

Mr.  Bliss  was  elected  president  of  the 

company  when  the  temporary  officers 

were  chosen  and  gives  as  the  reason 

for  his  resignation  at  this  time  the  fact 

that  the  affairs  of  the  new  organization 

are  now  in  shape  for  the  election  of  a 

permanent  president.    His  letter  to  the 

directors  is  as  follows: 

As  one  of  the  incorporators  of  United 
Electric  Railways,  chartered  in  1919,  I 
assisted  in  the  steps  taken  preliminary  to 
organization  under  the  charter,  and  was 
made  temporary  president  upon  organiza- 
tion. Later  permanent  directors  were 
chosen  by  the  stockholders.  I  was  ap- 
pointed a  director  by  the  Governor  under 
the  charter  provisions,  and  was  retained 
as  temporary  president.  Authorization  for 
the  issue  of  securities  was  duly  obtained, 
the  properties  of  the  traction  system  were 
acquired,  and  subsequently  the  properties 
owned  by  the  Rhode  Island  Company  were 
purchased. 

As  all  things  necessary  to  be  done  in 


Mr.  Buchanan  Resigns 

Will  Leave  Richmond  to  Develop  an<3£ 
Expand  the  Trackless  Trans- 
portation Field 

C.  B.  Buchanan  resigned  on  Sept.  27 
as  vice-president  and  general  manager 
in  charge  of  operation  of  the  Virginia 
Railway  &  Power  Company,  Richmond, 
Va.  His  resignation  was  accepted  by 
the  board  of  directors  effective  Oct.  1. 
He  has  been  connected  with  the  Vir- 
ginia Railway  &  Power  Company  since 
its  reorganization  in  1909  and  is  known 
as  an  expert  in  railway  transportation 
and  operation. 

Mr.  Buchanan  designed  and  drew  the 


C.  B.  Buchanan 


specifications  for  the  Atlas-General 
Electric  trolley  bus  which  was  recently 
given  a  demonstration  in  Richmond  and 
Norfolk  and  which  the  Virginia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company  expects  to  in- 
troduce there  shortly  as  a  commercial 
venture.  He  will  go  into  business  on 
his  own  account,  opening  an  office  in 
New  York  City  for  the  development  of 
the  trackless  trolley  through  the  in- 
stallation of  trollibus  lines  and  sales  of 
cars. 

Mr.  Buchanan  expressed  the  view  re- 
cently that  the  trackless  trolley  was 
the  coming  thing  in  the  electric  trans- 
portation field  and  said  he  expected  to 
handle  the  development  of  the  trollibus 
throughout  the  country. 

The  board  of  directors  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Railway  &  Power  Company 
abolished  the  office  of  vice-president  in 
charge  of  operation,  devolving  the  gen- 
eral duties  of  that  office  on  the  office  of 
President  Thomas  S.  Wheelwright.  The 
office  of  general  manager  is  divided. 
John  E.  Harvell  was  appointed  general 
manager  of  the  Richmond  and  Peters- 
burg lines  and  T.  Norman  Jones,  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Norfolk  and  Ports- 
mouth lines. 


October  1,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


575 


Mr.  Buchanan  entered  the  electric 
railway  field  as  treasurer  and  auditor 
of  the  Memphis  &  Raleigh  Springs 
Railroad,  Memphis,  Tenn.,  in  1891. 
After  the  sale  and  consolidation  of  the 
city  and  suburban  railways  in  Memphis 
two  years  later,  he  tcck  up  the  con- 
struction and  operation  of  railways  and 
lighting  plants  throughout  the  State  of 
Mississippi  and  later  managed  the  rail- 
way and  lighting  plant  at  Meridian, 
Miss. 

Leaving  there  in  190],  Mr.  Buchanan 
accepted  positions  as  division  superin- 
tendent of  the  Richmond  Passenger  & 
Power  Company  and  general  agent  of 
the  Richmond  &  Petersburg  Electric 
Railway.  Subsequently  he  served  the 
several  consolidated  companies  in  Rich- 
mond as  superintendent  of  transporta- 
tion. 

Made  Head  of  Railway  Properties 

With  the  reorganization  of  the  rail- 
way and  lighting  properties  in  Rich- 
mond, Manchester  and  Petersburg  by 
the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany in  July,  1909,  the  title  of  general 
manager  was  abolished  and  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan was  appointed  operator  of 
railways  with  the  title  of  general  su- 
perintendent of  railways.  In  July, 
1911,  when  the  railway,  lighting  and 
gas  properties  of  the  Norfolk  &  Ports- 
mouth Traction  Company,  operating  in 
Norfolk,  Portsmouth  uad  Suffolk,  were 
purchased  by  the  Virginia  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Mr.  Buchanan  was 
appointed  general  manager  of  the  com- 
bined properties. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT  ' 


Harry  C.  Stevenson,  assistant  to  the 
president,  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  returned  recently  from 
Belmar  where  he  has  been  recuperating 
all  summer  from  an  operation.  His 
associates  have  missed  him  a  great  deal 
and  are  glad  to  have  him  back. 

S.  B.  Irelan  was  recently  appointed 
receiver  and  general  manager  of  the 
Montgomery  Light  &  Traction  Com- 
pany, Mantgomery,  Ala.,  to  succeed 
Ray  Rushton,  resigned.  Until  this  ap- 
pointment Mr.  Irelan  was  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Mont- 
gomery Light  &  Water  Power  Com- 
pany to  which  office  he  was  elected  in 
1917. 

Elmer  P.  Haw,  who  occupies  me  posi- 
tion of  superintendent  of  the  street 
railway  lines  of  the  Panama  Electric 
Company,  Panama,  is  now  in  the  United 
States  visiting  his  brother  in  Daven- 
port, Iowa.  Mr.  Haw  is  visiting  in 
the  states  far  the  first  time  in  ten  years 
as  he  has  lived  in  Central  America  since 
early  manhood.  He  is  by  profession  a 
civil  engineer  and  has  managed  the 
street  car  lines  of  Panama  City  for  the 
past  10  years.  Twenty-five  cars  are 
operated  in  Panama  City  over  15  miles 
of  track.  Mr.  Haw  states  that  the 
citizens  of  Panama  City  are  now  con- 
sidering the  introducing  of  one-man 
cars.  While  in  Davenport  Mr.  Haw  in- 
tends to  inspect  the  street  car  system 
there  for  suggestions  in  improving  the 
line  he  superintends  in  Panama  City. 


ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES 


Railway  Equipment  at  a  Level, 
Says  W.  H.  Heulings,  Jr. 

Prices  for  electric  railway  equipment 
reached  their  peak  in  October,  1920,  says 
W.  H.  Heulings,  Jr.,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  sales  of  the  J.  G. 
Brill  Company,  writing  in  the  Septem- 
ber issue  of  Aera. 

After  October,  1920,  there  was  a  de- 
cided drop,  he  says,  which  by  Jan.  1, 
1921,  was  twenty-five  per  cent  under 
the  high  peak.  This  was  followed  by  an 
additional  sixteen  per  cent  by  April  1. 

Mr.  Heulings  believes  a  reduction  in 
cost  of  labor  and  raw  materials  brought 
about  this  condition.  He  thinks  prices 
for  rolling  stock,  which  have  not  varied 
for  three  or  four  months,  will  long 
continue  at  the  present  level. 

Price  adjustment,  he  says,  will  be 
gradual  and  take  a  long  time.  He  be- 
lieves some  business  Can  be  done  more 
advantageously  now,  as  the  return  that 
new  equipment  will  earn  will  be  in  ex- 
cess of  any  reductions  in  initial  cost 
that  can  be  expected  in  the  near  future. 


Price  of  Conduit  Reduced  Nearly 
7  per  Cent 

Rigid  iron  conduit  reacted  to  a  further 
price  drop  on  Sept.  16.  Card  48  was 
issued  as  of  that  date,  placing  discounts 
four  points  higher.  In  carload  lots 
1-in.  black  now  takes  45  per  cent  and 
j-in.  white  takes  39  per  cent  discount. 
The.~e  figures  are  the  same  as  those 
issued  under  date  of  Feb.  15.  1917, 
showing  pipe  to  be  back  to  where  it 
was  four  and  one-half  years  ago. 
Meanwhile  the  discounts  have  been  re- 
duced to  a  low  figure  of  21  per  cent — 
a  record  high  price  in  May,  1917,  since 
which  time  they  have  tended  upward 
to  the  present  figure. 


Department  of  Commerce  to 
Publish  Statistics  on  Wire 

Representatives  of  thirty-four  bare 
and  insulated  copper-wire  manufactur- 
ers met  at  the  Hotel  Commodore,  New 
York,  on  Sept.  13  to  discuss  the  advisa- 
bility of  asking  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce to  include  wire  production  sta- 
tistics in  its  "Monthly  Survey  of  Cur- 
rent Business."  About  two-thirds  of 
those  present  voted  to  furnish  the  nec- 
essary figures,  three  objected,  and  the 
rest  preferred  to  defer  decision  until 
they  had  had  more  time  to  consider  the 
matter.  There  was  every  assurance  at 
the  meeting  that,  provided  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  would  collect,  tabu- 
late and  print  such  wire  statistics,  at 
least  60  per  cent  of  the  copper-wire  pro- 
ducers of  the  country  would  be  repre- 
sented at  the  outset. 

W.  M.  Steuart,  director  of  the  De- 
partment of  Commerce,  who  is  director 


BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


of  the  survey,  was  present  and  de- 
scribed the  department's  plan  and 
method  of  working.  Statistics  are  fur- 
nished at  the  department's  request. 
These  are  tabulated  and  printed 
monthly,  and  individual  reports  are 
kept  entirely  confidential.  The  definite 
form  of  report  which  the  manufactur- 
ers will  recommend  to  the  Department 
of  Commerce  is  now  under  considera- 
tion by  a  committee. 


Brazilian  Market  for  Railway 
Equipment 

Since  1914  new  railway  construction 
in  Brazil  has  been  limited  and  only 
restricted  quantities  of  rolling  stock 
purchased,  with  the  result  that  the 
present  mileage  and  somewhat  deteri- 
orated equipment  are  entirely  inade- 
quate for  the  growing  needs  of  the 
country,  according  to  the  Bureau  of 
Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce.  A 
crisis  has  developed  in  the  Rio  Grande 
railway  system  where  the  farms  of 
the  interior  have  produced  more  than 
the  carrying  capacity  of  the  railways. 
Similar  troubles  are  experienced  in 
ether  districts.  More  or  less  additional 
equipment  is  needed  for  all  the  lines, 
of  which  there  is  a  total  of  17,477 
miles. 

Both  the  Government  and  private 
railways  are  unable  to  purchase  the 
rolling  stock  or  make  the  extensions  so 
urgently  needed,  although  some  new 
purchases  are  under  consideration  and 
a  small  amount  of  new  construction  in 
progress.  This  inability  is  due  to  re- 
duced receipts,  resulting  from  reduced 
foreign  trade,  and  the  fact  that  public 
sentiment  opposes  any  increase  in  the 
rates,  and  the  reduced  value  of  the  cur- 
rency as  compared  with  the  pound  or 
dollar. 

Although  the  present  market  for 
rolling  stock  is  obviously  far  below  the 
actual  needs  of  the  country,  it  is  still 
important.  Approximately  50  steam 
and  electric  locomotives  have  recently 
been  shipped  from  factories  in  the 
United  States  or  are  in  course  of  con- 
struction here.  Further  electrification 
and  more  business  are  expected. 

The  market  for  rolling  stock  is  at 
present  largely  limited  to  the  Rio 
Grande  system  (government  owned); 
the  three  lines  of  the  State  of  Sao 
Paulo,  viz.,  the  Paulista,  the  Mogyana, 
and  the  Sorocabana;  the  Central  of 
Brazil  (government  owned);  and  the 
Insoectoria  Federal  das  Obras  Contra 
as  Seccas.  The  last-mentioned  is  the 
administrative  bureau  in  charge  of  the 
reclamation  projects  being  carried  out 
in  Ceare  and  the  adjoining  states.  The 
Noroeste,  the  Oeste  de  Minas,  the 
Viacao  Bahiana.  and  the  Ferrocarril  de 
Goyaz  have  all  had  certain  sums  placed 


576 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  14 


at  their  disposal  from  the  Federal 
budget  for  the  purchase  of  limited 
quantities  of  materials.  Other  busi- 
ness would  develop  rapidly  if  the  finan- 
cial and  legal  obstacles  could  be  over- 
come. 

The  United  States  has  long  held  an 
unusually  strong  position  in  the  Brazil- 
ian market  for  rolling  stock,  due  largely 
to  the  pioneering  of  some  of  our  man- 
ufacturers of  such  equipment.  Of  the 
importations  of  rolling  stock  practically 
all  during  the  years  1917  and  1918  was 
shipped  from  the  United  States. 


Chilean  Contract  Awarded 

Westinghouse  Company  Closes  $7,000,- 
000  Deal  for  Electrification  of 
Chilean  State  Railway 

Westinghouse  Electric  International 
Company  has  announced  that  it  has 
received  final  confirmation  of  the  con- 
tract to  supply  the  equipment  for  elec- 
trifying the  Chilean  State  Railway 
between  Valparaiso  and  Santiago  and 
to  Los  Andes. 

The  contract  received  from  the 
Chilean  Government  through  the  com- 
pany's Chilean  agents,  Errazuriz, 
Simpson  &  Company,  associated  with 
Spruille  Braden,  New  York,  covers  the 
most  important  railway  electrification 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  the 
largest  ever  undertaken  by  an  Amer- 
ican firm  outside  of  the  United  States. 
The  main  line,  which  is  116  miles  long 
and  is  now  under  steam  operation,  is 
the  most  important  in  Chile.  It  con- 
nects the  leading  seaport,  Valparaiso, 
with  the  capital,  while  the  line  to  Los 
Andes  is  28  miles  long  and  forms  the 
Chilean  end  of  the  transcontinental  line 
to  Buenos  Aires. 

The  contract,  which  has  a  total  value 
of  $7,000,000,  was  secured  in  spite  of 
keen  competition  from  German  and 
other  European  concerns.  The  award 
was  given  to  the  American  firm  because 
of  its  more  complete  and  accurate 
engineering  analysis  of  the  proposition 
as  well  as  its  lower  price. 

The  equipment  to  be  furnished  con- 
sists of  eleven  passenger  locomotives, 
fifteen  road  freight  locomotives  and 
seven  switching  locomotives,  together 
with  five  4,000-kw.  substations.  The 
3,000-volt  direct  current  system  will  be 
used  and  all  standards  will  be  strictly 
American  in  character.  Capacity  of 
this  equipment  will  be  50  per  cent 
greater  than  the  present  traffic  de- 
mands, and  the  plans  have  been  so 
drawn  that  an  increase  of  traffic  capac- 
ity to  three  times  the  present  amount 
can  be  readily  accommodated.  Owing  to 
the  abundance  of  water  power  in  Chile 
and  the  high  price  of  fuel,  all  of  the 
Chilean  railways  will  eventually  be 
electrified  and  the  present  project  is 
the  first  step  in  this  process. 

This  contract  represents  the  third 
large  order  for  electric  railway  sup- 
plies received  by  Westinghouse  Inter- 
national Company  from  foreign  coun- 
tries in  the  past  few  months.  The 
other  two  came  from  France  and  Japan. 
Errazuriz,  Simpson  &  Company  will 
build  the  overhead  trolley  construction. 


s 


Rolling  Stock 


Gadsden,  Bellevue  &  Lookout  Mountain 
Railway,  Gadsdlen,  Ala.,  expects  to  pur- 
chase in  the  near  future  two  one-man  cars. 

Delta  Light  &  Traction  Company,  Green- 
ville, Miss.,  recently  purchased  from  the 
American  Car  Company,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  two 
Birney  safety  cars. 

Eastern  Pennsylvania  Railways,  Potts- 
ville,  Pa.,  recently  purchased  a  Russell  30- 
ft.  combination  car  with  B-6  trucks  and 
with  two  steel  single-track  snow-plow  noses. 

Hutchinson  (Kan.)  Interurbaii  Railway 
is  at  present  in  the  market  for  sufficient 
car  seats  for  five  cars  which  are  being 
overhauled  and  re-equipped. 

Hull  (Que.)  Electric  Company,  according 
to  G.  Gordon  Gale,  vice-president  and  gen- 
eral manager,  has  recently  placed  an  order 
with  the  Ottawa  Car  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany for  2  one-man  safety  car  bodies. 

Evansville,  Suburban  &  Newburgh  Rail- 
way, Evansville,  Ind.,  is  now  in  the  market 
for  from  15  to  25  used  80,000-lb.  capacity 
fiat-bottom  gondola  cars,  according  to  in- 
formation received  from  Gus  Muhlhausen, 
president  and  general  manager  of  the 
company. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Illinois  Central  Electric  Railway,  Canton, 

III.,  expects  to  build  a  switch  to  the  Buck- 
heart  Coal  Company  in  Pulton  County,  111. 

Toronto  (Ont.)  Can.,  The  Transportation 
Commission  has  bought  land  for  a  car  line 
loop  at  the  Bloor  and  Jane  Streets  Ter- 
minus. 

Trenton  &  Mercer  County  Traction  Cor- 
poration, Trenton,  N.  J.,  has  been  granted 
permission  by  the  Trenton  City  Commission 
to  lay  double  tracks  on  Pennington  Avenue, 
from  North  Warren  to  Willow  Streets. 

Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass.,  has  started  on  an  improve- 
ment in  Central  Street.  Lowell.  The  work 
consists  of  the  removal  of  old  rails  between 
Market  Street  and  Towers  Corner  and  the 
laying  of  new  ones.  The  work  will  cost 
about  $10,000  and  will  take  about  two 
months  to  complete. 

Dallas-Terrell  (Tex.)  Interurban  Railway, 
which  is  to  be  built  by  Strickland  interests, 
may  be  extended  from  Terrell  to  Tyler. 
This  extension,  which  would  be  nearly  100 
miles  long  and  would  traverse  a  rich  agri- 
cultural section  of  Texas,  is  being  sought 
by  residents  of  Canton  and  other  cities  and 
towns  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  ex- 
tension. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Eos  Angeles, 
Cal.,  has  been  ordered  to  do  repair  work 
on  the  East  Orange  Grove  and  East  Wash- 
ington Street  lines  in  Pasadena.  On  the 
East  Orange  Grove  line  the  railway  will 
repair  its  right-of-way  between  Hill  Avenue 
and  the  east  end  of  the  line.  On  the  East 
Washington  Street  line  the  work  to  be 
done  will  be  between  Los  Robles  Avenue 
and  the  east  city  limits. 

Columbus  (Ga.)  Railroad  has  completed 
its  paving  along  Hamilton  Avenue.  New 
rails  and  ties  have  also  been  put  down. 
Work  of  paving  between  the  tracks  from 
Seventeenth  to  Thirtieth  Street  has  also 
been  completed,  keeping  pace  wi*h  the 
work  of  paving  done  by  the  city  on  Second 
Avenue.  It  was  stated  recently  that  the 
city  may  extend  its  paving  on  Second  Ave- 
nue from  Thirtieth  Street  to  Thirty-first 
Street,  in  which  event  the  company  would 
also  pave  along  its  tracks  this  additional 
distance — about  1,000  ft. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Toronto  (Ont.)  Can.,  The  Transportation 
Commission  will  build  an  automatic  sub- 
station on  Eglinton  Avenue,  North  Toronto. 

Gadsden,  Bellevue  &  Lookout  Mountain 
Railway,  Gadsden,  Ala.,  expects  to  build 
a  100  room  club-hotel  as  a  feeder  for  its 
line. 

Kansas  City,  Lawrence  &  Topeka  Electric 
Railroad.  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  contemplates 
purchasing  one  300-kw.,  60-cycle  rotary 
converter. 


Public   Service  Railway,   Camden,   N.  J., 

will  abandon  the  present  freight  room  at  the 
Riverside  carhouse  and  the  storeroom  of 
the  electric  company,  which  has  a  large 
platform,  is  to  be  utilized  for  a  freight 
house.  Also,  the  freight  terminal  at  Public 
Service  Junction  will  be  abandoned  and 
store  house  of  the  gas  company  at  347 
Warren  Street  will  be  used.  This  location 
will  be  an  advantage  on  account  of  having 
platform  facilities  and  being  nearly  at  the 
center  of  the  city. 


Trade  Notes 


Ernest  E.  Lee  Company,  115  South  Dear- 
born Street,  Chicago,  has  recently  become 
the  district  representative  for  the  Northern 
Equipment  Company,  Erie,  Penn.,  manu- 
facturers of  boiler  feed  regulators  and  pump 
governors. 

E.  V.  Shannon,  vice-president  and  secre- 
tary of  the  Massey  Concrete  Products  Cor- 
poration, Peoples  Gas  Building,  Chicago, 
has  resigned  to  accept  another  position.  G. 
H.  Redding  has  been  elected  secretary  of 
this  and  affiliated  companies,  the  position 
of  vice-president  remaining  vacant  for  the 
present.  David  A.  Hultgren  has  been  ap- 
pointed resident  manager  at  Chicago. 

Triumph  Electric  Company,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  for  nearly  thirty  years  manufac- 
turers of  40-deg.  Triumph  polyphase  in- 
duction and  direct-current  motors,  has 
again  been  forced  to  move  its  Philadelphia 
office  into  more  spacious  quarters  to 
adequately  take  care  of  the  increasing  de- 
mand of  its  business  in  that  section.  The 
new  quarters  are  at  709  Arch  Street.  This 
territory  is  under  the  direction  of  District 
Manager  Arthur  H.  Allen. 

R.  I.  Baird,  from  1909  to  1917  connected 
with  the  sales  department  of  the  Electric 
Storage  Battery  Company,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  has  returned  to  the  service  of  that 
company.  He  is  now  in  charge  in  the 
western  district  of  the  sales  of  Exide  bat- 
teries for  railway  car  lighting,  etc.  Mr. 
Baird's  headquarters  will  be  at  the  Chi- 
cago office  of  the  company.  The  railway 
signal  work  is  in  charge  of  H.  B.  Crant- 
ford,  who  was  formerly  in  the  service  of  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad. 

The  Morton  Company,  which  will  supply 
sales  counsel  in  advertising  and  merchan- 
dising, has  been  organized  in  Cleveland 
with  headquarters  at  the  Finance  Building, 
750  Prospect  Street,  Cleveland.  C.  O.  Mor- 
ton is  managing  director  and  A.  B.  Cole, 
long  with  the  publication  department  of  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  is  president.  Mr.  Cole  made  a 
special  study,  a  few  years  ago,  of  electric 
railway  freight  transportation  and  con- 
tributed a  series  of  articles  on  this  topic 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal.  Other 
officers  of  the  company  are  Geo.  W. 
Randall,  secretary ;  Roy  M.  Brown,  vice- 
president  ;  R.  S.  Andrews,  vice-president, 
and  P.  E.  Crawford,  treasurer. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Spot  Welder. — A  new  bench-type  spot 
welder,  the  S-4-B,  has  been  placed  on 
the  market  by  the  Taylor  Welder  Com- 
pany, Warren,  Ohio. 

Pyrometer. — The  Brown  Instrument 
Company.  Philadelphia,  has  just  made  im- 
provements in  the  automatic  compensating' 
features  of  its  "Thermo-Electric"  pyrom- 
eters. 

Control  Switch. — The  South  Bend  Cur- 
rent Controller  Company,  South  Bend,  Ind., 
announces  its  new  R-C-O-^C  remote-control 
switch  for  station  control  of  outdoor  light- 
ing and  other  loads. 

Fittings. — The  Erie  Electrical  Equipment 
Company,  Inc.,  Johnstown,  Pa.,  has  issued 
discount  sheets  dated  July  15  and  two  new 
catalog  sheets  on  split  porcelain  insulators 
and  pipe-frame  fittings  and  caps. 

Air  Brakes. — The  Air  Brake  Association 
has  just  added  to  its  list  of  educational  air 
brake  books  one  of  the  new  Westinghouse 
U.C.  equipment  under  the  title  of  "Ques- 
tions and  Answers  on  the  U.C.  Equipment." 
The  book  is  particularly  intended  for  those 
men  engaged  in  railroad  service  who  de- 
sire to  inform  themselves  to  a  varying 
degree  on  the  construction,  operation  and 
function  of  the  new  U.C.  passenger  air 
brake  equipment.  A  ready  comprehension 
of  the  general  principles  is  possible  without 
any  previous  knowledge  of  certain  details. 


Electric  Rail  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


BARRY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS,  Managing  Editor 

N.A.BOWERS.Paclflc  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIER.Assortate  Editor 
O.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE. Editorial  Representative 


C.W.8TOCKS,  Associate  KdlUt 

 „  N* 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  October  8, 1921 


Number  15 


A  Spirit  of  Confidence 

Manifested  at  the  Convention 

LIKE  a  man  rising  from  the  ground  after  having  been 
j  beaten  down,  battered  and  bruised  by  some  com- 
bination of  forces  which  he  was  powerless  to  resist,  but 
surprisedly  discovering  himself  whole,  with  no  bones 
broken  and  with  a  tingle  of  internal  energy  which  tells 
him  that  he  still  has  power  to  conquer  any  mortal 
enemy,  so  the  electric  railway  industry  seems  to  feel  its 
intrinsic  soundness  and  strength  necessary  to  meet  to- 
day's problems  even  after  the  past  six  years  of  strife. 
This,  if  we  have  correctly  sensed  the  feeling  of  the 
railway  men,  characterized  the  spirit  of  the  annual  con- 
vention of  the  association  this  week.  The  meetings 
were  replete  with  discussion,  all  of  which  gave  the  im- 
pression that  the  speakers  were  more  confident  of  abil- 
ity to  cope  with  the  future,  that  a  grasp  is  already  had 
of  many  of  the  vexing  situations  which  have  caused  so 
much  discussion  of  late  years,  and  that  there  is  increas- 
ing stability  in  the  industry  as  a  whole.  This  does  not 
minimize,  nor  indicate  any  forgetfulness  of,  the  serious 
present-day  problems  yet  to  be  solved.  Rather  it  was 
the  manner  in  which  these  problems  were  attacked, 
the  assurance  with  which  they  were  analyzed  and  exam- 
ined, that  gave  the  impression  that  the  industry  is  more 
certain  of  itself  than  a  year  ago.  Not  only  in  the  meet- 
ings but  in  the  halls,  on  the  Boardwalk,  in  all  small 
groups  and  pairs  of  friends  and  acquaintances,  one  heard 
and  felt  optimism  and  assurance.  There  were  no  "rot- 
ten business"  conversations,  but  constructive,  "the-cor- 
ner-is-turned,"  positive  discussions  of  the  situation. 

With  the  foregoing  as  a  somewhat  figurative  back- 
ground or  interpretation  of  the  convention  as  a  whole 
it  is  worth  while  pointing  out  some  of  the  prominent 
features  and  accomplishments.  Noticeable  on  account 
of  their  absence,  and  on  account  of  the  reduced  atten- 
dance directly  attributable  thereto,  were  the  exhibits 
of  previous  years.  But  there  were  many  remarks  that, 
while  the  exhibits  were  of  interest  and  value,  their  ab- 
sence this  year,  when  constructive  study  in  the  sessions 
was  so  desirable,  was  probably  conducive  to  the  best 
results.  At  that,  an  attendance  of  more  than  twelve 
hundred,  all  present  for  serious  business,  was  a  worth- 
while and  commendable  record. 

Salesmanship,  recognized  as  the  principal  element  in 
the  railway  business ;  clean-cut  financial  reconstruction, 
and  better  business  methods  in  general  in  the  railway 
industry  formed  the  keynote  strain  of  the  convention. 
It  permeated  most  addresses  and  discussions,  no  matter 
on  what  nominal  topic  they  started. 

The  group  of  addresses  on  finance  presented  at  the 
Wednesday  morning  session  of  the  American  Association 
represents  one  of  the  really  great  and  constructive 
pieces  of  work  of  the  association.  While  not  minimiz- 
ing in  the  slightest  any  other  effort  at  the  convention, 
the  address  of  F.  E.  Frothingham  alone  would  have 
made  the  meeting  an  outstanding  one  for  its  value. 
This  address  is  presented  in  full  in  this  report  number. 


It  is  a  sample  of  the  sort  of  "financial  leadership  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  has  called  for  from  time 
to  time;  it  is  in  full  support  of  the  sort  of  financial  pro- 
gram which  President  Gadsden  has  so  continuously 
recommended  during  his  presidency  of  the  association. 

Another  accomplishment  was  a  clarifying,  if  not  a 
definition,  of  the  attitude  of  the  industry  as  to  the  bus. 
This  is  referred  to  elsewhere  in  these  columns.  The 
strongly  supported  meeting  of  publicity  men,  attended 
by  many  leading  executives,  tended  to  emphasize  the 
importance  of  this  work  and  to  put  it  on  a  higher  plane. 
And  finally,  though  it  was  one  of  the  first  things  done, 
the  changes  in  the  constitution  which,  if  carried  out 
in  spirit,  will  mean  so  much  to  the  association  were 
adopted  after  full  discussion  and  with  the  evident  whole- 
hearted desire  on  the  part  of  every  one  to  make  the 
association  more  useful,  more  constructive,  more  virile 
in  its  activities. 

No  one  can  have  attended  this  year's  convention  with- 
out being  encouraged,  without  having  gained  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  of  the  association  and  its  conven- 
tions and  without  having  gained  confidence  in  the 
eventual,  if  not  early,  return  to  complete  vitality  of  the 
electric  railway  industry. 


The  New  Administration 

of  the  American  Association 

ROBERT  I.  TODD,  Indianapolis,  takes  up  the  reins 
.  of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Association  for 
the  ensuing  year.  A  modest,  lovable,  capable,  experi- 
enced man,  combining  in  one  individual  the  dual  asso- 
ciation interests  of  urban  and  interurban  transporta- 
tion, he  is  an  executive  in  whose  hands  the  affairs  of 
this  great  industry  may  well  be  intrusted.  His  forte 
is  in  quietly,  carefully  planning  and  executing  the 
tasks  confronted.  It  may  therefore  be  expected  that 
the  work  done  by  the  association  during  the  next  year 
will  be  great,  though  there  may  be  less  evidence  of  it 
in  public  expression. 

With  the  president,  two  of  the  vice-presidents  and 
six  of  the  twelve  members  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee elected  at  large  located  in  the  West,  there  can  be 
no  justification  for  the  assertion  this  year  that  the 
association  is  run  in  the  East.  This  is  the  opportunity 
for  the  West  to  make  the  association  an  instrumentality 
of  greater  usefulness  to  the  great  properties  of  this 
section  and  to  shape  its  activities  to  reflect  more  com- 
pletely the  wishes  of  the  entire  industry,  if  there  has 
been  any  provinciality  in  its  functioning  heretofore.  It 
is  up  to  the  West,  and  particularly  the  Middle  West,  to 
make  good  its  administrative  opportunity. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  new  executive  committee  is  an 
exceptionally  strong  one  and  it  would  be  hard  to  sug- 
gest wherein  the  nominating  committee  could  have  im- 
proved on  its  selections.  It  reflects  the  careful  canvas 
of  the  field  made  and  the  value  of  appointing  the  nom- 
inating committee  in  advance  of  the  convention  as  pro- 
vided in  the  revised  constitution. 


578 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


No  Bus  Members 

for  the  Association 

AFTER  an  extended  but  very  satisfactory  discus- 
.  sion  of  both  sides  of  the  proposal  to  revise  the 
constitution  so  as  to  leave  it  to  the  discretion  of  the 
executive  committee  to  admit  bus  companies  to  mem- 
bership in  the  American  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion the  amendment  was  rejected  by  a  decisive  vote. 
The  issue  of  the  discussion  was  whether  well-estab- 
lished, non-competitive  bus  companies  should  be  taken 
in  so  that  the  association  might  benefit  by  their  knowl- 
edge and  experience  or  whether  they  should  be  kept 
out  to  avoid  any  possible  distortion  of  publicity  to 
indicate  that  the  association  had  recognized  or  ac- 
knowledged that  the  electric  railway  was  passing  and 
was  to  be  replaced  by  the  automotive  vehicle.  There 
was  plenty  of  feeling  that  to  pass  the  amendment 
would  seriously  embarrass  some  companies  in  their 
local  situation,  and  of  course  such  a  possibility,  seem- 
ing real,  was  to  be  avoided.  The  basis  for  this  feeling 
was  the  possibility  that  to  recognize  the  non-competi- 
tive, responsible,  well-managed  bus  company  would  be 
broadly  interpreted  in  the  public  mind,  perhaps  aided 
by  insidious  propaganda,  to  include  the  irresponsible, 
unregulated  jitney  which  in  many  places  is  seriously 
jeopardizing  the  investment  in  the  electric  railway  and 
forming  obviously  unfair  competition. 

In  refusing  to  admit  bus  members,  however,  it  should 
be  noted  that  this  action  was  not  in  any  sense  a  deci- 
sion to  refuse  to  recognize  the  bus  as  a  type  of  vehicle 
that  may  be  used  profitably  and  properly  by  the  present 
members  of  the  association  in  providing  transporta- 
tion in  certain  locations  or  sections  of  a  community, 
co-ordinating  it  with  the  present  rail  system.  In  fact, 
continued  and  more  intensive  study  of  the  possibili- 
ties of  utilizing  the  motor  bus  and  trolley  bus  were 
urged  even  by  those  who  were  most,  insistent  that  bus 
companies  should  not  be  admitted  to  membership.  The 
judgment  was  clearly  that  the  electric  railway  com- 
panies should  openmindedly  consider  where  they  can 
advantageously  employ  buses,  and  not  that  they  should 
take  the  attitude  that  the  bus  as  a  tool  of  transporta- 
tion is  one  to  be  scoffed  at  or  ignored.  Many  of  those 
who  spoke  on  the  subject  stated  concretely  that  they 
were  now  planning  to  introduce,  or  had  already  intro- 
duced, the  bus  for  supplementary  and  complementary 
service  to  their  present  systems.  If  any  vehicle  of 
mass  transportation  offers  a  means  of  more  economical 
service  in  any  location,  certainly  the  present  trans- 
portation companies  should  welcome  its  advent  and 
capitalize  its  advantages. 


Engineers  Again  Boost  Plan  for 

American  Committee  on  Electrification 

AMONG  the  many  items  of  vital  interest  which 
L  marked  the  second  session  of  the  Engineering 
Association  convention  none  was  more  significant  than 
the  decision  to  start  something  in  the  direction  of  unity 
of  action  in  heavy  traction  investigations.  It  will  not 
appear  invidious  if  special  attention  is  directed  to  this 
matter,  because  duplication  of  work  in  this  field  on  the 
part  of  several  national  associations  is  already  becom- 
ing a  serious  matter.  It  is  none  too  soon  to  plan  for 
such  co-operation  as  will  insure  accurate  and  complete 
data  in  regard  to  electrification. 

The  Engineering  Association  suggests  the  name 
'American  Committee  on  Electrification"  as  an  appro- 
priate one  for  a  joint  committee  representing  all  in- 


terests affected  by  the  electrification  of  railroads.  It 
is  proposed  that  a  joint  committee,  with  this  name  or 
some  other,  be  charged  for  the  present  simply  with  the 
responsibility  of  collecting  and  disseminating  informa- 
tion with  the  least  possible  lost  motion.  That  seems 
like  a  very  simple  proposition.  There  ought  to  be  no 
opposition  to  it.    The  main  trouble  is  to  make  a  start. 

It  has  been  said  that  "the  way  to  resume  is  to 
resume."  So  the  way  to  have  an  'American  Committee 
on  Electrification"  is  to  appoint  an  American  commit- 
tee on  electrification  and  to  tell  it  to  do  something.  It 
does  not  matter  which  association  starts  this  movement, 
just  so  that  one  of  them  does  so.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  executive  committee  of  the  Engineering  Associa- 
tion will  act  favorably  upon  the  resolution  adopted  at 
the  convention,  and  invite  the  appropriate  executive 
bodies  in  other  national  societies  to  appoint  representa- 
tives on  a  joint  committee. 

The  only  possible  objection  to  this  plan  is  that  it 
would  add  one  more  to  the  already  many  joint  commit- 
tees trying  to  facilitate  progress  in  this  or  that  direc- 
tion. This  objection  is  a  valid  one,  but  the  subject  of 
electrifying  the  steam  railroads  of  the  country  is  one  of 
such  moment  and  importance  that  the  societies  are 
certainly  justified  in  adding  this  one  to  their  multifari- 
ous activities.  The  fact  is,  they  are  already  doing  a 
lot  of  work  along  this  line,  and  the  purpose  of  the  pro- 
posed committee  is  to  reduce,  rather  than  increase,  the 
total  amount  of  work  by  cutting  out  lost  motion. 


Salesmanship  Beginning 
to  Be  Taken  Seriously 

ONE  of  the  best  products  of  the  1921  convention 
was  the  profound  impression  made  as  to  the  neces- 
sity for  injecting  salesmanship  into  the  conduct  of  the 
electric  railway  business.  President  Gadsden  took  the 
delegates  seriously  to  task  for  their  neglect  to  take  to 
heart  the  earnest  suggestions  made  along  this  line 
heretofore.  He  attributed  the  present  straits  of  the 
industry  to  its  absolute  disregard  of  the  laws  of 
economics  and  selling  applied  in  every  other  commer- 
cial enterprise  the  world  over.  His  address  and  the 
one  by  Mr.  Goodwin  made  it  pretty  clear  that  for  the 
present  at  least  the  problem  of  salesmanship  transcends 
all  others.  Both  were  confident  that  proper  attention  to 
the  commercialization  of  the  business  will  transform  the 
financial  condition  of  the  industry,  and  that  failure  to 
do  so,  particularly  in  view  of  the  menacing  competitive 
situation,  will  lead  to  the  financial  ruin  of  the  enter- 
prise as  a  private  one. 

While  several  expressions  were  heard  on  how  to  go 
about  securing  the  proper  application  of  salesmanship 
all  through  the  business,  there  was  found  to  be  a  com- 
mon belief  that  the  railway  president  with  real  sales 
instinct  as  one  of  his  characteristics  is  the  ideal  man  to 
direct  the  selling  of  the  company's  product.  Where  a 
railway  is  large  enough,  the  officer  who  is  directly  in 
charge  of  the  operating  department  may  well  be  the 
man  primarily  intrusted  with  merchandising  the  serv- 
ice. This  and  the  further  development  of  the  sales 
organization  of  an  electric  railway  are  well  shown  in 
the  chart  included  in  the  article  by  Mr.  Goodwin  which 
appeared  in  the  convention  issue  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal,  Sept.  24,  1921,  page  472. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  sales  work  must  start  at 
the  top,  including  some  sales  attitude  in  the  directorate 
as  well  as  the  chief  executive.  The  president  must 
infuse  the  whole  organization  with  the  spirit  of  selling 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


579 


transportation  to  the  public.  But  he  cannot  enthuse 
his  staff  unless  he  himself  is  full  of  the  spirit  of  sales- 
manship. For  example,  if  courtesy  is  an  essential  of 
salesmanship,  then  courtesy  must  originate  with  the 
chief  executive.  It  must  permeate  down  through  the 
organization  and  reach  the  car  riders  from  their  con- 
tact with  the  platform  men.  One  good  point  touched 
on  in  the  discussion  of  this  subject  was  the  recom- 
mendation that  employees  should  be  kept  informed  on 
the  many  problems  confronting  the  company.  They 
:annot  explain  to  the  public  unless  they  are  posted. 
They  must  understand  the  goods  they  have  for  sale. 
Mr.  Goodwin  stated  that  transportation  ought  to  be  the 
best  advertised  product  in  the  world  because  it  has 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  potential  salesmen  coming 
into  daily  contact  with  millions  of  customers.  So  it 
should,  and  through  proper  co-ordination  the  conductor 
and  motorman  will  so  carry  out  orders  as  to  make  more 
and  more  friends  for  the  company  and  thus  "put  over" 
the  service  rendered  in  a  way  that  should  lead  not  only 
to  good  will  but  to  prosperity. 


Organization  Changes 
Are  Now  in  Effect 

NOW  that  the  proposed  changes  or  revisions  of  the 
constitution  and  by-laws  have  become  a  fact,  as 
modified  and  adopted  by  the  convention,  it  is  well  to 
examine  their  purpose  and  probable  effect  upon  the 
future  activity  and  usefulness  of  the  association. 

Most  important  is  the  provision  for  active  manage- 
ment of  the  association's  affairs  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee in  monthly  meetings.  This  provision,  it  should 
be  noted,  was  understood  and  accepted  by  those  who  have 
consented  to  serve  as  officers  during  the  next  year,  so 
that  the  provision  will  probably  be  carried  out  in  the 
full  spirit  of  its  intention.  This  augurs  well.  It  should 
result  in  a  much  higher  standard  of  association  activity 
than  when  all  the  responsibility  must  be  shouldered  by 
a  secretary  necessarily  held  close  to  the  office,  working 
under  the  advice  of  an  overloaded  president.  The 
provision  for  the  various  standing  committees  is  of 
course  important  and  is  a  part  of  the  better  manage- 
ment machinery  which  the  association  has  set  up.  Of 
course,  the  most  important  factor  in  the  operation  of 
the  association  is  the  men  in  charge  of  its  affairs,  yet 
the  machinery  provided  should  be  made  most  fitting 
to  assist  them  in  their  work. 

But  there  were  some  matters  of  association  policy 
originally  proposed  most  of  which  fell  by  the  wayside 
at  this  time,  though  it  was  recognized  that  at  some 
future  time  action  might  be  different  in  some  cases. 
Thus,  the  proposal  to  change  the  terms  of  office  of 
the  vice-presidents  was  not  revived,  though  there  had 
been  indication  from  several  individuals  that  this  was 
considered  by  them  an  important  point.  Transporta- 
tion companies  other  than  rail  will  not  be  admitted 
to  membership,  though  this  had  been  recommended  by 
the  executive  committee.  The  proposal  that  municipal 
railways  be  admitted,  made  by  the  reorganization  com- 
mittee but  vetoed  by  the  executive  committee,  was  not 
raised  on  the  floor,  and  the  attitude  to  be  taken  toward 
the  individual  municipal  employee  is  still  undecided. 
It  was  apparently  the  belief  of  the  membership  in 
these  various  cases  that  where  some  of  the  members 
thought  the  adoption  of  certain  new  policies  might 
seriously  injure  them,  the  association  should  postpone 
action  until  time  would  develop  a  more  nearly  unani- 
mous opinion  in  favor  of  the  change. 

This  is  undoubtedly  for  the  best.    The  association 


will  progress  most  rapidly  when  all  work  toward  a 
common  purpose  with  a  common  policy.  At  the  end 
of  the  convention  that  common  purpose  and  spirit 
seemed  to  be  strongly  in  evidence. 


Will  a  New  Era 

Come  in  New  York? 

THE  proposed  reorganization  plan  of  the  electric 
railway  systems  in  New  York  City  offered  by  the 
Transit  Commission  on  Sept.  30  is  of  a  constructive 
nature.  The  prominent  officials  in  the  city  administra- 
tion, which  has  been  hostile  to  the  companies  since  it 
assumed  office  four  years  ago,  claim  to  see  in  it  an 
increase  in  fare  to  8  or  10  cents.  But  this  is  not 
justified  by  any  statements  in  the  report,  which 
advisedly  declares  in  favor  of  a  5-cent  fare  if  that  is 
possible  and  guarantees  that  fare  for  at  least  a  year 
after  the  plan  goes  into  effect.  It  is  hoped  that  before 
the  rate  of  fare  is  definitely  settled  there  will  be  a  very 
careful  consideration  of  the  undoubtedly  close  relation 
between  rates  of  fare  and  city  planning  and  develop- 
ment. The  principal  railway  officers  have  in  general 
refrained  from  public  comment,  evidently  desiring  to 
know  more  in  detail  how  the  main  principles  laid  down 
in  the  report  are  to  be  applied  concretely. 

In  fact,  the  report  is  an  outline  only  of  a  proposed 
plan  and  its  effect  on  individual  companies  can  be 
determined  only  when  more  information  is  available  as 
to  the  way  in  which  it  is  to  be  applied.  Thus  the  plan 
contemplates  the  taking  over  of  the  properties  to  form 
the  new  system  on  a  valuation,  but  does  not  explain 
the  basis  on  which  that  valuation  will  be  conducted.  It 
also  says  that  railways  whose  earning  power  is  not 
sufficient  will  not  be  included  in  the  proposed  con- 
solidated system.  The  security  holders  of  those  chosen 
will  be  awarded  5  per  cent  bonds  up  to  the  value  of  the 
property,  and  a  bonus  is  mentioned  as  a  reward  for  effi- 
cient management,  with  a  barometer  fund  to  determine 
the  rate  of  fare. 

These  features  show  that  the  plan,  broadly  speaking, 
belongs  to  the  service-at-cost  class  with  the  addition  of 
an  incentive  clause,  the  nature  of  which  is  not  very 
clear  from  the  printed  report  and  probably  remains  to 
be  worked  out.  The  promise  is  made,  however,  that 
those  details  will  be  taken  up  promptly.  Hearings  are 
to  be  conducted  and  the  commission  hopes  that  by  next 
summer  the  consolidation  will  be  effected  and  the  new 
system  will  be  functioning. 

If  the  future  conclusions  of  the  commission  are  as 
wisely  reasoned  as  those  in  its  preliminary  report  and 
it  has  the  ability  to  carry  them  out  promptly  the  tran- 
sit situation  in  New  York  will  be  greatly  improved. 

Every  one  has  realized  for  a  long  time  that  something 
radical  had  to  be  done  to  bring  the  present  chaotic  con- 
dition to  an  end.  The  surface  roads  are  in  a  particularly 
bad  condition,  especially  those  with  the  heavy  invest- 
ment charge  of  a  conduit  system.  Many  are  not  paying 
their  fixed  charges  and  none  can  be  considered  in  a  pros- 
perous condition.  The  rapid  transit  lines  are  not  much 
better  off.  The  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  receiver,  the  question  of  an  appointment  of  one  for 
the  Interborough  is  before  the  court  and  the  stock  of 
the  Manhattan  Railway,  which  under  the  present  lease 
of  that  company  to  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  pays 
7  per  cent  on  par,  is  selling  in  the  market  for  about  40. 

Such  a  condition  is  not  good  for  the  companies  or  for 
the  city.  The  new  plan  at  least  points  a  way  out.  It 
should  be  developed  more  fully. 


580 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Relation  of  the  Electric  Railway  Industry 

to  Industrial  Efficiency* 

By  Herbert  Hoover 

Secretary  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States 

Better  Understanding  of  Importance  of  Electric  Railways  to  the  Community  and  to  Industry  and 
Employment  Is  Necessary  in  Order  to  Recover  Economic  Stability  and  Develop 
These  Services — Ceaseless  Public  Education  Essential 

ONE  of  the  outstanding  results 
of  the  present  unemployment 
conference  has  been  to  im- 
press on  every  one  the  unlimited 
interdependency  of  our  various  in- 
dustries. Not  that  the  general  fact 
was  unknown  or  unexpected,  but  the 
conference  has  brought  the  fact  for- 
ward with  startling  distinctness. 

Your  industry  is  no  exception  to 
this,  but  on  the  contrary  is  probably 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  ex- 
amples. It  would  appear  that  the 
only  thing  which  kept  you  going,  as 
an  industry,  during  some  of  the  past 
years  has  been  the  very  necessity  of 
your  service  in  order  that  the  rest 
of  the  community  could  progress  and 
function  industrially  and  socially. 

When  I  speak  of  "your  industry" 
I  mean  and  visualize  the  urban  and 
interurban  transportation  business. 
For  I  assume  at  the  outset  that, 
except  for  the  natural  desire  to  pro- 
tect your  reasonable  investment  in 
railways  as  such,  you  recognize  your 
responsibility  to  furnish  to  a  com- 
munity the  transportation  which  is 
necessary  for  its  development  and 
success  irrespective  of  what  physical 
agency  you  may  deem  best  to  utilize 
for  the  purpose. 

But,  even  with  the  necessity  of 
your  service  recognized,  you  are,  I 
understand,  in  a  critical  condition, 
though  in  a  way  which  differs  from 
the  condition  of  other  industries  in 
many  respects. 

The  condition  of  your  industry  is 
indeed  critical  in  many  aspects.  The 
whole  condition  has  arisen,  at  least 
in  part,  it  seems  to  me,  from  a  lack 
of  appreciation,  both  on  the  part  of 
the  general  public  and  on  your  own 
part,  of  the  basic  interdependence  of 
your  industry  and  the  rest  of  the 
industries  of  the  community  and 
nation. 

Some  of  the  data  which  bear  upon 
this  are  astonishing,  and  are  con- 
clusive of  the  point: 

You  represent  a  fixed  investment 


Herbert  Hoover,  Secretary  of  Commerce 

Thoroughly  immersed  in  the  unemployment  conference  and  daily  wearied  by  an  endless 
chain  of  interviews  on  this  subject,  Mr.  Hoover  turns  aside  for  a  while  to  devote  his 
attention  to  the  electric  railway  industry,  realizing  its  important  function  in  the  g'eneral 
industrial  life  of  the  community.      Copyright,  Underwood  d  Underwood. 


*  Address  delivered  at  the  annual  conven- 
tion of  the  American  Electric  Railway  As- 
sociation, Atlantic  City,  N.  X,  Oct.  3-6.  1921. 


said  to  be  about  $6,000,000,000,  upon 
which  a  great  deal  of  industrial  and 
other  business  credit  is  based. 

You  employ  some  300,000  men  in 
normal  times. 

You  burn  annually  more  than  16,- 
000,000  tons  of  coal. 

You  have  a  gross  income,  esti- 
mated for  1920,  of  some  $955,000,- 
000,  of  which  approximately  6  per 
cent,  or  nearly  $60,000,000,  is  repaid 
to  the  communities  in  taxes,  not  to 
mention  the  paving  maintenance 
which  most  of  you  carry. 

You  pay  out  more  than  $300,000,- 
000  in  wages,  which  is  used  prin- 
cipally for  purchasing  commodities 
and  the  products  of  other  industries. 

You  buy  directly  supply  material 
which  costs  another  $300,000,000. 

You  buy,  in  normal  times,  another 
$200,000,000  worth  for  extensions, 
replacements,  etc. 

You  transport,  each  year,  from 
12,000,000,000  to  15,000,000,000  pas- 
sengers— twelve  times  as  many  as 
the  steam  railroads. 

The  very  marshaling  of  these  data 
indicates  the  close  relation  your  in- 


dustry has  to  other  industries  and 
its  importance  to  the  nation. 

There  is  another  element  to  your 
service,  too,  which  must  not  be 
overlooked,  and  that  is  the  housing 
situation — the  adequate  planning  of 
community  life.  As  you  who  have 
developed  the  industry  realize,  the 
only  factor  which  makes  possible  a 
healthy  expansion  of  housing  facil- 
ities beyond  the  confines  of  congested 
city  districts  is  adequate  transporta- 
tion. 

I  mention  all  these  facts,  most  of 
them  of  every-day  knowledge  to  you, 
for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  the 
close  interdependence  of  your  indus- 
try and  the  industrial  life  of  the 
community. 

The  public,  on  its  part,  not  only 
must  recognize  your  service  in  rela- 
tion to  other  industries  and  busi- 
nesses, but  must  recognize  you  as 
an  industry  and  a  business  subject 
to  the  impact  of  economic  laws  that 
dominate  the  other  industries  and 
businesses. 

To  be  sure,  the  classification  of 
your  business  as  a  public  utility  has 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


581 


entailed  regulation  of  rates  designed 
to  take  the  place  of  competition 
which  is  in  the  main  theoretically 
absent,  and  intelligent  regulation  re- 
alizes the  necessity  of  proper  return 
on  actual  capital  invested  if  these 
services  are  to  be  extended  and  sat- 
isfactorily maintained. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that 
in  the  face  of  rising  prices  and 
wages,  with  at  the  same  time  a  regu- 
lated income,  both  industry  and  serv- 
ice have  suffered  greatly  during  the 
past  six  years ;  falling  prices  and 


wages  will  of  course  improve  this 
situation. 

Beyond  this,  however,  a  better 
understanding  is  needed  of  the  inter- 
relation of  these  factors  and  of  your 
importance  to  the  community  and  to 
industry  and  employment  as  a  whole 
if  we  are  to  recover  economic  stabil- 
ity and  if  these  services  are  to 
develop. 

I  know  of  only  one  way  to  a  full 
understanding  of  these  matters — 
ceaseless  public  education  on  the  ele- 
mental facts. 


Put  Business  Common  Sense  Into 
Electric  Railway  Managing* 


Thirty-three  Years  of  Economic  Er- 
rors Emphasize  the  Need  of  Instilling 
the  Industry  with  the  Commercial 
and  Financial  Instinct — Know  the 
Unit  Cost  of  Your  Service — It  Is 
Essential  in  Making  Salesmen  of 
Your  Employees 

By  Philip  H.  Gadsden 

President  American  Electric  Railway 
Association 

IN  THE  backwash  of  the  great  war 
through  which  we  are  now  all  pass- 
ing we  are  conscious,  if  we  think 
at  all,  of  the  movement  of  a  great 
economic  current  whose  meaning  we 
do  not  as  yet  understand  and  the 
extent  of  whose  operations  we  cannot 
grasp.  We  know,  however,  that  every 
business  enterprise  recognizes  the 
change  in  economic  conditions  and 
every  business  concern  is  giving  its 
best  thought  and  attention  to  changing 
and  modifying  the  methods  of  conduct- 
ing its  business  in  order  to  adjust 
itself  to  these  changed  economic  con- 
ditions. 

So  it  is  with  us.  We  have  been  engaged 
ever  since  the  war  in  an  intensive 
study  of  the  electric  railway  situation 
in  this  country,  in  the  effort  to  adjust 
and  modify  our  methods  of  transporta- 
tion in  accordance  with  the  lessons 
drawn  from  that  great  struggle. 

As  I  look  back  on  the  very  short 
history  of  the  electric  railways  in  this 
country  it  seems  to  me  that  our  whole 
pathway  of  thirty-three  years  has  been 
strewn  with  economic  and  business 
errors.  This  industry  of  ours  inherited 
bodily  all  of  the  traditions  of  the  horse 
car.  In  those  early  days  the  entire 
thought  and  attention  of  the  pioneers 
of  electric  railways  in  this  country 
were  concentrated  on  the  development 
of  the  engineering  and  mechanical 
problems  involved.  We  were  so  intent 
upon   developing  the  electric  traction 

*  Abstract  of  address  presented  at  the 
banquet  of  the  annual  convention  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association, 
Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


that  we  entirely  overlooked  the  com- 
mercial and  the  financial  problems  un- 
derlying our  great  industry. 

What  was  the  result?  Without 
thought,  without  consideration,  we 
took  over  the  5-cent  fare  without  a 
question,  simply  because  it  had  been 
the  habit  for  people  to  travel  on  a 
horse  car  an  average  of  not  over  2 
miles  for  a  nickel. 

What  else  could  we  do7  Because  the 
horse  cars  for  that  nickel  carried  peo- 
ple as  far  as  their  rails  extended,  a 
distance  which  rarely  exceeded  2  or  3 
miles,  we  also  agreed  to  carry  our 
patrons  on  the  same  basis  for  the  same 
nickel,  absolutely  in  violation  of  all 
business  principles.  As  I  look  over  the 
history  of  business  in  the  world  I  can 
recall  no  other  phase  of  human  activity, 
no  one  else  who  had  the  monumental 
courage  to  attempt  to  conduct  an  in- 
dustry like  this  in  defiance  of  all  laws  of 
economics.  Is  it  any  wonder  we  find 
ourselves  where  we  are? 

Railways  a  Busine?s  Failure 

What  have  we  done?  In  the  short 
space  of  thirty-three  years  we  have 
built  up  a  transportation  industry  which 
has  44,000  miles  of  track.    It  employs 


over  300,000  people  and  operates  about 
80,000  cars,  which  annually  transport 
many  times  more  passengers  than  all 
the  steam  railroads  in  this  country 
combined.  It  is  a  wonderful  achieve- 
ment, but  it  is  purely  from  an  engi- 
neering and  a  scientific  standpoint. 
From  a  business  standpoint,  tested  by 
the  rules  of  common  sense  and  busi- 
ness, we  have  been  a  monumental 
failure. 

Now  that  the  haze  of  the  conflict  has 
gone  and  we  are  beginning  to  see  the 
meaning  of  the  struggle  we  have  been 
through,  what  lessons  shall  be  drawn? 
That  the  future  problems  of  this  in- 
dustry are  not  engineering,  are  not 
scientific,  but  that  the  future  salva- 
tion of  the  electric  railways  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  commercial  men  of  the  in- 
dustry. 

In  every  business  except  our  own 
there  are  two  distinct  branches.  The 
first  is  the  manufacturing,  or  produc- 
tion end;  the  second  the  commercial, 
or  the  sales  end.  Is  there  any  such  di- 
vision of  labor  in  the  electric  rail- 
ways ?  You  will  find  this  commercial 
development  in  the  steam  railroads,  in 
the  gas  business,  in  the  textile  mills 
and  automobile  factories.  You  find  it 
developed  in  the  highest  possible  char- 
acter in  the  electric  light  and  power 
business.  In  every  line  of  human  ac- 
tivity except  ours  this  well-regulated 
attention  to  the  commercial  and  eco- 
nomic ends  of  the  business  has  been 
recognized  as  fundamental.  Are  we 
supermen  ?  Can  we  succeed  in  defi- 
ance to  all  the  laws  of  political  econ- 
omy ?  We  see  the  answer  in  our  trial 
balances  tonight. 

"Tyranny  of  the  Balance  Sheet" 

As  I  said  on  a  previous  occasion,  the 
hard  lesson  which  we  have  had  to  learn 
and  the  hard  lesson  which  the  public 
must  be  taught  is  that  electric  railways 
in  this  country,  while  their  rates  may 
be  regulated  by  commissions,  where 
other  businesses  are  free  to  charge 
what  they  wish,  while  its  service  is 
dictated  to  it  by  a  commission,  when 
the  service  of  every  other  business  is 
governed  by  economic  conditions,  while 
we  are  hampered  on  every  hand,  we 
still  enjoy  in  common  with  every  other 
business  in  the  world  one  privilege, 
and  that  is  that  we  live  under  the 
tyranny  of  the  balance  sheet. 

But  from  now  on  what  I  want  to 
impress  upon  this  industry  is  that  the 
test  of  a  successfully  operated  prop- 
erty is  the  same  test  which  is  applied 
to  any  other  business;  that  is,  have 
you  a  red  or  a  black  figure  at  the  bot- 
tom of  your  balance  sheet? 

That  means  that  in  the  future  we 
must  put  less  emphasis  on  our  engi- 
neering problems  and  more  and  more 
emphasis  on  the  commercial  and  finan- 
cial problems. 

What  are  the  problems  which  are 
crowding  upon  us  for  solution  ?  One  is 
the  unbridled  and  unregulated  jitney 
bus  competition,  which  is  eating  out 
our  very  vitals,  while  we  are  chained 
to  the  rock  of  commission  regulation. 
That  is  a  commercial  problem  which 


582 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


must  be  met  as  any  other  business 
would  which  is  affected  by  lawless  and 
unregulated  competition. 

Tax-Exempt  Securities 

We  are  faced  at  Washington  with  a 
great  problem  of  taxation.  The  ques- 
tion of  how  it  is  going  to  be  possible 
for  the  electric  railways  in  the  future 
to  acquire  sufficient  new  capital  to  pro- 
vide for  the  betterments  and  improve- 
ments imperatively  demanded  by  the 
various  communities,  of  when  and  how- 
can  that  capital  be  secured  in  compe- 
tition with  tax-exempt  securities  which 
are  being  issued  by  the  millions  by  our 
city  and  state  governments,  is  a  prob- 
lem which  will  require  very  grave 
study.  Unless  some  remedy  can  be 
found  for  that  situation  of  affairs  there 
is  no  hope  of  financing  this  great  in- 
dustry for  any  extended  period.  It  is 
up  to  you  to  sell  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  the  idea  that  the  electric 
railway  is  one  of  the  essentials  of 
human  life,  that  here  is  an  industry 
which  lies  at  the  very  base  of  industrial 
life  and  is  being  throttled  to  death  by 
unwise  and  impolitic  fiscal  policy  on  the 
part  of  our  government. 

In  saying  these  things  and  in  calling 
them  to  your  attention,  if  you  were 
the  salesmen  I  wish  you  were  you 
would  go  home  and  do  something  about 
it,  but  you  don't.  This  question  of  tax- 
ing the  securities  has  been  fully  venti- 
lated and  advertised  in  Aera  and  in 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  by  facts 
put  there  at  my  request  in  the  hope 
that  each  one  of  you  would  take  it  up 
and  sell  the  idea  to  your  Representa- 
tive and  your  Senator.  Have  you  done 
it?  I  can  answer  for  you — you  have 
not!  If  you  had  been  a  salesman,  if 
you  had  had  the  commercial  instinct 
I  am  talking  to  you  about,  you  would 
have  done  it.  Why  didn't  you  do  it? 
Because  you  have  been  trained  that 
service  is  the  one  thing  to  keep  your 
mind  on. 

We  have  carried  this  idea  of  service 
to  the  nth  degree.  I  am  not  at  all 
minimizing  the  value  of  good  service. 
I  realize  that  none  of  these  things  can 
be  brought  about  unless  we  do  give 
good  service,  but  what  the  electric  rail- 
way industry  is  trying  to  do  is  to  give 
service  even  if  it  cannot  afford  to  give 
it.  Does  anybody  else  do  it?  No!  We 
have  got  to  change  our  viewpoint.  How 
will  you  do  it  ?  We  here  cannot  bring 
it  about  alone.  This  is  a  question  of 
mental  attitude,  a  question  of  view- 
point, and  you  must  get  this  idea  down 
through  your  entire  organization  and 
personnel. 

Establish  Human  Relationship 

We  must  as  an  industry,  from  the 
president  to  the  platform  man,  realize 
from  now  on  that  we  are  like  every- 
body else.  We  are  not  like  the  Jew 
in  the  temple  who  thanked  God  he  was 
not  like  other  men.  We  have  been  doing 
that  for  thirty-three  years,  thanking 
God  that  we  did  not  have  to  conduct 
our  business  like  any  other  business 
and  that  we  were  exempt  from  the  laws 
of  political  economy.  Now  we  want  to 
imitate  the  other  fellow  who  bowed  his 


head  in  shame  and  asked  that  Provi- 
dence be  merciful  to  him  a  sinner.  We 
are  sinners.  We  have  sinned  against 
the  laws  of  business  common  sense. 

How  are  you  going  to  get  the  motor- 
man,  conductor  and  your  subordinates 
into  this  scheme  ?  We  have  got  to  go 
back  to  the  human  relationship  which 
we  lost  when  the  industry  passed  out 
of  the  horse-car  days.  We  got  so  big 
and  employed  so  many  people  that  the 
presidents  and  general  managers  no 
longer  knew  the  men  on  the  platforms. 
We  turned  that  over  to  somebody  else 
and  in  that  we  missed  our  mark.  This 
job  of  establishing  personal  relation- 
ship is  not  to  be  handed  out  to  a  car 
starter.  It's  a  president's  job.  It  is 
up  to  him  to  enthuse  his  organization 
with  his  own  spirit. 

One  of  the  prime  essentials  of  sales- 
manship is  that  the  salesman  shall 
know  the  value  of  the  goods  he  is  sell- 
ing. The  salesman  knows  the  cost 
price  of  his  goods,  and  therefore  he 
is  in  a  position  to  discuss  intelligently 
with  the  customer  whether  the  price  he 
is  asking  is  reasonable. 

Know  the  Value  of  Your  Goods 

How  manyVmen  in  our  organization 
from  the  president  down  know  today 
the  value  of  the  goods  he  sells?  We 
must  first  have  a  value  placed  on  our 


properties,  one  that  the  public  recog- 
nizes and  admits.  If  your  motorman, 
conductor,  cashier,  collector  and  every 
other  man  in  your  organization  is 
equipped  with  this  information  he  has, 
at  least,  one  of  the  essentials  of  sales- 
manship. He  is  in  a  position  to  say, 
"The  service  we  are  giving  to  you 
costs  us  so  many  millions  of  dollars." 

A  New  Attitude  Necessary 

I  hope  I  have  gone  far  enough  to 
impress  upon  your  minds  what  is  per- 
fectly clear  to  mine,  namely,  that  the 
way  out  of  the  difficulties  and  trials 
and  tribulations  which  surround  us  is 
to  have  an  entire  change  of  heart.  We 
have  the  habit  of  laying  all  of  our 
troubles  upon  the  public.  Most  of  our 
troubles,  most  of  the  abuses  which  are 
heaped  upon  us  have  been  brought  on 
by  ourselves.  We  have  invited  them; 
it  is  our  fault  that  we  have  a  fixed 
5-cent  fare,  not  the  fault  of  the  public. 
It  is  our  fault  that  we  carry  our  riders 
20,  30  or  40  miles  for  a  nickel,  not  the 
fault  of  the  public.  If  we  tell  the  pub- 
lic that  and  admit  that  we  made  a 
mistake,  we  will  have  a  better  chance 
to  preach  this  new  gospel  and  this  new 
evangel  I  am  talking  to  you  about, 
for  the  salvation  of  this  industry  de- 
pends upon  the  exercise  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  salesmanship. 


The  Future  of  Street  Railway 
Financing* 

Railways  Are  a  Necessity  and  Means  for  Their  Financing  Should  Be 
Provided — Proper  Financial  Organization  for  Service-at-Cost 
Franchises  Is  Outlined 

By  J.  K.  Newman 

Isidore  Newman  &  Sons,  Bankers,  New  Orleans 


THERE  was  a  time  when  munici- 
pal ownership  was  advocated  as 
a  solution  of  the  street  railway 
problems,  but  the  cities  seem  not  to 
want  the  properties  now.  Further- 
more, the  bondholders  don't  want  to 
foreclose  and  the  equity  holders  are  left 
with  the  burden.  It  is  impossible  at 
this  time  for  any  street  railway  to  sell 
even  first  mortgage  bonds,  though  the 
issue  may  be  small  and  better  protected 
than  the  best  standards  required  in  the 
past.  There  is  no  industry  which  has 
been  hurt  more  and  "hollered"  less. 
The  time  has  come  to  "holler"  loud  and 
continue  to  "holler"  until  the  truth  is 
known  and  then  to  "holler"  some  more 
lest  the  people  forget.  We  have  kept 
our  troubles  too  much  to  ourselves  and 
the  effort  to  explain  the  facts  has  been 
spasmodic  and  not  continuous. 

An  organization  should  be  formed 
and  supported  by  all  street  railways  of 
the  United  States  to  give  publicity  to 
the  facts.  This  organization  should  be 
organized  as  a  corporation  with  a  com- 
plete staff  capable  of  telling  the  whole 


•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  annual 
meeting  of  American  Electric  Railway  As- 
sociation. Atlantic  City.  N.  J..  Oct.  3-6. 
1.921 . 


story  to  the  public  and  persistently 
telling  it  by  every  means  which  seems 
effective,  dignified  and  businesslike. 
The  trackless  trolley  car  has  been 
shown  in  moving  pictures  throughout 
the  country  and  the  effect  on  the  pub- 
lic mind  is  astonishing  in  the  hope 
which  it  has  instilled  for  a  cheaper  and 
better  transportation.  This  fallacy 
must  not  go  unchall?nged.  The  street 
railway  interest  should  counteract  it  by 
the  best  moving  picture  story  which 
can  be  written  to  show  the  street  rail- 
way side,  and  the  picture  should  be 
made  beautiful  to  the  eye  and  illuminat- 
ing to  the  brain.  This  is  only  a  trivial 
suggestion  compared  to  the  many  sub- 
stantial things  which  can  be  done  to 
counteract  the  demagogue,  the  dishon- 
est politician  and  to  educate  the  men 
who  would  really  like  to  know,  and, 
knowing,  would  be  fair. 

Municipal  ownership  would  be  a 
blessing  to  the  owners  of  street  rail- 
way securities;  it  may  prove  far  less 
satisfactory  to  the  public.  But  the 
cities  won't  buy.  To  their  credit  it 
must  be  said  that  there  are  many  state 
commissions  and  many  city  authorities 
who  are  trying  to  do  the  square  thing. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


583 


Unfortunately,  however,  there  are  still 
some  city  or  state  authorities  who  have 
not  the  courage  to  advocate  municipal 
ownership  or  to  give  relief  by  grant- 
ing higher  fares.  They  falsely  fear  it 
means  political  doom.  This  is  notably 
and  disgracefully  true  of  New  York 
City.  But  the  street  railway  system  is 
necessary  for  the  life  of  the  city.  Hence 
the  city  should  take  over  the  property 
at  a  fair  valuation  and  attempt  to  oper- 
ate it  in  the  interest  of  the  people,  or 
allow  the  owners  to  do  so. 

Service-at-Cost  Franchises 

If  the  city  does  not  want  municipal 
ownership,  it  must  provide  a  rate  of 
fare  which  will  yield  a  fair  return  on 
a  fair  valuation.  Many  cities  have 
recognized  this  policy  and  are  adjust- 
ing the  street  railway  problem  fairly 
and  squarel.y,  but  there  are  some  hold- 
outs. Again,  argument  is  used  that 
the  street  railways  will  become  obso- 
lete. This  is  an  absurdity,  not  care- 
fully analyzed,  but  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  oppression,  and  unfortunately 
it  has  reached  the  banker  and  the  in- 
vestor. If  the  cities  will  not  buy  the 
street  railway  systems  then  service  at 
cost  must  be  granted  to  the  companies. 
Without  some  incentive  it  is  contrary 
to  human  nature  for  the  management 
to  exhaust  its  brains  and  energy  on 
such  a  proposition.  This  incentive 
should  be  in  several  forms,  as  follows: 
(a)  A  premium  on  new  capital  raised 
either  for  extensions  or  betterments, 
if  it  means  economy  or  improved  ser- 
vice; (b)  a  higher  return  on  a  fixed 
valuation  when  there  is  a  diminishing 
cost  for  the  service  rendered;  (c)  the 
right  to  earn  an  excess  over  the  fixed 
return  to  create  a  stabilization  fund  to 
insure  the  fixed  return  continuously. 
The  company  should  be  permitted  to 
invest  such  excess  in  property  account, 
but  no  return  should  be  allowed  upon 
property  acquired  from  such  excess. 
This  excess  should  be  large  enough  to 
provide  for  junior  financing  as  here- 
inafter referred  to.  (d)  The  city  should 
recognize  the  value  of  expert  advice 
in  all  branches  of  its  service  and  per- 
mit the  cost  thereof  to  be  charged  as 
an  operating  expense.  It  is  often  true 
that  a  dollar  paid  for  expert  advice 
returns  itself  many  times  either  in  sav- 
ings or  in  mistakes  avoided,  (e)  Every 
effort  should  be  made  to  reduce  the 
taxes,  and  the  franchise  tax  should  be 
eliminated  altogether. 

With  a  service-at-cost  plan  in  force, 
the  companies  must  have  a  financial 
setup  on  a  modern,  comprehensive  plan 
irrespective  of  what  securities  may  be 
previously  outstanding.  Where  the 
companies  cannot  comply  with  a  stand- 
ard or  modern  form  of  financing,  they 
should  find  a  way  out  even  if  they 
must  resort  to  receivership  to  readjust 
the  capitalization. 

If  properties  under  the  service-at- 
cost  plan  are  to  be  allowed  only  an  8 
per  cent  return,  the  requirement  that 
net  earnings  after  deducting  renewal 
and  replacement  charges  shall  show 
twice  the  interest  on  bonds  outstanding 
would  limit  the  outstanding  bonds  to 


50  per  cent  of  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty, assuming  that  the  bonds  had  to 
be  sold  on  an  8  per  cent  basis.  That, 
however,  would  leave  too  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  cost  of  additions  to  be 
financed  by  junior  securities.  There- 
fore with  the  modern  treatment  of  re- 
newals and  replacements,  the  bankers 
must  recognize  the  fact  that  adequate 
provision  for  renewals  and  replace- 
ments protects  the  bondholders  to  the 
same  extent  as  a  corresponding  surplus 
over  bond  interest  did  in  the  past  when 
such  provision  was  not  made  for  re- 
newals and  replacements.  The  bond- 
holders will  be  properly  safeguarded  in 
this  particular  if  it  is  required  that  the 
net  earnings  when  added  to  the  re- 
newal and  replacement  reserve  set 
aside  out  of  earnings  shall  aggregate 
twice  the  interest  charge.  In  this  case, 
such  renewal  and  replacement  reserve 
should  be  inviolably  dedicated  to  re- 
newals and  no  portion  of  such  reserve 
should  be  available  for  dividends.  As- 
suming such  renewal  and  replacement 
charges  to  amount  annually  to  3  per 
cent  of  the  recognized  fair  valuation, 
this  would  permit  the  issuance  of  8 
per  cent  bonds  to  the  extent  of  about 
70  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  the  addi- 
tions and  still  show  twice  the  interest 
charges  in  net  earnings  and  provisions 
for  renewals. 

Sale  of  Junior  Securities 

With  such  a  requirement  from  in- 
vestment bankers,  no  street  railway 
company  should  have  first  mortgage 
bonds  outstanding  in  excess  of  70  per 
cent  of  its  valuation.  The  issue  also 
should  be  unlimited  in  amount  so  that 
additional  bonds  can  be  issued  from 
time  to  time  without  limiting  the  total 
amount  ever  to  be  outstanding,  but 
restricted  as  to  the  conditions  under 
which  additional  bonds  may  be  issued. 
Under  such  a  plan  only  70  per  cent 
of  the  money  can  be  raised  on  first 
mortgage  bonds,  even  after  a  financial 
reorganization  has  occurred  either 
through  voluntary  process  or  receiver- 
ship. How  is  the  additional  30  per 
cent  to  be  raised  ?  It  might  come 
through  any  one  or  all  of  the  follow- 
ing sources:  (a)  The  company  should 
be  allowed  to  earn  an  excess  over  the 
fixed  return  to  be  invested  in  addi- 
tional property  as  hereinbefore  ex- 
plained, (b)  The  cities  must  give  such 
support  to  the  companies  that  pre- 
ferred stock  can  be  sold  to  the  patrons 
of  the  company.  The  city  should  lend 
its  effort  to  insure  stability  of  princi- 
pal and  continuity  of  dividends  on  this 
preferred  stock  by  removing  all  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  profitable  operation. 
This  means  the  city  should  indorse  one 
and  only  one  system  of  transportation, 
thus  enabling  a  monopoly,  if  you  want 
to  call  it  by  this  name,  but  a  monopoly 
which  never  grows  fat  and  lives  on  a 
mere  skeleton  ditt.  (c)  When  the  pre- 
ferred stock  has  thus  been  sold  to  the 
patrons  of  the  company  and  where  the 
first  mortgage  bonds  outstanding  are 
less  than  70  per  cent  of  the  valuation 
a  second  mortgage  issue  will  be  safe 


and  will  appeal  to  certain  classes  of 
investors  who  need  a  larger  return 
than  is  obtainable  on  absolutely  first 
mortgage  bonds,  (d)  Sale  of  common 
stock.  Where  the  income  return  al- 
lowed by  the  regulatory  bodies  is  suf- 
ficient to  cover  the  average  interest 
rate  at  which  all  the  company's  securi- 
ties are  sold,  it  will  ordinarily  be  the 
case  that  the  interest  paid  upon  the 
first  mortgage  bonds  or  other  prior 
lien  securities  is  materially  less  than 
the  average  rate  of  return.  Thus,  the 
surplus  net  earnings  available  for  the 
common  stock  will  be  materially  in  ex- 
cess of  the  average  rate.  This  should 
make  it  possible  to  sell  common  stock 
at  par  or  better  to  such  investors  as 
are  willing,  in  consideration  of  such  in- 
creased income,  to  assume  the  larger 
risks  of  business  going  with  the  junior 
securities. 

When  the  city  authorities  or  state 
commissions  have  fixed  a  fair  value  on 
the  property  and  have  determined  what 
is  a  fair  return  thereon,  it  is  no 
longer  their  affair  how  the  company 
capitalizes  so  long  as  the  capitalization 
is  such  that  additional  securities  can 
be  sold  to  meet  the  cost  of  improve- 
ments and  additions  in  the  future.  For 
instance,  if  a  company  had  a  valuation 
of  $1,000,000  and  was  allowed  an  8  per 
cent  return  thereon  and  if  it  could  sell 
at  par  6  per  cent  first  mortgage  bonds 
for  50  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  the 
property,  the  remaining  50  per  cent 
would  be  capitalized  in  the  form  of 
common  stock  and  the  surplus  avail- 
able therefor  would  be  10  per  cent. 
The  higher  yield  on  the  common  stock 
might  make  junior  financing  possible, 
and  no  interference  should  be  offered 
by  the  city  if  the  common  stock  should 
show  10  or  even  12  per  cent  return, 
provided  the  total  return  on  all  securi- 
ties did  not  exceed  the  fair  return  al- 
lowed on  the  agreed  valuation.  If  the 
city  and  state  authorities  will  learn  this 
lesson  it  will  be  an  important  step  for- 
ward in  the  financing  of  junior  equities, 
and  thus  make  street  railway  financing 
more  feasible. 

Franchises  and  Indeterminate 
Permits 

There  is  nothing  more  destructive  to 
street  railway  financing  than  short  term 
franchises  unless  it  is  short  term  fran- 
chises which  undertake  to  make  rules, 
regulations  and  general  conditions  of 
operation  in  the  distant  future.  Bank- 
ers will  not  recommend  and  investors 
will  not  buy  bonds  where  the  maturity 
thereof  is  beyond  the  maturity  of  the 
franchise.  It  is  expensive  to  refund 
an  issue  of  bonds,  and  no  one  advo- 
cates that  street  railway  bonds  should 
or  could  be  paid  at  maturity  without 
refunding.  It  makes  a  tremendous  dif- 
ference whether  an  issue  runs  for  one 
hundred  years  or  if  it  is  refunded  ten 
times  during  that  period. 

If  first  mortgage  bonds  on  street  rail- 
ways were  limited  to  a  fair  per  cent 
of  the  fair  value  of  the  property  and 
were  properly  protected  by  mainte- 
nance, renewal  and  replacement  clauses 


584 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


and  the  many  other  good  clauses  which 
the  usual  mortgage  now  contains  there 
would  be  no  need  for  a  maturity  under 
one  hundred  years  or  more  and  no  sink- 
ing fund  would  be  required.  However, 
there  are  many  objectionable  condi- 
tions which  have  crept  into  these  mort- 
gages and  they  must  be  eliminated, 
while  on  the  other  hand  several  new 
clauses  should  be  inserted  through 
which  the  conditions  can  be  changed  to 
meet  conditions  which  will  arise  in  the 
future.  It  would  probably  be  hard  at 
the  beginning  to  have  a  condition  in 
the  mortgages  that  50  per  cent  of  the 
holders  of  the  bonds  issued  could  change 
practically  any  or  all  of  the  conditions 
of  the  mortgage,  but  if  the  street  rail- 
way companies  and  the  bankers  will 
confer  from  time  to  time  a  broad3r  un- 


derstanding of  proper  financing  will  re- 
sult and  mortgages  will  be  devised 
which  will  strengthen  the  companies 
instead  of  restricting  them  to  the  point 
where  reorganizations  are  necessary. 

The  indeterminate  franchise  is  neces- 
sary for  proper  rehabilitation  of  street 
railway  financing.  Such  a  permit 
should  be  exclusive;  it  should  allow 
the  fare  to  be  flexible;  it  should  insure 
against  jitneys  and  buses  which  paral- 
lel; it  should  permit  ample  regulation, 
but  regulation  which  will  not  confis- 
cate. A  co-operative  effort  should  be 
made  to  get  all  states  to  adopt  a  fairly 
uniform  indeterminate  permit  law. 
Progress  has  already  been  made  in  this 
direction,  but  strenuous  efforts  are 
necessary  to  make  this  theory  a  uni- 
versal practice. 


The  Basis  of  Financial  Recuperation* 

Recognition  of  Fair  Valuation  as  a  Basis  of  Capitalization  by  the  Rail- 
ways and  Recognition  of  Fair  Rate  of  Return  by  the  Public  Are 
Necessary    A  Simple  Financial  Structure,  with  Holding 
Companies  the  Exception,  Is  Also  Good  Policy 

By  Francis  E.  Frothingham 

Vice-President  Coffin  &  Burr,  Inc.,  Boston,  Mass. 


OUT  of  the  welter  of  discussion  over 
the  difficulties  of  our  street  rail- 
ways, probably  the  nearest  to  a 
common  opinion  is  that  the  street  rail- 
way cannot  be  dispensed  with  in  the 
larger  communities  and  in  their  more 
densely  populated  tributary  territory 
except  by  a  dislocation  of  community 
habits  and  values  not  to  be  contem- 
plated. Confidence  that  the  industry 
is  a  permanent  one  will  sooner  or  later 
beget  success  in  restablishing  it  on  a 
sound  footing — but  only,  I  am  afraid, 
at  the  expense  of  much  heart-burning 
and  many  losses. 

In  what  I  have  to  say  I  will  not 
undertake  to  discuss  any  of  the  physi- 
cal problems,  interesting  as  they  are, 
but  will  touch  only  on  some  of  the  more 
conspicuous  general  ones  as  they  pre- 
sent themselves  to  the  lender  of  money. 

In  the  first  place,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  street  railway  business  has  not  yet 
emerged  from  the  cloud  of  public  con- 
demnation of  past  practices,  and  until 
this  cloud  has  rolled  by  no  just  solu- 
tion of  the  difficulties  of  the  industry  is 
possible.  It  is  profitless  to  rake  up  the 
unpleasant  past  of  overcapitalization, 
mismanagement  and  political  corrup- 
tion with  which  the  history  of  the  busi- 
ness is  unfortunately  too  replete,  un- 
less it  serves  as  a  guide  in  the  present. 
There  is  no  way  of  allaying  this  lurk- 
ing feeling  of  maltreatment  except  by 
persistent  candor  and  patience  on  the 
part  of  the  companies.  Another  handi- 
cap to  developing  local  good  feeling  is, 
in  many  instances,  the  fact  of  foreign 
ownership  or  of  distant  control  by  ab- 
sentee holding  companies.  The  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  the  holding  company 


"Address  presented  at  the  annual  conven- 
tion of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation, Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


are  recognized,  but  I  feel  confident 
that  in  this  particular  the  disadvan- 
tages of  remote,  I  had  almost  said  un- 
sympathetic, banker  control,  in  the  case 
of  the  larger  properties  at  any  rate, 
outweigh  the  advantages.  Absentee 
landlordism  is  bad  in  practice  where 
it  can  be  avoided  and  a  community  in- 
stinctively resents  this  sort  of  dicta- 
tion in  its  affairs  and  not  improperly 
demands  a  home  discussion  and  solu- 
tion of  local  needs.  Surely  such  an  in- 
terpretation of  public  hostility  gives  it 
a  reasonableness  that  makes  it  curable. 

Good  Will  Engenders  Fair  Play 

With  public  sympathly  and  good  will 
once  developed  the  instinctive  human 
habit  of  fair  play  will  surely  be  ef- 
fective in  securing  for  the  struggling 
companies  a  fair  return  on  a  fair 
valuation,  and  more  than  this  they 
have  no  right  either  to  ask  or  expect. 
That  is  a  very  easy  thing  to  say,  but 
as  the  slang  expression  has  it,  "you 
have  said  a  mouthful."  But  once  this 
principle  is  established  the  problem  be- 
comes one  of  detail,  however  slow  or 
harassing  its  solution  may  be.  Cleve- 
land, Dallas,  Boston,  to  name  a  few 
conspicuous  examples,  are  making  dif- 
ferent applications  of  ways  and  means 
to  this  general  principle,  and  each  is 
securing  varying  measures  of  success. 

The  search  for  a  fair  valuation 
means  inevitably  the  abandonment  of 
many  preconceived  ideas  and  a  readi- 
ness to  recognize  the  fact  that  existing 
capitalization  is  a  factor  in  the  search 
only  in  so  far  as  it  may  help  to  show 
how  much  money  has  actually  and 
legitimately  gone  into  the  service  of 
the  public.  The  public  demands  to 
know  the  amount  of  investment  which 
is  reasonably  used  and  useful  in  its 


service,  and  it  is  increasingly  appar- 
ent that  any  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
companies  to  divert  the  search  for  that 
figure  will  but  delay  the  reconstruction 
process.  It  is  hopeless  and  unreason- 
able to  expect  support  of  capitalization 
which  stands  only  for  speculative  an- 
ticipations, and  the  sooner  the  justice 
of  this  basic  demand  of  the  public  is 
recognized  will  a  great  impediment  to 
reconstruction  be  removed. 

Fair  Return  Must  Be  Accorded 

Search  for  the  fair  return  on  this 
fair  value  demands  the  recognition  by 
the  public  of  the  fact  that  the  cost  of 
the  commodity  which  the  street  rail- 
way sells  varies  as  does  the  cost  of  any 
other  commodity  which  it  buys  and 
which  it  expects  to  fluctuate  from  time 
to  time.    The  5-cent  limitation  which 
operators  in  the  past  gladly  accepted 
because  it  seemed  then  so  abundant  has 
prejudiced   the  companies'  case  most 
unfortunately.    The  public  mind  should 
be  cultivated  to  accept  a  cost  of  serv- 
ice, as  it  works  out  under  varying  oper- 
ating conditions,  as  the  fair  commodity 
price,  and  it  surely  will  when  its  con- 
fidence in  the  operators  is  restored  and 
the  necessities  of  its  own  best  interests 
are  fully   realized.     In   other  words, 
where  a  community  is  protected  from 
selfish     management    by  commission 
jurisdiction  there  need  and  should  be 
no  limitation  on  the  rate  of  fare  re- 
quired to  cover  operating  expenses,  re- 
serves for  depreciation   and  cushion 
funds,  and  the  agreed  upon  fair  re 
turn  on  the  fair  valuation.    No  one  can 
foresee  the  varying  cost  of  operation, 
and  a  fixed  limit  either  high  or  low  in 
the  fares  which  may  be  charged  is  both 
practically  and  theoretically  a  menace 
to  continuity  of  credit  and  so  to  ade- 
quate public  service,  which  depends  on 
the  existence  of  such  credit.    The  Bos- 
ton   Elevated   now  charges   a  10-cent 
fare  and  the  public  accepts  it  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  having  confidence  in  the 
disinterested   and    intelligent  adminis- 
tration of  the  public  board  appointed 
by    the    Governor    under    the  recent 
enabling  legislation  in  Massachusetts. 

In  this  connection  the  war  was  a 
ruthless  teacher.  Suddenly  and  con- 
spicuously it  made  all  the  inherent  and 
slumbering  street  railway  difficulties 
loom  large  and  destructive — the  danger 
of  motor-car  competition,  the  inade- 
quacy of  provisions  for  depreciation, 
the  vital  menace  of  mounting  costs  of 
material  and  labor  against  a  fixed  cost 
of  product.  The  war  made  the  indus- 
try totter  and  left  some  ruins,  but  it 
showed  up  all  the  worst  that  there  was 
to  know,  so  that  the  salvaging  efforts 
can  now  be  concentrated  on  that  which 
is  worth  saving. 

The  Problem  of  the  Bus 

In  the  jitney  and  bus  service  the 
street  railways  have  been  subjected  to 
a  very  severe  type  of  competition.  They 
have  had  competition  before,  but  usu- 
ally in  kind.  This  is  a  new  kind  of 
trackless  enemy  and  the  danger  was,  I 
think,  very  unhappily  met,  perhaps 
because  of  a  certain  tendency  of  un- 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


585 


progTessiveness  in  the  industry  which 
in  the  past  has  made  many  advances 
in  physical  equipment  and  operating- 
practices  wait  around,  so  to  speak,  for 
recognition.  When  the  jitney  came,  the 
industry  unfortunately  only  decried  it 
as  an  unfair  competitor.  The  effort  was 
rather  to  eliminate  it  on  the  plea  of 
unfairness  than  to  insist  upon  its  being 
made  a  fair  competitor.  Little  or  no 
effort  was  made  to  absorb  the  new 
agency  and  to  co-ordinate  to  the  public- 
gain  the  trackless  innovation  with  the 
tracked  system.  Thus  public  opposi- 
tion was  aroused  when  instead  public- 
sympathy  and  help  might  have  been  se- 
cured. I  am  aware  that  as  yet,  except 
on  Fifth  Avenue,  that  vertibrate 
avenue  in  a  long  densely  populated 
island,  that  Arnold  Bennett  called  the 
finest  avenue  in  the  world,  there  is  no 
demonstrated  success  in  jitney-bus 
service.  Its  potentialities  are  such, 
however,  that  it  should  be  co-ordinated 
with  the  street  railway  service  and 
competition,  if  such  there  must  be,  kept 
at  the  respectful  distance  that  stimu- 
lates but  does  not  kill. 

It  is  even  open  to  discussion  whether 
competition  will  secure  the  best  rounded 
and  most  effective  public  service. 
Entire  absorption  of  this  new  agency 
by  the  street  railway  has  much  to 
recommend  it,  if  the  companies  would 
agree  to  put  on  such  service  where 
and  when  the  utility  commissions,  after 
hearing,  have  found  a  need  for  it.  The 
public  has  a  clear  right  to  the  benefit 
of  advanced  practices,  and  any  effort 
to  deprive  it  of  them  will  only  prove 
a  boomerang.  Possibly  trolley  wires 
may  still  be  used  where  it  is  too  ex- 
pensive to  maintain  the  tracks  under 
them,  for  of  course  the  problem  is  with 
the  trackless  vehicle  in  general,  and 
not  the  gasoline-propelled  vehicle  alone. 
If  there  must  be  competition  it  is  ab- 
solutely important  and  fair  that 
vehicles  using  the  streets  for  the  col- 
lection of  fares  shall  equitably  bear  the 
costs  of  street  improvement  and  main- 
tenance. No  jitney  can  permanently 
expect  or  should  have  free  use  of  that 
portion  of  a  street  which  a  street  rail- 
way company  has  built  and  in  winter 
keeps  clear  of  snow. 

Franchises — A  Question  of  Men 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  of 
franchises,  which  have  such  a  direct 
bearing  on  the  dependability  of  a  fair 
rate  of  return.  A  terminable  grant 
under  rigid  conditions  has  no  satisfac- 
tory basis  for  financial  credit.  The  in- 
determinate permit  coupled  with  some 
form  of  service  at  cost,  with  flexibility 
of  rate  adjustment,  and  the  right  of  a 
municipality  to  purchase  at  an  agreed- 
upon  valuation,  is  the  most  encouraging 
type  of  grant  so  far  developed.  The 
monopoly  feature  and  the  equalization 
of  street  costs  as  just  discussed  are  also 
very  important. 

Of  course  the  human  element  in  the 
administration  of  any  type  of  franchise 
must  always  make  its  effectiveness 
more  or  less  uncertain,  for  the  admin- 
istration of  any  plan  can  either  make 
or  break  it,  but  that  does  not  detract 


from  the  necessity  for  working  toward 
such  terms  in  a  public  grant  as  funda- 
mentally seem  the  fairest  and  the  sound- 
est in  principle.  Those  elements  which 
inject  selfish  interest  and  opportunity 
for  manipulation  should  be  eliminated. 
In  the  long  run  it  ought  to  be  possible 
to  find  good  men  to  do  a  good  job  for 
a  fair  wage,  if  their  tenure  of  office  is 
dependent  only  on  the  merit  of  their 
work.  But  these  considerations  only 
bring  us  back  to  the  perpetual  question 
of  the  right  men.  Just  now,  for  in- 
stance, able  men  of  high  character  are 
administering  the  Boston  Elevated, 
under  the  enabling  act  referred  to,  most 
hopefully.  Substitute  a  board  of  po- 
litical henchmen  and  there  will  follow 
disaster  under  the  identical  act.  So 
also  with  the  new  administration  of 
the  old  Bay  State  Street  Railway, 
where  remarkable  practical  results  are 
now  being  achieved  with  a  very  exten- 
sive urban  and  interurban  mileage. 

Public  ownership  and  operation  with 
its  contaminating  political  influence 
under  our  form  of  government  (and  ex- 
periments in  public  ownership  in 
Europe  are  chiefly  danger  signals) 
holds  no  prospect  of  improvement  over 
private  operation  and  should  be  turned 
to  only  in  the  event  of  outright  failure 
of  private  effort  under  fair  treatment. 
Should  public  ownership  and  operation 
be  resorted  to,  the  only  hope  of  decent 
service  lies  in  control  by  a  long-time 
board  beyond  the  reach  of  political  in- 
fluences. The  present  management  of 
the  Boston  Elevated  is  a  compromise 
plan  being  watched  with  much  interest. 
But,  as  I  see  it,  the  burden  of  private 
ownership  is  to  make  a  clear  demon- 
stration that  it  can  meet  the  call  upon 
it,  and  my  personal  belief  is  that  it 
can  win  out  in  this  effort  if  it  will.  But 
it  must  be  prompt  and  energetic  and 
ready  to  take  losses  in  the  process. 

Recovery  of  credit  also  rests  on  some 
solution  of  the  labor  problem.  If  com- 
pany and  men  can  find  no  way  of  living- 
together  in  peace,  not  by  fits  and  starts, 
but  continuously,  money  will  be  hard  to 
find  for  capital  expenditures.  Cessa- 
tion of  operations  and  destruction  of 
property  breeds  nothing  but  distrust 
of  the  business.  The  interest  of  all 
hands,  public,  employer  and  employee, 
demands  a  strenuous  effort  to  devise 
some  scheme  of  compromising  differ- 
ences without  either  strike  or  lockout. 
All  three  groups  should  rest  their  case 
for  final  decision  and  acceptance  with 
some  board  of  arbitration.  Possibly  the 
Philadelphia  experiments  may  point  a 
way.  Some  form  of  collective  bargain- 
ing is  of  course  essential,  but  the  basic 
principle  to  be  recognized  is  that  no 
group  of  men  in  a  public  service  has  a 
moral  right  either  to  quit  work  or  to 
lock  out  at  its  arbitrary  pleasure, 
merely  because  it  harbors  a  grievance, 
and  so  tie  up  a  public  service. 

It  is  so  easy  to  say  these  things  and 
so  difficult  to  find  a  way  through  that 
one  feels  almost  ashamed  to  make  what 
must  sound  like  futilely  trite  remarks 
to  you  who  are  laboring-  so  hard  in  the 
field,  while  I  among  others  seemingly 
only  lock  on  and  say,  bring  us  this 


thing  on  a  silver  platter  and  then  we 
will  help.  But  it  is  really  not  as  bad 
f.s  that  on  the  banker's  side.  The 
banker  does  not  buy  to  hold,  he  buys 
to  sell,  and  he  can  only  resell  what  his 
customers  will  buy.  He  must  pass  his 
purchase  along,  and  he  cannot  do  that 
to  people  who  see  street  railways  shut 
down  over  a  franchise  fight,  or  because 
of  jitney  competition,  or  of  a  strike  or 
lockout,  or  who  do  not  find  net  earn- 
ings coming  through  for  return  on  their 
money. 

The  investor  in  street  railways  has 
been  brought  up  to  believe  that  it  was 
a  cash  business  payable  in  advance, 
that  it  needed  little  working  capital, 
that  the  riding  habit  steadily  increased, 
that  he  could  see  all  the  property  and 
judge  for  himself  if  it  was  well  main- 
tained. So  he  bought  and  got  hurt — and 
now  wants  the  reasons  why  corrected 
before  he  lends  again.  All  we  can  do 
is  to  keep  on  correcting  the  faults  till 
his  confidence  is  restored — and  he 
wants,  not  unnaturally,  an  overfull 
measure  of  correction.  So  the  indus- 
try must  keep  hammering  away — and 
all  I  am  trying  to  do  is  to  emphasize 
some  of  the  salient  points  at  which  the 
hammering-  must  be  concentrated,  as 
we  who  must  get  the  funds  from  the 
doubting  public  see  it. 

A  Simple,  Direct  Financial  Plan  Is 
a  First  Essential 

Looming  large  in  the  background  of 
the  present  dark-colored  picture  is  the 
financial  plan,  through  which  the  di- 
rect appeal  to  the  public  for  funds  is 
made.  Here,  to  my  mind,  three  very 
important  essentials  stand  out.  A  capi- 
talization should  be  simple,  it  should 
be  direct,  and  it  should  bear  as  nearly 
as  possible  a  unit  relationship  to  valu- 
ation. The  financial  structure  should 
be  as  scientifically  developed  and  adapt- 
ed to  the  special  case  as  is  the  physi- 
cal structure  to  its  environment  and 
the  service  that  is  expected  of  it.  Too 
frequently  has  it  been  a  case  of  money 
needed  somehow,  and  any  available 
security  marketed,  until  an  almost  un- 
intelligible financial  conglomerate  has 
resulted.  Sometimes  the  conglomerate 
has  grown  out  of  painstaking  but  mis- 
taken effort.  But  however  developed, 
these  complicated  financial  structures 
should  as  rapidly  as  possible  be  aban- 
doned, even  if  suffering  comes  to 
former  investors.  A  piece  of  physical 
property  is  scrapped  in  the  stride  for- 
ward, but  herculean  efforts  are  made 
to  save  a  financial  plan  equally  faulty 
or  outgrown.  The  desire  to  save  inno- 
cent investors  from  loss  is  rightfully 
ever  present,  but  it  is  a  mistaken  sense 
of  justice  to  continue  raising  money  on 
a  plan  that  only  multiplies  the  ultimate 
victims.  The  public  utility  runs  on  in- 
definitely, and  the  greatest  good  of  the 
greatest  number  may  demand  a  drastic 
course.  That  financial  reorganization 
will  be  brought  about  on  an  extended 
scale  to  insure  success  is  inevitable. 

By  a  simple  plan  I  mean,  say,  such  a 
one  as  has  raised  money  for  the  Detroit 
Edison  Company  through  all  sorts  of 
market  vagaries  for  years,  and  is  still 


586 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


good,  ie.,  bonds  direct'y  secured  by 
physical  property,  and  common  stock 
also  secured  by  real  values.  Paying  a 
good  dividend  as  it  does,  money  can  be 
raised  on  this  common  stock  in  ordi- 
nary times  and  the  bonds  are  always 
in  the  background,  salable  for  lower- 
priced  money  or  when  stock  money  is 
not  obtainable.  The  Commonwealth  Edi- 
son Company  also  follows  this  simple 
plan  with  conspicuous  success.  Bonds 
and  common  stock,  as  nearly  fifty-fifty 
as  possible,  is  the  simple,  effective, 
sound  plan.  To  refer  to  the  Detroit 
ease  again,  the  company,  in  order  to 
maintain  the  desirable  relation  of  bonds 
to  stock,  issues  debentures  from  time 
to  time,  convertible  into  common  stock. 
Hp  to  the  strain  of  the  war  these  de- 
benture issues  had  been  converted  prac- 
tically 100  per  cent,  so  maintaining  the 
essential  bond-common  stock  basis. 
Some  such  simple  plan  should  be  the 
goal  of  every  utility,  as  an  aid  to 
stand  the  storm  of  changing  conditions. 

I  have  deliberately  deferred  the  men- 
tion of  preferred  stock,  because  I  am 
inclined  to  feel  that  it  is  a  security 
whose  usefulness  is  perhaps  overesti- 
mated. It  is  the  intermediate  security 
between  the  indenture-secured  bond, 
with  its  right  of  foreclosure  and  non- 
participation  in  management,  and 
common  stock.  It  has  a  lien  on  earn- 
ings ahead  of  common  stock  dividends, 
and  so  makes  an  intermediate  appeal 
in  raising  funds.  Its  use  still  leaves 
the  financial  plan  very  simple,  but  I 
think  its  very  prevalent  use  is  closely 
associated  with  the  fact  that  as  a  rule 
too  much  of  the  needed  funds  have 
been  raised  on  funded  debt,  and  so 
sufficient  margins  have  not  been  left 
to  put  common  stock  on  a  substantial 
dividend  basis  and  so  to  make  it  a 
dependable  financial  medium. 

Of  course  the  increasing  sale  of  any 
stocks  tends,  if  the  voting  power  is 
attached,  as  in  my  judgment  it  always 
should  be,  to  distribute  ownership,  and 
there  is  often  fear  lest  this  process 
will  divert  control  from  a  particular 
quarter.  Control  of  the  public  serv- 
ices, however,  should  be  allowed  to  go 
where  it  will  and  management  should 
depend  on  the  competence  of  its  serv- 
ice for  its  retention.  Fear  of  loss  of 
control  again  arouses  public  suspicion, 
which  is  quieted  the  more  nearly  a 
given  community  owns  or  has  the  clear 
opportunity  to  own  and  manage  its 
local  services. 

Here  again  the  war  comes  in  with 
its  lessons.  Its  strain  brought  many 
situations  to  their  knees  because  bond 
rates  were  limited  in  so  many  cases  to 
5  per  cent  or  only  a  long-time  bond 
was  issuable,  and  no  company  could 
afford  to  sell  them.  So  resort  was  had 
to  bond-secured  notes  and  every  in- 
genuity of  financial  device.  But  the 
lesson  was  this:  just  as  the  service  at 
cost  plan  depends  on  unlimited  fare 
fluctuations  to  meet  changing  costs, 
so  deeds  of  trust  must  provide  for  in- 
terest rates  and  maturities  and  other 
features  such  as  call  figures,  tax  pro- 
visions, etc.,  as  will  from  time  to  time 
best    meet    changing    or  emergency 


market  conditions.  It  will  take  great 
care  to  develop  in  deeds  of  trust  offer- 
ing these  flexibilities  the  substantive 
features  of  security  and  equality  of 
lien  unimpaired,  without  which  a  bond 
becomes  such  in  name  only.  It  can 
and  should  be  done,  however.  Similar 
flexibilities  can  also  be  applied  to  pre- 
ferred stocks  to  advantage,  while  re- 
taining equality  of  rank.  Efforts  have 
recently  been  made  in  both  these  di- 
rections and  they  are  not  only  ad- 
vantageous in  themselves,  but  bring 
the  great  advantages  of  simplicity  of 
capitalization  within  easier  reach. 

Weakness  of  Holding  Company 
Financing 

Direct  capitalization  and  the  holding 
company  security  come  into  immediate 
conflict.  The  holding  company  security, 
supported  by  the  pledge  of  the  direct 
obligations  of  several  operating  prop- 
erties, contains  a  diversity  factor 
strength  which  has  been  strongly 
argued,  and  for  certain  purposes  and 
in  particular  instances  has  its  advan- 
tages. It  is  a  fact  that  during  the  war 
the  holding  company  in  some  cases 
facilitated  the  raising  of  money,  but 
on  the  other  hand  there  were  many- 
cases  when  the  inter-relationship  of 
indirect  ownerships  made  a  way  out 
almost  impossible.  But  as  a  perma- 
nent means  of  satisfactorily  financing 
the  important  strest  railway  compa- 
nies of  the  country,  it  is  difficult  to  find 
justification  for  it.  It  is  fraught  with 
possibilities  of  grave  abuses,  and  for 
that  reason  and  because  the  holding 
company  is  not  subject  to  commission 
control  it  leads  to  strong  local  distrust 
and  criticism.  Then,  too,  its  securities, 
in  the  case  of  the  large  property,  are 
as  a  rule  not  so  salable  as  the  direct 
obligation  of  the  operating  company 
itself,  provided  the  capitalization  has  a 
simple  structure.  In  the  case  of  smaller 
properties  the  benefits  of  the  holding- 
company  are  of  course  often  many  and 
real,  and  are  locally  appreciated,  but 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  soundness 
of  the  practice  of  selling  to  the  public 
the  direct  obligation  of  the  larger  op- 
erating properties  themselves. 

Over-capitalization  still,  exists  with 
many  of  our  street  railway  systems. 
This  fact,  I  think,  cannot  be  gainsaid, 
and  where  it  obtains  cannot  be  set  aside 
as  irrelevant.  I  am  afraid  a  great 
deal  of  effort  will  be  yet  wasted  in  at- 
tempts to  preserve  an  unjustifiable  set 
up  in  the  hope  that  chance  and  re- 
turning general  prosperity  and  the 
continued  growth  of  the  country  will 
still  take  up  the  slack.  These  will  in 
all  probability  be  destructive  rather 
than  constructive  efforts.  It  will  be 
much  better  to  make  opportunity  out 
of  the  present  difficulty  to  get  started 
right.  It  is  often  argued  that  the 
fixing  of  a  fair  return  on  a  fair  valu- 
ation reduces  the  amount  of  capitaliza- 
tion to  relative  unimportance,  because 
the  allowed  return  will  go  only  so 
far  as  it  will.  If  there  is  not  enough 
to  reach  common  stock  dividends,  for 
instance,  they  merely  will  not  be  paid. 
Non-readjustment  of  capitalization  in 


such  cases  distorts  the  idea  of  real 
value  and  the  conception  of  the  proper 
relation  between  securities  of  different 
classes,  and  maintains  public  suspicion. 

The  man  in  the  street  will  not  let 
up  his  fight  against  a  capitalization 
that  bears  no  reasonable  relation  to 
valuation.  The  principle  of  an  ag- 
gregate par  value  of  securities  to  equal 
valuation  must  sooner  or  later  be  ac- 
cepted, and  the  sooner  the  better. 
Massachusetts  has  been  much  laughed 
at  in  the  past  for  its  rigid  capitaliza- 
tion statutes,  yet  the  properties  in  the 
state  have  continued  to  grow,  and  now 
when  the  public  good  will  means  every- 
thing in  the  street  railway  struggle, 
the  knowledge  that  everybody  has, 
that  capitalization  equals  valuation  by 
the  operation  of  law  and  public  con- 
trol over  many  years,  and  that  the  par 
of  bonds  does  not  exceed  the  par  of 
stock  outstanding,  takes  from  public 
opposition  to  remedial  legislation  one 
of  its  great  complaints. 

It  is  hard  to  be  drastic,  but  these 
are  drastic  days.  Street  railway  finan- 
cing today  is  almost  non-existent.  Dur- 
ing the  past  year  scarcely  a  dozen 
purely  street  railway  companies  in  the 
United  States  have  raised  any  money 
by  the  sale  of  securities,  and  even  so 
each  case  has  been  in  some  way  spe- 
cial. This  condition  cannot  continue 
long  and  the  street  railway  business 
as  a  private  business  survive. 

There  is  no  Moses  to  lead  the  indus- 
try out  of  the  wilderness.  There  is 
no  panacea  for  its  ills.  Each  case  is 
special  unto  itself  and  must  be  labor- 
iously worked  out.  But  a  background 
of  sound  general  principles  remain  and 
the  more  closely  these  can  be  followed, 
the  sooner,  I  feel  sure,  will  the  credit 
of  the  street  railway  industry  be  re- 
stored. Credit  canot  be  re-established 
without  earning  capacity  and  earning 
capacity  cannot  be  achieved  in  the  face 
of  public  distrust  and  opposition,  the 
hydra-headed  enemy  of  the  industry. 


Claims  Association  Elects  Officers 

AT  THE  FINAL  meeting  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Claims 
Association,  the  following  officers  were 
elected  for  the  ensuing  year: 

President,  C.  G.  Rice,  superintendent 
claim  department  Pittsburgh  Railways. 

First  vice-president,  Wallace  Muir, 
claim  agent  Kentucky  Traction  &  Ter- 
minal Company,  Lexington,  Kentucky. 

Second  vice-president,  W.  H.  Hyland, 
claim  agent  Fonda,  Johnstown  &  Glov- 
ersville  Railroad,  Gloversville,  N.  Y. 

Third  vice-president,  Howard  D. 
Briggs,  assistant  general  claim  agent 
Public  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Secretary-treasurer,  E.  L.  Linde- 
rnuth,  claim  agent  Wilkes-Barre  (Pa.) 
Railway. 

Executive  committee:  G.  B.  Proctor, 
claim  agent  Memphis  (Tenn.)  Street 
Railway;  W.  G.  Fitzpatrick,  general 
claim  attorney  Detroit  United  Railway; 
T.  B.  Donnelly,  claim  agent  West  Penn 
Railways,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.;  S.  J.  Har- 
rell,  claim  agent  Knoxville  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


587 


Service-at-Cost  Contract  Franchise 
and  State  Regulation* 


The  Relative  Merit  of  Each  Depends 
Largely  on  Makeup  of  Public  Bodies 
Involved,  but  with  a  Good  Board, 
Service-at-Cost  Contract  Franchise 
Has  Manifest  Advantages 

By  Edward  Dana 

■General  Manager  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass. 

STATE  regulation  has  generally 
come  to  signify  control  through  a 
state  commission,  of  service  to  be 
rendered  and  rates  charged  therefor,  and 
further  a  nearly  absolute  power  over 
capital  issues,  whether  of  stocks,  bonds 
•or  long-term  notes.  The  fundamental 
feature  of  this  plan  and  its  greatest 
weakness  is  that  it  looks  at  only  one 
side  of  the  financial  structure  of  the 
•company,  to  wit,  its  receipts.  It  has  no 
direct  connection  with  or  responsibil- 
ity for  expenditures.  The  commission 
suffers  no  loss  and  incurs  no  public 
odium  if  its  decisions  result  in  finan- 
cial catastrophe  for  the  company  af- 
fected. 

Service-at-cost  franchises  have  taken 
several  forms.  Since  I  am  associated 
with  a  company  under  one  of  these 
forms  which  was  previously  subject  to 
state  regulation,  and  can  speak  as  to 
that  from  personal  experience,  I  will 
take  its  features  as  the  ones  to  be 
considered.  Here  we  have  a  state 
board,  just  as  in  public  regulation,  but 
that  commission  is  given  absolute  con- 
trol over  and  responsibility  for  both 
sides  of  the  ledger.  It  determines  the 
service,  prescribes  the  rates  of  fare 
and  dictates  the  expenditures  to  be 
made.  It  is  under  a  duty  to  see  that 
receipts  are  sufficient  to  provide  for 
operating  expenses,  meet  interest  on 
indebtedness  and  pay  certain  fixed  divi- 
dends upon  stock — and  the  state  guar- 
antees that  its  commission  will  ac- 
complish this  result.  If  the  rates  it 
establishes  do  not  provide  the  neces- 
sary funds,  the  taxpayer  in  the  district 
served  through  the  state  must  make  up 
the  difference. 

There  are  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages in  each  of  these  plans  of  control. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  stock- 
holders in  times  of  rising  costs  the  ad- 
vantages of  service-at-cost  are  appar- 
ent. With  receipts  practically  fixed 
and  expenditures  increasing,  there  is 
apt  to  come  a  time  when  dividends  cease 
and  even  bond  interest  cannot  be  met. 
In  such  a  time  the  service-at-cost  stock- 
holder is  in  a  comfortable  position. 
The  return  on  his  investment,  while  not 
large,  is  secure. 

•  Theoretically,  public  regulation  should 
not  and  need  not  impair  the  return  to 
the   stockholder.     The   United  States 


•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  con- 
vention of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Transportation  &  Traffic  Association,  At- 
lantic City,  N.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


EDWARD  DANA 


Constitution  protects  an  investor  in 
public  service  corporations  in  a  fair 
return  on  his  investment  so  far  as 
state  interference  is  concerned,  and  it 
is  as  much  the  sworn  duty  of  public 
service  commissioners  as  of  a  court  to 
recognize  this.  Given  a  regulatory 
board,  conscientious  in  its  sense  of  duty 
to  the  investor  as  well  as  to  the  public 
and  of  sufficient  courage,  increases  of 
fares  would  not  lag  behind  the  condi- 
tion which  made  them  necessary. 
Nevertheless,  even  with  an  ideal  com- 
mission there  will  be,  in  periods  of  ris- 
ing costs,  a  certain  length  of  time  be- 
tween the  moment  when  increased  fares 
are  necessary  and  the  time  when  they 
can  be  put  into  effect.  Evidence  must 
be  collected  to  prove  that  the  increase 
is  necessary,  and  this  cannot  well  be 
done  until  the  time  of  need  has  ar- 
rived. Public  hearings  must  be  had 
and  delays  of  greater  or  less  extent  are 
sure  to  occur.  Throughout  this  time 
of  waiting  a  loss  is  being  suffered,  which 
with  costs  still  rising  is  not  likely  ever 
to  be  made  up,  but,  rather,  goes  on 
repeating  itself. 

Under  our  service-at-cost  plan  what 
the  public  does  not  pay  in  carfare  it 
must  make  up  in  taxes.  The  tribunal 
controlling  the  fares  is  responsible  for 
seeing  that  they  produce  enough  rev- 
enue to  meet  the  costs.  It  is  in  a  posi- 
tion to  act  quickly  and  has  the  incen- 
tive for  so  doing.  Accordingly,  not  only 
is  the  stockholder  in  better  position, 
but  the  property  has  a  better  chanca 
to  be  completely  self-supporting. 

In  a  falling  market  the  position  of 
the  stockholder  is  reversed.  The  same 
sag  between  changes  in  carfares  and 
financial  condition  which  warrant  them 
is  almost  certain  to  occur  and  tends 
to  be  more  pronounced.  In  the  falling 
market  this  time  of  sag  between  the 
decreased  cost  of  operation  and  de- 
crease in  carfare  furnishes  an  oppor- 
tunity for  profit  to  the  stockholder  and 


of  increased  dividends.  I  said  the 
length  of  this  sag  was  apt  to  be  greater 
if  anything.  It  is  more  difficult  for 
outsiders  to  present  evidence  to  a 
commission  that  carfares  should  be  re- 
duced than  for  a  company,  in  posses- 
sion of  all  the  facts,  to  prove  that  they 
should  be  increased.  Delays  from  liti- 
gation are  apt  to  be  longer,  and  the 
same  opportunity  for  delay,  which  on  a 
rising  market  may  spell  receivership 
for  the  company,  now  works  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  stockholder.  The  same 
thing  would  be  true  in  a  period  of  de- 
velopment in  the  industry  when 
rapid  improvements,  new  inventions  or 
changed  methods  of  operation  reduced 
net  costs  even  though  general  costs 
were  increasing. 

If,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  the 
purchasing  power  of  the  dollar  had 
been  steadily  increasing  instead  of  de- 
creasing, we  would  probably  not  have 
heard  much  agitation  over  service  at 
cost.  Owners  of  properties  would 
have  preferred  the  speculative  chance 
of  making  a  profit  over  the  security  of 
a  moderate  but  fixed  return  on  capital, 
but  so  long  as  the  value  of  the  dollar 
is  on  the  decline,  I  believe  the  advan- 
tages to  the  owners  are  in  general  the 
other  way. 

Advantages  to  the  Manager 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  oper- 
ating manager,  there  are  many  advan- 
tages in  our  service-at-cost  plan. 

A  regulatory  commission  cannot  ac- 
quire the  knowledge  and  understanding 
of  the  properties,  needs  and  possibili- 
ties of  a  particular  system  that  can  be 
acquired  by  persons  active  in  its  man- 
agement. The  regulatory  commission 
is  apt  to  think  that  things  which  may 
appear  desirable  can  be  done  without 
undue  burden,  although  the  commis- 
sion does  not  know  how.  It  is  apt  to 
take  the  position  that  the  management 
can  and  will  find  a  way  if  it  is  ordered 
to  do  so.  It  is  apt  to  be  suspicious  of 
an  honest  exposition  of  a  case  because 
some  other  company  has  put  something' 
over  in  times  past. 

With  service-at-cost,  the  public  board 
of  control  is  just  as  much,  in  fact  more, 
interested  in  whether  a  suggested  re- 
routing of  cars,  additional  transfer 
privilege  or  construction  of  a  new  line 
is  a  sound  business  proposition  as  is 
the  operating  manager.  Furthermore, 
as  this  board  selects  its  manager,  it 
naturally  has  confidence  in  him.  If  he 
does  not  merit  such  confidence,  he 
ceases  to  be  manager. 

Operation  under  such  a  plan  is  there- 
fore simpler  than  under  a  regulatory 
commission.  Less  time  is  wasted  in 
unnecessary  hearings  on  fantastic  sug- 
gestions or  ill-founded  complaints. 
Changes  in  routings,  time  tables,  trans- 
fers or  rates  of  fare  can  be  made  when 
needed,  instead  of  b3ing  made  when 
permitted. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  third  trus- 
tees' year  in  Boston,  after  a  full  year's 
operation  on  the  10-cent  fare,  operat- 
ing costs  faced  a  substantial  increase 
due  to  a  $3.56  increase  in  the  price  of 
coal  and  an  advance  of  16H  per  cent 


588 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


in  wages  made  by  an  arbitration  board. 
It  was  estimated  that  by  the  end  of 
the  year  this  increase  would  amount 
to  $3,000,000.  The  public  board  in  con- 
trol at  once  faced  the  situation.  The 
manager  was  enabled  to  act  imme- 
diately and  institute  economies  so  that 
the  actual  increase  amounted  to  only 
$353,336.44. 

The  efforts  made  to  rearrange  the 
service  quickly,  curtailing  where  pos- 
sible without  impairment  of  the  serv- 
ice, resulted  as  follows: 

52,000  less  tons  of  coal  were  burned. 

837  less  accidents  occurred. 

817,299  less  miles  were  operated. 

757  less  men  each  week  on  the  pay- 
roll. 

That  this  was  not  done  by  sacrific- 
ing the  property  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  there  was 

31  per  cent  reduction  in  defective 
rolling  stock. 

23  miles  of  track  were  rebuilt  or  re- 
paved. 

113  new  cars  were  added  to  the  roll- 
ing stock. 

$2,000,000  allowed  for  depreciation. 

Four  districts  of  local  5-cent  fares 
established. 

13,189,620  more  revenue  passengers 
transported. 

No  public  hearings  were  caused  and 
no  hostile  newspaper  attacks  made. 

Deficit  Changed  to  Surplus 

A  unified  and  concentrated  control  of 
management  resulted  in  men  and  man- 
agement attacking  the  problem  cour- 
ageously and  the  car  rider  seemed  to 
realize  that  it  was  his  problem  which 
was  being  solved.  A  deficit  of  $1,457,- 
415.82  was  changed  to  a  sui-plus  of 
$131,985.01  in  nine  months  without 
sacrificing  maintenance  or  proper  al- 
lowance for  depreciation  and  with  no 
increase  in  carfare. 

It  is  my  opinion  that,  had  such  a  sit- 
uation existed  under  private  manage- 
ment and  state  regulation,  much  of  the 
management's  time  would  have  been 
required  at  public  hearings  listening  to 
abuse  and  preparing  elaborate  defenses, 
instead  of  accomplishing  the  job  of  ef- 
ficient and  economical  management  to 
meet  existing  conditions  of  increased 
costs  and  arbitration  awards,  and  that 
no  decision  would  have  been  rendered 
in  time  to  meet  the  situation. 

No  Ills  from  Public  Operation 

It  is  apparent  that,  during  the  period 
of  operation  referred  to,  the  ills  fre- 
quently said  to  accompany  public  oper- 
ation did  not  exist  under  this  plan. 
Some  of  these  may  be  cited,  such  as 
the  invariable  increase  in  employees, 
the  drop  in  morale  and  efficiency,  cam- 
ouflaged accounting,  cost  put  on  tax- 
payers to  secure  popular  support 
through  low  rates,  withdrawal  of  values 
from  taxation.  The  payroll  employees 
have  been  on  a  strictly  business  basis, 
the  morale  and  co-operation  of  the 
force  never  better,  the  accounting  ex- 
actly as  prescribed  and  used  by  all 
street  railways,  the  fare  self-support- 
ing, and  cost  not  assessed  on  taxpay- 


ers, the  amount  paid  in  taxes  greater 
in  amount  than  previously,  but  on  the 
same  basis. 

What  I  have  just  said  is  all  based  on 
the  assumption  of  a  board  of  control 
composed  of  able,  honest,  zealous  men. 
If  such  a  board  were  made  the  foot- 
ball of  politics,  composed  of  politicians 
holding  the  position  merely  for  what 
each  personally  could  get  out  of  it, 
little  of  what  I  have  said  on  this  score 
would  be  true. 

In  such  a  case  a  manager  might  be 
ordered  to  put  unnecessary  men  to 
work,  to  operate  service  when  and 
where  it  was  not  needed,  to  do  divers 
things,  inefficient,  wasteful  and  con- 
trary to  his  sound  judgment,  and  when 
the  day  of  reckoning  came  find  his 
reputation  as  a  manager  sacrificed  for 
the  political  ambition  of  his  board. 
From  the  manager's  viewpoint,  I  should 
say  that  given  an  equally  good  board 
I  would  prefer  the  service-at-cost  plan, 
but  with  an  equally  bad  board,  public 
regulation.  The  bad  regulatory  board 
could  not  do  so  much  harm  in  so  short 
a  time. 

Advantages  to  Public  of  Each  Plan 

What  are  the  advantages  of  either 
plan  to  the  public  at  large? 

The  answer  must  be  much  the  same 
as  from  the  manager's  point  of  view, 
although  the  type  of  person  who  ap- 
pears at  hearings  of  public  commis- 
sions, as  self-styled  representatives  of 
the  public,  would  probably  not  agree. 
That  gentleman  styles  every  increase 
in  carfare  as  an  outrage  and  robbery, 
every  rush-hour  train  as  cattle  cars, 
and  universal  transfer  as  divine  right. 

In  the  long  run  it  is  better  for  the 
public  to  have  its  utilities  operated 
efficiently  with  a  fair  return  to  the  in- 
vestor than  to  be  carried  for  a  time  at 
a  carfare  too  low  or  in  a  manner  too 
elegant  to  pay  costs.  Any  savings  made 
by  efficient  management  in  the  long 
run  benefit  the  public,  either  by  direct 
improvement  in  service  or  reduction  in 
carfare.  I  believe  that  in  Boston  a 
great  majority  of  the  people  accept 
this  view.  Increases  in  carfare  from 
5  to  7  to  8  to  10  cents  within  a  period 
of  twelve  months  were  accepted  with 
so  little  objection  as  to  be  negligible. 
In  my  opinion  this  was  due  to  confi- 
dence in  the  personnel  of  the  board  of 
trustees  and  the  realization  that  the 
management  was  conducted  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  public,  and  that  money 
paid  in  carfares  only  went  to  meet  nec- 
essary costs  and  not  to  the  advantage 
of  private  investors. 

Makeup  of  Board  Deciding  Factor 

From  what  I  have  said,  you  will 
gather  that  in  my  opinion  the  rela- 
tive advantages  of  these  two  systems 
depend  largely  on  the  makeup  of  the 
public  boards  involved. 

The  Massachusetts  plan  attempts  to 
insure  the  presence  of  a  good  board  by 
providing  a  term  of  office  of  ten  years. 
A  long  tenure  gives  the  value  of  expe- 
rience and  the  intimate  knowledge  ac- 
quired from  year  to  year.    It  furnishes 


incentive  to  efficient  management  be- 
cause any  mistakes  made,  whether  in- 
tentional or  unintentional,  are  pretty 
sure  to  come  home  to  roost  before  the 
term  of  office  of  the  men  responsible 
for  them  has  elapsed.  There  is  time 
in  which  to  demonstrate  ability,  to  dis- 
close incompetency  or  dishonesty.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  chance  of  hav- 
ing a  board  of  the  desired  standard  is 
much  greater  under  such  a  plan  than 
with  the  regulatory  commission. 

Men  who  would  not  be  willing  to  serve 
on  a  regulatory  commission  because  of 
the  limited  nature  of  its  authority  and 
the  lengthy  hearings  to  be  attended 
are  willing  to  give  their  time  to  a  pub- 
lic service  where  they  may  really  do 
things  of  benefit  to  their  community 
and  which  they  may  view  with  just 
pride.  The  field  of  the  regulatory  board 
is  limited  to  a  wise,  semi-judicial  re- 
striction of  others.  It  is  a  highly  im- 
portant and  honorable  position.  The 
service-at-cost  board  has  the  opportu- 
nity for  large  achievements  and  the 
satisfaction  which  comes  from  the  ac- 
complishing results,  however  great  the 
obstacles.  It  is  this  joy  in  playing  the 
game  which  keeps  many  a  wealthy  man 
in  business  after  he  has  amassed  all 
the  wealth  he  can  desire.  This  ele- 
ment in  human  nature  will  always  as- 
sist in  maintaining  a  high  standard  of 
capacity  in  a  board  managing  for  the 
public  such  a  service  as  this  in  a  large 
community.  The  larger  the  problem, 
the  higher  the  caliber  of  men  who  will 
be  willing  to  attack  it,  although  the 
money  compensation  be  little  or  noth- 
ing. 

One  other  subject  should  be  touched 
upon,  "The  financing  of  the  company 
or  raising  new  capital." 

Any  system  in  a  growing  community 
is  constantly  in  need  of  capital  for 
extensions  and  improvements.  As  the 
community  spreads,  lines  must  be  ex- 
tended and  power  plant  enlarged.  As 
it  increases  in  population,  more  cars 
must  be  run. 

Our  experience  with  respect  to  new 
capital  has  not  yet  been  encouraging. 
Investors  have  not  as  yet  drawn  the 
distinction  between  the  condition  of  our 
company  and  that  of  the  railways  in 
general.  It  was  thought  at  the  time 
the  Massachusetts  act  was  passed  that 
the  guarantee  of  dividends  would  make 
the  raising  of  capital  easy,  but  a  6 
per  cent  stock  at  par  is  not  marketable 
and  as  yet  we  have  not  reached  that 
maximum  rate  and  since  the  present 
plan  is  only  ten  years'  duration  there 
is  not  the  certainty  which  a  gilt-edged 
bond  possesses. 

Under  private  management  there 
is  practically  always  some  financial 
group  in  control  which  is  interested  in 
seeing  that  the  company  is  properly 
financed.  Under  service-at-cost  this 
assistance  is  lacking. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  whether,  when 
the  money  market  is  more  nearly  nor- 
mal and  street  railway  securities  are 
in  better  favor,  the  certainty  of  fixed 
return  of  the  Massachusetts  plan  will 
compensate  for  the  loss  of  speculative 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


589 


possibilities  and  the  loss  of  financial 
backing  of  strong  concerns. 

Street  railway  investments  have 
been  hit  so  hard  of  late  years  that 
there  is  little  market  for  anything  that 
bears  that  label. 

The  operation  of  a  street  railway 
system  is  much  before  the  public  eye 
and  the  personnel  is  constantly  in  touch 
with  the  public  at  large.  Such  an  or- 
ganization cannot  produce  its  best  work 
if  it  is  the  football  of  the  daily  news, 
its  management  always  defending  itself 
before  hearings,  etc.  No  business  can 
prosper  when  every  one  is  operating  it, 
much  less  a  business  on  a  fixed  return 
with  as  small  a  margin  as  exists  be- 
tween income  and  outgo  of  a  street 
railway. 

Indeterminate  Franchise 
Indorsed* 

By  R.  I.  Todd 

President    Terre     Haute,     Indianapolis  & 
Eastern  Traction  Company 


R.  I.  TODD 


ONE  of  the  most  striking  epigrams 
in  Mr.  Dana's  paper  is  contained 
in  the  next  to  the  last  paragraph,  i.e., 
"You  cannot  regulate  one-half  of  an  in- 
dustry with  success."  This  terse  state- 
ment presents  in  a  nutshell  one  of  the 
fundamental  difficulties  which  practi- 
cally all  public  utilities  have  been 
forced  to  operate  under  and  which 
seems  to  be  so  little  appreciated  by 
the  general  public,  or  even  by  the 
majority  of  the  best-informed  business 
men.  The  public  authorities  who  regu- 
late the  receipts  of  public  utility  cor- 
porations should  also  be  held  responsible 
for  their  operating  expenses  and  net 
earnings  so  far  as  this  is  reasonably 
possible.  The  plan  suggested  by  Mr. 
Dana,  under  which  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway  system  is  now  operating,  seems 
to  combine,  in  a  most  advantageous 
way,  the  control  by  public  authorities 
of  both  the  income  and  outgo  of  the 
company.     Outside    of   the    State  of 


*Abstract  of  discussion  on  Mr.  Dana's 
paper  presented  at  the  annual  convention 
of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion, Atlantic  City,  Oct.  4,  1921. 


Massachusetts,  however,  no  public  util- 
ity operator  has  been  able  to  convince 
the  lawmakers  that  the  operating  def- 
icit of  a  utility  should  be  charged 
against  the  tax  duplicate  of  the  prop- 
erty owners,  and  even  in  Massachusetts, 
if  I  am  correctly  informed,  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway  practically  enjoys  a 
monopoly  of  this  most  valuable  fea- 
ture of  the  service-at-cost  legislation. 
In  the  Middle  West  it  would  be  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  get  any  legislation 
of  this  kind  placed  on  the  statute  books. 

With  possibly  the  single  exception  of 
Massachusetts,  the  two  most  generally 
considered  plans  of  utility  control  and 
of  operation  seem  to  be  the  service-at- 
cost  plan  and  the  indeterminate  permit 
method  of  operation.  Under  the  lat- 
ter plan,  in  theory  at  least,  a  utility 
is  practically  assured  by  the  State  that 
it  will  be  permitted  to  earn  a  reason- 
able return  on  all  property  used  and 
useful  for  the  public,  but  that  the 
chance  of  speculative  profit  is  practi- 
cally given  up. 

The  particularly  advantageous  fea- 
ture of  some  of  the  so-called  service- 
at-cost  franchises  is  an  automatic  rate 
of  fare,  dependent  solely  upon  the  re- 
ceipts and  operating  expenses  of  the 
company.  When  an  increase  in  rates 
of  fare  with  an  indeterminate  franchise 
becomes  necessary,  relief  is  usually  not 
granted  until  the  company  has  been 
seriously  affected  financially,  and  if 
further  relief  is  required  usually  there 
is  considerable  additional  delay. 

However,  outside  of  this  advantage 
of  an  automatic  fare  adjustment,  there 
are  many  disadvantageous  features  to 
service-at-cost  franchises.  One  of 
these  is  the  lack  of  incentive  to  the 
company  to  operate  as  efficiently  and 
economically  as  under  an  ordinary 
franchise.  Even  the  provision  by  which 
a  greater  rate  of  return  is  permitted 
to  the  company  as  rates  are  lowered 
does  not  thus  far  seem  to  have  resulted 
in  securing  low  rates  of  fare.  A  sec- 
ond objection  is  the  extreme  difficulty 
of  securing  a  wage  scale  which  is 
fair  to  the  public,  the  utility  company 
and  the  employees  alike.  Where  unrea- 
sonable demands  are  made  for  increased 
wages  and  the  fallacious  argument  is 
used  that  to  grant  them  merely  means 
the  adding  of  half  a  cent  or  a  cent 
to  the  fare,  the  company  officials  are 
placed  in  a  disadvantageous  position, 
and  arbitrators  in  many  cases  grant  an 
increased  rate  or  make  less  of  a  pro- 
posed decrease  in  rates,  where  "the  ex- 
pense is  simply  passed  on  to  the  public. 

While  no  one  will  claim  that  an  in- 
determinate permit  plan  is  a  complete 
solution  of  the  franchise  problem,  of 
all  the  plans  which  have  become  ef- 
fective it  seems  in  general  to  be  the 
most  advantageous.  Under  this  plan 
the  rates  of  fare  as  well  as  the  rates 
of  return  are  directly  under  the  control 
of  the  Public  Service  Commission,  and 
the  theory  of  operation  is  that  as  long 
as  the  corporation  gives  efficient  and 
satisfactory  service  its  franchise  con- 
tinues indefinitely  and  the  state  guar- 
antees a  fair  rate  of  return  on  the 
money  invested,  or  an  investor  can  sell 
his  stock  or  bonds  to  some  other  person 


at  approximately  the  price  which  he 
paid  for  it.  This  form  of  permit  also 
gives  to  the  cities  and  towns  what 
might  be  termed  "home  rule"  for  ex- 
isting utilities,  to  the  extent  that  they 
may  pass  any  reasonable  rules  as  to 
the  quality  of  service  to  be  furnished, 
with  the  direct  right  of  appeal  at  all 
times  to  the  courts. 


Contrasted  Advantages  of 
Service-at-Cost  Contract 
Franchises  and  State 
Regulation* 

By  S.  B.  Way 

Vice-President  Milwaukee  Electric  R.ailwa3' 
&  Light  Company 


S.  B.  WAY 


THE  purpose  of  regulation  is  to 
safeguard  the  public  interest  by  se- 
curing good  service  at  lowest  cost. 
To  fix  standards  which  will  insure 
good  service  and  at  the  same  time 
avoid  waste  requires  the  services 
of  men  experienced  in  the  indus- 
try, possessing  good  judgment  and 
removed  from  local  political  influence. 
State  regulation  makes  possible  the 
continuous  employment  by  the  state  of 
the  necessary  high-grade,  experienced 
specialists  at  not  much,  if  any,  in  ex- 
cess of  the  cost  of  the  same  service  if 
procured  singly  by  any  individual  mu- 
nicipality. Moreover,  such  people  if 
employed  by  the  state  are  less  likely  to 
be  subject  to  local  political  influence 
than  people  depending  upon  local  favor 
for  their  jobs. 

State  regulation,  however,  as  prac- 
ticed up  to  the  present  time  has  not  been 
made  automatic.  Under  present  pro- 
cedure it  is  necessary  for  the  utility 
to  establish  a  long  record  of  inadequate 
earnings  or  even  absolute  insolvency 
before  relief  can  be  had.  The  framers 
of  our  laws  might  just  as  well  have 
made  a  complete  job  by  definitely  re- 
quiring the  commissions  to  function  in 


'"Abstract  of  discussion  on  Mr.  Dana's 
paper,  presented  at  the  annual  convention 
of  the  American  Electric  Railwav  Associa- 
tion, Atlantic  City,  Oct.  4,  1921. 


590 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


limited  time  or  even  to  establish  auto- 
matic rates. 

Service-at-cost  contracts  are  nomi- 
nally automatic.  As  developed  up  to 
the  present  time  they  appear  to  have 
been  conceived  along  rather  too  narrow 
lines.  In  some  cases  proper  provision 
has  not  been  made  for  future  replace- 
ment of  physical  property  or  the  con- 
servation of  the  investment  at  the  ter- 
mination of  the  service-at-cost  contract 
or  a  determinate  franchise.  They  have 
not  provided  for  necessary  flexibility 
in  rate  of  return  to  meet  changing 
money  market  conditions.  Unless  these 
elements  can  be  satisfactorily  covered, 
such  contracts  are  likely  to  result  ulti- 
mately in  service  being  given  at  less 
than  cost. 

State  regulation  being  statewide  can, 
of  course,  and  in  fact  does,  attempt  to 
meet  the  problem  of  regulating  utili- 
ties serving  more  than  one  municipality. 
This  problem  is  particularly  acute  in 
the  railway  business,  where  poorly  pay- 
ing suburban  lines  serving  communities 
contiguous  to  but  beyond  the  corporate 
limits  of  the  city  must  be  supported  by 
the  city  service.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  negotiate  a  fair  service-at-cost  con- 
tract with  a  city  which  would  recognize 
and  compensate  for  the  losses  on  lines 
serving  suburbs  from  which  the  city 
receives  no  benefits  in  taxes,  increase  of 
population,  etc.  Theoretically  this  sit- 
uation can  be  met  with  special  legisla- 
tion by  some  form  of  district  organiza- 
tion, but  such  special  governmental  sub- 
divisions appear  to  be  more  closely  re- 
lated to  some  form  of  public  ownership 
and  operation  than  to  service-at-cost 
contracts  which  must  depend  upon  ob- 
taining a  fair  trade  between  privately 
owned  utilities  and  the  municipalities 
served. 

Where  state  regulation  is  possible, 
the  legal  and  economic  advantages  seem 
to  lie  with  properly  conceived  and  ex- 
ecuted state  regulation,  while  the  polit- 
ical advantage  seems  to  be  with  local 
service-at-cost  contract  franchises.  Un- 
der such  contracts  the  service  may 
cease  to  be  a  political  football,  and 
definite  bases  can  be  established  for 
promoting  desirable  co-operation  on  the 
part  of  the  city  in  regulating  street 
traffic,  economical  routing  of  cars,  pav- 
ing, saving  needless  litigations,  and 
like  matters. 

Some  attempt  has  been  made  under 
various  forms  of  regulation  to  provide 
an  incentive  for  privately  owned  and 
operated  utilities  to  achieve  maximum 
efficiency.  Generally  the  plan  adopted 
is  not  sufficiently  comprehensive  or  is 
based  upon  negative  rather  than  posi- 
tive considerations.  No  examples  are 
at  hand  of  service-at-cost  contracts 
embodying  provisions  for  rewarding 
both  the  capital  and  labor  employed  in 
the  industry  for  improved  efficiency,  as 
compared  with  some  standard.  No 
form  of  regulation  will  be  wholly  suc- 
cessful in  producing  the  best  service  at 
the  lowest  cost  which  ignores  the  prin- 
ciple of  a  definite  reward  for  unsual 
effort.  Both  service-at-cost  contracts 
and  state  regulation  offer  ample  op- 
portunity for  incorporating  in  their  re- 


spective schemes  adequate  provision  for 
inducing  and  rewarding  the  best  serv- 
ice on  the  part  of  labor  and  rewarding 
capital  for  foresight  and  efficiency  in 
management. 

It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  any  one  so- 


lution or  formula  generally  applicable 
as  a  cure  for  the  present  ills  of  our  in- 
dustry. It  is  certain  there  are  great 
differences  in  local  conditions,  and  each 
problem  must  receive  special  study  and 
treatment. 


Car  Purchases  May  Be  Financed 
Through  Car  Trusts* 


S.  M.  CURWEN 


One  Car  Company  Alone  Has  Taken 
3,000  Notes  in  Varying  Amounts — 
No  Defaults  Have  Been  Made 

By  Samuel  M.  Curwen 

President  of  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

MANUFACTURERS,  as  public- 
spirited  citizens,  interested  in 
civic  affairs  as  well  as  in  the 
need  of  transportation  for  their  em- 
ployees, should  take  a  real  interest  in 
transportation  matters  in  their  respec- 
tive localities  and  assist  regulating 
bodies  and  railway  managements  in 
many  ways  which  would  tend  toward 
more  satisfactory  transportation  condi- 
tions. I  believe  if  this  were  done  many 
of  the  misunderstandings  arising  be- 
tween the  management  of  electric  rail- 
ways and  the  authorities  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  they  operate  would  be 
obviated. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  it  would 
be  entirely  proper  in  this  paper  to  refer 
to  the  question  of  financing  purchases 
of  electric  equipments  and  cars,  as  this 
phase  of  the  industry  also  shows  the 
interest  of  manufacturers  in  the  elec- 
tric railways. 

In  1919  it  became  apparent  that  it 
would  be  difficult  for  railways  requir- 
ing equipment,  which  they  were  unable 
to  get  during  the  war,  to  finance  the 
purchase  of  it  through  the  issue  of 

"Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association,  Atlantic  City,  N.  J., 
Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


bonds  or  the  regular  channels  by  which 
money  heretofore  had  been  available. 

A  plan  was  therefore  devised  for 
leasing  cars  under  the  car  trust  plan, 
riot  only  to  large  roads,  but  to  the 
small  roads  as  well.  The  manufac- 
turers of  electric  cars  and  their  equip- 
ment found  that  bankers  could  be 
interested  in  the  purchase  of  car  trust 
securities  and  in  their  resale  by  them 
to  the  public  even  covering  equipments 
for  small  roads  if  they  could  be  offered 
in  large  enough  amounts.  Under  this 
plan  there  was  to  be  deposited  a  num- 
ber of  small  groups  of  car  trust  obliga- 
tions with  a  trust  company  as  trustee, 
enabling  the  trustee  to  issue  coupon 
certificates  of  interest  against  these 
purchasing  company's  notes  held  by 
them.  These  certificates  of  interest 
were  issued  in  series  from  time  to  time 
and  sold  to  bankers  in  Philadelphia, 
Chicago  and  Baltimore. 

Thus  the  cars  are  leased  to  the  rail- 
way company  under  an  agreement  pro- 
viding for  the  payment  of  a  certain 
cash  rental  upon  shipment  and  for 
deferred  rental  represented  by  the 
notes  or  lease  warrants  of  the  railway 
company.  The  cash  rental  and  the  de- 
ferred rental  represent  the  purchase 
price  of  the  cars  plus  the  interest  on 
the  deferred  rental  payments.  The 
title  to  the  cars  is  retained  in  the 
vendor  or  lessor  and  the  lease  or  agree- 
ment is  recorded  in  the  proper  office  as 
prescribed  by  the  specific  statutes  of 
the  respective  states.  Nearly  all  the 
states  now  have  special  statutes  pro- 
viding for  such  conditional  sales  of  rail- 
way equipment. 

The  agreements  contain  the  provision 
that  upon  payment  of  all  the  lease 
warrants  and  covenants  provided  for 
in  the  agreement  the  title  to  the  cars 
shall  automatically  vest  in  the  railway 
company  prior  to  which  the  title  re- 
mains in  the  vendor. 

This  plan  for  the  purchase  of  cars 
has  been  found  very  convenient  by 
many  electric  railways,  and  the  pay- 
ments have  been  so  arranged  that  the 
lease  warrants  mature  monthly  in  small 
amounts,  comparatively  speaking,  over 
a  period  of  from  thirty-six  to  sixty 
months,  thereby  enabling  the  railways 
to  make  their  payments  from  increased 
earnings  and  economies  derived  from 
the  use  of  new  equipment,  especially 
safety  cars,  of  which  large  numbers 
have  been  sold  on  this  plan. 

This  method  of  financing  proved  so 
satisfactory,   both   to  the  purchasers 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


591 


and  to  the  manufacturers,  that  it 
seemed  advisable  to  organize  a  financ- 
ing company  which  would  be  larger  in 
its  scope  than  the  method  first  used. 
With  this  in  view,  early  in  this  year,  a 
company  known  as  the  "Electric  Rail- 
way Equipment  Securities  Corpora- 
tion" was  formed  by  the  General  Elec- 
tric, Westinghouse  and  Brill  companies, 
having  a  capital  of  $1,000,000.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  company  is  to  buy  from 
the  manufacturer  lease  warrants  or  car 
trust  notes  taken  by  the  said  manu- 
facturer from  the  railway  in  payment 
for  the  sale  of  their  equipment.  When 
a  sufficient  amount  of  these  lease  war- 
rants accumulate  they  are  deposited  by 
the  Electric  Railway  Equipment  Se- 
curities Corporation  with  a.  trustee  and 
the  trustee  issues  against  these  lease 
warrants  certificates  of  interest  with 
coupons  attached  which  are  sold  to 
bankers  for  distribution  to  the  public. 
The  certificates  bear  the  guarantee  of 
the  Electric  Railway  Equipment  Se- 
curities Corporation,  covering  the  pay- 
ment of  principal  and  interest.  This 


form  of  security  is  readily  salable  to 
investors. 

This  same  method  of  selling  cars  has 
been  carried  on  by  one  or  two  other 
car  manufacturers  in  a  manner  I  think 
entirely  satisfactory  to  them,  and  to 
their  bankers  and  customers. 

The  Brill  Company  alone  has  sold 
over  one  thousand  cars  on  this  plan, 
and  has  taken  from  the  purchasers  in. 
the  various  transactions,  covering  the 
sale  of  these  cars,  more  than  three 
thousand  notes  or  lease  warrants  of 
varying  amounts.  Many  of  these  pur- 
chasers now  practically  own  their  cars 
and  have  been  able  to  pay  for  them 
out  of  increased  earnings,  in  this  way 
requiring  no  long-time  financing.  I 
think  it  is  a  proud  record  for  the  rail- 
ways to  have  attained  when  I  say  that 
of  all  the  thousands  of  notes  given  no 
default  has  been  made  making  it  nec- 
essary for  the  trustee  to  repossess  the 
cars.  The  manufacturers  make  no  profit 
from  this  financing  transaction,  which 
clearly-  indicates  their  interest  in  the 
present  electric  railway  crisis. 


Terminal  Service  Possibilities  of  the 
Electric  Railways* 


The  Opportunities  of  the  Electric 
Roads  to  Supplement  the  Services  of 
the  Steam  Trunk  Lines  in  Freight 
Terminal  Service  Are  Set  Forth 

By  J.  Rowland  Bibbins 

Manager     Department    of  Transportation 
and    Communication,    Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  the  United  States 


H 


AVE  electric  railways  exhausted 
their  earning  power  ?  From  a 
national  viewpoint  this  question 
must  recur  continually  to  the  mind  of 
every  one  sincerely  interested  in  the 
great  business  of  transportation.  The 
answer  seems  today  to  encompass  the 
hopes  and  fears  of  the  entire  industry, 
to  the  perfection  of  which  so  much 
energy  and  capital  have  been  given  dur- 
ing the  last  three  decades.  But  have 
all  the  possibilities  within  our  grasp 
been  uncovered?  Has  development 
work  come  to  its  climax?  And  if  so, 
what  of  the  future? 

The  history  of  transportation  devel- 
opment is  a  romance  perhaps  only  half 
told,  the  story  largely  winding  itself 
about  strong  personalities  and  to  a 
large  degree  illustrating  the  theory  of 
the  "survival  of  the  fittest."  Systems 
have  come  and  gone — toll  roads,  stage 
coaches,  horse-drawn  canal  boats,  the 
Mississippi  River  packet,  the  American 
clipper,  railroads  of  hybrid  gages, 
cable  cars,  storage  battery  cars,  sur- 
face contact  systems,  etc. 

Each  new  agency  has  developed  its 
own  peculiar  service  possibilities  and 


(C)  Maczene,  Vhicapo 
J.  R.  BIBBINS 


♦Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association,  Atlantic  City, 
N.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


operating  methods.  The  economic  acid 
test  of  all  has  been  the  ultimate  ability 
of  the  industry  to  stand  squarely  on 
its  own  feet  and  perpetuate  itself  auto- 
matically through  external  and  inter- 
nal development.  And  the  whole 
tendency  of  this  development  over  the 
long  period  has  been  better  and  more 
service  per  unit  of  revenue,  higher 
speed,  improved  efficiency  and  equip- 
ment, more  stable  employment  of  capi- 
tal, greater  dependence  of  the  public 
upon  the  service  rendered  and  a  higher 
order  of  utilization  of  the  operating 
man  power.  Shall  this  same  acid  test 
be  applied  in  the  future  or  have  we  a 
more  refined  formula? 

The  strangest  aspect  of  this  trans- 
port development  is  that  the  electric 


railways  costing  about  $3  per  dollar  of 
annual  gross  revenue  have  confined 
themselves  to  passenger  business  alone, 
while  steam  railroads  have  reduced 
their  costs  to  only  $2.X0  per  dollar  of 
revenue  by  developing  both  passenger 
and  freight.  On  the  steam  railroads 
freight  revenue  is  normally  three  times 
passenger  revenue;  it  is  only  a  negli- 
gible fraction  of  the  gross  revenue  of 
the  electric  railways.  The  steam  linen 
are  available  for  practically  continuous 
traffic;  the  electric  lines  are  used  to 
only  one-fourth  of  their  investment  and 
capacity,  lying  idle  during  most  of  the 
twenty-four  hours.  It  is  a  fair  ques- 
tion whether  this  situation  is  either 
sensible  or  economic. 

City  Distribution  and  Terminals 

Outside  of  the  main-line  mileage, 
steam  railroads  have  perhaps  half  of 
their  investment  in  terminals,  sidings, 
yards  and  other  trans-shipping  facili- 
ties. These  terminals  are  necessary  in 
every  city,  large  or  small,  and  occupy 
widespread  city  areas  of  high  land 
values,  yet  they  have  been  acquired 
only  by  the  mightiest  efforts,  at  huge 
expense,  and  often  under  conditions 
of  most  bitter  competition.  The  entire 
city  terminal  problem  is  today  the  most 
serious  one  confronting  the  nation's 
transportation  systems,  requiring  the 
utmost  co-operative  effort  to  unravel. 
Electric  lines  have  a  large  responsi- 
bility in  this  matter.  They  gridiron 
the  entire  areas  of  our  cities  and  in- 
dustrial centers  in  a  manner  utterly 
impossible  for  the  steam  lines.  They 
have  the  same  gage,  with  few  excep- 
tions; they  intersect  the  steam  lines  at 
a  thousand  places;  their  roadbeds  are 
usually  more  substantial;  they  reach 
every  industry,  very  many  of  which 
are  inaccessible  to  the  steam  lines  ex- 
cept through  long  trucking  hauls  from 
the  freight  terminals.  They  reach  liter- 
ally millions  of  retailers  whose  enor- 
mous tonnage,  in  and  out,  moves  like- 
wise over  the  city  streets. 

The  next  question  is  one  of  what  is 
best  for  the  city.  What  is  the  cheapest, 
the  quickest,  the  most  convenient  and 
the  least  unsightly  method  of  trans- 
porting over  our  city  streets  from  the 
railroad  terminals  perhaps  200,000,000 
to  300,000,000  tons  per  year?  Shall  it 
be  in  combination  with  the  broad  net- 
work of  electric  railways  already  estab- 
lished in  the  cities  and  only  used  to 
one-quarter  advantage?  Will  not  fu- 
ture civic  efficiency  and  welfare  greatly 
depend  upon  the  solution  worked  out 
for  city  terminal  transport? 

Very  few  American  cities  have  down- 
town streets  of  adequate  width  and 
capacity  for  present  needs,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  future  needs.  Sixty-five  foot 
streets,  more  or  less,  are  the  rule,  which 
width  provides  for  only  one  line  of 
vehicle  traffic  in  each  direction  between 
car  tracks  and  side  parking.  Neverthe- 
less, general  business  in  our  large  ac- 
tive cities  is  growing  at  such  a  rate  as 
to  double  in  eight  to  thirteen  years, 
and  the  service  of  business  largely  cen- 
ters around  finance  and  transportation, 
both  freight  and  passenger.    How  are 


592 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


we  going  to  transport  double  the  pres- 
ent traffic  volume  of  our  cities?  Already 
the  question  has  become  so  acute  that 
a  definite  movement  h  on  foot  to  de- 
velop future  indutrial  centers  in  widely 
distributed  and  relatively  uncongested 
town  units  of  small  size.  This  means 
that  the  economic  burden  of  the  big 
city  has  become  too  great  a  drag  on 
business  and  occasions  too  great  a 
spread  between  basic  production  cost 
and  selling  price. 

Co-ordination — What  Does  It  Mean 

We  talk  glibly  of  conservation — mak- 
ing the  best  use  of  what  we  have,  and 
developing  our  resources  to  their  ut- 
most. Quite  as  glibly  we  talk  of  "co- 
ordination of  transportation  facilities" 
— finding  the  best  field  for  each  agency, 
making  them  work  together  instead  of 
at  cross  purposes,  yet  how  little  real 
co-ordination  has  been  accomplished  in 
the  transportation  field  even  during  the 
war  when  the  utmost  team  work  was 
imperative. 

It  seems  to  me  that  a  good  chance 
to  start  this  team  work  is  in  putting 
the  electric  railways — urban,  interurban 
and  rapid  transit — to  further  use  as 
terminal  transport  agencies,  inter- 
changing traffic  in  the  most  intimate 
fashion  with  the  steam  railroads  and 
using  motor  transport  for  the  final 
operation  of  delivery  where  direct  de- 
livery cannot  be  made  as  efficiently. 
This  great  city  railway  network  should 
transport  during  off-peak  hours  much 
of  the  tonnage  that  now  occupies  the 
city  streets  in  a  vast  multiplied  fleet 
of  unregulated,  un standardized,  unor- 
ganized, and  more  or  less  unsuited  ve- 
hicles, which  vehicles  contribute  per- 
haps the  majority  of  the  congestion  of 
which  they  themselves  complain  and 
which  undeniably  makes  adequate  pas- 
senger transportation  of  the  cities' 
millions  a  difficult  and  in  some  cases 
an  impossible  problem.  This  is  not 
alone  a  matter  of  corporate  profit,  but 
one  of  civic  necessity — to  make  city  life 
more  endurable  under  growing  traffic. 
This  relief  would  automatically  come 
through  the  consolidation  of  the  ton- 
nage into  large  units  of  rolling  stock. 
The  electric  system  could  be  used  to 
best  advantage  between  main  down- 
town and  outlying  substations,  the  final 
delivery  to  be  made  more  readily  by 
lighter  delivery  motors. 

At  first  there  will  be  many  difficul- 
ties to  be  overcome — trans-shipment 
facilities,  routes,  regulations,  rolling 
stock, track  gages  in  a  few  cases,  fran- 
chise legislation  and  especially  the 
opposition  of  railroads,  trucking  com- 
panies and  a  hostile  public.  Never- 
theless, the  true  economic  test  should, 
and  I  believe  will,  ultimately  pi-evail. 
The  cost  of  extra  handling  might 
be  very  greatly  reduced  by  the  use  of 
multiple-compartment  cars  loading  di- 
rectly at  the  railroad  freight  houses, 
moving  to  the  substation  and  thence, 
without  breaking  bulk,  by  motor  to  the 
consignee,  where  large  volume  sched- 
uled service  is  required.  The  problem 
of  suitable  rolling  stock  can  be  worked 
out  by  means  of  well-built,  sightly  ex- 


press cars,  which  have  been  already 
developed  on  some  interurban  systems. 
These  cars  when  well  maintained  should 
be  no  more  unsightly  or  noisy  nor  con- 
tribute to  congestion  more  than  the 
miscellaneous  fleet  of  motor  vehicles 
now  used  at  all  times  of  the  day  in 
the  same  service  over  our  city  streets. 
In  several  cities  it  is  already  the  prac- 
tice to  utilize  the  tracks  in  certain 
streets  for  hauling  standard  steam  roll- 
ing stock  from  interchange  or  local 
yard  to  city  destination.  What  is  now 
needed  is  a  more  thorough  development 
of  the  plant.  The  railroads  are  work- 
ing on  a  "store-door  delivery"  plan, 
such  as  has  been  in  use  in  Canada  and 
England  and  formerly  in  Baltimore 
and  Washington.  If  a  universal  store- 
door  delivery  plan  is  in  fact  developed 
which  disregards  the  45,000  miles  of 
electric  street  railway  track  as  an  eco- 
nomic factor  it  will  be  unfortunate. 

The  greatest  hope  in  such  a  co-ordi- 
nated plan  of  railroad-railway-motor 
terminal  transport  is  the  ultimate  bene- 
fit to  the  whole  people.  Through  con- 
solidated loading  the  street  congestion 
will  be  reduced.  By  the  more  intensive 
use  of  tracks  already  laid  the  invest- 
ment will  be  put  to  more  economic 
usage.      Duplication  in  carrier  equip- 


ment will  be  avoided.  For  the  road 
vehicles  the  expensive  delays  and  time- 
eating  long  hauls  will  be  done  away 
with  and  converted  into  faster  short- 
haul  runs  and  greater  earning  power. 
Roadways  will  be  cleared  for  a  better 
use  of  passenger  transport,  and  a  good 
part  of  the  enormous  city  freight  busi- 
ness will  be  done  largely  under  cover. 

But  most  important,  the  new  econ- 
omy will  be  clean  cut.  For  the  electric 
lines  there  would  result  new  revenue, 
now  utterly  unobtainable,  at  no  addi- 
tional cost  to  the  city  or  to  the  public, 
and  little  to  the  carriers.  For  the  city 
there  would  result  a  large  decrease  in 
wear  and  tear  on  city  streets;  for  the 
people,  in  addition  to  the  improved 
service  and  the  possibility  of  reduced 
delivery  expenses,  there  would  be  the 
possibility  of  a  relief  from  the  necessity 
of  boosting  passenger  fares;  the  new 
revenue  from  freight  and  express 
should  become  such  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  total  revenue  as  to  bring 
about  not  only  relief  from  the  pressure 
for  increased  fares,  but  also  the  possi- 
bility of  improved  passenger  service. 
It  is  needless  to  point  out  the  important 
influence  of  such  increased  revenue  upon 
the  financial  credit  of  the  electric  rail- 
way industry. 


Considerations  Affecting  the  Market  for 
Street  Railway  Securities* 

Customer  Ownership  of  Securities  Should  Be  Encouraged — Modern  Ex- 
perience in  Public  Utility  Financing  Should  Be  Studied  by  Railways 
— Tax  Exempt  Securities  Impede  Financial  Progress 

By  H.  M.  Addinsell 

Harris,  Forbes  &  Company,  Chairman  Public  Utility  Securities  Committee, 
Investment  Bankers'  Association  of  America 


A FEW  weeks  ago  we  were  asked 
to  consider  the  purchase  of  a 
substantial  amount  of  bonds,  the 
proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  used  for 
the  reconstruction  of  one  of  the  French 
cities  shattered  during  the  war.  The 
bonds  were  to  be  a  direct,  and  the  only, 
obligation  of  the  city.  It  probably 
received  about  as  continuous  unfavor- 
able financial  publicity  in  the  four  years 
of  the  war  as  any  city  in  the  world  has 
ever  received.  It  was  an  almost  con- 
stant mark  for  German  shells,  its 
industries  were  destroyed,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  its  dwellings  and  many  of  its 
historical  edifices  were  damaged,  some 
of  them  hopelessly  beyond  repair.  But 
a  reconstructed  and  probably  better  and 
more  sanitary  city  is  arising,  phoenix- 
like, on  the  ashes  of  the  old  city.  The 
economic  reason  for  the  permanent 
existence  of  an  important  city  at  this 
point  is  unquestioned  and  from  an  in- 
trinsic point  of  view  there  is  probably 
little  doubt  that  the  bond  issue  referred 
to  will  make  a  perfectly  safe  invest- 
ment.    However,  to  be  an  attractive 


*Abstract  of  address  presented  at  the 
annual  convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association,  Atlantic  City,  N.  J., 
Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


proposition  to  investment  bankers  a 
bond  issue  has  to  be  not  only  safe  but 
also  salable. 

The  very  mention  of  the  name  of  the 
city  arouses  our  sympathies,  but  by 
that  same  token  it  does  not  arouse  a 
desire  to  loan  funds  to  that  city  on  an 
investment  basis.  If  our  sympathies 
were  strong  enough  and  our  pocket- 
book  permitted  we  would  be  glad  to 
make  a  contribution  toward  its  recon- 
struction as  a  charitable  act,  but  these 
people  do  not  want  charity.  After 
careful  consideration  we  reluctantly 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Amer- 
ican market  would  not  take  these  secu- 
rities at  this  time  on  an  investment 
basis;  that  is,  on  any  reasonable  terms 
that  the  city  could  afford  to  meet,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  decline  the  business. 

There  is  at  least  some  parallel  be- 
tween the  position  of  the  French  city 
referred  to  coming  into  this  market  for 
money  and  that  of  our  own  street  rail- 
ways at  the  present  time. 

If  we  are  to  deal  constructively  with 
the  situation  that  confronts  us  we  must 
face  frankly  the  facts  of  that  situation. 
One  of  the  facts  is  a  strong,  definite 
and  not  unfounded  prejudice  in  the 
minds  of  investors  against  street  rail- 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


593 


way  securities  at  the  present  time.  I 
refer  to  the  investing  public  as  a  class, 
for  the  situation  intrinsically  and  fun- 
damentally is  not  nearly  so  bad  as  the 
impression  that  has  been  created  in  the 
public  mind.  Those  who  really  know 
the  facts  know  that  the  answer  to  the 
constantly  recurring'  question  in  invest- 
ment circles,  "Can  street  railways  come 
back,"  is  an  affirmative  one — they  can, 
they  will,  and  they  are  already  on  their 
way. 

We  can  base  our  discussion  on  the 
proposition  that  the  street  railway,  as 
the  Federal  Electric  Railways  Commis- 
sion notes,  is  "the  most  nearly  adequate, 
reliable  and  satisfactory  system  avail- 
able for  transporting  the  maximum 
number  of  people  through  the  streets 
of  our  cities  with  the  least  interference 
with  the  use  of  the  streets  for  other 
purposes  of  public  ways."  Perhaps 
there  may  be  isolated  cases,  especially 
in  very  small  communities,  where  motor 
buses  will  serve  the  purpose,  but  we 
have  already  had  a  practical  illustra- 
tion of  the  essential  nature  of  the 
street  railway  transposition  in  at 
least  one  large  city. 

If  we  are  correct  in  our  assumption 
that  the  street  service  is  an  essential 
and  indispensable  part  of  the  machinery 
for  conducting  the  business  of  a  sub- 
stantial community,  we  find  there  are 
still  many  other  considerations  that 
affect  the  market  for  the  securities  of 
the  street  railway  companies.  Already 
I  have  referred  to  the  recent  past  his- 
tory. In  addition  to  the  rise  in  costs, 
which  precipitated  the  troubles  in  the 
immediate  past,  are  a  number  of  other 
conditions — franchise  troubles,  fran- 
chise abuses,  honest  and  dishonest 
politicians,  topheavy  capitalizations, 
the  jitney  bus.  Generally  speaking,  a 
given  community  has  the  idea  that  the 
street  railway  is  a  foreign  corporation; 
that  is,  it  is  owned  by  outside  capital, 
and  generally  speaking  it  is  correct  in 
that  view.  Of  course  in  the  last  anal- 
ysis the  public  owns  the  street  rail- 
ways as  it  does  all  the  other  utilities, 
and  whether  or  not  it  realizes  it  it  has 
a  direct  or  indirect  financial  interest 
in  the  success  of  these  enterprises.  The 
most  positive  cure  for  the  impression 
above  referred  to  lies  in  the  sale  of 
stocks  of  these  companies  to  the  local 
public  served;  in  other  words,  chang- 
ing the  status  of  the  public  from  that 
of  customer  only  to  that  of  customer 
owner.  This  has  perhaps  not  been 
possible  in  the  past  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  making  attractive  stock 
issues  of  the  street  railways. 

A  note  of  warning  should  be  sounded 
in  connection  with  sales  of  stocks  to 
customers  and  employees.  The  customer 
should  not  be  asked  to  pay  more  than 
the  general  market  for  the  class  of 
security  offered  him.  The  stock  should 
be  sold  on  a  complete  statement  of  the 
facts  and  weak  securities  should  not  be 
gilded  over  with  generalities.  Moral 
consideration  should  preclude  these 
practices,  but  if  indulged  in  the  inevi- 
table reaction  will  be  disastrous  to  the 
future  development  of  this  important 
means  of  supplementary  finance. 


I  have  spoken  of  some  points  with 
which  all  of  you  are  familiar  and 
regarding  which  you  all  know  a  great 
deal  more  than  I  do.  The  elimination 
of  the  prejudice  of  investors  against 
street  railway  bonds  will  take  time  and 
can  only  be  accomplished  by  a  persist- 
ent and  thorough  educational  campaign 
on  the  part  of  your  companies.  You 
have  nothing  to  hide,  and  if  you  had 
there  would  be  no  use  in  trying  to  hide 
it.  The  most  you  can  expect  and  all 
you  are  entitled  to  receive  is  a  fair 
deal  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
money  legitimately  invested  in  your 
enterprises.  This  you  are  entitled  to, 
and  enlightened  self-interest  on  the 
part  of  the  public  will  eventually  result 
in  your  getting  it.  It  is  up  to  you  to 
do  the  enlightening.  You  must  demon- 
strate to  the  public  that  the  service-at- 
cost  franchise  will  make  it  possible  for 
it  to  get  the  best  service  at  the 
lowest  cost  and  will  give  you  a  fair 
return  on  the  money  invested  in  your 
business. 

New  money  cannot  be  attracted  to 
your  enterprises  without  a  reasonably 
certain  prospect  of  its  receiving  a  fair 
return.  Such  service-at-cost  franchise 
should  provide  among  other  things  for 
some  reasonable  premium  on  good  and 
efficient  management.  Motor  bus  com- 
petition must  be  eliminated  and  the 
paving  of  streets  recognized  as  a 
municipal  function  and  not  as  a  burden 
to  be  imposed  on  the  street  railways. 
Capitalization  should  be  set  up  on 
sound  and  conservative  financial  prin- 
ciples. These  things  will  take  time  and 
patience  and  they  must  be  done  in  the 
open.  Try  to  get  the  public  served  as 
financial  partners  in  the  enterprises, 
but  at  least  make  them  partners  to  the 
extent  of  sharing  your  knowledge  of 
the  facts.  These  are  merely  signposts 
pointing  the  way  in  general  to  the 
restoration  of  street  railway  credit. 

How  Taxes  Affect  Financing 

To  these  specific  considerations  with 
respect  to  the  street  railway  industry, 
however,  should  be  added  another  gen- 
eral consideration  that  applies  to  the 
raising  of  money  by  all  private  cor- 
porations in  the  United  States.  By 
private  corporations  I  mean  all  the  cor- 
porations other  than  those  representing 
the  state,  city  or  other  governmental 
subdivisions.  For  the  purpose  of  this 
discussion  I  shall  call  the  latter  gov- 
ernmental corporations.  These  govern- 
mental corporations  since  the  advent 
of  the  income  tax  have  enjoyed  an  un- 
warranted advantage  over  the  private 
corporations  in  the  matter  of  raising 
money  for  carrying  on  their  business. 
I  refer  to  the  fact  that,  generally 
speaking,  the  bonds  of  governmental 
corporations  are  exempt  from  all  fed- 
eral income  taxes.  The  bonds  of  private 
corporations  are  not  inherently  exempt 
fi  'om  any  of  these  taxes,  although  by 
private  contract  a  corporation  some- 
times agrees  to  pay  the  normal  federal 
income  tax  up  to  a  certain  small  per- 
centage, but  this  is  merely  a  private 
contract,  and  taxes  so  paid  come  out  of 
the  corporation  and  are  such  a  small 


percentage  of  the  total — they  cannot 
exceed  4  per  cent  of  the  normal  income 
tax  of  8  per  cent,  disregarding  the 
surtax  entirely — that  it  does  not  come 
anywhere  near  curing  the  disparity  be- 
tween tax  free  and  taxable  securities. 

Before  the  days  of  the  federal  income 
taxes  there  was  about  one  point  dif- 
ference in  yield  between  average  good 
municipal  bonds  and  average  good  pub- 
lic utility  bonds,  but  today  this  is  nearly 
2  per  cent,  not  because  the  difference 
in  security  has  changed,  but  because, 
among  other  things,  tax  exemption  of 
the  governmental  securities  gives  them 
a  very  decided  artificial  advantage, 
damming  up  the  large  reservoirs  of 
capital  from  these  corporations  and, 
from  the  broader  economic  point  of 
view,  depriving  the  government  of 
millions  of  dollars  of  taxes  that  it  can 
ill  afford  to  loss  and  from  those  who 
can  best  afford  to  pay.  Of  course  there 
are  many  sides  to  this  broad  question 
and  in  the  last  analysis  of  course  it 
must  be  recognized  that  it  is  not  the 
exemption,  pc  se,  of  governmental 
securities  that  has  helped  to  make  it 
difficult  for  private  corporations  to 
finance,  but  the  confiscatory  levels 
reached  in  taxing  income  and  which 
could  only  be  justified  as  a  war  emer- 
gency measure.  That  the  government 
recognizes  this  fact  is  evidenced  by  the 
tax  legislation  now  pending  in  Wash- 
ington which  will  reduce  the  top  rate 
normal  and  surtaxes  to  40  par  cent. 
If  this  can  be  followed  by  further 
reductions  in  the  next  two  years  so 
that  the  rates  more  nearly  conform  to 
the  pre-war  level  the  situation  will 
readjust  itself  without  regard  to  the 
United  States  constitutional  amendment 
referred  to. 

Present  Financing  Developments 

On  talking  some  days  ago  with  Mr. 
Mortimer,  I  told  him  that  I  didn't  sup- 
pose you  gentlemen  would  be  especially 
interested  in  a  discussion  of  modern 
developments  in  public  utility  financing, 
as  you  probably  knew  all  about  it.  He 
pointed  out  that  it  was  so  long  since 
the  street  railways  had  been  able  to  do 
any  financing  that  it  would  be  prac- 
tically a  new  subject,  so  I  will  take  him 
at  his  word.  The  series  mortgage  and 
the  no  par  value  stock  are  the  two  out- 
standing recent  developments  along  the 
lines  of  progress.  The  series  mort- 
gage gives  flexibility  from  the  point 
of  view  of  enabling  the  company  to 
issue  its  prime  security  with  a  matu- 
rity and  an  interest  rate  to  meet  exist- 
ing market  conditions.  If  conditions 
are  such  that  short  term,  high  rate 
obligations  are  the  most  salable  they 
can  be  created,  or  if  longer  term,  lower 
rate  bonds  can  be  sold  to  advantage 
they  can  be  created,  all  having  the  equal 
security  under  the  same  mortgage. 

An  equal  degree  of  flexibility  to  meet 
varying  market  conditions  is  afforded 
to  stock  financing  by  having  the  stocks 
issued  with  no  par  value.  Assuming, 
for  example,  that  a  stock  calls  for  an 
annual  dividend  of  $6  a  share  and  the 
market  for  that  class  of  security  calls 
for  7  per  cent,  the  stock  could  be  under 


594 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15- 


a  "no  par  value"  law  at  851  so  as  to  net 
7  per  cent  and  thus  meet  the  market, 
or  if  in  the  same  case  stock  could  be 
sold  on  a  5  per  cent  basis  the  price 
would  be  120.  This  may  sound  very 
simple  and  easy,  but  of  course  a  con- 
dition precedent  to  the  sale  of  stock 
is  the  creation  of  valu3s  and  earning 
capacity  for  such  stock.  This  in  many 
cases  in  your  industry  is  neither  simple 
nor  easy;  in  some  cases  it  will  involve, 
amon?  other  things,  financial  reorgan- 
ization. 

In  order  to  sell  stocks  you  must 
create  an  investment  pos.tion  for 
them.  This  will  necessitate  in  many 
cases  a  scaling  down  of  capitalization, 
both  bonds  and  stocks,  so  as  to  make 
your  stocks  represent  actual  investment 
in  the  property.  No  par  value  stock 
laws  will  not  cure  overcapitalization, 
for  the  units  represented  by  no  par 
value  stocks  of  an  overcapitalized  com- 
pany would  represent  such  a  small 
amount  that  they  would  not  be  readily 
salable.  So  the  stocks  must  be  brought 
down  to  a  basis  where  the  units  thereof 
do  represent  a  reasonable  amount  of 
investment  upon  which  you  will  be 
entitled  to  earn  a  return.  Then  the 
stocks  will  be  salable,  and  the  bonds 
ahead  of  them  even  more  salable.  No 
prudent  investment  banker  today  will 
buy  bonds  of  a  company  that  has  not 
a  good  practical  vehicle  for  accomplish- 
ing its  junior  financing. 

A  public  utility  property  cannot  stand 
still;  it  must  expand  to  meet  the  grow- 
ing demand  for  extensions  and  service 
that  is  inevitable  in  our  American 
cities.  Though  you  may  have  ever  so 
sound  a  bond  situation  theoretically, 
and  perhaps  only  be  able  to  issue  your 
future  bonds  for,  say,  75  per  cent  of 
the  cost  of  future  capital  expenditures, 
if  the  means  for  providing  the  other 
25  per  cent  is  not  in  haiid,  then  you 
and  the  investment  banker  who  handles 
your  bonds  are  headed  for  certain 
trouble.  A  good  p'an  is  to  have  two 
classes  of  stocks,  preferred  and  con> 
r.ion,  then  you  have  three  strings  to 
your  financial  bow — common  stock,  pre- 
ferred stock  and  bonds. 

I  do  not  offer  you  any  quack  cures 
for  your  troubles.  We  all  know  the 
facts  and  we  know  that  the  situation 
intrinsically  is  not  as  bad  as  advertised. 
Do  the  right  sort  of  high-class  advertis- 
ing to  offset  the  bad  advertising  you 
have  had.  Take  the  public  fully  into 
your  confidence  and  work  to  get  your 
financial  houses  in  order — by  a  major 
operation  if  necessary.  Make  the  pub- 
lic you  serve  your  partners.  Above 
all,  push  on  with  this  work,  confident 
and  determined  to  give  to  the  American 
public  the  best  kind  of  street  railway 
service  that  is  obtainable  at  the  lowest 
practicable  cost  and  to  preserve  for  the 
owners  the  billions  of  dollars  honestly 
invested  in  your  great  industry.  To 
bring  your  companies  from  the  clouds 
of  uncertainty  and  depression  to  the 
sunny  skies  of  merited  prosperity  is 
surely  an  undertaking  worth  while  and 
one  worthy  of  the  steel  of  strong  and 
courageous  men. 


The  Underwriters'  Laboratories  and 

Its  Work* 


G.    B.  MULDAUR 


Inspection  of  Devices  with  Respect 
to  Fire  Hazard  Involved  in  Their 
Use  Is  the  Function  of  This  Organi- 
zation, Founded  in  1893  and  Incor- 
porated Twenty  Years  Ago 

By  George  B.  Muldaur 

General  Agent  Underwriters'  Laboratories. 
New  York. 

WE  ARE  destroying  by  fire  alone 
ev-3ry  year  $500,000,000  worth 
of  property.  This  is  exclusive 
of  the  cost  of  fire  protection  and  insur- 
ance. We  are  having  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred fires  a  day,  or  nearly  one  a  minute. 
The  United  States  Geological  Survey  has 
estimated  that  the  amount  of  property 
destroyed  in  one  year  is  equivalent  to 
all  the  gold,  silver,  copper  and  petro- 
leum produced  during  an  equal  time. 
Our  per  capita  loss  by  fire  is  by  far 
the  graatest  in  the  world.  These  state- 
ments are  made  simply  to  lay  stress 
upon  the  value  of  any  movement  tend- 
ing to  decrease  this  waste  of  life  and 
property  and  to  lead  up  to  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  activities  of  Underwriters' 
Laboratories,  the  technical  member  of 
the  group  of  national  organizations  de- 
voted to  this  important  work. 

Underwriters'  Laboratories  is  unique 
in  its  organization,  purpose  and  meth- 
ods. Founded  in  1893  by  W.  H.  Merrill, 
its  present  president,  it  has  built  up  in 
its  twenty-eight  years  of  life  an  un- 
questionable reputation  for  accuracy 
and  integrity  as  the  recognized  au- 
thority on  matters  pertaining  to  all 
devices,  appliances,  machines  and  ma- 
terials in  respect  to  fire  and  life 
hazards,  theft  and  accident  prevention. 
In  1901  it  was  incorporated  under  the 
auspices  of  the  National  Board  of  Fire 

^Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railwav  Engineering-  Association,  Atlantic 
City.  X.  J..  Oct.  3-6.  1921. 


Underwriters,  whose  financial  backing- 
enabled  the  management  to  secure 
proper  buildings,  equipment  and  staff 
and  to  lay  out  a  plan  of  action  which 
has  made  it  self-supporting. 

The  purpose  of  the  laboratories  is 
to  diminish  the  enormous  fire  and  ac- 
cident loss  by  indicating  those  mate- 
rials, apparatus,  construction  and  in- 
stallations representing  practicable 
standards  of  excellence.  Devices  sub- 
mitted to  the  laboratories  for  listing- 
are  first  tested  by  the  engineers  in 
charge.  If  they  attain  to  the  stand- 
ard already  fixed,  a  favorable  report 
is  prepared.  Should  they  fall  below 
this  standard,  the  manufacturer  or  in- 
ventor is  called  in  conference  and  in 
many  cases  the  assistance  given  him 
by  the  laboratories'  engineers  has  re- 
sulted in  correcting  such  features  as 
ware  found  to  be  substandard.  When  a 
favorable  report  has  been  rendered  by 
the  engineers  of  tests,  it  is  passed  upon 
by  one  of  five  councils,  namely,  fire, 
casualty,  electrical,  automobile  and 
burglary.  If  the  vote  of  the  council 
is  favorable  the  device  passes  into  the 
class  of  listed  articles.  A  summary 
of  the  report  is  printed  on  a  card,  which 
is  filed  according  to  classification,  and 
cabinets  containing  these  card  systems 
are  maintained  in  the  offices  of  the 
principal  boards  of  underwriters  and 
inspection  bureaus  as  well  as  by  many 
public  and  private  organizations  and 
government,  state  and  municipal  de- 
partments. These  are  available  to  the 
public  at  large. 

In  order  that  any  device  once  passed 
and  listed  shall  be  known  to  maintain 
the  standard  certified  by  the  labora- 
tories' favorable  action,  three  forms  of 
follow-up  service  have  been  adopted 
and  may  be  used  at  the  option  of  the 
submitter.  The  oldest  of  these,  re- 
examination service,  consists  of  tests 
made  from  time  to  time  of  samples  ob- 
tained in  the  open  market  by  the  labora- 
tories' representatives  and  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  manufacturer.  The 
second,  inspection  service,  comprises 
tests  made  by  the  laboratories'  inspec- 
tors at  factories  during  manufacture. 
The  third  follow-up  plan  is  the  label 
service.  This,  as  its  name  implies,  con- 
sists in  affixing  the  laboratories'  label 
at  the  factory  to  such  goods  as  are 
shown  to  be  standard  by  the  tests  of 
the  laboratories'  inspectors  on  the  spot. 
In  all  three  forms  of  follow-up  service, 
should  a  device  be  found  to  be  subnor- 
mal, the  laboratories'  approval  is  with- 
heM  until  the  original  standard  has 
been  re-established. 

The  main  plant  of  the  laboratories  in 
Chicago  contains  something  over  50,- 
000  sq.ft.  of  floor  space.  An  electrical 
laboratory  is  also  maintained  in  New 
York  at  25  City  Hall  Place,  under  the 
charge  of  Dana  Pierce,  vice-president, 
and  a  special  fuse-testing  plant  is  in 
operation    in    Kingsbridge.     In  these 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


595 


laboratories,  and  especially  in  the  main 
plant  in  Chicago,  every  conceivable 
variety  of  tests  r-elating  to  fire  and 
accident  hazards  is  carried  on.  An 
idea  of  the  importance  and  magnitude 
of  some  of  the  tests  may  be  gathered 
by  reference  to  the  recently  issued  book 
on  column  tests  which-  was  made  at  the 
laboratories  in  co-operation  with  the 
Associated  Factory  Mutual  Fire  Insur- 
ance Companies,  the  National  Board  of 
Fire  Underwriters  and  the  Bureau  of 


Standards.  This  report  consists  of  388 
pages  and  took  about  five  years  to 
compile. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  with 
the  Bureau  of  Standards  and  the  Bu- 
reau of  Mines  by  which  these  bureaus 
act  as  arbitrators  in  case  of  a  dis- 
agreement arising  between  the  sub- 
mitter of  a  device  and  the  laboratories 
in  regard  to  the  excellence  of  such  de- 
vice. Such  arbitration,  invoked  occa- 
sionally,  has   resulted  satisfactorily. 


The  Traction  Industry  Today  and 
Four  Years  Ago* 


Various  Causes  Suggested  by  the 
Federal  Electric  Railways  Commis- 
sion for  the  Condition  of  the  Electric 
Railways  Analyzed  to  Determine 
How  Far  They  Prevail  Today 

By  Edwin  Gruhl 

Vice-President  North  American  Company, 
New  York 

THE  searching  inquiry  into  the 
state  of  the  industry  by  the  Fed- 
eral Electric  Railways  Commis- 
sion indicated  that  its  problems  were  not 
local,  but  national  in  scope.  The  expe- 
riences there  recited  were  so  common, 
the  difficulties  so  similar  and  the 
opinions  of  witnesses  on  every  side  so 
nearly  unanimous  that  no  doubt  re- 
mained that  the  welfare  of  the  industry 
was  dependent  upon  widespread  eco- 
nomic conditions  beyond  the  control  of 
local  managements.  One  company 
alone,  the  inevitable  exception  to  the 
rule,  protested  that  it  had  nothing  the 
matter  with  it.  History  has  since 
proved  that  this  was  not  true. .  The 
malady  was  too  deep-seated  to  be  cured 
by  faith. 

The  commission's  report  was  issued 
in  1920.  The  picture  it  conveyed  was 
an  essential  industry  with  credit  im- 
paired, facing  a  precarious  struggle  for 
existence  and  requiring  emergency  re- 
lief and  co-operation  of  public  and  em- 
ployees to  avert  a  serious  breakdown. 
The  patient  has  been  in  a  worse  way 
since  the  commission  voted  its  condition 
as  acute,  but  it  has  met  the  crisis  and 
is  now  on  the  road  to  convalescence. 

A  Resurvey  of  the  Causes 

A  somewhat  detailed  diagnosis  was 
presented  by  the  commission  of  the 
factors  contributing  to  the  industry's 
condition.  The  causes  enumerated  are 
fifteen  in  number.  The  first  five  of 
these  relate  to  overcapitalization, 
neglect  to  amoitize  this  excess  capital- 
ization, failure  to  amortize  normal 
accrued  depreciation,  payment  of  un- 
earned dividends  and  neglect  of  ordi- 
nary maintenance,  and  overbuilding.  In 


•Abstract  of  a  paper  presented  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  American  Electric 
Kailway  Association,  Atlantic  City.  N.  J., 
Oct.  3-6.  1921. 


the  same  group  we  may  place  the 
criticism  of  underlying  companies  and 
leased  lines.  These  causes  are  histor- 
ical, and  there  was  no  evidence  before 
the  commission  to  lead  to  the  con- 
clusion that  they  were  general.  They 
suggest  the  diagnostician's  inquiry  into 
heredity  and  youthful  indiscretion. 
They  have  certainly  not  been  relevant 
during  the  past  fifteen  years  of  com- 
mission regulation.  Besides,  the  fact 
that  roads  in  receivership  or  munic- 
ipally owned  are  similarly  afflicted 
would  suggest  these  causes  as  secon- 
dary or  remote.  The  contributing  cause 
enumerated  as  holding  companies  and 
banker  control  falls  in  the  same  class. 
It  suggests  a  reflection  on  the  nurse 
without  whose  help,  the  commission 
concedes,  "many  of  the  operating  com- 
panies would  have  gone  under  before 
Jan.  1,  1918."  Concerning  these  seven 
causes  no  comment  need  be  made  in 
this  discussion.  If  relevant,  their  pres- 
ent-time effect,  though  somewhat  more 
removed,  has  sustained  no  perceptible 
change. 

Five  additional  causes  enumerated  as 
contract  fares,  limited  franchises, 
special  taxation  and  franchise  obliga- 
tions, use  of  regulatory  power  to  compel 
more  and  better  service,  and  in  part 
automobile  and  jitney  competition, 
relate  to  hardships  and  conditions  im- 


posed by  the  public  authorities  con- 
cerning which  important  recommenda- 
tions were  made.  How  these  recom- 
mendations have  been  received  and  fol- 
lowed will  be  referred  to  later. 

Cost  of  Labor 

Last  mentioned  are  the  economic 
causes  enumerated  as  increasing  de- 
mands of  labor,  the  war  and  the  dollar, 
and  the  cost  of  new  money.  These  are, 
of  course,  immediate  and  controlling 
and  merit  close  examination  in  the 
present  discussion. 

The  wage  bill  represents  about  two- 
thirds  of  railway  operating  expenses. 
The  average  wage  of  motormen  and 
conductors  for  companies  operating  100 
miles  and  over  in  1917  was  31.5  cents 
per  hour.  On  Jan.  1,  1919,  it  was  44.4 
cents  per  hour.  On  Jan.  1,  1920,  it  was 
52  cents  and  on  Jan.  1,  1921,  it  was  60 
cents  an  hour.  A  reduction  is  noted  as 
of  Aug.  31,  1921,  to  57.6  cents.  Out  of 
the  sixty-four  companies  included  in 
this  average,  twenty-six  have  reduced 
wages  since  Jan.  1,  1921,  the  reduction 
in  wages  made  by  these  companies 
averaging  10.7  per  cent.  Yet  wages 
still  show  an  increase  of  83  per  cent 
over  wages  for  1917  and  are  still  20 
per  cent  beyond  the  War  Labor  Board 
standard. 

Cost  of  Material  and  Equipment 

The  commission's  report  refers  to 
increases  in  material  and  equipment 
prices  for  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1919  as  compared  with  the  year  1915. 
For  electric  railway  equipment  this  in- 
crease averaged  64  per  cent.  For 
general  supplies  and  raw  materials  it 
averaged  178  per  cent.  On  Nov.  1, 
1920,  the  increase  in  price  of  electric 
railway  equipment  over  1915  prices  had 
grown  from  64  per  cent  to  110  per  cent, 
and  a  similar  comparison  as  of  the 
middle  of  1921  showed  a  decline  to  94 
per  cent.  For  the  raw  material,  the 
increase  for  November,  1920,  over  1915 
is  288  per  cent,  and  for  the  middle  of 
1921  is  174  per  cent,  as  compared  with 
178  per  cent  in  1919. 

These  comparisons  show  that  prices 
of  raw  materials  on  June  30  of  this 
year  are  about  on  the  same  level  as 
those  referred  to  by  the  commission  as 
reaching  abnormal  heights,  while  equip- 
ment prices  were  actually  higher. 

Cost  of  Money 

About  the  same  tendencies  are  noted 
in  comparing  the  cost  of  money.  The 
"bond  index"  of  the  Wall  Street 
Journal  includes  ten  utility  bonds  of 
which  four  are  street  railway  bonds. 
Based  on  this  index  the  average  yield 
in  1918  for  these  utility  bonds  was  6.23 
per  cent.  In  January,  1920,  the  market 
price  of  these  securities  showed  an  in- 
crease in  yield  demand  by  investors  to 
7.17  per  cent,  or  an  increase  of  15.2  per 
cent,  and  in  August,  1920,  the  yield  was 
8.04  per  cent.  Since  this  low  point  the 
utility  bond  situation,  as  indicated  by 
the  index,  has  slightly  improved,  and  in 
August,  1921,  indicated  a  yield  of  7.32 
per  cent,  which  is  only  2  per  cent  above 
January,  1920,  but  still  17.5  per  cent 


596 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


above  January,  1918.  If  a  separation 
be  made  between  the  street  railway  and 
other  utility  securities  used  in  prepar- 
ing the  index  of  utility  bond  prices,  it  is 
noted  that  whatever  improvement  has 
been  made  has  not  been  due  to  street 
railway  securities.  There  has,  accord- 
ingly, been  no  betterment  in  the  cost 
of  money;  in  fact,  conditions  as  repre- 
sented by  an  analysis  of  the  market 
would  indicate  that  the  credit  of  the 
industry  has  until  quite  recently  been 
at  a  lower  ebb  than  when  the  commis- 
sion made  its  report. 

The  Progress  in  Applying  Remedies 
— Increased  Fares 

The  principal  recommendation  of  the 
commission  was  that  emergency  relief 
be  provided  through  increase  of  fares. 
Such  increases  have  been  general  and 
are  still  in  process. 

On  Jan.  1,  1918,  the  highest  rate  of 
fare  charged  by  street  railways  operat- 
ing in  cities  of  25,000  population  or 
over  was  6  cents.  Out  of  300  operating 
systems,  there  were  on  that  date 
twenty-five  which  were  charging  a  6- 
cent  fare,  five  with  zone  systems  of  vari- 
ous kinds,  and  the  balance,  or  269,  were 
operating  with  a  fare  of  5  cents  or  less. 
By  Sept.  1,  1921,  the  number  of  10- 
cent  systems  had  increased  to  fifty- 
seven,  the  number  of  9-cent  systems  to 
six,  the  number  of  8-cent  systems  to 
thirty-six  and  the  number  of  7-cent 
systems  to  eighty,  giving  a  total  of  179 
which  were  operating  at  fares  greater 
than  6  cents  as  compared  with  102  on 
Jan.  1,  1920,  and  none  on  Jan.  1,  1918. 
There  were  only  forty-nine  systems  re- 
maining out  of  the  300  which  were 
operating  at  5  cents  as  compared  with 
103  on  Jan.  1,  1920,  and  269  on  Jan.  1, 
1918. 

The  general  tendency  has  apparently 
been  to  retain  the  existing'  flat  fare 
system  rather  than  to  obtain  relief  by 
charges  for  transfers  or  by  instituting  a 
tariff  based  on  distance  traveled.  The 
number  of  systems  operating  under  a 
zone  fare  of  any  sort  has  only  in- 
creased from  five  on  Jan.  1,  1918,  to 
fourteen  on  Sept.  1.  1921.  This  small 
net  increase  over  the  entire  period  is 
due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  certain 
systems  which  at  one  time  during  the 
period  were  operating'  under  zone  fares 
of  one  sort  or  another  have  reverted 
to  a  flat  fare. 

An  average  street  railway  fare  has 
been  computed  for  all  cities  in  the 
United  States  over  50,000,  except  New 
York  City,  weighted  on  the  basis  of 
population.  On  Jan.  1,  1918,  this 
average  was  4.92  cents  per  revenue 
passenger.  At  the  same  date  in  1920 
the  average  increased  to  6.29  cents  per 
passenger,  and  on  Sept.  1,  1921,  it  had 
further  increased  to  7.25  cents  per 
passenger. 

These  increases  are  so  substantial 
that  the  question  naturally  arises  as  to 
why  their  effect  has  been  so  negligible 
upon  the  net  income  of  the  industry. 
One  reason  lies  in  the  widespread  de- 
pression of  traffic;  another  in  the  sus- 
tained high  levels  of  cost  of  operation, 
in    which    labor    is    so    important  an 


element.  As  of  Sept.  1,  1921,  wages 
show  an  average  increase  of  104  per 
cent  since  1914;  fares  an  average  in- 
crease of  50  per  cent. 

Economies  op  Operation  and  Public 
Co-operation 

The  commission  recommends  that  the 
industry  put  into  effect  such  economies 
of  operation  as  will  enable  it  to  give 
good  service  at  the  lowest  cost.  Among 
these  it  enumerates  the  elimination  of 
deadheads  and  other  free  service,  the 
abandonment  of  non-profitable  lines, 
substitution  of  one-man  cars,  modifica- 
tion of  special  taxes  for  paving  and 
snow  removal,  the  reduction  of  rentals 
and  power  rates  as  may  on  investiga- 
tion prove  excessive,  the  co-operation 
of  the  public  in  developing  faster 
schedules  and  installing  skip  stops  at 
convenient  places,  rerouting,  use  of 
trail  cars,  keeping  car  tracks  clear  of 
traffic,  and  the  regulation  of  vehicular 
traffic.  Many  of  these  economies  are 
beyond  the  control  of  the  management, 
and  the  commission  admits  that  in  some 
cases  they  entail  legislation  and  the  co- 
operation of  public  authorities. 

A  survey  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished along  these  lines  discloses 
generally  a  record  of  economy  and  effi- 
ciency by  the  industry,  but  the  record 
of  public  co-operation  is  disappointing. 

No  appreciable  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  elimination  of  free  trans- 
portation service,  principally  because 
this  is  a  franchise  requirement.  The 
one  notable  exception  is  the  step  made 
by  Seattle  upon  the  acquisition  of  the 
railway  lines  to  charge  for  policemen 
and  firemen. 

Abandonment  of  non-profitable  lines 
has  as  a  rule  been  limited  to  sections  of 
track  in  districts  served  by  adjacent 
lines  of  the  same  company  or  by  other 
forms  of  transportation.  The  most  ex- 
tensive abandonments  for  this  cause 
have  occurred  in  Massachusetts  under 
trustee  control  and  in  New  York  City 
under  receivership.  In  fact,  much 
municipal  commission  and  court  action 
has  been  to  restrain  action  on  abandon- 
ment of  non-paying  lines  on  the  general 
grounds  that  convenience  and  necessity 
of  the  public  knows  no  economic  law. 

The  use  of  one-man  or  safety  cars 
has  very  largely  increased.  In  some 
instances — as  in  Terre  Haute — entire 
systems  are  now  one-man  operated.  In 
the  majority  of  cases,  however,  one-man 
cars  of  either  the  standard  single-truck 
type  or  of  larger  types  are  being  oper- 
ated on  lighter  traffic  lines  to  permit 
the  furnishing  of  more  frequent  service 
at  a  lesser  cost. 

Of  forty  large  companies  where  the 
skip  stop  was  in  use  during  the  war, 
only  sixteen  companies  still  use  it  in 
regular  service.  In  most  cases  it  was 
adopted  as  an  emergency  measure  to 
save  fuel,  and  the  selfish  interests  of 
the  few  people  inconvenienced  have  in 
many  cases  convinced  regulatory  bodies 
that  the  need  for  such  economy  no 
longer  existed,  to  the  detriment  of 
service  and  comfort  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  long-distance  riders.  Where  the 
skip-stop   scheme   was   installed  after 


thorough  study,  and  has  been  properly 
administered,  it  is  in  many  cases  still 
in  effect. 

The  relief  afforded  to  the  industry  as 
a  whole  by  modifications  of  or  relief 
from  special  taxes,  paving  obligations, 
sprinkling,  etc.,  has  been  so  meager  as 
to  be  almost  negligible.  The  associa- 
tion reports  six  companies  which  have 
been  relieved  of  paving  obligations 
under  existing  franchises.  All  of  these 
are  small  companies,  and  in  some  of  the 
cases  the  relief  is  not  permitted,  or  is 
contingent  upon  special  conditions. 
Out  of  twelve  active  or  proposed  ser- 
vice-at-cost  franchises,  only  four  make 
any  concessions  to  the  operating  com- 
pany relative  to  paving  or  sprinkling 
requirements.  The  most  extensive  and 
important  remedial  action  is  that  re- 
cently taken  by  the  Connecticut  Legis- 
lature, whose  action  is  a  long  step  in 
the  right  direction,  although  it  still 
leaves  some  things  to  be  desired. 

The  problem  of  achieving  operating 
economies  and  improving  service  by 
rerouting  has  perhaps  received  more 
attention  than  some  of  the  other  means 
suggested.  Kansas  City,  Akron,  In- 
dianapolis, San  Francisco  and  Mil- 
waukee are  among  those  cities  where 
extensive  changes  in  car  routings  have 
been  made,  and  numerous  other  cities 
are  working  out  the  same  problem. 

Some  advances  have  been  made 
toward  the  extension  of  trailer  opera- 
tion. Chicago  has  recently  joined  the 
list  of  seventeen  companies  which  were 
operating  trailers  in  1920  and  prior 
years.  Companies  using  trailers  have 
generally  appreciated  their  value  in  the 
economical  handling  of  rush-hour 
crowds  and  have  continued  to  increase 
the  number  in  use. 

The  traffic  regulation  in  large  cities 
is  gradually  improving,  and  in  many 
cases  police  departments  are  beginning 
to  appreciate  the  advantages  and  im- 
portance of  keeping  street  car  tracks 
free  from  congestion.  The  general 
tendency  has  been  to  increase  the  re- 
strictions on  automobile  parking  in  the 
downtown  areas,  and  many  cities  now 
prohibit  such  parking  on  main 
thoroughfares.  Chicago  and  Pitts- 
burgh are .  recent  examples  of  earnest 
efforts  to  speed  up  traffic  in  the  con- 
gested districts. 

As  for  the  earnest  suggestion  of  the 
commission  that  extensions  should  be 
paid  for  by  assessments  on  outlying 
property  benefited,  no  single  instance  is 
yet  on  record  where  this  advice  has 
been  followed. 

Motor  Competition 

The  commission  expressed  some  con- 
cern for  and  recommended  efficient 
regulation  of  jitney  and  motor  bus 
competition. 

Data  before  the  commission  showed  a 
registration  of  6,100,000  motor  vehicles 
in  the  United  States  on  Dec.  31,  1918. 
At  the  end  of  1920  the  registration 
shows  an  increase  to  9,200,000  motor 
vehicles.  The  figures  indicate  a  situa- 
tion about  50  per  cent  more  serious 
from  a  competitive  standpoint  than 
that  to  which  the  commission  referred. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


597 


Such  state  regulatory  measures  as 
have  been  passed  during-  the  past, 
notably  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut, 
do  not  seem  to  be  working  satisfactorily 
in  practice.  Proposed  legislation  in 
other  states,  notably  California  and 
Wisconsin,  to  regulate  the  business  has 
failed  of  passage.  Even  in  "service-at- 
cost"  cities,  like  Toledo  and  Youngs- 
town,  jitney  competition  has  been  pro- 
nounced. In  Kansas  City  a  compromise 
was  reached  in  March  of  this  year  by 
an  ordinance  which  still  permits  jitneys 
to  run  on  streets  not  occupied  by  car 
tracks.  Jitneys  were  ruled  off  the 
streets  of  Seattle  by  the  municipal  rail- 
way over  a  year  ago,  but  are  reported 
as  still  operating. 

While  the  motor  bus  has  the  advan- 
tage of  low  investment  and  small  over- 
head expense,  and  greater  speed  and 
flexibility  of  operation,  the  operating- 
cost  of  a  motor  bus  per  seat-mile  is 
practically  twice  that  of  an  electric  car. 
It  is  not  likely,  therefore,  seriously  to 
menace  the  industry  except  during 
periods  of  unemployment.  Where  rail- 
ways have  been  forced  to  wear  the 
jitney  out  by  competition,  a  scheme  of 
fares  which  makes  patrons  regular 
customers,  such  as  the  dollar  pass,  and 
frequent  service  with  one-man  cars 
have  been  effective  weapons.  Many 
companies  have  met  the  problem  by  the 
operation  of  motor  buses  in  effecting 
extensions  of  existing  routes  and  in 
creating  entirely  new  routes.  The 
motor  bus  operated  as  a  supplement  to 
the  railway  service,  or  the  trackless 
trolley  with  its  combination  of  economy 
of  operation  and  low  investment  cost, 
may  yet  be  the  method  of  relieving  the 
electric  railway  from  finding  large 
amounts  of  new  capital  each  year  to 
finance  extensions  which  will  not  be 
self-sustaining  for  some  time. 

Differential  Fares 

The  commission  finds  that  the  failure 
of  the  electric  railways  to  vary  flat 
rates  of  fare  for  transportation  service 
based  on  the  length  of  the  ride  is  "one 
of  the  contributing  factors  to  then- 
present  financial  condition."  It  points 
out  that  the  industry  is  the  only  public 
utility  which  has  consistently  adhered 
to  a  flat  rate  fare  basis,  but  believes 
that  the  introduction  of  a  zone  system 
of  fares  is  a  matter  which  should  be 
decided  by  the  community  itself  because 
of  the  social  problems  involved. 

The  two  major  experiments  with  the 
zone  type  of  differential  fare  which  has 
been  made  in  this  country  during  the 
last  four  years  are  those  of  the  Public- 
Service  Railway  of  New  Jersey  and  of 
the  Connecticut  Company. 

In  spite  of  the  failure  of  these  two 
large  companies  successfully  to  insti- 
tute and  operate  a  differential  fare, 
other  smaller  properties  have  met  with 
better  success.  The  San  Diego  Electric 
Railway  of  California  installed  on  Jan. 
1,  1920,  a  differential  fare  made  up  of 
two  5-cent  zones  with  important  ticket 
concessions.  The  result  was  that  traffic 
increased  and  the  company  has  been 
satisfied  that  it  is  getting  the  maximum 
revenue   which    any   system    of  fares 


would  produce,  and  this  is  being  done 
with  no  attendant  difficulties  in  fare 
collection.  In  Massachusetts  the  cities 
of  Holyoke  and  Springfield  have  been 
operating  with  a  differential  fare  for 
approximately  three  years.  In  Boston 
the  flat  fare  is  10  cents,  but  the  com- 
pany has  recently  instituted  5-cent  local 
fares  in  several  of  the  outlying  com- 
munities. The  results  of  this  experi- 
ment seem  to  indicate  that  the  increase 
in  local  riding  has  justified  the  fare 
concession. 

In  Milwaukee  the  differential  fare 
which  has  been  in  effect  since  1914  is 
still  operative  with  only  minor  modi- 
fications. The  necessary  revenue  in- 
crease which  the  company  needed,  how- 
ever, has  been  obtained  by  an  increase 
in  the  flat  fare  charge  in  the  central 
area  rather  than  by  retaining  a  low  flat 
fare  and  increasing  the  number  of  zone 
lares  in  the  outlying  districts.  New 
experiments  in  the  way  of  differential 
fares  have  been  tried  in  Racine  and 
Kenosha,  Wis.,  and  in  Racine  and 
Iowa.  In  the  first  two  of  these  cities  an 
unlimited  ride  pass  is  sold  for  $1,  which 
is  good  for  transportation  for  one  week. 
In  Mason  City  it  is  possible  to  purchase 
a  monthly  ticket  which  entitles  the 
holder  to  ride  for  5  cents  per  trip 
instead  of  the  regular  fare  of  10  cents. 

With  the  return  of  normal  traffic  and 
decreasing  costs,  it  seems  certain  that 
increased  flat  rate  fare  will  tide  the 
industry  back  to  normal.  High  fares, 
however,  will  not  stimulate  the  con- 
fidence of  investors  and  some  form  of 
differential  fare  may  be  the  means  of 
meeting  competition  and  improving 
revenues. 

Experience  with  Service-at-Cost 
Plans 

The  commission,  to  quote  direct, 
"strongly  recommends  the  principles  of 
the  service-at-cost  contract  not  as  the 
only  solution  but  as  one  means  of  solv- 
ing a  very  difficult  problem."  The  sur- 
vey of  recent  experience  with  service- 
at-cost  plans  discloses  somewhat  dis- 
appointing results.  This  is  particularly 
true  of  those  plans  which  incorporate  a 
fixed  fare  policy  with  automatic  varia- 
tion in  unit  fares  and  a  fixed  upper 
limit. 

Cleveland  reached  its  maximum  rate 
of  fare  under  its  service-at-cost  plan  of 
6  cents  cash,  nine  tickets  for  50  cents 
and  1  cent  for  transfers,  on  Nov.  14, 

1920.  Despite  a  reduction  of  10  per 
cent  in  wages  of  all  officers  and  em- 
ployees, except  trainmen,   on   Feb.  1, 

1921,  and  20  per  cent  in  trainmen's 
wages  on  May  1,  the  $500,000  interest 
fund  by  July,  1921,  has  dwindled  to 
$139  000,  less  than  nothing,  and,  due  to 
insufficient  operating  allowances,  main- 
tenance and  renewal  reserve  accounts 
disclose  in  addition  a  deficit  of  over 
*500,000.  It  is  reported  that  service 
has  been  considerably  curtailed,  a  five- 
day  week  has  been  established  for  shop- 
men, all  but  most  vital  maintenance 
work  has  been  postponed,  and  further 
wage  cuts  are  contemplated.  Finally, 
because  the  company  was  unable  to  se- 
cure new  capital  under  the  restrictions 


imposed  by  the  ordinance,  the  directors 
have  authorized  the  officers  to  take  the 
funds  for  all  expenditures  for  new  work 
from  the  maintenance  allowance. 

Cincinnati  reached  its  maximum  rate 
of  fare  of  9  cents  cash  and  8^-cent 
tickets  on  July  1,  1920.  The  increases 
have  been  made  in  J-cent  stages  in 
accordance  with  the  service-at-cost 
plan.  A  straight  9-cent  fare  contem- 
plated on  March  1,  1921,  was  enjoined 
by  the  city.  Meanwhile  the  result  of 
ensuing  litigation  has  been  a  revision 
in  the  original  contract  whereby  the 
company  is  temporarily  relieved  from 
the  payment  of  the  franchise  tax  and 
the  accrual  of  certain  reserves,  in 
return  for  which  fares  have  been 
reduced  to  8  cents.  The  company's 
report  for  1920  shows  a  deficit  over  the 
cost  of  operation  of  $665,000,  and  the 
total  accrued  deficit  to  April  30,  1921, 
was  reported  at  over  $806,000. 

The  Dallas  service-at-cost  agreement 
is  based  on  a  7  per  cent  return  on  the 
agreed  valuation  of  the  property.  Its 
5-cent  fare  continued  from  the  time  the 
contract  went  into  effect  in  1917  until 
June  17,  1920,  when  the  fare  was  in- 
creased to  6  cents.  By  Dec.  31,  1920, 
the  deficit  in  the  stipulated  return  on 
capital  allowed  by  the  ordinance  was 
reported  at  $651,000.  Application  for 
a  7-cent  fare  was  denied  by  the  city  on 
May  2,  1921.  The  company  filed  with 
the  city  commission  a  request  to  con- 
tinue the  6-cent  fare,  this  rate  auto- 
matically expiring  by  limitation  after 
one  year's  operation. 

Under  the  service-at-cost  franchise 
of  the  Montreal  Tramways,  6  per  cent 
was  allowed  on  capital,  7  per  cent  on 
additions  to  capital  and  6  per  cent 
interest  on  working  capital.  At  the 
end  of  the  first  year's  operation,  June 
30.  1919,  the  receipts  failed  to  meet  cost 
of  service  by  over  a  million  dollars.  By 
the  end  of  the  following  fiscal  year, 
June  30,  1920,  the  cumulative  deficit 
had  increased  to  $1,700,000,  and  by  the 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1921,  the 
cumulative  deficit  amounted  to  about 
$2,000,000,  including  payments  due  the 
city.  In  these  years  the  company  has 
been  unable  to  make  the  annual  half- 
million  dollar  payment  to  the  city  of 
Montreal  for  the  use  of  streets  as  de- 
fined in  the  contract.  The  standard 
fare  of  6  cents  was  raised  in  August, 
1919,  to  7  cents  cash,  four  tickets  for 
25  cents  and  special  tickets  to  work- 
men of  five  for  25  cents. 

In  Rochester  a  service-at-cost  plan 
became  effective  in  August,  1920,  with 
a  7-cent  fare.  It  has  been  necessary  to 
draw  upon  a  $300,000  balancing  fund. 
By  October  30, 1920,  a  cumulative  deficit 
is  reported  in  this  fund  of  $106,000. 
No  further  figures  have  been  issued. 

In  Toledo  the  community  traction 
plan  was  inaugurated  in  February,. 
1921.  The  plan  began  with  a  cut  in 
fare  from  7  cents  to  6  cents  and  trans- 
fer charges  from  2  cents  to  1  cent,  with 
tickets  of  eight  for  50  cents.  In 
August  of  this  year  the  ticket  rate  was 
increased  to  six  for  40  cents,  with  no 
change  in  the  cash  rate.  The  stabiliz- 
ing fund  was  reported  in  September  as 


598 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


standing  at  $140,000,  instead  of  $300,- 
000.  It  must  rise  to  S500.000  before  a 
reduction  in  fares  is  possible.  The  pub- 
lished estimate  in  February  indicated 
that  the  jitneys  were  taking  at  the  rate 
of  $425,000  a  year  in  revenues  from  the 
company. 

The  report  comes  from  Memphis, 
which  is  enjoying  both  service  under  a 
service-at-cost  arrangement  and  a  re- 
ceivership, that  deficits  have  been 
incurred  of  $200,000  by  July  31,  1921. 
In  August  the  company  announced  the 
discontinuance  of  ten  tickets  for  65 
cents  in  favor  of  a  straight  7-cent  fare, 
with  the  prospect  of  an  8-ceut  cash  and 
ten  tickets  for  70  cents  rate  if  the  drop 
in  riding  did  not  stop. 

The  Massachusetts  service-at-cost 
plans  appear  to  be  operating  more 
satisfactorily.  Because  of  the  strict 
and  early  regulation  of  securities,  over- 
capitalization has  not  been  possible. 
Nevertheless,  the  electric  railways  of 
that  state  appear  to  have  been  in  no 
better  position  than  those  in  other 
states  of  the  Union.  Of  the  thirty  elec- 
tric railways  only  five  have  earned  and 
paid  dividends  in  cash  on  their  capital 
stock  of  at  least  5  per  cent  each  year 
for  five  consecutive  preceding  years 
without  impairment  of  assets.  In  pre- 
war years  there  have  been  as  many  as 
two  dozen  companies  which  have  done 
this.  It  is  significant  that  out  of  the 
five  survivors,  three  are  companies 
whose  dividends  are  guaranteed  by 
leasing  companies. 

Massachusetts  street  railways  can  be 
aided  by  contributions  from  public- 
funds  to  an  amount  not  exceeding 
$]  per  $1,000  of  assessed  valuation  in 
towns  and  50  cents  per  $1,000  of 
assessed  valuation  in  cities.  The  Massa- 
chusetts Department  of  Public  Utili- 
ties in  its  report  of  April  1,  1921,  points 
out  that  the  amounts  which  can  be  so 
contributed  under  the  statute  are  "so 
small  a  sum  as  to  make  the  whole 
method  practically  valueless."  It 
recommends  that  this  "limit  should  be 
increased  so  that  communities  may  be 
freer  to  contribute  larger  amounts  for 
this  purpose."  The  report  shows  that 
no  action  has  been  taken  by  the  state 
along  the  lines  recommended  of  remit- 
ting paving  taxes.  It  shows  for  the 
371  miles  of  track  discontinued  in  the 
five  years  preceding  April  1,  1921,  that 
"nearly  all  of  these  lines  served  the 
convenience  of  their  localities  and 
helped  in  their  growth  and  develop- 
ment." Auto  bus  transportation  which 
has  been  substituted  is  reported  as 
working  well  in  some  places  and  poorly 
in  others. 

The  Massachusetts  commission  has 
apparently  made  a  sincere  effort  to 
reach  a  solution  of  the  traction  problem. 
It  is  evident  that  it  has  not  been  pos- 
sible under  existing  conditions  to  place 
its  street  railways  upon  a  self-support- 
ing basis,  regardless  of  the  rate  of  fare. 

The  two  largest  systems  in  the  state, 
the  Boston  Elevated  Railway  and  the 
Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway, 
are  operating  under  special  service-at- 
cost  arrangements.  The  freedom  of 
action  allowed  the   trustees  in  fixing 


fares  and  levying  upon  the  tax  fund 
has  permitted  the  uninterrupted  work- 
ing out  of  a  five-year  program  of  recon- 
struction. Important  operating  econ- 
omies which  would  not  have  been 
possible  except  under  public  control 
have  been  inaugurated,  and  a  trial  has 
been  made  with  the  differential  fare  to 
encourage  short-haul  riding  and  the 
right  secured  to  operate  motor  buses. 

The  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 
Railway  has  also  been  under  the  con- 
trol of  a  board  of  trustees  since  June 
1,  1920.  These  trustees  are  also  em- 
powered to  charge  any  rate  of  fare  that 
will  bring  the  maximum  revenue  neces- 
sary within  each  district,  but  they  lack 
the  Boston  Elevated  trustees'  power  of 
arbitrary  pro  rata  assessment.  The 
trustees  have  created  sixteen  operating 
districts,  in  each  of  which  the  cash  fare 
was  placed  at  10  cents.  Regular  riders, 
however,  were  able  to  avail  themselves 
of  punch  tickets  at  rates  ranging  from 
6i  to  81  cents  per  ride.  As  a  number 
of  the  operating  districts  failed  to  meet 
the  cost  of  service,  including  6  per  cent 
on  the  valuation  established  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission  on  the 
property  operated,  they  have  been 
given  the  alternative  of  contributing 
from  taxation  or  losing  the  service. 
Two  towns,  Gloucester  and  Hull,  which 
ief  used  to  make  such  contributions,  have 
had  service  discontinued.  Service  has 
also  been  withdrawn  from  three  addi- 
tional towns,  Woburn,  Burlington  and 
Billerica,  for  failure  to  curb  jitney 
competition.  Reports  of  the  trustees 
show  that  for  the  six  months  ended 
June  30,  1921,  the  cost  of  service  was 
earned  by  a  slight  margin,  whereas 
there  was  a  shortage  to  achieve  the  cost 
of  service  for  the  corresponding  period 
in  1920  by  $1,368,000.  One-man  cars 
are  now  reported  as  handling  more  than 
80  per  cent  of  the  traffic.  Non-paying 
lines  have  been  ruthlessly  abandoned, 
service  on  123  miles  of  track  having 
been  discontinued. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  Massachusetts 
service-at-cost  plan,  with  its  greater 
flexibility,  freedom  of  action  to  promote 
economies  and  power  to  compel  co-oper- 
ation by  the  municipalities  served,  has 
made  further  progress  in  solving  the 
traction  problem  than  other  contractual 
arrangements. 

Municipal  Ownership 

The  commission  does  not  recommend 
public  ownership.  It  finds  "that  there 
has  not  been  sufficient  experience  with 
public  ownership  and  operation  in  this 
country  to  recommend  it  as  a  perma- 
nent solution."  It  points  out,  however, 
that  the  experiments  being  made  in 
this  direction  will  be  watched  with 
interest.  This  discussion  would  not  be 
complete  without  a  brief  review  of 
the  more  important  changes  in  the 
municipal  ownership  field. 

The  Municipal  Railway  of  San  Fran- 
cisco operates  68  miles  of  line  selected 
with  respect  to  greatest  tributary 
traffic  density.  The  fare  has  remained 
at  5  cents.  Published  reports  show  a 
deficit  of  $137,000  at  the  close  of  the 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1920,  and  the 


advance  report  for  the  fiscal  year  ended 
June  30,  1921,  announces  increases  of 
over  6  per  cent  in  operating  revenues 
as  against  only  3  per  cent  in  operating 
expenses,  leaving  net  earnings  which 
are  declared  to  be  more  than  sufficient 
to  meet  all  overhead  charges. 

The  Seattle  Municipal  Railway,  ac- 
cording to  the  report  for  the  first  seven 
months  of  operation  ended  October  31, 
1919,  disclosed  a  profit,  but  according 
to  the  comptroller's  analysis  of  the 
operations  for  the  year  1919,  there  was 
a  net  loss  of  $517,000.  In  June,  1920, 
the  fare  was  raised  from  5  cents  to  7 
cents  cash,  with  fifteen  tickets  for  a 
dollar.  In  July  of  the  same  year  the 
cash  fare  went  to  10  cents,  with  tickets 
at  the  rate  of  four  for  25  cents.  As 
the  increased  revenue  still  fell  short  of 
meeting  expenses,  the  ticket  rate  was 
increased  to  83  cents  on  Jan.  8,  1921. 
A  great  hindrance  to  the  successful 
operation  of  the  municipal  lines  has 
been  the  continuance  of  severe  jitney 
competition,  which  became  particularly 
noticable  after  the  last  increase  in 
rates. 

The  creation  of  the  Detroit  Municipal 
Railway  followed  rejection  by  the 
people  of  that  city  of  the  purchase  of 
Detroit  United  Railway  and  the  voting 
of  $15,000,000  of  funds  for  construction 
and  operation  of  a  supplementary 
system.  The  city  built  18  miles  of 
track  in  1920  and  is  reported  to  have 
under  completion  83  miles  in  1921. 
Negotiations  have  been  opened  for  the 
purchase  of  tracks  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railways  on  which  franchise 
rights  have  expired.  Significant 
features  of  the  Detroit  situation  are 
the  operation  of  one-man  cars  and  the 
impending  purchase  by  the  city  of 
trackless  trolley  buses. 

Late  in  1920  the  city  of  New  York 
found  it  necessary  to  continue  opera- 
tion of  the  Staten  Island  Midland  Rail- 
way, which  had  suspended  for  lack  of 
funds.  By  arrangement  with  the  re- 
ceiver the  city  undertook  to  furnish 
seventy-one  safety  cars  and  to  operate 
the  property  through  its  Department 
of  Plant  and  Structures,  and  to  share 
any  net  revenue  with  the  owners  of  the 
railway.  The  report  for  the  first  seven 
months  ended  June  30,  1921,  shows  a 
final  net  balance  after  taxes  and  depre- 
ciation of  $4,000  on  total  revenues  of 
$25,000.    The  fare  charged  is  5  cents. 

The  city  of  Toronto  on  Sept.  1,  1921, 
took  over  the  operation  of  the  line  of  the 
Toronto  Railway  and  merged  these 
with  the  Toronto  Civic  Lines.  The 
Toronto  Railway  served  only  the  terri- 
tory within  the  old  municipal  limits,  so 
that  the  passengers  from  the  Civic 
Lines  in  the  suburban  territory  paid  a 
second  fare  on  a  second  car  of  5  cents 
cash  in  the  city  and  six  tickets  for  10 
cents  on  a  short  suburban  route.  The 
Transportation  Commission  has  an- 
nounced that  instead  of  a  universal  5- 
cent  fare  the  rate  will  be  7  cents  cash 
for  adults,  or  four  tickets  for  25  cents. 
It  is  significant  that  the  jitneys  were 
ordered  off  the  streets  at  once. 

Public  ownership  has  become  less 
popular  only  because  more  people  think 


October  8,  1921  Electric   Railway  Journal 


that  it  is  likely  to  prove  a  losing 
venture.  The  early  advocates  of  this 
principle  have  ceased  to  talk  about 
profits  and  now  openly  advocate  low 
fares  with  deficits  supported  by  taxa- 
tion. The  opportunities  under  munic- 
ipal ownership  for  lightening  burdens 
to  which  the  industry  is  still  subjected 
are  so  substantial  that  it  is  entirely 
possible  that  the  solution  of  the  trac- 
tion problem  may  be  found  along  this 
line. 

Conclusion 

A  review  of  the  comparative  position 
of  the  traction  industry  four  years  ago 
and  today  discloses  that  it  has  in  the 
intervening  period  passed  through  the 
most  critical  period  in  its  history.  The 
financial  condition  actually  became 
worse  than  pictured  by  the  Federal 
Electric  Railways  Commission.  Some 
of  the  solutions  of  the  problems  con- 
fronting the  industry  recommended  by 
the  commission  have  been  availed  of 
and  produced  results;  others  have  not 
received  appreciable  recognition  by 
public  authorities  and  accordingly  have 
been  inoperative. 


IT  HAS  been  said  that  a  crisis  must 
always  be  reached  before  a  revolu- 
tion can  take  place.  It  is  not  im- 
possible that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  a 
revolution  in  the  electric  railway  in- 
dustry. 

And  no  doubt  we  will  welcome  it,  if 
it  can  be  brought  about  through  the 
application  of  new  ideas  to  existing  fa- 
cilities and  the  utilization  of  new  meth- 
ods to  improve  the  present  situation — 
all  inspired  by  the  conditions  which 
have  brought  forcibly  to  us  the  realiza- 
tion of  their  need.  Perhaps  after  all 
this  is  our  opportunity,  to  which  we 
must  rise  in  order  to  advance.  Nothing- 
can  stand  still  and  progress — not  even 
a  trolley  car. 

The  present  difficulties  of  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry  are  too  well 
known  to  you  to  warrant  my  taking  up 
time  attempting  to  enumerate  all  of 
them.  But,  generally  speaking,  what  is 
there  back  of  most  of  these  things  that 
permits  them  to  exist?  Isn't  it  pretty 
largely  a  matter  of  public  opinion,  or, 
in  other  words,  the  average  man's 
mental  attitude  toward  the  traction 
company? 

Could  many  politicians  and  a  certain 
class  of  newspapers  continue   to  use 

•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  meeting 
of  American  Electric  Railway  Association, 
Atlantic  City,  N.  J,.  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


The  difficulties  confronting  the 
industry  are  as  acute  today  as  they 
were  at  the  beginning  of  the  four-year 
period.  We  have  made  some  progress 
in  learning  that  some  hoped-for  solu- 
tions have  proved  ineffective. 

Abnormal  Costs  Still  Prevail 

Recent  months  show  some  turn  to 
better  conditions.  Perhaps  it  is 
because  the  turn  has  been  so  recent 
that  there  is  yet  so  little  indication  of 
readjustment  and  satisfactory  settle- 
ment. Unlike  other  industries,  the 
street  railway  is  still  confronted  with 
the  abnormal  costs  which  have  been  the 
aftermath  of  the  war.  But  the  prob- 
lem of  readjustment  seems  to  be  much 
bigger  than  the  mere  forcing  of  operat- 
ing costs  back  to  normal;  the  restora- 
tion of  1913  conditions  of  traffic, 
revenue  and  expenses  would  not  pro- 
duce a  buoyant  industry.  A  great  deal 
of  useful  work  of  ultimate  benefit  to 
the  industry  has  been  done  during  the 
last  four  years,  but  it  can  be  regarded 
only  as  preliminary  to  the  final  read- 
justments that  must  come  if  the  busi- 
ness is  to  enjoy  prosperity. 


the  street  railway  as  a  football  if  the 
public  generally  understood  the  real 
motives  back  of  their  efforts — that  the 
politician  is  simply  after  a  job  and  the 
newspapers  referred  to  are  stirring  up 
agitation  for  the  sole  purpose  of  pro- 
moting their  circulation  and  not  at  all 
because  of  their  love  for  the  "dear 
people"  whom  they  are  fooling?  Some 
one  has  said  that  "in  our  country  most 
of  our  troubles  are  produced  by  those 
who  do  not  produce  much  of  anything 
else."  People  of  that  class,  of  course, 
do  not  want  the  street  railway  question 
settled.  And  perhaps  we  cannot  hope 
for  much  from  the  fellow  who  likes  to 
argue  and  will  not  listen  to  reason. 
You  know  some  men  like  an  argument 
so  well  that  they  will  not  even  "eat  any- 
thing that  agrees  with  them." 

A  Concerted  Effort  Is  Necessary 

In  other  words,  the  problem  resolves 
itself  largely  into  a  matter  of  educa- 
tion. And  if  we  manufacturers  and 
railway  men  do  not  make  a  concerted 
effort  and  carry  on  a  vigorous  cam- 
paign to  educate  the  public  and  con- 
vince them  of  the  fairness  of  our 
proposition,  then  who  is  going  to  make 
such  an  effort  along  the  right  lines  ? 
And  if  you  do  not  realize  just  how  dif- 
ficult this  matter  of  educating  the  pub- 
lic is,  if  you  do  not  appreciate  how  un- 


599 


sophisticated  some  people  really  are, 
just  keep  your  eyes  and  ears  open  all 
around  you  in  your  own  home  town 
and  you  will  soon  begin  to  realize  it. 

Transportation  Necessary  to 
Manufacturers 

We  in  the  manufacturing  business 
are  keenly  alive  to  the  fact  that  elec- 
tric transportation  in,  around  and  be- 
tween cities  is  vital  to  the  development 
and  progress  of  any  community.  We 
know  the  value  and  importance  of  lo- 
cating our  plants  adjacent  to  such 
transportation.  A  city  otherwise  de- 
sirable is  comparatively  unacceptable 
if  workmen  employed  in  the  plant  are 
deprived  of  trolley  facilities  for  readily- 
reaching  their  homes  after  the  work- 
day. And  if  every  city  were  so  inter- 
laced with  trolley  service  as  to  make 
shopping  more  accessible,  I  cannot  but 
feel  that  trading  would  flow  more 
evenly  instead  of  intermittently. 

One  of  the  most  forceful  illustrations 
of  the  effect  of  lack  of  trolley  trans- 
portation upon  a  community  happened 
not  long  ago  in  a  well  known  city  in 
Ohio,  where,  after  a  long  drawn  out 
fight  between  the  city  officials  and  the 
railway  company,  the  property  was 
abandoned  and  the  rails  torn  up.  A 
short  time  afterward  the  town  en- 
deavored to  induce  an  important  manu- 
facturing industry  to  locate  there.  The 
town  was  well  situated,  possessed  good 
steam  railroad  facilities  and  many 
other  advantages.  But  when  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  industry  referred 
to  found  that  the  town  had  no  street 
car  service,  they  refused  absolutely  to 
further  consider  the  question  of  locat- 
ing there  and  went  to  a  neighboring- 
town  where  the  street  car  service  was 
good. 

Traction  Service  a  Big  Asset 

This  is  a  significant  indication  that 
the  mere  fact  of  having  street  car 
service  is  a  big  asset  to  a  community, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  real  benefits  de- 
rived from  the  service.  In  other  words, 
a  town  that  has  no  electric  railway 
service  presents  the  appearance  of  a 
deserted  village,  and  no  amount  of  jit- 
ney buses  can  overcome  that  handicap. 
In  the  town  I  have  referred  to,  if  all 
the  jitney  buses  in  the  State  of  Ohio 
had  been  assembled  in  that  town,  it 
would  have  failed  to  satisfy  officials  of 
the  new  industry  that  the  trolley  was 
not  needed.  Nothing  has  been  devel- 
oped that  will  adequately  take  the 
place  of  the  trolley  car,  and  the  sooner 
people  wake  up  to  that  fact  the  better 
it  will  be  for  the  country  and  for  all 
of  us. 

Some  people  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
getting  around  in  their  own  motor  cars 
perhaps  don't  fully  appreciate  how 
useful  the  trolley  car  really  is — unless 
perchance  they  become  identified  with 
a  suburban  real  estate  development, 
when  they  very  quickly  begin  to  realize 
what  a  fine  old  substantial  asset  a  good 
electric  railway  system  really  is  to  a 
community,  and  how  much  it  will  add 
to  the  value  of  their  property.  Every 
live  real  estate  man  will  tell  you  that 


The  Interest  of  the  Manufacturer  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Industry* 

Transportation  Is  Necessary  to  Manufacturers  as  Well  as  to  Community- 
Welfare-  -Various  Ways  in  Which  They  Can  Help 
the  Railways  Are  Outlined 

By  E.  F.  Wickjuoirc 

Sales  Manager  Ohio  Brass  Company 


600 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


if  he  can  point  to  established  electric 
railway  service  to  his  allotment,  it  is 
the  very  best  selling  argument  that  he 
has. 

Employees  Can  Be  Educated 

We  can  tackle  this  matter  of  educat- 
ing the  public  in  many  ways,  but  to 
begin  with,  we  can  educate  our  own 
employees.  I  will  venture  to  say  that 
the  large  majority  of  employees  (and 
I  do  not  mean  factory  workmen  alone) 
connected  with  industries  whose  wel- 
fare is  largely  dependent  upon  the  pros- 
perity of  the  traction  companies  and 
ether  public  utilities  have  not  the  right 
mental  attitude  toward  those  public- 
utilities  from  the  public  service  stand- 
point. And  these  employees  perhaps 
form  a  more  influential  part  of  the 
general  public  than  we  have  realized. 
And  most  of  them  do  not  even  connect 
the  unjust  criticisms  that  they  hear 
and  read  against  the  traction  com- 
panies with  the  fact  that  these  criti- 
cisms are  directed  against  the  very  in- 
dustry upon  which  they  are  actually 
dependent  for  a  livelihood.  If  we  can 
awaken  them  to  that  fact  alone,  we  will 
have  accomplished  a  great  deal  in  this 
campaign  of  public  education.  And  I 
believe  that  we  can  go  still  further  in 
t^at  direction  and  educate  our  em- 
ployees to  a  point  where  they  will  have 
a  pretty  fair  general  knowledge  of  the 
real  electric  railway  situation,  so  that 
when  they  mingle  with  their  friends 
and  the  general  public  they  will  take 
the  trouble  to  defend  the  industry  of 
which  they  are  a  part  and  perhaps 
even  fight  for  a  square  deal  for  the 
electric  railway. 

We  manufacturers  can  carry  on  this 
work  in  various  ways.  For  instance, 
our  company  is  running  a  series  of 
educational  articles  in  a  little  monthly 
publication  that  we  distribute  to  all  of 
our  employees.  We,  of  course,  try  to 
word  these  articles  in  simple,  direct 
language  that  will  be  understood  by 
the  average  workman  in  the  factory, 
and  we  use  some  illustrations  whenever 
possible  to  make  the  article  look  more 
attractive  and  to  emphasize  some  point 
more  clearly.  We  find  that  the  em- 
ployees usually  take  these  little  month- 
ly publications  home,  which  is  also  a 
good  thing,  as  you  will  appreciate — es- 
pecially where  they  have  large  families 
who  read  them. 

A  Slogan  Might  Help 

We  also  supplement  the  printed 
articles  by  giving  some  short  educa- 
tional talks  to  the  men  at  some  of  our 
factory  employee  association  meetings. 
And  we  are  even  considering  the  ad- 
visability of  using  some  attractive 
printed  slogan  or  pointed  comment  on 
our  pay  envelopes.  For  instance,  we 
nvght  say: 

When  the  Trolley  Cars  Stop 

Our  Pay  Takes  a  Drop. 

When  the  Trolley  Cars  Run, 

Ain't  We  Got  Fun. 

Not  dignified  perhaps,  but  we  are 
after  results,  not  dignity. 

Now  is  an  exceptionally  opportune 
time  for  the  manufacturer  to  carry  on 
this  educational  work  with  employees. 


There  are  very  few  workers  who  have 
jobs  who  cannot  see  general  conditions 
around  them  and  in  turn  appreciate 
more  than  ever  what  their  own  job 
really  means  to  them.  For  instance,  I 
recently  heard  of  a  case  in  one  plant 
where  a  worker  who  a  year  ago  was 
showing  signs  of  radical  tendencies, 
upon  leaving  the  factory  after  a  short 
day's  run,  met  a  factory  staff  member 
and  asked  him  to  tell  the  sales  force  to 
"get  busy  and  get  some  more  orders," 
because  he  and  his  family  needed  the 
money  resulting  from  a  full  day's  work. 
This  fellow's  mind  right  now  is  prob- 
ably most  receptive  to  the  kind  of  edu- 
cational work  I  have  outlined,  and  you 
may  be  sure  that  in  his.  predicament,  if 
once  awakened  to  the  needs  of  the  in- 
dustry, he  would  lose  no  opportunity  to 
carry  the  word  along. 

Again,  what  proportion  of  our  em- 
ployees riding  by  trolley  each  morning 
and  home  again  each  evening  fully 
realize  what  the  traction  service  really 
means  to  them,  their  work  and  their 
families.  Perhaps  a  few  do,  but  many 
take  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  here 
again  we  can  teach  cur  workers  to 
"fight  for  the  cause"  if  we  educate 
them  to  look  upon  the  traction  com- 
panies as  real  benefactors. 

Getting  Back  at  the 
Councilman 

There  are  many  other  ways  in  which 
the  manufacturer  can  promote  this 
work.  For  instance,  a  factory  man- 
ager recently  attended  a  Council  meet- 
ing where  one  of  the  Councilmen — a 
merchant — started  a  tirade  of  abuse 
against  the  local  traction  company.  The 
factory  manager  interrupted,  asking, 
"What  plants  are  running  to  any  ex- 
tent in  this  town?  The  match  fac- 
tory?" "No."  "The  rubber  works?" 
"No."  "The  chemical  plant?"  "No." 
"Then  what  plants  are  running  fairly 
well?"  asked  the  factory  manager. 
"Well,"  said  the  Councilman,  "your 
plant  seems  to  be  running  much  better 
than  the  others."  Then,  said  the  fac- 
tory manager,  "Do  you  realize  that  we 
are  running  on  business  secured  from 
public  utilities,  including  the  electric 
railways,  and  you,  as  a  merchant,  are 
getting  the  benefit  through  the  trade 
that  you  secure  from  our  employees? 
Then  why  assume  such  an  unfair  atti- 
tude toward  an  industry  that  is  con- 
tributing largely  to  the  business  you 
have  in  your  store?"  And  the  mer- 
chant-Councilman modified  his  attitude 
when  he  found  he  had  to  reckon  with 
the  employees  of  the  busiest  factory  in 
town,  instead  of  playing  the  popular 
old  game  of  knocking  the  railway.  Al- 
though small  in  scope,  this  incident  il- 
lustrates one  of  the  many  ways  that 
we  in  the  manufacturing  business  can 
use  to  further  this  educational  work. 

Another  means  by  which  the  manu- 
facturer can  help  this  work  along  is  by 
getting  articles  of  an  educational 
nature  into  the  newspapers.  Often- 
times a  manufacturer  can  get  a  news- 
paper to  publish  such  an  article  when 
it  would  be  impossible  for  an  electric 
railway  company  to  do  so.    We  have 


had  articles  of  that  nature  sent  to  us, 
which  we  have  been  able  to  dress  up 
with  local  color  and  have  published  in 
our  newspapers. 

Then,  again,  we  manufacturers  be- 
long to  Rotary  and  Kiwanis  clubs, 
chambers  of  commerce,  manufacturers' 
clubs,  etc.,  in  which  we  can  very  easily 
accomplish  a  great  deal  in  getting 
people  thinking  along  more  liberal  lines 
on  this  electric  railway  problem.  Many 
of  us  also  manufacture  materials  that 
are  sold  to  other  classes  of  trade  than 
public  utilities  and  we  can  spread  the 
gospel  in  that  direction  in  various 
ways,  not  forgetting  to  sow  a  little 
seed  with  those  from  whom  we  buy  raw 
materials. 

Another  important  phase  of  this  sub- 
ject that  I  would  like  to  touch  upon 
before  closing  is  the  fact  that  we  manu- 
facturers who  are  largely  interested  in 
making  materials  for  electric  railways 
and  other  public  utilities  have  quite  an 
army  of  employees  that  can  be  rallied 
to  the  support  of  the  industry  in  legis- 
lative matters,  if  properly  organized 
and  directed.  So  far  as  my  observa- 
tions have  gone,  I  do  not  believe  that 
this  association  has  really  made  a  well- 
directed  effort  to  enlist  the  support  of 
the  army  of  workers,  and  I  am  sure 
that  they  can  be  used  by  us  as  a  strong 
influence  in  behalf  of  the  industry  in 
State  and  national  legislative  matters 
and  perhaps  even  in  municipal  affairs. 

I  believe  that  this  association  has,  in 
the  field  that  I  have  outlined,  a  mag- 
nificent opportunity  to  enlarge  the 
scope  of  its  work  and  take  more  active 
steps  in  the  direction  of  getting  the 
tremendous  advantage  of  the  full 
strength  and  support  of  these  workers 
back  of  our  efforts  to  obtain,  a  square 
deal  for  the  electric  railway  industry. 
Our  association  might  even  exchange 
ammunition  with  the  National  Electric 
Light  Association,  or  possibly  combine 
forces  with  it  in  this  work  wherever 
we  have  interests  in  common. 

Let's  Have  Unified 
Transportation 

In  closing,  I  would  like  to  emphasize 
the  fact  that  I  believe  we  have  arrived 
at  that  period  when  there  must  be 
more  proper  and  more  drastic  regula- 
tion of  the  use  of  publ\c  thoroughfares 
for  public  transportation.  In  other 
words,  jitney  buses  which  come  and  go, 
and  other  means  of  hauling  people 
which  are  competitors  of  the  regular 
and  the  responsible  systems,  all  tend 
to  the  depreciation  of  public  service 
rather  than  to  its  betterment,  and  so 
I  cannct  but  feel  that  the  time  has  ar- 
rived when  municipal  administrations 
must  be  made  to  appreciate  that  one 
franchise,  properly  safeguarded  for 
the  public  interest,  must  be  granted, 
and  confined  to  a  single  transportation 
company,  which  would  furnish  all 
transportation  service  which  could  b? 
used  to  advantage  in  the  community 
that  it  serves.  Under  this  plan  the 
transportation  company  can  invest  its 
money,  earn  a  sufficient  revenue  to 
justify  the  investment  and  give  the 
public  the  service  that  it  must  have. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


601 


Street  Railways  as  an  Investment* 


Future  for  Urban  Railways  Assured 
as  a  Utility,  but  Pleasure  Traffic  Is 
Dead — Reduced  Rate  Tickets  Are 
Useful — Rule  for  Prodigal's  Return 
Home  Is  Given 


: 


By  Roger  W .  Babson 
and  Olin  W.  Hill 

\HE  future  of  the  street  railway 
depends  on  its  treatment  from  the 
proper  standpoint — that  of  the 
public  utility.  It  has  ceased  to  be  the 
public's  plaything.  Most  of  our  street 
railway  troubles  come  from  the  old  idea 
that  its  principal  reason  for  existence 
was  to  satisfy  the — financial,  political 
and  literal— "joy  rider." 

In  the  readjustment  of  the  last  few 
years  the  street  railway  has  but  fol- 
lowed the  history  of  all  our  other 
modes  of  transportation — the  horse- 
drawn  buggy,  the  roller  skate,  the 
bicycle,  the  automobile,  and  the  jitney. 
Each  in  turn  has  had  its  day  as  a  fad, 
followed  by  a  reaction.  Then,  in  the 
case  of  those  for  which  a  practical  need 
had  been  found,  there  developed  a  sub- 
stantial, steadily  growing-  demand 
along  staple  lines,  w:thout  any  spec- 
tacular features.  The  readjustment 
has  meant  necessarily  the  elimination 
of  large  amounts  of  capital  employed 
to  satisfy  a  temporary  and  freakish  de- 
mand. 

The  electric  railway  systems  of  this 
country  comprise  an  industry  involving- 
over  $5,000,000,000  capital  with  a  gross 
business  in  excess  of  if  1,000,000,000  a 
year.  It  falls  within  the  group  of  less 
than  a  score  of  industries  exceeding 
$1,000,000,000  gross  and,  by  a  curious 
coincidence,  ranks  next  in  size  to  an- 
other transportation  industry,  the  boot 
and  shoe  business.  In  respect  to  per- 
centage of  gross  income  expended  in 
pay  rolls  for  labor — about  46  cents  out 
of  every  dollar  taken  in — it  outranks 
practically  every  other  industry  except 
watch  making  and  the  steam  railroads. 
When  we  come  to  look  at  the  net  earn- 
ings, however,  this  great  industry 
comes  far  down  in  the  list,  saving 
slightly  less  than  2  per  cent  of  its  gross 
for  net.  It  has  not  the  advantage,  in- 
herent to  man  industries,  of  a  rapid 
turnover  of  its  capital.  There  are  com- 
paratively few  manufacturing  concerns 
that  can  get  along  on  a  lower  basis  than 
gross  turnover  annually  equal  to  the 
total  capital  devoted  to  the  enterprise. 

The  street  railways,  with  $5,000,000,- 
000  capital  and  gross  revenue  of  $1,- 
000,000,000,  are  getting  their  money 
back  at  the  rate  of  only  once  in  five 
years.  In  the  case  of  Boston  Elevated, 
where  the  issue  of  securities  has  been 
so  carefully  supervised  that  no  ques- 
tion of  water  in  the  capital  has  ever 

'Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association,  Atlantic  City,  N.  J., 
Oct.  3-6.  1921. 


been  raised,  with  a  total  funded  debt 
direct  or  guaranteed  of  $44,000,000  and 
capital  stock  direct  or  guaranteed  of 
$46,000,000  additional,  making  a  total 
capital  account  in  excess  of  $90,000,- 
000,  this  system  shows  gross  earnings, 
even  with  a  10-cent  fare,  of  but  little 
over  $33,000,000  a  year. 

In  passing,  take  notice  what  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  is  as  to  the  necessary 
charge-off  for  depreciation.  If  your 
plant,  new,  is  reckoned  good  for  thirty 
years,  depreciation  alone  must  eat  up 
15  per  cent  of  gross  earnings  on  the 
average,  and  9  per  cent  to  10  per  cent 
even  in  the  case  of  Boston  Elevated. 
How  much  of  your  plant  is  good  for 
thirty  years — and  how  many  systems 
have  made  any  such  allowance  for  de- 
preciation? 

In  analyzing  an  industry,  two  fac- 
tors that  must  be  borne  in  mind  are, 
the  fixed  investment  represented  in 
plant  for  a  given  capacity  of  product, 
and  the  absolute  limit  at  which  price 
becomes  prohibitive  to  the  consumer. 
With  the  high  plant  cost  to  which  this 
industry  is  subject,  and  the  narrowly 
limited  unit  price  for  its  product,  we 
come  then  to  the  conclusion  that  only 
by  the  fullest  and  most  constant 
utilization  of  plant  can  success  be  at- 
tained. This  constant  and  fu'l 
utilization  is  to  be  found  in  our  large 
centers  of  population.  There  is  no 
question  about  full  traffic  on  almost  any 
of  the  city  lines. 

We  are  led,  then,  to  our  first  con- 
clusion. The  future  of  the  street  rail- 
way is  found  in  the  urban  road;  par- 
ticularly, those  lines  which  have  some 
element  of  rapid  transit  combined  and 
which,  either  by  original  supervision  or 
Ihrough  the  fires  of  reorganization,  have 
a  fair  capitalization.  For  the  lines 
operating  in  congested  centers  the 
private  automobile  has  little  compe- 
tition to  offer.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  greater  the  number  of  automobiles, 
the  more  indispensable  is  the  city  rail- 
way with  its  elevated  or  subway  con- 


nections for  convenience  of  getting 
about.  We  may  run  about  the  suburbs 
and  small  towns  as  we  do  with  our  au- 
tomobiles, but  when  we  are  going  in 
town  we  often  park  our  car  at  the  out- 
skirts and  complete  the  trip  by  street 
car — or  else  take  a  subway  or  elevated. 

Our  second  conclusion  is  that  the 
pleasure  business  of  the  street  railway 
industry  is  dead.  Whereas  formerly 
the  suburban  lines  catered  to  pleasure 
travel  and  looked  for  the  biggest  busi- 
ness on  Sundays,  the  condition  now  is 
that  Sunday  travel  is  the  smallest. 
There  has  been  a  large  waste  in  the 
establishment  of  outlying  pleasure 
parks  and  summer  resorts  as  a  street 
railway  enterprise  which  may  as  well 
be  regarded  now  as  money  thrown  away. 
As  far  back  as  1917  the  total  gross  in- 
come of  all  the  street  railways  of  the 
country  amounted  to  exactly  52  cents 
per  revenue  passenger  carried.  Clearly 
the  average  rider  is  the  short  haul 
urban  passenger,  not  the  long  haul 
pleasure  tourist  out  into  the  country. 

The  jitney  will  never  kill  the  street 
railways.  But  the  operating  expense 
account  can,  and  will,  unless  it  is  care- 
fully watched  and  studied.  Gross 
earnings  of  the  total  street  railway 
mileage  of  the  country  have  in  no 
single  year  shown  a  decrease,  going 
back  to  1904  and  coming  down  through 
1920.  This  fact  may  surprise  even 
some  of  you.  Neither  can  it  be  shown 
that  there  is  any  trend  to  a  decline  in 
the  total  number  of  revenue  passengers 
carried  per  year.  Statistics  on  this 
point  have  become  less  satisfactory  with 
the  introduction  of  the  zone  system 
and  the  cash  fare  box.  So  far  as  the 
lack  has  been  supplied  by  estimates, 
however,  the  consensus  of  opinion  is 
that  the  street  railway  is  still  carrying 
between  11,000,000,000  and  12,000,000,- 
000  revenue  passengers  annually 

In  other  words,  ten  times  the  number 
of  passengers  are  being  carried  on  the 
street  railways  as  are  carried  on  the 
steam  roads.  There  are  fluctuations  in 
traffic,  of  course,  following  very  closely 
the  general  prosperity  or  depression. 
There  is  a  general  tendency  for  the 
habit  of  car  riding  to  increase.  This 
is  striking  in  the  cay.o  of  New  York 
City,  where  the  revenue  rides  repre- 
sented 304  trips  per  capita  in  1909, 
370  in  1919  and  421  per  capita  in  1920. 
In  Boston,  on  the  contrary,  the  fare 
increase  has  diminished  the  habit. 
Taking  the  population  of  the  city  proper 
as  a  basis — which,  of  course,  is  not 
exact — revenue  passena:^  s  represented 
545  rides  per  capita  at  the  peak  of  traf- 
fic in  1917  and  only  430  rides  per  capita 
in  1920. 

It  is  the  net  earnings  line  that  has 
shown  a  constant  tendency  to  decrease 
from  about  1912  until  well  into  1920. 
The  operating  ratio  of  the  street  rail- 
way industry  was  57.5  per  cent  in  1902, 
according  to  the  census.  The  latest 
available  figures  for  comparison  indi- 
cate an  operating  ratio  very  close  to 
77  per  cent. 

In  our  study  of  fares,  we  find  them 
ranging  all  the  way  from  a  maximum 
of  10  cents,  the  standard   on  Boston 


602 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  15 


Elevated,  to  a  minimum  of  5  cents  on 
the  New  York  railways.  A  deal  of  ex- 
perimenting is  being-  done.  It  is  recog- 
nized that  theie  is  a  point  beyond 
which  fares  cannot  go  without  loss  of 
revenue.  Most  roads  bsive  reached  this 
maximum  and  some  arc  voluntarily  re- 
ducing. Not  only  do  higher  fares  dis- 
courage travel  but  they  encourage  de- 
moralizing jitney  competition. 

The  solution  lies  in  a  cash  fare  of  8 
or  10  cents,  with  the  sale  of  tickets  at 
geatly  reduced  rates.    One  of  the  di- 
visions of  the  Eastern  Massachusetts, 
granted  a  10-cent  fare,  first  sold  twelve 
tickets  for  a  dollar,  then  fifteen  for  a 
dollar,  then  seventeen  for  a  dollar,  and 
this   month   is   giving  eighteen   for  a 
•  dollar,  which  is  almost  back  to  the  old 
5-cent  fare.    The  headquarters  for  this 
division   is    Lynn.     The    statistics  of 
fare  reduction  there  make  an  interest- 
ing study  for  one  interested  in  street 
railway     transportation.  Remember 
that  the  cash  fare  is  10  cents  in  Lynn 
today,   but  the  man  who  rides,  every 
■  day  can  buy  eighteen  I  ickets  for  a  dol- 
lar.   Moreover,  the  first  of  next  month 
the  company  will  issue  similar  tickets, 
nine  for  50  cents,  purely  with  the  idea 
of  encouraging  riding.    It  will  still  try 
to  sell  the  man  one  dollar's  worth  of 
tickets,  "but  they  will  be  on  two  cards, 
so   that   two   members   of  the  family 
can  each  have  a  card  with  the  same 
amount  of  family  money  invested. 

Apparently  pleasure  riding  is  about 
over.  The  development  of  parks,  white 
cities  and  playgrounds  has  become 
wholly  a  thing  of  the  past.  Where 
Sunday  used  to  be  the  great  day  of 
the  week,  it  now,  on  most  roads,  is 
one  of  the  poorest  days.  We  prophesy 
that  the  time  will  come  when  eei'tain 
divisions  will  operate  no  more  than  a 
night  schedule  on  Sunday,  if  at  all. 
All  of  this,  however,  has  a  favorable 
side.  It  shows  that  the  business  to- 
day is  necessary  to  travel,  and  tends 
to  put  the  street  railway  business  in 
a  place  with  lighting  and  water — public- 
utilities.  The  only  fly  in  the  ointment 
is  the  auto  bus.  We  believe  that  the 
street  railway  business  can  be  carried 
on  more  cheaply  than  auto  bus  trans- 
portation. Certainly  this  applies  to 
heavy  traffic  and  rapid  transit.  That 
is  to  say,  the  efficiently  operated  urban 
lines  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
auto  buses.  When  it  comes  to  the  sub- 
urban lines,  the  auto  bus  may  have  a 
distinct  opportunity  and  we  still  feel 
— as  we  have  in  the  past — that  the 
wise  street  railway  company  will  give 
bus  service  where  it  can  be  most  eco- 
nomically given.  Many  street  railways 
would  be  better  off  to-day  if  they  had 
turned  some  of  their  carhouses  into 
garages  instead  of  stubbornly  putting 
their  heads  into  the  sand  and  refusing 
to  see  the  handwriting  on  the  wall. 

The  street  railway  is  an  ideal  "cash 
and  carry"  business.  Its  entire  factory 
product  is  sold  out  every  twenty-four 
hours — and  accounted  for  "C.  0.  D.," 
or  rather  "Pay-as-you-enter."  It  has 
no  heavy  merchandise  inventories  to 
carry  over  in  a  declining  market.  It 
has  no  bad  accounts  to  charge  off.  The 


very  conditions  that  place  a  staggering 
load  on  industry — and  cause  the  in- 
vestor to  be  wary  of  industrial  offer- 
ings— will  add  to  a  continuing  reduction 
of  its  operating  costs  and  should  make 
'for  increased  operating  efficiency.  Its  la- 
bor, where  placed  in  full  and  true  knowl- 
edge of  operating  conditions,  has  shown 
a  disposition  to  be  reasonable.  Every 
new  economy  has  proved  itself  and 
come  to  stay.  On  the  lighter  traveled 
routes,  some  almost  miraculous  results 
in  turning  costly  "feeders"  into  revenue 
producing  lines  are,  as  yet,  slightly 
appreciated.  Fundamentally,  conditions 
are  right  for  attracting  capital  to  the 
street  railway  as  a  medium  of  invest- 
ment. The  vital  problem  is  to  get 
right — and  stay  right — with  the  public. 

The  downfall  of  credit  was  due  to 
neglect  of  the  ethical  factor.  With  the 
cheapness  of  electricity  as  compared 
with  mule  motive  power,  the  idea  was 
publicly  accepted  that  you  could  carry 
"anybody,  anywhere,  any  time  for  a 
nickel."  Evidence  of  the  spread  of  this 
is  found  in  the  repeated  appearance  be- 
fore the  Connecticut  legislature  of  one 
Cowles  with  a  bill  to  make  a  uniform 
25-cent  fare  on  steam  railroads  between 
intrastate  points.  The  trolley  promoter 
seized  on  this  to  sell  the  investor 
"capitalized  hopes."  When  public  regu- 
lation of  capital  was  tried,  as  in 
Massachusetts,  it  was  circumvented 
by  the  "holding  company,"  or  volun- 
tary trust  which  could  issue  without 
limit. 

The  "construction  company"  graft 
was  another  method  of  fattening  the 
promoters'  pockets.  Financing  the  en- 
tire cost  by  bond  issues,  sold  to  remote 
investors,  with  the  resultant  species  of 
absentee  landlordism  and  self-perpetu- 
ating management,  was  an  attendant 
evil.  Credit  for  these  diluted  issues 
was  sustained  by  dividends  paid  out  of 
maintenance.  When  the  inevitable  re- 
organization came  the  absentee  bond- 
holder was  given  securities  based  on 
"reproduction  cost,  new,"  for  a  property 
which  was  not  new,  but  worn  out.  They 
capitalized  not  only  "unexpired  fran- 
chises" .but  city  pavements,  that  be- 
longed to  the  tax-payer  and  the  con- 
stant repair  of  which  was  a  liability. 

When  the  remaining  90  per  cent  of 
the  mileage  is  operated  as  efficiently  as 
10  per  cent  now  is,  street  railway  se- 
curities will  come  back  to  their  own. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  use  of  the  one- 
man  car.  In  the  case  of  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway  system, 
which  is  now  operating  about  800  miles, 
92  per  cent  of  the  cars  are  one-man 
cars;  but  hardly  5  per  cent  of  the  total 
street  cars  of  the  country  are  one-man 
cars.  Street  railway  men  who  continue 
the  two-men  cars  say  that  their  situ- 
ation is  different  from  other  situations 
and  the  one-man  car  is  impossible.  A 
close  examination,  however,  shows  that 
this  is  not  the  case.  If  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts  can  operate  92  per  cent 
as  one-man  cars,  certainly  the  entire 
street  railway  system  of  the  country 
can  operate  an  average  of  75  per  cent 
instead  of  5  per  cent.  The  one-man 
car  is  not  only  a  saving  in  labor  but 


also  a  great  saving  in  power  and  main- 
tenance. 

Great  possibilities  exist  in  connec- 
tion with  the  revision  of  union  rules 
on  roads  opeiated  by  union  men.  Such 
a  revision  is  wholly  possible  if  the  men 
are  approached  in  a  proper  way.  The 
elimination  of  the  seniority  rule  and 
the  proper  settlement  of  discipline 
cases  adds  greatly  to  efficiency  and 
hence  ultimately  to  income  of  the  men 
and  of  the  company.  The  wage  paid 
is  immaterial  compared  with  the  care 
taken  by  the  men,  their  industry, 
honesty  and  desire  to  develop  trade. 
Time  is  coming  when  every  street  rail- 
way company  will  have  courses  in  sales- 
manship for  their  platform  men.  Many 
companies  have  done  wonders  in  re- 
ducing operating  expenses  but  there 
still  are  great  opportunities  in  devis- 
ing means  of  increasing  traffic.  The 
future  of  the  business  demands  making 
every  platform  man  a  salesman.  It 
may  be  feasible  to  pay  platform  men 
a  commission  on  the  business  they  do. 

The  old  idea  that  track  and  equip- 
ment has  a  life  of  only  ten  or  fifteen 
years  is  wrong.  By  the  use  of  light  cars, 
creosoting  ties  and  poles  and  welding 
of  joints  this  life  is  being  extended 
for  perhaps  twenty-five  or  thirty  years. 
We  expect  to  see  every  street  railway 
joint  in  this  country  welded.  Yes,  and 
we  expect  to  live  to  see  many  other 
things  done  which  we  have  for  years 
been  told  were  impossible. 

Working  under  Chairman  Loring  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway  Company 
is  wonderful  training  for  any  man.  He 
has  done  so  many  things  and  intro- 
duced so  many  economies  which  street 
railway  experts  claimed  to  be  impos- 
sible that  it  has  made  us  believe  almost 
anything  possible.  As  he  says:  "As  we 
trustees  had  never  been  in  the  street 
railway  business,  we  did  not  know 
enough  not  to  try  the  'impossible'  things. 
As  a  result,  we  are  spraying  our  cars 
with  paint  instead  of  using  brushes, 
cleaning  them  with  exhaust  air  instead 
of  by  hand  work,  and  keeping  accounts 
with  but  20  per  cent  of  the  clerks  we 
formerly  had." 

The  right  road  for  the  street  railway 
is  the  prodigal's  road  back  home.  As 
an  investment,  it  is  being,  and  will  be, 
rehabilitated  whenever  and  wherever 
it  is  operated  as  a  local  community 
enterprise  for  the  public  good — for 
service  and  not  for  promotion  profits. 
It  needs: 

1.  Service  at  cost — with  the  sliding 
scale  of  fares  and,  possibly,  wages  as 
related  to  dividends. 

2.  The  local  board  of  control  with 
all  books  open  to  car  rider  and  employee 
alike,  showing  the  results  of  the  local 
operating  unit. 

3.  Customer  ownership. 

4.  Inci'eased  stock  equity. 

5.  Gradual  amortization  of  debt — 
by  reducing  obligations  at  maturity, 
instead  of  refunding  with  an  increase. 

6.  Willingness  on  the  part  of  the 
management  to  do  what  the  dyed-in- 
the-wool  street  railway  expert  has  said 
is  impossible. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


603 


Police  Traffic  Regulations  of 
New  York  City* 


Traffic  Organization  Outlined — Ad- 
dress Urges  Standardization  of 
Traffic  Signs  and  Signals  and  Says 
Time  Is  Opportune  for  Co-operation 
in  Highway  Traffic  Regulation 

By  John  0  Brian 

Inspector   Traffic   Division,   Police  Depart- 
ment, New  York,  N.  Y, 

OF  ALL  the  varied  problems  con- 
fronting- the  civic  authorities  of 
congested  centers  the  traffic  prob- 
lem is  paramount.  We  meet  it  at  every 
turn.  It  has  become  as  inevitable  as 
the  tides,  and  with  the  natural  growth 
and  prosperity  of  the  country  it  is 
ever  increasing  in  volume  and  adding 
to  its  complexities. 

It  is  of  such  importance  that  it 
affects  directly  taxation,  real  estate 
values,  commercial  enterprises  and  the 
welfare  of  the  community.  Its  growth 
lias  been  stupendous  and  efforts  toward 
regulation  and  control  have  not  been 
entirely  effective,  possibly  because  the 
problem  has  not  received  the  attention 
and  concerted  action  of  the  civic  and 
commercial  interests  involved. 

We  all  have  our  traffic  problems  back 
home  and  in  many  respects  they  are 
very  similar.  In  the  city  of  New  York 
we  also  have  our  own  traffic  problems. 
They  are  not  only  unique  in  many 
respects  but  in  volume  are  over- 
whelming. 

Organization  of  Traffic  Division 

For  the  purpose  of  traffic  regulation, 
there  is  in  the  Police  Department  a 
Traffic  Division,  which  embraces  the 
five  city  boroughs  and  includes  all 
streets  and  highways,  the  East  River 
bridges  as  well  as  Central  and  Prospect 
Parks. 

The  city  is  divided  into  precincts  and 
subdivisions,  each  in  command  of  a 
captain.  At  the  present  time  there  are 
1,547  members  of  all  ranks,  including 
foot,  mounted  and  motorcycle  men, 
assigned  to  traffic  duty. 

The  foot  patrolmen  are  stationed  at 
street  intersections,  bridge  approaches, 
bridge  roadways,  ferries,  pier  entrances 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railroad 
terminals  and  are  used  mostly  to  reg- 
ulate and  facilitate  pedestrian  traffic 
while  in  the  roadway.  Mounted  patrol- 
men are  used  to  regulate  vehicular 
traffic  at  piers,  and  on  streets  or 
avenues  where  congestion  exists  in  the 
middle  of  the  block,  thereby  co-oper- 
ating with  the  traffic  foot  patrolmen  at 
the  street  intersections. 

The  motorcycle  division  is  partic- 
ularly effective  in  enforcing  traffic 
regulations  as  to  speed,  lights,  im- 
proper turns,   signals,   license  plates, 

*Abstract  of  address  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Transportation  &  Traffic  Associa- 
tion, Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


licensed  operators  and  chauffeurs,  etc. 
This  squad,  with  a  force  of  114  patrol- 
men, during  the  year  1920  served  61,835 
summonses  for  infractions  of  the  reg- 
ulations, and  for  these  violations  the 
offenders  were  fined  $767,960.  Of  these 
summonses  served,  16.94  per  cent  were 
upon  operators  of  passenger  vehicles, 
26.98  per  cent  on  commercial  vehicles, 
36.16  per  cent  on  taxicabs,  and  10.52 
per  cent  on  motorcycles. 

During  this  period  294,137  motor 
vehicles  of  all  kinds  were  registered 
in  the  metropolitan  district,  and  I  think 
the  number  of  summonses  served  will 
indicate  a  fair  percentage  of  activity. 

In  the  city  of  New  York  there  are 
more  than  30,000  street  intersections, 
but  it  is  in  the  borough  of  Manhattan, 
which  by  reason  of  its  layout,  about 
3  miles  wide  by  12  miles  long,  with  its 
enormous  permanent  and  transient  pop- 
ulation and  its  varied  business  inter- 
ests, that  the  problem  is  most  acute. 

When  it  is  considered  that  a  single 
hour's  delay  in  the  movement  of  mer- 
chandise or  of  commodities  essential 
to  existence  in  every-day  life  results 
in  an  enormous  financial  loss  and  the 
inconvenience  of  thousands  of  citizens, 
the  importance  of  traffic  regulation  is 
readily  apparent. 

During  the  past  three  years,  the  city 
has  been  most  fortunate  in  having  an 
administration  which  has  taken  a  most 
active  interest  in  traffic  conditions.  It 
has  perfected  and  put  into  effect  reg- 
ulations which  a  few  short  years  ago 
would  have  been  considered  too  drastic 
to  be  contemplated.  I  refer  particularly 
to  the  laying  out  of  route  streets;  that 
is,  setting  aside  certain  streets  ex- 
clusively for  passenger  vehicles  and 
others  exclusively  for  commercial  ve- 
hicles. This  regulation  has  greatly 
facilitated  movement  and  given  general 
satisfaction. 

One-way  streets  where  thoroughfares 
are  parallel  have  also  been  found  to 
be  most  effective  in  preventing  con- 
gestion and  minimizing  fire  hazards, 
though  affording  an  unobstructed  pas- 
sage though  these  streets  for  fire  ap- 
paratus. 

Mechanical  Means  of  Traffic 
Control 

Another  innovation  in  traffic  control 
to  which  I  invite  your  attention  on 
your  next  visit  to  New  York  is  thev 
mechanical  control  of  traffic  now  in 
operation  on  Fifth  Avenue  between 
Twenty-third  and  Sixtieth  Streets.  This 
system  of  lights  and  signals  was  de- 
vised and  installed  by  Special  Deputy 
Commissioner  John  A.  Harris.  It  is 
so  positive  in  control  and  so  readily 
understood  and  observed  by  pedestrians 
and  operators  of  vehicles  that  it  fre- 
quently happens  that  its  control  is 
almost  perfect  in  operation  during  the 
absence  of  patrolmen  assigned  to  duty 
at  the  various  crossings.    If  this  sys- 


tem of  control  was  extended  to  other 
crossings  it  would  obviate  in  many 
instances  the  necessity  of  assigning  a 
patrolman  to  so  many  street  crossings. 

As  the  traffic  problem  is  a  universal 
one,  its  control  will  only  be  effective 
by  a  standardization  of  regulations  and 
signals.  A  step  in  this  direction  was 
taken  during  the  month  of  May,  1921, 
at  the  National  Police  Conference, 
at  which  were  representatives  of  police 
departments  of  325  important  nation- 
wide municipalities  in  forty-five  states, 
convened  in  the  city  of  New  York.  At 
this  conference  Richard  E.  Enright, 
Police  Commissioner,  New  York,  ad- 
vocated that  a  national  system  of  traffic 
control  be  worked  out,  that  the  co-oper- 
ation of  the  states  be  solicited  and  that 
a  uniform  method  of  operation,  speed 
and  signals  be  agreed  upon. 

Traffic  regulations  to  be  effective 
must  control.  The  control  must  be  pos- 
itive, and  to  permit  any  deviation,  ex- 
cept in  extreme  emergencies,  would  be 
to  nullify  the  regulation.  Control  is 
maintained  by  observance,  admonition 
and  penalties  for  infractions  of  the 
regulations. 

When  approaching  a  discussion  of 
standardization  of  traffic  regulation,  it 
is  well  to  keep  in  mind  that  what  is 
wanted  is  to  simplify  and  build  up 
from  a  basic  standard,  so  as  to  remove 
annoyance  caused  by  a  maze  of  regu- 
lations, often  conflicting  one  with  the 
other,  with  resultant  confusion. 

Standard  Signs  and  Signals 
Essential 

All  signs,  stanchions  and  lights  should 
likewise  be  standardized  as  to  design, 
color  and  use.  Methods  of  signaling- 
should  be  uniform.  The  great  need 
today  is  a  standard  regulation  that 
will  make  clear  to  a  driver  what  is  ex- 
pected of  him.  If  we  can  make  it  easier 
to  do  the  right  thing  than  the  wrong, 
the  final  solution  of  the  traffic  problem 
will  be  at  hand.  In  the  large  cities 
traffic  problems  are  practically  alike, 
and  there  is  little  doubt  that  a  standard 
system  could  be  formulated. 

In  any  discussion  of  the  subject  of 
standardization  careful  consideration 
must  be  given  to  the  commercial  vehicle. 
This  type  of  vehicle  is  ever  increasing 
in  size  and  weight  and  some  restriction 
will  eventually  have  to  be  placed  upon 
its  size  and  weight. 

From  1915  to  1919,  inclusive,  the 
State  of  New  York  expended  $21,062,- 
066  for  construction  and  $25,231,314  for 
maintenance  of  state  roads  outside  of 
New  York  City.  This  outlay  of  money, 
while  well  spent,  and  accruing  to  the 
benefit  of  all  citizens,  cannot  continue 
to  increase  at  the  present  ratio  with- 
out resultant  tax  burdens.  The  matter 
of  permissible  wheel  loads  should  be 
standardized  in  all  states.  As  for  the 
matter  of  size  of  commercial  vehicles, 
this  is  of  more  particular  importance  to 
city  authorities  where  thoroughfares 
laid  out  long  before  the  motor  ve- 
hicle was  dreamed  of  simply  cannot 
accommodate  the  enormous  motor  truck 
without  congestion,  inconvenience  to 
pedestrians  and  to  business  interests. 


604 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


The  matter  of  safety  is  of  first  im- 
portance, and  despite  all  the  literature 
that  has  been  printed  and  distributed 
and  the  warnings  and  devices  that  have 
been  perfected  to  prevent  accidents, 
the  number  of  personal  injuries  and 
fatalities  continues  to  increase  year 
aftr  year,  until  now  it  surpasses  the 
fatalities  occurring  on  the  entire  steam 
railroad  service  of  the  country.  All 
blame,  however,  cannot  be  placed  upon 
the  vehicle  operators.  We  cannot  re- 
lieve the  burden  of  caution  from  the 
pedestrian  to  exercise  due  care,  and 
when  the  pedestrian  is  guilty  of  negli- 
gence accidents  will  occur,  despite  all 
precautionary  measures  taken  by  the 
operator.  As  to  the  reckless  driver  he 
can  only  be  corrected  by  penalty,  ade- 
quately and  positively  administered. 

As  children  are  most  often  involved 
in  street  accidents,  they  should  receive 
first  attention.  Proper  playgrounds 
and  recreation  centers  must  be  provided 
for  them.  They  must  be  taught  the 
absolute  necessity  of  caution  when  on 
the  highways.    They  should  be  as  fa- 


miliar with  the  rules  of  the  road  and 
their  own  local  traffic  regulations  as 
they  are  with  the  simple  rules  of  hy- 
giene which  they  are  taught  and  so 
rapidly  absorb.  This  task  is  not  an  im- 
possible one  and  co-operation  between 
departments  of  education,  police  de- 
partments and  children's  welfare  or- 
ganizations intelligently  conducted  will 
bring  splendid  results. 

The  time  is  now  opportune  for  the 
better  co-operation  and  co-ordination 
between  the  police  departments  of  the 
various  cities,  the  traction  interests, 
the  automobile  interests  and  highway 
associations  to  bring  about  standard- 
ization of  traffic  rules  and  regulations. 
It  is  to  such  organizations  as  yours  that 
police  departments  look  to  for  co-op- 
eration and  assistance  in  the  solving  of 
the  various  traffic  problems  as  well  as 
minimizing  street  accidents. 

The  results  gained  from  experience 
by  the  Police  Department  of  the  City 
of  New  York  is  at  the  disposal  of  all 
interested  persons.  Advice  will  be  freely 
given  for  the  asking. 


Correct  Method  of  Purchasing 
Railway  Supplies* 


Definite  Standards  of  Measurement 
by  which  Various  Competing  Arti- 
cles Can  Be  Compared  Will  Simplify 
Purchase  and  Sale 

By  H.  B.  Doyle 

Of  Philip  Kobbe  Company,  Inc., 
New  York.  N.  Y. 

THE  electric  railways  buy  enor- 
mous quantities  of  equipment 
each  year.  The  salesmen  of 
equipment  and  supply  houses  each  year 
sell  an  equally  large  volume.  From  the 
salesman's  point  of  view  he  has  made 
a  sale.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the 
railway  official  he  has  made  a  pur- 
chase. Buying  and  selling  are  so  closely 
linked  together  that  it  is  often  a  prob- 
lem whether  the  transaction  has  been 
a  selling  one  or  a  buying  one.  All 
purchases  of  any  kind  are  the  result  of 
comparing  values  and  probably  no  two 
men  compare  values  in  the  same  man- 
ner, and  no  two  salesmen  offer  their 
wares  in  the  same  manner. 

Your  committee  has  been  good  enoug'h 
to  ask  me  to  talk  on  the  subject  of  the 
K-V  standards.  These  can  be  equally 
well  called  the  K-V  standards  of  sell- 
ing, the  K-V  standards  of  buying,  or 
the  K-V  standards  of  comparison,  for 
their  only  purpose  is  to  simplify  a  pur- 
chase or  a  sale  by  setting  up  a  definite 
measuring  block  with  which  competing 
articles  can  be  prop?rly  and  fairly  com- 
pared. 

"K-V"  is  a  name  given  to  this  method 
of  buying  and  selling  as  a  mark  of 

•Abstract  of  address  presented  at  the 
annual  convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Engineering  Association,  Atlantic 
City,  N.  X,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


H.  B.  DOYLE 

identification.  It  is  copyrighted  by  the 
company  which  I  represent,  and  is  only 
used  by  companies  whose  standards  of 
comparison  have  been  developed  and 
worked  out  in  conjunction  with  us. 
"K-V"  is  my  company's  guarantee  that 
the  standards  are  fair. 

The  care  and  exactness  with  which 
a  comparison  is  made  is  in  a  direct 
ratio  to  the  importance  of  the  article 
under  consideration  and  to  the  amount 
of  money  involved  in  its  purchase.  It 
is  possible  that  in  buying  railway  sup- 
plies and  equipment,  there  is  room  for 
a  more  exact  weighing  of  values  before 
specifications  are  written.  In  any 
given  field  there  cannot  be  more  than 
one  article  or  item  which  is  actually 
the  best  (assuming  of  course  that  the 
conditions  under  which  it  is  used  are 


identical  or  similar)  and  yet,  those  of 
you  who  are  operating  traction  com- 
panies under  similar  conditions  are  un- 
doubtedly buying  a  given  kind  of  prod- 
uct from  many  manufacturers.  That 
is  what  makes  competition  possible. 
But  it  is  also  true  that  not  all  of  you 
can  possibly  be  buying  the  best. 

Duty  of  the  Manufacturer 

It  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  leading 
manufacturer  of  any  given  line  of 
equipment  to  help  you  purchase  intel- 
ligently and  correctly.  Not  only  is  it 
his  duty  but  it  is  to  his  advantage. 
And  modern  selling  is  all  along  the 
line  of  actual  service  to  the  purchaser. 
I  think  it  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the 
man  who  has  something  to  sell  to 
analyze  the  factors  that  go  into  his 
article  and  to  impartially  evolve  a  meth- 
od of  purchase  which  can  be  presented 
to  you  for  your  approval  (or  disap- 
proval) before  the  actual  article  is  sub- 
mitted. In  other  words,  until  the  manu- 
facturer, as  the  seller,  and  you,  as  the 
buyer,  agree  on  a  fair  method  of  com- 
parison, both  you  and  the  manufac- 
turer are  at  a  disadvantage.  Neither 
of  you  has  established  a  preliminary 
measuring  block  by  which  values  can 
be  justly  compared. 

For  instance,  take  bearings.  There 
are  many  makers  of  armature  and  axle 
bearings  but  it  is  inconceivable  that  all 
these  bearings  are  of  equal  value.  And 
yet  all  of  them  have  some  recognition 
or,  your  various  roads.  If  there  is  one 
best  bearing  for  a  given  purpose,  there 
also  must  be  one  best  way  of  compar- 
ing bearings  so  that  the  one  which  is 
actually  the  best  will  be  clearly  re- 
vealed. When  we  analyze  this  we  find 
that  you  are  really  buying  the  service 
that  the  bearing  will  render  at  a  given 
cost.  Therefore,  some  of  the  factors  to 
be  considered  in  a  comparison  are  fac- 
tors invisible  to  the  naked  eye  and  not 
subject  to  a  physical  test. 

The  finest  bearing  in  the  world  at 
the  cheapest  price  is  of  no  value  until 
it  is  delivered.  And  unless  the  manu- 
facturer is  substantial  and  responsible 
there  is  no  guarantee  that  you  will 
continue  to  receive  your  bearings 
promptly  on  delivery  dates  over  a  long 
period  of  time.  Another  point,  or  let 
us  say  another  "standard,"  might  be  the 
location  of  the  manufacturer.  It  is 
possible  that  a  manufacturer  of  even 
a  better  bearing  might  not  be  the  best 
one  to  deal  with  if  his  plant  were 
located  so  far  away  that  orders  and 
shipments  were  unduly  delayed. 

The  composition  of  a  bearing  varies 
not  only  according  to  the  specifications 
of  a  road  but  also  according  to  the 
skill  and  honesty  of  the  maker.  As  you 
well  know,  an  alloy  may  contain  scrap 
metal  and  probably  will  contain  hard 
and  soft  spots  as  well  as  some  parti- 
cles of  iron  which  result  in  the  scoring 
of  the  axle. 

Another  consideration  is  that  of 
taper.  Does  either  outside  or  inside 
diameter  vary  at  either  end  more  than 
six-thousandths  of  an  inch  ?  It  is  basic 
that  bearings  should  not  taper,  and 
yet  they  do.  Th°  manufacturer  and 
the  railway  buyer  should  determine  and 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


605 


agree  upon  a  set  of  measurement 
standards  which  will  take  in  not  only 
the  physical  features  of  a  bearing  but 
all  the  other  features  which  are  repre- 
sented by  overhead  and  price.  The 
argument  which  occurs  between  the 
salesman  and  the  buyer  should  not  be 
an  argument  on  the  merits  of  a  given 
article  but  on  the  prime  factors  that 
enter  into  the  article.  When  these  fac- 
tors are  agreed  upon,  no  competing 


manufacturer  of  merit  need  fear  to  have 
his  product  examined. 

Several  prominent  railways  have 
stated  that  they  will  give  consideration 
to  any  equipment  or  supply  house  that 
is  ready  to  discuss  and  agree  upon  a 
set  of  standards  under  which  their  prod- 
uct will  be  submitted  and  examinad. 
We  believe  that  any  manufacturer  of- 
fering his  goods  in  such  a  manner 
should  have  consideration. 


Make  Your  Safety  Drive  Continuous* 


An  Energetic  and  Systematic  Public 
Safety  Campaign  Reduces  Injuries, 
Increases  Production  by  More  Effi- 
cient Operation  and  Teaches  the 
Great  Value  of  Human  Life 

By  Britton  I.  Budd 

President  Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad 

IN  INDUSTRY  we  find  that  a  concen- 
trated effort  to  reduce  accidents  keys 
up  those  concerned  to  the  highest 
tension  for  the  period  and  reduces  the 
number  of  accidents  materially.  But 
does  it  pay?  At  the  end  of  the  drive 
the  impressions  gained  wear  off  and  we 
are  again  back  in  the  old  rut.  If  we 
can  concentrate  on  safety  for ■ a  short 
time  and  obtain  results,  why  not  make 
it  a  systematic  and  co-operative  drive 
for  365  days  in  the  year  and  obtain 
these  results  every  week  instead  of  for 
only  one  or  two  weeks  of  the  year.  It 
can  be  done ;  safety  work  in  industry 
has  proved  it. 

To  educate  the  employee  we  find  that 
we  must  first  educate  the  employer,  for 
in  safety,  as  in  other  things,  the  atti- 
tude of  the  employee  toward  the  work 
is  dependent  on  the  attitude  of  the  em- 
ployer. To  accomplish  this  object  the 
employer  must  show  the  employee  that 
he  is  behind  the  safety  movement  heart 
and  soul;  that  any  recommendation 
that  may  be  made  by  the  employee 
tending  to  reduce  or  eliminate  hazards 
and  to  establish  safe  working  condi- 
tions is  closely  investigated  and  if 
found  practicable  is  carried  out.  The 
employer  must  establish  an  efficient 
first  aid  system  to  care  for  employees 
who  may  become  injured  and  must  see 
that  all  injuries,  no  matter  how  slight, 
are  given  proper  treatment  immedi- 
ately. 

In  an  examination  of  the  reports  of 
the  injured  and  killed  we  find  th?t  in 
1920,  out  of  82,000  fatalities,  15  000 
were  children  under  fifteen  years  of 
age.  What  have  we  done  to  prevent 
the  report  for  1921  being  a  duplicate 
of  that  of  1920,  or,  in  fact,  what  meas- 
ures have  we  taken  to  prevent  this  list 
from  being  doubled  this  year?  The 


■(Abstract  of  paper  contributed  to  th<' 
discussion  of  the  report  of  the  joint  com- 
mittee on  safety  work  at  the  annual  con- 
vention of  the  Transportation  &  Traffic  and 
Claims  Associations,  Atlantic  Citv.  N.  J.. 
Oct   3-6.  1921. 


P.  I.  BUDD 


number  of  autos  on  our  streets  has 
already  increased  30  per  cent  over  last 
year,  and  automobiles  were  the  cause 
of  a  great  number  of  these  deaths.  An 
energetic  and  systematic  public  safety 
campaign  throughout  the  country  is  the 
only  way  we  can  accomplish  our  object. 
We  must  reach  the  public  at  home,  on 
the  streets  and  in  business;  in  fact,  the 
prevention  of  accidents  must  be  brought 
home  to  the  citizens  of  our  country  at 
every  turn;  they  must  not  be  allowed 
to  forget  it  for  an  instant. 

The  establishment  of  safety  instruc- 
tion in  our  schools  will  give  us  a  firm 
foundation  which  will  not  only  bring 
results  during  the  present  generation 
but  in  the  generations  to  come.  The 
instruction  of  the  children  has  begun  on 
a  small  scale  in  many  schools;  in  some 
it  consists  of  periodical  lectures  and  in 
others  a  half  hour  or  an  hour  a  day  is 
being  given  over  to  this  instruction. 
The  older  children  have  been  given  in- 
struction in  accident  prevention  at 
street  crossings  and  in  some  cities  have 
acted  with  the  police  department  as 
traffic  officers  at  the  crossings  during 
the  hours  that  the  children  are  going  to 
and  coming  from  school.  In  the  in- 
struction of  children  the  effect  of  the 
word  don't  on  the  average  ones  results 
in  their  doing  the  very  thing  they  have 
been  warned  against,  while  if  they  were 
told  what  they  must  do  to  accomplish 
a  certain  thing  the  result  will  be  much 
more  satisfactory. 

The  public  safety  work  is  in  its  in- 


fancy and  to  succeed  must  have  the 
support  of  the  management  of  the  in- 
dustrial plants  who  are  experienced  in 
safety  work.  It  is  just  as  much  a  part 
if  their  work  in  the  upbuilding  of  the 
community  to  make  it  safe  to  walk  the 
streets  of  their  city  as  to  make  their 
shop  or  factory  a  safe  place  to  work. 
With  this  support  and  with  the  cham- 
bers of  commerce,  clubs  and  civic  organ- 
izations, police  departments,  boards  of 
education,  Boy  Scouts  and  the  general 
public,  it  is  certain  that  we  will  make  a 
material  reduction  in  the  list  of  pre- 
ventable deaths  and  injuries. 

Safety  Organization  in  Chicago 

The  Chicago  Safety  Council  operates 
as  a  department  of  the  Chicago  Asso- 
ciation of  Commerce,  in  conjunction 
with  the  National  Safety  Council.  Its 
sole  purpose  is  to  make  Chicago  a  safer 
city.  Its  activities  are  divided  into  four 
major  divisions,  known  as  public  safety, 
industrial  safety,  railroads  and  public- 
utilities  and  business  administration. 

The  plan  of  the  Public  Safety  Divi- 
sion, as  shown  in  the  progress  report 
issued  by  the  council,  is  as  follows: 

"1.  On  the  committee  composing  the 
Public  Safety  Division  are  representa- 
tives of  the  homes,  industries,  churches, 
schools,  women's  clubs,  civic  bodies, 
city,  county  and  state  authorities,  in- 
surance companies,  automobile  clubs 
and  all  other  organizations  which  have 
an  interest  either  in  the  prevention  of 
accidents  or  the  education  or  prosecu- 
tion of  those  who  violate  laws  designed 
to  safeguard  vehicular  traffic.  This 
group  of  representative  citizens,  who 
have  banded  themselves  together  for 
the  purpose  of  accident  prevention,  is 
already  making  its  influence  felt  in  an 
aroused  public  sentiment  against  the 
careless  and  many  times  inexcusable 
accidental  deaths  and  injuries  which 
occur  altogether  too  frequently. 

"2.  Under  this  division  there  is  a 
pdlice  and  traffic  committee,  which  is  co- 
operating with  the  city  and  park  police 
and  the  public  generally  in  educating 
motorists  in  particular  to  have  proper 
regard  for  enforcement  of  traffic  laws 
and  regulations.  It  is  also  developing 
plans  for  educating  motorists  in  safe 
driving  by  means  of  bulletin  boards  in- 
stalled at  filling  stations,  garages,  etc.; 
to  conduct  a  school  for  chauffeurs  and 
truck  drivers,  with  a  definite  course  of 
six  lessons  in  safe  driving,  rules  of  the 
road,  mechanical  operation,  etc.,  and  to 
operate  a  school  for  women  automobile 
drivers. 

"3.  The  women,  homes,  churches, 
schools  and  colleges  committee  of  the 
Public  Safety  Division  has  undertaken 
as  its  most  construct:ve  immediate 
function  the  matter  of  having  safety 
instruction  made  a  part  of  the  curricu- 
lum in  public  schools  and  parochial 
schools. 

"4.  It  also  is  preparing  to  carry  on 
safety  in  the  homes  by  means  of  dis- 
tribution of  illustrated  bulletins  de- 
scribing the  many  home  hazards.  This 
subject  is  being  presented  to  the  wo- 
men's organization  of  the  city  and  it 
is    contemplated    that   safety   will  be 


606 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


given  due  consideration  by  the  clergy 
in  their  sermons  from  time  to  time. 

"5.  Another  arrangement  about  to  be 
launched  by  the  highway  safety  com- 
mittee is  one  by  which  its  reporting 
members  will  report  to  the  safety  coun- 
cil any  dangerous  practice  or  condition 
coming  to  their  attention,  including 
violation  of  laws  and  rules  by  motorists 
and  others.  These  men  will  have 
neither  insignia  of  any  kind  nor  au- 
thority to  stop  or  arrest  violators,  but 
reports  made  by  them  will  be  taken  up 
with  the  offenders  and  an  earnest  ap- 
peal made  for  their  assistance  in  the 


elimination  of  accidents.  The  plan  pro- 
vides for  education  and  co-operation 
rather  than  prosecution,  except  that 
prosecution  may  be  resorted  to  in  ex- 
treme cases." 

With  the  co-operation  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  association  in  a  concen- 
trated public  safety  campaign,  along 
the  lines  of  the  National  Safety  Coun- 
cil's plan,  the  citizens  of  our  great 
country  will  be  brought  to  realize  the 
value  of  human  life  and  the  necessity 
of  exercising  care  and  caution,  which 
is  a  duty  each  and  every  individual 
owes  to  himself  and  to  his  fellow  man. 


Traffic  Regulations  and  Safety  Work' 


Greater  Responsibility  Rests  with 
the  Driver  of  an  Automobile  than 
with  the  Pedestrian  Number  of 
Persons  Injured  by  Automobiles 
Appears  Large,  but  It  Is  Very  Small 
Considering  Number  of  Machines 

By  J.  M.  Quigley 

Chief  of  Police,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

m  M  Y  INFORMATION  concerning 
\/|  automobile  accidents  has  been 

1  ▼  J.  gained  from  study  of  such  oc- 
currences which  have  happened  on  the 
streets  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  what- 
ever conclusions  I  have  settled  upon  as 
to  responsibility  were  reached  after  a 
careful  and  impartial  study  of  the  sub- 
ject, with  the  object  of  finding  out,  if 
possible,  a  way  to  prevent  accidents  and 
make  safe  the  streets  of  our  city  for  all 
who  may  and  have  a  right  to  travel 
them. 

Webster  defines  an  accident  as  that 
which  happens  without  any  known 
cause.  According  to  that  definition 
what  proportion  of  automobile  casual- 
ties can  be  classed  as  accidents.  I  will 
venture  to  say  not  more  than  8  per  cent. 
A  careful  investigation  of  such  happen- 
ings invariably  reveals  a  cause.  An 
analysis  of  the  cause  of  so-called  acci- 
dents as  revealed  by  the  records  kept 
in  our  office  is  as  follows: 

Per  Cent 

Walking-  into  side  of,  and  running 

in  front  of  automobiles   30 

Reckless  driving   in 

Collisions    12 

Crossing  street  not  on  crosswalk  .  .  .  8 

Crossing-  street  on  crosswalk   ti 

Losing  control  of  auto   5 

Children  playing'  in  the  street   3 

Getting  on  and  off  street  cars   3 

Intoxicated  persons   1?, 

Speeding"    1 

Collisions  with  street  cars   21 

Defective  brakes    2 

None  of  these  come  about  accidentally. 
If  the  working  of  the  mind  of  the  oper- 
ators involved  could  be  known,  it  would 
be  discovered  that  a  forewarning  had 
preceded  the  occurrence,  but  haste  and 
recklessness  challenged  and  they  pro- 
ceeded and  took  a  chance,  with  the  usual 
result. 


'  Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  annual 
convention  of  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Transportation  <Sb  Traffic  Association 
at  Atlantic  City.  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


Safety  of  person  is  more  impoitant 
than  commerce  or  rapid  transportation 
and  it  must  not  be  subordinated  to 
either.  The  operator  of  an  automobile 
on  the  highway  has  equal  rights  with 
those  traveling  on  foot  but  each  must 
observe  reasonable  care  for  the  other's 
safety,  determined  from  the  extent  of 
danger  incident  to  the  use  by  each  re- 
spectively. 

Xenophon  P.  Huddy,  in  his  work  "The 
Law  of  the  Automobile,"  writes  inter- 
estingly and  logically  on  the  relative 
danger  of  persons  traveling  on  foot  and 
those  traveling  in  vehicles  on  the  high- 
ways, as  follows:  "The  pedestrian  class 
is  the  weakest  of  all  others  which  use 
the  public  streets  and  thoroughfares. 
Those  who  travel  in  vehicles  are  pro- 
tected to  a  more  or  less  extent  against 
actual  personal  contact  with  other  ob- 
jects on  the  public  thoroughfares.  Con- 
sequently there  is  advantage  taken  of 
the  inequality  of  the  situation.  Natu- 
rally a  pedestrian  will  flee  in  order  to 
avoid  injury,  no  matter  whether  he  had 
at  the  time  a  legal  right  to  hold  his 
ground. 

If  the  drivers  of  automobiles  and 
other  vehicles  fully  realized  the  serious- 
ness of  their  conduct  when  the  right  of 
way  of  the  pedestrian  is  not  respected, 
and  if  the  common  law  would  be  en- 
forced, there  would  be  a  marked  de- 


crease in  the  accidents  which  happen  on 
the  public  h.ghways." 

The  driver  of  a  vehicle,  whether  it  is 
an  automobile  or  a  horse-drawn  car- 
riage, if  he  is  guilty  of  inattention  to 
his  duty,  may  be  criminally  responsible 
for  any  death  which  his  vehicle  may 
cause  at  the  time.  For  example,  if  he 
is  driving  an  automobile  while  holding 
conversation  with  a  companion  and  not 
looking  ahead  to  see  who  may  be  on 
the  highway.  Under  such  circumstances, 
if  he  should  kill  a  child,  he  would  be 
guilty  of  manslaughter. 

From  these  opinions  the  conclusion 
can  be  drawn  that  the  greater  responsi- 
bility is  upon  the  driver  of  a  vehicle. 
Reverting  to  the  causes  of  accidents  in 
which  persons  were  injured  or  killed,  it 
will  be  observed  that  the  large  number 
were  said  to  have  walked  into  the  side 
of  or  in  front  of  the  automobile,  making 
it  appear  that  the  pedestrian  was  negli- 
gent in  every  instance.  A  careful  scru- 
tiny of  the  reports  of  the  investigators 
of  these  occurrences,  however,  compels 
us  to  attribute  the  cause  to  carelessness 
on  the  part  of  the  driver  of  the  automo- 
bile for  the  reason  that,  moving  quietly 
as  it  does  without  the  noise  which  ac- 
companies the  movement  of  a  street 
car  or  a  horse-drawn  vehicle,  the  pedes- 
trian is  unaware  of  its  approach.  He 
steps  into  the  street  and  is  struck;  not. 
because  the  pedestrian  was  careless  or 
incautious,  but  for  the  reason  that  the 
automobilist  did  not  exercise  that  cau- 
tion necessary  to  be  obtained  when 
traveling  a  thoroughfare  upon  which 
he  should  reasonably  be  prepared  to- 
anticipate  such  an  occurrence. 

automobilists  abuse  their 
Advantage 

An  automobile  traveling  at  the  rate 
of  twenty  miles  per  hour  moves  seven 
times  as  fast  as  the  average  pedes- 
trian, or  in  other  words  it  will  travel 
one  hundred  feet  in  the  same  space  of 
time  that  a  pedestrian  will  travel  four- 
teen feet,  or  about  one-third  the  width 
of  the  average  city  street,  so  that  when 
the  pedestrian  stepped  from  the  curb 
the  automobilist  was  far  enough  away 
to  warrant  the  foot  traveler  to  believe 
that  the  driver,  exercising  due  cir- 
cumspection, would  stop  or  slow  down 
the  movement  of  his  vehicle  and  give 
way  to  the  pedestrian.  Anyone  ob- 
serving automobile  travel  will  note  that 
the  driver  of  the  vehicle  almost  in- 
variably attempts  to  force  the  pedes- 
trian to  hasten  out  of  his  way. 

During  the  year  1920  a  total  of 
2,139  automobile  accidents  were  re- 
ported to  the  police  of  Rochester.  Of 
them,  812  were  accidents  in  which  906 
persons  were  injured  and  21  killed.  Of 
persons  injured,  196  were  passengers 
and  710  were  pedestrians.  Of  the  total 
number  of  accidents,  the  character  of 
the  vehicles  involved  were,  pleasure 
cars  999;  light  deliveries,  168;  trucks, 
90;  and  taxicabs,  70.  Of  the  accidents 
in  which  persons  were  injured,  the 
character  of  the  automobiles  involved 
were,  pleasure  cars,  609;  trucks,  100; 
delivery,  68;  and  taxicabs.  35. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


GOT 


The  locality  in  which  these  acci- 
dents occurred  with  relation  to  the 
center  or  congested  section  of  the  city, 
144  occurred  in  the  business  or  con- 
gested district;  301,  outside  the  con- 
gested district  but  within  the  mile  cir- 
cle; and  461,  outside  the  mile  circle. 
Three  of  the  fatal  accidents  occurred 
in  the  congested  district,  ten  outside  of 
the  congested  district  but  within  the 
mile  circle  and  eight  occurred  outside 
the  mile  circle.  You  will  note  that  the 
greater  number  of  accidents  occurred 
at  points  remote  from  the  congested 
district,  which  goes  to  show  that  they 
occurred  where  the  drivers  of  vehicles 
and  pedestrians  also  feel  most  secure 
from  danger,  and  too,  it  indicates 
greater  carelessness  of  both  pedestrian 
and  drivers  in  the  outlying  districts. 

Accidents  Are  Frequent  At 
Intersections 

Another  important  phase  of  the  acci- 
dent problem  is  the  location  on  the 
street  where  they  occur,  of  the  2,139 
reported,  1,153  happened  at  street  in- 
tersections, and  986  elsewhere.  Four 
hundred  and  thirty-six  persons  were 
injured  in  accidents  occurring  at  street 


intersections  and  470  in  those  that 
happened  elsewhere. 

Though  the  automobile  accidents  are 
more  numerous  than  they  should  be, 
yet,  when  we  consider  the  number  of 
automobiles  traveling  the  streets  daily 
the  proportion  of  accidents  to  the  num- 
ber of  automobiles  is  very  small.  There 
are  36,274  automobiles  owned  by  per- 
sons living  in  Monroe  County,  N.  Y., 
and  all  of  these  are  operated  on  the 
streets  of  Rochester  at  one  time  or 
another.  This  being  the  fact,  and,  too 
that  but  2,139  automobile  accidents 
were  reported,  it  is  readily  apparent 
that  only  a  very  small  proportion  of 
drivers  are  careless  or  reckless;  to  be 
specific,  6  per  cent.  This,  in  my  judg- 
ment, is  a  very  creditable  showing,  but 
we  can  and  must  make  a  better  show- 
ing. We  have  by  experiment  and  prac- 
tice demonstrated  that  accidents  can  be 
prevented,  and  that  by  extending  the 
preventive  measures  now  used,  their 
number  can  be  further  reduced. 

Are  we  then  going  to  permit  this 
most  useful  vehicle  because  of  its  mis- 
use by  the  few  incompetent  or  reckless 
operators  to  become  the  modern  "Jug- 
gernaut" ? 


Picking  Men  for  Jobs  in  the  Transpor- 
tation Department* 


Six  Principles  Based  on  Employment 
Practice  in  Other  Fields  Are  Suggest- 
ed as  Useful  in  the  Selection  of 
Transportation  Employees 

By  Henry  H.  Norris 

Managing  Editor 
Electric  Railway  Journal 

THE  report  of  the  committee  on  per- 
sonnel and  training  of  transpor- 
tation department  employees  is 
to  be  commended  from  saveral  consid- 
erations. In  the  first  place,  it  has  been 
prepared  with  definiteness  of  purpose, 
its  scope  is  reasonable,  and  the  com- 
mittee has  evidently  had  in  mind  the 
formulation  of  guiding  principles  rather 
than  detail  of  practice.  The  second 
feature  of  this  report  is  its  brevity.  In 
its  few  pages,  however,  there  is  con- 
densed a  wealth  of  suggestion.  In  the 
comments  which  follow  the  topic  of  the 
selection  of  employees  will  be  consid- 
ered from  the  analytical  point  of  view. 
Having  had  no  personal  experience  in 
employing  men  for  the  transportation 
department  of  the  electric  railway,  the 
writer  can  give  only  the  results  of  his 
observations,  combining  with  these 
some  suggestions  based  on  a  general 
study  of  modern  methods  of  employ- 
ment in  other  fields.  The  attempt  has 
been  made  to  formulate  certain  guiding 


"Abstract  of  paper  presented  as  part  of 
the  discussion  on  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  personnel  and  training  of  trans- 
portation department  employees  at  the  con- 
vention of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Transportation  &  Traffic  Association,  Atlan- 
tic City,  N.  J.,  Oct.  3  to  B,  1921. 


principles,  which  will  be  phrased  in 
concise  form. 

Principle  I. — The  selection  of  employ- 
ees is  so  important  a  function  that  it 
should  be  intrusted  only  to  the  most 
competent  man  available. 
This  principle  requires  no  argument. 
It    has    not   always   been  recognized, 
however.    In  the  manufacturing  indus- 
tries it  is  now  being  stressed  mightily, 
the  war  having  given  the  impetus  to 
increase  in  production  efficiency  through 
skilled  selection  of  workers. 

In  selecting  employees  the  electric 
railway  employment  department  has 
two  things  in  mind,  in  addition  to  the 


desire  to  fit  a  good  man  to  a  good  job. 
First  there  is  the  ambition  to  keep 
down  the  labor  turnover.  The  second 
is  the  possibilities  of  the  applicant  as 
a  transportation  salesman.  How  quickly 
and  completely  will  he  come  to  be  at 
ease  in  the  performance  of  his  duties? 
How  promptly  can  he  store  his  mind 
with  the  facts  and  principles  of  the 
business  so  that  he  will  be  able  to  give 
patrons  the  information  which  they 
desire?  How  quickly  can  he  become 
skilled  in  that  essential  function  of  the 
modern  platform  man,  "selling  the 
service?" 

These   questions   suggest  the  state- 
ment of  another  principle,  namely: 
Principle   II  — Selection    of  employees 

on  the  basis  of  quality  is  infinitely 

more  important  than  the  purchase  of 

-materials  to  specification. 

There  was  a  time  a  few  years  back 
'vhen  it  was  impossible  to  choose  care- 
fully among  applicants  because  there 
were  not  enough  applicants  to  go 
around.  Now  we  can  begin  to  look 
for  this  quality  of  salesmanship,  re- 
garding which  so  much  has  been  said 
but  so  little  done.  Obviously  merchan- 
dising transportation  involves  mer- 
chants, or  salesmen,  so  that  the  follow- 
ing principle  applies  to  this  aspect  of 
the  electric  railway  business  with  great 
force: 

Principle  III. —  The  qualities  which  in 
other  lines  of  business  enable  a  sales- 
man to  sell  are  needed  in  the  plat- 
form man,  particularly  the  conduc- 
tor. 

These  qualities  are  declared  by  the 
committee  to  include  "personal  appear- 
ance, bearing,  manner  of  answering 
questions,  and  ability  to  carry  out 
simple  instructions  promptly  and  cor- 
rectly." A  great  deal  can  be  learned 
by  studying  an  applicant  carefully  with 
these  points  in  mind.  But  in  doing  this 
it  is  not  enough  to  look  a  man  over 
and  guess  that  he  is  all  right  or  other- 
wise. If  a  quality  is  worth  desiring  it 
is  worth  testing  as  far  as  testing  is 
practicable.  This  is  all  that  the  much 
advertised,  and  rightly  advertised,  in- 
telligence tests  do;  that  is  they  meas- 
ure things  that  were  formerly  deter- 
mined by  guesswork.  To  put  this  more 
concretely: 

Principle  IV. — Snap  judgment   is  not 
safe  now,  and  never  ivas  safe,  in  the 
selection  of  employees. 
Suppose  the  committee's  suggestions 
as  to  rating  considerations  in  elimina- 
tion tests  of  electric  railway  transpor- 
tation employees  be  listed,  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner: 

1.  Personality:  (a)  personal  ap- 
pearance, (b)  bearing,  (c)  manner  of 
answering  questions. 

2.  Mentality:  (a)  Ability  to  execute 
simple  instructions  promptly  and  cor- 
rectly, (b)  mental  alertness,  (c)  judg- 
ment. 

The  candidate  cannot,  of  course,  rate 
himself  by  answering  questions,  except 
as  to  matters  of  fact.  Snap  judgment 
by  the  employing  officer  is  just  as  bad; 
but  what  is  to  take  its  place?  This 
leads  to : 


608 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Principle  V — If  personal  and  mental 
qualities  are  to  be  considered  at  all 
in  selecting  employees,  some  kind  of 
objective  analysis  should  be  made. 
No  absolute  scale  of  rating  in  the 
qualities  listed  is  possible.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  people  undoubtedly  answer 
questions   better   or   carry  themselves 
better  than  others.     In   other  words, 
qualities  can  be  compared   with  each 
other  even  when  they  cannot  be  com- 
pared with  a  standard.    This  is  really 
what  is  needed,  for  the  purpose  is  not 
to  pick  out  paragons,  but  rather  to 
select  the  best  among  a  group  of  ap- 
plicants.   For  example,  as  a  test  for 
rating  personal  appearance,  the  follow- 
ing is  suggested: 

Consider  men  in  groups  of  ten  at  a 
time,  including  in  each  group  say  two 
employees  who  are  satisfactory  but  not 
remarkable.  Make  a  list  of  these  men, 
arranged  in  order  of  merit.  Get  some 
one  else  to  do  the  same  independently. 
Compare  notes.  Repeat  the  process  for 
the  other  qualities.  Combine  the  re- 
sults so  as  to  get  a  general  scale  of  rat- 
ing for  the  group.  An  experienced  per- 
sonnel man  believes  that  in  such  a  rat- 
ing scale  the  best  man  may  easily  be 
live  times  as  good  as  the  poorest. 

To  make  the  matter  more  specific, 
such  questions  as  these  should  be  kept 
in  mind  in  rating  for  personal  appear- 
ance: (a)  Is  the  applicant  well  pro- 
portioned? (b)  Has  he  the  appearance 
of  good  character  and  habits?  (c)  Are 
his  clothes  carefully  selected  and  neatly 
kept,  and  his  shoes  polished?  (d)  Does 
he  show  reasonable  care  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  his  toilet;  hair  brushed,  nails 
clean,  face  shaved,  etc? 

These  questions  are  simply  the  appli- 
cation of  the  committee's  suggestion 
that  personal  appearance  be  considered. 
If  it  is  to  be  considered  at  all,  it  should 
by  all  means  be  considered  in  reason- 
able detail. 

The  questions  which  might  be  asked 
in  connection  with  the  bearing  of  the 
applicant  would  include:  (a)  Does  he 
carry  himself  well?  (b)  Does  his  bear- 
ing suggest  courtesy?  (c)  Is  he  pleas- 
ant without  being  servile?  (d)  Is  he 
alert  and  active  in  manner?  (e)  Does 
he  look  like  a  l'eal  man's  man? 

As  to  the  manner  of  answering  ques- 
tions, these  queries  may  be  suggestive: 

(a)  Do  his  oral  answers  show  thought? 

(b)  Does  he  meet  your  eye  in  answer- 
ing oral  questions?  (c)  Are  his  oral 
answers  complete  but  concise?,  (d)  Is 
he  reasonably  quick  in  giving  either 
kind  of  answer? 

While  these  questions  may  seem  triv- 
ial and  unnecessary,  ar-e  they  not  of  the 
type  that  one  unconsiously  has  in  mind 
in  judging  the  personality  of  another? 
If  so,  then  they  may  well  be  formulated. 
This  is  what  was  done  on  such  a  large 
scale  by  the  celebrated  army  tests,  from 
which  electric  railway  men  can  learn  a 
lot  that  will  help  them  in  their  busi- 
ness. In  fact,  it  may  properly  be  said 
here  that: 

Principle  VI. — While  freak  "psychol- 
ogy" should  be  avoided  in  selecting 
employees,  modern  science  should  not 
be  ignored. 


The  matter  of  personality  has  been 
gone  into  in  some  detail,  to  illustrate 
the  principle  of  rating  which  is  ap- 
plicable to  it.  The  subject  of  mentality, 
as  broached  by  the  committee,  opens  up 
a  still  wider  field  for  comment.  All  that 
can  be  done  here  is  to  outline  a  few 
essential  features.  Mentality  can  be 
rated  much  more  definitely  than  per- 
sonality. Possibly  the  army  tests,  suit- 
ably modified,  may  be  found  useful  in 
electric  railway  work.  They  are  being 
applied  in  other  branches  of  industry. 

The  committee's  requirement  of 
"ability  to  execute  simple  instructions 
promptly  and  correctly"  lends  itself  to 
objective  testing  admirably.  For  ex- 
ample, it  can  be  gaged  by:  (a)  Man- 
ner of  filling  in  the  application  form, 
(b)  Manner  of  applying  for  the  medical 
examination,  (c)  Manner  of  perform- 
ing some  elementary  feats  with  the  rule 
book. 

Science  has  definitely  proved  that 
mental  alertness  can  be  tested  with 
reasonable  accuracy.  At  the  same  time 
the  men  should  not  be  asked  to  do  any 
"fool  stunts"  which  would  appear  ridicu- 
lous to  them. 

In  addition  to  mental  alertness,  the 
quality  of  judgment  is  also  susceptible 
of  rather  accurate  measurement,  but 
for  the  present  purposes  it  can  be  gaged 
fairly  well  from  the  data  already  gath- 
ered. 

In  the  foregoing  outline  attempt  has 
been  made  to  apply  the  magnifying 
glass  to  a  small  but  highly  important 
section  of  the  committee's  report.  To 
carry  out  the  committee's  suggestion  to 
a  logical  application  involves  more 
study  than  has  been  given  to  the  mat- 
ter so  far.  With  the  approval  of  the 
executive  committee  it  might  be  well 
for  a  future  committee  on  this  subject 
to  investigate  such  matters  as  the  fol- 
lowing : 

(a)  To  what  extent  are  psychological 
tests  being  used  in  the  transportation 
departments  of  electric  railway  prop- 
erties, and  with  what  results? 

(b)  In  what  ways  might  such  tests 
profitably  be  used? 

(c)  What  tests  could  the  committee 
itself  make  along  this  line,  ard  what 
records  should  be  kept  that  would  be 
of  real  value  to  the  industry? 

(d)  What  standards,  if  any,  could 
be  recommended,  and  what  procedure 
might  be  followed  in  determining  the 
personal  and  mental  qualities  which  are 
desirable  in  employees  of  the  trans- 
portation department? 

Finally,  the  writer  wishes  to  reiterate 
what  he  has  said  regarding  the  im- 
portance of  intelligent  selection  in  em- 
ployment work,  preferably  with  some 
kind  of  a  rating  scale.  In  going  over 
this  matter  with  a  practical  psycholo- 
gist the  writer  was  urged  to  stress  this 
point  in  discussing  the  committee  re- 
port. 

He  cited  the  case  of  an  insurance 
company  which  was  selecting  a  man- 
ager. One  applicant  was  well  known 
and  wall  liked  by  the  directors.  A  rat- 
ing scale  showed  the  directors  and  the 
applicant  himself  that  he  was  not  the 
man  for  the  job. 


There  is  another  element  in  this  care- 
ful rating  of  men.  If  a  promising  man 
turns  out  not  to  be  fitted  for  the  duties 
of  the  transportation  department,  he 
may  be  just  the  one  for  some  other 
position  in  electric  railway  service. 
Some  manufacturing  concerns  have  a 
rule  that  when  it  is  necessary  ti  re- 
fuse employment  to  an  applicant,  the 
refusal  shall  take  such  form  as  to  leave 
the  man  in  a  friendly  frame  of  mind. 
Nothing  will  do  this  better  than  to 
show  a  helpful  interest  in  finding  him 
a  place  to  which  he  is  naturally 
adapted. 


The  Banquet 

A DEPARTURE  from  recent  custom 
was  the  banquet,  which  occurred 
Wednesday  evening  in  the  Renaissance 
Room  of  the  Hotel  Ambassador.  About 
800  in  all  were  present,  including  many 
ladies. 

After  the  dinner  the  first  speaker 
was  President  Gadsden,  whose  topic 
was  "Salesmanship  in  Transportation." 
An  abstract  of  his  remarks  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

The  second  speaker  was  Prof.  J.  Dun- 
can Spaeth  of  the  department  of  Eng- 
lish at  Princeton  University  and  the 
coach  of  the  varsity  crew.  After  de- 
scribing many  of  the  advantages  of 
electric  railways  as  a  transportation 
medium  Professor  Spaeth  gave  an  in- 
spirational address  on  the  reasons  for 
success  in  large  undertakings.  He  urged 
the  use  of  the  law  of  things  in  dealing 
with  equipment  and  the  law  of  men  in 
dealing  with  men.  To  secure  service 
and  power  these  two  fundamental  laws 
must  be  joined. 

The  dinner  was  followed  by  informal 
dancing  and  music  in  the  Venetian  Room 
at  the  Hotel  Ambassador. 


Election  by  Accountants 

THE  sessions  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Accountants'  Associa- 
tion will  be  reported  in  next  week's 
issue.  The  following  officers  were 
elected  for  the  ensuing  year: 

President,  Frederick  E.  Webster, 
vice-president  and  treasurer  Massachu- 
setts Northeastern  Street  Railway, 
Haverhill,  Mass. 

First  vice-president,  W.  G.  Nicholson, 
secretary  and  auditor  Omaha  &  Council 
B'uffs  Street  Railway,  Omaha,  Neb. 

Second  vice-president.  E.  M.  White, 
treasurer  Binghamton  (N.  Y.)  Railway. 

Third  vice-president,  W.  A.  Doty, 
auditor  Denver  &  Intermountain  Rail- 
road, Denver,  Col. 

Secretary-Treasurer,  F.  J.  Davis, 
auditor's  department,  Public  Service 
Railway,  Newark,  N.  J. 

For  members  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, J.  J.  Duck,  general  auditor 
Chicago  Surface  Lines:  R.  N.  Steven- 
son, chief  clerk  to  comptroller,  the 
Connecticut  Company,  New  Haven, 
Conn.;  Wallace  L.  Davis,  auditor  Le- 
high Valley  Transit  Company;  G.  H. 
Caskey,  auditor  Newport  News  & 
Hampton  Railway,  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Hampton,  Va. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


609 


Proceedings  of  the  American  Association 

The  Constitution  Offered  by  the  Executive  Committee  Was  Adopted  After  a  Few  Changes 
Had  Been  Made — More  than  1,200  Were  Present — Exceptional  Group  of  Financial 
Papers  Presented — Hoover  Sends  Message  on  Interdepend- 
ence of  Railways  and  Other  Industries. 


THE  first  session  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association  was 
called  to  order  at  9:50  Tuesday 
morning  by  President  Gadsden,  who 
without  further  introduction  gave  the 
presidential  address.  He  first  told 
about  the  defalcation  at  the  New  York 
office  and  the  action  taken  by  the 
court  in  the  case  of  the  defaulter, 
Gibson.  In  this  connection  he  said: 
"I  want  to  take  this  opportunity  to 
say  that  after  the  strictest  investiga- 
tion, the  result  of  our  consideration  of 
this  subject  convinced  me,  and  I  am 
satisfied  convinced  the  other  members 
of  the  special  committee  in  charge  of 
the  matter,  that  our  ex-secretary, 
E.  B.  Burritt,  was  free  from  any  moral 
complicity  in  that  matter.  In  view  of 
his  long  association  with  us  and  of  the 
high  esteem  in  which  we  held  him  I 
think  it  is  due  to  him  that  I  should 
make  that  statement  to  his  friends 
here  assembled."  He  also  explained 
the  arrangement  made  by  the  court  by 
which  the  defaulter  will  endeavor  to 
pay  back  the  sum  taken. 

Continuing,  President  Gadsden  said 
that  when  this  situation  became  appar- 
ent, the  executive  committee,  instead  of 
making  drastic  reductions  in  the 
service  of  the  association  or  cutting 
down  the  payroll,  determined  at  first 
to  make  a  thorough  investigation  of 
its  own  affairs.  Some  reductions  were 
made  in  expenditures,  but  a  more  im- 
portant step  was  the  determination  to 
consider  whether  the  association  as  at 
present  organized  was  the  best  pos- 
sible fitted  to  solve  the  questions  being 
thrust  upon  it.  A  reconstruction  com- 
mittee was  appointed  and  made  a  most 
exhaustive  and  painstaking  inquiry 
into  every  phase  of  the  parent  associa- 
tion and  those  affiliated  with  it  to 
determine  what  steps  should  be  taken 
for  improved  future  conditions. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  speaker  the 
fundamental  weakness  of  the  organiza- 
tion, as  disclosed  by  the  research  of  the 
reconstruction  committee,  was  the  fact 
that  the  association  was  not,  in  fact, 
being  conducted  by  its  officers,  but  the 
custom  had  grown  up  for  the  executive 
committee  to  meet  only  on  the  call  of 
the  president,  and  then  only  to  con- 
sider some  special  or  emergency 
matter.  Hence  the  most  important 
change  in  the  proposed  constitution  is 
the  provision  that  the  board  of  direc- 
tors— the  executive  committee — meet 
monthly.  There  has  been  some  crit- 
icism of  the  provision  that  the  asso- 
ciation could  not  get  the  kind  of  men 
it  wanted  if  they  would  be  obligated  to 
attend  a  meeting  of  the  board  once  a 
month.    The  speaker's  answer  to  that 


 1  1 

- 

Philip  H.  Gadsden 

Retiring  President 

was  that  that  is  the  practice  followed 
in  the  two  other  public  utilities  associa- 
tions, the  gas  and  the  electric  associa- 
tions. If  a  man  can  be  made  to  feel 
in  accepting  a  position  on  the  board 
that  he  is  actually  taking  part  in  the 
management  of  this  great  industry  of 
curs  the  position  will  be  sought  after. 
In  the  judgment  of  the  speaker  as 
much  depends  upon  the  periodic 
monthly  attention  of  the  board  as  on 
anything  else. 

The  speaker  then  discussed  briefly  a 
number  of  the  questions  which  were  to 
come  up  at  the  meeting,  particularly 
in  connection  with  the  report  of  the 
reorganization  committee.  One  of 
these  was  whether  a  municipally 
owned  property  should  be  eligible  for 
membership.  Another  was  a  clause 
providing  that  the  executive  committe 
shall  have  power  to  admit  to  member- 
ship in  the  association  transportation 
companies  other  than  the  electric  rail- 
ways, which  include  trackless  trolleys 
and  motor  buses.  The  speaker  said 
he  hoped  this  topic  would  be  thoroughly 
discussed.  He  also  said  he  wished  to 
emphasize  another  phase  of  the  com- 
mittee's report,  namely,  the  question 
whether  the  work  being  performed  by 
the  magazine  of  the  association,  Aera, 
was  essential  or  could  not  better  be 
performed  by  the  technical  press. 
Statements,  he  said,  have  been  made 
also  that  the  advertisements  in  Aera 
were  not  obtained  on  their  merits,  but 
that  they  were  largely  influenced  by 
friendship  or  by  a  mild  species  of 
sandbagging;  that  is  to  say,  that  the 
manufacturers  were  held  up,  and  that, 
therefore,  the  money  spent  in  advertis- 
ing represented  a  duplicate  expenditure 
on  the  part  of  the  industry,  unneces- 


sary duplication,  and  therefore  a  waste 
which  ought  to  be  stopped. 

Continuing,  the  speaker  said  that  the 
question  has  sprung  up  perennially, 
and  as  it  is  obvious  that  the  associa- 
tion cannot  continue  to  run  a  magazine 
and  make  it  effective  as  a  magazine 
or  successful  financially  if  every  year 
the  question  of  its  continued  existence 
is  brought  up  for  serious  debate  and 
consideration,  therefore  the  reorganiza- 
tion committee  requested  the  Aera 
advisory  committee  to  make  a  further 
report  covering  all  phases  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  speaker  said  that  he  had 
approached  this  subject  rather  in 
sympathy  with  the  view  that  Aera  as 
now  conducted  was  not  justifying  it- 
self, but  after  careful  consideration  of 
the  report  of  the  advisory  committee 
he  became  thoroughly  convinced,  as 
did,  so  far  as  he  could  recall,  every 
member  of  the  reorganization  com- 
mittee, that  the  magazine  was  per- 
forming a  necessary  and  useful  service 
to  the  industry.  Moreover,  to  his  sur- 
prise, the  committee  had  statements 
made  to  it  by  numbers  of  manufac- 
turers that  so  far  from  lookiVg  u->on 
the  advertisements  of  the  magazine  a« 
a  holdup,  they  considered  it  one  of  the 
best  mediums  for  advertising  that  they 
knew  of.  Hence  the  committee  recom- 
mended that  the  magazine  should  be 
continued  and  the  speaker  hoped  that 
this  would  be  considered  final. 

The  speaker  then  took  up  matters 
external  to  the  association  and  said 
that  he  would  refer  particularly  to  two 
phases  of  the  problem.  For  over  ten 
years,  he  said,  the  electric  railway 
industry  had  been  held  in  slavery  to  a 
fixed  5-cent  fare.  The  public  and  the 
companies,  ever  since  the  establishment 
of  the  street  railway  industry,  had 
been  worshiping  at  the  shrine  of  the 
nickel.  But  at  last  the  industry,  along 
with  all  other  business  in  this  country, 
has  come  to  a  point  where  it  is 
recognized  by  the  public  that  the  price 
of  the  electric  railway  ride  must  bear 
a  definite  relation  to  the  value  of  the 
service  to  the  car  rider.  That  is  of 
tremendous  importance  to  the  industry. 
The  roads,  in  some  isolated  cases,  may 
go  back  to  a  5-cent  fare,  but  only 
because  it  is  justified  under  the  con- 
ditions which  may  exist  at  that  time. 
The  fetish  of  the  5-cent  fare  has  gone 
forever  in  this  country. 

That  is  what  has  happened  to  one  of 
the  fixed  ideas  in  the  mind  of  the 
public.  Another  was  that  once  a  street 
railway  was  built  and  put  into  opera- 
tion it  could  never  cease  to  run.  Once 
a  railway,  always  a  railway.  The  pub- 
lic recognized  that  if  a  textile,  metal 
or  a  shoe  factory  or  an  automobile  con- 


610 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


cern  could  not  sell  its  goods  at  a  profit 
it  would  close  down,  but  in  some 
mysterious  way  the  public  got  an  idea 
that  the  street  railway  was  immune 
from  the  operation  of  economic  laws 
and  would  keep  on  operating  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  its  cost  increased 
and  it  was  unable  to  get  an  adequate 
fare.  The  situation  in  Des  Moines  has 
destroyed  that  illusion.    For  more  than 


thirty  days  a  city  of  over  126,000 
inhabitants  has  been  without  facilities 
of  street  railway  service.  The  result 
is  that  at  no  time  over  50  per  cent  of 
the  travel  that  used  to  be  handled  by 
the  electric  railways  has  been  handled 
by  any  system  of  transportation  in  the 
city  of  Des  Moines  except  for  a  week 
when  the  fair  was  held,  when  the 
return  to  the  company  was  guaranteed. 


The  balance  of  the  people  either  had  to 
stay  at  home  or  walk.  The  result  to 
the  merchants  of  the  town  has  been 
simply  disastrous.  Recognizing  how 
important  this  demonstration  at  Des 
Moines  was  to  this  industry  of  ours, 
the  association  arranged  that  Mr.  St. 
Clair  should  go  to  Des  Moines,  and  he 
spent  three  weeks  studying  that  situa- 
tion and  sent  out  from  Des  Moines  re- 


Secretary -Treasurer's  Report 


AMERICAN  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ASSOCIATION 
BALANCE  SHEET,  SEPT.  30.  1921 

Cash   $15,800 

Investments  _   °00 

Furniture  and  equipment   '?c 

  556 

  651 

  750 

  100 

.    9,979 


Emblems. 

Paper  

Petty  cash  at  New  York  

Petty  cash  at  Washington  

Accounts  receivable  

Public  relations  fund  

Committee  on  national  relations  

U.  S.  mail  pay  committee,  1920. .  

National  committee  on  public  utility  conditions. 

U.  S.  mail  pay  fund,  1921  

Notes  payable  

Surplus  


$1,991 
2,416 

*1,174 
*356 
1,162 

15,000 

14,437 


♦Deficit. 


$33,476  $33,476 


INCOME  STATEMENT 
Eleven  Months  Ended  Sept.  30,  1921 
Revenues 

Admission  Fees 

Railway  companies. .. .  .   $°0 

Manufacturing  companies   70  $130 

Annual  dues 

Railway  companies   1007! 

Manufacturing  companies   2'?»7 

Individuate   iiil  150,362 

Miscellaneous  income 

Interest  on  deposits   a? 

Interest  on  investments   31 

Sale  of  Year  Book  and  Proceedings   82 

Sale  of  Engineering  Manual  and  binder   322 

Sale  of  bibliography  on  valuation  

Sale  of  miscellaneous  pamphlets   ioa 

Sale  of  service  at  cost   J jj 

Sale  of  dinner  tickets   6.240 

Contribution  from  Hotel  Men's  Association   4, 082 

Discount  on  purchases   J*' 

Convention  dinner,  1921   '.572  '4,139 

$164,631 

A  (TO 

Advertising  

Subscriptions,  railway  companies     f'lea 

Subscriptions,  manufacturing  companies   ,'iio 

Subscriptions,  individuals   !'33f 

Subscriptions,  company  section  members   '  Aft 

Paid  subscriptions   434 

Sale  of  extra  copies   °2 

Sale  of  binders   76        , .  ... 

  24,o99 

Total  revenues   $189,530 

Expenses 

American  Association   ^'^I'iti 

Engineering  Association   J .271 

Transportation  &  Traffic  Association   1,109 

Accountants  Association   873 

Claims  Association   811 

Aera  Association   35,705 

Total  actual  expenses   $  1 67, 1 0 1 

Defalcation   73,017 

Total  expense  as  shown   $240, 1  18 


EXPENSES  OF  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION 
Eleven  Months  Ended  Sept.  30,  1921 

Salaries  of  general  office  staff   $40,762 

Rent  of  office  and  storerooms   5,237 

Stationery  and  printing   22,067 

Postage   3,045 

Office  supplies  and  expenses   1,271 

Telephone,  telegraph  and  messenger  service   2,590 

Express,  freight  and  cartage   156 

Traveling  expenses  of  secretary  and  office  staff   762 

Expenses  of  standing  committee  of  American  and  affiliated  associations  148 
Printing  of  association  publications: 

A — Advance  paper,  proceedings,  Year  Books   2,029 

B — Engineering  Manual  

C — Service-at-cost  plans  

D —  

E—  

F — Other  publications   855 

Miscellaneous  association  expenses   13,474 

Expenses  of  mid-year  dinner: 

A — Mid-year  dinner  expenses   7,060 

B — Other  mid-year  meeting  expenses   3,252 

Expenses  of  annual  convention  (current  year): 

A — Exhibit  expenses  

B — Entertainment  and  other  convention  committee  expenses   20 

C — General  convention  expenses   143 

Expenses  of  annual  convention  (prior  years) : 

A — Exhibit  expenses  

B — Entertainment  and  other  convention  committee  expenses  

C — General  convention  expenses   10,004 

Written  off  to  profit  and  loss  _  

Sundry  adjustments  to  accounts  receivable  (uncollectible,  etc.)   1,487 

Total   $114,369 

Salaries  and  expenses  of  Washington  representatives: 

A — Salaries   5,608 

B— Rent   1,414 

C— Expenses   2,938 

Total   $9,961 


$124,331 


EXPENSES  OF  AFFILIATED  ASSOCIATIONS 
Eleven  Months  Ended  Sept.  30,  1921 
Engineering 
Printing  of  association  publications: 

Advance  papers,  proceedings.  Year  Book   $3,549 

Engineering  Manual   182  $3,731 

Expenses  of  committees   524 

Miscellaneous   15 


Transportation  &  Traffic 
Printing  of  Association  publications: 

Advance  papers,  proceedings,  Year  Book  

Expenses  of  committees  

Mid-year  dinner  expense  

Accountants 

Printing  of  association  publications: 

Advance  papers,  proceedings.  Year  Book  

Mid-year  meeting  expense  


Claims 

Printing  of  Association  publications: 

Advance  papers,  proceedings.  Year  Book. . 

Expense  of  committees  

Miscellaneous  ,  


$4,271 


$978 
95 
35 

$1,109 


$750 
123 

$873 


$785 
15 
10 

$811 


SUMMARY  OF  ESTIMATED  INCOME  AND  EXPENSES  FOR 
YEAR  ENDING  OCTOBER  31,  1921 

Surplus  as  of  Sept.  30,  1921    $14,437 

Estimated  receipts  for  October   13,500 

Total  income  for  year   $27,937 

Estimated  expense  for  October   19,000 

Estimated  surplus  at  end  of  year   $8,937 


EXPENSES  OF  AERA 
Eleven  Months  Ended  Sept.  30,  1920 

Salaries  of  Aera  staff   $10,475 

Rent  of  office   678 

Telegraph,  telephone  and  messenger  service   625 

Postage  and  express,  office   152 

Traveling  expenses  of  Aera  staff   1,116 

Miscellaneous  Aera  expenses   737 

Magazine  expenses: 

A — Cost  of  printing   18,506 

B— Cost  of  paper   1,729 

C — Cost  of  cuts   1,167 

D — Mailing  charges   449 

E — Express,  freight  and  cartage  

F — Envelopes  for  mailing   67 

Total   $35,705 


October  8,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


611 


ports  to  the  various  committees  of 
publicity  throughout  the  United  States. 

As  long  as  the  public  was  under  the 
delusion  that  whatever  happened,  irre- 
spective of  the  cost  of  operation,  ir- 
respective of  the  fact  that  platform 
wages  had  gone  up  100  per  cent,  that 
taxes  had  gone  up  40  and  50  per  cent, 
in  short,  notwithstanding  any  abnormal 
increases  of  operation  that  might  be 
laid  upon  a  company  it  had  to  operate 
at  a  nickel,  why  should  it  be  interested 
in  solving  the  railway's  problems? 
Street  railway  men  must  realize  that 
some  day,  when  conditions  justify  it, 
they  will  not  be  able  to  escape  the  de- 
mand for  a  decrease  in  the  charge  for 
transportation,  but  before  serious  con- 
sideration can  be  given  to  that  prop- 
osition there  must  be  a  substantial 
liquidation  in  the  cost  of  labor  in  the 
street  railway  industry. 

In  view  of  the  community  of  interests 
which  exists  between  the  car  rider  and 
the  companies  the  latter  properly  can 
call  upon  the  communities  which  they 
serve  to  support  them  in  a  proper  and 
legitimate  effort  to  get  this  wage  scale 
down  to  a  point  which  will  permit  this 
industry  to  function. 

The  speaker  then  called  attention  to 
the  activities  of  the  Committee  of  One 
Hundred,  whose  work  he  considered  as 
absolutely  essential  to  the  furtherance 
of  the  interests  of  the  association.  Yet 
the  committee  reports  that  only  56  per 
cent  of  the  companies  have  responded 
favorably  to  the  appeal  of  the  com- 
mittee for  support.  This  indicated  to 
the  speaker  that  there  must  be  some- 
thing radically  wrong  with  the  view- 
point of  some  of  the  managers. 

Reports  of  Executive  Committee  and 
Secretary  and  Treasurer 

The  report  of  the  executive  committee 
was  then  read.    It  was  ordered  filed. 

Mr.  Welsh  then  read  the  reports  of 
the  secretary  and  treasurer.  The  latter 
is  given  in  the  tables  on  page  610. 

The  secretary's  report  described  the 
activities  of  the  association  and  the 
work  done  at  headquarters  for  the  asso- 
ciation year.  The  mid-year  dinner  and 
conference,  held  at  Chicago  on  Feb.  10, 
1921,  was  first  mentioned,  after  which 
the  defalcation  which  caused  the 
resignation  of  the  former  secretary  was 
taken  up. 

In  the  emergency  which  arose  in 
view  of  the  above  disclosure,  President 
Philip  H.  Gadsden  gave  his  undivided 
attention  to  the  work  of  the  association 
for  a  considerable  period  and,  together 
with  the  auditor,  M.  R.  Boylan, 
actively  directed  the  prosecution  of  the 
case  and  otherwise  personally  inves- 
tigated the  entire  conduct  of  affairs  at 
association  headquarters.  A  number  of 
meetings  of  the  executive  committee 
were  held  during  this  period  for  neces- 
sary authorizations  in  connection  with 
these  matters. 

A  committee  on  reorganization  was 
authorized  to  study  the  association's 
form  of  organization,  the  methods  pre- 
scribed for  carrying  on  its  various  ac- 
tivities, a  revision  of  the  constitution 
and  by-laws,  the  efficiency  of  the  head- 


quarters staff  in  executing  the  work  of 
the  association  and  to  recommend  a 
permanent  secretary. 

A  sub-committee  was  appointed  to 
ledraft  the  constitution  and  by-laws, 
consisting  of  H.  V.  Bozell,  Harlow  C. 
Clark  and  the  acting  secretary.  As  a 
result,  there  will  be  presented  to  the 
convention  a  revised  constitution  and 
by-laws  and  a  series  of  general  recom- 
mendations on  current  matters.  The 
reorganization  committee  also  recom- 
mended the  appointment  of  J.  W.  Welsh 
as  secretary  to  be  effective  as  of  July 
1,  1921,  and  this  recommendation  was 
later  confirmed  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  work  of 
the  affiliated  associations,  particularly 
to  that  carried  on  by  the  standing  com- 
mittees of  the  engineering  association. 
In  the  Transportation  &  Traffic  Asso- 
ciation will  be  found  a  series  of  reports 
bearing  on  the  vital  current  problems 
of  economic  operation  and  service  to 
the  public. 

The  most  notable  activity  of  the 
association  during  the  year  was  the 
formation  of  the  advertising  division  of 
the  bureau  of  information  and  service, 
under  the  direction  of  Labert  St.  Clair, 
who  is  well  known  to  members  of  the 
association.  This  important  work  was 
made  possible  by  the  active  financial 
campaign  carried  on  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred. 

The  association  has  maintained  dur- 
ing the  year  its  Washington  office 
under  the  direction  of  Charles  L. 
Henry,  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
national  relations.  Mr.  Henry  has 
found  it  necessary  to  devote  consider- 
able time  to  this  work  as  numerous 
matters  of  national  legislation  have 
been  pending. 

The  association  has  taken  out  mem- 
bership in  the  National  Safety  Council 
and  is  co-operating  with  that  organiza- 
tion, through  its  Transportation  & 
Traffic  Association,  in  the  furtherance 
of  safety  work. 

The  association  also  continues  to  be 
a  member  of  the  National  Industrial 
Conference  Board  and  has  furnished 
the  membership  with  information  re- 
lating to  general  industrial  conditions, 
such  as  the  cost  of  living,  financial  and 
labor  statistics,  etc.,  as  compiled  by  that 
board. 

Through  its  engineering  association, 
the  development  of  engineering  stan- 
dards in  a  national  way  is  now  pro- 
ceeding under  the  auspices  of  the 
American  Engineering  Standards  Com- 
mittee. This  work  is  carried  on  in  con- 
nection with  the  principal  national  en- 
gineering societies  of  other  industries, 
and  as  both  the  manufacturers,  the  con- 
sumers and  disinterested  engineers  are 
represented  on  all  committees,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  the  standards  so  effected 
will  be  both  practical  and  acceptable 
to  all  concerned. 

The  association  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Federal  Highway  Council,  which  is 
considering  broad  questions  of  ade- 
quate facilities  for  highway  transpor- 
tation and  suitable  regulations  for 
highway  traffic. 


As  a  result  of  approval  by  the  execu- 
tive committee  at  its  Chicago  meeting, 
the  committee  on  mail  pay  was  author- 
ized to  solicit  the  financial  assistance  of 
member  companies  handling  mail  and  to 
exercise  its  judgment  in  the  application 
for  increased  rate  before  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission.  Funds 
have  been  solicited  from  member  com- 
panies, and  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee indicates  that  progress  has  been 
made. 

The  general  publication  policy  of 
A  era  has  been  maintained  this  year  as 
heretofore.  During  the  year  there 
were  published  108  special  and  con- 
tributed articles  and  174  questions  with 
1,104  answers  in  the  Question  Box.  The 
advisability  of  continuing  the  maga- 
zine was  again  suggested  as  a  pos- 
sible means  of  reducing  expenses,  but 
at  the  request  of  the  president  the 
Aera  advisory  committee  submitted  a 
further  report  on  the  subject,  and  as 
a  result  the  reorganization  committee 
recommended  the  continuation  of  the 
present  policy  to  the  executive  com- 
mittee. 

One  new  company  section  has  come 
into  association  membership.  This  is 
the  Camden  Section  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway.  Special  credit  is  due  to 
Martin  Schreiber,  who  was  a  most 
active  supporter  of  this  form  of  asso- 
ciation membership. 

The  association's  record  for  member- 
ship is  most  encouraging,  there  being 
a  net  loss  of  only  two  small  railway 
companies.  In  the  case  of  the  manu- 
facturer companies  some  of  the  smaller 
companies  whose  membership  was 
largely  due  to  the  annual  exhibit  have 
been  withdrawn.  The  net  loss  in  this 
case  is  fourteen,  making  a  total  loss  of 
sixteen  companies  during  the  year. 

Unfortunately,  the  committee  on 
membership  has  not  been  able  to  carry 
out  the  program  which  it  planned  after 
the  mid-year  conference,  due  largely 
to  its  desire  to  await  the  report  of  the 
reorganization  committee  before  mak- 
ing an  active  campaign  for  membership. 
That  the  association  has  been  able  to 
hold  its  own  under  these  trying  cir- 
cumstances is  considered  of  especial  sig- 
nificance and  most  encouraging  for 
next  year's  prospects. 

As  a  result  of  the  loss  of  the  asso- 
ciation's funds  and  in  response  to  an 
appeal  from  President  Gadsden,  a  very 
drastic  curtailment  was  made  in  the 
operating  expenses  of  the  association. 
Consideration,  however,  was  given  to 
the  necessity  for  maintaining  the  es- 
sential functions  of  the  association's 
service  to  its  members,  and  the  econ- 
omies effected  ard  believed  to  have 
been  accomplished  without  any  ma- 
terial abridgement  in  this  respect. 
Briefly,  these  consisted  in  reducing  the 
association's  force,  including  the  pub- 
licity department  and  the  Washington 
office,  from  thirty-nine  to  thirty  em- 
ployees; abandonment  of  additional  of- 
fice space  contracted  for  adjacent  to  the 
present  quarters,  as  well  as  the  aban- 
donment of  outside  storehouse  facilities, 
closer  supervision  in  the  use  of  office 
materials  and  supplies,  reduction  in 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


the  postage,  telephone  and  tele- 
graph accounts  and  the  curtailment  in 
the  nuniber  of  circular  letters  and  ques- 
tionnaires. In  addition  economies  were 
effected  in  the  publication  of  Aera, 
largely  by  a  more  efficient  mechanical 
set-up. 

The  work  of  the  bureau  of  informa- 
tion and  service  continued  to  increase 
even  above  the  phenomenal  record  made 
last  year.  The  average  number  of 
monthly  requests  for  information  was 
810,  as  compared  with  545  last  year. 
This  made  a  total  of  9,718,  as  com- 
pared with  6,532  in  1920,  an  increase 
of  49  per  cent. 

Discussion  on  Revised  Construction 

President  Gadsden  then  said  that  the 
next  order  of  business  was  a  discussion 
■of  the  proposed  revised  constitution 
and  by-laws,  and  as  he  desired  to  enter 
into  the  discussion  he  asked  Vice- 
President  Todd  to  take  the  chair.  At 
the  request  of  Chairman  Todd,  Mr. 
Bozell  of  the  reorganization  committee 
then  gave  an  account  of  the  work  of 
the  reorganization  committee  and  ex- 
plained that  the  first  clause  of  the  con- 
stitution permitted  members  to  make 
changes  in  the  proposed  constitution 
from  the  floor,  this  clause  to  become 
inoperative  after  the  1921  convention. 

W.  H.  Sawyer,  president  East  St. 
Louis  &  Suburban  Railway,  explained 
that  during  the  revision  of  the  constitu- 
tion he  had  probably  opposed  more 
measures  in  the  revised  draft  than  any 
other  three  members  of  the  committee. 
Nevertheless,  he  moved  that  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  executive  committee 
be  adopted  in  their  entirety.  The  asso- 
ciation, he  said,  was  faced  with  the 
necessity  of  adopting  some  constitu- 
tion, and  the  executive  committee  had 
spent  much  time  on  this  work.  While 
he  did  not  believe  that  the  constitution 
was  as  good  as  it  might  possibly  be 
made,  it  was  a  thoroughly  workable 
constitution,  and  it  permitted  changes 
to  be  made  in  it  without  great  diffi- 
culty. He  believed  it  would  simplify 
matters  at  the  present  meeting  to 
adopt  the  constitution  as  drafted  as 
many  parts  were  correlated  and  it 
might  be  difficult  to  change  one  with- 
out affecting  other  parts. 

A  general  discussion  then  followed 
as  to  the  method  of  procedure  to  be 
followed  and  the  plan  was  finally 
adopted  that  it  would  be  acted  upon 
clause  by  clause. 

The  most  extended  discussion  related 
to  whether  carriers  other  than  electric 
railway  companies  and  electrified  sec- 
tions of  steam  roads  should  be  admitted 
to  membership.  The  argument  in 
favor  of  this  plan  was  principally  that 
many  railway  companies  were  now 
considering  the  use  of  buses  for  aux- 
iliary and  supplemental  service,  and  the 
admission  of  bus  companies  into 
membership  would  allow  the  associa- 
tion more  fully  to  study  the  situation 
and  bring  to  the  membership  at  large 
all  the  information  and  experience 
available  in  this  form  of  transit.  The 
principal  argument  against  the  admis- 
sion of  such   companies   was   that  a 


Wrong  impression  would  be  produced 
by  the  action,  people  thinking  that  the 
railway  companies  had  lost  faith  in 
the  value  of  the  trolley  car  for  urban 
and  interurban  service  and  were  plan- 
ning to  abandon  it  in  favor  of  the  bus. 

One  speaker,  arguing  in  favor  of  the 
second  view,  said  that  a  bus  manufac- 
turer had  recently  sent  out  a  circular 
descriptive  of  his  bus  and  included  the 
statement  that  "eminent  authorities 
had  agreed  that  electric  railways  had 
been  relegated  to  the  past."  He 
thought  that  the  proposed  action  by 
the'  association  would  confirm  this  im- 
pression. At  the  same  time  there  was 
general  agreement  that  the  bus  would 
be  used  by  electric  railway  companies 
to  a  considerable  extent  in  auxiliary 
and  supplementary  service  and  several 
speakers  have  declared  that  there  are 
already  plans  for  such  use. 

The  decision  finally  reached  was  that 
such  companies  would  not  be  eligible 
to  membership,  the  point  being  brought 
out  that  this  clause  could  be  changed 
at  any  time  in  the  future  when  a 
change  seemed  desirable. 

Following  the  discussion  on  buses, 
the  next  point  which  was  raised  in 
modifying  the  proposed  constitution 
was  to  eliminate  the  provision  that  an 
executive  committee  member  could  be 
represented  by  proxy  and  also  the  next 
provision  that  an  executive  committee 
member  would  automatically  lose  his 
office  if  absent  for  three  consecutive 
meetings. 

With  these  changes  and  with  one  or 
two  slight  corrections  in  wording  the 
entire  constitution  and  by-laws  as 
revised  were  adopted. 

The  association  also  approved  the 
recommendations  of  the  reorganization 
committee  as  to  certain  questions  of 
policy  or  practice.  These  were  out- 
lined in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal, 
July  16,  page  105.  In  the  same  place 
and  in  the  issue  of  Aug.  13,  page  249, 
are  outlined  all  the  changes  in  the  con- 
stitution which  were  considered,  so 
that  with  the  report  above  and  these 
previous  two  reports  a  complete  picture 
of  the  new  constitution  is  had. 

At  this  point  President  Gadsden  an- 
nounced certain  committee  appoint- 
ments. As  a  substitute  for  P.  S.  Ark- 
wright,  Atlanta,  Georgia,  who  was  not 
present  at  the  convention,  Charles  H. 
Harvey,  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  was  ap- 
pointed on  the  nominating  committee. 
The  committee  on  resolutions  was 
named  as  follows:  P.  N.  Jones,  Pitts- 
burgh, chairman;  E.  B  Wisner,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.;  H.  V.  Bozell,  New  York; 
H.  H.  Aiken,  Philadelphia,  and  B.  J. 
Fallon,  Chicago.  The  appointments  on 
the  committee  on  recommendations  in 
the  president's  address  were  as 
follows:  Edward  Dana,  Boston,  chair- 
man; G.  W.  Jones,  Brooklyn,  and  Har- 
low C.  Clark,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Following  this  the  report  of  the  Aera 
advisory  committee  was  read  by 
Charles  L.  Henry,  chairman,  and  is  ab- 
stracted herewith.  The  reaching  of  other 
committee  reports  scheduled  for  this 
session  was  dispensed  with  because  of 
lack  of  time.    This  disposition  included 


the  reports  of  committees  on  member- 
ship, company  sections. 

Aera  Advisory  Report 

The  committee  has  found  the  year 
now  closing  a  very  busy  one.  Early 
in  the  year  the  apparent  necessity  for 
a  reduction  of  expenses  was  brought 
before  the  committee  by  the  president 
of  the  association  with  a  request  that 
so  far  as  practicable,  without  injury 
to  the  magazine,  the  expenses  of  this 
publication  be  cut  down.  With  a  view 
to  doing  this  various  economies  were 
instituted,  resulting  in  a  saving  of  ap- 
proximately $700  per  month.  The  ne- 
cessity for  an  acute  retrenchment  re- 
ferred to  having  passed,  the  convention 
number  of  Aera  has  resumed  its  former 
completeness. 

After  the  executive  committee  had 
appointed  what  was  afterward  known 
as  a  reorganization  committee,  with  a 
view  to  making  recommendations  re- 
garding any  changes  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  the  association, 
this  committee  was  asked  to  report  to 
the  reorganization  committee  its  views 
regarding  the  publication  of  Aera.  In 
compliance  with  that  request,  this  com- 
mittee made  a  full  report  to  the  reor- 
ganization committee  concerning  the 
publication  of  the  magazine,  of  which 
the  following  quotation  is  a  complete 
summary: 

"We  would  make  Aera  a  bigger  and 
better  magazine  in  every  respect  than 
it  has  ever  been,  understanding,  of 
course,  that  this  cannot  be  done  be- 
tween sun  and  sun,  but  must  be  done 
day  by  day,  week  by  week  and  month  by 
month." 

Notice  was  taken  of  various  sugges- 
tions made  in  different  ways  and  at 
different  times  and  by  various  persons 
concerning  certain  features  of  the  pub- 
lication of  the  magazine,  none  of  which 
the  committee  deemed  necessary  to  put 
in  its  report.  The  report  was  pre- 
sented to  the  reorganization  commit- 
tee, which  accepted  the  report  as  pre- 
sented. 

Notwithstanding  the  general  busi- 
ness depression,  the  volume  of  adver- 
tising in  the  October  issue  of  the  maga- 
zine is  the  greatest  it  has  ever  had. 
The  committee  looks  forward  to  the 
carrying  out  of  the  wish  expressed  in 
its  report,  and  that  with  the  help  of  all 
concerned  this  association  will  have  a 
better  and  greater  magazine.  The  re- 
port is  signed  by  Charles  L.  Henry, 
chairman;  Myles  B.  Lambert,  Edwin 
C.  Faber,  Martin  Schreiber,  Charles  C. 
Peirce,  R.  E.  McDougall,  A.  M.  Robin- 
son and  I.  A.  May. 

Service-at-Cost  Franchises 

After  the  completion  of  the  reading 
of  this  report  Edward  Dana  presented 
a  paper  on  "Contrasted  Advantages  of 
Service-at-Cost  Contract  Franchise  and 
State  Regulation,"  which  was  followed 
by  formal  discussion  by  Robert  I.  Todd 
and  S.  B.  Way.  These  are  published 
elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

In  the  discussion  Walter  Jackson 
reviewed  the  principal  features  of  two 
new  contracts  entered  into  during  the 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


613 


past  year  in  Paris.  The  first  of  these 
involved.the  purchase  and  consolidation 
of  seven  or  eight  systems  purchased 
by  the  Department  of  the  Seine,  giving 
public  ownership,  but  turning  the 
operation  over  to  a  private  managing 
association.  The  credit  of  the  com- 
panies was  so  bad  that  money  needed 
for  improvements  was  to  be  raised  by 
the  state.  The  state  was  also  to 
assume  any  deficit  from  operation. 
The  Department  of  the  Seine  exer- 
cises a  most  minute  control  of  all  the 
details  to  insure  adequate  service  and 
proper  expenditure  of  funds.  Incentive 
to  the  management  was  provided  in 
the  form  of  a  percentage  of  any  sav- 
ings effected  not  resulting  from  a 
lowering  in  the  standard  of  service  or 
the  number  of  passengers  carried.  No 
such  saving  has  been  shared  to  date. 

The  other  franchise  referred  to 
covered  the  underground  railways,  and 
this  provided  that  the  operating  com- 
pany should  receive  so  much  per  pas- 
senger carried,  thus  providing  a  direct 
reward  for  the  usefulness  of  the  rail- 
way. 

In  this  case  also  the  state  would 
make  up  any  deficit  and  a  reward  to  the 
management  for  making  any  saving  in 
operation  was  provided,  though  none  as 
yet  has  been  shared.  In  this  case  the 
employees  derive  about  4  per  cent  of 
the  earnings,  which  is  divided  so  that 
the  trainmen  get  twice  as  large  a  pro- 
portion as  the  employees  not  in  con- 
tact with  the  public. 

The   meeting   was  then  adjourned. 

Wednesday's  Session 

The  second  session  of  the  American 
Association  was  called  to  order,  with 
President  Gadsden  in  the  chair,  at 
9: 40  Wednesday  morning.  The  first 
order  of  business  was  the  i*eport  of 
the  mail  pay  committee,  which  is  pub- 
lished in  abstract  below: 

Mail  Pay 

Early  in  the  year  the  committee 
requested  and  received  from  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  authority  to  proceed 
with  a  new  application  to  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  for  fur- 
ther adjustments  in  the  rates  paid 
electric  railways  for  handling  United 
States  mail.  Preparations  to  this  end 
were  made  and  W.  H.  Maltbie  of  Balti- 
more was  engaged  as  counsel. 

Shortly  after  the  new  Postmaster- 
General  was  appointed  we  got  in  touch 
with  Second  Assistant  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral Shaughnessy  and  were  assured  of 
the  co-operation  of  the  department  in 
preparing  our  case,  to  the  end  that  if 
we  could  prove  our  rates  were  not 
justly  compensatory,  the  matter  could 
be  submitted  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  for  a  decision.  The 
department  has  agreed  to  co-operate 
with  the  committee  in  obtaining  inform- 
ation by  means  of  a  joint  data  sheet 
and  the  submission  to  the  commission 
of  agreed  facts,  which  should  prevent 
the  necessity  for  long  hearings  or  the 
need  of  sending  a  committee  around 
the  country  to  take  evidence. 


We  have  submitted  a  proposed  data 
sheet  to  the  Post  Office  Department, 
and  after  going  over  it  it  in  turn  sub- 
mitted to  us  a  number  of  forms  calling 
for  the  information  it  felt  was  neces- 
sary. 

At  thj  present  time  we  have 
up  with  the  department  the  welding 
of  these  suggestions  into  a  joint  data 
sheet,  and  as  soon  as  agreed  upon  it 
will  be  sent  out  with  a  request  for 
prompt  attention  on  the  part  of  elec- 
tric railway  companies. 

The  committer  in  presenting  the  pre- 
vious case  to  the  Interstate  Commission 
requested,  first,  that  electric  railway 
mail  carriers  be  relieved  of  side  and 
terminal  service  and,  second,  that  the 
actual  carriage  of  the  mail  be  com- 
pensated for  on  a  count  basis.  The 
Post  Office  Department,  on  the  other 
hand,  requested  the  commission  to 
place  compensation  upon  a  weight  basis, 
to  be  determined  by  periodic  weighings. 


Robert  I.  Todd 

Newly  Elected  President 

The  commission  in  its  final  decision 
relieved  the  roads  of  side  and  terminal 
service  or,  in  cases  where  this  was  not 
entirely  practicable,  provided  compensa- 
tion therefor,  although  at  a  rate  not 
entirely  satisfactory  to  the  committee, 
but  rejected  both  the  request  of  the 
committee  for  a  count  basis  and  the 
request  of  the  Post  Office  Department 
for  a  weight  basis  and  adjusted  the 
compensation  for  electric  railway  mail 
carrying  on  a  space  basis,  using  30 
cu.ft.  as  a  unit  space  excepting  in  inde- 
pendent cars,  R.  P.  0.  cars  and  R.  P.  0. 
apartments,  in  which  the  linear  car- 
foot  was  adopted  as  the  unit. 

The  committee  has  made  no  effort 
either  in  the  evidence  or  on  brief  to 
present  an  independent  study  of  the 
cost  of  rendering  the  service,  both  in 
view  of  the  complexity  of  the  problem 
and  the  very  great  difficulty,  if  not 
impossibility,  of  securing  such  data  as 
would  make  an  accurate  cost  determi- 
nation possible.  In  lieu  of  such  a  deter- 
mination we  assumed  as  reasonable  the 


prior  rate  at  the  time  when  it  was 
first  promulgated  by  the  Post  Office 
Department,  and  then  pointed  out  both 
the  increase  in  operating  cost  and  the 
increased  volume  of  mail  carried  as 
fully  justifying  rates  higher  than  those 
requested  by  the  committee.  The  Post 
Office  Department,  on  the  other  hand, 
did  present  to  the  commission  a  brief 
study  of  the  cost  of  rendering  this 
service  based  upon  certain  data  as  to 
average  operating  costs  per  car-mile 
and  average  car  length,  resulting  finally 
in  the  conclusion  of  the  Post  Office 
Department  that  the  average  cost  per 
linear  car-foot-mile,  including  all  oper- 
ating expenses  and  a  return  on  prop- 
erty invested,  was  7.66  mills. 

This  study,  corrected  at  certain 
points  where  the  commission  considered 
the  figures  too  low  and  translated  from 
linear  car-foot-miles  into  cubic  foot- 
miles,  formed  the  basis  of  the  com- 
mission's final  determination  of  costs. 

Inasmuch  as  the  theory  of  the  Post 
Office  Department,  apparently  accepted 
by  the  commission,  fixed  as  fair  com- 
pensation per  linear  car-foot-mile  the 
cost  of  producing  the  linear  car-foot- 
mile,  it  is  equivalent  to  the  assumption 
that  all  linear  car-foot-miles  produced 
are  marketed,  since  otherwise  com- 
pensation should  be  determined  by  dis- 
tributing the  cost  of  production  over 
the  portion  of  the  product  finally  mar- 
keted. The  committee  has  therefore 
been  engaged  in  the  collection  of  data 
on  the  subject  of  the  ratio  of  passenger- 
miles  to  seat-miles  and  believes  that 
it  will  be  possible  to  establish  before 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
the  fact  that  at  the  maximum  the 
number  of  seat-miles  marketed  for  the 
industry  as  a  whole  does  not  exceed 
50  per  cent  of  the  seat-miles  produced, 
or,  in  other  words,  that  if  pouch  mail 
is  to  be  treated  as  taking  the  place  of 
passengers  and  paying  upon  the  same 
scale  as  the  passengers  the  price  for 
linear  car-foot-miles  used  should  be  at 
least  double  the  cost  of  producing  a 
linear  car-foot-mile.  This,  and  the  in- 
crease of  operating  costs  since  the 
collection  of  the  data  submitted  to  the 
commission  in  the  previous  case,  con- 
stitute the  major  points  upon  which  the 
new  case  is  to  be  based. 

The  committee  has  recently  asked  for 
definite  authority  from  the  individual 
electric  railway  companies,  so  that  we 
can  go  before  the  commission  as  repre- 
senting the  industry  specifically  as  well 
as  at  large.  During  the  winter,  a 
request  was  made  upon  companies  han- 
dling mail  to  underwrite  the  expenses 
of  the  new  case  to  the  extent  of  4  per 
cent  of  their  mail  revenue.  The  re- 
sponse to  this  request  was  not  partic- 
ularly encouraging.  However,  suffi- 
cient funds  were  guaranteed  to  enable 
the  committee  to  go  ahead  with  its 
work,  and  we  anticipate  that  the  total 
cost  of  our  case  will  be  met  by  con- 
tributions from  those  companies  which 
have  agreed  to  contribute,  plus  such  aid 
as  the  association  itself  can  extend. 

Perhaps  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that 
if,  as  a  result  of  our  further  studies 
and  investigations,  we  had  not  felt  that 


614 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Britton  I.  Bud.i 

First  Vice-President 


there  was  a  reasonable  possibility  of 
proving  our  right  to  an  increase,  the 
case  would  not  have  been  reopened.  The 
ieport  was  signed  by  L.  H.  Palmer, 
chairman;  Gordon  Campbell,  Charles  L. 
Henry,  G.  K.  Jeffries,  R.  A.  Leussler, 
Samuel  Riddle,  W.  S.  Rodger  and 
C.  L.  S.  Tingley. 

The  report  of  the  publicity  commit- 
tee was  next  presented  by  Barron  G. 
Collier,  chairman. 

Publicity 

The  work  of  this  committee  during 
the  past  year  consisted  largely  in  or- 
ganizing and  directing  the  work  of  the 
advertising  section  of  the  division  of 
information  and  service,  created  Jan.  1, 
1921,  by  the  Committee  of  One  Hun- 
dred. The  work  of  this  section  has 
been  in  the  immediate  charge  of  Labert 
St.  Clair,  a  former  newspaper  and  ad- 
vertising man  of  wide  experience,  who 
handled  the  publicity  of  the  Federal 
Electric  Railways  Commission  hearings 
at  Washington. 

The  broad  general  functions  of  the 
advertising  section  as  determined  upon 
at  the  outset  were  these: 

To  offer  free  suggestion,  advice  and 
counsel  to  all  electric  railway  compa- 
nies on  their  advertising  and  publicity 
problems. 


To  prepare  and  distribute  to  local 
companies  car  cards,  leaflets,  booklets, 
newspaper  advertisements  and  other 
advertising  material.  (This  material  is 
so  prepared  that  it  may  be  altered  to 
meet  any  local  situation.) 

To  prepare  varied  series  of  bulletins 
on  the  electric  railway  situation  for 
the  use  of  speakers  before  chambers  of 
commerce,  rotary  clubs  and  similar  or- 
ganizations; for  distribution  by  bond 
houses,  investment  bankers  and  other 
institutions  engaged  in  the  sale  of  elec- 
tric railway  securities,  and  for  utility 
managers  to  use  as  a  means  of  promot- 
ing good  will. 

To  issue  press  statements,  news 
stories,  speeches  and  articles  of  inter- 
est regarding  the  industry  to  the  daily 
press,  magazines  and  other  publica- 
tions. 

To  co-operate  with  state  and  na- 
tional public  utility  information  com- 
mittees. 

To  act  as  a  general  clearing  house 
between  electric  railway  companies  for 
the  distribution  of  all  advertising  and 
publicity  material  which  will  be  of  mu- 
tual aid. 

To  make  engagements  for  widely 
known  speakers  before  national  con- 
ventions and  other  large  gatherings  for 
the  discussion  of  electric  railway  prob- 
lems, and  to  co-operate  with  these 
speakers  in  seeing  that  they  obtain 
facts  upon  which  to  base  their  ad- 
dresses and  that  their  remarks  receive 
proper  distribution. 

To  study  the  motion  picture  field  in 
an  effort  to  see  what  can  be  done  to 
i  dapt  it  to  use  as  an  electric  railway 
advertising  medium. 

During  the  first  month  of  the  sec- 
tion's life  it  was  somewhat  hampered 
by  lack  of  funds,  but  this  obstacle  has 
now  been  overcome. 

The  section  has  been  frank  in  its 
dealings  with  the  press  and  has  empha- 
sized its  desire  to  be  of  service  to  news- 
papers and  periodicals.  Whenever 
news  of  the  industry  arises  a  new  story 
or  statement  is  prepared  in  a  form 
likely  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  press 
associations  and  it  is  distributed  by  the 
director  of  the  section.  The  committee 
reported  a  number  of  examples  of  im- 


• 

til  mmf* 

C.  D.  Emmons 

Second  Vice-President 

portant  news  stories  prepared  and  han- 
dled by  the  section. 

A  noteworthy  feature  of  the  year's 
work  was  the  inauguration  of  "Electric 
Railway  Day."  This  was  successful 
despite  the  fact  that  less  than  four 
weeks'  notice  of  the  proposed  celebra- 
tion, on  May  4,  was  given  the  com- 
panies. It  is  hoped  that  this  day,  the 
rnniversary  of  the  inauguration  of 
electric  railway  service  in  Richmond 
thirty-three  years  ago,  may  be  the  oc- 
casion of  an  annual  celebration,  locally 
if  not  nationally. 

The  section  has  also  distributed, 
under  the  committee's  direction,  a  large 
number  of  leaflets,  suggested  window 
signs,  newspaper  advertisements,  and 
other  forms  of  advertising.  An  adver- 
tising textbook  entitled  "Getting  the 
Public  Eye  and  Ear"  was  also  pre- 
pared and  distributed.  Numerous  other 
items  of  activity  were  listed  in  the 
report. 

In  conclusion,  the  continuation  of 
the  work  of  the  advertising  section  was 
urged,  special  stress  being  laid  on  the 
financial  needs  of  the  industry.  Co- 
operation was  urged  with  state  com- 
mittees and  local  companies  in  an  ef- 
fort to  get  more  public  speakers  to  put 
the  industry's  message  before  the  peo- 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


615 


J.  N.  Shannahan 
Third  Vice-President 


pie  and  with  the  companies  and  the 
company  section  committee  in  prepar- 
ing material  for  the  education  of  em- 
ployees. 

The  report  was  signed  by  Barron 
Collier,  chairman;  C.  B.  Buchanan, 
Britton  I.  Budd,  W.  A.  Draper,  C.  D. 
Emmons,  S.  W.  Huff,  Horace  Lowry 
and  Lucius  S.  Storrs. 

Nominations  and  Election 

Following  the  receipt  of  this  report, 
the  nominating  committee  made  its  re- 
port through  its  chairman,  John  H. 
Pardee.  The  committee  prefaced  its 
actual  nominations  with  a  statement 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  most  use- 
ful suggestions  from  some  of  the  mem- 
bers with  reference  to  desirable  candi- 
dates for  office.  The  committee  recom- 
mended that  in  future  years,  when  the 
newly  adopted  provisions  for  the  nomi- 
nating committee  are  operating,  all 
members  should  help  the  committee  by 
making  constructive  suggestions,  as  is 
the  intention. 

The  committee  then  presented  the  fol- 
lowing nominations  for  office: 

President:  Robert  I.  Todd,  presi- 
dent Indianapolis  Street  Railway  and 
the  Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis  &  East- 
ern Traction  Company,  Indianapolis, 
Ind. 


First  vice-president:  Britton  I. 
Budd,  president  Chicago  elevated  rail- 
ways, president  Chicago,  North  Shore 
&  Milwaukee  Railroad  and  president 
the  Chicago  Interurban  Traction  Com- 
pany, Chicago,  111. 

Second  vice-president:  C.  D.  Em- 
mons, president  United  Railways  & 
Electric  Company,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Third  vice-president :  J.  N.  Shanna- 
han, president  Newport  News  &  Hamp- 
ton Railway  Gas  &  Electric  Company, 
Hampton,  Va. 

Fourth  vice-president :  Frank  R. 
Coates,  president  Community  Traction 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

Treasurer :  Barron  G.  Collier,  presi- 
dent Barron  G.  Collier,  Inc.,  New  York, 
N.  Y. 

Operating  Members-at-Large :  Terms 
to  expire  in  1922 — Paul  Shoup,  presi- 
dent Pacific  Electric  Railway,  San 
Francisco,  Cal. ;  P.  S.  Arkwright,  pres- 
ident Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Atlanta,  Georgia. 

Terms  to  expire  in  1923 — H.  G.  Brad- 
lee,  president  Stone  &  Webster  Man- 
agement Corporation,  Boston,  Mass.; 
H.  E.  Chubbuck,  vice-president  execu- 
tive Illinois  Traction  System,  Peoria, 
111. 

Terms  to  expire  in  1924 — R.  P.  Stev- 
ens, president  Republic  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.;  W. 
H.  Sawyer,  president  East  St.  Louis  & 
Suburban  Railway,  East  St.  Louis,  111. 

Manufacturer  Members  -  at  -  Large  : 
Terms  to  expire  in  1922 — George  H. 
Tontrup,  president  National  Safety  Car 
&  Equipment  Company,  St.  Louis,  Mo.; 
Thomas  Finigan,  vice-president  Amer- 
ican Brake  Shoe  &  Foundry  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

Terms  to  expire  in  1923 — Samuel  M. 
Curwen,  president  the  J.  G.  Brill  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  Pa.;  L.  E.  Gould, 
president  Economy  Electric  Devices 
Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Terms  to  expire  in  1924— John  G. 
Barry,  manager  railway  department, 
General  Electric  Company,  Schenec- 
tady, N.  Y. ;  Charles  R.  Ellicott,  eastern 
manager  Westinghouse  Traction  Brake 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

There  were  no  other  nominations  and 


F.  R.  Coates 

Fourth  Vice-President 


the  meeting,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
elected  the  above  named  nominees  to 
office. 

Papers  on  Finance 

There  were  three  papers  on  electric 
railway  finance  by  H.  M.  Addinsell, 
Harris,  Forbes  &  Company,  New  York; 
F.  E.  Frothingham,  Coffin  &  Burr,  Bos- 
ton, and  J.  K.  Newman  of  Isidore  New- 
man &  Sons,  New  Orleans.  Each  of 
them  approached  the  solution  of  the  ex- 
isting situation  from  a  different  angle, 
but  all  emphasized  many  of  the  same 
points.  Abstracts  of  these  papers  are 
found  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

The  paper  on  the  comparative  posi- 
tion of  the  traction  industry  today  and 
four  years  ago  by  Edwin  Gruhl,  New 
York,  who  was  unable  to  be  present, 
was  abstracted  by  Harlow  C.  Clark, 
Public  Service  Railway,  New  Jersey. 
This  paper  is  given  in  abstract  else- 
where in  this  issue. 

Relation  of  Manufacturers 

E.  F.  Wickwire,  Ohio  Brass  Company, 
presented  a  discussion  on  how  the  man- 
ufacturers of  electric  railway  material 
could  help  the  industry  build  up  public 
opinion  and  incidentally  its  credit.  An 
abstract  of  his  remarks  is  published  on 
another  page.    S.  M.  Curwen,  the  J.  G. 


W.  H.  Sawyer 

Operating  Member-at-Large 


R.  P.  Stevens 

Operating  Member-at-Large 


George  H.  Tontrup 

Manufacturer  Member-at-Large 


Thomas  Finigan 

Manufacturer  Member-at-Large 


616 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Brill  Company,  also  furnished  a  pre- 
pared discussion,  which  in  his  absence 
was  read  by  Secretary  Welsh. 

Olin  W.  Hill,  street  railway  expert  of 
the  Babson  Statistical  Organization, 
1  resented  the  paper  on  "Street  Rail- 
ways as  an  Investment"  in  the  absence 
c;f  Roger  W.  Babson.  This  paper  in  ab- 
stract will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this 
issue. 

Trackless  Transportation 

In  reporting  for  the  trackless  trans- 
portation committee,  H.  B.  Flowers, 
Baltimore,  chairman,  said  that  the  com- 
mittee had  held  three  well-attended 
meetings  during  the  year  and  had  evi- 
denced a  keen  appreciation  of  the  im- 
portance of  making  a  report,  but  was 
unable  to  do  more  at  this  time  than  to 
make  a  progress  report.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  agree  on  any  report  which  the 
committee  was  willing  to  sponsor,  hence 
no  report  was  prepared.  Mr.  Flowers 
made  this  comment  particularly  to  cor- 
rect an  impression  which  he  said  had 


t 


S.   M.  CURWEN 
Manufacturer  Member-at-Large 


been  current  that  the  committee  had 
prepared  a  report  which  had  been  sup- 
pressed. This  was  not  the  case.  He 
recommended  that  a  similar  committee 
be  appointed  for  the  ensuing  year  and 
that  it  endeavor  seriously  to  determine 
where  the  trackless  trolley  may  be  ef- 
fectively and  profitably  used. 

W.  J.  Harvie,  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Electrolysis,  then  presented 
the  report  of  this  committee. 

Electrolysis 

After  the  publication  of  its  last 
report,  in  1916,  the  American  Com- 
mitte3  on  Electrolysis  was  delayed  in 
its  activities  during  the  war  period, 
and  early  in  the  year  1919  the  com- 
mittee resumed  its  active  work.  The 
most  active  of  the  sub-committees  has 
been  the  one  on  research,  the  work  of 
the  other  sub-committees  being  in  a 
considerable  degree  dependent  upon  the 
findings  of  this  committee. 

After  the  research  sub-committee 
undertook  to  work  in  co-operation  with 
the  Bureau  of  Standards  an  important 
question  of  policy  arose.    Members  of 


the  research  sub-committee,  and  espe- 
cially the  representatives  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association, 
considered  that  reports  upon  the  con- 
ditions prevailing  in  particular  locali- 
ties should  be  limited  to  statements  of 
fact  without  any  expression  of  opinion 
as  to  what  should  be  done  to  correct 
conditions.  The  members  of  the  re- 
search sub-committee  were  of  the 
opinion  that  there  still  existed  con- 
siderable difference  of  opinion  as  to 
methods  for  mitigating  electrolysis 
troubles  and  that  until  the  committee 
had  been  able  to  agree  upon  the 
principles  involved  it  was  premature 
and  unwise  to  express  an  opinion  with 
reference  to  any  particular  locality. 
Furthermore,  it  was  considered  that 
in  the  absence  of  an  agreement  as  to 
the  engineering  principles  involved  it 
would  be  unfair  to  the  local  utilities 
to  express  an  opinion  that  might  cause 
controversies  or  even  litigation  between 
such  utilities.  This  policy  has  been 
strictly  followed  by  the  research  sub- 


committee, working  in  conjunction  with 
the  Bureau  of  Standards  in  the  course 
of  its  many  investigations  in  the  differ- 
ent cities  throughout  the  United  States. 

Within  the  past  two  years  the  re- 
search sub-committee  has  conducted 
active  field  investigations  in  Memphis, 
St.  Louis,  East  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City, 
Denver  and  Cleveland.  This  sub-com- 
mittee has  devoted  its  attention  par- 
ticularly to  the  question  of  pipe  joint 
electrolysis,  for  the  reason  that  the 
efficacy  of  pipe  drainage  was  very 
largely  dependent  upon  the  seriousness 
of  joint  electrolysis.  Electrical  surveys 
were  made  in  all  of  the  above  cities 
for  the  purpose  of  determining  the 
location  of  pipe  joints  of  high  resist- 
ance. Excavations  to  uncover  these 
joints  were  made  and  the  joints, 
together  with  the  pipe  for  some  dis- 
tance on  either  side  of  the  joint, 
thoroughly  sand-blasted  and  a  very 
careful  examination  made.  All  of  the 
data  so  obtained  were  carefully 
recorded  and  in  many  cases  include 
photographs.  The  committee  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  joint  corrosion 


does  not  take  place  where  both  sides 
of  the  joint  are  negative  or  neutral  to 
the  surrounding  earth.  The  sub-com- 
mittee was  unable  to  agree  as  to  the 
seriousness  of  joint  corrosion.  It  is, 
however,  the  opinion  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Association  on  this  sub-committee 
that  the  seriousness  of  joint  elec- 
trolysis has  been  overestimated  and 
that  it  does  not  constitute  a  serious 
objection  to  the  use  of  pipe  drainage. 
It  has  been  the  policy  of  the  American 
Committee  on  Electrolysis  and  of  its 
sub-committees  to  arrive  at  definite 
conclusions  only  by  the  unanimous  con- 
sent of  the  different  interests  repre- 
sented. There  is  naturally  a  difference 
of  opinion  with  reference  to  the  elec- 
trical drainage  of  underground  struc- 
tures as  a  mitigative  measure. 

It  has  not  yet  been  decided  whether 
or  not  the  American  Committee  on 
Electrolysis  will  be  continued  in  its 
present  form.  There  is  unquestionably 
a  large  amount  of  work  to  be  done 


C.  R.  Ellicott 

.Manufacturer  Member-at-Large 


before  the  principles  underlying  the 
prevention  of  electrolysis  can  be  finally 
formulated.  It  has  been  proposed  to 
discontinue  the  main  committee  and  to 
carry  on  the  work  through  what  is  now 
the  research  sub-committee.  In  the 
report  of  this  sub-committee,  which  is 
incorporated  in  the  report  of  the  main 
committee,  there  is  included  a  program 
(as  noted  at  the  end  of  this  report)  of 
future  investigations  to  be  made  by  the 
research  sub-committee  in  co-operation 
with  the  Bureau  of  Standards.  Whether 
or  not  this  program  can  be  carried  out 
depends  upon  the  financial  support  that 
may  be  given  to  the  committee  by  the 
various  member  associations. 

The  committee  on  electrolysis  calls 
particular  attention  to  the  report  of 
the  American  Committee  on  Elec- 
trolysis, which  is  now  being  printed 
and  which  will  be  ready  for  distribu- 
tion in  the  near  future.  This  report, 
although  by  no  means  final  and  com- 
plete, nevertheless  represents  an  im- 
portant contribution  to  the  art.  It 
merits  the  careful  study  of  all  electric 
railway    engineers.      The  representa- 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


617 


tives  of  this  association,  realizing  the 
importance  of  the  work  of  this  com- 
mittee, have  taken  an  active  part  in 
all  its  deliberations,  in  the  field  work 
of  the  research  sub-committee  and  in 
the  preparation  of  the  report. 

Following  is  the  program  of  future 
work  recommended  by  the  research 
sub-committee  of  the  American  com- 
mittee. 

1.  Development  of  practical  means  for 
measuring  current  density  across  contact 
surfaces  of  pipes  and  earth.  Such  measure- 
ments are  especially  necessary  if  structures 
are  not  kept  negative  to  earth. 

2.  Development  of  working  means  for 
determining  the  polarity  of  structures  and 
adjacent  earth  in  such  a  way  as  to  elim- 
inate galvanic  effects. 

3.  Study  of  effect  on  underground  struc- 
tures of  different  values  of  voltage  drop  in 
the  track  and  the  effect  on  stray  current 
from  rails,  including  supposed  large  varia- 
tion of  this  relation  under  different  condi- 
tions. 

4.  Cost  studies  of  street  railway  systems 
and  different  methods  of  power  supply  to 
determine  the  minimum  values  of  track 
voltage  drop  consistent  with  economic  oper- 
ation. 

5.  Quantitative  effect  on  insulating  joints 
in  protecting  pipes  and  cables,  assuming 
railway  stray  current  at  economic  minimum. 

6.  Investigation  of  the  distribution  of 
current  from  pipe  to  adjacent  earth  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  whether  a  diversity 
factor  can  be  established,  i.e.,  the  relation 
between  maximum  and  average  current 
density. 

7.  Detailed  study  of  the  application  and 
maintenance  of  such  a  drainage  system  as 
will  keep  all  underground  structures  nega- 
tive to  earth,  including  study  of  the  im- 
portance of  corrosion  of  railway  structures. 

8.  Comparison  of  (5)  and  (7). 

9.  Continuing  study  of  joint  corrosion. 

10.  Study  of  soil  and  galvanic  corrosion, 
with  particular  reference  to  its  bearing  on 
the  problem  of  corrosion  by  stray  currents. 

11.  Setting  limit  of  current  on  gas  and 
oil  pipes  to  avoid  fire  and  explosion  hazard. 

12.  Setting  limit  of  current  on  power 
cables  to  avoid  overheating. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned. 

Thursday's  Session 

The  first  matter  taken  up  at  the 
meeting  of  the  American  Association 
Thursday  morning  was  the  report  on 
national  relations,  which  was  read  by 
Charles  L.  Henry,  chairman.  An  ab- 
stract of  this  report  follows: 

National  Relations 

Soon  after  the  last  annual  convention 
representatives  of  various  railway 
brotherhoods  presented  to  the  United 
States  Railroad  Labor  Board,  then 
recently  organized,  applications  involv- 
ing some  twenty  or  twenty-five  electric 
railway  companies  of  the  country,  seek- 
ing to  have  the  Railroad  Labor  Board 
take  jurisdiction  of  complaints  concern- 
ing labor  matters  against  the  electric 
railway  companies.  The  questions 
involved  were  of  interest  to  all  electric 
railway  companies,  and  this  committee 
immediately  took  up  the  matter  with 
the  United  States  Railroad  Labor 
Board,  calling  in  question  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Labor  Board  to  determine 
labor  complaints  against  electric  rail- 
way companies  "not  operating  as  a  part 
of  a  general  steam  railroad  system  of 
transportation,"  and  asked  that  pre- 
liminary to  a  consideration  of  any  such 
cases  those  companies  be  given  an  op- 
portunity to  present  to  the  Labor  Board 
the  question  of  jurisdiction. 


The  Labor  Board  granted  this  re- 
quest, and  for  three  days  a  very  ex- 
tended oral  argument  of  this  question 
of  jurisdiction  was  had  before  the 
board  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  At  this 
argument  this  committee  appeared  for 
all  the  electric  railway  companies  of  the 
country  and  a  number  of  the  companies 
also  appeared  personally  for  themselves. 
At  the  close  of  the  argument  our  com- 
mittee asked  for,  and  was  granted, 
leave  to  file  a  printed  brief  with  the 
Labor  Board  on  the  matters  involved 
and  a  few  days  later  presented  to  the 
board  its  printed  brief,  copies  of  which 
were  sent  to  all  member  companies  of 
this  association.  Very  much  to  the 
gratification  of  the  committee,  the 
Labor  Board  decided  the  question  of 
jurisdiction  adversely,  holding  that  the 
exempting  clauses  in  the  transportation 
act  of  1920  excluded  from  its  jurisdic- 
tion all  electric  railway  companies  "not 
operating  as  a  part  of  a  general  steam 
railroad  system  of  transportation." 

A  renewed  attempt,  very  vigorously 
pressed,  was  made  to  have  Congress 
authorize  the  coinage  of  a  Roosevelt 
memorial  coin,  coins  of  J-cent,  2-cent, 
or  2J-cent  denominations  being  sug- 
gested. As  many  electric  railway  com- 
panies had  adopted  what  are  known  as 
recording  fareboxes,  which  would,  by 
the  adoption  of  either  one  of  the  pro- 
posed new  coins,  require  rebuilding  so 
as  to  accommodate  the  new  coins,  the 
nuestion  presented  was  one  of  very 
great  financial  interest  to  those  com- 
panies. It  was  found  that  the  expense 
of  thus  rebuilding  these  recording  fare- 
boxes  would  involve  an  expense  to  the 
companies  using  them  of  between  $400,- 
000  and  $500,000,  and  it  was  also 
feared  that  the  rebuilding  of  the  fare- 
boxes  to  accommodate  the  additional 
coins  would  slow  them  down  so  as  to 
render  them  practically  useless  on  some 
railways  where  travel  was  very  heavy. 
At  a  hearing  held  by  the  committee  on 
coinage,  weights  and  measures  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  this  com- 
mittee appeared  and,  at  the  request  of 
the  chairman  of  the  coinage  committee, 
took  charge  of  the  opposition  to  the 
bill.  The  committee  secured  the  co- 
operation of  a  large  number  of  bankers 
against  the  coinage  proposed.  Mr. 
Brandt,  president  of  the  Brandt  Manu- 
facturing Company,  which  manufac- 
tures coin  counters  especially  for  the 
use  of  banks  and  similar  institutions, 
and  Mr.  Johnson,  president  of  the  John- 
son Farebox  Company,  both  responded 
to  the  request  of  this  committee  to 
assist  in  the  hearing.  Since  the  hear- 
ing referred  to  no  action  has  been  taken 
in  either  of  the  houses  of  Congress  on 
the  coinage  bills  and  the  committee  does 
not  believe  there  is  any  danger  of  the 
enactment  of  the  proposed  legislation. 

Many  questions  growing  out  of  the 
provisions  of  the  transportation  act  of 
1920  h  ave  called  for  the  attention  of 
the  committee  before  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  and  it  has  fre- 
quently appeared  before  the  commission 
concerning  such  matters.  The  commis- 
sion, however,  has  moved  very  slowly 
on  all  questions  relating  to  the  status 


of  electric  railway  companies  under  the 
various  provisions  of  the  transportation 
act  of  1920  and  thus  far  has  not  pro- 
mulgated any  definite  rulings  of  a 
general  character  concerning  same. 

In  the  case  of  the  Petaluma  &  Santa 
Rosa  Railroad  this  committee  assisted 
the  company  in  presenting  its  case  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
which  was  decided  by  the  commission  on 
the  specific  facts  concerning  that  com- 
pany in  the  operation  of  its  electric 
railway.  After  the  decision  was 
rendered  the  committee  wrote  to  Com- 
missioner Meyer  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  who  was  chairman 
of  the  section  having  the  question 
under  consideration,  that  as  a  committee 
it  would  take  no  further  action  in  the 
case.  Two  paragraphs  from  the  letter 
to  Commissioner  Meyer  follow: 

It  has  always  been  the  contention  of  this 
association  before  your  honorable  body  that 
the  transportation  act  was  remedial  rather 
than  regulatory  In  character  and  must  be 
construed  accordingly.  It  has  also  been  our 
contention  that  in  order  to  effect  the  pur- 
poses of  the  act  the  conditions  of  the  car- 
riers under  it  must  be  considered  in  each 
case,  and  particularly  so  with  reference  to 
inclusion  or  exclusion  in  or  from  section 
15s.  It  is  very  apparent  to  us,  and  must 
be  to  you,  that  many  electric  roads  would 
be  seriously  injured  by  being  included  in 
this  section,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  are  undoubtedly  electric  roads  the 
character  or  business  of  which  not  only 
logically  brings  them  within  the  provision 
of  this  section  but  practically  demands  such 
inclusion.  .  ■ 

I  wish  to  state  in  closing  that  the  asso- 
ciation will,  of  course,  at  all  times,  aid  its 
members  in  properly  getting  their  cases 
before  your  commission  and  in  getting  to 
your  commission  such  information  as  you 
may  desire. 

The  legislative  questions  involved  by 
Senate  bill  1874,  a  proposed  amendment 
of  the  Clayton  act  and  the  interstate 
commerce  act  as  well,  has  been  del- 
egated to  a  sub-committee  composed  of 
A.  W.  Brady,  C.  D.  Cass  and  C.  W. 
Kellogg  (representing  II .  G.  Bradlee  of 
the  committee).  No  legislative  action 
has  been  taken  on  this  bill,  but  the  sub- 
committee is  giving  attention  to  it  with 
a  view  that,  if  finally  passed,  it  shall 
be  in  such  form  as  not  to  injure  our 
companies. 

The  transportation  act  of  1920  has 
raised  many  questions  involving  various 
companies  of  the  association,  many  of 
which  have  been  disposed  of  by  corre- 
spondence. 

Just  recently  a  question  has  been 
raised  with  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission of  the  District  of  Columbia  by 
the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric 
Company  insisting  that  that  commis- 
sion does  not  have  jurisdiction  over  it 
regarding  depreciation  charges  and  ac- 
counts, but  that,  being  an  interstate 
carrier,  it  is,  in  such  matters,  subject 
only  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  under  the 
provisions  of  sub-section  (5)  of  section 
20  of  the  interstate  commerce  act,  as 
amended  by  the  transportation  act  of 
1920  and  has  asked  the  co-operation  of 
this  committee  in  presenting  the  ques- 
tions involved. 

The  determination  of  this  question  of 
jurisdiction  is  likely  to  prove  a  matter 
of  great  importance  to  many  of  our 
railway  companies.  As  now  pending, 
it  is  somewhat  local  in  character,  but 


618 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  15 


similar  questions  may  arise,  involving 
other  companies,  concerning  the  juris- 
diction between  state  public  service  com- 
missions and  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  The  committee,  therefore, 
feels  that  it  should  carefully  look  into 
all  the  questions  involved  and,  after  so 
doing,  determine  what  should  be  its 
attitude  concerning  the  same. 

At  the  request  of  government  officials 
connected  with  the  work,  this  commit- 
tee lent  its  aid  in  securing  a  proper 
appropriation  to  enable  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  to  prosecute  its  field  work  on 
the  subject  of  electrolysis,  our  associa- 
tion being  represented  on  the  joint  com- 
mittee acting  with  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  in  the  investigation  of  this 
subject. 

The  Washington  office  of  the  associa- 
tion, at  949  Munsey  Building,  has  been 
under  the  management  of  the  chairman 
of  the  committee.  Paul  W.  McGovern 
has  had  immediate  charge  of  the  office, 
and  has,  in  the  absence  of  the  chairman 
of  this  committee,  transacted  for  the 
association  a  large  amount  of  business. 
A  resume  of  the  matters  is  then  con- 
tained in  the  report,  which  was  signed 
by  Charles  L.  Henry,  chairman,  and 
Arthur  W.  Brady,  Henry  G.  Bradlee, 
Britton  I.  Budd,  Lucius  S.  Storrs, 
Edwin  C.  Faber,  C.  L.  S.  Tingley, 
C.  D.  Cass  and  W.  S.  Rodger. 

The  report  on  valuation  was  pre- 
sented by  Martin  Schreiber,  chairman. 
In  conclusion  Mr.  Schreiber  said  that 
a  large  number  of  letters  commenting 
on  this  report  had  been  received  and 
that  most  of  these  were  complimentary. 
In  a  few  cases  some  criticisms  were 
raised,  but  when  further  explanation 
was  made  by  the  committee  these  ob- 
jections were  withdrawn.  The  report 
was  approved  as  presented. 

Valuation 

The  committee  during  the  year 
devoted  its  time  to  the  two  questions 
recommended  for  consideration  at  the 
last  annual  meeting,  namely,  "rate  of 
return"  and  "economical  procedure  for 
appraisals." 

Under  rate  of  return  the  committee 
presented  a  general  economic  analysis 
to  prove  that  a  "fair  return"  must  be 
allowed  or  guaranteed  This  "fair 
return"  is  not  determinable  in  advance, 
but  is  a  function  of  the  variable  con- 
ditions in  each  case. 

In  approaching  the  general  question 
of  the  rate  of  return  which  should  be 
allowed  to  a  public  utility  the  com- 
mittee discussed  the  factors  affecting 
the  flow  of  capital  into  any  given  line 
of  business.  It  pointed  out  the  fluc- 
tuations of  capital  flow  as  dependent 
on  production,  competition  and  profits. 
The  committee  pointed  out  then  that, 
left  to  itself,  business  is  regulated  not 
so  much  by  competition  for  customers 
as  it  is  by  competition  for  capital.  If 
prices  are  excessive  in  comparison  with 
cost,  capital  flows  in  and  lowers  them; 
if  prices  are  low  in  comparison  with 
cost,  capital  refuses  to  flow  in  and  even 
flows  out  until  the  shortage  of  produe- 
tioa  brings  about  an  increase  in  price. 

The  committee  then  proceeded  to  dis- 


cuss the  control  of  monopolies,  shaw- 
ing  that  there  is  a  dual  standard  for 
controlling  monopolies,  some  being  con- 
trolled by  economic  laws  alone,  while 
"public  utilities  operating  under  eco- 
nomic law,  are  put  also  under  the  direc- 
tion and  control  of  public  utility  com- 
missions, which  fix  maximum  rates  for 
the  product  which  these  utilities  offer 
for  sale." 

The  committee  then  argued  that 
there  is  no  justification  for  the  "excep- 
tional treatment  of  public  utilities," 
but  concludes:  "The  committee  would 
offer  no  protest  against  the  regulation 
of  the  public  utility.  It  is  pointing 
out  merely  that  the  attempt  to  confine 
regulation  of  price  to  public  utilities 
as  a  class  has  neither  a  historical  nor 
a  logical  foundation." 

A  commission  may  desire  to  allow  a 
satisfactory  return,  but  its  mere  allow- 
ance of  a  return  which  it  deems  suffi- 
cient may  not  attract  capital.  The 
investor's  mind  determines  whether 
his  money  goes  in  or  not,  and  the  prac- 
tical fact  is  that  the  community  which 
offers  reward  below  the  standard  of  the 
owners  of  fluid  capital  will  not  con- 
tinue to  receive  adequate  public  utility 
service.  The  committee  then  pointed 
out  that  a  rate  fixed  below  the  stand- 
ard set  by  the  investing  community 
naturally  leads  to  overbonding  on  the 
part  of  the  utility;  this  merely  aggra- 
vates the  stock-issuing  difficulties  and 
tightens  up  the  financial  situation. 

The  committee  then  analyzed  the 
views  of  the  common  stockholder  and 
shows  what  he  must  have,  indicating 
the  change  in  stock  quotations  in 
recent  years  due  to  the  low  rate  of 
return  realized. 

In  its  conclusions  the  committee 
covered  these  same  points  in  different 
language.  It  then  makes  perfectly 
clear  that  it  did  not  desire  this  report 
to  be  considered  as  opposing  regula- 
tion, per  se.,  but  merely  an  attempt  to 
point  out  the  dangers  confronting  the 
industry  and  the  civic  communities 
served  by  the  industry  if  the  rate  of 
return  is  not  adequate;  in  other  words, 
if  the  rate  of  return  is  not  such  that 
new  and  additional  capital  from  new 
investors  will  readily  flow  into  the 
industry. 

Finally,  the  committee  said:  "By  the 
phrase  'adequate  rate  of  return'  we 
mean  a  rate  of  return  such  as  will 
encourage  a  reasonable  inflow  of  new 
capital  from  new  investors.  If  the  rate 
of  return  allowed  does  not  do  this,  it 
is  unquestionably  inadequate,  and  the 
communities  served  will  suffer  all  out 
of  proportion  to  any  possible  minor 
gain  through  temporary  lower  rate  of 
fare,  for  over  a  period  of  years  the 
industry  can  better  serve  any  com- 
munity, at  a  lower  rate  of  fare,  if 
given  adequate  money  for  improve- 
ments." 

Under  the  heading  "Economical  Pro- 
cedure for  Appraisals"  the  committee 
showed  how  past  detailed  methods  of 
valuation  entail  the  expenditure  of  con- 
siderable time  and  money.  It  pointed 
out  that  the  accuracy  of  these  detailed 
methods  is  probably  no  greater  than 


some  more  general  method  which 
would  consider  types  of  construction 
with  minor  variations  as  basis  for 
making  large  units  to  price.  In  other 
words,  if  railways  with  good  property 
records  will  get  together  with  the 
authorities  it  should  be  possible  to 
determine  upon  a  certain  number  of 
"yardsticks"  corresponding  to  the 
various  classes  of  property  shown  on 
the  company  records,  and  these  com- 
pany records  can  be  made  the  basis 
of  the  valuation,  any  objection  to  their 
use  on  the  part  of  any  interested 
parties  being  made  by  affording  to 
these  interested  parties  full  oppor- 
tunity for  such  check  inspection  of  the 
property  as  will  determine  the  accuracy 
and  adequacy  of  the  records  in  ques- 
tion. 

The  committee  then  proceeded  to 
show  what  is  meant  by  this,  listing  the 
following  types:   (a)   Types  of  track, 

(b)  types   of   overhead  construction, 

(c)  types  of  equipment,  (d)  types  of 
buildings  reduced  to  cubage,  (e)  types 
of  bridge  and  culvert  construction,  (f) 
type  of  pavement  and  foundation,  and 
other  similar  types. 

The  committee  recognized  a  certain 
amount  of  error,  but  says  this  would 
be  no  greater  than  that  accompanying 
present  methods.  To  show  that  this 
plan  has  not  been  confined  merely  to 
theoretical  discussion,  it  pointed  to  the 
determination  of  the  cost  of  reproduc- 
tion new  of  the  physical  property  of 
the  Connecticut  Company  used  and 
useful  for  the  public  service,  sub- 
stantially along  these  lines.  (See  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal,  May  21,  page 
947  and  May  28,  page  985.)  The  com- 
mittee concludes  that  the  progress  of 
the  art  is  such  that  in  all  future 
appraisals  member  companies  shall 
attempt  to  secure: 

1.  Series  of  conferences  between  all 
of  the  parties  interested  in  the  ap- 
praisal to  the  end  that  there  shall  be 
an  agreement  as  to  the  methods  to  be 
followed  in  the  making  of  the  in- 
ventory and  in  pricing. 

2.  That  this  agreement  should  cover 
the  adoption  of  a  minimum  number  of 
"yardsticks"  or  types  to  the  end  that 
the  inventory  may  be  rendered  as 
simple  as  is  consistent  with  equity  to 
both  parties. 

3.  That  the  prices  of  these  "yard- 
sticks" should,  so  far  as  possible,  be 
fixed  by  agreement  between  the  in- 
terested parties,  falling  back  upon 
detailed  study  of  construction  only  in 
those  cases  where  agreement  proves 
impossible  or  records  incomplete. 

4.  That,  wherever  possible,  over- 
heads and  intangible  value  shall  be 
determined  in  like  manner  by  agree- 
ment, resting  upon  the  records  of 
other  appraisals  which  have  met  with 
the  approval  of  regulatory  bodies  and 
the  courts,  modified,  in  those  cases 
where  such  modification  is  demanded, 
by  local  conditions  and  the  experience 
of  the  conferees. 

The  committee  recommended  that  the 
next  year's  committee  continue  the 
detailed  study  of  the  above  recom- 
mendations upon  economical  procedure 


October  8,  1921  Electric   Railway   Journal  619 


for  appraisals.  The  report  is  signed 
by  Martin  Schreiber,  chairman;  C.  W. 
Gillespie,  W.  H.  Sawyer,  Williston 
Fish,  J.  H.  Hanna,  H.  C.  Anderson, 
Cecil  F.  Elmes  and  W.  H.  Maltbie. 

Safety-Car  Operation 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  safe- 
ty car  operation  was  next  presented  by 
R.  P.  Stevens,  chairman.  The  follow- 
ing is  an  abstract. 

The  committee  feels  that  its  inquiry 
should  be  limited  to  safety  car  operation 
as  a  matter  of  general  company  policy. 
It  has  considered  the  subject  from  the 
"viewpoint  of  public  opinion,  legislation, 
commission  regulation  and  labor  rela- 
tions. The  committee  suggests  the  uni- 
form use  of  the  term  "safety  car"  to 
designate  all  types  of  car  operated  by 
one  man  and  equipped  with  adequate 
safety  devices.  Cars  of  older  types  re- 
built for  one-man  operation  but  lack- 
ing adequate  safety  devices  cannot 
properly  be  described  as  safety  cars. 

In  August,  1921,  there  were  5,500 
•one-man  cars  in  operation  in  the  United 
:States.  Of  this  number  4  300  were 
standard  safety  cars  and  1,200  were 
■converted  former  two-man  cars. 

This  number  of  safety  cars  and 
safety  devices  on  the  former  two-man 
cars,  as  well  as  the  double  tracking, 
turnouts  and  carhouse  facilities  inci- 
dent to  operating  this  equipment,  rep- 
resent an  investment  by  the  electric 
railway  companies  of  about  $50,000,000. 

Not  a  single  negative  reply  was  in- 
cluded in  the  122  answers  received  to 
the  question  of  the  one-man  safety  car 
being  satisfactory  to  the  public  as  to 
"both  quality  and  safety  of  service,  al- 
though four  were  doubtful.  Further- 
more, as  to  opposition  by  public  bodies, 
•either  city  or  state,  to  one-man  safety 
car  operation  there  were  at  the  date 


of  this  report  but  two  such  cases  pend- 
ing in  the  whole  country. 

As  regards  safety  of  operation,  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  on  the  basis 
of  carefully  kept  accident  records  the 
one-man  safety  car,  equipped  with  the 
standard  safety  devices,  shows  fewer 
accidents,  and  a  lower  cost  of  settling 
accidents,  per  1,000  car-miles  than  the 
average  two-man  cars.  The  following 
figures  show  the  result  of  experience 
in  1920  with  one-man  safety  cars  by 
seventeen  companies  carrying  246,642,- 
000  passengers  in  eleven  different 
states : 

The  success  of  one-man  safety  cars 
in  improving  the  accident  situation  is 
particularly  striking  when  viewed  in 


done  to  facilitate  the  performance  of 
the  operator's  duties,  such  as  the  use 
of  registering  fare  boxes,  air-operated 
transfer  registers,  simplification  of  re- 
ports, sale  of  metal  "tokens"  or  tickets 
off  the  cars,  and  turning-  in  of  transfers 
only  twice  daily. 

Where  the  principle  of  one-man  oper- 
ation has  been  applied  to  large  double- 
truck  cars,  with  the  installation  of  ade- 
quate safety  devices,  the  car  is  fully 
as  safe  and  satisfactory  as  the  small, 
light-weight  safety  car.  Experience 
shows  that  the  large  double-truck,  one- 
man  car  has  fewer  accidents  from  col- 
lisions than  the  light  safety  car,  be- 
cause, with  its  greater  weight,  the 
operator    does    not    feel    like  taking 


 Type  of  Car  

One-Man        Two-Man  Total 

Total  car-miles  operated                                                                19,727,000       17,406,000  37,133,000 

Total  passengers  carried                                                               113,777,000      132,865,000  246,642,000 

Total  accidents                                                                                    7,282               9,406  16,688 

Accidents  per  car,  1 0,000  miles   3.69  5  40 

Total  cost  accidents   $291,620  $279,920 

Average  cost  per  1,000 car-miles   $14  .77  $16.06 

Decrease  in  accidents  per  10,000  car-miles   31.7  per  cent 

Decrease  in  accidents  per  100,000  passengers  carried   9.6  per  cent 

Decrease  in  accidents  cost  per  1,000  car-miles   8.  03  per  cent 


connection  with  the  rapid  growth  in 
vehicular  street  traffic  during  the  last 
few  years  while  the  one-man  safety 
cars  were  being  introduced.  The  total 
number  of  automobiles  in  the  United 
States  has  grown  from  2,424,000  in 
1916  to  7,904,000  in  1920,  an  increase 
in  four  years  of  226  per  cent. 

One-man  operation  has  also  proved 
satisfactory  from  the  operator's  point 
of  view.  As  one-man  car  operation 
was  inaugurated  by  introducing  only  a 
few  cars  at  a  time,  the  normal  labor 
turnover  prevented  any  man  from 
losing  his  job,  and  the  trainmen  like 
the  job,  not  only  because  it  pays  more 
money  but  because  the  work  is  more 
interesting.   A  great  deal  also  has  been 


chances  with  it,  nor  do  the  drivers  of 
motor  vehicles  have  the  contempt  for 
its  size  that  they  do  for  the  smaller 
vehicle.  All  but  two  of  the  fifty-four 
replies  received  on  that  subject  state 
that  double-truck  cars  can  be  run  by 
one  man  with  the  same  degree  of  safety 
as  by  two  men. 

As  the  rate  of  fare  paid  by  the  pub- 
lic must  be  sufficient  to  cover  the  cost 
of  furnishing  a  street  car  ride,  the 
public  benefits  from  one-man  operation 
because  the  labor  cost  is  reduced.  The 
employee  benefits  because  he  is  able  to 
earn  a  higher  rate  of  pay  with  one- 
man  operation. 

There  are  now  no  laws  on  the  statute 
book  of  any  state  prohibiting  the  oper- 


The  Banquet  at  the  Ambassador  Hotel 


The  Association  This  Year  Revived  the  Practice  of  Holding  a  Banquet  at  Its  Annual  Conventions 


620 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15- 


ation  of  street  cars  with  one  man.  Bills 
proposing  to  prohibit  one-man  opera- 
tion have  been  defeated  by  the  legis- 
latures of  eleven  states.  Fifteen  state 
public  service  commissions  have  ap- 
proved one-man  car  operation.  Num- 
berless cases  of  city  action  with  regard 
to  one-man  car  operation  are  on  record. 
Perhaps  the  most  striking  is  the  case 
of  Detroit.  In  this  city  in  1916  (before 
the  advantages  of  one-man  operation 
with  the  safety  car  were  generally 
understood)  the  city  passed  an  ordi- 
nance prohibiting  the  use  of  one-man 
cars  in  that  city.  As  soon  as  the  city 
of  Detroit  went  into  the  street  railway 
business,  however,  this  ordinance  was 
amended  so  as  to  permit  of  the  use  of 
one-man  cars,  and  the  city-owned  lines 
placed  an  initial  order  for  200  stand- 
ard one-man  safety  cars. 

The  overwhelming  majority  of  elec- 
tric railway  companies,  backed  by  every 
state  legislature  or  commission  that 
has  acted  on  the  matter,  agree  that  the 
one-man  safety  car  means  better  and 
more .  economical  service  to  the  public 
and  a  more  interesting  and  higher  paid 
job  for  the  operator. 

The  report  was  submitted  by  R.  P. 
Stevens,  chairman;  James  P.  Barnes, 
H.  B.  Flowers,  W.  H.  Heulings,  Jr., 
C.  W.  Kellogg  and  J.  W.  Passailaigue. 

Discussion  on  Safety  Cars 

J.  P.  Barnes,  Louisville,  Ky.,  con- 
tributed to  the  discussion  of  one-man 
car  operation  by  stating  that  at  this 
stage  of  development  of  the  electric 
railway  industry  the  principle  of 
safety  car  operation  needs  no  defense 
and  no  propagandists.  The  safety  car 
has  made  its  way  against  all  obstacles 
by  sheer  force  of  its  intrinsic  merits, 
and  its  further  application  to  traffic 
problems  becomes  a  matter  of  executive 
policy  rather  than  of  engineering  data 
or  operating  rules. 

Public  opinion,  like  individual 
opinion,  forms  favorable  conclusions 
from  consideration  of  those  things 
which  are  of  direct  advantage  to  the 
public,  and  is  negative  in  that  it  is  more 
quickly  and  deeply  stirred  by  incon- 
venience than  by  convenience,  by  dis- 
comfort than  by  comfort  and  by  self- 
interest  than  by  altruism.  All  the  signs 
and  notices  and  all  the  newspaper  ad- 
vertisements that  can  be  printed  will 
not  carry  a  conviction  of  comfort  and 
convenience  to  the  man  whose  feet  are 
trod  upon  or  whose  fingers  are  pinched. 
With  the  introduction  of  safety  car 
operation  the  advantages  should  be  ex- 
plained concisely  and  pointedly  from 
the  viewpoint  of  public  comfort  and 
convenience  and  the  operation  must  be 
carried  out  so  as  to  be  a  real  fulfillment 
of  the  prediction  of  better  things.  The 
report  of  the  committee  says,  "Cars  of 
older  types  rebuilt  for  one-man  opera- 
tion but  lacking  adequate  safety  devices 
cannot  properly  be  described  as  safety 
cars."  This  is  not  to  say  that  every 
car  should  be  equipped  with  all  safety 
devices  available,  but  that  every  car 
operated  as  a  safety  car  and  described 
as  such  to  the  public  must  be  equipped 
with   safety   devices   adequate   to  its 


territory.  The  final  injunction  of  Mr. 
Barnes  was: 

"Operate  real  safety  cars  where 
safety  cars  are  applicable;  give  adequate 
service,  comfortable  and  convenient; 
let  your  service  be,  in  short,  of  the 
quality  you  yourself  expect  from  the 
lighting  company,  the  water  company 
and  the  telephone  company.  So,  and 
not  otherwise,  will  the  safety  car  be  a 
success  with  the  public,  a  joy  to  the 
operator  and  a  boon  to  the  industry." 

In  discussing  this  report  H.  A.  Mullet 
of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company  said  in  part: 

"Realizing  the  necessity  of  economies 
which  are  made  possible  through  the 
operation  of  one-man  cars  and  to  avoid 
the  opposition  which  frequently  results 
in  cities  accustomed  by  long  usage  to 
double  truck  cars,  it  was  thought  ex- 
pedient to  secure  for  Milwaukee  a  one- 
man  car  conforming  in  general  respects 
to  the  regulation  safety  car  but  of 
double  truck  type.  A  spacious  plat- 
form, but  without  change  in  height 
above  the  rail  as  compared  with  the 
standard  safety  car  or  without  a  step 
between  the  body  and  platform  floor, 
is  provided.  Separate  entrance  and 
exit  doors  selectively  controlled  and  pro- 
vided with  a  division  rail  to  separate 
the  flow  of  passengers  are  included. 

"The  aisle  of  the  car  is  28  in. 
The  seats  in  the  new  Milwaukee  car 
are  3  in.  wider  than  in  the  standard 
safety  car.  Two  seats  only  at  the  diag- 
onal corners  are  longitudinal,  the  bal- 
ance or  twenty  in  number  being  of  the 
cross-type.  The  longitudinal  seats  are 
effective  in  affording  somewhat  more 
passage  space  and  are  provided  to 
avoid  the  congestion  which  exists  in 
the  front  end  of  safety  cars  when  op- 
erating under  heavy  traffic. 

"It  has  long  been  the  practice  in 
Milwaukee  to  employ  street  fare  col- 
lectors at  heavy  transfer  points,  and  to 
allow  this  practice  to  be  continued  and 
applied  to  the  new  safety  cars  a  device 
has  been  designed  which  makes  it 
readily  possible  for  the  fare  collector 
on  the  street  through  the  use  of  a 
small  lever  carried  with  him  to  open 
the  doors  on  the  rear  end  of  the  car, 
thereby  allowing  passengers  to  board 
at  the  rear  end  while  the  car  operator 
is  receiving  passengers  at  the  forward 
end.  The  device  has  been  worked  out 
in  a  simple  manner  and  is  operating 
satisfactorily. 

"The  car  complete  weighs  slightly 
less  than  twice  the  weight  of  a  safety 
car  and  seats  fifty-eight  passengers, 
taking  into  account  certain  folding 
seats  provided  on  the  platform.  It  will 
be  noted,  therefore,  that  the  weight  of 
the  car  per  seated  passenger  is  ap- 
proximately the  same  for  the  two  types 
of  cars. 

"Transfers  of  the  directional  type  are 
employed  in  Milwaukee.  Four  differ- 
ent colors  representing  the  different 
directions  are  carried  in  a  suitable 
holder  which  allows  the  operator  to 
select  the  desired  one  without  loss  of 
time. 

"To  date,  operation  with  one  man 
per  car  has  been  commenced  on  but 


two  lines,  both  being  cross-town  lines. 
One  of  these  by  reason  of  a  stretch  of 
single  track  is  limited  to  a  minimum 
of  7'i  minutes  headway.  The  other 
line  is  more  representative  and  is  be- 
ing successfully  operated  at  a  schedule 
speed  of  10.15  m.p.h.,  as  compared  with 
10.38  before  the  crews  were  reduced 
from  two  to  one  man. 

"During  the  month  of  August,  the 
total  passengers  carried  per  car  mile- 
on  the  line  which  is  double  tracked  for 
its  entire  length  was  9.6,  as  compared 
with  9.63,  the  general  average  in  the 
City  of  Milwaukee  for  the  particular 
month.  Checks  made  to  determine  the 
time  of  loading  per  passenger  indicate- 
that  from  1%  to  2)4  seconds  are  re- 
quired per  boarding  passenger  within 
a  range  of  from  twenty-five  to  five 
passengers,  which  is  somewhat  but  not 
appreciably  greater  than  the  time  re- 
quired on  the  standard  two-man  car 
as  heretofore  operated  in  Milwaukee. 

"The  safety  car  as  designed  allows 
of  its  operation  with  either  one  or  two 
man  crews,  and  it  has  been  possible 
therefore  to  operate  these  cars  on  cer- 
tain portions  of  lines  with  two  men 
crews  while  the  balance  of  the  routes 
running  into  the  suburbs  are  handled 
by  one  man  per  car. 

"The  results  of  the  operation  of  the- 
double  truck  cars  thus  far  accomplish- 
ed are  eminently  satisfactory,  and  ac- 
cordingly arrangements  are  being  made 
for  the  extension  of  the  one-man  serv- 
ice to  numerous  cross  town  lines  as  well 
as  others  running  through  the  more 
congested  sections  of  the  down  town 
portion  of  the  city." 

H.  H.  Adams  of  the  Chicago  Surface 
lines  described  the  sample  single-truck 
safety  car  which  had  been  built  for  his 
company  and  which  was  now  in  opera- 
tion. The  essential  features  of  this 
car  were  described  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  Jan.  22,  1921, 
page  173.  Mr.  Adams  stated  that  his- 
company  was  making  further  investiga- 
tion in  regard  to  the  most  suitable- 
type  of  car  for  one  man  operation  in 
Chicago,  and  with  this  in  view  they 
were  now  building  in  the  company's- 
shops  a  double  truck  car  for  one  man 
operation.  As  at  present  arranged  this; 
car  is  37  ft.  2  in.  long,  8  ft.  6  in.  wider 
and  will  seat  forty-five  passengers.  Sep- 
arate entrance  and  exit  openings  with 
a  longer  platform  will  be  provided 
with  this  double  truck  car  the  same 
as  has  been  used  for  the  single  truck 
sample  car. 

W.  J.  Harvie,  Auburn  and  Syracuse 
Electric  Railway,  commented  on  the 
definition  of  the  term  "safety  car"  as-, 
included  in  the  committee's  report  and 
suggested  that  the  word  "special"  be 
added  so  that  the  sentence  would  read 
"cars  operated  by  one  man  and  equip- 
ped with  adequate  special  safety  de- 
vices." 

Martin  Schreiber  of  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway  of  New  Jersey  said  that 
the  service  which  they  had  been  ob- 
taining from  the  standard  type  of  safe- 
ty car  was  generally  satisfactory  and 
that  they  had  experienced  no  increase 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


621 


in  the  number  of  accidents  from  this 
operation. 

E.  M.  Walker,  Terre  Haute,  Indian- 
apolis &  Eastern  Traction  Company, 
referred  to  the  100  per  cent  operation 
of  safety  cars  on  his  system  and  stated 
that  the  industry  now  had  reached  such 
a  stage  that  safety  car  operation  need 
not  be  defended  as  its  use  has  proved 
conclusively  that  this  type  of  car  is  an 
efficient  salesman  of  transportation. 

L.  H.  Palmer,  United  Railways  & 
Electric  Company,  Baltimore,  described 
the  new  type  of  safety  car  with  separ- 
ate entrance  and  exit,  ten  of  which  are 
in  service  on  this  company's  line.  These 
cars  were  described  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  Sept.  10,  1921, 
page  400.  In  concluding  Mr.  Palmer 
said  that  the  greatest  need  for  rail- 
ways at  present  was  to  give  the  public 
the  best  service  possible  and  that  the 
officials  of  the  electric  railway  in  Bal- 
timore felt  that  the  so-called  standard 
safety  car  fell  somewhat  short  in  pro- 
viding a  service  entirely  satisfactory 
to  patrons.  He  voiced  the  sentiment 
that  railway  officials  should  not  allow 
themselves  to  get  into  a  single-track 
frame  of  mind  in  regard  to  safety  car 
operation  and  that  the  changes  which 
they  had  found  necessary  to  make  in 
the  last  order  for  safety  cars  in  the  way 
of  separate  entrance  and  exits  would 
tend  to  make  this  type  of  car  even 
more  popular  with  the  traveling  pub- 
lic and  thus  provide  a  substantial  im- 
petus to  the  use  of  one-man  operated 
cars  everywhere. 

D.  P.  Abercrombie,  Connecticut 
Valley  Street  Railway,  in  discussing 
the  report  stated  that  his  experience 
-with  the  use  of  one-man  cars  extended 
-over  a  very  short  period.  His  observa- 
tions as  to  the  use  of  converted  one- 
man  double-truck  cars  have  forced  him 
to  the  conclusion  that  on  long  runs, 
involving  many  rates  of  fare,  the 
number  of  duties  placed  upon  the  in- 
dividual operator  becomes  too  great 
and  the  operator  is  not  able  to  collect 
properly  all  revenue  from  passengers. 
On  shorter  runs,  however,  with  a  flat 
fare  it  seemed  to  him  that  this  type  of 
•car  had  a  substantial  possibility.  It  is 
regrettable  that  it  has  not  been  possible 
under  the  Massachusetts  regulations  to 
operate  this  type  of  car  before,  as  it 
involves  a  substantial  saving  in  plat- 
form labor. 

It  may  be  possible  with  the  proper 
fare-collecting  device  for  one  operator 
on  multi-zone  lines  to  do  more  than  is 
possible  if  the  operators  use  the  Rooke 
register.  The  present  system  of  fare 
collection  opens  up  substantial  loop- 
holes for  the  constant  rider  to  ride  sub- 
stantial distances  on  a  minimum  fare, 
and  furthermore,  presents  opportuni- 
ties for  the  passenger  to  ride  longer 
distances  than  he  pays  for  even 
through  the  use  of  identification  checks. 
These  observations  were  formed  from 
only  a  limited  experience  with  this  type 
of  car  and  are  subject  therefore  to 
criticism  by  those  who  have  had  longer 
experience. 

At  the  latter  end  of  the  session  when 


the  president  called  for  "unfinished 
business,"  there  was  a  short  renewal 
of  the  discussion  on  the  safety  car  and 
it  is  included  here  so  that  it  will  all 
be  together. 

W.  H.  Sawyer,  East  St.  Louis,  criti- 
cised the  expression  "so-called"  stand- 
ard safety  car.  He  thought  the  indus- 
try had  taken  a  big  step  forward  in 
the  design  of  the  usual  type  of  single 
entrance-and-exit  car.  H.  H.  Adams, 
however,  declared  that  neither  the  as- 
sociation nor  any  of  its  affiliated  asso- 
ciations had  adopted  any  car  as  stand- 
ard. R.  P.  Stevens  declared  the  com- 
mittee had  no  intention  of  establishing 
standards  in  its  report,  but  it  was  pre- 
pared only  to  supply  information.  He 
expressed  the  opinion  that  all  one-man 
double  truck  cars  should  be  equipped 
with  safety  devices. 

Terminal  Service  Possibilities 

J.  R.  Bibbins,  manager  department 
of  transportation  and  communications 
U.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce,  then  pre- 
sented a  paper  on  "Terminal  Service 
Possibilities  of  the  Electric  Railways." 
This  appears  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

In  verbal  explanation  Mr.  Bibbins 
explained  that  his  paper  might  seem 
somewhat  academic,  but  it  was  so  pre- 
pared intentionally,  partly  because  he 
wished  to  outline  general  principles  and 
partly  because  many  of  those  present 
were  well  able  to  make  practical  appli- 
cations of  the  principles. 

Address  from  Secretary  Hoover 

President  Gadsden  than  announced 
that  about  two  weeks  ago  he  with  other 
representatives  of  the  association  had 
seen  Secretary  Hoover  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  he  had  agreed  to 
present  an  address  at  the  convention 
if  official  duties  did  not  keep  him  in 
Washington.  Mr.  Hoover  had  found 
that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  be 
present  but  he  had  sent  his  address, 
which  would  be  presented  by  F.  M. 
Feiker,  assistant  to  the  Secretary. 

Mr.  Feiker  on  being  introduced  said 
that  Mr.  Hoover  had  expressed  great 
interest  in  the  problems  of  the  electric 
railways.  It  is  the  philosophy  in  the 
Commerce  Department  for  the  Gov- 
ernment not  to  do  business  in  place  of 
business  men  but  for  business  men,  and 
to  utilize  as  far  as  possible  the  collec- 
tive activities  of  men  or  groups  of 
men  in  promoting  industrial  prosperity. 
He  also  explained  that  Mr.  Hoover  had 
personally  taken  a  great  deal  of  in- 
terest in  preparing  this  address,  which 
was  written  during  one  of  his  weekly 
single-day  boat  trips.  He  then  read 
the  address,  which  is  published  else- 
where in  this  issue. 

Resolutions 

The  report  of  the  resolutions  com- 
mittee was  then  presented  by  Mr. 
Bozell.  The  resolutions,  which  were 
unanimously  adopted,  follow: 

Service  by  Mr.  Gadsden 

Whereas,  Philip  H.  Gadsden,  called  in  a 
time  of  peculiar  need,  has  served  the  asso- 
ciation as  its  president  for  the  past  year 


in  a  remarkable  manner  of  usefulness  and 
service  to  the  industry  and  the  association, 
and 

Whereas,  Mr.  Gadsden  has  given  unstint- 
ingly  of  his  time  and  thoughts  to  the  diffi- 
cult problems  of  association  organization 
and  operation  during  the  year,  and 

Whereas,  Mr.  Gadsden  has  in  addition 
given  a  special  and  immeasurable  service 
to  the  industry  through  his  constant  willing- 
ness and  ability  to  present  in  public  in 
many  and  various  places  in  the  country  the 
peculiar  problems  of  the  industry,  there- 
fore, 

Be  it  resolved,  that  the  association  hereby 
record  its  deep  appreciation  of  the  extraor- 
dinary service  Mr.  Gadsden  has  rendered 
and  extend  its  sincere  thanks  and  indicate 
its  obligation  to  him. 

Tribute  to  Officers 

Whereas,  the  past  year  has  been  one 
which,  for  several  special  reasons,  has  de- 
manded extra  and  extraordinary  service  on 
the  part  of  the  officers  of  the  association, 
and 

Whereas,  they  have  given  unsparingly  of 
their  time  and  thought  in  the  effort  to  have 
the  association  perform  its  proper  function 
and  prove  of  greater  usefulness  to  the  in- 
dustry, now  therefore. 

Be  it  resolved,  that  the  association  express 
its  appreciation  and  thanks  to  the  officers 
for  this  service. 

Death  of  Mr.  Landers 

Whereas,  the  association  has  learned  with 
deep  regret  of  the  death  of  J.  J.  Landers, 
auditor  of  the  York  Railways,  president  of 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Account- 
ants' Association,  and  a  member  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  association,  and 

Whereas,  Mr.  Landers  was  a  man  of 
sterling  character  and  high  purpose  and 
served  this  association  and  its  affiliated 
association  in  a  spirit  of  true  service. 

Be  it  hereby  resolved,  that,  we  do  record 
our  appreciation  of  his  worth  and  service 
and  our  sorrow  at  his  loss  from  our  midst. 

Death  of  Mr.  Littell 

Whereas,  the  association  has  heard  of  the 
death,  last  spring,  of  Hardin  H.  Littell.  one 
of  the  organizers  of  this  association  and 
the  first  president  of  the  association,  and 

Whereas,  we  recognize  the  debt  the  indus- 
try and  the  association  owe  Mr.  Littell  for 
his  early  constructive  work,  and 

Whereas,  Mr.  Littell  was  known  to  be  by 
all  his  friends  a  man  of  courage,  ability 
and  accomplishment,  a  man  of  character 
and  a  loyal  friend,  therefore, 

Be  it  resolved,  that  we  do  record  our 
appreciation  of  his  service  to  the  industry, 
of  his  worth  and  of  our  sorrow  at  his  loss 
from  our  midst. 

Death  of  Mr.  Wright 

Whereas,  the  association  has  heard  with 
deep  regret  of  the  sudden  death  of  Thomas 
A.  Wrieht,  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Wilkes-Barre  Railway  Com- 
pany, and 

Wli ereas,  Mr.  Wright  was  a  man  of  strong 
personality,  quiet  and  courageous,  a  genial 
companion  and  a  warm  and  loyal  friend, 
now,  therefore. 

Be  it  resolved,  that  we  record  our  appre- 
ciation of  his  worth  and  our  sorrow  at  his 
loss  from  our  midst. 

To  the  Speakers 

Whereas,  during  this  convention  of  the 
association,  we  have  had  the  pleasure  and 
benefit  of  having  addresses  presented  to  it 
by  men  outside  of  its  membership,  and 

Whereas,  these  addresses  have  been  of 
very  great  value  to  the  association  in  its 
deliberations,  now,  therefore. 

Be  it  resolved,  that  the  thanks  of  the 
association  be  extended  to  Dr.  J.  Duncan 
Spaeth  and  Messrs.  H.  M.  Addinsell,  F.  E. 
Prothingham,  J.  K.  Newman.  J.  R.  Bibbins 
and  R.  H.  Babson. 

To  Mr.  Hoover  and  Mr.  Feiker 

Whereas,  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  of 
the  United  States,  Herbert  Hoover,  though 
overloaded  with  the  pressing  problems  of 
his  office,  particularly  the  unemployment 
situation  and  the  condition  of  dislocated 
industry  of  national  importance,  has  never- 
theless recognized  the  importance  of  th° 
electric  railway  industry  and  its  problems, 
and 

Whereas,  Mr.  Hoover  has  prepared  a 
message  to  the  association  and  has  sent 
his  personal  representative,  F.  M.  Feiker, 


622 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


assistant  to  the  Secretary,  to  present  the 
message  in  person,  therefore, 

Be  it  resolved,  that  we  express  our  appre- 
ciation to  Mr.  Hoover  for  his  message  and 
to  Mr.  Feiker  for  his  personal  presentation. 

Support  of  Technical  Press 

Whereas,  the  association  recognizes  the 
value  in  any  field  of  a  strong  technical 
press  and  the  close  interdependence  of  in- 
terest of  an  industry  with  the  technical  and, 
business  papers  which  serve  it,  therefore, 

Be  it  resolved,  that  the  association  express 
its  appreciation  of  the  excellent  service  to 
and  support  of  the  industry  and  association 
rendered  bv  papers  in  the  electric  railway 
field. 

President  Gadsden  then  stated  that 
the  time  had  arrived  to  lay  down  the 
gavel  and  he  appointed  a  committee  to 
escort  the  new  officers  of  the  associa- 
tion to  the  platform.  All  were  present 
with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Emmons. 

Mr.  Todd  expressed  his  appreciation 
of  the  honor  accorded  to  him  and 
pledged  his  best  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
association.  Mr.  Budd  urged  a  more 
general  adoption  of  the  policies  recom- 
mended by  the  association,  and  said 
he  referred  particularly  to  the  organi- 
zation of  safety  committees.  Mr.  Shan- 
nahan  urged  the  co-operation  of  all 
during  the  coming  year  and  Mr.  Coates 
emphasized  this  need  by  two  stories. 

President  Todd,  after  saying  that  the 
reports  scheduled  for  Monday  morning 
but  not  presented  would  be  placed  on 
record,  declared  the  meeting  adjourned. 
Abstracts  of  these  reports  follow: 

Committee  of  One  Hundred 

In  accordance  with  action  taken  at 
the  1920  convention,  the  Committee  of 
One  Hundred,  with  slight  changes  in 
personnel,  has  continued  to  function 
for  the  purpose  of  disseminating  gen- 
eral information  regarding  the  indus- 
try. This  publicity  and  educational 
work  has  been  carried  on  through  co- 
operation of  the  Committee  of  One  Hun- 
dred and  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Association,  being  under  the  direct 
supervision  of  the  committee  on  pub- 
licity with  the  general  approval  of  this 
committee. 

The  committee  planned  a  dinner  in 
New  York  City  on  July  8,  1921,  in  com- 
memoration of  its  second  anniversary, 
but  it  was  postponed  due  to  the  impos- 
sibility of  securing  the  desired  speak- 
ers at  that  time.  It  is  expected  that 
this  dinner  will  be  held  some  time  dur- 
ing this  fall  or  winter.  What  the  com- 
mittee has  in  mind  for  the  future  has 
to  do  more  particularly  with  matters 
affecting  credit.  Your  committee  feels 
that  however  good  the  results  may  be 
from  local  effort,  the  results  in  improv- 
ing the  credit  of  electric  railway  com- 
panies will  not  be  so  good  unless  this 
national  campaign  is  carried  on.  The 
report  was  submitted  by  Henry  R. 
Hayes,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Company 
Sections  and  Individual 
Membership 

Martin  Schreiber,  chairman,  presented 
the  report  of  the  committee  on  com- 
pany sections  as  follows: 

There  was  only  one  company  section 
of  the  association  formed  this  year 
This,  however,  does  not  represent  the 


full  activities  of  the  company  section 
movement.  At  present  individual  mem- 
bers of  the  association  number  only 
about  830;  while  the  company  section 
individual  members  are  nearly  three 
times  that  number.  So  the  company 
section  idea  is  largely  responsible  for 
the  individual  memberships  of  the  asso- 
ciation. 

If  it  had  not  been  for  the  company 
sections  during  the  past  few  years  the 
record  of  the  individual  members  would 
be  rather  a  disappointing  one.  Now,  it 
is  generally  considered  that  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Association  or  any  other  body 
made  up  of  individuals  largely  depends 
on  its  personnel,  and  since  the  company 
section  is  the  strongest  influence  for 
increasing  the  efficiency  and  number  of 
individuals  identified  with  our  associa- 
tion, why  don't  our  member  companies 
take  more  interest  in  organizing  com- 
pany sections? 

F.  G.  Buffe,  general  manager  for  the 
receiver  of  the  Kansas  City  Railways, 
says:  "There  is  a  broad  field  to  cover  in 
association  work  and  that  is  the  devel- 
opment of  company  sections.  There  is 
an  opportunity  in  bringing  to  the  army 
of  electric  railway  employees  the  ad- 
vantages of  this  co-operative  work.  Our 
organizations  will  best  progress  with 
the  education  of  our  minor  officials, 
and  through  company  sections  this  can 
be  accomplished.  We  should  all  strive 
to  make  every  employee  of  every  street 
railway  system  in  the  United  States  an 
interested  participant,  feeling  that  he 
is  a  part  of  this  gigantic  combination 
of  capital  and  labor,  united  for  the 
public  service." 

The  company  section  referred  to  as 
instituted  this  year  is  Section  13  of 
the  association.  It  comprises  the  em- 
ployees of  the  southern  division  of  the 
Public  Service  Railway,  Camden,  N.  J. 
This  section  was  created  and  in  oper- 
ation in  about  one  week  after  it  was 
decided  to  go  ahead  and  more  than  200 
members  are  enrolled. 

It  has  been  operating  for  less  than 
a  year  but  has  quite  a  unique  record. 
The  monthly  meetings  of  this  section 
are  not  only  an  open  forum  for  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  company,  but  also 
for  the  public  as  well.  To  get  a  true 
view  of  the  car  riders,  instead  of  an 
interpretation,  often  initiated  by  the 
company's  mutual  admiration  society, 
prominent  representatives  of  the  public 
are  invited  to  address  the  company  men 
at  the  section  meetings.  Already  the 
president  of  the  City  Council,  the  sec- 
retary of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
president  of  the  Rotary  Club  and  the 
City  Attorney  have  appeared  at  these 
meetings.  In  this  way,  these  people 
are  given  a  chance  to  talk  directly  to 
the  persons  who  are  really  responsible, 
at  least  as  far  as  the  car  rider  can  see, 
for  the  operation  of  the  railway.  If 
experience  is  any  criterion,  the  ex- 
periment has  been  very  satisfactory  to 
all  concerned. 

Your  committee  does  not  intend  to 
go  into  detail  about  a  particular  com- 
pany section  when  such  splendid  work 
is  being  done  by  other  company  sec- 


tions, such  as  those  of  the  Community- 
Traction  Company,  Connecticut  Com- 
pany, Chicago  Elevated  Railways,  New- 
port News  &  Hampton  Railway  and 
others.  But  the  committee  mentions 
the  work  at  Camden  because  it  seems 
to  be  rather  a  new  departure. 

When  officials  go  back  to  the  job,, 
the  committee  recommends  they  give 
the  company  section  idea  honest  and 
sincere  consideration.  We  believe  that 
each  one  of  you  who  does  this  will 
start  a  company  section  at  the  earliest 
possible  time.  Moreover,  you  will 
accomplish  for  your  own  company  what 
Mr.  Buffe  has  pointed  out  as  well  as 
give  an  impetus  to  the  association  that 
will  put  it  in  the  position  which  it 
rightfully  deserves.  The  members  of 
the  committee  stand  ready  to  render 
any  aid  that  they  can  in  the  organiza- 
tion work. 

Report  of  Joint  Committee  of  Na- 
tional Utility  Associations 

The  joint  committee  of  National  Util- 
ity Associations  was  organized  as  the 
result  of  the  belief  that  matters  of  a 
national  character  bearing  equally  upon 
and  having  the  same  relation  to  all 
utilities  could  be  more  effectively  han- 
dled and  confliction  of  effort  avoided' 
by  a  central  conmmittee  representing 
equally  and  impartially  the  three  na- 
tional associations  most  directly  con- 
cerned. Preliminary  discussions  of  the 
matter  resulted  in  an  organization 
meeting  in  the  headquarters  of  the 
National  Electric  Light  Association  on 
Dec.  22,  1920,  at  which  Randal  Morgan 
was  elected  as  temporary  chairman  by 
the  representatives  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association,  National 
Electric  Light  Association  and  Amer- 
ican Gas  Association. 

The  permanent  officers  elected  at  this 
meeting  are:  Randal  Morgan,  chair- 
man; S.  Z.  Mitchell,  vice-chairman,  and 
O.  H.  Fogg,  secretary.  The  executive 
committee  members  are:  S.  Z.  Mitchell, 
chairman;  P.  H.  Gadsden,  vice-chair- 
man, and  O.  H.  Fogg,  secretary. 

Among  the  several  sub-committees 
appointed  that  on  taxation  has  been  the 
most  active,  W.  V.  Hill  having  been 
temporarily  retained  to  represent  it  in 
Washington.  This  committee  has  had 
under  frequent  advisement  the  various 
phases  of  federal  taxation  as  they  re- 
late to  public  utilities  and  its  chairman 
and  representatives  have  presented  the 
views  of  the  committee  before  various 
governmental  committees  and  officials. 
Its  sub-committee  appointed  to  confer 
with  representatives  of  the  Association 
of  Railway  Executives  has  had  several 
meetings  with  representatives  of  that 
association.  A  sub-committee  on  fuel, 
of  which  J.  W.  Lieb  is  chairman,  has 
been  actively  carrying  on  the  activities 
formerly  conducted  by  the  National 
Committee  on  Gas  and  Electric  Service 
in  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  supply 
of  fuel  for  the  use  of  public  utility 
companies. 

A  third  meeting  of  the  joint  com- 
mittee was  held  in  the  office  of  Mr. 
Mitchell,  president  Electric  Bond  & 
Share  Company,  Sept.  21.   The  question 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


623 


of  tax-exempt  securities  and  the  consti- 
tutional amendment  was  discussed  and 
the  possibility  of  providing  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  present  law.  The  National 
Tax  Association  has  passed  a  resolution 
against  tax-exempt  securities. 

Mr.  Hill  has  also  prepared  a  report  on 
federal  tax  revision,  a  copy  of  which  is 
attached  as  part  of  this  report.  It  fol- 
lows: 

Federal  Tax  Revision 
The  sub-committee  on  federal  taxa- 
tion of  the  joint  committee  of  public 
utilities  associations  consists  of  the  fol- 
lowing members:  Philip  H.  Gadsden, 
chairman;  Charles  A.  Munroe,  Henry 
G.  Bradlee,  Frank  W.  Frueauff,  R.  A. 
Carter  and  Oscar  E.  Fogg,  secretary. 

While  a  report  on  the  work  of  the 
committee  on  taxation  at  this  time  is 
somewhat  premature,  the  tax  revision 
bill  having  only  passed  the  House,  and 
at  present  being  considered  by  the  Sen- 
ate finance  committee,  it  may  be  of  in- 
terest to  some  to  know  what  has  been 
done,  and  what  is  proposed  by  the  com- 
mittee. 

Mr.  Gadsden  appeared  before  the 
Senate  finance  committee  on  May  10 
last,  during  the  consideration  of  a  sales 
tax  bill,  urging  against  the  levying  of 
a  sales  or  turnover  tax  on  car  fares, 
gas,  electric  light  bills  or  meters,  ex- 
plaining the  reasons  for  his  objections; 
in  fact,  opposing  a  sales  or  turnover 
tax  on  regulated  industry.  He  stated, 
however,  that  he  favored  a  sales  or 
turnover  tax  with  the  above  exceptions. 
The  finance  committee  subsequently 
placed  the  proposed  sales  tax  bill  in  the 
discard. 

Mr.  Gadsden  injected  in  his  state- 
ment before  the  committee  strong  op- 
position to  the  continued  issuance  of 
tax-exempt  securities  by  municipal, 
state  and  federal  governments,  calling 
attention  to  the  serious  effect  this  prac- 
tice was  having  on  public  utilities  se- 
curities competing  in  the  open  market 
with  them  and  the  effect  on  business  in 
general.  He  also  stated  that  he  favored 
the  repealing  of  the  higher  brackets 
on  surtaxes  and  the  excess  profits  tax. 

The  tax  committee,  realizing  the  in- 
creasingly adverse  effect  that  the  con- 
tinued practice  of  issuing  tax-exempt 
securities,  especially  by  states  and  lesser 
subdivisions,  was  having  on  public  utili- 
ties securities,  as  well  as  other  taxable 
securities,  started  an  educational  pub- 
licity campaign  and  through  the  co- 
operation of  the  three  national  public 
utility  associations,  bankers,  farmers, 
associations  and  others  interested,  a 
strong  public  sentiment  has  been  devel- 
oped in  favor  of  immediate  legislation 
to  correct  the  evil.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, legal  authorities,  in  and  out  of 
Congress,  who  have  made  a  study  of  the 
question,  have  concluded  that  the  only 
remedy  is  through  the  enactment  of  a 
constitutional  amendment,  which  can- 
not become  effective  until  ratified  by 
the  legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the 
states.  Bills  have  been  introduced  by 
influential  members  in  both  houses  of 
Congress  to  correct  this  situation,  and 
a  majority  of  the  congressmen  favor 
this  legislation. 


Also  the  ways  and  means  committee 
prepared,  approved  and  submitted  on 
the  floor  of  the  House  an  amendment 
to  the  revenue  revision  bill,  which  would 
create  a  temporary  commission  to  be 
appointed  by  the  President,  consisting 
of  members  of  both  Houses  and  the  pub- 
lic, to  study  the  situation  and  report 
within  a  year  its  findings  and  recom- 
mendations on  this  question.  The 
amendment,  owing  to  lack  of  sufficient 
time,  was  caught  in  the  jam  just  before 
final  vote  was  taken  on  the  bill  and  was 
not  adopted.  We  have  assurances,  how- 
ever, that  the  Senate  finance  committee 
will  embody  it  in  the  bill  in  that  com- 
mittee. 

The  ways  and  means  committee  of 
the  House  held  four  days  hearings  on 
the  general  tax  revision  bill.  Mr.  Gads- 
den was  scheduled  to  appear  on  behalf 
of  the  tax  committee  on  July  28,  but 
at  the  last  moment  an  urgent  business 
engagement  prevented,  and  the  writer 
was  asked  to  appear  in  his  stead,  mak- 
ing a  short  statement  and  filing  with 
the  committee  a  brief  prepared  by 
Mr.  Gadsden.  General  publicity  was 
given  Mr.  Gadsden's  statement  through 
the  association's  service  letters  and 
magazines;  also  other  technical  journals 
and  the  press.  The  Philadelphia  Pub- 
lic Ledger  printed  a  strong  editorial 
indorsing  Mr.  Gadsden's  views. 

Mr.  Gadsden  advocated  in  his  state- 
ment that  public  utilities  be  placed  in  a 
special  class  for  the  purpose  of  taxa- 
tion, setting  forth  the  reasons  therefor. 
He  protested  against  any  increase  in 
the  normal  income  tax  on  gas,  electric 
railway  and  electric  light  and  power 
companies.  He  urged  that  normal  in- 
come tax  on  public  utilities  be  retained 
as  at  present  at  10  per  cent,  giving 
reasons  why  this  distinction  should  be 
made.  He  protested  against  a  tax  on 
undistributed  income  upon  public  util- 
ities, and  urged  legislation  to  stop  is- 
suance of  tax-exempt  securities,  and 
the  repeal  of  the  higher  surtaxes  and 
excess  profits  taxes,  showing  in  detail 
the  adverse  effect  these  taxes  have  on 
public  utilities. 

The  writer  in  his  statement  before  the 
ways  and  means  committee  touched 
upon  the  proposed  increase  in  normal 
income  tax  and  undistributed  income 
and  the  effect  of  these  taxes  on  public 
utilities,  and  also  urged  that  the  com- 
mittee give  consideration  to  extending 
the  tax  exemption  of  42  cents  on  one- 
way fares  to  one  dollar,  if  it  did  not 
contemplate  repealing  all  of  the  trans- 
portation tax  at  this  time,  explaining 
the  reasons  for  this  change. 

The  tax  committee,  through  Mr.  Gads- 
den, endeavored  to  get  a  hearing  be- 
fore the  Senate  finance  committee  to 
again  urge  a  separate  classification  for 
public  utilities  for  the  income  tax  levy 
and  also  the  repeal  of  the  capital  stock 
tax  on  public  utilities,  but  Senator  Pen- 
rose, chairman,  advised  us  that  no  fur- 
ther hearings  would  be  held,  but  we 
could  file  supplementary  information 
and  it  would  receive  the  careful  atten- 
tion of  his  committee.  The  tax  com- 
mittee will  continue  to  watch  the  situ- 
ation carefully  as  it  develops  in  the 


Senate  finance  committee  and  until  fi- 
nal enactment  of  the  bill,  and  will  en- 
deavor to  carry  out  the  program  as 
outlined  by  Mr.  Gadsden.  The  com- 
mittee asks  for  the  continued  co-opera- 
tion of  all  interested  in  this  important 
work. 


Entertainment  Features  at 
the  Convention 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  heavy 
business  program  of  the  conven- 
tion a  very  pleasing  entertainment 
program  was  provided  for  the  dele- 
gated. It  began  with  a  golf  tourna- 
ment, at  which  O.  A.  Broten,  National 
Pneumatic  Company,  won  the  kickers' 
handicap  and  L.  A.  Wilson,  Ohio  Brass 
Company,  won  low  gross.  The  low  net 
for  the  supply  men  was  won  by  R.  Wil- 
son of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company  and  for  the 
railway  men  by  G.  T.  Seely  of  Youngs- 
town.  The  tournament  between  the 
railway  and  the  supply  men  was  won 
by  the  latter  by  a  score  of  7  to  1,  there 
being  eight  players  on  each  side. 

Rain  proved  to  be  such  a  formidable 
obstacle  that  the  ladies'  obstacle  golf 
game  scheduled  for  Monday  afternoon 
on  the  links  of  the  Marlborough-Blen- 
heim  Hotel  was  canceled.  The  weather 
the  rest  of  the  week,  however,  was 
ideal.  On  Monday  evening,  the  an- 
nual reception  was  held  in  the  Vene- 
tion  Ballroom  of  the  Ambassador 
Hotel.  In  addition  to  the  dancing, 
which  continued  into  the  early  hours 
of  the  morning,  an  aquatic  exhibition 
was  provided  by  a  number  of  expert 
men  and  girl  swimmers  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  those  who  cared  more  for 
this  than  dancing.  Included  in  the 
aquatic  exhibition  was  a  water  polo 
contest  engaged  in  by  members  of  the 
association.  The  game  was  not  finished 
as  the  ball  mysteriously  disappeared. 
The  reception  was  enlivened  by  novelty 
features  and  professional  dancing. 

On  Tuesday  the  ladies  enjoyed  an 
afternoon  tea  in  the  Japanese  Tea 
Room  of  the  Ambassador  and  music  by 
the  Special  Ambassador  Orchestra. 
The  association  dinner,  made  more 
pleasant  by  the  presence  of  the  ladies, 
was  an  innovation  in  the  convention 
program  and  was  generally  pronounced 
a  great  success.  Dancing  followed  the 
banquet. 

Wednesday  afternoon  the  ladies  in- 
dulged in  a  bridge  tournament  at  the 
Ritz-Carlton  Hotel  and  in  the  evening 
there  was  a  grand  ball  in  the  Renais- 
sance Room  of  the  Ambassador.  An- 
other informal  tea,  in  the  Trellis  Room 
of  the  Ritz-Carlton,  with  music  by 
Veschey's  Parisian  Band,  formed  the 
afternoon  entertainment  for  the  ladies 
on  Thursday.  The  convention  con- 
cluded with  a  theater  party  that  eve- 
ning, at  which  the  delegates  were  en- 
tertained by  Ed  Wynn  in  "A  Perfect 
Fool." 

A  large  committee,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Chairman  Edwin  C.  Faber,  was 
responsible  for  the  elaborate  and  highly 
successful  entertainment  program  pro- 
vided. 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Engineering  Association 
Proceedings 


Engineers  Held  Five  Busy  Sessions 
at  Which  Experts  from  Outside  the 
Association  Were  Heard — Unusual 
Amount  of  Prepared  Discussion 
Followed  Presentation  of  Reports — 
C.  S.  Kimball  Elected  President- 
Retiring  President  Gove  Suggested 
a  Committee  to  Study  Possible 
Improvements  in  Organization 


W.  G.  Gove 

Retiring  President 

PRESIDENT  W.  G.  GOVE  opened 
the  convention  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Engineering  As- 
sociation on  the  afternoon  of  Oct.  3  in 
the  Solarium  of  Haddon  Hall.  The  first 
number  on  the  program  was  the  read- 
ing of  the  presidential  address  by  Mr. 
Gove.    An  abstract  of  this  follows: 

Mr.  Gove  Recommends  Some  Revision 
of  Association  Procedure 

This  convention  marks  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  year  of  the  existence  of  this 
association,  under  one  name  or  another, 
as  an  independent  association  or  one 
affiliated  with  the  American  Electric- 
Railway  Association.  It  is  incredible 
thut  changes  cannot  be  made  in  its  con- 
stitution and  procedure  that  would 
greatly  enhance  the  standing  of  the 
association  and  the  value  of  its  work. 
As  in  every  other  industry,  the  expe- 
rience of  the  past  is  of  value  in  shaping 
the  course  for  the  future,  but  it  is  not 
a  safe  or  proper  guide  as  to  just  what 
should  be  done.  New  methods  must  be 
found;  modern  ways  of  obtaining  more 
efficient  and  prompter  results  should  be 
devised. 

The  American  Electric  Railway  As- 
sociation has  found  it  desirable  to  ap- 
point a  reorganization  committee,  with 
a  view  to  modernizing  and  increasing 
the  efficiency  of  its  organization.  Simi- 
larly this  association  should  take  up 
the  work  of  reorganization.  The  time 
is  new  ripe  for  the  appointment  of  a 
reorganization  committee  by  the  incom- 
ing president,  to  renort  the  results  of 
its  work  to  the  executive  committee  as 
early  in  1922  as  possible.  I  wish,  there- 
fore, to  make  an  earnest  presentation 
of  facts  as  I  see  them  with  the  recom- 
mendation that  the  association  inaugu- 
rate promptly  certain  reforms  and 
changes.  These  could  not  but  be  bene- 
ficial and  would  be  consistent  with  the 
action  recently  taken  by  associations 
similar  to  this. 

Following  are  some  of  the  things 
that,  I  think,  the  association  should  do. 

1.  Definite  recommendations  have 
been  made  bv  the  reorganization  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Association, 
which  include  several  features  that  are 


deserving  of  very  careful  consideration 
by  those  charged  with  the  responsibil- 
ity of  shaping  the  destinies  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Engineering 
Association. 

To  the  extent  that  the  American  As- 
sociation exercises  supervision  of  this 
association  and  its  organization,  includ- 
ing provision  for  financing  its  work, 
and  continues  the  present  policy  of 
denying  the  Engineering  Association  an 
adequate  appropriation  for  carrying 
along  its  research  and  committee  work, 
the  results  which  can  be  expected  are 
limited.  The  policy  of  paying  none  of 
the  expenses  of  standing  (or  working) 
committees,  and  depending  entirely 
upon  the  generosity,  enthusiasm  or 
ability  of  member  companies  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  its  employees  when  en- 
gaged on  committee  work  is  a  restric- 
tion that  cannot  but  militate  against 
the  value  of  the  results  finally  obtained. 

As  a  further  item  of  direct  interest  to 
the  association,  it  will  be  noted  that  the 
reorganization  committee  of  the  Amer- 
ican Association  has  recommended  the 
continuance  of  Aera.  This  has  been  a 
matter  discussed  for  some  years,  and 
there  is  wide  divergence  of  opinion  as 
to  its  value.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  likely 
to  be  continued,  however,  I  appreciate 
that  the  magazine  can  be  made  use 
of  by  your  association  in  reporting  pro- 
ceedings, or  as  a  means  of  obtaining 
more  widespread  discussion  of  commit- 
tee work.  Publication  of  such  reports 
should  be  made  from  time  to  time,  and 
the  final  report  of  the  committee  should 
be  printed  previous  to  the  convention. 
Under  the  present  procedure  I  see  no 
advantage  that  accrues  to  the  Engineer- 
ing Association.  Furthermore,  there  is 
the  Question  Box,  which  occupies  space 
and  incurs  expense  that  could  be  better 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Engi- 
neering Association.  This  would  aid 
the  association  in  taking  its  proper 
place  among  the  national  engineering 
associations. 

Simplification  of  Committee  Work 

2.  The  carrying  along  of  work  from 
year  to  year  by  means  of  standing; 
committees  has  accomplished  some  re- 
sults. If,  however,  the  industry  at 
large  is  to  be  greatly  benefited  by  cur- 


Charles  S.  Kimball 

Newly  Electe-d  President 

rent  rather  than  "post-mortem"  action, 
there  needs  to  be  a  radical  change  in 
the  methods  pursued  in  carrying  on 
research  work.  All  committees  should, 
so  far  as  possible,  be  equally  divided 
in  membership  between  engineering 
representatives  of  manufacturers  and 
railroad  operating  engineers.  Com- 
mittees today  are  altogether  too  large, 
and  have  too  many  subjects  assigned 
to  them.  Due  to  the  financial  policy 
already  mentioned,  about  85  per 
cent  of  the  committee  work  done 
in  accordance  with  the  yearly  as- 
signment of  subjects  is  performed  by 
comparatively  few  men  from  a  few 
Eastern  cities.  Many  of  those  ap- 
pointed take  little  interest  in  the 
work.  Even  if  the  very  considerable 
financial  obstacle  to  the  proper  ac- 
complishment of  committee  work  can- 
not be  immediately  removed,  much  can 
be  done  by  organizing  committees  to 
represent  more  nearly  the  various  sec- 
tions of  the  United  States.  Discus- 
sion, even  through  the  mail,  should  in- 
sure wider  discussion  of  recommenda- 
tions than  at  present,  and  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  views  of  a  larger  sec- 
tion of  the  country.  Subjects  should  be 
very  carefully  considered  some  months 
in  advance  of  the  convention  and  only 
a  few  of  them  assigned  to  each  com- 
mittee. 

As  a  member  of  the  American  So- 
ciety of  Civil  Engineers,  I  was  greatly 
impressed  by  an  address  of  Edward  J. 
Mehren,  editor  of  Engineering  News- 
Record,  delivered  at  that  association's 
headquarters  on  Jan.  5,  1921.  He  sum- 
marized present  industrial  and  politi- 
cal conditions  in  western  Europe  and 
Germany,  the  particular  feature  of  in- 
terest to  the  Engineering  Association 
being  his  reference  to  "standardization 
or  direction  of  design."  While  stand- 
ardization is  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance, it  will  never  be  fully  effected. 
In  fact,  if  carried  too  far  it  will  re- 
tard rather  than  develop  an  art.  While 
the  work  of  the  standing  committees 
has  done  much  in  this  field,  an  equal 
amount,  or  more,  could  be  accomplished 
if  certain  consideration  in  the  matter 
of  design  were  given  in  advance.  For 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


625 


.nstance,  in  connection  with  rolling 
stock  we  have  all  agreed  that  a  uni- 
versal application  of  a  standard  car 
is  out  of  the  question,  but  it  should 
be  entirely  possible,  and  would  be  of 
considerable  economic  value,  to  have 
standard  types  of  cars.  Today  the 
safety,  or  one-man,  car  most  nearly 
approaches  this  condition,  although 
there  is  already  a  disposition  seriously 
to  criticise  this  type.  Premiums  or 
penalties  in  the  form  of  an  increased 
first  cost  are  paid  to  obtain  something 
special  to  meet  either  assumed  or  real 
"local  conditions." 

To  offset  this,  closer  co-operation  in 
advance  of  production  by  the  manu- 
facturer and  with  the  railway  engi- 
neer might  be  carried  along  with  the 
aid  of  an  advisory  committee.  This 
should  be  restricted  in  number,  but 
should,  like  other  committees,  include 
an  equal  number  of  manufacturing  and 
operating  engineers.  Among  the  lat- 
ter should  be  a  civil,  a  mechanical,  and 
an  electrical  engineer.  The  commit- 
tee should  function  separately  from 
the  standards  committee  and  should 
have  a  secretary-engineer  as  its  nomi- 
nal head.  There  need  be  no  restric- 
tion as  to  the  number  of  types  of  cars. 
The  list  could  include  buses,  for  in- 
stance. 

The  standardization  by  types  is  an 
economic  necessity  at  a  time  when  the 
industry  is  struggling  to  find  means 
of  producing  increased  efficiency  and 
economy  and  when  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  trackless  trolleys  and  buses 
will  be  added  to  the  equipment  of  pub- 
lic service  utilities.  Why  should  not 
careful  consideration  be  given  to 
standardization  in  the  development  of 
such  vehicles  rather  than  leave  them 
for  "post-mortem"  consideration? 

Who  Should  Vote  on  the  Equipment 
Standards? 

3.  Voting  upon  standards  at  pres- 
ent is  done  on  a  wrong  basis,  as  can 
be  seen  by  a  simple  illustration.  Take 
the  case  of  rolled  steel  wheels  regard- 
ing which  a  company  operating  a  few 
cars  with  cast-iron  wheels  has  as  much 
to  say  as  one  operating  50,000  rolled 
steel  wheels.  The  cast-iron  wheel 
user  can  criticise  the  steel  wheels  and 
share  in  determining  the  characteris- 
tics of  the  steel  wheels.  Voting  upon 
standards  should  follow  the  long-estab- 
lished practice  of  the  Master  Me- 
chanics' and  Master  Car  Builders'  As- 
sociations, now  the  mechanical  divi- 
sion of  the  American  Railway  Asso- 
ciation. There  standards  bearing  upon 
rolling  stock  are  voted  for  upon  a  unit 
basis,  the  company  voting  the  number 
of  cars  owned.  In  power  generation, 
line  distribution  and  affiliated  mat- 
ters, kilowatt  output  for  railway  pur- 
poses, should  govern.  So  also  should 
the  number  of  single-track  miles  oper- 
ated in  all  way  and  structure  mat- 
ters. For  manufacturer  members  a 
unit  based  upon  gross  sales  could  be 
worked  out.  Perhaps  in  both  cases  only 
those  directly  concerned  with  the  sub- 
ject at  issue  should  vote. 

4.  A  permanent  organization  should 
be  provided  by  having  a  paid  head  of 


marked  ability.  It  is  all  right  to  elect 
a  president  each  year,  if  desired,  as 
at  present,  but  there  should  be  a  sec- 
retary-engineer, who  would  be  the 
nominal  head  of  the  Engineering  As- 
sociation in  all  matters  excepting 
those  having  to  do  with  direct  ad- 
ministration and  policy.  These,  of 
course,  rest  now  and  should  continue 
to  rest  with  the  executive  committee. 
Thus  continuity  of  action  from  time 
to  time  could  be  assured.  The  techni- 
cal correspondence  and  the  co-ordina- 
tion of  all  committee  work  could  be 
carried  along  from  year  to  year,  re- 
gardless of  changes  in  the  office  of 
president,  or  changes  within  the  execu- 
tive committee.  Such  a  plan  would 
only  be  consistent  with  the  practice  of 
such  national  associations  as  the 
American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers, 
the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers,  the  American  Institute  of 
Electrical  Engineers  and  others  of  na- 
tional importance. 

As  to  the  Improvements  in  the 
Engineering  Manual 

5.  The  Engineering  Manual  is  the 
record  of  committee  determinations  and 
findings.  It  should  bear  to  the  as- 
sociation and  the  industry  at  large 
much  the  same  relation  as  does 
"Kent's  Handbook"  to  the  mechanical 
engineer  and  "Trautwine"  to  the  civil 
engineer.  The  Engineering  Manual  is 
valuable,  but  from  time  to  time  ques- 
tions have  arisen  as  to  its  being  in 
proper  form;  also  as  to  the  method  of 
binding,  providing  for  additional  copies 
it>.  whole  or  in  part,  and  other  perti- 
nent questions.  I  recommend  that  this 
matter  be  made  a  part  of  the  work 
of  the  proposed  reorganization  com- 
mittee so  that  it  may  be  determined  in 
a  manner  consistent  with  up-to-date 
methods  and  practices. 

Co-operation  With  American  Engi- 
neering Standards  Committee 

The  association  has  taken  a  pro- 
gressive step  in  obtaining  representa- 
tion in  the  American  Engineering 
Standards  Committee.  This  organiza- 
tion is  comprised  of  representatives  of 
leading  engineering,  railway  and  other 
associations,  and  has  the  object  of 
unifying  methods  and  promulgating 
rules  for  developing  standards.  The 
literal  carrying  out  of  such  a  purpose 
would  undoubtedly  be  of  very  consid- 
erable value  to  the  electric  railway  in- 
dustry. But  until  the  organizaton  of 
the  association  provides  for  more 
active  research  work  throughout  the 
entire  industry  this  purpose  cannot  be 
fully  accomplished  as  far  as  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry  is  concerned. 

In  submitting  these  suggestions  I 
realize  that  they  will  not  meet  with 
universal  approval.  It  is  always  easier 
to  continue  doing  what  has  been  done 
than  to  make  somewhat  radical 
changes  in  methods.  However,  there 
never  was  a  period  when  changes  could 
be  made  to  greater  advantage  than 
now,  and  there  are  comparatively  few 
matters  that  can  properly  be  carried 
along:  in  the  same  way  as  was  the  prac- 
tice but  a  few  years  ago.    My  object 


in  making  these  recommendations  is 
oidy  to  suggest  ways  of  giving  the  as- 
sociation a  higher  standing  among  the 
other  national  engineering  associa- 
tions to  which  foreign  countries  are 
looking  for  engineering  progress.  I 
trust  that  such  changes  can  be  made 
as  will,  in  the  end,  render  more  val- 
uable the  results  of  the  committee 
work  as  embodied  in  the  Engineering 
Manual. 

Secretary  Welsh  Reports 
Secretary  J.  W.  Welsh  then  presented 
the  report  of  the  executive  committee. 
This,  he  said  consisted  of  the  minutes 
of  the  committee  meetings  for  the  year. 
It  was  accepted  without  reading,  for 
publication  in  the  proceedings. 

Mr.  Welsh  also  read  his  report  as 
secretary.  He  gave  statistics  of  the  at- 
tendance at  committee  meetings,  show- 
ing a  very  high  average  attendance. 
He  also  explained  the  ways  in  which 
the  association  is  co-operating  with  the 
American  Engineering  Standards  Com- 
mittee. He  gave  as  the  present  mem- 
bership the  following:  individual  mem- 
bers, 533;  company  section  members, 
451;  total  984.  The  report  of  the  sec- 
retary was  accepted. 

The  next  business  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committe3  on  resolutions  as 
follows:  H.  H.  Norris,  H.  H.  George 
and  R.  H.  Dalgleish. 

Report  on  Apprentice  Systems 

Presented 
The  report  of  the  committee  on  ap- 
prentice systems  was  next  read  by  F.  R. 
Phillips,  chairman.     An  abstract  fol- 
lows: 

Apprenticeship  Systems 

The  scope  of  the  duties  assigned  to 
the  committee  on  apprenticeship  sys- 
tems proved  to  be  so  great  that  it  was 
able  to  submit  only  a  suggested  outline 
this  year  to  serve  as  the  foundation  for 
a  plan  of  apprenticeship  training  which 
may  later  be  adopted  by  the  associa- 
tion. 

After  a  report  upon  the  apprentice 
work  being  done  by  various  organiza- 
tions, including  the  Paris-Orleans  Rail- 
way of  France,  a  plan  was  outlined 
which  follows  steam  railroad  models, 
modified  to  suit  the  peculiar  require- 
ments of  the  electric  railway  business. 
This  plan,  in  the  committee's  opinion, 
offers  the  best  means  "by  which  tne  in- 
dustry may  secure  recruits  for  its  per- 
sonnel. 

The  plan  comprehends  two  sections: 

(1)  A  trade  apprenticeship  course,  and 

(2)  an  engineering  apprenticeship 
course. 

The  trade  apprenticeship  course  pro- 
vides for  four  years  of  continuous  serv- 
ice in  one  trade,  with  accompanying 
classroom  instruction.  The  classroom 
instruction  would  consist  of  two  periods 
per  week  throughout  the  entire  four 
years  of  apprenticeship,  each  of  two 
hours  duration.  A  summary  of  the 
curriculum  follows : 

First  year,  mechanical  drawing  and 
blueprint  reading,  two-thirds  of  time; 
practical  shop  arithmetic,  l^maining 
time. 


626 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Second  year,  mechanical  drawing  and 
study  of  elementary  mechanism,  half 
time;  remaining  half  of  time  to  be  de- 
voted to  study  of  tool  designs,  shop 
practice,  etc. 

Third  year,  study  of  general  prin- 
ciples of  electricity,  electrical  devices 
and  machines,  half  time;  other  half  to 
be  devoted  to  further  study  of  prob- 
lems connected  with  the  apprentice's 
particular  trade. 

Fourth  year,  details  of  electrical 
mechanical  equipment  used  on  cars  of 
the  company,  half  time;  remaining  time 
to  be  devoted  to  instruction  in  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  federal,  state  and 
municipal  bodies  relating  to  the  com- 
pany's cars,  and  some  instruction  in 
elementary  economics  as  applied  to  the 
company's  business  and  everyday  life 
of  the  apprentice. 

It  was  the  committee's  opinion  that 
for  the  developing  of  engineering  ap- 
prentices some  form  of  the  co-operative 
training  such  as  was  originally  in- 
augurated by  the  University  of  Cin- 
cinnati, and  introduced  later  by  the 
University  of  Pittsburgh  and  seventy 
other  educational  institutions  more  or 
less,  would  be  most  economical  and 
satisfactory. 

This  report  was  signed  by  F.  R. 
Phillips,  chairman;  L.  C.  Datz  and  H. 
A.  Johnson. 

Discussion  on  Apprentice  Systems 

Following  the  presentation  of  the  re- 
port, prepared  contributions  to  the  dis- 
cussion were  presented  by  H.  W.  Cope. 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company;  E.  P.  Roundy,  New  York 
State  Railways,  and  E.  P.  Waller,  Gen- 
eral Electric  Company. 

Mr.  Cope  said  that  the  steam  rail- 
roads and  the  large  manufacturers  had 
found  a  course  of  training  for  their 
young  men  to  be  indispensable,  and  he 
believed  it  possible  for  the  electric  rail- 
ways to  use  a  modified  form  of  the  ap- 
prenticeship system  adopted  by  the 
steam  railroads.  He  believed  it  desir- 
able to  work  out  more  than  one  plan, 
owing  to  the  differences  among  proper- 
ties, due  to  size  and  environment. 
Some  properties  are  so  located  that 
apprentices  could  attend  classes  at  col- 
leges or  universities,  while  apprentices 
on  other  properties  might  take  corre- 
spondence courses. 

Mr.  Cope  suggested  the  organization, 
at  association  headquarters,  of  the 
proper  personnel  to  guide  this  activity 
while  in  a  formative  state.  He  also 
suggested  that  the  period  of  four  years 
required  to  complete  an  apprenticeship 
course  is  too  long.  A  shorter  period  of 
intensive  training  proved  its  effective- 
ness during  the  war. 

In  addition  to  a  study  of  economics 
Mr.  Cope  suggested  that  the  course 
might  include  the  study  of  public  rela- 
tions. It  is  also  very  important  that 
the  men  be  rightly  chosen  at  the  start 
in  order  that  time  and  money  be  saved 
by  not  trying  to  train  misfits.  He  listed 
six  subjects  for  consideration  by  the 
committee,  i.e  ,  ( 1 )  a  special  one-year 
course  for  college  graduates;  (2)  more 


mathematics  for  trades  apprenticeship 
courses;  (3)  a  reduction  of  the  age 
limit;  (4)  systematic  scheduling  of 
students  through  the  various  depart- 
ments; (5)  the  making  of  an  agreement 
under  which  both  parties  will  have  to 
make  good;  (6)  the  placing  of  the  ap- 
prenticeship wage  rate  at  a  fixed  per- 
centage of  the  standard  journeyman 
rate. 

Mr.  Roundy  said  that  the  report 
covers  the  ground  very  well,  and  from 
one  of  the  plans  described  a  system  can 
be  devised  which  will  apply  to  electric 
railways.  As  it  is  the  province  of  the 
colleges  to  give  the  necessary  technical 
training  it  is  not  advisable  for  the  elec- 
tric railways  to  provide  this.  However, 
a  young  man  attending  college  might 
be  given  four  months  of  work  each 
summer  with  an  electric  railway.  Mr. 
Roundy  believed  the  idea  to  be  errone- 
ous that  a  knowledge  of  the  financial 
condition  of  the  industry  keeps  college 
men  away. 

In  the  training  of  mechanics  and 
tradesmen,  Mr.  Roundy  said  that  tech- 
nical training  should  be  carried  just  far 
enough  so  that  the  mechanic  under- 
stands the  reason  for  doing  the  work 
as  he  is  taught  to  do  it.  If  he  shows 
qualifications  for  foremanship  the  tech- 
nical training  may  be  continued.  Tech- 
nical training  of  foremen  should  not 
overlap  that  of  the  apprenticeship  engi- 
neer. 

Mr.  Waller  said  that  the  apprentices 
of  his  company  are  taught  shop  trades 
and  not  engineering.  The  training  given 
technical  graduates  is  not  an  appren- 
ticeship course.  Most  shop  courses 
cover  four  years,  but  high-school  gradu- 
ates are  given  special  credit  for  their 
school  work,  and  this  may  amount  to  a 
reduction  of  one  year  in  the  apprentice- 
ship course.  Class  work  averages  four 
hours  a  week.  Classes  are  held  in  shop 
time  and  apprentices  are  paid  their 
regular  rate  during  class  periods.  Those 
who  drop  behind  in  their  studies  go  into 
the  school  room  on  full  time  without 
pay  until  they  catch  up. 

Mr.  Waller  said  that  in  most  cases 
the  students  spend  from  six  months  to 
a  year  in  the  training  room  and  are 
then  rotated  through  the  shop  depart- 
ments. They  remain  on  the  payroll  of 
the  apprentice  department,  however, 
and  regular  reports  are  rendered  by  the 
shop.  This  prevents  favoritism.  Gradu- 
ates from  the  course  are  given  a  di- 
ploma and  a  bonus  of  $100;  and  receive 
preference  in  shop  promotions,  other 
things  being  equal. 

Mr.  Waller  believed  it  inadvisable  to 
specify  a  definite  ratio  of  shop  appren- 
tices to  shop  mechanics,  as  in  some 
localities  this  might  cause  labor 
troubles.  He  also  thought  that  the  sug- 
gested course  lacks  mathematics,  but  in 
other  respects  it  seems  to  be  compre- 
hensive. Mr.  Waller  referred  to  a  book- 
let on  shop  apprenticeship  system  pre- 
pared by  his  company  and  which  he 
recommended  f9r  reference  by  electric 
railway  companies. 

After  the  above  discussion,  L.  C. 
Datz,  American  Cities  Company,  chair- 


man of  the  committee  on  subjects,  in- 
augurated a  new  procedure  by  reading 
the  tentative  assignment  made  by  his 
committee  immediately  after  the  con- 
clusion of  discussion  on  the  particular 
report. 

Heavy  Traction  Report  Presented 

An  abstract  of  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  heavy  traction  was  read  by 
the  chairman,  Sidney  Withington,  New 
York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad. 
An  abstract  of  this  is  given  below. 

Heavy  Electric  Traction 

A  new  feature  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  heavy  electric  traction 
this  year  was  a  summary  of  the  activ- 
ities of  other  associations  in  the  study 
of  heavy  traction  matters.  In  this 
way  the  committee  endeavored  to  co- 
ordinate the  work  of  the  American 
Railway  Engineering  Association,  the 
International  Railway  Congress,  the 
American  Railway  Association  Mechan- 
ical Section,  the  American  Institute  of 
Electrical  Engineers  and  the  Associ- 
ation of  Railway  Electrical  Engineers, 
in  so  far  as  this  can  be  done  by  bring- 
ing the  attention  of  the  readers  of  the 
report  to  the  work  of  these  associations. 

The  outstanding  features  of  the 
report  this  year  were  the  compilation 
of  data  on  electric  locomotives  and 
multiple-unit  equipment  and  the  bib- 
liography of  heavy  traction  literature. 
Complete  data  were  included  for  elec- 
tric locomotives  of  North  and  South 
America  weighing  more  than  80  tons. 
Promise  of  similar  data  for  European 
electrification  was  made  for  the  future. 
A  table  is  included  giving  the  facts 
regarding  multiple-unit  trains  practice 
for  twenty  railway  companies  in  North 
America. 

The  electric  locomotive  data  table 
contains  forty  items  for  each  loco- 
motive, including  weights,  dimensions, 
fundamental  operating  data  and  facts 
as  to  dates,  manufacturers,  etc.  Accom- 
panying the  table  was  a  chart  of  steam 
track  mileage  electrified  and  corre- 
sponding electric  locomotive  tonnage, 
showing  that  between  1905  and  1920 
electrification  was  proceeding  at  the 
rate  of  180  miles  of  track  and  36,000 
tons  of  locomotives  per  annum.  There 
was  a  reasonably  uniform  relation  be- 
tween these  two  quantities,  the  average, 
of  course,  being  200  locomotive-tons 
per  mile  of  track.  No  increase  in  track- 
age or  tonnage  was  noted  for  1920. 

The  table  of  data  for  multiple-unit 
trains  of  North  America  in  heavy  serv- 
ice contained  twenty-four  items  and 
covered  both  electrified  steam  railroads 
and  rapid  transit  lines  in  large  cities. 
As  to  multiple-unit  operation,  the  com- 
mittee reported  that  in  suburban  elec- 
trification of  railroads  the  application 
of  multiple-unit  equipment  results  in 
certain  advantages  as  compared  to  elec- 
tric locomotives,  which  may  be '  sum- 
marized as  follows: 

The  long  heavy  multiple-unit  train 
accelerates  more  quickly  than  the  train 
of  the  same  weight  hauled  by  a  loco- 
motive. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


627 


In  a  multiple-unit  train  the  motor 
equipment  is  varied  to  correspond  to 
the  length  of  the  train,  and  thus  is 
often  more  efficiently  used  than  in  the 
electric  locomotive. 

The  reliability  of  operation  of  mul- 
tiple-unit equipment  is  somewhat 
greater  than  that  of  electric  locomotive 
equipment. 

The  multiple-unit  cars,  being  heated 
•electrically  in  winter,  are  free  from  all 
difficulty  connected  with  oil-burning 
steam  boilers,  and  although  the  cost  of 
power  thus  used  in  heating  may  be 
considerable,  this  convenience  of  opera- 
tion is  valuable. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  advan- 
tage of  multiple-unit  equipment  is  in 
switching,  especially  in  crowded  stub- 
end  terminals.  Locomotive-drawn  trains, 
after  arrival  at  the  terminal,  must  be 
backed  out  to  free  the  locomotive.  This 
extra  double  move  is  often  necessary 
when  the  terminal  tracks  are  most 
congested.  The  multiple-unit  train,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  ready  for  the  return 
trip  practically  as  soon  as  it  has 
reached  the  terminal. 

There  are  some  limitations,  however, 
to  multiple-unit  operation  as  compared 
with  electric  locomotives.  Multiple-unit 
cars  in  general  can  be  operated  eco- 
nomically only  over  tracks  equipped 
with  energized  third  rail  or  trolley  (al- 
though occasionally  this  type  of  equip- 
ment is  hauled  outside  the  electric  zone 
by  steam  locomotives  for  short  dis- 
tances). The  result  is  that  the  cars 
are  not  available  for  duty  outside  the 
electrified  territory  in  the  event  of  a 
local  heavy  traffic  demand  elsewhere. 

The  mileage  of  multiple-unit  motor 
equipment  is  often  less  than  that  of 
an  equivalent  electric  locomotive,  on 
account  of  traffic  limitations. 

The  maintenance,  reduced  to  a  seat- 
mile  basis,  is  usually  higher  with  multi- 
ple-unit equipment  than  in  the  case  of 
electric  locomotives  and  standard 
trailer  coaches. 

The  decision  between  multiple-unit 
and  locomotive  equipment  in  each  in- 
dividual case  is  governed  by  local  con- 
siderations. The  excess  cost  of  multi- 
ple-unit car  maintenance  is  often  off- 
set by  the  saving  made  possible  in 
terminal  tracks  on  account  of  elimina- 
tion of  switching  requirements.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said  that  each  type 
of  equipment  has  its  definite  place  in 
the  heavy  traction  field. 

In  the  design  of  multiple-unit  equip- 
ment there  is  some  question  as  to  the 
relative  advantages  of  trains  made  up 
of  old  motor  cars  as  compared  with 
motor  cars  and  trailers.  This  question 
involves  careful  study  of  equipment,  as 
well  as  terminal  characteristics.  One 
railroad  which  started  electric  opera- 
tion with  mixed  motor  car  and  trailer 
trains  has  since  equipped  all  cars  with 
motors,  while  another  railroad,  which 
started  operation  with  all  motor  cars, 
has  revised  the  initial  policy  by  acquir- 
ing trailers. 

The  report  concludes  with  a  104- 
page   bibliography  on   heavy  electric 


traction  which  was  compiled  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  association  of  rail- 
way electrical  engineers.  This  covers 
all  topics  related  to  the  rolling  stock, 
track,  power  distribution,  operation, 
economics,  etc. 

This  report  was  signed  by  Sidney 
Withington,  chairman;  A.  H.  Arm- 
strong, R.  Beeuwkes,  H.  W.  Cope,  J. 
H.  Davis,  J.  C.  Davidson,  J.  V.  B.  Deur, 
C.  H.  Quereau  and  L.  S.  Wells. 


Discusston  of  Report  on  Heavy 
Traction 


The  discussion  of  the  report  on 
heavy  traction  was  opened  by  H.  H. 
M  orris,  Electric  Railway  Journal.  He 
pointed  out  that,  in  giving  this  year  a 
synopsis  of  the  electrification  activities 
of  the  committees  of  the  several  na- 
tional societies  concerned  with  heavy 
traction,  the  heavy  traction  committee 
had  taken  one  step  toward  the  forma- 
tion of  an  American  committee  on  elec- 
trificatipn.  The  compilation  showed 
that  there  is  much  duplication  of  effort 
among  the  committees,  which  could  be 
avoided  through  the  functioning  of  such 
a  joint  committee.  The  value  of  a  cen- 
tral, co-operative  and  unbiased  agency 
of  this  kind  would  be  very  great.  He 
suggested  that  the  executive  committee 
be  requested  to  considar  this  matter  as 
soon  as  convenient. 

Mr.  Norris  said,  further,  that  as  an 
example  of  the  kind  of  thing  that  such 
a  co-operative  committee  could  do,  noth- 
ing would  serve  better  than  the  elabor- 
ate bibliography  which  the  committee 
had  been  able  to  present  this  year  in 
collaboration  with  the  Association  of 
Railway  Electrical  Engineers.  A  joint 
committee  could  maintain  such  a  bibli- 
ography continuously.  He  suggested 
that  the  association  might  later  pro- 
vide a  condensed  and  more  highly  se- 
lective list  of  the  most  important 
articles,  adding  a  brief  summary  of 
the  salient  features  of  each,  including 
articles  published  up  to  the  date  of  the 
completion  of  the  list.  The  present  list 
might  well  be  reprinted  in  pamphlet 
form  for  sale  at  a  nominal  price  and 
the  association  could  advertise  it  along 
with  other  reprints,  so  that  its  exist- 
ence would  not  be  forgotten. 

The  compilation  of  the  locomotive 
and  multiple-unit  car  data,  in  Mr.  Nor- 
ris's  opinion,  was  one  of  the  outstanding 
features  of  the  committee's  report  and 
of  the  year's  work.  He  expressed  the 
hope  that  the  admixture  therein  of  data 
regarding  heavy  multiple-unit  car  prac- 
tice on  steam  roads,  interurban  lines 
and  rapid  transit  urban  lines  would 
prove  to  be  a  prophecy  of  the  time 
when  there  will  be  a  greater  community 
of  interest  between  the  steam  and  elec- 
tric roads  in  relation  to  suburban  pas- 
senger traffic. 

Mr.  Norris  referred  to  the  question 
that  has  been  raised  as  to  the  appropri- 
ateness of  electrification  activity  on  the 
part  of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Engineering  Association,  the  contention 
being  that  the  matter  is  properly  one 
for  the  steam  railroads  to  consider  and 


push.  It  is  true  that  no  electrification 
project  is  possible  unless  the  railroads 
are  convinced  of  the  savings  that  can 
thus  be  affected.  On  the  other  hand, 
electric  traction,  having  demonstrated 
its  success  under  steam  road  conditions, 
is  looking  for  new  fields  to  develop.  It 
is  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  initia- 
tive will  be  exerted  by  the  electrical 
manufacturing  and  operating  interests. 
The  steam  railroads  will  necessarily  be 
somewhat  conservative  in  regard  to 
this  matter,  partly  from  financial  con- 
siderations, partly  because  they  have 
so  much  money  and  talent  tied  up  with 
their  steam  equipment.  The  electrical 
interests  have  therefore  on  their  hands 
a  "selling  proposition"  of  enormous 
magnitude. 

The  next  speaker  was  S.  B.  Cooper, 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  who  urged  the  import- 
ance of  the  suggestion  that  the  work  of 
the  committees  of  the  several  national 
associations  be  co-ordinated  in  so  far 
as  it  relates  to  heavy  traction.  He  also 
approved  the  suggestion  that  the  bibli- 
ography be  reprinted. 

W.  B.  Potter,  General  Electric  Com- 
pany, also  expressed  a  belief  in  the  im- 
portance of  inter-society  co-operation. 
He  said  that  there  is  no  doubt  of  the 
existence  of  duplication  of  effort.  Elec- 
trification is  coming,  said  Mr.  Potter, 
although  it  has  hardly  begun  as  yet. 
Conservation  of  fuel  has  come  to  the 
fore  during  the  past  few  years.  This 
together  with  the  increasing  economy  in 
the  generation  of  electrical  power  by 
steam  and  the  development  and  inter- 
connection of  water-power  plants,  is  a 
factor  favoring  electrification.  Abroad 
there  is  much  preliminary  activity  in 
this  direction,  and  in  this  country  in  ad- 
dition to  the  projects  mentioned  by  the 
previous  speaker  there  are  several 
others  which  are  only  awaiting  the  ar- 
rival of  favorable  conditions. 

Mr.  Potter  pointed  out  that  the  suc- 
cess of  electrification  from  the  operat- 
ing standpoint  is  unquestioned.  Also 
the  comparative  operating  expenses 
with  steam  and  electricity  are  well  de- 
termined. If  financial  conditions  im- 
prove, if  power  facilities  continue  to  be 
developed  and  if  the  super-power  plan 
of  power  distribution  is  perfected,  then 
progress  in  railway  electrification  may 
confidently  be  looked  for. 

J.  H.  Davis,  electrical  engineer  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Railroad,  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  chart  given  by  the 
committee  did  not  include  the  pioneer 
electrification,  that  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  in  1895.  He  also  pointed  out  the 
fact  that  the  classification  of  the  6-9 
type  Baltimore  &  Ohio  locomotive 
should  be  0—8—0  and  not  0—4 — 4—0 
as  given  in  the  table. 

After  the  discussion,  L.  C.  Datz,  for 
the  committee  on  subject,  explained,  as 
he  did  in  the  preceding  case,  the  tenta- 
tive assignments  for  next  year,  follow- 
ing in  general  the  recommendations  of 
the  committee. 

A  "vote  of  thanks"  was  then  passed, 
recognizing  the  efforts  of  the  commit- 


628 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


tees  and  of  those  who  had  participated 
in  the  discussion. 

Tuesday  Afternoon  Session 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Engi- 
neering Association  convention  held  on 
Tuesday  afternoon  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  power  generation  was 
presented  by  A.  B.  Stitzer,  Republic 
Engineers,  Inc.,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee.   An  abstract  of  this  follows: 

Power  Generation 

The  work  of  the  power  generation 
committee  for  the  year  took  the  fol- 
lowing form: 

1.  A  recommended  form  of  power 
contract  and  the  suggestion  that  this 
be  included  in  the  association's  "Mis- 
cellaneous Methods  and  Practices." 
This  was  a  revision  of  the  report  of 
last  year's  committee,  upon  which  no 
action  was  taken. 

2.  A  supplement  to  the  1920  report 
on  steam  production  with  particular* 
reference  to  stoker  operation. 

3.  A  comprehensive  paper  on  auto- 
matic substations,  with  tabulation  of 
data,  distinction  being  drawn  with  re- 
gard to  "metropolitan,"  suburban  and 
interurban  service. 

The  revisions  made  in  the  previously 
suggested  form  of  power  contract  were 
such  as  to  embody  the  results  of  con- 
structive criticism  of  that  form,  in  the 
hope  that  one  could  be  prepared  which 
would  be  acceptable.  To  facilitate  ex- 
amination of  the  proposed  contract 
form  it  was  presented  in  the  report 
with  comments  in  parallel  columns,  so 
that  the  reasons  for  each  item  as 
worded  would  be  understood. 

The  report  on  this  subject  began 
with  definitions  of  the  four  essentials 
of  a  contract  as  follows: 

1.  "Agreement" — All  parties  to  the 
contract  must  agree  on  the  same  thing. 
There  must  be  no  misunderstanding 
about  the  point  at  issue. 

2.  "Two  or  more  competent  parties" 
— The  parties  must  be  competent  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law  to  enter  into  the  con- 
tract. 

3.  "Valuable  Consideration"  —  The 
arrangement  must  be  such  that  each 
party  will  receive  something  having 
value  (however  small)  in  the  eyes  of 
the  law,  in  return  for  what  he  gives. 
A  promise  to  give  a  present  freely, 
with  nothing  in  return,  cannot  be  en- 
forced at  law. 

4.  "To  do  or  not  to  do  something 
that  is  lawful" — An  agreement  requir- 
ing the  commission  of  an  illegal  act  is 
not  an  enforceable  contract. 

Following  the  form  of  contract  and 
comments  was  a  memorandum  discuss- 
ing the  changes  which  had  been  made 
in  the  form  submitted  last  year. 

As  to  costs  of  steam  production,  the 
committee  reported  the  impracticability 
of  securing  data  to  check  and  supple- 
ment last  year's  report  on  this  subject. 
The  principal  new  material  this  year 
consisted  in  a  preliminai'y  statement 


of  the  results  of  stoker  experiments 
made  by  the  Minneapolis  Street  Rail- 
way. The  equipment  for  this  purpose 
consisted  of  a  six-retort  stoker,  10  ft. 
8  in.  in  width  and  10  ft.  in  horizontally 
projected  length,  placed  with  flush 
fronts  under  a  556-hp.  B.  &  W.  boiler 
set  11  ft.  above  the  floor,  with  a  900- 
sq.ft.  superheater  but  no  economizer. 

The  main  features  of  the  stoker  and 
furnace  setting  were:  (1)  Facility  for 
controlling  distribution  of  coal  over 
fuel  bed.  (2)  Agitation  of  lower  fuel 
bed.  (3)  All  grate  surface  effective  for 
combustion.  (4)  Elimination  of  arch 
and  bridge-wall  reflecting  surface.  (5) 
Side  wall  protected  by  extension  side 
wall  tuyeres.  (6)  Adequate  combustion 
chamber.  (7)  Control  of  air  supply 
above  fuel  bed.  (8)  Control  of  air 
through  lower  tuyeres  and  dump' 
grates.  (9)  Power  dumping  mechanism. 
(10)  Exposure  of  lower  boiler  tubes  for 
absorbing  radiant  heat. 

The  design  produces  a  fuel  bed  of 
practically  uniform  depth,  relatively 
low  temperature  at  the  surface  of  the 
fuel  bed,  thorough  mixture  of  gases  in- 
suring complete  combustion,  high  heat 
absorption  by  radiation  to  boiler  tubes, 
low  maintenance  of  furnace  walls  and 
stoker  parts  and  lower  percentage  of 
combustible  in  the  refuse. 

These  results  were  secured  with 
bituminous  coal  of  between  8,800  and 
9,700  B.t.u.  content,  14  to  20  per  cent 
moisture,  16  to  22  per  cent  ash  and  45 
to  48  per  cent  fixed  carbon. 

In  this  section  the  committee  stated 
the  conclusion  that  for  high  fuel-burn- 
ing capacity  the  underfeed  stoker  has 
proved  to  be  the  most  flexible  type  of 
fuel  burning  equipment  now  available. 
Insufficient  information  was  available 
to  make  possible  any  report  on  burning 
powdered  fuel.  Except  under  special 
conditions  and  in  certain  localities 
there  is  little  probability  of  the  adop- 
tion of  fuel  oil  for  steam  production, 
until  the  supply  and  comparable  price 
become  stabilized. 

The  section  of  the  report  dealing 
with  the  automatic  substations  covered 
twenty-seven  pages.  A  few  of  the 
high  spots  in  it  were  as  follows: 

The  automatic  control  of  the  substa- 
tions in  large  cities  for  actual  high- 
capacity,  heavy-duty  work  is  now  an 
accomplished  fact.  The  two  unit  sub- 
stations of  the  Cleveland  Railway  have 
been  operating  with  complete  success. 
From  the  operating  records  available, 
automatic  operation  appears  to  be 
more  reliable  than  manual  operation. 
Apparently  the  ideal  scheme  of  in- 
stallation is  to  use  the  smallest  pos- 
sible single-unit  stations  located  at 
relatively  short  distances  from  each 
other  in  a  very  simple  and  small  build- 
ing. Larger  stations  are  necessary 
where  service  requirements  are  exact- 
ing and  where  the  traffic  density 
reaches  a  point  where  a  service  in- 
terruption results  in  large  monetary 
loss. 

The  area  or  zone  to  be  supplied  by  a 
station,  which  also  fixes  the  capacity, 
should  be  determined  primarily  by  the 


feeder  investment  and  annual  charges, 
together  with  losses  occurring  in  the 
feeder  layout.  In  large  cities  such 
other  considerations  enter  as  land 
values,  building  costs  and  restrictions, 
maintenance  and  operation  costs,  al- 
ternating current  feeders  and  reli- 
ability of  service.  Where  the  multiple- 
unit  station  proves  the  most  efficient 
and  economical  to  install,  the  relatively 
simple  and  yet  comprehensive  scheme 
of  automatic  sequence  operation  will 
give  the  greatest  possible  service  insur- 
ance, as  well  as  good  power  economy. 

In  order  to  prevent  reflecting  unusual 
loads  back  on  the  rotary  the  feeder 
control  must  have  these  characteristics: 
The  feeder  must  be  opened  promptly 
on  short  circuit  and  the  feed  to  the  dis- 
turbed sections  must  be  resumed  im- 
mediately at  reduced  potential.  The 
best  way  to  reduce  the  potential  ap- 
pears to  be  by  means  of  tie  feeders 
connecting  to  other  stations,  with  an 
auxiliary  bus. 

Experimental  work  is  now  being 
done  to  overcome  the  difficulties  which 
still  exist  in  applying  automatic  con- 
trol in  large  city  systems.  In  some 
cases  a  plan  of  remote  control  super- 
imposed on  the  "automatic"  would  be 
satisfactory.  A  plan  for  this  purpose 
is  this:  The  dispatcher's  office  would 
be  located  at  a  central  point,  preferably 
the  general  offices,  from  which  tele- 
phone conductors  would  be  extended  to 
each  of  the  automatic  substations.  At 
the  dispatcher's  office  each  of  the  au- 
tomatic substations  would  be  repre- 
sented by  a  small  panel  upon  which 
would  be  mounted  small  manually 
operated  contact  devices,  such  as  tele- 
phone jacks,  together  with  visual  and 
audible  signals.  Certain  master  re- 
lays, or  controlling  devices  making  up 
the  automatic  substation  control,  could 
be  so  equipped  that  by  the  manipula- 
tion of  the  jacks  on  the  dispatcher's 
board  these  relays  or  devices  could  be 
opened,  closed  or  held  out  or  in,  as  the 
occasion  might  demand.  The  signal 
lamps  would  indicate  the  positions  of 
the  relays  so  controlled.  The  function- 
ing of  these  devices  by  reason  of  the 
automatic  control  would  also  set  up 
corresponding  signals  at  the  dis- 
patcher's board.  To  enable  the  dis- 
patcher to  know  the  load  conditions  of 
the  substations,  arrangement  would 
be  made  to  indicate  in  the  dispatcher's 
office  the  loading  of  each  station  upon 
a  chart.  The  control  wires  might  also 
be  used  for  telephone  communication. 

This  section  of  the  report  contained 
also  much  information  regarding  the 
details  of  the  Cleveland  substations, 
and  the  results  of  calculations  as  to 
relative  costs  of  manually  and  auto- 
matically controlled  substations. 

Regarding  the  Cleveland  Railway  the 
statement  was  made  that  even  if  there 
were  no  financial  saving  from  the  use 
of  automatic  control  the  resulting  re- 
liability of  service  would  warrant  its 
installation.  The  company  plans  event- 
ually to  convert  the  whole  system  to 
this  type  of  control. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


629 


This  report  was  signed  by  A.  B. 
Stitzer,  chairman;  L.  D.  Bale,  H.  P. 
Bell,  Walter  E.  Bryan,  N.  A.  Carle,  F. 
C.  Chambers,  H.  E.  Davis,  C.  A.  Green- 
idge,  H.  A.  Kidder,  Charles  F.  Lloyd, 
George  W.  Saathoff,  E.  H.  Scofield,  L. 
R  Shattuck,  Walter  C.  Shade,  and  E. 
P.  Waller. 

Mr.  Stitzer  first  outlined  the  plan  of 
the  report  and  called  upon  W.  E. 
Bryan,  United  Railways  of  St.  Louis, 
to  give  the  details  of  the  suggested 
power-contract  form.  Mr.  Bryan  did 
so,  giving  special  attention  to  the 
changes  which  had  been  made  from  the 
form  suggested  last  year.  On  motion 
of  C.  S.  Kimball,  representing  the  com- 
mittee on  standards,  it  was  voted  to  in- 
clude the  suggested  form  in  the 
Manual  under  the  head  of  "Miscella- 
neous Methods  and  Practices." 

Mr.  Stitzer  then  called  on  E.  H.  Sco- 
field, Minneapolis  Street  Railway,  to 
explain  the  section  of  the  report  de- 
voted to  power  generation.  The  latter 
elaborated  the  printed  matter,  reading 
a  written  mennrandum.  He  said  that 
the  work  done  at  Minneapolis  was  un- 
dertaken when  it  was  found  that  the 
possibilities  with  the  chain  grate  and 
natural  draft  were  inadequate  to  meet 
the  requirements,  both  in  capacity  and 
operating  efficiency,  incident  to  the  ex- 
treme demands  on  a  steam  plant  when 
acting  as  an  auxiliary  to  an  inflexible 
power  supply,  such  as  a  water  power 
furnishing  power  for  an  urban  railway 
load. 

In  working  out  the  design  of  the 
stoker  the  most  desirable  feature  of 
the  chain  grate,  i.e.  the  steady  travel  of 
a  fuel  bed  of  uniform  depth  with  the 
least  possible  agitation,  was  adopted. 
In  all  other  respects  the  design  de- 
parts materially  from  chain-grate  prac- 
tice. 

The  fuel  as  introduced  by  the  rams 
is  spread  laterally  by  deflector  plates 
so  as  to  cover  the  surface  between  re- 
torts. The  action  of  these  plates  also 
loosens  up  the  fuel,  which,  when  con- 
taining large  percentages  of  moisture 
and  dirt,  becomes  densely  packed  while 
coming  through  the  rams. 

Retorts  with  their  secondary  rams, 
under  independent  control  and  extend- 
ing in  their  action  practically  to  the 
dump  grates,  insure  a  continuous  move- 
ment of  the  fuel  bed,  filling  blowholes 
which  may  start  and  maintaining  a 
uniform  fuel  bed. 

The  front  dump  grate,  by  its  lifting 
action,  may  be  used  to  break  up  clinkers 
as  they  pass  to  the  rear  dump  and  hold 
back  the  fuel  bed  when  the  rear  dump 
is  dropped.  Both  front  and  rear  dump 
grates  are  power  operated  and  supplied 
with  air,  under  control,  for  combustion. 
The  entire  grate  surface  thus  becomes 
active  when  required;  the  carbon  is 
burned  down  to  a  low  percentage  of 
the  refuse  before  dumping;  dumping 
may  be  done  frequently  on  heavy  loads 
without  interfering  with  output  or  effi- 
ciency, and  refuse  is  disposed  of  before 
it  builds  up  into  large  clinkers. 

Side-wall  tuyeres,  extending  approxi- 
mately to  the  top  of  the  fuel  bed,  so 


designed  that  there  is  no  dead  pocket 
for  lodgment  of  partially  burned  coal 
or  clinkers,  protect  the  brick  of  the  side 
walls  from  the  direct  heat  of  the  fuel 
bed.  Both  side-wall  tuyeres  and  front- 
wall  air  boxes  admit  a  limited  amount 
of  air  underneath,  and  near  the  surface 
of  the  fuel  bed,  tempering  the  gases  and 
forming  a  cool  blanket  over  the  lower 
furnace  walls. 

The  rear  furnace  wall  is  so  built  as 
to  expose  90  per  cent  of  the  tube  length, 
resulting  in  a  boiler  surface  double  the 
area  of  the  grate  surface  exposed  to 
direct  radiation  from  the  furnace  heat, 
and  a  combustion  chamber  of  13  cu.  ft. 
per  square  foot  of  grate  surface.  The 
bridge  wall  rises  from  the  dump  grate 
to  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  rear 
of  the  fuel  bed,  then  recedes  to  the  rear 
furnace  wall. 

A  battery  of  high-velocity  steam  jets, 
placed  in  the  front  wall  about  18  in. 
above  the  fuel-bed  surface  and  directed 
parallel  to  this  surface,  thoroughly  mix 
the  gases,  insuring  complete  combustion 
before  they  enter  the  tubes,  and  diverts 
the  gas  flow  toward  the  back  wall  of  the 
furnace,  providing  for  a  sweep  of  the 
p.ases  over  the  full  length  of  exposure 
of  the  boiler  tubes. 

Special  baffling  is  designed  to  give  a 
cross  section  of  passage  approximately 
proportional  to  the  temperature  of  the 
gases. 

Experience  with  this  equipment  has 
demonstrated  the  possibility  of  operat- 
ing throughout  a  range  from  100  per 
cent  to  350  per  cent  of  rating.  Low- 
grade  fuel  is  burned  up  to  a  rate  of 
one  ton  per  retort  per  hour,  and  the 
refuse  is  disposed  of  with  no  excessive 
loss  of  carbon  or  loss  of  capacity  or 
efficiency  while  dumping.  The  air  sup- 
ply is  controlled  to  the  most  efficient 
proportion;  the  furnace  temperatures 
are  low  enough  to  prevent  excessive 
clinker  formation;  little  if  any  slag  is 
formed  on  furnace  walls,  and  highest 
efficiency  is  secured  at  or  near  normal 
rating. 

This  furnishes  a  unit  of  great  flexi- 
bility, peculiarly  adapted  to  standby 
and  intermittent  demands  and  reducing 
the  losses  from  banking  to  the  lowest 
possible  in  stoker  practice. 

Following  Mr.  Scofield,  H.  D.  Sav- 
age, Combustion  Engineering  Corpora- 
tion, read  a  paper  regarding  the  burn- 
ing of  powdered  fuel.  An  abstract  of 
his  paper  follows: 

The  Burning  of  Pulverized  Coal 

The  obvious  economic  advantages  of 
burning  coal  in  pulverized  form,  par- 
ticularly as  applied  to  the  varying  load 
conditions  of  street  railway  operation, 
would  seem  to  warrant  more  considera- 
tion than  the  brevity  of  the  committee's 
report  would  indicate  has  been  given. 

The  operation  of  the  Oneida  Street 
plant  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  during  four 
\ears  has  warranted  the  building  of  the 
Lakeside  station  in  such  a  manner  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  use  any  other 
fuel  than  coal  in  pulverized  form.  It 
is  safe  to  assume  that  the  financial  in- 


terests did  not  authorize  the  second 
station  without  careful  scrutiny  of  cost 
versus  results. 

The  cost  may  be  considered  under  two 
heads;  capital  expenditure  and  operat- 
ing cost. 

The  important  results  in  street  rail- 
way operation  are:  (1)  The  ultimate 
obtainable  continuous  capacity  and  abil- 
ity to  meet  peak-load  conditions.  (2) 
The  ability  to  maintain  efficiencies  dur- 
ing high  ratings  and  peak  periods.  (3) 
The  substantial  reduction  of  stand-by 
losses. 

As  to  capital  expenditure,  the  initial 
cost  will  not  be  greater  than  for  a 
stoker  plant  built  under  similar  condi- 
tions. Comparative  figures  of  a  gen- 
eral nature  would  be  misleading,  as 
every  individual  plant  is  a  separate 
engineering  problem  and  involves  fea- 
tures that  do  not  apply  to  another  plant. 
Figures  purporting  to  show  the  cost  of 
pulverized-coal  plants  on  a  unit  basis, 
or  a  standard  cost  of  coal  preparation, 
are  of  absolutely  no  value. 

Theoretically  and  in  actual  practice 
the  cost  of  firing  pulverized  fuel  plants, 
including  the  complete  cost  of  prepara- 
tion, is  no  greater  than  that  of  burning 
coal  on  stokers.  The  power  required 
for  pulverization  is  no  greater  than  that 
required  for  operating  the  forced-draft 
fans  and  moving  the  stokers  when  mul- 
tiple-retort stokers  or  underfeed  stok- 
ers are  used. 

To  realize  adequately  on  the  expendi- 
ture necessary  for  boiler  plants  it  is 
necessary  to  drive  them  at  the  highest 
possible  ratings.  Powdered  coal  would 
seem  to  present  an  ideal  opportunity 
for  much  higher  continuous  ratings 
than  have  been  possible  in  the  past. 
While  stoker-fired  boilers  can  be  run 
for  several  hours  at  extremely  high 
ratings,  it  is  possible  to  run  equally 
high  ratings  with  powdered  coal  and 
to  maintain  them  continuously.  The 
usual  interference  from  clinkering  and 
slag  does  not  apply  to  powdered-coal 
applications. 

It  is  possible  while  operating  at  high 
ratings  to  maintain  an  efficiency  far  in 
excess  of  the  normal  operating  efficiency 
with  stoker-fired  boilers.  In  stoker 
firing  it  is  necessary,  of  course,  to  keep 
boilers  under  a  considerable  fire  be- 
tween the  period  of  .the  morning  peak 
and  the  afternoon  peak.  With  pow- 
dered-coal firing,  when  the  load  begins 
to  drop  off,  certain  boilers  are  entirely 
shut  off  stopping  the  coal  feed  imme- 
diately. These  boilers  will  carry  pres- 
sure for  several  hours. 

Recently  one  of  the  1,308-hp.  boilers 
at  Lakeside  was  operated  at  160  per 
cent  of  rating  for  five  hours.  The  fuel 
feed  was  then  stopped  and  the  damper 
was  closed.  The  boiler  "popped"  six- 
teen times  during  the  next  three  hours. 
During  the  following  twelve  hours  the 
boiler  pressure  dropped  at  the  rate  of 
about  15  lb.  per  hour,  after  which  the 
pressure  had  dropped  to  110  lb.  That  is, 
after  banking  the  boiler  pressure  stayed 
at  between  270  and  275  lb.  for  three 
hours  and  in  the  next  twelve  hours 
dropped  160  lb.     The  boiler  could  be 


630 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


brought  up  to  rating  in  about  five  min- 
utes after  the  fuel  feed  was  started 
after  an  ordinary  bank  of  eight  hours, 
luring  which  period  the  pressure  gen- 
erally dropped  to  about  200  lb.  Thus 
a  very  large  item  of  saving  occurred 
curing  the  banked  pericd. 

In  summing  up  the  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  powdered  coal  burning,  the 
following  may  be  stated:  (1)  The  cap- 
ital investment  will  be  no  greater  than 
for  any  usual  type  of  plant.  (2)  The  cost 
of  firing,  from  coal  car  to  ash  car,  will 
be  slightly  less  than  with  stokers.  (3) 
The  maintenance  of  the  furnace  and 
boiler  will  be  less  than  with  stokers. 
(4)  High  ratings  and  high  efficiencies 
will  be  obtained  no  matter  what  the 
character  of  the  fuel  received.  (5)  The 
problem  of  plant  operation  will  be  much 
less  complicated.  (6)  The  load  can  be 
followed  more  closely.  (7)  There  will 
be  a  very  considerable  saving  in  fuel 
under  any  condition. 

Automatic  Substation  Discussed 

On  the  committee's  topic  of  the 
automatic  substation  prepared  discus- 
sions were  presented  by  W.  E.  Bryan, 
United  Railways  of  St.  Louis;  C.  F. 
Lloyd,  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manu- 
facturing Company,  and  G.  H.  Roose- 
velt, General  Electric  Company. 

Mr.  Bryan  said  that  he  was  heartily 
m  accord  with  the  view  of  the  commit- 
tee that  in  general  the  single-unit  auto- 
matic substation  is  preferable  to  the 
multiple-unit  station.  If  full  advan- 
tage is  to  be  taken  of  the  possibilities 
of  multiple-unit  operation  the  buildings 
must  be  small  and  of  simple  design,  lo- 
cated perhaps  on  the  rear  portions  of 
lots  of  which  the  fronts  are  used  for 
other  purposes.  The  cost  of  land  for 
the  multiple-unit  station  is  less  per 
unit  than  for  the  single-unit  station 
unless  advantage  is  taken  of  such  pos- 
sibilities. An  ideal  system  of  auto- 
matic substations,  said  Mr.  Bryan,  is 
a  number  of  single-unit  stations  none 
of  which  is  loaded  above  its  rated  ca- 
pacity for  the  maximum  half  hour. 
Then  in  case  one  station  is  out  of  serv- 
ice there  would  be  ample  capacity  in 
converter  equipment  in  adjacent  sta- 
tions to  carry  the  load.  Another  item 
to  consider  is  the  fact  that  single-unit 
stations  are  considerably  less  compli- 
cated as  to  control  apparatus  than  mul- 
tiple-unit stations. 

An  important  element,  said  Mr. 
Bryan,  is  the  method  of  handling  the 
direct-current  feeder  circuits.  One 
manufacturing  company  is  advocating, 
instead  of  the  limiting  resistance  in 
each  feeder,  the  use  of  a  device  which 
differentiates  between  a  grounded  cir- 
cuit and  a  legitimate  overload.  With 
this  device  a  grounded  circuit  would 
be  disconnected  from  the  bus  or  con- 
nected to  a  tie  feeder  running  to  an- 
other station,  while  a  legitimate  over- 
load would  be  carried  at  full  voltage 
unless  the  overload  were  sufficient  to 
cause  the  converter  circuit  resistances 
to  come  into  play.  The  subject  of  au- 
tomatic substations  is  comparatively 
new  and  we  may  expect  to  see  some  of 


our  present  ideas  subjected  to  modifi- 
cation as  the  art  develops. 

Mr.  Lloyd  said  that  the  list  of  auto- 
matic installations  included  in  the  re- 
port is  a  convincing  testimonial  for 
this  type  of  apparatus.  Automatic 
control  has  come  to  stay.  Continuing, 
he  said  that  the  deevlopment  had  been 
very  rapid  and  during  the  past  year 
had  been  largely  in  simplifying  the 
equipment,  wiring,  etc.  The  usual 
equipment,  he  said,  protects  against 
starting  on  low  alternating-current 
voltage,  starting  on  reverse  or  single- 
phase,  loss  of  high-tension  phase,  loss 
of  low-tension  phase,  loss  of  machine 
field  current,  restarting  when  undesir- 
able, overheating  of  machine,  direct- 
current  overloads,  hot  bearings,  alter- 
nating-current overloads,  direct-cur- 
rent reverse-current,  over  speed,  failure 
to  start,  failure  of  field,  failure  to  re- 
verse polarity. 

While  the  manufacturers  have  been 
working  diligently  to  simplify  the 
equipment,  said  Mr.  Lloyd,  the  operat- 
ing engineers  have  been  active  in  sim- 
plifying the  substation  building.  In 
Cleveland  it  was  found  possible  to 
make  a  saving  of  25  per  cent  in  build- 
ing cost  without  impairing  the  relia- 
bility of  the  substation.  Instead  of 
the  roomy  hand-operated  station  with 
all  equipment  under  the  roof,  we  now 
have  a  semi-outdoor  type  that  requires 
only  a  very  small  building  to  house 
the  converter,  the  automatic  switching 
panels  and  protective  resistance. 

Mr.  Lloyd  said  that  it  early  became 
evident  that  the  standard  resistance 
type  of  feeder  would  not  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  the  metropolitan  field 
and  now  a  selective  tripping  scheme  is 
available  for  use  in  connection  with 
direct-current  feeders,  allowing  the 
carrying  of  heavy  overloads  without 
tripping,  but  tripping  immediately  on 
short  circuit.  He  described  the  opera- 
tion of  this  selective  action  and  went 
into  some  detail  regarding  the  several 
methods  for  handling  direct-current 
feeders  and  the  advantages  of  each. 
The  problem  of  load-limiting  resistance 
in  the  converter  circuit  becomes  quite 
involved  on  large  systems,  said  Mr. 
Lloyd,  and  the  ventilation  problem  is 
one  worthy  of  very  careful  con- 
sideration. 

E.  P.  Waller,  General  Electric  Com- 
pany, was  represented  by  G.  H.  Roose- 
velt of  the  same  company,  who  said 
that  although  the  report  states  that 
the  single-unit  station  is  the  best,  the 
multiple-unit  installations  in  Cleveland 
do  not  bear  this  out  because  of  the  low 
cost  of  buildings  and  land  used  in  that 
city.  If  the  cost  of  the  stations  used 
for  multiple  units  is  placed  on  a  com- 
parative basis  with  the  estimated  costs 
of  stations  for  single  units,  Mr.  Roose- 
velt believed  that  it  will  be  shown  that 
two  single  units  are  superior  to  the 
multiple-unit  installation.  In  any  case, 
he  said,  the  report  is  proof  of  the  re- 
liability of  the  automatic  station,  re- 
gardless of  the  number  of  units  or  the 
number  of  feeders  concentrated  at  a 
station.    The  factors  to  be  considered 


are  wages,  cost  of  copper  and  losses. 
The  cost  of  operation  of  the  manual 
station  is  higher  than  that  of  either 
two  single  units  or  a  multiple-unit  au- 
tomatic installation.  Mr.  Roosevelt  re- 
ferred to  an  article  in  the  Sept.  17  issue 
of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
describing  a  miniature  layout  of  the 
entire  track  and  trolley  system  of  At- 
lanta. The  arrangement  there  pro- 
vides for  two  substations  at  the  center 
of  Atlanta,  feeding  all  radiating  trol- 
leys. 

After  the  proper  location  of  the  sta- 
tion has  been  determined  the  important 
consideration  is  the  type  of  building. 
Now  that  automatic  control  has  proved 
to  be  reliable  the  next  step  is  to  reduce 
installation  costs.  Automatic  control 
is  best  adapted  for  application  to  con- 
verters operated  twenty-four  hours  a 
day,  as  the  chief  economy  is  the  elim- 
ination of  operators.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
referred  to  one  case  under  considera- 
tion where  it  is  proposed  to  connect  a 
manually  operated  machine  to  the  bus 
one  hour  in  the  morning  and  evening 
to  operate  in  multiple  with  the  auto- 
matic units  during  the  peak  load.  He 
said  that  operators  can  be  of  great 
service  to  the  manufacturers  by  as- 
sisting in  the  determination  of  the 
nroner  feeder  control  systems.  Is  it 
better  to  use  up  copper  in  burning  off 
a  "short"  or  to  delay  service  and  call 
out  the  trouble  gang? 

R.  H.  Rice,  board  of  supervising  en- 
gineers, Chicago  Traction,  said  that  he 
is  very  much  in  favor  of  automatic 
substations,  as  they  represent  a  means 
of  obtaining  additional  stations  with- 
out greatly  increased  cost.  At  present 
they  have  the  disadvantage  of  extreme 
complexity  and  the  chief  objection  is 
the  load-limiting  resistance  and  the  re- 
sistance on  the  feeders.  Mr.  Rice  in- 
troduced Victor  E.  Thelin,  Chicago 
Surface  Lines,  who  described  briefly 
a  substation  which  he  has  installed 
which  uses  no  resistance  on  either 
feeders  or  converter  circuit.  Mr. 
Thelin  said  that  he  believes  the  one- 
unit  station  to  be  cheaper  in  the  long 
run.  He  has  been  using  the  automatic 
reclosing  circuit  breaker,  which  is  so 
designed  that  the  breaker  opens  in- 
stantaneously. An  inverse  time-limit 
relay  takes  care  of  continuous  overload. 
The  shunt  rotary  is  coming  into  use  in 
connection  with  automatic  substations. 
Its  natural  characteristics  assist  in  dis- 
tributing the  load.  The  development  of 
the  automatic  substation,  said  Mr. 
Thelin,  is  just  beginning.  The  surface 
has  only  been  scratched. 

Following  Mr.  Thelin's  remarks  the 
recommendations  of  the  committee  on 
subjects  were  presented  and  the  report 
of  the  committee  was  accepted. 

Following  this  a  paper  was  read  by 
George  B.  Muldaur,  general  agent  Un- 
derwriters' Laboratories,  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  on  "The  Work  of  the  Under- 
writers' Laboratories."  This  paper  is 
abstracted  elsewhere.  Mr.  Muldaur 
then  showed  a  motion  picture  film  giv- 
ing the  audience  a  graphic  idea  of  the 
work  of  the  laboratories. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


631 


The  joint  report  on  stores  accounting 
by  the  committee  on  stores  accounting 
of  the  Accountants'  Association  and 
the  committee  on  purchases  and  stores 
of  the  Engineering  Association  was 
read  at  the  accountants'  meeting  on 
Tuesday.  An  abstract  of  their  report 
follows : 

Stores  Accounting 
Consideration  was  given  to  material 
accounting  having  to  do  with  the  con- 
trol over  the  money  tied  up  in  the  in- 
ventories of  materials  and  supplies  and 
the  adoption  of  methods  helpful  in  so 
regulating  such  stocks  as  to  minimize 
such  investments  without  sacrificing 
service  in  operation.  A  preliminary 
step  was  to  send  out  a  questionnaire  to 
some  fifty  representative  electric  rail- 
ways located  in  all  sections  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  covering  their  methods  and 
practices.  Replies  were  received  and 
studied  from  some  twenty-six  railways. 
The  committee  collaborated  in  this  mat- 
ter with  the  committee  on  purchases 
and  stores  of  the  Engineering  Associa- 
tion.   The  conclusions  follow: 

A  standard  material  classification  is 
a  very  great  help  in  the  control  and 
regulation  of  the  stock  account.  Such 
a  classification  should  be  broad  enough 
so  that  all  electric  railways  can  adopt 
it  as  a  standard.  Of  twenty-two  com- 
panies studied  only  ten  had  classifica- 
tions which  could  be  considered  at  all 
adequate  and  of  those  not  more  than 
two  or  three  have  forms  for  reporting 
under  which  intelligent  conclusions 
could  be  drawn  as  to  whether  the  stock 
was  well  regulated.  From  the  best 
classifications  found  in  use  and  from 
that  of  steam  railroad  materials  recom- 
mended by  the  Railway  Storekeepers' 
Association,  a  classification  was  pre- 
pared and  recommended  for  adoption 
as  the  standard  material  classification 
for  electric  railways.  This  classifica- 
tion is  appended  to  the  report. 

Two  standard  monthly  material  re- 
port forms  are  also  recommended.  One 
is  a  summary  of  totals  according  to 
storehouses  and  the  second  is  a  detailed 
report  by  storehouses  and  by  material 
classifications,  with  a  combined  report 
for  the  system  as  a  whole. 

Stock  books  are  recommended  in 
storehouses,  either  in  lieu  of  the  more 
customary  form  of  stock  card  or  stock 
ledger  sheet  or  in  addition  thereto.  Very 
few  roads  are  using  such  a  book.  Three 
which  do  are  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  the  Public  Service 
Railway  of  New  Jersey  and  the  Pitts- 
burgh Railways.  Some  of  the  main  ad- 
vantages of  the  stock  book  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

1.  By  compelling  an  actual  inventory 
and  a  checking  of  outstanding  orders 
each  month  it  puts  the  storekeeper  in 
the  best  position  to  keep  his  stock  at 
the  proper  level  and  change  it  according 
to  current  demands. 

2.  It  makes  it  necessary  to  keep  the 
stock  in  a  better  physical  condition  than 
under  any  other  method. 

3.  It  enables  the  storekeeper  to  keep 
a  close  watch  on  inactive  and  obsolete 
stock,  otherwise  not  regularly  obtain- 
able. 


4.  When  the  material  is  listed  in 
books,  a  large  number  of  items  can  be 
handled  more  readily  and  more  easily 
than  on  individual  cards. 

5.  It  provides  a  system  that  can  be 
depended  upon  as  to  quantities  of  ma- 
terial on  hand  and  due  on  orders,  where- 
as the  accuracy  of  a  postal  card  or 
ledger  record  depends  upon  too  many 
stock  clerks  issuing  materials  and  of- 
fice clerks  posting  entries. 

Recommendations  were  also  made  as 
to  working  stocks,  i.e.,  material  drawn 
out  of  the  storeroom  in  excess  of  the 
daily  need  and  carried  as  a  sub-stock  in 
the  shops,  at  the  headquarters  of  a  line 
or  track  foreman  or  at  outlying  points. 
A  different  practice  exists  on  different 
reads  in  accounting  for  such  materials. 
On  some  roads  the  practice  is  to  charge 
out  the  material  to  the  account  for 
which  it  was  drawn  when  taken  from 
the  storeroom.  It  would  not  therefore 
be  inventoried  when  the  general  stores 
were  inventoried.  This  method  is  dep- 
recated as  not  sound  accounting,  as  it 
tends  to  waste  and  deterioration  of 
material  because  the  control  over  it  is 
not  good. 

On  other  roads  such  materials  are  not 
charged  out  when  they  are  drawn  out 
of  stock,  but  when  the  materials  are 
drawn  from  sub-stock  and  replace  ma- 
terial used.  At  inventory  time  such 
sub-stocks  are  inventoried  and  also  set 
up  in  the  general  stores  account.  This 
practice  is  recommended.  However, 
to  keep  the  stock  at  a  reasonable  limit 
and  to  control  it,  the  report  recommends 
that  the  general  storekeeper  and  the 
official  of  the  department  interested 
agree  in  detail  as  to  the  quantities,  lo- 
cations, etc.,  for  the  working  stocks, 
and  the  requisitions  on  the  storekeeper 
simply  be  for  such  quantities  as  will 
maintain  such  working  stocks  to  the 
limits  as  agreed  upon  in  advance.  Fur- 
thermore, stock  books  should  be  carried 
for  such  materials.  By  means  of  these 
records  the  stocks  can  easily  be  ad- 
justed to  the  consumption  requirements. 

The  report  is  signed  by  R.  A.  Weston, 
chairman;  E.  L.  Austin,  E.  J.  Boos,  W. 
L.  Davis  and  Erwin  Fullerton  for  the 
Accountants'  Association  and  by  W.  H. 
Staub,  chairman;  John  Fleming,  W.  N. 
Ford,  F.  E.  Henderson,  P.  F.  McCall  and 
H.  H.  Pace  for  the  Engineering  Asso- 
ciation. 

The  discussion  on  this  joint  report 
appears  in  connection  with  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Accountants'  Associa- 
tion. 

Wednesday  Morning  Session 

The  presentation  of  the  report  of 
the  committee  on  power  distribution, 
having  been  postponed  from  the  sched- 
uled time  on  Tuesday,  was  taken  up  at 
a  special  session  Wednesday  morning. 

Power  Distribution 

The  outstanding  feature  of  the  report 
of  the  committee  on  power  distribution 
this  year  was  a  Compilation  of  inform- 
ation on  composition  and  limits  of 
economical  wear  of  trolley  wire.  The 
committee   divided   the    subject  into: 


Composition  of  trolley  wire,  limits  of 
economical  wear  and  causes  contribut- 
ing to  wear.  The  result  of  a  question- 
naire on  these  topics  was  given,  to- 
gether with  the  gist  of  articles  on  the 
subject  by  S.  L.  Foster,  chief  electrician 
United  Railroads  of  San  Francisco. 

The  committee  also  recommended  a 
number  of  items  to  be  submitted  to 
the  American  Engineering  Standards 
Committee,  as  follows:  As  "American 
Standard,"  the  specification  for  galvan- 
izing or  sherardizing  on  iron  and  steel; 
as  "Recommended  American  Practice," 
the  specification  for  600-volt  direct- 
current  overhead  trolley  construction; 
as  "American  Standard  Specification," 
the  specification  for  wood  poles;  as 
"American  Standard  Specification,"  the 
specifications  for  tubular  steel  poles;  as 
"Recommended  American  Practice,"  the 
specification  for  round  and  grooved 
high-conductivity  trolley  wires,  the 
specification  for  overhead  line  material, 
the  railroad  specifications  for  electric 
light,  power  supply  and  trolley  lines 
crossing  steam  and  electric  railways, 
various  specifications  referring  to  in- 
sulated wires  and  cables,  and  the  hard- 
drawn  aluminum  wire  table. 

It  is  not  the  thought  of  the  committee 
that  all  of  the  above  will  be  accept- 
able in  the  present  form,  but  the  plan 
is  to  set  in  motion  the  machinery 
necessary  to  bring  about,  through  the 
American  Engineering  Standards  Com- 
mittee, such  changes  as  will  ultimately 
render  them  acceptable  to  all  interests 
concerned. 

On  the  subject  of  catenary  overhead 
construction,  the  committee  gave  the 
results  of  a  questionnaire,  but  recom- 
mended the  continuation  of  the  study. 
Progress  was  also  reported  as  to  the 
standard  stranding  of  cables,  regard- 
ing which  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Association  has  accepted  joint 
sponsorship  from  the  American  Engi- 
neering Standards  Committee.  As  this 
■was  the  first  occasion  of  the  association 
becoming  a  sponsor  for  an  American 
Engineering  Standard,  the  committee 
gave,  in  an  appendix  to  the  report,  a 
detailed  record  of  the  procedure  being 
followed. 

As  to  lightning  arresters,  both  on 
cars  and  on  the  line,  the  committee 
expressed  a  conviction,  resulting  from 
a  questionnaire  on  the  subject,  that 
traction  properties  are  not  giving  this 
essential  detail  the  consideration  it 
should  have.  Further,  the  recommend- 
ation was  made  that  all  operating 
officials  have  a  survey  made  of  arrester 
equipment,  with  a  view  to  bringing  it 
up  to  recommend  practice.  Many  prop- 
erties are  having  lightning  damage,  due 
to  improper  installation  or  to  lack  of 
sufficient  arresters,  others  are  not  pro- 
viding proper  protection  by  choke  coils, 
still  others  have  used  arrester  wiring 
of  too  large  resistance,  etc.  The  com- 
mittee included  specifications  for  in- 
stalling arresters  to  insure  the  best 
results. 

The  report  included  a  number  of 
appendixes  containing  valuable  data, 
questionnaire  forms,  etc.  It  was  signed 
by   Charles    Rufus    Harte,  chairman; 


632 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Azel  Ames,  C.  C.  Beck,  J.  H.  Drew, 
R.  W.  Eaton,  H.  H.  Febrey,  C.  A. 
Harrington,  C.  J.  Hixson,  C.  H.  Jones, 
F.  McVittie,  M.  B.  Rosevear,  W. 
Schaake,  A.  Schlesinger  and  F.  J. 
White. 

M.  B.  Rosevear,  on  behalf  of  the 
chairman,  Charles  Rufus  Harte,  intro- 
duced the  several  sections  of  the  re- 
port. He  called  upon  R.  W.  Eaton, 
public  service  engineer,  Providence, 
R.  I.,  to  comment  upon  the  joint  cross- 
ing specification. 

Mr.  Eaton  agreed  with  the  statement 
of  the  committee  that  the  specifica- 
tion is  "incomplete,  is  in  need  of  clari- 
fication in  many  places  and  of  revision 
in  many  others  and  is  not  up  to  date." 
The  most  important  question  is  how  to 
proceed  in  future  so  as  to  produce  a 
specification  that  will  be  likely  to  se- 
cure general  acceptance.  It  seems  de- 
sirable that  further  work  by  a  re- 
stricted committee  should  be  aban- 
doned and  that  future  efforts  should 
be  made  through  the  American  Engi- 
neering Standards  Committee  or  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Standards  or 
both.  It  is  too  bad  that  the  existing 
specification  is  not  generally  known 
and  used  by  members.  Probably  the 
same  situation  applies  on  the  steam 
railroads.  Certainly  the  specification 
is  not  being  adopted  rapidly  by  state 
and  other  regulatory  bodies. 

Mr.  Eaton  though  that  the  sponsor- 
ship of  the  specification  is  too  re- 
stricted and  that  there  is  no  prospect 
of  constructive  action  through  fur- 
ther co-operation  with  the  steam  rail- 
roads only.  Further,  conferences  should 
be  held  between  the  power  distribution 
committee  and  the  Bureau  of  Stand- 
ards regarding  the  details  of  the  ap- 
propriate parts  of  the  National  Elec- 
trical Safety  Code,  so  that  in  case,  as 
now  appears  to  be  the  trend,  the  na- 
tional code  is  approved  by  state  com- 
missions, the  views  of  electric  railway 
men  may  be  before  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  in  connection  with  any  re- 
vision of  the  code. 

Next,  speaking  for  himself  as  an 
individual,  Mr.  Rosevear  said  that  the 
latest  revision  of  the  specification,  as 
adopted  at  the  1919  convention  of  the 
association,  was  participated  in  by 
three  bodies  only;  namely,  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Association,  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Engineering  Association 
and  the  American  Electric  Railway  As- 
sociation. At  that  convention  the 
speaker  had  voiced  his  objections  to 
favorable  action  by  the  Engineering 
Association,  but  the  report  was  never- 
theless adopted,  and  it  was  explained 
that  the  revision  was  so  much  better 
than  the  original  that  it  was  advisable 
for  this  association  to  adopt  it.  It  was 
also  stated  that  further  revision  was 
required,  and  the  specification  was  im- 
mediately referred  back  to  the  power 
distribution  committee  for  such  action, 
which,  as  the  present  report  shows,  has 
been  impossible  of  accomplishment. 

The  committee  at  its  June  meeting 
thought  that  further  action  should  be 
by  all  interested  parties,  not  by  a  se- 


lected few,  and  that  such  general 
action,  leading  to  the  preparation  of 
specifications  that  would  be  univer- 
sally acceptable,  might  best  be  secured 
through  the  medium  of  the  American 
Engineering  Standards  Committee.  It 
was  not  the  idea  of  the  committee  to 
submit  the  present  specification  as  a 
basis  for  a  general  one  as  the  com- 
mittee was  convinced  that  it  was  un- 
satisfactory in  many  respects. 

Since  the  completion  of  the  report, 
further  consideration  by  some  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  has  raised  the 
question  as  to  whether  the  action  of 
the  1919  convention  really  should  not 
be  rescinded  and  the  overhead  crossing 
specification  rejected  and  removed 
from  the  manual.  Admittedly  such 
action  would  be  very  radical  and  might 
subject  the  association  to  severe  criti- 
cism for  its  changing  attitude.  Never- 
theless, such  action  would  seem  to  be 
a  natural  corollary  of  the  committee's 
report.  It  would  also  give  the  asso- 
ciation representatives  on  any  general 
joint  committee,  such  as  are  formed 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Engineering  Standards  Committee, 
greater  freedom  of  action  than  if  the 
specification  remained  in  force  as  a 
"Recommended  Specification." 

Next  a  communication  was  read 
from  Thomas  Sproul,  Public  Service 
Electric  Company.  He  said  that  he 
could  not  agree  with  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  committee  that  the  prepara- 
tion of  specifications  covering  the  type; 
of  construction  to  be  employed  by  elec- 
tric light,  power  supply  and  trolley 
lines  crossing  steam  and  electric  rail- 
ways is  a  proper  study  for  a  commit- 
tee organized  under  the  auspices  of 
the  American  Engineering  Standards 
Committee.  The  subject  is  already 
completely  covered  by  the  National 
Electrical  Safety  Code,  which  includes 
rules  covering  all  types  of  overhead 
and  underground  constructions,  cross- 
ings being  only  a  small  part.  To  give 
separate  consideration  to  a  crossing 
specification  will  tend  to  interfere  with 
the  adoption  of  the  entire  code  as  a 
standard  by  the  American  Engineering 
Standards  Committee. 

General  standardization  of  a  cross- 
ing specification  is  particularly  desir- 
able, but  an  acceptable  standard  can 
only  be  prepared  by  basing  such  a 
specification  on  the  National  Electrical 
Safety  Code,  which,  as  the  result  of 
the  care  exercised  in  its  preparation,  is 
being  adopted  in  many  states  as  a 
basis  for  the  preparation  of  rules  reg- 
ulating such  construction.  Mr.  Sproul 
therefore  urged  that  the  association 
suggest  to  the  committee  on  power  dis- 
tribution a  revision  of  the  specification 
in  accordance  with  the  National  Elec- 
trical Safety  Code,  rather  than  that 
the  construction  of  crossings  be  given 
separate  study  by  a  special  committee 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Engineering  Standards  Committee. 

Dr.  M.  G.  Lloyd  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Standards  was  next  called 


upon.  He  spoke  of  the  way  in  which 
the  state  commissions  had  made  use  of 
the  National  Electrical  Safety  Code, 
both  in  its  original  form,  that  of  1916, 
and  the  present  revised  form.  It  has 
largely  taken  the  place  of  sundry  codes 
previously  used.  It  had  an  almost  im- 
mediate effect  in  unifying  procedure. 
No  argument  is  needed  as  to  the  need 
for  uniform  rules.  The  men  of  the 
Bureau  of  Standards  were  disappointed 
that,  in  1919,  the  association  adopted 
the  specification  without  consulting 
them.  He  hoped  that  the  action  would 
be  rescinded,  but  said  that  there  could 
be  no  objection  to  the  calling  of  a  con- 
ference on  the  subject  by  the  Ameri- 
can Engineering  Standards  Commit- 
tee. 

Speaking  from  the  standpoints  of 
several  interests  in  this  matter,  Mar- 
tin Schrieber,  Public  Service  Railway, 
Camden,  N.  J.,  opposed  rescinding  of 
the  1919  action,  particularly  as  the 
specification  is  to  be  revised.  Opinion 
is  divided  as  to  the  status  of  the  safety 
code,  and,  he  thought,  both  the  code 
and  the  specification  should  go  to  the 
American  Engineering  Standards  Com- 
mittee. After  this  the  recommendation 
of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

Overhead  Catenary  Construction 

The  next  topic  taken  up  was  the  con- 
struction of  catenary  "overhead."  In 
this  connection  W.  K.  Archbold,  Arch- 
bold-Brady  Company,  read  a  communi- 
cation from  R.  L.  Allen,  chief  engineer 
of  the  company,  stating  that  a  type  of 
supporting  structure  should  be  chosen 
with  a  view  to  the  lowest  annual  capi- 
tal and  maintenance  cost.  The  allow- 
ance for  maintenance  of  wood  poles 
should  be  studied  in  view  of  the  pros- 
pect of  constantly  rising  costs  for  re- 
newals. It  is  difficult  to  lay  down  gen- 
eral rules  for  selecting  spans  and  types 
of  supports,  due  to  the  differences  in 
conditions  on  different  properties. 
Where  line  voltage  is  so  high  that  the 
cost  of  insulators  per  mile  is  impor- 
tant, it  is  advisable  to  use  longer 
catenary  spans,  especially  if  a  large 
part  of  the  track  is  on  tangents. 
Where  much  feeder  capacity  is  re- 
quired, the  total  strains  and  cost  may 
be  reduced  by  using  the  feeder  as  a 
messenger. 

As  to  the  assumption  that  a  steel 
messenger  will  have  a  modulus  of 
elasticity  of  29,000,000,  this  is  correct 
for  a  single  wire,  but  on  account  of 
the  spring  action  in  a  stranded  cable 
the  value  should  be  taken  at  about 
22,000,000  in  this  case. 

It  would  not  seem  desirable  to  put 
in  steady  strains  as  close  as  300  ft. 
on  tangents,  as  each  fixture  tends  to 
make  a  hard  spot  in  the  wire,  and 
general  practice  appears  to  be  to  place 
the  steady  strains  from  500  ft.  to  1,500 
ft.  apart.  Sometimes  they  are  omitted 
altogether.  Again,  if  the  line  struc- 
tures are  substantial,  full  anchor 
bridges  would  not  appear  to  be  nec- 
essary. 

The  primary   purpose   of  catenary 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


633 


construction  is  to  obtain  a  trolley  con- 
tact without  hard  spots.  The  cause  of 
arcing  on  a  contact  line  is  the  impact 
at  points  of  support.  This  varies  di- 
rectly with  the  pressure  of  the  collec- 
tor and  the  square  of  the  speed.  The 
weight  of  the  portion  of  the  hanger 
which  is  integral  with  the  contact  wire 
tends  to  increase  the  hammering  ef- 
fect. The  force  of  this  blow  varies 
inversely  as  the  weight  of  the  contact 
wire  per  linear  unit  and  inversely  as 
its  tension. 

Longer  Spans  May  Be  Cheaper 

In  a  communication  read  as  coming 
from  M.  W.  Manz,  the  Ohio  Brass  Com- 
pany, the  writer  gave  an  estimate  of 
the  saving  secured  by  increasing  span 
length  from  150  ft.  to  300  ft.  He  said 
that  from  10  per  cent  to  15  per  cent 
may  thus  be  saved.  With  the  longer 
spans  as  used  on  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  two  No.  0000 
contact  wires  are  supported  on  a  i-in. 
messenger  with  about  300  lb.  loading 
per  pole  bracket.  With  a  -fa -in.  mes- 
senger and  one  No.  0000  wire,  the 
total  load  would  be  about  240  lb.  per 
bracket. 

Mr.  Manz  gave  as  a  formula  for 
curve  work  the  statement  that,  ap- 
proximately, the  length  of  the  mid- 
ordinate  in  feet  is  equal  to  seven- 
eighths  of  the  product  of  the  degrees 
of  curvature  and  the  square  of  half 
the  long  chord  or  half  the  pole  spac- 
ing in  percentage  of  100  ft.  He  also 
expressed  preference  for  a  contact  wire 
height  of  24  ft.,  if  commercial  freight 
haulage  is  to  be  considered. 

Mr.  Manz  gave  a  set  of  logarithmic 
diagrams  for  calculating  sags  and  ten- 
sions for  a  wide  range  of  spans,  with 
provision  for  variation  in  temperature. 

H.  M.  Gould,  Department  of  Street 
Railways,  Detroit,  Mich.,  sent  in  a 
statement  that  the  Department  of 
Street  Railways  has  installed  catenary 
construction  at  two  steam  railroad 
crossings,  the  first  one  having  a  clear 
span  of  190  ft.,  and  covering  thirteen 
tracks,  and  the  second  having  three 
shorter  spans  and  covering  eight 
tracks.  In  both  cases  the  contact  wire 
is  No.  00  round  phono-electric,  with 
i-in.  stud  bronze  clinch  ears  and  a 
§-in.  round  copper-clad  steel  hanger, 
looped  over  the  messenger.  In  the  first 
instance  the  messenger  wires  are  I  in., 
seven-strand,  copper-clad  steel,  sup- 
ported by  two  cross  spans  of  the  same 
material.  In  the  second  case  the  mes- 
senger wires  are  t%-in.,  seven-strand, 
copper-clad  steel,  suported  by  two 
cross  spans  of  the  same  material.  The 
span  lengths  were  automatically  fixed. 
Copper  or  copper-clad  steel  was  used  to 
ward  off  the  corrosive  action  of  the 
locomotive  gases.  A  flexible  hanger 
was  used  to  cut  down  the  wear  on  the 
trolley  wire,  which  was  installed  22  ft. 
above  the  rails  as  required  by  law.  A 
hanger  spacing  of  15  ft.  was  decided 
upon  as  this  is  the  maximum  which 
will  allow  the  trolley  wheel  just  to  raise 
the  trolley  wire  and  hanger.  A  i-in. 
hanger  was  used  because  it  was  only 
necessary  to  thread  a  standard  rod  and 


this  could  be  used  with  a  standard 
g-in.  boss  clinch  ear. 

This  citation  was  made  to  show  that 
the  reasons  for  any  particular  installa- 
tion are  just  as  important  as  the  de- 
tails, and  the  quickest  way  to  bring 
about  standardization  is  to  eliminate 
those  methods  which  have  no  good 
reason  for  existing. 

Discussion  on  Qualities  of  Trolley 
Wire 

Mr.  Rosevear  opened  the  discussion 
on  trolley  wire  by  stating  that  the  wire 
of  today  is  better  than  earlier  wire, 
but  that  specifications  are  needed  to 
prevent  the  effects  of  haste  in  manu- 
facture due  to  competitive  conditions. 
He  deplored  the  fact  that  so  few  com- 
panies purchase  wire  by  the  associa- 
tion specification.  He  then  called  upon 
the  secretary  to  read  a  communication 
from  S.  L.  Foster,  Market  Street  Rail- 
way, San  Francisco,  who  said  that 
while  what  he  wished  to  contribute  is 
not  new,  this  seems  to  be  a  good  time 
to  bring  it  up  again.  Although  the 
trolley  wire  used  on  the  San  Francisco 
property  was  bought  by  the  associa- 
tion specifications  and  carefully  in- 
spected, it  occasionally  "broke  off  like 
macaroni  when  we  put  it  in  a  splicer," 
to  use  a  lineman's  words.  While  this 
may  have  been  an  exaggeration,  the 
experience  described  was  unusual  and 
disconcerting.  Mr.  Foster  said  that  he 
had  heard  of  a  practice  followed  in 
Europe  of  specifying  a  certain  number 
of  up-and-down  bends  in  the  wire  to  be 
withstood  without  fracture.  He  thought 
that  if  the  wire  in  question  had  been 
subjected  to  such  a  test  the  defects 
would  have  been  discovered.  He  said 
that  the  use  of  hard-drawn  wire  had 
been  largely  abandoned  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. Figure  8  and  grooved  wire  had 
not  been  used  there  for  many  years. 

Mr.  Foster  expressed  preference  for 
No.  00  round  wire  with  15-in.  clinch 
ears.  The  clamp  ear  does  not  protect 
the  lower  surface  of  the  wire  where 
the  blow  of  the  passing  trolley  wheel 
is  delivered.  With  the  clinch  ear,  in- 
closing the  wire  all  around,  the  lower 
surface  of  the  wire  is  protected.  By 
the  judicious  use  of  clinch  ears  much 
longer  life  can  be  secured  from  the 
whole  length  of  the  trolley  wire. 

Mr.  Foster  did  not  claim  that  the 
clinch  ear  will  give  ideal  results.  The 
ear  should  be  carefully  designed  to  give 
the  smoothest  possible  entrance  and 
exit  for  the  passing  trolley  wheel  and 
should  have  more  metal  around  the 
trolley  wire  measured  both  trans- 
versely and  vertically  at  the  center 
than  elsewhere. 

On  this  subject  H.  M.  Gould  wrote 
that  the  lack  of  reliable  data  is  a  seri- 
ous matter  and  is  inexcusable.  If  the 
railways  would  make  systematic  tests 
of  trolley-wire  wear  valuable  data 
could  be  readily  obtained.  He  said  that 
he  is  working  with  one  of  the  manu- 
facturers in  the  development  of  a 
spring  hanger  and  a  flexible  strain 
plate  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  wear 
on  the  trolley  wire  at  the  ears  and 
strain  points  respectively. 


The  next  speaker  was  Horace  A. 
Staples,  American  Copper  Products 
Company,  who  expressed  preference 
for  numerous  reductions  in  wire  draw- 
ing. Specifications  should  be  consid- 
ered from  the  standpoints  both  of  the 
user  and  the  manufacturer.  Sometimes 
it  seems  as  if  it  was  believed  that  "if 
it's  harder  to  make  it's  better."  He 
thought  the  torsion  test  all  right  if  that 
is  what  the  customer  wants,  but  he 
did  not  see  why  the  tensile  strength 
should  be  limited.  The  A.  S.  T.  M.  and 
A.  E.  R.  A.  specifications  should  be 
harmonized. 

J.  L.  R.  Glover,  Bridgeport  Brass 
Company,  spoke  regarding  high- 
strength  wire,  in  connection  with 
which,  as  with  all  other  wire,  the  mat- 
ter of  care  in  handling  should  be  con- 
sidered. Breaks  are  important  as  well 
as  wear.  Nicking  is  particularly  bad. 
Wire  is  sensitive  to  handling  both  in 
erection  and  in  the  storeroom. 

H.  G.  Burd,  National  Conduit  & 
Cable  Company,  backed  up  Mr.  Glover 
as  to  breaks.  He  thought  that  the  rea- 
sons for  non-use  of  the  standard  speci- 
fication are  lack  of  interest  and  the 
possibility  of  higher  price. 

E.  H.  Scofield,  speaking  for  the  rail- 
way men,  said  that  fatigue  should  not 
be  overlooked.  Recent  experiments 
showed  60  per  cent  of  the  breaks  in  a 
given  case  were  due  to  this.  More 
data  are  needed  here.  In  the  "Twin 
Cities"  a  flexible  hanger  and  general 
use  of  span  construction  have  elimi- 
nated hard  spots.  Then,  as  to  the 
method  of  collection,  Mr.  Scofield  said 
that  in  cities  little  has  as  yet  been 
done  with  sliding  contact.  His  experi- 
ments show  that  a  shoe  3  in.  to  4  in. 
long  requires  only  one-half  the  pres- 
sure of  a  wheel.  Wheel  wear  is  largely 
due  to  burning.  No  flashing  occurs 
with  the  shoe  at  high  speed,  and  there 
is  no  vibration  on  the  roof  of  the  car. 
A  great  source  of  trouble  with  wheels 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  wear  "out 
of  round." 

The  specification  for  overhead  line 
material  was  then  taken  up.  Certain 
minor  revisions  were  approved  and  the 
specification  was  referred  to  the  stan- 
dards committee  with  a  view  to  submis- 
sion to  the  American  Engineering 
Standards  Committee.  Other  recom- 
mendations of  the  committee  to  the 
same  end  were  approved. 

Before  the  morning  session  was  ad- 
journed a  suggestion  was  received  from 
James  H.  Drew,  Drew  Electric  Com- 
pany, to  the  effect  that  sentiment  out 
in  the  industry  seems  to  favor  some 
change  in  the  form  of  the  Engineering 
Manual  to  make  it  more  convenient  for 
use.  President  Gove  said  that  this 
matter  would  undoubtedly  have  early 
attention.  A  resolution,  suggested 
Monday  by  H.  H.  Norris,  Electric 
Railway  Journal,  regarding  a  move 
to  bring  about  unity  of  action  in  regard 
to  electrification  of  steam  railroads 
was  passed. 

After  hearing  a  report  from  the 
committee  on  subjects  regarding  power- 
distribution-committee  assignments  for 
next  year,  the  meeting  adjourned. 


634 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Wednesday  Afternoon 
Session 

At  the  Wednesday  afternoon  session 
of  the  Engineering  Association  R.  C. 
Cram,  chairman,  presented  the  report 
of  the  committee  on  way  matters,  in 
abstract,  and  discussion  was  called  for 
as  each  subject  was  presented.  Mar- 
tin Schreiber,  chairman  of  the  commit- 
tee on  standards,  presented  the  recom- 
mendations of  that  committee. 

Way  Matters  (Including  Wood 
Preservation) 

In  presenting  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  way  matters  the  chairman 
read  from  an  abstract  of  it  which  was 
printed  in  connection  with  the  advance 
copies.  This  is  a  new  feature  of  con- 
vention reports.  Attention  was  called 
by  the  chairman  to  the  size  of  the  re- 
port and  to  the  number  of  subjects 
which  he  believed  to  be  too  many  for 
adequate  consideraton  by  any  single 
committee. 

The  standardization  of  frogs  requires 
adoption  of  standard  track  center  dis- 
tances, and  a  set  of  eight  distances  was 
recommended.  The  work  of  standard- 
izing branch-off  frogs  received  much 
study  and  a  proposed  scheme  with  a 
large  number  of  tables  was  presented 
as  a  progress  report.  Similarly  a  set  of 
tables  for  car  clearance  easement 
curves  were  given  and  a  study  of  these 
tables  by  the  members  of  the  associa- 


tion was  suggested.  A  set  of  engineer- 
ing data  for  standard  crossovers  and 
turnouts  was  presented  for  adoption. 

A  progress  report  on  curved  contours 
for  wheel  treads  indicated  the  desire 
for  further  study  in  co-operation  with 
the  equipment  committee. 

The  subject  of  curved  treads  for 
plain  girder  and  girder  guard  rails  was 
exhaustively  treated  and  includes  a 
number  of  drawings.  The  committee 
recommended  that  the  treads  of  the 
guard  rails  and  plain  girder  rails  be 
left  as  at  present.  An  important  recom- 
mendation is  given,  calling  for  the  in- 
clination of  tilting  of  plain  girder  rails. 

The  progress  report  on  the  investi- 
gation of  arc-weld  joints  contains  mat- 
ter of  interest  to  all  track  engineers 
who  are  studying  this  type  of  joint.  A 
large  number  of  illustrations  are  in- 
cluded, covering  apparatus  and  types  of 
joints  in  use.  Seven  conclusions  are 
reached,  indicating  the  need  for  much 
more  study  of  the  process,  and  the  sub- 
ject is  suggested  for  continuation. 

A  complete  specification  for  special 
trackwork  of  the  rail-bound  insert  type 
was  presented  for  adoption  as  a  recom- 
mended specification. 

The  study  of  the  proposed  impression 


Dimensions  of  Switches  and  Mates 


test  for  girder  rails  was  continued  in 
co-operation  with  representatives  of  the 
A.S.T.M.  The  test  is  proposed  by  the 
A.S.T.M.  as  a  substitute  for  the  drop 
test.  Some  modifications  are  suggested 
for  the  test  as  proposed  by  the 
A.S.T.M.,  but  no  agreement  with  the 
latter  body  was  reached.  The  com- 
mittee believes  the  subject  needs  fur- 
ther study. 

A  brief  progress  report  on  designs  of 
substitute  ties  was  presented,  and  the 
subject  is  suggested  for  continuation 
as  it  is  considered  to  be  of  considerable 
importance.  Time  did  not  permit  the 
committee  to  give  the  subject  much 
attention. 

The  subject  of  wood  preservation  was 
considered  jointly  with  the  committee 
on  buildings  and  structures  and  on 
power  distribution.  A  separate  joint 
report  was  found  desirable,  and  this 
was  presented  separately.  The  joint 
report  contains  a  mass  of  information 
on  the  whole  subject  of  wood  preserva- 
tion as  related  to  the  electric  railway 
industry.  A  number  of  recommended 
specifications  covering  different  mate- 
rials and  processes  was  presented.  The 
joint  report  includes  a  valuable  glossary 
of  terms  used  in  wood  preservation 
which  is  thought  to  be  the  first  com- 
pendium of  such  information  ever  pre- 
pared. It  should  be  of  great  service 
to  all  who  have  to  study  the  general 
subject  of  wood  preservation. 

Several  important  changes  in  exist- 
ing   standards    and  recommendations 


Dimensions 


(This  table  is  to  be  withdrawn  in  favor  of  the  revised  table  herewith): 
Radius  for 
Standard  Radius        All  Gages 
R 

50-ft.  lateral   47  ft.  7*  in. 

75-ft.  lateral   72  ft.  7\  in. 

100-ft.  lateral   97  ft.  7\  in. 

1 50-ft.  lateral   147  ft.  7\  in. 

200-ft.  lateral   197  ft.  7\  in. 

100-ft.  wye   97  ft.  71  in. 

1 50-ft,  wye   147  ft.  7\  in. 

200-ft.  wye   197  ft.  7 J  in. 

350-ft.  wye   347  ft.  7*  in. 

NOTE. — It  is  recommended  that  the  100-ft.  radius  lateral  and  200-ft.  radius 
wye  shall  be  used  wherever  practicable.  It  will  rarely  be  found  necessary  to  use 
others. 


(This  table  submitted  for  adoption  as  standard  design  in  lieu  of  the  table  opposite.) 


A 

BandC 

D 

E  an  F 

— 6  in. 

10  ft|  0  in. 

— 6  in. 

10  ft.  0 

in. 

0  in. 

12  ft.  0  in. 

0  in. 

12  ft.  0 

in. 

0  in. 

13  ft.  6  in. 

0  in. 

13  ft.  6 

in. 

12  in. 

15  ft.  0  in. 

12  in. 

15  ft.  0 

in. 

18  in. 

16  ft.  6  in. 

18  in. 

16  ft.  6 

in. 

— 6  in. 

1 0  ft.  0  in. 

— 6  in. 

10  ft.  0 

in. 

0  in. 

12  ft.  0  in. 

0  in. 

12  ft.  0 

in. 

0  in. 

1 3  ft.  6  in. 

0  in. 

13  ft.  6 

in. 

12  in. 

16  ft.  6  in. 

12  in. 

16  ft.  6 

in. 

Standard  Radius  1 


Radius  for 
All  Gages 
R 

100-ft.  lateral   97  ft.  1\  in. 

200-ft.  lateral          197  ft.  1\  in. 

200-ft.  equilateral  197  ft.  7\  in. 
350-ft.  equilateral  347  ft.  7J  in. 

50-ft.  lateral   47  ft.  7\  in. 

75-ft.  lateral   72  ft.  7\  in. 

100-ft.  equilateral.  .     97  ft.  7$  in. 


Dimensions 


B  and  C  E  and  F 

A  mate  D        Tong.  SW. 

0  in.   13  ft.  6  in.       0  in.   13  ft.  6  in. 
18  in.    16  ft.  6  In.      18  in.    16  ft.  6  in. 
0  in.    13  ft.  6  in.       0  in.    13  ft.  6  In. 
12  in.   16  ft.  6  in.      12  in.   16  ft.  6  in. 
—6  in.    10  ft.  0  in.     —6  in.    10  ft.  0  in. 

0  in.     12  ft.  0  in.        0  in.    12  ft.  0  in. 
—6  in.     10  ft.  0  in.     —6  in.     10  ft.  0  in. 
NOTE.— Radii  and  dimensions  shown  in  light  face  type  should  only  be  used 
where  special  conditions  will  not  permit  the  use  of  standard  dimensions  shown  in 
heavy  face  type. 


■S-l 

—  L  

— >j 

s 

—ail  

_  _ 

§1 

Standard  100  Turnout 
Swith  100' Radius     Frog  Angle  13*-00 


...  S  *J  g;  Si 

Standard  200'  Turnout 
Switch  200' Radius    Frog  Angle  9°-30' 


Standard  200-350' Turnout 
Switch  200'RadiuS     Froq  Anqle  7°-30' 


ForlOft.distance 
between  track 
centers 

4-8|  gage 

Variation  for 
1"  in  gage 

Voir,  for  1" 
between  tracks 

I001 

200' 

200-350 

100' 

200' 

200350 

100' 

200' 

2D0-35d 

.enjth  overall  bet 
tangent  poinh'L' 

112-11" 

J5IW5I' 

0504905 

ami 

1497980 

0K979' 

Length  of  str. 
lead"S" 

M 

«&! 

49-11? 

137049 

mm 

ami 

No.  variation 

Length  of  curv. 
lead  "S" 

&4 

1X0956 

049T98O 

018979 

No. variation 

Standard  200' Turnout 
Switch  200' Radius    Frog  Angle  I3°-00' 


Standard  350  Turnout 
Switch  350'Radius   Frog  Angle  9°-30' 


For  10ft  distance 
between  track 
centers 

4'-8j"gage 

Variation  for 
1 " in  qaqe 

Var.  for  1" 
between  tracks 

200' 

350' 

200' 

350' 

200' 

350' 

Length  overall  bet 
tanaent  points'  L" 

89'2£ 

0.368069 

0  503IH' 

0.365704' 

0501443' 

Frog  setting's" 

32-lf 

4*lf 

0348069 

0.503171' 

No.  variation 

Length  of  Curv. 
lead  "Si" 

3Z'-3;j" 

«'-0fe" 

0.365704' 

0.501443' 

No.Variaf  ion 

Sr*-S6r— 1 

XI  -oT—  

Standard  100'Crossover 
Switches  100'Radius  Frog  Angle  13-00' 

*fe=*=--nn*-_3  .J 

Standard  200' Crossover 
Switches  200'Radius  Frog  Angle  9°-30' 

-fjT  jgj-jL^  p js  f 

Standard  200-350' Crossover 
Switches  200'Radius  Frog  Angle  7°-30' 


For  10ft  distance 
between  track 
centers 

4-f 

S^'gage 

Variation  for 
l"in  gaqe 

Var.  for  |" 
between  tracks 

100' 

200' 

ZOO-H 

100' 

zoo' 

2DCH350 

100' 

200' 

200-350 

Length  overall  bet 
tangent  pointsT." 

31-4 

103'lls 

am 

15M905 

imi 

]JM9Si 

1(97981 

0151979 

Length  of  str 
lead  "S" 

$4 

H-llf 

4Sty{ 

1370(51 

150(905 

0133(4? 

No.  variation 

Length  of  curv. 
lead"S|" 

3&i' 

1(97980 

1132979 

No.  variation 

Engineering  Data  for  Standard  Crossovers  and  Turnouts 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


635 


were  proposed,  the  most  important  of 
these  being  the  table  of  dimensions  of 
switches  and  mates.  This  table  is  to 
be  raised  to  the  status  of  standard,  and 
two  switch  radii  are  to  be  abandoned. 
These  are  the  150  ft.  lateral  and  equi- 
lateral. Tables  of  the  former  recom- 
mendations and  proposed  standards  are 
reproduced  herewith. 

A  list  of  subjects  which  were  sug- 
gested for  study  by  the  Engineering 
Experimental  Station  of  Illinois  Uni- 


Method  of  Inclining  or  Tilting  Plain 
Girder  Rail,  Using  Inclined 
Face  Tie-Plate 

versity  was  reported,  and  ten  stand- 
ards and  recommendations  were  pre- 
sented for  adopton  as  American  Engi- 
neering Standards.  The  report  also 
noted  the  fact  that  a  special  committee 
has  been  appointed  to  study  the  subject 
of  all  types  of  welded  rail  joints.  The 
Engineering  Association  is  represented 
on  this  committee  by  E.  M.  T.  Ryder 
and  H.  M.  Steward.  The  chairman  is 
Dr.  G.  K.  Burgess  of  the  Bureau  of 
Standards.  The  work  is  to  be  conducted 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Bureau  of  Welding,  of  which  Prof. 
C.  A.  Adams  is  director. 

There  were,  all  told,  twenty-three 
recommendations  submitted  by  the 
committee,  seven  of  which  called  for 
action  by  the  committee  on  standards. 

Paper  on  Substitute  Ties  Read 
In  connection  with  the  discussion  of 
the  way  committee's  report,  a  paper 
on  substitute  ties  was  read  by  T.  A. 
Ferneding,  Dayton  Mechanical  Tie 
Company.  An  abstract  of  this  follows: 
Nature  seems  to  have  provided  in 
the  wood  and  in  the  soil  from  which 
it  grows,  the  essential  elements  for  the 
construction  of  good  track.  The  in- 
creasing demand  and  the  decreasing 
supply  of  wood  suitable  for  cross  ties, 
however,  has  forced  the  consideration 
of  some  kind  of  a  substitute,  but  when 
we  look  around  for  that  substitute,  we 
are  confronted  with  so  many  obstacles 
that  we  soon  become  confused.  This, 
however,  does  not  help,  but  it  does 
suggest  that  we  must  confine  ourselves 
to  the  fundamental  principle  of  "resili- 
ency" that  is  embodied  in  the  wood 
tie. 

The  success  of  the  reinforced  con- 
crete buildings  gave  rise  to  the  thought 
that  to  use  concrete  as  the  foundation 


for  the  track  in  paved  streets  would 
overcome  the  high  costs  and  failures 
of  gravel  and  stone.  So  a  concrete 
beam  was  laid  under  the  rail  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  tie.  This  construction  did 
not  prove  successful  for  two  reasons: 
First,  the  two  beams  not  being  tied 
together  gave  way  at  different  loca- 
tions, thus  throwing  the  track  out  of 
surface  and  gage.  Then  again,  the 
heavy  strains  and  blows  that  were  de- 
livered on  the  rail  were  readily  and 
easily  transmitted  to  the  concrete, 
which  soon  began  to  deteriorate. 

The  next  step  was  to  increase  the 
size  of  the  concrete  beams  and  con- 
struct a  reinforced  concrete  slab  on 
which  to  rest  the  rail.  Theoretically 
this  idea  was  fine  and  apparently  had 
solved  the  problem  of  a  substitute  for 
wood  ties.  The  idea  was  gathered  from 
the  reinforced  concrete  building,  and 
made  to  apply  to  the  track  by  shifting 
the  steel  in  various  positions.  One 
very  important  factor,  however,  was 
overlooked  and  that  was  that  the  con- 
crete was  subjected  to  an  entirely  new 
condition.  In  the  case  of  the  build- 
ing, the  concrete  merely  had  to  sup- 
port a  heavy  load  under  a  continuous 
strain,  without  any  abuse;  but  function- 
ing as  a  track  foundation,  it  not  only 
has  to  perform  the  same  duties  as  in 
the  building  but  is  subjected  in  addi- 
tion to  the  abuse  of  having  to  with- 
stand a  heavy  blow  every  time  a  wheel 
passes  over  the  rail.  Concrete,  un- 
molested by  any  outside  influences  that 
will  tend  to  destroy  its  integrity,  will 
remain  in  a  solid  mass  indefinitely,  but 
subject  to  the  impact  of  continuous 
blows,  disintegration  invariably  follows. 

Concrete,  because  of  its  strength  and 
density,  offers  the  best  assistance  to 
the  use  of  a  substitute  tie.  The  steel 
reinforcement  is  not  only  preserved 
against  corrosion  but  adds  strength  to 
the  concrete  itself  and  permits  of  a 
lesser  amount  of  excavation,  which  also 
carries  with  it  a  saving  of  ballast. 
From  a  standpoint  of  economy  and  dur- 
ability, reinforced  concrete  offers  the 
best  aid  to  the  use  of  a  substitute  tie — 
with  just  one  reservation — -"if  it  can 
be  properly  protected."  Through  the 
efforts  of  the  manufacturers  in  their 
endeavor  to  find  a  substitute  tie,  atten- 
tion has  been  called  to  two  kinds  of 
track  construction:  monolithic  and  resil- 
ient. 

Monolithic  means  steel  in  concrete  in 
a  solid  mass.  Resilient  means  any 
substance  that  contains  the  properties 
to  yield,  to  give,  to  absorb,  to  deflect, 
etc.  The  meaning  of  the  word  mon- 
olithic has  been,  unfortunately,  very 
frequently  misunderstood.  It  has  been 
said  that  a  track  laid  on  wood  ties, 
with  stone  ballast  and  concrete  in  be- 
tween the  rails  and  on  top  of  the  ties 
was  monolithic,  but  in  reality  it  is  res- 
ilient because  of  the  shock-absorbing 
features  of  the  wood  in  the  gravel  or 
stone  ballast. 

The  mere  finding  of  a  substitute  for 
the  wood  tie  in  itself  is  not  sufficient, 
because  there  are  so  many  other  points 
that  are  so  closely  related  to  it  that  its 


use  must  be  given  very  close  consider- 
ation; i.e.:  (1):  the  cost  of  the  substi- 
tute must  be  considered,  and  its  rela- 
tive bearing  on  the  total  cost  of  track 
when  completed.  (2):  the  life  of  the 
substitute.  By  this  is  meant  not  only 
the  life  of  the  substitute  itself,  but  the 
life  of  the  track  where  the  substitute 
is  used.  (3):  the  effect  of  the  substi- 
tute. By  this  is  meant  the  effect  the 
substitute  may  have  on  the  economy  of 
operating  other  departments  of  the 
railway,  as  well  as  the  effect  on  the 
track  itself. 

The  years  of  experience  that  have 
been  had  in  track  construction  where 
the  basic  principle  has  been  that  of 
"resiliency"  and  the  reluctance  with 
which  many  engineers  are  willing  even 
to  experiment  with  any  kind  of  con- 
struction where  this  principle  is  not 
strictly  adhered  to  is,  I  believe,  suffi- 
cient proof  of  its  correctness. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  deviate  from 
this  principle  and  cast  it  aside  for 
something  diametrically  opposite,  when 
the  traffic  conditions,  weight  of  cars, 
etc.,  are  growing  worse,  and  assume 
that  monolithic  construction  in  track 
can  go  contrary  to  all  the  laws  of 
nature  and  science,  in  my  humble  opin- 
ion, is  not  good  judgment. 

In  conclusion,  therefore,  when  select- 
ing a  substitute  for  the  wood  tie  and 
its  attending  economies  in  first  cost, 
select  a  foundation  that  is  most  durable 
and  economical,  but  in  the  application 
of  a  substitute  tie,  do  not  lose  sight 
of  the  positive  destruction  that  follows 
when  two  non-resisting  bodies  come  in 
communication  with  each  other  by  an 
impact  or  a  blow.  The  weaker  of  the 
two  will  necessarily  deteriorate  first, 
and  in  any  construction  where  con- 
crete is  used  in  any  form,  no  matter 
how  strongly  it  is  reinforced  with  steel, 
unless  there  is  some  substance  inter- 
posed between  the  material  receiving 
the  blow  and  the  concrete,  the  latter 
will  start  to  disintegrate  at  the  first 
impact,  and  its  destruction  compounded 
with  each  succeeding  blow. 

Discussion  on  Other  Features 
of  Report 

In  connection  with  the  possible  ad- 
vantages of  curved  contours  for  treads 
of  wheels,  R.  H.  Dalgleish,  Capital 
Traction  Company,  Washington,  D.  C, 
reported  that  he  had  turned  a  number 
of  wheels  to  the  contour  as  recom- 
mended by  the  way  committee,  and  that 
these  had  made  approximately  22,000 
miles  in  service.  There  appeared  to  be 
slightly  more  wear  on  the  flanges  of 
wheels  turned  to  this  special  contour 
than  on  standard  wheels;  otherwise 
they  were  apparently  giving  satisfac- 
tory service.  Mr.  Dalgleish  referred 
to  the  difficulty  of  turning  wheels  to 
curved  contours,  but  felt  that  the  sub- 
ject was  of  sufficient  importance  to 
warrant  further  investigation.  He  said 
that  the  excessive  wear  indicated  by 
the  first  10,000  miles  of  service  was 
due  to  the  cold  rolling  of  the  surface 
and  not  to  actual  wear. 

Regarding  welded  joints,  a  letter  was 


636 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


read  from  W.  W.  Wysor,  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  Baltimore, 
in  which  he  referred  to  his  article  in 
the  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  July  30,  1921.  He  said 
that  the  simplicity,  small  equipment 
required,  ease  of  application,  cheap- 
ness, and  freedom  from  interruption  of 
traffic,  all  combine  to  make  the  arc- 
weld  joint  attractive.  But  there  is 
something  more  to  be  done  than  simply 
buying  an  equipment  and  starting  a 
man  to  welding.  The  work  calls  for 
careful  supervision  and  skillful  oper- 
ators. Evidence  is  available  to  show 
that  internal  stresses  are  set  up  and 
chemical  or  metallurgical  changes  take 
place  in  the  metal  affected  by  the  arc. 
In  applying  the  arc-weld  or  seam-weld 
joint,  by  whatever  process,  we  are  not 
eliminating  the  joint.  The  rails  should 
be  abutted  as  closely  as  possible  and 
should  be  milled  or  ground  on  the  ends, 
and  the  bases  slightly  undercut  so  as 
to  bring  the  heads  together.  After 
welding  is  completed  the  rail  heads 
should  be  ground  to  a  true  surface  and 
proper  contour,  using  no  more  grind- 
ing than  necessary. 

Too  much  stress  cannot  be  laid  on  the 
importance  of  selecting  proper  oper- 
ators, men  who  will  take  an  interest 
in  the  work.  Such  men  will  soon  learn 
when  they  are  making  a  proper  weld. 

E.  C.  Price,  vice-president  the  In- 
dianapolis Switch  &  Frog  Company, 
Springfield,  Ohio,  discussed  the  report 
of  the  way  committee  at  length.  He 
said,  in  part: 

That  the  subject  of  joints  should  lie 
dormant  in  the  annals  of  the  A.  E.  R. 
E.  A.  from  1910  until  1920  may  be  at- 
tributed to  the  constant  activities  on 
the  part  of  the  manufacturers  in  con- 
ducting research  and  in  developing  and 
exploiting  special  joints  and  bonds.  The 
wisdom  is  self-evident  of  allowing  suffi- 
cient time  between  periodical  reviews 
to  incorporate  the  "time  and  usage 
test,"  particularly  of  a  product  of  this 
nature.  Ten  years  ago  very  few  street 
railways,  and  those  confined  mainly  to 
the  large  centers,  were  using  "welded 
joints,"  but  today  the  property  not  em- 
ploying some  type  of  welded  or  semi- 
welded  joint  is  the  rare  exception. 
The  following  statements  refer  to  the 
"metal-electrode  arc- welded  joint" 
known  as  the  "Indianapolis"  joint. 

The  principle  of  this  joint,  which 
is  a  combined  joint  and  bond,  embodies 
four  separate  features  in  its  construc- 
tion and  application,  namely:  (1)  It 
is  primarily  a  web-bearing  joint;  (2) 
it  is  essentially  a  metal-electrode  joint; 
(3)  it  is  eccentric  in  shape  and  con- 
tour, and  (4)  it  is  staggered. 

The  web  contact  feature  is  in  keeping 
with  the  principle  of  the  I-beam,  of 
which  the  rail  is  a  modified  form.  In 
splicing  I-beam  sections,  web  plates  are 
riveted  to  both  sides  of  the  web,  which 
in  effect  increases  the  thickness  and 
reinforces  the  web.  With  the  Indian- 
apolis joint,  the  web  of  the  rail  is 
similarly  reinforced  with  steel  bars  or 
plates,  34  in.  in  thickness,  integrally 
attached  by  welding  and  adding  V/2  in. 
to  the  original  thickness.    Tests  show 


the  strength  and  resiliency  at  this 
joint  to  be  greater  than  that  of  the 
unbroken  rail,  while  tests  for  conduc- 
tivity show  138  at  the  joint  compared 
with  100  for  the  unbroken  rail. 

In  the  Indianapolis  joint  the  best  re- 
sults follow  the  application  of  the 
plates  with  approximately  500-voIt 
current,  cut  down  through  the  "resist- 
ance welder."  The  metal  electrode  is 
still  used  not  only  as  being  dependable, 
but  for  the  elimination  of  excessive  or 
localized  heat  during  the  welding 
process,  thereby  preventing  or  reduc- 
ing to  a  minimum  certain  detrimental 
after  effects. 

The  plates  are  shaped  sloping  to  af- 
ford a  great  welding  area,  thereby  dis- 
tributing the  lines  of  force  and  dis- 
sipating the  heat  effects  and  also  to 
avoid  vertical  lines  of  welding  on  the 
web,  a  matter  of  vital  importance.  The 
points  of  the  plates  are  undercut,  to 
prevent  the  joining  of  welding  lines 
along  the  base  with  those  coming  down 
the  web  and  to  prevent  excess  welding 
or  "dwelling"  on  the  part  of  the  weld- 
ing operator  at  these  points,  thereby 
causing  segregation.  The  plates  are 
staggered  further  to  obtain  a  distri- 
bution of  lines  of  force  and  heat  ef- 
fects, by  breaking  the  opposing  lines 
of  welding.  The  terminating  of  the 
joint  at  each  end  with  but  one  plate 
extending  and  beveled  has  the  effect 
of  tapering  off  the  section  of  the  splic- 
ing members.  This  contibutes  to  elas- 
ticity and  resiliency  through  the  joint 
as  a  whole.  When  a  severely  rigid  sec- 
tion, abruptly  interposed  within  a  line 
of  flexibility,  meets  with  sudden  and 
concentrated  lines  of  energy  or  stress, 
.  a  condition  is  set  up  conducive  to 
breakage  or  abnormal  usage. 

Experience  with  the  joint  has  been 
had  in  more  than  200  cities  and  towns 
over  a  period  of  nine  years,  and  low 
maintenance  costs  have  always  fol- 
lowed the  use  of  the  joint  where  it 
has  been  properly  installed  under  nor- 
mal conditions. 

The  potential  should  be  such  that 
the  "action"  will  "impregnate  and 
weld"  and  avoid  the  two  extremes  of 
"burning"  and  "melting  only"  and  the 
welding  plates  should  be  of  selected 
mild  carbon  stock  and  of  great  tensile 
strength,  toughness  and  flexibility. 

The  welding  steel,  the  "fillet"  ma- 
terial, should  produce,  in  conjunction 
with  minor  portions  of  both  the  weld- 
ing plates  and  the  rail,  a  "melt"  equal 
in  characteristics  to  the  plates.  For 
example,  the  tensile  strength  of  a 
"melt"  of  fluxated  heat-treated  elec- 
trodes tested  from  56,000  to  70,000  lb., 
whereas  a  "melt"  from  the  same  basic 
steel  without  flux  or  treatment  tested 
but  35,000  lb.  per  square  inch. 

The  human  element  factor  as  it  en- 
ters into  the  question  of  electric  metal 
electrode  welding  covers  a  much  greater 
scope  than  an  operator's  ability  to 
"draw  and  hold  a  true  arc."  The  op- 
erator who  does  not  soon  become  an 
"artisan"  in  this  respect  is  an  excep- 
tion, yet  with  lack  of  proper  super- 
vision or  working  under  unwise  direc- 
tions of  his  superiors  he  will  not  do 


well.     With  the  work  properly  done 
the  results  are  satisfactory. 

Paving  should  be  of  such  nature  as 
to  protect  and  act  as  a  binder  to  the 
rails.  In  new  track,  the  rail  ends 
should  be  squared  or  faced  that  they 
will  abut  tightly  together,  especially 
at  the  head.  In  case  of  old  track,  the 
opening  should  be  closed  with  an  in- 
sert, or  filled  in  with  welding.  Joints 
should  be  gound  to  a  smooth  surface 
after  welding.  Care  should  be  exer- 
cised in  the  selection  of  temperatures 
and  seasons  for  installing  welded 
joints,  particularly  in  the  case  of  new 
work. 

Rolling  stock  should  be  in  relation 
to  track,  both  as  to  weight  and  condi- 
tion. This  not  to  be  taken  to  mean 
that  all  of  these  constructive  factors 
must  be  incorporated  to  admit  of  the 
use  of  arc-welded  joints  nor  that  the 
welded  joints  will  not  make  up  for 
many  of  the  deficiencies  existing  in  the 
average  track.  This  they  have  done 
in  many  instances  of  record,  but  that 
is  an  extra  or  assumed  function.  Sub- 
normal conditions  include  welding  on 
rail  that  is  precrystallized,  rail  that  is 
eaten  through  with  rust,  rail  that  lacks 
any  substructure  or  foundation  and 
paving  binder. 

W.  R.  Dunham,  Jr.,  then  read  a 
statement  prepared  by  H.  M.  Gould  and 
himself  in  which  they  stressed  the  im- 
portance of  securing  reliable  service 
data  in  regard  to  welded  joints.  Among 
the  attractive  features  of  electric  seam 
welding  are  that  standard  or  non- 
standard joint  plates  can  be  used,  the 
welding  equipment  can  be  easily  trans- 
ported and  handled,  the  cost  of  weld- 
ing equipment  is  not  excessive  and  arc- 
weld  bonds  can  be  installed  at  the  rail 
joints,  at  cross  bonds  or  in  the  special 
work.  At  the  same  time  seam-welded 
joints  cannot  act  as  substitutes  for  ties, 
ballast  and  pavement. 

The  speaker  then  showed  a  number 
of  exhibits  of  joint  work  in  Detroit. 
He  also  stated  that  the  paper  was  in- 
tended as  a  means  of  clinching  the 
argument  that  service  records  and  a 
complete  discussion  of  the  policy  to  be 
followed  will  develop  the  best  type  of 
rail  joint,  whether  it  be  the  seam- 
welded  or  some  other,  with  resultant 
benefits  to  the  electric  railway  industry 
as  a  whole. 

Chairman  Cram  then  opened  up  for 
discussion  the  topic  of  girder  rail  speci- 
fications, which  he  said  had  been  under 
discussion  for  two  years.  He  thought 
that  the  subject  might  well  be  con- 
tinued. He  called  on  F.  M.  Speller  and 
G.  C.  Farkell,  both  of  the  Lorain  Steel 
Company,  for  discussion.  The  latter 
read  a  paper  prepared  by  Mr.  Speller 
and  himself,  of  which  the  following 
is  an  abstract 

Steel  Mill  Experts  Discuss  Drop  and 
Impression  Tests  of  Steel  Rails 

The  use  of  the  drop  test  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  the  physical  prop- 
erties of  rails  as  they  are  rolled  can 
be  said  to  be  universal  in  this  country. 
In  nearly  all  specifications  this  test  is 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


637 


the  only  physical  test  which  is  required. 

There  has  long  been  doubt  on  the 
part  of  engineers  as  to  the  value  of 
the  drop  test  to  determine  the  reliabil- 
ity of  the  rail,  but  no  test  has  been  de- 
vised which  so  nearly  approximates 
some  of  the  conditions  under  which 
steam-road  rails  are  used.  When  the 
question  of  tests  to  determine  the  phy- 
sical properties  of  rails,  put  into  pav- 
ing over  which  electrically  propelled 
cars  are  operated,  is  considered,  the 
value  of  the  drop  test  becomes  still 
more  problematical.  The  lower  speed 
of  operation  makes  the  blow  from  a  flat 
wheel  far  less  serious,  while  the  use 
of  the  electric  motor  eliminates  all 
blows  such  as  are  caused  by  reciprocat- 
ing parts  of  the  steam  locomotive. 

To  indicate  how  extreme  are  the 
variations  in  a  section  of  girder  rails, 
the  moment  of  inertia  of  girder  sec- 
tions now  rolled  was  stated  to  vary 
from  31.2  to.  182.1,  while  the  metal  in 
the  head  varies  from  34.6  per  cent  to 
66.3  per  cent  of  the  total  weight. 

Failures  of  drop  tests  on  girder  rails 
made  according  to  the  various  specifi- 
cations are  extremely  rare.  There  has 
been  shipped  to  various  customers  by 
the  rail  mill  at  Lorain,  since  open- 
hearth  steel  was  substituted  for  bes- 
semer  in  1909,  1,312,164  tons  of  girder 
rails,  the  product  of  23,139  open-hearth 
heats.  During  this  period  there  have 
been  310  failures  of  drop-test  speci- 
mens on  the  original  test.  Duplicate 
tests  allowed  by  the  specifications  with- 
stood the  tests  in  all  except  twelve 
cases,  so  that  the  total  rejections  for 
this  period  amounted  to  710  tons  of 
rail,  or  less  than  0.05  per  cent.  More 
than  half  of  these  rejections  occurred 
in  a  rolling  of  high-carbon  and  high- 
silicon  steel  for  a  customer  who  after- 
ward modified  his  specifications  to  per- 
mit the  use  of  a  softer  steel. 

Objection  to  the  drop  test  is  made 
by  manufacturers  particularly  when 
rolling  the  now  prevailing  heavy  sec- 
tions, on  account  of  the  considerable 
weight  of  good  material  required  for 
the  test  pieces  and  the  number  of  short 
rails  which  are  made  when  "cutting 
these  tests."  In  some  cases,  one-half 
the  allowance  of  "shorts"  is  used  to 
obtain  the  drop  tests  required. 

Recognizing  the  limitations  of  the 
drop  test,  various  engineers  have 
turned  their  attention  to  other  means 
for  determining  the  physical  proper- 
ties of  rails.  Hardness  tests  have  re- 
ceived considerable  attention,  one  form 
of  which,  the  impression  test,  has  been 
included  in  certain  specifications  to 
supplement  the  information  obtained 
from  the  drop  test. 

We  have  so  far  been  unable  to  ar- 
rive at  any  satisfactory  conclusions  as 
to  the  causes  of  the  occasional  failures 
of  individual  rails  before  they  get  into 
the  track.  Chemical,  tensile  and  im- 
pression tests  made  close  to  the  point 
of  breakage  have  in  most  cases  failed 
to  show  any  unusual  conditions.  Every 
rail  rolled  for  a  considerable  period  was 
tested  by  a  heavy  blow  in  the  web, 
using  a  16-lb.  sledge,  with  negative  re- 


sults. We  have  been  forced  to  the  con- 
clusion that  such  failures  are  due 
to  extraordinary  abuse  when  cold 
straightening  the  rail  which  causes 
failure  at  that  time  or  introduces 
lccked-up  stresses  which  result  in 
failure  later,  rather  than  to  inherent 
brittleiaess  of  the  steel.  The  cold 
straightening  operation  is  a  severe 
test,  straining  the  material  beyond  the 
elastic  limit  at  frequent  intervals,  both 
vertically  and  laterally.  Should  the 
steel  have  brittle  characteristics,  this 
fact  should  be  developed  during  this 
operation. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  impression 
test  furnishes  useful  information  as 
to  the  uniformity  of  the  steel  with  re- 
spect to  its  tensile  strength  and  indi- 
rectly gives  valuable  information  prob- 
ably bearing  a  close  relation  to  the 
wearing  quality.  If  data  as  to  the 
strength  of  the  rails  as  measured  by 
the  impression  were  collected  systema- 
tically, way  engineers  would  in  time 
have  some  valuable  records  of  the  steel 
in  their  track  on  which  to  base 
future  specifications.  Under  the  pres- 
ent American  specifications  the  only 
records  available  are  the  analyses  of 
the  steel. 

It  is  true  that  the  impression  test 
gives  no  information  as  to  the  brittle- 
ness  of  the  steel,  but  are  such  data  nec- 
essary in  the  case  of  girder  rails,  and 
if  so,  does  the  drop  test  give  this  in- 
formation with  sufficient  precision  to 
be  worth  while  ?  Evidently  not,  by  the 
records  of  drop  test  failures  given 
above. 

In  conclusion  the  speaker  suggested 
that  the  impression  test  proposed  by 
the  committee  (and  adopted  by  the 
A.  S.  T.  M.)  be  included  tentatively  in 
the  present  specification,  as  an  alter- 
native for  the  drop  test.  If  this  is 
done  arrangements  will  immediately  be 
made  for  equipment  to  make  this  test 
concurrently  with  manufacture  in  the 
belief  that  the  results  will  amply  justify 
the  expense  involved. 

Following  Mr.  Farkell's  reading  the 
report  of  the  committee  on  way  mat- 
ters was  accepted,  and  the  report  of 
the  buildings  and  structures  commit- 
tee was  next  presented  in  abstract  by 
D.  E.  Crouse,  chairman.  There  was  no 
discussion.  An  abstract  of  the  report 
follows : 

Buildings  and  Structures 
The  subject  of  equipment  and  post- 
payment  of  fares  was  investigated  in 
co-operation  with  the  Transportation 
and  Traffic  Association.  The  commit- 
tee finds  that  postpayment  schemes  are 
but  little  used,  while  prepayment 
schemes  are  widely  employed  and  are 
essentially  the  same  as  outlined  in  last 
year's  report.  Turnstiles  promote  a 
rapid  flow  of  traffic,  the  device  has  but 
little  to  go  wrong,  requires  but  one 
attendant  and  assures  a  large  percent- 
age of  fares. 

The  use  of  a  change  booth  and  coin 
box  has  possibilities  for  a  more  rapid 
flow  of  traffic,  but  there  is  the  chance 
of  loss  of  revenue  through  bad  coins; 
also,  in  passing,  patrons  are  inclined, 


in  their  speed,  to  throw  coins  hurriedly 
at  the  box,  with  the  result  that  many 
coins  bounce  out,  thus  detracting  the 
attention  of  the  attendant.  The  use  of 
a  ticket  booth  and  cancellation  box  is 
similar  to  this  and  has  much  the  same 
characteristics.  On  the  elevated  lines 
of  Chicago  the  attendant  performs  both 
functions  by  receiving  and  registering 
the  fares  as  the  patron  passes  the  pre- 
payment point. 

The  following  suggestions  are  perti- 
nent in  the  design  of  either  a  prepay- 
ment or  postpayment  area: 

1.  Traffic  conditions  should  be  antici- 
pated through  conference  with  plant  of- 
ficials or  others  in  authority  who  are 
cognizant  of  them. 

2.  There  should  be  an  attempt  to  con- 
centrate loading  at  as  few  points  as 
possible,  but  with  sufficient  track  room 
to  permit  loading  in  a  minimum  of 
time. 

3.  There  should  be  sufficient  reser- 
voir capacity  in  entrance  or  exits  to 
permit  an  even  flow  of  traffic. 

4.  Arrange  for  operation  at  a  mini- 
mum of  expense  by  utilizing  plant  em- 
ployees, etc.,  at  rush  hours. 

5.  Allow  for  storage  of  cars  as  the 
prepayment  point  is  often  at  a  train 
terminal. 

Other  means  of  speeding  up  loading 
are  front  end  collection,  fare  receipts 
and  queues.  The  advantage  of  front- 
end  collection  is  that  it  permits  loading 
twice  as  fast.  The  principal  disadvan- 
tage is  that  there  is  no  way  of  check- 
ing the  number  of  passengers  in  the 
car  against  the  fares  registered.  Where 
fare  receipts  are  sold  by  traffic  inspec- 
tors to  waiting  passengers  at  congested 
loading  or  transfer  points  the  conduc- 
tor simply  collects  the  receipts  instead 
of  making  change  also.  This  scheme 
offers  decided  advantages  to  proper- 
ties using  one-man  cars  and  those  hav- 
ing a  flat  fare  in  excess  of  5  cents.  It 
does  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  the 
operation  of  registering  devices  nor 
does  it  impair  data  taken  therefrom. 
There  is  no  dual  responsibility  as  be- 
tween conductors  and  collectors. 

Queue  loading  can  hardly  be  classed 
as  a  prepayment  feature  except  as  it 
facilitates  loading.  It  is  a  logical  out- 
growth of  the  use  of  safety  platforms. 

Shop  Layouts 

Two  typical  layouts  have  been  de- 
signed, one  for  a  property  having  150 
cars  and  the  other  for  one  having  250. 
In  addition,  plans  of  several  represen- 
tative existing  shops  are  also  sub- 
mitted. It  was  deemed  advisable  by 
both  the  equipment  committee  and  the 
buildings  and  structures  committee  to 
include  these  to  give  additional  infor- 
mation to  prospective  builders. 

The  grade  of  the  floor  on  the  shop 
buildings  should  be  somewhat  above 
that  of  the  surrounding  land  and 
streets  to  prevent  entrance  of  water 
into  the  buildings.  The  minimum  clear- 
ance between  cars  and  posts,  walls  and 
other  fixed  parts  of  buildings  should  be 
2  ft.,  increased  on  curves.  Non-com- 
bustible construction  materials  are  rec- 
ommended.  Corners  and  recesses  where 


638 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


rubbish  would  tend  to  accumulate  should 
be  avoided.  Insurance  requirements  ari 
important  factors  in  determining  many 
other  details  of  construction,  and  a 
study  of  the  underwriter's  regulations 
when  planning  may  save  many  expen- 
sive changes  later. 

A  study  was  made  of  the  shops  and 
equipment  now  being  used  by  fifty  elec- 
tric railway  properties.  The  results 
show  that  the  number  of  cars  oper- 
ated by  the  various  properties  has  in- 
creased to  a  much  greater  extent  than 
the  facilities  for  maintaining  them. 
The  committee  recommends  that  a  lib- 
eral allowance  should  be  made  always 
for  growth.  In  arriving  at  the  area 
of  a  proposed  shop,  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  particular  type  of 
equipment  to  be  handled  and  the  ef- 
fect of  local  conditions  should  be  care- 
fully considered.  For  instance,  a  prop- 
erty which  contemplates  manufactur- 
ing cars  or  car  parts  should  allow  ad- 
ditional space  for  this  purpose  and  an 
interurban  property  having  but  a  few 
heavy  cars  must  provide  more  space 
per  car. 

In  the  arrangement  of  departments 
the  following  considerations  should 
govern:  (1)  Cars  should  progress  from 
motor  and  track  repair  shops  to  car- 
penter shops  and  thence  to  paint  shop; 
(2)  have  as  few  isolated  departments 
as  possible;  (3)  have  what  may  be 
termed  the  "Centralized  Shop  Plan"; 
(4)  locate  office  to  permit  the  master 
mechanic  to  keep  in  touch  readily  with 
his  various  departments;  (5)  arrange 
departments  to  afford  economical  han- 
dling of  material  and  apparatus. 

The  actual  areas  of  departments  in 


the  typical  layouts  are  as  shown  in  the 
tables  which  appear  at  the  bottom  of 
this  page. 

Generally  too  little  space  has  been 
allowed  between  track  centers.  Both 
the  equipment  committee  and  this  com- 
mittee believe  16  ft.  is  a  desirable  spac- 
ing and  that  it  should  not  be  less  than 
15  ft.  This  does  not  apply  to  inspec- 
tion pits  in  carhouses,  which  matter  is 
covered  in  the  1919  buildings  and  struc- 
tures committee  report  on  design  of 
carhouse  inspection  pits. 

For  smaller  shops  undoubtedly  ladder 
tracks  are  to  be  preferred.  For  a  mod- 
erate sized  shop  local  conditions  often 
dictate  which  shall  be  used.  For  a 
large  shop  a  combination  of  the  two 
is  often  desirable  as  it  gives  additional 
flexibility  and  speed  in  handling  cars 
through  the  shops.  For  a  small  num- 
ber of  tracks  the  first  cost  of  a  ladder 
track  will  be  lower,  while  for  a  large 
number  of  tracks  the  transfer  table 
will  cost  less.  In  designing  a  new  shop 
layout  it  will  be  well  for  the  engineer 
to  make  up  detailed  estimates  covering 
both  and  then  make  a  study  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  each  to  ascertain  which  will 
be  best  adapted  to  his  particular  case. 

Some  companies  have  had  trouble 
with  transfer  tables  due  to  the  use  of 
old  discarded  motors  to  drive  them  and 
on  account  of  improper  design  or  con- 
struction. If  the  transfer  table  is  to 
be  used  it  should  be  carefully  designed 
and  ruggedly  built.  Transfer  tables 
are  of  the  pit  type  or  flush  type.  The 
pit  type  is  less  expensive  and  more  de- 
sirable. Whether  the  transfer  tables 
should  be  in  the  open  or  under  cover 
depends  on  climatic  conditions.  Where 


can  move  from  one  track  to  the  next 
without  difficulty.  Pits  vary  in  depth 
from  4  ft.  6  in.  to  5  ft.  When  condi- 
tions require,  tile  covered  with  stone 
or  washed  gravel  may  be  used  to  drain 
subgrade.  Sump  should  be  connected 
to  the  sewer  and  the  floor  sloped  to 
the  sump. 

The  principal  types  of  illumination 
used  in  electric  railway  shops  are: 

1.  General  lighting,  secured  by  a  sys- 
tem giving  uniform  intensity  through- 
out a  shop  without  regard  to  machines 
or  work;  it  approaches  more  nearly 
"daylight"  conditions  than  any  other. 

2.  Localized  lighting,  secured  by 
single  units  suspended  over  individual 
working  planes. 

3.  General  and  localized  lighting,  a 
combination  of  the  first  two  types. 

4.  Modified  lighting,  secured  by  sus- 
pending lighting  units  so  that  the 
maximum  amount  of  illumination  will 
be  received  on  the  most  important 
working  planes. 

Individual  drive  of  shop  machinery 
has  many  advantages  over  belt  drive 
so  far  as  building  construction  and 
natural  lighting  is  concerned.  Espe- 
cially is  building  construction  affected 
when  the  machine  tools  are  of  a  heavy 
type,  which  means  a  rigid  support  for 
line  shafting.  There  are  other  advan- 
tages, such  as  continuity  of  service  and 
general  economy  in  operation. 

The  site  for  the  repair  shops  should 
have  sufficient  area  to  provide  for  out- 
side storage  and  to  permit  of  enlarg- 
ing the  buildings  to  take  care  of  future 
growth.  Many  classes  of  materials, 
such  as  wheels,  iron  castings,  lumber, 
scrap  and  the  like,  can  be  conveniently 


Shop  for  I  50  cars 


Dimen- 

Per Cent 

Departments 

sions 

Area 

Area 

Overhauling  and  truck 

63  x  105 

6,615 

21.7 

Machine,  wheels  and  J 
axles  1 

(33  x  113)  \ 
(5x29)  J 

3,584 

11.7 

Blacksmithing  and 

welding  

29  x  44 

1,276 

4.2 

Air  brakes  

15x21 

315 

1.0 

Office  

17  x  20 

340 

1 . 1 

47  x  30 

1,410 

4.6 

Carpenter  and  mill. .  . 

119  x  52 

6,188 

20.3 

D  .  .                       1  (1  4  x  52)-  1 
Pamt i    (14x21)  j 

5,634 

18.5 

13  x  20 

260 

0.9 

Sand  blast  

16  x  50 

800 

2.6 

31  x  99 

3,069 

10.  0 

13x21 

273 

0.9 

I6x  48 

768 

2.5 

30,532 

100.0 

there  is  much  snow  and  ice  it  is  well  to 
have  them  under  cover. 

The  subject  of  pits  was  thoroughly 
discussed  by  both  the  equipment  com- 
mittee and  the  buildings  and  structures 
committee,  and  it  is  recommended  that 
in  a  repair  shop  to  accommodate  mod- 
ern equipment  pit  space  should  be  kept 
to  a  minimum.  Either  open  or  closed 
pits  may  be  used.  The  type  which  ap- 
pears more  desirable  at  present  is  the 
open  type  with  the  devil  strips  cov- 
ered except  at  wheel-changing  pits. 
With  such  construction  the  workmen 


Shop  for  250  cars 

Overhauling  and 


trucks                        96  x  100  9,600  19.2 

Machine,  wheel  and  I  101x  49  1  6  034  12  I 

axle  1  31x35/ 

Blacksmithing  and 

welding                       31x  65  2,015  4.0 

Airbrake                       26  x  28  728  1.4 

Office                           20  x  25  500  1.0 

Armature                       40x  63  2,520  5.0 

Carpenter                    1  19x  65  7.735  15.5 

Wood  mill                    119x  30  3,570  7  .1 

PaintShop                    119x  78  9,282  18.6 

Paint  mixing                   16  x  27  432  0.9 

Sandblast                      16  x  55  880  1.7 

Storeroom                      63  x  75  4,725  9.4 

Oil  house                      20x  25  500  1.0 

Washroom  {  '.*52 


50,073    100  0 


October  8,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


639 


width  used  in  the  majority  of  cases 
could  be  made  by  even  dimensions,  say 
by  increasing  or  decreasing  the  same 
by  4-in.  increments.  As  far  as  the 
length  of  the  cars  is  concerned,  this 
could  be  varied  by  the  addition  or  de- 
duction of  one  or  more  window  lengths. 

The  above  instances  are  cited  as 
showing  the  possibilities  presented, 
and  it  is  believed  that  by  studying  this 
subject  carefully  it  will  be  possible  to 
bring  about  a  uniformity  of  design  that 
will  be  of  great  value  to  the  member 
companies  in  purchasing  new  equipment 
and  to  the  car  builders  from  the  stand- 
point of  having  uniform  practice  to 
work  to. 

A  summary  of  the  data  obtained  by 
the  committee  was  presented  showing 
the  maximum  and  minimum  and  the 
weighted  average  dimensions  for  the 
principal  items  tabulated,  as  applying 
to  the  closed,  double-end,  double-truck 
motor  cars.  The  data  from  which  this 
summary  was  prepared  were  studied 
and  a  certain  amount  of  the  informa- 
tion covering  cars  that  appeared  to  be 
outside  of  the  scope  desired  for  con- 
sideration was  eliminated.  The  sum- 
mary submitted  represents  data  ob- 
tained from  2,204  closed,  double-end, 
double-truck  motor  cars.  In  addition, 
the  committee  received  information 
covering  123  double-truck,  single-end 
motor  cars,  516  double-truck,  center- 


umn  are  due  to  the  fact  that  in  cer- 
tain cases  the  information  called  for 
was  not  furnished.  The  committee 
recommends  the  continuation  of  the 
study  of  the  subject  unification  of  car 
design.  The  report  was  submitted  by 
H.  H.  Adams,  chairman;  H.  A.  Bene- 
dict, J.  W.  Hulme,  John  Lindall,  J.  A. 
Brooks,  G.  L.  Kiepenberger,  and  V.  R. 
Willoughby. 

The  discussion  of  this  report  was 
opened  by  G.  L.  Kippenberger,  St. 
Louis  Car  Company.  J.  W.  Hulme,  In- 
ternational Railway,  Buffalo,  said  he 
felt  that  all  equipment  men  realized 
that  there  is  a  large  field  for  the  uni- 
fication of  car  design,  but  the  subject 
as  to  how  far  operating  companies  arc 
willing  to  go  in  developing  a  standard 
car,  or  in  adhering  to  any  standard 
recommended,  is  one  that  he  believed 
would  be  hard  to  enforce.  However, 
there  should  be  some  good  method  of 
bringing  the  desirability  of  standard 
dimensions  before  the  equipment  men, 
and  Mr.  Hulme  felt  that  such  steps 
could  be  best  taken  at  the  time  that 
new  equipment  was  purchased. 

Frank  R.  Phillips,  Pittsburgh  Rail- 
ways, said  that  he  could  see  no  valid 
reason  for  spending  so  much  time  in 
standardizing  things  that  require 
changing  so  frequently  and  he  felt 
that  even  if  a  standard  car  was  ulti- 
mately   adopted,    most    railway  men 


General  Average 


DOUBLE-TRUCK,  DOUBLE-END  MOTOR  CARS 

No.  Cars  Maximum  Minimum 

Length  over  bumpers   1,428  50    ft.    10    in.  37    ft.      5  in. 

Length  over  corner  post   2,105  41     ft.     4    in.  25     ft.     0  in. 

Length  over  platform  or  vest   2,105  8    ft.       \  in.  4    ft.     6  in. 

Width  over  posts   2,204  8    ft.     9f  in.  7     ft.    10}  in. 

Width  over  sills   2,204  8    ft.     9}  in.  7     ft.     1\  in. 

Width  of  platform  over  crown   2,104  7    ft.    Ill  in.  6     ft.     4  in. 

Post  centers   2,154  36 \  in.  28  in. 

Height  of  steps  (from  track)  first. ..  .  2,204  I8|  in.  13  in. 

Second   2,204  I5|  in.  II  in. 

Third                                           202  1 1     in.  10  in. 

Height  platform  to  floor   1,428  Hi  in.  0  in. 

Height  floor  to  belt  rail   2,160  31 J  in.  23,\in. 

Height  floor  to  bottom  of  letter  board  2,160  6    ft.     8|  in.  5     ft.     3  Hin. 

Height  floor  over  top  rail   1,897  7    ft.       \  in.  6    ft.     2|  in. 

Height  floor  over  roof   2,158  8    ft.     9  A  in.  7    ft.     7  in. 

Height  bottom  sill  over  roof   1,426  9    ft.     5Ajn.  8    ft.  3Ajn. 

Underside  of  headlining  to  top  of  roof  1,734  1\  in.  2\  in. 
Height  from  top  of  roof  over  top  of 

trolley  board   1,426  4i  in.  1}  in. 

Size  sash  glass,  bottom   2,160    

Size  sash  glass,  top   2,160     .   

Over-all  length  of  transverse  seat. . .  1,386  38    in.  34  in. 

Width  of  seat  cushion   1.363  18    in.  16  in. 

Length  of  seat  cushion   1,145  34}  in.  30  in. 

Height  seat  back   1,255  22    in.  16  in. 

Center  to  center  seats   1,260  32*     in.  28  in. 

Sheet  steel  sides-gage                           658  No.  7  No.  16 

Roister  centers   1,327  27    ft.     9    in.  16  ft. 


47 

32 
6 
8 
7 
7 


2  H  in. 
11!  in. 

i  in. 

4  in. 

21  in. 

1  A  in. 
30i  in. 
14fk  in. 
12f  in. 
10  in. 

91  in. 
26  f  in. 

3f  in. 

7  in. 

3  in. 
10A  in. 

4  in. 


26}  x  22|  in. 
26 ,V  x  I  If  in. 

36  H  in. 
17  H  in. 
331  in. 
I8f|  in. 
30 1'„  in. 


No.  12 
21  ft. 


4,0  in. 


stored  outside,  and  this  is  undoubtedly 
better  than  to  have  them  occupying  val- 
uable space  under  the  roof.  In  addi- 
tion, it  is  common  practice  to  make  use 
of  the  shop  yard  for  storing  track  ma- 
terial, so  the  plot  of  ground  should  be 
considerably  larger  than  the  shop  build- 
ings. 

The  shops  should  be  so  located  as 
to  reduce  non-revenue  mileage  and 
obtain  a  steam  road  connection.  The 
latter,  while  not  essential,  is  a  great 
convenience  in  unloading  carload  lot 
materials. 

The  committee  recommends  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  study  of  the  shop  de- 
sign by  next  year's  committee.  The 
committee  was  D.  E.  Crouse,  chairman; 
M.  V.  Haulard,  N.  E.  Drexler,  J.  R. 
McKay,  S.  J.  Steiner,  B.  P.  Legare, 
E.  H.  Berry,  James  Link,  B.  R.  Brown, 
and  L.  L.  Newman. 

H.  B.  Doyle  of  Philip  Kobbe  Com- 
pany, Inc.,  New  York,  presented  an  ad- 
dress dealing  with  the  correct  method 
of  purchasing  railway  supplies.  An  ab- 
stract of  this  paper  is  published  in 
another  part  of  this  issue. 

The  joint  report  on  wood  preserva- 
tion as  prepared  by  the  committees  on 
buildings  and  structures,  power  dis- 
tribution and  way  matters,  was  pre 
sented  in  abstract  by  Howard  H.  George, 
Public  Service  Railway.  Reference  to 
this  report  is  given  on  page  634  under 
way  matters. 

Following  the  presentation  of  this 
report,  letters  commenting  on  the  re- 
port were  read  by  P.  R.  Hicks  of  the 
Service  Bureau  of  the  American  Wood 
Preservers'  Association  and  Ernest 
Bateman  and  George  W.  Hunt  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture Forest  Service. 

These  letters  set  forth  the  importance 
of  the  subject  and  the  need  for  care- 
ful consideration. 

Thursday's  Session 

The  first  matter  taken  up  by  the  En- 
gineering Association  at  its  final  ses- 
sion Thursday  afternoon  was  the  re- 
port of  the  committee  on  unification  of 
car  design.  This  was  presented  by 
H.  H.  Adams,  chairman,  and  the  es- 
sential points  are  given  in  the  follow- 
ing abstract. 

Unification  op  Car  Design 

The  committee  was  appointed  to 
study  the  various  types  of  construc- 
tions, as  given  in  data  collected,  to  ob- 
tain, if  possible,  a  uniformity  in  dimen- 
sions and  design,  such  as  post  centers, 
height  of  window  rail  or  arm  rest  from 
the  floor,  height  of  car  from  under 
portion  of  sill  to  top  of  roof,  type  of 
roofs,  etc.  Once  these  dimensions  and 
designs  are  established,  it  will  be  thor- 
oughly possible  to  get  a  uniform  size 
of  glass,  probably  using  standard  glass 
which  would  not  require  cutting. 

As  to  the  length  and  width  of  cars, 
it  is  thought  that  a  width  correspond- 
ing with  the  dimensions  most  generally 
used  at  the  present  time  could  be  deter- 
mined upon,  and  then,  if  other  widths 
seem    desirable,    variations    from  the 


entrance  motor  cars,  261  double-truck 
front-entrance  and  center-exit  motor 
cars,  62  double-truck,  center-entrance 
and  exit  and  front-exit  motor  cars,  97 
double-truck,  double-end  trail  cars  and 
438  double-truck,  center-entrance  and 
exit  trail  cars,  representing  a  total  of 
3,701  cars.  The  summary  of  the  data 
for  the  2,204  double-truck,  double-end 
motor  cars  is  submitted  as  illustrative 
of  the  variations  that  are  encountered 
in  present  day  car  construction.  The 
cars  from  which  the  data  given  in  this 
tabulation  were  taken  represent  recent 
design  and  what  is  considered  good 
present-day  practice. 

Under  the  column  "number  of  cars" 
is  shown  the  number  of  cars  from  which 
the  particular  data  were  obtained.  The 
variations  in  this  last-mentioned  col- 


would  still  adhere  to  the  types  which 
they  already  had  in  service.  Mr.  Phil- 
lips gave  several  illustrations  as  to 
troubles  that  might  occur  if  the  dimen- 
sions of  car  bodies  were  increased  or 
decreased  by  increments.  One  example 
was  that  of  the  aisle  space,  which  is 
very  important,  and  the  decrease  of 
this  by  even  so  small  amount  as  a  frac- 
tion of  an  inch  is  not  desirable. 

Mr.  Phillips  referred  to  the  relative 
merits  of  the  arch  and  monitor  types 
of  roof  construction,  and  suggested 
that  in  any  study  to  be  made  very  ex- 
tensive experiments  would  be  necessary 
to  arrive  at  definite  conclusions  regard- 
ing the  relative  amounts  of  ventilation 
to  be  obtained  from  the  two  types.  He 
referred  to  some  extensive  experiments 
made  by  the  Pittsbui'gh  Railways,  in 


640 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


which  it  was  found  that  with  an  arch 
roof  a  total  of  thirty-two  ventilators 
were  necessary  to  give  the  same  ven- 
tilation as  was  obtained  from  the  mon- 
itor-type roof,  and  with  the  installa- 
tion of  such  a  large  number  of  venti- 
lators the  roof  construction  was  in 
reality  a  monitor  type. 

R.  H.  Dalgleish,  Capital  Traction 
Co.,  Washington,  D.  C,  said  that  his 
railway  had  also  made  some  very  exten- 
sive experiments  as  to  the  relative 
merits  of  the  arch  and  monitor  type 
roofs  and  that  it  found  better  ventila- 
tion could  be  obtained  with  arch  roofs. 

H.  H.  Adams,  Chicago  Surface  Lines, 
said  that  the  committee  had  not  con- 
sidered the  subject  of  standardization 
of  cars,  but  had  endeavored  to  make 
accommodations  which  would  ultimate- 
ly lead  to  some  uniformity  out  of  the 
present  chaotic  conditions.  Referring 
to  the  discussion  of  arch  and  monitor- 
type  roofs,  he  said  that  in  Chicago  a 
very  satisfactory  system  of  ventilation 
had  been  obtained  in  connection  with 
arch-roof  cars. 

John  Lindall,  Boston  Elevated  Rail- 
way, said  that  he  considered  the  sub- 
ject of  the  unification  of  car  design 
to  be  very  important,  but  that  he  feared 
that  it  could  never  be  covered  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  produce  a  standard  car. 
He  said  that  he  personally  was  an  ad- 
vocate of  the  monitor  type  of  roof  con- 
struction, as  experience  in  Boston  had 
indicated  that  roofs  of  this  type,  at 
least  have  the  appearance  of  better 
ventilation  and  that  was  all  that  is  nec- 
essary to  satisfy  the  traveling  public. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  ap- 
proved with  the  suggestion  that  it  be 
continued  by  next  year's  committee. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on 
equipment  was  then  presented  by 
Daniel  Duries,  chairman.  An  abstract 
of  this  report  follows. 

Equipment 

The  committee  reported  on  twelve 
subjects: 

I.  Brake  Shoes,  Brake  Shoe  Heads, 
and  Brake  Shoe  Keys — The  three  stand- 
ard designs  adopted  in  1916  were  re- 
vised. These  included  a  brake  head,  shoe 
and  key  for  3-in.  tread  contour  Al  and 
3J-in.  tread  contour  A2  wheels  of  a  di- 
ameter 33  in.  to  36  in.;  a  brake  head, 
shoe  and  key  for  2h  in.  tread  wheels, 
contours  Bl,  C,  D  and  El,  28  in.  to  34 
in.  in  diameter,  and  a  brake  head,  shoe 
and  key  for  2i-in.  tread  wheel  contours 
Bl,  C,  D  and  El,  21  in.  to  26  in.  in 
diameter  to  accommodate  wheel  flanges 
ranging  from  1  in.  to  2  in.  in  height 
and  I  in.  to  1  in.  in  thickness.  Two 
additional  designs  of  brake  heads,  shoes 
and  keys  were  presented,  namely  (a) 
for  21-in.  tread  wheels,  contours  Bl, 
C,  D  and  El,  28  in.  to  34  in.  in  diam- 
eter, and  (b)  for  3-in.  tread  wheels 
contours  B2  and  E2,  24  to  26  in.  in  di- 
ameter to  accommodate  wheel  flanges 
S  in.  in  height  and  1  in.  to  1  in.  in 
thickness.  Limit  gages  for  the  brake 
heads  and  shoe  designs  included  in  this 
report  were  also  presented.  These  limit 
gages  are  practically  the  same  as  those 
adopted  in  1916,  but  have  the  gage  for 


maximum  width  of  end  lug  on  back  of 
shoe  and  minimum  space  between  end 
lug  and  flange  of  shoe  omitted,  as  these 
are  not  necessary  with  the  recommended 
designs. 

2.  On  Standard  Tread  and  Flange 
Contours  for  Steel  Wheels  —  The  com- 
mittee resubmitted  the  eight  designs 
suggested  in  1920.  Various  questions 
raised  regarding  these  designs  were 
investigated  by  the  committee  and  were 
found  to  present  no  obstacle  to  then- 
adoption. 

3.  Standard  Contour  for  Cast  Iron 
Wheels — The  Association  of  Manufac- 
turers of  Chilled  Iron  Wheels  submitted 
to  the  committee  recommended  contours, 
but  after  discussion  with  other  commit- 
tees of  the  Engineering  Association  the 
equipment  committee  recommended  no 
adoption  of  standards  at  this  time  but 
that  the  subject  be  continued  next 
year. 

4.  Specifications  for  Solid  Wrought 
Carbon  Steel  Wheels — A  careful  study 
of  the  present  specification  indicated 
that  the  Class  B  tolerances  were  not 
being  used  and  these  were  omitted  from 
the  specification.  Additional  changes 
conform  with  the  specification  of  the 
American  Society  for  Testing  Materials. 
It  was  recommended  that  it  be  adopted 
as  standard  in  place  of  the  present  spec- 
ification. 

.5.  Helical  Gears  —  Responses  to  a 
questionnaire  indicate  that  this  type 
of  gearing  is  being  more  generally  used 
than  ever  before.  It  is  well  liked, 
though  in  most  cases  it  has  not  been  in 
service  long  enough  to  afford  conclusive 
results.  The  committee  recommended 
that  this  be  given  attention  by  the  next 
committee. 

6.  Car  Arrangement  and  Design  — 
Considerable  work  was  done  by  the 
committee  on  this  subject,  but  no  defi- 
nite conclusions  were  reached  on  ac- 
count of  the  limited  time  available.  The 
committee  recommended  that  all  infor- 
mation collected  be  turned  over  to  a 
special  committee  recently  appointed 
and  that  future  study  and  work  be  done 
by  it. 

7.  Life  of  Wearing  Parts — The  com- 
mittee investigated  the  life  of  seven 
equipment  parts,  namely,  trolley  wheels, 
steel  wheels,  brake  shoes,  gears,  pinions, 
armature  bearings  and  axle  bearings. 
The  information  obtained  is  included  in 
the  equipment  report  in  sixteen  tables. 

8.  Personal  Observations  On  the  Life 
of  Wearing  Parts  and  Shop  Practices — 
The  committee  felt  that  such  informa- 
tion would  obtain  greater  publicity  and 
reach  a  wider  circle  of  men  who  are 
particularly  interested  in  this  subject  if 
published  regularly  in  technical  publi- 
cations rather  than  as  a  part  of  each 
year's  equipment  committee's  report. 
The  suggestion  of  obtaining  a  reel  or 
two  of  motion  pictures  appeared  inad- 
visable at  this  time  due  to  the  high  cost 
of  providing  the  film. 

9.  Current  Lightning  Arresters  —  A 
study  was  made  in  conjunction  with 
the  power  distribution  committee.  The 
The  design  and  method  of  installation 
of  car  arresters  was  covered  by  the  re- 
port of  the  1915  committee.   The  pres- 


ent committee  brough  the  history  of 
lightning  arresters  up  to  date  and  made 
seventeen  recommendations  regarding 
car  and  line  equipment,  including  the 
following: 

Many  properties  are  having  lightning 
damage  due  to  improper  installation 
or  to  not  having  sufficient  arresters  in- 
stalled; others  are  not  protected  by 
choke  coils  or  use  arrester  wiring  of 
too  large  resistance.  These  points 
should  be  given  special  consideration 
and  every  car  in  lightning  territory 
should  be  equipped  with  arrester  and 
choke  coil.  Double-end  cars  should  be 
equipped  with  two. 

Arrester  wiring  should  be  No.  6  or 
larger  with  soldered  joints  and  not 
placed  in  metallic  conduit.  Connections 
to  arrester  and  from  arrester  to  ground 
should  be  as  short  and  straight  as  pos- 
sible. 

Line  arresters  should  be  placed  at 
each  feed  tap,  with  not  less  than  five  to 
the  mile.  They  should  be  grounded  to 
either  earth  or  rail,  but  not  to  both,  and 
the  negative  wire  down  the  pole  should 
be  protected  by  a  wood  molding. 

10.  Revision  of  Standards  and  Speci- 
fications—  This  year's  committee  had 
several  meetings  with  the  committee  of 
the  American  Gear  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation in  order  to  harmonize  the 
specifications  for  gears  and  pinions  of 
the  two  associations.  The  equipment 
committee  revised  the  following  speci- 
fications and  recommended  that  they  be 
adopted  as  standard: 

Recommended  specification  Et-15a, 
specification  for  case-hardened  forged 
steel  gears. 

Recommended  specification  Et-15a, 
specification  for  quenched  and  tem- 
pered forged  carbon  steel  gears. 

Recommended  specification  Et-16a, 
specification  for  case-hardened  forged 
steel  pinions. 

Recommended  specification  Et-17a, 
specification  for  quenched  and  tem- 
pered forged  carbon  steel  pinions. 

The  specifications  as  revised  are  ac- 
ceptable to  the  American  Gear  Manu- 
facturers' Association  and  will  undoubt- 
edly be  adopted  by  them  following  fa- 
vorable action  by  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Engineering  Association.  The 
committee  recommends  that  thes  speci- 
fications as  revised  be  adopted  as  stand- 
ard specifications. 

11.  Curved  Contours  for  Treads  of 
Wheels  —  The  committee  co-operated 
with  the  way  committee,  and  some  of 
the  members  of  the  equipment  commit- 
tee turned  wheels  to  a  curved  tread  and 
placed  these  in  service.  Records  are 
being  kept  that  will  show  the  results 
which  can  be  obtained  from  curved 
contours.  The  equipment  committee  is 
of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  quite  a 
difficult  matter  to  turn  wheels  with 
curved  contours  and  doubts  the  advis- 
ability of  adopting  them  as  standard. 
However,  it  agrees  that  this  subject  is 
of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  fur- 
ther investigation. 

12.  Typical  Shop  Building,  and  Sh&p 
Layout  —  The  committee  co-operated 
with  the  buildings  and  structures  com- 
mittee and  furnished  information  and 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


641 


tables  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  space 
required  for  the  various  departments, 
the  proper  arrangement  of  departments 
consistent  with  modern  routing  of  work 
through  the  shop  and  the  facilities  nec- 
essary to  accommodate  modern  equip- 
ment. As  a  result  of  the  various  studies 
and  the  information  obtained,  a  rather 
extensive  report  on  this  subject  is  in- 
cluded in  the  report  of  the  committee 
on  buildings  and  structures. 

The  equipment  committee's  report 
was  signed  by  Daniel  Durie,  chairman; 
H.  A.  Johnson,  Vice-chairman;  Walter 
S.  Adams,  H.  A.  Benedict,  R.  H.  Dal- 
gleish,  James  C.  C.  Holding,  Thomas  R. 
Langan,  Frank  H.  Miller,  C.  N.  Pitten- 
ger,  E.  D.  Priest,  C.  F.  W.  Rys,  F.  W. 
Sargent,  Charles  F.  Scott,  Karl  A.  Sim- 
mon, C.  W.  Squier  and  J.  M.  Yount. 

The  disposition  of  the  equipment  com- 
mittee's report  was  opened  by  N.  B. 
Trist,  Carnegie  Steel  Company,  who  re- 
ferred to  the  subject  of  design  of  tread 
and  flange  contours  for  steel  wheels. 
He  said  that  if  the  standards  were  in- 
creased in  number,  by  three,  to  take 
care  of  the  objection  raised  by  one  rail- 
way, the  standards  would  make  pro- 
vision for  all  the  large  users  of  steel 
wheels.  He  personally  felt  that  this 
should  be  satisfactory  not  only  to  the 
railways  but  to  the  manufacturers  as 
well,  and  that  beneficial  results  would 
be  obtained  if  the  railways  would  only 
adhere  to  the  standards  as  adopted. 

H.  H.  Adams  said  that  two  very  im- 
portant subjects  regarding  standard- 
ization had  been  presented  by  this 
year's  committee.  These  were  brake 
shoes  and  tread  and  flange  contours. 
He  felt  that  the  report  was  a  very  valu- 
able one  and  that  this  year's  committee 
had  presented  conclusions  that  would 
be  of  far-reaching  effect.  Referring 
to  the  matter  of  helical  gearing,  Mr. 
Adams  said  that  results  from  the  use 
of  this  gearing  had  led  to  the  develop- 
ment of  a  new  shape  of  tooth,  and 
whether  this  is  applied  to  either  spur 
or  helical  gearing  a  great  step  in  ad- 
vance has  been  made.  Another  part 
of  the  work  that  he  considered  valu- 
able was  the  obtaining  data  on  the  life 
of  wearing  parts.  He  felt  that  this 
work  could  be  profitably  continued. 

R.  H.  Dalgleish  discussed  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  committee  in  regard 
to  tread  and  flange  contours,  and  said 
that  the  present  recommendation  of 
the  committee  was  to  increase  these  so 
as  to  provide  a  total  of  eleven  contours 
instead  of  eight  as  shown  in  the  print- 
ed report.  This  subject  had  not  yet 
received  the  approval  of  the  standards 
committee,  but  if  this  meeting  ap- 
proved it  the  obtaining  of  further  ap- 
proval by  the  standards  committee 
would  be  taken  up  at  the  next  meeting. 
Mr.  Dalgleish  outlined  the  experience 
that  he  had  had  in  a  trial  of  curved 
contours  on  wheels  in  service  on  his 
lines.  He  exhibited  several  graphs 
which  had  been  made  on  these  wheels 
after  21,000  miles  of  service.  He  felt 
that  present  experiments  are  insuffi- 
cient to  permit  definite  conclusions  but 
that  the  subject  could  profitably  be 
continued  by  succeeding  committees. 


K.  A.  Simmon,  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Company,  re- 
ferred to  the  subject  of  wearing  parts, 
stating  that  the  suitability  of  all 
equipment  for  any  service  could  best 
be  shown  by  such  data  and  that  these 
were  particularly  valuable  to  the  manu- 
facturers of  railway  equipment.  In  an- 
alyzing the  information  contained  in 
this  report  he  had  found  several  ap- 
parent inconsistencies  in  the  life  ob- 
tained from  the  same  parts  under  al- 
most identical  service  conditions.  He 
felt  that  this  emphasized  the  fact  that 
the  methods  of  keeping  records  by  the 
c'ifferent  railways  were  not  uniform. 
He  suggested  that  a  subject  could  be 
profitably  added  to  those  considered  by 
future  committees  that  would  ulti- 
mately lead  to  some  recommendations 
as  to  standard  methods  for  keeping 
records. 

J.  C.  C.  Holding,  Midvale  Steel  & 
Ordnance  Company,  urged  the  adoption 
and  use  of  the  committee's  recommend- 
ed wheel  contours.  G.  W.  Lyndon,  As- 
sociation of  Manufacturers  of  Chilled 
Car  Wheels,  pointed  out  that  standards 
for  cast  wheels  are  in  use  for  steam 
roads,  for  industrial  companies  and 
for  foreign  shipments,  but  there  is 
none  for  electric  railway  use.  He  of- 
fered to  cooperate  in  any  way  to  create 
standards  for  the  A.  E.  R.  A.  and 
urged  a  study  for  this  purpose. 

L.  H.  Frye,  Standard  Steel  Works, 
who  spoke  for  the  American  Society 
for  Testing  Materials,  complimented 
the  committee  on  the  specifications  for 
wrought  steel  wheels  and  said  that  the 
A.  S.  T.  M.  specifications  would  prob- 
ably be  revised  at  the  next  meeting  to 
conform  to  the  A.  E.  R.  A.  specifica- 
tion, as  the  changes  made  in  the  latter 
were  substantial  improvements.  H.  A. 
Miller,  chilled  wheel  manufacturer,  said 
he  anticipated  a  tendency  to  work  to- 
ward the  M.  C.  B.  standard  tread  and 
flange  in  the  electric  railway  field.  He 
•ommented  that  it  is  possible  to  manu- 
facture concave  tread  wheels,  but  he 
could  see  no  reason  for  such  a  design. 
The  M.  C.  B.  design  has  been  revised 
in  the  opposite  direction.  He  likened 
making  a  wheel  tread  concave  because 
it  wears  that  way  to  making  shoes 
with  run-down  heels. 

H.  Fort  Flowers,  Differential  Car 
Company,  thought  that  wheels  for 
curved-head  rail  should  have  more 
metal  in  the  fillet  between  tread  and 
flange  to  prevent  the  early  wearing  of 
thick  and  thin  flanges.  He  appreciated 
that  the  final  determination  of  the  most 
economical  contour  would  require  a 
very  long  study  and  the  trial  of  many 
different  contours. 

H.  A.  Johnson,  Chicago,  stated  that 
be  believed  the  association  is  now  in 
a  position  to  adopt  as  standard  the 
recommended  brake-shoe  head,  key,  etc., 
and  the  eleven  wheel  contours.  In 
connection  with  the  latter,  he  explained 
that  the  standards  committee  had  not 
acted  on  the  wheel  contours  on  account 
of  certain  objections  which  had  since 
been  removed.  The  convention  could 
therefore  adopt  these  contours  subject 
to  subsequent  approval  by  the  stand- 


ards committee,  which  approval  had 
been  assured  if  the  convention  so  voted. 

Referring  to  the  wrought-steel  wheel 
specification,  he  explained  that  the  A. 
S.  T.  M.  specifications  had  been  clari- 
fied in  some  respects  and  that  the  spe- 
cification for  the  closer  of  two  toler- 
ances covered  there  had  been  eliminated 
as  it  was  found  that  this  was  not  used. 
The  more  liberal  tolerance  used  does 
not  require  so  much  machining.  As  to 
the  recommendations  on  helical  gears 
he  thought  if  adopted,  this  would  be  a 
standard  that  could  also  be  adopted  by 
the  manufacturers. 

Discussion  on  Brake  Shoes,  Brake 
Heads,  Etc. 

F.  W.  Sargent,  American  Brake  Shoe 
&  Foundry  Company,  chairman  of  the 
sub-committee  on  brake  shoes,  heads 
and  keys,  said  that  the  committee  rec- 
ommends as  standards  for  this  asso- 
ciation the  following  revisions  of  the 
1916  standards  of  brake  shoes,  brake 
heads  and  keys: 

Plate  1. — Brake  head,  shoe  and  key 
for  3-in.  tread  wheel  contour  A-l  and 
for  3i  in.  tread  wheel  contour  A-2  for 
wheel  diameters  33  in.  to  36  in. 

Plate  2. — Brake  head,  shoe  and  key 
for  3-in.  tread  wheels  contour  B-2 
and  E  for  wheel  diameters  28  in.  to 
34  in. 

Plate  3. — Brake  head,  shoe  and  key 
for  2J-in.  tread  wheels  contours  B-l, 
C,  D  and  E  for  wheel  diameters  28  in. 
to  34  in. 

Plate  U- — Brake  head,  shoe  and  key 
for  2i  in.  tread  wheels  contours  B-l,  C, 
D  and  E  for  wheel  diameters  20  in.  to 
26  in. 

Plate  5. — Brake  head,  shoe  and  key 
for  3-in.  tread  wheels  contours  B-2  and 
E-2  for  wheel  diameters  20  in.  to  26  in. 

The  1916  standard  shows  the  forked 
brake  head  with  reduced  bearing  on 
each  side  of  the  shoe  lug,  and  with 
narrow  toes  straddling  the  end  guide 
of  the  shoe. 

Due  to  the  limited  contact  of  head 
to  shoe,  there  is  excessive  wear  of  the 
bead,  and  as  the  toes  are  worn  down, 
there  is  an  uneven  distribution  of  pres- 
sure on  the  shoe.  The  shoe  becomes 
loose  on  the  head  and  wears  out  of 
true,  resulting  in  heavy  scrap  weight. 
The  life  of  both  head  and  shoe  are 
reduced  and  maintenance  cost  in- 
creased. 

The  1921  design  of  brake  head  over- 
comes this  trouble  by  increasing  the 
area  of  contact  between  shoe  and  head, 
providing  a  head  with  solid  ends,  with 
practically  a  continuous  contact  with 
the  back  of  the  shoe,  supporting  the 
shoe  from  end  to  end,  and  maintain- 
ing a  uniform  pressure,  ensuring  a 
true  wearing  head  and  shoe. 

Considering  the  motor  shoes  and 
heads,  the  1916  design  gives  an  area 
of  contact  of  7.9  sq.in.  between  head 
and  shoe,  while  the  1921  design  pro- 
vides 17.5  sq.in.,  an  increase  of  123 
per  cent  for  the  broad  tread  wheels. 
Tn  the  case  of  the  narrow  tread  wheels, 
the  1916  head  shows  5.5  sq.in.,  as  com- 
pared with  12.2  sq.in.  in  the  1921  de- 
sign, an  increase  of  153  per  cent.  A 


642 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


similar  relation  exists  with  the  pony 
shoes  and  heads. 

The  1921  design  of  head  provides  a 
continuous  support  for  the  way,  which 
prevents  loose  heads  and  keys,  and  re- 
duces wear  of  all  parts.  The  key  way  in 
Loth  head  and  shoe  have  been  reduced 
to  give  as  little  side  play  as  possible  be- 
tween head  and  shoe.  In  addition  the 
solid  square  ends  of  the  brake  head 
prevent  the  shoe  from  getting  twisted 
on  the  head  and  wear  unevenly. 

To  accommodate  the  solid  end  brake 
head,  the  end  guides  on  the  1921  de- 
sign of  shoe  have  been  omitted.  This 
makes  a  better  shoe  and  does  away 
with  the  trouble  often  experienced  with 
obstruction  in  the  narrow  space  be- 
tween end  guide  and  back  of  flange, 
which'  is  difficult  to  clean  and  gets 
clogged  with  dirt,  preventing  the  toes 
of  the  forked  head  going  into  place. 

The  taper  has  been  removed  from  the 
shoe  face  in  the  1921  design  and  the 
tread  made  fiat.  If  only  new  shoes 
were  applied  to  newly  turned  wheels, 
the  taper  would  be  all  right,  but  the 
average  wheel  is  a  worn  wheel.  Wheels 
start  with  taper,  then  wear  flat  and 
finally  concave.  The  straight  or  flat 
faced  brake  shoe  makes  a  be^er  fit  on 
a  greater  number  of  wheels  in  service 
than  shoes  with  taper;  moreover,  the 
tendency  of  shoes  to  pull  off  the  wheel 
i?  much  less  with  the  straight  than 
with  the  taper  tread.  For  this  reason, 
the  straight  face  shoes  have  been  pre- 
ferred and  give  better  service,  that  is, 
lower  scrap  weight. 

Formerly  brake  shoes  were  made 
with  a  single  or  continuous  face  cur- 
vature. To  avoid  the  use  of  the  im- 
proper curvature  shoes  on  a  given  size 
of  wheel,  as  well  as  to  reduce  the  num- 
ber of  patterns  and  stock  to  be  cai'ried, 
the  composite  face  curvature  has  been 
adopted  in  the  1921  design  of  brake 
shoes.  The  middle  half  of  the  shoe  is 
curved  to  fit  the  smaller  diameter 
wheel,  while  the  outer  quarters  of  the 
shoe  face  are  curved  to  fit  the  large 
diameter  wheel.  The  shoe  thus  fits  the 
larger  wheels  on  the  ends,  and  the 
smaller  wheel  in  the  middle,  and  makes 
a  better  average  fit  on  wheels  of  in- 
termediate diameters,  and  a  single  pat- 
tern only  is  required  to  cover  the  range 
in  wheel  diameters  noted. 

The  report  was  further  discussed  by 
Thomas  R.  Langan  and  F.  R.  Phillips. 

Election  of  Officers 

Following  are  the  officers  of  the  En- 
gineering Association  elected  for  the 
ensuing  year: 

President. — C.  S.  Kimball,  Engineer 
of  Way  and  Structures,  Washington 
Railway  &  Electric  Co.,  Washington, 
D.  C. 

First  Vice-President. ,— L.  C.  Datz, 
Birmingham,  Ala. 

Second  Vice-President. — H.  A.  John- 
son, Chicago,,  111. 

Third  Vice-President. — A.  B.  Stitzer, 
New  York  City. 

Secretary  -  Treasurer.  —  James  W. 
Welsh,  New  York  City. 

Members  of  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee.—C.  H.  Cark.  Cleveland.  Ohio;  R. 


C.  Cram,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.;  Charles  R. 
Harte,  New  Haven,  Conn.;  Daniel 
Durie,  Connellsville,  Pa. 

Engineering  Association 
Executive  Committee 
Meets  at  Atlantic 
City 

A MEETING  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee of  the  Engineering  Association 
was  held  on  Oct.  2,  with  the  following 
in  attendance:  President  W.  G.  Gove, 
Secretary  J.  W.  Welsh,  H.  H.  Adams, 
L.  C.  Datz,  H.  A.  Johnson,  C.  S.  Kim- 
ball, M.  B.  Lambert,  F.  R.  Phillips,  E. 
H.  Scofield  and  A.  B.  Stitzer. 

After  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of 
the  last  meeting  by  Secretary  Welsh, 
he  brought  up  the  question  of  the  pro- 
cedure to  be  followed  in  connection  with 
the  activities  of  the  American  Engi- 
neering Standards  Committee.  After 
discussion  it  was  decided  that  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  association  on  the 
American  Engineering  Standards  Com- 
mittee sub-committees  should  report  on 
matters  of  interest  to  Secretary  Welsh. 
On  receipt  of  information  from  the  rep- 
resentatives, the  secretary  will  report 
to  the  executive  committee,  at  the  same 
time  sending  full  information  to  the 
standards  committee,  and  informing  the 
membership  through  Aera  of  what  is 
going  on.  This  will  give  the  standards 
committee  and  the  members  at  large  an 
opportunity  to  transmit  to  the  execu- 
tive committee  any  suggestions  which 
may  bear  upon  the  subject  in  hand,  in 
time  for  the  committee  to  consider  such 
suggestions  before  taking  action  upon 
the  recommendations  of  the  representa- 
tives. It  is  understood  that  the  in- 
formation furnished  to  the  membership 
will  be  in  abstract  form,  as  it  is  likely 
that  voluminous  material  will  develop 
in  the  conferences  held  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  American  Engineering 
Standards  Committee. 

It  was  further  decided  that  continu- 
ous reports  of  progress  as  to  the  de- 
velopment of  "American  Engineering 
Standards"  should  be  pub'ished  in  Aera. 

A  report  was  received  from  Secretary 
Welsh  as  to  plans  for  co-operation  with 
the  American  Association  for  Munici- 
pal Improvement  and  the  line  and  ma- 
terials section  of  the  Associated  Manu- 
facturers of  Electrical  Supplies.  Such 
co-operation  was  approved  by  the  ex- 
ecutive committee. 

L.  C.  Datz  then  reported  for  the  com- 
mittee on  subjects  to  the  effect  that 
several  meetings  had  been  held  and  ten- 
tative assignments  had  been  made  to  all 
committees.  He  suggested  that  these 
assignments  be  reported  to  the  asso- 
ciation, after  the  discussion  of  the 
several  committee  reports  respectively. 

Mr.  Gove  spoke  of  the  reorganization 
plans  presented  to  the  American  Asso- 
ciation and  raised  the  question  in  con- 
nection therewith  as  to  the  status  of 
engineers  in  the  employ  of  non-member 
companies  with  respect  to  committee 
work.  After  discussion  it  was  agreed 
that  no  great  hardship  will  be  done  the 
association  by  the  putting  into  definite 


form  the  practice  followed  for  some 
years,  namely,  by  insisting  that  com- 
mittee work  be  restricted  to  the  em- 
ployees of  member  companies. 

Some  discussion  followed  as  to  the 
effect  of  non-payment  of  committee  ex- 
penses by  the  association,  in  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  attendance  upon  committee 
meetings  by  committee  members.  A 
motion  was  passed  to  the  effect  that 
this  subject  be  referred  to  the  incoming 
executive  committee,  with  a  view  to 
possible  future  payment  of  committee 
members'  expenses  as  soon  as  the  finan- 
cial condition  of  the  association  war- 
rants such  action. 


Publicity  Men's  Meeting 

A MEETING  of  the  publicity  men  at 
the  convention  was  held  in  the 
Chalfonte  on  Wednesday  afternoon. 
Labert  St.  Clair,  publicity  manager  of 
the  association,  presided.  About  twenty- 
five  publicity  men  and  executives  of 
companies  were  present. 

President  Gadsden,  who  was  first 
introduced,  said  that  among  the  causes 
of  the  present  trouble  with  the  electric 
railways  that  of  unwillingness  to  tell 
the  public  took  first  place.  This  was 
an  old  idea  and  it  had  taken  about 
thirty-three  years  to  overcome  it. 
Some  persons  believe  the  duty  of  the 
publicity  man  was  to  write  advertise- 
ments occasionally.  That,  however,  is 
not  his  real  work.  The  speaker's 
understanding  of  the  fuctions  of  such 
a  man  was  that  he  should  be  the 
medium  of  information  between  the 
public  and  the  company  at  all  times. 
If  he  was  always  ready  to  give  facts, 
the  newspapers  would  rely  on  him.  In 
this  way  he  could  be  of  value  to  the 
company  even  if  he  never  wrote  any- 
thing. He  hoped  these  meetings  would 
be  continued  each  year. 

W.  A.  Draper,  Cincinnati,  said  that 
he  always  took  a  great  interest  in  pub- 
licity as  he  was  once  in  the  newspaper 
business  himself.  The  best  way  was 
for  the  president  himself  to  be  the 
publicity  man,  but  as  his  duties  prevent 
that,  it  was  necessary  to  have  someone 
to  act  for  him. 

Barron  G.  Collier,  chairman  of  the 
publicity  committee,  said  that  the  rail- 
way companies  now  realized  the  policy 
of  the  big  stick  and  seclusion  was  not 
desirable.  It  was  only  necessary  to 
get  the  truth  before  the  public  so  that 
the  railroads  would  have  a  square  deal. 
He  referred  to  the  successful  use  for 
publicity  which  can  be  made  of  spaces 
in  the  car  not  occupied  by  car  cards. 

Britton  I.  Budd,  Chicago,-  spoke 
strongly  in  favor  of  newspaper  adver- 
tising. Bernard  G.  Mullaney  followed 
with  an  interesting  discussion  on  pub- 
licity in  general  and  the  work  of  the 
Illinois  Committee  on  Public  Utility 
Information.  Other  speakers  were  J.  K. 
Punderford  of  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany; H.  0.  Allison,  Beaver  Valley 
Traction  Company;  A.  H.  Ferradou, 
Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany; R.  F.  Gorman,  Harrisburg  Rail- 
ways, and  W.  0.  Clure,  Twin  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


643 


Transportation  C&  Traffic  Association 

Proceedings 


R.  P.  Stevens 

Retiring  President 

THE  first  session  of  the  Transpor- 
tation &  Traffic  Association  was 
called  to  order  shortly  after  2:30 
p.m.  Monday.  The  first  order  of  busi- 
ness was  the  annual  address  of  the 
president,  R.  P.  Stevens.  After  re- 
ferring to  the  work  and  reports  of  the 
different  committees  of  the  association 
and  to  the  work  of  Mr.  Welsh,  Mr. 
Stevens  said,  in  part: 

Suggestions  of  President  Stevens 

At  this  time  also  I  would  like  respect- 
fully to  call  the  attention  of  the  in- 
coming president  and  executive  com- 
mittee to  the  following  suggestions 
which  occur  to  me  as  helpful  for  the 
future  of  our  association. 

I  would  recommend  that  the  new 
executive  committee  appoint  a  com- 
mittee to  consider  changes  in  the  con- 
stitution and  by-laws  of  the  association 
that  we  may  avail  ourselves  of  the  ex- 
perience gained  in  conducting  the  af- 
fairs of  the  association  in  the  past. 

I  feel  that  only  one  vice-president 
is  necessary  and  that  provision  should 
be  made  for  a  senior  member  of  the 
executive  committee  to  become  ex  of- 
ficio acting  president,  in  event  of  both 
president  and  vice-president  being  un- 
able to  attend  to  the  duties  of  the 
office,  until  the  vacancy  has  been  filled 
in  the  regular  way.  This,  to  my  mind, 
would  make  an  increase  in  membership 
of  the  executive  committee  advisable. 

I  would  recommend  that  a  plan  be 
considered  for  the  appointment  of  chair- 
men of  committees,  whenever  possible, 
from  the  membership  of  the  preced- 
ing year's  committee;  that  the  first 
vice-president  be  ex-officio  the  chair- 
man of  the  subjects  committee  for  the 
ensuing  year;  that  the  custom  be 
adopted  of  this  committee  meeting  be- 
fore and  again  immediately  after  the 
convention  and  that  at  the  meeting 
of  the  executive  committee  directly  af- 
ter the  convention  all  committees  be 
appointed  forthwith  so  their  work  may 
be  started  before  the  holidays. 

I  would  recommend  a  Transporta- 
tion &  Traffic  Association  committee 
to  consider  the  transportation  phase 


Attention  of  Convention  Focused 
on  Reduction  of  Accidents,  Traffic 
Regulation,  Transportation  Mer- 
chandising and  Employee  Training 
— L.  H.  Palmer,  Baltimore,  Was 
Elected  President — Desirability  of 
Study  of  Possible  Improvements  in 
Organization  Was  Suggested 


of  trackless  trolley  and  motor  bus  oper- 
ation, a  subject  now  occupying  an  im- 
portant place  in  the  affairs  of  our  com- 
panies, and  also  a  committee  to  take 
up  the  question  of  the  bus  competition 
from  a  transportation  viewpoint. 

Revival  of  the  committee  on  one-man 
car  design  and  operation  and  continu- 
ance of  the  committee  on  freight  and 
express  traffic  appear  to  me  desirable, 
and  I  would  further  recommend  con- 
sideration of  a  suggestion  to  the  A  era 
advisory  committee  that  more  space  in 
Aera  be  devoted  to  the  education  of 
transportation  employees  and  that  a 
definite  plan  to  this  end  be  adopted. 

In  closing,  I  want  to  suggest  that  the 
business  of  handling  the  transportation 
and  traffic  problems  of  an  electric  rail- 
way property  is  developing  rapidly — 
changing  constantly — and  that  we  must 
keep  not  only  abreast  but  ahead  of  the 
swiftly  shifting  conditions  surround- 
ing public  utilities. 

In  comparing  the  situation  today 
with  that  even  so  late  as  a  year  ago 
one  thought  that  impresses  me  as  most 
significant  is  that  the  theories  of  radi- 
cal socialism,  which  were  so  menacing 
to  our  operations  a  short  time  ago,  are 
now  wholly  discredited  and  have  ceased 
to  be  a  contagion  adversely  affecting 
the  minds  of  either  our  employees  or 
our  patrons.  The  feeling  of  "damn  the 
trolley  company"  surely  has  subsided, 
so  that  our  communities  are  appre- 
ciating not  only  the  convenience  but 
the  absolute  necessity  of  trolley  trans- 
portation. This  changed  attitude  has 
helped  our  employees  to  realize  the 
position  which  they  occupy  in  the  in- 
dustry and  to  see  the  limits  to  which 
they  can  aspire  in  regard  to  wages 
and  working  conditions,  whereas  in  the 
recent  past,  in  many  instances,  they 
failed  to  realize  that  there  was  any 
limit  at  all,  so  far  as  they  were  con- 
cerned. 

Some  companies  are  fast  getting 
their  houses  in  order,  so  that  now  they 
can  help  make  effective  for  good  over 
the  entire  country  the  interest  that 
has  been  aroused  in  the  utility  situa- 
tion, a  self-interest  that  can  be,  and 
should  be,  established  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  in  such  a  way  that  utility 
operation  will  be  recognized  as  a  busi- 
ness founded  upon  a  national  principle 


L.  H.  Palmer 

Newly  Elected  President 

rather  than  on  local  caprice.  Then  the 
utility  will  cease  to  be  a  political  foot- 
ball. The  one  sure,  safe  and  direct 
way  to  bring  this  about  is  through  the 
employees  of  the  transportation  de- 
partment, the  employees  who  come  into 
constant  contact  with  the  public. 

The  transportation  and  traffic  em- 
ployees of  the  electric  railways  of  the 
country  have  a  latent  power  hardly 
realized — certainly  never  utilized.  This 
force,  properly  led,  can  carry  any  ob- 
jective when  its  cause  is  founded  on 
right.  It  can  overcome  the  might  of 
politicians,  who  gained  their  now  de- 
clining power  through  our  failure  to 
take  the  aggressive  and  to  use  to  the 
fullest  extent  the  facilities  we  have 
at  hand. 

J.  P.  Barnes,  president  Louisville 
Railway  moved  that  the  recommenda- 
tions in  the  president's  address,  so  far 
as  they  are  related  to  changes  in  or- 
ganization, be  referred  to  the  incoming- 
executive  committee,  and  those  relat- 
ing to  subjects  to  the  committee  on  sub- 
jects. 

Executive  Committee  Report 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  report 
contained  merely  a  review  of  the  min- 
utes of  the  various  executive  commit- 
tee meetings  during  the  year  it  was  not 
read  in  full. 

The  report  outlines  in  full  the  work 
laid  out  by  the  committee  on  subjects 
for  the  year,  practically  all  of  which 
was  accomplished  and  is  given  in  the 
reports  of  the  committees  following. 

The  reports  of  the  secretary  and 
treasurer  were  then  read.  The  secre- 
tary's report  showed  on  Sept.  30,  1921, 

COMPANY  MEMBERSHIP  RECORD 

Manufac- 
Railway       turing  Tota 

No.  of  members  Nov. 

1,1920.....   355  237  392 

Less  resignations  dur- 
ing year   9  22  3! 

Add  new  members 

during  year   7  8  n 

Net  loss  during  year  2  14  H> 

Total  members  Sept. 

27,  1921   353  223  576 

114  individual  members  and  728  com- 
pany section  members.    The  total  ex- 


644 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


penses  for  the  year  were  slightly  over 
$1,000. 

The  president  then  announced  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  resolution  committee 
and  nominating  committee.  The  former 
consisted  of  H.  V.  Bozell,  C.  L.  Van 
Auken  and  W.  H.  Boyce;  the  latter  of 
W.  H.  Sawyer,  F.  R.  Coates  and  E.  C. 
Spring. 

The  president  then  called  for  the  re- 
port of  the  committee  on  merchandis- 
ing transportation.  It  was  presented 
by  Mr.  Coates.    An  abstract  follows: 

Selling  Transportation  Through 
Education  and  Advertising 

It  was  agreed  that,  in  view  of  the 
thoroughness  with  which  many  of  the 
subjects  properly  coming  within  this 
committee's  scope  were  covered  last 
year,  the  committee  should  this  year 
pick  those  several  suggestions  which 
seemed  most  feasible  for  immediate 
enlargement  and  most  necessary  to 
put  into  immediate  practice  and  that 
it  should  endeavor  to  find  a  definite  and 
specific  means  for  adopting  as  many  of 
them  as  possible  generally  among  the 
various  railway  organizations  in  the 
country. 

With  this  in  mind,  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  committee  may  be  sum- 
marized, first,  under  the  head  of  "educa- 
tion of  employees"  and  then  under 
"advertising." 

The  first  phase  dealt  with  under 
these  headings,  the  most  important  of 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee, 
was  "Courtesy."  The  committee  has 
agreed,  in  substance,  that  the  industry 
must  actively  educate  its  employees  to 
a  point  where  it  can  demand  of  them 
the  courtesy  and  service  which  is  essen- 
tial to  the  industry's  adequate  develop- 
ment. The  practical  means  of  accom- 
plishing this  end  is  to  sell  the  idea  of 
service  and  courtesy  to  the  executives 
and  dispatchers,  and  to  the  inspectors 
immediately  over  the  train  ci'ews,  as 
well  as  to  the  platform  men  themselves. 

It  has  been  agreed  by  the  committee 
that  it  is  essential  to  the  success  of 
each  individual  company  that  the  car 
rider  understand  many  of  the  prob- 
lems with  which  the  company  is  faced. 
One  important  and  practical  means  of 
conveying  such  information  is  to  see 
that  the  employees  who  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  public  are  themselves  ac- 
quainted with  those  problems  and  the 
means  by  which  the  company  is  hoping 
to  solve  them. 

Noon-hour  talks  in  shops  and  at 
division  headquarters  can  also  be 
adopted.  In  each  individual  property 
the  method  adopted  will  necessarily 
differ.  Noon-hour  meetings  have 
proved  feasible  and  highly  beneficial  in 
some  instances,  and  it  was  the  opinion 
of  the  committee  that  some  companies 
would  do  well  to  make  more  extensive 
use  of  this  means  of  reaching  their 
employees  directly. 

The  official  publication  of  the  Asso- 
ciation carries  in  every  issue  much 
educational  matter  of  which  a  large 
majority  of  the  member  companies  are 
not  taking  full  advantage.  Some  means 


might  well  be  taken  for  disseminating 
these  educational  articles  among  a 
larger  number  of  employees. 

A  third  means  of  conveying  to  the 
employees  information  which  should 
be  helpful  to  them  in  understanding 
many  company  matters  and  make  them 
generally  better  informed  on  the  sub- 
ject of  company  affairs,  is  the  posting 
of  pamphlets  or  bulletins  at  points  of 
vantage  at  division  points  or  at  the 
shops.  At  times  when  men  are  stand- 
ing about  waiting  for  a  change  of 
shifts,  posters  or  pamphlets  about  the 
bulletin  board  which  are  changed  fre- 
quently, hold  out  a  topic  of  conversa- 
tion to  the  men,  and  it  was  the  opinion 
of  the  committee  that  this  is  a  very 
excellent  means  of  imparting  to  the 
employees  general  information  in  a 
way  that  will  ultimately  react  to  the 
benefit  of  both  the  men  and  the  com- 
pany. 

The  co-operation  of  employees,  to  be 
most  valuable,  must  be  directed  in 
definite  channels.  Company  policies 
must  be  instilled  in  the  minds  of  the 
employees.  Employees  must  be  con- 
vinced of  the  sincerity  of  the  company 
in  its  desire  to  give  every  consideration 
to  the  employee's  service  and  well- 
being.  The  formation  of  committees 
through  which  recommendations  can 
come  from  employees  and  sometimes 
be  worked  out,  have  proved  an  excel- 
lent means  to  these  ends.  In  many 
cases  labor  difficulties  have  been 
smoothed  out  and  proposed  sched- 
ule changes  abandoned  by  the  com- 
mittee itself  as  not  feasible,  leaving 
the  men  entirely  satisfied,  whereas  had 
the  refusal  come  from  the  company 
there  would  have  been  increased  dis- 
satisfaction. 

The  second  phase  of  the  committee's 
recommendations  dealt  with  the  matter 
of  advertising,  first  —  directly,  by 
means  of  newspapers,  cards,  circulars, 
time-tables,  letters  and  moving  pic- 
tures, and,  second — indirectly,  through 
employees'  memberships  in  public 
bodies  and  civic  associations  and  by 
company  co-operation  with  national, 
state  and  local  organizations  and 
affairs. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  committee 
that  a  way  must  be  found  to  put  sug- 
gestions and  recommendations  into 
effect  and  that  the  best  means  available 
is  to  add  to  the  duties  of  the  associa- 
tion publicity  manager  the  work  of 
assisting  member  companies  in  putting 
into  operation  such  of  these  recom- 
mendations as  are  appropriate  for  any 
individual  property. 

After  an  elaboration  of  these  points 
the  committee  discussed  the  question 
of  advertising  in  newspapers,  cards, 
circulars  and  time-tables.  On  this 
point  it  said  that  the  car  crews  and 
other  employees  have  for  years  read 
articles  in  the  press  which  charge  the 
electric  railways  with  all  sorts  of  im- 
proper practices,  financially  and  other- 
wise. In  general,  they  have  not  and 
do  not  now  receive  corresponding 
definite  and  clear-cut  statements  of 
facts  proving  that  the  contrary  is  true 


for  the  press  does  not  give  the  same 
space  to  the  public  utilities  side  of  the 
story  that  it  gives  to  sensational 
statements  of  the  demagogue.  Again, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  bad  news 
and  gossip  spread  faster  than  straight- 
forward facts. 

The  real  object  of  advertising  is  to 
sell,  whether  it  be  to  sell  an  article,  an 
idea  or  service.  It  is  the  opinion  of 
some  that  "direct  advertising"  in  news- 
papers can  be  made  to  sell  more  rides 
in  off  peak  hours.  Transportation  can 
be  sold  just  like  gas  stoves  or  electric 
lights  or  steam  heat.  Riding  on  street 
cars  can  be  transformed  in  the  minds 
of  the  public  from  an  ordeal  into  a 
real  pleasure,  a  happy  pastime,  and  a 
form  of  helpful  recreation.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  the  committee  that  this  can 
be  done  by  systematic  intensive  pub- 
licity. Advertising  directly  in  news- 
papers to  increase  the  sale  of  transpor- 
tation has  been  carried  on  for  at  least 
ten  years.  Sample  advertisements  con- 
sidered effective  are  then  reproduced. 

The  committee  declared  that  the  fact 
should  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  every 
act  of  each  employee  is  an  advertise- 
ment. Reputation,  honesty,  politeness, 
neatness,  promptness,  are  all  advertise- 
ments. Quality,  price,  frequency, 
everything  is  an  advertisement,  either 
good  or  bad.  Intelligent  propaganda 
would  suggest  the  use  of  one  of  the 
greatest  advertising  mediums  extant, 
namely,  the  street  cars  themselves. 

Moving  pictures,  the  committee  de- 
clared have  become  the  greatest  aid 
to  education  that  civilization  has 
created.  They  offer  today  one  of  the 
greatest  fields  for  advertising  and  are 
peculiarly  adaptable  to  carrying  the 
various  types  of  message  which  the 
street  railway  industry  must  convey 
to  its  users  and  potential  users. 

There  are  two  reasons  why  this  is 
true.  First — they  reproduce  incidents, 
events  and  ideas  for  high-minded 
people — the  85  per  cent;  second — mov- 
ing pictures  are  projected  under  facili- 
ties ideal  for  concentration  in  that 
there  is  but  one  thing  before  the 
vision  and  the  room  is  dark.  It  is  for 
these  reasons  that  moving  pictures 
offer  one  of  the  best  ways  of  putting 
ideas  in  the  consciousness  of  human 
beings.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  com- 
mittee that  there  are  three  ways  in 
which  moving  pictures  can  be  utilized 
to  advantage  by  street  railway  indus- 
tries. First — safety  productions  for 
the  car-riding  public  and  the  company 
employees.  Second — Publicity  produc- 
tions for  the  promotion  of  special 
financial  and  engineering  problems, 
which  require  the  approval  of  the  car 
riders.  Third — Industrial  engineering 
productions  to  instruct  shop  employees 
and  trainmen  in  efficiency  methods. 
These  three  types  serve  entirely  differ- 
ent purposes  and  are  equally  im- 
portant. The  safety  production  will 
aim  to  educate  the  car  riding  public 
as  well  as  the  car  employees.  Reports 
of  the  National  Safety  Council  show 
that  accidents  tend  to  fall  off  consider- 
ably after  every  campaign  for  exercis- 


■October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


645 


ing  greater  caution.  A  series  of  safety 
reproduction  films  should  show  how 
accidents  on  and  off  a  street  car  occur 
and  how  they  may  he  prevented.  The 
purpose  should  be  to  instruct  the  public 
as  a  preventative  measure  or  assur- 
ance against  accidents. 

That  type  of  film  which  may  be 
termed  a  publicity  production  requires 
the  utmost  good  judgment  and  fore- 
sight, and  if  wisely  used,  can  pave  and 
prepare  the  way  for  many  otherwise 
difficult  developments,  extensions  and 
improvements. 

The  third  type  of  film  production 
recommended  pertains  to  shop  and 
operating  efficiency.  The  need  for 
training  in  production  is  universally 
recognized.  The  type  of  training  to  be 
adopted  should  always  concern  itself 
with  the  development  of  men  to  see  and 
understand  the  causes  behind  wastes, 
leaks,  power  losses,  and  injuries  to 
equipment  which  continually  occur. 
With  this  purpose  in  mind  the  methods 
can  be  developed  from  a  study  of  the 
films  to  overcome  existing  inefficiency 
with  regard  to  human  time,  machine 
time,  power  saving,  preservation  of 
equipment. 

The  most  valuable  asset  a  street  rail- 
way can  have  on  its  books  is  the  good 
will  of  the  public,  and  to  build  good 
will  and  extend  a  company's  radius 
beyond  its  present  circle  is  its  respon- 
sibility. Advertising  is  one  of  the 
mediums  that  will  carry  the  character 
of  its  organization  to  its  public  and 
help  form  public  opinion.  The  com- 
mittee also  emphasized  the  necessity 
for  taking  an  active  part  in  all  civic 
affairs. 

In  conclusion  the  committee  sug- 
gested that  the  association's  publicity 
director  might  add  to  his  duties  the 
work  of  bringing  to  the  attention  of 
the  industry  from  time  to  time,  in  his 
traveling,  such  of  these  recommena- 
tions  as  seem  particularly  appropriate 
and  aiding  them  in  the  inauguration  of 
any  new  or  additional  programs  which 
member  companies  may  deem  feasible 
for  adoption.  It  also  suggests  that 
Aera  be  asked  to  run  a  series  of 
articles  on  the  more  important  phases 
of  this  subject  and  that  these  articles 
be  prepared  especially  for  the  consump- 
tion of  the  rank  and  file  of  motormen 
and  conductors  and  others  directly  con- 
cerned in  operating  the  cars.  Com- 
panies having  house  organs  can  reprint 
these  articles  and  gain  widespread 
benefit  while  others  may  subscribe  for 
sufficient  copies  of  Aera  to  obtain 
fairly  wide  circulation  among  the 
trainmen. 

The  report  is  signed  by  J.  H.  Alex- 
ander, chairman,  W.  H.  Boyce,  F.  L. 
Butler,  H.  C.  Clark,  F.  R.  Coates,  A. 
H.  Ferrandou,  B.  W.  Frauenthal,  A.  L. 
Kempster,  M.  B.  Lambert,  A.  Stuart 
Pratt,  S.  L.  Vaughan  and  Elton  Wilde. 

Discussion  by  W.  L.  Goodwin 

Purposely  assuming  a  critical  atti- 
tude toward  the  sales  ideas  expressed 
in  the  report  of  the  committee  on  mer- 
chandising transportation,  W.  L.  Good- 


win, assistant  to  the  president,  Society 
for  Electrical  Development,  New  York, 
began  by  stating  that  no  one  would 
question  the  ability  of  the  executives 
in  the  electric  railway  field.  The  fact 
that  the  industry  is  in  bad  condition 
financially,  however,  indicates  that  the 
industry  has  either  been  badly  directed 
or  this  ability  misplaced.  He  considered 
that  the  main  problem  of  the  industry 
is  one  of  salesmanship.  Before  the 
ideas  of  the  committee  can  be  carried 
out,  he  thought  it  would  be  necessary 
to  reorganize  the  companies.  The  exec- 
utives are  thinking  in  financial,  engi- 
neering and  legal  terms,  and  not  at- 
tacking the  problems  from  the  sales 
viewpoint.  The  electric  railway  com- 
panies are  in  business  to  make  money 
and  the  only  way  this  can  be  done  is 
to  sell  transportation.  The  commodity 
for  sale  is  transportation  regardless  of 
the  tool  used  to  produce  it.  Some  one 
man  must  be  placed  in  charge  of  the 
sale  of  this  commodity,  and  the  sale 
of  it  at  a  profit. 

As  to  the  suggestion  of  the  commit- 
tee that  courtesy  is  essential  in  selling 
transportation,  Mr.  Goodwin  remarked 
that  courtesy  is  a  very  elementary  con- 
sideration and  that  he  could  not  conceive 
of  selling  anything  without  courtesy. 
He  said  he  had  attended  a  great  many 
important  sales  conferences  and  he  did 
not  recall  ever  having  heard  the  mat- 
ter of  courtesy  mentioned.  Few  train- 
men realize  that  their  function  is  to 
sell.  He  noted  that  the  committee  sug- 
gested getting  the  trainmen  together 
on  their  own  time  and  said  that  he 
would  never  think  of  asking  men  to 
attend  a  sales  conference  on  their  own 
time  as  this  would  be  resented.  If  it 
is  desired  to  re-train  the  men  in  sales 
work,  this  must  be  done  on  company 
time  and  attendance  must  be  compul- 
sory and  not  left  to  the  volition  of  the 
men  as  suggested  in  the  report.  In 
hiring  new  employees,  their  first  train- 
ing should  be  in  the  principles  of  sell- 
ing. 

All  through  the  report  reference  is 
made  to  advertising  and  publicity  as 
selling  work,  but  Mr.  Goodwin  em- 
phasized the  point  that  this  is  only  a 
subdivision  of  selling.  The  spoken  and 
the  printed  word,  properly  co-ordinated, 
are  subdivisions  of  selling,  which  in- 
volves in  addition,  policy,  quality  of 
product,  and  various  other  elements. 
He  said  he  knew  of  one  company  which 
is  using  extensive  publicity  in  which 
the  printed  word  does  not  agree  with 
the  company  policy.  The  people  feel 
this  and  the  result  is  that  the  publicity 
represents  time  and  money  wasted. 

Referring  to  the  committee  sugges- 
tion that  the  association  publicity  man- 
ager be  made  available  to  assist  com- 
panies in  their  advertising  and  pub- 
licity work,  Mr.  Goodwin  suggested 
that  this  man  should  be  called  the 
association  sales  manager  and  that  his 
work  should  be  to  assist  the  com- 
panies in  setting  up  a  proper  sales 
organization,  after  which  the  matter  of 
publicity  would  follow  as  one  of  the 
functions   of   this  department. 

In  the  matter  of  educating  the  em- 


ployees to  sell,  Mr.  Goodwin  said  that 
this  could  not  be  accomplished  unless 
the  executives  themselves  first  caught 
the  spirit  of  selling.  He  took  issue 
with  the  committee's  statement  that 
the  remedy  for  discourtesy  is  dismis- 
sal, saying  that  the  men  were  not  to 
blame,  that  the  fault  lay  with  those 
above  and  that  the  men  were  working 
under  wrong  principles.  He  suggested 
that  the  title  of  conductor  and  motor- 
man  be  dropped  inasmuch  as  these  are 
much  misused  terms  and  since  a  new 
title  is  sought  in  connection  with  the 
one-man  car,  substituting  the  man's 
own  name  on  his  cap  and  thus  estab- 
lish personal  contact.  He  thought  it 
would  be  a  mistake  to  urge  the  sale 
of  company  securities  to  the  employees 
in  an  effort  to  win  their  co-operation 
by  this  means,  unless  the  management 
was  absolutely  sure  of  the  safety  of 
the  investment  and  that  it  would  earn 
a  return. 

Commenting  on  the  list  of  subjects 
suggested  by  the  committee  for  discus- 
sion in  meetings  of  the  employees,  Mr. 
Goodwin  thought  that  some  of  the  most 
important  had  been  omitted.  The  mat- 
ters of  policy,  product  and  competition 
are  the  real  topics  that  should  be  taken 
up  in  these  sales  meetings  and  of  these, 
competition  is  by  far  the  most  import- 
ant now.  He  suggested  that  a  sales 
demonstration  be  included  among  the 
subjects,  wherein  an  example  could  be 
given  the  trainmen  of  how  to  meet  the 
arguments  of  the  dissatisfied  customer. 

Mr.  Goodwin  also  took  issue  with  the 
suggestion  of  the  committee  that  more 
space  in  Aera  be  devoted  to  the  sub- 
ject of  training  employees  in  the  sales 
attitude.  He  said  that  he  thought  as- 
sociation journals  had  done  more  to 
retard  constructive  development  in  var- 
ious industries  than  almost  any  other 
thing  because  they  publish  only  those 
things  that  the  members  like  to  hear. 
He  maintained  that  associations  should 
put  into  their  own  publication  only  such 
matter  as  would  not  be  accepted  by  the 
independent  press.  He  urged  greater 
dependence  on  the  latter  and  less  on 
the  association  magazine. 

One  of  the  most  important  tasks  in 
obtaining  sales  effort  from  trainmen  is 
to  get  a  good  understanding  among 
them,  and  in  fact  among  the  exec- 
utives, too,  of  what  the  problems  are, 
for  co-operation  cannot  be  secured  until 
such  understanding:  is  had. 

In  speaking  of  broad  good  will  pub- 
licity campaigns,  Mr.  Goodwin  men- 
tioned the  serious  error  made  by  an- 
other association  in  signing  the  cam- 
paign by  the  name  of  the  association, 
which  was  unknown  and  meaningless 
to  the  public.  He  said  this  would  apply 
also  be  such  a  campaign  signed  by  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association. 
As  to  the  noticeable  absence  of  pub- 
licity in  the  industry,  he  said  that  this 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  there  are  no 
sales  departments  of  the  companies.  If 
these  were  had  this  would  be  the  great- 
est advertised  industry  in  the  world. 
Any  advertising  entered  into  must  be 
continued,  for  the  selling  job  is  one  that 
must  go  on  for  all  time,  and  the  ter- 


646 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


minable  campaign  can  only  be  used  for 
putting  over  some  temporary  idea.  If 
companies  were  reorganized  to  include 
proper  sales  organizations,  he  believed 
that  the  condition  of  the  industry  would 
be  greatly  improved.  He  also  took 
issue  with  the  idea  that  the  selling  of 
transportation  is  selling  a  necessity  for 
he  considered  it  a  convenience.  A  ne- 
cessity is  sold  by  sufferance  while  a 
convenience  is  sold  by  putting  forth 
its  virtues  a..d  meeting  all  competition. 

Discussion  Following  Mr.  Goodwin 
Summing  up  the  committee's  report 
in  a  word,  Harry  Reid,  president  In- 
terstate Public  Service  Company,  In- 
dianapolis, Ind.,  said  it  would  seem  that 
merchandising  transportation  is  en- 
tirely a  matter  of  proper  public  rela- 
tions. He  suggested  the  formulation 
of  a  public  relations  section  of  the  as- 
sociation, modeled  after  the  public  rela- 
tions section  of  the  National  Electric 
Light  Association.  He  thought  that 
the  best  method  of  developing  proper 
public  relations  consists  in  giving  satis- 
factory and  adequate  service  rather 
than  in  proceeding  on  the  theory  that 
they  can  be  developed  by  oral  and  ad- 
vertised alibis  and  excuses.  Good  busi- 
ness management  does  not  depend  upon 
popular  sympathy,  nor  can  sympathy 
help  very  much  in  its  attainment. 
There  must  be  something  of  merit  to 
sell.  Through  proper  salesmanship 
and  advertising  success  will  follow  na- 
turally. The  time  has  come  when  fur- 
ther increase  in  rates  cannot  be  ex- 
pected and  everyone  connected  with  the 
electric  transportation  business  should 
cease  referring  to  it  as  a  "busted"  en- 
terprise. Nothing  succeeds  like  suc- 
cess. Shabby  clothes  and  run-down 
heels  rarely  bring  forth  very  much  sym- 
pathy. We  have  got  to  get  our  clothes 
pressed,  our  heels  straightened  and  put 
on  a  prosperous  appearance,  even 
though  it  is  somewhat  feigned.  Of 
course,  a  new  suit  of  clothes  and  new 
pair  of  shoes  may  be  rather  difficult  to 
pay  for,  but  it  is  not  so  difficult  to 
appear  in  the  market  with  the  optim- 
ism of  a  purchaser.  In  other  words, 
"optimism"  should  be  written  in  elec- 
tric lights  on  our  sign  posts,  thus  point- 
ing to  success. 

The  property  for  which  Mr.  Reid  is 
responsible  fairly  demonstrates,  he  said, 
the  success  of  this  bit  of  philosophy. 
Within  the  last  five  years  through  the 
purchase  of  additional  equipment,  the 
passenger  receipts  have  increased  42 
per  cent  and  the  freight  earnings  have 
increased  from  6  per  cent  to  27  per 
cent  of  the  gross  business.  The  addi- 
tional equipment  was  financed  by  the 
usual  car-trust  equipment  method. 

Continuing,  Mr.  Reid  said  that  if  the 
companies  can  continue  to  carry  out 
the  policy  developed  during  the  war  of 
informing  the  public  regarding  the  util- 
ities, it  will  bring  about  good  public 
relations,  without  which  merchandising 
transportation  is  bound  to  fail.  Left 
alone  the  cities  will  not  realize  or  con- 
sider the  importance  of  their  trans- 
portation systems.  Yet  unfair  treat- 
ment by  city  government  will  tend  to 


destroy  these  systems  and  impair  the 
prosperity  and  comfort  of  the  citizens. 

feeding  transportation,  whether  street 
car  or  interurban  transportation,  is 
perhaps  the  most  important  phase  of 
the  work.  The  training  of  employees 
in  this  work  is  surely  very  essential 
to  the  success  of  any  property.  Co- 
operation and  co-ordination  of  all  de- 
partments are  absolutely  necessary. 
General  policies  and  sales  methods 
should  be  determined  by  the  executive 
in  charge  and  extreme  care  and  rare 
judgment  used  in  determining  them. 
For  the  education  of  men  to  carry  out 
these  general  policies  costs  vast  sums 
of  money  each  year. 

Mr.  Reid  directed  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  use  of  motion  pictures,  as 
recommended  by  the  committee.  The 
full  importance  of  this  powerful  agency 
is  likely  to  be  overlooked  unless  spe- 
cial attention  is  paid  to  it.  It  was  his 
notion  that  a  very  wide  distribution 
and  showing  of  films  could  be  obtained 
at  a  comparatively  small  .  xpense,  if 
there  were  available  pictures  of  a  really 
instructive  character,  honestly  setting 
forth  the  history  a  id  present-day  prob- 
lems of  electric  transportation.  They 
could  be  shown  in  the  public  schools, 
community  cent  is,  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s  and 
even  in  the  commercial  theaters  at 
practically  no  expense. 

General  publicity  is  an  important  fac- 
tor in  paving  the  way  for  effective 
sales  work  on  the  part  of  employees. 
The  transportation  systems  of  the  en- 
tire country  are  suffering  from  a  lack 
of  honest,  straightforward  publicity. 
Does  the  public  know  the  efforts  that 
are  being  made  to  create  and  maintain 
the  service  they  demand  ?  Does  the 
public  know  the  cost  of  such  service  ? 
Does  the  public  realize  that,  because  of 
adverse  legislation,  both  by  state  and 
cities,  the  average  investor  refuses  to 
buy  public  utility  securities?  Does  the 
public  know  that  petty  politicians  use 
the  transportation  facilities  of  their 
cities  and  states  as  means  to  stir  up 
hatred  and  animosity?  Tell  the  pub 
lie  the  truth.  Do  we  realize  that  we 
have  all  of  these  problems  to  meet? 
If  so,  how  are  we  meeting  them  ?  Pub- 
licity and  lots  of  it  is  necessary.  Let 
the  people  know  our  troubles.  Impress 
the  importance  of  the  transportation 
system  and  of  their  co-operation. 

Let  us  look  well  into  our  organiza- 
tion. Is  it  a  real  organization?  Does 
the  head  of  every  department  have  his 
duties  clearly  outlined?  Are  the  de- 
partments co-operating  properly?  Are 
the  employees  in  each  department  be- 
ing properly  trained  and  educated  to 
carry  out  their  part  of  the  program  ? 
Are  we  making  future  heads  of  depart- 
ments in  our  organizations?  Are  we 
endeavoring  to  fit  our  whole  organiza- 
tion to  meet  the  public  squarely  and 
fairly  in  the  discussion  of  policies  and 
rules  which  affect  the  public? 

E.  M.  Walker,  general  manager  Terre 
Haute  Traction  &  Light  Company,  de- 
clared that  merchandising  or  salesman- 
ship in  the  last  analysis  is  trading  for 
a  profit,  and  every  true  salesman  or 
merchant  has  in  mind  his  profit  at  the 


completion  of  the  transaction.  This  is 
perhaps  the  reason  wny  salesmanship 
is  the  missing  link  that  has  caused  the 
non-success  of  the  various  forms  of 
municipally  owned  or  operated  projects 
in  public  service.  It  has  been  well  said 
that  a  government  not  only  abhors  a 
surplus  but  also  is  indifferent  to  a 
deficit.  Therefore,  if  a  government  is 
not  and  can  not  be  operated  at  or  for 
a  profit,  why  worry  about  salesman- 
ship ?  One  could  take  a  course  of  lec- 
tures on  baseball,  but  no  man  and  no 
book  could  teach  him  how  to  hit  the 
balk  and  hitting  the  ball  is  the  sales- 
manship of  baseball.  The  champion 
home-run  hitter  is  champion  because 
he  believes  in  himself,  believes  in  the 
team  he  plays  on,  and  knows  that  the 
man  he  works  for  will  see  that  his 
profit  is  adequate  and  satisfactory.  The 
all  too  brief  story  of  the  life  and  death 
of  Jim  Burleson,  of  El  Paso,  as  re- 
cently told,  did  not  convey  the  idea 
that  Jim  knew  much  about  the  prob- 
lems of  merchandising  and  salesman- 
ship, yet  he  was  a  master.  There  was 
another  Jim  Burleson  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  on  one  of  the  suburban 
lines  of  Boston.  In  those  days  on  a 
Saturday  night  a  rather  unruly  crowd 
used  to  patronize  the  11:30  train,  which 
was  regularly  in  charge  of  Dennis  Col- 
lins. On  nights  when  the  run  was  in 
charge  of  a  substitute  this  train  was 
more  than  likely  to  become  thoroughly 
demoralized,  but  Dennis  had  a  way  of 
selling  the  railroad  to  these  boisterous 
rowdies  that  proved  him  a  thorough  be- 
liever in  himself,  in  his  work,  and  in 
his  road.  What  the  roads  need  is  more 
Jim  Burlesons.  No  doubt  all  railroads 
have  a  few,  and  the  task  of  the  sales 
manager  is  to  pick  out  as  far  as  pos- 
sible men  of  the  salesman  type.  This, 
of  course,  can  not  be  done  successfully 
when  there  are  more  jobs  than  men. 

Continuing,  Mr.  Walker  said  that  of 
perhaps  equal  importance  in  the  mer- 
chandising of  transportation  is  the 
matter  of  keeping  abreast  of  the  times 
by  meeting  the  changing  and  evolution- 
ary standards  of  speed  and  comfort  in 
equipment.  Companies  can  not  meet 
1921  demands  with  the  standards  of 
two  decades  ago.  Many  a  property  has 
been  able  by  the  generous  introduction 
of  the  light-weight  safety  car  to  im- 
prove the  quality  and  frequency  of  the 
ride,  to  keep  down  the  fare,  to  increase 
the  number  of  riders  at  least  propor- 
tionately to  the  increased  service,  to 
stem  the  tide  of  the  competing  jitney 
bus,  and  finally,  to  live  and  breathe  and 
to  preserve  the  true  semblance  of  real 
merchandising. 

The  speaker  said  that  there  are  fields 
for  salesmanship  still  unexplored.  For 
example,  how  to  get  an  increased  num- 
ber of  riders  interested  in  buying  trans- 
portation when  the  companies  need 
most  to  sell  it — either  by  a  reduced 
rate  between  certain  hours,  or  by  a 
free  return  ride  in  co-operation  with  a 
downtown  sale  of  large  proportions. 
Thus  his  own  company  several  times 
this  year  in  connection  with  Dollar  Day 
Sales  has  put  out  through  a  larere  de- 
partment store  a  limited  quantity  of 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


647 


street  car  tickets  at  a  reduced  rate — 
"a  dollar's  worth  to  a  customer,  while 
they  last."  These  have  been  popular 
items  with  the  store  management"  and 
customers,  and  of  course  have  produced 
something  in  popularizing  the  riding 
habit.  The  companies  can  not  stop  the 
increasing  use  of  private  automobiles 
but  they  can  extend  their  efforts  to 
make  the  automobile  owner  a  short- 
ride  prospect,  as  he  has  the  riding 
habit  more  fully  developed  than  the 
non-owner. 

As  to  newspaper  publicity,  "The 
time  to  advertise  is  all  the  time."  The 
trouble  with  many  companies  has  been 
that  in  days  of  prosperity  they  have 
been  too  little  inclined  to  think  that 
they  had  things  in  common  with  the 
public.  Then  when  dark  days  and 
trouble  came,  the  public  showed  its  dis- 
inclination to  bother  with  the  problem. 
Let  us  tell  the  public  about  the  good 
as  well  as  the  bad,  telling  them  the 
truth  always,  in  which  we  believe  just 
as  implicitly  as  we  believe  in  ourselves. 
After  all,  merchandising  of  transporta- 
tion is  a  matter  of  men  and  methods, 
and  there  will  probably  be  as  many  dif- 
ferent methods  as  there  are  men.  But 
wherever  these  methods  are  founded 
on  knowledge  of  the  business,  truth, 
and  an  unfailing  belief  in  oneself  and 
one's  work,  that  is  the  basis  of  true 
and  successful  salesmanship. 

F.  G.  Buffe,  general  manager  for  the 
receivers,  Kansas  City  Railways, 
thought  a  distinction  should  be  drawn 
between  the  sale  of  a  commodity  and 
the  sale  of  a  service.  If  a  man  buys 
a  razor  he  does  not  care  particularly 
about  the  methods  of  the  manufac- 
ture, but  if  he  goes  to  a  barber  shop 
and  buys  a  service,  he  is  greatly  inter- 
ested in  the  methods  of  production. 
Railway  transportation  is  a  service,  and 
the  customer  is  concerned  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  motorman  and  con- 
ductor do  their  duty.  Hence  every- 
thing which  enters  into  the  equipment 
of  a  car  is  concerned  with  salesman- 
ship. Opinions  as  to  the  desirability 
of  employment  on  a  railway  have 
changed,  and  it  is  now  sought  after. 
The  turnover  is  small,  and  the  men  are 
more  anxious  to  study  sales  methods. 
"While  electric  railway  service  had  been 
declared  by  some  people  not  to  be  a 
necessity,  the  speaker  believed  that  it 
was  now  so  recognized  in  Des  Moines 
and  other  cities  where  the  service  had 
stopped.  Everyone  there  now  wanted 
the  service  restored. 

Walter  Jackson,  Mount  Vernon,  ex- 
plained that  the  London  Underground 
"Electric  Railways  Company  had  a 
"commercial  manager"  and  described 
the  extensive  publicity  carried  on  by 
the  London  company.  It  did  not  ex- 
pect to  get  every  dollar  back  which  it 
spent,  but  the  company  knew  that  if  it 
told  every  day  about  its  service  and 
why  it  wanted  people  to  ride,  the  public 
would  understand  that  the  company  was 
up-to-date.  A  railway  manager  should 
utilize  every  occasion  for  developing 
traffic.  On  a  rainy  day  merchants 
would   get  out  special  notices  about 


overshoes,  raincoats,  and  umbrellas  for 
sale,  but  though  transportation  was 
equally  desirable  on  a  rainy  day,  the 
railways  did  no  special  advertising. 
Most  companies  are  unfortunate  in  that 
they  sell  transportation  at  all  times 
at  the  same  price.  Youngstown  has 
recently  introduced  a  weekly  pass,  and 
the  speaker  described  ways  by  which 
its  sale  is  promoted.  It  had  to  be  sold 
to  people  who  wanted  to  take  more 
than  two  rides  a  day,  that  is,  to  the 
voluntary  riders,  who  wished  to  visit 
theaters,  do  shopping,  etc.,  besides 
traveling  to  business.  This  riding  was 
of  course  of  reciprocal  advantage  to 
the  theaters  and  merchants.  The  mat- 
ter of  advertising  the  pass  was  there- 
fore taken  up  with  them.  As  a  result 
several  department  stores  advertised 
the  pass  in  their  own  newspaper  space, 
and  the  theaters  used  slides  with  the 
company's  selling  slogan  about  the 
pass.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  evening  school 
was  also  interested,  and  got  out  a 
poster  which  helped  the  sale  to  pass. 
Off-peak  riding  would  be  encouraged  if 
someone  realized  that  after  the  work- 
ers had  left  in  the  morning  there  were 
more  people  at  home  than  were  in  the 
factories  and  stores. 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  Mr.  Lam- 
bert, Mr.  .Goodwin  declared  that  the 
sales  responsibilities  should  be  put  up 
to  one  man.  It  might  be  all  right  for 
people  to  think  that  riding  was  a  neces- 
sity, but  those  in  the  organization 
should  not  hold  that  idea.  He  then  told 
about  the  practice  of  the  Electrical 
Jobbers  Association  where  a  member 
who  does  not  attend  the  meeting  loses 
his  $5  fee,  paid  from  a  fund  contributed 
by  the  members  for  that  purpose.  He 
also  thought  that  where  papers  were 
printed  in  advance  it  detracted  from 
the  interest  taken  in  them. 

Britton  I.  Budd,  Chicago,  commended 
the  report  of  the  committee.  He  also 
said  that  the  idea  of  a  sales  manager 
was  a  good  one  as  it  awakens  the  sell- 
ing instinct  in  a  railway  organization, 
but  it  is  impossible  to  divorce  manage- 
ment from  general  oversight.  Courtesy 
will  be  practiced  by  the  men  only  if 
their  supervisors  and  other  officials  are 
courteous.  The  rules  should  be  such  as 
to  bring  out  what  is  best  in  the  men. 
Like  everyone  else  they  like  to  be  com- 
mended for  work  well  done.  Hence,  if 
patrons  are  urged  to  report  uncivility, 
they  should  be  asked  also  to  report  good 
actions.  In  fact,  if  the  request  was 
confined  to  the  commendations,  it  would 
be  sufficient.  It  is  impossible  to  over- 
estimate the  value  of  courtesy.  If  the 
men  feel  right  toward  the  manage- 
ment, they  will  at  all  times  defend  it 
and  put  forth  their  best  efforts  for  the 
company.  The  speaker  was  not  sure  if 
they  would  feel  the  same  way  towards 
a  sales  manager. 

The  speaker  then  described  the  meth- 
ods followed  by  the  Chicago,  North 
Shore  &  Milwaukee  in  developing  traf- 
fic. Solicitors  are  sent  out  far  and 
wide.  Illuminated  billboards  and  other 
ways  of  soliciting  traffic  are  used.  The 
purpose  is  not  to  get  the  business  of 


competitors,  but  to  create  business.  In 
discussing  the  desirability  of  mutual 
understanding  between  manager  and 
men,  Mr.  Budd  then  said  that  his  com- 
pany was  going  to  have  a  series  of 
educational  talks  given  to  the  foremen 
of  his  companies  on  the  history  of  the 
company.  The  speaker  will  be  a  pro- 
fessor of  finance  and  the  facts  will  thus 
be  carried  to  the  men.  It  is  the  hope 
that  by  means  of  these  lectures  the 
men  can  talk  intelligently  on  the  sub- 
ject. In  answer  to  a  question  he  said 
that  his  North  Shore  line  had  a  regular 
traffic  manager. 

Mr.  Goodwin  declared  that  Mr.  Budd 
had  the  sales  instinct  and  thus  was  the 
sales  manager  of  his  company  as  well 
as  the  president. 

C.  E.  Morgan,  assistant  general  man- 
ager, Brooklyn  City  Railroad,  in  refer- 
ring to  the  question  of  service,  em- 
phasized the  necessity  of  a  careful 
supervision  of  schedules  so  that  the 
service  should  be  given  where  needed. 

On  motion  the  report  was  then  re- 
ceived by  the  association,  and  the  meet- 
ing adjourned. 

Tuesday's  Session 

The  session  of  the  Transportation  & 
Traffic  Association  on  Tuesday  after- 
noon was  a  joint  meeting  with  the 
Claims  Association  and  was  devoted  to 
traffic  regulation  and  safety  work.  The 
first  report  presented  was  that  of  the 
committee  on  traffic  regulation.  This 
follows  in  abstract  below: 

Traffic  Regulations 

The  report  contains  the  code  of  traf- 
fic principles  drafted  in  conference  at 
Washington,  Jan.  10-11,  1921,  at  whieh 
practically  all  associations  of  national 
scope  interested  in  traffic  were  repre- 
sented. W.  H.  Maltbie  of  the  com- 
mittee represented  the  committee  in 
this  work.  Another  result  of  the  con- 
ference was  the  preparation  and  con- 
sideration, although  without  final  ap- 
proval, of  a  modified  uniform  traffic 
code. 

The  code  of  traffic  principles  covers 
not  only  the  methods  of  administra- 
tion to  be  followed  but  recommends  the 
registration  of  all  vehicles  and  the 
licensing  of  their  drivers.  Among 
other  things  it  provides  that  operators 
must  be  at  least  sixteen  years  of  age 
to  obtain  a  license  and  that  chauffeurs 
be  eighteen  years  of  age.  Speed  limits 
of  motor  vehicles  should  depend  on  the 
weight  and  tire  equipmlent  of  the  ve- 
hicle, whether  pneumatic,  solid  or  metal, 
and  for  passenger  motor  vehicles  such 
speed  limit  should  not  be  less  than  30 
m.p.h.  in  open  country,  20  m.p.h.  in 
residential  districts  and  15  m.p.h.  in 
business  districts.  Motor  trucks  and 
motor  buses  must  carry  a  metal  plate 
showing  the  actual  weight  of  the  ve- 
hicle with  its  equipment  and  the  load- 
ing or  seating  capacity. 

Reciprocity  as  between  states  is 
recommended  toward  vehicle  and  oper- 
ators' licenses  for  a  three-month  period 
in  any  one  year,  the  time  not  neces- 


648 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


sarily  being  consecutive.  Size  and 
weight  restrictions  by  the  proper  auth- 
orities should  contemplate  the  protec- 
tion, safety  and  convenience  of  the 
traveling  public,  the  preservation  of 
the  highways  and  the  meeting  of  high- 
way requirements.  Lighting  require- 
ments recommended  are  those  issued 
by  the  Illuminating  Engineering  Society 
under  date  of  June,  1920.  This  code 
of  traffic  principles  is  signed  as  being 
approved  by  twenty-one  interested  as- 
sociations. 

The  Washington  conference  urged 
the  classification  of  grade  crossings  as 
"ordinary"  or  "dangerous"  and  declared 
that  in  the  latter,  in  addition  to  being 
protected  by  standard  grade  crossing 
signs,  be  marked  with  uniform  and  con- 
spicuous signs  specifying  the  speed  at 
which  vehicles  may  cross.  The  com- 
mittee requested  that  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Standards  make  a  study  of 
such  signs,  including  size,  location, 
etc.,  and  that  it  should  have  the  ad- 
vice and  co-operation  of  the  signal  sec- 
tion of  the  engineering  division  of  the 
American  Railway  Association  as  well 
as  that  of  the  signalmen  of  our  Engi- 
neering Association. 

Many  favorable  comments,  the  re- 
port states,  have  been  made  upon  the 
committee's  original  code  of  traffic  prin- 
ciples and  model  traffic  ordinance.  The 
ordinance,  with  some  slight  modifica- 
tions, has  already  been  adopted  by  the 
Canadian  Electric  Railway  Association. 
The  report  is  signed  by  H.  B.  Flowers, 
chairman;  F.  R.  Cogswell,  A.  Gaboury, 
R.  F.  Kelker.  Jr.,  W.  H.  Maltbie.  H.  B. 
Potter,  Fielder  Sanders  and  Paul  E. 
Wilson. 

Following  this  report  were  papers  on 
traffic  regulation  by  Inspector  John 
O'Brian  of  the  New'  York  City  Police 
Department  and  J.  M.  Quigley,  Chief  of 
Police  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Abstracts  of 
these  papers  are  published  elsewhere  in 
this  issue. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on 
safety  work  was  then  presented  by  E.  C. 
Spring.  An  abstract  of  this  report  fol- 
lows: 

Safety  Work 

A  study  of  public  accidents  indicates 
that  of  the  total  deaths  caused  thereby 
last  year  78  per  cent,  or  60,000,  occur- 
red on  the  highways  or  in  the  home. 
Industrial  accidents  declined  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  concentration  of  effort  put 
upon  them  by  industrial  management. 
The  committee  believes  that  the  same 
amount  of  vigilance  backed  by  educa- 
tion will  accomplish  much  in  the  elim- 
ination of  public  accidents. 

The  teaching  of  safety  must  not  be 
made  a  spasmodic  or  perfunctory  mat- 
ter and  if  done  it  will  not  accomplish 
the  result  sought.  Electric  railway  ac- 
cidents cover  a  wider  range  than  other 
industries  largely  because  their  track 
locations  bring  them  into  more  intimate 
contact  with  both  vehicular  and  pedes- 
trian traffic.  Here  is  a  situation  that 
demands  close  vigilance  not  only  on  the 
part  of  the  operating  departments  but 
constant  study  by  all  the  company  of- 
ficials to  improve  conditions. 


Information  collected  from  131  com- 
panies dealing  with  accidents  and  safety 
work  indicates  that  there  is  an  urgent 
need  for  active  participation  in  accident 
prevention.  Of  a  total  of  86,500  acci- 
dents reported  50.5  per  cent  come  with- 
in classes  directly  affected  by  the  pub- 
lic safety  movement.  Fifty  per  cent  of 
the  companies  reporting  are  spending 
nothing  on  safety  work  and  the  balance 
only  average  $2,002  per  company  per 
annum.  Eighty-six  companies  do  not 
have  departmental  safety  committees, 
yet  of  the  thirty-nine  who  have  them, 
thirty-six  report  they  are  successful. 

STATISTICAL  STUDY  OF  SAFETY  WORK  BY 
ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS 

No 

Number  of  Companies  Reporting  Yes   No  Reply 


Has   company  entered   into  any 

public  safety  campaign?   42    80  9 

Has  company  given  co-operation 

to  any  local  safety  movement'?. .      49    55  27 

Is  company  member  of  National 

Safety  Council?   67    54  10 

Has  company  done  any  work  in 
connection  with  public  schools 
and  to  what  extent?     50    69  12 

Has  company  carried  safety  ad- 
vertising in  its  cars?   78    49  4 

Has  company  co-operated  in  safety 
work  with  automobile  associa- 
tions?  31     84  16 

Has  company  adopted  as  a  basis 
the  standard  code  of  operating 
rules  of  the  T.  &  T.  Association?    75    44  12 


Electric  railway  hazards,  the  report 
states,  may  be  divided  into  two  main 
groups,  namely,  industrial  or  applying 
to  employees  only,  and  operating  or 
those  involving  the  public.  In  the  first 
group  the  hazards  are  those  similar  to 
those  of  other  industries  and  should  be 
handled  along  similar  lines.  The  sec- 
ond group  divides  into  three  subdivi- 
sions, namely,  urban,  suburban  and  in- 
terurban  operation.  Each  of  these 
three  subdivisions  is  further  divided 
into  five  more  classes,  namely,  boarding 
and  leaving  cars,  collisions  with  cars, 
collisions  with  vehicular  traffic,  acci- 
dents to  pedestrians  and  passengers  in- 
jured on  cars.  Of  these  last  five  classi- 
fications, the  third  and  fourth  involve 
most  frequently  the  public  safety. 
Probably  in  the  greater  number  of 
cases  the  driver  or  pedestrian  is  at 
fault  for  the  resulting  accident,  but  that 
fact  does  not  lessen  the  need  or  wis- 
dom of  the  traction  company  support- 
ing the  public  movement.  Street  rail- 
way companies  should  actively  foster 
the  public  safety  movement  in  their 
respective  communities,  and  the  place 
to  start  is  in  the  home  and  school,  with 
particular  reference  to  safety  on  the 
streets. 

The  report  then  goes  on  to  detail 
how  this  can  be  accomplished  and  illus- 
trations are  given  of  the  campaign 
plans  followed  in  some  places.  An  ap- 
pendix outlines  a  suggestion  for  safety 
work  in  cities  too  small  to  support  a 
paid  local  secretary. 

The  report  recommends  that  the  joint 
safety  committee  of  the  T.  &  T.  and 
Claims  Association  be  made  a  perma- 
nent committee  for  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Association,  such  sommittee  to  act  in 
an  advisory  capacity  on,  matters  of 
safety  for  that  association. 

The  report  is  signed  by  E.  C.  Spring, 
chairman;  R.  E.  McDougall,  co-chair- 


man, and  W.  H.  Boyce,  G.  E.  Deibert, 
H.  V.  Drown,  C.  G.  Rice,  C.  B.  Scott 
and  E.  M.  Walker. 

In  discussing  this  report  C.  G.  Rice, 
Pittsburgh,  stated  that  there  was  no 
reason  why  transportation  and  claim 
men  could  not  work  congenially.  If  the 
transportation  men  could  cut  down  the 
number  of  accidents,  they  were  entitled 
to  all  the  credit.  The  real  trouble  was 
that  while  the  transportation  men  be- 
lieved in  safety,  they  did  not  always 
like  to  do  all  that  it  required.  Acci- 
dents should  be  anticipated,  and  it  is 
just  as  well  to  be  a  little  timid  at  times. 
He  then  declared  that  the  report  calls 
attention  to  the  automobile  hazard — a 
live  subject.  There  are  9,000,000  auto- 
mobiles in  the  country  and  they  are  in- 
creasing at  the  rate  of  about  2,000,000 
per  year;  in  other  words,  there  is  one 
auto  for  every  fourteen  of  population. 
In  Pennsylvania  the  600,000  automo- 
biles, or  one  for  every  thirteen  of  popu- 
lation, killed  1,141  persons  in  the  past 
three  years,  with  but  three  convictions. 
In  the  first  six  months  of  this  year  they 
killed  103  people.  In  Allegheny  County 
alone,  where  it  is  figured  there  are  120,- 
000  machines,  the  accident  ratio  has  not 
increased,  though  it  has  not  decreased. 
The  streets  are  no  longer  safe  play- 
grounds for  the  children,  and  it  is  hard 
for  the  parents  to  realize  the  change. 
It  is  not  impossible,  however,  of  cor- 
rection if  the  idea  of  safety  is  sold  with 
the  car.  The  automobile  manufacturers 
and  dealers  when  selling  cars  should  in- 
still into  the  minds  of  the  purchasers 
the  idea  of  safety  in  operation.  The 
standardization  of  traffic  laws  will  have 
much  to  do  with  the  elimination  of 
some  accidents.  Under  present  condi- 
tions there  is  not  much  uniformity,  al- 
though good  work  is  being  done  by  the 
Traffic  Officers'  Association  in  trying  to 
have  a  standard  code  adopted. 

Another  means  of  accident  control, 
according  to  Mr.  Rice,  is  the  licensing 
of  operators  and  having  the  operators 
actually  demonstrate  their  ability  to 
handle  properly  the  cars  they  drive. 
Strict  enforcement  of  these  traffic  rules 
will  also  do  much  toward  improving 
public  safety.  New  York  City  and  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  have  done  much 
along  this  line.  In  Massachusetts  dur- 
ing the  past  year  1,200  licenses  have 
been  suspended  and  900  revoked,  while 
in  Pennsylvania,  where  the  enforcement 
is  rather  lax,  there  have  been  only 
eighty-nine  revocations.  The  formation 
of  local  vigilance  committees  to  report 
violators  is  not  impossible  or  wrong. 
The  state  of  mind  in  most  cities  re- 
quires that  something  be  done  to  curb 
the  continued  reckless  operation  of 
motor  vehicles. 

In  the  Pittsburgh  district  what  is 
known  as  the  Safe  Drivers'  Club  is  sup- 
ported by  employers,  such  as  coal  con- 
cerns, taxicab  companies,  etc.,  who  use 
a  large  number  of  automobiles.  A 
series  of  meetings  is  held  for  the  chauf- 
feurs and  subjects  of  interest  to  safety 
are  discussed.  When  these  employees 
know  that  their  employers  are  back  of 
the  club  they  take  more  of  an  interest 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


649 


in  its  aims.  It  is  planned  to  close  the 
series  of  meetings  with  a  public  meet- 
ing and  to  urge  a  central  traffic  court 
where  all  violators  of  traffic  regulations 
would  be  treated  alike.  There  is  much 
that  can  be  accomplished  in  the  inter- 
est of  public  safety,  but  it  cannot  all 
be  done  at  once. 

Speaking  of  safety  organizations,  Mr. 
Rice  pointed  out  that  since  the  forma- 
tion of  safety  committees  in  the  indus- 
trial plants  of  western  Pennsylvania  the 
fatalities  had  decreased  from  50  per 
cent  of  all  accidents  to  30  per  cent  and 
that  a  man  was  now  safer  at  work  than 
at  home  or  on  the  street.  Safety  is  a 
development  of  the  mind,  a  mental  at- 
titude, and  it  does  not  matter  whether 
it  is  obtained  in  the  mill,  at  church  or 
on  the  street.  Safety  can  be  developed 
only  if  worked  from  both  ends,  so  to 
speak,  by  teaching  it  to  the  child  in  the 
school  and  to  the  man  when  at  work. 
The  National  Safety  Council  believes  in 
the  establishment  of  local  safety  coun- 
cils in  every  community  and  experience 
shows  that  where  established  it  pays, 
for  it  has  proved  of  benefit  in  many 
cities. 

•  The  traction  companies,  however,  for 
some  reason  or  other  are  backward  in 
taking  an  active  part  in  public  accident 
prevention.  Nevertheless,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  a  year's  effective 
organization  work  along  these  lines  will 
reflect  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  acci- 
dents and  causes  of  railway  accidents. 

Britton  I.  Budd,  Chicago,  also  dis- 
cussed the  report  of  the  committee. 
His  prepared  discussion  is  given  else- 
where in  this  issue.  In  addition  he 
spoke  of  the  large  number  of  companies 
that  were  doing  nothing  to  develop  pub- 
lic safety  and  stated  it  was  useless  to 
attempt  such  work  in  a  community  un- 
less the  traction  company  helped  out  in 
some  manner.  The  money  spent  for 
safety  work  on  each  of  the  properties 
with  which  he  is  connected  has  brought 
more  benefits  than  any  similar  expendi- 
ture. The  effect  on  the  morale  of  the 
employees  cannot  be  figured  in  dollars 
and  cents,  for  it  develops  an  interest  in 
the  company  not  otherwise  gained.  It 
is  essential  though  that  the  sugges- 
tions made  by  employees  be  acted  upon 
promptly  and,  if  approved,  that  the 
work  orders  issued  should  have  preced- 
ence over  other  work  orders. 

It  was  his  belief  that  it  was  essen- 
tial for  railways  to  back  up  safety  or- 
ganization work  and  also  that  it  was  up 
to  every  railway  to  have  a  safety  or- 
ganization of  its  own. 

Edward  Dana,  Boston,  complimented 
the  committee  on  its  report  and  was 
surprised  to  learn  that  the  railways 
were  doing  so  little  with  regard  to  acci- 
dent prevention.  It  is  now  time  to  put 
the  house  in  order,  but  it  is  a  problem. 
It  becomes  necessary,  first  of  all,  to 
have  the  co-operation  of  the  whole  per- 
sonnel of  the  railway  employees,  which 
can  be  done  through  company  training 
schools.  But  the  contact  with  the  pub- 
lic at  large  can  more  easily  and  perhaps 
only  be  reached  through  the  National 
Safety  Council,  of  which  the  Boston 
Elevated   Railway   is   a   member.  In 


Boston  the  number  of  accidents  so  far 
in  1921  has  decreased  1,000  over  the 
average  for  the  same  period  for  three 
years  previous.  The  cost  of  accidents 
is  less  than  2i  per  cent  of  the  gross 
revenue.  The  company  has  now  its  own 
industrial  accident  company,  with  the 
heads  of  departments  as  officers.  This 
has  materially  reduced  the  premium 
which  the  company  must  necessarily 
pay  under  the  Massachusetts  laws  for 
similar  protection. 

H.  B.  Flowers  said  that  in  Baltimore, 
in  co-operation  with  the  National 
Safety  Council,  the  railway  company 
organized  a  no-accident  campaign  week, 
along  lines  suggested  by  the  safety 
council.  During  that  week  there  were 
309  accidents  of  all  kinds,  compared  to 
an  average  of  415  for  the  four  weeks 
preceeding,  a  decrease  of  106  accidents, 
or  25  per  cent.  During  the  first  week 
following  there  were  269  accidents,  a 
decrease  of  119,  or  28  per  cent,  and  for 
the  second  week  after  295  accidents,  or 
a  decrease  of  29  per  cent.  If  a  com- 
parison is  made  with  the  average  for 
the  whole  nine  weeks  since  the  cam- 
paign, which  is  277,  there  is  found  a 
decrease  of  138  accidents,  or  33.2  per 
cent.  The  effect  of  the  campaign  is  felt 
in  more  ways  than  one,  for  the  public 
press  and  the  public  at  large  knew  the 
railway  company  was  behind  the  cam- 
paign. 

H.  A.  Mullett,  Milwaukee,  told  of 
some  of  the  work  undertaken  in  that 
city.  The  Association  of  Commerce  has 
taken  an  active  part  in  industrial  cam- 
paigns for  the  prevention  of  accidents. 
There  are  two  divisions — one  composed 
of  manufacturing  companies  for  the 
prevention  of  industrial  accidents  and 
the  other  of  individuals  for  the  preven- 
tion of  street  accidents.  The  funds  for 
the  industrial  accident  campaign  come 
from  the  manufacturers  while  in  the 
case  of  street  accidents  the  funds  were 
raised  by  popular  subscriptions  to  what 
is  called  a  safe  drivers'  club.  The  first 
year  $6,500  was  raised — from  member- 
ships at  $1  each.  This  year  a  similar 
amount  was  raised,  but  it  was  harder, 
for  the  idea  had  to  be  sold  to  each  sub- 
scriber, whereas  before  it  was  new  and 
the  work  was  undertaken  during  a  cam- 
paign. In  addition  there  is  the  vigi- 
lance committee  of  100,  on  which  some 
motormen  are  members.  They  do  very 
effective  work,  and  often  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  reports  of  violations  of 
traffic  regulations  are  turned  in.  The 
Milwaukee  company  has  also  for  the 
last  five  years  maintained  a  chief  safety 
inspector  and  also  has  local  safety  com- 
mittees in  the  shops  and  carhouses.  The 
latest  innovation  is  to  show  photos  of 
wrecked  cars  and  accident  statistics 
graphically  comparing  each  station  or 
carhouse  on  an  equal  footing. 

A.  J.  VanBrunt,  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, told  of  the  safety  patrols  or  junior 
policemen  which  he  had  formed  in  the 
schools.  The  members  of  this  patrol 
wear  a  distinguishing  arm  band  and  are 
trained  by  a  uniformed  policeman.  They 
act  at  crossings  in  the  absence  of  regu- 
lar traffic  officers  and  at  school  recess 
protect  the  smaller  children. 


Wednesday's  Session 

This  was  a  joint  meeting  with  the 
Accountants'  Association  to  consider 
two  reports.  The  first  was  that  of  the 
committee  on  economics  of  schedules 
and  was  read  by  Edward  Dana,  chair- 
man.   An  abstract  follows. 

Economics  of  Schedules 

The  committee  was  asked:  (1)  To 
develop  definitions  and  analyses  of  car- 
hours  and  crew-hours,  (2)  to  study  the 
question  of  variable  running  time,  and, 
(3)  to  report  on  recent  methods  for 
speeding  up  traffic  in  congested  centers, 
as  done  in  Boston,  Washington  and 
Kansas  City  by  John  A.  Beeler,  as  well 
as  at  other  points.  The  committee  first 
recommends  the  following  definitions, 
the  first  group  referring  to  car-hours 
and  the  second  to  man-hours: 

1.  Running  Time  is  scheduled  time 
operating  between  terminals,  including 
time  allowed  at  stops. 

2.  Layover  Time  is  time  allowed  on 
schedule  for  layover  of  car  at  terminals. 

3.  Run-off  Time  is  scheduled  time  to 
and  from  carhouses  and  connecting 
point  of  line. 

4.  Excess  Time  is  time  of  car  oper- 
ating in  excess  of  schedule  due  to  serv- 
ice delays. 

1.  Platform  Time  is  actual  time  of 
operating  trips,  including  time  between 
trips  allowed  on  schedule  as  layover 
time. 

2.  Report  Time  is  time  allowed  for 
preparing  car  for  service  or  putting 
car  away  after  service. 

3.  Run  Allowance  Time  is  time  in 
addition  to  platform  time  allowed  to 
bring  run  up  to  prescribed  number  of 
hours. 

4.  Spread  Allowance  Time  is  time 
allowed  because  of  length  of  spread 
over  all  time  to  work  a  given  run. 

5.  Guaranteed  Minimum  Time  is  the 
amount  of  time  allowed  to  bring  the 
time  of  extra  men  up  to  the  prescribed 
number  of  hours  per  day  or  week. 

6.  Overtime  is  time  worked  by  men 
in  excess  of  their  regular  scheduled  run 
or  assignment  for  day's  work. 

7.  Coyitinuous  Time  is  time  allowed 
between  completion  of  regular  run  and 
time  reporting  for  extra  work.  This 
also  covers  all  swings  for  which  crews 
are  paid. 

8.  Instruction  Time  is  time  allowed 
platform  instructors  in  excess  of  regu- 
lar running  time,  as  well  as  time  al- 
lowed to  students. 

Until  these  definitions  have  been  ap- 
proved the  committee  doubts  the  ad- 
visability of  formulating  any  definite 
method  for  recording  of  these  data. 

On  variable  running  time  the  com- 
mittee points  out  that  on  the  average 
road  there  are  six  different  running 
times,  as  follows:  (1)  Inward  bound 
a.m.  rush  hour,  (2)  Outward  bound 
a.m.  rush  hour,  (3)  Inward  and  out- 
ward bound  throughout  the  base  sched- 
ule period,  (4)  Inward  bound  during 
p.m.  rush  hour,  (5)  Outward  bound 
during  p.m.  rush  hour,  (6)  Inward  and 
outward  bound  during  the  evening  and 


650 


Electric   Eailway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


early  morning  hours.  As  speed  is  an 
essential  factor  in  determining  cost  of 
service,  the  committee  recommends  care 
to  prevent  waste  in  running  times  by 
using  the  six  running  speeds  in  sched- 
ule making. 

In  discussing  the  handling  of  traffic 
in  congested  centers  the  report  points 
out  that  as  street  cars  are  confined  to 
a  fixed  path  and  as  they  carry  many 
times  the  number  of  passengers  per 
unit  that  other  vehicles  do,  it  does  not 
seem  unreasonable  to  ask  support  from 
the  public  authorities  to  reduce  delays 
to  a  minimum.  Agitation  along  these 
lines  also  has  the  indirect  benefit  of 
attracting  public  attention  to  the  fact 
that  many  delays  of  street  cars  are  due 
to  causes  for  which  the  operating  com- 
pany is  not  responsible. 

The  following  methods  are  recom- 
mended to  facilitate  loading  and  un- 
loading in  crowded  districts: 

Loading  platforms,  which  may  be 
placed  at  heavy  loading  and  unloading 
points  where  the  street  width  permits. 
They  should  be  4  to  6  ft.  wide,  from  8 
to  10  in.  high  and  from  50  to  100  ft. 
long.  In  some  situations  it  has  been 
found  necessary  to  maintain  lights  on 
the  platforms  after  dark  as  a  warning 
to  vehicular  drivers,  but  this  is  not 
done  where  there  are  street  lights 
nearby.  The  lights  should  be  main- 
tained by  the  city.  They  are  used  suc- 
cessfully in  San  Francisco,  Boston, 
Pittsburgh,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Minne- 
apolis, Kansas  City,  Baltimore,  New- 
ark, Los  Angeles  and  Indianapolis. 

Safety  zones,  marked  by  upright 
stanchions,  are  helpful  in  reducing  ac- 
cidents and  can  be  used  on  streets 
where  there  is  a  distance  between  curb 
and  nearest  rail  of  not  less  than  15  ft. 
They  are  most  effective  if  placed  under 
the  control  of  police  department  and 
the  city  should  be  responsible  for  the 
maintenance  of  lights  on  stanchions. 
White  lines  on  pavement  also  are  use- 
ful as  a  guide  to  traffic  and  protection 
to  waiting  persons.  If  the  street  is 
wide  enough  to  permit  safety  zones, 
the  consent  of  authorities  to  loading 
platforms  should  be  asked.  Good  re- 
sults reported  from  Los  Angeles, 
Seattle,  Louisville,  Milwaukee,  Co- 
lumbus, Portland,  Ore.;  Baltimore, 
Brooklyn,  San  Francisco,  Pittsburgh, 
Detroit,  Washington,  D.  C.;  Cleveland, 
Minneapolis,  St.  Louis,  Philadelphia, 
Kansas  City  and  Indianapolis. 

Queue  loading  has  been  found  ef- 
fective in  facilitating  the  loading  of 
cars,  but  has  not  been  so  successful 
on  streets  where  there  is  more  than  one 
line  of  cars.  Queue  loading  gives  best 
results  when  used  in  connection  with 
multiple-berthing  of  cars  and  assisted 
by  front-end  collectors.  Indorsement 
of  this  system  is  given  by  the  com- 
panies in  Detroit,  Milwaukee,  Pitts- 
burgh, Dallas,  Portland,  Ore.;  Phila- 
delphia and  Seattle. 

Double  or  multiple  berthing  is  used 
where  cars  on  close  headway  stop  be- 
fore crossing  an  intersection  and  all 
proceed  on  the  same  signal.  The  sys- 
tem saves  unnecessary  steps,  speeds  up 


service  and  reduces  congestion.  In 
Pittsburgh  and  Kansas  City  berthing 
spaces  are  marked  by  signs  suspended 
from  the  trolley  wires  at  the  exact 
place  where  passengers  are  to  board. 
Used  with  satisfaction  in  Seattle,  San 
Francisco,  Milwaukee,  Boston,  Pitts- 
burgh, Washington,  D.  C;  Minneapo- 
lis, Kansas  City,  Baltimore,  Philadel- 
phia, Los  Angeles  and  Indianapolis. 

Street  collectors  or  additional  men 
stationed  at  congested  points  and  tet^ 
minals  to  collect  fares  and  so  increase 
the  rate  of  loading,  are  especially  help- 
ful if  used  with  loading  platforms  or 
queue  loading.  One  company  reports 
having  loaded  passengers  at  a  rate 
twice  as  fast  as  where  all  fares  are 
paid  to  conductor.  Others  report  a 
quicker  and  more  even  loading  of  cars 
with  this  system.  It  is  especially  help- 
ful at  stub-terminals  in  the  congested 
district.  One  company  keeps  down  the 
expense  for  this  extra  service  by  using 
as  collectors  in  rush  hours  men  who 
work  inside  other  departments  during 
the  day.  Used  successfully  in  San 
Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Seattle,  Mil- 
waukee, Boston,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
Dallas,  Kansas  City,  Chicago  and  Port- 
land, Ore. 

Prepayment  areas  are  used  to  good 
advantage  in  Boston,  where  the  com- 
pany has  purchased  property  at  several 
points  where  rapid  transit  and  surface 
cars  have  a  common  terminal.  Per- 
sons entering  this  area  pay  their  fares 
at  a  booth  and  are  then  ready  to  board 
cars  without  delay.  These  areas  can- 
not be  installed,  to  any  great  extent,  on 
public  property  in  traffic  centers. 

Traffic  Regulations:  Street  cars  can 
serve  the  community  best  when  given 
a  clear  right  of  way.  This  can  be  as- 
sisted by  prohibiting  parking  of  ve- 
hicles along  car  routes  in  congested 
districts  at  least  during  the  rush  hours, 
limiting  the  parking  to  thirty  minutes 
during  other  hours,  forbidding  coal  de- 
liveries along  car  lines  during  the  day 
and  restricting  parades  to  certain 
streets.  The  day  may  come  when  other 
vehicles  will  not  use  car  tracks  in  any 
part  of  the  city,  and  thus  a  better 
schedule  speed  can  be  maintained 
throughout  the  system.  Traffic  ordi- 
nances will  not  clear  the  tracks  unless 
enforced  by  police  and  courts.  A 
further  improvement  can  be  secured  by 
adopting  a  rail  head  which  does  not 
provide  a  guide  for  vehicle  wheels. 
Beneficial  results  with  police  co-opera- 
tion have  been  secured  in  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee, Boston,  Portland,  Ore.;  Balti- 
more, Brooklyn,  Los  Angeles,  Seattle, 
Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  Kansas  City, 
Washington,  D.  C,  and  Columbus. 

Other  topics  considered  were:  elimi- 
nation of  loops  in  congested  districts, 
turnbacks  outside  of  congested  dis- 
tricts, elimination  of  left-hand  turns, 
one-way  streets,  segregation  of  vehicle 
traffic,  semaphore  control  of  traffic,  lo- 
cation of  passenger  stops,  reduced 
number  of  positive  stops,  staggered 
hours,  trailer  cars  and  jitney  control. 

The  report  is  signed  by  Edward 
Dana,  chairman;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Don- 


ald Goodrich,  E.  H.  Ives,  B.  F.  Jacobs, 
H.  C.  Moser,  A.  G.  Neal,  Harold  A. 
Otis,  Samuel  Riddle,  Walter  Schroyer 
and  J.  A.  Stoll. 

There  were  two  prepared  discussions, 
one  by  John  A.  Beeler,  New  York,  and 
the  other  by  Albert  S.  Richey,  Worces- 
ter. 

In  discussing  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee John  A.  Beeler,  New  York,  said: 
The  definitions  of  schedule  terms  have 
been  needed  for  many  years,  as  it  is 
difficult  to  compare  companies  reporting 
scheduled  hours  in  different  terms.  The 
careful  research  made  by  the  committee 
of  handling  traffic  in  congested  centers 
indicates  that  the  specified  means  for 
relieving  congestion  are  giving  good 
results  where  they  are  properly  applied, 
and  the  recommendation  that  these  va- 
rious methods  be  applied  elsewhere  to 
facilitate  street  car  operation  and  elim- 
inate congestion  is  a  sound  one. 

While  the  subject  of  traffic  regula- 
tions is  stated  by  the  committee  to  be 
somewhat  outside  the  scope  of  its  in- 
vestigation, it  is  pointed  out  that  such 
things  as  prohibition  of  parking,  elim- 
ination of  left-hand  turns,  use  of  one- 
way streets,  segregation  of  vehicle 
traffic,  semaphore  control  of  traffic,  etc., 
have  a  marked  bearing  on  schedules, 
in  fact,  everything  that  clears  the  way 
for  the  passage  of  a  street  car  must 
assist  in  keeping  not  only  the  cars  but 
all  traffic  moving.  Enterprising  city 
governments  are  now  realizing  this  and 
are  in  many  instances  inaugurating  such 
regulations.  In  other  cities  quasi-public 
bodies  like  chambers  of  commerce  are 
working  along  similar  lines. 

In  inaugurating  the  innovations  men- 
tioned in  the  report  the  railway  op- 
erator is  sure  to  meet  with  a  discus- 
sion regarding  the  effect  on  safety.  He 
should  emphasize  that  speeding  up 
traffic  movement  is  not  done  by  run- 
ning the  cars  at  a  breakneck  pace,  but 
by  eliminating  time  that  traffic  is 
standing  motionless.  Streets  relieved 
of  congestion  have  proved  themselves 
much  safer  than  those  clogged  with 
jammed,  slow-moving  traffic. 

The  installation  of  loading  platforms 
may  in  itself  appear  a  matter  of  little 
consequence,  but  they  can  be  used  to 
advantage  to  concentrate  the  riders 
right  where  they  will  board  the  cars, 
and  at  the  same  time  they  provide  a 
safe  waiting  place  out  of  the  street 
traffic.  Platforms  also  facilitate  load- 
ing by  decreasing  the  physical  effort 
to  board  the  car.  Their  use  presents 
advantages  to  the  car  riders  even 
greater  than  those  cited  for  a  bus  load- 
ing at  the  curb.  Not  only  do  loading 
platforms  speed  up  street  car  move- 
ments but  they  assist  in  the  movement 
of  traffic  generally. 

Double  berthing,  or  cutting  out  the 
waste  time  at  stopping  places,  speeds 
up  schedules  and  tends  to  greater  reg- 
ularity of  service.  The  second  berth 
may  be  used  very  little  save  in  emer- 
gencies, for  with  greater  regularity  of 
car  movements  the  number  of  times 
that  a  car  is  delayed  by  the  one  imme- 
diately ahead  is  reduced.    This  result, 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


651 


of  course,  is  not  obtained  if  the  mistake 
is  made  of  stopping  the  car  at  both 
berths. 

Elimination  of  left-hand  turns  has 
transformed  some  of  the  most  compli- 
cated and  difficult  traffic  comers  in  the 
United  States  to  quiet  and  orderly  in- 
tersections, although  there  may  be 
more  traffic  moving  straight  ahead 
than  formerly.  The  exact  location  of 
car  stops  at  junction  points  is  of  great 
importance,  as  they  should  be  placed  not 
only  to  prevent  street  car  interference 
but  to  reduce  interference  with  gen- 
eral traffic  as  well. 

The  use  of  street  collectors  is  a  cour- 
tesy extended  by  the  company  to  the 
public  that  results  in  faster  and  more 
even  loading  of  cars.  It  conserves  the 
time  of  the  public  while  saving  money 
for  the  company. 

Routing  is  a  subject  of  tremendous 
importance.  A  change  in  downtown 
routing  may  enlarge  the  delivery  dis- 
trict and  at  the  same  time  reduce  the 
number  of  cars  at  congested  points. 
This  is  of  great  advantage  to  both  pub- 
lic and  the  company.  These  methods 
all  eliminate  waste  motion  and  lost  time 
for  the  passengers,  which  incidentally 
saves  time  for  the  company  and  results 
in  faster  schedules.  Relatively  unim- 
portant as  any  one  of  them  may  appear 
individually,  many  a  company  has  been 
saved  from  bankruptcy  by  an  increase 
in  speed  of  less  than  a  mile  an  hour. 

A  note  of  caution  is  not  out  of  place 
against  indiscriminate  application  of 
these  remedies  for  improving  traffic 
conditions  without  a  thorough  analysis 
of  the  causes  of  the  existing  conges- 
tion. After  a  correct  diagnosis  of  the 
case  a  forecast  should  be  made  of  the 
results  of  applying  each  of  the  reme- 
dies enumerated.  It  is  my  experience 
that  certain  and  frequently  all  of  these 
means  are  applicable  for  the  better- 
ment of  the  general  traffic  situation  in 
any  community  where  the  changes  are 
properly  inaugurated  and  the  right 
kind  of  publicity  obtained. 

The  phases  of  street  railway  opera- 
tion covered  by  this  report  offer  greater 
opportunities  for  reducing  operating 
expenses  that  any  others  I  know.  In 
one  large  city  that  conducted  a  cam- 
paign of  this  nature  the  result  was  not 
only  to  popularize  the  service  but  to 
increase  the  net  income  a  million  dol- 
lars a  year.  Capitalized  at  10  per  cent, 
this  is  equivalent  to  adding  $10,000,000 
to  the  value  of  the  property. 

A.  S.  Richey,  Worcester,  Mass.,  the 
next  speaker,  congratulated  the  com- 
mittee on  its  report  ard  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  the  committee  had 
well  defined  the  four  constituent  parts 
of  car-hours,  namely,  running  time, 
layover  time,  runoff  time  and  excess 
time,  but  had  not  given  an  exact  defini- 
tion of  the  term  "car-hours."  He  men- 
tioned the  difficulty  which  is  experienced 
in  comparing  the  schedule  speed  of  two 
roads  unless  the  method  of  reporting 
car-hours  is  definitely  known.  He  sug- 
gested that  in  addition  to  the  four 
definitions  relating  to  car-hours  recom- 


mended by  the  committee  the  associa- 
tion adopt  a  fifth  defining  car-hours  as 
the  total  time  embraced  in  the  four  as 
stated. 

Following  these  two  statements  the 
discussion  of  the  report  was  opened 
to  the  floor  of  the  convention.  Alex- 
ander Jackson,  Public  Service  Railway, 
stated  he  believed  the  four  definitions 
relative  to  car-hours  as  well  as  those 
for  platform  time  and  report  time  con- 
flicted with  those  submitted  in  1914  by 
the  then  committee  on  definitions.  He 
read  the  1914  definitions  to  substanti- 
ate his  position. 

It  was  pointed  out  by  W.  B.  Wheeler, 
Third  Avenue  Railway,  New  York,  that 
the  definition  for  running  time,  while 
using  different  words,  meant  the  same 
as  the  1914  definitions.  It  was  not 
feasible,  F.  R.  Cogswell,  Pittsburgh 
Railways,  stated,  to  separate  runoff 
time  when  cars  returned  through  a  ter- 
ritory that  offered  good  business. 
Chairman  Dana  pointed  out  that  run- 
off time  was  to  be  used  only  when  cars 
were  not  engaged  in  revenue  service. 
In  the  case  outlined  by  Mr.  Cogswell 
such  time  would  be  a  part  of  the  run- 
ning time. 

On  motion  by  J.  V.  Sullivan,  Chicago, 
it  was  voted  that  hereafter  when  ask- 
ing for  car-hour  figures  for  compara- 
tive purposes  they  be  figured  so  as  to 
include  the  four  parts  suggested  by  the 
committee  in  its  definitions.  The  four 
definitions  as  to  the  division  of  car- 
hours  and  the  eight  applying  to  man- 
hours  were  approved. 

In  discussing  variable  running  time 
F.  R.  Cogswell,  Pittsburgh,  stated  that 
on  his  property  if  a  man  works  a  run 
that  is  made  up  of  two  pieces,  each  on 
a  separate  car,  the  time  intervening 
between  the  two  pieces  must  be  paid 
for.  He  also  stated  that  due  to  the 
narrow  Pittsburgh  streets  the  loading 
platforms  necessarily  had  to  be  nar- 
row and  that  as  a  result  queue  loading 
automatically  resulted.  If  passengers 
do  not  follow  this  plan  they  cannot  get 
on  the  cars. 

On  the  Third  Avenue  Railroad  W. 
B.  Wheeler  stated  that  the  running 
time  was  varied  according  to  the  degree 
of  congestion.  This  was  especially  true 
of  the  so-called  owl  car  service.  Due 
to  the  large  amount  of  single  track 
and  division  lines  it  was  not  possible 
to  change  the  running  time  very  fre- 
quently, and  then,  too,  to  do  so  put 
a  burden  on  the  schedule  makers.  In 
Pittsburgh  it  was  pointed  out  by  F. 
R.  Cogswell  that  the  running  times 
were  changed  five  times  daily,  that  is 
for  the  morning  peak,  mid-day,  even- 
ing rush  hour,  evening  and  for  owl 
service.  In  summer  on  the  heavy  traf- 
fic lines  there  is  perhaps  more  layover 
time  in  the  rush-hour  schedule  than 
during  the  winter.  On  the  light  traffic 
lines  nothing  but  a  uniform  schedule  is 
maintained. 

In  Baltimore,  according  to  J.  H.  Stoll, 
variable  running  time  has  been  applied 
to  many  lines.   On  the  heavy  traffic  lines 


there  are  five  or  six  changes  a  day, 
while  on  the  crosstown  and  light  traffic 
routes  there  are  but  two  changes. 
These  changes  have  effected  a  real  sav- 
ing in  the  number  of  cars  and  car- 
hours  operated  and  have  also  mate- 
rially speeded  up  the  system.  It  has 
also  had  a  good  effect  upon  the  car 
rider  for  it  enables  him  to  get  to  his 
destination  quicker,  and  so  far  as  car 
operation  is  concerned  it  takes  up  the 
slack  during  certain  hours.  Variable 
running  time  should  also  be  carefully 
considered. 

In  Youngstown,  Ohio,  as  pointed  out 
by  C.  D.  Smith,  this  method  of  schedule 
making  is  followed  on  both  the  urban 
and  interurban  routes.  It  has  developed 
that  if  schedules  were  not  changed  the 
men  would  do  it  themselves  so  as  to 
get  more  layover  time.  He  believed  it 
best  to  study  schedule  conditions  as 
operated  and  make  at  least  four 
changes  in  running  time,  thereby  mak- 
ing a  saving  in  cars  operated. 

C.  E.  Morgan,  Brooklyn,  agreed  in 
the  necessity  of  having  variable  run- 
ning times.  He  told  how  the  traffic  on 
( ich  line  must  be  continually  analyzed 
'  for  the  full  twenty-four  hours  of  the 
day  and  that  if  it  were  not  done  those 
who  were  in  charge  of  operation  were 
not  serving  the  company  in  the  way 
they  should.  It  pays  tc  add  schedule 
makers  and  to  change  schedules  even  as 
frequently  as  sixty  to  ninety  days.  The 
only  way  to  make  any  profit  in  the 
railway  is  to  keep  the  wheels  turning. 
Factors  that  enter  into  schedules  are 
demand  and  units  of  operation,  either 
single  cars  or  trains,  and  as  traffic- 
thins  out  to  take  off  or  turn  back  cars 
at  specific  points.  His  studies  had  en- 
abled him  materially  to  better  handle 
the  traffic  with  a  lesser  number  of 
cars.  On  single-track  turnout  lines  it 
is  possible  to  speed  up  by  spreading 
out  the  meeting  points.  It  is  the  net 
results  that  should  be  looked  out  for 
and  not  the  mere  fact  that  an  expendi- 
ture has  to  be  made  to  accomplish  the 
desired  result.  The  point  to  be  looked 
out  for  is  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  passengers  per  seat-mile  and  to 
eliminate  all  unnecessary  car-miles. 

Freight  Accounting 

•  The  second  report  presented  at  the 
joint  meeting  was  on  freight  account- 
ing.   The  report  stated  in  part: 

This  tentative  classification  and  sys- 
tem of  freight  accounting  for  electric 
railroad  corporations  is  made  with  the 
hope  of  filling  a  long  felt  need  for  a 
system  which  would  give  an  accurate 
record  of  the  results  from  the  opera- 
tion of  freight  business.  It  is  so  pre- 
scribed that  any  corporation,  by  keep- 
ing on  its  books  the  accounts  prescribed 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion can  carry  out  this  system  with 
very  little  additional  labor  and  expense. 
In  most  cases  the  accounts  of  this  clas- 
sification, were  different  from  those 
prescribed  by  the  I.  C.  C,  are  merely 
groups  of  several  accounts  of  the  latter. 

In  order  that  uniformity  in  the  ap- 


652 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


plication  of  the  provisions  of  this  sys- 
tem may  be  secured  the  accounting 
officers  are  requested  to  submit  all 
questions  of  doubtful  interpretation  to 
the  joint  committee  on  freight  promo- 
tion and  costs,  as  appointed  by  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association, 
for  its  consideration  and  decision. 

Way  and  Structures 

Maintenance  of  Track,  Overhead,  Etc. 
(1-23).  —  This  account  shall  include  a 
proportion  of  the  cost  of  maintenance, 
including  supervision  of  roadway, 
track,  bridges,  signals,  telephone  lines, 
distribution  system  and  all  miscella- 
neous way  and  structures  expenses  as 
shown  in  the  uniform  system  of  ac- 
counts, numbered  from  1  to  23  inclusive. 
This  account  shall  be  charged  with  the 
proportion  that  the  freight  car-miles 
bear  to  the  total  car-miles  operated. 

Buildings  and  Fixtures  (24).  —  This 
c  ccount  shall  include  th?  cost  of  labor 
and  material  used  in  repairing  freight 
stations,  platforms  and  *)11  other  freight 
structures;  also  a  proportion  of  the 
cost  of  repairing  jointly  used  carhouses, 
shops,  offices  and  other  buildings,  same 
to  be  proportioned  on  use  or  car-mile 
basis. 

Depreciation  of  Freight  Buildings 
arid  Structures  (25).  —  This  account 
shall  include  the  amount  set  aside  to 
provide  a  reserve  for  the  retirement  of 
freight  stations,  platforms  and  other 
freight  structures. 

Equipment 

Repairs  to  Freight  Cms  (31,  33). — 
This  account  shall  include  the  cost  of 
all  labor  and  material  used  in  repairing 
bodies,  trucks  and  electrical  equipment 
of  freight  cars. 

Repairs  to  Service  Equipment  (32). — 
This  account  shall  include  a  proportion 
of  the  cost  of  repairing  service  cars, 
including  line  cars,  snow  plows,  sweep- 
ers, etc.,  same  to  be  proportioned  on  the 
car-mile  basis. 

Repairs  to  Locomotives  (Sh).  —  This 
r.ccount  shall  include  the  cost  of  labor 
and  material  used  in  repairing  locomo- 
tives. This  includes  repairs  to  bodies 
and  trucks  and  all  fixtures  and  appli- 
ances inside  and  outside  of  bodies  and 
trucks  including  electric  motive  equip- 
ment of  locomotives. 

Miscellaneous  Shop  Expenses  (29,  36, 
37,  39). — This  account  shall  include  a 
proportion  of  the  cost  of  shop  super- 
vision, repair  to  shop  equipment,  cost 
of  heating  shops  and  other  miscella- 
neous shop  expenses,  same  to  be  pro- 
portioned on  use  or  car-mile  basis. 

Depreciation  of  Freight  Equipment 
(40).  —  This  account  shall  include  the 
amount  set  aside  to  provide  a  reserve 
for  the  retirement  of  freight  equipment. 

Power 

Power  Delivered  to  Cars  (45-62). — 
This  account  shall  include  the  total  cost 
of  power,  including  generating,  con- 
verting or  the  amount  paid  for  power 
purchased  and  all  expenses  incident  to 
delivery  of  power  to  cars.  Where  power 
is  purchased  give  details  including  cost 
per  kilowatt-hour.   Where  trail  cars  are 


hauled  add  25  per  cent  additional  for 
each  car. 

Conducting  Transportation 

Freight  Trainmen  (65).  —  This  ac- 
count shall  include  the  wages  of  motor- 
men,  conductors  and  other  trainmen 
engaged  in  freight  service. 

Station  Employees  and  Expenses  (68, 
69). — This  account  shall  include  wages 
of  agents,  warehousemen  and  others 
employed  in  freight  stations;  also  the 
cost  of  heating  and  lighting  stations 
and  other  miscellaneous  freight  house 
expenses. 

Freight  Collection  and  Delivery  (38, 
76,  96). — This  account  shall  include  the 
wages  of  chauffeurs,  drivers  and  help- 
ers employed  on  wagons  or  other  ve- 
hicles, used  for  collection  or  delivery  of 
freight.  This  account  shall  also  include 
the  cost  of  repairing  wragons,  harness, 
trucks  and  all  garage  and  stable  ex- 
penses incidental  to  maintenance  of 
wagon  or  truck  delivery  service  in  con- 
nection with  the  freight  business. 

Loss  and  Damage  (77).  —  This  ac- 
count shall  include  the  expenses  in- 
curred for  losses  and  damages  to 
freight  intrusted  to  the  carrier  for 
transportation,  also  cost  of  settling  such 
claims. 

Miscellaneous  Car  Service  Expenses 
(67).  —  This  account  shall  include  mis- 
cellaneous expenses  for  car  and  loco- 
motives, such  as  lubricants,  waste, 
carbons  for  headlights  and  other  sup- 
plies except  such  as  are  used  for  re- 
pairs. 

Carhouse  Employees  (70). — This  ac- 
count shall  include  the  wages  paid  car, 
motor  and  brake  inspectors  and  other 
carhouse  employees  not  engaged  .  in 
making  repairs. 

Miscellaneous  Transportation  Ex- 
penses (63,  66,  71,  72,  73,  78).  —  This 
account  shall  include  a  proportion  of 
the  cost  of  superintendence  of  trans- 
portation, operation  of  signals  and  tele- 
phone lines  and  other  miscellaneous  car 
service  and  transportation  expenses, 
same  to  be  charged  or  the  car-mile 
basis. 

Traffic 

Solicitation  of  Freight  (79).  —  This 
account  shall  include  the  salaries  and 
expenses  of  freight  solicitors  and  clerks. 

Advertising  (80). — This  account  shall 
include  the  salaries  and  expenses  of 
advertising  agents,  the  cost  of  printing 
and  distributing  timetables,  folders, 
rotices  to  shippers  and  all  other  freight 
advertising  matter;  also  freight  adver- 
tising in  newspapers  and  magazines. 

Miscellaneous  Traffic  Expenses  (82). 
— This  account  shall  include  miscella- 
neous traffic  expenses  of  the  freight 
department. 

General  and  Miscellaneous 

Officers,  Clerks  and  Miscellaneous 
General  Expenses  (83-91,  95).  —  This 
account  shall  include  a  proportion  of 
the  salaries  and  expenses  of  general 
officers  and  clerks,  law  expenses,  stores 
expenses  and  miscellaneous  general 
effice  supplies  and  expenses,  the  charge 
to  be  made  on  the  basis  of  gross  earn- 
ings. 


Accidents  and  Damages  (92).  —  This 
Eccount  shall  be  charged  with  salaries 
and  expenses  of  claim  agents  and  at- 
torneys and  amounts  paid  in  settling 
claims  of  accidents  arising  from  the 
operation  of  freight  cars. 

Insurance  (93).  —  This  account  shall 
include  premiums  paid  for  insurance  on 
freight  buildings  and  equipment,  also 
premiums  paid  on  freight  in  freight 
houses  and  in  transit. 

FREIGHT  DEPARTMENT — REPORT  OF 
EARNINGS,  EXPENSES  AND 
STATISTICS 

Summary  of  Operations 
Earnings 

Month  of  This  year  to  last  year  to 

Freight  (car  load). 
Freight  (less  car  load). 
Milk  and  cream. 
Other  revenue. 
Gross  Earnings — operating  expenses. 
Ways  and  structures :     Accounts  (Note) 

Maintenance    of    track,  over- 
head,  etc  1-23  (B) 

Maintenance  of  buildings  and 

structures   24  (A) 

Depreciation  of  freight  build- 
ings  25  (A) 

Equipment : 

Repairs  to  freight  cars  31,  33  (A) 

Repairs  to  service  equipment.  ..  32  (B) 

Repairs  to  locomotives  34  (A) 

Miscellaneous   shop  ex- 
penses  29,  36,  37,  39  (B) 

Depreciation  freight  equipment.  .  40  (A) 
Power : 

Power  delivered  to  cars  45-62  (A) 

Conducting  transportation : 

Freight    trainmen  65  (A) 

Station     employees     and  ex- 
penses  68,  69  (A) 

Freight     collection     and  de- 
livery  38,  76,  96  (A) 

Loss  and  damage  77  (A) 

Miscellaneous      car  service 

expenses   67  (A) 

Car  house  employees  70  (A) 

Miscellaneous    trans,  ex- 
pense  63,  66,  71,  72,  73,  78  (B) 

Traffic: 

Solicitation  of  freight  79  (A) 

Advertising   80  (A) 

Miscellaneous  traffic  expenses. ..  82  (A) 

Month  of  This  year  to  last  year  to 

General  and 

miscellaneous:  Accounts  (Note) 

Officers,   clerks  and  miscellaneous 

general  expenses   83-91,  95  (C) 

Accidents  and  damages  92  (A) 

Insurance   93  (A) 

Stationery  and  printing  94  (A) 

Rent  of  tracks  and  facilities.  .  .  .97  (A) 
Rent  of  equipment  98  (A) 

Total  operating  expenses 

Taxes  (A&C) 

Income  less  operating  expenses 
and  taxes 

Interest 

Net  income 


Note — Proportioned — A  =  actual,  B  =  car- 
mile  basis,  C  =  gross  earnings  basis. 

Freight  Statistics 
Passenger  car-miles  operated 
Total  freight  motor  car-miles  operated 

Miles  loaded  cars 

Miles  empty  cars 
Total  freight  trail  car-miles  operated 

Miles  loaded  cars 

Miles  empty  cars 
Total  milk  car-miles  operated 

Miles  loaded  motor  cars 

Miles  loaded  trail  cars 

Miles  empty  motor  cars 

Miles  empty  trail  cars 
Total  freight  locomotive-miles  operated 
Total  tons  carload  revenue  freight  handled 
Total  tons  less  carload  revenue  freight 

handled 

Total  tons  non-revenue  freight  handled 

Total  train-miles  operated 

Average  cars  per  train 

Freight  revenue  per  ton  peT  mile 

Tonnage  handled  and  expense  at  principal 

freight  terminal 
Tonnage  handled  and  expense  at  average 

station 

Number  of  miles  road  operated 
Single  track 
Double  track 

Stationery  and  Printing  (94). — This 
account  shall  include  the  cost  of  print- 
ing freight  bills,  waybills,  milk  tickets 
and  other  freight  printing;   also  the 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


653 


cost  of  stationery  and  postage  used  by 
the  freight  department. 

Rent  of  Tracks  and  Facilities  (97). — 
This  account  shall  include  the  amounts 
paid  for  rent  or  use  of  tracks  and  fa- 
cilities by  the  freight  department. 

Rent  of  Equipment  (9S).  —  This  ac- 
count shall  include  the  payments  to 
other  companies  for  rent  or  use  of 
freight  cars  and  equipment. 

Taxes 

This  account  shall  include  gross  earn- 
ings and  income  taxes  based  upon  the 
gross  and  net  earnings  of  the  freight 
department;  also  a  proportion  of  all 
ether  taxes,  same  to  be  proportioned  on 
the  gross  earnings  basis. 

Interest 

This  account  should  be  charged  with 
the  interest  on  equipment  and  facilities 
used  exclusively  for  freight  business,  at 
the  same  ratio  that  the  general  mort- 
gage or  indebtedness  bears  to  the  total 
value  of  the  railroad  property  covered 
by  the  mortgage.  For  example:  If  the 
total  value  of  the  railroad,  as  covered 
by  the  mortgage,  amounts  to  $15,000,- 

000.  000  and  the  mortgage  amounts  to 
$5,000,000  at  5  per  cent  and  the  value 
of  the  equipment  used  exclusively 
for  freight  is  $100,000;  interest  at  5 

1.  er  cent  per  annum  should  be  charged 
on  one-third  of  $100,000,  as  in  this  case 
the  railroad  property  is  mortgaged  for 
one-third  of  its  book  value.  This  ac- 
count should  also  be  charged  with  in- 
terest on  any  loans  made  for  the  pur- 
chase of  freight  buildings  or  equipment, 
not  covered  by  the  mortgage. 

The  above  plan  is  suggested,  but  if 
any  other  basis  is  used  give  details. 
The  distribution  of  operating  expenses, 
taxes  and  interest  will  not  be  exactly 
the  same  on  all  roads  but  the  funda- 
mentals as  set  up  in  this  system  of 
accounts  will  give  the  cost  of  operation 
of  the  freight  business  from  which  we 
can  obtain  valuable  information. 

The  report  was  signed  by  the  two 
chairmen,  F.  W.  Coen  for  the  T.  &  T. 
Association  and  L.  T.  Hixson  for  the 
Accountants'  Association. 

Discussion  on  Freight  Accounting 
In  presenting  the  report  of  the  joint 
committee  on  express  and  freight  traf- 
fic promotion  and  costs,  F.  W.  Coen, 
Cleveland,  chairman,  submitted  a  com- 
plete tentative  system  of  freight  ac- 
counting and  a  compilation  of  freight 
statistics  from  eleven  Mid-West  com- 
panies, which  latter,  however,  he  rather 
completely  discredited  for  any  valuable 
purpose  because  of  many  impossible 
figures  submitted.  He  explained,  for 
example,  that  the  figures  were  not  seg- 
regated as  between  motor  and  trail 
car-miles  and  that  no  division  was  made 
between  carload  and  l.c.l.  car-miles. 
He  cited  several  other  discrepancies 
from  what  must  evidently  be  the  true 
figure. 

R.  N.  Graham,  Youngstown,  com- 
mented that  the  present  I.  C.  C.  ac- 
counting system  provides  but  three 
freight  accounts,  one  covering  mainte- 
nance of  freight  cars,  on  the  wages 
of  motormen  and  conductors  used  on 


freight  equipment  and  the  third  cov- 
ering losses  and  damages  resulting 
from  freight  claims.  He  pointed  out 
the  many  ways  in  which  this  system  is 
inadequate  in  determining  the  cost  of 
freight  service  and  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  the  systems  of  accounting  gen- 
erally in  use  are  exceedingly  inade- 
quate. For  example,  the  segregation 
of  maintenance  cost  of  freight  cars 
was  no  more  important  than  the  segre- 
gation of  maintenance  of  electrical 
equipment  used  in  freight  service,  or 
of  the  accidents  involving  freight  equip- 
ment, etc.  He  maintained  there  was 
nothing  to  be  gained  by  carrying  freight 
at  a  loss  and  that  the  only  way  that  it 
will  be  possible  to  determine  whether 
this  business  is  profitable  or  not  is 
through  the  adoption  of  a  complete 
system  of  accounting.  As  to  the  car- 
mile  basis  for  the  freight  accounting 
system,  he  thought  it  was  certainly  not 
unfair  to  the  freight  business  and  prob- 
ably favored  it,  because  of  the  rela- 
tively higher  maintenance  costs  in- 
volved in  connection  with  operating 
freight  equipment  as  compared  to  pas- 
senger equipment. 

L.  T.  Hixson,  Indianapolis,  co-chair- 
man of  the  joint  committee,  forwarded 
a  letter  which  was  read  in  his  absence 
in  which  he  maintained  that  the  use 
of  the  ton-mile  unit  would  be  better 
than  the  car-mile  basis  recommended 
by  the  committee,  and  giving  reasons 
for  his  contention. 

G.  T.  Seely,  Youngstown,  pointed  out 
that  there  were  two  important  reasons 
for  establishing  a  proper  system  of 
freight  accounting.  The  first  was  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  actual 
expense  in  order  to  find  out  whether 
a  company  is  actually  losing  money  in 
giving  freight  service,  taking  into  con- 
sideration that  the  roadbed  is  already 
there.  The  second  reason  was  for  its 
value  in  determining  whether  the  rates 
were  proper,  when  taking  into  account 
not  only  the  interest  on  the  actual  in- 
vestment in  freight  equipment,  but  in- 
cluding also  a  proper  proportion  of  the 
carrying  charges  on  the  investment  in 
other  equipment  used. 

F.  D.  Norviel,  Anderson,  Ind.,  pointed 
out  that  in  1911  a  similar  committee 
had  made  virtually  these  same  recom- 
mendations as  to  accounting,  but  that 
the  industry  was  just  about  as  far 
along  today  as  it  was  ten  years  ago 
in  this  matter.  He  said  that  the  Union 
Traction  Company  of  Indiana  is  using 
a  system  of  accounting  practically  the 
same  as  was  recommended  by  the  asso- 
ciation some  years  ago  and  that  by  this 
means  it  has  been  possible  to  arrive  at 
a  sufficiently  accurate  cost  of  freight 
service  to  make  the  statement  that  this 
business  offered  an  opportunity  for 
profit  to  electric  railway  companies. 

Mr.  Seely,  in  order  to  bring  the  mat- 
ter to  a  head  and  avoid  further  delay 
in  establishing  a  proper  system  of 
freight  accounting,  made  the  motion 
that  the  association  adopt  the  classifi- 
cation of  accounts  as  submitted  by  the 
committee  and  recommend  that  all  com- 
panies put  it  into  effect.    He  explained 


that  even  though  this  might  not  be 
the  best  system  of  accounting  it  would 
be  better  to  put  it  into  operation  and 
try  it  out  for  one  or  two  years,  after 
which  there  would  be  a  much  better 
idea  of  its  value  or  what  changes  should 
be  made.  The  motion  was  passed  after 
some  discussion  as  to  whether  it  was 
advisable  to  adopt  this  system  in  view 
of  the  difference  of  opinion  expressed 
by  the  letter  from  Mr.  Hixson  on  the 
use  of  the  ton-mile  or  car-mile  unit. 
Mr.  Coen  brought  out  that  this  matter 
had  been  thoroughly  considered  by  the 
committee  with  Mr.  Hixson  in  attend- 
ance. 

C.  E.  Morgan,  Brooklyn,  moved  that 
the  association  send  out  a  notice  to  a 
1  igh  official  of  every  member  company 
urging  that  he  take  steps  to  have  this 
system  of  accounting  started  on  Jan.  1, 
1922,  in  order  to  insure  a  comprehensive 
trial. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned. 

Thursday's  Session 

At  the  closing  session  of  the  Trans- 
portation &  Traffic  Association  con- 
vention, held  on  Thursday  afternoon, 
the  report  of  the  committee  on  person- 
nel and  training  of  transportation 
employees  was  read  by  James  P. 
Earnes,  Louisville  Railway,  chairman. 
This,  in  abstract,  was  as  follows: 

Personnel  and  Training  of  Trans- 
portation Department  Employees 

The  report  covered  specifically  the 
matter  of  employment,  and  considera- 
tion of  the  proper  training  after  em- 
ployment was  left  for  future  commit- 
tees. The  committee's  recommenda- 
tions may  be  summarized  thus: 

1.  All  applicants  for  employment  as 
trainmen  should  be  received  under  uni- 
form conditions  and  subjected  to  pre- 
liminary tests  and,  so  far  as  possible, 
be  interviewed  in  each  instance  by  the 
same  person.  The  preliminary  stages 
of  employment,  which  may  be  covered 
either  verbally  or  by  a  written  form, 
should  be  in  the  nature  of  elimination 
tests  and  should  embody  a  general 
examination  of  the  candidates  for 
mental  alertness,  answering  questions 
and  his  ability  to  execute  simple  in- 
structions promptly  and  correctly. 
There  should  be  a  preliminary  test  of 
sight  and  hearing  designed  to  eliminate 
candidates  who  are  already  "hard  of 
hearing  "  "color  blind,"  "short-sighted" 
or  suffering  from  similar  defects  of 
sight  or  hearing.  The  preliminary  test 
should  be  applied  only  as  a  basis  of 
rejection  and  the  test  should  be  de- 
signed to  eliminate  the  unfit. 

2.  Those  who  are  found  fit  should  be 
asked  to  fill  out  an  application  blank, 
each  candidate  in  his  own  handwriting 
and  preferably  at  the  employment  office 
under  observation.  The  blank  should 
include  such  additional  questions  as 
local  conditions  may  require,  but 
should  cover  certain  minimum  require- 
ments specified  in  the  report. 

3.  When  vacancies  are  to  be  filled 
selection  should  be  made  from  the  appli- 


654 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


cations  on  file,  based  on  the  informa- 
tion already  obtained  in  the  preliminary 
examination,  application  blank  and 
references.  The  candidate  chosen 
should  be  required  to  undergo  a  physical 
examination. 

4.  After  the  applicant  has  satisfac- 
torily passed  the  preliminary  and 
medical  examinations,  a  general  talk 
should  be  given  by  the  employment 
agent,  including  presentation  and  pre- 
liminary instruction  on  operating  and 
safety  rules  with  the  presentation  of 
the  student  badge  and  instruction  book. 

5.  The  applicant  should  be  personally 
introduced  to  the  instructor  or  chief 
motorman  or  conductor  who  is  to  fol- 
low the  detail  of  his  "breaking  in"  on 
various  lines,  and  this  man  in  turn 
should  personally  introduce  him  to  such 
of  the  instructing  motormen  or  conduc- 
tors as  he  is  to  operate  with. 

6.  Following  the  "breaking  in"  on 
cars,  there  should  be  a  brief  and 
general  instruction  on  a  car  or  in  the 
shop  on  mechanical  and  electrical  prin- 
ciples of  the  equipment.  This  instruc- 
tion should  be  brief  and  hit  the  high 
spots  only,  as  it  is  felt  that  an  attempt 
to  crowd  too  much  into  this  course 
merely  bewilders  the  candidate  and 
results  in  adding  to,  rather  than  de- 
creasing, his  troubles. 

7.  A  written  examination  (questions 
to  be  changed  at  intervals)  should  be 
given  at  the  end  of  the  "breaking  in" 
period  on  operating  rules  and  such  other 
matters  as  need  to  be  covpred,  to  hp 
followed  by  a  final  talk  from  the  head 
of  the  department  on  observation  of 
rules,  personal  conduct,  safety  matters, 
accident  prevention,  etc.,  which  talk 
will  include  some  form  of  cross-exami- 
nation on  rules. 

8.  The  new  employee  should  be 
taken  by  the  superintendent  or  assist- 
ant superintendent,  where  this  is 
practicable,  to  the  carhouse  where  he 
is  to  work  and  there  personally  intro- 
duced to  the  carhouse  foreman,  under 
whose  authority  he  is  to  be  placed. 

9.  At  the  end  of  the  probationary 
period,  the  new  employee  should  be 
brought  in  for  oral  examination  as  to 
rules,  operating  conditions,  etc,  and 
further  instruction  on  personal  bear- 
ing, accident  prevention  and  similar 
matters. 

10.  The  old  men  should  be  re- 
examined physically  and  on  rules  at 
intervals  of  not  more  than  five  years. 

The  report  was  signed  by  James  P. 
Barnes,  chairman:  F.  G  Buffe,  F.  D. 
Burpee,  F.  L.  Butler,  Dr.  John  Leem- 
ing,  A.  P.  Norris,  Martin  Schreiber, 
F.  J.  Trazzare  and  J.  E.  Wayne. 

Report  on  Employee  Selection  and 
Training  Discussed 
In  discussing  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  personnel  and  training  of 
transportation  employees  Dr.  John 
Leeming,  medical  counsel  Chicago  Sur- 
face Lines,  explained  in  detail  some  of 
the  considerations  involved  in  the  re- 
port. He  said  that  an  intelligent  em- 
ployment man  should  easily  be  able  to 
discover   at  the   first   meeting  if  an 


applicant  is  mentally  dull,  hard  of 
hearing,  color  blind,  short-sighted,  de- 
formed, etc.;  in  other  words,  plainly 
unfit  for  the  service.  A  physical  ex- 
amination by  a  competent  medical  man 
is  of  great  importance  and  essential 
before  employment.  A  mental  exami- 
nation in  the  form  of  intelligence  tests 
is  also  desirable.  This  will  satisfy  the 
medical  examiner  that  the  proposed 
employee  is  possessed  of  a  fair  degree 
of  intelligence  and  mental  ability. 

Dr.  Leeming  said  that  while  valuable 
mechanical  devices  have  been  contrived 
with  the  object  of  enabling  the  ex- 
aminers to  ascertain  the  mental  ability 
of  the  applicant  for  quick  appreciation 
and  ready  response  to  unusual  situa- 
tions suddenly  presented,  the  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  intelligence  status 
of  an  applicant  may  be  obtained  in  a 
satisfactory  manner  by  a  competent 
examiner,  who  is  fairly  well  posted  on 
the  principles  of  practical  psychology, 
without  the  aid  of  any  mechanical  de- 
vice. Such  an  examiner  need  not  nec- 
essarily be  a  physician.  This  work 
might  properly  be  handled  by  a  trained 
and  expert  employment  man,  working  in 
co-operation  with  the  medical  examiner, 
superintendent  of  transportation  and 
general  manager.  Tests  should  be  used 
which  will  indicate  the  applicant's 
powers  of  memory,  attention,  percep- 
tion, adaptation,  judgment  (of  forms, 
weights,  measurements,  etc.)  and  his 
readiness,  accuracy  and  speed  in  vol- 
untary motor  response  to  mental  im- 
pressions. 

In  regard  to  the  importance  of 
thorough  medical  examination,  Dr. 
Leeming  said  that  while  the  committee 
made  only  a  modest  recommendation 
in  the  form  of  a  minimum  requirement, 
some  of  its  members  favored  a  much 
more  thorough  examination  than  the 
report  indicates.  He  said  that  of  late 
years  he  had  had  opportunity  to  ob- 
serve the  benefits  derived  from  a  thor- 
ough mental  and  physical  examination 
which  eliminated  approximately  10  per 
cent  of  the  men  who  had  previously 
passed  the  preliminary  interview  by  the 
employment  man. 

The  committee's  last  recommendation, 
that  "old"  men  be  re-examined  phys- 
ically and  on  rules  at  intervals  of  not 
more  than  five  years  was  treated  by 
Dr.  Leeming  in  detail.  The  most  com- 
plicated piece  of  mechanism,  he  said, 
that  is  used  in  running  a  street  car  is 
the  human  machine,  and  he,  like  other 
machines,  will  get  out  of  order.  Com- 
paring the  human  mcahine  to  a  bridge, 
he  pointed  out  that  it  would  not  be 
safe  to  say:  "This  has  been  a  good 
faithful  bridge  and  has  carried  our 
cars  and  our  passengers  safely  over  it 
for  many  years.  I  notice  its  timbers 
are  showing  signs  of  dry  rot,  but  it 
seems  to  be  doing  the  work  all  right, 
therefore  I  will  not  go  to  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  examining  it.  I  will 
take  a  chance  with  it."  Even  if  there 
is  no  visible  evidence  of  dry  rot  or  any 
other  surface  indications  of  defect  it 
is  the  engineer's  duty  to  have  every 
detail    carefully    and    repeatedly  ex- 


amined and  elements  of  weakness  re- 
moved. If  an  old  employee  is  disquali- 
fied he  cannot  be  used,  but  maybe  his 
disqualification  is  not  so  complete  but 
that  he  may  be  safely  used  in  some 
work  other  than  that  of  trainman.  If 
so  he  should  receive  preference.  But 
if  on  re-examination  a  motorman  is 
found  to  have  positively  disqualifying 
defects,  he  should  be  removed  and  not 
be  permitted  to  endanger  the  lives  of 
passengers. 

This  re-examination,  said  Dr.  Leem- 
ing in  conclusion,  might  in  many  cases 
be  valuable  to  the  employee,  in  disclos- 
ing partial  and  only  slightly  disquali- 
fying defects,  which  in  many  cases 
could  be  benefited  by  advice  and  suit- 
able treatment.  Then,  again,  a  motor- 
man  with  slight  ailments  might  be 
changed  to  a  less  hazardous  run  on 
outlying  crosstown  lines,  or,  in  some 
cases  a  motorman  might  be  made  a 
conductor. 

To  use  a  mechanical  analogy,  if  a 
company  has  a  car,  a  rail  or  a  signal 
which  can  no  longer  be  used  under  the 
legal  requirements  of  the  highest  degree 
of  care  and  safety,  it  must  be  either 
repaired  or  used  in  some  part  of  the 
service  where  it  is  not  an  element  of 
danger.  This  is  equally  true  of  a  train- 
man. It  would  be  no  answer  whatever 
to  a  failure  in  duty  in  this  regard  to 
say  that  an  unsafe  employee  is  con- 
tinued in  his  work  because  of  his  past 
service,  however  long  or  excellent,  or 
because  of  his  financial  circumstances, 
however  bad. 

Henry  H.  Norris,  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  abstracted  his  paper  bearing 
on  this  subject.  It  appears  in  abstract 
earlier  in  this  issue.  He  was  followed 
by  Robert  L.  Wilson,  works  manager 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company.  Mr.  Wilson  said  that  the 
committee  was  to  be  congratulated  on 
the  sound  and  definite  recommendation 
presented.  Physical  examination,  he 
said,  is  of  great  importance.  In  his 
company  the  most  difficulty  is  expe- 
rienced in  determining  how  far  to  go 
in  the  re-examination  of  old  employees. 
There  is  often  opposition  encountered1 
both  from  the  employees  and  from  out- 
side organizations. 

The  substance  of  the  report  of  the 
committee,  said  Mr.  Wilson,  may  be 
divided  under  the  following  subheads: 
(1)  central  employment  department,  or 
uniform  methods;  (2)  application 
forms;  (3)  selection  and  physical  exam- 
ination; (4)  preliminary  instruction  and 
explanation;  (5)  introduction  of  new 
employees;  (6)  detail  instruction  or 
breaking  in;  (7)  examination. 

Under  the  first  head  it  may  be  said 
that  success  will  depend  not  so  much 
upon  an  specific  method  as  upon  the 
personality  of  those  carrying  on  the 
work. 

In  the  Westinghouse  works  the  cen- 
tral employment  department  has  been 
divided  as  follows:  general  division, 
men's  division,  women's  industrial  di- 
vision, women's  clerical  division,  statis- 
tical division,  personal  service  division. 

Under  the  second  subhead,  the  ap- 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


655 


plication  form  is  important,  and  under 
the  third  it  may  be  said  that  in  an  in- 
dustrial organization  personal  records 
are  not  given  much  attention.  Appli- 
cants should  be  put  through  a  prelim- 
inary "weeding  out"  process.  In  the 
interview  which  follows  the  filling  in 
of  an  application  form  the  success  or 
failure  of  the  employment  function  oc- 
curs. The  interviewer  must  remember 
that  he  is  selecting  an  employee,  not 
alone  for  his  ability  to  perform  some 
manual  work  or  for  his  intelligence, 
but  he  must  consider  what  kind  of  a 
"front"  the  applicant  can  put  up. 

In  this  connection,  said  Mr.  Wilson, 
the  so-called  psychological  and  intel- 
ligence tests  should  be  used  only  by 
those  of  large  experience.  Each  appli- 
cant accepted  by  the  interviewer  should 
be  given  a  thorough  physical  examina- 
tion, both  as  a  safeguard  to  his  pro- 
spective fellow  employees  and  to  insure 
his  not  being  put  on  work  unsuited  to 
his  strength. 

Under  the  remaining  subheads  Mr. 
Wilson  said  that  the  employing  officer 
should  make  the  new  employee  feel  that 
the  railway  is  a  desirable  concern  to 
work  for.  Any  time  taken  in  introduc- 
ing him  to  his  work  and  his  fellows 
will  be  well  repaid. 

By  way  of  summary,  Mr.  Wilson  said 
that  a  well-organized  personnel  or  em- 
ployment department  is  about  as  valu- 
able as  any  other  one  department  to 
any  large  enterprise.  In  one  thing,  it 
should  lessen  labor  turnover  by  substi- 
tuting well-thought-out  policies  for  hap- 
hazard selection  and  practices.  It  first 
sells  the  company  to  the  employees  and 
they,  in  turn,  do  a  great  deal  in  foster- 
ing a  public  opinion  favorable  to  the 
enterprise.  To  deal  fairly  with  em- 
ployees it  is  necessary  to  know  some- 
thing about  them  as  individuals;  their 
skill,  dependability,  personality,  length 
of  service,  etc.  Hence,  well-balanced 
records  are  kept  by  the  employment  de- 
partment. It  is  necessary  that  petty 
injustices  be  corrected,  and  the  em- 
ployment department  furnishes  a  good 
place  to  which  a  man  can  bring  a  real 
or  fancied  grievance  for  adjustment 
without  fear  of  prejudicing  his  standing. 

L.  H.  Palmer  Elected  President 

At  the  close  of  the  session  the  re- 
port of  the  nominating  committee  was 
presented  by  W.  H.  Sawyer,  East  St. 
Louis,  111.,  and  the  report  was  accepted, 
thus  electing  the  following:  President, 
L.  H.  Palmer,  assistant  to  the  presi- 
dent United  Railways  &  Electric  Corn- 
pan,  Baltimore,  Md.;  first  vice-president, 
G.  T.  Seely,  Youngstown,  Ohio;  sec- 
ond vice-president,  J.  K.  Punderford, 
New  Haven  Conn.;  third  vice-president, 
Arthur  Gaboury,  Montreal,  Que.;  exec- 
utive committee,  G.  H.  Clifford,  Fort 
Worth,  Tex.;  T.  C.  Cherry,  Syracuse,  N. 
Y.;  J.  V.  Sullivan,  Chicago,  111.;  Edward 
Dana,  Boston,  Mass. 

W.  H.  Boyce,  New  Brighton,  Pa., 
then  presented  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  resolutions,  which  was  ac- 
cepted. In  addition  to  expressions  of 
appreciation  for  the  several  factors 
which  had  made  the  convention  a  suc- 


cess, a  resolution  of  regret  for  the  death 
of  President  J.  J.  Landers  of  the  Ac- 
countants' Association  was  included. 
Mention  was  also  made  of  the  services 
of  the  technical  press  to  the  association. 
The  report  of  the  committee  on  per- 


sonnel and  training  of  transportation 
employees,  with  its  ten  recommenda- 
tions, was  then  accepted;  the  president 
and  first  vice-president  elect  were  in- 
troduced, and  the  meeting  was  ad- 
journed. 


Care  in  Construction  and  Maintenance 
of  Overhead  Lines* 

Every  Employee  Should  Take  an  Active  Part  in  Establishing  and  Main- 
taining Safe  Working  Conditions — Much  of  the  Danger  on 
High-Tension  Lines  Due  to  Man-Failure 

By  A.  B.  Gates 

Superintendent  of  Overhead  Lines  Commonwealth  Edison  Company,  Boston,  Mass. 


IN  THE  early  days  of  electrical  dis- 
tribution poles  were  erected  and 
wires  attached  to  these  poles,  with  no 
thought  as  to  the  safety  of  the  lineman 
who  later  must  handle  these  wires 
while  they  were  alive.  As  the  distribu- 
tion systems  grew  and  more  circuits 
were  needed  wires  were  added  until  the 
poles  were  so  congested  that  linemen  in 
ascending  or  descending  were  forced  to 
climb  out  around  the  ends  of  the  arms. 

But  changing  times  have  changed 
conditions  and  we  find  that  overhead 
line  structures  are  now  designed  with 
considerable  thought  for  the  safety  of 
the  workmen,  safe  working  methods 
are  being  established  and  every  effort 
is  being  made  to  insure  a  proper  atti- 
tude on  the  part  of  the  linemen  toward 
safety  work. 

In  the  design  of  overhead  lines  or 
structures  the  first  consideration 
should  be  the  strength  of  the  structure. 
It  must  have  a  sufficient  factor  of 
safety  to  withstand  any  stress  to  which 
it  may  reasonably  be  expected  to  be 
subjected,  and,  secondly,  it  must  be 
simple  and  so  arranged  that  the  con- 
ductors and  equipment  may  be  sup- 
ported in  a  manner  such  that  the  work- 
men can  ascend  or  descend  the  pole  or 
structure  without  danger  of  accidentally 
coming  in  contact  with  the  live  conduc- 
tors or  equipment. 

All  conducting  material,  such  as 
braces,  transformer  cases,  bolts  and 
guys  not  permanently  and  intentionally 
grounded,  must  be  installed  so  as  not 
to  be  in  contact  with  grounded  or  live 
wires.  The  climbing  space  must  always 
be  kept  clear  of  guy  wires,  live  or 
grounded  wires,  as  well  as  cable  lateral 
pipes,  transformer  cases  or  other 
equipment. 

Keep  Tools  in  Good  Condition 

The  most  essential  contribution  to 
safe  working  methods  in  line  work  is 
satisfactory  tools  and  equipment. 
Ropes  must  be  free  from  metal  strands 
and  when  worn  they  must  be  replaced. 
Cutting  tools  must  be  sharp  and  pro- 
vided with  suitable  handles  or  holders, 
chisels,   bars,    wedges,   hammers  and 


•Abstract  of  an  address  delivered  before 
the  Public  Utilities  Section,  National  Safety 

Council,  at  the  tenth  annual  Safety  Con- 
gress, Boston,  Mass.,  Sept.  28. 


star  drills  must  be  faced  and  free  from 
mushroomed  heads.  Wrenches  must  be 
carefully  inspected  and  repaired  or 
junked  when  the  jaws  become  worn  or 
sprung.  Every  workman  who  is  re- 
quired to  work  on  or  near  live  wires 
should  be  provided  with  rubber  gloves 
and  every  crew  should  be  provided  with 
a  sufficient  number  of  insulating 
covers  so  that  all  live  or  grounded 
wires  or  conducting  material  with 
which  the  workmen  can  possibly  come 
in  contact  while  working  on  or  near 
live  primaries  can  be  covered. 

As  far  as  possible  methods  of  doing 
standard  work  should  be  systematized 
and  working  rules  should  be  established 
so  as  to  insure  uniform  practice  in  all 
gangs.  In  addition  to  the  working  rules 
or  standards  a  complete  set  of  safety 
rules  should  be  established,  kept  up  to 
date  and  enforced.  All  conductors  not 
known  to  be  dead  should  be  considered 
alive  and  when  men  are  working  on  or 
near  live  wires  all  other  conducting 
material  with  which  the  workmen  may 
come  in  contact  should  be  covered.  No 
workman  should  be  allowed  to  handle 
live  conductors  with  rubber  gloves  only 
as  protection  on  circuits  of  over  4,000 
volts.  If  overhead  line  repair  or  con- 
struction work  is  to  be  done  on  live 
lines  of  over  4,000  volts  high-tension 
tools  of  proper  and  safe  design  should 
be  used. 

Whenever  a  high-voltage  line  is 
killed  to  be  worked  on  it  should  be 
grounded  before  it  is  turned  over  to 
the  line  crew,  and  in  addition  the  line 
crew  should  put  a  ground  on  the  line 
by  means  of  a  chain  attached  to  the 
ground  wire,  if  there  is  one  on  the 
structure,  or  to  a  pipe  or  rod  ground, 
if  no  ground  wire  is  available,  between 
the  point  at  which  work  is  to  be  done 
and  all  sources  of  feed  or  back  feed 
to  that  portion  of  the  line.  The  tem- 
porary ground  should  not  be  removed 
until  all  work  at  that  location  is  com- 
pleted. 

Whenever  possible  all  circuits  and 
lines  should  be  killed  while  they  are 
being  repaired.  In  many  cases  the  sav- 
ing in  labor  effected  by  doing  the  work 
on  dead  equipment  will  more  than  off- 
set the  trouble  and  expense  of  taking 
the  equipment  out  of  service,  and  when 
the  reduction  of  hazard  is  considered 


656 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


usually  the  decision  can  readily  be 
made  in  favor  of  dead  work.  On  our 
system  the  customers  who  are  supplied 
from  higher  voltage  lines — that  is, 
9,000  volts  and  above — are  practically 
all  provided  with  more  than  one  source 
of  supply  so  that  we  have  not  found 
it  necessary  to  use  high-tension  tools 
for  making  line  repairs,  as  usually  we 
have  no  difficulty  in  taking  a  line  out 
of  service. 

For  distribution  work  we  have  found 
that  a  rubber  blanket  about  3  ft. 
square  provided  with  three  eyelets 
along  two  of  its  edges  and  3  and  4  ft. 
lengths  of  1-in.  garden  hose  provide 
the  best  protection  possible  while  doing 
live  work.  Rubber  gloves  which  have 
been  tested  for  puncture  at  5,000  volts 
are  supplied  to  all  workmen  who  have 
occasion  to  work  on  or  near  primary 
wires.  These  rubber  gloves  are  always 
worn  under  a  horsehide  glove  which 
has  a  complete  palm,  thumb  and 
fingers,  but  has  the  back  removed.  The 
horse-hide  glove  is  short,  coming  only 
to  the  wrist,  and  is  held  in  place  by  a 
wrist  strap.  For  work  in  rainy  or 
stormy  weather  all  men  who  do  emer- 
gency work  are  provided  with  rubber 
coats  and  three-quarter  length  or 
sporting  boots. 

Our  workmen  are  required  to  test 
their  gloves  by  the  air  pressure  method 
each  time  before  putting  them  on.  The 
foreman  examines  all  rubber  goods, 
other  protective  devices  and  tools  at 
least  once  each  week  and  in  addition  a 
monthly  inspection  is  made  by  the 
safety  inspector.  With  all  precautions 
taken,  through  man  failure  or  other 
causes,  accidents  may  happen.  In 
order  to  be  sure  that  we  will  be  pre- 
pared to  meet  such  an  emergency  if  it 
occurs,  every  member  of  the  overhead 
line  force  is  required  to  practice  the 
prone  method  of  resuscitation  each 
week. 

Attitude  of  the  Workman  Toward 
Safe  Methods 
Statistics  show  that  80  per  cent  of 
industrial  accidents  are  caused  by  man 
failure;  therefore,  with  the  best  and 
safest  standards  of  construction 
followed  rigidly,  with  the  best  of  tools, 
equipment  and  safety  equipment  pro- 
vided, and  with  the  best  possible  work- 
ing and  safety  rules  drawn  up  and  cir- 
culated among  the  workmen,  little  can 
be  accomplished  unless  we  can  obtain 
the  proper  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
the  men  who  are  to  do  the  work.  The 
first  step  in  attaining  proper  attitude 
toward  safety  and  other  established 
rules  is  a  permanent  working  force. 
A  premium  should  be  placed  on  length 
of  service.  This  can  be  in  one  of  many 
forms,  rate  of  pay,  disability  and  death 
benefits,  pension  systems  or  in  many 
privileges  which  can  be  made  to  depend 
on  this  factor.  But  even  with  all  these 
inducements  for  continuous  service, 
there  will  always  be  a  turnover,  and 
the  men  who  leave  must  be  replaced. 
The  line  force  should  be  built  up  from 
the  bottom  and  as  far  as  possible  all 
vacancies  should  be  filled  by  promotion 
and  new  men  hired  in  the  lower  grades. 
Every  groundman  should  be  given  a 


chance  to  learn.  He  should  be  taught 
the  working  and  safety  rules  and 
should  be  examined  as  he  progresses  in 
the  work.  No  workman  should  be 
allowed  to  climb  and  do  line  work  until 
he  has  proved  by  examination  that  he 
is  capable  of  doing  the  work  of  the 
grade  to  which  he  is  to  be  promoted. 
After  he  has  climbed  for  some  time  and 
is  capable  of  handling  himself  on  the 
pole  and  has  become  familiar  with 
safety  and  working  rules,  he  should  be 
examined  before  he  is  allowed  to  work 
on  live  wires,  and  after  he  has  worked 
on  live  wires  under  the  direction  of  a 
lineman  or  a  foreman,  he  should  again 
be  examined  before  he  is  promoted  to 
the  grade  of  lineman  and  is  allowed  to 
work  on  primaries  without  direct 
supervision  by  an  experienced  lineman 
or  foreman. 

If  this  method  is  followed  no  new 
man  will  be  expected  or  allowed  to  do 
work  for  which  he  is  not  properly 
trained.  Only  when  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  should  men  be  hired  as  line- 
men, and  when  so  hired  they  should  not 
be  allowed  to  work  without  supervision 
until  it  has  been  determined  that  they 
are  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
system  and  with  the  methods  of  doing 
work. 

It  should  be  impressed  on  every  em- 
ployee, and  especially  the  new  employee, 
that  while  engaged  in  his  regular 
duties,  which  in  line  work  usually  re- 
quire co-operation  of  the  several  men 
who  make  up  the  crew  or  gang,  he  is 
his  brother's  keeper  and  he  must  not 
only  care  for  his  personal  safety  but 
must  so  conduct  himself  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  particular  part  of  the  work 
that  he  will  not  endanger  the  safety  of 
his  fellow  workmen. 

We  have  heard  many  times  that  the 
foreman  is  the  key  to  the  safety  situa- 
tion. This  is  true  and  we  should  con- 
stantly preach  and  talk  this  idea.  But 
let  us  remember  that  the  real  key  to 
the  situation  in  our  safety  problem  is 
a  proper  attitude  toward  safety  on  the 
part  of  every  employee  who  must  en- 
gage in  a  line  of  work  which  without 
care  is  hazardous. 

We  must  perfect  our  standards  of 
construction  from  the  standpoint  of 
safety.  We  must  provide  the  workmen 
with  safe  tools  and  equipment,  and 
finally  we  must  convince  each  member 
of  the  line  force  that  he  must  believe 
in  and  practice  safe  methods  before  we 
can  allow  ourselves  to  believe  that  we 
are  exercising  care  in  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  our  overhead  lines. 


Gear  Manufacturers'  Association 

THE  semi-annual  fall  meeting  of 
the  American  Gear  Manufacturers 
Association  will  be  held  in  the  Powers 
Hotel,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  on  Oct.  13,  14 
and  15. 

Reports  will  be  offered  by  the  various 
committees  on  standardization,  and  the 
papers  include  the  following:  "Gear 
Tooth  Wear,"  by  S.  O.  White,  Warner 
Gear  Company;  "Duraluminum  as  a 
Material  for  Worm  and  Other  Gear- 
ing," by  R.  W.  Daniels,  Bausch  Ma- 
chine Tool  Company;  "The  Grinding 


of  Gear  Teeth,"  by  J.  F.  Barr,  The 
Gear  Grinding  Machine  Company; 
"Tooth  Forms,"  by  E.  W.  Miller,  Fel- 
lows Gear  Shaper  Company;  and 
"First-Hand  Impressions  of  Europe," 
by  E.  S.  Sawtelle,  Tool  Steel  Gear  & 
Pinion  Company,  who  has  recently  re- 
turned from  an  extensive  trip  through 
Europe  studying  conditions  there.  F. 
W.  Sinram,  of  the  Van  Dorn  &  Dutton 
Company,  Cleveland,  is  president  of  the 
association,  and  F.  D.  Hamlin,  of  the 
Earle  Gear  &  Machine  Company,  of 
Philadelphia,  is  secretary. 


Importance  of  Claim  Depart- 
ment Statistics* 

By  J.  H.  Handlon 

Claim  Agent  Market  Street  Railway, 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 

INTELLIGENTLY  prepared  claim  de- 
partment statistics,  if  readily  acces- 
sible, can  be  used  most  advantageously 
by  a  claim  agent  not  only  for  reference 
purposes  but  with  the  object  of  com- 
paring present-day  records  of  accidents 
and  their  costs  with  what  has  been 
accomplished  in  the  past. 

The  natural  tendency  in  gathering 
statistical  information  is  to  prepare 
this  information  in  such  detail  that  the 
main  facts  are  obscured  by  the  mass  of 
accumulated  data.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  claim  agents  who  are  content 
with  such  meager  statistical  informa- 
tion as  the  total  number  of  accidents 
and  the  total  costs  of  the  same. 

Claim  department  statistics  should 
be  so  computed  that  they  will  promptly 
show  any  increase  or  decrease  in  any 
class  or  classes  of  accident  on  any 
division  or  line;  at  any  carhouse  or 
on  any  particular  car  or  type  of  car; 
to  any  individual  motorman  or  con- 
ductor, and  they  should  readily  reveal 
any  increase  or  decrease  in  accident 
costs.  By  preparing  such  figures  on  a 
basis  of  car-miles,  or  car-hours  oper- 
ated, and  passengers  carried,  many  in- 
teresting facts  are  often  brought  to 
the  surface. 

Such  a  statement  furnished  at  reg- 
ular and  brief  intervals  to  the  oper- 
ating department  for  each  division, 
carhouse  or  line  has  a  tendency  to 
create  a  rivalry  between  divisions,  car- 
houses  or  lines,  and  the  company  reaps 
the  benefit  of  that  rivalry.  It  also 
enables  the  operating  department  to 
maintain  a  record  of  the  amount  each 
individual  employee  is  costing  the  com- 
pany for  accidents.  Incidental  inform- 
ation as  to  the  average  number  of  wit- 
nesses obtained  per  accident  and  the 
number  of  "blind"  or  unreported  ac- 
cidents is  also  valuable  to  the  operating 
department  in  co-operating  with  the 
claims  department. 

Additional  statistics  that  are  of  di- 
rect benefit  to  the  claim  agent  relate 
to  the  cost  of  operating  the  claim  de- 
partment; summarize  the  work  of  each 
of  the  investigators;  give  the  percent- 
age of  accidents  that  result  in  claims 

♦Paper  presented  before  the  Pacific  Claim 
Agents'  Association  at  its  twelfth  annual 
convention  held  at  Butte,  Mont:,  Aug.  25- 
27,  1921. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


657 


being  presented  and  show  the  propor- 
tion of  claims  that  are  rejected  or 
from  which  litigation  arises. 

Such  figures  often  guide  the  claim 
agent  in  determining  the  policies  of  the 
claims  department.  For  instance,  we 
undertook  the  experiment  of  tempora- 
rily abandoning  the  practice  in  vogue 
for  years  of  immediately  appraising 
all  damaged  automobiles  regardless  of 
whether  a  claim  had  been  filed  or  how 
the  accident  occurred.  By  keeping  a 
list  of  automobile  accidents  that  devel- 
oped into  claims  we  saw  the  advisabil- 
ity of  restricting  our  appraisals  to  only 
those  automobiles  involved  in  accidents 
where  the  carmen's  reports  indicated 
that  the  responsibility  was  uncertain 
or  the  extent  of  damage  was  consider- 
able, or  where  claim  was  presented. 

The  adoption  of  this  policy  last  year 
resulted  in  more  than  19  per  cent  less 
automobile  claims  being  presented  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  automobile 
accidents  that  occurred  as  compared 
with  the  preceding  year.  In  other 
words,  we  found  that  by  an  appraiser 
making  an  inquiry  the  day  after  the 
accident  as  to  the  extent  of  the  damage 
to  the  automobile,  owners  of  automo- 
biles were  encouraged  to  present  claims. 

The  statistical  record  of  pending 
claims,  rejected  claims,  outlawed  claims 
and  litigated  cases  should  serve  to  in- 
dicate to  the  claim  agent  any  laxity 
in  his  work  or  if  he  is  allowing  too 
many  claims  to  accumulate  or  suits  to 
be  filed.  Perhaps  his  perspective  has 
become  so  blinded  that  he  is  either  too 
severe  upon  the  claimant  or  too  severe 
upon  his  own  company  in  the  rejection 
or  granting  of  claims.  The  records  of 
the  department  will  immediately  reflect 
such  an  attitude  of  mind. 

In  brief,  statistics  to  the  claim  agent 
should  be  what  a  cost  sheet  is  to  a 
manufacturer,  a  steam  chart  and  a 
steam  gage  to  an  engineer  and  a  bal- 
ance sheet  to  a  banker.  For  is  it  not 
vital  to  claim  agents  to  know  the  cost 
of  their  department,  the  work  the  de- 
partment is  doing,  any  fluctuations  in 
that  work  and  the  stock  of  accidents 
on  hand?  Like  a  stethoscope,  claim 
department  statistics  should  disclose 
the  heart  beats  of  the  department. 


Investment  Bankers'  Association 
of  America 

The  tenth  annual  convention  of  the 
Investment  Bankers'  Association  of 
America  will  be  held  in  New  Orleans 
Oct.  30-Nov.  2.  Headquarters  will  be 
at  the  St.  Charles  Hotel. 


Illinois  Association  to  Meet 
at  Aurora  on  Oct.  14 

The  Illinois  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation will  meet  at  Aurora,  111.,  Friday, 
Oct.  14.  A  special  train  over  the  Au- 
rora, Elgin  &  Chicago  Railroad  will 
leave  the  Wells  Street  Terminal,  Chi- 
cago, at  7:55  a.m.,  Central  Standard 
time.  A  very  interesting  program  is 
assured  by  Secretary  R.  V.  Prather. 
This  is  the  first  meeting  of  the  associa- 
tion since  last  fall.  A  full  attendance 
is  urged. 


American 
Association  News 


More  About  Des  Moines 

In  an  article  to  be  published  in  The 
Nation's  Business  for  October,  Presi- 
dent P.  H.  Gadsden  tells  the  story  of 
the  cessation  of  street  car  service  in 
Des  Moines,  Iowa.  He  also  tells  some- 
thing of  the  attempts  the  buses  made 
to  give  service  and  points  out  the  lack 
of  substantial  propositions  by  the  bus 
interests  to  take  over  the  transporta- 
tion responsibilities.  The  title  of  the 
article  is  "The  City  Without  a  Street 
Car." 


Meeting  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, American  Association 

THE  Executive  Committee  of  the 
American  Association  held  its 
regular  annual  pre-convention  meeting 
on  Monday  morning,  Oct.  3.  Among 
the  matters  before  the  committee  was 
the  resignation  of  Philip  J.  Kealy,  sec- 
ond vice-president  of  the  association, 
which  had  been  accepted  by  President 
Gadsden  at  the  time  it  was  presented. 
This  action  was  approved  by  the  com- 
mittee. Mr.  Kealy  said  that  his  busi- 
ness interests  were  such  that  he  could 
not  continue  to  devote  necessary  atten- 
tion to  association  affairs. 

The  committee  authorized  a  special 
resolution  with  reference  to  the  death 
of  J.  J.  Landers,  president  of  the  Ac- 
countants' Association  and  member  of 
the  executive  committee. 

The  committee  considered  the  manner 
in  which  the  W.  0.  Gibson  case  had 
been  concluded  and  approved  President 
Gadsden's  action  in  making  the  agree- 
ment he  had,  which  resulted  in  the 
parole  sentence  already  referred  to  in 
these  columns. 

A  special  report  from  the  electrolysis 
committee  was  given  by  W.  J.  Harvie, 
chairman.  The  executive  committee  ap- 
proved this  report,  which  included  a 
recommendation  for  continued  co-oper- 
ation with  the  American  Committee  on 
Electrolysis,  and  also  included  a  recom- 
mendation that  $2,500  be  appropriated 
by  the  American  Association  toward 
the  expenses  of  the  American  commit- 
tee, this  being  contingent  upon  similar 
action  by  the  other  associations  repre- 
sented on  the  committee. 

Two  subjects  were  brought  up  by  the 
Committee  on  National  Relations.  One 
of  these  had  to  do  with  what  policy 
the  association  had  to  follow  in  connec- 
tion with  the  present  case  of  the  Wash- 
ington Railway  &  Electric  Company 
before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, in  which  case  the  subject  of 
the  commission's  authority  over  depre- 
ciated figures  is  in  question  as  against 
the  authority  of  the  District  and  Mary- 
land Commissions.  No  definite  action 
was  taken.  The  other  question  had  to 
do  with  a  situation  which  is  at  present 
facing  a  large  number  of  electric  rail- 


way companies  in  connection  with  ex- 
cess profits  tax.  It  appears  that  the 
Internal  Revenue  Bureau  has  decreased, 
by  a  very  considerable  amount,  the  in- 
vestment figure  of  several  railways  for 
the  1917  income  tax  returns  and  this 
has  in  some  cases  placed  the  railways 
in  the  excess  profits  bracket,  making 
them  liable  for  payments  ranging  as 
high  as  $250,000.  It  is  apparently  a 
question  of  discretion  in  interpretation 
of  the  law  and  a  special  committee  of 
five  was  authorized  to  consider  the 
special  problems  and  interpretations 
which  might  affect  the  electric  rail- 
ways as  a  whole  in  this  important  mat- 
ter of  taxation. 

The  committee  adjourned  after  dis- 
posing of  the  usual  routine  matters  and 
reports. 

First  Meeting  of  New  Executive 
Committee 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  close  of  the 
American  Convention  on  Thursday 
noon  the  new  president,  R.  I.  Todd, 
called  the  newly  elected  executive  com- 
mittee into  session  with  the  following 
members  present:  Messrs.  Ely,  Harries, 
Henry,  Gadsden,  Todd,  Budd,  Shanna- 
han,  Coates,  Stevens,  Sawyer,  Tontrup, 
Gould,  Barry,  Ellicott,  Secretary  Welsh 
and  L.  H.  Palmer  of  Baltimore  and  H. 
V.  Bozell  of  New  York. 

The  committee  took  several  steps 
which  were  necessary  in  order  to  start 
the  machinery  under  the  newly  revised 
constitution,  such  as  to  authorize  the 
executive  secretary  and  treasurer  to  pay 
off  ordinary  routine  office  expenses, 
make  provision  for  convention  expenses, 
for  protection  of  association  property, 
etc. 

The  committee  decided  tentatively 
that  its  regular  meeting  shall  be  on  the 
last  Friday  of  each  month  except  in 
November,  which  would  make  the  meet- 
ing date  fall  on  the  day  after  Thanks- 
giving Day.  The  first  meeting  will  thus 
be  held  on  Friday,  Oct.  28,  and  will  be 
at  the  New  York  headquarters  of  the 
association. 

A  special  vote  of  appreciation  to 
President  Gadsden  for  the  energy  and 
self-denial  with  which  he  had  shoul- 
dered the  difficult  tasks  subsequent  to 
the  defalcation  was  adopted. 

The  executive  committee  discussed 
the  work  of  the  publicity  men  and  de- 
cided to  do  something  to  make  this  part 
of  railway  activity  more  effective.  On 
motion  of  Mr.  Budd  the  executive  com- 
mittee decided  to  communicate  with  the 
principal  executives  in  companies  which 
are  not  now  engaged  in  publicity  work 
asking  them  to  pull  together  with  the 
rest  of  the  association  in  the  general 
policy  of  railway  publicity  in  the  inter- 
ests of  the  industry. 

Mr.  Todd  appointed  a  finance  com- 
mittee of  J.  H.  Pardee,  chairman;  R.  P. 
Stevens  and  J.  G.  Barry,  this  commit- 
tee becoming  active  immediately  in  or- 
der that  the  association  machinery  may 
not  be  held  up  due  to  lack  of  direct  con- 
trol over  expenses  which  the  finance 
committee  exercises  under  the  new  con- 
stitution that  was  adopted  ut  the 
annual  convention. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE       ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Schenectady  Award  Ruinous 

James  F.  Hamilton,  president  of  the 
Schenectady  (N.  Y.)  Railway,  and  H. 
B.  Weatherwax,  vice-president  and 
genera]  manager,  when  interviewed  by 
the  correspondent  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  at  Albany  in  con- 
nection with  the  recent  arbitration 
award  between  the  Schenectady  Rail- 
way and  the  Am  ilgamated  Association, 
made  the  following  statement: 

The  purpose  of  the  arbitration  was  to 
determine  a  fair  and  reasonable  rate  of 
wage  to  be  paid  the  members  of  the  associ- 
ation who  were  employees  of  the  company, 
based  on  present  existing  conditions.  The 
decision  rendered  was  not  based  on  existing 
conditions,  but  on  a  letter  written  by 
J.  P.  Barnes,  former  general  manager, 
which  was  technically  construed  as  con- 
tinuing the  60-cent  per  hour  rate  of  wage. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  conditions  of  the 
letter  were  never  carried  out  in  that  the 
Public  Service  Commission  refused  to  grant 
the  company  all  of  the  increases  sought  for 
and  referred  to  in  the  etter,  and  such 
increases  as  were  granted  were  not  author- 
ized until  sixty  days  after  the  time  con- 
templated by  the  parties  and  in  no  event 
was  the  60-cent  rate  intended  to  extend 
beyond  May  31,  1921 

Under  existing  conditions  the  high  rate 
of  fit)  cents  an  hour  is  entirely  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  wages  paid  for  similar 
service  throughout  the  State  generally  and 
is  ruinous  to  the  company  financially.  It 
cannot  render  present  service  under  such 
an  unreasonable  rate  of  wage  and  in  order 
to  lessen  the  loss  of  this  company,  it  will 
necessitate  the  iirmiediate  installation  of 
one-man  cars  on  all  city  lines.  And  even 
with  the  installation  of  one-man  cars  this 
company  will  be  unable  to  pay  war-time 
wages  in  times  of  peace  without  incurring 
great  loss. 


Electrification  Urged 

Residents  of  the  surburban  cities  on 
the  peninsula  adjoining  San  Francisco 
recently  presented  a  petition  to  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company  asking  the 
company  to  electrify  th -  double-track 
steam  line  between  San  Jose  and  San 
Francisco  on  which  interurban  traffic 
is  handled.  All  of  the  suburban 
cities  between  San  Francisco  and  Palo 
Alto,  a  distance  of  30  miles,  are 
served  by  an  excellent  concrete  high- 
way which  leads  directly  into  San 
Francisco.  In  addition  to  a  bus  system 
and  the  steam  railroad,  which  operates 
a  commuters'  schedule  during  the  rush 
hours,  there  is  also  an  interurban  elec- 
tric line  that  runs  as  far  as  San  Mateo, 
18  miles  down  the  peninsula  from  San 
Francisco. 

Still,  there  is  an  insistent  demand  for 
an  electrified  interurban  service  on  a 
private  right-of-way  where  high  speed 
will  be  safe  and  where  long  trains  can 
accommodate  crowds  during  the  rush 
hours,  while  small  light  units  could  be 
economically  operated  at  reasonably 
frequent  intervals  during  the  off-peak 
hours. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Daniel  C. 
Imoden,  executive  secretary  of  the  pen- 
insula bureau  of  chambers  of  commerce 
and  civic  associations  at  San  Meteo, 
Cal.,  William  Sproule,  president  of  the 
Southern   Pacific  Company,  gives  his 


views  on  this  proposed  electrification. 

He  said  in  part: 

High  cost  of  money  caused  by  the  world 
war,  excessive  taxation,  unequal  competi- 
tion by  untaxed  motor  vehicles  for  hire  over 
public  highways  which  we  were  heavily 
taxed  to  build  in  the  first  place  and  are 
taxed  to  maintain  afterward,  with  further 
competitive  highway  construction  urged  at 
this  time,  all  combine  of  themselves  to  pre- 
vent thf>  possibility  of  favorable  answer  to 
your  call  for  electrification. 

Paul  Shoup,  vice-president  of  the 
property,  is  also  opposed  to  this  electri- 
fication project  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  be  an  unprofitable  undertaking. 

In  the  absence  of  prospect  for  early 
electrification  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
steam  lines,  the  Menlo  Park  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  stating  that  it  was  acting 
for  all  towns  below  San  Mateo,  adopted 
a  resolution  inviting  the  Western  Pa- 
cific to  extend  its  line  northward  into 
Santa  Clara  and  San  Mateo  Counties. 
The  president  of  this  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, according  to  press  reports,  de- 
clares that  plans  are  also  being  con- 
sidered whereby  the  peninsula  towns 
would  build  an  electric  line  from  Palo 
Alto  to  San  Mateo  so  as  to  effect  a 
connection  there  with  the  Market  Sti-eet 
Railway. 

Urges  Relief  from  Paving  Burdens 

Jackson,  Mich.,  has  taken  a  forward 
step  in  recommending  the  abolition  of 
the  paving  charges  on  the  Michigan 
United  Railways  which  operates  in  that 
city.  A  special  committee,  appointed 
by  the  City  Commission  of  Jackson  to 
investigate  the  affairs  of  the  Michigan 
United  Railways  in  that  city,  recom- 
mends that  the  company  be  relieved  of 
the  paving  charge  and  also  of  the 
charge  for  sprinkling  the  streets  it  trav- 
erses, and  furthermore  the  committee 
recommends  that  the  company  be  given 
a  10-cent  cash  fare  with  five  tickets  for 
35  cents  and  a  5-cent  cash  fare  for 
children  between  the  ages  of  five  and 
twelve.  This  represents  a  substantial 
increase  in  the  fares  that  have  been 
charged  in  Jackson. 

The  report  of  this  committee,  which 
is  constructive  throughout,  demanded 
that  the  company  be  maintained  in  a 
strong  and  secure  financial  position.  It 
is  attracting  wide  attention  throughout 
the  State  of  Michigan.  The  Michigan 
United  Railways  also  operates  in  Lan- 
sing, Battle  Creek  and  Kalamazoo  and 
other  Michigan  cities  as  well  as  inter- 
urban cars  between  them. 

In  addition  to  these  definite  recom- 
mendations, this  committee  also  recom- 
mends that 

Much  could  be  done  by  the  patrons  of 
the  street  railway  if  they  would  educate 
themselves  to  the  thought  of  assisting  to 
expedite  the  service  and  avoid  unnec  ssarv 
delay.  Loading  and  unloading  the-  car  is 
delayed  by  patrons,  unnecessary  stops  are 
demanded,  care  is  not  taken  by  the  people 
in  calling  for  the  right  streets  and  in  many 
other  ways  delays  are  forced  upon  the  serv- 
ice whch  by  a  little  forethought  could  b  = 
avoided  and  much  of  the  waste  eliminated. 


Franchise  Draft  Expected 

Progress  Being  Made  Toward  Conduct- 
ing Negotiations  Which  Will  End 
Des  Moines  Struggle 

With  the  return  to  Des  Moines  on 
Oct.  6  of  M.  H.  McLean  and  F.  C. 
Chambers,  president  and  general  man- 
ager, respect. vely,  cf  the  Des  Moines 
City  Railway,  there  are  evidences  that 
actual  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
negotiations  looking  toward  the  end  of 
the  Des  Moines  street  railway  muddle. 
It  is  understood  that  Mr.  McLean  is 
coming  to  Des  Moines  to  participate 
in  the  entire  negotiations  with  the  City 
Council  and  in  the  franchise  election. 
It  is  likely  that  final  draft  of  the  fran- 
chise will  be  handed  to  the  Council  not 
later  than  Oct.  7. 

Mr.  McLean  and  Mr.  Chambers  were 
in  Chicago  on  Oct.  5  in  conference  with 
lepresentatives  of  the  McKinley  in- 
terests, owners  of  the  Des  Moines  Elec- 
tric Company,  relative  to  the  clause  in 
the  proposed  franchise  which  permits 
the  railway  to  sell  electric  power.  One 
Des  Moines  daily  published  a  story  on 
Oct.  4  that  the  subject  covered  at  the 
conference  wap  the  sale  of  railway 
id  ant  to  the  McKinley  interests,  but 
this  is  not  taken  seriously  by  the  busi- 
ness people  in  Des  Moines.  No  officials 
ri  the  city  railway  could  be  reached  to 
verify  or  deny  the  report. 

J.  G.  Gamble,  attorney  for  Des 
Moines  City  Railway,  was  quoted  in 
the  daily  papers  on  Oct.  4  to  the  effect 
that  service  on  the  basis  of  sixty  cars 
could  be  available  very  shortly  after 
the  franchise  ordinance  is  passed  by 
the  Council. 

One  of  the  reasons  for  Mr.  Cham- 
bers' visit  to  Chicago  according  to  Mr. 
Gamble  was  to  prepare  means  for 
financing  the  resumption  of  service  in 
the  event  the  franchise  is  passed  by  the 
Council. 

The  police  department  took  a  firm 
hand  in  bus  operation  this  week  and 
ordered  that  buses  must  submit  to 
Lrake  inspection  once  a  week  by  a  city 
mechanician ;  that  buses  must  be  equip- 
ped with  doors  on  Oct.  5  and  that  buses 
must  not  be  opened  until  the  vehicle 
has  come  to  complete  stop.  Buses  are 
i  lso  ordered  to  come  to  a  complete 
stop  at  railroad  crossings  and  are  pro- 
hibited from  stopping  at  street  inter- 
sections. 

A  canvass  of  12,000  Des  Moines 
vomen  by  the  women's  bureau  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  completed  on 
Oct.  5  showed  99  i  per  cent  favored  the 
electric  rai'way  as  against  the  buses; 
i'4s  per  cent  voted  for  the  8-cent  f^re 
franchise,  provided  fares  are  reduced 
when  traffic  increases.  The  vote  will 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  City 
Council  on  Oct.  7.  Sentiment  has  stead- 
ily crystallized  in  favor  of  the  railway 
during  the  past  two  weeks. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


659 


Buses  Must  Be  Regulated 

Toledo  Commissioner  Insists  Improved 
Railway  Service  Will  Not 
Eliminate  Jitney 

W.  E.  Cann,  commissioner  of  street 
railways,  Toledo,  Ohio,  for  the  first 
time  since  he  assumed  this  position 
seven  months  ago,  has  made  public 
comment  on  the  service-at-cost  fran- 
chise of  the  Community  Traction  Com- 
pany as  it  is  being  operated  in  his  city. 
The  occasion  of  Mr.  Cann's  public 
remarks  was  furnished  by  a  recent 
newspaper  interview  in  which  Mr. 
Bradley,  president  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Walding,  Kinnan  &  Marvin 
Company  and  a  member  of  the  com- 
mission appointed  by  Judge  Killits  to 
draft  the  service-at-cost  ordinance,  dis- 
cussed bus  competition  and  suggested 
improved  electric  railway  service  as  the 
means  of  offsetting  jitney  competition. 

Service-at-cost  became  effective  in 
Toledo  on  Feb.  1.  Mr.  Cann  has  selected 
the  month  of  January,  the  month  previ- 
ous to  the  adoption  of  the  service-at- 
cost,  and  August,  the  last  month  of 
operation  under  the  ordinance,  as  fitting 
months  for  a  comparative  study  of 
service-at-cost  operation.  He  says  in 
part: 

In  the  month  of  January,  1921,  there  were 
carried  on  the  electric  railway  cars  in 
Toledo  6,042,813  so-called  revenue  passen- 
ger's. This  figure  includes  the  full  fare 
passengers,  children,  purchased  transfers 
and  tickets  or  tokens  and  does  not  include 
free  transfers  or  employees'  tickets.  In 
the  month  of  August  there  were  carried 
4,608,393  revenue  passengers,  a  decrease  of 
23.74  per  cent.  These  figures  graphically 
illustrate  the  decline  in  riding,  and  in  this 
connection  it  might  be  well  to  remember 
that  a  material  decrease  in  fare  became 
effective  on  Feb.  1. 

Contrary  to  the  general  idea  the  intro 
duction  of  a  cheaper  rate  of  fare  did  not 
act  as  a  stimulus  to  business,  for  our 
records  show  that  during  January,  passen- 
ger travel  was  at  the  average  rate  of  194,- 
284  passengers  per  day,  while  in  February 
our  records  show  a  drop  to  an  average  rate 
of  151,455  per  day. 

Decrease  in  passenger  trave',  due  en- 
tirely to  the  industrial  situation,  has  been 
constant  and  uniform  since  the  ordinance 
became  effective.  Such  a  marked  decrease 
in  travel  would  from  a  business  standpoint 
warrant  a  decrease  in  car  service. 

It  is,  and  has  been,  my  aim  to  operate 
this  property  on  a  business  basis  yet  there 
are  certain  factors  and  elements  incident 
to  electric  railway  operation  which  pre- 
vent a  decrease  in  service  in  direct  ratio  to 
the  decrease  in  passeng"r  travel. 

In  January  the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light 
Company  operated  2,275  round  trips  per 
day.  At  the  present  time  our  schedule  re- 
quirements call  for  2,165  round  trips  .per 
day,  an  actual  decrease  in  service  of  4.84 
per  cent,  as  compared  with  a  decrease  in 
the  revenue  passengers  carried  of  23.74  per- 
cent. 

In  January  the  average  speed  of  all  cars 
operated  in  the  city  was  8.79  m.p.h.  This 
speed  has  been  gradually  increased  to  9.5  4 
m.p.h.,  so  that  on  the  majority  of  lines  the 
actual  running  time  from  the  outer  terminus 
to  the  center  of  the  city  has  been  reduced 
from  two  to  four  minutes.  While  the  effect 
of  reducing  the  service  has  in  some  in- 
stances slightly  increased  the  gapi  between 
cars,  the  additional  time  spent  waiting  for 
a  car  is  more  than  offset  by  the  time  saved 
due  to  the  increased  speed  of  the  cars. 

Mr.  Cann  defended  the  cuts  in  service 
as  "reasonable,  and  good  business  prac- 
tice," and  said  that  it  was  not  Ms  de 
sire  to  boom  the  bus  nor  to  assist  in 
any  form  of  unfair  competition  but  to 
give  Toledo  the  best  and  cheapest 
transportation  system  in  America. 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Bradley's  suggestion 
that  good  railway  service  would  abso- 
lutely eliminate  the  bus  because  the 


bus   would   have   no   business   in  the 

streets   where   car  lines   served,  Mr. 

Cann  said: 

This  plan  has  already  been  tried  out  but 
until  such  time  as  buses  are  required  to 
compete  with  street  cars  on  a  fair  basis 
and  are  subject  to  the  same  rules  and  obli- 
gations as  to  service,  routes,  liability  and 
taxes,  they  will  continue  to  skim  the  cream 
of  the  transportation  business,  while  the 
street  cars  must  stand  the  brunt  of  furnish- 
ing continuous  service  during  the  periods  of 
the  day  when  travel  is  at  a  minimum  and 
revenues  fall  far  short  of  even  meeting 
operating  expenses. 


"Distance  Lends  Enchantment" 

Omaha  is  a  long,  long  way  from  Sao 
Paulo,  Brazil,  but  not  so  far  as  to  keep 
Brazilians  from  admiring  the  type  of 
electric  car  operated  by  the  Omaha  & 
Council  Bluffs  Street  Railway,  Omaha, 
Neb.  It  is  reported  that  in  looking  over 
some  magazines  recently  devoted  to 
municipal  undertakings  some  South 
American  officials  saw  a  picture  of  a 
car,  No.  1001,  used  on  the  Farnam 
Street  line  in  Omaha.  No.  1001  is  a 
type  built  by  the  local  railway,  seats 
forty-five  passengers  and  costs  $15  000. 

Our  Latin  cousins  were  so  favorably 
impressed  with  the  picture  of  this  car 
that  they  "up"  and  notified  their  agents, 
the  Canadian  Engineering  Company, 
New  York,  to  secure  the  plans  of  this 
vehicle.  R.  A.  Leussler,  vice-president 
of  the  railway,  has  sent  the  plans  on  to 
New  York. 


Industrial  Publishing  Added  to 
Modern  Curriculum 

The  New  York  Business  Publishers 
Association  announced  on  Sept.  23  the 
establishment  of  a  course  in  industrial 
publishing.  The  course  will  include 
lectures,  conferences,  text  books,  prob- 
lems, and  a  personal  commenting  serv- 
ice. Classes  are  now  being  organized 
in  New  York  and  will  soon  be  organized 
in  other  publishing  centers.  The  course 
can  also  be  taken  by  correspondence. 

Although  the  course  is  designed 
primarily  for  the  benefit  of  members 
of  the  editorial  and  business  staffs 
of  trade  and  technical  periodicals,  it 
will  be  open  to  all  who  are  interested 
in  the  field.  t  is  intended  not  only 
to  give  instruction,  but  to  develop  the 
business  as  a  whole  by  setting  up 
higher  standards  of  editorial  and  busi- 
ness service  and  showing'  how  these 
standards  can  be  attained.  Among  the 
topics  covered  are  distinctive  features 
of  industrial  publishing;  its  code  of 
ethics;  personal  qualities  required  for- 
success;  determining  editorial  policies; 
getting  the  right  kind  of  articles; 
securing  accurate  reports  and  data; 
writing  for  industrial  papers;  building 
up  circulation;  creating  advertising; 
departmental  management;  service  to 
the  industry;  service  to  advertisers; 
basic  policies  and  tendencies.  The 
editor  of  the  fifteen  text  books  to  be 
used  in  this  course  is  Henry  H.  Norris, 
managing  editor  of  the  Electric  Ra  l- 
way  Journal,  who  has  received  a  leave 
of  absence  from  this  paper  to  under- 
take this  work.  Further  information 
can  be  obtained  from  the  secretary  of 
the  Course  in  Industrial  Publishing, 
185  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 


Saginaw  Rejects  Municipal 
Bus  Proposal 

An  effort  by  Commissioner  Phoenix 
of  Saginaw,  Mich.,  to  have  necessary 
resolutions  and  an  ordinance  prepared 
by  the  city  attorney  looking  to  the 
establishment  of  a  municipally-owned 
motor  bus  system  received  a  setback  at 
the  hands  of  the  Council  on  Sept.  27 
when  all  members  declined  to  support 
his  motion  to  adopt  a  resolution  author- 
izing the  city  attorney  to  proceed. 

This  and  the  statements  of  the  com- 
missioner that  the  jitney  buses  had 
failed  to  provide  suitable  transportation 
for  Saginaw  since  the  suspension  of 
electric  railway  traffic  nearly  two 
months  ago  are  the  outstanding  fea- 
tures in  the  efforts  of  the  Council  to 
provide  an  adequate  means  of  carrying 
the  people. 

Since  the  road  went  into  the  hands 
of  a  receiver  on  petition  of  several  of 
its  creditors  officials  of  the  Saginaw- 
Bay  City  Railway  have  declined  to 
make  any  statements  as  to  when  elec- 
tric railway  service  might  be  expected 
to  be  resumed. 

Sentiment  seems  to  be  gaining  that 
the  Council  must  do  something  to  pro- 
vide suitable  transportation,  and  many 
are  predicting  that  unless  action  is 
taken  soon,  jitneys  will  absolutely  fail 
when  winter  comes.  Even  Commis- 
sioner Phoenix,  friend  of  the  jitney 
operator,  has  had  a  change  of  heart 
and  publicly  says,  they  are  "dangerous" 
and  cannot  take  care  of  the  city's  re- 
quirements. He  has  always  leaned 
toward  municipal  ownership  and  asserts 
if  the  Council  does  not  stand  with  him 
on  the  matter  he  will  circulate  peti- 
tions to  the  electors  and  force  the 
adoption  of  municipal  ownership. 

It  was  Phoenix  who  proposed  a  jitney 
ordinance  to  regulate  the  buses,  but 
after  several  conferences  the  measure 
has  been  forgotten.  The  buses  are 
being  run  to  suit  the  owners  and  peo- 
ple are  riding  at  their  own  risk  as 
none  of  the  jitneys  provide  insurance 
in  case  of  personal  injuries. 


Wages  Cut  Four  Cents 

A  wage  reduction  of  4  cents  an  hour 

was  mad?  by  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.) 

Railway  on  Oct.  1.    A  raise  of  5  cents 

an  hour  was  placed  in  effect  in  August, 

1920,  to   meet  the   increased   cost  of 

living  at  that  time.    According  to  the 

railway's  statement: 

The  management  realized  that  the  men 
needed  temporary  financial  relief  and  de- 
termined that  the  company  should  lose 
rather  than  its  employees  should  suffer. 
The  increase  in  wages  has  resulted  in  a 
great  loss,  which  it  can  stand  no  longer. 
The  cost  of  living  has  decreased  somewhat 
and  it  will  fall  further.  The  condition  is 
general  throughout  the  country. 

The  new  seals  in  cents  per  hour  is 

as  follows: 

First   three   months  ,..46 

Next  nine  months  4  7 

Second    year   4^ 

Thereafter   50 

Safety  car  operators  on  shuttle  lines 
will  receive  2  cents  an  hour  additional 
and  on  line  cars  will  receive  4  cents 
an  hour  additiona1 

The  Pacific  Electric  Railway  has  put 
into  effect  a  similar  cut. 


660 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Relief  Suggested  for  Present  Unemployment 

President's  Conference  Confident  Existing  Situation  Will  Be  Improved  by  Recognition  of  Principles  It 
Has  Laid  Down  and  Compliance  With  Its  Recommendations — Readjustment  of 
Prices  Essential  to  Promote  Renewed  Buying 


TWELVE  recommendations  have 
been  adopted  by  the  President's 
Unemployment  Conference  for 
emergency  relief  in  the  present  crisis. 
These  recommendations  lay  down  a 
standard  procedure,  urge  in  detail  the 
resumption  of  certain  classes  of  work 
and  propose  measures  of  relief  appli- 
cable to  manufacturing  establishments. 

The  conference  completed  on  Sept. 
30  the  first  part  of  its  work,  the  con- 
sideration of  measures  for  emergency 
relief  of  unemployment,  and  then  ad- 
journed to  meet  again  Oct.  10  in  order 
to  consider  measures  for  preventing  or 
mitigating  unemployment  periods  in 
the  future. 

Organization  of  the  conference  was 
effected  on  Sept.  26  and  the  work 
divided  among  committees  on  statistics, 
employment  agencies,  emergency  meas- 
ures in  public  works,  in  manufacturing, 
in  transportation,  in  construction,  in 
mining  and  in  shipping.  These  com- 
mittees immediately  got  to  work,  and 
though  it  was  not  expected  that  they 
would  be  ready  to  report  until  Oct.  5, 
such  progress  was  made  that  they  pre- 
sented their  findings  to  the  conference 
as  a  whole  on  Sept.  30  and  adopted 
recommendations  with  reference  to 
emergency  measures.  These  recom- 
mendations follow  in  part: 

Methods  of  Procedure 

1.  The  conference  finds  that  there 
are,  variously  estimated,  from  3,500,- 
000  to  5,500,000  unemployed.  There 
has  been  an  improvement,  but  pending 
general  trade  revival  this  crisis  in 
unemployment  canntt  be  met  without 
definite  and  positive  organizatio  i  of 
the  country. 

2.  The  obligation  of  meeting  the 
emergency  of  unemployment  is  pri- 
marily a  community  problem.  The 
responsibility  for  leadership  is  with  the 
Mayor  and  should  be  immediately 
assumed  by  him. 

3.  The  basis  of  organization  should 
be  an  emergency  committee  represent- 
ing the  various  elements  in  the  com- 
munity. This  committee  should  de- 
velop and  carry  through  a  community 
plan  for  meeting  the  emergency,  usin^ 
existing  agencies  and  local  groups  as 
far  as  practicable.  One  immediate 
step  should  be  to  co-ordinate  and  estab- 
lish efficient  public  employment  agen- 
cies and  to  register  all  those  desiring 
vork  It  should  co-ordinate  the  work 
of  the  various  charitable  institutions. 
Registration  for  relief  should  be  en- 
tirely separate  from  that  for  employ- 
ment. 

4.  The  personnel  of  the  employment 
agencies  should  be  selected  with  con- 
sideration to  fitness  only  and  should  be 
directed  to  find  the  right  job  for  the 
right  man  and  should  actively  canvass 


and  organize  the  community  for  op- 
portunities for  employment.  The 
registry  for  employment  should  be  sur- 
rounded with  safeguards  and  should 
give  priority  in  employment  to  resi- 
dents. Employers  should  give  prefer- 
ence to  the  emergency  employment 
agencies. 

5.  The  emergency  committee  should 
regularly  publish  the  numbers  depend- 
ent upon  them  for  employment  and 
relief  that  the  community  may  be  ap- 
praised of  its  responsibility.  Begging 
and  unco-ordinated  solicitation  of 
funds  should  be  prevented. 

Classes  of  Work  Urged 

6.  Private  houses,  hotels,  offices,  etc., 
can  contribute  to  the  situation  by  doing 
their  repairs,  cleaning,  and  alterations 
during  the  winter  instead  of  waiting 
until  spring,  when  employment  will  be 
more  plentiful. 

7.  Public  construction  is  better  than 
relief.  The  municipalities  should  ex- 
pand their  school,  street,  sewage, 
repair  work  and  public  buildings  to  the 
fullest  possible  volume  compatible  with 
the  existing  circumstances.  Munici- 
palities should  give  short  time  employ- 
ment the  same  as  other  employers. 

8.  The  Governor  should  unite  all 
state  agencies  for  support  of  the 
Mayors  and,  as  the  superior  officer, 
should  insist  upon  the  responsibility  of 
city  officials;  should  do  everything 
compatible  with  circumstances  in  ex- 
pedition of  construction  of  roads,  state 
buildings,  etc. 

9.  The  federal  authorities,  including 
the  Federal  Reserve  Banks,  should  ex- 
pedite the  construction  of  public  build- 
ings and  public  works  covered  by  exist- 
ing appropriations. 

10.  A  congressional  appropriation 
for  roads,  together  with  state  appro- 
priations amounting  to  many  tens  of 
millions  of  dollars  already  made  in 
expectation  of  and  dependence  on  fed- 
eral aid,  would  make  available  a  large 
amount  of  employment.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  necessity  for  economy,  the  con- 
ference under  existing  circumstances 
recommends  congressional  action  at  the 
present  session  in  order  that  work  may 
go  forward. 

11.  The  greatest  area  for  immediate 
relief  of  unemployment  is  in  the  con- 
struction industry,  which  has  been 
artificially  restricted  during  and  since 
the  war.  We  are  short  more  than  a 
million  homes;  all  kinds  of  building  and 
construction  are  far  behind  national 
necessity.  We  recommend  that  the 
Governors  summon  representative  com- 
mittees, with  the  co-operation  of  the 
Mayors  or  otherwise  as  they  may 
determine,  to  (a)  ascertain  facts;  (b) 
to  organize  community  action  in  secur- 
ing   adjustments    in    cost,  including 


removal  of  freight  discriminations,  and 
clean-out  campaigns  against  combina- 
tions, restrictions  of  effort  and  unsound 
practices  where  they  exist,  to  the  end 
that  building  may  be  fully  resumed. 

12.  Manufacturers  can  contribute  to 
relieve  the  present  acute  unemploy- 
ment situation  by: 

(a)  Part  time  work,  through  reduced 
time  or  rotation  of  jobs. 

(b)  As  far  as  possible,  manufactur- 
ing for  stock. 

(c)  Taking  advantage  of  the  present 
opportunity  to  do  as  much  plant  con- 
struction, repairs  and  cleaning  up  as  is 
possible,  with  the  consequent  transfer 
of  many  employees  to  other  than  their 
regular  work. 

(d)  Reduction  of  the  number  of 
hours  of  labor  per  day. 

(e)  The  reduction  of  the  work  week 
to  a  lower  number  of  days  during  the 
present  period  of  industrial  depression. 

Employees  and  employers  are  urged 
to  co-operate  in  putting  these  recom- 
mendations into  effect. 

A  large  number  of  employers  have 
already,  in  whole  or  in  part,  inaug- 
urated the  recommendations  herein  set 
forth,  and  for  this  they  are  to  be  com- 
mended, and  it  is  earnestly  urged  upon 
those  employers  who  have  not  done  so 
to  put  same  into  use,  wherever  prac- 
ticable, at  the  earliest  possible  oppor- 
tunity. 

12.  Specific  methods  for  solution  of 
our  economic  problems  will  be  effective 
only  in  so  far  as  they  are  applied  in  a 
spirit  of  patriotic  patience  on  the  part 
of  all  our  people. 

During  the  period  of  drastic  eco- 
nomic readjustment  through  which  we 
are  now  passing  the  continued  efforts 
of  any  one  to  profit  beyond  the  require- 
ments of  safe  business  practice  or  eco- 
nomic consistency  should  be  condemned. 
One  of  the  important  obstacles  to  a 
resumption  of  normal  business  activity 
will  be  removed  as  prices  reach  re- 
placement values  in  terms  of  efficient 
producing  and  distributing  cost  plus 
reasonable  profit. 

We,  therefore,  strongly  urge  all 
manufacturers  and  wholesalers  who 
may  not  yet  have  adopted  this  policy  to 
do  so,  but  it  is  essential  to  the  success 
of  these  measures  when  put  into  effect 
that  retail  prices  shall  promptly  and 
fairly  reflect  the  price  adjustment  of 
the  producer,  manufacturer,  and  the 
wholesaler. 

When  these  principles  have  been 
recognized  and  the  recommendations 
complied  with,  we  are  confident  that 
the  public  will  increase  their  pur- 
chases, thereby  increasing  the  opera- 
tions of  the  mills,  factories  and  trans- 
portation companies,  and  consequently 
reducing  the  number  of  those  out  of 
employment. 


October  8,  1921 


Elect kic   Railway  Journal 


661 


Commission  Procedure  Outlined  in  New  York 

Public  Hearings  Next  Step  in  Considering  Transit  Board's  Recom- 
mendations— Politicians  See  Sinister  Influence  at  Work 

As  was  made  plain  in  the  last  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  the 
plan  advanced  by  the  New  York  Transit  Commission  for  a  settlement  of  the 
traction  problem  in  that  city  is  only  a  preliminary  outline.  The  commission 
has  taken  the  attitude  of  not  commenting  on  the  matter  for  publication,  but 
the  members  have  met  the  daily  newspaper  men  to  answer  informally  such 
questions  as  might  be  asked.  It  is  understood,  however,  that  when  all  the 
criticisms  and  objections,  both  constructive  and  obstructive,  have  been  filed 
they  will  be  met  by  a  statement  from  the  commission. 


A  S  THE  next  step  in  furtherance  of 
AA   the  adoption  of  the  plan  it  is  pro- 
■L    *  posed  to  institute  a  series  of  pub- 
lic inquiries,  the  first  of  which  will  be 
set  for  an  early  date,  at  which  the  sev- 
eral companies  will  be  subjected  to  fur- 
ther examination  as  to  their  affairs  and 
in  particular  as  to  their  attitude  toward 
the  plan.    At  these  hearings  an  oppor- 
tunity will   be   afforded   for  criticism 
and  constructive  suggestion.     In  con- 
ducting these  inquiries,  the  commission, 
under  the  law,  will  have  all  the  power 
of  a  committee  of  the  legislature. 
Valuation  Work  Being  Concluded 
Until     these     public  examinations 
have  been  held  and  until  the  work  of 
valuation  has  been  finished,  the  com- 
mission will  not  undertake  to  present 
in  complete  form  what  might  be  called 
the  statutory  plan.    As  for  the  valua- 
tion itself  that  work  is  rapidly  being 
completed.  Under  it  valuations  accord- 
ing  to   existing   security   issues  and 
present   capitalization   will    be  disre- 
garded and  the  entire  financial  struc- 
ture of  the  consolidated  company  will 
be  based  upon  a  new  valuation. 

The  statement  was  made  beyond  per- 
adventure  by  the  commission  that  it 
would  require  that  the  rate  of  fare  for 
the  first  year  following  the  initiation 
of  the  plan  should  remain  at  5  cents. 
The  commission  has  further  concluded 
that  until  there  has  been  ample  demon- 
stration of  the  general  results  of  the 
new  plan  and  until  the  changes  and 
economies  the  plan  has  in  view  are 
tested  fully,  there  shall  be  no  change 
in  the  present  rate  of  fare. 

Politicians  Quick  to  Reply 

This  would  seem  to  be  too  plain 
to  be  successfully  controverted.  To 
Mayor  Hylan,  however,  the  unmistak- 
able intent  of  the  commission  as  so  ex- 
pressed apparently  means  nothing.  He 
sees  in  it  all  a  deep  laid  plot.  Accord- 
ing to  him  the  real  plan  will  be  dis- 
closed after  election.  Its  character,  so 
the  Mayor  says,  will  depend  "accord- 
ing to  whether  or  not  a  Board  of  Esti- 
mate is  elected  for  the  city  that  will 
adhere  to  the  policies  of  the  present 
administration  in  preserving  the  public 
rights  with  respect  to  traction  con- 
tracts and  the  inviolability  of  the  5-cent 
fare,  or  whether  a  complacent  set  of 
men  is  elected  with  aid  of  the  delusive 
bait  in  this  'preliminary  plan'  to  do 
as  the  traction  interests  bid."  It  is 
"gratifying"  to  the  Mayor  to  find  in 
the  plan  a  provision  for  the  use  of 


buses  to  supplement  the  traction  lines. 

It  was  not  until  Tuesday  that  the 
comment  of  the  Mayor  appeared.  His 
associates  in  political  office,  however, 
were  less  prone  to  delay.  Those  who 
took  it  upon  themselves  to  comment 
upon  the  report  before  a  day  had 
elapsed  after  its  presentation  were 
Comptroller  Charles  L.  Craig,  Commis- 
sioner of  Accounts  Hirschfield,  Corpora- 
tion Counsel  O'Brien  and  the  presidents 
of  the  Boroughs  of  Brooklyn,  Queens, 
the  Bronx  and  Richmond.  While  the 
characterizations  of  the  report  by  these 
gentlemen  varied  in  particulars  they 
all  professed  to  see  in  the  commission's 
statement  malign  influences  at  work. 
Mr.  O'Brien  referred  to  the  report  as 
a  "concededly  incomplete  and  camou- 
flaged pronouncement." 

To  the  newspaper  men  the  railway 
officials  with  one  exception  asked  for 
time  in  which  to  consider  the  commis- 
sion's statement  carefully.  The  excep- 
tion was  H.  Hobart  Porter,  vice-presi- 
dent and  general  manager  of  the 
Brooklyn  City  Railroad.  "From  first 
leading,"  said  Mr.  Porter,  "I  felt  that 
the  commission  had  made  a  very  com- 
prehensive study  of  the  situation  and 
had  prepared  and  submitted  a  plan 
which  if  the  details  for  its  execution 
could  be  acceptably  worked  out  might 
prove  a  final  solution  for  the  transit 
situation  here." 

Newspapers  Sympathetic 

With  the  exception  of  the  Hearst 
papers  both  the  afternoon  and  the  eve- 
ning newspapers  are  a  unit  in  declar- 
ing in  substance  that  back  of  the  plan 
may  lie  the  means  for  straightening 
out  the  affairs  of  the  companies  and 
bringing  to  an  end  conditions  which 
have  resulted  in  receiverships  and  the 
disintegration  of  the  various  systems, 
with  the  concomitant  advances  in  fares 
in  many  instances  and  the  lessening- 
in  nearly  all  cases  of  the  value  of  the 
companies  to  the  public  in  the  service 
which  they  furnish. 


It  was  agreed  that  Justice  Beach, 
the  third  or  "neutral"  arbitrator, 
would  present  his  ideas  for  review  at 
a  future  meeting  of  the  committee. 
The  two  other  arbitrators  will  then 
suggest  changes  or  alterations  which 
will  be  gone  over  and  discussed  and 
an  outline  for  a  final  decision  arrived 
at  if  possible. 

Joseph  F.  Berry,  Hartford,  the  Con- 
necticut Company's  representative  on 
the  committee  said : 

At  a  future  meeting  we  wi'l  take  up  this 
draft  for  consideration.  It  might  be 
adopted  just  as  he  draws  it,  or  one  of  the 
others  of  us  might  have  changes  or  alter- 
ations to  offer.  It  is  unlikely  that  Justice 
Beach's  proposals  will  be  made  public  be- 
fore they  have  been  taken  up  by  the  full, 
committee. 


Wage  Arbitrators  Drafting 
Decision 

The  arbitration  committee  in  the 
wage  controversy  on  the  Connecticut 
Company's  lines  met  at  New  Haven 
during  the  week  ended  Oct.  1  and  after 
discussing:  the  evidence  submitted  by 
both  sides  at  recent  hearings  ad- 
journed without  reaching  any  definite 
conclusion. 


City  Council  Will  Consider  New 
Franchise 

With  the  hope  and  intention  of  mak- 
ing extended  improvements  and  better- 
ments to  its  system  the  Dubuque  (la.) 
Electric  Company,  through  its  vice- 
president  and  general  manager,  has  re- 
quested the  City  Council  to  call  for 
a  special  vote  of  the  people  on  a  new 
twenty-five-year  railway  franchise. 

Mr.  Maynard,  vice-president  of  the 
property,  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  City 
Council  reviews  the  after-war  financial 
distress  which  has  prevented  his  com- 
pany expending  any  funds  on  additions, 
the  dawn  of  prosperity  which  is  about 
to  break  and  his  anxiety  for  Dubuque 
to  be  prepared  to  meet  the  changed  con- 
ditions in  order  to  supply  the  increas- 
ing need  for  transportation  facilities. 
Production  means  must  therefore  be 
increased  at  once  for  new  installations 
will  require  a  great  deal  of  money, 
time  and  labor. 

In  discussing  the  need  for  capital 
Mr.  Maynard  stressed  the  point  that  it 
was  impossible  to  market  a  bond  which 
outruns  the  present  franchise  and 
pointed  out  the  limited  market  that  ex- 
ists for  a  short-term  bond  and  the 
burdensome  terms  such  financing  would 
entail.  With  a  guarantee  of  continued 
service  in  the  city  limited  to  five  years 
and  some  months  under  the  present 
franchise  the  financial  difficulties  at- 
tendant upon  any  new  financing  would 
appear  insurmountable.  But  with  a 
guarantee  to  the  investors  of  a  twenty- 
five-year  grant  improvements  could  be 
readily  financed. 

In  its  proposed  franchise  draft  sub- 
mitted by  the  company  it  does  not  fix 
the  rates  of  fare  to  be  charged,  but 
leaves  the  matter  of  fixing  just  and 
reasonable  rates  to  the  City  Council. 
Provision  is  also  made  for  conducting 
negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  the 
property  by  the  city. 

The  new  franchise  would  be  effective 
following  the  passage  of  the  ordinance 
by  the  City  Council  and  the  subsequent 
adoption  by  the  people  of  Dubuque. 

According  to  the  Dubuque  Journal 
the  proposition  deserves  the  serious 
and  careful  consideration  of  all  voters. 
In  a  recent  comment  this  paper  says 
that  if  the  granting  of  a  new  franchise 
would  give  Dubuque  something  better 
than  it  now  has  it  would  appear  to  be 
a  wise  step. 


662 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  15 


Purchase  Price  Fixed 

$2,297,277  Fixed  as  Sum  Detroit  Shall 
Pay  for  "Day-to-Day"  Detroit 
United  Railway  Lines 

According  to  a  report  of  the  board  of 
arbitration  which  was  chosen  to  deter- 
mine the  price  the  city  of  Detroit  will 
have  to  pay  the  Detroit  United  Railway 
for  the  29J  miles  of  day-to-day  lines, 
the  price  set  for  the  lines  and  equip- 
ment is  $2,297,277.  This  includes 
$1,605,000  for  the  trackage  and  $692,- 
277  for  105  double-truck  cars  and  25 
trailers  and  other  miscellaneous  equip- 
ment. The  decision  of  the  board  was 
unanimous.  The  arbitrators  were  Prof. 
Henry  E.  Riggs,  representing  the  rail- 
way, William  H.  Maybury  representing 
the  city  and  W.  E.  Davis,  Cleveland, 
chosen  by  Messrs  Riggs  and  Maybury. 

Lines  Built  Recently 

The  lines  covered  by  the  decision  of 
the  arbitrators  were  built  by  the  com- 
pany under  day-to-day  agreements 
which  gave  the  city  the  right  to  pur- 
chase the  lines  whenever  it  was  ready 
to  operate  them,  the  price  to  be  paid 
to  be  based  upon  costs  less  depreciation. 
They  include  the  Twelfth  Street,  Grand 
Belt  and  Hamilton  lines,  some  of  the 
company's  later  construction  built  be- 
tween 1912  and  1920.  With  the  track- 
age are  included  all  necessary  side- 
tracks, turnouts,  curves,  switches, 
spurs,  connections,  wires,  poles,  over- 
head power  equipment,  special  work, 
crossings  and  equipment  constructed 
under  Council  resolutions  or  contracts 
together  with  equipment  necessarily 
furnished  and  acquired  by  the  company 
for  the  operation  of  its  cars  over  these 
tracks.  The  acquisition  of  these  lines 
by  the  city  was  authorized  at  the  elec- 
tion last  April  and  they  will  be  paid  for 
out  of  the  $15,000,000  municipal  street 
railway  bond  issue  authorized  in  April, 
1920. 

With  approximately  60  miles  of 
municipal  lines  constructed,  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  day-to-day  lines  will  add 
approximately  50  per  cent  to  the  extent 
of  the  municipally  owned  system. 

Working  Agreement  Suggested 

In  their  report  the  arbitrators  cite 
that  in  so  far  as  it  is  possible 
to  guarantee  the  protection  of  both 
parties  it  is  desired  to  do  so,  and  they 
recommend  that  the  operating  officials 
of  both  parties  meet  and  draw  up  an 
agreement  which  will  fully  cover  and 
protect  certain  points  which  developed 
during  the  hearing,  and  similar  cases 
which  may  arise  later.  These  points  in- 
clude the  granting  of  running  rights 
to  each  party  over  the  other's  tracks 
after  the  lines  are  taken  over,  to  pre- 
serve the  continuity  of  the  existing 
lines.  The  arbitrators  report  that  while 
there  is  nothing  in  the  day-to-day  agree- 
ments that  specificaPy  grants  any 
authority  to  the  arbitrators  in  this  mat- 
ter, they  feel  they  would  be  remiss  in 
their  duties  if  they  failed  to  direct  at- 
tention to  the  fact  thai  at  four  points 
at  le°st.  and  undoubtedly  at  others  »s 
well  there  are  and  will  be  openings  left 


for  serious  contention  and  considerable 
annoyance  to  the  patrons  of  both  sides. 

This  is  termed  an  operating  matter 
which  must  be  cured  by  an  agreement 
between  the  parties  so  as  to  secure 
harmonious  co-operation  between  the 
two  transportation  systems  of  the  city 
for  the  benefit  of  the  riding  public. 
The  arbitrators  further  recommend 
that  if  it  develops  that  the  parties  can 
not  agree  on  the  terms  of  such  a  con- 
tract the  matter  be  referred  to  a  dis- 
interested board  of  arbitration  in  lieu 
of  resorting  to  litigation. 

In  advising  the  city  to  take  over 
the  lines  and  equipment  at  once  or  to 
make  provision  for  taking  care  of  the 
cars,  the  arbitrators  cited  that  in  the 
event  that  there  should  be  a  delay  in 
the  taking  over  of  this  property  by  the 
city,  there  is  a  moral  reponsibility 
on  the  Detroit  United  Railway  to  see 
to  it  that  this  equipment  is  fully  main- 
tained and  that  these  particular  cars 
are  given  fully  as  much  or  more  care 
in  the  matter  of  running  repairs  and 
general  upkeep  as  is  given  to  the  other 
new  and  modern  equipment  of  the  com- 
pany. While  the  same  comment  is  ap- 
plicable to  all  property,  it  is  believed 
to  be  particularly  necessary  regarding 
this  equipment  as  neglect  for  a  period 
of  a  few  months  would  inevitably  re- 
sult in  serious  depreciation  and  might 
put  the  city  to  materially  heavier  costs 
of  repairing  than  would  be  the  case 
were  the  cars  taken  over  now. 

The  board  of  arbitrators  held  its  first 
hearing  on  July  19  and  the  last  formal 
hearing  was  on  Sept.  12.  In  all,  twelve 
days  were  consumed  in  taking  testi- 
mony. Over  twenty  witnesses  were 
examined  and  a  large  amount  of  evi- 
dence and  many  data  in  the  form  of 
exhibits,  reports  and  maps  were  studied. 

It  is  anticipated  that  the  lines 
acquired  from  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
way will  be  operated  as  part  of  the 
municipal  street  railway  system  as 
soon  as  the  Street  Railway  Commis- 
sioners have  completed  the  necessary 
transfers,  and  as  soon  as  the  street 
railway  department  has  installed  spe- 
cial track  work  connecting  the  lines 
with  the  municipal  railway  lines  al- 
ready built.  This  work  of  connecting 
the  two  systems  can  be  commenced 
immediately  by  the  city  department. 


Houston  Decides  Against 
Franchise 

The  proposed  new  franchise  for  the 
Houston  (Tex  )  Electric  Company,  a 
Stone  &  Webster  property,  which  in- 
cludes the  electric  railway  lines  and  the 
lighting  privileges  in  Houston,  was  de- 
feated in  a  decisive  vote  at  the  special 
election  on  Oct.  4.  The  vote  was  the 
lightest  total  vote  polled  in  a  city  elec- 
tion in  recent  years.  Only  four  small 
city  wards  favored  the  franchise,  one 
was  tied  and  the  others  decidedly 
against. 

Mayor  Holcombe  said  after  the  elec- 
tion that  the  City  Council  would  at 
once  beein  the  work  of  drafting  a  trac- 
tion franchise  that  would  be  approved 


by  the  citizens.  He  said  further  that 
railway  service  in  Houston  must  be  im- 
proved and  that  this  would  be  the  main 
consideration  in  the  drafting  of  the 
new  franchise. 


Denounces  City  Scheme 

Justice  James  C.  Cropsey,  in  the  Su- 
preme Court,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  denied 
the  application  by  the  city  to  start  con- 
demnation proceedings  against  three 
streets  in  Queens  on  the  grounds  that 
the  city  was  actually  attempting  to  get 
possession  of  the  lines  of  the  North 
Shore  Traction  Company  and  operate 
the  cars. 

The  city  claimed  that  the  three 
streets  were  needed  to  complete  boule- 
vards. The  Judge  decided  the  city  had 
no  authority  to  go  into  the  business  of 
operating  street  cars  and  that  if  some 
property  were  desired  by  the  city  which 
did  not  belong  to  the  North  Shore  Trac- 
tion Company  such  an  application 
might  be  granted. 


$1,000,000  Expenditure  Suggested 
to  San  Francisco  Municipal 
Railway 

An  entirely  erroneous  impression  has 
been  caused  by  accounts  telegraphed  to 
the  papers  in  the  east  from  San  Fran- 
cisco referring  to  the  probable  ex- 
penditure of  $8,101,000  by  the  city  of 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  in  extending  its 
municipal  railway  system.  It  is  said 
that  this  expenditure  was  recommended 
to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  in  a  report 
by  M.  M.  O'Shaughnessy,  city  engineer. 
A  telegram  to  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  on  Oct.  5  from  its  Pacific 
Coast  editor  resident  at  San  Francisco 
says  that  the  $8,000,000  figure  is  erro- 
i  eous.  It  resulted  from  the  reporters 
summarizing  the  cost  of  alternative 
routes.  Even  if  all  the  proposed  lines 
were  built  the  total  cost,  excluding 
tunnel  assessments,  would  be  only  about 
$1,000,000.  In  the  following  all  mile- 
ages are  double  track.  Four  new  lines 
under  consideration  include: 

1.57  mile  extension  on  Masonic 

Avenue    $225,000 

0.88  mile  line  on  Traval  Street..  120.000 

0.91  mile  line  in  Ocean  View  Dis- 
trict   175,000 

The  Sunset  district  line  would  extend 
from  the  Ocean  Beach  along  Judah 
Street  connecting  via  tunnel  with  the 
present  municipal  lines  for  a  direct 
route  to  the  ferry.  Estimates  on  four 
alternative  tunnel  routes  for  this  line 
ranged  from  a  total  cost  of  $914,000  to 
$2,467,000.  Of  these  totals  the  mu- 
nicipal railway  funds  would  be  needed 
only  for  track  construction  and  an 
assessment  district  would  be  formed  to 
cover  the  tunnel  cost.  Of  these  Sun- 
sc1  line  alternatives  Mr.  O'Shaughnessy 
favors  the  4.54 -mile  route  using  a  4,200- 
ft.  tunnel  on  Duboce  Avenue  with  track 
cost  of  $576  000  and  tunnel  cost  of 
$1,900,000.  Mr.  O'Shaughnessy  has 
reminded  the  board  that  these  new  lines 
will  require  $800,000  additional  for 
equipment  and  carhouse.  These  esti- 
mates were  made  by  Mr.  O'Shaughnessy 
on  request  of  the  board. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


663 


P.  R.  T.  Net  for  Eight  Months, 
$936,583 

The  total  operating  revenue  of  the 
Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany for  the  eight  months  ended  Aug. 
31,  1921,  was  $28,170,950.  Of  this 
amount  $27,555,073  was  passenger  rev- 
enue. After  deducting  fixed  charges 
amounting  to  $6,552,816  the  net  income 
for  the  period  amounts  to  $936,583 
against  a  deficit  of  $151,779  for  the 
same  period  a  year  ago.  The  accumu- 
lated deficit  for  the  twenty-month 
period  to  Aug.  31  now  stands  at  $1,- 
181,351. 

The  largest  amount  in  passenger  rev- 
enue for  the  first  seven  months  of  this 
year  was  realized  in  May  when  $3,686,- 
931  was  collected  from  74,455,275  pas- 
sengers. The  month  of  February  was 
lowest  in  traffic  with  a  total  of  63,033,- 
838  passengers  carried  amounting  to 
$3,140,820. 

The  total  number  of  passengers  car- 
ried from  January  through  August  in- 
clusive was  555,773,826  against  605,- 
581,130,  a  decrease  of  49,807,304  over 
the  same  period  a  year  ago.  While  the 
traffic  handled  decreased,  the  passenger 
revenue  increased  $3,322,937  over  the 
first  seven  months  of  1920. 


Another  Effort  to  Restore 
Shore  Line  Railway 

It  is  reported  that  another  effort  is 
being  made  to  restore  the  Shore  Line 
Electric  Railway  between  New  Haven 
and  New  London.  The  latest  proposal 
to  this  end  comes  from  a  Delaware  cor- 
poration known  as  the  Finance  &  Re- 
organization Company,  New  York.  It 
.  outlines  the  plans  as  follows: 

Subscription  blanks  for  the  new  company 
set  the  amount  of  money  to  be  raised  at 
"not  to  exceed  $4,000,000  of  7  per  cent 
first  mortgage  gold  bonds"  and  "common 
stock  of  the  par  value  of  $100  each,  an 
issue  not  to  exceed  7,000  shares." 

Stocks  and  bonds  are  to  be  of  a  corpo- 
ration to  be  known  as  the  Shore  Line 
Traction  Company,  a  Connecticut  corpora- 
tion. In  the  subscription  blank  it  says 
"In  consideration  thereof,  the  said  Finance 
&  Reorganization  Company  agrees  to  as- 
sign and  transfer  to  the  Shore  Line  Trac- 
tion Company  the  part  of  the  trolley  line 
formerly  belonging  to  the  Shore  Line  Elec- 
tric Railway  between  New  Haven  and 
Chester,  in  operating  condition,  with  a 
power  house  and  transmission  line  for  said 
company  for  an  amount  not  to  exceed 
$900  000  in  7  per  cent  first  mortgage  bonds 
and  7,000  shares  of  common  stock  of  the 
said  Shore  Line  Traction  Company." 

Under  the  plan  it  seems  apparent 
that  the  Finance  &  Reorganization 
Company  would  control  all  the  securi- 
ties of  the  Shore  Line  Traction  Com- 
pany with  the  exception  of  $100,000  of 
its  bonds. 

The  subscription  blank  says  that  in 
the  event  that  the  company  shall  not 
succeed  in  selling  $205,000  in  bonds 
and  $205,000  par  value  of  stock  any 
amount  which  shall  have  been  paid 
shall  be  refunded. 


When  the  company  has  sold  bonds 
in  the  amount  of  $205,000  it  will  make 
demand  for  the  payment  at  the  pur- 
chase price  or  any  part  remaining  un- 
paid to  be  used  in  the  purchase  of  the 
property  of  the  Shore  Line  Electric 
Railway. 


Accumulated  Dividends 
Financed 

Financial  Structure  of  Portland  Com- 
pany Rearranged  to  Suit 
Changed  Conditions 

Plans  have  been  perfected  for  read- 
justing the  capitalization  of  the  Port- 
land Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company, 
Portland,  Ore.,  to  bring  it  more  nearly 
in  line  with  the  present  requirements 
of  the  company.  Hard  hit  by  the 
industrial  depression  following  the 
declaration  of  war  in  1914,  all  div- 
idends on  the  stock  of  the  company 
were  suspended.  Progress  of  the  com- 
pany since  then  has  been  steadily  for- 
ward with  the  result  that  it  was 
recently  felt  that  the  financial  struc- 
ture of  the  company  should  be  changed 
in  the  interest  of  the  security  holders 
deprived  of  their  incomes,  particularly 
as  the  earnings  now  justify  the  pay- 
ment of  first  preferred  dividends. 

While  the  credit  of  the  company  to 
profit  and  loss  amounts  to  more  than 
the  total  of  the  accumulated  dividends, 
the  cash  has  been  expended  on  im- 
provements and  for  the  payment  of 
sinking  funds  and  it  was  therefore 
desirable  that  the  accumulated  div- 
idends should  be  paid  in  some  other 
way  than  in  cash.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  value  of  the  stock  equity  in  the 
property  was  increased  by  $6,625,000 
while  the  stockholders  were  receiving 
no  return. 

The  plan  hit  upon  was  to  declare  a 
dividend  of  27  per  cent  on  the  first 
preferred  stock,  payable  2  per  cent 
in  cash  and  25  per  cent  in  first  pre- 
ferred stock  at  par.  The  stock  issued 
in  payment  of  this  dividend  will  be 
cumulative  from  Oct.  1,  1921.  In  antic- 
ipation of  this  move  the  stockholders 
approved  the  plan  for  the  change  in 
the  financial  structure  of  the  company, 
including  the  authorization  of  $10,000,- 
000  of  prior  preference  stock  and  in- 
creased the  first  preferred  stock  by 
$2,500,000.  The  capitalization  of  the 
company,  following  the  consummation 
of  the  new  plan,  will  be  as  follows: 

_       ,    .  Authorized  Outstanding 

Cumulative  prior 

preference   stock  $10,000,000   

Cumulative  6%  first 

preferred  stock..  7,500,000  $5,000,000 
Non-cumu  ative  6% 

second  preferred 

„,  stock                              5.000,000  5,000,000 

Common    stock             20,000,000  11  250,000 

The  stock  outstanding  prior  to  the 
consummation  of  the  present  plan  was 
as  follows: 


6%    Cumulative   first  preferred 

stock    $5,000,000 

6%  Non-eumulative  second  pre- 
ferred stock    5,000,000 

Common  stock,  75  70  paid  ($11  - 
250,000)    and    liable   to  calls 

up  to  25%    15,000,000 

The  $15,000,000  of  common  stock  out- 
standing has  been  over  75  per  cent 
paid.  This  part  paid  stock  will  be 
retired  and  full  paid  stock  issued  to 
the  amount  paid  in.  The  stockholder 
will  then  be  released  from  all  liability 
for  the  25  per  cent  unpaid  upon  the 
part-paid  stock.  This  requires  the 
issuance  of  only  $11,250,000  of  full  paid 
common  stock. 

The  first  preferred  6  per  cent  stock 
outstanding  was  issued  $2,500,000  on 
Jan.  1,  1916,  and  $2,500,000  on  April  1, 
1917.  There  had  accumulated  on  the 
$2,500,000  first  issued  11  per  cent  up 
to  April  1,  1917,  and  this  was  paid  in 
cash  on  July  1,  1921,  thus  making  the 
entire  amount  of  $5,000,000  of  6  per 
cent  first  preferred  stock  alike  in  the 
accumulation  of  dividends  from  April 
1,  1917,  which  up  to  July  1,  1921, 
amounted  to  $1,275,000. 

The  $10,000,000  of  7  per  cent  prior 
preferred  stock  will  probably  be  issued 
in  series.  The  right  is  reserved  to  the 
stockholders  to  change  the  dividend 
rate  and  the  redemption  features.  Pres- 
ident Franklin  T.  Griffith  of  the  com- 
pany explains  that  the  issue  of  the  new 
stock  was  authorized  to  give  the  peo- 
ple of  Oregon  an  opportunity  to  invest 
their  savings  in  an  Oregon  enterprise. 
According  to  Mr.  Griffith  the  company 
"will  market  it  from  time  to  time,  as 
we  need  money,  or  as  our  friends  are 
willing  to  buy.  The  money  will  all  be 
used  for  the  betterment  of  the  prop- 
erty." 

The  company  is  out  of  debt  except  for 
funded  and  current  obligations. 


Splendid  Return  in  July  in  Dallas 

The  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway's  report 
covering  operation  in  July  shows  a  con- 
siderable falling  off  in  the  number  of 
passengers  carried  as  compared  with 
the  number  carried  in  June.  Revenue 
passengers  carried  during  June  num- 
bered 4,251,054,  while  for  July  the 
number  was  4,097,755,  a  decrease  of 
153,299.  Figures  for  July,  1920,  show 
that  a  total  of  4,298,150  persons  were 
carried  during  that  month. 

Despite  the  falling  off  in  the  number 
of  revenue  passengers  carried,  the 
company  broke  all  past  records  in 
amount  and  rate  of  returns.  While  the 
rate  of  return  on  the  agreed  valuation 
authorized  by  the  franchise  is  7  per 
cent,  the  return  for  July  amounted  to 
8.67  per  cent. 

The  return  for  July  permits  the  set- 
ting aside  of  $13,146  for  reserves,  the 
largest  amount  set  aside  in  any  one 
month  in  the  history  of  the  company. 
Total  gross  receipts  were  $264,639, 
while  operating  expenses  amounted  to 
$196,470.  This  return  was  made  before 
the  recently  announced  10  per  cent  re- 
duction in  wages  of  all  employees  be- 
came effective.  The  service  maintained 
in  July  showed  practically  no  change 
in  car-miles  operated. 


664 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


$59,678  Loss  in  Eight  Months 
in  East  St.  Louis 

The  East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Rail- 
way East  St.  Louis,  111.,  is  informing 
the  public  of  its  difficulties  through  the 
columns  of  local  newspapers.  In  a  re- 
cent statement  President  W.  H.  Sawyer 
shows  that  the  company  in  the  eight 
months  ended  Aug.  31,  last,  was  short 
$59,678  of  earning  the  revenue  to  which 
it  is  entitled  under  the  valuation  and 
interest  charges  granted  by  the  Illinois 
Public  Service  Commission. 

In  this  period  there  was  a  decrease 
of  20.05  per  cent  in  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers carried  as  compared  with  the 
corresponding  period  of  1920.  "But  it 
seems  that  we  reached  bottom  in 
August,"  says  Mr.  Sawyer,  "for  there 
was  an  increase  in  August  over  July." 
He  predicts  that  the  next  three  months 
will  show  a  gradual  increase  in  travel. 
In  the  meantime  service  has  been  cut 
slightly,  though  passengers  are  being 
handled  as  heretofore,  and  the  public 
is  informed  of  the  conditions. 


Montreal  Has  an  Accumulated 
Deficit  of  $1,967,834 

The  Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  re- 
ports record  gross  earnings  of  $11,- 
773,004  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June 
30  compared  with  $10,782,470  for  the 
preceding  year.  The  balance  after  op- 
erating expenses  and  taxes  and  main- 
tenance and  renewals  was  $2,868,667 
compared  with  $2,695,394  a  year  ago. 
Allowances  due  the  company  on  this 
balance  by  the  Tramways  Commission 
based  on  the  franchise  was  $2,489,959 
compared  with  $2,452,269  in  the  pre- 
ceding year.  The  balance  of  $378,707 
was  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  city's 
rental  allowance  and  required  contin- 
gent reserve  totaling  $617,730  by  $239,- 
022,  this  deficit  comparing  with  $364,- 
700  a  year  ago.  The  accumulated 
deficit  on  that  account  since  the  going 
into  effect  of  the  new  franchise  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1918,  is  $1,967,834. 


Revenues  Exceed  Current  Ex- 
penditures of  $65,506 

During  the  receivership  for  the  Ohio 
Electric  Railway,  Springfield,  Ohio,  be- 
tween Jan.  26  and  July  14  the  excess 
of  revenue  over  current  expenditures 
was  $65,506.  The  income  was  $2,725,- 
046  during  the  period.  These  facts 
were  noted  in  the  receiver's  report 
made  to  Federal  Judge  John  M.  Killits 
at  Toledo  by  B.  J.  Jones,  Columbus. 

In  the  disbursements  the  items  for 
which  the  largest  sums  went  were: 
Payroll,  $944,640;  materials,  $286,722; 
fuel,  $215,501;  injuries  and  damages, 
$5,018;  taxes,  $39,487. 

The  last  two  weeks  of  the  period 
showed  disbursements  of  $197,877;  of 
which  $77,375  went  to  pay  help. 

The  receiver's  account  of  J.  H.  Mc- 
Clure  in  the  case  of  the  Indiana  Co- 
lumbus &  Eastern  Traction  Company 
from  July  15  to  31,  showed  receipts 
of  $137,321,  of  which  $33,499  was  on 
hand  at  the  beginning  of  the  period, 
and  disbursements  of  $105,871. 


The  lines  accounted  for  in  the  bills 
of  the  Ohio  Electric  included  the  Co- 
lumbus, Newark  &  Zanesville  Electric 
Railway,  the  Indiana,  Columbus  & 
Eastern  Traction  Company,  and  the 
Fort  Wayne,  Van  "Wert  &  Lima  Trac- 
tion Company. 


Fewer  Passengers  Carried 
in  August 

The  report  of  the  Seattle  (Wash.) 
Municipal  Street  Railway,  for  the 
month  of  August  showed  that  while  the 
car  riders  paid  about  33a  per  cent 
higher  fare  than  in  August,  1920,  the 
receipts  were  only  4.2  per  cent  higher, 
and  that  2,025,911  fewer  passengers 
rode.  The  passenger  decrease  was  20.3 
per  cent.  The  report,  which  was  pre- 
pared by  Superintendent  of  Public 
Utilities  Carl  II.  Reeves,  showed  re- 
ceipts for  August,  1921,  of  $524,743  as 
compared  with  $503,599  for  August  of 
last  year. 

In  August,  1920,  9,964,100  passen- 
gers were  canned,  while  in  August  of 
this  year,  only  7,938,189  passengers 
rode  on  the  municipal  lines.  The  car- 
miles  and  car-hours  of  operation  also 
went  down,  as  evidenced  by  figures 
showing  1,328,438  car-miles  in  August 
of  last  year  compared  with  1,311,086 
car-miles  in  August  this  year.  In 
August,  1920,  $400,656  was  expended 
in  operation  and  in  August  of  this 
year  $367,070. 


Valuation  of  Traction  Properties 
Fixed 

The  Oklahoma  State  Board  of  Equal- 
ization has  fixed  valuation  for  purposes 
of  taxation  on  Oklahoma  traction  and 
interurban  lines  as  follows:  Oklahoma 
Gas  &  Electric  Company,  $4,254,831; 
Muskogee  Gas  &  Electric  Company,  $1,- 
395,063;  Enid  Railway,  $75,000;  Chick- 
asha  Railway,  $25,000;  Guthrie  Rail- 
way, $25,000;  Lawton  Railway,  $59,000; 
Muskogee  Traction  Company,  $335,000; 
Oklahoma  Union  Railway,  Tulsa,  $350,- 
000;  Okmulgee  Northern  Railway, 
$207,000;  Oklahoma  Railway,  Oklahoma 
City,  $3,118,586;  Pittsburg  County 
Railway,  McAlester,  $400,000;  Sapulpa 
Interurban  Company,  $50,000;  Shaw- 
nee-Tecumseh  Traction  Company,  $55,- 
000;  Tulsa  Street  Railway,  $300,000. 


Interurban  Rental  Advanced 

By  a  recent  order  of  the  Michigan 
Untilities  Commission  an  advance  of 
practically  100  per  cent  has  been  al- 
lowed in  rental  charges  to  be  paid  by 
the  Grand  Rapids,  Grand  Haven  & 
Muskegon  Interurban  Railway  to  the 
Muskegon  Traction  &  Lighting  Com- 
pany for  use  of  the  latter's  tracks  in 
the  city  of  Muskegon,  Mich. 

Under  the  new  ruling  the  interurban 
must  pay  annually  $4,000  for  use  of 
tracks,  two-fifths  of  local  fares,  2  cents 
for  every  through  passenger  and  10 
cents  per  freight-car  mile  for  all  freight 
moved  over  city  tracks.  The  old  con- 
tract called  for  a  rental  of  $2,000  with 
a  1-cent  charge  for  every  passenger. 


$288,850  Taken  by  Jitneys  from 
Municipal  Railway 

Figures  prepared  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Utilities  of  the  City  of 
Seattle  show  that  the  jitney  service 
during  the  year  1920  deprived  the  Se- 
attle Municipal  Railway  of  approxi- 
mately $288,850  in  revenues,  derived 
from  carrying  3,610,724  passengers. 
The  above  estimate  is  based  on  an  aver- 
age fare  of  8  cents,  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  fact  that  car  riders  pay 
81  cents  for  tokens,  a  10-cent  cash 
fare  and  also  use  transfers. 


Toledo  August  Deficit  Only 
$20,098 

The  report  made  by  Street  Railway 
Commissioner  Cann  of  Toledo,  Ohio, 
shows  that  the  August  deficit  of  the 
Community  Traction  Company  was 
only  $20,098.  This  is  less  than  half 
the  July  deficit.  In  January,  before 
the  Community  Traction  Company  took 
over  the  lines,  the  number  of  passen- 
gers carried  at  a  7-cent  fare  and  2-cent 
transfer  was  6,042,000.  At  no  time 
since  has  the  fare  been  that  high  and 
yet  in  August  the  total  number  of  pas- 
sengers carried  was  4,608,393. 

Mr.  Cann  believes  that  the  indus- 
trial slump  is  almost  entirely  to  blame 
for  the  showing.  He  points  out  that 
so  far  September  figures  show  that  the 
tide  has  turned.-  Checks  have  shown 
that  the  bus  business  has  also  de- 
creased considerably. 

The  financial  report  shows  that  the 
Community  Traction  Company  has 
cash  in  various  funds  set  up  amount- 
ing to  $267,905,  including  $51,032  in 
the  sinking  fund,  which  represents  city 
ownership  in  the  system.  However,  in 
other  funds  there  is  a  combined  deficit 
of  $377,074,  the  greater  part  of  which 
is  in  the  stabilizing  fund. 

The  increase  of  gross  revenue  dur- 
ing August  was  $21,233.  A  part  of 
this  represented  one-fifth  of  the  rebate 
due  on  power  since  the  new  contract 
with  the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light 
Company  was  signed. 


Toledo  Bonds  Offered 

The  Toledo  Traction,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  is  offering  $2,- 
500,000  first  lien  7  per  cent  gold  bonds 
for  subscription  through  a  syndicate. 

The  company  owns  93  per  cent  of  the 
common  stock  of  the  new  Toledo  Edi- 
son Company,  the  successor  to  the  To- 
ledo Railways  &  Light  Company,  and 
also  controls  all  of  the  $1,500,000  of 
preference  stock  of  the  company. 

This  offering  is  a  part  of  the  com- 
prehensive plan  of  financing  all  of  the 
electric  power,  lighting,  gas,  heating 
and  railway  property  of  Toledo.  The 
holding  company  has  pledged  a  large 
portion  of  the  6  per  cent  bonds  of  the 
Community  Traction  Company  as  se- 
curity for  the  present  issue  of  bonds. 

A  loan  of  $12,000,000  will  be  retired 
through  the  new  financing.  This  will 
release  the  railroad  property  directly 
from  all  obligation  except  the  bonds 
of  the  Community  Traction  Company. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


665 


No  Fare  Referendum  in 
Cincinnati 

A  referendum  on  the  recently  enacted 
ordinance  reducing  fares  on  the  lines 
of  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany will  not  be  held  at  the  November 
election  if  the  report  filed  with  the 
Ohio  Supreme  Court  at  Columbus  is 
approved  by  that  body.  The  report 
was  filed  by  Hugh  L.  Nichols,  former 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  who  was  appointed 
to  hear  the  testimony  in  the  city  of 
Cincinnati's  protest  against  the  refer- 
endum. It  shows  that  a  total  of  5,312 
signatures  appearing  on  the  referen- 
dum petitions  circulated  by  the  Citi- 
zens' Committee  have  been  withdrawn 
or  stricken  off  by  order  of  Judge 
Nichols. 

The  petitions  originally  contained 
14,574  signatures  and  after  the  above 
number  had  been  deducted  the  petitions 
lack  sixty-two  signatures  of  the  num- 
ber necessary  to  warrant  a  referendum. 
The  report  of  Judge  Nichols  if  sus- 
tained by  the  Ohio  Supreme  Court  will 
knock  out  the  referendum  petitions 
against  the  ordinance  and  franchise 
amendment  which  have  reduced  fares 
since  Aug.  1.  The  ordinance  and  fran- 
chise amendment  under  which  the  Cin- 
cinnati Traction  Company  is  operating 
also  provides  that  fares  shall  be  re- 
duced another  half  cent  to  71  cents 
on  Nov.  1. 

The  Ohio  Supreme  Court  has  since 
refused  the  writ  of  mandamus  filed  by 
the  Citizens'  Committee  seeking  to 
compel  the  city  auditor  to  certify  peti- 
tions for  a  referendum  to  the  Board 
of  Elections.  The  decision  of  the  court 
gives  the  city  a  victory  on  the  fare 
question.  The  ruling  was  made  after 
the  report  of  Judge  Hugh  Nichols,  who 
sat  as  umpire,  had  been  presented. 

The  ordinance  in  question  was  passed 
by  the  City  Council  last  June,  and  pro- 
vided that  if  the  city  conceded  defer- 
ment of  the  payment  of  the  franchise 
tax  by  the  traction  company  until  next 
year  a  reduction  of  one-half  cent  in 
fares  would  become  effective  on  Aug.  1 
and  a  further  reduction  would  be  made 
on  Nov.  1  to  7 J  cents.  In  addition  the 
company  would  be  compelled  to  grant 
the  reduced  rate  to  children  attending 
public,  parochial  and  high  schools. 

The  extension  of  the  time  granted 
for  the  payment  of  the  franchise  tax 
was  deemed  to  be  merely  technical  since 
under  the  terms  of  the  franchise  the 
tax  is  to  be  paid  only  when  it  is  earned, 
but  deferred  payments  become  cumu- 
lative. The  traction  company  did  not 
earn  the  tax  last  year,  nor  for  the 
period  this  year  preceding  the  passage 
of  the  ordinance.  , 

As  stated  previously  the  fraudulent 
signatures  together  with  those  with- 
drawn bv  request  reduced  the  number 
to  less  than  legal  requirement.  There- 


upon the  Citizens'  Committee  attempted 
to  file  petitions  containing  700  addi- 
tional signatures,  but  the  city  auditor 
refused  to  accept  them  upon  the  ground 
that  the  time  allowed  by  law  in  which 
to  file  the  petitions  had  lapsed  and  he 
had  no  legal  right  to  include  the  addi- 
tional names.  The  Citizens'  Commit- 
tee then  filed  the  mandamus  suit  in 
Supreme  Court.  Former  Chief  Justice 
Hugh  Nichols  was  named  Master  Com- 
missioner to  hear  testimony  and  file 
his  conclusion  regarding  the  facts  with 
the  court. 


Unlimited-Ride  Weekly  Pass 
Started  at  Youngstown 

The  Youngstown  (Ohio)  Municipal 
Railway  placed  in  operation,  beginning 
Monday,  Oct.  3,  a  weekly  unlimited-ride, 
transferable  pass  similar  to  that  in  use 
at  Racine,  Wis.,  for  the  past  two  years 
and  adopted  for  Kenosha  in  January, 
1921.  The  price  of  the  pass  is  $1.25 
as  against  a  cash  fare  of  9  cents  and  a 
ticket  fare  of  85  cents  (six  for  50 
cents).  One  advantage  expected  from 
the  pass  is  the  capture  of  riders  using 
the  10-cent  jitneys.  The  jitneys  are 
almost  entirely  of  touring-car  type,  the 
jitney  bus  being  unable  to  compete  with 
the  smaller  and  swifter  pirate. 

Preceding  the  introduction  of  the 
pass,  cards  printed  on  both  sides  (with 
the  side  showing  fewer  words  but  big- 
ger type  facing  the  auto-rider  and  the 
walker)  were  displayed  in  the  cars  and 
advertisements  run  in  both  the  daily 
English  and  weekly  non-English  papers. 
News  stories  and  interviews  concern- 
ing the  use  of  the  pass  were  also  ar- 
ranged for.  Calls  were  made  on  the 
leading  department  stores,  all  of  which 
agreed  to  place  passes  on  sale  during 
the  introductory  period,  several  going 
so  far  as  to  give  an  "ear"  or  box-head 
to  the  pass  in  their  own  advertising 
copy. 

The  downtown  theaters  and  cinemas 
were  canvassed,  and  these  agreed  to 
accept  and  display  slides  referring  to 
the  pass.  The  co-operation  of  the  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  also 
gladly  given.  All  of  these  interests — 
stores,  theaters  and  schools — realized 
the  possibilities  of  the  pass  to  them 
in  its  encouragement  of  off-peak  rid- 
ing. Talks  were  given  to  the  car  oper- 
ators and  before  the  Kiwanis  Club. 
Preparations  have  already  been  made 
for  follow-up  publicity  to  be  suitable 
to  the  weather  and  other  conditions 
that  cause  changes  in  riding. 

Passes  are  placed  on  sale  the  Friday 
of  the  week  (Monday  a.m.  to  Sunday 
midnight)  preceding  the  use  of  the 
pass,  and  sales  are  continued  up  to 
Wednesday  of  the  week  in  which  the 
pass  is  valid.  The  sales  for  the  first 
week  (Oct.  3-Oct.  10)  were  reported 
as  4200. 


Jail  Sentence  for  Broomhead, 
Jitney  Operator 

The  first  jail  sentence  for  lawless 
jitney  operators  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  since 
the  United  Traction  Company  began 
its  fight  against  the  jitneys  was  im- 
posed on  Oct.  4  by  Justice  Harold  J. 
Hinman.  Frank  Broomhead,  Cohoes, 
was  the  offender.  He  must  serve  thirty 
days  in  the  Albany  County  jail  on  a 
charge  of  criminal  contempt  of  court 
for  the  second  time. 

Broomhead  had  been  served  with  the 
injunction  restraining  illegal  competi- 
tion with  the  United  Traction,  but  con- 
tinued operating  his  jitney  between 
Cohoes  and  Troy.  The  temporary  writ 
of  injunction  was  made  returnable 
before  Justice  Hinman  on  Sept.  10. 
Broomhead  was  one  of  the  eleven  men 
who  were  charged  with  contempt  of 
court.  He  was  accordingly  fined  $100 
by  the  judge. 

On  proof  that  the  jitney  business 
was  being  carried  on  by  Broomhead  on 
Sept.  17  and  19  the  United  Traction 
went  further  in  the  proceeding.  At  a 
subsequent  hearing  Justice  Hinman 
reviewed  the  testimony  and  declared 
that  there  were  inconsistencies  in 
Broomhead's  defense  and  that  no 
credence  could  be  given  to  his  state- 
ments. Justice  Hinman's  finding 
follows  in  part: 

The  court  recognized  the  state  of  mind 
which  had  been  permitted  to  prevail  among 
the  so-called  jitney  operators  that  even 
though  the  Appe'late  Division  had  held 
their  acts  to  be  a  crime  the  processes  of 
the  criminal  law  were  inadequate  to  punish 
them  and  that  somehow  thev  were  above 
the  law.  So  they  continued  openly  and 
flagrantly  to  violate  the  law  and  held  it 
in  almost  perfect  contempt  until  it  became 
apparent  that  the  lawless  of  this  section 
of  the  State  were  being  schooled  to  become 
more  lawless,  the  thoughtless  among  us  to 
lose  what  respect  they  may  have  had  for 
law  and  order  and  the  sober  minded  and 
far  sighted  to  feel  uneasy  for  the  future 
when  the  law  could  be  so  flagrantly  defied 
with  impunity. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  law  to  deal  more 
gently  with  first  offenses  wherever  possible 
but  the  willful  renewal  of  the  offense  can- 
not be  tolerated.  It  must  be  dealt  with 
sternly  and  the  charge  made  here  against 
the  respondent.  Broomhead.  is  that  he  has 
repeated  the  offense  at  least  twice  since  re- 
ceiving punishment  and  kindly  admonition 
If  gui'ty,  it  is  my  duty  to  impose  a  more 
severe  penalty  this  time  as  punishment  to 
him  and  as  a  warning  to  others. 


Fare  Reductions  Sought  in 
Connecticut 

Fare  on  electric  railways  will  be 
considered  by  the  Connecticut  Public 
Utilities  Commission  at  Hartford  on 
Oct.  18  and  19.  The  first  hearing  will 
be  held  on  a  petition  of  the  Common 
Council  of  New  Britain  and  that  of 
the  city  of  Norwalk,  both  calling  for 
reduced  rates.  The  Common  Council 
of  Hartford  has  also  taken  up  the  mat- 
ter of  reduced  fares,  but  it  has  been 
determined  that  the  time  is  not  yet 
opportune  to  ask  for  a  general  reduc- 
tion. Factors  which  may  enter  promi- 
nently into  the  consideration  of  the 
fare  matter  at  this  time  are  the  elimi- 
nation of  jitney  competition  by  the 
State  and  the  prospects  for  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  wages  of  the  trainmen  of 
the  Connecticut  Company  in  the  arbi- 
tration proceedings  recently  brought  to 
a  close. 


666 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


Syracuse  Wants  Fare  Reduced 

The  city  government  of  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  will  launch  a  new  fight  in  Novem- 
ber to  reduce  fares  on  the  lines  of  the 
New  York  State  Railways  in  Syracuse, 
Edmund  H.  Lewis,  corporation  counsel, 
has  announced. 

A  demand  will  be  made  before  the 
Public  Service  Commission  that  the 
8-cent  straight  fare  and  the  71-cent 
ticket  fare  be  reduced  to  5  cents.  Mr. 
Lewis  believes  the  New  York  State 
Railways  cannot  substantiate  the  needs 
of  the  present  alleged  exorbitant  fares 
in  order  to  provide  a  fair  return  on  the 
value  of  its  property. 

Milo  R.  Maltbie,  public  utilities  ex- 
pert, will  be  retained  by  the  city  to  aid 
in  fighting  the  case. 

Mr.  Lewis  is  quoted  as  follows: 

We  are  planning  to  go  before  the  com- 
mission early  in  November  and  endeavor 
to  force  a  reduction  in  fares.  The  old 
Public  Service  Commission,  which  passed 
out  of  office  soon  after  it  made  the  fare 
award  in  the  Syracuse  rate  case,  provided 
in  its  order  that  the  city  could  not  appeal 
to  the  commission  again  until  six  months 
had  expired. 

We  never  have  felt  that  the  present  rates 
were  fair,  and  we  do  not  believe  the  value 
of  the  property  used  by  the  company  en- 
titles it  to  present  fares.  Traffic  will  in- 
crease with  the  approach  of  bad  weather 
and  we  believe  we  will  be  in  a  better  posi- 
tion to  get  all  the  facts  fairly  before  the 
commission  than  at  present.  The  present 
purpose  is  to  file  the  complaint  against  the 
present  rates  the  moment  the  six  months' 
period  expires. 

The  Public  Service  Commission  has 
agreed  to  send  one  of  its  experts  here 
to  observe  actual  conditions.    That  in 
vestigation  is  scheduled  to  start  within 
a  few  days. 


Jitney  Issue  Before  U.  S.  Court 

Corporation  Counsel  Walter  F.  Meier 
of  Seattle  has  gone  to  Washington, 
D.  C,  to  represent  the  city  in  its  last 
legal  battle  for  the  right  to  oust  jit- 
neys from  competition  with  the  Seattle 
(Wash.)  Municipal  Railway.  The  action 
before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
will  be  in  the  nature  of  an  applica- 
tion for  an  appeal  to  the  court  from 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Washington,  which  re- 
cently vacated  the  injunction  in  the 
McGlothern  case  under  which  the 
jitney  interests  in  Seattle  were  pro- 
tected. 

Should  the  application  be  granted, 
the  jitney  owners  would  have  the  right 
to  appeal  to  the  State  Supreme  Court 
for  a  continuance  of  that  injunction, 
upon  posting  a  proper  bond,  unt;l  the 
case  should  be  argued  before  Justice 
McKenna,  who  is  assigned  to  this  cir- 
cuit on  the  Federal  Supreme  Bench. 
The  jitney  interests  will  be  represented 
in  Washington  by  Representative  Mer- 
rill Moores  of  Indianapolis. 

Recent'y  the  city  utilities  committee 
of  Seattle  refused  to  grant  permission 
to  twenty-seven  members  of  the  Auto 
Drivers'  Union  to  operate  jitneys  in 
Cowen  Park  district.  This  section  is 
strictly  residential  and  was  built  almost 
entirelv  on  the  strength  of  jitnev  serv- 
ice, and  its  residents  are  prepared  to 
fight  the  removal  of  jitney  service 
from    the    district.    Property  owners 


are  preparing  to  organize  for  a  vigor- 
ous compaign  against  the  decision. 

Another  example  of  the  city's  objec- 
tion to  jitney  competition  is  found  in 
its  filing  with  the  State  Department  of 
Public  Works  a  protest  against  buses 
to  Seahurst  and  Three  Tree  Point  in 
competition  with  the  Lake  Burien  line 
of  Municipal  Street  Railway. 


More  Five-Cent-Fare  Lines 

In  announcing  the  plan  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated 
Railway  to  extend  the  5-cent  no-trans- 
fer plan  to  seven  additional  sections  of 
the  company's  system,  Chairman  James 
F.  Jackson  strongly  intimated  the  pur- 
pose of  the  trustees  to  reduce  the 
10-cent  basic  fare  unit.  In  a  state- 
ment he  said: 

An  experiment  of  short-distance,  local 
riding  without  transfer  privilege  for  cheap 
fare  has  already  been  inaugurated  in  sev- 
eral loca  ities.  The  first  of  these  lines  was 
opened  in  March  in  Everett  and  Maiden  ; 
the  second  in  May  in  Medford  and  Somer- 
ville  ;  the  third  in  June  in  East  Boston  ;  the 
fourth  in  August  in  Charlestown,  North 
Cambridge,  Belmont,  Waverly  and  Water- 
town  ;  the  fifth  in  September  in  Dorchester 
and  Roxbury.  Last  Saturday  certain 
lines  of  this  character  were  established  in 
West  Roxbury  and  one  line  between  Alls- 
ton  and  Dudley  street  via  Brookline  Vil- 
lage. 

The  deve'opment  of  similar  service  af- 
fecting South  Boston.  Somerville,  Cam- 
bridge, Brighton,  Roxbury,  Jamaica  Plain 
and  Brookline  is  now  under  study. 

It  has  been  said  and  should  be  repeated 
that  this  cheap  service  is  and  must  remain 
for  at  least  many  months  purely  as  an 
experiment.  If  a  reasonable  test  of  it 
proves  that  either  singly  or  collectively 
this  limited  service  invades  or  seriously 
threatens  the  net  revenue  of  the  railway  it 
will  become  necessary  either  to  advance 
the  local  fare  or  to  abandon  the  experi- 
ment. It  cannot  be  continued  if  it  material- 
ly interferes  with  or  delays  any  otherwise 
possible  reduction  of  the  basic  flat  fare  for 
travel  throughout  the  system.  On  the  other 
hand  if  it  can  be  maintained  without  any 
injustice  to  those  who  pay  the  basic  10- 
cent  fare,  it  is  of  great  importance  in  in- 
creasing the  usefulness  of  the  railway. 


Seven  Cents  in  Toronto 

Fares  at  present  in  force  on  the 

lines  of  the  Toronto   (Ont.)  Railway 

as  operated  by  the  city  are  as  follows: 

Cash  fare  7  cents 

Tickets,    4  for  25. cents 

16  for  $1.00 

Book  of  50  for  J3.00 

Children  in  arms  and  children  51  in.  in 
height  or  less,  4  cents  cash,  or  seven 
tickets  for  25  cents. 

Night  car  fares  15  cents  each 

It  will  be  recalled  that  during  the 
concluding  days  before  the  city  took 
over  the  Toronto  Railway  on  Sept.  1 
Mayor  Church  insisted  upon  a  continu- 
ation of  the  5-cent  fare,  but  the  com- 
mission stool  pat  for  the  increase  in 
fares  and  won  out,  as  of  course  the 
commission  has  been  clothed  with  the 
necessary  authority  to  "run"  the  sys- 
tem. The  idea  of  the  commission  was 
to  fix  a  rate  that  would  make  the  sys- 
tem self-sustaining  from  the  start. 

The  changes  in  the  fares  has  re- 
sulted in  a  large  number  of  people 
who  live  just  a  few  blocks  away  from 
the  old  Toronto  Railway  lines  and  who 
formerly  walked,  after  leaving  the 
Toronto  Railway  cars,  now  making  use 
of  the  former  Civic  Railway  lines  on 
Danforth,  Gerrard,  Bloor,  etc.,  as  of 
course  the  one  7-cent  fare  entitles  them 
to  a  transfer. 


Bus  Petition  Rejected 

Commission  Refuses  Request  of  Ulti- 
mate Bus  Company  to  Operate  in 
West  Virginia 

The  State  Road  Commission  of  West 
Virginia,  recently  rejected  the  petition 
of  the  Ultimate  Bus  Company  to  oper- 
ate in  the  State  of  West  Virginia.  The 
company  has  been  operating  buses  be- 
tween Wheeling,  Martins  Ferry,  Bridge- 
port and  Bellaire. 

Several  weeks  ago  following  differ- 
ences with  the  Wheeling  Traction  Com- 
pany the  bus  company  applied  for  a 
permit.  At  the  hearing  on  Sept.  14  the 
traction  company  filed  the  only  protest 
against  the  bus  company.  The  bus 
company  was  prepared  to  file  a  brief 
in  answer  to  the  protest  of  the  railway, 
but  before  the  time  for  filing  the  brief 
had  expired  the  State  Road  Commission 
rejected  the  petition  and  notified  the 
bus  company  to  that  effect. 

The  Ultimate  Bus  Company  started 
operation  last  spring  and  soon  keen 
competition  with  the  Wheeling  Traction 
Company  followed.  No  action  was  tak- 
en, however,  until  the  new  state  road 
law,  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the 
legislature  became  effective.  The  law 
prohibited  the  operation  of  buses  until 
permits  had  been  secured  from  the 
state  road  commission  where  the  traf- 
fic is  interstate.  As  a  result  of  a  sub- 
sequent hearing  in  Wheeling  at  which 
a  representative  of  the  state  road  com- 
mission was  present  no  action  was  tak- 
en but  all  bus  companies  accepted  im- 
mediately filed  applications  for  permits. 

In  the  meantime  the  Wheeling  Trac- 
tion Company  sought  an  injunction  in 
the  circuit  court  to  restrain  the  bus 
company  from  operating,  but  on  the  pe- 
tition of  the  bus  company  the  case  was 
removed  to  the  federal  court  where 
Federal  Judge  W.  E.  Baaker  refused  to 
grant  the  injunction.  According  to  a 
statement  made  by  the  counsel  for  the 
Ultimate  Bus  Company  the  line  will 
not  suspend. 


Fare  Increase  Postponed 

The  threatened  raise  of  fares  by  the 
Community  Traction  Company,  Toledo, 
Ohio,  did  not  go  into  effect  on  Oct.  1. 
President  Frank  R.  Coates  rescinded 
the  order  upon  the  .advice  and  statis- 
tical data  furnished  by  Street  Railway 
Commissioner  Wilfred  E.  Cann. 

The  month  of  October  will  be  a  test 
month  for  the  rival  figures  of  the  com- 
missioner and  statisticians  for  the 
company. 

It  is  the  commissioner's  belief  that 
riding  will  show  a  tendency  to  increase 
and  that  through  economies  and  a  de- 
crease in  expenditures  for  maintenance 
in  winter  months  he  will  be  able  to 
show  an  increase  in  the  stabilizing  fund 
at  the  end  of  the  month.  The  first  year 
under  the  new  grant  expires  on  Feb.  1. 

It  had  been  proposed  to  increase 
ticket  fares  on  Oct.  1  from  the  rate  of 
six  for  40  cents,  or  61  cents  each,  as 
sirainst  61  cents  each,  but  to  continue 
the  cash  fare  of  7  cents  with  1  cent 
rdditional  for  each  transfer. 


October  8,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


667 


Wants  to  Abolish  Ticket  Sales 

Alleging  that  the  Public  Utility  Com- 
mission of  New  Jersey  erred  in  its  es- 
timate of  the  revenue  returned  when  it 
handed  down  its  decision  in  the  New 
Jersey  &  Pennsylvania  Traction  Com- 
pany's 10-cent  fare  case,  early  in  July, 
the  company  on  Sept.  20  appeared  be- 
fore the  board  asking  permission  to 
abolish  the  sale  of  tickets. 

The  board  allowed  an  increase  in 
the  fare  on  the  Princeton  line  from  7 
to  8  cents  in  each  zone  or  71  cents  if 
tickets  were  purchased.  The  company 
now  seeks  to  do  away  with  the  tickets, 
which  are  sold  four  for  30  cents.  The 
board  claimed  that  the  new  rate  of  fare 
would  yield  an  annual  revenue  of  ap- 
proximately $124,960,  or  a  net  income 
of  $29,500.  The  company  claims  these 
figures  were  made  on  a  straight  8-cent 
fare. 

Additional  testimony  was  taken  and 
decision  reserved. 


Auto  Service  Cuts  Into  Interurban 
Business 

Jitney  competition  is  credited  by 
many  with  putting  the  Saginaw-Bay 
City  Railway  out  of  business,  and  since 
the  Glaspie  rate  law  went  into  effect 
about  thirty  touring  cars  have  com- 
menced operations  between  Saginaw 
and  Flint,  and  Saginaw  and  Bay  City. 
The  heaviest  travel  is  between  the  first- 
named  cities.  The  fare  charged  by  the 
Michigan  Railway  is  $1.07.  The  tour- 
ing cars  carry  passengers  for  $1  and 
the  operators  are  actually  soliciting 
patronage  from  the  interurban  waiting 
room  when  there  is  no  policeman 
around. 

Company  officials  are  incensed  at  the 
high-handed  manner  in  which  this  com- 
petition is  being  forced  on  them  and 
assert  that  it  is  unfair.  Most  of  the 
road  between  Flint  and  Saginaw  is  a 
concrete  pavement  for  which  the  tax- 
payers paid  $30,000  a  mile.  The  rail- 
road pays  taxes  and  maintains  its  own 
right-of-way  and  the  city  governments 
allow  those  who  happen  to  own  touring 
cars  to  injure  the  company's  business. 
Just  what  steps  will  be  taken  to  combat 
the  jitneys  is  unknown,  but  the  police 
have  been  asked  to  stop  the  men  from 
going  into  the  waiting  room  and  asking 
people  to  ride  with  them.  There  is  not 
an  officer  present  every  time  an  inter- 
urban arrives  or  departs  from  the  sta- 
tion, but  steam  roads  are  accorded  pro- 
tection, company  officials  point  out,  and 
say  that  more  passengers  arrive  and 
depart  from  their  waiting  room  than 
from  any  steam  road  passenger  sta- 
tion in  Saerinaw. 

During  fair  week  the  operators'  com- 
mittee representing  the  jitney  men  ap- 
pealed to  Mayor  B.  N.  Mercer  to  stop 
touring  cars  from  operating  on  the 
streets  and  depriving  them  of  business. 
They  asserted  that  the  touring  cars 
were  without  licenses.  Previous  to  the 
complaint  the  Mayor  appealed  to  every 
owner  of  a  touring  car,  if  on  the  w^y 
to  the  fair  and  room  was  available, 
to  pick  up  passengers.    Many  took  this 


to  mean  to  operate  without  a  license 
and  charge  for  carrying  passengers. 
The  jitney  owners  received  an  absolute 
refusal  to  comply  with  their  request, 
the  Mayor  asserting  they  started  a 
competitive  service  when  the  street  cars 
were  running  and  he  did  not  propose 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  others  doing  to 
the  jitney  bus  owners  what  they  had 
done  to  the  railway. 


With  City's  Help  Five-Cent  Fare 
Is  Possible 

The  Indianapolis  (Ind.)  Street  Rail- 
way will  be  able  to  maintain  a  basic 
5-cent  fare  if  the  city  eliminates  the 
burden  of  paying  the  special  franchise 
tax  of  $500,000  and  relieves  the  com- 
pany also  of  the  cost  of  paving  be- 
tween tracks,  Dr.  Henry  Jameson, 
chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  company,  said  following  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  directors.  The  meeting  was  de- 
voted largely  to  discussion  of  two  or- 
dinances introduced  in  the  City  Coun- 
cil which  proposed  a  solution  of  the 
controversy  between  the  city  and  com- 
pany. 

Directors  of  the  company  seemed  sat- 
isfied that  passage  of  the  ordinance, 
which  would  prohibit  jitneys  receiving 
or  discharging  passengers  on  streets 
on  which  cars  operate  and  which  would 
require  jitney  drivers  to  file  high  bonds 
and  conform  to  other  stringent  regula- 
tions, will  stop  loss  of  revenues,  which 
company  officers  declare  amount  to 
$1,200  daily. 

Dr.  Jameson  declared  that  railway 
officials  will  have  no  objection  to  pas- 
sage of  the  other  ordinance,  which  pro- 
vides for  continuing  all  provisions  of 
the  surrendered  franchise  not  inconsist- 
ent with  State  laws  and  the  power  of 
the  Public  Service  Commission,  if  it 
is  practical  and  economical.  While  de- 
clining to  comment  outright  on  whether 
the  company  will  contest  payment  of 
the  franchise  tax  and  paving  costs  in 
case  the  ordinance  is  passed,  he  de- 
clared that  it  will  be  better  for  the  pub- 
lic if  the  company  is  relieved  of  these 
two  burdens  and  asserted  that  elimi- 
nating these  features  would  mean  main- 
tenance of  the  basic  5-cent  fare. 


Bus  Plans  Described 

The  City  Commission  of  Manistee, 
Mich.,  recently  heard  the  plan  of  op- 
erating a  motor  bus  line  in  the  city 
by  a  representative  of  the  Duplex  Sales 
Agency  of  Lansing,  one  of  the  bidders 
for  the  right  to  operate. 

He  described  the  type  of  bus  which 
would  satisfy  the  needs  of  Manistee 
and  stressed  the  necessity  for  investi- 
gating thoroughly  the  transportation 
problem  in  the  city  before  installing 
buses.  In  his  talk  he  emphasized  the 
importance  of  local  capital  in  the  en- 
terprise. 

Railway  service  in  Manistee  was 
abandoned  on  Sept.  1.  Reference  to 
this  suspension  wis  made  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal,  issue  of  Sept. 
10,  page  416. 


1  ransportation 
News  Notes 

Gne-Man  Cars  in  Use. — The  Bing- 
hamton  (N.  Y.)  Railway  is  now  operat- 
ing one-man  cars  over  its  system  with 
the  exception  of  the  Endicott  and 
Union  Street  lines. 

Extra  Pay  for  Safety  Runs.— The 
Muskogee  (Okla.)  Electric  Traction 
Company  has  offered  to  motormen  a 
cash  bonus  of  $5  a  month  for  each 
month  they  operate  their  cars  without 
an  accident. 

Buses  Prove  Satisfactory. — The  auxil- 
iary bus  service  started  on  Humber- 
side  and  Annette  Avenues  in  West 
Toronto,  Ont.,  has  proved  exceedingly 
popular  with  the  citizens  and  is  giving 
a  five-minute  service  which  is  well 
patronized. 

Arranging  for  Live  Stock  Shipment. 
— J?lans  for  shipping  live  stock  over  the 
Interstate  Public  Service  Company's 
lines  between  Indianapolis  and  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  are  being  made  and  it  is 
expected  stock  trains  will  be  in  opera- 
tion on  the  lines  by  the  new  year. 

May  Use  Trackless  Trolleys. — The 
Transportation  Commission  has  noti- 
fied the  Toronto  Board  of  Control  that 
it  is  prepared  to  operate  motor  bus 
or  trackless  trolley  service  in  Toronto 
on  Mount  Pleasant  Road  as  far  north 
as  Eglinton  Avenue  as  a  temporary 
means  of  relieving  the  traffic  situation 
on  North  Yonge  Street. 

Will  Consider  Bus  Line. — A  hearing 
on  the  proposed  bus  franchise  for 
Little  Rock,  Ark.,  was  held  recently  by 
the  public  utilities  and  ordinance  com- 
mittees of  the  City  Council.  The  Citi- 
zens' Bus  Company  is  asking  for  the 
franchise  for  ten  years.  The  chief 
reason  for  the  service  is  to  afford  resi- 
dents of  the  districts  not  served  by 
railway  lines  an  opportunity  of  reach- 
ing the  downtown  districts.  The  mat- 
ter was  deferred  for  further  considera- 
tion. 

Attractive  Issue  Out. — The  story  of 
electrical  development  in  Chattanooga, 
Tenn.,  is  told  in  an  interesting  article 
in  the  September  number  of  Electro 
Topics  entitled  "Chattanooga  —  An 
Electrical  Center,"  in  which  the  author 
concludes  by  saying  that  there  is  no 
reason  why  Chattanooga  should  not 
become  the  electrical  center  of  the 
South.  Another  interesting  article  in 
this  number  is  "The  Nature  and  Han- 
dling of  Complaints."  The  expensive 
operation  of  automobiles  is  the  sub- 
ject of  another  instructive  account. 
Electro  Topic?  in  this  issue  also  tells 
what  the  railway  property  has  done 
during  the  last  few  years  in  the  way 
of  reconstruction  and  improvement 
work.  This  little  magazine,  published 
by  employees  of  the  Chattanooga  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company,  should  appear 
often  instead  of  "every  little  while." 


668 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


New  Duties  for  Mr.  Fountain 

H.  A.  Fountain  was  recently  appoint- 
ed secretary  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee of  both  the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light 
Company  and  the  Community  Traction 
Company.  But  a  few  years  ago  Mr. 
Fountain  was  a  motorman  on  the  cars 
in  Toledo. 

Mr.  Fountain  started  work  for  the 
Doherty  Company  in  Joplin,  Mo.,  as  a 
draftsman  during  his  college  vacation. 
After  graduation  from  the  University 
of  Missouri,  he  was  a  junior  engineer 
from  July,  1913,  until  July  of  the  next 
year  with  the  Denver  Gas  &  Electric 
Company,  also  a  Doherty  property. 

One  year  later  he  came  to  Toledo  as 
a  junior  engineer,  one  of  the  first  ten 
on  that  property.  It  was  to  have  been 
his  duty  to  make  a  survey  of  the  trac- 
tion problems,  but  the  work  was  aban- 
doned at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  and 
instead  he  went  on  the  cars  as  an  extra 
trainman.  Today  he  admits  that  the 
experience  he  received  in  those  days  as 
a  motorman  is  probably  the  most  valu- 
able he  ever  had. 

From  March,  1915,  until  July  of  this 
year  he  was  in  the  New  York  office,  at 
first  compiling  statistics  of  the  Cities 
Service  Company's  earnings.  Then  he 
went  into  the  operating  department 
handling  construction  requisitions,  later 
developing  the  construction  and  stock 
budget  system,  being  in  complete 
charge  of  this  work.  He  also  acted  as 
secretary  of  the  finance  committee. 

At  Mr.  Doherty's  personal  request  he 
organized  the  bureau  for  the  rating  of 
investment  securities  and  developed  a 
procedure  for  the  investigation  and  for- 
mulation of  reports  on  industries,  com- 
panies and  securities,  and  directed  the 
work  of  this  bureau.  On  July  15  of  this 
year  he  came  to  Toledo  as  director  of 
the  important  budget  system  and  also 
as  secretary  of  the  executive  committee 
of  both  the  Community  Traction  Com- 
pany and  the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light 
Company. 

The  public  utility  properties  at 
Toledo  under  the  management  of  the 
Doherty  interests  have  recently  been 
segregated  so  that  the  railway  and 
the  lighting  systems  are  now  entirely 
separate.  This  change  was  carried  out 
under  terms  with  the  city  calling  for 
operation  under  service  at  cost. 


Mr.  Duffy  Appointed  to  Detroit 
United  Railway 

C.  Nesbitt  Duffy,  recently  assist- 
ant to  vice-president — accounting  and 
finance — of  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  has  been  elected 
comptroller  of  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
way. Before  his  appointment  to  the 
Philade^hia  Rapid  Transit  Company 
Mr.  Duffy  was  for  a  long  time  in  the 
Philippines  first  as  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Manila  Electric 


Railway  &  Light  Company  and  later 
as  vice-president  of  the  Visayan  Refin- 
ing Company.  Previous  to  that  he  was 
connected  for  many  years  with  the 
Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company. 

Mr.  Harvell  Advanced 

Light  and  Power  Superintendent  Named 
as  Mr.  Buchanan's  Successor  in 
Richmond. 

On  almost  the  thirty-fourth  anniver- 
sary of  his  career  as  a  public  utility 
man,  John  E.  Harvell  assumed  his  new 
duties  on  Oct.  1  as  general  manager  of 
the  Richmond-Petersburg  division  of 
the  Virginia  Railway  &  power  Com- 
pany, Richmond,  Va.,  succeeding  C.  B. 
Buchanan,  whose  resignation  was  an- 


John  E.  Harvell 


nounced  last  week.  In  addition  to  his 
duties  as  general  manager,  Mr.  Harvell 
will  continue  to  have  full  charge  of  the 
company's  light  and  power  business 
throughout  the  entire  system. 

Mr.  Harvell  is  a  native  of  Petersburg 
and  has  acquired  wide  practical  knowl- 
edge and  experience  both  in  the  con- 
struction and  operation  of  public  util- 
ities. He  secured  his  first  job  on  Sept. 
13,  1887,  as  a  lineman  with  the  Upper 
Appomattox  Company,  one  of  the  pi- 
oneer companies  in  harnessing  water 
power  for  public  service.  In  1891  he 
was  made  assistant  superintendent  and 
three  years  later  was  promoted  to  su- 
perintendent of  operations.  When  the 
interurban  line  between  Richmond  and 
Petersburg  was  put  into  operation  in 
1898  Mr.  Harvell  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  service  but  was  relieved  five 
years  later  in  order  to  give  his  full 
time  to  the  present  hydraulic  power 
development  which  was  then  being 
made  on  the  Apnomattox  River. 

When  the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power 
Company  was  organized  in  1909,  Mr. 
Harvell  continued  in  charge  of  the  oper- 
ations of  the  interurban  and  Petersburg 
city  lines  and  was  later,  in  addition, 
given    supervision    of    the  company's 


light  and  power  properties  at  Weldon 
and  Roanoke  Rapids,  N.  C.  In  1918  he 
was  appointed  general  superintendent 
of  light  and  power  divisions  of  the  en- 
tire system,  including  Richmond,  Nor- 
folk, Portsmouth  and  Suffolk,  which 
duties  he  will  continue  to  discharge  in 
his  new  appointment. 

During  the  war  period  when  govern- 
ment activities  and  the  increased  pop- 
ulations of  Richmond,  Hopewell  and 
Norfolk  and  vicinity  were  clamoring- 
for  more  electric  power  Mr.  Harvell 
was  assigned  to  the  mammoth  under- 
taking decided  upon  by  the  company's 
directors  of  constructing  the  present 
high-power  transmission  line  between. 
Richmond  and  Norfolk,  the  then  only 
possible  means  for  providing  the  addi- 
tional electric  power  requirements.  The 
task  was  completed  in  remarkably  short 
order  and  under  most  trying  conditions. 
Recent  construction  work  completed  un- 
der Mr.  Harvell's  supervision  includes 
a  new  substation  at  Hopewell  and  a 
transmission  line  between  Petersburg 
and  Hopewell  for  providing  adequate 
power  facilities  for  the  new  Hopewell 
which  is  arising  out  of  the  ruins  of  the 
old,  and  he  is  now  engaged  on  the  new 
project  recently  undertaken  by  the 
company  of  restoring  an  abandoned 
power  plant  and  dam  on  the  Appomat- 
tox River  at  Petersburg. 

Mr.  Harvell's  experience  extending 
over  thirty-four  years  in  construction 
work  and  also  in  the  operation  of  rail- 
way, light  and  power  service  fits  him 
admirably  for  the  new  post  assigned 
to  him  in  the  company's  organization. 


Alva  R.  Dittrick,  the  only  Cleveland 
city  councilman  to  serve  continuously 
on  that  body  from  1910  when  the  Taylor 
service-at-cost  grant  went  into  effect, 
retired  from  that  body  x,o  become  a 
county  commissioner  this  month.  For 
six  years  Mr.  Dittrick  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  council  street  railway  com- 
mittee before  which  all  legislature 
effecting  the  Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway 
must  pass.  For  the  past  two  years 
he  has  been  chairman  of  that  body  and 
as  such  will  be  succeeded  by  councilman 
Sam  B.  Michell. 

Judge  Julius  M.  Mayer  of  the  United 
States  District  Court,  whose  nomination 
to  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  was 
sent  on  Sept.  22  to  the  Senate  by  Presi- 
dent Harding,  will  continue  jurisdiction 
over  the  receiverships  of  the  Brooklyn 
(N.  Y.)  Rapid  Transit  and  the  New 
York  Railways  Company.  Judge  Mayer 
was  appointed  to  his  present  position 
by  President  Taft  in  February,  1912. 
Since  that  time  he  has  handled  many 
important  cases,  especially  those  in- 
volving traction.  Apart  from  directing 
the  affairs  of  the  receiverships  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  and  the  New 
York  Railways  Company  he  has  had 
the  suits  in  equity  against  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  Company  begun 
by  the  American  Brake  Shoe  &  Foun- 
dry Company  placed  before  him.  The 
suits  have  been  before  him  on  three 
different  occasions  on  orders  to  show 
cause  why  a  receiver  should  not  be  ap- 


October  8,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


669 


pointed,  and  each  time  he  has  granted 
an  adjournment  on  the  ground  that  a 
receivership  should  be  avoided  if  possi- 
ble. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Thomas  A.  Wright 

Thomas  A.  Wright,  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Wilkes- 
Barre  (Pa.)  Traction  Company,  died  on 
Sept.  28,  as  the  result  of  injuries  re- 
ceived in  an  automobile  accident.  Mr. 
Wright  was  connected  with  the  Trac- 
tion System  of  Wyoming  Valley  for 
nearly  thirty  years.  He  was  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  Wilkes-Barre 
Railway  and  since  its  organization  in 
1910  has  been  its  chief  executive  of- 
ficer. 

All  railway  men  will  recall  the  con- 
troversy between  Mr.  Wright  and  the 
employees  of  the  company  that  resulted 
in  the  strike  called  in  the  fall  of  1915 
and  lasting  for  fourteen  months. 
It  was  a  case  in  which  the  events  of 
the  first  few  days  turned  from  any 
attempt  to  settle  the  main  issue  to 
disorder  and  riot.  The  issue  lay  in  the 
refusal  of  the  trainmen  to  abide  by  an 
arbitrated  decision.  The  controversy 
became  so  fierce  at  one  time  that  it 
resulted  in  strike  sympathizers  making 
-■a  personal  attack  on  Mr.  Wright.  This 
spurred  him  on  to  an  even  greater  de- 
termination to  carry  the  fight  to  a  suc- 
cessful finish  for  the  company,  and  such 
was  the  outcome  when  the  strikers  ac- 
cepted the  decision  handed  down  by  the 
•arbitrators  in  December,  1916. 

Mr.  Wright  was  born  in  Quakertown, 
Penn.,  Nov.  30,  1863.  He  was  educated 
In  the  Quakertown  public  schools  and 
subsequently  pursued  a  course  in  the 
Wyoming  Seminary,  after  which  he 
turned  his  attention  to  civil  engineer- 
ing. Subsequently  for  several  years  he 
practiced  engineering  in  Wilkes-Barre. 

A  few  years  later  Mr.  Wright  began 
railroad  work  and  assisted  in  the  sur- 
vey of  the  Harvey's  Lake  Branch  Rail- 
way. In  1892  he  entered  upon  the 
survey  of  the  present  trolley  system  of 
the  Wyoming  Valley  and  has  been  with 
the  Wilkes-Barre  Railway  Company 
since.  In  1897  he  was  made  general 
manager  of  the  maintenance  of  way 
department  and  two  years  later  was 
-appointed  general  superintendent  of 
the  entire  system  consisting  of  nearly 
100  miles  of  track,  all  of  which  was 
surveyed,  constructed  and  brought  to 
its  present  high  standard  of  excellence 
under  his  immediate  direction. 

He  was  named  general  manager  of 
the  Wilkes-Barre  Railway  Company  in 
1910  when  local  interests  purchased  the 
lease  of  the  old  Wyoming  Valley  Trac- 
tion Company.  Mr.  Wright  served  for 
one  term  as  president  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Street  Railway  Association. 

His  son,  T.  A.  Wright,  Jr.,  has  been 
identified  for  some  time  with  the 
Wilkes-Barre  Railway  as  auditor. 


Stronger  Copper  Demand 

Copper  prices  went  up  the  early  part 
of  this  week,  and  little  if  any  October 
metal  can  be  bought  less  than  121  cents 
delivered.  Rise  in  price  is  due  to  in- 
creased demand  here  and  abroad.  There 
is  a  feeling  in  the  trade  that  the  corner 
has  been  turned  in  copper,  and  that 
prices  will  be  upward  for  some  time 
to  come. 

Several  important  consumers  are  fig- 
uring upon  orders  covering  business 
running  late  into  1922.  This  is  the 
most  encouraging  aspect  of  the  situa- 
tion. Apparently  the  consumers  have 
decided  that  it  is  useless  to  try  to  get 
one  producer  to  fight  another  any 
longer  by  cutting  prices  drastically  to 
get  business.  All  have  seemed  to  learn 
that  when  such  tactics  are  followed  the 
producers  all  suffer  greatly  while  con- 
sumers in  their  turn  lose  through  the 
price  uncertainty  which  results. 

Brass  and  wire  orders  are  increasing 
with  the  demand  unusually  good  for 
tubes  and  sheet  copper  and  brass.  Ap- 
parently copper  prices,  barring  most 
untoward  developments  in  Europe,  are 
destined  to  rise  slightly  higher.  How- 
ever, it  can  be  expected  that  the  next 
rise  of  J -cent  a  pound  in  price  will  take 
much  longer  to  effect  than  the  last. 
Most  large  producers  are  at  present 
out  of  the  market. 

Price  of  electrolytic  copper  is  121 
cents  a  pound  delivered  for  September 
domestic  shipments,  and  121  for  October 
and  November  combined.  Price  of 
Lake  copper  is  121  to  123  cents  a  pound 
delivered  for  October  and  November. 

Demand  is  strong  from  both  wire  and 
brass  people  with  business  for  makers 
of  sheets  and  tubes  unusually  good.  Or- 
ders being  placed  by  ultimate  consumers 
with  manufacturers  are  said  to  be 
widely  scattered  and  inclined  to  mod- 
erate lather  than  large  size  in  most  in- 
stances. 


Rectifiers  for  a  French  Railway 

The  increasing  employment,  says 
the  London  Electrician,  of  the  mercury 
rectifier  for  railway  work  abroad  is 
exemplified  in  a  contract  recently 
placed  with  the  Societie  Anonyme 
Brown,  Boveri  et  Cie  by  the  Chemins 
de  Fer  du  Midi.  This  contract  is  for 
the  complete  equipment  of  five  sub- 
stations at  Pau,  Lourdes,  Tarbes, 
Montrejeau  and  Lannemezan  respec- 
tively with  mercury  are  rectifiers. 

The  contract  comprises  in  all  six- 
teen 1,200-kw  rectifier  sets  to  operate 
on  the  direct-current  side  at  the  high 
pressure  of  1,575  volts.  Each  set 
consists  of  a  single  main  transformer 
supplying  two  high  tension  rectifiers  in 
parallel.  The  primary  supply  will  be 
three-phase    at    60,000    volts,    and  a 


frequency  of  50.  Everything  from  the 
high  tension  to  the  direct-current  side 
is  included  in  the  contract.  The  over- 
load capacity  for  which  the  rectifiers 
are  being  designed  is  50  per  cent  for 
two  hours  and  200  per  cent  for  five 
minutes. 

Messrs.  Power  Rectifiers,  Ltd.,  who 
represent  this  end  of  Brown,  Boveri's 
activities  in  England,  say  that  the 
progress  made  during  recent  years  with 
this  class  of  plant  is  very  marked, 
something  like  160  individual  equip- 
ments being  either  installed  or  in  hand. 
They  comprise  roughly  340  separate 
rectifiers  giving  a  total  capacity  of 
about  100,000  kw. 


Railway  Electrification 
in  Madagascar 

The  governor  general  of  Madagascar 
has  decided  to  electrify  the  railroads  of 
that  colony  from  Tananarive  to  Tama- 
tave,  according  to  Commerce  Reports. 
A  hydro-electric  power  station  will  be 
built  on  the  Vohitra  river  to  furnish  a 
maximum  power  of  30,000  hp.  The 
length  of  the  line  is  93  miles  and  the 
total  cost  of  the  installations  will  reach 
$4,620,000.  Assistant  Trade  Commis- 
sioner F.  G.  Singer,  who  furnished  this 
information,  states  that  the  governor 
general  is  also  considering  the  electrifi- 
cation of  the  future  railroad  from 
Diego-Suares  to  Joffre  Ville,  a  road 
about  22  miles  in  length. 


Waterpower  Development  in 
Japan  Js  Being  Pushed 
Rapidly 

Japan  is  pushing  work  on  hydro- 
electric development  as  the  demand  for 
power  in  the  larger  cities  as  well  as 
the  smaller  villages  is  far  in  excess 
of  the  supply  available,  according  to 
Stephen  Q.  Hayes,  a  special  electrical 
engineer  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  who  re- 
cently returned  from  a  six  months'  tour 
of  Australia  and  Japan,  where  he  made 
a  special  study  of  business  conditions. 
Tokyo  and  Yokohama,  near  the  eastern 
end  of  the  main  island,  are  supplied 
with  power  at  50  cycles  from  many 
hydro-electric  plants  and  there  is  an 
electrified  section  of  the  railway  be- 
tween these  two  cities  with  multiple- 
unit  trains  every  ten  or  fifteen  minutes. 

Near  the  middle  of  the  main  island, 
about  350  miles  from  Yokohama  and 
Tokyo,  are  the  large  manufacturing 
cities  of  Kyoto,  Osaka  and  Kobe.  These 
are  fed  by  numerous  transmission  sys- 
tems operating  at  60  cycles.  Some  of 
the  most  important  hydro-electric 
generating  stations  are  located  about 
half  way  between  the  two  groups  of 
cities  and   some   interesting  problems 


670 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  15 


are  involved  in  making  some  of  these 
stations  suitable  for  feeding  50-cycle 
current  to  Tokyo  and  Yokohama  and 
60-cycle  current  to  Kyoto,  Osaka  and 
Kobe.   

Nine  Electric  Locomotives 
Exported  During  July 

Of  the  nine  electric  locomotives  ex- 
ported from  this  country  during  July, 
eight,  having  a  total  value  of  $412,076, 
went  to  Brazil,  says  Commerce  Reports, 
and  one,  invoiced  at  $11,100,  went  to 
England. 

Bituminous  Coal  Output  Falls 

Production  of  bituminous  coal  in  the 
United  States  during  the  week  ended 
Sept.  3  was  7,571,000  tons,  against 
7,763,000  tons  in  the  week  previous, 
and  11,167,000  in  the  week  ended  Sept. 
3,  last  year,  according  to  the  Geological 
Survey.  For  the  calendar  year  to  Sept. 
3  the  output  was  264,647,000  tons, 
against  354,396,000  tons  in  the  same 
time,  last  year. 


Express  Locomotives  for  Chile 

Six  express  locomotives  were  also  in- 
cluded in  the  order  of  the  Chilean  State 
Railroad  from  the  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric Interaational  Company.  The  other 
locomotive  equipment  to  be  furnished, 
as  was  announced  last  week,  includes 
eleven  local  passenger  and  fifteen  road 
freight  locomotives  and  seven  switching 
engines.  All  of  these  locomotives  are 
of  Baldwin-Westinghouse  manufacture. 


Will  Study  American 
Developments 

It  has  been  learned  through  govern- 
ment channels  that  R.  Shirase,  a  Jap- 
anese government  official  and  traffic 
manager  of  the  railway  department  of 
the  Formosan  Government  General, 
arrived  in  San  Francisco  on  board  the 
steamship  Taiyo  Maru,  Sept.  9,  1921. 
His  visit  to  the  United  States  is  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  the  developments 
of  the  railroad  situation  in  this  country 
following  the  war.  While  Mr.  Shirase 
is  not  a  purchasing  agent,  it  is  under- 
stood that  a  considerable  volume  of  rail- 
way materia]  will  be  purchased  later 
on,  based  upon  his  reports  and  recom- 
mendations. Mr.  Shirase  may  be  ad- 
dressed in  care  of  Mitsu  &  Company. 
65  Broadway,  New  York. 


Rolling  Stock 


Elmira  Water.  Light  &  Railroad  Com- 
pany, Elniira,  N.  Y.,  is  intending  within 
the  next  four  weeks  to  place  an  order  for 
three  safety  cars. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  will  install 
350  new  motors  on  center-entrance  cars. 
These  are  the  largest  cars  operated  by  the 
railway.  Westinghouse  and  General  Elec- 
tric equipment  is  being  used.  The  total 
outlay  will  be  about  $350,000.  The.  cars  to 
be  equipped  are  of  the  two-motor  type. 

New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Rail- 
road has  purchased  from  the  International 
Motor  Company  three  gasoline  motor  cars 
adapted  for  operation  on  rails  by  special 
trucks.  They  will  have  seating  capacity 
of  35  and  also  a  compartment  for  baggage. 
Delivery  of  these  cars  is  expected  early 
in  December.  They  will  be  used  in  short- 
haul  passenger  service  on  branch  lines. 


Pac.fie  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  has  just  placed  in  commission  eleven 
rebuilt  two-man  side  entrance,  pay-as-you- 
enter,  stepless  cars.  These  cars  will  be 
operated  on  the  Willowville-American  Ave- 
nue line  and  the  East  Third  street  line. 
The  cars  represent  modern  design  in  local 
street  car  transportation  and  are  considered 
almost  accident  proof.  Work  is  b'ing 
rushed  on  the  new  steel  interurban 
cars  assigned  to  the  Long  Beach  route, 
which,  as  soon  as  completed,  will  be  placed 
in  service. 

,J.    G.   White    Company,    New   York,  has 

purchased  for  immediate  delivery  on  ac- 
count of  the  Manila  Electric  Company  two 
"trollibuses"  from  the  Atlas  Truck  Cor- 
poration, York,  Pa.  These  machines  are  to 
be  built  according  to  the  same  design  as 
those  already  built  for  operation  in  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  and  on  Staten  Island,  N.  Y., 
with  the  exception  that  it  is  propelled  by 
■a  single  45-hp.  motor  instead  of  a  single 
25-hp.  railway  motor  in  the  case  of  those 
now  operating  in  Richmond  and  two  25-hp. 
motors  coupled  in  tandem  as  used  on  the 
Staten  Island  rail-less  vehicles. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Ironwood  &  Bessemer  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  Ironwood,  Mich.,  has  extended  its 
lines  from  Ayer  Street  south  and  east  to 
Bonnie  Street. 

St.  Thomas,  Ont. — The  electrification  of 
the  Canadian  division  of  the  Pere  Mar- 
quette Railway  is  reported  to  be  again 
under  consideration. 

Savannah  (Ga.)  Electric  Company  will 
extend  its  double  tracks  on  Habersham 
Street  from  Anderson  to  Thirty-Seventh. 
Permission  was  recently  granted  by  the 
city  and  work  will  start  directly. 

Public  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J., 
has  notified  the  board  of  commissioners 
of  Haddonfield,  N.  J.,  that  it  will  furnish 
better  trolley  service,  repair  roadbeds  and 
lay  new  tracks  within  the  borough  limits. 

Toledo,  Fostoria  &  Findlay  Railway, 
Fostoria,  Ohio,  will  lay  new  60  lb.  rails 
from  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  to  the  Lake 
Erie  crossing.  The  rails  will  be  slightly 
elevated  in  order  that  street  re-surfacing 
will  not  be  impeded  in  the  future. 

Toronto,  Ont. — Mayor  Church  is  urging 
the  Transportation  Commission  to  proceed 
with  the  construction  of  a  double-track 
extension  of  the  King  Street  car  line  from 
Sunnyside  to  the  Humber.  The  Commis- 
sion has  decided  not  to  construct  the  ex- 
tension until  next  spring. 

Northern  Texas  Traction  Company,  Fort 
Worth.  Tex.,  has  been  granted  authority  by 
the  City  Commission  in  Port  Worth,  Tex., 
to  extend  its  University  line  three  blocks 
from  Elizabeth  Boulevard  to  Cantey  Street 
on  South  Adams  Street.  Work  on  the 
extension  will  begin  at  once. 

Duluth  (Minn.)  Street  Railway,  has 
drawn  up  plans  for  a  double-track  extend- 
ing 125  ft.  from  Tower  Avenue  along 
Twenty-first  Street  in  the  direction  of  Og- 
den  Avenue.  From  this  point  the  line  will 
run  on  a  single  track  for  eleven  blocks  to 
Grand  Avenue.  The  single-track  plan  has 
been  approved  by  the  City  Council. 

Frankford  Elevated  Railway.  Philadel- 
phia. Pa.,  may  be  extended  300  ft.  north  of 
Arch  Street  along  Front  Street  to  Market 
Street.  Provision  is  also  made  for  a 
temporary  terminal  as  near  Market  Street, 
as  possible.  The  plans  for  the  extension 
are  nearly  completed  and  bids  will  proba- 
bly be  asked  for  within  the  next  three 
weeks. 

Toronto  (Can.)  Transportation  Commis- 
sion, in  connection  with  its  reconstruction 
work  will  erect  on  the  site  of  the  Hillcrest 
site,  carhouse  and  repair  plant  to  serve 
the  whole  railway  system.  Property  has 
also  been  acquired  at  Yonge  &  Eglinton 
Avenue  for  carhouses  in  North  Toronto, 
and  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Eglington 
and  Duplex  Avenues  a  new  substation 
similar  to  the  one  south  of  St.  Clair  Av.nue 
is  to  be  built. 

Frankford,  Tacony  &  Holmesburg  Street 
Railway,  Philadelphia,  Pa..  has  placed 
within  the  last  month  with  the  Lorain  Steel 
Company  orders  for  six  new  spiral  curves, 
section  114  No.  480  and  SO  tons  of  7-in. 
Trilby  rail  section  105  No.  484.  In  the 
spring  of  this  year  the  company  placed 
orders  for  300  tons  of  rail  section  105  No. 
484  and  about  $14,000  worth  of  railroad 
crossings,  new  sidings  and  other  special 
work  with  the  Lorain  Steel  Company.  Also 
6,000  ties  were  ordered  from  Bernard 
Brothers.  The  railway  does  not  expect  to 
purchase  further  this  year. 


Trade  Notes 


Ohmer  Fare  Register  Company,  Dayton^ 
Ohio,  recently  received  a  contract  with  the 
Georgia  Railway  &  Electric  Company,  At- 
lanta, Ga.,  for  equipping  all  of  its  cars 
with  No.  3  type  Ohmer  registers. 

E.  E.  Aldous  has  been  appointed  repre- 
sentative of  'the  American  Steel  &  Wire- 
Company  in  St.  Paul-Minneapolis-Duluth 
territory,  with  headquarters  at  St.  Paul. 
Mr.  Aldous  has  been  connected  with  the 
company  for  twenty  years  in  different  po- 
sitions. 

Indianapolis  Switch  &  Frog  Company, 
Springfield,  Ohio,  announces  a  new  line  of 
rubber-covered  flexible  cables  and  cords  for 
use  with  portable  electrical  equipment.  A 
special  cable  has  been  designed  for  use  with 
electric  welders,  grinders  and  all  track, 
tools.  The  outside  coating,  rubber-vulcan- 
ized under  compression,  resists  abrasion,, 
does  not  absorb  water  or  liquid,  is  non- 
kinkable  and  of  high  tensile  strength  and 
extremely  flexible. 

Hunter  Grubb  has  been  made  general' 
manager  in  charge  of  paints  of  the  du 
Pont  Company,  Wilmington,  Del.,  following 
the  company's  resumption  of  its  old  plan 
of  supervising  its  industries.  Under  the 
plan  there  will  be  a  general  manager  in 
charge  of  each  industry,  while  during  the 
war  supervision  of  the  various  industries 
of  which  the1  company  is  the  owner  was 
delegated  to  different  members  of  the 
executive  committee. 

Carl  F.  Dietz,  vice-president  and  sales 
manager  of  the  Norton  Company,  Worces- 
ter, Mass.,  has  resigned  to  become  presi- 
dent and  general  manager  of  the  Bridge- 
port (Conn.)  Brass  Company.  He  suc- 
ceeds as  president  Fred  J.  Kingsbury  of 
New  Haven,  who  becomes  chairman  of  the 
board  of  directors.  Mr.  Dietz  has  been 
connected  with  the  Norton  company  for 
ten  years,  first  as  plant  engineer,  then  as 
assistant  sales  manager,  and  afterward  as- 
sales  manager  of  the  wheel  division  of  the 
business.  Two  years  ago,  when  the  Morton 
Company  and  the  Norton  Grinding  Com- 
pany were  consolidated,  he  was  made  vice- 
president  and  sales  manager. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Insulators. — The  Porcelain  Insulator  Cor- 
poration, Lima,  N.  Y.,  has  issued  a  booklet, 
the  purpose  of  which  is  to  describe  its  pin- 
type  insulators,  manufactured  for  use  on 
transmission  lints  operated  at  voltages  from 
6,600  to  70,000. 

Battery  Equipment. — S.  R.  Oram,  SOS- 
SOS  North  Eleventh  Street,  Philadelphia, 
manufacturer  of  battery  shop  equipment, 
has  issued  a  new  catalog  covering  his' 
products. 

Safety     Switches     and     Panel-Boards. — 

Catalog  12-A  issued  by  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  East 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  includes  new  types  of 
safety  motor  starters  and  safety  panel- 
boards. 

Track  Reclamation. — Indianapolis  Switch 
<fe  Frog  Company.  Springfield,  Ohio,  has  re- 
cently issued  a  booklet  on  the  subject  of 
track  construction  and  reclamation  by  the 
arc   welding  process. 

Electric  Drill.  —  The  Elecyto-Magnetic 
Tool  Company,  Chicago,  has  developed  and 
Placed  on  the  market  a  |-in.  drill  which  may- 
be used  as  a  drill  press  by  attaching  to  a 
portable  stand. 

Heavy-Duty  Grinder.  —  The  Van  Dorn 
Electric  Tool  Company,  Cleveland,  has  re- 
cently put  on  the  market  an  improved 
heavy-duty  ball-bearing  electric  grinder 
driven  by  a  4-hp.  motor. 

Edison  Lamp  Works,  Harrison,  N.  ,L, 
part  of  the  General  Electric  Company's  sys- 
tem, has  issued  a  series  o*  pamphlets  en- 
titled "Lighting  Data."  Each  booklet  de- 
scribes some  phase  of  the  lighting  subiect, 
one  being  on  the  proper  system  for  lighting 
railway  buildings  and  yards,  another  on 
lighting  for  outdoor  sports,  a  third  for  light- 
ing of  printing  plants,  another  a  discussion 
of  reflectors  for  incandescent  lamps,  etc. 

Manganese  Traek  Society  and  the  Man- 
ganese Steel  Founders'  Society,  Chicago, 
have  issued  in  pamphlet  form  the  specifica- 
tions for  switches,  frogs,  crossings  and 
guard  rails,  as  adopted  for  recommended 
practice  by  the  American  Railway  Engi- 
neering Association  at  its  annual  conven- 
tion in  March,  1921.  The  pamphlet  makes 
up  a  book  of  ten  printed  pages,  printed  on 
one  side  of  the  sheet  only. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 


HARRY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor 


HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  T.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 

N  A. BOWERS. Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      c.W.SQUIEB.  Associate  Editor 
G.J.MAOMURRAY.Newa  Editor  DONALD  F. HI NE. Editorial  Representative 


C.W. STOCKS,  Associate  BdlUr 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  October  15,  192 


— 


Number  16 


Does  the  Engineering  Association 

Constitution  Need  Revamp jng^  ^\>£ 

IN  HIS  ADDRESS  before  the  Sngiseefmg  Association 
at  the  Atlantic  City  Convention,  W.  G.  Gove,  retiring 
president,  made  some  statements  which  seem  at  first 
rather  startling.  The  address  was  taken  up  largely  with 
suggestions  as  to  ways  in  which  Mr.  Gove  thought  the 
functioning  of  the  organization  could  be  improved.  He 
said  frankly  that  these  suggestions  would  not  meet 
with  universal  approval.  Probably  they  will  not  in 
detail,  but  they  will  in  principle.  The  principle  is  that 
now  is  a  good  time  to  make  a  study  of  the  workings 
of  the  association  to  learn  whether  some  improvements 
may  not  profitably  be  introduced.  This  is  timely  now 
because  the  parent  association  has  just  completed  such 
a  study.  The  suggestion  that  a  committee  be  appointed 
to  go  into  this  matter  will  meet  with  no  opposition.  If 
such  a  committee  finds  that  present  practice  is  satisfac- 
tory, the  establishment  of  the  fact  will  be  worth  while. 
The  chances  are  ten  to  one  that  some  changes  will  be 
found  desirable. 

To  Mr.  Gove's  mind,  the  root  of  the  trouble  with  com- 
mittee work  at  present  is  that  committee  members  have 
to  pay  their  own  expenses  in  attending  meetings  or  else 
charge  them  to  their  expense  accounts  with  their  em- 
ployers. There  is  some  warrant  for  this  conclusion, 
although  the  influence  of  the  money  item  is  probably 
not  predominating.  The  way  out  would  seem  to  be 
some  kind  of  a  mileage  allowance,  which  would  put  all 
members  on  the  same  footing  geographically,  at  least 
with  respect  to  railroad  fares.  This  is  probably  not 
practicable  at  once  on  account  of  the  financial  condition 
of  the  association,  but  the  plan  should  be  considered  for 
adoption  later. 

Next,  Mr.  Gove  wants  committee  work  simplified. 
This  is  desirable  and  can  be  accomplished  without 
changes  in  the  constitution  and  by-laws.  The  executive 
committee  appreciates  the  desirability  of  a  simple 
program  of  committee  work  and  will  undoubtedly  pro- 
vide such  for  the  coming  year.  Mr.  Gove  also  wants 
more  attention  given  to  practical  standardization.  He 
suggests  an  advisory  committee  in  the  car  design  field 
to  act  as  an  intermediary  between  the  manufacturers 
and  the  users.  Such  a  committee  could  undoubtedly 
accomplish  a  great  deal.    The  plan  is  worth  a  trial. 

As  to  the  "Engineering  Manual,"  the  retiring  presi- 
dent voiced  a  rather  general  desire  to  have  this  in- 
valuable reference  book  in  more  convenient  form  and 
in  a  form  to  insure  up-to-dateness.  The  committee  on 
standards  has  been  struggling  with  this  proposition 
for  many  years.  It  is  a  difficult  one.  If  the  volume* 
are  bound  up  permanently  and  issued  say  every  two 
years,  there  is  much  loss  of  good  printed  matter,  but 
the  appearance  of  each  successive  new  volume  insures 
the  completeness  of  the  Manual  as  of  the  date  of  issue. 
Now  it  is  difficult,  practically,  to  keep  the  loose-leaf 
books  up  to  the  minute.  The  bound  volume  idea,  sup- 
plemented with  reprints  for  those  who  do  not  need  the 
complete  volume,  is  worth  pushing. 


T.  &  T.  Association  Will  Consider 
Changes  in  Organization 

AT  THE  Atlantic  City  convention  changes  in  organi- 
l\.  zation  were  considered  not  only  for  the  American 
Association  but  for  the  T.  &  T.  and  Engineering  Asso- 
ciations. In  each  of  these  associations  they  were  recom- 
mended by  the  president  and  will  be  considered  by  the 
executive  committee,  with  the  possibility  of  course  that 
a  committee  may  be  appointed  in  each  body  to  work 
out  the  most  satisfactory  plan. 

In  the  case  of  the  T.  &  T.  association,  the  first  sug- 
gestion of  the  retiring  president,  R.  P.  Stevens,  was 
that  only  one  vice-president  should  be  elected,  the  reason 
presumably  being  the  same  as  that  which  prompted  the 
reorganization  committee  of  the  American  Association 
to  propose  that  the  method  of  electing  vice-presidents  in 
that  body  be  changed  so  that  there  would  be  no  order  of 
precedence  among  the  vice-presidents.  One  chief  aim  of 
this  change  was  to  do  away  with  the  plan  usually  fol- 
lowed of  advancing  each  of  the  vice-presidents  one  step 
each  year  and  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  of  choosing  a 
president  four  years  before  he  will  serve. 

The  argument  in  favor  of  a  change  in  the  T.  &  T. 
Association  as  v/ell  as  in  the  American  Association 
is  not  that  the  present  plan  has  worked  badly  in  the 
past.  Both  associations  have  been  most  fortunate  as 
to  the  caliber  of  the  men  who  have  been  called  upon  to 
serve  as  presidents  of  the  associations.  Nevertheless, 
there  are  good  arguments  in  favor  of  giving  the  nomi- 
nating committee  a  free  choice,  just  as  there  are  argu- 
ments for  the  present  practice  in  the  way  of  training 
vice-presidents  for  the  presidency.  If  the  T.  &  T.  Asso- 
ciation adopts  the  single  vice-president  plan  there  will 
be  an  opportunity  of  finding  out  how  it  will  work  out 
as  compared  with  the  four  vice-president  yearly  pro- 
motion plan  of  the  American  Association.  Somewhat 
curiously,  in  view  of  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  at 
the  1920  session  of  the  American  Association  in  favor 
of  getting  away  from  the  old  system  of  advancement, 
the  change  was  not  even  considered  at  the  American 
meeting.  The  reason  for  this  is  probably  that  the 
association  as  a  whole  felt  that  a  good  many  changes 
had  been  made  and  that  it  would  be  well  to  try  them  out 
before  making  others.  As  drafted,  the  constitution 
is  thoroughly  workable,  and  can  easily  be  amended  if 
such  a  plan  should  be  considered  desirable. 

Other  important  suggestions  by  Mr.  Stevens  relating 
to  the  internal  organization  of  the  T.  &  T.  Association 
were  that  the  chairman  of  each  committee  be  appointed 
if  possible  from  the  membership  of  the  preceding  year's 
committee,  that  the  first  vice-president  of  the  associa- 
tion be  ex  officio  chairman  of  the  subjects  committee, 
that  two  new  committees  be  appointed  to  study  the  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the  trackless  transportation  subject  and 
that  Aera  devote  more  space  to  articles  of  an  educa- 
tional nature  for  the  benefit  of  employees  in  the  trans- 
portation department.  Altogether  the  address  showed 
an  earnest  desire  for  improvement  and  a  willingness  to 
depart  from  precedent  to  accomplish  that  result. 


672 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16- 


Mr.  Gove's  specification  for  a  permanent  secretary- 
engineer  for  the  association  is  met  in  part  at  least  by  the 
circumstance  that  Executive-Secretary  J.  W.  Welsh  is  an 
engineer  by  training  and  experience.  "When  he  was 
"Special  Engineer"  with  the  American  Association,  he 
acted  as  secretary  of  the  Engineering  Association.  He 
will  still  remain  an  engineer  and  will  consider  matters 
from  an  engineering  point  of  view,  even  with  the  title 
of  secretary.  While  as  executive-secretary  he  will  have 
duties  of  a  more  general  character  than  those  which  he 
performed  as  special  engineer,  he  will  be  able  to  give 
engineering  supervision  to  its  proceedings.  He  can 
train  some  one  to  act  as  his  deputy. 

Finally,  Mr.  Gove  made  another  important  sugges- 
tion. This  relates  to  the  method  of  adopting  standards, 
namely,  thai  they  be  voted  for  on  a  "weighted"  basis, 
the  companies  likely  to  be  most  affected  having  the 
greatest  voting  power.  Mr.  Gove  quotes  a  precedent — the 
practice  of  the  steam  railroads  as  to  certain  standards. 
This  scheme  has  much  to  recommend  it  but  it  would  be 
complicated  to  apply  to  the  electric  roads.  Conditions 
would  be  different  if  the  use  of  standards  was  obligatory. 
Then,  such  a  change  might  be  necessary,  but  experience 
has  shown  so  far  that  even  those  who  vote  for  standards 
do  not  always  adopt  them. 

The  association  should  be  grateful  to  Mr.  Gove  for 
his  frankness  in  pointing  out  the  spots  in  the  organi- 
zation which,  after  a  year's  presidency,  he  concluded 
needed  improvement.  Even  if  all  of  the  details  of  his 
suggestions  are  not  adopted,  good  has  been  accomplished 
by  their  suggestion.  What  is  needed  in  any  large  body 
of  specialists  is  the  quality  of  alertness,  the  ability  to 
sense  the  vital  needs  of  an  industry.  This  quality  is 
illustrated  in  Mr.  Gove's  presidential  address.  Surely 
the  association  will  note,  assimilate  and  apply  as  many 
of  his  constructive  comments  as  can  at  present  be 
applied. 


Bouquet  Handed  to 

Engineering  Association  Committee 

A GOOD  omen  for  the  success  of  the  coming  year's 
work  of  the  Engineering  Association  is  furnished 
by  the  way  in  which  the  subjects  committee  has  planned 
for  the  year's  work.  In  the  first  place  the  committee 
conducted  a  considerable  correspondence  in  advance, 
with  a  view  to  securing  suggestions  from  qualified  per- 
sons throughout  the  industry  and  the  country.  The 
response  was  gratifying.  Then  the  committee  held 
several  meetings  in  advance  of  the  convention  and 
completed  a  tentative  draft  of  a  report.  Every  oppor- 
tunity was  given  for  advance  consideration  of  the  work 
for  the  coming  year,  President  W.  G.  Gove's  suggestion 
as  to  limiting  the  number  of  subjects  to  those  most 
important  being  kept  clearly  in  mind. 

Then  the  committee  placed  the  proposed  assignments 
before  the  convention,  inviting  criticism.  The  effect  of 
this  procedure  was  at  once  apparent,  especially  as  the 
assignments  to  the  several  committees  were  presented 
after  the  discussion  of  the  reports  of  these  committees 
respectively.  If  the  committees  next  year  are  not  satis- 
fied with  their  assignments,  surely  they  cannot  hold 
the  subjects  committee  responsible.  Now,  when  the 
report  of  this  committee  goes  to  the  executive  commit- 
tee for  approval,  the  latter  will  know  that  nothing  has 
been  left  undone  to  insure  a  good  year's  work. 

The  importance  of  early  work  in  the  assignment  of 
subjects  cannot  be  overestimated.  On  even  such  a  low 
plane  as  the  financial  one,  such  work  pays  large  divi- 


dends. In  round  numbers,  say  that  100  committee  men 
will  each  devote  100  hours  of  working  time  next  year  to 
committee  duty,  at  $5  per  hour  their  time  is  worth 
$50,000.  Assume  that  by  careful  planning  10  per  cent 
of  this  time  could  be  saved.  The  saving  would  be  worth 
$5,000.  It  would,  therefore,  pay  to  spend  a  consider- 
able amount  in  time  and  money  to  save  this  $5,000, 
which  would  be  only  one  part  of  the  real  saving. 


Engineering  Judgment 

in  Valuation  Procedure 

ENGINEERS  should  take  to  heart  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  valuation  committee  of  the  American 
Association  that  there  be  a  more  extended  use  of  the 
so-called  "yard-stick"  method  of  valuation.  The  com- 
mittee points  out  that  this  is  the  most  constructive 
program  for  study  by  the  incoming  committee  and  urges 
the  new  committee  to  examine  the  subject  with  a  view 
of  ascertaining  how  best  or  to  what  extent  the  method 
can  be  given  more  general  application.  The  Electric 
Railway  Journal  has  urged  this  procedure  in  valua- 
tion but  has  recognized  that  it  is  not  only  a  question 
for  valuation  engineers  or  executives  but  also  for  courts 
and  commissions.  Examples  of  the  use  of  this  method 
are  not  unknown,  the  most  conspicuous  example  in  elec- 
tric railway  circles  being  the  recent  valuation  of  the 
Connecticut  Company,  already  related  in  these  columns. 

One  of  the  principal  points  in  such  a  method  of  valua- 
tion, it  should  be  noticed,  is  a  recognition  of  the  judg- 
ment of  the  engineer  as  playing  an  increasingly 
important  and  deciding  part  in  the  making  of  valua- 
tions. It  would  take  the  engineer  from  the  class  of 
a  clerical  counter  of  field  details  and  place  him  in  the 
role  of  a  judge  of  types  of  construction,  depending  upon 
him  to  decide  what  variations  in  type  are  negligible  or 
compensating  in  the  building  up  of  intelligent  costs  of 
construction.  In  general,  it  is  a  step  forward  for  the 
engineer  in  his  coming  into  his  own,  and  he  should  be 
ready  to  do  his  part  in  making  the  move  a  constructive 
one  for  the  industries  involved. 

It  must  further  be  recognized,  of  course,  that»this  is 
only  a  step;  that  the  final  object  will  never  be  realized 
until  the  commissions  and  courts  recognize  his  judg- 
ment, to  the  extent  that  it  must  be  utilized  in  yard-stick 
valuation,  as  competent  testimony.  That  is,  the  in- 
tegrity or  usefulness  of  testimony  as  to  value  must 
be  strengthened  rather  than  vitiated  by  this  method 
of  arriving  at  the  figures.  It  is  up  to  the  engineer  to 
prove  his  value  in  this  respect.  The  committee's  recom- 
mendation, however,  is  a  good  omen. 


The  Question  of  Price 
Is  Left  Untouched 

THE  rest  of  the  report  of  the  committee  on  valua- 
tion this  year  is  notable  for  two  things — one,  the 
excellent  discussion  on  rate  of  return  which  should 
supply  good  arguments  for  companies  in  rate  cases, 
and,  two,  the  absence  of  any  discussion  on  the  main 
feature  of  the  work  of  the  1919  and  1920  committee, 
namely,  that  of  price.  This,  we  believe,  is  unfortunate. 
In  times  of  rising  and  high  prices,  it  was  easy  and  self- 
satisfying  to  urge  the  adoption  of  present-day  prices  in 
making  inventory  in  appraisals.  But  the  real  work  in 
the  application  of  such  a  principle  comes  in  the  days  of" 
falling  prices  which  must  be  admitted  to  be  upon  us — 
happily  in  most  instances.  The  question  of  the  base  price 
to   apply   is   one   which   presents   more    serious  or 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


673 


debatable  points  than  any  other  of  the  so-called  tangible 
elements  of  valuation.  Is  it  not  logical  that  more  con- 
structive work  should  be  done  on  it? 

It  is  understood  that  in  some  of  the  companies  now 
working  up  valuations  of  their  properties,  some  very 
interesting  and  valuable  experiments  are  being  made  to 
determine  the  effect  of  various  pricing  methods.  This 
is  a  question  in  which  the  whole  industry  is  interested, 
and  it  could  be  made  one  of  the  major  subjects  for  the 
committee  to  work  on.  Because  it  is  difficult  is  no 
reason  to  pass  it  up,  but  rather  the  best  reason  for 
attempting  a  solution.  May  next  year's  committee  also 
consider  this  subject  as  a  part  of  its  work. 


Bus  Operators  in 

the  Amalgamated 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  fact  that  the  association 
at  its  recent  Atlantic  City  convention  voted  for 
the  time  being  not  to  admit  motor  bus  companies  to 
membership,  as  was  discussed  in  these  columns  last 
week,  it  was  very  evident  from  the  remarks  of  many 
that  the  railways  themselves  are  watching,  analyzing 
or  have  actually  established  experimental  bus  lines  as 
feeders  in  conjunction  with  their  existing  rail  routes 
or  as  a  supplement  thereto. 

That  the  employers  do  not  for  a  minute  underesti- 
mate the  possibilities  of  the  bus  for  exploitation  serv- 
ices is  aso  evident  from  the  action  taken  by  the  Amal- 
gamated Association  at  its  recent  Atlanta  (Ga.)  conven- 
tion. Perhaps  the  employees  are  one  step  ahead  of  the 
railway  men  in  looking  over  future  possibilities.  Their 
action  surely  indicates  that  they  want  to  get  in  on  the 
ground  floor,  so  to  speak,  and  as  the  bus  develops  in 
usefulness  to  gain  new  and  additional  members. 

Can  it  be  their  idea  that  the  motorbus  is  to  supplant 
existing  electric  railways  or  is  it  simply  an  evidence  of 
the  ever-reaching  demand  of  labor  to  try  to  dictate  in 
all  new  modes  of  transportation  in  somewhat  the  same 
manner  it  did  when  one-man  cars  were  first  put  into 
service? 

The  safety  car  was  a  necessity  on  the  part  of  the 
railway  companies  to  preserve  their  integrity — thereby 
really  retaining  for  the  men  their  jobs.  Now  comes  the 
bus  for  exploitation  service — an  entirely  different  propo- 
sition. If  the  Amalgamated  Association  attempts  to 
foist  upon  the  companies  operating  these  vehicles  un- 
necessary demands  they  can  only  open  the  way  for  the 
irresponsible  operator  to  exist.  The  arguments  ad- 
vanced regarding  the  use  of  the  safety  car  to  preserve 
their  jobs  and  keep  more  men  at  work  cannot  now  be 
used,  as  this  is  an  opportunity  of  work  for  additional 
men,  and  that  is  what  is  today  being  discussed  at  all 
unemployment  conferences. 

Many  companies  will  recollect  the  difficulties  that  they 
experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  Amalgamated  Associa- 
tion when  the  one-man  car  was  first  put  into  operation 
— the  arguments  regarding  safety  of  operation,  the 
safety  of  passengers,  the  extra  work  that  would  natu- 
rally devolve  upon  the  operator  and  the  101  other  fool 
ideas  that  the  grievance  committees  brought  up  in  argu- 
ing for  a  higher  rate  of  pay  for  operators  of  this  type 
of  car. 

These  arguments  after  four  or  five  years  of  continued 
operation  have  resulted  in  the  companies'  recognizing 
the  operator  to  be  worth  about  10  per  cent  more  than 
on  either  end  of  a  two-man  car.  What  will  be  the 
differential  for  motor-bus  operators? 


Changing  Ideas  in  Regard 
to  Car  Painting 

IT  IS  false  economy  not  to  keep  cars  well  painted 
and  extravagance  to  carry  the  painting  process  too 
far.  This  sentence  sums  up  the  philosophy  of  the 
subject  as  well  as  its  economics.  The  statement  may 
seem  trite,  but  an  examination  of  the  paint  shop  prac- 
tice of  the  industry  will  show  that  there  is  great 
diversity  in  the  interpretation  and  practical  applica- 
tion of  the  principle  thus  stated.  In  fact  it  may  well 
be  said  that  electric  railways  have  swung  from  one 
extreme  of  an  excessive  regard  for  appearance  to  the 
opposite  extreme  of  an  excessive  regard  for  cost. 

Obviously  the  first  requisite  of  good  painting  is  to 
preserve  the  car  structure,  which  means  primarily 
protecting  it  from  the  e'ements.  Almost  any  paint  or 
varnish  will  serve  this  purpose  for  a  time,  but  the 
practical  question  is:  How  long  will  the  preservative 
effect  last?  This  is  matter  to  be  determined  by 
experience;  every  master  painter  has  his  convictions 
regarding  it.  Modern  methods  of  paint  testing  will 
give  a  reasonably  correct  answer  for  a  given  climate. 

But  preservation  is  only  one  function  of  painting. 
The  effect  on  the  public  is  equally  important.  Each 
electric  car  is  a  traveling  advertisement  which  is  seen 
by  multitudes  every  day.  Its  appearance  either  com- 
mends or  condemns  the  management.  This  fact  has 
always  been  appreciated,  and  in  the  early  days,  when 
paint  and  painters  were  cheap,  car  finish  was  frequently 
overdone.  Much  rubbing  down  was  indulged  in,  with 
the  idea  of  yielding  a  carriage  or  piano  finish.  Gold 
leaf  was  liberally  used  on  lettering  and  striping.  The 
artistic  taste  of  the  craftsman  was  allowed  to  display 
itself  in  ornate  corner  ornaments  and  the  like.  Now 
these  luxuries  have  been  discarded  largely,  which  is 
right.  But  the  tendency  to  go  to  the  other  extreme  is 
not  right.  Such  a  type  of  painting  should  be  used  and 
such  a  program  should  be  carried  out  that  the  cars 
will  appeal  to  the  public  by  virtue  of  their  tasteful 
neatness. 

In  this  connection  an  important  lesson  has  been 
learned,  namely,  that  a  simple  painting  process  can 
be  made  to  yield  results  almost  as  good  as  the  more 
elaborate  ones  of  the  past,  that  is,  when  judged  by  car 
finish  rather  than  piano  finish  standards.  A  car  does  not 
require  a  superfine  finish  for  several  reasons:  First,, 
it  is  in  general  viewed  from  a  distance.  Then  it  is 
examined  very  casually  and  transiently;  it  is  the  gen- 
eral impression  created  that  counts.  Again,  if  the 
public  gives  the  matter  any  conscious  thought  at  all, 
it  will  favor  economy  in  the  interest  of  lower  fares. 

However,  while  painting  need  not  and  should  not  be 
elaborately  done,  it  should  be  regularly  done.  It  does 
not  pay  to  allow  much  difference  in  the  appearance  of 
cars,  because  contrasts  are  conspicuous.  A  master 
mechanic  once  said  to  the  writer,  in  criticism  of  the 
painting  program  of  his  predecessor:  "He  used  to 
varnish  the  cars  every  year  whether  they  needed  it  or 
not."  Maybe  they  didn't  need  it  every  year,  but  much 
could  be  said  in  favor  of  the  practice.  And  in  this 
case  the  body  color  had  been  preserved  for  twenty 
years  or  more  by  the  expedient  of  frequent  varnishing. 

The  paint  manufacturers  of  the  country  have  been 
pushing  the  slogan  "Save  the  Surface."  Of  course 
they  have  "an  axe  to  grind,"  but  the  principle  they  are 
promulgating  is  right.  It  applies  especially  well  to  car 
painting,  with  the  addition,  "and  Advertise  the  Service.'* 


674 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  lo 


The  Lubrication  of  Rolling  Stock 

Incidental  Results  of  Improper  Lubrication  Far  Reaching — Direct  Cost  of  Lubricants  a  Small  Proportion 
of  Operating  Expenses — Methods  for  Packing,  Oiling  and  Inspecting  Affected  by 
Local  Conditions — Typical  Organizations  for  Securing  Lubrication 


By  L.  W.  W.  Morrow 

Assistant  Professor  of  Electrical  Engineering,  Yale  University 


IT  TAKES  oil  and  grease  to  lubricate  the  cars  used 
on  street  railways ;  every  one  knows  that  fact.  But 
how  many  railway  operatives  realize  the  importance 
of  the  subject  of  lubrication,  and  the  absolute  neces- 
sity for  buying  and  applying  lubricants  on  the  basis 
of  knowledge  and  not  ignorance. 

There  really  seems  no  one  operating  element  that 
will  pay  better  dividends  than  lubrication  if  studied 
seriously  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  tangible  and 
intangible  effects  on  the  system's  operation.  Lubrication 
should  not  be  dismissed  by  railway  executives  as  an 
aggravating  and  unimportant  element  of  operation 
which  is  best  handled  by  purchasing  the  cheapest 
lubricants  offered  on  a  blanket  bid  and  then  function 
through  the  more  or  less  able  advice  and  work  of  oil 
company  experts  and  unskilled  labor. 

The  first  cost  of  lubricants  is  the  least  important 
factor  in  lubrication;  it  pays  to  buy  good  lubricants, 
and  the  better  the  quality  the  higher  the  cost  and  the 
less  quantity  of  lubricant  needed.     Poor  lubricants 

applied  in  an  improper 
manner  may  result  in  a 
final  cost  that  will  be 
the  largest  element  in 
operating  expenses  with 
the  exception  of  labor. 
Lubrication  affects  the 
wear  and  tear  on  all 
equipment,  it  affects  the 
service  reliability  of 
the  system  and  indi- 
rectly public  sentiment, 
it  affects  the  life  and 
rate  of  depreciation  of 
equipment,  it  is  a  fun- 
damental element  in 
shop,  labor  and  mainte- 
nance costs,  and  analy- 
sis and  study  warrant  the  statement  that  it  is  one  of  the 
most  important  operating  factors  in  the  railway  indus- 
try, yet  has  received  the  least  attention  of  railway 
executives. 

The  first  cost  and  the  quantity  of  lubricants  used  in 
the  railway  industry  are  difficult  to  determine ;  the 
following  table  shows  an  estimate  for  the  yearly  con- 
sumption and  cost  for  the  90,000  motor  cars  and  pas- 
senger trailers  on  electric  railways  in  this  country: 

Lubricant  Quantity  Cost 

Motor  and  compressor  oil   1,600,000  gal.  $650,000 

Gear  grease  or  compound   600,000  1b.  265,000 

Cup  grease   150,000  1b.  15,000 

Other  lubricants   20.000  gal.  100,000 

In  1920  the  United  States  consumed  over  500,000,000 
bbl.  of  crude  oil,  so  the  railway  consumption  represents 
only  about  0.02  of  1  per  cent  of  the  total  oil  consump- 
tion and  a  still  smaller  percentage  of  the  total  quan- 
tity of  lubricants  used  by  the  country.    The  cost 


FIG.  1— OIL    MOVES  WITH 
ROTATING  SHAFT 

The  rotating  shaft  tends  to  ro- 
tate the  oil  against  the  action  of 
the  bearing  load. 


these  lubricants  is  not  in  excess  of  0.1  of  1  per  cent  of 
the  gross  operating  expenses  of  the  industry. 

In  quantity  and  in  cost,  therefore,  compared  to  na- 
tional consumption  and  to  other  operating  expenses,  the 
item  of  lubrication  is  infinitesimal  and  not  worthy  of 
consideration.  It  is  only  because  of  the  associated 
though  intangible  effects  of  lubrication  on  maintenance, 
service  and  operating  methods  that  it  is  of  importance 
and  of  interest  to  electric  railway  men. 

Seemingly  lubrication  resolves  itself  into  divisions 
relating  to  sale,  purchase,  storage  and  filling,  systems 
of  organization  for  oiling  and  packing  and  records 
and  statistics  to  determine  costs.  Involved  with  these 
items  from  the  standpoint  of  the  railway  operator  are 
items  such  as  reliability  of  service,  cost  of  equipment, 
maintenance  in  relation  to  the  cost  of  lubrication,  effect 
of  lubrication  methods  on  rate  and  kind  of  depreciation 
on  equipment,  system  inspection  and  labor  costs  and 
questions  associated  with  public  sentiment  and  relations. 

The  subject  is  very  complicated  and,  depending  on 


0.012 


0.0  I  0 


0.008 


.«  0.006 


°,  0.004 


0.00  2 


FIG.  2- 


04  0.6  0.8  1.0  1.2  1.4 
R  P.M. x  Viscosity  in  C.G.S. Units 
Bearing  Load  in  lbs.  per  sq.'m. 

-CHARACTERISTIC  CURVE  FOR  A  RAILWAY 
BEARING 


2.0 


Test  made  in  a  Thurston  machine.  Shaft  steel  3.97  in.  in  diam- 
eter, bearing,  brass,  7.81  in.  long,  3.31  in.  chord  of  contact,  113 
deg.  arc  of  contact.  Smooth  surface,  ungrooved  cylinder,  clear- 
ance 0.003  in.  Loads  39,  135  and  155  pounds  per  square  inch. 
Speeds  390,  230  and  seizing  speed  from  15  to  50.  Viscosities 
0.5  to  0.15  C.G.S.  Independent  of  load,  speed  and  viscosity  group- 
ing all  points  fell  on  the  curve. 

the  viewpoint,  may  be  approached  from  many  angles. 
As  one  master  mechanic  says,  "All  troubles  on  rolling 
stock  of  a  serious  nature  occur  because  of  one  of  two 
reasons,  improper  lubrication  or  the  overheating  of 
the  motors."  As  a  traffic  man  states  the  problem: 

"I  want  to  give  service  and  keep  all  the  rolling  stock 
in  service;  if  my  failure  to  do  this  is  caused  largely  by 
breakdowns  due  to  faulty  lubrication,  then  my  policy  is 
to  play  absolutely  safe  and  get  the  best  possible  lubri- 
cant applied  in  the  best  possible  manner." 

The  production  and  sale  of  lubricants  to  the  electric 
railways  is  a  specialty  business  of  small  volume  and 
ofrequiring  the  services  of  expert  lubricating  engineers. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


675 


Very  largely  railway  companies  have  purchased  their 
lubricants  on  a  guarantee  cost  basis  whereby  the  oil 
company,  after  a  detailed  study  of  the  system  and  its 
equipment,  guarantees  a  maximum  cost  of  lubrication 
per  1,000  car-miles  and  absorbs  a  cost  in  excess  of 
this  figure,  while  the  railway  company  gets  the  benefit 
of  any  cost  less  than  the  guaranteed  cost.  The  oil  com- 
pany furnishes  experts  and  proper  lubricants  and  the 
railway  company  supplies  the  men  and  the  facilities  for 
lubricating  its  equipment  in  conformity  with  the  direc- 
tions of  the  oil  company  experts.  The  oil  company 
sells  both  service  and  lubricants  to  the  railway  company. 

The  other  basis  of  sale  and  purchase  is  the  gallonage 
basis.  This  basis  does  not  contain  any  guarantee  clause 
fixing  the  cost  per  1,000  car-miles,  but  fixes  a  contract 
price  per  gallon  or  pound  of  lubricant.   The  oil  company 


production  of  good  lubricants — its  business,  and  the 
railway  company  can  devote  its  attention  to  the  effi- 
cient operation  of  its  equipment — its  business. 

Both  systems  of  purchase  have  proved  acceptable  to 
railway  operators  and  specific  conditions  and  persona! 
preferences  usually  decide  the  type  of  contract.  As  a 
general  proposition,  the  purchasing  agent  desires  to 
purchase  all  lubricants  used  by  the  railway  company 
in  all  its  operations  from  one  company  at  the  lowest 
price  provided  the  grade  of  lubricants  offered  are  satis- 
factory to  the  operating  force. 

The  railway  industry  and  the  art  of  lubrication  owes 
a  great  debt  to  the  oil  companies  for  the  broad  and 
helpful  policies  followed  by  their  sales  organizations 
and  the  expert  technical  services  rendered  by  their 
lubricating  engineers.    It  is  a  decided  compliment  to 


Fig.  3 — Grease  Cup  Arranged  for  Oil 
on  Armature  Bearing 


Fig.  4 — Sketch  of  Journal  Box 
and  Packing 


Long  fibre 
wool  waste 


Fig.  5 — Sketch  of  Armature  Bearing 
for  Split  Frame  Motor 


supplies  expert  lubricating  engineers  free  of  charge 
who  function  as  advisers  to  the  railway  operators. 

Some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  the  guarantee 
basis  are: 

1.  The  oil  company  sells  service  and  not  lubricants. 

2.  The  maximum  cost  of  lubrication  for  the  ensuing 
year  is  a  known  item  to  the  railway  officials. 

3.  The  railway  gets  the  benefit  of  any  saving  obtained 
by  keeping  the  cost  below  the  guaranteed  figure,  while 
the  oil  company  absorbs  the  excess.  This  statement 
must  be  modified  when  applied  to  those  contracts  which 
contain  a  clause  which  protects  the  oil  company  from 
any  decided  rise  in  the  market  price  of  oil. 

4.  The  railway  company  has  the  services  of  lubricat- 
ing engineers  who  strive  to  lower  the  cost  of  lubrica- 
tion in  order  to  increase  their  business  by  reducing  the 
figure  for  the  maximum  guaranteed  cost. 

5.  The  railway  company  is  relieved  of  managerial 
worry  in  regard  to  lubrication  cost,  methods  or  records. 

Some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  the  gallonage 
basis  are: 

1.  Lubricants  are  purchased  on  a  purely  quantitative 
basis  at  a  figure  fixed  by  the  market  price  of  oil. 

2.  The  railway  company  is  itself  responsible  for  its 
lubrication  and  devises  its  system  from  the  standpoint 
of  efficient  maintenance  and  service  rather  than  lubrica- 
tion cost. 

3.  Lubrication  experts  are  available  to  the  railway 
company  who  have  no  pecuniary  incentive  to  advise  the 
use  of  poor  quality  lubricants  in  too  limited  amounts. 

4.  The  costs  incidental  to  a  detailed  preliminary 
study  of  the  system  and  its  equipment  are  eliminated. 

5.  The  oil  company  can  devote  its  attention  to  the 


the  oil  companies  to  have  an  almost  universal  statement 
from  foremen,  oilers  and  master  mechanics  in  railway 
shops  to  the  effect  that  "those  oil  company  engineers 
know  what  they  are  talking  about  and  we  follow  their 
advice  with  confidence."  The  company  experts  are  relied 
upon  to  specify  the  type  of  lubricant  and  its  method  of 
application  to  all  the  equipment.  In  addition,  the  com- 
pany men  and  the  railway  men  co-operate  enthusiasti- 
cally to  secure  improvements  in  both  lubricating  meth- 
ods and  lubricants. 

After  purchase,  the  next  question  asked  is,  How  shall 
lubricants  be  stored?  The  storage  of  any  lubricant  is 
accompanied  by  fire  hazards  and  a  dry  fireproof  room 
is  a  primary  requirement.  The  increased  number  of 
distributing  centers  and  warehouses  established  by  the 
oil  companies  and  the  financial  situation  of  most  rail- 
way properties  has  forced  the  trend  of  practice  to  the 
use  of  a  small  room  suitable  for  the  storage  of  only  one 
month's  supply  of  lubricant.  This  statement  is  modi- 
fied by  local  conditions  and  there  are  many  large, 
splendid  oil  storage  rooms  used  by  railway  systems. 
The  A.  E.  R.  A.  in  the  Engineering  Manual,  Bb  la, 
gives  a  standard  layout  for  an  oil  house. 

Even  with  only  a  month's  supply  of  lubricant  ques- 
tions arise  in  regard  to  equipment  such  as  containers 
and  filling  apparatus.  It  pays  to  purchase  and  install 
adequate  containers  and  adequate  filling  devices.  Waste 
of  oil  is  eliminated,  and  only  one  glance  at  certain  oil 
rooms  indicates  how  great  the  waste  may  be,  the  fire 
hazards  are  reduced,  records  are  more  accurate  because 
measurements  are  reliable  and  the  equipment  adds  to 
the  system  morale  by  improving  the  appearance  of  th« 
plant  and  by  creating  pride  in  the  oilers. 


676 


Klkuikic  Railway 


Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


The  use  of  lubricants  on  rolling  stock  is  intimately- 
associated  with  the  history  of  electric  railway  equip- 
ment. Axles  and  car  journals  were  adapted  directly 
from  steam  railroad  practice,  but  the  electric  motor 
with  its  armature  bearings,  gears,  etc.,  introduced  new 
elements  into  equipment  design.  The  first  tendency 
was  to  take  the  bearings  and  lubricating  arrangements 
of  the  motor  or  generator  as  used  in  shops  or  power 
houses  and  adapt  them  to  the  street  car.  Alas !  for  the 
oil  rings  and  reservoirs — they  refused  to  function,  so 
there  followed  a  long  and  expensive  series  of  changes 
in  the  lubrication  methods  and  in  the  bearing  design 
for  the  motors.  One  of  the  early  systems  used  a 
detachable  oil  or  grease  cup — the  cups  got  lost  or  were 
broken.  Then  followed  a  bearing  which  had  a  grease 
or  oil  receptacle  cast  integral  with  the  bearing;  there 
was  no  way  to  insure  a  supply  of  lubricant  to  the  shaft. 
The  next  step  was  to  use  a  hollow  metal  tube  to  conduct 
grease  from  a  main  supply  to  the  bearing.  The  heat 
from  the  bearing  was  conducted  by  the  tube  to  the 
grease  and,  melting  the  grease,  correct  lubrication 
would  occur  by  reason  of  the  automatic  supply  of  melted 
grease;  it  failed  to  be  automatic. 

A  type  of  bearing  and  a  system  of  lubrication  was 
then  introduced  for  the  motor  journals  which,  in  gen- 
eral, depended  on  a  wick  feed  to  the  shaft  from  an  oil 
reservoir.  Felt  was  used  as  the  wick  a' id  was  arranged 
and  formed  in  many  ways,  but  the  general  principle 
was  to  hold  one  end  of  felt  on  the  shaft  under  pres- 
sure and  to  hold  the  other  end  in  the  lubrication  supply. 

The  next  step  was  the  use  of  journal  boxes  with 
waste  for  packing  similar  to  those  used  on  the  car 
journals  and,  in  spite  of  attempts  to  use  ball  bearings, 
ring  oilers,  roller  bearings  and  other  equipment  for 
both  motor  bearings  and  axle  bearings,  this  system  is 
standard  in  American  practice.  In  some  one-man  cars, 
however,  ball  bearings  are  used  for  both  motor  and 
axle  journals,  and  in  Europe  several  systems  use  this 
type  of  equipment. 

The  bearings  and  the  system  of  lubrication  on  the 
latest  equipment,  as  regards  boxes  and  waste  packing 
for  axle,  and  motor  armature  journals  represent  all 
the  changes  and  improvements  that  could  be  expected 
to  follow  from  many  years  of  experience  and  observa- 
tion with  many  types  of  equipment  under  varied  con- 
ditions of  service.  It  seems  crude  in  many  ways  and 
has  some  glaring  faults,  but  it  maintains  its  place  as 
the  best  system  and  design  for  use  from  an  economic 
and  operating  standpoint. 

The  lubrication  of  flat  surfaces,  gears  and  pinions 
has  not  changed  materially  in  method  and  increased 
efficiency  has  been  obtained  by  an  improvement  in  the 
quality  of  the  lubricant. 

Wheel  flange  lubrication,  as  applied  by  apparatus  on 
the  moving  vehicle,  is  used  only  on  electric  locomotives 
in  America  where  it  has  proved  very  satisfactory  as 
an  agency  to  reduce  the  wear  on  tires  or  on  rails  located 
on  curves. 

Theory  of  Lubrication 

The  essential  problem  in  lubrication  is  to  maintain  a 
film  of  lubricant  between  moving  surfaces.  If  this 
film  is  not  maintained  heating,  wear  of  parts  and  rapid 
deterioration  occur.  In  the  street  car  there  are  rolling 
contact  surfaces  in  parts  such  as  motor  and  axle  bear- 
ings and  in  sliding  contact  surfaces  in  other  locations 
such  as  side  and  center  bearings.  The  maintenance  of 
the  film  of  lubricant  depends  on  the  condition  and  ma- 
terial of  the  friction  surfaces,  the  pressure  or  bearing 


load  on  the  surfaces,  the  contact  velocity  of  the  sur- 
faces, the  temperature  of  the  surfaces  and  the  lubri 
cant,  the  viscosity,  physical  and  chemical  properties  of 
the  lubricant  used  and  the  method  used  to  supply  the 
lubricant  to  the  surfaces.  Many  of  these  items  can 
be  controlled  by  the  railway  and  oil  company  experts, 
but  others  are  controlled  by  the  service  conditions  to 
be  met  by  the  equipment  and  the  design  of  the  equip- 
ment. 

A  smooth  surface  permits  smaller  clearance  between 
contact  parts  provided  the  design  of  the  bearing  per- 
mits the  lubricant  to  be  inserted  at  the  proper  places 
in  sufficient  quantity,  but  on  motor  bearings,  for  example, 
service  conditions  and  reliability  requirements  cause 
the  clearance  to  be  larger  than  lubrication  requires  in 
order  to  allow  no  armatures  to  rub,  alignments  to  change 
or  other  mishaps  to  occur  under  service  operation. 

Factors  in  Bearing  Heating 

The  velocity  of  the  contact  surfaces  both  aids  and 
prevents  good  lubricating  conditions.  A  revolving  jour- 
nal, for  example,  gets  covered  with  a  thin  film  of  oil 
and  this  oil  film  not  only  adheres  to  the  journal  as  it 
rotates,  but,  due  to  its  viscosity,  carries  around  with 
it  adjacent  layers  of  oil  and  thus  maintains  lubrica- 
tion. The  higher  the  viscosity  the  greater  this  effect, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  oil  itself  develops  heat 
through  molecular  friction  and  this  heat  increases  with 
an  increase  in  the  velocity  and  the  viscosity,  so  that, 
unless  the  oil  is  cooled,  the  use  of  high  velocity  con- 
tact surfaces  and  of  high  viscosity  oil  will  cause  a 
decrease  in  the  efficiency  of  lubrication  because  of  the 
increase  in  the  temperature. 

The  pressure  between  contact  surfaces  is  detrimental 
to  lubricating  conditions  since  it  pushes  out  the  lubri- 
cant between  the  contact  surfaces  and  decreases  the 
thickness  of  the  film.  Designers  of  bearings  care  for 
this  condition  by  inserting  the  lubricant  on  the  con- 
tact surfaces  where  the  bearing  load  is  least,  by  utiliz- 
ing the  good  features  of  velocity  and  by  the  use  of 
lubricant  having  a  high  viscosity.  The  object  is  to 
get  the  lubricant  to  adhere  to  the  contact  surfaces  and 
to  supply  more  lubricant  before  the  pressure  breaks 
down  the  film  or  the  lubricant  is  heated. 

Lubricant  of  high  viscosity  is  best  to  maintain  a  film 
under  the  adverse  conditions  of  slow  speed,  high  tem- 
perature and  large  bearing  load,  but,  in  general,  the 
higher  the  viscosity  the  higher  the  first  cost  of  the 
lubricant.  Then  again  lubricant  with  a  high  viscosity 
develops  more  heat  by  molecular  friction,  requires 
greater  clearances  and  is  more  difficult  to  handle  but, 
in  order  to  play  safe  and  because  viscosity  decreases  as 
the  temperature  increases,  most  operators  demand  a 
lubricant  of  high  viscosity. 

Lubricants  may  oxidize  with  age  or  heat,  may  gum, 
may  evaporate,  may  be  acid  and  cause  corrosion,  may 
emulsify  or  may  "sludge,"  depending  on  the  service 
conditions  and  the  quality.  But  little  criticism  has 
been  made  of  the  lubricants  used  in  the  railway  indus- 
try if  used  in  sufficient  quantity  under  prescribed  con- 
ditions. Any  criticism  that  arises  is  usually  because 
the  wrong  type  of  lubricant  was  used  on  the  specific 
job  or  because  the  lubricant  was  improperly  applied  to 
the  contact  surfaces. 

As  a  theory  and  as  regards  the  quality  of  the  lubri- 
cants available,  the  lubrication  situation  is  very  satis- 
factory. The  problem  that  remains  and  the  one  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  the  railways  is  that  of  get- 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


677 


ting  and  maintaining  lubricants  of  the  correct  quality 
on  the  friction  surfaces  at  a  minimum  cost  for  time, 
labor  and  materials. 

Many  Parts  to  Lubricate 

Street  cars  have  many  parts  that  need  lubrication 
and,  since  they  are  of  many  types,  of  various  ages  and 
have  many  different  equipments,  the  following  table  is 
merely  typical  of  the  parts,  the  method  of  lubrication 
and  the  type  of  lubricant  used: 


Part 

Armature  bearings  

Axle  bearings  

Journal  bearirgs  

Gears  and  pinions  

Compressor  bearings  

Center  and  side  bearings  

Brake  rigging  

Brake  cylinders,  control  and  trolley 

equipment  

Trolley  wheels  


Method  Lubricant 

Boxes  and  waste   Mineral  oil 

Boxes  and  waste   Mineral  oil 

Boxes  and  waste   Mineral  oil 

Intermittent  adhesion  Patent  compounds 

Splash   .  Mineral  oil 

Intermittent  adhesion  Grease 

Intermittent  adhesion  Grease 

Intermit  tent  adhesion  Vaseline_ 

Intermittent  adhesion  Sperm  oil 


In  addition  there  are  several  parts  such  as  air  valves, 
equalizer  bars,  compression  plates,  door  hinges  and 
other  mechanisms  that  require  a  small  amount  of  lubri- 
cant at  intervals. 

Lubrication  practice  has  not  been  reduced  to  a  stan- 
dardized basis  even  on  an  individual  system,  because 
it  is  impossible  to  find  any  system  with  uniform  roll- 
ing stock  of  the  same  age  and  design  and  operating 
all  cars  under  the  same  service  conditions.  An  old 
car  uses  more  lubricant  than  a  new  car.  A  suburban 
car  uses  more  lubricant  than  a  city  car,  because  it 
usually  operates  at  higher  speed,  is  of  different  design, 
encounters  rougher  tracks  and  more  frequently  oper- 
ates in  water.  These  conditions  result  in  a  situation 
that  requires  intelligent  supervision  of  lubrication  on 
every  railway  system  and  makes  impossible  compari- 
sons of  lubrication  costs  on  a  1,000  car-mile  basis. 

Bearings  of  Many  Types 

The  most  important  parts  of  a  car  from  a  lubrication 
and  service  standpoint  are  the  armature  bearings,  the 
axle  bearings  and  the  truck  journal  bearings.  These 
bearings  take  the  power  and  the  hammer  blows  neces- 
sitated by  service  conditions,  and  a  hot  box  on  any  one 
means  a  car  out  of  commission.  This  results  in  a 
decrease  in  service  and  a  direct  cost  of  from  $50  to 
$70  to  remove  the  car,  take  out  the  bearings,  put  in  a 
new  bearing  and  to  place  the  car  back  in  service. 

The  method  of  lubrication  for  these  bearings  utilizes 
the  journal  box  packed  with  waste  which  is  soaked  in 
oil.  The  general  development  of  this  type  of  bearing 
has  been  to  have  the  waste  packed  on  the  side  of  the 
journal  that  is  subject  to  the  least  bearing  load  while 
the  oil  is  fed  to  the  friction  surfaces  from  the  oil  in 
the  waste  and  in  the  reservoir  through  the  action  of 
capillary  attraction.  A  supply  of  oil  is  retained  in  a 
well  in  the  bottom  of  the  bearing  which  can  be  gaged 
for  depth  and  maintained  at  a  constant  level  by  use  of 
the  refilling  tube  which  forms  a  part  of  the  bearing. 

Specific  bearings  differ  very  widely,  however,  not 
only  in  materials,  arrangements  and  dimensions,  but 
also  in  methods  for  securing  adequate  lubrication.  Even 
on  the  same  car  the  bearings  and  lubrication  methods 
for  the  motor  armature,  driving  axle  and  truck  axle  may 
differ  materially. 

On  the  motor  armature  bearings,  for  example,  special 
precautions  are  necessary  to  prevent  the  oil  from  being 
thrown  into  the  wrong  channels,  also  care  in  design 
must  be  exercised  to  prevent  commutator  flashovers 
going  through  the  bearing  to  the  frame  and  causing 


Searing 


pitting  of  the  journal.  Barriers,  insulation  and  the 
use  of  interpole  motors  are  used  to  relieve  these  condi- 
tions. Then  again  the  bearings  differ  in  material  and 
clearances;  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  uses 
solid  bronze  bearings  on  all  its  cars,  because  of  their 
service  requirement  and  the  disadvantages  of  babbitted 
bearings  from  a  service  delay  standpoint;  the  Public 
Service  Railway  of  New  Jersey  uses  solid  bronze  bear- 
ings for  all  axles,  but  the  motor  armature  bearings 
have  a  iV-in.  liner  of  babbitt  which  is  about  93  per 
cent  tin.  These  changes  were  necessitated  by  the  fact 
that  track  conditions  were  bad  and  caused  hammer 
blows  and  shocks  which  caused  the  older  type  babbitted 
bearings  to  break  and  to  depreciate  rapidly.  The  liners 
in  the  motor  armature  bearings  are  necessitated  by  the 
difficulty  of  getting  bearings  to  maintain  an  accurate 
fit  to  the  motor  journals.  Some  of  the  older  type  split- 
frame  motor  bearings  must  have  their  housings  re- 
bored  every  four  or  five  years  to  maintain  a  correct 
alignment.  The  newer  box  type  motors  and  pressure 
fitted  bearings  give  no  trouble  from  lack  of  alignment. 

Waste  and  Its  Function 

The  waste  used  in  armature,  axle  and  journal  bear- 
ings serves  as  a  reservoir  for  lubricant  and  as  a 
capillary  agent  for  getting  lubricant  to  the  friction 

surfaces.  Waste  is 
made  of  long-strand 
wool,  short-strand 
wool  and  some  other 
material  such  as 
fiber.  A  typical 
bearing  waste  is  65 
per  cent  long-strand 
wool,  35  per  cent 
short  -  strand  wool 
and  5  per  cent  fiber. 
The  long  strands 
in  the  wool  waste 
take  up  oil  from 
the  oil  well  in  the 
bottom  of  the  bear- 
ing and  bring  it  to 
the  friction  sur- 
faces by  capillary 
attraction.  The 
long  strands,  however,  permit  but  little  oil  to  flow  out 
from  their  circumferences  and  the  short  strands  of 
wool  are  needed  to  afford  "ends"  which  readily  permit 
oil  to  flow  on  to  the  friction  surfaces  but  have  little 
storage  capacity. 

When  in  operation,  the  jars  and  blows  arising  from 
track  conditions  have  a  tendency  to  compress  the  waste 
and  cause  it  to  shrink  away  from  the  friction  surfaces. 
The  fiber  or  other  material  in  the  waste  is  there  to 
counteract  this  tendency  by  giving  spring  or  resiliency 
to  the  packing. 

When  a  car  is  in  service  the  waste  supplies  a  con- 
tinually decreasing  quantity  of  lubricant  to  the  bear- 
ings, because  it  shrinks  and  glazes.  Glazing  results 
from  the  combined  effect  of  frictional  polishing  of  the 
waste  and  the  action  of  the  heated  bearing  on  the  oil 
and  waste.  Glazing  destroys  the  capillary  action  of  the 
waste  and  shortens  its  life.  The  better  the  grade  of 
waste  used  and  the  better  the  quality  of  the  lubricant 
the  less  the  tendency  for  glazing  to  occur. 

One  grade  of  waste  is  generally  used  for  all  the 
bearings  and  its  quality  is  determined  by  market  prices. 


Fig.  6- 


Overflow  pocket'' 


-Section  of  Modern  Axle 
Bearing  Cap 


678 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Oil  pockety 


During  the  war  wool  cost  85  cents  per  lb.  as  against 
20  cents  per  lb.  at  present  and,  under  the  two  price 
conditions,  specifications  for  waste  would  differ. 

Waste  has  a  life  of  three  or  four  years  under  ordi- 
nary service  conditions.  To  prepare  waste  for  use  in 
bearings,  it  is  picked  apart  and  then  soaked  with  oil 
for  about  twenty-four  hours  at  a  temperature  of  about 
70  deg.  F.  The  waste  is  drained  for  twenty-four  to 
forty-eight  hours  and  is  then  ready  to  use  in  a  bearing. 
At  the  end  of  the  drainage  period  a  slight  pressure  of 
the  hand  should  cause  oil  to  exude  and  the  waste 
should  contain  four  or  five  pints  of  lubricant  per  pound 
of  dry  waste. 

New  waste  is  used  in  all  motor  armature  bearings, 
but  reclaimed  waste  can  be  used  in  other  bearings.  It 
is  economical  to  schedule  the  waste  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  goes  from  motor  armature  bearings  to  driving 
axle  bearings  and  then  to  the  truck  journal  bearings. 
Between  applications,  the  waste  is  always  washed, 
picked  apart,  soaked  and  drained. 

Packing  Not  Standardized 

The  present  method  of  using  waste  as  packing  for 
motor,  axle  and  journal  bearings  has  some  disadvan- 
tages from  an  operating  standpoint,  although  it  is  the 
best  method  known.  It  involves  the  exercise  of  care 
and  skill  on  the 
part  of  the  oiler, 
yet  the  economics 
of  the  situation 
and  the  type  of 
dirty  work  asso- 
ciated with  the 
use  of  waste  for 
packing  result 
in  the  use  of  un- 
skilled and  often 
foreign  or  igno- 
rant men  as  oilers 
and  a  tendency 
to  a  careless  su- 
pervision on  the 
part  of  the  fore- 
man and  experts. 

It  is  true  that  standard  methods  for  preparing  waste 
and  for  packing  bearings  have  been  developed  as  much 
as  possible  and  the  oilers  have  been  trained  to  a  rule 
of  thumb  standard  of  proficiency,  but  every  time  a 
bearing  is  packed  there  enters  a  necessity  for  the  exer- 
cise of  human  intelligence  and  judgment  inherent  in 
the  method  and  in  its  application  to  the  equipment  used 
in  service.  Bearings  differ  widely  in  packing  space, 
end  clearance,  journal  clearance,  oil  well  arrangements 
and  in  dimensions  and  materials.  Not  all  operating 
conditions  or  equipments  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
Capital  Traction  Company  in  Washington,  which  packs 
its  journals,  seals  the  boxes  and  lets  them  alone  for 
about  a  year. 

In  packing  the  armature  bearings  it  is  the  practice 
of  some  companies  to  press  the  waste  firmly  into  the 
bottom  of  the  housing,  moderately  tight  opposite  the 
opening  in  the  bearing  and  with  one  large  long  roll  of 
waste  placed  next  the  shaft  and  extending  from  the  top  to 
the  bottom  of  the  housing.  More  waste  is  then  placed 
in  the  housing  to  add  to  the  pressure  and  to  keep  the 
roll  in  contact  with  the  shaft. 

Motor  axle  bearings  are  packed  solidly  from  the  rear 
to  the  front  while  the  truck  journal  bearings  have  a 


Fig.  7- 


~-^_Overf/o>v 
pocket 


-Modern  Solid  Frame  Armature 
Bearing 


roll  of  waste  packed  against  the  dust  guard  with  loose 
waste  under  the  center  of  the  journal  and  another  roll 
in  the  front  of  the  housing. 

The  proper  supervision  of  the  packing  of  bearings  is 
very  important.  The  degree  of  tightness  or  looseness, 
the  arrangement  of  waste  in  the  housing,  the  design 
of  the  bearing  are  all  elements  that  require  the  expert 
or  the  foreman  to  supervise. 

Oiling  and  Greasing 

After  bearings  are  packed,  the  maintenance  of  lubri- 
cation requires  that  oil  be  supplied  at  intervals.  Also 
the  compressors  must  be  oiled  at  intervals,  the  gears 
and  pinions  lubricated  and  the  side  and  center  bearings 
greased.  All  these  parts  must  remain  in  service  be- 
tween inspections  and  the  failure  of  a  lubricant  supply 
will  result  in  damage  and  a  delay  in  service. 

Today,  as  never  before,  the  lubrication  of  equipment 
is  essential.  Economic  pressure  has  caused  the  reduc- 
tion of  shop  forces  to  a  minimum,  has  put  off  the  pur- 
chase of  new  equipment  and  has  added  to  the  duty  of 
the  old.  The  shop  men,  due  to  crowding,  use  less  care 
in  making  and  fitting  bearings,  the  tracks  give  the 
bearings  harder  jars  and  the  schedules  give  them  greater 
loads  to  carry.  An  example  of  this  condition  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  one  company  now  makes  armature 
bearings  with  0.01  to  0.012  in.  clearances  while  for- 
merly it  used  0.006  to  0.008  in.  for  clearances — this  in 
spite  of  better  inspection  and  more  accurate  gaging. 
One  missed  oiling  or  greasing  may  result  in  many 
direct  and  indirect  costs  to  the  system.  It  may  put  a 
car  out  of  service,  cause  large  repair  costs,  destroy  a 
schedule  and  irritate  the  public. 

The  oil  used  in  armature  bearings,  axle  bearings  and 
journal  bearings  is  usually  of  one  kind.  This  oil  is 
changed,  however,  to  conform  to  summer  and  winter 
operating  conditions.  No  definite  dates  are  fixed,  but 
the  time  is  fixed  by  the  weather  conditions.  Compressor 
oil  is  of  a  better  grade  than  bearing  oil,  but  it  also  is 
changed  to  conform  to  winter  and  summer  service. 

In  some  ways  the  seasonal  change  of  lubricant  seems 
unfortunate  because  during  the  changeover  periods 
many  little  troubles  arise  with  equipment  and  men 
which  have  their  origin  in  the  cessation  of  routine 
lubricating  practice.  There  are,  however,  so  many 
good  economic  and  lubricating  features  associated  with 
the  practice  that  the  change  is  warranted. 

The  direct  cost  of  lubricants  is  a  small  item,  but  the 
better  the  quality  of  the  lubricant  the  greater  its  cost. 
However,  the  better  the  quality  of  the  lubricant  the  less 
the  quantity  that  needs  to  be  used.  A  system  that 
changes  from  lubricants  of  one  quality  to  those  of  a 
better  quality  invariably  finds  it  difficult  to  get  the 
oilers  to  use  less  of  the  better  lubricants. 

The  advantages  to  be  gained  in  changing  to  a  better 
quality  of  lubricant  can  only  be  obtained  by  carefully 
training  the  oilers  and  by  exercising  close  supervision. 
Too  frequently  lubricants  are  wasted — in  some  shops 
the  panacea  for  all  equipment  ills  is  a  dose  of  oil  and 
repair  gangs  dose  motors  and  cars  at  every  oppor- 
tunity without  any  reference  to  the  scheduled  routine  in 
lubrication. 

Oilers  try  to  maintain  about  2.5  to  3  in.  of  oil  in  the 
armature  axle  and  journal  bearing  reservoirs  and  fill 
the  reservoirs  as  scheduled  by  means  of  the  oil  tube 
and  a  gill  measure.  It  is  frequently  the  practice  for 
the  oiler  to  "pick"  the  waste  also  and  to  see  that  the 
bearings  are  in  good  condition. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


679 


The  lubrication  of  the  gears  and  pinions  requires  the 
use  of  a  heavy  adhesive  lubricant  or  compound.  A 
supply  of  this  rests  in  the  gear  case  and  touches  the 
lower  gear  teeth.  As  the  gears  revolve  the  lubricant 
is  carried  around  due  to  its  adhesive  qualities  and  func- 
tions to  form  a  film  between  the  contact  surfaces.  The 
chief  requirement  is  that  the  compound  be  "sticky"  and 
will  not  deteriorate  in  service  operation.  One  company 
decreased  its  cost  for  gear  compound  from  69  to  49 
cents  per  1,000  car-miles  by  adding  some  resin  to  the 
compound  and  thereby  improving  its  adhesive  qualities. 
Gear  compound  is  wasted  by  using  too  much  in  the  gear 
ease  or  by  having  loose  or  leaky  gear  cases.  It  is 
difficult  to  keep  a  tight  gear  case  and  the  compound 
seems  to  find  every  opening. 

Cup  grease  is  used  at  intervals  on  the  side  and  center 
bearings,  equalizer  bars,  brake  rigging  and  other  slow 
and  infrequently  used  contact  surfaces.  No  particular 
skill  is  required  and  the  only  requirement  is  that  such 
surfaces  receive  lubrication  at  proper  intervals. 

Inspection  and  Lubrication 

Lubrication  and  inspection  occur  on  an  800-1,000-mile 
basis  with  most  operating  companies.  At  these  inter- 
vals oil  is  added  to  the  bearings  and  to  the  compressor 
and  gear  compound  and  cup  grease  are  used  if  needed. 
Old  and  special  equipment  such  as  older  type  motors 
receive  lubricant  on  a  half  inspection  basis. 

Other  companies  state  that  journal  bearings  should 
be  lubricated  once  every  thirty  days  if  the  cars  make 
under  150  miles  per  day  or,  on  a  mileage  basis,  about 
every  4,500  miles.  If  the  service  is  high  speed,  the  cars 
making  300  to  500  miles  per  day,  the  bearings  are 
lubricated  weekly  or  about  every  2,500  miles. 

Another  company  cares  for  all  lubrication  by  weekly 
inspection  of  all  cars.  The  carhouse  oilers  add  the 
quantities  of  lubricants  needed.  This  company  repacks 
bearings  on  interurban  cars  each  three  months,  on  semi- 
interurban  cars  each  six  months  and  on  city  cars  each 
twelve  months.  All  the  work  is  done  by  daylight  and 
the  rules  for  repacking  are  subject  to  exceptions  to  suit 
special  conditions  and  equipment. 

Another  company  repacks  on  a  car-mile  basis — 8,000 
car-miles  for  motor  and  axle  journals,  5,000  car-miles 
for  pony  axle  journals.  Still  other  systems  repack  at  the 
annual  overhauls  unless  any  inspection  period  indicates 
a  necessity  for  repacking. 

One  company  uses  about  I  lb.  of  gear  compound  about 
every  four  weeks  on  each  car  and  greases  the  side  and 
center  bearings,  etc.,  with  cup  grease  every  five  weeks. 
To  save  money  a  mixture  of  curve  oil  and  kerosene  is 
used  temporarily  to  grease  the  side  and  center  bearings 
when  a  hard  rain  brings  about  the  need  of  lubrication  at 
other  than  five-week  periods. 

Organization 

Organizations  differ  for  handling  lubrication.  One 
typical  method  is  to  have  an  oiler  to  care  for  motor  and 
compressor  oiling  and  packing,  another  for  journals  and 
gears  and  a  truckman  to  care  for  center  and  side  bear- 
ings, etc. 

These  men  are  usually  units  in  the  inspection  or  repair 
gangs  who  have  been  trained  by  the  lubricating 
engineer  to  do  their  jobs  correctly.  The  foreman  in 
each  carhouse  has  general  supervision  of  all  work, 
including  supervision.  It  does  not  pay  to  keep  definite 
lubrication  data  in  detail  for  each  car  in  the  offices,  but 
some  carhouse  foremen  have  found  it  advantageous  to 


keep  records  in  the  carhouse.  These  records  immediately 
enable  them  to  find  what  motor  or  compressor  uses  too 
much  oil  and  the  resultant  investigation  may  ward  off 
serious  trouble  with  the  equipment. 

In  general  each  carhouse  foreman  requisitions  one 
month's  supply  of  lubricants  on  a  form  which  shows  the 
amount  of  each  type  on  hand  at  the  end  of  the  month, 
the  amount  used  and  the  amount  needed  for  the  next 
month.  This  requisition,  together  with  mileage  and 
cost  records,  enables  the  office  force  or  the  oil  company 
to  compile  unit  costs  of  the  form  indicated  below. 


Carhouse  Location      Motor  Compressor  Gear         Cup        Total  for 

54th  Street              Oil  Oil  Compound  Grease    June,  1921 

Used                             90  gal.  19  gal.  611b.         13  1b  

Cost                               $29  70  $6  24  $3  36  $1  17         $40  47 

Cost  per  1,000  car-miles  $0  091  $0  019  $0  .01  $0,003       $0  ,125 

Mileage   323,340 


These  unit  costs  serve  to  check  each  month's  opera- 
tion and  can  be  studied  profitably  in  connection  with  the 
monthly  report  of  motor  and  car  breakdowns.  If  any 
breakdown  may  have  been  caused  by  faulty  lubrication 
a  careful  study  can  be  made  to  determine  the  relation  of 
lubrication  to  the  trouble. 

For  example  in  May,  1921,  out  of  164  motor  troubles 
on  the  Third  Avenue  Railway  in  New  York  seven  break- 
downs were  due  to  worn  bearings,  one  to  a  hot  bearing 


FIG.  8— WASTE  SOAKING  TANK 

Dry  waste  is  placed  in  sections  1,  2  and  3  and  clean  oil  is 
pumped  from  section  5  to  the  waste  sections.  After  soaking  the 
oil  is  drained  back  to  section  5.  Sections  4  and  6  are  used  to  re- 
soak  old  waste  with  reclaimed  oil.  Floats  on  tanks  indicate  oil 
levels  and  wire  screens  aid  drainage. 

and  the  large  majority  to  grounded  armatures  or  fields. 
The  cause  of  the  larger  number  of  troubles  might  have^ 
been  either  lubrication  or  heat.  Worn  bearings  mighty 
have  caused  armatures  to  drop  or  heat  due  to  overloads 
and  thus  resulted  in  grounds.  Hammer  blows  due  to 
track  corrugations  or  worn  special  trackwork  might  also 
have  been  contributory  causes  of  trouble.  Only  a 
detailed  study  of  the  specific  trouble  could  fix  the  cause, 
but  lubrication  is  always  a  decided  item  in  such  a  study. 
In  the  same  month  only  two  compressor  troubles  out  of 
thirty-six  could  be  attributed  to  lubrication.  These  two 
troubles  were  caused  by  leakage  of  oil  through  the 
housing. 

Conclusion 

Lubrication  practice  can  never  become  standardized 
in  the  railway  industry  due  to  variations  in  equipment 
and  service  conditions  and  each  system  has  its  own 
problem  of  lubrication  to  be  solved.  An  intelligent 
study  of  the  lubrication  problem  on  any  system  will 


680 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


result  in  decreased  direct  repair  and  lubricant  costs  and 
will  secure  better  equipment  and  track  maintenance  and 
enable  better  service  to  be  given.  No  radical  changes  in 
lubrication  methods  or  lubricants  may  be  expected  to 
eliminate  the  necessity  for  managerial  and  technical 
attention  to  lubrication. 

The  chief  improvements  in  lubrication  methods  should 
be  the  development  of  a  system  of  lubrication  that  does 
not  rely  so  much  on  the  skill  and  care  of  the  oiler  and 
packer  for  its  success  and  changes  in  methods  of  main- 
taining an  oil  film  on  friction  parts  by  which  such  a 
film  is  kept  uniform  in  thickness  for  longer  periods  of 
time. 


New  Tower  Truck  for  Detroit 

Three-Section  Tower  Located  Near  the  Center  of  the  Body 
Can  Be  Raised  or  Lowered  Either  by  Hydraulic 
Pressure  or  by  Hand 

ACCOMPANYING  illustrations  show  a  trolley  tower 
l\.  truck  now  being  used  by  the  Municipal  Street  Rail- 
ways Department  of  the  city  of  Detroit.  It  was  built 
by  the  Standard  Motor  Truck  Company  and  is  the 
first  of  this  type  they  have  constructed.  A  three-sec- 
tion Trenton  tower  is  located  near  the  center  of  the 
body.  The  tower  is  operated  by  a  Wood  hydraulic  hoist 
supported  on  two  cross  members  in  the  center  of  the 
tower.  The  hydraulic  hoist  is  hooked  up  with  a  hand 
hoist  arrangement,  so  that  in  case  of  emergency  or 
when  the  motor  is  not  running  the  tower  can  be  raised 
readily  by  one  man  turning  a  crank.  The  tower  lowers 
by  gravity  and  the  hand  arrangement  is  fitted  with  a 
brake  to  control  the  downward  speed.  The  operating 
lever  for  raising  the  tower  by  hydraulic  pressure  is 
located  within  reach  of  the  driver's  seat.  The  tower 
can  be  elevated  or  lowered  in  less  than  a  minute.  The 
total  height  from  the  ground  to  the  tower  platform 
when  elevated  is  19  ft.  6  in. ;  when  lowered  it  is 
10  ft.  4  in. 

The  front  portion  of  the  truck  is  taken  up  with  an 
inclosed  cab.  This  has  sliding  doors  and  is  fitted  with 
an  auxiliary  roof  so  as  to  allow  the  workman  to  walk 
on  it.  A  ladder  shaped  to  the  contour  of  the  cab  side 
is  attached  to  provide  a  means  of  getting  on  to  the 
tower  platform. 

The  rear  portion  of  the  body  is  taken  up  by  tool 
boxes  and  bins.  There  are  four  longitudinal  tool  boxes, 
two  on  the  inside  of  the  body  running  the  full  length 


Tool  Boxes  and  Bins  Are  Conveniently  Located 


Line  Truck  with  Tower  Raised 


and  two  outside  ones.  The  inside  tool  boxes  can  be 
used  as  seats  for  workmen.  The  passageway  between 
them  has  provisions  for  removable  partitions  so  as  to 
make  four  extra  large  compartments.  The  covers  of 
the  outside  tool  boxes  are  constructed  on  an  angle  so 
as  to  keep  the  contents  dry  in  wet  weather.  A  step 
and  a  hand  rail  at  the  rear  end  of  the  body  make  it 
easy  for  workmen  to  get  tools  and  material  from  the 
inside  tool  boxes  and  compartments. 

There  are  six  double  8-in.  hooks  on  each  side  of  the 
car  attached  to  the  body  posts.  These  are  for  use  in 
hanging  on  coils  of  rope  and  wire.  Curtains  are  pro- 
vided at  both  sides  and  ends,  so  that  the  body  can  be 
completely  inclosed  in  inclement  weather.  When  not 
in  use  the  curtains  can  be  rolled  up  and  attached  to 
the  top  of  the  body.  The  chassis  is  equipped  with 
a  pintle  hook  and  both  front  and  rear  tow  hooks. 
Suitable  electric  lighting  equipment  is  provided. 


Tower  Truck  with  Curtains  Lowered 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


681 


Follow-Up  System  for  Power  Saving 

A  Description  of  Methods  for  Obtaining  and  Compiling  Records,  Together  with  the  Various  Cards  and 
Forms  Which  Are  Used  on  the  Electric  Railway  Systems  in 
Springfield  and  Worcester,  Mass. 

By  C.  Verner  Wood,  Jr. 

Supervisor  of  Power  Saving 
Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway,  Worcester,  Mass. 


INSTALLATION  OP  RECORDERS  IN  VARIOUS  TYPES  OP  CARS 
At  left,  recorder  in  vestibule  of  safety  car.    At  top,  recorder  in  vestibule  of  standard  city  type  car. 
At  bottom,  recorder  in  vestibule  of  electric  freight  car. 


THE  electric  railway  systems  in  Springfield  and 
Worcester,  Mass.,  have  a  total  of  670  Arthur 
power-saving  recorders  in  service  at  present. 
These  have  been  in  operation  since  July,  1919,  in  Spring- 
field and  since  October,  1920,  in  Worcester.  All  freight 
cars  of  both  companies  have  recently  been  equipped  and 
records  for  these  have  been  compiled  since  July.  The 
type  of  recorder  used  registers  the  minutes  of  actual 
time  that  power  is  on. 

Accompanying  illustrations  show  various  record  cards 
and  forms  used  for  collecting  information  and  following 
up  the  operation.  The  record  card  used  by  the  motor- 
men  is  made  of  a  medium-grade,  gloss-finished  card- 
board. Its  size  is  5  x  8  in.,  which  is  the  same  as  the 
register  cards  used  on  the  system.  At  the  top  of  the 
record  card  is  a  line  for  the  car  number,  and  below  this 
are  spaces  for  entering  the  motorman's  name,  badge 
number,  date,  run  number  and  route.  Each  motorman 
as  he  takes  out  his  car  enters  the  reading  of  the  re- 
corder as  he  finds  it,  and  opposite  this  he  puts  down 
the  time. 

Corresponding  information  is  entered  again  on 
the  card  when  the  motorman  leaves  the  car.  With 


this  system  each  man's  record  is  checked  with  the  next, 
and  a  great  deal  of  care  is  given  by  each  man  to  make 
certain  that  the  "other  fellow"  doesn't  make  mistakes. 
Whenever  any  difference  exists  between  the  two  men's 
readings  a  careful  check  is  made  to  ascertain  the  reason. 
Printed  on  the  back  of  this  record  card  are  a  few  sug- 
gestions for  helping  the  motorman  to  improve  his  power- 
saving  record.  Sufficient  space  is  also  provided  for 
reporting  anything  which  may  have  caused  the  use  of 
power  unnecessarily. 

Cards  Are  Changed  Each  Night 

Each  night  the  record  cards  are  taken  from  the  cars 
and  new  ones  are  substituted.  In  Worcester  this  work 
is  done  by  the  "register  checkers"  in  connection  with 
their  regular  work.  In  Springfield  the  work  is  done  by 
spare  crews  using  part  of  their  time.  The  type  of 
recorders  used  on  these  systems  require  winding  and 
this  is  done  twice  each  week.  The  same  man  does  the 
winding  that  replaces  the  filled-out  record  cards  with 
new  ones. 

All  record  cards  removed  are  sent  to  the  office  of  the 
power-saving  department  at  Worcester,  where  they  are 


682 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


checked  and  cut  up.  Each  man's  record  is  filed  away 
until  the  end  of  a  period  covering  two  weeks  service, 
then  each  man's  card  is  figured  and  a  statement  is  made 
up  showing  the  various  records.  A  copy  of  this  state- 
ment is  presented  to  each  man.  Six  weeks  time  is  desig- 
nated as  a  "prize  period,"  and  at  the  end  of  this  time 
each  man's  record  for  the  previous  six  weeks  is  figured 
and  a  prize  statement  is  drawn  up.    Men  are  compared 


Kw.-hr.  per  Car  Mile, Base  and  Actual  at  D.C.  Bus,  Saving  Shaded 


Saving  kw.-hr.  per  Car  Mile  at  DC  Bus 


.... 

 7  1 

:::::::::::::::::::::d 

P—1  b_ : 

•—    ")    W    O    ^    ^    "    j   ^   g  —  _       ^  O    O         _H    -3  u 

:TuiZT55-)W2-)55-nnz  -)25-)WZ->55-jWZ 

1919  1920  1921  1920  1921 

Saving  in  Dol la rs,  Cost  of  System,  and  Net  Saving  (shaded) 

Power  Saving  Graphs  for  the  Worcester  Consolidated  Street 
Railway  and  for  the  Springfield  Street  Railway 

with  each  other  only  when  they  operate  on  the  same 
lines  and  under  the  same  general  conditions.  The  prizes 
given  range  from  $2.50  to  $1,  $2.50  being  for  the  man 
with  the  best  average  record  for  his  individual  line, 
$1.50  for  the  next  best  record,  and  $1  for  all  those 
whose  records  have  been  as  good  or  better  than  the 
average  of  the  line. 

Work  Done  by  Power-Saving  Inspectors 

A  power-saving  inspector  is  employed  by  each  com- 
pany whose  duties  consist  of  instructing  the  motormen 
as  to  how  to  operate  properly  and  also  making  small 
repairs  and  adjustments  as  they  are  necessary  to  the 
recorder.  The  results  obtained  depend  to  a  large  extent 
on  the  ability  of  this  man,  as  he  forms  the  point  of 
contact  between  the  company  and  the  men,  and  his  work 
should  be  to  encourage  the  good  motormen  to  continue 
and  to  assist  the  others  to  try  harder.  This  inspector 
also  looks  over  the  record  cards  each  day  to  learn  what 
cars  are  reported  as  poor  coasters  and  to  ascertain  if  all 
the  recorders  are  working  properly.  Another  form 
shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  is  the  report 
blank  used  by  the  power-saving  inspector  for  recording 
observations  as  he  rides  on  the  various  cars.  On  this 
form  are  entered  the  motorman  ridden  with,  operating 
points  noted  and  the  number  of  seconds  required  by  the 
motorman  to  feed  his  controller  to  the  full  parallel  posi- 


tion. These  daily  reports  are  summarized  every  two 
weeks ;  that  is,  the  names  of  the  motormen  who  seem  to 
disregard  some  of  the  essential  requirements  for  effi- 
cient operation  are  copied  off  and  sent  to  the  division 
superintendent,  who  calls  these  men  in  to  caution  and 
to  ask  them  to  do  better.  It  is  found  that  a  greater 
measure  of  success  is  obtained  by  constantly  keeping 
"power  saving"  before  the  men  and  teaching  them  that 
the  new  manner  of  operation  is  safer  and  easier  than 
the  old.  It  is  not  expected  that  all  men  will  be  as 
efficient  as  some,  but  it  is  expected  that  each  man  will 
do  his  best.  On  the  whole  the  men  have  entered  into 
power  saving  with  a  great  deal  of  spirit  and  the  rivalry 
on  most  of  the  lines  is  quite  intense. 

Power-Saving  Cost  Furnished  Each  Month 

At  the  end  of  each  month  a  statement  is  sent  to  the 
various  offices  of  each  company  showing  the  cost  of  the 
power-saving  department  during  that  month.  An  ac- 
companying illustration  shows  the  form  that  this  report 
takes.  The  costs  which  enter  into  this  report  include 
office  labor,  salary  of  power-saving  inspectors,  cost  for 
office  equipment,  stationery  used,  including  record  cards, 
repair  parts  used  for  the  recorders,  depreciation  on  the 
recorders,  interest  on  the  investment,  cost  of  winding 
the  recorders  and  placing  record  cards  in  the  cars,  and 
the  amount  of  prize  money  given  out.  Our  cost  for 
office  labor  is  very  reasonable  as  the  total  force  required 
to  take  care  of  the  clerical  labor  for  both  companies 
consists  of  but  two  clerks  and  a  stenographer.  Blue- 
prints of  power-saving  graphs  of  the  form  shown  in 
two  of  the  accompanying  illustrations  are  sent  out  with 
this  report.  These  show  the  kilowatt-hours  per  car-mile, 
the  saving  in  kilowatt-hours  per  car-mile,  the  per  cent  of 
saving  in  kilowatt-hours,  the  saving  in  dollars,  the  cost 
of  the  system  and  the  net  saving.  These  graphs  are 
arranged  to  cover  a  period  of  five  years  by  months,  each 
month's  information  being  added  as  it  is  worked  up. 
This  method  of  keeping  the  record  enables  a  ready  com- 
parison to  be  made  for  each  one  of  the  important  facts 
entering  into  the  problem. 

In  figuring  the  saving  made  it  is  not  deemed  accurate 
to  compare  directly  the  kilowatt-hours  per  car-mile  used 
from  month  to  month  with  the  corresponding  months  of 
tl  e  year  previous  to  the  installation  of  the  power-saving 
recorders  because  of  the  fact  that  certain  improvements 
have  been  instituted  which  in  themselves  have  produced 
a  saving  in  power.  Also  there  may  be  a  difference  in 
the  number  of  passengers  carried  and  the  schedule 
speed,  which  would  make  a  difference  in  the  amount 
of  power  consumed.  Therefore,  a  so-called  "bogey  kilo- 
watt-hour per  car-mile"  is  put  into  use  based  on  the 
performance  dating  back  to  June,  1918.  An  adjustment 
is  made  on  the  bogey  year  with  allowance  for  conditions 
of  the  current  month  as  regards  schedule  speed  and 
average  passengers  carried  per  car-mile.  Also  the  esti- 
mated saving  of  power  made  by  the  use  of  lightweight 
safety  cars. 

Low  Maintenance  for  Recorders 

The  cost  of  maintaining  the  recorders  thus  far  has 
been  exceedingly  low.  It  is  planned  to  give  each  re- 
corder of  both  properties  a  thorough  overhauling  once 
each  year.  All  recorders  on  the  Springfield  Street  Rail- 
way were  gone  over  last  fall,  and  will  be  due  for  another 
examination  and  cleaning  this  fall.  The  Worcester 
recorders  will  have  their  first  overhauling  this  fall. 
It  has  not  been  found  necessary  to  employ  additional 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


683 


help  for  doing  this  work  as  the  power-saving  inspector 
is  able  to  do  it  along  with  his  other  work.  The  only 
part  of  the  recorder  requiring  much  attention  while 
cleaning  is  the  clock  movement.  To  carry  out  the  neces- 
sary work  ten  movements  are  removed  from  the  open 
cars  which  are  laid  up  during  the  winter  months.  These 
recorders  are  soaked  in  gasoline.  If  they  are  extremely 
dirty  they  are  brushed  with  a  small  brush  dipped  in 
gasoline,  and  then  they  are  allowed  to  dry  thoroughly 
and  a  drop  of  clock  oil  is  put  on  each  bearing  surface. 
After  this  overhauling  these  ten  movements  are  sub- 
stituted for  a  like  number  of  movements  taken  from 
recorders  in  service,  and  these  in  turn  are  cleaned  and 
oiled.  This  procedure  is  continued  until  all  recorders 
have  been  properly  overhauled.  Sometimes  the  change 
of  movement  is  made  on  cars  while  they  are  in  service, 
as  but  ten  minutes  is  necessary  to  remove  a  movement 
and  substitute  another.  The  soaking  of  the  movement 
in  gasoline  requires  but  half  an  hour,  unless  it  is  ex- 


showing  a  greater  amount  of  net  for  a  shorter  period 
of  time  is  that  the  cost  of  power  in  Worcester  per  kilo- 
watt-hour is  considerably  more.  It  has  been  found  that, 
aside  from  the  actual  saving  made  in  power  by  the  use 
of  the  recorders,  many  savings  which  cannot  readily  be 
estimated  result.  These  include  the  saving  in  electrical 
equipment,  brake  shoes,  etc.,  and  also  the  saving  result- 
ing from  fewer  accidents,  as  it  has  been  found  that  the 
use  of  the  recorders  encourages  carefulness  and  thus  in 
many  instances  avoids  accidents. 


New  Skip-Stop  Signs  for  Chicago 

SKIP-STOP  locations  are  being  painted  on  16,000 
poles  at  8,000  stops  in  Chicago,  the  work  requiring 
about  five  weeks  time.  Heretofore  stop  signs  hung  on 
the  cross-span  wires  have  been  used,  but  there  has  been 
some  complaint  that  they  could  not  be  seen,  particularly 
at  night.    An  effort  was  made  to  speed  up  the  painting 


WORCESTER  COHoOLI DATED  STREET  RAILWAY  C01TPAITI 
COST  OF  P0»BR  SAVIHG  DEPARTMENT 

Uonth  of  — 

■iuperTlslon  *  Office  Labor.  Amount 

50$  of  total     - 

Inspector.  • 

Of f Icq  Equipment. 

50^  of  15*  of  $663.00  per  annum  -  

(The  above  figure  Includes  desk. chairs.  , 
adding  machine, file  boxes. paper  cutter. Du- 
plicator.eto.  )  

Office  Rent,   (50*  of  J30.00)  -  - 

Stationery.  50*  of  total  plus  Worcester  cards 

Cost  of  Recorders. 

Repair  parts  for  Recordera    

Depreciation  on  388  Recordera  coating  916.466. 

installed  based  on  10  yeare'  life  

Interest     

Pritea. 

Market  Street  

Catea  Lane  —  

Leominster  Division   

Southbridge  Division  

Northboro  Division  

31aclcstone  Valley  Division  

Webster  Division  -  

Freight  Department  

71  nd lng  Cloaks  and  Putting  in  Cards. 

Overtime  charged  only  

TOTAL  COST     OP  DEPARTMENT   


Power  Saving  Department, 
'.'ore  eg  ter,M3^sachuse  t  ts . 


Supervisor    of  Power  Saving. 


STREET  RAILWAY 
DAILY  REPORT  OF  POWER  SAVING  INSPECTOR 
Division  Date 


OPERATING  POINTS  NOTCO 


"*,£U,um  POWER  SAVING  RCCORD  CarNo   

Nnm  —  -  

Badf*  No.                 DttO  _ 
Run  No.  Rovt> 

Nim  

BMlt*  No.  Don 
(tun  No.  Rout. 

fudg.  No. 


HOW  CAN  A  MOTORMAN  IMPROVE  HIS  POWER  SAVINC 
AND  SAFETY  RECORD? 


1  Dy  being  alert  in  responding  i 

2  By  notching  up  the  controller 


-  neirher 


3  By  coasting  whenever  possible 

4  By  not  crowding  loo  close  to  ihe  car  or  learn  ahead 

5  By  shutting  power  ofT-io  avoid  unnKYftsaril)  high  speed 

6  By  braking  the  car  with  one  smooth  application 

8     By  not  allow. ng  the  brakes  lo  drag 

9.  By  not  applying  power  and  brakes  al  rhe  same  lime  on  di 
grades. 

10  By  not  approching  cros*  streets,  curves,  teams  etc.  al 
high  speed 

II.  By  climbing  heavy  grades  in  the  series  posirion  when  the  gr 
and  car  equipment  is  such  that  the  controller  cannni 
notched  up  properly  to  ihr  full  parallel  position 


At  Left,  Form  of  Monthly  Report  of  Cost  for  Power  Saving  Department. 

Saving  Inspector.      Bottom,  Front  and  Reverse  Sides 


Top,  Right,  Form  for  Daily  Report  of  Power 
of  Power  Saving  Record  Card. 


tremely  dirty.  Any  clock  movement  found  out  of  adjust- 
ment or  with  broken  parts  is  sent  to  a  jeweler  for  repair. 
The  average  cost  of  such  repairs  to  movements  thus  far 
has  been  about  $1.  All  other  parts  of  recorders  have 
given  very  little  trouble  and  very  few  repairs  have  been 
necessary.  A  small  stock  of  supplies  is  kept  on  hand  and 
upon  failure  of  any  part  of  the  recorder  it  is  replaced 
hy  the  power-saving  inspector. 

Since  the  date  of  installation  of  the  recorders  in 
Springfield  up  to  May  31,  1921,  all  costs  resulting  from 
their  operation,  including  interest  and  depreciation, 
amount  to  $17,500.  The  gross  saving,  which  is  con- 
sidered to  be  figured  very  conservatively,  amounts  to 
$34,700.  This  leaves  a  net  saving  of  $17,200.  In  Wor- 
cester from  October,  1920,  to  May  31,  1921,  the  total 
costs  amount  to  $7,100,  while  the  gross  saving  is  esti- 
mated at  $23,700.  This  leaves  a  net  saving  of  about 
•$16,600.    One  of  the  reasons  for  the  Worcester  system 


of  the  poles  for  the  new  stop  signs  in  order  to  serve  the 
large  number  of  visitors  present  in  the  city  for  the 
Pegeant  of  Progress.  The  new  sign  is  painted  with 
two  coats  of  white  paint  on  the  black  tubular  steel 
poles  with  the  inscription  "Cars  Stop  Here"  in  black 
letters.  It  is  believed  that  the  new  stop  signs  will  be 
much  more  readily  visible  at  night.  The  cross-span 
signs  will  be  taken  down.  In  addition  to  the  fact  that 
they  could  not  be  seen  well,  they  have  also  proved  some- 
what unsatisfactory  since  the  swinging  in  the  wind 
finally  wears  out  the  wire  supports  and  the  signs  drop 
to  the  ground.  While  no  injuries  have  resulted  from 
this,  it  represents  a  danger  which  was  a  factor  in  the 
decision  for  their  removal. 

On  three  streets  the  company  has  center  pole  con- 
struction and  in  order  to  minimize  the  danger  of  auto- 
mobiles hitting  these  poles  they  are  all  being  painted 
with  orange  and  black  stripes. 


684 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  lb 


How  the  Equipment  Man  Can  Aid  in  Reducing  Costs 

Competition  Demands  Lowest  Possible  Car  Maintenance  Costs,  Which  May  Be  Accomplished  Through  a 
Close  Supervision  of  Every  Detail — Suggestions  Given  on  How  Costs  May 
Be  Reduced  and  Interest  of  Shopmen  Increased 

By  Pierre  V.  C.  See 

Superintendent  of  Equipment  Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Company,  Akron,  Ohio 


WHEN  jitney  and  motor  bus  first  appeared  rail- 
way men  generally  thought  they  would  not  be 
able  to  compete  with  the  street  car  and  inter- 
urban.  Maintenance  costs,  operating  expenses  and  de- 
preciation would  soon  put  them  out  of  commission.  It 
is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  electric  car  can  be  oper- 
ated more  cheaply  than  the  automobile,  but  we  find 
in  many  cities  that  the  jitney  and  bus  are  still  flour- 
ishing. 

The  problem  brought  before  the  electric  railway  by 
the  continued  reality  of  these  competitors  is  to  operate 
at  a  low  enough  cost  to  enable  a  rate  of  fare  which  will 
discourage  if  not  prohibit  such  competition.  Although 
the  car  equipment  cost  is  a  comparatively  small  part 
of  the  total  expenses  of  a  road,  under  the  circumstances 
it  is  essential  that  car  maintenance  be  reduced  as  low 
as  possible  without  incurring  deferred  maintenance 
that  will  ultimately  mean  greater  outlay  This  is  how 
the  master  mechanic  can  best  help  in  merchandising 
car  rides,  assuming,  of  course,  that  he  is  keeping  the 
cars  in  such  order  as  to  appear  clean  and  avoid  break- 
down. 

To  obtain  the  minimum  shop  costs  consistent  with 
safe,  clean  and  reliable  service  requires  close  following 
of  every  detail  that  goes  into  the  maintenance  of  cars 
and  shops.  The  results  of  a  campaign  in  our  shops  to 
reduce  the  costs  of  car  maintenance  are  shown  in  the 
accompanying  curve,  where  it  is  seen  that  the  average 
cost  per  car-mile  was  reduced  from  $0,642  to  $0,475. 
During  this  period  there  was  a  25  per  cent  reduction 
in  cost  of  labor,  but  practically  none  in  the  cost  of 
material,  as  the  old  stock  bought  at  the  high  price 
period  was  still  being  used.    This  reduction  in  car 


c6 


Av 

erag 

i 

jo  47 

5  

July    Aug.  Sept.    Oct    Nov.  Dec. 
k—               1920  — > 

Jan.    Feb.   Mar    Apr.    May  June 
<--                 1921   y. 

Curve  Showing  Reduction  in  Equipment  Maintenance  Cost 
Due  to  Increased  Efficiency  in  Akron  Shops 
of  N.  O.  T.  &  L.  Co. 


maintenance  cost  was  accomplished  in  spite  of  a  con- 
siderable reduction  in  the  mileage.  In  making  this 
saving  the  number  of  men  and  the  length  of  the  work- 
ing day  were  cut  to  the  lowest  possible  point  and  all 
overtime  was  stopped.  The  reduction  in  men  auto- 
matically made  a  corresponding  reduction  in  the  ma- 
terial used.    The  material  reduction  was  also  further 


Paint-Mixing  Machine,  Motor  Driven,  Which  Is  a  Great 
labor-saving  device 


followed  up  and  only  absolute  necessities  were  drawn 
from  the  stores. 

The  largest  single  item  of  expense  is  labor.  A  good 
means  of  watching  this  item  of  cost  is  a  frequent 
careful  analysis  of  the  shop  forces  so  as  to  determine 
exactly  the  necessity  for  each  man  employed.  This 
analysis  should  be  compared  with  previous  similar 
analyses  from  time  to  time,  to  determine  what  change 
in  the  force  in  each  department  is  being  made.  A 
sample  form  of  such  a  man-hour  check-up  sheet  is 
shown  herewith.  This  is  made  on  thin  drawing  paper 
so  that  blueprints  can  be  made  and  given  to  the  fore- 
men for  their  guidance.  The  last  column  shows  each 
supervisor  the  number  of  men  he  is  supposed  to  carry. 
A  check  against  this  chart  can  be  made  daily  or  weekly 
by  the  clerical  force. 

Chance  for  Waste  in  Car  Cleaning 

The  cleaning  of  cars  is  an  item  that  may  run  into 
considerable  money  and,  to  a  great  extent,  the  clean- 
liness of  the  cars  is  proportionate  to  the  money  ex- 
pended. On  the  other  hand,  there  is  probably  no  other 
class  of  work  that  has  such  a  tendency  to  deteriorate 
and  become  humdrum.  The  best  of  car  cleaning  sys- 
tems if  not  followed  up  by  the  supervising  force  soon 
deteriorates  and  the  foreman,  or  "straw  boss,"  feels 
that  his  work  is  not  of  importance  and  is  only  a  daily 
routine.  If  he  gets  that  attitude  it  quickly  permeates 
the  entire  car-cleaning  gang. 

In  order  to  keep  these  forces  up  to  the  highest  degree 
of  efficiency  the  car  cleaning  must  receive  frequent 
inspection  and  criticism.  The  testing  of  new  materials, 
even  though  they  may  be  no  better  than  what  is  being 
used,  has  a  tendency  to  arouse  interest  on  the  part  of 
the  men.  But  whatever  cleaning  material  is  used,  care 
must  be  taken  that  the  least  possible  damage  to  the 
varnish  and  enamel  is  involved. 

Piece  work  or  bonus  systems,  where  they  can  be 
used,  result  in  a  very  material  speeding  up  of  the 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


685 


shop  work,  but  unless  the  inspection  of  the  work  is 
very  rigid  the  man  will  increase  his  output  at  the 
expense  of  the  quality  of  his  work,  until  it  becomes 
necessary  to  limit  the  amount  of  work  he  is  permitted  to 
do  in  a  day.  This  in  turn  practically  nullifies  the  advan- 
tages of  the  piecework. 

Lubrication  and  brake  shoes  are  two  items  of  expense 
that  most  roads  are  following  closely  in  monthly  state- 
ments. The  reduction  of  the  oiling  to  as  low  a  point 
as  possible  is  a  good  plan  not  only  from  the  standpoint 
of  economy  but  in  preserving  general  cleanliness  of  the 
shops  and  roadway.  In  attempting  to  lower  the  oil 
consumption,  however,  it  should  always  be  borne  in 
mind  that  a  very  few  hot  bearings  due  to  lack  of  oil 
will  more  than  offset  any  saving  made  in  oil  costs. 
So  the  greatest  care  must  be  taken  to  determine  how 
far  economizing  in  this  direction  should  be  carried. 

The  reduction  of  the  brake-shoe  cost  must  be  fol- 
lowed up  from  several  angles.  The  truck  maintenance 
must  be  kept  up  so  as  to  prevent  shoes  wearing  crooked 
and  running  off  the  wheels.  The  inspection  force  may 
also  make  a  big  saving  by  the  proper  adjustment  of 
brakes  and  by  reversing  shoes  that  are  wearing  heavily 
at  one  end.  The  changing  of  shoes  from  motor  to 
trailer  wheels  may  often  help,  while  a  frequent  inspec- 
tion of  the  scrap  brake  shoe  pile  and  a  return  to  the 
inspection  shop  of  shoes  not  worn  out  will  also  have  a 
good  effect  on  the  cost.  The  selection  of  the  proper 
material  for  the  brake  shoes  to  give  the  greatest  coeffi- 
cient of  friction  and  longest  life  without  cutting  the 
wheels  is  also  necessary. 

Good  and  Bad  Paint  Economy 

Painting  is  sometimes  considered  as  being  in  the 
luxury  class  and  in  the  days  of  gold  stripes  on  the 
trucks  and  fancy  figures  on  the  headlinings  it  probably 
could  be  properly  so  classed.  But  with  the  modern, 
thin,  sheet-metal  sides  and  light  pressed  posts  the 
coating  of  this  metal  with  paint  is  an  absolute  neces- 


sity. It  is  far  cheaper  to  maintain  a  film  of  paint  than 
to  allow  the  metal  to  rust,  making  it  necessary  to  scrape, 
sand  blast  and  at  times  replace  the  pitted  metal  when 
the  delayed  painting  is  finally  undertaken. 

The  question  of  the  relative  economy  of  flat  colors 
and  varnish,  color  varnish  or  the  straight  enamel  system 
is  still  open  to  considerable  discussion.  The  use  of 
the  varnish  makes  a  more  flexible  system.  If  the 
varnished  car  can  be  brought  to  the  shop  before  the 
varnish  has  perished,  it  can  be  touched  up  and  re- 
varnished  at  a  very  reasonable  cost.  The  amount  of 
striping  and  lettering  that  is  done  on  a  car  is  a  matter 
of  personal  taste,  but  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  cost  of  this  work  is  high  and  if  the  money  thus 
put  out  were  spent  in  covering  more  cars  the  average 
appearance  of  the  equipment  would  probably  be  better. 

If  ready-mixed  paints  are  allowed  to  stand  in  the 
cans  for  any  length  of  time  the  pigment  usually  settles 
out  and  requires  considerable  labor  to  get  it  properly 
stirred  up.  An  electric  driven  propeller,  shown  in  the 
accompanying  picture,  has  been  found  to  be  a  great 
labor  saver  as  it  will  stir  up  the  hardest  paint  or  putty 
in  a  comparatively  short  time.  This  machine  can  easily 
be  made  in  any  shop  from  materials  on  hand. 

The  attached  curves  show  the  number  of  armatures 
wound  and  repaired  during  the  last  two  years.  The 
great  reduction  in  the  number  of  armatures  rewound 
was  obtained  by  introducing  a  systematic  oiling,  which 
reduced  the  number  of  hot  armature  bearings,  and  by 
a  closer  checking  of  the  motor  clearance,  which  prac- 
tically did  away  with  bands  being  torn  off  the  arma- 
tures, necessitating  their  rewinding.  Putting  into 
service  new  cars  with  modern  motors  and  a  lower  gear 
ratio,  the  mild  winter,  the  closing  of  ventilated  motors 
during  the  snowy  winter  weather,  improvement  in  meth- 
ods of  winding,  insulating  and  baking  of  armatures 
so  as  to  do  the  work  in  the  most  modern  way,  and  a 
thorough  cleaning  up  of  the  armature  room,  all  con- 
tributed to  this  better  armature  record. 


MAN-HOUR  COMPARISON 


Day 
Cuyahoga  Falls 

General  foreman  

Carpenters  

Electrician  

Truck  department  inspector  

Machinist  

Armature  pit  

Air  department  

Sprinkler  inspector  

Blacksmith  

Boiler  fireman  

Stove  repair  

Car  firemen  

Headlight-trolley  

Barn  sweeper  and  yard  

Sand  and  coal  

Car  cleaners  

Cleveland  inspectors  

Cleveland  car  cleaners  

Water  boy  

Club  room  janitor  

Motor  inspector  


Total. 


Night 
Cuyahoga  Falls 


-July,  1920  — 
Number 
of  Men 
1 

3 
4 
8 
1 

2 
3 
I 
I 


39 


Number 
of  Men 


Foreman   1 

Carpenter   1 

Motor  inspector   1 

Truck  and  brake  inspector .  .  ,   3 

Car  oilers   2 

Sand  and  coal   1 

Car  fireman  

Boiler  fireman.  

Headlight  repairman   I 

Trolley  repairman   1 

Car  cleaners   4 

Watchman   I 

Total   16 

Grand  total   55 


—August,  1920— 
Number 


—November,  1920 — 
Number 


—January,  1921- 
Number 


—March, 
Number 


1921— 


Hours 

of  Men 

Hours 

lof  Men 

Hours 

of  Men 

Hours 

of  Men 

Hours 

1 1 

1 

11 

1 

10 

1 

10 

1 

10 

30 

3 

30 

3 

27 

3 

27 

3 

27 

40 

4 

40 

4 

36 

4 

36 

4 

36 

80 

6 

60 

6 

54 

5 

45 

5 

45 

10 

10 

1 

9 

1 

9 

1 

9 

20 

10 

1 

9 

30 

30 

3 

27 

"l 

'  is 

"l 

'  is 

IC 

10 

1 

9 

1 

9 

1 

9 

10 

10 

1 

9 

1 

9 

1 

9 

1 

12 

1 

12 

1 

12 

20 

'20 

2 

18 

1 

1 1 

'  i 

'  ii 

'  i 

'  io 

'  io 

1 

9 

i 

9 

i 

9 

10 

10 

1 

9 

i 

9 

i 

9 

10 

i 

9 

i 

9 

40 

40 

"l 

'63 

5 

45 

5 

45 

1 

1 1 

1 

1  1 

1 

1 1 

2 

18 

2 

18 

2 

18 

'  12 

' \2 

12 

12 

'  i 

'  9 

'  i 

355 

32 

315 

37 

341 

32 

296 

32 

296 

920  - 

—  August, 

1920  — 

—  November,  1 920  — 

—  January 

1921  — 

—March,  1921— 

Number 

Number 

Number 

Number 

Hours 

of  Men 

Hours 

of  Men 

Hours 

of  Men 

Hours 

of  Men 

Hours 

12 

1 

12 

1 

1 1 

I 

1 1 

1 

1 1 

12 

1 

12 

1 

11 

1 

1 1 

1 

1 1 

12 

1 

12 

1 

1 1 

1 

II 

1 

11 

36 

3 

36 

3 

33 

2 

33 

2 

32 

24 

2 

24 

2 

22 

2 

22 

2 

22 

12 

1 

12 

1 

11 

1 

II 

1 

1 1 

2 

22 

2 

22 

1 

1 1 

1 

12 

1 

12 

1 

12 

'  12 

"i 

"|2 

1 

11 

1 

1 1 

1 

11 

12 

i 

12 

1 

II 

1 

1 1 

1 

1 1 

48 

4 

48 

4 

44 

4 

44 

4 

44 

12 

1 

12 

1 

12 

1 

12 

1 

12 

192 

16 

192 

19 

211 

19 

211 

17 

189 

547 

48 

507 

56 

552 

51 

507 

49 

485 

686 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


The  value  of  the  acetylene  cutting  torch  and  the 
electric  arc  welder  in  shop  work  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated. A  portable  acetylene  outfit  will  make  a 
large  saving  by  using  it  to  cut  off  loose  truck  bolts 
and  rivets,  while  the  carbide  generator  and  piping 
is  a  great  help  to  the  blacksmith  and  machine  shops 
for  cutting  out  special  shapes  such  as  brake  levers  and 
hangers. 

The  use  of  an  electric  welder,  or  "putting-on  tool," 
as  it  has  been  aptly  called,  results  in  economies  in  in- 
numerable ways.  The  welding  of  broken  truck  frames, 
armature  cases,  gear  cases  and  the  building  up  of 
brake  levers,  motor  housings,  armature  shafts  and  truck 
parts  all  produce  economies  that  may  easily  be  figured 


130 

,1 

170 
160 
I&0 
,140 
|I30 
,120 
.110 
-100 
90 
.80 
70 
,60 
50 
40 
30 
20 
JO 
0 


neper/ 

J 

tf>  o.      >■  o 

m    o    o  p 
<  (/)  o   z  D 

<---■-  1919— -> 

OCLO     3      3     3  a>UOQ> 

~~>  u~  s:<s:^i-5<tooz:ci 
 1920  » 

T    ll    I     <    £    ->  -o 

<  192|  ->. 

Improvement  in  Amount  of  Armature  Work  Due  To  Better 
Oiling  of  Bearings  and  Better  Electrical  Repair 
Methods,  New  Motors,  Etc. 

out  in  dollars  and  cents  by  keeping  account  of  the  labor 
and  material  and  comparing  them  with  the  cost  of  new 
parts.  A  consulting  engineer  who  makes  a  business 
of  inspecting  electric  roads  said  that  he  always  judged 
the  efficiency  of  the  shop  by  the  condition  of  the  scrap 
pile. 

Standardization  has  been  the  millennial  dream  of 
the  master  mechanic,  but  only  a  very  few  roads  are 
fortunate  enough  to  approach  this  goal.  An  example  of 
the  result  of  non-standardization  is  found  in  the  item 
cf  car  windows.  Some  200  different  sizes  of  windows 
;are  known  to  exist  on  a  single  road.  This  requires 
that  twenty  or  thirty  different  sizes  of  glass  be  carried 
in  stock.  If  these  window  sizes  were  in  even  inches, 
so  that  the  glass  could  be  taken  directly  from  the  boxes 
without  cutting,  a  great  saving  in  labor  and  broken 
glass  could  be  effected  and  also  a  much  smaller  amount 
of  money  need  be  invested  in  stores.  This  same 
saving  would  result  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  from 
standardizing  any  car  part,  but  where  cars  have  been 
purchased  at  different  times  and  in  a  great  variety,  the 
cost  of  standardizing  this  equipment  runs  into  a  dis- 
couraging sum  of  money.  A  careful  analysis  should 
be  made,  however,  to  see  what  can  be  done  toward 
standardizing  cars  when  they  are  rebuilt,  in  case  of 
smashed  ends  or  upon  general  overhauling. 

It  may  not  appear  that  shop  and  yard  cleanliness  has 
any  particular  bearing  on  the  economy  of  maintenance, 
but  a  dirty  shop  means  that  there  is  considerable  time 
lost  by  workmen  in  stepping  over  and  around  material 


and  in  looking  for  tools  and  car  parts.  Whitewashed 
walls  and  ceilings  will  often  double  the  amount  of  light 
in  a  shop  and  correspondingly  improve  the  efficiency  of 
the  shop  work. 

Unemployment  Conference  Makes  General 
Recommendation 

WITHOUT  attempting  the  impossible  task  of 
assessing  the  relative  weight  of  different  forces, 
the  Conference  on  Unemployment  now  meeting  at 
Washington  under  government  auspices  has  made  the 
following  summary  of  the  more  important  matters  that 
require  constructive  and  immediate  settlement  if  recov- 
ery in  business  and  permanent  employment  are  to  be 
speedily  brought  about : 

1.  Readjustment  of  railway  rates  to  a  fairer  basis  of  the 
relative  value  of  commodities,  with  specal  consideration  of 
the  rates  upon  primary  commodities,  at  the  same  time  safe- 
guarding the  financial  stability  of  the  railways. 

2.  Speedy  completion  of  the  tax  bill  with  the  contemplated 
reduction  of  taxes,  in  order  that  business  now  held  back 
pending  definite  determination  may  proceed. 

3.  Definite  settlement  of  tariff  legislation  in  order  that 
business  may  determine  its  future  conduct  and  policies. 

4.  Settlement  of  the  financial  relationships  between  the 
government  and  the  railways,  having  in  mind  the  immediate 
necessity  for  increased  maintenance  and  betterments,  mak- 
ing effective  increased  railway  employment  and  stimulation 
(f  general  employment,  in  order  that  the  railways  may  be 
prepared  for  enlarged  business  as  it  comes. 

5.  Limitation  of  world  armament  and  consequent  increase 
of  tranquility  and  further  decrease  of  the  tax  burden  not 
only  of  the  United  States  but  of  other  countries. 

6.  Steps  looking  to  the  minimizing  of  fluctuations  in 
exchange,  because  recovery  from  the  great  slump  in  exports 
(due  to  the  economic  situation  in  Europe)  cannot  make 
substantial  progress  so  long  as  extravagant  daily  fluctua- 
tions continue  in  foreign  exchange,  for  no  merchant  can 
determine  the  delivery  cost  of  any  international  shipment. 

7.  Definite  programs  of  action  that  will  lead  to  elimina- 
tion of  waste  and  more  regular  employment  in  seasonal 
and  intermittent  industries,  notably  in  the  coal  industry, 
in  order  that  the  drain  upon  capital  may  be  lessened  and 
the  annual  income  of  workers  may  be  increased. 

8.  In  the  field  of  all  the  different  industries  and  occupa- 
tions the  rapidity  of  recovery  will  depend  greatly  upon  the 
speed  of  proportionate  adjustment  of  the  inequalities  in 
deflation. 

Appended  to  the  summary  is  a  large  table  of  approxi- 
mate index  numbers  based  on  100  for  the  year  1913. 
The  report  says  about  these  that  "If  the  buying  power 
of  the  different  elements  of  the  community  is  to  be 
restored,  then  these  elements  must  reach  nearly  a  rela- 
tive plane."  Out  of  the  large  number  of  index  numbers 
given,  the  following  are  quoted  as  of  immediate  interest 
to  railways: 

Cost  of  living : 

Department  of  Labor  (May  survey)    180 

National  Industrial  Conference  Board    1S5 

Average  price  to  producer,  farm  crops    109 

Average  price  to  producer,  live  stock   113 

Average  wholesale  price,  foods   152 

Average  retail  price,  foods   155 

Construction  costs:  Cement  buildings  (Aberthaw  Const.  Co.)  161 
Coal : 

Price,  bituminous,  Pittsburgh   186 

Price,  anthrac.te.  New  York  tidewater    198 

Union  wage  scales  about    173 

Non-union  scale,  about   136 

Freight  rates    187-209 

Metal  trades,  union  wage  scale:  Simple  average,  19  occupa- 
tions  218 

Metals  : 
r*i*icGs — * 

Pig  iron,  foundry  No.  2  Northern   (Pittsburgh)   137 

Pig  iron,  Bessemer    128 

Steel  billets,  Bessemer   (Pittsburgh)    115 

Copper,  ingots  electrolytic,  early  delivery.  New  York....  75 

Lead,  pig,  desilvered,  for  early  delivery,  New  York   100 

Zinc,  pig  (spelter),  Western,  early  delivery,  New  York..  80 

Day  labor,  scale  U.  S.  Steel  Corporation    150 

Railroad,  average  receipts  per  ton-mile    177 

Bureau  Railway  Economies  estimate  of  railway  wages  based 

on  average  annual  compensation,  third  quarter   226 

General  estimate  all  union  wage  scales  by  Prof.  Wolman...  189 

Note  The  wage  indexes  refer  mostly  to  wage  scales,  not  the 

earnings  which  necessarily  also  depend  upon  regularity  of  em- 
ployment. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


687 


Overhead  Kinks  from  Cleveland 

Two  Schemes  for  Eliminating  Half  the  Usual  Number  of  Poles  in  Successful 
Use — Some  Temporary  Construction  Schemes  Described — A  Mov- 
able Track  Including  Overhead  for  Car  Unloading  Dump 


INGENUITY  and  James  Scott,  for  many  years  super- 
intendent of  overhead  Cleveland  Railway,  seem  to 
work  well  together.  In  the  issues  of  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  July  14  and  July  21,  1917,  there 
were  presented  a  number  of  overhead  construction  and 
maintenance  kinks  and  new  ideas  in  overhead  equip- 
ment design  that  had  been  worked  out  by  Mr.  Scott. 
Herewith  is  another  grist  of  ideas  and  kinks  from  the 
same  source. 

When  a  track  is  under  reconstruction  in  Cleveland, 


Overhead  Built  by  thei  Cleveland  Railway  to  Be  Shifted 
with  Track  at  Dump 


it  is  the  practice  to  lay  a  temporary  track  on  top  of  the 
pavement  along  one  side  of  the  street,  in  order  to  keep 
the  cars  running  in  both  directions  without  the  limita- 
tions of  single-track  operation.  For  the  temporary 
trolley  over  this  track,  Mr.  Scott  is  now  using  f-in 
standard  steel  span  wire  instead  of  copper  wire,  because 
it  is  easier  to  put  up  and  take  down,  it  remains  tight 
and  has  less  sag  than  copper,  and  saves  cutting  up  the 
more  expensive  copper  trolley  wire. 

It  frequently  happens  that  such  temporary  track 
extends  close  to  a  corner  at  which  there  is  special  work, 
including  an  electrically  operated  switch,  the  temporary 
trolley  not  joining  the  main  trolley  until  the  overhead 
contactor  has  been  passed.  Under  these  conditions 
it  is  now  the  practice  in  Cleveland  to  install  on  the 
temporary  trolley  a  second  contactor,  which  is  con- 
nected up  in  parallel  with  the  permanent  one  by  simply 
running  jumper  wires  over  from  the  permanent  con- 
tactor, thus  keeping  the  electric  switch  operative  and 
incurring  no  more  delay  than  takes  place  under  normal 
operation.  \ 

Eliminating  Half  the  Poles 

Two  schemes  of  overhead  construction  which  require 
but  one-half  the  normal  number  of  poles  are  being 
tried  out  by  the  Cleveland  Railway,  both  of  which  seem 
to  be  proving  successful.  One  of  these,  roughly  illus- 
trated in  an  accompanying  drawing  and  marked  A. 
employs  diagonal  span  wires,  zigzagging  across  the 
street  from  one  pole  to  the  next.  The  two  poles  on 
the  same  side  of  the  street  are  spaced  180  ft.  apart, 
with  the  intermediate  pole  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street  half  way  between.    In  other  words,  every  other 


pole,  as  normally  set,  is  omitted  on  either  side  of  the 
street.  This  scheme  is  employed  purely  for  the  purpose 
of  reducing  the  first  cost. 

The  other  scheme  of  eliminating  half  the  poles, 
roughly  illustrated  at  B  in  the  same  drawing,  is 
utilized  to  reduce  construction  costs  and  also  for  other 
reasons.  It  is  employed  at  points  where  for  some 
reason  it  is  impossible  to  erect  a  pole  at  the  proper 
location  on  one  side  of  the  street,  such  as  is  illustrated 
in  an  accompanying  picture.    It  is  also  advantageously 


An  Instance  of  Overhead  Construction  Used  Where  Building 
Was  Too  Close  to  Curb  to  Set  Pole 

employed  where  a  new  car  line  is  to  be  built  and  it 
is  desired  to  put  the  overhead  up  in  advance  of  the 
track  construction  and  as  quickly  and  economically  as 
possible.  The  scheme  consists  of  setting  poles  180  ft. 
apart  on  each  side  of  the  street,  the  locations  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  street  being  staggered.  A  f-in.  stranded 
steel  messenger  cable  is  strung  along  each  side  of  the 
street  and  fastened  to  the  poles  with  porcelain  insulators. 
A  span  wire  is  then  erected  at  each  pole,  extending 
across  the  street  and  fastening  to  the  opposite  mes- 
senger by  means  of  a  porcelain  spool  insulator. 

Where  the  overhead  is  constructed  in  advance  of 
a  new  car  line,  the  messengers  along  either  side  of 
the  street  are  erected  and  one  of  them  connected  to 
the  positive  and  one  to  the  negative  side  of  the  power 
supply,  and  thus  used  to  provide  energy  for  operating 
electric  shovels  and  other  track  equipment.  The  span 
wires  and  overhead  trolley  are  then  installed  after  the 
track  has  been  completed.  This  is  a  particular  ad- 
vantage for  this  type  of  construction,  for  in  addition 
to  saving  half  the  poles  and  lending  itself  to  quick  instal- 
lation, it  affords  a  power  supply  and  at  the  same  time 
keeps  the  space  above  the  street  clear  of  overhead 
obstructions. 

If  thought  necessary,  the  other  poles  opposite  the  ones 
set  can  later  be  erected  without  any  change  in  the 
existing  overhead  except  to  extend  the  span  wires  to 
connect  to  the  newly  set  pole,  the  messenger  cables 
being  then  taken  down.  However,  from  the  experience 
thus  far,  it  appears  that  this  type  of  construction  using 
only  half  the  usual  number  of  poles  is  suitable  for  per- 
manent construction. 

Either  of  these  types  of  overhead  construction  makes 


688 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


a  long  span  (180  ft.)  for  the  feeder  cable,  if  one  paral- 
lels the  line,  but  while  this  requires  the  use  of  a  heavier 
insulator  it  has  involved  no  trouble. 

Movable  Track  and  Overhead  at  Dump 

Material  excavated  from  streets  and  other  waste 
material  of  the  Cleveland  Railway  is  hauled  in  cars 
to  a  dump  for  filling  in  a  great  gully.  The  track  is 
laid  along  the  inside  edge  of  the  bank,  and  the  ma- 


180'  ■ 


Rough  Sketch  of  Two  Types  of  Overhead  Eliminating 
Half  the  Poles 

terial  is  dumped  directly  over  the  edge  of  the  bank, 
rolling  down  to  a  position  of  rest.  Formerly,  the  over- 
head for  this  track  was  supported  by  cables  strung 
clear  across  the  gully.  It  was  necessary  every  few 
weeks  to  move  the  track  over  to  the  edge  of  the  bank 
as  the  hole  was  filled  in,  which,  of  course,  made  it  neces- 
sary to  slide  the  trolley  out  to  the  new  position  by 
moving  the  hangers  out  farther  on  the  long  cross-spans. 

The  overhead  department  got  tired  of  this  frequent 
shifting  of  trolley  and  so  devised  a  scheme  whereby 
the  track  department  would  shift  the  overhead  along 
with  the  track.  A  4-in.  x  12-in.  plank  about  14  ft. 
long  was  placed  under  the  rails  and  spiked  to  them 
at  each  pole  location.  The  poles  were  then  sawed  off 
and  placed  on  top  of  these  planks  and  braced  with 
2-in.  x  8-in.  pieces  of  plank.  Heavy  blocks  were  spiked 
to  the  pole  and  the  bottom  plank  to  keep  the  butt  from 
shifting  longitudinally  on  the  plank.  Vertical  timbers 
spiked  to  the  plank  and  the  pole  kept  it  from  shifting 
laterally.  Now,  as  the  track  department  shifts  the 
track  to  a  new  location,  the  trolley  moves  right  along 
with  it.  The  tension  in  the  trolley  is  kept  uniform 
and  tight  by  dead  ending  the  wire  over  a  snatch  block 
on  the  last  pole  at  the  end  of  the  track  and  hanging 
a  couple  of  car  wheels  on  the  end  of  it,  the  last  pole 
being  guyed.  This  overhead  and  movable  track  are  ten 
spans  long. 

Miscellaneous  Practices 

On  the  high  bridges  over  the  Cuyahoga  River,  on 
which  the  Cleveland  Railway  has  four  tracks,  there  is 
often  a  very  high  wind,  making  overhead  repair  work 
exceedingly  difficult.  To  minimize  the  trouble  likely  to 
accompany  a  broken  trolley,  each  pair  of  trolley  wires 
is  cross-connected  at  every  span.  There  is  also  a  feed-in 
tap  at  every  fifth  span.  With  this  interconnection  of 
the  copper,  any  break  in  the  wire  causing  a  short 
circuit  will  anneal  the  wire  only  a  very  short  distance, 
thus  reducing  the  replacement  necessary. 


A  special  spring  hanger  for  use  in  trolley  troughs 
under  viaducts  and  designed  by  Mr.  Scott  was  fully 
described  on  page  110  of  the  July  21,  1917,  issue.  Some 
of  these  hangers  installed  under  one  of  the  viaducts  have 
now  been  in  service  nearly  five  years  without  replace- 
ment or  repair.  The  principal  feature  of  this  hanger 
is  a  long  spring  suspension,  having  a  good  deal  of 
flexibility  of  movement  and  being  quite  effective  in 
reducing  flashing.  Some  of  these  ears  were  also  used 
on  the  high  bridge  where  the  cars  operate  over  a  lower 
level  with  comparatively  low  overhead.  Two  other 
types  of  spring  hangers  were  also  tried  out  on  this 
bridge. 

It  is  planned  to  install  100  of  these  spring  hangers 
on  open  overhead  construction  with  No.  0000  wire, 
as  an  experiment.  The  wire  always  breaks  at  the  ear 
because  of  the  weight  of  the  ear  and  hanger  and  the 
sharp  bend  that  takes  places  at  the  ear  as  the  trolley 
wheel  approaches.  The  spring  hanger  is  to  be  tried 
out  to  see  if  the  flexibility  thus  afforded  will  not  relieve 
this  strain  upon  the  trolley  wire  and  lengthen  the  life 
by  cushioning  the  blow  of  the  wheel  at  the  ear. 

Concrete  trolley  poles  are  now  in  extensive  use  in 
Cleveland  and  are  being  used  more  and  more  all  the 
time.  According  to  Mr.  Scott,  they  have  proved  very 
satisfactory  and  require  no  painting  or  other  main- 
tenance. 

All  together,  fifty-two  men  are  employed  in  the  entire 
overhead  department  of  the  Cleveland  Railway,  which 
has  about  410  miles  of  single  track  and  operates  1,065 
motor  cars,  454  trailers,  etc.  In  the  work  of  this 
department,  two  tower  trucks  and  four  men  do  all  of 
the  emergency  trouble  work  for  the  entire  system. 
Five  other  tower  trucks  owned  by  the  department  are 
used  for  renewal  and  new  construction  work.  Three 
trucks  without  towers  are  used,  one  exclusively  for 
hauling  the  fire  hose  jumper,  one  for  pole  painting, 
and  one  for  general  hauling.  .  ■ 


Preventing  Washing  in  Waste  Water 

THE  accompany- 
ing illustration 
shows  a  funnel  type 
of  construction  ar- 
ranged to  carry  off 
the  circulating  water 
from  a  shop  com- 
pressor in  the 
Thirty-sixth  Street 
inspection  and  over- 
hauling shop  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  Company. 
Previous  to  this  in- 
stallation shop  men 
would  congregate  at 
this  point  a  few  min- 
utes before  quitting 
time  in  order  to 
wash  up  in  the  warm 
water  as  it  came 
from  the  compressor.  As  this  shop  is  provided  with 
wash  rooms  and  other  conveniences  for  the  shop  men, 
this  type  of  construction  was  devised  with  the  two 
pipes  entering  the  funnel,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  get 
the  hands  underneath  the  water  as  it  flows  from  the 
pipe. 


Funnel  Guard  for  Preventing  Use  of 
Waste  Water  for  Washing 


October  15,  1921  ELECTRIC    RAILWAY    JOURNAL  689 


Trolley  Bus  Operation  Commences  on  Staten  Island 

Municipally  Owned  and  Operated  Trolley  Buses  of  the  City  of  New  York  Have  a  Successful  Trial  Trip- 
Appropriate  Speeches  Heard  at  Sea  View  Hospital,  the  Terminus 
of  One  of  the  Routes 


ON  SATURDAY  afternoon, 
Oct.  8,  amid  a  noisy  dem- 
onstration, assisted  by  the 
Police  Band,  three  municipal  trol- 
ley buses  left  Sea  View  Hospital 
for  Meier's  Corner  and  Bull's  Head. 
This  was  the  culmination  of  exer- 
cises held  in  the  auditorium  of 
the  city  hospital  at  Sea  View  at 
which  Mayor  Hylan,  Grover  A. 
Whalen  and  Borough  President  Van 
Name  felicitated  each  other,  told  of 
the  development  of  the  trolley  bus 
and  urged  that  it  was  for  the 
people's  interest  that  the  5-cent 
fare  be  maintained.  It  was  truly 
a  demonstration  for  Mayor  Hylan 
and  his  cohorts. 

In  speaking  of  what  led  up  to 
the  operation  of  the  Staten  Island 
Midland  Railway  trolley  lines  by 
the  Department  of  Plant  and  Struc- 
tures, City  of  New  York,  Borough 
President  Van  Name  told  how  Commissioner  Whalen 
had  opened  up  the  trolley  car  level  of  the  viaduct 
at  St.  George  to  public  vehicles  after  the  trolley 
cars  had  ceased  to  operate.  This  permitted  the  buses 
within  forty-eight  hours  to  carry  their  passengers 
direct  to  the  ferries  and  allowed  them  the  same  privilege 
of  solicitation  as  the  trolleys.  Cheap  transportation  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  an  outlying  borough  like  Rich- 
mond, he  said,  for  residents  must  necessarily  pay  a  fare 
in  Manhattan,  another  on  the  ferries  and  a  third  on 
Staten  Island.  It  is  therefore  a  most  serious  matter  to 
increase  local  trolley  fares. 

President  Kauf  of  the  local  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
who  presided  at  the  exercises,  in  introducing  Commis- 
sioner Whalen  stated  it  was  right  to  celebrate  epochs, 
and  the  opening  of  this  trolley  bus  line  is  surely  an 
epoch  in  the  life  of  Staten  Island  and  but  a  forerunner 
of  a  form  of  transportation  that  will  open  up  all  parts 
of  the  island.  He  told  how  he  himself  had  been  looked 
upon  as  almost  crazy  when  twenty-five  years  ago  he 
petitioned  for  the  right  to  build  a  passenger  trolley  line 
from  St.  George  to  Richmond  and  to  give  for  5  cents 
what  had  formerly  cost  passengers  $1.  Many  people 
insisted  it  would  not  pay.  However,  he  believed  in  the 
law  of  transportation  matters  that  each  new  form  of 
service  created  its  own  traffic. 

This  new  method  of  transportation,  said  Commis- 
sioner Whalen  of  the  Department  of  Plant  and  Struc- 
tures, City  of  New  York,  which  will  soon  be  put  into 
service  is  a  real  municipal  plant,  conceived,  designed, 
and  constructed  throughout  by  municipal  employees. 
Much  of  the  credit  is  due  to  C.  T.  Perry,  electrical  engi- 
neer of  the  department.  Commissioner  Whalen  con- 
tinued: 

"The  fundamental  proposition  in  the  installation  of 
these  trackless  trolley  systems  on  Staten  Island  is  to 
provide  transportation  for  the  hitherto  inaccessible  vil- 


Three  Trolley  Buses  on  Loop  at  Sea  View  Hospital  Ready  for  Trial  Trip 


lage  of  Linoleumville  and  to  provide  means  of  access  to 
a  great  city  institution,  Sea  View  Hospital. 

"We  feel,  however,  that  we  are  doing  more  than 
merely  meeting  local  necessities.  We  feel  we  are  intro- 
ducing and  demonstrating  a  new  system  of  transporta- 
tion that  will  enable  Mayor  Hylan  to  make  still  more 
certain  the  maintenance  of  the  5-cent  fare  and  that  will 
be  of  the  utmost  practical  value  to  the  city  administra- 
tion in  making  financially  feasible  the  establishment  of 
transportation  lines  to  serve  sections  of  the  city  that 
are  now  without  transportation.  There  are  vast  areas, 
not  only  in  Richmond  but  in  Queens  and  the  Bronx,  that 
can  be  made  available  for  housing  only  by  such  lines. 

"Our  reason  for  believing  that  the  trackless  trolley 
system  is  an  answer  to  urgent  needs  of  this  city  is  its 
comparatively  small  cost. 

"The  cost  for  single-track  trolley  construction  per  mile 
varies  from  $37,000  to  $60,000,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  roadway  that  has  to  be  torn  up  and  relaid.  The 
cost  for  trackless  construction  is  approximately  $4,000' 
per  mile.  The  trolley  system  destroys  the  roadway ;  the 
trackless  system  does  not.  Its  wear  and  tear  on  the 
roadway  is  no  more  than  that  due  to  automobiles. 

"We  have  studied  out  all  the  elements  of  cost,  includ- 
ing initial  investment,  maintenance,  depreciation  and 
operation,  and  have  found  that  the  cost  per  car-mile  of 
the  trackless  system  figures  less  than  the  cost  of  one- 
man  trolley  operation  and  less  than  the  cost  of  gasoline 
buses.   The  figures  are  as  follows : 

Standard  safety  car,  per  car -mile  24.3  cents 

Gasoline  bus   29.55  cents 

Trackless  trolley  car   20.95  cents 

"The  department  believes,  therefore,  that  in  installing 
these  trackless  trolley  systems  on  Staten  Island  the  city 
is  inaugurating  a  method  of  transportation  that  will 
make  possible  the  rapid  and  economical  development  of 


690 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  5$  No.  16 


the  outlying  portions  of  the  city  and  that  will  be  found 
of  immense  practical  value  in  enabling  the  city  to  clear 
its  streets  of  the  rails  that  now  encumber  them." 

In  his  remarks  Mayor  Hylan  reviewed  largely  what 
had  taken  place  during  his  term  of  office.  With  regard 
to  transportation  matters,  he  contended  that  he  had 
tried  to  render  every  possible  transportation  service  to 
the  people  of  New  York,  especially  those  that  lived  in 
the  outlying  boroughs.  The  closing  down  of  the  Midland 
line  was  the  first  attempt  to  force  the  city  to  grant  an 
increased  fare  in  New  York.  Motor  bus  operation  was 
the  result  until  the  existing  agreement  covering  munici- 
pal operation  of  the  trolley  cars  had  been  made.  In 
New  York  $1,000,000  was  appropriated  for  motor  buses 
and  if  it  had  not  been  for  an  injunction  there  would 
probably  have  been  hundreds  of  them  operating  at  a 
5-cent  fare.  Now  the  traction  agents  want  to  grab  the 
only  valuable  franchise  left,  the  bus  franchise.  Even 
the  Transit  Commission  advocates  giving  away  this 
valuable  bus  franchise. 

The  system  comprises  two  trolley  bus  routes,  both 
terminating  at  Meier's  Corner.  They  are- really  exten- 
sions to  the  municipally  operated  trolley  lines  and  tap 
territory  without  any  other  form  of  transportation. 
While  the  population  is  not  extremely  large,  neverthe- 
less some  systematic  form  of  transportation  was  becom- 
ing a  necessity  for  the  further  development  of  the  ter- 
ritory. The  accompanying  map  shows  not  only  the 
trolley  bus  routes  but  the  rail  lines  operated  by  the 
Richmond  Light  &  Railroad  Company  and  the  city  of 
New  York. 

One  of  the  trolley  bus  routes  extends  from  Meier's 
Corner  to  the  Sea  View  Hospital  via  Bradley  Avenue  and 
Brielle  Avenue,  a  distance  of  2.6  miles.  The  second  line 
operates  over  the  Richmond  Turnpike  from  Meier's 
Corner  to  a  settlement  called  Linoleumville,  via  Bull's 
Head.   The  length  of  this  line  is  4.4  miles. 


cs  of  Richmond  >? 

R.Co.  * 
ncs  of  Municipal  * 
crl«  Hiotc  of      J  $ea  rieic 

Midland  Hn.Co.  Butpital 

Bus  Routes  opened 


ndcr  Municipal  Op 


on y  New  Dorp 
Richland 


Map  Showing  Location  of  All  Trolley  and  Trolley  Bus  Lines 
on  Staten  Island 

The  unit  rate  of  fare  on  each  route  is  5  cents.  No 
transfers  are  given  between  the  two  trolley  bus  routes 
or  the  municipal  trolley  cars.  Under  the  plan  of  ac- 
counting in  effect  between  the  Midland  company  and  the 
city  of  New  York  for  the  operation  of  the  trolley  lines 
it  is  impossible  to  issue  or  accept  transfers  between  the 
two  transportation  systems.  Nevertheless,  even  with 
the  single  5-cent  fare  on  each  system  of  transportation 


the  car  rider  will  reach  his  destination  at  a  considerably 
lower  cost  than  heretofore,  for  the  taxi  operators  have 
charged  almost  any  price  up  to  $1.50  to  carry  a  pas- 
senger 2  or  3  miles. 

Both  of  these  routes  follow  improved  paved  roads. 
Bradley  Avenue,  on  the  Sea  View  line,  is  paved  with 
bituminous  macadam,  Brielle  Avenue  has  a  concrete  sub- 
base  and  asphalt  top  and  the  roads  in  the  hospital 
grounds  are  of  asphalt  brick.  Richmond  Turnpike, 
which  the  Linoleumville  route  follows,  has  an  18-ft. 
concrete  roadway  as  far  as  Bull's  Head,  a  distance  of 
2  miles.  The  remainder  is  paved  with  bituminous 
macadam. 

As  for  grades  encountered,  there  are  none  whatever 
along  the  Richmond  Turnpike,  but  the  line  to  Sea  View 
has  some  very  steep  hills.  For  instance,  one  hill  alone 
on  the  outbound  trip  from  Meier's  Corner  is  about 
1,200  ft.  long  and  has  a  grade  of  between  10  and  11  per 
cent;  in  fact,  it  could  be  said  that  the  line  was  almost 
a  continuous  climb,  for  the  city  hospital  is  located  on 
one  of  the  highest  points  on  Staten  Island.  The  trolley 
buses,  however,  have  not  so  far  failed  to  negotiate  these 
grades,  it  being  possible  to  climb  them  on  "high." 

The  Overhead  System 

Span  construction  is  used  throughout  with  30-ft. 
chestnut  poles,  set  directly  in  earth  as  was  found.  In 
some  cases  this  was  gravel  or  sand.  Very  little  rock 
was  encountered.  The  poles  for  the  most  part  have  had 
their  butts  treated  by  an  application  of  creosote  using 
the  brush  method.  Spans  using  ik-in.  galvanized  iron 
wire  were  put  up  at  a  height  of  20  ft.  so  as  to  support 
the  two  trolley  wires  18  ft.  above  the  street  level.  Where 
there  are  four  wires  over  the  street  a  special  method  of 
supporting  them  had  to  be  used  to  keep  the  wires  of 
each  set  in  the  same  horizontal  plane.  The  suspension 
consists  of  two  span  wires  one  above  the  other  with  a 
strut  in  the  center  joining  them  to  take  out  the  sag  in 
the  lower  wire,  the  one  supporting  the  trolley  wires. 

The  feeder  system  consists  of  two  500,000  circ.mil 
rubber-covered  aerial  conductors  supported  on  the  pole 
pins  of  a  4-pin  arm.  These  feeders  extend  from  the 
power  house  at  the  city  hospital  along  Brielle  and  Brad- 
ley Avenues  to  Richmond  Turnpike,  where  they  are 
tapped  into  the  Linoleumville  trolley  wires. 

The  two  trolley  wires  are  hung  on  14-in.  centers. 
The  route  to  Sea  View  has  but  a  single  pair  of  trolley 
wires  strung  over  the  center  of  the  street,  while  on  the 
Linoleumville  route,  due  to  the  heavier  amount  of 
vehicular  traffic  to  be  encountered,  two  sets  of  wires, 
one  for  use  in  each  direction  of  traffic,  was  necessary. 
Figure  eight  trolley  wire  of  00  size  with  screw  clamp 
ears  is  used  throughout.  The  trolley  hanger  hardware 
is  of  the  type  designed  by  the  General  Electric  Company 
for  double  trolley  work  with  double  porcelain  insula- 
tion between  the  trolley  wires  and  the  spans.  At  the 
ends  of  each  of  the  lines  loops  are  provided  so  as  to 
eliminate  the  necessity  of  wyeing  on  a  single  set  of 
wires.  These  loops  all  have  different  radii — that  in  the 
■driveway  of  the  Sea  View  Hospital  administration  build- 
ing has  a  radius  of  30  ft.;  that  at  Meier's  Corner  22 
ft.,  while  that  at  the  terminus  of  the  line  at  Linoleum- 
ville is  70  ft.  in  diameter.  The  type  of  construction 
at  the  hospital  loop,  which  is  typical,  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  illustration. 

Power  is  furnished  by  a  two-phase,  220-600-volt  mo- 
tor-generator set  especially  installed  in  the  main  power 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


691 


house  of  the  Sea  View  Hospital.  The  installation  was 
made  by  J.  L.  Hemphill  &  Company,  Inc.,  Hoboken,  N.  J. 
The  two-phase  motor  is  of  the  G.E.  type  and  has  a 
capacity  of  400  hp.  at  220  volts  and  900  r.p.m.  It  drives 
a  Westinghouse  direct-current  generator  capable  of  de- 
livering 250  kw.  at  600  volts. 

The  Rolling  Stock 

The  eight  trolley  buses  which  comprise  the  rolling 
stock  were  built  by  the  Atlas  Truck  Company,  York,  Pa., 
and  follow  the  specifications  drawn  by  C.  T.  Perry, 
electrical  engineer,  Department  of  Plant  and  Structures, 
city  of  New 


City  of  New  York 
Dept.  of  Plant  and  Structures 

MAYOR  HYLAN  will  Inaugurate  the 

MUNICIPAL  OPERATION 

OF  THE 

TRACKLESS  TROLLEY  SYSTEM 

on  Saturday,  October  8,  1921 
AT  A  FIVE  CENT  FARE 

OFFICIAL  OPENING  CEREMONIES 
SEA  VIEW,    -    -    2  P.  M. 
LINOLEUMVILLE,  3  P.M. 


MEIERS  CORNERS  AND  BULL'S  HEAD  AND 
LINOLEUMVILLE 
MEIERS  CORNERS  AND  SEA  VIEW 


In  offering  this  servlci 
ant  request*  their  co- 
telnod  from  the  effort  o 


the  people  of  Richmond  Borough,  the  Deport- 
ation In  order  that  the  best  results  may  be 
a  City  Administration  to  provide  transportation 

GBOvtR  A.  tfvMALEN.  Commissioner 


Window  Card  Used  on  Municipal  Trolley 
Cars  to  Announce  Opening  of 
Trolley  Bus  Lines 


York.  An  ab- 
stract of  these 
specifications 
was  printed  in 
the  Electric 
Railway  Jour- 
nal, May  28, 
1921, page  1002. 
They  have  a 
seating  capac- . 
ity  of  thirty 
with  a  24-in, 
center  aisle, 
which  affords 
ample  standing 
room  for  fifteen 
more  passen- 
gers. The  elec- 
trical equip- 
ment, similar 
throughout  to 
that  used  on 

the  safety  cars,  was  furnished  by  the  General  Electric 
Company.  Two  G.  E.  258  ventilated  railway  motors 
furnish  the  propulsion  force  and  are  mounted  in  tandem 
amidships  and  arranged  for  series  parallel  control. 
Power  is  transmitted  by  a  Sheldon  worm  drive  to  the 
driving  wheels.  The  car  can  easily  maintain  a  speed  of 
from  20  to  25  m.p.h.  on  a  level  road.  A  hand-operated 
controller,  type  K-63  F,  interlocked  with  a  foot  pedal 
safety  device  or  dead  man  control,  is  located  at  the  left 
of  the  driver,  where  it  can  be  easily  operated  by  his  left 
hand.  The  first  contact  point  for  operation  is  obtained 
by  a  movement  of  the  foot  pedal  and  acceleration  is  had 
by  a  hand  movement.  The  service  foot  brake  as  well  as 
the  hand  emergency  brake  lever  are  located  in  front  of 
and  directly  to  the  right  of  the  driver's  seat.  At  the 
immediate  right  is  the  lever  for  opening  and  closing  the 
service  door. 

The  interior  finish  of  the  bus  body  is  white  enamel, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Hale  &  Kilburn  seat  frames, 
which  are  battleship  gray.  The  window  sashes  and  sills 
are  natural  finish.    Seat  coverings  are  Spanish  leather. 

As  will  be  noticed,  the  collector  is  of  the  type  first  used 
on  the  trolley  bus  designed  for  Richmond  and  described 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  June  25,  1921,  page 
1160.  The  hickory  pole  is  supported  on  a  ball-bearing 
base  which  allows  free  play  to  the  pole  so  that  the  car 
can  swing  9  ft.  6  in.  off  the  center  line  of  the  wires 
without  dewiring.  At  the  base  of  the  trolley  pole  and 
inside  the  body  is  a  hand  maneuvering  device  by  which 
the  operator  can  raise  or  lower  the  pole  or  swing  it  from 
side  to  side  to  meet  the  varied  operating  requirements 
without  leaving  the  car.  Springs  in  the  trolley  base 
furnish  sufficient  tension  to  insure  suitable  contact 


pressure  between  the  pole  head  and  trolley  wires.  A 
different  and  lighter  type  of  collector  is  to  be  tried  out 
in  the  immediate  future. 

Illumination  is  furnished  by  two  five-light  circuits 
from  the  trolley  circuit.  In  addition  there  are  emer- 
gency lights,  two  at  the  rear,  one  each  over  the  step  and 
the  driver's  seat.  These  are  operated  from  a  six-cell 
Prestolite  battery,  which  is  charged  from  a  generator 
mounted  on  the  forward  end  of  the  armature  shaft. 
A  low  potential  relay  cuts  into  the  circuit  the  emer- 
gency lights  in  case  the  trolley  pole  leaves  the  wire. 
The  battery  also  furnishes  power  for  the  type  S-74 
Golden  Glow  headlights,  the  tail-lights  and  steplights. 

United  States  solid  rubber  tires  on  American  Cushion 
wheels  are  used  throughout.  On  the  rear  wheels  are 
mounted  36  x  8  rib  tread  solid  tires  and  on  the  front 
wheels  36  x  6  "Highsize"  single  solid  tires  are  used. 

Consolidated  Car  Company  Type  A  heaters  are  used. 
One  is  located  under  each  of  the  six  cross  seats,  two  on 
each  end  of  the  seat  across  the  rear  end  of  the  body  and 
two  mounted  on  the  inside  of  the  front  dash. 


Special  Trackwork  Prices 

'"■"^HE  accompanying  graph  shows  the  cost  of  a  double 
A  track  90  deg.  crossing  for  any  year  from  1900  to 
1921.  Based  on  this  chart,  the  tabulation  for  special 
trackwork  costs  shown  in  the  accompanying  table  was 
worked  out.  This  shows  the  present  variation  in  price 
for  each  year,  taking  the  price  of  1900  as  a  base. 

PER  CENT  VARIATION  OF  SPECIAL  TRACKWORK  COST 


FROM  BASE  PRICE  AS  OF  YEAR  1900 


Year 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904. 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

/  910 


Increase, 
per  Cent 


234 
335 

m 
33; 

33* 


Decrease,  Increase, 

per  Cent  Year  per  Cent 

1911   33J 

1912   335 

1913   54 

2         1914   54 

2  1915   54 

5h        1916   44J 

1917   1321 

1918   186 

1919   186 

1920   186 

1921   80 


Decrease 
per  Cent 


1900  I    Z    3   4    .5   6    7   8    9    10  II  .-12  13  14  ]5  16  n  18   19  20  El 
Years 

Cost  of  Double  Track  Crossing— 90-Degree  Standard  Girder 
Hard  Center  Construction 

This  chart  and  tabulation  may  form  the  basis  for 
other  calculations.  Thus,  if  it  is  desired  to  construct 
a  graph  for  a  certain  layout  or  piece  of  special  track- 
work,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  know  the  price  paid 
in  a  certain  year,  and  use  the  table.  Thus,  if  a  company 
paid  $300  for  a  tongue  switch  in  1919,  and  it  is  desired 
to  know  the  price  paid  in  1914,  then  by  the  use  of  the 

table  the  price  would  be  _gg  X  154  =  $161. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 


Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Shop  Notes  from  Michigan  City 

Hot  Boxes  Are  Eliminated  by  Rolling  New  Journals — This 
Had  Formerly  Been  a  Common  Cause  of  Trouble — 
Simple  Tension  Machine  Facilitates 
Armature  Banding 

THE  DIFFICULTY  with  hot  bearings,  which  has  been 
common  with  the  very  heavy  single-phase  cars  on 
the  Chicago,  Lake  Shore  and  South  Bend  Railway  when- 
ever a  new  axle  was  installed,  has  apparently  been  com- 
pletely eliminated  by  a  simple  process  of  rolling  the 
journals.  Formerly,  the  bearing  surfaces  of  the  axle 
were  smoothed  up  to  an  apparently  even  surface  by  filing 
and  the  use  of  oil  and  emery  paper.  It  was  a  common 
experience,  however,  to  have  to  change  the  babbitted 


Having  had  unsatisfactory  results  from  various  ten- 
sion machines  for  use  in  banding  armatures,  Mr.  Lloyd 
had  the  machine  built  which  is  pictured  herewith.  It 
has  worked  out  very  satisfactorily  in  providing  uniform 
tension  of  whatever  amount  desired.  This  machine 
consists  of  four  grooved-steel  pulleys,  3  in.  in  diameter, 
supported  on  l-in.  posts  between  two  pieces  of  i-in.  x 
4-in.  x  30-in.  steel  bars.  The  pulleys  are  turned  with  a 
shoulder  on  each  side  and  leather  washers  are  inserted 
between  the  pulley  and  side  frame.  On  one  end  of  each 
bolt  is  a  lever  type  nut,  with  which  the  tension  on  the 
banding  wire  may  be  adjusted  by  loosening  or  tighten- 
ing the  nut.  Two  of  these  levers  are  on  one  side  of 
the  frame  and  the  other  two  on  the  opposite  side,  and 
approximately  equal  tension  is  set  up  on  each. 


The  Rolled  and  Unrolled  Portions  of  the  Axle  Surface  Can 
Be  Seen  at  the  Left  of  the  Tool 


Home-Made  Tension  Machine  Which  Has  Improved  the 
Armature  Banding  Work 


shell-type  bearings  two  or  three  times  before  the  sur- 
faces became  worn  so  that  the  bearings  would  not  run 
hot. 

The  scheme  now  followed  is  to  run  a  case-hardened 
steel  roller  over  the  bearing  surfaces.  After  the  last 
finishing  cut  on  the  axles  is  taken,  the  roller  is  substi- 
tuted in  the  lathe  tool  post  for  the  cutting  tool  and  forced 
up  against  the  bearing  surface  of  the  axle  by  means  of 
the  cross-feed  screw,  as  much  as  can  be  done  by  hand. 
The  lathe  is  then  started  and  the  roller  run  back  and 
forth  once  over  the  surface,  using  the  regular  lathe 
feed.  The  roller  is  about  21  in.  in  diameter  with  a  flat 
face  i  in.  wide  and  having  the  edges  rounded  off.  In 
passing  over  the  surface  of  the  axle,  this  roller  seems 
to  compress  the  metal  ridges  left  by  the  cutting  tool, 
leaving  a  smooth  and  polished  surface.  No  further 
smoothing  of  any  kind  is  done.  Of  forty-six  new  axles 
started  off  after  finishing  in  this  way,  no  hot  boxes  have 
occurred. 

M.  M.  Lloyd,  master  mechanic,  who  originated  this 
practice  at  the  Michigan  City  shop  of  this  high-speed 
single-phase  line,  states  that  the  idea  is  not  original 
with  him  but  is  one  followed  by  many  steam  road  shops. 
The  motor  axle  bearings  are  rolled  in  the  same  manner 
and  also  the  armature  bearings. 


At  each  end  of  the  supporting  frame  a  small  steel 
block  is  provided  with  a  hole  through  which  the  wire 
is  fed.  The  back  end  of  the  frame  is  hooked  over  a 
pipe  which  is  strapped  to  the  floor,  while  the  end  of  the 
frame  nearest  the  lathe  on  which  the  armature  is 
mounted  is  supported  on  a  triangular  shaped  leg.  The 
rear  connection  holds  the  machine  at  a  fixed  distance 
from  the  lathe  but  makes  it  possible  to  shift  the  machine 
laterally  so  that  it  will  line  up  with  the  proper  position 
of  the  banding  on  the  armature.  The  triangle  support 
at  the  rear  end  makes  it  possible  to  adjust  the  height 
of  the  tension  block  so  that  the  wire  pulls  approximately 
straight  out  of  the  block  to  the  armature.  This  triangle 
is  14  in.  high  when  standing  vertically.  The  whole 
machine  is  mounted  on  the  floor  behind  the  lathe. 

Taking  Up  End  Play  in  Armature  Bearings 

End  play  in  armature  bearings  on  the  South  Shore 
Line  is  kept  to  a  minimum  by  the  use  of  galvanized 
iron  or  heavy  tin  stampings  which  are  slipped  over 
the  brass  up  against  the  collar  to  take  up  the  wear  on 
the  inside  end  of  the  bearing  shoulder.  These  stamp- 
ings are  very  cheap  and  come  in  various  thicknesses, 
and  sometimes  two  or  three  of  them  are  inserted.  This 
scheme  is  used  only  with  bearings  having  a  keyway. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


fe-Gc)  693 


More  than  a  year  ago  one  of  the  Davis  steel  wheels 
used  to  a  certain  extent  by  this  company  chipped  out 
on  the  tread,  leaving  a  hole  which  acted  much  like  a 
slid  flat.  As  an  experiment,  the  hole  was  filled  up  with 
an  acetylene  welder,  and  while  the  metal  was  still  hot 
it  was  hammered  out  as  near  to  the  proper  contour  of 
the  tread  as  possible.  A  wheel-truing  brakeshoe  was 
then  used  on  this  wheel  for  one  trip,  and  thereafter  the 
car  continued  in  normal  service.  Fourteen  months  later 
this  wheel  came  in  with  another  spot  chipped  out  and 
inspection  at  that  time  showed  that  the  former  weld 
could  be  scarcely  found.  As  nearly  as  could  be  as- 
certained, the  welding  had  not  injured  the  metal  at  all, 
so  the  new  spot  was  filled  in  in  the  same  manner  and 
the  wheel  put  back  in  service. 

Telephone  Signal  System 
An  effective  signal  system  for  calling  the  master 
mechanic  or  shop  foreman  to  the  telephone  from  any 
part  of  the  shop  is  in  use  in  the  Michigan  City  shop. 
A  whistle  connected  with  the  shop  air  supply  is  fitted 
with  a  magnet  for  opening  the  valve  and  electrically 
connected  to  the  dispatcher's  office.  The  dispatcher 
presses  a  button  once  or  twice,  giving  one  or  two  short 
blasts  of  the  whistle  to  signal  whoever  is  wanted  to 
the  telephone. 

Safety  Cars  Built  by  Texas  Railway 

THE  Texas  Electric  Railway  has  just  completed  and 
placed  in  service  eight  single-truck  safety  cars  of 
a  type  illustrated  herewith.  These  cars  were  built  in 
the  company's  shop  and  cost  complete  $3,600  each. 


New  Safety  Cars  op  the  Texas  Electric  Railway 

They  are  operated  on  the  same  schedule  and  same  lines 
as  the  "Birney"  safety  cars  owned  by  the  company. 
Second-hand  trucks  were  purchased  and  remodeled  for 
use  with  air  brakes. 

These  cars  have  wooden  underframes  and  posts  with 
steel  dashers  and  sides.  The  bumpers  are  of  angle  iron 
and  angle  reinforcements  are  used  for  platform  knees. 
The  underframe,  posts,  plates,  belt  rail  and  interior 
finish  are  long-leaf  yellow  pine.  The  roof  carlins,  sash 
and  doors  are  straight-grained  white  oak.  Native  woods 
were  used  in  the  construction  of  these  cars  as  previous 
experience  had  shown  that  they  are  less  subject  to 
decay  than  imported  material.  The  cars  are  27  ft. 
lOi  in.  over  bumpers,  17  ft.  8  in.  over  body,  8  ft.  li  in. 
wide  over  belt  rail  and  weigh  16,800  lb.  equipped.  Some 
of  the  equipment  used  consists  of  Brill  21-E  trucks, 
CP-25-C  air  compressors,  International  R-5  registers, 
Johnson  fare  boxes,  "Golden  Glow"  SM-95  headlights, 
Consolidated  92-T  heaters,  "Keystone"  destination  signs, 
Heywood  Brothers  &  Wakefield  seats,  Crewsome  pneu- 
matic gongs,  US-15-B  trolley  bases,  K-63-B  controllers, 
GE-81-A  and  201-G  motors,  curtains,  "Fabrokoid,"  and 
air  brake  and  safety  control,  Safety  Car  Devices  Co. 


Poles  Painted  to  Indicate  Positive  Stops 

POSITIVE  stops  for  the  cars  of  the  Detroit  munic- 
ipal system  are  to  be  indicated  and  the  motormen 
forewarned  by  a  system  of  painting  the  poles  adjacent 
to  the  stop.  On  the  fourth  pole  from  the  stop  appear 
four  white  stripes  painted  with  aluminum  paint  on  a 
black  background.  The  next  pole  has  three  such  stripes, 
the  next  two  and  the  last  pole  before  the  stop  one. 
Because  of  the  nature  of  the  paint  these  markings  show 


Scheme  op  Painting  Poles  to  Forewarn  Motormen 
of  Positive  Stops 

up  from  the  headlight  and  street  lights  very  well  at 
night. 

Having  these  warning  signs,  there  is  no  excuse 
for  a  motorman  not  having  ample  time  to  make  the 
stop  or  knowing  when  he  is  approaching  a  stop  and 
how  far  from  it  he  is.  The  idea  originated  with  the 
Connecticut  Company,  where  it  is  extensively  used  on 
the  interurban  lines.  It  is  to  be  adopted  for  the  Detroit 
city  system. 

Marking  Drawbars  to  Prevent  Theft 

THE  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad,  New  York  City, 
experienced  considerable  difficulty  from  the  theft 
of  drawbars  from  its  cars.  C.  P.  Westlake,  supervisor 
of  equipment,  evolved  the  scheme  of  lettering  these  by 
the  addition  of  metal  through  electric  welding.  This 


Drawbar  Lettered  with  Electric  Welding 

method  has  proved  very  satisfactory  and  has  effectively 
remedied  the  trouble.  The  lettering  can  be  added  in  a 
very  short  time,  and  as  the  metal  burns  into  the  surface 
of  the  drawbar  there  is  no  effective  means  of  removing 
it  from  the  car.  The  halftone  view  shown  above  illus- 
trates one  of  these  drawbars  as  lettered  installed  on 
the  side  of  a  car. 


694 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Boring,  Drilling  and  Milling  Machine 

ANEW  line  of  horizontal  boring,  drilling  and  milling 
machines  has  been  developed  by  the  Pawling  & 
Harnischfeger  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  of  which  the 
4-F  machine  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  is 
the  smallest  size.  This  machine  is  especially  designed  for 
very  heavy  milling  and  large  boring  operations.  Some 
of  the  special  features  are:  All  feed  screws  in  tension; 
all  sliding  parts  with  take-up  for  wear;  saddle  fully 


Horizontal,  Boring,  Drilling  and  Milling  Machine 

counterbalanced  with  counter-weight  located  inside  of 
the  column ;  centralized  control ;  all  milling  feeds  actu- 
ated through  quick  pitch  worm  and  bronze  worm  wheels, 
revolving  on  quick  pitch  screws  in  tension ;  interchange- 
able; externally  and  internally  driven  face  plates;  back 
gears  close  to  spindle,  making  all  drive  shafts  high 
speed;  automatic  stops  for  saddle  and  column  for 
machines  electrically  driven. 

New  Metropolitan  Electric  Locomotive 

'"T^HE  Metropolitan  Railway  of  London  has  under 
A  course  of  i-econstruction  twenty  of  its  existing 
electric  locomotives.  High-capacity  electrical  apparatus 
is  being  installed  and  arranged  on  supports  in  a  central 
position  down  the  cab  of  the  locomotive,  ending  in  a 
main  switchboard  at  each  end  and  surrounded  by  a 
hand  rail  which  leaves  ample  space  on  either  side  for 
cleaning  and  inspection  of  the  equipment. 

The  control  is  the  automatic  multiple-unit  electric 
type,  with  sufficient  steps  on  the  master  controller  to 
allow  of  easy  switching.  Below  the  electric  equipment 
in  the  cab  are  situated  two  motor-driven  vacuum  pumps 
and  one  air  compressor,  together  with  their  respective 
reservoirs. 

The  company's  standard  arrangement  of  brake-trip- 
ping device  is  being  considered  with  an  improved  elec- 
trical interlocking  arrangement  as  a  safeguard  by 
means  of  which  it  is  impossible  for  a  driver  to  set  his 
locomotive  in  motion  without  first  having  the  brake 
apparatus  ready  for  immediate  application. 

To  enable  the  driver  always  to  have  a  clear  view  in 
wet  weather  an  automatic  window  wiper  is  being  in- 
stalled, operated  from  inside  the  cab.  Either  the 
vacuum  or  the  air  brake  apparatus  is  available  for  use 
•  according  to  the  class  of  work. 

Srf  El' order  to  give  more  even  haulage  and  acceleration 
the  locomotive  takes  current  from  the  main  power 
positive  and  negative  bus  lines  coupled  up  electrically 
with  the  passenger  rolling  stock.    These  through-train 


lines  connect  with  collector  shoes  on  the  first  and  last 
coaches.  This  provision  enables  the  locomotive  to  col- 
lect the  current  when  the  collector  shoes  on  the  locomo- 
tive itself  are  bridging  gaps  in  the  conductor  rail. 

There  are  four  motors  mounted  on  the  two  trucks, 
each  of  300  hp.  capacity.  The  motor  is  carried  on  the 
axle  by  means  of  suspension  bearings  and  a  portion  of 
the  weight  is  transmitted  by  means  of  a  nose  on  the 
motor  castings  which  rests  in  a  yoke  sliding  vertically 
up  and  down  in  guides  fixed  to  the  truck  transom. 
A  slight  elastic  support  is  obtained  by  means  of  rubber 
cushions.  The  running  wheels  are  of  the  disk  center 
type,  having  the  brake  shoes  acting  on  both  sides  of 
the  wheels.  All  pin  joints  in  the  brake  gear  are  bushed 
with  renewable  bushings  and  case-hardened  pins.  The 
truck  frames  are  of  solid  construction  and  consist  of 
plate  frames  well  stiffened  with  cast  steel  corner  cast- 
ings. Advantage  has  been  taken  of  the  latter  for 
supporting  the  brake  beams  and  levers.  Side  louvres 
are  provided  in  addition  to  roof  ventilators. 


New  Belt-Driven  Air  Compressors 

THE  Ingersoll-Rand  Company,  New  York,  has  an- 
nounced a  new  line  of  belt-driven  air  compressors, 
known  as  the  "Imperial"  Type  "XCB."  Features  of 
construction  include  plate  valves,  for  both  the  air  intake 
and  discharge,  and  five-step  clearance  control  for  regu- 
lating the  compressor's  output. 

The  plate  valves  used  in  this  type  of  compressor  are 
the  result  of  a  complete  analysis  of  the  light-weight 
plate  type  of  valve.  They  include  features  which  have 
been  found  necessary  to  the  functioning  of  this  type 
of  valve,  the  most  important  of  these  being  that  the 


Belt-Driven  Air  Compressor 


valve  is  supported  throughout  its  entire  operation  in 
perfect  alignment  without  any  form  of  wearing  guide. 

With  the  clearance  control  the  compressor  is  auto- 
matically loaded  or  unloaded  in  five  successive  steps, 
these  steps  being  obtained  by  the  reduction  or  addition 
of  clearance  space  to  the  air  cylinders.  The  compressor 
will  operate  at  full,  three-quarter,  one-half,  one-fourth 
and  no  loads. 


In  the  four  cities  clustered  together  on  the  east  side 
of  San  Francisco  Bay  3,353  residential  building  permits 
were  issued  during  the  eighteen  months  ended  June  30, 
1921,  notes  the  Engineering  News-Record,  and  of  these 
85  per  cent  were  within  three  blocks  of  street  car  lines. 
The  estimated  cost  of  this  85  per  cent  was  $15,030,412, 
as  against  $1,433,355  for  the  remainder. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


695 


Accountants'  Association  Proceedings 

Three-Day  Session  Covers  Wide  Range — Discussion  Centered  Around  Electric  Railway  Cost  Accounting 
for  Both  Operating  and  Capital  Accounting — The  Question  of  a  Standard  Material 
Classification  for  Storeroom  Records  Also  Brought  Up 


THE  opening  session  of  the  twenty- 
fifth  annual  convention  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Account- 
ants' Association  convened  at  the 
Chalfonte  Hotel,  on  Monday,  October 
3,  and  at  2:50  p.m.  F.  E.  Webster,  first 
vice-president  and  acting  president  of 
the  association,  called  the  meeting  to 
order. 

The  rather  novel  idea  of  each  dele- 
gate introducing  himself  and  his 
company  affiliation  gave  the  meeting  a 
touch  of  friendliness  not  often  found  at 
convention  meetings.  Following  this, 
Vice-President  Webster  addressed  the 
convention.  An  abstract  of  his  re- 
marks follows : 

Address  of  Mr  Webster 

"It  was  with  a  feeling  of  deep  re- 
gret that  we  learned  of  the  passing 
of  our  president,  John  J.  Landers,  on 
Friday,  Sept.  9,  1921.  Mr.  Landers 
was  elected  an  officer  at  the  1916  con- 
vention, and  has  always  manifested  a 
keen  interest  in  making  a  success  of 
our  meetings.  Aside  from  the  loss  of 
a  friend  and  associate  the  association 
will  miss  his  wise  counsel  and  his  un- 
selfish interest  in  matters  affecting  the 
welfare  of  our  organization.  A  special 
committee  on  resolutions  will  be  ap- 
pointed, which  will  report  at  this  meet- 
ing. 

"The  street  railway  industry  has 
not,  as  yet,  emerged  from  the  severe 
shaking  which  it  received  during  the 
period  of  depression  and  the  intrusion 
of  many  factors  which  operated  to  un- 
settle the  foundations  upon  which  a 
railway  is  built — the  rendering  of  ser- 
vice to  the  public.  Business  depres- 
sion has  caused  a  curtailment  in  many 
lines  of  industry,  producing  an  im- 
mediate cessation  in  travel,  which  is 
quickly  reflected  in  gross  revenues.  Jit- 
ney service  and  bus  transportation  have 
also  appeared  as  disturbing  factors. 
The  accountants  have  aided  materially 
in  the  solution  of  their  company's  trou- 
bles by  having  available,  or  have  taken 
prompt  steps  to  establish  them,  such 
facts  and  data  as  were  needed  as  a 
guide  in  the  adoption  of  such  ways  and 
means  as  were  necessary  to  formu- 
late plans  whereby  corrective  measures 
could  be  established. 

"The  burdens  experienced  in  the 
process  of  readjustment  have  not  been 
of  our  own  choice,  but  I  believe  such 
a  crisis  is  not  without  its  compensa- 
tions in  that  we  now  realize  the  inesti- 
mable value  of  the  data  furnished  by 
the  accountants  and  their  departments. 
The  advantage  of  following  a  standard 
classification  of  accounts  has  proved 
its  value,  and  our  records  of  opera- 
tions have  mapped  the  courses  that 
our  systems  should  follow. 

"In  this  connection  there  is  presented 


F.  E.  Webster 

Vice-president  and  treasurer  Massa- 
chusetts Northeastern  Street  Rail- 
way, vice-president  Accountants' 
Association  1920-21,  presiding  offi- 
cer Accountants'  Convention  1921, 
president  Accountants'  Association 
1921-22. 


a  situation  to  which  our  organization 
should  give  serious  thought.  Commit- 
tee assignments  are  made  and  to  these 
committees  important  matters  are 
referred  for  consideration  and  report. 
To  those  appointed  on  committees  a 
duty  is  attached,  and  such  duty  is  quite 
often  rendered  at  a  real  sacrifice,  but 
the  importance  of  it  is  found  in  their 
results  which  become  accepted  as 
standards  as  they  reflect  the  judgment 
of  experts  and  authorities.  I  believe, 
also,  that  the  members  in  attendance 
at  the  annual  conventions  should  freely 
enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  papers 
that  are  presented  in  order  that  there 
may  be  such  an  expression  of  ideas 
that  the  maximum  benefit  will  be 
received. 

"Regulation  by  public  authorities  has 
been  prescribed  by  practically  every 
state  in  the  Union,  and  uniformity 
in  practices  will  go  far  toward  co- 
operation which  is  so  essential.  The 
annual  convention  of  the  National  As- 
sociation of  Railway  Utilities  Commis- 
sioners will  be  held  at  Atlanta,  Ga., 
Oct.  11  to  14,  and  the  president  of  that 
association  has  been  generous  in  his 
invitation  to  utility  organizations  to 
be  represented.  In  such  collective  ac- 
tion a  common  benefit  is  a  certainty. 

"Following  the  1920  Convention  the 
Transportation  &  Traffic  Association 
did  not  reappoint  the  joint  committee 
on  Collection  and  Registration  of 
Fares  which  has  been  functioning  for 
the  past  two  years.  In  due  course  the 
accounting  members  of  this  committee 
resigned  and  it  is  now  suggested  that 
your  Executive  Committee  discontinue 
that  committee. 


"The  general  plan  of  co-operation 
between  affiliated  associations  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association 
is  a  highly  desirable  feature,  and  there 
is  one  of  our  committees  to  which  I 
direct  your  attention.  For  several 
years  the  joint  committee  on  engineer- 
ing accounting  was  active  but  with 
the  advent  of  the  war  this  committee 
was  apparently  abolished.  I  suggest 
that  consideration  be  given  during  the 
present  convention  to  a  revival  of  the 
activities  of  this  committee. 

"It  is  interesting  to  review  the 
various  subjects  of  papers  presented 
at  former  conventions,  which  are 
printed  in  the  proceedings.  This 
year's  subjects  are  timely  as  well  and 
carry  out  the  high  plane  of  previous 
years. 

"An  extract  from  an  editorial  in  a 
recent  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  emphasizes  a  certain  obliga- 
tion : 

If  there  was  ever  a  time  in  the  history 
of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion when  intimate  counsel  and  discussion 
.  .  .  was  necessary  and  valuable  it  is  at 
present.  .  .  .  The  industry  today  is  on  the 
mend.  But  this  fact  does  not  remove  the 
other  fact  that  it  is  still  in  a  critical  condi- 
tion and  needs  and  deserves  the  leadership 
which  can  develop  and  grow  as  a  result  of 
constructive  discussion  of  its  problems. 

"The  selection  of  the  subjects  for 
this  year's  meetings,  and  the  presenta- 
tion of  them  by  their  authors  is  the 
result  of  a  great  deal  of  work  on  the 
part  of  the  program  committee,  and  I 
trust  that  due  appreciation  will  be 
shown  by  real  discussion  following- 
each  paper. 

"In  taking  up  the  work  of  the  con- 
vention, which  I  trust  will  be  of  inter- 
est to  us  all,  we  should  not  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  we  owe  a  duty  to  the 
companies  which  we  represent.  This 
can  be  fulfilled  only  by  a  faithful  at- 
tendance at  all  of  the  meetings.  My 
wish,  is  that  you  all  enter  into  the 
spirit  of  making  this  a  real  meeting 
and  take  an  active  and  enthusiastic- 
part  in  the  discussions." 

Reports  of  Executive  Committee 
and  Secretary-Treasurer 

The  report  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee, covering  its  activities  in  detail  for 
the  year,  was  read  by  Secretary  F.  J. 
Davis.  He  also  presented  his  own 
report  as  Secretary-Treasurer,  which 
showed  there  were  fifty-two  individual 
members  and  105  company  section 
members  allied  with  the  association. 
Expenses  incurred  for  the  eleven 
months  ending  Sept.  30,  1921,  totaled 
$873.54,  divided  as  between  the  cost 
of  printing  the  papers  and  proceed- 
ings $750.34  and  mid-year  meeting  ex- 
penses of  $123.24. 

Following  the  reading  of  these  re- 
ports acting  President  Webster  ap- 
pointed, in  accordance  with  executive 


696 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  16 


committee  action,  a  special  committee 
to  draft  resolutions  on  the  death  of 
President  John  J.  Landers,  consisting 
of  I.  A.  May,  chairman;  F.  J.  Davis 
and  C.  W.  Stocks.  The  personnel  of 
the  regular  convention  committee  in 
resolution  was  also  announced  as  M. 
R.  Boylan,  chairman;  J.  S.  Pardoe,  and 
E.  M.  White.  The  chair  also  announced 
the  personnel  of  the  committee  on 
nominations  as  follows:  M.  W.  Glover, 
chairman;  A.  M.  Curtis,  W.  E.  Jones, 
H.  L.  Sanders,  and  W.  K.  Zinsmeister. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on 
standard  classification  of  accounts  was 
presented  by  Secretary  Davis.  An  ab- 
stract of  this  report  follows: 

Standard  Classification  of 
Accounts 

During  the  year  the  committee  has 
been  called  upon  to  give  more  than  the 
average  number  of  decisions  to  ques- 
tions submitted  to  them,  most  of  which 
have  come  through  Director  Wylie  of 
the  Bureau  of  Accounts  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

On  May  20,  1921,  Mr.  Wylie  released 
for  publication  in  Aera  and  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  answers  to 
seventy-eight  questions  that  had  been 
submitted  and  passed  upon  by  his  de- 
partment and  your  committee.  They 
were  released  with  the  understanding 
that  these  answers  had  not  had  the 
formal  approval  of  the  Commission  and 
were  therefore  subject  to  such  revision 
as  might  be  thought  proper  before 
final  publication  in  an  accounting  bul- 
letin. 

Under  date  of  Nov.  17,  1920,  the 
notice  was  received  advising  of  the 
amendment  to  Section  20  of  the  inter- 
state commerce  act  under  date  of  Feb. 
28,  1920.  The  section  as  amended  pro- 
vides that, 

The  commission  shall,  as  soon  as  practi- 
cable, prescribe,  for  carrier  subject  to  this 
Act,  the  classes  of  property  for  which  de- 
preciation charges  may  properly  be  in- 
cluded under  operating  expenses,  and  the 
percentages  of  depreciation  which  shall  be 
charged  with  respect  to  each  of  such  classes 
of  property,  classifying  the  carriers  as  it 
may  deem  proper  for  this  purpose.  The 
Commission  may,  when  it  deems  necessary, 
modify  the  classes  and  percentages  so  pre- 
scribed. The  carrier  subject  to  this  Act 
shall  not  charge  to  operating  expenses  any 
depreciation  charges  on  classes  of  property 
other  than  those  prescribed  by  the  commis- 
sion, or  charge  with  respect  to  any  class  of 
property  a  percentage  of  depreciation  other 
than  that  prescribed  therefore  by  the  com- 
mission. No  such  carrier  shall  in  any  case 
include  in  any  form  under  its  operating  or 
other  expenses  any  depreciation  or  other 
charge  or  expenditure  included  elsewhere 
as  a  depreciation  charge  or  otherwise  under 
its  operating  or  other  expenses. 

The  notice  also  stated  that  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  out  these  require- 
ments the  commission  has  created  a 
depreciation  section  of  the  Bureau  of 
Accounts  in  charge  of  Frank  S.  Fowler. 
The  duties  of  this  section  will  be  de- 
voted exclusively  to  the  consideration 
of  matters  pertaining  to  depreciation 
covered  by  the  amendment  and  it  will, 
as  quickly  as  possible,  proceed  to  call 
upon  the  carriers  for  such  information 
as  it  may  require  to  aid  the  Commis- 
sion in  determining  the  classes  of  prop- 
erty subject  to  depreciation  and  in 
fixing  just  and  reasonable  percentages 
of  depreciation  to  be  applied  thereto. 


This  notice  was  promptly  acknowl- 
edged and  your  committee  stated  that 
it  stood  ready  to  confer  or  assist  Mr. 
Fowler  in  any  way. 

Realizing  the  importance  of  this  sub- 
ject the  committee  called  it  to  the 
attention  of  President  Gadsden  and 
after  consideration  by  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association  the  committee  was 
made  a  special  committee  of  that  asso- 
ciation to  handle  matters  in  connection 
with  the  Depreciation  Section  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

The  committee  immediately  took  up 
the  subject  and  held  a  meeting  in  New 
York  on  Feb.  25,  1921.  This  meeting 
was  attended  by  Lewis  Lillie,  vice-pres- 
ident of  the  United  Gas  Improvement 
Company,  representing  a  joint  commit- 
tee which  was  considering  the  same 
subject  in  the  interest  of  several  indus- 
tries that  also  come  under  the  control 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  committee 
that  the  question  so  far  as  it  related 
to  electric  railways,  could  not  with  ad- 
vantage be  linked  up  with  its  applica- 
tion to  other  public  service  companies. 

On  March  8  the  committee  met  in 
New  York  with  Mr.  Fowler  to  deter- 
mine the  procedure  to  be  followed  in 
submitting  the  views  of  the  electric 
railways.  It  was  decided  to  submit,  as 
soon  as  practicable,  a  brief  embodying 
its  views. 

Accordingly  the  committee  under 
date  of  March  18,  1921,  submitted  to 
Mr.  Fowler  a  brief  ^covering  each  of 
the  following  subjects:  Original  con- 
struction good  or  poor,  physical  decay, 
use,  wear  and  tear,  climatic  and  soil 
conditions,  maintenance  and  deferred 
maintenance,  age,  inadequacy,  obsoles- 
cence, franchise  regulations,  the  human 
element,  public  demand,  financial  con- 
dition, and  size  of  property.  The  brief 
concluded  with  the  statement:  "We 
are  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  .  .  . 
each  electric  railway  company  should 
be  permitted  to  work  out  from  its  own 
experience  such  charges  for  deprecia- 
tion as  its  own  experience  determines 
to  be  reasonable  and  proper,  such  rates 
to  be  subject  to  review  and  any  mani- 
fest errors  or  irregularities  to  be  cor- 
rected." 

It  is  the  understanding  of  the  com- 
mittee that  before  any  rules  are  finally 
promulgated  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  that  those  interested 
will  have  an  opportunity  to  be  heard 
if  they  so  desire. 

The  report  was  signed  by  H.  L. 
Wilson,  chairman;  William  F.  Ham, 
William  H.  Forse,  Jr.,  R.  N.  Wallis, 
and  P.  S.  Young,  as  members. 

Representatives  at  Commissioners' 
Convention 
The  report  of  the  delegates  represent- 
ing the  association  at  the  1920  meeting 
of  the  National  Association  of  Rail- 
way &  Utilities  Commissioners  was 
likewise  read  by  Secretary  Davis.  The 
committee  stated  that  the  reports 
presented  at  that  meeting  covered  a 
number  of  subjects  vital  to  all  public 


utilities  and  that  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  statistics  and  accounts 
at  that  meeting  dealt  entirely  with  gas 
and  electric  accounting  systems.  The 
committee,  however,  has  during  the 
past  year  taken  up  the  matter  of  a 
standard  form  of  annual  report  re- 
quired of  electric  railway  companies, 
by  public  authorities.  Of  the  forty- 
seven  State  commissions  addressed, 
New  Mexico  failed  to  report;  two 
(Iowa  and  Mississippi)  reported  no 
jurisdiction;  twenty-nine  reported  the 
adoption  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  form  of  report;  three 
(Montana,  Nebraska  and  North  Caro- 
lina) reported  a  more  simplified  form 
of  report;  five  (Illinois,  Wisconsin,  New 
Jersey,  New  York  First  and  Second 
Districts)  have  adopted  forms  requir- 
ing utilities  to  report  more  data  than 
is  demanded  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  form,  while  eight  do 
not  require  the  filing  of  a  financial  re- 
port. Of  the  latter,  the  Commissions 
of  Louisiana,  Minnesota  and  Tennes- 
see expect  to  prescribe  a  form  of  re- 
port in  the  near  future,  and  this 
committee  is  endeavoring  to  have  them 
adopt  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission standard.  The  State  of  Dela- 
ware does  not  have  a  public  utility 
commission.  The  Railroad  Commission 
of  the  State  of  Arkansas  has  no  ju- 
risdiction over  street  railway  com- 
panies operating  within  incorporated 
limits  and  therefore  requires  no  an- 
nual reports  filed. 

The  report  was  signed  by  C.  S. 
Mitchell,  chairman;  B.  W.  Fernald,  and 
John  M.  C.  Horn. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  none  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  could  attend 
this  year's  forthcoming  convention  in 
Atlanta,  acting  President  Webster  was 
empowered  to  appoint  a  special  re- 
presentative. 

A  letter  was  also  read  from  B.  W. 
Fernald,  Oakland,  Cal.,  urging  the  com- 
mittee to  take  such  steps  as  possible 
toward  having  the  annual  reports  made 
up  from  loose-leaf  forms  and  afterward 
bound.  Such  a  procedure  he  claimed 
would  materially  cut  down  labor  costs 
in  their  preparation,  for  now  it  is  nec- 
essary to  fill  in  these  seventy-two  page 
reports  entirely  by  hand.  With  the 
loose-leaf  system  the  work  could  be 
typewritten  and  copies  run  off  on  a 
duplicating  machine. 

Electric  Railway  Cost  Accounting 

In  introducing  J.  H.  Bowman,  Acting 
President  Webster  stated  that  he  be- 
lieved the  time  had  come  when  cost 
accounting  should  be  considered  an  im- 
portant matter  and  perhaps  within  a 
short  time  the  accountants  would  be 
called  upon  to  furnish  such  information 
from  their  files.  It  was  a  question  of 
how  far  to  go  into  details  and  he  hoped 
that  Mr.  Bowman's  address  would  prove 
of  much  interest.  An  abstract  of  Mr. 
Bowman's  paper  on  "Electric  Railway 
Cost  Accounting"  is  given  elsewhere  in 
this  issue. 

Following  the  presentation  of  the 
foregoing  paper,  George  F.  Dinneen, 
Holyoke  (Mass.)   Street  Railway;  M. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


697 


W.  Glover,  West  Penn  Railways,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  and  Elmer  M.  White, 
Binghamton  (N.  Y.)  Railway,  dis- 
cussed it. 

Mr.  Dinneen  stated  that  he  was  of 
the  opinion  that  the  synthetic  system 
as  outlined  by  Mr.  Bowman  goes  a  lit- 
tle farther  than  the  expense  of  main- 
taining such  a  system  would  warrant. 
It  is  questionable  if  the  majority  of 
electric  railway  companies  would  de- 
sire, at  the  beginning,  to  carry  the 
cost  system  along  to  the  point  of 
allocating  the  cost  of  service  per  car 
seat  unit.  The  benefits  accruing  from 
the  synthetic  system,  he  believed,  would 
be  more  quickly  attained  by  first  as- 
certaining the  cost  in  detail  of  main- 
taining the  property  and  its  relation 
to  the  investment. 

It  was  his  opinion  that  a  cost  system 
based  on  the  second  classification  for- 
mulated by  Mr.  Bowman  would  furnish 
accurate  cost  data  making  possible  the 
efficient  management  of  the  property. 
Information  relative  to  the  other  classes 
could  be  derived  from  this  information. 

Many  electric  railways  have  already 
installed  cost  systems  covering  the 
maintenance  using  the  Specific  Job 
plan  of  cost-keeping.  In  the  division 
of  Maintenance  of  Way  and  Structures, 
the  track,  and  roadway,  and  power 
distribution  system  could  be  divided 
into  geographical  sections,  each  section 
to  be  covered  by  a  specific  job.  Bridges, 
structures  and  buildings  could  be 
treated  in  like  manner.  Superintend- 
ence and  miscellaneous  expenses  could 
be  allocated  to  the  specific  jobs  on  the 
basis  of  percentage  of  total  expen- 
ditures on  each  job,  with  the  exception 
of  salaries  and  expenses,  which  should 
be  charged  directly  to  the  job.  Each 
job  could  be  subdivided  to  show  the 
cost  of  ballast,  ties,  rails,  rail  fasten- 
ings and  joints,  special  work,  paving, 
etc.,  and  labor.  By  using  a  decimal 
system  of  numbering,  track  and  road- 
way labor  could  be  further  subdivided 
into  cost  of  excavating  to  bottom  of 
ties,  excavating  below  ties,  handling 
ballast,  ties,  rails,  rail  fastenings  and 
joints,  alignment  of  track,  paving,  etc. 
Labor  cost  of  cleaning  and  sanding 
track  could  be  divided  between  the 
geographical  sections  applicable  and 
material  and  miscellaneous  expenses 
apportioned  on  their  percentage  to 
labor  costs.  Cost  of  removal  of  snow 
and  ice  could  be  treated  in  like  manner. 

In  the  division  of  maintenance  of 
«quipment,  general  practice  calls  for 
cost  records  of  the  different  types  of 
equipment  used,  the  purpose  in  mind 
being  to  determine  the  type  of  equip- 
ment best  suited  for  any  specific  use. 
While  it  is  essential  to  know  the  com- 
parative cost  of  maintaining  different 
types  of  motors,  controllers,  air  equip- 
ment, trucks,  etc.,  the  knowledge  of 
maintenance  costs  of  each  individual 
car  is  most  important,  and  may  be  ob- 
tained without  interfering  with  the 
record  of  costs  of  parts  or  types  of 
equipment. 

To  obtain  such  costs  and  still  have 
a  knowledge  of  maintenance  costs  of 


different  types  of  equipment,  a  specific 
job  number  could  be  placed  upon  each 
car  body  and  electric  equipment  there- 
for, exclusive  of  motors,  and  also  a 
job  number  for  each  set  of  trucks, 
including  motors.  By  dividing  the  car 
into  two  jobs,  confusion  will  be  elim- 
inated upon  transfer  of  trucks  and 
motors  from  one  car  body  to  another. 

Jobs  covering  car  bodies  and  electric 
equipment,  exclusive  of  motors,  could  be 
further  subdivided  if  desirable  into 
cost  of  painting,  repairs  to  car  bodies, 
floors,  controllers,  trolley  parts,  trolley 
wheels,  air  equipment,  etc.,  and  jobs 
covering  trucks  and  motors  could  be 
subdivided  into  repairs  to  trucks, 
wheels,  axles,  journal  boxes,  armatures, 
fields,  etc.  These  subdivisions  would 
permit  the  ascertainment  of  the  cost 
of  any  type  or  parts  of  equipment 
by  summarizing  such  types  or  parts 
of  each  job. 

Allocation  of  the  cost  of  shop  equip- 
ment, shop  and  miscellaneous  expense 
could  be  made  to  each  specific  car  job 
by  still  a  further  subdivision  by  bas- 
ing the  use  of  machinery  on  the  ma- 
chine-hour plan. 

The  item  of  depreciation,  Mr.  Din- 
neen said,  has  been  given  very  little 
attention  by  the  electric  railways  in 
general,  for  but  a  few  companies  have 
made  adequate  charges  to  cover  this 
item,  due  partly  to  the  fact  that, 
through  lack  of  cost  data,  they  assumed 
that  depreciation  was  being  fully  cared 
for  by  renewals  and  replacements. 
With  a  cost  system,  similar  to  the  one 
as  outlined,  no  difficulty  would  be  en- 
countered in  arriving  at  the  item  of 
accrued  depreciation  applicable  to  each 
unit.  Such  a  segregation  of  expenditures 
would  give  a  flexible  and  sound  system 
of  cost  finding  for  these  two  main- 
tenance divisions  and  would  permit  of 
unlimited  detail  for  the  larger  elec- 
tric railways,  and  of  more  concise  in- 
formation for  the  smaller  companies. 

M.  W.  Glover  said  it  was  difficult  to 
add  anything  to  the  excellent  paper 
presented  by  Mr.  Bowman.  It  clearly 
shows  the  desirability  of  a  system  of 
cost  accounting  for  electric  railways, 
yet  points  out  the  danger  of  going  to 
too  great  an  expense  in  securing  the 
information.  It  also  shows  that  while 
the  present  classification  of  accounts 
is  not  primarily  a  cost  accounting  sys- 
tem, it  can  be  adapted  to  that  purpose, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  accounting  offi- 
cers to  find  the  means  of  determining 
costs  of  operations  accurately  as  this 
information  is  needed  by  operating 
officials  and  they  are  entitled  to  it. 
He  thought  the  plan  should  have  a 
fair  trial. 

Mr.  Glover  then  pointed  out  that 
when  a  statement  of  the  cost  of  power 
is  made,  and  it  includes  only  the  costs 
as  shown  in  the  classification  under  the 
general  account  "Power"  and  does  not 
take  into  consideration  taxes,  deprecia- 
tion, interest,  damage  costs,  general 
overhead,  and  similar  items,  the  state- 
ment is  misleading.  It  may  result  in 
a  small  power  house  being  continued  in 
operation  under  the  mistaken  idea  that 
power  can  be  generated  at  less  cost 


than  if  purchased  from  a  large  power 
company.  In  any  cost  studies,  however, 
the  engineering  department  must  co- 
operate with  the  accounting  department 
in  order  to  obtain  satisfactory  results. 

Elmer  M.  White  told  of  the  shop 
accounting  system  recently  installed  in 
Binghamton.  The  shop  time  cards  are 
filled  out  usually  by  the  workman  to 
show  the  cars  worked  on.  In  some 
cases  when  the  workman  cannot  write 
the  foreman  does  it.  The  card  also 
indicates  whether  the  work  was  done 
on  the  car  body,  trucks,  motors,  etc. 
The  time  cards  are  later  posted  by  a 
cost  clerk  on  a  distribution  sheet.  Indi- 
vidual car  card  records  show  the  time 
worked  as  well  as  the  material  used. 
On  the  reverse  side  of  this  card  is  the 
daily  car  mileage  record  so  that  at  the 
end  of  the  year  the  maintenance  costs  of 
any  individual  or  type  of  cars  can  be 
determined.  A  similar  system  is  kept 
for  special  trackwork  layouts.  De- 
preciation can  be  figured  either  monthly 
or  yearly  and  for  each  car  or  group 
of  cars  as  may  be  desired. 

The  meeting  ended  in  an  informal 
round  table  discussion  on  the  methods 
involved  in  charging  off  depreciation 
and  the  practices  of  allowing  for  de- 
preciation in  income  tax  reports. 

Tuesday  Afternoon's  Session 

At  the  opening  of  the  meeting  on 
Tuesday  afternoon,  I.  A.  May,  Comp- 
troller the  Connecticut  Company,  read 
a  resolution  to  the  memory  of  former 
President  John  J.  Landers,  of  the 
Accountants'  Association,  which  was 
passed  by  a  rising  vote  of  the  delegates. 

Arthur  Robert  Weston  then  pre- 
sented the  joint  report  of  the  stores 
accounting  committee  of  the  Account- 
ants' Association  and  the  committee  on 
purchases  and  stores  of  the  engineering 
association.  This  report  was  printed 
as  a  part  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Engineering  Association  last  week. 

W.  L.  Davis,  auditor  Lehigh  Valley 
Transit  Company,  in  discussing  the 
report  said  in  part: 

"Although  the  work  of  the  Committee 
is  described  very  fully  in  the  Joint  Re- 
port as  submitted,  it  may  be  well  to 
supplement  the  report  in  a  few  par- 
ticulars. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  re- 
port has  been  prepared  with  a  view 
toward  establishing  certain  recom- 
mendations as  to  fundamentals,  and 
does  not  attempt  to  set  forth  any  sug- 
gestions as  to  accounting  methods  to  be 
used  in  arriving  at  final  results  as  re- 
flected in  the  general  ledger;  neither 
has  it  been  drawn  up  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  any  particular  accounting 
system.  I  understand  that  these  fea- 
tures were  purposely  omitted,  as  the 
opinion  among  the  individual  members 
favored  the  consideration  of  the  princi- 
ples involved  in  the  Material  Classifica- 
tion and  the  standard  methods  to  be 
used  in  maintaining  records  of  physical 
stock  before  the  subject  of  the  relation 
between  the  storeroom  material  records 
and  the  general  books,  as  we  feel  con- 
fident that  a  general  discussion  of  the 
former  matter  would  tend  to  bring  out 


698 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


facts  which  would  be  of  material  assist- 
ance in  the  preparation  of  accounting 
systems  and  basic  data  for  financial 
reports. 

The  standard  Material  Classification 
is,  we  believe,  almost  a  necessity,  but 
it  may  lose  much  of  its  value  unless, 
upon  installation,  it  is  thoroughly  ex- 
plained to  and  understood  by  the  vari- 
ous individuals  responsible  for  distri- 
bution cf  accounts.  If  the  stores  ac- 
count is  subdivided  in  accordance  with 
the  classification  as  recommended,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  classify  not  only 
the  debits  from  vouchers,  payrolls,  etc., 
but  also  the  stores  credits  from  ma- 
terial issued.  A  misunderstanding  of 
the  classification  on  the  part  of  one  or 
more  clerks  or  foremen  might  easily 
destroy  its  efficiency  and  make  the  final 
figures  not  only  valueless,  but  positively 
misleading.  This  situation  will  require 
considerable  "missionary  work"  on  the 
part  of  the  chief  accounting  officer,  and 
his  immediate  subordinates,  as  errone- 
ous application  of  sub-account  numbers 
could  soon  transform  a  very  useful  and 
valuable  classification  into  a  veritable 
nuisance.  This  factor  should  also  be 
considered  in  connection  with  the 
recommendations  as  to  standard  ma- 
terial reports,  for  obvious  reasons. 

While  the  standard  Material  Classi- 
fication will  be  very  desirable  for  the 
larger  roads,  it  might  be  well  for  the 
members  of  the  Association  to  make 
suggestions  as  to  an  abridged  classifica- 
tion to  be  used  by  companies  whose  re- 
quirements might  not  be  quite  so  ex- 
tensive. Such  a  classification  might 
be  prepared  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
interstate  commerce  classification  has 
provided  for  Class  B  and  Class  C  roads, 
and  could  be  considered  by  the  com- 
mittees. 

I  believe  I  am  expressing  the  opinion 
of  the  committees  in  connection  with  the 
recommendations  as  to  stock  books  in 
saying  that  these  stock  books  are  sug- 
gested with  a  view  toward  supplement- 
ing the  "amount"  or  "value"  ledgers 
with  a  record  that  will  enable  the  store- 
keeper to  establish  a  method  of  main- 
taining a  permanent  check  between  the 
ledgers  and  the  physical  stock,  and  are 
not  intended  to  be  considered  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  ledgers. 

Personally,  I  feel  that  the  work  of  the 
Stores  Accounting  Committee  has  just 
begun  and  that  it  will  be  able  to  render 
valuable  service  to  the  Association  in 
the  future  if  its  work  is  continued. 

Further  Discussion  on  Stores 
Accounting 

Mr.  Boy^n  suggested  that  it  would 
be  well  for  an  additional  column  to  be 
added  to  exhibit  C  to  make  space  to 
carry  an  inventory.  Mr.  Cass  of  Phila- 
delphia commented  that  the  stock  book 
had  been  adopted  by  the  Philadelphia 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  and  had  been 
found  to  be  very  he'pful  and  of  greatest 
service  to  the  storekeeper.  For  this 
reason  the  order  of  items  in  the  record 
is  so  arranged  to  give  a  sequence 
which  will  aid  him  in  visualizing  the 
stock  en  hand.  The  question  was  raised 
as  to  difficulties  in  securing  the  use  of  a 


uniform  name  for  any  material  or 
equipment.  Several  expressed  difficul- 
ties along  this  line,  and  one  delegate 
said  that  his  company  is  trying  a  cross 
index  system,  giving  the  nickname  and 
after  it  the  correct  name.  It  would 
then  be  a  duty  of  the  stores  clerks  to 
supply  the  correct  name. 

The  convention  then  took  up  the  ques- 
tion of  a  Past  President's  badge  and 
decided  to  authorize  the  executive  com- 
mittee to  adopt  a  design  of  Past  Presi- 
dent's badge  to  be  presented  to  all  pres- 
ent and  future  Past  Presidents. 

Routine  Accounting 

A  paper  was  then  presented  by  H.  C. 
Hopson  of  New  York  on  the  "Adapta- 
tion of  Routine  Accounting  Results  to 
Particular  Uses."  This  paper  is  pre- 
sented elsewhere  in  Electric  Railway 
Journal.  Mr.  Hopson  took  occasion  to 
amplify  by  example  some  of  the  state- 
ments in  this  paper. 

In  discussion  of  this  paper  I.  A.  May 
said  he  was  glad  to  hear  Mr.  Hopson 
urge  that  all  accounting  be  done  in  the 
office  which  makes  a  business  of  ac- 
counting. Mr.  May  said  he  felt  very 
strongly  on  this  point.  He  said  he  had 
recently  read  several  articles  by  engi- 
neers advocating  perpetual  inventories 
of  physical  property  and  some  advocat- 
ing a  special  department  for  such  work. 
He  said  he  had  tried  to  answer  this  type 
of  argument  in  a  recent  article  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  (see  issue 
of  Sept.  10,  page  398)  in  which  he 
pointed  out  that  all  records  should  be 
kept  in  the  accounting  office.  M.  R. 
Boylan,  Auditor  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, called  attention  to  the  standard 
classification  of  accounts  as  an  answer 
to  how  the  matter  of  what  is  included 
in  the  tax  account  should  be  interpreted 
to  commissions.  Mr.  Boylan  said  that 
if  accountants  would  always  emphasize 
that  their  accounts  are  kept  as  defined 
in  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
text  there  should  be  no  difficulty. 

Mr.  Hopson  pointed  out  that  income 
tax  is  a  part  of  the  tax  account  and 
should  be  subtracted  the  same  as  other 
expenses  before  net  income  is  figured. 
Mr.  Hopson  thought  it  was  unfortunate 
that  Congress  refers  to  the  present  ten 
per  cent  and  proposed  fifteen  per  cent 
corporation  tax  as  a  "normal  tax."  Of 
course,  a  commission  examines  the 
operating  account  and  a  commission 
may  disallow  any  tax  item  it  may 
choose  to  disallow  just  as  it  may  choose 
to  disallow  what  it  calls  an  excessive 
manager's  salary  or  any  other  item  of 
expense  which  it  questions  as  being  un- 
reasonable. 

Next  on  the  program  was  the  paper 
on  "Construction  Accounting"  by  W.  L. 
Davis,  auditor  Lehigh  Valley  Transit 
Company,  Allentown,  Pa.  This  paper 
appears  in  abstract  elsewhere  in  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal. 

Construction  Accounting 

C.  E.  Yost  auditor  and  assistant 
treasurer,  Wilmington  &  Philadelphia 
Traction  Company,  in  discussing  Mr. 
Davis'  paper,  said,  in  part: 

"The  manner  in  which   Mr.  Davis 


has  handled  the  subject  of  construction 
accounting  leaves  very  little  for  the 
rest  of  us  to  talk  about.  Evyery  phase 
of  the  subject  has  not  only  been  touched 
upon,  to  use  his  own  language,  but 
has  been  so  clearly  and  completely  set 
forth  that  if  copies  of  his  paper  were 
put  in  the  hands  of  all  of  our  time- 
keepers, distribution  clerks  and  book- 
keepers, it  would  probably  do  more 
good  than  paying  for  special  courses 
in  accounting. 

"It  may  be  that  the  accounting  de- 
partment is  at  fault  in  continually 
trying  to  educate  the  various  foremen 
and  other  employees  from  whom  we 
receive  the  original  records  of  material 
and  labor  distribution.  In  many  cases 
after  incessant  hammering  on  the  sub- 
ject during  the  summer  and  early  fall 
months,  we  see  signs  of  embryo  intel- 
ligence, but  so  soon  as  the  first  flakes 
of  snow  are  scurrying  through  the 
atmosphere  there  comes  an  order  from 
the  operating  head  to  stop  all  con- 
struction work  for  the  winter,  and  be- 
fore the  accounting  department  is 
aware  of  any  change  in  plans  the 
'hopeful'  has  gone  from  the  property. 

"Would  it  not  pay  in  the  end  to  have 
the  accounting  department  furnish  the 
necessary  timekeepers  and  material 
clerks  from  our  own  force  and  keep 
them  employed  on  some  other  work 
during  the  winter?  No  doubt  the  en- 
gineers in  charge  of  construction  work 
would  resent  having  around  on  the  job 
employees  who  would  not  be  respon- 
sible to  them.  Yet  how  often  do  we 
find  that  on  Jan.  1,  the  engineer  him- 
self has  accepted  another  position  and 
with  him  have  gone  valuable  field  notes 
and  other  data  which  he  regards  as 
his  personal  property. 

"One  of  our  Wilmington  men  once 
made  a  suggestion  that  each  depart- 
ment keep  a  diary  of  its  work  through- 
out the  year  and  in  January  turn  them 
over  to  some  one  who  would  compile  a 
complete  history  of  the  year's  doings. 
While  we  have  not  taken  up  the  sug- 
gestion, there  is  no  doubt  but  that 
such  a  work  if  kept  up  each  year 
would  be  invaluable  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  from  now,  especially  at  such  time 
as  a  revaluation  of  the  property  might 
be  required. 

"The  present  accounting  practice  is 
to  have  various  operating  departments 
furnish  assistance  of  various  kinds  at 
cost  in  the  construction  of  new  lines 
and  extensions.  No  doubt  the  commis- 
sions would  object  to  the  inclusion  of 
a  profit  on  such  labor,  but  if  the  work 
was  done  by  an  outside  contractor  not 
only  would  the  actual  cost  be  greater 
but  the  contractor's  profit  would  be 
accepted  without  question  as  a  proper 
capital  expenditure.  Reconstruction  of 
existing  lines  should  perhaps  be  ex- 
cepted in  taking  profit  on  services 
rendered  by  other  departments,  but 
does  it  not  seem  unfair  to  compel  auxil- 
liary  departments  to  do  the  construc- 
tion work  at  cost  and  often  at  the 
expense  of  allowing  their  own  regular 
work  to  suffer  by  reason  of  their 
transfer? 


October  15,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


699 


"There  are  no  doubt  numerous  cases 
where  in  the  past,  especially  during  a 
change  in  ownership,  capital  has  been 
charged  with  items  which  were  at  least 
questionable,  but  the  practice  now 
seems  to  be  that  when  reconstruction 
is  necessary,  operating  expenses  should 
stand  as  much  of  the  cost  as  possible. 
It  is  not  fair,  because  a  tie  was  in  a 
certain  place  years  ago  and  that  there 
will  be  a  tie  in  the  same  place  after 
reconstruction,  that  the  cost  of  the  new 
tie  should  be  considered  as  maintenance. 
If  your  roadbed  was  reconstructed  in 
1920,  you  should  be  entitled  to  a  return 
on  the  actual  present  cost  of  the  new 
road  with  ties  at  $1.50  each  rather 
than  25  cents  for  those  placed  in  1900 
and  on  labor  at  50  cents  per  hour 
rather  than  the  10  cents  or  12  cents 
paid  twenty  years  ago  for  the  original 
installation.  It  seems  that  we  owe 
some  consideration  to  the  stockholder 
as  well  as  to  the  bondholder. 

"We  are  very  apt  to  look  with  dis- 
dain upon  the  simplicity  of  the  old 
methods  of  accounting,  yet  with  all  of 
our  ingenuity  for  creating  suspense 
accounts,  sub  ledgers,  work  orders, 
executive  author:zpt:~ns  a^d  control 
accounts,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
accountant  of  1950  will  be  able  to  glean 
much  more  essential  information  from 
our  books  than  is  found  in  the  records 
of  the  previous  generation.  The  sup- 
porting records  will  be  so  voluminous 
that  in  time  they  will  be  considered 
as  junk  and  destroyed,  leaving  only  the 
control  accounts  in  the  general  ledgers. 

"Most  of  our  electric  railway  sys- 
tems have  gone  through  several  con- 
solidations, each  one  producing  its 
crop  of  connecting  special  work  and 
short  links  of  track  so  that  without 
maps  distinctly  showing  the  ownership 
of  each  foot  of  track,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  tell  what  property  is  cov- 
ered by  the  various  bond  issues.  These 
maps  should  be  made  in  sections  and 
reduced  to  sheets  8i  x  11  in.  for  con- 
venience in  binding.  One  set  should 
show  all  of  the  various  items  of  mate- 
rial used  in  the  construction  of  the  track 
and  overhead  with  as  much  informa- 
tion as  possible  concerning  the  type 
of  the  material  used,  by  whom  manu- 
factured, etc.  Another  set  should 
show  the  various  deeds  or  rights  of 
way  together  with  notation  of  fenc- 
ing, crossings  and  other  requirements 
as  to  where  same  can  be  found  both 
in  the  company's  document  files  and 
in  the  county  offices.  On  a  third  set 
of  these  maps  should  be  shown  each 
time  the  property  was  reconstructed, 
the  job  order  on  which  work  was  done 
and  the  cost  thereof.  These  sectional 
maps  bound  in  book  form  would  be 
worth  their  cost  several  times  in  their 
convenience  and  time  saved  over  an 
ordinary  index  to  locate  the  proper 
agreement  relating  to  any  section  of 
property  or  the  necessary  details  for 
the  write  off  if  retired  from  service 
or  reconstructed. 

"One  other  suggestion  I  would  like 
to  make  and  that  is,  the  establishment 
of  some  method  of  segregating  in  a 


special  memorandum  all  costs,  no  mat- 
ter in  which  classified  account  they 
may  be  charged,  pertaining  to  ex- 
penditures made  for  the  benefit  of  the 
community  as  a  whole  and  which  may 
be  considered  as  taxes,  such  as  street 
paving,  assessments  toward  the  build- 
ing of  bridges,  relocation  of  sewers, 
etc.  While  a  great  deal  of  money  has 
been  spent  for  these  purposes  in  the 
past  the  amount  which  cannot  be 
accurately  determined,  we  can  make 
a  start  now  and  it  will  be  surprising 
how  large  will  be  the  total  in  the  next 
few  years  and  it  may  be  the  means 
of  preventing  considerable  increases 
in  our  future  tax  burdens." 

Wednesday's  Session 

The  greater  part  of  the  Wednesday 
afternoon  session  of  the  Accountants' 
Association  was  taken  up  with  joint 
meeting  with  the  T.  &  T.  Association, 
the  report  of  which  was  published  in 
the  issue  of  Oct.  8  in  connection  with 
the  report  of  the  T.  &  T.  Association. 
At  the  end  of  that  joint  session  the  ac- 
countants reassembled  for  their  final 
meeting. 

After  the  meeting  had  been  called 
to  order,  Mr.  May,  of  New  Haven, 
urged  greater  interest  in  the  Question 
Box  in  A  era.  Mr.  Glover  indorsed  Mr. 
May's  suggestion,  and  said  that  he 
had  urged  accountants  to  take  an  in- 
terest in  the  Question  Box,  but  it  fell 
flat.  Continuing, '  he  said  that  mem- 
bers of  the  association  do  not  always 
take  the  trouble  to  answer  letters. 
M.  R.  Boylan  explained  that  many  of 
them  have  been  tied  up  in  rate  cases 
which  have  been  frequent  recently. 

The  chair  then  announced  that  W-  Li- 
Davis  would  probably  be  the  represen- 
tative of  the  association  at  the  Atlanta 
convention. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  res- 
olutions was  then  presented  by  M.  R. 
Boylan.  The  thanks  of  the  associa- 
tion were  extended  to  the  parent  as- 
sociations, its  committees,  the  chair- 
man of  the  program  and  other  com- 
mittees of  the  Accountants'  Associa- 
tion, the  technical  press  and  the  speak- 
ers at  the  Accountants'  meetings. 

The  committee  on  nominations  then 
presented  the  following  as  officers  for 
the  ensuing  year: 

President,  Frederick  E.  Webster, 
vice-president  and  treasurer  Massachu- 
setts Northeastern  Street  Railway, 
Haverhill,  Mass. 

First  vice-president,  W.  G.  Nicholson, 
secretary  and  auditor  Omaha  &  Council 
Bluffs  Street  Railway,  Omaha,  Neb. 

Second  vice-president,  E.  M.  White, 
treasurer  Bingham  ton  (N.  Y.)  Railway. 

Third  vice-president,  W.  A.  Doty, 
auditor  Denver  &  Intermountain  Rail- 
road, Denver,  Col. 

Secretary-Treasurer,  F.  J.  Davis, 
auditor's  department,  Public  Service 
Railway,  Newark,  N.  J. 

For  members  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, J.  J.  Duck,  general  auditor 
Chicago  Surface  Lines;  R.  N.  Steven- 
son, chief  clerk    to    comptroller,  the 


Connecticut  Company,  New  Haven, 
Conn.;  Wallace  L.  Davis,  auditor  Le- 
high Valley  Transit  Company;  G.  H. 
Caskey,  auditor  Newport  News  & 
Hampton  Railway,  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Hampton,  Va. 

These  officers  were  unanimously 
elected.  Each  of  the  newly  elected  of- 
ficers who  were  present  made  a  shor: 
address,  and  the  meeting  adjourned. 


C.  E.  R.  A.  Engineering 
Council  Meets 

THE  first  meeting  of  the  Engineer- 
ing Council  of  the  Central  Electric 
Railway  Association  was  held  in  the 
association  offices  at  Indianapolis,  Ind., 
on  S3pt.  26,  1921.  The  purpose  of  this 
meeting  was  to  formulate  a  working 
basis  in  order  that  the  different  local 
sections  and  the  general  organization 
might  properly  function.  It  was  de- 
cided that  the  sectional  meeting  would 
be  a  one-day  session  only,  to  be  held 
three  times  each  year,  the  first  meet- 
ing to  be  held  some  time  during  the 
first  half  of  November,  the  second  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  February  and  the 
third  during  the  month  of  May.  There 
will  be  one  general  meeting  of  the  en- 
tire organization  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Central  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation, at  which  time  a  half-day  ses- 
sion shall  be  allotted  to  this  organiza- 
tion on  the  program.  In  the  holding 
of  sectional  meetings  it  is  the  general 
purpose  that  each  section  send  a  repre- 
sentative to  the  meetings  of  the  other 
sections,  in  this  way  keeping  in  closer 
touch  with  the  work  throughout  t^e  en- 
tire territory.  All  the  meetings  of  the- 
local  sections  will  be  in  the  nature  of  a 
round-table  discussion,  as  it  is  believed 
in  this  manner  that  the  members  will 
be  more  spontaneous  in  the  d;scussion 
of  engineering  problems  and  better  re- 
sults will  be  obtained.  Questions  for 
discussion  are  to  be  supplied  by  the 
various  members  attending,  but  as  an 
outline  for  the  first  meeting  questions 
have  b°en  proposed  by  the  Engineer- 
ing Council. 

Another  meeting  of  the  Engineering 
Council  will  be  held  the  latter  part  of 
November  in  order  to  go  over  the  work 
of  the  various  sections  and  formulate 
a  report  to  be  rendered  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  C.  E.  R.  A. 


Snow  Removal  Problems 
Discussed 

AS  A  result  of  a  recommendation  for 
jt\.  a  discussion  on  snow  removal  made 
by  Henry  L.  Doherty  after  last  Febru- 
ary's severe  storm,  the  material  han- 
dling section  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers  in  New  York 
discussed  this  on  Sept.  23.  The  discus- 
sion centered  on  various  snow-removal 
devices,  including  mechanical  loaders, 
rotary  plows  and  snow-me'ting  devices. 
Plans  were  presented  for  briquetting 
snow  so  as  to  reduce  its  volume  and  en- 
able the  material  to  be  piled  along  the 
street  in  small  areas.  Mr.  Doherty  ex- 
pressed confidence  that  a  practical 
scheme  would  be  developed. 


700 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Electric  Railway  Cost  Accounting  * 

Manufacturers'  Cost  Accounting  Systems  Can  Be  Adapted  to  Electric  Railway 
Operations  to  Determine  Cost  of  Operation  by  Divisions  or  Routes 
When  Results  Obtainable  Warrant  Expenditure 

By  John  H.  Bowman,  C.  P.  A. 

Price,  Waterhouse  &  Company,  New  York 

"/^OST  accounting"  as  the  term  is 

V-^  used  in  manufacturing  describes  a 
formal  system  of  accounts  wherein  the 
cost  of  each  product  at  each  stage  of  its 
process  is  determined.  There  are  two 
plans  of  cost  accounting.  The  first  may 
be  called  the  "analytical"  method,  as  it 
consists  in  analysis  of  the  determined 
cost  of  the  operations  as  a  whole;  the 
second  may  be  called  the  "synthetic" 
method,  as  it  builds  up  the  cost  of  each 
operation  separately  as  a  collateral  pro- 
cedure to  the  compilation  of  the  aggre- 
gate cost  of  operations. 

Scientific  cost  accounting  in  manu- 
facturing organizations  is  a  develop- 
ment of  the  last  twenty-five  years.  At 
first  estimates  of  cost  were  thought 
sufficient,  but  as  competition  became 
keener  it  was  found  to  be  dangerous  to 
rely  only  on  these  cost  estimates.  The 
desire  to  determine  more  accurately  the 
annual  profits  also  furthered  the  devel- 
opment of  cost  accounting.  A  further 
benefit,  not  fully  realized  at  first,  deriv- 
able from  the  cost  records  is  the  guid- 
ance that  they  afford  to  the  manage- 
ment in  indicating  waste  and  inefficiency. 

Modifications  of  Cost  Accounting  in 
Transportation 

In  the  adaptation  of  the  manufactur- 
ers' idea  of  cost  accounting  to  trans- 
portation certain  fundamental  differ- 
ences in  the  two  lines  of  enterprise  have 
to  be  kept  in  view.  It  is  not  unreas- 
onable to  conceive  of  transportation 
service  as  a  commodity  in  the  produc- 
tion of  which  the  processes  are  compar- 
able with  manufacturing  processes.  To 
the  manufacturer  all  of  the  information 
which  he  ordinarily  requires  is  provided 
when  he  secures  the  cost  of  each  of  his 
products  so  compiled  as  to  show  the 
cost  of  each  of  the  various  progressive 
stages  in  its  process;  the  factory  cost 
before  providing  for  selling  and  admin- 
istrative expenses  furnishes  the  figures 
required  for  inventory  purposes  and  the 
full  cost,  those  necessary  for  price  fix- 
ing, etc.  Transportation  cost  on  the 
other  hand,  while  it  affords  the  neces- 
sary information  for  comparative  study 
whereby  losses,  waste,  etc.,  may  be  de- 
tected and  localized,  does  not  provide 
sufficient  infoi'mation  to  be  of  real  value 
in  connection  with  many  questions  of 
management  policy,  or  for  comparison 
with  rates.  The  reason  for  this  is  that 
a  very  large  element  in  transportation 
service  consists  in  providing,  for  the 
use  of  the  patron,  exceedingly  costly 
facilities  in  the  form  of  road,  equip- 
ment, etc.  The  value  of  these  facilities 
is  vastly  greater  in  proportion  to  the 
actual  cost  of  the  service  provided  than 
the  value  which  a  manufacturing  plant 

•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  annual 
meeeting  of  American  Electric  Railway 
Accountants'  Association,  Atlantic  City, 
N.  J..  Oct.  3-5,  1921. 


bears  to  the  total  cost  of  its  output.  The 
relative  importance  of  this  factor  is,  of 
course,  widely  variable  in  transportation 
enterprises  according  to  the  location  of 
lines,  the  density  of  traffic  and  many 
other  factors,  but  to  indicate  roughly 
how  important  an  element  it  is,  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  a  study,  made  on  the 
basis  of  pre-war  conditions,  for  certain 
large  electric  and  steam  road  properties, 
for  which  I  was  able  to  secure  approxi- 
mate appraisal  values  of  the  property, 
indicated  that  a  return  of  1  per  cent  on 
the  value  of  the  property  used  in  opera- 
tions was  equivalent  on  the  average  to 
about  5  per  cent  of  the  total  operating 
expenses  and  taxes  in  the  case  of  the 
electric  railways  chosen,  and  to  a  sub- 
stantially larger  percentage  in  the 
case  of  the  steam  roads.  The  data, 
therefore,  which  an  electric  railway 
company  needs  are  not  plain  cost  data, 
but  should  include  also  corresponding 
data  relative  to  return  on  the  invest- 
ment. It  is  neither  necessary  nor  de- 
sirable in  the  practical  application  of 
this  principle  to  merge  the  two  sets  of 
figures  at  any  point. 

Another  fundamental  difference  be- 
tween manufacturing  and  transporta- 
tion cost  accounting  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  product  in  manufacturing  is  the 
commodity  which  is  sold,  whereas  the 
product  in  transpoi'tation  is  the  service 
provided,  which  may  or  may  not  be  sold 
according  to  whether  or  not  the  traffic 
offers  itself.  Still  another  difference 
lies  in  the  nature  of  the  product  and 
processes  and  the  consequent  methods 
of  apportionment  of  common  expenses. 
In  manufacturing  much  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  expenses  ordinarily  consists 
of  the  material  which  enters  into  the 
product  and  the  labor  cost  of  fabrica- 
tion. The  remaining  expenses  are  very 
largely  in  the  nature  of  supervision  or 
are  so  closely  related  to  the  processes  of 


fabrication  as  to  render  direct  labor  cost 
a  sound  basis  of  apportionment  of  most 
common  expense.  In  the  case  of  trans- 
portation or  of  the  electric  railway,  in 
particular,  there  are  certain  operations,, 
such  as  power  production  or  shop  work, 
which  are  fundamentally  of  a  manufac- 
turing character  and  to  which  the  prin- 
ciples of  manufacturing  cost  apply,  but 
in  many  of  the  most  important  appor- 
tionments, as  say  between  individual 
lines,  statistics  of  use  afford  a  very 
much  more  nearly  correct  basis  for  ap- 
portionment than  do  labor  costs.  For 
example,  if  a  section  of  track  be  used  in 
common  by  two  or  more  lines,  the  most 
nearly  correct  basis  for  apportionment 
of  the  cost  of  its  maintenance  among 
the  lines  is  probably  a  composite  of  two 
factors,  which  are  best  described  as 
"beneficial  use"  and  "destructive  use,"  a 
basis  in  which  due  consideration  is  given 
through  the  former  factor  to  natural 
deterioration  and  through  the  latter  to 
the  relative  track-wearing  qualities  of 
the  cars  operated  over  the  several  lines 
which  use  the  common  track.  This 
principle  bears  on  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  elements  of  transportation  cost, 
which  it  is  impracticable  to  take  up  in 
detail  within  the  limits  of  this  paper. 

Other  distinctions  between  the  manu- 
facturing and  the  transportation  cost 
accounting  problems  could  be  developed, 
but  those  mentioned  sufficiently  indicate 
the  fact  that  manufacturing  cost  meth- 
ods cannot  be  transferred  bodily  for  ap- 
plication to  electric  railways  and  that 
the  cost  methods  for  the  latter  must  be 
developed  along  their  own,  though 
somewhat  parallel,  lines,  and  further 
should  be  considered  always  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  element  of  return  on  in- 
vestment. 

Limitations  of  Cost  Data  Obtainable: 
by  Electric  Railways 

The  possibilities  in  the  application  of 
cost  accounting  to  electric  railways  are 
first,  as  regards  the  extent  to  which 
the  operations  as  a  whole  may  be  sub- 
divided into  individual  operations  or 
"products"  (if  the  manufacturing  anal- 
ogy be  kept  in  view),  and,  second,  as 
regards  the  minuteness  with  which  the 
elements  or  "processes"  which  go  to 
provide  the  service  may  be  subdivided. 

Considering  the  subdivision  of  the 
operations  we  may  take,  as  an  illus- 
trative case,  an  electric  railway  system 
operating  both  street  and  interurban 
lines  and  maintaining  its  own  facilities 
for  power  production,  car  repairs,  etc. 
On  such  a  line  the  ultimate  services 
rendered  are,  say  the  transportation  of 
passengers  and  express  over  various 
lines.  There  are  two  plans  under  which 
the  subdivision  might  start;  first,  by 
separation  of  the  costs  of  different 
classes  of  service,  and  second,  by  sub- 
division by  districts  of  the  costs  of 
handling  all  traffic.  In  any  separation 
by  classes  of  the  cost  of  handling  traffic 
over  the  entire  system,  where  a  consid- 
erable part  of  the  separation  has  to  be 
made  on  district  or  line  figures,  it  is 
reasonably  apparent  that  the  separa- 
tion into  classes  should  be  the  last,  or 
almost  the  last,  stage  in  a  subdivision. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


roi 


The  logical  first  step  in  subdivision, 
therefore,  may  be  taken  to  be  that  into 
districts.  Next,  the  service  in  a  district 
is  obviously  the  aggregate  of  services- 
on  numerous  lines  in  the  district,  so 
that  subdivision  of  the  district  into  lines 
is  the  logical  second  step.  The  opera- 
tion of  each  line  is  the  aggregate  serv- 
ice rendered  by  various  car  runs,  some 
of  which  very  likely  may  be  operated 
for  a  shorter  distance  than  others 
through  the  cars  being  turned  at  points 
short  of  the  end  of  the  line.  It  seems 
clear,  therefore,  that  the  logical  third 
step  in  subdivision  is  into  individual 
runs.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  follow- 
ing the  logical  subdivision  beyond  this 
point  because  it  is  doubtful  whether 
there  are  many  cases  in  which  run  costs 
are  worth  determining  excepting  as  a 
means  of  separation  by  classes  of  traffic. 
Ignoring,  then,  possible  further  sub- 
division by  movement,  the  final  step  is 
the  separation  among  the  various 
classes  of  traffic  on  the  line,  or  what- 
ever other  unit  the  subdivision  is 
extended  to. 

Turning  to  the  question  of  elements 
of  operation  which  go  to  make  up  the 
cost  of  the  chosen  units  of  service,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  classification  of 
accounts,  as  prescribed  by  the  commis- 
sions, must  be  used  as  a  basis  in  order 
that  the  relationship  of  the  cost  and 
general  accounting  systems  may  be 
maintained.  A  certain  complication, 
however,  is  offered  by  the  various 
charges,  which  are  becoming  more  and 
more  frequent  in  common  practice  and 
which  are  provided  for  by  the  commis- 
sions, to  effect  an  equalization  as  be- 
tween years  of  certain  types  of  expense. 
Notable  illustrations  of  these  equaliza- 
tion charges  are  the  provisions  for  de- 
ferred maintenance  and  for  accidents 
and  casualties,  according  to  the  gener- 
ally accepted  theory  of  the  present  day, 
it  is  proper  that  provision  should  be 
made  for  maintenance  charges  when 
the  maintenance  itself  is  deferred  and 
for  accidents  and  casualties  to  provide 
as  a  sort  of  insurance  against  the 
more  serious  accidents  which  ordinarily 
occur  only  at  intervals  of  years.  The 
idea  underlying 1  this  is  primarily  to 
avoid  misleading  the  investor  by  report- 
ing excessive  net  income  when  there  is 
reasonable  prospect  of  abnormally  large 
expenses  in  a  period  to  follow.  It  has 
the  defect,  however,  of  concealing  the 
actual  operations  of  the  year,  except  to 
a  mind  trained  to  consider  financial 
statements.  For  administrative  pur- 
poses the  prime  concern  is,  of  course, 
with  the  actual  outlays  and  not  with 
the  equalized  figures.  Perhaps  the  most 
practical  way  of  meeting  this  condition 
is  the  preparation  of  the  company's 
monthly  income  accounts  in  three 
column  form — the  first  to  show  the 
actual  operating  expense  without  equal- 
ization charges,  the  last  to  show  the 
equalized  amounts  in  the  form  in  which 
they  are  presented  in  the  published 
accounts,  and  the  middle  column  to 
show  the  difference  between  the  first 
and  last,  and  thus  reflect  the  net  effect 
of  the  equalizing  charges  on  the  ac- 
counts   of    the    month.     Under  this 


arrangement  the  cost  accounting  sys- 
tem will  support  the  cost  of  operation 
as  presented  in  the  first  column.  In 
such  a  treatment  of  the  problem,  how- 
ever, it  is  probable  that  an  exception 
shou  d  be  made  in  the  case  of  deprecia- 
tion as  distinct  from  provisions  for 
deferred  maintenance.  It  would  seem 
that  depreciation,  if  on  a  sound  basis, 
is  more  closely  akin  to  actual  outlays 
than  are  the  other  equalization  charges 
or  credits.  This  whole  question  of 
equalization  charges,  however,  is  an 
open  field  for  consideration. 

To  summarize,  it  is  pi'acticable  to 
formulate  a  synthetic  cost  system  that 
will  provide  the  cost  of  the  traffic  as  a 
whole,  or  of  each  class  of  traffic  over 
each  district  or  individual  line,  or  even 
individual  car  run,  and  (provided  a 
detailed  valuation  of  the  properties  is 
available)  to  show  collaterally  the  cor- 
responding return  on  the  investment  in 
facilities  used  in  the  operation.  It  is 
practicable  in  the  course  of  this  com- 
pilation to  maintain  cost  accounts  for 
each  individual  sub-unit  of  operation, 
such  as  power  production,  car  repairs, 
etc.,  and  for  maintenance  in  as  much 
geographical  detail  as  is  desired.  Fin- 
ally, it  is  practicable  to  maintain  these 
cost  accounts  in  such  a  way  that  the 
aggregate  cost  of  all  of  the  services  pro- 
vided for  carrying  the  several  classes  of 
traffic  over  the  several  lines  in  a  given 
period  will  equal  in  the  aggregate  the 
total  cost  of  the  transportation  service 
provided  by  the  company. 

Benefits  Obtainable  by  the  Electric 
Railway 

The  facilities  afforded  through  cost 
accounting  cannot  be  listed  in  detail  as 
almost  every  company  has  problems 
of  its  own  which  may  be  met  by  this 
means,  but  the  most  important  will 
probably  fall  under  one  or  other  of  the 
following  four  classes: 

1.  Comparisons  of  costs  with  tariff 
rates  or  other  revenues  to  disclose 
whether  and  to  what  extent  a  service 
is  profitable,  or  the  reverse,  and  why 
it  is  so. 

2.  Comparisons  of  details  with  those 
for  other  services,  or  for  the  same 
service  in  other  periods,  to  localize 
losses  through  waste,  irregularities,  in- 
competence of  sub-officials,  or  misman- 
agement and  to  facilitate  and  guide 
administration  generally. 

3.  Information  for  use  in  connection 
with  existing  or  proposed  contacts  or 
negotiations. 

4.  Information  for  board  or  stock- 
holders or  for  publicity. 

Comparisons  of  costs  with  traffic 
rates  is  the  logical  development  of  a 
principle  that  has  been  recognized  in 
cases  before  courts  and  commissions  for 
many  years  but,  in  the  lack  of  adequate 
cost  data,  it  has  either  been  confined  to 
the  cost  of  the  operations  of  a  group 
of  lines  as  a  whole  or  has  been  devel- 
oped by  an  analytical  cost  study,  which 
is  usually  difficult  to  establish  to  the 
proper  satisfaction  of  the  judges  or 
commissioners  if,  as  is  usually  the  case, 
there  is  active  opposition. 

Whether  or  not  relinquishment  of  the 


plan  of  averaged  fares  within  the  cities, 
under  which  the  street  railway  sys- 
tems, as  distinct  from  the  interurban, 
have  grown  up,  is  under  consideration 
as  a  possibility,  it  seems  almost  self- 
evident  that  for  the  information  of  the 
management  full  particulars  should  be 
available  to  show  the  profit  or  loss  on 
the  operation  of  each  line. 

The  calculation  of  return  on  the  in- 
vestment in  property  used  in  operation, 
made  along  with  the  cost  computations 
and  accompanying  them,  contributes 
materially  to  the  value  of  the  results 
by  lines.  There  are  obvious  advantages 
in  making  these  return  calculations  on 
the  basis  of  1  per  cent  on  the  value 
of  property  used  in  the  various  oper- 
ations, inasmuch  as  this  rate  involves 
a  simple  calculation  and  does  not  com- 
mit the  company  to  any  fixed  rate 
of  return  as  being  an  adequate  one. 
There  is  a  variation  in  what  constitutes 
a  fair  rate  of  return  from  year  to  year 
and  what  is  a  fair  rate  from  one  point 
of  view  may  not  be  a  fair  rate  from 
another.  The  results  can  be  converted 
to  any  rate  desired  by  mere  multiplica- 
tion. 

The  possibilities  of  the  use  of  costs 
for  comparison  of  one  service  with 
another  or  with  the  same  service  in 
another  period  increase  up  to  a  point, 
with  the  minuteness  of  detail,  but  apart 
from  the  limitations  of  expense,  cost 
details  can  be  carried  to  a  point  where 
they  cease  to  be  useful  for  practical 
purposes.  For  ordinary  use  in  com- 
parisons the  computations  of  return 
do  not  add  much  to  the  usefulness  of 
the  detailed  cost  data,  but  when  the 
broader  policies  of  operation  are  under 
consideration  the  return  data  may  be- 
come of  prime  importance.  For  exam- 
ple, if  there  is  a  question  as  to  the 
best  location  for  a  new  carhouse  as 
between  two  points,  one  at  a  central 
point  in  a  city  and  the  other  at  a 
somewhat  out  of  the  way  point,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  comparison  to  be  made 
is  between  the  additional  operating  cost 
entailed  by  the  out  of  the  way  location 
and  the  additional  return  element  re- 
sulting from  the  greater  investment  in 
the  central  location.  The  value  of  cost 
data  in  connection  with  the  arrange- 
ment of  a  joint  facility  or  lease  agree- 
ment needs  no  argument  and  it  is 
obvious  that  the  element  of  return  must 
be  available  along  with  the  cost  data 
to  render  them  of  best  use  in  such  cases. 
In  matters  such  as  negotiations  with 
a  city  over  a  franchise  involving  main- 
tenance or  other  undertakings,  or  in 
negotiations  with  labor  organizations, 
detailed  cost  data  are  of  more  or  less 
value  according  to  circumstances. 

For  the  purpose  of  information, 
whether  for  the  use  of  the  board,  or 
the  bankers,  or  for  the  publicity  depart- 
ment, it  is  doubtful  whether  as  a  gen- 
eral rule  it  is  necessary  to  add  mate- 
rially to  the  information  which  is  made 
available  by  the  cost  accounting  sys- 
tem necessary  to  provide  the  benefits 
already  described.  Further  data  re- 
quired for  any  of  these  purposes  can  be 
better  made  by  special  cost  studies. 

There  are  certain  underlying  prin- 


702 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


ciples  that  must  be  met  if  the  system 
is  to  be  of  value.  These  are,  first,  that 
there  must  be  an  ultimate  allocation 
of  all  expenses  without  duplication; 
second,  that  the  cost  accounts  must  be 
built  up  logically  and  intelligently  step 
by  step,  and,  third,  that  the  system 
must  be  a  continuous  one  consistent  in 
its  methods  from  month  to  month. 

One  procedure  whereby  cost  com- 
putations can  be  made  is  along  the  lines 
that  have  been  prescribed  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  for  steam 
railroads.  The  development  of  this 
procedure  is  traceable  through  certain 
decisions  of  the  Wisconsin  Commission 
in  1907  and  1908,  through  computations 
by  the  Post  Office  Department  relative 
to  various  mail  service  costs  in  1909, 
and  to  its  promulgation  in  1915  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  as  a 
basis  for  the  separation  of  freight  and 
passenger  train  expenses  on  steam 
railroads.  This  procedure  applied  to 
electric  railways  would  call  for  succes- 
sive subdivisions  and  apportionments 
until  the  desired  degree  of  detail  should 
be  attained.  In  the  first  subdivision 
expenses  would  be  allocated  direct  to 
the  operating  units  if  directly  assign- 
able, and  if  not  they  would  be  treated 
as  common  expenses.  Common  ex- 
penses would  in  turn  be  apportioned 
among  the  various  operations  on  the 
basis  wherever  possible  of  ratios  deter- 
mined from  closely  related  statistical 
data,  item  by  item,  and  finally  those 
not  apportionable  in  this  manner  would 
be  treated  as  general  overhead  expenses 
and  apportioned  on  some  general  basis 
such  as  the  ratio  of  the  other  expenses 
of  the  group  to  which  they  pertain,  or 
as  a  whole.  Further  reapportionments 
along  similar  lines  would  perhaps  have 
to  be  made  for  further  subdivisions  as 
has  already  been  noted.  This  method 
is  distinctly  an  analytical  one.  For 
special  cost  studies,  or  for  approximate 
regular  determinations,  it  serves  fairly 
well  provided  the  object  is  merely  the 
entire  cost  of  each  of  the  several  serv- 
ices. The  method  does  not  afford  the 
sort  of  detailed  inf  irmation  chat  is 
necessary  to  furnish  really  valuable  aid 
for  adminstrative  purposes.  To  secure 
data  which  will  be  useful  the  synthetic 
procedure,  which  has  already  been 
roughly  outlined,  seems  to  be  requisite. 
In  a  synthetic  method  it  is  possible 
to  avoid  the  progressive  compounding 
of  the  elements  of  error  that  are 
unavoidably  entailed  by  averaging  or 
other  arbitrary  apportionments. 

Cost  from  Sub-Unit  Accounts 

In  the  practical  installation  of  a 
synthetic  system  there  should  be  opened 
a  cost  account  for  each  principal  unit 
or  sub-unit  of  operation,  to  which 
charges  are  to  be  made  direct  fiom 
the  vouchers,  payrolls,  etc.  At  the  end 
of  the  month  the  process  of  closing  the 
sub-unit  accounts  entirely  into  the 
principal  unit  accounts  should  be 
effected  sometimes,  perhaps,  through 
the  opening  of  additional  sub-unit 
accounts  for  assembling  and  distribu- 
ting costs.  In  all  of  these  accounts 
provision  should  be  made  for  cost  fig- 


ures and  for  the  1  per  cent  return  on 
the  investment  in  parallel  columns.  In 
closing  out  the  sub-unit  accounts  the 
use  of  performance  or  statistical  data 
would  be  necessary  and  provision  should 
be  made  for  the  careful  compilation  of 
what  data  of  this  type  are  to  be  re- 
quired. In  some  cases  mechanical 
devices  would  be  found  worth  while, 
as  for  instance  in  the  matter  of  the 
consumption  of  power.  If  operating 
conditions  as  regards  grades,  loads,  etc., 
are  practically  uniform  over  the  lines 
of  a  system,  it  would  probably  be  cor- 
rect to  apportion  the  power  consump- 
tion on  a  car-mile  basis  over  the  lines, 
but  according  as  the  conditions  on  the 
several  lines  become  more  and  more 
dissimilar  the  importance  of  ascertain- 
ing the  actual  power  consumption  on 
each  line  increases  and  the  benefit 
derivable  from  the  installation  of  the 
necessary  devices  to  determine  such 
consumption  becomes  more  marked.  As 
has  already  been  mentioned,  statistical 
data  involving  the  traffic  that  is  ac- 
tually offered  should  be  avoided  in  cost 
computations.  It  should  be  kept  clearly 
in  mind  that  the  cost  of  the  service 
provided  is  the  immediate  aim  and  that 
the  traffic  that  offers  itself  is  a  factor 
distinct  and  separate.  Neglect  of  this 
principle  introduces  one  of  the  most 
confusing  of  all  types  of  variation  in 
cost  data,  namely,  the  composite  result 
of  two  variables. 

Perhaps  the  most  practical  question 
in  the  whole  cost  problem  is  that  of 
how  to  establish  a  scientific  cost  ac- 
counting system  without  a  radical 
increase  in  the  expenses  of  the  ac- 
counting department,  the  justification 
for  which  cannot  become  evident 
through  results  for  some  time  after 
the  increase  begins.  The  formulation 
of  a  standard  system  by  a  committee 
is  not  at  this  stage  of  experience  a 
procedure  to  be  advocated.  It  is  bet- 
ter that  each  of  the  more  progressive 
companies  should  develop  its  own  sys- 
tem to  a  point  and  thereby  be  in  a 
position  to  discuss,  knowingly,  the  prob- 
lem of  standardization,  which  can  then 
be  advantageously  assigned  to  a  com- 
mittee for  recommendations.  Mean- 
while general  discussion  of  the  basic 
principles  and  procedure  is  invaluable. 

Gradual  development  of  a  scientific 
cost  system  along  synthetic  lines  is 
practicable  because  of  the  elastic  char- 
acter of  the  synthetic  plan.  To  a  great 
extent  the  shop  and  power  cost  systems 
which  are  now  commonly  kept  can  be 
incorporated  in  the  system  with  a  mini- 
mum of  change  for  the  time  being,  and 
pending  the  full  development  of  the 
system  many  apportionments  can  be 
made  approximately  on  an  analytical 
basis.  For  example,  the  distribution  of 
power  cost  may  be  made  temporarily 
on,  say,  a  car-mile  basis  and  the  basis 
of  actual  consumption  deferred  to  a 
later  stage  of  development  of  the  details 
of  the  cost  system. 

The  simplest  practical  plan  would 
perhaps  consist  in,  first,  choosing  as 
principal  units  of  operation,  not  each 
line,  but  a  limited  number  of  distinc- 
tive lines,  the  costs  for  which  gave  rea- 


sonable promise  of  affording  especially 
valuable  information,  and  treating  the 
other  lines  as  one  or  more  groups. 
Separation  of  cost  as  between  classes  of 
traffic  might  be  undertaken  at  this 
stage  or  not  according  to  the  local  im- 
portance of  the  question.  Cost  accounts 
would,  of  course,  have  to  be  kept  from 
the.  outset  with  the  more  important 
sub-operations,  such  as  power  produc- 
tion, car  shops,  carhouses,  etc.,  but  the 
distribution  of  these  charges  might  be 
made  for  a  time  on  an  average  cost 
basis  direct  to  the  principal  units  of 
operation. 

The  services  and  activities  re- 
reflected  by  the  general  and  overhead 
expenses,  which  are  also  most  con- 
veniently to  be  treated  as  sub-units  of 
operation  for  cost  purposes,  could  be 
similarly  apportioned.  The  results 
would  be  a  fair  approximation  of  the 
cost  of  operation  of  each  principal  unit 
and  should  aggregate  the  total  cost 
of  operation.  The  basic  plan  would  be 
synthetic,  but  many  of  the  steps  an- 
alytical, and  while  the  profit  or  loss  on 
operation  of  a  chosen  unit  would  be 
indicated  approximately,  the  details 
would  be  of  but  limited  value  as  a 
means  of  administrative  control  of 
operations. 

Offsetting  the  shortcomings  men- 
tioned would  be  the  facility  with  which 
more  precise  methods  and  further  sub- 
division of  operations  could  be  sub- 
stituted one  by  one  without  disturbing 
the  continuity  of  the  system.  Sim- 
ilarly as  regards  the  element  of  return 
on  investment,  provision  should  be 
made  from  the  outset  for  return  com- 
putations along  with  the  cost  figures, 
and  used  if  the  figures  are  available. 
If  not,  a  partial  computation  may  be 
practicable.  Most  companies,  for  ex- 
ample, have  the  investment  value  of 
rolling  stock  at  least.  "Car  service" 
must  be  provided  for  as  a  sub-unit  of 
operation  to  be  charged  with  main- 
tenance, cleaning,  supplies,  housing  ex- 
penses, etc.,  and  the  total  cost  dis- 
tributed among  the  several  lines  on 
an  appropriate  basis.  If  valuation  data 
are  fully  available,  there  should  be 
shown  in  the  space  provided  for  return 
on  investment,  the  figures  in  respect  of 
the  cars  themselves,  the  shops,  the 
carhouses,  etc.  If  the  valuations  are 
only  partially  available,  it  may  be 
feasible  to  base  on  actual  figures  the 
return  on  the  investment  in  equipment 
and  on  rough  approximations,  that  on 
the  investment  in  shops,  carhouses,  etc., 
which  are  properties  of  a  type  for 
which  some  sort  of  value  estimates  are 
nearly  always  on  hand. 

Conclusion 

It  is  imposible  with  so  broad  a  field 
to  do  more  than  sketch  an  outline  of 
the  thoughts  that  seem  to  have  a  most 
direct  bearing.  There  are  certain  prin- 
ciples which  I  have  endeavored  to 
develop  which  seem  entitled  to  special 
consideration  in  the  development  of  a 
general  plan  of  cost  accounting  for  elec- 
tric railways  and  I  shall  conclude  this 
paper  by  repeating  them. 

First,  what  the  electric  railway  needs 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


703 


to  correspond  to  the  cost  accounting- 
system  of  the  manufacturer  is  what 
may,  pending  the  discovery  of  a  better 
term,  be  described  as  a  "value  account- 
ing system,"  embracing  not  only  the 
determination  of  the  costs  of  the  vari- 
ous services  but  also  the  return  on  the 
investment  in  property  used  in  render- 
ing these  services. 

Second,  that  the  electric  railways 
through  cost  accounting  methods  can 
practicably  secure  benefits  of  great 
value. 

Third,  that  in  the  formulation  of  a 
cost  system  the  attractions  that  are 
offered  by  the  analytical  method  are  by 
no  means  equal  to  those  offered  by  a 


synthetic  procedure,  which,  in  addition 
to  being  more  accurate  and  more  illu- 
minating in  its  results,  is  more  elastic 
and,  therefore,  better  adapted  to  grad- 
ual establishment  as  a  part  of  the  com- 
pany's accounting  system. 

Finally,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  in 
aU  considerations  of  costs  or  their 
derivation  that  cost  figures  are  approx- 
imate and  not  absolute.  The  more 
minute  the  detail  with  which  they  are 
prepared  and  the  more  we  come 
through  experience  and  study  to  under- 
stand them  the  nearer  they  can  be 
brought  to  the  theoretical,  though  never 
quite  attainable,  true  costs,  which  we 
are  always  seeking  to  obtain. 


Construction  Accounting' 


The  Author  Outlines  the  Practice  to  Be  Followed  from  the  Beginning  of  the, 
Work  to  Its  Conclusion  and  Points  Out  the 
Pitfalls  to  Be  Avoided 

By  W.  L.  Davis 

Auditor  Lehigh  Valley  Transit  Company, 
Allentown,  Pa. 


THE  charges  to  construction  costs 
may  be   divided  into   direct  and 
overhead. 

In  direct  charges,  the  fundamental 
principles  of  distribution  should  re- 
ceive earnest  attention.  The  most 
elaborate  accounting  and  cost  systems, 
together  with  the  most  complete  clas- 
sification of  accounts,  are  absolutely 
useless  without  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  elementary  differences  between 
construction  and  operation  on  the  part 
of  those  responsible  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  accounts.  In  this  connection, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  foreman  (to 
whom  is  often  delegated  the  duty  of 
assigning  account  numbers  to  payroll 
and  material  records)  is  not  an  ac- 
countant nor  even  a  bookkeeper,  and 
cannot  be  expected  to  be  an  expert 
along  those  lines.  However,  this  con- 
dition can  certainly  be  obviated  to  some 
extent  if  he  is  carefully  instructed  as 
to  fundamentals,  and  if  he  has  the 
opportunity  of  receiving  from  the  gen- 
eral office  advice  along  those  lines.  It 
is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  chief  ac- 
counting officer  of  an  electric  railway 
to  see  that  the  matter  of  distribution 
is  properly  cared  for  at  the  source,  and 
if  this  is  accomplished,  some  of  the 
problems  involved  in  construction  ac- 
counting will  have  been  solved.  In  a 
large  corporation  this  responsibility 
must  necessarily  be  delegated,  and  the 
time  of  one  man,  if  not  more,  can  be 
profitably  spent  on  the  subject. 

Another  matter  which  is  of  consider- 
able importance  (and  often  of  trouble) 
is  the  education  of  those  responsible 
for  original  records  from  the  field 
along  the  subject  of  proper  descrip- 
tion of  labor  performed  and  of  material 
used.  If  the  work  is  not  described 
properly,  or,  as  is  sometimes  the  case, 
not  described  at  all,  errors  in  distribu- 
tion and  inaccurate  cost  analyses  will 


•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  annual 
convention  of  the  American  Electric  Rail- 
way Accountants'  Association,  Atlantic 
City.  N.  J.,  Oct.  3-fi.  1921. 


surely  follow.  This  feature  may  present 
some  practical  difficulties,  but  they 
can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  by  means 
of  careful  and  constant  supervision  on 
the  part  of  the  accounting  department. 

The  educational  work  should  not  be 
confined  to  the  field  offices  and  field 
supervisory  employees  but  should  be 
extended  to  every  employee  of  the  ac- 
counting department  as  well.  The  em- 
ployees in  the  general  office  should  not 
be  expected  to  be  familiar  with  physical 
conditions  to  any  great  extent,  but  they 
should  have  a  thorough  knowledge  as  to 
what  construction  means  and  should  be 
able  to  identify  charges  which  are 
clearly  in  error  and  which  have  been 
erroneously  distributed  by  someone  else. 

The  direct  charges  to  construction 
accounts  are  made  up  of  payroll  dis- 
tributions, material  distributions,  a 
proportion  of  the  garage  and  stable 
expenses  and  miscellaneous  items 
through  the  voucher  record.  The  pay- 
roll and  material  distributions  are 
originated  by  the  construction  men  in 
the  field,  and  the  accounting  depart- 
ment must  rely  to  a  great  extent  upon 


the  accuracy  of  the  basic  charges,  but 
these  items  should  be  investigated  from 
time  to  time  by  the  general  accounting 
department,  and  tests  of  their  accuracy 
should  be  made.  This  branch  of  the 
work  may  be  facilitated  to  some  extent 
if  the  payroll  and  material  distributions 
are  summarized  in  the  general  office, 
but  if  the  organization  of  the  company 
provides  for  this  work  to  be  handled 
in  division  or  district  offices,  consider- 
able outside  accounting  supervision  is 
necessary.  A  portion  of  the  garage 
and  stable  expenses  should  be  allocated 
to  the  construction  costs,  with  due  re- 
gard for  commission  requirements,  and 
this  result  may  be  obtained  by  a 
monthly  distribution  of  the  automo- 
bile costs,  based  upon  the  mileage  rec- 
ords. The  garage  and  stable  expense 
account  should  be  carried  as  a  deferred 
item  and  cleared  to  the  various  ac- 
counts as  soon  as  the  monthly  mileage 
is  determined.  It  may  be  necessary  to 
carry  this  account  over  the  closing 
period  as  a  suspense  item,  and  in  such 
a  case  the  suspense  account  will  be 
cleared  in  the  following  month.  The 
charges  to  garage  and  stable  expenses 
may  be  subdivided  in  order  to  arrive 
at  such  detailed  costs  as  may  be  con- 
sidered desirable,  but  this  feature  is 
not  absolutely  necessary.  A  number  of 
charges  to  construction  are  made  on 
special  vouchers,  and  these  items  of 
course  can  be  readily  distributed  and 
charged  to  the  proper  accounts  through 
the  accounts  payable  record. 

Distribution  of  Overhead  Costs 

Indirect  or  overhead  construction 
costs  should  receive  most  careful  con- 
sideration, as  it  is  just  as  erroneous 
to  pursue  an  ultra-conservative  policy 
as  to  make  mistakes  in  the  opposite 
direction.  Construction  costs  should 
clearly  include  some  general  expense 
items  other  than  such  charges  as  are 
made  direct,  the  most  important  item 
being  interest.  This  can  easily  be 
provided  for  during  the  time  of  con- 
struction and  before  the  property  is 
turned  over  to  the  operating  depart- 
ment, as  construction  funds  used  dur- 
ing that  period  are  usually  borrowed 
for  the  purpose  and  the  cost  of  this 
money  is  easily  determined.  When 
money  is  borrowed  for  a  particular 
construction  job  and  is  not  used  for 
any  other  purpose,  the  capitalization 
of  such  interest  does  not  present  any 
difficulties.  If,  however,  funds  are 
borrowed  for  general  construction  pur- 
poses, and  not  for  use  on  any  one  piece 
of  work,  the  question  of  proper  alloca- 
tion will  naturally  arise,  and  the 
monthly  accruals  or  amortization  of 
interest  may  be  charged  to  the  various 
construction  jobs  in  the  ratio  that  the 
various  direct  charges  during  the  same 
periods  bear  to  the  total.  Still  another 
circumstance  may  be  mentioned  (with 
particular  reference  to  the  troubles 
during  the  past  few  years),  when  the 
operating  company  is  required  to  use 
its  own  funds,  in  the  absence  of  bor- 
rowing capacity,  to  finance  necessary 
and  obligatory  construction.  In  this 
case,  it  is  clearly  proper  to  include  in 


704 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


the  monthly  charges  to  construction, 
an  amount  representing  interest  upon 
the  money  so  used,  this  amount  being 
credited  to  the  interest  account.  This 
same  procedure  could  be  followed  dur- 
ing the  time  that  an  operating  com- 
pany is  providing  for  its  construction 
requirements  from  its  own  funds 
pending  the  sale  of  bonds,  which  are 
usually  certified  and  delivered  by  the 
trustee  only  after  construction  require- 
ments as  outlined  in  the  mortgage  have 
been  fulfilled.  If  it  is  possible,  how- 
ever, for  the  company  to  sell  its  funded 
securities  covering  certain  construction 
work  before  such  work  is  completed, 
it  may  be  possible  to  capitalize  the  in- 
terest thereon  (less  any  interest  accre- 
tions upon  unused  construction  funds), 
but  care  should  be  taken  not  to  du- 
plicate interest  charges.  The  rate  at 
which  the  construction  interest  is  taken 
into  the  accounts  of  an  electric  rail- 
way will  depend  altogether  upon  the 
cost  of  the  money  during  the  period  of 
such  construction. 

Other  indirect  costs  which  should  be 
considered  are  represented  by  general 
salaries,  general  office  expense,  account- 
ing   department   expense,  purchasing 
and  stores  expense,  insurance  and  the 
like.    Although  the  classification  dated 
July  1,  1914,  states  that  no  charge  can 
be  made  for  incidental  services,  it  does 
permit  the  carrier  to  capitalize  a  pro- 
portion of  such  expense  when  employees 
devote  a  substantial  part  of  their  time 
to  construction   work.    In   such  cases 
the    company    should    determine  the 
proper  ratio  represented  by  the  time 
of  its  office  employees  and  should  ap- 
portion its  general  expense  accordingly, 
with  due  regard,  however,  to  any  di- 
rect  charges   either   to   operation  or 
construction  which  could  be  eliminated 
before  the  allocations  were  made.  The 
cost  of  purchasing  and  the  storeroom 
expenses  may  be  allocated  (with  due 
regard   for   the   requirements   of  th« 
classification)    upon  the  basis  of  the 
monthly   storeroom   issues.    In  arriv- 
ing at  the  basis  of  such  an  allocation, 
however,  it  might  be  well  to  consider 
any  items  appearing  in  the  stoi-es  dis- 
tribution which  might  not  be  subject 
to  a  charge  for  purchasing  and  store- 
room expense.    Insurance  may  be  allo- 
cated on  a  basis  which  would  follow 
the  consideration  of  the  facts  involved, 
but  this  may  present  some  difficulties. 
In  connection  with  liability  insurance 
or  workmen's  compensation  insurance, 
or  other  insurance  based  upon  payrolls, 
the  premium  may  be  apportioned  after 
analyzing  the  distributions  of  the  pay- 
rolls upon  which  it  is  based,  and  ap- 
plying the  standard  or  policy  rate  for 
construction  labor  to  payrolls  repre- 
senting construction  costs.    Other  in- 
direct or  overhead  charges  should  be 
allocated   upon   due   consideration  of 
the  conditions. 
Handling  of  Construction  Costs 
While  it  would  be  possible  to  charge 
construction  costs  direct  to  property 
accounts,  it  is  far  more  desirable  to 
handle  them  through  the  medium  of 
construction  authorizations,  or,  as  they 


are  sometimes  called,  authorities  for 
expenditures,  improvement  requisitions, 
etc.  Under  these  construction  author- 
izations it  would  be  well  to  issue  sup- 
plementary work  orders  covering  the 
charges  to  each  property  account,  in 
order  to  facilitate  distribution  in  the 
field.  These  construction  authorizations 
and  work  orders  should  be  prepared 
by  the  engineering  department  upon 
recommendation  of  the  department 
head  concerned  and  should  show  a 
complete  description  of  the  work  to  be 
done,  estimate  of  cost,  material  on 
hand,  cash  required,  reasons  for  ex- 
penditures, benefits  derived  therefrom, 
and  any  other  information  considered 
necessary  or  desirable.  After  being 
signed  by  the  department  head  recom- 
mending the  work  and  the  chief  engi- 
neer (or  someone  delegated  by  him) 
the  work  orders  should  be  sent  to  the 
accounting  department  for  verification 
of  the  distribution.  This  distribution 
should  be  based  upon  the  description 
as  given,  and  must  show  not  only  the 
approval  of  the  chief  accounting  officer 
as  to  the  total  charge  to  construction, 
but  the  sub-classification  as  to  prop- 
erty accounts  as  per  the  work  orders. 
If  a  construction  authorization  de- 
scribes a  job  which  involves  a  replace- 
ment, a  supplementary  authority  should 
be  prepared  and  should  follow  the  same 
course,  on  the  theory  that  all  new  work 
be  charged  to  property  account  in  total, 
and  the  value  of  material  retired  or 
replaced  in  connection  therewith  be 
credited  to  property  account  in  total. 
Upon  receipt  of  the  authority  for  re- 
tirement, the  book  value  of  the  prop- 
erty should  be  determined.  If  this  is 
impossible,  an  engineer's  estimate  as 
to  the  book  value  may  be  used,  but 
his  substitution  should  not  be  made  un- 
less absolutely  necessary.  If  the  con- 
struction accounts  of  an  electric  rail- 
way are  kept  properly,  the  book  value 
of  any  plant  unit  should  be  available. 

The  accounting  department  will  as- 
sign numbers  to  the  construction  au- 
thorizations and  work  orders,  but  will 
see  that  they  bear  the  necessary  ex- 
ecutive approval  before  they  are  re- 
turned to  the  originating  department. 
No  construction  work  should  be  begun 
until  the  authorizations  have  been 
properly  recorded  and  approved. 
How  the  Work  Is  Conducted 

As  soon  as  the  work  under  an  au- 
thorization is  begun,  the  accounting 
department  will  arrange  to  keep  a  de- 
tailed analysis  of  its  cost.  All  charges 
to  the  authorization  must  show  the 
number  of  the  work  order  and  the 
property  accounts  affected,  and  will 
be  reflected  in  the  monthly  payroll 
and  material  distributions  accordingly. 
These  distributions  should  be  prepared 
in  such  detail  as  will  enable  the  ac- 
counting department  to  maintain  a 
monthly  analysis  which  may  be  readily 
made  to  parallel  the  original  estimate 
as  reflected  by  the  construction  author- 
izations, and  if  this  analysis  is  com- 
pared with  the  periodical  progress  re- 
ports usually  prepared  by  the  engineer 
in  charge  of  the  job,  the  charges  may 


be  checked  at  intervals  before  the  com- 
pletion of  the  work. 

This  analysis  should  take  the  form 
of  a  subsidiary  ledger,  controlling  a 
general  ledger  account,  reflecting  the 
total  cost  construction  work  in  progress, 
the  subsidiary  ledger  being  in  balance 
with  the  general  ledger  at  all  times. 
The  postings  to  this  ledger  should  re- 
flect as  much  detail  as  possible,  but 
it  may  be  difficult  to  accomplish  this 
result  in  connection  with  the  payroll 
and  material  charges  without  a  detailed 
distribution.  It  will  be  found  advanta- 
geous to  incorporate  in  the  payroll  ac- 
counting system  a  method  by  which 
the  time  chargeable  to  any  construction 
job  may  be  analyzed  in  detail,  and  if 
this  is  done,  it  will  be  possible  to  re- 
flect in  the  monthly  analysis  a  complete 
description  of  such  labor  charges.  This 
result  may  be  effected  by  a  columnar 
form  used  in  the  daily  distribution  of 
the  time  tickets  with  the  various 
charges  representing  similar  work  be- 
ing entered  opposite  the  column  show- 
ing the  necessary  descriptive  informa- 
tion. A  system  of  this  kind  would  re- 
quire a  separate  sheet  for  the  charges 
to  each  account  during  a  semi-monthly 
accounting  period.  Thus  it  may  appear 
to  involve  some  extra  work,  but  the 
value  of  the  monthly  analysis  of  the 
construction  charges  will  more  than 
offset  the  additional  expense.  A  sim- 
ilar method  may  be  incorporated  in 
the  stores  accounting  system  whereby 
the  charges  to  each  account  may  be 
summarized  on  a  daily  or  monthly  re- 
capitulation sheet  upon  which  the 
quantities  of  material  might  be  posted 
opposite  the  description  of  each  ar- 
ticle, the  totals  being  priced  and  ex- 
tended at  the  end  of  the  period.  A 
summary  of  this  kind  would  not  only 
provide  a  permanent  analysis  of  the 
material  charges,  but  would  also  es- 
tablish a  much  easier  method  of  post- 
ing the  credit  side  of  the  stores  ledger. 

In  order  to  handle  construction  ac- 
counting properly  in  the  general  office, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  these 
monthly  analyses  be  kept  up  to  date. 
They  should  not  only  reflect  the  details 
of  all  direct  charges,  but  they  should 
also  contain  such  proportions  of  the 
indirect  charges  as  may  be  applicable 
to  them,  these  entry  charges  being 
applied  monthly.  A  simple  method  of 
allocating  the  indirect  charges  to  the 
various  work  orders  may  be  established 
by  means  of  a  separate  construction 
authorization  to  which  all  indirect  or 
overhead  items  should  be  charged  dur- 
ing the  month,  this  authorization  to 
be  cleared  before  the  construction  ac- 
counts are  closed  and  the  total  thereof 
divided  among  the  various  work  orders 
upon  the  basis  of  the  direct  charges 
thereto  (with  due  regard  for  such  con- 
ditions as  may  arise  in  connection  with 
any  work  orders  as  would  be  charge- 
able with  any  specific  indirect  cost 
item).  The  greater  portion  of  the  in- 
direct charges  represent  credits  to 
various  items  in  the  operating  expenses 
and  fixed  charges,  and  if  such  items 
are  not  credited  to  the  income  account 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


705 


and  charged  to  construction  regularly, 
a  distortion  of  the  former  is  sure  to 
result. 

As  soon  as  the  work  in  connection 
with  an  authorization  is  completed, 
the  accounting  department  must  be 
notified  and  steps  should  be  taken  to 
secure  all  outstanding  bills  pertaining 
to  the  job  and  enter  them  promptly. 
As  soon  as  it  is  determined  that  all 
of  the  charges  have  been  entered,  the 
accounting  department  will  prepare  a 
cost  analysis  of  the  work  and  submit 
it  to  the  engineering  department  for 
comparison  with  the  physical  data  and 
the  original  estimate.  If  the  final  cost 
exceeds  the  original  estimate,  a  sup- 
plementary authorization  covering  the 
difference  must  be  prepared  by  the  en- 
gineering department  and  sent  to  the 
executive  department  for  approval  be- 
fore final  entries  are  made  to  property 
accounts.  When  the  cost  analysis  is 
finally  agreed  upon  by  the  department 
head  concerned,  the  cost  of  the  work 
should  be  transferred  from  the  "Work 
in  Progress"  account  to  the  plant  ac- 
count. 

The  routine  work  in  connection  with 
an  authority  for  retirement  should  be 
handled  in  a  somewhat  different  man- 
ner. As  soon  as  the  accounting  de- 
partment determines  the  original  (or 
estimated)  book  value  the  authoriza- 
tion should  be  sent  to  the  executive 
department  for  approval,  and  then  re- 
turned to  the  accounting  department, 
where  copies  should  be  made  and  sent 
to  the  various  departments  concerned. 
The  accounting  department  should  as- 
sign a  number  to  the  retirement  author- 
ization, and  should  debit  a  special 
account  under  the  construction  au- 
thorization (offsetting  the  depreciation 
reserve)  with  the  full  amount  of  the 
book  value,  crediting  it  to  plant  ac- 
count as  soon  as  the  property  is  taken 
out  of  service  (this  information  being 
furnished  by  the  department  head  re- 
sponsible for  the  work),  the  cost  of 
any  work  incidental  to  the  removal  of 
the  plant  material  having  been  charged 
to  the  special  account  in  the  mean- 
time. After  the  final  disposition  of  the 
property,  the  amount  realized  should 
be  credited  to  the  special  account  and 
the  difference  charged  to  the  deprecia- 
tion reserve.  If  the  depreciation  re- 
serve has  been  set  up  on  the  basis  of 
the  estimated  depreciation  of  each 
property  unit,  and  the  difference  be- 
tween the  plant  value  and  the  salvage 
value  of  the  property  retired  be  over 
or  under  the  amount  set  aside  for  it, 
the  balance  would  be  properly  ap- 
plicable to  operating  expenses.  This 
method  is  recommended  in  order  to 
provide  for  a  credit  entry  to  plant 
account  before  the  property  retired 
has  been  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of. 

If  the  construction  accounting  rec- 
ords are  kept  up  to  date,  and  the 
monthly  analyses  compared  with  the 
progress  reports  made  by  the  engi- 
neers performing  the  work,  monthly 
summaries  of  the  charges  to  the  various 
construction  jobs  may  be  made  to 
determine  the  cash  requirements  of 
the  corporation. 


Adaptation  of  Routine  Accounting  Results  to 
Particular  Uses* 

Routine  Accounting  with  a  View  to  Obtaining  Actual  Instead  of  General 
Results  Provides  the  Basis  for  Furnishing  Cost  Figures 
Pertaining  to  Construction  or  Operation 

By  H.  C.  Hopson,  C.  P.  A. 
New  York  City 

which  a  public  utility  accountant  might 
keep  to  meet  particular  needs  but  will 
only  attempt  to  cover  some  of  the  more 
general  conditions  which  exist,  not  with 
a  view  toward  urging  the  addition  of 
any  system  blindly  but  instead  in  order 
that  the  suggested  group  of  examples 
given  may  serve  as  a  stimulus  to  con- 
structive thought  as  to  the  instances 
where  the  idea  involved  in  this  paper, 
rather  than  the  substance  of  it,  may  be 
made  effective. 

Routine  Accounting  Fundamentals 

Before  dealing  with  particularities, 
there  is  a  fundamental  which  should 
first  be  emphasized.  Unless  routine 
accounting  is  laid  out  on  a  sufficiently 
comprehensive  scale  you  cannot,  regard- 
less of  the  time  and  money  available, 
meet  many  particular  needs.  To  illus- 
trate: the  time  when  you  must  prepare 
to  furnish  information  as  to  the  cost 
of  particular  service  is  from  day  to 
day,  as  the  distribution  is  put  on  the 
vouchers  or  material  issues.  If  this  is 
not  done,  the  only  basis  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  such  costs  in  a  few  months  is 
the  recollection  of  those  who  approved 
them.  Such  a  basis  is  of  course  en- 
tirely unsatisfactory,  emanating  from  a 
department  which  is  supposed  to  deal 
with  provable  facts.  Having  this  in 
mind,  it  is  well  to  say  that  the  first  and 
most  important  fundamental  is  that 
certain  basic  principles  for  the  classifi- 
cation of  items  must  be  laid  out  and 
kept  day  by  day. 

A  second  point,  is  that  so  far  as  pos- 
sible the  routine  accounting  results 
which  are  summarized  in  the  current 
monthly  statement  should  be  kept  in 
such  form  that  they  will  require  as 
little  restatement  as  possible.  To  illus- 
trate: we  all  know  that  taxes,  except 
possibly  income  taxes— and  they  ought 
to  be — are  treated  the  same  as  are  oper- 
ating expenses  for  purposes  of  testing 
the  adequacy  of  rates.  Yet,  on  the  in- 
come statement  for  some  street  rail- 
ways taxes  are  shown  as  an  income  de- 
duction along  with  bond  interest  and 
to  determine  the  amount  of  the  remain- 
ing revenue  available  for  a  return  upon 
the  capital  investment  it  is  necessary 
to  make  a  deduction.  The  statement 
might  as  well  have  treated  taxes  as  a 
revenue  deduction,  as  is  customary,  so 
as  to  show  at  a  glance  the  amount 
available  for  return. 

Similarly,  we  all  know  that  the 
amount  of  the  allowance  for  renewals 
and  replacements  frequently  varies, 
being  an  item  which  is  very  largely 
dependent  upon  judgment,  method  of 
computation  and  other  circumstances. 
Hence,  in  the  comparative  statements 
which  we  ordinarily  set  up,  the  amount 


NOT  so  many  years  ago,  street  rail- 
way accounting,  in  fact  all  public 
utility  accounting,  was  comparatively 
simple.  It  was  accomplished  with  a 
limited  force  and  required  little  beyond 
a  knowledge  of  sound  bookkeeping  prin- 
ciples. Usually  the  rate  of  fare  was 
fixed  by  franchise  or  by  a  specific  stat- 
ute and  was  seldom  if  ever  changed. 
The  properties  were  usually  small  and 
self-contained,  and  the  practical  oper- 
ating man  prided  himself  upon  his 
ability  to  know  all  about  the  property 
by  watching  the  people  ride  on  the  cars, 
maintaining  constant  contact  with  his 
employees,  ascertaining  how  much  cash 
there  was  in  the  bank  from  time  to 
time,  and  giving  the  statement  of  re- 
ceipts and  disbursements  a  cursory  ex- 
amination "some  time  after"  the  close 
of  the  month.  This  "some  time  after" 
used  to  range  from  two  weeks  to  three 
months  depending  upon  the  willingness 
of  the  accountant  to  put  in  extra  time 
at  night  after  he  had  finished  checking 
and  accounting  for  collections,  counting 
transfers,  making  up  payrolls,  etc., 
which  constituted  his  duties. 

The  type  of  accountant  needed  today 
in  the  public  utility  industry  is  a  man 
capable  of  acting  as  a  general  business 
adviser  who  can  stand  on  an  equal  foot- 
ing with  the  lawyers,  engineers  and 
other  technical  men  in  the  organiza- 
tions. To  be  all  that  he  ought  to  be 
and  in  order  to  be  able  to  claim  this 
standing  in  the  organization,  an  ac- 
countant must  be  equipped  to  furnish 
the  various  kinds  of  information  needed 
and  to  furnish  it  on  short  notice. 
I  could  not  hope  to  set  forth  in  detail 
all  of  the  different  kinds  of  records 


♦Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Accountants'  Association,  Atlantic 
City,  N.  J..  Oct.  3-5,  1921. 


706 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


included  in  operating  expenses  in  one 
accounting  period  may  be  radically  dif- 
ferent from  that  in  the  other  account- 
ing period  with  which  the  comparison 
is  made,  thereby  entirely  destroying 
the  comparison.  As  a  general  thing 
such  reports  must  be  taken  from  your 
books,  yet  it  is  impossible,  if  the 
best  use  of  the  routine  accounting 
results  is  to  be  had,  that  in  each  par- 
ticular instance  the  books  should  be 
examined  to  ascertain  the  fact,  and  per- 
haps the  man  who  is  attempting  to 
make  use  of  the  statement  has  neither 
the  time  nor  the  knowledge  of  the  in- 
tricacies of  the  reports  to  be  able  to 
assemble  together  all  of  the  so-called 
depreciation  items  in  order  that  he  may 
ascertain  the  fact  for  himself.  Hence, 
to  get  the  best  use  of  the  routine  ac- 
counting result  for  the  particular  pur- 
pose, an  income  account  comparison 
should  show  on  the  same  page  in  a  con- 
venient place  the  relative  amounts  in- 
cluded for  renewals  and  replacements 
in  the  respective  accounting  periods. 
This  saves  time  and  makes  the  state- 
ment much  more  usable. 

Inventory  vs.  Project  Classification 

There  is  another  general  observation 
with  respect  to  harmonizing  particular 
requirements  with  routine  accounting. 
After  the  receipts  and  disbursements 
stage  was  passed,  some  effort  was  made 
to  segregate  current  expenditures  be- 
tween capital  and  income  but  usually 
at  the  beginning  all  the  capital  charges 
were  lumped  into  a  single  account. 
This  lumping  into  a  single  account, 
however,  did  not  suit  anyone.  It  cast 
suspicion  upon  the  legitimacy  upon  the 
whole  capital  account,  and  other  than 
showing  that  the  total  charges,  made 
in  a  particular  period,  were  a  given 
amount,  it  meant  nothing.  The  engi- 
neer wanted  to  know  how  much  a  par- 
ticular extension  cost.  The  master 
mechanic  wanted  to  know  how  much 
a  lot  of  cars  cost,  or  more  difficult  still, 
to  know  the  cost  of  putting  a  new  type 
of  brake  on  a  particular  car  or  group 
of  cars.  The  banker  cared  nothing 
about  these  details  but  wished  to  know 
the  amount  which  was  expended  for 
rails,  ties,  ballast  and  paving,  etc.,  or 
perhaps  in  less  detail,  the  amount  ex- 
pended for  track,  rolling  stock  and 
power  supply.  The  executive,  being  in- 
terested both  in  specific  projects  and 
also  in  group  expenditures,  wished  in- 
formation as  to  both. 

The  conflict  between  the  advocate  of 
the  inventory  classification  and  the  pro- 
ject or  job  classification  led  in  many 
cases  merely  to  an  unsatisfactory  com- 
promise so  that  it  was  not  unusual  to 
find  on  the  balance  sheet,  representing 
work  long  since  completed,  expenditures 
of  the  same  nature  carried  under  both 
inventory  and  project  nomenclature. 
Subsequently,  with  the  advent  of  regu- 
latory commissions,  requirements  were 
made  enforcing  the  inventory  classifi- 
cation. This  led,  in  some  cases  to  a 
complete  abandonment  of  any  routine 
accounting  on  the  job  basis,  with  the 
result    that    engineers    and  master 


mechanics  attempted  to  inaugurate  their 
own  subsidiary  clerical  or  accounting 
departments,  which  purported  to  keep 
so  called  cost  records.  This  practice 
has  been  a  bugaboo  wherever  it  has  ap- 
peared because  of  the  many  items  of 
cost  which  they  failed  to  include  on 
account  of  the  necessarily  incomplete 
sources  of  information  from  which  they 
were  derived.  This  was  and  is  entirely 
unnecessary.  Such  records  can  and 
should  be  kept  in  the  accounting  de- 
partment without  materially  increased 
work  if  the  work  is  initially  laid  out 
on  the  right  basis. 

The  inventory  or  commission  classi- 
fication is  known  to  all.  It  should  be 
in  the  hands  of  every  employee  of  the 
company  who  authorizes  work  or  ap- 
proves vouchers  or  material  slips.  This, 
therefore,  is  taken  care  of.  For  a  pro- 
ject classification  every  well-regulated, 
economically  conducted  corporate  enter- 
prise today  has  a  budget  with  systemati- 
cally arranged  authorizations,  jobs  or 
projects,  known  by  ordinary  numbers 
or  decimal  designations.  The  account- 
ing department  should  have  the  key  or 
master  list  and  make  it  its  business  to 
see  that  all  departments  of  the  com- 
pany, having  to  do  with  these  matters, 
are  advised  of  all  existing  authoriza- 
tions, to  the  end  that  as  expenditures 
are  made,  in  addition  to  carrying  dis- 
tribution showing  the  proper  commis- 
sion classification  account,  they  should 
also  carry  the  appropriate  project  num- 
ber. 

Auxiliary  Project  Record 

The  results  of  the  recorded  distribu- 
tions on  the  individual  vouchers  and 
material  slips  when  assembled  may  be 
either  kept  for  the  time  being  in  a 
construction  work  in  progress  account 
or  debited  direct  to  the  appropriate 
road  and  equipment  accounts,  being  dis- 
tributed by  journal  entry  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  work,  or,  as  I  prefer, 
"second  posted"  into  an  auxiliary  pro- 
ject record  which  is  in  continuous  bal- 
ance with  the  net  increase  in  the  road 
and  equipment  account  in  the  general 
ledger.  The  uses  to  which  such  data 
may  be  put  are  manifold. 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  argu- 
ment between  commissions  and  courts 
of  late  as  to  whether  present  value  or 
original  cost  should  be  the  proper  basis 
for  rate  making.  While  this  is  a  very 
important  question  a  great  many  street 
railways  would  even  now  be  very  much 
pleased  if  they  could  have  a  recognized 
fair  return  upon  their  original  cost  and 
leave  present  value  for  the  future. 
The  great  difficulty,  however,  is  that 
the  original  cost  of  much  of  their  prop- 
erty is  subject  to  fully  as  much  specu- 
lation as  is  claimed  with  respect  to  the 
estimates  of  their  engineers.  In  such 
a  case  even  if  all  the  records  are  avail- 
able, it  requires  perhaps  a  month  to 
analyze  the  cost  of  the  respective  cars 
so  that  a  simple  list  can  be  furnished 
giving  merely  car  number  and  amount. 
I  know  of  no  means  which  affords  as 
accurate  a  check  upon  a  perpetual  in- 
ventory, which  is  practically  a  neces- 


sity in  any  public  utility  where  costs 
are  made  use  of,  than  properly  kept 
routine  capital  records. 

The  Accountant  Should  Look 
Into  the  Future 

One  of  the  elements  most  vital  to  the 
financial  health  of  a  public  utility  is  an 
adequate  structure  of  rates.  Except 
in  rare  instances,  however,  adequate 
rates  are  only  secured  at  a  vast  outlay 
of  money  and  labor  and  in  the  face  of 
what  is  sometimes  very  difficult  and  in- 
volved litigation.  Sometimes  this  liti- 
gation and  the  studies  attendant  upon 
progressing  it,  consume  so  much  time 
that  the  credit  of  a  corporation  is  seri- 
ously impaired  before  relief  is  secured. 
Therefore,  one  of  the  first  duties  of  the 
accountant  should  be  to  grasp  in  a 
broad  way  and  set  before  his  execu- 
tive officers  the  need  for  additional  rev- 
enue before  such  need  becomes  acute. 
This  need  for  revenue  may  be  on  a  sys- 
tem as  a  whole  or  merely  on  one  of 
its  parts.  If  the  accountant  is  to  be 
the  business  adviser  a  detailed  study 
of  revenue  and  cost  trends  should  en- 
able him  to  anticipate  the  net  results 
from  operation  from  three  to  six 
months  in  advance. 

Assuming  for  a  moment  that  the  ac- 
countant has  demonstrated  that  with 
the  existing  rate  of  fare  the  revenues 
will  be  insufficient  to  provide  the  req- 
uisite fair  return,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  collate  data  in  such  a  way  as  to  sell 
the  idea  to  the  regulating  authority. 
In  this,  the  importance  of  the  work  of 
the  accountant  cannot  be  regarded  too 
highly.  To  have  its  maximum  value 
and  effect  before  a  regulatory  body, 
it  should  be  exact  and  correct.  The 
psychology  of  rate  litigations  is  such 
that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  magic  in 
the  word  "actual."  For  an  accountant 
to  state  on  the  witness  stand  that  the 
results  which  he  is  presenting  are  act- 
ual, frequently  produces  a  distinct  sense 
of  relief  and  sympathetic  consideration 
on  the  part  of  the  judicial  officer  who 
is  hearing  the  case.  In  view  of  this, 
the  keeping  of  records  upon  an  actual 
basis  is  not  only  highly  desirable,  but 
is  apt  at  any  time  to  be  worth  a  great 
many  more  dollars  than  are  expended 
upon  it. 

Most  public  utility  accountants  have 
considerable  experience  and  training  in 
the  keeping  of  revenue  records  upon 
an  actual  basis  and  little  need  be  said 
on  this  subject.  There  doubtless  are 
instances  however  where  an  advantage 
can  be  gained  by  devoting  a  little  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  of  a  better  arrange- 
ment for  the  keeping  of  revenue  rec- 
ords by  geographical  subdivisions  of 
the  property  or  by  such  natural  sub- 
divisions as  suggest  themselves  in  the 
light  of  possible  revisions  in  tariff 
structures.  In  given  cases  where  it  is 
not,  methods  may  be  adopted  whereby 
revenues  collected  on  interurban  cars 
within  the  confines  of  cities  and  fares 
collected  on  suburban  runs  by  cars 
which  also  operate  on  city  lines,  might 
be  devised  and  made  effective  use  of. 

In    connection    with    operating  ex- 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


707 


penses,  there  is  even  greater  oppor- 
tunity lor  the  effective  use  of  actual  re- 
sults than  in  the  case  of  revenue.  Pub- 
lic utility  commissioners  and  judges 
who  hear  cases  of  this  character  can- 
not but  be  impressed  when  evidence  of 
operating  costs  is  presented  from  the 
standpoint  of  actual  outlay,  especially 
if  they  have  been  listening  to  a  good 
deal  of  testimony  upon  so-called  alloca- 
tions of  expense  on  a  per  car  mile  or 
other  basis.  There  will  always  be  some 
expenses  of  a  general  character  which 
must  be  allocated  upon  a  more  or  less 
arbitrary  basis,  but  it  is  frequently 
possible  to  isolate  certain  expenses  of 
this  sort  so  that  the  element  of  approxi- 
mation will  enter  to  a  lesser  degree 
than  it  would  otherwise.  Where  oper- 
ating costs  as  a  whole  are  arbitrarily 
divided  by  car  miles,  car  hours  or  any 
other  of  the  generally  utilized  media 
for  allocation,  it  almost  inevitably  fol- 
lows that  one  branch  or  the  other  of 
the  company's  business  suffers  and  not 
only  does  it  suffer  in  fact,  but  in  a 
controversy  in  which  so-called  facts 
thus  arrived  at  were  severely  disputed, 
a  whole  case  might  suffer  even  more. 
In  the  following  I  will  refer  to  some 
of  the  things  which  may  be  done  to 
obviate  this  condition. 

The  Job  Order  System  for  Allocation 
op  Expense 

It  is  possible  without  tremendous 
effort  to  keep  all  of  the  maintenance 
of  way  expenses  upon  an  actual  basis 
through  the  adoption  of  the  job  order 
system  which  would  cover  all  mainte- 
nance work  in  a  given  district  for  each 
year.  Where  this  simple  method  is 
adopted,  no  allocation  of  direct  mainte- 
nance of  way  expenses  whatever  is 
necessary  except,  possibly,  the  time  de- 
voted to  superintendence,  which  is 
small  in  relation  to  the  aggregate. 

In  the  case  of  maintenance  of  equip- 
ment expenses,  subdivisions  are  fre- 
quently kept,  usually  by.  car  units. 
These  can  be  tied  into  the  respective 
classes  of  service  and  districts  from  a 
knowledge  of  the  equipment  units  util- 
ized. Further  attention  to  this  feature 
cannot  help  but  develop  means  by 
which  even  more  exact  segregations 
can  be  made. 

Power  expenses  are  frequently  ap- 
portioned upon  an  arbitrary  basis  and 
the  best  that  can  be  said  for  some  of 
these  allocations  is  that  they  might 
be  right.  A  careful  study  of  this  situ- 
ation will  disclose,  in  some  cases,  that 
the  location  of  the  company's  transmis- 
sion or  distribution  lines  was  such  that 
it  would  be  possible  to  measure  the 
amount  of  current  utilized  in  the  oper- 
ation of  each  of  the  property's  major 
subdivisions. 

The  most  frequent  method  of  alloca- 
tion employed  in  connection  with  trans- 
portation expenses  is  a  subdivision  on 
a  car  hour  basis.  As  regards  wages 
of  motormen  and  conductors,  this  meth- 
od of  allocation  is  probably  better  than 
any  other,  the  only  possible  criticism 
being  that  it  might  not  accomplish  a 
correct  allocation  of  the  amount  paid 
for  extra  time.  There  are  many  expenses 


in  tiie  transportation  group,  however, 
where  exact  results  are  not  secured 
if  only  this  car  hour  basis  is  used. 

Traffic  expenses  are  usually  of  minor 
importance  and  need  not  be  referred  to 
specifically. 

The  element  of  joint  cost  is  more 
present  in  the  group  of  expenses  com- 
ing under  the  head  of  "General"  than 
elsewhere.  This  is  not  true,  however, 
of  all  of  the  general  expenses.  On 
many  properties  officers  whose  compen- 
sation is  chargeable  under  the  general 
group,  have  specific  duties  which  they 
perform  in  connection  with  separate 
parts  of  the  property.  This  is  particu- 
larly true  of  many  of  the  clerks. 
Most  of  the  clerical  compensation  is 
charged  to  General  Expenses.  Of 
course  if  some  effort  is  not  made,  a 
little  care  used,  legal  services  may 
come  in  in  the  form  of  a  lump  sum 
bill  once  in  a  year,  with  no  satisfactory 
segregation.  When  the  importance  of 
being  able  to  assign  actual  costs  to 
the  particular  services  becomes  clear 
to  the  legal  advisers  it  is  possible  to 
get  a  reasonably  satisfactory  segrega- 
tion of  bills. 

Insurance,  particularly  insurance 
against  property  damage,  can  be  readily 
segregated  where  there  has  been  a 
valuation  of  the  property.  Injuries  and 
damages  almost  always  can  be  sepa- 
rated. In  fact  the  surprising  thing  about 
these  so-called  joint  costs  is  that  while 
when  first  surveyed  they  seem  to  be 
almost  all  joint,  upon  analysis  of  the 
individual  items,  a  sound  logical  basis 
for  allocation  of  many  of  them  becomes 
apparent  to  even  junior  clerks  to  whom 
cost  accounting  is  a  stranger. 

Taxes  usually  fall  into  two  general 
classifications,  those  relating  to  a  speci- 
fic property  and  those  levied  upon  the 
corporation's  rights  to  do  business  as 
a  whole  or  upon  the  results  of  its 
operations  as  a  whole.  The  taxes  levied 
upon  specific  items  of  property  can 
usually  be  allocated  directly  to  the  ser- 
vices to  which  those  properties  are  de- 
voted. Even  taxes  of  a  more  general 
character  can  usually  be  subdivided 
upon  some  basis  of  fact  and  even  if 
they  cannot  be  exactly  subdivided,  they 
certainly  can  be  allocated  upon  a  more 
correct  basis  than  would  otherwise  be 
the  case  if  a  correct  statement  of  fact 
as  to  the  company's  situation  and  in- 
come (for  each  of  the  company's  re- 
spective parts)  has  been  maintained. 

Segregation  of  Plant  Accounts 
Is  Essential 

In  addition  to  the  necessity  for  keep- 
ing operating  results  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  record  actual  rather  than  esti- 
mated facts  very  real  advantage  can  be 
secured  by  a  proper  segregation  of  the 
plant  or  fixed  capital  account.  The 
ideal  arrangement  would  be  where  the 
fixed  capital  investment  in  each  zone 
was  carried  separately  and  could  be  set 
forth  on  short  notice.  (The  word  zone 
here  used  is  intended  to  mean  any 
natural  subdivision  of  the  property  for 
which  a  separate  fare  might  need  to 
be  established.) 

In  most  rate  proceedings,  two  ele- 


ments in  connection  with  the  physical 
property  are  usually  considered.  One 
is  the  actual  cost  or  investment,  and 
this  is  peculiarly  within  the  province 
of  the  accountant  to  demonstrate.  The 
ascertainment  of  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  the 
engineer.  Experience  has  demonstrated 
that  the  accountant  with  his  set  of 
well  kept  records  showing  actual  costs 
of  actual  property  can  be  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  the  engineer  in  aiding 
him  to  ascertain  the  property's  value. 

While  all  the  foregoing  matters  have 
their  definite  place  and  value  in  rate 
proceedings,  the  use  of  these  data  is  by 
no  means  limited  to  proceedings  of  this 
kind.  They  can  be  made  to  locate  oper- 
ating efficiency  or  inefficiency  and  the 
causes  responsible  for  either.  They  can 
also  be  utilized  effectively  in  instances 
where  unwarranted  demands  are  made 
for  additional  service,  where  it  is  de- 
sired to  postpone  burdensome  street  re- 
pairing or  repaving  requirements, 
where  prospective  or  existing  jitney 
competition  must  be  met,  in  instances 
where  there  is  public  clamor  for  ex- 
tensions which  are  bound  to  prove  un- 
profitable and  in  other  instances  too 
numerous  to  mention. 

Cost  Accounting  Will  Give 
the  Best  Results 

To  accomplish  the  best  results,  the 
street  railway  accountant  should  al- 
ways seek  the  unit  and  maintain  his 
records  so  that  the  function  and  rela- 
tion of  the  unit  to  the  whole  can  be 
ascertained.  This  suggestion  savors  of 
cost  accounting  but  that  is  one  of  the 
more  recent  developments  of  street  rail- 
way accounting.  The  unit  to  be  used, 
whether  it  be  the  line,  the  zone,  the 
division,  the  type  of  track,  the  car  or 
the  repair  part,  should  be  carefully 
selected  with  a  view  toward  the  present 
and  future  requirement  of  the  particu- 
lar property  involved  and  its  prob- 
lems. After  the  unit  has  been  selected, 
it  should  be  adhered  to  with  reason- 
able consistency.  It  is  only  in  this  way 
and  through  the  use  of  comparative 
units  and  periods  that  the  best  results 
can  be  secured.  To  do  the  most  ef- 
fective work  along  these  lines,  the  ac- 
countant should  be  in  complete  con- 
trol of  the  accounting  situation,  sub- 
ject only  to  executive  direction. 

Regulation  has  its  faults,  but  it  also 
has  its  advantages,  and  not  the  least 
of  these  is  that  it  has  taught  the 
sponsors  for  and  participants  in  the 
electric  railway  industry  that  this  in- 
dustry is  a  business  and  a  very  real  and 
essential  business.  The  successful 
operation  of  a  successful  business  con- 
templates that  at  the  end  of  each  oper- 
ating period  there  will  be  left  an  ade- 
quate amount  of  wages  for  the  dollars 
which  were  employed  in  producing  the 
service  which  was  furnished.  Here 
lies  a  duty  which  devolves  particularly 
on  the  street  railway  accountant  who 
should  do  his  utmost  to  insure  that  this 
net  income  will  exist  and  will  continue 
to  exist.  He  is  not  only  the  watch  dog 
for  the  company's  receipts,  but  should 
also  be  the  critic  of  its  expense*. 


708 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Utility  Commissioners  Urge  Improved  Methods 
in  Electric  Interurban  Operation 

National  Association  of  Commissioners  Opposes  Government  Ownership  and 
Discusses  Safety  Methods  on  Intemrban  Electric  Railways 
and  Post-War  Regulatory  Problems 


THIRTY-TWO  states  were  repre- 
sented at  the  opening  session  of  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  National  Asso- 
ciation of  Railway  and  Utility  Commis- 
sioners, held  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  on  Tues- 
day to  Friday  of  this  week.  James  A. 
Perry,  president  of  the  association, 
vigorously  opposed  centralization  in 
Washington,  in  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  of  control  over  all 
railroad  rates,  thereby  destroying  the 
power  of  the  states  to  regulate  their 
domestic  commerce.  In  discussing  the 
local  problems  of  utilities,  such  as  elec- 
tric light,  street  railway  and  gas  com- 
panies, Commissioner  Perry  asserted 
that  the  rates  have  been  too  low,  gen- 
erally speaking,  throughout  the  coun- 
try for  the  past  two  years,  and  he 
predicted  that  a  continuance  of  this 
policy  of  dealing  with  local  utilities 
will  very  soon  drive  capital  entirely 
away  from  utility  investments,  if,  in- 
deed, it  has  not  to  a  large  extent 
already  do..L'  3u. 

Public  Should  Realize  Utility 
Situation 

The  time  has  come,  declared  Com- 
missioner Perry,  for  the  public  to 
realize  that  it  is  equally  interested 
with  utility  stockholders  in  adequate 
service  and  adequate  returns  upon  the 
value  of  the  properties  devoted  to  the 
public  use.  It  is  time  for  the  public  to 
realize  that  community  growth  is  de- 
pendent upon  utility  growth,  and  that 
utility  growth  is  dependent  upon  the 
investment  of  capital,  and  that  in- 
vestors of  capital  will  not  put  their 
money  into  utility  property  when  util- 
ities are  not  allowed  to  earn  as  much 
as  the  legal  rate  of  interest  in  the 
states  where  they  operate. 

Public  or  government  ownership  was 
strongly  opposed  in  the  report  of  the 
public  ownership  and  operation  com- 
mittee, and  after  an  exhaustive  inquiry 
into  matters  concerning  government  and 
private  ownership,  both  in  the  United 
States  and  abroad,  it  went  on  record  as 
favoring  privately  owned  and  privately 
operated  public  utilities,  with  the  pro- 
viso that  all  utilities  should  have  pub- 
lic regulation. 

'Such  regulatory  governmental  bodies, 
however,"  the  report  said,  "must  be  suffi- 
ciently wise  and  fair  and  far-seeing  to 
stand  between  the  utility  in  question  and 
unthinking,  hasty  public  clamor  not  based 
upon  full  knowledge  and  careful  thought. 
They  must  operate  successfully  in  order 
succesfully  and  adequately  to  fulfill  their 
duty  of  service  to  the  public. 

"It  therefore  follows  that,  in  order  to 
maintain  a  just,  equitable  balance,  and 
even  to  keep  such  utilities  out  of  bank- 
ruptcy, it  is  necessary  to  maintain  their 
higher  rates  longer  than  would  to  the  lay- 
man seem  necessary  judging  by  the  sur- 
rounding decline  in  commodity  prices.  To 
follow  any  other  policy  would  be  to  put 
such  utilities  out  of  business  and  to  dis- 
continue that  service  to  which  the  public 
is  so  justly  entitled  and  which  is  now  more 
necessary  to  the  return  of  the  vast  bulk 
of  private  business  to  the  desired  goal  of 
normalcy." 

Improved  safety  methods  in  the  oper- 


ation of  interurban  electric  railway 
lines  were  strongly  urged  by  the  com- 
mittee on  safety  of  railroad  operation, 
whose  report  was  devoted  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  interurban  electric  lines. 

As  pointed  out  by  the  committee, 
the  interurban  electric  lines  have  be- 
come important  factors  in  the  trans- 
portation system  of  the  country,  but 
"there  has  not  been  adequate  advance- 
ment or  improvement  in  operating 
methods  or  practices,  with  the  result 
that  many  such  systems,  particularly 
trunk-line  railroads,  are  today  operat- 
ing under  primitive  street  railway 
rules  and  regulations  which  constitute 
a  serious  menace  to  life  and  property." 

Safety  Methods  Recommended 

As  the  first  requisite  of  safety  on 
interurban  electric  lines,  the  committee 
recommended  the  adoption  of  time- 
tables and  the  strict  requii*ement  that 
motormen  and  conductors  learn  them 
thoroughly;  next,  that  the  double-order 
system  of  dispatching  trains  be  put  in 
effect  on  all  important  lines,  this  sys- 
tem consisting  in  the  issuance  of  all 
train  orders  in  writing  and  in  duplicate, 
one  copy  going  on  the  dispatcher's  file 
and  one  being  delivered  to  the  crew. 

The  committee  recommended  that  the 
block  system  be  required  on  all  elec- 
tric roads  where  two  or  more  trains 
are  operated  simultaneously,  indorsed 
very  highly  the  use  of  platform  doors, 
preventing  the  ingress  and  egress  of 
passengers  until  cars  have  come  to  a 
full  stop,  and  particularly  stressed  the 
importance  of  careful  selection,  train- 
ing, supervision  and  probation  of  motor- 
men  and  conductors. 

Problems  of   Regulation  Discussed 

Wednesday  afternoon  was  devoted  to 
a  round-table  discussion  on  after-the- 
war  phases  of  regulation,  presided  over 
by  Henry  G.  Wells  of  the  Massachusetts 
commission.  In  opening  the  discussion 
he  pointed  out  that  regulation  should 
not  penalize  efficiency  and  place  a  pre- 
mium on  inefficiency.  He  referred  to 
financing  of  utilities  as  one  of  the  great 
problems  and  related  how  a  solution 
was  brought  about  in  his  state  by 
adequate  legislation.  Other  commis- 
sioners dwelt  on  the  need  of  fairness 
and  truthfulness  in  presenting  cases  to 
them  in  order  to  inspire  confidence  in 
the  basis  for  the  argument  of  the  util- 
ity. Customer-ownership  companies 
were  viewed  with  much  favor  by  com- 
missioners and  considered  to  afford  a 
solution  to  a  part  of  the  financing 
problem.  They  urged  that  harmony  be 
sought  by  every  method. 

On  Wednesday  evening  a  banquet  was 
tendered  the  association  by  the  Pres- 
idents' Club  of  Atlanta,  which  is  a  club 
comprising  presidents  of  some  fifty-two 
civic  bodies.  Mell  R.  Wilkinson  was 
toastmaster,  and  addresses  were  made 


by  prominent  business  men,  including 
Carl  D.  Jackson,  president-elect,  and 
James  A.  Perry,  retiring  president  of 
the  association;  Hartford  Powel,  editor 
of  Collier's  Weekly,  and  Joseph  B.  East- 
man of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. Arrangements  for  the  ban- 
quet and  other  entertainment  features 
were  carried  out  by  J.  Prince  Webster, 
formerly  a  member  of  the  Georgia 
Railroad  Commission. 

Thursday's  and  Friday's  proceedings 
will  be  reported  in  a  later  issue  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal. 


Conference  on  Railroad  Ties 

A CONFERENCE  on  railroad  cross 
ties  and  switch  ties  is  to  be  held  on 
Tuesday,  Oct.  25,  1921,  at  11  a.m.,  in 
Room  206,  Atlantic  Building,  928  F 
Street,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C.  The 
purpose  of  the  conference  is  to  decide: 

1.  Whether  the  unification  of  specifi- 
cations for  railroad  cross  ties  and 
switch  ties  shall  be  undertaken. 

2.  If  so,  what  the  scope  of  the  work 
shall  be. 

3.  How  the  work  shall  be  organized. 
The  details  of  existing  specifications 

will  be  discussed  in  order  to  develop 
the  lines  along  which  the  committee 
organized  to  carry  on  the  work  will 
consider  the  problem  under  the  vari- 
ous local  conditions. 

This  conference  has  been  called  in 
accordance  with  requests  received  by 
the  American  Engineering  Standards 
Committee  from  the  American  Railway 
Engineering  Association  and  the  For- 
est Service  of  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  for  a  confer- 
ence of  the  bodies  interested  to  deter- 
mine the  desirability  of  undertaking  the 
standardization  of  a  specification  for 
railroad  cross  ties  and  a  specification 
for  railroad  switch  ties.  In  connection 
with  its  request  for  the  conference  the 
Forest  Service  made  the  following 
statements:  "The  railroads  of  this 
country  use  in  the  neighborhood  of 
100,000,000  ties  per  year.  Before  the 
war  there  was  a  wide  variation  in  spe- 
cifications. Much  was  accomplished  to- 
ward standardization  during  the  war, 
and  since  then  further  progress  has 
been  made.  The  American  Railway 
Engineering  Association  and  the  Na- 
tional Association  of  Railroad  Tie  Pro- 
ducers have  both  adopted  standard 
grades  for  railroad  ties.  The  Forest 
Service  is,  of  course,  interested  from 
the  standpoint  of  conservation,  as  well 
as  from  that  of  standardization  of  for- 
est products." 

Invitations  have  been  sent  to  the  fol- 
lowing national  organizations:  Amer- 
ican Electric  Railway  Association, 
American  Railway  Engineering  Asso- 
ciation, American  Society  of  Civil  En- 
gineers, American  Society  for  Testing 
Materials,  Forest  Service,  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Hardwood  Manufacturers'  Association 
of  the  United  States,  National  Associa- 
tion of  Railroad  Tie  Producers,  Na- 
tional Hardwood  Lumber  Association 
and  National  Lumber  Manufacturers' 
Association. 


News  of  the  Eledric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      "       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Des  Moines  Franchise 
Presented 

Measure  Looking  to  New  Deal  Provides 
for  Sliding  Return  and  Graduated 
Fares 

Negotiations  looking  toward  the  end 
of  the  Des  Moines  railway  controversy 
received  a  serious  set  back  during  the 
week  ended  Oct.  15  through  failure 
of  the  owners  of  the  Des  Moines  City 
Railway  and  the  McKinley  interests  to 
arrive  at  an  agreement  relative  to  the 
power  clause  contained  in  the  proposed 
railway  franchise.  Local  officials  of  the 
Des  Moines  Electric  Company,  which  is 
owned  by  McKinley  interests,  an- 
nounced that  inclusion  of  a  power 
clause  in  any  new  grant  to  the  rail- 
way would  mean  increased  electric 
rates  in  Des  Moines.  They  opposed  the 
inclusion  of  the  clause  in  the  grant. 

Members  of  the  City  Council  sided 
with  the  McKinley  representatives  and 
at  the  session  of  the  Council  on  Oct.  10 
passed  a  resolution  instructing  the  Cor- 
poration Counsel  to  notify  the  railway 
receivers  that  the  power  clause  must 
be  eliminated.  The  Mayor  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Council  declared  that  the 
section  as  to  whether  the  Des  Moines 
City  Railway  is  to  be  empowered  to 
sell  light  and  power  should  be  sub- 
mitted to  people  separately  from  the 
franchise.  However,  when  the  final 
draft  of  the  franchise  was  presented 
on  Oct.  12  the  power  clause  remained. 

M.  H.  McLean,  representing  the  Har- 
ris interests  controlling  the  Des  Moines 
City  Railway  issued  a  statement  on 
Oct.  12  to  the  effect  that  the  company's 
reason  for  desiring  the  power  clause 
was  that  the  rate  of  fares  may  be  re- 
duced through  the  profit  from  the  sale 
of  surplus  power.  He  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  franchise  would  not 
permit  earnings  on  the  common  stock 
until  the  fare  had  been  reduced. 

Mr.  McLean  further  stated  that  in 
the  past  the  railway  had  received  appli- 
cations for  the  purchase  of  power  from 
it  and  that  the  company  desired  to  take 
advantage  of  the  legitimate  demands 
which  exist.  He  emphasized  the  fact 
that  the  Harris  Company  did  not  want 
to  engage  in  the  light  and  power  busi- 
ness in  competition  with  the  McKinley 
interests.  He  also  stated  that  unless 
his  company  was  permitted  to  use  its 
full  facilities  it  could  not  be  compelled 
to  put  new  money  into  the  property. 

The  final  draft  of  the  franchise,  which 
has  been  pronounced  acceptable  by  Har- 
ris interests,  was  presented  to  the 
Council  on  Oct.  12,  but  no  definite  ac- 
tion was  taken.  There  are  few  changes 
from  the  draft  as  it  stood  after  Cor- 
poration Counsel  Miller's  original  al- 
terations. A  new  motor  bus  clause  bars 
the  buses  only  from  streets  on  which 


railway  lines  are  operated.  Buses  are 
permitted  to  cross  car  line  streets  at 
right  angles,  to  cross  bridges  with 
car  lines  and  to  have  down-town  ter- 
minals. Arbitration  of  labor  troubles 
is  to  be  by  a  board  of  three  members 
of  the  State  Railroad  Commission  or 
by  three  judges  from  outside  Des 
Moines  chosen  by  the  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court. 

The  grant  provides  for  the  operation 
of  one-man  cars  on  certain  lines  and 
makes  possible  one-man  cars  on  all 
lines  at  certain  hours.  The  clause  re- 
quiring city  car  supervisors  to  be  grad- 
uate  engineers   has   been  eliminated. 

An  initial  fare  of  8  cents  is  provided, 
with  no  return  on  the  common  stock 
until  the  fare  is  reduced  to  7  cents. 
The  allowance  provided  is  for  a  3  per 
cent  return  to  the  company  on  a  7- 
cent  fare,  41  per  cent  on  a  6-cent  fare, 
6  per  cent  on  5-cent  fare. 

The  Council  at  its  meeting  on  Oct. 
12  ordered  the  Corporation  Counsel  to 
petition  Judge  Wade  to  order  imme- 
diate resumption  of  service  and  by  vote 
of  four  to  one  defeated  resolutions 
offering  a  three-year  bus  franchise. 

Sentiment  is  steadily  crystalizing  in 
favor  of  the  return  of  the  electric  rail- 
way cars.  Ten  Connecticut  buses  left 
the  city  last  week  and  the  number  of 
buses  now  operating  in  the  city  is  under 
100. 


Wants  Ten- Year  Bus  Franchise 
in  Saginaw 

A  conference  was  held  on  Oct.  12 
attended  by  George  R.  Bidwell,  New- 
York,  president  of  the  Trackless  Trans- 
portation Corporation,  members  of  the 
Council  of  Saginaw,  Mich.,  and  the 
Board  of  Commerce  Committee  relative 
to  organizing  bus  lines  in  Saginaw.  To 
show  an  8  per  cent  return  on  the 
investment,  in  addition  to  a  suitable 
sinking  fund  it  would  be  necessary  to 
charge  an  8-cent  fare.  The  plan  is  to 
sell  half  the  $500,000  stock  in  Saginaw, 
Mr.  BidwelPs  company  to  subscribe  the 
balance. 

The  cost  of  operating  thirty-five 
buses  figured  on  the  car-mile  basis  of 
the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway,  now  in 
hands  of  a  receiver,  would  be  281  cents 
a  bus  mile.  Mr.  Bidwell's  company 
could  not  attempt  to  finance  a  local 
company  in  Saginaw  unless  it  was 
assured  an  exclusive  privilege. 

Mr.  Bidwell  after  making  survey  of 
Saginaw  and  studying  the  conditions 
under  which  the  Saginaw-Bay  City 
Railway  was  compelled  to  operate  did 
not  express  surprise  that  the  local  com- 
pany had  gone  into  the  hands  of  *  a 
receiver.  In  order  to  go  ahead  Mr. 
Bidwell  would  have  to  be  assured  of  a 
10-year  franchise  and  the  elimination 
of  all  competition. 


Pacific  Electric  and  Los  Angeles 
Railways  Announce  Cut  of 
Four  Cents  an  Hour 

Wages  of  trainmen  on  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway  Lines  were  reduced 
four  cents  an  hour,  effective  Oct.  1, 
1921.  This  cut  is  made  up  of  21  cents 
an  hour  in  rates  of  pay  and  11  cents 
additional  through  discontinuance  of  the 
$5  a  month  bonus  paid  trainmen  for  a 
clear  record.  Under  the  new  wage 
schedule  trainmen  will  receive  one  cent 
more  an  hour  than  the  wage  prior  to 
Aug.  16,  1920,  as  the  last  increase  was 

5  cents  an  hour. 

The  present  annual  vacation  and 
transportation  arrangements  will  be 
maintained,  whereas  after  one  year's 
service  annual  vacation  of  12  days  each 
year  with  pay  is  allowable,  as  well  as 
certain  transportation  privileges  as 
covered  by  the  company's  circulars  of 
Dec.  17,  1918,  and  June  20,  1919.  The 
Pacific  Electric  Lines  are  among  the 
last  of  large  employers  of  labor  in 
Los  Angeles  to  make  reductions  in  pay 
and  the  cut  has  been  made  reluctantly 
to  correspond  with  previous  readjust- 
ments of  hours  and  pay  in  other  de- 
partments. 

In  comparison  with  other  California 
lines  the  wages  on  the  Market  Street 
Railway  Lines  in  San  Francisco  were 
reduced  4  cents  an  hour  in  August; 

6  cents  on  the  Oakland  Traction  and 
Key  Route  Lines  in  July.  The  old  and 
new  rates  of  pay  in  cents  per  hour  on 
the  Pacific  Electric  Lines  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

Rate 

Street  Car  Service  Old  New 

First  year   50  46 

Second  year   51  48£ 

Third  year   52  49| 

Fourth  year  and  thereafter   53  501 

Interurban  Service 

First  year   52j  '48j 

Second  year   53£  51 

Third  year   54#  52 

Fourth  year  and  thereafter   55$  53 

Single  Track  Line . 

First  year   55  51 

Second  year   56  534 

Third  year   57  54i 

Fourth  year   58  55| 

Freight  and  Work  Train  Service 
Flat  Rate 

Motormen  and  conductors   62  60 

Trainmen  and  switchmen   57  54 

Trolleymen   52  49 

Yard  foremen   62  60 

Announcement  of  a  reduction  of  4 
cents  an  hour  it  is  reported  was  re- 
ceived with  little  protest  by  the  Los 
Angeles  Railway  trainmen,  while  the 
trainmen  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Lines, 
it  is  said,  took  the  news  in  the  same 
spirit  since  rumors  had  been  afloat  for 
some  time  that  the  company's  financial 
status,  owing  to  motor  bus  competition, 
might  make  a  reduction  in  wages  nec- 
essary at  any  time. 

In  connection  with  the  Los  Angeles 
Railway's  new  scale  of  wages  the  merit 
system  and  bonus,  amounting  to  about 
2  cents  an  hour,  will  continue  in  force. 


710 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Proposal  Renewed  to  Handle 
Freight  in  New  York 
Subways 

Freight  transportation  in  the  New 
York  subways  during  the  early  morn- 
ing hours,  to  increase  earnings  and 
help  keep  the  fare  at  5  cents,  has  been 
proposed  by  the  Transit  Commission 
to  the  Port  Authority  controlling  har- 
bor transportation,  of  which  Alfred  E. 
Smith,  Lewis  H.  Pounds  and  E.  H. 
Outerbridge  are  the  New  York  mem- 
bers. 

The  Transit  Commission's  engineers, 
it  was  announced,  are  working  out  a 
plan  for  handling  freight  trains  in  the 
subway  between  1  and  5  a.  m.  to  trans- 
fer freight  between  terminals  in  Man- 
hattan, the  Bronx  and  Brooklyn,  thereby 
earning  a  large  profit  during  a  period 
in  which  the  subway  trains  now  do  not 
pay  for  their  operation. 

It  was  announced  by  the  Transit  Com- 
mission representatives  that  this  pro- 
posal does  not  aim  at  any  interference 
with  the  Port  Authority's  plans  for 
organizing  freight  handling  for  the 
whole  harbor,  but  is  to  be  directed  to- 
ward supplementing  the  harbor  freight 
system  with  highly  effective  freight 
distribution  on  this  side  of  the  Hudson. 
The  new  terminals  to  link  the  subway 
with  the  railway  freight  systems,  they 
said,  would  quickly  be  paid  for  out  of 
the  profits  of  operation  of  freight  trains 
in  the  subways. 


Another  Commissioner  for  City 
Participation  in  Utility 
Ownership 

William  A.  Prendergast,  chairman  of 
the  New  York  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion, whose  opinion  in  the  Utica  fare 
case  attracted  state-wide  attention,  em- 
phasized the  need  for  imn.ediate  city 
participation  in  utility  affairs  and  ulti- 
mate municipal  ownership  in  a  speech 
which  he  made  before  the  Empire  State 
Gas  &  Electric  Association  at  its  meet- 
ing at  Lake  Placid  on  Oct.  7.  In  his 
address  Mr.  Prendergast  said: 

The  time  has  arrived  for  some  construc- 
tive effort  to  correct  present  conditions. 
There  is  no  use  in  permitting  their  continu- 
ance. If  this  is  attempted,  public  disfavor 
will  <xhibit  itself  in  demands  for  more 
drastic  remedies.  The  principle  of  munici- 
pal operation  has  its  main  support  in  a  de- 
sire for  a  change,  rather  than  in  any  in- 
herent belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  prin- 
ciple itself. 

I  am  suggesting-  a  working  partnership 
between  a  unified  gas  corporation  and  the 
city.  There  are  precedents  for  this.  It  is 
not  a  new  experiment.  The  exact  basis  for 
this  partnership  I  am  not  prepared  to  dis- 
cuss definitely  at  this  time,  but  will  say 
that  in  the  recommendations  of  the  sur- 
passingly able  report  of  the  Transit  Com- 
mission issued  on  September  30  there  is 
considerable  suggestive  matter  that  would 
apply  to  the  gas  company  situation.  On 
one  point  however,  I  wish  to  be  absolutely 
specific  at  this  time  and  say  that  the  City 
of  New  York  must  have  a  positive  voice 
and  representation  in  the  management  of 
such  an  enterprise.  Legislative  sanction 
would  be  required  and  this,  I  feel  assured, 
could  be  obtained. 

I  am  not  suggesting  municipal  operation. 
On  the  contrary.  I  would  deprecate  it.  For 
the  city  to  have  representation  in  an  en- 
terprise is  one  thing.  For  a  city  govern- 
ment to  have  the  responsibility  of  conduct- 
ing a  great  and  intricate  business  is  quite 
another.  The  political  changes  that  take 
place  in  a  city  government  absolutely  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  successful  municipal 
operation.    Further,  the  city  could  not  buy 


the  companies  outright,  for  it  has  not  the 
credit  for  such  a  gigantic  operation. 

According  to  Mr.  Prendergast  the 
New  York  city  public  is  "strongly  criti- 
cal, suspicious  and  unfriendly"  toward 
practically  all  public  utilities,  and  in 
suggesting  the  creation  of  the  gas  con- 
solidation he  emphasized  that  only  "the 
genuine  value  of  the  present  great  in- 
vestment in  the  gas  business  need  be 
protected"  in  consideration  of  his  ideas. 


Municipal  Tangle  Discussed 

Nothing    Tangible    Will    Be  Accom- 
plished While  Company  and 
Council  Fight 

Unless  the  Minneapolis  Street  Rail- 
way can  have  the  confidence  and  co- 
operation of  the  City  Council  in  its 
efforts  to  provide  better  service  for  the 
people  of  the  city  nothing  will  be  ac- 
complished and  car  riders  will  be  the 
sufferers.  This  opinion  was  recently 
expressed  by  Horace  Lowry,  president 
Minneapolis  Street  Railway,  to  the 
Council's  special  committee  on  street 
railway  matters  and  road  extensions. 

Mr.  Lowry  in  commenting  on  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  company  during  the  cur- 
rent year  said  that  $528,700  had  been 
spent  in  improvements  though  the  rev- 
enue had  decreased.  He  alluded  to  the 
city's  opposition  to  the  Railroad  & 
Warehouse  Commission  in  authorizing 
a  7-cent  fare  with  four  tickets  for  25 
cents  and  said  that  the  city  took  the 
stand  that  the  company  would  not  be 
required  to  make  further  paving  or  ex- 
tensions this  year,  yet  a  few  days  later 
a  mandamus  action  was  begun  by  the 
city  to  force  the  company  to  pave  John- 
son Street  northeast. 

In  his  plea  for  co-operation  Mr. 
Lowry  said  in  part: 

The  company  wants  an  opportunity  to 
show  the  members  of  the  City  Council  and 
the  Mayor  what  it  is  trying  to  do.  The 
company  is  on  its  toes  and  ready  to  pro- 
vide the  best  of  service  that  its  revenues 
will  permit.  It  is  now  providing  the  best 
service  at  lowest  cost  of  any  city  in  the 
United  States,  and  I  challenge  anyone  to 
dispute  this  fact. 

The  company  wants  to  establish  good 
credit.  It  cannot  get  credit  now.  The  com- 
pany will  have  to  pay  8  per  cent  to  renew 
its  mortgage  bonds  due  January  1. 

To  show  what  we  are  doing,  and  attempt- 
ing to  do,  we  invite  the  members  of  Coun- 
cil and  the  Mayor  to  visit  our  shops,  take 
lunch,  and  after  inspection  there,  make  a 
tour  of  the  system  in  one  of  our  new  double- 
unit  cars.  We  want  your  confidence  and 
co-operation  in  aiding  us  to  get  enough 
money  to  maintain  good  service,  and  estab- 
lish proper  credit. 

The  committee  voted  unanimously  to 
accept  Mr.  Lowry's  invitation. 


Outlook  Good  for  Reorganized 
Lines 

The  committees  which  have  been  so- 
liciting subscriptions  to  the  stock  of 
the  new  Brunswick  &  Interurban  Rail- 
way, Brunswick,  Ga.,  report  that  much 
progress  has  been  made  and  they  are 
confident  that  they  will  secure  suf- 
ficient funds  for  the  operation  of  the 
line.  The  Brunswick  &  Interurban 
Railway  is  the  successor  company  to 
the  City  &  Suburban  Railway.  Refer- 
ence was  made  to  the  reorganization  of 
the  property  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Sept.  17. 


Trolley  Bus  an  Evolution, 
Not  Revolution 

Thomas  S.  Wheelwright,  president  of 
the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Richmond,  Va.,  recently  issued  a  state- 
ment designed  to  refute  some  erroneous 
thinking  about  the  place  of  the  track- 
less trolley  or  trolley  bus  and  its  rela- 
tion to  the  present  electric  railway 
system.  As  a  certain  amount  of  this 
kind  of  talk  is  passing  around  in  the 
industry  as  well  as  among  laymen,  the 
following  extracts  from  the  statement 
should  be  considered. 

Mr.  Wheelwright  points  out  that  since 
July  1  successful  demonstrations  of  the 
trackless  trolley  have  been  made  in 
Richmond  and  Norfolk,  Va.,  in  the 
smooth-paved  residential  districts, 
where  the  right  to  operate  noisy  track 
lines  had  been  denied.  During  the 
demonstrations,  the  public  as  well  as 
public  officials  of  these  two  cities  were 
most  generous  in  their  approval  of  this 
new  method  of  transportation.  In  their 
leferences  to  the  new  trolley  bus  many 
of  its  enthusiasts  have  carelessly  re- 
marked that  it  is  a  revolution  of  the 
present  street  railway  system,  which  is 
all  wrong.  It  is  an  evolution,  not  a 
revolution,  Mr.  Wheelwright  em- 
phasizes. The  trackless  trolley  is  a 
means  for  the  development  of  the 
present  street  railway  system  whereby 
transportation  service  can  be  made  to 
grow  and  expand  with  the  development 
of  the  community.  The  use  of  the  term 
"revolution"  in  connection  with  the 
trolley  bus  has  already  fixed  in  the 
minds  of  some  the  idea  that  the  present 
street  railway  system  is  to  be  discarded 
and  the  tracks  torn  up  and  trolley  buses 
substituted  for  street  cars. 

Mr.  Wheelwright  points  out  that 
neither  Richmond  nor  Norfolk  nor  any 
other  city  is  much  concerned  aoouc 
changing  the  mode  of  its  transportation 
where  it  already  exists.  What  should 
concern  every  growing  community  is 
how  to  keep  the  transportation  lines  it 
already  has  and  how  to  get  service  into 
those  sections  not  now  served.  The 
evolution  of  street  paving  from  cobble- 
stones to  Belgian  block,  to  asphalt  and 
concrete,  has  suggested  a  type  of  trans- 
portation vehicle  that  will  be  in  keep- 
ing with  the  quiet  and  comfort  of  the 
new  smooth  paving.  This  has  brought 
the  trolley  bus,  which  is  especially  de- 
signed for  operation  in  those  smooth- 
paved  sections  where  regular  transport- 
ation service  is  not  now  available.  Its 
function  will  be  to  reach  out  into  the 
unserved  sections. 

Thus  the  trolley  bus  is  an  evolution 
or  development,  not  a  revolution  or 
overthrow.  It  is  a  means  by  which  the 
electric  trolley  can  be  made  a  greater 
factor  in  community  growth  of  the 
future  than  it  ever  has  been  in  the 
past. 


Men  Accept  Cut.  —  Employees  of 
the  Springfield  (Ohio)  Railway  have 
voted  to  accept  a  wage  scale  of  42,  44 
and  46  cents  an  hour.  The  former  pay 
was  53,  55  and  57  cents.  The  cut 
became  effective  Oct.  1. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


711 


Suggests  Subway  for  Montreal 

The  plan  and  route  for  an  under- 
ground railway  in  Montreal,  Can.,  have 
been  outlined  by  F.  S.  Williamson, 
prominent  engineer,  whose  paper  on 
subways  read  recently  at  the  Town 
Planning  Convention,  has  caused  con- 
siderable comment. 

In  Mr.  Williamson's  opinion  a  sub- 
way system  in  Montreal  would  cost 
about  $25,000,000.  It  should  be  oper- 
ated by  the  Montreal  Tramways.  With 
such  a  system  in  force  transportation 
carriers  in  Montreal  could  handle  300,- 
000,000  passengers  a  year. 


Wage  Cut  Accepted  "Under 
Protest" 

A  12  per  cent  wage  reduction  ordered 
by  the  Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Street 
Railway,  Omaha,  Neb.,  has  been  ac- 
cepted by  the  union  "under  protest." 
The  reduction  was  7  cents  an  hour.  The 
old  scale  was  53  cents  an  hour  for  first 
three  months  of  service,  55  cents  for 
next  nine  months,  and  57  cents  after 
the  first  year  of  service.  The  new  scale 
is  46,  48  and  50  cents  an  hour,  respec- 
tively, for  the  periods  mentioned. 

The  men  voted  three  to  one  against 
taking  a  strike  referendum  of  the  union. 
Anton  Rubeck,  president  of  local  union 
No.  807,  stated  that  the  men  adopted 
the  right  course  when  they  voted 
against  taking  a  strike  vote  and  ac- 
cepted the  decrease  of  wages. 

The  action  of  the  company  in  reduc- 
ing the  wages  was  in  line  with  a  recent 
recommendation  of  the  Nebraska  Street 
Railway  Commission,  which  denied  the 
company's  application  for  an  8-cent 
rate,  with  a  special  ticket  rate. 
The  wage  reduction  has  been  extended 
to  all  branches  of  the  company's  service. 
J.  A.  Munro,  vice-president,  accepted  a 
cut  of  25  per  cent  in  salary,  and  the 
chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  was 
similarly  reduced. 

The  saving  in  wages  under  the  re- 
duction will  amount  to  nearly  $200,000 
a  year. 

Trainmen — Take  Heed 

George  J.  Plummer,  superintendent 
of  transportation  for  the  Dallas  (Tex.) 
Railway,  has  contributed  "Transporta- 
tion Department  Hints"  in  the  last  issue 
of  "Partners,"  the  semi-monthly  organ 
published  by  the  traction  company.  In 
part  they  are  as  follows: 

I  want  better  service  for  myself  and  for 
the  public.  I  am  not  unselfish  in  this, 
for  better  service  will  result  in  increased 
car  riders,  and  increased  car  riders  will 
mean  increased  car  revenue.  Bear  in  mind 
that  an  increase  or  decrease  in  revenues 
will  affect  your  condition. 

Do  your  duty  by  everyone  and  when 
the  day  comes  to  a  close  you  can  spend 
the  evening1  at  home  with  the  folks  in 
content.  Violate  the  rules,  circulate 
grouch,  and  things  won't  be  pleasant  at 
home  nor  here.  You  may  have  your  likes 
and  dislikes  ;  leave  your  dislikes  at  home, 
for  there  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  bring- 
ing them  on  the  job. 

Every  patron  on  our  lines  stands  on  an 
equal  in  the  service  you  are  to  give.  That 
service  is  gauged  only  by  the  passenger's 
every  need ;  if  lame,  aged,  or  child,  it  is 
service  to  assist  them  on  and  off  the  cars, 
to  a  seat,  and  to  a  safe  place  on  the 
curb. 

Representing  the  company  you  will  under- 
stand that  cleanliness  in  person,  appear- 
ance, language  and  mind  is  most  essential. 


A  motorman  who  starts  and  stops  his 
car  with  a  jerk  has  no  friends  among  the 
passengers  or  conductors.  He  makes  life 
miserable  for  himself  and  everyone  else. 
He  wastes  power  in  starting  with  a  jerk, 
and  tears  down  equipment  in  stopping  with 
a  jerk.  He  causes  accidents  and  pain. 
We  have  no  room  for  him  on  the  job. 


Railway  Would  Swap  Its  Right-of- 
Way  for  Power  Rights 

The  Niagara  Gorge  Railway,  Niagara 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  has  applied  to  the  New 
York  state  waterpower  commission  for 
permission  to  utilize  water  in  the  lower 
Niagara  Gorge  for  power  development 
purposes.  It  offers  to  deed  to  the  state 
its  right-of-way  along  the  lower  Niag- 
ara gorge  between  Niagara  Falls  and 
Lewiston  for  a  scenic  motor  highway  in 
return  for  the  power  development  priv- 
ilege below  the  American  falls. 

Although  several  other  corporations 
have  made  application  for  power  rights 
in  the  lower  gorge,  the  offer  of  the 
Niagara  Gorge  Railway  to  give  up  its 
right-of-way  to  the  state  for  a  great 
scenic  motor  highway  has  impressed  the 
state  commission  and  a  hearing  on  the 
proposal  will  be  held  before  the  board 
in  Albany  at  an  early  date.  The  offer 
of  the  company  was  made  by  its  presi- 
dent on  behalf  of  the  board  of  directors. 

The  route  of  the  Niagara  Gorge  Rail- 
way between  Lewiston  and  Niagara 
Falls  is  at  the  base  of  the  rocky  cliffs 
and  alongside  the  lower  Niagara  River. 
Through  Gorge  Route  cars  operate  over 
the  line  in  conjunction  with  the  Park 
&  River  division  of  the  International 
Railway,  which  operates  along  the  cliff 
of  the  Canadian  side  of  the  river. 


Company  Unable  to  Finance 
Extension 

"The  Ohio  Valley  Electric  Railway 
will  pay  anybody  in  Huntington  8  per 
cent  on  a  $40,000  loan,  give  the  best 
of  security  and  build  at  once  the  Nor- 
way Avenue  extension,"  was  the  chal- 
lenge flung  by  George  I.  Neal,  counsel 
for  the  company,  during  his  argument 
at  a  hearing  before  the  board  of  com- 
missioners in  support  of  the  company's 
application  for  more  time  in  which  to 
fulfill  an  obligation  of  its  franchise.  W. 
R.  Power,  general  manager  of  the  rail- 
way, discussed  unreservedly  the  com- 
pany's financial  affairs  and  the  same 
readiness  was  manifest  in  statements 
by  H.  J.  Crowley,  general  manager  of 
the  American  Railways,  Philadelphia, 
principal  backer  of  the  local  company, 
of  which  he  is  also  the  vice-president. 

The  extension  in  question  was  to 
have  been  completed  by  Oct.  23  next 
under  penalty  of  $20,000  forfeiture. 
The  railway  has  petitioned  the  com- 
mission to  extend  the  time  for  one 
year,  although  definitely  planning  to 
begin  the  work  early  next  spring.  The 
Protestants  are  not  insistent  nor  de- 
sirous of  the  commission  exacting  the 
forfeit,  but  they  take  the  position  that 
the  company  should  get  the  money  and 
finish  the  work  before  cold  weather. 
The  company  says  it  is  unable  to  finance 
the  project  at  this  time. 

After  listening  to  the  arguments  the 
commission  reserved  its  decision. 


Another  "Five-Cent"  Candidate 

Henry  H.  Curran,  Republican  Coali- 
tion candidate  for  Mayor  of  New  York 
City,  made  public  on  Oct.  10  his  first 
statement  on  the  traction  situation 
since  the  plan  of  the  Transit  Commis- 
sion was  made  public.  He  declares  that 
the  plan  as  indicated  by  its  own  words 
is  of  a  preliminary  nature,  but  that  it 
holds  out  definite  hope  of  several  things 
for  which  the  city  has  waited  for  many 
years.  He  urges,  however,  that  the 
validity  of  the  transit  law  be  tested, 
and  that  it  be  amended  next  winter  to 
"give  back  to  our  local  government  the 
power  that  it  took  away  from  us."  Mr. 
Curran  said: 

I  am  for  the  5-ceht  fare,  I  believe  in  it. 
As  long  as  I  am  Mayor  I  shall  fight  for  it. 
I  know  it  is  enough  and  I  know  also  what 
a  hardship  it  would  work  on  the  whole  city 
if  the  unit  of  fare  should  be  increased  even. 
1  cent  beyond  the  nickel. 

Mr.  Curran's  statement  gives  a  defi- 
nite promise  that  when  he  is  Mayor  he 
will  endeavor  to  co-operate  with  all  the 
forces  and  agencies  working  for  the 
good  of  the  city. 

The  attitude  of  Mr.  Curran  toward  at- 
traction relief  plan  will  not  be  deter- 
mined, he  says,  by  any  consideration  of 
the  source  of  the  plan. 


Right  to  Inspect  Buffalo 
Books  Denied 

Herbert  G.  Tulley,  president  of  the 
International  Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
has  refused  the  city  permission  to  in- 
spect its  books  as  the  first  step  in  the 
attempt  of  Frank  C.  Perkins,  mu- 
nicipal commissioner  of  public  affairs, 
to  start  proceedings  for  the  restoration 
of  the  5-cent  fare  in  Buffalo.  George 
Watson,  an  accountant,  and  Director 
Macomber  of  the  bureau  of  public  utili- 
ties, were  authorized  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil to  inspect  the  books  of  the  company. 
In  his  public  statement  denying  the  re- 
quest to  inspect  the  books,  President 
Tulley  quoted  from  the  latest  reports 
of  the  company  filed  with  the  Public 
Service  Commission  showing  it  is  not 
operating  its  city  lines  at  a  profit. 

Commissioner  Perkins,  the  Socialist 

member  of  the  board,  explained: 

What  we  particularly  want  to  find  out 
the  amount  that  the  company  is  saving 
through  the  cut  in  the  wages  of  its  em- 
ployees ;  what  its  receipts  have  been  in  the 
last  eighteen  months  and  how  much  more 
it  has  been  collecting  than  it  would  have 
collected  if  the  fare  had  remained  at  5  cent? 
as  provided  in  the  franchise. 

It  also  has  been  proposed  by  the  City 

Council   that  proceedings  be  brought 

to  have  the   railway  sell   weekly  or 

monthly  tickets. 


Function  of  a  Railway 
—To  Educate 

When  you  are  in  doubt  ask  the  Dallas 
(Tex.)  Railway.  It  can  handle  all  your 
queries — how  often  are  motors  oiled, 
how  many  agents  are  employed  to  take 
care  of  the  accident  claims,  etc. 

The  company  established  this  "know- 
it-all"  reputation  on  Sept.  19  when  it 
had  charge  of  the  meeting  of  the  Dallas 
Electric  Club.  The  meeting  was  turned 
into  an  educational  rally  where  200  club 
members  learned  a  thing  or  two. 


712 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Mayor  Couzens  Urges  Action 

Urges  City  to  Proceed  to  Take  Over 
the  Day-to-Day  Lines  of  the 
Detroit  United 

The  taking  over  of  the  day-to-day 
lines  of  the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United 
Railway  according  to  the  decision  of 
the  board  of  arbitration  is  favored  by 
Mayor  Couzens.  On  its  part  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  has  indicated 
its  willingness  to  expedite  the  trans- 
action leading  to  the  city's  acquiring 
the  lines  under  arbitration.  By  taking 
over  these  lines  the  city  will  be  en- 
abled to  add  another  cross-town  line  to 
its  system  in  a  very  short  time.  This, 
the  Clairmount-Owen  line,  with  the 
Grand  Belt  which  will  be  taken  over, 
will  make  three  cross-town  lines  in  the 
municipal  system. 

Included  in  the  matters  to  be  ar- 
ranged are  the  necessary  release  of  the 
mortgages,  by  court  action,  on  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  tracks  and  the 
working  out  of  an  agreement  for  the 
interchange  of  running  rights  on  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  and  municipal 
tracks  or  a  system  of  transfers.  It  is 
understood  that  both  the  company  and 
the  city  favor  an  interchange  of  run- 
ning rights  rather  than  a  system  of 
mutual  transfers.  The  arrangements 
to  be  made  involve  the  working  out  of 
details  as  to  the  amount  to  be  paid  by 
each  party  for  the  privilege  of  run- 
ning over  the  other's  tracks. 

Further  negotiations  are  under  way 
relative  to  the  extension  of  the  muni- 
cipal railroad  lines  into  the  village  of 
Hamtramck,  which  is  entirely  sur- 
rounded by  the  city  of  Detroit.  The 
clause  in  the  ordinance  providing  for 
municipal  ownership,  which  permits  the 
city  to  build  and  operate  lines  up  to 
10  miles  beyond  the  city  limits,  was 
inserted  to  provide  for  municipal  lines 
into  new  territory  as  the  city  limits 
are  extended.  It  is  expected  that 
eventually  Hamtramack  will  become 
part  of  Detroit. 

According  to  a  report  from  Lansing 
the  Supreme  Court  has  affirmed  the 
action  of  the  Wayne  County  Circuit 
Court  in  refusing  to  grant  the  motion 
of  the  Detroit  United  Railway  to  dis- 
miss the  ouster  proceedings  started  by 
the  city  in  1918.  A  Council  resolution 
of  July  30,  1918,  provided  for  legal  pro- 
ceedings to  obtain  a  judgment  of  ouster 
against  the  Detroit  United  Railway  on 
all  lines  where  franchises  had  expired. 
Shortly  after  this  resolution  was 
passed,  the  Kronk  ordinance  was  passed 
fixing  the  rate  of  fare  at  5  cents  on 
all  lines.  The  company  took  the  mat- 
ter of  the  Kronk  ordinance  into  the 
Federal  Court  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  confiscatory  and  that  the  Council 
was  without  authority  to  pass  it. 

The  company  sought  to  have  the 
ouster  case  dismissed,  claiming  that  the 
ouster  proceedings  should  have  been 
started  by  ordinance  and  not  by  resolu- 
tion. It  was  further  claimed  that  the 
Kronk  ordinance  amounted  to  a  fran- 
chise renewing  the  company's  rights  in 
streets  where  franchises  had  expired. 


The  Supreme  Court  decided  that  the 
Council  was  within  its  rights  in  acting 
by  resolution  instead  of  by  ordinance, 
and  according  to  the  Fort  Street  case 
decision,  no  Council  action  was  neces- 
sary to  justify  the  Corporation  Counsel 
in  proceeding  with  the  ouster.  It  fur- 
ther held  that  the  city  had  a  right  to 
reasonable  control  of  its  streets. 


Paving  Dispute  Serious 

City  Uses  Strong-Arm  Methods  in 
Seizing  Funds  of  London 
Street  Railway 

Following  a  brief  resort  to  law  the 
City  Council  of  London,  Ont.,  and  the 
London  Street  Railway  have  arranged 
an  armistice  in  their  paving  dispute. 
The  company,  operating  under  a  fran- 
chise agreement  made  in  1895,  is  held 
to  fares  which  according  to  its  presi- 
dent are  the  lowest  in  America.  Share- 
holders have  received  dividends  averag- 
ing only  4  per  cent  and  since  1917  their 
investment  has  earned  nothing. 

The  Ontario  Railway  &  Municipal 
Board,  after  operating  the  property  for 
a  year  relinquished  it  to  the  company 
and  advised  the  City  Council  that  with- 
out an  increase  in  fares  the  company 
cannot  improve  the  service  or  comply 
with  its  admitted  obligation  to  pave  its 
right-of-way. 

Two  years  ago  the  city  paved  Rectory 
Street  and  billed  the  company  for 
$7,500  for  its  share.  This  amount  re- 
mained unpaid.  On  June  10,  1921,  the 
city  obtained  judgment  for  the  full 
amount  by  default,  the  company  ad- 
mitting liability  but  pleading  inability 
to  pay.  On  Sept.  16,  in  exhibition  week, 
a  deputy  sheriff  seized  all  cash  in  the 
company's  offices,  amounting  to  $1,550 
to  satisfy  the  judgment,  and  thereby 
forced  the  company  to  pass  its  pay  day. 
On  the  following  Monday  the  sheriff 
repeated  the  raid,  but  could  find  no 
money. 

Subsequently  R.  G.  Ivey,  the  com- 
pany's legal  adviser,  negotiated  a  truce 
with  the  City  Council  on  the  under- 
standing that  the  company  will  attempt 
to  pay  off  the  balance  of  the  debt  in 
monthly  installments  of  about  $500 
each.  By  another  transaction  the  City 
Council  decided,  without  prejudice  to 
its  legal  rights,  to  accept  President 
Currie's  offer'to  regrade  tracks,  and  to 
pave  right-of-way  on  various  streets 
with  crushed  stone  and  tarvia,  though 
tjhe  city  uses  asphalt.  On  Stanley 
Street  the  city  paved  with  asphalt  and 
the  company  graded  with  gravel,  em- 
ploying men  with  brooms  to  sweep  back 
loose  stones,  as  the  city  threatened  suit 
alleging  that  the  company  was  respon- 
sible for  mutilation  of  the  new  pave- 
ment. Under  the  settlement  that  sec- 
tion is  also  to  be  treated  with  tarvia. 

The  union  of  employees  at  a  mass 
meeting  decided  not  to  press  the  com- 
pany for  payment  on  the  regular  pay 
day,  under  the  circumstances,  and 
President  Currie  has  asked  the  Council 
for  another  conference  on  increased 
fares  in  the  interests  of  better  service. 


News  Notes 


Freight  Service  Established.  —  The 

South  Carolina  Light,  Power  &  Rail- 
way Company  has  started  a  freight 
service  on  its  Glendale  line.  When  the 
volume  of  business  warrants  it  an.  extra 
number  of  cars  will  be  pressed  into 
service. 

Railway  Affairs  to  be  Investigated. — 

A  committee  consisting  of  three  city 
officials  of  San  Diego,  Cal.,  will  be 
formed  to  look  into  the  difficulties  fac- 
ing the  San  Diego  Electric  Railway 
and  to  offer  suggestions  for  a  solution 
of  the  transportation  problem  in  that 
city.  It  was  agreed  that  the  commit- 
tee should  have  the  power  to  call  in 
the  assistance  of  outside  statisticians 
and  experts  if  that  course  were  found 
necessary. 

Hudson  Valley  Railway  Wages  Cut — 
H.  B.  Weatherwax,  vice-president  of 
the  Hudson  Valley  Railway,  Glens 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  interviewed  at  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  on  Oct.  12  by  the  resident  cor- 
respondent of  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  advised  that  the  wages  of  the 
men  were  cut  from  60  cents  an  hour 
on  Oct.  1  to  55  cents  an  hour  and  that 
on  Nov.  1  the  wages  are  to  be  cut  to 
50  cents  an  hour. 

Submits  New  Franchise. — The  draft 
of  a  new  franchise  for  the  electric- 
railway  in  Champaign,  111.,  was  re- 
cently submitted  to  the  city  officials  by 
officers  of  the  Urbana  &  Champaign 
Railway,  Gas  &  Electric  Company.  The 
provisions  were  not  made  public,  but 
it  was  reported  that  certain  changes 
would  have  to  be  made  before  the  city 
authorities  would  accept  the  proposed 
franchise.  The  official  answer  of  the 
city  is  expected  to  be  given  out  in  a 
short  time. 

Extends  Lines  By  Buses. — The  City 
Council  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  has 
ordered  the  Minneapolis  Street  Railway 
to  extend  its  Second  Street  Northwest 
line  several  blocks  to  the  Northern  Pa- 
cific Railroad  shops.  This  will  be  pro- 
vided in  about  a  month  with  buses. 
This  will  be  subject  to  permanent  de- 
termination by  the  Council.  The  com- 
pany will  give  service  on  certain  exten- 
sions next  spring  with  trackless  trol- 
leys if  the  city  will  pave  the  streets, 
it  is  planned. 

May  Electrify  Line. — Miami,  Okla., 
will  be  the  terminal  for  a  new  electri- 
fied line  which  will  be  an  extension  of 
the  Miami  Mineral  Belt  Railway.  This 
announcement  was  recently  made  by 
H.  M.  Levy,  superintendent  of  the 
above  mentioned  property.  The  line 
will  run  through  the  business  section 
of  Commerce,  entering  Miami  from 
the  northeast.  Through  service  will  be 
established  between  Miami  and  Baxter 
Springs,  Kans.  A  preliminary  survey 
is  being  made. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric  Railway  journal 


713 


Financial  and  Corporate 


Municipal  Railway  Financing 
Again  Causes  Concern 

To  provide  funds  for  the  purchase 
of  twenty-five  new  cars  for  the  Seattle 
(Wash.)  Municipal  Railway,  to  pay  the 
city's  present  indebtedness  to  the  West- 
ern Washington  Power  Company  for 
the  Greenwood  car  line  in  Ballard,  and 
to  provide  funds  for  the  retracking  of 
First  Avenue  and  First  Avenue  South, 
an  ordinance  was  recently  introduced 
in  the  City  Council  authorizing  the  sale 
of  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $680,000. 

The  bill  is  a  new  draft  of  an  old  pro- 
posal which  has  been  contemplated  for 
a  long  time,  but  before  being  voted  on 
it  will  be  sent  to  the  city's  bond  attor- 
neys in  New  York  City  for  approval, 
although  they  have  already  stated  they 
would  acccept  such  procedure. 

The  Council  will  also  undoubtedly 
await  the  report  from  D.  W.  Hender- 
son, general  superintendent  of  the  rail- 
way, as  to  the  possibilities  of  the  track- 
less trolley,  which  he  recently  went 
East  to  investigate.  The  trackless 
trolley  has  been  proposed  as  a  meas- 
ure to  obviate  the  necessity  of  purchas- 
ing new  rails  for  First  Avenue. 

The  City  Council  finance  committee 
has  suggested  through  Chairman  C.  B. 
Fitzgerald  a  plan  to  change  the  char- 
acter of  the  $15,000,000  of  bonds  issued 
to  the  Stone  &  Webster  interests  in 
payment  for  the  street  railway  system. 
The  plan  involves  the  cancellation  of 
the  present  bonds  and  issuance  of  new 
securities,  probably  maturing  in  forty 
years. 

The  plan  is  offered  as  one  of  the 
ways  by  which  fares  may  be  reduced. 
It  would  greatly  diminish  annual  pay- 
ment on  bonds,  and  together  with 
added  revenue  resulting  from  the  elimi- 
nation of  jitney  competition,  might  aid 
in  decreasing  the  present  8S-cent  fare. 
The  city  is  now  under  obligation  to  re- 
deem in  seventeen  years  the  bonds  is- 
sued in  payment  for  the  railway  sys- 
tem. The  annual  payment  under  this 
plan  is  $833,000,  the  first  installment 
of  which  falls  due  on  March  1,  1922. 


position,  the  sale  of  29  miles  of  track- 
age and  other  equipment  to  the  munici- 
pal road  also  making  for  a  generally 
easier  financial  position.  It  is  stated 
that  cash  dividends  will  be  resumed  in 
the  near  future. 


Detroit  United  Financing 
Reported 

It  was  stated  at  Montreal,  Que.,  on 
Oct.  7  that  the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United 
Railway  has  practically  completed  dis- 
posal of  $4,000,000  of  twenty-year  notes 
to  its  own  bankers  and  other  interests. 
The  issue  replaces  various  short  term 
issues  shown  in  the  last  balance  sheet 
as  notes  payable.  It  is  also  stated  that 
the  May  1  maturity  of  $855,000  of  sub- 
sidiary bonds  and  Aug.  1  of  $1,400,000, 
or  $2,255,000  in  all,  have  been  extended 
to  Jan.  1,  1932,  when  the  consolidated 
mortgage  bonds  expire.  This  financing 
together  with  conservation  of  cash 
through  payment  of  scrip  dividends, 
places  the  company  in  a  more  favorable 


Surprise  Element  Introduced 

$2,433,067  Over  Physical  Value  asked 
by  Toronto  Railway  in  Arbitration 
— Hearing  Continued 

W.  J.  Hagenah,  expert  witness  for 
the  Toronto  (Ont.)  Railway,  occupied 
the  stand  during  the  week  ended  Oct.  1 
in  the  arbitration  proceedings  to  deter- 
mine the  value  of  the  Toronto  Railway 
system. 

Evidence  similar  to  that  reported 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  pre- 
viously was  given  in  detail  with  respect 
to  track  and  roadbed,  overhead  struc- 
tures, and  rolling  stock.  The  summary 
of  appraisal  based  on  labor  and  mate- 
rial prices  as  of  Sept.  1,  1921,  showed  a 
reproduction  cost  of  $26,110,044  and 
present  value  of  $20,032,837,  made  up 
of  the  following  principal  items: 

Reproduction  Present 
Cost  Value 

Way  and  Structure .. $9,649,321  $7,759,834 

Equipment                      9  609,915  6,969,781 

Power                              3,259,951  2,157,249 

General                            1,819,857  1,374,973 

In  each  case  an  additional  value  of 
the  actual  and  tangible  property  was 
made  of  $1,751,000. 

The  power  plant  on  Front  and  Fred- 
erick Streets  was  given  a  reproduction 
cost  of  $459,630  and  present  value  of 
$252,474.  The  structural  efficiency  of 
the  building  was  estimated  at  88  per 
cent.  Substation  equipment  reproduc- 
tion cost  $1,678,305  and  present  value 
$1,265,488. 

The  steam  plant  on  Front  Street  is 
not  proposed  to  be  taken  over  by  the 
city,  which  intends  to  use  hydro-electric 
power  from  Niagara. 

An  element  of  surprise  was  intro- 
duced into  the  arbitration  when  counsel 
for  the  Toronto  Railway  presented  a 
claim  aggregating  $2,433,067  over  and 
above  all  the  physical  assets  of  the 
company.  The  total  was  arrived  at  by 
the  addition  of  various  items  which  the 
company  claimed  would  have  to  be  in- 
curred if  the  present  road  had  to  be 
newly  constructed.  These  items  would 
include  injuries  to  workmen  during 
construction,  salaries  of  executives  and 
officials  during  period  of  construction, 
interest  on  capital  during  construction 
and  legal  cost. 

The  arbitrators  decided,  Sir  Adam 
Beck,  arbitrator  for  the  city  dissenting, 
to  allow  counsel  for  the  company  to 
present  valuation  estimates  on  a  basis 
of  the  three-year  period  ending  Sept.  1, 
1921.  The  decision,  however,  is  not 
final  as  to  acceptance  of  such  evidence 
as  a  basis  of  determining  the  value  of 
the  property. 


Progress  Slow  in  Providence 

Business  Depression  and  Jitneys  Keep 
Down  Earnings  of  Successor  to 
Rhode  Island  Company 

It  is  reported  unofficially  that  the 
receipts  of  the  United  Electric  Rail- 
ways, Providence,  R.  I.,  the  successor 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Company,  during 
the  first  three  months  of  operation  were 
sufficient  to  pay  operating  expenses, 
taxes  and  fixed  charges,  but  not  suffi- 
cient to  pay  a  6  per  cent  dividend  on 
the  stock,  to  which  it  is  entitled  under 
the  law.  The  earnings  have  been  af- 
fected by  the  business  depression,  the 
competition  of  the  jitneys  and  the 
motor  buses.  Receipts  for  the  quarter 
recently  ended  were  15  per  cent  below 
those  of  the  corresponding  quarter  of 
last  year. 

It  is  estimated  that  motor  compet- 
itors are  depriving  the  road  of  $1,000,- 
000  income  a  year,  and  this  in  spite  of 
the  ordinance  passed  by  the  Providence 
City  Council  early  this  year.  This  or- 
dinance provided  that  jitneys  and  buses 
must  run  on  specified  routes  during  reg- 
ular hours  and  subject  to  police  inspec- 
tion and  control.  It  gave  the  City  Coun- 
cil authority  to  bar  motor  vehicles  from 
any  street  upon  presentation  of  suffi- 
cient evidence  that  the  public  was  be- 
ing adequately  served  by  other  con- 
veyances on  that  street. 

Since  this  law  has  been  in  effect, 
there  has  been  no  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  jitneys  and  buses  operating  in 
Providence.  Last  March,  when  the  ordi- 
nance became  operative,  there  were  281 
licensed  motor  vehicles  in  the  city.  To 
day  there  are  286.  The  opinion  pre- 
vails, however,  that  if  the  law  had  not 
been  in  effect  there  would  be  1,500  jit- 
neys and  buses  in  Providence  today  in- 
stead of  300.  The  present  regulations 
are  too  stiff  for  the  fly-by-night  oper- 
ator to  meet. 

The  permissive  part  of  the  ordinance 
has  never  been  availed  of  to  keep  motor 
carriers  from  certain  routes.  There  is 
at  present  no  indication  that  the  City 
Council  will  be  in  any  hurry  to  act 
under  it. 


Gold  Bonds  of  Georgia  Property 
Offered 

Stone  &  Webster  are  offering  $1,750,- 
000  of  Savannah  Electric  &  Power 
Company's,  Savannah,  Ga.,  first  and  re- 
funding mortgage  11  per  cent  gold 
bonds.  The  bonds  known  as  Series  A 
are  dated  Oct.  1,  1921,  and  are  due 
Oct.  1,  1941.  The  price  is  97i  and  in- 
terest to  yield  about  71  per  cent.  Cou- 
pon bonds  are  in  denominations  of 
$1,000,  $500  and  $100. 

The  Savannah  Electric  &  Power 
Company  will  purchase  under  the  plan 
of  reorganization  all  properties  and 
franchises  owned  by  the  Savannah 
Electric  Company  and  its  subsidiaries, 
comprising  a  large  part  of  the  electric 
light  and  power  business  and  the  en- 
tire electric  railway  business  in  the 
city  of  Savannah.  This  issue  of  $1,750,- 
000  bonds  has  received  the  necessary 
approval  of  the  Railroad  Commission  of 
Georgia. 


714 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  1& 


Master's  Report  Condemns  Management  Contract 

Management  Contract,  in  Case  of  Columbus  Railway,  Power  &  Light  Company, 
Declared  to  Be  Against  Public  Policy  and  Illegal — Fees  Held  to  Be  Exces- 
sive^— Profits  from  Engineering  Service  and  from  Sale  of  Securities 
Judged  Reasonable  and  Legitimate 

Declaring  that  "the  executive  operation  and  management  of  the  street  railway 
company  by  the  banking  house  at  Philadelphia  was  a  plain  usurpation  of  the 
powers  and  business  of  those  corporations,  in  violation  of  the  meaning,  spirit 
and  intent  of  Sec.  8660  of  the  General  Code,"  Master  Commissioner  George  B. 
Okey,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  holds  the  management  contract  between  E.  W.  Clark 
Management  Corporation  and  the  Columbus  Railway,  Power  &  Light  Company 
to  be  illegal  and  against  public  policy.  This  case  is  one  which,  when  finally 
acted  upon  by  the  higher  courts,  to  which  it  is  almost  certain  to  be  appealed, 
is  apt  to  have  a  very  important  effect  upon  similar  management  contracts  with 
public  utilities  all  over  the  United  States.  The  present  report,  being  only  the 
finding  of  a  Master  Commissioner,  is,  of  course,  not  conclusive,  but  is  important. 


THE  case  in  question  is  one  which 
originated  from  a  suit  by  one  Au- 
gusta M.  Slaymaker,  a  stockholder  in 
the  company,  against  the  Columbus 
Railway,  Power  &  Light  Company,  and 
others,  including  E.  W.  Clark  &  Com- 
pany Management  Corporation  and 
various  individuals  who  have  been  or 
are  directors  of  the  first  named  com- 
pany. The  original  case  soon  lost  its 
significance,  however,  in  a  cross  peti- 
tion filed  by  the  Columbus  Railway, 
Power  &  Light  Company,  against  the 
E.  W.  Clark  &  Company  Management 
Corporation  and  C.  M.  Clark,  requesting 
an  account  and  suing  for  restoration  of 
certain  funds  totaling  more  than  $2,- 
600,000. 

The  points  at  issue  were  fees  charged 
under  the  management  contract;  fees 
and  profits  from  financing  operations 
for  the  company;  loss  claimed  through 
the  exchange  of  capital  stock  at  times 
of  reorganization;  engineering  and  con- 
struction fees  charged  and  collected  by 
the  Management  Corporation;  un- 
vouchered  expenditures  of  the  com- 
pany's treasurer;  mismanagement  as 
evidenced  by  voluntary  surrender  of 
franchises. 

The  master  reviews  the  allegations 
of  the  Columbus  Railway,  Power  & 
Light  Company  at  length,  and  gives 
his  conclusions  of  facts  with  reference 
to  the  points  enumerated  abovtj,  the 
sums  involved  as  deduced  from  testi- 
mony all  being  listed.  It  is  important 
to  note  that  the  master's  final  conclu- 
sion of  facts  is  that  in  all  of  the  nego- 
tiations the  board  of  directors  acted 
in  perfect  good  faith  and  with  ordinary 
care  and  prudence. 

Coming  to  conclusions  of  law,  the 
only  transaction  involving  any  question 
of  illegality  or  excessive  fee  is  held  by 
the  master  to  be  the  management  con- 
tract. In  all  of  the  other  transactions 
the  E.  W.  Clark  Management  Corpora- 
tion and  E.  W.  Clark  &  Company  are 
upheld.  Under  this  management  con- 
tract the  E.  W.  Clark  Management  Cor- 
poration received  from  1912  to  1919 
II  per  cent  of  the  gross  income  of  the 
company  for  its  services.  Previous  to 
1912,  the  master  points  out,  C.  M.  Clark 
was  a  vice-president  and  director  of  the 
street  railway  company,  and  was  a 
partner  in  the  banking  house  of  E.  W. 
Clark  &  Company,  which  for  years  had 


handled  the  securities  of  the  Columbus 
property.    The  master  says: 

The  association  was  beneficial  to  the 
railway  company  and  profitable  to  the 
banking  house.  The  banking  house  received 
the  annual  salary  of  $5,000,  paid  to  C.  M. 
Clark  for  his  services  as  vice-president  of 
the  company;  it  received  $3,000  annually 
for  its  services  in  auditing  its  books  and 
paying  dividend  and  interest  coupons ;  it 
received  fair  and  reasonable  banker's  pro- 
fits from  handling  its  notes  and  securities ; 
it  was  enabled  to  realize  excellent  profits 
from  the  services  rendered  to  the  company 
by  its  engineering  organization  which  it 
maintained  on  the  ground. 

But  the  management  contract,  the 
master  goes  on  to  say,  "was  a  radical 
step.  By  its  terms  E.  W.  Clark  &  Com- 
pany were  'to  assume  the  management 
of  the  company.'  It  was  carried  out  in 
practice  and  interpretation  to  mean 
both  executive  operation  and  financial 
management." 

.  The  master  then  points  out  that  E. 
W.  Clark  &  Company,  from  April,  1912, 
to  January,  1913,  received  $345,166  for 
the  management  service  and  $165,187 
as  construction  fees  for  services  ren- 
dered by  the  engineering  department; 
in  the  same  years  they  realized  a  profit 
of  $109,033  in  handling  notes  and  secu- 
rities of  the  company. 

In  view  of  the  "receipt  of  these  large 
sums  of  money"  the  master  commis- 
sioner gives  his  opinion  that  the  man- 
agement contracts  "were  unconscion- 
able," and  upon  that  ground  should  be 
regarded  and  treated  as  nullities, 
aside  from  the  questions  of  corporate 
power  upon  the  part  of  a  company  to 
enter  into  them  and  of  invalidity  by 
reason  of  the  fiduciary  relations  above 
referred  to.  (The  master  had  previ- 
ously gone  into  great  detail  to  point 
out  the  fiduciary  relations  of  C.  M. 
Clark  as  an  officer  of  both  company  and 
banking  house.) 

The  commissioner  says  that  he  can- 
not see  that  the  services  of  C.  M.  Clark 
were  of  any  greater  value  subsequent 
to  1912  than  they  were  before  that 
time,  and  the  same  thing  may  be  said 
of  the  auditing  or  banking  services  of 
the  banking  house.  Aside  from  these 
charges,  and  the  salary  of  the  president 
of  the  railway  company,  the  master 
claims  there  was  no  consideration  what- 
ever passing  from  E.  W.  Clark  &  Com- 
pany to  the  street  railway  company, 
and  in  his  conclusion  states  that  a 
decree  should  be  entered  for  a  judg- 
ment against  E.  W.  Clark  &  Company 


for  $345,166,  subject  to  a  credit  of  the 
annual  sum  of  $8,000,  together  with 
certain  sums  that  were  paid  to  the 
president  of  the  company  during  that 
time.  This  virtually  would  annul  the 
value  of  the  management  contract  as 
such,  substituting  therefor  the  mere 
salaries  of  certain  representatives  of" 
the  Clark  company  holding  official  posi- 
tions in  the  railway  company. 

The  discussion  and  condemnation  of" 
the  management  contract  is  in  such 
general  language  as  to  be  applicable  to- 
most  such  contracts  in  the  country. 
The  master  said: 

As  an  abstract  proposition,  standing 
alone,  there  is  nothing  sinister  in  a  fidu- 
ciary relation.  On  the  contrary,  no  posi- 
tion in  life  is  more  commendable.  A  large 
part  of  the  business  of  the  world  is  trans- 
acted by  those  holding  positions  of  mutual- 
trust  relationship.  The  mere  fact  of  the 
existence  of  such  relationship  does  not 
vitiate  a  transaction.  Courts  of  equity  do 
not  interfere  with  agreements  and  transac- 
tions upon  that  naked  ground.  The  books 
disclose  hundreds  of  cases  in  which  trans- 
actions were  upheld,  notwithstanding  the 
existence  of  a  fiduciary  relationship,  where 
full  consideration  was  paid,  where  no  ad- 
vantage was  taken,  where  full  disclosures 
were  made,  and  where  no  elements  of  fraud' 
or  wrong  were  found. 

All  such  transactions,  however,  are  sub- 
jected by  courts  of  equity  to  the  most 
painstaking  scrutiny,  to  ascertain  whether 
any  element  of  unfairness  or  wrongdoing 
may  be  found  to  exist.  If  such  proves  to 
be  the  case  the  equity  powers  are  ruth- 
lessly enforced.  They  do  not  stop  short  of 
full  and  complete  restoration  of  the  status 
quo.  If  real  estate  had  been  received  by 
the  fiduciary,  the  conveyance  is  set  aside ; 
if  money  had  been  received  by  him,  a 
decree  for  its  recovery  results. 

The  fiduciary  relationship  becomes  a  de- 
ciding factor  in  the  "management  con- 
tracts" in  question,  because  of  their  wrong- 
ful character.  Before  and  during  the  en- 
tire period  of  their  existence,  the  defendant. 
C  M.  Clark,  was  a  member  of  the  board 
of  directors  and  vice-president  of  the  street 
railway  companies,  and  also  a  member  of 
the  banking  firm  of  E.  W.  Clark  &  Com- 
pany, with  which  the  contracts  were  made. 
By  reason  of  his  remarkable  personality 
and  character  he  exercised  a  dominating 
influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  board. 

As  practically  interpreted  and  carried  out 
the  "management  contracts"  operated  as 
delegations  of  corporate  powers  by  the 
boards  of  directors,  with  respect  to  the 
business  and  property  of  the  corporation, 
which  under  the  provisions  of  Sec.  8660. 
were  impossible  of  delegation.  It  is  no 
answer  to  this  view  to  say  that  a  corpora- 
tion cannot,  as  a  corporate  entity,  carry 
on  its  business,  and  that  it  must  employ 
officers  and  agents  for  that  purpose.  The 
case  here  is  wholly  unlike  the  appointment, 
by  a  board  of  directors,  of  an  officer,  such 
as  a  president  or  superintendent,  and  the 
prescribing  of  his  powers  and  duties.  There 
is  no  analogy  between  such  an  appointment 
and  the  delivery  by  a  corporation,  of  its 
entire  executive  and  business  management, 
to  a  foreign  banking  house.  The  directors 
are  not  the  corporation,  but  only  its  agents. 
Such  agents  cannot  delegate  authority  re- 
quiring the  exercise  of  discretion  or  judg- 
ment. 

The  contracts  were  opposed  to  public 
policy,  as  well  as  in  express  violation  of 
the  statute.  They  were  without  considera- 
tion and  are  vitiated  because  of  the  fiduci- 
ary relation  of  the  defendant,  C.  M.  Clark, 
to  the  parties  to  them.  They  are  not  bind- 
ing upon  the  cestuis  Que  trustent.  the 
stockholders.  The  interest  of  C.  M.  Clark 
as  a  director  of  the  street  railway  and  as 
such  representing  the  stockholders,  was  op- 
posed to  the  interest  of  C.  M.  Clark  as  a 
partner  in  the  banking  firm  of  E.  W. 
Clark  &  Company. 

As  stated  above,  with  reference  to- 
all  other  points,  the  master  finds  no 
error  in  action  or  excess  in  amount. 
Profits  on  bonds  of  $180,000;  for  the 
resale  of  those  bonds,  of  $97,419;  on 
resale  of  notes,  of  $20,422,  or  for  re- 
demption of  underlying  bonds,  $200,583, 
are  called  just,  fair  and  not  excessive 
profits  to  the  company.  Engineering 
fees  of  $165,087  are  called  not  exces- 


October  15,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


715 


sive,  and  E.  W.  Clark  &  Company  are 
said  to  have  carried  out  this  contract 
honestly,  efficiently  and  faithfully. 

At  another  point  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  master  holds  that  it  is 
not  necessary  for  an  accounting  to  be 
given  by  a  treasurer  who  is  given  dis- 
cretionary power  in  the  expenditure  of 
reasonable  sums  of  money.  The  master 
goes  on  to  say  regarding  this: 

A  public  service  corporation  has  a  right 
to  expend  reasonable  sums  of  money  to 
protect  itself  against  threatened  attacks, 
sinister  in  character,  and  calculated  to  af- 
fect injuriously  the  proper  and  successful 
operation  of  its  business.  It  may  expend 
such  a  sum  in  published  propaganda,  educa- 
tional in  character,  with  the  end  in  view 
of  planting  in  the  public  mind  a  just  and 
fair  comprehension  of  the  relation  which 
should  exist  and  prevail  between  the  citizen 
and  such  a  company.  We  live  in  a  practi- 
cal and  not  a  theoretical  world.  It  is  im- 
portant and  necessary  for  our  service  cor- 
porations to  make  expenditures  every  day, 
not  at  all  improper  in  themselves,  which  it 
would  not  be  wise  to  shout  from  the  house- 
tops. 

The  mere  fact  that  the  books  and  accounts 
of  such  a  company  are  kept  in  such  a 
manner  as  not  to  disclose  the  minute  pur- 
pose of  each  expenditure  furnishes  no  pre- 
sumption of  illegality  or  Impropriety. 

The  entire  case  will  probably  come 
up  for  review  before  Judge  Kincaid  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  current  month.  No 
matter  what  his  decisions  are  with  ref- 
erence to  the  master's  findings,  it  seems 
evident  that  the  case  will  be  appealed 
by  one  side  or  the  other,  if  not  by  both, 
until  a  decision  on  the  various  facts  in- 
volved is  obtained  from  some  court  of 
final  resort. 


Purchase  Review  Case  Argued 

The  appeal  of  the  Puget  Sound  Power 
&  Light  Company,  Seattle,  Wash., 
against  a  decision  of  the  District 
Court,  denying  an  injunction  against 
S.  B.  Asis  and  thirteen  other  taxpay- 
ers, asking  for  a  review  of  the  pur- 
chase of  the  lines  now  included  in  the 
Seattle  Municipal  Railway  System,  was 
argued  recently  in  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  in  Seattle. 
The  matter  was  taken  under  advise- 
ment by  the  appellate  judges.  Argu- 
ments were  confined  to  legal  points  of 
the  matter. 

Financial 
News  Notes  1 

New  Hearing  Date  Arranged. — Judge 
Julius  M.  Mayer  in  the  Federal  District 
Court  on  Sept.  30  postponed  the  hear- 
ing on  the  application  for  a  receiver- 
ship for  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  until  Oct. 
27.  This  is  the  fourth  adjournment 
in  the  matter. 

$182,525  Loss  in  Boston  in  August. 
— Operation  during  the  month  of  Aug- 
ust, 1921,  resulted  in  a  further  tem- 
porary set-back  for  the  Boston  (Mass.) 
Elevated  Railway.  Revenue  failed  to 
meet  expenses  by  $182,525.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  the  total  business  was 
$151,064  less  than  during  August  last 


year.  The  outstanding  deficit,  there- 
fore, on  Sept.  1  was  $193,026. 

Railway  Sells  Land. — The  application 
of  the  Public  Service  Railway,  Tren- 
ton, N.  J.,  for  the  sale  of  a  parcel  of 
land  in  Paterson  to  James  J.  Murner, 
was  sanctioned  by  the  Public  Utilities 
Commission  recently.  It  was  declared 
that  the  land  was  not  necessary  for  the 
immediate  or  future  corporate  use  of 
the  firm. 

Interurban  Fares  Permitted  to  Stand. 

—  The  Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Rail- 
way will  be  permitted  to  continue  to 
collect  on  its  interurban  lines  the  fare 
charged  under  the  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture in  1919.  The  United  States  Su- 
preme Court  on  Oct.  10  declined  to  re- 
view the  case  and  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Michigan  permitting 
increases  will  stand. 

Old  Niagara  Interurban  to  Be  Aban- 
doned.— The  International  Railway, 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  has  informed  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  of  North  Tonawanda 
that  it  has  decided  to  abandon  its  old 
Niagara  Falls  interurban  line  between 
North  Tonawanda  and  the  Niagara 
Falls  city  line.  All  traffic  will  be  di- 
verted by  the  railway  company  to  its 
new  high-speed  Buffalo-Niagara  Falls 
line. 

Interest  Paid  on  General  Mortgage 
Bonds. — H.  A.  Ferrandou,  treasurer  for 
the  receiver  of  the  New  Orleans  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company,  New  Orleans, 
La.,  announced  recently  that  the  July 
1  coupons  of  the  4J  per  cent  general 
mortgage  bonds  of  the  company  would 
be  paid  on  and  after  Sept.  30,  upon 
presentation  at  the  office  of  the  New 
York  Trust  Company. 

Exchange  of  Securities  Nearly  Com- 
pleted.— Of  the  approximately  $24,000,- 
000  of  United  Railroads  of  San  Fran- 
cisco 4  per  cent  certificates  issued  by 
the  depositaries  against  the  general 
first  mortgage  4s  of  1927,  all  but  about 
$2,000,000  issued  by  the  Equitable 
Trust  Company  and  Guaranty  Trust 
Company,  New  York,  have  been  ex- 
changed for  securities  of  the  Market 
Street  Railway  under  the  plan  of  re- 
organization. 

Sale  Under  Foreclosure  Ordered. — 

G.  Ray  Craig,  special  master  commis- 
sioner, has  announced  the  date  of  sale 
of  the  property  of  the  Plymouth  & 
Shelby  Traction  Company.  The  sale 
will  be  held  on  Oct.  29,  in  Plymouth. 
The  court  has  ordered  the  master  com- 
missioner to  have  the  bidders  post 
$5,000  before  being  allowed  to  submit 
a  bid,  and  no  bid  for  less  than  $20,000 
will  be  accepted.  C.  G.  Taylor  is  re- 
ceiver of  the  company. 

Foreclosure  Expected  to  Be  Averted. 

—Representatives  of  interests  affected 
by  filing  of  suits  appeared  in  United 
States  District  Court  and  asked  for 
order  of  foreclosure  on  the  St.  Louis 
&  Suburban  Railway,  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
because  of  default  on  $2,000,000  first 
mortgage  bonds.  The  withdrawal  of 
lines  from  the  United  Railways  system 
will  be  averted,  it  is  believed,  as  hold- 
ers of  underlying  securities  may  ad- 


vance funds  to  protect  their  interests. 
No  date  has  been  set  for  a  hearing. 

Line  to  be  Discontinued. — 'The  Geor- 
gia Railway  &  Power  Company,  At- 
lanta, Ga.,  will  discontinue  service  vt\ 
its  line  from  Oglethorpe  University  to 
Camp  Gordon.  The  State  Railroad 
Commission  ruled  recently  that  it  had 
no  authority  under  the  conditions  under 
which  the  Camp  Gordon  was  built  to 
prevent  this  discontinuance.  There  were 
no  franchise  obligations,  the  extension 
having  been  made  and  restricted  to  the 
period  of  the  maintenance  and  continu- 
ance of  Camp  Gordon  as  a  training 
camp  for  federal  troops. 

Railway  Holding  Its  Own. — In  the 
opinion  of  W.  H.  Sawyer,  receiver  of 
the  Alton,  Granite  &  St.  Louis  Trac- 
tion Company,  Alton,  111.,  the  railway 
is  keeping  up  very  well  despite  the 
period  of  depression.  In  the  month  of 
August  the  company  made  $300  in 
Alton  though  of  late  there  had  been 
no  profit  at  all  on  the  Alton  lines.  The 
installation  of  one-man  cars,  the  re- 
ceiver believes,  is  the  reason  for  this 
gain  in  revenue.  However,  the  inter- 
urban business  has  fallen  off  consider- 
ably, due,  in  the  receiver's  opinion,  not 
to  higher  fares  but  to  the  increasing 
number  of  automobiles. 

Interborough  Prepares  to  Pay  Man- 
hattan Dividend. — The  New  York  Stock 
Exchange  has  received  notice  from  the 
Manhattan  Railway  of  the  declaration 
of  the  regular  quarterly  guaranteed 
dividend  of  12  per  cent  distributable 
to  holders  of  record  of  Oct.  7.  The 
payable  date  has  not  been  fixed  as  yet. 
The  committee  on  securities  of  the 
Stock  Exchange  has  ruled  that  the 
stock  shall  not  sell  ex-dividend  on  Oct. 
7,  and  that  all  deliveries  after  that  date 
must  be  accompanied  by  a  due  bill  for 
the  dividend.  The  dividend  is  guaran- 
teed by  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company  under  the  lease  of  the  Man- 
hattan (Elevated)  Railway  to  that 
company. 

Montreal  Tramways  Contemplates 
Financing. — E.  A.  Robert,  president  of 
the  Montreal  (Que.)  Tramway,  a(,  the 
close  of  the  meeting  of  the  directors  on 
Sept.  14  stated  that  he  had  no  definite 
information  to  give  out  regaraing  the 
proposed  new  financing.  He  admitted, 
however,  that  negotiations  were  in  pro- 
gress with  leading  American  and  Cana- 
dian financial  houses,  and  that  now  it 
was  largely  a  matter  of  waiting  for  a 
more  favorable  money  situation  in  order 
to  secure  the  necessary  capital  at  a 
rate  more  commensurate  with  pre-war 
terms.  It  is  stated  unofficially  that 
from  $6,000,000  to  $8,000,000  will  be 
required  to  meet  obligations  during  the 
next  year  or  two,  in  order  to  permit  the 
management  to  carry  out  a  program  of 
betterments  and  extensions  affecting  the 
entire  system.  This  amount  will  be 
required  to  buy  in  maturing  bonds  in 
1922  to  the  extent  of  about  $3,250,000, 
while  at  least  $2,000,000  will  be  required 
for  capital  expenditure  already  made, 
ar.d  at  least  another  $1,000,000  or  there- 
abouts will  have  to  be  nrovided  for  1922 
under  the  same  heading. 


716 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Results  of  Decreased  Fare 
Not  Satisfactory 

Just  what  has  been  the  result  of  the 
decreased  fare,  or  7-cent  charge  which 
went  into  effect  on  Sept.  1  on  the  lines 
of  the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric 
Company,  Washington,  D.  C,  is  seen  in 
an  estimate  made  public  recently  by  W. 
F.  Ham,  president  of  the  company. 

For  the  first  three  weeks  in  Septem- 
ber of  this  year  there  has  been  a  loss 
in  passenger  traffic  of  214,950  passen- 
gers with  a  10  per  cent  cut  in  revenue 
as  compared  with  operation  for  the 
same  period  a  year  ago.  Mr.  Ham 
states  that  if  this  reduction  in  travel 
continues  for  the  eight  months  for 
which  this  order  is  effective  at  the  same 
rate  of  reduction  as  in  the  first  three 
weeks  the  company  will  suffer  a  loss  in 
revenue  of  approximately  $650,000  a 
year.  A  similar  loss  has  been  suffered 
by  the  Capital  Traction  Company,  the 
other  operating  company  in  Washing- 
ton. This  property  carried  3,975,365 
passengers  for  the  first  three  weeks  of 
operation  under  the  7-cent  fare  against 
4,073,475  hauled  in  the  similar  period 
in  1920.  The  revenue  collected 
amounted  to  $285,015  against  $309,003 
for  the  same  period  of  last  year. 


Cities  Win  on  Five-Cent 
Fare  Issue 

The  existing  contracts  between  the 
cities  of  Decatur  and  College  Park  with 
the  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company 
have  been  held  valid,  thereby  sustain- 
ing the  5-cent  fare  between  these 
municipalities  and  Atlanta.  This  opin- 
ion was  recently  handed  down  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Georgia  as  a  result 
of  the  railway's  efforts  to  extend  the 
7-cent  fare. 

Passengers  who  have  been  paying  the 
extra  2  cents  can  now  be  reimbursed  by 
the  railway  if  they  hold  receipts.  The 
ruling  means  that  between  Decatur  and 
Atlanta  and  between  College  Park  and 
Atlanta  no  more  than  5  cents  per  pas- 
senger can  be  charged  as  provided  in 
the  original  contracts. 


President  Shannahan  Protests 
Against  Jitneys 

John  N.  Shannahan,  president  of  the 
Newport  News  &  Hampton  Railway, 
Gas  &  Electric  Company,  Newport 
News,  Va.,  is  up  in  arms  against  the 
jitney.  He  insists  that  the  auto  pirate 
shall  be  put  on  a  footing  with  the  elec- 
tric railway  as  regards  its  obligations 
to  the  public  and  has  asked  the  Coun- 
cil to  take  steps  to  this  end.  Accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Shannahan  his  company  is 
losing  about  $150  a  day  in  revenue  to 
the  jitneys. 

As  a  result  of  Mr.  Shannahan's  pro- 
test City  Manager  Thorn  has  been  re- 
quested by  the  Council  to  make  a  com- 


plete investigation  of  the  entire  situa- 
tion and  to  recommend  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Council,  if  possible, 
what  action  the  Council  should  take  to 
remedy  the  situation. 

The  patrons  of  the  jitney  are  re- 
cruited largely  from  those  who  are 
rankled  at  the  continuation  of  the 
charge  of  7  cents  for  fare  by  the  rail- 
way in  the  face  of  lowered  costs  for 
a  great  many  commodities  and  of  low- 
ered wages  generally  among  the  manu- 
facturing classes. 


Bus  Petition  Allowed 

Receiver  of  Interurban  Scored  by  State 
Commission  for  His  Unpro- 
gressive  Attitude 

The  Illinois  Commerce  Commission 
has  granted  the  Smith  Bus  Line  Com- 
pany the  right  to  operate  motor  cars 
on  regular  schedule  between  Aurora 
and  Big  Rock.  The  Aurora,  Elgin  & 
Chicago  Electric  Railroad,  through  its 
receiver,  Joseph  Choate,  opposed  the 
authorization  of  the  bus  line.  The  Com- 
merce Commission  held,  however,  that 
the  railway  was  not  giving  adequate 
service  and  that  the  bus  line,  especially 
between  St.  Charles  and  South  Elgin, 
would  not  compete  with  the  railway. 

The  bus  line  between  these  points  is 
required  to  operate  its  cars  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river,  whereas  the  rail- 
way is  on  the  east  side  to  a  point  close 
to  South  Elgin.  The  bus  line  expects 
to  put  cars  in  operation  at  least  by  Oct. 
15.  Before  it  can  give  authorized  serv- 
ice it  must  furnish  a  $10,000  bond  on 
each  automobile  to  protect  its  patrons 
in  the  event  of  accidents. 

The  commission  says  that  although 
the  railroad  receiver  had  been  requested 
to  extend  its  line  from  the  corner  of 
Wilson  Street  and  Batavia  Avenue, 
east  on  Wilson  Street,  across  Fox 
River,  approximately  one-half  mile,  the 
company  refused  to  extend  the  line  and 
serve  the  public  on  the  east  side  of 
Batavia.  A  substantial  part  of  the 
business  district  of  Batavia  is  situated 
in  that  district  where  there  is  a  popula- 
tion of  approximately  4,000  people. 

In  commenting  on  this  attitude  of 
unwillingness  of  the  railroad  to  meet 
the  public  demand  for  service  the  com- 
mission said: 

When  a  public  utility  is  serving  a  district 
under  conditions  which  amount  to  a  mon- 
opoly and  declines  or  omits  to  extend  its 
service  to  additional  territory  where  it  ap- 
pears, as  it  does  here,  that  it  will  greatly 
convenience  the  public  and  that  a  neces- 
sity exists  for  such  service,  such  public 
utility  should  not  be  heard  to  complain  that 
if  another  is  permitted  to  enter  the  field 
and  furnish  substantially  the  same  or  better 
service,  its  revenue  will  be  materially  re- 
duced because  of  the  competition  that  will 
be  created  between  the  two  public  utilities. 

Modern  methods  employed  in  furnishing 
service  to  the  public  generally  should  and 
will  be  encouraged  when  it  appears  that 
substantial  justice  requires  it  and  that  the 
public  will  be  permanently  benefited. 

An  examination  of  the  evidence  indicates 
clearly  that  the  service  of  the  Aurora,  Elgin 
&  Chicago  Railroad  is  inadequate. 


City  Extends  Its  Bus  Operations 

After  receiving  temporary  permis- 
sion from  the  city  utilities  committee 
to  operate  buses  to  the  Cowen  Park 
district  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  jitney  driv- 
ers were  two  days  later  again  driven 
from  the  streets,  after  a  stormy  ses- 
sion of  the  City  Council  at  which  five 
councilmen  of  the  eight  voted  per- 
manently to  oust  the  jitneys  from  all 
Seattle  streets,  except,  where  they 
serve  as  feeder  lines.  The  drivers  were 
forbidden  to  load  or  unload  passen- 
gers within  areas  served  by  city  street 
cars,  except  at  their  downtown  ter- 
minus, but  this  did  not  prevent  the 
city  from  rescinding  its  order. 

Residents  of  the  districts  protested 
against  the  withdrawal  of  jitney  serv- 
ice with  the  result  that  Councilman 
Carroll  has  proposed  the  installation 
of  bus  service  such  as  is  now  used  in 
Carleton  Park  and  Laurelhurst,  where 
the  residents  have  purchased  and  do- 
nated to  the  city  the  buses  in  use  on 
these  lines.  A  fare  of  10  cents  ,is 
charged  on  these  buses,  with  transfer 
privileges  to  and  from  the  Municipal 
Street  Railway  with  which  they  con- 
nect. This  plan  has  also  been  ar- 
ranged for  another  section  of  the  city, 
South  Beacon  Hill,  not  now  served  by 
city  cars,  where  the  residents  have  pur- 
chased a  truck  and  the  city  is  con- 
structing a  body  for  the  vehicle,  so  that 
it  may  be  used  for  passenger  service. 


Three-Cent  Fare  Plan  Opposed 
by  Property  Owners 

The  proposed  plan  of  Oliver  T.  Erick- 
son  of  the  City  Council  of  Seattle, 
Wash.,  to  meet  all  operating  and  main- 
tenance costs  of  the  Seattle  Municipal 
Railway  by  taxation,  charging  only  ex- 
tensions and  betterments  against  oper- 
ating revenues,  has  met  with  strong 
opposition  by  property  owners.  The 
Seattle  Times  states  that  analysis  of 
the  plan  shows  that  property  owners  in 
the  city  will  be  paying  into  the  city 
treasury  $11,659,078  in  taxes  instead  of 
$6,647,303  levied  for  next  year.  The 
Erickson  plan  is  known  as  the  3-cent 
fare  plan.  It  is  proposed  in  an  initia- 
tive ordinance  now  being  checked  by 
city  registration  clerks  to  ascertain 
whether  it  contains  sufficient  names  of 
qualified  voters  to  compel  its  submis- 
sion on  the  ballot  at  the  next  munici- 
pal election  in  May. 

According  to  statements  made  by 
State  officials,  the  above  estimate  of 
increased  taxes  would  be  further  en- 
larged by  an  item  of  approximately 
$900,000  for  interest  on  outstanding 
warrants  and  bonds,  as  the  classifica- 
tion of  accounts  for  the  Municipal  Rail- 
way, prescribed  by  the  Bureau  of  In- 
spection and  Supervision  of  Public  Of- 
fices of  Washington,  effective  on  Jan. 
1,  1921,  requires  that  interest  on  out- 
standing warrants  and  bonds  be  made 
an  operation  and  maintenance  charge. 
The  interest  paid  by  the  railway  on 
outstanding  bonds  and  warrants  during 
the  first  six  months  of  this  year  totaled 
$434,312.  In  a  year,  this  sum  would  be 
approximately  $850,000  or  $900,000. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


717 


City's  Case  Closed 

Chicago  Ends  Argument  By  Which  It 
Hopes  to  Secure  Return  of  Five- 
Cent  Fare 

Hearings  were  begun  on  Oct.  4 
before  the  Illinois  Commerce  Commis- 
sion on  the  city's  petition  to  restore  the 
5-cent  fare  on  the  Chicago  Surface 
Lines.  With  the  evident  intention  of 
getting  a  prompt  ruling  the  city  closed 
its  case  after  four  days  and  an  adjourn- 
ment was  taken  until  Oct.  11  when  the 
company  began  putting  in  evidence  to 
show  why  the  8-cent  fare  should  be 
continued  in  effect. 

The  main  contention  of  the  city  is 
that  the  valuation  of  the  properties 
fixed  by  the  previous  commission  is  too 
high  by  $80,000,000  and  that  by  proper 
economies  the  companies  could  exist  on 
a  5-cent  fare.  It  was  shown  that  the 
city's  share  of  earnings  from  the  sur- 
face lines  would  amount  to  $29,573,144 
by  next  February.  These  payments 
have  been  made  annually  since  1907 
under  the  ordinance  provision  by  which 
55  per  cent  of  the  net  receipts  of  the 
railway  goes  to  the  city. 

It  was  contended  that  the  following 
items  should  be  deducted  from  the  capi- 
tal account  of  the  companies:  Fran- 
chises, $9,016,971;  organization  and 
other  intangibles,  $8,000,000;  property 
superseded  in  rehabilitation,  $14,794,- 
666;  15  per  cent  for  engineering  and 
brokerage,  $12,739,080;  patents,  $56,193; 
horses,  $34,100;  bridges,  $996,733;  cars 
renewed  in  1915,  $1,026,033;  interest 
and  discounts,  $2,379,294;  total,  $50,- 
105,215.  It  was  also  claimed  that  the 
companies  gave  a  lower  valuation  of 
the  properties  for  taxation  purposes. 

Moving  Pictures  Shown  at  Hearing 

A  feature  of  the  hearing  was  the 
exhibition  of  moving  pictures  showing 
crowded  cars.  The  city  claimed  that 
the  conditions  portrayed  were  typical 
of  service  conditions.  President  Henry 
A.  Blair  was  called  as  a  witness  by  the 
city  to  testify  about  certain  expendi- 
tures during  the  1918  campaign  for  a 
new  franchise. 

George  W.  Jackson,  special  traction 
engineer  for  the  city,  was  also  called. 
He  proposed  various  economies  which 
he  said  would  enable  the  companies  to 
operate  at  a  profit  on  a  5-cent  fare. 
He  said  that  by  re-routing  and  other 
changes  there  could  be  handled  a  50 
per  cent  increase  in  revenue  passengers, 
but  he  did  not  show  where  these  would 
come  from  or  how  they  could  be  taken 
care  of  on  present  equipment.  His  plan 
for  re-routing  would  mean  the  abandon- 
ment of  about  half  of  the  downtown 
trackage  and  simplification  of  loops. 
He  would  use  loading  platforms  300  ft. 
in  length  and  would  abandon  the  use 
of  river  tunnels  which  are  now  the 
principal  inlets  and  outlets  from  the 
loop  district. 

Mayor  William  Hale  Thompson  was 
also  used  as  a  city  witness  and  gave  it 
as  his  opinion  that  a  5-cent  fare  would 
be  practicable  on  the  surface  lines  even 
without  wage  reduction.    He  insisted 


that  some  other  large  cities  are  giv- 
ing good  service  on  a  5-cent  fare. 

One  of  the  newspapers  published  a 
statement  showing  how  the  8-cent  fare 
of  the  surface  lines  was  distributed 
for  the  month  of  July,  1921,  as  fol- 
lows: 

PerCent  Cents 

Wages    54.12  4.299 

Materials,    power    and  other 

expenses    17.26  1.371 

Taxes    3.60  .278 

Damages   i   4.13  .328 

Companies'  5%  return   13.78  1.095 

City's    66%    of   net   3.97  .315 

Companies'  45%  of  net   3.24  .258 

Total   100.00  7.944 

This  raised  the  question  as  to  how 
the  road  could  be  operated  without  re- 
duction of  wages  on  a  5-cent  fare. 


Eight-Cent  Jersey  Fare 

United  States  Court  Restrains  Utility 
Board  from  Enforcing  Its  Seven- 
Cent  Fare  Order 

The  plea  of  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Newark,  N.  J.,  to  the  courts  for 
an  increase  in  fare  over  that  allowed 
recently  by  the  Board  of  Public  Utility 
Commissioners  was  passed  upon  on  Oct. 
12.  Pending  determination  of  the  com- 
pany's litigation  for  a  10-cent  fare,  Fed- 
eral Judges  Woolley  and  Rellstab  have 
granted  the  company  permission  to  in- 
crease its  rate  from  7  to  8  cents,  with 
an  additional  charge  of  1  cent  for  a 
transfer.  The  order  also  grants  a  tem- 
porary injunction  restraining  the  State 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners 
from  enforcing  its  decision  of  last  July, 
fixing  the  fare  at  7  cents,  with  2  cents 
extra  for  a  transfer.  Judge  Davis  filed 
a  dissenting  opinion. 

The  opinion  by  Judges  Woolley  and 
Rellstab  holds  that  the  Utility  Board 
underestimated  or  excluded  from  its 
valuations  approximately  $20,000,000  of 
the  company's  properties,  and  as  the 
rates  fixed  by  the  board  provide  no  re- 
turn on  these  excluded  properties,  they 
are  confiscatory.  The  only  question,  the 
majority  opinion  says,  is  whether  the 
rate  fixed  by  the  State  body  is  confis- 
catory "because  based  on  a  valuation 
of  the  property  less  than  its  worth  at 
the  present  time."  The  Judges  hold 
that  the  rate  is  confiscatory  and  there- 
fore in  violation  of  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution. 

The  rate  fixed  by  the  Utility  Board, 
Judge  Davis  points  out,  gives  the  com- 
pany a  return  of  $5,842,500,  which, 
after  paying  all  operating  costs,  is 
nearly  51  per  cent  on  the  increased 
valuation  fixed  by  the  court  itself. 
Judge  Davis  said: 

Assuming  that  the  board  did  under- 
estimate or  wholly  exclude  the  properties 
to  the  extent  of  $20,000,000  in  view  of  the 
rate  of  return  that  the  board's  order  per- 
mits, I  should  hesitate  to  say  on  a  prelim- 
inary application,  without  the  benefit  of  a 
full  hearing,  with  many  questions  in  doubt, 
that  it  was  confiscatory.  The  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  composed  of  men 
of  ability  and  experience  and  having  at 
their  command  an  advisory  board  of  noted 
experts,  allows  the  railroads  a  return  of 
only  5 1  per  cent.  If  the  court  in  this  case 
is  right,  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion has  confiscated  the  property  of  every 
railroad  in  the  country — a  most  unlikely 
assumption. 

To  grant  the   increase  to  8  cents, 


Judge  Davis  figures  the  court  has 
added  $20,000,000  to  the  value  of  the 
property  of  the  Public  Service  Corpora- 
tion, although  the  Public  Utility  Board 
had  already  allowed  $12,000,000  appre- 
ciation to  go  into  the  final  valuation. 

The  court's  order  will  give  the  com- 
pany additional  earnings  of  approxi- 
mately $1,400,000  a  year,  which  is  7 
per  cent  on  $20,000,000  of  property. 
Adding  this  latter  sum  to  the  valuation 
of  $82,000,000  already  allowed  by  the 
Utility  Board,  the  court's  action  brings 
the  valuation  to  $102,000,000. 

The  Utility  Board  placed  the  cost  of 
the  physical  property  at  $70,000,000  and 
the  figures  are  accepted  by  the  court. 
The  Utility  Board,  Judge  Davis  holds, 
"might  have  authoritatively  said  that  it 
would  be  unfair  to  the  public  to  base 
rates  on  an  appreciated  value  to  ab- 
normal war  prices,  but  it  did  not,  and 
in  its  efforts  to  be  fair  allowed  $12,000,- 
000  appreciation  to  go  into  the  final 
valuation  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  a 
rate  of  return." 

The  injunction  is  not  permanent,  but 
only  allows  relief  pending  the  granting 
of  a  permanent  restraining  order. 
Under  the  8-cent  fare  allowed  by  the 
court,  four  tickets  are  to  be  sold  for 
30  cents.  Refund  slips  are  to  be  is- 
sued for  the  extra  cent  over  the  fare 
of  7  cents  fixed  by  the  commission. 


Jitney  Injunction  at  Albany 
Gets  Setback 

Due  to  the  fact  that  the  attorneys 
for  the  United  Traction  Company  at 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  failed  to  comply  with 
the  rules  of  court  procedure,  the  in- 
junction restraining  jitneys  from  com- 
peting with  the  United  Traction  Com- 
pany in  Albany  and  vicinity  has  been 
made  non-operative  pending  an  order 
to  show  cause  granted  by  Justice  Gil- 
bert D.  B.  Hasbrouck. 

The  rules  of  the  court  and  of  prac- 
tice require  that  when  an  injunction 
order  is  granted  in  court  a  copy  shall 
be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk 
of  a  county  in  the  judicial  district,  and 
whenever  service  is  made  of  a  copy  of 
the  injunction  upon  a  party  affected, 
that  a  certificate  of  the  county  clerk 
shall  be  attached  thereto  showing  the 
filing  of  the  original  injunction  in  his 
office  and  that  the  original  signature 
shall  be  exhibited  to  the  person  upon 
whom  the  order  is  served. 

This  for  some  strange  reason  the  at- 
torneys for  the  traction  company  failed 
to  do,  the  service  consisting  simply  of 
a  printed  copy  of  the  injunction  re- 
straining order. 

As  the  situation  now  stands,  the 
justice  before  whom  the  appeal  is  taken, 
will  undoubtedly  rule  that  no  injunc- 
tion exists  against  the  persons  served 
and  that  service  will  have  to  be  made 
again  to  conform  with  court  rules. 

The  practical  effect  is  to  restore  the 
jitneys,  which  had  been  practically 
driven  off  the  streets,  until  the  court 
and  the  attorneys  can  untangle  them- 
selves. It  really  means  renewed  jitney 
service  for  another  month  at  least. 


718 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Public  Utility  Body  Denies 
Ten-Cent  Fare 

New  Jersey  Commission  Rejects  Com- 
pany's Estimates  and  Denies 
Plea  of  Suburban  Line 

The  New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania 
Traction  Company  was  recently  denied 
a  10-cent  fare  by  the  Board  of  Public 
Utility  Commissioners.  This  company 
is  known  as  the  "Johnson  Line."  It 
was  founded  by  the  late  Tom  L.  John- 
son. It  operates  its  cars  between 
Trenton,  Lawrenceville  and  Princeton, 
N.  J.,  and  a  number  of  points  adjacent 
to  the  Delaware  river  opposite  and 
north  of  Trenton  in  Pennsylvania. 

Some  months  ago  the  Public  Service 
Commission  of  Pennsylvania  granted 
the  company  a  10-cent  fare  on  each  of 
its  zones,  while  the  New  Jersey  board  in 
June  of  this  year  issued  an  order  on  an 
application  of  the  concern  for  increased 
rates,  in  which  an  8-cent  fare  on  each  of 
four  zones  between  Trenton  and  Prince- 
ton was  allowed,  with  four  tickets  for 
thirty  cents. 

At  a  rehearing  of  the  fare  matter  be- 
fore the  Utilities  Commission  it  was 
contended  by  counsel  for  the  company 
that  there  had  been  errors  in  the  report 
of  the  board  previously  made.  It  was 
pointed  out  that  in  making  an  estimate 
of  the  number  of  passengers  to  be  car- 
ried on  the  lines  of  the  company  for  the 
ensuing  year,  the  board  erred  in  basing 
its  calculations  upon  the  number  of 
passengers  for  the  years  1913  to  1920 
inclusive.  The  company  contended  that 
the  years  1913  to  1916  could  not  be  used 
as  a  basis  of  comparison  because  the 
number  of  zones  between  Trenton  and 
Princeton  had  been  changed  from  time 
to  time. 

Replying  to  the  claim  of  the  company 
on  the  conclusions  of  the  board  in  rela- 
tion to  the  number  of  persons  carried, 
the  board  showed  that  there  had  been 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  passen- 
gers carried  in  1918  and  1919  as  against 
1917. 

It  was  estimated  by  the  railway  that 
the  10-cent  fare  for  each  zone  would 
entail  a  loss  in  the  number  of  passen- 
gers transported,  amounting  to  5  per 
cent,  and  it  claimed  further  that  under 
the  schedule  of  rates  permitted  by  the 
board,  four  out  of  five  passengers  would 
take  the  ticket  rate  of  30  cents  for  the 
entire  trip  between  this  city  and  Prince- 
ton, or  vice  versa. 

The  board  declared  in  relation  to  this 
estimate  that  as  this  amounts  to  about 
ten  per  cent  increase,  as  compared  with 
upwards  of  40  per  cent  increase 
under  the  10-cent  fare,  it  is  apparent 
that  the  company  would  not  lose  5  per 
cent  under  the  schedule  permitted  by 
the  board,  and  that  an  estimate  of  1,- 
655,000  passengers  carried  by  the  com- 
pany in  a  year,  as  shown  in  the  report 
of  the  commission  in  June,  was  based 
on  facts. 

The  board  emphasized  the  fact  that 
the  Johnson  company  would,  under  the 
8-cent  zone  fare,  receive  32  cents 
per  rider  between  Trenton  and  Prince- 
ton, while  the  Trenton  &  Mercer 
County  Traction  Corporation,  the  com- 


peting company,  receives  but  24  cents 
for  the  same  trip. 

Regarding  the  alleged  error  by  which 
the  company  contended  it  would  meet 
with  a  deficit  of  $6,000,  the  board  as- 
serted that  even  if  this  were  true,  it 
would  be  offset  by  a  saving  of  that 
amount  made  by  the  company  by  a 
reduction  in  wages  of  its  employees. 


Charlottesville  Sells 
Transportation 

The  Charlottesville  &  Albemarle  Rail- 
way, Charlottesville,  Va.,  can  well  be 
proud  of  its  record — it  has  never 
stopped  paying  dividends  on  either  its 
common  or  preferred  stock  and  is  still 
operating  on  a  5-cent  fare.    The  reten- 


Over  one  million  passengers 
carried  on  the  street  cars  dur- 
ing the  past  year  with  no  acci- 
dent of  any  kind  to  any  of  them. 

The  street  cars  are  the  safest 
and  cheapest  means  of  transpor- 
tation in  Charlottesville.  Use 
them  often;  we  appreciate  your 
patronage. 

Don't  envy  the  man  with  the 
automobile,  when  you  can  use  a 
70-horsepower  electric  limousine, 
all  lighted,  heated  and  ventilated, 
for  one  nickel,  five  cents.  No 
radiator  to  freeze,  no  tires  to  re- 
place. Use  the  street  cars,  we 
appreciate  your  service. 

C.  &  A.  Ry.  Co. 


tion  of  the  nickel  ride  has  increased 
patronage,  especially  in  small  towns 
with  short  rides  With  the  aid  of 
newspaper  ads  the  company  has  been 
putting  across  to  the  public  the  im- 
portant role  of  the  electric  carrier. 


Safety  Work  Alive  on  Interurban 

During  the  last  five  years  the  Chi- 
cago, North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Rail- 
road has  decreased  its  fatal  accidents 
77  per  cent  and  decreased  its  accident 
costs  to  less  than  one-third  of  the 
average  for  all  electric  railways  of  the 
country.  How  extensively  safety  work 
is  being  cultivated  by  the  employees  of 
this  railway  is  shown  in  the  following 
letter  which  was  received  recently  by 
a  trespasser  on  the  tracks  of  the  rail- 
way between  Chicago  and  Milwaukee. 
As  an  electric  train  whizzed  past  him 
at  the  rate  of  60  miles  an  hour  the 
motorman  threw  out  this  communica- 
tion: 

Don't  you  realize  there  is  serious  danger 
to  any  one  walking  these  tracks,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  our  cars  are  run  at  high 
speed?  If  the  motorman  should  fail  to  see 
you  in  bad  weather,  or  while  rounding  a 
curve,  or  for  some  other  reason,  you  would 
be  placed  in  imminent  danger  of  being 
killed  or  injured. 

It  is  our  desire  to  cultivate  the  safety 
work  on  this  road  to  a  point  where  every 
accident  of  an  avoidable  character  will  be 
eliminated,  and  we  hope  that  you  will  at 
once  discontinue  walking  on  these  tracks 
so  that  the  chances  of  your  being  injured 
or  killed  will  be  done  away  with. 
Tours  truly, 

CHICAGO,  NORTH  SHORE  & 
MILWAUKEE  RAILROAD. 


School  Ticket  System 
in  Force 

Bulletin   of   Cincinnati  Traction  Com- 
pany Describes  Regulations  Pre- 
scribed by  Ordinance 

Regulations  to  govern  the  method  of 
selling  the  5-cent  fare  strip  tickets  to 
children  attending  Cincinnati's  public 
and  parochial  schools  as  required  by  an 
ordinance  recently  adopted  by  the  mu- 
nicipalities of  Cincinnati  and  Norwood 
are  contained  in  a  bulletin  issued  by 
the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany. 

The  5-cent  school  tickets  will  be  sold 
only  in  blocks  of  forty  rides  for  $2  or 
in  blocks  of  ten  rides  for  50  cents.  The 
forty-ride  tickets  are  intended  to  sup- 
ply two  rides  each  day  for  twenty 
school  days  in  the  month  and  will  be 
sold  on  certain  days  in  each  month  at 
the  several  high  schools,  by  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  traction  company. 

Walter  Draper,  vice-president  of  the 
traction  company,  said  that  by  selling 
a  month's  supply  at  a  time  to  the  high 
school  pupils  the  confusion  of  frequent 
sales  and  interference  with  classes  as 
well  as  the  employment  of  many  addi- 
tional agents  by  the  company  would  be 
avoided.  It  can  readily  be  understood, 
Mr.  Draper  said,  that  the  school  pupil 
tickets  could  not  be  put  in  the  hands 
of  the  conductors  for  sale. 

The  tickets  are  good  on  all  lines  of 
the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  and 
the  Ohio  Traction  Company  for  school 
children  ten  years  and  over  and  under 
eighteen  years  of  age  and  for  use  in 
going  and  coming  from  school. 

The  ordinance  under  which  the  tickets 
will  be  sold  does  not  provide  for  the 
use  by  children  attending  private 
schools.  The  ordinance  states  that  the 
school  children's  rate  of  fare  shall  be 
good  for  all  children  under  eighteen 
years  and  the  company  in  its  regula- 
tions which  must  be  approved  by  the 
city  is  compelled  to  adhere  to  this  re- 
striction. The  ordinance  specifically 
provides  that  the  school  fare  shall  be 
only  by  ticket.  Conductors  cannot  ac- 
cept cash  less  than  the  current  cash 
fare  for  adults  and  children. 

Mr.  Draper  said  the  tickets  will  be 
sold  under  the  regulations  previously 
outlined,  which  are  temporary  and  may 
be  changed  later  if  found  necessary  to 
meet  conditions.  The  plan  for  selling 
the  tickets  has  been  approved  by  Jerome 
Kuertz,  director  of  street  railways. 

If  at  any  time  when  the  company's 
representative  visits  a  school  for  the 
purpose  of  selling  the  month's  supply 
of  tickets  any  pupil  has  not  used  up  the 
full  number  of  rides  on  a  strip  already 
held,  and  the  number  of  rides  so  unused 
is  not  sufficient  for  the  succeeding 
twenty  days,  the  unused  portion  of  such 
ticket  may  be  redeemed  by  being  cred- 
ited on  the  purchase  of  the  new  ticket. 

Each  pupil  will  be  furnished  with  a 
certificate  which  must  be  filled  out  and 
signed  by  the  principal  of  the  school. 
This  application  must  be  presented  to 
the  representative  of  the  traction  com- 
pany when  purchasing  tickets. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


719 


Railway  Offers  Motor  Bus  Service 
Judge  John  0.  Chapin,  attorney  for 
the  Niagara  Gorge  Railway,  Niagara 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  has  returned  to  the  village 
of  Youngstown  a  proposed  franchise 
for  running  regular  trolley  service  be- 
tween Niagara  Falls  and  Youngstown 
during  the  winter  months.  The  com- 
pany claims  there  is  not  sufficient  pat- 
ronage to  continue  more  than  two  round 
trips  daily  between  the  two  points.  The 
Gorge  line  proposes  to  run  two-hour 
motor  bus  service  if  the  village  will 
give  the  line  a  permit. 


Trackless  Trolley  or  Buses, 
Which? 

Negotiations  are  under  way  between 
the  City  Council  of  Buffalo  and  the 
International  Railway  for  the  operation 
of  trackless  trolleys  in  Bailey  Avenue 
between  Broadway  and  the  north  City 
line,  a  distance  of  almost  5  miles.  Res- 
idents in  the  so-called  Kensington- 
Bailey  section  of  the  city  appealed  for 
railway  service,  but  the  company  says 
it  cannot  finance  the  laying  of  tracks 
in  the  street  at  this  time  and  has  sug- 
gested the  use  of  trackless  trolleys  or 
large  motor  buses.  There  is  said  to  be 
some  objection  on  the  part  of  residents 
to  the  use  of  buses. 

Transportation  j 
News  Notes 

Will  Charge  Ten  Cents.— A  10-cent 
rate  of  fare  went  into  effect  on  the 
lines  of  the  Aberdeen  (S.  D.)  Railroad 
on  Oct.  3.  Coupon  books  are  sold  at 
the  rate  of  71  cents. 

Temporarily  Suspends  Increased 
Rates. — The  Illinois  Public  Utilities 
Commission  has  suspended  until  Feb.  2, 
1922,  the  proposed  advances  in  freight 
rates  sought  by  the  Rockford  &  Inter- 
urban  Railway,  Rockford,  111. 

Mail  Service  Established.  —  United 
States  mail  service  has  been  estab- 
lished on  the  Illinois  Traction  System's 
limited  trains  between  Springfield  and 
Peoria,  saving  twelve  hours  as  com- 
pared with  the  steam  road  schedule. 
Two  limited  cars  each  way  daily  be- 
tween Peoria  and  Springfield  will  carry 
the  mail 

"Stop"  Signs  to  Be  Installed.— In 
order  to  help  residents  of  Atlanta,  Ga., 
to  know  where  to  board  the  electric 
cars  of  the  Georgia  Railway  &  Power 
Company  2,400  stop  signs  are  being 
put  up  in  all  parts  of  the  city.  It  is 
estimated  that  it  will  take  one  month 
before  final  installation  of  these  signs. 

May  Try  Trolley  Bus. — After  a  con- 
ference with  Sir  Adam  Beck,  chair- 
man of  the  Hydro-Electric  Commission, 
Toronto,  Ont.,  on  the  transportation 
problems  of  Peterboro,  a  deputation  of 
Peterboro's  City  Council  has  returned 
and  has  announced  that  the  trackless 
trolley  may  be  installed  in  Peterboro 
as  an  experiment. 


Freight  Service  To  Be  Abandoned. — 

The  Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit 
Company  has  filed  a  new  tariff  with  the 
Public  Service  Commission  discontinu- 
ing all  freight  service  on  its  line  ef- 
fective Oct.  31.  No  reason  has  been 
officially  assigned  for  this,  but  it  is 
believed  that  the  profit  is  too  small  to 
warrant  its  continuance. 

Buses  Must  Have  Two  Doors. — In- 
terurban  bus  operators  in  Ohio  were 
notified  recently  of  a  new  ruling  of 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  that 
they  would  have  to  provide  two  doors 
for  each  bus  before  Dec.  1.  There  must 
be  one  each  side  or  one  side  and  rear. 
This  is  one  of  the  first  regulatory 
measures  taken  by  the  commission 
under  the  Graham  law. 

Railway  May  File  Rates.— The  State 
Railroad  Commission  has  given  per- 
mission to  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company,  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  to  file  its  present  interurban  rates 
between  Kenosha  and  Racine  as  a  per- 
manent schedule.  At  the  same  time 
the  commission  authorized  the  7-cent 
rate  in  Kenosha  and  a  maximum  of 
10  cents  for  travel  outside  of  city. 

Lower  Jitney  Fares  in  Effect. — Jitney 
fares  in  Youngstown,  Ohio  have  been 
lowered  to  conform  to  the  reduced  rate 
of  fare  on  the  lines  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania-Ohio Electric  Company,  which 
operates  in  that  city.  The  tickets  which 
will  sell  at  three  for  25  cents,  six  for  50 
cents  and  twelve  for  $1,  will  be  effective 
on  all  jitneys  driven  by  members  of 
the  Elm  Street  Jitney  Association. 

Contenders  Must  File  Briefs. — The 
Grand  Rapids,  Grand  Haven  &  Mus- 
kegon Railway,  Muskegon,  Mich.,  an 
interurban,  is  having  its  troubles  with 
the  jitneys.  It  has  sought  an  injunc- 
tion to  restrain  the  buses  from  operat- 
ing. Judge  Cross  of  the  Ottawa  Cir- 
cuit Court  has  refused  to  grant  the 
restraining  order  but  has  given  both 
sides  ten  days  in  which  to  file  briefs. 

Wants  Lower  Fare. — The  City  Coun- 
cil of  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.,  will  make 
an  attempt  to  have  the  international 
Railway  lower  its  rate  of  fare  between 
Niagara  Falls  and  Buffalo  over  the 
new  high-speed  interurban  line.  The 
round-trip  fare  is  now  $1.30  compared 
with  50  cents  before  the  war.  The 
question  of  filing  a  complaint  with  the 
Public  Service  Commission  is  now  with 
Corporation  Counsel  R.  J.  Moore. 

Reduced  School  Fares. — The  Au- 
gusta-Aiken Railway  &  Electri  Corpo- 
ration, Augusta,  Ga.,  has  reduced  its 
rate  of  fare  for  all  bona-fide  school 
teachers  and  pupils  to  5-cents  a  ride. 
The  company  will  sell  books  of  forty- 
four  tickets  for  $2.20.  At  the  present 
10-cent  cash  fare  the  books  at  $2.20 
represent  a  saving  of  $2.20  and  for 
those  using  the  8-cent  tokens  the  sav- 
ing will  be  $1.32. 

Railroad  Will  Operate  Stages.— The 
first  example  of  a  steam  railroad  op- 
erating autos  became  public  when  the 
California  State  Railroad  Commission 
authorized  the  Pajaco  Valley  Consoli- 
dated Railroad  to  operate  stages  in 
place  of  some  of  the  unprofitable  trains. 


Between  Salinas  and  Spreckles  paral- 
leling the  rails  auto  stages  will  be  run 
on  the  highways.  Passengers,  baggage 
and  express  will  be  carried  at  the  same 
rate  as  on  the  trains. 

Plan   Offered   for  Through  Service. 

— Operation  of  through  electric  cars 
between  Toronto  and  Buffalo  by  way  of 
Niagara  Falls  and  the  high-speed  elec- 
tric line  of  the  International  Railway 
is  proposed  by  the  Ontario  Hydro-Elec- 
tric Commission  of  Canada.  T.  A.  Wil- 
kinson of  the  provincial  hydro  commis- 
sion's engineering  staff,  has  been  mak- 
ing an  investigation  of  the  feasibility 
of  such  a  plan.  A  report  soon  will  be 
made  to  the  commission. 

Must  Perform  Extra  Services. — Su- 
pervisors of  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.) 
Railway  are  now  required  to  be  capable 
of  working  on  the  emergency  tele- 
phone board  as  well  as  handling  traf- 
fic in  the  streets.  The  telephone  men, 
formerly  called  dispatchers,  now  rate 
as  supervisors.  Arrangements  have 
been  made  whereby  all  supervisors  will 
spend  a  certain  period  in  the  emer- 
gency telephone  work  and  an  equal 
period  in  outside  traffic  work. 

Decrease  in  Freight  Rates  Announced. 

— The  Northwestern  Ohio  Railway  & 
Power  Company  has  filed  a  freight  rate 
decrease  on  its  lines  from  Ryan,  a  To- 
ledo suburb,  to  Marblehead,  Ohio.  The 
decrease  will  be  20  per  cent  effective 
Oct.  13.  Rates  from  Toledo  remain 
the  same  on  account  of  terminal  rates. 
It  is  believed  motor  truck  feeders  and 
enlarged  freight  handling  facilities  at 
Ryan  will  enable  much  Toledo  freight 
to  take  advantage  of  the  decrease  in 
rates. 

No  Fare  Increase  at  Present. — De- 
spite the  fact  that  the  stabilizing  fund 
of  the  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  South- 
ern Traction  Company  lines  at  Findlay 
has  fallen  from  $20,000  to  approxi- 
mately $10,500  under  the  service-at- 
cost  franchise  granted  a  few  months 
ago,  there  will  be  no  raise  in  fare  at 
the  present  time.  The  present  fare  is 
10  cents  cash,  seven  for  50  cents,  or 
two  for  15  cents.  Increase  fall  busi- 
ness is  expected  to  fill  the  stabilizing 
fund  again. 

Jitney  License  Transfers  Attacked. 
— The  Public  Service  Railway,  Newark, 
N.  J.,  will  ask  the  Supreme  Court  to 
decide  if  the  intent  of  the  law  passed 
last  winter  regulating  jitneys  is  that 
license  transfers  should  be  treated  the 
same  as  new  applications.  The  com- 
pany contends  that  they  should  be. 
The  upholding  of  its  view  would  mean 
that  each  transfer  applicant  would  have 
to  prove  that  continuance  of  the  bus  on 
a  street  through  which  electric  rail- 
ways run  is  a  necessity  and  conven- 
ience. The  commission  has  held  that 
existence  of  the  bus  on  a  line  justified 
its  continuance  if  the  ownership  were 
unchanged.  A  writ  of  certiorari  will 
be  asked  from  the  Supreme  Court  to 
test  the  question.  The  case  of  Carl  A. 
Becker  of  West  Orange,  to  whom  the 
board  recently  granted  a  transfer  of 
a  Newark-West  Orange  line  bus,  will 
form  the  basis  for  the  suit. 


720 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


for  the  purchase  of  the  equipment  and 

place  it  in  operation  for  the  handling 

of  transcontinental  traffic  between  San 

Diego  and  the  East.    A  greater  part  of 

this  work  was  carried  on  during  the 

World  War  and  the  resultant  financial 

„.     „7  ,    ,       .  .  ,  ,    ,,     T  ,    ,  .,  stringency,  but  was  finally  accomplished 

Mr.  Wakelee  Assumes  Additional  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com-   and  meang  mucb  to  Southern  California 


Duties 

Edmund  W.  Wakelee  has  assumed 
the  title  of  general   solicitor  of  the 


pany. 


as  a  whole  and  San  Diego  and  the  Im- 


During  his  long  career  he  inaugu-    perial  Val]ey  in  particular 


rated  a  number  of  principles  in  the 
investigation  and  adjustment  of  claims 


Public  Service  Railway  in  addition  to    whkh  haye  their  valug 

his  duties  as  vice-president  of  the  cor-     ,  „  ..  , 

changes  of  time  and  conditions. 


Mr.  Titcomb's  Successor 


poration  and  its  subsidiaries.  The 
position  was  made  vacant  a  short  time 
ago  by  the  death  of  L.  D.  Howard 
Gilmour. 

Mr.  Wakelee  joined  the  Public  Serv- 
ice law  department  about  nine  years 
ago  as  assistant  general  solicitor.  He 
has  represented  the   companv  in  its 

dealings  with  municipal  bodies,  state  ^^t^J^^^^^L^J^ 


Mr.  Pontius  will  be  succeeded  as  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  San  Diego  & 
Arizona  Railway  by  A.  T.  Mercier,  who 
is  superintendent  of  the  Oregon  lines 
of  the  Southern  Pacific,  which  comprise 
1221  miles  of  steam-operated  railroad; 
three  electric  railway  systems  located 


D.  W.  Pontius,  Manager  of  San  Diego   at  galem,  Eugene  and  West  Lynn,  and 

150  miles  of  interurban  railway  radiat- 
ing out  of  Portland. 


&  Arizona  Railway,  Elected  to 
Pacific  Electric  Post 

D.  W.  Pontius  has  been  elected  vice- 


agencies,  etc.  He  became  at  once  a 
member  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  operating  companies  and  of  the 
public  relations  committee  of  the  cor- 
poration. 

During  the  formative  period  of  the 
New  Jersey  &  Hudson  River  Railway 
&  Ferry  Company  (now  the  Bergen 
division  of  the  Publie  Service  Railway) 
Mr.  Wakelee  was  its  legal  representa- 
tive and  was  receiver  for  one  of  the 
underlying  companies.  He  was  also 
head  of  the  legal  firm  of  Wakelee, 
Thornale  &  Wright. 

George  H.  Blake  has  been  appointed 
assistant  general  solicitor.  Mr.  Blake 
has  for  years  been  one  of  the  trial  at- 
torneys in  the  Public  Service  organiza- 
tion, devoting  his  time  principally  to 
the  handling  of  claim  department 
cases.  Mr.  Blake  has  been  a  member 
of  the  bar  since  1908. 


Pacific  Electric  Railway,  succeeding  H. 
B.  Titcomb,  recently  made  president 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  of 
Mexico  and  the  Arizona  Eastern  Rail- 


Dean  Cooley  Heads  American 
Engineering  Council 

Mortimer  E.  Cooley,  dean  of  the  Col- 
leges of  Engineering  and  Architecture 


vay.  Mr.  Pontius  will  be  in  full  charge  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  has  been 
of  all  departments  of  the  railway  and  chosen  by  the  organized  engineers  of 
will  also  be  president  of  the  Pacific    the  United  States  to  take  up  the  task 


Electric  Land  Company. 


laid  down  by  Herbert  Hoover  when  he 


Retires  After  Fifty  Years  With 
I.  R.  T.  and  its  Predecessors 

Thomas  Gerehart,  general  claim 
agent  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company,  New  York,  and  the  com- 
pany's oldest  employee  in  the  point  of 
service,  retired  on  Aug.  31.  His 
initial  connection  with  railways  began 


Mr.  Pontius  has  been  connected  with  became  Secretary  of  Commerce.  In 
Southern  Pacific  interests  about  thirty    announcing  Dean  Cooley's  election  as 

president  of  the  American  Engineering 

 ■  Council   of   the   Federated  American 

Engineering  Societies,  the  executive 
board  of  the  council  outlines  some  of 
the  problems  which  will  face  the  new 
President. 

Among  these  questions  are  unem- 
ployment; government  reorganization, 
involving  the  establishment  of  a  De- 
partment of  Public  Works  and  reform 
of  the  United  States  Patent  Office;  leg- 
islation by  the  various  states  on  the 
registration  of  engineers;  elimination  of 
industrial  waste  and  regional  organiza- 
tion of  the  engineers  of  the  nation  along 
lines  marked  by  Secretary  Hoover  and 
his  associates  in  the  council. 

Dean  Cooley  is  perhaps  best  known  in 
the  electric  railway  field  because  of 
his  pioneer  work  in  making  valuations. 
In  1902  Mr.  Cooley  assisted  in  the  ap- 
praisal of  the  mechanical  equipment  of 


D.  W.  Pontius 


vears,  filling  successively  the  positions  Newfoundland  railways,  and  in  1903 

shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War    of  telegraph   operator,   station  agent,  acted  as  consulting  engineer  in  the  Wis- 

in  1867  when  he  entered  the  employ    trainmaster,  district  freight  and  pass-  consin  railroad  appraisal.    In  1906 .  he 

of  the  West  Side  &  Yonkers  Patented    *nger  agent,  and  was  first  connected  was  a  member  of  the  Traction  Valua- 

Railvvav  as   a   timekeener    oavmaster    with  the  present  Pacific  Electric  lines  tion  Committee,  Chicago;  in  1907  ap- 

Railway  as   a  timekeeper,  paymaster    ^            ^an?ger  of  the  Log  Angeles  praised  Michigan  telephone  property; 

Pacific  Railway,  which  consisted  of  the  in  charge  of  appraisal  of  hydro  and 

electric   lines   now    serving   the   west  steam-electric  properties  and  railroads 

coast  beach  resorts,  Santa  Monica  to  for  the  Michigan  Railroad  Commission 

Redondo  Beach,  inclusive.  since  1910.    More  recently  he  was  in 

On  Nov.  1,  1911,  when  the  several  charge  of  making  a  valuation  of  the 

electric  lines  of   Southern   California  Public  Service  Railway,  New  Jersey, 

were  consolidated  with  the  Pacific  Elec-  The  total  value  of  the  property  with 


and  bookkeeper,  at  which  time  the 
method  of  propulsion  or  operation  was 
by  means  of  an  endless  chain.  In 
1871,  when  steam  engines  were  first 
used  on  the  elevated,  he  acted  as  con- 
ductor and  bookkeeper  and  when  the 
New  York  Elevated  Railway  purchased 


the  West  Side  Company  he  became  ^  Railway>  Mr.  Pontius  was  selected  which  he  has  been  concerned  in  ap- 
cashier  and  bookkeeper.  He  was  pro-  as  traffic  manager)  and  filled  that  posi-  praising  is  about  a  billion  and  a  half 
moted  to  the  position  of  assistant  sec-  t]-Qn  until  four  years  ag0  when  he  was  dollars  ,of  which  85  to  90  per  cent  has 
retary  and  treasurer  in  1878,  which  appointed  general  manager  of  the  San  been  devoted  to  the  public  use. 
position  he  held  up  to  1890  when  the  Dieg0  &  Arizona  Railway  at  San  Diego.  It  is  understood  that  Professor  Cooley 
Manhattan  Railway  took  over  control.  That  company  is  owned  jointly  by  the  has  made  arrangements  which  will  en- 
He  was  retained  by  the  Manhattan  Southern  PacWc  and  J.  D.  and  A.  B.  able  him  to  give  one-fourth  of  his  time 
Railway  as  assistant  secretary  and  Spreckels,  representing  an  investment  to  active  work  for  the  organization, 
treasurer  until  1895,  when  he  was  ap-  0f  $18,000,000.  while  leaving  him  sufficient  opportu- 
pointed  claim  agent  and  continued  in  Mr.  Pontius's  task  was  to  complete  nity  to  maintain  his  progressive  up- 
that  capacity  for  nine  years,  when  he  construction  of  the  line,  with  its  at-  building  in  the  University  of  Michigan, 
was  appointed  general  claim  agent  of  tendant  engineering  difficulties,  arrange  which  he  has  served  forty  years. 


October  15,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


721 


Frank  G.  Whitney,  for  the  past 
fifteen  years  superintendent  of  sub- 
stations, elective  division,  New  York 
Central  Railroad,  has  resigned  to  be 
come  superintendent  of  the  Dutch 
Point  Power  Station,  Hartford  (Conn.) 
Electric  Light  Company.  A  farewell 
banquet  was  given  in  Mr.  Whitney's 
honor  on  Sept.  22  by  one  hundred  of 
his  associates  and  employees  of  the 
New  York  Central  Railroad.  Mr.  Whit- 
ney was  presented  with  a  handsome 
watch  and  a  traveling  bag  as  tokens  of 
their  esteem. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER,  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


L.  E.  Purnell,  manager  of  the  Cleve- 
land office  of  the  Ajax  Metal  Company, 
Philadelphia,  died  suddenly  on  Oct.  6. 
The  Cleveland  office  will  be  continued 
in  charge  of  an  assistant  until  Mr.  Pur- 
nell's  successor  is  appointed. 

E.  M.  Musier,  cashier  and  paymaster 
uf  both  the  Eighth  Avenue  and  Ninth 
Avenue  Railroad  Companies,  New  York, 
since  they  were  returned  to  their  origi- 
nal owners  for  operation  on  Aug.  1, 
1919,  died  on  Sept.  14.  Mr.  Musier  had 
previously  been  with  the  Brooklyn 
(N.  Y.)  Rapid  Transit  Company  for 
many  years  and  prior  to  that  was  con- 
nected with  the  West  Shore  Railroad. 

Henry  C.  Moore,  formerly  president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Trenton 
(N.  J.)  Street  Railway,  died  in  Bos- 
ton on  Oct.  5.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  board  of  directors  of  the  United 
Power  &  Transportation  Company, 
Reading,  Pa.,  which  operated  the  trac- 
tion lines  at  that  place  and  at  Trenton, 
N.  J.  Twenty-six  years  ago  he  was 
sent  to  Trenton  to  become  president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Trenton 
Street  Railway.  Mr.  Moore  was  born 
in  Philadelphia  sixty-nine  years  ago 
and  received  his  education  there. 

William  Otis  Chapman,  Jamaica 
Plain,  Mass.,  died  on  Oct.  6.  He  was 
born  in  Canton,  Mass.,  seventy-one 
years  ago.  Mr.  Chapman  early  in  life, 
through  his  father,  who  was  one  of  the 
organizers  and  builders  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  became  interested  in 
railroad  enterprises,  and  more  particu- 
larly in  street  railway  and  interurban 
railway  construction.  He  was  promi- 
nent in  the  building  of  the  Braintree 
&  Weymouth  Street  Railway,  Brain- 
tree,  Mass.,  and  was  part  owner  of  the 
company  until  some  years  ago,  when 
he  sold  his  interests.  He  later  became 
associated  with  the  firm  of  Stone  & 
Webster,  and  during  his  connection 
with  that  company  he  was  in  charge 
of  the  construction  in  Massachusetts 
of  the  old  Blue  Hill  Street  Railway,  the 
Plymouth  &  Kingston  electric  line  and 
also  the  Canton  Street  Railway.  In 
1890  Mr.  Chapman  built  the  electric 
railway  between  the  towns  of  Hancock 
and  Houghton,  in  the  copper  regions  of 
Michigan,  which  was  considered  an  ex- 
tremely difficult  piece  of  engineering. 


Governor  Harding  Thinks 
Business  Has  Turned 
the  Corner 

In  an  extended  article  in  the  Novem- 
ber issue  of  System,  W.  P.  G.  Harding, 
governor  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Board, 
explains  why  he  thinks  business  has 
turned  the  corner.  He  says  among 
other  things  that  since  the  first  of 
the  present  year  up  to  Aug.  31,  loans 
of  the  federal  reserve  banks  to  their 
member  banks  have  decreased  about 
$1,200,000,000,  and  as  the  notes  dis- 
counted with  federal  reserve  banks 
have  been  paid  off,  the  federal  re- 
serve note  currency  has  come  back  to 
the  banks  and  in  the  absence  of  a  de- 
mand for  it  has  not  been  reissued. 
Other  facts  which  he  cites  are  as  fol- 
lows: The  movement  of  prices,  which 
has  been  steadily  downward,  has 
checked  itself;  the  public  has  a  great 
deal  of  buying  power  left  and  buying 
power  begets  buying  power;  the  whole- 
sale price  index  number  which  reached 
272  now  stands  near  148;  the  total 
volume  of  federal  reserve  notes  in  cir- 
culation which  showed  an  almost  con- 
tinuous upward  trend  during  1920  since 
then  has  been  greatly  reduced;  when 
one  important  industry  resumes,  others 
automatically  revive  and  industries  are 
reviving. 

Unfilled  Steel  Orders  Increase 

The  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion has  just  reported  the  first  increase 
in  forward  business  that  has  taken 
place  since  July,  1920.  Unfilled  orders 
as  of  Sept.  30  amounted  to  4,560,670 
tons,  as  against  4,531,926  tons  on  Aug. 
31,  an  increase  of  28,744  tons.  While 
the  increase  was  not  large,  the  very 
fact  that  there  was  an  increase  was 
considered  as  one  of  the  outstanding 
factors  indicating  a  turn  in  the  indus- 
try. The  gain  in  forward  business  in- 
dicated a  distinct  picking-up  in  demand, 
for  operations  of  the  Steel  Corporation 
were  at  a  much  higher  scale  than  in 
the  preceding  month,  and  consequently 
for  an  increase  in  bookings  to  be 
recorded  there  had  to  be  a  decided  ex- 
pansion of  demand. 

The  scale  of  activity  of  the  corpora- 
tion during  September  ranged  between 
30  and  40  per  cent.,  the  latter  figure 
having  been  attained  toward  the  close 
of  the  month.  Production  was  prob- 
ably in  the  neighborhood  of  450,000 
tons  of  finished  steel  during  the  period, 
so  that  incoming  orders  may  have 
reached  500,000  tons,  since  some  of  the 
business  during  the  month  probably 
represented  shipments  from  stock.  The 
major  portion  of  the  new  business 
taken  by  the  corporation  was  in  light 
products,  notably  sheet  and  wire  goods. 


For  some  time  sheet  mills  have  been 
operating  at  a  scale  much  higher  than 
other  departments. 

The  peak  of  unfilled  tonnage  was 
reached  in  April,  1917,  when  bookings 
amounted  to  12,183,083.  There  was 
practically  a  steady  decline  until  May, 

1919,  when  bookings  increased,  ulti- 
matly  advancing  to  11,118,468  in  July, 

1920.  Another  decline  set  in,  which 
continued  until  September  of  this  year. 


Insulation  Market  Stronger 

With  the  higher  prices  ruling  for 
cotton  yarns  and  cloth,  the  insulation 
market  is  on  a  little  stronger  basis 
and  buying  has  been  reported  more 
active.  The  principal  increase  in  buy- 
ing has  been  noted  in  the  field  con- 
cerned with  repair  and  maintenance 
work  rather  than  in  new  manufactur- 
ing. Electric  railway  properties  have 
shown  considerable  activity  in  this 
respect  in  the  last  three  weeks  in 
comparison  with  the  light  buying  from 
that  direction  during  the  summer.  Cot- 
ton insulation  and  cotton  and  rubber 
tapes  are  also  moving  well,  and  a 
noticeable  increase  in  the  purchases  of 
mica  is  found.  This  is  not  only  in 
insulation  but  also  in  tubes  and  washers 
for  grid  insulation,  undoubtedly  in  anti- 
cipation of  the  winter's  needs. 

Some  further  price  advances  since 
Sept.  20  have  been  noted  in  varnished 
tapes  and  cloth.  These  have  been 
around  10  per  cent.  Cotton  yarns  and 
gray  goods  at  the  mills  have  gone  up- 
again,  and  when  insulation  manufac- 
turers come  into  the  market  for  fur- 
ther supplies  it  is  expected  that  still 
further  advances  in  the  price  of  finished 
insulation  will  result.  Then,  too,  stocks 
of  cotton  cloth  at  the  mills  have  been 
reduced  and  a  temporary  shortage  may 
result.  Mica  prices  have  risen  but 
slightly. 

Copper  Demand  Still  Strong 

Copper  is  13  cents  a  pound  delivered 
to  domestic  consumers  for  October  and 
November.  Several  million  pounds  of 
copper  were  sold  in  the  export  trade 
recently.  Domestic  demand  continues 
good.  Most  producers  are  rather  un- 
willing to  sell  at  present  quotations,  so 
that  it  is  becoming  quite  difficult  for 
other  than  the  larger  buyers  to  obtain 
November  deliveries  at  13  cents.  How 
much  further  prices  will  rise  on  the 
present  buying  movement  would  seem 
to  depend  upon  how  much  of  present 
buying  is  for  early  consumption  and  how 
much  is  advanced  buying  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  present  prices  on  the  sup- 
position that  producers  will  during  the 
coming  year  adopt  a  wiser  and  more 
farsighted  price  policy  than  during  the 
first  nine  months  of  the  present. 


722 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  16 


Upward  Trend  in  Coal  Production 

For  four  weeks  in  succession  the  pro- 
duction of  soft  coal  has  climbed  steadily 
upward.  The  total  output  during  the 
week  of  Oct.  1,  including  lignite,  coal 
coked  at  the  mine  and  railroad  fuel,  is 
estimated  at  8,876,000  net  tons.  Com- 
pared with  the  week  preceding  this  was 
an  increase  of  348,000  tons,  or  4  per 
cent.  The  week's  production  was  the 
largest  since  last  January. 


Electrical  Sheet  Prices  Steady 

Sheet  production  is  running  pretty 
hiuh,  one  mill  operating  at  about  85  per 
cent  capacity.  Electrical  sheet  oper- 
ation is  on  a  low  basis,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  line  with  the  buying  by  elec- 
trical apparatus  manufacturers,  with 
considerable  stock  still  on  hand.  Prices 
on  this  material  are  holding,  no  advance 
having  been  made  with  the  September 
sheet  advance  and  not  immediate 
advance  being  contemplated,  it  is  re- 
ported, on  a  newly  announced  rise  of 
five  dollars  in  sheets  in  several  districts. 


Buying  Increased  in  Some 
Quarters 

Slightly  larger  orders,  more  of  them 
and  a  generally  firmer  tone  to  buying 
have  been  the  characteristics  of  late  of 
conditions  among  those  dealing  in  elec- 
tric railway  suppl'es.  This  tendency 
of  increased  activity  has  been  mani- 
fested by  more  numerous  inquiries  for 
material  on  which  the  frequency  of 
replacement  is  necessarily  rather  hi^h. 
The  principal  activity  is  seen  in  the 
standard  items  of  gears,  gear  cases, 
brake-shoes,  trolley  wheels  etc.  With 
respect  to  equipment  and  supplies  which 
depend  essentially  for  their  sales  on  the 
purchase  of  new  rolling  stock,  there 
have  been  practically  no  changes  in  the 
volume  of  sales  recorded  or  number  of 
inquiries  received. 

One  manufacturer  states  that  the 
prices  of  car  equipment,  especially  mo- 
tors, controllers,  etc.,  have  reached  a 
level  as  low  as  present  costs  will 
permit.  When  it  is  considered  that 
both  copper  and  steel  prices  seem  to 
be  on  an  upward  trend  and  that  the 
average  of  wages  paid  to  labor  is  but 
40  per  cent  above  the  pre-war  scale, 
it  appears  as  though  equipment  prices 
cannot  be  lowered  appreciably. 

Electric  railways,  according  to  sev- 
eral manufacturers,  have  responded  to 
the  decrease  in  line  and  overhead  ma- 
terial announced  over  a  month  ago  by 
a  favorable  increase  in  buying.  This 
condition  exists  notwithstanding  that 
demand  for  line  supplies  has  been 
somewhat  above  the  average  for  a  con- 
siderable period.  Railways  are  un- 
doubtedly anxious  to  benefit  by  reduc- 
tions that  have  followed  lowered  copper 
prices,  which  they  realize  will  prob- 
ably not  soon  fall  to  such  low  levels. 

Also  the  demand  and  sales  of  arma- 
ture coil  winding  machines  and  other 
labor  saving  shop  tools  are  reported  to 
be  still  very  active. 

Manufacturers,  in  general,  are  op- 
timistic over  the  volume  of  business 


which  they  think  should  develop  in  the 
near  future,  for  with  improving  finan- 
cial conditions  that  are  being  an- 
nounced almost  daily  the  long-delayed 
yet  necessary  rehabilitation  of  rolling 
stock  will  result  in  good  buying  of 
equipment  by  car  builders. 


Rolling  Stock 


Brooklyn  (N.  Y. )  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany recently  placed  an  order  for  400  il- 
luminated curtain  signs  to  be  used  on  its 
new  subway  cars,  an  order  for  100  of 
which  was  placed  some  time  ago. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Eos  Angeles, 
Cal.,  has  just  added  thirty  new  inter- 
urban  cars  to  its  service.  Some  of  them 
will  be  put  on  the  Los  Angeles-San  Ber- 
nardino line  and  others  will  be  run  from 
Los  Angeles  to  the  beaches.  The  cars,  cost- 
ing $48,000  apiece,  are  the  latest  type  of 
interurban  electric  railway  cars.  They  are 
practically  the  same  as  the  cars  on  the  Los 
Angeles-San  Bernardino  line,  with  the  ex- 
ception that  they  are  equipped  with  leather- 
cushioned  seats  instead  of  plush  cushions. 
All  the  interurban  cars  of  the  Pacific  Elec- 
tric are  to  be  equipped  with  leather  seats 
as  the  cars  go  into  the  shops  for  repairs. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Valilosla  (Ga.)  Street  Railway  has  re- 
placed all  of  the  old  cross  ties  with  new 
ones  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city. 

Tri-City  Railway  &  Light  Company. 
Davenport,  la.,  is  replacing  its  present  light 
rails  with  heavier  rail,  the  relaying  being 
done  between  Clinton  and  Davenport  with 
85-lb.  rail. 

Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway, 
lioston,  Mass.,  is  doing  a  great  amount  of 
track  improvement  work.  A  75  lb.  rail  is 
being  laid  for  a  half  mile  on  the  Lawrence 
line,  taking  the  place  of  the  old  48  lb. 
rail.  On  the  Reading  line  to  State  Street, 
Tewksbury,  the  rails  are  being  welded. 
The  company  also  hopes  to  relay  the  rails 
in  Central  Street.  Work  is  also  in  progress 
between    Merrimack   and    Market  Streets. 

Public  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J., 
may  be  compelled  to  raise  and  maintain 
the  trolley  tracks  in  North  Broad  Street, 
Hillside,  N.  J.,  from  the  Elizabeth  city 
line,  during  the  repairing  of  that  section 
of  the  thoroughfare.  The  Union  County 
Board  of  Freeholders  has  filed  a  petition 
with  the  Board  of  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sioners to  this  effect.  The  trolley  company 
refused  to  do  the  work,  claiming  that  it 
did  not  have  the  necessary  finances. 

Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Railways  are  seeking 
permission  through  the  receivers  to  make 
the  following  repairs.  New  flooring  in  the 
Fleming  Park  Bridge  at  a  cost  of  $31,000  : 
reconstruction  of  double  tracks  on  West 
Carson  Street  between  the  Point  and 
Smithfield  Street  bridges.  This  repair 
would  require  2,100  ft.  of  double  track  at 
a  cost  of  $96,800.  Permission  is  also 
sought  to  lay  1,700  ft.  of  single  track  in 
Wabash  Avenue  from  Plank  to  Inde- 
pendence Street  at  a  cost  of  $24,200  and 
for  placing  410  ft.  of  single  track  along 
Independence  Street  to  Woodville  Avenue 
at  a  cost  of  $6,600. 

San  Diego  (Cal.)  Electric  Railway  began, 
on  Sept.  6.  relaying  its  tracks  and  paving 
on  Broadway  between  Third  Street  and 
the  Union  Station.  The  new  work  will 
cost  approximately  $100,000  and  all  pos- 
sible man-power  will  be  employed  to  com- 
plete the  work  with  as  little  delay  as  pos- 
sible. The  section  of  track  to  be  relaid 
and  repaved  is  approximately  \  mile  long 
and.  being  double  track  throughout,  will 
make  a  total  of  about  1  mile  of  new  track. 
The  type  of  construction  will  be  of  the 
most  modern  and  approved  character  so 
far  undertaken  by  any  electric  railway  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  according  to  William 
Clayton,  vice-president  and  managing  di- 
rector. An  innovation  so  far  as  the  San 
Diego  Electric  Railway's  construction  is 
concerned  will  be  the  incasing  of  the  steel 
ties  in  solid  concrete,  eliminating  entirely 
the  use  of  the  loose  rock  ballast  hereto- 
fore employed  with  the  wooden  ties.  The 
rails  will  be  114-lb.  section.  The  use  of 
the  solid  concrete  incased  ties  is  expected 
to  produce  a  superior  roadbed  and  add  to 
the  life  of  the  track. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Toronto  (Can.)  Transportation  Commis- 
sion, which  took  over  the  railway  system 
on  Sept.  1  last  has  a  force  of  approximately 
2,000  men  engaged  in  the  work  of  recon- 
structing various  lines.  At  the  Coxwell 
Avenue  carhouse  drainage,  trackage  and 
and  switches  have  been  instated  and 
forty  of  the  new  cars  ordered  by  the 
Commission  are  on  sidings  ready  to  be 
operated  as  soon  as  a  wider  devil  strip 
is  available.  New  car  routes  are  also  to 
be  constructed  on  Blantyre  Avenue,  Cox- 
well Avenue,  Carlaw  and  Pape  Avenues 
and  Broadview  Avenues  all  in  the  east 
end.  It  is  also  expected  that  the  commis- 
sion will  be  able  to  complete  arrangements 
with  York  Townshop  Council  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  crosstown  lines  running  east 
on  Danforth,  Gerrar,  Dundas  and  Queen 
Streets, 


Trade  Notes 


Walter  R.  Pflasterer,  railway  sales  en- 
gineer of  the  National  Carbon  Company  in 
the  Chicago  territory,  resigned  on  Sept.  1 
to  enter  business  for  himself.  He  has  or- 
ganized the  District  Sales  Company  and  Is 
general  sales  manager  with  headquarters  at 
431  South  Dearborn  Street,  Chicago.  The 
District  Sales  Company  will  act  as  manu- 
facturerers'  representatives  handling  rail- 
road accounts  in  the  Chicago  district.  Mr. 
Pflasterer  has  been  connected  with  the  Na- 
tional Carbon  Company  since  1914  when  he 
entered  their  employ  as  sales  engineer  in 
the  railroad  sales  department. 

Sidney  G.  Down  was  appointed,  effective 
Oct.  1,  to  the  newly  created  office  of  gen- 
eral sales  manager  of  the  Westinghouse 
Traction  Brake  Company  and  Westing- 
house  Air  Brake  Company,  with  head- 
quarters at  Wilmerding.  Pa.  Mr.  Down 
was  formerly  Pacific  district  manager  of 
the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  interests  and 
president  of  the  Westinghouse  Pacific 
Coast  Brake  Company.  Mr.  Down  joined 
the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  organization 
twenty  years  ago,  coming  from  the  Michi- 
gan Central  Railroad  where  he  was  em- 
ployed as  general  air-brake  inspector  and 
instructor.  He  spent  several  years  as  in- 
structor on  the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake 
Company's  instruction  car  and  was  later 
appointed  mechanical  expert,  with  head- 
quarters in  Chicago.  Eleven  years  ago  he 
was  appointed  district  engineer  and  trans- 
ferred to  San  Francisco.  Shortly  after- 
ward he  was  made  Pacific  district  manager. 
Mr.  Down  was  largely  responsible  for  the 
organization  of  the  Westinghouse  Pacific 
Coast  Brake  Company  located  in  .Cali- 
fornia, and  when  it  was  formed  was  p'aced 
in  charge  of  its  activities  with  the  title  of 
vice-president  and  later  president. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


American  Insulated  Wire  &  Cable  Com- 
pany, Chicago,  has  completed  arrange- 
ments for  circulating  the  new  leather- 
bound  vest-pocket  catalog  on  its  "Ameri- 
can Brand"  wire  and  cable. 

Elliott  Company,  Jeanette,  Pa.,  has  just 
issued  two  new  bulletins.  N-l  is  on  the 
"Deaeration  Process"  as  applied  to  power, 
central-station  and  heating  plants  to  pre- 
vent corrosion,  and  N-2  is  on  the  "Deaera- 
tion Process"  for  hot-water  service. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  East  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  produced, 
primarily  for  distribution  prior  to  and  at 
the  recent  convention  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association,  a  publication,  en- 
titled "Review  of  Electric  Railway  Prob- 
lems." This  publication  covers  the  sub- 
jects of  mass  transportation,  multiple-unit 
control,  recent  railway  motor  developments, 
interurban  service,  freight  haulage,  snow 
fighting,  automatic  substations,  the  safety 
car,  the  trolley  bus,  replacements  of  obso- 
lete equipment,  maintenance  of  electrical 
equipment,  and  there  are  several  pages  de- 
voted to  a  description  of  various  items  of 
Westinghouse  equipment  such  as  electri- 
cally heated  ovens,  solder  and  babbitt  pots, 
electric-arc  welders,  electric  glue  pots,  etc. 
The  last  two  pages  of  the  book  are  de- 
voted to  a  brief  description  to  each  of  the 
important  up-to-date  railway  publications 
available  for  distribution  by  the  Westing- 
house company. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  -and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL.  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN, Western  Editor      N.  A. BOWERS. Pacific  Coast  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIER. Associate  Editor      C.W.STOCKS.  AuocUU  EdlUt 

O.J. MACMURRAY.Newi  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE. Editorial  Representative      ■  ^  T  O  f • 


volume  58  New  York,  Saturday,  October  22,  ^92\*^^^w^^^:  Number  n 


One-Man  Operation  of 

Present  Equipment  Justified 

ONE-MAN  operation  of  street  cars  has  been  most 
successfully  introduced  heretofore  where  the 
change  was  accompanied  by  the  installation  of  new  cars 
of  the  safety  type,  a  shortening  of  the  headway  between 
cars  and  in  many  cases  a  faster  schedule  speed.  This 
plan  gave  the  patrons  better  service  in  safer  cars  at 
the  same  time  that  it  provided  reduced  operating  ex- 
penses for  the  company.  When  conditions  are  such  that 
this  plan  can  be  followed  out  it  is  undoubtedly  the  best 
course  to  pursue. 

But  under  the  condition  of  materially  less  riding 
which  now  prevails  in  many  cities  it  is  often  a 
justifiable  procedure  to  change  over  present  equipment 
for  one-man  operation'  without  giving  more  service  and 
simply  in  the  interest  of  self-preservation  on  the  part 
of  the  company.  This  drastic  economy  measure  is 
applicable  particularly  in  the  smaller  cities.  Even 
where  there  is  an  exacting  rush-hour  traffic,  with  fairly 
light  traffic  the  remainder  of  the  day,  the  judicious  uso 
of  street  collectors  during  the  heavy  periods  will  enable 
one-man  operation  to  be  installed  successfully  with 
large  savings.  Some  companies  are  boldly  coping  with 
the  present  situation  by  replacing  two  men  with  one  on 
single-  and  double-truck  cars  and  thus  obtaining  the 
principal  saving  that  can  be  derived  from  standard 
safety  cars  without  waiting  until  new  cars  of  that  type 
can  be  financed.  In  some  cases  safety  devices  are  in- 
stalled to  compensate  in  safety  for  the  absence  of  the 
second  man. 

The  Cleveland  Railway  has  been  operating  forty 
double-truck  cars  with  one  man  since  June  1.  Tha 
Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway  is  operating  426 
double-truck  cars  with  one  man  in  addition  to  251 
standard  safety  cars.  In  Spokane,  Wash.,  the  Wash- 
ington Water  Power  Company  and  the  Spokane  Elec- 
tric Railway  &  Power  Company  are  both  operating  all 
cars  with  one  man.  In  Seattle,  Wash.,  twenty-seven 
double-truck  cars  seating  sixty  people  are  being  suc- 
cessfully operated  with  one  man,  as  noted  in  this  paper 
on  page  940,  May  21,  1921.  The  Tri-City  Railway  & 
Light  Company  is  well  along  with  its  plan  to  operate 
all  cars  in  Davenport,  Rock  Island  and  Moline  with 
one  man,  as  related  elsewhere  in  this  issue,  and  the 
same  management  is  operating  all  cars  with  one  man  in 
Muscatine,  Cedar  Rapids  and  Mason  City,  Iowa.  In 
other  words,  this  practice  has  been  successfully  estab- 
lished in  a  number  of  places. 

With  gross  revenue  substantially  lower  than  last  year 
and  with  a  further  fare  increase  now  usually  untimely 
and  undesirable  for  several  reasons,  companies  should 
put  into  effect  such  measures  as  will  keep  operating 
costs  well  below  the  income,  even  though  this  may 
mean  some  radical  departures  from  former  practices. 
About  the  biggest  saving  that  can  be  made  is  the 
elimination  of  one  man  on  a  car.  There  are  many  cities 
with  population  of  less  than  100,000  where  it  appears 
quite  evident  that  this  can  be  done,  and  should  be  done 


in  view  of  the  exigencies  of  the  time,  rather  than  to  go 
on  accumulating  a  deficit.  Furthermore*  there  are  many 
lines  in  cities  of  over  100,000  population  on  which  the 
cars  could  be  satisfactorily  operated  with  but  one  man. 
Incidentally,  if  such  one-man  operation  of  present 
equipment  makes  possible  a  reduction  of  fare  later  on, 
this  should  be  welcomed,  particularly  where  the  com- 
petitive situation  is  a  matter  of  concern. 


Broad  Vision  and  Statesmanship 
Needed  in  Labor  Readjustment 

THE  readjustment  with  labor  in  the  railroad  field  is 
of  such  nationwide  importance,  is  on  such  a  huge 
scale,  that  it  attracts  the  attention  of  the  entire  country. 
It  emphasizes  dramatically  the  necessity  for  real  vision 
and  statesmanship  in  dealing  with  the  most  important 
subject  before  the  nation  today — the  economic  and  social 
readjustment,  which  cannot  be  evaded.  And  this  much 
is  certain,  that  the  balance  which  will  finally  obtain 
will  not  and  should  not  be  the  status  quo  ante,  the  mere 
return  to  conditions  of  1913,  good  as  they  may  have 
been.  Actual  progress  must  result,  and  this  is  the 
reason,  above  all,  that  real  statesmanship  is  needed. 

In  the  electric  railway  field  the  problem  is  as  great 
and  as  serious  as  in  any  other.  While  the  entire  indus- 
try does  not  meet  the  problem  as  of  one  date  nor  as 
an  entity,  nevertheless  the  individual  readjustments, 
each  with  its  own  local  variations,  have  a  vital  effect  on 
the  entire  labor  situation.  There  is  the  same  oppor- 
tunity and  necessity  for  leadership  and  vision  in  the 
labor  problems  of  this  industry  as  elsewhere.  Will  the 
industry  measure  up  to  the  hour?  Will  it  produce  the 
leaders  who  will  look  to  future  conditions  rather  than 
past  policies?  There  is  reason  to  believe  so.  While 
at  times  there  are  signs  of  shortsightedness,  there  are 
also  instances  of  the  opposite  nature. 

One  of  the  leading  executives  in  this  industry,  an 
officer  of  a  large  holding  and  managing  company,  was 
recently  approached  by  one  of  his  local  managers  with 
his  labor  readjustment  problems.  "Now  is  the  time," 
the  latter  said,  "when  labor  is  plenty,  for  us  to  break 
up  the  combination  against  us,  to  squeeze  back  as  we 
were  squeezed  on  our  last  agreement.  The  men  have 
to  take  what  we  will  give."  "No,"  said  his  broad- 
minded  superior,  "now  is  the  time,  rather,  for  us  to 
show  that  we  deserve  to  be  managers  by  showing  a 
better  vision  ahead.  Now  is  the  time,  when  opportunity 
exists,  to  go  to  the  men  and  improve  our  working  rules, 
to  place  our  relations  with  the  men  on  a  higher  plane. 
They  are  willing  to  talk  now,  let's  do  something  con- 
structive; not  something  which  will  merely  be  an  in- 
vitation to  further  radical  action  by  the  men  if  the 
tables  turn  again." 

The  local  manager  was  converted  to  a  trial  of  the 
broad  policy.  He  went  home  and  tried  it.  It  worked. 
He  wrote  his  superior  that,  by  approaching  the  men 
in  a  constructive  attitude,  he  had  been  able  to  make 
many  improvements  in  working  rules,  make  many 
changes  in  operating  conditions,  make  a  satisfactory  re- 


724 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


duction  in  wages,  and  still  leave  the  men  with  their 
self-respect  and,  more  important,  with  their  respect 
for,  and  loyalty  to,  the  management  much  strengthened. 

It  is  this  sort  of  leadership  and  vision,  in  dealing 
with  labor,  that  is  needed. 


The  Labor  Situation 
and  Coal 

BUT  even  when  management  does  seem  to  show  the 
right  attitude,  it  cannot  always  be  assumed  that 
labor  will  do  so.  An  example  seems  to  exist  now  in 
the  coal  industry  which  should  make  coal  users  sit  up 
and  take  notice,  as  well  as  those  who  are  interested  in 
the  general  subject  of  labor  relations. 

No  one  minimizes  the  unfortunate  effects  of  the 
seasonal  occupation  of  the  average  coal  miner.  But 
individually,  his  rate  is  high.  His  working  conditions 
are  the  subject  of  much  debate.  But  he  has  apparently 
refused  to  arbitrate  his  condition  when  his  present 
contract  expires  the  first  of  next  April.  The  quite 
possible  result  is  a  coal  strike  next  spring,  now  freely 
predicted  and  more  probable  than  a  railroad  strike. 

Management,  in  this  case,  seemed  at  first  uncom- 
promising, but  finally  agreed  to  arbitrate.  The  miners, 
by  their  recent  action,  hold  that  the  strike  is  their  only 
weapon  and  refuse  to  arbitrate.  The  public  feels  that 
coal  is  high  and  will  be  impatient,  but  yet  rather  power- 
less, in  case  of  a  strike. 

Meanwhile,  industry  is  affected  in  unpleasant  anticipa- 
tion. An  immediate  remedy  is  to  lay  in  large  coal 
stocks.  It  seems  wisdom  to  do  this  and  certainly  rail- 
ways and  other  utilities  will  do  much  to  maintain 
community  life  if  they  can  assure  the  community  of  no 
cessation  of  activity  on  account  of  coal  shortage.  A 
few  months  stock  of  coal  is  good  business  just  now. 


Let  Us  Have  More 

Material  Specifications 

THE  practice  of  purchasing  railway  materials  and 
supplies  on  accurate  and  practical  specifications  is 
becoming  more  and  more  extensive.  The  standing  com- 
mittees of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Engineering 
Association  presented  at  the  recent  convention  a  number 
of  such  specifications  which  were  approved.  Every 
encouragement  should  be  given  to  the  committees  to 
prepare  and  increase  the  number  of  such  specifications 
which  can  be  adopted  as  standard. 

One  way  that  railways  can  reduce  costs  is  by  using 
better  materia!  for  making  repairs.  It  costs  no  more 
to  apply  good  material  than  poor,  and  when  the  latter 
fails  in  service  additional  material  must  be  purchased, 
and  the  labor  cost  of  one  application  and  removal  is 
lost.  This  adds  to  the  maintenance  cost  and,  in  addi- 
tion, the  increased  number  of  failures  and  delays  in 
service  will  cost  the  company  much  in  the  loss  of  good 
will  from  its  patrons. 

Another  advantage  arising  from  the  use  of  specifica- 
tions is  that  railway  companies  are  enabled  to  go  into 
the  open  market  for  material  and  thus  profit  by  trade 
competition  and  also  have  a  greater  variety  from  which 
to  select.  Manufacturers  in  general  prefer  to  furnish 
material  to  intelligently  drawn  specifications,  as  they 
know  in  advance  exactly  what  requirements  are  expected 
and  can  supply  materials  that  will  prove  satisfactory. 
During  the  war  it  was  frequently  necessary  to  use 
inferior  materials  in  order  to  keep  equipment  running, 
but  now  this  practice  should  be  discontinued. 


To  obtain  the  minimum  maintenance  cost  consistent 
with  safe,  clean  and  reliable  service  requires  close  fol- 
lowing of  every  detail  that  goes  into  the  equipment. 
Whether  or  not  material  is  standing  up  in  service  and 
producing  the  desired  results  can  be  best  determined  by 
a  periodical  checking  of  the  amount  ordered,  the  amount 
on  hand  and  the  amount  used.  It  always  pays  in  the 
end  to  purchase  durable  material,  owing  to  the  reduced 
maintenance  and  operating  costs.  No  matter  how  cheap 
the  first  cost  may  be,  any  material  requiring  frequent 
repair,  patching  or  renewal  is  expensive. 


Self -Preservation  Is  the 
First  Law  of  Nature 

THE  natural  instinct  for  existence  is  the  reason  that 
citizens  in  a  number  of  communities  are  organizing 
to  supply  volunteers  if  necessary  to  help  operate  the 
railroads  after  Oct.  30.  The  proposed  strike  of  the 
railroad  employees  threatens  the  stoppage  of  a  necessity 
of  our  civilized  life.  The  spirit  behind  the  offer  of 
services  to  keep  the  railroads  in  operation  is  accom- 
panied by  no  desire,  in  most  cases,  to  pass  upon  the 
merits  of  the  controversy  over  wages.  The  answer 
would  undoubtedly  be  the  same  if  the  owners  of  the 
roads  withdrew  their  equipment  because  they  consid- 
ered their  remuneration  unsatisfactory. 

The  organization  of  the  community  at  large  to  act 
in  labor  troubles  of  this  kind  is  the  natural  result  of 
the  size  of  existing  labor  unions.  Formerly  the  largest 
strike  on  a  railroad  or  a  coal  mine  or  other  public  util- 
ity involved  an  isolated  property  or  a  single  community 
only.  Then  the  rights  of  the  public  were  preserved, 
if  order  was  maintained,  because  men  could  be  brought 
from  outside  to  do  the  work.  But  many  of  the  present 
unions  are  so  large  that  a  strike  threatens  a  national 
stoppage  of  work,  and  they  can  be  opposed  only  by  an 
equally  widespread  organization  of  citizens. 

Time  lends  perspective  to  the  view — even  to  the  labor 
view — and  the  belligerency  so  much  in  evidence  now 
may  subside  with  the  passing  of  a  few  days  and  with 
a  growing  appreciation  of  such  ideas  as  are  expressed 
above.  It  is  hoped  that  the  present  strike  will  not  occur, 
but  if  it  does  the  result  will  undoubtedly  be  a  failure, 
as  with  the  railroad  strike  and  the  coal  strike  in  Eng- 
land. 


Electric  Railways  Ready 
in  Railroad  Emergency 

OF  ALL  the  agencies  that  will  be  called  into  play  in 
the  emergency  of  a  strike,  the  electric  railways  hold 
out  large  prospects  for  being  converted  into  an  important 
agency  in  helping  to  meet  the  contingency  that  a  cessa- 
tion of  activities  on  the  railroads  would  create.  Par- 
ticularly is  this  true  in  the  Central  West.  Already  in- 
quiries are  beginning  to  be  made  of  this  paper  as  to 
the  extent  and  location  of  the  electric  railways.  All 
these  data  are  on  file  with  the  authorities  in  Washing- 
ton, for  whose  benefit  they  were  carefully  noted  during 
the  war-time  period  through  the  foresight  and  planning 
of  the  American  Electric  Railway  Association.  It  is 
sincerely  to  be  hoped  that  the  steam  railroad  labor  lead- 
ers will  see  the  error  of  their  ways  in  time,  but  in  the 
emergency  of  a  strike  the  electric  railways  offer  a 
means  quickly  available  of  handling  both  passengers  and 
freight  to  an  extent  perhaps  little  realized  except  by 
official  circles  in  Washington  and  by  the  regular  users 
of  such  lines. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


725 


Universal  Loop  for  118  Cars  an  Hour 

Extensive  Special  Work  Layout  Installed  on  the  Kansas  City  Railways  to  Facilitate  Operation  of  Cars 
on  New  Routing  Plan  and  Avoid  Congestion  and  Likelihood  of  Accidents 
Which  Were  Involved  in  the  Old  Layout 


CONDITIONS  from  an  operating  standpoint  have 
been  rather  congested  at  the  corner  of  Jackson 
Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street,  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
for  some  time  back.  At  this  point,  the  Jackson  Avenue 
crosstown  line  of  the  Kansas  City  Railways  intersects 
with  the  Twelfth  Street  line,  which  terminates  at  this 
point.  The  intersection  of  these  two  lines  has  hereto- 
fore involved  a  fairly  complicated  layout  of  special 
work  on  account  of  a  jog  in  Jackson  Avenue  and  the 
facilities  necessary  for  wying  the  Twelfth  Street  cars, 
which  carry  the  heaviest  traffic  and  run  on  the  closest 
headway  of  any  line  on  the  system.  Extending  east 
from  Jackson  Avenue,  a  single-track  line  on  Twelfth 
Street  has  been  operated  with  double-end  cars,  which 
have  been  turned  back  at  this  point. 

The  installation  of  the  rerouting  plan  devised  by 
John  A.  Beeler  was  seen  to  involve  further  complica- 


tions at  this  point,  from  the  standpoint  of  track  facil- 
ities. This  plan  provided  for  the  through  routing  of 
the  crosstown  line  on  Jackson  Avenue  south  of  Twelfth 
Street  with  the  Roanoke  line,  which  is  routed  east  over 
Twelfth  Street  from  this  intersection.  In  order  to  op- 
erate this  through  route,  it  was  neccessary  to  have  a 
double  curve  in  the  northwest  quadrant  of  Twelfth  Street 
and  Jackson  Avenue.  The  new  routing  plan  also  provided 
for  making  Twelfth  Street  the  southern  terminus  of 
the  Hardesty-Jackson  line  except  during  rush  hours. 
A  further  complication  was  brought  into  the  problem 
by  the  desirability  of  operating  single-end  cars  instead 
of  double-end  cars  on  Twelfth  Street  east  of  Jackson, 
which  would  then  have  to  be  wyed  at  this  point.  It 
was  also  necessary  to  maintain  track  connections  at  this 
intersection  to  enable  cars  housed  at  the  Brighton  car- 
house  to  pass  through  and  take  up  their  routes. 


New  Universal  Loop  at  Important  Terminus  and  Intersection  Point,  Recently  Installed  in  Kansas  City 


726 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


While  the  layout  of  the  old  special  work  was  such 
that  most  of  these  movements  could  be  made,  it  was 
evident  that  with  three  lines  terminating  here  and  with 
the  wying  back  of  single-end  cars,  there  would  un- 
doubtedly develop  very  considerable  congestion  and 
liability  of  accident  to  both  the  company's  equipment 
and  vehicular  traffic.  The  problem  would  only  partly 
be  solved  by  putting  in  the  double  curves  from  Twelfth 
Street  on  to  Jackson  Avenue  south,  and  there  was  not 
sufficient  room  in  these  street  intersections  for  putting 
in  a  proper  loop.  The  study  made  of  the  situation 
finally  developed  that  the  best  solution  was  the  installa- 
tion of  a  universal  loop  so  connected  as  readily  to  serve 
all  lines. 

In  order  to  build  this  universal  loop  it  was  neces- 
sary to  lease  5,930  sq.ft.  of  property  adjoining  in  the 
northwest  quadrant.  Fortunately,  the  lease  of  this 
property  appeared  to  the  owners  to  be  an  advantage, 
inasmuch  as  it  increased  their  frontage  considerably 
and  permitted  them  to  build  shops  facing  a  heavy 
transfer  and  terminal  point.    The  new  layout  of  track 


Double  Tracks  and  Universal  Loop  as  Seen  Looking 
South  in  Jackson  Avenue 


was  such  that  it  was  practically  impossible  to  use  any 
of  the  old  track  to  advantage,  although  it  was  in  good 
condition.  It  was  therefore  salvaged  and  an  entire 
new  layout  purchased  from  the  Lorain  Steel  Company. 

It  was  quite  a  problem  to  install  the  new  track.  The 
layout  was  such,  and  the  service  at  this  point  of  such 
character,  that  it  was  found  impossible  to  install  all 
of  the  work  under  traffic.  Such  parts  as  were  not  com- 
plicated by  continuous  service  were  therefore  put  down 
before  the  final  installation,  which  was  arranged  to  be 
done  in  a  single  night.  This  required  the  employment 
of  a  gang  of  more  than  100  men.  Service  was  cut  off 
at  9  p.m.  and  the  owl  car  used  the  loop  at  3:30  a.m. 
A.  E.  Harvey,  chief  engineer,  writes  that  "The  work 
went  together  without  trouble  of  any  kind;  there  was 
not  I  in.  variation  to  be  taken  up  in  any  part  of  the 
work,  so  perfect  were  the  computations,  the  manufac- 
ture and  the  staking  out  of  the  new  alignment,  which 
is  somewhat  remarkable,  taking  into  consideration  the 
size  and  character  of  the  layout  and  the  fact  that  various 
pieces  of  it  were  installed  before  the  final  connections 
were  made." 

The  track  in  the  layout  is  built  of  7-in.  T-rail,  Lorain 
section  375,  Trilby  rail  section  467,  and  the  guard 
section  468.  The  switches,  mates  and  frogs  are  of 
cast  bound  construction.  The  track  was  laid  with  wood 
ties  on  ballast  and  thoroughly  tamped.  Various  types 
•of  paving  were  used  to  conform  to  the  paving  of  the 


adjacent  streets.  Six  of  the  thirteen  switches  were 
equipped  for  electrical  operation. 

The  large  expenditure  involved  for  trackage  at  this 
point  is  justified  by  the  fact  that  it  is  an  important 
intersection  and  transfer  point  where  there  would  un- 
doubtedly exist  a  great  deal  of  congestion  unless  cars 
could  always  be  moved  in  a  forward  direction.  The 
new  layout  makes  this  provision  for  all  lines  entering 
the  location,  and  the  importance  of  this  location  from 
a  traffic  standpoint  will  undoubtedly  increase  from  year 
to  year.  The  maximum  number  of  cars  using  this  loop 
is  now  118  per  hour. 

While  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  arrive  at  an  esti- 
mate of  the  actual  operating  saving  effected  by  the 
installation  of  these  extensive  loop  facilities,  the  com- 
pany officials  are  satisfied  that  it  is  considerable,  on 
account  of  avoiding  the  delays  that  would  occur  not  only 
through  the  normal  operation  of  cars  of  the  various 
lines  throughout  the  day  but  the  delay  that  would  occur 
in  putting  cars  from  the  Brighton  carhouse  which 
have  to  pass  through  this  important  intersection  en 


Universal  Loop  and  Connections  as  Seen  Looking 
West  in  Twelfth  Street 


route  to  five  lines  were  proper  connections  not  available. 
To  carry  out  the  larger  rerouting  scheme,  which  meant 
a  very  material  saving,  it  appeared  necessary  to  provide 
all  the  track  connections  installed  with  this  loop,  and 
careful  investigation  developed  no  other  combination 
that  would  answer  all  purposes. 


Electrolysis  Report  Nearly  Ready 

DURING  the  past  month  the  final  editing  work  on 
the  report  of  the  American  Committee  on  Elec- 
trolysis has  been  completed  and  the  report  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  printer.  This  work  will  bring  up  to  date 
the  conclusions  and  recommendations  that  have  been 
agreed  upon  as  a  result  of  a  joint  study  of  the  elec- 
trolysis problem  by  the  Bureau  of  Standards  and  the 
utility  interests  represented  on  the  American  Com- 
mittee on  Electrolysis. 

During  the  month  also  the  final  experimental  field 
trials  of  the  earth  current  meter  have  been  completed, 
and  the  completion  of  these  field  trials  has  definitely 
established  the  utility  of  this  instrument  for  practical 
electrolysis  survey  work.  A  description  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  method  and  apparatus  has  been  prepared  for 
early  publication  and  plans  are  now  being  made  to  use 
several  of  these  instruments  in  connection  with  the 
co-operative  work  of  the  bureau  and  the  research  sub- 
committee of  the  American  Committee  on  Electrolysis. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


727 


One-Man  Operation  Saves  $110,000 

AH  Cars  in  Davenport,  Iowa,  Now  Operated  with  One  Man — Experience  in  Several  Iowa 
Cities  Confirms  Practicability  of  Using  But  One  Man  with  Large 
Cars — Separate  Entrance  and  Exit  Provided 


ON  JUNE  1,  1921,  the  Tri-City  Railway  of  Iowa, 
Davenport,  Iowa,  began  one-man  operation  of  its 
cars,  reduced  wages  from  a  maximum  of  70  cents 
an  hour  to  50  cents,  with  5  cents  additional  for  one-man 
operation,  and  voluntarily  reduced  the  rate  of  fare  from 
9  cents  cash,  with  three  tickets  for  25  cents,  to  8  cents 
flat.  By  Aug.  6  all  cars  had  been  rearranged  and  were 
being  operated  with  one  man  on  the  same  schedule  that 
had  been  in  effect  with  two-man  operation.  The  reduc- 
tion in  fare  was  virtualy  a  trade  with  the  public  for 
one-man  operation,  though  from  the  standpoint  of  net 
earnings  the  reduction  was  not  justified.  The  company 
is  looking  to  the  future  when  business  improves  to 
derive  the  real  benefits  of  the  reduction  in  platform 
expense.  At  present  the  saving  figures  out  to  be  about 
$4,500  a  month  net. 

The  company  operates  20,400  car-hours  a  month. 
Reducing  the  platform  cost  by  45  cents  an  hour  means 
a  monthly  saving  of  $9,180  and  an  annual  saving  of 
$110,160.  The  reduction  in  fare  was  not  of  a  nature  to 
have  any  appreciable  effect  in  stimulating  riding,  so 
that  it  entailed  a  loss  in  revenue  of  approximately 
$4,500  a  month,  leaving  a  net  improvement  of  some 
$4,600  a  month  in  the  net  earnings.  Of  course,  because 
of  the  time  required  to  prepare  the  cars  for  one-man 
operation,  the  reduction  in  fare  with  only  partial  one- 
man  operation  in  June  and  July  actually  produced  a 
loss.  The  saving  in  operating  expenses  in  June  was 
$1,800  and  in  Ju'y  $4,000.  August  and  succeeding 
months  will  produce  the  full  saving  of  over  $9,000. 

This  drastic  change  of  all  of  the  two-man,  forty-four- 
seat,  double-truck  cars  in  Davenport  to  one-man  opera- 
tion was  preceded  by  experience  in  Mason  City,  Mus- 
catine and  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  where  the  local  street 
railways  are  operated  by  the  same  interests,  the  United 
Light  &  Railways.  All  cars  in  these  cities  have  been 
operated  with  one  man  for  some  time  past.  Standard 
safety  cars  are  being  used  entirely  at  Mason  City 
except  for  the  single-truck  old  type  cars  used  for 
extras,  and  some  safety  cars  are  used  at  Muscatine. 
Half  the  cars  in  Cedar  Rapids  are  of  the  safety  type  and 
the  remainder  are  double-truck  cars  operated  with  one 
man  without  any  safety  equipment.  These  inc'ude  ten 
double-truck  cars  weighing  26,500  lb.,  seating  forty 
people  and  equipped  with  24-in.  wheels,  and  four  cars 
which  weigh  40,000  lb.  and  seat  forty-four  passengers. 
B.  J.  Denman,  president  Tri-City  Railway,  stated  that 
"Our  Cedar  Rapids  officials  and  men  prefer  the  large 
cars  to  the  small  ones,  and  so  do  the  public." 

While  the  company  was  satisfied  that  the  cars  could  be 
operated  with  one  man  in  Davenport,  it  was  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  the  Socialist  City  Council,  which 
based  its  position  on  an  ordinance  prohibiting  one-man 
operation  that  has  been  on  the  statutes  some  thirty 
years.  Affidavits  were  secured  from  companies  through- 
out the  country  to  show  what  other  cities  think  of 
one-man  operation  of  street  cars,  and  a  temporary  in- 
junction was  secured  against  the  enforcement  of  this 
ordinance.  The  main  contention  of  the  city  was  that 
the  cars  were  unsafe  when  operated  with  one  man,  and 


the  local  company  agreed  to  equip  the  cars  with  safety 
devices.  The  safety  devices  installed  on  the  cars  are  of 
a  special  design  developed  by  John  Sutherland,  master 
mechanic,  and  comprise  a  scheme  for  doing  electrically 
practically  what  is  normally  done  by  air  in  the  standard 
safety  devices.  The  details  of  this  equipment  and  its 
functioning  are  not  yet  available,  but  are  expected  to  be 
made  public  in  the  near  future.  The  average  cost  of 
equipping  the  first  twelve  cars  for  one-man  operation 
was  $315.98  for  labor  and  $283.49  for  material,  making 
a  total  of  $599.47.  The  cost  ran  as  low  as  $459.36  and 
as  high  as  $635.90.  It  included  the  cutting  of  a  new 
door  in  the  vestibule  at  each  end  of  the  car,  putting  in 
a  new  post  between  doors,  dividing  rails  to  separate  the 
entrance  and  exit  passage  ways,  new  air-operated 
hinged  doors,  and,  in  some  cases,  the  trussing  of  plat- 


Type  of  Car  and  Arrangement  of  Doors  for 
One-Man  Operation 


forms  and  other  rehabilitation  work  in  the  vestibule 
structure.  The  new  exit  door  for  one-man  operation 
was  cut  in  the  vestibule  just  behind  the  former  front 
exit  door,  which  now  serves  as  the  one-man  entrance. 
Both  door  openings  are  29]  in.  wide.  These  cars  weigh 
40,000  lb.,  are  44  ft.  8  in.  long  and  seat  forty-four 
passengers.  The  bridge  cars  operating  from  Daven- 
port to  Rock  Island  are  of  the  same  capacity  and  dimen- 
sions but  weigh  30,000  lb.  These  cars  are  now  one-man 
operated,  but  the  extra  door  was  not  cut  in. 

Traffic  Is  Light  and  Without  Bad  Peaks 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  traffic  handled  in  Davenport, 
it  should  be  said  that  the  base  schedule  cat's  for  thirty- 
seven  cars  on  seven  lines.  The  headway  on  all  lines  is 
fifteen  minutes  except  one,  on  which  it  is  ten  minutes. 
This  schedule  remains  the  same  all  day  throughout  the 
eighteen  hours,  since  there  is  practically  no  rush-hour 
of  any  consequence  to  be  handled.  The  average  sched- 
ule speed  in  May  was  8.77  m.p.h.  for  the  entire  system 
and  for  June  8.64.  This  same  speed  has  been  main- 
tained with  the  one-man  cars,  which  have  been  uni- 
formly on  time  except  for  delays  at  railroad  crossings, 
etc.,  and  there  have  been  no  more  cars  late  than  there 
were  when  operated  with  two  men. 

The  absence  of  any  particular  rush-hour  period  is  par- 
tially due  to  the  very  great  falling  off  in  the  number  of 
passengers  to  be  handled,  due  to  the  almost  complete 


728 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


shut-down  of  the  industry  of  the  city,  92  per  cent  of 
which  is  devoted  to  agricultural  implement  manufac- 
ture. In  1919  the  Davenport  company  carried  15,000,- 
000  passengers,  while  in  1920  it  carried  13,000,000,  and 
this  year  is  going  on  the  basis  of  approximately  10,000,- 
000.  In  May,  1920,  the  number  of  passengers  carried 
was  1,168,878,  which  is  compared  with  782,251  in  May, 
1921.  In  June  last  year  the  number  of  passengers  waa 
1,118,758,  as  against  746,925  this  year.  The  number  of 
revenue  passengers  per  car-mile  was  4.4  in  June,  1921. 
The  fourteen  extra  cars  which  are  run  from  the  Rock 
Island  arsenal  to  various  points  in  the  tri-cities  each 
evening  are  also  being  operated  with  one  man,  the  total 
traffic  to  be  handled  from  here  now  being  about  700 
employees.  Altogether,  fifty-three  cars  were  changed 
over  for  one-man  operation. 

Conductors  Used  at  Start 

For  the  first  three  days  on  each  line,  after  the  cars 
were  rearranged,  a  conductor  was  placed  in  the  front 
end  to  collect  fares.  The  operators  thereafter  were  a 
little  slow  at  first,  but  soon  became  familiar  with  the 
equipment  and  their  duties  in  collecting  fares.  The 
reaction  of  the  public  to  the  new  plan  of  operation  was 
practically  nil  and  there  was  no  newspaper  comment  one 
way  or  the  other  except  for  the  discussion  of  one  So- 
cialist paper,  which  talked  about  the  cars  as  "death 
traps."  There  has  been  some  feeling  in  Davenport 
against  the  standard  one-man  safety  car,  as  it  has  been 
talked  that  it  would  be  a  step  backward,  but  absolutely 
no  objection  has  been  raised  on  the  part  of  the  public 
to  the  operation  of  the  present  car  equipment  with  one 
man. 

The  change  to  one-man  operation  was  of  course  an 
economy  measure,  made  particularly  urgent  by  the  fall- 
ing off  in  traffic.  In  speaking  of  deriving  the  advantage 
of  one-man  operation  but  utilizing  present  equipment, 
Mr.  Denman  made  this  significant  statement: 

"I  would  not  ask  an  investor  to  put  money  in  a  rail- 
way property  for  new  equipment  under  present  condi- 
tions, when  the  largest  saving  due  to  the  use  of  one-man 
cars  could  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  the  present  equip- 
ment, and  especially  when  there  is  absolutely  no  ques- 
tion that  there  will  be  a  very  substantial  reduction  in 
the  price  of  small  cars  in  a  year  or  two.  Even  if  we 
desire  to  put  smaller  cars  in  service  at  some  future  time, 
the  present  equipment  would  be  extremely  useful  on  the 
heavier  lines  and  for  use  during  the  peak  hours." 

Work  has  been  started  to  change  over  the  sixty-six 
cars  in  Rock  Island,  Moline  and  East  Moline,  111.,  for 
one-man  operation.  The  base  schedule  in  these  cities 
calls  for  thirty-eight  cars,  and  as  soon  as  the  necessary 
changes  in  equipment  can  be  made,  one-man  operation 
will  be  started  and  the  9-cent  fare,  with  8J-cent  tickets, 
reduced  to  8  cents  flat.  A  little  later  then,  all  of  the 
cars  on  the  Tri-City  properties  will  be  one-man  oper- 
ated. 


The  American  Engineering  Council  has  just  made 
public  a  report  on  eye  accidents  that  have  occurred  in 
various  industries.  The  protective  methods  as  applied 
in  various  plants  have  effected  a  great  reduction  in  in- 
juries. The  report  stresses  the  importance  of  correct- 
ing subnormal  vision  among  employees,  stating  that 
excess  eye  fatigue  results  in  conditions  which  must  pro- 
duce a  time  labor  loss  from  the  reduction  in  quantity 
and  quality  of  the  work  produced.  The  importance  of 
proper  lighting  is  also  dealt  with. 


The  Human  Side  of  Energy  Saving 

Experiences  and  Observations  in  Winning  the  Support  of 
the  Trainmen  and  the  Results  Obtained  on  an 
Interurban  System 

By  R.  E.  Luellen 

Safety  Engineer,  Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana, 
Anderson,  Ind. 

WHEN  the  general  manager  called  me  into  his 
office  one  day  eighteen  months  ago  and  said,  "Ross, 
we've  decided  to  buy  kilowatt-hour  meters  for  installa- 
tion on  105  of  our  interurban  cars;  how  would  you  like 
to  take  charge  of  our  power-saving  efforts?"  I  did  not 
at  once  answer.  I  was  a  claims  and  safety  man,  if  any- 
thing, in  the  electric  railway  business.  Could  I  succeed 
as  a  power-saving  man?  Could  we  actually  save  power 
under  our  operating  conditions?  Would  a  man  who  had 
never  operated  a  car  or  even  worked  a  day  as  an  operat- 
ing man  be  able  to  instruct  skilled  trainmen  in  better 
methods  of  operation?  I  doubted.  But  I  had  faith 
that  the  boss  would  not  be  asking  me  to  attempt  some- 
thing that  seemed  impossible  of  attainment;  so  my 
affirmative  answer  was  finally  given.  Then  my  expe- 
riences in  a  new  phase  of  electric  railway  operation 
began.  Installation  of  the  meters  was  started  on  March 
11,  1920,  under  the  direction  of  an  engineer  from  the 
manufacturers. 

Starting  the  Campaign 

The  dials  of  the  meters  were  masked  as  the  meters 
were  installed  and  these  masks  were  not  removed  until 
we  were  ready  to  begin  use  of  the  meters.  This  was 
done  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  power  normally  con- 
sumed by  the  cars. 

During  the  installation  we  prepared  a  booklet  for  the 
trainmen,  dealing  with  proper  methods  of  economical 
car  operation.  Cards  were  also  developed,  on  which  the 
motormen  could  record  and  report  the  meter  readings 
and  train  movements,  as  well  as  record  forms  for  use 
in  the  office. 

Beginning  on  May  6,  a  series  of  meetings  with  the 
trainmen  was  held  at  which  the  purpose  and  use  of  the 
meters  arid  manner  of  making  reports  were  explained  to 
them.  At  these  meetings  the  instruction  matter  in  the 
booklets  was  elaborated  verbally.  I  was  beginning  to 
see  the  light  by  the  time  these  meetings  were  held  and 
was  able,  therefore,  to  inject  some  little  enthusiasm 
into  my  discourse  on  economical  operation. 

Following  these  meetings,  on  May  10,  the  masks  were 
removed  from  the  meter  dials  and  the  motormen  began 
reporting  meter  readings  and  experimenting  with 
various  sorts  of  operation,  taking  keen  interest  not 
always  prompted  by  belief.  After  a  few  days'  trial,  I 
felt  that  most  of  them  came  to  a  uniform  conclusion, 
which  is  summed  up  in  the  following  literal  quotation: 
"Maybe  it  can  be  done  on  some  runs,  but  it  can't  be  done 
on  mine." 

We  found,  as  time  went  on,  that  the  really  big  part  of 
this  work  is  that  of  inducing  the  motormen  to  disabuse 
their  minds  of  the  belief  that  on  their  run  there  is  little 
or  no  chance  to  coast  or  otherwise  to  save  power.  How- 
ever, a  considerable  number  of  men,  principally  those  in 
service  only  a  few  years,  maintained  a  permanent 
interest  and  belief  which  could  not  be  ignored  by  the 
disbelievers,  and  as  months  passed  a  constantly  increas- 
ing number  of  the  men  came  to  appreciate  the  worth  of. 
the  efforts  and  to  practice  better  operation  in  varying 
degrees. 

To  overcome  the  very  human  tendency  of  the  motor- 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


729 


men  to  lose  interest  in  this  work  various  means  have 
been  resorted  to  in  co-operation  with  C.  S.  Keever,  our 
superintendent  of  transportation.  In  addition  to  the 
periodical  statements  of  showings  of  the  motormen, 
which  are  posted  in  the  trainmen's  rooms,  matter  has 
been  published  each  month  in  our  employees'  magazine, 
Safety, calculated  to  build  and  keep  up  interest  and  belief. 
The  condition  of  equipment,  we  have  learned,  has  a  most 
vital  bearing  on  power  saving;  for  no  motorman,  no 
matter  how  well  intentioned,  can  save  power  if  his  car 
does  not  roll  freely  from  any  cause,  the  principal  one 
being  tight  brakes.  Instances  have  come  to  my  attention 
where  tight  brakes  have  caused  an  increase  in  power 
used,  amounting  to  more  than  25  per  cent.  M.  F. 
Skouden,  head  of  the  motive  power  department,  has  been 
a  firm  believer  in  the  possibilities  of  power-saving,  and 
has  co-operated  in  every  possible  way  toward  keeping 
the  cars  in  the  best  condition. 

On  a  system  such  as  this,  where  the  cars  are  heavy, 
speed  high  and  stops  few,  we  have  found  that  the 
greatest  saving  is  obtained  by  coasting  the  cars  over 
considerable  distance  at  high  speed.  Lately  we  have 
been  able  to  stimulate  greatly  the  trainmen's  power- 
saving  efforts  by  the  inauguration  of  occasional  days  of 
special  effort.  On  these  days  the  men  have  been 
requested  to  make  the  utmost  possible  effort  and  to 
note  such  results  as  lowered  power  consumption,  better 
voltage  conditions  when  all  men  are  making  extra 
efforts  to  conserve  power,  count  of  the  number  of  poles 
coasted,  stops  made,  etc. 

The  surprisingly  large  amount  of  coasting  that  can 
be  done  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  on  one  day  the  aggre- 
gate number  of  miles  coasted  by  all  men  totaled  36  per 
cent  of  the  total  mileage  operated  on  that  day.  At  the 
same  time  we  noted  a  definite  and  satisfactory  reduction 
of  power  consumption  by  the  cars  and  in  the  output  of 
the  power  plants.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  results  such  as 
these  should  change  skeptics  to  firm  believers  in  the 
possibilities  of  power-saving? 

While  we  could  not,  of  course,  go  into  such  a  mass  of 
detail  for  every  day's  work,  we  found  that  these  days  of 
special  effort  have  a  lasting  effect  on  the  power  consump- 
tion in  two  ways.  First,  and  most  important,  the  men 
found  it  could  be  done  on  their  individual  runs  and 
hence  were  encouraged  to  try  harder  afterward;  second, 
even  the  skeptics  would  experiment  on  different  methods 
of  operation,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  the  next  day  of 
special  effort.   This  all  helped  at  the  power  house. 

Does  Energy  Saving  at  the  Car  Mean  Coal  Saving? 

Have  we  really  saved  any  coal?  We  have.  Due  first 
to  power  plant  improvements  and  second  to  efforts  to 
save  power  at  the  cars,  the  coal  consumption  has  been 
greatly  lowered  and  continues  to  drop,  without  any 
appreciable  reduction  in  miles  operated.  Taking  the 
figures  from  our  auditor's  records  of  the  direct  current 
output  of  the  power  plants,  together  with  total  miles 
operated,  we  find  that  the  unit  power  consumption 
during  the  last  seven  months  of  meter  operation  has 
decreased  more  than  10  per  cent  from  the  figures  for 
the  corresponding  months  of  the  previous  year.  That 
this  saving  is  reflected  at  the  coal  pile  is  clearly 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  a  large  and  satisfactory  reduc- 
tion was  made  in  the  consumption  of  coal  per  kilowatt- 
hour  generated  during  the  period  the  meters  were  in 
service.  This  reduction  is  due,  in  part,  to  power  house 
improvements,  but  they  show  that  the  decreased  power 
output  did  not  increase  the  coal  rate. 


We  have  also  noticed  a  very  gratifying  decrease  in 
the  cost  of  maintenance  of  equipment  since  the  metera 
have  been  installed.  While  I  do  not  have  at  hand  exact 
figures  on  car  maintenance,  there  is  clearly  a  reduction 
in  cost  of  such  items  as  brakeshoes,  motors  and  other 
electrical  equipment.  Mr.  Skouden  states  that  we  are 
getting  more  mileage  from  our  brakeshoes  and,  that 
whereas  at  this  time  last  year  we  had  a  number  of  bad 
order  field  coils  and  armatures  awaiting  repairs,  at 
present  we  have  a  reserve  of  as  many  good  order  coils 
all  ready  for  trouble,  despite  a  reduction  in  the  number 
of  men  at  the  shop. 

Two  interesting  by-products  of  our  meter  installation 
are  the  inspection  of  equipment  on  the  kilowatt-hour 
basis  and  the  data  afforded  by  the  meters  on  the  amount 
of  power  used  in  various  kinds  of  service.  Our  shop 
department  has  found  that  the  inspection  periods  for 
different  kinds  of  equipment  may  be  easily  regulated 
through  the  use  of  the  inspection  dials  on  the  meters, 
which  give  them  a  very  flexible  and  easily  adjusted  unit 
for  inspection  purposes.    The  data  as  to  the  amount  of 


—■A 

■>ry 

ft- 

,3.31 

J. 

58 

4— 

r 

— i 

ft 

42 

Meters  place 

V  ir 

— T 

June  Dec  June  Dec  June  Dec.  Hai 

1918  1919  1920  192! 

Power  Consumption  at  D.  C.  Switchboard  in  Kilowatts 
Per  Car-Mile 


power  used  in  different  kinds  of  service  have  been  very 
valuable  in  determining  the  power  costs  of  the  various 
kinds  of  service,  such  as  freight,  express,  work  train, 
etc.,  and  have  also  made  it  possible  for  us  to  determine 
the  amount  of  power  used  by  our  trains. 

Mechanical  failures  of  the  meters  have  thus  far  been 
so  few  as  to  be  quite  negligible.  We  have  a  plan  of 
cleaning  and  calibrating  the  meters  once  a  year  and  this, 
as  well  as  other  maintenance  work,  is  assigned  to  one 
of  the  regular  shop  employees,  who  devotes  all  necessary 
time  to  it.  The  total  expense  for  maintenance  is  averag- 
ing about  $10  per  month  for  the  105  meters. 

The  results  which  we  have  obtained  have  been  very 
satisfactory  and  have  been  achieved  with  very  little 
additional  expense.  We  have  had  no  road  instruction 
for  the  men,  but  have  relied  upon  securing  their  co- 
operation entirely  through  our  initial  meetings,  instruc- 
tion booklets,  and  the  constant  encouragement  and 
advice  of  the  operating  officials.  The  response  of  the 
trainmen  to  these  efforts  has  been  excellent.  We  have 
been  able  to  maintain  their  interest  in  power  saving 
and  we  believe  that  our  trainmen  are  constantly  im- 
proving in  economical  car  operation. 

Looking  back  over  the  year's  work,  I  can  see  how  the 
steadfast  belief  of  our  operating  officials  that  our  power 
bills  could  be  reduced  has  gradually  worked  down 
through  the  rank  and  file  of  our  men,  myself  included, 
until  the  results  obtained  have  justified  that  belief  and 
accomplished  the  fine  results  shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing curve.  I  believe  that  in  this  branch  of  work,  as  in 
any  other  requiring  co-operation,  results  may  be 
expected  directly  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  faith 
and  enthusiasm  plus  amount  of  thought  and  energy  put 
into  it  by  the  officials. 


730 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


X 
H 

s 

s- 

x 
© 

% 
a; 

CO 


c 


XI 

Jt 

13 
.9 
c 
"C 

Ph 

a> 

-C 

-*-> 

<«- 
© 

£ 

© 

GO 
© 


lO 
UJ 

(0 

UJ 

h 

□ 

3 

h 
□ 

o 

O 
O 
QL 


< 

42 

< 
42 

< 
to 

g 

QL 
UJ 

o 

(J 

<t 
f- 
< 

Z2 


1  U 

<! 
a.  $ 

oi 

t.  « 
j 

4 

I 
I 

a 
14 

P 


O  , 

CO  o 

o 

cs 

/V  Id 

z; a 
o  1 


re 


si 


■s 


5^ 


5  * 


5*t  -S* 


c6 


a.* 


I-' 


in 


Is 

£-5 


5£ 


30 


cS  cS 

P?  H 

~-  «n 

cS  © 

cp  cS  -in> 

H  f 

3  .S  * 

w  >>  „ 

9  e.§ 

©  ©  CO 

CJ  O 

CO  o 


a  3 

0) 

^  OI 

C  '-3 


+J"2 

CO  C 

13  bo 

.5 
-  'S. 

«  c 

CO  r; 

2.2 

cS 

t/T  > 

S  S 

a!  X 

p< 

a>  bo 
•43  .£ 

_  > 


bo  cS  .  2 


C 
C/2 

a> 

•i,  >h  'is 

-  CP 

-73  co  X 

■p  cJ 

<3  St 


a)  o 


«  ft  . 

C  +j  a> 

T3 


bO 


O 

a  =«  .S 

>>  is  o 

-M    rO  •!— ! 


to  -o 

IS  ^ 

^  T3 
«H  C 

O  cS 

is 

ft  a 
bo 

CP  CP 

^3  U 


CP 

3 
o  ^ 


.5  to 

CP  .tS 
cp  c 


c  .a 

2  So 


03  CP 

e  bo 

—  3 

3  2 
©  X 

co 


^  3 

CP  jQ 

ftis 

O  +j 

co"  co 
CP  cc 

CS  j3 

ft  « 
S 

8  cp 

bo 
2 

3 

cS  cS 
CP 

1—1  co~ 


Sh  cp 

+3  co 

O  T3 

'  CP 


> 
CS 

ft 


3  CP  03  .3 
Sh  -n  CS 

co   n  "T1 


.3  CS 

■8  P 

CP 

3  « 

3  ^2 

O  cS 


ft£ 

CP  CS 

:ft° 

o  o 

CJ  CJ 


3  _ 

©  cS 


CJ 

cp  cS 
cS 

3  bo 
3  3 
.2  42 


°1S 

-U  CP 

CS  W 
ft  - 

cS 

Sh 

CP  CP 


co 
cs 

.o 


cS  s 

CP  CS 
Sh  "3 

bo  <3 


cS 
CP 

> 
o 

CS 

3 

CP 

> 


^  V 
3 
3  S 
-  Ph 

CP  cp 

5  M 


9  ^ 

_3  -M 

's-  „r 


CP 

x  .a  &  ..g 


bo 


H 
pq 

m 
x 


-3  — ! 
bO^j 
"S  CP 

3  « 


Sh  i 

CP  x 
rg  bO 


CS 

P3 


©   cS  h 
3 


B  £  -3 


T3  CS 

3  co 

cs  nj 

CP  CP 


1 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


731 


A  Study  in  Human  Nature 

Reasons  for  Labor  Turnover— Back-to-the-Farm  Movement 
— War  Reaction  Evident — Some  Go  to  School — 
Interesting  Data  for  Alert  Managers 

MAN  is  an  animal  of  strange  characteristics,  par- 
ticularly the  employees  of  a  street  railway  in  the 
Middle  West  that  has  an  average  of  between  550  and 
650  conductors  and  motormen  on  its  payroll.  The 
accompanying  is  a  remarkable  document  for  use  in  the 
study  of  labor  turnover  and  the  railway  company  has 
a  good  psychologist  in  its  organization. 

The  time  and  labor  necessitated  in  the  keeping  of 
such  a  record  should  not  be  compared  to  its  value  in 
handling  labor,  to  say  nothing  of  its  value  to  industry 
in  general.  Little  things  grow  into  large  ones  if 
neglected  and  the  crews  are  the  transportation  sales- 


statement  showing  causes  of  men  leaving  service 

1913  to    1920  Inclusive 

Resigned 
Cause 
Sickness  


To  go  home  

To  go  to  school  

Short  of  funds  

Don't  like  the  work  

Can't  stand  the  work. . . . 

Can't  make  a  living — ■ 
Can't  get  enough  work 

Can't  stand  the  climate. . 

Can't  stand  cold  weather 

To  take  another  position 
— Going  to  farm  

To  attend  to  personal 
business  

Dissatisfied  

Too  much  responsibility. . 

To  keep  from  being  dis- 
charged  

Tired  of  work  

Don'tliketherun  

Wrong  end  

Could  not  learn  

No  reason  given  

Army  and  Navy  

Miscellaneous   20 


Motormen 

and  Conductors 

1913 

1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

1919 

1920 

79 

49 

32 

21 

30 

21 

16 

20 

43 

45 

9 

8 

6 

2 

2 

52 

108 

89 

88 

194 

273 

189 

278 

9 

21 

3 

10 

4 

6 

15 

18 

94 

1 

2 

81 

26 

1  i 

22 

39 

31 

70 

19 

20 

15 

6 

2 

12 

3 

4 

18 

15 

8 

9 

10 

6 

6 

4 

2 

2 

6 

6 

2 

2 

1 

78 

28 

23 

78 

146 

237 

140 

199 

61 

8 

5 

4 

'  1 

"l 

'  i 

4 

20 


9 
2 

'  i 

2 
7 
48 
37 


1 

3 
12 
39 
38 
25 


23 
1 

"l 
6 
4 
2 

12 


Discharged : 

Incompetent  

Short  register — Register 
irregularities  

Drunk  

Drinking  on  duty  

Lied  on  application  

Gambling  

Immorality  

Failure  to  make  accident 
report  

Failure  to  get  witnesses.. . 

Failure  to  enforce  rules. . . 

Undesirable  

Discourteous  to  passengers 

Running  late  

Laying  over  at  end  of  line. 

Failure  to  report — Misses. 

Defective  eyesight  

Smoking  on  duty  

Riding  on  front  end  

Insubordination  

Quick  bells  

Short  changing  passengers 

Laying  out  

Carrying  passengers  on 
front  end  

Refusing  to  obey  orders.. . 

Continually  short  in  settle- 
ment  

Indifferent  

Using  wire  for  fuse  

Misappropriation  of  art- 
icles left  on  car  

Manipulation  of  transfers. 

Car  collision  

Train  collision  

Vehicle  collision  

Reckless  

Account  of  accidents  

Abusing  car  

Running  railroad  crossing 

Agitators  (later  reinstated) 

Miscellaneous  


54 


23 


25 


Promoted  and  transferred 
Deceased  


55 

9 
2 
1 1 
10 

18 


Totalresigned   529      424      219      259      523      749      457  712 


22 


Average  number  of  regu- 


26 

99 

42 

22 

10 

19 

72 

80 

12 

8 

1 1 

2 

4 

2 

1 

5 

4 

4 

7 

1 

6 

14 

10 

'  7 

4 

3 

1 1 

7 

3 

5 

"  i 

i 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

i 

1 

6 

14 

9 

ii 

4 

8 

12 

33 

31 

31 

8 

3 

A 

12 

10 

2 

7 

2 

1 

'  i 

2 

'  3 

5 
1 

7 

'  i 

2 

1 

'  i 

3 

'  5 

21 

20 

9 

5 

3 

3 

'  i 

1 

5 

10 

3 

'  i 

i 

'  i 

15 

i9 

38 

'8 

7 

"l 

2 

20 

"a 

15 

6 

"a 

i 

"2 

3 

5 

12 

i9 

17 

21 

30 

21 

23 

27 

47 

1 

2 

1 

22 

29 

A 

13 

2 

'  i 

6 

id 

5 

6 

1 

2 

2 

1 

4 

'  i 

3 

3 

6 

"a 

5 

1 

4 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

50 

ii 

3 

13 

23 

22 

7 

26 

233 

284 

147 

186 

117 

173 

200 

317 

1 

5 

2 

2 

6 

1 

4 

1 

3 

2 

1 

4 

3 

2 

764 

716 

370 

445 

643 

932 

661 

1.035 

783 

621 

446 

387 

580 

841 

800 

1,067 

551 

521 

567 

564 

500 

458 

620 

674 

men  in  the  railway  industry.  Any  data  that  help  the 
industry  to  understand  the  psychology  of  its  crews  are 
welcome. 

The  curves  show  the  labor  turnover  for  a  period  of 
several  years  and  reflect  countrywide  psychological  and 
business  conditions.  The  business  depression  in  1915- 
1916  is  reflected  in  the  labor  turnover — men  held  on  to 
their  jobs,  although  in  1916  a  back-to-the-farm  move- 
ment started.  The  war  ebb  and  flow  shows  in  the 
curves  for  1917-1918-1919.  Resignations  increased  for 
the  purpose  of  going  home  or  going  back  to  the  farm 
or  joining  the  army  or  navy.    Why  did  so*  many  men 


210 

200 

190 

180 

170 

wl60 

£150 
a 

E  140 

x-  130 
o 

&I20 

XI 

1 1  10 
z 

e  100 
o 

90 

> 
< 

s-  80 

o 

t  70 

U 

u  60 

O- 

50 
40' 
30 


201 
1913 


-1 

\_ 

7, 

i 

11 

\ 

J 

A 

k 

+— 

fl 

\ 

t 

\ 

J 

M 

r 

\ 

h 

r- 

% 

1  <b 

-«/ 
ty 

1914 


1915 


1916  1917 
Year 


1918 


1920 


1921 


Graphs  for  Labor  Turnover  for 
Eight  Years 


go  back  to  the  farm?  Living  costs,  wages  and  the 
boom  in  farm  products  no  doubt  answer  the  question. 
Very  remarkable  is  the  fact  that  few  men  were  dis- 
charged as  undesirable  in  this  period,  honesty  was  at  a 
premium  and  collisions  at  a  minimum.  Even  the  Vol- 
stead law  functioned  well  according  to  the  data  on 
the  accompanying  table. 

Then  from  1919  to  1920  the  reaction  from  the  war 
begins  to  have  its  effect  as  well  as  the  high  costs 
and  wages  as  reflected  in  the  table.  The  men  still  re- 
mained sober,  but  began  to  joy  ride  and  feel  their  oats 
as  evidenced  by  the  increase  in  the  number  of  colli- 
sions, the  large  number  laying  out  and  the  failures 
to  enforce  rules.  Register  irregularities  increased  and 
an  increase  in  turnover  occurred  because  of  going  home, 
going  to  farm,  going  to  another  job  and  quitting  to 
keep  from  being  fired.  A  general  "don't  care"  attitude 
in  1920  in  all  industry  is  reflected  in  the  labor  chart 
of  this  company. 

A  table  of  this  sort  is  a  valuable  thing  for  an  alert 
manager  to  study  and  more  tables  of  this  kind  should 
be  available. 


732 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


The  Five-Cent  Fare  as  It  Affects  the 
Electric  Railway  Employee 

By  Alfred  A.  Green 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

KNOWING  something  of  the  electric  railway  game, 
obtained  through  intimate  connection  with  railway 
work  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  I  wish  to  express  a  few 
thoughts  in  regard  to  the  awful  howling  about  increas- 
ing the  5-cent  fare  that  comes  from  the  different  politi- 
cal aspirants  of  the  great  city  of  New  York.  It  is 
quite  evident  that  none  of  them  ever  depended  long 
on  a  pay  envelope  for  services  rendered  to  an  electric 
railway  or  they  would  have  gained  sufficient  knowledge 
to  know  that  if  the  wages  paid  to  men  on  cars  and  in 
the  shops  were  sufficient  to  care  for  their  families  and 
educate  their  children  as  they  should  be  the  railways 
could  not  operate  successfully  on  a  5-cent  fare. 

Newspapers  during  the  past  two  or  three  months  have 
contained  items  stating  that  the  men  on  this  or  that 
road  have  accepted  a  reduction  in  pay  so  as  to  help 
the  railway  company  which  employs  them  to  meet  its 
operating  expenses,  and  why?  Because  the  low  rate 
of  fare  does  not  bring  in  enough  income  and  the  politi- 
cians cannot  permit  an  agreement  made  during  the  old 
horse  car  days  to  be  changed  for  fear  they  would  lose 
the  vote  of  some  poor  mortal  whose  thinking  capacity 
cannot  carry  him  beyond  5  cents  no  matter  what  the 
results  may  be.  There  are  hundreds  of  such  people 
who  would  deprive  the  railways  even  of  their  5  cents. 

The  men  on  the  old  horse  car  lines  received  less 
compensation  for  their  labor  and  worked  longer  hours 
than  men  on  any  other  known  employment,  and  it  was 
these  men  who  were  taken  over  to  operate  the  cars  and 
to  do  the  repair  work  when  the  street  railway  systems 
were  changed  from  horse  to  electric  propulsion.  The 
amount  paid  to  the  different  classes  of  workmen  varied 
from  $1.25  for  twelve  hours  work  to  a  maximum  amount 
of  $2.25  paid  first-class  mechanics  for  ten  hours  work. 
It  is  also  a  fact  that  wage  rates  on  electric  railways 
did  not  increase  in  proportion  to  other  trades  during 
the  years  previous  to  America's  entering  the  war,  and 
the  greatest  increases  received  were  during  the  last 
two  or  three  years,  and  still  the  wages  cannot  be  com- 
pared with  those  received  by  other  men  doing  work 
less  arduous  and  having  less  responsibility. 

In  many  cities  outside  of  New  York  there  must  be 
men  of  broader  intelligence  and  less  bigoted  who  have 
realized  that  the  electric  railways  cannot  pay  the  in- 
creased cost  of  material  and  labor  with  the  same  5  cents 
that  previously  permitted  them  to  exist  by  paying  their 
labor  the  smallest  wage  possible.  Fare  increases  have 
been  allowed  and  in  many  instances  the  fare  has  been 
doubled  in  order  that  the  railroads  could  pay  their 
honest  debts  and  still  pay  the  men  on  the  cars  and  in 
the  shops  a  living  wage. 

Reducing  pay  does  not  make  faithful  employees,  but 
under  circumstances  that  exist  in  New  York  City  it 
is  the  only  alternative,  as  these  railways  have  not  been 
permitted  to  raise  fares  because  the  men  at  the  head 
of  the  city  government  decided  that  there  is  more  politi- 
cal pull  with  the  masses  than  with  the  men  and  their 
families  that  depend  upon  the  railways  for  an  existence. 

The  motorman,  the  conductor,  the  pitman,  the  over- 
hauler  and  all  the  other  classes  of  workmen  necessary 
for  the  operation  of  the  railway  have  not  entered  into 
the  scheme  of  things  as  far  as  the  politician  is  con- 


cerned, and  the  one  thing  that  blights  the  politician's 
vision  to  all  else  in  this  vast  universe  is  a  5-cent  piece. 

The  question  that  each  electric  railroad  employee 
should  ask  himself  today  is :  "What  can  I  as  an  individ- 
ual do  to  bring  about  improved  conditions  for  myself 
and  the  company  that  employs  me,  because  its  success 
is  intertwined  so  closely  with  mine  that  neither  can 
win  alone." 

This  is  a  positive  fact.  A  trainman  or  shopman  may 
be  only  a  small  unit  of  the  whole  on  a  large  property, 
but  the  success  of  the  whole  depends  upon  the  success 
of  its  smallest  unit.  So  it  is  necessary  for  each  man 
to  learn  from  the  past  and  present  as  to  what  his 
duty  is  when  the  opportunity  comes  for  him  to  express 
his  will  as  to  who  is  a  real  friend  and  who  is  broad 
enough  to  look  beyond  the  nickel  to  a  point  of  fairness 
to  all. 


Baltimore's  New  Type  Safety  Car 

State  of  New  Jersey 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners 

Newark,  October  4,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

I  have  noted  with  very  great  interest  the  article  con- 
tained in  the  issue  of  Sept.  10,  1921,  entitled  "Balti- 
more's New  Type  Safety  Cars."  I  note  that  while  these 
cars  are  practically  of  the  same  general  design  as  what 
might  be  called  the  standard  one-man  safety  car,  yet  it 
has  been  found  perfectly  practical  to  equip  them  with  a 
wider  door  opening  and  wider  aisle,  thus  providing  a 
means  for  more  rapid  passenger  interchange  with  only 
a  minor  change  in  the  seating  arrangement. 

Ever  since  the  one-man  safety  car  was  first  put  in 
operation  I  have  been  a  very  strong  advocate  of  pro- 
viding a  wider  door  opening,  an  objectionable  feature  of 
the  car  having  been,  to  my  mind,  the  fact  that  pas- 
sengers cannot  board  and  alight  at  the  same  time.  This 
has  also  been  a  source  of  much  complaint  on  the  part  of 
the  patrons  of  the  cars,  according  to  my  experience  and 
observation,  and  it  has  of  course  been  detrimental  to 
the  successful  operation  of  the  car  as  far  as  running 
time  is  concerned. 

I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  at  least  one  company  has 
undertaken  this  desirable  change  in  the  design  of  these 
cars,  and  am  further  pleased  to  note  that  the  result  has 
been  a  considerable  saving  in  time  of  loading  and  un- 
loading, which,  of  course,  was  to  be  expected.  I  trust 
that  other  companies  will  see  fit  to  follow  the  same 
method  of  improving  the  use  of  the  one-man  safety  car. 

H.  C.  Eddy,  Street  Railway  Engineer. 


Standards  for  Consideration 

THE  American  Engineering  Standards  Committee 
announces  that  the  American  Society  for  Testing 
Materials  has  submitted  eleven  standards  for  considera- 
tion and  approval.  Among  those  of  interest  to  electric 
railways  are  the  specifications  for  steel  forgings, 
methods  of  analysis  of  manganese  bronze  and  gun 
metal,  steel  specifications  and  drain  tile  specifications. 
The  American  Society  of  Safety  Engineers  has  been 
designated  as  sponsor  for  a  safety  code  for  compressed 
air  machinery.  This  code  will  include  rules  for  the  con- 
struction and  use  of  compressors,  tanks,  pipe  lines,  etc. 


A  Variable  Speed  Polyphase  Motor 

THE  forced  draft  fan  equipment  with  push  button 
and  pressure  regulator  control  recently  put  into 
operation  at  the  Springdale  Station  of  the  West  Penn 
Power  Company  by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manu- 
facturing Company  is  of  special  interest  as  it  includes 
a  comparatively  new  type  of  polyphase,  alternating-cur- 
rent, variable  speed,  brush-shifting  motor.  This  motor 
eliminates  the  objectionable  poor  efficiency  and  limited 
number  of  speed  points  inherent  with  slip-ring  induc- 
tion motors  and  provides  a  satisfactory  and  easily  con- 
trolled alternating-current  fan  drive  which  can  be  ap- 
plied to  power  plants.  The  installation  is  the  first 
application  of  the  motor  to  this  type  of  work,  with  full 
automatic  control. 

The  forced  draft  equipment  for  each  boiler  consists 
of  one  centrifugal  fan  having  a  capacity  of  90,000 
-cu.ft.  per  minute  at  5.9  in.  water  gage  pressure,  65 
deg.  F.,  and  770  r.p.m.  The  fan  is  driven  by  a  motor 
which  is  rated  normally  as  a  150-hp.,  720-r.p.m.,  2,200- 
volt,  three-phase,  60-cycle  motor,  with  push  button  and 
pressure  regulator  control. 

The  motors  are  capable  of  operating  at  over  syn- 
chronous speed  and  have  sufficient  capacity  to  drive  the 
fans  at  865  r.p.m.  intermittently  and  825  r.p.m.  con- 
tinuously. The  lowest  operating  speed  required  is 
355  r.p.m.  This  results  in  a  total  speed  range  of  2.4 
to  1.  The  maximum  limit  of  865  r.p.m.  corresponds  to 
full  load  speed  of  900  r.p.m.  for  slip-ring  induction 
motors  which  permits  direct  comparison  with  the 
latter. 

The  motor  consists  of  the  stationary  member  or 
stator,  the  rotary  member  or  rotor  and  a  transformer 
connecting  the  rotor  in  series  with  the  stator.  The 
stator  has  a  distributed  winding  and  is  similar  to  the 
ordinary  induction  motor.  The  rotor  is  in  appearance 
and  design  essentially  like  that  of  a  direct-current 
motor  except  that  for  the  brush  shifting  motor  the 
armature  voltage  is  considerably  lower,  being  approx- 
imately 80  to  90  volts.  The  rotor  transformer  is  simply 
a  series  transformer  with  the  primary  in  series  with 
the  stator  of  the  motor  and  the  secondary  connected  to 
the  rotor  through  brushes  and  commutator.  This 
transformer  not  only  supplies  a  lower  commutator 
voltage  but  also,  by  its  ability  to  become  saturated, 
limits  the  no-load  speed  of  the  motor. 

The  control  required  for  operating  the  motor  is  ex- 
tremely simple,  consisting  merely  of  a  switch  for  con- 
necting the  motor  stator  to  the  line  and  some  mechanical 
means  of  shifting  the  brushes,  the  starting  current 
being  determined  by  the  position  of  the  brushes.  The 
control  at  the  Springdale  Station  provides  for  over-load 
and  under-voltage  protection  with  push  button  start 
and  stop  in  addition  to  automatic  speed  control  from 
a  pressure  regulator  or  from  two  push  button  stations. 
Another  feature  is  that  the  motor  stator  is  connected 


for  pole  changing  with  automatic  reshifting  of  the 
brushes  to  compensate  for  the  accompanying  change  in 
speed.  The  actual  equipment  necessary  to  provide  these 
features  consists  of  a  primary  control  composed  of  a  line 
contactor  panel  with  necessary  interlocks,  and  a  sec- 
ondary control  composed  of  the  brush-shifting  pilot 
motor,  gear  train  and  drum  control  switches,  arranged 
for  pressure  regulator  control  through  the  rope  wheel 
or  for  push  button  control. 

From  actual  test  data  in  comparison  with  a  standard 
slip-ring  900-r.p.m.  motor  of  the  same  size  under  the 
actual  fan  load  and  for  the  same  range  of  speed  this 
motor  shows  a  very  much  higher  efficiency  and  power 
factor. 


New  Splice  Bar  for  Girder  Rail 


THE  accompany- 
ing illustration 
shows  the  Heinle  rail 
joint  which  is  now 
being  marketed. 
With  this  type  of 
joint  the  bolts  are 
placed  at  an  angle 
with  the  intention 
of  taking  care  of  the 
principal  stresses 
more  effectively. 
Some  of  the  econo- 
mies claimed  for  this 
type  of  splice  bar  are 
that  it  can  easily  be 
rolled  and  punched, 
weighs  less  per  pair, 
gives  greater  effi- 
ciency and  elimi- 
nates structural 
fracture  due  to  bending  stresses.  The  bolt  arrange- 
ment can  be  supplied  to  various  types  of  rail  joints 
and  other  fabricated  joints. 


Truss  Fastening  for  Girder  Rail 


New  English  Trolley  Stand 

ANEW  trolley  stand  has  been  brought  out  in  Eng- 
land which  is  fitted  with  roller  and  ball  bearings 
and  among  other  advantages  it  is  claimed  it  is  superior 
in  strength  and  has  extremely  lightweight,  few  wearing 
parts,  is  easily  adjustable  and  has  an  absence  of  fric- 
tion. It  is  further  claimed  that  damage  due  to  rebound 
is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  A  considerable  number  of 
these  have  been  in  service  for  some  time  and  have 
proved  successful,  having  cost  practically  nothing  for 
maintenance.  This  is  due  to  the  introduction  of  a 
roller  bearing  around  the  center  pivot,  which  not  only 
reduces  friction  to  a  minimum  but  renders  the  standard 
practically  perfect  for  either  straight,  under  running 


734 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


or  side  running,  the  dewiring  of  trolley  heads  being 
almost  eliminated.  The  relation  of  the  pivot  end  of  the 
pole  sockets  to  the  axis  of  the  pivot  end — to  which  the 
spring  ends  are  connected — is  so  arranged  that  although 
the  inclination  of  the  pole  to  the  vertical  increases, 
the  tension  on  the  trolley  wire  remains  constant.  In- 
stead of  one  or  two  large  springs  being  used,  this  stand 
has  two  batteries  of  springs,  which  by  special  arrange- 
ment make  the  standard  very  flexible  and  compensat- 
ing at  all  points.  It  is  also  provided  with  a  special 
buffer  spring  mounted  in  such  a  manner  that  should 
for  any  reason  the  trolley  come  off  the  wire,  the  blow 
to  the  standard  caused  by  the  pole  rising  is  very  con- 
siderably lessened.  The  trolley  stand  is  the  product  of 
Brecknell,  Munro  &  Rogers,  Ltd.,  Bristol. 


Hinged  Circuit  Breaker  Handle 


t; 


kHE  use  of  two 
kinds  of  circuit 
breakers  on  the  same 
system,  one  that  can 
be  knocked  out  with 
the  handle,  and  the 
other  that  requires 
tripping  at  the  mag- 
netic trip,  is  very 
confusing  to  motor- 
men,  who  a  e  likely 
to  make  a  mistake 
and  hit  the  handle  of 
the  trip  breaker. 
This  frequently 
breaks  the  handle  or 
at  least  loosens  up 
the  various  parts  and 
causes  delays  in 
service  as  well  as 
frequent  repairs.  The  Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company  has  overcome  this  difficulty  by  putting  a  hinge 
in  the  handle  of  its  trip  breakers  as  shown  in  the 
accompanying  illustration.  This  hinged  handle  is  ar- 
ranged so  that  it  will  push  the  breaker  closed,  but  if  it 
is  pulled  in  the  opposite  direction  the  hinge  will  allow 
the  handle  to  swing  back  so  as  not  to  break  the  catch. 
The  use  of  this  type  of  hinged  handle  has  done  away 
with  trouble  of  the  nature  described. 


Circuit  Brkaker  with 
Hinged  Handle 


Atlanta's  New  Emergency  Truck 

ANEW  emergency  truck  equipped  for  service  in 
almost  all  classes  of  emergency  has  just  been  put 
into  service  by  the  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Atlanta,  Ga.  The  truck  is  built  on  a  2-ton  White 
chassis.  The  body  is  entirely  of  steel  and  was  built  at 
the  shops  of  the  company  in  Atlanta. 

As  noted  in  the  accompanying  illustration,  the  truck 
is  substantially  built  and  is  equipped  with  an  "A" 
ladder  to  be  used  by  linemen  in  event  of  trolley  break. 
It  is  also  equipped  with  a  winch  for  use  in  rerailing 


Emergency  Truck  with  "A"  Ladder  in  Position  for 
Lineman's  Use 

cars  or  removing  obstructions  from  the  tracks.  The 
box  on  each  side  of  the  car  carries  within  it  one  hose 
bridge  for  spanning  six  lines  of  hose  and  a  complete 
outfit  of  jacks,  blocks,  plates  and  other  tools  necessary 
for  use  in  clearing  obstructions,  rerailing  cars,  etc.  In 
the  event  of  the  truck  going  to  a  derailment  accident, 
it  passes  one  of  the  main  carhouses  in  Atlanta  and  picks 
up  whatever  additional  help  is  required.  The  truck  is. 
manned  twenty-four  hours  per  day  by  one  lineman  and 
one  competent  driver.  The  latter  is  in  charge  of  re- 
railing cars.  The  truck  answers  all  fire  calls  in  order 
to  lay  its  hose  bridge  if  required  and  is  otherwise  under 
the  call  of  the  railway  company's  central  dispatcher's 
ofhce  at  all  times  during  the  twenty-four-hour  period. 


Two  Views  of  Atlanta's  New  Emergency  Truck 


October  22,  1921  Electric   Railway   Journal  735 


Proceedings  of  the  Claims  Association 


J.  J.  REYNOLDS 
President,  1920-21 


THE  American  Electric  Railway 
Claims  Association  held  three 
sessions  at  its  annual  convention 
in  Atlantic  City,  Oct.  3-5.  Of  these 
meetings,  one,  that  on  Tuesday  after- 
noon, was  a  joint  meeting  with  the 
Transportation  &  Traffic  Association 
and  was  reported  in  the  issue  of  this 
paper  of  Oct.  8.  Reports  of  the  meet- 
ings on  Monday,  Oct.  3,  and  Wednes- 
day, Oct.  5,  appear  in  this  issue. 

Monday's  Session 

John  J.  Reynolds,  claims  attorney 
Boston  Elevated  Railway,  as  president 
of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Claims  Association,  called  the  conven- 
tion to  order  for  its  first  session  on 
Monday  afternoon.  An  abstract  of  the 
presidential  address  by  Mr.  Reynolds 
follows. 

Address  by  President  Reynolds 

"When  a  number  of  men,  keen,  open- 
hearted,  sympathetic  and  observant,  as 
claims  men  are,  come  together  from 
different  places  with  widely  different 
notions  and  freely  mix  with  each  other, 
they  are  sure  to  learn  from  one  an- 
other. They  gain  for  themselves  new 
ideas  and  views,  fresh  matter  of 
thought,  and  there  is  much  to  gener- 
alize. Generalities,  it  is  true,  get  us 
nowhere,  but  it  is  just  as  true  that  we 
get  nowhere  without  generalities. 

"I  wish  particularly  to  emphasize  the 
importance  of  the  Claims  Association 
in  the  general  development  of  our  re- 
lations and  work.  This  association  is 
practical  in  character  and  aim.  It  is 
the  voice  of  the  American  electric  rail- 
way claims  departments,  becoming  ar- 
ticulate through  its  members.  Every 
phase  of  claims  department  work  is 
represented  in  its  activities,  hence  the 
association  exerts  a  vital  influence  on 
claims  men. 

"If  there  is  a  better  way  of  doing 
our  work  than  the  way  we  are 
doing  it,  we  want  to  know  it;  there- 
fore it  is  surely  worth  our  while  to 


The  Discussion  at  the  Atlantic 
City  Convention  of  the  Claims 
Agents  Centered  on  Methods  of 
Handling  Complaints — Some  Del- 
egates Urged  a  Close  Follow-Up, 
Others  Preferred  Waiting  for 
Claimant  to  Present  Case — Other 
Topics  Considered  in  Interesting 
Sessions. 


keep  in  touch  with  what  of  merit  is 
b  .'ing  done  along  our  own  particular 
line.  If  we  fail  to  do  this,  then  our 
department  is  not  running  at  its  high- 
est efficiency.  Through  this  associa- 
tion we  may  share  in  the  very  latest 
ideas  and  progress  in  claims  depart- 
ment work  and  thus  prepare  ourselves 
to  enter  aggressively  on  those  duties, 
the  details  of  which  positively  demand 
long  and  expert  training.  What  we 
want  is  not  passive  acquiescence,  but 
active  co-operation. 

"There  is  no  body  of  men  affiliated 
with  the  electric  railway  industry  more 
capable  of  promoting  the  special  inter- 
est of  the  industry  than  the  men  who 
go  to  make  up  the  claims  association. 
It  should  be  of  some  interest  to  note 
that  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
claims  association  the  everyday  work 
of  the  claims  man  is  now  developed  to 
a  point  where  it  embraces  problems, 
apart  from  the  mere  settlement  of 
claims,  which  add  to  the  protection, 
safety,  comfort  and  convenience  of  the 
car  rider  and  of  the  traveling  public 
generally.  One  of  the  supreme  inter- 
ests of  claims  men,  whether  represent- 
ing a  property  which  is  large,  small  or 
otherwise,  should  be  concerned  with  de- 
veloping safe  methods  of  operation  and 
conduct.  There  is  not  a  moment,  nor 
circumstance,  that  can  minimize  this 
ever-present  and  all-important  fact  and 
duty.  What  is  perhaps  not  quite  so 
obvious,  but  nevertheless  equally  cer- 
tain, is  that  this  association  takes  the 
larger,  the  higher  and  the  broader  view 
of  accident  prevention  education. 

"We  all  appreciate  the  fact  that  the 
one  great  agency  for  the  perpetuation 
of  our  effectiveness  as  a  body  is  team 
play.  Neglect  of  this  fact  results  in 
an  obscured  vision  of  our  duty  and  in 
an  improper  conception  of  basic  prin- 
ciples. It  is  also  a  dangerous  portent 
that  half-hearted  interest  is  a  com- 
municable disease. 

"The  'up-to-the-minute'  member  will 
find  in  the  papers,  addresses  and  dis- 
cussions in  our  annual  reports  an 
abundance  of  topics  of  large  practical 
significance  which  may  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage and  with  which  he  may  stimu- 
late with  sound  principles  the  depart- 
mental life  of  his  immediate  organiza- 
tion. Nothing  yields  better  results 
than  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 


c.  G.  RICE 

President.  1921-22 


thought-output  found  in  those  reports, 
for  there  is  material  already  prepared 
for  us.  Speaking  of  these  reports  sug- 
gests to  me  the  advisability  of  the  as- 
sociation considering  the  compilation  of 
this  large  body  of  information  into  an 
index  or  digest.  Much  has  been  writ- 
ten by  claims  association  members 
which,  were  it  classified  and  arranged 
under  proper  heads  and  titles,  would 
make  a  volume  that  would  be  of  serv- 
ice to  claims  men,  a  systematic  ar- 
rangement that  would  take  the  form 
of  a  digest  or  an  analyzed  summary  of 
the  papers,  committee  reports  and  cer- 
tain matter  contained  in  our  former 
question  boxes,  much  of  which  contains 
matter  of  immediate  practical  value. 
This  could  be  arranged  and  the  work 
separated  and  classified  under  the  vari- 
ous subjects  which  have  been  treated. 
The  titles,  divisions  and  subdivisions  of 
relative  principles  and  subjects  could 
be  cross  referenced,  thus  making  un- 
necessary those  useless  repetitions 
which  now  take  so  much  time  if  one 
wishes  to  find  a  particular  point  or 
question  which  has  been  treated. 

"The  deep  concern  of  the  claims  as- 
sociation for  the  state  of  the  industry 
leads  me  to  remind  you  that  there 
probably  was  never  before  in  the  finan- 
cial history  of  the  electric  railway  in- 
dustry in  this  country  a  graver  mo- 
ment than  the  present.  This  lays  a 
responsibility  upon  each  of  us  to  deter- 
mine in  shoulder  to  shoulder  action  to 
lighten  the  burden  of  the  railways  as 
much  as  we  can.  This  should  be  one 
of  the  chief  aims  of  both  the  individual 
and  the  association. 

"The  Claims  Association  has  a  mis- 
sion, and  it  is  fulfilling  it.  It  could  be 
ill  spared  from  claim  department  life. 
Open  to  criticism  at  many  points  it 
may  be,  yet  I  venture  to  state  it  has 
done  more  for  our  professional  future 
than  any  other  agency,  and  it  has  served 
to  mark  for  all  time  a  high  measure 
of  solid  advance  and  the  disappearance 


736 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  IT 


of  a  retrogressive  period.  In  conclu- 
sion, I  gladly  seize  this  occasion  to 
make  known  to  the  members  my  deep 
gratitude  for  the  great  help  given  me 
by  their  readiness  and  willingness  to 
execute  any  suggestions  or  commissions 
given  them  during  my  administration. 
This  applies  with  special  emphasis  to 
Mr.  Kubu,  the  efficient  secretary  of 
your  association  during  my  term  of  of- 
fice." 

Committee  Reports 

The  report  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee was  then  read.  This  was  followed 
by  the  report  of  the  secretary  and  treas- 
urer. The  latter  gave  the  income  and 
expenses  of  the  association,  which  are 
shown  in  the  report  of  the  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  American  Association, 
published  in  the  issue  of  Oct.  8,  page 
610.  The  report  of  the  committee  on 
interchange  of  claims  statistics  was 
then  read. 

The  committee  reported  that  owing  to 
the  small  number  of  requests  which 
had  recently  been  received  for  this  in- 
formation the  data  would  not  be  com- 
piled for  this  year  at  least.  The  com- 
mittee also  reported  that  the  old  form 
of  questionnaire,  known  as  Data  Sheet 
No.  7,  could  not  be  materially  improved 
until  the  various  companies  could  agree 
upon  a  uniform  method  of  accounting 
in  their  claims  statistics.  The  report 
was  signed  by  H.  E.  Briggs,  chairman; 
W.  F.  Weh  and  J.  S.  Kubu. 

Following  up  Prospective  Claimants 

The  paper  by  Louis  H.  Butterworth, 
attorney  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  on 
"Constructive  Argument  as  Opposed  to 
Destructive  Contentions  in  Accident 
Investigations  and  Adjustment,"  was 
then  presented.  This  paper  is  pub- 
lished in  abstract  on  another  page  of 
this  issue. 

The  discussion  on  this  paper  centered 
largely  upon  a  statement  in  the  paper 
that  it  was  desirable  to  give  a  copy 
of  the  complainant's  statement  to  him 
when  it  was  given  after  an  accident, 
and  the  extent  to  which  the  department 
should  follow  up  injured  claimants 
before  suit. 

A  prominent  claims  attorney,  arguing 
it  was  not  necessary  or  desirable  to 
give  such  a  copy,  declared  that  if  the 
complainant  is  acting  in  good  faith  he 
will  stick  to  his  statement  on  the  stand 
later,  even  if  he  does  not  have  the  state- 
ment. On  the  other  hand  such  a  copy 
would  permit  a  complainant  not  acting 
in  good  faith  to  know  just  where  he  can 
deviate  from  the  statement  without  con- 
tradicting himself.  This  claim  agent 
did  not  agree  also  with  the  author  of 
the  paper  that  the  claim  agent  should 
always  decline  to  entertain  any  claim 
where  a  medical  examination  was  re- 
fused. While  he  thought  a  medical 
examination  is  desirable,  it  is  not 
always  necessary,  as  with  a  broken  leg, 
nor  is  it  always  possible.  He  did,  how- 
ever, often  show  to  the  attorneys  of  a 
claimant,  when  he  knew  them  well, 
copies  of  the  statements  of  four  or  five 
of  his  witnesses.  In  this  way,  by 
putting  his  cards  on  the  table  he  has 


been  able  to  make  settlements  and 
avoid  lawsuits. 

Another  claim  agent  declared  that 
he  gave  reports  to  no  one.  His  position 
was  that  it  was  desirable  to  impress  on 
the  public  the  desire  of  the  company 
to  act  fairly  in  every  way,  and  when  it 
came  to  an  actual  suit  the  plaintiff  was 
allowed  to  understand  that  he  should 
take  care  of  his  own  case  and  the 
defendant  would  do  likewise.  He 
opposed  the  idea  of  frequent  calls  from 
the  adjuster  on  an  injured  claimant. 
Claimants,  he  said,  who  are  petted  too 
much  by  a  zealous  claim  adjuster  or 
investigator  have  an  exaggerated  idea 
of  the  extent  of  their  injuries.  His 
idea  was  a  single  visit  unless  for  final 
adjustment.  He  urged,  however,  the 
settlement  of  suits  for  small  amounts, 
even  where  the  company  was  not  clearly 
liable,  as  cheaper  than  paying  the  cost 
of  a  trial. 

Another  claim  agent,  in  speaking 
about  the  l-eference  to  psychology  in 
Mr.  Butterworth's  paper,  said  much 
depended  upon  the  ability  of  the  ad- 
juster to  get  in  touch  with  claimants. 
One  of  his  adjusters  began  railway 
service  as  a  conductor  on  the  horse 
cars,  but  has  special  ability  to  under- 
stand human  nature  and  get  the 
claimant's  point  of  view.  This  man  is 
one  of  the  best  adjusters  in  his  depart- 
ment. 

Another  speaker  said  that  a  man  well 
informed  on  the  principles  of  construc- 
tive psychology  was  bound  to  make  a 
better  claim  agent  than  one  who  had 
not  made  such  a  study.  He  agreed 
with  the  first  speaker  that  it  is  not 
desirable  to  give  a  c'opy  of  the  com- 
plainant's statement  to  him.  In  regard 
to  the  refusal  of  a  medical  examination, 
his  experience  was  that  this  refusal 
occurs  a  great  deal  more  frequently 
than  most  people  realize.  An  examina- 
tion may  be  made  immediately  follow- 
ing the  accident,  when  it  is  less  liable 
probably  to  be  refused  than  at  any 
other  time  and  for  that  reason  that  is 
the  important  time  to  obtain  it,  if  pos- 
sible, or  it  may  be  made  when  the 
lawyers  for  the  two  sides  are  having 
the  matter  up  for  discussion,  or  it  may 
be  requested  while  the  case  is  actually 
on  trial.  A  competent  doctor  should 
always  be  employed  so  that  the  report 
shall  be  complete.  He  urged  that  the 
fact  that  an  examination  by  a  medical 
man  employed  by  the  company  has  been 
made  gives  the  claimant  or  his  attorney 
a  very  good  excuse  for  refusing 
another.  This  means  that  a  competent 
and  experienced  physician  should  be 
employed.  Moreover,  to  have  a  medical 
examination  worth  anything  it  should 
be  complete.  He  cited  a  case  where  a 
medical  examination  had  determined 
that  the  patient,  a  woman,  was  the 
victim  of  neurasthenia  due  to  some  long 
standing  pelvic  disturbance.  This  fact 
proved  very  useful  when  a  claim  was 
made  by  her  that  her  backache,  head- 
ache and  other  general  troubles  were 
caused  by  an  accident.  He  disagreed 
with  the  suggestion  of  the  previous 
speaker  that  it  is  desirable  to  compro- 
mise non-liability  cases  because  it  is 


cheaper  to  do  so  for  a  small  amount 
than  to  fight  them. 

The  next  speaker  approved  the  idea 
of  giving  to  complainants  copies  of  the 
statements  made  by  them.  His  expe- 
rience in  life  has  been  that  people  like 
those  who  like  them,  and  when  a  man 
goes  into  a  house  and  the  people  like 
him  they  will  like  his  company  and  will 
tell  him  all  about  the  accident.  It  may 
be  wise  to  call  again  or  it  may  not  be. 
In  some  cases  he  has  called  a  dozen 
times  because  he  wanted  to  know  how 
the  people  were  getting  on  and  also 
because  he  hoped  to  adjust  the  case.  He 
added,  sententiously,  that  no  one  knows 
whether  the  company  is  to  blame  until 
after  the  case  has  been  tried. 

The  paper  by  Mr.  Green  on  "Essen- 
tial Points  to  Cover  in  Accident  Inves- 
tigations" was  then  read  by  the 
secretary.  In  the  discussion  which 
followed  a  variety  of  opinions  was 
expressed  on  the  plan  of  giving  state- 
ments to  claimants  and  making  medical 
examinations,  several  taking  the  ground 
that  no  universal  rule  could  be  followed, 
and  some  that  n"o  doctor  should  be  sent 
unless  his  services  are  requested  by  the 
injured  person.  One  advocate  of  the 
principle  of  calling  said  that  he  thought 
the  injured  person  would  often  be 
willing  to  settle  if  the  company's 
representative  called,  but  because  they 
didn't  he  often  would  take  up  the  case 
with  the  ambulance  chasing  lawyer. 

Wednesday's  Session 

The  session  on  Wednesday  of  the 
Claims  Association  was  held  in  the 
morning  by  resolution  of  the  executive 
committee  and  the  first  action  was  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  prepare 
resolutions  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Car- 
penter, formerly  president  of  the  asso- 
ciation. The  chairman  then  announced 
a  paper  by  Walter  E.  Robinson,  claim 
agent  Cincinnati  Traction  Company,  on 
"What  Should  Be  the  Method  of  Claims 
Department  in  Handling  Accidents  and 
Claims."  An  abstract  of  this  paper 
appears  on  another  page  of  this  issue. 

Methods  of  Handling  Claims 

After  the  presentation  of  the  paper, 
Mr.  Robinson,  in  answer  to  a  question, 
said  that  there  was  very  little  "ambu- 
lance chasing"  in  Cincinnati.  At  one 
time  there  had  been,  but  it  had  about 
disappeared  because  the  company  had 
declined,  as  the  speaker  said,  to  do 
"ambulance  chasing"  itself. 

The  discussion  which  followed  related 
principally  to  the  extent  to  which  it 
was  thought  desirable  for  the  claim 
agent  to  follow  up  a  claimant  or  pos- 
sible claimant  after  an  accident. 

One  delegate,  who  thought  accident 
cases  should  be  followed  up  promptly, 
said  that  while  he  believed  that  a  claim 
department  should  not  be  overmanned, 
there  should  be  a  sufficient  number  of 
employees  so  that  the  department  will 
take  care  of  its  work  as  expeditiously  as 
possible.  Time  in  a  claim  department, 
according  to  him,  repays  all  the  dollars 
for  every  minute  that  goes  by  after 
an  accident  has  happened,  because  when 
a  person  is  injured,  his  injury  seems 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


737 


to  increase  in  his  mind  with  the  pass- 
ing of  days.  The  doctors  have  often 
said  that  "the  gold  cure"  is  one  of  the 
most  effective  for  the  early  cure  of  a 
patient  suffering  from  a  railroad  injury. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  have  all  the  men 
on  a  salary  basis.  If  responsible  men 
are  on  call,  that  will  answer.  The 
speaker  had  found  young  lawyers  to 
make  the  best  kind  of  claim  assistants 
as  they  understand  the  points  and  facts 
which  relate  to  the  case. 

The  latter  statement  was  taken  up 
by  another  delegate  who  declared  that 
an  assistant  in  the  department  who  is 
not  a  lawyer  is  often  better  because  he 
is  less  apt  to  be  technical  in  his  tes- 
timony. He  added  that  he  encouraged 
claimants  to  come  to  his  office  and 
thought  that  this  was  the  natural  thing 
to  occur  to  them  to  do  rather  than  to 
stay  at  home  and  wait  for  the  agent 
from  the  company  to  call. 

Other  speakers  then  urged  the  ad- 
vantages of  waiting  for  claimants  to 
call,  while  still  others  urged  a  prompt 
following  up  of  possible  claimants. 

One  prominent  claim  agent  referred 
to  the  effect  which  circumstances  have 
on  settlements  in  claim  cases.  They 
may  be  influenced,  he  said,  by  an  appar- 
ently insignificant  act  or  word.  When 
a  jury,  getting  ready  to  return  a 
verdict,  was  attracted  by  a  collision 
outside,  it  brought  in  a  very  large 
verdict.  Other  factors  are  topograph- 
ical conditions,  climatic  conditions,  the 
history  of  the  company  and  whether 
its  attitude  toward  the  public  as  a  cor- 
poration is  antagonistic,  friendly  or 
intermediate,  the  character,  nature,  ex- 
perience, occupation  of  members  of  the 
jury,  etc.  The  attitudes  of  the  attor- 
neys who  try  cases,  in  the  speaker's 
opinion,  have  also  a  material  bearing, 
as  has  the  attitude  of  the  newspapers 
during  the  past  and  the  present,  and 
the  nature,  kind  and  variety  of  the 
accidents  that  occur  on  the  property. 
The  speaker  believed  the  practice  used 
in  Cincinnati  referred  to  in  Mr.  Robin- 
son's paper  was  a  desirable  one,  but 
he  was  doubtful  whether  many  other 
companies  could  follow  it. 

Another  speaker  said  many  cases 
were  overinvestigated  and  many  inves- 
tigations were  misdirected,  though  in 
general  he  recommended  making  a  very 
exhaustive  investigation.  He  ques- 
tioned Mr.  Robinson's  argument  that 
ambulance  chasing  proceeds  from  an 
effort  to  get  ahead  of  the  claim  agent 
and  that  if  the  claim  agent  does  not 
act  the  ambulance  chaser  will  cease  his 
activities.  He  thought  that  the  activ- 
ities of  the  ambulance  chasers  were 
caused  by  competition  with  each  other, 
rather  than  by  competition  with  the 
claim  agent. 

The  claims  representative  of  a  large 
company  in  the  Middle  West  thought 
there  was  some  danger  in  magnifying 
in  the  mind  of  the  injured  person  the 
seriousness  of  an  accident  by  too  fre- 
quent visits.  On  the  other  hand  he 
believed  that  certain  cases  ought  to  be 
followed  up  most  thoroughly,  especially 
if  there  is  any  suspicion  of  fraud.  He 
said  that  a  successful  claim  agent  with 


whom  he  was  acquainted  followed  the 
policy  that  if  a  case  showed  signs  of 
liability  on  immediate  investigation 
quick  settlement  was  the  cheapest  in 
the  end,  though  it  costs  more  than  the 
case  was  worth.  At  the  other  extreme, 
a  case  where  there  was  no  liability 
should  be  fought  to  the  bitter  end 
regardless  of  cost.  In  the  doubtful 
cases,  individual  judgment  had  to  be 
used.  If  all  cases  were  on  the  square, 
the  speaker  doubted  if  claim  agents 
would  be  needed.  Again,  as  regards 
visiting  the  claimant,  much  depends  on 
the  character  of  the  road.  On  a  road 
extending  from,  say,  New  York  to  Chi- 
cago, itj  would  be  impracticable  for 
the  claim  agent  in  his  office  to  wait 
for  claimants  to  call. 

Officers  for  Next  Year 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  discussion 
the  nominating  committee  presented 
the  following  nominations: 

President:  C.  G.  Rice,  superintendent 
claim  department  Pittsburgh  Railways. 


First  vice-president:  Wallace  Muir, 
claim  agent  Kentucky  Traction  &  Ter- 
minal Company,  Lexington,  Ky. 

Second  vice-president:  W.  H.  Hyland, 
claim  agent  Fonda,  Johnstown  &  Glov- 
ersville  Railroad,  Gloversville,  N.  Y. 

Third  vice-president:  Howard  D. 
Briggs,  assistant  general  claim  agent 
Public  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Secretary-treasurer :  E.  L.  Lindemuth, 
claim  agent  Wilkes-Barre  (Pa.)  Rail- 
way. 

Executive  committee:  G.  B.  Proctor, 
claim  agent  Memphis  (Tenn.)  Street 
Railway;  W.  G.  Fitzpatrick,  general 
claim  attorney  Detroit  United  Railway; 
T.  B.  Donnelly,  claim  agent  West  Penn 
Railways,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.;  S.  J.  Harrell, 
claim  agent  Knoxville  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Mr.  Rice,  on  being  escorted  to  the 
chair,  expressed  his  honor  at  the  elec- 
tion and  solicited  the  co-operation  of 
the  members  in  making  the  work  of  the 
Claims  Association  a  success  during  the 
coming  year. 


Conducting  Accident  Investigations* 

An  Investigator  Should  Acquaint  Himself  with  the  Employee's  Theory  of  an 
Accident  as  Well  as  the  Physical  Features  Surrounding   It — Ingenu- 
ity in  Interviewing  Plaintiffs  Often  Uncovers  Fraudulent  Claims 

By  R.  C.  Green 

Attorney  Cleveland  (Ohio)  Railway 


DURING  the  past  decade  there  has 
grown  up  in  our  midst,  especially 
in  the  larger  centers  of  population,  a 
business  which  in  its  return  of  profits 
has  exceeded  the  dream  of  the  most 
sanguine.  I  refer  to  the  personal  in- 
jury damage  business.  And  in  this 
connection  the  word  "business"  is  used 
advisably.  This  particular  branch  of 
the  law  is  no  longer  regarded  as  it 
was  in  times  past  but  in  the  personal 
injury  field  today  we  find  law  firms 
devoting  their  time  exclusively  to  this 
particular  branch  of  the  practice,  with 
well-developed  organizations  for  the 
securing  of  business,  the  adjustment  of 
cases  and  their  preparation  and  trial 
in  court. 

The  adoption  by  most  of  the  states 
of  workmen's  compensation  laws  has 
robbed  this  field  of  much  good  business 
and  the  result  has  been  that  many 
cases  which  heretofore  would  have  been 
given  little,  if  any,  attention  have  been 
exaggerated  and  built  up  into  what 
appeared  to  be  real  damage  suits.  This 
has  fallen  more  heavily  perhaps  upon 
public  carriers  than  upon  others. 

Confronted  by  this  condition  of 
affairs  the  question  necessarily  pre- 
sented is  how  may  one  who  represents 
the  interests  of  a  carrier  of  passengers 
most  effectively  meet  this  situation  and 
cope  with  it.  Many  answers  are  pre- 
sented, but  it  would  seem  that  the 
thing  most  essential  is  an  honest,  com- 
prehensive and  intelligent  investiga- 
tion; one  that  will  withstand  the  rigors 

♦Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Claims  Association,  Atlantic  City, 
JST.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


of  an  action  at  law,  for  the  possibility 
of  litigation  should  always  be  consid- 
ered in  every  case  under  investigation. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  ulti- 
mate object  of  every  investigation  is 
the  truth  concerning  all  the  essential 
facts  surrounding  an  accident.  In  most 
instances  these  facts  are  ascertainable 
from  the  public  alone,  and  one  going 
out  upon  an  investigation  is  called 
upon  to  meet  and  interview  men  and 
women  in  all  stations  and  callings  of 
life.  An  investigator  to  be  successful 
should  study  human  nature.  He  should 
be  a  person  of  good  address,  capable 
of  meeting  and  securing  the  attention 
not  only  of  the  man  in  the  factory,  but 
the  business  or  professional  man  as 
well.  His  errand  is  one  which  means 
nothing  to  the  person  being  interviewed. 
He  is  not  only  there  securing  certain 
information,  but  is  taking  up  the  time 
of  the  interviewed  as  well.  He,  there- 
fore, must  cultivate  a  pleasing  manner 
which  will  gain  him  entree  with  all. 
Brevity,  conciseness  and  going  straight 
to  the  point  covering  the  essentials  are 
always  appreciated  by  our  ever  busy 
public. 

The  great  majority  of  the  claims 
that  arise  from  the  operation  of  a 
street  railway  system  are  those  made 
by  passengers.  In  a  myriad  of  ways 
injuries  to  this  great  class  are  claimed 
to  occur. 

Get  the  Employee's  Story 

If  possible  the  investigator  before 
starting  out  on  a  case  should  have  be- 
fore him  not  only  the  theory  of  the 
employee  as  to  how  the  accident  oc- 
curred, but  the  alleged  claims  of  negli- 


738 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


gence  set  forth  by  the  injured  party. 
If  the  matter  be  in  litigation,  he  is, 
of  course,  supplied  with  the  petition, 
as  it  is  called  in  our  jurisdiction,  which 
sets  forth  the  claimed  injuries  and  the 
alleged  negligent  acts.  If  not,  the 
signed  statement  of  the  injured  party 
is  of  great  benefit.  Aided  by  this,  he 
is  able  to  go  to  the  very  crux  of  the 
controversy  and  secure  from  the  dis- 
interested spectators  the  information 
which  should  be  determinative  of  the 
matter  at  issue. 

In  the  investigation  of  the  claims  of 
passengers,  the  inquiry  might  be  divided 
into  three  heads: 

First:  What  were  the  physical  fea- 
tures concerning  the  accident? 

Second :  What  was  the  conduct  of  the 
employee  against  whom  the  negligent 
act  is  directed? 

Third:  What  was  the  conduct  of  the 
claimant  himself? 

The  physical  features  concerning 
every  important  accident  where  time 
might  have  the  effect  of  destroying  this 
evidence  should  always  be  preserved 
by  photographs.  Many  cases  where 
such  evidence  is  lacking  are  lost  to 
the  defendant  by  the  adroit  argument 
of  plaintiff's  counsel  that  were  the 
facts  contended  by  the  defendant  true, 
they  would  have  been  supported  by 
photographic  evidence.  This  silent, 
irrefutable  evidence  in  an  investiga- 
tion, which  defies  impeachment,  has  a 
value  far  in  excess  of  human  falli- 
bility. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  platform 
men  either  have  forgotten  or  else  have 
never  known,  that  the  good  will  of  the 
riding  public  is  a  valuable  asset  and 
that  courtesy  is  about  the  only  means 
they  possess  of  acquiring  it.  It  there- 
fore follows  that  when  their  conduct 
is  under  scrutiny  they  and  their  em- 
ployer labor  under  a  handicap,  the 
statements  of  witnesses  often  reflect- 
ing their  feelings  toward  the  employee. 
This,  therefore,  becomes  a  matter  for 
the  investigator  to  overcome,  and  of 
course  he  must  rely  upon  his  own 
initiative  with  suggestions  tending  to 
placate,  if  possible,  the  feelings  of  the 
hostile  witness.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  injured  party  having  the  natural 
sympathy  of  a  fellow  passenger  usually 
loses  no  advantage  in  the  telling. 

As  to  what  should  be  elicited  from 
a  witness  in  a  given  case,  or  class  of 
cases,  little  can  be  said  without  resort- 
ing to  the  elementary. 

The  advent  of  the  automobile  has 
had  the  effect  of  bringing  into  existence 
certain  traffic  legislation  which  here- 
tofore was  unknown,  and  in  many  cases 
it  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  discover 
where  the  driver,  for  instance,  of  an 
automobile  has  been  guilty  of  the 
■violation  of  certain  traffic  ordinances 
which  may  have  been  a  contributing 
cause  of  his  accident.  An  investigator 
should,  therefore,  thoroughly  familiar- 
ize himself  with  the  traffic  ordinances 
of  the  city.  He  should  have  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  law  of  negligence  generally 
applicable  to  street  railway  cases,  and 
he  should  keep  posted,  if  possible,  on 
the  late  decisions.    Not  only  that,  but 


he  should  know  the  layout  of  the 
streets;  the  fact  as  to  whether  or  not 
buildings  or  open  lots  are  on  the  corners 
where  an  accident  is  said  to  have  oc- 
curred, in  order  that  he  may  intelli- 
gently discuss  the  matter  with  the  wit- 
ness. Nothing  puts  an  investigator  to 
so  great  a  disadvantage  as  a  lack  of 
knowledge  of  the  physical  features  sur- 
rounding an  accident. 

What  has  been  said  with  reference  to 
vehicular  traffic  holds  true  with  refer- 
ence to  accidents  to  pedestrians,  and, 
like  passenger  cases,  the  points  he  is 
to  cover  are  too  varied  and  too  rudi- 
mentary to  admit  of  discussion  here. 

Fraudulent  Claims 

The  bane  of  all  investigators  is  the 
unreported  accident.  A  suspicion  that 
the  claim  is  fraudulent  and  has  no  real 
basis  in  fact,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
doubting  the  statement  of  the  employee 
to  the  effect  that  he  knows  nothing  of 
the  alleged  affair,  the  investigator  is 
often  catching  at  straws  in  the  hope 
that  he  may  secure  a  clew  that  will 
lead  to  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the 
irreconcilable  stories.  Here  the  in- 
genuity of  the  investigator  is  called 
into  play.  It  is  often  helpful  in  this 
class  of  cases  to  take  the  deposition 
of  plaintiff  if  the  matter  be  in  suit, 
and  go  carefully  into  plaintiff's  history. 
In  this  way  much  valuable  informa- 
tion may  be  obtained,  and  leads  secured, 
which  otherwise  would  be  impossible 
of  ascertainment.  He  must  make  a 
thorough  investigation  of  claimant 
among  employers,  neighbors,  and  those 
who  have  had  an  opportunity  to  observe 
and  know  the  actions  of  the  claimant 
for  a  period  antedating  the  alleged  ac- 
cident. What  has  been  his  or  her 
standing  in  the  community;  is  he  oc- 
cupying a  moral  plane  that  is  above 
the  suspicion  of  attempting  to  foist  upon 
the  street  railway  company  a  claim  for 
damages  which  grew  out  of  injuries 
received,  in  fact,  in  an  entirely  differ- 
ent manner;  has  the  physician  in  at- 
tendance in  times  past  been  connected 
with  similar  unreported  cases,  and  if 
so,  to  what  extent;  have  other  members 
of  the  family  or  close  friends  been  the 
recipient  of  money  paid  in  settlement 
of  damage  claims;  does  the  presence  of 
the  corroborating  witness,  if  one  be 
furnished,  check  up  with  his  move- 
ments on  the  day  in  question?  All 
these,  and  many  other  methods,  may 
be  resorted  to  by  the  investigator  be- 
fore the  claim  finally,  unless  satisfac- 
torily proved  to  be  bona  fide,  finds  its 
way  into  the  hands  of  the  secret  serv- 
ice bureau. 

In  cases  where  the  objective  evidence 
of  the  injury  has  disappeared  at  the 
time  of  making  claim,  and  where  the 
physical  evidence  does  not  seem  to  war- 
rant the  seriousness  of  the  claim  pre- 
sented, then  there  arises  another  im- 
portant phase  of  an  investigation — 
the  extent  of  the  disability;  the  per- 
manency of  the  injury,  if  any;  and  the 
damage  the  claimant  will  suffer  by 
reason  thereof. 

In  many  jurisdictions  we  are  con- 
fronted with  what  is  known  as  the 


"scintilla  rule,"  and  it  therefore  follows 
that  most  personal  injury  cases  in 
these  jurisdictions  are  submitted  to  the 
jury  for  their  determination,  and  the 
sympathetic  jury,  running  true  to 
form,  immediately  loses  sight  of  all 
other  evidence  except  that  pertaining 
to  the  physical  condition  of  the  plain- 
tiff. It,  therefore,  becomes  of  the  ut- 
most importance  that  all  the  evidence 
possible  bearing  upon  the  plaintiff's 
physical  condition,  both  before  and 
after  the  alleged  accident,  be  secured. 
Of  course,  in  the  defense  of  these 
cases  we  may  call  to  the  witness  stand 
high-priced  medical  experts  to  testify 
as  to  their  findings  in  the  hope  that 
we  may  show  to  the  jury  the  exag- 
geration that  is  being  attempted,  but 
in  the  jurisdiction  from  which  I  come 
the  money  might  better  be  spent  in 
paying  the  judgment.  Experts  today 
can  usually  be  secured  on  either  side 
of  a  case;  those,  on  the  one  hand,  find- 
ing everything,  and  on  the  other 
nothing.  And  while  this  may  be  aside, 
it  will  be  conceded  by  all  that  until 
such  time  arrives  as  the  court  appoints 
an  impartial  examiner,  our  medical  ex- 
pert testimony  is  more  or  less  a  farce. 
Were  I  preparing  a  case  for  trial — 
one,  for  instance,  of  a  woman  who 
claimed  some  serious  injury,  the  ob- 
jective evidences  of  which  were  nega- 
tive, I  would  feel  more  assured  of  sat- 
isfying our  counsel  were  I  able  to  pre- 
sent in  court  the  testimony  of  neigh- 
bors who  had  seen  her  on  occasions 
doing  things  which  would  seem  pre- 
posterous in  view  of  her  claimed  dis- 
ability. 

In  all  cases  where  there  is  a  sus- 
picion that  the  accident  under  investi- 
gation was  not  the  cause  of  the  physi- 
cal disability  alleged,  there  should  be  a 
careful  inquiry  made  concerning  the 
claimant's  actions  prior  to  its  occur- 
rence. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  where  one 
case  is  uncovered  and  the  fraud  shown, 
many  others  go  undetected.  But  this 
fact  should  only  inspire  an  investigator 
to  greater  efforts.  His  task  is  no  sine- 
cure. It  is  an  easy  matter,  indeed,  to 
deal  with  a  case  where  the  injury  is 
conceded  and  the  facts  surrounding  it 
clean  cut,  but  the  ones  which  require 
the  real  effort,  brains  and  ingenuity 
are  those  shadowy,  unreported  cases 
where  not  only  is  the  question  of  the 
occurrence  of  the  accident  in  doubt  but 
also  the  injury  alleged  is  more  or  less 
fake. 

Signed  Statements  Carry  Little 
Weight 

How  should  the  investigator  best 
preserve  his  evidence?  Dictated  inter- 
views are  not  to  be  depended  upon. 
Signed  statements  should  always  be  se- 
cured in  every  instance  where  they  can 
be  taken,  using  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  language  of  the  witness.  Many  a 
signed  statement  has  been  held  up  to 
ridicule  before  a  jury  and  successfully 
argued  out  of  the  case  by  an  attorney's 
contrasting  the  language  therein  with 
the  apparent  intellectual  endowments 
of  the  witness. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


739 


After  an  investigation  is  completed 
and  before  filing-  it  away  it  should  be 
arranged  in  logical  order;  the  state- 
ment of  the  claimant  coming  first,  those 
of  the  witnesses  next,  and  following 
should  be  the  evidence  bearing  upon 
the  physical  condition  of  the  claimant, 
together  with  the  medical  evidence.  A 


IN  CONSIDERING  the  organization 
of  claims  departments  I  am  con- 
vinced of  a  marked  tendency  to  over- 
man them.  The  result  of  this  is  in- 
creased cost  and  decreased  efficiency  by 
overlapping  of  duties,  duplication  of 
effort,  lack  of  interest  due  to  uncertain 
responsibility,  indecision,  confusion,  un- 
necessary friction,  waste  and  a  gener- 
ally unfavorable  comparison  between 
the  cost  of  maintenance  and  the  ac- 
complishments of  the  department.  From 
the  standpoint  of  economy  and  effec- 
tiveness, the  foregoing  reasons  have 
•caused  me  to  operate  with  a  compara- 
tively small  force,  and  I  believe  effec- 
tively. 

Witness'  Statement  Versus 
Investigation 

We  are  not  influenced  nearly  so  much 
by  the  number  of  witnesses  or  the 
length  of  an  investigator's  report  as 
we  are  by  the  quality  of  the  investiga- 
tion. A  lot  of  time  spent  on  an  inves- 
tigation does  not  necessarily  mean  that 
the  work  is  well  done,  nor  does  a  maze 
of  collateral  matters  covered  add  any 
value  to  it.  I  would  rather  have  a  two- 
line  description  of  an  accident  from  a 
witness  in  his  own  handwriting  and 
over  his  own  signature,  than  to  have  a 
two-page  account  prepared  for  him  by 
an  agent  of  the  company.  The  former 
is  not  open  to  the  same  line  of  attack 
to  which  the  latter  is  often  subjected. 
No  explanations  are  required,  or  neces- 
sary, of  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  statement  was  obtained.  We  can 
not  be  charged  with  giving  the  witness 
no  opportunity  to  read  his  statement 
before  signing  it,  or  with  adding  any- 
thing to  it  after  it  was  signed.  It  is 
the  witness'  own  document,  in  his  own 
language,  expressed  without  suggestion 
or  interference.  It  is  the  witness' 
state  of  mind  that  we  want,  and  if  his 
attitude  is  friendly,  he  will  defend  his 
views  in  a  way  that  will  carry  greater 
weight  than  he  can  if  his  description  is 
prepared  for  him.  Many  embarrassing 
situations  are  thus  eliminated. 

These  are  some  of  the  considerations, 
and  taken  with  the  further  fact  that 
a  very  large  percentage  of  our  witness 
letters  are  returned,  answered  satisfac- 


*  Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Claims  Association,  Atlantic  Citv. 
N.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


well-ordered  and  arranged  investiga- 
tion is  appreciated  by  all  who  are 
called  upon  to  consult  it,  from  the  ad- 
juster to  the  trial  attorney.  A  brief 
summary  of  what  the  investigation 
shows  may  be  made  up  and  filed  with 
the  papers  to  show  at  a  glance  the  pro- 
cedure followed. 


w.  E.  ROBINSON 


torily,  argues  strongly  for  the  letter 
plan  of  investigation  as  against  the 
personal,  and  has  caused  me  to  continue 
with  its  use  as  originally  adopted. 

The  Disposition  of  Claims 

The  final  disposition  of  a  claim,  which 
consists  of  making  a  settlement,  reject- 
ing a  claim  or  a  law  suit,  is  the  one 
which  should  interest  our  management 
the  most  because  it  measures  the  suc- 
cess of  our  organization,  and  has  as 
much  or  more  to  do  in  establishing  the 
standard  of  the  entire  company  in  its 
public  relations,  and  holding  within  rea- 
sonable proportions  the  operating  costs 
of  the  property,  as  any  activity  in 
which  any  of  its  departments  are  en- 
gaged. 

The  influence  exerted  and  the  atmo- 
sphere emanating  from  the  claim  de- 
partment are  responsible,  in  many  in- 
stances, for  the  esteem  in  which  the 
company  is  held  by  the  public,  and  re- 
flect themselves  in  the  jury  room  by  the 
verdicts  rendered  and  in  the  amounts 
carried  by  the  verdicts.  It  also  mani- 
fests itself  in  the  feeling  that  is  created 
in  rejecting  claims,  and  is  shown  in  the 
litigation  that  ensues  after  we  have 
declined  to  give  favorable  consideration 
to  a  claim. 

I  think  it  requires  greater  skill  to 
reject  a  claim  and  bring  a  claimant  to 
your  point  of  view  than  it  does  to  settle 
a  claim  even  at  a  greatly  reduced  figure 


from  the  original  demand.  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  reject  a  claim  through  any 
fear  of  its  effect  on  possible  future  de- 
mands or  relations,  nor  is  the  amount 
involved  any  incentive.  I  have  no  pa- 
tience with  the  oft-repeated  statement, 
"That  we  must  buy  our  peace  with  the 
public,"  and  if  I  were  confronted  with 
that  kind  of  a  situation,  I  surely  would 
not  pay  the  price.  In  the  first  place,  I 
do  not  believe  the  necessity  exists,  and 
if  it  did,  I  would  certainly  see  that  it 
was  not  due  to  conditions  or  perform- 
ances of  the  claim  department,  past, 
present  or  future. 

A  well-considered  claim,  rejected  for 
sound  reasons  and  our  position  firmly 
adhered  to,  will  make  friends  for  the 
company.  If  it  is  our  intention  to  re- 
ject a  claim,  and  the  claimant  is  so  ad- 
vised and  our  reasons  are  sufficient  for 
the  action,  do  not  lead  the  claimant  to 
believe  that  you  will  try  to  find  a  way 
to  adjust  the  matter,  even  though  it 
has  no  merit.  He  will  accept  your 
money  and  justify  it  by  saying  that  you 
were  either  wrong  in  the  beginning,  or 
dishonest  with  your  employer  in  the 
end,  and  the  company  has  suffered  a 
loss  in  time,  money  and  reputation. 

An  Inflexible  Course 

We  must  have  some  convictions  about 
our  work  and  stand  upon  them.  First, 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  value  of  our 
service  is  based  on  the  number  of  re- 
leases we  can  obtain,  nor  in  undue 
haste  in  obtaining  them.  Property 
damage  does  not  increase  with  age. 
Personal  injury  claims  depend  on  a  va- 
riety of  conditions  and  circumstances 
under  which  a  settlement  is  made. 

I  prefer  to  discourage  the  practice  of 
indiscriminate  claim  making,  and  will 
not  allow  myself  to  be  placed  at  a  dis- 
advantage while  endeavoring  to  make 
a  settlement. 

The  company  provides  offices  where 
our  business  is  conducted,  and  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  that  business  are 
transacted  in  the  offices.  Whatever 
ammunition  we  have  on  an  accident  or 
claim  is  there  and  can  b?  used  to  a 
better  advantage  on  our  own  ground. 

I  am  opposed  to  hunting  prospects,  or 
soliciting  new  business  in  our  line.  It 
will  come  without  seeking  it.  I  think 
it  is  inadvisable  to  visit  the  scene  of  an 
accident  of  any  kind  for  the  purpose 
of  making  immediate  settlements.  We 
never  send  the  surgeons  to  the  scene, 
and  rarely  to  see  claimants  at  their 
homes.  I  have  never  done  so,  and  could 
not  sanction  the  practice  at  this  stage 
of  our  experience. 

I  am  opposed  to  the  policy  of  adjust- 
ing claims  outside  the  office,  and  under 
no  circumstances  do  we  attempt  to  do 
so.  I  believe  the  energy  expended  in 
this  way  is  misdirected  and  misapplied, 
and  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  ever- 
increasing  demands  on  us.  It  has  pro- 
duced countless  impostors,  and  has  been 
the  occasion  for  the  reckless  expendi- 
ture of  enormous  amounts,  and  if  a 
remedy  be  not  found,  it  will  result  in 
further  and  unnecessary  hardships  on 
the  property. 


Method  of  Handling  Accidents  and  Claims* 

The  Good  Response  to  Requests  from  Witnesses  for  Written  Statements  Has 
Caused  the  Adoption  on  the  Ohio  Traction  Company  of  the  Letter 
Plan  of  Investigation  as  Against  the  Personal 

By  Walter  E.  Robinson 

Claim  agent,  Ohio  Traction  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


740 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


Constructive  Arguments  as  Opposed  to  Destructive 
Contentions  in  Accident  Adjustments* 

An  Experienced  Claims  Attorney  Presents  in  Detail  a  Method  of  Adjusting  the 
Every-Day  Problems  in  the  Operation  of  the  Claims  Department — This 
Paper  Gave  Rise  to  an  Extended  Discussion  at  the  Convention 

By  L.  H.  Butterworth 

Claims  Attorney  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway 

WE  hear  much  these  days  about 
the  "psychology  of  salesman- 
ship." Now  it  should  be  carefully  borne 
in  mind  that  the  claims  man  is  not 
a  salesman  but  a  buyer — a  veritable 
"purchasing  agent" — at  least  in  the  case 
of  the  adjuster.  The  investigator,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  would  seem,  cannot 
be  classed  as  a  purchaser,  for  he  seeks 
to  obtain  something — viz.,  evidence — 
without,  of  course,  being  able  to  give 
any  "quid  pro  quo."  The  adjuster,  how- 
ever, can,  and  does,  make  a  definite 
money  proposition  for  what  he  seeks, 
namely,  a  release,  but  he  still  differs 
from  the  ordinary  buyer  in  that  the 
object  of  his  bid  has  no  liquidated  or 
fixed  market  value,  as  do  most  of  the 
commodities  bought  by  the  company's 
regular  purchasing  agent.  In  deter- 
mining what  value  would  be  placed  upon 
this  "commodity,"  i.e.,  claim,  by  the 
final  appraisers  therein  lies  the  province 
of  the  claims  agent,  and  the  purchase 
of  the  same  at  a  favorable  discount  is 
then  his  object. 

If,  however,  there  is  a  "psychology 
of  salesmanship" — and  of  this  there  can 
be  little  doubt — then  the  converse  of  the 
proposition  is  true  and  there  must  be 
a  "psychology  of  buying,"  i.e.,  a  crea- 
tion of  influences  or  mental  reactions 
and  processes  in  the  brain  of  the 
"seller"  by  suggestion  and  argument  on 
the  part  of  the  "buyer." 

Many  of  the  difficulties  and  conten- 
tions with  which  the  claims  man  is 
confronted  may  be  anticipated  and 
therefore  forestalled  by  remarks  or 
comments  apparently  merely  incidental 
to  the  interview,  but  designed  to  pro- 
duce a  definite  effect  on  the  mind  of 
the  claimant  or  witness.  For  the  sake 
of  convenience  this  may  be  described 
as  the  "negative  method"  of  procedure, 
i.e.,  the  inhibition  or  repression  of  a 
contra  opinion  or  state  of  mind  on  the 
claimant's  part,  before  the  same  has 
been  openly  expressed  or  formulated. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  claimant  may 
surprise  by  some  unusual  or  unex- 
pected contention  or  objection,  to  meet 
and  overcome  which  an  entirely  differ- 
ent process  must  be  employed  and  re- 
course to  affirmative  argument  had. 
This  we  may  term  the  "positive 
method." 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  apply  these 
two  methods  to  our  specific  cases. 

No.  1.  Refusal  of  claimant  or  wit- 
ness to  give  signed  statement:  This, 
unquestionably,  is  the  obstacle  most 
commonly  met  by  the  claims  man  and, 
therefore,  one  which  he  should  be  pre- 


*  Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Claims  Association,  Atlantic  City, 
.N.  J.,  Oct.  3-6,  1921. 


pared  to  inhibit  or  check  by  anticipa- 
tion. Applying  our  so-called  "negative 
method"  it  would  be  well  for  the  claims 
man  to  preface  his  interview  with  some 
such  remarks  as  these:  that  he  had 
called  to  obtain  the  story  of  the  acci- 
dent in  the  witness'  or  claimant's  own 
words  as  nearly  as  possible;  that  he 
therefore  desired  to  write  it  down  in 
his  or  her  presence  and  to  submit  it 
for  approval  to  insure  the  correctness 
of  the  statement.  Having  completed 
the  written  statement  the  claims  man 
should  then  hand  it  to  the  person  inter- 
viewed with  substantially  this  remark: 
"Now,  in  order  that  I  may  lay  this  be- 
fore the  company's  officials  as  the  true 
and  complete  recital  or  description  of 
your  claim  or  testimony,  please  read 
the  same  and  call  my  attention  to  any 
errors,  omissions  or  changes  you  wish 
made,  then  sign  your  name  to  the 
statement,  so  that  I  can  show  that  I 
have  correctly  reported  your  version  of 
the  affair." 

If,  as  frequently  happens,  the  person 
shows  an  unwillingness  to  comply  with 
this  request  or  flatly  "declines  to  sign 
anything,"  then  the  claims  men  must 
have  recourse  to  other  tactics  and  bring 
into  play  the  so-called  "positive  meth- 
od," which  is  nothing  short  of  marshal- 
ing all  the  reasons  and  arguments  at 
his  command  until  the  desired  result 
is  obtained.  It  may  be  helpful  to  re- 
mind the  obdurate  one  that  his  claim 
will  b?  looked  upon  with  suspicion  if 
it  appears  that  he  was  unwilling  to 
dignify  it  with  his  signature,  or  in  the 
case  of  a  witness,  that  his  testimony 
will  have  less  weight  in  exonerating  an 
innocent  conductor  or  motorman  if  he 
refuses  to  give  it  the  stamp  of  his 
personal  approval.  Then  again,  in  case 
of  both  claimant  and  witness,  it  may 


smooth  over  the  objection  to  state  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  first  importance  and 
clearly  to  their  own  advantage  to  make 
a  written  and  signed  statement  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment  and  before  the 
facts  are  forgotten,  for  a  permanent 
record  of  their  knowledge  of  the  mat- 
ter is  thus  made  and  they  are  thereby 
relieved  of  the  necessity  of  charging 
their  minds  with  the  details  of  the 
same;  the  copy  (which  should  always  be 
given  to  claimant)  being  a  source  from 
which  they  can  at  all  times  refresh 
their  recollection. 

No.  2.  Refusal  to  permit  medical  ex- 
amination :  This,  at  least  in  the  writer's 
experience,  is  the  least  frequent  obstacle 
in  claims  work.  A  refusal  to  allow  a 
medical  examination  should  never  be 
anticipated,  but  consent  to  same  always 
assumed,  and  honest  surprise  and  aston- 
ishment expressed  when  such  consent  is 
withheld.  In  those  few  instances,  how- 
ever, where  refusal  is  made,  the  claim 
agent  should  decline  summarily  to  enter- 
tain the  claim  any  further,  and  should 
inform  the  claimant  that  the  latter  can 
hardly  hope  to  be  paid  money  for  some- 
thing which  he  refuses  to  show.  This 
should  be  sufficient  to  bring  the  objector 
to  terms,  and  in  case  an  attorney  is 
handling  the  claim  a  proposal  to  com- 
ment before  the  court  or  jury  upon  his 
refusal  to  allow  medical  examination 
may  properly  be  made. 

No.  3.  Refusal  of  reasonable  settle- 
ment without  the  advice  of  an  attorney, 
or  ia  threat  to  employ  a  "shyster"  or 
a  professional  negligence  attorney: 
Whether  such  a  difficulty  should  be 
anticipated  and  hence  sought  to  be  ban- 
ished from  the  claimant's  mind  is  a 
matter  of  considerable  doubt.  It  may 
do  no  harm  for  the  adjuster  to  make 
some  casual  remark  to  the  effect  that 
"there  is  no  need  of  incurring  any 
unnecessary  legal  expense  in  this  mat- 
ter, as  we  can  prbbably  fix  it  lup 
satisfactorily  between  ourselves,"  but, 
on  the  whole,  it  would  seem  wiser 
to  assume  the  defensive  rather  than 
the  offensive  in  this  particular  phase 
of  the  claim  man's  work.  If  the 
attack  comes  in  the  form  indicated, 
i.e.,  expression  of  a  desire  for  an  at- 
torney's advice,  it  may  be  promptly 
met  by  a  recital  of  the  well-known  dis- 
advantages of  such  a  course — viz.,  the 
additional  expense  in  the  way  of  law- 
yer's fees,  probably  resulting  in  a  net 
loss  to  the  claimant;  the  fact  that  with 
an  attorney  in  the  case  any  payment 
is  made  to  the  attorney  and  not  to  the 
claimant;  the  delay  caused  by  negotia- 
tions between  the  company  and  attorney 
and,  in  the  event  of  a  trial,  the  year 
or  two  which  must  elapse  before  the 
cause  can  be  heard  and  the  heavy  ex- 
pense incident  thereto.  The  adjuster 
should  th?n  show  by  contrast  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  direct  immediate  settle- 
ment, entailing  no  delay  and  incurring 
no  outside  expenditures. 

If  the  opposition  takes  the  form  of 
"a  threat  to  employ  a  'shyster'  at- 
torney," further  helpful  arguments  will 
immediately  suggest  themselves — the 
improper   fee    and    other  advantages 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


741 


which  an  attorney  of  low  standing  may 
take — the  probability  that  the  company 
will  decline  to  have  any  dealings  what- 
soever with  such  an  attorney — in  other 
words,  that  the  claim  will  be  greatly 
weakened  and  prejudiced  by  such  a 
course,  if  indeed  not  entirely  lost. 

No.  4.  Refusal  of  claimant  to  dis- 
close names  of  wit7iesses  or  attending 
doctor:  This  attitude  on  the  claimant's 
part  is  closely  akin  to  that  suggested 
in  No.  2,  and  hence  calls  for  a  similar 
line  of  argument  to  that  therein  em- 
ployed, to  wit — that  in  order  for  the 
adjuster  to  buy  such  a  claim,  we  must 
have  the  fullest  information  relative  to 
its  merits  both  as  to  liability  and  injury, 
and  in  no  way  can  he  obtain  this  with- 
out a  complete  exhibit  of  the  "com- 
modity" offered  for  sale.  The  refusal 
to  give  the  doctor's  name  is  so  unusual 
and  obviously  unfair  to  the  "buyer" 
(adjuster)  that  a  change  of  attitude 
or,  psychologically  speaking,  a  "reversal 
of  the  mental  condition"  ought  not  to 
be  a  matter  of  much  difficulty. 

The  unwillingness  to  disclose  wit- 
nesses' names  should  be  met  by  a  state- 
ment that  their  testimony,  if  favor- 
able to  claimant,  will  greatly  increase 
the  chances  of  obtaining  a  speedy  and 
reasonable  settlement  with  the  com- 
pany. If  this  fails  to  impress  the  ad- 
juster or  investigator  may  offer  to  in- 
terview such  witnesses  only  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  claimant  or  even  to  accept 
signed  statements  from  them.  In  every 
way  he  should  endeavor  to  impress 
upon  the  claimant  that  his  chief  con- 
cern is  to  obtain  information  as  to  the 
facts  and  is  not  in  any  sense  an  at- 
tempt or  desire  to  take  any  advantage 
of  the  claimant  by  a  garbled  or  dis- 
torted report  of  what  such  witnesses 
may  say. 

The  "negative  method"  is  not  desir- 
able here,  but  the  moment  there  are 
indications  that  such  information  is  to 
be  withheld,  then  the  investigator 
should  train  the  big  guns  of  his  "posi- 
tive method"  battery  upon  the  objective 
sought  and  let  go  his  "broadsides" 
until  the  enemy  is  won  over. 

No.  5.  Request  for  company's  wit- 
nesses; No.  6.  Request  by  claimant  for 
copy  of  company's  report  of  occur- 
rences: At  the  outset  and  at  the  risk 
of  being  termed  revolutionary  I  am 
going  to  venture  the  opinion  that,  in 
the  long  run,  these  requests  are  not 
such  destructive  contentions  after  all. 
Of  course,  I  do  not  advocate  that  such 
information  should  be  handed  out 
broadcast  and  as  a  matter  of  course 
whenever  a  request  for  the  same  is 
made,  but  I  do  contend  that  in  many 
cases  it  may  be  done  without  prejudice 
to  the  company's  interests. 

To  get  the  progressive  trend  of  mod- 
ern thought  on  this  subject  we  need 
only  look  at  recent  legislation  in  certain 
jurisdictions,  notably  Massachusetts, 
where  by  means  of  interrogatories  a 
defendant  may,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
presiding  justice,  be  ordered  to  furnish 
the  plaintiff  the  names  of  witnesses  to 
the  accident.  We  all  know,  further- 
more, that  the  car  crews'  report  of  an 


accident  is  competent  and  admissible 
in  evidence  at  the  trial  of  the  action 
if  the  plaintiff's  attorney  has  the  cour- 
age to  ask  for  it. 

The  fact  that  both  the  above  rights 
or  privileges  are  made  use  of  so  sel- 
dom by  plaintiffs  is,  to  my  mind,  very 
significant  in  showing-  that  not  much 
advantage  is  derived  therefrom. 

Before  suggesting  what  the  "out- 
side" claims  man  should  do  or  say  when 
confronted  with  these  requests,  let  us 
consider  for  a  moment  the  mental  state 
of  the  claimant  or  his  motives  for  mak- 
ing such  a  demand.  He  must  desire 
this  information  for  one  or  more  of 
the  following  reasons:  (a)  because  he 
hopes  or  expects  the  witnesses  sought 
will  corroborate  his  story  of  the  acci- 
dent and  thereby  strengthen  his  claim, 
or  (b)  because  he  wishes  to  find  out 
how  strong  the  company's  case  is,  or 
(c)  because  he  thinks  he  may  be  able 
to  influence  or  change  any  testimony 
unfavorable  to  him.  If,  now,  we  have 
a  case  where  the  witnesses  are  numer- 
ous and  very  favorable  to  the  company 
a  disclosure  of  them  will  (a)  blast 
the  claimant's  hopes  and  aspirations, 
or  (b)  will  fully  satisfy  his  thirst 
for  knowledge  and  (c)  he  is  welcome  to 
any  crumb  of  comfort  he  may  derive 
from  the  remote  chance  of  being  able 
to  affect  or  change  their  evidence. 
Certainly  no  harm  has  been  done  to  the 
company  and  the  only  logical  result 
of  such  a  disclosure  is  that  the  claim- 
ant's own  opinion  of  the  value  of  his 
case  has  been  appreciably  lessened. 
The  writer  has  frequently  followed 
such  a  course  in  discussing  claims  or 
suits  with  either  claimants  or  their  at- 
torneys. 

On  the  other  hand,  where  such  a  dis- 
closure will  reveal  weakness  instead  of 
strength,  of  course,  very  practical  ob- 
jections at  once  arise  against  making 
known  the  witnesses  or  giving  a  copy 
of  the  report.  The  best  way  to  meet 
this  difficulty  is  not  to  meet  it  at  all 
but  to  go  around  it  by  adjusting  the 
claim  for  the  best  figure  possible. 

If  the  outside  adjuster  or  investi- 
gator meets  with  these  requests  for 
witnesses  or  a  copy  of  the  accident  re- 
port, his  reply  should  be  that  he  has 
not  such  information  with  him  but  that 
the  same  may  probably  be  had  by  call- 
ing at  the  company's  claim  department. 
His  superiors  can  then  exercise  their 
discretion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  granting 
such  requests.  If  it  be  contended  by 
the  claimant  that  his  request  for  the 
company's  witnesses  is  merely  the  con- 
verse of  the  company's  request  for  his 
witnesses,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that 
such  is  not  the  case  at  all  and  that 
such  a  conclusion  is  wholly  illogical. 
The  company  desires  the  claimant's 
witnesses  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
checking  up  or  establishing  the  accuracy 
of  the  various  allegations  of  the  claim 
which  the  claimant  has  presented; 
whereas  the  claimant  himself  is  pre- 
sumed to  know  the  facts  and  to  haw> 
satisfied  himself  of  the  correctness  and 
the  justice  of  his  claim  before  pre- 
senting same  for  payment  and  should 


not,  therefore,  call  upon  the  company 
(the  alleged  "debtor")  for  possible 
helps  in  proving  the  "bill."  In  general, 
the  adjuster  should  remind  the  claimant 
that  the  principles  of  business  prac- 
tice and  the  rules  of  law  govern  in  the 
handling  of  claims  and  that  the  burden 
is  still  on  the  claimant  to  establish  the 
company's  negligence,  even  if  in  some 
jurisdictions  his  due  care  is  now  pre- 
sumed. 

No.  7.  Request  that  claim  depart- 
ment repair  damaged  property:  In 
certain  cases  such  as  broken  windows 
or  torn  clothing  such  a  request  can 
sometimes  be  granted  to  the  company's 
benefit,  inasmuch  as  it  possesses  the 
men  and  facilities  for  doing  the  job  at 
a  reduced  cost  or,  in  the  case  of  dam- 
aged clothing,  the  knowledge  where  re- 
pairs may  be  most  skillfully  and  eco- 
nomically made. 

It  is  assumed,  however,  that  this 
topic  refers  more  particularly  to  re- 
pairs of  a  mechanical  nature,  such  as 
are  necessitated  by  damage  to  vehicles. 
In  such  cases,  it  is  not  desirable  from 
either  the  standpoint  of  the  company 
or  the  claimant  to  grant  the  request. 
The  company's  representative  should 
advise  the  claimant  that  such  a  prac- 
tice is  unsatisfactory  to  both  sides  in 
that  the  company's  business  is  the 
transportation  of  passengers  and  that 
its  mechanical  department  is  devoted 
solely  to  the  movement  and  upkeep  of 
street  cars;  that  it  maintains  no  gen- 
eral automobile  or  wagon  repair  shop, 
and  even  if  it  did,  it  would  still  be  un- 
wise to  undertake  the  repair  work  in 
question  because  there  might  be  a  per- 
fectly natural  tendency  on  the  com- 
pany's part  to  discover  the  least  amount 
of  damage  attributable  to  the  accident 
and  the  result  would  be  a  job  not  satis- 
factory to  the  claimant.  The  adjuster 
might  further  very  frankly  admit  that 
the  company  did  not  care  to  assume  the 
risk  of  a  new  liability  in  case  the  re- 
pairs were  unskillfully  or  negligently 
made. 

If  the  claimant  then  suggests  that 
the  damaged  property  be  sent  by  the 
company  to  some  general  garage  or 
repair  shop  the  adljuster  may  point 
out  what  is  very  likely  the  strongest 
argument  of  all,  i.e.,  that  it  is  literally 
impossible  for  the  company  to  spend 
the  time  and  money  necessary  to  at- 
tend to  the  details  of  arranging  for 
such  repair  work.  He  should  then  ex- 
plain to  the  owner  of  the  damaged 
property  that  by  far  the  more  satis- 
factory course  for  all  parties  is  for 
the  claimant  to  arrange  for  the  repair- 
ing of  the  vehicle  at  such  shop  as  he 
may  elect,  having  first  given  the  com- 
pany's expert  an  opportunity  to  inspect 
the  damaged  property.  Then  when  the 
work  is  completed  the  various  items 
may  be  checked  up  and  compared  with 
the  estimate  of  the  company's  repre- 
sentative and  if  no  serious  variances 
exist  a  settlement  may  be  easily  and 
promptly  had.  The  foregoing,  of 
course,  is  predicated  upon  the  assump- 
tion that  we  are  dealing  with  a  "liabil 
ity"  case. 


742 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


No.  8.  Allegation  tliat  unfair  advan- 
tage is  taken  of  claimant:  This  con- 
tention is  one  which  the  adjuster  may 
largely  dispel  by  his  very  personality 
and  the  mode  and  tone  of  speech  in 
which  he  approaches  the  claimant.  A 
sympathetic,  conciliatory,  unbelligerent 
manner  should  go  far  toward  inhibiting 
such  an  idea  in  the  claimant's  mind,  or, 
for  that  matter,  in  the  mind  of  any 
other  person.  In  fact,  here  is  a  golden 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  our 
"negative  method"  of  procedure,  and 
the  experienced  and  skillful  claims  man 
will  take  care  that  he  create  an  at- 
mosphere of  the  square  deal  before  he 
reaches  the  dollars  and  cents  stage  of 
the  proceedings.  If,  however,  in  spite 
of  all  his  efforts  and  skill  in  this  direc- 
tion, he  is  met  by  the  allegation  that 
it  is  unfair  to  the  claimant  to  ask  for 
an  immediate  release  or  for  a  release 
for  such  an  amount  as  offered,  the 
adjuster  should  then  employ  all  the 
affirmative  arguments  at  his  command 
and  point  out,  for  instance,  that  he  is 
not  seeking  to  rush  the  claimant  into 
a  hurried  or  hastily  considered  settle- 
ment, but  that  experience  has  shown 
that  fairly  prompt  adjustments  are  the 
best  medicine;  that  his  offer  is  based 
upon  the  "fair  market  value"  for  the 
injury  and  liability  in  question,  illus- 
trating his  point  by  citation  of  simi- 
lar cases;  that  the  very  fact  of  his  be- 
ing sent  to  see  the  claimant  shows  an 
attitude  on  the  company's  part  to  do 
justice  and  make  reparation  for  the 
injury  done;  that  a  large  public  service 
corporation  such  as  the  adjuster  repre- 
sents is  as  dependent  for  its  success 
upon  the  good  will  and  opinion  of  its 
patrons  as  any  private  business  con- 
cern and,  therefore,  it  does  not  desire 
and  could  not  wisely  attempt  to  deal 
unfairly  in  the  adjustments  of  its  ac- 
cidents. 

No.  9.  Contention  that  any  person 
injured  in  ear  accident  is  entitled  to 
damages:  This  is  one  of  the  commonest 
fallacies  which  we  meet  in  dealing  with 
the  riding  public,  and  occasionally  even 
an  attorney  seems  to  labor  under  the 
delusion  that  a  passenger  virtually  re- 
ceives a  policy  of  insui-ance  when  he 
sets  foot  on  one  of  the  company's  cars. 
Nothing,  however,  is  further  from  the 
truth,  and  whenever  an  adjuster  is  con- 
fronted with  this  time-worn  contention 
he  cannot  do  better  than  meet  it  in  the 
language  of  the  courts.  For  years,  and 
in  countless  decisions,  judges  have 
stated,  in  substance,  that  the  carrier  of 
passingers  is  not  an  insurer  although 
it  owes  its  patrons  a  very  high  degree 
of  care,  which  has  been  further  defined 
as  the  "highest  degree  of  care  con- 
sistent with  a  practical  oparation  of 
the  company's  business." 

In  proportion  as  this  contention  of 
an  insurer's  liability  is  one  of  the  com- 
monest, so  too  is  it  one  of  the  easiest 
to  overcome  and  banish  when  dealing 
with  an  intelligent  claimant.  In  the 
case  of  a  stupid  or  stubborn  one  the 
adjuster  must  draw  upon  his  inexhaust- 
ible stock  of  patience  and  by  simple 
every-day    occurrences    illustrate  his 


point  and  show  the  unreasonableness 
and  unfairness  of  asking  the  company 
to  pay  for  damages  which  it  did  not 
cause. 

No.  10.  Request  for  adjuster  to  make 
frequent  return  calls:  Whatever  mo- 
tive actuates  a  claimant  in  making 
such  a  request,  the  result  of  granting 
it  is  undesirable  from  the  company's 
standpoint,  because  it  consumes  time 
which  might  better  be  devoted  to  other 
and  newer  cases.  While  a  quick  set- 
tlement is  best,  nevertheless,  the  ad- 
juster should  not  press  the  claimant  too 
zealously  but  should  show  willingness 
to  call  again  in  a  few  days  after  the 
diagnosis  of  the  attending  physician,  or 
the  opinion  of  the  company's  medical 
examiner  has  been  obtained.  The  ad- 
juster should  refuse,  however,  to  keep 
calling  at  frequent  intervals  and  should 
tell  the  claimant  that  such  a  course  will 
serve  no  useful  purpose  and  also  that 
the  convalescence  and  recovery  will  be 
more  rapid  and  permanent  by  removing 
the  mental  or  "psychological"  factor  of 
worriment  by  an  early  adjustment  of 
the  claim. 

No.  11.  Refusal  to  call  at  claim  de- 
partment  offices  for  discussion:  This 
contention  or  obstacle  is  not  of  sufficient 
importance  for  the  adjuster  to  waste 
any  time  in  trying  to  overcome  it. 
There  may  be  some  good  reason  for 
such  a  refusal,  as  for  instance,  physical 
infirmity  or  lack  of  time,  but  even  if 
caused  by  downright  stubbornness  or 
unreasonableness  no  serious  thought  or 
time  should  be  sacrificed  in  combating 
it.  "If  the  mountain  won't  come  to 
Mahomet  let  Mahomet  go  to  the 
mountain." 

No.  12.  That  the  company  is  liable 
or  it  would  not  call  upon  claimant: 
This  thought,  although  perhaps  not 
openly  expressed,  may  very  naturally 
arise  in  the  mind  of  the  injured  party 
when  a  claims  adjuster  makes  him  an 
unsolicited  call.  It  would  seem  wise, 
therefore,  at  least  in  cases  of  debatable 
liability,  for  the  adjuster  to  employ  the 
"negative  method"  and  introduce  him- 
self more  in  the  character  of  an  inves- 
tigator than  an  adjuster  and  by  means 
of  his  opening  questions  create  the  im- 
pression that  there  is  doubt  in  the 
minds  of  the  company's  officials  as  to 
their  liability  for  the  accident  and 
hence  call  upon  the  injured  person  to 
ascertain  his  version  of  the  occurrence. 
In  the  case  of  absolute  liability  such  as 
car  collisions,  derailments  and  the  like 
there  is  little  occasion  for  such  a  pro- 
cedure and  the  adjuster  may  account 
for  his  voluntary  visit  by  the  perfectly 
sincere  statement  that  he  desires  to 
learn  whether  the  person  was  injured 
and  if  so,  the  extent  of  such  injury. 
They  can  then  get  down  to  the  real 
business  of  settling  the  claim  without 
further  preliminaries. 

Thus  far  it  will  be  seen  that  we  have 
been  working  along  the  lines  of  the 
"negative  method."  If  now  the  claim- 
ant becomes  belligerent  and  asserts 
that  the  adjuster  would  not  have  called 
upon  him  had  the  company  not  believed 
itself  liable  for  the  accident  in  ques- 


tion— then  the  style  of  procedure  shifts 
to  the  "positive  method."  It  is  then 
up  to  the  adjuster  to  enlighten  the 
claimant  as  fluently  and  thoroughly  as 
possible  as  to  the  principles  and  ad- 
vantages of  compromise  and  to  inform 
him  that  corporations  and  also  indi- 
viduals frequently  make  small  payments 
even  in  cases  where  it  is  definitely  set- 
tled that  there  can  be  no  recovery  at 
law;  that  such  a  course  is  taken  not 
only  to  assist  the  injured  by  lightening 
their  financial  loss  but  also  as  a  mat- 
ter of  sound  business  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  company. 

No.  13.  That  settlement  with  driver 
for  injury  indicates  liability  for  prop- 
erty damage:  This  contention  is  one  to 
be  anticipated  and  denied  at  the  very 
outset,  and  presents  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity for  an  application  of  our  "nega- 
tive method"  of  procedure.  In  other 
words,  such  an  idea  existing  in  the 
mind  of  the  property  owner  must  be 
aborted  by  a  denial  or  negation  of  its 
logical  soundness.  The  adjuster,  if  he 
is  endeavoring  to  effect  a  compromise, 
should  commence  the  interview  by  dif- 
ferentiating the  reasons  and  motives 
which  make  it  expedient  for  the  com- 
pany to  desire  the  personal  injury  claim 
settled  and  yet  to  have  no  particular 
concern  relative  to  the  outcome  of  the 
property  part  of  said  accident.  The 
argument  is  this — that  the  driver's 
claim  presents  a  case  of  personal  in- 
jury, i.e.,  hurt  done  a  human  being,  the 
measure  of  damages  for  which  may  be 
estimated  anywhere  between  nothing 
and  thousands  of  dollars.  The  property 
loss,  on  the  other  hand,  presents  merely 
a  claim  for  a  fairly  definite,  practically 
liquidated  amount  of  damage  to  a  piec3 
of  personal  property.  There  may  be 
some  minor  differences  or  disputes  be- 
tween the  parties,  as  to  the  market 
value  before  and  after  the  accident  and 
as  to  reasonableness  of  repair  bills,  but 
these  are  trivial  when  compared  with 
damages  in  the  personal  injury  case  and 
the  maximum  amount  of  damage  can 
be  almost  mathematically  ascertained. 
Hence  the  company's  treasury  is  not 
faced  with  a  claim  whose  value  is  un- 
determinable and  which  may  possess 
great  potentialities. 

This  line  of  reasoning,  it  will  be 
noted,  closely  resembles  the  argument 
to  be  used  in  dealing  with  No.  12,  and 
seems  too  simple  to  need  further  elab- 
oration. Many  others  of  equal  or 
greater  merit  will  doubtless  suggest 
themselves  to  membars  of  this  associa- 
tion. The  particular  environment,  so- 
cial and  financial  status,  local  customs 
and  laws,  all  these  are  factors  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  the  application  of 
psychological  principles,  for  to  be  of 
any  real  assistance  to  us  this  psychology 
must  be  of  the  so-called  practical  or 
applied  kind,  as  contrasted  with  pure 
psychology.  In  short,  the  successful 
claim  agent  is,  after  all,  merely  a 
shrewd  trader  or  business  man,  to 
whom,  in  plain  English,  the  greatest 
assets  are  a  fairly  fluent  and  persuasive 
tongue  coupled  with  a  large  amount  of 
good,  hard  common  S9nse. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


743 


History  and  Comments  on  the  Third  Rail  System5 

Some  of  the  Interesting  Features  of  and  Experiences  on  the 
Third  Rail  Systems  of  the  Pacific  Coast 


IN  CONSIDERING  the  history  of  the 
third  rail,  we  are  not  confronted  with 
a  problem  of  ancient  history.  In  the 
eighties  there  were  several  feeble  at- 
tempts at  using  a  rail  on  the  same  plane 
as  the  running  rail  instead  of  the  over- 
head trolley.  The  first  successful  ap- 
plication, however,  was  on  the  Intra- 
mural Railway  around  the  World's  Fair 
Grounds  in  Chicago  in  1893. 

Following  this,  the  next  installations 
of  importance  were  the  elevated  roads 
of  Chicago.  The  Metropolitan  on  the 
West  Side  was  the  first  one,  the  others 
being  converted  from  steam  to  electric 
using  the  third  rail.  From  this  it  was 
a  mere  matter  of  a  few  years  and  all 
the  elevated  roads  in  New  York  City 
and  Boston  were  converted  to  this 
system. 

Then  in  quick  succession  followed 
sever"  1  of  the  terminal  electrifications 
in  the  East,  all  using  the  third  rail 
where  the  voltage  did  not  exceed  600. 
These  installations  are  still  going  on 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This 
story,  however,  deals  more  particularly 
with  the  installation  on  what  is  now 
the  Northwestern  Pacific  Railroad, 
Marin  County,  Cal. 

To  one  of  the  early  pioneers  in  the 
electrical  field  in  California  is  due  the 
credit  for  the  electrification  of  the  in- 
terurban  section  of  the  old  North  Pa- 
cific Coast  Railroad.  John  Martin  pur- 
chased the  North  Pacific  Coast  Rail- 
road, then  a  narrow  gage  road  from 
Sausalito  to  Cazadero  and  running 
over  the  hills  from  San  Anselmo  to 
San  Rafael  and  down  to  San  Quentin 
Point,  and  made  the  electrified  section 
broad  gage,  still  retaining  the  narrow 
gage  for  steam.  The  present  system 
consists  of  6  miles  of  single  track  and 
15h  miles  of  double  track,  or  a  total  of 
37  miles  of  electrified  track,  all  at  600 
volts. 

In  this  state  there  are  three  third- 
rail  systems,  the  Northwestern  Pacific 
and  the  Sacramento  Northern,  using 
the  over-running  type  of  construction 
at  600  volts,  and  the  Central  California 
Traction,  using  the  under-running  type 
at  1,200  volts.  The  contact  rail  as 
used  on  the  Northwestern  Pacific  is  all 
regular  common  "T"  rail,  and  nearly 
all  of  it  is  either  60-lb.  steel  or  50-lb. 
iron. 

In  the  first  installation  the  rail  was 
supported  mainly  on  a  large  block  of 
wood  spiked  to  the  tie  and  the  contact 
rail  spiked  to  the  block.  These  were 
continually  breaking  off  and  did  not 
last  very  long.  Then  some  patent  gran- 
ite blocks  were  tried.  These  were  put 
in  at  the  Sausalito  terminal  and 
through  the  Corte  Madera  tunnel.  The 
leakage  over  them  was  excessive  and 
the  aura  at  night  was  at  times  bril- 
liant.   It  was  quickly  decided  that  the 

*A  paper  prepared  by  the  electrical  de- 
partment, Northwestern  Pacific  Railroad, 
and  read  by  C.  E.  Thatch,  at  a  meeting-  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad  Club,  San  Francisco, 
August  11. 


object  to  be  obtained  was  a  support  for 
the  contact  rail  and  not  a  means  of  il- 
lumination. 

At  that  time  the  present  style  of  sup- 
port block  which  has  proved  very  sat- 
isfactory was  designed  and  put  into 
service.    Every  sixth  tie  in  the  track  is 
1  ft.  longer  than  the  standard  tie.  On 
this  extra  length  the  support  for  the 
contact  rail  is  placed.     This  support 
consists  of  a  redwood  block  5  in.  square 
and  6i  or  7  in  long.    The  length  de- 
pends on  the  size  of  the  rail  in  the 
track.    This  block  is  treated  with  two 
coats  of  insulating  paint  by  dipping. 
There  is  a  1-in.  screw  bolt  at  the  base 
holding  to  small  angle  irons,  which  in 
turn  are  lagged  to  the  tie.    On  top  of 
the  block  is  placed  a  cast-iron  cap  upon 
which  the  rail  rests.     The  cap  is  so 
constructed  as  to  form  an  apron  over 
the  block  and  give  a  space  of  nearly  2 
in.  on  the  block  that  is  always  dry  even 
in  the  worst  rainstorm.    Of  course,  this 
dees  not  exist  when  flood  water  comes 
up  over  the  track  and  even  over  the 
contact  rail.    This  cast-iron  cap  has  a 
channel  in  which  the  rail  rests.  The 
rail  is  not  clamped  or  fastened  to  the 
block  in  any  way,  but  is  free  to  move 
with   the  expansion   and  contraction. 
The  contact  rail  has  tried  to  crawl  over 
the  right-of-way  at  times,  but  it  gen- 
erally landed  on  the  running  rail  and 
the  result  was  a  shutdown.    When  this 
buckling  has  occurred,  it  is  simply  a 
case  of  breaking  a  joint  at  this  place, 
allowing  the  rail  to   straighten  out, 
dropping  the  overlapped  end  to  allow 
space  travel  of  the  collecting  shoe  on 
the   cars.     To   overcome   this  trouble 
about  twice  a  year  men  go  over  the  line 
and  hammer  the  joints  and  pour  oil 
around  the  angle  bars  and  over  a  large 
proportion  of  the  support  block  caps. 
When  this  has  been  done,  the  buckling 
feature  has  been  eliminated.    As  an  il- 
lustration of  how  successful  this  is,  we 
have  several  sections  of  3,000  ft.  and 
one  section  of  over  4,000  ft.  of  continu- 
ous power  rail. 

At  road  crossings  and  intervals  in 
front  of  stations  the  rail  is  open  and 
the  ends  protected  by  approach  blocks. 
These  blocks  are  pieces  of  rail  equal  in 
cross-section  to  the  contact  rail  but  with 
one  end  heated  and  hammered,  thus  al- 
lowing the  contact  shoes  on  the  cars  to 
ride  up  onto  the  rail  easily.  At  these 
openings  there  is  constructed  an  under- 
ground box  with  at  least  one  1,000,000 
circ.mil  cable  in  it,  the  ends  of  which 
are  soldered  to  the  end  of  the  contact 
rail. 

These  undergrounds,  as  we  call  them, 
are  constructed  of  1-in.  redwood  and 
are  made  4  in  square  inside.  The  cable 
is  supported  in  the  box  clear  of  the 
wood  by  porcelain  cleats  every  2  ft. 
The  box  is  then  filled  with  an  asphal- 
tum  insulating  pitch.  Properly  in- 
stalled, this  type  of  box  has  proved  very 
satisfactory  and  has  the  most  excellent 
moisture  resisting  qualities. 


In  the  original  installation  a  feeder 
was  placed  in  the  web  of  the  rail  from 
Sausalito  to  San  Anselmo  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  section  through  the  Corte 
Madera  tunnel.  This  feeder  proved 
very  unsatisfactory,  for  it  was  but  a 
short  time  after  its  installation  that 
the  sleeve  joints  began  to  loosen  up. 
Even  after  the  sleeve  and  rod  were 
drilled  through  and  aluminum  pins, 
driven  in,  these  were  sheared  off. 

The  experiences  with  this  rod  were 
very  interesting.  At  openings  where 
the  rod  ended  it  was  necessary  to  use 
a  long  brass  sleeve  for  connections. 
In  one  end  of  the  sleeve  was  soldered 
the  rod,  using  only  pure  block  tin.  In 
the  other  end  was  soldered  a  short  piece 
of  copper  cable  using  half  and  half 
solder  and  the  cable  soldered  to  the 
rail.  The  jumpers  were  soldered 
directly  to  the  rod  on  either  side  of  the 
sleeve.  After  they  were  soldered  the 
joints  held  and  would  not  give.  There 
were  about  seventy-five  of  them  put 
on  in  the  section  between  Alto  and 
Almonte.  Four  days  later  all  the 
jumpers  were  on  the  ground,  having 
fallen  off  of  their  own  weight.  An- 
other attempt  to  solder  aluminum  has 
proved  futile. 

About  five  years  ago  there  came  sud- 
denly a  demand  for  aluminum.  All  the 
aluminum  feeder  was  then  replaced  by 
a  1,000, 000-circ.mil.  copper  cable  and 
the  change  was  made  without  expense 
to  the  railroad  company. 

One  great  advantage  in  the  third-rail 
construction,  both  mechanically  and 
financially,  is  our  method  of  carrying 
feeders.  From  Sausalito  to  Alto  Power 
House,  a  distance  of  four  and  one-half 
miles,  we  have  two  1,000,000  circ.mil 
cables  on  each  rail,  or  four  cables  in 
all,  and  the  only  additional  expense  for 
feeder  support  is  the  small  iron  clamp 
used  to  hold  the  cable  in  the  web  of  the 
rail.  There  are  at  advantageous  points 
switches  so  that  the  system  can  be  sec- 
tionalized  if  necessary  and  in  case  of 
trouble  one  section  can  be  eliminated  en- 
tirely. We  also  carry  an  overhead 
jumper  on  pole  line  over  Corte  Madera 
tunnel,  and  have  switches  installed  so 
that  the  tunnel  section  alone  can  be 
cut  out  without  interference  with  any 
other  section. 

The  use  of  a  third-rail  system  of 
course  can  only  be  justified  where,  like 
the  Northwestern  Pacific,  the  opera- 
tions are  entirely  over  private  right  of 
way.  There  have  been  several  cases 
where  people  being  struck  by  trains 
have  been  thrown  against  the  power 
rail  and  burned.  There  is  but  one  case 
of  human  life  lost  that  I  can  find 
directly  traceable  to  contact  with  the 
third  rail. 

Our  maintenance  costs  after  thirteen 
years  of  service  show  the  following 
averages : 

For  1916   $87  per  mile 

1917   95  per  mile 

1918   145  per  mile 

The  differences  in  these  costs  do  not 
reflect  any  change  in  the  condition  of 
the  rails,  but  rather  a  decided  change 
in  labor  and  material  cost.  At  the 
present  time  we  are  maintaining  the 
entire  system  with  a  crew  of  five  men, 


744 


Electric   Railway  journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


three  of  whom  only  devote  one-half  day 
to  power  rail  work.  This  crew  also 
does  all  track  bonding. 

The  costs  previously  given  take  care 
of  all  track  bonding.  All  joints  on  the 
running  rail  are  bonded  with  a  300,000- 
circ.mil  soldered  bond  with  a  "T"  head, 
soldered  directly  to  the  rail.  We  admit 
that  we  are  without  doubt  cranks  on 
solder.  All  joints  of  whatever  nature, 
bonds,  feeder  cable,  cross  cables,  are 
soldered  direct  to  the  rail,  using  half 
and  half  solder. 

The  gage  of  our  rail  is  26i  in.  out 
from  the  gage  line  of  track  and  the  top 
of  power  rail  6  in.  above  top  of  running 
rail.  For  total  clearance  we  ask  12  in. 
above  top  of  running  rail,  22  in.  out  or 
more.  This  clears  on  all  classes  of 
equipment.  Occasionally  there  is  sent 
on  the  road  some  large  furniture  car 
with  unusually  low  truss  rods,  but  this 


THE  RAILROAD  LAW  of  New  York 
State  specifies  the  type  and  position 
of  the  crossing  sign  to  be  installed. 
This  sign  is  furnished  by  the  railroad 
company  and  is  set  by  the  highway  au- 
thorities of  the  town  or  municipality 
in  which  the  crossings  are  located. 
This  law  is  a  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, but  I  do  not  believe  that  the  sign 
is  sufficiently  conspicuous  to  be  adopted 
as  a  standard  for  all  crossings;  also 
there  is  nothing  in  the  law  to  pro- 
hibit other  signs  being  placed  at  cross- 
ings. You  have  all  approached  cross- 
ings where  there  was  the  usual  "Stop, 
Look  and  Listen"  sign,  a  sign  put  up 
by  the  State  Highway  Departments,  a 
sign  put  up  by  the  local  automobile 
club  and  last  but  not  least  a  sign  put 
up  by  some  industrial  concern  osten- 
sibly as  a  warning  sign  but  in  reality 
an  advertising  scheme. 

In  my  opinion,  this  multiplicity  of 
signs  is  worse  than  no  sign  at  all  be- 
cause when  the  driver  of  a  vehicle  ap- 
proaches a  crossing  so  decorated  he 
tries  to  read  them  all  and  doesn't  sense 
any  of  them,  or,  what  is  more  apt  to 
happen,  they  are  taken  for  advertising. 
If  one  conspicuous  uniform  sign  was 
placed  at  each  crossing  and  the  public 
seeing  that  sign  could  know  that  it 
meant  one  thing,  many  crossing  acci- 
dents would  be  avoided.  A  uniform 
standard  sign  of  such  size  and  coloring 
and  so  lettered  that  its  meaning  cannot 
be  mistaken  should  be  placed  at  every 
grade  crossing  in  the  country.  Such 
signs  should  be  placed  at  a  uniform 
distance  and  far  enough  from  the  cross- 
ing so  that  there  will  be  plenty  of  op- 
portunity to  have  an  automobile  under 
control  before  reaching  the  crossing. 


•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  elec- 
tric railway  section  of  the  annual  congress 
of  the  National  Safety  Council,  Boston, 
Mass..  Sept.  29.  1921. 


difficulty  is  overcome  by  observing  the 
published  clearances  and  also  the  alert- 
ness of  car  inspectors  at  Tiburon,  where 
most  of  such  equipment  reaches  our 
road. 

One  of  the  main  difficulties  is  in  the 
winter  from  high  water.  We  have  had 
several  times  when  at  certain  points 
the  water  was  up  over  the  power  rail, 
but  it  was  fresh  water  and  we  were 
able  to  keep  power  on  the  rail  and  keep 
trains  moving.  When  the  extreme  high 
tides  come  in  the  winter  along  the 
shores  of  Richardson  Bay,  with  a  good 
southwester  behind  them  and  the  salt 
water  begins  to  get  up  around  the 
power  rail,  operations  cease.  This  con- 
dition occurred  during  one  storm  in 
the  winter  of  1918-1919,  and  our  traffic 
out  of  Sausalito  was  stopped  for  about 
three  hours  during  the  most  severe  part 
of  the  storm. 


When  such  a  sign  is  adopted  and  placed, 
it  should  be  prvmu  facie  evidence  of 
negligence  on  the  part  of  the  driver  of 
a  vehicle  who  is  struck  and  injured  at 
a  grade  crossing. 

The  chief  safety  officer  of  a  large 
railroad  recently  told  me  that  he  had 
checked  three  widely  separated  cross- 
ings to  find  the  number  of  vehicles 
going  over  them  in  a  day  and  to  check 
the  number  of  drivers  of  such  vehicles 
who  stopped,  looked  and  listened  before 
crossing  the  railroad  tracks.  Approxi- 
mately 7,900  vehicles,  of  which  98  per 
cent  were  automobiles,  crossed  the  three 
crossings  that  day,  but  none  of  them 
stopped  and  less  than  5  per  cent  of 
the  drivers  of  these  vehicles  looked  or 
listened  before  crossing  the  tracks. 
The  railroads  of  this  country  are  spend- 
ing thousands  of  dollars  every  year  to 
protect  the  public  at  their  crossings 
and  to  train  and  educate  the  motormen 
and  engineers  in  safe  operation,  but 
until  the  automobiling  public  shows  a 
disposition  to  co-operate,  we  shall 
continue  to  have  these  appalling 
catastrophies  at  grade  crossings,  no 
matter  what  type  of  sign  is  adopted  as 
standard. 

Gates  and  flagmen  are  considered  by 
many  as  the  most  effective  protection 
for  grade  crossings,  but  the  expense  of 
maintenance  is  greater  than  the  elec- 
tric railways  of  this  country  can  stand. 
Aside  from  the  expense  I  personally 
know  of  numerous  instances  where 
automobiles  have  been  driven  through 
the  gates,  and  the  August  number  of 
the  National  Safety  Neivs  contains  an 
article  showing  where  the  Long  Island 
Railroad  has  been  compelled  to  use 
telegraph  poles  in  place  of  the  usual 
type  of  gates  because  so  many  drivers 
of  automobiles  had  driven  through  the 
ordinary  gates.  This  is  a  pretty  good 
evidence  that  the  fault  is  not  all  with 


the  railroads.  Pedestrians  also  are 
daily  disregarding  the  gates,  walking 
under  or  around  and  being  struck  by 
approaching  cars. 

Flagmen  are  human,  and  where  the 
human  element  enters  failure  some- 
times arises,  but  more  often  in  the 
case  of  railroad  flagmen  than  else- 
where, because  cripples  and  old  men 
are  placed  at  crossings  as  a  substitute 
for  a  pension.  This  should  not  be 
done,  for  a  flagman  to  be  efficient  must 
be  intelligent,  active  and  alert. 

There  are  many  automatic  signals 
for  crossings  such  as  electrically  oper- 
ated gongs,  good  at  some  places  but 
affected  by  climatic  conditions,  easily 
getting  out  of  order  or  else  they  ring 
continually  when  there  is  no  danger, 
which  leads  to  their  utter  disregard. 

The  old  type  "Stop,  Look  and  Listen" 
signs  were  all  right  before  the  advent 
of  automobiles,  when  the  approach  to 
crossings  was  at  the  rate  of  4  to  8- 
m.p.h.,  but  in  the  present  day  these  are 
not  conspicuous  enough  nor  are  they 
seen  soon  enough  to  stop  a  vehicle  ap- 
proaching a  crossing  at  20  to  50  m.p.h., 
so  today  we  are  advocating  a  standard 
crossing  sign  to  be  placed  at  from  300 
to  500  ft.  on  each  side  of  every  cross- 
ing. 

In  New  York  State,  and  I  am  in- 
formed in  many  other  states,  the  rail- 
roads are  compelled  to  pay  for  these 
signs.  It  does  not  seem  reasonable  to 
require  the  railroads  to  furnish  or 
maintain  crossing  signs  to  be  erected 
off  their  right-of-way.  This  should  be 
a  public  charge,  or  at  least  the  cost 
of  the  signs  should  be  shared  by  the 
public  and  the  signs  placed  and  main- 
tained entirely  by  the  public.  As  to 
the  maintenance  of  these  railroad  cross- 
ing signs,  I  have  seen  any  number  of 
them  that  have  been  placed  at  cross- 
ings in  New  York  State  within  the  last 
year  riddled  with  bullet  holes,  the 
enamel  knocked  off,  the  sign  bent  so 
as  to  be  useless  as  a  warning  and  in 
many  instances  knocked  down  entirely. 
Much  of  this  damage  is  done  thought- 
lessly by  boys,  some  deliberately  by 
men.  The  National  Safety  Council 
should,  through  its  local  councils,  start 
a  campaign  to  educate  the  public  as 
to  the  meaning  and  importance  of  the 
standard  crossing  signs  and  as  to  the 
possible  results  which  may  arise  from 
their  effacement  and  destruction. 

To  the  railroad  man  grade  crossings 
present  another  problem,  which  is  to 
make  the  view  for  the  motorman  and 
driver  of  approaching  vehicles  as  long 
and  as  clear  as  possible.  Here  again 
the  railroad  meets  the  opposition  of  the 
thoughtless  public  who  own  property 
along  the  right-of-way.  For  example, 
the  company  with  which  I  am  asso- 
ciated has  for  the  past  four  years  sent 
out  men  to  trim  trees  and  clear  the 
view  at  all  crossings  on  our  road, 
which  is  a  double  track,  high  speed 
road,  87  miles  long,  operated  between 
the  cities  of  Syracuse  and  Rochester 
over  117  grade  crossings.  As  foreman 
of  this  safety  crew  we  use  a  motor- 
man  who  has  been  in  the  emolov  of 


Railroad  Crossings  and  Crossing-  Signs* 

Standardization  Suggested  Along  Various  Lines  to  Reduce  the  Hazard 
— The  Railroads  of  the  Country  Are  Spending  Thousands 
of  Dollars  a  Year  to  Protect  the  Public 

By  R.  S.  Messenger 

Claim  Agent  Rochester  (N.  Y. )  &  Syracuse  Railroad 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


745 


the  company  for  the  past  fourteen 
years.  His  instructions  are  to  trim  all 
trees,  bushes  and  weeds  on  the  right- 
of-way  which  in  any  way  interfere  with 
or  obstruct  the  view  of  a  motorman  or 
the  driver  of  an  approaching  vehicle; 
also  to  trim  all  trees,  etc.,  adjoining  the 
right-of-way  that  interfere  with  or 
shorten  the  view,  where  he  can  obtain 
the  permission  of  the  owners  of  such 
trees  or  bushes.  Here  is  where  the 
trouble  begins.  The  one  idea  in  the 
minds  of  adjoining  property  owners, 
particularly  near  cities  and  towns,  is 
to  grow  a  hedge  or  line  of  trees  that 
will  shut  off  the  railroad  regardless  of 
the  safety  of  the  public  at  such  grade 
crossings.  We  have  no  power  to  com- 
pel the  trimming  or  to  prevent  the 
planting  of  these  barriers,  but  are  an- 
nually forced  to  pay  out  large  sums  of 
money  for  accidents  caused  by  those 
death  traps  erected  by  unthinking 
people. 

All  railroad  grade  crossings  should 
have  easy  approaches,  good  planking 
and  be  so  graded  that  the  danger  of 
stalling  motors  would  be  eliminated 
as  far  as  possible.  All  automobiles 
should  be  driven  over  railroad  cross- 
ings in  intermediate  gear  to  reduce  the 
danger  of  stalling  and  thus  prevent  ac- 
cidents. Slight  inexpensive  changes 
in  highways  often  make  dangerous 
crossings  comparatively  safe.  When 
a  road  crosses  the  track  two  or  three 
times  within  a  short  distance,  several 
crossings  can  be  eliminated  by  re-locat- 
ing the  highway,  especially  when  state 
or  county  highways  are  being  con- 
structed. 

Among  the  safety  rules  of  the  road 
with  which  I  am  connected  is  an  order 
to  the  motorman  that  all  highway 
crossings  in  cities  and  villages  must 
be  approached  under  such  control  that 
a  car  may  be  stopped  short  of  any  ob- 
stacle. Sometime  ago  at  one  of  these 
crossings  an  automobile  was  pushed  by 
the  car  between  200  and  300  ft.  The 
motorman  was  laid  off  for  thirty  days. 
The  situation  has  improved  since  then, 
but  there  again  we  have  the  human 
element,  and  it  is  necessary  constantly 
to  check  up  these  crossings  to  see 
that  the  order  mentioned  is  obeyed,  but 
who  checks  up  the  careless,  thought- 
less and  reckless  automobile  driver  for 
whose  mistakes  the  railroads  are  daily 
made  to  pay? 

Many  grade  crossing  accidents  on 
electric  roads,  in  my  opinion,  are  due 
to  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  public 
as  to  the  speed,  distance  traveled  per 
second  and  distance  in  which  a  large 
interurban  car  can  be  stopped.  Not 
long  ago  a  vehicle  was  struck  at  a 
crossing  on  one  of  the  roads  running 
out  of  Syracuse.  The  following  morn- 
ing the  coroner  asked  the  motorman, 
who  was  a  man  of  long  service,  the 
speed  at  which  the  car  was  traveling 
when  the  vehicle  was  first  seen.  The 
motorman's  estimate  was  40  to  50  m.p.h. 
"How  far  away  were  you  from  the 
crossing  when  you  first  saw  the  ve- 
hicle?" "About  200  to  250  ft." 
"How  far  did  you  go  after  you  applied 


your  air  before  stopping?"  "About  650 
ft."  At  this  reply  the  coroner  said, 
''That  is  all  I  want  from  you.  You 
should  have  stopped  in  less  than  that 
distance."  After  the  motorman  had 
left,  the  claim  agent  told  the  coroner 
that  a  test  was  to  be  made  the  follow- 
ing day  with  the  same  car  and  motor- 
man  at  the  point  of  the  accident  and 
asked  the  coroner  to  be  present.  A 
number  of  tests  were  made,  and 
the  shortest  stop  according  to  the 
coroner's  own  measurement  was  700 
ft.  The  coroner  told  the  claim  agent 
that  he  wanted  to  apologize  to  the 
motorman  as  he  considered  after  seeing 
the  test  that  a  wonderful  stop  had  been 
made  at  the  time  of  the  accident.  He 
also  said  that  he  had  learned  a  great 
deal  about  the  operation  of  interurban 
electric  cars  that  he  had  not  before  ap- 
preciated. That  particular  coroner  is 
very  careful  since  that  experience  about 
placing  the  blame  before  he  knows  all 
the  facts. 

My  observation  has  been  that  the  of- 
ficials in  charge  of  constructing  state 
and  county  highways  pay  too  little 
attention  to  safety  features  at  electric 
railroad  crossings.  I  know  of  a  num- 
ber of  roads  constructed  within  the 
past  two  years  where  the  crossings  are 
diagonal,  a  good  view  one  way  and  no 
view  the  other  for  either  the  public  or 
railroad  employees.  Cuts  have  been 
dug,  the  grade  changed  and  no  attempt 
made  on  the  part  of  the  highway  offi- 
cials to  eliminate  the  resulting  banks 
from  obstructing  the  view.  The  rail- 
roads, the  state  and  county  highway 
authorities,  automobile  associations  and 
local  safety  councils  should  get  to- 
gether in  every  state  in  the  Union  and 
adopt  some  sane,  uniform  and  practical 
method  of  road  construction  in  rela- 
tion to  grade  crossings. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  the  standard 
crossing  sign  should  be  of  a  color  that 
is  most  visible  in  daylight  and  will 
most  readily  reflect  light  from  auto- 
mobile headlights  and  even  from  a  dim 
lantern  on  a  farmer's  wagon  and  that 
color  from  my  experience  should  be 
"traction  orange"  for  the  background 
or  field,  with  "Railroad  Crossing"  in 
large  black  letters.  It  should  be  of 
such  size  as  to  compel  the  notice  of 
passing  vehicle  drivers,  at  least  4  ft.  x 
4  ft.,  and  should  be  constructed  of  a 
material  as  nearly  indestructible  as 
possible.  This  sign  should  be  located 
on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  highway 
on  each  side  of  every  crossing  at  a 
distance  of  not  less  than  300  ft.  All 
other  signs  should  be  prohibited  by 
law  from  being  placed  within  1,500  ft. 
of  such  grade  crossings. 

Some  may  wonder  why  "traction 
orange"  has  been  my  choice.  The  cars 
of  the  company  with  which  I  am  con- 
nected were  formerly  painted  a  dark 
green  and  some  Pullman  color.  One 
day  I  heard  one  of  the  Public  Service 
Commissioners  of  New  York  State  say 
that  our  cars  blended  too  much  with 
the  landscape  and  should  be  painted  a 
more  visible  color.  Our  company  im- 
mediately took  a  car  and  painted  it 


in  panels  of  several  different  colors. 
We  found  after  an  exhaustive  test  that 
the  "traction  orange"  was  visible  at 
a  greater  distance  and  reflected  light 
farther  than  any  other  color. 

"Traction  orange"  is  a  shade  of  yel- 
low. Yellow  is  the  color  that  is  used 
by  railroads  as  a  caution  sign.  Cau- 
tion is  the  thing  that  must  be  instilled 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  approach- 
ing railroad  crossings.  If  the  public 
will  approach  grade  crossings  with 
caution  there  is  no  danger  and,  there- 
fore, no  need  for  a  red  sign.  When  it 
becomes  a  habit  with  the  public  to 
approach  grade  crossings  with  caution, 
the  grade  crossing  problem  will  be  near 
a  solution. 


Eject  the  Grundys* 

The  Constructive  Method  of  Teaching 
Safety  Methods  Is  Urged  Upon 
the  Railway  Industry 

By  Laura  M.  Roadifer 
("Miss  Safety-First") 
Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company 

IN  THIS  world  problem  of  prevent- 
ing needless  injury  to  human  life 
probably  no  other  industry  began 
earlier  or  worked  more  persistently 
than  the  street  railway  industry,  for 
the  reason  that  upon  its  operations  the 
city's  economic  life  depends.  With  per- 
haps greater  frequency,  too,  as  a  re- 
sult of  careful  and  continuous  study 
of  the  material  causes  of  accidents,  new 
and  better  improved  safety  devices 
have  been  put  into  operation  to  reduce 
the  mechanical  hazards  to  a  minimum. 
The  street  railway  industry,  probably 
more  than  any  other,  is  confronted 
with  ever  changing  conditions  involv- 
ing new  dangers  and  new  problems. 
Contributing  largely  to  these  changes 
is  the  automobile  traffic,  which  shows 
such  a  marked  increase  every  year,  af- 
fecting some  cities  more  than  others, 
depending  largely  upon  the  width  of 
the  streets  upon  which  we  operate,  that 
it  unquestionably  has  become  the 
greatest  menace  to  safe  street  car  oper- 
ation. 

In  my  opinion  the  greatest  problem 
which  we  have  now  to  solve  lies  in  dis- 
covering the  best  means  of  inculcating 
the  "preventive  spirit"  in  the  minds  of 
the  general  public,  but  principally  di- 
rected to  employees,  autoists  and  school 
children  playing  in  the  streets;  the 
latter  being  the  particular  phase  of 
this  problem  to  which  I  have  been  giv- 
ing attention  with  very  gratifying  re- 
sults. Numerous  methods  to  effect  this 
"preventive  spirit"  have  been  employed, 
some  more  successfully  than  others, 
but  most  of  us  at  least  until  a  compara- 
tively recent  time  have  been  prone  to 
let  our  attempts  in  this  direction  rest 
upon  the  "Better  be  safe  than  sorry" 
type  of  slogans,  which  time  and  usage 
have  robbed  of  their  edge,  instead  of 
attempting  to  arouse  active  spirit.  By 
arousing  a  spirit  of  emulation  among 
the  employees,  the  major  tendency  for 

•Abstract  of  address  delivered  before  the 
electric  railway  section  of  the  National 
Safety  Council  at  Boston,  Sept.  27,  1921. 


746 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


a  clear  accident  record  can  be  created 
and  accentuated.  Recognition  of  care- 
ful service  ignites  the  spirit  of  emula- 
tion readily.  One  motorman  of  the  P. 
R.  T.  Company  has  operated  a  car  for 
the  last  twenty  years  and  holds  a  no 
accident  record.  His  fellow  workers 
know  this  is  not  merely  a  stroke  of 
luck,  but  careful  application  to  his  duty 
at  all  times.  A  development  of  over- 
zealousness  must  be  guarded  against, 
however,  for  an  industrial  organization 
must  have  for  its  foundation  co-opera- 
tion for  continuous  mutual  benefit,  and 
it  is  very  important  that  every  indi- 
vidual in  an  organization  understand 
where  the  mutuality  of  interest  lies. 

Unfortunately  the  greater  number 
of  accidents  remaining  in  the  street 
railway  industry  depends  largely  upon 
the  public's  failure  to  comply  with  the 
obvious  laws  of  safety,  for  in  this 
modern  day  of  civilization  the  instinct 
of  self-preservation  is  not  as  keen  as 
in  the  more  primitive  ages  and  safety 
teaching  has  become  recognized  as  an 
essential  part  of  every  one's  education. 
It  is  a  state  requirement  in  some  parts 
of  the  country  that  safety  be  taught 
in  all  the  schools  I  take  it  every  one 
here  acts  as  instructor  among  either 


the  employees  in  his  organization,  the 
public,  or  both,  but,  regardless  of  the 
people  whom  he  works  among,  the  first 
essential  is  that  he  should  understand 
human  nature  well  enough  to  select 
intelligently  a  method  of  approach 
which  will  bring  the  proper  mental  re- 
action. Things  regarded  as  educa- 
tional do  not  have  a  strong  appeal, 
generally  speaking,  for  comparatively 
few  of  us  have  a  natural  thirst  for 
knowledge.  If  this  were  so,  more  men 
would  rise  from  the  ranks  into  execu- 
tive positions  than  really  do,  if  the  in- 
terest to  learn  everything  possible  about 
one's  job  wers  prevalent. 

Don't  you  think,  however,  that  all  of 
us  are  a  little  too  inclined  to  regard 
ourselves  as  teachers,  modifying  our 
name  somewhat  by  calling  ourselves 
safety  instructors  or  directors,  but  em- 
ploying the  methods  used  when  we 
went  to  school,  rather  than  regarding 
ourselves  as  salesmen  of  a  product  for 
which  we  must  create  a  demand?  The 
old  style  teaching,  the  kind  we  had, 
"won't  take"  any  more,  and  the  modern 
teacher  must  apply  the  arts  of  the 
salesman  to  make  his  subject  appear 
attractive,  whether  it  is  or  not,  and  we 
must  admit  that  safety  is  fundamen- 


tally unattractive.  We  sometimes  be- 
come so  terribly  impressed  with  our 
own  importance  and  take  our  work  so 
very  seriously  that  we  become  what  I 
call  the  "Grundy"  type,  complaining  of 
the  everlasting  carelessness  of  the  men, 
or  the  unwillingness  of  our  superiors  to 
see  the  conditions  as  they  really  exist, 
or  go  about  deploring  the  fact  that 
"some  one"  around  the  shop  had  done 
some  very  careless  thing  and  predict- 
ing as  a  consequence  that  that  "some 
one"  was  going  to  get  hurt  if  he 
weren't  more  careful,  or  announcing  to 
some  one  before  his  fellow  workers 
that  that  was  the  second  time  he  had 
been  caught  without  his  goggles  and 
the  next  time  it  was  expected  that  he 
would  be  caught  without  his  eyes. 

Cheerful  thoughts  that  suggest  so 
many  pleasant  things.  Let  us  eject  the 
Grundys  and  adopt  the  constructive, 
happy  method  of  teaching  or  selling 
safety.  Instead  of  continually  telling 
the  people  to  avoid  injury  so  much  of 
the  time  let  us  try  more  to  impress 
them  with  the  right  way  to  keep  safe. 

The  "constructive"  method  apparently 
is  the  one  that  sells  the  goods;  why 
can't  it  be  just  as  successfully  employed 
in  selling  safety? 


Illinois  Association  Annual  Meeting 

Talks  on  Manufacturer  Co-operation,  Advertising  the  Railway  and  Bus  Competition,  Followed  by  Golf 

Tournament,  Make  Day  of  Work  and  Recreation 


WITH  an  attendance  of  sixty,  the 
Illinois  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion held  its  annual  meeting  at  the 
club  house  of  the  Aurora  (111.)  Country 
Club  on  Oct.  14.  President  E.  M. 
Walker,  general  manager  Terre  Haute 
(Ind.)  Traction  &  Light  Company,  pre- 
sided, and,  after  rollcall,  addressed  the 
members  briefly  on  the  current  aspects 
of  the  business.  In  speaking  of  the 
trials  through  which  the  industry  has 
passed,  he  said  that  while  even  now  we 
cannot  say  with  assurance  that  the 
storm  is  over,  we  can  at  least  see  the 
break  in  the  clouds  sufficiently  well  to 
give  us  the  feeling  that  the  electric 
railways  are  going  forward  to  better 
days.  Conditions  improve  with  the 
process  of  liquidation,  and  liquidation 
is  going  on  and  will  go  on  effectively 
until  the  process  is  complete.  Natural 
movements  do  not  stop  midway.  We 
are  finding  out  that  our  prosperity  as  a 
nation  depends  not  so  much  on  the 
amount  of  the  world's  gold  supply  that 
we  own  as  on  the  amount  of  the  home- 
produced  commodities  that  we  sell  at  a 
profit  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
until  that  lesson  is  fully  learned  we 
cannot  talk  of  normalcy  as  an  existing 
state.  Normal  times  will  not  come 
until  business  is  reassured  and  made  to 
know  where  it  stands  with  reference  to 
such  vital  questions  as  the  tariff  and 
taxation  and  until  our  constituted  gov- 
ernments begin  to  practice  thrift  and 
economy  in  earnest  and  make  it  clear 
that  business  properly  conducted  will 
not  be  interfered  with  as  long  as  it  is 
managed  with  due  regard  to  the  laws. 


Continuing,  he  remarked  that  at  the 
recent  convention  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association  the  keynote 
seemed  to  be  salesmanship,  and  to  his 
mind  this  should  ever  be  the  uppermost 
thought  in  the  electric  railway  business. 
When  the  idea  of  salesmanship  is  lost 
sight  of,  the  idea  of  doing  business  at 
a  profit  is  lost  also.  All  incentive  to 
give  good  service  vanishes  and  business 
falls  down.  The  way  to  sell  any  product 
is  to  make  it  attractive  and  as  we  have 
only  one  product  to  sell  and  it  is  such 
a  product  as  cannot  be  stored  or  placed 
on  shelves  or  in  showcases  for  future 
use,  but  on  the  other  hand  must  be  sold 
out  on  every  trip  and  a  new  supply 
made  for  the  next  trip,  we  must  put 
our  best  thought  and  energy  into  mak- 
ing this  product  attractive.  By  this  he 
meant  that  it  should  be  furnished  with 
the  best  and  most  suitable  type  of 
equipment  at  the  frequency  and  with 
the  regularity  that  the  traffic  demands, 
and  at  a  price  which  the  customers  are 
willing  to  pay  and  which  will  return  a 
profit  to  the  operators. 

K.  A.  Simmon,  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Company,  then 
addressed  the  association  on  what  the 
manufacturers  are  trying  to  do  to  as- 
sist in  relieving  the  burdens  of  the  elec- 
tric railways.  Among  the  examples 
cited  to  indicate  co-operation  of  the 
manufacturers,  he  mentioned  the  part 
they  have  taken  in  the  general  task  of 
educating  the  public  to  an  understand- 
ing of  utility  problems,  the  use  of  space 
in  popular  national  magazines  for  the 
same  purpose,  the  studies  made  of  the 


field  of  usefulness  of  electric  trans- 
portation and  the  work  of  expounding 
the  results  before  business  men's  asso- 
ciations and  various  civic  bodies.  Of 
more  direct  assistance  was  the  effort 
of  the  manufacturers  to  reduce  operat- 
ing and  maintenance  expenses  by  cut- 
ting down  the  cost  of  production  of 
manufactured  articles  and  improving 
their  quality.  The  safety  car,  particu- 
larly, he  thought,  was  a  credit  to  the 
manufacturers'  aid  to  the  industry  as 
there  are  now  some  5,000  of  these  cars 
in  operation  which,  at  an  average  an- 
nual saving  of  $2,000  per  car,  means  a 
saving  to  the  industry  of  some  $10,000,- 
000  annually.  He  counseled  against  any 
misapprehension  as  to  the  replacing  of 
the  street  car  by  the  trolley  bus,  saying 
that  there  was  little  possibility  of  that 
form  of  transportation  displacing  the 
street  car  even  in  a  minor  way. 

John  Benham,  vice-president  Inter- 
national Register  Company,  called  at- 
tention to  the  paper  read  by  E.  F. 
Wickwire  at  the  recent  convention  at 
Atlantic  City  (See  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  Oct.  8,  page  599),  in  which 
it  was  pointed  out  that  the  manufac- 
turers' employees  should  be  made  to 
realize  that  their  bread  and  butter  de- 
pends on  the  wellbeing  of  the  electric 
railway  industry.  Mr.  Benham  said  that 
manufacturers'  employees  constitute  a 
large  number  of  people  who  can  talk 
and  vote  in  a  way  to  help  correct  senti- 
ment and  legislation  tending  against  the 
electric  railways.  He  thought  that  few 
manufacturers  were  taking  the  trouble 
to  give  their  employees  this  angle  of 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


747 


then*  responsibilities  to  the  industry 
and  he  emphasized  it  as  a  thing  which 
should  be  done.  As  for  the  Inter- 
national Register  Company,  he  said  that 
he  would  not  have  an  employee  in  the 
establishment  who  was  against  the 
utilities. 

A  paper  on  "Advertising  the  Electric 
Railway,"  by  E.  E.  Soules,  was  read  by 
Mr.  Helton,  Chicago  Elevated  Rail- 
ways, in  the  absence  of  the  author.  An 
abstract  of  this  paper  appears  else- 
where in  this  issue. 

Luke  Grant,  publicity  manager  Chi- 
cago Elevated  Railways,  in  discussing 
Mr.  Soules'  paper,  said  that  the  efforts 
of  the  publicity  man,  no  matter  how 
good,  fall  flat  if  the  operating  depart- 
ment does  not  back  him  up  with  good 
service.  Truth  in  advertising  must 
hold  absolutely  with  any  publicity  mat- 
ter gotten  out  about  electric  railway 
service.  He  pointed  out  also  the  great 
desirability  of  having  all  employees 
thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  company 
finances,  stating  that  there  are  no  se- 
crets any  more  in  the  electric  railway 
business  and  the  employees  should  have 
the  information  in  order  to  give  them 
proper  background  for  their  contact 
with  the  public.  In  one  of  the  publi- 
cations gotten  out  for  the  employees 
of  the  elevated  railways,  a  monthly 
simplified  analysis  of  the  operating 
statement  is  published  and  the  results 
have  been  good.  Mr.  Grant  explained 
that  the  publicity  work  of  his  company 
included  the  monthly  publication  and 
distribution  of  5,000  copies  of  the 
Safety  Bulletin  for  the  employees,  and 
50,000  copies  of  the  Elevated  News  and 
12,000  copies  of  the  North  Shore  Bul- 
letin for  the  public. 

Discussion  on  Motor  Bus 
Competition 

In  his  report  Secretary  R.  V.  Prather 
called  attention  to  the  bill  passed  by 
the  Fifty-second  General  Assembly  of 
Illinois  which  provides  for  fees  in  ad- 
dition to  those  required  under  the  motor 
vehicle  law,  for  the  operation  of  motor 
buses  and  motor  trucks  over  improved 
highways.  The  fee  originally  written 
into  this  bill  as  introduced  was  lc.  per 
mile  for  passenger  or  freight  carrier 
vehicles.  In  the  absence  of  data  to  sup- 
port these  fees  an  amendment  was 
agreed  to  with  the  Illinois  Automobile 
Association  which  provides  that  1  cent 
per  mile  shall  be  paid  for  all  vehicles, 
trailer  and  semi-trailer  used  in  carry- 
ing freight,  and  one-twentieth  of  1 
cent  per  mile  for  each  passenger  seat 
for  each  vehicle,  trailer  or  semi-trailer 
used  in  carrying  passengers.  The  bill 
requiring  the  payment  of  these  fees 
was  passed  by  the  Assembly  and  signed 
by  the  Governor.  Mr.  Prather  reported 
that  the  Secretary  of  State  is  expe- 
riencing some  difficulty  in  collecting 
these  fees,  and  he  urged  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  railway  companies  in  re- 
porting to  him  the  names  and  addresses 
and  sphere  of  operation  of  any  bus  com- 
panies known  to  them.  This  will  make 
it  possible  to  check  up  with  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  as  to  the  application  of 
this  law.    He  thought  it  was  important 


to  make  a  showing  as  to  the  financial 
benefits  to  the  State  accruing  from  this 
act,  as  an  effort  will  probably  be  made 
to  repeal  it  at  the  next  session  of  the 
Legislature. 

A.  M.  Farrell,  general  freight  and 
passenger  agent  Chicago,  Ottawa  & 
Peoria  Railway,  discussed  various  as- 
pects of  the  competitive  situation  in 
Illinois  at  some  length,  pointing  out 
particularly  the  requirement  of  the  law 
that  a  bus  company  or  freight  trucking 
company  operating  on  public  highways 
must  secure  a  certificate  of  convenience 
and  necessity  from  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  before  it  can  begin 
operation.  He  summarized  the  require- 
ments set  forth  in  general  order  No. 
68  of  the  commission  for  applicants  de- 
siring to  operate  motor  bus  or  motor 
truck  lines,  as  follows: 

Must  be  incorporated  under  Illinois  laws. 

Must  notify  a  utility  with  which  they 
will  be  in  competition. 

Must  file  notice  with  every  municipality, 
county  or  township  into  or  through  which 
applicant  proposes  to  operate. 

Must  give  notice,  three  weeks  before 
hearing  before  commission,  by  publishing 
in  not  less  than  3-in.  space  once  each  week 
for  two  successive  weeks,  in  a  newspaper 
published  in  or  of  general  circulation  in 
every  city,  town  or  community  affected,  but 
when  cities  are  more  than  10,000  popula- 
tion such  notice  must  be  published  twice 
each  week  in  two  papers.  The  commis- 
sion prescribes  the  wording  to  use  in  such 
notices. 

Must  secure  authority  from  cities,  villages 
or  towns  to  operate  upon  the  streets  of  any 
municipality  and  file  a  certified  copy  of 
same  at  hearing  before  commission. 

Must  engage  chauffeurs  only  in  accord- 
ance with  motor  vehicle  law  of  Illinois  and 
a  certified  copy  of  license  issued  to  each 
chauffeur  must  be  filed  with  the  commis- 
sion. Chauffeurs  must  be  twenty-one  years 
of  age  or  older  and  have  two  years'  experi- 
ence. 

Must  produce,  at  hearing,  information 
as  to  weight  of  vehicles. 

Must  make  quarterly  reports  to  the  com- 
mission, on  the  first  of  January,  April, 
July  and  October,  showing  condition  of  each 
vehicle,  cost  of  operation,  statement  of  in- 
come, statement  showing  financial  assets 
and  liabilities,  and  claims  pending,  showing 
amounts  involved  and  character  of  claim. 

Must  make  immediate  report  to  commis- 
sion of  any  accident,  causing  loss  of  life 
or  injury  to  any  person. 

Must  make  quarterly  report  showing  num- 
ber and  make  of  motor  vehicles,  seating 
and  tonnage  capacity  thereof.  No  such 
vehicles  shall  be  operated  over  any  other 
route,  or  at  any  other  than  schedule  time, 
so  as  to  interfere  with  the  operation  on 
schedule  time  over  the  specified  route,  with- 
out express  permission  of  the  commission, 
unless  the  established  route  is  blocked  or 
impassable. 

Must  file  time-table  showing  time  of 
arrival  and  departure  at  each  point.  No 
change  may  be  made  in  schedule  until  after 
five  days'  notice  to  the  commission.  Must 
file  tariff  showing  charges,  in  accordance 
with  commission's  instructions. 

Must  operate  cars  without  interruption 
unless  authorized  to  the  contrary  by  the 
commission.  Unless  they  comply  strictly 
with  the  terms  of  commission  orders  the 
certificate  of  convenience  and  necessity  is 
declared  cancelled. 

Must  continue  to  furnish  service  until  the 
commission  holds  a  hearing  (under  the 
same  rules  of  procedure  as  when  certificate 
of  convenience  was  issued)  and  issues  an 
order  cancelling  their  certificate. 

Must  file  on  or  before  hearing  before 
the  commission,  and  also  before  operating 
any  vehicle,  a  sworn  statement  of  ability 
to  pay  damages  resulting  from  accidents 
for  which  they  may  be  held  liable,  or  file 
with  the  commission  securities,  indemnities 
or  bond  protecting  the  traveling  public. 
Section  55A  of  III.  C.  C.  Laws  places  the 
amount  of  $10,000  on  each  vehicle. 

Must  not  operate  any  vehicle  until  every 
provision  of  this  order  is  complied  with  and 
evidence  thereof  has  been  submitted  to  the 
commission. 

Must  stop  at  every  grade  crossing. 

Must  forfeit  all  rights  if  vehicles  are  not 
operated  within  ninety  days  after  certificate 
has  b°en  granted. 

Failure    of   any   corporation   to  comply 


with  each  and  every  provision  of  the  com- 
mission's order  shall  be  full  and  sufficient 
cause  to  cancel  and  set  aside  any  certificate 
of  convenience  and  necessity  granted. 

Continuing,  Mr.  Farrell  spoke  of  a 
certificate  which  had  been  issued  to  a 
bus  company  to  operate  in  competition 
with  his  company  between  LaSalle, 
Oglesby,  and  Starved  Rock,  111.  The 
granting  of  this  certificate  was  opposed 
by  the  railway,  but  the  commission 
ruled  that  the  bus  company  was  entitled 
to  the  certificate  by  reason  of  the  geo- 
graphical location  of  the  point  served. 
The  route  of  the  bus  company  is  a  di- 
rect one  and  somewhat  shorter  than 
that  of  the  electric  line.  The  traffic  of 
the  interurban  is  handled  to  Starved 
Rock  Station,  from  which  passengers 
walk  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the 
Illinois  River,  and  there  board  a  ferry 
boat  which  conveys  them  to  the  south 
bank  to  Starved  Rock  proper.  After 
failing  to  prevent  the  operation  of  the 
bus  line,  the  railway  arranged  with 
the  ferry  company  for  a  sale  of  joint 
tickets  at  a  very  low  round  trip  rate. 
The  bus  company  charged  75c.  for  the 
round  trip  between  LaSalle  and  Starved 
Rock,  and  when  the  railway  put  in  a 
through  ticket  rate,  the  former  was 
forced  to  reduce  the  charge  to  50  cents. 
Additional  service  was  also  put  on  the 
electric  line  and  quite  a  good  deal  of 
business  was  drawn  away  from  the  bus 
company.  This  method  of  meeting  the 
competition  with  cut  rates  and  frequent, 
good  service  is  to  be  continued  next 
year,  even  making  further  reductions  if 
necessary. 

F.  E.  Fisher,  general  manager  Chi- 
cago, Ottawa  &  Peoria  Railway,  called 
attention  to  a  serious  defect  in  the 
Illinois  law  governing  highway  com- 
mon carriers  which  hinges  on  one  word. 
The  law  describes  the  companies  af- 
fected as  those  engaged  in  the  business 
of  picking  up  passengers  "indiscrim- 
inately." For  this  reason,  he  said  that 
many  buses  which  are  doing  very  great 
harm  to  the  electric  railways  are  with- 
out the  jurisdiction  of  this  law.  He 
explained  that  some  bus  operators  con- 
tract with  coal  mining  companies,  school 
districts,  manufacturers,  etc.,  to  haul 
the  employees  to  and  from  work  or 
children  to  and  from  school.  Having 
once  contracted  to  haul  certain  people, 
they  do  not  come  under  the  definition 
of  indiscriminate  handling  of  passen- 
gers and  have  therefore  been  able  to 
operate  without  securing  a  permit  from 
the  commission.  During  the  off  hours, 
these  bus  people  contract  to  handle 
baseball  crowds  and  miscellaneous  gath- 
erings so  that  they  are  kept  occupied  a 
good  deal  of  the  time  in  a  way  that 
forms  very  serious  competition  for  the 
electric  railway  companies.  Mr.  Fisher 
said  that  as  a  result  of  the  various  bus 
competition,  the  earnings  of  his  com- 
pany have  shrunk  from  $10,000  to  $20,- 
000  a  month  and  that  unless  some  way 
is  found  to  put  them  out  of  business, 
the  interurban  will  have  to  cease  op- 
eration before  many  years.  He  ex- 
plained further  what  Mr.  Farrell  had 
said  about  the  competitive  bus  line  op- 
erating to  Starved  Rock.  This  line 
runs  over  a  fine  concrete  road  all  the 


748 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


way  and  by  virtue  of  crossing  a  bridge 
and  carrying  the  passengers  directly 
to  Starved  Rock,  it  is  able  to  give  a 
quicker,  better  service  than  the  electric 
railways  can  possibly  furnish.  In  view 
of  this,  Mr.  Fisher  could  see  no  way 
to  compete,  except  to  cut  rates  to  such 
a.  point  as  to  starve  the  Starved  Rock 
buses. 

The  matter  of  correcting  the  fault 
ntroduced  by  the  word  "indiscriminate" 
,s  to  receive  the  immediate  attention  of 
the  legislative  committee  of  the  asso- 
ciation. 

Election  of  Officers 

As  the  concluding  business  of  the 
annual  meeting,  the  following  officers 
were  elected  for  the  ensuing  year: 

President,  W.  L.  Arnold,  secretary 
and  treasurer  Elgin  &  Belvidere  Elec- 
tric Company,  105  South  LaSalle  Street, 
Chicago;  first  vice-president,  A.  D. 
Mackie,  Springfield,  111.;  second  vice- 
president,  R.  A.  Moore,  Joliet,  111.  Ex- 
ecutive committee,  E.  M.  Walker,  Terre 
Haute,  Ind.,  chairman;  D.  E.  Parsons, 
East  St.  Louis,  and  H.  E.  Chubbuck, 
Peoria,  111. 

After  luncheon  at  the  Country  Club, 
the  annual  eighteen-hole  medal  handi- 
cap golf  tournament  was  played,  Luke 
Grant  carrying  away  the  president's 
cup.  The  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago 
Railroad  provided  a  special  train  from 
Chicago  to  Aurora  and  automobiles 
from  Aurora  to  the  Country  Club  for 
the  convenience  and  pleasure  of  the 
delegates.  The  arrangements  were  in 
charge  of  B.  P.  Alschuler,  attorney  for 
the  A.,  E.  &  C,  who  was  highly  com- 
plimented by  the  members  for  his  ex- 
cellent planning. 

The  Trend  in  Advertising 
the  Electric  Railway* 

By  E.  E.  Soules 
Manager  of  Publicity  Illinois  Traction 
System,  Peoria,  111. 

JUST  as  there  have  been  changes  in 
types  of  equipment  and  methods  of 
operation  in  the  electric  railway  busi- 
ness, so  has  the  advertising  of  electric 
railways  undergone  many  experiences 
that  have  required  readjustments  and 
changed  tactics  in  recent  years.  First 
came  the  early  days  of  the  industry 
when  the  newly  built  electric  railway, 
emulating  the  example  of  its  only 
competitor,  adopted  the  methods  of  the 
old-time  steam  railway.  Those  were 
the  days  of  the  flaring  poster  and  hand- 
bill heralding  cut-rate  excursions, 
"knocking"  the  service  and  facilities  of 
the  other  fellow's  line  and  offering  a 
dollar's  worth  of  transportation  for  a 
half-dollar's  worth  of  coin. 

The  electric  railway,  however,  soon 
found  that  its  contact  with  the  public 
was  much  closer  than  that  of  the  steam 
road.  Its  cars  passed  the  door  of  the 
merchant,  the  newspaper  man  and  the 
home  of  the  best  (as  well  as  the  worst) 
citizens  in  the  cities  and  villages  along 
its  lines.    It  had  a  new  and  interest- 

*  Abstract  of  paper  read  before  Illinois 
Electric  Railway  Association  at  Aurora,  111.. 
(Oct.  14,  1921. 


ingly  different  story  to  tell.  It  had  a 
personal  contact  to  maintain  with  the 
folks  in  the  towns  along  its  lines  and 
the  medium  through  which  the  desired 
entente  cordiale  could  best  be  estab- 
lished and  maintained  was  the  news- 
paper. Coincidentally  with  this,  the 
advertising  departments  became  known 
as  "publicity"  departments. 

Then,  after  a  few  years  of  "publicity 
work,"  during  which  the  public  was 
being  introduced  to  the  electric  railway, 
and  the  newspaper  editors  and  operat- 
ing officials  had  become  accustomed  to 
calling  each  other  by  their  first  names, 
the  period  of  increasing  fares  put  the 
newspaper  men  in  an  embarrassing 
position  with  their  readers.  Our  news- 
paper men  began  to  show  signs  of  fad- 
ing friendship  and  lack  of  understand- 
ing of  our  situation.  Those  of  us  who 
knew  the  newspaper  men,  however, 
could  see  the  reason  for  their  position 
on  the  utility  question.  So,  again  the 
wise  ones  in  the  operating  field  sensed 
a  new  angle  and  the  period  of  "public 
relations"  publicity  was  at  hand. 

The  work  of  acquainting  the  public 
with  the  truth  concerning  the  utility 
industry  is  still  an  important  part  of 
the  advertising  policy  of  the  electric 
railway,  as  every  operator  is  aware. 
But,  there  is  a  new  problem  that  needs 
attention.  And  this  leads  to  what  I  am 
going  to  refer  to  as  the  fourth,  or  pres- 
ent-day cycle  in  electric  railway  adver- 
tising. 

Merchandising  Advertising 
Now  Needed 

The  merchandising  of  electric  railway 
transportation  is  today  the  new  prob- 
lem of  the  electric  railway.  The  advent 
of  the  automobile  and  the  hard  road 
has  opened  a  new  competition  which 
must  be  met  by  vigorous  tactics  if  the 
electric  railway  is  to  survive.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  tell  electric  railway 
men  what  the  automobile  and  the  hard 
road  mean.  Both  city  and  interurban 
operators  have  felt  the  effect  in 
decreased  passenger  receipts  and  can 
see  what  is  going  to  happen  to  freight 
revenues  unless  new  and  convincing 
methods  are  devised  in  combating  the 
new  competition. 

Naturally,  this  situation  seems  to  be 
one  to  trouble  the  traffic  department, 
but  in  my  judgment  it  should  also  be 
first  in  the  mind  of  those  responsible 
for  the  advertising  policies  of  the  elec- 
tric railways.  In  the  final  analysis, 
what  is  advertising  but  merchandising  ? 
Advertising,  strictly  speaking,  is  one 
of  the  means  by  which  a  product  is 
marketed  to  the  public.  If  the  mer- 
chandising policy  behind  the  advertis- 
ing is  weak  or  lagging,  the  advertising 
cannot  and  will  not  produce  results. 
So,  it  appears  to  the  men  on  the  adver- 
tising end  of  the  industry  that  con- 
certed action  on  the  part  of  the  traffic 
officials  with  the  idea  in  view  of  build- 
ing a  strong  and  convincing  mer- 
chandising plan  with  which  to  meet 
the  new  competition  is  the  most  urgent 
need  of  the  electric  railway. 

We  thought  we  had  competition  in 
the  past,  but  in  the  broad  sense  of  the 


word  the  electric  railway  has  had  no 
real,  active,  virile  competition  such  as 
that  now  offered  by  the  automobile  and 
its  chief  ally,  the  hard  road.  The  prob- 
lems of  the  electric  railway  to  date 
have  been  those  of  operating,  engineer- 
ing and  public  policy.  The  problem 
today  is  that  of  selling  a  service  to  the 
public,  and  selling  it  so  well  that  the 
public  will  select  it  in  preference  to 
that  of  all  competitiors.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion of  merchandising  in  the  truest 
sense  of  the  word. 

Many  individual  companies  have  al- 
ready anticipated  the  changed  condi- 
tions and  have  laid  a  foundation  for 
merchandising  their  product.  From 
them  we  can  gain  ideas  that  will  help 
build  up  a  broad  merchandising  policy 
for  the  electric  railways  in  this  terri- 
tory. 

American  Society  for  Municipal 
Improvements  to  Meet  in 
Baltimore 

THE  twenty-seventh  annual  conven- 
tion of  the  American  Society  for 
Municipal  Improvements  will  be  held 
at  Baltimore,  Md.,  on  Oct.  25,  26,  27 
and  28,  with  headquarters  at  the 
Southern  Hotel. 

An  extensive  program  has  been 
planned  to  include,  among  other  things, 
on  Tuesday,  Oct.  25,  a  paper  on  Pub- 
lic Service  Relations  by  Major  Ezra  B. 
Whitman,  of  the  Maryland  Public  Ser- 
vice Commission;  on  Wednesday,  Oct. 

26,  the  report  of  the  general  commit- 
tee on  city  planning  and  its  sub-com- 
mittee on  utilities;  on  Thursday,  Oct. 

27,  the  report  of  the  general  commit- 
tee on  street  paving,  street  design, 
street  maintenance  and  street  railway 
construction  and  its  sub-committee-  on 
street  railway  construction,  as  well  as 
many  other  papers  and  reports  on  pav- 
ing, especially  one  on  specifications  of 
street  railway  pavements,  including 
track  construction;  and  on  Friday,  Oct. 

28,  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
transportation  and  traffic,  and  a  paper 
on  subways  for  city  transportation. 

The  program  of  the  convention  is 
a  heavy  one  and  contains  much  else 
of  interest  to  municipal  engineers  as 
well  as  many  entertainment  features. 


Railroad  Division  of  A.  S.  M.  E. 

THE  Railroad  Division  of  the 
American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers  will  discuss  the  elimination 
of  waste  on  railroads  in  connection 
with  the  general  consideration  of  that 
topic  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  so- 
ciety. Three  papers  will  be  presented, 
as  follows:  "Avoidable  Waste  in 
Locomotives  as  Affected  by  Design," 
by  James  Partington,  American  Loco- 
motive Company;  "Avoidable  Waste 
in  Operation  of  Locomotives  and  Cars," 
by  William  Elmer,  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road; "Avoiding  Waste  in  Car  Opera- 
tion— The  Container  Car,"  by  W.  C. 
Sanders,  New  York  Central.  The 
meeting  will  be  held  at  29  West 
Thirty-ninth  Street,  New  York,  on  the 
morning  of  Dec.  9. 


News  of  the  Eledric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Service,  Ordered  Resumed 

Electric  Railway  Service  Will  Be  Re- 
stored in  Des  Moines  on  Passage 
of  New  Franchise 

Early  resumption  of  railway  service 
in  Des  Moines  is  in  prospect,  for  Judge 
Martin  J.  Wade  of  the  federal  court  on 
Oct.  17  ordered  the  receivers  for  the 
Des  Moines  City  Railway  to  resume 
service  on  the  day  that  the  City  Coun- 
cil finally  passes  the  proposed  franchise 
ordinance. 

By  suspension  of  rules  the  City  Coun- 
cil on  Oct.  17  passed  the  franchise  for 
its  first  and  second  readings,  but  under 
the  Iowa  law  such  ordinances  must  lie 
over  for  one  week  in  the  form  in  which 
they  are  to  be  finally  passed.  If  the 
ordinance  now  before  the  Council  is  not 
amended  it  would  therefore  be  possible 
for  the  franchise  to  be  passed  finally 
on  Oct.  24.  This  would  permit  service 
to  be  resumed  the  following  day.  At 
the  present  time  it  would  seem  that 
there  is  little  chance  for  further  amend- 
ment of  the  franchise  draft. 

Judge  Wade's  memorandum  and  or- 
der states  that  the  trustees  for  the 
bondholders  under  whose  plea  service 
"was  ordered  abandoned  would  not  con- 
sent to  furnish  the  money  necessary  for 
the  resumption  until  the  City  Council 
has  finished  with  the  franchise.  Judge 
Wade  further  stated  that  the  trustees 
had  agreed  to  furnish  the  financial  re- 
sources to  permit  of  resumption  of  ser- 
vice, but  was  not  specific  as  to  what 
degree  of  service  it  is  proposed  to  give 
on  the  resumption  of  service. 

Further  encouragement  was  given  by 
the  union  employees  of  the  company, 
who  on  Oct.  17  announced  that  they  had 
agreed  to  accept  a  cut  in  wages  of  7 
cents  an  hour.  The  men  claim  that 
this  cut  will  reduce  operating  expenses 
approximately  $125,000  a  year  and  will 
act  to  increase  the  cushion  fund  pro- 
vided for  under  the  new  franchise  and 
thus  tend  to  an  early  reduction  in  the 
fares. 

Upon  news  of  Judge  Wade's  order 
the  City  Council  was  called  in  special 
session  and  hurriedly  passed  a  resolu- 
tion barring  the  buses  from  streets 
where  there  are  railway  lines.  This 
provision  will  be  effective  from  the 
day  that  service  is  restored  by  the  rail- 
way. 

Previous  to  the  developments  of  Oct. 
17  Judge  Wade  had  called  a  meeting  of 
those  interested  in  the  railway  contro- 
versy, but  in  his  memorandum  issued 
simultaneously  with  his  order  he  stated 
that  he  considered  such  a  meeting  at 
this  time  inadvisable,  in  view  of  the 
developments. 

With  the  exception  of  the  power 
clause,  there  were  few  changes  in  the 
franchise  draft  as  passed  by  the  Coun- 
cil on  Oct.  17.    It  has  the  approval 


of  Corporation  Counsel  Miller  and  two 
attorneys  named  by  the  Greater  Des 
Moines  committee  to  assist  Judge  Miller 
in  handling  the  franchise.  Agreement 
upon  the  power  clause  was  reached  af- 
ter many  conferences,  which  did  not 
end  until  late  Sunday  night.  The 
clause  has  been  changed  so  that  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway  is  now  empowered 
to  "sell  energy  to  interurban  railways 
for  the  operation  of  interurban  railways 
and  for  the  transaction  of  their  busi- 
ness." It  will  be  recalled  that  the 
power  clause  was  proposed  by  the  Har- 
ris interests  controlling  the  railway 
and  that  its  presentation  resulted  in  de- 
laying the  negotiation. 

The  principal  features  of  the  fran- 
chise as  passed  on  Oct.  17  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

Fare. — A  sliding  scale  fare  starting  at  8 
cents  and  tapering  off  as  the  earnings  of 
the  company  increase  to  a  low  point  of  5 
cents. 

Tenure. — The  grant  is  exclusive  for  a 
period  of  twenty-five  years  in  so  far  as 
electric  railway  operation  is  considered. 

Extensions. — Provides  for  extensions  of 
lines  when  it  is  proved  that  such  exten- 
sions will  at  least  pay  cost  of  operation  to- 
gether with  reasonable  depreciation. 

One-Man  Car. — Omits  the  two-man  car 
provision  of  the  former  contract  and  gives 
the  company  the  right  to  operate  one-man 
cars  under  certain  conditions. 

Arbitration. — The  franchise  makes  the 
Iowa  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners  the 
arbitration  board  and  in  case  they  refuse 
to  serve  provides  for  the  appointment  of 
three  non-residents  of  Des  Moines  by  the 
justice  of  the  Iowa  Supreme  Court  and  two 
associate  justices. 

Dividends. — No  dividends  are  to  be  paid 
upon  the  "common  stock  until  the  cash  fare 
is  reduced  to  7  cents.  At  7  cents  a  3  per 
cent  dividend  is  authorized  ;  at  6  cents 
a  41  per  cent  dividend;  at  5  cents  a  6  per 
cent  dividend,  and  at  a  5-cent  cash  fare 
with  ten  tickets  for  45  cents,  7  per  cent  is 
authorized. 

Buses. — Buses  are  abolished  from  car 
line  streets  except  in  crossing  bridges. 

Owl  Cars. — Owl  cars  are  to  be  provided 
at  a  fare  twice  that  of  the  day  fare. 


New  Haven  Adopts  the 
Motor  Car 

Self-propelled  motor  cars  are  to  be 
used  by  the  New  York,  New  Haven  & 
Hartford  Railroad  on  some  of  its 
branch  lines.  A  preliminary  announce- 
ment to  this  effect  was  made  from 
the  company's  headquarters  in  New 
Haven  on  Oct.  14.  It  is  understood 
that  the  initial  order  calls  for  supply- 
ing three  of  these  vehicles.  They  will 
be  furnished  by  the  International 
Motor  Company.  The  first  of  them 
will  be  placed  in  service  on  lines  be- 
tween New  Haven  and  Hartford  and 
between  Middletown  and  Willimantic. 
Others  will  be  placed  in  service  in  the 
Rhode  Island  and  Cape  Cod  country. 
The  actual  routes  of  the  new  vehicles 
have  not  yet,  however,  been  determined. 
A  statement  giving  the  details  with 
repect  to  the  service  which  it  is  pro- 
posed to  establish  with  the  new  motor 
cars  is  expected  to  be  made  within  a 
few  days  from  the  office  of  President 
Pearson. 


Court's  Aid  Invoked 

Despite  This  Action  Prospects  Appear 
Better  for  Early  Settlement  in 
New  Orleans 

The  State  Supreme  Court  of  Louisi- 
ana on  Oct.  4  took  under  advisement 
the  opposition  of  Assistant  Attorney 
General  Luther  E.  Hall  to  the  injunc- 
tion granted  by  Judge  Provosty  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  the  so-called  rail- 
way case.  The  injunction  lifted  the 
order  obtained  some  months  ago  by 
Assistant  Attorney  General  Hall  in  the 
Civil  District  Court  against  the  Com- 
mission Council  seeking  to  prevent 
that  body  from  carrying  out  its  re- 
ported intentions  of  giving  the  railway 
a  return  of  8  per  cent  on  a  valuation 
of  $44,000,000  and  fixing  a  rate  of  fare. 

The  Assistant  Attorney  General,  it 
will  be  remembered,  alleged  that  one 
Supreme  Court  Judge  alone  was  without 
authority  to  set  aside  the  order  of 
Judge  King,  of  the  Civil  District  Court. 

It  is  possible  that  the  delay  in  reach- 
ing a  settlement  of  the  railway  troubles 
of  New  Orleans  on  the  plan  submitted 
by  Commissioner  Maloney,  of  the  De- 
partment of  Public  Utilities,  which  ap- 
pears to  have  been  ironed  out  to  the 
satisfaction  of  both  the  Commissioners, 
the  Mayor  and  the  representative  of 
the  eastern  security  holders,  may  be 
waiting  the  action  of  the  court  of  last 
resort.  One  thing  is  quite  certain,  it 
is  still  hanging  fire  and  has  not  as  yet 
been  submitted  to  the  Commission 
Council. 

The  reason  given  for  the  delay  has 
been  the  illness  of  Mayor  McShane. 
The  commissioners  themselves  are  un- 
willing even  to  venture  a  prediction 
when  the  matter  will  come  up. 

Two  bills  were  introduced  in  the 
Legislature  during  the  week  having  a 
bearing  on  the  New  Orleans  Railway  & 
Light  Company. 

One  of  these  seeks  to  clothe  the  Com- 
mission Council  of  New  Orleans  with  a 
rate  fixing  power  over  public  utilities 
and  defines  the  power  of  the  Commis- 
sion Council  in  fixing  the  rates. 

The  other  bill  grants  indeterminate 
permits  for  the  use  of  streets  to  rail- 
way, gas  and  electric  light  companies 
in  cities  of  100,000  inhabitants  or  more. 


Eureka  Takes  Over  Street 
Railway  System 

The  Eureka  Street  Railway,  the  suc- 
cessor to  the  Humboldt  Transit  Com- 
pany, Eureka,  Cal.,  is  now  operating  the 
railway  system  in  the  City  of  Eureka. 
Under  municipal  ownership  the  man- 
agement passes  into  the  hands  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Works,  John 
Griffiths.  There  was  no  change  in  the 
personnel  except  the  pay  of  platform 
men  has  been  reduced  from  50  to  45 
cents  an  hour. 


750 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


$5,787,196  Is  Being  Spent  for 
Improvements  in  Columbus 

By  the  end  of  the  current  year,  the 
Columbus  Railway,  Power  &  Light 
Company  will  have  expended  $5,787,196 
in  new  construction  work  and  better- 
ments, in  connection  with  the  lighting 
and  railways  services.  This  includes  a 
total  of  $3,584,719  in  power  plant,  sub- 
station and  transmission  line  construc- 
tion, $471,777  in  new  underground  con- 
duit lines,  $182,000  in  extending  street- 
car lines,  and  $1,398,700  in  new  track 
construction,  special  trackwork  and 
other  work  incident  to  this. 

This  extensive  rehabilitation  and  new 
construction  program  has  been  insti- 
gated under  the  presidency  of  Charles 
L.  Kurtz,  and  while  some  of  the  planned 
work  has  recently  had  to  be  post- 
poned on  account  of  the  general  busi- 
ness situation,  the  physical  property  of 
the  company  in  both  the  railway  and 
lighting  services  will  have  been  greatly 
improved  by  the  end  of  the  year,  plac- 
ing the  property  in  a  much  better 
condition  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
community. 

Owing  to  the  exceedingly  low  rate  of 
fare  which  prevailed  in  Columbus  prior 
to  the  war,  and  in  fact  until  some 
time  thereafter,  the  physical  condition 
of  the  railway  property  became  very 
bad.  This  gave  rise  to  the  demand  for 
the  extensive  rehabilitation  and  con- 
struction program  in  the  railway. 

The  financing  of  this  work  was  ex- 
tremely difficult  owing  to  indebtedness 
accumulated  under  the  low  rate  of  fare. 
It  was  finally  done  through  an  issue 
of  $3,000,000  of  three-year  8  per  cent 
bonds,  attended  by  two  restrictive 
features.  One  of  these  was  that  a 
$50,000  monthly  sinking  fund  must  be 
set  aside  to  liquidate  the  debt.  The 
other  was  that  the  company  is  obli- 
gated to  secure  the  consent  of  the 
underwriters  before  any  additional 
securities  can  be  sold. 

These  and  other  matters  included  in 
the  program  were  referred  to  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  of  April 
19,  shortly  after  their  inception. 


Peter  Witt  Retained  in  Seattle 

The  Seattle  City  Council  has  em- 
ployed Peter  Witt,  Cleveland,  to  make 
a  survey  of  the  municipal  railway  with 
a  view  to  effecting  economies  in  opera- 
tion. Mr.  Witt  expects  to  conclude  his 
survey  by  Dec.  17,  and  the  City  Coun- 
cil has  indicated  that  it  will  await  the 
completion  of  his  work  before  taking 
any  important  steps  toward  reducing 
fares. 

The  Council  is  also  awaiting  the  re- 
turn from  the  East  of  D.  W.  Hender- 
son, superintendent  of  railways,  who 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association  in  Atlan- 
tic City,  visited  the  installation  of  the 
trackless  trolley  on  Staten  Island  and 
studied  transportation  problems  else- 
where en  route. 

Other  developments  in  the  railway 
situation  in  Seattle  include  the  enact- 
ment  of   an   ordinance  appropriating 


$50,000  for  municipal  buses  to  serve 
Cowen  Park,  South  Beacon  Hill  and 
other  suburban  districts;  passage  of  the 
£680,000  ordinance  for  retracking  First 
Avenue  and  other  betterments;  adop- 
tion of  an  ordinance  under  which 
buses  may  operate  in  connection 
with  the  street  railway,  on  a  10- 
cent  fare  with  transfer  privileges,  and 
a  50-50  basis  with  city  cars.  The  vote 
on  Councilman  C.  B.  Fitzgerald's  5-cent 
fare  ordinance  has  been  postponed  until 
after  the  return  of  Mr.  Henderson. 

The  $680,000  bond  ordinance  passed 
provides  for  renewing  the  tracks  on 
First  Avenue,  purchase  of  twenty-five 
new  street  cars,  and  payment  of  the 
Western  Washington  Power  Company 
for  the  Greenwood  Avenue  car  line 
bought  last  year  by  the  city. 


"Boycott"  Started  in  Hyde 
Park  District 

Agitation    of     Long    Standing  Re- 
newed in  Effort  to  Secure 
Lower  Fare 

A  boycott  has  been  started  against 
the  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 
Railway  by  the  residents  of  Hyde 
Park  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  a 
reduction  in  fares  to  Boston. 

Without  giving  the  company  any 
formal  notice  of  their  intention  to  take 
such  action  some  individuals  in  Hyde 
Park,  assisted  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
of  the  town,  started  to  operate  a  free 
jitney  service  from  Cleary  square  and 
the  boundary  line  between  Hyde  Park 
and  Boston.  For  about  a  week  they 
operated  touring  cars  and  buses  for 
the  free  use  of  the  public,  and  have 
now  established  a  nominal  rate  of 
fare,  selling  tickets  that  are  good  for 
a  week.  They  are  giving  this  jitney 
service,  at  less  than  cost,  not  only  over 
the  line  to  Boston  but  along  all  the 
other  lines  which  the  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts Railway  is  operating  in  Hyde 
Park,  in  the  hope  that  this  course  will 
induce  the  railway  to  reduce  its  fare 
from  10  cents  to  5  cents. 

Thus  far  the  Eastern  Massachusetts 
Street  Railway  has  taken  no  notice  of 
the  boycott.  It  is  operating  as  usual 
on  a  fifteen-minute  'schedule  during 
the  ordinary  hours  of  traffic  and  on  a 
ten-minute  schedule  during  the  rush 
hours  on  the  Boston  line.  It  has  not- 
reduced  the  fare  and  has  no  present 
intentions  of  making  a  reduction. 

The  boycott  is  aimed  at  one  of  the 
companies  maintaining  one  section  of 
service  between  Boston  and  Hyde  Park. 
The  Boston  Elevated  Railway  main- 
tains the  other  section,  the  two  com- 
panies meeting  on  the  boundary  line 
and  each  of  them  charging  10  cents  for 
the  part  it  operates.  The  main  and 
ultimate  object  of  the  Hyde  Park 
Board  of  Trade  is  not  to  reduce  the 
fare  on  the  particular  company  against 
which  it  has  started  a  boycott,  but 
to  establish  a  10-cent  fare  between 
Boston  and  Hyde  Park,  where  the  com- 
bined fare  of  the  two  companies  today 
is  20  cents. 


Subway  and  Elevated  With  Steam 
Suburban  Service  Recommended 

A  rapid  transit  system  consisting  of 
a  subway  and  elevated  line  and  a  new 
steam  suburban  service  which  would 
greatly  build  up  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
and  increase  the  population  is  sug- 
gested in  the  extract  from  the  annual 
report  of  the  Department  of  Public 
Utilities  pertaining  to  Rapid  Transit 
System.  The  report  is  for  the  year- 
ended  April  11,  1921.  It  is  signed  by 
Engineer  Charles  S.  Butts. 

In  the  matter  of  steam  service  the 
report  recommends  the  operation  of 
suburban  trains  from  the  east  side  of 
the  Mississippi  River  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  suburban  station  at 
Twelfth  and  Market  Streets. 

On  the  elevated  and  subway  develop- 
ment the  elevation  of  the  Hodiamont 
line  is  recommended.  The  distance  to 
be  elevated  from  Maple  Avenue  to 
Spring  Avenue  is  about  3i  miles; 
length  of  subway  from  Spring  Avenue 
to  the  new  station  at  Broadway  and 
Lucas  Avenue  is  2i  miles.  The  entire 
project  might  be  constructed  for 
$3,000,000. 

The  report  further  recommends  that 
plans  for  other  subway  lines  should 
be  developed  in  districts  not  available 
to  the  present  proposed  system  and 
some  means  devised  to  build  them  as 
soon  as  possible. 

The  report  states  that  with  the 
above  elevated  and  subway  system  in- 
stalled with  a  station  at  Broadway  and 
Lucas  Avenue,  and  the  installation  of 
a  steam  railroad  suburban  system,  with 
a  suburban  station  at  Twelfth  and 
Market  Streets,  it  will  be  a  step  in  the 
right  direction  and  will  give  a  large 
part  of  the  city  and  county  a  rapid 
transit  system.  It  says:  "We  cannot 
hope  to  build  up  our  city,  especially 
in  the  outlying  districts,  without  a 
more  rapid  system  of  transportation 
than  that  which  is  given  by  the  surface 
lines." 

Railway  Men  Win  State 
Championship 

Athletics  have  proved  a  popular  or- 
ganization program  in  the  Kansas  City 
Railways  this  summer  and  fall.  The 
eight  baseball  teams  which  constitute 
the  league  of  the  company's  divisions 
and  departments  completed  their  sched- 
ules on  Sept.  15.  The  attendance  at 
the  games  was  far  larger  than  in  any 
previous  year. 

Baseball  enthusiasm  was  further  stim- 
ulated by  the  success  of  the  "Tram- 
ways," the  team  representing  the 
company  in  the  Independent  Semi-Pro. 
League  of  the  State.  The  Tramways 
justified  the  fine  support  given  by  the 
organization  by  winning  the  cham- 
pionship of  the  state.  The  final  game 
in  this  series  was  scheduled  for  Oct. 
9,  but  the  pennant  had  been  won  before 
that  date. 

As  the  baseball  season  closes,  plans 
are  being  made  for  organizing  a 
basket  ball  league,  to  continue  the  in- 
terest in  athletics  through  the  winter 
season. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


751 


Connecticut  Men  Cut 

Wages  Reduced  8£  per  Cent  by  Arbi- 
tration Board — Company 
Arbitrator  Dissents 

A  reduction  of  83  per  cent  in  the 
wages  of  trainmen  employed  by  the 
Connecticut  Company,  operating  more 
than  500  miles  of  line,  has  been  decided 
upon  by  the  board  of  arbitration.  The 
'official  decision  of  the  board  was  writ- 
ten late  during  the  week  ended  Oct.  15 
by  Judge  John  K.  Beach,  New  Haven, 
and  has  the  approval  of  James  H. 
Vahey,  Boston,  attorney  for  the  men. 
Joseph  H.  Berry,  Hartford,  the  third 
member  of  the  board  and  representa- 
tive of  the  Connecticut  Company,  dis- 
agreed with  the  majority  opinion.  He 
maintained  that  a  reduction  of  at  least 
15  per  cent  should  be  authorized. 

At  the  old  scale,  the  men  received 
54,  57  and  60  cents  an  hour,  the  wage 
increasing  to  the  maximum  with  three 
years'  service.  One-man  car  operators 
received  15  cents  in  excess  of  this  scale. 

The  arbitration  decision  establishes 
a  wage  of  47  cents  for  the  first  three 
months  of  service  with  51  cents  for  the 
next  nine  months  and  55  cents  there- 
after. The  latter  figure,  reached  after 
one  year's  service,  is  the  maximum. 
One-man  car  operators  will  receive  10 
cents  over  this  scale.  On  the  matter  of 
the  guarantee  to  spare  men  the  conten- 
tion of  the  men  was  allowed  with  reser- 
vations. 

The  application  of  the  principle  of  a 
reduced  scale  for  the  first  three  months 
is  an  innovation  on  the  Connecticut 
Company  lines. 

Judge  Beach,  in  writing  his  decision, 
found  that  the  uncertainty  of  the  reduc- 
tion in  living  costs,  reported  in  the  last 
year,  would  not  justify  a  more  drastic 
reduction  than  that  given.  He  did  not 
agree  with  the  company's  contention 
that  a  cut  of  at  least  10  per  cent  should 
be  made.  Mr.  Berry  cited  figures  to 
show  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  living 
costs  of  20.8  per  cent  in  the  last  year. 

The  company  has  agreed  to  abide  by 
the  decision  of  the  Arbitration  Board. 
The  new  wage  scale  will  be  retroactive 
to  June  and  -an  agreement  will  later  be 
made  to  reimburse  the  company  for  the 
excess  over  the  new  scale,  which  has 
been  paid  since  last  June.  The  agree- 
ment for  arbitration  provides  that  if 
the  company  and  employees  cannot 
themselves  reach  an  understanding  as 
to  how  the  retroactive  feature  of  the 
award  is  to  be  put  into  effect,  it  shall 
be  decided  by  Judge  John  K.  Beach. 

The  text  of  Joseph  F.  Berry's  dis- 
senting opinion  shows  the  company 
officially  asked  for  a  17k  per  cent  re- 
duction as  compared  with  an  85  per 
cent  cut  decided  on  by  Judge  Beach  and 
Mr.  Vahey. 

The  position  of  the  company  on  the 
various  points  in  dispute  may  be  taken 
to  be  pretty  accurately  reflected  in  the 
minority  opinion  of  Mr.  Berry,  who 
found  himself  unable  to  concur  in  the 
views  of  his  associates  with  reference 
to  the  wage  scale.  He  concurred  in 
the  award  of  10  cents  an  hour  addi- 
tional over  regular  rates  to  one-man 


car  operators  and  in  the  spread  of  the 
graduated  scale,  although  this  is 
against  the  company's  contention.  He 
said  in  part: 

As  to  the  wage  scale,  I  cannot  accept  the 
conclusions  of  the  majority.  The  logic  of 
their  reasoning  leads  to  a  greater  reduction 
than  from  60  to  55  cents  for  the  maximum 
hourly  rate,  about  8h  per  cent. 

The  application  of  the  cold,  clear  laws 
of  logic  would  call  for  a  reduction  of  about 
20  per  cent  ;  that  is,  from  60  cents  to  48 
cents.  The  company  has  not  asked  this. 
It  recognizes,  as  I  do,  that  there  should,  in 
fairness,  be  a  margin  to  cover  possible  in- 
crease in  the  cost  of  living,  and  so  that  the 
men  may  not  lose  all  that  they  have 
earned   in   improved   standard  of  living. 

A  reduction  of  17 J  per  cent.,  from  60 
cents  to  4 9 J  cents  (say  50  cents),  would 
still  leave  a  margin  of  2  i  per  cent  for  this 
purpose,  or  1%  cents  an  hour.  Every  cent 
means  approximately  $90,000  a  year  to  the 
company. 

The  majority,  however,  awards  55  cents, 
a  reduction  of  about  8§  per  cent.  A  re- 
duction of,  say,  15  per  cent  or  to  51  cents 
an  hour,  should  in  my  opinion  be  made  at 
the  least,  not  only  in  justice  to  the  com- 
pany, but  to  the  public,  whose  demand 
for  lower  fares  cannot  be  met  without 
greater  relief  from  the  high  wages  of  war 
time. 

The  payroll  now  exceeds  54  per  cent  of 
the  company's  gross  receipts.  Capital,  as 
well  as  labor,  is  entitled  to  a  fair  living 
wage. 

The  questions  submitted  were  not 
defined  in  the  original  submission,  but 
were  latar  formulated  as  follows: 

1.  The  wage  rate  to  be  paid  by  the 
company  to  its  motormen,  conductors 
and  other  employees  for  the  twelve 
months  baginning  June  1,  1921,  includ- 
ing the  length  of  the  graduated  scale. 

2.  The  differential  in  excess  of  the 
regular  rate  to  be  paid  to  operators 
of  one-man  cars  for  the  same  period. 

3.  The  guaranty  to  be  established  for 
the  extra  or  spare  motormen  and  con- 
ductors for  the  same  period. 

The  first  and  most  important  ques- 
tion was  the  rate  to  be  paid  the  motor- 
men  and  conductors,  called  the  blue 
uniform  men.  It  was  agreed  that  if 
any  reduction  were  made  in  the  maxi- 
mum rate  paid  to  them,  the  wage  rates 
of  all  other  employees  represented  by 
the  committee  should  be  readjusted  by 
applying  the  same  percentage  of  re- 
duction. 


Cost  Details  Stated 

In  his  report  to  the  Board  of  Public 
Works  outlining  in  detail  the  San 
Francisco  (Cal.)  Municipal  Railway  ex- 
tensions and  improvements,  M.  M. 
O'Shaughnessy,  city  engineer,  included 
the  accompanying  table  of  costs.  This 
table  gives  a  comparison  of  costs  of 
four  routes  for  electric  railways  into 
Sunset  District,  Forty-ninth  Avenue 
and  Judah  Street  Terminus  referred  to 
previously  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal. 


D.  U.  R.  Case  Presented 

Company  Goes  Direct  to  Public  With 
Statement  of  Its  Attitude  on 
Proposed  Ouster 

Allen  F.  Edwards,  vice-president  of 
the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Railway, 
has  made  a  statement  to  the  public 
with  a  view  to  fully  informing  the 
voters  of  the  exact  situation  before 
they  go  to  the  poles  to  vote  on  the 
ouster  ordinance.  The  company's  stand 
is  reiterated  relative  to  selling  the  Fort, 
Street  and  Woodward  Avenue  tracks  to 
the  city  on  sections  where  franchises 
have  expired.  Mr.  Edwards  stated  that 
in  as  much  as  doubt  seemed  to  exist 
regarding  the  position  of  the  company 
in  connection  with  the  so-called  ouster 
ordinance  to  be  voted  on  at  the  munic- 
ipal election  on  Nov.  8,  he  felt  called 
upon  to  state  the  company's  position 
clearly. 

Ouster  Ordinance  Affects 
Woodward  Avenue 

He  cites  that  the  ouster  ordinance 
affects  directly  the  Woodward  line  from 
the  Grand  Belt  line  to  the  river  and  the 
Fort  and  West  Jefferson  lines  from 
Artillery  Avenue  to  the  east,  including 
the  extensive  turning  facilities  in  Cad- 
illac Square.  If  the  city  through  the 
Street  Railway  Commission  desires  to 
obtain  possession  of  these  parts  of  lines 
through  purchase  by  direct  agreement 
or  through  the  process  of  a  board  of 
arbitration,  the  company  stands  will- 
ing to  co-operate  with  the  city  to  that 
end. 

He  further  states  that  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Street  Railway  Commission 
insists  that  the  company  must  accept 
the  outrageously  low  offer  of  $388,000 
for  these  parts  of  lines  or  quit  service 
and  remove  its  rails  and  other  property 
from  the  streets,  there  is  absolutely  and 
unqualifiedly  no  other  course  for  the 
company  to  follow  than  to  abandon 
service  thereon  and  take  up  the  tracks. 
Under  no  circumstances  will  it  be  pos- 
sible for  the  company  to  accept  the 
inadequate  and  unfair  offer  of  $388,000 
for  more  than  23  miles  of  track  together 
with  overhead  and  underground  equip- 
ment. 

The  trackless  transportation  amend- 
ment to  the  city  charter,  on  the  ballot 
on  Oct.  11,  failed  to  receive  the  nec- 
essary 60  per  cent  vote  for  its  approval. 
About  a  59  per  cent  vote  was  cast 
in  favor  of  the  amendment.  It  was 
announced  immediately  following  the 
canvas  of  the  votes  that  if  there  were 
no  barriers  due  to  lack  of  sufficient 


Hi  a) 

a  tr  ■ 


°  5 


Grove  Street.. . 
Duboce  Avenue 
Eureka  Valley. 
Laguna  Honda. 
Change  in  road 


O 

$850,000 
567,000 
500,000 
464,000 


O 

$450,000 
1,900,000 
1,400.000 
300,000 
150,000 


$  1, 300, 000 
2,467.000 
1,900,00 
914,000 


$350,000 
307,000 
3!  1,000 
314,671 


5.65 
4.54 
3.91 
3.48 


For  comparison:  Market  Street  Railway,  No.  7  (Haight  Street  line) 


7  75 
7.24 
7.53 
8.48 

7.24 


47 
39 
40 
42 

43 


1,350 
4,200 
3,400 
900 


2.6 
2.85 
4  0 
4  0 


No  tunnel 


752 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


time,  the  proposed  amendment  would 
be  put  upon  the  Nov.  8  ballot.  The 
amendment  would  empower  the  Street 
Railway  Commission  to  establish  track- 
less trolley  systems  in  the  city. 

City  officials  have  expressed  the  belief 
that  the  questions  covered  in  the  amend- 
ment were  not  thoroughly  explained  to 
the  voters  and  on  this  is  based  the 
opinion  that  if  again  presented  to  the 
people  the  amendment  would  carry.  It 
is  explained  that  the  amendment  does 
not  call  for  any  new  appropriation  of 
money,  but  that  all  such  equipment  for 
trackless  transportation  lines  will  be 
purchased  with  a  part  of  the  $15,000,000 
bond  issue  authorized  in  1920.  Mayor 
Couzens  and  the  councilmen  are  in  favor 
of  the  provision  of  the  amendment, 
believing  that  it  is  important  that  the 
city  be  empowered  to  utilize  the  new 
development  in  transportation  methods. 

As  another  step  in  the  working  out 
of  the  plans  for  the  election  in  Novem- 
ber Daniel  W.  Smith  has  been  nomi- 
nated to  oppose  James  Couzens  in  the 
coming  mayoralty  race,  Mr.  Smith's 
eligibility  as  a  candidate  having  been 
definitely  established.  The  fact  that  he 
has  recently  resided  and-voted  outside  of 
the  city  of  Detroit  was  not  considered 
as  grounds  for  declaring  him  ineligible 
in  the  courts. 


Service  Crippled  by  Power  Plant 
Accident 

By  a  series  of  unavoidable  accidents 
the  Tri-City  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Davenport,  Towa,  was  hard  hit 
on  Sept.  21.  The  20,000-kw.  turbine  of 
the  company  had  broken  down  a  few 
days  before  and  part  of  it  had  been 
sent  to  Pittsburgh  for  repairs,  so  the 
plant  was  short  its  main  reliance.  On 
the  night  of  Sept.  20  there  was  a  severe 
electrical  storm  and  the  second  ma- 
chine, a  15,000-kw.  turbine,  was  put  out 
of  service. 

This  left  the  station  with  two  old 
machines  which  had  been  kept  merely 
for  emergency  purposes,  a  9,000  and  a 
3,000  kw.  But  at  7:10  on  the  morning 
of  Sept.  21,  when  these  two  machines 
were  being  tuned  up  to  shoulder  the 
peak  load,  the  spindle  on  the  governor 
of  the  9,000  kw.  broke. 

In  this  emergency  the  old  3,000  ma- 
chine and  the  hydro-electric  plant  at 
Sears  were  called  on  for  fieir  last  drop 
of  "juice"  and  until  repai  s  were  made 
on  the  9,000-kw.  machine  the  plant  was 
hard  hit  to  supply  enough  power  to  run 
cars  and  the  power  and  lighting  circuits. 

The  lighting  circuit  was  not  inter- 
fered with.  Power  circuits  were  re- 
stored in  Davenport,  Iowa,  at  11  o'clock 
and  in  Rock  Island  and  Moline,  111.,  at 
noon.  The  gene'  ator  in  the  steam  plant 
at  Davenport  was  called  on,  this  auxil- 
iary being  available  because  the  plant 
was  being  tested  out  preparatory  to 
furnishing  its  steam  service  through 
the  winter  months.  By  the  use  of  this 
auxiliary  the  power  and  lighting  cir- 
cuits were  kept  going  and  a  few  street 
cars  were  operated. 

The    crippled    service    affected  the 


Muscatine,  Iowa,  street  cars  and  the 
interurban  cars  operated  between  Clin- 
ton, Davenport  and  Muscatine. 


New  York  Would  Install  More 
Trackless  Trolleys 

Municipal  "trackless  trolleys"  oper- 
ation between  Richmond  and  Totten- 
\ille,  Staten  Island,  a  distance  of  about 
9  miles,  was  proposed  by  Grover  A. 
Whalen,  Commissioner  of  Plant  and 
Structures  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  a  report  submitted  on  Oct.  18  to  the 
Board  of  Estimate.  Commissioner 
Whalen  asks  that  $177,700  be  appropri- 
ated to  establish  the  new  line.  Com- 
missioner Whalen's  recommendations 
are: 

That  this  department  be  authorized  to 
establish  a  trackless  trolley  system  between 
Richmond  and  Tottenville,  to  be  operated 
by  electric  current  generated  at  the  Sea 
View  Hospital  power  plant. 

That  corporate  stock  in  the  amount  of 
$177,700  be  authorized  for  such  installa- 
tion. 

The  estimated  cost  includes  the  erec- 
tion of  a  double  overhead  trolley  sys- 
tem 9  miles  long,  construction  of  7 
trackless  trolley  cars,  erection  of  trans- 
mission line  from  Sea  View  power 
house  to  Richmond,  feeder  lines  along 
the  route,  automatic  substation,  electric- 
generator  to  increase  power  output  at 
Sea  View  and  shelter  for  cars  and  spare 
parts. 

Mr.  Whalen  said: 

It  is  now  my  duty  to  report  to  you  that 
these  trackless  trolley  systems  have  been 
installed  and  are  in  successful  operation 
between  Meier's  Corners  and  Linoleumville 
and  Meier's  Corners  and  Sea  View  Hospital. 

This  installation  was  described  in 
detail  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal for  Oct.  15. 


Berkshire  Men  Accept  Cut 

Motormen  and  conductors  employed 
by  the  Berkshire  Street  Railway, 
Pittsfield,  Mass.,  will  accept  a  wage 
reduction  of  8s  per  cent,  retroactive 
to  June  1.  The  reduction  follows 
an  agreement  between  the  union 
and  the  company,  a  few  months  ago, 
that  the  Berkshire  employees  would 
abide  by  the  decision  of  the  arbitration 
board  in  the  case  of  the  Connecticut 
Company  and  its  employees.  This  latter 
board  recently  announced  its  findings 
for  a  reduction  of  8J  per  cent. 


Hearing  on  Transit  Plan 
Postponed 

Nov.  10  has  been  set  as  the  date 
for  the  first  hearing  before  the  New 
York  Transit  Commission  on  the  out- 
line of  its  proposed  transit  plan,  re- 
viewed at  length  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Oct.  1,  page  557. 
li  was  originally  proposed  to  start  the 
hearing  during  the  week  commencing 
Oct.  17.  A  statement  by  the  commis- 
sion follows: 

The  outline  of  the  plan  published  by 
the  commission  at  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber, was  given  out  at  the  earliest  date  at 
which  it  could  be  completed,  in  order  to 
inform  the  public  of  the  progress  made, 
and  to  furnish  a  basis  for  study  in  advance 
of  the  hearings.  The  reception  given  the 
report  by  the  press  and  the  discussion 
that  has  followed  have  been  gratifying. 
But  while  much  of  the  criticism  has  been 
constructive    and    of    a    helpful  tendency, 


there  has  been  a  pronounced  disposition  in 
some  quarters  to  make  the  transit  plan  a 
football  of  politics,  employing  prejudiced 
misrepresentation  and  abuse  in  place  of  dis- 
passionate inquiry. 

It  lias  become  increasingly  evident  that 
such  an  attitude  makes  it  futile  to  attempt 
to  develop  the  plan  through  the  medium  of 
the  examinations  proposed  while  the  cam- 
paign is  on. 

The  commission's  program  has  nothing 
to  do  with  politics,  and  its  action  will  not 
be  affected  either  one  way  or  the  other  by 
the  issue  of  the  election.  Its  function  is  to 
work  out  a  reorganization  based  on  sound 
economic  principles,  to  repair  as  far  as  it 
can  the  damage  that  has  been  done  and  to 
relieve  the  present  intolerable  conditions  as 
soon  as  possible  with  the  degree  of  sureness 
required. 

The  commission  believes,  therefore,  that 
a  short  delay  in  beginning  its  series  of 
hearings — which  could  in  no  event  be  fin- 
ished until  a  considerable  time  after  elec- 
tion— will  be  more  than  compensated  for 
by  the  better  progress  that  will  be  made 
when  the  whole  matter  may  be  approached 
free  from  the  biased  and  unreasoning  spirit 
engendered   by  a  political  contest. 

Richmond  Wages  Continue 
Unchanged 

No  change  in  the  wages  paid  em- 
ployees of  the  Virginia  Railway  & 
Power  Company  in  Richmond,  Peters- 
burg, Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  is  to  be 
made  at  this  time,  and  the  same  work- 
ing agreement  between  the  men  and 
the  company  is  to  continue  in  force 
until  further  notice,  though  it  will  not 
be  renewed  for  another  year.  An- 
nouncement to  this  effect  was  made  on 
Oct.  5  at  the  conclusion  of  a  confer- 
ence between  representatives  of  the 
employees  and  officers  of  the  railway 
company. 

All  relations  between  the  men  and 
the  company  are  to  continue  as  they 
now  exist  until  some  further  decision  is 
made,  dependent  upon  conditions  in  the 
four  cities.  This  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem was  said  to  have  been  satisfac- 
tory to  both  interests.  The  present 
agreement  made  for  one  year  expired 
on  Oct.  16. 

President  Thomas  S.  Wheelwright, 
of  the  company,  issued  the  following 
statement: 

Officials  of  the  Virginia  Railway  & 
Power  Company  were  in  conference  yes- 
terday and  this  morning  with  representa- 
tives of  employees  of  the  company  in  the 
matter  of  contract  covering  wages  for  an- 
other twelve  months'  period,  the  present 
contract  expiring  on  Oct.  16. 

The  company  advised  the  representatives 
of  the  employees  present  that  owing  to  the 
unsatisfactory  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
street  railway  field  and  the  uncertainty  as 
to  what  action  looking  towards  relief  might 
be  taken  by  the  councils  in  the  respective 
cities  concerned,  it  would  not  see  its  way 
clear  to  renew  the  contract  as  to  wages 
for  any  definite  period.  It  is  the  company's 
intention,  of  course,  to  live  up  to  any  out- 
standing agreements  affecting  wages,  either 
verbally  or  in  writing. 


Railway  Will  Be  Rebuilt. — In  accord- 
ance with  an  agreement  reached  with 
A.  B.  Anderson,  Judge  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  at  Indianapolis, 
and  the  city  of  Lafayette,  employees 
of  the  Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis  & 
Eastern  Traction  Company  have  re- 
placed the  connecting  track  at  East 
Main  and  Kossuth  Streets  to  permit( 
interurban  cars  of  the  traction  company' 
to  enter  the  business  district  of  La- 
fayette. Three  months  ago  the  city 
tore  up  the  connecting  track  in  La- 
fayette and  since  then  the  cars  oper- 
ated on  the  interurban  railway  hive 
been  stopping  at  the  city  limits. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


753 


Consolidation  Not  Obligatory 

Legislation  Now  Being  Worked  Out 
Covering  Merger  of  Lines 
in  Washington 

Uncertainty  as  to  what  the  railways 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  may  expect 
in  the  way  of  legislation  was  increased 
by  the  recent  action  of  the  House  in 
voting  overwhelmingly  to  recommit  the 
bill  of  its  District  of  Columbia  com- 
mittee which  was  intended  to  facilitate 
the  consolidation  of  the  Washington 
Railway  &  Electric  Company  and  the 
Capital  Traction  Company.  It  is  very 
certain  that  this  rebuff  will  not  deter 
the  committee  from  reporting  out  fur- 
ther legislation. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  legislation 
it  was  made  very  clear  that  nothing 
in  the  committee's  bill  would  compel 
consolidation.  It  was  stated  that  the 
object  was  to  remove  the  obstacle  to 
consolidation  and  to  equalize  returns 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  desir- 
able to  effect  the  consolidation.  The 
committee  proposed  to  amend  the  exist- 
ing law  which  provides  a  tax  of  4  per 
cent  on  gross  receipts  and  provide  a 
tax  of  1  per  cent  on  gross  receipts  cou- 
pled with  a  tax  of  50  per  cent  on  all 
earnings  in  excess  of  7  per  cent  on  the 
fair  value  of  the  property.  In  the 
new  bill  introduced  by  Representative 
W®ods,  the  50  per  cent  tax  would  apply 
to  all  earnings  in  excess  of  6  per  cent. 

It  was  shown  during  the  debate  that 
the  receipts  of  the  two  companies  are 
practically  the  same.  Each  carries 
between  75,000,000  and  80,000,000  pas- 
sengers a  year.  The  difficulties  lie  in 
the  fact  that  the  Washington  Railway 
&  Electric  Company  carries  that  num- 
ber of  passengers  on  133  miles  of  track, 
whereas  the  Capital  Traction  Company 
carries  that  number  on  63  miles  of 
track.  The  result,  it  was  stated,  was 
that  a  year  ago  one  company  made  11 
per  cent  and  the  other  less  than  4  per 
cent  on  its  valuation.  It  was  pointed 
out  that  at  present  the  difference  has 
diminished  so  that  the  Capital  Traction 
Company  is  earning  about  10h  per  cent 
and  the  Washington  Railway  &  Elec- 
tric Company  a  fraction  more  than  5 
per  cent  on  their  ascertained  values. 


Merger  Under  Reorganization 
Approved 

A  merger  of  the  Olean,  Brad- 
ford &  Salamanca  Railway  with  the 
Bradford  Electric  Railway,  Bradford, 
Pa.,  has  been  approved  by  the  New 
York  Public  Service  Commission.  The 
new  company  formed  by  the  merger  is 
known  as  the  Olean,  Bradford  &  Sala- 
manca Railway,  with  headquarters  in 
Olean.  Authority  has  also  been  granted 
to  issue  common  and  preferred  stock  to 
the  amount  of  $3,808,000,  with  the 
understanding  that  rates  to  be  charged 


by  the  company  shall  be  subject  to  the 
direction  of  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission. The  basis  on  which  the  re- 
organization of  the  properties  follow- 
ing foreclosure  is  to  be  carried  out  was 
reviewed  at  length  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  Oct.  1,  page  567. 


Ford  After  Electrics 

Automobile   Manufacturer  Negotiating 
for  Interurbans  to  Tie  In  with 
Steam  Line 

An  option  on  the  line  of  the  Cincin- 
nati, Milford  &  Blanchester  Traction 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  has  been 
taken  by  Henry  Ford,  Detroit  automo- 
bile manufacturer.  B.  H.  Kroger,  Cin- 
cinnati banker,  who  is  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal owners  of  the  traction  company, 
commonly  known  as  the  Kroger  Line, 
said  that  Henry  Ford,  while  on  a  visit 
to  Cincinnati,  recently  opened  nego- 
tiations for  the  purchase  of  this  line. 

The  traction  company  operates  an 
electric  railway  between  Madisonville 
and  Blanchester,  Ohio,  a  distance  of 
25  miles.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Ford 
wants  to  connect  this  line  with  the  De- 
troit, Toledo  &  Ironton  Railroad,  pur- 
chased by  him  some  time  ago.  While 
the  Kroger  line  is  an  interurban,  its 
right-of-way  could  be  used  for  the 
operation  of  steam  trains  and  that  is 
what  Mr.  Ford  wants,  officials  of  the 
traction  company  said. 

Representatives  of  the  Cincinnati, 
Milford  &  Blanchester  Traction  Com- 
pany have  been  in  Detroit  conferring 
with  Ford  officials  on  details  of  the 
transfer,  but  so  far  nothing  of  a  defi- 
nite nature  has  developed.  It  is  known 
that  Ford  engineers  also  have  been  in- 
vestigating possible  purchase  of  the 
Cincinnati,  Georgetown  &  Portsmouth 
Railroad,  which  extends  east  of  Cin- 
cinnati toward  Portsmouth,  with  the 
idea  of  connecting  Ironton,  the  present 
terminal  of  the  Detroit,  Toledo  &  Iron- 
ton  Railroad,  and  Cincinnati,  with  a  di- 
rect Ohio  River  Valley  line. 

If  Mr.  Ford  obtains  title  to  the  great 
Muscle  Shoals  nitrate  plant  in  Alabama 
it  is  believed  to  be  his  plan  to  push 
an  all-Ford  direct  rail  connecting  with 
Detroit  and  Muscle  Shoals  with  a  south- 
ern extension  to  Mobile,  Ala.,  which 
would  give  the  automobile  manufac- 
turer a  direct  line  from  his  plants  at 
Detroit  to  tidewater  at  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  tapping  his  West  Virginia 
and  Kentucky  coal  properties,  Muscle 
Shoals  and  the  Birmingham,  Ala.,  iron 
and  steel  districts. 

In  the  event  that  Ford  purchases  the 
Cincinnati,  Milford  &  Blanchester  Trac- 
tion line  he  will  probably  connect  it 
with  the  Detroit,  Toledo  &  Ironton  Rail- 
road at  Kingman  or  Washington  Court 
House,  Ohio. 


Toledo  Reports  Surplus 

September  First  Month  Under  Servict- 
at-Cost  That  Receipts  Exceeded 
Expenditures 

For  the  first  time  since  the  cost-of- 
service  plan  was  adopted  in  Toledo 
last  February  a  report  showing  an  oper- 
ating surplus  rather  than  a  deficit  has 
been  turned  in  to  members  of  the  board 
of  control  by  Street  Railway  Commis- 
sioner Wilfred  E.  Cann.  The  report 
for  the  month  of  September  has  shown 
that  income  exceeded  expenditures  and 
credits  to  various  funds  by  $11,110, 
which  compared  with  a  deficit  of  $20,- 
098  for  the  previous  month. 

The  report  for  the  eighth  month  of 
operation  under  the  Toledo  plan  came 
soon  after  President  Frank  R.  Coates 
of  the  Community  Traction  Company 
had  rescinded  his  order  to  increase  fares 
to  straight  7  cents. 

Peak  in  Fares  Probably  Reached 

It  is  believed  by  the  commissioner 
that  the  peak  in  fares  has  been  reached 
and  that  in  a  few  months  the  stabiliz- 
ing fund  will  be  built  up  to  normal 
and  fares  may  start  down  again. 

The  deficits  in  all  funds  except  the 
sinking  fund  and  stabilizing  fund  have 
now  been  wiped  out  and  only  book 
values  are  found  in  those  two  funds. 
The  deficit  to  the  sinking  fund  will  be 
cleared  away  this  month.  This  will 
allow  the  city  to  acquire  ownership  of 
the  lines  at  a  rate  of  $17,708  a  month. 

During  September  the  total  number 
of  revenue  passengers  carried  was 
4,521,868  and  the  daily  average  was 
150,429,  a  gain  from  August,  for  which 
month  the  daily  average  was  148,658. 
Total  earnings  for  September  amounted 
to  $260,363. 

Mr.  Cann  said: 

During  the  month  operation  has  been 
curtailed  to  the  extent  of  49,921  car  miles, 
the  decrease  being  attributable  to  one  day 
less  of  operation,  to  the  cut  in  service  to 
Toledo  Beach,  and  to  reduction  in  our 
mileage  due  to  increased  speed. 

Rent  from  tracks  and  terminals  shows 
a  decrease  of  $4,300,  the  major  portion  of 
which  is  due  to  the  adjustment  made  in 
the  rate  per  car  mile  charged  to  inter- 
urban lines  for  use  of  the  city-  tracks. 
Revenue  from  rent  of  equipment  fell  off 
about  $500  and  is  due  to  the  discontinu- 
ance of  Beach  line  service. 

Revenue  per  car  mile  shows  an  increase 
over  previous  month  of  3.28  cents,  while 
operating  expense  has  decreased  0.26  cents 
and  maintenance  expense  has  been  decreased 
0.17  cent.  Ratio  of  operating  expense  to 
income  has  been  reduced  1.57  per  cent. 

Several  changes  in  routes  were  made 
by  Commissioner  Cann  on  Oct.  16. 

During  seven  months  of  the  operation 
of  the  cost-of-service  plan  the  car  riders 
of  the  city  of  Toledo  have  been  saved 
$?31,741  by  the  reduced  fare  and  cost 
of  transfers  put  into  effect  at  the  time 
the  ordinance  was  adopted.  The  com- 
putations were  made  by  Harold  Bailey - 
Stokes,  accountant  and  auditor  for  Com- 
missioner Cann.  They  are  based  upon 
passengers  carried  since  Feb.  1.  The 
ownership  of  the  city  in  the  railway 
property  is  $123,958.  If  this  were 
added  to  the  savings  the  total  would  be 
$455,700  gain  by  the  city  since  the  plan 
has  been  in  operation.  These  figures 
do  not  include  the  returns  for  the  month 
of  September. 


754 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


Results  of  Increased  Fare 
Disappointing 

The  7-cent  fare  which  has  been  in 
effect  on  the  lines  of  the  Louisville 
(Ky.)  Railway  since  Feb.  21  has  failed 
to  increase  earnings  in  the  proportion 
anticipated,  the  increase  having  been 
only  about  $200,000  for  the  period, 
whereas  the  company  had  expected 
that  it  would  add  about  $1,000,000 
annually  to  the  revenue.  A  2-cent  in- 
crease, it  was  figured,  would  increase 
earnings  about  20  per  cent. 

James  P.  Barnes,  president  of  the 
Louisville  Railway,  reports  that  a  com- 
plete survey  of  the  company  and  its 
operations  will  probably  be  ready  by 
Nov.  15.  This  survey  will  deal  in  part 
with  improved  service  and  reduced  cost 
of  operation  where  possible.  Consid- 
eration will  be  given  to  increased  num- 
ber of  one-man  cars,  two-car  trains 
and  of  rerouting  certain  lines. 


Decrease  in  Car  Riding  in 
Pittsburgh 

There  has  been  a  great  decrease  in 
car  riding  on  the  lines  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh (Pa.)  Railways  as  shown  in  a 
comparison  of  September,  1921,  and 
September,  1920.  The  present  10-cent 
fare  with  three  metal  tickets  for  25 
cents  went  into  effect  in  September, 
1920. 

In  September  of  this  year  24,910,047 
passengers  were  carried  against  25,- 
818,563  in  the  same  month  a  year  ago. 
The  receipts  in  September  of  this  year 
fell  below  the  receipts  for  September, 
1920,   by  $126,745. 

In  July  and  August  of  this  year  there 
was  a  greater  falling  off  in  the  number 
of  rides  compared  with  the  same 
months  of  last  year.  Though  in  those 
months  of  this  year  the  fare  was  83 
cents  and  in  the  same  months  last 
year  7J  cents,  the  receipts  were  less 
under  the  higher  fare  than  under  the 
lower  rate  of  a  year  ago. 

The  figures  were  compiled  by  the  re- 
ceivers for  the  city  authorities. 


Net  Earnings  Good — Fares 
Reduced 

The  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction 
Company  will  reduce  fares  l  cent  to 
7J  cents  on  all  its  lines  effective  Nov. 
1.  This  announcement  was  made  fol- 
lowing the  receipt  of  financial  reports 
for  August  and  September  of  the  trac- 
tion company  by  William  Jerome 
Kuertz,  Director  of  Street  Railways. 
The  traction  company's  action  is  based 
on  the  report  of  earnings  for  these 
months,  showing  a  net  balance  of  $3,- 
671.90.  For  the  month  of  August  the 
company  had  a  deficit  of  $9,722.90,  due 
chiefly  to  the  fact  that  during  that  time 
it  had  the  heaviest  ways  and  construc- 
tion accounts  for  any  month  in  several 
years.  This  was  more  than  offset,  how- 
ever, by  the  September  report,  which 
showed  a  balance  of  $13,394.80. 

The  big  item  that  tended  to  produce 
a  surplus  in  September  was  the  re- 
duction in  platform  cost,  $13,445,  or 


from  $211,146.35  in  August  to  $197,- 
699.64  in  September.  Revenue  pas- 
sengers for  August  numbered  8,659,835 
and  for  September  8,489,125. 

Spring-field  Line  Going 
Behind 

Manager  of  Ohio  Property  States  Com- 
pany's Losses  in  Commenting  on 
Wage  Reduction 

P.  E.  O'Brien,  general  manager  of 
the  Springfield  (Ohio)  Railway,  has 
filed  with  the  City  Commission  a  state- 
ment dealing  with  the  recent  readjust- 
ment of  the  wages  of  its  men  and  re- 
viewing briefly  the  financial  condition 
of  the  company.  It  will  be  recalled 
that  the  men  accepted  voluntarily  a 
reduction  in  wages  effective  Oct.  1  of 
11  cents  an  hour,  or  from  53,  55  and 
57  cents  to  42,  44  and  46  cents.  Mr. 
O'Brien  said  in  part: 

During  1921  up  to  Sept.  1,  we  carried 
1.250,000  fewer  passengers  than  in  1920. 
The  new  wage  scale  is  as  yet  100  per  cent 
increase  over  Jan.  1,  1916.  We  have  been 
so  pressed  for  cash  that  we  have  been  un- 
able to  pay  our  June  taxes,  notwithstand- 
ing the  accruing  penalties. 

The  unpaid  debts  for  street  paving  and 
reconstruction  total  $90,000  and  are  fully 
shown  by  the  city  records.  Our  monthly 
deficit  has  grown  from  a  small  amount  to 
more  than  $11,000  per  month  for  Septem- 
ber of  this  year. 

Our  pay  roll  reductions  and  any  other 
economies  cover  only  a  part  of  the  monthly 
deficit.  We  can  only  hold  on  and  hope  for 
business  improvement,  in  which  event  we 
hope  to  readjust  all  our  relations  with  the 
city. 

Of  course  no  earnings  have  been  avail- 
able for  stockholders  for  years.  Even  the 
preferred  stock,  which  was  sold  to  erect 
the  new  carhouse  and  purchase  cars  in  1913, 
has  been  in  default  for  dividend  for  seven 
years. 

Our  borrowing  capacity  is  exhausted, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  our  mortgage  bonds 
have  been  offered  as  low  as  55  cents  on 
the  dollar  with  no  buyers. 

Attached  was  a  detailed  statement 
showing  the  wages  received  by  the 
motormen  and  conductors  from  1916 
up  to  the  present  time.  On  Jan.  1, 
1916,  they  received  from  20  to  25  cents 
an  hour.  On  Oct.  1,  1919,  the  men 
were  increased  from  38,  40  and  42  cents 
an  hour  to  43,  45  and  47  cents. 

The  financial  statement  showed  that 
for  eight  months  in  1920  there  were 
carried  7,868,900  revenue  passengers 
and  in  1921  the  number  carried  during 
the  same  period  was  6,569,984,  or  a  loss 
of  1,298,916  passengers.  The  receipts 
for  eight  months  from  passengers  in 
1920  were  $449,542.  In  1921  during 
the  similar  period  the  revenue  was 
$425,475.  After  deducting  expenses  in 
1920  the  company's  net  gain  was  $11,- 
350,  while  in  1921  the  statement  shows 
that  the  company  sustained  a  loss  of 
$67,999.  Mention  is  made  that  no  pro- 
vision was  made  in  either  year  for  divi- 
dends on  preferred  stock. 

The  report  shows  that  the  total  re- 
duction per  year  as  a  result  of  the 
wage  readjustment  will  amount  to  ap- 
proximately $55,227,  and  of  that  $45,- 
874  is  the  reduction  in  the  wages  of 
the  trainmen.  The  operating  expenses 
in  1920  for  eight  months  amounted  to 
$338,157,  while  the  cost  of  operating 
during  the  same  period  in  1921  was 
$367,850. 


Interurban  to  Abandon  60  Miles 

The  abandonment  of  60  miles  of  in- 
terurban lines  constituting  the  Lima- 
Defiance,  Medway-New  Carlisle,  and 
the  Columbus-Orient  branches  of  the 
Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company  was  approved  by  Federal 
Judge  John  M.  Killits  in  court  at  Toledo 
on  Oct.  18. 

Application  for  the  action  was  made 
by  the  receivers  on  the  grounds  that 
the  lines  do  not  pay.  J.  H.  McClure, 
receiver,  appeared  in  person  before  the 
court  and  declared  that  the  unprofitable 
operation  was  hindering  the  business 
of  the  main  line.  Before  the  abandon- 
ment can  be  actually  put  into  effect 
the  company  must  also  have  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Ohio  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission. It  is  expected  that  several 
towns  and  cities  will  make  a  vigorous 
fight  before  the  commission  when  the 
interurbans  seek  to  do  away  with  the 
service. 


Grafton  Properties  Sold 

Dr.  T.  F.  Lanham,  the  trustee  of 
the  bankrupt  Grafton  Light  &  Power 
Company,  offered  the  entire  prop- 
erty for  sale  recently  at  Grafton,  W. 
Va.,  in  its  various  classifications  as  set 
forth  in  the  legal  publication  of  the  sale. 
When  he  offered  the  entire  traction 
line,  including  all  real  estate  and  cer- 
tain personal  property  that  had  not 
been  offered  separately,  he  received  a 
bid  of  $14,000,  then  $15,000  and  after 
a  little  Mr.  Faris,  trustee  of  the  Citi- 
zens' Bank,  Charleston,  bid  $16,000. 
The  property  was  knocked  down  to 
him. 

Dr.  Lanham  then  offered  the  entire 
power  plant  on  the  south  side,  or  all 
property  comprised  in  schedule  H  of 
the  advertisement.  The  bidding  started 
at  $20,000,  and  it  quickly  ran  up 
by  bids  of  $5,000  and  $10,000  to  $60,- 
000.  The  auctioneer  cried  the  property 
for  some  time  and  no  further  bids 
being  offered  he  knocked  the  property 
down  to  N.  M.  Argabrite,  New  York, 
for  $62,000. 

The  local  property  will  be  operated 
in  conjunction  with  the  plant  which 
New  Yorkers  are  now  planning  to 
erect  on  the  Cheat  River  at  Caddell 
just  below  Kingwood.  Mr.  Argabrite 
was  accompanied  by  P.  H.  Powers,  his 
electrical  engineer  and  assistant,  and 
their  counsel  P.  C.  Madera,  Phila- 
delphia, and  Col.  Carlton  C.  Pierce, 
Kingwood. 

Arrangements  were  made  with  the 
trustee  to  continue  operation  of  the 
electric  railway  until  the  property  is 
turned  over  to  Mr.  Faris  by  the  court. 
He  indicated  that  he  intends  to  con- 
tinue the  operation  of  the  line  indefi- 
nitely. 

City  Buys  Railway. — The  city  of 
Goldsboro,  N.  C,  recently  bought  all 
the  outstanding  stock  in  the  Goldsboro 
Street  Railway,  and  this  railway  will 
be  operated  in  the  future  under  munic- 
ipal management.  The  line  was  dis- 
continued in  October,  1920.  New  equip- 
ment has  been  ordered. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


755 


Jersey  Charging  8  Cents 

Public  Service  Railway  Has  Put  New 
Rate  Into  Effect  Under  Court's 
Restraining  Order 
Another  step  has  been  taksn  toward 
securing  the  advance  in  fares  sought 
by  the  Public  Service  Railway,  Newark, 
N.  J.  The  decree  has  been  signed  by 
the  court  putting  into  effect  the  tem- 
porary injunction  against  the  Public 
Service  Commission.  The  order  of  the 
court  restrains  that  body  from  interfer- 
ing with  the  company  collecting  an  8- 
cent  cash  fare  or  four  tickets  for  30  cents 
with  1  cent  for  transfers,  pending  final 
decision  by  Federal  Judges  Wooley, 
Davis  and  Rellstab  of  the  adequacy  of 
the  rate  of  7  cents  with  2  cents  for 
transfers  allowed  by  the  commission 
under  its  recent  ruling.  The  company 
is  seeking  a  10-cent  fare. 

New  Fares  Charged  on  Oct.  20 
The  railway  put  the  advance  into  ef- 
fect on  Oct.  20,  or  just  as  soon  as  the 
company  could  arrange  to  comply  with 
the  provisions  laid  down  by  the  court. 
Under  these  provisions  the  company  is 
required  to  give  a  bond  of  $250,000  to 
guarantee  riders  a  refund  in  the  event 
the  new  rate  of  8  cents  is  reversed. 
Rebate  slips  must  be  issued  while  the 
new  fare  is  collected.  In  the  event 
that  the  final  decision  of  the  court  is 
not  rendered  in  two  months  the  com- 
pany must  supply  additional  bond. 

The  hearing  at  which  the  details 
were  fixed  by  the  court  for  putting  its 
order  into  effect  was  held  at  Trenton 
on  Oct.  18.  Robert  H.  McCarter  of 
counsel  for  the  company  opposed  either 
impounding  the  extra  pennies  the  com- 
pany will  collect  or  the  filing  of  a  bond. 
He  said  either  practice  would  be  "irk- 
some and  hard  for  us."  He  said  the 
money,  if  used  to  renew  the  property 
of  the  company,  would  be  protecting 
the  public  to  better  advantage  than  if  it 
were  impounded  and  saved. 

President  Thomas  N.  McCarter  of  the 
company  suggested  that  the  tokens  to 
be  sold  be  restricted  to  use  by  non- 
transfer  riders  and  that  persons  paying 
the  straight  fare  of  8  cents  and  1  cent 
for  a  transfer  be  refused  refund  slips 
so  that  they  would  pay  the  same  as  they 
have  recently  been  paying. 

Master  to  Be  Appointed 
Judge  Rellstab  wants  to  have  sub- 
mitted to  him  by  Oct.  27  the  names  of 
several  men  who  might  qualify  as  mas- 
ters to  hear  the  testimony  in  the  final 
determination  of  the  case.  He  will 
then  assign  the  man  to  sit  for  the 
court. 

In  the  meantime  the  state  is  rushing 
its  preparations  for  an  appeal  at  Wash- 
ington. 

The  session  at  which  the  decree  was 
framed  and  signed  was  not  held  with 


the  formality  of  a  court  sitting.  It 
was  merely  a  conference.  One  of  the 
outstanding  features  was  that  while 
Judge  Davis  was  present,  he  took  no 
part  in  the  discussion  between  counsel 
and  members  of  the  court.  He  had 
filed  a  dissenting  opinion  and  Judge 
Wooley  several  times  explained  to  the 
audience  that  he  left  Judge  Davis  out 
of  the  conversation  because  Judge  Rell- 
stab and  himself  were  responsible  for 
the  granting  of  the  injunction  and  felt 
that  they  should  bear  the  full  respon- 
sibility for  the  carrying  out  of  the 
decree. 

Formal  Bus  Proposals  in  Saginaw 

Six  proposals  for  motor  bus  service 
were  made  to  the  City  Council  of  Sagi- 
naw, Mich.,  on  Oct.  19  by  companies 
offering  to  organize  transportation  com- 
panies or  sell  buses  to  the  city  to  re- 
place the  service  formerly  rendered  by 
its  bankrupt  street  railway  system, 
known  as  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Rail- 
way. The  proposals  covering  the  for- 
mation of  a  company  to  serve  the  city 
suggested  a  corporation  with  a  capital- 
ization averaging  $350,000  and  oper- 
ating a  number  of  buses  varying  from 
thirty  to  sixty  cars  in  the  various 
plans. 

All  of  the  proposals  for  organizing 
companies  asked  aid  from  the  city  or 
local  business  interests,  the  plan  of  the 
Wolverine  Transit  Company,  Detroit, 
asking  that  local  people  subscribe  for 
$125,000  of  advance  transportation. 
The  proposals  were  taken  under  advise- 
ment by  the  Council,  which  was  to  meet 
again  Oct.  20  to  give  them  further  con- 
sideration. 

Miss  Safety  First  Trips  to  Buffalo 

Plans  for  an  extensive  safety  first 
campaign  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
city  have  been  outlined  by  the  Inter- 
national Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  A 
woman  who  formerly  worked  in  Phila- 
delphia for  the  Mitten  interests  has 
been  employed  by  the  International 
and  will  be  known  as  Miss  Safety 
First.  The  co-operation  of  the  munici- 
pal authorities  and  the  city  school  de- 
partment is  sought  so  that  she  can 
deliver  lectures  and  safety  first  talks 
in  the  schools. 

Explaining  the  plans  of  the  trac- 
tion company,  Herbert  G.  Tulley,  presi- 
dent of  the  International,  said  the  word 
"don't"  will  be  taboo  in  the  safety  first 
campaign  and  that  instead  of  telling 
the  pupils  in  the  schools  not  to  do  this 
and  not  to  do  that,  Miss  Safety  First 
will  tell  them  to  cross  at  corners,  to 
look  both  ways  before  crossing,  etc. 

Signs  have  been  placed  in  the  street 
cars  advising  children  of  the  appear- 
ance of  Miss  Safety  First  and  urging 
them  to  use  caution  to  avoid  accidents 
in  the  streets. 


City's  Case  Closed 

Chicago    Rests    Its    Argument    for  a 
Decrease  of  Surface  Line  Fares  to 
Five  Cents 

The  city  of  Chicago  on  Oct.  14  closed 
its  case  against  the  Chicago  Surface 
Lines  before  the  Illinois  Commerce 
Commission.  This  is  the  proceeding 
in  whieh  the  commission  is  being  urged 
to  reduce  the  rate  of  fare  from  8  cents 
to  5  cents.  A  continuance  was  taken 
until  Oct.  25  so  that  the  lawyers  might 
go  to  Washington  and  argue  another 
branch  of  the  fare  case  before  the  com- 
panies start  putting  in  their  evidence. 

John  T.  Fanning,  an  engineer,  was 
one  of  the  city's  principal  witnesses. 
He  claimed  that  the  operating  expenses 
could  be' reduced  to  $31,199,500  by  con- 
ducting business  at  a  cost  of  $2.40  an 
hour  as  follows: 

Per  Car 

Item  Hour       Total  Cost 

Platform  expense   $1  60  $20,800,000 

Supervisors,  checkers,  etc.  ( 500  ["1 

men)   085  1,105.000 

Repairs  (400  men)   039  507,000 

Clerks  (  150)   0275  357,500 

Power  25  3,250,000 

Maintenance  and  renewals.  .  .       .28  3,640,000 

Administration  and  office  0385  500,000 

Compensation  and  damages  .        08  1,040,000 

Total   $2.40  $31,199,500 

The  city  did  not  care  to  take  the" 
burden  of  saying  that  wages  should  be 
reduced  and  this  witness  was  embar- 
rassed at  times  to  explain  how  he  could 
operate  without  any  allowance  for  re- 
porting time,  overtime  or  any  thing 
other  than  actual  running  time. 

Another  city  witness  was  Special  En- 
gineer George  W.  Jackson,  who  also  was 
subjected  to  a  long  cross-examination. 
Among  other  things  Engineer  Jackson 
stated  that  he  could  save  $18,000,000 
a  year  and  that  he  could  take  care  of 
2,000,000  additional  cash  passengers 
without  extra  equipment.  His  system 
contemplates  the  abandonment  of  8 
miles  of  present  special  work  in  the 
downtown  district  and  the  use  of  single 
track  curves.  By  simplification  of  the 
looping  system  he  said  the  downtown 
speed  could  be  increased  from  4  m.p.h. 
to  8  m.p.h.  and  the  speed  for  the  sys- 
tem from  10  to  13  m.p.h.  He  would 
also  make  other  changes. 

The  city  is  contending  that  a  con- 
siderable profit  can  be  made  under  oper- 
ation at  a  5-cent  fare  and  insisted  that 
even  if  this  were  not  true  the  conir 
panies  should  be  content  with  a  loss 
during  the  remaining  five  years  of  the 
ordinance  because  of  profits  in  the  past. 


Courtesy  Not  "A  Lost  Art" 

The  "Civility"  Campaign  launched 
the  first  part  of  October  by  the  North- 
ern Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Company, 
Akron,  Ohio,  is  proving  a  big  suc- 
cess and  has  become  the  watchword 
of  the  employees.  In  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  employees  of  the  railway  and 
invited  to  be  read  by  patrons  of  the 
line,  D.  A.  Scanlon,  general  superin- 
tendent, says:  "There  is  no  real  justi- 
fication for  insolence  from  a  platform 
man  to  a  patron,  nor  from  a  patron  to 
a  man  in  charge  of  a  car." 


756 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


Zones  Suggested  for  Los  Angeles 

Commission  Engineer  Recommends  Two  Six-Cent  Units  for  Pacific  Electric 
Railway — Company  Carefully  Managed 

The  Pacific  Electric  Railway's  application  to  the  California  State  Railroad 
Commission  was  reheard  in  Los  Angeles  on  Oct.  11.  The  appeal  is  for  an  in- 
crease in  rates,  which  is  considered  a  substantiation  of  the  emergency  raise 
granted  the  company  during  July,  1920,  by  the  commission  to  tide  the  company 
through  the  abnormal  cost  of  materials  and  labor.  From  testimony  given  by 
Chief  Engineer  Richard  Sachse  of  the  commission,  it  would  seem  that  radical 
changes  in  railway  service  of  various  cities  in  southern  California  as  served 
by  the  Pacific  Electric  lines  will  be  necessary  to  put  the  system  back  on  a  profit- 
able footing. 


MR.  SACHSE  filed  a  service  survey 
report  of  three  volumes  or  a  total 
of  approximately  600  pages,  prepared 
by  the  Railroad  Commission's  engineers 
after  a  study  of  the  situation  extending 
over  a  period  of  fourteen  months. 

Since  Mr.  Sachse's  valuation  report 
of  the  company's  property  has  been 
previously  made  known,  the  railway 
company's  attorneys  at  the  opening 
of  the  hearing  expressed  a  desire 
to  file  several  exceptions  to  the  valua- 
tion figures.  The  first  contention  of  the 
railway  was  against  the  commission's 
item  of  engineering;  namely,  5  per  cent. 
The  company  contended  that  6  per  cent 
was  the  reasonable  figure  for  this  par- 
ticular item.  The  railway  also  took 
exceptions  to  the  multiple  ratio  used 
by  the  commission  in  arriving  at  the 
value  of  the  company's  right-of-way, 
claiming  too  low  a  value  was  allowed. 

The  item  of  interest  was  contested. 
Whereas  the  commission  in  one  of  its 
estimates  figured  it  at  6  per  cent,  the 
company  contended  it  should  be  allowed 
at  least  8  per  cent  in  order  to  take  care 
of  its  amortization  of  the  bonds.  Ex- 
ception was  also  taken  to  the  commis- 
sion's method  of  treatment  of  allowing 
interest  on  funds  during  construction 
period  and  to  the  commission's  report 
of  the  valuation  of  the  company's  park 
and  resort  property.  The  commission 
set  aside  this  property  at  its  valuation 
cost  of  some  $449,000  as  non-operative 
property.  The  company  contends  that 
this  should  be  included  in  the  operative 
property. 

Non-Paying  Lines  Should  Shut  Down 

Chief  Engineer  Sachse  of  the  com- 
mission was  on  the  stand  the  entire  day 
reviewing  in  general  his  service  survey 
report,  but  the  attorneys  for  the  vari- 
ous municipalities  pleaded  for  a  further 
continuance  of  the  case  until  they  could 
study  his  report  and  be  prepared  to 
present  their  objections.  Nov.  14  was 
set  as  the  date  to  continue  the  case, 
while  Oct.  11  and  13  were  devoted 
to  hearing  Mr.  Sachse  testify  in  gen- 
eral as  to  the  contents  of  the  report 
and  his  recommendations  to  remedy  the 
Pacific  Electric's  financial  condition. 

Mr.  Sachse  recommended  that  many 
non-paying  lines  be  discontinued.  In 
his  report  he  states  that  the  entire  sys- 
tem now  shows  a  gross  deficit  of  $13,- 
443,444,  and  is  in  default  on  bond  inter- 
est to  the  extent  of  $5,000,000.  The 
company  has  been  operating  at  a  los> 
of  $500,000  to  $1,000,000  annually;  and 


under  these  conditions,  the  engineers 
find,  the  company  faces  being  delivered 
in  the  hands  of  receivers. 

The  commission's  engineer  ascribes 
the  present  condition  of  the  railroad's 
finances  largely  to  the  "cut-throat  bus 
competition."  The  motor  bus  competi- 
tion involves  the  big  issue  of  the  pres- 
ent hearing  and  from  the  report  of  the 
commission's  engineers  it  is  indicated 
that  a  new  case  at  which  this  particular 
situation  will  be  threshed  out  is  loom- 
ing up  at  this  time.  Present  conditions 
are  believed  to  show  that  southern  Cali- 
fornia is  going  to  be  the  battle  ground 
for  the  settlement  of  the  motor  bus 
and  electric  line  competition  which  has 
rapidly  been  growing  into  one  of  the 
biggest  transportation  problems  of  the 
country.  Engineer  Sachse  in  his  report 
estimated  that  the  bus  lines  were  cut- 
ting into  the  revenue  of  the  company 
to  the  extent  of  $1,000,000  annually. 
Referring  to  the  federal  census  of  1920, 
the  commission's  engineers  point  out 
that  while  the  population  in  the  four 
counties  served  by  the  Pacific  Electric 
Lines  increased  78  per  cent  over  that 
of  1910,  passenger  travel  showed  an 
increase  of  only  16.5  per  cent  over  the 
totals  of  1914.  ' 

The  engineers  stated  that  the  rates 
had  only  increased  38  per  cent  during 
the  past  four  years  while  operating 
expenses  of  the  railway  have  increased 
more  than  100  per  cent. 

Mr.  Sachse  in  his  testimony  relative 
to  the  bus  situation  stated  that  it  is  up 
to  the  people  to  decide  which  form  of 
transportation  they  desire,  and  that  he 
will  present  to  the  commission  the  cost 
of  operation  of  the  interurban  lines 
and  the  cost  of  operation  of  the  bus 
lines.  He  claims  that  the  bus  lines' 
figui-es  of  their  cost  of  operation  are 
not  presented  to  the  commission  in  the 
proper  shape,  but  that  after  a  thorough 
study  of  their  operations  he  has  found 
that  it  is  costing  the  bus  lines  a  great 
deal  more  to  operate  than  they  report 
to  the  commission. 

Mr.  Sachse  states  that  the  Pacific 
Electric  Lines  has  invested  more  than 
$2,000,000  in  street  pavement  and  an- 
nually spends  more  than  $400,000  main- 
taining this  street  pavement.  He  recom- 
mends that  the  railway  be  relieved  of 
the  financial  burden  of  street  pavement 
assessments. 

With  reference  to  deferred  mainte- 
nance, Mr.  Sachse  in  his  report  recom- 
mends that  within  the  next  three  years 
the  Pacific  Electric  spend  $3,000,000  for 


deferred  maintenance,  of  which  amount 
$1,500,000  represents  deferred  mainte- 
nance of  ways  and  structures,  while 
$1,500,000  represents  deferred  mainte- 
nance of  equipment. 

In  the  year  1910  the  company  carried 
50,000,000  passengers,  and  as  the  popu- 
lation doubled  Engineer  Sachse  claimed 
the  passenger  haul  should  have  quad- 
rupled in  the  year  1920  or  the  company 
should  have  carried  200,000,000  pas- 
sengers, but  the  company  carried  only 
96,000,000,  although  from  1910  to  1920 
inclusive,  the  system  increased  its  serv- 
ice 3,000,000  car  miles. 

Two  Six-Cent  Zones  Suggested 

The  commission's  engineers  in  their 
report  recommended  the  creation  of  a 
two-fare  zone  in  the  city  of  Los  Angeles, 
with  a  6-cent  fare  for  each  zone  and  a 
fare  from  10  to  12  cents  in  riding  from 
one  zone  into  another.  Several  plans 
for  collection  of  fares  under  the  zoning 
system  were  included  in  the  report.  In 
each  case  the  inner  zone  boundary  would 
have  a  radius  of  4h  miles  from  a  given 
center  of  the  city.  The  outer  zone 
would  average  3  miles  across  the  city 
limits.  Under  the  first  plan  the  busi- 
ness section  of  Los  Angeles  would  con- 
stitute one  zone  and  the  outlying  resi- 
dence section  the  second.  Tokens 
would  be  sold  at  the  rate  of  10  for  50 
cents,  each  token  being  good  for  a  ride 
within  a  zone. 

As  an  alternative  for  the  zone  system 
Mr.  Sachse  suggested  that  a  flat  in- 
crease in  local  fares  on  the  Pacific 
Electric  city  lines  to  8  cents  might  be 
made,  but  it  was  pointed  out  that  this 
plan  would  be  unfair  to  patrons  riding- 
only  a  few  blocks.  A  proposal  was 
also  made  to  charge  1  cent  for  each 
transfer  issued. 

Among  the  increases  asked  for  by  the 
company  are:  Increase  mileage  rate  for 
thirty-ride  family  commutation  tickets 
from  1.8  to  2  cents  per  mile,  or  11  1/9 
per  cent  increase;  20  per  cent  increase 
in  daily  commutation  sixty-ride  ticket; 
in  cities  outside  of  Los  Angeles,  10-cent 
local  fare. 

At  this  time  the  freight  earnings  rep- 
resent 30  per  cent  of  the  gross  income. 
Mr.  Sachse  recommended  that  this 
freight  business  must  continue. 

Property  Carefully  Managed 

Mr.  Sachse  stated  that  the  company's 
organization  was  being  handled  most 
efficiently  and  economically. 

Since  Mr.  Sachse  testified  that  in  his 
opinion  no  increase  in  fares  on  the 
Pacific  Electric  lines  would  be  necessary 
if  the  electric  lines  enjoyed  the  patron- 
age given  competitive  motor  freight  and 
passenger  carrying  lines,  the  bus  inter- 
ests are  battling  against  any  action  that 
might  involve  their  franchises  and 
operating  certificates. 


Taxes  on  Transportation  Repealed. — 

The  U.  S.  Senate  agreed  recently  to 
the  repeal  of  taxes  on  freight,  passen- 
ger, Pullman  and  express  transporta- 
tion, effective  Jan.  1.  The  repeal  was 
made  without  a  record  vote. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


757 


Buses  to  Extend  Railway 

According  to  a  recent  announcement 
of  Meade  Frierson,  general  manager 
of  the  Nashville  (Tenn.)  Interurban 
Railway,  an  extension  of  the  line  via 
truck  and  bus  will  be  made  to  Colum- 
bia. The  Nashville  Interurban  connects 
Brentwood,  Nashville  and  Franklin. 

It  is  planned  to  maintain  a  two-hour 
schedule  between  Nashville  and  Colum- 
bia. Passengers  will  be  taken  from 
Columbia  to  the  interurban  station  at 
Franklin  where  they  will  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  electric  road. 

This  extension  will  give  to  Columbia 
and  Maury  County  the  choice  of  two 
carriers  for  the  transfer  of  freight  and 
passenger  traffic,  the  Louisville  & 
Nashville  Railroad  (steam)  being  the 
other  property  which  maintains  a  serv- 
ice between  Nashville  and  Columbia. 


Adopts  Heart-to-Heart  Discussion 

Richard  Meriwether,  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Dallas 
(Tex.)  Railway,  has  adopted  a  plan  of 
meeting  with  the  trainmen  in  their 
various  gatherings  and  discussing  with 
them  in  a  heart-to-heart  manner  the 
problems  that  affect  them  as  well  as 
the  company's  interests. 

In  a  recent  issue  of  "Partners,"  the 

official  publication  of  the  railway,  some 

remarks   of   Mr.    Meriwether   on  his 

meeting  with  the  employees  at  the  East 

Dallas  carhouse  are  quoted.    In  part 

his  talk  follows: 

I  am  fighting  for  you  on  the  one  side 
and  the  stockholders  of  the  company  on 
the  other.  I  am  the  trustee,  so  to  speak. 
I  protect  you  first  and  then  I  scan  the 
books  in  an  endeavor  to  pay  a  little  in- 
terest to  the  ,  people  who  have  invested 
their  life  savings  in  our  company. 

Mr.  Meriwether  said  his  door  was 
open  at  all  times  to  men  who  might 
seek  information  about  the  affairs  of 
the  company.  He  algo  invited  sugges- 
tions from  the  men  whenever  they  saw 
fit  to  make  them. 


To  Teach  Safety  in  New  Way 

Teaching  safety,  through  childhood 
fairy  tales,  is  a  new  plan  which  has  re- 
cently been  started  by  the  Los  Angeles 
(Cal.)  Railway,  in  co-operation  with 
the  Board  of  Education.  More  than 
300,000  copies  of  folklore  classics  are 
being  distributed  to  school  children, 
from  the  first  to  fifth  grades,  inclusive. 
The  back  page  of  the  booklets  is  de- 
voted to  pictures  and  verse,  showing 
how  automobile  and  street  car  accidents 
happen,  and  how  they  can  be  avoided. 

It  is  the  hope  of  Mrs.  Susan  M.  Dor- 
sey,  superintendent  of  schools,  and 
agencies  working  with  the  Board  of 
Education  in  accident  prevention,  that 
the  children  will  take  the  little  books 
home  to  their  parents,  and  incidentally 
interest  them  in  the  move  for  greater 
safety.  Each  book  contains  eight  pages, 
with  colored  illustrations.  Sixteen  dif- 
ferent books  are  included  in  the  series, 
and  each  child  will  receive  eight,  ac- 
cording to  his  grade  in  school.  The  dis- 
tribution will  cover  a  period  of  two 
months. 

The  safety  suggestions  on  the  backs 
of  the  books  are  not  confined  to  street 


cars,  but  include  automobiles  and  gen- 
eral traffic  conditions.  They  do  not 
carry  the  name  of  the  street  railway. 


Rerouting  Proposed 

Best  Features  of  Many  Proposed  Plans 
Adopted  for  Application  in 
Milwaukee 

The  Milwuakee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company  has  been  directed  by 
the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission  to 
reroute  certain  of  its  railway  lines  in 
the  downtown  district  to  effect  a  re- 
duction in  the  traffic  congestion  on 
Grand  Avenue,  the  city's  principal 
business  and  amusement  center. 

The  principal  change  to  be  made  will 
be  the  shifting  of  the  Wells-Downer 
line  from  Grand  Avenue  to  Wells 
Street,  a  parallel  east  and  west  thor- 
oughfare. Stretches  of  track  on  Wells 
Street  are  owned  and  operated  by  two 
other  electric  railways,  the  Milwaukee 
Northern  Railway  and  the  Chicago, 
North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Electric 
Railway.  The  shift  in  the  route  of 
the  Wells-Downer  line  will  therefore 
necessitate  the  joint  use  of  track  by 
the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  and  the  two  other 
roads  involved.  The  commission's  or- 
der requires  that  the  change  in  the 
route  of  the  Wells-Downer  line  be 
effected  within  sixty  days  from  date  of 
issuance  of  the  order,  that  is  by  Nov. 
1,  1921. 

Other  changes  in  routing  to  be 
made  are  to  be  effected  within  ninety 
days  and  will  involve  the  State, 
National,  Third,  Vliet  and  Walnut 
lines.  The  purpose  of  these  changes 
is  to  eliminate  certain  objectionable 
turning  movements  and  reduce  the 
number  of  street  cars  passing  cer- 
tain points  in  the  downtown  dis- 
trict which  appeared  at  present  to  be 
equally  as  congested  as  Grand  Avenue 
under  present  routing.  In  this  con- 
nection the  commission  pointed  out 
that  the  operation  of  street  cars  on  the 
streets  should  be  considered  as  only  one 
element  in  the  congestion  complained 
of.  Many  things  conspire  to  create 
this  congestion,  it  said,  and  any  re- 
routing of  cars  can  be  expected  to  re- 
lieve the  condition  only  partially. 

Original  action  in  the  case  was  tak- 
en in  1913  when  the  commission  on  Dec. 
1,  1913,  ordered  the  joint  use  of  tracks 
on  Wells  Street  owned  by  the  Milwau- 
kee Northern  Railway  and  the  Chicago 
&  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway,  now 
known  as  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Electric  Railway,  by  the 
Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company  and  fixed  the  terms  and  con- 
ditions of  such  use.  The  owners  of  the 
track  appealed  to  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Dane  County,  which  held  that  the  com- 
mission's orders  were  unreasonable  in 
that  they  permitted  the  companies  hav- 
ing joint  use  of  tracks  to  examine  each 
other's  books  and  records.  In  orders 
issued  Jan.  26,  1921,  the  commission 
corrected  its  original  orders  to  meet 
the  court's  objections  and  retained 
jurisdiction  to  make  further  investiga- 


tion of  the  question  of  the  proper  meth- 
od of  compensation  upon  application  by 
any  interested  party.  Following  this 
the  city  of  Milwaukee  petitioned  the 
commission  for  an  order  requiring  the 
Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company  to  reroute  certain  of  its  cars 
from  Grand  Avenue  to  other  streets. 
Similar  petitions  were  received  from 
the  Milwaukee  Safety  Commission,  Mil- 
waukee Real  Estate  Board  and  various 
civic  organizations. 

A  hearing  was  held  in  Milwaukee  at 
which  a  number  of  rerouting  plans 
were  presented  by  various  civic  organi- 
zations. The  Milwaukee  Electric  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company  submitted  its 
views  with  reference  to  the  rerouting 
problem.  The  company's  report  sug- 
gested the  adoption  of  what  in  its 
opinion  seemed  to  be  the  best  features 
of  all  the  proposed  plans  as  a  so-called 
"composite"  plan.  Following  an  inves- 
tigation by  the  commission's  engineer- 
ing staff  and  another  public  hearing 
the  so-called  "composite"  plan  was 
adopted  by  the  commission.  It  forms, 
in  substance,  the  basis  of  the  commis- 
sion's present  order  in  the  case. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  the  com- 
mission points  out  in  its  order  that  the 
attitude  of  each  of  the  railways  in- 
volved has  been  throughout  the  entire 
proceeding,  as  expressed  by  their  rep- 
resentatives, that  they  stood  ready  to 
comply  with  any  order  for  the  rerout- 
ing of  cars  which  the  commission  de- 
termined to  be  under  all  the  circum- 
stances appropriate  and  in  the  interests 
of  the  city  of  Milwaukee  and  the  street 
car  riding  public. 


Auto  Petitions  Heard  in 
Connecticut 

The  Connecticut  Company,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  has  recently  installed  an 
auto  bus  service  between  the  tunnel  in 
Hartford  and  the  Union  Station  as  an 
experiment.  If  operation  of  the  line 
is  successful,  it  is  said,  other  routes 
for  a  similar  service  will  be  established. 
The|  Common  Council  of  Bridgeport 
has  petitioned  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission for  additional  jitney  routes, 
and  has  asked  the  commission  to 
touch  on  electric  railway  fares.  It 
is  understood,  however,  that  the  com- 
mission cannot  give  a  hearing  to  the 
Bridgeport  officials  under  the  terms  of 
the  petition.  The  commission  has 
already  conducted  hearings  on  the 
jitney  question  in  that  city. 


Auxiliary  Motor  Bus  Service 
Suggested  for  Montreal 

The  establishment  of  an  auxiliary 
autobus  service  from  St.  Catherine 
Street  to  Wellington  Street,  Montreal, 
Que.,  advocated  by  Aid  Elie,  has  been 
favorably  commented  on  by  E.  A.  Rob- 
ert, president  of  the  Montreal  Tram- 
ways, and  Messrs.  Graves  and  Seurot, 
engineers  of  the  company  and  the  Tram- 
ways Commission  respectively.  The 
matter  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Tram- 
ways Commission  for  decision.  The 
length  of  the  proposed  route  is  about  a 
mile  and  a  half. 


758 


Electric 


Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  ATo.  17 


Reduced  Fares  in  Sight 

Seattle's  City  Council  Will  Make  Thor- 
ough Study  of  All  Transportation 
Problems 

Following  the  city  of  Seattle's  vic- 
tory in  the  "Jitney  Must  Go"  campaign, 
with  the  result  that  jitneys  are  now 
barred  from  all  Seattle  streets,  the 
City  Council  is  turning  its  attention  to 
the  problem  of  reducing  street-car 
fares  on  the  lines  of  the  Municipal 
street  railways.  The  present  rates 
provide  a  10-cent  cash  fare,  with  tokens 
valued  at  Sh  cents,  for  sale  on  street 
cars.  A  number  of  suggestions  have 
been  made  for  decreasing  the  present 
fare,  and  at  an  early  session  of  the 
council  as  a  whole,  all  ramifications  of 
the  city's  transportation  problems  are 
to  be  thoroughly  discussed. 

Councilman  C.  B.  Fitzgerald,  chair- 
man of  the  finance  committee,  has  had 
introduced  in  the  city  council  an  ordi- 
nance that  provides  for  a  5-cent  fare, 
with  what  is  virtually  a  3J  cent  charge 
for  transfers.  Under  the  proposal,  a 
car  rider  would  pay  a  nickel  for  one 
ride  on  any  street  car  of  the  municipal 
street  railway.  If  he  wanted  a  trans- 
fer, however,  he  would  drop  in  the  box 
one  of  the  8s-cent  tokens,  which  would 
continue  to  be  sold  on  cars  at  three  for 
a  quarter. 

Another  ordinance  to  be  considered 
is  that  of  Councilman  Oliver  T.  Erick- 
son,  who  proposes  that  the  city  shall 
pay,  out  of  general  taxation,  for  main- 
tenance and  upkeep  of  the  municipal 
lines,  above  such  sum  as  would  be 
netted  after  the  Stone  &  Webster  bond 
interest  is  paid.  Councilman  Erickson 
believes  that  with  such  a  plan  a  car- 
fare possibly  as  low  as  3  cents  could 
be  maintained.  Councilman  Erickson's 
proposition  is  meeting  with  little  sup- 
port in  the  Council.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated that  such  a  plan  would  double 
the  present  rate  of  taxes  in  Seattle. 

Important  reductions  in  the  expense 
of  operating  the  Municipal  Street  Rail- 
way lines  are  expected  to  be  made,  the 
largest  of  which  will  be  the  item  of 
approximately  $300,000  in  revenues 
which  has  been  taken  from  the  munic- 
ipal lines  by  the  operation  of  jitneys. 
Councilman  Fitzgerald  also  proposes  to 
eliminate  an  expense  of  $140  000  a  year 
now  paid  to  extra  operatives  hired  while 
employees  of  the  street  railway  are  on 
their  15-day  annual  vacations  on  full 
pay.  Mr.  Fitzgerald  expresses  the  opin- 
ion that  with  a  proper  and  economical 
operation  of  the  lines,  the  reduction  in 
fare  will  not  result  in  a  call  on  the 
general  taxation  funds  to  meet  ex- 
penses. Every  member  of  the  City 
Council  favors  a  reduction  in  fares,  if 
such  a  change  can  be  made  and  the 
operating  expenses  of  the  lines  covered 
without  resorting  to  general  taxation. 

An  ordinance  that  is  now  before 
the  City  Council  proposes  an  ap- 
propriation of  $50,000  for  the  purchase 
of  municipal  buses  to  be  operated  on 
the  Cowen  Park  route,  these  cars  to 
run  direct  to  the  city  from  Cowen  Park 


without  stopping  en  route  to  pick  up 
or  discharge  passengers.  Residents  of 
the  district  are  extremely  anxious  to 
secure  this  service  and  have  appeared 
frequently  before  the  Council  to  urge 
their  claims. 

Mayor  Hugh  M.  Caldwell,  skeptical 
as  to  the  advisability  of  reducing  fares 
on  the  municipal  railway  to  5  cents, 
recently  called  together  a  group  of 
lawyers  to  discuss  the  possible  effect 
of  a  5-cent  fare.  The  consensus  of 
opinion  was  that  failure  to  charge  an 
adequate  fare  might  make  the  city 
liable  to  a  damage  suit  from  bondhold- 
ers. Assistant  Corporation  Counsel 
J.  T.  Kennedy  expressed  the  opinion, 
however,  that  there  is  no  legal  ques- 
tion involved  until  it  is  determined  by 
experts  and  statisticians  that  the  5- 
cent  fare  would  be  inadequate  to  pay 
the  interest  and  principal,  and  the  cost 
of  operating  the  railway.  The  so-called 
"adequate  fare"  clause  of  the  railway 
utility  bonds  was  denned  by  attorneys 
as  requiring  the  city  to  charge  a  fare 
adequate  to  meet  interest  and  redemp- 
tion without  any  reference  to  cost  of 
operation. 

Under  the  present  83-cent  fare,  the 
municipal  railway  will  go  on  a  warrant 
basis  on  or  about  Jan.  1,  1922,  in 
order  to  accumulate  sufficient  funds  to 
meet  the  first  payment  of  $833,000  to 
the  Stone  &  Webster  interests  next 
March.  This  would  mean  that  local 
banks  will  be  asked  to  cash  pay-war- 
rants, and  be  reimbursed  by  the  city 
at  a  time  when  the  revenues  of  the 
railway  will  permit.  In  addition  to  the 
$833,000  payment,  on  principal,  there 
falls  due  next  March  1  a  semi-annual 
interest  payment  of  $410,000. 


Monthly  Commutation  Scheme 
in  Muscatine 

With  the  slogan  "The  more  you  ride, 
the  less  you  pay"  the  Clinton,  Daven- 
port &  Muscatine  Railway  will  put 
into  effect  a  new  monthly  commutation 
plan  in  Muscatine  on  Nov.  1. 

Under  the  new  system  the  frequent 
rider  will  ride  cheaper  than  at  present. 
The  holders  of  a  commutation  ticket 
will  be  allowed  to  ride  on  any  railway 
line  in  the  city  for  5  cents.  Tickets 
will  cost  50  cents  and  will  be  good  for 
a  period  of  one  month.  Workmen's 
tickets  in  books  of  fifty  will  continue  to 
bo  sold  after  Nov.  1,  but  the  price  will 
be  raised  to  $2.50  a  book. 

The  accompanying  table  shows  the  net 
cost  per  trip  for  from  ten  to  one  hun- 


Rides 

Ticket 

Fare 

Net 

Month 

Cost 

Paid 

Total 

Fare 

10 

0.50 

0.50 

1.00 

10c. 

11 

0.50 

0.55 

1.05 

9.54 

12 

0.50 

0.60 

1.  10 

9.  16 

13 

0.50 

0.65 

1.  15 

8.84 

14 

0.50 

0.70 

1.20 

8.57 

15 

0.50 

0.75 

1.25 

8.33 

20 

0.50 

1.00 

1.50 

7.50 

25 

0  50 

1.25 

1.75 

7.00 

30 

0.50 

1.50 

2.00 

6.67 

40 

0.50 

2.00 

2.50 

6.25 

50 

0.50 

2.50 

3.00 

6.00 

60 

0.50 

3.00 

3.50 

5.83 

70 

0.50 

3.50 

4.00 

5.71 

80 

0.50 

4.00 

4.50 

5.62 

90 

0.50 

4050 

5.00 

5.55 

100 

0.50 

5.00 

5.50 

5.50 

dred  rides  where  commutation  tickets 
are  purchased. 

Individuals  who  will  not  benefit  un- 
der the  new  commutation  ticket  plan 
are  the  occasional  traction  line  patrons. 
If  a  man  uses  a  street  car  ten  times 
per  month  or  less,  it  will  not  pay  him 
to  invest  in  the  monthly  tickets.  He 
will  have  to  pay  the  full  10-cent  fare. 


Illinois  Commission  Denies 
Certificate  to  Competing 
Bus  Company 

A  certificate  of  convenience  and 
necessity  has  been  denied  to  the  Argo 
Motor  Bus  Company  by  the  Illinois 
Commerce  Commission.  The  company 
sought  to  operate  a  motor  bus  line  in 
competition  with  the  Chicago  &  Joliet 
Electric  Railway.  This  is  one  of  the 
first  orders  issued  by  the  new  commis- 
sion in  considering  a  large  number  of 
such  petitions  now  pending  before  it. 

The  Argo  Motor  Bus  Company  started 
operation  on  March  18,  1921,  without  a 
permit.  The  Chicago  &  Joliet  Electric 
Railway  filed  a  complaint  with  the 
commission,  which  ordered  the  bus  com- 
pany to  discontinue  operation.  The 
latter  failed  to  obey  the  order,  and  the 
matter  was  referred  to  the  Attorney 
General,  who  applied  for  an  injunction 
in  the  Circuit  Court.  In  the  meantime  * 
the  parties  who  operated  the  buses  in- 
corporated and  filed  application  with  the 
commission  for  a  certificate.  The 
court  thereafter  refused  the  injunction 
on  the  grounds  that  an  application  had 
been  duly  made  to  the  commission  for 
a  permit  and  the  date  for  the  hearing 
had  been  set. 

As  the  result  of  the  hearing  before 
the  commission,  an  order  was  issued 
denying  the  permit  on  the  grounds  that 
the  service  rendered  by  the  bus  com- 
pany was  unreliable  and  uncertain  and 
that  no  regular  scheduled  service  was 
maintained,  that  no  necessity  existed 
for  the  operation  of  motor  vehicles  be- 
tween the  point  specified  by  the  applica- 
tion, that  the  applicant  had  not  com- 
plied with  the  requirements  ef  the  law, 
and  that  the  electric  railway  was  sup- 
plying sufficient  and  adequate  trans- 
portation facilities. 

The  commission  also  stated  that  to 
grant  the  application  would  result  in 
depriving  the  public  of  adequate  and 
sufficient  transportation  facilities,  since 
it  would  become  necessary  for  the  elec- 
tric railway  to  discontinue  some  of  its 
present  service  in  order  to  pay  operat- 
ing expenses.  The  public  would  be  re- 
quired to  pay  a  higher  rate  of  fare  if 
both  motor  vehicle  and  electric  inter- 
urban  transportation  were  maintained. 

The  bus  company  has  been  operating 
from  the  Chicago  terminal  of  the  Chica- 
go &  Joliet  Electric  Railway  at  Cicero 
Avenue,  paralleling  the  interurban  line 
to  a  point  known  as  Argo,  a  few  miles 
outside  of  Chicago.  Now  that  the  com- 
mission has  issued  an  order  denying 
the  permit,  the  court  will  undoubtedly 
grant  an  order  restraining  the  bus  com- 
pany from  operating  if  the  latter  con- 
tinues. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


759 


Fare  Reductions  Sought 

Connecticut  Cities  Seek  to  Return  to 
the  Five-Cent  Unit — Company  Be- 
hind 1916  Record 

At  a  hearing  before  the  Public  Util- 
ities Commission  of  Connecticut  on  Oct. 
18  officials  of  the  city  of  Norwalk  asked 
for  a  5-cent  fare  on  the  lines  of  the 
Connecticut  Company  only  between 
certain  points.  Evidence,  however,  dis- 
closed an  attitude  in  favor  of  a  gen- 
eral reduction  in  fares. 

L.  S.  Storrs,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, said  the  recent  reduction  of 
per  cent  in  the  wages  of  trainmen 
would  probably  not  amount  to  more 
than  one-third  of  a  cent  per  passenger 
on  an  estimated  number  of  passengers 
for  1921  including  the  next  two  months. 
The  company  set  up  as  a  standard  for 
comparison  the  figures  of  1916,  the 
company's  best  year.  Even  with  jit- 
ney competition  removed,  the  advance 
in  the  number  of  passengers  carried  in 
Norwalk  in  1921  over  1916  was  only 
25  per  cent.  President  Storrs  said  that 
a  general  statement  would  be  made  for 
the  company  in  a  few  days  when  the 
results  of  the  decrease  in  the  wages  of 
the  men  had  been  figured  out. 

Norwalk  officials  introduced  evidence 
to  show  that  traffic  had  increased  88 
per  cent  over  1920  since  jitneys  were 
eliminated,  but  the  company  insisted 
on  1916  figures  as  a  basis  for  compar- 
ison for  reducing  fares. 

At  the  hearing  on  Oct.  18  on  petition 
of  the  city  of  New  Britain  for  reduced 
fares  testimony  was  given  indicating 
a  decrease  of  more  than  1,000,000 
passengers  on  that  division,  between 
November,  1920,  and  September,  1921, 
under  a  10-cent  fare  as  compared  with 
the  number  carried  in  the  same  period 
in  1915-1916  under  a  5-cent  fare. 

The  report,  however,  shows  that  since 
July  15,  when  jitney  competition  was 
restricted  under  the  new  State  jitney 
law,  the  average  increase  in  revenue 
passengers  on  the  New  Britain  division 
has  been  10.3  per  cent.  The  weekly  in- 
crease in  revenue  passengers  between 
July  15  and  Aug.  25,  according  to  the 
figures  presented,  has  ranged  from  ap- 
proximately 5,000  to  10,000  passengers. 

Under  the  5-cent  rate  during  the  1915- 
1916  period  5,446,467  passengers  were 
carried  as  against  4,140,757  passengers 
in  the  1920-1921  period  under  the  10- 
cent  rate.  Under  the  5-cent  rate  the 
fares  collected  totaled  $273,323,  while 
under  the  10-cent  rate  the  total  pas- 
senger revenue  was  $414,075. 

Mayor  Barton  of  Norwalk  and  Cor- 
poration Counsel  William  K.  Tammany 
favored  fare  reductions  for  the  city. 
The  Mayor  declared  that  the  jitneys 
carried  more  than  twice  the  number 
carried  by  the  trolleys.  He  said:  "It 
looks  to  me  like  good  business  for  the 
trolley  company  to  reduce  the  fare  to 
5  cents  and  double  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers." 

It  was  his  idea  that  solid  popular  sup- 
port for  the  company  would  accompany 
such  a  reduction. 

Mayor  Barton  said  popular  feeling 
would  prefer  the  trolleys  to  the  jitneys 


if  the  company  reduced  fares  as  this 
would  prove  it  wanted  to  serve  the 
public  and  meet  its  demands  satisfac- 
torily. He  urged  a  trial  period  at  a 
reduced  rate,  at  least.  If  the  company 
find's  a  return  to  the  5-cent  fare  to  be 
unprofitable,  the  people  of  Norwalk  are 
willing  to  have  the  question  reopened. 

It  is  generally  understood  that  other 
cities  in  the  State,  where  the  Connecti- 
cut Company  operates,  have  prepared 
petitions  asking  for  fare  reductions. 
These  have  been  held  in  abeyance,  how- 
ever, pending  a  decision  on  the  matter 
dealing  with  the  two  cities  mentioned 
by  the  Public  Utilities  Commission. 


Jitney  Problem  Acute  in  Tacoma 

City  officials  and  business  men  of 
Tacoma,  Wash.,  fearing  the  invasion 
of  the  jitneys,  and  looking  upon 
Seattle's  long  fight  as  an  example,  are 
taking  steps  to  curb  the  jitney  before 
they  become  too  strongly  entrenched. 
An  ordinance  providing  for  strict  regu- 
lation of  jitney  operation  in  the  city 
has  been  introduced  in  Council,  dis- 
cussed at  length,  and  put  over  for 
further  investigation.  The  ordinance 
is  similar  in  form  to  previous  meas- 
ures, except  that  in  the  old  one,  the 
Council  was  constrained  to  give  a 
license  upon  application,  whereas  in 
the  new  ordinance,  the  Council  may 
prescribe  conditions  and  refuse  a  per- 
mit if  it  deems  advisable. 

Commissioner  Silver  urged  that  be- 
for  an  ordinance  be  passed  "swatting 
the  jitney,"  the  Tacoma  Railway  & 
Power  Company  should  be  required  to 
state  what  it  will  give  in  the  way  of 
improved  service  or  extensions  in  re- 
turn for  elminiation  of  the  jitney  com- 
petition from  its  earnings.  Mayor 
Riddell  favored  the  immediate  pass- 
age of  the  ordinance,  which  is  pat- 
terned after  the  Seattle  ordinance,  and 
which,  if  enforced,  will  mean  the  pos- 
sible elimination  of  jitneys  from 
Tacoma  streets.  Commissioner  Silver 
pointed  out  that  conditions  are  dif- 
ferent in  Tacoma  from  those  in  Seattle, 
where  the  street  car  system  is  munici- 
pally owned. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  move 
against  the  jitneys  was  the  request 
from  the  local  association  of  street 
car  men  that  the  ordinance  be  amended 
to  compel  jitneys  operating  in  the  city 
to  operate  on  streets  at  least  one  block 
away  from  car  lines,  except  in  the 
downtown  business  section,  where  this 
would  be  impossible. 

According  to  the  monthly  report  of 
George  W.  Rounds,  superintendent  to 
the  Washington  Department  of  Public 
Works  at  Olympia,  jitney  competition 
is  becoming  an  active  factor  in  cutting 
down  the  number  of  passengers  car- 
ried and  the  revenue  derived  by  the 
Pacific  Traction  Company  and  the 
Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Company  on 
their  Tacoma  lines. 

The  month  of  August  which  rounded 
out  the  first  year  for  the  Tacoma  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company's  city  lines 
under  the  10-cent  fare,  witnessed  a 
decrease    in    revenues    of  $15,169.81 


from  the  same  month  last  year.  The 
total  passenger  fares  paid  on  city  lines 
in  August,  1921,  was  $131,103.88,  as 
against  $146,273.69  in  1920.  The  total 
number  of  passengers  carried  on  the 
city  lines  in  August,  1921,  was  2  - 
004,522,  whereas  in  1920  the  total  was 
2,268,458.  ... 

Transportation  | 
News  Notes 

Seven-Cent  Fare  Stands. — The  Public 

Service  Commission  of  Pennsylvania 
has  dismissed  petitions  of  various  Phila- 
delphia improvement  associations  and 
civic  bodies  for  reinstatement  of  the 
5-cent  fare  on  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  lines.  The  commission  recently 
ruled  that  the  7-cent  fare  would  be 
continued  pending  completion  of  valua- 
tion proceedings. 

One-Man  Cars  in  Use. — The  Interna- 
tional Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  has 
started  the  operation  of  one-man  cars 
on  the  Connecticut  Street  line.  The 
company  has  rebuilt  several  of  its 
short  double-truck  cars  of  an  old  type 
into  one-man  cars.  The  Connecticut 
line  is  the  shortest  line  in  the  city  and 
does  an  extensive  transfer  business. 
No  opposition  developed  on  the  part 
of  the  city  or  the  union  platform  em- 
ployees similar  to  the  trouble  experi- 
enced by  the  company  when  this  type 
of  cars  was  introduced  into  Lockport. 

Increased  Rates  Suspended.  —  The 
Public  Service  Commission  recently 
suspended  the  application  for  increased 
rates  on  the  railway  in  Salem,  Eugene, 
West  Linn  and  Astoria,  Ore.,  until  Jan. 
1  of  next  year.  The  Southern  Pacific 
Company,  which  owns  the  lines  oper- 
ating in  Eugene,  Salem  and  West  Linn, 
and  the  Portland  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company,  which  operates  cars 
in  Astoria,  last  July  filed  tariffs  with 
the  commission  increasing  the  prevail- 
ing fares  from  5  to  8  cents.  The  com- 
mission later  suspended  the  tariffs 
temporarily,  pending  an  investigation 
which  has  not  been  completed. 

Co-ordination  Again  Urged.  —  Not 
until  the  American  railway  man  under- 
stands that  the  motor  bus  is  not  going 
to  replace  the  railway  but  merely  to 
help  it  to  operate  in  thin-traffic  routes 
to  a  better  advantage  than  on  a  rail- 
way track,  the  transportation  problem 
will  remain  unsolved.  This  opinion  was 
recently  expressed  by  Walter  Jackson, 
electric  railway  and  motor  bus  expert, 
speaking  before  the  Boosters'  Club  at 
Danbury,  Conn.,  on  the  subject  of 
"Trackless  Transportation."  It  was  on 
the  suggestion  of  Judge  J.  Moss  Ives 
that  Mr.  Jackson  addressed  the  meet- 
ing. He  praised  the  service  and  equip- 
ment of  the  Danbury  &  Bethel  Street 
Railway  and  also  Receiver  Ives'  efforts 
to  employ  his  facilities  to  the  utmost 
advantage. 


760 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


Mr.  Potter  Again  President 

Elected  Head  of  United  Electric  Rail- 
way, Providence,  with  Termina- 
tion of  Receivership 

Albert  E.  Potter,  for  thirty  years 
identified  with  the  traction  company  of 
greater  Providence,  R.  I.,  has  been  elec- 
ted president  and  general  manager  of 
the  United  Electric  Railway.  This 
corporation  was  organized  early  this 
year  and  last  July  took  over  the  trac- 
tion properties  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Company  under  the  reorganization  plan, 
following  a  receivership  of  nearly  two 
years. 

Mr.  Potter  assumed  his  duties  on 
Oct.  1,  succeeding  Zenas  W.  Bliss,  who 
was  made  temporary  president  of  the 


Albert  E.  Potter 


corporation  pending  its  taking  over  of 
the  actual  control  and  operation  of  the 
trolley  lines  in  Providence  and  adjacent 
territory.  Mr.  Bliss  resigned  some 
weeks  ago  when  the  receivership  was 
terminated. 

Mr.  Potter  is  a  unique  figure  in  the 
Rhode  Island  traction  system.  For 
years  he  was  president  and  general 
manager  of  the  old  Rhode  Island  Com- 
pany. He  follows  in  the  footsteps  of 
his  father,  the  late  Albert  T.  Potter, 
who  was  head  of  the  trolley  lines  for 
many  years. 

Throughout  the  entire  period  when 
the  Rhode  Island  Company  was  under 
fire  and  the  public  was  criticising  the 
company  and  the  Mellen  regime,  Mr. 
Pctter  retained  full  confidence  of  the 
public.  It  was  considered  remarkable 
how  the  public  always  stood  behind 
father  and  son  in  the  management  of 
the  trolley  lines  while  it  condemned  the 
holding  companies  for  its  policies. 

Clifford  Whipple,  general  counsel  of 
the  road,  has  been  made  vice-president 
and  R.  Roscoe  Anderson  is  continued 
in  the  capacity  of  the  superintendent  of 
transportation.  The  same  personnel  in 
the  department  heads  is  also  retained. 


Following  his  election  as  president 
Mr  Potter  was  elected  a  director  of  the 
company,  taking  the  place  of  Richard 
B.  Comstock,  who  resigned.  This 
change  was  made  necessary  under  the 
company's  charter,  which  requires  that 
the  president  shall  be  chosen  from 
among  the  directors  of  the  road. 

The  new  president  has  been  identified 
with  the  trolley  company  since  boyhood. 
Born  in  Cranston,  R.  I.,  in  1873,  a  son 
of  Albert  T.  Pctter,  Mr.  Potter  received 
his  education  in  the  schools  of  that 
town  and  was  graduated  from  the  Bry- 
ant &  Stratton  Commercial  School.  In 
1892  he  went  to  work  in  the  track  de- 
partment of  the  Union  Railroad.  For 
three  years  he  was  roadmaster,  and 
;n  1895  was  made  superintendent  of 
conductors  and  motormen. 

He  was  made  superintendent  of 
transportation  in  1900  and  in  1906  be- 
came general  manager  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Company.  In  1914  he  was  made 
president  of  the  Rhode  Island  Company, 
serving  until  that  road  went  into  the 
hands  of  the  federal  trustees.  From 
that  time  on  he  remained  as  general 
manager  of  the  company. 


C.  C.  McChord  Is  Made  Chairman 
of  I.  C.  C. 

Charles  C.  McChord,  Kentucky,  was 
selected  on  Oct.  3  to  be  chairman  of 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
for  a  term  ending  on  Dec.  21,  1922. 
Commissioner  McChord,  who  is  one  of 
the  older  members  of  the  commission, 
will  complete  the  term  of  Edgar  E. 
Clark,  who  resigned  both  as  chairman 
and  as  commissioner  several  weeks  ago. 


Mr.  Oakley  Elected  Head  of 
Pacific  Claims  Association 

As  was  noted  several  weeks  ago, 
Frank  D.  Oakley  was  elected  president 
of  the  Pacific  Claim  Agents  Associa- 
tion at  its  annual  meeting  held  at 
Butte,  Mont.  He  succeeds  C.  A.  Black- 
burn, who  is  claim  agent  of  the  Butte 
(Mont.)  Electric  Railway. 

Mr.  Oakley  is  attorney  for  the 
Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
the  Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway  and 
the  Pacific  Traction  Company.  Previ- 
ous to  his  connection  with  these  inter- 
ests as  attorney  in  1912  Mr.  Oakley 
had  been  engaged  in  the  general  prac- 
tice of  law  since  he  came  to  Tacoma 
in  1905.  Mr.  Oakley  has  never  been 
connected  with  any  electric  railway  in 
any  capacity  other  than  that  of  at- 
torney. For  the  past  three  years  he 
has  held  the  office  of  vice-president  of 
the  Pacfic  Claim  Agents  Association. 

Mr.  Oakley  was  born  in  Chicago  on 
April  25,  1876,  where  he  attended  the 


Frank  D.  Oakley 


Youngstown  Manager  Resigns 

A.  W.  Hartford,  since  1912  general 
manager  of  the  Youngstown  &  Subur- 
ban Railway,  Youngstown,  Ohio.,  re- 
cently announced  his  resignation,  ef- 
fective Oct.  30.  He  will  spend  the 
winter  in  Florida. 

A.  L.  Reynolds,  who  has  been  asso- 
ciated in  the  management  since  Day 
&  Zimmerman  of  Philadelphia  acquired 
an  interest  in  the  property  about  two 
years  ago,  will  succeed  Mr.  Hartford. 
Mr.  Reynolds  was  appointed  general 
superintendent  of  the  Youngstown  prop- 
erty in  March  of  this  year.  He  was 
formerly  in  the  operating  department 
of  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany. An  extended  review  of  Mr. 
Reynolds'  career  was  given  in  the  issue 
of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
March  26,  1921. 


S.  J.  Keenan,  general  passenger  agent 
of  the  Hudson  Valley  Railway,  Glens 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  now  has  the  title  of  gen- 
eral freight  and  passenger  agent,  hav- 
ing taken  over  the  duties  of  the  former 
general  freight  agent  F.  F.  Newberry. 


Northwestern  University  and  subse- 
quently the  University  of  Michigan. 

The  other  officers  who  were  elected 
for  the  ensuing  year  are  first  vice- 
president,  C.  M.  McRoberts,  Los 
Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway;  second  vice- 
president,  P.  O.  Solon,  Tacoma  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  Tacoma, 
Wash.;  third  vice-president,  J.  W. 
Grace,  Sacramento  (Cal.)  Northern 
Railway. 


Dan  Fisher  Leaves  the  Strickland 
Interests  in  Texas 

Dan  Fisher,  assistant  to  the  president 
and  in  charge  of  publicity  of  the  Dallas 
(Tex.)  Railway,  Texas  Electric  Rail- 
ways, Texas  Power  &  Light  Company 
and  other  Strickland  interests  in  Dallas, 
Tex.,  has  tendered  his  resignation  from 
the  companies. 

Mr.  Fisher  has  been  confidential 
man  for  the  late  Col.  J.  F.  Strickland 
for  thirteen  years  and  had  held  the 
position  as  head  of  the  publicity  depart- 
ment of  the  Strickland  interests  for 
more  than  three  years.  A  successor 
to  Mr.  Fisher  has  not  yet  been  chosen. 


October  22,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


761 


John  S.  Hester,  superintendent  of 
overhead  and  transportation  of  the 
Laurel  Light  &  Railway  Company, 
Laurel,  Miss.,  has  been  promoted  to 
general  superintendent,  since  A.  B. 
Coryell  has  resigned  as  superintendent 
of  power.  In  connection  with  his  other 
duties,  Mr.  Hester  will  supervise  the 
operation  of  the  power  plant.  Mr. 
Coryell  has  been  appointed  general 
superintendent  of  the  Muskogee  (Okla.) 
Electric  Traction  Company  and  the 
Shawnee  &  Tecumseh  Traction  Com- 
pany as  was  noted  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Sept.  17. 

J.  W.  Hale,  general  manager  of  the 
Humboldt  Transit  Company,  Eureka, 
Cal.,  was  succeeded  by  John  Griffiths, 
superintendent  of  Public  Works,  with 
the  transfer  of  the  property  to  the  city 
of  Eureka.  It  is  the  intention  of  Mr. 
Griffiths  to  make  numerous  extensions 
just  as  soon  as  the  municipal  organiza- 
tion has  been  completed.  The  only 
changes  made  in  the  personnel  of  the 
company  so  far  were  in  the  positions 
of  inspector,  electrician  and  shop  fore- 
man, track  foreman  and  clerk  and  time 
keepers.  For  these  positions  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Works  Griffiths  sub- 
mitted the  names  of  Mitchell  Russell 
for  inspector,  H.  L.  Duncan  for  elec- 
trician and  shop  foreman,  I.  A.  Malone 
for  track  foreman  and  Paul  Humphries 
for  clerk  and  time  keeper.  These  ap- 
pointments were  confirmed  by  the  city 
council. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


James  K.  King,  sixty-four  years  old, 
of  the  legal  department  of  the  Indian- 
apolis (Ind.)  Street  Railway,  died  at 
his  home  in  Indianapolis  recently. 

Charles  W.  Davis,  vice-president  and 
general  sales  manager  of  the  Standard 
Underground  Cable  Company,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  died  in  New  York  recently. 
Mr.  Davis  had  been  connected  with  the 
company  for  the  past  twenty  years. 

Jacob  Brenner,  receiver  of  the 
Staten  Island  (N.  Y.)  Midland  Railway, 
died  suddenly  on  Oct.  16.  Mr.  Bren- 
ner, who  was  also  commissioner  of 
jurors  of  Kings  County  and  a  veteran 
Republican  leader  of  the  Eighth  As- 
sembly District  in  Brooklyn,  and  for 
a  generation  had  been  in  the  forefront 
of  Republican  politics  in  Kings  County. 
He  was  born  sixty-four  years  ago  on 
the  east  side  of  Manhattan,  but  had 
resided  since  babyhood  in  Brooklyn, 
his  home  at  the  time  of  his  death  being 
252  Charles  Street.  By  profession  a 
lawyer,  he  had  been  the  junior  partner 
of  Beams  &  Brenner  since  1891,  hav- 
ing founded  his  own  firm  after  twenty 
years'  experience  in  the  office  of  Smith, 
Woodward  &  Buckley.  In  1893  he  was 
appointed  counsel  to  the  Police  Depart- 
ment of  the  old  city  of  Brooklyn,  and 
served  through  two  administrations. 
From  1897  to  1902  he  was  a  city  mag- 
istrate. 


Toronto  Commission  Seeking 
Buyers  for  Old  Rolling  Stock 

The  Toronto  Transportation  Commis- 
sion, in  the  course  of  rehabilitating 
and  revamping  the  Toronto  Railway, 
which  it  has  been  operating  since  Sept. 
1,  has  recently  taken  steps  to  dispose 
of  340  single-end  city-service  street 
cars.  The  majority  of  these  cars  are 
single  and  double-truck  closed  motor 
cars,  although  there  are  some  single- 
truck  trail  cars.  The  motor  cars  are 
eauipped  with  either  G.  E.  67,  G.  E.  80 
or  G.  E.  1,000  motors  and  K-6  or  K-10 
controllers.  The  commission  also  has  a 
stock  of  spare  equipment  which  will 
also  be  sold.  The  wheel  gage  of  the 
cars  is  4  ft.  101  in. 

Tenders  should  be  addressed  to  the 
chairman  of  the  commission. 


Porcelain  Insulator  Market 

Although  prices  on  high-tension  por- 
celain insulators  of  both  the  pin  and 
strain  types  have  been  reduced  only 
10  per  cent  within  the  last  year,  there 
appears  to  be  little  likelihood  of  any 
further  material  reductions  in  the  near 
future.  Insulator  manufacturers  state 
that  in  their  processes  of  manufacture 
it  is  essential  that  the  personnel  of 
the  workmen  be  changed  as  little  as 
possible  in  order  to  maintain  a  uni- 
formly standard  product.  Reductions 
in  labor  costs  have  been  very  small, 
and  these  have  been  offset  by  increased 
charges  for  freight  on  both  raw  mate- 
rial and  finished  products.  Comparison 
of  present  prices  with  those  on  a  pre- 
war basis  is  difficult  because  of  changes 
and  developments  in  materials  and 
design  and  the  different  requirements 
for  both  types  of  high-tension  insu- 
lators. 

The  domestic  market  is  fairly  quiet. 
Most  sales  are  small  and  appear  to  be 
for  replacement  and  maintenance  pur- 
poses. Few  long  extensions  are  being 
made  and  this  has  naturally  curtailed 
the  demand. 

Foreign  sales  are  holding  up  well, 
and  manufacturers  report  that  many 
European  countries  have  a  decided 
preference  for  American  insulators 
because  their  serviceability  has  been 
demonstrated  in  actual  practice  here. 
In  some  countries  German  competition 
has  appeared,  but  is  not  regarded  as 
serious  except  in  the  case  of  insulators 
for  the  lower  transmission  voltages. 


Direct  Current  Recommended 
for  Netherlands 

The  commission  appointed  in  Jan- 
uary, 1920,  to  study  the  desirability  of 
electrification  of  all  railways  in  Holland 
has  prepared  a  report  which,  it  is  un- 
derstood, not  only  favors  such  a  scheme 
but  recommends  the  use  of  1,500  volts 


direct  current.  It  is  also  recommended 
that  the  electrification  be  made  in  con- 
nection with  the  proposed  unification  of 
electric  light  and  power  service  through- 
out the  country.  There  is  no  indication, 
however,  that  this  work  will  be  under- 
taken in  the  near  future. 


Trolley  Cord  Quotations  Higher 

Recent  increases  in  the  raw  cotton 
market  have  been  reflected  in  a  rise  in 
prices  for  bell,  register  and  trolley  cord. 
Within  the  past  three  weeks  increases 
in  the  various  grades  of  cord  have  been 
in  the  neighborhood  of  10  per  cent.  Ac- 
cording to  the  grade  desired  one  rep- 
resentative manufacturer  quotes  from 
42  to  60  cents  a  pound  for  trolley  cord 
while  the  price  of  bell  and  register  cord 
varies  between  66  and  74  cents  a  pound. 
These  prices  on  an  average  are  about  4 
cents  a  pound  higher  than  those  quoted 
six  months  ago. 

Buying  in  the  trolley  field  is  quiet 
and  the  car  building  field  is  not  provid- 
ing anything  like  normal  demand 
though  purchases  for  ordinary  mainte- 
nance have  been  steady.  Stocks,  con- 
sequently, are  in  good  condition  both  in 
manufacturers'  and  jobbers'  hands  and 
buyers  will  find  no  difficulty  in  having 
orders  promptly  filled. 


Large  Cement  Output 
in  September 

The  movement  of  portland  cement 
continued  on  a  large  scale  throughout 
September,  more  than  11,300,000  bbl. 
having  been  shipped  from  mills.  Ship- 
ments of  portland  cement  during  the 
third  quarter  of  the  year  were  approxi- 
mately 33,970,000  bbl.,  establishing  a 
record  for  this  quarter.  For  the  nine 
months  ended  Sept.  30,  1921,  the  ship- 
ments amounted  to  74,045,000  bbl., 
which  exceeds  the  former  record  volume 
moved  in  the  corresponding  period  of 
1920.  Favorable  operating  conditions 
are  indicated  by  the  large  September 
production  of  10,027,000  bbl.  of  finished 
cement,  which  established  a  record  for 
that  month.  The  average  daily  produc- 
tion was  greater  than  that  of  August. 

Pole  Demand  Satisfactory 

The  demand  recently  for  poles  of 
all  varieties  continues  very  satisfac- 
tory, with  jobbers  reporting  white  cedar 
and  chestnut  poles  as  increasingly 
active.  One  of  the  largest  jobbers  in 
the  South  reports  the  receipt  of  heavy 
inquiries  for  poles  from  utilities  during 
the  past  several  weeks.  Stocks  of  the 
better  class  of  poles  in  that  territory 
are  fairly  good,  with  shipments  from 
yards  are  quite  prompt. 

In  the  middle  West  stocks  are  heavy 
and  moving  slowly.  A  nominal  quota- 
tion is  $8.60  for  a  35-ft.,  6-in.  top 
Northern  white  cedar. 


762 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  17 


ballast  and  pavement  on  the  western  sec- 
tion of  Washington  Street  and  new  ties 
and  ballast  are  now  being  installed  on  the 
Gage  Street  line.  At  Seventh  and  Main 
the  entire  cross  track  and  curve  from  east 
to  north  is  being  replaced  with  new  ma- 
terial. 

Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Portland,  Ore.,  will  complete  within 
the  next  two  months,  construction  work 
costing  $240,000.    The  entire  Killingsworth 

Avenue  improvement,  covering  11  miles  and 
costing  $60,000,  will  be  completed  within 
two  weeks.  Rebuilding  of  the  west  track 
on  Third  Street  from  Washington  to 
Flanders  will  cost  $30,000,  while  the  new 
bridge  over  the  junction  of  the  Bull  Run 
and  Sandy  Rivers  will  cost  $150,000. 

Toronto  (Ont.)  Transportation  Commis- 
sion has  about  2,000  men  laying  new  lines, 
changing  old  ones,  installing  new  inter- 
sections and  making  other  betterments  on 
various  parts  of  the  system.  The  Dundas 
line  from  Keele  Street  is  the  first  to  be 
completely  overhauled  for  the  operation  of 
the  new  cars.  New  intersections  have  been 
installed  and  the  operation  of  the  cars 
started  Sept.  24.  The  Coxwell  Avenue 
extension,  which  is  being  built,  consists  of 
a  new  double  track,  a  total  distance  of 
approximately  2,400  ft.  The  existing  single 
track  on  Gerrard  Street  north  to  Danforth 
Avenue  will  be  made  into  a  double  track, 
with  doubletrack  Y's  at  Gerrard  Street 
north  to  Danforth  Avenue,  and  to  con- 
nections with  the  Danforth  car  house  yards, 
a  total  distance  of  approximately  2  900 
ft.  of  single  track.  The  straight  track  will 
be  laid  with  100-lb.  A.R.A.  type-A  rail, 
on  ties  and  tie  plates,  on  a  9  in.  concrete 
base,  with  crushed  stone  cushion.  The 
paving  will  be  granite  block  with  cement 
grout.  The  special  track  work  will  be 
A.E.R.A.  standard  122-lb.  girder  and  100- 
lb.  girder  guard  rail.  This  piece  of  con- 
struction will  connect  the  Toronto  Civic 
Railway,  Danforth  Avenue  and  Gerrard 
Street  lines  with  the  Toronto  Railway  lines 
at  Queen  Street.  An  intersection  has  been 
installed  at  the  corner  of  Broadview 
Avenue  and  Danforth  Avenue,  to  connect 
the  Toronto  Railway  tracks  with  the 
Toronto  Civic  Railway,  Danforth  line.  A 
large  force  is  changing  the  line,  repairing 
the  pavement  and  doing  other  work  on 
the  Bathurst  Street  line,  northerly  from 
its  connection  with  the  Dundas  Street  line. 
A  0.75  mile  extension  of  the  Bathurst 
Street  line  to  St.  Clair  Avenue  is  being 
built,  and  it  is  expected  that  it  will  be 
ready  for  operation  in  November.  The 
tracks  are  being  extended  on  Bloor  Street 
west,  from  Runnvmede  Road  to  Jane  Street 
six  blocks,  2.250  ft. 


ment  was  installed  by  the  Bethlehem  Ship- 
building Corporation. 

Toronto  (Ont.)  Transportation  Commis- 
sion has  let  a  contract  to  "Wells  &  Gray 
for  the  erection  of  an  addition  to  the 
Toronto  Civic  Railway  car  house,  Danforth 
and  Coxwell  Avenues,  at  an  estimated  cost 
of  $235  000.  The  extension  will  consist 
of  three  concrete  car  houses,  with  provi- 
sion for  offices  and  stores,  and  the  contract 
includes  alterations  to  the  existing  build- 
ins,  the  plumbing  and  heating,  and  the 
provision  of  rolling  steel  doors.  The  ex- 
isting car  house  accommodates  39  cars, 
and  with  the  extension  will  accommodate 
203.  Another  contract  has  been  let  to 
Jackson,  Lewis  Company,  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  St.  Clair  car  houses.  The 
present  car  houses  consist  of  two  buildings, 
one  built  in  1913,  the  other  in  1916,  each 
being  200  ft.  x  40  ft.  with  three  tracks  in 
each  unit,  housing  altogether  18  cars.  With 
the  additions  to  the  buildings  and  yards. 
50  cars  will  be  accommodated  inside  and 
107  outside.  The  extensions  to  the  present 
buildings  consist  of  two  sheds  to  the  south, 
230  ft.  x  44i  ft.  each  containing  three 
tracks  at  13  ft.  centers.  On  the  north 
another  section  will  be  built,  .326  ft.  x 
44  J  ft.,  containing  offices  .trainmen's 
recreation  rooms,  lavatories,  locker  rooms, 
stores,  boiler  room  and  a  two  track 
repair  bay.  All  the  new  buildings  will  be 
of  reinforced  concrete,  with  brick  and  tile 
walls.  The  repair  section  to  the  north 
will  have  a  wood  block  floor,  and  one 
repair  track  will  be  equipped  with  hoisting 
machinery  to  raise  the  cars  from  the  trucks. 
Wheel  grinders  will  be  installed  and  other 
smaller  equipment  for  carrying  out  minor 
repairs.  The  whole  group  of  buildings, 
both  old  and  new,  will  be  sprinklered 
throughout,  and  a  40,000  gal.  tank  will  be 
erected  to  supplement  the  city  pressure. 
The  storage  sheds  proper  will  be  open 
both  ends,  and  each  track  bay  will  be 
equipped  with  rolling  steel  doors  ralsea 
and  lowered  by  individual  motors.  It  is 
expected  to  have  the  new  buildings  com- 
pleted by  December.  The  approximate  cost 
is  $220,000. 


Trade  Notes 


Edward  L.  Oerter,  comptroller  of  the 
J.  G.  Brill  Company,  Philadelphia,  for  the 
past  ten  years,  has  been  appointed  secre- 
tary of  the  company  to  succeed  Henry  C. 
Eslirig.  announcement  of  whos°  death  was 
made  in  the  Sept.  24  issue  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal. 


Rolling  Stock 

i  ■ 

City  'council  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  has  en- 
acted an  ordinance  to  appropriate  $50,000 
for  the  purchase  of  municipal  buses  to 
serve  Cowen  Park,  South  Beacon  Hill  and 
other  suburban  districts.  A  separate  ap- 
propriation provides  for  the  purchase  of 
twenty-five  new  street  cars. 

Toronto  (Ont.)  Transportation  Commis- 
sion has  received  50  motor  cars  from  the 
Canadian  Car  &  Foundry  Company  on  its 
order  of  100  motor  cars  and  60  trailers 
from  that  company.  The  total  number  of 
new  cars  ordered  was  210,  an  order  for  50 
motor  cars  having  been  placed  with  the 
Canadian  Brill  Companv.  _ 

Nashville  (Tenn.)  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany lately  placed  an  order  with  the 
Nichols-Lintern  Company  for  a  small  num- 
ber of  mechanical  sanders.  This  order, 
with  others  which  have  been  given  from 
time  to  time,  will  lead  to  the  total  equip- 
ment of  their  rolling  stock  with  sanding 
apparatus. 

United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md.,  placed  an  order  this  week 
with  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  for  twenty- 
two  one-man  double-passageway  improved 
safety  cars.  Ten  cars  of  this  type  were 
purchased  last  May  and  the  specifications 
of  this  equipment  were  given  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  for  May  14,  1921. 
This  type  of  car  was  fully  described  in  the 
issue  for  Sept.  10,  both  as  to  design  and 
operating  features. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission  Ont. 
Canada  has  started  work  on  the  extensions 
to  the  Windsor  Street  Railway  estimated 
to  cost  $900,000. 

Jamestown  (N.  Y.)  Street  Railway  will 
lay  a  four-way  switch  in  the  center  of  the 
city  and  double  tracks  will  be  laid  in  Main 
and  Third  Streets. 

Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway  will 
very  shortly  begin  work  on  relocating  the 
tracks  on  Humboldt  Avenue.  At  the  same 
time  the  city  will  repair  the  street. 

Sacramento  Northern  Railroad,  Sacra- 
mento, Cal.,  will  be  rehabilitated  if  it  is 
taken  over  by  the  Western  Pacific  Railroad. 
About  $3,000,000  will  be  spent  in  improv- 
ing the  system. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Company  will 
extend  its  East  End  car  line  to  California. 
Ohio,  if  the  electors  at  the  special  elec- 
tion which  has  been  authorized  favor  the 
improvement. 

Key  West  (Fla.)  Electric  Company  has 
relaid  the  main  divisions  of  its  line  with 
80-lb.  7-in.  rails  replacing  the  old  4-in. 
rail  on  Simonton,  United  and  Duval 
Streets. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Company  will 
install  new  tracks  at  Liberty  Street, 
Western  Avenue  and  Freeman  Avenue  to 
eliminate  a  bad  turn  and  congestion  in  that 
section.  The  city  will  pay  for  the  razing 
of  buildings  necessary  for  this  improve- 
ment. 

San  Jose  (Cal.)  Railroad  has  been 
granted  permission  to  remove  a  turnout 
from  the  line  now  operating  on  East  Julian 
and  North  Eleventh  Streets  and  to  install 
the  necessary  equipment  for  a  new  turnout 
on  North  Eleventh  as  near  as  practicable 
to  East  Julian. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  has  been  granted  permission  to  re- 
move its  center  poles  and  replace  them 
with  span  poles  to  carry  its  trolley  feed 
and  other  wires  between  Orchard  Avenue 
and  Normandie  Avenue  on  its  Sixteenth 
Street  Railroad  line  in  Los  Angeles. 

Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany has  recently  bought  about  80,000 
Douglas  fir  ties  in  the  far  northwest,  and 
they  have  been  shipped  by  water  to  Phila- 
delphia. Owing  to  the  low  water  rate  on 
shipments  of  this  kind,  the  ties  are  said 
to  have  cost  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Company  only  a  little  more  than  $1  each. 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
New  York.  IT.  Y..  will  have  its  line  ex- 
tended from  the  Grand  Central  Station  to 
Forty-first  Street  and  Eighth  Avenue  as 
soon  as  the  contract  for  the  work  has  been 
awarded.  Bids  for  constructing  this 
Queensboro  extension  will  be  opened  on 
Nov.  9  by  the  Transit  Commission. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  has  com- 
pleted the  installation   of  new  track,  ties, 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway  will 
open  up  its  new  Arlington  Street  subway 
station  in  time  for  the  rush  of  Christmas 
shoppers. 

Fort  Smith  Light  &  Traction  Company, 
Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  will  add  a  7,000-hp.  gen- 
erator to  its  equipment  early  next  year. 
The  new  plant  will  cost  $100,000  and  it  is 
expected  it  will  be  in  operation  by  March  1. 

Indiana  Service  Corporation.  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.,  has  purchased  two  1.000-kw.  rotary 
converters  in  connection  with  its  new  sub- 
station. Transformers  and  switchboards 
have  been  purchased  from  the  General 
Electric  Company.  The  company  has  also 
bought  three  2.500-kw.  2  300-13, 000-volt 
and  three  1,000-kw.  oil-cooled  outdoor 
transformers.  Outdoor  substation  equip- 
ment has  been  purchased  from  the  Railway 
Industrial  Engineering  Company,  which, 
together  with  five  outdoor  oil  switches  and 
two  outdoor  lightning  arrester  equipments, 
will  make  up  the  outdoor  substation  struc- 
ture. The  substation  cost,  including  equip- 
ment, building  and  changing  feeder  cir- 
cuits, will  be  approximately  $110,000. 

Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway, 
Boston,  has  recently  converted  its  Quincy 
Point  power  house  from  a  coal  burning  to 
a  fuel-oil  burning  plant.  A  contract  has 
been  made  bv  the  company  with  the  New 
England  Refining  Company  for  approxi- 
mately 7.500,000  gal.  of  fuel  oil  per  year 
for  trie  Quincy  plant  which  supplies  elec- 
tricity for  the  operation  of  trolley  cars 
in  four  cities  and  nineteen  towns  on  the 
Bay  State  System  south  of  Boston.  The 
substitution  of  oil,  the  company  is  con- 
vinced, will  mean  substantial  saving  in 
cost,  the  benefit  of  which  under  the  service 
at  cost  plan  will  be  distributed  among 
Quincy,  Brockton,  Taunton  and  Fall  River 
operating  districts.    The  oil  burning  equip- 


George  L.  Sawyer,  formerly  sales  man- 
ager of  the  material  handling  machinery 
for  Barber-Greene  Company,  Aurora,  111., 
has  been  appointed  to  represent  the  Uni- 
versal Crane  Company,  Elyria,  Ohio  in 
the  sale  of  Universal  cranes  In  the  New 
York  field.  His  offices  are  at  141  Center 
St.,  New  York  City. 

O.  B.  Frink,  assistant  principal  engineer 
of  the  Hall  Switch  &  aignal  Company, 
Garwood,  N.  J.,  has  been  appointed  rep- 
resentative of  the  Waterbury  Battery  Com- 
pany, Waterbury,  Conn.,  with  office  at  30 
Church  Street,  New  York  City,  and  S.  J. 
Houeh  fi^id  service  engineer  at  New  York, 
of  the  Waterbury  Battery  Company,  has 
been  appointed  western  representative  with 
office  at  1361  Peoples  Gas  Building,  Chi- 
cago 111. 

Rubber  Insulated  Metal  Corporation,  91 
William  Street.  New  York,  now  has  as  its 

president  C.  T.  L.  Huston,  who  was  the 
organizer  of  the  company,  and  who  has 
taken  back  the  control  and  management 
from  the  Century-Plainfield  Tire  Company. 
It  is  intended  to  pursue  exclusively  the 
manufacture  of  mechanical  rubber  goods 
whereby  the  Elchemco  process  is  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  Rimco  insulation  for 
such  articles  as  pliers,  screw,  drivers,  flex- 
ible couplings,  etc.  William  F.  Hart,  who 
was  the  sales  manager  of  the  company, 
has  resumed  his  former  office.  The  execu- 
tive office  will  be  at  the  previously  men- 
tioned address  and  all  business  transactions 
will  be  handled  there. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


The   3.   G.  Brill    Company,  Philadelphia, 

has  just  issued  a  pamphlet  which  describes 
the  Brill  type  of  electric  rail-less  cars,  in- 
cluding a  novel  current  collector  and  other 
interesting  features.  A  description  Is  given 
also  of  the  control  system  which  consists 
of  a  current-relay  contact  system  with  a 
foot  master  controller. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL,  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 

H  \KRY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor       N  A. BOWERS. Pacific  Coast  Editor       H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W..syUlER. Associate  Editor      C.W. STOCKS,  Associate  Edit** 
G.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editm  DONALD  F. HI NE. Editorial  Representative  P U!L  WOOTON. Washington  Representative 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  October  29,  1921 


1,  mean  st 


Number  18 


Mail  Pay  on  a  Better  Basis 
Than  Formerly 

ONE  of  the  striking  evidences  of  the  value  to  the 
industry  of  association  work  is  shown  in  the  serv- 
ices performed  by  the  mail  pay  committee,  whose  report 
for  the  last  year  was  presented  at  the  Atlantic  City 
Convention  and  was  abstracted  in  the  Oct.  8  issue  of 
this  paper. 

Under  the  old  mail  pay  committee,  as  many  members 
of  the  industry  know,  a  substantial  step  forward  in  the 
fight  for  fair  and  compensatory  rates  of  pay  for  mail 
carriage  was  made.  Perhaps  this  is  best  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  after  the  decision  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  was  handed  down,  the  appropriation 
to  the  Post  Office  Department  for  mail  carriage  by  elec- 
tric lines  was  increased  from  $545,000  to  $707,000  or 
by  $162,000;  that  is,  30  per  cent. 

During  that  struggle  the  committee  succeeded  in  get- 
ting the  question  of  side  and  terminal  service  elimi- 
nated as  a  burden  to  the  carriers.  The  commission  also 
established  the  principle  of  limiting  the  number  of 
pouches  of  mail,  or  pieces  of  parcel  post,  that  could  be 
carried  on  cars  for  a  fiat  rate  per  mile.  In  other  words, 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  put  the  mail 
handling  on  a  space  basis. 

Those  of  the  industry  who  are  familiar  with  the 
burdensome  restrictions  that  were  imposed  by  the  Post 
Office  Department  rulings  on  these  two  matters  of 
course  recognize  that  a  real  victory  was  obtained  in  the 
decision  of  the  commission,  and  the  mail  pay  commit- 
tee and1  the  member  companies  represented  by  them  are 
entitled  to  congratulations  for  such  success  as  crowned 
their  efforts. 

As  indicated  in  the  report  presented  at  the  conven- 
tion, however,  the  mail  pay  committee  is  satisfied  that 
the  new  rates  are  not  fully  compensatory.  Therefore  it 
recommended  to  the  association  that  the  fight  for  jus- 
tice be  carried  on  still  further  and  this  recommendation 
was  approved. 

Since  the  change  in  administration  in  Washington 
last  March,  a  different  spirit  has  prevailed  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  Post  Office  Department,  and  the  committee, 
as  the  report  indicated,  has  received  the  promise  of 
co-operation  by  the  Second  Assistant  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral to  the  end  that  the  facts,  as  ascertained  by  the 
data  sheets  and  other  study,  can  be  agreed  upon  in  ad- 
vance. This  is  a  businesslike  way  of  approaching  the 
subject  as  it  will  eliminate  the  necessity  for  a  long 
drawn  out  and  tedious  series  of  hearings  and  will  en- 
able a  much  more  efficient  and  concise  presentation  of 
the  case  before  the  commission  for  argument.  The  plan 
should  permit  the  committee  so  to  put  forth  its  argu- 
ments and  conclusions  that  further  relief  ought  to  en- 
sue when  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  decides 
the  case. 

The  matter  is  being  referred  to  here  editorially,  as  in- 
dicating one  of  the  many  lines  of  productive  activity 
•engaged  in  by  the  American  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion and  its  committees,  and  one  that  should,  if  a  suc- 


cessful termination  is  reached,  mean  still  more  revenue 
to  those  companies  which  are  now  burdened  with  the 
carriage  of  the  mails. 

Furthermore,  under  the  present  law,  it  is  understood 
that  the  Post  Office  Department  has  the  right  to  demand 
the  carriage  of  the  mail  by  any  electric  railway.  There- 
fore, all  electric  railway  companies,  whether  members 
of  the  association  or  not,  have  a  potential  interest  in  the 
work  of  the  committee  on  mail  pay,  because  they  might 
at  any  time  be  required  to  carry  mail,  and,  even  at  the 
present  rates,  most  companies  would  carry  the  mail  at 
a  loss. 

There  is  ample  justification,  therefore,  in  this  situa- 
tion for  the  industry  to  put  united  support  behind  the 
mail  pay  committee  in  its  efforts  to  lighten  the  burdens 
laid  heretofore  upon  many  of  the  companies  by  the 
Post  Office  Department. 


Does  Engineering  Training 
Fit  for  Management? 

DOES  an  engineering  education  fit  or  unfit  a  man 
for  executive  leadership?  This,  after  all,  was  the 
question  at  issue  in  several  addresses  at  a  joint  meeting 
of  engineers  held  in  New  York  on  Oct.  19.  On  the  one 
side  the  charge  was  made  that  the  habit  of  mind  of 
solving  problems  with  mathematical  exactness  followed 
by  the  engineer  was  incompatible  with,  or  usually  not 
accompanied  by,  that  vision  of  possible  future  growth 
which  is  necessary  in  large  undertakings  or  the  faculty 
of  establishing  good  relations  with  employees  and  the 
public.  To  quote  the  advocate  of  this  theory,  Mr. 
Cabot,  a  Boston  banker : 

"His  [the  typical  engineer's]  natural  position  is  that 
of  the  hand  which  executes  rather  than  the  mind  that 
conceives.  Leadership  is1  not  native  to  him,  his  enthu- 
siasms have  been  put  under  stern  control,  locked  up  so 
that  they  cannot  warp  his  judgment — they  cannot  easily 
be  released  to  inspire  others.  In  fact,  they  are  often 
atrophied.  ...  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  impos- 
sible for  an  engineer  to  be  a  great  leader  and  manager 
of  industry.  All  that  I  maintain  is  that  his  natural 
handicap  is  increased  by  our  present  methods  of  train- 
ing to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  him  an  unpromising 
candidate  for  promotion  to  such  positions,  and  I  say 
this  with  full  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  his  selection 
to  fill  them  has  become  increasingly  common  of  late 
years,  especially  in  public  service  corporations." 

In  defense  of  this  theory  the  achievements  of  Vander- 
bilt,  Hill,  Carnegie,  Schwab,  Gary,  Ford,  Westinghouse, 
Coffin,  Vail  and  others  were  cited.  Particular  mention 
was  made  of  the  record  of  T.  N.  Vail,  whose  successful 
direction  of  the  A.  T.  &  T.  was  declared  not  to  have 
been  equaled  during  the  past  seven  years  by  that  of  the 
management  of  any  other  utility  or  group  of  utilities. 

So  much  for  the  prosecution.  On  the  other  side, 
there  were  not  lacking  defenders  of  the  engineers,  who 
declared  that  it  was  the  engineer  whose  exact  training 
was  often  required  to  rescue  and  rehabilitate  a  utility 
err  other  enterprise  after  the  promoters  and  their  finan- 


764 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  -3 


cial  backers  with  their  impracticable  ideas  and  schemes 
of  high  finance  had  brought  the  property  into  financial 
difficulties. 

Of  course  it  would  be  improper  to  ignore  the  merits 
of  each  type  of  mind.  Our  great  utilities  and  industrial 
enterprises  would  not  be  in  existence  but  for  the  en- 
thusiasm, creative  genius  and  courage  of  the  pioneers. 
Much  of  the  practice  of  anticipating  development  and 
building  for  the  future  could  well  be  copied  by  some  of 
their  more  prosaic  successors.  But  the  present  time 
particularly  calls  for  executives  who,  while  having  a 
vision,  can  tell  whether  that  vision  is  real  or  imaginary, 
is  an  oasis  or  merely  a  mirage,  and  that  their  paths  are 
being  directed  by  a  beacon  and  not  a  will-o'-the-wisp. 
The  modern  president  of  a  utility  must  be  economical 
but  ready  at  the  same  time  to  spend  money  when  the 
conditions  warrant.  He  must  understand  how  to  deal 
with  men  as  well  as  with  materials. 

Not  all  engineers — perhaps  it  can  be  said  not  many 
engineers — can  do  this,  but  their  percentage  of  failure 
probably  is  not  as  great  or  no  greater  than  among  the 
non-engineers,  including  among  the  latter  the  bankers. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  study  of  engineering  itself 
which  should  preclude  the  broader  knowledge  required 
to  conduct  large  enterprises  successfully.  Rather,  en- 
gineering education  should  train  a  man  to  substitute 
judgment  based  on  knowledge  for  haphazard  guess 
based  on  surmise  or  intuition.  There  are  many  con- 
spicuous examples  of  men  with  engineering  training  who 
have  directed  or  created  large  undertakings.  The  names 
of  George  Westinghouse,  General  Goethals  and  Herbert 
Hoover  will  occur  to  the  mind  at  once  as  notable  in- 
stances. In  the  public  utility  field  there  are  of  course 
many  notable  examples  whom  it  would  be  invidious  to 
mention,  yet  their  names  will  recur  to  everyone. 

After  all,  the  lesson  for  engineers  is  not  that  their 
training  will  prevent  them  from  high  executive  serv- 
ice. Rather,  it  is  that  it  will  help  them,  provided  it 
is  combined  with  courage  to  make  decisions,  insight  into 
the  probable  future  development  from  a  given  set  of 
conditions,  and  ability  to  judge  men  and  get  along  with 
them. 


The  "Electric  Railway  Journal" 
and  Bus  Transportation 

FOR  several  months,  if  not  for  years,  there  has  been 
an  increasing  demand  upon  the  editors  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  to  keep  the  electric  railway 
field  informed  upon  developments  in  bus  transporta- 
tion. It  has  been  recognized  for  some  time  that  this 
newly-developed  agency  must  be  a  permanent  factor  in 
urban  and  interurban  transportation  of  passengers,  and 
there  has  been  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  most 
railway  operators  to  be  informed  about  its  potentialities 
and  accomplishments  for  the  double  reason  of  knowing 
how  to  meet  the  new  agency  in  competition  and  how  to 
use  the  new  agency  in  co-ordination  with  existing  rail 
systems. 

It  is  of  value  to  make  or  obtain  actual  analyses  of 
cost  of  operation  of  various  trackless  vehicle  installa- 
tions for  the  edification  and  education  of  the  operators 
of  these  systems  and  for  those  who  would  undertake 
such  operation.  The  leading  operators  of  such  systems, 
as  well  as  railway  men,  are  in  thorough  sympathy  with 
such  a  program  for  they  both  are  anxious  to  know 
exactly  where  the  bus  is  going  to  fit  in  ultimately  in 
the  passenger  transportation  business. 


The  bus  manufacturer  is  also  vitally  interested  in  all 
these  matters.  He  wants  to  work  closely  with  the  oper- 
ator to  determine  the  fundamentals  of  design  that  will 
insure  the  most  economy  in  operation.  There  must  be 
considerable  research  and  expenditure  of  money  before 
there  is  any  degree  of  finality  in  bus  design  principles. 
Some  special  designs  have  been  developed,  though  some 
manufacturers  still  hold  to  the  use  of  the  standard 
truck  chassis. 

In  response  to  the  evident  need  of  editorial  service  in 
this  entire  bus  problem,  an  effort  has  been  made  during 
the  past  months  to  supply  it.  All  of  the  studies  which 
have  been  made  and  data  which  have  been  collected 
tend  only  the  more  firmly  to  fix  the  idea  that  the  best 
transportation  for  the  community  can  be  obtained  only 
by  the  co-ordination  of  the  various  transportation  facili- 
ties and  not  by  indiscriminate  competition.  That  buses 
should  be  regulated  in  the  same  manner  as  railways 
should  be  is  a  principle  which  is  admitted  and  even 
encouraged  and  sought  by  leading  bus  transportation 
operators. 

However,  the  numerous  problems  of  the  railways, 
coupled  with  the  increasing  interest  in  the  problems  of 
the  bus  transportation  field,  make  it  almost  impossible  to 
give  adequate  treatment  to  both  in  the  somewhat  limited 
space  available  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal. 
Accordingly,  it  has  been  decided  to  try  to  give  a  special 
service  on  bus  transportation  in  a  monthly  supplement 
to  the  Electric  Railway  Journal.  This  supplement, 
according  to  present  plans,  will  make  its  appearance 
in  January,  1922,  and  will  be  known  as  the  "Bus  Trans- 
portation Journal  section  of  Electric  Railway 
Journal."  It  will  be  edited  by  the  same  group  of 
editors  now  responsible  for  this  paper  and  will  be  co- 
ordinated in  its  editorial  policy  in  exactly  the  same 
manner  that  it  seems  desirable  to  co-ordinate  the  bus 
transportation  service  in  the  field  with  electric  railway 
service;  namely,  to  give  the  best  complete  service  by  a 
co-ordinated  unit.  This  undertaking  is  being  started 
only  after  consultation  with  several  leaders  in  both  the 
electric  railway  and  the  bus  fields,  and  the  general 
opinion  expressed  was  that  this  plan  is  the  best  to 
provide  the  desired  service. 

In  the  manner  proposed,  the  information  on  all  bus 
transportation  questions,  no  matter  what  form  of  drive 
is  used,  will  be  available  to  all  electric  railway  men 
who  are  interested  in  the  subject  and  will  also  be  avail- 
able to  those  interested  in  the  operation  of  bus  systems, 
whether  or  not  they  are  interested  in  electric  railways. 
It  must  be  recognized  that  there  are  many  small  com- 
munities and  many  interurban  transportation  routes 
which,  even  in  the  days  of  wildest  dreams  for  electric 
railways,  could  by  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  support 
a  rail  system  but  in  which  there  is  now  a  demand  for 
some  sort  of  transportation  which  the  bus  can  supply. 
This  field  has  never  been  served  by  any  publication  from 
a  transportation  standpoint,  but  this  service  the  Bus 
Transportation  Journal  will  be  able  to  perform. 

The  Electric  Railway  Journal  and  the  Bus  Trans- 
portation Journal,  therefore,  as  a  unit,  hope  to  cover 
the  urban  and  interurban  passenger  transportation 
field,  in  so  far  as  it  is  served  by  responsible  transporta- 
tion agencies.  The  effort  is  thus  merely  a  continuation, 
with  expansion,  of  the  past  efforts  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  to  assist  where  it  can  in  the  solu- 
tion of  urban  and  interurban  transportation  problems 
and  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  industry  created  and  oper- 
ated for  the  purpose  of  supplying  such  transportation. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


765 


The  Commission  Is  Housed  Vert  Effectively  in  the  State  Capitol 


Regulation  of  Utilities  in  Wisconsin 

Power  of  Wisconsin's  Railroad  Commission  Strengthens  Utility  Securities  in  That  State — Adequate  Rev- 
enue in  Return  for  Satisfactory  Service  Gives  Badger  State  a  Perfect  Record  in  Number  of  Utility 
Receiverships — "Efficiency  Instead  of  Politics"  Is  Keynote  of  Commission's  Success 


THE  confidence  .which  Wisconsin  holds  in  its 
Utility  Commission  is  clearly  expressed  by  a 
decision  of  the  Wisconsin  Supreme  Court  ren- 
dered in  the  last  few  months,  from  which  the  following 
extract  was  taken : 

The  commission  legislation  has  been  welcomed  by  the  pub- 
lic and  the  public  utility  companies  alike.  It  has  never  been 
suggested  that  the  purpose  of  the  legislation  was  other  than 
for  the  promotion  of  the  public  interests.  Critics  should 
appreciate  that  private  capital  devoted  to  public  service  is 
entitled  to  a  fair  return  and  that  it  requires  more  courage 
to  render  just  than  popular  decisions.  It  is  believed  that 
fourteen  years  of  experience  has  vindicated  the  law  as  a 
measure  of  great  public  benefit,  although  recently,  when 
abnormal  industrial  and  commercial  conditions  have  given 
rise  to  a  general  increase  in  rates  of  service,  mutterinpis 
against  the  law  or  its  administration  may  be  heard.  But 
it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  successful  regulation  must 
be  fearless  and  fair  and  accommodated  to  the  exigencies  of 
changing  conditions.  Whenever  the  administration  agency 
appointed  to  arbitrate  between  the  public  and  the  utility  is 
influenced  by  public  sentiment  rather  than  considerations 
of  justice,  the  purpose  of  the  law  will  fail,  not  because  of  its 
infirmities  but  because  of  its  weak  and  servile  adminis- 
tration. 

The  origin  of  regulative  legislation  in  Wisconsin 
came  in  1874  under  pressure  of  the  so-called  Granger 
legislation  when  a  board  of  three  railroad  commis- 
sioners was  appointed  by  the  Governor.  This  board 
lasted  two  years  and  did  some  splendid  pioneer  work, 
being  replaced  in  1876  by  a  single  commissioner.  This 
system  was  continued  until  1905,  being  changed  from 
an  appointive  to  an  elective  office  in  1881.  This  rail- 
road commissioner  was  required  to  make  inquiry  re- 


garding neglect  or  violation  of  laws  by  the  railroads, 
inspect  and  examine  the  condition  of  railway  equipment 
with  reference  to  public  safety  and  convenience  and 
report  all  existing  violations  to  the  attorney  general 
for  action.  The  power  of  the  commissioner  ceased 
there,  for  the  attorney  general  acted  on  the  complaints 
by  issuing  recommendations  to  the  railroad  company 
involved,  which  recommendations  were  final  unless 
reversal  was  obtained  by  an  appeal  to  the  court.  This 
unique  feature  distinguished  the  old  regulation  front 
the  new  in  Wisconsin.  Incomplete  and  ineffective  as 
this  method  now  appears,  it  nevertheless  marked! 
progress  in  that  line.  The  Wisconsin  law  was  upheld! 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  in  1874,  in  one  of 
the  first  cases,  if  not  the  first  case,  of  a  higher  court 
recognizing  the  right  of  railway  regulation  by  the 
State  (Ryan  decision- — June,  1874),  and  this  case,  with 
similar  ones  arising  about  the  same  time  in  Illinois, 
was  upheld  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in 
1876.    (Otto,  U.  S.  Rep.,  Oct.,  1876.) 

The  next  important  event  in  the  history  of  State 
regulation  occurred  in  1901  when  a  constitutional 
amendment  provided  that  it  was  illegal  to  grant  passes ; 
this  was  followed  in  1905  by  the  initial  draft  of  the 
final  bill  making  a  railroad  commission  for  Wisconsin. 

Amendments  to  this  law  appeared  as  the  necessity 
demanded  in  1907,  1909  and  1911.  This  commission 
consisted  and  still  consists  of  three  members  appointed 
by  the  Governor  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  the  term 
of  office  being  six  years,  expiring  serially. 


766 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58s  No.  18 


The  personnel  of  the  present  Railroad  Commission  of 
Wisconsin  composes  the  following:  Carl  D.  Jackson, 
chairman,  an  attorney;  Henry  R.  Trumbbwer,  a  political 
economist,  and  Lewis  E.  Gettle,  an  engineer.  The  secre- 
tary of  the  commission,  C.  D.  SeCheverell,  is  the  exec- 
utive head  of  a'l  other  employees.  The  staff,  under  his 
direction,  is  divided  into  four  departments,  headed  as 
follows:  (1)  Engineering — C.  M.  Larson,  (2)  Statis- 
tical—G.  C.  Mathews,  (3)  Service— C.  B.  Hayden,  (4) 
Traffic— R.  V.  Adams. 

Most  of  the  states,  with  the  necessary  exception  of 
Massachusetts,  on  account  of  a  prior  law,  have  fol- 
lowed closely  ,the  modeling  of  the  Wisconsin  law,  but 
until  very  recently  under  no  other  commission  are  so 
many  classes  of  utilities  included.  Some  of  these  State 
commissions  have  powers  somewhat  similar  to  those 


THE  PECULIAR  UNROOFING   OF  THE  CAR  PERMITTED 
PASSENGERS  TO  BE  REMOVED  WITHOUT 
SERIOUS  INJURIES 

Slack  brakes  coupled  with  some  inattention  on  the  part  of  the 
motorman  were  officially  reported  by  the  commission  in  connection 
with  this  accident  in  Milwaukee  on  June  a,  1919,  in  which  more 
than  seventy  persons  were  injured. 

conferred  on  the  Wisconsin  commission.    These  include 
the  regulation  of  a'most  all  phases  of  the  operation  of 
the  following: 
Steam  railroads, 

Electric  urban  and  interurban  railroads, 
Express  companies, 
Sleeping  car  companies, 
Freight  companies, 

Telegraph  and  distribution  messenger  companies, 

Companies  or  individuals  doing  transportation  business  'over 
any  railroad  in  the  state, 

Common  carriers  engaged  in  passenger  or  freight  transpor- 
tation partially  by  rail  and  partially  by  water, 

Telephone  utilities, 

Gas  utilities 

Electric  lighting  utilities, 
Water  utilities, 
Heating  utilities. 
Toll  bridge  utilities. 

Municipal  and  privately  owned  utilities  under  the 
Wisconsin  law  are  placed  on  the  same  basis  as  regards 
commission  control,  a  most  excellent  provision,  as  it 
prevents  certain  unfair  comparisons  which  are  often 
made  between  the  two  types  of  ownership.  Provisions 
of  this  law  which  may  be  especially  noted  concern : 

1.  Joint  use  of  property, 

2.  Valuation  of  property, 

3.  Uniform  accounting  systems, 

4.  Commission's  reports, 

5.  Depreciation, 

6.  Service  standards, 

7.  Complaints, 

8.  Court  review, 

9.  Franchise  and  indeterminate  permits, 
10.  Anti-free  service. 


In  general  the  public  utilities  law  can  be  rated  in 
short  but  comprehensive  form  as  follows: 

The  Railroad  Commission  of  Wisconsin  is  vested  with 
power  and  jurisdiction  to  supervise  and  regulate  every  pub- 
lic utility  in  this  state  and  to  do  all  things  necessary  and 
convenient  in  the  exercise  of  such  power  and  jurisdiction. 
(Section  2,  Public  Utility  Law— 1797  M.) 

Due  to  the  abnormal  economic  conditions  created  by 
the  war,  the  recent  work  of  the  commission  is  marked 
by  two  general  characteristics:  First,  the  relatively 
small  number  of  cases  involving  railroads,  due  to  federal 
control;  second,  the  excessively  large  number  of  utility 
cases  handled,  most  of  which  involved  increases  in  rates. 
This  is  shown  very  forcibly  by  the  accompanying  chart. 

The  largest  number  of  cases  was  handled  in  1920, 
but  any  present  decrease  in  the  number  of  other  cases 
will  be  more  than  offset  by  the  increase  in  railroad 
cases  that  are  following  the  resumption  of  full  private 
control  and  operation.  Moreover,  since  market  condi- 
tions show  a  marked  decline,  there  will  be  an  increase 
in  utility  cases  involving  decreases  in  rates,  which  will 
tax  the  commission's  .capacity  greatly. 


TABLE  I^INOREASE  IN  UTIUTY  INVESTMENTS  IN  LAST 
TWO  YEARS 

1919  1920 

Common  stock                                                              $883,592  $5  381843 

Preferred  stock  \                           1,040,600  3  372  600 

Bonds                                                                             16,708,000  39,785  233 

Notes                                                                          5,494,000  1 1  098.075 

Equipment  trust  certificates     32. 1 27, 1 09 

$24,126,192  $91,764,860 

The  outstanding  features  of  these  increases  in  invest- 
ments are:  (1)  Practically  a'l  of  this  stock  has  been 
sold  locally  to  their  customers,  (2)  A  large  amount  of 
temporary  financing  by  the  issue  of  notes  and  other 
short-term  securities  has  been  done  by  the  utilities,  due 
to  a  desire  to  avoid  long-term  securities  at  the  abnormal 
high  rate  of  interest  which  has  prevailed  during  the 
last  two  years. 

The  electric  railways  showed  an  increase  in  invest- 
ment and  revenues,  although  the  increase  here  was  not 
so  rapid  as  in  the  case  of  other  electric  utilities.  Oper- 
ating revenues  show  the  effect  of  increased  rates  of 
fare,  many  of  which  were  effective  during  1919. 
Though  showing  an  increase  in  greater  proportion 
than  the  increase  in  investment,  the  total  operating 
expenses  increased  at  an  even  greater  rate.  The  year 
1910  showed  a  return  of  6.5  per  cent,  1914  a  return 
of  5.6  per  cent  and  1919  a  return  of  1.9  per  cent. 

The  number  of  utilities,  of  which  the  commission  has 
a  record,  increased  each  year  notwithstanding  con- 
solidation : 

TABLE  II— PUBLICLY  AND  PRIVATELY  OWNED  UTILITIES  UNDER 
THE  JURISDICTION  OF  THE  WISCONSIN  COMMISSION 


Classification: 

Electric  

Gas  

Water  

Street  railroads. . 

Heating  

Toll  bridge  

Total  utilities. 
Telephone  

Grand  total. . . 


Engineering  Department 
The  engineers  serving  the  Railroad  Commission  are 
organized  as  the  "railroad  and  utilities  division"  of  the 
State  Department  of  Engineers.  This  division  not  only 
performs  such  duties  as  may  be  assigned  to  it  by  the 
Railroad  Commission,  but  its  members  are  available 


Municipal 

Private 

Total 

107 

217 

324 

2 

33 

35 

121 

26 

147 

25 

25 

12 

12 

8 

8 

230 

321 

551 

982 

982 

230 

1,303 

1,533 

October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


767 


for  service  to  other  state  departments  upon  call  by  the 
State  chief  engineer. 

The  activities  of  this  department  may  be  classified 
roughly  under  two  headings,  namely,  valuation  of  public 
utility  property,  and  inspection  or  supervision  of  service 
rendered  to  the  public  by  the  utilities.  The  engineering 
activities  can  be  briefly  outlined  as  follows:  I — Public 
utility  service ;  II — railroad  construction  and  service ; 
III — public  safety;  IV — physical  property  valuation; 
V — water  power;  VI — jitney  regulation;  VII — miscella- 
neous problems  of  engineering. 

I — Public  Utility  Service 

"Service"  is  the  watchword  of  the  Wisconsin  commis- 
sion. By  this  the  entire  utility  field  is  dominated  and 
regulated.  When  the  commission  seeks  to  investigate 
a  rate,  the  service  of  the  utility  in  question  is  carefully 
analyzed  and  the  rate  established  on  that  basis.  The 
analysis  and  inspection  to  determine  these  grades  of 
service  form  a  very  important  part  of  the  commission's 
activities.  The  inspection  service  is  very  detai'ed  and 
precise.  Standardized  service,  with  a  rating  for  every 
utility,  is  the  object.  To  that  end  one  chief  method  is 
used.  An  inspecting  department  is  provided  which  is 
continually  on  the  alert  for  betterment  of  service,  using 


TABLE  III — UNIQUE  RATING  SCHEME  ADOPTED  FDR  THE  COM- 
PARISON OF  UTILITIES 

1918        1919  1920 

Electric   76  I        75  4       76  2 

Gas   75  9       77.  I       73  3 

Telephone   79  5    78  5 


standard  forms  for  the  grading  of  each  branch,  such 
as  electric,  telephone,  and  gas.  These  reports  form  the 
basis  for  an  actual  compilation  of  rating  data.  These 
data  were  primarily  for  the  use  of  the  commission,  but 
recently  they  have  served  a  twofold  purpose.  Being 
made  public,  a  keen  competition  was  created  among  the 
utilities,  resulting  in  a  noticeable  betterment  of  plant 
and  operating  conditions.  Finally  it  can  be  said  that 
the  rate-making  of  the  commission  is  based  on  service 
rendered  and  is  also  essentially  "A  cost  plus  a  reason- 
able profit  on  the  physical  property  used  and  useful." 

The  average  ratings  of  the  utilities  for  years  up  to 
1920  are  as  shown  in  Table  III. 

Incorporated  in  the  records  of  the  service  depart- 
ment are  complete  files  of  photographs  showing  condi- 
tions of  service  and  maintenance  for  different  utilities, 
which  offers  tangible  evidence  for  considerations  of 
rates.  These  show  to  what  exact  degree  the  service  is 
watched  by  the  commission.  For  further  ease  of  con- 
trol the  State  is  divided  into  four  districts  with  resident 
engineers  in  each  at  the  following  district  capitals: 
Northeastern,  Eau  Claire;  northwestern,  Appleton; 
south-central,  Madison;  southeastern,  Milwaukee. 

II — Railroad  Construction  and  Service 

During  the  control  of  the  steam  railroads  by  the 
government  very  little  was  accomplished  by  the  State 
commission  except  to  a  slight  degree  in  means  of  co- 
operation with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
A  gradual  increase  in  activity,  however,  followed  the 
return  of  the  railroads  to  their  former  owners. 

It  is  particularly  interesting  in  city  railway  develop- 
ment that  the  first  zone-fare  system  ever  put  into  effect 
came  under  the  supervision  of  the  Wisconsin  commis- 
sion in  1914  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee.  This  fare  system 
proved  its  worth  by  actual  use  and  is  now  in  operation 


under  the  same  rules.  The  system  divides  the  city  into 
several  zones,  a  central  and  outlying  zones.  A  flat  rate 
of  7  cents  is  the  present  fare  for  travel,  in  each  zone, 
while  a  fare  of  3  cents  is  charged  for  each  additional 
zone  traversed. 

Rolling  stock  equipment  on  all  electric  railways  is 
maintained  in  a  good  operating  condition  by  careful 
supervision.  Plans  for  additional  new  equipment  as 
well  as  for  major  alterations  must  be  approved  before 
being  put  into  effect. 

Ill — Public  Safety 

With  a  view  toward  securing  uniformity  in  methods 
of  protection,  the  commission,  in  co-operation  with 
Illinois,  Minnesota  and  Indiana,  has  arranged  a  set  of 


An  Extensive  Investigation  of  This  Railway  Accident  in 
Milwaukee  Was  Made  by  the  Engineering  Department 


rules  governing  the  construction,  maintenance  and  oper- 
ation of  interlocking  plants  for  railways.  These  rules 
contain  rigid  requirements  pertaining  to  any  change  in 
signaling  plants  and  specify  approval  of  all  new  instal- 
lations by  the  commission.  They  also  contain  strict 
requirements  for  inspection  service. 

Considerable  attention  has  been  given  to  automatic 


TABLE  IV — CENSUS  FOR  1920  AND  RECORD  OF  FARE  INCREASES 
GRANTED  IN  WISCONSIN  CITIES 


Present 

Fare 
Became 

City                               Population  Cash  Fare       Ticket  Fare  Effective 

Appleton                                 19,561         5  cents     Nothing  stated  2-12-19 

Ashland                                  11,334         7  cents       6  for  40  cents  10-16-18 

Beloit                                     21,284         Scents     Nothing  stated  1915 

Chippewa  Falls                         9,130         6  cents     Nothing  stated  8-  1-18 

Eau  Claire                              20,880         6  cents     Nothing  stated  8-  1-18 

Fond  du  Lac   23,427         8  cents        10  for  70  cents 

50  for  $3  00  9-  5-20 

Wisconsin  Rapids                      7,234        10  cents         *  2  20  1 0 

Scents         t  2-20  19 

Green  Bav                              31.017        10  cents       5  for  35  cents  1-  1-21 

Janesville                                18,293        10  cents       7  for  50  cents  10-29  20 

Kenosha                                 40,472         7  cents       8  for  50  cents  10-30  20 

La  Crosse   30,363         6  cents      18  for  $  I  00 

(Workmen's  tickets) 
6  for  30  cents 
(School  tickets) 

25  for  $1.00  9-16-18 

Madison                                 38,378         6  cents       9  for  50  cents  11-16-18 

Manitowoc                              17,563         6  cents      5  for  30  cents  8-9-18 

Marinette                               13,610         7  cents      10  for  50  cents  8-27-20 

Merrill                                     8,068         7  cents       9  for  50  cents  12-23-18 

Milwaukee                             457,147         7  cents       8  for  50  cents  11-2-19 

Oshkosh   33,162         8  cents       5  for  35  cents 

50  for  $3  00  9-17-20 

Sheboygan   30,955  8  cents      10  for  70  cents 

50  for  $3  00  9-1 1-20 

Racine                                    58,593         7  cents       6  for  35  cents  12-  I  20 

Superior   39,624  5  cents      Weekly  tickets 

$1  00,  unlimited 
riding,  transfer- 
able. 


*  From  Wisconsin  Rapids  to  Port  Edwards, 
t  From  Port  Edwards  to  Nekoo-a. 


768 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


train  control  in  the  State,  but  since  the  prerequisite  for 
such  control  is  necessarily  a  perfect  system  of  auto- 
matic signals,  this  advance  field  has  been  postponed 
until  the  signal  system  is  nearer  perfection. 

Complete  records  of  all  the  crossings  in  the  State  are 
kept  and  filed  by  means  of  photographs  which  show 
views,  angle  of  crossing,  height  of  grade  and  location, 
reference  to  which  and  suggestions  for  their  betterment 
make  for  a  minimum  of  accidents. 

Accident  reports  form  a  necessary  part  of  the  com- 
mission's routine  work,  though  none  but  the  most  im- 
portant is  investigated.  Reports  by  the  corporation 
involved  must  be  in  the  commission's  hands  within  two 
days  after  occurrence  and,  if  the  case  warrants,  facts 
are  gathered,  witnesses  summoned  and  a  report  upon 
which  much  legal  action  depends  given  out  by  the  com- 
mission. 

Work  in  connection  with  the  elimination  of  grade 
crossings  by  viaducts  and  subways  has  been  encour- 


2000 
1600 

TS 

"5  1200 
o 

Hi 

ifl 

%  800 
c 

400 


> 

<  

--■not 

~  perio 

i  

1 

1916  1917  1918  1919  1920  1921 

Time  in  Years 

The  Work  of  the  Commission  Was  Greatly  Increased  as -a 
Result  op  the  War 

aged  in  every  way  possible  and  advances  in  this  line 
have  been  numerous. 

Due  to  the  increasing  use  of  electrical  apparatus  by 
relatively  unskilled  people  a  more  comprehensive  set  of 
rules  governing  its  installation  and  use  was  needed. 
As  a  result  of  this  need  a  large  committee  was  ap- 
pointed for  its  compilation.  The  model  for  this  new 
safety  code  will  be  code  No.  54  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Standards. 

IV — Physical  Property  Valuation 

The  commission  requires  two  valuations  of  any  prop- 
erty by  its  engineering  department — one,  a  true  repro- 
duction value,  and  the  second,  a  ten-year  average  value. 
The  former  determination  is  for  use  only  in  case  of  sale 
of  the  utility  property,  while  the  latter,  which  is  the 
most  used,  is  for  rate-making  purposes.  In  the  deter- 
mination of  these  valuations  the  most  favored  plan  is 
Avhat  is  known  as  the  split-inventory  method.  The  total 
inventory  of  an  operating  utility  is  classified  and  split 
into  its  various  cost  periods.  The  items  in  the  inven- 
tory are  carefully  assigned  a  per  cent  condition  value  in 
terms  of  their  new  condition  and  by  use  of  a  complete 
"life  table"  which  covers  all  items  used.  This  "life" 
or  depreciation  table  is  used  in  conjunction  with  the 
"rating"  given  to  each  operating  utility  as  to  its  main- 
tenance— the  rating  being  given  in  per  cent  perfect — 


TABLE  V — AUTHORIZED  MOTOR-BUS  OPERATORS  IN  WISCONSIN 

Authorized  Bonded 
Carriers 


Milwaukee   42 

Racine   5 

Kenosha   3 

Remainder  of  State   2b 


Total 


80-85  per  cent  rating  is  considered  good  for  separate 
stations  and  90  per  cent  for  system  fed  from  a  trans- 
mission line. 

The  foregoing  methods  of  appraising  property  have 
demanded  some  modification  in  the  last  few  years,  due 
to  rapidly  fluctuating  prices,  but  in  general  they  are 
accurate  and  easily  applied  for  the  commission's  needs. 

VI — Jitney  Regulation 
Particular  attention  has  been  paid  by  the  commission 
to  jitney  regulation  in  the  State.  Due  to  increased 
costs  of  operation  the  number  of  jitneys  has  radically 
decreased  during  the  past  two  years.  Table  V  shows 
the  number  of  authorized  bonded  carriers  in  operation 
in  June,  1920. 

Conclusion 

The  work  of  the  Wisconsin  commission,  though 
founded  on  new  lines,  has  proved  its  worth  and  now  by 
virtue  of  cases  handled,  decisions  rendered  and  satis- 
faction given  it  can  be  consequently  placed  in  a  high 
rank  in  state  regulating  bodies.  Its  decisions  are  widely 
quoted  in  court  opinions  and  by  experts  in  utility  and 
railroad  management.  Though  no  mention  has  been 
made  of  it,  additional  duties  are  performed  for  other 
state  departments  which  include  rent,  water  power  and 
securities  or  blue-sky  regulation.  The  work  as  per- 
formed by  the  commission  has  been  done  with  one  single 
viewpoint  in  mind — public  relations.  This  one  thing 
has  been  carefully  fostered  and,  though  some  dissen- 
sion must  always  be  evident  in  such  a  field,  the  con- 
sensus of  opinion  would  easily  show  the  commission  to 
be  the  true,  unbiased  body  which  its  law  intended. 


State  Aids  Interurban  Bus  Lines  in  France 

IN  THE  May-June,  1921,  issue  of  L 'Industrie  des 
Tramways,  M.  Paris,  general  manager,  Societe 
Generate  des  Transports  Departmentaux,  an  organization 
which  has  developed  motor-bus  cross-country  services  in 
France,  describes  some  of  the  advantages  of  this  mode 
of  transport.  The  war,  of  course,  had  proved  the  won- 
derful flexibility  of  both  passenger  and  motor  truck. 
Pre-war  trials  with  motor  buses,  especially  in  the  Haute- 
Garonne  department,  had  also  been  most  satisfying. 

Since  post-war  costs  of  railway  building  are  six  times 
greater  than  before  the  war,  it  was  obviously  impossible 
for  private  operators  or  the  government  to  meet  the 
demands  for  service,  even  from  regions  where  there  is 
little  population.  Here  is  where  the  bus  comes  to  the 
rescue  in  any  place  where  the  roads  had  been  good 
enough  for  animal  transport.  Not  only  is  the  bus  valu- 
able in  handling  the  traffic  offered  today,  but  also  in 
determining  when  railway  construction  would  be  justi- 
fied. Because  of  the  mobility  of  the  bus,  also,  it  is 
feasible  to  run  the  same  vehicle  along  different  routes  on 
different  days  of  the  week,  as  in  the  sparsely-settled 
districts,  and  to  concentrate  sufficient  buses  on  any  one 
route  which  is  favorable  by  a  fair  or  other  traffic -rais- 
ing occasion.  On  the  routes  served  by  M.  Paris'  com- 
pany, use  is  made  in  some  cases  of  a  fifteen-seat  trailer 
behind  the  motor  bus. 

A  number  of  these  lightly  traveled  bus  or  stage  routes 
in  France  are  subsidized  by  the  government,  but  not 
liberally  enough  in  the  view  of  M.  Paris.  The  March- 
April  issue  of  L'Industrie  des  Tramways  lists  about  150 
State-aided  autobus  routes.  A  large  number  of  these 
are  in  the  mountainous  districts  in  southeastern  and 
southwestern  France  and  are  probably  postal  routes. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


769 


Bus  and  Car  Costs  Compared 


The  Writer  Compares  Estimates  on  Operating  Costs  of  Motor  Bus,  Trolley  Bus  and  Safety  Car,  as  Given 
in  Recent  Articles  in  This  Paper  by  Messrs.  Thirlwall  and  Stocks, 
and  Defends  the  Figures  of  Mr.  Thirlwall 


Railway  &  Traction 

THE  Electric  Railway  Journal  has  recently  pub- 
lished two  very  excellent  articles  covering  the 
relative  cost  of  operation  of  the  rail  car,  the  trol- 
ley bus  and  the  gasoline  bus. 

In  Mr.  Stocks'  clear  analysis  of  this  transportation 
field,  which  appeared  in  the  Sept.  24  issue  of  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal,  he  arrives  at  the  same  general 
conclusions  that  have  been  reached  by  J.  C.  Thirlwall 
in  his  very  able  presentation  of  this  subject,  which  ap- 
peared in  the  issue  of  Oct.  1.  These  general  conclusions 
are  that  there  is  an  economic  limitation  in  density  of 
traffic  for  rail-less  vehicles,  that  the  field  of  the  motor 
bus  is  in  handling  small  loads  on  fairly  long  headways, 
that  the  rail  car  is  the  most  economical  and  efficient 
means  of  handling  mass  transportation  where  short 
headways  are  required  and  that  the  field  of  the  trackless 
trolley  lies  in  between  these  two  extremes.  But  in  the 
actual  cost  of  operation  of  the  three  types  of  vehicles 
these  two  authors  differ  widely,  and  therefore  they  do 
not  agree  on  the  economic  limitations  or  degree  of  traf- 
fic density  that  determine  the  dividing  line  between  the 
economic  use  of  the  three  systems.  There  is  also  a 
further  difference  of  opinion  on  the  relative  number  of 
vehicles  required  for  a  given  amount  of  traffic. 

In  view  of  this  wide  diversity  of  opinion  between 
these  two  authors,  it  seems  desirable  that  some  addi- 
tional evidence  be  presented  bearing  on  the  operating 
costs  of  the  three  types  of  vehicles,  their  relative  capac- 
ity for  handling  peak  loads  and  therefore  the  headway, 
limitations  and  degree  of  traffic  density  that  mark  the 
dividing  line  between  the  economic  use  of  the  three 
systems. 

Mr.  Stocks  has  evidently  used  as  the  basis  of  his 
article  operating  costs  of  .  safety  cars  considerably 
higher  than  those  used  by  Mr.  Thirlwall.  There  is 
presented  in  Table  I  a  number  of  actual  operating  costs, 
together  with  the  costs  assumed  by  Mr.  Stocks  and  Mr. 
Thirlwall  in  their  articles: 

TABLE  I— COSTS  IN  CENTS  PER  CAR-MILE  OF  SAFETY  CAR 
OPERATION  FROM  VARIOUS  SOURCES 

1            2            3  4  5 

Maintenance  of  way  and  structures      1.46         2.0         1.6  2.0  2.1 

Maintenance  of  equipment                   1.55         2.0         1.7  1.7  4.0 

Power                                               1.04         2.5         1.9  2.5  3.6 

Conducting  transportation                   6.35         6.5         8.4  9.0  9.71 

General  and  miscellaneous                    1.92         3.5         2.4  3.0  4.06 

Total   12.33        16.5        16.0       18.2  23.47 

1.  Actual  average  costs,  Mid-western  property  operating  sixty-six  cars,  year  1921. 

2.  Cost  estimate  of  a  large  holding  company  operating  several  hundred  cars. 

3.  Actual  average  results  in  1 920  of  ten  companies  operating  500  cars. 

4.  Costs  assumed  by  J.  C.  Thirlwall. 

5.  Costs  assumed  by  C.  W.  Stocks. 

If  actual  results  are  conclusive  evidence  of  operating 
costs,  it  appears  that  Mr.  Thirlwall  has  been  very  con- 
servative in  his  estimate  of  18.2  cents  per  car-mile  for 
the  operating  costs  of  the  safety  car  and  that  Mr.  Stocks 
has  been  too  conservative  in  increasing  the  operating 
costs  of  the  safety  car  by  nearly  47  per  cent  over  the 
actual  costs  obtained  from  ten  companies  which  have 
operated  500  safety  cars  for  three  years  or  more. 

[Editors'    Note. — Mr.    Stocks    in   a   supplementary  statement 
briefly  explains  the  basis  of  his  estimates.] 


By  H.  L.  Andrews 

Engineering-  Department,  General  Electric  Company 

These  authors  also  differ  widely  on  the  estimated 
operating  costs  of  the  trolley  bus  and  the  gasoline  bus, 
this  difference  evidently  being  due  to  the  difference  in 
basic  assumptions.  While  no  actual  operating  costs  for 
the  trolley  buses  are  available,  these  may  be  estimated 
with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  by  basing  such  estimates 
on  the  actual  operating  costs  of  safety  cars  and  gasoline 
motor  buses.  The  operating  costs  assumed  by  Mr.  Thirl- 
wall and  Mr.  Stocks  for  both  the  trolley  bus  and  the 
gasoline  motor  bus  are  given  in  Table  II : 


TABLE  II— OPERATING  COSTS  IN  CENTS  PER  BUS-MILE 
AS  GIVEN  IN  THE  ARTICLES  BY  MESSRS. 
THIRLWALL  AND  STOCKS 

Trolley  Bus  Gasoline  Bus 

Stocks  Thirlwall  Stocks  Thirlwall 

Maintenance  of  way  and  overhead               0.888      0.7  0.1  0.0 

Maintenance  of  equipment                         6.5         4.0  8.5  8.5 

Power                                                     3.1         2.3  3.55  7.0 

Conducting  transportation                         9.9         9.0  9.9  9.0 

General  and  miscellaneous                          3.9         3.0  3.9  3.0 

Total   24.2        19.0  25.95  27.5 


Reference  to  this  comparison  indicates  that  there  is  a 
fairly  wide  difference  of  opinion  between  authors  as  to 
the  costs  of  operation  of  both  of  these  rail-less  vehicles. 
Knowing  the  operating  costs  of  the  safety  car,  using  the 
actual  results  obtained  from  a  number  of  railway  com- 
panies operating  these  cars  for  a  reasonable  period,  and 
with  fairly  accurate  data  on  the  operating  costs  of 
several  gasoline  bus  installations,  we  have  substantial 
evidence  on  which  to  base  the  cost  of  operation  of  the 
trolley  bus.  Primarily,  the  difference  between  the  esti- 
mates used  by  the  two  authors  lies  in  maintenance  and 
power  costs. 

Maintenance  and  Power  Costs 

The  electrical  equipment  of  the  trolley  bus  is  essen- 
tially the  same  as  the  safety  car  and  should  therefore 
have  practically  the  same  maintenance  costs. 

There  are  accurate  data  showing  that  the  cost  of 
maintaining  the  electrical  equipment  on  safety  cars  is 
approximately  0.3  cents  per  car-mile.  From  such  data 
as  are  available  on  segregated  costs  of  body  and  chassis 
on  gasoline  bus  lines,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  the 
total  maintenance  of  the  body  and  chassis  of  the  trolley 
bus  to  be  not  more  than  1.35  cents  per  bus-mile,  making 
the  total  maintenance  for  this  bus  complete,  less  tires, 
1.65  cents  per  bus-mile.  Where  solid  tires  are  used 
with  gasoline  propelled  buses,  records  show  that  the 
tire  costs  vary  from  1  to  2  cents  per  bus-mile.  Assum- 
ing the  higher  figure  for  the  tire  costs,  the  total  cost 
of  maintenance  of  the  trolley  bus  should  be  not  more 
than  3.65  cents  per  bus-mile. 

If  we  may  safely  base  the  cost  of  the  trolley  bus  on 
known  costs  of  the  safety  car  and  the  gasoline  bus,  and 
it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that  we  can,  it  appears 
that  Mr.  Thirlwall's  estimate  of  4  cents  per  bus-mile  for 
maintenance  is  conservative  and  that  Mr.  Stocks  has 
been  too  conservative  in  estimating  the  maintenance 
costs  of  6.5  cents  per  bus-mile. 


770 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


Mr.  Stocks  has  assumed  that  a  safety  car  will  require 
at  the  car  200  watt-hours  per  ton-mile  and  that  the  trol- 
ley bus  will  require  250  watt-hours  per  ton-mile.  Cor- 
responding figures  used  by  Mr.  Thirlwall  are  150  watt- 
hours  per  ton-mile  for  the  safety  car  and  195  watt-hours 
per  ton-mile  for  the  trolley  bus.  Mr.  Stocks  assumes 
2.25  cents  per  kilowatt-hour  as  the  cost  of  power  at  the 
car,  while  Mr.  Thirlwall,  with  line  and  conversion  losses 
included,  assumes  a  cost  of  approximately  1.6  cents  per 
kilowatt-hour  at  the  car. 

The  power  costs  will  of  course  vary  widely  in  dif- 
ferent localities,  but  from  data  published  by  the  Ameri- 
can Electric  Railway  Association  it  seems  conservative 
to  estimate  the  cost  of  generating  power  in  a  large  sta- 
tion to  be  1.1  cents  per  kilowatt-hour  and  in  a  small 
station  1.6  cents  per  kilowatt-hour  at  the  alternating- 
current  bus.  Assuming  15  per  cent  line  and  25  per  cent 
conversion  losses,  these  figures  become  1.59  cents  per 
kilowatt-hour  and  2.3  cents  per  kilowatt-hour  at  the  car. 
The  figures  used  by  Mr.  Stocks  correspond  to  the  maxi- 
mum power  rate,  while  the  figures  used  by  Mr.  Thirl- 
wall correspond  to  the  minimum  power  rate.  As  a  gen- 
eral average,  2  cents  per  kilowatt-hour  and  1.5  kilowatt- 
hour  per  car-mile  will  probably  represent  average  power 
conditions  for  the  trolley  bus,  or  the  total  cost  of  power 
will  be  3  cents  per  bus-mile  as  against  6  to  8  cents  for 
the  gasoline  bus,  or  a  saving  of  3  to  5  cents  per  bus- 
mile  in  power. 

The  operating  costs  of  a  gasoline  bus  can  best  be  de- 
termined from  actual  installations.  While  the  authors 
differ  materially  in  the  cost  of  operating  gasoline-pro- 
pelled machines,  it  is  apparent  that  Mr.  Stocks  has 
based  his  operating  costs  on  one  of  the  most  widely 
known  and  best  operated  gasoline  bus  installations  in 
this  country,  while  Mr.  Thirlwall  has  taken  the  average 
operating  costs  for  five  representative  installations  of 
the  motor  bus.  It  is  difficult  to  find  motor  bus  installa- 
tions where  the  fuel  economy  assumed  by  Mr.  Stocks 
is  actually  obtained.  Most  of  the  data  available  on  fuel 
consumption  are  based  on  buses  weighing  from  7,000  to 
8,000  lb.  If  this  should  be  adjusted  to  a  10,000  or 
11,000  lb.  vehicle,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  estimates  of  7 
miles  per  gallon  used  by  Mr.  Stocks  can  be  equaled. 

If  the  fuel  consumption  of  the  gasoline  bus  is  based 
on  average  conditions  and  average  installations,  it  is 
conservative  to  assume  4  to  4i  miles  per  gallon  of  gaso- 
line, which  at  a  wholesale  price  of  22  cents  corresponds 
to  5  to  5}  cents  for  power.  The  cost  of  lubrication  in- 
creases this  from  1  to  U  cents  per  bus-mile,  making  a 
total  charge  for  power  and  lubrication  of  from  6  to  8 
cents  per  bus-mile. 

Here,  again,  if  we  take  actual  results  from  several 
typical  installations  of  the  gasoline  bus  and  base  the 
operating  costs  of  this  vehicle  on  these  known  results,  it 
appears  that  the  figures  used  by  Mr.  Thirlwall  are  more 
nearly  representative  of  actual  practice  and  that  those 
used  by  Mr.  Stocks  are  anticipated  economies  in  fuel 
consumption  which  have  not  yet  been  realized. 

Capacities  and  Schedule  Speeds 

It  would  appear  from  Mr.  Stocks'  article  that  he  has 
lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  a  safety  car  has  a  greater 
carrying  capacity  than  either  type  of  bus  and  that  to 
provide  carrying  capacity  for  a  given  number  of  people 
more  buses  than  safety  cars  would  be  required.  Funda- 
mentally, the  vast  majority  of  rail  cars  have  been  de- 
signed with  particular  reference  to  rush-hour  condi- 
tions.  Their  dimensions  both  in  floor  area  and  in  cubical 


contents  are  governed  by  the  idea  of  providing  seating 
capacity  considerably  in  excess  of  the  normal  mid-day 
or  evening  load  and  of  handling  during  rush  hours  a 
standing  load  at  least  as  large  as  the  seated  load.  Motor 
buses  on  the  contrary,  with  few  exceptions,  have  been 
designed  with  the  one  thought  of  providing  seating 
space  for  the  light-hour  loads,  and  no  attempt  has  been 
made  in  their  development  to  furnish  the  additional 
seats  or  space  for  the  tremendous  percentage  of  in- 
crease over  normal  riding  that  occurs  during  the  rush 
hour.  The  safety  car  was  developed  as  a  compromise 
between  these  two  viewpoints,  in  that  the  seating  capac- 
ity was  brought  nearer  to  the  normal  load  than  in  the 
majority  of  rail  cars,  but  it  was  nevertheless  laid  out 
and  constructed  to  carry  comfortably  peak  loads  of 
nearly  double  its  seating  capacity.  So  far  as  records 
indicate,  no  buses  have  been  designed  to  accommodate 
any  such  proportion  of  rush-hour  excess  capacity. 

Some  typical  designs  of  recent  buses  have  dimension? 
as  given  in  Table  III. 


TABLE  III— COMPARISONS  OF  DIMENSIONS  OF  RECENT  BUSES 


WITH  SAFETY 

CAR 

Average 

Brill 

Imperial 

Bus 

Safety  Car 

29 

29 

32 

20  ft. 

20  ft.  6  in. 

28  ft. 

Width  

7  ft.  4  in. 

7  ft.  0  in. 

7  ft.  10  in. 

Floor  area,  square  feet  

147 

144 

218 

Maximum  capaeity,  assumin 

3.6  sq.ft.  per  passenger.  .  . 

7  41 

40 

40 

60 

With  this  as  a  fundamental,  any  comparison  of  buses, 
either  gasoline  or  electric,  with  safety  cars  should  be 
made  on  the  total  carrying  capacity  of  each  type  of 
vehicle.  In  other  words,  to  provide  the  same  carrying 
capacity  during  rush-hour  service  there  must  be  50  per 
cent  more  buses  in  service  than  safety  cars.  This  has 
been  recognized  by  operators  of  rail  lines  which  are 
using  gasoline  buses  as  auxiliaries.  Mention  was  made 
of  this  by  R.  Gillman  Smith  in  a  paper  entitled  "The 
Motor  Bus  as  a  Supplement  to  Electric  Railways,"  read 
before  the  1920  convention  at  Atlantic  City  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  of  Oct.  16, 
1920.  Mr.  Smith  has  assumed  that  the  safety  car  can 
carry  sixty  passengers,  or  approximately  double  its 
seating  capacity,  while  the  gasoline  bus  has  an  overload 
capacity  of  but  67  per  cent.  It  is  Mr.  Smith's  conclu- 
sion that  with  bus  transportation  the  number  of  units 
operated  during  rush  hours  would  be  increased  120  to 
140  per  cent  over  the  base  schedules,  as  compared  with 
an  increase  of  100  per  cent  in  the  number  of  rail  units. 
Mr.  Stocks  has  lost  sight  of  this,  and  in  making  his 
comparison  between  rail  cars  and  the  buses  he  has  as- 
sumed that  the  same  number  of  vehicles  would  be  oper- 
ated in  each  case. 

The  schedule  speeds  for  the  three  types  of  vehicles  as 
given  by  Mr.  Stocks — that  is,  motor  bus  10  m.p.h.,  trol- 
ley bus  9  m.p.h.,  and  rail  car  8.57  m.p.h. — take  into  con- 
sideration only  the  greater  mobility  of  the  bus  and  do 
not  consider  the  greatly  superior  accelerating  qualities 
of  the  trolley  bus  over  the  gasoline  motor  bus.  In  so  far 
as  mobility  is  a  factor  of  schedule  speed,  the  trolley  bus 
has  no  handicap  over  its  gasoline  competitor.  Collect- 
ing devices  have  been  developed  which  permit  a  wide 
range  of  operation,  and  this  vehicle  has  the  ability  to 
maneuver  in  traffic  the  same  as  the  gasoline  motor  bus. 
Due  to  the  higher  rate  of  acceleration  obtainable  with 
the  trolley  bus,  it  can  hold  higher  schedule  speeds  than 
the  gasoline  propelled  machine. 

Mr.  Stocks  and  Mr.  Thirlwall  differ  in  the  several 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


771 


factors  entering  into  the  fixed  charges,  particularly  in 
the  rate  of  interest  and  in  the  rate  of  depreciation.  The 
values  assumed  by  each  of  these  authors  follows : 


TABLE  IV— COMPARISONS  IN  CENTS  PER  VEHICLE-MILE 
IN  DEPRECIATION  AND  FIXED  CHARGES 

.  Thirlwall  .   Stocks  ■ 

Gas    Trolley  Safety  Gas     Trolley  Safety 

Bus       Bus      Car  Bus        Bus  Car 

Interest  paid   9.0       9.0       9.0  7.0         7.0  7.0 

Taxes   2.8       2.8       2.8  2.0         2.0  2.0 

Depreciation   6.9       3.7       3.2  11.2        10.78  5.6 

Total   18.7      15.5      15.0  20.2       19.78  14.6 


The  principal  difference  is  in  the  life  of  the  vehicle. 
Mr.  Stocks  assumes  the  life  of  the  safety  car  as  twelve 
years,  a  motor  bus  and  trolley  bus  as  eight  years,  and 
has  depreciated  these  vehicles  over  a  straight  line,  while 
Mr.  Thirlwall  assumes  fifteen  years  for  the  safety  car 
and  the  trolley  bus,  and  that  the  life  of  the  gas  equip- 
ment on  the  motor  bus  will  be  no  more  than  five  years. 
He  has  carried  his  depreciation  as  a  sinking  fund. 

It  is  difficult  to  recognize  the  basis  assumed  by  Mr. 
Stocks  in  giving  the  gasoline-propelled  machine  a  life 
of  eight  years.  All  of  the  gasoline  bus  operators  de- 
preciated their  equipment  at  the  rate  of  20  to  25  per 
cent,  and  it  is  the  universal  recommendation  of  the 
majority  of  gas  bus  manufacturers  that  the  gas  equip- 
ment should  be  depreciated  over  not  more  than  a  five- 
year  period.  It  appears  that  Mr.  Stocks  has  been  too 
optimistic  on  the  useful  life  of  gasoline  equipment  and 
perhaps  too  conservative  on  the  life  of  the  safety  car 
and  the  trolley  bus. 

Mr.  Stocks  has  included  a  charge  of  $466.66  per  mile 
of  route  for  rail  lines  to  cover  the  cost  of  removal  of 
snow  and  ice,  cleaning  and  sanding  track,  etc. 

Certainly  if  this  is  a  proper  charge  against  a  rail  line, 
it  is  an  equally  proper  one  against  the  bus  routes,  and 
in  making  comparisons  i>t  is  reasonable  to  assume  that 
the  rail-less  vehicles,  either  gasoline  or  electric,  will  be 
burdened  with  an  equal,  if  not  greater,  operating  charge 
to  cover  this  item. 

A  careful  study  of  both  Mr.  Stocks'  and  Mr.  Thirl- 
wall's  articles  indicates  that  Mr.  Stocks'  article  is  predi- 
cated on  incorrect  operating  costs  for  all  three  vehicles 
and  that  his  assumptions  as  to  the  relative  numbers 
required  are  incorrect.  As  a  result,  his  conclusions 
must  be  modified.  The  rail  car  has  a  much  wider  field 
of  economic  superiority  than  he  assumes  and  must  still 
be  considered  the  most  efficient  means  of  handling  all 
routes  of  heavy  and  of  medium  traffic.  The  motor  bus, 
on  the  contrary,  has  a  less  extensive  range  of  possibili- 
ties than  his  figures  would  indicate,  and  under  practi- 
cally all  conditions  of  city  service  where  any  type  of 
rubber  tired  car  would  be  desirable  the  trolley  bus  is 
more  efficient  and  less  expensive  than  its  gasoline  cousin. 


Why  the  Figures  Differ 

By  C.  W.  Stocks 

IT  IS  NOT  surprising  that  a  comparison  of  the  two 
statistical  analyses  dealing  with  the  cost  of  service 
rendered  by  the  motor  bus,  trolley  bus  or  safety  car 
should  disclose  some  differences  of  honest  opinion.  This 
is  especially  true  with  analyses  predicated  for  the  most 
part  on  estimates  on  the  part  of  two  persons,  even 
when  based  so  far  as  possible  on  actual  results.  An- 
other reason  why  the  comparisons  differ  is  that  the 
bases  of  the  two  analyses  are  entirely  different.  The 


analysis  by  J.  C.  Thirlwall  is  based  on  a  4.5-mile  route 
having  a  rush-hour  period,  whereas  the  analysis  of  the 
writer  was  for  a  3-mile  extension  to  an  existing  class  A 
urban  transportation  system  on  which  rush-hour  traffic 
would  be  of  little  or  no  consequence. 

A  comparison  of  the  individual  assumptions  discloses 
that  in  figuring  investment  costs  there  is  a  considerable 
difference  in  track  and  distribution  system  unit  costs 
per  mile  as  well  as  in  the  cost  units  set  up  on  a  vehicle 
basis  for  storage  and  shop  facilities.  In  one  case  a 
power  plant  and  automatic  substation  is  figured  as 
part  of  the  investment  as  against  purchasing  power  at 
proper  voltage.  Mr.  Thirlwall  has  not  considered  any 
additional  investment  for  land,  shop  tools  and  machinery 
for  either  form  of  service. 

Taking  up  the  assumptions  that  go  to  make  up  the 
items  used  in  calculating  the  cost  of  service,  it  is  imme- 
diately obvious  that  Mr.  Thirlwall  has  used  a  constant 
car-mile  unit  figure  throughout  for  the  service  items 
that  enter  into  each  cost  analysis.  Transportation  unit 
costs  as  a  rule  vary  inversely  as  the  car-miles  run, 
although  there  are  some  costs  that  vary  directly  with 
the  mileage  and  others  are  independent  of  the  amount 
of  service  rendered. 

It  is  for  that  reason  that  both  track  maintenance  and 
electric  line  expense  each  were  divided  into  fixed  and 
variable  parts  and  the  allowance  for  building  main- 
tenance was  taken  equal  to  the  depreciation  allowance. 

In  Table  I  on  page  769,  in  which  comparative  safety 
car  operating  costs  are  presented,  the  differences  that 
are  claimed  to  exist  in  maintenance  of  equipment  of 
expense  are  due  to  the  inclusion  of  allowances  for  super- 
intendence at  1.6  cents  per  car-mile,  shop  expenses  at 
0.3  cents  per  car-mile  and  maintenance  of  service  equip- 
ment and  shop  equipment  at  $200  per  year,  in  addi- 
tion to  2  cents  per  car-mile  for  maintenance  of  car  body 
and  electrical  equipment. 

The  cost  of  power  varies  to  such  an  extent,  depend- 
ing on  whether  it  is  purchased  from  water  power  or 
steam  plants,  that  any  attempt  to  say  that  such  costs 
are  less  than  the  commonly  used  average  maximum 
would  lead  to  an  erroneous  result.  One  reason  that  the 
allowance  for  conducting  transportation  is  so  high  is 
that  platform  costs  were  predicated  on  a  wage  scale 
of  65  cents  per  man-hour,  with  an  average  schedule 
of  8  4/7  miles  per  hour,  as  against  a  tight  schedule  of 
9  miles  per  hour  and  wages  at  50  cents  per  hour  as 
assumed  by  Mr.  Thirlwall.  The  figures  shown  in  column 
5  of  Table  I  on  page  769  cannot  be  taken  as  true 
average  figures  as  they  represent  merely  the  average 
of  the  average  car-mile  figures  and  are  not  weighted 
in  accordance  with  the  number  of  car-miles  run  under 
each  headway. 

For  the  reasons  explained  in  connection  with  Table  I. 
maintenance  of  equipment  for  the  trolley  bus  and  motor 
bus  in  Table  II  are  figured  to  cover  not  only  the  vehicle 
maintenance  but  their  proportionate  share  of  superin- 
tendence and  other  shop  expenses.  The  cost  of  power 
consumed  by  the  trolley  bus  is  based  on  purchased 
power  at  21  cents  per  kilowatt-hour  at  the  car,  which 
is  estimated  to  be  250  watt-hours  per  ton-mile  on  an 
11,500  lb.  vehicle.  This  unit  includes  power  for  heating 
and  lighting  the  trolley  bus  as  well. 

The  difference  in  power  costs  for  the  motor  bus ;  that 
is,  for  gasoline  and  oil,  lies  entirely  in  the  assumptions. 
Mr.  Thirlwall's  investment  costs  seem  to  be  based  on 
a  modern  bus,  but  his  operating  costs  on  an  entirely 
different  type  of  equipment.    Present-day  vehicles  built 


772 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


especially  for  passenger  service  with  an  engine  of  higher 
speed  than  the  sluggish  heavy  duty  truck  motor  will 
give  better  operating  results  than  he  has  calculated. 

As  for  the  life  of  the  motor  bus  versus  the  trolley 
bus,  body  manufacturers  are  attempting  to  build  bodies 
with  a  ten-year  life,  and  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  the 
chassis  frame  will  last  as  long.  In  the  case  of  an 
engine,  it  is  right  to  expect  that  as  it  wears  out  it 
can  be  replaced  by  a  new  one — like  the  transmission  or 
rear  end.  The  composite  life  of  all  the  equipment  is 
then  dependent  on  the  life  of  the  body  and  frame  and 
not  on  that  of  a  removable  part  any  more  than  is  the 
case  with  a  safety  car. 


Chicago  "L"  Eliminates  Some  of  Its 
Station  Agents 

WITH  diminishing  business  as  a  spur  to  greater 
economy,  M.  J.  Feron,  general  superintendent  of 
transportation  Chicago  Elevated  Railways,  has  devised 
a  scheme  for  use  on  the  Chicago  &  Oak  Park  Elevated 
Railroad  which  has  made  it  possible  to  dispense  with 
the  services  of  fifty-two  station  agents.    The  Oak  Park 


C  lin+on 
Hoisted  No. 
Morqan  So 
Morgan  Na 
Ann  So. 


Ann 


No 


Sheldon  So 
SheldonNo 
Ashland  So 
Ashland  No 
Robey  So 
Robey  Na 
Oakley  So 
Oakley  No. 


-  Aa&nt 

on  ^dtits/- 

-No  dqeht  present 

Black  fine  indicated  period 
stations  are  without  an  agent. 

I?  'I   I  3  4  5  6  1 
AM 


9  10  II  12    I    2  3  4   5   6   7  8  9  10  II  12 

Noon  P.M. 
We  e  k  Day 

Week-Day  Schedule  of  Station  Agents  from  Clinton  to 
Oaklet  on  Oak  Park  Elevated  Railroad 

elevated  is  so  constructed  that  a  separate  agent  is 
required  for  each  direction  of  travel  at  each  station. 
A  study  has  developed  that  at  twenty-five  of  these  loca- 
tions the  traffic  is  so  light  that  the  station  agent  can 
be  done  away  with  without  introducing  any  difficulties 
in  fare  collection.  During  a  large  part  of  the  day  at 
these  stations  there  are  only  three  or  four  passengers 
per  train  per  station  to  board.  So  it  has  been  arranged 
that  during  the  hours  when  there  is  no  station  agent 
present,  the  fares  will  be  collected  on  the  train  by  the 
conductor.  The  trains  in  these  light  periods  are  usu- 
ally only  three  cars  long,  so  that  with  the  average  of 
only  three  or  four  passengers  per  station  to  collect 
from,  and  only  three  cars  to  cover,  the  conductor  who 
is  stationed  on  the  first  car  can  easily  handle  this  addi- 
tional work.  Should  conditions  require  more  than  three 
cars,  arrangements  have  been  made  for  one  of  the 
guards  to  assist  the  conductor  in  collecting  the  fares, 
turning  over  his  collections  to  the  conductor. 


The  accompanying  chart  shows  the  names  of  the 
stations  from  Clinton  to  Oakley  which  will  be  without 
an  agent  during  part  or  all  of  the  day,  and  the  hours 
during  which  each  station  will  have  an  agent  or  will  be 
agentless.  The  period  during  which  an  agent  is  pres- 
ent varies  with  the  local  conditions.  This  accounts  for 
the  variations  in  the  schedule  of  hours  for  the  station 
agents.  The  schedule  was  so  worked  out  that  the 
agents  continued  in  the  employ  of  the  company  are 
able  to  get  in  eight  hours  duty  each  day.  A  saving  of 
$260  per  day  has  been  effected  through  this  scheme. 

Copies  of  these  schedules  for  week  days,  Saturday 
and  Sunday  are  posted  in  the  trainmen's  room,  but  the 
conductors  are  further  informed  by  a  large  sign  as  to 
whether  they  should  collect  fares  from  persons  board- 
ing at  any  station.  This  sign  is  placed  on  the  platform 
in  plain  view  of  the  conductor  when  no  agent  is  there. 

The  stations  closed  during  part  of  the  time  are  those 
between  the  Loop  and  Hamlin  Avenue.  The  stations 
beyond  Hamlin  Avenue  handle  a  sufficient  number  of 
people,  so  that  it  was  not  deemed  advisable  to  leave 
them  agentless  during  any  period  of  the  day,  at  least 
for  the  present.  Hamlin  Avenue  is  about  4  miles  west 
of  State  Street. 

Trolley  Buses  at  York,  England 

THE  route  over  which  the  York  trolley  buses  are 
operated  is  about  li  miles  in  length  from  the 
Market  Square  of  the  city  to  Heyworth.  Several  very 
narrow  streets  have  to  be  traversed  and  the  turnings 
are  numerous  and  sharp,  the  route  being  indeed  an 
impracticable  one  for  tramcars.  The  trolley  buses, 
four  in  number,  which  have  been  operated  nine  or 
ten  months,  are  of  the  single-deck  type  with  seats 
for  twenty-four  passengers.  There  are  five  seats  at 
the  back  and  two  rows  of  longitudinal  seats.  The  left 
side  seats  ten,  and  the  right  but  nine.  They  are  light 
vehicles  and  are  extremely  narrow,  the  over-all  width 
being  but  6  ft.  3  in.  The  entrance  is  close  to  the 
driver's  seat,  so  that  they  can  be  operated  by  one  man, 
who  also  supervises  the  payment  of  fares  as  the  pas- 
sengers enter.  Each  trolley  bus  has  two  23-b.hp., 
motors  which  are  set  amidships  with  their  armature 
shafts  parallel  to  the  frames.  Each  motor  drives  one 
of  the  rear  wheels  by  means  of  worm  gearing.  There 
is  no  other  gearing  on  the  chassis  and  a  differential  is, 
of  course,  unnecessary.  Rollers  and  ball  bearings  are 
employed  throughout  and  the  weight  of  the  vehicle 
rests  entirely  on  the  axle  casing,  the  axles  having  only 
to  transmit  the  torque,  which  is  taken  by  the  springs. 
The  motors  are  controlled  by  a  railway  series  parallel 
controller.  Service  brakes  act  on  the  rear  wheels  and 
an  emergency  brake  on  the  motor  shaft. 

The  overhead  equipment  is  exactly  similar  to  that 
of  a  trolley  line  except  that  the  wire  is  duplicate  to 
afford  a  return  circuit.  The  trolley  wires  are  21  ft. 
from  the  ground  and  the  17-ft.  steel  trolley  poles  on 
the  bus  permit  the  vehicles  to  travel  at  a  distance  of 
15  ft.  on  either  side  of  the  center  of  the  wires.  The 
trolley  wheels  are  deeply  grooved  and  ample  freedom 
of  swiveling  is  arranged  for.  It  is  stated  that,  ex- 
clusive of  capital  charges,  the  cost  of  running  was 
11. 5d.  per  car-mile.  The  total  cost  of  service,  includ- 
ing fixed  charges,  taxes,  etc.,  amounts  to  Is.  6d.  per 
car-mile.  Current  was  supplied  at  2d.  per  kilowatt- 
hour  and  the  consumption  was  1.42  kw.-hr.  per  car- 
mile  measured  at  the  station,  according  to  an  article 
in  London  Engineering  of  Sept.  2,  1921. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


773 


Transportation  by  Motor  Bus  in  Gloucester 

Organized  Bus  Company  Supplants  Independent  Jitney  Bus  Operation  that  Sprang  Up  Overnight  When 
Rail  Service  Was  Withdrawn — Conditions  Under  Which  Buses  Operate  Given  in  Detail — 
Rates  Call  for  10-Cent  Minimum,  with  More  for  Longer  Rides 


GLOUCESTER,  the  outpost  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts  and  one  of  the  historic  spots 
of  New  England,  holds  also  the  record  of  being 
the  first  city  in  the  country  with  a  population  of  more 
than  20,000  to  depend  solely  upon  the  motor  bus  for 
urban  and  suburban  transportation.  Not  since  June  19, 
1919,  has  there  been  any  . other  means  of  transportation. 
On  this  day  the  ultimatum  previously  delivered  by  the 
board  of  trustees  of  the  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 
Railway  called  for  a  cessation  of  service  unless  the  tax- 
payers of  the  city  would  meet  the  operating  deficit, 
which  had  been  estimated  at  $20,000  or  more  per  year. 
The  City  Council,  on  behalf  of  the  people,  declined  to 
make  any  such  guarantee  unless  it  was  approved  by  the 
people  on  a  referendum. 

This  meant  that  not  only  were  the  cars  in  the  city  of 
Gloucester  taken  off  but  those  on  the  suburban  lines  to 
Rockport,  Essex,  Hamilton  and  Beverly  as  well.    In  all 


portation  directly  under  the  control  of  the  Mayor,  with 
the  hope  of  encouraging  an  operating  company  to  be 
formed  to  take  over  the  entire  system  of  bus  operation. 

The  ordinance  as  passed  provided  for  the  licensing  of 
all  motor  vehicles  operated  on  the  public  streets  for  the 
transportation  of  passengers  for  hire  and  became  effec- 
tive Feb.  6,  1921.  This  ordinance  made  it  necessary  for 
each  motor  vehicle  to  carry  a  license,  obtained  from  the 
Municipal  Council  and  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Mayor,  which  must  be  renewed  annually.  Such  licenses 
as  granted  and  approved  by  the  Mayor,  however,  did  not 
become  operative  until  a  security  amounting  to  $12,500 
by  bond  or  otherwise  had  been  deposited  with  the  city 
treasurer  for  each  motor  vehicle  having  a  seating  capac- 
ity of  twenty-five  and  an  additional  sum  of  $500  for 
each  additional  seat.  The  filing  of  an  approved  insur- 
ance policy  by  any  one  licensee  to  the  extent  of  at  least 
$20,000  total  liability  for  injury  or  death  in  any  one 


Front  of  Garage  Where  Buses  Are  Repaired  and  Put  Under  Cover  When  Not  in  Service 


service  was  discontinued  on  approximately  30  miles  of 
track.  Gloucester,  so  far  as  trolley  car  service  was 
concerned,  was  isolated  and  the  only  means  of  reaching 
the  city  from  outside  points  was  by  the  steam  railroad 
or  by  a  motor  bus  line  from  Beverly  via  Manchester-by- 
the-Sea. 

Immediately  upon  cessation  of  the  trolley  service  in- 
dependent jitneys  flocked  to  the  city  from  neighboring 
points  and  attempted  to  handle  the  traffic.  For  more 
than  six  months  this  was  the  only  means  of  transporta- 
tion that  existed.  There  could  be  but  one  answer, 
namely,  the  unregulated  and  unorganized  jitney,  without 
fixed  and  co-ordinated  schedules,  and  with  each  owner 
operator  trying  to  cut  everybody  else's  throat,  so  to 
speak,  failed  from  a  transportation  standpoint  to  render 
efficient  service  to  the  community  as  a  whole. 

Operating  Conditions  for  Buses 

Realizing  this,  the  City  Council  undertook  to  bring 
some  system  out  of  the  chaos  that  existed  and  ap- 
proached the  traffic  problem  from  a  regulatory  stand- 
point, drafted  an  ordinance  and  put  the  motor  bus  trans- 


accident  or  for  $5,000  for  injury  or  death  of  one  person 
and  $1,000  for  property  damage  directly  caused  by  each 
vehicle  allowed  this  security  to  be  reduced  to  $500  in 
the  form  of  a  bond  for  each  motor  vehicle.  These  bonds 
are  purely  liability  bonds. 

Another  requirement  of  the  ordinance  provided  that 
metal    plates   bearing    the    words,    "Licensed  Motor 

Vehicle,  No.  —  ,  Gloucester,  1921,  —   passengers," 

setting  forth  the  serial  number  of  the  license,  the  date 
and  number  of  passengers  exclusive  of  the  operator  that 
the  bus  can  carry,  are  issued  by  the  city  and  must  be 
displayed  on  the  inside  dash  of  the  motor  vehicle.  Des- 
tination signs  are  required. 

The  bus  operators  are  also  required  to  file  with  the 
city  all  operating  schedules  and  tariffs  and  only  the 
fares  shown  in  the  tariffs  may  be  charged  unless  seven 
days  notice  is  given  to  the  city  clerk  and  approval  of  the 
new  rates  is  granted  by  the  City  Council.  In  case  the 
increase  is  denied  by  the  Council  the  bus  company  must 
continue  operation  under  penalty  as  described  herewith. 

Each  individual  motor  bus  operator  must  hold  a 
driver's  license  granted  by  the  city.    Applicants  upon 


774 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  m 


passing  the  requirements  are  given  a  badge  which  must 
be  openly  displayed  when  they  are  operating  their  buses. 
Such  badge  licenses  are  not  transferable.  The  city  clerk 
issues  an  identification  card  to  successful  applicants, 
which  must  be  carried  by  the  operator  at  all  times  when 
on  duty.    Such  license  fees  cost  $1  per  year. 

Motor  bus  drivers  by  the  ordinance  are  prohibited 
from  smoking  while  driving,  from  collecting  fares,  mak- 
ing change,  etc.,  or  discharging  passengers  while  the 
vehicle  is  in  operation.  They  are  not  allowed  to  pass  up 
prospective  passengers  unless  the  bus  they  are  driving 
is  carrying  its  full  licensed  load.  Other  regulations 
provide  for  operators  turning  in  all  articles  left  in 
their  vehicles,  for  stopping  prior  to  crossing  railroad 
tracks,  for  adequate  interior  illumination  at  night, 
for  maintaining  heat  in  winter  and  for  reporting  in- 
juries to  passengers  or  damage  to  property  in  which 
they  are  involved. 

License  fees  payable  to  the  city  of  Gloucester  for  the 
use  of  the  streets  are  $10  per  year  per  bus  licensed. 
This  is  the  only  payment  to  the  city  for  the  use  of  the 
streets.  In  addition  the  company  pays  the  usual  prop- 
erty tax  and  state  vehicle  license  tax.  In  the  event  that 
the  motor  bus  licensee  fails  to  comply  with  the  terms 


Maps  Showing  Motor  Bus  Lines  and  Former  Street  Car  Routes 

of  the  license  granted,  except  when  prevented  by  con- 
ditions beyond  his  control,  he  forfeits  to  the  city  of 
Gloucester  $1,000,  not  as  a  penalty  but  as  liquidated 
damages  for  each  and  every  month  during  which  fail- 
ure continues.  Before  his  operating  license  again  be- 
comes effective  he  must  file  a  bond  not  exceeding  $5,000 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  conditions  of  the 
license. 

Licenses  for  the  operation  of  vehicles  as  well  as  the 
individual  driver's  licenses  can  be  revoked  or  suspended 
by  the  Municipal  Council  after  a  hearing  for  violation 
of  any  law  of  the  Commonwealth  relating  to  the  opera- 
tion of  motor  vehicles  or  municipal  traffic  ordinances, 
provided  such  violation  has  continued  for  a  period  of 
five  days  after  proper  notice  to  the  licensee. 

At  least  sixty  days  prior  to  the  termination  of  licenses 
for  the  right  to  operate  vehicles  the  licensee  must  either 
file  petition  for  a  renewal  of  his  license  or  notify  the 
Municipal  Council  of  his  intention  to  discontinue  the 
operation  of  motor  vehicles  when  his  license  expires. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  ordinance  pupils'  tickets  must 
be  sold  in  lots  of  ten  or  forty  at  one-half  the  regular 
cash  fare.  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  Masssachu- 
setts  street  railroad  laws. 

As  a  precaution  against  accidents  due  to  skidding 
when  highways  are  so  slippery  as  to  be  dangerous  all 


vehicles  must  use  proper  non-skid  tire  chains.  Vehicles 
are  also  required  to  carry  an  extra  tire  if  equipped  with 
pneumatics. 

In  December,  1920,  the  Gloucester  Auto  Bus  Company 
was  organized  under  the  Massachusetts  laws  with  a 
capital  of  $150,000,  divided  into  15,000  shares  of  $10 
each.  The  company  has  a  paid  in  capital  of  about  $75,000. 
Some  6,500  shares  represent  the  garage  valued  at  $20,- 
000  and  part  payment  of  the  buses  at  $45,000.  The 
fleet  of  16  motor  buses  represents  an  approximate  value 
of  $125,000. 

Routes  Operated 

It  was  not  until  May  1,  1921,  that  the  Gloucester  Auto 
Bus  Company  actually  took  over  the  entire  transporta- 
tion of  passengers  to  Rocky  Neck,  Annisquam  and 
Lanesville,  as  well  as  to  West  Gloucester  and  Essex.  On 
Aug.  1,  1921,  motor  bus  service  was  extended  to  Long 
Beach,  Rockport  and  Pigeon  Cove.  Two  trips  per  day 
were  also  inaugurated  between  Rockport  and  Lanesville 
via  the  Cape  Road,  about  the  same  time.  The  five  bus 
routes  which  are  shown  on  the  accompanying  map  fol- 
low the  streets  for  the  most  part  formerly  used  by  the 
trolley  cars,  the  only  exception  being  the  line  to  Long 
Beach,  which  travels  an  entirely  different  route  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  railway  company  reached  that  point 
via  a  trestle  over  the  marshes. 

The  city  of  Gloucester,  in  improving  the  roads  for  bus 
operation,  has  in  some  cases,  especially  along  Main 
Street,  covered  up  most  of  the  trolley  tracks  with  bitu- 
minous macadam.  In  Rockport  there  are  places  where 
concrete  roads  have  been  built  directly  on  top  of  the 
former  car  tracks. 

The  base  schedule  maintained  calls  for  a  thirty-minute 
headway  on  the  East  Gloucester-Lanesville  line  and 
hourly  headways  on  the  other  routes.  During  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  rush  hours  short  trips  are  inserted  so 
as  to  double  the  service  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
routes.  The  maximum  number  of  buses  in  operation 
at  one  time  is  thirteen  or  fourteen.  Regular  drivers  are 
paid  $25  per  week  and  spare  men  50  cents  per  hour. 
Four  men  who  drive  rush-hour  trips  only  also  wash  and 
clean  their  own  buses. 

Table  I  gives  some  statistics  as  to  the  length  of  the 
lines  and  the  service  maintained. 


TABLE  I 


One 
Miles 

urated, 

er  Day 
Way 

1  Head- 

[our  on 
vay 

av 

Cents 

Route 

Length 
Way, 

Service 
Inaug 

Trips  p 
Each 

Norma 
way 

Rush-I 
Head\ 

One-W 

Fiircs, 

Rocky  Neck-Lanesville  

8.01 

May  1 

32 

60 

30 

(<fi  15' 

Rocky  Neek-Annisquam  (a) 

6.08 

May  1 

12 

30 

10 

West    Gloucester  (Harlow 

Street)  

5  56 

May  1 

25 

60 

30 

10 

W.   Gloucester  and  Essex 

center  (6>  

7.82 

May  1 

4 

60 

60 

(d>  15 

Gloucester-Rockport-Pigeon 

Cove  

7.02 

Aug.  1 

25 

60 

30 

(<f)  15 

2.25 

Aug.  1 

25 

60 

60 

10 

Rockport-Lanesville  via 

4  0 

Aig.  1 

2 

10 

(a)  Short  line  service,  rush  hours  only. 
(6^  Rush  hours  only. 

(c>  Summer  beach  resort.  The  weather  governs  the  headway, 
(rf)  Minimum  fare  1 0  cents,  with  additional  5-cent  zone. 


Rates  of  Fare  Charged 

Fares  are  based  on  a  modified  zone  system  for  each 
route  with  the  minimum  fare  fixed  at  10  cents  without 
transfers  between  the  various  lines.  School  tickets  are 
sold  in  lots  of  ten  or  forty  in  compliance  with  the  Mas- 
sachusetts statutes  as  provided  in  the  bus  ordinance. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


775 


The  minimum  fare  points  from  the  center  of  the  city 
for  each  route  are  marked  on  the  accompanying  map. 
In  reality  it  is  possible  to  ride  further  on  the  motor 
buses  than  it  was  on  the  street  cars  for  the  same  fare. 
This  is  especially  true  of  the  lines  to  West  Gloucester 
and  to  Rockport,  where  the  present  10-cent  fare  limit  is 

a   considerable  dis-   

tance  beyond  the  fare 
point  established  by 
the  trolley  zone  sys- 
tem. 

Johnson  fare  boxes 
are  used  exclusively 
for  fare  collection 
purposes.  The  system 
in  vogue  is  very  sim- 
ple. Passengers  depos- 
it their  fare  directly 
in  the  box  irrespective 
of  whether  10  cents 


frames  in  each  case  have  been  lengthened  about  18  in. 
and  brackets  have  been  riveted  to  the  side  frames  to 
give  the  body  a  wider  bearing  surface  on  the  frame. 

Wooden  bodies  are  used,  built  by  the  Essex  Truck 
Body  Company,  Lynn,  Mass.  They  have  drop  sash  win- 
dows and  folding  service  door  and  a  rear  emergency 

  door.    The  bodies  on 

the  Model  20  chassis 
are  17  ft.  10  in.  long 
and  7  ft.  6  in.  wide; 
they  weigh,  exclusive 
of  the  seats,  approx- 
imately  1,750  lb., 
which  is  equivalent  to 
65  lb.  per  seat.  The 
two  types  of  bodies 
on  the  Model  40  chas- 
sis are  30  in.  and  50 
in.  longer  but  of  the 
same  width  and  weigh 


or  15  cents.  On  trips 
outbound  from  the 
center  of  Gloucester 
fares  are  deposited 
by  the  passengers  as 
they  leave  the  bus. 
On  inbound  trips  the 
whole  fare  is  depos- 
ited as  the  passenger 
boards  the  bus.  The 
only  record  kept  by 
the  bus  driver  is  the 
fare  box  reading  when 
he  takes  and  leaves 
the  bus,  for  purposes 
of  settlement.  No  rec- 
ord is  kept  of  passen- 
gers carried  or  of  col- 
lections by  trips  or  of 
the  number  of  trips 
run.  In  fact,  not  even 
a  mileage  record  of  bus  operation  is  kept  by  the 
company  from  which  to  compute  unit  costs. 

Equipment 

The  company  has  available  for  service,  under  a  trust 
certificate  or  partial-payment  plan,  sixteen  White  chassis 
of  three  different  carrying  capacities.  Thirteen  are 
Model-20  chassis  and  three  Model  40  chassis.  The 


No.  1.    Loading  at  mid  town  terminal  on  Main  Street,  Gloucester. 
No.  2.    Looking  forward  in  Type  A  bus  body,  showing  fare  box  in  rela- 
tion to  driver's  seat. 

No.  3.    Interior  of  Type  A  bus  body,  showing  seating  arrangement. 
No.   4.     A  3J-ton  White  Model  40  chassis  with  body  seating  thirty- 
seven.    Some  bus,  even  though  it  is  numbered  13. 


proportionately  more 
than  the  smaller  type 
A.  The  cost  of  the 
bodies  on  a  seat  basis 
is  about  $55  per  seat. 

Table  II  on  page  776 
gives  in  detail  some 
of  the  principal  di- 
mensions. The  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the 
buses  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  illus- 
trations. The  upper 
illustration  shows  one 
of  the  Type  A  buses. 
The  bus  illustrated 
on  page  773  is  the 
Si-ton  truck  chassis 
(Model  40)  with  a 
chain  drive  and  is 
called  Type  C.  The 
interior  view  shows  the  seating  arrangement  in  Type  A. 
The  only  difference  from  this  in  the  larger  type  is  a 
longitudinal  seat  at  the  left  of  the  driver,  extending  up 
to  the  front  dash.  Heywood-Wakefield  seats  with  rat- 
tan covering  are  used  throughout. 

The  buses  are  equipped  with  giant  pneumatic  tires. 
All  rear  tires  are  44  x  10.  The  front  tires  on  Type 
A  buses  are  36  x  6,  while  Types  B  and  C  use  38  x  7. 


776 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


In  the  winter  months  when  it  becomes  necessary  to 
use  tire  chains  it  is  planned  to  put  40  x  8  pneumatic 
tires  on  the  rear  wheels.  Several  makes  of  tires  have 
been  tried.  One  bus  was  even  equipped  with  Over- 
man cushion  tires,  but  due  to  the  rough  roads  that  are 
encountered  the  riding  qualities  were  not  found  to  be 
as  good  as  with  the  pneumatics.  At  present  Firestone 
tires  are  used  exclusively. 

The  cost  of  the  Type  A  bus  complete  and  ready  to 
run  is  about  $7,000.  Type  B  bus  costs  about  $1,000 
more.  This  cost,  if  figured  on  a  seat  basis,  is  equivalent 
to  approximately  $250. 

Garage  and  Shops 

The  company  owns  a  spacious  garage  within  two  or 
three  minutes  run  from  the  center  of  the  city.  It  is 
of  cement  block  construction,  one  story  high  with  tar 
roof  and  contains  approximately  20,000  sq.ft.  of  sur- 
face. The  repair  shop  and  offices  of  the  company  are 
located  in  this  building.  The  shop  occupies  the  left 
corner  and  the  office  the  right  front. 

While  the  company  does  not  keep  a  detailed  record 
of  trips  nor  of  bus-miles  run,  nor  of  the  traffic  handled, 
it  does  keer  a  record  of  all  earnings  and  expenses. 
Such  figures,  however,  from  a  transportation  stand- 
point are  almost  valueless  as  they  have  not  been  reduced 
to  unit  for  comparative  purposes. 

All  materials  are  purchased  locally  through  one  of  the 
large  local  garages,  the  officers  of  which  have  an  interest 
in  the  auto  bus  company. 

Views  on  the  Situation 

The  Mayor,  Percy  W.  Wheeler,  who  has  always  been 
a  strong  bus  advocate,  says  in  relation  to  the  bus 
operation :  "The  Gloucester  Auto  Bus  Company  has 
given  very  good  transportation.  We  have  had  one  of 
the  most  successful  summer  seasons  in  Gloucester's 
history.  Early  in  the  season  the  Council  gave  me,  as 
Mayor,  full  power  to  compel  the  Gloucester  Auto  Bus 
Company  to  live  up  to  its  contract  with  the  city.  We 
are  getting  a  great  deal  more  rapid  transportation  than 
under  the  street  railway.  We  have  not  received  a 
single  complaint  from  any  patron  of  the  road  as  to 
injury  of  person  or  wearing  apparel  or  of  any  discour- 
teous treatment  by  any  bus  operator. 

"We  have  had  some  four  or  five  extremely  heavy 
rainstorms  which  caused  the  worst  washouts  in  our 
streets  we  ever  have  had.  Amid  all  these  thunder 
showers  and  storms  the  buses  never  missed  a  trip. 
The  street  railway  would  certainly  have  been  delayed 
a  number  of  hours  under  like  conditions.  As  far  as 
I  know  there  is  not  a  single  suit  against  the  bus  com- 
pany for  injury  of  property.  As  far  as  the  transporta- 
tion having  been  kept  up,  it  has  been  continually 
improved.  I  think  it  is  the  opinion  of  a  great  majority 
of  the  citizens  that  the  bus  transportation  is  very 
much  better  than  the  one-man  car  transportation  given 
us  by  the  street  railway  company. 

"The  factory  employees  and  all  laboring  people,  I 
think,  are  more  than  satisfied  with  this  form  of  trans- 
portation as  in  many  cases  it  has  given  them  an  oppor- 
tunity of  going  to  their  homes  for  dinner  and  return- 
ing to  work  as  there  is  at  least  30  per  cent  saving 
in  running  time.  The  buses  are  kept  very  clean  and 
are  entirely  free  from  the  dust  condition  which  we  had 
with  the  street  cars.  On  the  whole,  I  believe  Gloucester 
today  has  the  best  transportation  system  of  any  city  in 
the  State.'' 


TABLE  II — PRINCIPAL  DIMENSIONS  OF  GLOUCESTER  BUSES 

Type  A  Type  B     Type  C 

White  chassis — model   20  40  40 

Method  of  drive   Worm  Internal  gear  Chain 

Number  of  each  type   13  2  I 

Seating  capacity   27  35  38 

Body  dimensi  us  (inc'es'* 

Length  over  all   276  300  331 

Width  over  all  '      90  90  90 

Headroom   73  74  73 

Width  inside  of  seats   82  82  82 

Length  inside   209  240  267 

Height  of  floor   33$  39^  40i 

Height  of  first  step   16  19  I8i 

Height  of  risers   7J-9|  9J-11  10-12 

Service  door — clearway   22  22  22 

Side  post — centers   30  30  30 

Width  of  aisle   16  16  16 

Seat — centers   26i  26£  26i 

Chassis  dimensi  ns  (incles) 

Wheel  base   169  178  188 

Body  overhang  from  rear  axle   85  90  103 

Body  overhang  from  end  of  frame   57  41  48 

Tread  of  wheels   61  66  66 


A  business  man  and  manufacturer  that  is  a  large 
employer  of  labor  was  asked  to  comment  on  the  bus 
transportation  system.  He  says:  "At  present  we  are 
operated  exclusively  on  a  bus  transportation  from  which 
there  is  very  little  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  public. 
Some  people  are  willing  to  put  up  with  many  incon- 
veniences in  order  that  they  may  be  transported  home  as 
quickly  as  possible,  and  there  is  no  question  but  that 
the  bus  does  give  more  rapid  transportation  than 
the  car  system,  but  I  think  we  must  not  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  there  are  many  disadvantages.  The  bus 
proposition  has  not  arrived  at  such  a  state  of  excel- 
lence that  we  can  entirely  depend  upon  it. 

"The  situation  in  Gloucester  was  somewhat  different, 
I  believe,  than  in  other  places,  and  the  public  voted 
for  the  bus  in  preference  to  the  electric  car,  due  to 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  general  impression  that  the 
trusteed  of  the  Bay  State  Street  Railway  did  not 
exactly  play  fair  with  the  people  of  Gloucester.  They 
offered  transportation  at  cost  which  would  necessitate 
a  public  fare  the  same  or  greater  than  the  present  bus 
fare,  and  in  addition  the  city  was  obliged  to  guarantee 
the  difference  between  the  revenue  derived  from  the 
fare  and  the  actual  cost  of  operation,  which  was  a 
rather  considerable  sum.  It  was  the  question  of  the 
citizens  of  Gloucester  and  the  trustees  of  the  railway 
not  getting  together  and  neither  being  willing  to  give 
way,  each  thinking  that  the  other  would  sooner  or 
later  change  their  mind.  Personally  I  am  in  favor 
of  the  street  cars,  but  only  under  certain  conditions. 
I  do  not  believe  we  should  have  street  cars  with  the 
present  bus  fares  and  then  be  asked  to  contribute  so 
heavily  to  the  operation  of  the  road.  There  are  many 
items  of  depreciation  and  overhead  that  I  do  not 
believe  should  be  borne  by  this  system  alone  and  figured 
in  each  part  of  the  cost  of  operation.  There  seems  to 
be  little  likelihood  of  the  trustees  opening  the  line 
unless  the  citizens  of  Gloucester  will  accept  their  propo- 
sition, and  the  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Gloucester 
apparently  have  made  up  their  minds  that  they  will 
continue  the  buses  unless  the  trustees  of  the  Bay  State 
Street  Railway  will  recede  from  their  former  decisions 
and  provide  a  satisfactory  service  at  economical  charge, 
including  fares  and  also  a  fair  burden  of  the  over- 
charge. 

"I  do  not  look  upon  the  bus  proposition  in  such 
glowing  terms  as  outlined  by  our  Mayor,  but  I  will  say 
that  I  hear  very  little  criticism  of  the  present  bus 
transportation;  in  fact,  I  think  even  far  less  than  we 
heard  the  last  few  years  of  the  car  transportation 
furnished  by  the  Bay  State  Street  Railway." 


October  29,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


777 


On  the  other  hand,  there  are  street  railway  advocates 
and  some  of  these  claim  that  if  two  groups  were 
made  of  Gloucester  and  the  opinions  of  the  people 
stated,  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  would  be  a  pro- 
nounced sentiment  in  favor  of  the  street  railways. 
Up  and  down  Main  Street  are  merchants  who  have 
requested  that  the  cars  be  put  back  and  their  explana- 
tion of  their  unwillingness  to  come  out  openly  as  an 
organized  unit  is  that  they  do  not  wish  to  become 
embroiled  in  a  political  controversy. 

The  claim  is  also  made  that  not  all  the  local  politicians 
are  of  the  same  opinion  as  the  Mayor.  Alderman  Silva 
does  not  believe  the  buses  have  the  same  merits  as  the 
street  cars.  At  a  hearing  before  the  Massachusetts 
Department  of  Public  Utilities,  as  late  as  Sept.  22,  he 
stated  that  while  the  buses  in  Gloucester  are  new  the 
service  was  at  its  best,  but  he  questioned,  as  the 
buses  wore  out,  whether  the  same  standard  would  be 
maintained. 

It  is  also  understood  that  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
has  taken  a  letter  referendum  from  approximately  600 
of  its  members  asking  that  they  state  what  they 
preferred  to  discuss  in  open  forum.  This  forum  was 
held  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  members  and 
there  seemed  to  be  no  dispute  on  the  point  that  the  advo- 
cates of  the  street  railway  greatly  outnumbered  the 
advocates  of  the  buses. 

Some  of  the  hotel  people  who  cater  to  the  summer 
visitors,  and  there  are  a  number  of  spacious  hotels 
along  the  former  rail  routes,  have  complained  to  the 
railway  company  that  the  loss  of  business  for  1921  was 
large.  These  hotel  operators  have  asked  the  railway  to 
restore  the  car  service  before  next  spring. 


Analysis  of  Bus  Operation 

One  New   England  Company  Finds   Supplementary  Bus 
Service  Is  Not  of  Itself  Profitable — Bus  Operation 
on  Seat-Mile  Basis  Exceeds  that  of  Rail  Service 

THE  Connecticut  Valley  Street  Railway,  which  has 
been  operating  a  motor  bus  route  between  Green- 
field and  Turners  Falls,  Mass.,  since  Nov.  4,  1919,  has 
from  its  experience  reached  a  conclusion  that  is  of 
interest  to  other  railway-bus  operators.  In  a  recent 
letter  the  company  says: 

"Our  conclusions  up  to  date  on  this  type  of  trans- 
portation, which  have  been  reached  after  a  compara- 
tively short  time,  and  by  no  means  through  the  results 
of  a  large  operation,  are  that  as  a  means  of  supple- 
menting existing  street  railway  service  there  is  a  small 
possibility  of  making  both  ends  meet  in  the  operation 
of  the  buses.  The  territory  which  otherwise  would  not 
be  served  by  transportation  facilities  on  account  of  the 
cost  of  creating  it  can  be  served  at  a  much  less  original 
investment  by  bus  operations.  Its  ability,  however,  to 
take  care  of  large  loads  is  not  as  flexible  as  that  of  the 
street  railway  and  the  comparative  cost  of  operation, 
even  under  present  high  costs,  is  still  in  favor  of  the 
street  cars,  if  the  costs  are  measured  by  the  expense  of 
providing  seats  per  mile. 

"It  may  be  said,  however,  in  justice  to  the  service 
which  we  inaugurated,  that  we  succeeded  in  driving  out 
the  unregulated  competition  which  was  seriously  affect- 
ing our  revenue,  and  we  have  also  been  able,  by  having 
both  facilities  within  our  control,  to  curtail  substan- 
tially our  street  car  service,  as  both  the  bus  route  and 
street  car  route  reach  the  same  termini,  but  by  different 
routes." 


An  article  in  relation  to  the  motor  bus  line  operated 
by  this  company  was  given  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  April  24,  1920,  page  853.  Since  the  publica- 
tion of  this  article  the  company  has  discontinued  the 
operation  of  buses  over  that  portion  of  the  route  in 
Greenfield  covered  by  Chapman,  Pierce,  Federal  and 
Sanderson  streets.  This  discontinuance  was  due  to  the 
lack  of  passengers  over  this  part  of  the  route. 

Since  that  time  the  bus  schedule  has  been  cut  in  half 
and  co-ordinated  with  the  trolley  schedule  to  provide  a 
thirty-minute  headway  between  Greenfield  and  Turner's 
Falls.    The  bus  leaves  on  the  hour  from  Greenfield  and 

INCOME  STATEMENT  MOTOR-BUS  OPERATION,  YEAR  ENDED 
DEC.  31,  1920,  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY  STREET  RAILWAY 

Per  Bus- 
Mile, 

Actual  Cents 

Passenger  revenue   $20,263.31  28.23 

Operating  expenses: 

Maintenance  of  equipment 

Inspection   $1,781.24  2.48 

Repairs  to  bodv  and  chassis   4,259.99  5.91 

Tire  costs   2,146.39  2.98 

Depreciation  of  equipment   6.004. 00  8.36 

Total   $14,191  62  19.73 

Transportation  labor   4,848  85  6.75 

Cost  of  power 

Gasoline   3,749.75  5.23 

Oil   159.04  .22 

Total   $3,908.79  5.45 

General  and  miscella  eous: 

Insurance   $1,407  II  1 .95 

Miscellaneous  credits.  .  .                                         .  149.78  .21 

Total  ope<  ating  expenses   24,206.59  33.67 

Net  operating  revenue   3,943  28  5.44 

Taxes   300  00  .41 

Interest  on  $16,500  at  5J  per  cent   900.00  1.22 

Net  income   5,143.28  7.07 

Total  cost  of  service   25,406  59  35  .38 

Bus-miles  operated   71,779   

Bus-hours  operated   9,698 

Average  scheduled  speed  (m. p. h.)   7.  42   

the  trolley  thirty  minutes  later.  The  running  time  for 
the  bus  is  less  than  fifteen  minutes,  as  against  twenty 
minutes  on  the  trolley.  This  gives  an  average  running 
speed  of  12.5  and  9.6  m.p.h.  for  the  bus  and  trolley, 
respectively. 

The  operation  of  this  co-ordinated  schedule  shows 
that  the  thirty-minute  bus  headway  provided  an  excess 
of  service  over  the  passenger  requirements. 

The  bus  fares  at  present  are  those  that  have  been  in 
effect  since  March  15,  1920,  and  divide  the  line  into  three 
5-cent  fare  zones.  The  10-cent  minimum  fare  allows  a 
ride  of  two  full  zones  or  less.  No  transfers  are  issued 
to  or  accepted  from  the  trolley  cars.  Workmen's  tickets 
are  sold  in  lots  of  twenty-five  for  $3  and  are  good  only 
during  certain  hours  of  the  day. 

The  buses  provide  seats  for  nineteen  passengers  only. 
Standees  are  not  allowed.  The  automotive  equipment 
consists  of  three  1919  Cadillac  model  57-B  chassis. 
Since  being  put  into  service  each  vehicle  has  averaged 
about  40,000  miles. 

The  accompanying  table  gives  an  analysis  of  the  cost 
of  service  of  motor  bus  operation  for  the  year  ended 
Dec.  31,  1920. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  National  Editorial  Conference  of 
Business  Papers,  held  in  Chicago,  on  Oct.  24,  a  message 
was  read  from  Secretary  of  Commerce  Hoover,  who 
said,  in  part:  "The  editors  of  the  business  press  have 
shown  a  fine  spirit  of  service.  Your  opportunity  for 
leadership  is  unique  and  unchallenged.  Upon  you  rests 
in  large  measure  the  responsibility  of  the  control  of 
industrial  thought  and  opinion  in  the  detail  of  the  indus- 
trial, economic  and  technical  problems  which  confront 
us.  I  wish  your  conference  every  success  in  carrying 
forward  your  high  and  constructive  purposes." 


778 


New  Type  Bus  Installed  in  Baltimore 

The  Motor  Bus  Has  a  Knight  Sleeve  Valve  Motor  and  a 
Semi-Steel  Body — Seats  Twenty-five  Passengers — 
Operates  on  Regular  Schedule 

ON  SUNDAY,  Oct.  16,  the  Baltimore  Transit  Com- 
pany put  into  regular  service  on  its  Charles  Street 
motor-bus  line  one  of  the  new-type  Republic  Knight 
motor  buses  having  a  composite  or  semi-steel  body.  This 
motor  bus  has  a  seating  capacity  of  twenty-five  and  can 
carry  approximately  fifty  per  cent  standees.  If  fig- 
ured on  a  basis  of  2.5  sq.ft.  per  passenger  the  carrying 
capacity  is  fifty. 

The  motor  bus  is  of  the  type  recently  displayed  at 
Atlantic  City  during  the  association  convention.  The 
body  was  built  by  the  Hoover  Wagon  Company,  York, 
Pa.,  and  has  oak  sills  and  flooring  with  ash  posts  and 
car  lines  reinforced  with  steel  gussets  and  angles.  The 
roof,  which  is  practically  flat,  is  covered  with  Agasote. 
The  inside  panels  under  the  window  sills  are  three-ply 
Haskelite  with  gum  wood  for  the  outside  finish.  The 
outside  panels  are  sheathed  with  sheet  steel.  The  win- 
dows are  drop  sash  and  so  arranged  that  they  do  not 


The  New  Baltimore  Bus.  with  Its  Single  15-In.  Step  and 
26-In.  Service  Door,  Is  Convenient  to  Board 

drop  entirely  out  of  sight  but  act  to  prevent  passengers 
from  sticking  their  heads  and  arms  outside  of  the  bus. 

Ventilators,  three  on  a  side  and  staggered,  fit  in  over 
the  drop  sash  side  windows.  Hale  &  Kilburn  stationary 
seats,  with  Fabrikoid  imitating  Spanish  leather  cover- 
ing, are  used.  A  novel  feature  of  the  seat  arrangement 
is  the  method  employed  to  obtain  more  knee  room  with 
the  cross-seats  on  282-in.  centers.  This  is  done  by  cut- 
ting in  the  seat-backs  so  as  to  give  a  10-in.  knee  room 
in  addition  to  the  17-in.  cushion  width. 

Inside  lighting  is  furnished  by  six  dome  lights  just 
over  the  advertising  racks,  using  16  cp.  lamps.  There 
are  in  addition  lights  for  a  Hunter  roller  sign,  a  step 
light,  a  fare-box  light,  and  the  usual  tail  and  head  lights. 

The  driver  has  an  excellent  vision  in  all  directions, 
as  will  be  noticed  from  the  illustrations.  This  was  ac- 
complished by  using  round  glass  in  the  front  vestibule 
windows. 

The  power  plant  consists  of  a  four-cylinder  Knight 
sleeve  valve  motor  having  a  4J-in.  bore  and  44-in.  stroke. 
A  Clarke  rear  end  and  Fuller  transmission  with  four 
forward  and  a  single  reverse  speed  make  up  the  power 
plant  units. 

This  type  of  motor  bus  is  the  result  of  a  special  study 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


on  the  part  of  the  Republic  Truck  Company  and  has  been 
designed  solely  with  the  idea  of  providing  safety  and 
comfort  of  passengers.  It  is  by  no  means  a  common 
motor  truck  chassis  mounting  a  special  body  but  has 
been  designed  new  from  the  ground  up.  With  a  wheel 
base  of  176  in.,  a  track  tread  of  66  in.,  extra  long  springs 
on  both  front  and  rear  axles,  Morand  cushion  wheels 
and  Firestone  cushion  tires,  the  bus  has  excellent  riding 
qualities. 

As  for  convenience  of  passenger  interchange,  the  serv- 
ice door,  which  is  at  the  front  on  the  right,  has  a  clear 
width  of  25  in.  and  folds  inwardly;  the  seats  are  so 
arranged  that  the  largest  amount  of  standing  space  is 
over  the  rear  axle.  This  arrangement  makes  it  pos- 
sible to  keep  the  aisle,  which  is  18  in.  in  width,  prac- 
tically clear  of  congestion.  The  seating  arrangement  is 
illustrated  in  the  interior  view. 

The  bus  as  operated  was  fitted  in  as  a  part  of  the 
regular  schedule  which  calls  for  a  six-minute  headway, 
except  during  rush  hours,  when  a  three-minute  headway 
is  maintained.  The  route  is  3.3  miles  long  and  extends 
from  the  center  of  the  city  to  University  Parkway  via 
Charles  Street.    The  schedule  calls  for  twenty  minutes 


The  Interior  Fittings  and  the  Upholstered  Leather  Seats, 
with  Plenty  of  Knee  Room,  Make  for  a  Comfortable  Ride 


running  time,  with  a  four-minute  layover  at  each  end, 
which  gives  forty-eight  minutes  for  a  round  trip.  The 
average  running  speed  for  the  line  is  9.9  m.p.h.  Con- 
sidering the  grades  that  are  encountered  on  the  out- 
bound trip  this  is  a  pretty  fast  schedule  and  keeps  the 
operator  on  the  qui  vive,  especially  so  when  there  is  a 


All  Dimensions  in  Inches 

Length  over  all   264 

Wheelbase   176 

Minimum  turning  radius   336 

Length  of  body   216 

Outside  width   88 

Inside  width  at  seat  cushions   84 

Headroom   75 

Height  of  floor — light   28 

Height  of  floor — loaded   27 

Height  of  step   15 

Height  of  riser   13 

Size  of  tires  (a)   34x4 

Cross  seat  centers   28£ 

Type  motor   Knight  Sleeve  Valve 

Cylinder  diameter  and  stroke   4J-  x  4i 

(  )  Single  tires  on  front  wheels;  dual  t.res  on  iear. 

large  amount  of  vehicular  traffic  with  which  to  contend. 
A  detailed  story  regarding  the  route  in  question  is 
given  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Jan.  3, 
1920,  page  13. 

Some  of  the  more  important  dimensions  of  the  bus 
are  given  in  the  accompanying  table. 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


779 


Rectifier  Substations  Developed  Abroad 

Conversion  of  Power  on  Heavy  Electrification  Systems  in  Europe  Is  Being  Made  with  Mercury-Arc 
Rectifiers  in  Conjunction  with  Rotary  Substations — Arc  Apparatus  Perfected 
with  Outputs  Up  to  900  Amp.  at  800  Volts 

By  J.  H.  Milliken 

Midstates  Engineering  Company,  Chicago,  111. 


WITH  a  record  of  100,000  kw.  of  installed  capac- 
ity in  Europe,  the  large  power  rectifier  has 
reached  a  point  where  it  merits  consideration 
in  American  practice.  The  development  work  in  Eu- 
rope has  been  carried  on  and  the  apparatus  brought  to 
its  present  state  of  operating  efficiency  by  Brown, 
Boveri  &  Company  of  Baden,  Switzerland. 

Recently  this  company  received  an  order  in  connection 
with  the  electrification  of  the  Chemins  de  Fer  du  Midi 
(one  of  the  large  railroads  in  France),  which  includes 
three  rectifier  substations  of  3,600-kw.  capacity  each,  one 
rectifier  substation  of  4,800-kw.  capacity  and  several 
rotary-converter  substations,  two  of  which  latter  are  to 
be  automatically  controlled.  The  specification  under 
which  these  rectifiers  were  purchased  requires  that 
they  shall  be  able  to  withstand  50  per  cent  overload  for 
thirty  minutes  and  200  per  cent  overload  for  five 
minutes.  The  applied  pressure  will  be  1,500  volts  for 
lines  equipped  with  third  rail  and  3,000  volts  for  lines 
equipped  with  overhead  trolley  in  the  heavier  traffic 
zones.  Information  at  hand  about  this  electrification 
work  is  very  meager,  but  it  is  understood  that  this 
railroad  has  heavy  passenger  and  freight  service  over  a 
line  including  heavy  gradients.  The  weight  of  trains 
is  480  tons  and  the  locomotives  have  an  output  of  1,400 
hp.  and  weigh  sixty-five  to.  seventy  tons.  They  are 
provided  with  regenerating  equipment,  this  accounting 
for  the  necessity  for  some  rotary-converter  substations, 
as  it  is  impossible  to  return  power  to  the  alternating- 
current  line  through  the  rectifiers.  The  converter  sub- 
stations will  therefore  be  located  at  those  points  favor- 
able for  regeneration. 

In  addition  to  the  Midi  Railroad,  three  other  French 
railways,  Paris-Orleans,  Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean, 
and  Chemins  de  Fer  de  l'Etat,  have  accepted  the  direct- 
current  system  for  the  electrification  of  their  lines, 
employing  rectifier  substations.  It  is  understood  also 
that  a  500-kw.  550-volt  substation,  supplied  with  8,500- 
volt,  42-cycle  primary  current  is  in  use  in  railway 
work  in  Milan,  Italy.  Another  is  in  use  in  Asnieres, 
France,  of  300-kw.  capacity  at  600  volts.  The  Birming- 
ham Corporation  of  England  has  a  275-kw.,  450-volt 
equipment  at  Harbone  substation. 

In  constructing  the  large  power  rectifier  the  results 
obtained  from  the  glass-bulb  type  are  of  little  assistance 
as  the.  aspect  of  the  problem  is  entirely  changed.  One 
of  the  principal  problems  connected  with  this  apparatus, 
but  one  which  with  the  bulb  type  was  quite  simple,  has 
been  to  make  a  tank  of  sufficient  capacity  that  would  be 
absolutely  tight  under  all  conditions.  Without  going 
into  detailed  description,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  in  the 
apparatus  under  the  present  state  of  development  the 
problem  of  sealing  has  been  solved  satisfactorily. 

The  rectifier  consists  of  an  arc  chamber  or  cylinder 
having  a  cylindrical  extension  at  the  top,  both  cylinder 
and  extension  being  built  of  steel  plate.  The  arc  oper- 
ates in  the  arc  chamber  between  the  main  anodes,  of 


Three  Standard  Units  Designed  for  Direct-Current  Output  at 
300,  600  and  900  Amp.  at  Any  Voltage  up  to  800 


which  there  are  six  when  six-phase  connection  is  used, 
and  the  cathode  or  body  of  mercury  in  the  bottom.  The 
arc  is  started  by  an  auxilliary  ignition  anode  which 
automatically  makes  contact  with  the  mercury  cathode 
when  the  circuit  through  a  solenoid  operating  this 
anode  is  energized. 

Supplying  each  rectifier  bank  or  individual  cylinder 
as  the  case  may  be  there  is  a  stepdown  transformer 
suited  to  the  conditions  of  primary  voltage  on  the  sup- 
ply line  and  delivering  current  to  the  rectifier  at  a 
voltage  suited  to  the  required  direct-current  output. 
This  requirement  is  similar  to  that  of  rotary  con- 
verters, though  the  ratio  of  secondary  voltage  to  the 
direct-current  voltage  differs  from  that  of  either  the 
three-ring  or  the  six-ring  converter. 

The  rectifier  economizes  floor  space  as  the  cylinder 
unit  need  not  be  accessible  for  operating  attention, 


95 


1  1 

1000 

Kw.  550 
50  cycle 

volts 

s 

K  \  % 


Vols'-' 

Comparison  of  Efficiency  of  Steel-Clad  Rectifier,  Rotary 
Converter  and  Motor-Generator  Over  Load  Range 

all  operating  being  done  from  the  switchboard.  The 
cylinder  unit  is  not  heavy  and  has  no  moving  parts,  so 
foundations  are  not  required  and  it  may  be  placed  on 
galleries  or  on  floors  in  buildings  not  especially  designed 
for  substations.  If  erected  in  the  center  of  the  room, 
ducts  or  conduit  for  cable  or  bus  must  be  provided 
in  or  below  the  floor  slab. 


780 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


The  simplicity  and  ruggedness  suit  it  especially  to 
automatic  and  portable  substation  uses.  The  attendants 
in  a  non-automatic  substation  need  have  no  more  skill 
than  would  be  demanded  for  a  transforming  station, 
as  the  operating  functions  are  no  more  involved  than 
switching.  The  standard  single  units  now  in  production 
and  use  are: 


Type 
G  3/16 
G  4/6 
G  5/6 
HG  3/6 


Amperage 
300 
600 
900 
300 


For  Voltages  Up  to 
800 
800 
800 
1,200 


35 
|  90 


90 


85 


The  units  work  perfectly  when  banked  in  parallel, 
anode  reactance  coils  being  used  if  they  are  fed  from 
a  common  transformer.  They  can  be  worked  also  in 
^  parallel  with  any 

type  of  direct- 
current  apparatus 
such  as  rotary 
converters,  motor- 
generators  or 
storage  batteries. 
The  parallel  oper- 
ation in  bank  with 
proper  distribu- 
tion of  load  is 
fixed  so  that  no 
ad  j  ustment  of 
voltage  is  neces- 
sary when  putting 
in  or  taking  off 
units.  Compound- 


- 

....  . 

D  C  ow 

'put  ra> 

A 

z 

20 

6 
D 

» 

reoo 

e  ] 

pnvvrr  Tartvr 

-~  

^  Ef 

over 

Of ISOl 
load  rc? 

"  volt  re 

cf/f/er- 

Some  Characteristics  of  the  Steel- 
Clad  Rectifier 


ing  is  provided  as  required  to  take  care  of  voltage  change 
to  meet  changing  load.  Adjustable  output  voltage 
through  a  wide  range  is  possible  by  imposition  of  an 
induction  regulator  upon  alternating-current  supply. 

One  of  the  most  pronounced  advantages  of  the  recti- 
fiers, particularly  for  peak,  mill  and  railway  work,  is  its 
remarkable  overload  capacity.  The  short-time  overload 
capacities  are  as  follows : 


Duration  of  Overload, 
Minutes 
2 
5 
10 
30 


Per  Cent  of  Normal  Rating 
Permissible 
300 
200 
150 
125 


There  is  no  flashing  over  or  damage  to  the  rectifier 
from  external  short  circuits.  Momentary  short  circuits 
do  not  affect  the  apparatus  at  all,  and  severe  ones  are, 
of  course,  cleared  by  the  usual  protecting  breaker. 

The  characteristics  of  the  units  evidence  high  power 
factor  over  all,  very  high  unit  and  over-all  efficiency  at 
all  loads,  and  excellent  regulation  with  compounding 
where  required.  The  power  factor  averages  around  95 
per  cent,  and  the  efficiency  at  full  load  varies  from 
92  to  98  per  cent,  depending  on  the  direct-current  out- 
put voltage  utilized. 

The  efficiency  of  a  cell  itself  does  not  change  with 
the  load  current,  but  in  taking  account  of  complete 
plant,  transformer  and  auxiliaries  must  be  included. 
From  the  accompanying  curves  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
efficiency  remains  virtually  steady  down  to  one-quarter 
load,  when  these  fixed  losses  have  a  marked  lowering 
influence  on  the  curve.  It  may  also  be  that  the  rec- 
tifier has  considerable  advantage  over  the  rotary  at 
less  than  full  load  and  somewhat  better  efficiency  at 
full  load.  The  very  high  and  almost  flat  efficiency  curve 
of  a  rectifier  supplying  1,500  volts  direct  current  is 
shown  in  one  of  the  curves. 

The  records  of  a  number  of  stations  that  have  been 
in  service  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  for  observation 
indicate  that  the  apparatus  gives  reliable  performance' 
with  very  small  maintenance  cost. 


Portable  Air  Drill 

ACCOMPANYING  illustrations  show  a  form  of  port- 
l  able  air  drill  which  was  designed  by  F.  P.  Maize,, 
master  mechanic  of  the  Portland  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company,  Portland,  Ore.,  to  drill  15-in.  x  41-ft. 
channel  iron  for  freight  cars.  After  use  on  this  par- 
ticular job  it  was  found  of  great  convenience  for  other 
work,  as  it  drills  as  fast  as  an  ordinary  drill  and  can 
be  easily  attached  at  any  desired  location.  The  air  drill 
is  mounted  in  a  cage  and  slots  are  cut  for  the  arm,  and 
the  feed  screw  is  screwed  tight  against  the  top.  This 
holds  the  drill  tightly  in  place,  and  the  cage  can  be 
moved  up  and  down  by  a  feed  at  the  side  of  the  machine. 
By  this  construction  one  man  can  handle  the  machine 
very  easily  and  make  rapid  changes.  One  illustration 
shows  the  machine  drilling  a  41-ft.  channel  iron. 


At  Left,  Handt  Portable  Air  Drill.    At  Right,  Air  Drill  in  Operation  Drilling  Channel  Iron 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


781 


New  Type  Vacuum  Oiler 

Oil  Is  Supplied  to  the  Top  of  the  Waste  Packing  From  an 
Oil  Chamber  Added  to  the  Top  of  the  Bearing 
Housing  and  Welded  to  the  Cover 

LUBRICATION  is  a  vital  factor  in  the  efficient  oper- 
j  ation  of  electric  railway  equipment,  for  upon  it 
depend  both  continuity  of  service  and  economy  in  main- 
tenance. The  actual  cost  of  lubricants  is  small  in  its 
relation  to  other  operating  expenses,  but  the  expense 
of  replacing  equipment  parts  damaged  or  destroyed 
through  lack  of  proper  lubrication  sometimes  amounts 
to  a  large  item. 

Armature  bearings  are  considered  as  the  most  vital 
of  all  the  bearings  in  electric  car  equipment,  since  a 
hot  armature  bearing  usually  results  in  damage  to  the 
costly  windings  of  the  armature.  Several  methods  of 
lubrication  for  railway  motor  bearings  have  been  tried, 
but  oil  and  waste  lubrication  is  the  one  now  universally 
used.  The  basic  principle  of  oil  and  waste  lubrication 
is  capillarity,  which  is  afforded  by  the  interstices  or 
spaces  between  adjacent  fibers  and  strands  of  the  waste, 
through  which  oil  is  supplied  to  the  bearing.  The  rate 
of  oil  flow  with  waste  packing  is  dependent  upon  four 
factors — first,  the  height  of  capillary  lift;  second,  the 
effective  cross-section  of  the  mass ;  third,  the  viscosity 
of  the  oil,  and  fourth,  the  difference  in  saturation 
density  at  the  two  ends  of  the  mass.  With  a  modern 
motor  this  means  that  the  rate  at  which  oil  is  supplied 
to  the  bearings  depends  upon  the  distance  between  the 
oil  in  the  bottom  of  the  housing  and  the  bearing,  the 
amount  and  compactness  of  the  waste  in  contact  with 
the  axle,  the  thinness  or  thickness  of  the  oil,  and  the 
rate  at  which  the  revolving  shaft  or  axle  reduces  the 
saturation  of  waste  at  the  point  of  contact. 

The  efficiency  of  railway  motor  lubrication  is  impaired 
by  the  fact  that  the  packing  waste  cannot  be  maintained 
in  the  proper  saturated  condition  at  all  times.  With  the 
older  types  of  motors  the  reason  is  the  inability  to  con- 
trol the  oil  feed  against  the  combined  factors  of 
capillarity  and  gravity.  With  later  types  of  motors  it 
is  difficult  to  maintain  the  oil  level  at  a  fixed  point,  and, 
as  a  result,  the  rate  of  feed  varies.  The  efficiency  of 
lubrication  is  also  impaired  by  the  entrance  of  dirt  and 
other  abrasives  into  the  bearing  housings  each  time  the 


Vacuum  Oiler  Installed  on  Cover  of  Motor  Housing 


covers  are  opened  for  oiling  or  inspection  by  improperly 
fitting  covers  and  weak  or  broken  cover  springs. 

In  an  endeavor  to  overcome  some  of  the  difficulties  of 
keeping  waste  properly  saturated,  the  Railway  Improve- 
ment Company,  New  York,  has  placed  a  new  vacuum 
oiler  on  the  market.  This  consists  of  a  cylindrical  steel 
reservoir,  which  can  be  mounted  on  the  top  of  the  bear- 
ing housing.    By  welding  the  oiler  to  the  cover,  both 


the  cover  and  oil  chamber  can  be  held  firmly  in  position 
by  use  of  an  anchor-bolt  bolted  to  the  housing.  An 
anchor-bolt  bushing  passes  entirely  through  the  oil 
chamber  so  that  the  assembled  oiler  and  cover  can  be 
slipped  over  the  anchor  bolt  and  fastened  by  means  of 
a  nut  and  lock  washer.  The  top  of  the  reservoir  also- 
contains  a  removable  filler  plug  and  a  control  tube.  A 
feeder  tube  extends  from  the  inside  of  the  control  tube 
through  the  housing  cover  with  its  lower  end  just  above 
the  level  of  the  waste  packing.  The  lower  end  of  this 
feeder  tube  is  closed  with  a  felt  plug  through  which 


Construction  op  "Vacuum  Oiler 


passes  a  feeder  wick,  composed  of  special  wool  strands. 
From  the  feeder  tube  this  wick  passes  through  a  wire 
loop  and  then  down  the  control  tube  to  the  bottom  of 
the  reservoir. 

The  rate  of  oil  feed  necessary  will  vary  with  different 
types  of  motors,  the  character  of  the  service,  the  qual- 
ity of  the  oil  used,  the  packing  waste,  the  viscosity  of 
the  oil  and  the  bearing  clearances.  Different  rates  of 
feed  are  provided  in  the  oiler  by  varying  the  height  of 
the  upper  end  of  the  wick.  To  provide  for  this,  the 
feeder  wire  has  three  loops  through  which  the  wick 
can  be  passed,  and  thus  the  capillary  lift  is  increased 
or  decreased  to  meet  the  conditions. 

Two  capacities  of  oilers  are  being  furnished.  The 
type  D  oiler  is  suitable  for  motors  up  to  and  including 
60  hp.  It  consists  of  a  steel  reservoir  3  in.  in  diameter 
and  10  in.  long  with  a  capacity  of  8  gills.  For  motors 
above  60  hp.,  the  type  DD  oiler,  having  a  31-in.  x  10-in. 
reservoir  and  a  capacity  of  12  gills  of  oil,  is  furnished. 


Electric  Power  at  a  Million  Volts 

SUCCESSFUL  generation  of  electric  power  at  more 
than  1,000,000  volts  at  commercial  frequencies  has 
just  been  accomplished  at  the  High  Voltage  Engineering 
Laboratory  of  the  Pittsfield  Works  of  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company.  In  the  course  of  the  experiments  the 
gap  spacings  for  sphere  and  needle  spark  gaps  were 
carefully  checked  up  and  prolongation  of  existing  curves 
(750,000  volts  and  below)  were  found  correct  up  to 
1,100,000  volts. 

Arc-over  tests  were  also  made  on  strings  of  standard 
10-in.  suspension  insulators  up  to  1,100,000  volts.  The 
laws  of  corona  were  checked  at  similar  potentials  and 
found  to  hold.  A  short  transmission  line  was  tested 
for  corona  conditions  and  results  indicated  that  a  line 
using  4-in.  diameter  conductors  or  larger  would  be 
necessary  at  1,000,000  volts. 


782 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


Edge  View  of  a  Perforated 
Douglas  Fir  Tie 


Machine  Makes  Pre-Treatment  Incisions 

in  500  Ties  per  Hour  \ 

A MACHINE  for  making  incisions  in  ties  to  secure 
the  maximum  penetration  of  a  preservative  that  is 
applied  later  has  been  operating  in  the  lumber  yard  of 
the  Charles  R.  McCormick  Company  at  San  Diego,  Cal. 
This  is  the  same  machine  described  in  the  Electric 

Railway  Journal  for  April 
30,  1921,  page  819,  but  as 
set  up  at  San  Diego  the  ar- 
rangement is  such  that  ties 
are  handled  very  rapidly. 

Instead  of  a  greased  plank 
formerly  used  in  conveying 
ties  to  and  from  the  ma- 
chine a  motor-operated  chain 
conveyor  is  now  employed 
and  the  crew  consists  of  four 
men  for  unloading  ties,  one 
for  watching  the  chains,  one 
mechanic  and  four  men  for 
loading  ties  onto  cars.  This  makes  ten  men  in  all. 
With  this  arrangement  3,600  ties  can  be  handled  in 
eight  hours.  As  about  an  hour  each  day  is  lost  in 
switching  cars  to  and  from  the  machine,  the  actual 
maximum  rate  of  passing  ties  through  the  machine  is 
about  500  per  hour.  Several  hundred  thousand  ties 
were  treated  by  this  process  at  San  Diego  for  the  Santa 
Fe  Railroad. 

Paint  Spraying  Saves  Time 

A COMPRESSED  air  paint  spraying  machine  has  re- 
cently been  installed  by  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.) 
Railway  for  painting  trucks.  The  equipment  is  called 
the  Aeron  painting  system  and  is  sold  by  the  De  Vilbiss 
Manufacturing  Company  of  Toledo,  Ohio.  Results  from 
the  use  of  this  machine  show  that  a  truck  can  be  thor- 
oughly painted  in  less  than  five  minutes,  whereas  the 
handwork  previously  took  about  forty  minutes.  Owing 
to  the  difficulty  of  reaching  all  parts  of  springs  by  hand 
painting  the  work  is  particularly  tedious  and  slow.  The 
mechanical  department  of  the  Los  Angeles  company 
rates  the  paint-spraying  machine  as  a  75  per  cent  im- 
provement over  the  hand-painting  method.    With  this 


equipment  three  lines  of  hose  are  attached  to  the  paint 
jar.  One  carries  compressed  air  from  the  compressor 
tank  to  the  jar,  another  carries  air  through  the  jar  to 
the  handle,  and  the  third  carries  the  paint  to  the  handle. 
The  force  of  the  spray  is  regulated  by  the  handle,  which 
is  shaped  like  an  automatic  pistol  and  works  with  a 
trigger.  A  safety  valve  on  the  paint  jar  prevents  ex- 
cessive pressure. 

The  tank  has  a  capacity  of  7  gal.  and  has  a  seamless 
pressed  steel  shell  with  welded  bottom.  The  cap  is  made 
of  cast  steel  with  handles  for  carrying  and  for  screwing 
it  down  so  as  to  render  it  airtight  while  in  operation. 


Painting  a  Truck  with  the  Paint  Spraying  Machine 


Double  Capacity  Air  Brakes 

THE  Virginian  Railway  operates  over  heavy  grades, 
some  of  them  as  high  as  1.5  per  cent  down  grade, 
and  near  Elmore  the  trains  have  to  be  pushed  up  a 
2.07  per  cent  grade.  The  rolling  stock  on  the  Virginian 
consists  of  very  large  cars;  for  example,  1,120-ton  coal 
cars  and  the  most  powerful  steam  locomotives  in  the 
country.  The  braking  problem  under  these  conditions 
is  very  serious  because  the  weight  of  the  cars  when 
empty  is  only  one-quai'ter  of  the  gross  weight  loaded 
and  because  the  grade  necessitates  adequate  control. 
With  single  capacity  brakes  the  braking  force  developed 
is  constant  in  magnitude  but  varying  in  relation  to  car 
weight.  The  usual  practice  has  been  to  design  the 
brake  layout  so  as  to  provide  the  highest  fractional 
percentage  of  braking  force  on  the  empty  car  and  then 
to  accept  whatever  reduced  braking  ratio  might  be 
available  for  the  loaded  cars.  Usual  percentages  were 
60  for  the  empty  and  15  per  cent  for  the  loaded.  Any 
compromise  design  for  the  conditions  on  the  Virginian 
Railway  was  impossible,  so  a  double  capacity  brake 
equipment  was  used,  the  layout  being  designed  to  pro- 
vide for  40  per  cent  braking  ratio  for  an  empty  car  and 
40  per  cent  for  the  loaded  car.  The  additional  force 
required  to  raise  the  braking  ratios  on  loaded  cars  is 
obtained  by  the  combination  of  an  additional  cylinder 
and  increased  leverage,  a  small  load  reservoir  supplying 
the  additional  air. 

When  the  equipment  is  set  for  empty  car  operation 
the  take-up  and  empty  cylinders,  which  are  built  in  one 
structure  with  a  small  piston  operating  within  the 
larger,  operate  as  one  10-in.  cylinder  similar  to  the 
standard  single  capacity  brake.  When  the  equipment 
is  set  for  loaded  car  operation  the  take-up  cylinder 
piston  first  takes  up  the  slack  in  the  rigging  and  brings 
the  shoes  firmly  onto  the  wheels.  Then  the  empty  cylin- 
der piston  moves  out  a  slight  amount,  its  clutch  grip- 
ping the  notched  push  rod  of  take-up  cylinder  piston, 
thus  supplying  additional  force.  Finally,  as  the  brake 
pipe  reduction  continues,  the  load  cylinder  moves  out 
a  slight  amount,  gripping  its  notched  push  rod  and 
adding  to  the  force  already  developed  through  the  con- 
necting rods  and  levers.  By  this  method  of  slack  take-up 
and  short  travel  of  the  larger  piston  the  volume  of  air 
required  for  a  given  application  is  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. The  new  brake  was  tested  out  on  a  train  con- 
sisting of  100  loaded  120-ton  capacity  cars  and  the 
brakes  operated  to  the  complete  satisfaction  of  every 
one  concerned.  Among  the  witnesses  of  the  test  were 
four  men  who  were  present  thirty-five  years  ago  at  the 
famous  Burlington  test  of  the  Westinghouse  air  brake, 
which  did  much  to  cause  the  universal  acceptance  of 
that  type  of  brake  on  American  railroads.  This  new 
development  is  applicable  to  heavy  electric  cars. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


783 


Keeping  Armature  Repair  Records 

Careful  Record  Kept  of  All  Work  Done  in  Armature  Repair 
Department  of  Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana 
from  Time  Armature  Is  Removed  from  Service 

THE  accompanying  forms  illustrate  the  methods  of 
keeping  records  of  work  done  in  the  armature 
repair  department  of  the  general  shops  of  the  Union 
Traction  Company  of  Indiana,  at  Anderson.  All  arma- 
ture repairs  are  taken  care  of  at  this  point  with  the 
exception  of  the  work  done  by  one  armature  winder 
at  the  Muncie  shop.  When  an  armature  is  removed 
from  service  an  armature  record  tag  is  attached  to  it. 
This  tag  consists  of  two  parts  and  gives  information 
as  to  the  cause  of  removal  as  well  as  a  complete  record 
of  the  repairs  as  carried  out,  and  finally,  a  record  of 
its  reinstallation  when  again  placed  in  service.  All 
armature  repair  tags  are  sent  to  the  office  of  the  master 
mechanic  at  the  Anderson  shop,  where  a  record  is  kept 
of  all  work  done. 

In  addition  to  the  records  furnished  by  the  arma- 
ture repair  tags,  a  daily  report  is  made  out  by  the 
armature  room  foreman  and  sent  to  the  master 
mechanic's  office.  This  report  gives  the  type  and  num- 
ber of  the  armatures,  the  defect  found  and  the  cause 
of  the  trouble.  It  also  includes  information  as  to  the 
repairs  made.  At  the  end  of  each  month  this  informa- 
tion is  tabulated  in  the  form  of  a  monthly  report  to 
the  master  mechanic  and  to  the  superintendent  of 
motive  power.  This  tabulation  gives  the  various  defects 
which  occur  for  each  type  of  armature  owned.  The 
company  has  fifteen  different  types  of  railway  motors 
in  service,  and  a  scheme  for  numbering  the  armature 
shafts  has  been  worked  out  which  has  proved  very 
convenient  and  also  prevents  mistakes  as  the  various 
types  can  be  readily  identified  by  the  numbers. 

The  first  two  figures  of  the  number  used  indicate  the 
type  of  motor  and  the  following  number  or  numbers 
indicate  the  serial  number  of  the  armature.  For 
example:  Westinghouse  No.  112  motor  armature  has 
12  for  the  first  two  figures.  Similarly  the  type  121 
has  21.    The  303  has  03,  and  the  General  Electric  205 


has  05  as  the  first  two  figures  of  the  armature  number. 
The  armature  repair  department  also  makes  repairs 
to  motor  generator  and  converter  armatures  for  the 
electrical  department.  This  work  is  taken  care  of  by 
a  department  job  order,  which  is  issued  by  the  depart- 
ment having  the  work  done.  One  of  the  accompanying 
forms  shows  the  type  of  order  used.  Five  copies  are 
made  of  each  order.   The  original  copy  accompanies  the 


O 


UNION  TRACTION  CO.  OF  INDIANA 

DEPARTMENT  JOB  ORDER 
Anderson^  Ao¥s"""  """  "'"Z",^b/^  lti 

Anderson  Plant, Electrical  Dep't 


NV  22840 


■*  ifxvlW  In  detail  btlow  h 


O 


Maico  necessary  repai rs  To i  W,nr~ 250  TC.W. 


oooy.ort.er^ 


Ho.  S9461. 


Ol,  Co™„W  g/ft/iJ. 


~7?h> 


ixzJI  


Form  Used  for  Job  Orders 

job,  the  second  sheet  is  sent  to  the  timekeeper,  the 
third  is  filled  in  in  the  master  mechanic's  office  with 
the  date  of  receipt,  the  fourth  copy  is  sent  to  the 
superintendent  of  motive  power's  office,  and  the  fifth 
copy  is  kept  by  the  department  of  issue.  When  the 
job  is  completed  the  original  copy  is  sent  to  the  office 
of  the  master  mechanic  with  the  date  of  completion 
and  the  foreman's  O.K.  This  is  then  sent  to  the  time- 
keeper and  the  copy  in  the  master  mechanic's  file  is 
sent  to  the  office  of  the  superintendent  of  motive  power 
with  the  date  of  completion  noted  thereon.  The  store- 
room office  furnishes  the  timekeeper  with  the  cost  of 
material  used,  and  this,  together  with  the  cost  of  labor, 
is  entered  on  the  original  form.  This  is  then  returned 
to  the  department  of  issue  for  the  information  of  those 
particularly  interested  in  the  work. 


&«^C&stst4*is_  Sudan  (2s<^y 


At  Left,  Monthly  Reports  of  Armature  Defects.    At  Right,  Daily  Reports  of  Armatures  Repaired. 

In  Center,  Armature  Record  Tags 


784 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


Manufacturers'  Problems  Discussed 

Mr.  Thirlwall  Gives  Data  on  Recent  Improvements  in  Electric  Railway  Equip- 
ment— Mr.  Pellissier  Describes  the  Buying  Problems  Which 
the  Railways  Are  Called  Upon  to  Solve 


A "TWO-HEADER"  meeting  of  the 
New  England  Street  Railway  Club 
was  held  in  Boston  on  Oct.  13.  The 
afternoon  session  was  devoted  to  two 
addresses  on  the  problems  of  the  rail- 
way company  and  the  manufacturer. 
George  E.  Pellissier,  chief  engineer  and 
assistant  general  manager  Holyoke 
Street  Railway,  spoke  for  the  railway 
companies  and  J.  C.  Thirlwall,  railway 
and  traction  engineering  department, 
General  Electric  Company,  spoke  for 
the  manufacturers. 

Mr.  Thirlwall's  Address 

Mr.  Thirlwall  said  that  in  consider- 
ing the  subject  of  the  discussion  he  was 
tempted  to  suggest  that  it  should  be 
slightly  changed  to  read  "What  the 
Manufacturers  Have  to  Sell  and  What 
the  Railway  Companies  Have  to  Buy." 
The  manufacturers  have  many  things 
to  sell,  but  for  some  time  past  appar- 
ently there  have  been  comparatively 
few  things  the  companies  felt  they 
were  obliged  to  buy.  Broadly  speaking, 
every  successful  manufacturer  has  to 
sell  not  only  the  fabricated  product  of 
his  tools,  but  the  ideas  of  his  designers, 
engineers  and  salesmen,  and  their  ability 
to  save  money  or  make  money  for  his 
customers.  In  other  words,  in  the  long 
run,  it  is  the  ability  of  a  manufacturer 
to  give  service  to  his  customers  that 
governs  the  volume  of  his  sales. 

The  long  period  of  stationary  receipts 
and  of  mounting  wage  and  material 
costs  through  which  the  electric  roads 
have  passed  for  the  past  five  years  has 
emphasized  the  necessity  of  service 
from  the  manufacturer,  and  in  general 
the  manufacturers  need  not  be  ashamed 
of  the  response.  The  period  has  seen 
many  economies  and  methods  of  in- 
creasing earnings  worked  out  by  both 
operators  and  manufacturers.  For 
instance,  the  Birney  safety  car  is  add- 
ing directly  some  '$12,000*000  or  $13,- 
000,000  to  this  year's  net  earnings  of 
the  275  companies  using  these  cars, 
and  indirectly,  through  rapid  extension 
of  one-man  operation  of  other  cars 
made  possible  by  its  success  on  the 
Birney  type,  has  saved  probably 
another  $2,000,000.  The  development 
of  other  types  of  low-wheel,  light- 
weight cars  and  of  their  equipment,  and 
of  automatic  control  for  substations, 
are  simply  a  few  of  the  many  contribu- 
tions manufacturers  have  made  to  the 
concerted  effoi't  to  help  traction  com- 
panies in  their  struggles  for  existence. 

The  speaker  then  pointed  out  some  of 
the  important  developments  made  dur- 
ing the  past  twenty  years,  saying  that 
he  referred  not  only  to  those  under- 
taken by  the  General  Electric  Company, 
but  by  all  of  the  manufacturers  of  rail- 
way materials. 

He  first  referred  to  power  stations 
with  their  change  in  prime  movers  from 
reciprocating  engine  drive,  with  25- 
cycle  power  and  5,000-kw.  unit  max- 


imum, to  turbine  drives  with  60  cycles 
and  45,000-kw.  unit  maximum;  to  the 
development  of  the  diversified  load  in 
central  stations  and  to  the  saving  in 
fuel,  attendance  and  lower  reserve 
capacity  accomplished  during  the 
period  mentioned.  The  change  in  fuel 
consumption  from  these  improvements 
is  from  5  to  6  lb.  of  coal  per  kilowatt- 
hour  for  a  small  engine-driven  genera- 
tor to  2  lb.  of  coal  or  less  per  kilowatt- 
hour  for  the  large  turbine.  There  has 
been  a  corresponding  saving  in  energy 
consumption  of  cars.  On  the  basis  of 
36,000  miles  and  4,000  hours  per  year 
the  old  double-truck  car  would  take 
about  180,000  kw.-hr.  as  compared  to 
150,000  kw.-hr.  for  modern  double-truck 
cars  and  75,000  kw.-hr.  for  safety  cars. 
With  $7  coal  the  old  double-truck  car 
Mould  cost  for  fuel  per  year  about 
$3,150,  whereas  the  cost  for  fuel  with 
light  weight  safety  car  operation  and 
large  turbine  generation  would  be  only 
$525  per  year. 

Similarly  the  automatic  control  in  sub- 
station permits  closer  spacing  of  sub- 
stations, saves  copper,  increases  the 
load  factor,  permits  a  better  contact 
with  the  power  company  if  power  is 
bought,  and  saves  approximately  $3,000 
a  year  in  attendance  for  substations, 


together  with  other  savings  in  light 
losses,  etc. 

A  similar  comparison  was  made 
between  the  old  heavy,  split-frame  non- 
ventilated  motor  with  poor  commuta- 
tion, grease  lubrication,  soft  bearing 
metal  and  gearings  with  the  modern 
motor  which  weighs  from  30  to  40  per 
cent  less  for  a  given  working  capacity 
so  is  less  in  first  cost  and  has  an  aver- 
age cost  of  maintenance  of  only  50  to 
60  cents  per  thousand  miles  or  $18  to 
$22  per  year,  as  compared  with  six  to 
seven  times  that  amount  for  the  old 
type.  This  is  in  addition  to  its  greater 
reliability,  which  means  fewer  cars  held 
in  and  fewer  road  failures.  Small  wheel 
design  also  saves  weight  in  body  and 
truck.  The  speaker  also  referred  to 
control  and  brake  improvements  and  in 
shop  equipment,  mentioning  among  the 
latter,  banding  lathes,  baking  ovens, 
electric  hoists,  paint-spraying  machines, 
air-blowing  machines  for  electrical 
equipment,  armature  slotting  machines, 
pinion  pullers,  hot  water  heaters  for 
mounting  pinions,  acetylene  and  electric 
welders,  testing  outfits  for  fields,  arma- 
tures and  other  apparatus,  etc.  In  con- 
clusion the  speaker  said: 

"We  have  all  trimmed  our  sails  dur- 
ing the  passing  storm;  our  prices  have 
followed  the  receding  waves  of  post- 
war inflation  and  are  back  to  what  we 
believe  to  be  a  fairly  stable  basis;  we 
are  in  most  lines  prepared  to  make 
quick  deliveries  of  standard  material; 
we  are  anxious  for  orders." 


The 


What  the  Railway  Company  Requires 
and  What  It  Should  Buy* 

Function  of  a  Railway  Is  to  Furnish  Satisfactory  and  Adequate  Trans- 
portation as  Cheaply  as  Poss  ible  and  All  Efforts  Should  Be 
Devoted  Toward  Acco  mplishing  This  Result 

By  George  E.  Pellissier 

Assistant  General  Manager  Holyoke  (Mass.)  Street  Railway 


FIRST — A  railway's  primary  func- 
tion is  to  furnish  satisfactory  and 
adequate  transportation  facilities  to  the 
whole  community  it  serves  at  a  cost 
which  will  be  as  low  as  possible  con- 
sistent with  the  service  required  by  the 
community,  and  this  cost  should  include 
a  return  on  the  money  invested  in  the 
enterprise  sufficient  to  attract  new 
capital  and  to  act  as  an  incentive  to 
economical  management. 

Second — The  industry  should  be  con- 
ducted as  a  monoply  subject  to  public 
regulation  and  control. 

Third — The  industry  is  entitled  to 
all  the  rights,  privileges  and  obliga- 
tions of  any  other  like  industry  under 
the  constitution. 

Viewed  from  this  standpoint,  what 
the  street  railway  industry  needs  most, 
I  believe,  and  what  it  has  always  needed 
most,  is  men  .with  the  capacity  for  real 
leadership  as  executives  and  operators. 
At  the  present  time  I  know  of  no  in- 
dustry of  like  importance  and  magni- 


*Abstract  of  paper  read  at  a  meeting  of 
the  New  England  Street  Railway  Club, 
Boston,  Oct.  13,  1921. 


tude  which  has  fewer  of  the  right 
kind  of  men  available  or  a  smaller 
reserve  from  which  such  men  can  be 
developed.  I  say  this  without  any  de- 
sire to  disparage  or  discredit  the  work 
of  those  who  have  worked  faithfully 
and  hard,  but  who  in  many  cases  have 
not  obtained  results. 

Relation  of  Transportation  to 
Industry 

The  real  trouble  began  with  the  pro- 
moter, who  had  few  of  the  virtues  and 
all  the  failings  of  the  pioneer  and  a  lot 
of  failings  that  the  pioneer  did  not 
have.  He  did  not  have  the  fundamental 
knowledge  of  the  relation  of  transpor- 
tation to  industry,  of  the  proper  func- 
tion of  a  street  railway,  of  his  duties 
and  his  obligations  and  even  of  his 
rights,  or,  if  he  had  the  knowledge,  the 
courage  to  assert  them  has  been  demon- 
strated by  the  results.  These  men  were 
rarely  of  the  type  that  could  make  two 
blades  of  grass  grow  where  one  grew 
before,  but  sometimes  were  able  to 
make  one  blade  look  like  two,  and  thus 
established  a  reputation  for  good  man- 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


785 


agement  wholly  undeserved  and  created 
the  impression  that  the  industry  was  a 
gold  mine. 

This  impression  led  naturally  to  the 
demand  on  the  part  of  the  traveling 
public  for  extension  of  service,  lower 
fares,  reduction  of  dividends,  and  fin- 
ally public  regulation,  which  was  inter- 
preted to  mean  authority  without  re- 
sponsibility. With  leaders  lacking  the 
power  of  analysis,  lacking  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  actual  cost  of  operation, 
lacking  in  many  instances  the  knowl- 
edge of  their  rights  and  the  courage 
to  assert  them,  the  industry  followed 
the  lines  of  least  resistance  and  ac- 
ceded to  demands  and  regulations  which 
should  have  been  resisted  to  the  limit. 
Expediency,  not  principle,  was  their 
guiding  motive,  and  I  regret  to  say 
that  in  many  organizations  the  tradi- 
tions then  established  still  persist,  with 
the  result  that  such  organizations  are 
not  only  in  a  much  worse  position  than 
the  average  but  they  have  also  done 
much  to  destroy  the  confidence  of  the 
public  in  the  integrity  of  the  industry, 
causing  the  innocent  to  suffer  with  the 
guilty. 

When,  as  a  result  of  decrease  of 
fares,  extension  of  service,  added  main- 
tenance expenses  due  to  age,  wear  and 
tear  on  physical  property  and  accrued 
depreciation,  revenues  decreased  and 
operating  expenses  increased  the  prop- 
erty was  allowed  to  deteriorate  and 
service  to  be  impaired  in  the  attempt 
to  keep  up  dividends.  To  further  ag- 
gravate the  situation,  wages  in  all 
other  industries  began  to  go  up,  ac- 
companied by  the  labor  organization 
movement.  The  failure  of  street  rail- 
ways to  keep  pace  with  other  industries 
in  increasing  wages  led  to  lack  of  co- 
operation, even  where  there  had  been 
any,  strikes  and  general  demoraliza- 
tion. 

Hence,  I  repeat  that  the  greatest  need 
of  the  street  railways  today  is  for 
men  with  constructive  minds,  men  who 
combine  administrative  ability  with 
technical  ability,  men  with  vision,  cour- 
age, enthusiasm  and  zeal  for  accom- 
plishment, and  who  have  the  ability  to 
select  and  inspire  their  co-workers  with 
the  same  qualities,  men  of  culture  and 
initiative,  thoroughly  grounded  in  the 
fundamentals  and  trained  for  the  work 
they  have  to  do.  Men  of  sincerity,  in- 
tegrity and  broad  human  sympathies, 
and  having  a  well-developed  sense  of 
values.  Men  capable  of  obtaining 
highest  efficiency  from  the  human  ele- 
ment and  enlisting  the  spirit  of  the 
men  in  the  ranks,  which  after  all  is  the 
most  important  part  of  the  men. 

Good  Workmanship  Requires 
Good  Tools 

What  else  do  street  railways  need? 
Obviously,  to  furnish  satisfactory  and 
adequate  transportation  facilities  at  a 
reasonable  cost,  they  need  proper  phys- 
ical equipment.  As  the  mechanic  can- 
not do  good  work  without  tools,  neither 
can  the  railways  give  good  service  with- 
out proper  facilities,  and  at  the  present 
time  the  tracks,  rolling  stock  and  equip- 


ment of  many  companies,  together  with 
the  facilities  for  maintaining  them,  are 
nothing  less  than  atrocious. 

Railways  should  buy  the  best  ma- 
terial for  the  purpose  required,  all 
things  considered,  including  cost,  and  it 
may  not  be  the  best  or  the  cheapest 
thing  available  which  should  be  pur- 
chased. As  an  illustration,  if  a  com- 
pany has  200  motor  equipments  of  a 
certain  type  and  requires  two  more, 
even  though  motors  of  another  type 
with  5  per  cent  greater  efficiency  at  5 
per  cent  less  cost  could  be  obtained, 
it  would  not  be  justified  in  changing 
standards,  thus  increasing  the  stock  of 
repair  parts  necessary  simply  to  avail 
itself  of  the  slight  gain  in  efficiency 
and  cost,  unless  it  had  definitely  de- 
cided to  abandon  the  type  it  had  al- 
together. 

In  the  smaller  organizations,  where 
the  executives  may  have  to  perform 
the  duties  of  heads  of  departments, 
this  problem  is  not  so  difficult,  provided 
they  have  the  necessary  qualities  of 
leadership,  but  if  some  of  the  essential 
qualities  are  lacking,  their  absence  will 
be  more  noticeable  than  in  the  large 
organizations,  just  as  one  discordant 
note  is  more  noticeable  in  a  solo  than 
it  would  be  in  an  orchestra  of  fifty 
pieces. 

Principles  to  Be  Followed 
in  Purchasing 

In  the  larger  organizations  the  ab- 
sence of  some  of  the  necessary  qualities 
of  leadership  will  not  be  so  apparent  if 
the  qualities  of  some  members  of  the 
organization  supplement  those  of  the 
others,  but  when  any  of  the  members 
lacks  a  well-developed  sense  of  values 
there  is  always  danger  that  the  in- 
terests of  the  whole  are  subordinated 
to  the  interests  of  a  part.  The  en- 
gineer, for  instance,  may  insist  upon 
material  conforming  to  his  specifica- 
tions regardless  of  cost.  The  purchas- 
ing agent  may  insist  upon  buying  the 
cheapest  because  it  will  make  a  better 
showing  for  his  department.  The  store- 
keeper may  refuse  to  honor  a  request 
from  the  maintenance  department  for 
material  until  the  proper  amount  of 
"red  tape"  had  been  unwound,  even 
though  in  so  doing  the  work  might  be 
halted  and  the  company  put  to  a  loss, 
whereas  the  true  interests  of  the  com- 
pany as  a  whole  would  lie  in  giving  the 
true  value  to  each  element,  taking 
whatever  action  was  necessary  to  ob- 
tain the  best  results  for  the  company 
as  a  whole.  In  purchasing,  my  own 
belief  is  that  special  specifications 
be  avoided  so  far  as  possible,  as  they 
are  bound  to  increase  the  expenses,  and 
in  many  instances  material  made  to 
these  specifications  actually  is  no  better 
than  the  standard  material  of  the 
manufacturers  or  that  called  for  in  the 
specifications  of  the  A.  E.  R.  A. 

I  further  believe  that  street  railways 
should  purchase  their  material  rather 
than  manufacture  it,  unless  there  is 
some  special  reason  for  doing  so.  In 
most  instances  where-  companies  think 
that  they  can  manufacture  for  less  than 


they  can  buy,  I  believe  that  a  proper 
cost  accounting  system  would  show 
them  to  be  in  error,  and  this  applies 
particularly  to  the  smaller  companies. 
When  it  comes  to  buying  rolling  stock 
and  equipment,  I  believe  that  the  great- 
est importance  should  be  attached  to 
the  relative  value  of  each  element  en- 
tering into  the  decision,  and,  having 
carefully  analyzed  the  requirements, 
that  material  should  be  purchased 
which  best  fulfills  the  requirements, 
nor  do  I  believe  there  can  be  any  such 
thing  as  a  standard  car  which  will  fit 
all  conditions.  All  types  undoubtedly 
have  their  field,  but  the  attempt  should 
not  be  made  to  crowd  any  particular 
type  into  the  field  for  which  it  is  not 
fitted,  whether  by  companies  or  by 
manufacturers,  and  I  might  say  here 
that  the  element  of  the  likes  and  dis- 
likes of  the  public  should  be  taken  into 
consideration.  Adequate  service  does  not 
necessarily  mean  satisfactory  service. 

This  brings  up  the  question  of  the 
position  of  the  relation  of  the  manu- 
facturers to  the  street  railway  compa- 
nies in  supplying  their  material  needs. 
It  is  my  belief  that  the  manufacturers' 
efforts  should  be  confined  to  developing 
and  supplying  apparatus  which  they 
and  the  railways  consider  necessary. 
I  believe  their  selling  efforts  should  be 
confined  to  the  companies  with  which 
they  are  doing  business,  and  not  de- 
voted to  propaganda  directed  at  the 
general  public  with  the  view  of  com- 
pelling the  adoption  of  devices  which 
the  manufacturers  have  perhaps  de- 
signed without  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  requirements  of  the  situation  and 
which  they  desire  to  sell. 

I  also  believe  that  in  designing  such 
apparatus  the  chief  aim  of  the  manu- 
facturers should  be  to  develop  the  best 
thing  for  the  purpose  rather  than  some- 
thing distinctively  their  own  product. 
In  the  long  run  it  will  be  for  the  inter- 
est of  the  manufacturers  as  well  as 
for  the  street  railways  for  them  to  sup- 
ply what  will  best  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  situation,  and  in  some 
instances  good  salesmanship  might 
dictate  the  purchase  of  the  other  fel- 
low's material  rather  than  the  purchase 
of  material  unsuited  for  the  purpose. 


Tenth  Annual  Safety  Congress 
Held  at  Boston 

AS  AN  adjunct  to  the  National 
■lx  Safety  Council,  which  held  its  tenth 
annual  safety  congress  at  Boston  Sept. 
26-30,  the  electric  railway  section  has 
almost  held  its  strength  through  the 
period  of  depression.  Chairman  J.  H. 
Mallon,  assistant  general  superintend- 
ent of  transportation  of  the  Metro- 
politan West  Side  Elevated  Railway, 
Chicago,  presented  an  encouraging  re- 
port to  the  opening  session  of  the  sec- 
tion on  Sept.  27.  He  stated  that  110 
electric  railway  companies  hold  mem- 
bership in  the  section  today.  Sixteen 
dropped  out  during  the  year  and  seven 
joined,  so  that  there  was  a  net  loss 
of  nine.  Under  the  circumstances,  call- 
ing for  curtailment  of  expenses,  it  is 


786 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


encouraging  to  the  movement  that  a 
larger  number  of  firms  have  not  with- 
drawn. Chairman  Mallon,  however, 
deprecated  this  form  of  economy. 
When  the  street  railway  company 
maintains  a  safety  organization,  per- 
haps expressed  through  its  affiliation 
with  the  electric  railway  section,  it 
induces  the  employees  to  feel  that  the 
company  is  more  considerate  of  its 
employees  and  its  passengers,  and  they, 
m  turn,  become  more  considerate  and 
careful. 

With  these  brief  observations,  Mr. 
Mallon  opened  the  meeting,  named  his 
nominating  committee  and  introduced 
as  the  first  speaker  Miss  Laura  M. 
Roadifer,  the  safety  expert  for  the 
Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany. 

An  abstract  of  this  paper  was  pub- 
lished on  page  745  of  the  issue  for 
Oct.  22. 

At  the  second  session  John  E.  Cullen, 
assistant  to  the  president  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company  of  Baltimore, 
gave  a  talk  on  the  attitude  of  the  public 
toward  the  railway  participation  in  no- 
accident-week  campaigns.  Mr.  Cullen 
prefaced  his  remarks  on  this  subject  by 
giving  a  comparison  of  the  former  pol- 
icy of  silence  of  railway  companies  in 
regard  to  accidents  and  the  present 
policy  of  frankness,  and  he  cited  in- 
stances of  both  methods  experienced 
by  him  when  he  was  a  reporter  on  a 
newspaper.    He  showed  clearly  that  the 


latter  policy  pays  both  directly  and  in- 
directly. He  then  described  a  "no  ac- 
cident" campaign  conducted  recently  in 
Baltimore.  The  railway  company  with 
which  he  is  connected  took  a  prominent 
part  in  this  campaign.  It  carried 
streamers  and  posters  on  the  inside  of 
the  cars  and  placards  on  the  outside 
with  the  slogan  "Don't  get  hurt,"  and 
the  motormen  when  passengers  got  off 
said  the  same  thing.  The  speaker  said 
that  the  plan  was  not  only  directly 
helpful,  but  he  believed  it  convinced 
the  public  that  the  company  was  en- 
deavoring in  every  way  to  do  the  right 
thing.  The  speaker  also  referred  to 
the  increase  in  hazards  caused  by  the 
large  number  of  automobiles  now  on 
the  streets  but  said  that  it  has  been 
held  in  Baltimore  that  the  street  car 
has  the  right  of  way  at  every  inter- 
section over  the  vehicles. 

A  paper  was  also  presented  on  rail- 
road crossings  and  crossing  signs  by 
R.  S.  Messenger,  claim  agent  Roch- 
ester &  Syracuse  Railroad.  An  abstract 
of  this  paper  was  published  on  page 
744  of  the  issue  of  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Oct.  22. 

The  new  officers  of  the  electric  rail- 
way section  of  the  council  are  as  fol- 
lows: Chairman,  B.  D.  Haskins,  Chat- 
tanooga (Tenn.)  Street  Railway;  vice- 
chairman,  H.  B.  Potter,  Boston  Elevated 
Railway;  secretary,  M.  W.  Bridges, 
Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated  Rail- 
way, Chicago. 


Local  Ownership  of  Utilities  Emphasized 

West  Virginia  Association  Addressed  by  Governor  Morgan  and  J.  P.  Barnes  of 
Louisville  Railway — Sale  of  Securities  Locally  Will  Follow  Clean  Publicity 
and  the  Gaining  of  Bankers'  and  Editors'  Confidence 


ATTENDANCE  at  the  annual  con- 
.  vention  of  the  Public  Utilities 
Association  of  West  Virginia  in  session 
at  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  on  Oct.  20  and  21 
was  representative  of  every  portion  of 
the  state.  The  membership  represented 
a  total  assessed  valuation  of  $30,000,000, 
it  was  stated  by  Secretary  A.  Bliss 
McCrum,  in  his  annual  report.  The 
membership  includes  all  the  important 
utilities  in  the  state,  with  three  ex- 
ceptions, and  it  was  planned  to  extend 
the  membership  so  as  to  take  in  some- 
thing like  150  small  telephone  compa- 
nies, which  will  make  the  association 
include  every  line  of  public  utility  in 
West  Virginia.  C.  P.  Billings,  man- 
ager of  the  Wheeling  Traction  Com- 
pany, predicted  that  the  coming  year 
will  see  the  association  take  rank 
among  the  best  in  any  of  the  states  in 
the  country. 

The  association  re-elected  all  the  old 
officers  as  follows:  Herbert  Markle, 
Bluefield,  president;  C.  P.  Billings, 
Wheeling,  first  vice-president;  Mentor 
Hetzer,  Moundsville,  second  vice-presi- 
dent; E.  W.  Alexander,  Charleston, 
third  vice-president;  A.  M.  Hill,  Charles- 
ton, treasurer;  executive  committee: 
C.  C.  Bosworth,  Elkins;  W.  R.  Power, 
Huntington;  A.  H.  Grimsley,  Clifton 
Forge,  Va.;  A.  C.  Babson  and  C.  S. 


McCalla,  Charleston,  and  C.  H.  Brues, 
Wheeling. 

The  banquet  the  first  day  was  one 
of  the  most  successful  occasions  of  the 
kind  ever  held  in  Charleston.  Herbert 
Fitzpatrick,  Huntington,  acted  as  toast- 
master.  Governor  E.  S.  Morgan,  who 
formerly  served  as  chairman  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  of  West 
Virginia,  was  one  of  the  speakers,  and 
this  previous  connection  made  his  talk 
the  more  interesting  to  the  utility  men. 
Judge  E.  D.  Lewis,  present  chairman 
of  the  commission,  also  made  an  ad- 
dress. Fred  M.  Stanton  spoke  for  the 
utilities,  and  the  principal  address  of 
the  evening  was  made  by  James  P. 
Barnes,  Louisville,  president  of  the 
Louisville  Railway. 

Mr.  Barnes  treated  the  "pressing 
problems  of  public  utilities"  after  the 
fashion  of  a  medical  adviser.  He 
divided  his  subject  into  three  classifi- 
cations: (1)  A  study  of  symptoms,  (2) 
diagnosis  of  ills,  and  (3)  treatment  for 
their  correction. 

"Influenza  may  stalk  through  the 
country  claiming  its  thousands  of  vic- 
tims," said  Mr.  Barnes,  "just  as  the 
unregulated  jitney  may  strike  into  the 
utility  world,  claiming  its  victims 
among  the  transportation  companies. 
This  does  not  argue  unsoundness  of  the 


modern  transportation  system,  but 
rather  represents  a  new  menace  to  the 
public  life  and  welfare  against  which 
new  or  keener  prophylactic  safeguards 
must  be  employed.  Truly,  in  the  past, 
stocks  may  have  been  manipulated  and 
property  accounts  watered  in  the  inter- 
est of  individuals.  Admittedly  this  is 
not  good  business  today,  neither  does 
the  present  physician  bleed  his  pa- 
tients, yet  who  shall  say  that  many 
lives  were  not  prolonged  to  the  benefit 
of  posterity  by  the  old  and  now  dis- 
carded methods  of  the  practitioner? 
Blood  renews  itself,  so  has  capital  in 
many  instances,  and  generally  the  true 
corporate  history  will  show  that  the 
renewal  of  capital  has  not  been  from 
excess  earnings  but  from  withheld 
dividends. 

"Auto-intoxication  comes  also  from 
the  disuse  of  normal  organs.  One  who 
fails  in  self -analysis  is  failing  in  one 
of  the  ordinary  processes  of  assimila- 
tion and  elimination  and  will  sooner  or 
later  find  clogged  with  dead  matter  the 
channels  which  should  be  devoted  to 
clearing  normal  business  matters.  In 
all  too  many  cases  this  condition  is 
the  result  of  mental  laxness  or  down- 
right ignorance  of  cause  and  effect. 
The  diagnosis  of  our  public  utility  ail- 
ments has  been  delayed  for  many  of 
us  because  of  the  acute  discomfort  of 
the  symptoms.  Our  tendency  has  been 
to  treat  the  symptoms  in  the  hope  of 
immediate  relief  from  discomfort  rather 
than  seek  to  treat  the  disease." 

Mr.  Barnes  advocated  "the  knife"  as 
"treatment"  and  declared  that  "all  de- 
formities should  be  the  source  of  "im- 
mediate operation."  After  that  he  ad- 
vocates the  "antiseptic  treatment" 
looking  to  the  "general  upbuilding  of 
the  patient.  No  antiseptic  for  the  ills 
of  the  public  utilities  equals  the  clear 
sunshine  of  fact,"  he  emphasized.  "All 
truth,  comfortable  or  uncomfortable, 
must  be  recognized  as  truth.  Clean 
publicity  is  for  the  corporation  as  clean 
living  is  for  the  individual,  the  surest 
safeguard  against  infection.  Publicity 
is  not  necessarily  advertising  propa- 
ganda nor  carefully  constructed  new; 
stories.  The  most  effective  publicity 
may  be  and  usually  is  a  full  and  frank 
discussion  of  all  corporate  matters  with 
every  inquirer. 

"Times  have  improved,"  he  said,  "the 
public  conscience  has  awakened,  in- 
dividual conscience  has  awakened,  the 
public  is  better  represented  today  in 
its  officials,  elected  and  appointed,  gen- 
erally speaking,  than  it  was  in  the 
past.  Business  morals  have  improved 
and  with  this  general  improvement 
there  has  been  a  vast  improvement  in 
the  corporate  morals  of  public  utilities. 
Business  practices  generally  recognized 
in  generations  past  as  not  only  de- 
fendable  but  admirable,  would  today 
meet  a  storm  of  protest  and  execration 
around  any  directors'  table.  Public 
utilities  may  be  suffering  from  ear- 
aches in  New  York,  ulcer  in  Detroit, 
cancer  in  Des  Moines,  but  this  does  not 
imply  fundamental  weakness  or  unfit- 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


787 


Wiles,  Mr.  Grimsley  told  how  in  the  fort    to    place    the    securities    of  the 

old  days  his  company  had  difficulty  in  utility  in  the  hands  of  home  people  a 

getting  an  advance  in  rates;  how  there  similar    meeting    was    advertised  and 

would  be  public  meetings  which  were  twenty   people    turned   out,   of  whom 

packed    and    jammed    with    indignant  eighteen  were  in  favor  of  granting  the 

citizens.    Since  there  has  been  an  ef-  utility  a  just  increase  in  rates. 


Appeal  for  Reason  in  Utility  Regulation* 

An  Encouraging  Message  from  the  Retiring  President  of  Commissioners'  Asso- 
ciation— The  Public  is  Vitally  Concerned  in  Utility  Expansion  and  Must 
Have  Broader  Vision  in  Utility  Matters — Adequate  Rates 
and  Customer  Ownership  Urged 

By  James  A.  Perry 

Member  of  the  Railroad  Commission  of  Georgia  and  President  of  the 
National  Association  of  Railway  and  Utility  Commissioners 


ness  in  the  utilities  themselves.  Local 
irritation  may  produce  a  strange  and 
unusual  symptom  requiring  special 
treatment." 

C.  P.  Billings,  manager  of  the  Wheel- 
ing Traction  Company,  told  of  the  re- 
cent troubles  that  company  had  en- 
countered and  how  the  sale  of  3,200 
shares  of  stock  to  1,300  different 
people  had  helped  shape  unwieldy  pub- 
lic opinion.  Mr.  Billings  advised  the 
sale  of  stock  through  the  employees  of 
the  company,  contending  that  the  em- 
ployees knew  the  working  of  the  cor- 
poration and  that  if  the  company  was 
deserving  they  would  recommend  the 
purchase  of  the  stock  to  their  friends 
and  kinsfolk. 

A.  H.  Grimsley,  of  the  Virginia- 
Western  Power  Company,  Clifton  Forge, 
Va.,  declared  that  "Every  bank  and 
newspaper  in  the  territory  served  by 
a  public  utility  should  advise  those  who 
put  their  trust  in  bankers  and  con- 
fidence in  editors  to  buy  of  the  pre- 
ferred stock  of  the  utility. 

"Any  banker  that  will  not  do  this  if 
the  utility  is  earning  operating  ex- 
penses, full  depreciation,  fixed  charges, 
preferred  stock  dividends  and  has 
proper  equity  behind  the  junior  securi- 
ties is  avowing  himself  as  so  selfish 
that  he  would  rather  have  the  use  of 
the  money  of  his  depositors  than  to 
see  them  buy  gilt-edged  securities," 
said  Mr.  Grimsley.  "Every  editor  who 
fails  to  boost  will  be  advertising  him- 
self as  a  grouch  who  prefers  to  see 
public  utilities  owned  by  foreign  capi- 
tal than  by  home  folks.  All  that  is 
necessary  is  for  the  public  utility  to 
deserve  the  trust  of  bankers  and  the 
confidence  of  editors.  If  the  public 
utility  can't  send  a  satisfactory  state- 
ment to  the  bank  and  can't  convince 
the  editors  that  it  is  responsible,  I  take 
the  position  that  there  ought  not  to  be 
a  ready  sale  for  its  securities." 

This  phase  of  the  relation  of  public 
utilities  to  the  communities  served 
came  before  the  convention  for  dis- 
cussion following  an  address  by  Judge 
George  R.  Wiles,  of  the  Public  Service 
Commission,  on  "Advantages  of  Local 
Financing." 

Public  Ownership  a  Fallacy 

"The  Utopian  idea  is  public  owner- 
ship of  public  utilities,"  declared  Judge 
Wiles,  "but  the  recent  experience  of 
the  government  with  the  railroads  has 
shown  the  fallacy  of  this  idea.  One 
of  the  most  valuable  assets  of  a  public 
utility  and  the  most  difficult  to  obtain 
is  good  will.  The  average  man  looks 
with  suspicion  on  the  average  public 
utility.  Most  of  the  utilities  in  West 
Virginia  are  owned  by  outside  capital. 
Williamson,  my  home  town,  has  made 
an  effort  to  sell  stock  in  a  public  utility 
through  the  newspaper  recently,  which 
is  an  encouraging  sign.  I  hope  the 
time  will  come  when  the  public  will 
look  upon  the  public  utility  with  a 
more  favorable  eye." 

Discussing    the    address    of  Judge 


FOR  many  years  there  has  been  a 
nation-wide  agitation  looking  to  the 
abolition  of  the  rights  of  the  different 
states  to  regulate  railroads  in  any  man- 
ner. The  climax  of  this  agitation  came 
with  the  transportation  act  of  1920,  as 
construed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  The  construction  of  this 
act  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission outlaws  state  regulation  and 
strikes  at  the  very  fundamentals  of  our 
system  of  government. 

I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
one  of  the  chief  financial  troubles  of 
the  carriers  of  the  country  today  is  the 
fact  that  rates,  both  freight  and  pas- 
senger, are  so  high  as  to  result  in  an 
aggregate  loss  rather  than  a  gain  as 
contemplated.  High  freight  rates,  es- 
pecially in  cases  of  short  hauls,  have 
done  more  for  the  growth  of  motor 
transportation  of  freight  than  has  all 
the  progress  of  motor  transportation 
itself,  which  necessarily  results  in  a 
loss  to  the  railroads. 

If  the  construction  of  the  transporta- 
tion act  of  1920  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  is  to  remain  the  law 
of  the  land,  a  most  hurtful  blow  has 
been  given  our  dual  system  of  govern- 
ment— a  form  of  government  that  has 
stood  the  test  of  time,  and  chiefly  be- 
cause its  form  provides  for  representa- 
tion of  the  people,  for  the  people  and 
by  the  people.  The  provision  that  it  is 
by  the  people  is,  so  far  as  concerns  the 
regulation  of  our  commerce,  partially 
defeated  and  the  right  of  local  self- 
government  is  destroyed  in  the  present 
construction  of  the  transportation  act. 

It  has  always  been  with  the  indi- 
vidual states  that  we  have  gone  forward 
in  the  first  efforts  of  any  new  idea  per- 
taining to  our  commerce.  If  proved 
good  in  one  state,  other  states  can  take 
it  up,  and  finally  it  becomes  national  in 
its  scope.  Far  better  that  one  state 
try  it,  should  it  be  unwise,  than  for  our 
entire  country  to  be  subject  to  an  ex- 
pensive experiment.  State  regulation 
of  rates  needs  the  demands  of  local 
traffic  conditions,  where  an  intimate 
knowledge  can  be  quickly  applied, 
whereas  at  one  common  center  the 
truth  in  most  cases  will  never  be  known. 
Remove,  if  you  will,  the  state  lines  and 
you  still  have  the  problem  of  reasonable 

*  Abstract  of  presidential  address  delivered 
at  annual  convention  of  National  Associa- 
tion of  Railway  and  Utilitv  Commissioners, 
held  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Oct.  11-11,  1921. 


local  rates,  and  to  be  fixed  by  one 
central  body  that  can  never  have  more 
than  a  smattering  idea  of  the  real  local 
conditions.    .    .  . 

Rates  that  are  higher  than  the  traffic 
will  bear  stop  the  movement.  All  over 
the  country,  for  comparatively  short 
hauls,  essential  commodities  are  costing 
less  than  the  freight  to  move  them  to 
market,  with  the  result  that  in  many 
intrastate  movements  motor  power  is 
hauling  a  good  percentage  of  short- 
haul  freight.    .    .  . 

Railroad  property  is  as  much  the 
property  of  stockholders  who  put  their 
money  into  it  as  your  home  and  my 
home  is  property  of  ours.  And  when  it 
is  dealt  with  by  any  consideration  other 
than  that  obtaining  when  the  rights  of 
private  property  are  being  considered, 
a  wrong  is  done,  first,  to  the  man  who 
has  invested  his  money  in  the  particular 
railroad;  second,  to  the  public,  who,  in 
the  end,  cannot  hope  to  have  the  ser- 
vice, regardless  of  rates,  if  in  the  mean- 
time the  property  has  been  destroyed 
by  prohibitive  operating  costs  and  unre- 
munerative  rates. 

There  has  been  too  much  misunder- 
standing between  the  public  and  the 
railroads  in  this  country.  I  am  not 
unmindful  that  railroads  here  and  there 
throughout  the  country  have  been  guilty 
of  the  foolishness  of  seeking  and  re- 
ceiving unnecessary  benefits  from  legis- 
latures now  and  then — only  to  serve 
their  purpose  for  a  while,  with  the  re- 
sult that  an  outraged  people  rise  up  to 
correct  the  wrong  and,  as  is  often  the 
case,  go  so  far  as  to  do  a  real  injustice 
to  the  railroad  that  ends  with  a  loss 
to  the  public  and  the  railroad  alike. 
The  railroads  of  this  country  can  no 
more  carry  on  their  business  in  this 
country  without  the  co-operation  of  the 
people  they  serve  than  they  can  get 
along  without  equipment,  and  this  busi- 
ness of  seclusion  by  centralization  of 
all  regulation  of  service  and  rates  at 
Washington  is  going  to  prove  the  great- 
est hurt  to  the  railroads  and  the  com- 
merce of  this  country  that  either  has 
ever  experienced. 

The  question  of  rates  for  utility  prop- 
erties has  been  one  of  nation-wide  con- 
cern for  several  months.  Dating  from 
some  two  years  ago,  there  is  no  question 
to  my  mind  that  any  regulatory  com- 
missions throughout  the  country  made 
the  common  mistake  of  holding  light 


788 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


and  power,  gas  and  street  railway  com- 
panies to  rates  that  were  too  low,  hop- 
ing that  the  immediate  future  would 
amply  justify  the  rates  prescribed. 
This  hoped-for  condition  was  not  real- 
ized. The  experience  was  just  the 
opposite  of  what  we  had  expected  to 
see.  The  raw  materials  going  into  the 
manufacture  of  the  products  sold  stead- 
ily increased  in  price.  Finally,  when 
business  generally  became  depressed, 
public  utilities  had  been  required  to  do 
business  on  such  small  returns  that 
they  were  not  in  a  position  to  withstand, 
even  for  a  short  while,  an  increase  in 
actual  losses  already  sustained. 

The  public  at  once  took  the  position 
that  public  utilities  should  not  expect 
normal  returns,  but  should  endure  with 
other  business  enterprises  slight  or  no 
returns  at  all  and,  if  need  be,  increased 
losses. 

The  law  by  which  regulatory  com- 
missions are  governed  required  them  to 
prescribe  just  and  reasonable  rates,  and 
the  courts  throughout  the  country  have 
declared  that  a  just  and  reasonable  rate 
is  one  that  with  competent  manage- 
ment will  afford  the  utility  a  reason- 
able return  upon  the  fair  value  of  its 
property  being  used  in  the  public 
service. 

Just  compensation  for  the  use  of 
private  property  by  the  public  is  a  con- 
stitutional right  which  cannot  be 
denied.  It  is  the  fair  value  of  the 
physical  property  devoted  to  the  serv- 
ice that  must  control,  and  it  does  not 
matter  whether  it  came  as  a  gift  from 
earnings  of  years  past,  actual  invest- 
ment or  otherwise. 

The  public  is  interested  in  the  utility 
having  such  rates  as  will  insure  a 
reasonable  return  upon  the  fair  value 
of  its  property,  thus  guaranteeing  not 
only  an  unimpaired  service,  but  such 
development  from  time  to  time  as  will 
always  be  sufficient  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  constantly  increasing  demands 
for  service. 

At  the  present  time,  in  many  in- 
stances, a  utility  files  an  application 
with  the  regulatory  board  of  the  state 
in  which  it  operates.  This  done,  a 
copy  of  such  application  is  served  on 
the  municipality  affected  by  the  change 
proposed.  It  makes  no  difference  what 
the  relief  asked  for  may  be,  the  mayor 
and  council  meet  and  promptly  vote 
to  instruct  the  city  attorney  to  oppose 
the  granting  of  the  relief  sought.  No 
investigation  is  made  as  to  the  justice 
of  the  relief  petitioned  for,  the  city 
attorney  is  directed  to  oppose  it,  not  to 
investigate  and  ascertain  the  truth,  as 
information  for  the  mayor  and  council, 
before  action  is  taken  one  way  or  the 
other. 

Regulated  Monopolies  on  Trial 

We  seldom  hear  of  a  municipality 
under  such  circumstances  making  an 
investigation  and  ascertaining  if  there 
is  any  merit  in  the  claim  of  the  utility 
company.  Seldom  investigations  are 
made,  little  information  is  had,  and 
seemingly  none  is  desired. 

This,   of  course,  is  an  unfortunate 


situation.  In  the  end  it  will  be  over- 
come, but  not  without  loss  to  the  utility 
and  the  public  while  such  a  condition 
prevails.  Competitive  business  had  its 
day  and  failure.  Regulated  monopolies 
are  now  on  trial.  The  public  is  still 
paying  100  per  cent  more  for  some 
merchandise  than  the  same  article  sold 
for  four  or  five  years  ago,  but  the 
thought  of  paying  50  per  cent  increase 
in  utility  rates  as  compared  with  prices 
for  such  service  three  and  four  years 
ago  meets  with  scant  sympathy.    .    .  . 

The  public  is  vitally  concerned  in  the 
expansion  of  utilities  because  a  city  can 
never  grow  faster  or  extend  further 
than  her  utilities  reach.  The  utilities 
of  a  community  are  the  greatest  devel- 
opers any  city  ever  had.  No  city  can 
build  beyond  the  lines  of  her  street 
railroads,  and  this  is  true  to  a  degree 
in  comparison  with  the  area  covered  by 
gas  mains. 

Will  Capital  Be  Forthcoming? 

Few  sections  of  this  country  can  fin- 
ance utility  development  of  any  kind 
from  local  capital.  The  financial  neces- 
sities of  development,  therefore,  carry 
us  to  foreign  fields  for  money.  Is  there 
a  man  anywhere,  regardless  of  his  busi- 
ness interest,  with  surplus  money  for 
utility  investments,  who  is  going  to 
send  his  money  into  communities  where 
there  exists  a  citizenry  hostile  to  for- 
eign capital  for  such  investment?  Even 
worse,  will  such  a  man  send  his  money 
into  a  state  for  such  investments  where 
the  state  regulatory  board  refuses  rates 
that  will  earn  even  less  than  the  law- 
fully prescribed  rate  of  interest  as  a 
return  for  utility  service?  Will  such 
money  find  its  way  into  a  state  where 
condemnation  of  such  property  is  the 
talk  of  the  day? 

The  public  should  see  to  it  that  such 
conditions  do  not  exist.  It  has  an  in- 
terest greater  than  the  selfish  interest 
of  the  few  who  would  stop  the  utility 
development  of  every  community  while 
their  political  ambitions  are  satisfied 
or  a  personal  grouch  is  assuaged.  It 
is  a  sad  picture  to  see  a  community 
of  inflamed  citizens  following  the  leader- 
ship of  one  man,  or  even  several  men, 
in  an  effort  to  handicap  or  destroy  a 
local  utility,  all  because  of  selfishness 
on  the  part  of  the  few  self-appointed 
leaders.  This  kind  of  thing  has  got 
to  stop  in  this  country,  otherwise  the 
public  will  pay  the  high  price  of  stag- 
nation in  such  growth,  with  a  breaking 
down  of  the  service  now  rendered. 

Public  Is  Willing  to  Pay  for 
Service  Received 

What  the  people  desire  most  is  ef- 
ficient service,  so  long  as  it  is  fur- 
nished at  a  reasonable  price.  This  they 
are  willing  to  pay.  They  have  a  right 
to  expect  both  efficient  service  and 
reasonable  rates  at  the  hands  of  regu- 
latory commissions.  Is  it  not  high  time 
that  the  public  and  utility  companies 
throughout  the  country  were  coming  to 
a  better  understanding?  .   .  . 

The  public  is  concerned  in  seeing  that 
light  and  power  companies,  both  steam 


and  hydro-electric,  are  built  in  such 
large  units  and  so  connected  as  to 
cover  a  radius  sufficient  to  overcome 
the  interruptions  in  service  resulting 
from  high  and  low  water,  storms,  break- 
downs and  other  causes,  all  of  which 
come  at  intervals  and  in  spots;  and  by 
a  proper  arrangement  for  exchange  of 
output  between  such  large  companies 
interruptions  in  service  longer  than  the 
time  consumed  in  throwing  in  a  switch 
would  never  be  heard  of.  .  .  . 

The  time  has  come  when  the  public 
must  have  a  broader  vision  in  handling 
these  questions  if  we  are  to  keep  pace 
with  our  opportunities  for  growth  and 
development.  We  have  got  to  get  away 
from  a  local  consideration  of  services 
of  this  kind.  Far  better  for  us  that 
the  lights  we  use  in  our  homes  and  the 
power  we  use  in  our  local  enterprises 
be  derived  from  power  even  hundreds 
of  miles  away  from  us,  with  such  an 
interrelation  of  service  as  has  just  been 
mentioned,  if  by  such  an  arrangement 
we  have  an  added  guarantee  of  con- 
tinuous service. 

Security  Holders  Must  Increase 
in  Number 

I  cannot  believe  the  public  will  stand 
for  a  reactionary  program  that  will 
certainly  carry  us  back  to  crude  meth- 
ods, with  less  service  and  at  higher 
rates.  We  may  halt,  temporarily,  here 
and  there  over  the  country,  but  in  the 
end  electric  power  supply,  as  well  as 
other  utility  services,  is  going  to  be 
carried  on  in  a  wholesale  manner.  Any 
other  method  is  squarely  in  the  teeth 
of  the  very  fiber  of  our  people  and  form 
of  government.  There  are  1,450,000 
citizens  of  our  country  who  have  in- 
vested in  the  securities  of  the  electric 
light  and  power  companies  of  America. 
This  number  should  be  increased  many 
times.  Indeed,  such  a  new  class  of  in- 
vestors may  in  the  end  become  the 
only  solution  of  the  problem  of  financ- 
ing the  present  needs  of  our  utility 
companies — saying  nothing  of  the  fu- 
ture— if  such  companies  are  to  keep 
pace  in  development  and  expansion  as 
the  public  needs  require.  Either  the 
public  will  have  to  assume  and  prac- 
tice a  more  friendly  attitude  toward 
capital  belonging  to  the  other  fellow  or 
the  public  will  have  to  put  up  the 
cash,  and  from  a  class  who  have  here- 
tofore studiously  avoided  such  invest- 
ments. 

This  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the 
issue  confronting  the  public  utilities  of 
the  nation  today.  They  have  not  the 
financial  strength  of  expansion,  and  in 
many  cases  this  came  to  be  so  from  the 
fact  that  they  have  been  required  by 
regulatory  boards  to  operate  on  rates 
that  were  too  low.  This  issue  should 
be  presented  to  the  public  that  it  may 
decide  for  itself  the  manner  in  which 
such  financing  hereafter  shall  be  done. 
If  private  citizens  refuse  to  furnish 
the  money,  then  the  public  must  in- 
form the  other  fellow  that  efforts  at 
condemnation  or  confiscation  of  his 
property  will  not  be  tolerated. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


789 


Utility  Commissioners  Discuss  Motor  Buses 

The  Consensus  of  Opinion  Seems  to  Be  that  the  Motor  Bus  Is  Not  Dependable 
Without  Proper  Regulation — Bus  Companies  Are  More  In  Favor  for 
Passenger  Transportation  than  Independents  with  a  Single  Bus 


AUTOMOBILE  transportation,  omni- 
bus  and  jitney,  furnished  the  sub- 
ject for  a  round-table  discussion  at  the 
thirty- third  annual  convention  of  the 
National  Association  of  Railway  and 
Utilities  Commissioners  in  Atlanta, 
Oct.  11-14.  That  there  was  much  in- 
terest is  evidenced  by  the  remarks  of 
several  of  the  commissioners.  All 
seemed  to  recognize  that  the  jitney 
motor  bus  as  a  competitor  is  a  serious 
menace  to  other  organized  forms  of 
transportation.  Regulation  has  entirely 
eliminated  this  form  of  wild-cat  com- 
petition in  some  states,  while  in  others 
it  goes  on  unrestricted.  Commissioner 
Lewis,  Iowa,  believed  it  utterly  ridicu- 
lous to  expect  independent  jitney  oper- 
ators to  furnish  adequate  transporta- 
tion to  any  community.  Such  trans- 
portation must  be  by  large  companies 
that  can  be  depended  upon  to  give 
regular  service,  pay  their  share  of  road 
upkeep,  taxes,  and  other  obligations  to 
the  community.  Public  utility  commis- 
sions ought  in  every  way  to  discourage 
the  independent  jitney  operators  until 
they  meet  these  requirements.  The 
afternoon  session  on  Thursday,  Oct.  13, 
was  devoted  to  a  round-table  discussion 
on  "Automobile  Transportation — Omni- 
bus and  Jitney." 

The  New  Jersey  Jitney  Situation 

In  opening  the  discussion,  Harry  V. 
Osborne,  New  Jersey  Board  of  Public 
Utility  Commissioners,  who  presided, 
said  the  jitney  problem  in  his  state  was 
a  serious  one  and  it  was  presenting 
questions  that  were  very  difficult  of 
solution.  New  Jersey  has  one  of  the 
largest  street  railways  in  the  country, 
operating  as  it  does  more  than  800 
miles  of  track.  The  jitneys  have  ab- 
sorbed about  25  per  cent  of  its  normal 
traffic  with  the  result  that  the  traction 
company  is  deprived  of  approximately 
$5,000,000  per  year.  This  railway  has 
complained  very  bitterly  of  this  hereto- 
fore unrestricted  jitney  competition 
and  with  some  justice,  for  it  is  entitled 
to  reasonable  protection  on  account  of 
its  large  investments.  Moreover,  this 
protection  is  primarily  in  the  interest 
of  the  public,  though  it  must  necessarily 
be  contingent  upon  the  ability  and  upon 
the  policy  of  the  company  to  furnish 
adequate  service. 

The  problem  has  two  aspects:  first, 
its  effect  upon  existing  rail  transporta- 
tion systems,  that  serve  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  public;  and  secondly, 
the  effect  on  street  traffic,  particularly 
in  the  larger  cities,  where  congestion 
has  become  so  acute  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  anybody  to  use  the 
streets.  In  Newark  at  the  intersection 
of  Broad  and  Market  Streets  there  are 
30,000  vehicular  movements  every  day. 
That  is  a  considerable  tide  of  traffic  to 
be  obstructed  by  the  none  too  carefully 
handled  jitney. 

The  New  Jersey  commissioners  are 
anxious  to  know  what  to  do  with  the 
problem  and  it  was  not  until  last  winter 
that  the  commissioners  had  any  juris- 


diction. Prior  to  that  time  all  licenses 
for  jitney  operation  were  obtained 
locally  from  the  various  municipalities 
through  which  the  buses  were  to  oper- 
ate. No  other  form  of  permit  was 
recognized. 

Commissioners  Get  Jurisdiction 

As  a  result  of  considerable  agitation 
on  the  part  of  Public  Service  interests 
as  well  as  jitney  interests  the  legisla- 
ture gave  the  Public  Utility  Board  a 
limited  jurisdiction  to  the  extent  that 
all  new  jitney  applicants  after  March 
15,  1921,  must  have  their  permission 
to  operate.  That  was  not  very  much 
jurisdiction,  but  it  was  at  least  a  start. 
This  Legislature  immediately  raised  the 
question  as  to  what  was  meant  partic- 
ularly with  reference  to  renewals  of 
licenses.  When  an  operator  sold  his 
bus  was  the  vendee  a  new  applicant  or 
should  he  be  allowed  to  continue  as  a 
matter  of  course  to  operate  the  bus  be- 
cause the  original  license  was  granted 
prior  to  March  15?'  The  board  in  pass- 
ing on  this  question  construed  that  the 
legislature  had,  when  the  law  was  en- 
acted, determined  upon  a  fixed  policy 
and  placed  its  stamp  of  approval  upon 
all  buses  operating  on  or  before  March 
15  last.  Incidentally  that  limited  the 
number  of  jitneys  with  which  the  board 
had  to  deal,  unless  it  appears  upon  hear- 
ing, as  stated  in  the  Becker  decision, 
that  the  conditions  have  changed  so  as 
to  make  some  other  determination  nec- 
essary. 

Title  to  Bus  Transfers  Approved 

All  such  applications  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  have  been  heard  and  notices 
of  the  hearings  have  been  given  the 
railway  company  operating  along  the 
route  in  question.  Where  it  was  found 
that  the  application  was  for  a  mere 
renewal  of  an  existing  bus  in  operation, 
the  application  was  granted  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course  under  the  Becker  case 
decision. 

In  the  case  of  a  new  line,  planning 
to  tap  territory  not  already  served  by 
an  existing  street  railway  line  but 
which  must  of  necessity  parallel  an  ex- 
isting railway  line  to  reach  the  center 
of  the  city,  it  automatically  comes 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  board.  In 
such  cases,  the  jitney  is  allowed  to 
serve  the  new  territory  but  it  is  pro- 
hibited from  doing  any  local  business 
when  in  competition  with  the  existing 
trolley  line,  if  it  is  shown  at  the  hear- 
ing that  a  sufficient  amount  of  service 
is  being  rendered  by  the  trolley  car 
company. 

Legislative  vs.  Judicial 
Rate  Making 

Another  aspect  to  the  matter,  which 
is  going  to  be  serious,  is  the  encroach- 
ment of  the  Federal  Court  in  the  mat- 
ter of  rates.  This  happened  in  the 
recent  case  of  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way. The  commissioners  had  fixed  a 
valuation  of  approximately  $82,000,000 
on  the  property,  which  the  president  of 
the  company  aptly  declared  was  worth 


$200,000,000  for  rate-making  purposes. 
The  board  later  granted  a  slight  in- 
crease in  the  unit  rate  of  fare,  in  the 
form  of  an  additional  cent  for  a  trans- 
fer in  the  belief  that  it  would  meet  the 
situation.  The  company  immediately 
took  the  matter  into  the  Federal  Courts 
on  the  grounds  of  confiscation  and  in 
six  or  eight  hours,  in  an  ex  parte  ap- 
plication, the  court  granted  an  injunc- 
tion and  fixed  a  rate.  Due  to  the 
protest  that  arose  all  over  the  State, 
the  judge,  either  for  that  or  some  other 
reason,  of  his  own  volition  rescinded 
the  order  fixing  the  rate  and  convened 
a  special  statutory  court  of  three 
judges  to  say  whether  the  rate  set  by 
the  board  was  confiscatory.  (See  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal,  Oct.  8,  15  and 
22,  1921,  for  decision  of  the  statutory 
court — Editors.)  Rate  fixing,  the  new 
Jersey  board  holds,  is  not  judicial  but 
a  legislative  function  and  if  the  Fed- 
eral Courts  under  any  such  guise  are 
to  fix  rates  the  state  commissioners 
might  as  well  go  out  of  business. 

The  question  of  jurisdiction  over 
freight  trucks  in  New  Jersey  has  not 
yet  been  raised.  On  account  of  the 
expression  in  the  statute  "Jitneys  or 
auto  buses,"  it  presumably  will  be  a 
matter  for  later  construction  by  the 
commissioners  as  to  whether  it  is  broad 
enough  to  include  freight  as  well  as 
passenger  traffic. 

Regulations  in  State  of 
Washington 

In  the  State  of  Washington,  accord- 
ing1 to  E.  V.  Koykendall,  director,  the 
Department  of  PubHic  Works  has  been 
given  jurisdiction  over  all  passenger 
and  freight  motor  vehicle  transporta- 
tion by  the  last  Legislature.  The  law 
became  effective  on  June  6  last  and  pro- 
vides that  all  motor  transportation 
companies  operating  in  good  faith  on 
Jan.  15,  1921,  shall  be  granted  certifi- 
cates of  public  convenience  and  neces- 
sity so  as  to  continue  their  operations. 
Under  the  law  an  auto  transportation 
company  is  defined  as  any  company 
transporting  either  persons  or  property 
for  hire  between  fixed  termini  and  over 
a  regular  route.  New  companies  must 
apply  to  the  Department  of  Public 
Works  for  a  certificate  before  they  are 
entitled  to  operate,  regardless  of 
whether  their  operation  is  in  competi- 
tion with  any  other  existing  transpor- 
tation company.  Where  there  is  a 
transportation  company  already  in  the 
field  the  law  provides  that  additional 
certificates  will  not  be  granted  unless 
that  company  refuses  to  furnish  trans- 
portation to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Department  of  Public  Works. 

In  the  State  of  Washington  about  a 
thousand  applications  have  already 
been  filed  with  the  result  that  stage 
and  truck  operations  are  perhaps 
greater  than  those  of  any  other  state 
except  California.  This  is  due  mostly 
to  the  large  mileage  of  hard  surface 
roads  and  to  the  excellent  character 
of  other  improved  highways.  There 
are  some  stage  companies  operating  in 
Washington  today  whose  annual  rev- 
enues will  reach  nearly  $500,000. 

The  department  has  had  great  diffi- 
culty in  determining  when  to  assume 
jurisdiction  in  the  case  of  freight  trans- 


790 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


portation  by  motor  truck,  especially 
in  the  cases  where  the  company  has  no 
fixed  termini  or  regular  route,  although 
tariffs  based  on  weights  and  mileage 
are  published. 

Certificates  Refused  in  Competitive 
Territory 

Another  question  that  has  arisen 
refers  to  competitive  services  in  sub- 
stantially the  same  territory.  So  far 
the  department  in  determining  the 
question  of  public  convenience  and 
necessity  for  a  new  line  has  taken  into 
consideration  other  existing  means  of 
transportation.  If  after  a  hearing  it 
is  concluded  that  the  transportation 
furnished  by  the  steam  railroads,  elec- 
tric roads  or  steamboat  lines  in  •  the 
immediate  territory  was  sufficient  and 
if  reasonable  and  adequate  service  was 
already  afforded  by  these  existing  lines, 
the  application  of  the  stage  or  motor 
bus  company  was  refused.  Sometimes, 
when  the  stage  route  did  not  parallel 
the  rail  lines  but  detoured  several  miles 
to  reach  towns  and  villages  not  other- 
wise served,  a  certificate  has  been 
granted.  Many  railroad  attorneys  have 
questioned  seriously  whether  the  de- 
partment should  take  into  consider- 
ation railroad  or  other  transportation 
systems  in  granting"  a  certificate  of 
public  convenience  and  necessity  to  a 
stage  line,  for  the  peculiar  wording  of 
the  Washington  statutes  provides  that 
"if  the  territory  is  already  served  by 
a  certificate  holder  no  additional  cer- 
tificates shall  be  given  unless  the  exist- 
ing companies  fail  to  furnish  the  re- 
quired service." 

Motor  Bus  and  Auto  Trucks  Are 
Common  Carriers 

All  motor-bus  and  auto-truck  lines 
in  the  State  of  Washington  are  con- 
sidered as  being  common  carriers,  and 
are  required  to  file  tariffs  and  schedules 
showing  the  time  of  arrival  and  depar- 
ture at  each  point  served  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  railroad. 

In  the  case  of  stage  companies  en- 
gaged in  interstate  traffic,  jurisdiction 
has  been  assumed  and  exercised  on  the 
theory  that  while  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  grants  the  power  to 
Congress  to  regulate  interstate  com- 
merce, Congress  not  yet  having  seen 
fit  to  exercise  that  power  in  so  far  as 
motor  vehicle  transportation  is  con- 
cerned, the  local  state  authorities  may 
do  so.  This  view,  it  is  believed,  will  be 
upheld  by  the  courts.  It  has  been  in 
a  number  of  decisions  in  the  past. 

In  New  Mexico  it  was  pointed  out 
by  Hugh  H.  Williams,  of  the  State 
Corporation  Commission,  that  on  inter- 
state lines  to  Arizona  the  State  at- 
torney general  had  held  that  they  were 
common  carriers.  Under  the  State  law 
these  carriers  are  required  to  file  only 
tariffs,  giving  a  thirty-day  notice  of 
changes  in  rates.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  law  as  it  now  stands  to  prevent 
competition  on  the  same  route  between 
these  auto  carriers. 

Continuing,  Mr.  Koykendall  said  the 
view  taken  by  the  department  in  ap- 
plications for  certificates  for  the  opera- 
tion of  stages  or  motor  trucks  in  com- 
petition with  steam  railroads  has  been 
not  to  grant  them  where  transporta- 
tion is  already  adequately  cared  for, 


unless  the  applicant  desires  to  serve 
some  communities,  towns  or  villages 
which  are  not  reached  by  the  railroad. 
In  some  instances  certificates  have, 
however,  been  granted  for  operation  in 
such  competitive  territory  with  certain 
restrictions,  namely  that  service  is 
permitted  between  two  termini  but 
prohibited  in  intermediate  territory 
which  was  already  adequately  served 
by  other  means  of  transportation. 

The  wisdom  of  carrying  that  theory 
very  far  is  doubted,  for  it  provokes  a 
good  deal  of  trouble.  Passengers  wait- 
ing on  the  road  always  want  to  board 
the  first  bus  that  comes  along,  and  to 
have  regulations  that  prohibit  one  of 
these  carriers  from  handling  intermedi- 
ate traffic  means  a  complaint,  for  the 
passenger  wants  to  know  why  he  was 
passed  up. 

The  Washington  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Works  has  made  no  restrictions  as 
to  equipment.  It  has  specifically  de- 
cided that  it  was,  not  the  purpose  of 
the  law  to  limit  operations  in  so  far  as 
equipment  or  frequency  of  schedule  was 
concerned,  as  it  existed  on  Jan.  15, 
1921.  In  other  words,  it  has  been  con- 
strued that  it  was  not  the  purpose  of 
the  Legislature  to  block  the  wheels  of 
progress,  and  if  an  operator  wanted  to 
change  his  Ford  for  a  Packard  or  to 
improve  his  schedules  he  was  not  in- 
terfered with.  Complaints,  however, 
as  to  inadequate  service  are  handled 
in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  against 
a  railroad  company. 

All-year-round  service  depends  en- 
tirely on  conditions.  The  law  permits 
a  stage  company  to  ceaso  operations 
when  conditions  make  it  impossible  to 
carry  on  operations.  Generally  speak- 
ing, though,  certificates  are  not  granted 
where  operations  can  only  be  carried 
on  a  short  time  each  year  on  the  theory 
that  it  is  an  impracticable  proposition. 
There  are,  however,  many  services  that 
are  seasonal,  such  as  to  Rainier  Na- 
tional Park  and  to  Mount  Rainier  and 
in  such  cases  where  conditions  warrant 
it  certificates  are  granted. 

Loss  and  Damage  Liabilities 

Under  the  law  either  a  $10  000  bond 
or  insurance  policy  is  required  against 
loss  of  property  and  personal  injuries 
for  each  passenger-carrying  motor  ve- 
hicle, with  a  loss  accruing  to  any  one 
individual  of  not  to  exceed  $5,000  for 
any  one  accident.  The  department  has 
also  adopted  a  rule  requiring  an  addi- 
tional amount  based  on  the  passenger- 
carrying  capacity  of  the  vehicle.  As 
for  the  freight-carrying  vehicle  it  must 
have  a  $1,000  bond  against  property 
damage.  These  requirements  make  it 
as  safe  to  travel  by  stage  in  the  State 
of  Washington  as  it  is  on  the  railroads. 

In  some  cases  the  department  be- 
lieves the  size  of  the  bond  required 
should  be  reduced  but  under  the  law 
this  is  impossible.  This  is  especially 
true  in  mountain  territory  where  it  is 
impossible  to  operate  a  heavy  car  over 
the  roads.  Take  for  instance  a  mail 
carrier  in  the  mountain  districts  who 
has  a  Ford  and  wants  to  carry  passen- 
gers. The  traffic  is  very  light.  To  do 
so  he  must  pay  a  premium  of  $300  to 
$400  per  year  for  a  bond  and  often  his 
entire  passenger  income  amounts  to 
less  than  $100  per  year.  Moreover, 


some  passengers,  particularly  in  the 
sparsely  settled  districts,  are  willing  to 
use  such  transportation  facilities  as 
may  be  afforded  at  their  own  risk. 
There  should  be  some  elasticity  in  the 
statute,  it  is  believed,  so  that  the 
department  can  make  special  provisions 
for  liability  to  meet  such  particular 
conditions. 

Feeders  to  Interurban  Lines 

In  Washington  an  electric  line  can 
either  arrange  with  an  independent 
stage  operator  to  extend  its  route  to 
another  point  as  a  feeder  and  conduct 
it  in  conjunction  with  its  own  opera- 
tions, or  it  can  operate  its  own  stages 
on  such  an  extension  rather  than  lay- 
ing tracks  and  stringing  trolley  wires. 
That  may  be  challenged  in  the  courts 
but  it  has  not  been  done  so  far.  A  rail- 
way company  must,  however,  apply  for 
a  certificate,  put  up  a  bond  and  do 
everything  that  is  required  of  the  inde- 
pendent auto  stage  company. 

There  has  also  been  adopted  a  rule 
which  prohibits  any  one  abandoning 
stage  service  without  the  consent  of  the 
department.  If  services  are  abandoned 
for  no  reason  for  a  period  of  four  days 
or  more  the  operator  must  obtain  a  new 
certificate  of  public  convenience  and 
necessity  before  operations  can  be  re- 
sumed; in  other  words,  abandonment 
of  service  means  forfeiture  of  the  right 
to  operate  until  the  operator  can  show 
that  conditions  warrant  resumption. 

Maryland  Conditions 

In  Maryland,  as  pointed  out  by  E.  B. 
Whitman,  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion has  jurisdiction  over  both  pas- 
senger and  freight-carrying  vehicles. 
All  such  operators  must  get  a  permit 
from  the  commission  before  operating. 
The  conditions  under  which  these  per- 
mits are  granted  follow  very  closely 
those  already  outlined  for  the  State  of 
Washington.  The  same  can  also  be  said 
of  the  difficulties  met  with. 

In  Baltimore,  with  the  exception  of 
one  jitney  line  which  was  inherited  by 
the  present  commission,  independent 
motor  buses  are  prohibited.  Motor 
buses  are,  however,  at  present  operated 
by  the  traction  company  on  one  of  the 
principal  streets.  During  the  past  year 
there  have  been  a  number  of  applica- 
tions for  bus  lines  in  different  parts 
of  the  city,  some  of  which  were  badly 
needed.  In  the  spring  the  question  of 
operating  these  lines  was  taken  up  with 
the  United  Railways  &  Electric  Com- 
pany. The  railway  company,  however, 
was  not  anxious  to  take  up  bus  oper- 
ation. The  commission  nevertheless 
kept  after  them  and  told  them  that 
permits  would  be  granted  to  individuals 
if  they  did  not  operate  bus  lines  in 
certain  territories  where  transporta- 
tion wa3  needed.  This  brought  the  rail- 
way company  around  to  the  commis- 
sion's point  of  view,  namely,  that  the 
transportation  systems  of  the  city  should 
be  interdependent.  They  are  now  study- 
ing the  whole  transportation  question 
and  only  recently  their  president  and 
their  general  manager  have  returned 
from  abroad  after  a  study  of  motor- 
bus  and  trackless-trolley  operation.  It 
is  expected  that  the  railway  company 
will  soon  install  bus  lines  in  territories 
not  now  adequately  served  by  the  trol 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


791 


leys  and  where  the  cost  of  rail  service 
would  be  too  great  to  make  it  possible 
to  earn  a  return  on  the  money  invested. 

Where  independent  bus  lines  come  in 
from  the  country  they  are  not  per- 
mitted to  compete  with  the  local  rail- 
way but  must  make  their  terminal  the 
point  where  they  connect  with  the  trol- 
ley line. 

During  the  five  years  the  commission 
has  had  jurisdiction  it  has  found  that 
the  big  lines  give  better  service  than 
where  a  route  is  covered  by  two  or  three 
independent  operators.  With  these 
small  fellows  on  the  route  the  diffi- 
culty is  in  getting  rid  of  them.  A  good 
many  go  out  of  business  after  their  bus 
reaches  the  point  where  it  needs  repairs 
or  is  worn  out,  and  it  has  been  the 
policy  of  the  commission  in  such  cases 
not  to  reissue  the  permits  to  anyone 
else  for  a  small  part  of  what  might  be 
later  a  big  system.  The  only  solution 
of  many  difficulties  is  in  having  large 
companies,  and  even  now  when  issuing 
permits  for  small  sections  they  are  con- 
ditioned on  their  getting  off  the  road 
if  a  larger  bus  line  comes  in  which  will 
serve  the  community  better. 

In  speaking  of  trackless  trolleys  Mr. 
Whitman  said  that  he  understood  from 
investigations  made  by  the  commission 
that  a  trackless  trolley  could  operate 
on  a  fare  of  about  2  cents  per  mile. 
Experience  with  motor-bus  lines  is  that 
the  fare  must  be  between  4  and  5  cents 
per  mile  to  come  out  whole. 

Maryland  has  one  of  the  best  systems 
-of  state  roads  to  be  found  in  the  coun- 
try. The  State  has  for  many  years 
been  improving  its  roads  systemati- 
cally so  that  now  it  possesses  a  good 
many  thousands  of  miles  of  improved 
roads.  It  is  on  6  miles  of  these  roads 
that  come  into  Baltimore  that  the  com- 
mission is  asking  the  railway  to  install 
a  trolley  bus,  as  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try is  developing  very  rapidly  and 
needs  transportation. 

Lewis  E.  Gettle,  of  the  Wisconsin 
Commission,  stated  that  the  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company  is 
urgently  insisting  on  putting  in  trolley 
buses  for  extensions  rather  than  track 
in  the  newly-developed  portions  of  the 
city.  The  commission  has  a  very  great 
doubt  whether  such  a  system  would  be 
r&  street  car  line  or  a  bus  line. 

The  Des  Moines  Situation 

In  Des  Moines,  the  largest  American 
city  without  street  cars,  Dwight  N. 
Lewis  of  the  Iowa  Railroad  Commis- 
sion said  that  for  the  last  six  weeks 
the  people  had  been  dependent  on  jit- 
neys without  regulation  for  transporta- 
tion. There  have  been  a  good  many 
accidents.  There  is  not  much  to  be  said 
except  that  these  buses  ought  to  be 
regulated.  It  is  utterly  ridiculous  to 
■expect  independent  jitney  operators  to 
furnish  adequate  transportation  to  any 
community.  There  must  be  companies 
of  sufficient  size  to  render  a  service  that 
■can  be  depended  upon,  and  they  should 
be  regulated  to  pay  their  just  share 
of  the  expense  of  keeping  up  the  roads 
and  the  taxes  of  the  community.  They 
should  also  have  such  capital  behind 
them  that  they  can  take  care  of  their 
•obligations  to  passengers  and  to  the 
community;    otherwise    Public  Utility 


Commissions  ought  in  every  way  to 
discourage  them  until  they  meet  these 
requirements. 

The  point  has  not  yet  been  reached 
where  the  street  railways  can  be  dis- 
pensed with;  that  time  may  come  and 
auto  transportation  so  developed  that 
it  can  be  used  in  our  communities.  That 
time  will  not  come  until  there  is  some 
adequate  provision  for  their  regulation, 
operation  and  maintenance. 

In  answer  to  the  question  as  to  why 
the  street  cars  were  discontinued  Mr. 
Lewis  stated  that  the  railway  company 
found  it  utterly  impossible,  with  an 
8-cent  fare,  to  pay  its  operating 
expenses,  let  alone  a  return  on  its 
securities,  with  5-cent  jitney  competi- 
tion paralleling  its  lines  for  short 
hauls  that  took  the  cream  of  the  busi- 
ness. The  Iowa  Commission  is  with- 
out jurisdiction  in  the  situation. 

With  reference  to  freight  transporta- 
tion he  also  said  there  is  a  very  neces- 
sary place  for  the  auto  truck  due  to  the 
high  freight  and  express  rates  for  short 
hauls.  With  good  roads  and  adequate 
regulation  this  institution  has  come  to 
stay  for  handling  short-haul  freight. 


Closing  Sessions  of  Utility 
Commissioners 

AT  THE  final  session  of  the  National 
.  Association  of  Railway  and  Utility 
Commissioners,  held  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  on 
Friday,  Oct.  14,  the  following  were 
elected  officers  to  serve  during  the  fol- 
lowing year:  President,  Carl  D.  Jack- 
son, Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission; 
first  vice-president,  Dwight  N.  Lewis, 
Iowa  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners; 
second  vice-president,  Alexander  For- 
ward, Virginia  State  Corporation  Com- 
mission. Detroit,  Mich.,  was  selected 
as  the  meeting  place  of  the  next  con- 
vention, which  will  be  held  on  Sept.  26, 
1922. 

An  account  of  the  sessions  on  the 
first  two  days  of  the  convention,  Oct. 
11  and  12,  was  published  on  page  708 
of  the  issue  of  this  paper  for  Oct.  15, 
and  a  report  of  the  afternoon  session 
on  Thursday  appears  in  this  issue  un- 
der the  heading  "Utility  Commissioners 
Discuss  Motor  Buses." 

The  session  on  Thursday  morning  was 
devoted  to  the  presentation  and  dis- 
cussion of  committee  reports  on  federal 
and  state  legislation,  litigation  and 
valuation.  The  first  named  committee 
reported  its  efforts  to  have  the  Esch- 
Cummins  bill  amended  to  define  more 
clearly  the  power  of  the  states  with 
reference  to  intrastate  rates.  As  a 
result  of  this  report  the  association 
adopted  a  resolution  urging  congress  to 
amend  the  Esch-Cummins  bill  in  such 
a  way  as  not  to  relieve  carriers  from 
conforming  to  the  laws  of  the  states 
with  respect  to  construction  and  oper- 
ation within  the  states  for  intrastate 
transportation  or  with  respect  to  the 
abandonment  of  such  transportation. 
The  committees  on  litigation  and  val- 
uation devoted  almost  their  entire  at- 
tention to  questions  dealing  with  steam 
railroads.  The  latter  committee  re- 
ported its  efforts  to  procure  an  amend- 
ment of  the  valuation  act  to  relieve 


the  I.  C.  C.  from  the  obligations  to 
include  in  its  valuations  its  estimate 
of  the  "present  cost  of  condemnation 
and  damages  in  excess  of  original  cost 
or  present  value"  of  lands. 

At  the  session  on  Friday  there  was 
an  address  by  M.  H.  Aylesworth,  ex- 
ecutive manager  of  the  N.  E.  L.  A.  and 
former  chairman  of  the  Colorado  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Commission.  Mr.  Ayles- 
worth's  remarks  were  devoted  largely 
to  the  subject  of  customer  ownership 
of  utilities.  He  pointed  out  that  the 
results  of  such  ownership  can  be  ob- 
served in  many  sections,  since  at  pres- 
ent more  than  a  million  and  a  half 
people  own  the  securities  of  light  and 
power  companies  under  private  man- 
agement. Under  such  conditions  not 
only  are  the  best  interests  of  security- 
holding  customers  represented  in  the 
development  of  electric  service  to  suit 
the  development  needs  of  any  com- 
munity, but  there  is  a  correlation  of 
the  business  of  furnishing  electric  serv- 
ice with  all  those  lines  of  business 
activities  which  the  diversified  group 
of  security  holders  represents. 

To  illustrate  the  far-reaching  effect 
of  the  right  kind  of  "public  ownership" 
and  the  conditions  which  make  it  es- 
sential to  maintain  the  highest  quality 
of  service,  Mr.  Aylesworth  recounted 
the  events  of  the  Pueblo  (Col.)  flood, 
where  through  the  efficient  organiza- 
tions of  the  electric  light,  power  and 
telephone  companies  the  restoring  of 
service  in  remarkably  quick  time  short- 
ened the  period  of  distress  by  many 
days  and  aroused  a  lively  appreciation 
of  the  public  spirit  that  was  displayed, 
even  at  risk  to  life,  by  company  em- 
ployees and  officials.  In  a  fuller  real- 
ization of  the  community-building  in- 
fluence of  adequate  electric  service,  Mr. 
Aylesworth  maintained,  lies  the  solu- 
tion of  some  of  the  future  problems  of 
the  utilities,  particularly  the  urgent 
need  for  capital  to  carry  out  the  de- 
velopments and  betterments  that  are 
everywhere  required.  The  selling  of 
securities  to  the  public  through  cus- 
tomer-ownership campaigns  he  dwelt 
on  emphatically  as  one  of  the  vital 
phases  of  utility  financing  in  the  future. 


Traveling*  Passenger  Agents 
Convene  in  Salt  Lake  City 

ELECTRIC  railroads  were  well  rep- 
resented at  the  forty-sixth  annual 
convention  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion of  Traveling  Passenger  Agents 
held  at  Salt  Lake  City  Sept.  12  to  15 
inclusive.  Approximately  325  dele- 
gates were  in  attendance. 

Among  the  pleasing  entertainment 
features  were  trips  to  Saltair  over  the 
Salt  Lake,  Garfield  &  Western  electric 
road,  a  trip  to  Ogden  via  the  Bam- 
berger Electric,  to  Ogden  Canyon  over 
the  Utah-Idaho  Central  Railroad,  where 
a  trout  and  chicken  dinner  was  served 
at  the  famous  Hermitage  hotel,  and  a 
trip  to  Logan  via  the  Bamberger  Elec- 
tric and  the  Utah-Idaho  Central  elec- 
tric road. 

The  Canadian  Rockies  was   the  se- 


792 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18'- 


lection  for  the  1922  meeting,  one  ses- 
sion to  be  held  at  Banff,  one  at  Lake 
Louise  and  one  at  Vancouver. 

A  total  of  207  new  members  were 
taken  into  the  association  at  this  year's 
convention. 

Officers  for  the  ensuing  year  were 
elected  as  follows: 

President,  Frederick  R.  Parry,  gen- 
eral agent  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railroad,  with  offices  in  New  York 
City. 

Vice-president,  C.  H.  Cutting,  travel- 
ing passenger  agent  of  the  Salt  Lake 
Route  of  the  Union  Pacific  system, 
with  offices  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

Secretary-treasurer,  Paul  C.  Bene- 
dict of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  at  Chi- 
cago. 


Publicity  in  Litigated  Cases* 

No  Good  Comes  from  Publicity  Given 
to  Injury  and  Damage  Cases 

By  W.  H.  Moore 

Claim  Agent  San  Diego  Electric  Railway, 
San  Diego,  Cal. 

EVERY  question  is  debatable  and 
there  is  an  affirmative  and  nega- 
tive side  to  every  debate.  In  this  par- 
ticular case  I  have  chosen  the  negative 
side.  There  seem  to  be  more  reasons 
for  not  giving  publicity  to  litigated 
cases  than  otherwise.  The  least  said 
about  injury  and  damage  cases  so  far 
as  electric  railways  are  concerned  the 
better  for  the  companies  we  represent. 

The  first  reason  is  that  as  a  rule 
the  general  public  is  not  particularly 
interested  when  a  public  service  cor- 
poration is  successful  in  a  suit.  The 
success  of  the  company  arouses  an 
antagonistic  attitude  usually  and  it  is 
thought  that  it  is  another  case  of  a 
rich  corporation  being  able  to  hire 
shrewd  lawyers  and  the  other  fellow 
having  had  to  take  what  he  could  get 
in  the  way  of  legal  advice. 

Publicity  to  litigated  cases  of  this 
character  is  used  more  or  less  as  a 
guide  post  by  the  next  fellow  that  gets 
in  trouble,  and  he  endeavors  to  avoid 
the  mistakes  of  the  first  fellow  as 
gathered  from  the  published  facts. 

Publicity  creates  antagonism  among 
attorneys  in  general.  Many  an  attor- 
ney has  an  injury  case  against  an  elec- 
tric railway  presented  to  him  by  a 
client  whom  he  can  hardly  refuse  to 
serve.  If  the  case  is  tried  and  the 
company  wins  and  great  publicity  is 
given  to  that  fact  the  attorney,  who  is 
a  legitimate  practicing  member  of  the 
bar,  takes  offense  at  the  publicity  and 
feels  as  though  it  is  a  slap  at  him  and 
in  the  future  feels  less  sympathetic 
when  he  reads  of  the  trouble  and  tribu- 
lations of  public  service  corporations. 

Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  an 
attorney  who  is  presented  with  an  in- 
jury case  and  has  confidence  that  he 
can  recover.  The  claim  agent  being 
equally  confident  that  no  recovery  is 
possible  and  not  being  able  to  effect 

♦Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  Pacific  Claim  Agents' 
Association,  Butte,  Mont.,  Aug  25-27  19*>1 


a  compromise  that  is  satisfactory  to 
both  sides,  the  case  goes  to  court,  with 
the  result  that  the  verdict  is  found  in 
favor  of  the  company.  Publicity  then 
is  given  to  the  fact.  This  attorney  nat- 
urally takes  offense  inasmuch  as  he 
confidently  felt  that  the  claim  was  an 
honest  one.  He  feels  that  the  publicity 
given  has  a  tendency  to  belittle  his 
ability  as  an  attorney. 

Take,  for  another  example,  that  type 
of  attorney  known  as  an  "ambulance 
chaser."  Suppose  he  presents  one  of 
his  typical  cases  in  which  the  allega- 
tions are  gross  exaggerations  and  you 
win.  Suppose  that  in  our  success  we 
come  out  with  great  scare  headlines, 
what  happens  then  ?  The  attorney  him- 
self might,  the  next  time  he  has  a  case 
against  you,  give  the  newspapers  an 
equally  good  story  in  retaliation.  What 
is  the  result?  Does  it  not  bring  injury 
and  damage  cases  into  the  spotlight? 
Does  it  not  familiarize  everybody  with 
the  idea  that  while  public  service  cor- 
porations have  been  known  to  win 
cases,  they  also  have  been  known  to 
have  been  successful  in  their  defense 
and  have  had  to  pay  heavy  damages  ? 
Does  it  not  make  people  feel  as  though 
they  will  take  the  chance,  having  noth- 
ing to  lose?  I  dwell  particularly  upon 
the  attorney  phase  for  the  reason  that 
attorneys  are  a  necessary  part  of  all 
litigation  and  it  is  their  elimination 
that  the  publicity  must  have  to  be  ef- 
fective. 

In  my  opinion  the  only  publicity  of 
value  would  be  a  mere  mention  of  the 
fact  that  in  the  suit  of  Jones  vs.  the 
blank  electric  railway  company  for 
damages  in  a  personal  injury  case  the 
jury  found  for  the  defendant.  The  re- 
sult is  obvious  and  the  least  said  about 
the  case  the  more  effective,  leaving  the 
reader  to  wonder  why  the  plaintiff 
lost. 


Middle  West  Claim  Agents 
Organize 

REPRESENTATIVES  of  the  claim 
departments  of  a  number  of  the 
electric  railway  properties  of  the 
Middle  West  held  an  organization  meet- 
ing at  the  Hotel  Baltimore,  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  Oct.  14  and  15.  The  purpose 
was  to  form  a  permanent  organization 
of  the  claim  men  of  various  electric 
and  steam  roads  of  all  the  Middle 
Western  states.  The  following  mem- 
ber companies  were  represented: 

Missouri:  United  Railways  of  St. 
Louis,  Kansas  City  Railways,  Kansas 
City,  Clay  County  &  St.  Joseph  Rail- 
way, St.  Joseph  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company. 

Illinois:  Bloomington  Street  Railway, 
East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway. 

Kansas:  Kansas  City,  Kaw  Valley 
&  Western  Railway,  Hutchinson  Inter- 
urban  Railway. 

Other  States:  Denver  Tramway 
Company,  Fort  Smith  Railway,  Tri-City 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  Lincoln 
Traction  Company. 

The  following  officers  were  elected 


for  the  ensuing  year:  President,  W. 
C.  Swisher,  Kansas  City  Railways;  first 
vice-president,  Trevor  C.  Neilson,  East 
St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway;  second 
vice-president,  W.  P.  Gottschalk,. 
Bloomington  Street  Railway;  secretary 
and  treasurer,  Oscar  L.  Borgquist,. 
Kansas  City  Railways;  member  of  ex- 
ecutive committee,  T.  G.  Kelly,  Fort 
Smith  Railway. 


American 
Association  News 


T.  &  T.  Executive  Committee 
Meets 

A MEETING  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Transportation  & 
Traffic  Association  to  plan  the  work  of 
the  coming  year  was  held  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  association  in  New  York 
on  Oct.  18.  Those  in  attendance  were: 
L.  H.  Palmer,  president;  G.  T.  Seeley, 
J.  K.  Punderford,  Arthur  Gaboury,  and 
G.  H.  Clifford. 

The  executive  committee  decided  this 
year  to  discontinue  two  of  the  commit- 
tees which  it  had  last  year.  One  of 
these  committees  was  the  committee  on 
freight,  whose  work  during  the  past 
year  was  lai'gely  the  drafting  of  a  clas- 
sification of  freight  accounts.  This  gives 
a  basis  for  comparing  the  costs  of 
freight  accounting.  Up  to  this  time 
comparisons  have  been  largely  useless 
because  of  the  different  forms  of  ac- 
counting used.  The  executive  commit- 
tee believes  that  now  that  this  classi- 
fication has  been  adopted  by  the  asso- 
ciation, the  most  important  step  is 
to  ask  the  companies  to  put  the  clas- 
sifications into  force.  The  other  work, 
which  would  naturally  be  assigned  to  a 
committee  on  freight  operation,  would 
be  the  methods  of  promoting  freight 
traffic,  and  this  topic  will  be  transferred 
to  the  field  of  the  committee  on  mer- 
chandising transportation.  The  execu- 
tive committee  also  decided,  in  view  of 
the  other  subjects  which  had  to  be 
investigated,  not  to  continue  the  com- 
mittee on  economics  of  schedules.  It 
was  believed  that  the  work  of  the  com- 
mittee last  year  was  so  exhaustive  that 
no  further  study  was  required  imme- 
diately, except  possibly  in  the  drafting 
of  additional  definitions. 

Five  committees  were  agreed  upon 
for  the  coming  year.  One  of  these  will 
be  on  merchandising  transportation, 
which  will  include,  as  stated,  the  mer- 
chandising of  freight  transportation. 
Another  will  be  the  committee  on 
safety.  The  other  three  will  be  on  per- 
sonnel and  training  of  transportation 
employees,  traffic  regulation  and  the 
transportation  features  of  safety  car 
operation,  including  probably  the  use 
of  one-man  cars  in  interurban  service. 

As  the  association  has  usually  had  six 
working  committees,  it  is  quite  prob- 
able that  another  committee  will  be 
added  to  this  list. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Strike  Moves  Condemned 

Criticisms  Contained  in  Church  Report 
Are  Directed  Against  Municipality, 
Men  and  Company  at  Denver 

The  research  department  of  the  Fed- 
eral Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America  made  public  on  Oct.  24 
some  conclusions  contained  in  a  forth- 
coming report  of  an  investigation  of 
the  Denver  Tramway  strike  which  oc- 
curred during  the  summer  of  1920. 
The  investigation  was  undertaken  at 
the  instance  of  a  group  of  churchmen 
in  the  City  of  Denver  which  created 
for  the  purpose  the  Denver  Commis- 
sion of  Religious  Forces.  The  Com- 
mission on  the  Church  and  Social 
Service  of  the  Federal  Council  of 
Churches  and  the  Social  Action  De- 
partment of  the  National  Catholic 
Welfare  Council  participated  in  the 
inquiry. 

The  Protestant  body  was  represented 
in  the  inquiry  by  Edward  T.  Devine,  one 
of  the  foremost  social  workers  and 
writers  in  America,  and  the  Catholic, 
by  Dr.  John  A.  Ryan  of  the  Catholic 
University  of  America  and  Dr.  John 
A.  Lapp-  a  well  known  investigator 
and  an  authority  on  social  legislation. 

The  strike  on  the  street  railways  of 
Denver  arose  over  the  termination  by 
the  company  of  its  agreement  with  the 
Amalgamated  Association  and  the  an- 
nouncement of  a  serious  wage  reduc- 
tion. The  company  justified  its  action 
on  the  ground  that  without  an  in- 
creased fare  it  was  impossible  to  con- 
tinue to  pay  the  prevailing  scale  which 
provided  a  top  wage  of  58  cents  an 
hour.    On  this  issue  the  report  states: 

The  tramway  employees  struck  because 
they  feared  that  as  soon  as  the  legal  ob- 
stacle should  be  removed  the  company 
would  reduce  wages  to  48  cents,  which  it 
has  signified  its  intention  of  doing  In  default 
of  an  increased  fare  ;  because  they  believed 
their  union  was  better  able  to  face  a  con- 
test in  August  than  it  would  be  in  October 
or  November  when  its  morale  would  be 
weakened  by  the  loss  of  its  contract  with 
the  company,  and  when  unemployment 
would  be  more  widespread  ;  and  finally  be- 
cause they  were  enraged  at  what  thev 
believed  to  be  a  policy,  on  the  part  of  the 
company,  aimed  at  disrupting  their  union. 

"Whatever  may  have  been  the  financial 
condition  of  the  company,  the  men  could 
not  be  expected  to  accept  a  reduction  of  the 
top-wage  to  48  cents  an  hour  without  the 
most  vigorous  and  indignant  protest.  The 
requirements  of  an  industrial  enterprise 
make  it  necessary  in  practice  to  safeguard 
stockholders  and  to  pay  interest  on  bonds. 
Otherwise  capital  cannot  be  attracted,  and 
the  bondholders  will  throw  the  enterprise 
into  bankruptcy.  But  in  principle  the  men 
are  right — and  public  policy  will  vindicate 
them — in  maintaining  that  labor  should  be 
paid  a  good  living  before  money  receives 
its  hire. 

The  public  is  declared  to  have  a  re- 
sponsibility in  this  matter  and  also  for 
maintaining  order  without  depending 
on  imported  guards.  On  this  point  the 
report  says: 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  people  of  Den- 
ver, as  is  probably  true  in  most  cities  under 
like  circumstances,  for  the  most  part  fajWl 
to  take  a  broad  public  view  of  the  tramway 
strike  and  of  the  situation  which   led  up 


to  it.  Had  the  people  interested  themselves 
to  provide  such  regulation  of  the  street 
railway  system  as  would  insure  its  solvency 
and  a  living  wage  to  its  employees  tire 
whole  unhappy  conflict  might  have  been 
prevented. 

Further,  it  is  impossible  to  excuse  a  great 
municipality  for  not  providing  at  public- 
expense  and  under  strictly  public  control 
an  adequate,  disciplined  police  force  which 
would  make  the  importation  of  armed 
guards  an  unthinkable  alternative.  There 
is  no  more  disturbing  influence  in  indu 
at  the  present  time  than  the  tendency  to 
transfer  the  police  power  of  government 
to  privately  controlled  agents  who  are  irre- 
sponsive to  the  claims  of  justice  and  who 
are  devoid  of  that  discipline  which  the 
successful  exercise  of  police  power  requires. 
That  the  consequences  of  importing  armed 
men  to  guard  and  operate  the  street  cars 
included  a  heavy  toll  of  life,  for  which  no 
^ury  has  fixed  responsibility,  is  a  disquiet- 
mg  fact  which  remains  a  moral  liability 
of  the  entire  community. 

Of  the  use  of  the  "spy  system"  to 
combat  organization  activities  on  the 
part  of  the  workers  the  report  says 
that  the  "whole  system  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  most  disruptive  influences 
in  our  industrial  order." 

The  publicity  methods  employed  to 
discredit  the  strikers  are  especially 
deplored: 

A  frequent  method  of  attacking  labor 
during  industrial  controversies  is  to  repre- 
sent that  labor  has  fallen  under  the  vicious 
influence  of  radical  agitator's.  Sober,  home- 
loving  and  law-abiding  workingmen  whose 
patriotism  cannot  be  questioned  and  whose 
hatred  of  every  form  of  anarchy  and  law- 
lessness is  deepseated  both  in  their  ancestry 
and  in  their  whole  education  and  training, 
are  recklessly  and  wickedly  charged  with 
harboring  sentiments  which  the  men  them- 
selves repudiate,  and  with  being  influenced 
by  outside  agitators  who  exist  only  in  the 
imagination  of  their  calumniator's.  This 
particular  kind  of  misrepresentation  is  a 
feature  of  almost  every  industrial  contro- 
versy, and  the  tramway  strike  in  Denver- 
was  no  exception. 

The  men  are  criticised  in  the  report 

for  their  precipitate  action  in  striking 

while    their    cause    was    before  the 

courts.    On  this  point  the  report  says: 

After  the  disturbances  of  the  first  week 
of  the  strike  the  men  should  have  made, 
all  possible  speed  to  terminate  it.  It  was  no 
time  to  stand  on  ceremony.  When  the;r 
executive  declared  the  strike  ended,  they 
should  have  gone  back  to  work. 

At  the  same  time  the  use  of  the  in- 
junction in  cases  of  this  kind  is  de- 
clared by  the  report  to  be  questionable 
and  fraught  with  danger. 


Railway  Case  to  Go  Before  Full 
Supreme  Court  Bench 

Associate  Justice  Pitney  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  on  Oct. 
26  refused  to  grant  an  order  suspend- 
ing the  decision  of  the  United  States 
District  Court  in  New  Jersey,  under 
which  the  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  was  permitted  to  in- 
crease its  fare  to  8  cents. 

Justice  Pitney  told  representatives 
of  the  railway  and  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey  who  appeared  before  him  that 
in  view  of  the  magnitude  of  the  ques- 
tions involved  in  the  case  he  preferred 
that  presentation  be  made  to  the  full 
bench  when  the  court  meets  on  Nov.  7, 
explaining  that  the  court  might  be  will- 
ing at  that  time  to  hear  oral  arguments. 


Des  Moines  Rides  Again 

Electric  Railway  Cars  Welcomed  Back 
After  Suspension  of  Seventy- 
Five  Days 

After  a  period  of  seventy-five  days, 
during  which  the  city  depended  for 
transportation  upon  buses  and  other 
makeshifts  Des  Moines  is  again  riding 
in  the  cars  of  the  Des  Moines  City 
Railway.  Service  was  restored  on  the 
afternoon  of  Oct.  24  following  the  pas- 
sage that  morning  by  the  City  Council 
of  the  franchise  proposed  by  the  Harris 
interests  with  certain  changes  sug- 
gested by  the  Corporation  Counsel. 

The  Council  passed  the  franchise 
without  any  further  modifications  and 
early  in  the  afternoon  cars  started 
leaving  the  carhouses  and  by  the  time 
the  rush-hour  crowds  were  ready  to  go 
home  fifty-nine  cars  were  in  operation. 

According  to  an  agreement  reached 
by  all  parties  to  the  transaction  buses 
will  be  permitted  to  continue  to  operate 
in  direct  competition  with  the  railway 
until  after  the  franchise  has  been  voted 
upon  by  the  people.  It  was  felt  that 
fifty-nine  cars  were  inadequate  to 
handle  the  situation,  but  as  the  present 
power  facilities  of  the  company  do  not 
permit  the  operation  of  a  larger  number 
of  cars,  it  was  agreed  that  during  the 
interim  it  was  best  to  allow  the  buses 
to  continue. 

As  yet  no  definite  plans  for  the  fran- 
chise election  have  been  made,  but  it  is 
thought  that  the  vote  will  be  held  Nov. 
24  or  Dec.  1.  Thirty  days  must  elapse 
between  the  first  notice  of  the  election 
and  the  actual  vote. 

In  the  event  that  the  franchise  re- 
ceives the  support  of  the  voters  it  is 
planned  to  place  service  on  a  132  car 
basis  as  soon  as  sufficient  substation 
equipment  cart  be  placed  to  provide 
power  for  this  number  of  cars. 

Upon  order  of  Judge  Martin  J.  Wade 
of  the  federal  court  railway  service  in 
Des  Moines  was  stopped  at  midnight 
on  Aug.  3.  On  Aug.  26,  upon  the 
guarantee  of  officials  of  the  Iowa  State 
Fair  Association  to  protect  the  company 
against  loss,  Judge  Wade  permitted 
resumption  of  service  during  the  eight 
days  of  the  fair.  On  Sept.  2,  how- 
ever, the  cars  were  again  returned  to 
the  carhouses. 

Bus  operators  have  announced  that 
they  will  conduct  a  determined  cam- 
paign to  prevent  the  ordinance  from 
being  passed  at  the  election. 

M.  H.  McLean,  representing  the  Har- 
ris interests  of  Chicago,  issued  a  state- 
ment at  the  time  service  was  resumed. 
This  statement  follows: 

A  starved  horse  never  pulled  a  full  load. 
All  that  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  has 
ever  asked  is  the  right  to  a  fair  return  so 
that  it  can  render  good  service  and  attract 
capital  for  improvements  and  extensions, 
that  is  the  right  to  live  and  function  prop- 
erly in  the  community. 


794 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


The  franchise  is  based  on  fundamentally 
sound  principles.  Fares  are  based  on  the 
cost  of  operation  plus  maintenance  of  a 
contingent  reserve  fund  ;  fares  to  be  low- 
ered or  raised  as  the  reserve  fund  exceeds 
or  falls  below  prescribed  limits.  Equally 
important  is  the  provision  that  gives  an  in- 
centive to  efficient  and  economical  operation 
The  public  must  be  served.  That  is  of 
prime  importance. 

The  Council  having  adopted  the  fran- 
chise, the  company  will,  if  it  is  approved 
by  the  people,  endeavor  to  operate  under 
it  so  as  to  give  first  class  service. 

The  recent  action  of  the  employees  of 
the  company  in  voluntarily  accepting  a 
reduction  of  wages  in  order  to  assist  in 
making  possible  a  resumption  of  service  is 
highly  commendable  and  evidences  their 
broad  minded  view  of  the  situation. 

I  hope  and  believe  that  the  franchise  will 
be  accepted  by  the  people  at  the  election 
by  a  large  majority  and  that  the  vexed 
question  of  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway 
will  be  laid  to  rest  and  succeeded  by  a 
period  of  sanity  and  right  dealing  in  respect 
to  this  important  factor  in  the  life  of  the 
city. 

Mayer  Barton  also  issued  a  statement 
on  Oct.  24.  In  his  memorandum  the 
Mayor  called  particular  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  franchise  election  would 
make  possible  the  recording  of  an  ex- 
pression of  opinion  which  will  indicate 
definitely  the  extent  of  the  demand 
which  had  been  made  for  a  resumption 
of  railway  service. 

From  the  experience  that  Des  Moines 
has  had,  it  would  seem  that  the  fran- 
chise ordinance  must  necessarily  be 
passed  at  the  coming  election.  The 
public,  however,  has  a  short  memory 
and  political  forecasts  are  always  dan- 
gerous. Until  the  ordinance  has  been 
formally  approved  by  the  voters  the 
need  would  not  seem  to  exist  for  going 
into  the  provisions  of  the  grant  to  any 
greater  extent  than  has  already  been 
done  in  the  issue  of  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Oct.  15,  page  709,  and 
Oct.  22,  page  749. 

As  late  as  Oct.  17  Judge  Wade  felt  it 
incumbent  upon  him  to  make  a  state- 
ment with  respect  to  the  railway  sus- 
pension in  the  hope  of  making  plain 
the  facts  which  led  to  the  suspension  of 
service.  His  statement  was  more  than 
a  mere  review  of  the  steps  fixing  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  suspension  in  that 
he  took  occasion  to  offer  his  service  in 
the  attempt  to  bring  about  a  settle- 
ment. He  said  that  his  observations  were 
made  in  order  that  any  further  discus- 
sion of  the  problem  could  be  conducted 
in  a  spirit  of  justice,  fairness  and  com- 
mon decency.  In  concluding  his  remarks 
Judge  Wade  said  that  up  to  the  time 
his  statement  was  made  no  showing 
had  been  presented  to  the  court  that 
conditions  had  changed  in  any  respect. 

The  Des  Moines  City  Railway  on 
Oct.  26  filed  with  the  City  Council 
formal  notice  of  its  acceptance  of  the 
franchise  ordinance.  Nov.  28  has  been 
fixed  by  Council  as  the  date  for  the 
special  election  on  the  franchise.  The 
publication  of  the  application  for  the 
franchise  checkmates  the  move  of  the 
Improvement  League  to  conduct  a  fight 
to  test  the  legality  of  franchise.  No 
move  has  yet  been  made  by  the  Coun- 
cil to  reroute  buses  so  as  to  take  them 
off  streets  where  car  lines  are  oper- 
ated, but  Mayor  Barton  has  intimated 
that  this  wilj  be  done  as  a  traffic  safety 
measure.  Buses  which  were  shipped 
in  to  Des  Moines  from  outside  cities 
are  beginning  to  leave  the  city. 


Subway  Abandonment 
Recommended 

Committee  of  Cincinnati  Chamber  of 
Commerce   Recommends  Complete 
Change  in  Plans 

Abandonment  of  the  canal  subway 
as  a  rapid  transit  project,  on  which  the 
city  of  Cincinnati  already  has  spent 
$3,000,000.  is  recommended  in  a  report 
made  public  by  an  investigating  com- 
mittee of  the  United  City  Planning 
Commission  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. 

The  committee  said  it  was  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  money  already 
spent  on  the  subway  is  a  dead  loss  and 
should  be  charged  off  the  city  ledger 
and  the  project  of  rapid  transit 
abandoned. 

The  committee  which  made  the  re- 
port consists  of  Albert  Krell,  presi- 
dent of  the  Central  Inland  Waterways 
Association;  George  B.  Fox,  manufac- 
turer, and  Frederick  W.  Garber,  archi- 
tect. There  is  $3,000,000  still  unspent 
of  the  $6,000,000  of  bonds  voted  by 
the  public. 

The  committee  believes,  however, 
that  the  right-of-way  can  be  salvaged 
and  the  tunnels  used  for  delivery  of 
freight  to  industries  in  the  central 
part  of  the  city  as  well  as  in  all  the 
suburbs.  The  committee  in  its  report 
also  urged  that  immediate  steps  be 
taken  to  remedy  traffic  congestion,  to 
extend  trade  and  provide  interurban 
railway  inducements. 

The  report  says: 

The  construction  of  the  subway  has  been 
in  progress  two  years,  but  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  moneys  were  provided  and 
work  upon  the  same  was  begun  and  car- 
ried on  without  proper  study  and  careful 
investigation  of  the  city's  actual  needs. 

In  a  statement  made  in  connection 
with  the  report  Frederick  Garber  said 
the  loop  was  not  feasible  for  rapid 
transit  purposes  because  there  is  no 
way  of  operating  it  profitably  and  be- 
cause if  it  were  operated  it  would 
serve  only  a  section  of  the  community. 

The  committee  also  suggests  the  use 
of  the  tunnel  as  a  means  of  bringing 
interurban  cars  into  the  city  in  place 
of  its  proposed  use  as  a  means  of 
rapid  transit. 

Alfred  Bettman,  chairman  of  the 
City  Planning  Commission,  said  that 
the  report  made  public  by  the  sub- 
committee was  unauthorized  and  that 
he  would  investigate  the  matter  thor- 
oughly before  making  any  statement. 

Work  has  been  going  on  on  the  rapid 
transit  project  for  the  past  two  years 
and  three  of  the  six  sections  have  been 
built. 


Twenty  Per  Cent  Wage  Reduction 
on  Short  Line 

The  Railroad  Labor  Board  has  re- 
ported to  Rufus  C.  Jones,  comptroller 
of  the  Electric  Short  Line  Railway, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  commonly  known 
as  the  Luce  Line,  a  decision  for  a  re- 
duction of  20  per  cent  in  the  wages 
of  the  engineers,  motormen,  firemen, 
conductors  and  brakemen  of  that  sys- 
tem. The  board  has  had  the  matter 
under   consideration   ten   weeks.  The 


matter  was  referred  to  that  body  on 
Aug.  2  with  the  consent  of  the  em- 
ployees. The  board  took  into  consider- 
ation the  financial  condition  of  the  car- 
rier. The  earnings  had  been  falling 
below  cost  of  operation,  and  the  road 
was  paying  only  75  per  cent  of  the 
union  scale.  The  decision  will  be  ac- 
ceptable to  the  employees  it  developed 
in  conference. 

The  new  scale  in  cents  per  hour  is 
as  follows: 

in  passenger  service — conductors,  engi- 
neers and  motormen,  62£  cents;  firemen, 
5 7 J  cents,  and  brakemen,  56J  cents. 

In  freight  service — conductors  and  en- 
gineers, 65  6/10  cents  ;  firemen  and  brake- 
men,  59  4/10  cents. 

In  switching'  service — conductors  and  en- 
gineers. 62 i  cents;  firemen  and  brakemen, 
57i  cents.   

Daily  Guaranty  Assured 
Extra  Trainmen 

One  of  the  points  considered  at  length 
in  the  finding  in  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany's wage  arbitration  proceeding, 
noted  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal for  Oct.  22,  was  the  matter  of  pay 
for  extra  motormen.  The  men  contended 
for  a  daily  guaranty  of  $3  instead  of  the 
present  weekly  guaranty  of  $21  and  said 
that  the  present  scheme  was  faulty  in 
that  a  man  who  failed  to  attend  two  roll 
calls  in  the  course  of  a  week  might  be 
deprived  of  the  unearned  portion  of  his 
guaranty  for  the  entire  week. 

On  this  point  Counsel  Vahey,  who 
represented  the  men,  and  Justice  Beach 
said: 

We  recognize  the  importance  to  the  com- 
pany of  some  provision  for  effectively  re- 
quiring the  presence  of  the  extra  men  when 
they  are  wanted,  and  we  think  the  company 
and  the  public  will  be  sufficiently  protected 
for  the  balance  of  the  year  by  establish- 
ing the  daily  guaranty  with  the  proviso 
that  for  not  more  than  ten  weeks  on  each 
of  its  divisions  during  the  balance  of  the 
year  the  company  may  on  giving  two 
days'  notice  to  the  division  committee  men 
put  into  effect  the  weekly  guaranty  instead 
of  the  daily  guaranty. 

If  any  controversy  arises  as  to  the  in- 
terpretation or  effect  of  this  award  it  is 
to  be  referred  back  to  the  chairman  for 
decision,  which  shall  be  binding  on  both 
sides. 

The  recent  wage  award  brought  out 
some  interesting  facts  on  wage  scales 
of  previous  years. 

In  June,  1914,  a  maximum  rate  of 
28i  cents  an  hour  was  agreed  on.  In 
1916  this  rate  was  increased  by  agree- 
ment to  32  cents.  In  1918  it  was  in- 
creased to  40  cents,  effective  May  31, 
1919.  During  the  year  1918  the  cost  of 
living  continued  to  rise,  and  in  Novem- 
ber the  men  applied  for  and  the  com- 
pany voluntarily  granted  an  increase  of 
5  cents  an  hour,  on  condition  that  the 
increased  rate  of  45  cents  should  be 
continued  until  June,  1920.  This  was 
agreed  to  but  in  August,  1920,  the  men 
again  applied  for  and  the  company 
again  voluntarily  granted  a  second  in- 
crease of  5  cents  an  hour,  making  the 
maximum  rate  50  cents.  In  June,  1920, 
the  maximum  rate  for  the  Hue  uniform 
men  was  by  agreement  raised  to  60 
cents  an  hour  for  the  ensuing  year,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  lergth  of  the 
graduated  scale  was  reduced  from  five 
years  to  two,  so  that  the  blue  uniform 
men  recently  reached  the  maximum  rate 
at  the  beginning  of  their  third  year. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


795 


Improvements  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia to  Cost  $1,079,143 

Since  May,  1921,  the  Pacific  Electric 
Railway,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  has  under- 
taken a  large  program  of  improvement 
work  on  its  system,  the  greater  portion 
of  which  became  necessary  principally 
through  franchise  and  legal  obligation. 
The  estimated  cost  of  all  the  improve- 
ments outlined  is  $1,079,143.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  schedule  of  the  improve- 
ment jobs  now  underway: 

Highland  Avenue:  5,523  lin,  ft.  of 
double  track  reconstructed  with  4-15/16 
in.  75-lb.  C.  S.  revised  rail  with  tie 
plates,  Redwood  ties,  rock  ballast  and 
paved  with  5 -in.  oil  macadam  pavement. 

West  Sixteenth  Street:  3,669  lin.  ft. 
of  double  track  reconstructed  with  7-in.- 
128  lb.  grooved  girder  rail — treated  ties 
— rock  ballast  and  paved  with  6-in. 
concrete  base  and  2  in.  asphalt  wearing 
surface. 

Echo  Park  Avenue:  6,283  lin.  ft.  of 
double  track  reconstructed  with  4-15/16- 
in.-75  lb.  C.  S.  revised  rail  rock  ballast 
— Redwood  ties — paved  with  5  in.  of 
oil  macadam  pavement. 

West  Sixth  Street:  400  ft.  of  double 
track  and  1,600  ft.  of  double  track  com- 
bination gage  track.  Present  60-lb. 
ASCE  and  6-in.-72  lb.  tee  rail  replaced 
with  7-in.  128-lb.  grooved  girder  rail — 
reballasted  with  rock  ballast — Redwood 
ties  renewed  with  treated  ties — repaved 
with  6-in.  concrete  base  and  2-in.  as- 
.phalt  wearing  surface  pavement. 

Santa  Monica  Boulevard,  Colegrove 
Line:  11,978  lin.  ft.  of  double  track — re- 
constructed with  4-15/16-in.  75-lb.  C.  S. 
revised  rail — rock  ballast — grade  change 
— Redwood  ties — paved  with  5-in.  of  oil 
macadam  pavement. 

San  Bernardino-Mount  Vernon  Av- 
enue, Colton-San  Bernardino  Line:  3,000 
lin.  ft.  of  single  track  reconstructed 
with  4-15/16  in.-75  lb.  C.  S.  revised 
rail — rock  ballast — Redwood  ties — paved 
with  5  in.  of  oil  macadam  pavement. 

Los  Angeles,  Eighth  Street  Freight 
Terminal:  Constructed  4,600  lin.ft.  of 
additional  freight  handling  and  storage 
tracks — constructed  new  freight  termi- 
nal layout,  by  utilizing  the  brick-con- 
structed carpenter,  blacksmith  and  paint 
shop  buildings  formerly  used  by  com- 
pany shops  before  new  Torrance  shops 
were  put  in  operation.  Altering  these 
structures  and  constructing  additions 
thereto  to  provide  enlarged  and  more 
modern  freight  terminal  layout,  as  pres- 
ent freight  terminal  does  not  meet  the 
company's  rapid  development  of  its 
freight  business.  New  outbound  freight 
station  to  be  390  ft.  long;  50  ft.  wide  and 
platform  full  length  of  structure,  width 
of  platform  8  ft.  New  inbound  freight 
station  to  be  420  ft.  long;  67  ft.  wide. 
Exclusive  of  these  structures  will  be 
constructed  an  unloading  rack  for  in- 
dependently handling  newspaper  print. 

Los  Cerritos  Stations-Long  Beach 
Line:  Retire  1,000  lin.  ft.  of  present 
double  track,  pile  trestle  bridge  span- 
ning the  Los  Angeles  River  and  con- 
struct 1,100  ft.  of  new  double  track 
pile  trestle  bridge  and  place  seven  60- 
ft.  skew  girders.  (420  ft.).  Raise  bridge 
4  ft.  above  present  grade.    Raise  ap- 


proaches to  new  bridge  each  end  ap- 
proximately 4  ft.  Provide  riprap  for 
protection  of  approximately  1,200  ft. 
of  embankment.  This  work  brought 
about  by  U.  S.  government  construct- 
ing new  flood  control  levee  each  side 
of  company's  structure  for  purpose  of 
defining  the  channel  of  Los  Angeles 
River,  with  ultimate  purpose  of  pre- 
venting the  river  during  flood  periods 
from  silting  up  the  Los  Angeles  Har- 
bor, at  which  point  the  river  has  dur- 
ing past  flood  periods  left  its  course 
and  damaged  the  harbor. 


Another  Municipal  Line 
Opened 

Clairmount-Owen  Section  of  Detroit 
Municipal  Railway  Placed  in  Ser- 
vice^— New  Section  Reached 

Preparatory  to  starting  service  over 
the  Clairmount-Owen  crosstown  line  of 
the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Railway 
cars  of  the  one-man  safety  type  were 
started  over  the  line  on  Oct.  22  to 
familiarize  the  operators  with  the  line 
with  a  view  to  starting  the  regular 
five-minute  schedule  during  the  rush 
hour  and  ten-minute  service  the  rest  of 
the  day,  beginning  on  Monday.  If  it  is 
found  that  a  more  frequent  service 
is  required,  it  is  planned  to  put  on 
more  cars  as  needed. 

While  the  Clairmount  line  passes 
through  the  residential  section  of  the 
northwest  part  of  the  city,  which  has 
not  had  car  service,  it  is  not  expected 
that  the  line  will  return  a  profit  over 
operating  expenses  until  such  time  as 
the  day-to-day  lines  are  taken  over  so 
that  the  Clairmount-Owen  cars  can  be 
operated  over  extensions  both  on  the 
east  and  west  side  of  the  city.  This 
line  will  be  connected  with  the  present 
Epworth  Boulevard  line  and  the  Grand 
Belt  line  of  the  Detroit  United  Railway, 
both  of  which  are  to  be  taken  over  by 
the  city  according  to  arbitration. 

A  resolution  has  been  passed  by  the 
City  Council  providing  that  the  pro- 
posed amendment  to  the  city  charter 
to  provide  for  trackless  transportation 
be  again  placed  on  the  ballot  for  the 
coming  November  election.  The  amend- 
ment if  passed,  will  empower  the 
Street  Railway  Commission  to  acquire 
and  operate  gasoline  motor  buses, 
trackless  trolley  buses  or  such  other 
type  of  trackless  transportation  as  is 
deemed  desirable.  On  Oct.  11  the 
amendment  failed  to  receive  a  60  per 
cent  majority,  35,515  votes  being  cast 
in  favor  of  and  24,693  votes  against  it. 

Mayor  Couzens  and  the  Street  Rail- 
way Commission  are  anxious  to  have 
the  amendment  receive  a  60  per  cent 
majority  vote  before  proceeding  to  pur- 
chase trolley  buses  or  similar  equip- 
ment, although  it  was  the  opinion  of 
some  of  the  city  officials  that  a  simple 
majority  vote  was  all  that  was  re- 
quired to  provide  for  the  purchase 
and  operation  of  such  equipment.  It 
was  the  belief  of  the  Mayor  that  the 
proposed  amendment  was  not  thor- 
oughly understood  prior  to  the  October 
ballot  and  that  many  voters  opposed 


it  believing  that  it  necessitated  the  ap- 
propriation of  money  other  than  that 
already  provided  for  by  the  original 
$15,000,000  bond  issue  approved  in 
1920. 


Trolley  Bus  Rapped  by  Peter  Witt 

Peter  Witt,  Cleveland,  is  in  Seattle, 
where  he  has  been  engaged  by  the  City 
Council  to  study  Seattle's  transporta- 
tion problem.  In  a  speech  to  the  Coun- 
cil, Mr.  Witt  said  he  did  not  favor  op- 
eration of  city  owned  railways  with  the 
aid  of  taxes;  that  there  is  "nothing  to 
the  trackless  trolley";  that  the  "one- 
man  car  has  got  to  come,"  and  that 
motor  transportation  "will  never  sup- 
plant the  street  railway." 

Mr.  Witt,  said  that  any  rate  of  fare 
which  produces  more  revenue  but  does 
so  from  fewer  riders  is  a  mistake. 

In  referring  to  the  use  of  taxation 

funds  to  support  street  railways,  Mr. 

Witt  said: 

That  principle  is  economically  unsound. 
It  takes  the  management  as  well  as  the 
operatives  of  the  system  oft  their  mettle. 

He  explained  in  detail  his  approved 
zone  system  of  fares. 

The  coming  of  Mr.  Witt  to  Seattle 
was  strongly  opposed  by  Mayor  Hugh 
M.  Caldwell,  who  asserted  that  Mr. 
Witt's  engagement  had  been  made  by 
the  Council  without  his  being  consulted. 
He  even  wired  Mr.  Witt  stating  that  he 
had  not  approved  of  the  investigation, 
and  suggesting  that  Mr.  Witt  remain 
in  Cleveland  until  an  ordinance  has 
been  passed  authorizing  his  employ- 
ment and  appropriating  money  for  his 
services.  The  matter  had  been  ap- 
proved by  the  Council,  however,  and  an 
ordinance  appropriating  $8,400  to  pay 
for  his  services  has  been  referred  to 
the  finance  and  utilities  committee. 


An  Appeal  Made  for  Unemployed 
in  Columbus 

The  correspondence  between  the  Co- 
lumbus (Ohio)  Chamber  of  Commerce 
and  the  Columbus  Railway,  Power  & 
Light  Company  with  respect  to  the  un- 
employment situation  in  Columbus  has 
been  printed  in  the  form  of  a  full-page 
advertisement  in  the  Columbus  Citizen. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  ap- 
pealed to  the  railway  officials  to  start 
in  motion  its  share  of  the  improvement 
work  on  Main  and  Front  Streets  and  if 
not  actually  able  to  initiate  the  work  to 
procure  the  necessary  materials  so  that 
some  progress  can  be  made  in  the  late 
autumn.  In  making  its  request  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  expresses  its  ap- 
preciation for  the  work  already  done  by 
the  railway. 

The  railway,  through  C.  L.  Kurtz,  its 
president,  commends  the  patriotic  work 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  other 
service  organizations  in  their  efforts  to 
relieve  the  unemployment  problem  but 
states  its  inability  to  advance  improve- 
ment plans  when  no  funds  are  available 
for  that  purpose.  The  company  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  the  recent  accom- 
plishments of  the  railway,  which  is  one 
of  the  largest  employers  of  labor  in  Co- 
lumbus. 


796 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


Bus  Proposal  Accepted 

Saginaw  Council  Favors  Terms  of  Bus 
Company — Chamber  of  Commerce 
Is  Opposed 

If  the  Council  can  finance  the  ad- 
vanced sale  of  transportation  amounting 
to  $125,000,  the  city  of  Saginaw,  Mich., 
will,  accoi'ding  to  the  proposal  of  the 
Wolverine  Transit  Company,  Detroit, 
have  motor  coach  transportation.  At 
the  regular  meeting  of  the  Council  on 
the  evening  of  Oct.  25  its  proposal 
was  accepted  with  some  minor  changes 
and  to  hurry  matters,  for  Saginaw  has 
not  had  any  reliable  transportation  fa- 
cilities since  the  Saginaw-Bay  City 
Railway  ceased  operating  its  cars  on 
Aug.  10. 

Mayor  Introduced  Ordinance 

The  ordinance  giving  the  company  the 
right  to  operate  was  introduced  by 
Mayor  Mercer,  who  also  introduced  the 
proper  notice  revoking  the  franchise  of 
the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway.  Com- 
missioner George  Phoenix,  who  has 
fought  the  traction  company  right 
along,  refused  to  vote  for  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  franchise  and  the  approval 
of  the  motor  coach  plan. 

The  Council  issues  an  appeal  to  the 
board  of  commerce,  clubs  and  societies 
to  assist  in  selling  the  advanced  trans- 
portation and  within  a  day  or  two  a 
decision  on  the  matter  is  expected  from 
the  board  of  commerce.  That  body  re- 
fused several  weeks  ago  to  entertain 
the  proposal  as  then  made  by  the  bus 
interests  in  the  name  of  the  Wol- 
verine Transit  Company. 

The  essentials  of  the  offer  of  the 
Wolverine  Transit  Company  follow: 

It  will  place  in  operation  within 
ninety  days  thirty-five  motor  coaches 
each  with  a  seating  capacity  of  twenty- 
five.  The  rate  of  fare  is  6  cents  with 
universal  transfers.  In  order  to  finance 
the  plan  the  company  proposes  that  the 
city  arrange  to  sell  in  advance  $125,- 
000  of  tickets,  in  books  of  200  with  a 
face  value  of  $12,  at  a  cost  of  $10.  The 
money  from  this  source  is  to  be  retained 
by  a  trustee  appointed  by  the  Council, 
and  as  each  bus  is  delivered  the  trustee 
is  to  pay  at  the  rate  of  $4,150  to  the 
manufacturer.  The  trustee  is  to  have 
a  first  mortgage  on  the  equipment  to 
the  amount  of  the  advanced  transporta- 
tion until  the  tickets  sold  in  advance 
have  been  used. 

The  company  is  to  deposit  with  the 
bus  manufacturer  $115,000  as  a  guar- 
antee to  it  to  start  manufacturing  and 
delivering  the  buses.  The  .company 
further  agrees  to  deposit  with  some 
local  bank,  $30,000  for  operating  ex- 
penses during  the  time  the  tickets  are 
being  used.  The  Council  is  to  govern 
the  service.  Insurance  will  be  carried 
on  all  buses  to  the  amount  of  $5,000  for 
one  passenger  and  $25,000  for  one  acci- 
dent. 

In  order  to  insure  service,  the  mort- 
gage to  be  given  the  city's  trustee 
is  to  run  for  one  year,  after  which  the 
company  will  furnish  a  $100,000  bond 
for  continuation  of  service.  The  com- 
pany does  not  ask  a  franchise  or  the 
elimination  of  the  jitneys,  asserting  the 
service  which  it  will  give  will  compel 


the  jitney  operators  to  retire  from 
business. 

There  is  to  be  a  special  election  on 
Dec.  7,  called  to  submit  a  bond  issue 
to  complete  the  water  plant,  and  at 
that  time,  the  jitney  owners  ask  that 
their  proposal,  which  the  Council  re- 
jected, be  submitted.  Commissioner 
Phoenix  is  circulating!  petitions  for 
municipal  ownership  of  buses  and  it  is 
possible  that  this  question  too  will  be 
submitted. 


Residents  of  Miami  Must  Decide 

Miami  (Fla.)  voters  will  decide  on 
Nov.  1  if  they  want  to  buy  the  defunct 
Miami  Traction  Company's  track,  fran- 
chise and  rolling  stock  for  $50,000  cash 
and  a  "bad  account  due"  of  approxi- 
mately $73,000,  which  it  is  claimed  the 
system  owes  the  city  for  paving  and 
bridge  liens.  The  city  is  to  vote  on  is- 
suing bonds  for  $100,000,  half  of  which 
will  be  paid  the  Tatum  interests  for  the 
assets  of  the  system.  The  liens  are  to 
be  canceled.  The  other  $50,000— if  the 
city  votes  the  issue — will  be  used  to 
equip  the  5  miles  of  the  system  with 
poles  and  trolley  wire  so  that  the  lines 
may  run  as  trolley  lines  instead  of  on 
storage  batteries  as  previously. 

Since  the  fire  which  destroyed  the 
company's  powerhouse  and  carhouse 
more  than  a  year  ago  the  line  has  not 
resumed  operation.  Many  suggestions 
and  propositions  for  operating  the  line 
have  been  offered  from  time  to  time.  A 
few  months  back  the  Miami  Chamber 
of  Commerce  offered  its  assistance  in 
securing  a  franchise  for  some  operator 
who  would  undertake  to  provide  the 
city  with  railway  service. 

The  present  plan  is  to  lease  the  sys- 
tem under  some  arrangement  to  the 
Miami  Beach  Electric  Company,  which 
is  operated  by  the  Carl  C.  Fisher 
interests. 


Ordinance  Passed  Forcing 
Presentation  of  Elec- 
trification Plans 

Favorable  action  has  been  taken  by 
the  City  Council  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  on 
the  ordinance  proposed  by  Frank  C. 
Perkins,  the  Socialist  member  of  the 
board,  for  electrification  of  the  steam 
railroad  lines  within  the  city  limits.  The 
ordinance  provides  that  a  plan  must  be 
submitted  by  the  railroads  by  Feb.  1, 
1922,  and  carried  out  one  year  later. 
The  action  of  the  Council  was  unani- 
mous. 

For  years  the  municipal  authorities 
have  been  discussing  the  advisability 
of  enacting  such  an  ordinance  as  it 
affects  the  New  York  Central  belt  line 
operating  largely  through  the  north 
park  residential  section,  but  representa- 
tives of  the  railroads  always  have  con- 
tended that  the  cost  would  be  too  great. 
Some  time  ago  a  hearing  was  held  on 
the  proposed  ordinance  and  railroad  en- 
gineers said  electrification  of  rail  lines 
within  the  city  would  cost  millions. 
The  ordinance  enacted  by  the  Council 
forces  the  railroads  to  submit  an  elec- 
trification plan  within  the  next  four 
months. 


New  York  Subway's  Seventeenth  An- 
niversary.—  Posters  of  the  Subway  Sun 
and  Elevated  Express  are  featuring  the 
seventeenth  anniversary  of  the  opening 
of  th  New  York  subways  by  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  Company.  The 
posters  show  former  Mayor  McClellan 
and  other  well-known  men  marching 
from  the  City  Hall  to  board  the  first 
train  on  Oct.  27,  1904. 

Action  on  Extensions  Deferred. — The 

public  utilities  committee  of  the  Board 
of  Supervisors  of  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
met  on  Oct.  19  to  discuss  the  municipal 
Railway  extensions.  The  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  the  several  tun- 
nel routes  were  gone  over  thoroughly. 
Final  action  on  the  matter  was  put 
over  for  two  weeks.  It  is  •  more 
than  likely  that  if  the  various  improve- 
ment associations  fail  to  agree  on  the 
extensions  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
will  take  the  matter  in  its  own  hands 
and  arbitrarily  make  decisions.  The 
plans  for  this  improvement  have  been 
referred  to  in  detail  previously  in  this 
paper. 

American  Legion  Convention  in . 
Kansas  City. — A  special  issue  of  the 
Railwayan,  the  monthly  "organization 
magazine"  of  the  Kansas  City  Rail- 
ways, will  be  published  in  honor  of 
the  convention  of  the  American  Legion, 
in  Kansas  City,  Oct.  31,  Nov.  1  and  2. 
This  issue  will  contain  more  than  200 
pictures  of  army  and  battlefront  scenes 
and  portraits  of  members  of  the  rail- 
way organization  who  had  been  in  serv- 
ice. The  company  has  slightly  more 
than  3,000  employees,  and  among  them 
are  1,500  ex-service  men,  said  to  be 
the  largest  percentage  of  former  serv- 
ice men  employed  by  any  similar  com- 
pany of  the  size  of  the  railway  in  the 
United  States. 

300  Veterans  Meet. — The  first  annual 
banquet  of  the  Veteran  Employees' 
Club  of  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit 
Company  employees  in  Minneapolis, 
St.  Paul  and  suburbs  was  held  on  Oct. 
11  at  the  Central  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Minne- 
apolis. The  "oldtimers"  seemed  to 
enjoy  the  get-together  at  which  many 
"youngsters"  listened  to  tales  of  the 
old  horse  car  days.  The  occasion  was 
just  to  "reminisce"  and  hear  the  story 
of  railway  development  in  those  parts. 
Mike  Donovan,  who  entered  the  serv- 
ice in  1875  and  "worked  under  every 
management  and  master  mechanic," 
was  there  and  so  also  was  "Hod"  Carter 
of  1883  days.  Horace  Lowry,  president 
of  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany and  son  of  the  founder  of  the 
company,  came  to  the  gathering  to 
commend  his  trainmen  for  their  loy- 
alty. He  said:  "With  such  support  as 
we  are  given  I  don't  see  how  any  cor- 
poration could  fail  to  succeed." 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


797 


Financial  and  Corporate 


Valuation  Testimony  Heard 

$85,573,196  at  Prevailing  Prices  Fixed 
As  Reproduction  Cost  of  United 
Railways,  St.  Louis 

The  taking  of  testimony  by  the  Mis- 
souri Public  Service  Commission  to  de- 
termine the  value  of  the  property  of 
the  United  Railways,  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
took  up  Oct.  18,  19,  20  and  21  in  St. 
Louis,  with  one  witness  on  the  stand. 
Hearings  were  then  adjourned  for  a 
month  to  give  the  City  Counselor  and 
his  associates  time  to  study  the  figures 
submitted. 

Counsel  for  Receiver  Wells  and  the 
company  submitted  several  sets  of  val- 
uation figures  as  follows: 

1.  — Reproduction,  based  upon  prevail- 
ing prices  of  material  and  labor,  Jan. 
1,  1920,  $85,573,196,  including  depreci- 
ation. 

2.  — Replacement  at  prices  prevailing 
June  30,  1921,  $82,202,727,  including 
depreciation. 

3.  — Replacement  new  if  based  upon 
average  prices  for  a  five-year  period 
beginning  June  30,  1916,  and  ending 
June  30,  1921,  $70,201,102,  including 
depreciation. 

The  inventory  and  exhibits  submitted 
fill  ten  volumes  of  foolscap  paper  width 
and  length,  and  include  4,500  pages  of 
typewritten  matter.  W.  B.  Bennett, 
Madison,  Wis.,  formerly  engineer  for 
the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission, 
and  now  an  associate  of  F.  W.  Doolittle, 
New  York,  in  charge  of  the  valuation 
work  for  the  company,  was  the  only 
witness  during  the  four  days.  He  is 
to  be  cross  examined  later.  The  com- 
mission sought  to  shorten  the  hearing 
and  cut  out  much  oral  testimony,  but 
counsel  for  the  receiver  and  the  corpo- 
ration objected  on  the  ground  that  they 
wanted  the  record  to  be  complete  in 
case  the  decision  of  the  commission  was 
such  as  to  force  the  case  into  the 
courts  for  review. 

James  L.  Harrop,  engineer  for  the 
Missouri  Public  Service  Commission, 
who  appraised  the  property  of  the  com- 
pany, fixed  the  value  at  $48,936  805,  in 
his  report  last  spring.  His  estimate 
was  based  on  average  prices  of  labor 
and  material  for  thirteen  years  be- 
tween 1906  and  1918.  That  cost  de- 
preciated to  represent  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  property  was  $34,285,531. 
His  figures  were  on  the  "investment" 
plan. 

Neither  the  railway's  nor  Mr.  Har- 
rop's  figures  include  any  intangibles — 
allowances  for  consolidation,  or  as  a 
going  concern,  etc.  These  items  are  to 
be  added  by  the  commission. 

Taking  Mr.  Harrop's  own  figures, 
the  railways  submitted  a  fourth  valua- 
tion of  $66,867,486,  which  is  an  exten- 
sion of  the  inventory  brought  up  to 
date.  The  railways'  "investment  cost" 
figures   were    only   $1,527,767  higher 


than  Mr.  Harrop's  on  the  same  inven- 
tory, complete. 

In  making  the  opening  statement  to 
the  Commission,  Thomas  Elmer  Francis, 
of  the  receiver's  counsel,  appealed  for  a 
liberal  valuation  on  the  ground  that  cap- 
ital would  not  be  attracted  for  sorely 
needed  improvements  and  extension, 
and  future  rapid  transit,  unless  the 
present  security  holders  were  treated 
fairly.  He  was  cut  short  by  the  com- 
mission, which  decided  that  arguments 
would  be  heard  after  all  the  testimony 
is  in.  Mr.  Francis  gave  details  of  in- 
creased operating  costs  since  1916  and 
asserted  that  the  universal  transfer 
system  had  saved  the  car  riders  $7,784,- 
000  in  1920  alone  and  more  than  $75,- 
000,000  since  the  consolidation  in  1900. 

The  outstanding  securities  of  the  cor- 
poration, now  in  receivership,  exceed 
$100,000,000.  Two  years  ago  the  city 
and  the  company  agreed  to  a  tentative 
valuation  of  $60,000,000.  This  was 
changed  later  by  the  commission  to  $50,- 
000,000  for  rate  making  purposes.  The 
present  fare  of  7  cents  is  to  run  until 
Jan.  1,  1922,  when  it  was  supposed  that 
the  new  valuation  would  be  decided.  A 
decision,  however,  is  not  expected  in 
that  time  now  and  an  extension  may  be 
granted.  The  latest  report  shows  that 
revenue  is  hardly  sufficient  to  pay  6  per 
cent  on  the  $50,000,000. 

City  Counselor  Caulfield  stated  the 
city  would  contend  that  the  value  of  all 
United  Railways  property  for  rate- 
making  purposes  was  not  more  than 
$45,000,000.  It  is  expected  that  he  will 
challenge  the  company  to  show  that 
more  than  $25,000,000  had  been  invested 
by  the  stockholders.  The  other  $20,- 
000,000,  he  said,  was  "contributed  by 
the  public."  He  did  not  reveal  the 
source  of  his  figures. 

Mr.  Caulfield  told  the  commission  the 
burden  is  upon  the  company  to  show 
that  it  is  entitled  to  charge  more  than 
5  cents,  the  contract  fare  as  fixed  by  the 
city  charter.  He  declared:  "If  it  fails 
to  move  the  commission,  whose  aid  is 
invoked  to  relieve  it  from  its  contract, 
the  citizens  will  get  a  5-cent  fare." 
In  reply  Mr.  Francis  said: 

I  must  utter  a  note  of  warning.  My  dis- 
tinguished opponent  (Caulfield)  is  pursuing 
a  course  that,  like  a  boomerang,  will  return 
to  sm'te  those  whom  he  represents.  You 
cannot  harm  this  company  without  inflicting 
injury  upon  the  public  which  it  serves.  Any 
increase  in  taxes,  any  burden  imposed  upon 
it  that  increases  its  expenses  or  decreases 
its  revenue  ;  any  action  that  will  prevent 
or  retard  the  flow  of  new  capital  to  Its 
treasury,  is  bound  to  affect  its  ability  to 
give  pr  oper  service. 

The  hearings  are  not  expected  to  be 
resumed  before  the  last  of  November. 


Railway  Line  Not  Profitable. — It  is 

reported  that  the  property  of  the  St. 
John's  Electric  Company,  the  local 
operating  railway  in  St.  Augustine, 
Fla.,  has  been  offered  to  the  city  as 
a  gift. 


Electric  Purchase  Approved 

California    Commission  Authorized 
Western  Pacific  to  Purchase  Sac- 
ramento Northern  Railroad 

The  State  Railroad  Commission  of 
California  on  Oct.  18  authorized  the 
Western  Pacific  Railroad  to  purchase 
the  Sacramento  Northern  (Electric) 
Railroad  including  all  its  properties, 
rights  and  franchises.  Under  the  terms 
of  the  sale  the  Western  Pacific  is  to 
pay  $730,000  in  cash  for  the  physical 
property  and  to  assume  the  payment 
of  the  outstanding  bonds  of  the  com- 
pany. On  the  basis  of  the  present 
market  value  of  Western  Pacific  bonds 
given  in  exchange  for  the  bonds  of  the 
Sacramento  Northern  the  total  pur- 
chase price  is  $4,450,000.  This  includes 
the  $730,000  cash  payment  and  the 
expense  entailed  in  the  exchange  of 
bonds. 

The  Western  Pacific  Railroad  Cor- 
poration, parent  company  of  the  West- 
ern Pacific  Railroad,  had  already 
acquired  more  than  97  per  cent  of  the 
outstanding  stock  and  more  than  98 
per  cent  of  the  outstanding  bonds  of 
the  Sacramento  Northern.  The  bonds 
were  acquired  by  the  exchange  of 
Western  Pacific  bonds  for  the  bonds  of 
the  Sacramento  Northern  at  the  ex- 
change basis  of  $80  Western  Pacific 
bonds  to  $100  Sacramento  Northern 
bonds.  The  stock  of  the  Sacramento 
Northern  was  obtained  at  the  rate  of 
$27.50  per  share  for  the  first  preferred 
stock,  $15  per  share  for  second  pre- 
ferred and  $6  for  common. 

This  stock  control  placed  the  Western 
Pacific  Railroad  Corporation  in  control 
of  the  Sacramento  Northern  and  the 
directors  of  the  Sacramento  Northern 
voted  for  the  sale  of  the  property  to 
the  Western  Pacific. 

Of  the  outstanding  stock  of  the 
Sacramento  Northern  $136,800  par 
value  and  of  the  outstanding  bonds 
$80,094  have  not  been  deposited  under 
the  Western  Pacific  offer.  Additional 
time  has  been  granted  in  which  to  make 
deposits. 

The  Western  Pacific  is  to  acquire 
the  Sacramento  Northern  through  a 
subsidiary  company  known  as  the  Sac- 
ramento Northern  Railway  capitalized 
for  $1,000,000.  It  was  necessary  to 
form  a  subsidiary  company,  it  was 
pointed  out,  because  under  the  Western 
Pacific  mortgage  it  cannot  advance  any 
money  to  a  company  of  which  it  does 
not  own  the  entire  capital  stock.  The 
Western  Pacific  Company,  by  the  terms 
of  the  Railroad  Commission's  decision 
of  Oct.  18,  is  authorized  to  use  $4,450,- 
000  of  the  proceeds  obtained  from  the 
bond  issue  previously  authorized ;  to 
acquire  the  stock  of  the  Sacramento 
Northern  Railway,  the  new  subsidiary 
ern  Railroad.  The  Sacramento  North- 
ern Railway  is  authorized  to  use 
$730,000  from  the  proceeds  obtained 
from  the  sale  of  its  stock  to  acquire 
the  properties  of  the  Sacramento 
Northern  Railroad.  The  remainder  of 
the  proceeds  are  to  be  used  as  working 
capital. 


798 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


Reorganization  Ordinance 
Prepared 

The  city  attorneys  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
have  prepared  an  ordinance  for  presen- 
tation to  Council  authorizing  the  city  to 
enter  into  the  agreement  with  the  Phil- 
adelphia Company  and  Pittsburgh  Rail- 
ways looking  toward  the  reorganization 
of  the  Pittsburgh  Railways.  This  agree- 
ment was  drawn  up  by  the  city  attor- 
neys and  counsel  for  the  Philadelphia 
Company. 

George  N.  Munro,  Jr.,  special  city 
counsel  in  charge  of  public  utility  legis- 
lation, said  that  while  he  was  anxious 
to  have  the  measure  introduced  at  once 
and  thus  open  the  door  for  discussion  on 
the  proposition  and  an  early  decision,  it 
would  probably  be  held  up  another  week. 
This  delay,  he  said,  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  counsel  for  the  Philadelphia  Com- 
pany, now  absent  from  the  city,  has  not 
had  an  opportunity  to  approve  or  reject 
a  proposed  amendment  to  the  agree- 
ment. 

The  amendment  as  proposed  by  Mr. 
Monro  provides  that  the  new  company 
shall  assume  full  liability  for  the  pay- 
ment of  all  damage  claims  against  the 
old  company.  Since  the  railway  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  receivers  many 
persons  have  been  awarded  damages  in 
the  local  courts.  These  claims,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Monro,  now  amount  to 
$600,000. 

He  proposes  to  have  the  new  company 
pay  the  claims  in  ten  instalments,  al- 
lowing ten  years  in  which  to  pay  off  the 
debt.  Lawyers  representing  a  majority 
of  those  who  were  awarded  damages 
have  agreed  to  this  proposition,  Mr. 
Monro  said.  The  proposed  amendment 
is  the  only  change  which  will  be  made 
in  the  agreement  before  it  is  consid- 
ered by  Council. 

Many  pamphlets  containing  a  copy 
of  the  agreement  on  reorganization 
were  mailed  to  various  boards  of  trade 
and  other  civic  organizations  through- 
out the  city,  with  the  request  that  they 
study  the  proposition  and  offer  criti- 
cism and  suggestions,  only  a  few  have 
sent  replies  to  Council.  A  majority  of 
them  approved  the  agreement,  some 
with  reservations,  but  each  requested  a 
public  hearing  before  final  action  is 
taken  by  Council. 

The  terms  of  the  agreement  for  the 
reorganization  as  proposed  to  be  exe- 
cuted by  the  city  and  the  railway  were 
reviewed  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  July  30,  page  180. 


Status  of  Security  Holders  Fixed 

Judge  Mayer  in  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court  has  handed  down  an  opinion 
in  the  suit  of  the  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Company  against 
the  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.)  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  defining  the  status  of  the 
lien  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  gold 
5s  of  1945,  as  a  first  lien  in  equity  upon 
the  prop?rty  acquired  with  the  pro- 
ceeds of  $2,125,000  of  the  bonds,  and 
upon  property  acquired  with  later  pro- 
ceeds amounting  to  $889,705,  and  such 
property  acquired  by  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company  as  is  subject 


to  the  lien  of  the  first  and  refunding 
mortgage  dated  July  1,  1902.  The 
opinion  was  confined  solely  to  the  ques- 
tion of  the  priority  liens  as  between 
the  trustees  of  the  two  mortgages. 
The  1945  mortgage  was  made  in  1895 
to  secure  an  issue  of  $7,000,000  of  5 
per  cent  gold  bonds  and  1902  mortgage 
to  secure  an  authorized  issue  of  $100,- 
000  000  gold  4s. 


Daily  Receipts  Up  $1,050 

Despite  Industrial  Depression  Connecti- 
cut Company  Is  Doing  Much  Better 
Than  a  Year  Ago 

President  L.  S.  Storrs  and  the  fed- 
eral trustees  of  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany met  on  Oct.  23  with  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission  in  Hartford  and 
discussed  the  financial  condition  of  the 
company.  Coming  after  three  consec- 
utive hearings  befoi'e  the  commission  on 
petitions  for  a  reduction  in  fares,  it  is 
believed  that  a  formal  statement  from 
the  Connecticut  Company  as  to  its  at- 
titude on  rates  will  be  made  in  the  im- 
mediate future. 

The  federal  trustees  will  meet  in  New 
Haven  on  Oct.  29  and  it  is  expected  that 
they  will  take  a  "positive  attitude"  on 
the  fare  situation  as  recommended  by 
President  Storrs  in  his  memorandum 
now  before  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission. The  company  is  now  making 
some  money  and  it  is  in  a  better  finan- 
cial condition  than  during  the  last  two 
years,  as  was  shown  in  President 
Storrs'  statement  to  the  trustees. 

Fare  Changes  Unlikely 
Before  Spring 

Indications  are  that  fare  reductions 
will  get  more  serious  consideration  next 
spring  than  this  winter  because  of  the 
uncertainties  of  winter  weather  and 
their  effect  on  railway  transportation. 

Twenty  or  more  buses  on  various 
lines  are  being  continued  in  operation 
by  the  Connecticut  Company  at  a  daily 
loss  of  $150.  The  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission was  informed  of  this  fact  by 
W.  J.  Flickinger,  assistant  to  President 
L.  S.  Storrs,  during  the  hearings  for 
lower  fare  rates.    Mr.  Flickinger  said: 

We  are  running  these  lines  only  for  the 
service  they  afford,  not  for  revenue.  Our 
experience  has  gone  far  enough  to  show  us 
that  bus  operation  costs  more  than  trolleys 
because  much  rolling  stock  is  required. 

According  to  him,  under  present 
maintenance  costs,  buses  would  have  to 
be  operated  at  full  capacity  throughout 
the  day  at  a  5-cent  fare  in  order  to 
make  expenses.  He  said  it  cost  $20  a 
day  to  operate  a  trolley-owned  bus. 

The  financial  statement  of  the  com- 
pany as  made  by  Mr.  Storrs  covers  the 
first  seven  months  of  each  year  from 
1916  to  1921  and  shows  that  the  oper- 
ating revenue  in  those  periods  increased 
more  than  $3,000,000  since  1916  and 
that  the  operating  expenses  nearly 
doubled.  Taxes  have  increased  from 
over  $260,000  to  more  than  $400,000. 
The  non-operating  income  has  decreased 
from  approximately  $150,000  to  a  little 
over  $5,000. 

The  following  table  shows  the  net  in- 
come available  for  return  on  the  capital 


invested  in  the  first  seven  months  of  the 
past  five  years: 

1916  $2,133,726 

1917   1,653.573 

1918   1,274  890 

1919   1,042,625 

1920  (deficit)   266,913 

1921   1,352,917 

In  his  statement  to  the  trustees  Mr. 
Storrs  said: 

It  seems  to  be  desirable  to  take  a  posi- 
tive attitude  in  the  matter  of  our  rates 
of  fare  in  order  to  meet  the  feeling  on  the 
part  of  the  most  conservative  of  the  public 
that  the  time  has  come  for  reduction. 

This  is  based  upon  the  argument  that 
the  company  was  relieved  by  the  last 
Legislature  of  the  paving  and  bridge  obli- 
gations, a  lower  rate  of  taxation  was  estab- 
lishtd  and  above  all  the  competitive  motor 
bus  has  been  very  generally  eliminated. 
Furthermore,  the  general  reductions  in  the 
price  of  coal  and  other  commodities  should 
have  a  corresponding  effect  upon  our  oper- 
ating costs  and  an  anticipated  reduction 
in  the  rates  of  pay  will  have  a  marked 
effect  upon  our  pay-roll  costs. 

There  is  no  question  that  the  10-cent 
rate  of  fare  is  considered  abnormally  high 
and  it  is  all  the  more  of  a  burden  to  a 
majority  of  the  car  riders  due  to  the 
drastic  reduction  in  industrial  rates  of  pay 
and  unemployment  conditions. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  people 
of  the  State  generally  recognized  the  need 
for  the  higher  rate  of  fare  when  it  was 
inaugurated  and  are  still  willing  to  pay 
that  rate  without  much  comment,  but  are 
expecting  us  to  make  some  voluntary  re- 
duction. 

Mr.  Storrs  points  out  that  the  de- 
crease in  car  riders  is  marked,  but  he 
attributes  this  solely  to  industrial  con- 
ditions. He  points  out  that  at  the  pres- 
ent time  the  daily  receipts  are  averag- 
ing $1,050  a  day  more  than  they  did 
during  November,  1920.  The  increased 
revenue  has  been  obtained  in  centers 
where  the  jitneys  have  only  recently 
been  restricted. 

Mr.  Storrs  predicts  the  net  revenue 
in  November  and  December  will  be  the 
same  as  last  year.  The  cash  balance  of 
the  company,  he  says,  is  better  than  it 
has  been  the  past  eighteen  months.  On 
Oct.  1  the  company  had  a  cash  balance 
of  $419,120,  with  all  due  accounts  paid, 
while  in  1920,  the  excess  of  accounts 
due  over  cash  on  hand  was  $365,000. 


Municipal  Lines  Have  a 
Theoretical  Surplus 

According  to  figures  reported  by  the 
City  Comptroller,  the  receipts  of  the 
Detroit  (Mich.)  Municipal  Railway  for 
the  month  of  September  amounted  to 
$31,137  and  in  the  same  period  of  time 
operating  expenses,  not  including  inter- 
est on  bonds,  sinking  fund  or  taxes, 
amounted  to  $26,313.  To  meet  the 
charges  for  sinking  fund,  bond  interest 
and  taxes,  money  is  being  taken  from 
the  construction  fund,  and  this  action 
it  is  cited  is  justified  by  the  ruling  of 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
that  such  charges  are  capital  costs  and 
may  properly  be  charged  to  construc- 
tion until  the  street  railway  system  is 
complete. 

The  municipal  street  railway  officials 
expect  that  the  returns  from  the  mu- 
nicipal lines  will  be  greatly  increased 
as  soon  as  the  so-called  day-to-day  lines 
are  taken  over  by  the  city.  These  lines 
will  connect  with  the  municipal  lines 
already  in  operation  making  a  more 
complete  system  of  north  and  south  as 
well  as  cross-town  lines. 

A  5-cent  fare  is  being  collected  on 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


799 


all  municipal  lines,  and  according  to 
the  city  charter  a  rate  of  fare  must  be 
charged  sufficient  to  meet  operating  ex- 
penses, sinking  fund  and  interest 
charges  and  taxes.  If  it  is  found  that 
the  present  rate  is  not  sufficient  to  meet 
all  charges  and  return  the  money  taken 
from  the  construction  fund  the  fare 
will  be  raised. 


$4,464,828  Deficit  for  Interbor- 
ough Rapid  Transit 

The  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  closed  the 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1921,  with  a 
deficit  of  $4,464,828,  as  a  result  of  com- 
bined operations  on  its  subways  and 
elevated  lines.  The  deficit  is  the  com- 
pany's worst  showing  for  any  year,  be- 
ing nearly  double  the  1920  deficit  of 
$2,235,836,  and  exceeding  the  deficit  of 
$3,810,339  in  1919,  the  largest  hereto- 
fore recorded.  High  labor  costs  and 
inflated  commodity  prices  are  given  as 
the  cause  of  the  poor  income  statement 
of  the  company,  which  points  to  its  con- 
tractual obligations  calling  for  a  5-cent 
fare  as  compelling  the  company  to 
render  service  to  the  public  at  less  than 
cost. 

During  the  year  the  total  number  of 
passengers  carried  was  1,013,678,831, 
a  record.  Recent  months,  however, 
have  shown  a  falling  off  in  gross  reve- 
nue, indicating  a  check  in  the  growth 
of  passenger  traffic. 

Gross  revenue  for  twelve  months 
amounted  to  $55,031,941,  an  increase  of 
$3,553,531  over  the  preceding  year, 
while  operating  expenses  totaling  $36,- 
024,646  showed  an  increase  of  $4,329,- 
437. 

An  increase  in  amount  of  taxes 
assignable  to  operation  of  $112,284  in 
1921  further  lowered  the  company's 
operating  income,  which  shrunk  from 
$17,159,791  in  1920  to  $16,271,601  in 
1921.  Total  income  deductions  for  the 
year  amounted  to  $21,375,551  compared 
with  $20,003,996  in  1920. 

A  comparative  income  statement  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany for  the  twelve  months  ended  with 
June,  1921  and  1920: 

Gfross   $55,031,041  $51,478,411 

Net   after   taxes....  16,271,601  17,159,791 

Total    income    16,910,724  17,768,160 

Defiait  after  charges .     4,464,826  2,235.837 

The  deficit  of  the  charges  is  exclu- 
sive of  deficit  accruals  under  the  pro- 
visions of  Contract  No.  3  and  related 
certificates  which  under  these  agree- 
ments with  the  city  are  payable  from 
future  earnings.  For  twelve  months 
to  July  1,  1921,  these  accruals  amounted 
to  $11,016,654. 


Railway  Loses  Money. — The  opera- 
tion of  the  Paducah  (Ky.)  Electric 
Comnany  during  the  past  twelve  months 
has  been  at  a  loss,  according  to  a  re- 
port by  Manager  A.  S.  Nichols  to  the 
City  Commissioners  and  Mayor.  The 
report  shows  operating  expenses  to  be 
$174,304  and  gross  earnings  $171,338. 
Taxes  were  $7,948,  leaving  a  shortage 
of  $10,914. 


Financial 
News  Notes  | 

Suit  for  Appointment  of  Receiver  Re- 
fused.— Saul  Zielonka,  city  solicitor  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  has  refused  the  re- 
quest of  Robert  S.  Alcorn,  attorney, 
that  he  bring  suit  for  a  receiver  for 
the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  and 
for  $1,000,000  back  franchise  tax. 

Long-Term  Bends  Offered. — Edward 
B  Smith  &  Company,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  are  offering  $100,000  of  the  Phila- 
delphia &  Garrettford  Street  Railway's 
first  mortgage  5  per  cent  gold  bonds. 
The  price  is  77  and  interest  to  yield 
6.75  per  cent.    Due  date  is  Aug.  1,  1955. 

Must  Resume  Trolley  Service. — The 

Mayor  and  City  Commission  of 
Manistee,  Mich.,  have  notified  the 
Manistee  Railway  that  unless  service  is 
restored  within  thirty  days  the  fran- 
chise will  be  forfeited.  Railway  serv- 
ice in  Manistee  was  suspended  Sept.  1. 

Another  Indiana  Company  Surrenders 
Franchise. — The  Terre  Haute,  Indianap- 
olis &  Eastern  Traction  Company  has 
filed  notice  with  the  Indiana  Public 
Service  Commission  of  the  surrender 
of  all  of  its  franchises  in  Indiana.  There 
were  some  thirty  franchises  in  all  that 
will  now  be  exchanged  for  the  indeter- 
minate permit  of  the  Public  Service 
Commission. 

Claims  Ordered  to  Be  Filed.— The 
bond  of  R.  W.  Levering,  receiver  of  the 
Lafayette  (Ind.)  Service  Company,  op- 
erating the  railway  system  of  Lafa- 
yette, was  fixed  at  $5,000  following  his 
appointment  as  receiver  by  Judge  An- 
derson in  Federal  Court  recently.  Judge 
Anderson  ordered  that  all  claims 
against  the  company  must  be  filed  with- 
in ninety  days.  Mr.  Levering  was  ap- 
pointed receiver  of  the  company  on 
Oct.  18. 

Wants  Tracks  Removed. — The  San 
Jose  (Cal.)  Railroads  has  petitioned 
the  State  Railroad  Commission  for  per- 
mission to  remove  its  tracks  on  Keyes 
Street  from  Tenth  to  the  end  of  the 
line.  The  company  also  requests  the 
substitution  of  a  single  track  instead 
of  the  double  one  on  Tenth  from  Reed 
to  Keyes  Streets.  Lack  of  patronage 
and  the  financial  inability  to  meet  pay- 
ing expenses  are  advanced  as  the  rea- 
sons for  the  removal. 

Railway  Must  Pay  Taxes. — By  a  deci- 
sion of  the  State  Supreme  Court  at 
Olympia,  the  Seattle  Municipal  Rail- 
way must  pay  taxes  levied  against  it 
during  the  month  of  March,  1919,  in 
which  month  the  system  was  conveyed 
to  the  city  by  the  Puget  Sound  Power 
&  Light  Company.  Both  the  city  and 
power  company  appealed  from  the  judg- 
ment of  the  lower  court,  which  held 
the  taxes  payable,  and  which  refused 
to  adjudicate  the  amounts  payable  as 
between    the   city   and    the  company. 


The  State  Supreme  Court  affirms  the 
lower  court  and  holds  that,  in  so  far  as 
the  present  action  is  concerned,  there 
is  nothing  for  the  court  to  adjudicate. 

Many  Shares  of  Stock  Bought. — The 

Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  reports  that 
since  June  30  more  than  1,500  men  and 
women  have  bought  shares  of  the  8 
per  cent  preferred  stock  of  the  com- 
pany. These  shares  were  bought  with 
cash  or  in  monthly  payments.  The 
details  of  the  campaign  describing  the 
offering  of  this  stock  locally  were  re- 
viewed in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, issue  of  July  16. 

Bonds  Extended. — Notice  has  been 
given  to  holders  of  the  first  consoli- 
dated (new  first)  mortgage  bonds  of 
the  Minneapolis  Street  Railway,  issued 
jointly  with  the  Minneapolis,  Lyndale 
&  Minnetonka  Railway,  due  Jan.  15, 
1922,  that  these  bonds  have  been  ex- 
tended to  Jan.  15,  1925.  Interest  will 
be  7  per  cent  from  Jan.  15,  1922,  and 
it  is  said  further  that  holders  may  ex- 
tend their  bonds  bond  for  bond  with 
the  payment  to  them  of  $10  for  each 
bond  extended,  the  privilege  being  sub- 
ject to  cancellation  without  notice.  The 
cash  payment  is  to  be  made  at  the 
time  of  the  delivery  of  the  bonds  with 
the  extended  coupon. 

First  and  Refunding  Bonds  Offered. — 

A  new  issue  of  $16,000,000  of  Phila- 
delphia Company,  first  refunding  and 
collateral  trust  mortgage  6  per  cent 
gold  bonds,  series  A,  dated  Feb.  1, 
1919,  and  due  Feb.  1,  1944,  is  being  of- 
fered by  a  syndicate  composed  of  Lee, 
Higginson  &  Company,  Ladenburg, 
Thalmann  &  Company  and  Hayden 
Stone  &  Company.  The  bonds  are  of- 
fered at  $87  and  interest  yielding  about 
7.18  per  cent.  The  issue  is  secured  by 
first  mortgage  (subject  only  to  $300,- 
000  bonds)  on  gas  properties  valued 
by  independent  engineers  at  more  than 
$35,000,000  and  by  a  first  lien  on  securi- 
ties valued  at  more  than  $21,000,000. 
The  total  valuation  of  properties  and 
securities  on  which  these  bonds  are  a 
first  lien  is  more  than  $56,000,000. 

Briefs  Ordered  Filed  in  Depreciation 
Case. — No  arguments  were  presented 
by  either  side  at  the  preliminary  hear- 
ing before  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  in  the  matter  of  deprecia- 
tion charges  of  the  Washington  Rail- 
way &  Electric  Company.  The  com- 
mission was  satisfied  with  the  presenta- 
tion of  an  agreed  statement  of  facts. 
The  legal  representatives  of  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission  and  of  the  Wash- 
ington Railway  &  Electric  Company 
were  instructed  to  file  their  briefs 
within  thirty  days,  after  which  a  date 
will  be  set  for  oral  argument.  The 
railway  contends  that  it  is  an  inter- 
state carrier  and  as  such  the  Inter- 
State  Commerce  Commission  would 
have  jurisdiction  over  its  depreciation 
charges.  The  commission  contends  that 
the  railway  is  not  an  interstate  car- 
rier within  the  meaning  of  the  trans- 
portation act. 


800 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


Advance  of  Fare  Case  Urged 

Supreme  Court  to  Be  Asked  to  Advance 
Proceeding  Involving  Right  to 
Charge  Seven  Cents 

The  United  States  Court  of  Appeals 
at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  has  certified  three 
questions  to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  in  the  appeal  of  the  city  of 
Louisville  from  the  restraining  injunc- 
tion of  Judge  Walter  Evans  of  the 
United  States  District  Court  at  Louis- 
ville, preventing  the  city  of  Louisville 
from  interfering  with  the  Louisville 
Railway  in  charging  a  7-cent  fare.  In 
this  action  the  city  held  that  the  rail- 
way violated  a  contract,  calling  for  a 
5-cent  fare,  while  the  company  con- 
tended that  it  had  no  contract.  The 
Court  of  Appeals  in  June  failed  to 
reach  a  conclusion  in  the  matter  and  in 
view  of  the  number  of  questions  in- 
volved decided  to  let  the  Supreme 
Court  settle  them. 

It  is  understood  that  the  city  has 
already  arranged  to  present  a  motion 
in  the  Supreme  Court  to  advance  the 
case  to  the  spring  docket. 

The  questions  certified  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  from  the  federal  Court 
of  Appeals  were: 

1.  Did  the  act  of  1856  have  the  effect 
of  making  revocable  that  immunity  from 
rate  regulation  evidenced  by  the  5-cent 
contract  which  was  purported  by  the  char- 
ter and   by  the  contract  of  April,  1864? 

2.  Did  such  immunity  terminate  with 
the  end  of  the  original  charter  term  in 
1894? 

3.  Did  the  acceptance  by  tin-  company 
of  the  Constitution  of  1891  have  the  effect 
of  making  revocable  any  such  existing  im- 
munity? 

Regarding   the   first   question  City 

Attorney  Lawton  said: 

The  court  for  all  practical  purposes 
decides  that  the  city  and  the  company  had 
been  delegated  the  power  by  the  Legislature 
in  the  '60s  and  '70s  to  enter  into  a  rate 
contract  and  the  city  and  company  did 
enter  into  such  a  contract  for  a  5-cent  fare. 
At  that  time  there  was  in  existence  an  act 
of  the  legislature  of  1856  providing  that 
all  the  charters  and  franchises  shall  be 
subject  to  amendment  or  repeal  at  the 
will  of  the  legislature,  provided,  however, 
that  no  amendment  or  repeal  shall  impair 
vested  rights. 

Relative  to  the  second  question,  Mr. 

Lawton  said  that  the  charter  of  the 

old  company  expired  in  1894,  but  in 

1886  the  Legislature  had  extended  it 

ninety-nine  years.     This  involves  the 

question  of  whether  the  extension  also 

continued  the  rate  contract  made  with 

the  city. 

The  third  question  asks  for  inter- 
pretations of  several  sections  of  the 
Constitution,  Mr.  Lawton  explained. 

Mr.  Barnes  maintained  that  there 
was  no  contract  existing  at  the  time 
of  the  institution  of  the  suit,  and  that, 
"assuming  that  there  was  a  proposed 
contract,  it  seems  that  it  would  not  be 
binding  either  on  the  city  or  the  rail- 
way company." 

Mr.   Barnes'  views  on  the  second 

question  were: 

The  original  charter  of  the  railway  was 
for  thirty  years,  from   1864.     It  was  ex- 


tended in  1880.  Did  this  extension  secure 
to  the  railway  the  right  to  charge  a  fixed 
fare  or  did  this  immunity  from  change 
expire  in  1894  and  leave  the  right  to  the 
Legislature — by  itself  or  through  the  city 
— to  reduce  the  fare  as  might  be  equitable? 

Mr.  Barnes  said  in  regard  to  the  third 

question: 

If  the  Supreme  Court  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that  under  the  act  of  1856  (1) 
there  is  no  binding  contract  or  (2)  that 
whatever  might  have  been  the  result  of  the 
arrangement  between  the  company  and  the 
city  in  1864,  this  arrangement  expired  in 
1894,  or  (3)  that  the  arrangement  as  to 
fare  became  revocable  by  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution  in  1891  there  is  no  existing 
contract  and  the  railway  company  has  the 
right  to  insist  on  a  rate  of  fare  that  will 
not  be  confiscatory. 


One-Half  Fare  for  Children  in 
District  of  Columbia 

A  bill  has  been  introduced  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  Repre- 
sentative Dyer  of  Missouri  making  it 
mandatory  for  the  street  railways  op- 
erating in  the  District  of  Columbia  to 
charge  one-half  the  regular  rate  of  fare 
for  children  between  the  ages  of  six 
and  twelve  years.  The  bill  provides 
that  children  under  six  years  of  age 
should  be  carried  free  when  accom- 
panied by  an  adult.  The  bill  makes 
provision  for  half  fare  for  all  pupils, 
under  eighteen  years  of  age,  of  day  or 
night  institutions  of  learning. 

The  measure  provides  that  these  tick- 
ets shall  be  honored  only  at  times  when 
the  school  of  which  the  passenger  is  a 
pupil  is  in  session.  The  tickets  are  to 
be  sold  in  lots  of  ten  each,  and  are  to 
be  furnished  only  upon  presentation  of 
a  certificate  from  the  principal  of  the 
school. 

The  half-fare  provisions  in  the  bill 
carry  with  it  the  privilege  of  a  universal 
transfer.  The  measure  carries  a  penalty 
clause  which  assesses  a  forfeit  of  $25 
for  each  offense. 


New  Five-Cent  Fare  Zones 
Established 

Additional  5-cent  fare  zones  will  be 
started  on  the  lines  of  the  Boston 
(Mass.)  Elevated  Railway  on  Nov.  24. 
The  routes  scheduled  are  as  follows: 

Allston  Railroad  Bridge  Allston  to  Porter 
Square,  North  Cambridge,  via  Central 
Square,  Cambridge. 

North  Beacon  Street,  Market  Street  to 
Allston  railroad  bridge 

Western  Avenue,  Watertown  Arsenal  and 
Central  Square,  Cambridge. 

Market  Street,  Washington  Street  to 
Western  Avenue. 

Cottage  Farm,  Brookline  Street,  Central 
Square. 

Pearl  Street  and  Putnam  Avenue  to 
Central  Square. 

Harvard  Square,  Kendall  Square  line 
Via  Broadway. 

Spring  Hill,  Kendall  Square  line. 

Porter  Square,  Kendall  Square  via  Broad- 
way. 

Sullivan  Square,  Central  Square,  Cam- 
bridge. 

Harvard  Square,  Dudley  Street  line  be- 
tween Harvard  Square  and  Charles  River 
road.  Cambridge. 

Jeffries  Point  line  between  Harvard 
Square  or  Central  Square  and  Charles  River 
ropd  Cambridge 

Beacon  Street  between  reservoir  and  the 
Boston-Brookline  line. 


Relief  Sought  in  Jacksonville 

Railway  There  Merely  Meeting  Ex- 
penses on  a  Seven-Cent  Fare — 
Company's  Cards  on  Table 

Relief  from  city  assessments  for  pav- 
ing and  sewers,  a  higher  fare  or  some 
relief  for  the  company  is  the  plea  of 
the  Jacksonville  (Fla.)  Traction  Com- 
pany, a  Stone  &  Webster  property, 
made  before  the  City  Council  by  Peter 
Q.  Knight,  Tampa,  general  counsel  in 
Florida  for  Stone  &  Webster.  It  re- 
sulted in  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee to  meet  with  Receiver  E.  J. 
Triay  to  see  if  some  agreeable  and 
equitable  solution  cannot  be  reached. 

Mr.  Knight  argued  that  the  present 
fare,  7  cents,  granted  by  the  Railroad 
Commission  of  the  State  last  year,  has 
enabled  the  line  to  pay  operating  ex- 
penses only  and  that  not  a  cent  has 
been  laid  away  to  meet  indebtedness 
of  $1,000,000  hanging  over  the  sys'em 
when  receivership  was  instituted. 

There  will  be  a  city  levy  of  $100,000 
on  the  paving  of  Main  Street,  he  told 
the  Council,  and  he  stated  that  the 
company  could  not  meet  it.  It  cannot 
borrow  further,  he  said,  because  it  is 
not  paying  its  present  indebtedness. 

This  system  is  paying  a  levy  of  3 
per  cent  of  its  gross  revenues  to  the 
city  under  its  franchise — a  sort  of 
franchise  tax— and  it  is  possible  that 
some  relief  in  this  connection  may  be 
the  avenue  taken  to  solve  the  problem. 

In  discussing  the  matter  later,  Mr. 
Knight  said  to  the  representative  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal: 

We  considered  it  the  best  plan  to  lay 
all  our  cards  on  the  table.  So  we  have 
done  so.  This  is  a  matter  which  concerns 
all  of  the  people  of  Jacksonville.  Their 
representatives  on  the  City  Council  will 
confer  with  the  receiver  for  the  traction 
company  and  they  will  find  out  just  what 
the  situation  is.  We  would  be  glad  in- 
deed to  be  able  to  earn  our  way  with  a 
7-cent  fare,  or  a  lesser  fare,  if  it  were 
possible. 

The  fact  is,  the  street  railway  business 
throughout  the  country  is  in  a  bad  way 
and  has  been  for  years.  Everything  that 
enters  in  their  operation  has  increased  in 
price  in  recent  years,  and  there  are  very- 
few  places  where  the  people  enjoy,  as  in 
Tampa,  a  5-cent  fare. 

In  Pensacola  the  traction  company  is 
in  a  receivership  and  the  fare  there  is  8 
cents.  In  Miami  the  railway  threw  up  the 
sponge  about  a  year  ago  and  has  not 
operated  a  car  since,  and  the  city  is  now 
considering  purchasing  the  property  and 
operating  it  as  St.  Petersburg  did  with 
its  traction  line  about  two  years  ago  At 
St.  Augustine  the  owners  of  the  railway 
recently  offered  virtually  to  give  the  city- 
its  property,  if  it  would  undertake  to  make 
the  betterments  which  the  city  government 
there  is  insisting  shall  be  made  by  the 
traction  company. 


"Two  Bells"  Will  Contain 
Bulletins 

Two  Bells,  the  official  publication  of 
the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway,  will 
hereafter  print  bulletins  which  have 
heretofore  been  posted  in  division  bul- 
letin books.  This  change  will  enable 
the  trainmen  to  read  the  notices  at 
their  leisure  and  therefore  avoid  the 
unnecessary  crowding  around  the  bul- 
letin book.  The  bulletins  will  be  ef- 
fective on  the  day  Two  Bells  is  is- 
sued unless  otherwise  mentioned.  Divi- 
sion superintendents  keep  a  complete 
file  of  this  booklet. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


801. 


Permits  for  Jitney  Operation 
Granted  in  Tacoma 

The  city  of  Tacoma  has  undertaken 
the  regulation  of  jitneys  operating  on 
its  streets,  the  applications  for  permits 
having  shown  a  marked  increase  since 
their  ousting  from  Seattle  streets.  The 
Council  has  granted  a  number  of  per- 
mits for  jitneys,  after  they  were  recom- 
mended by  Commissioner  Fred  Shoe- 
maker, who  passes  upon  all  applica- 
tions. The  jitney  routes  avoid  follow- 
ing street  car  lines  as  nearly  as  possi- 
ble. Where  the  electric  railway  has 
not  provided  service,  the  city  has  given 
the  jitneys  full  power  to  operate.  Open 
hostilities  between  the  platform  men 
of  the  Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany and  jitney  drivers  broke  out  fol- 
lowing the  granting  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil of  a  number  of  petitions  to  operate 
jitneys.   

Bus  Company  Will  Seek  City 
Authorization 

As  a  result  of  the  recent  ruling  of 
the  Attorney  General  that  the  Ultimate 
Bus  Company,  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  comes 
under  city  and  not  state  supervision 
the  company  will  apply  for  a  city  per- 
mit. Counsel  Beneke  for  the  bus  com- 
pany recently  made  this  statement. 
Since  the  ruling  there  has  been  no 
further  development  in  the  long  strug- 
gle between  the  bus  company  and  the 
Wheeling  Traction  Company,  and  the 
buses  have  been  running  unmolested. 

The  State  Railroad  Commission  had 
previously  refused  a  permit  to  the  line 
and  had  ordered  it  to  cease  operation. 
Following  the  order  the  ruling  came 
that  the  city  had  jurisdiction  in  the 
case.  The  various  moves  in  the  case 
were  reviewed  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal,  issue  of  Oct.  8. 


Seattle's  Mayor  for  Private  Buses 

An  ordinance  providing  for  the  pur- 
chase of  motor  buses  for  operation  by 
the  city  of  Seattle  into  the  suburban, 
districts,  such  as  Cowen  Park  and  South 
Beacon  Hill,  at  a  cost  of  $50,000  has 
been  vetoed  by  Mayor  Hugh  M.  Cald- 
well. The  Mayor  states  that  he  can  see 
no  necessity  for  the  city  to  invest  such 
a  sum  in  motor  buses,  when  private  in- 
terests stand  ready  with  buses  to  con- 
tinue the  service  that  they  have  been 
giving  for  years. 

Mayor  Caldwell  said: 

I  have  never  favored  the  entire  abolish- 
ing of  jitney  buses.  I  have  advocated  and 
still  believe  in  regulated  bus  service. 
Putting  the  traveling  public  both  ahead  of 
the  bondholders  represented  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  the  municipal  railway,  and  ahead 
of  persons  who  have  operated  jitneys 
without  restriction,  I  feel  that  rapid  trans- 
portation, properly  regulated,  should  not 
be  abolished  until  we  have  something  to 
offer  in  place  of  it.  .  .  .  Personally,  I 
favor  the  issuance  of  permits  for  through 
buses  furnishing  rapid  transportation  to 
those  sections  of  the  city  not  supplied  by 
the  car  lines,  and  I  will  not  while  in  office 
voluntarily  agree  to  stifle  the  growth  of 
the  city  by  exterminating  all  other  rorms 
of  transportation  than  that  which  can  be 
accommodated  upon  the  surface  street  rail- 
ways, which  are  fast  becoming  antiquated 
and  obsolete  as  a  modern  form  of  trans- 
portation. 

Mayor  Caldwell,  however,  approved  a 
bill  providing  for  exchange  of  transfers 


between  city  street  cars  and  privately 
owned  for-hire  cars,  acting  as  feeders 
to  the  municipal  railway.  He  stated 
that  he  signed  the  bill  because  it  was  in 
the  nature  of  an  experiment  by  the 
Council  to  endeavor  to  afford  relief  to 
certain  sections  of  the  city  that  have 
been  deprived  of  transportation,  and 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  stand  in  the  way 
of  such  experiment,  although  doubting 
its  success. 

The  Mayor  expresses  the  opinion  that 
more  money  would  come  to  the  city  by 
accepting  the  offer  of  the  jitney  men  to 
pay  $20  a  month  for  every  private  jit- 
ney operated  on  the  Cowen  Park  line 
than  could  be  made  on  municipal  buses. 


Free  Buses  in  Muncie 

Thrifty  suburban  dwellers  at  Muncie, 
Ind.,  are  riding  to  and  from  the  busi- 
ness district  without  cost  in  jitneys  that 
formerly  charged  them  5  cents.  As  a 
result  of  the  war  between  the  jitney 
owners  and  the  Indiana  Union  Traction 
Company,  the  latter  backed  by  an  or- 
dinance passed  recently  by  the  Council, 
all  jitneys  now  carry  the  sign  "Free." 

While  the  buses  pursue  their  accus- 
tomed routes  over  streets  used  by  the 
street  cars,  the  policemen,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  keeping  buses  off  these 
streets,  appear  rather  perplexed.  Ap- 
parently, if  the  jitney  drivers  do  not 
charge  for  the  use  of  their  machines 
they  are  not  violating  the  city  ordi- 
nance, which  says  that  these  buses  shall 
not  be  operated  for  hire  in  streets  which 
have  car  service. 

The  truth  is,  of  course,  that  the  driv- 
ers are  receiving  money,  for  they  ac- 
cept contributions  offered  by  those  who 
ride  in  their  cars.  The  law,  apparently, 
does  not  cover  this,  and  it  also  is  ru- 
mored that  one  who  fails  to  make  a  con- 
tribution is  not  "seen"  by  some  of  the 
drivers  the  next  time  one  waits  to  be 
picked  up. 


Bus  Regulatory  Ordinance 
Passed 

The  Council  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  has 
passed  the  bus  regulatory  ordinance 
which  has  been  pending  for  some  time. 
The  measure  contains  among  other  pro- 
visions the  following: 

Bus  companies  must  ask  Council  for  fran- 
chises. 

Bus  companies  must  pay  the  city  an  an- 
nual license  fee  of  1  cent  per  mile  for  each 
bus  operated,  payment  to  be  in  advance. 

Companies  must  deposit  with  city  a  surety 
bond  of  $25,000  or  shall  carry  liability 
insurance  of  $5,000  for  a  single  accident, 
$25,000  for  an  accident  injuring  one  or 
more  persons  and  $5,000  for  an  accident 
damaging  property. 

Council  reserves  the  right  to  map  out  bus 
routes  and  regulate  fares. 

Buses  cannot  operate  on  streets  where 
there  are  street  cars  except  where  desig- 
nated by  Council. 

No  bus  to  be  more  than  86  in.  wide. 

Buses  must  have  suitable  signal  lights 
at  night,  be  properly  lighted  at  all  times 
and  heated  when  the  temperature  falls  be- 
low 35. 


Bus  Company  Wants  Permit. — The 
Rochester  Interurban  Bus  Line  Com- 
pany has  applied  to  the  Common  Coun- 
cil for  permission  to  operate  buses  to 
Perry,  Conesus  Lake,  Livonia  and  Le 
Roy. 


Another  Bus  Route  Urged  on 
Connecticut  Company 

Nathaniel  J.  Scott,  manager  Con- 
necticut Company's  Hartford  lines,  con- 
ferred recently  with  George  A.  Ray  and 
others  representing  the  municipal  gov- 
ernment, regarding  the  installation  and 
routing  of  another  bus  line  at  Hart- 
ford. The  proposed  route  is  on  Maple 
Avenue.  It  is  generally  understood 
that  a  favorable  report  will  be  made  on 
the  project  to  the  Common  Council. 
The  action  to  be  taken  regarding  the 
bus  line  on  Maple  Avenue  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  introduction  in  the  court  of 
Common  Council  by  Alderman  Ray  of 
a  resolution  requesting  the  Connecti- 
cut Company  to  establish  such  a  line 
before  Jan.  1,  1922.  The  resolution 
was  referred  to  the  Common  Council 
railway  committee,  and  it  is  declared 
is  favored  by  all  of  the  members. 


Will  Consider  Stage  Line 

A  hearing  will  be  held  bv  the  State 
Department  of  Public  Works  on  the 
application  for  a  certificate  of  necessi- 
ty to  operate  a  stage  line  between 
Seattle  and  Portland.  The  company, 
whose  name  has  not  been  made  public, 
plans  to  operate  in  competition  with 
the  railroads,  and  will  pick  up  passen- 
gers at  intermediate  points.  The  trip 
by  railroad  at  present  requires  about 
seven  hours. 


Interurban  Hard  Hit  by  Autos 

Asserting  that  the  inroads  made  by 
the  bus  lines  operating  between  South 
Bend  and  Elkhart,  via  Mishawaka, 
and  between  South  Bend  and  Niles, 
Mich.,  are  such  that  the  Chicago, 
South  Bend  &  Northern  Railway  must 
increase  fares  or  go  bankrupt,  Ralph 
Smith,  general  manager,  appeared  be- 
fore the  City  Council  recently  with  a 
plea  for  aid.  The  buses  operate  in 
South  Bend  on  a  schedule  three  min- 
utes ahead  of  the  interurban  cars,  and 
pick  up  passengers  waiting  for  the 
electric  trains.  The  Council  has  taken 
the  matter  under  consideration.  It  is 
believed  that  the  Council  will  pass  an 
ordinance  permitting  the  buses  to  enter 
the  city  for  a  stated  license  fee  on 
streets  which  are  not  used  by  the  rail- 
way. 

Bus  Service  Extended 

The  Ritter  Motor  Bus  Line  is  now 
operating  routes  between  Bloomington 
and  the  following  outlying  towns:  At- 
lanta, Farmer  City,  Colfax  and  El  Paso. 
Two  round  trips  are  being  made  now 
daily  between  Bloomington  and  Atlanta. 
The  Farmer  City  Line  is  an  extension 
of  the  Leroy  line.  When  the  bus  oper- 
ated as  far  as  Leroy  three  round  trips 
were  made  daily,  but  with  the  Farmer 
City  extension  of  10  miles  two  round 
trips  daily  are  being  made.  The  line 
between  Bloomington  and  Colfax  has 
been  especially  profitable.  So  far  none 
of  the  lines  has  competed  with  the  lines 
of  the  Illinois  Traction  System,  which 
extends  west  and  south  from  Bloom- 
ington. 


802 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  IS 


Rehearing  Granted  on  Interurban 
Line  Fare  in  City 

The  Public  Service  Commission  has 
ordered  a  rehearing  on  its  recent  deci- 
sion granting  the  Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie 
Traction  Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  a 
10-cent  fare  without  transfers  within 
the  city.  No  date  has  been  set  for 
the  new  hearing.  The  decision  is 
regarded  by  the  municipal  authorities 
of  Buffalo  as  the  first  step  in  the  fight 
to  upset  the  ruling  of  the  commission, 
involving  recent  legislation  giving  the 
utilities  board  power  to  overthrow 
existing  franchises  between  public 
service  corporations  and  municipalities. 

In  its  order  the  commission  says  it 
finds  the  city  has  just  grounds  for  its 
application  for  a  rehearing.  Following 
the  ruling  of  the  commission  giving 
a  10-cent  fare  without  interchange  of 
transfers  with  the  International  Rail- 
way, Buffalo,  the  Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie 
Traction  Company  renewed  its  service 
within  the  city  from  the  terminal  at 
Lafayette  Square  and  the  Lackawanna 
city  line.  This  service  had  been  dis- 
continued for  some  time. 


Get  Acquainted  Movement 
in  Springfield 

The  Springfield  (111.)  Consolidated 
Railway  officials  have  advanced  a  little 
on  the  Aristotelian  theory  of  "Know 
Thyself."  Their  philosophy  is  "Know 
Your  Conductor  and  Motorman."  Pas- 
sengers will  not  have  to  study  and 
analyze  their  moods,  manners,  etc.,  just 
to  learn  their  names  will  do  so  that  a 
courteous  relationship  will  be  estab- 
lished between  the  patrons  of  the  line 
and  the  men  who  are  responsible  for  the 
operation  of  the  car.  The  company  will 
placard  the  men's  names  and  Spring- 
field riders  will  soon  be  saying  "Good 
morning,  Jim"  in  answer  to  a  conduc- 
tor's cheery  greeting. 


Complaint  Made  Against 
Seven-Cent  Fare 

Once  again  the  municipal  authorities 
of  Buffalo  have  opened  a  fight  against 
the  International  Railway,  operating  the 
city  traction  lines.  Upon  recommen- 
dation of  Frank  C.  Perkins,  the  Social- 
ist member  of  the  board,  the  City 
Council  has  passed  a  resolution  di- 
recting William  S.  Rann,  the  corpora- 
tion counsel,  to  draft  a  complaint  to 
the  Public  Service  Commission  against 
the  7-cent  fare.  Commissioner  Perkin:- 
advised  the  Council  he  was  unable  to 
obtain  from  the  company  or  the  com- 
mission a  statement  showing  the  in- 
crease in  revenue  obtained  by  the 
International  thr-ough  the  boost  in  fare 
and  the  cut  in  wages  of  the  company's 
employees.  Restoration  of  the  5-cent 
fare  with  free  transfers  is  sought  by 
the  city. 

Complaint  also  will  be  filed  by 
the  city  against  what  Commissioner 
Perkins  calls  "wretched  service"  now 
being  given  by  the  company.  It  is  de- 
clared that  railway  service  has  been 
reduced  20  per  cent  by  the  company, 


and  that  more  than  125  regular  runs 
have  been  abolished  and  many  of  the 
extra  trips  during  the  rush  hours  have 
been  curtailed. 

Commissioner  Perkins  contends  that 
about  150  cars  lie  idle  in  the  six  car- 
houses  during  the  top  peak  of  traffic 
and  there  are  260  fewer  platform  men 
employed  than  a  year  ago.  It  also  is 
contended  by  the  city  that  the  instal- 
lation of  one-man  safety  cars  on  the 
Connecticut  Street  line  results  in  a 
considerable  saving  to  the  company. 


Ruling  on  Increased  Rates 
Indefinitely  Postponed 

The  North  Carolina  Corporation  Com- 
mission instead  of  authorizing  or  re- 
fusing the  increased  rates  of  far-e 
sought  by  the  Carolina  Power  &  Light 
Company,  operating  in  Raleigh,  and  the 
Durham  Public  Service  Company  has 
indefinitely  postponed  the  issuance  of 
the  order.  The  matter  has  been  pend- 
ing several  months. 

In  Raleigh  the  fare  is  7  cents  and 
the  company  was  seeking  a  1-cent  in- 
crease. In  Durham  the  fare  charged  is 
7  cents,  but  the  petition  called  for  a 
10-cent  rate. 

There  will  be  no  change  in  the  pres- 
ent schedule  in  these  cities  and  no  date 
has  been  set  for  the  hearing  on  these 
petitions. 

Pleasing  the  Public  Spells 

Success 

The  Charlottesville  &  Albemarle 
Railway,  Charlottesville,  W.  Va.,  is  at 
it  again.  This  property,  under  the  di- 
rection of  John  L.  Livers,  is  constantly 
up  and  doing,  putting  its  business 
(transportation)  before  the  public  and 
actually  selling  it.  The  latest  stunt  is 
extending  the  hospitality  of  the  line  on 
certain  days  to  the  favored  ones  whom 
the  company  wishes  to  have  as  its 
guests. 

Recently  there  was  a  state  reunion 
of  Confederate  Veterans  in  Charlottes- 
ville and  for  the  three  days  of  the  re- 
union the  railway  carried  all  the  veter- 
ans free  of  charge.  The  invitation  to 
ride  on  the  lines  of  the  Charlottesville 
&  Albemarle  Railway  was  extended 
through  the  daily  newspapers  which 
assured  the  men  that  their  badge  or 
uniforms  would  identify  them.  A  large 
sign  was  carried  on  the  front  end  of 
the  cars  which  read  "Welcome  Veterans, 
Ride  With  Me." 


Lending  a  Helping  Hand 

With  school  funds  depleted  and  pupils 
facing  the  necessity  of  paying  tuition 
in  Dade  County  (Fla.),  Manager  Ellis 
of  the  Miami  Beach  Electric  Company 
has  addressed  an  offer  to  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  agreeing  to  carry  school 
children  free  in  Miami  Beach  provided 
the  action  would  not  interfere  with  the 
rules  of  the  State  Railroad  Commission 
and  the  state  laws  governing  utilities, 
which  are  very  strict  regarding  "passes" 
and  free  transportation.  The  railway 
has  been  commended  for  its  action. 


1  ransportation  | 
News  Notes 

Barnes'    Article    Reprinted. — In  the 

Oct.  15  issue  of  Trolley  Topics  the 
official  publication  of  the  Louisville 
(Ky.)  Railway,  extracts  are  reprinted 
from  J.  P.  Barnes'  article  contributed 
to  the  Sept.  24  issue  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal.  The  article,  "Re- 
lationship Between  Management  and 
Men  —  A  Traffic  Factor,"'  has  been 
a  subject  for  comment  in  the  papers 
in  Louisville. 

Applies    for    Rehearing. — The  New 

York  State  Railways  has  applied  to  the 
Public  Service  Commission  for  a  rehear- 
ing on  its  application  for  an  8-cent  fare 
in  Utica.  The  new  application  was 
made  through  Kernan  &  Kernan  of 
Utica,  counsel  for  the  company.  The 
story  of  the  rejection  of  the  former  ap- 
plication for  a  10-cent  rate  and  the 
finding  of  the  commission  were  re- 
viewed at  length  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal,  issue  of  Sept.  24. 

Cut  in  Fare  Acceptable. — As  the  re- 
sult of  a  petition  before  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission  in  which  protest 
is  made  by  the  towns  of  Leicester  and 
Auburn  against  the  high  rate  of  fare 
from  the  Worcester  city  line,  the  Wor- 
cester (Mass.)  Consolidated  Street 
Railway  has  made  a  cut  of  4  cents. 
The  adjustment  now  provides  for  a 
10-cent  rate  from  the  city  line  to  these 
towns.  The  Selectmen  through  their 
attorneys  have  accepted  the  proposal. 

Buses  Active  in  Ohio. — Since  the 
Ohio  Legislature  last  year  passed  a 
law  placing  motor  buses  under  the 
same  regulation  as  public  utilities,  bus 
lines  are  being  started  in  nearly  every 
section  of  the  state.  The  books  of  the 
State  Public  Utilities  Commission  re- 
cord that  ninety  lines  have  been  regis- 
tered and  twenty  more  applications  have 
been  returned  for  technical  corrections. 
It  is  estimated  that  this  number  is  not 
more  than  half  of  the  actual  number 
of  bus  lines  that  are  operating  in  the 
state. 

Hearing  Date  Set. — Final  date  for  the 
hearing  of  the  city  of  St.  Paul  against 
the  St.  Paul  (Minn.)  City  Railway  on 
an  order  to  show  cause  why  it  should 
not  be  restrained  from  putting  in  force 
the  increase  in  fare  from  6  cents  to  7 
cents  has  been  set  by  Judge  H.  R.  Brill 
of  the  Ramsey  district  court  for  Nov. 
15.  The  city  will  not  be  ready  before 
that  date.  A  temporary  restraining 
order  was  effective  on  Sept.  5  against 
putting  in  the  7-cent  fare  and  four 
tickets  for  25  cents  as  granted  by  the 
Minnesota  Railroad  &  Warehouse  Com- 
mission. The  hearing  on  the  Minne- 
apolis Street  Railway's  emergency  fare 
of  7  cents  or  four  rides  for  25  cents  will 
probably  not  come  up  until  the  commis- 
sion determines  the  permanent  rate. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


803 


Legal  Notes 


Alabama — Relative  Rights  on  Street 
of  Railway  and  House  Mover. 
Use  of  a  public  street  to  move  a 
building,  requiring-  consent  of  the 
proper  municipal  authorities,  also  re- 
quires exercise  of  reasonable  care  so 
as  not  to  interfere  unreasonably  with 
the  public  right,  and  such  right  so  to 
use  the  street  is  subordinate  to  other 
lawful  uses,  as  by  a  street  railway, 
which  is  not  under  duty  to  remove  ob- 
structing posts  or  po'es  on  demand  of 
the  mover  of  the  building.  Such  poles, 
when  erected  under  proper  authority, 
are  not  per  se  nuisances.  If  a  house 
mover  is  prevented  from  a  reasonable 
use  of  the  street  by  a  railway  he  is  en- 
titled to  recover  the  reasonable  differ- 
ence in  the  cost  of  removing  the  house 
in  the  manner  in  which  he  did  have  to 
remove  it  over  what  it  would  have  cost 
to  remove  it  but  for  the  obstructions 
caused  by  the  defendant.  He  cannot 
sit  idle  when  he  encounters  an  obstruc- 
tion and  recover  for  this  lost  time. 
[Birmingham  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Co.  vs.  Ashworth  (two  cases),  86 
Southern  Rep.,  82,  84.] 

California — Railway  Held  Liable  for 
Assault  and  Arrest  by  Guards  Em- 
ployed During  Strike. 
Where  a  street  railway,  during  a 
strike,  employed  guards,  acting  under 
instructions  from  the  president,  at 
points  where  attacks  had  been  made 
upon  the  railway's  employees  and  cars, 
the  railway  was  liable  for  the  acts  of 
such  guards  who  assaulted  and  arrested 
a  pedestrian  in  the  mistaken  belief 
that  he  was  one  of  the  strikers  and 
had  participated  in  the  attacks,  such 
assault  and  arrest  being  within  the 
scope  of  their  authority,  regardless  of 
the  mistake  that  was  made.  [195  Pacific 
Rep.,  958.] 

Federal    Court — Conditions  Defined 
Where  Franchise  Has  Expired. 

Where  the  franchise  of  a  street- 
railway  company  has  expired,  the  city 
may  require  the  company  within  a  rea- 
sonable time  to  remove  its  tracks  and 
other  property  from  the  streets  with- 
out depriving  the  street  railway  of  its 
property  without  due  process  of  law. 
Day  to  day  arrangements  by  which  the 
continued  operation  of  the  railway  is 
permitted  do  not  give  the  company 
rights  in  the  streets  after  the  expira- 
tion of  its  franchise,  though  they  do 
entitle  the  company  to  reasonable  com- 
pensation while  it  is  operating  under 
the  ordinance.  The  motive  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  city  and  the  electors  in 
adopting  an  ordinance  to  construct  a 
municipal  railway  are  not  the  proper 
subjects  of  judicial  inquiry,  so  long  as 
the  submission  of  the  question  to  the 
people  conforms  to  the  requirements  of 
the  law.  [Detroit  United  Railway  vs. 
City  of  Detroit,  41  Supreme  Court  Rep., 
285.] 


Illinois — Company  Liable  for  Injuries 
Reasonably  to  Have  Been  Antic- 
ipated from  Overcrowding  of  Its 
Cars. 

Though  it  is  not  negligence  as  a  mat- 
ter of  law  for  a  street  railway  company 
to  permit  its  cars  to  be  overcrowded,  it 
is  bound  to  know  the  danger  to  pas- 
sengers resulting  from  such  crowding, 
and  if  it  accepts  too  many  passengers 
or  runs  cars  so  infrequently  as  to  cause 
too  many  to  seek  to  ride  on  each  car,  it 
is  responsible  for  injuries  which  reason- 
ably ought  to  have  been  anticipated. 
[Walsh  vs.  Chicago  Rys.  Co.,  128 
Northeastern  Rep.,  647.] 

Iowa — Settlement  of  Claim  for  Per- 
sonal Injury  Not  Subject  to  Attack. 
Where  a  person,  who  had  sustained 
a  fracture  of  the  leg  on  an  electric  car 
and  had  been  assured  by  his  physician 
that  the  bone  had  properly  healed,  ac- 
cepted a  lump  settlement  offered  by 
the  company,  and  there  was  nothing  to 
show  that  the  company  was  guilty  of 
any  fraud  or  bad  faith,  the  injured  per- 
son, when  he  finds  the  physician's  diag- 
nosis incorrect,  cannot  have  the  settle- 
ment set  aside,  since  the  purpose  of 
such  settlement  is  to  avoid  litigation. 
[Pahl  vs.  Tri-City  Railway,  181  North- 
western Rep.,  670.] 

Missouri — Husband's  Negligence  in 
Driving  Not  Imputable  to  Wife. 

Where  a  man  and  his  wife  went  in 
an  automobile  to  a  depot  to  get  their 
daughter,  they  were  not  engaged  in 
a  joint  enterprise,  and  the  husband's 
negligence  in  driving  the  car,  if  any, 
was  not  imputable  to  the  wife  so  as  to 
prevent  recovery  for  negligence  of 
operators  of  an  interurban  car  at  a 
street  intersection.  [Corn  vs.  Kansas 
City,  C.  C.j  &  St.  J.  Ry.,  228  North- 
western Rep.,  78.] 

New  Jersey — Negligence  Will  Not  Be 
Presumed. 
The  body  of  a  man  with  one  arm  and 
leg  cut  off  was  discovered  about  mid- 
night on  the  tracks  of  a  railway  com- 
pany. There  was  no  eye  witnesses  to 
the  accident.  The  court  declared  that 
negligence  is  a  fact  which  must  be 
proved  and  could  not  be  presumed,  so  no 
damages  were  awarded.  [McCombe  vs. 
Public  Service  Railway,  112  Atlantic 
Rep.,  255.] 

New   York — Passenger  May   Be  Ar- 
rested for  Taking  from  a  Railway 
Car  a  Package  Left  by  Another 
Passenger. 
Where  a  passenger  took  with  him 
from  the  car  in  which  he  was  riding 
a  package  forgotten  by  another  passen- 
ger and  refused  on  demand  to  surrender 
it   to   the   company's  representatives, 
there  was  legal  ground  for  his  arrest 
and  prosecution  for  petit  larceny.  A 
railway  company  is  obligated  to  use 
reasonable    and    ordinary    care  and 
watchfulness    to    protect  passenger's 
possession    of    his    property    while  a 
passenger  on  its  cars  as  against  other 
passengers   or    persons.      [Foulke  vs. 
N.  Y.  Consolidated  Ry.  Co.,  127  North- 
eastern Rep.,  237.] 


Pennsylvania — Slight  Service  Paid 
for  by  Pass  Does  Not  Make  Man 
an  Employee. 
The  employee  of  a  power  company, 
who  in  consideration  of  the  receipt  of 
an  employee's  pass  from  a  railway 
company  agreed  to  read  a  meter  in  the 
station  of  the  power  company  and  hand 
a  record  of  this  reading  to  a  conductor, 
was  not  an  employee  of  the  railway 
under  the  meaning  of  the  Working- 
men's  Compensation  Act.  Hence  his 
remedy  for  damages  for  injury  received 
while  riding  on  the  cars  was  that  of 
any  other  passenger.  [Strohl  vs. 
Eastern  Pennsylvania  Railways,  113 
Atlantic  Rep.,  62.] 

Rhode  Island— Last  Clear  Chance  Doc- 
trine Held  Inapplicable  in  Auto- 
mobile Collision. 
The  doctrine  of  last  clear  chance  was 
held  without  application  in  an  action 
by  the  driver  of  an  automobile  struck 
by  a  street  car  when  he  crossed  the 
tracks  on  a  turn  ahead  of  him.  The 
motorman's  duty  to  try  to   stop  the 
car  was  considered  not  to  arise  until 
the  plaintiff  driver's  peril  was  apparent. 
[King-  vs.  R.  I.  Co.,  110  Atlantic  Rep., 
623.] 

Utah — Reserved  Power  of  State  to  Fir 
Fare   Can  Be  Exercised  Despite 
City  Ordinance. 
As  power  to  fix  street  railway  fares 
has  been  retained  to  the  state  by  the 
public  utilities  act,  such  power  can  be 
exercised  by  it  whenever  the  necessity 
requires,  despite  an  ordinance  of  a  city 
granting  the  railway  the  right  to  oper- 
ate over  a  street.    Such  action  does  not 
impair  the  obligation  of  the  contract. 
[Murray  City  vs.  Utah  Light  &  Trac- 
tion Co.,  191  Pacific  Rep.,  421.] 

Virginia — Carriers  Are  Not  Required 
to  Coerce  Passengers  Into  the  Ex- 
ercise of  Ordinary  Care. 
A  carrier  must  exercise  the  highest 
degree  of  care  for  the  protection  and 
safety  of  its  passengers  but  is  not  re- 
quired to  coerce  passengers  who  are 
adults    and    mentally   competent  into 
exercising  ordinary  care  for  their  own 
safety,  as  by  not  alighting  from  the  bag- 
gage door  of  a  combination  passenger 
and  baggage  car.    [Davidson  vs.  Wash- 
ington &  0.  D.   Railway,  105  South- 
eastern Rep.,  669.] 

Washington— Possibility   of  Automo- 
bile Motor  Stalling  Should  Have 
Been   Foreseen    by   Motorman  of 
Electric  Car. 
An  automobile  driver,  who  started 
to  cross  the  track  when  the  electric  car 
was  100  ft.  distant,  and  who  would  have 
had  ample  time  to  make  the  crossing 
if  his  automobile  had  not  unexpectedly 
skidded,  causing  him  to  stall  the  engine 
while  the  machine  was  on  the  track,  was 
held  not  to  be  negligent  as  matter  of 
law.    The  motorman  should  have  kept 
his  car  under  such  control  as  to  have 
stopped  it  in  the  event  of  such  an  occur- 
rence as  stalling  of  motor  of  the  auto- 
mobile.    [Brennan  vs.  Tacoma  Ry.  & 
Power  Co.,  191  Pacific  Rep.,  813.] 


804 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  J  8 


Mr.  Hasbrouck  of  New  York 
Service  Commission  Joins 
Accounting  Firm 

H.  C.  Hasbrouck,  for  many  years 
with  the  Public  Service  Commission  of 
New  York  as  head  of  the  accounting 
and  statistical  department,  has  re- 
signed, effective  Oct.  31,  to  become  as- 
sociated with  H.  C.  Hopson,  New  York, 
consultant  in  utility  rate  and  account- 
ing matters.  Mr.  Hasbrouck  is  a 
native  of  Troy,  N.  Y.  He  received 
his  early  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  that  city.  After  his  graduation 
from  Cornell  University,  where  he 
specialized  in  economics,  history  and 
political  and  social  science,  he  served 
for  a  time  as  assistant  to  the  Cornell 
University  registrar.  In  July,  1908, 
he  left  that  position  for  an  appoint- 
ment as  junior  statistician  with  the 
then  only  recently  organized  Public 
Service  Commission  for  the  Second 
District,  and  has  been  with  that  body 
in  various  capacities  ever  since. 

In  1913  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
commission's  division  of  statistics  and 
accounts  and  continued  to  perform  the 
duties  of  that  position  until  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  Public  Service  Com- 
missions in  July  of  the  current  year. 
When  the  two  commissions  were  con- 
solidated, Mr.  Hasbrouck  became  de- 
puty chief  accountant  of  the  commis- 
sion, in  immediate  charge  of  the  ac- 
counting and  statistical  work  of  the 
Albany  office,  through  which  most  mat- 
ters relating  to  finances  and  accounts 
of  the  up-state  companies  have  been 
handled.  Since  July  1  he  has,  there- 
fore, had  supervision  over  most  of  the 
work  previously  done  by  the  division 
of  capitalization  and  the  division  of 
statistics  and  accounts  of  the  up-state 
commission. 

Mr.  Hasbrouck  is  known  to  public 
utility  interests  outside  of  New  York 
State  by  reason  of  his  membership  for 
several  years  on  the  committee  of 
statistics  and  accounts  of  public  utili- 
ties of  the  National  Association  of 
Railway  and  Utilities  Commissioners. 
He  was  chairman  of  the  special  com- 
mittee of  three  which  prepared  the 
original  draft  of  the  uniform  systems 
of  accounts  for  electrical  and  gas  com- 
panies which  the  1920  committee  pre- 
sented to  the  National  Association  at 
its  annual  convention  last  year  with 
the  recommendation  that  they  be  made 
the  basis  for  uniform  accounting  re- 
quirements in  all  states. 


Edward  Kelleher  has  been  appointed 
by  Governor  Edwards  to  the  position  of 
assistant  secretary  of  the  New  Jersey 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners. 
The  office  is  a  new  one.  Mr.  Kelleher 
will  look  after  the  operation  of  jitneys 
throughout  the  state  and  will  have  an 
office  in  Newark.     Regulation  of  jit- 


neys came  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  commission  by  a  law  pressed  sev- 
eral months  ago.  Mr.  Kelleher  was 
formerly  connected  with  the  federal 
revenue  office  in  Camden. 


Mr.  Jackson  Elected 

Chairman   of   Wisconsin   Body  Will 
Direct  Activities  of  Utility 
Commissioners 

Carl  D.  Jackson  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Association  of 
Railway  and  Utility  Commissioners  at 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  Oct.  12.  James  A.  Perry 
of  the  Georgia  Railroad  Commission 
is  the  retiring  president. 

Although  the  Railroad  Commission 
of  Wisconsin  is  not  so  old  as  some  of 


Carl  D.  Jackson 


the  other  commissions,  having  been  or- 
ganized in  1905,  it  has  done  much 
original  work  under  the  chairmanship 
of  Mr.  Jackson  and  Halford  Erickson, 
whom  he  succeeded.  This  work  has 
been  widely  studied  and  followed  in 
many  details  by  other  commissions. 
In  railroad  affairs  the  commission's 
study  of  the  costs  of  railway  move- 
ments was  the  first  made  in  this  coun- 
try. In  the  public  utility  field  similar 
studies  have  been  made,  notably  on 
rates  and  forms  of  schedules.  One  of 
the  special  features  of  the  Wisconsin 
form  of  regulation  is  the  indeterminate 
permit,  which  does  away  with  the  inde- 
terminate franchise.  Elsewhere  in  this 
issue  is  an  article  which  completely 
describes  the  duties,  methods  and  pro- 
cedure of  the  Wisconsin  Commission. 

Mr.  Jackson  has  been  chairman  of 
the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission 
since  1916  and  has  for  an  equal  time 
been  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  na- 
tional association.  In  1919  he  was 
elected  second  vice-president  and  in 
1920  first  vice-president.  He  has 
served  on  numerous  committees,  and  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  state 
and  federal  legislation  in  1920  he  did 
much  noteworthy  work.     During  the 


past  year  he  has  served  as  chairman 
of  the  executive  committee. 

Mr.  Jackson  was  born  at  Evanston, 
111.,  in  1870  and  was  graduated  from 
Harvard  in  1894.  Following  gradua- 
tion he  practiced  law  continuously  in 
Wisconsin  until  his  election  to  the  com- 
mission in  February,  1915. 


Mr.  Atwood  Made  Head  of 
B.  R.  T.  Employees 

William  W.  Atwood  has  been  ap- 
pointed president  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Employees  Benefit  As- 
sociation to  succeed  the  late  George  W. 
Edwards.  Mr.  Atwood  will  succeed  Mr. 
Edwards  as  secretary  of  the  B.  R.  T. 
Board  of  Pensions. 

Mr.  Atwood  is  a  practical  railroad 
man  and  has  been  connected  with  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  organization  in 
positions  of  responsibility  for  18  years. 
He  entered  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
Company  on  Sept.  1,  1903,  as  trainmas- 
ter in  charge  of  the  eastern  division  of 
the  elevated  system. 

Mr.  Atwood  continued  in  charge  of 
the  eastern  division  of  the  elevated  lines 
until  April  1,  1910,  when  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  main  office  and  appointed 
supervisor  of  the  record  branch,  trans- 
portation department.  He  continued  in 
charge  of  the  record  branch  until  he 
was  selected  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the 
office  of  president  of  the  Employees 
Benefit  Association,  caused  by  Mr.  Ed- 
wards' death  on  July  31. 


Robert  Ridgway,  chief  engineer  of  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission,  has  re- 
cently returned  from  a  tour  of  London, 
Paris,  Berlin  and  other  European  cities, 
where  he  studied  transit  conditions  and 
means  used  to  meet  them.  Mr.  Ridg- 
way said  that  while  the  rapid  transit 
lines  of  European  cities  are  trying  to 
obtain  higher  fares  they  are  not  stop- 
ping with  that,  but  are  making  efforts 
to  meet  the  situation  by  increasing  the 
number  of  car  riders. 

Martin  Schreiber,  chief  engineer  of 
the  Public  Service  Railway,  Newark, 
N.  J.,  and  manager  of  the  Southern  Divi- 
sion of  the  company  with  offices  at  Cam- 
den, was  recently  appointed  by  Mayor 
Ellis  of  Camden  a  member  of  the  Cam- 
den Development  Plant  Commission. 
This  body  consists  of  three  members 
of  the  city  council,  the  city  engi- 
neer and  three  citizen  engineers 
approved  by  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce. Mr.  Schreiber  was  appointed 
as  one  of  the  latter.  The  commis- 
sion will  work  out  proper  plans  for 
the  ultimate  development  of  Cam- 
den, including  those  for  city  streets, 
transportation  parks  and  playgrounds, 
zoning,  and  the  like.  One  of  the  first 
things  the  Commission  will  do  no  doubt, 
will  be  to  arrange  for  proper  ap- 
proaches and  gateways  through  the  city 
for  the  entrance  to  the  bridge.  Mr. 
Schreiber  has  a  large  amount  of  exper- 
ience in  this  kind  of  work  and  was  for 
two  years,  the  chairman  of  the  Develop- 
ment Plan  Board  of  Engineers  of 
Jersey  City. 


October  29,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


805 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER,  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


J.  Fithian  Tatem,  treasurer  and  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Five  Mile  Beach 
Electric  Railway,  Wildwood,  N.  J., 
died  recently  at  his  home  in  Haddon- 
field,  N.  J.,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  Mr. 
Tatem  was  also  vice-president  of  the 
Marine  Trust  Company,  Wildwood,  N. 
J.,  and  solicitor  and  director  of  the 
Ocean  City  (N.  J.)  Title  &  Trust  Com- 
pany. 

W.  E.  Mandelick,  for  many  years  sec- 
retary of  the  London  Underground 
Electric  Railways  Company,  Ltd.,  died 
last  week.  Mr.  Mandelick  went  to  Lon- 
don from  New  York  about  20  years 
ago,  at  the  time  when  Charles  T. 
Yerkes  of  Chicago  was  in  control  of 
the  property.  Previously  Mr.  Mande- 
lick had  been  connected  with  the 
Sprague  Electric  Railway  &  Motor 
Company  and  the  Sprague  Electric 
Company  of  New  York.  He  had  been 
in  failing  health  for  a  number  of 
years. 

Younger  Alexander,  fifty-two  years 
old,  electric  railway  builder,  financier, 
oil  magnate  and  one  of  Lexington's, 
Ky.,  most  prominent  citizens,  died 
recently.  He  promoted  the  Central 
Kentucky  Traction  Company,  which 
built  interurban  lines  to  Georgetown 
and  Paris,  and  for  more  than  ten  years 
was  president  of  the  Phoenix-Third 
National  Bank  in  Lexington,  which 
position  he  resigned  five  years  ago  to 
develope  extensive  oil  interests  in 
Eastern  Kentucky. 

B.  E.  Parker,  aged  fifty-three,  for  a 
number  of  years  superintendent  of  the 
Marion  division  of  the  Union  Traction 
Company  of  Indiana,  Anderson,  Ind., 
died  Oct.  20.  He  was  the  first  superin- 
tendent on  the  Marion  division  of  the 
Union  Traction  Company  and  was  ad- 
vanced to  this  position  from  the  Ander- 
son City  Railway.  He  resigned  Jan. 
1,  1911  to  accept  a  position  as  general 
superintendent  of  the  Rockford  &  In- 
terurban Traction  Company,  Rockford, 
111.,  later  holding  positions  at  Evans- 
ville,  Ind.,  and  Akron,  Ohio. 

H.  E.  Billau,  for  nearly  thirty-five 
years  a  field  representative  of  the 
Sherwin-Williams  Company,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  died  on  Sept.  19  in  Freemont, 
Ohio.  Mr.  Billau  was  exceptionally 
well  known  in  steam  railroad  and  street 
railway  circles  and  was  recognized 
everywhere  as  an  authority  on  paints, 
particularly  on  railway  paints  and  rail- 
way painting.  Many  of  the  car  paint- 
ing systems  now  in  use  in  railroad  and 
street  railway  car  shops  were  origi- 
nated and  installed  by  him.  For  the 
past  several  years  Mr.  Billau's  work 
has  been  concentrated  largely  in  Cleve- 
land, Detroit,  Toledo,  St.  Louis,  Chi- 
cago and  other  central  cities.  Loyalty 
to  his  friends,  his  customers  and  his 
company  were  dominant  features  of 
Mr.  Billau's  career. 


Steel  Rail  Price  Cut  $7 

U.  S.  Steel  Corporation  Announces  a 
Reduction  to  $40  a  Ton 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation 
on  Oct.  22  announced  a  reduction  of 
$7  a  ton  in  the  price  of  standard  steel 
rails.  The  cut  is  from  $47  to  $40  a 
ton,  according  to  an  official  statement 
issued  by  Elbert  H.  Gary,  chairman  of 
the  board  of  directors.  This  is  the  first 
change  in  the  price  of  rails  put  into 
effect  by  the  corporation  since  the 
United  States  Industrial  Board  estab- 
lished a  price  of  $47  on  March  21,  1919. 
The  Industrial  Board  price  was  a  re- 
duction of  $10  a  ton  from  the  quota- 
tion prevailing  at  the  time  of  the  sign- 
ing of  the  armistice,  which  price  was 
established  during  government  control 
of  the  industry.  The  official  statement 
issued  by  Mr.  Gary  follows: 

"We  have  decided  to  recommend  that 
our  subsidiary  companies  reduce  the 
selling  price  of  standard  rails  to  $40 
per  ton  base,  f.  o.  b.  our  mills.  The 
present  costs  of  production  do  not 
justify  this  action,  but  it  is  hoped  and 
expected  that  reductions  in  freight 
rates  and  otherwise,  together  with  large 
operations,  will  soon  have  a  beneficial 
effect  upon  our  costs." 

An  inquiry  made  this  week  among 
the  manufacturers  of  girder  rails  indi- 
cates that  there  has  been  no  change  in 
the  price  of  girder  rails  corresponding 
to  that  just  announced  for  standard 
rails. 

The  announcement  came  as  a  com- 
plete surprise.  There  has  been  talk 
at  various  times  in  the  last  year  that 
rails  might  be  reduced,  but  steel  men 
always  have  scouted  the  suggestion, 
pointing  to  the  extremely  high  cost  of 
production.  In  fact  it  has  been  hinted 
from  time  to  time  that  there  might 
even  be  an  increase  in  the  schedule  for 
rails.  As  a  result,  the  rail  price  has 
remained  unchanged,  through  three  or 
four  successive  reductions  in  the  entire 
industry  of  other  products. 

Among  the  independent  mills  there 
has  been  a  disposition  to  sell  rails  at 
less  than  $47  a  ton,  but  so  far  as  is 
known  no  firm  schedule  which  shows 
a  price  under  that  mark  for  the 
product  has  ever  been  made  up  by  any 
of  those  producers.  In  some  cases,  it 
is  understood,  rails  have  even  been  sold 
for  less  than  the  new  price  announced 
by  the  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion. 

The  new  $40  price,  it  is  understood, 
will  apply  to  openhearth  rails  and  the 
schedule  for  Bessemer  rails  probably 
will  be  fixed  at  $38  a  ton,  the  custom- 
ary spread  between  the  two  types.  It 
represents  the  second  reduction  from 
the  high  mark  of  $55  to  $57  for  Bes- 
semer and  openhearth  established  dur- 


ing the  war.  the  first  cut  amounting 
to  $10  a  ton. 

It  is  believed  that  the  independent 
producers  of  steel  rails  will  make  a 
public  announcement  of  a  correspond- 
ing reduction  soon,  notwithstanding 
that  they  have  been  making  concessions 
in  the  immediate  past  which  just  about 
correspond  to  the  new  corporation 
price.  It  is  beieved  also  that  the  new 
price  may  stimulate  rail  buying  to  a 
marked  degree.  Railroads  throughout 
the  country  are  sorely  in  need  of  new 
rails,  but  buying  has  been  almost  at 
a  standstill  because  of  the  sustained 
price.  The  drop  of  $7  a  ton,  it  is  ex- 
pected, will  bring  into  the  market  a 
large  tonnage  which  has  been  withheld 
for  just  such  a  contingency. 

The  normal  rail  requirements  of  the 
electric  railways  of  the  country  are  ap- 
proximately 100,000  tons  annually,  so 
that  the  railroads  as  a  result  of  the 
reduction  will  benefit  to  the  extent  of 
approximately  $700,000  on  next  year's 
supply  of  rails. 

Purchases  Below  Normal 

The  carriers,  however,  have  not  been 
buying  their  normal  supply  of  rails, 
because  of  their  financial  position  and 
partly  because  of  the  price.  As  a  re- 
sult they  are  understood  to  be  far  in 
arrears  of  having  a  normal  supply  on 
hand,  and  many  more  rails  will  have 
to  be  replaced  next  year  than  in  a 
normal  year,  because  of  the  economies 
which  have  been  practiced  of  late. 
Consequently  rail  purchases  in  1922 
are  expected  to  be  above  normal. 

The  Steel  Corporation  adhered  to 
the  prices  fixed  by  the  Industrial  Board 
throughout  the  steel  boom  of  the  latter 
part  of  1919  and  greater  part  of  1920, 
and  as  a  result  its  price  for  standard 
rails  during  this  period  has  never  been 
changed  from  the  $47  level.  Independ- 
ent companies,  however,  had  increased 
their  prices,  and  as  a  result  of  their 
advances  the  average  price  of  steel 
rails  for  1920  was  $52.64  a  ton  as  com- 
pared with  $47.50  in  1919  and  $57  in 

1918.  The  average  prices  for  the  last 
few  years  compare  as  follows: 

1921  *$40.00 

1920   52.64 

1919   47.50 

1918   57.00 

*  New  price. 

The  average  price  of  steel  rails  from 
1902  to  1915  was  $28  a  ton  and  in 
1901  the  average  was  $27.40. 

Last  to  Be  Adjusted 

Steel  rails  were  the  last  of  the  im- 
portant steel  products  to  succumb  to 
the  adjustment  which  the  steel  indus- 
try has  experienced  since  the  Fall  of 
last  year.  All  of  the  important  prod- 
ucts including  plates,  wire  nails,  beams, 
bars,  tin   plate,  billets  and  pig  iron 


1917  $38.00 

1916   32.75 

1915   28.00 

1914   28.00 


806 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  18 


have  been  sharply  reduced  from  the 
prices  which  prevailed  previous  to  the 
falling  off  in  the  demand  for  steel, 
but  even  in  the  face  of  the  reductions 
in  all  of  these  products  steel  rails  held 
their  own. 


Strike  Would  Bring  Coal  Shortage 
in  a  Week 

Hasty  surveys  of  the  state  of  coal 
stocks  reveal  that  supplies  are  sufficient 
to  weather  a  brief  railroad  strike  only. 
With  the  mobile  reserve  of  coal  sud- 
denly frozen  up,  only  a  week  would  be 
necessary  to  bring  about  acute  in- 
dustrial suffering  and  physical  suffer- 
ing as  well  if  it  should  happen  to  be 
cold.  This  is  the  opinion  of  one  of  the 
government's  foremost  coal  specialists. 
It  is  pointed  out  that  while  the  total 
coal  in  storage  is  reasonably  large,  its 
distribution  is  not  such  as  to  afford 
anything  like  the  general  relief  that 
might  be  assumed  from  the  total  ton- 
nage. Communities  would  be  affected 
very  unevenly  if  there  were  as  much 
as  a  week's  paralysis  of  transportation. 
Tidewater  ports,  lake  ports  and  many 
railroads  junction  points  would  be  con- 
gested with  coal  but  the  average  in- 
land city  would  suffer  severely. 

Among  railroad  officials  there  is  a 
distinct  current  of  optimism.  They 
think  the  chances  are  very  much 
against  any  strike.  Even  if  the  unions 
should  do  all  they  threaten,  there  is  a 
feeling  that  if  the  men  insist  on  strik- 
ing this  is  the  best  possible  time.  The 
railroad  management  seems  to  be  in 
an  unusually  favorable  position. 


Copper  Demand  Small  with 
Price  Weakening 

Copper  demand  is  small.  While  most 
producers  are  holding  at  13  cents  or 
better  a  tendency  is  appearing  to  cut 
prices  somewhat  on  nearer  deliveries 
and  to  extend  the  period  over  which 
13i-cent  copper  will  be  sold.  While 
home  consumption  continues  fairly  good, 
domestic  buyers  seem  to  prefer  to 
await  results  of  railroad  negotiations 
before  making  further  commitments. 

Price  of  electrolytic  copper  is  12§  to 
121  cents  a  pound  delivered  for  prompt 
shipments,  12 1  cents  for  November,  13 
cents  for  December,  and  131  to  13i 
cents  for  first-quarter,  1922,  deliveries. 
Price  of  Lake  copper  is  13  to  133  cents 
delivered  for  prompt  and  November 
delivery. 


Proposed  Elevated  Electric  Rail- 
way in  Osaka,  Japan 

The  Osaka  Hanshin  Kyuko  Electric 
Railway  Company,  which  operates  a 
railway  between  Osaka  and  Kobe,  ac- 
cording to  Electrical  Industries,  is  plan- 
ning to  construct  an  elevated  electric 
railway  between  Osaka  and  Juso,  and 
also  to  double  the  present  lines,  at  a 
cost  of  about  3,000,000  yen.  The  com- 
pany also  contemplates  building  an  un- 
derground railway  from  its  Kobe  ter- 
minus to  Motomachi,  to  cost  approxi- 
mately 7,500,000  yen. 


Rolling  Stock 


Baltimore     (Mil.)     Transit     Company  is 

asking'  for  bids  on  ten  motor  buses  similar 
to  those  described  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

New  Orleans  (La.)  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  recently  placed  an  order  with 
the  Niehols-Lintern  Company,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  for  200  mechanical  sanders. 

Georgia  Kailway  &  Power  Company, 
Atlanta,  <ia.,  has  just  placed  an  order  with 
the  Nichols-Lantern  Company,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  for  176  mechanical  sanders. 

Rockland  (III.)  City  Traction  Company 
contemplates  purchasing"  eight  buses  at  an 
aggregate  cost  of  about  $56,000.  With 
these  buses  the  company  expects  to  furnish 
a  service  supplementary  to  that  given  by 
its  railway  lines. 

Edwards  Kailway  Motor  Car  Company. 
Sanford,  X.  O.  has  sold  to  the  Atlantic  & 
Western  Railway,  Sanford,  one  gasoline 
railway  passenger  motor  car  having  a 
seating  capacity  of  forty-six  passengers  and 
in  addition  baggage  and  mail  space  total- 
ing 70  sq.ft. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Hull  (<(ue.)  Electric  Company  will  relay 
a  half  mile  of  track  on  Main  Street. 
A  ylmer. 

Hamilton  (Out.)  Street  Railway  has  been 
requested  by  the  City  Council  to  lay  new 
tracks  on  King  Street  West,  Aberdeen 
Avenue,  Wentworth  and  Margaret  Streets. 

Berkshire  (Mass.)  Street  Railway  has  be- 
gun its  repair  work  on  Ashland  Street, 
North  Adams.  The  work  includes  the  lay- 
ing of  some  new  rails  and  steel  ties  be- 
tween Chestnut  and  Porter  Streets. 

York,  <)nt. — It  was  announced  at  a  recent 
inci  ting  of  the  Township  Council  that  the 
Government  would  be  asked  to  move  the 
Hacks  of  the  Toronto  Suburban  Railway 
through  Mount  Dennis  to  the  center  of  the 
road  so  that  the  Township  can  pave  the 
Weston  Road  from  the  city  of  Toronto  to 
Weston. 

Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Railways  will  open  up 
its  Mignonette  Steel  loop  East  End,  on 
Oct.  26.  The  loop,  which  cost  $40,000,  will 
be  the  route  of  cars  now  looping  over  Cen- 
ter and  Highland  Avenues.  It  will  relieve 
the  present  congestion  at  Penn  and  High- 
land Avenues. 

Lima,  Peru.  The  original  concession  for 
an  electric  railroad  from  Lima  to  La  Punta 
was  for  a  double  track  railroad,  but  a 
recent  modification  now  provides  for  on'v 
11  kilometers  of  single  track  at  this  time 
from  Lima  to  the  village  of  Bella  Vista 
which  must  be  put  into  use  within  eighteen 
months  from  the  date  of  the  contract.  The 
prolongation  to  La  Punta  and  double  track- 
ing of  the  line  must  thereupon  be  com- 
pleted within  a  time  of  approximately  two 
years. 

Miami    Beach    (Fla.)    Electric  Company 

may  extend  its  lines  right  to  the  beach  in- 
stead of  stopping  in  the  residence  section 
of  the  beach  property.  Three  routes  have 
been  proposed  and  are  under  considera- 
tion, to  extend  the  line  to  Biscayne  Ave- 
nue from  First  Street,  thence  along  Bis- 
cayne Avenue  to  its  end.  Another  pro- 
posed route  was  to  extend  the  line  over 
Collins  Avenue  to  Biscayne  Avenue  to 
Ocean  drive  and  First  Street,  passing  all 
the  casinos  in  this  vicinity.  The  third 
plan  was  to  open  South  Alton  road  and 
carry  the  line  to  Biscayne  Avenue  over 
South  Alton  road  and  then  east  to  Collins 
Avenue. 


Trade  Notes 


William  J.  Delaney,  for  many  years  con- 
nected with  the  Erie  works  of  the  General 
Electric  Company  has  recently  been  ap- 
pointed sales  manager  of  the  Cincinnati 
Car  Company,  Cincinnati.  Ohio. 

Ralph  R.  Rugheimer  has  been  appointed 
representative  of  the  Automatic  Reclosing 
Circuit  Breaker  Company  of  Columbus. 
Ohio,  in  charge  of  the  eastern  Kentucky, 
Virginia  and  southeastern  Ohio  territory. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  East  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  is  planning 
to  establish  a  new  branch  at  Huntington, 
W.    Va..    to    supply    the    demands    of  its 


patrons  in  the  states  of  West  Virginia, 
Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  This 
branch  will  occupy  a  three-story  building, 
100  ft.  square,  located  at  the  corner  of 
Ninth  Street  and  Second  Avenue. 

Blaw-Knox  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
manufacturer  of  steel  produces,  has  an- 
nounced the  addition  to  its  staff  of  H.  O. 
Davidson.  Mr.  Davidson  will  have  entire 
charge  of  the  Prudential  Sectional  Building 
Department  of  the  Blaw-Knox  Company, 
and  will  be  also  general  manager  of  the 
C.  D.  Pruden  plant  of  the  Blaw-Knox 
Company.  Mr.  Davidson  will  be  located 
at  the  C.  D.  Pruden  plant  at  Baltimore. 
Ml-.  Davidson  was  connected  for  eight 
years  with  the  Hydraulic  Steelcraft  Com- 
pany, being  general  manager  of  that  or- 
ganization at  the  time  he  severed  his  con- 
nections to  become  a  member  of  the  Blaw- 
Knox  staff. 

Insulation  &  Specialty  Corporation  of 
America,  Wilmington,  Del.,  was  organized 
on  Sept.  1  with  a  capital  stock  of  $500,000 
for  the  manufacture  of  an  insulating  mate- 
rial which  will  be  so.d  under  the  name  of 
"Fibre  Granite."  This  material  will  be 
manufactured  in  sheets  from  .005  in.  up 
to  12  in.  in  thickness  and  it  will  also  be 
available  in  the  form  of  tubes  and  rods 
which  will  be  made  in  lengths  from  40 
to  60  in.  and  in  diameters  from  |  to  12  in. 
On  Oct.  1  the  capital  stock  of  the  company 
was  increased  to  $1,000,000.  P.  C.  Hennig 
is  president  and  chairman  of  the  board  of 
directors. 

Quigley  Furnace  Specialties  Company,  26 
Cortlandt  Street,  New  York,  has  announced 

that  its  pulverized  fuel  department  has  been 
acquired  by  the  Hardinge  Company.  120 
Broadway,  New  York.  The  Hardinge  Com- 
pany states  there  will  be  no  change  in  the 
method  of  conducting  the  business  at  their 
offices,  as  the  organization  of  the  engineer- 
ing department  has  been  taken  over  prac- 
tically intact.  The  experience  and  man- 
ufacturing facilities  of  the  Hardiiige  Com- 
pany enables  them,  with  their  present  equip- 
ment and  augmented  staff,  to  further  ex- 
tend the  activities  of  the  Quigley  pulverized 
fuel  system. 

Nic  LeGrand,  one  of  the  best  known  and 
respected  salesmen  in  the  electric  railway 
field,  has  hung  out  a  shingle  for  himself. 
With  headquarters  and  manufacturing  plant 
at  1615  Third  Avenue,  Rock  Island,  111., 
he  will  supply  various  malleable,  brass  or 
aluminum  foundry  and  machine  shop  prod- 
ucts required  by  electric  railways  for  trucks 
and  miscellaneous  car  parts.  He  will  also 
engage  in  the  conversion  of  old  single  and 
double-truck  cars  for  one-man  operation, 
furnishing  the  material  required  or  con- 
tracting to  do  the  entire  reconstruction 
work.  Mr.  LeGrand  has  been  associated 
with  the  electric  railway  field  for  many 
years  through  long  sales  connection  with  the 
St.  Louis  Car  Company  and  more  recently 
with  the  National  Safety  Car  &  Equipment 
Company.  Besides  establishing  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  salesman,  he  has  won  the  con- 
fidence of  a  host  of  customers  and  friends. 
It  is  now  his  ambition  so  to  conduct  his 
own  business  that  this  personal  confidence 
in  him  may  be  extended  with  increased 
measure  to  the  dealings  with  him  as  a  prin- 
cipal. Undoubtedly,  the  quality  and  price 
of  his  products  will  reflect  the  principles 
of  square  dealing  which  account  for  his 
success. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


E  &  B  Manufacturing  Company,  Detroit, 

has  recently  brought  out  a  "snap"  connec- 
tor for  flexible  cable. 

Model  Specialty  Company,  New  York,  has 
placed  a  small  portable  bench-drilling  ma- 
chine on  the  market. 

Brown  &  Pengilly,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  are 
marketing  an  overload  relay  "Merco"  de- 
signed for  the  protection  of  alternating- 
current  motors. 

Ingersoll-Rand  Company,  New  York,  has 
recently  developed  a  new  motor-driven  air 
compressor  known  as  the  "Imperial  Type 
XCB." 

Russell  &  Stoll  Company,  17  Vandewater 
Street,  New  York  City,  has  developed  a  new 
type  of  cable  support  for  long  vertical 
runs. 

National  Electric  Corporation,  Whitman, 

Mass,  has  developed  the  "Barnes  Universal" 
tree  insulator,  designed  to  protect  high- 
voltage  distribution  wires. 

Hobart  Brothers  Company,  Troy,  Ohio, 
has  just  put  on  the  market  a  new  auto- 
matic motor-driven  air-compressor  pump 
and  tank,  equipped  with  magnetic  pressure 
release. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.  BLAKE  tnd  HAROLD  V.  BOZELL,  Editors  HENRY  H.  NORRIS.  Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN. Western  Editor      N. A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coait  Editor      H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SQUIEB.  Associate  Editor      C.W. STOCKS.  Associate  BdlUt 
G.J.MACMUBRAY.Newi  Editor  DONALD  F. HI NE. Editorial  Representatlre  PAUL  WOOTON.Washington  Representative 


Volume  58 


— 


,  N^y  Y6rk,  Saturday,  November  5,  1921 


Number  19 


Electrolysis  Testing^  v^tV** 
to  Be  Given  Improved  Status 

ELECTROLYSIS  has  caused  trouble  in  more  ways 
than  one  ever  since  electricity  became  the  motive 
power  for  street  railways.  Much  of  the  controversy  on 
the  subject  has  been  due  to  the  limitations  which  have 
existed  in  electrolysis  testing,  long  recognized  to  be  one 
of  the  most  difficult  and  perplexing  problems,  from  a 
technical  standpoint,  with  which  the  electrical  engineer 
has  to  deal.  Methods  of  testing  heretofore  available 
have  not  been  capable  of  giving  any  definite  quantitative 
measure  of  the  rate  at  which  buried  pipes  and  other 
structures  are  being  corroded  by  stray  current.  This 
fact  accounts  for  many  disputes  and  is  also  the  prin- 
cipal limitation  to  systematic  research  work  in  regard 
to  the  relative  merits  of  different  methods  of  mitigation. 

In  the  article  on  "Earth  Current  Measurement"  ap- 
pearing in  this  issue,  however,  there  is  described  the 
first  successful  attempt  to  make,  under  practical  con- 
ditions of  field  testing,  a  definite  quantitative  measure- 
ment of  the  current  density  discharged  from  a  pipe  at 
any  point,  this  being  the  factor  directly  responsible  for 
corrosion.  Because  the  subject  is  particularly  impor- 
tant, because  the  method  described  will  probably  prove 
the  basis  of  future  research  work  of  the  American  Com- 
mittee on  Electrolysis,  and  because  the  results  of  ap- 
proaching surveys  in  certain  cities  will  depend  on  its 
use  and  accuracy,  it  seems  especially  worth  while  to 
place  the  analysis  of  the  method  before  all  railway  men 
in  sufficient  detail  and  yet  sufficiently  concise  for  them 
to  be  able  to  judge  the  significance  of  the  results. 

The  method  described  appears  to  be  one  offering 
promise  of  great  usefulness.  If  it  continues  to  prove 
as  successful  in  its  practical  use  as  it  has  in  its  pre- 
liminary applications  it  should  do  much  to  place  the  art 
of  electrolysis  testing  on  a  definite  engineering  basis. 


Municipal  Engineers  Try  Their 
Hands  at  Track  Specifications 

THE  American  Society  for  Municipal  Improvements 
is  taking  an  interest  in  the  subject  of  tracks  and 
track  pavements.  On  another  page  will  be  found  an 
abstract  of  a  report  on  the  subject  presented  at  the 
convention  of  the  society  held  in  Baltimore  last  week. 

This  interest  should  be  met  more  than  half  way  by 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Engineering  Associa- 
tion because  the  street  railways  and  the  municipalities 
have  a  common  interest  in  the  subject.  It  appears  that 
the  municipal  engineers  are  trying  to  approach  the  mat- 
ter in  a  broad-gaged  way  and  that  an  opportunity  is 
thus  offered  for  co-operative  study  of  a  problem  which 
has  so  many  angles  and  about  which  there  are  so  many 
conflicting  opinions. 

What  is  a  suitable  track  construction  for  paved 
streets?  What  are  the  most  suitable  pavements  for 
these  tracks?  Can  the  various  types  of  track  now  pre- 
vailing be  reduced  to  a  few?  What  pavements  are 
wholly  unsuited  for  use  in  tracks  and  should  never  be 


installed  when  there  is  track  in  the  street?  These  are 
but  a  few  of  the  questions  which  arise  and  about  which 
municipal  and  street  railway  engineers  have  had  innu- 
merable discussions.  The  latter  have  been  mainly  on 
local  grounds,  depending  upon  the  location  and  size  of 
the  community.  But  the  problems  are  not  local  in  the 
main.  They  have  a  national  importance  and  should 
first  be  studied  in  respect  to  fundamental  principles 
applying  everywhere.  Once  agreement  is  reached  on 
these  the  local  phases  may  be  easily  treated.  This  state- 
ment is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  specifications  for 
street  railway  track  construction  were  suggested  at  the 
Baltimore  convention  in  connection  with  paving  speci- 
fications. Incidentally  some  of  the  clauses  in  these 
specifications  will  hardly  meet  the  approval  of  electric 
railway  track  engineers  as  a  body. 

It  is  understood  that  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Engineering  Association  has  taken  action  designed  to 
secure  co-operation  with  the  A.  S.  M.  I.  in  a  joint  study 
of  the  matter,  which  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 


Declare  Dividends 

Even  Though  Small 

IF  RESTORATION  of  credit  is  the  outstanding  need 
of  practically  every  electric  railway,  would  it  not  be 
of  far-reaching  effect  in  inspiring  confidence  to  declare 
dividends  earned,  however  small  they  might  be?  Many 
companies  last  year  earned  a  surplus  equal  to  a  rate  of 
2,  3,  or  4  per  cent  on  the  allowed  valuation.  This  is  of 
course  far  short  of  the  permissible  and  necessary  earning 
of  6,  7  or  8  per  cent,  and  is  not  conducive  to  a  feeling  on 
the  part  of  directors  that  they  should  declare  a  dividend. 
At  least  very  few  companies  have  passed  on  these  earn- 
ings to  their  stockholders.  To  be  sure,  the  surplus 
earned  by  some  of  them  was  absorbed  in  accumulated 
deficits.  But  looking  at  the  proposition  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  man  who  has  held  some  electric  railway 
stock  for  a  number  of  years,  has  watched  its  market 
value  steadily  decline  and  has  not  had  a  dividend  for  so 
long  that  he  thinks  each  time  he  looks  at  his  certificates 
he  might  as  well  throw  them  in  the  wastebasket,  it  would 
seem  that  his  feelings  in  the  matter  might  be  consider- 
ably brightened  by  the  receipt  of  even  a  very  small 
dividend  check.  It  would  indicate  that  the  company  was 
not  dead — that  it  was  coming  back.  His  contact  with 
others  would  thereafter  be  a  little  more  optimistic  about 
electric  railway  securities.  This  attitude  would  spread 
from  such  contact  with  the  shareholders  and  as  a  result 
of  the  public  announcement  of  the  dividend  and  a  start 
would  be  made  in  restoring  confidence  in  the  financial 
status  of  the  company. 

Too  frequently  such  a  dividend  is  withheld  because 
there  is  fear  of  doing  anything  which  local  authorities 
might  interpret  as  an  indication  of  prosperity.  This 
explains  the  passing  of  dividends  in  some  instances  even 
where  the  surplus  has  been  large  enough  to  warrant  a 
full-rate  dividend.  With  that  manner  of  treatment  for 
those  who  have  taken  partnerships  in  the  business,  there 


808 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


can  be  little  prospect  of  any  bettering  of  public  opinion 
toward  electric  railway  junior  securities.  Even  though 
the  surplus  earned  permitted  a  dividend  of  only  a  frac- 
tion of  1  per  cent,  it  would  be  something,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved this  small  amount  would  be  very  worth  while  from 
the  viewpoint  expressed  above.  To  put  such  surpluses 
back  into  the  property  may  be  the  cheapest  way  to  get 
much-needed  money  now,  but  that  policy  will  not  help 
greatly  toward  restoring  credit,  and  to  a  large  extent 
postpones  the  day  when  capital  improvements  can  be 
made  through  the  sale  of  other  than  senior  securities. 


No  Time  for 

Obstructionist  Methods 

BOTH  the  Wall  Street  Journal  and  Financial  America 
hope  for  the  best  for  the  plan  advanced  by  the 
Transit  Commission  for  rehabilitating  the  railways  in 
New  York.  Neither  paper,  however,  is  very  optimistic 
of  the  outcome.  They  see  obstacles  which  to  them 
appear  to  be  insurmountable.  Thus  the  Wall  Street 
Journal  holds  to  the  theory  that  "all  the  existing  secu- 
rities were  created  legally.  They  were  bought  and  are 
held  in  good  faith.  No  plan  can  destroy  the  rights  of 
these  holders." 

Many  securities  created  legally  are  bought  and  held 
in  good  faith.  That  does  not  make  them  money  earn- 
ers. Their  appraisal  as  such  is  pretty  accurately 
fixed  by  the  price  which  is  set  for  them  in  the  open 
market.  If  such  be  the  fact,  then  the  tractions  in  New 
York  have  fallen  to  pretty  low  estate  under  the  5-cent 
fare  as  at  present  imposed.  One  authority  has  esti- 
mated that  securities  of  the  companies  in  New  York, 
having  a  market  value  in  1912  of  $494,145,649,  or 
$3,336,149  in  excess  of  their  face  value,  have  already 
shrunk  to  $176,269,716,  or  a  depreciation  in  nine  years 
of  $317,375,933.  In  the  light  of  these  figures  it  would 
appear  that  the  equities  of  these  holders  have  already 
been  pretty  well  discounted  even  if  their  legal  rights 
have  not  been  destroyed. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  commission  plan  is 
only  a  tentative  one.  The  commissioners  themselves 
would  probably  be  the  last  to  proclaim  it  to  be  flaw- 
less. It  is  particularly  indefinite  on  the  question  of  the 
basis  of  the  proposed  valuation  upon  which  any 
security  readjustment  must  be  based. 

At  first  hand  the  task  of  reconciling  all  the  divergent 
interests  would  seem  to  be  insurmountable.  As  the 
Wall  Street  Journal  says :  "There  is  no  legal  way  of 
bludgeoning  the  bondholders  into  accepting  less  than 
the  letter  of  their  bond."  Even  so,  there  would  appear 
to  be  no  need  of  it.  The  situation  if  allowed  to  drift 
unremedied  will  work  itself  out  eventually  in  more 
drastic  fashion  than  could  be  done  by  any  coercive 
methods  from  outside.  This  fact,  the  security  holders 
must  face. 

The  basis  of  all  security,  after  all,  is  earning  power. 
It  is  because  the  earning  power  of  the  roads  has 
shrunk  so  low  that  the  securities  of  the  companies  have 
declined  to  such  an  extent  that  nearly  all  of  them  are 
on  the  basis  of  what  the  holders  might  be  expected  to 
realize  if  the  properties  were  sold  at  foreclosure. 
Bludgeoning  did  not  have  to  be  resorted  to  in  the  case 
of  the  United  Railroads,  San  Francisco,  the  security 
holders  of  which  were  willing  to  accept  new  evidences 
of  indebtedness  and  ownership  to  the  extent  of  $47,516,- 
000  where  such  securities  had  formerly  been  outstand- 
ing to  the  amount  of  $82,190,600,  the  reduction 
amounting  to  $23,876,000.   Bludgeoning  has  not  entered 


as  a  factor  in  the  proposed  reorganization  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Railways,  the  representatives  of  the  holders  of 
whose  securities  have  signified  their  willingness  to 
accept  a  new  deal  on  the  basis  of  $62,500,000  of  new 
capital  as  opposed  to  securities  now  outstanding 
amounting  to  $156,000,000. 

The  commission  has  advanced  a  plan — the  first  con- 
structive plan  since  the  tide  set  in  against  the  com- 
panies. If  either  the  Wall  Street  Journal  or  Financial 
America  has  anything  to  offer  which  it  regards  as  bet- 
ter, the  commission  will  undoubtedly  be  glad  to  have 
it  presented  for  consideration.  Obstructionist  methods 
will  not  get  the  companies  out  of  the  present  muddle. 
They  may,  however,  delay  the  working  out  of  an  equi- 
table plan  or  may  even  defeat  it.  In  such  event  the 
obstructionists  will  have  even  more  to  answer  for  than 
have  those  to  whom  the  blame  now  falls  for  the  present 
intolerable  conditions.  The  policy  now  of  every  one  in- 
terested should  be  to  lend  a  hand  toward  a  settlement 
of  the  problem  fair  to  all  so  far  as  it  is  humanly  pos- 
sible properly  to  care  for  the  rights  of  all  where  there 
are  so  many  different  interests  to  be  considered.  The 
plan  advanced  by  the  commission  may  fail  of  consum- 
mation, but  probably  not  for  the  reasons  either  of  these 
papers  has  advanced.  If  it  does  fail  all  signs  would 
seem  to  point  to  a  fate  worse  for  the  security  holders 
than  any  which  might  befall  them  under  any  settle- 
ment based  on  the  commission's  proposal. 


Superpower  Report 

Is  Timely  Contribution 

THE  Superpower  Zone  idea,  pursued  and  crystallized 
by  the  Geological  Survey's  Superpower  staff,  is  a 
logical  development  of  the  times.  But  it  needed  the 
impetus  given  it  by  the  study  made  by  Mr.  Murray  and 
his  staff  to  bring  home  the  concrete  conception.  This 
has  been  done  in  the  report  just  issued  and  digested 
elsewhere  in  this  issue.  Similar  ideas  have  been  put 
into  practice  in  other  places  on  other  scales.  The  plan 
in  this  intensified  northeastern  seaboard  region  must  be 
made  a  reality  and  this  is  the  problem  ahead  of  the 
utilities  and  the  railroads.    The  idea  must  not  die. 

There  is  an  impressive  note  of  sincerity  and  thorough- 
ness of  study  in  the  possibilities  outlined  and  recom- 
mendations made  regarding  electrification  in  the  Super- 
power Zone.  Certainly  Dr.  Cary  T.  Hutchinson,  who*  is 
largely  responsible  for  this  part  of  the  study  and  report, 
is  to  be  commended.  There  may  be  some  surprise  that 
a  group  of  engineers — principally  electrical  engineers — 
should  recommend  that  only  19,000  of  the  36,000  miles 
of  track  merit  electrification,  and  that  certain  well 
known  arteries  be  omitted,  even  with  the  low  power 
costs  predicted.  But  as  the  detailed  manner  in  which 
the  analysis  was  made  is  studied  the  reasons  for  such 
recommendations  are  appreciated.  The  suggestions  of 
locomotive  standardization,  of  co-operation  between  the 
manufacturers,  of  the  constructive  ideas  electric  railway 
engineers  may  contribute  to  trunk  line  operating  prob- 
lems are  all  timely  and  are  well  considered  and  pre- 
sented. In  fact,  there  is  a  large  amount  of  material 
which  can  well  be  studied  and  analyzed  by  both  steam 
and  electric  railway  men. 

But  the  big  idea  of  the  superpower  system  as  a  whole 
must  be  recognized  as  essential  to  all  the  parts.  Elec- 
trification without  power  supply  is  foolish.  On  the 
other  hand,  railroad  electrification  offers  one  of  the  real 
savings  and  is  one  of  the  main  contributing  factors  to 
the  greater  success  of  any  such  general  undertaking. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


809 


Measurement  of  Earth  Currents 

Importance  and  Present  Status  of  Earth  Current  Measurements — New  Instrument  and 
Method  Allows  More  Accurate  Determination  of  Currents  Causing 
Electrolysis  in  Underground  Structures 

By  Burton  McCollum 

Electrical  Engineer,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Standards,  Washington,  D.  C. 


IN  THE  FIELD  of 
electrolysis  testing 
the  greatest  diffi- 
culty that  has  been 
encountered  up  to  the 
present  time  has  been 
our  inability  to  meas- 
ure directly  the  factor 
responsible  for  the 
corrosion,  namely,  the 
density  of  the  current 
flowing  from  a  pipe  to 
earth  at  any  particu- 
lar point.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  it  has 
not  been  possible, 
heretofore,  to  make 
direct  quantitative 
measurements  of  the 
degree  of  hazard  to 
buried  pipes  and  other 
structures.  Hereto- 
fore, tests  made  to  de- 
t ermine  electrolysis 
conditions  have  com- 
prised chiefly  two  classes  of  measurements,  namely, 
voltage  measurements  between  various  structures  and 
measurement  of  current  flow  on  pipes  and  other  sub- 
surface structures.  The  voltage  measurements,  as  a 
rule,  comprise  measurements  of  over-all  potential  on  the 
railway  tracks  and  measurements  of  potential  difference 
between  various  subsurface  structures  and  between  such 
structures  and  railway  tracks.  Attempts  have  also  been 
made  to  measure  potential  difference  between  subsurface 
structures  and  the  adjacent  earth,  but,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  lead  cable  sheaths,  these  have  not  yielded 
satisfactory  results. 

The  chief  difficulty  about  securing  information  re- 
garding electrolysis  conditions  by  means  of  voltage 
measurements  grows  out  of  the  fact  that,  as  stated 
above,  the  electrolytic  corrosion  at  any  point  is  deter- 
mined directly  by  the  intensity  of  the  current  dis- 
charged from  any  particular  point  on  the  pipe  surface. 
A  voltage  measurement  between  a  pipe  and  any  other 
structure  constitutes  only  one  factor  affecting  the  cur- 
rent flow,  the  other  factor  being  the  resistance  of  the 
path  traversed  by  the  current  through  the  earth. 
Experience  has  shown  that  this  resistance  may  vary 
between  extremely  wide  limits,  commonly  in  the  ratio 
of  10  or  20  to  1  and  not  infrequently  as  much  as  100 
to  1,  due  to  the  character  of  the  soil,  variations  in  mois- 
ture content  and  temperature.  It  will  be  apparent, 
therefore,  that  a  mere  voltage  measurement  has  no- 
quantitative  significance  in  determining  the  seriousness 
of  electrolysis  conditions  in  any  particular  locality.  It 
is  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  that  such  voltage  meas- 
urements will  be  of  no  value  as  they  do  have  an  impor- 


Nbw  Earth  Current  Meter  in  Use  in  the  Field 


tant  qualitative  sig- 
nificance, and  under 
certain  circumstances 
such  measurements 
can  be  used  to  deter- 
mine relative  condi- 
tions under  different 
systems  of  mitigation. 
They  do  not,  however, 
permit  of  any  definite 
quantitative  interpre- 
tation. 

The  measurement  of 
potential  differences 
between  subsurface 
structures  and  the  ad- 
joining earth  is  fur- 
ther complicated  by 
the  phenomenon  o  f 
galvanic  potentials 
which  are  always 
superposed  on  any 
dynamic  voltage  that 
may  result  from  a 
discharge  of  current 
into  the  earth.  These  galvanic  potentials  may  often  be 
as  large,  or  much  larger,  than  the  dynamic  voltage,  thus 
entirely  obscuring  the  quantity  which  it  is  sought  to 
measure.  On  account  of  these  galvanic  potentials,  it  is 
not  possible  to  determine  by  any  means  heretofore  avail- 
able even  the  polarity  of  a  pipe  with  respect  to  earth, 
since  the  potential  difference  due  to  the  galvanic  poten- 
tial often  exceeds  that  due  to  the  stray  earth  current. 

The  measurement  of  current  flow  on  pipes  which  is 
very  commonly  made  in  connection  with  electrolysis 
surveys  may  also  be  of  value  in  determining  relative 
conditions  under  different  systems  of  mitigation,  but 
here  again  such  measurements  possess  no  definite  quan- 
titative significance.  The  amount  of  corrosion  that  may 
be  caused  by  a  given  current  on  a  pipe  depends  alto- 
gether on  the  manner  and  location  of  its  leaving  the 
pipe.  That  part  of  the  current  which  may  be  removed 
from  the  pipe  through  metallic  paths  will  produce  no 
corrosion  upon  leaving  the  pipe,  only  that  portion  of  the 
current  which  discharges  directly  from  the  pipe  surface 
into  the  adjoining  earth  being  involved  in  the  corrosive 
process.  Further,  even  if  it  is  known  that  all  the  cur- 
rent on  the  pipe  ultimately  leaks  directly  from  the  pipe 
into  the  earth,  the  degree  of  danger  depends  altogether 
on  the  distribution  of  such  current  discharge,  so  that  a 
mere  measurement  of  the  current  flow  on  the  pipe  at 
any  particular  point  gives  no  definite  information  as  to 
the  degree  of  seriousness  of  the  situation.  The  only 
way  in  which  definite  quantitative  information  can  be 
secured  showing  the  degree  of  hazard  to  a  pipe  at  any 
point  is  by  measuring  the  intensity  of  current  discharge 
from  the  pipe  at  the  point  under  consideration. 


810 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Up  to  the  present  time  two  methods  have  been  re- 
sorted to  in  rare  cases  in  an  attempt  to  measure  the 
intensity  of  current  discharge  in  the  earth.  One  of 
these  is  by  differential  current  measurement  on  a  pipe; 
that  is,  by  measuring  as  accurately  as  possible  the  cur- 
rent flow  on  a  pipe  at  two  points  some  distance  apart 
and  taking  the  difference  between  the  currents  at  the 
two  points  of  measurement  as  the  total  current  dis- 
charged from  the  pipe  between  these  points.  The  other 
method  is  by  what  is  known  as  the  Haber  earth  current 
collector,  a  device  for  measuring  earth  current  density. 

The  method  of  differential  current  measurement  is 
subject  to  the  very  serious  limitation  that  it  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  make  an  accurate  measurement  of 
current  flow  in  the  pipe,  the  methods  commonly  used 
for  this  purpose  not  being  accurate  enough  to  give 
satisfactory  results  unless  the  leakage  current  between 
the  two  points  of  measurement  constitutes  a  very  large 
percentage  of  the  total  current  on  the  pipe,  which  is 
seldom  the  case  in  practice.  For  this  reason,  this 
method  has  been  very  little  used  in  the  past  and  has 
now  been  practically  abandoned. 

The  Haber  earth  current  collector  is  a  well-known 


Figs.  1  and  2 — Diagrams  to  Show  the  Principle  and  the  Actual 
Circuit  of  New  Meter  Which  Embodies  the  Idea 

device  designed  to  be  buried  in  the  earth  at  any  par- 
ticular point  at  which  the  current  density  is  to  be 
measured.  It  is  subject  to  very  serious  limitations  and 
to  very  large  sources  of  error,  and  experience  has  shown 
that  it  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  give  any  accurate  indi- 
cation of  the  normal  current  density  in  the  earth. 
Numerous  attempts  have  been  made  to  apply  it  in  the 
past  but  it  is  no  longer  used  in  this  country. 

A  New  Method  for  Measuring  Earth  Currents 
— Principle  of  the  New  Method 

Engineers  engaged  in  electrolysis  research  have  long 
felt  the  need  of  some  definite  and  accurate  means  of 
determining  both  the  polarity  of  pipes  with  respect  to 
earth  and  of  measuring  current  density  in  the  earth  at 
any  point,  especially  immediately  adjoining  subsurface 
structures  which  may  be  in  danger  of  electrolytic  cor- 
rosion. The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  describe  a 
method  and  instrument  the  purpose  of  which  is  to 
afford  a  means  for  the  accurate  determination  of  the 
polarity  of  pipes  with  respect  to  earth  and  for  the  quan- 
titative measurement  of  current  density  at  any  desired 
point  in  the  earth.  This  method,  if  it  continues  to 
prove  as  successful  in  practice  as  it  has  in  its  prelimi- 


nary applications,  will  enable  one  to  do  what  it  has  not 
been  possible  to  do  heretofore,  namely,  to  make  direct 
quantitative  measurements  of  the  actual  hazard  to 
buried  structures  at  particular  locations. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  if  a  measurement  be  made 
of  the  resistivity  of  the  earth  at  any  particular  point, 
and  if  then  a  measurement  be  made  of  the  voltage  drop 
between  two  points,  a  known  distance  apart,  within  this 
same  region  in  which  the  resistivity  has  been  measured, 
these  two  measurements  will  permit  a  calculation  of  the 
current  density  in  the  earth  in  the  region  immediately 
under  investigation.  The  new  method  described  below 
involves  something  of  the  principle  here  stated,  although 
in  its  actual  carrying  out  neither  the  resistivity  of  the 
earth  nor  the  true  potential  drop  between  two  points  is 
determined. 

The  principle  of  the  new  method  of  measuring  earth 
currents  can  best  be  understood  by  reference  to  Fig.  1, 
which  is  a  diagrammatic  illustration  of  the  elements  of 
the  apparatus.  Let  us  assume  that  the  pipe  (1)  of 
Fig.  1  is  discharging  current  in  all  directions  as  indi- 
cated by  the  arrows  (2).  Four  electrodes  (3,  4,  5  and 
6)  may  be  imbedded  in  the  earth  immediately  adjoining 
the  pipe,  on  whatever  side  the  current  intensity  is  to 
be  measured,  or  placed  against  the  wall  of  an  excava- 
tion made  near  the  pipe.  An  excavation  is  here  as- 
sumed tentatively  to  simplify  the  explanation  of  the 
principle  of  the  method.  It  will  later  be  shown  how  the 
method  can  be  applied  without  making  excavations  of 
any  kind.  For  convenience  these  several  electrodes  may 
be  mounted  on  a  single  insulating  frame  (7).  Two  of 
these  electrodes,  for  example  (3)  and  (6),  may  be 
connected  to  a  suitable  voltage  indicator  (10),  which 
need  not  read  in  any  particular  units. 

Suppose,  now,  a  current  (h)  be  caused  to  flow  be- 
tween the  terminals  4  and  5  through  the  earth  from  the 
battery  (8),  which  current  will  be  measured  by  the 
ammeter  (9).  It  will  be  evident  that  this  current  dis- 
tributes itself  in  all  directions  through  the  earth  and 
produces  a  certain  voltage  drop  between  the  terminals 
3  and  6  due  to  the  resistance  in  the  earth  immediately 
surrounding  the  group  of  electrodes.  This  voltage  drop 
between  the  terminals  3  and  6  will  be  indicated  by  the 
voltmeter  (10)  and  will  be  proportional  to  the  current 
flowing  between  the  terminals  4  and  5  and  to  the  re- 
sistivity of  the  surrounding  earth.  If  E„  is  the  voltage 
between  the  terminals  3  and  6  and  if  e0  is  the  corre- 
sponding deflection  of  the  voltage  indicator  (10)  we  have 
e0  =  KE0  (1) 
where  K  is  the  constant  of  the  voltage  indicator  (10) 
which  includes  the  effect  due  to  the  resistance  of  the 
leads  and  the  electrodes  3  and  6.  This  is  an  important 
consideration  and  will  be  discussed  later.  Further,  it 
will  be  seen  that  E0  is  proportional  to  the  current  I0 
sent  between  the  electrodes  4  and  5  and  to  the  resistivity 
r  of  the  surrounding  earth,  or 

E0  =  A  I0  r  (2) 
where  A  is  a  constant  depending  upon  the  geometrical 
arrangement  of  the  group  of  electrodes.  Substituting 
the  value  of  E0  as  given  by  equation  (2)  in  equation 
( 1 ) ,  we  have 

e0  =  K  A  I0  r  (3) 
In  the  above  equation  it  is  assumed  that  the  voltage 
drop  across  the  terminals  3  and  6  is  due  solely  to  the 
current  sent  through  the  terminals  4  and  5.  In  order 
that  this  may  be  true,  conditions  must  be  such  that  no 
other  current  flowing  through  the  earth  at  the  time  the 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


811 


measurement  is  made  will  in  any  way  affect  the  appa- 
ratus. For  the  present,  we  will  assume  that  this  is 
actually  the  case.  It  will  be  explained  later  how  this 
is  readily  realized  in  practice.  After  taking  the  above 
measurement  of  h  and  the  corresponding  e0,  the  cir- 
cuit of  the  battery  (8)  is  opened,  after  which  the  volt- 
age drop  (EJ  between  the  voltage  terminals  3  and  6 
would  be  due  solely  to  the  current  (i)  which  is  flowing 
through  the  earth,  or 

E,  =  irL  (4) 

where  L  is  the  distance  between  the  terminals  3  and  6, 
i  is  the  mean  current  density  in  the  region  between  the 
terminals  3  and  6,  and  r,  as  above,  is  the  resistivity  of 
the  earth. 

The  corresponding  deflection  of  the  instrument  (10) 
is  01  and  we  will  have 

e1  =  K  Et  =  K  i  r  L 
Dividing  equation  (3)  by  equation  (5),  we  have 
6>0     K  A  I0r     A  10 
iL 


(5) 


(6) 


(7) 


ei  KirL 
Solving  equation  (6)  for  i,  we  have 

A  I0  el 

l=  TUT 

As  stated  above,  A  is  a  constant  depending  upon  the 
geometrical  form  of  the  electrode  group  (3,  4,  5  and  6). 
This  can  be  determined  once  for  all  for  a  given  electrode 
group  by  immersing  the  electrode  in  a  medium  such  as 
water  through  which  a  current  density  of  known  value 
is  sent.  Under  these  circumstances,  if  we  perform  the 
two  measurements  indicated  above  and  substitute  the 
values  in  equation  (7),  i  being  in  this  case  known,  we 
«an  once  for  all  calculate  the  value  of  A,  and  as  soon  as 
the  distance  (L)  between  the  two  electrodes  3  and  6 

is  known,  the  proportional  factor  y  becomes  known. 
Calling  this  factor  R  for  brevity,  we  have 

R  In  9, 


X  — 


(8) 


In  equation  (8),  i  is  the  current  per  unit  area,  or  the 
quantity  which  is  to  be  measured,  and  R  is  the  known 
constant. 

To  obtain  the  value  of  i,  we  have  therefore  to  per- 
form the  two  operations  mentioned  above,  namely,  to 
send  a  known  current  (70)  through  the  two  electrodes 
4  and  5  and  at  the  same  time  measure  the  corresponding 
deflection  (e0)  of  the  instrument  (10),  this  being  done 
in  a  manner  described  below,  such  that  the  instrument 
(10)  will  not  be  affected  by  any  earth  current  other 
than  that  which  flows  from  the  battery  (8)  through  the 
terminals  4  and  5.  We  then  disconnect  the  battery 
(8)  and  measure  the  deflection  (0j  of  the  instrument 
(10)  due  solely  to  the  earth  current  (if).  These  three 
values  (o0,  Io,  and  0,)  are  then  substituted  in  equation 
(8)  and  the  value  of  i  calculated. 

As  stated  above,  the  indication  of  the  voltage  indi- 
cator (10)  is  a  function  of  the  resistance  in  series  with 
its  leads,  and  therefore  of  the  resistance  of  the  elec- 
trodes 3  and  6  and  of  the  earth  immediately  surround- 
ing them.  In  practice  it  is  found  that  this  resistance 
is  often  very  high  and  quite  variable,  so  that  the  instru- 
ment (10)  does  not  in  general  give  a  true  value  of  the 
voltage  impressed  in  the  earth  between  the  two  elec- 
trodes 3  and  6,  and  often  not  even  an  approximation 
to  the  true  value.  It  will  be  observed,  however,  from 
equation  (6)  that  the  resistivity  (r)  of  the  earth  in 
the  region  in  which  the  test  is  being  made  and  the 


constant  (K)  of  the  voltage  indicator  (10)  disappear 
from  the  equation  from  which  the  earth  current  (i) 
is  calculated.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  in  making 
this  measurement,  neither  the  resistivity  of  the  earth, 
nor  the  true  value  of  the  voltage  drop  between  the  elec- 
trodes 3  and  6  need  be  known.  This  constitutes  one 
of  the  important  advantages  of  the  method  of  procedure 
hereinabove  described. 

Practical  Embodiment  of  the  Principle 

As  stated  above,  in  carrying  out  the  first  of  the  two 
operations  above  described,  it  is  essential  that  some 
arrangement  be  provided  whereby  the  deflection  (0O) 
will  be  due  only  to  the  current  (I0)  which  flows  through 
the  terminals  4  and  5  and  will  not  be  influenced  by 
any  earth  current  already  flowing.  This  can  be  accom- 
plished in  a  very  simple  manner,  by  an  arrangement 
shown  in  Fig.  2,  which  shows  also  a  complete  wiring 
diagram  of  the  test  set. 

In  this  arrangement,  two  commutators  (11  and  12), 
mounted  on  the 
same  shaft,  are 
employed. 
These  commu- 
tators are  so 
mounted  on  the 
shaft  that  com- 
mutation takes 
place  on  both 
at  exactly  the 
same  instant, 
and  are  pro- 
vided with  a 
crank  whereby 
they  may  be  ro- 
tated by  hand 
at  a  s  u  itable 
speed.  The 
commutator  11 
is  interposed 
between  the 
battery  (8) 
and  the  test 
terminals  4  and 
5,  while  the 
commutator  12  is  interposed  between  the  terminals  3 
and  6  and  the  voltage  indicator  (10).  It  will  be 
seen  that  an  alternating  current  flows  through  the 
earth  from  the  terminals  4  and  5  and  impresses  an 
alternating  voltage  on  the  terminals  3  and  6  which 
are  being  commutated  simultaneously  with  the  cur- 
rent through  the  leads  4  and  5  and  gives  rise  to  a 
unidirectional  voltage  on  the  voltage  indicator  (10). 
This  instrument  being  of  the  direct  current  type  will 
therefore  give  a  deflection  (o0)  proportional  to  the  cur- 
rent (To)  sent  through  the  terminals  4  and  5.  At  the 
same  time,  any  unidirectional  voltage  impressed  on  the 
terminals  3  and  6  due  to  an  earth  current  will  be  com- 
mutated so  frequently  that  it  will  exercise  no  appre- 
ciable effect  on  the  voltage  indicator,  and  hence  the 
reading  of  the  latter  will  be  just  the  same  as  if  for  the 
time  being  the  earth  current  to  be  measured  did  not 
exist.  After  the  measurement  of  the  current  (I„)  and 
the  deflection  (e0)  is  made  under  these  conditions,  a 
double-throw  switch  (13)  is  reversed,  which,  as  will  be 
seen  from  Fig.  2,  disconnects  the  battery  (8)  from  the 
terminals  4  and  5  and  at  the  same  time  eliminates  the 
commutator  12  from  the  circuit  between  the  electrodes 


New  Instrument  for  the  Measurement 
of  Earth  Currents 


812 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


3  and  6  and  the  voltage  indicator  (10).  In  the  new 
position  of  the  switch  the  voltage  between  the  electrodes 
3  and  6  due  to  the  earth  current  (i)  will  produce  a 
corresponding  deflection  in  the  voltage  indicator  (10) 
which  is  then  read  as  the  value  et.  These  three  values 
(do,  Io  and  #,)  are  then  substituted  in  equation  (8)  and 
the  value  of  the  earth  current  (i)  is  calculated  in  any 
desired  units,  depending  upon  the  value  of  the  constant 
(R)  used. 

Application  of  Instrument  to  Field  Testing 

The  electrode  group  (3,  4,  5  and  6)  mounted  on  the 
insulating  support  (7)  may  be  permanently  buried  in 
the  earth  in  the  region  in  which  it  is  desired  to  meas- 
ure the  earth  current  at  any  time,  or  the  four  electrodes 
may  be  placed  against  the  wall  of  an  excavation,  so  that 
all  four  terminals  make  contact  with  the  earth,  while 
a  measurement  of  current  intensity  in  the  earth  adjoin- 


.  Rubber  insulation 
Copper  plate  drill  rod 


Copper  sulphate 
electrolyte  with 
excess  copper  sulphate 
crystals^ 


FIG.  3 


FIG.4 


FIG.  5 


Copper  electrode 


Porous  wooden 


Bakelite  cup 

FIG.  6 


plug 


Figs.  3  to  6 — Details  of  Mounting  the  Four  Electrodes 

ing  the  wall  of  the  excavation  is  being  made.  The 
constant  (R)  of  the  instrument  will,  however,  be  differ- 
ent in  the  two  cases,  but  can  be  determined  once  for  all 
for  the  two  types  of  measurements.  In  most  cases, 
however,  where  it  is  desired  to  measure  the  current 
density  discharged  from  a  pipe  at  any  given  point,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  make  an  excavation.  For  measurements 
of  this  kind,  a  special  type  of  four-terminal  electrode 
has  been  designed  which  can  be  placed  down  in  a  hole 
extending  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  the  pipe,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  3.  This  hole  may  be  made  by  means  of 
an  auger,  or  by  simply  driving  a  pipe  or  rod  of  suitable 
size  into  the  earth,  and  then  removing  the  rod  from 
the  hole.  The  four  electrodes  (3,  4,  5  and  6)  are  then 
put  down  in  this  hole  and  the  measurement  is  made  in 
exactly  the  same  manner  as  described  above. 

This  method  of  measurement  can  be  used  effectively 
for  making  rapid  determinations  of  leakage  current 
from  the  pipe  at  any  point.  Numerous  experiments 
have  shown  that  when  a  pipe  is  buried  at  an  ordinary 
depth  of  several  feet,  which  is  relatively  large  in  com- 
parison with  the  distance  between  the  four  electrodes 
and  also  the  radius  of  the  pipe,  the  current  discharged 
in  a  vertical  direction  upward  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
electrodes  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  discharged 
vertically  downward  or  toward  either  side,  so  that  in 
general  it  is  not  necessary  to  measure  the  current 
density  on  more  than  one  side  of  the  pipe,  and  it  is 
most  convenient  to  measure  it  in  a  vertical  direction 
upward,  as  in  the  manner  just  indicated.    The  method 


can  be  used,  however,  to  explore  the  current  distribu- 
tion on  practically  all  sides  of  the  pipe,  without  making 
any  excavations,  other  than  merely  driving  small  holes 
on  either  side  to  the  pipe. 

In  order  to  use  this  method  of  placing  four  electrodes 
down  in  a  hole,  it  is  necessary  to  use  a  special  form 
of  mounting  of  the  electrodes.  A  very  suitable  and 
practicable  method  is  shown  in  Fig.  4.  The  electrode 
(3)  is  mounted  on  a  flexible  rod  (14)  of  some  elastic 
material,  such  as  spring  steel,  which  should  be  elastic 
enough  to  permit  it  to  be  displaced  about  an  inch  or 
more,  without  the  rod  taking  a  permanent  set.  Sim- 
ilarly, electrodes  4,  5  and  6  are  connected  separately 
to  the  elastic  rods  (15,  16  and  17),  these  rods  being 
spaced  apart  sufficiently  so  that  in  actual  use  they  do 
not  make  contact  with  each  other.  These  elastic  rods 
are  mounted  in  an  insulating  bushing  (18),  which  is 
set  in  a  suitable  tube  (19),  preferably  of  metal.  An 
extension  of  the  rod  (17)  is  provided,  so  that  the  lower 
electrode  will  always  come  automatically  to  a  predeter- 
mined distance  from  the  pipe.  Wires  are  brought  up 
through  this  tube  to  the  surface  and  the  measurements 
made  after  the  manner  shown  in  Fig.  2.  In  practical 
use,  the  tube  (19)  carrying  the  four  electrodes  (3,  4, 
5  and  6)  is  inserted  in  the  hole  leading  down  to  the 
pipe  to  the  proper  depth  as  shown  in  Fig.  5,  and  the  top 
of  the  rod  is  pulled  sideways  in  the  direction  of  the 
arrow  (20)  using  the  collar  of  the  hole  (21)  as  a 
fulcrum,  so  that  the  four  electrodes  (3,  4,  5  and  6)  are- 
caused  to  press  independently  of  each  other  against  the 
wall  of  the  hole,  thus  securing  reliable  contact  with  the 
earth.  It  is  necessary  that  the  steel  rods  on  which  the 
four  electrodes  are  mounted  be  thoroughly  insulated 
and  preferably  also  copper  plated  in  order  to  eliminate 
disturbances  due  to  galvanic  action. 

The  electrodes  (4  and  5)  through  which  the  test  cur- 
rent is  sent  from  the  battery  in  the  first  part  of  the 
test  can  be  made  from  any  ordinary  metal,  such  as  iron 
and  copper.  The  electrodes  3  and  6,  however,  should 
be  made  on  the  well-known  principle  of  the  non- 
polarizable  electrode  developed  by  Professor  Haber,  that 
is,  they  should  comprise  a  cup  having  an  electrode  at  the 
base  of  copper,  the  cup  being  filled  with  a  concentrated 
solution  of  copper  sulphate.  This  electrolyte  is  con- 
fined in  the  cup  by  a  stopper  of  wood  or  other  porous 
material.    Fig.  6  shows  a  typical  form. 

The  illustration  on  page  811  shows  a  portable  test 
set  in  which  are  mounted  in  compact  form  the  battery 
(8),  the  ammeter  (9),  the  voltage  indicator  (10),  the 
double  commutator  (11-12),  and  the  double-throw 
switch  (13).  The  illustration  on  page  813  shows  a 
portable  four-terminal  electrode.  In  this  design  the 
handle  has  a  joint  in  the  middle,  so  that  it  can  be  folded 
during  transportation.  The  cut  on  page  809  shows  the 
apparatus  in  use,  with  one  man  operating  the  test  set, 
an  assistant  holding  the  rod  in  test  hole  over  the  pipe. 

Test  Data  Prove  Effectiveness  of  Instrument 

The  number  of  holes  that  have  to  be  driven  for  test- 
ing a  pipe  line  depends  upon  the  minuteness  with  which 
it  is  desired  to  analyze  the  current  distribution  on  the 
pipe.  Numerous  investigations  have  shown,  however, 
that  for  ordinary  purposes  the  driving  of  a  hole  about 
every  fifty  to  a  hundred  feet  is  sufficient  to  give  a  good 
indication  as  to  the  general  electrolysis  conditions  pre- 
vailing on  the  pipe,  and  in  many  cases  a  much  larger 
spacing  may  be  used.  In  the  case  of  some  pipe  lines 
that  have  been  investigated  in  which  holes  were  driven 
every  ten  feet  along  the  line,  it  was  found  that  the 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


813 


electrolysis  condition  of  the  pipe  as  deduced  from  the 
readings  of  every  fifth  or  tenth  hole  was  substantially 
the  same  as  that  arrived  at  from  the  consideration  of 
the  readings  taken  in  every  hole.  In  the  case  of  an 
experimental  installation  in  Washington,  D.  C,  a  dead 
end  length  of  8-in.  pipe,  about  900  feet  in  length,  was 
insulated  from  the  main  network  by  means  of  two 
insulating  joints.  A  definite  leakage  current  was  then 
impressed  upon  the  pipe  and  this  was  measured  first  by 
using  the  earth  current  meter  in  a  series  of  holes  spaced 
twelve  feet  apart  along  the  entire  length  of  pipe.  This 
data  was  then  worked  up  in  several  ways.  First,  the 
total  leakage  current  was  calculated  from  the  measure- 
ments in  every  hole,  then  by  using  the  data  in  every 
other  hole,  then  in  every  third  hole,  and  so  on.  The 
results  of  these  calculations  are  given  herewith: 


Every  Every  Every  Every  Every  Every 

Every           Other  Third  Fourth  Sixth  Eighth  Tenth 

Hole             Hole            Hole  Hole  Hole  Hole  Hole 

11.12450          1.1188  1.2402  1.26  1.0282  1.1544  1.391 


From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  leakage  cur- 
Tent  as  calculated  in  the  several  ways  does  not  differ  to 
any  large  extent  from  the  figures  obtained  by  using 
the  data  taken  at  every  hole.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  for  most  purposes  an  infrequent  spacing  of  the 
holes  would  meet  the  practical  requirements.  Of  course, 
where  large  pipe  lines  of  another  system  cross  the 
line  under  test,  it  is  desirable  to  place  the  holes  a  little 
closer  together,  near  the  crossing,  since  the  condition  of 
the  pipe  may  change  greatly  within  the  distance  of  25 
to  50  feet  at  such  crossings.  Experience  has  shown 
that  the  number  of  holes  required  for  testing  is  not  such 
as  to  make  the  method  expensive  to  apply  wherever 
pipes  of  any  importance  are  under  investigation. 

It  is  well  to  have  clearly  in  mind  just  what  current 
is  measured  by  this  apparatus.  This  current  is  the 
mean  current  per  unit  area,  as  for  instance  per  square 
centimeter,  or  per  square  inch  in  the  earth  in  a  small 
region  immediately  surrounding  the  center  of  the  four- 
electrode  group.  A  good  approximation  will  be  had  by 
stating  that  it  gives  the  mean  current  density  through- 
out the  volume  of  a  sphere  having  a  diameter  approxi- 
mately equal  to  the  distance  between  the  two  potential 
electrodes  of  the  four-electrode  group.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  by  using  electrodes  of  very  small  size  the  cur- 
rent density  in  a  very  small  volume  of  earth  can  be 
studied.  By  the  use  of  electrodes  an  inch  or  an  inch 
and  a  half  apart,  the  mean  current  density  in  a  sphere 
as  small  as  three  or  four  inches  in  diameter  can  be 
definitely  determined.  For  most  ordinary  purposes, 
however,  it  is  found  desirable  to  use  a  two-  or  three- 
inch  spacing  of  the  electrodes,  in  which  case  we  secure 
the  mean  current  density  in  a  volume  of  perhaps  half 
a  cubic  foot  of  earth  immediately  surrounding  the 
center  of  the  electrode  group. 

It  would  be  very  desirable  in  many  cases,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  average  current  intensity  in  the  space  sur- 
rounding the  electrodes,  to  know  the  distribution  of  the 
current  at  the  surface  of  the  pipe,  because  it  is  the 
irregularities  in  this  current  distribution  which  gives 
rise  to  the  well-known  pitting  of  the  pipe.  The  simple 
procedure  described  above  does  not  give  information  as 
to  whether  the  current  is  uniformly  distributed  at  the 
pipe  surface.  It  is,  however,  possible  by  the  use  of  a 
modified  type  of  electrode,  to  get  considerable  informa- 
tion on  this  point. 

In  the  foregoing  discussion  it  will  be  observed  that 
equation  (3)  involves  the  resistivity  (r)  of  the  earth. 


If  the  constant  (K)  of  the  voltage  indicator  (10)  is 
known,  the  constant  (A)  being  known,  the  instrument 
permits  a  direct  calculation  of  the  resistivity  of  the 
earth.  The  constant  (K)  of  the  voltage  indicator  (10) 
will  be  known  provided  the  resistance  of  this  circuit 
is  sufficiently  high  to  obscure  the  effects  due  to  drop 
of  voltage  in  the  electrodes.  The  test  set  as  made  up  is 
provided  with  a  switch  whereby  a  megohm  or  more  of 
resistance  can  be  inserted  in  series  with  the  voltage 
indicator.  When  this  is  done,  the  resistance  of  the 
electrodes  becomes  negligible  and  the  instrument  can 
be  used  directly  as  a  very  rapid  and  convenient  means 
of  measuring  earth  resistivity.  It  is  the  only  prac- 
ticable instrument  for  making  such  resistivity  measure- 
ments of  the  earth  in  position  without  disturbances 
of  any  kind  and  will  undoubtedly  have  a  great  many 
applications  for  this  purpose. 

At  the  present  time,  investigations  are  under  way 
looking  to  the  comparison  of  test  results  obtained  by 
this  new  method  with  those  obtained  by  the  older  meth- 
ods of  voltage  surveys,  with  a  view  of  determining  to 
what  extent  the  data  taken  in  previous  years  may  yield 


Complete  Outfit  Ready  for  the  Field 


valuable  deductions  when  interpreted  in  the  light  of  in- 
formation revealed  by  the  new  method.  It  is  hoped  in 
this  way  greatly  to  increase  the  value  of  records  of 
tests  that  have  been  made  in  years  past.  Also  it  is 
planned  to  make  very  thorough  and  extensive  investiga- 
tions by  the  new  method  in  numerous  localities,  in  some 
of  which  electrolysis  damage  is  known  to  be  very  great, 
and  in  other  cases  in  which  it  is  known  that  pipes  have 
not  suffered  materially  over  a  period  of  years.  Such 
investigations  when  completed  will  be  of  considerable 
value  in  permitting  the  drawing  of  definite  and  unques- 
tionable conclusions  from  future  tests. 

The  voltage  indicator  (10)  used  in  this  test  set  has 
to  be  of  very  special  design  to  have  an  extremely  high 
current  sensitivity.  The  instrument  used  gives  a  full 
scale  deflection  for  one  microampere,  and  was  designed 
and  built  especially  for  this  apparatus  by  the  Rawson 
Electrical  Instrument  Company  of  Cambridge,  Mass., 
which  company  is  now  manufacturing  the  complete  sets. 

This  instrument  has  been  in  use  for  some  time  at  the 
Bureau  of  Standards,  where  it  has  been  subjected  to 
careful  tests  and  experimental  work,  and  has  been  found 
to  be  a  very  convenient,  economical,  and  accurate  means 
of  measuring  the  current  intensity  discharged  from 
buried  pipes.  The  instrument  has  also  been  used  in  a 
number  of  instances  in  practical  electrolysis  testing,  and 
has  been  found  very  well  adapted  for  use  under  practical 
conditions.  By  the  use  of  this  instrument,  information 
can  be  had  showing  far  more  definitely  the  actual  elec- 
trolysis conditions  prevailing  on  any  particular  point 
than  it  is  possible  to  secure  by  any  other  means  hereto- 
fore available.  The  results  of  tests  by  this  instrument 
are  not  subject  to  the  very  large  factors  of  uncertainty 
in  interpretation  as  those  obtained  by  the  usual  meth- 
ods of  electrolysis  testing. 


814 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Railway  Situation  in  Berlin 

Large  Reductions  in  Operating  Expense  Made  Necessary  by  Present  Conditions  Have  Been  Effected  by 
Consolidation  of  the  Various  Street  and  Suburban  Lines  in  Greater  Berlin  and 

by  Improving  Traffic  Conditions 

By  Eugene  Eichel 

Consulting  Engineer,  Berlin,  Germany 


THROUGH  a  combination  of  all  the  railway  sys- 
tems of  greater  Berlin  the  management  has  been 
able  to  introduce  large  economies.  The  electric 
supply  and  feeder  system  has  been  rearranged  by  shut- 
ting down  a  number  of  small  generating  stations  and 
by  directing  the  current  supply  to  the  most  advanta- 
geous feeding  point.  Expenses  for  current  and  feeder 
copper,  for  station  attendants  and  for  the  supplies  nec- 
essary for  maintenance  have  been  diminished.  Large 
savings  have  also  been  effected  by  a  rearrangement 
of  the  service,  which  was  found  desirable  from  a  study 
of  well-kept  statistics  on  the  density  of  traffic  and  the 
idle  cars  during  various  hours  of  the  day. 

The  entire  network  of  lines  is  being  scientifically  in- 
vestigated and  lines  which  duplicate  service  or  compete 
with  each  other  are  being  scrapped.  Various  radial 
lines  are  being  interconnected  and  the  number  of  stops 
reduced.  Service  to  the  outlying  districts  of  the  city 
is  being  decreased  by  introducing  fifteen-thirty-minute 
service  during  a  large  part  of  the  day. 

An  attempt  is  being  made  to  standardize  the  equip- 
ment as  much  as  possible,  but  this  is  very  difficult  at 
present.  A  large  number  of  the  smaller  systems  have 
tracks  constructed  to  the  narrow  1  meter  gage,  and  all 
are  equipped  for  bow  current  collection.  As  a  very 
large  part  of  the  system,  or  that  formerly  belonging  to 
the  Grosse  Berliner  Strassebahn,  is  arranged  for  trolley 
wheel  service,  the  consolidation  has  made  it  necessary  to 
rebuild  the  smaller  lines  now  provided  with  bow  current 
collection,  because  it  would  be  too  expensive  to  change 
the  equipment  of  the  old  Grosse  Berliner.  The  bow  col- 
lector is  considered  superior  to  the  trolley  wheel  in 
Germany  and  the  trolley  wire  installation  is  being  re- 
newed in  such  a  manner  that,  with  more  prosperous 
times,  it  can  be  used  for  bow  collection  also. 

Repair  Shops  Are  Consolidated 

Another  large  saving  is  expected  from  the  consolida- 
tion and  rearrangement  of  the  main  repair  shops.  Old 
equipment  is  being  scrapped  and  replaced  by  up  to 
date  machinery  and  an  efficient  repair  force  is  being 
organized.  A  large  number  of  the  men  previously  used 
received  subsidies  for  returning  to  the  country  and 
working  as  farm  help.  Small  farmers  are  enabled  to 
purchase  small  plots  with  government  money,  which 
is  received  in  a  lump  sum,  and  war  invalids  are  thus 
induced  to  live  a  healthy  farm  life  rather  than  to  in- 
crease the  large  number  of  city  population,  which  at 
present  groans  under  the  lack  of  proper  accommoda- 
tions and  insufficient  and  cheap  food. 

Quite  a  number  of  streets  are  being  repaved. 
Asphalt  pavement  is  relaid  in  a  small  number  of  in- 
stances, but  the  standard  pavement  used  is  of  granite, 
at  least  as  far  as  railway  track  is  concerned.  Track 
repairs  are  made  by  means  of  inserts  electrically  welded 
to  the  old  rails.  Worn-out  joints  are  sawed  and  re- 
placed. New  rails  are  installed  in  but  rare  cases. 
These  are  most  generally  welded  by  the  Thermit  system. 


The  use  of  electric  rather  than  air  brakes  will  also 
produce  economies  in  operation.  The  air  brakes  used 
in  Germany  have  axle  compressors,  which  are  very 
costly  to  maintain,  require  a  large  amount  of  oil  and 
wear  out  very  rapidly.  An  idea  of  the  cost  of  main- 
taining this  equipment  may  be  gained  from  the  fact 
that  the  Grosse  Berliner  could  have  paid  1  per  cent 
more  dividends  in  1913  if  electric  instead  of  air  brakes 
had  been  used,  and  at  that  time  wages,  material  and 
oil  were  very  much  lower  in  cost  than  they  are 
at  present.  All  new  cars  and  as  many  of  the  rebuilt 
cars  as  possible  are  being  equipped  with  motors  of 
sufficient  capacity  so  that  they  can  safely  be  used  with 
electric  rheostatic  braking. 

Safety  Cars  to  Be  Introduced 

An  investigation  is  now  being  made  of  the  advan- 
tages of  introducing  one-man  safety  cars.  The  inten- 
tion is  to  start  with  ten  of  these  cars  operating  on 
lines  at  the  outskirts  of  the  city.  The  difficulties  ex- 
pected from  the  introduction  of  this  class  of  service 
appear  rather  large.  First,  politics  will  play  a  consid- 
erable part,  as  the  reduction  of  men  from  the  use  of 
one-man  cars  is  not  favored  by  the  Social  Democrats, 
and  this  party  has  a  large  amount  to  say  in  the  City 
Hall.  Secondly,  the  public  in  Berlin  is  not  as  patient 
as  the  American  public,  due  to  the  present  poor  nour- 
ishment received  and  the  nervous  strain  of  the  war. 
These  effects  have  made  them  rather  quarrelsome.  The 
third  difficulty  is  that  of  fare  collection.  At  present 
there  is  plenty  of  dirty  and  sticky  worn  and  torn 
paper  money  in  Germany,  but  no  hard  cash.  Thus  the 
use  of  a  fare  box  appears  to  be  a  rather  hard  problem 
to  solve.  The  use  of  metal  tokens  might  be  considered, 
but  tokens  in  Germany  must  be  manufactured  out  of 
cheap  material,  such  as  tin,  iron,  zinc  or  aluminum. 
Nice  clean  German  silver  coins  are  too  expensive. 

In  addition  to  the  introduction  of  safety  cars,  the 
use  of  trackless  trolleys  on  some  of  the  outlying  lines 
is  being  considered.  The  present  indications  are  that 
these  will  be  used  as  feeders  for  existing  lines  and  as 
a  substitute  for  any  extensions  required. 

Some  additional  means  which  are  being  introduced 
for  increasing  the  income  includes  an  increase  in  fare 
to  1  mark,  against  10  pfennig  previously  used.  Due 
to  the  present  depreciated  value  of  the  mark,  this  has 
a  somewhat  less  buying  value  than  the  10  pfennig  of 
peacetime.  A  transfer  system  has  also  been  introduced 
in  an  attempt  to  increase  travel.  A  transfer  ticket 
can  be  purchased  for  lb  marks  and  can  be  used  on  any 
connecting  lines  within  two  hours  after  its  purchase. 
Of  course,  the  use  of  a  transfer  so  as  to  enable  the 
passenger  to  return  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  start- 
ing point  is  prohibited.  Tickets  for  eight  rides  are 
also  issued,  but  no  discount  is  given  to  the  purchaser; 
as  was  the  former  practice.  The  use  of  such  tickets 
speeds  up  operation  by  the  faster  collecting  of  fares  and 
through  the  decrease  in  small  change  difficulties  effected. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


815 


During  the  war  a  rather  extensive  parcel  mail  system 
was  introduced  for  carrying  parcels  from  the  depot  to 
the  post  office  and  vice  versa.  This  system  has  now 
been  enlarged  and  results  in  a  profit  of  about  1,000,000 
marks  to  the  post  office  and  6,000,000  marks  to  the 
street  railway.    The  cars  used  for  this  service  are 


road  Commission  and  by  the  Prussian  Government 
Railroad.  Before  the  war  the  electric  roads  were  not 
allowed  to  carry  freight,  as  the  governing  bodies  were 
afraid  that  their  own  freight  business  would  be  dimin- 
ished. Previous  regulations  of  the  government  rail- 
roads also  prevented  the  use  of  advertisements  on  the 


TYPES  OF  STOP  INDICATORS  COMBINED  WITH  ADVERTISING  SPACE 


No.  1.  Trolley  pole  inclosed  by  a  light  angle-iron  framework 
studded  with  plates,  enameled  with  different  colors. 

No.  2.    Column  of  triangular  shape,  with  enameled  plates. 

No.  3.    Square  shape  column,  with  enameled  plates. 

No.  4.  Ordinary  stop  pole  with  sheet-iron  plates  indicating  th« 
numbers  of  the  lines  passing.  One  side  is  painted  white  with  black 
letters,  while  the  other  has  a  khaki  colored  background  with  black 
lettering. 

No.  5.  Stop  pole  with  light  angle-iron  framework  for  support- 
ing glass  plates  illuminated  from  inside  by  storage  battery  lamps. 


No.  6.    Type  similar  to  No.  5,  but  using  a  trolley  pole  base. 

No.  7.  Square  column  with  the  lower  part  covered  by  sheet-iron 
plates  and  the  upper  part  by  glass  plates,  which  can  be  illuminated 
from  the  inside. 

No.  8.    Same  type  as  No.  7,  but  more  artistic. 

No.  9.  Same  type  as  No.  7,  but  of  a  hexagonal  shape,  which 
requires  little  space  at  the  sidewalk  and  gives  more  space  for 
views  by  the  passing  public.  The  top  is  crowned  by  a  glass  cupola 
containing  a  lamp  with  a  filament  of  H-shaped  aluminum  plate 
which  can  be  dimmed. 


antiquated  motor  cars  and  open  summer  cars.  Windows 
and  entrances  are  nailed  shut  with  lattice  boards. 

An  attempt  is  also  being  made  to  start  a  substantial 
freight  business.  Certain  classes  of  business  located 
in  central  Berlin  have  large  factories  in  the  suburbs. 
The  transportation  of  raw  materials,  semi-finished  and 
finished  goods  is  now  made  principally  by  autotruck. 
The  electric  railways  are  catering  for  this  business, 
particularly  as  a  night  freight  service.  The  Berlin 
electric  railway  is  supervised  by  the  Government  Rail- 


exterior  of  car  windows,  as  it  was  felt  that  accidents 
might  result.  Now,  however,  they  are  less  particular 
and  allow  advertisements  and  the  city  cars  have  large 
advertisements  on  the  roofs,  dashboards  and  also  sand- 
blasted on  windows.  This  is  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
car  advertising  cards  used  inside. 

A  new  source  of  revenue  is  also  being  exploited, 
which  consists  of  the  use  of  stop  indicators.  These 
indicate  not  only  the  place  where  cars  stop  but  also 
the  sign  number  of  the  lines  passing  this  place,  the 


816 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


extent  of  these  lines  and  the  time  of  the  first  morning 
and  last  evening  car.  A  number  of  different  stop 
indicators  have  been  developed  and  the  increased  reve- 
nue comes  from  the  use  of  advertisements  at  these 
locations.  Advertisers  consider  the  stopping  place  as 
an  excellent  location  for  their  advertisements,  as,  while 
waiting  for  a  car,  the  passenger  has  time  for  looking 
over  the  various  advertising  display.  Approximately 
three  hundred  of  these  advertising  column-stop  indica- 
tors are  now  in  use.  The  advertisements  are  displayed 
on  glass  so  that  they  can  be  lighted  in  the  dark  from 
the  inside  of  the  column.  In  addition  to  proving  an 
effective  means  for  displaying  the  advertisement,  it 
also  enables  passengers  to  locate  the  various  stops 
readily,  as  the  illuminated  indicators  can  be  seen  for  a 
considerable  distance. 

Before  the  war  there  was  considerable  traffic  in  gaso- 
line and  horse-drawn  buses.  Due  to  the  high  operating 
cost  and  the  scarcity  of  rubber  for  tires,  many  of  these 
were  forced  out  of  business  where  they  were  operated 
by  men  of  small  means.  The  Grosse  Berliner  purchased 
a  large  amount  of  stock  in  an  omnibus  corporation  be- 
fore the  war.  This  is  now  owned  by  the  city,  so  that 
the  city  now  controls  this  traffic.  The  intention  is  to 
increase  this  bus  service  and  use  it  through  streets 
which  have  no  electric  railway  facilities.  A  new  electro- 
bus  concern  is  also  being  advocated,  if  suitable  arrange- 
ments can  be  made  with  the  city. 

Subways  and  Elevated  Roads  in  Berlin  Are 
Expensive  Projects 

The  city  also  owns  a  block  of  stock  in  the  Berlin 
Elevated  and  Subway  Railroad,  which  has  a  pre-war 
concession  for  a  system  of  feeder  lines.  The  elevated 
earns  a  reasonable  dividend,  but  has  to  return  about 
3,000,000  marks  annually  to  the  city.  The  cities  of 
Schoenberg  and  Wilmersdorf  built  rather  expensive 
subways  for  developing  real  estate  values.  These  have 
been  leased  to  the  Berlin  Elevated,  so  that  this  latter 
road  now  has  to  pay  about  4,000,000  marks  annually 
to  the  city,  due  to  the  operating  contract.  In  conse- 
quence, the  subway  service  results  in  a  loss  of  about 
1,000,000  marks  per  year.  This,  of  course,  prevents 
extensions  which  were  planned  before  the  war  from 
being  completed.  One  of  these,  called  the  "North- 
South"  Subway  of  Berlin  city,  while  nearly  completed, 
has  an  important  part  still  to  be  built.  This  runs  close 
to  the  surface  in  Friedrich  Street  and  its  uncompleted 
condition  is  proving  a  great  obstacle  to  traffic  through 
this  street  and  many  requests  for  a  speedy  completion 
are  being  received.  When  this  is  completed  it  will 
use  800  volts  direct  current  instead  of  1,200  volts, 
which  were  previously  decided  on.  This  is  the  same 
voltage  used  by  the  existing  Berlin  Elevated  road  and 
a  uniform  voltage  will  facilitate  the  exchange  of  roll- 
ing stock  on  the  various  lines.  Another  system  called 
the  "A.E.G.  Subway,"  on  which  construction  was  started 
before  the  war,  is  in  very  bad  condition  and  it  appears 
commercially  impossible  to  continue  the  work  of  con- 
struction. The  city,  however,  feels  that  the  building 
of  these  various  subways  should  be  continued,  in  order 
to  provide  work  for  a  large  amount  of  unskilled  labor, 
as  well  as  to  better  traffic  conditions  along  the  highways 
where  open  pits  and  fences  interfere  with  traffic.  Also 
their  completion  would  increase  traffic  facilities  to  a 
considerable  extent.  The  city  attempted  to  force  the 
corporation  to  continue  this  work,  but  a  court  decision 
was  rendered  to  the  effect  that  the  corporation  could 


not  be  held  responsible  for  contracts  entered  into 
before  the  war.  The  city  and  operating  corporation 
are  now  negotiating  in  regard  to  subsidies  which  it 
is  thought  will  help  the  undergound  corporation  to 
finish  the  tunnels. 

The  oldest  elevated  in  Berlin,  called  the  "Berliner 
Stadt-Ring  und  Vororbahn,"  which  can  be  translated 
as  the  Berlin  city,  circular  and  suburban  railway,  still 
uses  steam  locomotives.  This  system  is  operated  by 
the  government  at  a  very  cheap  rate  of  fare,  which 
is  still  further  decreased  by  the  use  of  monthly  tickets 
sold  at  very  low  rate.  As  a  result,  this  enterprise  has 
never  paid  and  now  costs  millions  of  marks  to  operate. 
These  losses  increase  the  burden  of  the  population  as 
the  deficit  of  the  government  railroad  must  be  borne 
by  the  taxpayers,  and  in  addition  the  low  fares  charged 
result  in  a  very  undesirable  competition  with  the 
municipal  roads.  The  government  and  city  are  now 
endeavoring  to  come  to  a  working  agreement  in  regard 
to  fares,  transfers  and  other  details,  which  may  include 
the  electrification  of  this  road. 

The  Chief  Commissioner  of  Berlin  Traffic  Utilities 
not  only  has  control  over  the  rapid  transit,  street  rail- 
ways, buses  and  cab  traffic  but  also  over  the  municipal 
traffic  utilities,  which  include  the  street  cleaning  and 
house  refuse  department  and  the  traffic  on  the  various 
waterways.  These  latter  are  quite  important,  due  to 
their  use  for  carrying  bulk  freight,  such  as  coal,  brick, 
lumber  and  other  building  material,  and  also  for  use 
in  transporting  agricultural  products,  such  as  fruit, 
vegetables  and  the  like.  An  attempt  is  being  made  to 
increase  the  income  of  the  street  railway  system  through 
connections  with  the  various  harbors  by  spur  tracks. 
This  would  facilitate  the  exchange  of  goods  from  and 
to  the  harbors  and  should  also  result  in  a  saving  to 
shippers. 


Valtellina  Railway  Is  Extended* 

Famous  Three-Phase  Railway  Now  Operates  to  Monza,  a 
Short  Distance  from  Milan — Road  Adopts  New 
Trolley  Suspension — Details  of  New  Loco- 
motive— Tests  Show  Satisfactory 
Operation* 

THE  Valtellina  Railway  may  be  considered  the  father  of 
trunk  line  electrified  roads  in  Europe.  The  fuel  scarcity 
was  always  felt  in  Italy,  and  this,  combined  with  the  abun- 
dance of  water  powers,  was  no  doubt  responsible  for  early 
and  exhaustive  tests  with  electric  traction.  In  the  begin- 
ning the  Italian  engineers  adopted  the  three-phase  system, 
because  at  that  time  the  three-phase  induction  motor  was  the 
only  reliable  railway  motor  in  existence  other  than  the  low- 
voltage  d.c.  motor.  The  system  originally  installed  by 
Ganz  &  Company  of  Budapest  has  been  developed  and  im- 
proved to  give  the  system  of  today,  which  represents  a  very 
high  standard  in  electrified  operation,  although  rather  costly 
from  an  installation  standpoint.  To  abandon  the  three- 
phase  system  in  favor  of  a  possibly  better  one  would  result 
in  a  tremendous  loss  of  time,  valuable  experience  and  money. 

The  Valtellina  road  is  not  only  of  great  technical  and 
historical  interest  but  also  is  one  of  the  electrifications  that 
represents  an  extremely  good  solution  of  a  difficult  traffic 
problem.  The  road  was  built  in  1902,  and  many  articles 
have  been  published  previously  describing  its  equipment. 
The  total  length  of  the  road  is  at  present  65.7  miles  and 
is  single  track  throughout.  It  is  the  connecting  link  between 
Milan  and  several  famous  Alpine  summer  resorts.  Its  main 
traffic  consists  of  tourists,  freight  transportation  never  being 
of  great  importance.    The  road  passes  over  a  very  moun- 

*Dr.  E.  Huldschiner  contributes  to  Elektrotechnische  Zeitschrift, 
issues  of  March  26  and  June  2,  1921,  an  article  on  a  recent  exten- 
sion of  the  Valtellina  Railway.  From  this  article  the  facts  here- 
with are  taken. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


817 


tainous  territory;  about  one-third  of  the  line  passes  through 
tunnels,  one-half  of  it  is  in  curves,  and  there  are  grades 
on  the  system  as  great  as  2.2  per  cent.  All  of  the  original 
equipment  was  furnished  by  Ganz  &  Company.  Two  hydro- 
electric power  stations  supply  three-phase  power  at  15  cycles 
and  generate  directly  at  20,000  volts. 

Originally  there  was  only  one  feeder  line  parallel  to  the 
road,  but  many  interruptions  of  the  service,  due  to  the 
breakdown  of  the  feeder,  forced  the  road  to  install  a  second 
parallel  three-phase  feeder  consisting  of  three  copper  wires, 
each  about  0.4  in.  in  diameter  (160,000  circ.mil),  suspended 
on  seamless  steel  tube  masts.  Along  the  tracks  are  dis- 
tributed nine  transformer  stations,  each  containing  one 
300-kva.  three-phase  transformer,  which  reduce  the  feeder 
supply  voltage  of  20,000  to  the  trolley  voltage  of  3,000. 
These  transformers  are  of  a  very  liberal  design  and  will 
withstand  for  short  periods  500  per  cent  overload  or 
1,500  kva. 

Original  Suspension  and  Equipment 

Two  No.  0  copper  wires  suspended  19  ft.  6  in.  above  the 
rails  constitute  the  old  trolley  line.  The  wires  are  held  in 
movable  insulators  made  of  Ambroin  (a  material  similar  to 
Bakelite).  These  insulators  are  held  on  a  steel  wire  between 
two  porcelain  insulators. 

The  original  rolling  stock  consisted  of  two  locomotives  and 


Standard  Overhead  Construction  for  Three-Phase  Lines — 
Italian  State  Railway 


ten  motor  cars,  but  this  equipment  proved  inadequate  at  the 
end  of  the  first  year  of  operation,  and  three  new  type  locomo- 
tives were  installed  of  the  1-C-l  type.  In  1906  four  more 
Ganz  locomotives  and  three  Brown-Boveri  locomotives  were 
added.  From  year  to  year  the  traffic  grew  denser,  until  in 
1914  the  normal  daily  schedule  consisted  of  thirty-nine  pas- 
senger and  forty-nine  freight  trains. 

Details  of  the  New  Extension 

The  new  extension  of  the  line  from  Lecco  to  Monza  has 
a  length  of  23.1  miles,  4.3  miles  of  which  is  double  track. 
This  extension  brings  the  Valtellina  system  to  within  8.6 
miles  of  Milan.  The  power  for  the  extension  is  supplied 
from  an  old  power  house  in  Robbiate,  which  was  enlarged 
to  its  present  capacity  of  30,000  kva.  The  feeders  are  cables 
made  of  three  copper  wires,  each  about  0.6  sq.in.  (360,000 
circ.mil)  in  cross-section.  Three  new  transformer  stations, 
each  equipped  with  a  bank  of  three  single-phase  transform- 
ers rated  at  2,250  kva.,  were  erected  along  this  line.  To 
care  for  emergencies  a  430  kva.  portable  substation  was 
developed  and  can  be  dispatched  and  used  at  any  point  on  the 
lines. 

The  trolley  suspension  on  the  new  length  is  somewhat  dif- 
ferent from  and  heavier  than  that  on  the  other  portions  of 
the  system.  It  represents  the  standardized  equipment  of 
the  Italian  State  Railway,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying 
cut.  An  interesting  detail  is  the  method  by  which  the 
joints  between  the  porcelain  and  the  hardware  are  made.  To 
obviate  cementing,  a  layer  of  hard  rubber  is  deposited  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  porcelain,  upon  which  is  placed  an  electro- 
lytic layer  of  copper.  This  copper  layer  is  then  threaded 
to  take  the  suspension  steel  bolt.  This  process  is  somewhat 
expensive,  but  makes  a  very  dependable  joint,  free  from  any 
danger  of  cracking.  The  trolley  lines  are  very  heavy,  each 
having  a  cross-section  of  about  1.5  sq.in.  with  two  wires  for 
each  phase,  or  a  total  cross-section  of  6  sq.in.  for  each  track. 
In  order  to  carry  the  great  weight  of  the  trolley  line  and 
care  for  the  many  curves,  steel  masts  have  been  erected 


every  65  ft.  Every  tenth  pole  is  connected  to  the  rails.  The 
rail  bonds  are  made  with  the  Brown-Boveri  metal  paste 
method.  Great  care  was  taken  to  construct  the  overhead 
wiring  at  switch  points,  which  is  quite  a  complicated  matter 
for  three-phase  systems.  The  construction  is  somewhat 
heavy  but  has  given  good  satisfaction.  On  the  present  ter- 
minal station  at  Lecco  there  are  not  less  than  fifty  switch 
points.  Very  heavy  overhead  construction  is  necessary  in 
stations.  For  example,  there  are  spans  of  108  ft.  over  nine 
tracks  and  also  the  overhead  construction  for  six  tracks, 
suspended  from  one  pole  which  is  located  in  the  center. 
Some  of  these  spans  appear  rather  light  but  seem  to  give 
good  service. 

Latest  Type  of  Locomotives 

Three  new  types  of  locomotives  have  been  ordered  for  the 
extension,  which  operate,  however,  over  the  entire  line.  Of 
especial  interest  is  the  Westinghouse  type  1-C-l,  a  descrip- 
tion of  which  has  not  been  published  previously.  The  main 
characteristics  of  this  locomotive  are: 


Diameter  of  driver   64  in. 

Diameter  of  pilot  wheels   38  in. 

Length  over  all   36  ft.  2  in. 

Total  weight  :   161,000  1b. 

Weight  of  mechanical  parts   72,732  lb. 

Weight  of  electrical  parts   88, 160  lb. 

Speed  at  1 6 j  cycles.   23,  31,  46  and  62  m.p.h. 

Hour  rating   450,  1,670,  2,600  and  2,200  hp. 

Maximum  tractive  effort  at  periphery  of  drivers  26,400  lb. 

Specific  output   32  5  hp.  per  ton  of  weight 


All  three  driving  axles  have  considerable  side  play,  the 
center  one  1  in.,  the  two  outer  0.8  in.  The  weight  of  the 
frame  rests  upon  heavy  leaf  springs,  capable  of  supporting 
a  weight  varying  between  45  and  15  tons.  Power  is  trans- 
mitted from  the  two  motors  to  the  cab  by  a  triangular  rod 
construction  of  the  Kando  system.  The  motors  are  not  fixed 
solidly  to  the  frame,  but  rest  upon  very  heavy  spiral  springs. 
Each  motor  has  four  bearings,  which  permits  of  a  very 
narrow  air  gap  of  about  0.078  in.  A  removable  floor  con- 
struction permits  the  installation  of  the  motors  from  above. 
There  are  two  compressed  air  operated  pantographs  on  the 
roof,  as  is  standard  for  Italian  railways.  An  auto-trans- 
former is  used  to  change  the  three-phase  supply  at  from 
3,000  to  3,300  volts  into  two-phase  supply  at  from  3,300  to 
3,600  volts.  The  main  motors  have  a  maximum  hourly  rat- 
ing of  950  kva.  each,  are  asynchronous,  give  four  speeds, 
and  have  a  wound  rotor  with  four  collector  rings  on  one  side 
and  three  rings  on  the  other  side.  These  rings  are  located 
outside  of  the  bearings  and  beyond  the  crankshaft  which 
calls  for  hollow  shafts.  Four  economic  speeds  can  be 
obtained  by  operating  the  two  motors  either  as  eight-pole 
three-phase,  or  six-pole  two-phase,  and  in  each  case  either 
in  parallel  or  in  cascade.  The  stators  and  rotors  are  wound 
with  twelve  coils  on  each,  and  every  three  of  these  coils  form 
a  star  connection. 

Starting  Equipment  and  Test  Results 

The  motors  are  started  by  means  of  an  electrolytic  starter 
with  stationary  electrodes.  Air  pressure  causes  the  liquid 
to  rise  or  fall.  The  locomotive  has,  for  this  purpose  and  for 
the  operation  of  the  brakes,  two  air  compressors,  taking  in 
35  cu.ft.  of  air  per  minute  and  compressing  it  to  six  atmos- 
pheres. Each  compressor  consists  of  two  pumps  and  two 
motors,  although  one  set  is  sufficient  for  normal  operation. 

Tests  of  a  very  severe  character  gave  very  good  results. 
The  temperature  rise  of  the  motor  copper  at  a  train  speed 
of  46  m.p.h.  and  with  the  locomotive  pulling  21,000  lb.  for 
one  hour  was  69.5  deg.  C.  With  a  train  of  383  tons  and  up  a 
grade  of  1.1  per  cent,  the  locomotive  accelerated  to  43.5 
m.p.h.  in  267  seconds.  The  locomotive  shows  a  consumption 
of  about  35  watt-hours  per  ton  mile.  The  other  locomotives 
added  to  the  equipment  have  been  previously  described  and 
are  of  the  2-C-2  Brown-Boveri  and  Oerlikon  types.  The  main 
dimensions  and  weights  of  this  type  of  locomotive  are: 


Diameter  of  drivers   64  in. 

Diameter  of  pilot  wheels   38  in. 

Length  over  buffers   43  ft.  10  in. 

Total  weight    202,750  lb. 

Weight  on  drivers   99,100  lb. 

Weight  of  mechanical  parts   110,200  1b. 

Weight  of  electrical  apparatus   92,550  1b. 


818 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


819 


Superpower  Survey  Shows  Advantages  of  System 
Including  Electrification 

Report  of  W.  S.  Murray  and  Others  for  Geological  Survey  Outlines  Savings  Possible  by  Co-ordinating 
and  Supplementing  Existing  Utilities — Recommends  Electrification  of  19,000  Miles 
of  Trunk  Lines  in  Zone  and  Shows  Resulting  Economies 


UNDER  the  title  "A  Superpower  System  for  the 
Region  Between  Boston  and  Washington,"  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey,  Department  of 
the  Interior,  has  just  issued  the  report  of  its  special 
superpower  survey  made  during  the  year  July  1,  1920,  to 
June  30,  1921.  This  special  report  or  study  was  made 
by  a  temporary  organization  within  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  headed  by  W.  S.  Murray  and  financed 
by  an  appropriation  of  $125,000  by  the  government,  to 
which  was  added  $26,000  contributed  by  utilities  and 
industries  within  the  Superpower  Zone. 

One  of  the  outstanding  sections  of  this  report  has 
to  do  with  the  desirability  of  electrifying  a  large  portion 
of  the  trunk  line  mileage  in  the  district  under  observa- 
tion. As  a  whole,  the  superpower  scheme  comprehends 
a  plan  of  power  production  that  includes  the  generation 
of  electricity  in  steam  stations  at  tidewater  and  on  in- 
land rivers  where  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water  for  con- 
densing purposes  is  available,  and  also  the  utilization  of 
all  hydro-electric  power  that  can  be  economically  obtain- 
able within  the  zone  or  within  transmission  distance  of 
it,  the  whole  to  be  tied  together  through  an  intercon- 
nected system  of  transmission  lines. 

Reference  to  Electric  Railway  Journal,  Feb.  28, 
1920,  page  435,  will  give  a  picture  of  the  purpose  of 
the  survey  as  seen  at  the  time  of  its  inception.  There 
is  also  shown  a  map  giving  the  preliminary  idea  of  the 
area  to  be  investigated.  Fig.  1,  herewith,  shows  the 
Superpower  Zone  which  has  been  included  in  the  final 
survey.  Within  this  zone  is  concentrated  one-fourth 
of  the  population  of  the  United  States  and  within  it  are 
operated,  most  of  them  independently,  315  electric  pub- 
lic utilities,  eighteen  steam  railroads  and  96,000  indus- 
trial plants. 

The  general  purpose  of  the  study  was  to  show  the 
saving  in  labor,  materials  and  money  that  might  be  ef- 
fected by  the  installation  of  a  power  system  adequate  to 
serve  the  railroads,  municipalities,  utilities  and  the  in- 
dustries in  the  Superpower  Zone.  The  basic  idea  of  the 
superpower  system  is  to  co-ordinate  and  supplement 
existing  utilities  so  as  to  carry  to  a  higher  degree  the 
economies  incident  to  their  present  operation,  but  by 
no  means  to  supplant  or  even  to  compete  with  existing 
electric  public  utilities. 

While  there  has  been  much  interest  in  the  legal  and 
financial  aspects  of  putting  into  operation  such  a  super- 
power project,  these  points  are  not  touched  on  in  the 
report  for  the  reason  that  it  was  deemed  inopportune, 
without  further  consideration,  to  formulate  any  conclu- 
sions on  these  important  matters.  The  investigation 
was  an  engineering  one  and  the  problem  set  was  deter- 
mining the  total  amount  and  location  of  the  power  load 
that  would  be  required  for  private,  municipal,  indus- 
trial and  railroad  purposes  at  a  date  sufficiently  in  ad- 
vance to  permit  the  construction  of  a  system  of  the 
highest  economy  to  supply  it.  The  date  chosen  was 
1930,  and  the  allocation  of  the  load  and  power  generat- 
ing facilities  for  the  six  geographical  divisions  of  the 


Superpower  Zone  forms  a  most  interesting  part  of  the 
report.  In  determining  the  amount  and  location  of  the 
load,  the  electric  public  utilities,  the  railroads  and  the 
industries  within  the  zone  lent  their  co-operation. 

The  conclusions  reached  by  Mr.  Murray  are  neces- 
sarily largely  based  on  the  special  studies  made  by  the 
members  of  his  engineering  staff.  These  studies  appear 
as  appendices  to  the  report  and  are  as  follows : 

Appendix  B — "Electric  Utilities  in  Independent  Operation 
in  the  Superpower  Zone  in  1919,"  by  L.  E.  Imlay,  T.  B. 
Rutherford  and  others. 

Appendix  C — "Proposed  Electrification  of  Heavy-traction 
Railroads  in  the  Superpower  Zone,"  by  C.  T.  Hutchinson, 
N.  C.  McPherson  and  others.     (See  abstract  below.) 

Appendix  D — "Industry  in  the  Superpower  Zone,"  by 
H.  W.  Butler,  H.  Goodwin,  Jr.,  and  others. 

Appendix  E — "Performance  and  Cost  of  the  Superpower 
System,"  by  Henry  Flood,  Jr.,  A.  R.  Wellwood  and  others. 

Appendix  F — "Steam-electric  Plants  for  the  Superpower 
System,"  by  Henry  Flood,  Jr.,  and  others. 

Appendix  G — "Hydro-electric  Plants  for  the  Superpower 
System,"  by  L.  E.  Imlay,  L.  A.  Whitsit,  B.  J.  Peterson  and 
others. 

Appendix  H  —  "The  Superpower  Transmission  System," 
by  L.  E.  Imlay. 

Appendix  I — "Reliability  of  Service,"  by  L.  E.  Imlay  and 
others. 

Appendix  J — "The  Relation  of  Coal  and  Coal-Delivery 
Routes  to  the  Superpower  System,"  by  C.  E.  Lesher,  F.  G. 
Tryon  and  others. 

Appendix  K — "Use  of  Process  Fuels  and  Pulverized  Coal 
for  Base-load  Steam-Electric  Plants,"  by  O.  P.  Hood  and 
others. 

Appendix  L — "Basic  Costs,"  by  the  engineering  staff. 

Appendix  M — "Stations  and  Transmission  Lines  of  Elec- 
tric Power  Companies  Engaged  in  Public  Service,"  by  A.  H. 
Horton. 

Summary  op  Conditions 

The  market  for  superpower  energy  will  be  furnished 
by  the  electric  utilities,  the  industries  and  the  railroads. 
The  estimated  requirements  for  energy  supplied  through 
the  electric  utilities  for  municipal,  private,  industrial 
and  railroad  purposes  in  1930  is  31,000,000,000  kw.-hr. 
This  energy  could  be  supplied  by  a  co-ordinated  power 
system  at  an  annual  cost  of  $239,000,000  less  than  by  an 
unco-ordinated  system  such  as  is  now  in  use.  The  total 
investment  in  generating  and  transmission  facilities  for 
the  superpower  system  will  be  $1,109,564,000,  of  which 
$416,346,000  will  represent  the  value  of  existing  facili- 
ties to  be  incorporated  into  the  system. 

A  study  of  the  96,000  manufacturing  establishments 
operating  within  the  Superpower  Zone  shows  that  by 
1930,  through  the  maximum  economical  use  of  purchased 
electric  energy,  they  can  save  $190,000,000  annually 
above  the  fixed  annual  charges  against  a  capital  invest- 
ment of  $185,000,000  to  provide  the  motor  equipment 
necessary  to  receive  and  use  this  power. 

The  combined  capital  investment  necessary  for  the 
electric  utilities  and  the  industries  as  of  1930  therefore 
amounts  to  $1,294,564,000,  and  this  total  investment 
will  yield  annually  above  the  fixed  charges  the  sum  of 
$429,000,000  or  33  per  cent  on  the  investment. 

Within  the  Superpower  Zone  there  are  36,000  miles 
of  railroad  measured  as  single  track — that  is,  including 


820 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


each  track  of  main  lines,  yards  and  sidings.  Of  this 
total  about  19,000  miles  can  be  profitably  electrified,  so 
as  to  yield  by  1930  an  annual  saving  of  $81,000,000  as 
compared  with  the  cost  of  operation  by  steam.  The 
capital  expenditure  necessary  to  electrify  the  19,000 
miles  would  be  $570,000,000,  and  the  average  return 
upon  the  investment  would  therefore  be  14.2  per  cent. 

The  order  in  which  the  superpower  steam-electric  and 
hydro-electric  power  plants  and  transmission  systems 
should  be  constructed  must  depend  (1)  on  the  present 
industrial  demand  for  energy  that  cannot  be  satisfied 
because  of  the  difficulties  of  the  local  utilities  in  financ- 
ing extensions,  and  (2)  on  the  future  demand  for 
energy  that  will  result  from  the  more  economical  gene- 
ration of  power  under  the  Superpower  System.  It  is 
believed  that  the  quickest  return  will  be  obtained  by 
following  in  chronologic  sequence  the  order  of  procedure 
as  follows: 

1.  The  construction  of  a  steam-electric  plant  near  Pitts- 
ton,  Pa.,  to  supply  a  part  of  its  energy  to  the  anthracite 


Fig.  1 — The  Superpower  Zone  as  Visualized  in  the 
Superpower  Survey  Report 


division  of  the  Superpower  Zone  and  the  remainder  to  the 
metropolitan  divison,  particularly  New  Jersey. 

2.  The  construction  of  a  steam-electric  plant  near  Sun- 
bury,  Pa.,  to  supply  a  part  of  its  energy  to  the  anthracite 
division,  a  part  to  the  Reading  load  center,  and  the  remain- 
der to  Philadelphia. 

3.  The  construction  of  hydro-electric  plants  on  the  Dela- 
ware and  Susquehanna  Rivers  to  supplement  the  steam 
plants  indicated  above. 

4.  The  progressive  development  of  the  Hudson  River 
projects  to  meet  the  growth  of  energy  requirements  at  the 
Schenectady,  Utica,  Poughkeepsie  and  Pittsfield  load  centers. 

5.  The  construction  of  a  steam-electric  plant  near  Boston 
to  supply  the  Boston,  Lowell  and  Newburyport  load  centers. 

6.  The  construction  of  a  steam-electric  plant  near  New 
Haven  to  supply  the  New  Haven,  Bridgeport,  Waterbury 
and  Norwich  load  centers. 

7.  The  partial  construction  of  the  first  hydro-electric 
plant  in  the  development  of  the  Potomac  River  as  soon  as 
the  power  demands  of  the  Baltimore  and  Washington  load 
centers  require  additional  plant  capacity. 

The  Superpower  System 

The  large  interconnections  in  California  have  held  a 
spectacular  interest,  and  of  course  the  Superpower  Zone 
here  contemplated  is  based  on  a  similar  principle.  But, 
unlike  the  Pacific  Coast  region,  where  water  power 
abounds  and  industry  is  relatively  small,  the  Superpower 


Zone  has  relatively  small  hydro-electric  resources  and 
maximum  industrial  power  requirements.  Of  a  total 
energy  requirement  of  31,000,000,000  kw.-hr.  estimated 
for  1930,  not  more  than  21  per  cent  can  be  supplied  from 
water  power.  Fortunately,  some  of  the  best  coal  de- 
posits in  the  country  lie  near  this  great  industrial  ter- 
ritory and  a  joining  of  hydro-electric  power  and  steam- 
electric  power  should  effect  maximum  capital  and 
operating  economies,  at  the  same  time  conserving  the 
rapidly  disappearing  cheap  fuel  of  the  Appalachian  coal 
fields.  Fig.  2  shows  how  the  superpower  system  should 
appear  in  1925.  The  1930  plan  calls  for  some  additional 
transmission  lines  and  power  plants,  the  additional 
transmission  lines  reaching  principally  the  relatively 
distant  large  power  undertakings,  both  hydraulic  and 
steam. 

In  1930  the  number  of  power  stations  required  to 
supply  the  entire  zone  will  be  only  273.  At  present 
there  are  558  electric  utility  plants  and  thousands  of 
isolated  plants  of  all  sizes.  The  principal  opportunity 
for  economy  is  in  having  a  few  plants  of  large  capacity, 
it  being  planned  to  have  base  load  steam  plants  ranging 
from  60,000  to  300,000  kw.  In  none  of  these  plants  will 
there  be  installed  a  turbo-generator  having  a  capacity 
of  less  than  30,000  kw. 

Aside  from  the  appendix  on  electrification  of  heavy 
traction  railroads,  known  as  appendix  C,  the  other  ap- 
pendices of  interest  to  electric  railways  may  be  sum- 
marized in  what  follows.  The  appendices  are  definite 
engineering  reports  largely  by  experts  in  the  fields  to 
be  covered. 

Electric  Utilities  in  Independent  Operation 

In  New  York,  Baltimore  and  Washington  load  centers 
the  predominating  agency  is  25  cycles ;  in  the  remainder 
of  the  zone  it  is  60  cycles. 

The  present  electric  utility  load  is  10,000,000,000 
kw.-hr.  (1919),  and  this  is  expected  to  grow  to  26,000,- 
000,000  kw.-hr.  in  1930.  By  forming  a  ring  around  each 
large  city  in  the  zone  and  connecting  by  transformers 
to  the  existing  distribution  lines  greater  interchange  of 
power  and  therefore  decrease  in  reserve  capacity  may 
be  realized. 

Under  independent  operation  in  1919  the  generating 
capacity  required  was  46  per  cent  greater  than  the  an- 
nual peak  load  and  the  resulting  annual  capacity  factor 
was  26  per  cent.  Under  the  superpower  system  in  1930, 
through  joint  reserve,  the  generating  capacity  required 
will  be  only  9  per  cent  greater  than  the  annual  peak, 
and  the  annual  capacity  factor  will  be  45  per  cent. 

The  average  unit  production  cost  for  the  electric  utili- 
ties in  1919  was  1.93  cents  per  kilowatt-hour;  the  cost 
of  steam  electric  power  was  2.12  cents,  and  that  of 
hydro-electric  power,  0.94  cents.  Based  upon  the  same 
capacity  factor  as  applied  to  electric  independent  opera- 
tion, the  superpower  system  production  cost  should  be 
0.99  cents  per  kilowatt-hour. 

Industry  in  the  Superpower  Zone 

Without  any  invasion  of  the  field  of  what  might  be 
termed  byproduct  power,  it  is  estimated  that  there  could 
have  been  effected  in  1919  a  saving  of  13,502,100  tons 
of  coal — 71  per  cent  of  the  coal  used  by  the  industries 
for  producing  power,  or  25  per  cent  of  all  the  coal  used 
by  the  industries.  This  would  have  been  realized  by 
shutting  down  prime  movers  in  industry  and  purchasing 
energy.  Of  the  96,000  individual  establishments  in  the 
zone,  76,000  use  power. 


isovemoer  d,  1921 


Electric    Railway  journal 


821 


A  careful  study  of  the  power  requirements  for  indus- 
trial establishments  in  the  Superpower  Zone  has  been 
made  and  has  shown  that  by  1930  an  annual  saving  of 
$190,000,000  can  be  made  to  the  industries  themselves 
above  the  fixed  charges,  against  an  investment  of  $185,- 
000,000  for  the  motor  equipment  necessary. 

Performance  and  Cost  of  Superpower  System 

It  is  estimated  that  the  new  money  required  for  the 
superpower  system  up  to  1925  is  $453,143,000,  and  up 
to  1930,  $693,210,000,  thus  making  it  necessary  to  raise 
$90,600,000  annually  for  the  first  five  years  and  $48,- 
000,000  annually  for  the  following  five  years.  If  the 
demand  of  1930  were  provided  for  by  the  independent 
systems  as  constructed  today,  the  total  sum  required 
would  be  $1,856,000,000,  or  $85,600,000  a  year.  There 
is  thus  an  investment  saving  of  $163,000,000  during  the 
next  ten  years.  The  economic  relation  established  be- 
tween the  joint  use  of  steam  and  water  power  may  be 
realized  when  it  is  shown  that  they  can  be  so  combined 
as  to  yield  annually  $69,550,000  on  an  increased  invest- 
ment of  only  $44,838,000. 

In  this  section  is  shown  the  economy  of  using  Niagara 
water  power  and  St.  Lawrence  water  power  for  generat- 
ing energy  to  be  transmitted  into  this  district. 

This  appendix  also  shows  that  in  1930  the  cost  of  the 
power  produced  by  the  superpower  system  inclusive  of 
fixed  charges,  as  delivered  on  the  buses  of  the  electric 
utilities  would  be  10.6  mills  per  kilowatt-hour,  whereas 
the  cost  under  independent  operation  as  of  1919,  exclu- 
sive of  fixed  charges,  would  be  virtually  the  same. 

Steam-Electric  Plants  for  the  Superpower 
System 

It  is  proposed  to  retain  79  per  cent  of  the  effective 
capacity  of  the  present  steam-electric  public  utilities  in 
the  Superpower  Zone,  with  a  rating  of  2,677,000  kw. 
The  average  power  of  the  steam  plants  retained  is 
44,600  kw.,  and  these  should  produce  energy  at  an  aver- 
age rate  of  2.15  lb.  of  coal  per  kilowatt-hour.  It  is 
calculated  that  the  following  operating  characteristics 
for  base  load  steam  plants  could  be  realized : 

Steam  pressure  at  turbine  throttle,  300  lb.  per  square 
inch. 

Superheat  at  turbine  throttle,  230  cleg.  Fahr. 
Final  temperature  turbine  throttle,  652  deg.  Fahr. 
Vacuum   at  turbine  exhaust  nozzle,  1   in.  of  mercury, 
absolute. 

The  proposed  new  steam-electric  plants  have  been 
located  so  as  to  obtain  the  fullest  advantage  of  low 
freight  rates,  easy  coal  delivery  routes  and  ample  con- 
densing water.  Three  of  these  are  to  be  located  on  sites 
in  the  anthracite  region,  where  sufficient  condensing 
water  is  available  to  permit  the  development  of  300,000 
kw.  each. 

Hydro-Electric  Plants  for  the  Superpower 
System 

The  principal  rivers  which  can  contribute  water  power 
to  the  Superpower  Zone  are  the  Potomac,  Susquehanna, 
Delaware,  Hudson  and  Connecticut.  It  is  proposed  to 
utilize  power  from  these  rivers  in  1930  to  the  following 
extent : 


Output  Production 
Capacity    (Millions  of  Cost  (Milla 

Kw.  Kw.-hiO       Investment     per  Kw.-hr.^ 


Potomac   200,000  950  $22,000,000  3  36 

Susquehanna   185,000  1,230  28,000,000  3.22 

Delaware   350,000  1,250  51,500,000  5  05 

Hudson   150,000  900  38,350,000  5.84 

Connecticut   165,000  760  29,000,000  5.455 


It  is  proposed  to  develop  these  rivers  above  their 
primary  power  capacity  for  peak-load  operation. 

The  water  powers  of  the  Niagara  and  St.  Lawrence 
Rivers  are  within  transmission  distance  of  the  Super- 
power Zone,  but  on  account  of  the  time  required  for 
construction  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  of  the  treaty 
restrictions  concerning  the  use  of  the  water  at  Niagara 
Falls  the  power  from  these  sources  has  not  been  con- 
sidered available  in  the  zone  prior  to  1930. 

It  is  expected  that  the  total  capacity  for  the  produc- 
tion of  hydro-electric  power  by  1930  will  be  1,501,500 
kw.  compared  with  the  present  capacity  of  451,500  kw., 
or  30  per  cent.  This  will  represent  an  investment  of 
$245,977,000. 

The  Superpower  Transmission  System 

Naturally  a  transmission  and  distribution  system  of 
considerable  magnitude  is  one  of  the  most  important 
elements  of  the  whole  scheme.  At  present  there  are 
about  1,200  miles  of  transmission  system  at  33,000 
volts  or  higher,  and  this  mileage  will  become  distribu- 
tion rather  than  transmission.  The  principal  trans- 
mission features  of  the  superpower  system  will  there- 
fore have  to  do  only  with  transmission  of  power  from 
new  plants  to  load  centers  and  to  the  buses  of  existing 
electric  utility  plants. 

By  1930  the  superpower  transmission  system  should 
consist  of  970  circuit  miles  of  220,000  volt  lines  and 
4,696  circuit  miles  of  110,000  volt  interconnecting  lines. 
The  construction  of  the  transmission  system  for  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  Niagara  developments  will  add  3,140 
circuit  miles  of  220,000  volt  lines.  This  shows  that 
potentials  of  not  less  than  220,000  volts  will  be  selected 
to  transmit  power  from  plants  that  are  at  considerable 
distances  from  the  general  interconnected  superpower 
plants,  and  within  the  zone  a  potential  of  not  less  than 
110,000  volts  will  be  employed  for  interconnection  be- 
tween power  and  load  centers. 

Proposed  Electrification  of  Heavy  Traction 
Railroads  in  the  Superpower  Zone 

Of  particular  interest  to  railway  men  is  that  part  of 
the  report  having  to  do  with  railroad  electrification  in 
the  Superpower  Zone.  As  stated  above,  some  19,000 
miles  of  the  36,000  miles  in  the  zone  could  be  profitably 
electrified.  The  accompanying  map  shows  the  lines 
which  comprise  this  19,000  miles.  In  this  map  the  lines 
to  be  omitted,  some  of  them  important,  as  well  as  track- 
age to  be  included  are  noticeable. 

This  appendix  starts  O'ut  with  a  discussion  of  the 
advantages  of  unified  operation  and  stresses  the  extra 
advantages  due  to  unified  operation  by  electricity.  Of 
this  the  report  says : 

These  improvements  in  operation  can  be  made  more 
readily  under  electric  service  than  under  steam,  for  a 
change  in  the  power  system  would  bring  fresh  minds  into 
the  service  and  would  consequently  liberate  the  mental 
operation  of  the  average  railroad  man  from  conventional 
routine.  Under  electric  operation,  for  instance,  the  entire 
traffic  between  Philadelphia  and  Washington  could  readily 
be  carried  over  the  rails  of  the  Pennsylvania  System,  those 
of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  being  left  for  future  growth. 
Similarly,  electric  operation  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston  and 
New  York  would  leave  a  margin  of  track  capacity  so  great 
that  no  money  need  be  spent  for  many  years  for  further 
extensions  of  track.  This  relief  of  trackage  is  one  of  the 
very  notable  advantages  that  would  follow  unified  electric 
operation  of  the  railroads  in  this  territory.  The  great 
expense  of  any  large  increase  in  trackage  should  of  itself 
force  electrification;  the  total  cost  twenty  years  hence  will 
be  less  if  electrification  is  begun  now  than  the  cost  of  the 
added  track  and  terminal  facilities  necessary  under  steam 


822 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


operation  to  provide  for  the  inevitable  100  per  cent  increase 
in  traffic  within  that  time. 

The  report  then  goes  on  to  discuss  the  specific  ad- 
vantages of  electrification  in  operation  and  also  on 
account  of  the  characteristics  of  the  electric  locomotive 
as  a  machine.  With  most  of  these  arguments,  electric 
railway  men  are  already  familiar. 

Under  the  discussion  of  classes  of  electric  locomo- 
tives, it  is  pointed  out  that  there  is  no  sound  reason  for 
such  variety  as  at  present  exists  in  the  types  and 
weights  of  steam  locomotives.  It  is  pointed  out  that 
the  United  States  Railroad  Administration  formulated 
certain  standard  designs  and  reduced  the  number  of 
types  to  about  ten.  The  suggestion  with  reference  to 
electrical  equipment  is  that  this  number  can  be  reduced 
still  further,  "certainly  to  as  few  as  six  types  and  pos- 
sibly to  three."   The  definite  proposition  is  made  that: 

The  entire  freight  service  in  the  superpower  zone  can 
be  handled  by  electric  freight  locomotives  having  two  artic- 
ulated two-axle  trucks,  each  carrying  two  motors  geared 


Fig.  2 — The  Transmission  Scheme  and  Location  of  Plants  as 
Contemplated  by  the  Superpower  Report 
to  Exist  in  1925 

to  the  axle,  the  mounting  being  essentially  the  same  as  that 
in  a  number  of  locomotives  now  in  use  and  similar  to  the 
usual  street  car  mounting.  There  would  be  two  classes 
of  locomotives  of  this  type — a  light  one  carrying  80  tons  on 
drivers  and  having  a  continuous  drawbar  pull  of  22,000 
lb.  at  25  miles  an  hour,  and  a  heavy  one  carrying  110 
tons  on  drivers  and  having  a  continuous  drawbar  pull  of 
30,000  lb.  at  the  same  speed.  These  units  can  be  combined 
in  any  reasonable  number;  the  total  load  on  drivers  can 
be  made  equal  to  80,  110,  160,  190,  220  tons,  or  as  much 
more  as  may  be  desired,  being  limited  only  by  the  strength 
of  the  draft  rigging.    .    .  . 

For  passenger  service  a  similar  arrangement  would  be 
used — that  is,  two  articulated,  two-axle  trucks,  with  one 
motor  geared  to  each  axle.  The  motors  may  be  practically 
the  same  as  those  in  the  freight  locomotive,  the  only  differ- 
ence being  a  change  in  gear  ratio.  The  passenger  locomo- 
tive, however,  would  have  leading  and  trailing  trucks,  with 
either  two  or  four  wheels,  and  the  total  weight  would  be 
redistributed.  This  passenger  locomotive  would  be  of  two 
weights,  the  light  one  having  60  tons  on  drivers  and  the 
heavy  one  90  tons.  These  also  may  be  combined,  like  the 
freight  locomotives. 

For  the  switchers,  one  size  will  be  adequate,  with  70  to 
75  tons  on  drivers,  of  the  same  type  as  the  freight  locomo- 
tive. Substantially  the  same  frame  and  running  gear  can 
be  used,  with  motors  of  less  capacity. 

All  three  types  of  locomotives  will  have  the  usual  over- 


load capacity,  and  all  will  be  able  to  operate  in  starting  and 
accelerating  at  25  to  30  per  cent  adhesion. 

These  suggested  sizes  and  types  of  locomotives  caii, 
of  course,  be  varied  greatly  without  sacrificing  the  advan- 
tage of  unified  electric  operation,  but  identity  of  type  for  the 
same  service  throughout  the  superpower  zone  is  essential. 

Basis  of  the  Electrification  Study 

The  investigation  of  the  railroads  was  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seeing  what  saving  would  be  effected  by  unified 
electric  operation,  and  to  compare  this  estimated  saving 
with  the  investment  needed  to  effect  it.  Merely  a  sub- 
stitution of  electric  for  the  steam  locomotive  was  as- 
sumed, although  it  was  realized  that  the  greatest  gain 
could  be  obtained  only  by  an  entire  revamping  of  the 
transportation  scheme  to  fit  it  to  the  use  of  the  electric 
locomotive.  Such  an  analysis  would  have  involved  a 
detailed  study  of  each  road  and  of  each  division,  indeed, 
which  was  not  possible. 

Comparisons  of  cost  of  investment  and  operation 
were  based  on  electrical  energy  being  purchased  from 
the  superpower  system — no  investment  in  power  station 
and  transmission  systems  being  placed  on  the  railroads. 
Their  investment  begins  with  substations  segregated 
for  railroad  use. 

While  it  was  stated  that  the  comparison  of  cost  of 
investment  and  operation  need  take  no  account  of  the 
system  of  electric  traction  used,  yet  as  between  the 
3,000-volt  direct-current  system  and  the  11,000-volt  (or 
higher)  alternating-current  system  the  estimates  were 
based  upon  the  former.  This  was  done  because,  with 
the  60-cycle  frequency  adopted  for  generation  and  trans- 
mission, substations  with  rotating  machinery  were  re- 
quired for  alternating  current  as  well  as  for  direct 
current,  which  would  remove  one  of  the  principal  ad- 
vantages of  alternating  current  over  direct  current.  On 
this  point  the  report  says:  "In  order,  then,  to  avoid 
some  uncertain  element  in  the  estimates  of  the  cost  of 
the  alternating-current  system  it  has  been  decided  to 
base  all  estimates,  both  of  operation  and  of  construc- 
tion, on  the  3,000-volt  direct-current  overhead  system. 
Substantially  the  same  results,  in  money,  could,  how- 
ever, be  obtained  with  the  alternating-current  system, 
certain  gains  being  offset  by  certain  losses." 

It  was  immediately  evident  that  it  would  not  be  ade- 
quate to  study  the  roads  as  units  but  that  a  study  should 
be  made  of  the  operating  divisions  of  the  railroads. 
The  result  of  this  method  of  studying  is  graphically 
shown  in  the  map  showing  the  mileage  recommended 
to  be  electrified.  All  of  the  railroads  gave  excellent  co- 
operation in  the  collection  of  the  fundamental  data 
required.  Detailed  information  for  each  division  for 
each  month  of  the  year  1919  and  the  total  for  the  year 
was  obtained  on  the  following  items: 

Passenger  service,  train-miles,  total  locomotive-miles,  car- 
miles. 

Freight  service,  train-miles,  total  locomotive-miles. 

Gross  ton-miles  moved  (including  engine  and  tender) 
separately  for  freight  and  passenger. 

Switching  service,  ton-miles,  engine-miles,  engine-hours 
or  in  such  other  form  as  is  at  hand. 

Amount  of  coal  used  for  each  class  of  service  separately, 
if  possible,  and  total;  kind  of  coal  burned. 

Average  annual  maintenance  per  locomotive-mile,  sepa- 
rately for  each  class,  if  possible. 

Similar  data  were  obtained  from  those  roads  having 
electrically  operated  divisions  and  in  addition  special 
information  of  experience  in  electrical  operation  was 
obtained. 

The  report  includes  a  large  number  of  tables  giving 
detailed  information  from  the  various  systems.  The 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


823 


following  summary  of  the  principal  data  for  these  roads 
is  of  interest: 


summary  of  principal,  data  for  class  i  railroads 
within  the  superpower  zone  for  1919 


Road,  miles   13.396 

Main  track,  miles   21,021 

Yards  and  sidings   12,233 


All  tracks,  miles   33,25-t 


Freight  locomotives    4  J.  51 

Passenger  locomotives    2,669 

Switcher  locomotives    2.701 


All  locomotives    9..521 

Freight  trailing  load,  thousands  of  ton-miles   95,629,000 

Passenger  service,  train-miles   88,026,000 

Switcher  service,  locomotive-miles   56,536.000 

Coal  burned : 

Freight  service,  short  tons   9,771,.800 

Passenger  service,  short  tons   5,525,000 

Switcher  service,  short  tons   3,108,500 


All  services,  short  tons   18,405,300 


The  General  Electric  and  the  Westinghouse  companies 
prepared  estimates  on  substation  equipment,  electric 
locomotives,  catenary  construction  'and  other  electric 
facilities ;  and  similar  data  were  also  asked  of  the  Ohio 
Brass  Company  and  one  or  two  other  companies. 

All  of  these  data  were  analyzed,  a  study  was  made  of 
the  energy  required  for  electric  traction  as  obtained 
from  roads  operating  electrically  and  a  second  method 
of  determining  electrical  energy  required,  by  calculating 
from  profile  and  alinement  the  various  work  require- 
ments, was  used  to  give  additional  evidence.  Investiga- 
tions of  switcher  service  at  various  yards,  even  in 
Chicago,  were  also  made  taking  records  from  existing 
steam  operation  with  reference  to  energy  consumption 
and  total  movement. 

Other  subjects  investigated,  the  results  being  based 
on  statistics,  were:  Coal  saved,  efficiency,  equivalent 
coal,  cost  of  coal,  cost  of  electric  energy,  cost  of  main- 
tenance of  steam  locomotives,  cost  of  maintenance  of 
electric  locomotives,  the  distribution  system,  main- 
tenance of  substations,  saving  in  wages  of  train  crews. 

The  report  then  gives  summaries  of  costs  of  construc- 
tion of  overhead  and  of  purchase  of  electric  locomotives. 
It  analyzes  the  number  of  electric  locomotives  required, 
studying  locomotive  mileage  and  locomotive  hours,  crew 
hours,  etc.,  and  arrives  at  the  total  cost  noted  above  of 
$570,000,000.  The  report  includes  a  table  showing  the 
detailed  figures  for  cost  of  items  of  construction  and 
equipment  involved  in  the  electrification  of  Chicago 
terminals,  inclusive  of  power  station  and  transmission 
systems,  as  collateral  evidence  on  the  relation  of  certain 
specified  costs  to  the  total  cost. 

After  all  this  study  was  made  it  was  concluded  that 
the  individual  divisions  should  be  examined  to  see  what 
savings  could  be  realized.  Charts  of  these  savings, 
first  including  the  saving  in  wages,  and  second  not 
including  the  saving  in  wages,  were  made  and  from 
these  graphs  it  was  evident  that  certain  divisions  would 
not  prove  advantageous  for  electrification.  The  group 
of  divisions  selected  for  electrification  showed  an  aver- 
age saving  of  11.4  per  cent  not  including  wages  and 
14.2  per  cent  including  wages.  It  includes  thirty  of 
the  forty  divisions  examined  comprised  in  eleven  of 
the  thirteen  systems  as  shown  in  the  accompanying 
map.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  Hudson  division  of  the 
New  York  Central  and  the  Albany  division  of  the  Bos- 
ton and  Albany  are  not  included.  Special  conditions 
caused  specially  low  operating  costs  here  so  that  only  6 
and  1\  per  cent  saving,  respectively,  would  be  realized. 


The  figures  for  each  of  the  divisions  examined  are 
given  in  an  interesting  summary  table,  from  which  the 
following  outstanding  figures  are  of  interest:  The  total 
net  cost  of  construction,  $570,085,000;  the  net  reduction 
in  annual  cost  of  operation,  including  crew  wages, 
$80,880,935,  being  14.19  per  cent  of  construction  cost; 
the  net  reduction  excluding  crew  wages,  $65,065,300, 
being  11.41  per  cent  of  cost  of  construction.  The  per- 
centage of  savings  ranges  from  10.6  per  cent  for  the 
New  York,  Susquehanna  &  Western  division  of  the 
Erie  to  19  per  cent  for  the  New  Haven-Boston  route  of 
the  New  Haven  road. 

A  very  large  amount  of  tabulated  matter  is  given  at 
the  end  of  this  section  showing  in  detail  various  costs 
of  operation  and  various  figures  from  which  judgment 
can  be  passed  as  to  the  soundness  of  the  conclusion. 
There  is  also  an  interesting  graph  showing  the  growth 
of  traffic,  both  freight  and  passenger,  of  tracks  and  of 
tractive  power  for  the  Class  1  railroads  in  the  Super- 
power Zone  from  1900  to  1919.  The  report  states  that 
"the  annual  rate  of  growth  has  been  5.3  per  cent  in 
passenger  miles,  4.5  per  cent  in  ton-miles,  0.75  per  cent 
in  all  tracks,  and  6.6  per  cent  in  tractive  power  of  loco- 
motive." Some  idea  of  the  future  development  can  be 
obtained  from  the  slope  of  these  curves. 

This  section  of  the  report  concludes  with  the  following: 

The  amount  of  money  required  for  electrification  is  indi- 
cated as  being  $570,000,000.  This  figure  is  based  on 
costs  prevailing  in  1919,  but  at  present  cost  (June,  1921)  it 
would  be  reduced  by  18  per  cent,  to  approximately  $467,000,- 
000  and  before  this  construction  can  be  undertaken  there 
will  be  further  material  reductions.  Probably  five  years 
from  now  the  entire  work  outlined  could  be  done  for  not 
more  than  $400,000,000.  This  is  comparatively  a  moderate 
sum.  Good  railroad  authorities  have  stated  repeatedly  that 
more  than  one  billion  dollars  a  year  is  needed  by  the  rail- 
roads of  the  United  States  for  extensions  and  betterment. 
The  part  of  this  total  to  be  allocated  to  the  Superpower  Zone, 
as  determined  by  the  numher  of  locomotives,  would  be  £150,- 
000,000.  The  amount  required  for  normal  extensions  and 
betterment  for  three  years  would  therefore  be  sufficient  to 
electrify  the  thirty  selected  divisions  of  the  railroads  in 
this  territory,  with  an  annual  saving  of  more  than  14  per 
cent.  The  most  valuable  feature  of  the  change,  however, 
is  not  the  amount  saved,  but  the  great  increase  in  maximum 
capacity  of  existing  trackage  and  the  general  advantages 
of  electric  operation. 

These  figures  indicate  that  with  a  return  of  normal 
financial  conditions  all  these  lines  should  be  electrified  be- 
fore further  great  expenditures  have  been  incurred  to  in- 
crease in  a  minor  degree  the  capacity  of  the  existing  tracks 
and  yards.  Steam  operation  cannot  satisfactorily  meet  the 
conditions  of  the  crowded  terminal  herein  described  as  the 
Superpower  Zone;  electric  operation  can  easily  do  it. 

Improving  Accident  Records 

THE  Wichita  Falls  (Tex.)  Traction  Company  has 
been  very  successful  in  forming  and  building  up  an 
organization  to  improve  its  accident  records.  The 
organization  was  started  in  July,  1919,  and  has  been 
working  continuously  since  that  time  with  increasing 
effectiveness.  At  the  time  of  its  institution  the 
company's  records  showed  it  was  averaging  one  accident 
for  every  750  car-miles,  or  a  little  more  than  two  acci- 
dents daily  with  an  average  mileage  of  about  1,600. 
Since  that  time  it  has  reduced  its  accident  records 
until  they  ran  an  average  of  1,500  miles  per  eighteen- 
hour  day  from  June  18  to  Aug.  6  of  this  year,  making 
a  total  mileage  of  73,500,  without  an  accident  being 
reported.  This  is  considered  an  excellent  record.  The 
company  is  organized  very  thoroughly  and  every  time 
an  accident  occurs  it  is  investigated  carefully  with  each 
and  every  trainman  in  an  attempt  to  show  how  it 
happened  and  how  it  could  have  been  avoided. 


824 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Traffic  Analysis  in  New  York 

The  New  York  Transit  Commission  Is  Conducting  an  In- 
vestigation of  Traffic  Conditions  on  the  Surface  Lines 
in  Contemplation  of  Recommending  a  Unified 
Co-ordinated  System 

VALUABLE  information  as  to  the  amount  of  travel 
of  surface  car  line  passengers  in  Manhattan  has 
been  obtained  as  the  result  of  trip  counts  which  are  still 
being  made  among  trolley  passengers  by  the  New  York 
Transit  Commission  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  its  in- 
vestigation as  to  which  of  the  trolley  lines  are  neces- 
sary and  should  be  retained  as  part  of  the  unified  sys- 
tem contemplated  under  the  new  plan.  These  counts  have 
been  in  progress  during  the  past  week  on  the  Eighth, 
Ninth,  Sixth,  Fourth  and  Madison  Avenue  lines.  This 
week  the  counts  were  resumed  on  the  Ninth  Avenue 
line,  and  when  that  survey  has  been  completed  the 
counts  will  be  made  on  the  flow  of  traffic  to  and  fro 
across  Eighty-sixth  Street.  The  new  transit  plan  con- 
templates the  dropping  or  scrapping  of  little  used  or 
unimportant  lines  and  will  attempt  to  determine  just 
what  actual  use  is  made  of  each,  whether  as  a  through 
route  or  as  an  intermediate  route  of  the  passenger. 

The  commission  expects  later,  when  the  work  in  Man- 
hattan is  completed,  to  extend  the  count  to  Brooklyn  and 
the  remaining  boroughs  of  the  city.  Extensive  prepara- 
tions have  been  made  and  some  preliminary  tentative 
counts  were  undertaken  at  various  points  in  connection 
with  mapping  out  the  general  scheme.  It  is  proposed 
to  do  the  work  in  a  very  thorough  fashion. 

Under  the  present  scheme  that  the  commission  is 
using  each  line  is  taken  up  separately  and  studies  are 
being  made  in  connection  with  that  line  by  the  inspec- 
tion staff  of  the  commission.  Signs  were  posted  in  each 
car  several  days  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  count  by 
the  inspectors.  These  signs,  printed  in  English,  Italian 
and  Hebrew,  are  informative  in  character,  stating  the 
reason  for  which  the  count  is  being  made  and  urging 
the  co-operation  and  assistance  of  the  passengers  in 
carrying  it  out.  These  posters  say  that  in  order  to  get 
at  the  proper  routing  of  cars  it  is  essential  for  the  com- 
mission to  learn  how  the  lines  are  used,  what  the  trans- 
fer points  are  of  various  passengers,  etc. 

Small  cards  have  been  printed  which  are  handed  out 
by  the  inspectors  to  each  passenger  on  the  car  of  the  line 
involved  during  any  particular  inspection.  These  cards 
request  the  passenger  to  inform  the  inspector  what  line, 
or  lines,  he  utilizes  in  order  to  get  from  his  starting 
point  to  his  destination ;  how  many  cars  he  uses ;  the 
name  of  the  street  corner  at  which  he  begins  his  trip; 
the  street  corner  which  is  to  be  his  final  destination ; 
at  what  street  corner  he  boarded  the  car  under  inspec- 
tion, and  at  what  street  corner  he  is  to  leave  that  car. 
The  passenger  is  also  requested  to  inform  the  inspector 
whether  he  paid  a  cash  fare  on  the  particular  car  or 
whether  he  presented  a  2-cent  transfer  or  a  free  trans- 
fer. City  Hall  is  taken  as  the  center  to  which  or  from 
which  all  people  are  considered  to  be  traveling.  A  blue 
card  is  used  for  all  passengers  whose  destination  is  in 
the  neighborhood  of  City  Hall,  while  a  pink  one  is  to  be 
filled  out  by  all  passengers  going  away  from  City  Hall. 

When  the  counts  are  completed  the  information  gath- 
ered by  the  inspectors  will  be  tabulated  and  indexed  so 
that  it  can  be  utilized  by  the  traffic  experts  of  the  com- 
mission in  the  preparation  of  the  necessary  analyses 
for  the  guidance  of  the  commission  in  working  out  the 
details  of  its  plan. 


Generally  speaking,  the  commission  has  obtained  an 
average  of  about  60  per  cent  of  answers  to  the  questions 
propounded  by  the  inspectors  or  tendered  to  passengers 
on  cars  presented  by  them.  Four  inspectors  are  as- 
signed to  each  car  and  the  counts  are  made  in  the  work- 
ward  and  homeward  rush  hours  and  at  mid-day  as  well. 
On  the  longer  routes  three  round  trips  are  made  by 
each  squad  of  inspectors,  while  on  some  of  the  shorter 
ones  as  many  as  six  can  be  made  in  the  same  time.  This 
means  that  on  every  surface  route  at  least  nine  round 
trips  are  made,  so  that  a  very  accurate  index  of  the 
amount  and  kind  of  travel  is  obtained  because  the  counts 
are  made  at  representative  periods  in  the  traffic  cycle. 

About  one  hundred  inspectors  drawn  from  the  various 
departments  of  the  commission  were  assigned  to  this 
work.  In  some  instances  the  inspectors  have  found  it 
possible  to  achieve  a  100  per  cent  result  of  information 
from  passengers.  This  was  particularly  true  of  the 
non-rush  hours  when  the  cars  were  less  crowded.  Dur- 
ing the  crowded  hours  the  inspectors  found  it  difficult 
to  reach  all  the  passengers  and  also  found  a  disposition, 
particularly  among  tired  passengers  in  the  night  rush 
hours,  of  not  being  willing  to  be  bothered. 

It  was  said  at  the  offices  of  the  commission  this  week 
that  the  result  of  the  count  so  far  is  regarded  as  satis- 
factory and  that  the  information  obtained  when  col- 
lated and  properly  tabulated  will  be  invaluable  in  work- 
ing out  the  problem  of  the  disposition  of  the  surface 
car  lines.  It  is  expected  that  at  least  ten  days  or  two 
weeks  more  will  be  required  to  complete  the  count  in 
Manhattan.  Several  squads  of  men  have  already  begun 
their  count  on  several  of  the  Brooklyn  and  Bronx  lines. 

Water-Power  Development  Under 
Federal  Act 

THE  Federal  Power  Commission  under  the  water- 
power  act  of  June  10,  1920,  has  since  March  1,  1921, 
authorized  the  issuance  of  thirty  licenses  involving 
1.269,000  hp.  and  twenty-four  preliminary  permits  in- 
volving 1,280,000  hp.,  a  total  of  2,549,000  hp.,  or  as 
much  as  the  aggregate  of  all  applications  approved  by 
the  several  executive  parties  during  the  fifteen  years 
preceding  June,  1920.  As  a  result,  projects  aggregating 
1,277,000  hp.  and  an  investment  of  approximately  $100,- 
000,000  are  already  under  construction  in  New  York, 
Alabama,  Wisconsin,  Oregon  and  California. 

Up  to  Oct.  8,  1921,  there  have  been  filed  with  the 
commission  256  applications  involving  more  than  16,- 
000,000  hp.,  of  which  about  10,500,000  hp.  is  primary 
power  and  5,500,000  secondary  power.  The  great  major- 
ity of  these  applications  contemplate  the  development 
and  sale  of  power  as  public  utilities.  In  1917  the 
census  report  showed  an  average  investment  in  water- 
power  plant  and  equipment  at  that  time  of  $240  per 
horsepower.  If  the  average  investment  required  in  the 
projects  before  the  commission  is  only  one-half  as  much, 
an  expenditure  of  $2,000,000,000  will  be  involved.  The 
collateral  expenditures  for  distribution  systems,  for  cus- 
tomers' installation  and  in  accessory  industries  will  be 
several  times  greater.  The  commission  believes  that 
with  the  removal  of  the  restrictions  which  have  hither- 
to existed,  with  improved  industrial  and  financial  con- 
ditions, with  the  development  of  new  industries,  with 
railroad  electrification,  and  with  the  gradual  displace- 
ment of  steam  power  by  water  power,  it  is  reasonable  to 
expect  in  the  near  future  an  activity  in  water-power 
development  hitherto  unknown. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric    Railway  Journal 


825 


Australian  Railway  Rail 

Standard  Specifications  for  Railway  Rails  and  Fishplates 
Just  Issued — Rails  Generally  Are  Higher  for  Their 
Weights  than  Their  American  Equivalents 

THE  Commonwealth  Institute  of  Science  and 
Industry,  Melbourne,  Australia,  has  published  the 
new  Australian  standard  specifications  for  railway  rails 
and  fishplates  which  were  adopted  this  year  and  have 
been  approved  by  the  Interstate  Conference  of  Railway 
Commissioners.  The  specifications  include  ten  draw- 
ings giving  dimensions  of  the  five  standard  section  rails 
(T-rails)  and  fishplates.  The  rails  weigh  60,  70,  80,  90 
and  100  lb.  per  yard.  The  section  of  the  standard  80-lb 
rail  and  fishplates  is  reproduced. 

The  rails  generally  are  higher  for  their  weights  than 
their  American  equivalents  in  either  A.  S.  C.  E.  or 


Section  of  Australian  Standard  80-Lb.  Railway  Rail 
and  Fishplates 


A.  R.  A.  series.  The  heads  are  also  wider  and  of 
slightly  less  depth,  while  the  sides  of  the  webs  are 
straight  in  contrast  to  the  curved  sides  of  the  webs  in 
American  rails.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  the  large 
radius  of  the  fillet  connecting  the  top  and  sides  of  the 
head.  It  is  greater  than  that  found  in  most  American 
rails.  The  greater  head  width  is  probably  for  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  a  larger  fishing  surface  for  the  tops 
of  the  fishplates.  A  difference  in  fishing  angles  will 
also  be  noted,  particularly  under  the  head,  the  slope  of 
which  is  1 :3.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  the  use  of  the 
term  "fishplate"  in  contrast  to  the  American  terms, 
"angle-bar"  or  "splice-bar,"  and  attention  is  called  to 
the  use  of  the  T-rail  in  contrast  to  the  British  "bull- 
head" or  "double-headed"  rail. 

In  reference  to  the  fishplate  designs,  it  seems  that 
these  could  have  been  designed  along  more  progressive 
lines  as  they  are  quite  similar  to  the  old  A.  S.  C.  E. 
designs,  which  are  admittedly  inadequate.  A  design 
similar  to  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  standard  would 
cost  little  if  any  more  and  give  much  greater  strength. 

The  specifications  for  manufacture  in  general  are 


quite  similar  to  current  American  specifications.  Only 
5  per  cent  short  lengths  are  permitted  as  compared  with 
10  per  cent  allowed  here.  Four  kinds  of  steel  are 
specified,  permitting  a  range  in  selection  by  the  pur- 
chaser. These  are  basic  open  hearth,  acid  bessemer, 
Sandberg's  basic  open  hearth  high  silicon  and  Sand- 
berg's  acid  bessemer  high  silicon.  The  chemical  an- 
alyses of  these  are  given  in  the  accompanying  table. 


Single-Phase  Express  Locomotives  for  the 
Swiss  Federal  Railways 

OF  THE  fifty-three  electric  locomotives  that  were  or- 
dered by  the  Swiss  Federal  Railways  from  Brown, 
Boveri  &  Company,  forty-one  are  of  the  l-B-(-B-l 
type  and  will  be  used  for  passenger  and  express  train 
service.  These  engines  were  designed  to  pull  a  300-ton 
train  up  a  2.6  per  cent  grade  at  a  speed  of  31  m.p.h., 
and  to  accelerate  such  a  train  on  that  grade  to  the 
mentioned  speed  within  fifteen  minutes.  A  top  speed 
of  47  m.p.h.  should  be  possible. 

To  fulfill  these  conditions  an  output  of  2,000  hp.  is 
required,  which  is  derived  from  four  twelve-pole  single- 
phase  motors  of  500-hp.  continuous  and  750-hp.  one- 
quarter-hour  rating  at  650  r.p.m.  Two  groups  of  two 
motors  each  drive  through  a  reduction  gear  of  1 :32 
two  jackshafts,  from  which  horizontal  rods  transmit 
the  power  to  the  two  front  and  two  rear  drivers.  Each 
motor  has  its  own  7i-hp.  blower  mounted  directly  above 
it.  In  the  middle  of  the  engine  is  installed  a  1,730-kva. 
oil-cooled,  single-phase  auto-transformer,  containing 
eighteen  voltage  taps  for  the  control  of  the  motors  and 
the  train  heating.  The  oil  of  this  main  transformer  is 
kept  cool  by  being  pumped  through  a  system  of  cooling 
tubes  located  along  both  sides  of  the  locomotive.  The 
motor-operated  tap  switch  is  mounted  directly  upon  the 
cover  of  the  transformer,  resulting  in  minimum  length 
of  connections. 

All  control  apparatus,  such  as  switches,  contactors, 
relays,  etc.,  are  actuated  by  36-volt  d.c.  derived  from  a 
l*-kw.  motor-generator  assisted  by  a  standard  car 
lighting  storage  battery.  Two  motor-operated  air  com- 
pressors of  9  kw.  each  provide  air  pressure  for  braking 


MAIN  DATA  OF  LOCOMOTIVES 


Single-phase  current   15,000  volt 

Frequency   1 6  i  ft. 

Hourly  rating   2,400  hp. 

Gage     Standard 

Diameter  of  drivers   60  in. 

Diameter  of  pony  wheels,  j   37  in. 

Length  over  all   54  ft.  2  in. 

Weight  of  mechanical  equipment.   1  OP, 760  lb. 

Weight  of  electrical  equipment   132,160  lb. 

Complete  weight   241,920  lb . 


and  lowering  of  the  two  pantographs.  A  novel  system 
is  provided  to  apply  electric  braking  on  long  down 
grades.  For  this  purpose  a  42-kva.  braking  transformer 
is  connected  in  series  with  the  main  transformer,  and 
it  is  possible  to  excite  the  fields  of  the  four  traction 
motors  through  this  circuit.    The  armatures  of  each 


CHEMICAL  ANALYSES  AUSTRALIAN  STANDARD  RAILS 
•  ■   Processes  ■ 


Basic  Open 

Elements        •  Hearth* 

Carbon   0.55—0.68 

Silicon   Not  less  than  0.10 

Sulphur   Not  more  than  0  07 

Phosphorus   Not  more  than  0.  04 

Manganese     0  60 — 0.90 

*  Carbon  varies  with  weight.    That  in  table  is  for  80-lb.  rail. 

Carbons  are  permitted  as  high  as  0  62 — 0  75  for  100  lb.  O — H  Rail. 

Carbons  are  permitted  as  high  as  0.  60— 0  70  for  100  lb.  A— B  Rail. 


Acid 
Bessemer* 
0  50—0.60 
Not  less  than  0.  10 
Not  more  than  0  07 
Not  more  than  0  07 
0.60—  0  90 


Sandberg's 
Basic  Open  Hearth 

Higli  Silicon 
0.50— 0  65 
0  20— 0  40 
Not  more  than  0  06 
Not  more  than  0.  06 
Not  more  than  1 .  00 


Sandberg's 
Acid  Bessemer 
High  Silicon 
0.40— 0  55 
0  30—0.50 
Not  more  thai 
Not  more  thai 
0  70— I  00 


0  07 
0  .  07 


826 


Electric   Railway  Jouenai, 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


two  motors  are  put  in  series  and  discharge  their  gen- 
erated current  into  special  braking  resistances.  As  the 
main  transformer  is  in  the  field  circuit,  its  eighteen 
steps  permit  of  a  very  gradual  applying  of  the  braking 
force. 

The  valve  operating  the  pantograph  lowering  device 
is  interlocked  with  the  main  oil  switch,  allowing  a 
lowering  only  after  the  switch  is  opened. 


Direct  Current  for  England 

Railways  Electrification  Advisory  Committee  Submits  Its 
Final  Report  on  the  Question  of  Standardization  of 
System  to  the  Ministry  of  Transport 

THE  final  report  of  the  Electrification  of  Railways 
Advisory  Committee  on  the  question  of  standardiza- 
tion of  system  was  submitted  on  June  30  to  the  Ministry 
of  Transport  and  was  made  public  by  the  Ministry 
the  end  of  August.  The  chairman  of  the  committee  is 
Sir  Alexander  Kennedy,  LL.D.,  and  the  members  include 
Sir  John  A.  F.  Aspinall,  Sir  Philip  Dawson,  Sir  John 
Snell,  Sir  Henry  Thornton,  A.  R.  Cooper  and  Charles 

H.  Merz.  The  committee  was  appointed  in  March,  1920, 
to  decide  "whether  any  regulation  should  be  made  for 
the  purpose  of  insuring  that  the  future  electrification 
of  railways  in  England  should  be  carried  out  to  the 
best  advantage  in  regard  to  the  interchange  of  elec- 
tric locomotives  and  rolling  stock,"  and  "whether  any 
regulations  should  be  made  to  limit  the  drop  of  poten- 
tial in  an  uninsulated  return  conductor  on  electrically 
operated  railways." 

On  the  question  of  system,  the  committee  decided  as 
follows : 

1.  That,  in  the  case  of  those  railways  which  have  not  as 
yet  electrified  any  lines,  as  well  as  those  which  at  present 
have  electrified  all  or  part  of  their  lines  on  the  direct-current 
system,  their  electrification,  or  extended  electrification  as  the 
case  may  be,  should  be  carried  out  on  the  direct-current 
system. 

2.  That  the  standard  pressure  of  the  direct-current  system 
at  the  substation  busbars  shall  be  1,500  volts,  subject  zo: 

(a)  The  continuance   of  any  existing  600-volt  and/or 

I,  200-volt  installations,  and,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Minister  of  their  extension. 

(b)  The  adoption  of  half  the  standard  voltage — 750  volts 
— in  those  cases  where  it  can  be  shown  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Minister  that  advantage  would  arise  from  the  use  of 
this  lower  pressure. 

(c)  The  adopton  of  higher  pressures- — limited  to  a  mul- 
tiple of  the  standard  pressure — where  it  can  be  shown  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  Minister  that  sufficient  advantage 
would  accrue. 

3.  That  both  overhead  and  rail  conductor  collection  should 
be  permitted  as  long  as  the  position  and  general  design  of 
the  conductors  and  structures  are  in  accordance  with  recom- 
mendations which  will  be  made  in  a  subsequent  report.  In 
that  report  the  committee  will  also  suggest  the  regulations 
required  to  insure  that  locomotives  and/or  motor  coaches 
shall  be  able,  wherever  it  may  be  necessary,  to  run  at  two 
different  voltages,  e.g.,  600*750  and  1,500  and/or  with 
either  rail  or  overhead  collection. 

4.  That  the  generation  of  current  for  direct-current  lines 
should  be  alternating  three-phase  at  such  voltage  as  may 
be  desirable  in  each  case. 

5.  That  in  the  case  of  existing  generating  stations  supply- 
ing at  any  frequency  between  25  and  50  cycles  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  make  any  change  in  frequency,  but  that  it  is  desir- 
able that  where  any  one  such  frequency  is  in  general  use 
in  a  particular  electricity  district  any  new  power  station 
put  down  in  that  district  for  supplying  a  railway  should 
adopt  the  frequency  which  has  been  approved  by  the  elec- 
tricity commissioners  or  is  in  general  use  in  that  district. 

The  committee  desires  to  add  on  this  matter  that  from 
the  evidence  which  has  been  put  before  it,  as  well  as  its  own 
experience,  it  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  alternating 
current  supplied  to  substations  at  a  frequency  of  50  cycles 
can  be  used  for  railway  purposes  without  any  detriment  to 
railway  working. 


In  connection  with  the  recommendation  on  system, 
the  committee  says  the  London,  Brighton  &  South 
Coast  Railway  long  ago  had  installed  the  single-phase 
system  for  its  suburban  lines  and  that  a  change  to  the 
direct-current  system  would  involve  a  large  financial 
expenditure  which  the  railway  itself  could  not  be  asked 
to  undertake,  and  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  justify 
to  the  public  at  the  present  time.  The  committee 
recommended,  therefore,  that  the  system  now  in  use  or 
planned  for  lines  actually  under  construction  on  the 
Brighton  company's  suburban  lines  need  not  be  changed. 

The  committee  considers  that  a  standard  position  out- 
side the  track  should  be  defined  within  certain  limits 
for  the  contact  surface  of  the  contact  rails  in  relation 
to  the  position  and  level  of  the  running  rails  and  recom- 
mends that  in  respect  to  new  electrically  operated  lines 
and  extensions  to  existing  lines  the  following  regula- 
tions should  be  issued  for  securing  the  interchange- 
ability  of  running:  (1)  The  contact  surface  shall  be  in 
the  horizontal  plane;  (2)  the  gage  measured  between 
the  center  of  the  horizontal  contact  surface  of  contact 
rails  and  the  gage  line  of  the  nearest  rail  of  the  corre- 
sponding track  shall  be  1  ft.  4  in.;  (3)  the  vertical 
height  of  the  contact  surfaces  above  the  plane  of  the 
top  table  of  the  running  rail  shall  be  for  top-contact 
rails  3  in.,  for  under-contact  rails  H  in. ;  (4)  the 
vertical  height  of  the  contact  rail  above  the  plane  of 
the  top  table  of  the  running  rail  shall  be  such  as  to 
provide  the  necessary  clearance  from  the  load  gages 
from  time  to  time  in  use;  (5)  the  under-contact  rail 
where  employed  shall  provide  for  the  engagement  of  the 
contact  shoe  being  made  from  the  side  nearest  to  the 
running  rail;  (6)  above  the  level  of  the  under-contact 
surface  no  part  of  the  contact  rail  construction  shall  be 
at  a  less  distance  than  1  ft.  li  in.  from  the  gage  line  of 
the  nearest  contact  rail,  and  below  the  level  of  the 
under-contact  surface  at  a  less  distance  than  1  ft.  74  in. 
from  the  gage  line  of  the  nearest  track  rail;  (7)  the 
vertical  distance  between  the  underside  of  any  contact 
shoe  in  the  three  positions  and  the  plane  of  the  top  table 
of  the  running  rail  shall  not  be  less  than  li  in. 

Standardized  Overhead  Collection 

In  respect  to  overhead  collection,  it  is  essential  for 
the  interchange  of  electrically  operated  trains  that  the 
position  of  the  overhead  live  wire  and  the  clearances 
between  the  live  wire  and  the  fixed  and  moving  struc- 
tures as  well  as  the  width  and  operating  range  of  the 
collector  gear  shall  be  such  that  any  train  may  collect 
current  from  all  electrically  equipped  railways.  The 
committee  therefore  recommends  that  in  respect  to  new 
lines  and  new  electrical  equipment  on  existing  lines  the 
following  regulations  should  be  issued  for  securing 
interchangeability  of  running:  (1)  The  standard  clear- 
ances shall  be,  between  the  underside  of  any  overhead 
live  wire  or  conductor  and  the  maximum  load  gage 
likely  to  be  used  on  the  line  in  the  open,  3  ft.;  through 
tunnels  and  under  bridges,  10  in. ;  between  any  part  of 
the  structure  and  the  near  point  of  any  live  overhead 
wire  or  conductor,  6  in.;  between  the  rail  level  and 
overhead  conductors  at  crossings,  18  ft.;  at  places 
where  there  is  a  likelihood  of  men  in  the  conduct  of 
their  duties  having  to  stand  on  the  top  of  engines  or 
vehicles,  20  ft.;  between  any  part  of  the  collector  gear 
and  any  structure,  3  in.  (2)  The  horizontal  distance  of 
the  contact  wire  from  the  plane  to  the  center  line  of  the 
track  and  perpendicular  to  the  surface  of  the  track  rails 
shall  be  within  the  following  limits:  At  a  height  of  18 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


827 


ft.  above  the  level,  1  ft.  3  in. ;  at  a  height  of  4  in.  above 
the  maximum  load  gage  likely  to  be  used  on  the  line, 
1  ft.  9  in.  (3)  The  weight  and  construction  of  the  con- 
tact wire  and  support  shall  be  suitable  for  the  passage 
of  collectors  exerting  an  upward  pressure  of  25  lb.  to 
40  lb.  (4)  The  width  of  the  renewable  contact  surfaces 
of  the  collectors  at  right  angles  to  the  track  shall  not  be 
less  than  4  ft.  and  the  extreme  width  over  the  horns  of 
the  collector  shall  not  exceed  7  ft.  6  in. 

The  committee  concluded  that  it  was  unwise  to  draft 
any  regulations  limiting  the  drop  of  potential  on  unin- 
sulated return  conductors.  It  said  that  the  cases  of 
harmful  effects  due  to  potential  drop  in  excess  of  that 
allowed  by  the  tramway  act  had  been  few  and  unim- 
portant and  readily  corrected  by  the  railway  companies 
on  their  own  initiative.  The  only  question  was  the 
effect  of  these  currents  on  the  instruments  in  observa- 
tories, and  the  committee  felt  that  regulations  should 
be  limited  to  the  portion  of  electric  railways  within  the 
vicinity  of  the  observatory. 

Edinburgh  Corporation  Tramways  Begin 
Overhead  Construction 

ALTHOUGH  the  motor  omnibus  has  displaced  the 
l\.  cable  cars  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  on  the  majority 
of  routes,  additional  factors  presented  their  applica- 
tion on  the  route  from  Leith  to  Edinburgh.  To  allow 
a  continuous  trip  between  the  two  cities  at  the  least 
cost,  electrification  appeared  most  promising.  The 
photograph  reproduced  herewith  shows  the  staff  of  the 


Setting  Tubular  Steel  Pole  in  Edinburgh 


Edinburgh  Corporation  Tramways  present  at  the  erect- 
ing of  the  first  pole  to  support  the  tramway  overhead 
construction  since  the  tramways  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  municipality.  A  special  portable  derrick  fur- 
nished means  of  rapid  setting  of  the  tubular  steel  poles. 


The  London  General  Omnibus  Company  has  just 
completed  a  motor  coach  which  has  many  new  features. 
The  seats  are  arranged  so  that  a  zigzag  gangway  runs 
the  entire  length  of  the  coach.  There  is  ample  room 
for  every  passenger.  The  most  striking  new  feature 
which  the  coach  displays,  however,  is  the  arrangement 
of  the  hood,  which,  when  it  is  not  in  use,  is  folded 
away  in  front  of  the  driver.  It  is  claimed  for  this 
device  that,  among  other  advantages,  it  gives  the  driver 
a  better  view  to  the  rear  of  the  coach,  decreases  the 
rear  overhang,  and  prevents  damage  to  the  hood  when 
the  coach  is  being  reversed. 


A  Correction  in  Discussion  on  Trolley  Wire 
American  Copper  Products  Corporation 

New  York,  Oct.  26,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

In  your  issue  of  Oct.  18,  page  633,  included  with  the 
summary  of  remarks  before  the  convention  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Engineering  Association,  I 
am  quoted  as  expressing  preference  for  numerous  reduc- 
tions in  wire  drawing.  This  is  contrary  to  my  opinion 
in  the  matter.  In  substance,  my  remarks  on  this  sub- 
ject were  that  we  would  agree  with  the  majority  that 
the  heavy  draws  produce  wire  of  at  least  equal  results 
physically  and  of  more  uniform  hardness;  that  is,  we 
get  away  from  the  skin  hardness  by  the  heavy  draws. 

I  would  appreciate  it  if  you  would  make  this  correc- 
tion. Horace  A.  Staples. 


What  Merchandising  Means 

New  York,  Oct.  31,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

In  the  efforts  to  "merchandise"  electric  railway  serv- 
ice, has  there  been  enough  thought  given  to  the  quality 
of  the  goods? 

Some  people — fewer  every  day — ride  on  the  street 
cars  because  they  have  to.  Merchandising  must  be  di- 
rected to  winning,  or  winning  back,  the  others. 

In  the  last  analysis,  the  only  way  to  fight  the  bus, 
the  private  car  and  the  sidewalk  is  to  make  the  street 
car  service  more  attractive.  If  this  is  not  done,  no 
amount  of  propaganda  can  save  the  industry. 

To  make  the  service  more  attractive,  the  manager 
must  absolutely  get  the  point  of  view  of  the  passenger. 
The  best  way  to  do  this  is  for  the  manager  to  ride  his 
cars  and  himself  study  every  point  of  contact  of  the 
passenger  with  the  transportation  system — the  wait  on 
the  corner,  the  stop  signs  and  landing  places,  the  car 
signs,  the  steps,  the  method  of  fare  collection,  the  clean- 
liness of  seats  and  windows.  The  most  minute  impres- 
sions should  be  studied  by  the  manager,  for  little 
things,  either  good  or  bad,  very  often  produce  general 
impressions. 

No  one  can  talk  merchandising  and  ignore  zone  fares. 
There  are  millions  of  people  in  this  country  walking 
short  distances  every  day  who  would  ride  if  the  fare 
for  their  journey  were  less.  Because  a  zone-fare  sys- 
tem failed  in  New  Jersey  is  no  proof  that  the  principle 
can  never  be  applied  in  this  country.  In  some  of  its 
many  forms  it  is  now  in  use  in  many  places  in  this 
country.  The  street  railway  must  aim  to  adapt  its  serv- 
ice to  the  needs  of  the  greatest  possible  number  of 
people. 

The  subject  of  civility  of  employees  is  hackneyed,  but 
it  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  still  much  to  be 
desired  in  this  line.  Shall  we  throw  up  our  hands  or 
shall  we  look  for  new  influences  and  methods  in  place 
of  old  ones  which  have  failed?  Some  roads  have  at- 
tained a  fair  degree  of  success  in  the  matter  of  courtesy 
to  passengers.  On  every  road  there  are  some  men  who 
treat  their  passengers  like  human  beings.  Does  this 
not  hold  out  hope  that  improvement  along  this  line  is 
not  impossible?  J.  A.  Emery. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Brake  Equipment  for  Paulista 
Railway 

The  Electric  Locomotives  Are  Provided  with  a  Combined 
Vacuum  and  Air  Pressure  Brake  Equipment  and 
Arrangements  for  Regenerative  Braking 
Are  Also  Made 

THE  brake  equipments  for  the  electric  locomotives 
now  going  into  service  on  the  electrified  portion  of 
the  Paulista  Railway  in  Brazil  have  several  new  fea- 
tures. As  the  cars  to  be  handled  by  these  locomotives 
are  equipped  with  the  automatic  vacuum  brake,  it 
was  necessary  to  make  provision  on  the  locomotive  for 
controlling  this  type  of  brake  equipment.  As  these 
electric  locomotives  weigh  from  100  to  140  tons,  it 
would  take  from  six  to  eight  vacuum  cylinders  of  28-in. 
diameter  to  give  the  proper  braking  force  for  each 
locomotive,  and  as  there  is  quite  a  list  of  other  appa- 
ratus besides  brake  equipment  that  must  be  supplied, 
it  is  evident  that  the  vacuum  brake  could  not  be 
utilized  on  the  locomotives  themselves,  although  ar- 
rangements had  to  be  made  to  handle  trains  of  cars 
so  equipped. 

The  simple  straight  air  locomotive  brake  equipment 
cou'd  be  used  for  handling  the  locomotives  alone,  but 
to  apply  it  in  conjunction  with  the  vacuum  train  brakes 
would  require  the  operation  of  two  separate  valves  by 
the  engine  man  at  the  same  time,  which  is  objectionable. 
Moreover,  as  two  separate  operating  valves  could  not 
be  mechanically  connected  so  as  to  operate  simultane- 
ously without  destroying  the  independent  operation  of 
the  locomotive  brake,  this  might  prove  impractical. 
The  bra'  e  as  adopted  provides  for  connecting  the 
vacuum  and  air  pressure  system,  so  that  a  reduction  in 
the  air  pressure  brake  pipe  would  be  followed  by  a 
locomotive  brake  application  of  the  same  proportionate 
amount  as  that  realized  on  the  cars  and  the  train.  Also, 
the  re'ease  of  the  train  brakes  automatically  causes  a 
corresponding  release  of  the  locomotive  brakes.  Both 
of  these  are  accomplished  without  interfering  with 
possible  independent  release  or  application  of  the  loco- 
motive brakes  at  any  time. 

Details  of  Brake  Equipment 

The  brake  equipment  of  these  locomotives  consists 
of  a  motor-driven  air  compressor  of  21  cu.ft.  displace- 
ment with  a  7^-hp.  direct-current  motor  operating  on 
95  volts.  This  supplies  the  compressed  air  for  the 
locomotive  brake  system  and  for  the  air-operated  aux- 
iliaries. The  vacuum  for  the  train  brake  system  is 
obtained  by  a  motor-driven  vacuum  pump  having  a 
displacement  at  full  speed  of  150  cu.ft.  per  minute. 
This  is  driven  by  a  10-hp.  direct-current  motor  operat- 
ing on  95  volts.  The  exhauster  operates  at  full  speed 
only  during  the  release  of  the  vacuum  brake.  At  all 
other  times  it  operates  at  half  speed  to  maintain  the 


vacuum  against  leakage.  On  some  of  the  Paulista  loco- 
motives the  air  compressor  and  vacuum  exhauster  will 
be  combined  into  one  unit  driven  by  a  single  motor.  In 
this  case  they  will  both  operate  continuously  at  normal 
speed. 

The  locomotive  brake  operating  parts  are  in  general 
the  same  as  are  used  on  all  modern  steam  locomotives. 
Two  brake  cylinders  are  mounted  on  each  truck,  one  of 
which  operates  the  brakes  on  the  driving  wheels  on  that 
side  of  the  truck.  Air  pressure  is  admitted  to  and 
released  from  these  cylinders  by  a  distributing  valve, 
which  is  the  principal  operating  device  of  the  Westing- 
house  Air  Brake  Company's  E.T.  locomotive  equipment. 
Two  engineer's  brake  valves  are  required  at  each  control 
stand,  one  of  which  is  called  the  independent  brake  valve 
for  operating  the  locomotive  brakes  only  and  the  other 
is  called  the  automatic  brake  valve  for  operating  both 
train  and  locomotive  brakes. 

Two  Types  of  Brakes  Operate  in  Harmony 

The  most  distinctive  features  of  this  new  equipment 
are  those  provided  for  causing  the  locomotive  brakes  to 
operate  in  harmony  with  the  train  brakes  during  the 
manipulation  of  the  automatic  vacuum  brake  valve. 
This  is  accomplished  by  two  new  devices  called  the 
"application  control  valve"  and  the  "release  control 
valve,"  which  are  connected  in  both  the  vacuum  and  air 
pressure  systems.  They  consist  of  diaphragms,  springs 
and  valves  so  arranged  as  to  preserve  a  certain  balance 
between  the  vacuum  and  air  pressure.  When  the 
vacuum  is  reduced  to  apply  to  train  brakes  the  applica- 
tion control  valve  causes  a  corresponding  proportionate 
reduction  of  air  pressure  in  the  pressure  brake  pipe 
which  connects  it  to  the  distributing  valve  and  causes 
the  latter  to  operate  exactly  as  if  it  were  in  an  air 
pressure  system.  When  the  vacuum  is  reinstated  to 
release  the  train  brakes  the  application  control  valve 
admits  a  sufficient  amount  of  main  reservoir  air  to  the 
pressure  brake  pipe  to  cause  the  distributing  valve  to 
assume  the  release  position  and  to  release  the  locomo- 
tive brakes.  The  release  control  valve  is  provided  so 
that  in  case  the  vacuum  brakes  are  graduated  off  in 
steps,  instead  of  being  entirely  released  at  once,  the 
locomotive  brake  cylinder  pressure  will  be  released 
proportionately  in  about  the  same  number  of  steps. 

These  locomotives  are  a'so  arranged  for  regenerative 
braking  and  it  is  considered  necessary  to  prevent  the 
application  of  the  power  brakes  during  the  time  that 
the  locomotive  is  regenerating,  as  both  retarding  forces 
acting  together  would  be  likely  to  cause  the  wheels  to 
slide.  This  is  accomplished  by  a  special  cap  on  the 
distributing  valve,  which  contains  a  magnet  and  valve 
so  arranged  that  during  regeneration  the  distributing 
valve  will  not  operate.  Immediately  upon  release  of  the 
regeneration  the  power  brakes  become  active  exactly 
as  if  the  regeneration  had  not  been  used. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric,  Railway  Journal 


829 


Turbo-Generator  Operated  Five  Years  with 
But  Few  Stops 

FOR  five  years  a  3,200-kva.  turbo-generator  has  been 
operating  in  the  power  plant  of  the  city  of  Sas- 
katoon, Canada,  without  a  breakdown.  The  unit  was 
installed  by  the  Westinghouse  company  in  1914  and 
was  put  into  operation  Nov.  24  of  the  same  year. 
Except  for  a  short  period  in  the  summer  of  1919  it 
has  been  continuously  available  for  service. 

A  summary  of  performances  given  by  city  engineers 
show  that  the  governor  operated  between  extremes  of 
load  which  varied  from  300  to  2,850  kw.  in  perfect 
control.  The  only  portion  of  the  entire  equipment  that 
was  ever  removed  was  the  governor  pedestal  cap  for 
the  purpose  of  renewing  a  gasket  on  the  gland  runner 
joint.  The  condenser  has  proved  reliable.  On  one  occa- 
sion when  ice  shut  off  the  water  intake  seventeen  times 
in  an  eight-hour  run  no  trouble  to  the  tubes  or  plates 
occurred  under  this  unusual  strain. 

There  were  two  runs  of  long  duration.  The  first  of 
these  took  place  from  Oct.  6,  1916,  to  April  22,  1917, 
and  the  second  from  June  12,  1917,  to  March,  1918. 
In  the  first  run  the  load  factor  was  46.3  per  cent,  while 
in  the  second  it  was  46.6  per  cent. 


The  Electric  Steam  Boiler 

THE  APPLICATION  of  a  15,000-volt,  single-phase 
current  directly  to  the  water  in  a  boiler  for  the 
purpose  of  generating  steam  by  electricity  was  de- 
scribed in  the  Aug.  6  issue  of  Electric  Railway 
Journal.  Some  further  details  regarding  the  boiler 
construction  are  now  available.  In  the  construction  of 
boilers  for  alternating-current  voltages  from  1,000  to 
15,000  volts,  no  special  heating  elements  are  used.  With 
the  lower  voltage,  one  electrode  is  used,  and  with  the 
high  voltage  two  electrodes,  the  water  in  each  case 
forming  the  rheostat.  The  accompanying  illustration 
shows  the  construction  used  for  the  electrically  heated 
boiler  in  service  for  heating  trains  of  the  Swiss  Federal 
Railways  where  a  single-phase,  15,000-volt  current  is 
used. 

Extensive  tests  made  on  large  electro-boilers  with 


alternating  current  of  161  cycles  showed  that  there  is 
no  danger  from  any  possible  gas  generation.  The  regu- 
lation of  the  current  in  relation  to  the  steam  demand  is 
effected  either  by  controlling  the  depth  of  immersion  of 
the  electrodes  in  the  water,  or  by  changing  the  position 
of  an  insulated  cylinder  placed  coaxially  with  the  elec- 
trodes and  thereby  increasing  or  decreasing  the  length 
of  the  path  of  the  current  through  the  water.  The 
latter  method  has  been  highly  developed  by  the  Brown- 


Boveri  Company  in  Switzerland.  For  the  automatic 
maintenance  of  a  constant  steam  pressure,  the  insulat- 
ing cylinder  may  be  connected  to  a  float.  This  insulat- 
ing cylinder  may  consist  of  earthenware  for  low 
voltage,  or  porcelain  for  high  voltage.  With  large 
output  boilers  quartz  only  will  resist  the  action.  To 
provide  the  necessary  cooling  of  the  electrodes,  in  large 
output  boilers,  a  water  circulating  pump  is  provided. 


Trip-Cock  Test  on  London  Underground 

THE  Metropolitan  District  Railway,  London,  for- 
merly tested  the  trip  cocks  on  its  trains  at  the  St. 
James's  Park  station,  but  the  method  used  was  such 
as  to  cause  what  was  practically  an  emergency  stop. 
Aside  from  this  shaking  up  of  train  and  pasengers,  the 
scheme  had  the  disadvantage  that  it  did  not  apply  to 
every  train  and  to  every  trip. 

These  objections  have  been  overcome  by  the  trip-cock 
testing  devices  now  installed  at  the  Charing  Cross  sta- 

g  Tread/e 


-j-.-~H   i ■mnrvrm  ,  Ramp ivr  +sfioerT 

Irv/iccrtur"  k  Z50--  -  >r<   500'-    >; 

lamps 


tion  on  both  tracks,  shown  in  the  accompanying  dia- 
gram. As  each  passing  train  operates  the  device  an 
indication  is  given  at  once  in  case  the  trip-cock  arm  is 
incorrectly  adjusted  or  out  of  gage  horizontally  to  more 
than  2  in.  up  or  down,  or  vertically  within  \  in. 

About  750  ft.  back  of  each  starting  signal  there  is 
installed  a  ramp  on  the  side  of  the  track  opposite  to 
that  of  the  positive  conductor  rail  (as  distinguished 
from  the  negative  conductor  rail  used  in  London)  and 
having  the  same  relative  height  and  position.  About 
250  ft.  from  the  starting  signal  a  detector  is  attached 
to  the  end  of  a  tie,  set  8  in.  from  the  running  rail,  also 
on  the  side  opposite  to  the  positive  conductor  rail,  but 
about  21  in.  above  rail  level.  A  lamp  indicator,  show- 
ing a  purple  light,  is  mounted  on  the  starting  signal 
post  or  adjacent  to  the  signal. 

As  the  train  passes  over  the  ramp  the  collector  shoe 
energizes  the  latter  by  transfer  from  the  collector  shoe 
on  the  other  side,  and  a  relay,  which  switches  on  the 
light  in  the  indicator,  is  thereby  actuated.  This  relay 
is  held  up  through  a  contact  on  the  detector,  but  as  a 
train  with  correctly  adjusted  trip  cocks  passes  the  latter 
the  detector  is  operated  to  de-energize  the  re'ay  and 
extinguish  the  indicator  light.  Should  the  trip  cock 
be  out  of  gage,  or  otherwise  incorrect,  the  detector  will 
not  be  operated.  The  continued  illumination  of  the 
indicator  light  will  tell  the  motorman  that  the  trip  cock 
is  out  of  adjustment. 


830 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Railway  Topics  Discussed  by  A.  S.  M.  I. 

Municipal  Engineers  Meet  in  Baltimore  and  Consider  Traffic  Rules,  City 
Planning,  Rapid  Transit  and  Paving — Specifications 
for  Track  Construction  Proposed 


A FOUR-DAY  convention  of  the 
American  Society  for  Municipal  Im- 
provements, the  twenty-seventh  annual 
meeting  of  that  organization,  was  held 
in  Baltimore,  Oct.  25-28.  A  large 
number  of  papers  and  reports  were 
presented,  among  them  a  paper  on 
rapid  transit  systems  by  Robert  Ridg- 
way  of  New  York,  printed  on  another 
page.  Abstracts  of  a  number  of  other 
reports  or  addresses  of  especial  inter- 
est to  electric  railway  companies  are 
given  below: 

Traffic  and  Transportation 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  traffic 
and  transportation  was  devoted  to  a 
consideration  of  the  reduction  of  street 
congestion,  to  jitney  traffic  and  to  a 
recommendation  for  the  establishment, 
in  municipalities  having  a  population 
of  100,000  or  over,  of  a  highway  trans- 
port division.  The  duties  of  this 
division  would  be  to  deal  with  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  traffic  and  trans- 
portation which  affect  the  economic 
designs  and  maintenance  of  streets  and 
their  efficient  use  by  pedestrians  and 
all  classes  of  vehicles.  One  of  the  most 
important  functions  of  such  a  division 
would  be  to  make  highway  transport 
surveys  as  preliminary  to  the  design 
and  redesign  of  streets  and  the  formu- 
lation of  efficient  traffic  regulations.  On 
the  subject  of  reduction  of  street  con- 
gestion and  jitney  service,  the  report 
says: 

"Based  on  a  careful  analysis  of  pub- 
lic passenger  transportation,  your  com- 
mittee considers  that  it  is  highly 
desirable,  from  the  standpoints  of  eco- 
nomic public  service  transportation 
and  the  efficient  use  of  municipal 
streets  by  traffic,  that  the  society 
should  strongly  condemn  the  develop- 
ment of  'wildcat,'  so  called,  jitney  serv- 
ice. Not  only  is  the  installation  of 
such  service  undesirable  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  overcrowding  of 
streets  with  five-passenger  public  trans- 
portation vehicles,  but  it  is  obviously 
unfair  to  public  service  corporations, 
operating  under  franchises,  to  be  forced 
to  compete  with  a  jitney  service,  which 
almost  universally  is  operating  on  an 
uneconomic  basis.  The  present  over- 
crowding of  some  of  the  principal 
thoroughfares  of  the  city  of  Detroit 
with  hundreds  of  five-passenger  jitneys 
furnishes  a  striking  example  of  this 
type  of  public  service  transportation 
development." 

In  the  discussion  following  this  re- 
port, Prof.  Arthur  H.  Blanchard  of 
the  University  of  Michigan  advocated 
the  principle  of  compelling  jitneys  to 
operate  only  under  municipal  franchises 
by  the  terms  of  which  they  could  be 
forced  to  render  adequate  service,  as 
are  the  street  railway  companies.  Such 
a  method  of  operation,  he  announced, 
is  in  effect  in  Detroit,  where  groups  of 
jitney  buses  have  been  formed  into 
companies.  He  opposed  the  practice 
of  permitting  jitney  buses  to  operate 
on  the  same  streets  as  street  railway 
lines,  citing  the  case  of  one  company  in 
Michigan  which  has  been  forced  to  sus- 
pend service  on  account  of  jitney  com- 
petition. It  was  brought  out  in  the 
discussion,  also,  that  the  public  may 
find  jitney  service  agreeable  during  the 
warm    months    of   summer,   but  that 


when  winter  comes  the  value  of  an 
inclosed  street  railway  car  is  better 
appreciated. 

License  fees  for  motor  vehicles  oper- 
ating on  city  streets,  Professor 
Blanchard  believes,  are  too  low.  In 
England,  he  pointed  out,  a  substantial 
charge  is  made  for  the  use  of  city  pave- 
ments by  buses  and  trucks.  He  forecast 
a  wide  utilization  of  motor-truck  lines 
for  freight  haulage  to  be  installed  and 
operated  by  the  railway  companies. 

In  large  cities,  where  traffic  is  con- 
gested, Professor  Blanchard  stated  the 
trackless  trolley  is  not  an  economical 
means  of  transport.  The  concentrated 
wear  caused  by  these  vehicles,  he  said, 
is  responsible  for  ruts  in  pavements. 

Public  Service  Commissions  and 
Municipalities 

In  presenting  an  abstract  of  his 
paper  on  "The  Relations  Between  Pub- 
lic Service  Commissions  and  Munic- 
ipalities," Major  Ezra  B.  Whitman,  of 
Norton,  Bird  &  Whitman,  consulting 
engineers,  Baltimore,  and  a  member  of 
the  Public  Service  Commission  of  Mary- 
land, made  a  plea  for  the  establishment 
of  equitable  rates  for  such  utilities  as 
street  railway  corporations  and  gas 
companies,  even  though  this  should 
mean  a  raising  of  rates,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  companies  from  going  into 
receiverships.  It  has  been  the  recent 
practice  in  Maryland,  in  certain  cases, 
to  allow  a  corporation  a  temporarily 
increased  rate,  pending  a  final  decision 
by  the  Public  Service  Commission. 
Such  action  is  necessary,  he  pointed 
out,  because  changing  conditions  in  the 
cost  of  labor  and  materials  take  place 
far  more  rapidly  than  it  is  possible  for 
public  service  commissions  to  give 
their  decisions.  Often  such  delibera- 
tions take  from  six  months  to  two 
years  and  involve  detailed  valuations  of 
property.  Major  Whitman  made  the 
point  that  public  service  corporations 
can  live  only  so  long  as  capital  is  at- 
tracted to  them,  and  this  means  the 
establishment  of  rates  which  will  as- 
sure a  reasonable  profit  on  the  invest- 
ment. 

City  Planning 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  city 
planning  urged  the  establishment,  in 
every  city  of  50,000  inhabitants  and 
upward,  of  a  city  planning  office  with 
at  least  one  well-trained  employee.  In 
the  development  of  a  city  plan  the 
studies  should  be  made  in  the  follow- 
ing order:  (1)  Major  streets  plan, 
(2)  transit  plan  covering  street  car 
lines,  (3)  transportation  plan  covering 
steam  and  electric  railroad  locations 
and  terminals,  (4)  public  recreation 
plan,  (5)  zoning  plan,  (6)  civic  art. 

Street  Railway  Paving 

This  was  the  first  report  of  a  new 
committee,  of  which  C.  E.  DeLeuw  of 
Chicago  is  chairman.  It  was  not  pre- 
sented for  adoption  A  nuir^T  of  ab- 
stracts from  letters  of  city  engineers 
describing  street  railway  track  and 
paving  construction  in  their  cities  were 
given,  as  well  as  some  drawings  and 
statements  of  these  engineers  on  the 
various  details  of  construction  which 
have  been  found  successful  or  unsatis- 
factoi'y.    The  report  then  recites  fac- 


tors which  require  study  in  selection  of 
tracks  and  pavements  therefor.  These 
seem  to  be  taken  largely  from  reports 
of  the  committee  on  way  matters  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Engineer- 
ing Association  for  1914  and  1915.  The 
latter  committee  is  also  quoted  directly 
on  conclusions  presented  in  1915  on. 
track  pavements. 

It  also  contained  a  proposed  speci- 
fication for  street  railway  pavements 
and  track  construction,  submitted  for 
discussion.  The  specification  contains 
sixteen  sections,  which  bear  earmarks 
of  rather  hasty  preparation.  The  first 
ten  sections  of  the  specification  are  re- 
printed below.  These  are  followed  by 
five  sections  for  stone,  brick,  wood,  as- 
phalt and  concrete  pavements  and  a 
final  section  on  "grade."  An  objection- 
able feature  of  the  latter  is  a  proposal 
that  the  outer  rails  of  double  tracks 
shall  be  I  in.  below  the  inner  rail. 
Proposed  Specifications  for  Street  Rail- 
way Pavements  and  Track  Construction 

1.  Excavation.  1.  The  contractor  shall 
excavate  the  space  to  be  occupied  by  the 

tracks   to    a   depth   of    inches  below 

finished  grade.  Any  soft,  spongy  or  other- 
wise defective  material  shall  be  removed 
from  the  subgrade,  and  replaced  with  sound 
material. 

2.  The  subgrade.  shall  be  thoroughly- 
rolled  with  a  three-wheel  roller  weighing 
not  less  than  10  tons  where  practicable. 
In  places  inaccessible  to  the  roller  com- 
pression will  be  secured  by  tamping. 

II.  Subsoil  Drainage.  3.  In  all  soils  ex- 
cept sand,  gravel  or  sandy  loam,  subsoil 
drainage  shall  be  provided. 

4.  This  shall  be  done  by  laying  either 
4-  or  6-in.  tile  pipe  in  a  trench  surrounded 
by  crushed  stone,  gravel  or  cinders.  The 
drain  shall  be  laid  under  the  center  of 
each  track  or  midway  between  tracks,  as 
may  be  determined  by  the  character  of  soil. 

5.  Provision  shall  be  made  for  connec- 
tions leading  from  the  base  of  rails  to  the- 
subsoil  drains,  at  frequent  intervals. 

6.  Subsoil  drains  shall  be  connected  to 
the  sewers  by  means  of  vitrified  tile  pipe 
of  a  suitable  size. 

III.  Foundation.  7a.  Plain  Ballasted 
Construction.  The  ballast  shall  be  evenly 
spread  in  the  trench  so  that,  after  being 
thoroughly  compacted  with  a  three-wheel 
roller  weighing  not  less  than  10  tons,  it 
shall  have  a  minimum  depth  of   inches. 

8a.  Ballast  shall  consist  of  clean,  hard, 
durable  crushed  stone  or  gravel  graded  so 
as  to  pass  a  2-in.  screen  and  be  retained 
on  a  J-in.  screen. 

7b.  Concrete  Slab  Sub-ballast  Construc- 
tion. Upon  the  subgrade  prepared  as  above 
described,  shall  be  laid  a  Portland  cement 

concrete  slab    inches  in   depth.  The 

concrete  shall  conform  to  the  A.  S.  M.  I. 
specifications  for  concrete  'for  pavement 
foundations. 

8b.  After  the  concrete  slab  has  set  a 
laver  of  ballast  shall  be  laid  to  a  maxi- 
mum depth  of  3  in.  Ballast  shall  consist 
of  clean,  hard,  durable  crusbed  stone  or 
gravel  graded  so  as  to  pass  a  1-in.  screen 
and  be  retained  on  J-in.  screen.  Ballast 
shall  be  well  compacted  by  tamping. 

7c.  Solid  Concrete  Construction.  Upon 
the  subgrade  prepared  as  above  described 
shall  be  laid  a  concrete  foundation  which 
shall  be  constructed  integral  with  the  pave- 
ment base.  The  concrete  work  will  follow 
immediately  after  the  surfacing  and  Tning 
of  the  track.     The  final  concrete  shall  be 

brought  to  a  height    inches  below  the 

top  of  the  rail  and  shall  coincide  with  the 
grade  established  for  top  surface  of  pave- 
ment base.  Concrete  below  and  around  ties 
and  rails  shall  be  thoroughly  rammed  and 
tamped.  If  the  engineer  deems  it  necessary, 
cement  grout  shall  be  poured  so  that  all 
voids  will  be  filled.  Care  shall  be  taken 
in  tamping  under  and  around  the  tie  and 
rail  so  that  the  surface  and  line  of  the 
track  shall  not  be  disturbed.  In  no  case 
shall  the  ends  of  ties  be  covered  by  a  board' 
while  placing  the  concrete. 

Sc.  The  concrete  shall  conform  to  the 
A.  S.  M.  I.  specifications  for  concrete  for 
pavement  foundations. 

IV.  Rails.  9.  The  rails  used  shall  be 
of  a  type  and  weight  which  shall  meet 
the  approval  of  the  engineer.  The  T-rails 
shall  comply  with  specifications  of  the- 
American    Society    for    Testing  Materials. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


831 


The  high  T-rails  and  girder  rails  shall 
comply  with  the  specifications  of  the  Amer- 
ican Electric  Railway  Engineering  Asso- 
ciation. 

V.  Rail  Joints.  10.  Rail  joints  shall  be 
modern  bolted,  riveted  or  welded  joints. 
The  joint  selected  shall  product  the  effect 
of  a  continuous  rail.  The  type  of  joint  and 
the  method  of  making  shall  be  approved  by 
the  engineer  and  be  subject  to  his  super- 
vision. 

VI.  Rail  Fastenings.  11.  The  rail  shall 
be  brought  to  proper  gage  and  fixed 
securely  to  ties  by  track  spikes  or  screw 
spikes.  Clips  shall  be  used  in  all  cases 
when  crew  spikes  are  used.  The  type  and 
dimensions  of  rail  fastenings  shall  be 
approved  by  the  engineer. 

VII.  Tie  Plates.  12.  Upon  each  tie  and 
under  each  rail  shall  be  placed  a  tie  plate. 
The  size,  type,  and  weight  of  tie  plates  and 
the  method  of  fastening  to  the  ties  shall 
meet  with  the  approval  of  the  engineer. 

13.  When  tie  rods  are  not  used,  suitable 
brace  tie  plates  shall  be  placed  as  directed 
by  the  engineer. 

VIII.  Ties.  14.  Wood  Ties  (untreated). 
All  ties  shall  be  either  No.  1  white  oak  or 
90  per  cent  heart  long-leaf  yellow  pine. 

15.  All  ties  must  be  square  edged  and 
sound  and  sawed  out  of  straight-growing 
timber.  They  shall  conform  to  specified 
dimensions,  be  out  of  wind,  with  sawed 
ends,  and  straight  and  parallel  faces.  Ties 
shall  be  free  from  splits,  shakes,  loose  or 
decayed  knots,  or  other  imperfections  which 
may  impair  their  strength  or  decrease  their 
durability. 

16.  The  standard  dimensions  of  all  ties 
shall  be  6  in.  in  depth,  8  in.  in  width  and 
8  ft.  in  length.  A  variation  from  the 
standard  dimensions  of  |  in.  in  depth  and 
width  and  1  in.  in  length  will  be  permitted, 
provided  that  not  more  than  20  per  cent  of 
ties  under  the  standard  dimensions  will  be 
accepted. 


THE  past  year  of  general  business 
depression  has  accentuated  the  in- 
herent stability  of  public  utility  busi- 
ness as  a  class.  The  tremendous  indus- 
trial activity  of  1920  greatly  increased 
the  demands  on  the  utilities,  which  were 
called  upon  to  expand  their  facilities  for 
service  to  an  unusual  degree.  But  it 
was  an  ordered  expansion.  There  was 
no  such  peak  of  production  as  was  the 
case  in  the  industrial  field.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  the  depression  set  in 
there  was  not  the  same  drastic  falling 
off  in  gross  receipts. 

Both  periods,  of  course,  brought  their 
problems.  After  the  war  interest  rates 
were  high.  Prime  mortgage  securities 
could  be  sold  only  at  such  prices  as 
would  yield  the  investor  an  income  of 
7  per  cent  and  more.  This,  of  course, 
made  it  rather  embarrassing  for  a  com- 
pany which,  faced  by  large  additional 
demands  from  its  customers,  had  to 
raise  money  for  additions  and  exten- 
sions, but  had  nothing  to  raise  it  on 
except  the  5  per  cent  bonds  authorized 
by  the  open  end  mortgage  it  had  drawn 
up  before  the  war.  It  was  imperative 
that  the  extensions  and  additions  be 
built  and  built  quickly.  The  commis- 
sions demanded  it;  also  it  wou'd  have 
been  bad  business  not  to  satisfy  the 
urgent  needs  of  good  customers.  In 
some  cases  the  problem  was  solved  by 

'Abstracted  from  the  report  of  the  com- 
rrit+.oe,  presented  at  the  annual  convention 
of  the  Investment  Bankers'  Association  of 
America,  New  Orleans,  La.,  Oct.  31,  1921. 


17.  Wood  Ties  (treated).  All  ties  shall 
be  of  long'-leaf  yellow  pine,  short-leaf  yellow 
pine,  loblolly  pine,  Norway  pine,  Oregon  fir, 
cypress,  white  oak  or  red  oak. 

18.  Ties  shall  conform  to  the  specifica- 
tions in  paragraphs  15  and  16  as  to  quality 
and  standard  dimensions. 

19.  The  air-seasoning  of  timber  is  pre- 
ferred before  steaming,  but  where  sufficient 
time  cannot  be  allowed  for  this  fresh  cut 
timber  will  be  allowed  to  be  substituted 
for  treatment. 

20.  The  character  of  the  antiseptic  solu- 
tion and  the  method  used  shall  be  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  of  the  engineer. 

21.  The  spacing  of  ties  shall  be  not  more 
than  24  in.  center  to  center. 

IX.  Pavement  Base.  22.  After  the 
foundation  has  been  constructed,  the  track 
laid  and  brought  to  proper  alignment  and 
grade,  the  pavement  base  shall  be  laid."  It 
shall  be  of  concrete  which  shall  conform 
to  the  A.  S.  M.  I,  specifications  for  concrete 
for  pavement  foundations.  Concrete  shall 
be  thoroughly  rammed  and  tamped  around 
ties  and  rails. 

23.  Care  shall  be  taken  in  tamping 
around  the  tie  and  rail  so  that  the  surface 
and  line  of  the  track  shall  not  be  dis- 
turbed. If  the  engineer  deems  it  necessary, 
cement  grout  shall  be  poured  so  that  all 
voids  shall  be  filled.  In  no  case  shall  the 
ends  of  the  ties  be  covered  by  a  board 
while  placing  the  concrete.  Care  must  be 
taken  to  have  the  outside  edges  of  the  con- 
crete base  conform  to  the  dimensions.  The 
concrete  shall  extend  from  the  bottom  of 
the  ties  to  a  grade  above  the  tops  of  the 
ties    inches  below  the  top  of  the  rail. 

X.  Rail  Filler.  24.  The  spaces  under 
the  heads  of  the  rails  and  next  to  the 
webs  shall  be  filled  ahead  of  the  pavement 
with  Portland  cement  mortar  composed  of 
one  (1)  part  Portland  cement  and  three 
(3)  parts  torpedo  sand.  At  the  option 
of  the  engineer  mastic  may  be  substituted 
consisting  of  asphaltic  concrete  binder. 


issuing  11  per  cent  and  8  per  cent  notes 
secured  by  a  larger  face  amount  of  the 
5  per  cent  bonds. 

This,  however,  was  an  obvious  make- 
shift and  the  situation  was  not  really 
met  until  the  details  of  the  so-called 
series  mortgage  had  been  worked  out. 
This  type  of  mortgage  contains  all  the 
safeguards  to  the  investor  found  in  the 
best  open  end  mortgages  of  the  pre-war 
period,  but  in  addition  provides  that 
bonds  may  be  issued  in  various  series 
bearing  such  interest  rates  and  due 
dates  as  the  directors  may  deem  advis- 
able. This  makes  it  possible  for  the 
company  always  to  have  available 
against  its  needs  for  money  for  addi- 
tions and  improvement  prime  securi- 
ties which  will  meet  the  demands  of  the 
market  in  which  they  are  to  be  sold. 

Unfortunately  even  this  does  not 
solve  the  whole  problem.  One  of  the 
most  important  of  the  safeguards  to  the 
investor  contained  in  modern  mortgages 
is  the  provision  that  bonds  may  be 
issued  only  against  a  certain  propor- 
tion of  the  proposed  additions.  This 
proportion  is  generally  75  per  cent  or 
80  per  cent.  Thus  a  large  amount  of 
money  still  remains  to  be  raised  from 
the  sale  of  junior  securities.  Debenture 
financing  is  always  expensive  and  is 
rarely  satisfactory,  though  it  may  be 
used  as  a  temporary  expedient  in  times 
of  emergency.  The  greater  part  of  this 
money  must,  therefore,  be  raised  by  the 
sale  of  stock. 


Right  here  there  comes  another 
serious  difficulty.  Many  states  have  a 
law  which  forbids  companies  to  sell 
their  stock  at  less  than  par,  but  if  a 
company  must  pay  over  7  per  cent  for 
the  money  it  raises  on  its  mortgage  se- 
curities, how  is  it  to  sell  at  par  a  6 
per  cent  or  7  per  cent  preferred  stock? 
The  answer  is  obviously  that  it  cannot, 
and  the  very  difficult  situation  that  has 
been  thus  created  has  finally  made  leg- 
islators in  many  states  consider  seri- 
ously a  plan  which  economists  have 
been  advocating  for  over  a  quarter  of 
a  century;  that  is,  the  issuance  of  stock 
of  no  stated  par  value.  The  advantages 
of  this  plan  are  manifold.  The  shares, 
like  any  other  shares,  are  worth  exactly 
as  much  as  the  property  behind  them  is 
worth,  but  they  bear  on  their  face  no 
misleading  statements  as  to  their  value. 
Consequently  such  stock  cannot  come 
under  the  above  legal  restriction  and 
the  company  can  set  it  in  any  market 
on  the  same  basis  which  is  then  current 
for  other  securities  of  the  same  in- 
trinsic worth.  New  York  has  had  a  no 
par  value  law  since  1912.  Since  that 
time  other  states  have  followed  New 
York's  lead,  and  many  states  now  have 
such  laws  on  their  books  while  similar 
measures  are  pending  before  the  legis- 
latures of  several  others. 

The  Local  Sale  of  Public 
Utilities  Securities 

In  this  committee's  last  annual  report 
mention  was  made  of  the  success  which 
many  utility  companies  were  making  in 
the  sale  of  large  amounts  of  their  pre- 
ferred and  even  their  common  stocks 
direct  to  customers  and  employees.  At 
that  time  there  were  pointed  out  the 
manifold  advantages  of  such  local  dis- 
tribution of  a  company's  securities.  In 
the  first  place  a  new  security  market  of 
by  no  means  inconsiderable  proportions 
is  opened  up.  It  has  been  estimated 
that  since  the  plan  was  first  adopted 
about  seven  years  ago  over  $100,000,000 
has  been  added  to  the  capital  of  public- 
utility  companies  from  this  source. 
Probably  a  still  greater  benefit  is  the 
good  will  obtained.  The  relations  of  the 
company  with  its  public  and  with  its 
employees  are  greatly  improved.  The 
manager  of  the  publicity  department  of 
one  company  which  has  accomplished 
much  in  this  connection  stated  recently: 

"Specific  instances  of  improved  public 
relations  are  many,  including  a  remark- 
able history  of  rate  increases,  the  ma- 
jority of  which  were  obtained  without 
controversy  by  simply  showing  the 
facts.  We  hear  little  or  nothing  of 
municipal  ownership  any  more  at  prop- 
erties where  we  have  home  share- 
holders." 

It  should,  however,  be  borne  in  mind 
that  in  undertaking  the  sale  of  its  own 
securities,  a  company  assumes  certain 
duties  and  obligations  toward  the  pur- 
chasers of  those  securities.  These  pur- 
chasers, it  must  be  remembered,  are 
mostly  people  of  comparatively  small 
means  who  are  not  accustomed  to 
scrutinizing  carefully  or  judging  the 
merits  of  investment  opportunities.  To 
them  the  utility  company  ha,'s  always 
seemed  a  financial  pillar  of  strength. 
In  many  cases  they  have  considered  it, 
in  spite  of  published  figures  to  the  con- 
trary, a  veritable  gold  mine  to  its  own- 
ers. To  them,  the  opportunity  to  buy 
this  stock  is  an  opportunity  to  share  in 
profits  that  they  have  always  considered 
absolutely  certain.  A  careless  or  un- 
scrupulous company  might,  in  some 
cases,  sell  stock  that  had  no  real  value 


Status  of  Electric  Railway  Light  and  Power 

Securities* 

Decided  Improvement  in  Electric  Railway  Situation  Shown  During  Past  Year — 
Details  Given — Customer  Ownership,  Valuation  and  Other  Topics 
Considered  in  Report  to  Investment  Bankers 

By  H.  M.  Addinsell 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Public  Service  Securities, 
Investment  Bankers'  Association 


832 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


behind  it.  This  would  be  a  most  danger- 
ous practice.  Not  only  would  such  a 
company  be  running  the  risk  of  losing 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  its  local 
public,  but  it  would  be  getting  back  to 
the  same  old  condition  of  inflated  capi- 
talization which  proved  so  disastrous  in 
the  past.  It  is  thus  plain  that  stock 
which  a  company  expects  to  market  di- 
rect should  be  issued  under  the  same 
conservative  restrictions  which  would 
be  demanded  if  the  issue  was  to  be 
made  through  investment  bankers.  It 
should  represent  actual  investment  in 
the  property  and  the  price  should  be  in 
line  with  the  current  quotations  for 
securities  of  a  similar  class. 

Competition  From  Tax  Exempt 
Securities 

Tax  exempt  securities  have  a  direct 
bearing  and  restraining  influence  on  the 
marketing  of  gas  and  other  utility 
securities  and  this  is  a  matter  which  is 
now  receiving  considerable  attention. 
Philip  H.  Gadsden  recently  appeared  be- 
fore the  House  ways  and  means  commit- 
tee on  behalf  of  the  three  large  utility 
associations  and  urged  that  public  utili- 
ties be  placed  in  a  special  class  for  taxa- 
tion purposes  and  also  opposed  the  issu- 
ance of  any  further  tax  exempt  securi- 
ties. It  has  been  estimated  that  there  are 
$7,000,000,000  par  value  of  tax  exempt 
securities  issued  by  state,  municipal  and 
school  governments  now  outstanding. 
The  continued  issuance  of  tax  fre? 
bonds  of  local  governments  carrying 
high  rates  of  interest  is  attracting  in- 
vestors to  the.  detriment  of  investments 
offered  by  private  enterprise  and  agita- 
tion for  limiting  the  tax  exempt  bor- 
lowing  power  of  local  governments  is 
growing.  In  public  utility  circles  senti- 
ment is  increasing  to  prohibit  the  fur- 
ther issuance  of  tax  exempt  securities. 

Water  Power  Development 
and  Superpower  Plans 

One  of  the  most  important  and  inter- 
esting developments  in  the  power  gen- 
erating field  is  the  progress  that  is  be- 
ing made  toward  the  development  of 
water  powers  on  navigable  streams,  on 
public  lands  and  on  the  forest  and  other 
reserves.  This  development  has  been 
made  possible  by  the  Federal  water 
power  bill.  The  enactment  of  this  law 
has  met  with  tremendous  response  from 
people  who  seem  to  be  willing  to  take 
the  responsibility  for  the  development 
of  the  potential  power  made  available. 
Ud  to  June  30.  1921,  the  commission  re- 
ported that  there  had  been  filed  with 
it  applications  aggregating  14.075,000 
hn.  affecting  thirty-three  states,  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  Alaska.  This 
amount  is  five  times  greater  than  the 
aa-sree-ate  of  all  applications  with  the 
federal  government  in  the  preceding 
fifteen  years.  The  projects  applied  for 
vary  in  size  from  less  than  100  hp.  up 
to  the  3.000,000  hn.  scheme  of  the  South- 
ern California  Edison  Company  on  the 
Colorado  River  The  chief  present  de- 
fect in  the  act  is  its  failure  to  provide 
adequate  means  for  its  expeditious  ad- 
ministration. In  spite  of  this  handicap, 
the  commission  has  accomplished  many 
things  in  the  first  year  of  its  oneration. 

There  is,  of  course,  no  possibility  of 
immediate  development  of  all  the  proj- 
ects applied  for.  The  market  could 
not  absorb  the  power  even  if  the  con- 
struction could  be  financed.  But  at 
least  there  is  now  available  a  practical 
method  for  a  progressive  development 
of  water  powers,  which  may  be  under- 
taken as  rapidly  as  financial  conditions 


and  market  requirements  will  warrant. 
After  many  years  of  obstruction  on  the 
part  of  so-called  conservationists,  the 
country  has  now  adopted  a  program  for 
the  real  conservation  of  our  exhaustible 
fuel  supplies  by  throwing  upon  the  in- 
destructible and  self-renewing  water 
powers  the  production  of  large  amounts 
of  motive  power. 

Superpower  Systems 

Closely  allied  with  the  movement  for 
conservation  of  fuels  by  development  of 
new  water  powers,  is  the  movement  for 
conservation  through  the  more  efficient 
use  of  facilities  already  in  operation. 
The  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
under  the  special  direction  of  Congress, 
has  been  engaged  for  the  past  year 
and  more  in  a  survey  of  the  power  re- 
sources of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  be- 
tween Boston  and  Washington,  study- 
ing the  practicabilities  and  advantages 
of  a  co-ordinated  superpower  system, 
and  certain  preliminary  estimates  made 
public  last  spring  point  out  the  enor- 
mous coal  saving  which  could  have  been 
effected  in  this  zone  during  1919  if  the 
facilities  which  are  proposed  had  been 
in  existence  at  the  time.  It  may  be  said 
that  to  a  certain  extent  the  welding 
of  individual  systems  into  superpower 
systems  is  already  taking  place  in  many 
localities.  The  whole  question  is  one 
which  is  of  great  interest  to  the  invest- 
ment banker,  and  one  in  the  solving  of 
which  he  will  undoubtedly  play  a  lead- 
ing part. 

The  Electric  Railway  Situation 

During  the  past  year  the  electric  rail- 
way situation  has  shown  decided  im- 
provement. The  facts  have  proved  the 
truth  of  the  statement  that  adequate 
traction  service  is  indispensable  to  the 
comfort,  convenience  and  prosperity  of 
any  important  community.  To  most  of 
us  this  principle  is  self-evident,  but  in 
some  cases  it  has  taken  an  absolute 
breakdown  of  the  system  to  bring  it 
home  to  shortsighted  politicians  who 
had  been  exploiting  their  local  com- 
panies for  selfish  purposes.  Other  com- 
munities have  profited  by  the  example 
of  their  less  fortunate  neighbors  and 
have  lightened  their  companies'  burdens 
before  the  breakdown  came.  In  still 
other  instances  the  situation  has  been 
solved  bv  the  interposition  of  a  state 
commission. 

The  measures  for  relief  have  been  va- 
rious. There  have  been  a  few  instances 
in  which  the  city  has  taken  over  the 
roads  from  the  company,  usually  giving 
in  exchange  mortgage  bonds  on  the 
system.  This  sort  of  transaction  does 
not,  however,  in  and  of  itself,  solve  the 
problem;  it  merely  transfers  to  the  city 
the  responsibility  for  making;  the  sys- 
tem self-supporting  in  the  face  of  ex- 
cessive wages,  high  commodity  prices 
and  jitney  competition.  Undoubtedly 
some  municipal  authorities  will  try  to 
take  the  easiest  way  out  and  make  up 
from  the  city  treasury  losses  caused  by 
a  popularly  low  fare,  but  it  is  highlv 
improbable  that  the  taxpayers  will 
allow  such  an  experiment  to  be  long 
continued. 

The  steps  taken  in  various  communi- 
ties have,  of  course,  differed  in  accord: 
ance  with  the  needs  of  each  situation. 
In  the  first  place,  there  has  been  a  more 
or  less  general  raise  in  fares.  A  sum- 
mary compiled  early  in  the  year  from 
figures  supplied  by  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association  showed  that 
the  traction  companies  in  over  85  per 
cent  of  all  cities  in  this  country  of  over 


25,000  population  were,  at  that  time, 
charging  fares  which  ranged  from  6 
cents  to  10  cents.  Among  the  ten  larg- 
est cities  of  the  country,  New  York  was 
the  only  one  which  still  retained  the 
5-cent  fare.  Many  companies  have  ob- 
tained relief  from  burdensome  paving 
obligations  and  other  forms  of  special 
taxes.  In  particular,  it  is  becoming 
generally  recognized  that  unregulated 
bus  competition  is  not  only  unfair  to 
the  street  railways,  but  is  in  the  long 
run  positively  detrimental  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  public.  There  is  of 
course,  a  legitimate  field  for  the  buses. 
Used  properly  their  flexibility  makes 
them  most  valuable  as  feeders  to  bring- 
to  the  car  lines  riders  from  sparsely 
settled  outlying  districts  that  are  just 
opening  up.  This  function  they  can 
probably  fulfill  most  efficiently  and 
economically  when  operated  as  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  railway  system;  at 
the  very  least,  they  should  be  subjected 
to  the  same  country  as  are  the  other 
transit  facilities  in  the  community.  It 
is  most  gratifying  to  note  that  many 
states,  notably  Connecticut,  have  taken 
a  firm  stand  in  putting  all  public  car- 
riers under  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion and  requiring  all  such  carriers  to 
secure  a  certificate  of  convenience  and 
necessity  before  beginning  or  continu- 
ing operation. 

None  of  these  remedies,  however,  will 
cure  an  over-capitalized  company.  Such 
situations  must  be  cleaned  up  from 
their  very  foundation.  In  these  cases, 
an  actual  valuation  should  be  made  and 
the  capitalization  of  the  company  ad- 
justed to  a  real  basis  of  the  property's 
worth.  A  new  franchise  should  be  ob- 
tained embodying  such  provisions  as  are 
necessitated  by  the  needs  of  the  par- 
ticular situation.  Enlightened  opinion 
is  coming  more  and  more  to  favor  the 
so-called  service-at-cost  franchise  which 
provides  machinery  for  adjusting  the 
rate  of  fare  to  insure  an  income  suffi- 
cient to  provide  for  all  operating-  ex- 
penses, adequate  maintenance  and  de- 
preciation and  the  interest  and  divi- 
dends which  represent  the  wages  paid 
to  capital  actually  invested  in  the  busi- 
ness. In  what  is  possibly  its  best  form 
the  service  at-cost  franchise  provides 
also  for  a  premium  on  efficient  man- 
agement in  the  form  of  a  rate  of  return 
becoming  progressively  higher  as  far^ 
are  reduced. 

In  addition  certain  factors  in  the  gen- 
eral economic  situation  have  been  of 
material  assistance  to  electric  railways. 
There  has  been  a  slight  but  actual  re- 
duction in  wages.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  average  wage  index  in  August, 
1921,  was  218  as  compared  with  the 
peak  of  232  in  September,  1920,  and  100 
in  1913.  To  the  railways  with  their 
large  bills  for  platform  labor,  this  has 
been  a  material  saving.  For  example, 
it  is  estimated  that  the  recent  10  per 
cent  cut  in  the  wages  of  the  employees 
of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany means  a  reduction  of  $2,600,000 
in  that  road's  operating  expenses  dur- 
ing the  coming  year.  A  particularly 
encouraging  feature  of  this  wage  re- 
duction is  that,  for  the  most  part,  it 
has  been  effected  by  individual  negotia- 
tions on  the  part  of  each  road  and 
without  great  friction.  This  can  only 
mean  that  the  employees  are  taking  an 
added  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their 
companies  which  may  prove  to  be  a 
deciding  factor  in  the  avoidance  of 
future  labor  troubles.  Reduction  in  the 
cost  of  materials  has  not  been  so  gen- 
eral.     Particularly    in  manufactured 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


833 


articles,  such  as  cars  and  car  equip- 
ment, it  has  almost  been  negligible, 
but  in  some  materials  which  have  a 
very  general  use,  such  as  copper,  the 
decreases  have  been  marked. 

Commission  Regulation 

The  state  regulatory  commissions 
were  originally  created  to  place  a  curb 
on  the  utility  operators  in  their  sup- 
posed exploitation  of  the  public.  At  that 
time  there  was  a  general  feeling,  which 
still  persists  to  a  limited  extent,  that 
such  restriction  upon  private  enter- 
prise would  discourage  the  investment 
of  further  capacity  in  the  business  and 
would  prevent  its  proper  and  necessary 
development.  The  critics  of  regulation, 
however,  seem  to  have  under-rated  the 
spirit  of  fairness  with  which  the  com- 
missions took  up  their  work.  Hardly 
had  regulation  become  an  established 
fact  when  the  war  broke  out.  Within 
a  few  years  rising  wages  and  commod- 
ity prices  had  so  increased  operating 
expenses  that  many  utilities  were  losing 
money.  The  commissions,  however, 
realizing  the  fundamental  necessity  of 
maintaining  the  utility  industry  in  the 
best  possible  condition,  were  fair  in 
recognizing  the  necessity  for  increased 
rates. 

This  was  not,  of  course,  what  the 
demagogues  and  politicians  had  counted 
on  and  numerous  attempts  ensued  to 
arouse  popular  opposition  to  the  regula- 
tory bodies.  In  at  least  two  states  the 
gubernatorial  elections  last  fall  were 
fought,  and  won,  on  platforms  calling 
for  the  abolition  of  the  commission. 
So  far  as  can  be  learned,  however,  there 
is  no  general  public  demand  for  the 
abolition  of  state  regulatory  bodies.  In 
the  two  cases  mentioned  above,  the  cam- 
paigns were  strongly  affected  by  na- 
tional consideration.  In  one  of  these 
states  the  candidate  who  stood  strongly 
for  regulation  sent  a  telegram  to  the 
governors  of  all  the  other  states  asking 
for  their  opinions  in  the  matter.  He 
received  thirty-six  replies.  The  word- 
ing of  those  replies,  of  course,  differed 
but  in  their  substance  all  were  in  funda- 
mental agreement  with  the  statement 
from  Massachusetts,  that  the  commis- 
sion had  proved  its  usefulness  and  was 
here  to  stay. 

Proper  Method  op  Valuation 
Still  Undetermined 

There  are,  to  be  sure,  many  problems 
which  have  not  yet  been  solved.  One 
of  the  most  important  of  these  is  prob- 
ably the  adoption  of  a  uniform  and 
comprehensive  scheme  for  the  valuation 
of  utility  properties.  There  is  an  al- 
most universal  tendency  to  restrict  the 
right  of  utility  companies  to  earn  more 
than  a  stated  return  on  the  present 
value  of  their  properties  as  going  con- 
cerns. It  is  thus  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  the  investment  bankers  that 
they  be  able  to  form  some  idea  of  what 
valuation  will  probably  be  placed  by  the 
commission  upon  a  property,  in  order 
that  they  may  judge  to  what  extent  the 
securities  of  the  company  may  be  safely 
issued. 

As  yet  the  question  remains  in  a 
chaotic  condition.  The  various  commis- 
sions have  contributed  little  helpful 
thought  on  the  subject,  due  largely  to 
the  limitations  of  the  cases  presented  to 
them  and  the  fact  that  counsel  when  ap- 
pearing: before  them  have  felt  that  thev 
must  be  guided  by  the  peculiar  exi- 
gencies of  each  case,  and  not  attempt 
to  present  the  subject  of  valuation  be- 
yond its  relation  to  the  particular  case 


under  consideration.  Strictly  on  its 
merits,  therefore,  neither  angle  of  the 
question  has  obtained  a  full  presenta- 
tion. Public  utility  operators  have  very 
varying  views  on  the  subject  and  engi- 
neers are  more  or  less  hampered  by 
the  varying  purposes  for  which  they  are 
asked  to  make  valuations.  Replace- 
ment value  seems  still  to  be  the  best 
guide  the  investment  banker  has  as  to 
the  value  of  properties  for  loan  pur- 
poses, provided  always  of  course  that 
the  properties  are  reasonably  produc- 
tive, are  permitted  to  earn  a  fair  return 
on  the  cost  of  reproduction,  and  have 
been  reasonably  maintained.  This 
method  has  its  serious  drawbacks.  By 
reason  of  the  changes  wrought  by  the 
war  the  prices  to  be  used  in  figuring  re- 
placement values  have  become  a  new 
and  very  difficult  problem.  At  best 
this  method  is  only  what  has  been 
aptly  termed  an  "intelligent  guess,"  but 
it  is  perhaps  the  most  "intelligent 
guess"  that  has  so  far  been  arrived  at. 
Perhaps  in  time  the  commissions  may 
evolve  a  new  and  better  system.  It  is 
a  question  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
investment  bankers  and  one  which 
should  receive  their  earnest  attention. 
A  sub-committee  is  studying  this  ques- 
tion and  will  report  on  it  shortly. 

Many  other  problems  are  constantly 
coming  up  for  solution.  With  the  read- 
justment of  commodity  prices  has  come 
a  temporary  lowering  of  costs  of  labor 
and  essential  materials,  but  it  is  as  yet 
by  no  means  certain  that  this  is  not  a 
mere  temporary  condition  so  far  as  the 


utility  business  is  concerned.  It  is, 
therefore,  necessary  to  these  utilities 
that  they  be  allowed  to  maintain  their 
present  rates  to  cover  previous  losses  in 
operation  and  to  re-establish  a  credit 
for  the  carrying  on  of  the  large  con- 
struction program  which  has  been  de- 
ferred for  the  past  four  years. 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  the  accept- 
ance of  these  facts  by  the  regulatory 
bodies,  and  a  far  better  understanding 
by  them  of  utility  problems.  The  regu- 
lation of  utilities  is  upon  a  broader  and 
more  comprehensive  basis  with  wider 
recognition  of  the  influence  of  fair 
treatment  leading  to  the  profitable  oper- 
ation of  the  utility  upon  the  welfare 
and  development  of  the  community 
served. 

Conclusion 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  pub- 
lic utilities  have  come  satisfactorily 
through  a  year  of  general  depression 
and  that  during  the  year  progress  has 
been  made  by  the  various  groups  af- 
fected by  the  industry— operators,  in- 
vestors and  the  public  served — toward  a 
more  complete  realization  of  the  funda- 
mental unity  of  their  interests.  In  par- 
ticular the  state  commissions  are  ar- 
riving at  a  steadily  clearer  understand- 
ing of  utility  problems  and  are  render- 
ing valuable  assistance  toward  their 
solution.  All  these  factors  have  tended 
to  increase  public  confidence  in  the  in- 
dustry and  public  utility  securities  are 
returning  to  their  old  favor  with  in- 
vestors. 


Subways  for  City  Transportation* 

When  a  Rapid  Transit  System  Becomes  Necessary — Relative  Advantages  of 
Subways  and  Elevated  Railways — Facts  About  New  York  System 

By  Robert  Ridgway 

Chief  Engineer  Transit  Commission,  State  of  New  York 


RAPID  transit  systems  for  cities  are 
.  comparatively  modern  institutions 
and  are  the  result  of  the  phenomenal 
growths  of  urban  communities  during 
the  past  seventy-five  years.  In  the 
smaller  cities  of  a  century  ago  there 
was  nothing  in  the  conditions  to  re- 
quire local  rapid  transit,  so,  of  course, 
no  one  gave  much,  if  any,  thought  to 
the  problems  which  were  to  vex  the 
descendants  of  the  more  placid  folks 
of  those  days  except  the  few  persons, 
always  found  in  every  community,  who 
are  gifted  with  a  far-seeing  vision  into 
the  future.  Merchants  and  other  busi- 
ness men  of  the  small  town  or  village 
of  the  past  lived  within  walking  dis- 
tance of  their  shops  and  offices.  This, 
of  course,  was  before  the  days  of  the 
automobile.  As  the  community  grew  in 
size  and  the  distance  between  home 
and  office  became  too  great  to  walk 
morning  and  evening  tramcars  and  om- 
nibuses were  considered  sufficient  to 
take  care  of  the  transit  needs.  The 
trend  to  the  cities  resulted  in  the  won- 
derful growths  indicated  by  the  census 
figures  of  the  past  eight  or  ten  decades 
and  then  the  question  of  rapid  transit 
began  to  be  discussed.  New  York,  be- 
ing the  largest  of  our  American  cities, 
naturally  felt  the  urge  first,  and  soon 
after  the  ending  of  the  Civil  War  the 
agitation  began  which  still  continues 
and  which,  on  account  of  its  importance 
to  the  people,  has  often  been  made  the 


*Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American  Society 
for  Municipal  Improvements,  Baltimore, 
Oct.  28,  1921. 


political  issue  of  municipal  campaigns. 
It  is  one  of  the  leading  issues  at  the 
present  time  and  has  been  and  is  being 
widely  discussed  from  every  possible 
point  of  view. 

Every  man  is  intensely  interested  in 
the  local  transit  facilities  of  his  city 
because  they  affect  his  comfort  and 
convenience  so  intimately  and  because 
any  of  their  defects  or  shortcomings 
are  so  apparent  to  him.  He  remembers 
that  he  had  to  wait  for  his  subway 
train  and  was  obliged  to  stand  in  dis- 
comfort all  the  way  home  when  he 
ought  to  have  had  a  seat.  Water  sup- 
ply and  sewage,  while  quite  as  im- 
portant to  his  well  being,  have  a  rela- 
tively mild  interest  for  him  so  long  as 
the  sewer  does  not  become  choked 
and  back  up  into  his  cellar  and  whole- 
some water  flows  when  the  faucet  is 
turned.  The  water  supply  structures 
and  the  sewers  are  out  of  his  sight  and 
he  does  not  think  of  them  until  they 
fail  to  function  properly.  Few  citizens 
think  of  what  they  cost  or  whether  they 
are  well  designed  and  honestly  con- 
structed. 

If  the  transit  system  of  a  city  could 
be  established  before  the  population  ar- 
rived, the  city  plan  would  in  many 
cases  be  very  different  from  what  it 
now  is.  Whether  better  or  worse 
would,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  wis- 
dom and  far-sightedness  of  those  who 
did  the  planning,  but  it  is  impossible 
to  look  far  into  the  future  or  to  fore- 
see the  advance  in  the  art  of  construc- 
tion and  the  revolutionary  changes 
which  take  place  from  time  to  time  in 


834 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


the  methods  of  transportation.  Who  in 
New  York  a  century  ago  would  have 
believed  that  the  wide  river  separating 
Manhattan  Island  from  Long  Island 
would  be  bridged  and  tunneled  as  it 
has  been  since  that  time  or  that  electric 
traction  would  have  been  developed 
to  the  state  it  has  reached  today? 
I  am  afraid  if  an  attempt  had  then 
been  made  to  lay  out  a  rapid  transit 
system  to  fit  our  present  needs  the 
experts  would  have  made  a  sad  mess  of 
it  because  they  would  have  had  to  deal 
with  too  many  unknown  factors.  It  is 
not  wise  to  design  transportation  sys- 
tems or  other  utilities  for  the  needs  of 
a  time  too  far  ahead.  Railway  struc- 
tures and  equipment,  like  battleships, 
become  obsolete,  and  then,  in  part  at 
least,  are  liabilities  rather  than  assets, 
except  the  right-of-way,  which  in  nearly 
every  case  retains  and  generally  in- 
creases in  value. 

Relative  Merits  of  Subways  and 
Elevated  Railways 

Subways  have  the  great  advantage 
of  being  out  of  sight.  After  they  are 
built  they  permit  the  streets  under 
which  they  run  to  be  used  to  the  fullest 
extent.  Operation  in  them  is  noiseless 
to  those  on  or  above  the  street  surface., 
and  they  do  not  obstruct  light,  air  or 
access  to  property.  While  it  is  not  as 
pleasant  to  travel  below  the  ground 
as  above  it,  train  operation  in  subways 
is  not  affected  by  weather  conditions 
and  when  the  stations  are  located  at 
shallow  depths  they  are  very  conven- 
ient of  access.  Subways  have  the  ef- 
fect of  materially  enhancing  real  es- 
tate values  in  the  portions  of  the  city 
they  serve,  particularly  in  the  vicinity 
of  stations.  The  principal  argument 
against  them  is  the  cost,  which  from 
New  York's  experience  is  from  four  to 
five  times  that  of  a  steel  elevated  rail- 
road of  the  same  capacity. 

Prior  to  the  war,  New  York's  sub- 
ways cost  to  construct,  including  track, 
stations  and  other  appurtenant  work 
and  including  also  the  maintenance  and 
underpinning  of  abutting  buildings  and 
the  maintenance  and  restoration  or  re- 
construction of  surface  and  sub-surface 
utilities,  but  excluding  the  furnishing 
and  installation  of  third  rail,  signals, 
lights  and  other  equipment,  from 
$700,000  per  track-mile  in  an  outlying 
portion  of  Brooklyn  to  $2,500,000  per 
track-mile  in  a  very  congested  section 
of  lower  Manhattan.  Similar  costs  at 
pre-war  prices  for  a  steel  elevated  rail- 
road were  about  $275,000  per  track- 
mile  for  a  three-track  line  and  about 
$235,000  per  track-mile  for  a  two-track 
line.  These  costs  would  be  much 
greater  at  the  present  time.  To  put 
it  in  another  way,  a  given  amount  of 
money  for  rapid  transit  construction 
would  build  from  four  to  five  times  as 
much  elevated  line  as  subway.  With 
these  facts  in  mind  it  would  seem  that 
subways,  notwithstanding  their  many 
advantages,  must  be  confined  to  the 
congested  portions  of  a  city,  using  ele- 
vated structures  or  open  cuts  for  the 
extensions  into  the  less  congested  and 
outlying  parts.  It  is  a  fact  that  other 
considerations  than  financial  ones  some- 
times govern.  For  instance,  an  ele- 
vated railway  could  be  constructed  in 
the  narrow  street  of  the  most  intensely 
used  business  section  of  a  city  for  a 
fraction  of  the  cost  of  a  subway,  but 
public  opinion  might  not  permit  it  to 
be  built  there  and  might  insist  upon 
having  the  subway  notwithstanding  the 
much  higher  cost. 

Few  cities  have  subways,  largely  be- 


cause they  are  so  costly  to  build.  New 
York,  I  believe,  has  a  greater  mileage 
of  them  than  all  other  cities  of  the 
world  combined  because  conditions 
there  are  such  as  to  make  subways  nec- 
essary for  the  large,  intensively  devel- 
oped areas. 

Compared  with  subways,  elevated 
railroads  are  simple  to  construct  and 
can  be  built  in  far  less  time.  In  nor- 
mal times,  an  elevated  structure  can 
be  finished  ready  for  track  in  from 
eighteen  to  twenty-four  months  of  the 
date  when  work  in  the  field  is  begun, 
and  the  discomfort  to  the  public  and 
interference  with  traffic  on  account  of 
the  construction  confined  to  a  small 
part  of  this  period.  The  disturbance 
of  the  street  surface  and  of  the  utilities 
underlying  it  is  relatively  slight.  With 
a  section  of  a  subway  on  the  other 
hand,  from  three  to  four  years'  time 
is  usually  required  for  construction  and, 
except  where  it  is  at  such  depth  that 
the  work  is  done  by  tunneling  methods, 
it  requires  generally  the  entire  recon- 
struction of  the  street  and  of  the 
sewers,  water  and  gas  mains  and  other 
structures  beneath  it. 

An  analysis  of  fifty-seven  subway 
contracts  snowed  the  total  expenditures 
on  account  of  them  to  have  been  dis- 
tributed as  follows: 


Percentage 


Item  of  Work  of  Cost 

Earth  excavation   25.6 

Rock  excavation   15.9 

Concrete   14.0 

Riveted  steel,  furnished  and  erected   7.4 

Rolled  steel,  furnished  and  erected   7.2 

Steel  rods,  furnished  and  erected   1.0 

Underpinning  buildings   6.5 

Supporting  existing  railroads   2.7 

Construction  of  new  sewers   3.8 

Relocating  pipes  and  ducts  in  street   2.8 

Waterproofing,  railroad  ducts  and  mis- 
cellaneous work   13.1 

Total   100.00 


Rapid  Transit  System  in  New  York 

It  is  not  within  the  purview  of  this 
paper  to  go  into  the  details  of  these 
contracts,  which  are  of  such  importance 
to  New  York  City  and  which  have  been 
and  are  being  discussed  so  much,  both 
favorably  and  otherwise.  It  is  of  in- 
terest, however,  to  know  that  the  cost 
of  constructing  the  dual  system  will 
be,  when  completed,  over  $400,000,000 
and  of  equipping  the  lines  and  improv- 
ing and  extending  the  companies'  own 
lines  over  $180,000,000.  These  costs  in- 
clude the  city-owned  lines  built  between 
1900  and  1913,  but  do  not  include  the 
extensive  companies-owned  lines  con- 
structed prior  to  1913.  About  one- 
quarter  of  the  construction  cost  and 
all  of  the  equipment  cost  are  borne  by 
the  two  operating  companies,  and  the 
two  systems  will  include,  when  com- 
pleted, approximately  70  miles  of  sub- 
way, 17  miles  of  railroad  in  open  cut 
below  street  grades  and  on  embank- 
ment, 126  miles  of  steel  and  concrete 
viaducts  and  bridges,  a  total  of  213 
miles  of  railroad  and  619  miles  of 
single  running  track.  All  but  10  miles 
of  this  total  mileage  of  railroad  is  in 
operation. 

The  number  of  passengers  carried  by 
the  dual  system;  that  is,  the  rapid  tran- 
sit lines,  for  the  year  ended  June  30, 
1921,  amounted  to  over  1,418,000.000. 
The  average  on  business  days  is  about 
4,172,500  and  the  maximum  for  one  day 
was  about  4,929,000.*     These  figures 

*This  occurred  in  February,  1920,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  snowstorm  which  partially 
tied  up  surface  car  traffic  and  thus  in- 
creased subway  traffic. 


are  exclusive  of  the  passengers  carried 
by  the  surface  lines,  the  bus  lines  and 
the  suburban  services  of  the  trunk  line 
railroads.  The  following  table  indicates 
the  ticket  sales  at  some  of  the  more 
important  subway  stations  of  the  con- 
gested zone: 


annual  ticket  sales  for  year  ended 

JUNE  30,  1921 

interborough  rapid  transit  company 

(Borough  of  Manhattan) 

Portion  of  original  subway  on  lower  Broadway  and 
Fourth  Avenue — now  part   of  the   new  Lexington 


Avenue  Line. 

No.  of 

Stations  Tickets  Sold 

South  Ferry  Station   1,732,200' 

Bowling  Green   6,961,700 

Wall  Street   9,435,100 

Fulton  Street   14,803,100 

Brooklyn  Bridge   15,238,000 

Fourteenth  Street   15,862,000' 

Forty-second  Street  (Grand  Central).. . .  28,970,900 

New  Seventh  Ave  ue  I  ine 

Wall  Street   9,584,100 

Fulton  Street   4,190,210 

Park  Place   4,525,800 

Chambers  Street   6,487,500 

Fourteenth  Street   10,093,000 

Thirty-fourth  Street  (Penn.  Station)  ..  .  .  23,071,850 

Forty-second  Street  (Times  Square)  ....  29,568,260' 

Borough  of  Brooklyn 

Borough  Hall   9,945,100 

Atlantic  Avenue   19,929,720 


The  intensively  developed  portion  of 
New  York  is  beyond  question  a  sub- 
way district,  but  the  roads  are  taken 
out  of  the  ground  as  the  outlying  or 
less  congested  portions  of  the  city  are 
reached,  and  the  extensions  are  carried 
on  elevated  structures. 

The  stations  are  of  the  local  and  ex- 
press types.  The  local  stations  are 
located  from  J  to  i  mile  apart  and  the 
express  stations  usually  at  longer  in- 
tervals, generally  from  U  to  2  miles 
apart.  The  typical  local  station  has 
side  platforms  and  those  of  the  express 
stations  are  usually  between  the  local 
and  express  tracks.  In  the  Interbor- 
ough Subway  the  platforms  of  the  ex- 
press stations  are  about  480  feet  long 
to  accommodate  their  ten-car  trains, 
the  cars  of  which  are  51  ft.  2  in.  long. 
The  platforms  of  the  original  local  sta- 
tions now  accommodate  six-car  trains, 
while  those  constructed  within  the  past 
ten  years  are  designed  for  the  full 
ten-car  trains.  The  cars  of  the  Munic- 
ipal Railway  Corporation  are  66  ft.  long 
and  the  platforms  of  their  local  and 
express  stations  are  now  made  530  ft. 
long,  to  accommodate  eight-car  trains. 


Recent  Association  Bulletins 

THE  Bureau  of  Information  and 
Service  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association  has  prepared  the 
reports  mentioned  below  during  the 
past  month,  and  they  are  now  available 
to  member  -companies  upon  request: 
(1)  A  brief  summary  of  the  causes 
that  brought  companies  into  the  hands 
of  receivers;  (2)  a  new  compilation  of 
cities  in  which  fares  have  been 
changed,  showing  population,  cash 
fare,  ticket  rate,  date  of  change  and 
number  of  fare  changes  granted;  (3) 
a  summary  of  the  replies  to  a  question- 
naire of  the  committee  on  economics  of 
schedules  explaining  methods  of  fixing 
running  time;  (4)  a  statement  of  the 
policy  of  public  utility  commissions  in 
the  various  states  in  regard  to  the  is- 
suance of  school  tickets;  (5)  month  by 
month  statement  of  electric  railway 
revenues  and  traffic  for  the  first  nine 
months  of  1921  compared  with  1920. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


835 


Mr.  McGraw  Discusses  Business  Revival 

At  the  Annual  Meeting  in  Chicago  of  Associated  Business  Papers  He  Points  Out 
How  the  Business  Press  Can  Help 


"'TPHERE  are  two  great  classes  in 

JL  the  world  today — those  who  look 
on  the  world  in  chaos  and  see  no  hope 
for  the  future  and  those  to  whom  the 
world  disaster  is  but  an  inspiration  for 
greater  effort.  I  am  putting  the  busi- 
ness papers  in  the  latter  class. 

"Some  one  has  pointed  out  that  there 
are  people  who  liken  existence  to  life 
in  a  squirrel  cage — eternal  movement 
and  eternal  sameness — but  the  leader 
of  today  is  the  man  looking  straight 
ahead  with  new  thoughts  or  with  new 
vision  of  old  thoughts.  The  business 
publisher  as  never  before  must  grapple 
with  the  great  problems  before  us, 
with  new  thought  and  new  vision  of 
world  conditions  confronting  us  in 
order  that  they  may  be  solved  and 
harnessed  for  the  welfare  of  humanity." 

With  these  words  James  H.  McGraw, 
president  McGraw-Hill  Company,  Inc., 
began  an  address  on  "What  Business 
Papers  Can  Do  to  Speed  the  Revival  of 
Business"  at  the  annual  convention  of 
the  Associated  Business  Papers,  Inc.,  at 
Chicago  on  Oct.  24. 

Mr.  McGraw  then  outlined  briefly 
the  business  situation  in  Europe  and 
America,  told  how  intimate  the  con- 
nection was  between  the  business  con- 
dition in  each  and  criticised  the  inaction 
of  Congress  on  pending  legislation  for 
part  of  the  uncertainty  in  which  busi- 
ness men  find  themselves  as  regards 
future  development.  Continuing,  he 
said,  in  part: 

"Each  of  the  situations  referred  to 
has  a  present-day  bearing  on  American 
business.  What  is  more,  some  of  them 
will  determine  how  America  is  to  do 
business  for  many  years  in  the  future. 
If  American  business  is  to  function  up 
to  the  new  position  that  has  come  to 
it  during  the  war,  and  that  necessarily 
follows  from  the  fact  that  the  center  of 
world  finance  and  of  world  influence 
has  shifted  to  our  shores,  these  govern- 
ing conditions  must  be  interpreted  in 
terms  of  their  influence  on  every  indus- 
try. We  may  become,  if  we  have  but 
the  knowledge,  the  foresight  and  the 
energy,  what  England  has  long  been — 
the  market  center  of  the  world.  But 
we  can  take  this  position  only  if  we 
have  a  race  of  business  men  equal  to 
the  occasion — a  race  worthy  of  a  world- 
wide commercial  dynasty. 

"How  shall  American  business  men 
get  this  conception,  how  shall  they 
rise  to  this  opportunity  unless  the  busi- 
ness press  carries  the  message  to  them 
in  each  issue,  strong  with  knowledge  of 
the  situation  and  its  bearing  on  Ameri- 
can business,  convincing  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  remedies  it  suggests,  invincible  in 
the  enthusiasm  and  courage  it  dis- 
plays ?  It  is  no  job  for  weaklings,  but 
for  the  broadest-gaged  man  that  the 
country  commands.  It  will  not  be  ac- 
complished by  editors  chained  to  their 
desks,  nor  by  mere  reporters  nor 
by  publishers  who  are  bearish  on 
America's  future.  It  can  only  be  ac- 
complished by  broad  vision  and  the 
gospel  of  work. 

"We  must  help  mobilize  American 
opinion  on  the  stabilization  of  European 
currencies.  We  must  not  be  squeamish 
in  demanding  whatever  rearrangement 
of  the  German  reparations  may  be 
necessary  for  the  stabilization  in  Ger- 
many— realizing  that  a  stable  Germany 
is  essential  to  a  normally  functioning 
economic  world.    When  Russia  comes 


JAMES  H.  McGRAW 
President  McGraw-Hill  Company,  Inc. 

back,  as  she  must,  when  the  other  weak- 
ened powers  are  in  a  position  again  to 
buy  in  normal  quantities,  the  business 
press  must  picture  the  opportunity  and 
be  the  apostle  of  whatever  credit  struc- 
ture is  necessary  to  bring  these  nations 
again  into  the  world  economic  family. 
As  to  every  other  factor  in  the  Euro- 
pean and  the  world  situation,  business 
papers  must  rise  to  the  occasion  and 
see  to  it  that  American  business  has  a 
wise  and  courageous  policy. 

"Studying  the  problems  that  are 
closer  to  home,  we  find  many  avenues 
along  which  business  papers  can  work 
in  speeding  the  revival  of  business. 

"War  breeds  extravagance.  In  spite 
of  the  noble  ideals  which  inspired  this 
nation  to  take  up  the  great  conflict 
across  the  seas,  the  inevitable  result 
was  the  accumulation  of  innumerable 
wastes  anld  habits  of  extravagance. 
We  could  not  help  it,  but  we  must  over- 
come the  habits  and.  tendencies  which 
were  developed  throughout  our  entire 
social  and  industrial  fabric  by  that 
terrible  conflict.  As  a  tangible  example 
of  what  can  be  done,  Herbert  Hoover 
has  focused  the  attention  of  industry 
upon  the  unnecessary  wastes  which  are 
sapping  the  vitality  and  reducing  the 
productivity  of  our  nation. 

"We  are  appalled  when  our  attention 
is  called  to  criminal  wastes  of  life 
through  accidents  and  negligence,  the 
prodigal  waste  of  our  natural  resources 
through  underdevelopment  or  political 
chicanery,  the  prodigious  waste  of 
materials  through  mismanagement  and 
inefficiency.  But  of  all  the  wastes 
which  affect  our  happiness  and  pros- 
perity, the  waste  of  time  and  human 
effort  is  the  greatest  and  has  the  most 
damaging  influence.  If  the  business 
papers  collectively  and  individually  can 
instill  into  the  minds  of  the  thinking 
men  of  industry  the  gospel  of  intelli- 
gent work,  we  will  have  performed  a 
tremendous  service.  Never  has  there 
been  such  an  opportunity.  Never 
were  our  industries  more  in  need  of 
help.  Never  would  they  be  moi*e  grate- 
ful for  true  and  full  pictures  of  condi- 
tions for  wise  counsel,  and  courageous 
leadership,  as  a  result  of  unselfish 
devotion. 


"To  do  all  this  costs  money.  Men 
who  can  dominate  an  industry,  be  they 
editors  or  publishers,  are  not  to  be  held 
with  paltry  salaries  or  poor  prospects. 
Such  men  are  in  demand  by  the  aggres- 
sive businesses  of  the  country.  Not 
only  are  the  requisite  leaders  high- 
priced  men,  but  they  must  be  equipped 
with  competent  staffs.  A  man  who  is 
out  in  the  forefront  of  an  industry  can- 
not be  burdened  by  desk  detail. 

"It  is  evident  then  that  the  business 
papers  need  larger  incomes.  We  need 
them  not  that  our  own  pockets  may  be 
lined  with  profits  but  that  we  may  turn 
back  into  American  business  a  degree 
of  service  which  in  turn  will  be  a  fruit- 
ful developer  of  our  industrial  and  com- 
mercial life.  This  is  a  time  when  we 
should  think  how  much  we  can  give 
rather  than  how  much  we  can  get.  We 
should  give  all  that  we  can  first,  hoping 
there  will  be  a  margin  of  profit.  This 
is  a  time  for  more  patriotism,  for 
greater  leadership  and  for  less  selfish- 
ness. The  business  papers  must  make 
the  first  investment,  living  up  to  this 
thought.  With  the  opportunities  that 
are  ours  today,  the  watchword  must 
be:  Dividends  small;  Service  large.  We 
must  be  bulls  on  American  business  and 
not  fear  to  make  an  investment  in  the 
affections  and  confidence  of  American 
business  men.  If  we  extend  help  to 
American  business  when  it  is  down, 
if  we  help  to  bring  it  up,  we  can  safely 
count  upon  a  full  reward  when  the  sun 
of  prosperity  shines. 

Publishing  Difficulties 

"I  am  fully  mindful  that  while  I  am 
urging  this  wider  service,  we  ourselves 
are  under  fire  from  American  business. 
Prices  are  falling  in  many  lines  and 
American  business  demands  that  we, 
too,  reduce  prices,  reduce  our  advertis- 
ing rates.  This  demand,  we  business 
publishers  know,  is  not  justified.  Busi- 
ness papers  did  not  profiteer  nor  did 
they  raise  rates  during  the  war  in  pro- 
portion to  their  increased  costs.  By 
rigid  economies  and  reduction  of  profits 
they  held  off  their  rate  increases  until 
their  properties  went  into  red  ink  or 
the  certainty  of  red  ink  was  just  ahead. 
Then,  much  belated,  our  rates  were 
moderately  increased,  but  those  in- 
creases were  small  compared  with  the 
increases  on  other  products.  Mean- 
while, the  standards  of  our  service  to 
the  American  business  had  been  con- 
stantly raised.  The  war  has  forced  us 
all  to  higher  journalistic  levels,  and 
today  the  services  which  we  are  render- 
ing our  industries  are  incomparably 
greater  than  they  were  before  the  war. 

"It  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  mechanical 
costs  of  production  will  be  lowered  and 
we  shall  receive  more  per  dollar  for 
printers'  wages,  but,  even  should  those 
decreases  come,  the  larger  margin  that 
would  thereby  be  left  between  gross 
revenue  and  operating  expenses  is 
sorely  needed  right  now  to  bring  the 
business  papers  to  a  level  equal  to  the 
great  opportunity  for  service  which  I 
have  tried  to  picture.  With  all  busi- 
ness papers  raised  to  a  proper  plane, 
we  would  return  to  American  industry 
a  hundredfold  whatever  margin  may 
come  to  us  between  gross  revenue  and 
the  hoped-for  reduced  operating  costs. 
In  other  words,  the  added  revenue  will 
not  go  to  dividends  but  into  better  ser- 
vice to  readers  and  advertisers." 

Co-operation  and  a  Broader  Vision 

Mr.  McGraw  then  pointed  out  how 
business  publishers  could  co-operate  to 
a  greater  extent  than  they  are  now 


836 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


doing  so  as  to  give  better  service.  He 
concluded  his  address  in  the  following 
words : 

"I  will  not  attempt  to  recount  all  of 
the  factors  which  enter  into  the  prob- 
lem of  adjustment  which  is  before  us. 
But  I  do  want  to  bring  a  thought 
before  you,  which  is  given  in  the  words 
of  Thomas  Hughes: 

Who  has  the  clearest  and  intensest  vision 
of  what  is  at  issue  in  the  great  battle  of 
life,  and  who  quits  himself  in  it  most  man- 
fully, will  be  the  first  to  acknowledge  that 
for  him  there  has  been  no  approach  to 
victory  except  by  the  faithful  doing  day  by 
day  of  the  work  which  lay  at  his  own 
threshold. 

"In  brief,  I  bring  to  you  as  leaders 
of  thought  among  thinking  men  that 
what  this  country  needs  more  than  any- 
thing else  is  to  learn  anew  the  gospel 
of  work.  Intelligent  work,  untiring 
work,  work  in  its  most  homely  sense. 
We  cannot  talk  ourselves  into  prosper- 
ity. We  cannot  argue  ourselves  into 
stability,  but  we  can  work  ourselves  out 
of  the  valley  of  depression  and  up  to 
the  heights  of  plenty.  We  can  do  these 
three  things. 

"First,  everybody  get  busy  at  his 
present  task,  and  make  the  most 
of  it. 

"Second,  everybody  consider  winning 


the  peace  in  the  same  spirit  as  char- 
acterized the  winning  of  the  war. 

"Third,  the  business  papers,  by  article, 
editorial  and  personal  service,  show 
that  selfishness  has  now  no  more  place 
than  in  war  time.  That  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  all  men,  individually  and  as 
society,  lies  at  the  basis  of  prosperity. 

"In  conclusion,  let  me  say,  we  must 
consecrate  ourselves  to  giving  a  full 
measure  of  the  best  service  we  have 
within  us.  As  a  nation,  and  as  pub- 
lishers, we  must  quit  our  petty  quarrels 
and  arguments  and  devote  ourselves  to 
the  tasks  that  lie  before  us.  We  had 
to  fight  and  destroy  to  win  the  war. 
We  will  have  to  work  and  build  to  win 
the  peace.  The  first  nation  that  gets 
hold  of  the  idea  that  the  only  salvation 
comes  from  work  will  come  out  on  top 
and  really  win  the  peace. 

"The  business  papers  have  an  oppor- 
tunity such  as  has  never  come  to  them 
before,  to  direct  the  thinking  of  indus- 
try into  sane  channels.  Let  us  demon- 
strate by  our  own  untiring  efforts  to 
serve  and  by  our  diligence  in  meeting 
the  problems  of  the  day  that  we  have 
accepted  the  gospel  of  intelligent  work 
as  the  big  step  in  speeding  the  revival 
of  business." 


Executive  Committee  Meets 

THE  first  regular  monthly  meeting 
of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
American  Association  was  a  well  at- 
tended, busy  one  at  Association  Head- 
quarters Friday,  October  28.  If  the 
first  meeting  of  the  committee  is  typi- 
cal, the  adoption  of  the  monthly  meet- 
ing plan  suggested  by  President 
Gadsden  will  prove  of  great  value  to 
the  association  on  account  of  the 
close  touch  and  active  management 
which  the  executive  committee  is  thus 
enabled  to  give  to  its  activities. 

Executive  Secretary  Welsh  presented 
a  report  concerning  the  membership  of 
the  Association  as  of  October  28,  1921, 
compared  with  October  31,  1920.  A 
total  loss  of  two  railway  companies  and 
12  manufacturer  companies  is  indicated. 
Since  the  meeting  of  the  executive 
committee  on  August  5,  the  following 
members  have  been  added: 

Railway  Member:  Danbury  &  Bethel 
Street  Railway  Company. 

Manufacturer  Members:  Witherow 
Steel  Company,  Copper  Clad  Steel 
Company,  Loes  &  Dilworth,  United 
Lead  Company,  Lowe  Brothers  Com- 
pany. 

The  membership  committee  will  take 
up  with  members  who  have  suggested 
resigning  from  the  association  the 
question  of  their  continuing. 

In  consideration  of  the  mid-year  con- 
ference, the  executive  committee  de- 
cided it  would  be  advisable  to  have  it 
in  Indianapolis  at  the  home  town  of 
the  president,  Mr.  Todd,  and  a  comr 
mittee  of  five  was  authorized  to  make 
preliminary  arrangements. 

The  report  of  the  publicity  committee 
was  submitted  by  Mr.  Storrs  for  Mr. 
Collier,  the  chairman,  who  could  not 
be  present.  This  report  embodied  the 
principles  suggested  by  Britton  I. 
Budd  at  the  convention,  that  the 
executive  committee  take  direct  and 
personal  action  with  i*eference  to  the 
greater  use  of  publicity  and  the  more 


extended  use  of  the  Advertising  Sec- 
tion of  the  Association  throughout  the 
industry.  The  committee  reported  that 
an  arrangement  had  been  made  between 
the  committee  on  publicity  and  the 
Aera  advisory  committee,  now  the  pub- 
lications committee,  for  the  conduct  of 
a  regular  publicity  and  advertising 
section  in  Aera,  and  between  the 
Transportation  and  Traffic  Association 
and  the  publicity  committee  for  the 
carrying  out  by  the  advertising  section 
of  suggestions  made  by  the  safety  and 
merchandising  transportation  commit- 
tees. The  executive  committee  ap- 
proved the  report,  as  well  as  the  sug- 
gested form  of  letter. 

On  recommendation  of  the  Trans- 
portation and  Traffic  Association,  sub- 
mitted by  its  president,  L.  H.  Palmer, 
the  executive  committee  approved  the 
action  of  the  T.  &  T.  Association,  with 
reference  to  adopting  the  freight 
classification  prepared  by  the  joint 
committee  of  the  T.  &  T.  and  Ac- 
countants Associations.  The  T.  &  T. 
Association  had  recommended  that 
companies  put  into  effect  for  the 
calendar  year,  1922,  this  standard 
classification,  so  that  sufficient  data 
would  be  available  at  the  end  of  the 
year  to  furnish  a  clear  idea  of  the 
cost  of  handling  freight. 

The  next  question  to  come  before  the 
committee  was  the  application  of  the 
new  constitution  to  the  status  of  in- 
dividual membership  of  men  employed 
by  municipalities  in  railway  work. 
After  much  discussion,  the  interpreta- 
tion which  the  reorganization  committee 
and  the  previous  executive  committee 
had  intended  to  be  made  on  the  phrase 
"except  that  officers  and  employees  of 
non-member  companies  shall  not  be 
eligible  to  election  as  individual  mem- 
bers" be  retained.  This  is  understood 
to  mean  that  the  term  non-member 
companies  should  include  municipalities 
or  municipal  railways,  not  members  of 
the  association,  as  well  as  private  rail- 


ways not  members  of  the  association. 
Discussion  hinged  on  the  point  that 
municipal  railways  cannot  become 
members. 

J.  H.  Pardee  then  presented  the  re- 
port of  the  Finance  Committee  showing 
an  audited  statement  for  the  first  11 
months  ending  September  30,  1921,  with 
estimated  expenditures  for  October. 
This  report  showed,  as  of  October  31, 
1921,  a  balance  sheet  of  $28,955,  of 
which  $7,149  is  cash.  Comparative 
financial  statements  for  1920  and  1921 
were  also  given,  showing  the  present 
operation  to  be  on  a  more  efficient  and 
less  expensive  basis. 

On  recommendation  of  the  Finance 
Committee,  the  Executive  Committee 
adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  neces- 
sary to  put  into  effect  the  provisions 
regarding  the  handling  of  moneys  and 
safe-guarding  of  funds  contemplated 
by  the  new  constitution. 

The  question  of  trackless  transporta- 
tion being  up  as  a  result  of  a  com- 
munication from  an  outside  body,  the 
executive  committee  decided  to  ask  the 
Engineering  and  the  T.  &  T.  Associ- 
ations to  appoint  committees  to  co-oper- 
ate with  the  American  Association  com- 
mittee on  trackless  transportation  to 
work  under  the  guidance  of  the  latter. 

A  communication  from  the  Engineer- 
ing Association,  submitted  through  its 
president,  C.  F.  Kimball,  brought  up 
the  question  of  employing  an  engineer 
at  Association  headquarters  to  take 
care  of  the  technical  and  statistical 
work  of  the  association  in  which  the 
Engineering  Association  is  particularly 
interested  and  to  assume  some  of  the 
duties  which  Executive  Secretary  Welsh 
has  had  to  relinquish  since  he  took  up 
executive  duties.  Both  this  question 
and  Mr.  Kimball's  reference  to  the 
possibility  of  paying  certain  expenses 
of  committees  in  order  to  get  greater 
committee  activity  were  referred  to  the 
Finance  Committee  for  recommenda- 
tion. 

In  accordance  with  the  constitutional 
provision  that  the  executive  committee 
should  authorize  special  committees,  if 
necessary,  the  committee  took  action 
authorizing  the  following  committees: 
Educatioyi — co-operation  with  educa- 
tional institutions.  Electrolysis.  Ex- 
cess profits  tax.  Mail  pay.  Trackless 
transportation.  Valuation. 

The  committee  also  authorized  a 
special  committee  of  five  with  E.  F. 
Wickwire  as  chairman,  to  enlist  the 
co-operation  of  all  manufacturers  in 
line  with  the  policy  Mr.  Wickwire  out- 
lined in  his  speech  at  Atlantic  City. 
This  committee  was  to  act  under 
the  general  advice  of  the  Public 
Policy  Committee.  The  committee  also 
authorized  the  continuance  of  repre- 
sentation of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association  on  the  joint  com- 
mittee of  National  Utility  Associations. 

On  account  of  the  fact  that  the 
fourth  Friday  in  November  comes, 
this  year,  immediately  after  •  Thanks- 
giving Day,  the  executive  committee 
decided  to  hold  its  November  meeting 
one  week  later,  Friday,  December  2, 
at  Indianapolis. 

The  following  members  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  were  in  attendance  at 
the  meeting:  R.  I.  Todd,  president;  C. 
D.  Emmons,  J.  N.  Shannahan,  F.  R. 
Coates,  F.  E.  Webster,  L.  H.  Palmer, 
R.  P.  Stevens,  W.  H.  Sawyer,  H.  G. 
Bradlee,  John  G.  Barry,  C.  R.  Ellicott, 
Samuel  Curwen,  L.  E.  Gould,  George 
Tontrup,  Lucius  F.  Storrs,  W.  Caryl 
Ely,  C.  L.  Henry,  J.  H.  Pardee  and 
the  executive  secretary,  J.  W.  Welsh. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Galveston  Case  Significant 

Supreme    Court    at    Washington  Will 
Hear  Rate  Case  in  Which  Con- 
fiscation Is  Alleged. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  on  Dec.  5  will  hear  the  appeal 
in  the  case  of  the  Galveston  (Texas) 
Electric  Company  vs.  the  City  of 
Galveston  involving  the  validity  of  the 
ordinance  enacted  by  the  city  of  Gal- 
veston abolishing  the  6-cent  fare  and 
restoring  the  5-cent  fare  on  the  railway 
lines  in  the  city.  This  case  has  been 
long  in  the  courts  and  the  company  has 
appealed  to  the  court  of  last  resort 
for  a  decision. 

This  litigation  has  an  interesting 
history.  It  began  when  the  Galveston 
Electric  Company  announced  that  fares 
would  be  increased  from  5  cents  to  6 
cents,  claiming  the  right  under  terms  of 
its  franchise  to  charge  whatever  fare  it 
deemed  necessary  to  meet  operating 
costs  and  provide  a  fair  return  on  its 
investment.  The  6-cent  fare  was  main- 
tained for  a  time  until  the  city  could 
take  action  to  declare  the  6-cent  not 
justified  and  to  enact  an  ordinance 
restoring  the  5-cent  fare.  The  traction 
company  then  went  into  the  federal 
court,  claiming  the  5-cent  fare  con- 
fiscatory and  asking  relief  therefrom 
under  the  Federal  statutes.  The  trac- 
tion company  asked  an  injunction 
restraining  the  city  of  Galveston  from 
enforcing  the  5-cent  fare  ordinance. 
Judge  J.  C.  Huteheson  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Texas  at  Houston  appointed 
Judge  Dannenbaum  of  Houston  as 
master  in  chancery  to  take  evidence 
touching  the  company's  invested  capi- 
tal, operating  costs  and  revenues,  and 
report  thereon. 

Judge  Dannenbaum  conducted  an  ex- 
tensive investigation  in  Galveston,  and 
as  a  result  recommended  to  Judge 
Huteheson  that  the  6-cent  fare  be 
allowed,  his  finding  being  that  this  fare 
was  necessary  to  provide  operating 
expenses,  depreciation  fund  and  yield  a 
return  of  8  per  cent  on  the  fixed  valua- 
tion of  the  property. 

Judge  Huteheson,  however,  disagreed 
with  the  findings  of  the  master  and 
rendered  final  decision  in  the  case, 
holding  that  a  5-cent  fare  provided 
adequate  return  on  a  valuation  which 
he  placed  below  that  found  by  the 
master,  and  refusing  to  grant  the  in- 
junction sought.  This  was  on  Feb. 
10,  last.  Attorneys  for  the  company 
at  once  set  about  to  take  the  case  to 
the  Supreme  Court  on  appeal,  and  an 
order  was  entered  by  Judge  Huteheson 
in  his  court  on  May  30  granting  right 
of  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  on  a 
writ  of  error. 

The  assignment  of  errors  on  which 
the  appeal  was  based  set  out  eight 
instances  in  which  it  is  claimed  the 
court  erred  in  ruling  favorably  for  the 
defendant,  the  city  of  Galveston,  chiefly 
in  sustaining1  exceptions  to  the  findings 
of  the  master  in  chancery  appointed  to 
place  a  valuation  of  the  company's 
property  for  rate-making  purposes. 

Both  the  finding  of  the  master,  and 


also  the  approval  of  the  court  in  regard 
to  establishing  of  the  present  valuation 
by  adding  33J  per  cent  to  the  pre- 
war cost  of  the  plaintiff  company's 
property  for  rate-making  purposes,  is 
set  out  for  error. 

As  another  reason  assigned  for 
error,  it  is  contended  that  no  actual 
period  of  operation  was  taken  in  which 
to  test  the  desirability  of  the  ordinance 
and  fix  operating  costs.  "On  the  con- 
trary," it  is  set  out,  "it  was  assumed 
that  the  revenue  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1921,  would  be  twice  the 
revenue  for  the  six  months'  period  end- 
ing Dec.  31,  1920,  and  that  operating 
expenses  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1921,  would  be  the  same  as  for  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1920." 

Deferred  maintenance,  which  accrued 
during  the  war  period,  it  is  contended, 
was  not  given  proper  allowance.  The 
court  allowed  $70,000  yearly  for  main- 
tenance, it  is  stated,  when  "the 
evidence  adduced"  showed  $104,000  as 
the  normal  charge. 

It  is  also  assigned  for  error  that 
the  master,  having  found  4  per  cent 
per  annum  as  the  proper  allowance 
for  depreciation,  applying  same  to 
present  fair  value  of  depreciable 
property  as  found  by  him,  the  de- 
fendant excepted  and  the  court  sus- 
tained their  exception,  "thus  excluding 
from  the  fair  value  as  found  by  the 
master  all  overheads  and  various  other 
items  included  therein,  resulting  in 
annual  depreciation  allowance  of 
$45,240  in  the  place  of  $66,824.40, 
allowed  by  the  master." 

Certain  sums  allowed  by  the  master 
as  part  of  base  value  for  rate-making 
purposes  as  proper,  for  brokerage,  to 
which  defendants  took  exception  and 
the  court  sustained  them,  are  assigned 
as  error. 

The  sum  of  $200,000  was  the  amount 
the  master  allowed  for  rate-making 
purposes  for  going  concern  value,  it  is 
stated,  whereas  the  defendant's  excep- 
tion to  this  valuation  was  sustained  by 
the  court,  the  plaintiff  holds,  er- 
roneously. Exception  was  also  taken 
and  erroneously  sustained,  it  is  claimed, 
to  the  amount  of  income  taxes,  $16,254, 
paid  during  the' year  ending  June  30, 
1920,  which  the  plaintiff  holds  the  mas- 
ter properly  allowed  as  operating- 
expenses. 

$139,750  in  Penalties  Sought 

An  action  to  recover  $139,750  from 
the  International  Railway,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  has  been  started  by  the  city  of 
Buffalo  as  a  test  case  to  determine 
whether  the  municipal  authorities  or 
the  Public  Service  Commission  has 
jurisdiction  over  the  service  rendered 
by  the  railway.  The  suit  is  brought  to 
recover  alleged  penalties  for  failure  to 
operate  owl  cars  on  a  half-hour  sched- 
ule on  one  local  line  as  required  under 
the  company's  franchise  agreement.  The 
railway  contends  that  it  complied  with 
an  order  of  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion when  it  stopped  owl  service  on  cer- 
tain lines  and  that  the  city  is  without 
authority  to  restore  the  owl  service. 


Fare  Adjustment  Asked 

Public  Interests  Outweigh  Investment 
and  Chartered  Rights,  Says  Con- 
necticut Utility  Commission. 

The  Connecticut  Company  trustees 
are  being  urged  to  try  a  5-cent  fare  in 
Bridgeport  by  Chairman  Richard  T. 
Higgins,  the  other  members  of  the 
commission  concurring.  This  is  the 
latest  move  for  reduced  fares  in  Con- 
necticut. It  has  followed  closely  the 
development  in  Norwalk  referred  to 
elsewhere  in  this  issue.  On  Nov.  10 
the  commission  will  hold  a  hearing  on 
the  petition  of  the  city  of  Bridgeport 
asking  for  a  fare  reduction. 

Chairman  Higgins  in  a  letter  to  the 
trustees  of  the  company  points  out 
that  the  city  of  Bridgeport  is  the 
critical  point  in  the  State  from  a  street 
railway  transportation  standpoint  and 
that  unless  there  is  a  change  in  trolley 
car  rates  there  the  commission  will 
be  forced  to  grant  additional  jitney 
routes.  The  trustees  take  the  stand 
that  the  lines  of  the  company  should  be 
treated  as  one  unit.  Salient  features 
of  Chairman  Higgins'  letter  are: 

1.  That  the  commission  has  very  ma- 
terially eliminated  unfair  and  destructive 
jitney  competition. 

2.  That  the  investment  and  chartered 
rights  of  the  company  must  be  subordinate 
to  the  paramount  interest  of  the  public. 

3.  That  the  company  should  be  prepared 
to  adapt  itself  to  changing-  conditions. 

4.  That  the  habit  of  riding  should  be 
promoted  by  the  rendition  of  cheap  and  fre- 
quent service. 

5.  That  the  operating  revenues  and  ex- 
penses of  each  division  should  be  kept  sepa- 
rate, thereby  permitting  an  adjustment  of 
rates  for  each  such  division. 

6.  That  the  methods  of  transportation 
must  conform  to  economic  conditions. 

Chairman  Higgins'  letter  to  the 
trustees  expresses  the  attitude  of  the 
commission  on  the  critical  condition 
now  existing  and  confirms  the  belief 
that  conditions  have  changed  materially 
since  the  high  rate  was  made  effective; 
also  that  the  10-cent  rate  is  more  than 
the  traffic  can  bear. 

About  the  time  the  letter  was  written 
President  L.  S.  Storrs  informed  the 
trustees  that  the  company  had  derived 
a  net  income  of  more  than  $1,000,000 
in  the  first  few  months  of  the  year. 

In  a  reply  to  the  commission  Judge 
Walter  C.  Noyes,  chairman  of  the 
company's  federal  trustees  declares 
that  by  granting  a  fare  reduction  in 
Bridgeport,  the  unity  of  the  system 
would  be  destroyed.  He  expresses  the 
hope  that  next  spring  the  trustees  will 
be  in  a  position  to  consider  a  change 
that  will  effect  the  entire  system. 

Judge  Noyes,  writing  under  date 
Oct.  25,  informed  the  commission  that 
if  it  ordered  a  5-cent  fare  in  Bridge- 
port the  trustees  will  see  to  it  such 
order  is  fairly  and  fully  complied  with. 


Railway  Asks  Relief. — The  Muskegon 
Tracton  &  Lighting  Company,  Muske- 
gon, Mich.,  through  its  directors,  has 
applied  to  the  City  Commission  for 
assistance  in  its  financial  difficulties. 
In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Commis- 
sion the  company  reports  losses  for 
four  months  amounting  to  $18,772. 


838 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Provisions  of  New  Franchise 
Being  Considered 

The  city  of  Houston,  Tex.,  is  con- 
sidering provisions  of  the  new  franchise 
v'lich  is  to  be  negotiated  with  the 
Houston  Electric  Company.  This 
action  is  made  necessary  by  the  recent 
rejection  by  the  voters  of  the  city  in 
the  referendum  election  on  the  franchise 
which  had  been  submitted  by  the  trac- 
tion company.  City  Attorney  Sewell 
Meyer  has  proposed  to  the  City  Coun- 
cil that  the  company  should  first  be 
required  to  establish  a  flat  6-cent  fare 
in  the  city  or  issue  books  of  twenty 
tickets  for  $1.  The  City  Council  has 
taken  its  recommendation  under  ad- 
visement, but  has  made  no  announce- 
ment as  to  whether  it  would  be  included 
in  the  new  franchise  provisions.  The 
Mayor  and  members  of  the  City 
Council  have  said  that  the  first  con- 
sideration in  framing  the  new  franchise 
will  be  service,  and  that  the  company 
will  be  bound  in  such  a  manner  that 
service  must  be  given. 


Paris  Subway  Wreck  Kills  Forty 

Forty  persons  were  killed  and  a  hun- 
dred were  injured  recently  when  two 
suburban  trains  of  the  Paris  subway 


and  asked  for  investigation  of  the  plan. 
His  communication  was  referred  to  the 
committee  on  law.  In  presenting  the 
matter  Mr.  Barnes  said: 

While  the  president  of  the  railway  and 
I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
trackless  trolley  is  the  means  best  suited 
to  supplement  the  present  trolley  system 
in  this  city,  its  adoption  is  such  a  radical 
change  from  prevailing'  methods  of  trans- 
portation and  so  important,  that  I  feel  be- 
fore final  action  is  taken  that  it  should  be 
fully  discussed  and  an  opportunity  given 
to  all  interested  to  express  their  views  on 
this  subject. 

Therefore,  I  would  respectfully  suggest 
that  this  communication  be  referred  to  some 
committee  of  your  honorable  body  for  that 
purpose.   

Municipal  Railway  Construction 
Praised 

Frederick  Boeken,  superintendent  of 
the  San  Francisco  (Cal.)  Municipal 
Railway,  recently  made  a  tour  of  in- 
spection of  Detroit's  municipal  street 
railway  lines.  Mr.  Boeken  was  pass- 
ing through  Detroit  on  his  way  back  to 
San  Francisco  after  having  attended 
the  recent  convention  of  electric  rail- 
way men  in  Atlantic  City. 

In  view  of  the  way  in  which  Detroit 
is  committed  at  present  to  a  program  of 
municipal  ownership  of  its  railway 
lines  the  daily  papers  there  were  quick 


(0)  International  Film  Service 
The  Remains  of  One  Car  Which  Figured  in  the  Paris  Subway  Wreck 


system  collided  in  the  Batignolles  tun- 
nel near  the  St.  Lazare  station.  Both 
trains  were  crowded  and  the  coaches 
caught  fire  following  the  crash.  Many 
were  burned  to  death. 


Trackless  Trolley  Advocated  by 
Street  Railway  Director 

Charles  R.  Barnes,  street  railway 
commissioner  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  is  an 
open  advocate  of  the  trackless  trolley. 
He  has  recommended  vehicles  of  this 
type  to  the  City  Council  for  use  by  the 
New  York  State  Railways  for  cross- 
town  service.  At  the  same  time  that 
this  proposal  was  made  permission  was 
sought  to  extend  the  existing  electric 
railway  tracks  on  Clinton  Avenue  north 
from  the  present  terminus  at  Norton 
Street  to  the  Ridge  Road. 

Mr.  Barnes  stated  that  both  he  and 
President  James  F.  Hamilton  of  the 
New  York  State  Railways  had  decided 
after  investigation  that  trackless  trol- 
leys were  most  suitable  for  such  cross- 
town  service  as  Rochester  needs.  The 
commissioner  of  railways  emphasized 
the  immediate  necessity  for  such  service 


to  seek  out  Mr.  Boeken  for  an  ex- 
pression of  opinion  as  to  the  lines  now 
being  built  there  and  for  comment  on 
the  progress  in  municipal  operation 
that  has  been  made  in  San  Francisco. 
He  is  quoted  by  the  Detroit  News  in 
part  as  follows: 

You  will  probably  hear  much  criticism 
of  the  small  safety  cars — at  first.  But  don't 
let  that  disturb  you.  Both  from  experi- 
ence and  hearsay  I  know  the  one-man  cars 
give  excellent  service  and  meet  every  de- 
mand of  the  public.  I  saw  one  of  the 
Peter  Witt  type  of  large  cars  which  the 
local  municipal  lines  will  use,  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  that  type  of  car  will  be  en- 
tirely adequate  to  take  care  of  the  heavy 
traffic  on  Woodward  Avenue  and  other  main 
thoroughfares. 

The  track  now  being  built  in  Detroit 
is  not  only  entirely  adequate  to  carry  the 
traffic,  but,  in  all  my  railway  experience, 
I  have  never  seen  neater  construction. 
You  must  have  a  marvelous  organization 
here  to  have  constructed  so  much  and  such 
good  track  in  so  short  a  time. 

Detroit  has  used  what  is  called  the 
"rigid"  type  of  construction — that  is  laying 
the  ties  and  rails  in  cement.  The  Detroit 
United,  I  am  told,  still  lays  its  ties  on  a 
sand  foundation  with  brick  and  stone  sup- 
ports. That's  old  stuff  in  the  railway  world. 
Out  in  San  Francisco  we  build  very  much 
the  same  as  Detroit  is  building  its  new 
lines.  Some  of  the  tracks  have  been  down 
nine  years,  have  given  excellent  service  and 
are  still  in  good  condition. 


Differences  Being  Adjusted 

Reconciliation  Reached  Between  Secur- 
ity Holders  at  New  Orleans  Helpful 
Toward    Traction  Settlement 

A  quarter  page  display  advertise- 
ment published  recently  in  the  local 
papers  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  invited 
holders  of  the  4J  per  cent  bonds  of  the 
New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, to  deposit  their  bonds  with  Jan. 
1,  1922,  and  all  subsequent  coupons 
attached  with  any  one  of  four  deposi- 
taries of  the  committee. 

This  announcement  followed  reports 
published  in  the  New  Orleans  papers 
that  an  agreement  had  been  reached 
among  the  security  holders  of  the  sev- 
eral classes.  The  report  could  not  be 
confirmed. 

R.  S.  Hecht,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee representing  the  holders  of  the 
4  J  per  cent  bonds  of  the  New  Orleans 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  Hibernia  Bank  &  Trust 
Company,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  ad- 
vertisement, is  represented  as  having 
predicted  an  early  settlement  of  the 
local  railway  tangle,  though  he  was 
unwilling  to  make  public  the  probable 
plan  of  settlement. 

G.  M.  Dahl,  representing  the  eastern 
interests  of  the  New  Orleans  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  while  confident  that 
a  settlement  is  not  far  off,  declined  to 
go  into  details.  He  indicates,  how- 
ever, that  an  agreement  had  been 
brought  about  between  junior  security 
holders  and  4J  per  cent  bondholders. 

The  conferences  that  have  been  held 
by  Commissioner  Maloney,  of  the  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Department,  with  inter- 
ested parties,  have  resulted  in  his  plan 
of  settlement  being  perfected,  with  the 
result  that  it  will  be  submitted  to  the 
Council  for  approval  as  soon  as  the 
time  is  opportune.  Not  until  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Council  has  been  obtained, 
however,  will  final  negotiations  be  con- 
ducted with  the  company  and  the 
security  holders.  The  matter  has  been 
delayed  by  the  Mayor's  illness. 

A  movement  has  been  under  way  for 
about  a  month  looking  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  bus  transportation  in  New 
Orleans  by  popular  subscription.  The 
parties  back  of  the  undertaking  are 
the  Anti-Eight-Cent  Car  Fare  League, 
supported  by  the  Women's  Federation 
of  Clubs  and  the  Central  Trades  and 
Labor  Council.  The  organization  claims 
to  have  70,000  subscribers  to  its  stock, 
which  is  being  sold  in  small  denomina- 
tions on  the  installment  plan. 

On  Oct.  30  it  was  stated  that  the  se- 
curity holders  of  the  company  after 
many  protracted  meetings  with  the 
members  of  the  Commission  Council 
have  finally  evolved  a  plan  of  settle- 
ment along  the  lines  of  the  Maloney 
plan,  which  they  have  asked  the  Coun- 
cil to  adopt.  This  modified  Maloney 
plan  is  one  that  is  said  to  be  acceptable 
to  all  the  security  holders  at  interest, 
including  the  fraction  that  demurred  to 
the  preferred  position  given  the  holders 
of  the  41  per  cent  bonds  under  the  orig- 
inal Maloney  plan. 

Commissioner  of  Public  Utilities  Ma- 
loney spent  a  good  part  of  the  after- 
noon of  Oct.  29  in  going  over  the  modi- 
fied plan  with  City  Attorney  O'Keefe, 
with  the  view  of  learning  the  legal  right 
of  the  city  in  the  proposed  agreement 
and  to  what  lengths  the  city  was  com- 
mitted under  the  plan.  After  these  rep- 
resentatives of  the  city  have  satisfied 
themselves  on  the  points  involved  noth- 
ing more  will  remain  to  be  done  but 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


839 


submit  the  plan  to  the  Commission 
Council  for  its  approval.  It  does  not 
follow,  however,  that  this  will  mark  the 
end  of  the  matter.  The  company  will 
have  to  be  reorganized  on  the  lines  out- 
lined in  the  original  Maloney  plan;  the 
receiver  discharged;  more  money  ob- 
tained; and  the  necessary  enabling  acts 
passed  by  the  Commission  Council. 

Those  in  possession  of  the  facts  upon 
which  it  is  now  generally  believed  a 
solution  of  the  company's  troubles  will 
be  reached  are  unwilling  to  discuss  the 
details  for  publication.  Nothing  will 
be  known  definitely  until  the  matter  is 
presented  to  the  Council.  It  goes  with- 
out saying,  however,  that  the  modified 
Maloney  plan,  if  approved  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Utilities,  will  be 
adopted. 

The  value  of  the  property  of  the  com- 
pany, for  tax  assessment  purposes  for 
1921,  has  been  reduced  by  the  Louisiana 
Tax  Commission  $2,510,680  below  the 
assessment  of  1920.  The  loss  sustained 
by  the  city  in  this  reduced  assessment  is 
made  up,  however,  by  the  amount  that 
applies  to  the  city  general  fund  receiv- 
able from  the  percentage  tax  on  gross 
receipts  for  the  year.  The  gross 
receipts  for  this  year  under  the  pres- 
ent 8-cent  fare  will  be  about  $15,000,000 
as  against  $12,583,560  for  1920.  This 
tax  goes  direct  to  the  city  general  fund. 


Candidate  Curran  Another 
Five-Cent  Apostle 

Henry  H.  Curran,  coalition  candidate 
for  Mayor  in  New  York,  made  public 
•on  Oct.  29  a  statement  of  his  position 
on  transit. 

In  it  he  came  out  unequivocally  for 
the  retention  of  the  5-cent  fare  and 
for  such  amendments  to  the  transit 
•commission  act  passed  by  the  last  Leg- 
islature as  would  return  to  the  city 
complete  control  of  all  traction  con- 
tracts. 

Proclaiming  himself  an  advocate  of 
home  rule,  he  declared  this  campaign 
was  "a  fight  to  the  finish  to  find  out 
whether  Hearst  rules  New  York  or 
whether  the  people  of  the  city  still 
enjoy  local  self  government." 

As  Mr.  Curran  sees  it  the  transit 
problem  in  New  York  has  come  to 
assume  three  distinct  aspects.  They 
are: 

1.  The  question  of  home  rule. 

2.  The  retention  of  the  5-cent  fare. 

3.  Improved  and  extended  service. 

Mr.  Curran  said: 

I  have  repeated  over  and  over  again 
my  firm  conviction  that  this  city  is  en- 
titled to  control  its  local  affairs,  free  from 
outside  domination. 

I  opposed  the  transit  law  as  soon  as 
it  was  drafted  last  winter.  I  said  it  was 
wrong  and  unjust  to  take  from  us  our 
control  over  contracts  made  by  us  in  good 
faith  and  executed  by  the  expenditure  of 
millions  of  dollars  of  our  own  money. 

Home  rule  is  right,  and  I  say  that  right 
■comes  ahead  of  party.    Right  comes  first. 

When  I  am  elected  Mayor  I  propose  not 
only  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  the 
transit  law  but  to  fight  with  all  the  strength 
and  energy  I  possess  to  have  it  amended. 
I  am  going  to  have  a  bill  drafted  and  in- 
troduced at  Albany  restoring  to  our  city 
the  control  over  our  transit  contracts  that 
this  law  took  away  from  us. 

While  the  stage  has  not  yet  been 
reached  where  the  different  steps  and 
details  of  the  procedure  toward  secur- 
ing the  ends  Mr.  Curran  has  in  mind 
can  be  worked  out,  still  he  has  stated 
specifically  his  ideas  on  some  of  the 
points  as  follows: 

Before  all  else,  the  valuation  of  the 
roads  must  be  right.  Every  drop  of  water 
must    be    squeezed    out.      If    there    is  no 


earning  power  under  the  5-cent  fare,  that 
is  in  the  contract,  I  say  there  is  no  mar- 
ketable value  beyond  what  one  man  would 
pay  another  for  such  a  property. 

Also,  I  am  fundamentally  and  unalter- 
ably opposed  to  the  "sliding  scale  or  ba- 
rometer" fare.  I  shall  oppose  any  plan 
that  does  not  render  it  impossible  at  any 
time  in  the  future,  or  under  any  circum- 
stances, to  exact  more  than  a  5-cent  fare, 
or  any  plan  that  alters  or  modifies  the 
city's  present  contract  right  to  insist  upon 
a  5-cent  fare,  with  free  transfers  between 
all  parts  of  the  new  system. 


$200,000  Storm  Damage 

Utility  at  Tampa  Crippled  Temporarily, 
but  Not  Seriously  Injured — Railway 
Must  Meet  Repaving  Costs 

Practically  5  miles  of  track  washed 
out  and  one  car  damaged,  along  with 
the  loss  of  the  stream  of  nickels  for 
two  days,  represent  the  traction  loss 
of  the  Tampa  (Fla.)  Electric  Company 
due  to  the  storm  which  broke  on  the 
morning  of  Oct.  25  and  for  forty-eight 
hours  isolated  Tampa,  doing  total 
damage  of  $800,000  to  $1,000,000.  In 
addition  to  the  losses  named,  the  line 
will  also  have  to  pay  for  the  repaving 
of  more  than  4  miles  between  its 
tracks.  Very  few  of  the  poles  support- 
ing the  trolley  were  washed  down, 
though  a  score  or  more  throughout  the 
city  were  blown  over.  Most  of  those 
blown  over  would,  however,  probably 
have  had  to  be  replaced  before  long. 

The  trouble  zone  was  the  Bayshore 
Boulevard,  traversed  by  the  Port  Tampa 
line.  There  is  no  seawall  along  the  5- 
mile  drive  and  the  electric  line  tracks 
were  on  the  bayward  side  of  the  high- 
way. Very  little,  if  any,  of  the  track 
was  lost,  estimates  at  this  date  being 
that  all  of  the  rails  and  practically  all 
of  the  ties  are  intact.  Practically  all 
of  the  brick  are  available,  the  main  cost 
being  relaying. 

Manager  Hanlon  estimates  that  the 
entire  damage  to  the  electric  company, 
trolley,  and  lighting  systems  is  about 
$200,000. 

The  trolley  damaged  was  abandoned 
about  half  way  down  the  drive  when 
high  water  flooded  the  power  station 
cutting  off  the  current.  The  damage  to 
the  power  plant  will  be  slight. 

The  city  of  Tampa  proper  was  with- 
out lights  just  one  night.  Fallen  wires 
in  all  parts  of  the  city  delayed  the  turn- 
ing on  of  current  to  the  outlying  sec- 
tions of  the  city,  but  within  ninety-six 
hours  of  the  passing  of  the  storm, 
which  raged  on  Oct.  25  with  decreasing 
vigor  after  3  p.m.,  the  entire  city  and 
the  suburbs  were  enjoying  lights  again. 
The  papers,  hotels  and  other  down- 
town places  including  the  Franklin 
Street  whiteway,  had  lights  Wednesday 
night. 

In  St.  Petersburg  early  estimates  of 
the  damage  were  excessive.  It  develops 
that  the  entire  damage  to  city 
property,  including  a  recreation  pier, 
valued  at  $20,000,  washed  away,  will 
only  be  $65,000.  This  is  the  estimate 
of  R.  E.  Ludwig,  director  of  public 
utilities.  The  principal  damage  to  the 
trolley  lines,  which  are  municipally 
owned,  was  the  loss  of  a  half  mile  of 
track  and  trolley  when  the  pier  went 
down  and  part  of  the  approach  was 
washed  away.  In  addition  some  poles 
and  lines  were  blown  down. 

The  entire  damage  in  the  storm  area, 
spread  over  a  score  of  counties,  and 
with  only  a  dozen  individual  losses  over 
$2,000,  will  be  considerably  less  than 
$5,000,000,  more  than  a  third  of  which 
total  is  accounted  for  by  fallen  fruit 
in  the  citrus  groves. 


Interurban  Ordered  to  Pay 

In  a  case  involving  the  death  of 
Walter  Berg,  a  joint  employee  of  the 
Utah  Power  &  Light  Company  and  the 
Bamberger  Electric  Railroad  the  Indus- 
trial Commission  of  Utah  has  cone 
that  the  Bamberger  Electric  Railroad 
is  purely  an  intrastate  carrier,  and  has 
ordered  the  railroad,  in  conjunction  with 
the  power  company,  to  pay  Mr.  Berg's 
widow  compensation  as  a  result  of  his 
death. 

The  case  came  on  for  hearing  last 
August,  after  which  the  commission 
ordered  compensation  paid  to  Mr. 
Berg's  wife.  The  Bamberger  Electric 
Railroad  petitioned  for  a  rehearing, 
contending  that  it  was  an  interstate 
road  and  not  subject  to  the  orders  of 
the  Utah  Industrial  Commission.  This 
contention  was  taken  under  advisement. 
The  commission  now  finds  that  the 
Bamberger  Electric  road  is  an  employer 
subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  Utah 
compensation  act. 

The  findings  of  the  commission  are  of 
considerable  importance  in  Utah,  since 
it  indicates  the  stand  of  the  commission 
that  all  electric  roads  operating  in  the 
State,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
the  Utah-Idaho  Central,  are  intrastate 
roads  and  are  subject  to  the  compensa- 
tion act.  It  is  probable  that  the  case 
will  be  taken  to  the  federal  courts  by 
the  Bamberger  road,  owing  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  issues  involved. 


Three-Wire  Electrolysis  Mitiga- 
tion System  Working 
Successfully 

The  three-wire  system  as  used  for 
the  mitigation  of  electrolysis  in  Winni- 
peg and  its  installation  were  described 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  for 
March  26,  1921,  since  which  time  the 
system  has  been  completed  and  placed 
in  operation.  In  order  to  determine 
whether  the  railway's  contract  with  the 
city  had  been  fulfilled,  it  was  agreed 
that  an  examination  should  be  made 
by  outside  experts.  The  engineering 
services  of  Albert  F.  Ganz,  Inc.,  were 
therefore  retained  jointly  by  the  city, 
the  telephone  and  the  railway  inter- 
ests, and  the  installation  was  examined 
early  in  October  by  Prof.  L.  A.  Hazel- 
tine_  and  C.  F.  Meyerherm  of  this  or- 
ganization. 

After  a  study  of  the  operating  re- 
sults, conferences  were  held  with  the 
various  interests  concerned  and  a  joint 
meeting  was  held  on  Oct.  4.  At  that 
meeting  it  was  agreed  that  before  the 
system  was  finally  accepted  as  being 
a  proper  remedy  for  the  mitigation  of 
electrolysis  a  further  six  months  test 
should  be  made.  In  the  meantime,  the 
railway  is  to  keep  a  careful  record  of 
the  readings  of  the  voltmeters  and  is 
to  furnish  Mr.  Hazeltine  and  the  city 
authorities  with  copies  of  these  reports 
from  time  to  time.  After  studying 
these  results,  a  further  investigation 
will  be  made  into  the  system  next 
spring. 

Professor  Hazeltine  said  that  the 
records  so  far  obtained  indicated  that 
the  system  was  working  satisfactorily 
and  had  produced  the  results  con- 
templated. The  principal  remaining  re- 
quirement is  to  have  assurance  that 
these  results  will  be  continued  per- 
manently. 


840 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


General  Fund  Not  Available  to 
Meet  Costs 

A  vote  of  the  people  is  necessary 
before  the  general  fund  may  be  used 
for  maintenance  and  operation  of  the 
Seattle  (Wash.)  Municipal  Railway. 
This  is  the  opinion  recently  expressed 
by  Judge  J.  T.  Ronald  of  the  Superior 
Court  in  a  decision  overruling  the 
demurrer  of  the  city  of  Seattle  to  the 
suit  of  the  fourteen  taxpayers  to  enjoin 
the  city  from  using  money  from  the 
general  fund  in  the  operation  and  main- 
tenance of  the  system. 

The  suit  is  one  brought  by  S.  B. 
Asia  and  thirteen  other  taxpayers  and 
the  demurrer  interposed  by  the  city  was 
to  an  amended  complaint  in  which  the 
plaintiffs  sought  injunction  against  the 
tapping  of  the  general  fund  by  the 
city.  The  case  was  argued  on  Oct.  14. 
The  city  demurred  on  the  grounds  that 
there  was  a  defect  of  the  parties- 
defendant,  and  that  the  facts  did  not 
justify  a  cause  of  action. 

In  his  decision,  Judge  Ronald  held 
that  the  amended  complaint  of  the 
taxpayers  does  not  attack  the  legality 
of  the  deal  or  the  validity  of  the  bonds, 
and  therefore  the  Puget  Sound  Trac- 
tion Light  &  Power  Company  was  not 
a  party  to  the  suit.  On  the  point 
involving  the  loan  of  money  from  the 
general  fund  to  a  special  fund  the  court 
cited  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
in  which  it  was  held  that  such  loans 
could  not  be  made  in  cases  where  the 
special  fund  had  no  constant  and  fixed 
source  of  supply.  The  city  may  now 
stand  on  its  complaint  and  appeal  to 
the  Supreme  Court  or  file  an  answer 
in  the  case  and  allow  it  to  go  to  trial 
on  its  merits. 


Elevated  Lease  Negotiations 
Broken  Off 

Mayor  Moore,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
has  terminated  the  negotiations  with 
the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany over  the  terms  of  a  lease  of  the 
Frankford  elevated  line  and  has  an- 
nounced his  intention  to  have  the  line 
operated  by  the  city  as  a  separate  and 
independent  unit  of  the  city's  transpor- 
tation system. 

The  apparent  hope  of  the  Mayor  is 
that  the  railway  will  see  what  he  con- 
siders the  error  of  its  ways  before  the 
completion  of  the  work  and  accept  the 
idea  of  the  city. 

At  present  the  points  of  junction  be- 
tween the  elevated  railways  built  by 
the  city  and  that  built  and  operated  by 
the  railway  is  separated  only  by  a  few 
feet.  As  one  writer  put  it,  however,  the 
structures  might  just  as  well  be  a  mile 
apart,  for  the  distance  is  not  one  of 
inches,  but  dollars.  As  this  authority 
explained,  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  was  willing  to  come  in  and 
operate  the  Frankford  road,  but  not  at 
a  loss,  and  though  the  city  administra- 
tion consented  to  a  lease  containing  a 
guaranty  against  it,  the  lease  went  into 
the  discard  when  Council  began  amend- 
ing it.  The  attitude  of  the  company 
was  that  it  should  be  indemnified  for 
any  loss  in  its  operation  or  created  by 
the  diversion  of  traffic  from  the  surface 
lines. 

In  commenting  editorially  on  the 
breaking  off  of  the  negotiations,  the 
Philadelphia  Ledger  said: 

The  present  warring  forces  in  the  city 
administration  must  get  together,  recast 
the  high-speed  transit  program  and  prepare 
and  put  through  plans  that  will  be  self- 
supporting,  regardless  of  the  effect  upon  the 


Rapid  Transit  Company.  Whether  this 
shall  mean  the  carrying  of  the  terminus 
of  the  Frankford  line  into  the  center  of 
the  city  and  the  linking  of  it  with  lines 
to  be  built  north  and  south  and  to  the  far 
southwest  is  the  practical  problem  to  be 
solved.  But  a  point  has  been  reached 
when  a  decision  should  be  arrived  at  that 
will  bring  to  an  end  the  interminable  de- 
lays of  the  last  ten  years  and  give  to  the 
citizens  transportation  facilities  commen- 
surate with  the  city's  needs. 


Wages  Cut  in  Louisville 

An  agreement  was  reached  on  Oct.  29 
by  employees  of  the  Louisville  (Ry.) 
Railway  and  the  company  under  which 
a  reduction  of  5  cents  an  hour  in  the 
wages  paid  to  trainmen  became  effective 
on  Nov.  1.  Employees  represented  by 
the  general  committee  of  the  Co-opera- 
tive Welfare  Association  conferred  with 
the  officials  of  the  company  in  the  office 
of  President  James  P.  Barnes  and  an 
agreement  was  quickly  reached.  The 
reduction  will  affect  about  1,500  men. 
It  will  result  in  an  annual  saving  of 
about  $250,000  for  the  company. 

This  decision  followed  a  series  of  con- 
ferences and  reports  relative  to  a  pos- 
sible 10  to  20  per  cent  reduction  in 
wages.  The  men  all  felt  that  a  reduc- 
tion was  justified,  in  that  the  7-cent 
fare  has  failed  to  improve  the  financial 
condition  of  the  company  materially, 
but  they  were  not  all  agreed  on  the 
amount  of  the  cut.  The  individual  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  were  soon  all  over- 
come in  the  suggestion  that  the  cut  bs 
made  5  cents  an  hour. 

Under  the  new  schedule  motormen 
and  conductors  on  city  lines  will  receive 
36  cents  an  hour  for  their  first  three 
months,  38  cents  the  next  nine  months 
and  43  cents  an  hour  for  the  second 
year  and  thereafter.  Men  on  the  inter- 
urban  lines  are  paid  1  cent  an  hour 
more.  Reductions  in  wages  of  other 
employees  will  be  made  on  the  same 
basis. 

At  the  conferences  with  the  men  and 
in  a  formal  statement  to  the  public 
Mr.  Barnes  took  the  position  that  the 
failure  of  the  7-cent  fare  to  yield  antic- 
ipated increases  in  revenue  made  it 
necessary  to  practice  further  economies. 

Both  the  Louisville  Railway  and 
Louisville  &  Interurban  Railroad  are 
included  in  the  arrangement,  as  it  is  one 
organization,  although  the  interurban 
lines  are  operated  by  a  separate  cor- 
poration. 


Defrauders  Punished 

The  fraud  has  been  making  himself 
conspicuous  of  late  on  the  lines  of  the 
Columbus,  Delaware  &  Marion  Electric 
Company,  Columbus,  Ohio.  Two  of- 
fenders have  been  arrested  and  sent- 
enced. 

Dewitt  Powell,  who  was  employed 
by  the  company  as  a  night  watchman, 
after  studying  the  combination  of  the 
safe  in  the  ticket  office  at  Columbus, 
succeeded  in  stealing  several  small 
amounts  of  money  ranging  from  $5  to 
$59.  He  was  arrested  in  June  and 
sentenced  on  Oct.  21  to  serve  from  one 
to  seven  years  in  the  Mansfield  re- 
formatory. 

The  second  offender  against  the  same 
property  was  one  Floyd  Wain,  who 
camouflaged  a  broken  arm  as  the  re- 
sult of  falling  over  something  in  the 
aisle  of  an  interurban  car.  He  later 
confessed  that  his  object  was  to  de- 
fraud and  was  given  thirty  days  in 
the  Dayton  workhouse  and  fined  $10 
and  costs. 


A  Biography  of  George  Westing- 
house  to  Be  Published 

Through  a  committee  of  the  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers 
a  biography  of  George  Westinghouse 
of  330  pages  is  soon  to  be  published. 
The  author  is  Col.  Henry  G.  Prout;  for 
many  years  an  associate  of  Mr.  West- 
inghouse in  the  Union  Switch  &  Signal 
Company,  and  prior  to  that  time  edi- 
tor of  the  Railroad  Gazette.  Publica- 
tion of  this  biography  is  in  charge  of 
a  committee  of  the  A.S.M.E.,  and  an 
opportunity  is  now  being  given  to 
members  of  the  four  foundation  engi- 
neering societies  to  enter  subscriptions, 
which  vary  in  amount  according  to 
the  kind  of  binding  desired. 

The  present  edition  of  the  biography 
of  Mr.  Westinghouse  is  a  limited  one. 
Later  it  is  expected  that  a  popular 
edition  will  be  issued. 


^niniii.i,Mlil'''l''''''iMliMNmm_i  um'i  1111  t  inrr  Iimm 


News  Notes 


Power   House   to   Be   Dismantled. — 

The  power  house  of  the  Atlantic  and 
Suburban  Railway  at  Pleasantville, 
N.  J.,  is  being  dismantled  and  the  ma- 
chinery is  being  shipped  to  a  dealer 
in  the  south. 

Wants     Franchise     Renewed.  —  The 

Coal  Belt  Electric  Company,  Herrin, 
111.,  has  applied  to  the  City  Council  for 
a  renewal  of  its  franchise.  The  pres- 
ent franchise  has  four  years  to  run, 
but  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway,  which 
owns  and  operates  the  Coal  Belt  line, 
wishes  to  know  definitely  if  a  renewal 
of  the  franchise  at  this  time  can  be 
expected.  The  city  is  asking  that  the 
company  straighten  its  line  and  run 
out  South  Park  Avenue  to  the  city  limits 
on  the  south  and  to  pave  its  right-of- 
way  as  conditions  to  a  renewal  of  the 
franchise. 

Right    to    Operate    Restored.  —  The 

Bridgeport  and  Waterbury  auto  serv- 
ice has  been  restored  by  an  order  is- 
sued from  the  office  of  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission,  which  has  issued  a 
certificate  of  convenience  to  the  Bridge- 
port &  Waterbury  Passenger  Service, 
Inc.,  formerly  the  Bridgeport  &  Water- 
bury Taxi  Service.  The  company  has  re- 
sumed its  jitney  service  between  Bridge- 
port and  Waterbury,  but  on  a  revised 
running  schedule,  extending  it  to  11 
o'clock  at  night.  The  office  of  the 
company  has  been  moved  from  Water 
Street  to  54  Golden  Hill  Street,  Bridge- 
port. 

"It's  Up  to  Each  Employee."' — Mayor 
Charles  H.  Ellis,  of  Camden,  recently 
delivered  an  address  on  "Relations 
Between  Railway  Employees  and  Offi- 
cials" before  the  employees  of  the 
Public  Service  Railway  of  Camden.  The 
city  executive  related  how  he  could  not 
take  sides  in  the  questions  of  railway 
business  before  the  public.  He  pointed 
out  how  the  entire  company  was  often 
condemned  for  the  actions  of  one  con- 
ductor or  motorman  and  said  that  it 
was  up  to  each  employee  to  aid  the 
company.  Martin  Schreiber,  general 
manager  of  the  Southern  Division, 
spoke  on  the  organization  of  an  athletic 
association  among  the  trolleymen. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


841 


$1,370,585  Gain  in  Income 

Remarkable  Record  Made  by  Eastern 
Massachusetts  for  Nine  Months — 
Operating  Ratio  Down 

The  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 
Railway,  Boston,  Mass.,  in  the  quarter 
ended  Sept.  30,  increased  its  income 
by  $242,127  in  the  face  of  a  reduction 
in  gross  receipts  of  $665,360.  For  the 
nine  months  ended  with  September  the 
increase  in  income  available  for  bond 
interest  and  rentals  was  $1,405,977  des- 
pite a  decline  in  receipts  of  $1,707,451, 
as  compared  with  the  corresponding 
period  of  1920. 

The  ratio  of  operating  expenses  and 
taxes  to  total  revenues  has  been  cut 
down  from  95.5  per  cent  in  the  first 
nine  months  of  1920  to  78.2  per  cent 
for  the  same  period  this  year. 

Detailed  statements  for  the  quarter 
and  nine  months  ended  Sept.  30,  com- 
pared with  the  corresponding  periods  of 
the  previous  year,  follow: 


Three  months  ended  Sept. 30:  1921  1920 
Operating  revenue  and  in- 
come  $2,952,940  $3,618,300 

Operating  expenses  and  taxes  2,258,963  3,166,450 

Gross  income   $693,976  $451,850 

Bond  interest  and  rentals.  .  .  399,136  392,319 

Net  income   $294,840  $59,530 

Nine  months  ended  Sept.  30: 

Operating  revenue  and  in- 
come  $8,590,798  $10,298,249 

Operating  expenses  and  taxes  6,721,576  9,835,005 

Gross  income   $1,869,221  $463,244 

Bond  interest  and  rentals.  .  .  1,199,762  1,164,370 

Netincome   $669,459  *$70I,I26 

*Deficit. 


While  gross  revenues  still  show  a 
material  contraction  as  compared  with 
the  corresponding  period  a  year  ago, 
this  is  more  than  offset  by  the  firm 
grasp  which  the  trustees  have  secured 
on  operating  expenses.  This  program 
of  economy  is  strikingly  reflected  in 
the  statement  of  earnings  for  the  nine 
months  ended  with  September,  when  a 
decline  of  $1,708,000  in  revenues  was 
neutralized  by  a  cut  of  $3,100,000  in 
expenses. 

The  impression  is  not  altogether  cor- 
rect that  prevails  in  some  circles  that 
the  company's  shrinkage  in  costs  of 
operation  has  been  brought  about  en- 
tirely by  the  use  of  one-man  cars  and 
the  reduction  in  wages  of  the  blue- 
uniformed  force.  The  officials  have 
combed  the  shop  forces  thoroughly  and 
it  has  been  found  that  a  substantial 
saving  in  the  number  of  employees 
could  be  accomplished  without  measur- 
ably lessening  the  amount  of  work 
turned  out.  The  cut  in  office  expenses 
is  exemplified  by  the  fact  that  the 
Boston  force  now  consists  of  about 
fifty  as  contrasted  with  the  maximum 
number  of  245,  and,  in  addition,  a  less 
expensive  suite  of  offices  is  occupied 
than  was  formerly  maintained  under 
the  old  regime. 

Early  in  October  the  company  opened 
its  new  oower  plant  at  Quincy  Point, 
which  will  burn  oil  for  fuel,  thus  result- 
ing in  a  material  saving.  This  plant 
takes  care  of  the  entire  power  require- 
ments of  the  road  south  of  Boston,  and 
the  economies  effected  thereby  should 


be  reflected  in  future  earnings  state- 
ments. 

It  will  be  a  regular  policy  of  the 
company  henceforth  to  issue  quarterly 
earnings  statements.  Any  additional 
curtailment  of  operating  expenses 
which  may  be  effected  in  the  future  will 
be  immediately  passed  on  to  the  public 
in  the  shape  of  lower  fares  or  better 
service. 

Shore  Line  Doing  Better 

Another  profitable  month  of  opera- 
tion of  the  Shore  Line  Electric  Rail- 
way, Norwich,  Conn.,  is  shown  under 
the  management  of  Receiver  Robert 
W.  Perkins,  who  has  just  filed  his 
account  with  the  Superior  Court.  The 
profit  for  the  month  of  September  was 
$3,660.  For  1921  the  road  has  shown 
deficits  the  first  six  months,  but  a 
profit  in  operation  for  July,  August 
and  September.  The  deficits  have  been 
$3,749  in  January,  $61,112  in  February, 
$3,264  in  March,  $2,296  in  April,  $1,411 
in  May,  $1,027  in  June.  The  profits 
have  been  $7,439  in  July,  $7,441  in 
August,  and  $3,660  in  September.  The 
report  shows  the  receipts  from  pas- 
sengers during  September  were  $23,- 
227.  The  payroll  for  the  month  was 
$12,340.  Power  purchased  cost  $6,- 
248,  and  various  other  items  brought 
the  total  expenses  up  to  $26,924,  while 
the  total  income  was  $51,849.  The  re- 
ceiver had  a  cash  balance  on  hand 
Sept.  1  of  $80,665.  His  cash  balance 
on  Oct.  1  was  $105,590. 


International  $248,033  Behind 

H.  G.  Tulley,  president  of  the  In- 
ternational Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
has  submitted  to  the  board  of  directors 
the  January-September  statement  of 
earnings  "in  order  to  supply  the  in- 
formation necessary  to  overcome  the 
thought  expressed  by  the  Buffalo  City 
government  that  the  earnings  of  the 
company  justified  the  consideration  of 
a  lower  rate  of  fare." 

For  the  nine  months  ended  Sept.  30, 
1921,  the  company  shows  a  deficit  of 
$248,033  against  a  net  income  of  $185,- 
147  for  the  same  period  of  last  year. 
The  gross  earnings,  which  were  $7,- 
909,003,  were  insufficient  by  $1,110,565 
to  provide  for  maintenance,  deprecia- 
tion, etc.  In  this  period  there  was  a 
decrease  in  passenger  travel  of  17,- 
589,363.  Over  the  entire  system  161,- 
244,303  passengers  were  carried  for  the 
nine  months  of  1921  against  178,833,- 
666  passengers  in  1920. 

In  his  statement  Mr.  Tulley  refers 
to  the  expenditure  of  $2,000,000  in 
betterment  and  improvement  this  year. 
From  January  to  September,  1920,  the 
wages  amounted  to  $3,832,037,  against 
$4,072,926  for  the  same  period  this 
year,  despite  the  fact  that  two  reduc- 
tions have  been  put  into  effect  so  far 
this  year,  one  in  May  and  the  other 
in  August.  These  two  reductions  repre- 
sented an  operating  economy  of  approxi- 
mately $458,000  annually. 

In  answer  to  the  plea  of  the  city  of 
Buffalo  to  reduce  the  fare  Mr.  Tulley 
maintains  that  this  step  is  out  of  the 
question.  The  present  rate  is  7  cents 
or  four  tickets  for  25  cents. 


Part  of  Road  Sold 

New  Haven-Saybrook  Branch  of  Shore 
Line  May  Resume  Service  Under 
New  Control 

Indications  are  that  the  portion  of 
the  old  Shore  Line  Electric  Railway 
between  Flanders  and  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  will  not  be  junked  after  all,  for 
in  the  Superior  Court  for  New  London 
County  on  Oct.  29  Robert  W.  Perkins, 
receiver  of  the  Shore  Line,  was  author- 
ized to  sell  the  property  to  the  Finance 
&  Reorganization  Company,  New  York. 

According  to  the  papers  filed  with 
the  clerk  of  the  court,  $20,000  in  cash 
is  to  be  paid  to  the  Shore  Line  receiver 
as  soon  as  the  contract  is  signed; 
$205,000  in  cash  within  forty-five  days 
thereafter,  and  $175,000  in  first  mort- 
gage bonds  of  the  Shore  Line  Traction 
Company  of  an  issue  not  to  exceed 
$1,000,000.  The  Finance  &  Reorganiza- 
tion Company  agrees  to  buy  the  bonds 
from  the  receiver  for  $50,000  cash  in 
a  year. 

The  seller  agrees  to  transfer  the 
franchise  and  other  rights  west  of  the 
Connecticut  River  to  any  corporation 
to  be  named  by  the  Finance  &  Reor- 
ganization Company  which  is  author- 
ized by  law  to  receive  these  franchises 
and  to  operate  a  railway  thereunder. 

Eight  passenger  cars,  two  motor 
freight  cars  and  six  flat  cars  are  in- 
cluded in  the  sale  aside  from  the  track- 
age, etc.,  which  comprises  the  main 
line  of  railway  with  turnouts  and  sid- 
ings from  State  and  Ferry  Streets, 
New  Haven,  to  Old  Saybrook  and 
thence  to  Chester  Cove;  from  Guilford 
Green  to  the  end  of  the  Stony  Creek 
line  in  Branford,  and  from  Ferry  Road 
in  Old  Saybrook  to  Flanders  Corner  at 
the  junction  of  the  line  between  New 
London  and  Niantic  in  East  Lyme. 

This  is  the  section  of  the  former 
Shore  Line  Railway  west  of  the  Con- 
necticut River  for  which  Receiver 
Perkins  once  before,  about  July,  1920, 
negotiated  a  sale  to  Louis  I.  Levinson, 
Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  who  paid  $17,000 
cash  and  then  defaulted  on  the  purchase 
after  he  had  taken  up  and  removed 
some  of  the  trackage  between  Deep 
River  and  Chester  and  between  Guil- 
ford and  Stony  Creek.  Mr.  Levinson 
gave  a  bond  for  $50,000  for  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  contract,  but  under  this 
most  recent  action  the  release  of  this 
bond  is  part  of  the  agreement. 


I.  T.  S.  Subsidiaries  Plan 
Financing 

Five  subsidiary  companies  of  the 
Illinois  Traction  System,  Peoria,  111., 
have  filed  application  with  the  Illinois 
Commerce  Commission  for  permission 
to  issue  additional  stocks  and  bonds. 
These  are : 

Bloomington  &  Normal  Railway  & 
Light  Company  $69,000  of  first  general 
mortgage  bonds,  $65,000  of  bond- 
secured  gold  notes  and  $73,000  of  pre- 
ferred stock. 

Danville  Street  Railway  $84,000  of 
refunding  gold  bonds. 

Urbana-Champaign  Railway,  Gas  & 
Electric  Company  $442,000  of  consoli- 
dated and  refunding  mortgage  bonds. 

Madison  County  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany $69,0000  of  first  mortgage  bonds 
and  $67,000  of  bond-secured  gold  notes. 

Galesburg  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company  $400,000  of  consolidated  and 
refunding  mortgage  bonds  and  $300,000 
bond-secured  gold  notes. 


842 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Eastern  Pennsylvania  Stock- 
holders Organize 

A  committee  of  stockholders  of  the 
Eastern  Pennsylvania  Railways,  Potts- 
ville,  Pa.,  in  a  letter  to  stockholders 
asks  the  deposit  of  sufficient  stock  to 
authorize  that  body  to  attempt  a  finan- 
cial reorganization  of  the  company. 
The  letter  states  the  company  will  need 
funds  in  the  future  for  improvements 
and  extensions  and  that  the  financial 
structure  is  such  that  the  securities 
could  not  be  sold  at  a  reasonable  price 
to  obtain  these  funds. 

Outstanding  obligations  in  the  hands 
of  the  public  are  as  follows: 

Underlying  bonds    $434,000 

First  mortgage  bonds    4,446.500 

Notes  payable  (partly  secured  by 

bonds)    158,230 

Preferred  stock    946.820 

Common  stock   3,917.350 

Earnings  for  the  twelve  months  ended 
Aug.  31,  1921,  are  as  follows: 

Gross    $2,174,083 

Net  after  rentals,   taxes  and 

depreciation    $542,472 

Deductions  : 

Interest  on  prior  liens.  $26,350 

Interest  on  bonds  and 

floating  debt    231,377 

Amortization    of  debt 

disc.  &  exp   13,783  $271,510 

Balance    $270,962 

No  dividends  have  been  paid  on  the 
preferred  stock  since  1907,  and  no  divi- 
dends have  ever  been  paid  on  the  com- 
mon. 

The  letter  also  states  that  only  $826,- 
000  face  amount  of  bonds  are  in  the 
company's  treasury  and  that  some  of 
these  are  now  deposited  as  collateral. 
It  further  says  that  on  account  of  gen- 
eral conditions  and  the  large  issue  of 
bonds  in  proportion  to  past  earnings, 
the  price  obtainable  is  and  has  been 
very  low  and  that  even  if  a  fair  price 
would  be  obtained  there  are  not  suffi- 
cient bonds  available  for  a  power  in- 
stallation which  certainly  will  be 
required  in  the  near  future. 

A  committee  representing  the  bond- 
holders was  formed  in  1919  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  holders  of  first 
mortgage  5  per  cent  gold  bonds,  and, 
although  it  is  still  in  existence,  no 
definite  action  has  yet  been  taken.  It 
is  proposed  to  reorganize  the  company 
by  a  joint  action  of  bondholders  and 
stockholders. 


$3,330,000  of  City  Street  Railway 
Bonds  Sold 

A  syndicate  composed  of  Kuhn, 
Loeb  &  Company,  Hallgarten  &  Com- 
pany, and  Kidder,  Peabody  &  Com- 
pany, New  York,  recently  submitted  the 
highest  bid,  100.27,  for  $9,563,000  mu- 
nicipal 5  per  cent,  51  per  cent  and  5i 
per  cent  bonds  of  the  city  of  Detroit. 
The  second  best  bid  was  100.177,  sub- 
mitted by  Harris,  Forbes  &  Company 
and  Lee,  Higginson  &  Company.  The 
National  City  syndicate  bid  100.052 
and  the  Guaranty  Company  and  asso- 
ciates bid  par  and  a  cover  fee  of  $8,000. 

The  bonds  were  divided  as  follows: 
$5,201,000  of  5h  per  cent  bonds  for  gen- 
eral municipal  improvements,  due  1922 
to  1951;  $1,062,000  of  5  per  cent  bonds 
for  general  improvements,  due  1922  to 
1950,  and  $3,300,000  of  5J  per  cent 
street  railway  bonds,  due  in  1940,  1942 
and  1943. 

The  high  bid  was  accepted  and  the 
bonds  were  offered  for  public  subscrip- 
tion during  the  week  ended  Oct.  22. 


Toronto  Purchase  Arbitration 

Dragging 

The  arbitration  hearings  have  been 
resumed  under  which  the  price  will  be 
fixed  that  the  city  of  Toronto  is  to  pay 
for  the  property  of  the  Toronto  Rail- 
way. At  the  sessions  during  the  week 
ended  Oct.  29  Fred  Hubbard,  assistant 
to  R.  J.  Fleming,  former  general  man- 
ager of  the  Toronto  Railway,  was  on 
the  stand.  He  merely  gave  a  general 
outline  of  the  company's  activities 
without  any  detailed  technical  infor- 
mation. The  hope  originally  was  that 
the  negotiations  could  be  concluded  by 
Jan.  1  so  as  to  permit  the  liquidation 
of  the  Toronto  Railway  early  in  the 
new  year,  but  unless  the  arbitration  is 
speeded  up  the  prospects  are  not  bright 
that  all  the  evidence  will  be  in  much 
before  that  time. 

Financial 
News  Notes 

Stock  Dividend  Declared  at  Detroit. — 

The  Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Railway 
has  declared  a  stock  dividend  of  2i  per 
cent  in  lieu  of  the  regular  cash  payment 
which  would  ordinarily  be  declared. 

$4,000,000  Bond  Tssue  Offered.— 
Drexel  &  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
lecently  offered  $4,000,000  of  Georgia 
Railway  &  Power  Company  twenty- 
year  7  per  cent  general  mortgage  gold 
bonds  to  be  dated  Nov.  1,  1921,  at  97 
and  interest  yielding  more  than  7i. 

Mr.  Schupp  Made  Permanent  Re- 
ceiver.— Otto  Schupp,  temporary  re- 
ceiver of  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Rail- 
way, Saginaw,  Mich.,  has  been  made 
permanent  receiver  of  the  company. 
The  creditors  of  the  company  will 
meet  on  Nov.  25  to  consider  the  form 
of  inquiry  into  the  company's  affairs. 

Petition  in  Bankruptcy  Filed. — The 
Liberty  Transit  Company,  which  oper- 
ated in  Riverside,  N.  J.,  has  filed  a 
petition  in  bankruptcy  in  the  United 
States  District  Court  at  Trenton  in 
which  it  gives  liabilities  of  $14,421,  and 
assets  of  $11,125.  The  court  has  re- 
ferred the  petition  for  a  hearing  at 
Trenton  before  Samuel  D.  Oliphant, 
referee  in  bankruptcy. 

One-Man  Cars  Purchased  with  Notes. 
— The  Department  of  Public  Utilities 
of  Massachusetts  has  approved  the 
petition  of  Massachusetts  Northeast- 
ern Street  Railway,  Haverhill,  Mass., 
that  it  be  allowed  to  issue  $30,000  of 
7  per  cent  notes  maturing  serially  until 
October,  1924,  the  issue  to  be  given  with 
$10,000  in  cash  in  payment  for  six  new 
one-man  cars. 

Railway  Guarantees  Power  Bonds. — 
Shareholders  of  the  Winnipeg  (Man.) 
Electric  Railway  have  ratified  by-laws 
making  possible  the  guaranteeing  of 
bonds  for  the  new  Manitoba  Power 
Company,  controlled  by  the  railway. 
Arrangements  were  also  made  for  a 
contract  under  which  the  railway  will 
take  power  from  the  power  company. 
The  development  possible  under  the 
new  plan  is  168,000  hp. 

Application  to  Foreclose  Planned. — 
Application  to  foreclose  mortgages  of 
the  Syracuse  &  Suburban  Electric  Rail- 
way, Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  amounting  to 
$550,000  will  be  made  in  special  term 


cf  the  Supreme  Court  by  the  Fidelity 
Trust  Company,  Philadelphia,  and  it  is 
expected  an  order  directing  the  sale  of 
the  property  within  the  next  two 
months  will  be  granted.  The  proceed- 
ing is  a  step  in  the  pre-arranged  plans 
for  the  reorganization  of  the  company 
and  the  property  is  to  be  bid  in  by  the 
bondholders. 

Wants  to  Abandon  Line. — The  Caro- 
lina Power  &  Light  Company,  Raleigh, 
N.  C,  has  sought  permission  from  the 
City  Commissioners  to  abandon  its  line 
on  Cabarrus  and  Bloodworth  Streets. 
The  line,  known  as  the  Smithfield 
Street  line,  runs  a  distance  of  eight 
blocks.  Permission  for  abandonment  is 
sought  as  a  result  of  decreased  patron- 
age and  also  because  of  paving  ex- 
penses which  must  be  met  by  the 
company  in  view  of  the  recent  an- 
nouncement that  Bloodworth  was  to  be 
paved  and  made  a  state  highway. 

Court  Suggests  Hearing  on  Suspen- 
sion.— Judge  Evan  Evans  of  the  federal 
district  court  acted  on  Oct.  28  to  stop 
the  operation  of  all  Fox  River  valley 
interurban  lines  and  the  Aurora  and 
Elgin  city  lines  of  the  Aurora,  Elgin 
&  Chicago  Railroad,  which  is  now  in 
the  hands  of  a  receiver.  Judge  Evans 
directed  that  the  Illinois  Commerce 
Commission  and  all  persons  interested 
in  the  street  and  interurban  lines,  in- 
cluding officials  of  municipalities  where 
they  are  operated,  should  appear  be- 
fore him  Nov.  21  to  show  why  opera- 
tions of  the  lines  should  not  be  dis- 
continued. The  third-rail  lines  of  the 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  system,  which 
connect  Chicago  and  Fox  River  valley 
cities,  are  not  affected  by  the  order. 

Receivership  Case  Postponed  Again. 
— Federal  Judge  Julius  M.  Mayer  has 
granted  a  further  adjournment  until 
Dec.  20  on  the  order  to  show  cause 
why  a  receiver  should  not  be  appointed 
for  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.  Judge 
Mayer  in  commenting  on  the  situation 
declared  it  would  be  a  novel  thing  for 
a  court  of  equity  to  proceed  in  a  re- 
ceivership action  when  only  two-tenths 
of  1  per  cent  of  the  creditors  demanded 
it.  J.  L.  Quackenbush,  counsel  for  the 
railway,  told  the  court  that  of  the 
$38,144,400  of  notes  owed  on  Sept.  1 
of  this  year,  92.9  per  cent  had  been 
deposited  for  extension  by  the  holders. 
He  declared  that  at  the  present  there 
are  $2,710,900  in  notes  outstanding. 

Court  May  Modify  Its  Finding. — 
Objection  to  the  final  entry  and  decree 
drawn  in  the  settlement  of  the  litiga- 
tion over  the  Cincinnati  &  Dayton 
Traction  Company  was  made  by  a  group 
of  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton 
attorneys,  who  recently  appeared  be- 
fore the  Court  of  Appeals  at  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio.  A  decision  defending  the 
rights  of  mortgagees  and  the  bond- 
holders was  handed  down  by  the  court 
some  months  ago,  together  with  an 
order  for  the  appointment  of  a  master 
commissioner  to  determine  the  interest 
in  the  power  plant,  stock  and  earnings, 
and  an  entry  upon  this  was  prepared 
by  the  court,  but  was  objected  to  on 
various  grounds.  The  hearing  at 
which  the  lawyers  from  the  three  cities 
were  present  was  upon  these  objec- 
tions and  the  points  involved  and  at 
the  conclusion  the  court  decided  to  re- 
draft its  entry  in  conformity  with  some 
of  the  suggestions  agreed  upon.  It  was 
practically  decided  at  the  session  that 
Attorney  Froome  Morris,  Cincinnati, 
will  be  appointed  the  master  commis- 
sioner in  the  case. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


843 


City's  Case  Disproved 

Messrs.   Sullivan,   Fleming   and  Duck 
Show  Fallacies  of  City's  Men  Seek- 
ing Lower  Fare  in  Chicago 

Attorneys  for  the  Chicago  Surface 
Lines  began  on  Oct.  25  to  present  their 
defense  of  the  8-cent  fare  before  the 
Illinois  Commerce  Commission.  The 
city  had  closed  its  case  several  days 
previously.  It  was  expected  that  all 
evidence  would  be  in  by  Nov.  5  and  a 
prompt  decision  is  looked  for. 

The  city's  case,  as  previously  an- 
nounced in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  was  based  on  alleged  econo- 
mies suggested  by  engineers  for  the 
city.  Among  these  suggestions  were 
a  proposed  operating  cost  of  $2.40  per 
car  hour  and  a  speeding  up  of  cars 
through  the  congested  district. 

These  claims  were  largely  offset  by 
the  testimony  of  J.  V.  Sullivan,  assist- 
ant to  the  president  of  the  surface  lines, 
who  presented  an  exhibit  for  several 
companies  showing  expenses  per  car 
hour,  including  taxes  and  depreciation. 
The  figures  were  for  the  last  fiscal  year. 
They  follow: 

Chicago  (surface)   $3.16 

New  York  Railways    4.05 

St.  Louis   3.42 

Kansas  City    3.84 

Milwaukee    3.43 

Philadelphia    3.27 

Boston    5.80 

Detroit    3.78 

Third  Ave.  (N.  Y.)    3.56 

Twin  City   3.69 

Buffalo    3.84 

San  Francisco  (Municipal)    3.45 

It  had  been  stated  by  one  of  the 
city's  witnesses  that  he  understood  the 
cost  on  the  municipal  system  of  San 
Francisco  to  be  $1.98.  Another  exhibit 
of  Mr.  Sullivan's  showed  the  running 
time  in  Chicago,  exclusive  of  layover 
time,  to  be  10.64  m.p.h.  This  time  was 
faster  than  that  of  any  one  of  the 
thirteen  other  systems  mentioned. 

Harvey  B.  Fleming,  chief  engineer 
for  the  companies,  also  introduced 
many  exhibits  to  show  that  the  plans 
offered  by  the  city's  witnesses  were  not 
practicable.  He  testified  about  the 
proportion  of  other  vehicles  using  the 
tracks  of  the  company  and  showed  that 
cars  travel  almost  twice  as  fast  when 
using  tunnels  as  when  operated  over 
bridges.  Engineer  Jackson  for  the  city 
had  proposed  abandoning  the  three 
tunnels  and  two  bridges  which  now 
carry  one-fourth  of  the  traffic  out  of 
the  loop  district. 

John  J.  Duck,  company  auditor,  pre- 
sented numerous  statements  which 
showed  the  burdens  carried  by  the 
companies,  these  having  been  left  out 
of  the  city's  calculations  for  low  oper- 
ating cost.  There  was  considerable  dis- 
cussion about  the  disposition  of  the 
renewal  fund  of  the  companies.  The 
commissioners  appeared  to  have  in 
mind  that  this  should  not  be  kept  for 
future  depreciation.  It  was  shown  that 
the  companies  had  spent  about  $750,- 
000  recently  for  new  cars.  This  pur- 
chase was  financed  with  capital  taken 
from  the  renewal  fund  by  order  of  the 
previous  commission.  The  commission 
agreed  to  consider  a  plan  for  re-rout- 
ing submitted  by  John  A.  Beeler  for  the 


companies  last  February.  It  was 
claimed  that  this  would  allow  11  per 
cent  more  track  capacity  in  the  con- 
gested district. 


Mayor  Extends  Relief — Tempo- 
rary Jitney  Service  Approved 

Mayor  Peters  of  Boston  on  Nov.  1 
signed  the  license  which  had  received 
favorable  consideration  from  the  Bos- 
ton City  Council,  granting  the  Norfolk 
&  Bristol  Bus  Company  a  right  to 
operate  jitneys  in  Hyde  Park.  This 
will  insure  a  15-cent  fare  from  Hyde 
Park  to  Boston,  as  against  the  present 
20  cents,  the  jitneys  operating  over  the 
territory  otherwise  served  by  the  East- 
ern Massachusetts  Street  Railway.  In 
connection  with  his  approval  of  the 
license  the  mayor  said : 

Before  finally  determining  my  approval 
of  the  jitney  license  for  the  Hyde  Park  dis- 
trict I  conferred  with  the  trustees  of  the 
Boston  Elevated  and  the  Eastern  Mas- 
sachusetts Street  Railway  Company  and 
found  that  they  were  unwilling  to  make 
any  compromise  which  would  meet  the  per- 
plexed situation. 

I  feel  that  the  people  of  Hyde  Park 
should  have  this  relief,  temporary  as  it 
may  be,  until  some  time  in  the  future  when 
these  street  railway  companies  may  come 
to  an  agreement. 

I  therefore  approve  the  license  granted 
the  Norfolk  &  Bristol  Bus  Company,  with 
the  understanding-  that  when  an  arrange- 
ment can  be  made  between  the  Boston 
Elevated  and  the  Eastern  Massachusetts 
Street  Railway  Companies  to  give  the  Hyde 
Park  district  service  at  a  satisfactory  rate 
I  will  recommend  to  the  City  Council  that 
the  jitney  license  be  immediately  revoked. 


Railway  Withdraws  Request 

for  Ten-Cent  Fare 

Judge  James  E.  Goodrich,  chief  coun- 
sel for  the  Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Rail- 
ways recently  withdrew  at  Jefferson 
City  the  petition  of  the  company  to 
advance  the  fare  to  10  cents.  The  mat- 
ter has  been  pending  for  more  than 
a  year. 

The  city  ordinance  prohibiting  jit- 
neys from  using  streets  on  which  street 
car  tracks  are  located,  together  with 
the  general  good  will  of  the  public, 
enabled  the  receivers  to  withdraw  the 
application  for  the  rate  hike,  accord- 
ing to  Francis  M.  Wilson,  one  of  the 
receivers. 

When  the  receivers  took  charge  of 
the  property  about  a  vear  ago  they 
found  that  testimony  already  had  been 
presented  to  the  commission  on  an  ap- 
plication to  increase  the  rates. 

The  request  for  an  increase  had  been 
argued  and  submitted  for  a  final  de- 
cision. But  the  receivers,  unfamiliar 
with  the  conditions  of  the  company 
and  of  its  necessities,  asked  the  com- 
mission to  defer  rendering  its  decision 
until  they  could  determine  the  actual 
condition  of  the  company. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  application 
for  an  increased  fare  has  been  with- 
drawn, receivers  for  the  company  say 
the  present  rate  is  inadequate  to  pay 
operating  expenses  and  a  return  on  the 
fixed  indebtedness  of  the  company. 

Despite  the  passage  of  the  city 
ordinance  regulating  the  jitney  traf- 
fic, about  150  jitneys  are  still  operat- 
ing. 


Master  Appointed  in  Jersey 

Special  Statutory  Court  Selects  Judge 
Haight  to  Hear  Fare  Case 
Testimony 

Associate  Justice  Pitney  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  refused 
on  Oct.  26  to  issue  a  stay  against  the 
8-cent  fare  recently  granted  to  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Railway  for  its  lines  in  New 
Jersey.  Justice  Pitney,  however,  did 
not  throw  out  the  petition,  but  merely 
declined  as  an  individual  member  of  the 
court  to  assume  the  responsibility  for 
issuing  an  order.    He  said: 

I  prefer  that  a  matter  of  this  gravity 
should  be  passed  on  by  the  entire  court. 
I  do  not  think  it  should  be  acted  on  by  an 
individual  justice. 

Justice  Pitney  suggested,  and  counsel 
agreed,  that  the  petition  for  the  stay 
be  addressed  to  the  full  bench  and  that 
the  necessary  motion  be  made  before 
the  court  on  motion  day,  Nov.  7.  At- 
torney General  McCran  and  L.  Edward 
Herrmann,  counsel  for  the  state  and 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission,  re- 
spectively, said  they  would  immediately 
take  steps  to  get  their  application  be- 
fore the  full  court.  In  the  meanwhile 
and  until  the  court  acts,  the  8-cent 
fare  order  remains  in  operation. 

At  the  outset  of  the  hearing  Justice 
Pitney  informed  counsel  that  their  ap- 
plications for  permission  to  file  an  ap- 
peal to  the  highest  court  was  unneces- 
sary; that  appeal  lay  as  of  right  by 
reason  of  the  petition  of  appeal  al- 
lowed and  signed  at  Trenton  by  Judge 
Rellstab,  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Special  Statutory  Court  that  allowed 
the  8-cent  fare.  The  papers  could  be 
moved  from  the  court  at  Trenton  to 
Washington  for  review,  said  the  justice, 
by  the  issuance  of  a  precept. 

Mr.  McCran  for  the  state  and  Mr. 
Herrmann  for  the  commission  pivoted 
their  argument  for  the  day  on  the  con- 
tention that  the  special  statutory  Fed- 
eral Court  had  exceeded  its  jurisdiction 
in  allowing  the  8-cent  fare  and,  further, 
that  the  action  was  an  invasion  of  the 
rights  of  the  state. 

Former  Federal  Judge  Thomas  H.  G. 
Haight,  Jersey  City,  has  been  appointed 
by  Federal  Judge  John  Rellstab  as 
special  master  to  take  testimony  in  the 
application  of  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way for  authority  to  put  into  effect  a 
10-cent  fare.  Under  the  provisions  of 
the  temporary  injunction  recently 
granted  by  special  federal  tribunal,  re- 
straining the  Board  of  Public  Utility 
Commissioners  from  interference  the 
railway  is  now  charging  an  8-cent  fare 
with  an  additional  cent  for  each  transfei 
issued.  This  is  an  increase  of  1  cent 
over  the  7-cent  fare  established  by  the 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners. 

Judge  Rellstab  in  his  order  desig- 
nating former  Judge  Haight  as  special 
master  directs  that  he  proceed  imme- 
diately with  the  taking  of  testimony 
in  the  case  and  that  he  report  his  deter- 
mination at  the  earliest  possible  date. 
The  report  of  Judge  Haight  will  be 
used  as  the  basis  for  the  establishment 
of  a  permanent  rate  of  fare  under  the 
provisions  of  a  Congressional  statute 
authorizing  a  public  utility  to  have  re- 
course to  the  federal  courts  m  cases 
where  the  established  rate  of  fare  is 
so  low  as  to  be  considered  confiscatory. 

Judge  Haight  is  recognized  as  one  of 
rhe  ablest  members  of  the  bar  in  New 
Jersey.  He  served  as  United  States 
District  Court  Judge  and  also  as 
United  States  Circuit  Court  Judge.  He 
was  appointed  to  both  of  these  posts 
bv  former  President  Wilson. 


844 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Low  Fares  No  Incentive 

Baltimore    Official    Says    People  Ride 
on  the  Cars  Only  When 
They  Have  To 

"People  ride  on  the  cars  only  when 
they  have  to,  and  no  matter  how  low 
the  fare  they  cannot  be  induced  to  take 
unnecessary  rides."  This  is  the  opinion 
of  C.  D.  Emmons,  president  of  the 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md.  It  was  expressed  by 
him  in  discussing  the  suggestion  that 
the  company  reduce  the  fare  to  5  cents 
during  the  hours  when  traffic  is  lightest. 

The  officials  of  the  company  also 
doubt  the  efficacy  of  the  suggestion  that 
a  freight  service  be  established  by  the 
company  as  a  possible  means  of  in- 
creasing revenues.  On  this  subject  Mr. 
Emmons  said: 

The  United  seriously  considered  the 
establishment  of  a  freight  and  express  ser- 
vice and  even  had  a  complete  survey  of  the 
local  situation  made  by  an  expert  from 
Boston,  but  in  his  report  he  declared  that 
a  freight  service  could  not  be  operated 
profitably  in  Baltimore. 

Mr.  Emmons  said  that  as  soon  as 
increased  receipts  produce  a  sum  larger 
than  the  present  surplus  over  operating- 
expenses  now  allowed  the  company  his 
company  will  extend  the  present  city 
fare  zone  into  the  recently  annexed 
territory. 

Net  Earnings  Rise  Though 
Traffic  Decreases 

The  United  Railways  carried  18,976,- 
056  revenue  passengers  in  September, 
as  compared  with  21,187,535  in  Septem- 
ber, 1920,  a  decrease  of  2,211,479,  or 
10.4  per  cent.  Revenue  passengers  last 
month  were  402,911  fewer  than  they 
were  in  August,  though  the  company's 
net  earnings  showed  a  gain  in  Septem- 
ber over  August,  less  having  been  spent 
on  maintenance. 

The  suggestion  about  the  possible 
establishment  of  freight  service  by  the 
company  was  made  by  Col.  J.  L. 
Wickes,  transportation  expert  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission.  Colonel 
Wickes  said: 

This  matter  came  under  discussion  at 
the  recent  meeting  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association  and  was  a  subject 
of  the  paper  by  J.  Rowland  Bibbins  of 
Washington,  D.  C,  and  is  a  question  which 
I  believe  now  is  occupying  considerable  of 
the  attention  of  railways  and  those  inter- 
ested  in  transportation  elsewhere. 


Shreveport  Wins  Fight  for 
One-Man  Cars 

The  City  Council  of  Shreveport,  La., 
has  granted  the  Shreveport  Traction 
Company  permission  to  use  one-man 
cars  on  the  Union  Depot  line,  bu)t 
has  reserved  the  right  to  order  discon- 
tinuance of  the  one-man  cars  and  a 
return  to  the  standard  two-man  cars 
at  any  time  the  one-man  cars  may  be 
found  to  be  unsatisfactory.  The  use 
of  one-man  cars  in  Shreveport  was 
ordered  discontinued  about  a  year  ago 
by  the  city,  and  court  action  followed 
in  which  the  city  finally  won. 

Since  that  time  the  railway  has  been 
using  only  two-man  cars,  but  has  sev- 
eral times  made  application  to  the  City 
Council  for  permission  to  operate  one- 
man  cars  as  an  experiment  in  order 
that  the  patrons  might  have  an  op- 
portunity to  compare  one-man  car  ser- 
vice with  that  afforded  by  the  regular 
two-man  cars.  Railway  officials  assert 
that  the  improvement  in  service  made 
possible  by  the  one-man  cars  will  prove 


so  satisfactory  that  the  use  of  one- 
man  cars  on  all  lines  in  Shreveport  will 
result. 


Five-Cent  Experiment 

Connecticut  Commission  Seeks  to  Meet 
the  Public  Demand  by  Ordering 
Short  Test  in  Norwalk 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
Connecticut  has  decided  to  try  a  5-cent 
fare  in  Norwalk  for  a  ninety-day  test 
period.  The  order  of  the  commission 
is  the  result  of  the  recent  petition  of 
the  city  of  Norwalk  for  reduced  fares. 
With  New  Britain,  Stamford,  Bridge- 
port and  Hartford  seeking  lower  fares, 
the  decision  is  of  statewide  interest. 
In  its  order  the  commission  states  that 
the  reduction  is  an  experiment  and  that 
it  is  made  with  the  hope  that  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  rate  will  increase  the  use- 
fulness of  the  railway  to  the  public  and 
result  in  added  revenues. 

The  commission  adds: 

The  test  period  may  show  that  public 
patronage  is  insufficient  and  that  some 
other  rate,  more  than  5  cents,  is  the  eco- 
nomic rate  to  install. 

The  matter  came  before  the  commis- 
sion on  petition  and  was  heard  on  Oct. 
19.  According  to  the  ruling  of  the 
commission,  the  new  or  reduced  fare 
will  go  into  effect  on  or  before  Nov.  6. 
The  Connecticut  Company  is  directed 
to  supply  weekly  reports  as  to  the 
number  of  passengers  carried  over  the 
line  between  Norwalk  and  South  Nor- 
walk, over  which  territory  the  reduction 
in  fare  is  ordered.  The  revenues  and 
operating  expenses  of  this  division  are 
to  be  kept  separate  from  other  divi- 
sions. 

The   order   of   the   commission  also 

says:  ~i 

It  is  apparent  from  all  of  the  evidence 
submitted  from  the  pact  record  of  trans- 
portation service  in  Norwalk  that  independ- 
ent jitney  service  between  Norwalk  and 
South  Norwalk  would  ultimately  and  in- 
evitably cancel  and  prevent  such  street  rail- 
way service,  not  only  upon  this  line  but 
upon  all  other  lines  in  the  Norwalk  di- 
vision. The  Connecticut  Company  is  to 
supply  a  reasonably  frequent  passenger  ser- 
vice over  the  points  mentioned  at  a  5-cent 
fare,  either  by  street  cars  or  automobile 
buses,  or  both. 

Trustees  Want  Action  Deferred 

President  Storrs  of  the  Connecticut 
Company  is  quoted  as  declining  to  com- 
ment on  the  decision.  Morgan  G. 
Brainard,  Hartford,  one  of  the  federal 
trustees  of  the  company,  said  that  the 
decision  was  contrary  to  the  wishes  of 
the  trustees,  who  felt  that  any  change 
in  fares  should  be  statewide  in  scope. 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  has 
received  from  the  trustees  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company  a  statement  setting 
forth  their  attitude  in  fare  reduction 
in  reply  to  the  commission's  query  for 
a  statement  of  that  position.  In  their 
statement,  it  is  understood,  the  trustees 
concede  that  the  time  is  soon  approach- 
ing when  fares  must  be  reduced,  but 
they  are  firmly  of  the  belief  and  opinion 
that  fares  cannot  be  reduced  until  next 
spring.  Operation  on  the  trolley  lines 
of  the  State  in  winter  is  more  expensive 
than  in  summer  and  the  traffic  is 
lighter,  so  that  the  trustees  feel  and 
believe  the  financial  conditions  do  not 
warrant  any  general  reduction  of  fares 
at  this  time.  It  is  the  intention  of  the 
trustees,  it  is  understood,  that  the  fare 
situation  will  be  taken  in  hand  anew 
next  spring  and  the  reduction  question 
settled  in  accordance  with  conditions 
prevailing  at  that  time. 


Low  Fare  Cars  Withdrawn 

Sanctioning  of  Jitney  Prompts  Boston 
Elevated  to  Withdraw 
Five-Cent  Line 

Another  critical  stage  has  developed 
in  the  competition  between  the  jitney 
and  the  electric  railway  in  Massachu- 
setts. This  time  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway  and  the  city  of  Maiden  are 
affected.  Incidently  the  Boston  Ele- 
vated has  declared  a  policy  in  cases 
where  competition  between  the  two 
services  takes  on  the  form  it  has  as- 
sumed in  Maiden. 

Effective  on  Nov.  12  the  Boston  Ele- 
vated will  withdraw  its  surface  car 
service  from  a  section  in  Maiden  which 
is  being  served  by  jitneys.  There  has 
been  competition  on  that  particular 
line  for  some  time,  but  the  railway  has 
consented  to  operate  side  by  side  with 
the  jitney  because  the  jitney  was  in  a 
sense  an  outlaw,  tolerated  but  not  of- 
ficially sanctioned  by  the  city.  Then 
on  account  of  many  complaints  against 
the  iitney  the  city  government  passed 
a  jitney  ordinance.  Mayor  Kimball 
signed  the  ordinance  despite  the  warn- 
ing from  the  railway  and  accepted  a 
bond  from  the  owner  of  the  jitney  line. 

Maiden  was  the  first  city  in  which 
the  Boston  Elevated  Railway  decided 
to  try  the  5-cent  fare  experiment  for 
purely  local  rides.  The  company  found 
it  a  success.  The  number  of  passengers 
increased  about  75  per  cent  under  the 
5-cent  fare,  but  on  the  line  in 
question  the  jitney  is  taking  away  half 
the  traffic  from  the  elevated,  and  as 
soon  as  the  jitney  became  officially 
recognized  by  the  city  through  the  pass- 
ing of  an  ordinance  and  acceptance  of 
a  bond,  the  trustees  of  the  Boston  Ele- 
vated declared  their  policy  applicable 
to  Maiden  and  will  withdraw  the  trol- 
ley service  from  tne  line  between  Mai- 
den Square  and  Maplewood. 


Commission  Asked  to  Reconsider 
Bus  Ruling 

Nov.  1  was  set  as  the  rehearing  date 
for  the  case  of  the  Aurora,  Elgin  & 
Chicago  Railroad,  Aurora,  111.,  against 
the  Smith  Bus  Line.  The  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  recently  authorized 
this  bus  company  to  provide  a  twenty- 
two  mile  service,  which  decision  was 
opposed  by  the  railway.  The  case  was 
reviewed  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Oct.  22. 

The  Smith  Bus  Line  started  in  op- 
eration between  Aurora  and  Batavia 
on  a  State  Aid  road  alongside  the 
tracks  of  the  receiver  using  a  street 
corner  opposite  the  Aurora  Terminal 
of  the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Rail- 
way for  its  Aurora  terminus.  At 
Batavia  the  line  opened  a  waiting 
station  about  three  blocks  from  the  car 
line  on  the  opposite  site  of  the  river. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  only  territory 
served  by  the  bus  line,  not  served  by 
the  railroad  would  be  the  three  blocks 
along  Wilson  Street  and  at  the  hearing 
testimony  was  offered  that  there  was 
a  demand  for  such  service  and  a  wit- 
ness testified  that  such  a  request  had 
been  made  but  that  it  had  been  refused. 
It  is  said  that  the  company  contends 
that  no  council  request  was  made  for 
an  extension  of  tracks  in  Batavia. 

If  the  order  is  not  set  aside  the  case 
will  be  taken  to  the  courts.  The  or- 
der provides  that  consents  of  munici- 
palities must  be  obtained  as  set  forth 
in  Commission  General  Order  No.  68. 
These  consents  have  not  been  obtained. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


845 


Court  Refuses  Injunction 

Judge  Orien  S.  Cross  in  the  Ottawa 
Circuit  Court  recently  declined  to  grant 
an  injunction  sought  by  the  city  of 
Holland  to  prevent  the  3  cent  a  mile 
increase  in  the  rates  of  the  Michigan 
Railroad  between  Holland  and  Maca- 
tawa.  The  city  contended  that  the  new 
rates  were  contrary  to  the  franchise 
agreement'. 

Judge  Cross  ruled  that  the  court  had 
no  jurisdiction  in  the  matter  since  the 
Supreme  Court  recently  held  that  the 
Legislature  by  the  enactment  of  the 
Glaspie  law  took  the  right  of  fixing 
fares  between  villages  and  towns  out 
of  the  hands  of  municipalities. 


grade  crossings,  to  add  to  its  present 
equipment  for  fighting  snow  and  to 
equip  all  grade  crossings  of  steam  and 
electric  tracks  with  a  metal  guard  over 
the  trolley  wire. 


Men  Agree  to  Operate  One-Man 
Cars — City  Prohibits  Them 

Employees  of  the  Schenectady  (N. 
Y.)  Railway  on  Oct.  22  signed  the 
agreement  submitted  by  the  company 
to  operate  one-man  cars.  On  Oct.  24 
the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of 
Schenectady  passed  an  ordinance  pro- 
hibiting the  operation  of  one-man  cars 
in  the  city  limits. 

The  officials  of  the  Schenectady  Rail- 
way are  going  ahead  and  equipping 
one-man  cars.  They  have  none  ready 
for  operation  as  yet,  but  propose  to 
ignore  the  ordinance,  believing  it  will 
not  prevail  unless  the  Public  Service 
Commission  should  decide  in  its  favor". 
Officials  feel  there  is  little  likelihood 
of  its  doing  this  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  in  Troy  it  has  dismissed  the  com- 
plaint of  the  city  to  prohibit  the  use 
of  one-man  cars.  The  Troy  decision 
is  referred  to  in  the  following  item. 


Commission  Approves  of  One-Man 

Operation 

The  Public  Service  Commission  has 
dismissed  the  complaint  of  the  city  of 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  over  the  operation  of  one- 
man  cars  by  the  United  Traction  Com- 
pany. Mayor  Fleming  at  the  request 
of  the  Common  Council  sought  to  re- 
strain the  railway  from  using  this  type 
of  car. 

In  a  report  to  the  Commission,  C.  R. 
Vanneman,  hearing  deputy  says: 

Subsequent  to  the  hearing's  an  unan- 
nounced visit  was  made  to  Troy.  Taking 
one  of  the  cars  operating  on  the  Albia 
line  from  regular  service  we  ran  it  over 
all  sections  of  Troy  in  which  one-man  cars 
are  being  operated  or  may  hereafter  be 
operated.  Every  conceivable  test  of  which 
we  could  think  was  made  on  all  the  grades. 

No  unfavorable  or  erroneous  action  of 
any  of  the  devices  was  observed. 

At  the  hearings  mention  was  made  of 
two  accidents  in  Massachusetts  in  which 
the  one-man  cars  were  involved.  I  have 
communicated  with  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Utilities  of  Massachusetts  respecting 
these  accidents  and  have  been  informed 
that  neither  was  caused  by  any  factor  of 
one-man  operation. 

After  carefully  considering  the  evidence, 
and  having  in  mind  the  tests  and  studies 
of  the  operation  of  the  cars  which  I  have 
made,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  they  may 
be  safely  operated  on  any  of  the  streets 
in  the  city  of  Troy  on  which  the  lines 
of  the  United  Traction  Company  are  lo- 
cated providing  the  recommendations  set 
forth  in  detail  respecting  guards  over  trol- 
ley wires,  operation  over  steam  railroad 
crossings,  etc.,  are  complied  with  immedi- 
ately, and  provided  further  than  stringent 
regulation  be  laid  down  respecting  the 
operation  of  cars  by  motormen  only  when 
they  are  in  position  and  able  to  keep  proper 
lookout  ahead,  and  that  when  for  any  rea- 
son the  motormen  must  for  any  ap- 
preciable time  direct  his  attention  away 
from  the  track  ahead,  he  must  be  required 
to  bring  his  car  to  a  stop. 

In  dismissing  the  complaint  the  com- 
mission ordered  the  railway  to  provide 
more  safeguards  against  accidents  at 


Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Wants  to  Quit  Freight 
Service 

The  Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company  has  requested  and  received 
the  consent  of  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission to  extend  until  Nov.  30  the 
time  fixed  for  the  discontinuance  of  the 
freight  service  on  its  line,  and  the  inter- 
change of  freight  with  the  Philadelphia 
&  West  Chester  Traction  and  the  Le- 
high Transit  Company.  The  original 
intention  of  the  company  was  to  dis- 
continue the  service  on  Occ.  30.  Ship- 
pers who  would  be  affected  by  the  sus- 
pension of  the  service  hope  that  a 
way  may  be  found  out  of  the  difficulty, 
but  the  railway  is  opposed  to  any 
extended  continuance  of  the  service. 
The  company's  stand  in  the  matter  has 
been  explained  as  follows: 

For  several  years  prior  to  the  world  war, 
the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company 
operated  a  trolley  freight  service,  which, 
however,  was  always  limited  by  reason  of 
the  competition  of  the  better-equipped 
steam  railway  and  express  lines,  and  also 
because  the  larger  shippers  used  motor- 
trucks whenever  their  business  developed 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  profitable  for 
them  to  do  so. 

P.  R.  T.  made  its  decision  to  discontinue 
the  freight  business  because  its  continuance 
would  necessitate  making  large  capital  in- 
vestment for  new  freight  equipment,  relo- 
cation of  the  main  receiving  station  at 
Front  and  Market  Streets,  because  of  over- 
congestion,  and  the  immediate  establish- 
ment of  a  new  freight  station  in  place  of 
the  Eleventh  and  Colona  Streets  station, 
now  condemned  for  a  recreation  centre. 

P.  R.  T.  is  chartered  solely  as  a  passen- 
ger-carrying company,  and  has  urgent  need 
for  all  available  capital  to  keep  pace  wi 
its  increasing  passenger  business  ;  and,  even 
if  additional  capital  were  obtainable,  it 
would  be  unwise  for  P.  R.  T.  to  make  large 
investment  for  freight  service,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  the  State  is  eliminating-  toll 
roads  and  is  engaged  in  an  extensive  pro- 
gram of  improvement  which  will  result  in 
a  constantly  increasing-  amount  of  light 
freight  being-  carried  on  motor  trucks,  as 
evidenced  by  the  department  stores  and 
other  large  deliverers  of  goods  now  using 
motor  trucks  in  transporting  freight  to 
points  reached  by  this  trolley  freight  serv- 
ice. 

Steam  railways  are  by  law  common  car- 
riers of  freight  and  have  large  investments 
in  equipment  and  terminals.  Some  street 
railways,  which  have  exercised  the  power 
of  eminent  domain  have  like  corporate  ob- 
ligation, but  P.  R.  T.  is  not  of  this  number. 

Further  duplication  of  steam  railway  in- 
vestment by  street  railways  for  freight 
service  only  serves  to  unnecessarily  increase 
the  cost  of  all  service  rendered  and  should, 
for  that  reason,  be  discouraged. 


One-Man  Cars  Upheld 

The  Commission  on  Public  Utilities 
in  Boston,  Mass.,  recently  denied  the 
petition  of  the  Newburyport  City  Coun- 
cil to  forbid  the  operation  of  one-man 
cars  by  the  Massachusetts  Northeastern 
Street  Railway. 

The  ruling  follows  in  part: 

The  commission  has  caused  an  exami- 
nation of  these  lines  to  be  made  by  its  in- 
spection department.  The  operation  of  one- 
man  cars  on  the  Newburyport  end  of  the 
line  is  comparatively  recent  and  is  attended 
with  more  or  less  delay  on  account  of  this 
fact,  but  the  conditions  on  the  line  pre- 
sent no  operating  difficulties  different  from 
those  on  many  other  lines  throughout  the 
state  upon  which  one-man  cars  are  in  suc- 
cessful operation. 

We  believe  that  when  the  operators  and 
the  public  have  had  more  experience  with 
this  style  of  operation,  the  troubles  com- 
plained of  will  gradually  correct  this.  If 
this  does  not  prove  to  be  the  case,  after 
a  fair  trial,  the  matter  can  be  easily 
brought  again  to  the  commission's  attention. 
The  petition  is  therefore  dismissed. 


Fares  Reduced  in  Eureka. — By  pur- 
chasing books  of  tickets  patrons  of  the 
Eureka  (Cal.)  Street  Railway  can  ride 
for  5  cents  in  place  of  the  6-cent  cash 
fare.  This  reduction  in  fare  comes 
within  one  month  after  the  city  took 
over  the  property.  The  former  com- 
pany was  known  as  the  Humboldt 
Transit  Company. 

I.  C.  C.  Jurisdiction  to  Be  Determined. 

— An  investigation  was  ordered  on 
Sept.  30  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  to  determine  whether  or 
not  the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric 
Company,  Washington,  D.  C,  over 
whose  depreciation  charges  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  has  juris- 
diction, is  a  carrier  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  act.  The  case 
was  assigned  for  hearing  in  Washing- 
ton on  Oct.  17. 

Mayor  Against  Bus  Service. — Mayor 
Newton  Brainard  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
will  refuse  to  sign  a  petition  of  the 
Common  Council  which  provides  that 
the  Connecticut  Company  establish  be- 
fore Jan.  1,  1922,  a  motor  bus  line 
running  in  the  south-central  part  of  the 
city.  It  is  said  that  the  Mayor  holds 
to  the  opinion  that  the  territory  in 
which  the  bus  line  was  to  run  is  a 
congested  section  of  the  city  and  that 
it  is  now  adequately  served  by  the 
electric  railway. 

Railway  Answers  Complaint. — The 
West-Penn  Railways  has  filed  an  an- 
swer to  the  complaint  of  the  city  of 
McKeesport  which  demands  lower  fares 
on  the  ground  that  wage  reductions 
have  produced  increased  revenues  for 
the  company.  In  its  statement  the 
company  gave  some  figures  to  show  the 
cost  of  operation.  For  the  last  eleven 
months  the  gross  receipts  of  the 
McKeesport  branch  of  the  West  Penn 
Railways  were  $465,000,  with  $47,000 
net  income.  The  company  claims  an 
expense  of  $500,000  on  track  and  road- 
way. 

Opposition  to  One-Man  Cars  With- 
drawn.— The  committee  on  railroads 
and  bridges  of  the  Common  Council  of 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  has  recommended  for 
indefinite  postponement  the  Dietz  reso- 
lution seeking  discontinuance  of  the 
operation  by  the  Milwaukee  Electric 
Railway  &  Light  Company  of  one-man 
safety  cars  in  the  city.  The  committee 
had  held  several  hearings  on  the  sub- 
ject and  had  received  a  report  from  the 
City  Safety  Commission  indorsing  one- 
man  safety  car  operation.  This  report 
was  abstracted  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  of  Oct.  1,  1921,  page  570. 

Hearing  Held  on  Intrastate  Rates. — 
According  to  John  E.  Benton,  general 
counsel  for  the  National  Association  of 
State  Railroad  and  Public  Utility  Com- 
missioners, the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  is  seeking  to  impose  a 
"dead  uniformity  of  rates"  in  the  vari- 
ous States.  Mr.  Benton  expressed  this 
view  to  the  Senate  on  Oct.  29  and 
reiterated  previous  arguments  to  the 
effect  that  local  conditions  were  a  fac- 
tor that  must  be  considered  in  fixing 
rates.  Senator  Poindexter  joined  in 
Mr.  Benton's  criticisms  of  the  Com- 
mission toward  intrastate  rates. 


846 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Commission  Officer 
Impressed 

General    Andrews    Returns,  Highly 
Pleased  with  Railway  Studies 
Made  in  Large  Cities 

"The  thing  which  impressed  me  most 
forcibly  and  the  fact  at  which  I  was  so 
agreeably  surprised  in  my  recent  visit 
to  several  of  the  representative  rail- 
ways in  the  East  and  middle  West  was 
that  the  type  of  men  who  are  either 
managers  or  operators  of  these  proper- 
ties are  keen,  wide-awake  and  intensely 
devoted  to  giving  the  public  the  best 
possible  service."  This  was  the  state- 
ment made  recently  by  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Lincoln  C.  Andrews,  executive  of- 
ficer of  the  New  York  Transit  Com- 
mission. General  Andrews  was  accom- 
panied on  his  trip  by  C.  E.  Morgan,  as- 
sistant general  manager  of  the  Brook- 
lyn (N.  Y.)  City  Railroad;  William  E. 
Thompson,  superintendent  of  trans- 
portation, and  John  S.  McWhirter,  su- 
perintendent of  equipment  Third 
Avenue  Railway,  N.  Y.  The  proper- 
ties visited  included  those  in  Philadel- 
phia, Cleveland,  Kansas  City,  Chicago 
and  others  on  the  route. 

General  Andrews,  who  has  charge  of 
the  commission's  working  organization, 
made  this  whirlwind  trip  which,  al- 
though lasting  but  two  weeks,  gave 
him  an  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  operating  problems 
confronting  the  industry  as  a  whole. 
It  was  his  belief  that  wherever  any  dif- 
ferences between  the  railway  and  the 
public  had  been  satisfactorily  settled 
the  managements  did  not  merely  let 
the  public  attitude  remain  at  a  stage 
of  indifference  but  actively  grasped  the 
opportunity  and  capitalized  it  to  gain 
the  wholehearted  confidence  and  co- 
operation of  the  people.  This  was  not 
a  conclusion  drawn  from  a  view  of  the 
situation  existing  on  one  property  but 
was  his  composite  impression.  He  ex- 
pressed the  view  that  if  some  under- 
standing could  be  reached  between  the 
transit  companies  and  the  people  of 
New  York,  all  other  differences  would 
almost  automatically  adjust  them- 
selves. 

General  Andrews  was  keenly  inter- 
ested in  the  development  and  the  success- 
ful installation  of  safety  cars  in  many 
cities.  According  to  him  the  outstand- 
ing case  of  their  application  to  city 
traffic  is  Terre  Haute,  where  the  lines 
are  operated  with  safety  cars  entirely. 
He  considered  it  remarkable  that  65 
per  cent  additional  service  could  be 
given  at  a  10  per  cent  decrease  in  oper- 
ating expenses. 

Until  his  appointment  by  George 
McAneny,  chairman  of  the  commission, 
General  Andrews  had  always  been  an 
army  man.  He  saw  service  in  the 
World  War  and  after  the  armistice  be- 
came assistant  provost  marshal  gen- 
eral of  the  American  Expeditionary 
Forces.  His  recent  foreign  duties  were 
preceded  by  a  long  service  career.  Fol- 
lowing his  graduation  from  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  in  1893  he 
was  assigned  to  the  infantry  and  later 
to  the  cavalry,  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected  at  the  time   of  the  Spanish- 


American  War.  In  the  battle  of  San- 
tiago he  was  aide  to  General  Summer. 

General  Andrews  did  not  return  to 
the  United  States  from  the  Philippines 
until  1903,  when  he  was  appointed  an 
instructor  of  cavalry  tactics  at  West 
Point.  He  was  later  in  charge  of 
cavalry  instruction  at  the  first  Platts- 
burg  Training  Camp. 


Mr.  McGraw  Elected  President 
of  A.  B.  P. 

James  H.  McGraw,  president  of  the 
McGraw-Hill  Company,  Inc.,  publish- 
ers of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal, 
was  elected  last  week  president  of  the 
Associated  Business  Papers,  Inc.  The 
meeting  of  that  association  was  held  in 
Chicago  on  Oct.  24-26.  The  main  topic 
of  the  discussion  was  the  part  that  the 
publishers  should  play  in  speeding  the 
revival  of  business.  The  keynote  ad- 
dress was  delivered  by  Mr.  McGraw. 
An  abstract  of  this  address  will  be 
found  on  another  page. 

Among  important  business  matters 
receiving  the  attention  of  the  conven- 
tion was  the  auditing  of  publications 
of  free  circulation  by  the  Audit  Bureau 
of  Circulations.  A  resolution  was 
passed  requesting  the  "ABC"  to  dis- 
continue the  auditing  of  such  publica- 
tions since  free  circulation  is  contrary 
to  the  basic  principles  of  legitimate 
publishing  and  circulation  statements 
have  the  effect  of  misleading  advertis- 
ers who  have  come  to  associate  the 
"ABC"  with  ethical  standards  of  pub- 
lishing. 

The  new  officers  elected  for  the 
ensuing  year  in  addition  to  Mr.  McGraw 
were:  Vice-president,  A.  O.  Backert, 
Penton  Publishing  Company;  treasurer, 
Fritz  Frank,  Iron  Age  Publishing  Com- 
pany.   

Judge  Haight  Appointed  Special 

Master  in  Jersey  Fare  Case 

Former  Federal  Judge  Thomas  H. 
G.  Haight,  Jersey  City,  has  been  ap- 
pointed by  Federal  Judge  John  Rellstab 
as  special  master  to  take  testimony  on 
the  application  of  the  Public  Service 
Railway  for  authority  to  put  into  ef- 
fect a  10-cent  fare.  Judge  Haight 
is  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  mem- 
bers of  the  bar  in  New  Jersey.  He 
served  as  United  States  District  Court 
Judge  and  also  as  United  States  Cir- 
cuit Court  Judge.  He  was  appointed 
to  both  of  these  posts  by  former  Presi- 
dent Wilson. 


General  Manager  of  Wheeling 

Property  Resigns 

J.  D.  Whittemore,  for  several  years 
general  manager  of  the  Wheeling  (W. 
Va.)  Public  Service  Company,  has  left 
Wheeling  for  New  York  to  locate.  He 
was  the  honor  guest  at  a  farewell 
dinner  at  the  Wheeling  Country  Club 
recently  given  by  C.  P.  Billings  of  the 
Wheeling  Traction  Company.  Inti- 
mate friends  and  business  associates 
of  Mr.  Whittemore  were  present  to 
bid  him  farewell  and  extend  him  their 
best  wishes   for   his   future  success. 


There  were  many  expressions  of  regret 
at  Mr.  Whittemore's  departure. 

John  J.  Coniff  acted  as  toastmaster. 
Conceiving  an  imaginary  loving  cup, 
Mr.  Coniff  stated  that  if  all  the  good 
wishes  that  will  follow  Mr.  Whittemore 
could  be  placed  in  it,  it  would  be  filled 
to  the  brim.  Mr.  Whittemore  responded 
with  an  appreciation  of  the  friendships 
he  formed  here  and  by  thanking  his 
friends. 

W.  J.  Torrens  Appointed  Equip- 
ment Man  of  Second  Avenue 

William  J.  Torrens  has  been  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  equipment  of 
the  Second  Avenue  Railroad  Company, 
New  York.  Mr.  Torrens  was  formerly 
with  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway 
Company,  New  York,  in  the  old  cable 
days  and  continued  with  the  above 
company  during  the  electrification  of 
the  cable  roads.  He  remained  with  the 
company  as  foreman  until  the  segrega- 
tion of  the  Metropolitan  in  1907  and 
then  became  master  mechanic  of  the 
Second  Avenue  Railroad.  In  1910  he 
resigned  to  accept  a  position  in  Seattle 
as  master  mechanic,  continuing  there 
until  1919,  when  he  became  affiliated 
with  the  McKinley  system,  in  direct 
charge  at  Ottawa,  111. 


Toronto  Street  Railway 

Employees  Banquet 

R.  J.  Fleming 

On  Saturday,  Oct.  29,  the  Toronto 
Railwaymen's  Union,  Division  113,  en- 
tertained R.  J.  Fleming,  former  general 
manager  of  the  Toronto  Railway,  and 
the  members  of  the  Transportation 
Commission,  at  a  banquet  in  the  Labor 
Temple,  the  occasion  serving  as  a 
formal  farewell  by  the  railway  em- 
ployees to  their  former  general  man- 
ager. 

In  addition  to  900  railway  employees 
there  were  present  Mr.  Fleming,  Chair- 
man P.  W.  Ellis,  Fred  Miller  and  Gen- 
eral Manager  H.  H.  Couzens  of  the 
Toronto  Transportation  Commission, 
which  is  now  operating  the  street  rail- 
way; Works  Commissioner  R.  C.  Har- 
ris, General  Manager  Wilson  of  the 
Toronto  &  York  Radial  Railway,  also 
several  other  officials  of  the  Toi-onto 
Railway  who  served  under  Mr.  Flem- 
ing. President  Merson  of  the  Union 
presided. 

K.  D.  Leavitt  is  no  longer  connected 
with  the  Oakwood  Street  Railway,  Day- 
ton, Ohio. 

E.  I.  Edgecomb  has  resigned  as  claim 
agent  of  the  Syracuse  Northern  Elec- 
tric Railway,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

A.  Gorman  has  been  appointed  su- 
perintendent of  the  Corning  &  Painted 
Post  Street  Railway,  Corning,  N.  Y. 

M.  J.  Sullivan  has  resigned  as  chief 
engineer  of  the  Kingston  Consolidated 
Railroad,  Kingston,  N.  Y. 

Roy  C.  Megargel  of  New  York  has 
been  elected  president  of  the  Southern 
New  York  Power  &  Railway  Corpora- 
tion, Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  to  succeed 
Joseph  B.  Mayer. 

E.  E.  McWhiney  has  been  appointed 
assistant  secretary  of  the  Doherty  Op- 
erating Company,  New  York,  and  L. 
W.  Wallace  has  been  made  an  assistant 
treasurer. 


November  5,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


847 


M.  M.  Freeman  has  accepted  the 
position  as  treasurer  of  the  Claremont 
(N.  H.)  Railway,  succeeding  George  E. 
Tenney. 

Col.  Laird  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  has  been 
appointed  to  the  newly  created  posi- 
tion of  first  vice-president  of  the  Cen- 
tral Power  &  Light  Company,  Walnut 
Ridge,  Ark. 

E.  Z.  Wallawer,  formerly  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Southwest  Missouri  Rail- 
road, Webb  City,  Mo.,  has  been 
promoted  to  fill  the  vacant  office  of 
president.  H.  C.  Rogers  of  Carthage, 
Mo.,  has  been  appointed  to  fill  his 
former  position. 

John  Nichol  has  succeeded  John  H. 
Watkins  as  vice-president  of  the  Pine 
Bluff  Company,  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.  J.  L. 
Longino,  secretary  and  general  man- 
ager, has  also  taken  over  the  duties 
of  the  treasurer,  J.  A.  Whitlow,  who 
has  left  the  company. 

H.  B.  Fleming  has  followed  W.  W. 
Crawford  as  vice-president  onj  both 
the  Calumet  &  South  Chicago  Railway 
Company,  Chicago,  and  the  Southern 
Street  Railway,  Chicago.  Mr.  Fleming 
is  also  vice-president  and  chief  engi- 
neer of  the  Chicago  City  Railway. 

George  N.  West  has  been  appointed 
treasurer  of  the  Manchester  (N.  H.) 
Street  Railway.  He  has  also  taken  the 
position  as  treasurer  of  the  Manchester 
Light  &  Power  Company,  which  owns 
the  Manchester  Street  Railway.  He 
has  replaced  L.  E.  Flint,  who  now  has 
the  title  of  assistant  treasurer. 


Obituary 


Odell  W.  McConnell,  lawyer  and  head 
of  the  street  railways  of  Helena,  Mont., 
died  recently  at  the  age  of  fifty-three. 

Harry  Hamilton,  sixty  years  old, 
died  in  Youngstown,  Ohio,  on  Oct.  8 
after  a  long  illness.  He  was  the 
builder  of  the  Park  and  Falls  Street 
car  line  in  Youngstown. 

Thomas  Edward  Mullen,  chief  train 
dispatcher  of  the  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.) 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  died  suddenly 
at  Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  several  weeks  ago. 
He  was  forty-six  years  old. 

Winthrop  G.  Bushnell  of  New  Haven 
Conn.,  died  suddenly  of  heart  disease 
on  Oct.  23.  Mr.  Bushnell  had  been 
prominent  in  the  development  of  elec- 
tric railways  in  Connecticut  and  at  one 
time  was  representative  of  the  General 
Electric  Company  in  that  state. 

Frederick  Heis,  roadmaster  of  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
New  York,  died  several  months  ago. 
Mr.  Heis,  who  was  63  years  old  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  had  been  an  em- 
ployee of  the  Interborough  and  its  pred- 
ecessors for  thirty-seven  years.  He 
entered  the  service  as  trackman  in  1884 
and  through  rapid  promotion  became 
roadmaster  in  1904.  Mr.  Heis,  by 
years  of  close  application  to  the  track 
maintenance  work  of  the  company, 
performed  under  difficulties  due  to  loca- 
tion and  frequency  of  trains,  hardly 
equaled  elsewhere,  became  a  most  effi- 
cient and  valued  employee. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


A  Feeling  That  Price  Liquidation 
Has  Reached  Bottom 

After  personal  visits  to  a  number  of 
coal  consuming  centers,  and  a  tele- 
graphic survey  of  the  situation  among 
wholesalers,  George  H.  Cushing,  man- 
aging director  of  the  American  Whole- 
sale Coal  Association,  has  reached  the 
following  conclusions: 

The  stocks  of  high  priced  goods  of 
all  kinds  have  about  been  worked  off. 
Manufacturers  everywhere  are  buying 
raw  material  only  after  they  have  or- 
ders for  the  finished  product,  manu- 
facturing the  raw  material  into  a  fin- 
ished product  as  quickly  as  possible, 
and  are  making  shipments  almost  in- 
stantly. Everywhere  there  is  a  definite 
feeling  that  price  liquidation  has 
reached  bottom  on  the  present  wage 
scale.  Everywhere  there  is  a  feeling 
that  business  activity  is  starting  to 
resume  and  there  is  an  expectation  of 
a  price  recovery. 

Almost  uniformly  public  utilities 
have  on  hand  a  thirty  day  supply  of 
coal.  There  was  no  general  belief  that 
the  railroad  strike  would  occur.  There 
was  a  little  precautionary  buying  but 
not  much.  In  one  or  two  places  there 
were  slight  price  advances.  Generally 
the  market  was  dull. 


Proposed  Electric  Railway 
Project  in  India 

A  large  supply  of  electric  energy  will 
be  required,  according  to  Electrical  In- 
dustries, in  connection  with  the  pro- 
posed electrification  of  the  suburban 
lines  of  the  G.  I.  P.  To  insure  the  sup- 
ply of  electricity  it  is  proposed  to  in- 
terconnect the  Andhra  Valley,  the  Tata 
power  and  the  hydro-electric  com- 
panies. It  will  require  nearly  17,- 
000,000  kw.-hr.  per  annum  to  operate 
the  railway  from  V.  Telminus  to 
Kurla;  when  extended  to  Thana,  29,- 
000,000  kw.-hr.,  and  when  extended  to 
Kalyan,  36,000,000  kw.-hr. 


Bids  Asked  for  Subway 

Construction 

The  New  York  Transit  Commission 
is  requesting  sealed  bids  for  the  con- 
struction of  Route  No.  67,  a  part  of  the 
Queensboro  Subway  Rapid  Transit 
System,  to  be  received  at  the  office  of 
the  Commission,  at  49  Lafayette  Street, 
Borough  of  Manhattan,  New  York  City, 
until  November  9,  at  11:30  a.m.  Route 
No.  67  is  to  be  a  two-track  subsurface 
railroad  extending  under  East  and 
West  Forty-Second  Street,  Bryant  Park 
and  West  Forty-First  Street,  from 
about  the  westerly  line  of  Vanderbilt 
Avenue  to  about  the  westerly  line  of 
Eighth  Avenue,  in  the  Borough  of  Man- 
hattan. The  work  to  be  done  will  in- 
clude the  care  and  support  of  surface, 
subsurface  and  overhead  structures, 
the  maintenance  of  traffic  and  the  res- 
toration of  street  and  park  surfaces. 
The  method  of  construction  will  be 
partly  by  tunneling  and  partly  by  ex- 
cavation from  the  surface.  The  con- 
tractor must  within  forty-two  months 


from  the  delivery  of  the  contract  com- 
plete the  railroad  and  such  other  work 
covered  by  the  contract  as  may  be 
necessary  to  put  the  railroad  in  con- 
dition for  operation  and  must  complete 
all  other  work  covered  by  the  contract 
within  forty-eight  months  from  the  de- 
livery of  the  contract. 


Motor  Demand  Expected 

Demand    for    Railway    Motors  Still 
Light  Although  Heavier  Sales 
Are  Anticipated 

Demand  for  railway  motors  is  light, 
according  to  leading  manufacturers. 
Electric  traction  companies  are  said  to 
be  buying  new  rolling  stock  only  when 
absolutely  necessary.  The  trend  for 
some  time  has  been  so  much  toward 
safety  cars  that  the  number  of  motors 
of  larger  horsepower  bought  for  the 
heavier  types  of  cars  is  now  rather 
small  compared  with  the  types  used 
on  safety  cars.  Safety  car  equipment, 
principally  motors,  has  reached  a  state 
of  standardization  with  the  result  that 
delivery  conditions  are  very  favorable 
indeed.  One  of  the  largest  motor  manu- 
facturers in  the  country  is  optimistic 
regarding  future  business  on  the  ground 
that  the  attitude  of  the  public  toward 
electric  railways  has  improved  in  re- 
spect to  higher  fares  and  increased 
transportation  facilities.  In  some 
cases  where  fare  reductions  have  been 
made  or  where  new  fare  methods  have 
been  employed,  receipts  have  been  kept 
up  in  spite  of  the  industrial  depression. 
Virtually  all  of  the  lines  are  in  need 
of  additional  equipment,  this  company 
states.  Heretofore,  more  cars  at  the 
old  rates  in  many  cases  meant  greater 
loss  in  operation,  however,  and  the 
money  with  which  to  make  extensions 
has  been  lacking.  Demand,  as  a  result, 
has  not  been  as  great  as  it  would  have 
been  if  the  railways  could  finance  new 
equipment. 

Manufacturing  conditions  are  quite 
favorable  at  present.  One  manufacturer 
has  announced  a  reduction  in  wages 
which  took  effect  on  Nov.  1.  This  cut 
brings  labor  costs  down  to  a  level  so 
that  finished  products  can  be  quoted 
at  a  figure  resembling  that  of  the  pre- 
war times.  The  shortage  of  gears  and 
insulating  material  that  prevailed  at 
this  time  last  year  is  no  longer  a  factor. 
Producers  are  anticipating  their  needs 
well  in  advance^keeping  a  good  running- 
stock  of  material  on  hand  at  the  fac- 
tory. A  reserve  supply  of  motors  is 
also  maintained  with  each  of  the  car 
builders,  it  is  claimed,  as  that  reason- 
able shipments  can  be  made. 

At  this  time  there  seems  to  be  con- 
siderable hope  by  the  leading  interests 
that  manufacturing  conditions  will  per- 
mit a  reduction  of  prices  in  the  near 
future.  The  view  that  the  high  level 
attained  by  railway  motor  prices  since 
the  war  was  caused  very  largely  by 
the  exorbitant  demands  of  labor  all 
along  the  line,  from  the  ore  in  the 
ground  to  the  finished  product,  was 
certainly  justified.  Recent  months, 
however,  have  seen  cuts  in  these  con- 
tributory industries. 


848 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  19 


Rolling  Stock 


Androscoggin  &  Kennebec  Railway,  Lewis- 
ton,  Me.,  ordered  from  the  Wason  Manu- 
facturing Company  on  Sept.  23  three 
standard  safety  cars  equipped  with  G.  E. 
258  ball-bearing  motors  and  C.  P.  25  air 
compressors. 

New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Kail- 
road,  which,  as  has  been  previously  an- 
nounced, has  ordered  three  rail  motor  buses 
to  be  operated  on  some  of  the  short  branch 
lines,  has  specified  that  the  bodies  to  be 
mounted  on  the  rail  chassis  shall  be  fur- 
nished by  the  Osgood-Bradley  Car  Com- 
pany, Springfield,  Mass. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Lincoln     (Neb.)     Traction     Company  is 

building  two  new  double-track  curves  in 
connection  with  the  rerouting  plans  which 
will  take  effect  shortly. 

Burlington  County  Transit  Company, 
Hainesport,  N.  J.,  has  been  requested  by 
the  Burlington  County  Board  of  Free- 
holders to  change  the  location  of  the  tracks 
and  place  them  in  the  middle  of  the  road 
on  High  Street,  Burlington. 

The  Northampton,  Easton  &  W  ashing! on 
Traction  Company,  Easton,  Pa.,  has  com- 
pleted the  removal  of  the  line  from  the  side 
to  the  center  of  the  road  between  Phillips- 
burg  and  Post  Colden.  The  work  required 
some  time. 

New     York    State    Railways,  Rochester, 

N.  Y.,  has  sought  permission  to  extend  its 
line  on  Clinton  Avenue  north  from  the 
present  terminus  at  Norton  Street  to  the 
Ridge  road.  The  railway  also  recommends 
trackless  trolleys  for  cross-town  service. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. — The  contract  for  con- 
structing the  fifth  section  of  the  rapid 
transit  loop,  Cincinnati  (Ohio),  has  been 
awarded  to  the  Hickey  Bros.  Construction 
Company,  Columbus,  O.,  builders  of  sections 
2  and  3.  Their  bid  was  $153,965.  The  en- 
gineer's estimate  was  $188,240. 

Cincinnati'     (Ohio)      Traction  Company, 

through  Walter  Draper,  vice-president,  has 
announced  that  it  will  lay  new  tracks  on 
Vine  Street  between  McMillan  and  Mul- 
berry Streets,  a  distance  of  one  mile.  Cars 
using  this  thoroughfare  will  be  detoured 
over  a  different  route  while  the  construction 
work  is  in  progress. 

Toronto,  Can.  The  Transportation  Com- 
mission of  Toronto  has  approved  the  plan 
to  extend  the  Dundas  Street  line  west 
across  Yonge  Street  to  the  corner  of  Dun- 
das Street  east  and  Victoria  Street  to  make 
a  new  cross-town  car  service  and  relieve 
congestion.  The  commission  will  go  ahead 
with  the  construction  of  the  connecting  link 
soon  as  the  city  provides  a  right-of-way. 

Jacksonville-Pablo  Beach,  Fla.,  Stone  & 
Webster  have  been  asked  to  build  the  pro- 
posed trolley  line  from  Jacksonville  ;to 
Pablo  Beach,  a  distance  of  more  than 
twenty  miles,  and  according  to  reports 
made  to  the  meeting  of  the  South  Jackson- 
ville Commercial  Club,  the  Boston  cor- 
poration has  the  plan  under  advisement. 
This  corporation  owns  the  Jacksonville 
Traction  Company  which  is  now  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver  and  the  South  Jackson- 
ville interests.  Such  a  line  will  serve 
South  Jacksonville,  Arlington  and  smaller 
towns,  besides  the  colonv  at  Pablo  Beach 
and  Atlantic  Beach,  both  prominent  winter 
and  summer  resorts. 

Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Eos  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  has  com- 
pleted the  construction  of  the  Garvanza 
Automatic  substation  at  Avenue  54  and 
Buchanan  Street.  It  is  to  improve  power 
conditions  in  Eagle  Rock  Valley,  and  a 
part  of  the  northern  territory. 

Northampton,  Easton  &  Washington 
Traction  Company,  Easton,  Pa.,  will  build 
within  the  next  six  months  a  small  sub- 
station building.  The  railway  will  also 
purchase  and  install  two  300-kw.  rotary 
converters  with  necessary  equipment. 

Trenton  &  Mercer  County  Traction  Cor- 
Pr">;""    Trenton,  N.  J.,  through  its  presi- 


dent, Rankin  Johnson,  has  informed  the 
Trenton  City  Commission  that  the  company 
will  place  its  feed  wires  in  conduits  along 
Lincoln  Avenue,  leading  from  the  power 
station.  The  work  will  cost  approximately 
$25,000  and  will  be  begun  at  once. 


Professional  Note 


Stovel  &  Brinkerhoff  is  the  name  under 
which  is  announced  the  partnership  of  R. 
W.  Stovel  and  H.  A.  Brinkerhoff,  engineers 
and  contractors.  Mr.  Brinkerhoff  is  well 
known  for  his  work  in  connection  with  the 
construction  of  the  Pennsylvaia  Station  in 
New  York  City,  of  which  he  was  general 
superintendent  of  construction  in  charge  of 
the  installation  of  all  mechanical  and  elec- 
trical equipment.  Mr.  Stovel  was  the  en- 
gineer in  charge  of  the  Paoli  and  Chestnut 
Hill  electrifications  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  and  the  electrification  of  the  Elk- 
horn  grade  of  the  Norfolk  &  Western 
Railway,  projects  which  were  executed 
while  he  was  associated  with  Gibbs  &  Hill, 
from  1914  to  1917.  Both  men  were  for 
many  years  connected  with  Westinghouse, 
Church,  Kerr  &  Company,  and  both  were 
later  associated  with  Dwight  P.  Robinson 
&  Company,  subsequent  to  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  two  companies.  Mr.  Stovel  was 
graduated  from  McGill  University  in  1897 
as  an  electrical  engineer  and  in  1900  he 
received  the  degree  of  master  of  science 
from  the  same  university.  He  served  with 
the  Pittsburgh  &  Lake  Erie  Railroad  from 
1898  to  1903  in  the  design  and  construc- 
tion of  the  Pittsburgh  Terminal  Station 
and  the  McKees  Rocks  repair  shops  of 
that  road.  From  1903  to  1914  he  was  as- 
sociated with  Westinghouse,  Church.  Kerr 
&  Company.  He  served  with  the  A.  E.  F. 
in  France  as  lieutenant  colonel  and  had 
charge  of  the  mechanical  and  electrical 
equipment  at  all  ports  used  by  the  United 
States  army  in  France.  Mr.  Brinkerhoff 
was  connected  with  the  "C.  &  C."  Electric 
Company  as  mechanical  draughtsman  from 
1S93  to  1897.  In  that  year  he  became  as- 
sociated with  Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr 
&  Company.  He  continued  with  that  or- 
ganization until  1920,  when  the  company 
was  consolidated  with  Dwight  P.  Robinson 
&  Company,  at  which  time  he  became  the 
head  of  the  industrial  engineering  division 
in  the  new  organization.  During  the  war 
he  was  managing  engineer  in  charge  of 
design  and  construction  of  U"nited  States 
nitrate  plant  No.  2  at  Muscle  Shoals.  Both 
men  are  members  of  the  American  Society 
of  Mechanical  Engineers,  and  Mr.  Stovel 
is  a  member  of  the  American  Institute 
of  Electrical  Engineers  and  the  Engineer 
Reserve  Corps,  U.  S.  A.  The  new  firm  is 
prepared  to  undertake  investigations  and 
reports  on  industrial  engineering  problems, 
the  purchase  and  generation  of  power,  the 
operation  and  economy  of  power  plants, 
and  the  design,  construction  and  equip- 
ment of  steam  and  electric  power  stations, 
manufacturing  plants  and  railroad  shops. 
Offices  have  been  established  at  136  Liberty 
Street.  New  York. 


Trade  Notes 


Griffin    Wheel    Company,    Chicago,  has 

opened  sales  offices  in  the  Rialto  building. 
San  Francisco.  W.  H.  Snedaker,  formerly 
in  the  Tacoma  office  for  the  company,  has 
been  place  in  charge  of  the  new  office. 

E.  E.  Windenburg,  who  has  been  ap- 
pointed office  manager  of  the  Cleveland 
branch  of  the  Cutler-Hammer  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  fills  the  vacancy  made  by  the 
sudden  death  of  A.  F.  Loomis  on  Aug.  2. 
Mr.  Windenburg  has  been  with  the  Cleve- 
land office  since  February.  1919,  when  he 
left  the  aerial  service  of  the  United  States 
Navy. 

The  Motive  Power  Lubricant  Co.,  130  N. 
Wells  Street,  Chicago,  has  taken  over  the 
lubricant  business  of  the  Cassco  Bar  Metal- 
lic Packing  Company,  which  manufactures 
Cassco  lubricated  waste  and  Cassco  plain 
grease.  While  retaining  identical  quality, 
the  products  of  this  company  will  be  known 
in  the  future  as  "frictionless  lubricated 
waste,"  "frictionless  grease  light"  and  "fric- 
tionless grease  heavy." 

Belden  Manufacturing  Company,  Chicago, 

has  announced  the  appointment,  which  was 
effective  Nov.  1,  of  C.  P.  Cushway  to  be 
manager  of  the  cable  and  specialties  de- 
partment. Mr.  Cushway  will  have  super- 
vision over  that  part  of  the  business  per- 
taining to  telephone,  automobile  and  appli- 
ance cord  assemblies,  cordage,  flexible  cable 


and  insulating  materials,  and  to  this  work 
brings  several  years  of  experience  in  the 
engineering  department  of  the  Company. 

George  T.  Hansen,  for  ten  years  district 
manager  of  the  Allis-Chalmers  Manufac- 
turing Company  at  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 
has  resigned  to  enter  private  business.  B. 
N.  Greenleaf,  who  has  been  Mr.  Hansen's 
assistant,  will  become  the  new  district  man- 
ager of  the  Allis-Chalmers  Company.  Mr. 
Hansen  has  devoted  his  time  since  Sept.  15 
to  the  practice  of  mining  engineering  and 
to  looking  after  his  mining  and  oil  in- 
terests. 

Electric  Tamper  &  Equipment  Company, 
1400   West   Adams    Street,    Chicago,  under 

the  management  of  C.  Jackson,  vice-presi- 
dent and  general  manager,  has  taken  over 
the  electric  tie  tamping  business  of  the 
Kalamazoo  Railway  Supply  Company.  This 
electric  tamper  was  developed  by  Mr.  Jack- 
son for  the  Kalamazoo  Railway  Supply 
Company  and  introduced  into  railway  serv- 
ice last  year.  The  operation  of  the  device 
was  found  to  be  satisfactory,  and  a  number 
of  equipments  have  lately  been  placed  in 
service. 

Locke  Insulator  Manufacturing  Company 

on  Oct.  1  moved  its  New  York  office  from 
the  Woolworth  Building  to  the  twenty-first 
floor  of  the  Equitable  Building,  120  Broad- 
way. A  month  before  this  change  C.  H. 
Wheeler  took  over  charge  of  the  New  York 
territory  from  Kent  Hawley,  who  returned 
to  the  factory  at  Victor,  N.  Y.,  as  chief 
engineer.  Mr.  Wheeler  has  been  for  nine- 
teen years  with  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany. Seven  years  of  this  time  was  spent 
at  Schenectady,  and  since  1909  he  has  been 
in  the  general  office  in  New  York. 

D.  K.  Chadbourne  has  been  appointed 
manager  of  the  New  York  office  of  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  International  Com- 
pany. Mr.  Chadbourne  came  to  the  West- 
inghouse Company  through  the  George 
Cutter  Company  before  it  was  affiliated 
with  the  Westinghouse,  as  he  was  succes- 
sively Western  district  manager  and  East- 
ern district  manager  of  the  latter  company 
from  1912  to  19  20,  when  he  joined  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  International  Com- 
pany. Before  becoming  connected  with  the 
Cutter  interests,  he  spent  six  years  with 
the  Allis  Calmers  Company.  Mr.  Chad- 
bourne was  graduated  from  the  Purdue 
University  in  1906. 

Oswald  Dale  has  resigned  from  the  Ir- 
vington  Varnish  &  Insulator  Company, 
Irvington,  N.  J.,  of  which  he  was  vice-presi- 
dent and  general  manager.  He  had  been 
with  the  company  for  five  years.  He  was 
previously  with  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany for  eleven  years,  nine  years  of  which 
were  spent  in  the  department  of  super- 
vision of  production  and  two  years  in  the 
insulating  division.  For  two  years  prior 
to  that  he  had  been  in  charge  of  the  heat- 
ing-device production  of  the  Cutler-Hammer 
Manufacturing  Company.  Mr.  Dale  has 
just  returned  from  a  nine  weeks'  trip  in 
England  and  France,  where  he  has  been 
investigating  the  market  for  insulating  ma- 
terials: 


New  Advertising  Literature 


The  Sangamo  Electric  Company,  Spring- 
Held,  111.,  has  issued  bulletin  No.  57  (sus- 
pending No.  49)  on  "Switchboard  Meters, 
Alternating-Current,  Direct-Current  and 
Ampere-Hour. 

Bailey  Meter  Company,  Cleveland,  has  is- 
sued bulletin  No.  42,  entitled  "Bailey  Boiler 
Meters,"  superceding  No.  41,  and  bulletin 
No.  160,  entitled  "Multi-Pointer  Gages  for 
Draft  and  Other  Factors. 

Spencer  Trask  &  Company,  New  York, 
have  just  issued  a  folder  entitled  "Present 
Opportunities  in  the  Bond  Market."  Be- 
sides containing  a  discussion  on  the  prob- 
able future  trend  of  the  bond  market,  a 
list  of  current  investment  offerings  is  given. 

Whiting  Corporation,  Harvey,  111.,  has  is- 
sued a  new  crane  catalogue  No.  158  which 
supersedes  No.  151.  The  revised  catalogue 
describes  and  illustrates  the  company's 
standard  crane  designs  and  contains  several 
tables  of  standard  clearances. 

Chicago  Pneumatic  Tool  Company,  New 
York,  has  announced  the  publication  of 
Bulletin  No.  710,  which  describes  steam,  belt 
and  motor-driven  dry  vacuum  pumps.  This 
is  the  first  bulletin  issued  on  this  subject 
by  that  company. 

Chicago  Pneumatic  Tool  Company,  New 
York,  has  issued  Special  Publication  No. 
674  which  will  be  of  particular  value  to 
users  of  pneumatic  tools.  It  gives  com- 
plete specifications  which  users  of  such 
tools  can  have  as  a  handy  ready  reference 
when  ordering  these  products. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Revieiv 


HENKY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZELL,  Editors  HENKY  H.NORRIS. Managing  Editor 

C.W.SQUIER.Associate  Editor       C.W.STOCKS.Ass.iciatv  Editor 


HARRY  L.BROWN, Western  Editor       X. A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor       H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor 
G.J.MACMURRAY.Xews  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE, Editorial  Representative 


PAUL  WOOTON. Washing 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  November  12,  1921 


I9& 


lumber  20 


Advertise — 

And  Keep  It  Up 

WITH  a  product  which  is  on  sale  twenty-four  hours 
a  day,  with  public  relations  never  completely 
solved,  why  should  not  railways  adopt  and  carry  out  a 
continuous  advertising  program?  Is  it  any  wonder,  with 
the  rather  sporadic  newspaper  advertising  of  most  rail- 
ways, that  the  public,  when  the  railway  does  advertise, 
wants  to  know  "what  the  railway  wants  to  put  over 
now?" 

The  psychology  of  advertising  is  to  keep  continually 
at  it.  The  public  ought  to  be  educated  to  expect  to  find 
the  railway's  "ad"  in  the  same  place  every  day,  and  it 
ought  to  be  one  of  the  best  parts  of  the  paper,  too — 
there  is  "copy"  galore.  The  newspaper  reader  should 
be  led  to  remark,  as  he  does  occasionally  of  the  adver- 
tising in  other  lines,  "I  am  watching  your  advertising." 

Advertising  for  particular  purposes,  for  "direct  re- 
sults," is  sometimes  partially  successful,  but  seldom  if 
ever  wholly  so.  This  is  particularly  true  of  public 
utilities,  which  seldom  desire  direct  results  except  when 
some  controversy  is  present,  when  part  of  the  public 
already  has  an  opinion  and  when  many,  knowing  the 
railway  has  a  particular  object  in  view,  ascribe  some 
ulterior  motive. 

It  is  better  to  have  a  public  with  which  the  railway 
is  in  constant  communication  by  advertising.  By  nature 
the  public  is  not  particularly  interested  in  any  railway 
company;  it  is  only  mildly  interested  in  transportation 
— until  a  failure  or  an  inconvenience  occurs.  The  way 
to  gain  that  interest,  to  divert  the  thoughts  of  the  pub- 
lic to  the  railway,  is  to  advertise.  And  the  advertising 
must  be  continuous  to  be  effective.  As  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  has  often  urged  in  the  past,  spend  at 
least  as  much  in  advertising  as  is  received  from  adver- 
tising. 


Mayor  Hylan's  Re-election 

and  New  York's  Traction 

MAYOR  HYLAN'S  re-election  in  New  York  was  only 
what  was  expected,  after  he  had  made  the  5-cent 
fare  the  chief  issue  in  his  campaign.  It  meant  nothing 
to  the  average  voter  that  the  question  of  fare  cannot 
be  determined  by  the  Mayor  or  that  Mr.  Hylan  during 
the  past  four  years  has  made  no  effort  to  present  a  con- 
structive plan  to  settle  this  question.  Throughout,  he 
has  acted  merely  as  an  obstructionist.  Nevertheless,  peo- 
ple cannot  be  expected  to  become  enthusiastic  over  any 
plan  which  means  a  higher  charge  to  them  for  a  utility 
service,  and  it  is  an  old  dodge  of  politicians  to  drag  fare 
questions  into  an  election  campaign.  Tom  Johnson  won 
four  times  on  this  issue  in  Cleveland,  and  then  finally 
lost  because  he  was  obliged  to  put  into  practice  the  ideas 
he  had  been  advocating.  Detroit  and  Chicago  have 
afforded  other  examples  of  the  same  kind  of  issues.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  in  the  New  York  campaign  this 
year  Mr.  Curran,  the  opposition  candidate,  did  not 
declare  positively  for  a  just  fare,  no  matter  what  it 


might  be,  but  the  results  would  probably  have  been 
no  different.  Possibly  the  New  York  Times'  explana- 
tion is  pertinent  when  it  says  that  New  York  is  just 
naturally  Democratic,  and  that  for  this  reason  a  Repub- 
lican as  a  Fusion  candidate  has  little  chance  of  elec- 
tion unless  he  is  of  outstanding  ability  and  high  civic 
reputation. 

Fortunately  the  traction  situation  in  New  York  will 
not  be  settled  by  the  election  last  Tuesday.  The  matter 
is  in  the  hands  of  a  State  commission,  and  its  chairman 
has  announced  that  it  is  going  forward  with  its  plan  for 
hearings,  which  will  begin  on  Nov.  15.  Mayor  Hylan 
can  bluster  during  the  next  four  years,  but  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  long  before  this  time  has 
passed  the  traction  situation  will  be  settled  in  a  sane 
way. 

Of  the  following,  however,  there  can  be  no  doubt: 
The  election  has  shown — with  a  majority  of  more  than 
400,000 — that  the  companies  have  a  tremendous  prob- 
lem in  public  relations  ahead  of  them,  even  though  the 
Transit  Commission  can  formulate  a  definite  construc- 
tive plan.  There  is  need  of  the  industry's  greatest 
ability  in  the  line  of  winning  enlightened  public  interest 
and  therefrom  confidence. 


Mayor  Wilson's  Defeat 

and  Bridgeport's  Traction 

IN  RATHER  sharp  and  almost  paradoxical  contrast 
to  the  result  of  the  New  York  election  is  that  of 
Bridgeport,  Conn.,  the  scene  of  the  interesting  jitney 
bus-railway  controversy  of  last  year.  For  ten  years 
Clifford  B.  Wilson  has  been  Mayor  of  Bridgeport. 
Transportation  has  been  one  of  his  hobbies.  His  sole 
platform  plank  this  year  was  "more  jitneys  and  the 
return  of  the  5-cent  fare,"  and  on  this  he  was  defeated. 
This  is  beyond  understanding  when  compared  to  New 
York,  or  else  the  traction  issue  is  less  important  than 
sometimes  supposed.  Mr.  Wilson's  opponent,  Mayor- 
elect  Atwater,  refused  to  commit  himself  to  any  program 
or  policy  as  to  fares  or  jitneys,  saying  that  he  could 
form  no  policy  until  he  acquired  office  and  studied  the 
facts.  Yet  he  was  elected.  And  this  from  the  city 
which  patronized  jitneys  till  the  Connecticut  Company 
had  to  suspend  service  and  which  has  been  the  principal 
petitioner  before  the  State  commission  requesting  a  fare 
adjustment  from  the  present  10-cent  fare!  Verily,  it 
is  paradox. 


Politics— 

and  Railways 

A COMPLETE  examination  of  the  relation  of  trans- 
portation issues  to  mayoralty  and  other  elections  on 
Tuesday  last  would  show  many  more  interesting  and 
some  enigmatical  results. 

In  Youngstown,  Ohio,  for  example,  the  mayor-elect 
ran  on  an  eccentric  platform  favoring,  among  other 
things,  the  abolition  of  street  cars  and  the  adoption  of 
unrestricted  jitney  service.    In  Detroit,  the  principal 


issue  was  the  traction  question,  with  both  candidates 
in  the  non-partisan  election  favoring  municipal  owner- 
ship but  with  Mayor  Couzens  re-elected  on  his  particu- 
lar municipal  ownership  plan.  Also  in  Detroit,  other 
traction  issues,  both  passed,  were  the  ousting  of  the 
Detroit  United  and  the  authorization  to  purchase  track- 
less trolleys!  Were  it  not  so  serious,  the  submission  of 
such  questions  as  the  latter  to  popular  vote  should  pro- 
voke the  gods  to  laughter!  In  Norwalk,  Conn.,  the 
defeated  candidates  ran  on  a  platform  of  more  jitneys 
and  reduced  fares. 

When  one  considers  such  results  as  these  with  those  of 
New  York  and  Bridgeport,  conclusions  are  hard  to  draw, 
except  possibly  what  has  already  been  mentioned  in 
these  columns.  This  is  that  intelligent  judgment  on 
such  matters  is  hard  to  expect  from  the  public 
and  that  so  long  as  business  matters  like  trans- 
portation policies  are  allowed  to  be  footballs  of 
politics,  the  public  in  the  end  is  the  loser  through  the 
resulting  impediment  to  proper  development  of  public 
service.  There  is  still  a  long  way  for  the  industry  to 
go  in  the  education  of  the  public  to  appreciation  of  the 
Federal  Electric  Railway  Commission's  statement  that 
"The  electric  railway  problem  admits  of  a  satisfactory 
solution,  once  the  elements  that  compose  it  are  made 
known  and  the  principles  of  ordinary  economic  and 
business  common  sense  are  applied." 


"Don't  Ride  Your  Auto  to  Work" 
a  National  Publicity  Program 

ONE  of  the  most  common  comments  today  is  that  the 
private  automobile  is  the  greatest  competitor  the 
railway  has.  Why  not  tell  these  auto  users  how  much 
it  is  costing  them,  and  do  it  in  a  national  way? 

A  case  comes  to  mind  of  a  railway  engineer  who,  in 
a  social  evening,  asked  two  of  his  neighbors  to  make 
estimates  of  the  cost  of  going  to  and  from  work  in 
their  private  automobiles.  One  answered  $1.70  and  the 
other  $1.45.  His  own  figures  indicated  $1.30  (they  all 
had  cars  of  the  same  make) .  It  took  no  more  than  the 
comparison  of  these  estimates  with  the  known  15  cents 
on  the  street  car  to  make  street  car  riders  of  these 
neighbors. 

There  are  millions — surely  many,  many  thousands — 
of  such  cases,  scattered  nation  wide.  A  nation-wide 
educational  campaign  should  be  started  to  deal  with  it. 
Why  is  this  not  a  fitting  duty  for  the  advertising  section 
of  the  association? 


Chicago's  Subway 

Again  Up  for  Discussion 

FOR  the  nth  time,  Chicago  is  taking  up  a  discussion 
of  subway  construction.  How  serious  a  discussion 
is  to  be  entered  into  this  time  remains  to  be  seen,  but 
the  periodic  babble  has  started  and  most  every  one  in 
official  circles  is  getting  on  the  band  wagon,  whether 
or  not  he  is  sincerely  interested  in  seeing  a  subway 
built.  In  fact,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  a 
considerable  part  of  the  "city  hall"  is  sincerely  inter- 
ested in  seeing  to  it  that  no  truly  earnest  plan  is  under- 
taken, for  there  are  such  tremendous  political  possi- 
bilities in  bringing  some  kind  of  a  traction  plan  includ- 
ing subways  into  the  next  mayoralty  election  in  1923  as 
the  campaign  issue. 

The  present  discussion  differs  from  the  preceding 
ones  mainly  in  the  increased  size  of  the  traction  fund. 
This  has  now  accumulated  to  more  than  $30,000,000. 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


This  sum  is  adequate  in  itself  to  make  a  very  substan- 
tial start  on  a  subway  system.  And  it  could  be  spent 
to  the  very  great  improvement  of  the  present  traction 
systems  and  consequent  benefit  of  the  public  if  spent 
for  providing  facilities  for  the  use  of  the  present  ele- 
vated and  surface  line  companies,  following  out  the 
initial  construction  program  of  the  plan  formulated  by 
the  Chicago  Traction  and  Subway  Commission  in  1916. 
This  plan  was  very  comprehensive  and  one  which  would 
have  given  Chicago  perhaps  the  best  transportation 
facilities  of  any  city  in  the  world.  It  was  prepared  by 
experienced  and  highly  competent  engineers  at  a  cost 
of  $250,000,  but  received  only  a  superficial  consideration 
and  was  then  dropped.  This  plan  is  available  and  is  still 
good ;  all  that  is  needed  is  the  honest  disposition  to  take 
the  proposition  out  of  politics  and  determine  to  go  ahead. 


Here  Is  a  Chance  to  Find  Out 
What  the  Trolley  Bus  Can  Do 

ASSUMING  that  the  municipal  authorities  of  New 
^"VYork  City  will  keep  accurate  records  of  investment 
and  operation,  including  receipts  and  expenditures,  and 
will  permit  them  to  be  made  public,  there  will  soon  be 
available  some  valuable  and  authoritative  data  on  the 
actual  operating  results  of  trolley  bus  operation.  Such 
data  will  be  very  welcome  material  for  checking  up  the 
comparative  costs  of  this  kind  of  transportation  with 
that  of  the  gasoline-driven  motor  bus  and  the  safety 
car.  Heretofore,  we  have  been  obliged  to  rely  almost 
entirely  upon  more  or  less  hypothetical  estimates  of 
trolley  bus  costs.  There  will  then  be  a  real  opportunity 
to  judge  of  the  advisability  of  using  the  trolley  bus  in 
new  territory  with  infrequent  service. 

As  detailed  in  the  Oct.  15  issue,  trackless  trolley 
service  was  inaugurated  by  the  municipal  authorities 
on  Oct.  13  on  two  routes  on  Staten  Island,  a  borough 
of  the  city  of  New  York.  Eight  new  trolley  buses  have 
been  purchased,  several  of  which  have  just  been  de- 
livered, and  a  trial  trip  on  Oct.  8  was  made  the  occasion 
of  a  public  celebration  by  the  Staten  Islanders. 

Two  routes  are  operated,  one  2.6  miles  in  length,  the 
other  4.4  miles.  Both  routes  radiate  from  the  same 
junction  point  with  an  existing  street  railway  line. 
This  new  service  is  designed  to  furnish  sorely  needed 
transportation  to  communities  not  hitherto  served, 
except  by  sporadic  independent  automobiles  and  taxi- 
cabs  at  extortionate  rates. 

Owing  to  certain  legal  restrictions  preventing  at  the 
present  time  the  ownership  and  operation  of  motorbuses 
as  a  municipal  undertaking  in  New  York  City,  the 
officials  were  practically  limited  to  the  use  of  the  trol- 
ley bus  as  an  alternative  to  the  construction  of  a 
regular  railway  line.  In  other  respects,  there  is 
much  to  point  to  the  motor  bus  for  use  in  service 
of  this  general  nature,  if  recent  estimates  of  cost 
are  at  all  sound.  The  routes  are  through  sparsely 
settled  territory,  with  regular  schedules  on  a  rela- 
tively infrequent  service  of  twenty  minutes,  which 
provides  ample  facilities  for  all  the  traffic.  One  of 
the  principal  arguments  for  the  trolley  bus  seems 
absent  here.  In  considering  the  maintenance  of  rolling 
stock,  it  is  usually  assumed  that  the  vehicles  will  be 
cared  for  in  the  shops  of  an  existing  electric  railway, 
but  in  the  present  instance  these  cars  can  only  be 
brought  to  the  shops  of  the  municipal  line  by  being 
towed  several  miles;,  consequently,  an  independent 
maintenance  organization  will  have  to  be  established. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


851 


It  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  development  and  progress 
of  this  new  departure  in  transportation  by  the  city  of 
New  York  will  be  watched  with  great  interest,  not  only 
by  railway  operators  throughout  the  country  who  are 
following  closely  the  expansion  of  rail-less  transporta- 
tion, but  also  by  the  manufacturers  of  electric  railway 
rolling  stock  and  the  automobile  builders. 


Bradford  and  Leeds 

Furnish  Useful  Data 

IN  CONNECTION  with  this  question  of  trackless 
trolley  costs,  the  figures  from  Leeds  and  Bradford, 
presented  on  another  page  in  this  issue,  are  of  timely 
interest.  The  figures  from  the  British  experiences 
should  assist  in  studies  being  made  in  this  country  as 
to  the  possible  field,  at  least  from  a  cost  standpoint,  for 
trackless  trolleys  in  the  United  States. 

This  much,  however,  must  be  recognized — that  cost 
of  service  is  only  one  element  in  determining  the  adop- 
tion of  trackless  trolley,  motor  bus  or  safety  car.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  try  to  list  all  other  elements,  but  it  is 
worth  while  always  to  keep  in  mind  that  in  comparing 
costs  on  past  or  present  performance,  this  is  only  one 
factor  in  the  future  of  any  particular  problem. 


Bankers  See  Better 
Times  Ahead 

AN  ENCOURAGING  note  as  regards  electric  railways 
l\  is  sounded  in  the  report  of  the  committee  on  public 
service  securities,  presented  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Investment  Bankers'  Association  of  America,  just  con- 
cluded in  New  Orleans.  Railway  men  have  felt  for 
some  time,  and  have  so  expressed  themselves,  that 
except  for  certain  isolated  cases  the  industry  had 
rounded  the  corner  of  depression.  It  is  a  satisfaction 
to  hear  the  same  feeling  expressed  at  a  meeting  of 
investment  bankers.  The  report  of  the  committee,  it  is 
true,  did  not  declare  that  the  convalescence  period  of  the 
electric  railway  industry  was  over.  Many  problems 
remain  yet  to  be  solved.  Nevertheless,  the  report  did 
point  out  a  number  of  encouraging  facts,  such  as  a 
gradual  reduction  in  the  cost  of  materials  and  labor, 
more  enlightened  public  opinion  upon  the  injurious 
effect  on  public  service  of  jitney  competition,  the  merits 
of  service-at-cost  franchises  and  a  better  understanding 
of  utility  problems  by  regulatory  bodies. 

The  report,  which  was  published  in  last  week's  issue 
of  this  paper,  included  also  certain  warnings  by  the 
committee  to  utilities.  One  of  these  was  a  plea  for  con- 
servatism in  connection  with  the  sale  of  utility  stock 
directly  to  customers.  While  such  sale  is  highly  com- 
mended from  many  points  of  view,  the  report  declares 
that  any  such  stock  should  be  issued  under  the  same  con- 
servative restrictions  which  would  be  demanded  if  the 
issue  was  to  be  made  through  investment  bankers.  It 
should  represent  actual  investment  in  the  property,  and 
the  price  should  be  in  line  with  the  current  quotations 
for  securities  of  a  similar  class. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  these  injunctions  will  be  heeded. 
As  yet,  comparatively  little  along  this  line,  certainly 
with  electric  railway  securities,  has  been  done.  The 
plan  has  many  advantages,  but  any  abuse  of  the  prac- 
tice is  sure  to  react  on  the  company  itself  and  to  some 
extent  on  the  industry  as  a  whole.  Of  course  no  security, 
even  of  a  utility,  is  immune  from  business  vicissitudes. 


Every  buyer  of  securities  takes  a  chance.  Nevertheless, 
the  issuing  company  should  make  sure  that  he  has  such 
a  business  chance  and  that  the  security  is  worth  the 
price  asked  for  it  before  it  is  put  on  sale. 


The  Tax-Exempt  Security 

an  Enemy  to  Proper  Progress 
AGAIN  the  taxation  progress  in  Congress  seems  to  be 
l  \  in  the  opposite  direction  from  the  overwhelming 
public  political  sentiment,  at  least  as  regards  the  effect 
on  public  service  corporations.  While  the  social  and 
political  policy  is  toward  the  integrity  of  private  prop- 
erty and,  against  public  ownership,  the  fiscal  policy 
seems  to  force  public  ownership  of  utilities  on  the  coun- 
try. By  this  is  meant  that  the  present  tax  program 
makes  it  harder  and  harder  for  public  utilities  to  get 
new  capital,  thus  tending  to  force  the  public  to  provide 
the  money  through  municipal  and  state  governments. 
This  means  public  ownership,  which  the  public  as  a 
body  does  not  want. 

With  a  limitation  on  earnings,  with  a  graduated  in- 
come tax  still  high  in  surtax  rates,  with  untold  millions 
of  tax-exempt  securities  available,  there  seems  slim 
chance  to  look  to  any  but  the  very  limited  income  class 
to  provide  new  capital,  and  the  savings  of  this  class 
have  been  shown  to  be  woefully  inadequate  for  public 
utility  needs  to  meet  the  demands  for  increased  service. 
Add  to  this  situation  the  increased  corporation  tax,  and 
even  the  possible  profits  which  may  be  put  back  in  the 
business  are  reduced. 

Why  cannot  Congress  take  some  immediate  action 
with  reference  to  the  McFadden-Smoot  amendments 
which  would  prevent  the  issuance  of  any  future  tax- 
exempt  securities?  Any  move  in  that  direction,  even 
though  time  would  be  required  for  it  to  become  effective, 
would  prove  to  be  very  beneficial.  The  government  itself 
has  a  good  deal  of  refunding  next  year  and  later,  and  if 
Congress  would,  in  refunding,  refuse  to  issue  tax-ex- 
empt securities,  it  would  be  a  wonderful  benefit  to  the 
country  in  more  ways  than  one. 

This  question  of  tax-exempt  securities  has  more  seri- 
ous aspects  than  merely  the  effect  on  public  utility 
growth,  though  that  is  serious  enough  to  be  startling. 
There  is  almost  an  orgy  of  spending  by  public  officials 
on  more  or  less1  useless  civic  buildings,  on  municipal 
and  state  improvements  which  are  nice  but  unneces- 
sary, on  federal  "pork  bill"  improvements,  etc. 

This  is  no  argument  against  needed  public  improve- 
ments which  can  well  be  financed  on  the  public's  credit 
without  the  use  of  the  tax-exempt  feature.  But  the 
point  is  that  the  tax-exempt  security  has  distorted  the 
spending  of  the  nation  by  the  reduction  of  possible  con- 
structive expenditures  by  corporations  and  individuals 
and  by  the  increase  of  expenditures  by  public  bodies. 
So  long  as  this  country  has  the  graduated  income  tax, 
this  security  is  a  menace  to  the  proper  investment  of 
the  country's  savings. 

The  present  is  an  opportune  time  to  register  disap- 
proval of  an  untoward  fiscal  policy,  even  though  it  may 
be  impossible  to  change  the  present  revenue  bill.  The 
utilities,  so  far  as  their  particular  interests  are  con- 
cerned, have  been  ably  represented  at  Washington  by 
P.  H.  Gadsden  for  the  joint  committee.  But  this  is  not 
enough.  There  must  be  continuous  agitation  for  the 
best  revenue  policy  in  order  that  there  be  progress  and 
that  ultimately  the  tax-exempt  security  may  be  elimi- 
nated. 


852 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Dead  Mileage  Saving  to  Pay  for  New  Car  Storage  Facilities 

Flexible  Track  Layout  and  Tipple  for  Loading  Sand  and  Coal  at  New  Car  Yard  of  the  Northern  Ohio 
Traction  &  Light  Company  in  Akron  Are  of  Special  Interest — Small  Carhouse 
Provided  for  Inspection  and  Washing 


MONG  the  plans 
formulated  early  in 
1920  by  the  North- 
ern Ohio  Traction  &  Light 
Company  for  expanding  its 
facilities  to  handle  better 
the  then  rapidly  increas- 
ing traffic  of  the  Akron, 
Ohio,  city  lines,  was  one 
which  contemplated  the 
enlargement  of  the  main 
shops  by  making  use  of 

part  of  the  carhouse  adjacent  for  shop  purposes.  To  do 
this  would  deplete  the  car  storage  facilities  then  avail- 
able. Also,  the  supply  of  service  to  the  heavy  traffic 
center  of  plants  1  and  2  of  the  Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber 
Company,  located  well  out  on  the  East  Market  Street 
line,  involved  a  rather  large  amount  of  dead  mileage 
each  day.  Furthermore,  there  was  need  for  additional 
storage  and  inspection  facilities.  To  meet  these  several 
requirements,  therefore,  the  company  decided  to  build  a 
new  open  storage  yard  and  small  carhouse  at  the  end  of 
the  East  Market  Street  line  in  East  Akron.  The  new 
facilities  are  called  the  Britain  car  yard  and  carhouse. 
The  yard  is  857  ft.  deep  with  309  ft.  frontage  on  Engle- 
wood  Avenue,  over  which  the  East  Market  Street  city 


Top  Views — Front  op  New  Brittain  Car  Storage  and  Carhouse 
Showing  Overhead  Construction,  Storage  Tracks  and 
Approach  to  Tipple.    Bottom  View,  Rear  End  of  Car- 
house  Showing  Tipple  and  Coal  Storage  at  Left 
and  Oil  House  at  Extreme  Right 


ine  and  the  interurban 
cars  to  Canton  and  Massil- 
lon  operate.  The  yard  was 
laid  out  to  provide  open 
storage  for  160  cars,  with 
carhouse  facilities  for  in- 
specting four  cars  and 
washing  four  cars  simul- 
taneously. 

Owing  to  the  very  de- 
cided and  sudden  slump  in 
business  in  Akron,  the 
storage  facilities  for  only  eighty  cars  were  completed 
and  the  rearrangements  at  the  main  shops  were  post- 
poned indefinitely.  With  things  so  materially  changed, 
and  the  traffic  and  daily  car  mileage  very  much  reduced, 
the  expected  savings  from  the  new  carhouse  and  storage 
will  be  realized  only  in  part  for  the  present.  Under  nor- 
mal business  conditions,  however,  it  was  estimated  that 
the  new  facilities  would  reduce  the  dead  mileage  some 
55,600  car-miles  a  year,  which,  if  valued  at  30  cents  a 
car-mile,  would  produce  an  annual  saving  for  the  com- 
pany of  $16,680. 

The  cost  of  the  yard  and  carhouse  as  estimated  in 
January,  1920,  was  approximately  $212,000,  so  that  the 
saving  in  dead  mileage  effected,  had  the  traffic  of  that 


r  7'-7"  *1 

K  r-S"->r<: —4-T-  - 

I      t*t— 5iS"  M  I 

H/jy. \7"x-  -  -  ■  -£S"->i7y-/3,H 
I  J<-  -  WIT '-  -  >l 


-  -I Rod  l"Sq.  twa'.xS'-O  "Lciq 


;'!/2"05tay  Rods 


k-  s'-ir  »l 

Cross  Section  of  Tipple  Truck  Piers 


*  1,7  15-8"  > 

uf  ^'---w  r_r  ^  4'-0j-~i 

*l./2"t<—3'-oF-*i'-/Wh*~  -r-sf- — -x<-aj»i  H-/2h 


Brick  Weill 

Batten  Doors  ■■ 

4Sq.twd.rods 
l'/e"xl8'-0"Long 

.-Grade  lim 


r 

H 

]  ||  ',--6"Bentend 

k-  ( 


■"•it 


Cross  Section  at  I 

Top  Views — Front  of  New  Brittain  Car  Storage  and  Carhousections  of  Sand  and  Coal  Tipple 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


853 


time  continued,  would  have  more  than  carried  the  new 
investment  which  also  provides  additional  facilities. 

General  Layout  of  the  Yard 

Of  particular  interest  among  the  many  features  of 
the  yard  is  the  layout  of  track  and  general  plan.  In 
the  first  place  all  movements  of  cars  in  the  yard  are 
entirely  separated  from  the  main-line  operation,  thus 
avoiding  to  a  maximum  degree  any  interference  with 
the  regular  operation  of  cars  in  service,  or  any  de'ay 
due  to  yard  derailments.  While  the  new  storage  yard 
is  located  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  city  lines,  the  loop 
for  this  line,  which  occupies  a  portion  of  the  front  end 
of  the  tract  of  ground,  is  built  entirely  separate  from 
the  storage  yard  trackage.  Aside  from  the  special  work 
connections  with  the  main  line,  all  of  the  track  and 
special  work  in  the  yard  is  of  the  open  type  and  hence 
easily  maintained.  Furthermore,  the  special  work  and 
curves  entering  the  tipple  track  are  so  constructed  that 
standard  steam  railroad  cars  with  M.C.B.  equipment 
can  be  operated  over  it. 

The  layout  of  the  tracks  provides  great  flexibility 
in  the  hand  ing  of  cars  in  and  out  of  the  yard  and  in 
shifting  them  about  the  yard  for  inspection  and  wash- 
ing purposes.  The  track  for  the  whole  yard  is  laid 
out  in  two  parts,  only  one  of  which  has  been  built  for 


Interior  of  Carhouse  Nearing  Completion  Showing  Rail 
Fastening  on  Inspection  Tracks 


the  time  being.  Each  part  is  to  be  served  by  a  direct 
connection  to  the  main  line,  whence  a  ladder  track 
makes  possible  the  placing  of  a  car  on  any  one  of  the 
tracks  of  the  group.  All  these  tracks  again  converge 
into  a  ladder  track  and  a  loop  at  the  rear  end  of  the 
property,  so  that  there  is  almost  no  movement  of  cars 
that  cannot  be  quickly  and  expeditiously  accomplished. 
The  special  work  in  every  case  has  been  kept  of  the 
simplest  form  by  so  placing  the  switches  as  to  avoid 
any  overlapping  of  special  work.  The  overhead  work 
is  of  the  substantial  backbone  construction  type  and 
well  strung  to  avoid  trolley-off  trouble. 

Of  the  nine  tracks  installed  in  the  yard  at  the 
present  time,  the  first  track  serves  the  tipple  described 
later  on,  four  tracks  extend  through  the  carhouse  and 
the  four  remaining  tracks  are  available  for  storage 
only. 

Ultimately,  a  second  loop  at  the  front  end  of  the 
property  will  be  made  available  by  a  connection  from 
the  present  ladder  track  to  the  lead-in  track  of  the 
second  group  of  storage  tracks.  This  will  be  provided 
for  emergency  use  in  case  a  car  in  regular  service 
should  become  derailed  on  the  shorter  loop.  Meantime, 
it  is  possible  to  loop  the  cars  in  an  emergency  by  oper- 
ating them  through  the  present  storage  yard  and 
around  the  loop  at  the  rear  end  of  the  property,  by 


Open  Pit  Construction  and  Lateral  Bolts  for  Holding 
Rail  on  Wash  Tracks 


854 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


|«-  15-4" ■-■*> 

%  TBS"  — "!—*.-  — 

■  Iboiler 

h,  I  ROOM  i       ■  „ 


Floor  Plan  of  the  New  Brittain  Carhouse 

leaving  track  No.  9  and  any  other  tracks  in  the  yard 
open. 

The  track  in  the  yard  is  constructed  with  80-lb. 
A.S.C.E.  rail  with  continuous  joints  and  electrically- 
welded  bonds,  oak  ties  and  cinder  ballast.  The  special 
work  is  all  of  the  iron-bound  type  with  double-tongue 
switches  having  two  adjustable  connecting  rods  and 
spring  ground  throws.  The  first  four  switches  leading 
into  track  No.  1  are  designed  for  standard  M.C.B. 
flanges  to  permit  the  receiving  of  sand  and  coal  in 
carload  lots  on  the  tipple.  These  switches  are  13  ft. 
6  in.  long  and  have  a  150-ft.  inside  radius,  while  all 
other  switches  have  a  100-ft.  inside  radius. 

Construction  of  Carhouse 

From  the  accompanying  drawing  showing  the  layout 
of  the  new  storage  yard,  it  will  be  noted  that  the  new 
carhouse  occupies  a  central  position  from  front  to  rear 
in  the  yard  and  that  four  of  the  storage  tracks  pass 
through  the  carhouse.  This  provides  storage  space  in 
front  of  the  carhouse  for  cars  to  be  inspected  or  washed 
and  in  the  rear  of  the  carhouse  for  cars  that  have  been 
inspected  or  washed  and  are  again  ready  for  service. 
The  assignment  of  cars  to  tracks  upon  entering  the 
yard  is  directed  from  the  small  brick  office  just  inside 
the  yard,  where  a  car  upon  entering  stops  to  deposit  the 


fare  box.    The  carhouse  is  130  ft. 
long  by  75  ft.  9  in.  wide  with  a 
T~"  second  story  for  offices  and  train- 
*        men's  quarters  built  over  the  front 
46  ft.   Two  of  the  tracks  in  the  car- 
house  are  especially  equipped  for 
inspection  work  while  the  other  two 
tracks  have  been  laid  out  primarily 
for  washing.    Eight  cars  can  be 
simultaneously  taken  care  of  inside, 
with  ample  room.   An  open-type  pit 
extends  practically  the  full  length 
of  the  carhouse  in  each  track.  The 
concrete  floor  is  laid  flush  with  the 
top  of  the  rail  for  the  two  wash 
tracks,  while  it  is  15  in.  below  the 
top  of  the  rail  beside  the  inspection 
tracks.    The  pits  are  constructed 
with  brick  piers  and  concrete  beams 
underneath  the  rails.    The  manner 
of  fastening  the  rails  to  these  beams 
is  of  particular  interest,  and  as  this  is  clearly  shown 
in  an  accompanying  drawing,  no  description  is  deemed 
necessary. 

The  building  is  constructed  of  red  rough-faced 
pressed  brick,  fireproof  partitions  and  wood  trestle 
supporting  the  roof.  On  the  main  floor  a  series  of 
rooms  along  the  east  side  of  the  building  provide  an 
office  for  the  carhouse  foremen,  two  storerooms  for 
supplies,  and  locker  and  toilet  facilities  for  men  and 
women  employees  engaged  in  inspecting  and  washing 
cars.  An  oil  room  is  provided  in  a  small  brick  building 
located  just  behind  the  carhouse.  The  west  side  of  the 
building  is  formed  almost  entirely  of  windows,  Fenestra 
steel  sash  being  used.  Four  Kinear  rolling  steel  doors 
close  off  each  end  of  the  building. 

The  second  story  is  partitioned  off  and  the  walls 
sand-finished,  providing  offices  for  the  train  dispatcher, 
division  superintendent  and  assistants.  There  is  also 
a  locker  room  to  accommodate  250  trainmen,  shower 
bath  and  toilet  facilities,  and  a  large  bright  club  room 
for  the  trainmen.  The  interior  finish  throughout  the 
building  is  good,  but  very  plain,  as  is  also  the  exterior 
finish.  Heating  of  the  building  is  accomplished  with 
a  Keewanis  smokeless  boiler  and  a  Warren  &  Webster 
steam  heating  system.  Radiators  are  installed  both 
overhead  and  at  the  floor  level  along  the  west  wall 

I?*  ■  Brick  Chimney 
 □  


V7mmsmm777m7m 


I  p 


'7,-rrrrrrr,r>r"-rr,,r'rr"rTT,,,,,r,r->-T"rrr>,,,r\ 

East  Elevation  of  Coal  &  Sand  Tipple 


11 


'///// /m/f////Y///rh////////>///////>)r/77777 


7777777777 


^---/5'-->\\<--H't'L-^-m'''*^---lf-6"^  *|  |<--/W 


SOFT  COAL  » 
ST0RA6E  I  "T 


^.Cement  Floor^ 
HARD  COAL  STORAGE 
ft  [C 


«5ANC DRYER  • 

Cement  FJoon 


All  piers  l'v~"xl'-8-footings 
2-/0"x3'-0"xlO"High. 

$S'-IO"toli'Rise  


Open. 


Beam, 


■•Concrete  j (Same  level  Longitudinal  Section  through  Center 
floor     \)  as  boiler 

\room  floor  in 
[main  building 


/Open 


'  34? 
'  1*1 


'•[^i,^:Soi/Wiri 


0'      120'     240'     360'  480' 


Top  Plan  » 
Construction  Details  of  the  Tipple  Showing  Pier  Design,  Method  of  Fastening  Rails  to  Concrete  Beams,  Cross-section  ok 

Tipple  and  Reinforcing  in  Concrete  Bumper 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


855 


Concrete  Bumper  and  Coal  Storage  Bins  at  Rear  End  of  Tipple.    Appearance  of  the  Top  of  the  Tipple.    The  Boiler  Room  Is 
Located  in  the  Small  Building  Between  Tipple  and  Carhouse.    Note  Also  Large  Windows  in  the  Carhouse 


beneath  the  windows,  and  also  one  radiator  at  either 
side  of  each  rolling  steel  door  at  both  ends  of  the  build- 
ing. This  location  of  radiators  is  expected  to  give  par- 
ticularly satisfactory  heating. 

As  a  steam  road  connection  is  available,  special  facil- 
ities have  been  provided  for  receiving  and  handling 
sand  and  coal.  These  consist  of  a  tipple,  extending 
alongside  the  carhouse  and  adjacent  to  the  boiler 
room,  and  ample  storage  bins.  This  tipple  is  built 
with  brick  walls  with  concrete  piers  to  support  the 
track,  the  details  of  which  are  given  in  an  accompany- 
ing drawing.  The  approach  to  the  tipple  is  over  a  9  per 
cent  grade.  The  rails  on  the  tipple  rest  on  heavy  angle 
irons  inset  in  the  corner  of  concrete  beams,  so  that  the 
top  of  the  rail  is  practically  flush  with  the  top  of  the 
beam. 

Storage  Bins  Beneath  Tipple  Track 

Storage  bins  for  hard  coal,  soft  coal,  wet  sand  and 
dry  sand  are  provided  in  the  space  underneath  this 
tipple  track  and  the  space  between  rails  on  the  tipple  is 
open  except  over  the  dry  sand  storage  bin.  Material 
received  in  carload  lots  is,  therefore,  hauled  onto  the 
tipple  and  dumped  from  bottom  dump  cars  directly  into 
the  proper  bin.  The  bin  immediately  adjacent  to  the 
boiler  room  and  communicating  with  it  has  capacity 
for  five  carloads  of  soft  coal.  There  is  also  storage 
space  for  ten  cars  of  hard  coal  for  use  in  the  cars  and 
five  carloads  of  wet  sand.  A  small  room  between  the 
wet  sand  and  dry  sand  storage  bins  is  to  be  used  as 
a  sand  dryer,  a  smokestack  having  been  built  to  serve 
the  dryer.    A  top  plan  view,  side  elevation,  lateral 


cross-section  and  vertical  cross-section  of  this  tipple 
are  shown  in  an  accompanying  drawing. 

Fire  protection  for  the  car  yard  is  afforded  by  numer- 
ous fire  hydrants  placed  at  various  places  about  the 
property.  No  sprinkler  system  was  installed  in  the 
carhouse.  E.  D.  Eckroad,  engineer  maintenance  of 
way,  was  responsible  for  the  construction  of  the  new 
layout  in  East  Akron. 


Influence  of  American  Electrification 
Practice 

IN  THE  past  whenever  the  question  of  electrification 
has  been  taken  up  the  matter  of  increasing  the 
capacity  of  a  section  of  steam  railway  has  probably 
been  the  greater  factor,  rather  than  reduction  in  operat- 
ing expenses.  Now  the  high  price  of  coal  throughout 
the  world  has  brought  the  latter  factor  into  the  greater 
prominence. 

An  item  published  in  Commerce  Reports  recently  says 
that  in  many  of  the  larger  countries  abroad  the  heavy 
trunk-line  electrification  projects  in  the  United  States 
have  been  very  carefully  studied  and  are  very  fre- 
quently referred  to  by  foreign  consulting  engineers  in 
their  reports,  and  that  in  several  instances  standard 
American  plans  have  been  adopted  practically  complete 
by  engineers  advising  foreign  governments  on  steam 
railway  electrification.  It  is  believed  that  the  experience 
of  American  manufacturers  in  developing  reliable  heavy 
railroad  equipment  in  this  country  will  be  of  consider- 
able help  in  furthering  heavy  traction  electrification 
abroad. 


CLUB  ROOM 


Floor  Plan  of  Offices  and  Trainmen's 
Quarters  on  Second  Floor 


Cross-Section  Through  Carhouse  with  Details  of  Methods 
Used  in  Fastening  Rails 


856 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Automotive  Industry  Appraisal  of 
Traction  Men 

Generally  Speaking,  the  Conservation  Traction  Interests  Are 
Held  to  Regard  the  Bus  as  a  Competitor  Rather  than 
Ally  in  Solving  Their  Transportation  Problems 

AN  ARTICLE  recently  published  in  Automotive  In- 
l  \  dustries  (Oct.  13,  1921)  commented  on  the  attitude 
of  the  traction  interests  toward  the  motor  bus  and  the 
lack  of  any  comprehensive  solution  of  the  problem  of 
motor  bus  competition.  This  was  written  by  Sinclair 
Gluck,  managing  editor  of  the  Commercial  Vehicle,  and 
reflected  his  views  of  the  recent  Atlantic  City  electric 
railway  convention,  when  he  stated  many  of  the  allu- 
sions in  speeches  to  bus  competition  showed  clearly  that 
members  considered  it  a  danger  rather  than  a  possible 
ally,  with  no  attempt  to  face  the  issue  directly.  Tak- 
ing the  convention  as  a  whole,  Mr.  Gluck  declared  that 
the  motor  bus  may  be  said  to  have  been  almost  entirely 
disregarded  as  a  possible  factor  in  passenger  trans- 
portation. 

In  his  analysis  of  the  points  brought  out  Mr.  Gluck 
showed  that  there  were  two  factions  present.  On  one 
side  were  the  conservatives  who  seemed  to  regai-d  the 
bus  as  a  menace,  and  nothing  more,  to  their  business. 
They  were  greatly  in  the  majority.  The  other  and 
more  progressive  side  consisted  of  but  a  few  men,  some 
of  whom  already  had  actually  installed  buses  to  co- 
operate with  their  trolleys.  These  regarded  the  bus 
not  only  as  a  possible  but  as  an  actual  ally.  These 
men,  however,  made  no  headway  against  the  weight  of 
opinion  ranked  against  them. 

Little  Effort  to  Solve  Problem 

In  the  passenger  transportation  business  there  is  an 
organized  influential  group  of  men.  These  include 
electric  railway  interests  as  well  as  the  manufacturers 
of  buses  and  of  truck  chassis  that  are  more  or  less 
convertible  into  buses.  It  is  necessary  for  both  of  these 
important  groups  to  work  in  a  fundamental  construc- 
tive way  to  solve  many  of  the  transportation  problems, 
but  there  was  little  effort  along  this  line  at  the  con- 
vention. Men  in  the  transportation  business — men  of 
vision  who  look  to  a  better,  broader  and  more  satis- 
factory market — may  have  held  hopes  for  such  a  devel- 
opment in  this  convention,  but  such  hopes  were  justified 
to  a  very  limited  extent. 

Shcrt-haul  passenger  transportation  work  is  in  a 
chaotic  state,  the  article  goes  on  to  say,  and  points 
cut  that  here  and  there,  in  cities  such  as  New  York  and 
Washington,  well  organized,  efficiently  operated  motor 
bus  lines  work  in  conjunction  with  street  car  lines  to 
a  greater  profit  to  both  and  more  general  satisfaction 
to  the  public.  In  other  cities  there  are  more  or  less 
well-organized  bus  lines  competing  with  the  street  cars 
at  a  profit  to  themselves  and  at  a  heavy  loss  to  the 
electric  lines.  In  other  places  jitneys  operate  on  a 
shoestring  and  are  cutting  down  the  number  of  street 
car  patrons  at  little  profit  to  themselves.  Elsewhere 
buses  have  tried  to  compete  and  have  failed.  The 
diffei'ence  in  the  outcome  has  depended  upon  local 
conditions  and  the  efficiency  with  which  each  type  of 
transportation  was  organized  and  operated. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  intelligent 
transportation  observer,  however,  that  there  is  a  field 
for  short-haul  bus  operation.  And  there  should  be  no 
doubt  in  his  mind  that  the  bus  is  to  be  reckoned  with 
in  that  field. 


On  the  whole  the  conservative  traction  interests 
seemed  to  concede  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  legislata 
the  bus  backward  and  through  publicity  extoll  the  bene- 
fits of  street  car  lines  both  to  municipalities  and  the 
general  public  and  to  decry  buses  as  ondependable, 
incapable  of  handling  traffic  and  unwilling  or  unable 
to  stand  their  share  of  municipal  duties  and  taxes. 

But  far  more  important  was  the  mistaken  attitude  of 
the  convention  toward  the  entire  problem.  After  allr 
the  most  economical  form  of  transportation  is  the  one 
which  should  and  will  survive.  The  question  funda- 
mentally is  not  one  of  profit  for  traction  companies  how 
in  business  and  in  no  hurry  to  go  out  of  business,  but 
one  of  solving  the  problem  of  the  most  economical  and 
efficient  form  of  transportation  in  each  locality  and 
under  each  set  of  conditions. 

Either  the  street  car  lines  are  of  real  and  permanent 
value  to  the  communities  in  which  they  operate  or 
they  are  not.  If  they  are  not  of  permanent  value  in 
their  particular  communities,  the  directors  and  stock- 
holders should  read  the  writing  on  the  wall  and  either 
get  out  of  a  bad  business  altogether  or  adopt  the  type 
of  transportation  which  will  solve  the  problem  in  their 
communities — for  if  they  are  not  of  real  and  permanent 
value,  they  will  not  survive. 

The  article  then  goes  on  to  quote  extracts  from  the 
remarks  of  H.  B.  Flowers,  chairman  of  the  association's 
committee  on  trackless  transportation,  that  the  track- 
less trolley  and  the  motor  bus  must  be  conceded  a  place 
in  the  sun  and  that  more  time  should  be  granted  the 
committee  to  inquire  further  into  this  important  sub- 
ject. Attention  was  also  directed  to  the  comments  of 
F.  E.  Frothingham,  J.  K.  Newman,  Edwin  Gruhl  and 
J.  P.  Barnes  on  motor  bus  competition. 

Summing  up  these  comments,  the  writer  held  that 
unorganized  jitney  buses  have  done  much  in  many  com- 
munities to  damage  the  prestige  and  decrease  the  profits 
of  street  car  lines.  If  this  is  the  case,  properly  organ- 
ized and  efficiently  operated  bus  lines  will  surely  do  more 
damage.  And  these  bus  lines  are  coming.  Therefore, 
where  bus  lines  are  practicable  it  would  seem  obvious 
that  there  are  only  two  courses  of  procedure  open  for 
the  street  car  line  in  certain  cases — either  to  organize 
and  operate  the  inevitable  bus  lines  themselves  or  go 
out  of  business. 

The  article  closes  with  arguments  for  a  proper  chassis 
and  body  design,  the  full  details  of  which  have  not  yet 
been  worked  out.  It  is  pointed  out  that  to  construct  a 
chassis  which  will  be  ideal  for  city  bus  work  will  mean 
much  research  and  designing  effort  and  possibly  the 
installation  of  additional  machinery  to  manufacture  the 
final  design.  It  is  but  natural  that  the  manufacturers 
are  reluctant  to  undertake  this  work  without  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  extent  of  the  market  on  which  they  can 
depend  for  the  sale  of  the  ideal  vehicle  when  completed. 
For  this  reason  there  is  a  strong  inclination  on  their 
part  to  recommend  the  use  of  present  standard  truck 
chassis  equipment  for  buses.  But  the  bus  is  coming 
and  with  it  will  come  the  ideal  chassis. 


No  fewer  than  4,000,000  passengers  are  carried  daily 
by  the  Underground  Railway  Companies  in  London.  An 
acceleration  of  train  service  has  recently  been  made  so 
that  now  during  the  rush  hours  816  cars  per  hour  pass 
through  Earl's  Court,  one  of  the  busiest  stations.  At 
the  Charing  Cross  station,  which  is  a  stop  on  three 
separate  lines,  a  total  of  1,215  cars  per  hour  pass 
through  during  the  peak. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


857 


Small  Caterpillar  Tractor  Proves  Very  Effective  in  Cleaning  Snow  from  Downtown  Special  Trackwork 


Special  Snow-Fighting  Equipment 

The  Milwaukee  Company  Makes  a  Substantial  Reduction  in  the  Cost  of  Removing  Snow  from  Streets — 
Heavy  Wing  Plow  Built  for  Clearing  Highway  in  Emergency  Situation — Description  of  the 
Methods  Employed  to  Continue  Operation  Without  Interruption 


SUBSTANTIAL  savings  in  the  cost  of  clearing  snow 
off  intersections  and  off  company  property  have 
been  made  by  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company  by  the  substitution  of  small  motorized 
plows  for  the  laborer  with  a  shovel.  Gasoline  engine 
tractors  of  two  types  are  proving  very  effective  in  this 
work.  One  of  the  accompanying  pictures  shows  a  cater- 
pillar tractor  made  by  the  Cleveland  Tractor  Company 
clearing  away  the  very  heavy  snow  which  surprised 
Milwaukee  in  the  storm  on  April  15,  1921.  This  cater- 
pillar tractor  is  equipped  with  a  20-hp.  engine  and  is 
used  primarily  for  removing  the  snow  from  the  special 
trackwork  at  street  intersections  and  to  clean  off  the 
loading  spaces  where  passengers  must  stand  to  board 
the  street  cars.  It  will  remove  the  snow  from  a  50-ft. 
x  60-ft.  intersection  and  push  it  over  to  the  side  of  the 
street  in  ten  or  fifteen  minutes.  One  man  and  this 
machine  will  do  an  amount  of  work  in  clearing  away 
snow  equal  to  that  done  by  at  least  ten  men.  Besides 
thus  economizing  on  labor  costs  in  clearing  a  certain 
location,  it  has  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  move 


Three-Wheel  Tractor  Used  for  Removing  Snow 
from  Sidewalk 


quickly  from  one  location  to  another  requiring  snow 
removal.  This  machine  has  been  found  to  be  so  effective 
in  this  work  that  the  company  plans  to  purchase  an- 
other one  this  year.  Furthermore,  a  study  is  being 
started  to  work  out  some  machine  for  picking  up  the 
snow  after  it  has  been  moved  over  to  the  curb  line  by 
this  tractor  and  loading  it  into  a  truck  for  hauling  it 
off  the  street.  If  this  is  accomplished,  the  familiar 
sight  of  large  gangs  of  men  shoveling  snow  for  the  car 
company  after  a  heavy  storm  will  be  seen  no  more  in 
Milwaukee. 

The  plow  and  raising  and  lowering  device  are  readily 
detached  from  the  tractor,  which  is  employed  in  various 
other  ways  in  the  summer.  It  is  used  to  haul  a  slusher 
for  small  excavating  jobs,  for  spreading  ballast,  snak- 
ing rails  and  ties,  pulling  sections  of  construction  track, 
backfilling,  etc.  It  is  one  of  the  busiest  and  handiest 
pieces  of  equipment  used  by  the  department  of  way  and 
structures  of  the  Milwaukee  company. 

Another  type  of  motor  equipment  used  for  the  re- 
moval of  snow  is  a  Clark  truck  tractor,  also  shown  in 


Special  Wing  Plow  for  Clearing  Away  Snow  on 
the  ]  nterttrban  lines 


858 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


an  accompanying  illustration.  This  is  a  three-wheel 
truck  steered  from  the  rear,  enabling  the  machine  to  be 
turned  on  a  radius  of  8  ft.  and  maneuvered  into  corners 
and  cramped  places  where  it  is  impossible  to  get  any 
other  machine.  This  tractor  is  equipped  with  a  6-ft. 
blade  or  plow  which  is  raised  and  lowered  by  means  of 
a  hand  winch.  The  plow  can  be  set  either  at  right 
angles  to  the  direction  of  travel  or  at  an  angle  of 
60  deg.  by  simply  changing  the  position  of  the  bolt  in 
the  strut  seen  at  the  left  of  the  picture. 

In  winter  this  machine  is  used  particularly  for  clean- 
ing snow  from  the  sidewalks  along  company  property, 
in  front  of  carhouses,  from  special  trackwork  layouts 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  city  and  such  miscellaneous  snow 
removal  jobs.  It  is  equipped  with  a  25-hp.  engine  and 
will  travel  12  m.p.h.  in  moving  between  jobs.  It  is 
estimated  that  it  will  do  work  equal  to  at  least  eight 
men  in  removing  snow  from  sidewalks. 

In  summer  the  plow  is  removed  and  a  regular  hand- 
operated  dumping  body  is  put  on  for  use  in  hauling 
materials,  tools,  or  anything  in  connection  with  con- 
struction and  maintenance  work.    In  this  capacity  it 


again  after  the  obstruction  is  passed.  This  is  done  by 
simply  admitting  and  releasing  air  in  the  horizontal 
cylinder  controlling  the  position  of  the  wing.  This  wing 
will  clear  snow  from  a  space  8  ft.  outside  the  track. 

To  meet  a  very  special  condition  which  was  confronted 
on  account  of  the  very  heavy  drifting  of  snow  in  Janu- 
ary, 1920,  along  the  Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha  inter- 
urban  line  and  in  the  main  highway  to  Chicago,  which  it 
parallels,  the  Milwaukee  company  developed  a  very 
unique  side-wing  plow  to  be  used  in  conjunction  with 
the  car  just  described.  Heavy  'snow  storms  and  wind 
had  resulted  in  very  heavy  drifting  which  made  the 
highway  and  the  interurban  line  impassable.  After  the 
company  had  cleared  the  track,  motor  trucks  and  vari- 
ous other  vehicles  began  driving  in  the  track,  as  it  was 
the  only  place  they  could  go,  and  became  stalled  and  so 
interfered  with  the  operation  of  the  cars  that  the  rev- 
enue from  the  line  was  almost  completely  lost.  Appeal 
to  the  county  and  highway  authorities  to  clear  the  high- 
ways in  order  to  remove  the  necessity  for  driving  on 
the  tracks  resulted  in  the  employment  of  a  number  of 
men  with  shovels  to  attack  the  problem,  but  because  of 


at  Left,  Clearing  the  Highway  to  Keep  Traffic  Off  the  Interurban  Tracks,  Showing  Folding  Wing  Plow  in  Operating 
Position,  Followed  by  Heavy  Special  Plow  Projecting  Out  Into  the  Highway.    At  Right,  Folding  Side 
Wing  Snow  Plow  Controlled  by  Three  Air  Cylinders 


will  do  the  work  of  two  or  three  teams,  and  forms  an 
outfit  that  the  track  department  has  found  almost  indis- 
pensable.  The  company  has  two  of  these  Clark  tractors. 

An  accompanying  picture  shows  a  special  wing  plow 
constructed  by  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  for  removing  snow  on  the  interurban  lines. 
In  addition  to  the  nose  plow,  this  car  is  equipped  with 
a  unique  wing  plow  for  moving  the  snow  back  away 
from  the  track.  The  two  sections  of  this  wing  plow 
are  hinged  together  at  one  end,  with  the  opposite  ends 
supported  in  vertical  steel  slides  and  connected  to  the 
piston  of  an  air  cylinder  mounted  on  top  of  each  sup- 
port. By  admitting  or  releasing  air  from  these  two 
cylinders,  the  blades  of  the  plow  are  raised  or  lowered. 

One  of  these  vertical  slides  is  attached  to  a  carriage 
which  is  free  to  slide  longitudinally  on  the  floor  of  the 
car,  its  position  being  controlled  by  a  third  air  cylinder. 
When  this  carriage  is  pulled  toward  the  middle  of  the 
car,  the  two  vertical  slides  are  brought  closer  together 
and  the  two  sections  of  the  plow  fold  out  from  the  side 
of  the  car  forming  the  triangular  wing  plow.  When  this 
snow  plow  is  in  use,  as  an  obstruction  is  approached,  the 
wing  is  simply  pulled  back  straightening  into  a  position 
parallel  with  the  side  of  the  car  and  then  forced  out 


the  enormous  accumulation  of  snow,  the  headway  made 
was  insignificant. 

In  order  to  get  cars  operating,  therefore,  the  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company  jumped  in 
and  built  almost  over  night  a  very  heavy  plow  which 
was  attached  to  the  side  of  a  flat  car  by  means  of  heavy 
steel  framework.  This  flat  car  was  then  coupled  behind 
two  motor  cars  and  a  steel  cable  connected  from  the  plow 
to  the  forward  motor  car  to  take  up  part  of  the  enor- 
mous thrust  to  which  the  plow  subjected  the  car  to  which 
it  was  attached.  With  the  help  of  the  folding  wing 
plow  described  above,  which  went  ahead,  followed  by 
this  special  plow,  of  which  an  illustration  is  shown,  it 
was  possible  to  clear  the  packed,  heavy  snow  out  of  the 
road  for  a  distance  of  16  ft.  out  from  the  track.  With 
the  road  thus  opened  up,  motor  trucks  were  not  forced 
to  travel  on  the  track. 

Since  this  experience,  Milwaukee  and  Racine  Coun- 
ties have  co-operated  with  the  traction  company  to  in- 
stall a  large  number  of  snow  fences  at  open  points,  to 
prevent  the  snow  from  drifting  into  the  road.  Hence 
there  will  probably  not  be  much  need  in  the  future  for 
this  unusual  plow,  which  will  be  appreciated  by  the 
company,  as  it  was  very  hard  on  track  and  equipment. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


859 


Trackless  Trolleys  at  Work  Abroad 

What  Kind  of  Service  Is  Now  Given  by  Trackless  Trolleys  and  at  What  Cost? — First-Hand  Data  on 
Several  of  the  Most  Important  Installations  Are  Presented,  Together  with  Comparisons 
Against  American  Estimates — Bradford  and  Leeds  Discussed  in  This  Article 

By  Walter  Jackson 

Consultant,  Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y. 


 -Tramways  of  the  Bradford  Corporation. 

 -Proposed  Tramway  Extensions. 

 -Tramways  of  other  Authorities. 

 -Boundary  of  the  City  of  Bradfora. 

-Rail less  Trolley  Routes. 
 -Proposed  Railless  Trolley  Routes. 


The  Co-ordinated  Transport  Routes  of  Bradford,  England 


DURING  the  spring  and  summer  of  1921  consider- 
able time  was  spent  in  Europe  making  detailed 
studies  of  trackless  trolley  operation,  as  American 
manufacturers  were  preparing  to  take  up  this  form  of 
transportation  in  a  serious  way.  Indeed,  since  then  an 
experimental  installation  has  been  made  at  Richmond, 
Va.,*  and  the  first  installation  for  regular  service 
has  been  made  on  Staten  Island,  in  New  York,t  while 
several  more,  like  Detroit,  are  in  the  offing.  The  sub- 
ject, therefore,  is  timely;  and  as  most  of  the  foreign 
installations  are  not  radically  different  in  engineering 
details,  the  experience  gained  in  their  operation  may  be 
helpful  to  American  operators. 

As  a  matter  of  courtesy  to  the  managers  who  have 
so  frankly  stated  their  experiences,  this  article  will 
refrain  from  extended  comments  and  will  deal  only 
with  the  individual  situations  as  found,  except  for 
occasional  comparisons  of  actual  British  with  esti- 
mated American  costs. 

Variety  of  Installations  Chosen 

From  a  technical  standpoint,  it  was  desirable  to  con- 
fine the  study  of  trackless  trolleys  to  that  type  which 
has  some  form  of  under-running  current  collector  and 
standard  trolley  construction.  The  only  over-running 
or  carriage  collector  type  system  examined  was  the 
Mercedes-Stoll  system  at  Vienna,  where  the  nearness  of 
the  manufacturer  made  it  fair  to  assume  that  the  in- 
stallation was  being  operated  under  more  favorable  con- 
ditions than  the  older,  like-style  (Cedes)  installations 
in  Great  Britain. 

Visits  were  made  to  Leeds  and  Bradford  in  England 
as  representing  places  of  considerable  experience  in 
the  co-ordination  of  rails  and  rubber  tires;  to  Tees- 
side,  as  representing  the  largest  all-trackless  under- 
taking, and  to  York,  as  representing  the  latest  avail- 
able installation. 

Bradford  and  Leeds  the  Pioneers — Recent  Costs 

The  Bradford  Corporation  Tramways,  which  serves  a 
population  of  370,000,  started  its  first  trackless  trolley 
on  June  24,  1911.  This  installation  was  over  a  1.25-mile 
connection  between  two  track  routes  in  a  thickly-popu- 
lated district.  The  present  routes  total  9.5  miles  and 
are  made  up  of  the  extension  of  a  track  route,  of  a 
half  loop  tying  six  track  routes  together  and  of  a  purely 
independent  route  from  the  center  of  the  city  along 
Canal  Road  to  Frizinghall ;  in  short,  each  route  meets 
a  different  situation.  Topographically,  the  situation  is 
not  favorable.  The  older  parts  of  Bradford  lie  in 
a  trough,  so  that  grades  of  6  per  cent  and  even  more 
have  to  be  negotiated.  Canal  Road  is  the  most  favored, 
being  both  level  and  smooth-paved.  The  paving  is 
usually  a  granite  block,  kept  in  better  condition  than 
similar  paving  in  many  American  cities,  but  never- 

*June  25,  1921,  Electric  Railway  Journal. 
tOct.  15,  1921,  Electric  Railway  Journal. 


Kail-less  Routes 

Canal  Road,  from  Porster  Square  to  Frizing- 
hall, including  loop  around  Gaisby  Lane,  etc.  2  miles  1232  yards 

Cleckheaton  Road,  from  Odsal  Top  to  Oaken- 

shaw    1  mile    1122  yards 

Killinghall  Road,  from  Leeds  Road  to  Bolton 

Road   2  miles    242  yards 

Rooley   Lane,   from   Bankfoot   to  Wakefield 

Road    1  mile    1231  yards 

Sticker  Lane,  from  Wakefield  Road  to  Leeds 

Road    1  mile     552  yards 


Total   9  miles    859  yards 


Note:  Ministry  of  Transport  in  1921  refused  permission  to  run 
double-deck  trackless  buses  in  excess  of  5  long  tons  on  Eccleshill, 
Idle  and  Thackley  (present  track)  sections. 

theless  not  the  sort  of  paving  conducive  to  minimum 
energy  use.  There  are  sections,  however,  where  tar 
macadam  or  other  smooth  paving  has  been  introduced. 

The  rolling  stock  comprised  seventeen  single-deck, 
twenty-eight-seat  two-man  buses  and  one  double-deck 
fifty-one-seat  two-man  bus.  Owing  to  the  excessive 
platform  costs,  R.  H.  Wilkinson,  general  manager,  who 
designed  the  double-decker,  has  also  made  plans  for  a 
thirty-seat  one-man  single-decker  to  be  21  ft.  9  in. 
over  all  with  a  wheelbase  of  156  in.,  and  for  a  six-wheel 
double-decker,  the  latter  now  being  under  way.  Before 
discussing  the  new  double-decker  it  may  be  well  to  give 
some  costs  which  are  based  almost  entirely  upon  the 
operation  of  the  seventeen  twenty-eight-seat  single- 
deckers,  whose  loaded  weight  must  not  exceed  11,200  lb. 
(5  long  tons)  and  whose  propelling  equipment  consists 
of  two  20-hp.  motors. 


860 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


In  converting  the  financial  figures  into  American 
money  values,  exactness  is  impossible  because  of  the 
fluctuating  rate  of  exchange.  However,  the  matter  is 
simplified  by  assuming  the  penny  (d.)  to  be  worth  2 
cents.  On  this  basis  it  will  be  observed  that  the  oper- 
ating cost  was  41.2  cents  against  an  income  of  26.4 
cents  per  bus-mile.  It  would  not  be  fair,  however,  to 
cast  discredit  upon  the  trolley  bus  because  of  this  low 
earning  power  for  the  reason  that  it  is  now  only 
used  in  the  poorer  traffic  territory  where  a  trackway 
would  have  even  heavier  losses.   This  is  indicated  by  the 

TABLE  I— BRADFORD  TROLLEY  BUS  REVENUES  AND  COSTS, 
YEAR  ENDED  MARCH   31,  1921 

Traffic  revenue   £21,384 

Traffic  revenue  per  bus-mile     13  2d 

Bus-miles  operated   -387,543 

Average  bus-miles  per  day  per  bus   118 

Average  schedule  speed,  miles  per  hour   7  7 

Total  kilowatt-hours  for  operation     470,427 

Kilowatt-hours  per  bus-mile   1.213 

Passengers  carried   3,437,803 

Average  traffic  revenue  per  bus-hour     8s.  5,  75d 

Power  cost  per  bus-mile    I  .  82d 

Total  operating  expenses  per  bus-mile   20  6(1 


fact  that  the  average  earnings  per  trolley  car-mile  in 
the  same  year  were  54.2  cents.  The  operating  expenses 
per  car-mile  approximated  49.3  cents,  but  were  less  per 
seat-mile,  since  the  usual  Bradford  trolley  car  is  a 
double-decker. 

The  schedule  speed  of  7.7  m.p.h.  with  a  twenty-eight- 
seat  bus  is  based  upon  an  average  of  six  stops  per  mile. 
Energy  for  propulsion  and  lighting  alone  (no  heat- 
ing) averaged  1.213  kw.-hr.  per  bus-mile  and  as  the 
cost  was  3.64  cents,  the  cost  per  kilowatt-hour  was 
3  cents  (1.5d)  at  the  bus.  The  platform  cost  was 
14.2  cents  per  bus-mile.  Reduction  of  total  operating 
expense  in  this  direction,  through  one-man  operation, 
with  vehicles  of  improved  design,  is  placed  by  Mr.  Wil- 
kinson at  8  to  12  cents.  As  the  operating  expense  for 
the  1921  fiscal  year  was  41.2  cents,  the  later  type,  if  it 
saved  say  11.2  cents,  would  bring  the  estimated  cost  of 
operation  of  a  thirty-seat  vehicle  down  to  30  cents  per 
bus-mile.  This  cost  is  in  itself  an  estimate  but  is 
based  upon  ten  years'  experience  as  compared  with  the 
advance  cost  estimate  of  19  cents  per  bus-mile  operat- 
ing expense  for  a  thirty-seat  American  10,000-lb.  light 
bus  made  by  J.  C.  Thirlwall  in  his  study:  "The  Urban 
Transportation  Field  Analyzed,"  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  Oct.  1,  1921.  Table  II  shows  the  detail  costs 
for  the  year  ended  March  31,  1921.  It  also  shows  the 
standard  form  of  accounts  used  at  Bradford  and  else- 
where to  arrive  at  the  cost  of  service  rendered  by  the 
trackless  trolley. 

The  foregoing  statement  does  not  cover  investment 
charges.  As  of  March  31,  1921,  the  capital  account 
shows  £13,866  for  electrical  equipment  of  routes  and 
£16,987  for  trolley  buses.  This  is  equivalent  to  £1,460 
per  mile  of  four-wire  construction  and  to  £999  per  bus. 
Mr.  Wilkinson  is  allowing  for  a  useful  life  of  fifteen 
years  on  future  buses  built  to  street  car  standards. 
The  present  buses  purchased  in  1911-1912,  he  says,  have 
outlived  their  usefulness.  In  connection  with  the  indi- 
vidual items  in  the  operating  account  presented,  it 
should  be  stated  that  the  trackless  buses  are  charged 
their  prorata  for  such  general  items  as  superintend- 
ence, general  officers,  administration,  etc.  The  insur- 
ance charges  are  actually  lower.  Mr.  ThirlwalPs  Table 
III  covers  only  four  headings  in  all,  so  that  comparisons 
cannot  well  be  made  except  that  his  0.7  cent  for  "main- 
tenance of  way  and  structure"  is  less  than  the  1.258 
cents  shown  in  Table  II,  under  the  headings  of  "con- 


tributions to  maintenance  of  roads"  and  "electrical 
equipment"  (referring  to  overhead  line).  Up  to  this 
year  (preceding  the  roads  bill  with  tax  based  on  seat- 
ing capacity)  the  buses  were  charged  0.75  cent  per 
mile  run  for  road  maintenance.  Mr.  Thirlwall's  "power" 
charge  of  2.3  cents  is  based  upon  an  energy  consump- 
tion of  but  1  kw.-hr.  per  bus-mile  and  a  delivered  cost 
of  1.5  cents  per  kilowatt-hour,  whereas  the  Bradford 
power  cost  of  the  fiscal  year  ended  March  31,  1921,  was 
3.64  cents  based  upon  an  energy  consumption  of  1.2 
kw.-hr.  per  bus-mile  without  heating  and  a  cost  of  3 
cents  per  kilowatt-hour.  It  will  be  seen  later,  however, 
that  the  newest  bus  does  better  in  ratio  to  weight. 
The  greatest  divergence  lies  in  maintenance  of  equip- 
ment, to  which  Mr.  Thirlwall  has  assigned  4  cents  per 
bus-mile  whereas  Bradford's  1921  .figure  shows  13.4 
cents  per  bus-mile  without  allowance  for  minor  charges 
like  "buildings  and  fixtures"  and  "workshop  tools  and 
sundry  plant."  Part  but  not  all  of  this  difference  is 
due  to  age. 

One  strong  reason  fqr  a  lower  operating  expense  as 
regards  labor  would  appear  to  be  the  higher  output  in 
bus-miles  per  hour  figured  by  Mr.  Thirlwall,  namely, 
10  m.p.h.  as  against  Bradford's  7.7  m.p.h.  However,  the 
experience  of  operators  on  the  thin-traffic  routes  for 
which  either  gasoline  or  trolley  buses  are  used  is  that 
one  has  a  toss-up  between  higher  running  speeds  or 
longer  layovers.  In  either  case,  bus-hours  have  to  be 
paid  for  whether  the  vehicles  are  running  or  not. 

Double-Decker  Cuts  Trackless  Costs 
Mr.  Wilkinson  is  so  enthusiastic  for  rail-less  electric 
operation,  as  against  the  trackway,  that  he  has  figured 
it  would  actually  pay  to  use  the  trolley  bus  for  service 
in  any  density  of  traffic  whatsoever,  assuming  that  the 
June,  1921,  estimates  of  £22,000  a  mile  for  single  and 
£46,000  a  mile  for  double  track  in  paving  still  hold. 
To  give  fair  scope  to  the  trackless  bus  for  heavier  serv- 


TABLE  II— DETAIL  OF  OPERATING  COSTS  OF  BRADFORD 
CORPORATION  TRACKLESS  TROLLEYS  FOR  YEAR  ENDED 
MARCH  31,  1921 
Traffic  Expenses 

In  Fence  per 
Bus-Mile 

Superintendence   0.043 

Wages  motormen  and  conductors   7  .  106 

Wages  of  other  traffic  employees   0.311 

Cleaning  and  oiling  buses   0.849 

Fuel,  light  and  water  for  depots   0.  199 

Ticket  cheek  (tickets,  inspection,  etc.)   0  .  441 

Uniforms  and  badges  (furnished  free)   0.  298 

Miscellaneous   0.171 

Licenses    0.200 


General  Expenses 

Salaries  of  general  officers  and  staff   0.454 

Administration  and  establishment  expense   0.  028 

Store  expenses   0.076 

Rates  and  taxes   0.409 

Printing  and  stationery   0.090 

Fuel,  light  and  water  for  offices   0.  026 

Accident  insurance  and  compensations   0.  125 

Fire  and  other  insurance   0.009 

Miscellaneous   0.  128 

General  Repairs  and  Maintenance 

Contribution  to  maintenance  of  roads   0  280 

Electrical  equipment  (overhead  line)   0  349 

Buildings  and  fixtures   0.238 

Workshop  tools  and  sundry  plant   0.  202 

Trackless  cars   6.718 


9  618 


Power  Expense 

Cost  of  current  at  1.5d  per  kilowatt-hour  


I  345 


7.787 


1.821  1.821 


Total  working  expense   20.571 

ice  it  is,  of  course,  necessary  to  raise  its  capacity.  This 
he  has  already  achieved  in  part  through  the  construc- 
tion of  a  fifty-one-seat  double-decker,  and  there  is  also 
under  way  a  six-wheel  double-decker  seating  fifty-seven 
people.  The  six-wheel  construction  is  required  to  meet 
government  regulations  as  to  permissible  weight  per 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


861 


axle.  The  standard  surface  trolley  car  seats  sixty  pas- 
sengers. 

The  fifty-one-seat  double-deck  trolley  bus  was  placed 
in  service  on  Nov.  6,  1920,  and  up  to  March  31,  1921,  it 
had  run  15,453  miles  at  an  average  energy  consumption 
of  1.685  kw.-hr.  per  mile.  The  weight  of  this  bus  was 
given  as  16,576  lb.  (7  tons,  8  cwt.).  The  bus  is  run 
over  a  variety  of  paving  including  granite  block  and  tar 
macadam.  It  is  equipped  with  solid  tires  renewed  on 
a  contract  basis  of  1.5  cents  per  mile.  The  original 
tires  were  changed  after  running  21,000  miles. 

The  bus  is  equipped  with  a  single  40-hp.  motor  which 
has  a  double-reduction  chain  drive  to  the  rear  axle 
equipped  with  the  usual  differential  burley 
gear.  For  routes  having  grades,  the 
management  would  use  a  60-hp.  motor. 
This  method  of  drive  sets  up  the 
body  so  high  that  it  is  not  possible 
to  stand  upright  on  the  upper  deck  within 
Bradford's  clearance  limitations.  In  the  six- 
wheel  bus,  however,  the  floor  is  11  in.  lower. 
This  gives  three  risers  from  ground,  viz., 
11  in.,  11  in.  and  10  in.  The  springs  are  underslung 
instead  of  being  supported  over  the  axle  boxes.  The 
objection  offered  to  the  gear  and  pinion  drive  is  that  the 
roads  are  not  smooth  enough.  The  chain  drive  used  is 
not  incased  and  therefore  is  subject  to  grit  and  dirt,  but 
this  has  not  proved  a  serious  matter.  The  buses  also 
have  a  sliding  shoe  for  making  rail  contact  when  the  bus 
is  operated  over  a  single-positive  trolley  wire  route.  This 
shoe,  which  is  located  in  front  of  the  bus,  also  acts  as  a 
fog  guide. 

So  far  as  general  construction  is  concerned,  this  is 
really  a  Bradford  car  on  rubber  instead  of  on  steel 
tires,  and  much  is  hoped  from  it  in  the  way  of  lower 
upkeep  costs.  A  ride  is  not  very  different  from  one  on 
the  solidly-built  cars  of  this  system. 

General  Notes  on  Bradford 

"The  trolley,  which  may  be  said  to  be  the  critical 
feature,  works  admirably.  It  has  been  tested  at  very 
high  speeds  .  .  .  and  it  gave  no  trouble  whatever," 
are  phrases  from  a  description  of  the  first  Bradford 
installation  in  1911.  Apparently,  Mr.  Wilkinson  does 
not  agree,  for  he  has  since  replaced  the  swiveling  type 
trolley  wheel  by  a  cast-iron  shoe  of  his  own  invention. 
This  shoe,  shown  in  an  accompanying  illustration,  is 
provided  with  a  lubricating  groove  to  decrease  wear  on 
the  wires.  In  case  this  sliding  shoe  strikes  an  obstruc- 
tion it  will  fall  back  to  avoid  fouling.  A  pull  on  a  cord 
attached  to  the  collector  suffices  to  restore  the  shoe  to 
the  wire.  Stops  on  the  shoe  likewise  prevent  it  from 
swiveling  beyond  a  predetermined  point.  Besides  hold- 
ing to  the  wire  better,  the  Wilkinson  shoe  is  lighter  and 
costs  less  to  operate  than  the  usual  5-in.  wheels. 

The  danger  of  collision  in  fog  has  been  minimized  by 
the  use  of  an  indicator  which  shows  the  bus  operator 
in  feet  how  far  he  is  off  center.  This  device,  which 
indicates  as  much  as  14  ft.,  is  also  one  of  the  general 
manager's  inventions. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  whereas  the  twenty-eight-seat 
buses  cost  £999  each  to  March  31,  1921,  the  pro- 
posed one-man  thirty-seat  bus  was  figured  at  from 
£1,700  to  £1,800.  On  an  exchange  basis  of  $4  to  the 
pound,  this  gives  either  $6,800  or  $7,200,  showing  how 
close  British  and  American  costs  run  at  this  time.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  if  the  British  bus  were  upholstered 
as  expensively  as  the  American  vehicles,  the  cost  would 


run  up  to  £2,000.  The  original  investment  cost  of 
£1,460  per  mile  of  route  has  advanced  to  £4,500  for 
overhead  system  plus  £6,000  for  feeder  cables  or  a  total 
of  £10,500  per  mile.  This  presents  an  interesting 
contrast  to  Mr.  Wilkinson's  estimates  for  the  overhead 
and  feeders  per  mile  in  case  of  rail  installations  for 
the  same  locations.  In  the  case  of  double-track  rail 
lines  the  overhead  with  but  single  trolley  would  cost 
£4,000,  while  the  availability  of  a  rail  return  would 
bring  the  cost  of  feeder  cables  down  to  £3,800.  On  the 
assumption  that  double  track  would  cost  £53,800  in  all 
(£46,000  for  rail  and  paving,  £4,000  for  overhead  and 
£3,800  for  feeders)  against  £10,500  for  trackless  trolley, 


In  Leeds  the  Motor  Bus,  the  Trolley  Bus  and  the  Trolley 
Car  All  Have  a  Place  in  Passenger  Transportation  Service 

Mr.  Wilkinson  figures  out  that  even  a  two-minute  head- 
way would  be  handled  more  cheaply  with  trolley  buses 
than  with  cars. 

At  a  conference  of  British  executives,  some  excep- 
tion was  taken  to  the  range  of  the  track  figures,  but 
Mr.  Wilkinson  stood  firmly  on  the  ground  of  his  own 
experience  in  building  and  operating  high-class  paved 
track.  At  any  rate,  it  is  obvious  that  Bradford  must 
be  fairly  well  satisfied  with  the  reliability  of  the  trolley 
bus  since  it  is  willing  to  extend  its  use  to  heavy  routes 
whether  for  new  lines  or  the  changeover  of  existing 
lines  where  the  rails  have  been  worn  out. 

Front  Drive  Introduced  at  Leeds 

The  Leeds  Corporation  Tramways,  which  serves  a 
population  of  542,000,  was  co-pioneer  with  its  neighbor 
Bradford,  inasmuch  as  it  also  opened  its  first  route 
(3.7  miles)  on  June  24,  1911.  Today  a  total  of  8.8 
miles  is  in  operation  over  thin-traffic  routes.  Some  of 
the  original  buses  were  equipped  with  a  single  28-hp. 
motor,  but  later  specifications  call  for  two  23-hp.  motors. 
Both  types  seat  twenty-eight  passengers.    In  the  two 


862 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


classes  of  motor  buses,  as  installed,  each  motor  drives 
one  rear  wheel  through  a  double-reduction  worm  and 
chain  gearing.  Within  the  last  year  or  so,  J.  B.  Hamil- 
ton, general  manager,  and  J.  S.  Hamilton,  assistant 
chief  engineer,  have  been  trying  a  front  drive  in  order 
to  reduce  energy  consumption,  improve  adhesion  and 
also  obtain  a  lower  rear  entrance.  One  motor  is  mounted 
forward  and  the  other  motor  is  mounted  behind  the 
front  axle.  Each  front  wheel  is  driven  by  one  motor 
through  an  intermediate  spur  gearing.    By  July,  1921, 


Double-Deck  Type  op  Trolley  Bus  Operated  by  Bradford 
City  Tramways 


some  eighteen  months'  experience  had  been  obtained 
through  the  trial  of  this  drive  on  an  old  bus.  It  has 
since  then  been  put  on  a  new  bus  carrying  two  23-hp. 
motors. 

As  at  Bradford,  the  original  Parliamentary  restric- 
tion against  double-deck  trolley  buses  has  stood  in  the 
way  of  their  earlier  use.  It  is  now  possible,  however, 
to  go  ahead  in  this  direction.  Leeds  is  doing  so  by 
designing  a  fifty-five-seat  vehicle.  Up  to  the  present 
time,  the  trolley  bus  routes  of  Leeds  have  not  served 
any  heavy  traffic,  but  with  double-deckers  it  will  be 
feasible  to  replace  the  Whitehall  Road  trolley  car  route 
now  operated  with  thirty-seat  single-deck  cars.  At 
present,  the  trolley  bus  to  Farnley  makes  use  of  this 
trackway  for  about  0.75  miles  from  the  city  center. 
When  the  track  in  this  densely-traveled  section  is  re- 
moved or  covered  over  with  3  in.  of  tar  macadam  it 
will  be  feasible  to  install  a  trolley  bus  turnback  to  take 
care  of  the  short-haul  traffic  now  handled  by  the  trolley 
cars.  The  corporation  also  intends  to  build  a  trolley 
bus  route  to  serve  the  Morley  football  grounds,  using 
high  capacity  buses. 

On  that  part  of  the  line  where  operation  is  over  the 
trackway  the  negative  trolley  of  the  buses  is  put  out 
of  action.  The  buses  take  power  from  the  positive  wire 
and  use  a  skate  hinged  at  the  rear  of  the  bus  to  complete 
the  circuit.  By  means  of  the  hinge  the  skate  can  be 
raised  or  lowered  to  make  the  necessary  rail  contact. 

The  original  Leeds  bus  bodies  as  purchased  were  of 
the  front  entrance  and  exit  type.  The  home-built  bodies 
introduced  about  1914  have  service  doors  at  both  front 
and  rear.  The  twenty-eight-seat  body  and  chassis 
weighs  approximately  10,000  lb.  The  maximum  speed 
of  these  vehicles  is  15  m.p.h.  and  a  schedule  speed  of 
8  m.p.h.  is  maintained.  There  is  no  regulated  number 
of  stops  per  mile.  This  is  impossible  considering  the 
nature  of  much  of  the  districts  served.    As  headways 


vary  from  twenty  to  thirty  minutes,  it  is  clear  that  a 
higher  schedule  speed  would  simply  mean  longer  lay- 
overs. 

Somewhat  Lower  Operating  Costs  at  Leeds 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Bradford  operating  ex- 
penses were  41.2  cents  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  March 
31,  1921.  The  Leeds  cost  is  on  a  similar  basis  for  the 
same  year  and  is  28.5  cents.  A  comparison  of  the  items 
charged  against  trolley  bus  operation  in  each  case  is 
presented  in  Table  III. 

The  chief  differences  between  the  Bradford  and 
Leeds  accounting  lies  in  the  fact  that  certain  general 
items  at  Leeds  have  not  been  prorated  apparently 
against  the  trolley  bus,  possibly  because  the  Leeds 
trolley  bus  mileage  was  but  195,401  against  9,981.473 
car-miles,  whereas  Bradford  ran  387,543  trolley  bus- 
miles  against  5,959,861  car-miles.  The  sum  of  the 
items  termed  "superintendence,"  "wages  of  other  traf- 
fic employees,"  "salaries  of  general  officers  and  staff," 
"stores  expenses,"  "printing  and  stationery"  and  "fuel, 
light  and  water  for  offices"  shown  -in  the  rail  car  column 
amounts  to  0.912d.  or  1.8  cents.  Adding  this  to  the 
total  cost  of  28.5  cents  (14.25d.)  would  make  the 
Leeds  operating  cost  come  to  30.3  cents  as  against 
41.2  cents  shown  for  Bradford. 

Examination  of  the  Leeds  figures  in  detail  shows 
there  the  principal  factors  for  this  difference  of  10.9' 
cents  per  bus-mile  lie.  Leeds  "wages  of  motormen  and 
conductors"  were  but  9  cents  (4.505d.)  against  Brad- 
ford's 14.2  cents  (7.106d.)  charge.  This  is  accounted 
for  in  part  by  the  fact  that  the  Leeds  buses  are  served 
by  a  man  and  boy  instead  of  by  two  men  at  full  pay. 
Table  III  also  shows  that  platform  expense  on  Leeds  rail 
cars  was  11.8  cents  (5.9d.)  while  that  on  the  buses  was 
but  9  cents  (4.505d.). 

Power  expense  in  Bradford  was  3.64  cents  (1.82d.) 


TABLE  III— VARIATIONS  IN  RAIL  AND  TROLLEY  BUS  OPERATING 
COSTS  AT  LEEDS  IN  PENCE  PER  VEHICLE-MILE— 
YEAR  ENDING  MARCH  31,  1921 

Traffic  Expenses 

Trolley  Bus       Rail  Car  • 


Superintendence   None  0.189 

Wages  motormen  and  conductors   4.505  5.900 

Wages  of  other  traffic  employees   None  0.261 

Cleaning  and  oiling  vehicles   0.828  1.046 

Cleaning,  salting  and  sanding  track   None  0.251 

Fuel,  light  and  water  for  depots   0.197  0.099 

Ticket  check   0.087  0.448 

Uniforms  and  badges   0.175  0.244 

Licenses  ( miscellaneous)   0.147  0.143 

Total  traffic  expenses   5.939  8.581 

General  Repairs  and  Maintenance 

Road  maintenance  (permanent  way,  track,  etc.)   0.161  1.286 

Electrical  equipments  of  line   0.086  0.319 

Buildings  and  fixtures   0.024  0.117 

Workshop  tools  and  sundry  plant   0.  062  0.  067 

Vehicles  (including  bus  tires)   6.227  2.839- 

Miscellaneous   0.061   

Total  maintenance   6.621  4.628 

General  Expenses 

Salaries  of  general  officers  and  staff   None  0.272 

Store  expenses   None  0.082 

Rents   None  0.012 

Rates  and  taxes   0.303  1.029 

Printing  and  stationery   None  0.070 

Fuel,  light  and  water  for  offices   None  0.038 

Accident  insurance  and  compensations,  other  insurance .  .  0.556  0.416 

Miscellaneous   0.012  0.199 

Total  general  expenses     0.871  2.063 

Power  expenses   0.822  1.719 


Total  working  expense   14.253  17.046 


as  against  only  1.64  cents  (0.822d.)  in  Leeds  due  to 
the  lower  cost  per  kilowatt-hour  and  less  energy  con- 
sumption. Leeds  figures  show  0.77  kw.-hr.  per  bus-mile 
as  against  Bradford's  1.2  kw.-hr.  per  bus-mile.  A 
pertinent  reason  for  Bradford's  higher  energy  con- 
sumption is  that  while  the  Leeds  buses  in  1921  aver- 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


863 


aged  but  five  and  one-half  passengers  per  bus-mile,  the 
Bradford  buses  average  nine  passengers  per  bus-mile 
with  more  than  95  per  cent  of  the  mileage  made  with 
but  twenty-eight-seat  buses. 

The  1921  Leeds  cost  for  "general  repairs  and  main- 
tenance of  buses"  was  12.4  cents  (6.227d.)  per  bus-mile. 
This  is  almost  the  same  as  Bradford  with  13.4  cents 
(6.718d.),  including  guaranteed  solid  tire  cost  of  1.5 
cents  per  mile.  These  figures  do  not  include  auxiliary 
shop  charges.  They  are  of  the  highest  significance  in 
view  of  the  belief  that  American  trolley  buses  of  like 
capacity  and  weight  would  cost  only  4  cents  per  mile 
(J.  C.  Thirlwall  in  article  noted)  or  5  cents  (K.  F.  Sim- 
mon, Electric  Railway  Journal,  Sept.  10,  1921).  Mr. 
Stocks'  average  figure  of  6.5  cents  (Electric  Railway 
Journal,  Sept.  24,  1921)  is  more  in  line  with  what  may 
be  expected  eventually.  It  may  be  added  that  in  1921 
Leeds  set  aside  2.89  cents  (1.44d.)  for  a  redemption 
fund  based  upon  a  bus  life  of  ten  years,  compared  with 
Mr.  Thirlwall's  figure  of  3.7  cents  and  Mr.  Stocks' 
weighted  average  figure  of  2.118  cents.  The  best  way 
will  be  to  take  trolley  bus  upkeep  and  bus  depreciation 
together,  because  it  is  very  hard  to  draw  the  line 
between  maintenance  and  replacement.    We  then  have: 

Cents 

Leeds,  1921   15.29 

Stocks   9.70 

Thirlwall   7.7 

These  figures  would  indicate  that  we  cannot  be  cer- 
tain that  the  American  trolley  bus  will  cost  as  little  as 
anticipated  simply  because  it  is  a  blend  of  known  car 
and  known  bus-chassis  costs.  British  trolley  bus  opera- 
tors are  still  experimenting  with  forms  of  collectors 
and  types  of  drive  despite  the  experience  and  careful 
study  of  a  decade.  Parenthetically,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  much  of  the  same  optimism  as  to  costs  also  appears 
in  many  gasoline  bus  estimates. 

It  is  not  without  interest  to  say  that  while  Leeds 
buses  which  average  twenty-eight  seats,  cost  12.4  cents 


Long  Type  Shoe 


Details  of  Wilkinson  Skid  Trolley  Shoe-  as  Used  by 
Bradford  Trolley  Buses 

per  mile  for  upkeep,  the  considerably  older  Leeds  cars, 
which  average  fifty-six  seats,  cost  but  5.66  cents 
(2.83d.)  per  mile  for  upkeep.  On  a  basis  of  equivalent 
seating  capacity,  i.e.,  two  buses  for  one  car,  the  aston- 
ishing ratio  of  24.8  cents  against  5.66  cents,  almost  four 
and  a  half  times  as  much  per  seat,  would  be  obtained. 


Kind  of  Trolley  Base  Used  Can  Be 
Seen  in  This  View,  Also  Arrange- 
ment of  Control 


Automatic  Control  for  Rail-less  Cars 

Foot  Control   with  Three   Running   Speeds  Perfected  by 
the    Cutler-Hammer    Company — It    Operates    on  the 
Current-Limit  Principle  with  a  By-Pass  Button 
for  Emergency  Acceleration 

IN  THE  article  which  appeared  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way JOURNAL  far  Oct.  1,  1921,  the  rail-less  car  re- 
cently developed  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  was  de- 
scribed, although  very  little  was  said  about  the  control, 
except  that  it  consisted  of  the  relay  contact  system. 

This  type  of  control, 
which  was  designed 
by  the  Cutler-Ham- 
mer Company,  is  op- 
erated by  a  foot 
master  controller  lo- 
cated on  the  floor  in 
front  of  the  driver's 
seat  and  interlocked 
with  a  reversing 
switch.  In  previous 
designs  of  the  rail- 
less  trolley  made  by 
other  manufactur- 
ers, Jt  was  consid- 
ered necessary  to  use 
only  the  plain  man- 
ually operated  drum 
controller,  which  was 
mounted  on  the  car 
floor  and  operated 
by  a  system  of  rods  and  toggle  joints.  Actual  experi- 
ence, however,  with  this  form  of  construction  resulted 
in  the  conclusion  that  due  to  the  wear  of  the  various 
joints,  it  was  impossible  for  the  operator  to  correctly 
"feel"  the  various  positions  of  the  control.  It  was  de- 
cided, therefore,  to  go  to  the  complete  automatic  con- 
trol for  the  Brill  rail-less  bus. 

This  control  is  of  the  selective  series  relay  or  current 
limit  acceleration  type,  which  means  that  the  motor 
would  always  be  accelerated  with  a  constant  current 
regardless  of  the  load.  The  control  is  designed  so  that 
the  operator  has  available  three  separate  running  speeds. 

The  equipment  furnished  consists  of  a  foot-operated 
inclosed  master  switch  mounted  on  the  floor  to  the  left 
of  the  steering  wheel  with  a  release  operated  by  a  spring 
which  returns  the  switch  to  the  off  position  operated. 
It  is  mechanically  interlocked  with  the  reversing  switch, 
which  is  mounted  underneath  the  car  and  operated  by  a 
projecting  handle  so  designed  that  the  handle  cannot  be 
removed  unless  the  reversing  switch  is  in  the  neutral 
or  off  position,  thus  providing  complete  safety.  The 
magnetic  contactor  panel  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration  is  inclosed  in  a  waterproof  case,  mounted 
underneath  the  car.  A  set  of  grid  resistors  mounted  in 
open  frames  underneath  the  car  was  also  furnished  by 
the  Cutler-Hammer  Company. 

As  noted  from  the  photograph  reproduced,  the  con- 
tactor panel  consists  of  an  asbestos  lumber  board  of 
proper  strength  and  moisture  resisting  quality  which 
supports  a  row  of  six  magnetic  contactors  each  pro- 
vided with  railway  type  of  magnetic  blowout.  Two  of 
the  contactors  handle  the  main-line  current  completely, 
disconnecting  it  in  the  off  position.  The  remaining  four 
contactors  are  used  for  current  limit  acceleration  as 
previously  described.  To  prevent  any  possibility  of  the 
contactors  closing  in  any  but  the  proper  sequence  due 


864 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


to  irregularity  of  the  roads,  neutralizing  springs  were 
provide'd  on  each  contactor,  together  with  a  progressive 
electrical  interlock.  The  contactors  consist  of  a  pressed 
steel  frame  and  of  an  impregnated  shunt  coil  of  the 
continuous  duty  type.  Main  contacts  are  easily  renew- 
able. The  switch,  which  is  designed  with  very  light 
weight,  is  speedy  in  operation. 

In  order  to-  provide  sufficient  torque  for  insuring  com- 
plete acceleration  of  the  motor,  a  bypass  push  button  is 
mounted  on  the  car  directly  in  front  of  the  operator. 
Its  purpose  is  to  bring  in  the  initial  acceleration  switch 
in  case  extra  torque  is  required  for  climbing  a  steep 


The  Contactor  Panel  Is  Mounted  in  an  Accessible  Position  on 
the  Underside  of  the  Body 

grade.  The  accelerating  period  is  based  on  a  rate  of  from 
11  to  2  m.p.h. p. s.  on  an  average  level  pavement.  To  se- 
cure this  it  is  only  necessary  for  the  operator  to  press 
the  pedal  all  the  way  down  whenever  he  wishes  to  start 
the  vehicle,  while  it  is  possible  quickly  to  avoid  danger 
of  collision  in  any  traffic  jam  by  resorting  to-  the  bypass 
button,  which  makes  available  the  emergency  torque  of 
the  motor.  Its  use,  of  course,  is  not  required  for  aver- 
age running  conditions  on  an  ordinary  grade. 

The  automatic  control  just  described  was  installed  on 
the  Brill  trolley  bus  in  connection  with  the  G.E.-258-D 
commutating  pole,  railway-type  of  motor,  rated  at  25  hp. 
at  600  volts  for  continuous  operation  with  a  65-deg.  C. 
rise.  The  ultimate  control  selected  for  this  type  of 
work  must  be  as  simple  as  possible  and  require  the  least 
amount  of  space  in  the  cab  about  the  operator.  It  must 
be  consistently  light  in  weight  and  mounted  where  con- 
venient for  regular  inspection  of  the  master  contactor 
panel  to  take  place. 


100  per  Cent  One-Man  Operation  Successful 

SINCE  Sept.  27,  1920,  all  cars  of  the  Cedar  Rapids 
and  Marion  City  Railway  used  in  city  service  in 
Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  have  been  operated  with  one  man. 
This  includes  thirteen  safety  cars  which  are  standard 
except  for  separate  entrance  and  exit  doors  and  ten 
double-truck  cars.  The  latter  are  equipped  with  24-in. 
wheels  and  four  baby  motors  and  air-operated  doors, 
but  no  safety  devices.  They  seat  forty-four  passengers 
and  weigh  22,000  lb.  A  check  of  the  service  secretly 
made  by  the  city  after  one-man  operation  of  all  cars 
was  introduced  and  comparing  the  service  then  with 
what  it  had  been  under  two-man  operation  of  the 
double-truck  cars  showed  that  during  the  period  of  the 


check  99  per  cent  of  all  cars  were  operated  on  time, 
which  was  12  per  cent  better  than  the  record  made  the 
year  before  with  two-man  operation. 

E.  C.  Allen,  general  manager,  states  also  that  the 
number  of  accidents  shows  a  reduction  of  57  per  cent 
as  compared  to  two-man  operation,  there  having  been 
no  platform  boarding  and  alighting  accidents  since  one- 
man  operation  was  begun.  While  the  change  to  one- 
man  operation,  accompanied  by  a  reduction  in  wages 
from  60  cents  to  50  cents  an  hour  maximum,  started 
off  with  a  three-day  strike,  the  trainmen  now  like  the 
one-man  operation  better  than  the  old  plan,  according 
to  statements  made  by  them,  including  the  president 
of  the  local  union. 

The  population  of  Cedar  Rapids  is  47,000  and  the 
rate  of  fare  is  7  cents  cash  with  four  tickets  for  25 
cents.  A  headway  of  fifteen  minutes  is  maintained  on 
all  lines  throughout  the  eighteen  hours.  In  the  central 
part  of  the  city  the  operation  of  various  lines  over  the 
same  tracks  makes  headways  of  seven,  five  and  3.5 
minutes.  The  daily  average  number  of  passengers  car- 
ried is  20,000  and  the  average  system  speed  is  8.5  m.p.h. 


Road  Test  on  Long  Bus  Run 

THE  statistics  given  below  are  from  a  run  made  last 
month  from  New  York  to  Aberdeen,  Maryland,  by 
an  International-Mack  motor  bus  E-25  AB  type,  equipped 
with  LM  shock  insulators.  The  distance  covered 
in  the  round  trip  was  352  miles,  as  measured  by  hubo- 


Item 


Actual  time  on  road. 

Running  time  

Standing  time  en  rou 


Maximum  average  speed  between  stops.  . 


Unit 

Total 

Per  Day 

Miles 

352 

117 

Miles 

32 

Days 

3 

Hours-minutes 

21:25 

7:08 

Hours-minutes 

18:33 

6:11 

Hours-minutes 

2:52 

0:57 

M.p.h. 

16.4 

M.p.h. 

19.0 

M.p.h. 

28.0 

M.p.h. 

33.0 

M.p.h. 

42.0 

Miles 

6.4 

dometers,  and  the  bus  carried  twenty-three  passengers 
on  the  outgoing  trip  and  ten  passengers  on  the  return 
trip.  The  figures  are  of  interest  to  show  performance 
for  a  run  of  this  kind. 


Electrical  Transmission  Vs.  Coal  By  Rail 

HW.  SMITH  in  the  September  issue  of  the  Electric 
•  Journal  has  written  an  interesting  article  on  the 
relative  economics  of  transmitting  electrical  energy  on 
high-tension  lines  versus  the  shipment  of  coal  by  rail. 

As  an  example,  a  double-circuit  tower  line  90  miles 
long  with  500,000  circ.mil  conductors  was  used  for 
voltages  of  110,000,  132,000,  154,000  and  220,000.  The 
cost  of  all  lines,  substations  and  buildings  was  figured 
on  present-day  costs  and  a  spare  line  and  transformer 
were  included.  The  cost  was  worked  out  on  a  basis  of 
50  per  cent  and  100  per  cent  "use"  factor.  Use  factor 
means  that  for  any  given  demand  the  losses  are  taken 
for  the  percentage  of  the  total  time  this  demand  is  on 
the  system.  Fixed  charges  on  the  lines  were  taken  at 
12  per  cent  and  at  14  per  cent  on  power  plants  and  sub- 
stations. At  50  per  cent  use  factor  for  demands  per  line 
varying  from  80,000  to  300,000  kw.  the  cost  of  trans- 
mission will  vary  from  but  0.22  to  0.18  cent  per  kilo- 
watt-hour and  for  100  per  cent  use  factor  from  0.14  to 
0.12  cent  per  kilowatt-hour  With  a  modern  plant  burn- 
ing 1.5  lb.  of  coal  per  kilowatt-hour  and  with  a  $2  per 
ton  freight  rate  the  cost  of  rail  shipment  is  0.15  cent. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Dixie  Terminal  Opened 

The  New  Terminal  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Provides  Facilities 
for  165  Cars  per  Hour,  Which  Enter  the  Building 
on  Two  Levels 

THE  Dixie  Terminal  Building,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  was 
opened  for  service  on  Oct.  22.  Its  use  provides 
terminal  facilities  for  all  cars  of  the  South  Covington 
&  Cincinnati  Street  Railway  entering  and  leaving  Cin- 
cinnati. The  handsome  building  is  the  last  word  in 
terminal  construction.  When  fully  completed  the  ter- 
minal, which  cost  approximately  $4,000,000,  will  remove 


cars,  but  instead  of  proceeding  over  the  Suspension 
Bridge  they  travel  east  on  Third  Street  to  Broadway 
and  across  the  Central  Bridge  to  Newport,  Ky.  Seven 
of  the  double-truck  cars  or  nine  of  the  old  style  cars 
can  enter  and  leave  the  terminal  at  one  time.  There 
are  two  large  entrances  at  the  terminal  proper.  The 
interior  is  arranged  in  such  a  manner  that  congestion 
is  almost  impossible.  Turnstiles  are  installed  at  the 
extreme  northern  end  of  the  terminal  and  passengers 
pay  their  fares  at  the  turnstiles  before  reaching  the 
loop  where  they  board  the  cars.  The  turnstiles  are 
capable  of  passing  12,000  passengers  an  hour.  When 


all  Green  Line  cars  from  surface  lines  in  the  heart  of 
the  city  and  will  expedite  trans-river  transportation 
greatly.  A  total  of  165  cars  an  hour  will  discharge  and 
take  on  passengers  at  the  terminal  during  the  rush 
periods. 

The  terminal  is  divided  into  two  concourses,  one  for 
the  Kenton  County  cars  of  the  South  Covington  & 
Cincinnati  Street  Railway  and  the  other  for  the  Camp- 
bell County  trolleys.  The  Kenton  County  cars  go  into 
the  terminal  one  story  above  the  street  level,  on 
approaches  built  from  the  Suspension  Bridge  which  con- 
nects Cincinnati  with  Covington.  Campbell  County  cars 
run  into  the  building  from  the  street  level.  The  incom- 
ing cars  run  in  as  far  as  the  loop,  discharge  their 
passengers,  pull  around  the  circle,  take  on  passengers 
and  continue  on  their  routes. 

This  same  method  is  used  by  the  Campbell  County 


DIXIE  TERMINAL  BUILDING 

No.  1.    Front  of  the  New  Terminal  Building. 

No.  2.  The  suspension  bridge  is  linked  up 
with  the  new  building. 

No.  3.  Sectional  perspective  view  of  Dixie 
Terminal  Buildings. 


the  rush  is  the  greatest  extra  turn- 
stiles will  be  installed. 

The  plan  provides  that  all  passengers 
alight  in  the  south  part  of  the  termi- 
nal building,  follow  a  pathway  into 
the  main  building  and  choose  their 
exit  either  through  the  Walnut  Street 
door  or  through  the  concourse,  south 
stairway  and  arcade.  Car  patrons 
southbound  use  the  main  entrance 
and  descend  the  north  stairway. 
The  building  was  designed  by  Garber  &  Woodward, 
architects,  while  the  construction  work  was  supervised 
by  the  Ohio  Building  &  Construction  Company.  All 
inferior  trimmings  are  of  metal.  The  general  illumina- 
tion of  the  arcade  which  leads  from  the  main  build- 
ing to  the  entrance  of  the  terminal  is  by  indirect 
lighting,  the  fixtures  being  invisible. 

The  floors  and  wainscoting  of  the  main  building  are 
finished  in  Botteine  marble.  The  ceiling  in  the  arcade 
is  painted  and  when  the  lights  are  on  it  has  a  typical 
Italian  effect.  A  restaurant,  newstand  and  cigar  shop 
are  located  in  the  entrance  leading  to  the  concourses. 
More  than  5,000  persons,  including  the  prominent  men 
of  the  city  and  the  mayors  of  all  of  the  surround- 
ing municipalities  whose  citizens  will  have  occasion  to 
use  the  terminal,  took  part  in  the  ceremonies  of  dedi- 
cation. 


866 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Are  the  Trolleys  the  Only  Practical 
System  of  Transportation? 

The  Motor  Bus,  with  Its  Lower  Annual  Investment  Charges 
of  $2,000  per  Mile  of  Route,  I&  Shown  to  Have  Many 
Advantages  Over  the  Trolley  Car 

By  Gardner  W.  Pearson 

Practising  Attorney  and  Patent  Lawyer  and  Former  Adjutant- 
General  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts, 
1911-1914  and  1916-1917, 
Lowell,  Mass. 

Editors'  Note:  The  following  is  an  abstract  of  remarks 
made  at  the  hearing  of  the  Massachusetts  Department  of 
Public  Utilities  on  comparative  costs  of  transportation  by 
motor  bus  and  trolley  car,  Sept.  22,  1921,  and  reduced  to 
writing  by  Mr.  Pearson  for  the  sake  of  accuracy.  It  is 
presented  here  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  to  railway  men 
a  kind  of  thinking  and  opinion  which  is  held  by  many  edu- 
cated and  intelligent  persons  who  are  a  part  of  what  is 
vaguely  called  "the  public."  The  editors  of  this  paper, 
as  well  as  others  who  are  closer  students  of-  the  trans- 
portation problem  than  Mr.  Pearson  apparently  is,  will  see 
errors  and  weaknesses  in  some  of  the  statements  and  argu- 
ments. '-  "The  article  does  show,  however,  that  there  are 
intelligent  people  devoting  thought  and  study  to  local  trans- 
portation problems,  and  that  there  is  a  sentiment  for  a 
denfndable  "unified  or  at  least  co-ordinated  transportation 
system. 

AT  THE  recent  hearing  before  the  Public  Utilities 
l  \  Department  of  Massachusetts  on  the  cost  of  service 
rendered  by  motor  buses  and  by  electric  trolley  street 
cars  there  seemed  to  be  a  desire  on  the  part  of  certain 
electric  railway  advocates  to  cloud  the  issue  and  to  shout 
"jitney"  ■whenever:  the  subject  of  motor  buses  was  men- 
tioned. 

That  class  of  irresponsible  jitneys  operated  by  inde- 
pendent unbonded  drivers  was  not  the  subject  of  the 
hearing,  but  it  was  a  discussion  of  the  safety,  comfort 
and  cost  of  operation  of  motor  buses  and  trolley  cars 
where  both  were  operated  by  a  responsible  company. 
The  trackless  trolley  had  no  part  in  the  discussion. 

When  we  talk  of  transportation  we  should  consider 
that  it  has  developed  from  pack  mules,  ox  teams,  stage 
coaches,  canalboats  and  horse  cars  through  street  cars 
run  by  cable,  by  storage  batteries  and  finally  from 
trolleys. 

Canals  were  an  effective  means  of  transportation 
until  the  faster  steam  railroads  came,  and  the  horse 
car  on  rails  was  more  effective  than  the  stage  coach 
drawn  over  the  poor  roads  of  the  '60s  and  '70s.  There 
was  a  time  when  the  trolley  car  was  in  general  the  best 
and  cheapest  method  of  transportation  obtainable,  but 
it  now  is  a  serious  question  whether  or  not  it  is  the  best 
for  all  classes  of  urban  transportation  on  the  public 
streets. 

When  we  talk  about  a  "natural  monopoly"  for  trans- 
portation, we  clearly  do  not  mean  for  all  kinds  of  modes 
of  transportation,  for  there  are  in  Massachusetts  alone 
200,000  privately  owned  automobiles  that  carry  probably 
one  million  people  daily. 

Motor  Bus  Vs.  Trolley  Car  Advantages 

There  are  some  comparisons  between  the  motor  bus 
and  the  trolley  car  running  on  rails  which  it  may  be  of 
interest  to  consider.  For  comfort,  the  bus  with  pneu- 
matic tires  running  on  any  kind  of  a  decent  street  is 
much  to  be  preferred  to  the  trolley  car  with  flat  wheels 
running  on  worn  out  and  poorly  aligned  tracks.  On 
some  lines  it  is  almost  impossible  to  read  a  newspaper 
because  the  cars  shake  so  badly.  Moreover,  the  buses 
are  much  quieter. 

For  safety,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  bus  can 


not  only  stop  but  can  turn  out  to  avoid  a  collision,  where 
the  car  cannot.  A  bus  equipped  with  proper  brakes  and 
rubber-tired  wheels  can  stop  quicker  than  a  car  run- 
ning on  a  slippery  steel  rail.  The  bus  can  take  on  and 
let  off  passengers  at  the  sidewalk,  whereby  their  safety 
is  conserved.  Then,  too,  there  are  no  highly  charged 
trolley  wires  connected  with  the  operation  of  a  bus  that 
are  likely  to  fail  and  kill  passengers. 

In  regard  to  dependability  of  service,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  automobile  engine  to  its  present  high  state 
of  reliability  has  cut  down  to  a  minimum  delays  that 
were  once  of  common  occurrence.  We  also  hear  a  lot 
about  snow,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  motor  bus  has 
demonstrated  that  it  can  be  operated  through  a  consider- 
able amount  of  snow  without  the  need  of  a  plow.  And 
besides,  when  travel  is  otherwise  impossible  it  would 
be  very  easy  to  utilize  caterpillar  tractors  of  the  tank 
type  to  pack  down  the  snow..  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there 
have  been  many  cases  where  snow  has  stopped  the  trol- 
ley cars  and  the  motor  buses  have  kept  on  running. 

It  is  also  apparent  that  a  single  trolley  car  can  block- 
ade a  dozen,  and  that  their  operation  is  not  as  elastic  as 
the  motor  bus,  which  can  move  around  any  blockade. 

What  Legislation  Has  Done  to  the  Trolleys 

In  the  past  the  Public  Service  Commission  and  the 
legislators  allowed  the  enactment  of  the  eight-hour- 
work-in-ten  law  to  go  into  effect  for  electric  cars.  The 
commission  also  insisted  that  the  roads  run  big  heavy 
two-man  cars  all  through  the  day,  whether  there  were 
any  passengers  or  not.  There  are  today  many  such  cars 
in  operation  which  were  purchased  at  the  time  when  the 
expert  of  the  Massachusetts  commission  insisted  that 
the  one-man  car  was  too  dangerous  to  be  .allowed  to  be 
used  on  any  road.  . 

With  motor  bus  service,  operation  can  be  "shifted  from 
small  one-man  buses  like  the  London  cabs  during  the 
dull  hours  to  larger  buses,  perhaps  with  trailers,  dur- 
ing the  peak  hours. 

In  regard  to  speed,  it  is  apparent  that  wherever  buses 
have  replaced  trolleys,  the  speed  has  about  doubled. 
The  reason  is  not  difficult  to  see.  A  bus  can  worm 
through  traffic  and  apparently  travel  faster  than  the 
average  trolley  car.  On  that  account  it  can  be -made 
smaller,  with  the  result  that  passenger  interchange  can 
be  accomplished  more  quickly. 

On  the  matter  of  expense,  the  state  regulation  did  not 
permit  sound  financing  or  did  not  insist  upon  it.  Very 
few  business  concerns  can  survive  unless  they  are  per- 
mitted to  have  a  surplus,  and  this  was  not  permitted  by 
our  state  regulation.  We  now  have  the  day  of  reckoning 
and  it  looks  as  if  the  old  rule  that  a  business  must  run 
at  a  profit  or  be  junked  would  apply  to  the  trolleys. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why 
the  owners  of  trolley  securities  should  be  considered 
sacred.  When  any  other  business  fails  to  meet  expenses, 
it  quietly  goes  out  of  existence  and  those  who  have  in- 
vested their  money  in  it  are  the  losers.  There  seems  to' 
be  no  reason  why  investors  should  not  lose  their  money 
if  street  railways  cannot  be  operated  at  a  profit. 

We  cannot  escape  the  fact  that  the  motor  bus  operated 
on  streets  and  roads  built  and  maintained  either  by 
municipalities  or  the  state  saves  a  first  cost  per  mile  of 
$30,000  at  least  for  tracks.  With  interest  at  5  per 
cent  and  depreciation  figured  at  2  per  cent,  this  means 
that  the  trolley  companies  have  an  expense  of  $2,000 
per  mile  of  track  per  year.  The  motor  bus  therefore 
has  the  advantage  of  at  least  $2,000  per  mile  of  route 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


867 


per  year,  or  about  $5  per  day.  This  handicap  is  too 
great,  in  my  judgment,  for  the  trolleys  in  many  cases  to 
overcome.  It  may  be  a  fair  proposition  to  require  auto- 
mobiles and  auto  buses  to  pay  a  larger  tax  in  order  to 
maintain  the  roads,  but  that  is  looking  into  the  future 
and  is  not  the  existing  condition. 

The  present  Massachusetts  street  railway  law  is  based 
on  the  theory  that  fares  should  depend  on  "cost  of  serv- 
ice." This  means  that,  no  matter  how  recklessly  the 
roads  are  run,  the  public  must  pay  the  piper,  and  there 
is  no  incentive  except  the  fear  of  utter  bankruptcy  to 
hold  down  the  trustees  and  the  directors  of  street 
railways. 

Coupled  with  the  cost  of  service  regulation  is  a  pro- 
vision that  permits  the  trolley  roads  to  operate  motor 
ouses,  but  they  have  not  done  so  to  any  extent  because, 
in  spite  of  the  apparent  saving  of  $5  per  mile  of  route 
per  day,  they  claim  that  such  motor  buses  cannot  be 
run  at  a  profit. 

It  is  my  belief,  and  it  appeared  to  be  the  belief  of 
the  last  Legislature,  that  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion should  cease  to  act  solely  as  judges  sitting  in  state 
to  hear  the  super-specialist  representing  only  the  side 
of  the  trolley  car,  but  should  go  out  and  investigate 
actual  transportation  conditions  in  all  its  phases  so  as 
to  present  unbiased  facts  to  the  Legislature. 

I  do  not  contend  that  electric  interurbans,  subways 
and  elevated  roads  or  improved  one-man  cars  should  be 
abolished,  and  I  submit  that  the  trolley  car  still  has  its 
uses,  particularly  on  private  rights-of-way,  but  I  insist 
the  motor  bus  should  be  given  a  fair  show. 

I  also  believe  that  the  trolley  car  experts  have  been 
blind  in  not  taking  up  any  and  all  auxiliary  methods 
of  transportation,  thereby  discouraging  competition. 
They,  as  well  as  the  Public  Service  Commission  and  the 
Legislature,  have  really  been  attempting  to  sweep  back 
the  tide  of  scientific  progress  instead  of  looking  to  find 
a  better  and  cheaper  means  of  transportation  for  dif- 
ferent traffic  conditions. 

We  can  get  nowhere  by  refusing  to  face  the  facts. 
To  my  mind  the  Ford  car  and  good  roads  have  been  the 
real  street  railway  competitor.  The  public  now  demands 
better  and  faster  service  and  intelligent  time-tables. 
What  is  needed,  it  seems  to  me,  is  a  Commissioner  of 
Transportation,  who,  with  broad  views  and  powers,  will 
consider  not  only  one  method  of  transportation  but  all. 
His  functions  should  be  constructive,  not  obstructive 
or  destructive. 

Even  the  head  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Com- 
mission insists  that  the  steam  railroads  cannot  com- 
pete with  auto  trucks  in  handling  freight  on  less  than 
fifty-mile  hauls  as  the  truck  saves  rehandling  and  does 
not  require  freight  terminals.   I  believe  he  is  right. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  yet  too  late  for  the  urban  trolleys 
to  come  back,  if  guided  by  the  actual  transportation 
situation  as  could  be  developed  through  a  State  Com- 
missioner of  Transportation  who  would  consider  not 
only  finances,  but  fares  and  wages,  as  applied  to  the 
latest  scientific  developments  in  motors  and  types  of 
coaches. 

With  some  such  central  authority  to  assign  certain 
territory  to  each  transportation  system  or  corporation 
ruinous  competition  would  be  eliminated.  We  would 
then  have  a  co-ordinated  system  of  transport  which 
would  not  permit  motor  bus  and  trolley  car  competition 
between  the  same  terminals,  but  which  would  allow 
the  trolley  to  tap  one  territory  and  the  motor  bus 
to  tap  another. 


Toronto  Railway  Puts  on  Buses 

Four  Types  of  Vehicles  to  Be  Used — At  Present  Foun 
American-Built  Double  Deckers  Are  in  Service — 
The  Others  Are  on  the  Way 

THE  Toronto  Transportation  Commission  has  es- 
tablished a  motor  bus  route  along  Humberside 
Avenue  from  Dundas  Street  west  to  Quebec  Avenue, 
then  along  Annette  Street  to  Runnymede  Road,  in 
West  Toronto,  a  distance  of  1.36  miles.  This  route 
provides  a  means  of  transport  to  a  thickly  populated  sec- 
tion, north  of  Bloor  Street,  hitherto  without  any  system 
of  transit,  connecting  with  existing  trolley  lines.  The 
fare  for  a  ride  is  7  cents,  with  free  transfers  to  and  from 
connecting  cars,  and  to  date  the  service  has  met  with 
general  popular  approval.  The  average  number  of  pas- 
sengers carried  now  approximates  6,000  per  day,  of 
which  about  550  are  local  riders,  who'  do  not  transfer 
to  the  trolleys.    Standees  are  not  permitted. 

The  service  maintained  calls  for  a  five-minute  head- 
way during  the  morning  rush  hours,  a  ten-minute  head- 
way from  9  a.m.  to  4:30  p.m.  and  a  five-minute  headway 
again  during  the  evening  rush  hour,  tapering  off  to  a 


Four  Fifty-one-Seat  Double-Deckers,  Built  by  the  Fifth 
Avenue  CoAcrf  Company,  Are  Already  in  Service 

ten-minute  headway  later  in  the  evening.  On  Saturday, 
the  five-minute  headway  commences  at  1  p.m. 

Already  real  estate  values  in  the  territory  served  have 
increased  10  per  cent  and  the  storekeepers  at  the  junc- 
tion with  the  trolley  cars  report  an  increase  in  daily 
receipts  of  15  per  cent  or  more.  Two  even  go  so  far  as 
to  say  they  have  had  a  20  per  cent  gain. 

The  scheduled  time  for  a  one-way  trip  is  ten  minutes. 
This  permits  a  one-minute  layover  at  the  end  of  each 
half  trip  and  allows  nine  minutes  to  make  the  run  of 
1.36  miles.  The  average  schedule  speed  works  out  8.16 
m.p.h.  The  runs  are  based  on  eight  hours  per  day  and 
the  men  are  paid  the  same  sliding  scale  of  hourly  rates 
as  the  platform  men  on  the  trolley  cars.  Time  and  a 
quarter  is  paid  for  overtime  on  weekdays  and  time  and 
a  half  for  work  on  Sundays  and  holidays. 

It  took  but  four  days  to  break  in  the  drivers  because 
one  of  the  requirements  of  employment  was  experience 
in  driving  trucks.  Three  experienced  repairmen  who 
passed  the  drivers'  test  and  for  whom  there  was  no 
place  were  given  jobs  as  shop  men.  One  is  always  on 
duty,  each  working  eight  hours.    They  make  repairs, 


868 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


answer  road  calls,  make  general  inspection  and  keep  the 
buses  clean.  This  also  put  an  experienced  driver  in  the 
garage  at  all  times  in  case  some  one  "missed"  or  had 
an  incapacitating  accident.  All  conductors  were  taken 
from  the  regular  force  of  men  used  on  the  cars. 

The  buses  are  housed  in  the  Dundas  carhouse  on 
Ritchie  Street,  between  Dundas  and  Roncelalles  Street. 
Here  tentative  facilities  are  maintained  for  taking  care 
of  the  buses.  A  new  garage  which  is  being  built  along- 
side this  carhouse  is  now  almost  completed. 

The  vehicles  are  painted  sagamore  red  for  three 
reasons.  This  color,  it  is  claimed,  has  a  higher  visi- 
bility ;  it  also  gives  both  employees  and  riders  an  incen- 
tive to  keep  the  paint  on  the  vehicle  in  better  condition 
and  also  causes  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  accidents 
due  to  greater  care  being  exercised  by  others. 

Four  different  types  of  buses  will  ultimately  be  used 
by  the  Toronto  Commission.  Four  Type  L  double- 
deck  fifty-one-passenger  buses  have  been  received  from 
the  Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Company,  New  York,  and  these 
are  now  in  service.  One  bus  has  also  been  contracted 
for  from  each  of  the  following  builders,  the  Leland  Com- 
pany and  the  Associated  Equipment  Company,  two  Eng- 
lish concerns,  as  well  as  one  from  the  Eastern  Canada 
Motor  Company,  Hull,  Que.  The  buses  will  all  be  double 
deckers,  although  the  general  design  is  likely  to  vary 
to  the  extent  that  each  individual  manufacturer  has  his 
own  specifications. 

The  four  type  L  buses  ordered  from  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Coach  Company  have  the  following  general  dimensions: 


Height  over  all  (unloaded)  10  ft.    o  in. 

Length  over  all  24  ft.    5  in. 

Width  over  all   7  ft.    6  in. 

Wheel  base  (175  in.)  lift.    7  in. 

Wheel  treads,  front  (663  in.)   5  ft.  63  in. 

Wheel  treads,  rear  (72  in.)   6  ft.    0  in. 

Seating  capacity,  inside  passengers   22 

Seating  capacity,  outside  (passengers)   29 

Size  of  solid  tires   36x5 


Status  of  Employees  on  Strike 

The  Question  Involved  Is  Whether  or  Not  the  Relation  of 
Employer  and  Employee  Is  Fully  Terminated  by  a 
Strike  or  Lockout 

THE  question  of  the  status  of  employees  who  have 
left  service  collectively  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
better  conditions  of  employment  is  one  on  which  varying 
opinions  have  been  expressed.  Strictly  speaking,  strikers 
have  severed  their  employment  relation,  whether  it  was 
under  contract  for  a  fixed  period  or  terminable  at  will. 
However,  in  a  number  of  cases  the  courts  have  recog- 
nized a  middle  status  effective  within  certain  limits, 
giving  striking  employees  a  position  differing  from  both 
those  in  employment  and  the  public  at  large. 

The  subject  is  discussed  at  length  in  the  September 
issue  of  the  bulletin  published  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  in  Washington.  In  this  bulletin  the  status 
mentioned  is  described  as  follows:  "The  relationship  is 
an  anomalous  one,  yet  distinctive,  and  of  such  nature  as 
to  secure  to  the  parties  certain  correlative  rights  under 
which  acts  may  be  performed  that  would  assume  a  dif- 
ferent aspect  if  done  by  absolute  strangers  or  in  differ- 
ent circumstances."  Thus  organizers  from  the  outside 
may  be  enjoined  from  interfering  with  labor  conditions, 
being  in  no  wise  agents  of  "employees,"  as  was  held  in 
a  case  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  Sfates. 
But  former  employees  in  association  with  others  have 
been  held  to  retain  such  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
their  former  employer  as  to  make  it  lawful  for  them  to 
picket  and  persuade  in  a  peaceable  manner,  though 


incidentally  interfering  with  the  employer's  free  and 
unrestrained  control  of  his  business.  This  is  on  the 
ground  that  though  strikers  are  not  on  the  payroll  of 
the  employer,  and  so  are  not  actual  employees,  the  rela- 
tion of  employer  and  employee  is  not  fully  terminated  by 
either  a  strike  or  a  lockout.  However,  where  a  strike 
has  failed  and  the  employer  refuses  to  recognize  former 
employees,  their  places  having  been  filled  and  normal 
production  continuing,  the  temporary  anomalous  condi- 
tion is  held  to  have  terminated,  and  striking  employees 
can  not  be  regarded  as  any  further  interested,  and  what- 
ever rights  to  be  recognized  they  may  have  had  at  one 
time  are  extinguished. 

This  principle  is  applied  in  a  recent  case  (In  re  Divi- 
sion 132  of  Amalgamated  Association  of  Street  and  Elec- 
tric Railway  Employees  of  America,  188  N.  Y.  Supp., 
353)  which  was  decided  by  the  Appellate  Division  of  the 
New  York  Supreme  Court,  May  17,  1921.  It  involved 
the  construction  of  a  contract  between  the  labor  union 
named  and  the  United  Traction  Company,  Troy,  N.  Y. 
The  contract  contained  provisions  to  the  effect  that  the 
company  would  "through  its  properly  accredited  officers 
treat  with  the  properly  accredited  officers  and  commit- 
tees of  the  association  on  all  grievances  that  may  arise." 
The  agreement  was  to  continue  in  force  for  one  year 
ending  June  30,  1921.  A  supplemental  agreement  pro- 
vided for  an  increase  in  wages  to  continue  during  this 
year  on  condition  that  the  company  be  granted  per- 
mission to  charge  increased  fares  on  or  before  Nov.  1, 
1920.  This  permission  was  not  granted,  and  the  in- 
crease was  withdrawn  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of 
the  contract.  However,  the  members  of  the  employees' 
union  protested  this  action,  which  was  announced  on 
Jan.  22,  1921,  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  that  month, 
when  the  change  was  to  be  made,  the  employee  members 
of  the  association  walked  out,  "leaving  the  traction  com- 
pany incapable  of  immediate  performance  of  its  obliga- 
tions to  the  public." 

There  was  an  agreement  to  arbitrate  controversies 
arising  as  to  the  rate  of  wages  within  thirty  days  prior 
to  the  expiration  of  the  agreement.  Obviously  this  was 
a  limited  agreement  as  to  arbitration,  but  the  employees 
demanded  that  their  protests  against  the  reduction  of 
wages  be  referred  to  arbitrators.  The  court  held  that 
in  leaving  employment  as  they  had  on  Jan.  28  "they  com- 
mitted a  breach  of  contract,  and  if  there  had  been  a  valid 
agreement  for  the  arbitration  of  all  controversies  they 
would  have  relieved  the  traction  company  of  the  obliga- 
tion to  perform."  The  court  pointed  out  further  that  in 
view  of  the  limitation  upon  the  subject  matter  of  the 
agreement  there  was  no  obligation  on  the  part  of  the 
employer  to  submit  the  question  arising  in  January  to 
arbitrators  supposed  to  function  only  on  questions  aris- 
ing in  June  following.  "The  election  on  the  part  of  the 
employees  to  abandon  their  employment  in  disregard  of 
the  contract  made  in  their  behalf  by  the  petitioners  (the 
labor  union)  could  not  impose  an  obligation  which  was 
not  provided  in  the  contract.  .  .  .  The  former  em- 
ployees have  no  ground  for  complaint,  because  they 
are  no  longer  employees,  and  because  the  time  fixed  by 
the  contract  for  its  operation  in  any  event  has  not  yet 
arrived."  , 

In  view  of  these  conclusions  the  order  issued  by  the 
Supreme  Court  in  special  term  directing  the  company  to 
submit  to  a  trial  before  a  jury  on  the  issues  presented 
was  reversed,  and  the  petition  of  the  labor  organization 
dismissed  on  the  ground  that  the  petitioners  had  no 
standing  under  their  violated  agreement. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Effective  Shaving  Exhaust  System 

Shavings  and  Sawdust  Accumulating  from  Woodworking 
Machinery  Carried  by  an  Exhaust  System  from  Wood 
Mill  to  Power  House  of  Electric  Railway 

THE  Pacific  Electric  Railway  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal., 
has  just  completed  and  placed  in  operation  at  its 
new  Torrance  shops  a  most  efficient  shaving  exhaust 
system.  The  shavings  and  sawdust  which  accumulate 
from  the  woodworking  machinery  in  the  wood  mill  are 
collected  and  disposed  of  in  the  power  house.  The 


Arrangement  of  Ventilating  Tubes  and  Collector  Lines 

collector  lines  run  to  a  separator  which  is  located  on 
the  roof  of  the  power  house.  From  the  separator  the 
material  passes  by  gravity  down  a  system  of  pipes  and 
gates  and  is  turned  into  the  fuel  storage  bin  or  into 
either  of  the  250-hp.  Stirling  boilers  in  the  power 
house  for  immediate  fuel  consumption  by  operating 
the  gates  in  the  pipe  line  from  the  floor  of  the  boiler 
room. 

The  exhaust  system  consists  of  a  twin  72-in.  fan 
driven  by  a  125-hp.  motor.    The  main  lead  pipe  from 


Motor  Driven  Fan  Installed  on  the  Roof  of  the  Mill 

the  fan  to  the  separator  is  40  in.  in  diameter  and  the 
two  main  collector  lines  leading  into  the  fan  are  32  in. 
in  diameter.  These  latter  are  reduced  in  accordance 
with  the  requirements  of  the  machines  which  they 
serve.  The  length  of  the  discharge  pipe  from  the 
separator  to  the  fan  is  176  ft. 

The  motor  and  fan  are  located  on  the  roof  of  the  mill, 


which  is  a  two-story  structure.  This  was  made  neces- 
sary due  to  lack  of  space  in  the  wood  mill  and  also  to 
keep  the  disagreeable  noise  of  operation  away  from  the 
workmen.  Its  location  on  the  roof  also  places  the  motor 
in  a  position  where  the  average  suction  line  and  dis- 
charge line  are  of  approximately  equal  length. 


Accelerating  the  Setting  of 
Cement  Mixtures 

The  Rapid  Setting  of  Concrete  Repair  and  Replacement 
Work  is  Essential,  as  Serious  Problems  Arise  from 
Interrupting  and  Diverting  Traffic  for  Any 
Extended  Length  of  Time 

THE  Capital  Traction  Company,  Washington,  D.  C, 
has  been  using  a  material  commercially  known  as 
Cal  in  concrete  mixtures  for  about  six  months,  and 
finds  that  its  use  materially  aids  the  initial  setting  of 
concrete-  From  the  construction  so  far  undertaken  the 
introduction  of  this  material  in  concrete  mixtures  gives 
a  very  hard  concrete  in  about  thirty-six  hours.  The 
Capital  Traction  Company  has  found  this  material  of 
particular  advantage  in  building  its  conduit  track  under 
traffic.  The  difficulty  experienced  when  not  using  Cal 
has  been  that  the  cement  requires  too  long  a  time  to 
get  the  initial  set  and  therefore  poor  results  are  obtained 
due  to  the  vibration  of  the  rail  and  yokes  from  attempt- 
ing to  operate  cars  before  the  concrete  is  thoroughly  set. 

Need  for  a  Practical  Material  for  Hardening 
Cement  Is  of  Great  Consequence 

A  demand  for  a  practical  and  efficient  material  for 
accelerating  the  hardening  of  Portland  cement  mixtures 
has  received  considerable  attention  in  recent  years.  The 
need  for  such  a  material  becomes  of  more  consequence 
with  the  introduction  of  more  rapid  methods  in  con- 
struction and  replacement  work.  Serious  problems  arise 
when  it  becomes  necessary  to  interrupt  or  divert  traffic 
for  the  duration  of  time  required  for  concrete  to  harden 
sufficiently.  The  increased  cost  of  lumber  for  forms  has 
necessitated  a  more  judicious  use  of  such  material,  and 
its  removal  for  further  use  as  soon  as  the  strength  of 
the  concrete  will  allow.  This  applies  even  more  to  the 
use  of  steel  forms,  which  are  rapidly  replacing  wooden 
forms  in  a  great  many  types  of  concrete  construction. 

Considerable  work  toward  the  development  of  an  ac- 
celerator for  concrete  has  been  done  by  the  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Standards,  which  found  that  calcium  chloride 
was  the  most  effective  of  the  various  substances  tested. 
Inasmuch  as  the  use  of  commercial  calcium  chloride  in 
concrete  is  attended  by  difficulties  caused  by  its  highly 
hygroscopic  property  and  by  the  handling  of  the  solu- 
tion, the  idea  was  conceived  of  introducing  the  salt  by 
means  of  Cal,  a  material  by  which  the  above  difficulties 
might  be  eliminated. 

Cal  is  a  material  obtained  by  pulverizing  the  dried  or 
undried  product  resulting  from  a  mixture  of  either 


670 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


quicklime  or  hydrated  lime,  calcium  chloride  and  water. 
It  is  a  dry  white  powder  which  may  be  handled  in  much 
the  same  way  as  hydrated  lime,  and  with  the  same 
general  keeping  qualities.  It  is  much  more  convenient 
to  handle  and  use  in  making  concrete  than  calcium  chlo- 
ride, either  fused  or  in  concentrated  solution.  Upon 
exposure  to  the  air  Cal  gradually  takes  up  carbon  diox- 
ide and  becomes  somewhat  damp.  However,  tests  indi- 
cate that  long  exposure  does  not  affect  its  action  as  an 
accelerator  of  the  hardening  of  portland  cement  mix- 
tures. 

Time  Saved  and  Less  Delay 
to  Traffic 

The  setting  of  normal  portland  cement  mixtures  may 
be  hastened  by  Cal  to  an  extent  which  is  very  desirable 
in  concrete  construction  requiring  a  finished  surface. 
The  finishing  operation  may  proceed  with  much  less  delay 
after  the  concrete  has  been  placed,  which  should  result 
in  cutting  down  overtime  labor.  This  hastening  of  the 
set  is  not  objectionable  in  any  type  of  construction  pro- 
viding the  concrete  is  placed  soon  after  it  is  gaged  with 
water.  It  is  believed  that  Cal  increases  the  workability 
of  portland  cement  mixtures.  However,  no  attempt  was 
made  to  measure  the  extent  of  this  effect,  because  up 
to  this  time  no  satisfactory  test  has  been  developed  for 
measuring  the  workability  of  various  portland  cement 
mixtures. 

Unsound  cements  may  be  greatly  benefited  or  made 
sound  by  an  addition  of  Cal.  This  effect  was  produced 
in  neat  pats  subjected  to  the  steam  test  and  in  mortar 
test  pieces  stored  in  air.  Limited  tests  indicate  that 
quicksetting  cements,  either  fresh  or  having  become 
quicksetting  on  aging,  may  be  made  normal  by  the  addi- 
tion of  Cal  as  used  in  cement  mixtures.  There  was  no 
indication  that  the  amount  of  efflorescence  appearing 
on  the  surface  of  cement  mixtures  exposed  to  the 
weather  is  increased  by  the  use  of  Cal. 

The  series  of  tests  on  the  effect  of  Cal  on  steel  rein- 
forcing bars  which  were  imbedded  in  a  thin  layer  of 
Cal  cement  mortar  and  exposed  to  the  weather  for  eight 
months  without  showing  any  sign  of  corrosion,  while 
favorable,  is  too  limited  to  give  assurance  that  corro- 
sion will  not  occur  under  these  conditions.  Caution 
should,  therefore,  be  exercised  in  the  use  of  Cal  in  con- 
crete containing  steel  reinforcement  when  the  concrete 
is  to  be  freely  exposed  to  the  weather  or  excessive  damp- 
ness. It  is  believed  that  no  bad  effect  will  be  produced 
in  ordinary  building  construction. 

Undried  Cal  mixed  with  portland  cement  causes 
greater  deterioration  in  the  quality  of  the  cement  dur- 
ing storage  than  that  which  ordinarily  takes  place. 
Therefore,  Cal  should  be  added  to  the  concrete  materials 
during  the  mixing  operation,  preferably  before  the 
water  is  added. 

All  portland  cement  mixtures  treated  with  Cal 
attained  greater  strength  at  the  two-day  and  seven-day 
periods  than  the  corresponding  untreated  mixtures.  The 
percentage  increase  in  the  strength  of  mortar  at  the 
two-day  period  obtained  by  an  addition  of  5  per  cent 
Cal  to  cement  ranged  from  40  to  140.  The  strength  of 
the  treated  mortar  at  two  days  was  equal  to  the  strength 
of  the  untreated  mortar  at  three  and  one-half  to  eight 
days.  These  calculations  are  made  from  the  results 
of  tests  in  which  the  test  pieces  were  stored  in  water, 
damp  sand  or  a  damp  closet. 

Treated  mortars  stored  in  the  laboratory  air  attained 
at  two  days  strength  greater  than  that  of  the  untreated 
mortar  at  twenty-eight  days.    This  was  due  to  the 


rapid  drying  out  of  the  small  test  pieces  and  the  com- 
paratively slow  rate  of  gain  in  strength  after  the  two- 
day  period.  However,  this  indicates  that  Cal  is  espe- 
cially advantageous  in  cemenc  mixtures  which  are  neces- 
sarily subjected  to  any  drying-out  action. 

The  increase  in  strength  produced  by  5  per  cent  Cal 
in  concrete  mixtures  at  the  two-day  period  ranged  from 
52  to  135  per  cent,  and  the  strength  of  the  treated  con- 
crete at  the  two-day  period  was  equal  to  that  of  the 
untreated  at  from  three  to  four  and  one-half  days."  On 
an  average  this  represents  a  saving  of  approximately 
one-half  the  time  in  operations  which  are  dependent 
upon  the  strength  of  the  concrete  at  early  periods.  The 
effect  of  the  air  storage  in  the  concrete  tests  was  les- 
sened in  degree,  owing  to  the  high  relative  humidity 
which  existed  throughout  the  storage  period. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  increase  in  strength 
resulting  from  an  addition  of  5  per  cent  Cal  does  not 
represent  the  maximum  which  may  be  obtained  except 
in  very  rich  mixes.  As  much  as  15  per  cent  Cal  was 
used  in  mortar  tests,  giving  an  increase  of  220  per  cent 
at  the  two-day  period. 

The  general  effect  of  Cal  on  portland  cement  mixtures 
is  the  same  as  might  be  expected  from  the  use  of 
equivalent  amounts  of  hydrated  lime  and  calcium  chlo- 
ride. The  three-year  tests  by  the  Bureau  of  Standards 
on  concrete  gaged  with  a  solution  of  calcium  chloride 
are  sufficient  grounds  for  believing  that  the  addition  of 
Cal  will  not  injuriously  affect  the  ultimate  strength 
and  integrity  of  portland  cement  concrete. 


Tunnel  Crossing  for  Electric  Railway 
Passengers 

A SAFETY  tunnel  recently  constructed  under  the 
steam  line  railroad  near  Sycamore  Grove  in  Los 
Angeles  provides  a  safe  means  of  exit  from  a  regular 
stop  on  the  street  car  line  at  that  point.  Steam  trains 
pass  this  location  at  a  high  rate  of  speed  and  when 
groups  of  electric  railway  passengers  alight  there  is 
danger  of  serious  accidents  if  they  cross  the  steam 
tracks  at  grade. 

To  eliminate  this  grade  crossing  a  tunnel  with  in- 
clined approach  has  been  constructed,  as  shown  in  the 


Hi 


Tunnel  Crossing  Under  Steam  Road  Tracks 

accompanying  illustration.  As  the  level  of  the  ground 
beyond  the  steam  railroad  tracks  is  considerably  lower 
than  on  the  side  where  the  electric  railway  tracks  are 
located,  the  exit  from  the  tunnel  is  practically  on  ground 
level,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  have  but  one  incline. 
The  safety  tunnel  was  built  by  the  city  of  Los  Angeles. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Commissioners  Recommend  Private  Ownership 

At  Recent  Convention  of  Utility  Commissioners,  Committee  on  Public  Ownership 
and  Operation  Makes  Clean-Cut  Report  Urging  Private  Ownership 
and  Maintenance  of  Higher  Rates 


THE  following  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Eublic  Ownership  and 
Operation  is  given  in  full  as  it  em- 
bodies some  principles  which  the  Na- 
tional Association  of  Railway  and 
Utility  Commissioners  has  adopted  as 
fundamental  in  the  interests  of  most 
intelligent  and  successful  provision  of 
public  utility  service.  The  report  is 
not  a  "snap  judgment."  It  is  the  re- 
sult of  several  years  of  study  by  the 
utility  commissioners  who  have  to  regu- 
late utilities  and  who  have  a  more 
nearly  complete  view  of  the  situation 
than  is  privileged  to  any  other  group. 
To  the  National  Association  of  Railway 
and  Utilities  Commissioners: 
In  1917  there  was  created  by  the 
National  Association  of  Railway  and 
Utilities  Commissioners  a  special 
standing  committee  known  as  the 
"Committee  on  Public  Ownership  and 
Operation."  The  report  of  the  first 
committee  made  at  the  thirtieth  annual 
convention  of  this  association,  Novem- 
ber, 1918,  outlined  an  elaborate  pro- 
gram of  study  of  the  subject,  and  the 
two  reports  of  subsequent  committees 
have  dealt  with  various  aspects  of  the 
question.  The  limited  space  available 
in  this  present  report  precludes  the 
setting  out  in  full  of  the  results  of  any 
detailed  study  of  the  question  and  cir- 
cumscribes this  report  to  a  condensed 
expression  on  the  most  salient  and  im- 
portant factors  involved. 

There  are,  as  we  see  it,  only  two 
elemental  aspects  of  the  question  of 
public  utilities,  viz.: 

1.  Publicly  owned,  either  with  pub- 
lic or  private  operation;  and 

2.  Privately  owned  and  privately 
operated,  either  with  or  without  pub- 
lic regulation. 

This  committee  takes  the  negative 
view  as  to  the  first  and  the  affirmative 
as  to  the  second,  i.e.,  with  public  regu- 
lation ;  and  sets  out  its  reasons  therefor 
in  the  following: 

Government  is  instituted  among  en- 
lightened, civilized  peoples  in  order  to 
insure  to  the  majority  of  the  governed 
the  greatest  degree  of  freedom,  liberty 
and  happiness.  There  is  no  other  sound 
reason  or  excuse  for  the  existence  of 
government,  if  we  grant  the  truth  of 
the  principle  that  all  government  de- 
rives its  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed. 

This  granted,  it  is  then  no  less  true 
that  a  sound  theory  of  government 
would  dictate  that  there  should  be  as 
little  governmental  interference  with 
legitimate  business  activity  as  is  con- 
sistent with  the  protection  of  the  rights 
and  property  of  the  citizens  and  their 
enjoyment  of  life,  liberty  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness. 

We  take  it  that  these  general  prin- 
ciples are  now  but  axiomatic.  If  these 
be  the  great  basic  truths  that  they 
are  generally  and  universally  conceded 
to  be  in  this  country,  then  it  naturally 
and  logically  and  inevitably  follows,  as 
a  necessary  conclusion,  that  the  less 
governmental  encroachment  there  is 
upon  the  domain  of  private  business 
initiative  and  incentive,  consistent  with 
the  fair  and  equitable  protection  of  the 
rights  of  the  majority  of  citizens,  the 
more  nearly  does  such  government 
approach  the  real  functions  of  sound 


government,  as  is  laid  down  by  our 
forefathers  in  the  basic  principles  of 
the  creation  of  our  republic.  It  neces- 
sarily and  logically  further  follows 
that  government  is  then  not  instituted, 
as  one  of  the  ends  of  its  creation,  for 
the  purpose  of  the  ownership  and  oper- 
ation of  what  are  essentially  and 
basically  private  business.  Public 
utilities  are  essentially  such,  provided 
the  public  is  given  fair  and  adequate 
service  at  a  reasonable  cost.  Public, 
governmental,  regulatory  bodies  are 
created  for  this  latter  purpose  only, 
and  can  have  no  other  reason  for  their 
existence  at  the  expense  of  the  public. 
However,  the  safeguarding  of  these 
essential  rights  of  the  people  do  make 
the  existence  of  such  bodies  a  real 
necessity. 

Again,  a  closer  examination  of  the 
application  of  these  general  principles, 
we  submit,  but  bears  out  the  conclusion 
reached.  In  the  ownership  and  oper- 
ation of  such  utilities  by  government, 
it  is  practically  impossible  to  exclude 
the  influence  of  politics.  As  long  as 
human  nature  and  self-interest  is  as 
it  is,  and  before  the  coming  of  the 
dreamed-of  Utopia  or  millennium,  the 
subtle  influence  of  politics  would  al- 
most inevitably  creep  in,  however 
ingenious  the  safeguards  that  might 
be  thrown  around  it.  Again,  with 
every  change  of  political  administra- 
tion would  come  a  change  of  business 
administration  of  such  utilities,  with 
its  consequent  change  of  business 
policy.  This  would  be  fatal  to  their 
operation  under  sound  principles  of 
economy  and  business  efficiency. 

As  illustrative  of  this  fact,  we  may 
be  pardoned  for  calling  attention  to 
two  late  outstanding  examples  in  this 
country,  viz. :  the  government  operation 
of  railways  and  the  creation,  manage- 
ment and  operation  of  the  United 
States  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation. 
The  first  of  these  is  now  almost  past 
history,  except  the  readjustments  to 
private  ownership  and  operation  and 
the  liquidation  of  the  staggering  oper- 
ation-loss debt  of  $1,800,000,000  re- 
sulting from  the  twenty-six  months  of 
government  operation. 

The  United  States  Shipping  Board 
and  its  subsidiary,  the  Emergency 
Fleet  Corporation,  were  created  in 
1917,  as  a  war  measure  to  provide 
adequate  transportation  of  troops  over- 
seas. Since  the  signing  of  the  armis- 
tice, November,  1918,  it  has  been  oper- 
ated as  a  business  corporation.  It  has 
over  $3,000,000,000  worth  of  prpp- 
erty.  For  the  first  two  years  after 
the  armistice  there  was  an  extraor- 
dinary boom  in  shipping.  Yet  the 
statement  of  its  business  operations 
from  its  inception  to  June  30,  1920, 
shows  the  following  astonishing  finan- 
cial results  from  Operations,  viz.: 


Revenues  received. 

Expenses  

Operating  loss  


$817,271,542.00 
1,002,396,579.00 
$1  85,125,037.00 


Yet  privately  managed  British  mer- 
chant fleets  reported,  during  the  same 
period,  net  profits  on  their  investment 
ranging  from  20  -to  40  per  cent.  The 
latter  were  privately  owned  and  man- 
aged, under  certain  reasonable  govern- 
ment regulations;  the  former  was  gov- 
ernment  owned   and   operated.  The 


difference  in  the  respective  systems  of 
management  is  responsible  for  the  dif- 
ference in  the  results.  This  we  believe 
sufficiently  speaks  for  itself. 

However,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  call 
attention  to  a  few  other  cases  where 
government  ownership  and  operation 
has  been  in  recent  years  tried.  The 
largest  example,  carried  to  its  ultimate 
logical  conclusion,  is  found  in  the 
communistic  regime  in  Russia.  The 
plans  upon  which  their  theory  is 
based  apparently  are  wholly  logical  and 
should  work  out  successfully,  if  only 
they  had  a  new  and  different  kind  of 
human  being  to  deal  with;  but  human 
nature  being  what  it  is,  such  plans  will 
not  and  do  not  work  out  in  actual  prac- 
tice. The  result  of  the  attempt  to  put 
these  into  actual  practice  is  known  to 
the  whole  world.  Another  example  is 
the  tramways  of  Glasgow;  they  are 
said  to  be  a  model  of  municipal  owner- 
ship, and  they  are,  yet  the  tax  rate 
of  Glasgow  has  steadily  risen.  The 
English  telephones  are  owned  by  the 
government;  they  are  not  self-sup- 
porting. The  people  of  this  country 
would  not  for  a  moment  submit  to  such 
service  as  they  give.  Our  telephone 
service  at  its  worst  is  better  than  theirs 
at  its  best,  and  yet  our  tolls  are  lower. 
Instances  of  public  ownership  and 
operation  might  further  be  multiplied. 
The  results  are  practically  all  the 
same.  Also,  private  ownership  and 
operation  under  municipal  or  com- 
munity regulation  has  also  been  tried 
in  this  country  in  many  instances.  In- 
stances of  these  are  found,  among 
others,  in  the  states  of  Washington, 
Arkansas,  North  Dakota,  etc.  How- 
ever, wherever  tried,  it  has  proved  a 
practical  failure,  with  either  a  result- 
ant increase  in  rates  beyond  the  rea- 
sonable value  of  the  service  rendered, 
or  the  breaking  down  of  the  utility  in 
question  with  a  large  proportion  of  its 
operation  costs  borne  by  taxation. 

Business  is  essentially  management; 
not  a  plant,  nor  blue  prints,  nor  rules; 
but  is  men.  Business  is  the  functioning 
of  a  highly  skilled  managing  personnel, 
a  buying  and  selling  organization, 
trade  connections,  and  the  intangible 
but  valuable  good  will,  in  addition  to 
plant  and  equipment,  and  even  finances. 
The  latter  constitute  but  the  instru- 
ment, the  former  the  business.  The 
criterion  of  successful  business  is  the 
periodical  balance-sheet.  Government 
is  essentially  a  political  concern;  it 
necessarily  thinks  and  acts  politics. 
Politics  are  not  concerned  with  the 
profit  or  loss  showings  of  balance- 
sheets;  but  are  vitally  concerned  with 
political  campaign  showings.  "Passing 
the  buck"  in  critical  situations  is  neces- 
sarily one  of  politics'  favorite  pastimes. 
Basic  conditions  of  politics  make  it  so. 
Making  quick  decisions  and  assuming 
responsibility  is  an  essential  part  of 
the  life-blood  of  business.  The  two  are 
uncongenial  bedfellows.  Again,  as 
above  mentioned,  changes  in  political 
administration  necessarily  bring  about 
changes  in  administrative  policy. 
Changes  in  administrative  policy  are 
costly  and  bring  about  unsettled  busi- 
ness conditions.  Continuity  in  adher- 
ence to  a  sound,  tried  business  policy 
is  an  essential  to  continued  successful 
business  operations,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  the  concurrently  necessary 
business  good  will.  This  is  at  least 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  in  the  pub- 
licly owned  and  operated  public  utility. 
The  ultimate  conclusion  in  the  last 
analysis  is  self-evident  to  all  thinking 


872 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


men,  and  forces  us  to  discard  the  pub- 
lic owned  and  operated  public  utility. 

There  then  remains  only  the 
privately  owned  and  operated  public 
utility,  either  with  or  without  public 
regulation.  All  experience  has  shown, 
as  is  generally  conceded,  that  such, 
without  a  regulation  by  a  represent- 
ative body  of  those  who  are  dependent 
for  service  upon  such  utility,  is  both 
unwise,  unsound  and  unfair  to  the  pub- 
lic served.  By  the  process  of  elimina- 
tion, there  then  remains  only  the  public 
utility  regulated  by  an  authoritative 
governmental  body  in  close  touch  with 
and  sensitive  to  the  needs  of  the  pub- 
lic served. 

Such  regulatory  governmental  bodies, 
however,  at  the  same  time  must  be 
sufficiently  wise  and  fair  and  farseeing 
to  stand  between  the  utility  in  question 
and  unthinking,  hasty  public  clamor, 
not  based  upon  full  knowledge  and 
careful  thought.  Public  utilities  are 
subject  to  the  same  financial  laws  of 
operation  as  are  private  enterprises. 
They  must  operate  successfully  in 
order  successfully  and  adequately  to 
fulfill  their  duty  of  service  to  the  pub- 
lic, not  only  in  the  present,  but  in  the 
near  future.  This  is  peculiarly  true  at 
the  present  time;  and  for  the  reason 
that    for    the    last    five    years  their 


revenue  rates  did  not  proportionately 
increase  with  their  rapidly  increased 
costs  of  operations.  It  therefore  fol- 
lows that,  in  order  to  maintain  a  just, 
equitable  balance  and  to  even  keep  such 
utilities  out  of  bankruptcy,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  maintain  their  higher  rates 
longer  than  would  to  the  layman  seem 
necessary,  judging  by  the  surrounding 
decline  in  commodity  prices.  To  follow 
any  other  policy  would  be  to  put  such 
utility  out  of  business,  and  to  discon- 
tinue that  service  to  which  the  public 
is  so  justly  entitled,  and  which  is  now 
more  necessary  to  the  return  of  the 
vast  bulk  of  private  business  to  the 
desired  goal  of  normalcy. 

The  foregoing  considerations  force 
the  committee  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  present  system  of  private  owner- 
ship and  operation  under  public  regula- 
tion is  the  logical,  just,  equitable  and 
best  system  of  conducting  the  business 
of  public  utilities  that  has  or  can  be 
devised  to  meet  the  needs  and  require- 
ments of  both  the  utilities  in  question 
and  the  public  by  them  served. 

The  report  was  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee composed  of  A.  G.  Patterson, 
chairman;  William  C.  Bliss,  James 
Causler,  H.  H.  Williams  and  Frank 
R.  Spinning.  The  report  was  pre- 
sented on  Thursday  morning,  Oct.  13. 


Amortization  of  Discount  on  New  Securities* 

Commissions  Should  Assume  Responsibility  of  Permitting  This — Analysis  Made 
of  Typical  Case  to  Show  Amounts  Required 

By  Cyrus  Peirce 

Banker,  San  Francisco 


THE  question  of  doing  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  financing  of  public  utili- 
ties through  the  medium  of  junior 
securities  is  becoming  of  more  and  more 
importance  all  the  time,  but  before  it 
can  be  done  in  any  large  way  two  vital 
points  must  be  safeguarded. 

First,  the  income  of  the  company 
must  be  sufficient  and  so  stabilized 
that  the  dividends  on  these  junior 
securities  will  be  paid  with  the  same 
punctuality  as  the  interest  on  the 
funded  debt,  and,  second,  the  security 
upon  which  the  issues  are  based  must 
be  ample  to  safeguard  the  principal.  In 
order  to  accomplish  these  two  things, 
it  seems  to  me  to  be  necessary  for  the 
Investment  Bankers'  Association  to  use 
the  weight  of  its  influence  with  the 
various  public  utility  commissions  to 
the  end  that  the  rates  may  be  adequate 
not  only  to  pay  the  dividends  but  to 
build  up  the  physical  property  to  the  ex- 
tent where  there  shall  be  at  least  one 
dollar  of  physical  property  for  each 
dollar  of  the  junior  securities  outstand- 
ing that  may  have  been  sold  to  the 
public. 

This  brings  us  right  to  a  question 
which  seems  to  me  to  be  the  heart  of 
the  whole  matter,  and  that  is  the  proper 
amortizations  of  discounts.  It  has  been 
current  practice  to  amortize  the  dis- 
count on  an  issue  of  bonds  throughout 
the  life  of  that  issue.  In  theory  that  is 
probably  correct  and  is  not  materially 
harmful.  But  what  about  the  discounts 
onL  preferred  stocks  and  common 
stocks  ?  What  is  the  proper  period  in 
which  the  difference  between  the  par 
value  of  these  stock  issues  and  the 
amount  derived  from  their  sale  should 
be  made  up,  and  how? 

•Abstract  of  address  presented  at  annual 
meeting  of  the  Investment  Bankers'  Asso- 
ciation of  America,  New  Orleans,  La..  Oct. 
30-Nov.  2,  1921. 


It  has  been  current  practice  recently 
when  public  utility  bonds  are  issued  to 
limit  the  issue  at  par  and  the  face 
amount  of  the  issue  to  75  per  cent  of 
the  cost  of  the  improvements  to  be 
made.  Therefore,  the  other  25  per 
cent,  and  in  addition  thereto  such  dis- 
count from  the  sale  of  the  bonds  as 
the  company  is  compelled  to  stand  in 
order  to  market  them,  must  be  made  up. 
Somewhere,  somehow,  the  utilities  have 
been  called  upon  to  find  this  money.  It 
is  now  the  fashion  to  provide  this  from 
the  sale  of  stock.  In  most  cases  it  is 
preferred  stock.  It  is  customary  to 
say  to  an  intending  investor  that  every 
dollar  he  puts  into  the  preferred  stock 
is  represented  by  a  dollar  of  fixed  as- 
sets, and  this  is  true  in  most  instances. 
It  also  is  true  that  recently  most  utili- 
ties had  to  sell  their  preferred  stocks  on 
an  8  per  cent  basis,  which,  if  the  stock 
is  a  6  per  cent  stock,  means  the  sale  of 
it  at  about  75.  Ordinarily  8  per  cent  is 
all  a  company  is  permitted  by  the  com- 
missions to  earn  on  the  investment. 
Therefore,  there  is  no  profit  to  the  com- 
pany. The  earnings  do  not  provide  a 
means  by  which  these  discounts  may  be 
quickly  amortized  or  a  surplus  built  up 
to  protect  the  investor  further.  The  re- 
sult is  that  there  is  little  chance  of 
there  being  an  increase  in  the  intrinsic 
value  of  the  securities  of  the  corpora- 
tion, which  are  junior  to  the  preferred 
stock  and  which  should  be  the  vehicle 
for  providing  additional  equity,  and  as 
their  market  can't  improve,  their  price 
cannot  go  up.  Consequently,  the  price 
at  which  the  company  must  continue  to 
sell  its  preferred  stock  remains  low, 
discounts  continue  excessive,  and  the 
vicious  circle  goes  on. 

This  attitude  on  the  part  of  regulat- 
ing bodies  too  closely  restricting  earn- 
ings cannot  help  but  eventually  result 
in  two  things.    First,  that  the  sale  of 


junior  securities  will  become  increas- 
ingly difficult  at  increasingly  relatively 
higher  costs  of  money,  and,  finally, 
that  it  will  become  impossible  to  raise 
money  from  that  source  at  all  because 
the  company  cannot  afford  to  pay  the 
price  which  investors  will  demand 
where  there  is  regulation  of  security 
but  no  assurance  that  the  issuing  cor- 
poration will  have  such  earnings  as 
will  enable  it  to  administer  its  financial 
affairs  along  those  lines  which  experi- 
ence has  shown  to  be  necessary.  Those 
lines  are  that  there  should  be  sufficient 
earnings  to  enable  the  corporation  to 
lay  up  in  lean  years  a  reserve  which 
may  be  applied  to  dividends  as  an  as- 
surance against  the  time,  which  always 
recurs  in  every  corporation's  experi- 
ence, when  earnings  will  not  be 'suffi- 
cient to  pay  such  dividends.  This  re- 
serve, of  course,  also  constitutes  an  as- 
surance of  the  continuity  of  the  prom- 
ised dividends  upon  the  preferred  stock, 
and  over  and  above  this,  there  should 
be  sufficient  earnings  to  make  it  pos- 
sible for  the  company  within  a  com- 
paratively short  space  of  time  to  build 
up  in  actual  property  against  which  no 
securities  can  be  issued  an  equity  equal 
in  par  value  to  the  amount  of  discount 
upon  its  outstanding  securities. 

If  a  company  were  static,  this  would 
be  easy,  but  in  a  growing  company 
where  the  annual  construction  require- 
ments run  into  the  millions,  this  has 
become  a  grave  problem  and  the  cord  is 
being  drawn  tighter  each  year  around 
the  neck  of  the  unfortunate  corporation. 

Assume,  for  example,  that  a  company 
spends  $10,000,000  cash  in  one  year  for 
a  new  development  and  issues  against 
it  $7,500,000  of  bonds  and  $2,500,000  in 
preferred  stock  which  are  sold  at  90, 
i.e.  the  company  has  installed  property 
which  cost  $10,000,000,  but  against 
which  it  has  received  but  $9,000,000. 
Then  $1,000,000  must  be  provided  from 
some  source  and  that  amount  is  imme- 
diately reflected  in  floating  debt.  This 
may  temporarily  be  carried  as  an  open 
account  and  then  as  notes  in  favor  of 
the  vendor,  and  finally,  when  the  vendor 
must  be  paid,  these  notes  or  their  suc- 
cessors find  their  way  into  the  hands  of 
the  banks  with  which  the  company  does 
business.  The  result  is  that  the  company 
has  made  permanent  capital  expendi- 
tures of  $1,000,000  and  obtained  the 
money  therefor  by  using  bank  credit 
which  is  a  highly  improper  proceeding 
as  credit  must  never  be  confused  with 
capital. 

What  is  the  remedy? 

The  $1,000,000  of  deficiency  to  be  pro- 
vided should  be  made  up  by  the  sale  of 
common  stock.  It  is  apparent,  however, 
that  after  the  common  stock  is  sold 
there  is  no  property  value  behind  it. 
It,  therefore,  must  either  bear  such  a 
dividend  as  to  make  it  a  good  specula- 
tion, or  it  must  be  safeguarded,  and  the 
only  way  that  it  can  be  safeguarded  is 
to  build  up  the  property  value  behind 
it.  Assume  that  the  $1,000,000  is  pro- 
vided by  the  sale  of  common  stock  at 
75.  This  would  mean  that  there  must 
be  sold  common  stock  to  the  par  value 
of  $1,333,333,  against  which,  as  stated 
before,  there  is  no  property  value. 
Under  present  conditions  this  stock  is 
not  salable,  but  the  public  service  com- 
missions must  be  brought  to  a  point  of 
view  to  regard  the  discount  of  $1,333,- 
333  as  a  construction  charge  to  be  added 
to  the  property  value,  which  is  more  or 
less  fallacious,  or  it  must  allow  the 
company  to  make  sufficient  earnings  to 
pay  not  only  the  interest  on  the  bonds 


Electric  Railway  Journal  873 
 ,  

[  Handling  Employees'  Claims* 

(      Methods  of  Collecting  from  Owners  of  Foreign  Vehicles  Who  Have  Injured 
Employees  While  They  Were  at  Work — Policies  Pursued  by  Member  Com- 
panies in  Handling  Claims  of  Employees  While  Not  at  Work 

.  By  S.  A.  Bishop 

General  Claim  Agent  Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


'  November  12,  1921 


and  the  dividends  on  the  $2,500,000  pre 
ferred  and  $1,333,333  common  stock  anc 
to  provide  proper  depreciation,  but,  ovei 
and  above  all  this,  earnings  sufficient  t( 
build  up  within  a  reasonable  time,  saj 
five  years,  a  property  value  of  $1,333, 
000.  In  other  words,  it  must  allow  tha 
company  to  earn,  in  addition  to  th< 
above  items,  $266,666  each  year  in  addi 
tional  property,  against  which  no  se- 
curities, either  bonds  or  stock,  may  be 
issued.  When  something  of  this  kind, 
and  only  when  something  of  this  kind, 
is  done,  can  a  reasonable  amount  of  the 
financing  of  our  public  utility  companies 
be  properly  done  through  the  sale  of 
junior  securities.  It  seems  to  me  that 
it  is  the  duty  of  this  association  to  go 
on  record  in  such  a  way  that  we  who 
are  financing  public  utility  companies, 
and  the  companies  themselves,  may  use 
the  findings  of  this  association  as  the 
leverage  upon  the  various  utility  com- 
missions to  the  end  that  they  will  take 
this  stand  and  permit  such  earnings. 

Meeting  on  Tie  Standardization 

RULES  covering  standardization  of 
grades  and  sizes  and  inspection  of 
wood,  cross  and  switch  ties  are  to  be 
drawn  up  as  a  result  of  a  tie  standard- 
ization conference  held  in  Washington 
Oct.  25.  The  conference  was  called  by 
the  American  Engineering  Standards 
committee  at  the  request  of  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Engineering  Association 
and  the  United  States  Forest  Service. 
All  present  strongly  favored  the  es- 
tablishment of  standardized  rules. 
There  was  some  objection  to  the  group- 
ing of  woods  for  preservative  treat- 
ment and  it  was  decided  not  to  include 
the  question  of  preservatives.  It  was 
decided  that  the  rules  should  be  suffi- 
ciently comprehensive  to  include  all 
classes  of  wood  ties.  This  was  done  so 
as  to  include  the  ties  used  in  mines 
and  light  railways  generally  as  well  as 
on  steam  and  electric  railways. 

The  organization  of  a  bureau  of  in- 
spection will  be  necessary,  but  it  was 
decided  to  leave  that  step  to  the  pro- 
ducers and  the  consumers. 

The  conference  recommended  to  the 
American  Engineering  Standards  com- 
mittee that  the  Forest  Service  and  the 
American  Railway  Engineering  Asso- 
ciation be  appointed  as  sponsors  to  or- 
ganize a  sectional  committee.  Pro- 
ducers and  consumers  are  to  be  repre- 
sented on  the  committee  which  is  to 
be  directly  responsible  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  standards.  The  standardized 
rules  are  to  be  presented  to  the  Ameri- 
can Engineering  Standards  committee 
with  the  recommendation  that  they  be 
adopted  as  the  American  standards.. 

A.  A.  Stevenson,  chairman  of  the 
American  Engineering  Standards  com- 
mittee, presided  and  P.  G.  Agnew,  sec- 
retary of  that  organization,  acted  as 
secretary  of  the  conference.  Others  in 
attendance  were:  John  Foley,  American 
Railway  Engineering  Association;  C. 
S.  Kimball,  American  Electric  Railway 
Association;  H.  P.  Haas,  A.  L.  Kuehn 
and  C.  L.  Warwick,  American  Society 
for  Testing  Materials;  Dudley  Holtman, 
National  Lumber  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation; L.  P.  Keith,  West  Coast  Prod- 
ucts Bureau;  E.  R.  Shepard,  Bureau  of 
Standards;  W.  C.  Nixon,  National  As- 
sociation of  Railroad  Tie  Producers; 
Charles  N.  Perrin  and  Frank  R.  Buck, 
National  Hardwood  Lumber  Associa- 
tion; Earle  H.  Clapp  and  H.  S.  Betts, 
U.  S.  Forest  Service;  David  G.  White, 
Forest  Products  Laboratory,  Madison, 
Wis. 


EVERY  employer  has  a  natural 
human  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
his  employees.  When  one  of  those 
employees  is  injured  through  the  neg- 
ligence of  a  third  person,  I,  for  my 
employer,  come  immediately  to  his 
assistance  with  an  offer  to  investigate 
the  facts  of  the  accident  and  to  effect, 
if  possible,  a  satisfactory  settlement. 
The  claim  agent's  training  and  experi- 
ence have  fitted  him  to  care  for  such 
a  claim  as  effectively  as  it  can  well 
be  done,  and  the  employee,  realizing 
this,  is  rested  from  a  mental  burden 
which,  perhaps,  he  can  ill  afford  to 
carry  during  the  period  of  his  con- 
valescence. This  service  is  gratuitous, 
and  is  a  part  of  my  company's  welfare 
work. 

But  the  workmen's  compensation,  in- 
surance and  safety  act  of  the  State  of 
California  has  created  for  employers 
a  particular  interest  in  the  claims  of 
their  employees  against  third  persons 
whose  negligence  has  been  responsible 
for  personal  injury  while  the  employee 
was  engaged  in  his  line  of  duty.  While 
imposing  a  liability  for  the  payment  of 
compensation  by  the  employer  at  the 
usual  rate  to  the  injured  employee,  the 
act  also  fixes  upon  the  third  person  the 
same  liability  toward  the  employer,  in 
the  amount  of  compensation  paid,  or 
for  which  the  employer  may  become 
obligated,  as  such  third  person  may 
have  toward  the  injured  employee  him- 
self for  his  losses,  as  established  by 
the  facts  of  the  accident.  This  mutual 
interest  in  pressing  the  claim  against 
the  third  person  culminates  in  the 
claim  agent's  conducting  the  negotia- 
tions leading  up  to  a  settlement,  and, 
if  necessary,  the  prosecution  of  a  law 
suit  by  the  railway  company's  law  de- 
partment. The  employee  is  thus  re- 
lieved from  a  burden  which  he  is 
reluctant  to  assume,  and  the  employer 
in  donating  his  services  retains  the  close 
co-operation  of  the  employee  in  recov- 
ering the  compensation  paid. 

In  those  cases,  where  the  amount 
of  damage  is  substantial,  the  first  in- 
formation to  be  determined  is  the  third 
person's  ability  to  meet  a  judgment  if 
it  can  be  obtained.  If  he  is  the  owner 
of  things  of  value,  here  or  elsewhere, 
then,  at  least,  there  is  the  assurance 
that  when  all  attempts  at  an  amicable 
adjustment  have  failed,  there  is  left 
the  privilege  of  having  the  issues  de- 
termined by  a  court  of  law,  with  the 
positive  assurance  that  if  a  satisfactory 
showing  can  be  made  to  the  jury, 
damages  can  be  recovered  for  the  em- 
ployee. However,  the  proposition  of 
collecting  damages  from  the  owner  of 
a  foreign  vehicle,  where  such  vehicle 

•Paper  presented  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Pacific  Claim  Agents'  Association, 
Butte,  Mont.,  Aug.  25-27,  1921. 


has  been  the  instrument  in  producing 
the  employee's  injury,  presupposes  that 
such  owner  in  being  a  non-resident  is 
also  judgment  proof  in  the  home  state 
of  the  employer. 

Where  an  employee  has  been  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  have  been  struck  by 
a  vehicle  of  foreign  ownership,  when 
there  are  so  many  vehicles  in  Cali- 
fornia owned  locally,  I  consider  his 
chances  for  recovery  of  damages  slim. 
This  is  true  because  of  the  difficulty  of 
reaching  assets  outside  of  the  State. 
And  the  chances  are  even  slimmer  if 
the  vehicle  owner  is  judgment  proof 
in  his  home  state,  and  perhaps  not 
even  the  owner  of  his  own  automobile. 
In  such  cases  there  is  nothing  left  but 
to  make  demand  upon  this  third  per- 
son and  rely,  for  satisfaction,  upon  the 
kindness  of  his  heart.  For  information 
as  to  the  stranger's  financial  standing 
in  his  own  community,  I  have  called 
upon  claim  agents  of  railways  in  ad- 
jacent neighborhoods  for  searches 
through  county  records  and  have  re- 
ciprocated like  demands  in  my  own 
city. 

When  the  search  reveals  this  negli- 
gent third  party  to  be  the  owner  of 
property  and  able  to  meet  the  just 
demands  upon  him,  and  has  not  al- 
ready motored  beyond  the  State's 
borders;  and  where  the  damages  are 
substantial  and  demands  for  payment 
have  not  been  met,  suit  should  be  im- 
mediately instituted  so  that  service  can 
be  had  while  the  defendant  is  yet 
within  the  State  court  jurisdiction. 
Once  service  is  had  we  care  not  where 
goeth  our  stranger.  The  employee  re- 
covers; his  action  for  damages  is 
joined  with  that  of  his  employer  for 
the  amount  of  compensation  paid,  and 
upon  trial  the  plaintiff  takes  judgment 
upon  the  facts,  or  the  defendant  de- 
faults by  his  failure  to  appear.  In 
either  case  the  judgment  may  be  sued 
upon  in  the  home  state  of  the  defend- 
ant, a  second  judgment  had,  and, 
finally,  levy  of  execution  against  his 
assets. 

Now,  we  have  to  consider  the  event 
wherein  our  third  party,  the  defendant, 
has  left  California,  hurrying  home  be- 
cause of  the  press  of  business.  He  has 
evaded  service  issuing  from  the  State 
court  and  leaves  behind  the  remedy  of 
action  in  the  United  States  District 
Court,  with  jurisdiction  over  claims 
arising  from  torts  between  parties  of 
diverse  citizenship. 

A  suit  in  the  District  Court  has  the 
advantage  of  requiring  but  one  action 
before  levy  of  execution  in  the  foreign 
state,  as  against  the  two  actions  re- 
quired by  procedure  through  the  State 
court.  Opposed  to  this  is  the  disad- 
vantage, fatal  to  the  action  of  small 
demand,  arising  from  the  $3,000  mini- 


874 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


mum-value  rule  applicable  to  District 
Court  actions.  In  addition  to  this  is 
the  difficulty  of  securing  a  unanimous 
verdict. 

The  disadvantages  attendant  upon 
suing  out  a  judgment  upon  the  facts 
in  the  foreign  state  may  be  of  less 
moment  than  those  incident  to  the  other 
two  methods  suggested.  This  may 
be  so  if  the  claim  agent  can  call  upon 
attorneys  of  his  acquaintance  in  the 
foreign  state  who  have  his  confidence 
that  the  case  will  be  tried  well,  and 
that  the  fee  will  be  compatible  with  the 
service  rendered.  And  yet,  because  of 
the  unavailability  of  witnesses  for  use 
in  the  foreign  state  and  the  great  dis- 
tance over  which  the  negotiations  would 
have  to  be  conducted,  probably  this 
method  of  collection  is  seldom,  if  ever, 
used.  I  have,  however,  made  adjust- 
ments in  this  manner  to  advantage. 

The  method  by  far  the  best,  however, 
is  to  convince  the  foreign  automobile 
owner  that  he  owes  the  claim  and  ac- 
cept his  payment  of  it. 

I  have  pleasure  in  reporting  that  the 
policy  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway 
in  the  matter  of  claims  of  employees 
growing  out  of  injuries  received  by  the 
act  of  third  persons  while  the  employee 
is  not  at  work  for  his  employer  is  to 
take  over  without  expense  to  him  the 
negotiations  and  effect  a  settlement  of 
his  claim,  if  possible,  out  of  court.  We 
have  quite  an  extensive  program  for 
welfare  work.  Our  employees'  club 
harbors  many  kinds  of  amusements  and 
is  the  meeting  place  for  secondary  or- 
ganizations which  interest  the  em- 
ployees in  outdoor  sports,  athletic 
events  and  the  like.  During  the  sum- 
mer months  the  employees  have  the 
benefit  of  an  extraordinary  summer 
camp  in  the  San  Bernadino  Mountains. 
An  annual  picnic  at  the  seashore  at- 
tracts everyone  who  is  free.  The 
gratuitous  handling  of  claims  for  em- 
ployees by  our  claim  department  is 
merely  a  part  of  this  admirable  scheme. 
While  only  a  very  small  percentage  of 
our  employees  are  unfortunate  enough 
to  require  that  kind  of  service,  yet  the 
benefit  to  those  few  individuals  is  great 
enough  and  the  appreciation  of  em- 
ployees sincere  enough  to  make  the 
service  an  item  of  respect  in  the  gen- 
eral plan. 


afternoon  session.  The  subjects  of 
these  addresses  are:  "Public  Safety," 
by  George  H.  McClain,  manager  Louis- 
ville (Ky.)  Safety  Council;  "Financial 
Outlook,"  by  Richard  M.  Bean,  presi- 


dent Louisville  National  Bank;  and 
"Functions  of  a  Public  Utility  Asso- 
ciation," by  A.  Bliss  McCrum,  secre- 
tary Public  Utilities  Association  of 
West  Virginia,  Charleston,  W.  Va. 


Kentucky  Utility  Association 
Resumes  Meetings 

THE  annual  meeting  of  the  Ken- 
tucky Association  of  Public  Utili- 
ties will  be  held  at  the  Seelbach  Hotel, 
Louisville,  Ky.,  on  Nov.  22.  This  will 
be  the  first  regular  meeting  since  the 
discontinuance  during  the  war. 

At  the  morning  session  following  the 
report  of  the  secretary  and  treasurer 
an  address  will  be  given  by  James  P. 
Barnes,  president  Louisville  (Ky.)  Rail- 
way, entitled  "Outlook  for  the  Electric 
Railway  Industry."  Martin  Insull, 
past-president  of  the  National  Electric 
Light  Association  and  vice-president 
of  the  Middle  West  Utilities  Company, 
Chicago,  111.,  will  be  the  guest  of  honor 
at  the  luncheon. 

Three  addresses  will  be  given  at  the 


The  Genteel  Faker* 


Filching  Money  from  Public  Service  Corporations  Is  Considered  a  Mark  of  Rare 
Business  Ability  by  One  Class  of  Claimants  Which 
Must  Be  Dealt  With 

By  F.  J.  Lonergan 

Claims  Attorney  Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company, 
Portland,  Ore. 


"/GENTEEL"  is  defined  as  the  state 
V_Jof  being  well  bred  or  refined; 
stylish  or  fashionable.  "Faker"  is 
one  who  fakes.  In  the  vernacular, 
"fake"  means  to  cover  up  or  alter  de- 
fects or  imperfections  in,  especially 
with  intent  to  deceive;  to  fabricate  in 
order  to  deceive;  one  who  originates 
a  fake  or  humbug.  Notwithstanding 
the  contradiction  in  terms  between 
"genteel"  and  "faker,"  it  would  seem 
that,  from  the  beginning  of  man  down 
through  the  ages  to  the  present  time, 
there  is  much  evidence  of  the  presence 
and  activities  of  what  may  be  termed 
th  "genteel  faker." 

The  claim  agent  of  every  railway 
company  has  met  the  "genteel  faker," 
for  the  claims  department  is  a  veri- 
table clearing  house  for  the  practice 
of  their  wiles.  It  is  one  of  the  real 
serious  matters  that  confront  the  claim 
agent,  because  it  is  often  very  difficult 
to  penetrate  their  mask  of  respectabil- 
ity, and  more  difficult  still  to  obtain 
a  jury  that  will  see  through  their  dis- 
guise. 

It  is  strange,  but  nevertheless  true, 
that  there  are  many  people  in  every 
community  who  have  no  qualms  of  con- 
science when  dealing  with  a  public 
service  corporation,  particularly  a  rail- 
way company.  In  the  ordinary  affairs 
of  life  they  are  scrupulously  honest 
and  their  integrity  is  never  suspicioned 
or  doubted.  They  will  not  defraud  the 
grocer,  the  butcher  or  the  baker.  They 
deal  open-handedly  in  all  ordinary 
business  affairs.  But  when  an  injury 
has  been  sustained  at  the  hands  of  a 
railway  company,  to  them  even-handed 
justice  no  longer  prevails. 

Instances  are  not  at  all  uncommon 
where  a  person  of  prominence  having 
met  with  an  accident  involving  personal 
injury  presents  a  claim  based  upon 
fraud,  deceit  and  exaggeration.  If  the 
claim  agent  attempts  to  make  a  thor- 
ough investigation  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  alleged  injuries  he  is  met  with 
rebuff,  and  ofttimes  open  insult.  The 
claim  agent  is  charged  with  doubting 
the  honesty  and  veracity  of  the  in- 
jured party  and  is  denied  an  interview, 
and  many  times  the  company's  doctor 
is  not  permitted  to  make  an  examina- 
tion. In  the  event  the  claim  agent 
fails  to  make  settlement,  which  settle- 
ment does  not  mean  compromise  but 
surrender,    then    the    controversy  is 


♦Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  Pacific  Claim  Ag-enfcs' 
Association,  Butte,  Mont.,  Aug.  25-27,  1921. 


takan  into  the  courts.  Such  a  claimant 
experiences  no  difficulty  in  producing 
numerous  witnesses  to  his  alleged  pains 
and  sufferings.  In  most  instances,  the 
pains  and  sufferings  consist  of  facial 
contortions,  bodily  gymnasitics  and 
moans  and  groans  during  the  presence 
of  friends  and  neighbors  who  are  de- 
pended upon  to  later  convey  what  they 
have  seen  and  heard  from  the  witness 
stand. 

Policy  settlements,  so  called,  is  an- 
other phase  presented  by  the  genteel 
faker.  It  not  infrequently  happens  that 
those  who  have  considerable  business 
dealings  with  the  company  threaten  the 
claim  agent  that  unless  the  matter  is 
settled  in  accordance  with  their  de- 
mand the  business  relations  with  the 
company  will  be  broken  and  service 
will  be  obtained  elsewhere.  The  claim 
agent  is  thus  confronted  with  a  very 
delicate  situation,  and  all  his  skill  and 
tact  is  not  sufficient  to  offset  the  hold- 
up. The  highwayman  with  mask  and 
gun  who  demands  your  money  takes 
a  chance,  but  the  genteel  faker,  to 
use  the  vernacular,  has  that  game 
backed  off  the  boards. 

How  can  the  claim  agent  obtain  the 
best  results  in  dealing  with  the  so- 
called  genteel  faker?  In  some  in- 
stances to  be  firm  and  outspoken  may 
meet  with  success,  although  many 
times  when  the  claim  agent  so  acts  he 
is  publicly  denounced  as  a  crook,  a 
scoundrel  and  a  blackguard. 

Where  a  claimant  is  obsessed  with 
a  notion  that  no  wrong  can  be  done 
in  dealing  with  a  public  service  cor- 
poration, and  that  to  filch  money  from 
such  a  company  is  an  indication  of 
rare  business  ability,  education  and 
publicity  would  seem  to  be  the  only 
remedy.  If  the  community  were  edu- 
cated to  know  and  to  feel  it  has  an 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  public 
service  corporation,  in  that  the  money 
that  the  company  makes  and  saves  will 
be  reflected  in  the.  betterment  of  ser- 
vice and  lowering  of  rates,  some  good 
might  be  accomplished.  If  publicity 
were  indulged  in  freely  concerning 
false,  fraudulent  and  exaggerated 
claims  it  would  undoubtedly  awaken 
the  sleeping  conscience-  of  even  the 
genteel  faker.  For  after  all,  education 
and  publicity  are  the  only  great  and 
true  weapons  of  defense  on  behalf  of 
public  service  corporations. 

Knowing  that  the  companies  are  de- 
sirous at  all  times  of  doing  the  fair 
and  square  thing  in  the  matter  of  set- 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


875 


tlement  of  claims,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  company  through  the  claim 
department  should  not  feel  entirely 
justified  in  bringing  to  its  aid  a 
properly  and  well-informed  public.  The 
only  fear  of  the  genteel  faker  is  ex- 
posure and  knowledge  of  the  trutn  on 
the  part  of  others.    And  this  being  so, 


the  path  of  duty  of  the  claim  agent 
lies  before  him. 

Solomon  in  all  his  glory  had  not  such 
clever  genteel  fakers  appearing  before 
him  as  the  claim  agent  of  today  has 
to  deal  with.  If  Solomon  were  here 
now,  he  could  learn  much  by  one  day's 
visit  to  the  office  of  the  claim  agent. 


Effect  of  the  One-Man  Car  on  Traffic  Hazard* 

One-Man  Cars  in  Spokane  Have  Bettered  the  Two-Man  Car  Accident  Record, 
Although  There  Has  Been  a  50  Per  Cent  Increase  in  the  Number  of 
Automobiles  Since  Their  Introduction  Three  Years  Ago 

By  Thomas  G.  A.  Ashton 

Claim  Agent  Washington  Water  Power  Company,  Spokane,  Waib 

1,292,241  car-hours  and  had  10  acci- 
dents every  10,000  car-hours. 

Upon  inquiry  I  learned  that  the 
Municipal  Street  Railway,  Calgary, 
Canada,  another  pioneer  in  this  type 
of  operation,  has  had  the  same  expe- 
rience. This  railway  was  exclusively 
equipped  with  one-man  cars  in  the  fall 
of  1917.  I  have  been  advised  by  the 
management  of  the  Terre  Haute, 
Indiana  &  Eastern  Street  Railway  that 
its  experience  with  the  one-man  cars 
has  likewise  been  profitable.  Its  report 
shows  one  accident  for  every  13,227 
car-miles  with  the  one-man  car  and  one 
accident  for  every  8,476  car-miles  with 
the  two-man  ear.  The  traction  com- 
pany of  Spokane  has  had  a  decrease  of 
61  per  cent  in  traffic  accidents  during 
the  first  six  months  it  has  operated  the 
one-man  cars. 

In  Spokane  we  have  to  contend  with 
every  kind  of  traffic  condition.  We 
operate  over  grades  as  high  as  12i  per 
cent.  We  have  sharp  curves  on  grades. 
The  climate  is  such  as  to  give  us  snow, 
sleet  and  fog.  We  are  also  bothered  on 
some  of  our  lines  with  leaves  on  the 
track,  which  is  one  of  the  most  danger- 
ous things  any  street  railway  has  to  be 
bothered  with.  All  our  cars  are  routed 
through  the  congested  district,  passing 
through  one  central  point 

We  do  not  operate  the  small  safety 
cars,  but  a  standard  type,  practically 
,  the  same  as  our  old  double-end  cars. 
They  are  double-truck,  four-motor 
equipment,  weighing  261  tons,  44  ft.  9 
in.  long  and  seating  forty-two  pas- 
sengers. 

An  advocate  of  safety  has  said, 
"There  is  a  reason  for  everything  but 
a  woman  getting  off  a  street  car  back- 
ward." So  there  must  be  a  reason  for 
the  one-man  car  reducing  the  number 
of  traffic  accidents.  In  the  first  place 
you  have  placed  the  entire  responsi- 
bility for  the  safe  operation  in  the 
hands  of  one  man.  There  is  no  chance 
for  a  misunderstanding  of  signals.  In 
backing  up  the  operator  is  required  to 
go  to  the  rear  of  his  car. 

If  an  automobile  suddenly  cuts  in 
front  of  him  he  does  not  have  to  rely 
upon  a  signal  to  tell  him  to  stop.  The 
near-side  stop  is  compulsory  with  the 
one-man  car.  This  to  my  mind  is  the 
cause  of  the  elimination  of  most  traffic 
accidents.  Passengers  beinsr  picked  up 
at  the  near  side  of  the  intersection 
cause  the  car  to  cross  the  intersection 


"P^XPERIENCE  is  the  best 
-L'  teacher,"  and  judging  from  the 
experience  of  the  Wasmngton  Water 
Power  Company  the  effect  of  the  one- 
man  car  on  the  traffic  hazard  has  been 
most  favorable.  The  Washington  Water 
Power  Company,  one  of  the  pioneers 
in  the  one-man  car  operation,  had  its 
system  fully  equipped  with  one-man 
cars  on  July  1,  1918,  and  since  that 
time  has  operated  none  other  than  one- 
man  cars  on  its  city  lines.  We  operate 
sixty-six  cars  eighteen  hours  a  day  and 
thirty-three  trippers  five  hours  a  day. 
During  the  time  the  sixty-six  cars  are 
running  we  have  a  headway  of  twelve 
minutes.  While  the  trippers  are  on  we 
have  a  headway  of  five  minutes.  This 
same  headway  has  been  maintained 
since  1915,  there  being  no  change  made 
when  the  one-man  cars  were  put  on. 

The  traffic  hazard  has  in  our  city,  as 
in  most  cities,  greatly  increased  since 
we  started  to  operate  the  single-end 
cars.  On  July  1,  1916,  there  were  6,493 
automobiles  in  Spokane  County.  On 
July  1,  1918,  the  day  our  company 
started  to  use  the  one-man  cars  exclu- 
sively, there  were  12,294  automobiles, 
while  on  July  1,  1921,  there  were  19,- 
325,  an  increase  of  7,021  since  we  made 
the  change  from  two  to  one-man  cars. 

Regardless  of  this  increase  in  the 
worst  traffic  hazard  we  have  shown  a 
reduction  in  traffic  accidents.  In  the 
three  years  previous  to  the  placing  in 
operation  the  new  type  of  carrier  we 
had  1,324  traffic  accidents,  divided  as 
follows:  Automobiles,  1,023;  horse- 
drawn  vehicles,  147;  bicycles,  44;  motor- 
cycles, 31;  pedestrians,  79.  During  the 
three  years  of  the  one-man  car  we  have 
had  1,292  traffic  accidents,  divided  as 
follows:  Automobiles,  1,151;  horse- 
drawn  vehicles,  36;  bicycles,  16;  motor- 
cycles, 13;  pedestrians,  76;  showing  a 
decrease  of  22  traffic  accidents,  regard- 
less of  the  large  increase  of  automo- 
biles. During  the  three  years  previous 
to  July  1,  1918,  we  ran  10,375,648  car- 
miles  and  had  1.28  accidents  to  every 
10  000  car-miles.  We  operated  1,205,- 
535  car-hours  and  had  10.9  accidents 
every  10,000  car-hours.  During  the 
three  years  since  July  1,  1918,  or  the 
one-man  car  period,  we  ran  10,400  881 
car  miles  and  had  1.27  accidents  to 
every  10  000  car-miles.    We  operated 


more  slowly,  thus  enabling  the  motor- 
man  to  stop  his  car  more  quickly.  The 
construction  of  our  type  of  car  is  such 
that  the  over-hang  is  in  front,  thus  pre- 
venting pedestrians  and  vehicles  which 
are  standing  close  to  the  car  from  be- 
ing struck  by  the  over-hang  as  the  car 
rounds  the  curve. 

In  point  of  importance  it  will  there- 
fore be  seen  the  work  of  the  investiga- 
tor ranks  high.  It  affords  the  basis 
and  foundation  of  all  settlements  and 
the  defense  of  all  litigated  claims. 
Without  a  high-class  investigating 
bureau  the  success  of  a  claim  depart- 
ment is  bound  to  be  limited.  While 
the  work  of  the  investigator  is  at  times 
vexatious  and  his  difficulties  many, 
still  the  satisfaction  of  a  task  well 
done  goes  far  to  mitigate  the  discour- 
agements with  which  his  path  is 
strewn.  And  just  in  passing,  let  this 
impression  be  recorded,  that  the  person 
in  charge  of  the  investigators  should 
not  forget  that  a  word  of  praise  where 
deserving  is  a  staunch  stimulant  to  the 
morale.  Certain  it  is  that  the  intelli- 
gent young  man  of  today  in  the  field 
of  investigations  will  attain  success  if 
he  but  put  forth  an  honest,  conscien- 
tious effort  and  the  way  will  open  for 
bigger  and  better  things. 


*  Paper  presented  at  the  annual  meetinr 
of  the  Pacific  Claim  Agents'  Association, 
Butte,  Mont,  Aug.  25-27,  1921. 


"The  Soul  of  Service" 

AT  THE  meeting  of  the  American 
-  Gas  Association  held  in  Chicago, 
Nov.  9-11,  among  the  papers  presented 
was  one  called  "The  Soul  of  Service," 
by  W.  H.  Rogers,  Public  Service  Gas 
Company,  Paterson,  N.  J.  This  paper 
is  one  discussing  what  Mr.  Rogers  says 
is  "old  stuff"  but  always  with  us,  the 
service  of  public  utility  corporations. 

In  speaking  of  the  street  railway 
company,  Mr.  Rogers  says:  "The  soul 
of  the  street  railway  company  is  the 
will  and  the  desire  of  owners,  managers 
and  employees  so  to  handle  transporta- 
tion of  human  beings,  so  to  operate 
trolley  cars,  that  every  man,  woman 
and  child  in  the  community  will  want  to 
ride  in  these  trolleys  and  will  be  satis- 
fied and  willing  to  pay  to  the  company 
adequate  and  reasonable  fares." 

Starting  with  the  three  great  charac- 
teristics of  man,  known  as  spirit,  soul 
and  body,  Mr.  Rogers  defines  these  as: 

(a)  Spirit  is  what  really  exists. 
Spirit  is  reality.  In  man,  it  is  that 
part  of  man  which  knows — it  is  his 
mind. 

(b)  Soul  is  the  consciousness  of  ex- 
istence. Soul  is  the  seat  of  the  active 
will  and  of  the  affections,  desires  and 
emotions. 

(c)  Body  is  the  outcome,  the  result, 
of  the  activity  of  spirit,  guided  and 
controlled  by  soul,  by  the  will,  by  our 
desires. 

He  then  goes  on  to  say:  "The  spirit 
of  the  street  railway  company  is  the 
idea  of  satisfactory  transportation  for 
men,  women  and  children,  for  every- 
body, for  the  whole  public." 

As  to  the  body,  Mr.  Rogers  asks 
"Does  not  the  body  of  each  of  our  com- 
panies consist  in  the  opinion  which  has 
grown  up  in  the  minds  of  our  customers 
and  the  public  regarding  these  com- 
panies?" 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Saginaw  Votes  for  Return 
of  Street  Cars 

Mayor's  Proposal  for  Return  of  Cars 
Is  Now  Before  Committee  Repre- 
senting Security  Holders 

A  plan  for  the  resumption  of  electric 
railway  service  in  Saginaw,  Mich.,  under 
the  direction  of  a  board  of  trustees  ap- 
pointed by  the  Council  who  have  had 
no  former  connection  with  the  operation 
of  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway  was 
proposed  by  Mayor  B.  N.  Mercer  on 
Nov.  8  and  adopted  by  the  Council  at 
a  special  meeting.  A  summary  of  the 
proposal  was  transmitted  to  New  York 
by  wire,  where  Otto  Schupp,  trustee  of 
the  local  property,  appointed  by  the 
Federal  Court,  is  meeting  with  the  pro- 
tective committee  representing  the 
bondholders. 

Special  Message  from  Mayor 

The  matter  was  brought  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  Council  in  a  message 
from  the  Mayor,  who  made  the  follow- 
ing recommendations:  Appointment  of 
the  five  trustees  to  operate  the  property 
under  a  trust  agreement  from  the  bond- 
holders' committee,  the  rate  of  fare  to 
be  four  tickets  for  25  cents  with  uni- 
versal transfers,  five  school  tickets  for 
25  cents,  and  a  cash  fare  of  8  cents. 
Elimination  of  jitney  competition  on 
streets  traversed  by  street  cars.  Price 
for  current  to  be  fixed  by  Public  Util- 
ity Commission. 

It  is  generally  believed  the  Council's 
action  is  the  result  of  two  outstanding 
features  which  have  occurred  during  the 
last  week  to  ten  days.  The  Council 
had  before  it  for  consideration  a  pro- 
posal of  the  Wolverine  Transit  Com- 
pany, Detroit,  to  install  a  motor  bus 
system  in  Saginaw  provided  some 
agency  would  dispose  of  $125,000  worth 
of  advanced  transportation.  The  fin- 
ancing question  was  submitted  to  the 
board  of  commerce,  but  the  board  de- 
clined to  act  favorably  on  the  subject. 
The  local  newspaper  started  a  refer- 
endum and  by  a  tremendous  majority 
the  people  voted  for  the  return  of  street 
cars  at  an  increased  rate  of  fare,  and 
the  elimination  of  jitney  buses.  A 
straw  vote  which  was  to  have  been 
taken  in  each  of  the  city's  voting  pre- 
cincts as  proposed  by  one  member  of  the 
Council  it  is  believed  now  will  be 
di'opped  as  the  action  of  the  Council 
Tuesday  makes  this  unnecessary. 

Receiver  in  New  York 

It  is  generally  believed  in  Saginaw 
that  if  Mr.  Schupp  is  unable  to  have  the 
protective  committee  representing  the 
bondholders  accept  the  proposal  of  the 
Council,  it  will  at  least  result  in  a 
counter  proposal  being  made  and  if  it  is 
honest  and  fair,  it  will  be  accepted  by 
the  city  and  street  cars  will  again  run. 

Under  the  Mayor's  plan  the  trustees 
are  to  act  without  compensation  and 
none  of  the  former  officers  of  the  trac- 
tion company  is  to  be  employed.  The 
only  salaried  official  is  to  be  a  capable 
superintendent. 

In  his  message  to  the  Council  Mayor 
Mercer  points  out  that  beyond  any  doubt 
the  sentiment  is  for  street  cars  and 


against  municipal  ownership  of  either 
buses  or  street  cars  and  the  only  solu- 
tion left  for  the  city  is  the  resumption 
of  street  car  service  without  jitney  com- 
petition. 

A  definite  answer  is  not  expected  be- 
fore Nov.  12. 

Recently  the  Council  by  a  four  to 
one  vote  accepted  the  proposal  of  the 
Wolverine  Transit  Company  which 
calls  for  an  advanced  sale  of  $125,000 
worth  of  transportation,  which  funds 
will  be  used  to  help  pay  for  the  buses 
as  they  are  delivered. 

The  plan  was  referred  to  the  board 
of  commerce  by  the  Council  and  after 
two  meetings  the  transportation  com- 
mittee of  the  commerce  board  ap- 
pointed a  sub-committee  to  investigate 
the  financial  condition  of  the  company 
as  to  its  ability  to  go  through  with  its 
part  of  the  program  and  two  disinter- 
ested engineers  to  investigate  the  con- 
struction of  the  bus  and  report  on  the 
cost  and  their  adaptability  for  use  in 
a  northern  climate. 


City  Must  Pay  Cost  When 
Utilities  Move  for  Mu- 
nicipal Railway 

A  decision  handed  down  by  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  on  Oct.  24  in 
the  case  of  the  Postal  Telegraph  Com- 
pany vs.  San  Francisco,  establishes  an 
important  precedent  in  the  municipal 
railway  field.  The  decision  holds  that 
in  the  operation  of  a  municipal  rail- 
way the  city  is  acting  not  in  a  "gov- 
ernmental capacity"  but  in  a  "propri- 
etary capacity,"  and  that  the  city  must 
pay  the  costs  of  removals  or  changes 
in  location  of  other  utilities  occasioned 
by  the  construction  or  extension  of  a 
municipal  railway. 

The  San  Francisco  case  has  been  in 
litigation  since  the  third  and  fourth 
tracks  were  laid  on  Market  Street  from 
Geary  Street  to  Van  Ness  Avenue. 
These  tracks  were  laid  on  portions  of 
the  street  that  had  never  before  been 
used  for  railway  lines  and  under  which 
were  the  conduits  of  the  Postal  Tele- 
graph Company.  When  the  tracks  were 
built  these  manholes  had  to  be  changed 
or  the  conduits  moved.  The  city 
acknowledged  the  company's  rights  to 
maintain  its  conduits,  but  held  that 
those  rights  did  not  carry  with  them 
the  right  to  use  the  street  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  municipal  railway  line. 

The  company  objected  to  paying  the 
costs  but  did  the  work  with  the  under- 
standing that  it  would  be  reimbursed 
if  the  courts  ruled  that  the  city  should 
pay.  The  case  was  carried  to  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  where 
the  decision  of  the  lower  courts  was 
sustained  and  the  city  was  ordered  to 
pay  the  cost  of  the  manhole  changes. 


Deficit  in  Davenport  in  September 

Electric  railway  operation  in  Daven- 
port during  the  month  of  September, 
1921,  showed  a  deficit  of  $36,106,  ac- 
cording to  a  report  of  the  Tri-City 
Railway.  The  report  showed  total  re- 
ceipts of  $56,178,  while  the  company 
had  operating  expenses  of  $55,331,  with 
$5,452  in  taxes  and  $4,084  in  interest. 


Mayor  Couzens'  Policies 
Indorsed 

Result  of  Detroit  Election  Taken  to 
Mean  City  Is  Satisfied  with  Munic- 
ipal Program 

Unofficial  returns  of  the  Nov.  8  elec- 
tion in  Detroit,  Mich.,  indicate  that 
James  Couzens  was  re-elected  Mayor. 
He  received  a  vote  of  nearly  two  to  one 
over  Daniel  W.  Smith.  Mr.  Couzens' 
majority  was  about  33,000  out  of  total 
vote  of  less  than  115,000. 

The  ouster  ordinance  compelling  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  to  remove  its 
tracks  and  equipment  from  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue,  put  on  ballot 
by  initiative  petition  after  it  had  been 
passed  by  the  Council,  carried  by  major- 
ity of  35,000.  According  to  statement 
attributed  to  A.  F.  Edwards,  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Detroit  United  Railway,  the 
company  will  bow  to  the  will  of  the 
people  as  expressed  at  election  and  will 
discontinue  service  on  Fort  Street  and 
Woodward  Avenue  on  or  about  Nov. 
25.  It  is  estimated  that  about  50,000 
riders  per  day  use  the  two  lines. 

The  charter  amendment  fostered  by 
Mayor  Couzens  and  the  Street  Railway 
Commission  empowering  the  commis- 
sion to  engage  in  trackless  transporta- 
tion using  trackless  trolleys  and  buses 
was  carried  by  majority  of  26,000. 
This  amendment  was  defeated  in  the 
October  primaries. 

The  re-election  of  Mayor  Couzens  is 
accepted  as  an  expression  of  people  of 
Detroit  for  municipal  ownership  and 
for  the  continuance  of  the  program 
started  during  the  Mayor's  last  term. 

Eight  of  the  nine  councilmen  were 
re-elected,  only  one  new  member  being 
elected  to  fill  vacancy. 

Company  Stated  Its  Case 

A  special  edition  of  Electric  Railway 
Service,  the  official  publication  of  the 
Detroit  (Mich.)  United  Railway,  which 
was  suspended  with  the  June  17  issue, 
was  put  out  on  Nov.  5.  In  it  the  com- 
pany took  occasion  to  explain  the  ouster 
ordinance  which  was  placed  on  the 
ballot  for  the  Nov.  8  election.  This 
measure  was  concerned  with  car  serv- 
ice on  Fort  Street  and  Woodward 
Avenue.  In  referring  to  the  ouster 
ordinance  the  company's  publicity  de- 
partment stated  that  it  was  felt  that 
the  matter  of  service  on  the  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue  lines  was  so 
important  as  to  call  for  the  revival  of 
the  paper  in  a  special  edition. 

It  was  cited  that  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  had  taken  no  part  in  the 
political  fight  drawing  to  a  close  with 
the  election,  nor  was  the  company  mak- 
ing any  campaign  to  influence  the  elec- 
torate in  their  vote  on  the  ouster 
ordinance.  Attention  was  called  to 
certain  facts  because,  in  the  company's 
opinion,  the  effect  of  the  ouster  ordi- 
nance upon  the  people  of  Detroit  had 
not  been  as  fully  and  completely  dis- 
cussed in  the  public  press  as  so  vital  a 
measure  deserved. 

In  reviewing  the  conditions  it  was 
stated  that  the  Detroit  United  Railway 
had  refused  to  accept  $388,000  as  the 
price  for  the  Woodward  Avenue  line 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


877 


from  the  Grand  Belt  Line  on  Mil- 
waukee Avenue  to  the  Detroit  River, 
and  the  Port  Street  and  West  Jefferson 
lines  from  Artillery  Avenue  to  the 
eastern  terminals  of  these  lines,  in- 
cluding Cadillac  Square  turning  facili- 
ties. The  price  mentioned,  it  was 
pointed  out,  covered  not  only  the  tracks 
but  the  overhead  system  of  poles  and 
wires  as  well.    The  company  said: 

Should  the  ordinance  be  approved  by  a 
majority  of  the  voters  and  the  civic  author- 
ities insist  upon  it  being  made  effective, 
then  within  ten  days  after  the  vote  has 
been  declared  official,  which  will  probably 
be  Nov.  15,  the  company  must  stop  service 
and  within  ninety  days  the  property  will 
have  to  be  removed. 

Service  May  Be  Cut  Off 

The  company  sees  not  less  than  three 
months  of  confusion  depending  upon 
weather  conditions,  and  still  further 
delay  and  confusion  while  the  Street 
Railway  Commission  is  constructing 
new  tracks  to  replace  the  ones  torn 
up.  During  that  time,  it  is  cited,  street 
railway  service  to  and  from  the  north 
end  of  Woodward  Avenue  would  be 
cut  off.  • 

With  the  completion  of  the  city 
tracks,  car  riders  above  the  Grand 
Belt  line  would  have  to  pay  two  fares 
to  reach  the  heart  of  the  city  and 
congestion  would  be  greater  because 
of  the  cars  of  the  Hamilton,  Twelfth 
and  Linwood  lines  of  the  municipal 
railway  being  routed  over  Woodward 
Avenue  instead  of  the  present  routes. 
The  Fort  Street  and  Woodward  Avenue 
lines  are  referred  to  as  large  transfer 
lines  used  by  people  from  all  parts  of 
the  city.  The  final  warning  was  given 
that  the  company  would  not  accept  the 
city's  offer,  pointing  out  that  in  the 
1919  appraisal  of  the  properties  by 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  these 
tracks  were  valued  at  $2,500,000. 

In  denying  the  report  that  the  com- 
pany would  accept  the  city's  offer 
rather  than  spend  a  large  sum  in 
obeying  the  ordinance  if  it  were  ap- 
proved, the  fact  was  pointed  out  that 
there  is  an  underlying  mortgage  of 
$1,200,000  on  the  Fort  Street  line 
maturing  in  1924.  The  bonds  secured  by 
this  mortgage  were  in  the  hands  of 
the  public  before  the  line  was  purchased 
by  the  Detroit  United  Railway,  and  if 
the  company  accepted  $388,000  for  the 
parts  of  Woodward  and  Fort  lines 
mentioned  it  would  practically  mean 
more  than  half  the  amount  or  $194,000 
for  the  Fort  line.  There  would  be  a 
deficiency  of  more  than  $1,000,000  so 
that  if  the  company  is  to  lose  $1,000,000 
it  might  as  well  lose  the  entire  $1,200,- 
000,  it  is  cited. 

Holder  of  Mortgage  Brings  Suit 

The  Woodward  line  above  Pallister 
Avenue  cannot  be  secured  by  the  city 
except  by  agreement  for  years  to  come 
because  of  existing  franchises,  some  of 
which  have  been  granted  to  the  com- 
pany on  perpetual  terms.  The  question 
was  raised,  would  it  not,  therefore,  be 
better  for  the  people  of  Detroit  to  have 
the  price  to  be  paid  for  the  Fort  and 
Woodward  lines  arrived  at  by  arbitra- 
tion, all  things  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration, including  the  fact  that  the 
franchises  on  parts  of  the  lines  con- 
sidered have  expired? 

Suit  has  been  filed  in  the  Circuit 
Court  for  the  city  against  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  and  the  Guaranty  Trust 
Company,  New  York,  to  clear  title  to 
the  29  miles  of  so  called  day-to-day 
lines  which  are  to  be  taken  over  by  the 
city   according   to    recent  arbitration. 


The  Trust  Company  holds  the  mortgage 
on  the  Detroit  United  Railway  system 
and  refuses  to  release  mortgages  on  the 
track  and  equipment  upon  which  the 
arbitration  board  fixed  a  price.  The 
suit  filed  by  the  Corporation  Counsel 
will  determine  whether  the  Trust  Com- 
pany or  the  Detroit  United  Railway  is 
to  receive  the  money  for  the  day-to-day 
lines,  to  be  paid  according  to  the  terms 
of  the  arbitration. 


Transit  Plan  Hearing  Nov.  15 

Inquiry    Before   Commission    in  New 
York  Will  Continue  Three  Days 
a  Week 

The  Transit  Commission  of  New 
York  City  has  fixed  Tuesday,  Nov.  15, 
as  the  date  for  the  beginning  of  its 
public  examination  of  the  street  rail- 
way and  omnibus  companies,  and  has 
served  notice  upon  the  representatives 
of  each  of  the  companies  coming 
within  its  jurisdiction  to  appear  at  its 
offices,  at  11  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of 
that  day. 

The  commission  about  three  weeks 
ago  announced  that  it  would  make  no 
effort  to  proceed  with  these  examina- 
tions during  the  progress  of  the  city 
election  campaign.  It  declared  at  that 
time  that,  while  the  publication  of  the 
plan  in  outline  had  brought  forward 
some  suggestions  bound  to  prove  con- 
structive and  of  a  helpful  tendency, 
there  had,  on  the  other  hand,  been  a 
pronounced  disposition  in  some  quar- 
ters to  make  the  matter  a  football  of 
politics  through  the  employment  of 
prejudiced  misrepresentation  and  abuse 
in  place  of  dispassionate  inquiry. 

Politics  Eliminated 

The  commission  is  of  the  opinion  that 
the  subsequent  course  of  the  campaign 
has  fully  justified  this  view.  It  has 
been  convinced  that  any  attempt  to 
develop  the  plan  through  the  medium 
of  the  proposed  examinations  before 
the  end  of  the  campaign  would  have 
been  futile.  As  the  commission  has 
previously  pointed  out,  its  program  has 
nothing  to  do  with  current  politics,  and 
its  action  will  not  be  affected  either  one 
way  or  the  other  by  the  issue  of  the 
election.  Its  functions  are  clearly  de- 
fined by  law,  and  it  will  proceed,  im- 
mediately following  the  election,  as  the 
law  directs,  to  complete  its  general  plan 
of  reorganization  along  the  lines  it  has 
already  indicated. 

The  examination  of  the  companies 
is  likely  to  occupy  several  weeks.  The 
commission  plans  to  sit  on  Tuesday, 
Wednesday  and  Thursday  of  each  week 
until  this  stage  of  its  work  is  com- 
plete. It  will  then  be  prepared  to 
put  the  draft  of  its  plan  in  final  form 
for  submission  to  the  city  authorities 
and  to  the  several  companies  for  the 
formal  action  of  each. 

Under  the  law,  public  hearings  will 
be  held  upon  this  final  draft,  and  at 
various  other  stages  as  the  considera- 
tion of  the  plan  proceeds.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  the  commission  to  make 
these  hearings  as  broad  as  may  be  de- 
sired and  to  afford  the  fullest  oppor- 
tunity for  public  discussion  not  only 
of  the  plan  itself,  but  of  the  valuations 
to  be  placed  upon  such  railway  proper- 
ties as  may  be  taken  for  incorporation 
in  a  unified  system  and  the  processes 
through  which  these  valuations  are 
reached. 

The  commission,  as  it  has  already  an- 
nounced, will  require  as  a  primary  con- 
dition that  the  new  system,  when  put 


under  operation,  shall  retain  the  city- 
wide  5-cent  fare.  It  is,  moreover,  con- 
fident that  if  its  plan  is  adopted  and 
the  cost  eliminations  and  economies  it 
has  in  view  are  made  possible,  the  five- 
cent  fare  will  be  retained  without 
future  disturbance. 

The  order  of  the  commission  direct- 
ing the  attendance  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  railroad  and  omnibus  com- 
panies was  served  upon  nearly  eighty 
companies  and  individuals  representing 
those  companies,  covering  every  street 
railroad  in  the  city,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Hudson  &  Manhattan  Railroad. 
Receivers,  where  there  are  such,  were 
also  served. 


Maximum  Pay  at  Louisville 
Forty-three  Cents 

The  wage  scale  for  platform  em- 
ployees in  effect  on  the  lines  of  the 
Louisville  (Ky.)  Railway  was  incor- 
rectly stated  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Nov.  5.  The  sched- 
ule for  city  operation  (in  cents  per 
hour)  is  as  follows: 


First    year  33 

Second  year  35 

Third  year  37 

Fourth  year  39 

Fifth    year  i  41 

After  the   fifth   year  43 


For  interurban  operation  the  s?ale  is 
1  cent  per  hour  over  the  above  rates. 


Election  Results  of  Nov.  8 

The  traction  issue  was  injected 
into  the  political  campaigns  in  New 
York,  Bridgeport  and  Youngstown  to  a 
greater  extent  perhaps  than  in  any  of 
the  other  cities  except  Detroit,  to  which 
reference  is  made  elsewhere  in  this 
issue. 

In  New  York  Mayor  Hylan,  the  pro- 
nounced advocate  of  the  5-cent  fare, 
was  re-elected  with  an  overwhelming 
plurality.  He  defeated  for  office  Henry 
H.  Curran,  who  in  a  last  hour  an- 
nouncement threatened  to  undo  some  of 
the  work  of  the  Legislature  of  last  year 
in  passing  a  bill  creating  the  New  York 
Transit  Commission,  under  which  Gov- 
ernor Miller  hopes  to  bring  about  a  set- 
tlement of  the  traction  situation  in  New 
York. 

In  Bridgeport,  where  the  battle  be- 
tween the  trolleys  and  the  jitneys  has 
been  waged  for  several  years,  Mayor 
Wilson  went  before  the  people  on  the 
avowed  platform  of  jitneys  and  the 
5-cent  fare.  His  opponent,  Mr.  At- 
water,  was  reticent  about  the  traction 
situation,  but  indicated  that  any  moves 
made  by  him  in  connection  with  this 
matter  would  be  taken  only  after  a  full 
study  had  been  made  of  all  the  details 
entering  into  the  situation.  The  people 
of  Bridgeport  evidently  want  the  trac- 
tion situation  settled  in  a  business-like 
manner,  for  they  have  voted  Mr.  At- 
water  into  office. 

At  Youngstown  George  L.  Oles  has 
been  elected  Mayor.  Mr.  Oles  is  re- 
garded as  something  of  an  eccentric. 
He  would  turn  the  streets  over  to  the 
jitneys  and  jail  citizens  who  pay  taxes 
under  the  recent  revaluation.  He  con- 
ducted a  whirlwind  campaign  extending 
over  a  period  of  several  weeks,  in  which 
he  called  to  his  aid  every  device  of  the 
publicity  promoter.  Mr.  Oles  is  a  local 
merchant  of  Youngstown  and  although 
he  has  lived  for  many  years  outside  the 
city  limits  he  removed  to  that  city  in 
time  to  take  up  his  residence  and  qual- 
ify for  election  to  office. 


878 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Uniform  System  Proposed 

California  State  Railroad  Commission 
Recommends  Uniform  Accounting 
for  All  Motor  Utilities 

Frequently  the  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission of  California  meets  with 
attendant  delay  in  trying  cases  of 
motor  freight,  passenger,  express  and 
mail-carrying  lines  that  operate  on  the 
public  highways  in  the  state,  as  the 
majority  of  motor  utilities  do  not  keep 
their  books  in  sufficient  shape  to  permit 
the  commission's  accountants  properly 
to  analyze  the  claims  of  the  utilities  for 
an  increase  in  rates.  The  Railroad  Com- 
mission has  full  jurisdiction  of  these 
motor  transportation  lines  as  to  regu- 
lation of  rates,  operating  schedules  and 
other  fixed  rules.  Therefore,  the  com- 
mission took  it  upon  itself  to  prepare 
a  uniform  system  of  classification  of 
accounts  and  recommend  that  it  be  put 
in  force  and  be  complied  with.  On  Aug. 
19,  1921,  the  commission  forwarded  its 
tentative  form  of  a  system  of  accounts 
to  every  auto  freight  and  passenger- 
carrying  line  within  the  State,  asking 
that  the  carrier  comment  upon  and 
criticise  the  proposed  schedule  of  ac- 
counts. 

The  proposed  plan  as  worked  up  by 
the  commission  was  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  this  type  of  carrier  as  much  as 
possible,  so  that  he  could  keep  his  books 
in  such  shape  to  tell  how  he  stood  as 
to  making  or  losing  money  in  his 
business.  After  the  commission  con- 
sidered that  the  tentative  schedule  of 
accounts  had  been  in  the  carriers' 
possession  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
two  meetings  were  scheduled  to  hear 
the  carriers'  views  as  to  accepting  the 
proposed  classification;  however,  the 
commission  made  it  known  that  the 
system  of  accounts  was  not  to  be  forced 
upon  the  carriers. 

It  was  known  that  several  of  the 
larger  motor  utilities  were  keeping 
their  books  under  some  sort  of  system 
of  uniform  accounting,  but  the  com- 
mission desired  to  adopt  a  system  uni- 
form to  all.  The  first  hearing  was  held 
at  San  Francisco  on  Oct.  24  for  the  car- 
riers in  the  northern  part  of  the  state 
and  a  second  hearing  was  held  in  Los 
Angeles  on  Nov.  1  for  the  southern 
section.  At  the  northern  hearing  little 
opposition  was  met,  as  practically  all 
the  ( carriers  entertained  the  commis- 
sion's plans;  however,  one  carrier  op- 
posed showing  in  any  one  month  his 
returns  under  income  accounts  for 
revenue  returns  from  sale  of  round- 
trip  tickets.  He  desired  to  show  in 
his  monthly  income  account  report  to 
the  commission  the  revenue  from  actual 
haul  and  to  carry  the  revenue  unac- 
counted as  yet  from  the  return  portion 
of  the  round-trip  ticket  in  a  suspense 
account  until  services  had  been  ren- 
dered for  the  other  portion  of  this 
class  of  ticket.  This  privilege  met  with 
the  favor  of  the  commission  and  other 
carriers  so  affected. 

The  commission's  tentative  schedule 
is  in  some  manner  similar  to  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission's  uniform 
system  of  classification  of  accounts  as 
prescribed  for  electric  lines.  The  com- 
mission divided  it  into  two  classes — 
Class  A  and  Class  B.  Class  A  is  for 
companies  whose  revenues  are  in  excess 
of  $20,000  per  annum,  while  Class  B 
is  for  companies  whose  revenues  are 
for  only  $20,000  or  less. 

The  commission  only  outlined  a  sys- 
tem of  accounts  for  Class  A  companies, 
stating  that  it  was  so  generally  pre- 


pared that  it  could  be  applied  to  both 
classes;  however,  the  commission 
stated  that  it  was  optional  with  the 
Class  A  companies  to  set  up  a  subdi- 
vision of  the  accounts  as  outlined  by 
the  commission,  as  the  commission 
realized  that  the  larger  carriers  had 
more  complex  problems  of  accounting 
than  the  smaller  companies. 

In  the  hearing  at  Los  Angeles  one 
of  the  largest  motor  utilities  operating 
out  of  Los  Angeles  desired  that  the 
commission  elaborate  upon  its  tentative 
schedule  of  accounts.  The  commission's 
schedule  includes  asset  and  liability  ac- 
counts, income  accounts,  revenue  and 
expense  accounts.  This  carrier  con- 
tended for  privilege  to  keep  its  ac- 
counts by  lines,  so  in  cases  of  applica- 
tion for  rate  changes  the  true  cost  of 
operation  and  income  of  particular  lines 
could  be  determined. 

The  carrier  also  contended  that  the 
commission's  depreciation  account 
should  be  broadened  to  include  obsoles- 
cence of  motor  equipment,  as  there 
was  a  constant  improvement  in  types 
of  motor  buses  and  trucks,  and  that 
frequent  changes  in  motors  were  re- 
quired to  get  more  mileage  at  less  cost. 

Likewise,  the  prediction  of  any  pos- 
sibility of  changing  from  gas-driven 
motor  cars  to  other  types  due  to  fuel 
situation  and  other  modern  improve- 
ments in  motor  cars.  Also,  it  was  asked 
that  some  provisions  be  made  for  an 
account  to  cover  motive  power,  as  dif- 
ference types  of  motors  were  used  on 
various  equipment.  Such  motors  are 
changed  from  time  to  time  for  im- 
proved types,  and  the  cost  of  these 
changes  snd  maintenance  should  be  ac- 
counted for. 

Objection  was  also  made  to  the  com- 
mission's miscellaneous  account  carry- 
ing insurance  of  all  classes.  It  was 
asked  that  an  account  known  as  "Loss 
and  Damage"  should  be  added  to  cover 
insurance  carried  on  damage  or  in- 
jury to  others'  property  or  person.  The 
general  insurance  account  would  then 
cover  insurance,  buildings  and  car- 
houses. 

The  tax  accounts  were  reviewed. 
There  was  little  opposition  as  to  the 
commission's  plans  to  have  the  state 
and  local  taxes  deducted  from  the 
operating  expenses,  while  the  account- 
ing schedule  provided  that  the  federal 
taxes  be  deducted  from  the  income  ac- 
count. In  this  respect  the  commission 
followed  to  some  extent  its  classifica- 
tion of  accounts  that  has  been  effective 
for  some  years  for  gas,  electric  light 
and  water  corporations. 

At  the  close  of  the  hearings  the 
commission  stated  that  it  was  its  in- 
tention to  draft  a  classification  of  ac- 
counts and  to  make  it  effective  as  soon 
as  possible.  The  commissions  ac- 
countants are  to  call  on  all  the  motor 
utilities  to  instruct  and  aid  them  in 
installing  this  new  uniform  system  of 
accounts. 


Public  Ownership  Recommended 

The  public  utilities  committee  of  the 
Board  of  City  Development  of  Amarillo, 
Tex.,  through  its  chairman  J.  N.  Riggs, 
has  filed  its  report  recommending  public 
ownership  of  all  public  utilities,  includ- 
ing street  car  lines,  in  that  city.  There 
has  been  considerable  dissatisfaction  in 
Amarillo  over  the  street  car  service 
and  the  line  has  been  placed  in  receiver- 
ship and  service  discontinued  for  a 
time.  The  people  of  the  city  finally 
took  the  lines  over  and  are  now  operat- 
ing them. 


"No  Smoking  Allowed" 

The  Chicago  Journal  recently  pub- 
lished the  following  dialogue  which 
contains  a  significant  moral  presented 
in  an  effective  way  and  perhaps  of 
special  interest  from  the  standpoint  of 
merchandising  transportation. 

(Scene:  The  front  platform  of  a  street 
car.  Typical  hard-boiled  motorman  is 
gossiping  with  passenger.  Second  passen- 
ger enters  from  car  smoking  a  cigarette. 
Motorman  glares  at  cigarette  and  then  at 
sign  "No  Smoking  Allowed  on  Platform." 
Second  passenger  continues  to  smoke  with 
studied  indifference.) 

Motorman  (continuing  conversation  with 
first  passenger)  :  When  the  union  tells  me 
to  walk  out,  I  walk. 

First  Passenger :  Ha,  ha  !  So  does  every- 
body else. 

Motorman  (glaring  at  second  passenger)  : 
Y'can't  smoke  out  here,  buddy. 

Second  Passenger:  Why? 

Motorman  (savagely)  :  It's  against  the 
rule.  No  smoking,  see?  Can't  you  read 
that  sign? 

Second  Passenger  (calmly)  :  Sure  enough, 
you  have  a  sign.  How  droll.  But  tell  me, 
my  good  man,  you  don't  care  for  the  rules, 
do  you? 

Motorman  (triumphantly)  :  Oh,  don't  I, 
though.  I'll  say  I  do. 

Second  Passenger  (nonchalantly) :  Well, 
well.  That's  quaint.  I'd  never  suspected 
it.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  since  I  have  been 
standing  here  you've  violated  five  of  the 
company's  rules. 

Motorman  (sputtering)  :  I — I- — wad  d'ye 
mean,  huh? 

Second  Passenger  (taking  a  deep  puff 
and  exhaling  slowly)  :  Well,  in  the  first 
place  you  were  talking  to  that  passenger. 
Motormen  are  forbidden  to  talk  to  pas- 
sengers while  on  duty.  As  you  would  say, 
"Can't  you  read  that  sign?" 

Motorman  (flushes)  :  I — I — 
•  Second  Passenger:  Exactly.  Also,  as  I 
stood  here  you  spit  on  the  floor.  That  is 
not  only  against  the  company's  rule,  but 
it  is  a  violation  of  the  city  ordinance  as 
well,  punishable  by  a  fine  of  $5  to  $25.. 

Motorman   (gasping)  :   Why — why — 

Second  Passenger  (lighting  another  ciga- 
rette) :  Also,  you  started  your  car  back 
there  about  six  blocks  before  you  got  the 
bell.  Also,  you  started  your  car  on  the 
last  corner  before  a  passenger  had  alighted 
and  your  door  was  closed.  Would  you 
like  to  hear  the  other  one? 

Motorman:  Say.  who  are  you,  anyway? 

Second  Passenger  (exhaling  reflectively)  : 
You  needn't  be  alarmed.  I'm  not  a  spot- 
ter. But  I  would  suggest  that  in  the  future 
you  observe  a  few  rules  yourself  before 
you  impose  them  on  the  public  and,  what's 
more  important  still,  that  you  learn  to 
speak  courteously  instead  of  hollering  like 
a  Comanche  at  a  passenger  who  may  be, 
as  I  was,  unaware  that  smoking  on  the 
front  platform  was  no  longer  allowed.  Next 
corner,  please. 

Motorman  (as  he  lets  second  passen- 
ger off)  :  Well,  I'll  be — 


Predicts  Electric  and  Steam  Lines 

Will  Handle  Freight  Traffic 

J.  L.  O'Tooie  of  the  Public  Service 
Railway,  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  speaking 
recently  before  the  New  Jersey  Indus- 
trial Traffic  League,  said  that  day 
would  undoubtedly  arrive  when  electric 
lines  will  be  used  in  a  co-operative 
plan  with  the  steam  railroads  and 
with  motor  lines  for  the  movement  of 
freight. 

Mr.  O'Tooie  told  of  a  law  passed 
years  ago  giving  street  railways  the 
right  to  carry  freight  in  municipalities 
where  sanction  was  given  by  the  gov- 
erning body.  It  was  later  amended  so 
that  the  permission  of  municipalities 
of  less  than  12,000  population  was  not 
necessary,  and  again  at  a  later  date 
permission  was  given  electric  rail- 
ways to  carry  freight  from  11  o'clock 
at  night  to  6  o'clock  in  the  morning 
without  approval  of  municipalities. 

Mr.  O'Tooie  stressed  the  fact  that 
the  investment  of  as  much  money  as 
this  plan  would  require  was  not  war- 
ranted at  this  time. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


879 


Indiana  Commission  to  Decide 
Paving  Question 

The  Indiana  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion will  be  asked  to  decide  whether  the 
Indianapolis  Street  Railway  will  be  re- 
quired to  pay  paving  costs  between 
tracks  in  the  future.  This  is  in  accord- 
ance with  an  agreement  reached  re- 
cently at  a  conference  between  repre- 
sentatives of  the  company  and  members 
of  the  board  of  public  works.  Mark  H. 
Miller,  chairman  of  the  board  of  works, 
said  that  orders  are  being  entered  for 
the  railway  to  pave  between  tracks  on 
four  streets  now  being  paved  for  the 
first  time.  Dr.  Henry  Jameson,  chair- 
man of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
company,  who  was  accompanied  at  the 
conference  by  Robert  I.  Todd,  president 
and  general  manager,  said  that  the  mat- 
ter will  be  referred  to  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Commission  as  soon  as  notice  is  re- 
ceived by  the  company  for  paving. 

Samuel  Ashby,  city  corporation  coun- 
sel, agreed  that  the  points  in  dispute 
should  be  settled  by  the  commission  at 
once.  The  company  was  required  to  pay 
paving  costs  in  the  old  franchise  which 
was  surrendered  on  June  4,  when  the 
company  relinquished  its  franchise  in 
order  to  operate  under  state  control. 
Provisions  of  an  ordinance  just  passed 
by  the  City  Council  continues  in  effect 
all  terms  of.  the  old  franchise  except 
those  inconsistent  with  powers  of  the 
State. 

Under  the  public  utilities  law  of  1913 
the  company  takes  the  stand  that  orders 
for  paving  between  tracks  are  unreas- 
onable. A  number  of  service  questions 
were  up  for  discussion  at  the  confer- 
ence for  the  first  time  since  the  fran- 
chise was  surrendered  early  last  sum- 
mer. Among  them  was  extension  of 
the  College  Avenue  line  from  Forty- 
sixth  Street  to  the  city  limits,  just  south 
of  Fifty-second  Street.  The  board  is- 
sued an  order  for  the  extension. 


The  Real  Gist  of  It 

At  the  hearing  in  Hartford  before 
the  Public  Service  Commission  to  which 
reference  was  made  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  Oct.  29,  page 
798,  the  experience  of  the  Connecticut 
Company  in  running  autos  was  com- 
mented on.  In  alluding  to  the  facts 
then  brought  out  the  New  Haven 
Register  said: 

It  is  the  testimony  of  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany that  motor  omnibus  lines  cost  more 
than  trolley  lines.  Most  of  these  lines  it 
is  running  at  a  loss,  it  testifies.  This  is 
easily  believable,  nor  is  it  surprising.  The 
company  can  afford  to  run  some  of  them 
at  a  loss,  if  necessary,  as  feeders  for  its 
electric  lines.  Some  of  these  short  lines 
are  transfer  lines  only,  taking  in  little  or  no 
cash.  The  company  has  established  them 
in  response  to  a  demand  and  to  save  the 
expense  of  laying  new  lines  of  track. 

But  the  testimony  of  the  Connecticut 
Company  on  its  experience  in  running  bus 
lines  should  furnish  something  for  the  two 
ardent  jitney  enthusiasts,  who  talk  about 
substituting  jitneys  for  trolleys  altogether, 
to  think  about.  It  may  be  questioned 
whether  the  Connecticut  Company  has  uni- 
formly made  a  success  of  the  transporta- 
tion business,  but  at  least  it  has  had  ex- 
perience. If  it  cannot  make  short  lines, 
vshere  the  jitney  has  everything  to  itself, 
pay,  can  others? 

The  Connecticut  Company  does  not  talk 
of  discontinuing  these  non-paying  lines.  It 
can  afford  to  keep  on  losing  money  on  thern, 
providing  it  can  get  the  business  on  its 
rail  lines.  But  supposing  it  were  an  inde- 
pendent company  or  an  individual  con- 
cerned. Would  not  it  be  likely  to  discon- 
tinue forthwith  lines  that  were  losing 
money?  That  to  do  that  would  deprive  per- 
sons in  a  certain  locality  of  transportation 
altogether  and  without  warning  would  not 
be  a  consideration.  The  brusque  answer 
would  be  that  the  jitney  owners  were  not 
running  lines  to  amuse  the  public,  but  to 


make  money.  The  trolley  company  has 
certain  charter  responsibilities  which  do 
not  circumscribe  the  jitney  operator.  This 
essential  difference  is  something  for  the 
serious  consideration  of  those  who  think 
w'e  should  all  be  assured  of  unlimited 
happiness  in  the  event  of  killing  off  the 
trolley  with  the  jitney. 


"Legion  Number  of  The 

Railwayan" 

Having  some  1,500  ex-service  men  in 
its  employ,  the  Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Rail- 
ways has  published  a  special  issue  of 
the  Railwayan  devoted  to  them  and  in 
honor  of  the  occasion  of  the  third  an- 
nual convention  of  the  American 
Legion  held  in  Kansas  City  last  week. 
The  issue  contains  eighty-six  pages  of 
pictures  of  the  employees  who  served 
in  the  great  war,  various  scenes  taken 
during  the  struggle,  numerous  stories 
covering  the  incidents  of  service  of 
various  employees  and  stories  of  some 
of  the  outstanding  engagements.  The 
magazine  forms  a  souvenir  which  will 
be  of  immense  interest  to  the  ex- 
soldiers  now  engaged  in  the  street  rail- 


Cover  op  Contribution  of  Railway  to 
Legion  Convention  Publicity 


way  service,  and  it  is  a  great  credit  to 
those  who  are  responsible  for  its  com- 
pilation and  publication. 

Approximately  100,000  visitors  were 
expected  to  be  in  Kansas  City  during 
the  convention,  which,  added  to  the 
regular  business  handled  by  the  street 
railways,  meant  a  considerable  under- 
taking to  provide  adequate  transporta- 
tion. In  addition,  at  the  end  of  the 
Sunset  Hill  car  line,  there  was  one  of 
the  greatest  flying  machine  contests 
ever  held,  which  again  multiplied  the 
task  of  the  company.  More  than 
seventy  airplanes  of  different  makes 
were  entered  and  a  crowd  of  sixty  to 
seventy-five  thousand  people  attended. 


Curtailment  Policy  Under  Way — 

Railway  Still  Reports  Deficits 

General  business  depression  and  a  25 
per  cent  reduction  in  traffic  have  been 
the  reasons  for  the  monthly  deficits  re- 
ported by  the  Wilmington  &  Philadel- 
phia Traction  Company,  Wilmington, 
Del.  This  opinion  was  recently  ex- 
pressed by  T.  W.  Wilson,  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  property, 
who  appeared  before  the  Board  of  Pub- 
lic Utility  Commissioners  in  response 


to  the  board's  request  to  explain  the 
deficits. 

Mr.  Wilson  said  the  company  was 
doing  everything  it  could  to  reduce 
the  deficit,  that  every  department  was 
showing  some  curtailment;  the  month 
of  September  was  a  far  better  month 
than  August  and  that  he  was  hopeful 
for  the  future. 

The  commissioners  with  Mr.  Wilson 
and  company  officials  discussed  the 
earnings  of  the  various  lines,  type  of 
equipment  and  the  burdensome  subur- 
ban routes.  When  the  conference  was 
terminated  the  commission  thanked  the 
traction  officials  for  their  co-operation. 


News  Notes 


New  Wage  Scale  Proposed. — Discus- 
sion of  a  new  wage  scale  to  go  into 
effect  Nov.  15  has  been  started  be- 
tween the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction 
Company  and  the  Electrical  Workers' 
Union.  The  traction  company  proposes 
a  30  per  cent  wage  reduction.  Foremen 
now  receive  971  cents  an  hour  and 
linemen  87g  cents.  The  union  asks  for 
a  10  per  cent  increase. 

Oil  Production  Drops. — -According  to 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey  oil 
production  in  September  fell  off  con- 
siderably in  comparison  with  output  of 
August  and  September  a  year  ago.  The 
average  daily  barrels  in  September, 
1921,  was  1,215,633,  against  1,321,484 
just  the  month  previous.  The  total  pro- 
duction in  September  was  36,469,000, 
against  37,889,000  in  September,  1920, 
and  40,966,000  in  August,  1921. 

Emergency  Service  Supplied. — When 
pressed  for  cars  during  the  Harvard- 
Princeton  football  game  at  Princeton 
on  Nov.  5  the  New  Jersey  &  Pensyl- 
vania  Traction  Company  placed  a  mon- 
ster freight  car  in  service  for  the  trans- 
portation of  passengers.  It  was  the 
first  time  that  the  company  has  had  to 
resort  to  using  a  freight  car  for  pas- 
sengers and  it  worked  very  satisfac- 
torily. 

One-Man  Cars  to  Be  Operated. — The 

British  Columbia  Electric  Railway,  Van- 
couver, B.  C,  will  soon  put  in  opera- 
tion about  thirty  new  one-man  cars, 
which  have  cost  more  than  $150,000. 
Resort  to  this  operation  is  the  result 
of  decreased  revenue.  The  first  cars  of 
this  type  will  be  run  in  North  Van- 
couver, Victoria,  Westminster  and  out- 
lying districts  of  Vancouver  where 
traffic  is  not  heavy. 

Franchise  Extensions  Granted. — The 
City  Commission  of  Dallas,  Tex.,  has 
again  granted  extension  of  time  on 
the  franchises  granted  the  Dallas 
Southwestern  Traction  Company  and 
the  Dallas  Northwestern  Traction  Com- 
pany. Original  grant  of  these  fran- 
chises, which  contemplated  the  build- 
ing of  two  interurban  lines  out  of 
Dallas,  one  toward  the  southwest  and 
the  other  toward  the  northwest,  was 
made  in  1906,  and  extensions  of  time 
have  been  granted  yearly  since  the  first 
expiration.  E.  P.  Turner  of  Dallas  is 
named  as  president  of  the  two  com- 
panies. Mr.  Turner  assigns  tightness 
of  the  money  market  and  the  high  cost 
of  materials  and  labor  as  the  reasons 
for  the  company  not  building  the  lines 
immediately. 


880 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Readjustment  Planned 

Present    Financial    Structure    of  the 
Eastern    Massachusetts  Precludes 
Success,  Say  Trustees 

The  public  trustees  of  the  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway  in  a 
statement  issued  to  bondholders  and 
stockholders  said  that  they  are  con- 
vinced the  company  cannot  become  a 
financial  success  with  its  present  capital 
structure.  They  have  formulated  a  plan 
which  has  been  approved  by  the  largest 
holders  of  each  class  of  securities. 

Briefly  the  readjustment  is  made  nec- 
essary by  the  fact  that  during  the  two 
years  and  more  which  it  has  taken  the 
trustees  to  put  the  property  in  good 
physical  condition,  and  in  a  position  to 
earn  the  "cost  of  service,"  charges  have 
been  accumulating  in  the  form  of  de- 
ferred bond  interest  and  cumulative  div- 
idends. The  trustees  are  strongly  of 
the  opinion  that  the  credit  of  the  com- 
pany can  be  restored  and  maintained 
only  by  refunding  the  deferred  interest 
on  bonds,  removing  the  accumulations 
from  the  various  classes  of  stocks  and 
placing  the  company  in  a  situation 
where  surplus  earnings  each  year  over 
the  bond  interest  I'equirements  may  be 
used  for  payment  of  dividends. 

The  new  plan  provides  that  the  $976,- 
590  of  extended  coupons  of  refunding 
mortgage  bonds,  Series  A,  B,  C  and  D, 
are  to  be  canceled  and  the  penalty 
waived  in  exchange  for  $732,442  in  one 
to  seven-year  6  per  cent  serial  bonds 
with  a  State  guarantee,  payable  Feb- 
ruary, 1923,  through  1929.  The  $739,- 
000  Series  D;  $500,000  Series  E  refund- 
ing bonds  of  1925  and  $972,000  Series 
D  refunding  bonds  of  1927  are  to  be 
extended  to  1948.  The  sinking  fund 
stock  is  to  be  exchanged  for  first  pre- 
ferred stock  eliminating  sinking  fund 
and  to  receive  $518,240  in  common 
stock  for  dividends  to  Feb.  1,  1922. 

The  first  preferred  stock  is  to  receive 
$138,884  in  common  stock  for  dividends 
accrued  to  Feb.  15,  1922.  In  the  case  of 
the  preferred  B  stock  the  dividends  ac- 
cumulated to  Feb.  1,  1922,  are  to  be 
canceled.  The  adjustment  stock  is  to 
be  made  non-cumulative  and  dividends 
accumulated  to  Feb.  1,  1922  canceled. 
The  plan  provides  for  $657,123  of  com- 
mon stock  either  by  a  surrender  of 
stock  or  reduction  in  par  value.  This 
would  reduce  shares  held  by  common 
stock  holders  by  about  10  per  cent. 

Under  the  trustee  plan  now  in  effect 
the  company  can  have  a  net  round  in- 
come applicable  to  fixed  charges  and 
stock  dividends  of  only  $2,400,000.  Any 
increased  revenue  must  be  applied  to- 
ward a  reduction  of  fares.  Notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  the  company  is 
now  earning  its  cost  of  service  it  has 
not  been  able  to  pay  interest  on  series 
A,  B,  C  and  D  of  its  refunding  mort- 
gage bonds  during  1920.  This  deferred 
interest  amounts  to  $976,590  and  ma- 
tures Dec.  31,  1925. 

On  Jan.  1  of  each  year  from  1922  to 
1929  inclusive  $300,000  of  the  serial 
refunding  bonds,  the  principal  of  which 
is  guaranteed  by  the  state,  becomes 
due.  The  first  two  maturities  of  $50,- 
000  each  due  Jan.  1,  1920  and  1921,  al- 
though paid  by  the  State,  must  be  re- 


paid out  of  the  first  income  otherwise 
applicable  to  dividends. 

Including  the  $300,000  of  serial  bonds 
and  the  $100,000  already  refunded  by 
the  State  the  company  has  obligations 
of  $12,112,908  which  will  mature  before 
1930.  The  trustee  plan  does  not  pro- 
vide for  the  refunding  of  the  major  por- 
tion of  these  obligations  nor  does  the 
act  permit  it  except  in  accordance  with 
the  general  laws  of  the  State,  which  do 
not  allow  bond  issues  in  excess  of  the 
paid-in  capital. 

In  the  light  of  actual  experience  the 
1919  reorganization  plan  was  too  hope- 
ful of  immediate  results.  The  trustees 
believe  that  if  the  company  is  to  be  put 
in  a  position  to  meet  or  refund  its 
obligations  as  they  become  due  steps 
must  be  taken  immediately  to  establish 
sound  credit.  In  order  to  do  this  the 
preferred  stocks  must  be  put  on  a  divi- 
dend-paying basis  in  the  near  future. 
So  that  as  it  becomes  necessary  to 
sell  additional  stock  prior  issues  will 
have  had  a  creditable  dividend  record. 

Under  existing  conditions  there  is  not 
the  slightest  prospect  of  any  dividend 
being  paid  upon  any  class  of  stock  for 
an  indefinite  period,  and  no  payments 
can  be  made  to  the  sinking  fund  for  the 
redemption  of  sinking  fund  stock  until 
all  dividends  on  the  first  preferred  and 
sinking  fund  stocks  have  been  paid. 


Government  Denies  Claim 

The  United  States  Government 
through  the  War  Department  has  re- 
fused the  claim  of  the  Georgia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga., 
to  recover  the  sum  of  $123,363,  which 
has  been  the  net  loss  to  the  company 
for  building  the  Camp  Gordon  line. 

In  his  claim,  which  was  submitted 
last  August  President  Arkwright  of 
the  power  company  said  that  the  gov- 
ernment was  anxious  to  have  electric 
railway  service  to  the  camp  and  it 
was  supposed  that  the  camp  would  be 
maintained  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  justify  the  expenditure.  A  portion 
of  the  line  to  Oglethorpe  University 
will  be  retained.  The  application  made 
by  the  railway  for  the  reimbursement 
was  along  the  same  lines  offered  by 
the  city  of  Atlanta  in  seeking  a  re- 
covery of  investment  in  the  water  mains 
to  the  camp. 


October  Operation  Successful 
in  Toledo 

The  operations  of  the  Community 
Traction  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  for 
the  month  of  October  will  show  a  sur- 
plus of  nearly  $20,000,  which  will  take 
care  of  all  deficits  in  various  funds  set 
up  with  the  exception  of  the  stabilizing 
fund.  It  is  expected  that  a  gain  will  be 
made  in  that  fund  during  November. 

The  sinking  fund,  which  represents 
cash  ownership  of  the  lines  by  the  city, 
is  now  at  $159,375. 

The  stabilizing  fund  is  $53,333.  It 
started  in  February  at  $400,000.  There 
is  not  much  chance  of  the  car  fares 
going  higher  since  Commissioner  W.  E. 
Cann's  preliminary  figures  for  October 
operation  have  more  than  held  good. 
A  raise  in  fare  was  contingent  upon  the 
operation  for  that  month. 


Opposition  on  Abandonment 
Voiced 

Opposition  has  developed  in  a  number 
of  quarters  to  the  proposal  of  the 
Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  to  aban- 
don three  branch  lines  of  its  system. 
Application  filed  with  the  State  Public 
Utilities  Commission  has  elicited  pro- 
test from  Prosecuting  Attorney  John 
R.  King  of  Franklin  county,  who  prom- 
ises to  fight  the  application  before  the 
commission. 

Contests  are  also  predicted  on  the 
part  of  several  concerns  which  are 
served  with  power  by  the  company, 
who  will  be  deprived  of  such  service 
if  the  lines  in  question  are  abandoned. 

The  application  was  filed  by  J.  H. 
McClure,  receiver  for  the  company. 
The  commission  has  assigned  the  matter 
for  hearing  on  Dec.  14, 

The  protest  of  Prosecutor  King  is 
directed  toward  abandonment  of  the 
line  from  Columbus  to  Orient,  a 
distance  of  12.1  miles.  This  single 
track  line  was  built  in  1900-1901  and 
obtained  a  franchise  from  the  Colum- 
bus city  council  in  July,  1909,  expiring 
in  1934.  The  line  was  leased  by  the 
Ohio  Electric  Interurban  Company  Aug. 
31,  1917  and  operated  by  that  company 
until  Jan.  25,  1921,  when  it  was  taken 
over  by  B.  J.  Jones,  receiver  for  the 
Ohio  Electric  and  operated  under  his 
management  until  July  15.  After  that 
time  Mr.  McClure,  appointed  receiver 
for  the  I.,  C.  &  E.,  took  charge  of  the 
branch  line,  the  lease  to  the  Ohio  Elec- 
tric having  been  cancelled  by  order  of 
the  Federal  court  for  the  Southern 
Ohio  district  Aug.  5.  On  Oct.  18  the 
court  ordered  the  line  to  be  abandoned 
and  the  application  to  the  state  com- 
mission followed. 

The  other  lines  which  the  company 
seeks  to  discontinue  are;  from  Carlisle 
Junction  to  New  Carlisle,  a  4.22-mile 
single  track,  the  franchise  on  which 
expires  in  1924,  and  the  single  line 
from  Lima  to  Defiance,  covering  a  dis- 
tance of  39.92  miles,  originally  char- 
tered as  a  steam  road,  electrified  and 
reconstructed  in  1907.  Its  franchise 
expires  in  1932.  The  matter  was  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Oct.  22. 

Net  Income  Increases  in 
September 

An  increase  of  more  than  $113,000 
in  net  income  is  shown  by  the  com- 
parative statement  of  operations  for 
September,  1921,  compared  with  Sep- 
tember, 1920,  filed  recently  by  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J., 
with  the  Board  of  Public  Utility  Com- 
missioners. The  net  income  for  Septem- 
ber of  last  year  showed  a  deficit  of 
$104,495.  A  favorable  balance  of 
$9,175  was  reported  for  September, 
1921,  a  gain  of  more  than  $113,000. 

Revenue  from  transportation  in 
September  of  this  year  amounted  to 
$2,082,808,  compared  with  $2,227,081 
for  September,  1920.  The  total  oper- 
ating revenue  for  September  was  $2,- 
130,458,  compared  with  $2,273,032  for 
the  corresponding  month  of  last  year. 

Cost  of  conducting  transportation 
decreased  from  $820,112  for  September 
of  last  year  to  $625,598  last  month. 
The  decrease  was  mainly  due  to  a  re- 
duction in  the  amount  paid  for  wages. 
In  September  of  last  year  the  wages  of 
passenger  conductors,  motormen  and 
trainmen  amounted  to  $621,834,  com- 
pared with  $460,381  in  September,  1921. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


881 


Large  Loss  Likely 

$2,453,726  Deficit  Probable  in  1921  If 
Seattle   Operates   Municipal  Rail- 
way at  Five-Cent  Fare 

In  a  report  to  Mayor  Hugh  M.  Cald- 
well and  the  City  Council  D.  W.  Hen- 
derson, Superintendent  of  Railways, 
stated  recently  that  a  5-cent  fare  on 
the  Seattle  (Wash.)  Municipal  Rail- 
way would  result  in  a  deficit  in  the  year 
1922  of  $2,453,726.  This  figure  was 
based  on  an  estimated  increase  of  3 
per  cent  in  the  number  of  riders  under 
the  reduced  fare  and  taking  into  con- 
sideration Councilman  C.  B.  Fitzger- 
ald's proposal  of  transfer  privilege  on 
85-cent  tokens. 

The  estimated  revenues,  under  the 
Fitzgerald  plan,  according  to  Mr.  Hen- 
derson's figures,  would  be  $4,452,033, 
while  the  estimated  cost  of  operating 
the  railway  next  year  is  $6,905,760. 
The  report  prepared  by  Mr.  Henderson 
follows: 


is  a  falling  off  of  4,807  pay  passengers 
compared  with  June,  notwithstanding 
that  during  the  last  half  of  September 
no  jitneys  were  being  operated. 

Mr.  Henderson,  who  recently  re- 
turned from  a  trip  through  eastern 
cities,  submitted  to  the  Council  data 
showing  that  the  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  car  riders  is  not  confined  to 
Seattle. 

Some  Startling  Statistics 

As  a  sidelight  on  the  Seattle  situa- 
tion, Mr.  Henderson  compared  the 
private  automobile  traffic  of  August, 
1915,  with  August,  1921,  by  a  check  of 
the  daily  drawbridge  traffic  in  the  city. 
It  showed  that  the  street  railway  pas- 
sengers over  the  bridges  totaled  60,278 
in  August  this  year  and  passengers  in 
private  cars  8,642  in  August,  1915.  In 
1921,  the  street)  railway  passengers 
numbered  80,085,  and  passengers  in 
private  cars,  59,153.    The  increase  in 


Estimated  revenue,  based  on  5-cent  fare  and  3J  cents  for  transfers,  and  based  on 
passengers  carried  in  September,  1921,  plus  3  per  cent  increase: 

10-cent   cash    fares   382.483  plus  3  per  cent  393,957 

8J-cent  cash  fares  5,484,630  plus  3  per  cent  5,649,169 

6,043,126  at  5  cents  $302,156 

3-cent  cash  fares,  no  increase,  4,221  

2i-cent  cash  fares,  no  increase,  177,303    4,432 

S.  &  R.  V.  transfers,  67,549,  plus  3  per  cent,  69,575  at  5  cents   3.478 

Transfers,  1,573,682,  less  5  per  cent,  1,494,998,  at  3J  cents   49,783 

$359,977 

Miscellaneous    revenue    11.025 

Total  for  one  month   $371,002 

Twelve  months    $4,452,033 

Operation — 

Estimated    expense    for    1922   $3,246,394 

Supplies  and  expense   1,499.616 

Betterments    9,000 

Interest    789'5£J, 

Bond    redemption    843.000 

Due  general  fund    318,157 

Depreciation   ^   200,000 

Deficit    $2,453,726 

$6,905,760  $6,905,760 


In  a  letter  to  the  City  Council, 
Mayor  Caldwell  called  attention  re- 
cently to  the  report  of  the  municipal 
railway  for  September,  showing  that 
under  the  8J-cent  fare  and  with  the 
$20,000  depreciation  set  aside  by  ordi- 
nance, the  revenues  were  $11,111  below 
the  amount  necessary  to  meet  all 
charges.  He  asked  that  this  be  con- 
sidered by  the  Council  in  passing  on 
transportation  matters,  particularly 
the  proposed  5-cent  fare  ordinance. 

Mayor  Caldwell  Anxious 

Mayor  Caldwell  has  announced  that 
he  will  ask  the  Corporation  Counsel 
for  an  opinion  as  to  whether  the 
adoption  of  the  5-cent  fare  on  the 
municipal  lines  would  lead  to  any  legal 
difficulties  with  Stone  &  Webster  in 
case  the  revenues  under  the  reduced 
fare  are  insufficient  to  meet  the  lia- 
bility in  the  contract.  In  the  contract, 
the  city  binds  itself  to  "establish  and 
maintain  rates  for  transportation  upon 
such  municipal  street  railway  system 
which  shall  provide  sufficient  revenues 
to  permit  such  sums  being  paid  into 
such  special  fund  which  the  city  has 
pledged  to  be  set  aside  semi-annually 
for  interest  and  annually  for  principal, 
to  be  aoplied  to  the  payment  of  princi- 
pal and  interest  of  the  bonds  author- 
ized, until  such  bonds  have  been  paid  in 
full,  and  in  addition  thereto  all  costs 
of  operation  and  maintenance." 

Mayor  Caldwell  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  September  report 
shows  that  6.119  191  pay  passengers 
were  carried  during  the  month.  This 


street  railway  traffic  shown  by  the 
comparison  is  32.86  per  cent,  and  the 
increase  in  private  car  traffic,  584  per 
cent. 

Passengers  carried  on  jitneys  are  not 
included  in  these  figures. 


Effort  Made  to  Fix  Value  for 
Properties  at  Kokomo 

Representatives  of  the  Indiana  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission,  of  the  city  of 
Kokomo,  Ind.,  and  of  the  Indiana  Rail- 
ways &  Light  Company  met  recently  to 
place  a  valuation  upon  the  property  of 
the  company.  The  company  operates 
an  electric  interurban  railroad  between 
Frankfort  and  Kokomo,  Ind.,  besides 
electric  distribution  systems  in  the 
Kokomo  territory.  The  commission  sub- 
mitted figures  of  $3,529,965  on  the 
basis  of  its  reproduction  cost  in  1916. 
The  properties  were  appraised  at  $4,- 
299,533  on  the  basis  of  the  average 
reproduction  costs  in  the  last  ten  years, 
which  included  war-period  prices. 
Cecil  F.  Elmes,  a  representative  of 
Sanderson  &  Porter,  submitted  a  valua- 
tion of  $4,226,387  for  the  ten-year 
period.  Mr.  Elmes  also  submitted  a 
$5,541,669  valuation  as  of  last  Feb- 
ruary. The  property  of  the  company 
was  figured  in  the  proposed  forma- 
tion of  the  Indiana  Electric  Corpora- 
tion in  August  at  $4,480,000  by  W.  E. 
Vogelback.  Mr.  Garman,  for  the  com- 
mission at  that  time,  figured  the  com- 
pany's property  at  $3,584,037.  Engi- 
neers for  the  state  board  of  tax  com- 
missioners  appraised  the  property  at 


$2,844,370  for  tax  purposes.  Commis- 
sioner Glen  Van  Auken  heard  all  in- 
terested persons.  With  other  members 
of  the  commission  he  will  work  out 
an  order  in  which  the  valuation  will 
be  fixed.  Representatives  of  the  In- 
diana Electric  Corporation  have  said 
that  the  corporation  again  will  peti- 
tion the  commission  for  authority  for 
the  proposed  consolidation.  The  com- 
mission declined  to  authorize  the  con- 
solidation on  the  basis  proposed  in 
August. 


Berlin  Railway  Operates 
Successfully 

Through  a  well-defined  plan  of  re- 
organization and  increased  fares  Ber- 
lin railway  lines  are  now  operating  on 
a  paying  basis.  According  to  an 
article  in  the  Berlin  Vorwaerts  by  Hugo 
Peotzsch  the  city  of  Berlin  has  turned 
the  monthly  deficit  of  20,000,000  marks 
which  was  incurred  in  the  operation  of 
street  railways  when  the  consolidation 
of  various  lines  of  Berlin  was  brought 
about  in  October,  1920,  into  a  surplus 
during  the  last  few  months. 

Of  course,  an  increase  in  fares  ma- 
terially helped  the  situation.  This  ad- 
vance from  10  pfennigs  before  the  war 
to  80  pfennigs  (J  cent  at  present  ex- 
change rates)  soon  cut  the  deficit  to  12,- 
000,000  marks.  It  is  reported  that  the 
fares  will  be  advanced  on  Dec.  1  to  1 
mark  30  pfennigs. 

The  work  of  reorganization  included 
a  reduction  in  the  number  of  directors' 
offices,  with  a  cut  in  the  force,  the  hir- 
ing of  experts  to  repair  the  rolling 
stock,  extension  of  freight  service  and 
better  exploitation  of  the  advertising 
possibilities. 


Mr.  Borland  Made  a  Director. — Bruce 
Borland  has  been  elected  a  director  of 
the  Chicago  (111.)  Railways,  succeeding 
the  late  Seymour  Morris.  Other  direc- 
tors have  been  re-elected. 

$400,000  Net  Income  Realized.— 
Market  Street  Railway  Income  State- 
ment for  six  months  ended  Sept.  30, 
1921,  shows  a  railway  operating 
revenue  of  $4,679,962.  After  deduct- 
ing operating  expenses,  the  net  revenue 
from  railway  operations  is  $1,092,807. 
Taxes  amounted  to  $303,000  and  non- 
operating  income  $19,363.  This  gives  a 
gross  income  of  $809,170,  which  after 
deducting  $397,890  per  bond  interest, 
leaves  a  net  income  of  $411,280  to  cover 
Federal  Income  Tax  and  allowances  for 
sinking  funds  or  betterments. 

Large  Sums  Spent  in  Relief. — H.  H. 
Vreeland,  director  of  the  Welfare  De- 
partment of  the  New  York  Railways, 
has  submitted  the  annual  report  of  his 
department  for  the  year  ended  June 
30,  1921.  The  various  features  of  this 
work  and  the  amount  of  money  needed 
to  carry  on  the  activities  involved  are 
noted  in  the  disbursement  account  of 
the  New  York  Railways'  Association. 
From  July  1,  1920,  to  June  30,  1921, 
a  total  of  $22,435  was  spent.  In  this 
sum  are  included  sick  benefits  amount- 
ing to  $8,149;  death  claims,  $7,500; 
medical  fees,  $4,200,  and  other  items, 
including  printing,  stationery,  etc. 


882 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Only  Arguments  Remain 

Illinois  Commission  Will  Take  Chicago 
Lower  Fare  Plea  Under  Considera- 
tion on  Nov.  14 

Except  for  the  presentation  of  argu- 
ments, the  fare  case  of  the  Chicago 
Surface  Lines  is  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  Illinois  Commerce  Commission  for 
decision.  Adjournment  was  taken  on 
Nov.  4  until  Nov.  14,  at  which  time 
the  petition  of  the  city  for  a  restora- 
tion of  the  5-cent  fare  will  be  taken 
under  advisement. 

The  closing  days  of  the  hearing  were 
marked  by  a  sensation  due  to  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  newspapers  announced 
that  it  was  understood  the  commission 
had  already  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  5-cent  fare  would  be  restored  on 
midnight  of  Nov.  5  so  as  to  prevent 
the  companies  from  seeking  an  injunc- 
tion in  the  federal  court.  Shortly  after 
that  story  appeared  one  of  the  com- 
missioners suggested  that  arguments 
be  presented  immediately  upon  closing 
of  evidence. 

Attorney  James  M.  Sheean  for  the 
Surface  Lines  stated  before  the  com- 
mission that  this  suggestion  of  im- 
mediate closing  gave  color  to  the  story 
which  appeared  in  the  newspaper  and 
if  the  lawyers  were  not  to  be  given 
sufficient  time  he  would  close  without 
argument,  taking  it  for  granted  that 
arguments  would  be  superfluous.  The 
commission  took  the  matter  under  ad- 
visement and  then  allowed  a  ten-days' 
continuance. 

Evidence  presented  by  the  companies 
in  the  last  few  days  showed  the  rates 
of  fare  prevailing  in  587  cities,  includ- 
ing only  three  cities  of  more  than 
100,000  population  where  the  5-cent 
fare  still  prevailed.  Some  interesting 
exhibits  also  were  presented  to  show 
that  the  Surface  Lines  were  not  ex- 
travagant in  setting  aside  20  per  cent 
of  their  gross  revenue  for  maintenance 
and  renewals.  Attention  was  also 
called  to  the  costly  working  conditions 
under  which  the  companies  were  oper- 
ating, most  of  them  fixed  by  arbitra- 
tion. 

A.  L.  Drum,  consulting  engineer, 
who  previously  had  made  a  valution  of 
the  companies'  property,  gave  figures 
to  show  that  the  cost  to  reproduce  new 
had  increased  10  per  cent  since  April 
1919,  largely  due  to  higher  labor  costs 
in  the  Chicago  district.  He  also  stated 
that  a  better  theory  for  allowance  of 
maintenance  and  renewals  would  be  to 
have  this  fixed  as  2h  per  cent  of  the 
capital  investment  rather  than  a  per- 
centage of  gross  earnings.  E.  H. 
Morgan,  superintendent  of  schedules, 
showed  that  the  companies  were  al- 
ready giving  a  considerable  amount  of 
turn  back  service  which  had  been  sug- 
gested by  engineers  for  the  city. 

John  A.  Beeler,  consulting  engineer, 
who  has  been  studying  the  Surface 
Lines  system  for  more  than  a  year, 
explained  a  plan  of  re-routing  which 
has  been  on  file  with  the  commission 
since  last  February.  He  said  this 
would  allow  for  an  11  per  cent  in- 
crease in  track  capacity  in  the  down- 
town district.  His  assistant  A.  M. 
Buck,  presented  numerous  exhibits  to 
show  the  impracticability  of  the  rout- 


ing plan  suggested  by  Engineer  G. 
W.  Jackson,  who  had  appeared  for  the 
city. 

fl.  H.  Adams,  superintendent  of  roll- 
ing stock,  told  what  was  being  done 
to  provide  additional  equipment,  par- 
ticularly trailers  and  one-man  cars. 
President  H.  A.  Blair,  and  his  pre- 
decessor L.  A.  Busby,  explained  the 
steps  which  had  been  taken  to  provide 
improved  service  as  ordered  by  the 
commission.  Mr.  Blair  stated  that  the 
companies'  credit  had  been  hampered 
by  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  city. 

On  Nov.  5  the  local  transportation 
committee  of  the  City  Council,  began 
public  hearings  with  a  view  to  starting 
on  a  series  of  subways  for  Chicago. 
Meetings  are  to  be  held  every  other 
day  and  if  a  plan  can  be  agreed  on  the 
$30,000,000  in  the  city's  traction  fund 
will  be  used  to  cover  part  of  the  cost 
of  construction.  Several  engineering 
societies  in  Chicago  have  offered  to 
give  their  advice  and  assistance  free  to 
the  city. 


Files  Application  for  Seven-Cent 
Fare  in  Federal  Court 

The  St.  Paul  City  Railway,  St.  Paul, 
Minn.,  on  Nov.  3  filed  in  the  federal 
court  application  for  a  flat  fare  of  7 
cents  per  passenger  and  an  injunction 
restraining  St.  Paul  city  officials  from 
interfering  with  collection  of  this  fare, 
whereupon  Judge  W.  F.  Booth  issued  an 
order  to  show  cause  returnable  at  10  a. 
m.  Nov.  8,  when  it  is  understood  three 
federal  judges  will  be  present. 

Hearing  on  a  similar  action  is  set  for 
Nov.  15  before  Judge  F.  M.  Catlin. 
This  action  was  brought  in  the  Ramsey 
County  District  Court  on  appeal  of  the 
St.  Paul  City  Railway  from  an  order 
by  Judge  J.  C.  Michael  restraining  the 
company  from  collecting  the  7-cent  fare 
granted  as  an  emergency  rate  by  the 
Minnesota  Railroad  and  Warehouse 
Commisson.  The  city  will  here  contend 
that  the  federal  court  has  no  jurisdic- 
tion as  the  case  is  pending  in  the  state 
court.  The  plea  is  also  made  that  ap- 
parently the  state  commission  made  no 
effort  to  learn  whether  the  costs  and 
expenses  mentioned  in  the  application 
by  the  company  were  reasonable.  The 
rate  of  fare  is  now  6  cents. 

The  company's  application  differs  in 
that  a  flat  rate  of  7  cents  is  asked  with- 
out the  provision  of  four  tickets  for  a 
quarter  cited  in  former  applications  for 
the  emergency  rate,  and  the  company 
says  that  a  fare  of  8  cents  would  bring 
the  company  a  return  of  only  7.48  on 
the  fair  value  of  the  property. 

Vice-President  T.  Julian  McGill  of 
the  Twin  City  Lines  said: 

We  do  not  dare  to  operate  any  longer  at 
the  present  rate  of  fare  or  we  will  break 
our  back.  The  revenues  we  now  receive  are 
insufficient  to  meet  our  obligations,  and  are 
$20,000  below  the  interest  due  on  the  com- 
pany's bonded  indebtedness.  The  7-cent 
fare  will  give  us  relief  we  need  until  a 
permanent  valuation  and  fair  return  on  the 
property  are  determined  by  the  State  Rail- 
road and  Warehouse  Commission. 

It  is  understood  the  action  brought 
in  the  federal  court  is  based  largely  on 
the  allegation  of  confiscation  of  the 
company's  property  and  deprivation  of 
its  use  without  compensation  and  due 
process  of  law. 


New  Ticket  Plan  Suggested 

Instead  of  selling  six  tickets  for  45 
cents  under  the  seven  and  one-half  cent 
rate,  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction 
Company,  has  adopted  a  plan  whereby 
two  tickets  will  be  sold  at  15  cents. 
The  new  arrangement  is  the  outcome 
of  a  conference  between  William  Jerome 
Kuertz,  Street  Railway  Commissioner 
and  officials  of  the  traction  company. 
Mr.  Kuertz  was  directed  in  a  resolution 
adopted  recently  by  the  City  Council 
to  confer  with  the  traction  company 
officials,  relative  to  the  issuance  of  two 
tickets  for  15  cents  instead  of  compel- 
ling the  car  riders  to  buy  six  tickets  or 
pay  a  cash  fare  of  eight  cents. 

However,  the  traction  company 
adopted  the  two  ticket  plan  volun- 
tarily, because  under  its  operating  or- 
dinance whenever  the  rate  of  fare  in 
force  and  effect  shall  produce  a  frac- 
tion of  one  cent,  the  cash  fare  shall 
be  the  next  whole  number  of  cents 
above  the  rate  of  fare  producing  the 
fraction.  When  the  fare  was  eight 
and  one-half  cents  the  traction  company 
sold  two  tickets  for  17  cents,  but  after 
a  trial  it  was  found  that  the  two  ticket 
strips  are  in  disfavor,  because  they 
serve  to  cause  congestion  at  the  down- 
town terminals. 

W.  Kesley  Schoepf,  president  of  the 
traction  company,  said  that  he  hoped 
the  company  would  have  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  public  who  should  make  up 
their  minds  before  boarding  cars 
whether  they  wish  to  purchase  tickets 
and  if  so  whether  in  strips  of  two  or 
six  and  that  they  should  also  have  the 
exact  money  ready. 

Walter  A.  Draper,  vice-president  of 
the  traction  company,  said  that  there 
had  been  little  complaint  about  the  old 
method  of  selling  the  tickets  in  strips 
of  six  and  that  he  believed  the  plan 
whereby  tickets  are  sold  two  for  15 
cents  will  result  in  traffic  tie-ups  which 
the  company  is  trying  to  avoid. 

The  resolution  adopted  by  the  City 
Council  which  brought  about  the  two 
ticket  plan  recites  that  the  sale  of  six- 
ticket-strips  for  45  cents  works  a  hard- 
ship on  a  "number  of  citizens"  who 
can  not  afford  to  buy  six  tickets  at  one 
time  and  who  therefore  are  compelled 
to  pay  8  cents  cash  fare. 


Commission  Authorizes 
Seven-Cent  Zones 

The  Public  Service  Commission  re- 
cently held  that  all  intrazone  fares  to 
be  charged  by  the  Erie  County  Traction 
Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  shall  be 
7  cents  for  one  year  and  thereafter 
until  the  further  order  of  the  commis- 
sion, excepting  between  Carlyle  Avenue 
and  the  Buffalo  city  line  at  Seneca 
Street,  in  which  territory  a  five-cent 
fare  is  to  be  charged.  The  company  is 
to  provide  metal  tickets  or  tokens  to 
be  sold  at  the  company's  office  and  on 
cars  at  four  for  25  cents. 

The  railroad  now  operates  five  zones 
with  a  5-cent  fare  in  some  and  a  7- 
cent  fare  in  others.  The  company 
alleged  that  those  rates  were  insuf- 
ficient to  yield  reasonable  compensation 
and  asked  that  it  be  permitted  to 
charge  7-cents  in  all  zones. 

The  question  of  a  franchise  agree- 
ment was  raised  by  the  West  Seneca 
township,  but  the  commission  has  ruled 
against  the  town's  claims  because  of 
the  evidence  which  showed  that  the 
company  could  not  do  business  on  the 
present  fare  rates  and  revenues. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


883 


Supreme  Court  Will  Consider 
Fare  Stay 

The  application  for  a  stay  against 
the  8-cent  fare  recently  granted  by  the 
special  statutory  court  at  Trenton  to 
the  Public  Service  Railway  has  been 
taken  under  advisement  by  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  The  motion 
for  the  stay  was  advanced  by  Attorney 
General  McCran  for  the  New  Jersey 
Public  Utilities  Commission. 

In  their  argument  Messrs.  McCran 
and  Herrman,  counsel  of  the  Utilities 
Board,  said  that  the  statutory  court 
through  its  temporary  injunction  pre- 
venting interference  with  the  8-cent 
rate  by  the  Utilities  Board  assumed  to 
exercise  legislative  power.  On  this 
point  the  state  brief  continues: 

The  establishment  of  a  rate  is  the  making 
of  a  rule  for  the  future  and  is  therefore 
an  act  legislative  not  judicial  in  kind.  It 
assumed  to  prescribe  rates  for  the  future 
differing  from  those  prescribed  by  the  order 
of  the  board  to  authorize  the  exaction  of  the 
rates  so  prescribed  in  the  future  and  to  re- 
strain the  board  from  interfering  with  such 
exaction. 

In  assuming  so  to  exercise  a  legislative 
function,  the  statutory  court  placed  an  un- 
just and  unreasonable  burden  upon  a  large 
number  of  the  riders  using  the  facilities  of 
the  railway  company,  and  at  the  same  time 
permitted  a  large  number  of  riders  to  ride 
for  less  than  the  rate  prescribed  by  the 
board. 

California's  Motor  Transport 

Business 

Regarding  the  report  of  the  Cali- 
fornia Railroad  Commission  for  the 
year  ended  June  30,  1920,  786  freight 
and  passenger  tariffs  were  then  on  file 
by  motor  transport  companies,  operat- 
ing throughout  the  State.  The  number 
on  file  on  June  30,  1919,  totaled  643. 
Because  many  of  its  carriers  file  a  com- 
bination passenger  and  freight  report,  it 
has  not  been  possible  to  segregate  them 
into  classes.  It  is,  however,  estimated 
that  of  the  total  number  of  tariffs  filed, 
450  represent  carriers  serving  exclu- 
sively as  freight  lines. 


Move  Launched  for  Lower  Fare 

A  move  for  a  lower  fare  has  been 
made  by  Davenport  businessmen 
through  the  Presidents  Club,  a  civic 
organization  composed  of  the  heads  of 
some  50  leading  clubs  and  societies. 
The  club  asks  the  Tri-city  Railway  in 
a  petition  to  reduce  its  fare  to  five 
cents  or  as  near  thereto  as  possible. 
It  is  suggested  that  if  a  5-cent  fare 
is  impossible  the  ticket  plan  successful 
in  many  cities  be  adopted. 

According  to  this  plan  the  passenger 
buys  a  ticket  every  month,  paying  50 
cents  for  the  ticket  and  then  being 
allowed  to  ride  for  5  cents. 

President  B.  J.  Denman  of  the  com- 
pany has  not  answered  the  petitioners 
but  has  stated  that  an  arrangement 
along  this  line  is  not  impossible. 

While  this  may  be  due  in  part  to 
the  8-cent  fare  the  lack  of  employment 
is  a  contributing  cause.  Merchants 
believe  that  a  lower  fare  will  stimulate 
car  riding,  bring  back  the  old  volume 
of  street  car  passengers,  and  act  as  a 
stimulating  force  on  business. 

When  it  appeared  that  the  company 
and  merchants  were  about  to  get  to- 
gether the  socialist  city  administration, 
which  was  elected  to  office  on  a  5-cent 
plank,  and  which  has  bitterly  opposed 
the  utility  company  in  all  of  its  moves, 
came  into  court  and  demanded  that  the 
company  either  return  to  a  5  cent  fare 
or  surrender  its  franchise. 


The  city  administration  charges  that 
the  dismantling  of  the  Fourth  Street 
line  has  lowered  the  overhead  expense 
and  the  installation  of  one-man  cars 
has  cut  labor  expense  to  a  sufficient 
degree  that  the  fare  may  now  be  low- 
ered and  the  revenues  of  the  company 
remain  sufficient  for  all  needs. 


Five-Cent  Fare  or  Buses 

Additional  Routes  Will  be  Granted  to 
Jitneys  Unless  Relief  Is  Afforded 
in  Bridgeport 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
Connecticut  will  hold  a  hearing  on 
Nov.  .10  on  a  petition  of  the  city 
of  Bridgeport  asking  for  a  reduced  fare 
rate  on  the  lines  of  the  company  in  that 
city.  The  Commission  had  previously 
urged  the  Connecticut  Company  to  try  a 
5-cent  fare  in  Bridgeport.  Some  of  the 
salient  features  of  the  correspondence 
between  Chairman  R.  T.  Higgins  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  to  W.  C. 
Noyes,  chairman  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees, on  the  matter  of  reduced  fares 
were  outlined  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  Nov.  5,  page  837. 

Mr.  Higgins  stressed  the  fact  that 
New  Britain,  Bridgeport  and  Norwalk 
were  examples  of  cities  charging  a  10- 
cent  fare  which  resulted  in  loss  of  busi- 
ness and  revenues  to  the  company  and 
failure  of  acceptable  transportation 
service  to  the  public. 

In  asking  for  a  trial  of  the  5-cent 
fare  in  Bridgeport,  Mr.  Higgins  said 
that  the  time  had  arrived  when  certain 
lines  could  be  treated  independently  of 
the  whole  system,  and  that  fare  adjust- 
ments should  be  made  on  certain  lines 
without  affecting  the  entire  schedule  of 
rates.  His  letter  reviewed  the  demand 
of  the  general  public  and  the  city  offi- 
cials for  a  5-cent  rate  in  Bridgeport 
and  recommended  such  an  experiment 
without  transfer  on  all  city  lines  radi- 
ating from  the  center  of  the  city.  On 
this  point  the  letter  read: 

Such  an  experiment  would  not  put  the 
company  in  much  worse  condition  than  now 
exists,  and  in  the  absence  of  some  prompt 
action  or  relief  in  Bridgeport  the  commis- 
sion will  feel  obliged  in  the  interests  of  the 
public  to  authorize  additional  jitney  routes 
and  grant  additional  certificates. 

In  Norwalk  a  5-cent  service  was  rec- 
ommended on  the  short  local  line  be- 
tween Norwalk  and  South  Norwalk.  If 
it  was  found  that  such  a  service  would 
not  be  sufficiently  profitable  to  maintain 
all  the  lines  in  the  Norwalk  division, 
the  commission  suggested  increasing 
the  rate  or  abandoning  certain  of  the 
non-paying  lines. 

For  New  Britain  no  concrete  plan  was 
offered,  but  as  a  measure  of  relief  for 
other  sections  the  retention  of  the  10- 
cent  fare  with  the  sale  of  tokens  or 
tickets  for  city  riders  at  a  materially 
reduced  price  was  suggested. 

In  concluding  its  suggestions  on  the 
transportation  problem  facing  the  cities 
served  by  the  Connecticut  Company 
Mr.  Higgins  says: 

In  President  Storrs'  recent  memorandum 
to  you  relative  to  financial  conditions  he 
points  to  the  large  number  of  passengers 
and  sustaining  revenues  taken  from  the 
company  by  the  very  limited  number  of 
licensed  jitneys  operating  in  part  of  Con- 
necticut Company  territory.  This  state- 
ment presents  an  economic  condition  worthy 
of  careful  consideration.  If  an  agency  with 
a  few  thousand  invested  can  transport  the 
public  and  successfully  compete  with  an 
agency  having  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  invested  it  is  a  demonstration  that 
methods  of  transportation  must  conform  to 
economic  conditions.  Tour  company  has 
the  right  to  operate  both  forms  of  trans- 
portation. 


Early  Hearing  of  Fare  Case 
Urged 

The  city  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  has  made 
a  motion  for  an  early  hearing  of  the 
fare  case  before  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  on  the  ground  that 
with  an  election  on  Nov.  8  the  present 
City  Attorney  and  other  legal  lights 
may  be  out  of  office  on  Dec.  15  and 
that  the  case  should  be  tried  before 
that  date.  Churchill  Humphrey,  attor- 
ney for  the  company,  earnestly  insists 
that  the  case  be  not  tried  until  Febru- 
ary or  March,  in  order  to  give  him 
time  to  prepare  his  argument. 

The  railway  has  filed  a  bond  of 
$100,000  additional,  making  $300,000 
that  has  been  put  up  to  cover  receipts 
issued  for  the  2-cent  increase  in  fares. 
In  the  event  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  rules  against  the  company's  right 
to  an  increase  from  5  to  7  cents  under 
franchise  agreements,  passengers  hold- 
ing receipts  will  receive  a  cash  refund 
for  each  receipt  held.  It  is  estimated 
that  excess  fare  receipts  totaling  about 
$250,000  are  outstanding. 


Monthly  Ticket  Plan  Installed 

The  monthly  commutaton  fare  plan 
which  went  into  effect  in  Muscatine, 
Iowa,  on  Nov.  1  has  met  with  general 
public  approval.  The  Clinton,  Daven- 
port &  Muscatine  Railway,  the  local 
property,  in  giving  the  monthly  ticket 
plan  a  trial  announced  that  "The  more 
you  ride,  the  less  you  pay." 

By  this  plan  the  passanger  pays  50 
cents  a  month  for  a  ticket  and  the  ticket 
allows  him  to  ride  as  many  times  as  he 
wishes  for  5  cents  a  ride.  The  system 
was  explained  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Oct.  22,  page  758. 


Only  Specially  Designed  Cars 

An  ordinance  was  recently  approved 
by  the  City  Council  of  Richmond,  Va., 
which  specifies  that  all  streets  cars  in 
the  city  must  be  operated  by  two  per- 
sons unless  they  are  especially  con- 
structed and  designed  for  one-man  oper- 
ation. Violation  of  this  ordinance  is 
punishable  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
$1,000  and  not  less  than  $250.  Para- 
graph 2  of  the  ordinance  states: 

Nothing  in  this  ordinance  shall  be 
construed  as  intended  to  affect  or  di- 
minish in  any  way  the  rights  of  the  city 
of  _  Richmond  under  any  existing  fran- 
chise to  forbid  or  regulate  the  opera- 
tion on  the  streets  of  the  city  of  the 
one-man  cars.  The  operating  company 
in  Richmond  is  the  Virginia  Railway 
&  Power  Company. 


Bus  Line  in  Operation. — Service  on 
the  Flushing-Jamaica,  N.  Y.,  bus  line 
was  started  on  Nov.  3,  when  the  first 
four  buses  which  will  be  operated  on 
the  line  left  the  bus  terminal  at  the 
Flushing  Bridge.  The  line  has  been 
opened  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Department  of  Plant  and  Structures. 
For  the  present  four  buses  will  be  in 
operation,  running  on  a  fifteen-minute 
headway.  The  trip  from  Flushing  to 
the  Jamaica  terminus  at  the  Long 
Island  Railroad  depot  consumes  about 
twenty  minutes,  which  is  fifteen  min- 
utes less  than  the  same  trip  by  trolley 
car.  The  fare  is  5  cents  and  the 
route  from  Flushing  is  along  Broadway 
to  Main  Street,  to  Jamaica  Avenue, 
across  Hillside  Avenue  to  Fulton  Street 
and  west  on  Fulton  Street  to  the  Long 
Island  Railroad  depot. 


884 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Railway  Will  Run  Buses 

City  Council  Decides  on  the  Organized 
Operation  of  Autos  as  Against 
Independent  Service 

The  Rockford  &  Interurban  Railway, 
Rockford,  111.,  has  entered  the  bus 
transportation  field.  Purchase  of  six 
motor  buses  for  use  on  the  streets 
of  Rockford  will  be  made  shortly.  The 
buses  will  be  operated  on  four  routes  as 
"feeder"  lines  which  will  connect  out- 
lying sections  of  the  city  now  lacking 
transportation  facilities  with  existing 
electric  railway  lines.  As  yet  no  an- 
nouncement has  been  made  as  to  how 
fares  on  the  buses  will  be  fixed. 

Dispute  of  Long  Standing 

Through  the  authorization  of  the 
City  Council  as  a  result  of  the  con- 
troversy between  the  traction  company 
and  the  Fay  Motor  Bus  Company  the 
new  buses  are  being  obtained.  On  Oct. 
3  the  City  Council  finally  disposed  of 
and  tabled  the  Fay  ordinance  which  pro- 
vided for  bus  operation  in  the  outlying 
districts  not  paralleling  the  traction 
lines.  . 

The  dispute  between  the  Rockford  & 
Interurban  Railway  and  the  Fay  Motor 
Bus  Company  for  supremacy  in  the  city 
dates  back  several  weeks  when  the 
United  States  Government  in  a  re- 
trenchment drive  ordered  six  army  can- 
tonments to  be  closed  on  Oct.  1.  Among 
them  was  included  Camp  Grant  at  Rock- 
ford. _ 

Up  to  that  time  the  Fay  Motor  Bus 
Company  operated  exclusively  between 
Rockford  and  Camp  Grant.  The  run  is 
5  miles  and  the  fare  was  20  cents.  On 
Aug.  18  Mr.  Fay  announced  a  city-wide 
transportation  plan  in  direct  competi- 
tion with  the  railway  lines  operating 
over  the  same  street,  running  on  the 
same  headway,  and  charging  5  cents 
with  a  2-cent  transfer  charge.  The  rail- 
way charges  8  cents  with  two  tickets 
for  15  cents. 

On  Aug.  19  the  railway  company 
secured  an  injunction  restraining  the 
bus  company  from  operating  as  pro- 
posed. On  Aug.  22  through  one  of  the 
Aldermen  a  resolution  was  presented 
to  the  City  Council  asking  approval  of 
the  plan.  The  resolution  was  referred 
to  a  Joint  Committee  and  this  commit- 
tee met  on  Aug.  26,  voting  favorably 
on  the  plan  and  authorizing  Mr.  Fay 
to  operate. 

Chamber  of  Commerce  Intervenes 

Meanwhile  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
announced  a  public  forum  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  situation.  The  motor 
bus  company  had  a  hearing  on  Sept.  1 
and  on  Sept.  6  the  attorney  for  the 
railway  presented  the  case.  On  this 
day  the  Rockford  City  Traction  pre- 
sented an  ordinance  to  the  City  Council 
for  consideration  authorizing  it  to  op- 
erate buses  as  "feeders"  in  districts 
not  now  served  by  railway  until  such 
time  as  a  new  franchise  is  granted  and 
the  railway  can  be  extended.  The  or- 
dinance of  Fay  Motor  Bus  Company 
authorizing  it  to  operate  on  the  streets 
paralleling  those  upon  which  the  street 
railway  cars  operate  was  referred  to 
the  railway  committee  of  the  City 
Council. 

The  railway  committee  met  on  Sept.  9 
and  the  majority  reported  in  favor  of 
the  street  railway  franchise  against  the 
ordinance  authorizing  the  operation  of 
the  Fay  Motor  Bus  Company  on  streets 
paralleling  the  railway  streets.  The 


report  was  read  to  the  Council  on  Sept. 
12,  and  on  Sept.  19  the  Fay  ordinance 
was  tabled. 


36,283,839  Bus  Passengers  in 
Newark  in  Nine  Months 

Jitneys  carried  within  5,000,000  as 
many  passengers  in  Newark,  N.  J.  dur- 
ing the  first  nine  months  of  this  year 
as  they  did  the  whole  of  1920.  Figures 
to  this  effect  are  contained  in  a  re- 
port made  recently  to  Director  Breiden- 
bach  of  the  Department  of  Revenue 
and  Finance  by  Joseph  Kroehl  of  the 
City  Treasurer's  office.  The  number 
of  passengers  carried  last  year  was 
41,501,854.  The  total  for  this  year 
up  to  Sept.  30  was  36,283,839. 

The  bus  business  during  September 
was  shown  as  follows  in  the  report: 
Passengers  carried,  4,345,934;  gross 
receipts,  $217,296;  tax  paid  to  the  city, 
$8,625.  The  report  for  September, 
1920,  was:  Passengers  carried,  3,357,- 
718;  gross  receipts,  $167,885;  tax  paid, 
$6,398. 

With  the  exception  of  March  of  this 
year  the  record  for  September  showed 
the  heaviest  travel  on  buses  for  any 
one  month.  Last  March  the  number 
of  passengers  was  4,390,000.  Mr. 
Kroehl  pointed  out  that  March  has  one 
more  day  than  September,  so  that  the 
average  daily  travel  last,  month  would 
indicate  that  the  March  record  would 
have  been  broken  with  another  day  of 
such  travel  as  was  recorded  during 
September. 

The  report  also  shows  that  there 
were  404  buses  in  operation  last  month. 
In    September,   1920,  there  were  385. 


Forty-nine  Bus  Applications 

According  to  the  fourteenth  annual 
report  of  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion, Second  District,  New  York,  for 
the  year  1920,  the  use  of  motor  buses 
in  all  parts  of  the  State  has  shown 
recently  a  great  tendency  to  increase. 
The  result  has  been  that  the  commis- 
sion is  constantly  engaged  in  passing 
upon  the  propriety  of  the  issuance  of 
new  certificates  for  public  convenience 
and  necessity.  In  such  cases  it  is 
found,  however,  that  the  statute  law 
governing  such  operations  is  confusing, 
and  the  commission  recommends  that 
its  powers  and  functions  with  reference 
to  this  class  of  utility  be  more  clearly 
stated  and  defined. 

The  number  of  motor  bus  applica- 
tions for  certificates  of  convenience  and 
necessity  received  during  the  year  was 
forty-nine.  These  were  disposed  of  as 
follows:  Thirty-six  were  granted,  seven 
denied,  three  are  pending  and  three 
petitions  were  withdrawn. 

During  the  year  the  commission, 
under  section  55  of  the  public  service 


Insist  City  Should  Regulate 
"Interurban"  Buses 

Officers  of  the  interurban  electric 
railways  which  center  at  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  are  insisting  that  the  Council 
shall  regulate  the  operation  of  "inter- 
urban" buses  within  the  city  in  order 
that  the  railways  may  be  preserved  to 
the  communities  through  which  they 
operate.  At  a  recent  special  meeting 
of  the  City  Commission  Richard  Schad- 
delee,  vice-president  of  the  Grand 
Rapids,  Grand  Haven  &  Muskegon 
Railway;  F.  K.  George,  statistician  of 
the  company,  and  Leonard  A.  Verdier, 
attorney  appeared  before  the  com- 
mission to  petition  for  passage  of  regu- 
latory ordinances  controlling  the  in- 
terurban bus  lines  after  they  enter 
the  city  limits. 

Mr.  Schaddelee  is  reported  to  have 
said: 

The  situation  is  not  so  exaggerated  as 
yet,  but  it  is  growing  constantly  worse.  If 
competition  continues  the  electric  roads 
will  be  killed  off  by  a  vastly  inferior  type 
of  service.  No  one  notices  if  a  bus  doesn't 
operate  on  a  rainy  day,  but  it  would  be 
a  great  inconvenience  if  the  interurbans 
failed  to  operate. 

Mr.  Verder  is  quoted  as  follows: 

You  can't  have  both  types  of  service. 
One  or  the  other  must  go  or  else  both 
must  be  placed  under  the  same  restric- 
tions. At  present  you  have  buses  oper- 
ating on  highways  which  they  did  not  pay 
a  cent  to  build  or  maintain.  Their  only 
expense  has  been  that  of  an  automobile 
license,  while  the  electric  roads  are  under 
strict  regulation  by  the  state. 

Mr.  George  asked  that  in  considering 
the  proposition  the  City  Commission 
remember  that  the  interurban  company 
contributes  about  $31,000  annually 
toward  the  net  earnings  of  the  Grand 
Rapids  Railway  in  charges  which  are 
made  for  use  of  that  company's  tracks 
in  the  city. 

He  stated  that  during  the  first  nine 
months  of  the  current  year  the  Muske- 
gon interurban  carried  38,322  fewer 
passengers  than  during  the  same 
period  last  year.  In  spite  of  this  he 
stated  increased  fares  have  boosted  the 
company's  earnings  during  the  same 
period  $18,166  over  1920. 


Municipal  Bus  System  Behind 

The  West  Orange  Municipal  Bus 
Service  had  a  deficit  of  $43,018  from  the 
time  it  was  started  in  July,  1919,  to 
Oct.  1,  1921,  according  to  a  report  sub- 
mitted to  the  Town  Council.  The  re- 
port shows  $56,192  had  been  expended 
and  $29,208  returned  through  receipts, 
leaving  $26,983  deficit,  not  including 
$16,035  paid  for  the  buses,  which  brings 
the  total  to  $43,018.  The  company  lost 
$6,000  the  first  three  months  of  opera- 
tion because  the  machines  used  were 
hired.  The  fate  of  the  municipal  line 
will  be  voted  on  at  the  November  elec- 


BUS  COMPANIES  AUTHORIZED   BY  NEW  YORK  COMMISSION 
TO  ISSUE  SECURITIES 


Date  of 

Nature  of 

Amount 

Order 

Name  of  Corporation 

Security 

Allowed 

1920 

Woodlawn  Improvement  Auto  Transportation  Corporation.  . 

Bonds 

$21,000 

April  22 

Ammendatory 

April  27 

Bonds 

$9,000 

July  20 

Alexandria  Bay-Redwood  Transportation  Company  

Stock 

$15,000 

June  29 

Total,  two  companies  

Bonds  (2  issues) 

$100,000 

Stock  ( 1  issue) 

$15,000 

commissions  law,  granted  permission 
to  the  autobus  corporations  listed  in 
the  accompanying  table  to  issue  stocks, 
bonds  or  other  evidences  of  indebted- 
ness. 


tion.  Residents  of  West  Orange  want 
the  line  continued  for  another  year 
under  changed  conditions.  Adherents 
of  the  bus  contend  that  the  fares  on  the 
autos  have  been  too  low. 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


885 


Bus  Company  Starts  Operation 

The  Columbia  Auto  Bus  Company 
which  was  recently  organized,  an- 
nounces the  commencement  of  service 
between  Franklin  and  Columbia,  Tenn., 
a  distance  of  about  25  miles,  starting 
on  Oct.  31.  The  schedule  calls  for 
three  trips  each  day  between  the  two 
towns  and  connects  with  the  Nashville- 
Franklin  Interurban.  A  new  state  and 
federal  aid  highway  has  been  completed 
recently  for  12  miles  of  the  distance 
between  towns,  which  affords  a  good 
roadway  for  travel. 

The  new  line  will  afford  a  better  and 
more  frequent  service  between  that  ter- 
ritory and  Nashville  than  that  now 
given  by  the  railroad. 

The  buses  are  of  the  latest  type  for 
such  service,  seating  twenty-one  per- 
sons, are  equipped  with  electric  lights 
and  heated  by  engine  exhaust. 

The  corporation  has  a  capital  stock 
•of  $50,000.  The  incorporators  are  J.  H. 
Carpenter,  Jr.,  R.  G.  Sparrow,  R.  C. 
Sparrow,  Jr.,  J.  E.  Napiers  and  Meade 
Frierson.  The  last  mentioned  incor- 
porator is  identified  with  the  Nashville 
Interurban  Railway,  thought  it  is- stated 
that  the  companies  will  in  no  way  be 
financially  connected. 


Head  of  City  Utility  Department 
Favors  Non-Competitive  Buses 

Major  Carl  H.  Reeves,  superintendent 
of  the  Utilities  Department  at  Seattle, 
Wash.,  has  recommended  the  issuance 
of  fifteen  permits  to  operate  jitney 
buses  into  the  Cowen  Park  district 
from  downtown,  to  F.  M.  Peterson, 
representing  the  Auto  Drivers'  Union. 
The  recommendation  was  made  on  the 
basis  of  an  offer  by  Mr.  Peterson  to 
pay  the  city  3  per  cent  of  the  gross 
•earnings  of  each  car  as  a  fee. 

While  passing  favorably  on  the  issu- 
ance of  permits,  Major  Reeves  says 
the  percentage  payment  would  not  be 
satisfactory,  and  proposed  a  flat  rate 
of  $10  a  month  a  ear  for  the  first  six 
months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  a 
check  would  be  made  to  determine 
whether  that  rate  is  sufficient.  The 
jitney  service  proposed  would  be  lim- 
ited to  serve  the  Cowen  Park  district, 
without  loading  or  unloading  passengers 
along  the  Municipal  Railway,  or  in 
sections  served  thereby. 

The  ordinance  to  appropriate  $50,- 
000  for  the  purchase  of  buses  for  the 
Cowen  Park  service,  to  be  operated  by 
the  city,  which  was  recently  vetoed  by 
Mayor  Hugh  M.  Caldwell,  failed  to  pass 
over  his  veto. 


Governor  Favors  Try-Out  of 
Lower  Fare 

Governor  Everett  J.  Lake  of  Con- 
necticut was  called  upon  to  answer  a 
number  of  questions  pertaining  to  the 
Bridgeport  jitney  situation  at  a  meet- 
ing in  that  city  during  the  week  ended 
Nov.  5.  In  speaking  of  the  railway 
situation  the   Governor  said: 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  has  told 
me  on  broad  lines  that  the  fares  must 
come  down  and  that  they  were  going  to 
get  them  down  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  I  believe  the  5-cent  fare  worth  a 
tryout,  and  I  think  the  Public  Utilities 
Commission  has  shown  the  same  attitude 
in  its  recent  ruling. 

At  the  same  meeting,  President  W. 
F.  D.  Kilpatrick  of  the  Bridgeport 
Business  Men's  Association,  said  if  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  grants  a 


5-cent  fare  in  Bridgeport,  the  commis- 
sion will  be  asked  to  revoke  the  licenses 
under  which  about  seventy-five  jitneys 
operate  in  the  city.  He  claims  that 
this  is  taken  from  a  statement  made 
by  Judge  Walter  C.  Noyes,  chairman 
of  the  Federal  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  Connecticut  Company.  In  answer  to 
the  commission  Mr.  Kilpatrick  said: 

I  believe  that  the  Connecticut  Company 
will  not  grant  a  5-cent  fare  for  Bridgeport. 
The  Connecticut  Company  has  pointed  out 
that  if  it  is  going  to  give  a  fare  at  that 
price,  it  would  rather  be  in  Hartford  and 
New  Haven  where  the  people  have  not  been 
bucking  the  company. 

Norwalk  had  the  privilege  of  a  5-cent 
fare  beginning  Nov.  6.  According  to 
the  ruling  of  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission, it  ordered  the  5-cent  rate  for  a 
ninety-day  test  period,  weekly  reports 
to  be  made  by  the  company  to  the 
commission.  These  will  be  available 
later. 


Bus  Company  Formed 

The  Toledo  Bus  Transportation 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  was  recently 
incorporated  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$100,000.  The  incorporators,  among 
them  F.  J.  Westhoven  and  H.  W.  Tas- 
sell,  are  owners  of  buses  now  operating 
in  Toledo 

In  outlining  his  plans  Mr.  West- 
hoven said  that  the  company  did  not 
contemplate  a  war  with  the  Community 
Traction  Company,  but  that  it  wanted 
ta  co-operate  with  it  in  providing 
transportation  service  to  residents  of 
Toledo. 


Governor  Suggests  Rate  Review 

Formal  review  of  all  railroad  and 
public  utility  rates  by  the  Wisconsin 
Railroad  Commission,  with  a  view  to 
material  reductions  on  coa!  rates  and 
on  all  necessities  of  life,  was  ordered 
on  Oct.  28,  1921,  by  Gov.  John  H.  Blaine 
of  Wisconsin. 

The  Governor  stated  be  believed  the 
time  had  come  when  all  rates  should 
be  re-examined  and  that  the  Railvo-d 
Commission  must  protect  the  people  in 
cases  where  poor  service  and  excessive 
charges  were  found.  The  Governor's 
formal  demand  on  the  commission  fol- 
lows in  part: 

During  and  following  the  war,  railroad 
and  public  utility  rates  were  largely  in- 
creased. Since  these  increases  there  has 
been  a  constantly  falling  market,  includ- 
ing reduction  in  wages.  Not  only  were 
rates  increased,  but  in  some  cases — as,  for 
instance,  in  gas — the  standard  of  quality 
was  materially  lowered,  and  in  other  cases 
the  service  was  cheapened,  as  in  the  case 
of  street  car  companies  installing  one-man 
cars. 

I  believe  the  time  has  come  when  the 
railroad  commission  should,  on  its  own  in- 
itiative, re-examine  the  rates  and  services 
of  public  utilities  and  railroad  companies, 
with  a  view  of  making  reductions  in  rates 
and  of  making  improvements  in  service 
wherever  possible. 

Of  course,  you  will  approach  this  sub- 
ject free  from  any  bias  or  prejudice,  and 
with  the  single  purpose  of  doing  equity  to 
all  parties  concerned.  However,  the  pinch 
of  hard  times  is  upon  us,  and  the  utilities 
must  expect  in  some  measure  to  share  in 
the  hardship  of  the  people  generally,  in 
order  to  equalize  the  burdens  and  to  bring 
about  general  prosperity. 

Notwithstanding  this  situation,  I  feel  that 
the  state  should  continue  to  assert  its  right 
to  fix  these  rates,  and  I  therefore  suggest 
that  your  commission  will  undertake  the 
work  promptly.  If  you  will  advise  me  that 
you  will  initiate  proceedings  on  your  own 
motion,  I  will  immediately  thereupon  com- 
municate with  the  mayors  of  the  several 
cities  and  ask  them  to  co-operate  with  you 
in  connection  with  utility  matters,  and  will 
give  you  every  assistance  available  with 
respect  to  both  utility  and  railroad  rates 
and  services. 


I  ransportation 
News  Notes 


Wants   Half  Fare   for  Pupils.— The 

city  of  Knoxville  will  appeal  to  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  in  an  ef- 
fort to  secure  reduced  fares  for  school 
children.  When  the  6-cent  fare  was 
authorized  recently  the  company  refused 
to  sell  the  half-rate  tickets  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  operating  at  a  loss. 

May  Operate  Buses. — H.  W.  Patten, 
general  manager  of  the  Wichita  Rail- 
road &  Light  Company,  Wichita,  Kan., 
recently  announced  that  his  company 
contemplated  the  use  of  motor  buses 
as  feeders  for  the  railway  lines.  They 
will  be  used  on  off  streets  with  a  uni- 
versal or  transfer  system  to  the  railway. 

Wants  Bus  Permit  Deferred. — The 
Trenton  &  Mercer  County  Traction  Cor- 
poration, Trenton,  N.  J.,  has  asked  the 
Hamilton  Township  committee  to  defer 
action  on  the  granting  of  a  license 
line  to  be  operated  between  Trenton 
and  Hightstown,  a  distance  of  sixteen 
miles.  The  company  says  that  the 
proposed  bus  line  would  affect  the  re- 
ceipts on  the  Mercerville  division. 

Rural  Districts  to  Have  Trackless 
Trolleys — In  commenting  recently  on 
the  trackless  trolley  system  which  is 
in  prospect  for  Baltimore,  H.  B. 
Flowers,  vice-president  and  general 
manager  of  the  United  Railways,  said 
that  the  rural  districts  are  the  best 
places  for  the  new  trolleys  and  that  the 
United  management  will  install  them 
there.  He  said  further  that  though  no 
routes  could  be  definitely  slated  now, 
two  lines  have  been  decided  on  for 
operation  early  next  year. 

Ticket  Charge  Extended. — As  a  re- 
sult of  a  complaint  filed  with  the  city 
and  a  petition  submitted  to  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission  6-cent  tickets 
will  be  accepted  to  South  Danville  and 
Vermilion  Heights,  111.  Heretofore, 
the  Danville  Street  Railway  &  Light 
Company  charged  7  cents  to  these  sec- 
tions, the  6-cent  ticket  charge  being 
good  on  city  lines.  The  announce- 
ment to  this  effect  was  made  recently 
by  the  corporation  counsel  for  the  city. 

City  Opposes  Ten-Cent  Fare.— The 
Peekskill  Lighting  &  Railroad  Com- 
pany, Peekskill,  N.  Y.,  which  has  ob- 
tained increases  in  fare  from  5  to  6 
cents  and  then  to  7  cents  with  the 
consent  of  the  village  now  wants  to 
charge  a  10-cent  fare  and  the  village 
objects.  Former  Public  Service  Com- 
missioner Decker,  who  represented  the 
railroad  company,  contended  that  the 
commission  was  the  only  legally  con- 
stituted body  which  had  jurisdiction 
over  fares  and  that  the  village  could 
not  participate  in  the  proceedings.  In 
an  opinion  sustaining  the  right  of  the 
village  to  oppose  the  application,  Mr. 
Semple  said  in  part:  "My  theory  is 
that  if  the  facts  show  that  your  service 
cannot  be  adequate  or  safe  for  the 
public  interest  under  a  7-cent  fare  the 
commission  has  the  power  to  suspend 
the  provisions  of  the  contract  rate  until 
that  condition  changes,  but  the  contract 
is  not  abrogated  and  may  be  restored." 
The  contract  rate  of  fare  is  5  cents 
p.nd  under  the  ruling  this  rate  may  be 
restored  if  the  service,  at  a  higher  rate, 
is  not  adequate. 


886 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Personal  Mention 


C.  E.  Morgan  Advanced 

Elected  General  Manager  of  Brooklyn 
City  Railroad,  Which  Operates 
All  Surface  Lines 

The  election  of  Clinton  E.  Morgan  as 
general  manager  of  the  Brooklyn 
(N.  Y.)  City  Railroad  has  been  an- 
nounced by  the  board  of  directors.  H. 
Hobart  Porter,  who  has  been  both  vice- 
president  and  general  manager,  remains 
as  vice-president  in  charge  of  operation. 
Henry  F.  Noyes  has  resigned  as  vice- 
president  of  the  Brooklyn  City,  but  con- 
tinues as  a  director.  Mr.  Porter  is  now 
the  only  vice-president  of  the  lines.  The 
personnel  of  the  board  is  unchanged. 

As  general  manager  Mr.  Morgan  will 
be  in  direct  control  of  the  operation  of 
all  the  surface  lines  of  Brooklyn,  now 
being  operated  as  a  unified  system 
through  arrangement  between  the 
Brooklyn  City  management  and  Re- 
ceiver Lindley  M.  Garrison  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company.  The 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  surface  lines, 


C.  E.  Morgan 


which  Mr.  Morgan  operates  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Brooklyn  City  system, 
are  the  Nassau  Electric  Railroad,  the 
Queens  County  &  Suburban  Railroad 
and  the  Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  Rail- 
road. Under  Mr.  Morgan's  immediate 
operating  direction  will  be  525  miles  of 
track  owned  and  operated  by  seven 
companies.  Of  these  companies,  all  ex- 
cept the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad  are 
controlled  by  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company's  system.  The  Brooklyn 
City  has  been  operated  as  an  independ- 
ent since  Oct.  19,  1919,  when  the  prop- 
erty, which  had  been  leased  by  the 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company, 
reverted  to  its  owners  following  the 
failure  of  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Com- 
pany to  meet  the  obligations  imposed 
by  the  terms  of  the  lease  to  which 
these  companies  became  parties  in  1893. 
Under  independent  control,  the  Brook- 
lyn City  lines  have  been  directed  by  a 
separate  executive  organization  built 
up  by  H.  Hobart  Porter,  who  assumed 
the  management  when  separation  from 
the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  system  was 
decreed  by  the  United  States  District 
Court. 

Mr.  Morgan,  who  has  been  assistant 
general  manager  since  Mr.  Porter  took 


charge,  is  one  of  a  group  of  street  rail- 
way experts  chosen  by  Mr.  Porter  to 
work  out  a  solution  of  Brooklyn's  sur- 
face line  problems.  Associated  with 
Mr.  Morgan  in  this  group  are  Edwin  H. 
Reed,  who  came  from  the  American 
Public  Utilities  Company,  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  to  be  auditor  of  the  Brooklyn 
City;  L.  J.  Davis,  who  left  the  West- 
inghouse  •  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  Detroit,  to  become  engineer- 
ing assistant  to  Mr.  Morgan;  George 
W.  Jones  of  Sanderson  &  Porter,  New 
York,  who  was  made  treasurer,  and  A. 
LeRoy  Hodges,  formerly  with  the  Mich- 
igan Railway,  who  has  been  appointed 
assistant  secretary  and  treasurer. 

Before  coming  to  Brooklyn  Mr.  Mor- 
gan had  been  prominently  identified 
with  traction  properties  in  the  Middle 
West,  where  most  of  his  career  has  been 
spent.  Mr.  Morgan  entered  electric 
railway  work  in  1899,  progressing 
through  the  construction  and  the  oper- 
ating departments  of  the  Indianapolis 
and  Greenfield  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
panies, centralizing  in  Indianapolis.  In 
1902  he  became  purchasing  agent  and 
later  was  appointed  auditor.  Then  he 
became  assistant  general  manager  of 
the  Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company,  and  in  1905  he  was  named 
superintendent  of  the  Indianapolis  & 
Martinsville  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
the  Indianapolis  Coal  Traction  Com- 
pany and  the  Indianapolis  &  Western 
Traction  Company.  Subsequently  he 
was  chosen  superintendent  of  the  Terre 
Haute,  Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company. 

Mr.  Morgan  resigned  from  the  Terre 
Haute,  Indianapolis  &  Eastern  on  Feb. 
1,  1909,  to  accept  the  position  of  general 
manager  of  the  Indianapolis,  Crawfords- 
ville  &  Danville  Electric  Railway,  Craw- 
fordsville,  Ind.  He  continued  in  this 
capacity  until  April  1,  1912,  when  he 
resigned  to  assume  the  general  superin- 
tendency  of  the  Michigan  United  Trac- 
tion Company,  the  Michigan  Railway 
and  Michigan  Railroad.  These  com- 
panies were  subsidiaries  of  the  Com- 
monwealth Power,  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  operating  extensive  city  and 
interurban  properties  in  the  Central 
States.  Mr.  Morgan  was  in  full  charge 
of  the  company's  mechanical,  electrical, 
engineering,  traffic  and  transportation 
departments.  On  Oct.  1,  1919,  he  termi- 
nated his  connection  with  these  Michi- 
gan enterprises  to  join,  at  the  invitation 
of  Mr.  Porter,  the  organization  of  the 
Brooklyn  City  Railroad  as  assistant 
general  manager. 

Mr.  Morgan  has  been  active  in  asso- 
ciation work.  He  is  a  charter  member 
of  the  Central  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation and  is  active  in  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  standardization 
committee  on  equipment  in  both  the 
Central  Electric  and  American  Electric 
Railway  Associations.  Also  he  has  been 
a  member,  and  later  chairman,  of  both 
the  schedules  and  timetables  and  the 
rules  committees  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Transportation  & 
Traffic  Association.  He  also  served  on 
the  block  signal  committee. 

When  the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad 
resumed  independent  operation  it  be- 
came necessary  to  break  up  several 


routes,  with  the  result  that  new  riding 
habits  were  formed  by  the  public.  These 
changed  conditions  led  to  a  thorough 
traffic  survey  of  all  the  surface  lines. 

The  fundamentals  of  the  methods  fol- 
lowed in  this  survey  were  described  by 
Mr.  Morgan  in  an  article  in  the  issue  of 
this  paper  for  Sept.  24,  1921.  The 
policy  there  outlined  will  be  continued 
under  the  general  management  of  Mr. 
Morgan,  whose  promotion,  it  was  ex- 
plained by  the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad, 
was  the  natural  result  of  the  success 
that  has  attended  his  effort  in  opera- 
tion and  administration. 


Mr.  Wilson  with  B.  R.  T. 

Former    Connecticut    Company  Road- 
master  Appointed  Superintendent 
of  Surface  Roadway 

P.  Ney  Wilson  recently  assumed  his 
duties  as  superintendent  of  surface 
roadways  of  the  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.) 
Rapid  Transit  Company.  He  succeeds 
to  the  position  vacated  by  E.  L.  Mat- 
thews, who  resigned  in  April  of  this 
year  to  accept  a  similar  position  with 
the  Third  Avenue  Railway,  New  York. 
Mr.  Wilson  was  formerly  roadmaster 
of  the  New  Haven  division  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company. 

For  the  company  Mr.  Wilson's  ap- 


P.  Ney  Wilson 


pointment  is  a  particularly  valuable 
accession.  Since  his  initial  electric 
railway  connection  with  the  Camden 
Railway  in  1899  Mr.  Wilson  has  de- 
voted his  attention  and  energy  not  only 
with  the  actual  construction  and  main- 
tenance of  way  methods  of  the  various 
properties  with  which  he  has  been 
identified,  but  also  in  the  study  of 
foreign  track  construction  methods.  It 
was  in  1906  after  he  had  been  made 
supervisor  of  track  and  roadway  of 
the  Camden  Railway  following  several 
years  of  field  work  that  Mr.  Wilson 
made  an  extended  trip  to  England  and 
South  America  to  acquaint  himself  with 
track  construction  practice  there. 

Returning  in  1907  Mr.  Wilson  was 
appointed  roadmaster  of  the  Rochester 
Street  Railway.  He  remained  there 
two  years  when  he  received  the  appoint- 
ment as  roadmaster  of  the  New  Haven 
Division  of  the  Connecticut  Company. 
In  terminating  his  connection  with  the 
Connecticut  Company  to  enter  larger 
fields  Mr.  Wilson  ends  a  twelve  year 
period  of  enviable  service  as  road- 
master. During  that  time  he  was  able 
because  of  his  combined  knowledge  of 
foreign  and  domestic  track  work  prac- 
tice to   institute   many  valuable  and 


November  12,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


887 


practical  money  saving  schemes  along 
these  lines. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  educated  in  Phila- 
delphia and  Camden,  N.  J.,  at  both  of 
which  places  he  studied  civil  engineer- 
ing following  his  graduation  from  High 
School.  Mr.  Wilson  is  a  member  of  the 
Connecticut  Society  of  Civil  Engineers. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER,  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Mr.  Cadby  Executive  Manager 
of  Wisconsin  Association 

John  N.  Cadby,  consulting-  engineer  of 
Madison,  Wis.,  was  selected  to  be  execu- 
tive manager  of  the  Wisconsin  Elec- 
trical Association  at  a  recent  meeting 
of  the  executive  board.  This  office  is  a 
newly  created  one,  the  duties  of  which 
he  will  assume  next  March. 

"The  establishment  of  this  new  de- 
partment means  that  our  association  in- 
tends to  be  of  greater  service  to  the 
public  making  it  more  useful  to  our 
members,"  said  J.  P.  Pulliam,  presi- 
dent of  the  Association.  "Mr.  Cadby 
will  be  able  to  bring  his  wide  experience 
to  bear  on  public  utility  problems  any- 
where in  the  state." 

Mr.  Cadby  is  a  graduate  of  the  elec- 
trical engineering  course  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin,  class  of  1903.  For 
a  time  he  was  with  the  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company.  In 
1908  he  became  a  member  of  the  engi- 
neering staff  of  the  Wisconsin  Railroad 
Commission. 


A.  Telford  Smith  has  become  associ- 
ated with  the  Sao  Paulo  (Brazil)  Elec- 
tric Company,  Ltd.  Mr.  Smith  was  for- 
merly with  the  Winnipeg  (Man.)  Elec- 
tric Railway. 

Floyd  W.  Parsons,  formerly  editor 
of  Coal  Age,  one  of  the  McGraw-Hill 
publications,  and  for  the  past  two 
years  in  charge  of  the  department  en- 
titled "Everybody's  Business"  in  the 
Saturday  Evening  Post,  has  become 
editorial  director  of  the  Gas  Age-Record. 

Matthew  C.  Brush,  formerly  presi- 
dent of  the  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated 
Railway  and  who  is  now  the  senior 
vice-president  of  the  American  Inter- 
national Corporation,  New  York  City, 
was  elected  president  of  G.  Amsinck  & 
Company.  Mr.  Brush,  who  is  in  gen- 
eral charge  of  the  American  Interna- 
tional Corporation's  commercial  inter- 
ests, says  that  the  Amsinck  organiza- 
tion, which  is  engaged  in  the  import 
and  export  business,  expects  to  enlarge 
its  functions  between  the  United  States 
and  Central  and  South  America. 

M.  H.  Gerry,  formerly  engineer  and 
power  superintendent  of  the  Metro- 
politan West  Side  Elevated  Railway, 
Chicago,  has  been  made  secretary, 
agent  and  engineer  for  the  St.  Anthony 
Falls  Water  Power  Company  and  the 
Minneapolis  Mill  Company.  He  suc- 
ceeds William  de  la  Barre,  who  was 
elected  president.  Mr.  Gerry,  while 
with  the  Metropolitan  West  Side  Ele- 
vated, superintended  the  electrification 
of  the  company's  elevated  tracks.  Mr. 
Gerry  graduated  in  1890  from  the 
College  of  Mechanical  Engineering  of 
the  University  of  Minnesota  and  was 
employed  several  years  by  the  Gen- 
eral Electric  Company.  For  twenty- 
two  years  he  has  been  in  Montana. 
He  built  the  first  dam  in  the  Missouri 
River  for  commercial  development  of 
power  and  built  the  original  transmis- 
sion Ijnes  to  Butte,  Anaconda  and 
Helena.  During  the  war  he  was  fuel 
administrator  for  Montana. 


European  Business  Poor 

Gear  Manufacturer  Comments  on  Situa- 
tion Abroad — Observed  Many  Buses 
Used  as  Feeders 

According  to  E.  S.  Sawtelle,  assistant 
general  manager  Tool  Steel  Gear  & 
Pinion  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  the 
prospects  for  the  immediate  present  of 
American  manufacturers  doing  a  con- 
siderable business  in  Europe,  except 
those  who  have  a  specialty,  is  slight. 
Even  in  specialities  a  very  strong  effort 
is  being  made  by  European  manufac- 
turers to  reproduce  or  imitate  devices 
that  have  hitherto  been  bought  in 
America.  Mr.  Sawtelle  has  recently 
returned  from  a  six  weeks'  trip  through 
England,  France,  Holland  and  Switzer- 
land. In  commenting  on  the  business 
situation  in  Europe,  he  said  in  part: 

"Before  and  during  the  war  our  com- 
pany was  selling  tool  steel  gears  to 
about  eighty  companies  in  England, 
eighteen  in  France  and  practically  all 
of  the  large  roads  in  Holland  and  Spain. 
Some  of  these  represented  trial  orders, 
but  with  most  of  the  larger  companies 
the  business  was  thoroughly  established 
and  competing  very  successfully  with 
European  manufacturers.  This  situa- 
tion, I  believe,  was  duplicated  by  a 
large  number  of  American  manufac- 
turers who  had  been  able  very  success- 
fully to  introduce  their  products  in 
Europe,  due  either  to  unusual  quality 
or  to  low  costs  through  quantity  pro- 
duction. Business  of  this  sort  was 
necessarily  expensive  to  start,  as  it  in- 
volved many  changes  in  standard  prac- 
tice to  take  care  of  European  desires, 
great  difficulty  in  selling  due  to  lan- 
guage barriers,  and,  of  course,  the  con- 
tinual problems  of  long  deliveries  and 
high  transportation  costs  due  to  our 
geographical  location. 

"The  reasons  for  the  extensive  dis- 
continuance of  purchases  in  America 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  matter  of  quality 
or  of  service,  but  purely  a  question  of 
policy.  I  was  told  by  the  head  of  one 
of  the  largest  British  tramway  lines 
that  he  now  was  unable  to  buy  out  of 
Britain  any  quantity  larger  than  $100 
without  submitting  the  bid  to  his  board. 
European  manufacturers  are  driving 
desperately  to  duplicate  American  prod- 
ucts and  the  tramway  lines,  largely 
municipal,  find  great  pressure  brought 
to  bear  upon  them  to  buy  home  products 
if  the  makers  can  even  approximately 
match  the  American  goods,  or  even 
claim  that  they  can  duplicate. 

"The  exchange  situation  is  a  fur- 
ther almost  insurmountable  barrier  for 
American  goods  in  such  countries  as 
Italy  and  France,  and  even  in  England 
the  high  exchange  rate,  coupled  with 
ocean  freight  and  similar  charges, 
makes  our  competition  exceedingly  dif- 
ficult. Swiss  exchange  is  as  high  as 
ours,  and  it  seems  as  though  every 
topic  you  discuss  with  the  Swiss  busi- 
ness man,  sooner  or  later,  mostly 
sooner,  leads  to  exchange.  They  claim 
that  their  business  has  been  practically 
killed  by  this  situation. 

"German  competition  is  the  most 
serious  factor  that  confronts  the  Amer- 


ican exporter.  The  skilled  mechanic  in 
Germany  is  being  paid  from  70  cents 
to  $1  a  day,  and  net  living  costs  are 
such  that  he  is  probably  better  fixed 
on  this  pay  than  he  was  before  the 
war.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  rents 
have  increased  but  slightly.  This  situa- 
tion, however,  enables  Germany  to  sell 
for  export  at  prices  that  are  absolutely 
unthinkable  in  any  other  land.  Before 
the  war  we  were  laying  down  tool  steel 
gears  in  Holland  at  a  price  about  twice 
the  cost  of  the  soft  gear  made  in  Eu- 
rope. Today,  in  some  cases,  our  price 
will  be  as  much  as  five  times  as  high. 
The  prospective  purchaser  does  not 
dispute  the  question  that  the  gear  may 
be  worth  more  than  five  times  as  much 
in  terms  of  life,  but  the  primary  ques- 
tion is  the  ability  to  pay. 

"Many  of  these  conditions  will  even- 
tually right  themselves,  but  it  seems 
to  me  that  America  must  for  several 
years  to  come  import  in  excess  of  its 
exports  before  conditions  will  work 
around  to  give  us  a  fair  chance  for 
export  business." 

Speaking  of  general  impressions 
gathered  during  his  trip,  Mr.  Sawtelle 
said: 

"In  London  and  Paris  (and  in  many 
other  of  the  English  cities,  one  sees  a 
very  large  number  of  motor  buses,  and 
these  seem  to  be  operating  under  very 
satisfactory  conditions  despite  a  heavy 
horsepower  tax  that  they  pay  and  a 
gasoline  cost  that  is  several  times  the 
American  price.  I  found  several  cases 
where  the  trackless  trolley  was  also 
being  seriously  considered  or  plans 
were  being  made  to  try  it  out,  primarily 
to  avoid  excessive  paving  charges  and 
to  help  act  as  a  feeder  for  their  main 
system.  Nevertheless,  all  the  tramway 
people  with  whom  I  talked  feel  that 
the  bus  is  but  a  feeder  or  a  substitute 
necessary  in  special  conditions  only, 
such  as  with  crooked  streets,  etc.  They 
seem  universally  of  the  opinion  that 
the  street  railway  company  must  con- 
tinue to  exist  in  practically  its  present 
shape  as  the  solution  for  the  trans- 
portation problem. 

"Practically  all  of  the  European  city 
street  cars  are  very  light  as  compared 
with  American  standards,  though  not 
light  as  compared  with  the  safety  car. 
It  would  look  to  me  as  though  Europe 
has  avoided  the  cars  of  excessive 
weight  with  very  heavy  equipment,  and 
by  going  very  extensively  to  light 
double-deck  cars  has  been  gaining  the 
economies  that  we  are  now  finding  in 
lighter  equipment.  Wherever  the  safety 
car  was  discussed  I  was  invariably  told 
that  their  equipment  was  now  so  light 
that  they  did  not  need  to  take  this 
step  for  additional  saving.  On  most 
of  these  light  cars,  they  are  using  old 
standard  light  motors,  such  as  GE-67. 
GE-54,  etc." 

Electric  Locomotive  Exports 

In  the  preliminary  figures  given  by 
the  United  States  Department  of  Com- 
merce showing  the  exports  of  electri- 
cal goods  for  September  indicate  that 
the  export  trade  of  this  class  of  manu- 
factured   products    is    still  declining. 


888 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  20 


Particularly  was  this  true  of  electric 
locomotives,  of  which  $242,362  worth 
were  exported  during  August  while  the 
value  of  those  shipped  out  of  the  coun- 
try during  September  was  only  $59,- 
817. 

The  nine-month  total  for  1921,  how- 
ever, shows  that  the  amount  paid  by 
foreign  purchasers  for  electric  loco- 
motives ordered  in  this  country  was 
$1,506,877,  which  is  nearly  double  the 
amount  for  the  corresponding  period 
of  1920.  This  large  increase  is  un- 
doubtedly the  result  of  the  electrifica- 
tion that  is  at  present  in  progress  in 
Brazil  for  which  practically  all  of  the 
equipment  was  manufactured  in  the 
United  States. 


General  Electric  Employees'  Pay 
Cut  10  per  Cent 

Another  reduction  of  10  per  cent  in 
wages  and  salaries  affecting  all  em- 
ployees has  been  announced  by  the 
General  Electric  Company,  which  took 
effect  on  Oct.  31.  The  announcement  by 
E.  W.  Rice,  Jr.,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, follows: 

"In  accordance  with  an  order  of  the 
board  of  directors,  a  reduction  of  10 
per  cent  will  be  made  as  of  Oct.  31, 
1921,  in  the  salaries  of  all  officers  and 
employees  of  the  company.  Heads  of 
departments  are  requested  to  notify  all 
those  affected." 

The  General  Electric  Company  has 
made  several  reductions  since  last  Jan- 
uary. The  first  reduction  became  effec- 
tive Feb.  1,  when  the  wages  of  day 
workers  at  the  Schenectady  plant  were 
reduced  10  per  cent  and  the  pay  of 
piece  workers  10  per  cent.  The  bonus 
system  was  also  dropped. 

In  July  another  reduction  of  10  to  30 
per  cent  was  announced.  The  working 
forces  have  been  reduced  in  line  with 
the  company's  plan  of  gradual  re- 
trenchment. 


German  Interest  in  Spanish  Elec- 
trical Company 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Compania 
Hispano  -  Americana  de  Electridad, 
Madrid,  Spain,  says  the  Electrical  Re- 
view, London,  they  have  elected  to  the 
board  of  directors  four  Germans  who 
are  prominent  in  banking  and  electrical 
manufacturing  companies.  This  action 
is  interesting  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
last  summer  the  South  American  oper- 
ation of  the  German  Transmarine  Elec- 
tricity Company,  Berlin,  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Compania  Hispano-Amer- 
icana  de  Electricidad.  It  would  seem 
from  this  that  a  continuation  of  Ger- 
man influence  in  central  station  and 
traction  operations  in  South  America 
was  being  effected. 


Some  Improvement  in  Porcelain 
Insulator  Market 

A  survey  of  the  market  for  porcelain 
insulators  shows  that  some  improve- 
ment has  been  experienced  since  last 
summer,  but  that  something  in  the 
nature  of  a  dead  level  may  be  expected 
until  around  the  first  of  the  year.  De- 
mand for  the  small  distribution  sizes 
of  porcelain  insulators  is  fairly  good 
in  the  East  and  South,  and  indications 
are  that  a  number  of  jobbers  have  let 
their  stocks  run  low.  Rush  orders  have 
been  received  by  manufacturers  from 
jobbers  in  Boston  and  in  various  parts 
of  Pennsylvania,  though  none  of  these 
orders  has  been  particularly  large.  A 


number  of  fair  orders  have  been  re- 
ceived from  the  Southeast  and  the 
South.  Jobbers  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  seem  fairly  well  stocked. 

Reports  from  the  Middle  West  say 
that  jobbers  are  well  stocked  and  can 
make  immediate  shipments  for  all  ordi- 
nary demands.  There  are  numerous 
inquiries  and  a  fair  number  of  orders, 
most  of  them  for  small  lots.  Utilities 
there  are  not  buying  as  heavily  as  was 
the  case  several  months  ago.  This  con- 
dition may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  the  number  of  small  extensions 
under  construction  has  dropped  off 
considerably. 

Prices  remain  unchanged  since  the 
drop  which  was  made  around  the  begin- 
ning of  September.  Manufacturers  say 
that  labor  costs  are  still  high  and -that 
there  is  not  apt  to  be  another  decrease 
for  some  time. 


Petition  for  Foreclosure  on  Car 
Company  Sought 

A  petition  for  foreclosure  of  the 
$2,000,000  mortgage  which  it  hold's  on 
the  plant  of  the  Barney  &  Smith  Car 
Company,  Dayton,  Ohio,  was  instituted 
in  Cincinnati  by  the  Guaranty  Trust 
Company  of  New  York.  Thus  the  sale 
of  the  assets  and  property  of  the  com- 
pany is  assured  within  a  short  time. 

The  company  was  established  in  1849 
and  has  a  paid  in  capital  of  $4,500,000. 
It  is  being  operated  at  present  by  Val- 
entine Winters,  president  of  the  Win- 
ters National  Bank  and  receiver  for 
the  car  company.  In  a  recent  report 
Mr.  Winters  indicated  that  the  sale  of 
the  plant  would  be  necessary  for  the 
conservation  of  the  interests  of  all.  A 
number  of  people  living  in  Cincinnati 
are  stockholders  and  officers  of  the 
company.  Attorneys  for  the  trust  com- 
pany filed  a  motion  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  foreclosure  case  with  the 
receivership  suit  instituted  by  Irwin 
Ballman  &  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Judge  Edward  T.  Snediker  indicated 
+hat  he  would  grant  the  request,  and 
he  stated  that  the  plant  probably  would 
be  sold  at  public  auction  within  a  few 
weeks  and  an  entry  to  that  effect  is  ex- 
pected soon. 


Rolling  Stock 


Morris  County  Traction  Company,  Mor- 
ristown,  N.  J.,  contemplates  purchasing 
within  the  next  four  weeks  power  record- 
ing meters  and  headlights  with  which  to 
equip  twelve  cars. 

Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway,  which 
recently  bought  sixty-five  elevated  steel 
cars  from  the  Pressed  Steel  Car  Company 
at  a  cost  of  about  $1,250,000.  is  beginning 
to  receive  the  equipment.  Half  a  dozen  of 
the  cars  have  already  been  delivered  and 
three  or  four  will  be  delivered  every 
week  until  the  contract  is  completed  next 
March.  The  new  cars  are  to  replace  wooden 
cars  that  are  about  twenty-two  years  old. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Pekin  (China)  Tramways  have  submitted 
plans  to  the  municipality  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  modern  tramway  system. 

New  York  State  Railways,  Syracuse,  N. 
Y.,  has  been  ordered  by  the  court  to  relay 
its  tracks  in  Willow  Street  to  conform  to 
the  repaired  street  grade.  The  cost  is  set 
at  $5,000. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  will  lay  two  additional  tracks  on 
American  Avenue.  Long  Beach.  This  will 
expedite  traffic  as  local  cars  will  operate 
on  one  set  of  tracks  and  interurban  cars 
on  another  set. 

Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  Railways,  through  its 
receivers,  is  seeking  permission  of  the  court 


to  construct  a  single  track  on  Brownsville 
Avenue  from  Carson  Street  to  Warrington 
Avenue.  It  is  estimated  that  the  track  and 
paving  costs  would  amount  to  $10,000. 

New  York  State  Railways,  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  has  progressed  in  its  Clinton  Avenue 
extension  to  the  extent  that  about  1,000 
feet  of  track  have  already  been  laid  in 
Clinton  Avenue,  north  of  Norton  Street. 
The  Clinton  Avenue  line  is  being  extended 
from  Norton  Street  to  Ridge  Road,  at  a 
cost  of  $100,000.  The  distance  is  approxi- 
mately 2,500  feet.  Charles  R.  Barnes,  com- 
missioner of  railways,  said  that  the  work 
will  be  continued  as  long  as  the  weather 
permits.  Double  tracks  are  being  con- 
structed and  they  are  being  placed  in  the 
center  of  the  roadway. 

 !  !  !  !  !  m 

Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Pekin  (111.)  Municipal  Railway  will  erect 
a  new  carhouse  which  will  cost  $5,000. 

Morris  County  Traction  Company,  Mor- 
rrstown,  N.  J.,  expects  to  build  within  the 
next  month  a  dispatcher's  office.  The  con- 
tract  for   this   building   has    been  let. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  Corporation 
expects  to  build  one  substation  in  which 
will  be  installed  two  1,000-kw.  automatic 
substation  equipments. 

Mesaba  Railway,  Virginia.  Minn.,  has  let 
the  contract  for  the  erection  of  the  waiting 
station,  carhouse  and  substation  at  Hib- 
bing.  Minn.,  to  A.  Guthrie  &  Company  of 
St.  Paul. 

United  Traction  Company,  Albany,  N.  Y., 

had  its  service  seriously  interrupted  re- 
cently as  the  result  of  a  fire  which  damaged 
its  Watervliet  substation.  The  extent  of 
the  fire  was  such  that  men  were  required 
to  work  continuously  for  several  days  to  get 
the  substation  back  in  service. 


Trade  Notes 


C.  V.  Allen  has  been  appointed  Mexican 
manager  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  In- 
ternational Company,  with  headquarters  at 
Mexico  City. 

C.  I.  Earll,  York,  Pa.,  recently  received  an 
order  from  the  Toronto  (Ont.)  Transporta- 
tion Commission  for  140  sets  of  No.  10 
trolley  catchers. 

International  General  Electric  Comnanv 
has  made  a  contract  with  C.  I.  Earll,  York, 
Pa.,  to  handle  all  foreign  business  per- 
taining to  trolley  retrievers  and  trolley 
catchers. 

Johnson  Fare  Box  Company,  Chicago,  by 

a  vote  of  its  stockholders,  has  increased 
the  capital  stock  of  the  company  from  2,000 
shares,  par  value  $100,  to  4,000  shares  of 
the  same  par  value. 

Harry  W.  Eastwood,  who  for  the  last 
four  years  has  had  charge  of  the  steel 
mill  and  crane  division  of  the  Cutler-Ham- 
mer Manufacturing  Company,  has  been  ap- 
pointed manager  of  the  Cleveland  branch 
office,  taking  the  place  of  Lynn  B.  Timmer- 
man,  former  assistant  manager  of  the  cen- 
tral district!  who  leaves  to  enter  the  auto- 
mobile business  in  Lima,  Ohio,  after  hav- 
ing been  associated  with  the  Cutler-Ham- 
mer Company  at  Cleveland  since  1914. 
Mr.  Eastwood  has  had  considerable  experi- 
ence in  the  electrical  industry,  particularly 
in  the  controller  field. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Atlas  Valve  Company,  Newark,  N.  J.,  has 

recently  published  Junior  Catalogue  No.  21, 
describing  its  line  of  reducing  valves,  pump 
governors,  pressure  regulators,  etc. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company  announces  that  it  is  distributing 
a  publication,  the  title  of  which  is  "Lead- 
Base  Babbitt  Metal."  It  announces  the 
placing  on  the  market  of  lead  base  babbitt 
metal,  which  is  the  result  of  many  years' 
use  of  this  material  by  Westinghouse.  Ap- 
proximately 1,000,000  lb.  of  Westinghouse 
lead-base  babbitt  metal  was  made  and  used 
during  1920.  The  subjects  discussed  in  this 
publication  are  overheating,  bearing  design, 
preliminary  machining  of  shells,  cleaning 
of  shells,  care  of  tinning  alloy,  tinning  of 
bronze  shells,  tinning  of  pipe  and  malleable 
iron  bearing  shells,  anchor  holes  in  case 
iron  bearing  shells,  care  of  the  babbitted 
metal,  cleaning  solutions  and  materials. 
This  is  known  as  Folder  4.474. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZELL, Editors  HENRY  H.NORRIS, Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor      N. A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor       H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor      C.W.SCiUIER.Associate  Editor      C.W. STOCKS, Associate  Editor 
G.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE, Editorial  Representative  PAUL  WOOTON.Washington  Representative 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  November  19,  1921 


Number  21 


Applying  Dispatching  Principles 
in  One's  Work  and  Play 

AMONG  the  ills  from  which  the  electric  railways,  like 
jtV other  industries,  are  suffering  is  the  lack  of 
effectiveness  on  the  part  of  individual  employees  in  all 
ranks  and  departments.  Few  make  the  most  of  their 
opportunities,  the  majority  failing  to  realize  that  what 
benefits  the  service  reacts  to  their  own  profit.  If  this 
statement  is  accepted,  it  follows  that  the  biggest  job 
on  the  manager's  hands  is  an  educational  one.  It  con- 
sists in  arousing  the  employee's  self-interest  and  as- 
sisting him  to  apply  it  so  as  to  produce  results  for 
himself  and  his  employer.  The  following  homely  phi- 
losophy applies  to  the  present  situation. 

In  this  democratic  country  the  success  of  every  indi- 
vidual is  largely  up  to  himself.  This  success  is  due 
in  great  measure  to  the  way  in  which  he  employs  his 
time,  both  that  which  he  sells  to  his  employer  and  that 
which  he  reserves  for  himself.  The  man  who  ap- 
preciates this  fact  and  acts  upon  his  knowledge  has  an 
enormous  advantage  over  his  fellows,  because  most  of 
them  are  prodigal  in  their  wastage  of  this  unreplace- 
able  resource.  The  thrifty  one  prospers  not  only  because 
he  is  wise  but  also  because  so  many  are  fools.  The 
railway  man  ought  to  be  more  careful  in  this  matter 
than  many,  because  he  sees  constantly  illustrated  the 
importance  of  careful  dispatching.  He  should  find  it 
easy  to  apply  the  same  principle  in  the  use  of  his 
own  work  and  play  time. 

Arnold  Bennett  has  put  the  thing  in  a  nutshell  in 
his  little  book,  "How  to  Live  on  Twenty-four  Hours 
a  Day."  The  underlying  idea  therein  is  that  the  aver- 
age man's  time  is  not  well  utilized,  that  he  needs  a 
program  in  order  to  make  the  most  of  his  twenty-four 
hours  a  day.  The  fact  is  that  he  needs  a  schedule.  His 
duties  require  dispatching.  It's  up  to  him,  not  his 
employer,  to  do  this  dispatching.  The  chap  who  knows 
how  to  employ  his  time  well  is  the  "boss's"  joy.  He'll 
be  boss  himself  some  day. 

Sitting  recently  in  a  railway  office,  waiting  to  see 
the  "big  chief,"-  the  writer  had  opportunity  to  study 
the  clerks  at  close  range  for  some  time.  He  felt  de- 
pressed at  the  apparent  lack  of  plan  and  purpose  in 
their  work.  "These  fellows,"  he  thought,  "need  a  dis- 
patcher." The  opposite  condition  was  illustrated  in 
the  case  of  Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  the  famous  contem- 
porary banker.  When  engaged  as  a  vice-president  of 
the  National  City  Bank,  he  had  no  duties  assigned  to 
him.  He  was  in  fact  apparently  left  upon  his  own 
resources.  Somewhat  nonplused  at  first,  as  soon  as  he 
realized  that  it  was  incumbent  upon  him  to  make  his 
own  work  he  lost  little  time  in  doing  so.  He  was  a  good 
self -dispatcher.  His  promotion  in  due  course  to  the 
presidency  of  the  bank  was  a  logical  outcome.  He  just 
couldn't  help  it. 

The  way  in  which  some  people  can  turn  out  work  is 
a  marvel.  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a  conspicuous  ex- 
ample. His  career  almost  makes  one  dizzy  to  contem- 
plate.  He  was  able,  among  innumerable  duties,  to  write 


more  than  150,000  letters,  many  of  them  lengthy.  He 
could  do  all  of  this  because  he  early  acquired  the  prac- 
tice of  dispatching  his  work.  And  he  knew  how  to 
play,  too.  What  he  did  on  a  large  scale,  all  railway 
men  can  do  on  some  scale.  But  unfortunately,  most 
of  them  won't.  If  many  did  the  railway  millennium 
would  be  here. 

ft  il 

Efficient  Lubrication  Is  L  j 
Vital  Maintenance  Problem 

ELECTRIC  railway  men  responsible  for  the  main- 
tenance of  car  equipment  have  long  recognized  that 
the  period  that  a  car  can  safely  run  between  oilings 
determines  the  maximum  inspection  period  for  the  en- 
tire equipment.  Efforts  of  designers  have  therefore 
been  devoted  largely  to  arrangements  that  will  insure 
proper  lubrication  over  as  long  a  period  as  possible. 
Oil  wells  have  been  provided  in  the  motor  housings  to 
carry  an  additional  supply  of  oil  over  that  contained  in 
the  waste  packing,  and  openings  for  inspection  and 
refilling  have  been  made  as  accessible  as  possible  to 
insure  proper  attention. 

Careful  design  is  but  one  link  in  the  chain  of  efficient 
lubrication.  Others  of  equal  importance  are  the  use  of 
proper  materials  for  packing,  lubrication  and  bearings 
as  well  as  the  application  and  maintenance  of  these 
materials  when  used. 

Manufacturers  now  consider  the  furnishing  of  service 
and  advice  relating  to  their  product  just  as  essential  to 
their  success  as  the  sale  of  their  material.  Oil  com- 
panies have  experts  who  visit  the  various  railway  prop- 
erties and  advise  those  responsible  for  the  application 
of  their  product  as  to  the  most  efficient  use  and  the 
proper  grades  of  oil  that  will  give  the  most  satisfactory 
service  under  the  conditions  of  operation.  Railways 
follow  the  advice  given  with  confidence  as  experience 
has  shown  that  these  experts  know  their  particular 
branches  thoroughly  and  suggest  many  helpful  policies. 
The  choice  of  materials  is  thus  taken  care  of  in  a  satis- 
factory manner. 

The  problem  of  lubrication  and  bearing  maintenance 
is  a  very  vital  and  difficult  one.  The  work  of  an  oiler 
is  not  particularly  attractive,  and  it  is  hard  to  keep  men 
on  this  work  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  train 
them  thoroughly.  Trained  men  are  very  necessary, 
however,  if  the  best  results  are  to  be  obtained.  One 
way  of  making  the  work  attractive  is  by  increasing  the 
rate  of  pay.  It  is  not  economical  to  use  cheap  men  for 
this  work,  as  much  depends  on  the  thoroughness  with 
which  the  work  is  carried  out.  A  careless  inspection 
may  result  in  damage  to  an  armature  necessitating  its 
rewinding  and  thus  cost  more  than  a  month's  pay  of  a 
good  man.  Definite  limits  of  wear  for  bearings  should 
be  adopted  for  each  shop.  They  assist  the  workman, 
and  the  best  of  lubricants  and  the  most  efficient  method 
of  applying  them  will  not  lubricate  a  bearing  worn  so 
that  improper  alignment  results. 

An  efficient  oiler  should  also  have  a  knowledge  of  the 


890 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


different  classes  of  babbitt  and  of  waste  packing.  He 
should  know  how  to  babbitt  bearings  and  pack  boxes  as 
well  as  have  a  knowledge  of  the  grade  of  lubricants  and 
methods  of  applying  them.  The  quality  of  the  lubri- 
cants used  is  very  important,  but  the  type  of  man  who 
applies  them  and  inspects  the  bearings  is  more  impor- 
tant. 


A  Good  Product  Is  Necessary 

Before  Advertising  Is  Valuable 

ADVERTISING,  as  a  proper  and  necessary  activity 
l.  on  the  part  of  railways,  has  been  constantly  urged 
by  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  and  by  other 
agencies  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  electric 
railway  industry.  But  it  will  not  pay  to  advertise  any- 
thing, unless  the  advertiser  is  prepared  to  "deliver  the 
goods." 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  O'f  talk  in  railway  circles- 
about  selling  transportation,  but  sight  must  not  be  lost 
of  the  fact  that  the  transportation  should  be  "salable" 
if  it  is  to  be  sold.  Once  in  a  while  a  good  salesman  can 
sell  a  poor  product,  even  in  the  transportation  business, 
but  in  the  long  run  it  is  risky  business  to  advertise  poor 
wares. 

The  letter  of  J.  A.  Emery  in  the  Nov.  5  issue  of  this 
paper  is  typical  of  remarks  both  within  and  without 
the  industry.  There  is  no  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
financial  difficulties  attendant  upon  providing  more  sal- 
able transportation,  but  what  enterprising  merchant 
who  had  suffered  reverses  would  attempt  to  build  up 
his  business  with  a  mediocre  product  expecting  the  pub- 
lic to  appreciate  his  plight  and  buy  more  of  his  mediocre 
foods  at  higher  prices  to  put  him  on  his  feet?  The  lack 
of  complete  parallel  is  fully  appreciated,  but  there  is 
enough  in  the  comparison  to  think  about. 


Selling  Raisins 

and  Selling  Rides 

WHO  has  not  seen  the  breaking  out  like  a  rash 
lately  of  little  red  cartons  of  raisins  at  5  cents  the 
package?  A  few  months  ago  the  only  way  to  buy 
raisins  was  by  the  pound.  While  many  people  have 
always  loved  to  eat  them  "in  the  raw,"  they  were  not 
willing  to  buy  more  than  they  could  eat  comfortably 
en  passant.  What  was  it  that  prompted  the  raisin 
growers  to  make  so  sensational  a  departure  in  their 
selling  methods?  The  answer  is:  An  overproduction  of 
raisins  that  could  not  be  disposed  of  through  the  tra- 
ditional channels  of  merchandising.  Something  non- 
traditional  had  to  be  done,  and  done  quickly  and  in  a 
big  way.  What  happened  was  that  the  raisin  interests 
got  together  and  agreed  upon  an  advertising  campaign 
running  into  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  for  as 
merchants  they  understood  very  well  that  good  wine 
does  need  a  bush,  notwithstanding  the  old  proverb. 
Within  a  few  months,  the  slogan :  "Have  you  had  your 
daily  iron?"  was  known  from  coast  to  coast.  It  was 
not  long  before  it  actually  became  difficult  to  supply  the 
demand.  It  is  reported  that  in  one  case  several  carloads 
of  raisins  on  the  way  to  a  candy  manufacturer  were 
practically  torn  from  his  hands  at  a  price  far  beyond 
his  own  outlay. 

Is  there  no  tip  for  electric  railways  in  this  wonderful 
coup?  Why  cannot  we  devise  selling  schemes  that  will 
give  the  street  railway  ride  a  new  and  more  attractive 
flavor?  Must  we  forever  continue  to  sell  our  product 
at  the  same  price  regardless  of  quantity,  of  quality,  of 


time  of  day,  or  can  we  devise  various  means  of  giving 
the  public  what  it  wants  in  the  right  size  package  at 
the  right  price?  The  economic  conditions,  tastes  and 
transportation  standards  of  pre-war  and  pre-auto  times 
have  gone,  never  to  return,  and  with  them  must  go  the 
idea  that  people  ride  street  cars  only  because  they  have 
to  and  not  because  they  want  to  save  time  and  its  equiva- 
lent in  money. 

As  a  corollary  or  proof  of  the  truthfulness  of  this 
argument,  the  actual  selling  of  rides  in  Youngstown, 
Ohio,  as  described  elsewhere  in  this  issue,  is  offered  in 
evidence.  The  records  from  the  first  few  weeks  use 
of  the  new  pass  surely  indicate  that  rides  which  would 
never  have  been  taken  otherwise  have  added  materially 
to  the  company's  revenue. 


Reduce  Unnecessary 

Handling  of  Equipment 

THE  two  great  things  needed  in  our  shops  today 
are  the  ability  to  do  work  cheaply  and  to  do  work 
well.  Both  require  proper  shop  equipment  efficiently 
arranged.  This  means  that  in  laying  out  a  new  shop 
or  reconstructing  an  old  one  the  equipment  engineer 
should  proportion  the  amount  of  space  in  the  various 
departments  to  a  large  extent  according  to  the  equip- 
ment used  and  its  arrangement. 

While,  no  doubt,  there  is  an  urgent  need  for  new  ma- 
chine tools  in  most  of  the  present  railway  shops,  few 
officials  feel  that  such  an  expenditure  can  be  undertaken 
at  present.  The  rearrangement  of  present  equipment, 
however,  is  an  important  problem  that  can  be  under- 
taken and  should  be  considered  in  any  plans  looking 
toward  increased  production,  better  workmanship  and 
reduced  cost  for  performing  the  work.  The  expense  is 
small  for  regrouping  machines  and  relocating  depart- 
ments, but  important  results  can  be  accomplished  by 
doing  away  with  unnecessary  movements  of  operation 
and  the  handling  of  the  parts  to  be  repaired.  The  effi- 
cient arrangement  of  buildings  and  machinery  always 
receives  very  careful  consideration  in  manufacturing 
plants,  and  while  few  railway  shops  do  very  much  manu- 
facturing, the  principle  can  be  applied  to  equipment 
repairs  with  beneficial  results.  There  are  too  many  rail- 
way shops  where  the  most  frequent  and  important  jobs 
require  the  transporting  of  equipment  from  one  depart- 
ment to  another  and  back  again  before  the  repairs  are 
finished. 

Electric  welding  equipment  is  now  considered  quite 
essential  for  railway  maintenance  work.  Where  this 
work  is  done  as  a  separate  department  its  location  con- 
venient to  the  truck  and  overhauling  shops  will  save 
much  unnecessary  labor.  The  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company  has  provided  permanent  lines  from 
the  welding  room  with  plug-in  sockets  located  in  the 
truck  and  carpenter  shops  so  as  to  take  care  of  repairs 
to  parts  which  cannot  be  easily  transported  to  the  weld- 
ing shop.  A  convenient  arrangement  and  location  for 
the  wheel  and  axle  work  is  most  essential,  and  cranes 
located  so  that  wheels  can  be  handled  from  the  trucks 
to  the  wheel  lathe  in  one  operation  will  increase  the  pro- 
duction of  the  overhauling  department. 

The  mere  provision  of  machine  tools  for  doing  the 
work  is  not  enough.  Careful  consideration  of  the 
handling  problem  is  equally  important.  A  study  of  con- 
ditions as  they  exist  in  connection  with  routing  dia- 
grams will  usually  disclose  many  improvements  that  can 
be  put  into  effect  without  excessive  cost. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


891 


Baltimore's  New  Trail  Cars 


By  Changing  Gear  Ratio,  Strengthening  Brake  Rigging  and  Installing  New  Control  Equipment  and 
Couplers,  Motor  Cars  Already  in  Service  Were  Provided  for 
Hauling  the  New  Trailers 

By  L.  H.  Palmer 

Assistant  to  President,  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Maryland. 


Center-Entrance  Trailer  in  Operation 


THE  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company  of  Balti- 
more has  made  it  a  practice  to  purchase  a  sub- 
stantial number  of  new  passenger  cars  almost 
every  year.  For  about  fifteen  years  these  purchases 
have  all  been  semi-convertible,  four  motor,  prepayment 
cars  with  four  passenger  longitudinal  seats  at  each  end, 
and  seven  pairs  of  cross  seats  in  the  center  of  the  car, 
which  provided  a  standard  seating  capacity  of  forty- 
four.  Later  purchases  of  cars  have  had  inclosed  vesti- 
bules with  three  additional  platform  seats,  making  a  total 
of  forty-seven.  The  cars  of  the  open-platform  type  are 
being  converted  into  closed  platform  cars,  so  that  at  the 
present  time  out  of  a  total  of  560  open-platform,  semi- 
convertible  cars,  all  but  fifty-four  have  been  changed 
over  to  the  inclosed  platform  prepayment  design.  Dur- 
ing the  war  eighty  cars  of  the  same  general  type,  seat- 
ing fifty-five  people,  were  purchased.  Altogether  the 
company  owns  884  cars  of  this  pattei'n.  The  maximum 
peak  requirement  for  normal  service  had  reached  1,175 
before  the  present  business  depression. 

In  1919  and  the  early  part  of  1920  careful  investi- 
gation was  made  to  determine  the  type  of  new  equip- 
ment that  should  be  purchased  to  replace  worn-out  cars 
and  also  to  provide  additional  passenger  capacity,  and 
as  a  result  of  these  studies  100  center-entrance  trail 
cars  seating  sixty  passengers  each  were  purchased. 

These  trail  cars,  complete,  cost  just  about  one-half  as 
much  as  a  motor  car,  and  their  capacity  was  14.4  per 


cent  greater  than  our  latest  standard  four-motor,  fifty- 
five-seat  cars,  and  40.9  per  cent  greater  than  the  stand- 
ard forty-seven-seat  cars,  these  percentages  being 
based  on  the  average  fifteen-minute  maximum  load  al- 
lowed under  the  rules  of  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion of  Maryland. 

A  survey  of  the  equipment  in  service  indicated  that 
three  of  the  series  of  cars  already  in  use  on  the  prop- 
erty had  sufficient  motor  capacity  to  haul  these  trail- 
ers for  two  or  three  hours  during  the  morning  and 
evening  peak  periods,  without  unduly  burdening  the 
motors.  Eighty  of  these  cars  were  used  on  the  Bay 
Shore  line  and  provided  with  high-speed  equipment 
operated  over  a  suburban  route  to  a  park  some  16  miles 
from  the  center  of  the  city. 

By  changing  the  gear  ratio,  installing  Tomlinson 
couplers,  strengthening  the  brake  rigging  and  installing 
new  control,  we  were  able  to  provide  a  motor  car  that 
could  haul  these  trailers  over  any  of  the  grades  and 
road  conditions  met  with  in  Baltimore.  These  cars  had 
been  in  service  since  1905,  and  were  in  good  physical 
shape,  although  the  control  equipment,  which  was  of  the 
old  AB  type  and  had  seen  very  severe  service,  had  reached 
such  a  point  that  its  maintenance  cost  was  extremely 
high  and  it  had  either  to  be  entirely  rebuilt  or  replaced. 
Furthermore,  the  high  gear  ratio  had  given  much 
trouble,  particularly  when  running  at  low  speed  through 
the  congested  city  streets.    Here  was  an  opportunity, 


8$.  K—  -  4'-4%"-^ZL5^2'-Si'^ 


 48'-2lfz  oVer  anti-  climbers 

f<2'Sf>i,0'^-  -6'6"  w 


Floor  Plan  of  Center-Entrance  Trailers 


892 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


therefore,  to  rehabilitate  these  cars  as  far  as  the  con- 
trol equipment  was  concerned,  putting  on  new  gears, 
vestibules  and  new  couplers,  and  thus  get  much  more 
efficient  service  out  of  them,  and  reduce  motor  trouble 
and  power  consumption  by  installing  a  14:  70  pinion  and 
gear  combination  instead  of  an  18 :  66.  Into  this  pro- 
gram the  trail  car  fitted  remarkably  well. 

In  addition  to  the  high-speed  suburban  cars  referred 
to,  a  number  of  four-motor  cars  from  other  lines  were 


A  Low  Step  to  the  Entrance  Well 


equipped  with  necessary  couplers,  air-brake  and  control 
apparatus  to  operate  trailers.  These  latter  cars  did  not 
have  as  large  motor  capacity  as  the  ones  previously 
referred  to,  but  had  sufficient  to  handle  the  trailers  over 
some  of  the  more  level  lines  of  the  city. 

Altogether  130  cars  were  equipped  to  handle  100 
trailers,  the  additional  thirty  cars  being  intended  to 
provide  for  disabled  cars,  accidents,  contingencies  and 
to  give  sufficient  flexibility. 

Weight  per  Seated  Passenger  Very  Low 

The  cars  purchased,  as  shown  by  the  floor  plan  and 
the  pictures  of  the  exterior  and  interior,  were  of  steel. 
The  car  complete  weighs  29,000  lb.  and  with  its  seat- 
ing capacity  of  sixty  gives  an  average  weight  per  seated 
passenger  of  approximately  484  lb.,  which  was  prac- 
tically one-half  the  average  weight  per  seated  passen- 
ger of  our  latest  four-motor  equipment,  and  about  one- 
third  that  of  our  heaviest  four-motor  equipment. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  rush  hour  carrying  capacity  of 
the  cars  pulling  these  trailers  was  more  than  doubled 
with  the  use  of  one  more  platform  employee.  The  con- 
gestion on  the  streets  was  reduced  somewhat,  due  to  the 
operation  in  two-car  trains  instead  of  as  single  cars. 
This  increase  in  capacity  was  estimated  at  from  15  per 
cent  to  25  per  cent,  depending  upon  the  degree  of  con- 
gestion and  the  amount  of  vehicular  traffic.  The  use 
of  these  trains  has  meant  quicker  loading  of  passengers, 
together  with  faster  operation  over  intersections. 

It  was  also  concluded  that  there  would  be  some  de- 
crease in  maintenance  expenses  of  track,  due  to  the 
lighter  weight  of  the  cars,  and  of  course  there  was 
lessened  consumption  of  current  for  the  same  reason. 
A  saving  of  approximately  $50,000  annually  was  esti- 
mated in  maintenance  of  equipment,  through  the  use  of 
trailers,  a  large  part  of  this  accruing  because  we  would 
be  enabled  to  retire  approximately  100  old-type  cars, 
equipped  with  inefficient  motors  which  were  practically 
worn  out  and  whose  maintenance  was  most  expensive. 


Mention  has  been  made  of  the  fact  that  these  trail 
cars  cost  about  one-half  of  what  motor  cars  would  cost. 
Due  to  the  high  cost  of  new  money,  the  capital  saving 
effected  by  postponing  the  purchase  of  further  motor 
cars  was  material.  It  might  be  added  that  during  our 
studies  serious  consideration  was  given  to  the  use  of 
the  Peter  Witt  design  of  motor  cars,  and  we  are  favor- 
ably inclined  toward  the  use  of  this  car  when  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  purchase  additional  motor  equip- 
ment. 

Some  decrease  in  accidents  was  expected,  due  to  the 
center-entrance  feature,  the  entirely  inclosed  car  body 
and  the  location  of  the  conductor  at  the  only  entrance 
and  exit,  and  in  complete  control  thereof.  From  the 
public  standpoint,  a  favorable  impression  was  made  by 
furnishing  new,  large,  commodious  cars  and  by  the 
elimination  of  worn-out  equipment  of  obsolete  design, 
whose  break-downs  caused  delays  to  the  service  and 
criticism. 

The  motor  cars  released  by  the  operation  of  the  trail- 
ers, except  the  obsolete  cars  referred  to,  enabled  us  to 
displace  equipment  of  smaller  capacity  on  other  lines, 
thus  providing  improved  service  and  additional  seats, 
without  the  operation  of  additional  car-miles. 

It  has  been  found  feasible  also,  as  was  expected,  to 
use  these  trail  cars  on  lines  serving  resorts  and  amuse- 
ment parks  on  Saturdays,  Sundays  and  evenings  during 
heavy  riding  in  the  summer  season. 

Some  revision  of  terminal  facilities  became  impera- 
tive, particularly  if  trailers  were  to  be  operated.  Loops 
had  to  be  provided  at  the  ends  of  the  lines,  and  special 
work  at  some  carhouses  had  to  be  rearranged.  It  has 
been  necessary  to  watch  carefully  the  handling  of  these 
cars  at  terminals,  because  we  realize  the  time  neces- 
sary to  couple  them  and  put  the  cars  into  service  would 
affect  the  headways.  Proper  track  layouts  and  the  edu- 
cation of  crews  have  practically  eliminated  this  diffi- 
culty. 

There  is  some  lack  of  flexibility,  because  these  cars 
must  always  be  handled  as  trailers  and  even  in  an 
emergency  cannot  be  used  as  a  front  end  of  any  train, 
as  they  are  not  provided  with  control  equipment.  How- 
ever, this  has  not  proved  a  serious  disadvantage,  nor 
have  the  sizes  of  the  operated  units  been  a  serious  detri- 
ment in  moving  through  the  crowded  and  narrow 
streets. 

During  the  past  summer  the  performance  of  the 
motors  on  the  cars  pulling  trailers  has  been  carefully 
watched,  and  our  judgment  is  that,  generally  speaking, 
the  motors  have  not  been  seriously  overloaded,  although 
it  has  been  found  that  the  all-day  duty  could  not  be 
obtained  without  a  substantial  increase  in  motor 
capacity. 

Aside  from  the  financial  question  involved  in  the 
purchase  of  trailers  versus  motor  cars,  the  four  con- 
trolling factors  from  the  operating  standpoint  were: 
(1)  Loops  and  carhouses,  (2)  grades  and  clearances, 
(3)  substation  and  distribution  capacity,  (4)  motor-car 
capacity.  No  changes  in  clearances  or  grades  were 
necessary,  except  at  a  few  places,  particularly  corners 
where  the  curbs  had  to  be  set  back  a  little,  because  of 
the  center  well  of  the  trail  cars.  Some  rearrangement 
of  distribution  lines  was  necessary,  a  provision  would 
have  been  required  anyway,  had  service  on  the  routes 
in  question  been  increased  by  the  addition  of  motor 
cars  instead  of  trail  cars. 

The  100  cars  were  divided  among  six  of  the  impor- 
tant trunk  lines  of  the  system,  releasing  thirty  motor 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


893 


cars  for  other  service,  besides  eliminating  100  obsolete 
cars  previously  mentioned.  An  estimated  saving  of  11 
cents  per  car-mile  was  calculated  from  the  operation  of 
trailers,  and  in  actual  practice  the  figures  to  date  indi- 
cate that  this  saving  has  been  made. 

One  of  the  operating  difficulties  encountered,  and 
which  we  are  overcoming  through  careful  instruction 
and  supervision,  is  occasioned  by  the  use  of  semi-auto- 
matic air  brakes.  If  a  motorman  is  not  careful  to  re- 
lease most  of  his  air  while  the  car  is  standing  awaiting 
the  loading  and  unloading  of  passengers,  he  will  lose 
two  or  three  seconds  per  stop  after  getting  the  proceed 
signal.  This  delay  can  practically  be  eliminated  if  the 
motorman  is  alert  and  handles  his  air  brakes  accord- 
ing to  instructions. 

Additional  Loops  Were  Necessary 

In  operating  these  cars  on  the  six  lines  selected,  it 
was  necessary  to  purchase  property  at  two  points  and 
to  install  loops  or  loop  connections  at  five  additional 
points,  making  seven  in  all.  An  estimated  saving  of 
18  per  cent  on  the  total  expenditures  for  cars,  track  and 
distribution  was  calculated,  and  while  the  cars  have  not 
been  in  service  for  a  long  enough  time  to  check  this 
on  a  yearly  basis,  results  to  date  indicate  that,  from 
the  use  of  these  cars,  this  saving  will  result.  As  in- 
creasing traffic  demands  the  operation  of  greater  trail- 
car  mileage,  the  savings  made  will  increase,  because  of 
the  lesser  expense  per  mile  for  trail-car  operation.  The 
trailers  are  equipped  with  standard  HB  lifeguards, 
which  was  decided  upon  after  consultation  with  the 
Public  Service  Commission,  in  place  of  putting  on  a 
wood  housing  around  the  trucks. 

The  cars  are  48  ft.  21  in.  long  over  anti-climbers, 
8  ft.  41  in.  wide  over  water  table,  side  posts  are  on 
2  ft.  5§  in.  centers,  and  the  height  from  rail  to  top  of 
roof  measures  10  ft.  Ill  in.  The  cars  are  equipped 
with  26  in.  steel  wheels  and  arch-bar  trucks  with  in- 
side-hung brakes  and  Gould  type  slack  adjusters.  The 
height  of  the  first  step  into  the  well  of  the  car  is  15i  in. 
with  a  ramp  of  If  in.  From  this  well  the  height  of  the 
second  step  is  91  in.,  and  from  this  step  there  is  a  ramp 
rising  4  in.  from  that  level  which  brings  the  passenger 
to  the  general  floor  level  of  the  car  body.  Two  double 
sliding  doors  are  located  on  each  side  of  the  center  of 
the  car  and  are  operated  manually  pneumatic.  The 
door  entrances  are  provided  with  interlocking  safety 
door  control  and  motorman's  signal  light  equipment,  so 
that  the  cars  cannot  start  until  the  doors  are  closed. 
These  same  connections  were  installed  on  the  doors  of 
the  motor  cars  that  were  altered  to  haul  the  trailers. 
Hunter  illuminated  signs  are  installed  over  each  center- 
entrance  door,  each  sign  with  space  for  twenty-five 
destinations;  signs  are  48  in.  wide. 

Cars  Have  Monitor  Decks 

The  cars  are  of  the  monitor-deck  type  with  a  white 
enameled  finish  for  the  ceiling.  No  headlining  is  used 
in  the  upper  deck.  Ten  36-watt  Mazda  lamps,  spaced 
down  the  center  of  the  car  with  special  white  opalescent 
globes,  furnish  night  illumination,  and  with  the  white 
ceilings  present  a  very  agreeable  appearance  during  the 
hours  when  artificial  light  is  necessary.  The  push  but- 
tons and  other  signal  lights  are  connected  through  the 
drawbar  and  operated  by  an  Edison  Bl-H  battery.  This 
battery  also  operates  the  push  button  used  by  the  con- 
ductor in  signaling  the  motorman  and  the  signal  bell 
located  on  the  motor  car  for  the  conductor's  use. 


As  shown  in  the  plan  of  the  car,  a  four-sided  stand 
is  located  in  the  center  of  the  well  and  carries  the  fare 
box,  with  ample  space  for  the  conductor's  signal  bells 
and  for  door-operating  ha-ndles.  Upright  stanchions  are 
located  in  the  middle  of  each  of  the  door  openings  and 
three  additional  stanchions  are  located  at  each  of  the 
transverse  sides  of  the  well  at  the  step  leading  into  the 
body  of  the  car.  The  control  of  the  movement  of  pas- 
sengers around  the  conductor's  stand  and  in  and  out  of 


Interior  of  Center-Entrance  Trailer 


the  car  is  had  by  means  of  chains  and  ropes  attached  to 
these  stanchions,  which  can  be  adjusted  as  necessary  to 
handle  the  traffic.  Two  stanchions  are  also  located  at 
each  end  of  the  car  at  the  ends  of  the  circular  seats. 
The  hand  straps  on  the  cars  are  fitted  with  Bakelite  hand 
holds. 

On  each  coupler  is  attached  a  box  carrying  five  wires, 
one  for  lights  and  electric  heaters,  two  for  the  signal 
system,  one  for  the  door  interlock  and  one  extra.  An 
automatic  device  for  preventing  the  coupler  on  the  rear 
end  of  the  trailer  from  becoming  alive  is  provided,  so 
that  there  is  no  current  on  the  rear  end  of  the  trailer 
back  of  the  entrance  well. 

The  ratchet  handbrake  shaft  is  located  in  the  well  at 
the  conductor's  stand,  out  of  the  way  of  the  passengers, 
but  where  it  is  of  ready  access  in  case  of  emergency. 
This  is  fitted  with  an  Ackley  adjustable  brake.  In  addi- 
tion to  Johnson  fare  boxes,  each  trailer  is  equipped  with 
an  International  R-7  register. 


Give  Careful  Attention  to  Field  Jumpers 

ONE  of  the  most  common  types  of  motor  failures  is 
caused  by  loose  field  jumpers.  The  cost  of  remov- 
ing the  armatures  for  repair  of  the  jumpers  is  a  big 
item  of  expense  in  addition  to  the  damage  caused  by  the 
loose  field  jumper  itself.  A  very  satisfactory  method 
of  treating  the  ends  of  the  jumpers  is  to  tin  the  various 
strands  together  and  then  to  wrap  them  with  a  fine 
wire,  then  thoroughly  tin  again.  A  better  method  is  to 
tin  the  strands  together  and  then  place  a  copper  ferrul* 
over  them  which  should  be  very  carefully  soldered  to 
the  jumper.  If  this  method  is  used  the  screw  in  the 
field  terminal,  which  essentially  should  have  a  tight 
thread,  will  not  come  loose  as  readily  as  when  the  ferrule 
is  not  used  since  the  strands  of  wire  are  apt  to  break 
apart  and  cause  a  loose  lead  and  excessive  heating,  then 
burning  of  the  motor  lead  or  terminal  and  sometimes 
both,  which  results  in  a  complete  motor  failure. 


894 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Changing  from  Left  to  Right  Hand 
Operation 

The  Change  of  the  Rule  of  the  Road  in  British  Columbia 
Introduced  a  Large  Variety  of  Problems  to  the 
British  Columbia  Electric  Railway,  Ltd. 

By  W.  G.  MURRIN 

Assistant  General  Manager,  British  Columbia  Electric 
Railway,  Vancouver,  B.  C. 

IN  ACCORDANCE  with  the  highway  amendment  act  of 
1920  passed  by  the  British  Columbia  Provincial  Legis- 
lature the  rule  of  the  road  was  changed  from  left  to  right 
hand  operation,  the  change  becoming  effective  in  the 
western  portion  of  the  province  on  Dec.  31,  1921.  The 
eastern  portion  of  the  province  was  changed  over  on 
July  1,  1920.  This  change  involves  the  British  Columbia 
Electric  Railway  in  a  $1,000,000  expenditure  in  chang- 
ing over  its  rolling  stock,  tracks  and  overhead  to  permit 
of  right-hand  operation  on  its  368  miles  of  city,  sub- 
urban and  interurban  tracks. 

In  order  that  the  magnitude  of  the  work  involved  in 
making  this  change-over  may  be  understood  I  give 
briefly  particulars,  under  the  three  headings  of  track, 
overhead  and  rolling  stock,  of  what  has  to  be  performed 
and  how  we  are  doing  it. 

Track. — The  following  work  will  have  to  be  performed 
in  order  to  permit  of  cars  and  trains  to  operate  right 
hand  with  the  same  efficiency,  safety  and  convenience 
as  they  are  at  present  being  operated: 

1.  Take  up  and  lay  with  new  material  forty-four 
permanent  and  twelve  temporary  cross-overs. 

2.  Take  up  and  lay  with  new  material  seven  per- 
manent and  one  temporary  Y  layouts. 

3.  Change  electric  switches  to  adjoining  tracks  at 
nineteen  different  points. 

4.  Change  position  of  eight  derails. 

5.  Change  spring  switches. 

6.  Change  elevation  of  certain  portions  of  interurban 
tracks  to  permit  of  safe  operation. 

7.  Change  location  of  stations,  shelters  and  plat- 
forms at  thirteen  points  on  double-tracked  interurban 
lines. 


Car  in  the  Process  op  Conversion.    Platform  Must  Be  Cut 
Away  and  Support  Bent  to  Allow  for  Steps.  Changes 
Are  Also  Necessary  in  Bulkhead  Doors 

The  permanent  installations  referred  to  above  are  in 
tracks  constructed  on  paved  streets,  necessitating  the 
pulling  up  of  pavement,  etc.,  and  the  relaying  of  this 
again  following  the  track  changes.  The  temporary  in- 
stallations mentioned  are  in  tracks  constructed  on  non- 
paved  streets.  The  new  track  material  and  special  work 
necessary  to  carry  out  the  changes  is  now  on  order  for 
delivery  in  December  next.  The  installation,  however, 
cannot  be  commenced  until  after  the  first  of  the  year, 
when  it  will  be  proceeded  with  as  speedily  as  possible. 
The  estimated  cost  of  track  alterations  that  are  neces- 
sary is  $416,902.67. 

Overhead. — The  overhead  changes  in  connection  with 
this  problem  are  by  far  the  lightest  part  of  the  work  and 
are  estimated  to  cost  $17,722.  This  covers  cost  of  mak- 
ing all  necessary  changes  to  crossovers,  electric  switches, 
Ys,  frogs,  insulators,  curves,  &c,  to  permit  of  the  effi- 
cient operation  of  the  system  with  right-hand  movement 
of  traffic.  Like  the  track  changes,  very  little  under  this 
heading  can  be  accomplished  until  after  the  change-over 
becomes  effective. 


|  Mi 

'.  ft 


*mi      Blip?1  " 

■  1 1 m  mi 


ENTRANCE  AND  EXIT  VIEWS  OF  THE  BRITISH  COLUMBIA  CAR  BEING  RECONSTRUCTED 
The  view  at  the  left  shows  the  car  fitted  with  right-hand  doors.         At  the  right,  views  of  front  end  of  car  showing  the  good  work 
The  boards  shown  are  fastened  so  as  to  be  easily  removable      of  the  master  mechanic's  department.    Present  left-hand  door  is 
when  the  change  is  made.  still  on  the  other  side  and  will  be  taken  off  after  change  is  made. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


895 


Rolling  Stock. — Rolling  stock  changes  constitute  the 
major  work  and  expense  involved  in  this  change-over 
and  I  know  of  no  precedent  by  which  we  might  be 
guided  in  carrying  them  out.  There  are  269  units  to  be 
changed  over  and  made  suitable  for  right-hand  opera- 
tion. These  include  189  single-end  cars,  73  double-end 
cars,  6  sweepers  and  1  plow. 

The  above  equipment  comprises  twenty  different  types 
of  cars  and  each  type  requires  special  alterations  suit- 
able only  to  that  particular  class  of  car.  The  difficulties 
we  have  to  meet  in  making  the  rolling  stock  changes  will 
therefore  readily  be  appreciated.  Work  has  already 
commenced  in  making  temporary  alterations  to  Van- 
couver city  cars  and  we  expect  by  the  end  of  the  year 
to  have  practically  all  rolling  stock  units  changed  over 
in  a  temporary  fashion  ready  for  right-hand  operation. 
These  changes  are  being  carried  out  with  the  least 
possible  inconvenience  to  the  traveling  public  and  work 
is  proceeding  along  the  following  lines : 

Eight  to  ten  cars  at  a  time  of  a  certain  type  are  being 
brought  into  our  Prior  Street  shops,  located  in  Van- 
couver, where  temporary  alterations  to  front  and  rear 
vestibule  are  made  as  well  as  the  installation  of  tem- 
porary steps  on  the  right  hand  side  of  cars.  The  right 
hand  side  openings  are  then  boarded  up  and  the  cars 
are  put  back  into  service.  When  the  change-over  is 
actually  about  to  take  place  the  services  on  all  lines  will 
be  considerably  reduced  for  a  period  of  from  one  to  four 
days,  during  which  time  the  cars  so  released  will  be 
made  suitable  for  right-hand  use  by  removing  the  boards 
from  the  right  hand  side  openings,  above  referred  to, 
and  tying  up  securely  the  gates  or  doors,  of  which  all 
our  cars  are  equipped,  on  the  left-hand  side.  With  this 
completed  the  cars  will  then  be  ready  for  service.  When 
all  units  have  been  so  changed  it  will  be  necessary 
systematically  again  to  put  all  the  cars  through  the 
shops,  two  or  three  at  a  time,  when  permanent  altera- 
tions will  be  made,  such  as  the  installation  of  steps  and 
gates  or  doors  (to  conform  with  government  regula- 
tions), the  installation  of  mechanism  to  operate  same, 
as  well  as  many  other  details  too  numerous  to  mention, 
but  which  can  only  be  cared  for  after  the  change-over 
takes  effect. 

I  estimate  it  will  take  approximately  eighteen  months 
or  two  years  to  put  all  the  units  through  the  shops  and 
equip  them  permanently  for  right-hand  operation  in  the 
same  manner  as  they  are  at  present  equipped  for  left- 
hand  operation. 

The  estimated  cost  of  changing  over  our  rolling  stock 
units  to  conform  with  the  change  of  the  rule  of  the 
road  is  $498,773. 

The  above  expenditures  for  the  three  items  of  track, 
overhead  and  rolling  stock  when  summarized  are  as 
follows : 


Track  alterations    $416,902.67 

Overhead  work   17,722.00 

Rolling  stock   498,773.00 

Total   $933,397.67 


The  above  figures  do  not  include  indirect  losses  ir 
revenue  which  the  company  is  bound  to  suffer  from  one 
cause  or  another  for  months  following  the  change  be- 
coming effective,  nor  does  it  take  care  of  increased  acci- 
dent costs,  which  will  undoubtedly  be  high  and  which 
it  is  impossible  to  estimate. 

Of  the  total  figure  quoted  above  the  provincial  govern- 
ment has  agreed  to  contribute  $350,000. 


Unusual  Method  of  Raising  Track 

Expediency  Is  the  Keynote  of  the  Method  Which  Was  Used 
in  a  Track  Grade  Change  on  Lafayette  Avenue  in 
the  Borough  of  Brooklyn 

By  R.  C.  Cram 

Engineer  of  Surface  Roadway  Brooklyn  (N.  Y. ) 
Rapid  Transit  Company 

THE  city  of  New  York  recently  decided  to  widen 
Lafayette  Avenue  in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn  for 
the  purpose  of  providing  better  facilities  for  auto- 
mobile traffic.  The  avenue  is  very  popular  for  through 
traffic  and  is  occupied  by  two  street  railway  tracks  for 
a  distance  of  about  800  ft.  between  Fulton  Street  and 
Flatbush  Avenue.  The  roadway  of  the  street  was 
widened  about  10  ft.  on  each  side  by  setting  back  the 
curbs  and  removing  all  sidewalk  encroachments.  Inci- 


.-77'e  rod 


.Tie  rod 


■Concrete 


u  1-  -  4' . 


^  ^-Ballast 


U.-—/8--—-A 


Pav, 


4'  crown  at  center 


Asphalt 


of  rail,  l/4" Crown 

at  Centex   *  -t; 
2'-6"±- 


Tie  rod  ^Steel  tie  l'  long 

Sections  of  Track  in  Lafayette  Avenue,  Brooklyn, 
Before  Adjustment  to  New  Grade 

dentally,  a  stairway  leading  to  the  elevated  railroad 
structure  on  Fulton  Street  and  two  columns  supporting 
the  structure  have  been  left  as  obstructions  in  the  road- 
way outside  the  new  curbs.  A  difference  of  opinion 
exists  as  to  whether  the  railroad  or  the  city  should  pay 
the  cost  of  removing  and  relocating  them. 

The  surface  tracks  in  the  street  were  built  in  1907 
and  have  been  used  principally  as  a  relief  line  in 
rush  hours  and  during  blockades.  As  originally  con- 
structed the  tracks  were  laid  with  7-in.  114-lb.  girder 
groove  rail  with  Lorain  electric  bar-weld  joints  on 
Carnegie  steel  ties  set  in  concrete  and  spaced  4  ft.  on 


New  concrete, 


New  a5phalt 
surface-.,  g 


New  6\8'k8'  yellow  pine 
«j     T'rail--.     wood  tie-  New 


concrete* 


concrete 


wood  blocking 
variable  thickness 


Old  steel  tie 

.'    left  in  . 


Raised  Surface  Track  Construction 

centers.  Tie  rods  were  spaced  4  ft.  on  centers  between 
ties.  The  pavement  between  outer  rails  consisted  of 
6-in.  granite  blocks  with  cement  grouted  joints  on  a 
1-in.  sand  cushion.  The  concrete  track  base  or  foun- 
dation was  about  6  in.  thick  between  ties  and  12  in. 
thick  at  ties.  The  roadways  were  paved  with  sheet 
asphalt  on  a  6-in.  concrete  base  in  immediate  contact 
with  the  outer  rails. 

The  new  width  of  the  street  called  for  a  raise  in  the 
grade  of  the  tracks  ranging  from  6  to  10  in.  and  run- 
ning out  to  meet  existing  grades  at  each  end  of  the  work 


896 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


where  connections  are  made  with  tracks  in  Fulton  Street 
and  in  Flatbush  Avenue.  The  railroad  was  confronted 
with  the  problem  of  how  to  raise  the  tracks  in  a  mini- 
mum of  time  and  expense  as  the  contractor  for  the  city 
was  proceeding  with  his  work  and  the  railroad  was 
very  short  of  funds. 

Adjustment  and  Replacement  of  Original 
Construction  Too  Costly 

It  appeared  at  first  as  though  it  would  be  necessary 
to  break  out  the  concrete  track  base,  raise  the  steel 
ties  and  resurface  the  tracks  to  the  new  grades  on  new 
concrete,  as  in  the  original  construction.  Estimates 
indicated  that  this  would  not  only  be  a  costly  procedure 
but  also  would  require  a  great  amount  of  time  in  order 
to  permit  a  new  concrete  track  base  to  set  properly. 
This  in  turn  would  have  put  the  tracks  out  of  service 
too  long  and  would  have  caused  considerable  delay  to 
the  city's  part  of  the  work. 

It  was  also  suggested  that  the  entire  old  construction, 
concrete,  ties,  rails  and  pavement,  might  be  raised  bodily 
by  jacking  it  up  in  convenient  sections.  This  would 
have  been  a  slow  and  expensive  procedure,  as  it  would 


Working  on  Second  Track  Preliminary  to  Raising 


have  required  extensive  cutting  of  old  concrete,  and  con- 
siderable doubt  was  felt  as  to  whether  it  would  have  been 
possible  to  install  a  new  bed  of  ballast  under  the  old 
concrete  in  a  manner  that  would  insure  against  future 
settlement.  Extra  filling  material  for  this  would  have 
been  required  also. 

The  method  adopted  was  pursued  after  a  careful  con- 
sideration of  the  amount  of  grade  change  or  lift.  This 
was  sufficient,  except  at  the  run-offs  on  each  end  meet- 
ing existing  grades,  to  permit  the  installation  of  new 
wood  ties  on  30-in.  centers  either  directly  upon  the  old 
concrete  track  base  or  by  blocking  under  the  ties  rest- 
ing on  the  old  base. 

The  original  concrete  which  was  under  the  old  asphalt 
pavement  in  the  2-ft.  strips  outside  of  the  outer  rails 
was  broken  out  by  air  drills  operated  from  an  air  com- 
pressor car  normally  used  for  sand  blast  work  in  con- 
nection with  cast  welding  operations.  This  was  the 
only  concrete  which  had  to  be  removed  as  the  city  con- 
tractor had  left  it  in  place  because  it  was  below  the 
subgrade  of  the  new  roadway  pavement.  Its  removal 
was  necessary  because  it  prevented  the  installation  of 
the  new  wood  ties.  The  existing  track  pavement  was 
removed  by  the  city  contractor. 


The  removal  of  the  pavement  practically  exposed  the 
tie-clips  and  these  were  removed  by  cutting  the  hold- 
down  nuts.  The  rails  were  jacked  up  and  new  wood 
ties  installed,  the  old  concrete  base  and  steel  ties  being 
left  in  place. 

After  a  fair  stretch  of  track  had  been  raised  it  was 
blocked  to  grade  ready  for  installation  of  a  new  con- 
crete base.  The  latter  was  then  tamped  under  the  new 
ties  so  as  to  transfer  the  bearing  directly  to  the  old 
track  base.  In  the  short  stretches  where  full  ties  could 
not  be  installed  near  the  run-off  points,  the  top  surfaces 
of  the  ties  were  adzed  sufficiently  to  allow  the  rails  to 
set  down  to  grade  and  special  shortened  spikes  were 
used  to  fasten  the  rails.  At  the  run-off  points  in  the 
grades  the  rails  were  simply  blocked  on  the  old  wood 
ties,  which  fortunately  were  found  here  due  to  their  use 
under  the  special  trackwork  at  the  ends  of  the  job.  It 
was  unnecessary  to  disturb  any  original  ties  whatever, 
either  wood  or  steel.  The  original  tie  rods  were  left 
in  place. 

The  city  replaced  the  original  granite  pavement  with 
sheet  asphalt  on  concrete  between  the  outer  rails.  Con- 
sequently the  new  concrete  was  brought  up  to  within 


One  Track  Raised  Into  Position  on  Wooden  Ties 


3  in.  of  the  tops  of  the  rail  heads.  This  in  turn  pro- 
vides a  new  concrete  base  about  16  in.  thick  under  the 
asphalt  pavement  surface  between  ties  with  the  addition 
of  another  6  in.  in  the  old  concrete  track  base,  so  there 
is  a  total  of  21  in.  of  concrete.  Wood  blocking  of  vari- 
able thickness  was  used  between  the  old  and  new  ties 
and  the  intervening  space  was  filled  in  with  new  con- 
crete, the  average  thickness  of  the  concrete  being  4 
in.  All  of  the  concrete  work  was  done  by  the  city 
contractor. 

The  bar-weld  rail  joints  were  found  to  be  in  perfect 
condition  and  bid  fair  to  last  during  the  remaining 
life  of  the  track.  Such  of  the  steel  ties  as  were  exposed 
for  examination  were  found  to  be  in  very  good  condi- 
tion. 

The  accompanying  views  show  the  general  fea- 
tures of  the  work.  It  is  thought  that  this  is  the  first 
time  the  procedure  outlined  has  ever  been  undertaken. 
Only  the  work  of  raising  the  tracks  and  tamping  con- 
crete under  the  ties  was  done  by  the  railroad  company. 
This  took  a  gang  of  sixteen  men  about  ten  days  to  com- 
plete at  a  cost  of  $0.52  per  foot  of  single  track  for  labor 
only.  About  454  cu.yd.  of  new  concrete  was  installed  in 
the  railroad  area  by  the  city  contractor. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


897 


A  Corner  of  the  Machine  Shop  The  Woodworking  Shop  Is  Fully  Equipped 


Providing  a  Repair  Shop  with  Little  Money 

The  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad  of  New  York  City  Has  Rearranged  and  Reconstructed  Its  Carhouse 
to  Make  a  Repair  Shop  and  to  Give  Better  Facilities  for  Carrying  on  the  Work 

By  C.  P.  Westlake 

Supervisor  of  Equipment,  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


THE  difficult  problem  of  reconstructing  an  old  car- 
house  to  provide  facilities  for  equipment  main- 
tenance and  the  adding  of  desirable  improvements 
has  received  much  attention  for  some  time  past  by  those 
in  charge  of  this  work  for  the  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad, 
New  York.  The  accompanying  illustrations  show  some 
of  the  departments  as  arranged.  The  building  at  the 
corner  of  Eighth  Avenue  and  Fiftieth  Street,  which  is 
now  being  used  for  overhauling  and  maintenance  re- 
pair work,  was  a  combined  carhouse  and  stable  during 
horse-car  days.  The  small  openings  originally  at  the 
head  of  stalls  were  entirely  inadequate  to  give  the 
necessary  light  for  railway  repair  work,  so  these  were 
enlarged  and  sash  and  glass  were  installed.  Walls  and 
partitions  were  added  and  changed  and  the  various 
departments  were  located  to  provide  an  efficient  routing 
of  the  work  through  the  shop.  Realizing  that  shop 
capacity  is  materially  increased  by  an  efficient  grouping 
of  departments  and  by  the  efficient  arrangement  of  the 
equipment  in  each  department,  a  special  effort  has 


Racks  and  Bins  Assist  the  Storekeeper 


been  made  to  place  departments  and  machines  in  the 
logical  order  that  a  piece  of  equipment  will  take  when 
repaired.  Thus  the  blacksmith  shop,  the  welding  room 
and  the  babbitting  room  follow  each  other  in  the  order 
named.  The  armature  repair  department  is  adjacent 
to  the  machine  shop  and  lathes  in  the  machine  shop 
used  for  turning  commutators,  and  finishing  shafts, 
bearings  and  banding  armatures  are  placed  nearest  the 
armature  room.  A  portable  shop  crane  is  used  to 
handle  the  armatures  from  the  armature  room  to  the 
lathes.  Passageways  and  aisles  have  been  kept  as  wide 
as  possible  to  give  free  movement  and  prevent  blocking 
and  delaying  of  material  handling. 

Believing  that  better  work  and  more  of  it  can  be  pro- 
duced by  eliminating  interference  and  the  distraction 
caused  by  doing  too  many  kinds  of  work  in  one  room, 
each  department  has  been  partitioned  off  and  localized 
as  much  as  possible.  These  partitions  are  closed  from 
the  floor  to  a  height  of  about  3  ft.  and  above  this  wire 
netting  is  used.   This  arrangement  gives  efficient  light- 


Partition  Construction  Used  for  Segregating  Departments 


898 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


The  Controller  Overhauling  Department  Grinding  a  Large  Casting  Preliminary  to  Welding 


ing  and  ventilation  and  permits  ready  inspection  from 
the  outside  of  the  work  being  done.  The  various  work- 
men like  the  privacy  given  by  this  arrangement  and  as 
each  department  can  be  locked  it  is  unnecessary  for  the 
men  to  clean  up  and  put  away  their  tools  at  lunchtime 
or  quitting  time.  They  can  continue  their  work  right  up 
to  the  moment  of  leaving  and  by  locking  the  door  to  their 
department  they  are  assured  that  there  will  be  no  inter- 
ference during  their  absence. 

Accompanying  illustrations  show  the  construction 
used  and  the  interior  arrangement  of  the  controller  re- 
pair department  and  the  welding  department.  Benches 
are  constructed  along  the  walls  in  the  controller  depart- 
ment for  carrying  on  the  work.  The  bench  in  front  of 
the  windows  is  used  for  dismantling,  repairing  and  re- 
assembling of  grid  resistors  and  the  various  controller 
parts.  A  bench  along  the  outside  partition  is  provided 
with  gas  connections  for  heating  solder  and  the  solder- 
ing irons.  A  rack  is  also  provided  for  the  storage  of 
controller  drums.  The  bench  at  the  end  of  the  room 
is  used  for  wiring  and  connection  board  repairs. 

The  equipment  of  the  welding  room  includes 
machinery  for  assisting  in  welding  repairs  such  as 
grinders  and  a  small  drill  press,  in  addition  to  the  oxy- 
acetylene  and  electric  welding  equipment  and  preheat- 
ing torches.  The  illustration  of  this  department  shows 
a  workman  grinding  the  broken  edge  of  a  box  yoke  for 
the  underground  conduit  system  preparatory  to  welding. 
A  portable  electric  grinder  has  been  found  of  great 


Kxterior  of  Car  Fresh  from  the  Shop 


assistance  for  this  class  of  repairs.  This  department 
has  an  outside  door  so  that  heavy  castings  can  be 
handled  directly  from  the  street  to  the  welding  room. 

Other  departments  which  are  provided  with  separate 
rooms  include  those  for  curtain  and  seat  repairs,  com- 
pressor overhauling,  register  and  fare  box  maintenance 
and  the  contact  plow  work. 

High  Class  Work  Is  Turned  Out 

As  an  example  of  the  type  of  repairs  being  made  ac- 
companying illustrations  show  one  of  the  Ninth  Avenue 
cars  just  after  being  remodeled  and  repainted.  The 
seating  arrangement  of  this  car  consists  of  longitudinal 
seats.  These  originally  had  carpet  covering  and  this 
was  changed  to  rattan.  Before  remodeling,  the  windows 
had  shutters.  These  have  been  removed  and  curtains 
installed  in  their  place.  In  order  to  give  better  illumina- 
tion the  ceiling  has  been  white  enameled  and  lights 
previously  located  on  the  platforms  have  been  brought 
inside  the  car.  A  full  equipment  of  sanitary  hand  straps 
has  also  been  added.  Originally  a  block  destination  and 
routing  sign  was  used  on  top  of  the  end  hood.  This  has 
been  removed  and  the  end  clearstory  glass  is  lettered. 
This  arrangement  gives  a  brighter  and  more  pronounced 
appearance  for  the  car  at  night  and  is  of  assistance  in 
decreasing  the  number  of  accidents.  The  car  body,  trucks 
and  various  equipment  parts  were  given  a  thorough 
overhauling.  Rotted  posts  and  damaged  panels  were  re- 
placed and  all  parts  put  in  serviceable  condition. 


A  Bright,  Clean  Interior  Attracts  Passengers 


November  19,  1921  Electric   Railway   Journal  899 


Selling  the  Ride  at  Youngstown 

How  the  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  Used  the  Inauguration  of  a  Weekly  Pass  to  Cultivate  the  Good 
Will  of  the  Public  Through  Greater  Usefulness — An  Account  of  the 
Publicity  Campaign  Is  Presented 


A GREAT  deal  is  being  said  and  written  nowadays 
on  the  subject  of  "Selling  the  Ride."  A  street 
car  ride  in  itself  generally  is  not  a  novelty. 
Hence  the  best  opportunity  for  a  sales  campaign  must 
lie  either  in  the  introduction  of  new  rolling  stock  or 
some  novel  departure  in  the  rate  of  fare.  In  the  case 
of  the  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway,  the  sales  cam- 
paign hereinafter  described  was  based  upon  the  trying 
out  by  the  company  of  the  unlimited-ride,  transferable 
weekly  pass  first  used  at  Racine,  Wis.  (See  Electric 
Railway  Journal,  Jan.  3,  1920,  and  Aug.  6,  1921.) 
The  present  article  will  deal  only  with  the  selling  argu- 
ments used  at  Youngstown  and  not 
with  the  technical  aspects  of  the  pass. 
The  intention  is  simply  to  show  what 
opportunities  lie  open  to  an  electric 
railway  when  it  pushes  any  plan  of 
securing  more  revenue  from  a  larger 
rather  than  a  smaller  number  of 
riders. 


The  inner  side  of  the  first  window  card,  being  read- 
able by  most  of  the  passengers  in  the  car,  carried  a  more 
elaborate  message,  headed:  "$1.25  Pays  for  All  Your 
Riding  for  a  Week,"  as  reproduced  on  this  page.  This 
told  the  rider  the  exact  time  limits  within  which  the 
pass  is  good,  although  there  is  actually  some  grace  on 
Sunday  night  late  runs  ending  Monday  morning,  and  it 
suggested  a  number  of  ways  for  which  the  extra  non- 
rush  riding  could  be  taken,  such  as  luncheon,  theaters, 
parks,  tradesmen,  social  visits,  short  or  long  ride,  etc. 

It  is  a  fact  that  these  two-faced  cards  created  a  lot 
of  comment  and  had  many  people  "guessing"  in  the 


Two-Faced    Car   Window  Cards 
Exceptionally  Effective 

The  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway, 
while  forming  a  part  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania-Ohio Electric  Company,  of 
which  G.  T.  Seely  is  general  manager, 
is  segregated  from  the  rest  of  the 
system  by  a  service-at-cost  agreement 
with  the  city  of  Youngstown.  It  was 
therefore  necessary  first  to  sell  the 
City  Council  on  the  idea.  During 
September  the  Council  passed  a 
resolution  granling  the  Youngstown 
Municipal  Railway  the  right  to  put 
on  such  a  pass  at  $1.25  each  for  a 
period  of  eight  weeks  with  the  option 
of  continuing  it  thereafter  if  found 
satisfactory. 

The  pass  was  to  become  effective 
Monday,  Oct.  3,  but  the  advertising 
campaign  began  two  weeks  ahead. 
During  the  first  week  of  the  pre-pass 
period  the  company's  publicity,  aside 
from  some  news  items,  was  confined 
to  double-faced  window  cards,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  center  window  of  every  car.  The 
side  of  the  poster  facing  the  walker,  the  jitney  cus- 
tomer and  the  automobilist  carried  in  circus-size  type 
the  continued  slogan  "Ride  All  Week  for  $1.25,"  followed 
by  these  two  lines  in  somewhat  smaller  type:  "It's 
Cheaper  Than  Walking — Buy  a  Weekly  Pass."  This 
may  seem  as  plain  as  the  proverbial  pikestaff,  yet  it  is 
a  fact  that  some  people  read  the  slogan  in  the  light  of 
their  regular  traveling  habits  and  had  the  notion  that 
the  pass  covered  only  two  rides  a  day  six  days  in  the 
week. 

This  fact  is  mentioned  to  stress  the  fact  that  repe- 
tition of  explanations  is  a  large  factor  in  advertising 
to  a  miscellaneous  public. 


RIDE  ALL  WEEK 

FOR 

$1.25 


It's  Cheaper  Than  Walking 
Buy  a  Weekly  Pass 


RIDE  ALL  WEEK 

FOR 

$125 

Buy  a  Weekly  Pass  and  Ride 
as  Much  as  You  Please 


Ride  All  Week 
for  $1.25 

You  oan  buy  your  street  oar  rides  In  a  new 
way  which  will  give  you  UNLIMITED  SERVICE 
and  will  SAVE  YOU  MONEY. 

You  can  begin  to  use  the  new  system  any 
time  after  midnight  of  Sunday,  October  2.  At  that 
time  the  new  WEEKLY  PASS  will  go  Into  effect. 

It  costs  only  $1.25  and  Is  good  for  as  many 
rides  as  you  want  to  take  for  an  entire  week-Sun- 
day midnight  till  the  following  Sunday  midnight. 

It  Is  good  for  any  ride  within  the  city  fare 
limits  at  any  time  of  the  day  or  night.  No  bother 
with  transfers  or  making  change — |ust  "hop  on 
and  ride." 

On  Sale  by  Conductors  and  at  Offices 
on  and  after  Friday,  September  30. 


$1.25  Pays  for  Al  Your 
Riding  for  a  Week 

Don't  fall  to  avail  yourself  of  the  chance  to 
ride  wherever  you  want  to  go  for  seven  full 
days  from  Sunday  midnight  to  Sunday  mid- 
night for  only  $1.25. 

That's  what  the  new  Weekly  Pass  means 

to  you. 

You  spend  that  much  for  riding  to  and  from 
work  anyway.  Buy  a  Weekly  Pass  for  SI  .25 
and  you  can  RIDE  FREE— 


To  and  fi 


r  the  Par 


To  the  theatres, 
To  visit  friend*  in  any  part  of  the  eit, 
To  go  to  and  from  the  buj  itorcs  dowi 
To  the  butcher'*  and  the  grocer's. 
For  a  square,  or  for  mile* — anywhere 
ALL  YOUR  R1DINC  FOR  J I  25 


On  Sale  on  and  after  Friday,  September  30. 
In  Use  after  Midnight  of  Sunday,  October  2. 


Front  and  Back  op  Window  Cards  Advertising  Unlimited  Ride — Weekly  Pass. 
The  Larger  Type  Faces  the  Street,  Where  It  Can  Be  Read 
by  Walker  and  Automobile  Rider 


most  approved  manner  of  the  advertising  expert.  Later 
window  cards  followed  the  same  scheme  of  a  short, 
poster-type  message  to  the  outsider  and  a  more  extended 
story  to  the  insider.  Thus,  the  second  poster  read: 
"Ride  All  Week  for  $1.25;  Buy  a  Weekly  Pass  and  Ride 
as  Much  as  You  Please,"  while  the  new  note  on  the 
inner  face  was  to  the  effect  that  a  pass  rider  had:  "No 
bother  with  transfers  or  making  change;  just  'hop'  on 
and  ride,"  the  remainder  of  the  text  being  as  repro- 
duced. 

A  third  poster  carried  the  outside' message :  "Ride 
All  Week  for  $1.25 — Passes  Now  on  Sale — In  Use  from 
Monday,  Oct.  3,"  the  inside  story  detailing  some  of  the 
ways  in  which  the  pass  could  be  used  to  add  to  the 


900 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


patron's  pleasure  or  to  save  his  or  her  time.  Once  the 
pass  was  actually  on  sale  three  days  before  Oct.  3,  a 
new  window  card  announced:  "Buy  Your  Pass  Today 
—Ride  All  Week  for  $1.25— Use  Starts  Monday,  Oct.  3," 
with  the  usual  elaboration  for  passengers  within  the  car. 

These  window  cards  were  varied  not  only  in  text  but 
in  color.  Thus  three  different  shades  were  used  for  the 
first  four,  so  that  the  public  could  see  out  of  the  corner 
of  its  eye  that  there  was  a  new  message  to  read. 

While  the  car  cards  were  both  effective  and  economi- 
cal, they  did  not  reach  with  any  detailed  explanation 
those  people  who  were  not  riding  the  cars  or  the  many 
Youngstowners  to  whom  English  is  still  a  puzzle.  For 
these  classes  a  series  of  newspaper  advertisements  was 
prepared,  each  carrying  the  slogan  "Ride  All  Week  for 
$1.25,"  but  with  different  text  for  each  day  of  the 
week  immediately  preceding  the  pass  and  for  the  Mon- 
day on  which  the  pass  was  inaugurated.  The  display 
type  and  make-up  of  each  advertisement  were  also 
varied,  including  box  heads  to  summarize  the  principal 
features  of  the  pass  and  reproductions  of  the  face  of 
the  pass.  As  some  of  these  are  reproduced,  it  will  be 
unnecessary  to  quote  the  text  at  length.  The  one  for 
Thursday,  Sept.  29,  is  presented,  however,  as  showing 
that  the  principal  department  stores  of  the  city  had 
agreed  to  put  the  pass  on  sale  during  the  inaugural 
period  and  also  as  detailing  how  different  classes  of  the 
community  could  use  this  form  of  transportation  to 
advantage. 

Quarter-page  (approximately)  announcements!  were 
used  the  first  few  days,  the  space  being  cut  down  as  the 
message  was  driven  home.  On  Sunday,  Oct.  2,  people 
were  asked  to  "Buy  yours  today  as  you  go  to  church," 
although  this  pass  would  not  be  available  until  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday.  It  may  be  remarked,  parenthetically, 
that  the  use  of  the  pass  for  this  purpose  is  reported  by 


local  divines  to  have  had  a  stimulating  effect  on  their 
attendance  figures!  The  final  newspaper  advertisement 
in  English,  appropriately  headed,  "It's  Not  Too  Late," 
appeared  on  Monday,  Oct.  3,  the  day  the  pass  began 
working.   It  contained  an  acrostic  as  follows : 

to  and  from  work, 
R     home  to  lunch  every  day, 

to  the  stores  to  shop  as  often  as  you  wish, 
I      to  the  theaters  and  moving  pictures, 

to  the  night  school  or  the  "gym," 
D     to  visit  friends  in  any  part  of  the  city, 

to  market,  to  the  grocer's,  to  the  baker's. 
E     back  to  the  office  for  a  bit  of  night  work, 

where  you  please,  when  you  please. 

In  addition  to  the  newspaper  advertisements,  there 
were  several  articles  about  the  pass  and  its  value  from 
the  standpoint  of  giving  to  the  public  the  fullest  pos- 
sible use  of  the  electric  railway's  facilities.  It  was 
declared  in  these  articles  that  the  company's  ideal  was 
the  full  seat  and  the  empty  sidewalk,  and  emphasis  was 
placed  upon  the  fact  that  while  the  railway  is  over- 
loaded for  a  couple  of  hours  a  day  it  has  more  than 
enough  service  for  the  rest  of  the  service  periods.  The 
articles  made  clear  that  while  it  was  out  of  the  question 
to  cut  rush-hour  fares,  something  could  be  done  for 
those  who  were  willing  to  patronize  the  road  for  short 
rides  or  during  the  many  light  hours. 

A  like  line  of  advertising  and  reading  copy  was  pre- 
pared for  the  foreign  language  weeklies  and  labor  pa- 
pers. The  foreign  matter  was  printed  in  Italian,  Ru- 
manian, Hungarian  and  Slovenian  and  undoubtedly 
helped  to  increase  good  will  among  classes  which  had 
been  prone  to  patronize  the  jitney.  This  copy  was  run 
but  once  or  twice  to  the  extent  of  quarter  pages. 

It  is  a  rather  interesting  fact  that  the  revenue  of  the 
Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  showed  a  pleasing  in- 
crease during  the  week  that  advertising  was  mast  exten- 


Move  to  the  Movies 
No  Carfare  to  Pay 

WITH  THAT 

S1.25  Weekly  Pass 


Passes  Save  Many  Steps 

They  are  proving  a  great  convenience  to  many 
car  riders,  who  can  ride  where  they  want  and 
when  they  want,  with  no  additional  fare  to  pay. 

"Formerly  I  never  went  home  to  lunch",  said 
one  man.  "Now  I  use  a  pass  and  go  home  to 
lunch  nearly  every  day.  It  costs  me  nothing  tor 
the  extra  rides." 

"I  forgot  my  magazines  and  papers  the  other 
evening",  said  another,  "and  I  wanted  to  read.  I 
used  my  pass  to  go  down  town  and  soon  was 
back  with  reading  matter  to  spend  a  pleasant 
evening." 

If  you  have  not  |olned  the  Unlimited  Ride  Club, 
buy  a  Weekly  Pass  for  SI  .25  and  "hop  on"  a  car 
whenever  you  like. 


Any  Car 
Is  Your  Car 

With  That 

Weekly  Pass 
$1.25 


Face  to  Face  Shopping 
Whether  for  Silks  or 
Cabbages,  Is  Best 

Use  your  Weekly  Street  Railway  Pass  to  go 
frequently  to  the  stores— to  the  markets — to  the 
butcher's,  the  grocer's,  the  baker's.  See  for 
yourself  what  you  -want  to  buy.  Help  cut  down 
costs  by  carrying  home  your  purchases. 

Shop  when  you  want,  where  you  want,  with- 
out walking  or  telephoning  by  using  your  Week- 
ly Pass. 

Board  any  car,  at  any  time,  at  any  stop  for 
any  ride  without  paying  fare  by  simply  showing 
the  conductor  your  Weekly  Pass. 


SHOP 

When  You  Want 
Where  You  Want 

ON  THAT  WEEKLY 
PASS -$1.25 


HO  BOTHER  ABOUT  A  PASS 

WHEN  you  use  a  $1.25  Weekly  Street  Rail- 
way Pass  you  save  yourself  all  the  bother 
of  making  change,  of  handling  transfers  and 
the  like  every  time  you  ride.  Just  show  the  pass 
to  the  conductor— that's  all  there  is  to  it. 

Use  it  as  often  as  you  like  in  the  week.  Send 
that  boy  or  girl  on  an  errand  with  it.  Co  where 
you  like  in  the  afternoon  or  evening.  Ride  to  the 
football  game  on  Saturday  afternoon. 

Then  as  the  week  for  the  pass  draws  to  a 
close,  use  it  for  the  best  purpose  of  all— to  ride 
to  church  and  Sunday  school.  It  is  good  for  you 
to  go  to  church  and  the  Weekly  Pass  is  good  to 
take  you  there. 

Ride  All  Week  For  SI.25 


On  This  and  the  Opposite  Page  Are  Given  Several  Examples  op  the  Window  Cards.,  Both  of  Whose  Sides 

Were  Used  to  Sell  the  Idea  of  the  Weekly  Pass 

« 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


901 


sive  and  before  the  actual  use  of  the  pass,  which  sug- 
gests that  this  publicity  may  have  played  a  part  in 
promoting  riding. 

Talking  To  the  Business  Men  Individually 
and  En  Masse 

Publicity  for  the  pass  was  by  no  means  limited  to  the 
printed  word.  The  co-operation  of  influential  elements 
of  the  community  having  a  direct  interest  in  more  rid- 
ing was  also  sought  and  obtained.  Calls  were  made  on 
the  proprietors  or  managers  of  the  larger  department 
stores.  It  was  explained  to  them  that  the  new  form  of 
transportation  was  based  upon  inducing  people  to  do 
more  riding  during  the  non-rush  hours.  Anything  that 
brought  the  women  out  of  their  homes  down  to  their 
stores  deserved  their  encouragement.  They  were  keen 
to  see  the  point  and  were  ready  to  listen  further  and 
help.  As  a  result,  all  the  stores  called  upon  placed  the 
passes  on  sale  at  a  prominent  desk  during  the  initial 
period  and  some  went  so  far  as  to  give  part  of  their 
advertising  space  to  selling  notices  in  the  style  of  the 
Liberty  Loan  days. 

Late  in  the  afternoons  and  evenings  most  of  the  mov- 
ing picture  houses  and  theaters  were  visited.  Some  of 
these  had  recently  been  obliged  to  cut  the  cost  of  their 
entertainments  to  as  low  as  10  cents,  and  even  better- 
grade  houses  were  on  a  22-cent  and  33-cent  basis.  It 
can  readily  be  seen,  therefore,  that  a  9-cent  cash  or 
8J-cent  ticket  fare  on  the  cars  would  appear  out  of 
proportion  to  the  average  person.  With  a  pass,  the  cost 
of  seeing  the  shows  would  be  reduced  to  nothing,  or, 
at  any  rate,  the  pass-holder  with  a  companion  would 
have  to  pay  but  one  round-trip  fare  instead  of  two. 

Several  of  the  theatrical  men  interviewed  offered  to 
place  passes  on  sale,  but  this  was  not  considered  desir- 
able as  there  were  no  facilities  for  carrying  on  a  large 


sale  through  outside  agencies.  It  was  explained  thai, 
except  for  the  introductory  sales  by  the  larger  stores, 
passes  would  be  sold  only  by  conductors  and  at  the  com- 
pany's main  downtown  waiting  room.  All  that  was 
asked  of  the  moving  picture  men  was  the  display  of  a 
slide  with  a  few  catchwords  to  the  effect  that  the  holder 
of  an  unlimited-ride  weekly  pass  could  see  the  next  show 
without  paying  fare  or  send  one  of  the  family  down  on 
the  pass  if  he  did  not  come  again  himself. 

Calls  were  also  made  upon  the  directors  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  The  night  schools  of  these 
organizations  are  attended  by  several  hundred  young 
people  who  can  ill  afford  to  pay  an  extra  set  of  fares  in 
the  evening.  It  follows  that  many  walk,  so  tiring  them- 
selves or  losing  time  at  best.  As  possessors  of  a  pass 
they  would  save  time  coming  and  going,  and  they  can, 
as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  director  suggested  for  a  poster  slogan, 
"Take  their  exercise  in  the  'gym.'  "  At  both  buildings 
passes  were  sold  during  the  introductory  period. 

Finally,  permission  was  granted  to  address  the  Ki- 
wanis  Club  on  this  subject.  The  relationship  which 
increased  riding  bears  to  greater  local  prosperity  was 
emphasized.  The  point  was  made  that  the  local  man- 
agement was  willing  to  try  a  plan  for  getting  more 
revenue  from  a  larger  number  of  satisfied  instead  of 
from  a  smaller  number  of  dissatisfied  customers,  and 
that  this  was  after  all  an  endeavor  to  apply  correct  sell- 
ing principles  in  offering  a  reduction  to  the  customer 
who  paid  in  advance,  purchased  in  wholesale  quantities 
and  used  the  product  largely  at  a  time  when  it  would 
otherwise  go  to  waste. 

It  was,  of  course,  essential  that  the  men  who  sell  the 
ride  directly — conductor  and  motorman — should  under- 
stand the  company's  purpose  in  trying  the  pass.  Knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  also  made  it  desirable  to  show  in 
how  many  ways  the  conductor's  work  would  be  simplified 


FIFTY  RIDES  fl  WEEK 
More  If  You  Wish 

With  That 

Weekly  Pass 
$1.25 


Join 
the  Unlimited 
Ride  Club 


Ride  All  Week 
for  $1.25 


GO  TO  CHURCH 

and 
Sunday  School 

On  That 
WEEKLY  PASS 
$1.25 


PASS  THE  PASS  ON 
TO  ONE  OF  THE  FOLKS 

The  Weekly  Street  Railway  Pass  will  take  you 
to  and  from  your  work  and  give  you  all  the  other 
riding  you  want  in  a  week. 

Then  when  you  are  home  in  the  evening,  Sat- 
urday afternoon  or  Sunday,  it  is  good  for  some 
other  member  of  the  family  to  go  shopping,  to  go 
visiting,  to  go  to  the  movies,  to  go  wherever  any- 
one wishes  to  go. 

Your  wife,  your  son,  your  daughter,  your 
brother  may  have  a  use  for  the  Weekly  Pass 
when  you  do  not  need  It  for  yourself. 

RIDE  ALL  WEEK 

FOR  si.as 


Ride  to  Night  School 

■  RE  you  a  student  at  the  "V"  or  at  business 
A  college?  Then,  of  course,  you  want  a  Weekly 
Pass.  It  will  take  you  to  and  from  work  and 
then  In  the  evening  to  school  and  back  again, 
and  wherever  else  you  want  to  go. 

DO  YOU  GO  SHOPPING? 

Uob  a  Weekly  Pass  and  go  to  the  stores  as 
often  as  you  wish  without  extra  cost. 

Use  It  In  the  evening  to  go  to  the  "movies", 
to  the  theatre,  to  visit  friends,  wherever  you 
wish,  whenever  you  wish. 

All  your  riding  for  a  week,  Monday  to  Sunday 
Inclusive,  for  $1.25. 


Don'tWalkaBlockwith 
Those  Bundles 

EVEN  though  you  have  only  a  short  distance  to 
go,  board  the  first  car  and  ride  with  that  $1.25 
Weekly  Pass.  Your  carfare  is  paid  for  all  the 
rides  you  want  to  take,  long  or  short,  when  you 
carry  a  pass. 

No  need  to  trudge  through  the  wet.  We  have 
had  many  rainy  days,  and  there  are  more  to 
come.  Cet  out  of  the  wet  and  into  the  dry  with 
that  Weekly  Pass. 

The  Weekly  Pass  Is  your  membership  card 
In  the  Unlimited  Ride  Club.  Any  car  Is  your  car 
and  It  is  always  cranked  up  for  you  when  you 
carry  a  pass. 

Co  to  the  Movies  Tonight — Your 
Carefare  Is  Paid 


The  Kind  of  "Copy"  which  Appears  on  These  Examples  of  Double-Sidkd  Window  Cards  Has  Resulted  in  a  Rather 
Remarkable  Record  of  Pass  Saxes  and  Also  of  Increased  Riding  in  General 


902 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


and  schedules  improved  by  a  plan  that  eliminated  so 
much  making  of  change  and  issuing  of  transfers.  The 
company  might  have  tried  several  other  ways,  it  was 
explained  at  the  meetings,  but  this  had  been  favored 
because  it  had  so  many  elements  that  should  also  appeal 
to  the  platform  man.  Much  interest  was  shown  at  these 
sessions,  a  number  of  the  men  asking  searching  ques- 
tions or  offering  valuable  suggestions  with  regard  to 
identification  of  the  pass  from  week  to  week,  etc.  There 
was  evident  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  they  had  been 
taken  into  the  management's  confidence  on  the  matter 
instead  of  being  left  to  guess  for  themselves  what  the 
innovation  meant  to  them  and  to  their  patrons. 

In  the  preparation  of  articles  and  advertisements 
featuring  the  pass  Walter  Jackson  co-operated  with 
Frank  Wert,  the  company's  director  of  public  relations, 
and  gave  talks  to  the  townspeople  and  platform  men. 

As  with  the  merchant,  who  finds  new  arguments  for 
the  same  goods  year  in  and  year  out,  so  the  electric 
railway  can  vary  its  appeal,  too.  In  connection  with 
the  pass  there  have  been  prepared  a  variety  of  slogans 


New  Station  on  Chicago  Elevated 

TO  PROVIDE  for  a  new  station  at  Grand  Avenue 
on  the  Franklin  Street  line  of  the  Northwestern 
Elevated  Railroad,  Chicago,  it  was  necessary,  says 
Engineering  Neivs-Record,  to  raise  the  rail  level  5  ft. 
and  to  replace  the  original  deck  span  across  Grand 
Avenue  by  a  through  span  with  shallow  floor  in  order 
to  obtain  headroom  for  placing  the  station  under  the 
structure  and  with  a  clearance  of  14  ft.  above  the 
street.  This  change  in  elevation  involved  changing 
the  profile  for  a  distance  of  about  1,100  ft.,  so  that 
instead  of  being  level  it  has  grades  of  1.2  per  cent, 
with  the  track  level  through  the  station. 

All  the  work  of  raising  the  structure  was  done  dur- 
ing the  daytime  and  without  interference  to  traffic  of 
the  elevated  lines  or  in  the  street,  except  that  the 
timber  bents  blocked  the  sides  of  the  roadway.  The 
work  of  jacking  began  at  both  ends  and  was  carried 
out  on  one  bent  at  a  time,  with  an  average  lift  of 
2  in.  at  each  operation.    The  total  lifts  for  each  cross 


?    Vegyen  Heti  Villamos 


Jegyet  es  Egesz  Heten 
Utazhat  $1.25-ert 


Pentelrtol  keidve  egy  h6ire  aiolo  Til 
lamos  torUttk  leunek  kaphatok  A  ber 
Itlek  7a*lrnap  4jrelkor  l*pneli  eletbe  6a 
poDloaao  «gy  hett*l  kesobb  lejarnak  A 
btrlel  ira  tgy  hetre  $1.25  ea  hetfo  hajnalj 
12  6ra  1  ptrctol  vaaaniap  ej^el  12  oraig 
trvinyesek. 

Minden  heUn  uj  jegyek  ktrulnek  el 
oiiaara.  Mindig  haaoalo  idotarlamra  fog 
aiolnJ 

A  berletjeggyd  akarbanyszor  uUihat 
egy  betig  a  9  cenlfs  viteldij  ionin  belul, 
fippeougy  miDtha  k^sipenzt  vagy  jegyel 
fiiUoe  tgyee  uUkert  Ketten  nem  ulaz 
taslnak  egy&ierre  egy  berlet  jeggytl  De  an 
oem  n.  >vn  axol  ea  b&rki  haaznalbatja. 

A  berletjegyeket  mindig  peotekcn, 
Fiom  baton  ea  vaaarnap  fogjak  arusitaoi  a 
kovetketo  hetre. 

Azok,  akik  oem  valtanak  berletjegyet 
ai  eddigi  mieldjjjjkat  fogjak  fueini 

-  THE  YOUNGSTOWN 
MUNICIPAL  RAILWAY 


MONDAY.  OCTOBER  3,  1921 


A  7-Inch 
Wear-Ever 
Aluminum  Fry  Pan 
for  only 

49c 


Weekly 
Street  Car 
Passes 


Your  Opportunity  to  Buy 

A  Trunk 


top.   Very  irpwiai  at 

(Mu in  Floor,  Ha  id  Si  Amu 

Bags  And  Purses 

— Collection  of  real  leather  and 
silk  bags  and  purses  in  black 
aD.l  colors;  many  styles  and 
sizes;  regularly  up  to  $3.00.  To- 
i morrow,  choice....  

(MAln  floor,  Old  Bide  > 

Beginning  Tomorrow 
Street  Railway  Weekly  Passes,  $1.25 
May  Be  Obtained  At  Our 
PoBtofflce  Station 

—Now  you  can  shop  Juit  when  you  want 
and  for  lust  what  you  want,  without  waiL- 
u.g  or  phortlne.  by  using  thtt«  Puses, 
i  Huiji  Floor.  Haacl  St.  Annex) 


1 


to  "Hot 

lar  Day,  pair 

(Malu  Floor,  Old  Bide.) 

Women's  Oxfords 

— Just  60  pairs  for  an 
extraordinary  Dollar 
Day  Special  tomorrow ! 
Taii  apd  black  ttussia 
Calfskin ;  covered  Cn- 
han  heels,  strictly  bench 
tfciule  models;  comfort- J 
able  as  well  as  service*" 
ablo.  Tomorrow,  Dol- 
lar Day...-.  ..   

(Second  Floor,  Old  ffldg.) 


Ride  All  Week  /or  $1£S 

Weekly  Passes  On  Sale  Tomorrow 

THE  new  Weekly  Street  Rail  : I  'aet  be  at  troth  savior  you  tunc 

and  money.  aud  oudicc  to  the  coo  venlenee  of  our  srerice  for  you. 
It  will  be  good  for  as  many  rides  as  the  bearer  treats  to  take,  becionioc: 
Monday — that  is  immediately  after  uudujght  fiuuduy — uuti]  auduigbt  of  the  fol- 
lowtag  Suudoy 


offii 


Ttie  paes  will  be  on  aalc  boKiiuuneDienrc  of  I 
c  m  Central  Square.  For  the  conr'euieoee  of  tl 
be  on  sale  at  the  follotriag'departincot  stores. 


:  pain 


i  Uio  | 


The  G.  M  McKcWey  Co. 
The  Strotiaa-Hirahberg 
Com  pal.  y 
The  Geo.  L.  Fordy ec  Co. 
The  Contrail  Store 
The  B.  MeManui  Co. 
The  Collerui-Ksune  Co. 
Chat  LiTingaton  oV.  Son* 


Get  Your  Pass  Tomorrow 


The  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  Co. 


VARIOUS  FORMS  OF  PUBLICITY  ADVERTISING  THE  PASS 


In  center,  portions  clipped  from  advertisements  of  dry  goods 
houses,  used  in  Youngstown  showing  free  space  given  to  the  pass. 

At  left,  newspaper  advertisement  of  the  railway  company,  which 
was  published  the  Thursday  preceding  the  first  week  in  which  the 


pass  was  sold.  It  includes  a  reproduction  of  the  ticket  and  the 
names  of  the  principal  stores  in  the  city  at  which  it  was  being  sold. 

At  right,  one  of  the  persuasive  advertisements  prepared  by 
Frank  Wert,  director  of  public  relations. 


suitable  to  the  different  seasons  of  the  year  and  carry- 
ing no  more  words  than  enough  to  make  an  effective 
window  card,  dasher  poster,  newspaper  box  head  or  the 
like.  The  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  has  already 
made  use  of  several  in  connection  with  earlier  copy  and 
expects  to  run  others  from  time  to  time.  Of  course, 
many  opportunities  will  arise  for  making  up  a  slogan 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  as  in  suggesting:  "Go  to 
the  Circus  on  Your  Pass." 

So  far  as  practical  results  from  the  pass  are  con- 
cerned, it  is  held  to  be  too  soon  to  quote  detail  figures. 
However,  it  is  encouraging  to  learn  that  comparing  the 
first  three  weeks  of  the  pass  with  the  three  weeks  pre- 
ceding, the  rate  of  increase  in  revenue  on  the  lines 
within  Youngstown  was  more  than  twice  as  great  as  on 
the  city  lines  outside  Youngstown,  on  which  no  passes 
are  sold,  although  industrial  conditions  on  these  outside 
lines  were  at  least  as  good  as  within  the  city. 


girder  was  chalked  upon  the  column  and  no  girder 
was  raised  more  than  2  in.  at  a  time. 

As  fast  as  the  jacking  proceeded  the  cribbing  was 
built  up  and  wedged  tightly  under  the  column  base 
and  the  timber  bent,  thus  keeping  the  structure  in 
proper  alignment  and  in  stable  condition.  For  addi- 
tional lateral  support  to  the  structure  heavy  timber 
inclined  braces  were  set  near  the  cross  girder  in 
alternate  spans,  with  their  lower  ends  butted  against 
blocking  made  along  the  face  of  the  curb  and  their 
heads  to  fit  the  bottom  cords  of  the  longitudinal  girders. 
In  lifting  about  thirty  men  were  employed  to  work  on 
the  jacks  and  to  build  up  the  cribs  and  wedging.  A 
day's  work  averaged  an  aggregate  lift  of  6  ft.  and 
the  lifting  occupied  about  twelve  working  days.  Length- 
ening of  the  columns  was  effected  in  most  places  by 
removing  the  old  column  footing  or  shoe  and  splicing 
on  a  new  bottom  section  which  fitted  into  the  old  shoe. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Auger  Attached  to  Motor  Truck 

Earth  Boring  Machine  on  Motor  Truck  Speeds  Up  Line 
Construction — Driver  Operates  Mechanism  From  His 
Seat  on  the  Truck 

AN  AUGER  suitable  for  boring  in  earth,  attached  to 
Ix.  a  motor  truck  and  driven  by  the  truck  engine,  has 
been  used  with  good  results  in  California,  according  to 
the  Pacific  Telephone  &  Telegraph  Company,  which  has 
four  of  them  in  service.  The  device  weighs  about  1,800 
lb.  and  can  be  dismounted  in  a  few  hours  so  the  truck 
can  be  released  for  other  uses.  It  makes  holes  22  in.  in 
diameter  and  under  average  soil  conditions  can  bore  a 
6-ft.  hole  in  seven  minutes. 

The  device  is  mounted  on  the  front  end  of  the  chassis, 
preferably  on  a  truck  having  four-wheel  drive,  as  it  is 
sometimes  desirable  to  traverse  plowed  fields,  irrigation 
ditches,  etc.  The  auger  consists  of  two  replaceable  cut- 
ting edges,  placed  at  about  the  same  angle  used  in 
standard  drills,  and  is  driven  by  a  shaft  from  the 
power  take-off  in  the  truck  transmission.  In  a  truck 
having  four  speeds  and  a  reverse  this  arrangement 
makes  it  possible  to  adapt  the  speed  of  the  auger  to 
soils  of  different  nature,  such  as  adobe,  clay,  sand, 
hardpan,  etc.  A  wide  range  of  auger  speeds  has  been 
found  highly  desirable.  In  hardpan,  for  example,  the 
auger  must  be  turned  slowly  to  prevent  the  edges  from 
being  burned. 


The  mounting  of  the  boring  machine  is  such  that  it 
is  possible  to  bore  a  vertical  hole  with  the  truck  stand- 
ing on  any  grade  it  can  climb;  it  is  also  possible  to 
bore  holes  at  any  angle  up  to  45  deg.  when  the  truck 
is  on  the  level.  The  auger  is  located  on  the  left- 
hand  side  of  the  truck  where  it  is  in  plain  view  of  the 
driver.  The  controls  are  within  easy  reach  of  the 
driver's  seat  so  he  can  operate  them  without  changing 
his  position. 

When  ready  for  operation  the  point  of  the  auger 
is  spotted  on  the  surveyor's  stake,  the  truck  brakes 
are  set,  the  compound  gear  of  the  truck  is  shifted  into 
neutral  and  then  the  clutch  on  the  earth  boring  ma- 
chine is  let  in  gently.  The  auger  feed  is  either  by  hand 
or  by  gravity.  The  former,  which  is  used  chiefly  on 
inclined  holes,  is  effected  by  means  of  a  rack  on  the 
auger  shaft  and  pinion  operated  by  hand  lever.  When 
the  auger  has  buried  itself  a  second  clutch  lifts  it 
until  the  lower  side  of  the  auger  is  clear  of  the  ground, 
when  it  is  turned  at  a  high  rate  of  speed  to  discharge  its 
load  and  throw  the  soil  clear  of  the  hole  by  centrifugal 
force. 

A  feature  of  the  auger  gearing  is  that  in  case  of  any 
sudden  resistance,  such  as  would  be  caused  by  striking 
a  hidden  obstruction  under  the  soil,  the  auger  feed  is 
automatically  reversed,  thus  raising  the  auger  and 
avoiding  injury  to  the  mechanism.  An  improvement 
added  after  considerable  experiment  is  an  earth-retain- 


Auger  Boring  Post  Hole 


Dropping  Pole  Into  Position 


904 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


ing  gate  which  prevents  earth  from  falling  off  the 
auger  into  the  hole  while  it  is  being  raised. 

To  further  carry  out  the  idea  of  keeping  the  manual 
labor  of  pole  setting  down  to  a  minimum,  a  swinging 
boom  derrick  was  mounted  on  the  truck  body  with  the 
hoisting  line  operated  by  a  small  power-driven  winch. 
This  power  is  likewise  supplied  by  the  truck  engine 
and  is  controlled  by  levers  within  reach  of  the  driver's 
seat. 

Both  the  boring  device  and  the  derrick  equipment 
have  been  adapted  to  this  service  by  J.  B.  Spowart  of 
the  telephone  company. 


Gaging  Trolley  Wire  for  Renewal 

The  Percentage  of  Original  Area  that  Can  Be  Considered 
Safe  for  Further  Service  Can  Best  Be  Determined  by 
Accurate  Measurements  with  Either  a  Wire  Gage 
or  a  Micrometer  at  Frequent  Intervals 

By  G.  H.  McKelway 

Engineer  Distribution  Brooklyn  (N.  Y. )  Rapid  Transit  Company 

UNTIL  recently  the  time  for  trolley  wire  renewal 
was  determined  by  the  number  of  breaks  occur- 
ring. Old  wire  was  taken  down  and  new  wire  run 
in  whenever  the  number  of  breaks  in  any  portion 
appeared  to  be  excessive,  and  as  often  no  records  were 
kept  of  the  number  of  breaks  that  had  occurred  in 
any  particular  section,  it  was  the  custom  to  send  a 
man  over  the  line  to  count  the  number  of  splices  be- 
tween the  designated  points.  Such  an  inspector  would 
observe,  from  the  street,  the  apparent  diameter  of  the 
trolley  wire  and  report  places  where  it  seemed  to  be 
thin  enough  to  warrant  renewal,  even  if  a  sufficient 
number  of  breaks  had  not  already  occurred  in  it.  Other 
reasons  for  renewing  the  wire  were  obtained  from  the 
reports  of  the  crews  maintaining  it,  while  occasionally 
a  renewal  would  be  made  principally  because  the  super- 
intendent, manager,  or  engineer  believed  that  the  wire 
had  been  in  the  air  long  enough  and  must  therefore 
be  badly  worn. 

A  plan  now  largely  adopted  is  to  send  a  man  over 
the  line  at  stated  intervals  and  have  him  gage  the 
wire  at  short  distances  apart,  say  between  each  pair 
of  span  wires.  Such  an  inspector  should  be  provided 
with  a  light  tower  wagon  or  truck  and  a  helper  to 
drive  it  for  him.  The  wire  is  measured  by  means  of 
either  a  wire  gage  or  a  micrometer,  the  latter  of  which  is 
generally  preferred  as  being  the  more  accurate.  Meth- 
ods for  gaging  wire  vary  with  different  companies. 
Some  measure  the  wire  at  the  ears,  some,  on  double- 
track  lines,  measure  at  the  receiving  end  and  others 
at  the  leaving  end  of  the  ear,  while  other  companies 
take  measurements  at  the  middle  of  the  section,  half 
way  between  the  ears.  Measurements  in  the  center 
of  the  section  will  be  the  more  uniform,  but  will  not 
show  the  diameter  of  the  wire  where  it  is  thinnest, 
which  is  really  the  information  wanted,  as  the  area 
at  the  bad  spots  and  not  the  average  area  is  what 
should  decide  as  to  whether  or  not  the  wire  should  be 
renewed.  On  lines  where  the  suspension  of  the  wire  is 
"soft"  or  springy  and  where  there  are  no  very  hard 
spots,  as  with  catenary  construction,  especially  where 
the  hangers  have  long  loops,  and  under  slack  spans  on 
the  ordinary  trolley  construction,  there  will  not  be  a 
great  deal  of  difference  in  the  measurements  taken  at 
the  ears  or  out  in  the  center  of  the  section.  But 
where  the  support  is  rigid,  such  as  is  found  under  tight 
spans,  bracket  arms,  or,  worst  of  all,  trough  work,  the 


difference  in  dimensions  will  be  very  noticeable,  and 
especially  so  where  short  heavy  ears  are  used.  In  such 
cases  it  is  well  not  only  to  make  the  measurements 
at  the  ears  but  also  to  take  off  an  ear  occasionally 
and  measure  the  wire  directly  under  it,  as  it  is  there 
that  the  worst  pounding  occurs. 

Another  point  on  which  there  is  as  yet  no  unanimity 

RELATION  OF  AREA  AND  DIAMETER  FOR  WORN  TROLLEY  WIRE 

No.  0  Wire 


Area  Sq.In. 
0  830 
0  792 
0  748 
0  682 
0  640 
0  588 
0  538 
0  487 
0  437 
0  385 


1  046 
I  013 

0  951 
0  887 
0  824 
0  752 
0  685 
0  625 
0  562 
0  500 


I  320 
I  270 


195 
1110 

I  026 
0  945 
0  860 
0  787 
0  704 
0  619 


I  662 
I  571 
I  463 
I  355 
I  238 
I  138 
I  022 
0  904 
0  808 


Diameter 
0  325 
0  309 
0  292 
0.276 
0.260 
0  244 
0  227 
0.211 
0  195 
0  179 


0  365 
0  347 
0  329 
0  310 
0  292 
0  274 
0  256 
0  237 
0  219 
0  201 


0  410 

0  389 
0  369 
0  348 
0  328 
0  307 
0  287 
0  267 
0  246 
0  226 


Per  Cent  Diameter 
100 
95 
90 
85 
80 
75 
70 
65 
60 
55 


No.  00  Wire 


100 
95 
90 
85 
80 
75 
70 
65 
60 
55 


Per  Cent  Area 
100 
95.5 
90.  1 
83.2 
77.2 
70.8 
64.8 
58.7 
52.7 
46.4 


100 

96.8 


No.  000  Wire 


100 

95 
90 
85 
80 
75 
70 
65 
60 
55 


No.  0000  Wire  (Grooved) 


0  482 
0  458 
0  434 
0  410 
0  384 
362 
337 
313 


0  289 


100 
95 
90 
85 
80 
75 
70 
65 
60 


100 
96.2 
90  5 
84.  1 
77.8 
71 .6 
65.  1 
59.6 
53.3 
46.9 


100 
94.5 
88.0 
81.5 
74.5 
68.5 
61.5 
54.4 
48.6 


of  opinion  is  the  amount  of  wear  that  a  wire  can 
undergo  and  yet  be  left  up  with  safety.  Some  com- 
panies renew  the  wire  when  it  has  become  worn  down 
below  a  certain  percentage  of  its  original  diameter, 
while  other  companies  renew  when  the  wire  has  been 
reduced  to  certain  diameters,  which  may  not  have  any 
relation  to  the  percentage  of  the  original  size,  although, 
of  course,  percentage  and  diameter  can  easily  be  made 
to  be  equivalent  to  each  other.  The  matter  is  still  fur- 
ther complicated  as  not  only  all  companies  do  not  agree 
upon  a  certain  percentage  of  wear  or  limiting  diam- 
eter of  wire  but  the  same  company  often  has  different 
diameters  or  percentages  for  different  sizes  of  wire  or 
for  different  lines  having  the  same  size  of  wire  but 
on  which  there  is  a  difference  in  the  number  or  size  of 
the  cars  operated.  On  an  important  line  the  operating 
department  will  be  much  less  patient  with  delays  caused 
by  broken  trolley  wires  than  on  some  little-used  line, 
and,  because  of  the  greater  number  of  cars  on  the  im- 
portant line,  such  delays  occur  there  with  much  greater 
frequency. 

As  a  rule  the  size  of  the  wire  will  vary  with  the 
importance  of  the  line,  so  that  probably  the  percentage 
of  area,  rather  than  the  percentage  of  diameter,  would 
be  the  safest  way  of  determining  when  the  wire  should 
be  renewed.  The  percentage  of  area  that  it  will  be 
found  safe  to  use  will  not  always  be  the  same,  but 
will  depend  upon  the  composition  of  the  wire.  Hard 
drawn  copper  wire  is  much  softer  and  weaker  at  its 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


905 


center  than  at  the  outside,  and  will  therefore  weaken 
much  more,  when  the  outer  skin  has  been  worn  off, 
than  will  a  wire  having  the  copper  alloyed  with  some 
other  metal  to  increase  its  strength  and  toughness. 
Again,  hard  drawn  copper  will  become  annealed  by  be- 
ing heated  by  the  current  passing  through  it",  some- 
thing that  will  not  affect  an  alloyed  wire. 

The  area  of  the  wire  does  not  vary  directly  with 
the  diameter,  although  very  often  statements  will  be 
found  where  it  would  appear  that  some  one  has  based 
his  figures  on  the  length  of  life  of  a  wire  on  the 
decrease  per  year  in  its  diameter  and  not  its  section, 
and  upon  the  supposition  that  the  diameter  will  lessen 
by  an  equal  amount  each  year  until  the  wire  becomes 
so  badly  worn  as  to  require  renewal.  However,  the 
diameter  and  the  area  of  round,  not  grooved,  wire  will 
remain  much  more  nearly  in  proportion  than  would 
be  expected  by  any  one  approaching  the  subject  in  a 
purely  mathematical  manner,  because  the  bottom  of 
the  wire  will  not  be  worn  away  to  a  flat  surface  as 
might  be  supposed,  but  instead  this  surface  will  be 
curved,  being  influenced  by  the  shape  of  the  groove  of 
the  trolley  wheel  but  not,  by  any  means,  conforming 
to  it. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  the  true  section  of  trolley  wire 
tests  were  made  by  taking  sections  through  a  large 
number  of  pieces  of  worn  wire,  these  sections  were 
plotted  out  to  a  larger  scale  and  the  actual  areas  found 
by  going  over  the  enlarged  drawings  with  a  planimeter. 
The  results  as  found  are  given  in  the  accompanying 
table,  and  as  the  writer  has  never  seen  similar  figures 
given  anywhere  they  may  be  of  some  assistance  to 
others  in  working  out  the  problem  of  when  to  renew 
wire. 


Some  Service  Results  of  Ball 
Bearings 

An  Outline  of  Results  Which  Have  Been  Obtained  With 
Ball  Bearings  for  Motors  of  Safety  Cars  Operated  by 
the  Staten  Island  Midland  Railway 

By  Charles  T.  Perry 

Electrical  Engineer  Department  of  Plant  and  Structures, 
City  of  New  York 

THE  Department  of  Plant  and  Structures,  city  of 
New  York,  which  operates  the  Staten  Island  Mid- 
land Railway,  has  152  sets  of  ball  bearings  on  G.E. 
Type  258  motors  operating  over  exceptionally  bad  track 


"0  10  40  60  80  100         120  140  160 

Elapsed  Time, Minutes 

Rise  in  Temperature  for  Babbitt,  Roller  and  Ball  Bearingb 


and  very  severe  conditions.  This  equipment  has  been  in 
service  twenty-four  hours  per  day  for  the  past  ten 
months.  During  this  time  there  has  been  but  one  ball 
bearing  failure.    This  failure  was  due  to  poor  lubrica- 


90 


o 

CL 

20 


Babbitt   

Roller  

Ball   

/  / 

n 

'  <\V*S>> 

I  l 

A* 

¥  / 
/ 

'//' 

A- 

I 

// 

M 

* 

A 

157  314 

R.P.M. 
100  200 
Speed, Feet  per  Min. 


470 
300 


Comparison  of  Power  Consumed  bt 
Friction  in  Babbitt,  Roller 
and  Ball  Bearings 


tion,  caused  by  a  crushed  grease  pipe  connection.  Out 
of  320  sleeve  bearings  that  are  operating  under  the 
same  conditions,  there  have  been  no  less  than  fourteen 
bearing  failures;  four  of  these  caused  extensive  dam- 
age to  armatures  and  fields. 

The  lubrication  of  the  sleeve  bearings  is  not  only 
more  expensive  but  also  less  efficient  than  that  of  the 
ball  bearings.  The 
cause  of  failures  in 
nearly  all  ball  bear- 
ings is  due  to  im- 
proper lubrication 
and  care;  this,  of 
course,  is  assuming 
that  the  original  de- 
sign andconstruction 
was  what  it  should 
be.  Lubricants  for 
ball  bearings  must 
be  selected  with  care 
and  should  be  free 
from  any  acids  which 
might  etch  and 
roughen  the  surfaces 
of  balls  and  journals. 
A  good  grease  forced 
into  the  ball  casing 
with  a  powerful 
grease  gun  is  the 
best  method  of  lubri- 
cation for  railway 
motor  ball  bearings. 

The  use  of  ball  bearing  for  motors  has  many  other 
advantages  aside  from  a  reduced  lubricating  and  repair 
cost.  Some  of  these  advantages  are:  (1)  Less  power 
is  required  on  account  of  the  reduced  coefficient  of  fric- 
tion; (2)  the  friction  of  a  ball  bearing  is  independent 
of  the  viscosity  of  a  lubricant  or  its  temperature;  (3) 
labor  necessary  to  scrape  and  fit  bearings  is  eliminated ; 
(4)  there  is  less  danger  of  heating  and  seizing;  (5)  they 
are  self-adjusting  to  shaft  deflections  within  reason- 
able limits;  (6)  there  is  a  reduction  in  armature  and 
field  repairs;  (7)  the  starting  friction  of  ball  bearing3 
is  very  low,  hence  there  is  a  gain  in  power  when  most 
needed  during  the  acceleration  period;  (8)  ball  bear- 
ings are  well  adapted  to  both  thrust  and  radial  load. 

Tests  for  efficiency  which  have  been  made  show  a  sav- 
ing of  from  35  per  cent  to  70  per  cent  of  the  total  bear- 
ing friction  gained  by  the  use  of  ball  bearings  instead 
of  the  sleeve  type.  The  carrying  capacity  of  a  ball  bear- 
ing is  directly  proportional  to  the  number  of  balls  in  the 
bearing  and  to  the  square  of  the  diameter  of  the  balls. 

The  balls  should  be  very  carefully  inspected  and  se- 
lected to  be  sure  that  they  are  true  to  form  and  uniform 
in  size  in  an  entire  bearing  unit.  The  ball  diameter 
should  not  vary  over  0.0001  in.  Balls  that  are  over 
this  limit  will  not  only  be  overloaded  themselves  but 
will  also  overload  and  injure  the  ball  races.  The  ma- 
terial of  which  they  are  manufactured  should  be  of  the 
best  quality  and  properly  treated  so  as  to  have  a  high 
elastic  limit  and  so  that  no  scaling  or  flaking  may  take 
place  under  heavy  impact  or  severe  operating  conditions. 

In  connection  with  the  ball  bearing  problem  it  is 
interesting  to  note  certain  experiments  and  exhaustive 
bearing  tests  that  were  recently  made  at  the  University 
of  Wisconsin.  These  tests  were  made  on  sleeve,  roller 
and  ball  bearings.  The  data  accumulated  were  very 
practical  and  definite  as  the  tests  extended  over  a  period 


906 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


of  four  years,  during  which  time  careful  comparisons 
were  made  and  recorded.  Tests  were  made  with  a  speed 
variation  of  from  100  r.p.m.  to  500  r.p.m.  and  loads  on 
bearings  from  500  lb.  to  2,300  lb.  per  bearing  or  from 
25  lb.  to  110  lb.  per  square  inch.  During  these  tests 
Atlantic  Red  Engine  oil  was  used  on  the  babbitt,  sleeve 
and  roller  bearings  and  Keystone  grease  No.  2  on  the 
ball  bearings.  The  coefficient  for  friction-temperature 
curves  was  determined  by  the  following  formula. 

,  _      (Watts  per  bearing)  531 
~  3.1416  dn  (load  per  bearing) 

Where 

/  =  coefficient 

d  =  shaft  diameter  in  inches 
n  =  r.p.m. 

Bearings  were  loaded  to  destruction  in  the  final  test,  the 
failure  points  being  noted  as  follows: 

Sleeve  bearings  failed  at  load  of  4,250  lb. 

Roller  bearings  failed  at  load  of  5,100  lb. 

Ball  bearings  failed  at  load  of  4,650  lb. 

The  accompanying  graphs  were  made  from  the  above 
test  data  and  are  self-explanatory. 


T 


Automatic  Tapping  Machine 

HE  Cincinnati  Hy-Speed  Machine  Company,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  has  recently  placed  on  the  market 
a  line  of  automatic  tapping  machines.  Among  the 
features  claimed  for  the  machines  are  the  patented 

spindle  lead  and  automatic 
reversing  mechanism  by 
which  the  tap  is  brought 
forward  and  returned  in  a 
positive  way  entirely  free  of 
the  operator,  tapping  holes 
accurately  without  danger 
of  stripping  threads  or 
breaking  taps. 

One-half  turn  of  the  stop 
plunger  at  the  side  of  the 
control  handle  changes  the 
machine  from  semi  to  full 
automatic.  When  set  as 
semi-automatic,  the  spindle 
'L.      rjuM  travels     forward,  reverses 

automatically  and  stops  at 
the  end  of  the  return  stroke. 
To  start  forward  again  the 
operator  pulls  down  on  the 
control  lever.  When  set  as 
full  automatic,  the  stop 
plunger  is  withdrawn  and 
the  spindle  automatically 
reverses  at  each  end  of  its 
travel.  The  spindle  can  be 
stopped  at  any  point,  reversed  and  again  brought  for- 
ward by  use  of  the  control  lever. 

Adjustable  trip  dogs  with  limit  stops  on  the  trip  rod 
regulate  the  depth  to  be  tapped.  The  chuck  is  driven 
by  the  clutched  end  on  the  spindle  and  locked  in 
position.  S.K.F.  bearings  are  used  throughout  the 
machine.  Machines  are  regularly  furnished  for  right- 
hand  tapping  but  attachment  is  furnished  for  left-hand 
tapping,  the  left-hand  device  being  quickly  attached 
to  the  end  of  the  rack  sleeve.  Machines  are  built  with 
from  one  to  three  spindles  in  two  sizes.  The  maximum 
capacity  is  i  and  I  in.  steel.  These  machines  are  built 
in  bench  and  belted  motor-drive  types. 


Automatic  Tapping  Machine 


New  Vacuum  Trap 

This  Type  of  Trap  Is  Used  in  Place  of  a  Float-Controlled 
Condensate  Pump  for  Systems  Using  Steam 
Under  Vacuum 

THE  Wilmon  vacuum  trap,  perfected  during  the  war 
and  applied  to  marine  service,  is  being  introduced 
by  P.  H.  Gill  &  Sons  Forge  &  Machine  Works,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  for  draining  turbines  in  stationary  plants. 
The  receiving  chamber  of  the  trap  is  under  vacuum 
while  the  water  is  collecting  in  the  trap  and  under 

atmospheric  pres- 
sure during  dis- 
charge. Back  flow 
is  prevented  by 
check  valves  on  the 
inlet  and  outlet  lines. 
The  change  of  pres- 
sure in  the  receiving 
chamber  from  vac- 
uum to  atmospheric 
and  vice  versa  is  ac- 
complished by  an 
oscillating  disk 
covering  three  ports, 
which  makes  a  quick 
shift  from  one  oper- 
ating position  to  the 
other.  One  of  these 
positions  con  nects 
the  receiving  cham- 
ber with  the  vacuum 
system,  and  the  other 
connects  with  the 
atmosp heric  line. 
C  o  m  m  u  n  i  c  ation  in 
both  instances  is 
effected  through  the 
equalizing  line  connecting  the  middle  port  to  a  top  open- 
ing in  the  receiving  chamber. 

The  disk  and  thrust  bearing,  and  the  spring  which 
holds  these  parts  in  place,  are  in  a  separate  outer 
chamber.  The  disk  is  operated  by  a  lever  float,  hammer 
weight  and  rocker  arm,  all  on  the  same  shaft  and  located 
within  the  receiving  chamber.  Water  entering  the  re- 
ceiving chamber  carries  the  float  upward  as  the  level 
rises,  and  a  contact  point  on  the  float  stem,  between  the 
float  and  its  fulcrum,  rotates  the  weight  until,  as  the 
latter  passes  dead  center,  it  drops  onto  the  contact  point 
on  the  rocker  arm  and  partially  rotates  the  oscillating 
disk  to  the  opposite  position.  This  shuts  off  the  vacuum 
line  and  opens  the  receiving  chamber  to  atmospheric 
pressure  through  the  atmospheric  and  equalizing  lines. 
Water  is  then  forced  through  the  trap  outlet,  if  the 
latter  is  connected  to  a  vacuum,  or  drains  by  gravity  if 
connected  to  atmosphere.  As  the  float  falls  with  the 
water  level,  the  contact  point  beyond  the  fulcrum  on  the 
float  stem  lifts  the  weight  past  dead  center  and  lets  it 
drop  in  the  opposite  direction,  when  it  hits  the  opposite 
end  of  the  rocker  arm  and  shifts  the  disk.  This  cuts 
off  the  atmospheric  lines,  connects  the  vacuum  and 
equalizing  lines  and  brings  the  receiving  chamber  under 
vacuum  again. 

The  cycle  repeats  at  a  rate  determined  by  the  amount 
of  water  accumulating.  More  than  three  discharges  per 
minute  have  been  obtained  with  perfect  action.  The 
disk  requires  no  adjustment  either  before  trap  instal- 
lation or  during  service,  but  may  be  seen  and  reached 


Check  Valve 


Method  of  Draining  Turbine  Through 
Trap  Into  a  Condenser  Above  Turbine 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


907 


while  the  trap  is  in  operation.  The  trap  has  a  very  high 
capacity,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  liquid  passes  through 
no  restricted  passages.  It  is  claimed  that  a  2-in.  trap 
can  handle  from  1,800  to  2,100  gal.  of  water  per  hour. 


A  Single-Phase  Veteran 

Two  2,200-Volt  Single-Phase  Railways  in  Operation  for  the 
Past  Seventeen  Years  Are  Giving  Satisfactory  Service 
in  Glen  Cove  and  Sea  Cliff,  Long  Island 

By  C.  R.  Jones 

Railway  Department,  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing- 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

PROBABLY  the  oldest  street  traction  systems  using 
single-phase  power  are  the  Glen  Cove  and  the 
Nassau  County  Railways  which  have  been  in  opera- 
tion since  1905.  These  two  roads,  which  are  practically 
one,  are  owned  and  operated  by  the  Long  Island  Railroad 
and  serve  the  villages  of  Glen  Cove  and  Sea  Cliff  on 
Long  Island.     They  also  provide  a  connecting  link 


No.  1 — Transformer  station  on  the  Nassau  County  Railway. 
No.  2 — Typical  overhead  construction  on  oldest  single-phase  line. 
No.  3 — Latest  type  of  single-truck  car  for  single-phase  service. 


between  the  stations  of  the  Long  Island  Railroad  and 
the  villages  which  are  on  the  Sound,  as  well  as  between 
the  towns  themselves. 

Located  30  miles  from  New  York,  these  lines  were  far 
beyond  the  electrified  zone,  and  the  railroad  adopted  the 
simple  expedient  of  carrying  a  single-phase  feeder  as 
far  as  Sea  Cliff,  where  two  200-kw.  transformers  were 
installed,  stepping  down  11,000-volt,  25-cycle  current  to 
2,200  volts,  which  is  fed  directly  to  the  trolley  at  that 
point,  no  feeders  being  necessary.  This  transformer 
station  is  without  attendants. 

Some  of  the  details  of  the  catenary  construction  are 
shown  by  the  accompanying  illustrations.  Seven  cars 
are  operated,  of  which  five  are  single  truck,  equipped 
with  two  Westinghouse  No.  108  single-phase  railway 
motors  and  type  224  drum  control.  Two  are  double 
truck,  equipped  with  three  Westinghouse  No.  108  single- 


phase  motors,  and  type  451  drum  control.  A  single- 
phase  sweeper  is  operated  when  necessary  in  the  winter. 
The  car  equipment  includes  an  oil-cooled  transformer 
for  stepping  down  the  trolley  voltage  to  350  volts. 

Maintenance  on  these  lines  is  cared  for  by  a  foreman 
and  one  mechanic  and  the  cost  of  this  has  been  reported 
to  be  less  than  for  direct-current  equipment  in  equiv- 
alent service  on  other  Long  Island  trolley  roads. 

The  road  has  suffered  from  "jitney"  and  private  auto- 
mobile competition  as  have  other  roads  throughout  the 
country.  The  fare  now  charged  is  5  cents  on  the  Nassau 
County  Railway  and  7  cents  on  the  Glen  Cove  Railway, 
the  length  of  these  being  1.8  miles  and  3.5  miles  respec- 
tively. 


Small  Motor  Starter  with  Safety  Features 

ANEW  type  of  motor  starter,  type  WK-30,  which 
provides  protection  to  both  the  operator  and  the 
motor,  has  been  developed  by  the  Westinghouse  Elec- 


No.  4 — Closed  double-truck  car  of  Glen  Cove  Railway. 
No.  5 — Open  double-truck  car  for  single-phase  operation. 
No.  6 — Repair  shop  of  oldest  single-phase  road. 


trie  &  Manufacturing  Company  for  starting  small  a.c. 
motors  by  connecting  them  directly  to  the  line. 

This  starter  consists  essentially  of  an  inclosed  quick- 
make-and-break  knife  switch,  operated  by  an  exterior 
handle.  It  protects  the  motor  from  overloads  both  when 
starting  and  when  running  because  it  is  equipped  with 
thermal  cut-outs  which  open  the  circuit  on  dangerous 
sustained  overloads  but  do  not  operate  under  momen- 
tary overloads.  The  cut-outs  resemble  cartridge  fuses 
but  are  not  interchangeable  with  fuses  so  that  the  lat- 
ter cannot  be  substituted  for  them.  They  operate  by 
fusing  a  special  washer,  which  can  be  replaced  in  a  few 
seconds  time  at  negligible  costs.  All  parts  are  inclosed 
so  that  the  operator  cannot  touch  live  contacts. 

These  starters  are  made  in  sizes  for  alternating-cur- 
rent motors  up  to  3  hp.,  110  volts;  10  hp.,  250  volts, 
and  10  hp.,  600  volts. 


908 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Rough  Machining  Cause  of 
Axle  Failures 

Corrugations  in  Steel  Make  It  Fail  When  Subjected  to 
Service  Jars — Remedy  for  This  Is  to  Grind  Steel 
Parts  to  a  Smooth  Finish 

THE  many  failures  of  railway  car  axles  cannot  be 
accounted  for  only  by  overloads  or  jars,  since  the 
designers  of  the  axles  use  sufficient  factors  of  safety 
to  care  for  these  conditions,  nor  can  failures  be  at- 
tributed to  faulty  materials.  Arthur  Norton  in  an 
article  in  the  Electric  Railway  and  Tramway  Journal 
attributes  many  of  these  failures  to  the  secondary  effect 
of  cracks  caused  by  rough  machining.  All  axles  are 
turned,  but  they  then  should  be  smoothly  ground  over 
the  whole  portion.  A  rough  turned  axle  is  really  a  kind 
of  threaded  bolt,  the  length  and  thickness  of  the  thread 
being  dependent  on  the  cut  and  feed  used  in  the  lathe 
operation.  The  lathe  tool  also  does  not  cut  in  the  sense 
that  a  razor  cuts,  but  the  turning  consists  of  small 
pieces  sheared  one  up  against  the  other.  The  surface 
of  the  turned  axle  then  is  simply  a  sheared  surface 
from  which  small  particles  of  steel  have  been  torn  away. 

Along  the  axle  after  turning  there  occur  periodically 
small  cracks  or  gaps  lying  at  right  angles  to  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  work  has  moved  when  tooled  (in 
lathes)  or  the  tool  has  moved  over  the  work  (in 
shapers).  These  small  gaps  are  caused  by  the  edges  of 
the  tool  pushing  the  layer  of  steel  before  it  until  such 
time  as  the  steel  can  move  no  further  without  breaking. 
When  the  steel,  distorted  by  the  moving  tool,  breaks, 
one  of  the  small  gaps  is  formed  and  this  accounts  for 
the  gaps  being  periodic;  the  size  and  spacing  depend- 
ing on  the  cut  and  the  feed.  On  a  turned  axle  these 
gaps  lie  along  the  axle  and  in  general  across  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  axle  will  be  bent  in  service  and  cannot 
therefore  do  much  harm  unless  they  lie  in  such  a  posi- 
tion as  to  facilitate  fractures  under  working  stresses. 
The  grooves  lie  in  the  direct  line  in  which  fracture  is 
most  likely  to  occur  under  working  stresses. 

These  gaps  and  grooves  in  steel  facilitate  fractures 
very  greatly  and  also,  as  on  an  axle  where  the  load  is 
supplied  at  periodic  times,  these  rough  machine  marks, 
being  closely  adjacent  to  each  other,  affect  one  another 
and  the  consequent  failure  of  an  axle  under  a  compara- 
tively small  stress  may  be  accounted  for  by  such  a  sur- 
face condition.  It  would  appear  from  this  analysis  that 
railway  car  axles,  having  smoothly  ground  surfaces  and 
free  from  sharp  angles  and  accidental  notches  or  dents, 
might  be  durable  even  when  the  steel  used  and  its  condi- 
tion were  nothing  exceptional.  But  in  addition  to 
having  a  smooth  outer  surface  the  axle  should  also  be 
subjected  to  other  tests  which  will  insure  against  acci- 
dents. A  steel  that  would  resist  fracture  in  spite  of  a 
grooved  and  distorted  surface  would  be  advantageous 
and  an  important  object  in  selecting  material  is  to 
minimize  the  evil  effect  of  grooves  and  notches  by  sub- 
jecting a  notched  bar  of  the  material  to  some  sort  of 
test.  An  easily  made  test  and  one  that  is  very  efficient 
is  to  take  a  small  piece  of  the  actual  material,  notch  it, 
place  it  in  a  vise  and  then  bend  it  by  means  of  a  hammer. 
Those  materials  that  are  brittle  break  off  short  soon 
after  the  load  is  great  enough  to  deform  them,  others 
that  are  tough  flow  under  the  load. 

The  objection  to  this  notched  bar  test  alone  is  the 
fact  that  ordinary  carbon  steels  would  be  ruled  out  as 
they  have  a  very  low  notch  bar  test  value.  Alloy  steels, 
on  the  other  hand,  can  be  depended  on  to  give  high 


notch  bar  test  values.  Nickel  steels,  chromium  steels  or 
nickel  chromium  steels  are  suitable  for  railway  axles 
because  of  their  increased  test  value,  but  either  nickel 
or  chromium  or  both  when  added  to  steel  increase  its 
hardness,  particularly  after  oil  quenching,  and  this 
steel  gives  axles  that  are  harder  than  needed  in  the 
service.  Ordinary  carbon  axle  steel,  as  forged  or 
normalized,  has  a  tensile  strength  of  about  36  tons  and 
a  notched  bar  test  value  of  25  ft.  lb. ;  3  per  cent  nickel 
steel,  as  forged  or  normalized,  has  a  tensile  strength  of 
47  tons  and  a  notched  bar  test  value  of  35  ft.  lb.  If, 
however,  the  nickel  steel  is  hardened  and  tempered  the 
tensile  strength  is  about  50  tons  and  the  notched  bar 
test  value  rises  to  60  or  80  ft.  lb. 

The  conclusions  suggest  that  the  physical  properties 
of  greatest  value  in  axle  steel  are  its  tensile  strength 
and  its  notched  bar  value  and  the  heat  treatment  proc- 
esses which  confer  these  properties  are  those  which 
confer  also  high  elastic  limits,  yield  points  and  fatigue 
ranges.  If  such  steels  are  machined  to  minimize  sharp 
angles  or  rough,  distorted  surfaces,  service  reliability 
can  be  assured  to  the  greatest  extent. 


New  Crane  Limit  Switch 

ANEW  crane  safety  limit  switch,  type  LC,  has  been 
put  on  the  market  by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company.  This  switch  is  designed  to 
eliminate  the  undesirable  features  connected  with  the 
operation  of  a  crane  or  hoist  installation,  when  the 

hoist  brake  over- 
travels.  The  normal 
operating  range  of 
the  hoist  is  in- 
creased by  the  use 
of  this  switch  as  it 
permits  the  handling 
of  a  greater  amount 
of  material,  since 
there  is  no  necessity 
of  losing  time  by  ap- 
proaching the  limit 
of  travel  slowly  and 
cautiously.  The  safe- 
ty limit  guards  the 
equipment  irrespec- 
tive of  the  kind  of 
control  or  the  posi- 
tion of  the  controller 
handle  or  brakes. 

Under  normal 
operating  conditions 
the  limit  switch  is 
held  in  the  operating 
position  by  the  coun- 
terweight, as  shown, 
which  overpowers 
the  torsion  operating  springs.  In  case  of  overtravel, 
the  counterweight  is  raised  by  the  hoisting  hook  or 
other  moving  part,  which  permits  a  strong  torsion 
spring  to  operate  the  switch.  This  disconnects  the 
motor  from  the  line  and  establishes  a  closed  dynamic 
braking  circuit.  The  operation  of  the  switch  also 
releases  the  series  magnetic  brake  which  holds  the  load 
until  the  controller  handle  is  moved  to  the  lowering 
position.  As  soon  as  the  hook  has  been  lowered  beyond 
the  limit,  the  switch  is  again  ready  to  function  as  be- 
fore, as  it  resets  itself  automatically. 


Limit    Switch    Held    in  Operating 
Position  By  Means  op  Counter- 
weight 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


909 


New  Light  on  Quenching  Cracks 

OUENCHING  cracks  are  very  prolific  sources  of 
trouble  to  tool  hardeners,  especially  if  the  tools  are 
made  from  high  carbon  steel.  Usually  these  cracks 
have  been  thought  to  be  due  to  high  quenching  tempera- 
ture and  non-uniform  distribution  of  the  temperature 
in  the  part.  An  investigation  at  the  Imperial  Univer- 
sity of  Japan  by  Honda  brings  out  some  other  causes 
which  tend  to  form  quenching  cracks. 

In  all  quenched  steels  a  certain  amount  of  austenite 
is  generally  present  mingled  with  some  martensite,  the 
amount  increasing  as  the  quenching  temperature  in- 
creases, and  in  small  pieces  of  steel  the  periphery  is 
harder  than  the  central  portion  only  when  the  quenching 
is  very  slow.  In  a  moderate  quenching  the  hardness 
is  everywhere  about  equal  and  in  hard  quenching  the 
periphery  is  always  softer  than  the  interior.  This 
phenomenon  is  explained  by  the  presence  of  the  arrested 
austenite  in  martensite. 

The  quenching  cracks  in  small  pieces  of  steel  occur 
when  the  hardness  of  the  central  portion  is  greater  than 
in  the  periphery,  and  the  cause  is  attributed  to  the 
stress  caused  by  the  difference  in  the  specific  volume 
of  austenite  and  martensite,  that  of  the  former  being 
much  smaller  than  that  of  the  latter,  so  that  the  cen- 
tral portion  exerts  a  tangential  tension  on  the  pe- 
riphery causing  cracking  of  the  specimen.  Since  the 
difference  in  specific  volume  increases  as  the  tempera- 
ture decreases,  the  cracking  usually  takes  place  at  room 
temperature.  In  hard  quenching  the  hardness  increases 
with  lapsed  time,  owing  to  the  gradual  transformation 
of  the  arrested  austenite  into  martensite.  In  the  case 
of  a  very  large  piece  of  material,  the  cracking  may  take 
place  in  an  upper  range  and  also  in  the  vicinity  of  room 


Some  of  the  samples  will  be  uncovered  and  examined 
from  time  to  time  to  determine  the  rate  of  corrosion. 

Complete  data  on  the  physical  and  chemical  proper- 
ties of  the  soil  will  be  obtained  and  the  chemical  an- 
alyses of  the  pipe,  their  microstructure  and  complete 
metallurgical  history  will  be  determined.  Extensive 
laboratory  experiments  will  be  conducted  to  determine 
the  effects  of  variations  in  individual  characteristics  of 
both  soils  and  pipe  materials.  Some  tests  of  repre- 
sentative pipe  coatings  will  also  be  undertaken. 

It  is  expected  that  a  great  many  data  as  to  the 
relative  rates  of  corrosion  of  different  kinds  of  pipes  in 
the  soils  under  observation  will  be  obtained  within  two 
or  three  years,  but  the  experiment  will  probably  con- 
tinue over  a  period  of  eight  or  ten  years.  Progress  re- 
ports will  be  published  from  time  to  time  as  develop- 
ments warrant. 


Reclaiming  Controller  Segments 

Cutting  of  Segments  to  Proper  Length  Facilitated  by  Use 
of  a  Cutting-Off  Attachment  to  a  Circular  Saw 
Carriage  and  a  Machine  for  Punching 
the  Segments 

THE  Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company  has 
reduced  the  price  of  making  controller  segments 
from  an  average  of  4  cents  each  to  1.8  cents  by  the 
use  of  two  shop  constructed  machines.  The  first  of 
these  is  a  cutting-off  machine  which  forms  a  part  of  the 
carriage  for  a  circular  saw  and  the  second  is  a  machine 
for  punching  the  segments  which  is  made  to  attach  to  a 
small  power  punch.  The  cutting-off  machine  has  a  re- 
volving head  and  clamp  and  is  laid  off  with  slots  for 
the  various  lengths  of  segments  used.  The  segment  to 
be  cut  is  held  in  the  revolving  head  by  a  clamp  pro- 


At  Left  and  Right,  Cutting-Off  Machine  for  Reclaiming  Controller  Segments. 
In  Center,  Attachment  for  Punching  Segments 


temperature.  The  cracking  at  the  high  temperature  is 
caused  by  the  stress  in  the  structural  difference  be- 
tween the  inner  and  outer  portions — pearlite  and  auste- 
nite— just  below  the  high  temperature  critical  point, 
while  that  at  room  temperature  is  due  to  similar  stress 
occurring,  as  previously  outlined,  because  of  the  differ- 
ence in  specific  volumes  of  austenite  and  martensite. 


Tests  on  Soil  Corrosion 

THE  Bureau  of  Standards  has  recently  undertaken 
an  extensive  investigation  of  the  corrosive  action 
of  soil  on  pipes  used  for  gas  and  water  mains  and  serv- 
ices. In  this  investigation  the  Bureau  of  Standards  has 
the  co-operation  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  the  pipe  manufacturers  and  the 
public  utilities  through  the  research  sub-committee  of 
the  American  Committee  on  Electrolysis.  Forty  loca- 
tions have  been  selected  as  representative  of  the  prin- 
cipal families  of  soils  to  be  found  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  in  them  will  be  buried  a  number  of  samples 
of  every  kind  of  iron  and  steel  pipe  in  commercial  use. 


vided  with  pressure  from  a  spring.  The  other  essential 
parts  of  the  machine  consist  of  a  small  air  cylinder 
which  is  attached  to  the  back  of  the  head  and  a  con- 
trolling valve  on  the  carriage  which  has  an  eccentric  on 
the  stem  so  as  to  control  the  air  admitted  to  and  re- 
leased from  the  cylinder  as  the  carriage  is  moved. 

In  the  cutting  operation  the  carriage  is  thrown  all  the 
way  back  by  the  lever  on  the  side.  This  opens  the 
control  valve  and  allows  air  to  enter  the  back  of  the 
cylinder,  thus  opening  the  clamp.  The  segments  are 
then  put  in  position,  and  as  the  head  is  marked  for  the 
various  lengths  of  segment  used  it  is  readily  seen  just 
how  they  can  be  cut  to  the  best  advantage.  The  car- 
riage is  then  moved  forward  and  this  automatically  lets 
the  air  out  of  the  back  of  the  cylinder  and  the  spring 
clamps  the  segment  so  as  to  hold  it  in  position  in  the 
head.  This  allows  the  head  to  be  swung  around  to  the 
position  necessary  for  cutting  off  the  segments.  A  small 
latch  at  the  bottom  holds  the  head  in  place,  and  as  the 
head  is  moved  forward  the  air  valve  opens,  which  allows 
air  to  enter  the  back  of  the  cylinder,  thus  clamping  the 


910 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


head  tight  to  the  frame  before  the  saw  strikes  the 
segment. 

For  the  remainder  of  the  cutting  operation  the  car- 
riage is  moved  but  a  part  of  the  way  back,  which  re- 
leases the  head  only,  so  that  it  can  be  turned  to  make 
the  rest  of  the  cut.  All  the  cuts  necessary  are  made 
before  taking  the  segment  out  of  the  machine,  and  the 
carriage  is  then  moved  all  the  way  back,  which  releases 
the  segments. 

Another  illustration  shows  a  machine  which  was  con- 
structed for  punching  the  segments.  This  was  made  for 
attachment  to  a  small  power  punch.  The  circle  guide 
has  pin  holes  for  stops  of  the  various  segments.  The 
spring  keeps  the  operator  from  getting  his  fingers 
under  the  punch. 

New  Winch  Truck  for  Detroit 

THE  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  new  4-ton 
truck  purchased  by  the  Department  of  Street 
Railways  for  the  city  of  Detroit.  The  cab  construc- 
tion is  similar  to  that  used  by  the  Public  Lighting 


New  Winch  Truck  for  Detroit 


Commission  and  is  equipped  with  a  Bay  City  type  C 
winch.  Weatherproof  curtains  are  provided  on  the 
sides  and  rear,  arranged  so  that  they  can  be  rolled 
up  and  held  by  straps  when  not  in  use.  The  truck 
has  a  full  equipment  of  tool  boxes,  etc.  Other  equip- 
ment provided  includes  an  odometer,  generator,  storage 
battery,  electric  tail  lamp,  two  electric  headlights, 
mechanical  horn,  radiator  guard,  trailer  attachment, 
tow  hooks  and  skid  chain  hooks. 


Properties  of  Molybdenum  Steel 

THE  scope  and  application  of  molybdenum  steel 
appear  to  be  wider  than  that  of  other  types  of 
alloy  steel.  The  early  uses  of  this  steel  were  for 
tool  and  magnet  steel.  At  that  time  the  ores  of  molyb- 
denum were  considered  to  be  much  scarcer  than  now. 

It  has  been  found  that  the  chief  value  of  the  element 
is  its  indirect  or  intensifying  effect  in  the  more  complex 
steels.  Its  action  in  fractional  percentages  intensifies 
the  excellent  qualities  of  other  important  alloy  steels, 
supplying  in  these  certain  qualities  without  which  they 
are  limited  in  their  application.  Special  steels  in  which 
chromium,  nickel  and  vanadium  play  an  important  part 
are  handicapped  by  the  narrow  limits  of  temperature 
within  which  heat  treatment  is  effective.  Outside  of 
this  small  range  their  high-grade  qualities  are  seriously 
impaired.  For  these  shortcomings  molybdenum  acts 
as  a  corrective  and  greatly  extends  the  range  within 


which  heat  treatment  is  beneficial.  It  considerably  in- 
creases the  tensile  strength  of  carbon  and  nickel  steel. 
In  chromium-nickel  steel,  probably  through  the  forma- 
tion of  double  carbide,  additional  tensile  strength, 
hardness  and  other  beneficial  qualities  are  imparted. 

Twenty-five  thousand  tons  of  this  class  of  steel  have 
been  produced  by  one  company  in  the  United  States 
since  1918  and  no  serious  difficulties  have  been  encoun- 
tered in  any  stage  of  manufacture  or  in  melting,  cast- 
ing, rolling  or  cold  drawing  operations. 

The  outstanding  features  relative  to  the  heat  treat- 
ment of  molybdenum  steel  are  the  extremely  wide 
quenching  temperatures  available  for  practical  heat 
treatment,  the  excellent  penetrative  effect  of  such 
treatment  on  large  sizes,  and  the  broad  drawing  range 
causing  but  slight  modifications  of  physical  properties. 
It  is  claimed  that  molybdenum  steel  can  be  machined 
more  easily  than  other  alloy  steels,  of  equal  physical 
properties. 


Constructing  Acute  Angle  Frogs  by  Welding 

THE  accompanying  illustrations  show  a  frog  con- 
structed by  means  of  Thermit  welding,  which  is  of 
more  than  ordinary  interest  because  of  its  unusual 
acute  angle,  about  18  deg.  This  angle  required  an 
exceptionally  long  weld,  using  approximately  200  lb.  of 
Thermit  or  around  three  times  as  much  metal  for  the 
weld  as  for  a  square  frog  of  the  same  rail  section.  In 
making  this  frog,  two  arms  of  a  curved  9-in.  guard  rail 
were  welded  to  another  straight  9-in.  guard  rail.  As 
shown  in  the  illustration  of  the  completed  job,  the  frog 
was  an  unbroken  main-line  frog,  and  there  was  to  be 
no  flangeway  cut  through  the  surface  of  the  straight 
main-line  rail. 

In  aligning  the  component  pieces  of  rail,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  provide  for  three  different  radii  on  the  curved 
rail,  one  of  which  extended  from  the  end  of  the  shorter 
arm  to  about  5  in.  or  6  in.  beyond  the  other  side  of 
the  frog.   An  extra  long  motor  box  was  necessary.  The 


UrPER  View  Shows  Acute  Angle  Frog  with  Rail  Arms  Lined 
Up  in  Position  Preparatort  to  Welding.    Lowek  View 
Shows  Top  op  Completed  Froo 


weld  was  poured  at  the  acute  angle  apex,  a  separate 
crucible  being  used  at  each  end.  When  the  job  was  in- 
stalled in  the  street  (of  a  large  Eastern  city),  the  frog 
slipped  into  perfect  alignment  with  the  other  rails. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


911 


Self-Corrosion  of  Cast  Iron  and  Other  Metals  in 

Alkaline  Soils* 

The  Authors  Give  Interesting  Results  of  Extensive  Experiments  Made  With  a 
View  to  Obtaining  More  Definite  Information  on  the  Cause  of  the 
Destruction  of  Cast  Iron  Water  Mains  in  Towns 
of  the  Prairie  Provinces 

By  W.  Nelson  Smith!  and  Dr.  J.  W.  Shipley^ 

THIS  information  is  the  result  of 
our  investigation  undertaken  in  the 
interest  of  a  large  public  utility  to  de- 
rive proof  that  a  great  deal  of  the 
destruction  of  city  water  mains  by  ex- 
ternal corrosion  could  not  be  due  to 
electrolysis  from  stray  electric  railway 
currents  in  the  earth.  In  order  to  cor- 
rode a  pipe  a  stray  current  must  be 
flowing  out  of  it  into  the  surrounding 
earth,  and  that  can  only  happen  ad- 
jacent to  a  power  station  or  in  close 
proximity  to  some  other  path  of  lower 
■resistance,  such  as  a  railway  track  or 
an  underground  cable,  which  may  be 
connected  to  the  power  station.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  corroded  water 
pipes  were  either  remote  from  railway 
tracks  or  in  localities  where  current 
would  be  flowing  into  them  and  not  out 
of  them,  and  it  was  believed  that  some 
cause  other  than  stray  current  was 
operating  in  such  localities. 

Cast  iron  pipe  has  been  generally 
thought  to  be  immune  from  corrosion 
except  in  strongly  acid  soils,  but  our 
field  observations  and  chemical  re- 
searches have  convinced  us  that  the 
self-corrosion  of  cast  iron  pipe  in  the 
moist  clay  and  lime  silt  non-acid  soils 
of  the  Red  River  valley  is  an  indisput- 
able fact  and  is  bound  to  happen  any- 
way, whether  stray  current  is  absent  or 
present. 


Electrochemical  Principles 

Every  metal  in  contact  with  water 
tends  to  dissolve  in  the  water,  inde- 
pendently of  any  emf.  impressed  from 
outside.  This  tendency  to  go  into  so- 
lution is  termed  solution  pressure. 
Such  metals  as  sodium,  potassium  and 
magnesium,  the  alkalline  metals,  very 
readily  go  into  solution  and  are  con- 
ceived to  have  a  high  solution  pressure, 
while  gold,  mercury  and  platinum  are 
metals  with  very  low  solution  pres- 
sures. These  solution  pressures  in  fact 
correspond  to  the  positions  of  the  vari- 
ous metals  in  the  so-called  electro- 
chemical series  of  elements,  tabulated 
in  the  text  books. 

Iron  occupies  an  intermediate  posi- 
tion in  the  electrochemical  series,  but 
is  considerably  above  hydrogen,  which 
is  considered  as  a  metal  in  the  serieson 
account  of  its  electrochemical  behavior. 
Iron  has  a  higher  solution  pressure 
than  hydrogen  and  can,  therefore,  dis- 
place it.  Consequently  the  iron  ions 
entering  a  solution  are  able  to  drive 
out  of  solution  any  metallic  ions  oc- 
curring below  it  in  the  electrochemical 
series  or  any  hydrogen  ions.  A  per- 
fectly dry  surface  of  iron  will  not  cor- 
rode even  when  exposed  to  air  or  pure 
oxygen.  It  will  only  corrode  if  mois- 
ture be  present  where  there  is  a  hydro- 
gen ion  to  be  displaced.  Rusting  should 

•Abstract  of  a  paper  presented  at  the 
Western  professional  meeting-  of  the  Engi- 
neering Institute  of  Canada,  Saskatoon, 
Aug.  10,  1921.  A  full  report  of  this  paper 
was  published  in  the  Western  Canadian 
Contractor  and  Builder  for  October,  1921. 

tConsulting  electrical  engineer  Winnipeg 
Electric  Railway. 

^Assistant  professor  of  chemistry,  Uni- 
versity of  Manitoba. 


therefore  be  conceived,  fundamentally, 
not  as  an  attack  of  oxygen,  but  as  a 
retreat  of  hydrogen. 

According  to  the  electrochemical  con- 
ception, when  an  atom  of  metal  passes 
into  solution  it  assumes  a  positive 
charge  of  electricity  and  leaves  the 
metallic  mass  from  which  it  is  sepa- 
rated negatively  charged.  Metallic  ions 
and  hydrogen  are  therefore  conceived 
of  as  having  positive  charges  and 
traveling  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
electric  current.  The  OH  ions  and  the 
acid  radical  ions  have  negative  charges 
and  travel  against  the  current.  This  is 
true  whether  the  act  of  going  into  so- 
lution generates  the  electric  current  as 
in  a  primary  battery  or  whether  the 
liquid  solution  is  decomposed  and  its 
elements  driven  out  of  solution  by  an 
impressed  electric  current.  The  elec- 
trochemical mechanism  is,  therefore, 
somewhat  analagous  to  the  reversible 
property  of  an  electric  current  on  a 
wire  in  a  magnetic  field,  in  which  the 
current  produces  motion,  or  the  motion 
can  produce  current. 

The  Soils  of  the  Winnipeg  District 

The  soils  of  the  Winnipeg  district 
are  lacustrine  and  alluvial  silt  and  clay 
overlying  glacial  till.  They  are  very 
rich  in  lime  and  are  the  result  of 
glacial  pulverizing  action,  which  was 
very  efficient,  causing  the  soil  particles 
to  be  very  finely  divided.  This  fine  divi- 
sion exposes  the  maximum  of  surface  to 
the  solvent  action  of  the  ground  waters, 
and  consequently  the  soluble  and 
commonly  called  "alkaline  salts"  present 
in  the  original  limestone  have  been 
leached  out  and  concentrated  in  local 
areas,  giving  rise  to  the  alkaline  nature 
of  our  surface  soils.  The  redistribution 
of  these  soluble  salts  is  little  under- 
stood, but  the  prairie  areas  adjacent  to 
Winnipeg  have  a  very  high  concentra- 
tion of  these  salts  in  the  surface  layers 
of  the  soil,  so  great,  in  fact,  that  they 
everywhere  approximate  the  toxicity 
limit  for  plant  growth.  In  the  presence 
of  water,  the  soils  are  of  very  low  elec- 
trical resistance. 

The  salt  content  of  the  ground 
waters  is  very  largely  sulphates  and 
chlorides  of  calcium  and  magnesium, 
the  sulphates  predominating.  Aggre- 
gations of  crystals  of  calcium  sulphate 
and  magnesium  sulphate  frequently 
occur  in  a  layer  about  4  ft.  beneath  the 
surface.  This  layer  is  several  inches 
thick  and  is  highly  calcareous.  It  has 
been  observed  at  many  widely  sepa- 
rated excavations  where  water  mains 
had  failed  and  studied  in  detail  at  the 
large  excavation  made  for  Eton's  re- 
cently built  warehouse  on  Donald  Street. 
When  this  layer  is  dug  through  in  plac- 
ing a  pipe  line  the  earth  used  in  back- 
filling the  trench  naturally  contains 
these  salts  and  they  come  in  contact 
with  the  pipe,  creating  the  possibility 
for  galvanic  action.  These  salts  are 
even  more  frequently  met  with  at  lower 
levels,  10  ft.  or  12  ft.  below  the  sur- 
face, in  the  clays  immediately  un- 
der the  pulverized  limestone  layers. 
They  have  crystallized  out  along  the 
bedding  planes  and   in  the  irregular 


vertical  breaks  in  the  horizontal  layers 
of  clay.  Very  frequently  they  oceunv 
as  aggregations  of  crystals,  the  snS 
Th*  tlme.fifilled  by  the  roots  of  ftvH 
The  significance  of  these  saline  de 
posits  hes  in  their  location  respecting 
the   water  mains.     In   the   W  nninef 

ft.  to  12  ft.  below  the  surface  and  have 

within  aTnt1^  °,bSerVed  in  contact  or 
within  a  few  inches  of  the  pipe  as  it 

had  failSffr'  WhGre  thG  -atefmain 
naa  tailed  from  corrosion 

These   deposits   of   salts   form  the 

reservoir    from    which    the  ground 

waters  receive  their  saline  load  The 

more  soluble  chlorides  have  not  been 

found  in  crystal  aggregates,  nor  are  th" 

SHS'ates.80  y  diStributed  as 

Preliminary  Examinations  op  Soils 

eXamlnfaSeffir-Sl.thingS  done  to 
examine  about  eighteen  samples  of  soil 
from  various  parts  of  the  city  mostly 
from  excavations  around  water  p^es 
Some  were  taken  from  the  mfddle  of 
the  business  district  and  some  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  city.  Of  the  eighteen 
samples  nine  were  from  places  where 

and  of  tt^-  C°rrded  to  destruction! 
and  of  these  nine  two  were  from  areas 
where  pipes  were  thought  to  have  blen 
generally  electrically  positive  to  the 
earth  three  from  where  they  must  at 

rjfow  bGen  negative  to  the  earth 
and  four  from  areas  where  the  polarity 

Stfve^O?  £  haVG  b6en  ne^tive  as 
positive.  Of  the  remaining  nine  sam- 
ples  seven  were  from   places  where 

serfo'uJlv  bt6en  ribly  COr.roded  but  not 
seriously,  two  from  positive  and  five 

the  electric  railway  zone,  while  two 
more  were  taken  from  excavations 
where  pipes  had  never  been  laid!  Some 
were  from  positive  and  some  from 
negative  areas. 

These  first  proximate  analyses  were 
made  by  eaching  a  little  of  the  soil 
sample  with  distilled  water,  filtering 
and  testing  the  clear  filtrate  for  the 
dissolved  chlorides  and  sulphates.  The 
sulphate  radical  was  found  in  every 
single  sample  indicating  its  universal 
distribution  throughout  the  soil  of  the 
city.  c 

jt  is  very  significant,  indeed,  that 
wherever  a  cast  iron  pipe  had  been  cor- 
roded to  destruction,  whether  near  an 
electric  railway  power  station  or  a  mile 

£wW°  lS iaTli  fr<?m  it(  the  soluble  sul- 
phates of  both  calcium  and  magnesium 
were  inyariably  found  in  the  soil  close 
to  the  pipe. 

Sometimes  these  salts  were  so  ob- 
served in  crystal  form,  actually  in  con- 
tact with  the  pipe.  The  presence  of 
salt  crystals  in  contact  with  the  pine 
can  only  mean  that  the  ground  water 
m  contact  with  the  pipe  was  actually 
a  concentrated  salt  solution. 

The  experiments  made  afford  suf- 
ficient proof  that  the  soils  in  the  city 
ot  Winnipeg  will  corrode  cast  iron  pipe 
on  their  own  account,  if  given  water 
enough  and  time  enough. 

From  the  foregoing  experimental 
study  the  following  conclusions  were 
drawn: 

1.  The  corrosion  of  cast  iron  by  soil 
salts  individually  and  collectively  is 
readily  accomplished  under  natural 
conditions  without  access  of  stray  cur- 
rent and  is  of  the  graphitic  pitting 
nature  by  which  is  meant  the  com- 
monly observed  condition  of  the  material 
remaining  in  place,  which  is  invariably 
of  a  soft  spongy  texture,  with  part  of 


912 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


the  iron  dissolved  out,  the  remainder 
resembling  graphite  in  texture  and 
softness,  hence  the  term  "graphitic." 

2.  Magnesium  salts  are  the  most  cor- 
rosive of  the  soil  salts,  and  magnesium 
sulphate,  which  was  found  wherever  a 
cast  iron  pipe  had  been  destroyed,  is 
apparently  the  most  effective  of  the 
salts  experimented  with. 

3.  Local  action  induced  by  naturally 
occurring  concentration  cells  may 
easily  be  a  factor  in  the  pitting  of  cast 
iron  exposed  to  salts  of  varying  con- 
centration. 

4.  Slight  pitting  corrosion  was  found 
in  pieces  of  cast  iron  exposed  to  the 
action  of  small  samples  of  wet  soil  and 
intermittently  heated,  even  in  the  short 
period  of  forty  days,  and  with  only  a 
limited  supply  of  water  as  compared 
with  conditions  in  the  ground,  without 
any  impressed  emf.  being  present. 

Phosphate  and  Sulphide  in 
Corrosion  Products 

Although  it  seems  a  comparatively 
simple  matter  to  account  for  the 
fundamental  chemical  reactions  that 
result  in  the  formation  first  of  the  fer- 
rous and  then  of  the  ferric  hydroxides, 
we  have  found  other  corrosion  products 
of  such  a  strange  character  as  to  make 
it  evident  that  the  corrosion  process  in 
the  soils  considered  may  be  quite  com- 
plex. 

In  some  of  the  graphitic  spongy  resi- 
due in  the  pits  of  corroded  pipes  we 
have  found  ferrous  phosphate  incor- 
porated with  the  other  material,  being 
noticeable  by  reason  of  its  light  bluish 
green  color.  Sometimes  small  lumps 
of  it  could  be  lifted  out  of  the  pipe 
pits  as  a  filling  can  be  lifted  out  of  the 
cavity  of  a  tooth.  A  partial  analysis 
of  one  sample  showed  18  per  cent  of 
ferrous  phosphate,  20  per  cent  of 
metallic  iron  and  42  per  cent  of  carbon 
and  silica.  Evidently  it  did  not  occur 
in  the  original  iron,  but  was  formed  in 
the  corrosion  products  along  with  the 
hydroxides.  It  has  sometimes  been  re- 
ported as  a  deposit  in  buried  bones, 
but  not  as  a  product  of  stray  current 
electrolysis.  Why  ferrous  phosphate 
should  occur  in  a  corroded  cast  iron 
water  main  is  a  riddle  that  has  yet  to 
be  solved. 

Along  with  other  corrosion  products, 
iron  sulphide  was  found  to  be  nearly 
always  present  both  in  the  pit  and  in 
the  scale,  from  pipes  not  only  within 
the  city  but  several  miles  outside  the 
electric  railway  area.  A  number  of  ex- 
periments were  made  with  cast  iron 
and  soil  samples  in  glass  bottles  to  try 
to  determine  whether  the  sulphide 
was  the  result  of  self-corrosion  or  of 
stray  current  corrosion.  Sulphide  was 
found  to  be  present  in  both  cases, 
showing  that  it  is  not  peculiarly  a 
product  of  stray  current  electrolysis. 
The  sulphur  required  for  its  formation 
seems  to  come  chiefly  from  the  free 
sulphur  mixed  in  with  the  original  cast 
iron,  but  it  is  also  possible  that  the 
electrochemical  reactions  cause  the  re- 
duction of  the  sulphates  in  the  soil  to 
sulphides.  If  it  is  an  eletrochemical 
process  it  can  happen  as  easily  with 
galvanic  as  with  stray  currents.  Sul- 
phides are  found  in  pipe  pits  and  scale 
on  the  inside  of  water  pipes  as  well  as 
outside.  We  have  found  sulphides  in 
chips  of  wood  and  clay  taken  from  the 
butts  of  electric  light  poles  recently 
taken  out  of  the  ground,  and  it  is  sus- 
pected that  the  presence  of  sulphur 
forming  bacteria  may  have  something 


to  do  with  the  formation  of  sulphides, 
wherever  found.  We  are  not  aware 
that  either  the  phosphate  or  the  sul- 
phide of  iron  have  been  previously  re- 
ported by  other  investigators  of  the 
corrosion  of  cast  iron  pipe. 

The  Moisture  Content  and  the 
Electrical  Resistance  of  Soil 

The  moisture  content  of  the  samples 
of  soil  collected  in  this  investigation 
varied  considerably.  The  electrical 
conductivity  of  the  soils  is  a  function  of 
the  moisture  content  as  well  as  of  the 
salt  content,  and  it  was  deemed  desir- 
able to  measure  the  electrical  resist- 
ance and  determine  the  moisture  con- 
tent of  about  fifty  samples  taken  from 
various  places. 

Eighteen  of  the  samples  were  taken 
directly  from  off  water  pipes  and  the 
average  moisture  content  was  28.75  per 
cent,  the  range  being  from  about  20  per 
cent  to  35  per  cent.  The  resistance  of 
these  same  eighteen  samples  averaged 
570  ohms  per  cu.cm.,  which  is  a  very 
low  average  rating  of  soil  resistance. 
One  was  as  low  as  206  ohms,  while 
another  was  1,085  ohms,  the  difference 
in  these  two  instances  being  probably 
due  more  to  difference  in  the  salt  con- 
tent than  the  moisture  content  of  the 
samples. 

The  moisture  content  varies  indeter- 
minately with  depth.  Sometimes  the 
dried  soil  is  above,  sometimes  below, 
and  there  is  no  way  of  foretelling  what 
the  order  will  be  at  any  one  spot.  The 
character  of  the  soil  varies  at  different 
levels  and  the  capacity  for  holding 
moisture  varies  with  the  character  of 
the  soil.  Clay  soils  are  well  known  to 
be  most  tenacious  of  water. 

One  sample  of  soil  was  taken  from 
around  a  gas  pipe  in  a  limy  silt  soil  at 
Edmonton  and  St.  Mary's  Street,  Win- 
nipeg. This  pipe  was  about  4  ft.  down. 
The  moisture  content  was  only  4.5  per 
cent  and  the  resistance  was  1,965  ohms 
per  cu.cm.,  or  about  three  and  one-half 
times  the  average  resistance  of  the 
eighteen  samples  taken  from  the  water 
pipes.  This  fact  is  of  particular  inter- 
est also,  because  the  soil  around  this 
gas  pipe  was  comparatively  dry,  while 
in  samples  taken  2  or  3  ft.  directly 
above  and  below,  the  moisture  content 
was  three  or  four  times  as  great  and 
the  electrical  resistance  less  than  one- 
half  that  of  the  soil  directly  around 
the  pipe. 

Soil  Action  on  Lead  and  Copper 

Lead  and  copper  are  also  affected 
by  self -corrosion  in  these  same  soils, 
but  our  researches  have  not  continued 
long  enough  to  submit  much  informa- 
tion. A  lead  water  service  pipe  in  the 
Selkirk  Mental  Hospital  grounds  was 
found  to  be  corroded  and  the  evidence 
of  decayed  manure  in  the  original  back- 
filling of  the  pipe  trench  led  us  to 
suspect  that  nitrates  may  have  has- 
tened corrosion,  the  other  soil  salts 
being  much  the  same  as  in  the  case  of 
the  corroded  cast  iron  pipe. 

To  briefly  review  one  experiment,  a 
small  new  lead  plate  was  buried  in  con- 
tact with  a  clay  soil  and  some  black 
surface  soil  in  a  sealed  glass  container, 
with  plenty  of  moisture  present,  and 
when  removed  at  the  end  of  four  and 
one-half  months  was  found  to  be  pitted 
with  little  cavities  about  as  big  as  pin 
heads,  which  were  filled  with  white  pel- 
lets of  crystallized  lead  sulphate.  No 
heat  was  applied  during  the  experi- 
ment. 


A  copper  ground  plate  buried  below 
the  basement  floor  of  the  Manitoba 
<  Government  Telephone  Exchange  in  St. 
Boniface  corroded  in  eighteen  months 
or  less  after  installation.  We  were 
given  to  understand  by  the  telephone 
people  that  it  would  not  be  possible  for 
any  stray  current  to  be  leaking  out 
into  the  earth  from  the  telephone  sys- 
tem through  this  ground  plate.  We 
subsequently  immersed  some  thin 
sheets  of  copper  in  neutral  solutions  of 
the  alkaline  salts  above  mentioned  and 
observed  evidence  of  chemical  attack 
within  twenty-four  hours,  by  the  for- 
mation in  the  solution  of  insoluble 
greenish  compounds  of  copper. 


Workmen's  Compensation 

Procedure  Adopted  in  New  York  on 
July  1  Is  Described  by  the  Director 
of  the  Bureau 

IN  AN  address  delivered  before 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Interna- 
tional Association  of  Industrial  Accident 
Boards  and  Commissions  at  Chicago, 
Sept.  19-23,  Stanley  L.  Otis,  director 
of  the  Bureau  of  Workmen's  Compen- 
sation, New  York  State  Department  of 
Labor,  described  the  present  procedure 
of  the  bureau.  This  method  was 
adopted  on  July  1  of  this  year.  The 
work  of  the  bureau  is  divided  into  five 
districts,  the  offices  being  located  in 
New  York,  Albany,  Syracuse,  Roches- 
ter and  Buffalo.  The  claim  procedure, 
which  is  practically  the  same  in  each 
district,  is  as  follows: 

The  injured  employee  is  required  to 
file  with  the  industrial  commissioner 
an  employee's  first  report  of  injury, 
and  employers  are  required  to  keep 
copies  of  these  reports  on  hand  for 
the  use  of  their  employees.  Employers 
must  file  promptly  and  within  ten  days 
an  employer's  first  report  of  injury 
covering  all  accidents  causing  loss  of 
time  or  necessitating  medical  attention 
with  the  industrial  commissioner  and, 
if  filed  through  the  insurance  carrier, 
the  original  is  to  be  forwarded  to  the 
bureau.  Immediately  upon  the  filing 
of  the  employer's  first  report  the  in- 
jured employee  is  sent  a  copy  of  form 
C-3,  which  is  the  employee's  claim  for 
compensation,  together  with  instruc- 
tions for  the  preservation  of  his  rights. 
An  employer's  supplementary  report  of 
injury  is  to  be  filed  before  or  not  later 
than  fourteen  days  if  the  employer's 
first  report  does  not  show  the  time  the 
injured  employee  returned  to  work. 
Where  the  disability  resulting  from  an 
accident  terminates  and  the  injured 
workman  returns  to  work  and  subse- 
quently is  disabled  as  the  result  of  the 
original  injury  an  employer's  supple- 
mentary report  of  subsequent  disability 
is  to  be  filed. 

The  first  payment  of  compensation 
becomes  due  on  the  twenty-first  day  of 
disability,  and  on  that  date  or  within 
four  days  thereafter  the  compensation 
due  is  to  be  paid.  This  payment  acts 
as  a  waiver  of  the  reporting  of  the 
accident  by  the  employee  and  his  filing 
of  a  claim  for  compensation.  When  the 
employer  or  insurance  carrier  suspends 
the  payment  of  compensation  notice 
must  be  sent  in  duplicate  to  the  indus- 
trial commissioner.  If  the  employer  or 
insurance  carrier  intends  to  controvert 
the  right  to  compensation  he  shall 
either  on  or  before  the  twenty-fifth  day 
of  disability  file  a  notice  in  duplicate 
with  the  industrial  commissioner  that 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


913 


compensation  is  not  being  paid  and  in- 
dicating in  such  notice  the  reason  for 
such  non-payment. 

After  the  claims  have  been  prepared 
by  the  claims  division  and  its  examiners 
the  notices  of  hearings  are  sent  to  all 
interested  parties.  The  notice  states 
that  "if  no  objection  is  made  either  in 
writing  or  by  person  on  or  before  the 
date  mentioned  claim  will  be  closed," 
and  this  action  is  taken  without  preju- 
dice if  the  claimant  does  not  appear  on 
the  day  of  the  hearing  or  if  he  has  not 
written  the  bureau  in  the  meantime. 
In  case  there  is  some  question  in  dis- 


pute it  is  expected  that  the  claimant 
and  the  employer  will  be  present,  to- 
gether with  the  examiner,  so  that  the 
differences  can  be  adjusted  and  the  case 
closed. 

As  the  new  system  only  went  into 
effect  on  July  1  it  is  too  early  to  have 
figures  at  all  reliable  as  to  results. 
However,  it  is  expected  that  at  least 
70  per  cent  of  the  cases  can  be  closed 
without  a  hearing  and  that  the  differ- 
ences arising  in  20  per  cent  of  the  cases 
can  be  satisfactorily  adjusted,  leaving 
only  10  per  cent  of  the  cases  to  revert 
to  the  referee's  testimony  calendar. 


American  Committee  on  Electrolysis  Reports 

Complete  Compendium  of  Present-Day  Knowledge  and  Best  Practice  Is  Principal 
Characteristic  of  1921  Report  of  This  Committee 


THE  American  Committee  on  Elec- 
trolysis has  just  issued  its  1921 
report,  superseding  its  preliminary  re- 
port of  1916,  in  book  form.  It  is  pri- 
marily a  marshaling  of  the  general 
and  specific  knowledge  regarding:  the 
causes  of  electrolysis  and  methods  of 
electrolysis  mitigation,  and  in  no  way 
attempts  to  lay  down  specific  recom- 
mendations as  to  best  methods  of  pre- 
venting or  mitigating  electrolysis 
troubles. 

The  following  statement,  taken  from 
the  preface  of  the  report,  is  important 
as  indicating  the  opinion  of  the  com- 
mittee regarding  its  report:  "A  report 
is  herewith  submitted  which  embodies 
such  statements  of  facts  and  descrip- 
tions and  discussions  of  methods  of 
electrolysis  testing  and  of  electrolysis 
mitigation  as  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee have  unanimously  agreed  upon. 

"While  this  report  supersedes  the 
preliminary  report  of  1916,  it  should 
be  considered  as  in  the  nature  of  a 
progress  report  and  not  as  final,  as  it 
is  impossible  at  the  present  time  to 
finally  answer  many  of  the  outstand- 
ing questions  involved.  Also,  it  is  to 
be  understood  that  the  report  is  con- 
fined to  the  technical  and  engineering 
aspects  of  the  subject  and  does  not 
attempt  to  deal  with  matters  of  policy 
or  with  legal  questions,  such  as  the 
rights  and  responsibilities  of  the  sev- 
eral interests  concerned. 

"At  times  great  differences  of  opin- 
ion between  members  of  the  committee 
have  arisen,  but  the  subject  differed 
upon  has  been  patiently  discussed  at 
sub-committee  meetings,  and  in  some 
cases  tests  have  been  made  and  a 
final  discussion  held  on  the  subject  by 
the  main  committee  until  unanimity  of 
opinion  existed.  The  results  as  thus 
determined  are  herein  recorded." 

From  one  angle,  the  book  or  report 
might  be  regarded  as  a  complete  text 
of  electrolysis  and  in  a  way  is  so  pre- 
sented, and  arranged.  A  good  ground 
work  of  principles  and  definitions  of 
terms  is  placed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  report. 

More  than  one-third  of  the  204  pages 
of  the  book  are  devoted  to  discussion  of 
the  design,  construction,  operation  and 
maintenance  of  railways  and  of  under- 
ground structures  affected  by  electroly- 
sis and  to  a  discussion  of  measures  in- 
volving the  interconnection  of  affected 
structures  and  railways,  ending  with  a 
summary  of  good  practice  as  analyzed 
by  the  committee.  Early  in  this  chap- 
ter, the  committee  states:  "The  prac- 
tical electrolysis  problem  is  due  to 
stray  current  from  electric  railways. 
Instances  of  stray  direct  current  from 


other  sources  sometimes  occur,  but  such 
cases  are  not  specifically  considered  in 
this  report." 

The  committee  makes  this  recom- 
mendation : 

"Prior  to  the  consideration  of  meas- 
ures of  electrolysis  mitigation,  the  fol- 
lowing features  should  be  given  due 
attention: 

1.  Measures  tending  both  to  railway 
economy  and  the  reduction  of  stray 
current. 

(a)  The  return  system,  including 
track  bonding,  should  be  put  in  proper 
condition. 

(b)  The  number  of  substations 
should  be  made  a  maximum  consistent 
with  railway  economy. 

2.  Measures  employed  solely  for 
electrolysis  prevention.  Where  neces- 
sary to  effect  a  still  further  reduction 
in  electrolysis  below  that  provided  by 
the  most  economic  railway  system,  one 
or  more  of  the  following  measures 
should  be  taken: 

(a)  Applicable  to  l-ailways.  (1) 
Additional  substations.  (2)  Insulated 
feeders.  (3)  A  modified  system  of 
power  distribution,  such  as  a  three- 
wire  system. 

(b)  Applicable  to  affected  struc- 
tures. (1)  Insulating  joints  in  pipes 
and  cables.  (2)  Insulated  coverings 
for  pipes. 

(c)  Interconnection  of  affected 
structures  and  railway  return  circuits. 
(1)  Electrical  drainage  of  cable 
sheaths.  (2)  Electrical  drainage  of 
pipes." 

In  the  summary  of  good  practice, 
some  comment  favorable  or  unfavorable 
is  based  upon  most  of  the  methods  of 
electrolysis  mitigation  which  have  been 
attempted.  It  is  interesting,  in  this 
connection,  to  remember  that  this  re- 
port is  one  which  represents  a  unanim- 
ity of  opinion. 

The  other  chapter  headings  in  the 
book  are:  "Electrolysis  Surveys," 
"European  Practice,"  and  "Electrolysis 
Research." 

Under  the  first  of  these  headings, 
there  is  an  excellent  portrayal  of  the 
whole  question  of  electrolysis  surveys, 
their  purpose,  scope,  possibilities,  inter- 
pretation, as  well  as  the  instruments 
available  for  making  them. 

European  Practice  Reviewed 

The  practice  among  the  European 
countries  which  have  made  any  study 
of  electrolysis  is  analyzed  and  summa- 
rized thus: 

"In  Europe,  the  effectiveness  of  the 
co-operative  or  regulatory  measures 
applied  to  the  electrolysis  problem  may 
be  summarized  as  follows: 


"Germany,  through  voluntary  co- 
operation, has  probably  remedied  the 
former  dangerous  electrolysis  condi- 
tions for  all  of  its  important  systems. 
The  instrumentality  of  agreements  on 
definite  technical  standards  was  sought 
in  preference  to  legislation. 

"France  has  not  been  as  successful 
in  bringing  prompt  results  through 
legislation  as  has  Germany  through 
technical  co-operation. 

"England,  which  has  had  govern- 
ment regulation  for  many  years,  has 
now  no  electrolysis  troubles  or  disputes. 

"Italy  will  probably  give  more  con- 
sideration to  the  subject  of  electrolysis 
whenever  the  general  conditions  will 
permit. 

"The  methods  followed  to  attain  the 

satisfactory  results  obtained  abroad 
are  these: 

1.  Maintenance  of  good  bonding. 

2.  Elimination  of  intentional  con- 
tacts and  liberal  separation  wherever 
possible,  of  pipes  and  rails. 

3.  Avoidance  of  bare  copper  returns 
and  use  of  insulated  returns  in  all  in- 
stallations where  the  conductivity  of 
the  rail  alone  would  give  a  too  great 
maximum  drop. 

4.  Use  of  insulated  return  feeders 
with  balancing  resistances,  or  to  a 
lesser  extent  "boosters"  for  the  pur- 
pose of  maintaining  equality  of  rail 
potential  at  the  feeding  point  of  all 
feeders. 

5.  Small  feeder  drops  and  frequent 
substations  to  give  close  line  regula- 
tion." 

As  to  research,  the  committee's  prin- 
cipal point  is  that  there  must  be  a  de- 
velopment of  practical  means  for 
measuring  current  density  across  con- 
tact surfaces  of  pipes  and  earth,  and 
for  the  determination  of  polarity  of 
structures  and  adjacent  earth.  (In 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  Nov.  5,  p. 
809,  Burton  McCollum,  a  member  of  the 
committee,  outlined  a  new  method  of 
earth  current  measurement  and  de- 
scribed a  new  instrument  which  will 
probably  form  the  basis  for  much  of 
the  research  work  on  electrolysis  in  the 
future.)  The  committee  also  outlined 
certain  researches  which  should  be  car- 
ried out  in  order  to  make  it  possible  to 
reach  more  nearly  definite  conclusions 
with  reference  to  the  best  practice  to 
follow,  under  various  conditions,  in 
electrolysis  mitigation  work. 

The  committee  making  this  report  is 
a  joint  committee  of  nine  organizations, 
each  organization  having  three  mem- 
bers on  the  committee.  Those  organi- 
zations represented  and  contributing 
to  the  support  of  the  committee's  work 
are  American  Institute  of  Electrical 
Engineers,  American  Electric  Railway 
Association,  American  Railway  Engi- 
neering Association,  National  Electric 
Light  Association,  American  Gas  Asso- 
ciation, Natural  Gas  Association  of 
America,  American  Telephone  &  Tele- 
graph Co.,  American  Water  Works  As- 
sociation and  the  National  Bureau  of 
Standards. 

The  report  may  be  obtained  from  any 
one  of  these  associations,  although  the 
handling  of  it  is  by  the  American  In- 
stitute of  Electrical  Engineers,  from 
whose  representatives  the  chairman, 
Bion  J.  Arnold,  is  chosen.  The  address 
is  33  W.  Thirty-ninth  Street,  New 
York.  A  nominal  charge  of  $1  covers 
cost  of  distribution,  but  this  charge  is 
not  at  all  intended  to  be  or  to  represent 
the  cost  of  the  book,  whose  publication 
has  been  financed  by  the  supporting- 
organizations. 


914 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Electric  Railway  Lubrication* 

The  Author  Enumerates  the  Principal  Uses  for  Oil  in  Electric  Railway  Equip- 
ment and  Describes  Precautions  That  Should  Be  Taken 
To  Insure  Satisfactory  Operation 

By  Dean  Treat 

Lubrication  Engineer  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Indiana 


THE  lubricating  engineer's  duty  is 
to  reduce  friction  by  proper  oil 
and  its  proper  application.  A  great 
deal  of  the  success  secured  in  the  re- 
duction of  oil  costs  can  be  traced  to 
the  use  of  a  cost  system,  whereby  com- 
parisons are  made  from  month  to 
month  of  lubricants  and  bearing  metal. 
These  two  items  go  hand  in  hand  as 
too  little  oil  means  excessive  bearing 
costs  and  too  liberal  oiling  means  a 
rise  in  the  cost  of  lubricants.  The 
plotting  of  curves  or  comparative  fig- 
ures month  by  month  by  heads  of  de- 
partments furnishes  the  key  to  reduc- 
tion in  the  costs  or  to  changes  in  meth- 
ods of  oiling  whereby  good  results  can 
be  obtained. 

The  average  cost  per  thousand  car- 
miles  generally  is  about  25  cents,  but 
if  costs  are  lower  than  this  average 
figure  the  management  should  not  be 
entirely  satisfied.  Comparisons  should 
be  made  monthly  on  bearing  metals 
and  lubricants  in  order  to  have  reliable 
data.  Each  railway  property  has  its 
own  problems  to  work  out  and  no  rules 
can  be  devised  for  lubrication  except- 
ing in  a  general  way. 

Armature  speed  varies  from  zero  to 
1,500  r.p.m.  and  the  bearings  can  be 
classed  as  medium  speed  bearings. 
The  older  type  motors  were  grease 
lubricated,  but  at  the  present  time  this 
class  is  rapidly  disappearing.  Before 
the  grease  was  warmed  up  sufficiently 
to  flow  and  give  the  necessary  film  to 
keep  metal  from  metal,  particles  of 
bearings  were  being  removed  and  the 
life  of  bearings  was  from  3,000  to 
5,000  car-miles.  It  was  also  necessary 
in  hot  weather  to  grease  them  daily 
and  sometimes  oftener.  Operators  fre- 
quently attempted  to  change  these 
grease  bearings  to  oil  by  substituting 
waste  and  oil.  Due  to  the  size  of  the 
slot  in  the  bearing  it  was  not  usually 
successful,  due  to  insufficient  area  of 
contact  with  the  waste.  In  some  cases 
manufacturers  have  substituted  new 
motor  frames  with  modern  waste  and 
oil  lubrication  and  good  results  have 
been  obtained.  The  use  of  felt  on  old 
type  motor  axles  with  waste  packed  on 
top  gave  fairly  good  results,  but  oil 
poured  on  top  of  the  waste  made  it 
soggy  and  the  oil  fed  as  rapidly  while 
the  car  was  standing  as  in  motion. 

Modern  bearings  for  armatures  are 
of  the  solid  sleeve  type,  ball  or  roller 
bearings.  Sleeve  type  bearings  on 
modern  motors  are  solid,  the  pinion 
end  being  larger  than  the  opposite  one 
due  to  its  needing  greater  strength. 
They  may  be  of  hard  metal  lined  with 
babbitt,  or  solid  bronze  or  babbitt. 

Semi-modern  motors  used  the  split 
type  bearings  employing  either  bronze 
or  hard  metal  lined  with  babbitt.  The 
keying  of  the  above  was  secured  with 
dowel  pins  and  holes  and  frequently 
a  key  in  addition.  The  modern  type 
use  dowels  in  the  flange  or  shoulder. 
It  is  very  necessary  to  prevent  move- 
ment of  the  bearings  in  order  to  secure 
long  life,  as  movement  changes  the 
bearing  pressure  area. 

•Abstract  of  a  paper  presented  at  the  first 
annual  convention  of  the  American  Society 
of  Lubrication  Engineers,  held  at  Chicago, 
111.,  Oct.  12-13,  1921. 


Clearances  between  axles  and  bear- 
ings vary  from  .006  minimum  to  .016 
maximum  on  diameters  3i  in.  to  7  in. 
Successful  lubrication  requires  clear- 
ance so  that  the  lubricating  film  can 
be  maintained  so  as  to  prevent  seizing 
or  rapid  wear  of  bearing  metal. 

Axle  bearings  are  always  of  the  split 
type  to  allow  interchanging  and  to  pre- 
vent excessive  labor  as  the  solid  type 
would  make  it  necessary  to  remove  the 
gear  and  wheel  in  order  to  renew  or 
replace  a  bearing.  These  bearings  need 
special  attention  as  loose  bearings  al- 
low poor  meshing  of  gear  and  pinion 
teeth  and  frequently  form  a  new  pitch 
line.  If  kept  closely  fitted  long  life  is 
secured  and  they  are  not  worn  to  knife 
edges  so  rapidly.  Electric  current 
causes  a  great  deal  of  trouble  at  this 
point  and  aids  in  breaking  down  the 
oil  film.  Axle  collars  that  become  loose 
cause  a  great  deal  of  trouble  on  both 
gear  and  pinion  and  also  affect  the  life 
of  axle  bearings. 

Journal  bearings  need  attention  at 
the  box  cover,  dust  collar  and  the  guard. 
Dust  and  water  entering  cause  a  great 
deal  of  trouble,  water  especially,  as 
it  floats  the  oil  and  prevents  syphoning 
of  oil.  It  is  very  necessary  that  jour- 
nal bearing  edges  do  not  touch  the 
journal  as  they  act  as  a  scraper  and 
wipe  away  the  oil  film.  Probably  more 
hot  boxes  occur  from  this  source  than 
any  other.  Worn  pedestals  and  boxes 
allow  jamming  of  journal  bearings  and 
should  not  be  allowed  to  exist.  With 
welding  machines  as  now  produced  this 
condition  can  be  easily  prevented  by 
building  up  and  grinding  to  original 
size. 

Gear  and  Trolley  Lubrication 

Grease  or  heavy  pitch  like  oils  are 
used  in  gear  cases.  With  tight  gear 
cases  heavy  gear  oils  are  used,  allow- 
ing only  a  small  portion  of  the  gear 
to  dip  into  the  oil  in  the  bottom  of  the 
gear  pan.  Some  operators  prefer  a 
grease  entirely  and  cord  and  wood  chips 
have  been  used  to  deaden  the  noise. 
The  addition  of  too  much  fiber  increases 
the  power  consumption,  similar  to  the 
use  of  asphaltums  that  congeal  at  low 
temperatures. 

Air  compressor  lubrication  depends 
considerably  upon  the  fit  of  piston  and 
rings  on  the  cylinders.  These  parts 
should  be  kept  in  proper  fit  in  order 
to  permit  the  use  of  lighter  oils.  Try- 
ing to  overcome  mechanical  defects  with 
lubricants  is  not  good  practice.  Hori- 
zontal lubrication  is  apt  to  be  over- 
done, and  guides  to  prevent  too  much 
drip  of  the  splash  system  recently  em- 
ployed are  very  successful.  Herring- 
bone gears  are  rapidly  supplanting 
chain  compressor  drive.  Churning  of 
oil  by  the  gears  due  to  too  high  a  level 
is  being  taken  care  of  on  modern  com- 
pressors by  a  trough  that  controls  the 
dip  into  the  oil.  Air  brake  cylinders 
should  be  overhauled  and  cleaned  every 
six  months  and  lubricated  by  use  of  a 
good  grade  of  semi-fluid  grease,  espe- 
cially on  the  leathers. 

Trolley  wheel  lubrication  is  secured 
by  grease  on  some  and  oil  on  others. 

Some  types  of  wheels  are  equipped 
with  graphite  bushings  in  which  the 


manufacturers  claim  that  no  lubrica- 
tion is  necessary.  Generally  railway 
operators  oil  these  regardless  of  the 
graphite  bushing  in  order  to  increase 
their  life. 

Too  high  a  tension  on  the  trolley  pole 
caused  by  poor  trolley  bases  affects  the 
lubrication  of  the  wheels  inasmuch  as 
the  bearing  pressure  is  increased  above 
normal.  In  the  use  of  ball  and  roller 
bearing  bases  it  has  been  possible  to 
increase  the  life  of  the  trolley  wheel 
due  to  their  free  movement  and  the 
lubrication  is  much  more  satisfactory 
than  with  the  old  type  bases. 

The  life  of  trolley  wheels  depends 
greatly  upon  the  service  to  which  they 
are  subjected,  viz.,  the  amount  of  cur- 
rent that  flows  through  the  wheel.  The 
higher  the  amperage  the  greater  the 
heat,  which  makes  more  necessary  good 
conductivity  for  this  current  from  the 
wheel  into  the  trolley  pole.  Inasmuch 
as  there  is  an  oil  film  between  the 
wheel  and  the  spindle  this  is  rather  a 
serious  proposition.  The  use  of  graph- 
ite greases  is  much  more  satisfactory 
in  conducting  this  current  than  straight 
oil  or  ordinary  greases,  as  the  cur- 
rent passes  more  freely  through  the 
graphite  grease. 

Track  Curve  Oiling  Prevents  Wear 

Track  or  curve  oiling  is  done  to  pre- 
vent cutting  of  the  rail  or  flanges  of 
the  wheels.  This  is  done  with  a  grease 
or  asphaltum  lubricant,  the  latter  gain- 
ing in  use  due  to  its  adhesiveness.  Too 
liberal  a  quantity  applied  usually  causes 
the  top  of  the  rail  to  be  coated,  which, 
in  turn,  causes  danger  of  sliding  of 
wheels  and  accidents. 

Two  general  classes  of  babbitt  metal 
are  used  for  armature,  axle  and  journal. 
Sentiment  appears  to  be  in  favor  of 
high  tin  base  metal  for  armatures  and 
lead  base  for  axles  and  journals.  Some 
railways  are  going  to  bronze  bearings 
throughout,  using  a  skin  of  babbitt, 
while  others  are  using  the  straight 
bronze  bearings. 

Long  fiber  wool  yarn  waste  is  most 
generally  used  for  armature  and  axle 
bearings,  but  cotton  waste  is  growing 
in  favor  for  journal  bearings.  Some 
use  metal  turnings  in  the  cotton  waste 
to  give  it  elasticity.  A  great  many 
companies  use  straight  wool  waste 
throughout,  using  the  new  on  armature 
and  axle  bearings  and  used  waste  on 
journals. 

Waste  saturation  is  an  item  of  great 
importance,  and  waste  should  be  sub- 
merged in  oil  for  forty-eight  hours  and 
then  drained  for  twenty-four  hours. 
An  oil  room  should  be  provided  and  the 
temperature  should  not  be  lower  than 
75  deg.  F.  Oil  should  never  be  poured 
on  waste  in  a  bearing,  but  alongside  of 
it  to  prevent  the  waste  from  becoming 
soggy.  On  the  modern  type  motors  oil 
wells  eliminate  this  trouble.  Oilers 
should  not  forget  to  loosen  up  the 
waste  packing  at  least  once  a  month 
and  renew  it  at  least  each  six  months. 
Waste  washing  and  reclaiming  is  gain- 
ing in  favor  with  larger  companies  and 
is  worth  consideration,  depending  upon 
waste  loss  and  cost  of  installation. 

All  lubrication  should  be  done  on  a 
car  mileage  basis  instead  of  by  days 
operation.  If  railway  managers  would 
appoint  men  thoroughly  to  follow  up 
their  lubrication,  bearing  practice  and 
cost  system  a  great  reduction  in  cost 
would  be  secured.  Too  little  attention 
is  given  the  lubricants  and  bearing 
metal  and  to  the  application  of  them. 
This  condition  should  be  changed  as 
high  friction  means  higher  costs. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


915 


Waste  in  Industry 


Preliminary  Movement  Toward  Reduction  of  Waste  in  Industry  Reflected  in 
Report  of  Committee  Now  Published  in  Book  Form 


THE  report  of  the  committee  on 
elimination  of  waste  in  industry 
should  have  a  concrete  effect  in  focus- 
ing attention  of  engineers  and  other 
leaders  in  industry  upon  the  subject 
of  the  inefficiencies  of  the  nation's 
'industrial  machine.  Preliminary  and 
partial  indications  of  the  scope  of  this 
report  and  some  of  its  conclusions  have 
been  given  from  time  to  time  in  these 
columns  as  work  progressed.  The  pub- 
lication of  the  final  and  complete 
report  in  book  form  should  do  much  to 
stimulate  interest  and  encourage  study 
of  the  problems  which  it  attacks  and 
of  some  of  the  facts  or  indications 
■which  it  outlines. 

This  report,  it  will  be  recalled,  con- 
stitutes the  first  piece  of  public  service 
undertaken  by  the  Federated  American 
Engineering  Societies,  which  came  into 
being  exactly  a  year  ago  today. 
Herbert  Hoover,  in  his  address  at  the 
opening  meeting  when  he  was  elected 
president,  pointed  to  the  existing  re- 
strictions and  waste  in  industry  and 
suggested  the  investigation  of  this 
subject  as  being  the  most  worth-while 
contribution  the  new  organization 
could  make  at  that  time.  Acting  upon 
authority  from  the  American  Engineer- 
ing Council,  the  governing  body  of 
the  Federated  American  Engineering 
Societies,  he  appointed  a  committee  of 
seventeen  in  January  of  this  year,  who 
reported  to  the  meeting  of  the  Council 
on  June  3,  the  present  final  report 
being  the  completed  form. 

In  introducing  the  report  in  its  final 
form,  Herbert  Hoover  presents  the 
following  foreword: 

"This  reconnaissance  report  on  waste 
in  industry  is  the  result  of  five  months 
of  intensive  study,  carefully  planned 
and  rapidly  executed.  A  part  of  its 
value  lies  in  the  speed  with  which  the 
work  has  been  done  and  the  prompt- 
ness with  which  it  presents  definite 
lines  for  future  action.  It  reveals  facts 
which  may  serve  as  a  foundation  for 
an  advance  in  American  industry.  It 
has  a  special  message  for  government 
officials,  financial,  industrial  and  com- 
mercial leaders,  labor  organizations, 
economists,  engineers  and  research 
groups,  the  public  and  the  press. 

"We  have  probably  the  highest  in- 
genuity and  efficiency  in  the  opera- 
tion of  our  industries  of  any  nation. 
Yet  our  industrial  machine  is  far  from 
perfect.  The  waste  of  unemployment 
during  depression;  from  speculation 
and  over-production  in  booms;  from 
labor  turnover;  from  labor  conflicts; 
from  intermittent  failure  of  transpor- 
tation of  supplies  of  fuel  and  power; 
from  excessive  seasonal  operation; 
from  lack  of  standardization;  from  loss 
in  our  processes  and  materials — all 
combine  to  present  a  huge  reduction 
from  the  goods  and  services  that  we 
might  all  enjoy  if  we  could  do  a  better 
job  of  it." 

It  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  ac- 
curate or  definite  conclusions  can  be 
drawn  from  this  report.  While  it  is, 
in  nature,  an  engineering  report,  it 
is  an  engineering  report  in  a  field  in 
which  other  elements  than  engineering 
are  present.  Its  value  lies  in  trying 
to  apply  the  engineering  method  of 
analysis  to  a  subject  which  has  con- 
founded most  economists  and  industrial 
students  in  their  attempts  to  find  a 


definite  solution.  Perhaps  the  chief 
criticism  which  can  be  directed  toward 
the  present  report  is  that  it  falls  into 
the  more  or  less  easy  and  common 
phraseology  of  the  economist  and  indus- 
trial student  with  reference  to  those 
conclusions  which  it  does  try  to  make 
rather  than  retaining  the  engineering 
method  of  analysis  and  conclusion 
without  the  least  variation. 

It  is  only  fair  to  point  out,  however, 
that  this  problem  has  successfully  re- 
sisted all  other  methods  of  attempted 
solution  and  if  the  engineers  have  made 
any  progress  in  analyzing  it  and  por- 
traying methods  of  attack,  they  have 
to  that  extent  made  a  noteworthy  con- 
tribution. 

Actually  the  report  is  based  upon  an 
"assay"  of  six  industries  of  the 
country;  namely,  the  building  industry, 
men's  clothing  manufacturing,  shoe 
manufacturing,  printing,  metal  trades 
and  textile  manufacturing.  To  this  is 
appended  general  reports  on  the 
following  subjects:  Unemployment, 
strikes  and  lock-outs,  legal  machinery 
for  adjusting  disputes,  industrial  acci- 
dents, health  of  industrial  workers, 
eye  conservation  and  purchasing  and 
sales  policies.  While  the  details  of  the 
six  assays  are  of  particular  value  only 
to  those  and  related  industries,  it  is  an 
advantage  to  have  these  general 
replorts  collected  and  it  is  also  of 
value  to  see  how  the  investigation  has 
been  made  in  other  industries. 

For  example,  Chapter  4  is  devoted  to 
the  method  of  assay  which  was  used 
by  the  committee  in  its  investigation 
of  the  various  industries.  Any  other 
industry  can  learn  much  as  to  the  ad- 
vantageous methods  of  analysis  of  its 
lost  motion  by  a  study  of  this  method 
of  assay,  which  includes  a  description 
of  the  questionnaire  and  valuation 
sheet  used  by  the  committee. 

The  report  has  been  published  by  the 
McGraw-Hill  Book  Company  as  a  409- 
page,  6x9  cloth-bound  book.  The 
societies  are  placing  a  nominal  charge 
of  $4  for  the  book,  the  preparation  of 
the  text  having  been  financed  by  the 
societies. 


G.  T.  Seely,  vice-president  and  gen- 
eral manager,  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Elec- 
tric Company,  Youngstown,  Ohio,  chair- 
man; Harry  Reid,  Indianapolis,  Ind., 
H.  C.  De  Camp,  Dayton,  Ohio;  Pierre 
V.  C.  See,  Akron,  Ohio;  E.  B.  Gunn, 
Wapakoneta,  Ohio;  G.  D.  Nicoll,  Spring- 
field, Ohio;  and  Adolph  Schlesinger,  In- 
dianapolis, Ind. 

The  members  appointed  to  the  exec- 
utive boards  of  the  four  local  sections 
are  as  follows: 

Northern  Section:  E.  B.  Gunn,  super- 
intendent and  master  mechanic,  Western 
Ohio  Railway,  Wapakoneta,  Ohio,  •  di- 
rector; W.  E.  Richards,  Toledo,  Ohio; 
H.  W.  Savage,  Detroit,  Mich.;  R.  C. 
Taylor,  Albion,  Mich;  J.  R.  Lawrence, 
Wauseon,  Ohio;  A.  V.  Brown,  Sandusky, 
Ohio;  and  Allen  Karns,  Bowling  Green, 
Ohio. 

Western  Section:  Adolph  Schlesinger, 
superintendent  of  distribution  and  sub- 
stations Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis  & 
Eastern  Traction  Company,  Indianapo- 
lis, Ind.;  director,  T.  H.  David,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind;  R.  N.  Heming,  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.;  Frank  H.  Miller,  Louisville,  Ky.; 
L.  A.  Mitchell,  Anderson,  Ind.;  T.  W. 
Osborne,  Lebanon,  Ind;  and  Charles 
Sigler,  Warsaw,  Ind. 

Eastern  Section:  P.  V.  C.  See,  super- 
intendent of  equipment  Northern  Ohio 
Traction  &  Light  Company,  Akron, 
Ohio,  director;  A.  B.  Creelman,  Youngs- 
town, Ohio;  Lawrence  D.  Bale,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio;  Guy  H.  Kelsay,  Elyria, 
Ohio;  C.  H.  Folwell,  Parkersburg,  W. 
Va.;  H.  J.  Mayer,  New  Brighton,  Pa.; 
and  R.  D.  Miller,  Alliance,  Ohio. 

Southern  Section:  G.  D.  Nicoll, 
superintendent  of  equipment  Ohio  Elec- 
tric Railway,  Springfield,  Ohio,  director. 
The  names  of  the  other  six  members  of 
the  executive  board  of  this  section  have 
not  yet  been  made  available. 


Personnel  of  C.  E.  R.  A. 
Engineering  Council 

FOLLOWING  approval  by  the  exec- 
utive committee  of  the  plans  tenta- 
tively adopted  at  the  summer  conven- 
tion of  the  Central  Electric  Railway 
Association  for  a  subsidiary  organiza- 
tion which  would  give  the  engineers  of 
the  territory  greater  activity  and  a  bet- 
ter opportunity  to  interchange  expe- 
rience and  ideas,  the  personnel  of  the 
organization  has  been  selected.  As 
pointed  out  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  Oct.  15,  page  699,  the  or- 
ganization consists  of  an  engineering 
council  which  also  comprises  four  geo- 
graphic sections.  It  is  provided  that  the 
second  vice-president  of  the  association 
shall  be  chairman  of  the  council  and 
that  two  other  members  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  shall  be  members.  The 
other  four  members  are  to  be  the  di- 
rectors of  the  four  local  sections,  which 
are  each  to  meet  three  times  a  year 
with  one  joint  meeting  at  the  time  of 
the  annual  convention  of  the  associa- 
tion. Given  in  that  order  the  members 
of  the  engineering  council  are: 


American 
Association  News 


Mid-Year  Dinner  Committee 

PRESIDENT  TODD  has  appointed 
the  following  as  the  special  dinner 
committee  for  the  mid-year  confer- 
ence: Harry  Reid,  Indianapolis,  chair- 
man; S.  W.  Greenland,  Fort  Wayne; 
L.  E.  Gould,  Chicago;  Myles  B.  Lam- 
bert, East  Pittsburgh,  and  E.  C.  Faber, 
New  York. 


Committee  Activities  Under  Way 

ALREADY   the    committees    of  the 
.  American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation are  picking  up  their  activities. 

The  Executive  Committee  is  scheduled 
to  hold  its  next  regular  meeting  in  In- 
dianapolis on  Dec.  2,  at  10  a.m.,  in  the 
office  of  President  R.  I.  Todd. 

A  meeting  of  the  papers  committee 
has  been  called  by  Chairman  C.  D.  Em- 
mons to  meet  at  Association  headquar- 
ters on  Nov.  25,  at  10  a.m. 

The  publicity  committee  has  been 
called  by  Chairman  J.  N.  Shannahan 
to  meet  at  Association  headquarters  on 
Nov.  26,  at  10  a.m. 

The  membership  committee,  which 
has  a  large  program  ahead  of  it,  has 
been  called  by  its  chairman,  F.  R. 
Coates,  to  meet  in  Indianapolis  on  the 
afternoon  of  Dec.  2,  after  the  meeting 
of  the  executive  committee. 


916 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  21 


Recent  Happenings  in  Great  Britain 

Expiration  of  Term  of  War-Time  Control  Over  Buses  Creates  Problems 
for  Tramways — Leeds  Reports  Deficit 

( Front  Our  Regular  Correspondent) 

The  most  important  subject  discussed  at  the  annual  conference  of  the  Municipal 
Tramway  Association,  which  was  held  in  Salford,  Manchester,  on  Sept.  28  and 
29,  was  the  question  of  possible  unlimited  competition  by  privately  owned 
motor  omnibuses  with  municipal  tramways.  Hitherto  municipalities  have  had 
a  certain  amount  of  control  over  the  running  of  buses  by  other  people,  but  an 
act  of  Parliament  which  gave  them  expired  with  the  recent  official  termination 
of  war.    The  matter  will  now  be  regulated  under  the  roads  act  of  1920. 


JB.  HAMILTON,  general  manager 
of  Leeds  City  Tramways,  who 
•brought  forward  the  subject,  quoted 
the  opinion  of  a  legal  authority  as  to 
the  effect  of  the  act.  It  was  that  when- 
ever application  is  made  for  a  license 
for  an  omnibus  to  ply  for  hire,  unless 
there  are  valid  reasons  for  refusing  it, 
the  application  must  be  granted.  The 
licensing  authority  would  not  be  justi- 
fied in  refusing  a  license  merely  on  the 
ground  that  running  of  vehicles  would 
set  up  competition  with  tramways  or 
omnibuses  of  local  authority.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mr.  Hamilton  pointed  out 
that  should  licensing  authority  be  of 
opinion  that  sufficient  services  are 
already  provided,  they  may  refuse  to 
license,  but  the  applicant  has  the  right 
to  appeal  to  the  Minister  of  Transport. 
The  latter  might  say  that:  If  a  road 
was  already  sufficiently  served,  pro- 
posed buses  were  unnecessary,  but  he 
might  take  the  opposite  view. 

This  was  the  difficulty  and  uncer- 
tainty before  the  conference.  Tram- 
ways, it  was  insisted,  form  a  monopoly 
granted  by  Parliament  under  proper 
safeguards  and  conditions,  and  they 
cost  great  sums  to  construct.  It  was, 
therefore,  contended  that  they,  should 
not  be  subjected  to  the  competition  of 
vehicles  which  were  under  no  regula- 
tion. If  buses  were  needed  on  routes 
where  there  were  no  tramways,  they 
should  be  run  by  the  local  authority. 
In  the  end  the  conference  adopted  a 
resolution  declaring  that  the  roads  act 
encourages  wasteful  and  overlapping 
competition  which  will  result  in  in- 
creased traveling  charges  to  the  public 
and  is  contrary  to  the  intentions  of 
Parliament.  It  was  further  agreed  that 
representations  be  at  once  made  to  the 
Ministry  of  Transport  urging  statutory 
regulation  in  the  public  interest. 

J.  M.  McElroy,  general  manager  of 
Manchester  Tramways,  presented  a 
paper  showing  the  growth  of  traffic 
in  recent  years  and  the  important  fact 
that  the  percentage  increase  in  the 
average  fare  per  passenger  was  a  long 
way  below  the  percentage  increase  in 
operation  costs.  A  suggestion  was 
made  that  the  shilling  should  be  deci- 
malized, so  as  to  give  a  coin  of  slightly 
higher  value  than  the  present  penny. 
The  high  cost  of  permanent  way  con- 
struction would,  unless  materially 
reduced,  put  strict  limits  to  tramway 
extensions  and  must  lead  to  the  in- 
creased use  of  motor  bus  and  the  trolley 
bus. 

A  plea  for  freeing  tramway  under- 
takings from  a  large  part  of  the  cost  of 
maintaining  the  street  surface  between 
the  rails  was  made  by  W.  Chamberlain, 
general  manager  of  Oldham  Tramways. 
The  grievance  is  an  old  one,  but  it  is 
becoming  more  and  more  acute  owing  to 
the  increasing  wear  of  the  streets  by 
heavy  automobiles.  At  the  close  of 
the  conference,  Alderman  R.  Mayne, 
deputy  Lord  Mayor  of  Newcastle-on- 


Tyne  and  chairman  of  the  Newcastle 
Tramways  Committee,  was  elected 
president  of  the  association  for  the  en- 
suing year,  and  J.  Timpsor,  Mayor  of 
Portsmouth,  was  elected  vice-president. 

The  Ministry  of  Transport  is  evi- 
dently alive  to  the  grievance  of  tram- 
way authorities  over  the  question  of 
maintenance  of  road  surfaces.  Sir 
Henry  Maybury,  director-general  of  the 
roads  department  of  Ministry,  address- 
ing a  meeting  of  the  Commercial  Motor 
Users'  Association  early  in  October, 
said  that  a  matter  which  must  soon 
engage  the  attention  of  his  department 
was  the  burden  on  tramways  for  road 
maintenance.  He  suggested  that  tram- 
way authorities  go  to  Parliament  for 
relief,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that 
if  they  were  relieved  of  road  mainte- 
nance they  should  pay  for  the  use  of 
the  road. 

Nothing  Like  This  in  America 

A  peculiar  tramway  trouble  is 
reported  by  Mr.  Dalrymple,  the  man- 
ager at  Glasgow.  There  is  a  shop- 
keepers' half  holiday  every  Tuesday, 
and  the  public  houses,  like  other  shops, 
are  closed  in  the  afternoon  and  evening. 
In  the  districts  outside  the  city  bound- 
ary, however,  the  licensed  premises  are 
open  on  Tuesdays.  A  result  is  that 
during  part  of  the  evening  cars  going 
to  the  country  districts  are  besieged  by 
people  seeking  drink.  They  return 
later  on,  a  great  proportion  of  them 
intoxicated.  Not  only  do  they  fill  cars 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  ordinary  pass- 
engers, but  they  often  behave  in  a  dis- 
orderly manner.  The  conductors  and 
inspectors  accordingly  have  a  bad  time. 
The  fundamental  remedy,  so  far  as  the 
tramways  are  concerned,  would  be  to 
have  the  Glasgow  "saloons"  open  in- 
stead of  closed.  To  arrange  for  the 
rural  public  houses  being  closed  on 
Tuesdays  would  be  difficult,  as  various 
local  authorities  are  concerned.  I  have 
not  heard  of  any  similar  trouble  in 
England.  In  London,  at  all  events, 
nothing  of  the  sort  occurs  because  the 
public  houses  are  not  closed  on  the 
shopkeepers'  half  holiday. 

The  Leeds  City  Tramways,  which 
used  to  be  a  prosperous  concern,  is  not 
doing  well.  A  return  for  twenty-two 
weeks  ended  Aug.  31  last  shows  a  deficit 
of  £36,634,  or  2.335d.  per  car-mile  run. 
For  the  corresponding  period  of  last 
year  the  loss  was  £1,863,  or  104d.  per 
car-mile.  The  income  has  decreased 
and  the  expenditure  has  increased. 
Both  passengers  and  miles  run  show 
a  falling  off.  The  circumstances  are 
not  very  favorable  for  celebrating  a 
jubilee,  but  the  undertaking  completed 
fifty  years  of  existence  on  Sept.  16.  In 
the  early  days  horse  cars  were  used; 
these  were  succeeded  by  steam  cars; 
the  first  electric  line  was  opened  in 
1891. 

In  1894  the  Leeds  Town  Council  pur- 
chased  the   private   undertaking  and 


proceeded  to  electrify  the  various  lines. 
Figures  just  issued  show  that  the 
total  cost  of  running  the  rail-less  elec- 
tric cars  of  York  Town  Council,  includ- 
ing capital  charges,  amounts  to  Is.  7d. 
per  car-mile.  For  electricity,  solid 
rubber  tires  and  wages  alone  the  ex- 
pense is  lljd.  per  car-mile  run.  The 
consumption  of  energy  is  1.42  units  per 
car-mile  and  the  price  at  which  it  is 
purchased  is  2d.  per  unit.  The  cars, 
are  single-deckers,  seating  twenty-four 
passengers,  and  are  worked  on  the  one- 
man  principle.  This  is  the  most  recent 
installation  of  trackless  trolley  system 
in  the  country. 

The  Metropolitan  Railway,  the  Metro- 
politan District  Railway  and  the  Lon- 
don Electric  Railway  early  in  October 
put  into  operation  improved  services. 
Longer  trains  are  run  during  the  busy 
hours,  the  services  are  continued  later 
at  night,  and  the  non-stop  trains  have 
been  increased  in  number.  To  a  certain 
extent  the  changes  are  restorations  of 
service  reduced  about  a  year  ago.  The 
new  development  has  been  facilitated 
by  the  delivery  of  new  cars,  which  were 
described  in  this  journal  some  months 
ago. 

The  geological  adviser  to  the  Channel 
Tunnel  Company  recently1  stated  that 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the 
government  is  now  generally  favorable 
to  the  scheme.  Revised  plans  have  been 
prepared  under  which  the  tunnel  will  be 
placed  at  such  a  depth  as  to  render  it 
invulnerable  to  submarine  attacks.  The 
jiroposal  for  a  railway  tunnel  under  the 
Strait  of  Dover  to  connect  England 
with  France  has  been  before  the  public 
for  many  years,  but  military  consider- 
ations have  prevented  the  work  from 
being  carried  out.  The  scheme  if 
executed  will  involve  a  large  installa- 
tion of  electric  traction.  The  new  rela- 
tions which  have  grown  up  between 
Britain  and  France  may  result  in  the 
tunnel  being  constructed. 

A  strike  of  Salford  tramway  em- 
ployees, which  lasted  for  only  a  few 
days  and  ended  on  Sept.  17,  is  worth 
noting  because  of  peculiar  reason  for 
it.  A  number  of  inspectors  and  traffic 
clerks  withdrew  their  membership  in 
the  United  Vehicle  Workers'  Union  in 
order  to  join  the  National  Association 
of  Local  Government  Officers.  The 
union  objected  and  its  tramway  mem- 
bers in  Salford  went  on  strike.  A  settle-: 
ment  for  the  time  at  least  was  arrived 
at  by  referring  the  matter  to  the  con- 
sideration of  a  negotiating  committee. 

The  Bradford  Town  Council  intends 
to  apply  for  Parliamentary  powers  next 
session  to  carry  goods  up  to  the  weight 
of  20  tons  on  the  tramways  of  the  city. 
The  street  gradients  are  very  heavy, 
rendering  street  transportation  of 
goods  by  horse  or  automobile  vehicles 
difficult,  and  it  is  thought  the  situation 
may  be  eased  by  utilizing  the  tramways 
for  freight  work. 

Sir  Philip  Dawson,  the  well-known 
consulting  electrical  engineer,  has  been 
elected  member  of  Parliament  for  West 
Lewisham.  He  had  a  large  majority 
of  votes  over  his  two  opponents. 

The  fifth  international  commercial 
motor  exhibition,  organized  by  the  So- 
ciety of  Motor  Manufacturers  & 
Traders,  is  being  held  in  London  from 
Oct.  14  to  22.  The  exhibits  include  a 
wide  variety  of  petrol,  electric  and 
steam  road  vehicles  for  passenger  and 
goods  transport.  Motor  omnibuses  and 
motor  coaches  are  represented,  some 
with  pneumatic  instead  of  solid  rubber 
tires. 


News  of  the  Ele&ric  Railways 


FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 


PERSONAL  MENTION 


New  Orleans  Negotiations 
Halted 

Settlement    There    Apparently  Must 
Await  End  of  Controversy  Be- 
tween City  and  State 

Another  hitch  has  been  encountered 
in  working  out  a  settlement  of  the 
utility  problem  in  New  Orleans.  As  the 
matter  was  being  thrashed  out  by  the 
city  and  the  representatives  of  the  sev- 
eral classes  of  the  security  holders  with 
a  reasonable  degree  of  hope  that  some 
amicable  solution  would  be  found,  a  sud- 
den and  unexpected  jolt  was  given  the 
negotiations  by  the  State  Supreme 
Court.  The  new  cause  of  delay  is  due 
to  the  opinion  handed  down  by  the 
court  of  last  resort  on  Nov.  12,  recall- 
ing a  prohibition  writ  issued  last  sum- 
mer, granting  the  city  a  stay  of  pro- 
ceedings against  a  restraining  order 
given  to  the  State  in  the  Civil  District 
Court,  by  Judge  King. 

The  restraining  order  of  the  Civil 
District  Court,  it  will  be  recalled,  was 
based  upon  the  contention  of  the  State 
of  Louisiana,  through  Assistant-Gen- 
eral Hall,  since  deceased,  that  on  in- 
formation received,  the  city  was  about 
to  enter  into  a  compact  whereby  the 
railway  was  to  charge  fares  in  excess 
of  5  cents.  This  the  state  contended  was 
in  violation  of  the  franchise  rights  the 
railway  had  obtained  from  the  State. 
It  was  further  averred  that  the  city  con- 
templated allowing  an  excessive  rate 
of  return  upon  an  excessive  valuation  of 
the  property  of  the  railway. 

The  recall  of  the  writ  will  now  have 
the  effect  of  reopening  the  proceedings 
de  novo  upon  the  application  of  the 
State  that  the  city  was  without  legal 
authority  to  enter  into  negotiations  with 
the  railway  not  in  keeping  with  the 
franchises  of  the  railway. 

Mr.  Hall,  in  behalf  of  the  State,  in 
his  petition  in  opposition  to  the  applica- 
tion of  the  city  for  a  writ  of  prohibi- 
tion, alleged  that: 

1.  The  city  had  an  adequate  remedy  by 
an  appeal  from  any  order  or  decree  that 
the  Civil  District  Court  might  eventually 
render  in  the  case. 

2.  The  city  did  not,  in  the  lower  court, 
plead  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  or 
move  to  have  the  order  of  that  court 
rescinded  and  did  not  except  to  the  pro- 
ceeding's in  any  way. 

3.  The  lower  court  had  jurisdiction  of 
the  case  and  Judge  King  did  not  exceed  his 
jurisdiction  in  issuing  the  restraining  order. 

The  opinion  handed  down  on  Nov.  12 
upheld  Mr.  Hall's  contention  concern- 
ing the  lower  court's  jurisdiction.  The 
opinion  declared: 

The  city's  contention  that  the  court  has 
no  jurisdiction  seems  to  rest  upon  the  idea 
the  purpose  and  object  of  the  suit,  and  the 
function  of  the  temporary  restraining  order, 
was  to  interfere,  generally,  with  the  legis- 
lative power  and  function  of  the  municipal 
council. 

On  the  contrary,  an  analysis  of  the  prayer 
for  injunction  shows  that  the  true  and  only 
object  was  to  prevent  the  municipal  council 
from  contracting,  with  regard  to  the  street 
railway  franchises,  beyond  what  the  state 
alleges  is  the  limit  of  municipal  authority. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  the  State  is  the 
author  of  the  municipality's  authority  to 
take  such  contracts.  If  the  Civil  District 
Court  eventually  should  decide  the  state  is 
not  entitled  to  the  relief  prayed  for,  it  will 
be,  not  for  want  of  jurisdiction  over  the 


subject  matter,  but  for  want  of  a  cause  or 
right   of  action. 

If  the  Civil  District  Court  should  con- 
clude the  contemplation  proceedings  of  the 
municipal  council,  of  which  the  state  com- 
plains, are  matters  over  which  the  munic- 
ipal council,  as  a  legislative  body,  has 
exclusive  authority,  the  court  will  not  in- 
terfere. But  the  judgment  of  the  courts, 
in  determining  whether  the  proceedings 
contemplated  by  the  municipal  council  has 
exclusive  authority,  would  be  an  exercise  of 
jurisdiction  on  the  part  of  the  court. 

This  suit  was  not  an  attempt  at  unlaw- 
ful interference  with  the  right  of  the 
municipal  council  to  bring  the  railway 
problem  to  a  settlement,  if  possible,  and,  to 
that  end,  to  hold  conference  with  the  com- 
mittees and  organizations  referred  to. 

The  restraining  order  complained  of,  or 
the  injunction  prayed  for,  could  not  have 
prevented  or  interfered  with  such  con- 
ferences or  proceedings,  so  long  as  they 
did  not  result  in  a  contract  beyond  what 
the  state  alleged  was  the  limit  of  the 
commissioners'  authority. 

Whatever  the  decision  in  the  District 
Court,  it  is  not  improbable  that  an  ap- 
peal will  be  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  by  either  party  to  the  contro- 
versy. 

Two  points  in  the  pending  negotia- 
tions which  yet  await  settlement  and 
which  were  being  discussed  when  the 
Supreme  Court  hurled  its  bomb  among 
the  conferees  were  the  so-called  "set- 
up" and  the  dividends  of  common  stock. 

The  financial  set  up  of  the  reorgan- 
ized company  contemplates  the  crea- 
tion of  a  reserve  fund  with  which  to 
retire  the  4i  per  cent  bonds,  under  cer- 
tain stipulated  conditions,  for  replace- 
ments and  betterments.  This  move- 
ment has  developed  a  three  cornered 
deadlock  as  yet  untangled.  The  pro- 
posed reserve  fund  amounted  to  $200,- 
000,  which  was  to  be  divided  equally 
for  improvements  and  retirements  of 
the  bonds.  This  fund  was  to  have  been 
created  before  the  declaration  of  any 
dividends  on  the  common  stock  of  the 
company. 

G.  M.  Dahl,  representing  the  junior 
security  holders,  is  said  to  have  been 
strongly  opposed  to  this  course,  though 
the  representative  of  the  holders  of 
the  4|  per  cent  bonds  held  out  for  such 
a  safeguard  to  their  interests  and  were 
supported  by  the  city  in  insisting  that 
such  a  provision  should  be  inserted  in 
the  compromise  agreement. 

The  representatives  of  the  security 
holders  have  left  for  New  York  and, 
like  the  Commission  Council  of  New 
Orleans,  will  await  the  end  of  the  legal 
tangle  in  which  the  city  and  the  railway 
company  now  find  themselves. 


Maximum  Award  for  213 
Trainmen 

According  to  a  count  completed  on 
Nov.  1,  1,921  employees  of  the  Los 
Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  out  of  2,163 
will  receive  a  cash  bonus  at  Christmas 
as  a  reward  for  efficient  service  rendered 
the  public  and  the  company. 

Two  Bells,  the  official  publication  of 
the  railway,  states  that  only  182  train- 
men now  in  service  will  not  participate 
in  the  bonus,  and  the  reason  assigned 
is  that  they  have  not  been  in  the 
service  six  months. 

The  full  bonus  for  twelve  months  at 
the  rate  of  $5  peij  month  will  be 
awarded  to  213  trainmen. 


New  York  Transit  Commis- 
sion Begins  Hearings 

Plans  Are  Outlined  and  Bases  Estab- 
lished for  Further  Discussions  at 
Early  Sessions 

Public  hearings  on  the  plan  of  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission  for  the 
consolidation  of  all  of  the  traction 
lines  of  New  York  began  on  Tuesday 
morning,  Nov.  15,  as  announced.  In 
his  opening  statement,  Chairman  Mc- 
Aneny  reviewed  the  powers  of  the  com- 
mission as  conferred  upon  it  by  the 
last  Legislature,  and  then  referred  to 
the  outline  of  the  tentative  plan  of  the 
commission  for  the  consolidation  of  the 
lines  in  New  York  City,  as  published 
in  abstract  in  the  issue  of  this  paper 
for  Oct.  1,  1921. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  McAneny  said,  in 
part: 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  commission  not 
only  to  bring  about  a  physical  reorgan- 
ization of  the  roads  for  purposes  of  bet- 
ter travel  and  better  development  of  the 
rapidly  growing  city  but  to  restore  as 
promptly  as  may  be  the  citywide  fare 
and  an  actual  and  honest  charge  of  5  cents. 
The  commission,  in  its  report,  has  pointed 
out  many  eliminations  and  reductions  of 
cost  that  ought  naturally  to  follow  the 
municipalization  of  the  roads,  the  unifi- 
cation of  operation  and  the  application  of 
the  strictest  business  principles  in  the  ad- 
ministration  of  their  affairs. 

Through  these  means  it  hopes  not  only 
to  restore  an  actual  5  cent  fare  but  to 
keep  the  fare  indefinitely  at  5  cents. 

Inquiry  Into  Expense  Accounts 
of  Companies 

The  chairman  then  declared  that  one 
of  the  first  acts  of  the  commission 
would  be  to  go  over  the  expense  ac- 
counts of  the  companies,  and  as  it 
would  take  too  much  time  for  the 
committee,  as  a  whole,  to  do  this  for 
all  of  the  accounts,  the  committee  as 
a  whole  would  examine  the  accounts  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany for  June,  1921,  of  the  New  York 
Consolidated  for  May,  of  the  New  York 
Railways  for  April,  Third  Avenue  Rail- 
way for  March,  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
for  February,  Second  Avenue  Railroad 
for  January,  New  York  &  Harlem  Rail- 
road for  December,  1920,  Eighth  Ave- 
nue Railroad  for  November,  Ninth  Ave- 
nue Railroad  for  October,  the  lines  in 
Queensboro  for  September,  and  the 
Staten  Island  lines  for  August.  The 
accounts  for  the  other  months  for  each 
of  these  companies  will  be  examined 
by  individual  commissioners. 

Assistant  City  Corporation  Counsel 
Kohler  then  challenged  the  powers  of 
the  commission  to  carry  out  any  such 
plan  as  it  proposed,  and  declared  the 
statute  under  which  its  powers  were 
granted  to  be  unconstitutional,  accord- 
ing to  both  the  State  and  Federal  con- 
stitutions and  consequently  the  acts  of 
the  commission  to  be  invalid  and  void. 
He  urged  the  commission  to  abandon  its 
proceedings  at  least  until  representa- 
tives of  the  city  of  New  York  should 
be  able  at  the  next  Legislature,  which 
would  convene  in  January,  to  introduce 
a  bill  to  cover  the  situation.  The  chair- 
man, however,  declined  to  discontinue 
the  proceedings. 


918 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  68,  No.  21 


The  special  counsel  for  the  commis- 
sion, C.  J.  Shearn,  then  outlined  the 
course  which  the  commission  intended 
to  follow.  He  said  he  proposed  first  to 
show  that  although  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers had  greatly  increased,  the  num- 
ber of  car  miles  had  not  increased  in 
proportion.  Consequently  the  quality  of 
the  transportation  given  was  not  as 
good  as  formerly.  He  declared  also 
that  maintenance  had  not  been  kept  up, 
particularly  on  the  surface  lines,  and 
this  meant  delays  to  the  service.  Later, 
the  commission  expected  to  take  up  the 
condition  of  each  company  through  its 
president  or  receiver  to  see  what  they 
had  to  say  on  the  subject,  both  as 
the  causes  of  the  present  condition  and 
the  remedy,  particularly  the  plan  pro- 
posed by  the  commission.  A  similar 
course  would  then  be  followed  with  the 
various  protective  committees  repre- 
senting the  bondholders  so  that  the 
commission  could  learn  their  attitude 
toward  the  plan.  Then  the  commission 
would  consider  what  savings  could  be 
effected  by  changes  in  the  physical  lay- 
out and  other  changes,  and  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  number  of  franchises,  which 
now  amount  to  more  than  1,000.  Fin- 
ally, the  question  of  valuation  would  be 
taken  up.  Work  on  this  question  has 
been  carried  forward  by  members  of 
the  staff  of  commissions,  and  it  was 
expected  that  valuations  would  be  com- 
pleted by  the  end  of  the  year. 

In  referring  to  the  matter  of  valua- 
tions Mr.  Shearn  said  that  the  commis- 
sion had  been  establishing  valuations 
on  these  four  different  bases: 

1.  The  investment  value  obtained  from 
the  books  of  the  company,  as  to  the  amount 
of  money  actually  expended,  less  deprecia- 
tion. 

2.  Cost  of  reproduction  on  a  pre-war 
basis,  less  depreciation. 

3.  Cost  of  reproduction  at  present  prices, 
less  depreciation. 

4.  Finally,  as  required  by  the  law,  on 
the  basis  of  prospective  earnings  under  the 
legal  or  franchise  rate  for  fare. 

The  rest  of  the  two  sessions  on  Mon- 
day was  devoted  to  the  presentation 
of  testimony  by  representatives  of  the 
commission  on  statistics  of  operation 
and  on  franchises. 

Franchise  Extracts  Introduced 

Ralph  R.  Monroe  read  extracts  from 
the  franchises  of  a  number  of  the  com- 
panies. In  general  they  provided  for 
a  5-cent  fare  but  in  many  cases  this 
fare  was  specified  only  between  certain 
limits  and  in  some  instances  the  fare 
was  not  directly  mentioned. 

Frederick  W.  Lindars,  accountant  for 
the  commission,  gave  figures  on  the 
number  of  passengers  carried,  an  in- 
crease of  27.7  per  cent  from  1917  to 
1921,  while  the  ratio  of  seats  for  pas- 
sengers in  that  period  had  materially 
decreased.  The  witness  also  gave  fig- 
ures upon  the  reduction  of  the  number 
of  free  transfers. 

John  H.  Madden,  engineer  and  head 
of  the  Valuation  Bureau  for  the  com- 
mission, gave  figures  on  maintenance 
of  way  and  equipment.  He  said  that 
taking  100  as  the  index  figure  in  1912, 
the  cost  of  labor  had  increased  to  208 
in  1920  and  materials  to  308.  The  fol- 
lowing table  of  decreased  maintenance 
figures  was  compiled  from  his  testi- 
mony: 

Same  Actually 
Spent  in      Figure  in  Spent 
Company.       1912.     1920  Values.    In  1920. 
N.  Y.  Rys.  .$2,035,441  $5,454,952  $3,036,370 
3d  Ay.  Rys..  1,370,129     3,673,266  2.608,528 
B       R  T 

'surface  .  .'  2,683,970  7,193,040  5.472,065 
Queens  lines  492,802  1,320,709  685,136 
Richmond 

lines    168,522       451,629  234.492 

2d  Av.  lines    134,911       361,561  247,799 


Figures  also  were  presented  to  show 
that  the  roads  had  caught  up  on  their 
maintenance  work  in  1921. 

Harry  N.  Latey,  engineer  of  equip- 
ment and  operation  for  the  Transit 
Commission,  then  testified  that  the 
breakdowns  and  delays  of  more  than 
five  minutes  on  these  transit  lines  had 
increased  enormously  as  the  funds  for 
maintenance  were  comparatively  de- 
creased. The  increases  varied  from 
about  25  per  cent  to  202  per  cent. 

Daniel  L.  Turner,  consulting  engineer 
to  the  commission,  presented  testimony 
that  on  many  of  the  surface  lines  there 
had  been  a  general  increase  in  passen- 
gers carried,  but  a  decrease  in  car  miles 
run. 


Railway  Ready  to  Comply 

Detroit   United   Preparing   to  Discon- 
tinue Service  on  Lines  Included 
in  Ouster 

Following  the  election  at  Detroit, 
Mich.,  in  which  the  people  approved  the 
ouster  ordinance  requiring  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  to  remove  its  tracks 
from  Fort  Street  and  Woodward  Ave- 
nue on  the  sections  where  franchises 
have  expired,  Allen  F.  Edwards,  vice- 
president  of  the  company,  issued  a 
statement  to  the  effect  that  the  com- 
pany would  comply  with  the  action  of 
the  authorities  as  indorsed  by  the 
voters. 

Company's  Attitude  Made  Plain 

Mr.  Edwards  stated  that  according 
to  his  understanding  of  the  situation  the 
election  returns  must  be  accepted  by 
the  Common  Council  through  the  report 
of  the  board  of  canvassers.  If  this  ac- 
ceptance is  made  at  the  Council  meet- 
ing on  Nov.  15,  then  the  ouster  ordi- 
nance gives  the  company  ten  days  in 
which  to  discontinue  service  and  ninety 
days  in  which  to  remove  its  tracks  and 
overhead  equipment  from  the  streets. 
This  will  make  the  suspension  of  serv- 
ice effective  not  later  than  Nov.  25. 

In  his  statement  he  cited  that  the 
tracks  involved  are  Woodward  Avenue, 
from  Milwaukee  Avenue  south  to  the 
river,  and  Fort  Street,  including  West 
Jefferson  Avenue,  from  Artillery  Ave- 
nue to  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  line. 
He  further  stated: 

It  seems  unfortunate  that  a  satisfactory 
price  for  the  lines  to  be  ousted  could  not 
have  been  agreed  upon.  The  price  of  $388,- 
000,  which  was  named  by  the  city  as  the 
amount  they  were  willing  to  pay  for  these 
lines,  we  considered  in  no  way  consistent 
with  the  value  of  the  property  proposed  to 
be  taken  over,  and  have  therefore  declined 
to  accept  it. 

The  company  has,  he  stated,  suggest- 
ed arbitration  as  a  means  of  arriving 
at  a  fair  price  for  these  properties. 
This  seemed  to  its  officials  to  be  a  means 
by  which  service  to  the  public  could  be 
continued. 

It  is  further  cited  in  the  communi- 
cation that  as  a  result  of  the  ouster 
ordinance  becoming  effective,  it  will  be 
necessary  for  the  company  to  turn  its 
Woodward  Avenue  cars  at  Grand  Belt 
(Milwaukee  Avenue)  and  the  West 
Jefferson  and  Fort  Street  cars  at  Artil- 
lery Avenue.  The  company  expects  to 
operate  the  remainder  of  its  lines  as  a 
unit  and  to  render  to  the  public  the  best 
service  which  it  is  possible  to  give  un- 
der the  conditions  imposed  upon  it. 

The  company  has  communicated  with 
the  Council  asking  for  permission  to  in- 
stall the  necessary  Y's  on  which  to  turn 
its  cars  at  the  ends  of  the  lines  over 
which  service  is  to  be  suspended.  It  is 
pointed  out  in  the  communication  that 


the  Y's  on  Fort  Street  and  West  Jeffer- 
son Avenue  lines  may  be  used  for  turn- 
ing cars  by  both  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  and  the  city,  and  suggested 
that  the  installation  and  maintenance: 
of  the  equipment  be  made  the  subject 
of  a  joint  agreement  between  the  com- 
pany and  the  city.  It  is  understood  that 
the  Y  at  Woodward  and  Milwaukee  will 
be  used  exclusively  by  the  company. 

Mayor  Couzens  stated  that  he  was 
much  pleased  with  the  support  of  the 
people  of  the  progressive  program  and 
that  he  would  feel  encouraged  to  finish 
up  the  job  which  has  been  started.  He 
was  particularly  pleased  that  the  ad- 
ministration has  been  empowered  to 
use  the  trackless  trolley  if  it  seemed 
desirable  and  that  the  people  have  sup- 
ported the  officials  in  their  campaign  to 
get  control  of  the  streets  for  which 
they  have  fought  so  many  years. 

No  definite  announcement  has  been 
made  by  the  Mayor  or  the  Street  Rail- 
way Commission  as  to  what  the  next 
step  will  be,  but  it  is  believed  that  an 
effort  will  be  made  to  reach  an  agree- 
ment for  an  exchange  of  running  rights 
over  the  lines  in  controversy. 


Conference  in  Saginaw 
Awaited 

The  protective  committee  of  the 
bondholders,  and  other  creditors  in 
New  York  of  the  Saginaw  Bay-City 
Railway  were  asked  Nov.  16  by  the 
City  Council  of  Saginaw,  Mich.,  to  con- 
fer in  Saginaw  in  the  near  future  to 
discuss  the  traction  problem  there.  Re- 
sumption of  railway  service  in  the  city 
will  be  the  objective  of  the  conference 
discussion. 

This  action  is  the  result  of  the  re- 
quest of  the  City  Council  that  Otto 
Sehupp,  receiver  for  the  defunct  com- 
pany, wire  the  creditors  for  a  meeting 
at  the  earliest  possible  date.  The  Coun- 
cil intends  to  discuss  openly  with  the 
committee  from  New  York  what  plan 
they  can  accept  as  a  settlement  of  the 
transportation  problem. 

The  transportation  situation  has  so 
aroused  the  people  who  have  been  de- 
pendent upon  jitney  buses  since  the 
railway  ceased  operation  on  Aug.  10, 
that  recall  petitions  for  the  Mayor  and 
four  Councilmen  were  started  in  circu- 
lation Nov.  16. 


Steam  Roads  Will  Not 
Electrify 

Maurice  E.  Spratt,  counsel  for  the 
New  York  Central  and  "Nickel  Plate" 
Railroads,  has  informed  the  municipal 
authorities  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  that 
neither  road  plans  to  heed  the  ordi- 
nance enacted  recently  which  provides 
that  steam  roads  entering  Buffalo 
must  electrify  their  lines  before  Jan. 
1,  1923,  and  submit  plans  for  the 
electrification  before  Jan.  1,  1922.  It 
is  claimed  the  cost  of  electrifying  all 
lines  entering  the  city  would  run  be- 
tween $75,000,000  and  $100,000,000. 

We  are  chartered  by  the  state  to  operate 
our  lines  as  we  do  now,  said  Mr.  Spratt's 
statement.  The  City  Council  of  Buffalo 
or  any  other  city  has  no  authority  to  com- 
pel us  to  electrify.  The  ordinance  is  in- 
valid and  will  not  be  obeyed.  The  cost 
would  be  too  great,  even  if  electrification 
were  practicable. 

Representatives  of  other  steam  rail 
lines  entering  Buffalo  said  that  assum- 
ing the  city  has  authority  to  order 
electrification,  the  short  interval  be- 
tween the  enactment  of  the  ordinance 
and  the  time  for  filing  plans  for  elec- 
trification would  cause  any  court  to 
declare  the  statute  unreasonable. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  journal 


919 


Election  Lends  Complications 

Change  in  Administration  in  Buffalo 
Spurs   Present   Incumbents  to 
Renew  Action 

The  City  Council  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
has  voted  $25,000  as  an  initial  ap- 
propriation to  prosecute  the  action 
brought  before  the  Public  Service 
Commission  in  an  effort  to  restore  the 
5-cent  fare  on  the  local  lines  of  the 
International  Railway.  The  Interna- 
tional now  is  collecting  a  7-cent  fare 
or  four  tokens  for  25  cents. 

John  C.  Brackenridge,  valuation  ex- 
pert who  assisted  the  municipal  au- 
thorities in  their  last  rate  case  against 
the  International,  and  Milo  R.  Maltbie, 
former  member  of  the  Public  Service 
Commission,  will  assist  the  city.  Both 
traction  experts  have  held  conferences 
with  William  S.  Rann,  corporation 
counsel,  and  Frederic  C.  Rupp,  deputy 
city  attorney,  who  will  have  charge  of 
the  city's  fight. 

Some  opposition  to  the  prosecution 
of  a  rate  case  at  this  time  has  de- 
veloped and  even  the  city  law  depart- 
ment has  warned  the  members  of  the 
City  Council  against  such  a  proceeding 
at  this  time,  but  Frank  C.  Perkins,  the 
Socialist  member  of  the  City  Council, 
is  insistent  that  the  city  proceed  at 
once  with  the  case  before  the  Public 
Service  Commission. 

Newspapers  opposed  to  a  rate  pro- 
ceeding at  this  time  brand  the  action 
of  the  Council  as  "a  fishing  excursion." 
An  editorial  in  the  Commercial  says  by 
bringing  the  action  just  before  election, 
it  appears  that  some  members  of  the 
Council  are  playing  for  public  favor. 

Mayor  George  S.  Buck,  who  has  op- 
posed the  railway  since  he  took  office 
six  years  ago  and  whose  fight  against 
the  traction  company  resulted  in  a  sale 
and  complete  reorganization  of  the 
system,  was  defeated  for  re-election  by 
the  anti-prohibition  candidate,  Frank  X. 
Schwab,  a  brewer. 

Other  newspapers,  commenting  on 
the  action  of  the  Council,  at  this  time 
say  that  lower  fares  will  mean  bank- 
ruptcy, inadequate  wages  for  em- 
ployees and  poorer  service.  The  mu- 
nicipal bureau  of  public  utilities  has 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  200 
fewer  cars  are  being  operated  this 
fall  than  a  year  ago  and  300  fewer 
cars  than  two  years  ago.  The  report 
submitted  to  the  Council  says  that, 
"unless  more  cars  are  run  this  winter, 
the  service  will  be  the  worst  in  the 
history  of  the  city." 

The  Mitten  Management,  Inc.,  Phila- 
delphia, which  has  a  contract  for 
operating  the  local  and  interurban 
lines  of  the  International  system,  says 
that  sufficient  cars  are  being  operated 
to  meet  traffic  requirements  and  that 
the  running  time  has  been  speeded  up 
to  offset  any  cars  which  have  been 
taken  off  during  the  non-rush  hour 
periods. 


Railway  Must  Pay  City 

A  judgment  of  $19,956  in  favor  of 
the  city  of  Jamestown  against  the 
Jamestown  (N.  Y.)  Street  Railway 
has  been  awarded  by  Supreme  Court 
Justice  George  E.  Pierce.  The  amount 
represents  the  sum  alleged  to  be  due 
the  city  in  unpaid  percentages  on  gross 
earnings  of  the  traction  line.  The 
judgment  was  taken  by  default.  Al- 
though George  E.  Maltby,  general 
manager  of  the  Jamestown  Street  Rail- 
way, was  in  court  with   Marion  H. 


Fisher,  its  attorney,  no  answer  was 
made. 

A  section  of  the  franchise  granted 
the  company  in  1891  provides  that  the 
railway  should  pay  to  the  city  each 
year  3  per  cent  of  its  gross  earnings. 
The  judgment  covers  the  amount  due 
for  the  period  between  June  30,  1915, 
and  June  30,  1920.  Counsel  for  the 
city  informed  the  court  that  the  rail- 
way had  promised  to  settle  the  case, 
but  had  continuously  neglected  to  do  so. 


Thirty  Hurt  in  Rear  End 

Collision 

Thirty  passengers  were  injured  in 
the  rear-end  collision  on  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  line  near  Wood- 
side,  Long  Island,  recently.  A  six-car 
steel  subway  train  standing  at  the 
Fisk  Avenue  station  of  the  Corona  line 
was  rammed  by  a  Manhattan  bound 
train  of  two  wooden  cars.    Twelve  feet 


of  the  first  wooden  car  were  shattered 
and  the  rest  of  the  car  jammed  onto 
the  top  of  the  last  steel  car  of  the 
stalled  train. 


Mr.  Witt  Sees  Great  Future 
for  Seattle 

The  idea  of  municipal  ownerships  is 
growing  fast.  This  opinion  was  re- 
cently expressed  by  Peter  Witt,  Cleve- 
land transportation  expert,  in  speaking 
before  members  of  the  King  County 
Democratic  Club,  Seattle,  Wash. 

Mr.  Witt  said  that  Seattle  had  at- 
tracted great  attention  the  country 
over  by  buying  its  electric  railway 
lines  and  that  now  successful  manage- 
ment of  the  railway  would  bring  thou- 
sands of  home  owners  from  the  East  to 
reside  in  the  city  of  Seattle.  On  the 
purchasing  of  the  public  utility,  Mr. 
Witt  said: 

I  don't  know  how  you  feel  about  the 
public  utility  you  purchased  a  few  years 
ago,  I  don't  know  what  your  thoughts  are 
now,  but  I  have  vision  enough  to  know  how 
you  will  feel  in  the  future.  The  world 
knows  now  that  you  are  big  enough,  great 
enough  and  have  the  courage  to  own  your 
great  utility.  Your  one  aim  should  be  to 
make  it  the  best  and  finest  system  of  muni- 
cipal transportation  in  the  United  States. 

His  topic  was  municipal  ownership, 
the  history  of  which  he  reviewed,  say- 
ing that  it  was  an  old  established  in- 
stitution but  still  going  forward. 


Conductors  Learn  to  Enunciate 

Minneapolis  street  car  conductors  no 
longer  may  mutter  and  mumble  the 
names  of  streets  for  their  own  distress 
and  the  passengers'  mystification. 
Street  names,  if  the  course  in  the  street 
name  pronunciation  of  the  Minneapolis 
Street  Railway  is  successful,  will  not 
be  mere  trippings  of  the  tongue.  They 
will  be  nothing  less  than  street  names. 

From  now  on  the  passenger  may 
read  a  paper  with  peace  of  mind,  in- 
stead of  interrupting  the  report  of  the 
Disarmament  Conference  with  a  jerk- 
ing look  at  the  signpost  of  each  corner. 
He  will  read  with  the  confidence  that 
at  his  block  he  will  be  informed  in  in- 
telligible English  that  this  street  is 
River  Road. 

In  Minneapolis  the  conductors  are 
going  to  school  to  learn  pronunciation, 
and  soon  there  will  be  no  need  for 
Esperanto  there,  for  all  Minneapolis 
will  be  speaking  the  English  language. 


The  course  is  the  latest  in  the  school  of 
the  Minneapolis  Street  Railway,  where 
for  more  than  eight  years  motormen 
and  conductors  have  been  trained. 
Courtesy  and  how  to  handle  an  emerg- 
ency are  taught  there,  as  well  as  the 
mere  mechanics  of  running  a  street  car 
and  collecting  fare. 


Receivers  Inform  Public 

T.  H.  Tutwiler  and  Frank  S.  Elgin, 
receivers  for  the  Memphis  (Tenn.) 
Street  Railway,  recently  published  in 
the  daily  papers  of  Memphis  an  inter- 
esting symposium,  educative  in  char- 
acter, entitled  "The  Truth." 

The  misuse  of1  transfers  was  the 
subject  of  one  article  which  explained 
very  plainly  the  decreased  revenue  and 
unfairness  to  patrons  produced  through 
the  wrong  use  of  the  transfer. 

Another  article  gave  a  little  financial 
history  of  the  workings  of  the  railway 
in  1920.  The  statement  in  part  is  as 
follows : 

The  receivers,  during  the  year  1920, 
charged  as  a  part  of  the  Cost  of  Service 
$280,000  to  the  account  of  Injuries  and 
Damages.  Actual  Payments  during  the 
year  amounted  to  $353,000.  It  cost  each 
revenue  passenger  (each  time  a  ride  was 
taken)  over  half  a  cent  to  pay  the  Injuries 
and  Damages  Account. 

The  receivers  then  urged  the  co- 
operation of  the  public  in  its  Accident 
Prevention  Campaign. 


(€)ljitertMti9naL  film  service 
Remains  of  Wooden  Car  Shattered  in  Wreck 


920 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Utilities'  Problems  Discussed 

Ohio  Public  Utility  Information  Com- 
mittee  Conducts   Frank  Talks 
Before  Civic  Bodies 

People  everywhere  are  anxious  to 
hear  the  story  of  the  public  utilities. 
This  is  the  emphatic  conclusion  reached 
by  the  Ohio  Committee  on  Public 
Utility  Information,  after  having  op- 
erated a  Speakers'  Bureau  for  a  few 
months  on  an  experimental  basis. 

The  work  has  now  passed  the  ex- 
perimental stage  in  Ohio  and  has  be- 
come a  fixed  part  of  the  Ohio  commit- 
tee's activities  in  creating  good  will 
toward  public  utilities  and  a  better 
understanding  of  their  problems. 

Success  Assured  Despite  Misgivings 

It  was  with  some  misgivings  that  the 
experimental  speaking  program  started 
in  Ohio.  There  was  doubt  as  to  the 
reception  which  might  be  accorded 
speakers  who  should  attempt  to  dis- 
cuss public  utility  matters  frankly  be- 
fore civic  organizations,  but  from  the 
very  beginning  the  work  has  proved 
an  unqualified  success.  Not  a  single 
rebuff  or  discourtesy  of  any  kind  has 
been  met  with  anywhere  and  the  unani- 
mous verdict  of  all  organizations  ad- 
dressed is  that  what  had  always  been 
considered  a  dull,  uninteresting  and 
technical  subject  had  been  covered  in 
a  graphic,  fascinating  way,  replete 
with  points  of  interest. 

So  successful  was  the  preliminary 
work  of  the  Speakers'  Bureau  that  the 
Ohio  committee  a  short  time  ago  made 
arrangements  for  its  permanent  con- 
tinuance and  issued  an  attractive  de- 
scriptive pamphlet  outlining  the  serv- 
ice offered  and  giving  a  few  of  the  sa- 
lient facts  relative  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  public  utility  industry.  This 
pamphlet  has  been  sent  to  the  secre- 
taries of  all  civic  organizations,  and  as 
a  result  the  committee  is  flooded  with 
requests  from  all  sections  of  the  State 
for  speakers  and  engagements  are 
booked  several  months  ahead. 

Among  the  subjects  chosen  for  ad- 
dresses before  civic  organizations  are 
the  following: 

"A  Half  Century  Miracle." 

"Making  Great  Cities  Possible." 

"A  Community  and  Its  Utilities." 

"The  Community's  Greatest  Asset." 

"Applying  Nature  to  the  Needs  of 
Humanity." 

"The  Story  of  Electricity,  Gas,  the 
Street  Car  and  Telephone." 

Prominent  Speakers  Retained 

In  addition  to  speakers  of  state-wide 
prominence  in  connection  with  the  in- 
dustry in  either  regulatory  or  man- 
agerial capacity,  men  of  national  repu- 
tation are  being  called  upon  for  ad- 
dresses in  some  of  Ohio's  larger  cities. 
The  officers  of  chambers  of  commerce, 
rotary  clubs,  Kiwanis  clubs,  exchange 
clubs  and  other  organizations  before 
which  addresses  have  been  made  are 
enthusiastic  in  their  commendation  of 
the  work  and  the  committee  has  re- 
ceived many  letters  from  them  testi- 
fying to  the  undoubted  good  which  has 
been  done  in  creating  a  better  under- 
standing by  the  people  of  the  prob- 
lems of  the  utilities  and  the  necessity 
for  adjusting  such  problems  on  the 
basis  of  the  square  deal. 

A  conspicuous  feature  of  the  work 
in  Ohio  is  the  publicity  given  it  by  the 
newspapers.  Not  only  have  thousands 
of  business  men  in  these  various  or- 


ganizations heard  the  message  di- 
rectly, but  through  the  co-operation  of 
the  papers  the  message  of  the  speaker 
has  been  carried  to  every  home  in  the 
various  communities. 


Significant  Elections  in  Albany 
District 

At  the  election  on  Nov.  8  the  cities 
of  Schenectady,  Troy,  Cohoes  and  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.,  elected  complete  Demo- 
cratic municipal  tickets,  the  latter  city 
turning  over  politically  for  the  first 
time  in  twenty-two  years.  While  the 
strike  on  the  lines  of  the  United  Trac- 
tion Company  in  Albany,  Troy  and 
Cohoes,  in  progress  since  Jan.  29,  was 
not  specifically  mentioned  as  a  cam- 
paign issue  by  either  of  the  dominant 
political  parties  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  attitude  of  the  Albany  administra- 
tion under  Republican  rule  toward  the 
United  Traction  Company  influenced 
several  hundred  votes  against  its  con- 
tinuance in  power.  In  Schenectady 
the  success  of  Mayor  Lunn  in  averting 
a  traction  tie-up  was  openly  used  to 
his  advantage. 

With  the  four  cities  in  the  strike 
zone  now  of  the  same  politics  after  Jan. 
1,  it  is  rumored  that  a  concerted  effort 
will  be  made  to  bring  about  conditions 
favorable  to  the  former  employees,  if 
the  company  does  not  effect  a  settlement 
before  that  date. 

Competitive  Franchise  Threatened 

Another  development  predicted  is 
that  the  incoming  Democratic  admin- 
istration will  grant  franchises  for  in- 
creased territory  to  the  Woodlawn  Im- 
provement Association  Transportation 
Corporation,  which  now  has  some  thirty 
buses  in  operation  over  established 
routes  covering  territory  not  reached 
by  the  United  Traction  Company.  In 
this  connection  it  is  even  said  that  the 
possibility  exists  that  if  the  traction 
company  by  January  does  not  discharge 
its  present  employees  and  re-engage 
those  who  went  out  on  strike  months 
ago,  the  new  administration  will  grant 
competitive  franchises  covering  the 
entire  city  of  Albany. 

There  is  little  disposition,  however, 
on  the  part  of  Albanians  to  embark  in 
the  venture  so  popular  with  Mayor 
Hylan  of  New  York  City  of  municipally 
owned  bus  lines. 


Miami  Votes  to  Operate 
Defunct  Railway 

The  special  election  on  Nov.  1  in 
Miami,  Fla.,  resulted  in  approval  by 
the  voters  of  the  purchase  of  the  tracks 
of  the  defunct  Miami  Traction  Com- 
pany and  the  issuance  of  $100,000  of 
city  bonds  for  the  equipment  to  resume 
operation  of  the  line. 

The  Miami  Beach  Electric  Company 
which  operates  cars  to  Miami  Beach 
through  a  portion  of  Miami,  has  agreed 
to  lease  the  city's  system.  Operation 
over  the  former  Miami  Traction  Com- 
pany's lines  will  be  begun  the  latter 
part  of  December. 

The  City  Commission  has  ordered 
new  trolley  wire,  new  poles  and  eight 
new  trolley  cars.  The  Miami  Beach 
Electric  Company  will  increase  the  ser- 
vice over  present  line  as  rapidly  as 
traffic  will  permit.  A  ten-minute  sched- 
ule is  promised  as  soon  as  the  fares 
total  S2.50  per  round  trip,  which  is 
the  actual  cost  as  figured  by  General 
Manager  R.  L.  Ellis. 


IF 


News  Notes 


Wage  Cut  Notice  Given. — Employees 
of  the  Interstate  Street  Railway,  At- 
tleboro,  Mass.,  have  received  notice  of 
a  proposed  wage  reduction,  effective 
Jan.  1,  1922.  The  cut  amounts  to  20 
per  cent  for  car  operators  and  30  per 
cent  for  office  employees. 

Railway  Announces  Cut. — The  Hull 

(Que.)  Electric  Railway  has  an- 
nounced a  10  per  cent  reduction  in 
wages,  to  become  effective  on  Dec.  1. 
The  new  rate  for  senior  motormen  and 
conductors  will  be  43  cents  an  hour 
instead  of  the  old  48  cents.  The  em- 
ployees are  considering  the  proposition. 

Men  Reject  Cut. — Employees  of  the 
New  England  Investment  &  Security 
Company,  which  controls  the  Spring- 
field Street  Railway  and  the  Worcester 
Consolidated  Street  Railway,  have  re- 
jected the  company's  proposition  for 
a  wage  reduction  of  26J  per  cent  and 
an  hourly  basis  of  pay  instead  of  the 
day  basis. 

Receiver  Asked  for  Account. — Harry 
Evers,  receiver  for  the  Buffalo  &  Lack- 
awanna Traction  Company,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  has  been  ordered  by  the  Public 
Service  Commission  to  make  a  report 
regarding  what  his  company  has  done 
toward  the  cancellation  of  a  contract 
with  the  Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie  Traction 
Company.  The  latter  company  is  ask- 
ing for  an  increase  in  fare.  Mr.  Evers 
also  has  been  asked  to  submit  a  re- 
port of  the  revenue  of  the  Buffalo  & 
Lackawanna  Traction  Company  for 
the  last  three  months. 

Will  Continue  to  Serve. — The  News 
Bulletin  issued  by  the  Ohio  Committee 
on  Public  Utility  Information,  had  its 
first  anniversary  on  Nov.  7.  It  now 
starts  in  on  its  second  year  and  prom- 
ises to  keep  the  people  of  Ohio  in- 
formed about  its  electric  railway,  tele- 
phone, electric  light  properties  and 
other  conveniences.  The  committee,  on 
the  occasion  of  its  first  birthday,  urged 
editors  and  correspondents  to  commu- 
nicate with  its  bureau  to  secure  first- 
hand and  authentic  information  about 
the  development  of  the  utility  prob- 
lems in  the  State. 

Union  Appoints  New  Advocate. — 
James  M.  Sheehan,  president  of  the 
local  division  of  the  Amalgamated  As- 
sociation at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1901, 
who  successfully  negotiated  with  the 
United  Traction  Company  a  termina- 
tion of  the  strike  in  that  year,  has  been 
selected  to  open  negotiations  again 
with  the  company  with  a  view  to  a  set- 
tlement of  the  strike,  which  has  been 
operative  since  last  January.  This  is 
accepted  by  members  of  the  union  and 
their  friends  as  a  virtual  repudiation 
of  Joseph  S.  Droogan,  president  of  the 
union,  as  far  as  his  ability  to  get  suc- 
cessful results  in  parleys  with  the 
railway  is  concerned.  So  far  as  the 
railway  is  concerned  the  strike  has 
long  been  over,  but  it  has  never  been 
officially  declared  off  by  the  union. 
That  Droogan  was  gradually  dropping 
out  of  sight  as  a  directing  factor  in 
the  Albany  union  was  indicated  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  some  time 
ago. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


921 


Short-Haul  Riding  Popular 

Number  of  San  Diego's  5-Cent  Riders 
Shows  Largest  Percentage 
Increase 

In  spite  of  country-wide  depression, 
bound  to  affect  a  tourist  city,  the  re- 
port of  the  San  Diego  (Cal.)  Electric 
Railway  for  eight  months  ended  Aug. 
31,  1921,  shows  that  the  second  year 
of  the  zone  fare  is  improving  on  the 
first  as  regards  every  class  of  passen- 
gers except  beach  travel.  The  only 
kind  of  passengers  that  have  decreased 
are  the  unwelcome  "transfer"  kind. 
The  accompanying  table  will  be  found 
especially  interesting  because  compari- 
son is  made  not  only  with  the  same 
period  of  1920,  covering  the  first  zone 
months,  but  also  with  the  first  eight 
months  of  1919  when  the  5-cent  uni- 
versal fare  with  free  transfer  prevailed 
throughout  San  Diego. 

Revenues  Rise  Rapidly 

"Revenue  from  transportation,"  the 
most  significant  figure  to  the  operator, 
rose  from  $655,063  in  the  1919  period 
to  $937,038  in  the  1921  period,  a  gain 
of  43  per  cent.  At  the  same  time  "total 
cash-fare  and  revenue  ticket  passen- 
gers" rose  from  13,815,120  to  14,710,835. 
This  is  a  gain  of  6.4  per  cent  although 
the  comparison  is  between  a  flush 
period  then  and  a  depressed  period 
now. 

As  compared  with  the  first  eight 
months  of  1920,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  biggest  increase  (5,251,806  to  5,- 
914,825  passengers)  was  in  the  5-cent 
classification.  The  decline  from  2,841,- 
849  to  2,706,215  passengers  or  about 
4?  per  cent  under  "other  revenue 
tickets"  is  due  to  the  drop  in  long- 
distance pleasure  riding  to  the  beaches. 
The  effectiveness  of  the  San  Diego 
zone  fare  in  getting  revenue  without 
driving  away  traffic  is  crystallized  in 
the  fact  that  the  average  revenue  per 
passenger,  comparing  1921  with  1919 
period,  has  risen  34  per  cent. 

Fewer  Transfer  Passengers 
Although  the  "total  revenue  passen- 
gers," including  "transfer  passengers," 
rose  from  16,126,729  in  the  1920  period 
to  17,190,570  in  the  1921  period  ("trans- 
fer passengers"  dropped  from  2,623,- 
313  to  2,479,735  in  the  same  periods. 
Other  improvements  of  the  second  zone- 
fare  period  as  compared  with  the  first 
are  the  more  efficient  use  of  car-miles 
furnished,  the  number  of  purely  "reve- 
nue passengers  rising  from  5.61  to  6.36 


passengers  per  car-mile.  This  shows, 
incidentally,  ,under  what  thin  traffic 
conditions  San  Diego  must  work.  An- 
other index  to  the  better  use  of  the 
transportation  facilities  is  that  the 
seats  per  passenger  in  1921  were  but 
1.44  compared  with  1.87  in  the  1919 
and  1.83  in  the  1920  periods.  In  con- 
clusion is  the  gratifying  result  that  a 
daily  deficit  of  $1,067.58  in  the  last 
flat-fare  period  has  been  cut  to  but 
$9.40  in  the  first  eight  months  of  the 
differential  fare,  showing  that  with 
some  legitimate  relief  in  the  paving 
and  similar  burdens,  the  San  Diego 
Electric  Railway  will  be  able  to  prosper 
and  meet  every  reasonable  need  for 
service. 


$2,000,000  Additional  Stock 
Off  ered  Under  Customer- 
Ownership  Plan 

In  pursuance  of  its  policy  to  enlist 
as  partners  as  many  as  possible  of  its 
customers,  and  thus  extend  the  owner- 
ship of  its  securities,  the  Public  Service 
Corporation  of  New  Jersey  offered  for 
sale,  beginning  Nov.  1,  an  additional 
issue  of  $2,000,000  of  its  8  per  cent 
cumulative  preferred  stock,  under  the 
same  partial  payment  customer-owner- 
ship plan  which  governed  the  recent 
sale  of  a  similar  issue  of  the  same 
stock. 

The  previous  offer  was  accepted  by 
more  than  7,400  customers  within 
eleven  weeks.  The  success  of  that 
campaign  has  confirmed  the  belief  of 
the  management  of  the  corporation 
that  many  persons  appreciate  the  ad- 
vantages of  closer  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  their  public  utilities  and 
realize  the  stability  of  investment  in 
securities  based  upon  the  earning 
power  of  companies  engaged  in  provid- 
ing essential  utility  services  to  a 
rapidly  growing  and  highly  prosperous 
group  of  communities. 

It  is  the  desire  of  the  corporation 
to  extend  to  every  user  of  the  services 
furnished  by  it  an  opportunity  to  be- 
come a  partner  in  the  enterprise,  and 
for  that  reason  the  terms  under  which 
the  8  per  cent  cumulative  preferred 
stock  is  being  sold  have  been  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  make  it  possible  for  any 
person  to  acquire  the  stock  by  monthly 
payment  of  such  portion  of  his  or  her 
savings  as  he  or  she  may  care  to  invest. 

The  utilities  controlled  by  Public 
Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey 
furnish  gas,  electric  and  railway 
service  to  a  population  of  2,599,489. 


CHANGES  IN  PASSENGER  REVENUE  AND  TRAFFIC  OF  SAN  DIEGO  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 
COMPARING  FIRST  EIGHT  MONTHS  OF  1919,  1920  AND  1921  RESPECTIVELY 


Revenue  trom  transportation. 

5-eent  passengers  

10-cent  passengers  

Other  cash  passengers  


Total  cash  fares  

7J-cent  revenue  tickets. 
Other  revenue  tickets .  . 


Total  cash  fare  and  revenue  ticket  passengers.  .  . 

Transfer  passengers  

Car-miles  operated    

Car-miles  per  car-hour  

Cash  and  revenue  ticket  passengers  per  car-mile. 

Seats  per  passenger  

Average  net  deficit  per  day  


1919 
$655,063 
1 1,181,592 


1  1,181,592 

2,633,528 

13,815,120 
2,279,535 
2,389,184 
9.42 
5.78 
1 .87 
$1,067.58 


1920 
$884,217 
5,251,806 
461,308 

23,221 


5,736.336  6,430,471 
5,326,232  5,574,149 
2,841,849  2,706,215 


13,903.416 
2,623,313 
2,468,693 
9.37 
5.61 
1 .83 
$383.45 


14,710,835 
2,479,735 
2,312,631 

9  .  20 

6  .  36 

1.44 
$9  40 


Consolidation  Details  Being 
Perfected 

Henry  L.  Doherty  &  Company,  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  direct  the  attention  of 
the  holders  of  the  first  lien  5  per  cent 
bonds  of  the  Consolidated  Cities  Light, 
Power  &  Traction  Company  to  the  con- 
solidation recently  made  of  important 
public  utility  properties  in  eastern 
Ohio,  securities  of  which  are  deposited 
as  collateral  back  of  these  bonds. 

The  Ohio  Public  Service  Company  will 
take  over  the  properties  in  eastern  Ohio 
which  heretofore  have  been  operated  as 
the  Alliance  Gas  &  Power  Company, 
the  Massillon  Gas  &  Electric  Company, 
the  Trumbull  Public  Service  Company, 
the  Lorain  County  Electric  Company 
and  the  Utilities  Construction  Company. 
More  than  99  per  cent  of  the  common 
capital  stocks  of  the  Alliance  Gas  & 
Power  Company,  the  Massillon  Gas  & 
Electric  Company  and  the  Trumbull 
Public  Service  Company  are  deposited 
as  part  of  the  collateral  back  of  Con- 
solidated Cities  Light,  Power  &  Trac- 
tion Company  first'  lien  bonds. 

These  three  properties,  together  with 
the  Lorain  County  Electric  Company 
and  the  Utilities  Construction  Com- 
pany will  be  consolidated  under  the 
Ohio  Public  Service  Company,  all 
financing  of  which  has  been  completed, 
this  financing  providing  for  the  retire- 
ment of  various  issues  of  bonds  on  the 
separate  properties,  the  reimbursement 
of  the  treasury  for  expenditures  made 
on  account  of  additions  and  improve- 
ments to  the  properties,  for  the  funding 
of  current  indebtedness  and  for  other 
corporate  purposes. 

In  connection  with  the  consolidation, 
arrangements  have  been  made  for  the 
retirement  of  the  preferred  stocks  of 
the  underlying  companies  through  the 
exchange  of  the  Ohio  Public  Service 
Company  7  per  cent  cumulative  pre- 
ferred stock  for  preferred  stocks  of  the 
individual  companies.  The  consolida- 
tion of  the  three  companies,  stocks  of 
which  are  deposited  as  collateral  back 
of  the  Consolidated  Cities  Light,  Power 
&  Traction  Company  first  lien  5  per 
cent  bonds  and  the  addition  also  of 
two  other  companies,  should  add  much 
strength  to  the  position  of  Consolidated 
Cities  Light,  Power  &  Traction  Com- 
pany first  lien  bonds.  Details  are  now 
being  completed  for  the  substitution 
of  common  stock  of  the  Ohio  Public 
Service  Company  for  the  stocks  of  the 
three  companies  now  deposited  as 
collateral. 


Canadian  Company  Issues  Bonds 

The  Manitoba  Power  Company,  Ltd., 
is  offering  a  $3,000,000  issue  of  first 
mortgage  7  per  cent  sinking  fund  gold 
bonds  at  90  and  interest,  to  yield  about 
8  per  cent.  They  are  dated  Nov.  1,  1921, 
and  are  due  Nov.  1,  1941.  The  bonds, 
which  are  guaranteed  as  to  principal 
and  interest  by  the  Winnepeg  Electric 
Railway,  will  be  secured  by  a  first 
mortgage  on  the  hydro-electric  plant 
and  transmission  line  which  the  com- 
pany is  now  constructing  and  by  col- 
lateral lien  through  pledge  of  stock 
of  13  miles  of  standard-gage  steam 
railroad  of  Winnipeg  River  Railway. 

The  net  divisible  income  of  the 
Winnipeg  Electric  Railway  for  the 
twelve  months  ended  Aug.  31,  1921, 
after  payment  of  all  bond  and  other 
interest  charges,  was  $957,674,  or  over 
1;]  times  the  annual  interest  require- 
ments of  the  bonds  of  the  Manitoba 
Power  Company. 


I 


922 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Public  Service  Corrects  Erroneous 
Deductions  Drawn  from  Its 
September  Report 

John  L.  O'Toole,  assistant  to  Thomas 
N.  McCarter,  president  of  the  Public 
Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey, 
Newark,  has  issued  a  statement  cor- 
recting erroneous  deductions  drawn 
from  the  report  of  the  Public  Service 
Railway  for  September  as  made  to  the 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners. 
Because  the  operating  statement  filed  by 
the  company  for  the  month  of  Septem- 
ber, 1921,  shows  a  balance  of  $9,175 
over  actual  operating  expenditures, 
fixed  charges  and  depreciation,  while 
a  similar  report  for  September,  1920, 
showed  a  deficit  of  $104,495,  the  claim 
was  advanced  that  the  rate  of  a  7-cent 
fare  with  a  2-cent  transfer  charge 
recently  fixed  by  the  Public  Utility 
Commission  has  been  vindicated,  and 
credit  is  given  to  that  rate  for  having: 
converted  a  deficit  into  a  surplus. 

According  to  Mr.  O'Toole  just  the 
reverse  of  this  is  true.  In  the  first 
place  there  was  a  considerable  saving 
in  pay  rolls  in  September,  1921,  over 
the  same  month  of  1920  and  in  addition 
there  was  a  decrease  of  $114,000  in 
the  expenditure  for  maintenance  of 
equipment  for  September  1921,  over 
the  similar  month  a  year  ago.  Mr. 
O'Toole  says: 

The  report  shows,  as  published,  that  the 
7  and  2  rate  produced  $2,077,707  of  pas- 
senger revenue  last  month,  which  was  $141  - 
000  less  than  the  7  and  1  rate  produced 
during-  the  corresponding  month  last  year. 
There  was  some  diminuation  in  traffic  due 
to  industrial  conditions,  but  allowing  for 
this,  had  it  not  been  that  a  saving  was 
effected  in  payrolls  last  month  the  report 
would  have  shown  a  large  deficit. 

In  addition  to  effecting  a  saving  in  pay- 
rolls the  company  had  to  cut  its  garment 
according  to  its  cloth,  in  other  ways  It 
had  accumulated  such  a  large  deficit 'during 
the  last  three  years  that  it  simply  could  not 
go  on  adding  to  it  and  was  compelled  to 
forego  certain  work  because  it  didn't  have 
the  money  to  pay  for  it.  with  the  result 
that  the  figures  show  an  apparent  profit. 

But  a  perusal  of  the  figures  filed  with 
the  Utility  Board  for  September  will  dis- 
close facts  that  change  the  aspect  of  the 
situation.  It  would  show,  for  instance,  that 
in  September,  1920.  there  was  spent  $240  - 


852  on  maintenance  of  equipment,  while 
Vast  monin  this  item  of  expenditure  was 
held  down  to  $126,360,  a  difference  of  $114,- 
000  in  this  account  alone,  or  more  than 
enough  to  offset  the  "turnover''  from  a 
former  loss  to  what  seems  to  be  a  present 
profit.  Other  instances  could  be  cited  of 
what  look  like  savings,  but  are  really  re- 
ductions in  expenditures,  due  to  deferred 
maintenance,  such  as  track  reconstruction 
and  street  paving. 


6,015,151  Eight-Cent  Fares 
Collected  in  Eleven  Days 

In  accordance  with  the  decision  of 
Federal  Judges  Rellstab  and  Woolley 
granting  the  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  a  basic  fare  of  8  cents 
the  company  has  filed  in  the  United 
States  District  Court  at  Trenton  a 
statement  showing  returns  from  the  in- 
creased fare  from  Oct.  20  to  Oct.  31. 
The  new  fares  became  effective  on  Oct. 
20.  The  company  is  required  to  file 
monthly  statements  hereafter  with  the 
court. 

The  report  shows  that  the  total  num- 
ber of  passengers  carried  between  Oct. 
20  and  Oct.  31  was  12,927,605.  The 
number  paying  the  base  fare  of  8  cents 
was  6,015,151.  The  company  sold 
4,446,864  tokens  or  tickets  at  the  rate 
of  four  for  30  cents.  It  is  shown  that  of 
the  total  number  of  tokens  sold  4,010,- 
048  have  been  turned  in  by  passengers 
for  fares.  The  number  of  transfers  that 
was  issued  at  1  cent  each  was  2,169,374. 


Cumberland  Railway  Transfer 
in  Prospect 

The  stock  of  the  Cumberland  (Md.) 
Electric  Railway  and  the  Edison  Elec- 
tric Illuminating  Company  was  re- 
cently bought  by  T.  B.  Finan  of 
Cumberland  and  Townsend  &  Scott, 
bankers  of  Baltimore.  About  $2,000,000 
is  involved  in  the  sale  of  the  two 
properties.  It  is  the  plan  of  the  pur- 
chasers to  form  a  new  company  and  to 
consolidate  the  railway,  power  and 
lighting  plants  under  one  management. 

The  transfer  awaits  the  approval  of 
the  Public  Service  Commission,  which 
is  expected  before  Jan.  1. 


$447,299,000  Traction  Bonds 

in  Default 

According  to  the  Wall  Street  Journal 
an  improvement  is  reflected  in  the 
amount  of  public  utility  bonds  now  in 
default,  the  total  par  value  being  $470,- 
039,000  against  $494,858,000  on  Nov. 
25,  1920.  While  the  list  as  originally 
published  contained  all  classes  of  pub- 
lic utility  bonds,  only  the  traction  bonds 
in  default  have  been  included  in  the 
accompanying  table.  They  total  $447,- 
299,000.  Where  the  maturity  date  is 
given  after  the  name  of  the  security,  it 
means  that  there  is  a  default  as  to 
principal  as  well  as  to  interest. 


Interest  Defaulted  by  Michigan 

United  Railways 

A  bondholders'  committee  of  the 
Michigan  United  Railways,  Jackson, 
Mich  ,  in  a  circular  issued  on  the  de- 
fault of  interest  due  on  Nov.  1  on  the 
first  and  refunding  5  per  cent  bonds 
of  the  company,  promised  protection  to 
all  bondholders  who  deposit  their  bonds 
with  the  committee.  The  statement 
said : 

Default  having  occurred  in  the  payment 
of  interest  due  on  Nov.  1,  1921,  on  the 
first  and  refunding  5  per  cent  bonds  of  the 
Michigan  United  Railways,  the  under- 
signed holders  or  representatives  of  a  sub- 
stantial amount  of  said  bonds  have  con- 
sented to  act  as  a  committee  to  protect 
all  bondholders  who  shall  deposit  their 
bonds  with  this  committee.  A  formal 
agreement  is  being  prepared. 

The  circular  was  signed  by  H.  A. 
Kahler,  president  of  the  American 
Trust  Company;  Clifford  Bucknam  of 
Pynchon  &  Company,  Marvyn  Scudder 
of  Marvyn  Scudder  &  Company,  and 
R.  E.  Smythe,  president  of  the  Grama- 
tan  National  Bank. 

The  total  mileage  of  the  Michigan 
United  Railways  in  operation  is  261, 
single  track.  This  mileage  includes  city 
lines  in  Kalamazoo,  Battle  Creek,  Jack- 
son and  Lansing,  Mich.,  and  interurban 
lines  between  several  other  points.  In 
the  company's  last  statement  the  first 
and  refunding  gold  5s  were  shown  to 
amount  to  $9,927,000. 


Issue 

Alton  Granite  &  St.  Louis  Trac.  5s  

American  Cities  Co.  collateral  trust  6s,  1919 

6%  notes,  1918  

Atlantic  Ave.  li.  R.  (Brooklyn!  gen.  5s...'.  ..! 

Improvement  5s  

Atlantic  City  &  Shore  R.R.  1st  5s.'.".'.' 

Atlantic  Shore  Line  Ry.  1st  5s  

Atlantic  Shore  Rv.  ref.  4s  . 

Aurora,  Elgin  4  Chirsgo  R  F.  r;f.  5c 

3-yr.  75°;  collateral  trust,  notes  

Brooklyn  City  &  Newtown  R.R.  5s.  . 

Brooklyn  Heights,  1st  5s. .  . 

Brooklyn,  Queens  County  &  Suburban  cons.  5s 

1st  5s  

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  7~  nctss 

Gold  5s  

Refunding  4s  

5r  n  tss  1918. 
Buffalo  &  1  aekawanna  Traction  5s 

Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie  Traction  5s  

Butte  Electric  Rv.  1st  5s  

Chattanooga  Electric  Rv.  5s,  1919  

Chattanooga  Rvs.  cons.  5s  

Chicago  Elevated  Rys.  6^  notes,  1919.. 

Collateral  trust  6s  

Chicago,  South  Bend  &  Northern  Indiana 

Ry.  5s  

Cincinnati  &  Hamilton  Electric  Rv.  6s.  1918. . . 
Cincinnati.  Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora  Electric 

Street  Rv.  5s.  1919. . 
Cleveland  &  Erie  R v.  1st  5s. 
Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Ashtabula  R.R.  5s..  .  . 
Columbus,  Buckeye  Lake  &  Newark  Trac.  5s 
C  olumbus,  London  &  Springfield  Ry.  5s.  1920 
Columbus,  Newark  &  Zanesville  Electric  Rv.  5s 
Columbus  &  Ninth  Ave.  R.R.,  N.  Y.,  1st  5s" 
Coney  Island  &  Brooklvn  R.R.  cons  4s 

Consolidated  4s  of  1948  

Corpus  Christi  Railway  &  Light  Co.,  5s 

Dayton  Traction  1st  5s,  1920  

Danbury  &  Bethel  Street.  Rv.  ref.  5s. '.  '. 

Denver  City  Tramway  ref.  5s   .  . 

Denver  &  Northwestern  Ry.  5s  


TABLE   SHOWING   ELECTRIC   RAILWAY   SECURITIES    IN  DEFAULT 


Amount 

Defaulted 

$2,500,000 

February 

1920 

7,500,000 

Julv 

1919 

3,000.000 

July 

1918 

2,241,000 

October 

1919 

220.000 

January 

1 926 

950,000 

December 

1915 

361,000 

October 

1915 

641,000 

April 

1915 

3,079.000 

January 

1919 

1,219,000 

March 

1919 

2.000,000 

July 

1919 

250.000 

October 

1919 

2,884,000 

November 

1919 

2,500,000 

July 

1919 

57,735,000 

January 

1919 

7,000,000 

April 

1919 

27,621,000 

July 

1919 

505,000 

January 

1919 

1,150,000 

December 

1918 

7,066,000 

May 

1913 

700,000 

March 

1919 

625,000 

January 

1919 

2,165.000 

November 

1918 

13.601,000 

July 

1919 

7,000,000 

July 

1919 

2,489,000 

July- 

1918 

400,000 

July 

1918 

750,000 

January 

1918 

500,000 

July 

1920 

1,000,000 

January 

1917 

1,243.000 

November 

1920 

500,000 

October 

1920 

1,21 1,000 

November 

1920 

3,000,000 

March 

1920 

2,150,000 

July 

1919 

1,987,000 

Julv 

1919 

829,000 

July 

1919 

250,000 

May 

1920 

458,000 

November 

1917 

9,892,000 

May 

1921 

496,100 

November 

1920 

Issue 

Denver  Tramway  Terminal  7%  notes  

Des  Moines  City  Ry.  ref.  5s  

Elgin.  Aurora  &  Southern  Trac.  5s,  1921  

Ft.  Wayne,  Van  Wert  &  Lima  Trac.  5s  

Hamburg  Railway  1st  4s  

Hartford  &  Springfield  Street  Ry.  5s  

Indianapolis,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Trac.  5s. . . . 

Interborough  Metropolitan,  N.  Y.,  4£s  

Kansas  City  Rys.  7"^  notes,  1921  

2  year  notes,  6s,  1919  '  

First  5s  

Second  5s  

Second  6s  ..  

Lexington  Avenue  &  Pavonia  Ferry,  N.  Y.,  5s.. 
Memphis  Street  Ry.  6%  notes,  1920  

l-year6%notes,  1918  

Nassau  Electric  R.R.  (Brooklyn!  1st  5s  

Consolidated  4s  

New  Orleans  Railway  &  ,i  •   ,  i  

New  York  Municipal  Ry.  I ; ,  ■  -.    . 

New  York  Railways  ref.  4s  

Oakland  Traction  cons.  5s  

Ohio  Electric  Ry.  ref.  5s  

Second  5s  

Pensacola  Electric  7%  notes,  1921  

St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Ry.  gen.  5s  

Consolidated  5s,  1921  

Sanford  &  Cape  Porpoise  5s  

Second  Ave.  R.R.  (New  York!  rec.  etfs.  6s,  1914 

Con.  5s  

South  Carolina  Light,  Railway  &  Power  5s  

7%  notes,  1 92 1  

Southern  Ohio  Traction  cons.  5s,  1920  

Southern  Traction  (Pittsburgh*  1st  5s  

Spokane  &  Inland  Empire  R.R.  ref.  5s  

Toledo,  Fayette  &  Western  Ry.  5s  

Toledo  &  Western  Ry.  1st  5s  

Refunding  5s  

Syracuse  &  Suburban  R.R.  1st  5s  

United  Traction  (Pittsburgh1  gen.  5s  

United  Traction  &  Electric  (Providence*  5s. . . . 


Total  bonds  in  default. 


Amount 
$2,500,000 
4,821,000 
1,546,000 
1,470,000 

745,000 

600,000 
6,400,000 
64,286,000 
7,750,000 
1,000,000 
15,917,000 
1,000,000 
3,924,000 
5,000,000 
1,250,000 

200,000 

660,000 
10,347,000 
6,1 18,000 
57,790,000 
18,061,000 
2,134,000 
4,200,000 
2,927,000 

281,900 
4,500,000 
2,000,000 

246,000 
3,140,000 
5,631,000 
3,497,000 

450,000 
1,350,000 
4,000,000 
3,685,000 

250,000 
1,250,000 

500,000 

400,000 
4,804,000 
9,000,000 

$447,299,000 


Defaulted 
October  1920 
July 
June 
January 
May 
Julv 
November  1919 
April  1919 
November  1919 
December  1919 
January 
January 
January 
March 
November  1920 
November  1918 
October  1919 
July  1919 
May 
January 
July 
January 
January 
December 
January 
April 
February- 
January 
October 
January 
May 
June 
May 
October 


1921 
1919 
1920 
1920 
1918 


1920 
1920 
1920 
1920 


1919 
1919 
1919 
1919 
1916 
1918 
1921 
1921 
1921 
1916 
1914 
1919 
1921 
1921 
1919 
1918 


November  1919 


July 
July 
July 

February 

July 

March 


1920 
1920 
1920 
1921 
1919 
1919 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


923 


Grafton  Line  Will  Soon  Resume 

Electric  railway  service  at  Grafton, 
W.  Va.,  is  to  be  resumed  under  the 
management  of  a  local  company  to  be 
known  as  the  Tygarts  Valley  Traction 
Company.  The  decision  to  this  effect 
was  reached  at  a  meeting  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  when  assurance  was 
given  that  a  fund  of  $50,000  will  be 
raised  at  Grafton.  The  plans  as  ar- 
ranged call  for  the  operation  of  one- 
man  cars. 

First  mortgage  bonds  in  the  sum  of 
$50,000  are  to  be  sold  in  denominations 
of  $100,  $500  and  $1,000.  These  bonds 
will  bear  interest  at  6  per  cent.  They 
are  being  offered  for  sale  at  Grafton. 

Along  with  the  bonds  there  will  be 
an  issue  of  common  stock.  This  stock 
will  have  a  par  value  of  $1.  It  will  be 
coupled  in  the  selling  with  the  bonds, 
a  $100  bond  and  one  share  of  stock  cost- 
ing $101.  Subscriptions  to  the  bonds 
will  be  payable  50  per  cent  at  once  and 
the  remaining  50  per  cent  on  June  1. 

Of  the  $50,000  which  will  eventually 
be  received  from  the  bond  issue,  $25,- 
000  will  become  immediately  available. 
Added  to  this  will  be  $500  secured  from 
the  sale  of  stock.  This  will  give  the 
new  corporation  a  net  capital  to  begin 
with  of  $25,500.  Of  this  amount  $16,- 
000  will  go  to  pay  for  the  property  of 
the  Grafton  Traction  Company,  bid  in 
under  foreclosure.  The  balance  will  be 
used  in  making  such  repairs  and  im- 
provements as  are  absolutely  neces- 
sary at  the  outset. 

The  cars  will  be  repaired,  the  Blue- 
ville  extension  will  be  built,  the  track 
improved,  several  pieces  of  machinery 
and  equipment  added  and  the  river 
bridge  repaired  and  repainted.  The 
new  line  will  operate  on  at  least  a 
thirty  minute  schedule.  The  new  own- 
ers are  confident  that  the  line  can  be 
made  to  earn  all  operating  expenses 
and  the  interest  on  the  bonds,  with  the 
prospect  that  a  substantial  amount  will 
soon  accumulate  for  distribution  among 
the  stockholders. 


000  of  stock  and  $2,600,000  of  bonds 
and  has  $344,103  in  the  depreciation 
funds  and  $596,015.33  current  liabilities. 


Bonds  Authorized  to  Reimburse 
Company  for  Improvements 

The  San  Diego  (Cal.)  Electric  Rail- 
way has  been  authorized  by  the  Rail- 
road Commission  to  use  the  proceeds 
from  the  sale  of  $577,000  of  its  5  per 
cent  general  first  lien  sinking  fund 
gold  bonds  to  reimburse  its  treasury 
and  finance  in  whole  or  in  part  con- 
struction expenditures  incurred  on  or 
before  Sept.  30  of  this  year.  The 
effect  of  the  order,  it  is  pointed  out, 
will  be  the  substitution  of  bonds  for 
the  indebtedness  incurred  by  current 
liabilities. 

Originally  the  company  asked  the  ap- 
proval of  $970,223  for  construction  ex- 
penditures. The  propriety  of  a  num- 
ber of  items  was  questioned  by  the 
commission  and  the  application  was 
thereupon  amended  and  the  present 
authorization  applies  only  to  expendi- 
tures properly  chargeable  to  capital 
account. 

During  1920  the  company  sold  its 
power  plant  to  the  San  Diego  Con- 
solidated Gas  &  Electric  Company 
receiving  in  payment  $425,000  of  bonds 
and  $575,000  of  7  per  cent  preferred 
stock  of  the  purchasing  company. 
Through  the  sale  of  these  securities 
and  the  use  of  sinking  fund  the  railway 
has  retired  $1,320,000  of  its  first 
mortgage  bonds  as  of  Sept.  30,  1921. 
The  company  had  outstanding  $1,250,- 


$417,426  Loss  by  Toronto  Railway 
Last  Year 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Toronto 
(Ont. )  Railway  was  held  on  Sept.  30. 
Sir  Henry  M.  Pellatt  presided  in  the 
absence  of  the  president,  Sir  William 
MacKenzie,  who  is  abroad. 

The  following  statement  was  pre- 
sented for  the  year  ended  Aug.  30. 

Gross  earnings   $7,909,89! 

Operating  maintenance,  etc.  $6,626,508 

Interest  on  bonds   109,175 

Percentage  earnings  (city).  1,308,339 

Pavement,  taxes,  etc   283,294 

  $8,327,318 

Deficit   $417,426 

Profit  and  Loss  Account — 

Balance  from  previous  year   $5,578,527 

Deficit  after  payment  of  all  expenses, 

interest,  taxes,  etc   417,426 

$5,161,100 

The  balance  sheet  submitted  shows 
road  and  equipment  carried  at  $19,681,- 
262,  an  increase  of  about  $13,000;  ad- 
vances to  subsidiaries  at  $1,341,344,  a 
decrease  of  over  $100,000;  accounts  re- 
ceivable at  $434,858,  down  about  $75,- 
000,  and  cash  on  hand  at  $109,087, 
down  over  $200,000.  Total  assets  are 
placed  at  $21,683,174,  as  against  $22,- 
572,281  the  previous  year. 

All  the  retiring  directors  were  re- 
elected with  the  exception  of  C.  P. 
Beaubien,  Montreal,  whose  place  was 
taken  by  William  H.  Moore,  general 
manager  of  the  Toronto  &  York  Radial 
system.  Mr.  Moore  has  been  prom- 
inently identified  with  the  MacKenzie 
&  Mann  interests  for  many  years. 


Receiver  Appointed.  —  Walter  C. 
Graeff  was  recently  appointed  receiver 
for  the  Ephrata  &  Lebanon  Street 
Railway,  operated  by  the  Ephrata  & 
Lebanon  Traction  Company,  Lebanon, 
Pa. 

Vincennes  Company  Reorganizes. — 
The  Vincennes  (Ind.)  Electric  Railway 
has  been  incorporated,  with  capital  of 
$100,000,  as  the  successor  under  reor- 
ganization to  the  Vincennes  Traction 
Company. 

Wants  to  Discontinue  Service. — The 
Geneva,  Seneca  Falls  &  Auburn  Rail- 
road, Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  has  pe- 
titioned the  Public  Service  Commission 
for  permission  to  abandon  a  portion  of 
its  line  in  Seneca  Falls.  The  railway's 
claim  is  that  the  operation  of  this  line 
is  unprofitable. 

$149,395  Added  to  Boston  Deficit.— 
The  month  of  September  added  $149,- 
395  to  the  deficit  of  the  Boston  (Mass.) 
Elevated  Railway,  which  now  totals 
$342,422,  as  revenue  failed  to  meet  ex- 
penses by  that  amount.  Total  revenue 
as  compared  with  a  year  ago  is  de- 
creasing about  7  per  cent. 

Wants  to  Abandon  Line. — The  Read- 
ing Transit  &  Light  Company,  Reading, 
Pa.,  notified  the  court  on  Nov.  1  that 
it  wishes  to  abandon  that  portion  of 


its  line  in  Norristown  on  DeKalb 
Street  from  Brown  Street  to  the 
boi-ough  line,  a  distance  of  2,200  ft. 
Unprofitable  operation  was  given  as  the 
reason  for  the  suspension. 

Wants  to  End  Railway  Service. — ■ 
The  Muskegon  Traction  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Muskegon,  Mich.,  has  announced 
that  it  will  seek  permission  from  the 
State  Utilities  Commission  to  discon- 
tinue railway  service  on  Nov.  20.  The 
company  has  been  operating  in  compe- 
tition with  jitneys  and  has  lost  consid- 
erable money.  Recently  it  appealed  to 
the  City  Commission  for  financial  as- 
sistance. 

Receivers  for  Utilities  Win  a  Vic- 
tory.— Receivers  for  the  Memphis  Gas 
&  Electric  Company  and  the  Memphis 
(Tenn.)  Street  Railway  have  won  a 
temporary  victory  at  least  in  their 
fight  against  the  State  Tax  Commis- 
sion for  a  lower  assessment,  for  on  Oct. 
28  Judge  A.  B.  Neil,  of  the  Second 
Circuit  Court  in  Nashville,  granted  the 
receivers  writs  of  certiorari  and  super- 
sedeas against  the  State  board. 

Make  Valuation  for  Rate  Fixing. — 

The  Indiana  Public  Service  Commission 
has  placed  a  valuation  of  $4,346,653  on 
the  property  of  the  Indiana  Railways 
&  Light  Company,  Kokomo,  for  rate- 
making  purposes.  A  ten-year  average 
of  prices  from  1911  to  1920  was  used 
by  the  commission  in  figuring  the 
value  of  the  property.  Non-utility 
property  owned  by  the  company,  valued 
at  $172,585,  was  not  included  in  the 
valuation. 

O'Connell  Interests  Extend  Hold- 
ings.— Thomas  E.  O'Connell,  president 
of  the  Phoenixville,  Valley  Forge  & 
Strafford  Electric  Railway,  Phoenix- 
ville, Pa.,  has  purchased  the  Mont- 
gomery &  Chester  Electric  Railway 
property  from  the  Philadelphia  Subur- 
ban Gas  &  Electric  Company  for  $200,- 
000.  The  old  board  of  directors  has 
resigned  and  a  new  one  has  been 
elected,  with  Mr.  O'Connell  as  presi- 
dent; Thomas  E.  O'Connell,  Jr.,  secre- 
tary, and  A.  J.  Taylor,  treasurer.  Other 
directors  are  J.  Gerald  O'Connell,  J. 
Fred  O'Connell,  V.  N.  Shaffer  and  Dr. 
W.  K.  Williams. 

Valuation  Hearing  Started.  —  Pro- 
ceedings for  ascertainment  of  valua- 
tion of  properties  of  the  Altoona  & 
Logan  Valley  Traction  Company,  Al- 
toona, Pa.,  and  Home  Electric  &  Steam 
Heating  Company,  were  begun  on  Nov. 
10  before  Public  Service  Commissioner 
W.  D.  B.  Ainey.  C.  L.  S.  Tingley  sub- 
mitted figures.  The  reproduction  cost 
of  the  traction  system  was  given  as 
$7,017,542,  as  of  Dec.  31,  1919,  with  an 
average  for  five  years  from  1914  to 
1919  of  $5,328,560,  while  the  electric 
and  heating  plant  value  was  put  at 
$823,304,  as  of  Dec.  31,  1919. 

Change  in  Control  Contemplated. — 

Negotiations  are  under  way  for  the  ab- 
sorption of  the  American  Cities  Com- 
pany by  the  Electric  Bond  &  Share 
Company.  Collateral  trust  5  and  6  per 
cent  bonds  of  the  American  Cities  Com- 
pany outstanding  to  the  amount  of 
$7,709,000  have  been  in  default  of  in- 
terest since  July  1,  1919.  They  are 
secured  by  deposit  of  a  majority  of  the 
stocks  of  subsidiary  companies  which 
include  the  following:  Birmingham 
Railway  Light  &  Power  Company, 
Houston  Lighting  &  Power  Company, 
Knoxville  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Little  Rock  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Memphis  Street  Railway  and  New 
Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Company. 


924 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Five-Cent  Fare  Ordered 

Connecticut  Company  Required  to  Re- 
duce Charges  Within  City  Limits 
of  Bridgeport. 

Under  an  order  issued  on  Nov.  16 
the  Connecticut  Company  is  directed  by 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  to  put 
into  effect  in  the  city  of  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  a  5-cent  fare  without  transfer, 
on  all  its  lines  radiating  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  city  to  various  specified 
points  at  the  city  limits.  In  the  opin- 
ion of  the  commission  additional  jitney 
routes  are  not  required  at  the  present 
time  in  Bridgeport.  The  new  fare  is  to 
continue  for  a  trial  period  of  ninety 
days  and  is  to  go  into  effect  on  Nov.  20. 

Salient  features  of  the  commission's 
order  are: 

On  cars  terminating  in  or  passing  through 
the  center  of  the  city,  passengers  may  ride 
across  said  neutral  zone  without  the  pay- 
ment of  an  additional  fare. 

The  rate  of  fare  from  the  center  of  the 
city  and  points  along  the  line  to  points 
beyond  the  city  limits,  but  within  the  pres- 
ent fare  limit,  is  to  be  10  cents. 

No  transfers  are  to  be  issued  or  accepted 
within  the  city  limits. 

The  order  is  not  to  apply  to  other  lines 
and  sections  of  the  Connecticut  Company 
not  herein  specially  referred  to. 

The  5-cent  fare  previously  described  is  to 
be  put  into  effect  on  or  before  Nov.  20, 
1921,  and  to  remain  in  effect  for  a  test 
period  of  ninety  days  thereafter  and  until 
further  order  of  the  commission. 

The  Connecticut  Company  is  directed  to 
keep  a  careful  separate  account  of  the 
riding  and  revenues  of  the  city  of  Bridge- 
port, of  the  riding  revenues  and  as  far 
as  possible  of  the  operating  and  other  ex- 
penses of  the  present  Bridgeport.  Norwalk 
and  Stamford  divisions,  subject  to  inspec- 
tion by  the  commission. 

Petition  Filed  Oct.  11 

The  petition  on  which  the  commission 
made  its  findings  and  rulings  was  filed 
by  the  city  of  Bridgeport  on  Oct.  11.  It 
represented: 

1.  That  the  conditions  for  the  convey- 
ance and  transportation  of  passengers  in 
Bridgeport  are  such  as  to  make  the  present 
rate  of  fare  charged  by  the  Connecticut 
Company  unreasonable  and  prejudicial  to 
the  public  welfare  and  necessity. 

2.  That  public  necessity  and  convenience 
require  the  reduction  of  the  rate  of  fare 
charged  by  the  Connecticut  Company  for 
transportation  within  the  limits  of  Bridge- 
port from  10  cents  to  5  cents,  or  to  such 
other  rate  of  fare  as  shall  be  reasonable. 

3.  That  conditions  affecting  transporta- 
tion within  the  city  of  Bridgeport  make  it 
reasonable  and  proper  that  a  hearing  upon 
an  application  to  reduce  the  fares  should 
be  held  in  Bridgeport. 

In  the  finding  the  commission  says: 

Large  centers  of  population  should  assist 
in  supporting  tributary  lines  having  to  do 
with  the  social,  business  and  industrial 
activities  of  the  community,  but  should 
not  be  called  upon  to  assist  in  the  main- 
tenance of  street  railway  service  in  remote 
sections  of  the  state.  Uoon  the  request 
and  advice  of  the  commission,  the  respond- 
ent company  has  submitted  a  tentative  plan 
for  dividing  its  system  into  territories  for 
accounting  districts,  which  has  not  been 
approved  by  the  commission.  Each  such 
district  should  be  self-supporting  and  allow 
the  company  a  fair  return  on  the  value  and 
equipment,  and  any  revenues  in  excess  of 
such  fair  return  should  inure  to  the  benefit 
of  the  public  of  that  district  in  the  form  of 
improved  service  or  reduced  rates. 

The  commission  also  gives  this  opin- 
ion: 

It  is  doubtful  under  present  economic 
conditions  if  a  5-cent  flat  rate  can  be 
successfully  maintained  on  any  portion  of 
the  company's  system  but  we  are  of  the 
opinion  that  the  maximum  10-cent  fare  for 
short   rides   in   population   centers    is  not 


at  present  the  economic  fare  for  such  daily 
riders  and  is  not  producing  as  much  rev- 
enue as  a  lower  fare  with  increased 
patronage  would  produce. 

The  probable  financial  advantage  of  a 
lower  fare  is  not  so  much  from  the  carry- 
ing of  a  large  number  of  passenger  during 
the  peak  hours  of  the  day  as  carrying  a 
materially  larger  number  of  short  haul 
passengers  during  the  lean  hours  of  the  day. 
We  are  not  satisfied  that  5  cents  without  a 
transfer  is  the  economic  rate  for  short  haul 
city  travel,  but  the  elimination  of  the  trans- 
fer and  the  establishing-  of  such  fare  on 
all  lines  radiating  from  the  center  of  the 
city  to  the  city  limits  is  not  equivalent 
to  reducing  the  revenues  50  per  cent  based 
on  the  present  limited  number  of  passengers 
riding   at   a    10-cent   fare   through  longer 

Zolli'S. 

The  success  or  failure  of  a  5-cent  fare 
in  Bridgeport  will  depend  largely  upon  the 
attitude  of  the  city  and  the  amount  of 
patronage  which  the  riding  public  will 
afford  the  railway,  and  also  upon  such 
additional  economies  as  the  company  may 
be  able  to  introduce,  including  the  use  of 
one-man  cars  as  far  as  reasonably  prac- 
tical. 

It  might  be  extremely  dangerous  to  the 
financial  interest  of  the  company  to  ex- 
periment with  a  5-cent  fare  in  a  city 
where  the  company  is  now  receiving  a 
fair  amount  of  patronage,  but  in  a  city 
where  the  present  patronage  under  a  10-cent 
fare  is  so  limited  that  the  revenues  fall  short 
of  paying  the  actual  operating  expenses 
an  experiment  with  a  5-cent  fare  in  pop- 
ulous centers,  without  transfer  and  with 
contracted  fare  limits,  ought  not  to  result  in 
serious  financial  loss  to  the  company.  A 
careful  analysis  may  demonstrate  the 
necessity  of  abandoning  certain  lines  and 
substituting  some  other  form  of  transporta- 
tion at  rates  that  will  afford  a  reasonable 
return  for  such  substitute  transportation. 

The  commission  believes  that  railway 
service  in  Bridgeport  is  an  absolute 
necessity,  irrespective  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  jitneys  and  the  extent  of  their 
operation.  The  principal  demand  for 
increased  number  of  jitneys  is  largely 
due  to  the  difference  in  fares. 

Considering  the  whole  situation,  the 
commission  concludes  that  public  neces- 
sity and  convenience  do  not  require  ad- 
ditional jitney  operation  in  the  city  of 
Bridgeport  or  additional  jitney  opera- 
tion for  the  city,  or  upon  any  suburban 
or  interurban  routes  applied  for. 

The  hearing  at  which  the  peti- 
tion for  a  reduction  in  fare  was 
held   at  Bridgeport  on  November  10. 

Counsel  Protests  Change 

D.  G.  Watrous,  counsel  for  the  Con- 
necticut Company,  told  the  commission 
at  the  hearing  on  Nov.  10  that  the  fed- 
eral trustees  would  do  their  best  to  give 
service  at  a  5-cent  fare  if  the  com- 
mission made  such  an  order  for  Bridge- 
port, but  pointed  out  that  because  of 
the  fiduciary  relations  existing  be- 
tween the  trustees  and  the  company, 
the  trustees  could  not  agree  to  it.  Mr. 
Watrous  did  not  intimate,  however, 
that  the  trustees  would  resign  in  the 
event  that  a  reduction  in  fare  was 
ordered. 

That  the  attitude  of  the  federal  trus- 
tees has  not  changed  since  Judge 
Noyes  imparted  to  the  commission  the 
information  that  the  company  would 
be  in  a  better  position  to  act  on  a  re- 
duction next  spring  was  made  evident 
by  Mr.  Watrous.  He  made  the  fol- 
lowing claims: 

1.  That  the  trustees  were  convinced  that 
a  fare  reduction  at  this  time  would  upset 
the  unity  of  the  single  fare  idea  for  the 
entire  system. 

2.  That  a  5-cent  fare  trial  should  not 
be  made  in  Bridgeport. 


3.  That  it  would  be  utterly  impossible 
to  operate  the  road  on  a  5-cent  basis  either 
as  a  test  or  otherwise. 

L.  S.  Storrs,  president  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company,  also  spoke  for  the 
company  at  the  hearing  and  explained 
a  situation  which  has  arisen  recently 
in  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  where  a  zone 
system  with  a  6-cent  fare  had  not 
worked  satisfactorily.  As  a  result  the 
public  demanded  a  return  to  the  flat 
10-cent  fare  basis.  Mr.  Storrs  spoke 
along  the  same  lines  as  Mr.  Watrous. 

Those  seeking  a  return  of  the  5-cent 
fare  took  comfort  at  the  hearing  on 
Nov.  10  in  the  recommendation  which 
Chairman  Higgins,  speaking  for  the 
commission,  made  to  the  trustees  of 
the  Connecticut  Company  on  Oct.  11. 
That  recommendation  follows: 

The  10-cent  fare  does  not  bring  the  neces- 
sary revenue.  If  the  company  can't  manage 
to  supply  service  in  Bridgeport  without  a 
continuing  loss,  there  is  only  one  alterna- 
tive. I  would  suggest  as  an  experiment  or 
test  for  a  limited  period  of  time  the  adop- 
tion of  a  5-cent  fare  without  transfer  on 
all  city  lines  radiating  from  the  center  of 
the  city. 

This  might  necessitate  a  change  of  the 
outer  zone  point  on  certain  lines.  The 
revenues  and  expenses  of  such  an  operation 
in  the  city  of  Bridgeport  division  should  be 
kept  separate  from  other  divisions  and  be 
considered  in  connection  with  the  cost  and 
maintenance  of  the  Bridgeport  division. 

Such  an  experiment  could  not  put  the 
company  in  a  condition  much  worse  than 
now  exists,  and  in  the  absence  of  some 
prompt  action  or  relief  in  Bridgeport,  the 
commission  will  feel  obliged  in  the  interests 
of  the  public  to  authorize  additional  jitney 
routes  and  grant  additional  certificates. 

Want  Transfers 

Although  the  commission  has  rec- 
ommended a  5-cent  fare  without  trans- 
fers, interests  which  were  understood 
to  represent  the  jitneymen  objected  to 
a  system  of  lines  radiating  from  the 
center  of  the  city  on  the  ground  that 
the  city's  workers  would  still  have  to 
pay  a  10-cent  fare  as  they  lived  in 
one  part  of  the  city  and  worked  in 
another  part  of  th»  city.  City  Attor- 
ney Comley  and  Representative  Kil- 
patrick  asked  for  a  return  of  the  pre- 
war flat  5-cent  fare  basis. 

Jacob  B.  Kle'n,  counsel  for  the  jit- 
neymen of  Bridgeport,  said  a  5-cent 
fare  with  no  transfers  would  mean 
nothing  to  the  workers  of  the  city  and 
urged  the  commission  to  grant  addi- 
tions! iitnfv  permits.  Representatives 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
other  business  organizations  approved 
of  the  5-cent  no-t^ansfer  scheme. 


Louisville  Watching  Youngstown 

Experiment 

James  P  Barnes,  president  of  the 
Louisville  (Kv.)  Railway,  has  been 
watching  with  interest  the  plan 
adopted  in  Racine  some  time  ago,  and 
just  recently  in  Youngstown,  under- 
which  the  ra^l"'."vs  in  those  cities  issue 
weekly  tickets  which  allow  unlimited 
riding.    Mr  Barnes  said  in  part: 

If  it  is  possible  to  pu*  the  svstem  in  op- 
eration here,  so  ns  to  ■  rive  cheaper  fares 
to  the  maioritv  of  the  peop'e  and  at  the 
same  time  run  no  risk  of  our  revenue  falling 
off.  we  would  be  glad  to  try  the  system. 
However,  it  is  too  earlv  to  make  a  definite 
"tatement  about  it  We  are  watching  the 
Youngstown  experi  — ent  with  great  interest 
and  are  in  con^tTit  touch  with  th»  situa- 
t'on  and  shall  soon  have  some  definite  in- 
formation. 

Louisville  is  a  much  larger  city  than 
Youngstown.  and  we  do  not  know  whether 
a  city  of  twice  the  size  can  operate  under 
the  plan  as  economically  and  as  success- 
fully in  mpkine-  the  unit  fare  the  same. 
Before  trvme  it  out  we  will  gather  actual 
facts  and  figures  over  a  neriod  of  time  long 
enoueTi  to  determine  f-e  answer  to  these 
problems. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


925 


No  Traffic  Increase  Probable 
With  Reduced  Fare 

Public  officials  at  Hartford,  Conn., 
are  wondering  what  effect  a  reduction 
in  fares  to  5  cents  on  .lines  of  the 
Hartford  division  of  the  Connecticut 
Company  will  have  on  the  number  of 
passengers  carried.  Figures  obtained 
from  the  company's  headquarters  at 
New  Haven  show  that  in  September, 
1916,  a  5-cent  fare  was  collected  from 
4,003,758  passengers.  At  that  time  in- 
dustrial activity  was  at  a  peak  in  Hart- 
ford and  the  number  of  persons  riding 
was  consequently  enlarged.  In  Sept. 
1921,  a  10-cent  fare  was  collected  from 
3,366,930  passengers,  a  decrease  of 
636,828  for  the  month.  The  daily 
average  for  Sept.,  1921,  was  112,231, 
or  21,227  less  than  the  daily  average 
for  Sept.,  1916. 

The  operating  expense  of  the  Hart- 
ford division  in  Sept.,  1916,  was  $123,- 
609,  which  increased  fully  120  per  cent 
to  $271,744  for  the  same  month  in  1921. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  revenue  in- 
creased only  68  per  cent,  from  the 
$200,187  of  Sept.,  1916. 

Under  these  conditions,  to  receive  its 
present  revenue,  for  which  it  is  con- 
tending, the  company  will  have  to 
carry  at  a  5-cent  fare  3,366,930  more 
passengers,  than  it  did  in  1920,  but 
even  at  the  peak  period  in  1916  and 
under  a  5-cent  fare  the  company  car- 
ried only  636,828  more  for  September 
than  at  present. 

Thus  a  return  to  the  original  5-cent 
fare  would  provide  only  one-fifth  of 
the  increase  needed  to  produce  the 
present  revenue. 

Mayor  Newton  G.  Brainard  of  Hart- 
ford, one  of  the  federal  trustees  of  the 
Connecticut  Company,  said  that  the  de- 
creased traffic  on  the  Hartford  division 
is  a  direct  reflection  of  the  decreased 
industrial  activity  in  the  city.  He 
thinks  that  a  reduced  fare  would  not 
attract  many  more  passengers,  but 
feels  that  Hartford  is  entitled  to  the 
smaller  rate  if  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission is  to  follow  that  policy  in  other 
cities. 


Ten  Cents  Authorized  in  Helena 

The  State  Railroad  Commission  re- 
cently authorized  the  Helena  Light  & 
Railway  Company,  Helena,  Mont.,  to 
establish  a  10-cent  fare.  The  order 
provides  for  tickets  at  6i  cents. 

The  present  fare  is  8  cents,  with 
tickets  at  5  cents.  This  charge,  the 
company  claimed  in  renewing  its  ap- 
plication for  increased  rates,  failed  to 
bring  the  revenues  up  to  the  expenses. 

In  its  finding  the  commission  criti- 
cised the  service  rendered  by  the  rail- 
way and  said  that  more  efficient  service 
would  be  expected  in  the  future  in  con- 
sequence of  granting  the  company's 
demands.  Reference  to  the  petition  of 
the  company  was  made  in  the  ELECTRIC 
Railway  Journal,  issue  of  Sept.  24. 


Seven-Cent  Fare  Extended 

The  Missouri  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion at  Jefferson  City  recently  extended 
the  7-cent  fare  now  in  effect  on  the 
lines  of  the  United  Railwavs  of  St. 
Louis  until  June  30,  1922.  The  order 
states  that  the  added  period  will  ex- 
pire on  that  date  and  the  fare  will 
revert  to  the  rate  of  May  31,  1918, 
which  was  5  cents. 

The  commission  is  now  hearing  evi- 
dence to  assist  its  placing  the  valua- 
tion  on  the  property  of  the  United 


Railways  and  when  this  valuation  is 
completed  the  rate  of  fare  will  be 
determined.  The  company  will  have 
the  right,  when  the  commission  orders 
the  lower  fare,  to  ask  for  a  higher  rate. 


Boston  Not  Returning  to 
Five-Cent  Fare 

Notwithstanding  repeated  explana- 
tions, says  the  Boston  News  Bureau, 
there  still  exists  a  misconception  of  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway's  5-cent  fare 
policy.  The  extension  of  the  5-cent 
service  to  include  more  and  more  out- 
lying communities  does  not  presage  a 
return  to  the  nickel  unit  on  the  rapid 
transit  system.  The  single  idea  is  to 
enlarge  the  sphere  of  usefulness  of  the 
elevated  system.  Halving  of  the  fare 
in  suburban  districts  has  not  multiplied 
the  number  of  passengers;  in  fact,  the 
elevated  management  aimed  at  only  a 
100  per  cent  increase  in  order  that  in- 
troduction of  the  lower  fare  might  not 
cut  into  the  revenues  of  the  system  as 
a  whole.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
company  is  getting  about  a  75  per  cent 
increase  in  riding  traceable  to  the  5- 
cent  fare,  which  is  considered  satis- 
factory in  view  of  the  depression  in 
industry  and  rediscovery  of  the  lost 
art  of  pedestrianism. 


Safety  First  Educational  Cam- 
paign Via  the  Public  Schools 

All  the  public  schools  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.,  in  which  there  are  enrolled 
a  total  of  about  100,000  school  children, 
are  being  visited  seriatim  by  a  lecturer 
who  is  showing  moving  pictures  and 
telling  stories  with  a  "safety  first" 
moral  which  have  a  bearing  particu- 
larly on  street  traffic  in  cities.  The 
lecturer's  time  for  the  60-day  period 
that  will  be  required  to  cover  all  the 
schools  is  being  paid  on  a  fifty-fifty 
basis  by  the  San  Francisco  Municipal 
Street  Railway  and  the  Market  Street 
Railway.  The  moving  pictures  are 
supplied  gratis  by  the  Firestone  Tire 
Company  and  the  Ford  Motor  Com- 
pany. 

The  street  railways  have  found  this 
method  of  promulgating  the  safety  first 
idea  most  effective  because  by  this 
means  it  is  possible  to  gain  access  to 
the  home  circle.  In  other  words,  the 
children  are  missionaries  through 
whom  it  is  possible  to  reach  adults 
who  have  become  so  accustomed  to 
the  usual  safety  first  literature  and 
other  ordinary  educational  measures 
that  these  are  passed  by  without  heed. 

Bus  Line  Into  Boston  Begins 
Operation 

The  Norfolk  &  Bristol  bus  line  began 
operation  on  Nov.  9.  These  buses  give, 
residents  of  the  Hyde  Park  district 
transportation  service  into  Boston, 
Mass.,  for  15  cents.  Service  is  gtven 
over  four  lines  from  Cleary  Square. 

Bus  operation  in  this  section  grew 
out  of  the  recent  controversy  with  the 
Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway 
over  a  20-cent  charge  to  Boston. 

Residents  of  Hyde  Park  boycotted  the 
cars  of  the  Eastern  Massachusetts 
Street  Railway  and  when  Mayor  Peters 
was  unable  to  effect  a  compromise  a 
Permit  was  granted  to  the  Norfolk  & 
Bristol  bus  line  with  the  assurance 
that  the  rate  of  fare  would  be  15  cents. 
Reference  has  been  made  previously  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  both  tb 
the  boycott  and  the  bus  permit. 


Fare  Increase  to  Stand  Pending 
Final  Determination 

The  8-cent  fare  recently  granted  to 
the  Public  Service  Railway  for  its  lines 
in  New  Jersey  stands,  pending  the  final 
determination  of  the  appeal  that  has 
been  filed  with  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court. 

This  court  on  Nov.  14  denied  the  mo- 
tion of  the  New  Jersey  Public  Utilities 
Commission  for  a  stay  against  the 
8-cent  fare.  The  court  has  had  the 
motion  under  consideration  since  it  was 
made  on  Nov.  14  by  Attorney  General 
McCran  and  L.  Edward  Herrmann, 
counsel  of  the  utilities  board.  The  denial 
of  the  motion  was  announced  by  Chief 
Justice  Taft. 

The  United  States  District  Court  for 
New  Jersey  held  the  rate  of  fare  fixed 
by  the  commission  confiscatory,  and 
permitted  the  company  to  increase 
fares,  but  required  it,  under  bond,  to 
redeem  rebate  slips  issued  to  passen- 
gers should  the  decision  be  reversed  or 
modified. 

The  State  Commissioners  sought  to 
have  the  old  rates  continue  until  the 
Supreme  Court  disposed  of  the  case, 
the  company  objecting  on  the  ground 
that  it  could  not  be  secured  against 
loss  which  it  would  suffer  if  old  rates 
were  charged  and  the  increase  allowed 
by  the  lower  courts  finally  should  be 
approved  by  the  Supreme  Court. 


Ticket  Sale  Is  Ordered  Resumed 

By  a  recent  order  of  the  Public- 
Service  Commission  the  New  York 
State  Railways  must  resume  the  sale 
of  tickets  on  cars  on  the  city  line  in 
Syracuse.  The  commissioners  hold  that 
failure  to  offer  tickets  or  tokens  for 
sale  on  cars  at  1\  cents  is  a  public  in- 
convenience.   The  cash  fare  is  8  cents. 

This  is  the  first  point  won  by  the 
city  in  its  fight  before  the  commission 
for  the  restoration  of  ticket  sales, 
termination  of  one-man  car  service  and 
a  reduction  in  fares. 


Chicago  Fare  Case  Closed 

The  fare  case  of  the  Chicago  Surface 
Lines  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Illinois 
Commerce  Commission  for  decision, 
closing  arguments  having  been  pre- 
sented on  Nov.  14  and  15  by  attorneys 
for  the  city  and  the  companies.  The 
companies  have  been  collecting  an  8- 
cent  fare  since  July,  1920,  and  the  city 
is  insisting  that  they  be  held  to  the 
ordinance  rate  of  5  cents. 

Rate  cases  of  the  elevated  roads,  the 
gas  and  the  telephone  companies  were 
also  set  for  hearing  during  the  week 
ended  Nov.  19.  These  cases  are  some- 
what different  because  action  was 
started  by  the  commission  instead  of 
by  the  city. 

Further  healings  on  the  question  of 
subway  construction  in  Chicago  have 
been  held  before  the  local  transporta- 
tion committee  of  the  City  Council. 
Citizens  were  invited  to  present  their 
views. 

The  city  comptroller  reported  that 
the  companies  have  paid  into  the  trac- 
tion fund  since  1907  the  sum  of  $22,- 
411,528.  Investment  of  this  fund  in 
Chicago  city  bonds,  tax  warrants  and 
liberty  bonds  has  added  $5,414,132  in 
interest.  There  is  also  due  about  $3,- 
000.000  additional  which  the  companies 
have  tendered  but  which  the  city  re- 
fused to  accept  for  fea>-  that  this  would 
be  an  acknowledgment  of  the  validity 
of  the  ordinances. 


926 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


"Pep"  Put  in  Public  Policy 
Promises 

Winnipeg  Company   Carries  Its  Mes- 
sage of  Service  Direct  to  All 
Its  Patrons 

"Service"  is  the  slogan  adopted  by 
the  Winnipeg  (Man.)  Electric  Railway 
for  its  new  campaign  to  win  the  good 
will  of  the  public.  The  purpose,  as 
stated  by  A.  W.  McLimont,  the  vice- 
president,  is  to  impress  upon  the  public 
"that  we  desire  to  give  service  to  the 
end  that  they  may  prefer  to  buy  what 
we  have  to  sell — car  rides,  gas,  light 
and  power;  and,  second,  to  impress 
upon  our  employees  that  in  mutual 
interest  it  is  necessary  that  the  best 
type  of  service  be  rendered  by  every 
one  working  for  this  company." 

The  campaign  opened  with  the  Oct. 
15  issue  of  the  Winnipeg  Electric  Pub- 
lic Service  News,  the  company's  house- 
organ,  with  an  article  "Why  We  Are 
Out  to  Give  Service."  This  publica- 
tion was  distributed  to  the  public- 
through  "Take  One"  boxes  in  the  cars 


A  circular,  here  reproduced,  was  in- 
closed in  each  pay  envelope  on  Nov.  1, 
entitled  "Stop,  Look  and  Listen." 

The  company  feels  the  "Better  Serv- 
ice" campaign  already  has  brought 
good  results  where  the  public  is  con- 
cerned and  that  the  employees  have 
given  excellent  co-operation. 


U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Upholds 

Seattle's  Right  of  Regulation 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  on  Nov.  9  upheld  the  right  of 
the  city  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  to  oust  the 
jitneys  from  the  city  streets.  All  of 
the  state  courts  had  already  upheld  the 
city's  right,  but  the  jitney  interests 
took  an  appeal  to  the  United  States 
Court.  The  city  of  Seattle  has  been 
battling  the  jitney  for  five  years.  Esti- 
mates have  placed  the  loss  sustained  by 
the  municipal  railway  there  from  the 
jitney  as  high  as  $350,000  a  year.  The 
entire  controversy  was  reviewed  at 
length  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal for  Oct.  1,  1921,  page  571. 


STOP 

LOOK 

LISTEN 

<J  "Running  By"  intending  passen- 

<3 For   leaves   on    the   track,  or 

Carefully  to  requests  from 

gers,  or  leaving  them  at  transfer 

for  "greasy  rail"  if  you  are  a 

passengers    or    customers  and 

points.    Why  lose  revenue  that 

motorman.  and  operate  carefully. 

comply  with  them  if  consistent. 

wayP 

<3  Discourtesy  to  our  patrons  and 
obtain  their  goodwill  to  the  end 
that  they  may  prejer  to  use  the 
services  we  sell  in  our  electric 
railway,  gas,  and  electric  light 

<3  For   defects    in   equipment  or 
materials.   Report  the  defects  and 
thus  prevent  accidents  and  loss. 

<^  After  the  ventilation  of  the  car 
in   your  charge,   if  you  are  a 

Remember  we  are  all  salesmen — 
selling  the  products,  car  rides, 
gas.  light  and  power,  we  manu- 
facture— and  we  must  have  the 
goodwill  of  our  customers  if  we 
are  to  succeed  in  our  business. 

and  power  departments. 

conductor,  and  thus  please  and 

<]  Waste  of   time  or  materials- 

satisfy  your  patrons. 

make  every  hour  you  arc  paid 

*J  For  passengers  at  car  stops  and 

for  give  value  to  the  organization 

transfer   points,   and   for  new 

and  we  will  all  benefit. 

customers  for  our  gas  and  electric 

Q  Careless  practices  wherever  you 

departments. 

see    them    and    do   your  part 

^  For   opportunities    to  improve 

towards   realizing  our  "Safety 

the  service  and  let  us  have  your 

First"  ideal. 

suggestions. 

Advice  to  Employees  of  Winnipeg  Company  Contained  in  Attractive  Circular 


and  sent  to  nearly  1,000  citizens.  In 
it  was  this  statement: 

We  want  the  people  of  Winnipeg  to  know 
that  we  are  their  servants,  that  we  are  in 
business  to  satisfy  their  utility  wants,  and 
to  please  them.  We  want  to  give  Service, 
first,  last  and  all  the  time.  That  is  the 
policy  which  underlies  our  whole  activi- 
ties. 

But  we  also  believe  that  the  best  service 
•can  only  be  obtained  by  the  fullest  meas- 
ure of  co-operation  on  the  part  of  those 
"we  are  serving.  We  don't  think  that  any 
iitility  service  can  be  entirely  satisfactory 
until  the  public  and  the  operating  company 
realize  they  must  work  together. 

Criticism  and  suggestions  from  the 
public  have  been  invited  that  would 
help  the  company  to  give  greater  satis- 
faction. By  following  the  suggestions 
whenever  possible  the  company  has 
proved  its  sincerity. 

Customers  will  receive  with  their 
November  electric  and  gas  bills  cards 
headed  "We  Are  On  Our  Toes  to  Serve 
You,"  and  through  regular  issues  of 
the  Winnipeg  Electric  Public  Service 
News,  the  public  will  be  informed  of 
the  service  campaign. 

Without  the  co-operation  of  the  em- 
ployees the  officials  realized  that  their 
efforts  would  fail.  Each  employee  re- 
ceived instructions  in  a  letter  how  to 
extend  courtesies  characteristic  of  the 
department.  On  the  street  car,  in  the 
office  of  the  company,  in  the  homes 
during  the  reading  of  the  gas  meter, 
the  employees  are  expected  to  give  the 
utmost  service. 


A  further  development  in  the  jitney 
situation  is  the  resumption  of  opera- 
tions by  the  jitneys  owned  by  the  Sound 
Transit  Company,  under  a  certificate  of 
necessity  issued  by  the  State  Board  of 
Public  Works  at  Olympia  permitting 
the  company  to  operate  stages  from 
Roosevelt  Heights  in  the  Cowen  Park 
District  into  the  business  section. 

Armed  with  a  legal  opinion  from 
Corporation  Counsel  Walter  F.  Meier  to 
the  effect  that  the  jitneys  were  being 
unlawfully  operated,  Superintendent  of 
Public  Utilities  Carl  H.  Reeves,  ordered 
their  operations  stopped.  The  company 
again  resumed  operations  when  a 
temporary  restraining  order  was  issued 
by  Judge  Brinker  in  the  Superior  Court, 
giving  the  jitneys  operating  to  Roose- 
velt Heights  protection  until  Nov.  14. 

W.'  R.  Crawford,  representing  the 
jitney  interests,  alleges  that  the  com- 
pany had  made  proper  application  for  a 
certificate  of  necessity,  specifying  the 
termini  of  the  proposed  stage  route,  and 
a  schedule  of  tariffs,  and  that  the  certifi- 
cate was  duly  granted  by  the  State  De- 
partment of  Public  Works  at  Olympia; 
that  the  jitneys  commenced  operation 
under  this  authority,  and  that  one 
driver  was  subsequently  arrested  and 
the  other  26  drivers  operating  were 
threatened  with  arrest. 

The  city  legal  department  takes  the 
stand  that  the  certificate  of  necessity 
granted  to  the  jitney  drivers  contains  a 


clause  which  specifically  states  that 
the  buses  shall  be  subject  to  the  exist- 
ing ordnances  of  the  city,  and  Corpora- 
tion Councel  Walter  F.  Meier  has  issued 
an  opinion  that  the  certificate  of  con- 
venience and  necessity  granted  by  the 
State  Board  of  Public  Works  did  not 
supersede  an  existing  city  ordinance 
to  regulate  service  within  the  city. 

In  support  of  this  opinion,  a  state- 
ment has  been  made  by  E.  V.  Kuyken- 
dall,  director  of  the  State  Board  of 
Public  Works,  to  the  effect  that  the  city 
of  Seattle  has  sole  authority  in  regu- 
lating jitney  service. 

The  board  holds  that  it  has  no  juris- 
diction over  city  streets  and  is  unable 
to  fix  routes  or  termini  of  stage  lines 
within  the  city  limits.  The  Department 
of  Public  Works  was  compelled  to  grant 
the  certificate,  according  to  Director 
Kuykendall,  because  of  the  uncontro- 
verted  showing  that  the  Sound  Transit 
Company  had  been  in  legitimate  opera- 
tion between  Roosevelt  Heights  and 
Seattle  on  and  prior  to  Jan.  15  last. 

Federal  Court  Will  Not  Judge 
in  St.  Paul  Case 

The  Federal  Court  having  refused  to 
interfere  at  present  in  the  St.  Paul 
(Minn.)  City  Railway  rate  case  the  way 
was  left  open  for  hearing  before  Judge 
F.  M.  Catlin  on  Nov.  15  in  the  Ramsey 
County  District  Court  of  the  appeal  of 
the  company  from  an  order  by  Judge 
J.  C.  Michael  of  the  same  court  re- 
straining the  company  from  collection 
of  an  emergency  rate  of  7  cents,  an 
increase  of  1  cent,  granted  by  the 
Minnesota  Railroad  Commission. 

Judges  W.  H.  Sanborn,  W.  F.  Booth 
and  T.  C.  Munger  of  the  Federal  court 
in  their  decision  on  the  appeal  of  the 
St.  Paul  City  Railway  of  Nov.  3  for  an 
order  restraining  the  city  from  inter- 
fering with  the  collecting  a  flat  rate 
of  7  cents  per  ride  held  that  although 
the  court  has  jurisdiction  in  the  case  it 
should  not  interfere  until  the  state  court 
of  concurrent  jurisdiction  has  completed 
its  adjudication  or  shows  lack  of  prompt 
diligence  in  reaching  its  decision.  The 
appeal  to  the  Federal  court  was  on  the 
basis  that  the  present  rate  of  6  cents 
did  not  permit  the  company  to  make 
a  due  return  on  its  investment,  in  effect 
confiscation  of  the  property. 

Pierce  Butler  in  speaking  for  the 
company  made  the  points  that  the  case 
argued  in  Federal  Court  is  not  the  same 
as  that  in  the  Ramsey  court,  because  it 
deals  with  the  6-cent  fare  that  is  in 
existence,  while  the  state  case  relates 
to  the  7-cent  fare  ordered  by  the  Rail- 
road and  Warehouse  Commission;  that 
no  contract  was  entered  into  to  appeal 
only  to  the  state  courts,  as  the  city 
contends;  that  the  section  of  the 
Brooks-Coleman  act,  which  gave  the 
Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission 
rate  control,  requiring  a  complete  new 
trial  is  unconstitutional  in  that  it  gives 
to  the  court  legislative  authority;  that 
the  judge  in  the  Ramsey  County  Dis- 
trict Court  exceeded  his  authority  when 
in  addition  to  granting  a  restraining 
order,  he  also  in  effect  set  the  rate  of 
fare  by  prohibiting  collection  of  a  fare 
at  a  rate  higher  than  that  existing. 

The  Federal  judges  ruled  as  follows: 

However,  this  suit  will  not  be  dismissed. 
This  court  has  jurisdiction  of  the  suit,  and 
the  court  will  stay  its  hand  and  await  the 
action  of  the  court  of  Ramsey  County  until 
such  time  as  it  has  completed  its  duties 
or  until  such  time  as  it  appears  necessary 
in  the  discretion  of  this  court  that  action 
should  be  taken  and  that  it  can  take  action 
without  violating  the  rules  heretofore 
stated. 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


927 


Railway  Rejects  City  Proposition 

The  St.  Johns  Electric  Company,  op- 
erating street  railway  service  in  St. 
Augustine,  Fla.,  and  St.  Johns  county, 
also,  including  a  line  to  Anastasia 
beach,  has  refused  the  city's  offer  of 
$20,000  for  its  Matanzas  River  bridge, 
because  of  the  city's  requirement  that 
rent  be  paid  for  crossing  the  bridge  and 
service  maintained  right  along.  The 
company  has  countered  with  a  proposi- 
tion. 

It  offers  the  bridge  for  $21,000  pro- 
vided the  city  and  county  allow  the 
company  to  traverse  the  bridge  free  of 
rent,  and  agree  to  abrogate  that  por- 
tion of  the  franchise  requiring  the  com- 
pany to  maintain  service  along  certain 
routes.  Abrogation  of  this  section 
would  permit  the  company  to  withdraw 
from  the  street  railway  field  in  St. 
Augustine,  which  is  something  the  city 
and  county  is  trying  to  prevent. 

Many  other  concessions  besides  the 
payment  of  $100  a  month  by  the  com- 
pany for  the  use  of  the  bridge  were 
included  in  the  city's  proposition. 


Regulative  Bus  Ordinance 
Invalid 

A  Muncie  (Ind.)  ordinance,  passed 
in  September,  forbidding  jitney  buses 
from  operating  in  Muncie  on  streets 
used  by  street  cars,  has  been  declared 
invalid  by  William  A.  McClelland, 
judge  of  the  city  court,  on  the  ground 
that  the  object  of  the  ordinance  was 
to  protect  the  Union  Traction  Company. 
The  court  said  that  if  the  city  has 
power  to  enforce  an  ordinance  of  this 
kind,  it  would  have  equal  power  to 
say  that  no  hacks  could  operate  for 
hire  on  any  streets  of  the  city,  and  that, 
although  the  right  of  the  city  to  regu- 
late traffic  is  admitted,  prohibition  is 
not  regulation.  It  is  understood  the 
traction  company  will  appeal. 


Six  Cents  Lowest  Rate  in  Large 
Canadian  Cities 

According  to  the  Monetary  Times  of 
Toronto,  Canadian  public  utility  com- 
panies will  now  have  their  day  as  rate 
reductions  will  come  more  slowly  than 
falling  costs,  and  while  their  losses  dur- 
ing the  war  were  stupendous,  their  im- 
proved status  is  seen  from  the  advanced 
rates  of  fare  which  have  been  author- 
ized. Cities  listed  by  that  paper  follow: 

Ten-cent  fares :  Regina,  Calgary,  Saska- 
toon, Sherbrooke,  Sydney,  N.  S.,  North 
Cobalt,  Levis,  St.  John. 

Seven-cent  fares.  Montreal,  Toronto,  Win- 
nipeg, Edmonton,  Fort  William,  Port  Ar- 
thur, Brandon,  Peterboro,  Quebec,  Halifax, 
Guelph,  Haileybury,  New  Glasgow. 

Six-cent  fares:  Sarnia,  Moose  Jaw,  Van- 
couver, Victoria,  New  Westminster,  North 
Vancouver. 

It  is  noticed  in  the  above  summary 
that  6  cents  is  the  lowest  fare  rate  in 
the  large  cities  of  Canada. 


Small  Road  Turns  to  Gasoline  Car 

The  Indiana  Truck  Corporation, 
Marion,  Ind.,  has  constructed  a  gaso- 
line street  car  for  the  Gallipolis  & 
Northern  Traction  Company,  Gallipolis, 
Ohio.  The  new  car  is  built  on  the  lines 
of  the  regular  Indiana  truck,  with  the 
40-hp.  motor  enclosed  in  the  regula- 
tion truck  hood.  The  motors  and 
bodies  will  be  built  in  Marion.  The  car 
makes  a  speed  of  from  25  to  30  m.p.h. 
and  has  four  speeds  forward  and  four 
in  reverse.    The  car  has  three  brakes, 


an  emergency,  a  service  brake  and  the 
"pony  truck"  brake.  The  builders 
claim  it  will  make  10  miles  on  a  galk>n 
of  gasoline.  Four  wheels  are  on  the 
"pony  truck"  which  carries  the  front 
part  of  the  car,  and  there  are  two 
wheels  in  the  rear.  All  are  flanged  to 
run  on  the  street  railway  tracks.  The 
car  is  of  the  pay-as-you-enter  variety 
and  will  comfortably  seat  thirty 
persons. 

City  Council  Will  Pass  on 
Bus  Routes 

By  a  recent  vote  of  the  City  Council 
of  Decatur,  111.,  bus  routes  will  be 
regulated  by  the  City  Council  and  not 
by  the  Illinois  Commerce  Commission. 

Bus  operation  has  become  very  active 
in  the  city  of  Decatur  and  bus  owners 
wanted  the  Council  to  approve  of 
routes  designated  by  the  commission 
and  had  asked  the  Council  to  pass  a 
resolution  giving  its  approval  to  what- 
ever routes  the  commission  chose. 

No  action  will  be  taken  by  the  Council 
until  it  has  an  opportunity  to  go  over 
the  various  routes  that  have  been  sub- 
mitted. At  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Council  Mayor  Borchers  said  that  the 
future  growth  of  the  city  demanded 
careful  consideration  of  all  methods  of 
transportation  and  that  every  one  would 
be  given  a  respectful  hearing  on  his 
petition. 

Connecticut  Company  Analyzes 

$1,352,918  Profit 

The  startlingly  high  income  of  more 
than  $1,000,000  announced  for  the  Con- 
necticut Company  by  President  L.  S. 
Storrs  recently  has  made  it  one  of  the 
leaders  among  electric  railways  which 
are  recuperating  from  the  period  of 
depression.  The  details  for  the  first 
seven  months  of  1921  as  compared  with 
the  same  period  for  1920  are  as  follows : 

1920  1921 

Total  operatingjrevenue   $8,359,760  $9,588,807 

Total  operatingjexpenses   8,178,330  7,832,105 

Net  operating  revenue   $181,430  $1,756,702 

Taxes   457,369  409,230 

Operating  income   *$275,939  $1,347,472 

Total  non-operating  income. .  9,025  5,447 

Net  income  available  for 
return  on  capital  in- 
vested  *$266,9I4  $1,352,919 

*  Deficit. 

Taxes  were  reduced  by  the  State 
Legislature  to  3  per  cent  of  the  gross 
revenue,  and  operating  expenses  have 
declined  by  $346,225.  A  further  sav- 
ing will  follow  the  wage  reduction  of 
8£  per  cent  which  was  made  by  the 
wage  arbitrators,  retroactive  to  June 
1.  By  this  decision  the  maximum 
wage  for  motormen  and  conductors  was 
reduced  from  60  cents  to  55  cents. 

As  indicated  in  the  Electric  'Hail- 
way  Journal  for  Oct.  29,  page  798, 
the  increased  income  of  the  company  is 
due  to  a  10-cent  fare  and  to  the  liberal 
policy  followed  by  the  State  Legisla- 
ture. Among  the  measures  passed 
were  those  regulating  jitneys  by  a  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Commission  and  granting 
electric  railways  the  right  to  operate 
buses,  those  exempting  the  electric  rail- 
ways from  obligations  to  bear  cost  of 
new  bridges  except  for  the  cost  of 
strengthening  those  used  by  the  trol- 
leys and  those  exempting  the  companies 
from  paying  for  maintenance  and  con- 
struction of  paving  except  for  8  in. 
on  either  side  of  each  rail. 


Transportation 
News  Notes 


Gives  Sanction  to  Operation  of  Buses. 
— The  Board  of  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sioners has  granted  authority  to  the 
Camden,  Marlton  and  Medford  Bus 
Company  to  operate  five  buses  between 
Camden  and  Medford,  via  Marlton. 

One-Man  Cars  in  Use. — The  Trenton 
&  Mercer  County  Traction  Corporation 
is  now  using  exclusively  one-man  type 
cars  on  all  the  lines  in  the  city  of 
Trenton,  N.  J.  With  the  arrival  of 
five  new  one-man  cars  all  the  cars  of 
the  larger  type  have  been  placed  on  the 
suburban  lines. 

Wants  Reduced  Fares. — The  Empo- 
ria (Kan.)  City  Commission  has  re- 
quested the  Kansas  Electric  Utilities 
Commission  to  reduce  its  rate  of  fare 
from  10  cents  to  5  cents.  The  City 
Commissioners  last  year  authorized  the 
higher  fare  because  of  the  high  cost  of 
operation. 

Fares  Jump. — The  Columbia  Electric 
Street  Railway,  Light  &  Company, 
Columbia,  S.  C,  recently  increased  its 
rates  from  7  to  10  cents  between  the 
Fair  Grounds  and  the  city  and  at  the 
same  time  put  into  effect  a  3-cent 
charge  for  transfers  for  passengers 
coming  into  the  city. 

Filed  Applications  to  Be  Considered. 
— The  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
Washington,  D.  C,  will  hold  a  hearing 
this  month  on  four  motor  bus  applica- 
tions. The  principal  request  is  from 
the  Washington  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany, which  is  seeking  to  establish  a 
route  across  town  from  Union  Station 
to  3rd  and  O  Streets. 

Civility  and  Courtesy  Reign  in 
Akron. — The  Northern  Ohio  Traction 
&  Light  Company,  Akron,  Ohio,  was  so 
infected  with  the  "courtesy"  disease 
last  month  that  it  appears  it  will  re- 
main in  the  system  for  at  least  an- 
other month.  The  company  continues 
to  receive  congratulatory  messages  on 
the  courteous  acts  of  its  trainmen.  The 
effort  is  to  make  "Civility  as  universal 
in  Akron  as  the  transfer." 

Syracuse  Against  One-Man  Cars. — 
An  ordinance  has  been  adopted  by  the 
City  Council  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  mak- 
ing illegal  the  operation  of  one-man 
cars  in  Syracuse  after  Dec.  1.  Ed- 
mund H.  Lewis,  Corporation  counsel, 
has  announced  that  injunction  proceed- 
ings will  be  taken  by  the  city  if  the 
New  York  State  Railways,  operating 
the  local  lines  in  Syracuse,  persists  in 
using  one-man  cars  after  the  date  fixed 
for  their  discontinuance. 

Traffic  Signs  Installed.  —  Stationary 
ornamental  traffic  signs  have  been 
placed  on  the  downtown  business 
streets  of  Dallas,  Tex.,  to  safeguard 
pedestrians  in  boarding  or  alighting 
from  street  cars.  These  stationary 
signs  are  made  from  concrete,  heavy 
enough  to  withstand  any  ordinary 
shock,  and  display  red  and  green  lights 
at  night.  They  are  large  enough  to 
be  seen  by  any  motorist  and  are  placed 
at  the  ends  of  the  safety  zones.  Motor- 
men  of  the  Dallas  Railway  have  been 
instructed  to  stop  their  cars  so  that 
patrons  in  alighting  or  boarding  will 
be  behind  and  protected  by  these  traffic 
signs. 


928 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Toronto's  Management 

Task     of     Rehabilitating  Municipal 
Property  in  Hands  of  Messrs. 
Couzens  and  Harvey 

A  bold  sign  is  now  being  displayed 
all  over  the  city  of  Toronto  and  has 
become  as  familiar  as  were  during  the 
war  the  route  signs  displayed  in  bat- 
tle-scared villages  of  the  war  zone. 
It  reads  something  like  this,  "Tem- 
porary change  of  route  owing  to  the 
urgent  necessity  of  renewing  the 
tracks  on  Street.  Cars  will  be  tem- 
porarily rerouted  as  follows:  .  .  ." 
Even  the  main  thoroughfares  of  To- 
ronto for  several  miles  have  been 
closed  to  traffic  for  about  three  weeks. 
People  take  a  little  longer  getting  to 
work  and  getting  home.  Changes  m 
routes  unless  closely  followed  are 
puzzling  to  the  citizens  and  entirely 
confusing  to  the  visitor.  But  it  is  all 
borne  cheerfully,  for  in  every  part  of 
the  city  there  is  evidence  of  the  vigor- 
ous pushing  ahead  of  the  rehabilita- 
tion of  Toronto's  broken  down  trans- 
portation system. 

This  big  experiment  in  public  own- 
ership was  placed  above  and  beyond 
municipal  politics  when  the  Toronto 
Transportation  Commission  was  named, 
consisting  of  T.  W.  Ellis,  chairman,  a 
manufacturing  jeweler;  George  Wright, 
a  hotel  proprietor,  and  Fred  Miller,  a 
construction  engineer,  but  the  real 
planning  and  execution  of  this  work 
is  being  done  by  two  very  able  railway 
men.  These  are  H.  H.  Couzens,  gen- 
eral manager,  and  D.  W.  Harvey,  as- 
sistant manager,  whose  duties  com- 
menced on  Sept.  1  when  the  commis- 
sion took  over  the  operation  of  the 
street  railway  system  from  the  To- 
ronto Railway.  Mr.  Couzens,  who  is 
also  general  manager  of  the  Toronto 
Hydro  Electric  System,  was  given  an 
indefinite  leave  of  absence  last  year  to 
accept  this  position  as  general  man- 
ager for  the  commission.  The  expec- 
tation is  that  he  will  be  general  man- 
ager of  both.  For  the  most  part  the 
old  department  heads  have  remained 
with  the  commission  in  their  former 
capacities. 

Mr.  Couzens  is  indeed  fortunate  in 
having  behind  him  a  wealth  of  experi- 
ence, most  of  which  was  obtained  in 
England,  as  an  asset  invaluable  to  him 
in  pushing  forward  this  complete  re- 
organization and  reconstruction  to  a 
successful  consummation.  The  latest 
developments  of  the  industry  are  being 
utilized  in  the  form  of  safety  cars, 
buses,  and  trailers,  each  in  its  proper 
sphere,  while  the  greater  part  of  the 
old  rolling  stock  has  been  made  the 
subject  of  advertisements  to  ensnare  the 
unwary  operators  of  other  street  rail- 
ways. It  is  understood  also  that  track- 
less trollev  lines  are  to  be  built  if  it 
is  shown  that  they  will  fit  into  the  gen- 
eral scheme  as  the  most  economical 
solution. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  people 
are  satisfied  to  wait  perhaps  two  or 
nerhaps  three  years  for  an  adequate 
transportation  system  when  they  see 
everywhere  before  them  concrete  evi- 
dence of  the  determination  of  the  com- 


H.  H.  Couzens 


mission  management  to  push  the  work 
ahead  just  as  fast  as  their  resources 
will  permit.  Mr.  Couzens  has  seen  to 
it  that  months  before  the  system  was 
taken  over  new  steel  had  been  ordered, 
construction  machinery  purchased,  en- 
gineers employed,  and  material  gath- 
ered in  large  dumps.  On  the  very  day 
that  it  was  taken  over  gangs  of  men 
started  to  work  not  in  one  section,  but 
in  many,  tearing  up  old  tracks,  re- 
ballasting  and  laying  new.  Everything 
had  been  thought  out  ahead.  The 
vigor  of  the  whole  thing  was  an  object 
lesson  in  itself. 

Mr.  Couzens  is  a  native  of  England. 
He  was  born  in  Totnes,  Devonshire, 
England,  in  1877.  After  receiving  his 
education  at  the  Independent  College 
at  Taunton,  England,  he  subsequently 
served  as  a  pupil  in  both  mechanical 
and  electrical  engineering  with  Allen 
&  Sons,  Taunton,  and  the  Taunton  Cor- 
poration Electrical  Works,  respec- 
tively, In  1898  he  was  appointed  as- 
sistant engineer  of  the  Bristol  Cor- 
poration Electrical  Department,  in 
Bristol,  England,  and  held  that  posi- 
tion until  1901,  when  he  was  appointed 
deputy  chief  electrical  engineer  of 
Bristol.  He  resigned  in  1909  on  his 
appointment  as  manager  and  engineer 


of  the  West  Ham  Corporation  Electric 
Supplies,  and  in  1912  was  appointed 
to  a  similar  position  with  the  Hamp- 
stead  Borough  Council,  and  continued 
for  a  year  as  consulting  engineer  for 
West  Ham.  He  resigned  that  position 
at  the  end  of  1912  on  his  appointment 
as  general  manager  of  the  Toronto 
Hydro  Electric  system  and  took  up  the 
duties  of  this  position  early  in  1913. 
As  previously  stated,  Mr.  Couzens  will 
probably  continue  in  this  capacity  in 
spite  of  the  arduous  duties  connected 
with  his  appointment  as  general  man- 
ager of  the  municipal  property  in  To- 
ronto. 

Mr.  Harvey,  the  assistant  manager 
of  the  commission,  was  previously  su- 
perintendent and  engineer  of  the  To- 
ronto Civic  Railway.  Mr.  Harvey  was 
with  the  Toronto  Civic  Railway  when 
operation  first  began  in  1911,  at  which 
time  he  was  given  charge  of  construc- 
tion. In  1912  the  operation  and  main- 
tenance were  also  placed  under  his 
supervision. 

Mr.  Harvey  was  born  in  London, 
Ontario,  on  *  Feb.  24,  1887.  After 
graduating  from  the  Toronto  Univer- 
sity he  was  with  the  Ontario  Power 
Company  and  subsequently  was  con- 
nected with  the  Toronto  Structural 
Steel  Company. 


D.  W.  Harvey. 


Leaves  Holding  Company 

S.  E.  Wolff,  of  Hodenpyl,  Hardy  &  Com- 
pany, Becomes  Executive  in  Food 
Products  Corporation 

S.  E.  Wolff,  who  for  many  years  has 
been  identified  with  Hodenpyl,  Hardy  & 
Company,  Inc.,  New  York,  in  the  man- 
agement of  public  utility  properties,  is 
retiring  from  his  present  connection  to 
become  vice-president  of  the  United 
States  Food  Products  Corporation. 

Mr.  Wolff  is  a  Western  man.  He 
was  born  and  educated  in  Michigan 
where  he  spent  his  earlier  business  life 
in  the  operation  of  public  utility  and 
railroad  properties.  In  1903  he  became 
general  manager  of  the  Jackson  (Mich.) 
Gas  Company  (now  owned  by  the  Mich- 
igan Light  Company),  and  two  years 
later  became  vice-president,  and  also 
vice-president  and  general  manager  of 
the  gas,  electric  light  and  power  and 
city  traction  properties  in  Saginaw  and 
Bay  City  and  the  interurban  road  con- 
necting these  cities. 

In  1908,  he  removed  to  New  York 
City  and  was  engaged  in  the  executive 
offices  of  Hodenpyl,  Walbridge  &  Com- 
pany, principally  in  examination  and 
reports  on  properties  and  the  reorgani- 
zation of  working  forces  of  such  prop- 
erties as  were  acquired.  He  remained 
with  Hodenpyl,  Walbridge  &  Company 
until  1911  when  it  was  succeeded  by 
Hodenpyl,  Hardy  &  Company  for  whom 
he  has  been  constantly  engaged  in  ex- 
aminations of  organizations  of  working 
forces  and  management  of  corporations, 
principally  public  utilities  but  embrac- 
ing also  railroad,  manufacturing  and 
mining  properties. 

During  the  past  six  years  Mr.  Wolff 
has  had  general  supervision  of  pur- 
chases of  the  Hodenpyl,  Hardy  &  Com- 
pany properties  which  include  the  Con- 
sumers Power  Company,  Michigan 
Light  Company,  Central  Illinois  Light 
Company,  Southern  Indiana  Gas  & 
Electric  Company,  the  Northern  Ohio 
Traction  &  Light  Company,  etc.,  and 
in  the  course  of  these  duties  it  has  been 
necessary  to  visit  many  manufacturing 
plants  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  their 


November  19,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


929 


ability  to  produce  apparatus,  supphes, 
etc.,  and  of  inquiring  into  their  facili- 
ties and  organizations.  Incident  to  the 
foregoing  he  has  given  particular  at- 
tention to  valuations  of  properties  and 
the  economics  and  engineering  involved 
in  the  presentation  of  rate  cases. 

In  1917  he  entered  the  army  and 
was  assigned  to  the  Signal  Corps  and 
later  to  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Pro- 
duction where  he  served  as  the  head  of 
the  Finance  Division.  On  his  discharge 
from  the  army  he  resumed  his  duties 
with  Hodenpyl,  Hardy  &  Company,  Inc., 
and  the  properties  under  their  manage- 
ment with  which  he  has  been  associated 
until  his  recent  election  to  the  vice- 
presidency  of  the  United  States  Food 
Products  Corporation. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  leading  trade 
and  technical  associations  and  has  done 
important  committee  work  as  well  as 
filled  various  offices  in  organizations. 

Lionel  Drew,  formerly  connected  with 
the  Savannah  (Ga.)  Electric  Company, 
a  Stone  &  Webster  property,  has  gone 
to  Guatemala  where  he  has  accepted  a 
position  with  the  American  Interna- 
tional Company. 

Alderman  R.  Mayne,  deputy  Lord 
Mayor  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  and  chair- 
man of  the  Newcastle  Tramways  Com- 
mittee, was  elected  president  of  the 
Municipal  Tramway  Association  of 
Great  Britain  at  the  recent  annual 
meeting  at  Manchester. 

P.  E.  Glenn,  who  has  been  acting 
secretary  of  the  Oklahoma  Corporation 
Commission  for  the  past  year,  has  as- 
sumed the  duties  of  accountant  for  the 
commission  following  the  appointment 
by  the  commission  of  G.  F.  Smith  of 
the  Oklahoma  City  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, as  permanent  secretary.  Mr. 
Glenn  was  employed  by  the  commission 
as  accountant  but  was  serving  in  both 
positions  temporarily  until  the  commis- 
sion saw  fit  to  appoint  a  permanent 
secretary.  Mr.  Glenn  has  served  with 
the  commission  almost  continuously 
since  1910,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  employees  of  that  body. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


William  E.  Baker,  a  well-known  civil 
and  electrical  engineer  who  retired  from 
active  engineering  practice  some  years 
ago,  died  suddenly  on  Nov.  1  at  his 
home  in  New  York.  He  was  born  in 
Springfield,  Mass.,  sixty-five  years  ago. 
After  completing  his  technical  educa- 
tion at  Lafayette  College  he  entered 
railroad  service,  later  becoming  largely 
instrumental  in  breaking  the  westward 
trail  for  the  Canadian  Pacific.  He  was 
chief  engineer  of  the  International  & 
Great  Northern  Railway  from  1884  to 
1888.  After  several  years  spent  with  tho 
Thomson-Houston  Electric  Company, 
Mr.  Baker  was  in  Boston  from  1892  to 
1894  in  charge  of  the  electrification  of 
the  West  End  Street  Railway  system. 
Several  years  later  he  was  general 
superintendent  of  the  We«t  Sid-1 
Elevated  Road  of  Chicago  and  subse- 
quently came  to  New  York  as  general 
superintendent  and  chief  electrical  en- 
gineer of  t^e  Manhattan  Elevated  Rail- 
way. Later,  Mr.  Baker  opened  an  of- 
fice in  New  York  and  was  consulting 
and  constructing  engineer  for  several 
electric  roads,  including  the  Scioto  Val- 
ley Traction  Company,  Columbus,  Ohio. 


Business  Improvement 

Department  of  Commerce  Survey  Indi- 
cates Increased  Production  in  Rep- 
resentative Industries 

That  there  is  a  real  basis  for  the 
general  statement  of  improved  business 
already  issued  by  the  Department  of 
Commerce  is  revealed  by  the  detailed 
departmental  survey  for  October.  This 
publication,  the  third  number  of  The 
Survey  of  Current  Business,  shows  the 
trend  of  all  important  industrial  move- 
ments at  the  first  of  October.  A  care- 
ful study  of  the  figures  presented  shows 
that,  considered  as  a  whole,  business 
and  industry  have  moved  forward.  In 
the  majority  of  industries  production 
and  consumption  increased  and  stocks 
declined.  Iron  and  steel  showed  a 
steady  gain.  The  building  industry  in- 
dicated improvement.  Textile  consump- 
tion figures  continued  to  advance  and 
exports  of  raw  cotton  were  substan- 
tially larger  than  a  year  ago.  The  un- 
employment problem,  while  still  far 
from  disposed  of,  showed  a  decided 
change  for  the  better. 

Taking  up  several  important  indus- 
tries and  treating  them  separately,  the 
survey  said  that  the  iron  and  steel  in- 
dustry evidenced  a  slight  improvement 
in  production  during  September,  with 
pig  iron  2.7  per  cent  greater  than  in 
August  and  steel  ingots  1.9  per  cent 
greater.  Exports  and  imports  of  iron 
and  steel  increased,  by  24.2  and  35.1 
per  cent,  respectively.  An  increase  in 
unfilled  steel  orders  marked  the  turn- 
ing point  in  a  long  decline.  Orders  for 
bolts  continued  to  increase,  but  for  nuts 
and  rivets  the  demand,  as  shown  by 
new  and  unfilled  orders,  declined.  Bar 
iron  shipments  increased  slightly. 

Copper  production  turned  upward, 
with  a  slight  increase  in  August.  An 
increased  foreign  demand  is  noted  for 
this  metal,  with  September  exports  44.1 
per  cent  larger  than  August  and,  with 
one  exception,  the  largest  monthly  ship- 
ment since  May,  1920. 

Zinc  production  continued  to  decline, 
but  at  a  descending  ratio;  the  Septem- 
ber decline  was  only  2  per  cent.  Stocks 
declined  6.1  per  cent.  The  decline  in 
stocks  of  tin  was  arrested  at  a  level 
53  per  cent  below  the  previous  Sep- 
tember. There  was  an  increase  in  im- 
ports, September  being-  13  per  cent 
larger  than  August.  During  Septem- 
ber, steel  prices  declined  slightly,  but 
in  iron,  copper,  lead,  tin  and  zinc,  in- 
creases of  from  1  to  6  per  cent  oc- 
curred 

Buildino-  costs  continue  to  decline.  As 
measured  by  t^e  Aberthaw  Construction 
Companies'  index  for  concrete  factory 
buildings.'  the  September  cost  de- 
clined 1.9  per  cent,  while  the  Enni- 
neering  News-Record  shows  a  further 
drop  of  2.7  per  cent  compared  with 
August  The  latter  index  is  based  on 
the  cost  of  steel,  lumber,  cement  and 
common  labor.  Cement  production  was 
the  largest  on  record  for  September, 
and  v'*wr  records  of  shipments  were  es- 
tablished for  the  quarter  and  the  first 
nine  months  of  the  year.  Stocks  of 
cement  at  the  mills  were  drawn  upon 
to  supply  the  demand  during  Septem- 


ber, as  is  customary  in  the  season  of 
active  demand,  and  declined  16.2  per 
cent  from  August. 

In  the  field  of  railroad  transportation 
good  progress  was  made  in  reducing  the 
number  of  idle  freight  cars  during  Sep- 
tember with  a  decrease  of  30  per  cent, 
box  car  surplus  declining  39.3  per  cent 
and  coal  cars  24.9  per  cent.  At  the  end 
of  September,  car  surplus  had  been  re- 
duced 65  per  cent  from  the  peak  last 
March.  Shortage  of  freight  cars  in- 
creased but  the  total  shortage  is  still 
very  small.  Total  car  loadings  in- 
creased 4  per  cent  in  September,  espe- 
cially merchandise  loadings,  and  are 
the  largest  since  November,  1920. 


Prices  of  Malleables  Unsteady 

As  in  the  other  branches  of  the  iron 
and  steel  industry  the  manufacturers 
of  malleable  fittings  are  operating  only 
on  part  time  and  quite  a  wide  range  in 
price  quotations  can  be  had.  One  New 
England  foundry  which  turns  out  guy 
clamps,  insulator  pins  and  other  mis- 
cellaneous small  castings  is  operating 
from  two  to  three  days  a  week.  Very 
few  large  orders  are  being  placed  and 
competition  is  keen.  Price  cutting  is 
much  in  evidence  and  some  manufac- 
turers declare  that  prices  have  been 
quoted  in  a  number  of  instances  which 
cover  only  the  bare  cost  of  material  and 
labor  without  any  allowance  for  over- 
head cost  or  profit. 

From  the  high  mark  two  years  ago 
of  36  cents  a  pound  for  small  malle- 
able castings  the  price  has  dropped  to 
around  13  to  14  cents  a  pound  at  the 
present  time.  Some  quotations  as  low 
as  8  to  10  cents  have  been  reported. 
For  the  larger  castings  the  price  ranges 
from  8  to  11  cents  per  pound.  Malle- 
able prices  at  Pittsburgh  have  held 
steady  around  $20.50  per  ton  for  the 
past  month.  However,  slight  changes 
would  have  little  effect  on  finished  cast- 
ings and  there  is  little  to  indicate  that 
finished  prices  will  change  for  some 
time. 

Manufacturers  state  that  many  users 
of  malleable  castings  have  large  stocks 
on  hand  which  were  purchased  a  year 
or  so  ago  and  these  stocks  must  be  con- 
sumed before  any  considerable  activity 
can  be  expected. 


Westinghouse  Company  Buys 

Seattle  Plant 

Negotiations  leading  up  to  the 
establishment  in  Seattle  by  the  West- 
inghouse Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company  of  a  manufacturing  and  as- 
sembling plant  were  consummated  a 
short  time  ago  when  this  company 
purchased  the  plant  of  the  Kilbourne 
Ik  Clark  Manufacturing  Company  of 
Seattle  for  a  reported  consideration  of 
$130,000.  The  plant  will  be  used  for 
the  assembling  and  testing  of  machin- 
ery, manufacturing  switch-boards  and 
instrument  panels,  warehousing  of  the 
company's  products  and  the  housing  of 
its  sales  organization.  Seattle  is  the 
principal  distributing  center  for  the 
Westinghouse  products  in  the  North- 
west. 


930 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  21 


Carbon  Brush  Demand  for 
Maintenance  Needs 

Deliveries  Are  Prompt  Though  Produc- 
tion Is  Still  on  a  Sub-Normal  Basis 

Manufacturers  of  carbon  brushes 
quite  uniformly  report  a  quiet  market 
for  their  product  so  far  this  fall.  With 
industrial  operation  at  its  present  low 
point  in  almost  all  lines  of  activity 
throughout  the  country  fewer  motors 
are  being  run  and  consequently  there  is 
not  the  normal  demand  for  brush  re- 
placements. On  the  other  hand,  in  cer- 
tain lines  of  industry  it  has  been  pos- 
sible to  take  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  these  times  of  slack 
production  to  overhaul  electrical  equip- 
ment, and  in  those  quarters  the  demand 
for  replacement  brushes  has  held  up 
for  the  past  few  months  fairly  well. 
Electric  railways  are  not  endeavoring 
to  carry  surplus  stocks,  and  their  buy- 
ing has  continued  on  a  hand-to-mouth 
basis. 

There  are  many  signs,  however,  of 
better  business  ahead.  It  is  stated  in 
several  quarters  that  the  carbon  brush 
business  is  continuously  showing  an 
improvement,  an  indication  that  a  state 
of  normalcy  in  this  line  is  slowly  but 
surely  approaching.  Producers  natur- 
ally are  proceeding  cautiously  on  the 
supposition  that  the  next  few  months 
will  not  bring  forth  any  startling  in- 
crease in  demands.  At  the  present 
time  production  is  averaging  around  65 
per  cent  of  capacity  while  inventories 
have  been  brought  down  to  a  corre- 
sponding level. 

Stocks  of  the  semi-finished  products 
are  in  ample  shape  to  fill  customers' 
current  demand  and  all  manufacturers 
are  able  to  make  very  prompt  ship- 
ments. Prices  are  no  longer  at  their 
peak,  most  manufacturers  having  made 
reductions  in  their  prices  in  amounts 
varying  from  10  to  20  per  cent  Other 
manufacturers  are  still  quoting  on  the 
same  price  basis  that  they  have  been 
for  the  past  few  years.  This  was  the 
case  when  prices  were  not  raised  to 
correspond  with  peak  production  costs 
that  existed  during  this  time. 


Seven  Bids  on  Queensboro 
Subway  Extension 

The  New  York  Transit  Commission 
received  seven  bids  on  the  construction 
of  certain  subway  extensions  to  the 
Queensboro  subway  from  Grand  Central 
Station  to  Forty-first  Street  and  Eighth 
Avenue.  The  extension  will  give  sub- 
stantial relief  to  the  congested  area 
of  the  Interborough  shuttle  operated  in 
Forty-second  Street  and  will  materially 
improve  the  service  of  the  Queensboro 
subway.  This  extension  is  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  important  remaining 
links  of  the  dual  system  to  be  con- 
structed. 

The  bids  received  are:  Powers-Ken- 
nedy Construction  Corporation,  149 
Broadway,  $3,839,000;  Keystone  State 
Construction  Corporation,  17  West  42nd 
Street,  $3,895,000;  F.  L.  Cranford,  Inc., 
149  Remsen  Street,  Brooklyn,  $4,171,- 
000;  Patrick  McGovern,  Inc.,  50  East 
42nd  Street,  $4,235,000;  Booth  &  Flynn, 
Ltd.,  $4,389,000;  Rogers  &  Haggerty, 
125th  Street  and  Park  Avenue,  $4,- 
800,000  and  J.  A.  Gillespie  Co.,  7  Dey 
Street,  which  stated  its  bid  would  be 
approximately  $5,000,000. 

The  plan  for  this  extension  calls  for 
a  two-track  subway  beginning  at  a 
lower  level  underneath  the  existing 
shuttle    4~*,"1's)    near    Vanderbilt,  ex- 


tending west  under  Forty-second  Street 
to  a  point  in  West  Forty-second  Street, 
a  short  distance  east  of  Sixth  Avenue 
where  the  line  bends  south  under 
Bryant  Park  into  Sixth  Avenue  and 
thence  turns  west  into  Forty-first 
Street  and  continues  along  that  thor- 
oughfare to  a  terminal  joint  just  west 
of  Eighth  Avenue.  Stations  on  the 
new  line  will  be  two  in  number,  one 
at  Fifth  Avenue  and  Forty-second 
Street  and  the  second  beneath  the 
Times  Square  station  of  the  Inter- 
borough west  side  subway. 

One  reason  given  by  the  Transit 
Commission  for  constructing  the  line 
as  far  as  Eighth  Avenue  is  that  event- 
ually it  will  connect  with  a  new  sub- 
way through  the  latter  thoroughfare, 
which,  it  is  believed,  will  be  the  first 
to  be  built  when  new  work  begins. 


Copper  Demand  Widespread 

The  amount  of  copper  available  at 
13i  cents  a  pound  delivered  for  Novem- 
ber and  December  shipment  is  becom- 
ing quite  small,  as  most  producers  are 
holding  at  131  and  some  are  entirely 
out  of  the  market. 

Consumption  is  showing  improve- 
ment, and  one  large  manufacturer  of 
copper  and  brass  goods  says  that  he 
doubts  whether  the  proportion  of  cop- 
per recently  bought  and  used  for  build- 
ing up  stocks  in  consumers'  hands  is 
nearly  as  large  as  many  are  inclined  to 
think.  Demand  for  copper  goods  is 
today  much  better  than  for  brass  prod- 
ucts, but  the  brass  business  has  im- 
proved considerably  during  recent, 
weeks. 

The  amount  of  scrap  brass  on  the 
American  market  is  becoming  quite 
small,  and  this  will  tend  to  help  raise 
the  price  of  copper  during  the  next 
few  months.  One  consumer,  however, 
does  not  expect  any  large  increase  in 
the  copper  price  to  result  but  rather 
a  healthy  and  sustained  moderate  in- 
crease, while  another  says  that  his  com- 
pany has  increased  stocks  of  metal  on 
hand  greatly  in  the  last  few  months. 


Rolling  Stock 


Danbury  &  Bethel  Street  Railway,  Dan- 
bury.  Conn.,  will  be  in  the  market  for  four 
safety  cars  provided  the  receiver.  J.  Moss 
Ives,  receives  the  permission  from  the  Su- 
perior Court,  to  which  he  has  petitioned. 

Staten  Island  (N.  Y.)  Midland  Kailway 
has  purcased  from  the  Second  Avenue  Rail- 
road New  York  forty  of  the  100  double- 
truck  one-man  cars  which  the  latter  com- 
pany remodeled  from  open  cars  as  was  de- 
scribed in  the  Feb.  19,  1921,  issue  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal. 

Pennsylvania-Ohio  Eleetrie  Co.,  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio,  has  ordered  seventeen  one-man 
safety  cars,  twelve  of  which  are  to  be  used 
in  giving  additional  service  on  the  Youngs- 
town  Municipal  Railway  which  is  a  sub- 
sidiary company.  With  the  arrival  of  these 
:ars  the  number  of  this  type  of  car  used 
by  the  company  will  be  increased  to  sixty- 
one. 


Recent  Incorporations 


Norwood  Street  Kailway,  Birmingham. 
Ala.,  has  been  incorporated  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $2,000.  The  purpose  of  the  new 
corporation  is  to  acquire,  maintain  and 
operate  a  railway  in  the  city  of  Birmina- 

Vincennes    (Ind.)    Electric    Kailway  has 

been  incorporated  with  capital  of  $100,000, 
as  successor  under  reorganization  to  the 
Vincennes  Traction  Company.  G.  H.  Arm- 
strong, J.  H.  Powers  and  E.  C.  Theobold 
are  the  incorporators. 

Plaza  Railway,  Charlotte,  N.  C.  has  been 
incorporated  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000. 


The  incorporators  are  H.  B.  Heath,  D.  H. 
Johnston  and  C.  E.  Barnhardt.  The  new 
company  will  resume  the  service  on  Cen- 
tral Avenue  and  along  the  Plaza  which  was 
abandoned  some  years  ago. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Chattanooga    (Tenn.)    Traction  Company 

expects  to  extend  its  Red  Bank  line  a  dis- 
tance of  about  12  miles  along  the  Dayton 
h  ighway. 

Cape  Girardeau-Jackson  Interurban  Rail- 
way, Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.,  will  rebuild  the 
line  at  a  cost  of  $50,000.  New  tracks  and 
new  equipment  will  be  purchased. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Company,  will 
place  new  rails  on  Vine  Street  from  Mul- 
berry to  McMillan  Streets.  The  estimate 
submitted  by  the  company  to  W.  J.  Kuertz, 
director  of  street  railroads,  is  $58,000. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio.  An  initiated  ordinance 
to  extend  the  East  End  line  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati (Ohio)  Traction  Company  to  Cali- 
fornia was  overwhelmingly  defeated  at  the 
municipal  election  held  here  on  Nov.  8.  This 
was  the  second  time  the  amendment  was  de- 
feated by  the  voters. 

Northwestern  Ohio  Railway  &  Power 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  will  reballast  about 
5  miles  of  track.  This  ballast  will  not  be 
put  in  under  the  ties  until  next  spring, 
but  can  be  purchased  and  distributed  much 
more  economically  now  than  during  seasons 
of  heavy  traffic. 

San  Diego  (Cal.)  Electric  Railway  has 
completed  that  part  of  the  reconstruction 
of  the  double  track  and  paving  between 
Third  and  State  Streets  on  Broadway 
which  was  begun  the  latter  part  of  Sep- 
tember. 

Youngstown  (Ohio)  Municipal  Railway,  a 

subsidiary  of  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Elec- 
tric Company,  recently  completed  construc- 
tion of  2h  miles  of  double  track  on  one  of 
its  principal  lines  in  Youngstown.  The 
rails,  with  thermit  welded  joints,  are  laid  on 
steel  ties,  embedded  in  concrete. 

Little  Rock  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Little  Rock,  Ark.,  has  been  urged  to 
build  a  connecting  line  through  the  western 
portion  of  the  city  to  provide  service  for 
residents  of  the  district  between  Prospect 
Avenue  and  the  route  of  the  Highland 
lines.  It  is  estimated  that  this  proposed 
line  would  cost  approximately  $90,000. 


Trade  Notes 


Westinghouse   Electric   &  Manufacturing 

Company  has  announced  the  following 
changes  in  its  service  department :  B.  B. 
Burkett  has  been  appointed  district  service 
manager  in  the  Seattle  office,  succeeding  N. 
P.  Wilson,  who  has  been  transferred  to 
sales  service  activities  on  switchboards  and 
similar  apparatus  in  the  Seattle  territory. 
The  Salt  Lake  service  department  has  been 
made  a  branch  of  the  Denver  office,  under 
the  direction  of  A.  F.  MacCallum,  district 
service  manager,  Denver.  M.  R.  Davis,  for- 
merly district  service  manager  at  Salt  Lake, 
will  remain  at  Salt  Lake  and  devote  his  time 
to  field  service  work  and  to  securing  re- 
pair business  for  both  ships. 

Fred  B.  IThrig,  for  the  past  forty  years 
an  employee  of  the  Western  Electric  Com- 
pany has  retired  from  active  service.  Fred 
Unrig  joined  the  Western  Electric  Com- 
pany as  an  office  boy  in  Chicago  in  1881. 
The  spirit  of  application  and  sincerity  of 
purpose  which  have  marked  his  whole  life 
showed  themselves  even  then,  and  promo- 
tion came  rapidly.  By  1883  he  had  become 
editor  and  service  man,  and  in  1895,  credit 
man  of  the  Chicago  office.  When  the  Den- 
ver branch  was  opened  in  January,  1903, 
Mr.  Uhrig  was  chosen  as  its  manager.  The 
following  year  he  went  to  Kansas  City  as 
manager  of  the  distributing  branch  there, 
and  later  became  also  western  district  man- 
ager. He  contributed  more  than  any  other 
man  to  the  development  of  his  company's 
business  in  the  southwest  between  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  the  Rockies. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


David  W.  Onan.  43  Royalston  Avenue, 
Minneapolis,  is  distributing  a  leaflet  de- 
scribing the  "Onan"  lathe  and  mica  under- 
cutter. 

Texas  Company,  New  York,  made  "Diesel 
Engines"  the  subject  about  which  the  lead- 
ing article  was  published  in  a  recent  issue 
of  Lubrication. 


Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZELL.Editors  HENRY  H.NORRIS, Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor    N. A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor     H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIER.Associate  Editor  CARLW.. STOCKS, Associate  Edllo 
G.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editor  DONALD  P.HINE.Editorial  Representative  PAUL  WOOTON, Washington  Representative 


Volume  58 


Now*" York,  Saturday,  November  26,  1921 


Number  22 


M 


Nail  the  Lie  \V  J^O]/  9  v 

at  the  Right  Time    V*  fi 

ESSRS.  SCHWAB  AND  GARY  have  4one  a  good 
.work  in  nailing  the  lie  that  the  steelmakers  are 
more  interested  in  war  than  they  are  in  peace.  Among 
the  unthinking  it  has  been  accepted  at  100  per  cent  that 
the  steel  men  were  the  accomplices  of  Mars.  Even  dram- 
atists no  less  renowned  than  Shaw,  in  his  "Major  Bar- 
bara" with  its  millionaire  Undershaft,  have  done  much  to 
keep  the  silly  idea  alive.  The  limitation  of  armament 
conference,  however,  afforded  just  the  necessary  back- 
ground for  the  authoritative  statement  by  Mr.  Schwab, 
a  statement  which,  if  made  at  any  other  time,  would 
have  provoked  derision  except  from  the  few  who  knew 
it  to  be  true.  It  has  been  the  despair  of  leaders  in  in- 
dustry everywhere,  this  lie  about  their  business,  which 
persists  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  its  disproof  is  so  simple. 

In  the  electric  railway  business  the  number  of  errone- 
ous notions  about  the  industry  that  persist  through 
the  ages  is  probably  greater  than  surrounds  any  other 
industry  with  the  exception  of  the  steam  railroads. 
First  there  is  the  prevalent  idea  of  overcapitalization. 
Again  there  is  the  idea  that  the  interests  of  the  company 
and  the  public  cannot  possibly  be  the  same — the  idea 
that  the  railway  manager  lives  only  to  carry  as  many 
passengers  in  as  few  cars  as  physical  limitations  will 
permit.  Another  is  that  rush-hour  traffic  is  immensely 
profitable.  These  are  just  a  few  that  occur  offhand. 

It  would  do  no  good  for  the  industry  to  disclaim  all 
these  things  out  of  hand,  but  it  would  be  well  for  elec- 
tric railway  managers  everywhere  to  be  on  the  lookout 
for  just  such  opportunities  as  the  disarmament  confer- 
ence presented  to  the  steel  makers  to  disprove  these  silly 
notions.  A  fixed  plan  for  carrying  the  message  of  dis- 
proof to  the  public  would  fail  of  its  purpose,  but  coupled 
with  the  proper  incident  in  the  history  of  the  company 
at  the  time  of  the  making  of  that  history  a  great  deal 
more  can  be  done  than  has  been  accomplished  in  the  past 
toward  correcting  misconceptions  about  the  industry 
such  as  those  which  have  been  cited. 


Momentous  Decision 
for  Des  Moines 

NEW  YORK  has  its  Mayor  Hylan.  Chicago  has  its 
Mayor  Thompson.  And  Des  Moines  has  its  former 
Corporation  Counsel  Byers.  All  of  them  are  of  the  same 
political  kidney.  They  are  traction  baiters  first,  last 
and  all  the  time.  They  are  the  type  of  politicians  that 
are  the  despair  of  the  statesman  and  a  conundrum  to 
the  historian. 

Mr.  Byers  doesn't  like  the  proposal  for  a  new  grant 
to  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  to  be  voted  on  by  the 
people  of  that  city  at  the  election  there  on  Nov.  28  and 
has  aligned  himself  with  a  property  owner  as  the  in- 
stigator of  a  suit  for  an  injunction  to  prevent  the  elec- 
tion. He  sees  lurking  in  the  franchise  a  gentleman  of 
dark  persuasion  discernible  to  none  but  him.  The 
trouble  with  Mr.  Byers  is  of  course  not  with  his  eyes, 
but  because  he  is  suffering  from  the  gall  of  previous 


defeat.  If  he  came  to  the  court  without  prejudice 
the  case  might  be  different.  Under  the  circumstances 
the  chances  appear  to  be  slight  that  this  avowed  hater 
of  the  railway  will  be  permitted  to  thwart  the  will  of 
the  Council  and  jeopardize  the  future  of  the  city. 

However  unwise  Des  Moines  may  have  been  in  the 
past  in  her  dealings  with  the  railway,  it  seems  altogether 
unlikely  that  the  city  will  do  anything  less  than  over- 
whelmingly adopt  the  new  railway  grant.  For  Des 
Moines  the  choice  that  she  makes  on  Nov.  28  will  be 
momentous.  Unless  the  city  has  gone  stark  mad  there 
can  be  but  one  outcome  at  the  impending  election. 


Who  Will  Buy 

Junior  Issues? 

THE  practical  difficulties  of  financing  junior  issues 
of  public  utility  corporations  at  the  present  time 
have  been  set  forth  on  a  number  of  occasions,  but  per- 
haps never  more  clearly  than  in  a  paper  presented  by 
Mr.  Peirce,  a  banker  of  San  Francisco,  at  the  last  meet- 
ing of  the  Investment  Bankers'  Association  of  America 
and  published  in  the  issue  of  this  paper  for  Nov.  12. 
Admittedly,  the  question  of  a  proper  and  adequate  re- 
turn on  a  public  utility  security  is  a  difficult  one.  When 
the  average  member  of  the  public  is  paying  his  trolley 
fare  or  lighting  bill  an  8  or  10  per  cent  return  looks 
high,  although  it  takes  on  a  ridiculously  small  appear- 
ance to  that  same  individual  when  he  is  considering 
what  investment  he  shall  make  with  his  savings.  Never- 
theless, as  the  number  of  people  who  pay  fare  is  much 
larger  than  those  that  have  to  consider  how  they  are 
going  to  invest  their  savings,  commissions  have  felt 
that  they  had  to  be  conservative  in  their  allowance  of  the 
percentage  of  return  permitted.  But  if  bonds  or  pre- 
ferred stock  have  to  be  put  out  at  around  8  per  cent, 
how  are  the  junior  securities  to  be  marketed?  Obvi- 
ously there  is  very  little  opportunity  of  marketing  them 
at  all.  Nevertheless,  a  corporation  without  a  large  part 
of  its  assets  represented  by  common  stock  is  top  heavy 
and  a  menace  to  all  who  have  to  do  business  with  it. 

There  are  two  possible  solutions  to  the  problem.  One 
is  that  the  public  will  become  reconciled  to  the  earning 
of  a  higher  return  by  the  successful  utilities  so  that 
there  will  be  a  chance  to  issue  more  common  stock. 
The  theory  upon  which  the  return  permitted  has  been 
kept  down  in  the  past  has  been  that  the  utility  had  a 
monopoly  of  a  necessity  and  so  was  immune  in  a  very 
large  measure  to  the  risks  encountered  by  ordinary  com- 
mercial undertakings  and  that  the  safety  of  the  invest- 
ment was  a  compensation  for  the  smallness  of  the  return 
permitted.  This  idea  will  have  to  be  revised,  at  least 
to  some  extent,  in  view  of  the  events  of  the  last  few 
years.  Many  investors  are  now  disposed  to  look  upon 
utility  enterprises  as  possessing  a  considerable  number 
of  hazardous  factors. 

The  other  solution,  or  rather  a  condition  which  will 
help  in  financing  junior  issues  of  utilities,  is  a  general 
lowering  of  interest  rates.  This  may  not  be  so  far  off 
as  many  believe,  in  spite  of  the  large  amount  of  finan- 


932 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


cing  which  will  have  to  be  done  by  our  own  government 
and  foreign  governments  during  the  early  future.  Al- 
ready the  cost  of  call  money  on  the  New  York  Stock 
Exchange  is  considerably  less  than  the  average  of  the 
last  three  or  four  years,  although  of  course  it  is  still 
high  compared  with  the  pre-war  situation.  Some  re- 
cent financing  of  utility  securities  in  New  York,  as  cited 
in  our  financial  and  corporate  department  this  week, 
indicate  that  for  certain  securities  there  is  a  good  de- 
mand. While  this  reduction  in  interest  rates  is  due  to 
some  extent  to  the  depression  in  business  and  lack  of 
demand  for  money  for  commercial  undertakings,  it  is 
probably  also  due  to  the  general  building  up  of  surplus 
credit. 


Organization  Plan  of  C.  E.  R.  A. 
Engineering  Council 

ONE  of  two  things  will  likely  prove  necessary  if  the 
section  meetings  of  the  Central  Electric  Railway 
Association  Engineering  Council  are  to  meet  with  a 
success  equal  to  that  of  the  meetings  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania-Ohio master  mechanics  which  were  superceded. 
Either  a  substantial  attendance  of  track,  overhead  and 
power  engineers  as  well  as  equipment  engineers  must 
be  brought  about,  or  the  different  classes  of  engineers 
must  be  segregated  into  separate  meetings. 

In  organizing  the  engineering  council,  it  was  thought 
that  the  geographic  grouping  of  all  classes  of  engineers 
of  the  C.  E.  R.  A.  territory  into  four  sections  would 
reduce  the  average  distance  of  travel  necessary  in 
attending  meetings  and  that  there  would  be  broaden- 
ing benefits  and  perhaps  more  comprehensive  conclu- 
sions reached  from  the  joint  consideration  of  questions. 
There  is  some  logic  in  this  reasoning  but  it  is  certain 
that  little  can  be  accomplished  in  discussing  a  track 
problem,  for  example,  at  meetings  attended  by  only  one 
or  two  track  men  but  many  mechanical  men. 

Even  if  it  were  possible  to  insure  a  more  representa- 
tive attendance  than  has  been  had  at  the  early  meet- 
ings of  the  engineering  sections,  there  is  room  for 
much  doubt  that  the  present  plan  is  the  best.  Nearly 
every  one  seems  to  be  agreed  that  the  much-talked  of 
success  of  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  master  mechanics' 
meetings  was  due  to  the  fact  that  all  present  were 
master  mechanics — every  one  interested  in  the  same 
topics.  In  the  joint  gathering  of  all  engineers,  it  is 
quite  to  be  expected  that  discussions  of  equipment  prob- 
lems will  dominate  the  meetings  because  there  are  ten 
or  maybe  a  hundred  equipment  problems  to  one  track 
or  power  problem.  And  there  is  much  greater  uniform- 
ity of  practice  in  the  track,  line  and  power  work  than 
with  rolling  stock.  Consequently  it  is  a  question 
whether  there  will  be  enough  good  resulting  from  the 
attendance  of  these  other  engineers  at  the  meetings  of 
the  master  mechanics,  in  the  few  cases  where  a  joint 
discussion  of  the  problem  is  desirable  or  necessary,  to 
justify  the  former  in  sitting  through  a  great  deal  of 
discussion  in  which  they  have  only  a  secondary  or 
remote  interest.  Those  few  non-mechanical  men  who 
attended  the  Youngstown  meeting,  reported  in  this 
issue,  felt  that  their  time  was  largely  wasted — and  it 
was,  for  the  double  reason  of  small  attendance  of  these 
men  and  natural  predominance  of  mechanical  questions. 

In  view  of  these  aspects  of  the  new  engineering  or- 
ganization, it  may  be  well  worth  while  for  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  C.  E.  R.  A.  in  January  to  give  considera- 
tion to  a  change  in  the  organization  scheme.  It  would 
seem  to  be   a   more   efficient  plan   to   continue  the 


geographic  sections  now  organized,  but  make  them  ex- 
clusively for  the  equipment  engineers  and  retain  the 
present  schedule  of  meetings.  In  addition,  one  or  two 
meetings  a  year  of  the  line  and  power  engineers  of  the 
entire  C.  E.  R.  A.  territory,  and  similarly  one  or  two 
meetings  for  the  civil  engineers,  would  probably  provide 
ample  opportunity  for  interchange  of  ideas  in  these 
branches  of  the  engineering  work.  Then  all  engineers 
would  have  contact  and  opportunity  for  joint  considera- 
tion of  any  common  problems  at  the  time  of  the  annual 
meeting  as  provided  in  the  present  plan. 

One  outstanding  advantage  of  the  new  C.  E.  R.  A. 
engineering  council  over  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  master 
mechanics'  association  is  evident.  The  C.  E.  R.  A.  has 
provided  the  instrumentality  through  which  these  meet- 
ings can  be  made  to  show  real  accomplishment.  Before, 
the  men  just  met  and  discussed,  and  each  learned  from 
the  other.  Now,  in  addition,  the  discussion  can  be 
directed  toward  a  definite  conclusion  and  the  adoption 
of  standards  or  the  recording  of  best  practice. 


Increased  Train  Operation  Does  Not  Mean 
Less  Popularity  of  the  Safety  Car 

THE  large  increase  in  the  practice  of  train  operation 
which  has  taken  place  this  year  shows  that  electric 
railway  companies  favor  the  use  of  trailers  in  many 
cases  of  congested  traffic.  The  justification  of  train 
operation  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  extent  to  which 
the  saving  in  time  from  a  reduction  in  number  of  units, 
plus  the  saving  in  platform  labor,  overbalances  the  loss 
caused  by  the  increased  number  of  stops  required  by  a 
train  over  two  individual  cars  to  receive  and  discharge 
passengers.  Hence,  train  operation  is  particularly 
adapted  to  heavy  traffic  and  to  congested  centers,  be- 
cause it  is  here  that  street  congestion  would  require 
many  stops  in  any  event  and  a  reduction  in  the  number 
of  operating  units  is  most  effective  in  speeding  up  the 
whole  line.  Of  course,  such  trains  have  also  to  run  to 
some  extent  into  the  outlying  districts,  but  where  the 
required  stops  are  fairly  far  apart,  the  net  decrease  in 
running  time  caused  by  the  use  of  two  cars  is  not 
seriously  felt. 

This  increase  in  train  operation,  in  many  cities, 
should  not  be  interpreted  as  a  tendency  away  from  the 
use  of  safety  cars,  which  are  adapted  to  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent set  of  conditions.  These  small  units  have  proved 
of  exceptional  value  for  light  and  average  service  re- 
quirements. The  increased  tendency  toward  train  oper- 
ation has  also  been  influenced  to  some  extent  by  the  fact 
that  trailers  have  a  low  first  cost  and  operating  cost  in 
comparison  with  the  motor  cars.  In  this  latter  respect 
it  enters  the  field  of  one-man  car  operation. 

On  systems  where  safety  cars  are  in  use  train  opera- 
tion during  the  peak  period  does  not  interfere  With  the 
safety  car  operation.  In  many  cases  the  safety  cars 
are  operated  over  the  same  tracks  through  the  congested 
sections  that  are  used  by  the  trains,  but  in  most  in- 
stances they  are  on  different  lines.  The  safety  car 
headway  is  determined  largely  by  the  service  necessary 
in  the  outlying  sections  which  they  serve  rather  than 
in  the  dense  centers. 

Both  multiple-unit  and  trailer  operation  have  individ- 
ual advantages,  and  it  is  difficult  to  make  an  accurate 
comparison  between  the  two  because  multiple-unit  oper- 
ation has  certain  inherent  flexibilities  that  cannot  be 
obtained  with  trailers.  Both,  however,  are  essential 
factors  in  the  solution  of  heavy  traffic  problems  and  do 
not  encroach  on  the  safety  car  field. 


November  26,  19^1 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


933 


Milwaukee's  New  One-Man,  Two-Man  Double-Truck  Car 


Double-Truck,  One-Man,  Two-Man  Cars  in  Milwaukee 

Distinctive  Features  Are  Their  Adaptability  to  Light  or  Heavy  Traffic,  Unusually  Light  Weight.  Separate 
Exit  and  Entrance,  Special  Design  of  Trucks,  and  Advantages  to  the  Patrons 
in  Safety,  Comfort  and  Improved  Service 


THE  Electric  Railway  Journal  of  Aug.  20 
made  mention  of  the  commencing  of  one-man  car 
operation  in  Milwaukee  and  discussed  briefly  the 
new  light-weight,  double-truck,  low-floor  cars  equipped 
with  standard  safety  devices  which  were  developed  by 
the  Milwaukee  Company  in  preparation  for  this  in- 
stallation. This  Milwaukee  car,  embodying  as  it  does 
distinctive  features  of  design,  is  believed  by  the  com- 
pany to  be  an  up-to-date  and  satisfactory  solution  of 
the  problem  of  adapting  one-man  car  operation  to  the 
use  of  a  metropolitan  community  in  such  a  way  that  the 
new  service  does  not  suffer  by  unfavorable  comparison 
with  the  old.  The  Milwaukee  installation  offers  to  the 
riding  public  there  such  superior  advantages  in  the 
way  of  speed,  safety  and  comfort  that  this  innovation 
in  service  was  practically  assured  of  successful  accept- 
ance and  support  before  it  was  started.  The  time  and 
careful  thought  spent  by  the  Milwaukee  management  in 
analysis  of  construction  and  operating  features  of  de- 
sign are  plainly  in  evidence.  The  fundamental  ideas  of 
the  design  are  accredited  to  S.  B.  Way,  vice-president 
and  general  manager,  the  details  having  been  worked 


out  by  T.  W.  Faber,  engineer  of  car  construction,  though 
due  acknowledgment  is  made  by  these  gentlemen  to 
advice  and  suggestions  received  from  the  transportation 
and  other  company  departments. 

The  arrangement  of  this  car  for  either  one  or  two- 
man  operation  makes  it  readily  adaptable  for  use  on 
any  line  of  the  system,  hauling  either  heavy  or  light 
traffic  or  for  operation  on  the  same  line  as  a  one-man 
car  in  non-rush  and  as  a  two-man  car  in  rush  hours. 
At  the  time  of  this  writing,  two  lines  are  being  oper- 
ated with  the  new  cars  as  one-man  cars  all  day,  using 
the  two-man  three-truck  trains,  described  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Jan.  15,  1921,  page  131, 
for  the  additional  rush-hour  equipment  required,  as 
this  keeps  the  line  entirely  on  the  basis  of  one  man 
per  car. 

To  speed  up  loading  at  congested  points,  auxiliary 
street  collectors  are  used,  these  cars  being  equipped  with 
a  shaft  extending  out  from  the  steps  and  connected  to 
the  door-operating  mechanism  by  beveled  gears,  so  that 
these  collectors  are  enabled  by  using  a  crank,  to  open 
the  rear  right'-hand  door  and  admit  passengers.   By  this 


Z" 


?'-/"   2'-5"    >**     Z'-5%"  ►**••••■  Z'-5W ~*>  I*      2'-5%"  *•*-■  Z'-5"  fyU 

Flcor  Plan  Showing  Layout  op  Seats  and  Platform  Equipment  and  Various  Dimensions 


Z" 


934 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


means,  it  has  been  possible  to  maintain  practically  the 
same  schedule  speed  as  that  prevailing  when  the  lines 
were  operated  with  all  two-man  cars. 

The  arrangement  of  the  separate  entrance  and  exit 
doors  makes  possible  a  rate  of  loading  and  unloading 
equal  to  that  of  the  older  two-man  cars  on  the  system, 
and  these  doors  are  arranged  for  independent  opera- 
tion, so  that  the  operator  can  close  the  exit  when  all 
passengers  have  alighted  and  confine  the  ingress  of  pas- 
sengers to  the  entrance  door.  This  independent  opera- 
tion of  doors  is  similar  to  that  provided  for  the  rear 


Cross-Section  Showing  Floor,  Side  Post  and  Roof  Construction 


platform  and  is  of  advantage  in  preventing  loss  of  fares 
and  also  minimizes  the  loss  of  heat  in  cold  weather. 
The  platform  floors  are  practically  on  the  same  plane 
with  the  body  floor,  a  very  slight  ramp  giving  easy  step 
heights,  facilitating  passenger  movement.  Weight  and 
cost  in  construction  are  economized  to  a  great  extent 
by  the  elimination  of  platform  wells,  and  this  feature 
should  also  reduce  accidents.  'Aisles  wider  than  those 
on  any  other  cars  on  the  system  give  greater  freedom 
of  movement  of  passengers  through  the  car,  which  is 
very  necessary  in  a  car  where  the  passenger  movement 
is  to  and  from  the  same  platform  as  in  the  one-man 


operation.  Despite  the  2"8-in.  clear  aisle  space,  the  seats' 
are  wider  than  most  of  the  other  cars,  the  width  being 
36*  in. 

Improved  Service  Afforded 

Because  of  the  more  economical  operation  possible 
with  these  cars,  the  company  has  been  enabled  to  give 
its  patrons  a  more  frequent  service.  On  the  Thirty- 
fifth  Street  line,  on  which  operation  of  the  new  cars 
was  begun  on  June  19,  a  base  headway  with  forty-four 
seat  two-man ^cars  of  eight  minutes  in  the  morning  and 
nine  minutes  in  the  afternoon  was  replaced  with  an 
eight-minute  headway  all  day  using  the  fifty-eight  seat 
one-man  cars.  A  stretch  of  single  track  made  it 
impossible  readily  to  shorten  the  headway  under  eight 
minutes.  The  average  schedule  speed  of  9.67  m.p.h.  of 
the  two-man  cars  on  this  line  was  reduced  to  9.24  m.p.h. 
with  the  new  cars.  The  seats  per  hour  past  a  given 
point  was  formerly  330  in  the  morning  and  293  in  the 
afternoon  as  compared  to  the  present  435  all  day. 

A  further  improvement  in  service  was  made  on  the 
Twenty-seventh  Street  line,  on  which  the  new  cars  were 
installed  on  Aug.  1.  Here  the  former  base  service  was 
ten  minutes  in  the  morning  and  eight  minutes  in  the 
afternoon,  while  the  new  headway  with  one-man  cars  is 
eight  and  one-half  minutes  in  the  morning  and  seven 
minutes  in  the  afternoon.  The  former  schedule  speed 
was  11.05  m.p.h.  and  is  now  10.97  m.p.h.  The  very 
slight  reduction  in  schedule  speed  is  more  than  com- 
pensated for  from  the  standpoint  of  the  patron  by  the 
shorter  period  he  must  wait  for  a  car.  The  relative 
number  of  seats  per  hour  on  this  line  in  the  morning 
was  264  with  the  two-man  forty-four  seat  cars  and  406 
with  the  new  cars.  On  the  afternoon  schedule,  the 
former  service  provided  330  seats  per  hour  as  compared 
to  545  in  the  new  service. 

An  idea  of  the  density  of  traffic  on  the  two  lines  on 
which  these  new  cars  have  been  installed  can  be  gained 
from  the  following  figures:  On  the  Twenty-seventh 
Street  line,  the  average  number  of  passengers  per  car- 
mile  as  computed  from  recent  figures  is  10.51,  while 
that  of  the  Thirty-fifth  Street  line  is  9.88.  These  may 
be  compared  with  a  city  system  average  of  9.53  passen- 
gers per  car-mile  and  with  the  heaviest  city  line  which 
carries  13.54  passengers  per  car-mile. 

With  the  lower  cost  for  operating  these  cars,  lower 
cost  for  platform  labor,  less  for  power  on  account  of 
the  light  weight  and  the  small  motors  used,  less  for 
maintenance  of  equipment  and  reduced  track  main- 
tenance the  company  is  able  to  give  the  patron  more 
for  his  money. 

General  Layout  of  the  Cars 

The  new  Milwaukee  cars  known  as  the  "800"'  series 
are  of  semi-steel,  arch-roof  construction  with  under- 
frame,  side  framing,  posts  and  letterboards  of  steel,  and 
roof,  doors  and  interior  trim  of  wood.  The  bodies  are 
mounted  on  special  arch-bar  trucks  designed  by  the  Mil- 
waukee Company  and  equipped  with  26-in.  rolled-steel 
wheels  and  four  mptors.  Thirty  of  the  cars  are 
equipped  with  General  Electric  type  264  motors  and 
seventy  with  Westinghouse  type  508  motors.  The  com- 
paratively low  weight  per  motor  gives  these  cars  a  good 
running  speed.  They  accelerate  rapidly,  coast  freely 
and  get  ever  the  line  in  better  time  than  the  bigger  and 
heavier  cars.  The  energy  consumption  of  this  car  is 
about  1.75  kw.-hr.  per  car-mile  as  averaged  from  a 
week's  operation  of  one  car.    The  air  brakes  are  the 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


935 


standard  safety-car  control  equipments  of  the  Safety 
Car  Devices  Company,  interlocking  operation  of  power, 
brakes,  doors,  steps  and  sanders  to  insure  maximum 
safety  in  operation,  the  same  as  on  the  safety  car. 

As  indicated  in  the  tabulated  matter  accompanying 
this  article,  a  very  detailed  study  was  made  of  the 
weight  distribution,  and  every  effort  consistent  with 
adequate  strength  was  made  to  produce  a  car  of  mini- 
mum weight,  and  the  result  of  such  careful  designing 
is  shown  in  the  actual  scale  weight  of  31,820  lb.  of 
car  completely  equipped.  With  a  seating  capacity  of 
fifty-eight  in  summer  (one  cross-seat  being  removed  to 
make  room  for  the  stove  in  winter)  this  gives  a  weight 
per  seat  of  548  lb.  The  Milwaukee  climate  requires 
insulation  in  the  steel  car  body,  headlining  under  the 
roof,  an  inside  lining  of  the  body,  double  floors  and 


coal-burning,  hot-air,  forced-circulation  heaters.  The 
full  spring  cushion  seats  weigh  slightly  more  than  a 
springless  type  which  might  have  been  used,  but  their 
desirability,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  passenger  who 
has  to  ride  any  distance,  is  obvious. 

The  car  is  45  ft.  long  over  buffers  and  approximately 
30  ft.  long  over  the  body  corner  posts,  each  platform 
being  7 1  ft.  long.  The  trucks  are  at  20  ft.  9  in.  centers, 
giving  an  overhang  of  12  ft.  li  in.  The  width  over  the 
side  sills  is  8  ft.  6  in.  Other  dimensions  are:  Height 
from  rail  to  top  of  floor  at  door,  30A  in.;  height  from 
rail  to  top  of  step,  16  in.;  height  from  step  to  floor, 
14&  in.;  height  from  rail  to  top  of  roof,  11  ft.  llil  in. 

The  seating  arrangement,  position  of  conductor  when 
one  is  used,  arrangement  of  control  equipment  on  the 
platform,  etc.,  are  seen  in  the  accompanying  drawings. 
It  will  be  noted  that  the  seating  arrangement  has  been 
laid  out  to  give  the  maximum  number  of  cross  seats, 
which  are  more  popular  with  the  public,  one  three- 
passenger  longitudinal  seat  being  used  at  either  end  at 
diagonal  corners  to  provide  a  small  well. 


Differing  from  the  platform  arrangement  of  the  com- 
mon type  of  safety  car,  the  operator's  position  was  made 
in  the  center  of  the  platform  behind  the  middle  win- 
dow instead  of  at  the  left-hand  side.  The  operating 
department  considers  that  the  center  location  gives 
safer  operation,  while  it  sacrifices  but  little  of  the  load- 
ing well  space  available  when  the  operator  is  stationed 
at  the  left  side  of  the  platform.  The  two  locations  of 
the  fare  box  for  one-man  and  two-man  operation  are 
shown  in  the  drawing.  Platforms  are  as  long  as  re- 
quired to  provide  for  separate  entrance  and  exit  passage- 
ways. Railings  are  used  to  separate  boarding  and 
alighting  passengers.  The  pipe  rail  dividing  the  en- 
trance and  exit  passageways  is  carried  in  a  vertical 
position  on  the  rear  platform  when  the  car  is  operated 
with  one  man,  thus  leaving  the  rear  platform  seats  clear 


of  obstruction.  This  rail  is  reversible,  so  that  it  can  be 
used  for  pay-as-you-enter  fare  collection  arrangement 
on  either  end  of  the  car  by  motorman  or  conductor. 

At  the  front  end  of  the  car,  the  entrance  doors  only 
are  air  operated  and  controlled  from  the  brake  valve 
handle.  The  exit  doors  are  operated  by  hand.  Both 
conductor's  doors  are  mechanically  operated  by  hand. 
The  conductor's  rear  or  entrance  doors  are  the 
ones  connected  to  the  auxiliary  shaft  and  opened  from 
the  outside  by  street  collectors  when  the  cars  are  oper- 
ated with  one  man.  The  conductor,  under  two-man 
operation,  is  stationed  opposite  the  rear  exit  door  at 
the  far  side  of  the  platform.  All  doors  have  been  made 
to  open  outward  in  order  to  retain  all  possible  platform 
space  for  loading  purposes,  particularly  when  using  a 
conductor.  As  explained  earlier,  selective  operation  of 
all  entrance  and  exit  doors  on  both  ends  of  the  car  is 
provided  to  make  most  of  the  advantages  that  inde- 
pendent operation  gives  in  the  control  of  fare  collection 
and  the  minimizing  of  loss  of  heat  in  the  winter  season. 

Ample  ventilation  is  provided  through  twelve  Gar- 


INTERESTING 
FEATURES  OF  THE 
MILWAUKEE  CARS 

No.  1 — Wide  aisle  and 
wide  cushion  cross  seats 
are  features  of  interior. 

No.  2  —  Straight  front 
view  of  fhe  new  Milwau- 
kee car. 

No.  3 — Arrangement  at 
front  end  for  one-man  op- 
eration. 

No.  4 — Rear  doors  and 
location  of  fare  box  when 
conductor  is  employed. 

No.  5 — Double  doors  and 
fare  box  location  at  front 
end  when  used  as  one- 
man  car. 


936 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Table  I — Weight  Analysis  of  Milwaukee  One-Ma n  Double-Truck  Car 


Total  Percentage 
Weight     of  Total 
I  b.  Weight 

Two  trucks  without  motors   8,600  27 

Electrical  Wmiiirmen' 

Two  K-35  controllers   554 

One  economy  meter   26 

Two  No.  5C3-D  canopy  switches   50 

Four  GE-264  motors   3,840 

Two  U.  8.  thirteen  trolley  bases   240 

One  controller  handle   2 

One  grid  resistance  (large)   112 

One  grid  resistance  (small)   82 

One  armature  ciicuit  fuse  box   56 

One  M.P.  lightning  arrester    7.5 

One  choke  coil..   1.5 

One  fu^e  box — main   115 

Four  axle  collars   68 

Two  trolley  poles,  harps  and  wheels   76 

Two  trolley  catchers   37 

260  ft.  trolley  and  ground  cable  (7— .0974)  ....  75 

(290  lb.  1,000  ft.) 

1,220  ft.  motor  and  res.  cable  (7— .0545)   146 

(  120  lb.  1,000  ft.) 

130  ft.  motor  cable  (7— .0688)   22 

(170  lb.  1,000  ft.) 

Two  trolley  catcher  sockets   2.5 

Steel  supports   25 

Wood  supports   30 

Bolts   10 

28  ft.  f-in."  conduit   30  5,504  17  .3 

Brake  A pparatvs 

One  Westinghouse  D.H.— -1*  air  compressor.  .  585 

One  set  air  compressor  suspension  irons   23.  75 

One  8-in.  suction  air  strainer   12 

One  type  S-6-B  compressor  governor   35 

One  f-in.  air  strainer  for  compressor  governor.  2  25 

One  8xl2-in.  type  "S"  brake  cylinder   125 

Two  12x48-in.  enameled  air  reservoirs   174 

Two  sets  air  reservoir  hangers  and  blocks   14 

One  tyDC  E-l  safety  valve   3 

One  I  Ox  1 2-in.  sanding  reservoir   35 

One  sand  reservoii  hanger  and  block   2.75 

One  type  K-l  emergency  valve  and  bracket...  33 

One  No.  I  5  double  check  valve   7 

Two  circuit  breaker  cylinders  '.   10 

Two  foot  and  cutoff  valves   21 

Two  1-in.  cheek  valves  for  sand  line   .75 

Two  3-1 -in.  single  pointer  air  gages   2.25 

Two  M-28  brake  valves   48 

Two  door  and  step  controllers   194 

Two  snap  switches     1.25 

Two  controller  handle  base  portions  1  .  ^ 
Two  controller  pilot  valves 

Two  f-i.n.  insulating  joints   15 

One  f-in.  ^utout  cock   I  25 

One  fuse  block  and  fuse   I 

Two  J -in.  drain  cocks   I 

Apparatus  supports,  rods,  levers,  chain  etc   I  6 

184  ft.  f-in.  pipe   105 

24"  ft.  J-in.  rope   212 

2  ft.  i -in.  pipe   0  5 

21  ft.  1-in.  pipe   35.25 

23  ft.  2-in.  pipe   84 

2',  ft,  IJ-in.  pipe   5  68 

Pipe  fittings   105 

Total  weight  of  brake  apparatus   2,334  7  3 

fenders   450  14 

Seats 

Twenty  cross  seats  at  59  lb   1,180 

Eight  vestibule  folding  seats   117 

Two  longitudinal  seat  cushions   63 

Two  longitudinal  seat  backs   44 

Two  longitudinal  seat  frames   53 

Wall  end  supports  for  cross  seats   80 

Pipe  supports  for  vestibule  seats   43  1,580  5 

Sash. 

Twenty  side  lower  sash   110 

Four  lower  side  sash   20 

Two  vestibule  center  top  sash   3  88 

Two  vestibule  center  bottom  sash   8  .  63 

Two  vestibule  storm  sash  center   7.75 

Four  vestibule  sash  side   22.25 

Four  vestibule  storm  sash  side   2 1 .  00 

Twenty  side  upper  sash   48.00 

Four  side  upper  sash   9  00 

Sas''  Glass 

Four  lights  side  upper,  24  J-in.  wide   9.3  sq.ft. 

Twenty  lights  side  upper,  25}  in.  wide   47.4 

Four  lights  side  lower,  25Jx26j  in   18.8 

Twenty  lights  side  lower,  25|x26f  in   96.  1 

Two  vestibule  center  top  glass,  6}  x  1 6|  in   .7 

Two  vestibule  center  bottom  glass,  27x1 6|  in.  6.1 

Two  vestibule  center  storm  glass,  165x34}  in..  7.9 

Four  vestibule  side  glass,  34}x33}  in   32.5 

Four  vestibule  side  storm  glass  33x34}  in   31.6 

250.4  sq.ft. 


Sash  Glass 

250.4  sq.ft.  at  1.64  lb   410  lb. 

Storm  sash  fixtures   10 

Sash   250 

Sash  racks   10 

Total  for  sash,  including  fixtures  

D  1  rs 

Wood   229 

Class   113 

Castings   632 

Steel  (including  door  operating  mechanism).. .  562 

I  nderframe 

Center  construction  steel   1,938.66 

Center  construction  rivets   110.82 

Center  construction  bolts   8.  72 

Superstructure 

Steel     2,933.73 

Castings   182.00 

Rivets   85.27 

R  <f 

Roof  carlines  steel   126.37 

Roof  carlines,  wood     1  30.  00 

Roofing   417.00 

Running  boards  and  saddles   133  .  00 

Trolley  baseboard   18  00 

Roof  side  stringers   86  .  10 

Bolts   6.50 

Canvas   31.50 

Fin-- 

Floor  stringers   390 

Floor  stringer  steel  supports   64 

Floor  stringer  bolts   35 

Flooring  (double)   1,274 

Nails   15 

Paper   50 

Inside  Finis'1  

lliglt  T  iring 

Lamp  receptacles   6 

Lamp  blocks                                                .  7 

Wire  moulding   24 

Wire— 550  ft.  No.  14   36 

Lamps   2  5 

Reflectors   I 

One  three-way  switch,  3  amp   .75 

Three  three-amp.  switch  and  cutouts   3.75 

Screws   1 

Passenger  Signal 

Twenty-six  push  buttoms   7 

One  interrupter  resistor   9.5 

Two  buzzers — I  lb.  5  oz.  each   2  .5 

Wire— 490  ft.  No.  18   20 

M  's  ell^neot  s 

Six  motorman's  roof  steps   6 .  00 

Two  push  pole  pockets   17  .00 

Two  coupling  pin  pockets   18.00 

Drawbar,  pin  and  bracket   125.00 

Two  gongs   14.75 

Twelve  ventilators,  complete   145  .00 

Twenty-four  side  curtains   100.00 

Two  motorman's  curtains   16  .  00 

Two  motorman's  seat  sockets   3.  50 

One  motorman's  seat   8.50 

One  switch  hook  and  two  holders   11.75 

Two  sand  traps   24.00 

Eight  grab  handles  and  sockets   63  00 

Heater  duct  and  shields   65  .00 

One  jack  98-lb.  and  one  jack  stick  7  lb   105  00 

Two  turtles   46.00 

One  tool  box   146.00 

Window  guards   185.00 

Pipe  railings   145.00 

Two  front  destination  signs  and  boxes   48 .  00 

Two  headlights   22.00 

Step  treads   40.00 

Safety  treads   48.00 

Two  single  stroke  bells   6.  87 

Two  door  signal  boxes   1 2 .  00 

Eight  step  springs   1 6 .  00 

Door  signal  switches   2 .  00 

Two  sand  boxes   15.00 

Paint  

Total  estimated  summer  weight  

Actual  scale  weight  of  car  complete,  ready  for 
summer  operation  


Percentage 
Total      of  Total 
Weight  Weight 
Lb. 


680 


1,536 


2,058.20 


2.  I 


4.8 


6.5 


3,201.00  10 


950.47 


1,828 


550 


5.7 


1.4 


82 


39 


1,464.37 


600 
31,316 


31,820 


4.6 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


937 


land  exhaust  ventilators,  and  with  good  ceiling  height 
the  results  obtained  in  eliminating  odors  and  changing 
air  even  under  crowded  conditions  are  most  satisfactory. 
The  lighting  consists  of  five  circuits  of  23-watt  Mazda 
lamps,  the  bare  lamps  being  set  in  such  relation  to  the 
ceiling  as  to  make  best  use  of  the  light-colored  enamaled 
surface  as  a  reflector.  The  number  of  lamps  used  is 
rather  more  than  is  ordinarily  thought  necessary  for 
a  car  of  this  size,  but  the  bright  and  cheerful  appear- 
ance of  the  car  by  reason  of  the  extra  light  is  very 
pleasing  to  the  passenger. 

In  this  Milwaukee  car,  brass  sash  has  been  used  to 
good  effect  in  adding  to  the  appearance  of  an  excep- 
tionally bright,  neat  equipage.  In  engineering  for 
weight  reduction,  it  was  determined  that,  including  the 
1  sq.ft.  of  additional  glass  required,  the  brass  sash 
was  13  oz.  heavier  per  unit  than  the  wood  sash  of 
equivalent  size  would  be,  but  appearance  and  reduced 
maintenance  cost  weighed  more  in  making  the  decision 
for  its  use.  In  other  words,  while  saving  in  weight 
was  important  and  wonderful  results  in  this  direction 
were  accomplished,  it  was  not  obtained  by  any  sacrifice 
of  strength,  safety,  comfort  or  appearance,  such  as  has 
been  the  case  with  some  of  the  efforts  along  this  line 
in  the  past.  Window  curtains  of  standard  material  and 
full  length  are  provided  for  all  windows,  push-button 
buzzer  signals  are  available  for  the  passengers,  and  the 
car  carries  a  full  equipment  of  illuminated  destination 
signs,  jacks  and  necessary  tools  for  emergency  purposes. 

Some  Details  of  Body  Construction 

A  side  girder  of  steel  is  made  the  main  carrying  mem- 
ber of  the  car.  Pressed  channel  cross  members  are 
employed  to  transmit  the  load  to  the  side  girders.  The 
side  sills  are  made  of  3-in.  x  2^-in.  x  fs-in.  rolled-steel 
angles  extending  on  either  side  of  the  car  from  buffer 
channel  to  buffer  channel.    At  the  door  openings,  the 

side  sills  are  rein- 
forced with  ra  -  in. 
pressed  -  steel  chan- 
nels and  a  li-in.  x  t%- 
in.  open-hearth  steel 
bar  extending  from 
the  first  body  side 
post  to  the  buffer 
channel.  The  side 
sheathing  consists  of 
A-in.  patent  leveled 
plate  steel  made  up 
in  three  pieces  on 
each  side  of  the  car. 
The  belt  rail  at  the 
window  sills  consists 
of  a  3-in.  x  A-in.  bar 
extending  from  cor- 
ner post  to  corner 
post  on  each  side  of 
the  body.  Rolled 
channels,  4  in.  x  51 
in.,  bent  to  a  5-ft. 
radius,  form  the  buffers.  The  superstructure  is  of  par- 
ticularly light  construction.  The  side  posts  are  "U" 
shaped  pressings  made  from  tV-in.  open-hearth  steel. 
They  are  11  in.  wide  and  3  in.  deep  with  flanges  at  the 
open  side  of  the  "U"  to  which  are  riveted  the  side  girder 
plates.  The  letter-boards  are  also  made  of  A-in.  pressed 
steel  and  reinforced  at  the  door  openings  with  J-in. 
pressed  steel  plates  extending  from  the  second  body  side 


Steel  Underframe  op  Milwaukee 
Car 


posts  to  the  vestibule  corner  posts.  At  each  side  post  a 
H-in.  x  xV-in.  steel  carline  forged  to  a  shape  to  conform 
to  the  roof  curvature  is  riveted  to  the  top  flange  of  the 
letter-boards.  To  each  steel  carline  is  bolted  a  H-in.  x 
ii-in.  ash  carline,  and  an  additional  intermediate  wood 
carline  is  provided  between  each  set  of  main  carlines 
between  bulkheads. 

A  very  light  roof  construction  was  secured  by  using 


Specially  Designed  Arch  Bar  Truck  of  Light  Weight 

1-in.  x  2  ! -in.  poplar,  tongue  and  grooved,  covered  with 
No.  8  cotton  duck  laid  in  white  lead  and  oil.  Inside 
the  body,  headlining  of  isr-in.  agasote  is  used,  but  no 
headlining  is  provided  in  the  vestibules.  The  interior 
trim  is  in  cherry,  with  all  furring  designed  to  serve  its 
purpose  with  the  least  possible  weight.  The  double 
flooring  is  made  up  of  an  under  layer  of  f-in.  yellow  pine 
with  i-in.  maple  on  top. 

Design  of  the  Trucks 

The  low  weight  of  4,300  lb.  per  truck  without  motors 
was  obtained  through  the  use  of  chrome  vanadium  steel 
in  the  arch  bars.  The  use  of  this  special  alloy  steel 
for  the  side-frame  members  made  it  possible  to  employ 
a  lighter  section  with  safety  and  hence  reduce  the 
weight.  The  elastic  limit  of  these  special  steel  members 
is  50  per  cent  greater  than  that  of  ordinary  steel,  a 
characteristic  which  is  expected  to  avoid  the  trouble 
which  some  companies  have  had  in  the  past  with  break- 
ing the  bottom  arch  bar.  The  top  arch  bar  of  these 
trucks  is  made  of  I-in.  x  3i-in.  flat  bar,  the  bottom 
arch  bar  of  i-m.  x  3J-in.  bar  and  the  arch  bar  tie  bar 
of  1-in.  x  34-in.  flat  bar.  No  springs  are  provided  over 
the  journals.  Full  double  elliptical  springs  with  long 
(34-in.)  centers  and  comparatively  thin  (1-in.)  leaves 
are  provided  in  the  bolsters.  The  springs  have  six 
leaves  and  are  very  resilient.  While  no  auxiliary 
springs  are  employed  over  the  journal  boxes  and  no 
equalizer  bars  are  used,  the  car  rides  well.  Simplified 
truck  design  contributes  materially  to  reduced  main- 
tenance cost. 

The  brake  head  on  the  dead  lever  side  of  the  trucks 
is  hung  directly  by  the  dead  levers,  eliminating  the 
customary  brake  hangers.  The  axles  are  of  special 
design,  made  of  heat-treated  carbon  steel  and  are  31  in. 
in  diameter  with  3i-in.  x  6-in.  journals.  A  hole  11  in. 
in  diameter  was  bored  through  the  entire  length  of  each 
axle,  producing  a  saving  of  115  lb.  per  car  and  reducing 
by  that  much  the  unsprung  weight.  As  a  result  of  this 
hollow  boring,  the  strength  of  the  axles  was  decreased 
but  slightly  over  3  per  cent.  Ninety-nine  car  bodies 
are  being  constructed  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
and  the  trucks  for  these  cars  are  being  built  in  the 
company's  own  shops,  where  the  car  bodies  and  motor 
equipment  are  mounted. 


938 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Adequately  to  prove  out  all  the  ideas  incorporated  in 
the  design,  the  Milwaukee  Company  constructed  a 
sample  car  in  its  own  shops  early  last  year.  This  car 
has  been  in  operation  since  March  1,  1920,  or  about 
eighteen  months,  and  a  considerable  number  of  this  type 
of  car  have  been  in  operation  for  six  months  or  more 
this  year.  The  cars  have  been  in  the  heaviest  service, 
carrying  100  to  125  passengers  per  car  in  rush-hour 
trips,  on  occasions,  although  the  rush-hour  standards 
for  a  three-day  average  on  this  property  would  limit  the 
load  to  eighty-five  passengers.  Actual  operation  of  the 
cars  has  developed  no  structural  or  other  weaknesses 
nor  has  it  suggested  any  substantial  modification  in 
design. 


Chicago  Loop  Rerouting  Proposed 

Beeler  Plan  Submitted  to  Public  Utilities  Commission  by 
Chicago  Surface  Lines  Will  Equalize  Traffic  and 
Materially  Improve  Movement  of  Cars 

ON  DEC  30,  1920,  the  Illinois  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission ordered  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines  to  sub- 
mit within  sixty  days  "preliminary  plans  for  such  switch 
and  turn-back  service  and  such  revision  of  routing  as 
they  may  deem  practicable  and  calculated  to  facilitate 
the  movement  of  cars,  reduce  congestion  of  traffic  in 
the  Loop,  or  otherwise  bring  about  improvements  in 


Car  Flow  Chart  in  Downtown  District,  Chicago 
Under  Present  Routing 


service."  Accordingly,  on  Feb.  23,  the  Surface  Lines 
forwarded  to  the  commission  a  suggested  plan  of  rerout- 
ing in  the  Chicago  Loop  district  as  prepared  by  the 
Beeler  organization,  which  had  been  working  on 
various  service  improvements  for  the  company.  The 
proposed  plan  did  not  become  public  at  that  time,,  but 
recently,  in  connection  with  the  fare  case  before  the 
Illinois  Commerce  Commission,  Mr.  Beeler  and  Mr.  Buck 
testified  against  the  rerouting  plan  submitted  by  the 
city  and  offered  their  plan  as  one  which  would  better 
accomplish  the  results  sought. 

Ten  changes  in  routing  are  recommended.  They  are 
based  on  the  principle  of  obtaining  a  more  equitable  dis- 


tribution of  the  cars  within  the  district,  a  more  evenly 
balanced  traffic  on  each  street,  a  minimized  turning 
movement  and  the  substitution,  so  far  as  practicable,  of 
right-hand  movements  for  the  more  difficult  left-hand 
ones. 

Beeler  Rerouting  Plan 

The  accompanying  car  flow  charts  show  the  present 
and  proposed  routing.  The  plan  contemplates  no 
changes  on  State  Street  or  Wabash  Avenue.  On  the 
other  streets  it  requires  the  addition  of  special  track- 
work  only  for  four  quadrants  at  four  different  street 
intersections. 

The  number  of  straight  intersectional  movements 
would  be  reduced  from  7,518  to  7,187  during  the  maxi- 
mum hour,  or  an  average  reduction  of  331  per  hour. 
The  simple  right-hand  turns  would  be  increased  from 
1,200  to  1,340  per  hour,  while  the  left-hand  turns  would 
be  decreased  from  1,120  to  855.  Other  benefits  derived 
include  the  removal  of  curve  movements  from  Washing- 
ton Street  between  Franklin  and  State  Streets,  a  very 
heavy  traffic  section;  the  removal  of  one-half  the  cars 
from  the  eastbound  track  on  Van  Buren  Street,  now 
badly  congested;  provision  of  good  car  service  between 
the  Union  Station  and  the  Loop  hotels,  where  none  is 
now  given;  greater  utilization  of  the  eastbound  Madi- 
son Street  track,  now  but  little  used,  and  release  of  the 


Cab  Flow  Chart  in  Downtown  District,  Chicago., 
Under  Proposed  Routing 


stub  terminal  at  Adams  and  State  Streets  for  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  the  Harrison  Street  line. 

The  principal  advantages  claimed  for  this  plan  may 
be  briefly  summarized  as  follows : 

1.  A  more  even  distribution  of  the  cars  in  the  Loop 
district  will  be  obtained. 

2.  There  will  be  no  radical  changes  in  the  present 
Loop  routing,  the  proposed  loops  conforming  to  the 
present  routing  as  far  as  practicable. 

3.  The  interlocking  features  of  the  present  loops  will 
be  minimized. 

4.  Greater  segregation  of  the  routes  should  prevent 

confusion  and  facilitate  loading. 

i>fid  Imooez  9riJ  mo'ii  pr£«fr:3.y.9  29  siq  99  ft  u  j  .=».9.:  <j 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


939 


5.  A  reduction  in  car  traffic  through  the  heaviest  in- 
tersections will  be  obtained. 

6.  The  car  traffic  will  be  more  evenly  balanced  on  the 
two  sides  of  the  street. 

7.  The  total  number  of  turns  required  in  the  Loop 
district  will  be  decreased. 

8.  Right-hand  turns  will  be  substituted  for  one-sixth 
of  the  present  left-hand  turns. 

9.  Better  service  will  be  provided  between  the  Union 
Station  and  the  Loop  hotels. 

10.  All  turning  movements  will  be  eliminated  from 
Washington  Street  between  Franklin  and  State.  Since 
this  is  one  of  the  heaviest  east-and-west  traffic  thorough- 
fares street  congestion  should  be  reduced  materially. 

11.  Greater  use  will  be  made  of  the  eastbound  Madi- 
son Street  track  in  the  heart  of  the  Loop  district. 

12.  The  stub  terminal  on  Adams  Street  at  State  will 
be  released  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Harrison  Street 
line. 

13.  One-half  of  the  cars  now  operated  eastbound  on 
Van  Buren  Street  will  be  removed,  thus  balancing  the 
car  traffic  on  that  street. 

14.  The  traffic  flow  at  several  other  heavy  points  will 
be  reduced.  Eastbound  on  Washington  Street  between 
La  Salle  and  Clark  the  maximum  flow  will  be  reduced 
from  201  cars  per  hour  to  105  cars  per  hour,  and  west- 
bound on  the  same  street  between  Clark  and  Wells  the 
maximum  flow  will  be  reduced  from  160  to  120  cars  per 
hour. 

15.  No  changes  will  be  made  in  the  State  Street  or 
Wabash  Avenue  lines. 

16.  The  proposed  plan  requires  but  a  minimum 
amount  of  track  construction,  this  being  limited  to  four 
new  connecting  curves,  all  of  the  simple  inside  type. 

One  great  feature  of  the  entire  plan  is  that  but  little 
change  in  the  habits  of  the  car  riders  will  be  neces- 
sary, and  only  minor  changes  in  transfer  arrangements 
will  have  to  be  made.  No  claim  is  made  for  greater 
economy  of  operati'on,  although  there  will  be  with  the 
present  service  a  reduction  of  some  300  car-miles  per 
day,  amounting  to  a  saving  of  about  100,000  car-miles 
in  the  course  of  a  year.  This  alone  was  not  considered 
of  sufficient  importance  to  feature  as  a  reason  for 
making  the  change. 

Jackson  Rerouting  Plan 

The  routing  plan  in  the  Loop  district  as  proposed  by 
George  W.  Jackson,  whose  testimony  formed  the  back- 
bone of  the  city's  case,  is  reproduced  herewith.  It  con- 
sists almost  entirely  of  single-track  loops  and  would 
do  away  with  the  necessity  for  special  work  intersec- 
tions now  in  use  to  the  extent  of  an  investment  of 
approximately  $2,000,000,  which  would  have  a  scrap 
value  estimated  at  $137,000.  It  would  also  cost  con- 
siderably over  a  million  dollars  to  take  up  the  track  and 
special  work  not  required  and  repave  the  streets.  There 
would  also  be  a  cost  of  $1,000,000  required  for  rebuild- 
ing cars  to  permit  the  left-hand  loading  contemplated  on 
State  Street  and  Wabash  Avenue,  where  it  was  proposed 
to  use  long  loading  platforms  located  in  the  devil  strip. 

Mr.  Jackson  claims  that  this  Loop  routing  plan  would 
increase  the  capacity  of  the  system  from  a  present  abil- 
ity to  take  in  and  out  of  the  Loop  75,000  people  hourly 
to  a  capacity  of  150,000  people  per  hour,  it  would  save 
60  per  cent  of  the  time  now  required  for  running  cars 
in  and  out  of  the  Loop,  would  save  at  least  60  per  cent 
in  operating  costs  of  all  cars  operated  in  and  ,out  of 


the  Loop,  would  save  the  enormous  cost  of  installing 
two,  three  and  four-way  switches,  would  make  a  very 
large  saving  in  the  cost  of  repairs  to  the  special  work 
and  maintenance  of  equipment,  and  would  do  away  with 
the  noise  made  by  the  cars  operating  over  the  special 
trackwork. 

Questioned  for  their  opinion  of  the  Jackson  plan,  Mr. 
Beeler  and  Mr.  Buck  testified  before  the  commission 
that  the  Jackson  plan  would  terminate  routes  two  to 
eight  blocks  away  from  where  the  people  wanted  to  go. 
This  would  greatly  add  to  the  congestion  of  the  side- 
walks, which  are  already  overtaxed.  It  would  virtually 
do  away  with  the  present  transfer  system,  which  is 
limited  by  ordinance  to  distances  of  200  ft.  The  amount 
of  short  riding  would  be  reduced  as  compared  to  the 


my  u 


□ 


□  □ 


□ 


□ouun 


:ddddd 


TOPED 


Indicates  Loading  Platform 


Rerouting  of  Street  Cars  in  Chicago  Loop  District 
Proposed  by  City 

present  routing  and  there  would  be  less  service  to  the 
railroad  stations. 

Operation  of  cars  in  the  Loop  would  be  at  a  lower 
speed  than  at  present  because  there  would  be  the  same 
number  or  a  larger  number  of  turning  movements  to  be 
made  in  a  shorter  distance.  The  plan  would  involve 
more  left-hand  turns,  would  introduce  the  loading  of 
greater  numbers  of  passengers  per  stop  because  of  the 
fewer  stops,  and  hence  would  make  the  length  of  stop 
-very  long.  The  plan  would  also  result  in  making  fewer 
outlets  from  the  Loop,  which  would  mean  a  greater 
number  of  cars  per  outlet,  and  introduce  a  headway 
which  would  probably  exceed  the  capacity  of  the  track. 
Cars  would  be  taken  out  of  the  tunnels  where  they 
operate  at  high  speed  and  put  onto  bridges,  where  the 
speed  is  low,  and  thus  again  reduce  the  speed.  It  would 
result  in  greater  interference  from  left-hand  turns  and 
would  at  the  same  time  provide  so  few  connections  for 
emergency  routing  that  it  would  be  practically  fatal  to 
good  service. 

Mr.  Beeler  testified  that  the  service  given  by  the 
Chicago  Surface  Lines  in  general  compared  very  favor- 
ably with  that  in  other  large  cities  and  that  he  knew 
of  no  city  in  the  country  where  a  better  schedule  speed 
is  made. 


V 


940 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Featherweight  Pressure  Gate  on 
the  Interborough 

Congestion  Will  Be  Relieved  and  About  1,500  Station  Em- 
ployees Released  by  Complete  Installation  of  This  Type 
of  Turnstile,  Which  Makes  a  Nickel  the  Ticket 

THE  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  New 
York,  after  more  than  two  years  study  of  the  prob- 
lem of  how  to  save  the  annoyance  to  and  time  of  pas- 
sengers in  buying  subway  and  elevated  tickets,  has  now 
developed  a  light-weight,  foolproof  turnstile,  several  of 
which  are  being  installed  in  each  station  of  the  Lexing- 
ton Avenue  line.  Where  these  gates  have  been  installed 
a  nickel  will  be  the  ticket,  while  no  other  coin  will  un- 
lock the  gate.  Any  other  which  is  inserted  in  the  slot 
will  be  returned  without  unlocking  the  gate.  When  the 
gate  is  unlocked  the  passenger  need  exert  scarcely  more 
than  featherweight  pressure  to  pass  through. 

The  initial  installation  of  the  featherweight  pressure 
gate  was  made  at  the  Fifty-first  Street  station  of  the 
Lexington  Avenue  subway  some  six  months  ago,  since 
which  time  more  than  3,000,000  passengers  have  passed 


The  new  gates  serve  as  exits  as  well  as  entrances,  as 
they  turn  freely  in  the  opposite  direction  for  persons 
going  out.  The  incoming  and  outgoing  passengers  do 
not  interfere  with  each  other.  During  the  rush  hours 
there  is  little  conflict,  for  the  great  flow  of  traffic  is  uni- 
directional. 

Not  only  will  these  gates  facilitate  fare  collection  and 
reduce  the  passenger's  delay  to  a  minimum,  but  it  will 
also  effect  a  very  substantial  saving  to  the  company. 
Hereafter,  only  one  man  to  make  change  will  be  neces- 
sary instead  of  two  ticket  agents  and  two  choppers,  as 
were  formerly  necessary  in  most  of  the  stations.  When 
the  system  is  completely  equipped  about  1,500  station 
employees  will  be  released,  whose  services  will  then  be 
utilized  in  other  departments.  As  a  fare-collecting  and 
recording  device  the  machine  leaves  little  to  be  desired. 
It  is  evident  that  there  is  no  way  for  a  passenger  to 
enter  without  paying.  The  human  element  of  em- 
ployees is  entirely  eliminated,  because  every  coin  that 
is  inserted  is  automatically  counted  on  a  recorder.  There 
is  no  longer  the  opportunity  for  either  the  passengers  or 
employees  to  practice  the  abuses  formerly  common. 


At  Left,  Subway  Station  Showing  Two  of  the  Turnstiles  in  Use — At  Right,  Close-up  of  a  Complete 

"Featherweight  Pressure  Gate"  Unit 


through  these  gates.  During  that  time  there  has  not 
been  a  single  line-up  of  more  than  three  or  four  pas- 
sengers at  the  change  booth  or  the  slot  machine.  At 
the  ordinary  ticket  selling  booth  from  ten  to  forty  people 
in  the  rush  hours  have  frequently  formed  in  line. 
Twenty  passengers  a  minute  may  pass  through  a  single 
gate,  or  about  160  passengers  a  minute  can  enter  the 
Fifty-first  Street  station  through  four  gates.  Their 
combined  capacity  exceeds  any  anticipated  demand. 

A  very  interesting  observation  has  been  made  which 
goes  to  show  that  the  traveling  public  will  take  advan- 
tage of  any  device  to  save  their  time.  From  the  very 
beginning,  the  regular  patrons  using  this  station  ac- 
quired the  habit  of  having  their  nickel  ready.  For  some 
time  an  actual  count  was  kept  of  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers passing  through  these  gates  and  the  percentage 
of  those  who,  coming  without  the  proper  change,  had  to 
procure  it  at  the  change  booth.  For  a  few  days  only 
was  the  change  clerk  kept  even  fairly  active  in  busy 
hours.  At  the  present  time  only  four  passengers  out 
of  each  hundred,  on  the  average,  require  change. 


The  mechanical  operation  of  this  gate  is  extremely 
simple  yet  very  reliable.  The  insertion  of  the  nickel 
makes  an  electrical  contact,  which  operates  a  solenoid. 
Air  is  admitted  to  a  piston  through  a  valve  actuated  by 
this  solenoid.  The  gate  is  then  free  to  turn,  for  the 
piston  has  withdrawn  the  dog  which  held  it  from  turn- 
ing. In  the  same  operation  the  gate  has  also  been  locked 
against  rotation  in  the  opposite  direction.  However, 
there  is  a  commutator  on  the  gate  shaft  which  releases 
the  dog  holding  the  gate  when  turning  in  that  direction 
after  the  passenger  has  advanced  about  half  way 
through  it.  Since  both  air  and  110-volt  current  are 
available  from  the  signal  system,  conditions  are  quite 
favorable  to  their  rapid  installation. 

Frank  Hedley,  president,  and  J.  S.  Doyle,  superin- 
tendent of  equipment  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  are  the  inventors  of  this  gate.  About 
500  machines  have  already  been  built,  the  contracts  hav- 
ing been  divided  among  the  National  Pneumatic  Com- 
pany, the  Columbia  Machine  Works  &  Malleable  Iron 
Company  and  the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Company. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


941 


Statistics  of  New  York  Traffic 

Statistics  Presented  at  the  Hearing  Into  the  Affairs  of  the  Railways  Before  the  New  York  Transit 
Commission  Last  Week  Show  Intimate  Facts  Regarding 
the  Various  Properties 


DURING  the  hearing  now  being  conducted  by  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission  into  the  affairs  of 
the  railways  in  New  York  City  to  determine  the 
best  method  of  straightening  out  the  existing  tangle, 
much  interesting  information  has  been  presented  in  the 
way  of  statistics  by  the  engineers  and  other  experts  of 
the  commission.  Included  in  this  information  are  the 
two  charts  presented  herewith,  compiled  by  Daniel  L. 
Turner,  consulting  engineer  of  the  commission  and 
formerly  chief  of  the  Transit  Bureau  of  the  Public 
Service  Commission  of  New  York,  First  District. 

The  first  chart  shows  graphically  the  increase  in 
traffic  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan  during  the  past 
twenty-two  years  for  the  surface  lines  and  nineteen 
years  for  the  rapid  transit  lines.  The  statistics  are  for 
the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30  in  each  case.  Table  I  con- 
tains the  information  upon  which  this  chart  was  based. 

In  discussing  this  chart  Mr.  Turner  said  it  showed 
that  the  total  traffic  in  Manhattan  doubles  about  every 
fifteen  years.  For  the  entire  city  the  total  traffic  on  all 
lines  last  year  was  approximately  2,365,000,000,  or  ap- 
proximately double  the  number  of  passengers  on  all  of 
the  steam  railroads  of  the  country  during  the  same 
time.  The  increase  over  1919  was  285,000,000  pas- 
sengers. The  figures  quoted  in  each  case  are  for  rev- 
enue passengers,  and  one  reason  for  the  apparent  in- 
crease during  the  past  two  years  is  the  decrease  in  the 
number  of  free  transfers  given. 

Another  chart  shows  car-miles  and  number  of 
revenue  passenger  receipts  in  cents  per  car-mile  on  the 
surface  lines  in  Manhattan  by  routes.  The  left  side  of 
the  drawing  carries  two  vertical  lines,  one  showing  the 
average  operating  expenses  for  all  lines  and  the  other 


r-j  r-">  ^i-  u~>  i-D  r—  co  en  o  —  r^J  ro  -3-  m^pr— 
ooOooooo  —  —  —   —  —   —  —  — 


co  cr>  — 
—  —  r~i 
G~t  cr>  <T)  <r> 


1,300 

1,2,00 

1,100 

1,000 

c  900 
o 

£  600 

u 

O)  700 

c 

a> 

g  600 
a 

u  500 

c 

>  400 
a. 

300 
200 


100 


0.5 


1 

I  1  1 

?ap/cf  tra 

■75/ 

t 

Surface 

!    1  1 

0.5 


Ratio  of  Surface  and  Rapid  Transit 
Traffic  to  Total  Traffic 


Ratio  in 
Greater  NY 


> 

fit 

(5" 

* 

V 

/ 

tro 

.  r< 

isif 

'su 

& 

1 

ii/r« 

rif- 

i 

r 

fac 

r 

r 

r 

/ 

9** 

5 

f/eiaft 

(if 

vlroads 

. — 

CO  0~>  O  —  rvJrO^LT)^S>i —  CO  CTi 
CDcnooooc^ooooo 


Ol  ffi  O  51   ff>  ff> 


co  CD  o  —  r-J 
—  —  {^-i  r-i  r-J 

(P>   CD    CD    CT>  CD 


Year  Endinq  dune  30 
PASSENGER  TRAFFIC  IN  MANHATTAN  BOROUGH 
The  line  showing  the  total  number  of  passengers  carried  is 
constantly  climbing  and  has  doubled  in  the  last  fifteen  years. 
The  surface  traffic  is  about  continuous.  The  upper  diagram  gives 
the  percentage  of  division  between  rapid  transit  and  surface  traffic 
by  years  and  for  the  whole  city  for  1921. 


Year 
Ended 
June  30 

1898 
99 

1900 
01 
02 
03 
04 
05 
06 
07 
08 
09 

1910 
1 1 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 

1920 
21 


New  York  City, 
1921  

Ratio  Manhattan 
to  New  York, 
1921  


TABLE  I. 


—  Total  :  Surface  — 
and  Rapid  Transit 

Per  Cent 


STREET  RAILWAY  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC— MANHATTAN,  1898-1921 
(Revenue  Passengers  in  Thousands) 

,  Rapid  Transit  Traffic  ■ 


Total 


Increase 


- — Surface 

Total 
305,1 16 
343,559 
360,003 


Railroads — ■ 
Per  Cent 
Increase 


Ratio  of 
Surface 
to  Total 
Transit 


Second  and 

■ — Rapid  Transit —     Third  Aves. 

Per  Cent  Elevated 
Total  Increase  R.R. 


12.60 
4.80 


0.511 


0.393 


0  .  587 


Sixth  and 
Ninth  Aves 
Elevated 
R.R. 


581,845 

388',947 

4 

12 

0 

668 

192,898 

88,186 

104,712 

616,460 

5 

94 

396,570 

1 

96 

0 

642 

219,890 

14.0 

106,502 

1 13,388 

646,455 

4 

86 

389,928 

—  1 

67 

0 

602 

256,527 

16.7 

124,275 

132,252 

679,948 

5 

17 

374,554 

—3 

94 

0 

552 

305,394 

19.05 

1 19,589 

1 16,031 

746,558 

9 

80 

391,708 

4 

58 

0 

524 

354,850 

16.20 

121,074 

106,087 

778,624 

4 

28 

377.017 

—3 

75 

0 

484 

401,607 

13.20 

133,650 

1 14,791 

785,555 

0 

89 

363,292 

—3 

64 

0 

463 

422,263 

5.  14 

132,621 

1 15,032 

789,1  1  1 

0 

46 

357,760 

—  1 

52 

0 

453 

431,351 

2.15 

129,606 

1 12,500 

836,465 

6 

00 

371,166 

3 

75 

0 

444 

465,299 

7.87 

139,084 

1 16,817 

853,667 

2 

12 

382,047 

2 

93 

0 

446 

471,620 

1.36 

142,217 

1 17,871 

884,039 

3 

55 

395,238 

3 

45 

0 

445 

488,801 

3.64 

141,513 

1 18,656 

930,520 

5 

26 

419.722 

6. 

19 

0. 

450 

510,798 

4.50 

141,253 

1 19,153 

951,133 

2 

23 

420,662 

0 

22 

0 

441 

530,471 

3.80 

144,161 

1 18,925 

949,555 

1 

66 

415,551 

—  1 

22 

0 

438 

534,004 

0.66 

138,725 

1 14,161 

1,003,955 

5 

73 

427,374 

2 

85 

0 

426 

576,581 

8.00 

141,885 

1 19,914 

1,004,743 

0 

08 

349,788 

—  18 

15 

0 

348 

654,955 

13.57 

157,144 

137,572 

1,031,909 

2 

72 

371,136 

6 

1 1 

0 

360 

660,773 

0.95 

152,437 

137,823 

1,088,261 

5 

46 

370,085 

— 0 

28 

0 

340 

718.176 

8.70 

137,500 

143,610 

1,212,350 

1 1 

40 

348,960 

—5 

70 

0 

289 

863,390 

20  .  40 

155,155 

154,800 

1,273,343 

5 

00 

384,128 

10 

09 

0 

304 

889,215 

3.00 

149,042 

155,715 

2,491,857 

977,600 

0 

392 

1,514,257 

I.R.T 
Subways 


69,774 
127,689 
153,166 
174,610 
189,245 
209,398 
21 1,532 
228,632 
245,027 
254,041 
257,161 
277,577 
310,058 
304,546 
340,677 
435,700 
454,729 


N.Y.M. 
Subways 

and 
Center 
Street 

Loop 


5,365 
13,344 
23,957 
37,205 
50,181 
65,967 
96,389 
I  17,735 
129,729 


942 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Clock  Diagram  of  Distribution  of  Traffic  on 
interborough  subway 

the  average  passenger  receipts  for  all  lines,  both  on  a 
car-mile  basis.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  expenses  are 
slightly  in  excess  of  the  receipts.  The  receipts,  how- 
ever, as  charted,  do  not  include  receipts  from  other 
sources  than  from  passengers,  as  from  advertising. 

Mr.  Turner  said  it  took  about  five  years  to  build  a 
subway  and  that  the  most  effective  way  of  immediately 
caring  for  traffic  growth  in  anticipation  of  new  facili- 
ties is  to  spread  the  traffic  peak.  The  two-hour  morning 
and  evening  peak  in  New  York  is  from  7:30  a.m.  to 
9:30  a.m.  and  from  5  p.m.  to  7  p.m.  During  each  of 
these  periods  on  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  subway 
lines  about  17  per  cent  of  its  total  twenty-four-hour 
traffic  is  carried.  During  the  maximum  fifteen-minute 
period  during  the  day  the  traffic  in  each  direction  on  the 
subway  is  about  20  per  cent  of  that  of  the  maximum 
two-hour  period  in  each  direction  and  is  3.4  per  cent  of 
the  total  twenty-four-hour  traffic  in  both  directions. 
Similarly,  the  maximum  half-hour  period  in  one  direc- 


tion is  31.2  per  cent  of  the  maximum  two-hour  period  in 
one  direction  and  is  5.3  per  cent  of  the  total  twenty-four- 
hour  period  in  both  directions.  Similarly,  the  maximum 
one-hour  traffic  in  one  direction  is  60  per  cent  of  the 
maximum  two-hour  traffic  in  one  direction  and  is  10.2 
per  cent  of  the  total  twenty-four-hour  traffic  in  both 
directions.  The  maximum  half-hour  period  is  between 
8:30  and  9  a.m.  and  in  the  evening  between  6  and  6:30 
p.m.  During  the  fifteen-minute  period  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company  provides  23,300  seats  in  one 
direction  as  against  68,000  passengers,  and  during  the 
half-hour  period  it  provides  46,600  seats  as  against 
106,000  passengers. 

Mr.  Turner  presented  with  these  figures  a  clock  chart 
published  herewith  but  explained  that  the  chart  and  the 
statistics  quoted  herein  are  based  on  Interborough  sub- 
way traffic  figures  which  are  not  fully  up  to  date. 
Nevertheless,  conditions  vary  from  day  to  day  and 
month  to  month  and  it  is  believed  the  percentages  are 
approximately  correct  at  the  present  time. 

Spread  of  Peak  Period  Advocated 

Mr.  Turner  declared  in  his  testimony  that  it  would 
be  very  desirable  if  this  fifteen-minute  peak  could  be 
spread  over  a  longer  time  by  means  of  staggering  the 
hours  of  business  as  was  done  during  the  influenza  epi- 
demic in  New  York.  He  estimated  that  if  the  fifteen- 
minute  peak  was  spread  over  two  hours  it  would  in- 
crease the  subway  capacity  60  per  cent.  His  detailed 
analysis  follows: 

The  maximum  daily  traffic  which  has  been  carried  on  the 
Interborough  subway  system  is  2,361,822  passengers  on 
Feb.  9,  1920.  On  what  may  be  called  a  normal  business 
day,  during  the  busy  season  of  the  year,  namely  Dec.  22, 
1919,  2,118,753  passengers  were  carried.  For  the  purposes 
of  my  calculations,  I  have  assumed  a  maximum  daily 
traffic  of  2,000,000  passengers.  Using  the  percentages 
set  forth  above  and  with  the  assumed  daily  traffic  of  2,000,- 
000  passengers,  we  obtain 

(a) 

Maximum  fifteen-minute    period  68,000  passengers 

Maximum  half -hour   period  106,000  passengers 

Maximum  one-hour  period  204,000  passengers 

Maximum  two-hour  period  340,000  passengers 


Average 

for 
all  lines 


Operating  expense  ■ 
cents  per  car-mile ' 
Passenger  receipts 
cents  per  car-mile ' 


Third  Ave  (3rd  Ave) 

Eighth  Ave. (8th  Ave.} 

4th  &  Madison  Ave s.  (N.Y  8c H.) 

Lexington  Ave  (N.Y  R) 

Broadway-7th  Ave.CN.YR.) 

14th  St.v/m'b'g.B'dge(N.Y.R.) 

Ninth  Ave  (9fh  Ave) 

7th  Ave.-Delancey  St  (N.Y.  R ) 

Broadway  Branch  (42nd  St.M.&5t.N.) 

Sixth  Ave  (N.Y  R.) 

Second  Ave. (2nd  Ave) 

Twenty-third  St.CN.Y.R.) 

Thirty-fourth  St.CN.Y.R.) 

First  Ave.  C2nd  Ave) 

Columbus-Lenox  Aves.CNY.R.) 

Kingsbridge  (3rd  Ave.) 

Grand  St.  (Dry  Dock) 

59th  St.Crosstown -(Belt  Line) 

42nd  St.Crosstown  -(42nd  St  M.&St.N ) 

Post  Office  B'klyn  (Dry  Dock) 

Avenue  B.  (  Dry  Dock) 

Tenth  Ave. (42nd  St.M&St.N.V 

66th  St.Crosstown  (N.Y.&H.) 

Eighth  St.CN.Y.R.) 

125th  St.Crosstown  (3rd  Ave.) 

B'way  - 145  th  St.  (3rd  Ave.) 

BV/ay  Branch  (3rd  Ave) 

Sprinq^Delancey  Sts.(N.Y.R) 

110th  St.  (42nd  St.  M.&St.N.) 

West  Belt  (Belt  Line) 

86th  St.(2nd  Ave.) 

Fifty-third  St.CN.Y.R.) 


Passengers  Receipts, 
Cents  per  Car- Mile 


Car  -  Miles 


The  Lines  at  the  Right  Show  the  Car-Mileage  of  the  Routes  in  Manhattan  Borough.    The  Lines  at  the  Left  Show  the 
Passenger  Receipts  per  Gar-Mile.    The  Figures  Are  for  the  Last  Fiscal  Year 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


943 


If  it  is  assumed  that  some  plan  could  be  effected  which 
would  distribute  the  two-hour  traffic  evenly  throughout  the 
two  hours,  then  there  would  be  carried  during  the 

(b)  • 

Fifteen-minute  period  4  2,500  passengers 

Half-hour  period  85,000  passengers 

One-hour  period  170,000  passengers 

Two-hour  period  340,000  passengers 

as  compared  with  the  maximum  figures  as  set  forth  in  (a). 
At  the  present  time,  from  information  furnished  me  by 

TABLE  II.   RAPID  TRANSIT  AND  SURFACE  RAILROAD  COMPANIES 

NEW  YORK  CITY 
Comparative  Statement  Showing  Total  Cost  (Cents)  per  Revenue  Passenger  for 
Operating  Expenses  and  Fixed  Charges  for  the  F'seal  Years  Ended 
June  30,  1915  to  1921,  Inclusive 
Total,  All  Companies  (b) 

1916  1917  1918  1919  1920  1921 
2.74  2.92  3.07  3.65  4.06  4.30 
0.33     0.37     0.42     0.38     0.31  0.30 


1915 

Operating  expenses   2.78 

Taxes   0.32 

Fixed  charges: 

Interest   0.91 

Rents   0.75 


0.93 
0.76 


0.83 
0  78 


0.86 
0.76 


1 .00 

0.76 


0.98 
0.64 


1.05 
0.65 


Other   0.02     0.02     0.05     0.06     0.12     0.13  0.13 


Total   4.78     4.78     4.95     5.19     5.91      6.12  6.43 


Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  (Subway'* 


Operating  expenses   1 .  79 

Taxes   0.13 

Fixed  charges: 

Interest   0.77 

Rents   0.68 

Other  


1.85 
0.  14 


0.74 
0.64 


1.96 
0. 19 

0.69 
0.58 
0.00 


2.20 
0.39 

0.80 
0.57 
0.09 


3.12 
0.  19 

1.30 

0.53 
0.26 


3. 10 
0.07 

1.23 
0.41 
0.25 


3.41 
0.07 

1.24 
0.38 
0.26 


Total                                3.37     3.37     3.42  4.05  5.40     5.06  5.36 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  (Elevated^ 

Operating  expenses              2.23     2.28     2.42  2.82  3.40 

Taxes                               0.56     0.59     0.59  0.60  0.65 

Fixed  charges: 

Interest                                    0.1 1      0.21  0.32  0.54 

Rents                            1.95      1.90      1.74  1.77  1.85 

Other   0.03  0.11 

Total                               4.74     4.88     4.06  5.54  6.55 

Manhattan  Surface 

Operating  expenses              3.28     3.12     3.73  3.59  4.08 

Taxes                               0.37     0.38     0.46  0.47  0.50 

Fixed  charges: 

Interest                          1.25      1.38      1.23  1.16  1.18 

Rents                            0.50     0.49     0.60  0.57  0.55 

Other                            0.04     0.05     0.23  0.13  0.18 


5.44     5.42     6.25     5.92  6.49 


Total  

The  Bronx  Surface 

Operating  exp enses   3.66     3.52  4.52 

  0.31      0.33  0.35 


Taxes 

Fixed  charges: 

Interest   0.60 

Rents   0.25 

Other   0.04 


Total . 


0.60 
0.40 
0.05 


0.72 
0.52 
0.06 


4.14 

0.36 

0.64 
0.46 
0.06 


4  41 

0.35 

0.68 
0.53 
0.06 


3. 

67 

3.79 

0. 

59 

0.61 

0. 

60 

0.63 

1. 

74 

1.74 

0. 

12 

0.13 

6. 

72 

6.90 

5. 

08 

6.15 

0. 

46 

0.44 

1. 

40 

1.30 

0. 

47 

0.44 

0 

31 

0.24 

7. 

.72 

7.57 

4 

.42 

4.52 

0 

.29 

0.28 

0 

.63 

0.62 

0.49 
0.05 


0.41 
0.04 


4.86       900     6.17     5.66  6.03 


5.87 


1915      1916      1917      1918      1919      1920  1921 

New  York  Consolidated  Railroad  Receiver  (Subway  and  Elevated) 


2.80 

2 

82 

2 

80 

2 

95 

3. 

48 

4 

00 

4. 

63 

0.32 

0 

.28 

0 

33 

0 

31 

0 

28 

0. 

26 

0. 

27 

Fixed  charges: 

1.18 

1 

.03 

0 

.89 

0 

78 

0 

65 

0. 

52 

0. 

51 

0.11 

0 

.38 

0 

,54 

0 

69 

0. 

78 

0. 

78 

1. 

04 

Other  

0.00+ 

0. 

00+ 

0. 

00+ 

0. 

00+ 

0. 

01 

0. 

00+ 

0. 

00+ 

Total  

4.41 

4. 

51 

4. 

56 

4. 

73 

5. 

20 

5. 

56 

6 

.45 

Brooklyn  (a)  Surfac; 


Operating  expenses  , . . 

3. 

20 

3. 

14 

3. 

23 

3. 

38 

3.88 

4. 

62 

4. 

72 

0. 

25 

0. 

27 

0. 

33 

0 

31 

0.35 

0. 

30 

0. 

25 

Fixed  charges: 

0. 

70 

0. 

70 

0 

69 

0. 

72 

0.81 

0. 

74 

0. 

82 

0. 

73 

0. 

69 

0. 

67 

0. 

67 

0.54 

0. 

21 

0. 

19 

0. 

00+ 

0. 

00+ 

0. 

00+ 

0 

00+ 

0.00+ 

0. 

00+ 

0 

00+ 

Total  

4. 

88 

4 

80 

4. 

92 

5. 

08 

5.58 

5. 

87 

5. 

98 

Queens  Surface 


4. 

27 

4. 

31 

4. 

56 

-5. 

05 

5. 

21 

5. 

38 

5. 

63 

0. 

21 

0. 

21 

0. 

23 

0. 

28 

0. 

28 

0. 

28 

0. 

24 

Fixed  charges: 

0. 

76 

0. 

74 

0. 

96 

1. 

16 

1 

10 

1, 

05 

0. 

96 

0. 

21 

0. 

21 

0. 

22 

0. 

26 

0 

25 

0 

23 

0. 

24 

Other  

n 

01 

0. 

01 

0. 

01 

0. 

02 

0 

01 

0 

01 

0. 

00+ 

Total  

5. 

46 

5. 

48 

5. 

98 

6 

77 

6 

85 

6 

,95 

7. 

07 

Richmond  Surface 


4.05 

3. 

98 

4, 

21 

4 

69 

5 

25 

5, 

99 

7. 

80 

0.20 

0. 

20 

0 

26 

0 

30 

0 

30 

0 

36 

0. 

31 

Fixed  charges: 

1 .29 

0. 

31 

1 

37 

1 

36 

1, 

30 

1. 

46 

1. 

09 

0.  16 

0. 

16 

0 

18 

0 

17 

0 

17 

0. 

18 

0, 

20 

Other  

0, 

00+ 

0 

00+ 

0 

01 

0, 

01 

Total  

5.70 

5. 

65 

6 

02 

6 

53 

7. 

02 

8. 

00 

9. 

40 

(a)  Includes  Bush  Terminal,  Van  Brunt  Street  and  Erie  Basin,  Manhattan 
Bridge  3-Cent  Line  and  Marine. 

(b)  Includes  Hudson  &  Manhattan  Railroad. 


the  transit  bureau  of  the  commission,  I  estimate  that  the 
Interborough  Company  provides  during  the 

(c) 

Maximum  fifteen-minute  period   23,300  seats 

Maximum  half-hour  period  46,600  seats 

Maximum  one-hour  period  78,200  seats 

Assuming  the  seats  provided  in  (c)  as  having  to  accom- 
modate the  traffic  estimated  in  (a),  and  further  assuming 
that  the  load  has  been  evenly  distributed  as  in  (b),  we 
find  that  on  the  average  there  would  be  carried  with 

Whereas  with  (6) 
Traffic  the  Loads 
Would  Be  Reduced 
182  per  cent 
182  per  cent 
217  per  cent 


(a)  Loads  during  the 
Maximum  fifteen-minute  period ..  290  per  cent 

Maximum  half-hour  period  227  per  cent 

Maximum  one-hour  period  261  per  cent 


In  other  words,  if  the  traffic  could  be  distributed  over 
the  two  hours,  instead  of  a  large  part  of  it  being  con- 
centrated in  fifteen  minutes,  the  overloading  in  the  trains, 
assuming  the  same  daily  traffic  carried,  would  be  greatly 
reduced — from  190  per  cent  overloads  to  82  per  cent  over- 
loads. 

But  this  is  not  the  most  important  thing  that  would  be 
accomplished  by  the  spreading  of  the  traffic  peak.  The 
most  important  thing  is  the  increased  traffic  which  the 


TABLE  III.    NUMBER  OF  DELAYS  EXCEEDING  FIVE  MINUTES 
ON  VARIOUS  NEW  YORK  RAILWAYS,  1915  AND  1921 

(Compiled  by  the  Bureau  of  Equipment  and  Operation,  Accident  Division, 
New  York  Transit  Commission) 


UNDERGROUND  CONDUIT  LINES 


1915 

New  York  Railways  Company: 

Car-miles   34,891,203 

Derailments   321 

Defective  equipment   273 

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment  594 

Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 

million  car-miles   17.02 

Third  Avenue  in  Manhattan 

Car-miles   16,641,462 

Derailments..   678 

Defective  equipment   152 

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment  830 

Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 

K»t  million  car-miles   49.87 

Second  Avenue  Railroad 

Car-miles   3,013,016 

Derailments   24 

Defective  equipment   34 

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment.  58 

Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per  '  * 

million  car-miles   19.25 

Eighth  Avenue  Railroad 

Car-miles  

Derailments  

Defective  equipment  

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment  

Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 

million  car-mUes  


1921 

13,606,428 
315 
384 
699 


Increase 


51.37  34.35 


9,744,156 
663 
515 
1,178 


120.89  71.02 


1,916,730 
2 
27 

29* 


15.13  4.12 


2,848,693 
15 
256 
271 


95.  13 


Ninth  Avenue  Railroad 

Car-miles  

Derailments  

Defective  equipment  

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment. 
Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 
million  car-miles  


1,549,379 
13 
124 
137 


85.92 


New  York  &  Harlem  Railroad 

Car-miles  

Derailments.  

Defective  equipment  

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment. 
Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 
million  car-miles  


3,175,011 
0 

1.469 
1,469 


462.67 


OVERHEAD  TROLLEY  LINES 


Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  System 

Car-miles                                            61,819,359  47,207,892 

Derailments   1,359  994 

Defective  equipment   574  1,217 

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment.  1,933  2,211 

Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 

million  car-miles.   31.27 


46.83  15.56 


Third  Avenue  System  in  Bronx 

Car-miles   14,396,815  11,006,305 

Derailments   288  647 

Defective  equipment   220  542 

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment.  508  1 , 1 89 

Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 

million  car-miles   34.28  108.03  72.75 

Queens  Surface  Linest 

Car-miles   8,734,190  6,740,681 

Dera'lments   351  980 

Defective  equipment  -.-  200  1,136 

Total  derailments  and  defective  equipment.  551  2,143 

Derailments  and  defective  equipment  per 

million   car-miles   63.08  317.92  254.84 

(*)  Second  Avenue  Railroad  figures  for  1921  not  reliable. 

(t)  Long  Island  Electric,  New  York  &  Long  Island  Traction  and  New  YorkI& 

Queens  County  Railway. 

(})  Formed  part  of  New  York  Railways  in  1915. 


944 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


spreading  of  the  peak  would  permit  the  existing  facilities 
to  carry. 

If  the  traffic  could  be  evenly  spread  over  the  two-hour 
maximum  traffic  period,  and,  as  the  increase  in  traffic 
occurred,  if  the  facilities  could  be  utilized  throughout  the 
entire  two-hour  period  to  the  same  extent  that  they  are 
now  utilized  during  the  maximum  one-hour  period,  then 
during  the  two-hour  period,  twice  as  much  traffic  could  be 
accommodated  as  is  now  accommodated  in  the  maximum 
one-hour  period — or  the  traffic  which  would  be  developed 
under  such  conditions  would  amount  to  (200,000  x  2)  400,000 
passengers  during  the  two-hour  period.  This  is  an  increase 
of  60,000  passengers  over  the  present  maximum  two-hour 
traffic  of  340,000 — or  it  is  a  20  per  cent  increase.  Similarly, 
as  the  traffic  increases,  if  the  facilities  are  utilized  through- 
out the  entire  two-hour  period  to  the  same  extent  that  they 
are  utilized  during  the  maximum  half-hour  period,  then 
(106,000  x  4)  424,000  passengers  could  be  carried  during 
the  two  hours,  or  an  increase  of  24.7  per  cent.  Similarly, 
if  the  facilities  are  utilized  throughout  the  entire  two-hour 
period  to  the  same  extent  as  they  are  utilized  during  the 
maximum  fifteen-minute  period,  then  (68,000  x  8)  544,000 
passengers  could  be  carried  during  the  two  hours,  or  an 
increase  of  60  per  cent.  This  would  mean  in  the  case  of 
the  Interborough  alone,  that  it  could  carry  3,200,000  pas- 
sengers instead  of  2,000,000  passengers  a  day.  But  what 
this  would  really  mean  in  the  case  of  all  city-owned  lines 
can  best  be  shown  by  measuring  the  increase  in  capacity 
with  the  cost  of  new  facilities  which  would  be  necessary 
to  provide  for  it  with  the  present  degree  of  use. 

Cost  of  New  Facilities 

Contracts  1,  2,  3  and  4,  covering  all  of  the  city-owned 
rapid  transit  lines  in  operation,  have  cost  the  city  and 
companies  together  to  produce  to  date,  approximately 
$454,000,000.  Sixty  per  cent  of  this  is  $272,000,000.  A 
large  portion  of  these  facilities  were  constructed  under 
pre-war  prices.  To  reproduce  them  now  would  probablv 
cost  at  least  $500,000,000.  Therefore,  spreading  the  traffic 
peak  evenly  over  the  two  hours  morning  and  night,  would 
in  this  sense  increase  the  capacity  of  the  existing  facilities 
as  much  as  new  facilities  costing  perhaps  from  $200,000,000 
to  $300,000,000  could  represent. 

During  the  five  years  that  must  elapse  before  new 
traffic  facilities  can  be  made  available,  there  will  be  a 
gradual  increase  in  traffic,  which  judging  from  past  growths 
will  be  from  7  to  10  per  cent  annually,  or  say  a  total  of 
40  per  cent  at  the  end  of  five  years.  This  increase  must 
in  some  manner  be  taken  care  of. 

The  traffic  volume  has  already  reached  the  point  where 
during  the  peak  the  overloading  of  the  trains  and  the 
crowds  on  the  platforms  are  such  that  the  train  move- 
ment is  retarded  and  thereby  the  capacity  reduced  at  the 
very  time  when  the  need  for  it  is  greatest.  If  the  traffic 
could  be  evenly  spread  over  the  two  hours  maximum  traffic 
period,  not  only  would  the  discomfort  of  traveling  be  less- 
ened, but  there  would  be  in  increased  capacity,  sufficient  to 
provide  for  the  growth  of  traffic.  Even  if  the  60  per  cent 
increase  indicated  above  cannot  be  obtained,  but  instead 
40  per  cent  increase  were  secured  (two-thirds  of  the  maxi- 
mum possible)  the  conditions  would  be  greatly  improved. 

Since  a  transit  line  will  develop  during  the  twenty-four 
hours  of  the  day  an  amount  of  traffic  proportional  to  its 
capacity  at  the  peak  traffic,  an  increase  of  40  per  cent 
during  the  two-hour  peak  would  be  accompanied  by  a  cor- 
responding increase  during  the  remainder  of  the  day.  so 
that  the  maximum  daily  capacity  on  the  basis  of  present 
carrying  would  be  2,800,000  instead  of  2,000,000. 

Table  II  was  introduced  by  Frederick  W.  Lindars, 
chief  accountant  of  the  commission,  giving  a  compara- 
tive showing  in  total  cost  per  revenue  passenger,  operat- 
ing expenses  and  fixed  charges  for  the  fiscal  years  ended 
June  30,  1915  to  1921.  He  explained  that  the  figures 
given  for  fixed  charges  represented  sums  that  in  many 
cases  had  not  been  paid  and  that  there  were  also  some 
earnings  in  addition  to  those  received  from  passengers. 
He  also  said  that  one  reason  why  the  taxes  on  the 
elevated  were  materially  higher  than  on  the  subway  was 
because  the  subway  was  partly  city  owned. 

Harry  N.  Latey,  engineer  of  equipment  and  operation 
of  the  commission,  presented  the  figures  given  in  Table 
III,  covering  the  delays  for  pull-ins  of  cars  far  defects. 
These  figures,  he  explained,  did  not  include  the  delays 
to  cars  caused  by  traffic  congestion. 


Electric  Trucks  for  Line  Repairs 

By  G.  H.  McKelway 

Engineer  of  Distribution  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.) 
Rapid  Transit  Company 

AN  ELECTRIC  truck  fitted  with  a  tower  as  used  for 
.  electric  line  work  in  Johannesburg,  South  Africa, 
was  described  in  the  Aug.  20  issue  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal.  While  the  use  of  this  type  of 
truck  for  such  work  in  the  United  States  is  some- 
what unusual  when  compared  with  the  number  of 
gasoline-driven  trucks  used  still  there  are  quite  a  num- 
ber in  successful  operation  in  various  parts. 

Some  of  the  disadvantages  found  with  electric  trucks 
are :  High  first  cost,  as  they  average  almost  twice  as 
much  as  a  gasoline  truck  of  the  same  capacity;  they 
have  a  comparatively  low  speed,  and  their  working 
radius  is  limited  by  the  necessity  of  recharging  the 
battery.    The  truck  used  in  Johannesburg  was  said  to 


Electric  Trucks  for  Overhead  Line  Repairs 


be  able  to  run  at  a  rate  of  20  m.p.h.,  and  to  make  50 
miles  on  a  single  charge  of  the  battery.  For  city  work, 
where  the  paving  is  good  and  where  there  is  little 
interference  from  snow,  the  working  radius  of  this  type 
of  truck  will  undoubtedly  be  ample. 

The  electric  truck  has  some  advantages  over  the  gaso- 
line truck,  which  include  reliability,  ease  of  handling, 
low  maintenance  cost  and  long  life.  Results  from  the 
use  of  such  trucks  indicate  that  they  are  seldom  in  the 
shop,  and  that  an  expert  chauffeur  is  not  required  for 
their  operation.  The  accompanying  illustration  shows 
an  electric  truck  used  in  emergency  service  eight  and 
one-half  years  and  is  still  giving  good  satisfaction. 


New  Model  Calculating  Machine 

THE  Monroe  Calculating  Machine  Company,  New 
York,  has  just  brought  out  a  new  model  calculat- 
ing machine  to  be  made  up  in  three  sizes — of  twelve, 
sixteen  and  twenty  place  capacity.  The  machine  case 
and  carriage  case  are  aluminum  castings  and  the  back- 
ground under  the  keys  is  an  enameled  green. 

Some  of  the  advantages  claimed  by  the  manufactur- 
ers for  this  machine  include  a  light  key  touch  with 
short  stroke  which  insures  speed  and  accuracy;  the 
crank  motion  is  fast  and  smooth  and  the  key  and  dial 
numbers  are  large  and  conveniently  placed.  Mechanical 
locks  are  provided  to  eliminate  errors.  In  operating, 
the  repeat  key  is  pressed  if  it  is  desired  to  retain  num- 
bers on  the  keyboard  and  the  non-repeat  key  when  it  is 
desired  to  release  them  at  each  turn  of  the  crank. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


945 


Burning  Pulverized  Anthracite  Mine  Waste 

Results  of  Tests  Obtained  by  Burning  Pulverized  Anthracite  Coal  in  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Company's  Power  Plant — Pulverizing  Equipment  Installed  for  Ten  Boilers 
— One  Boiler  Put  in  Operation  to  Pate 

By  0.  M.  Rau 

Consulting'  Engineer,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


A  CCUMULATION  of  culm  from  anthracite  mines 
l\  has  been  going  on  for  years  until  mountains  of 
-L.  \.  this  material  have  formed  in  these  mining- 
regions.  The  creeks  and  streams  draining  this  area  of 
the  country  contain  deposits  which,  if  recovered,  would 
add  materially  to  the  anthracite  fuel  supply.  Estimates 
of  the  total  tonnage  of  these  accumulations  vary  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  million  tons  and  the  recoverable 
coal  in  the  streams  alone  is  estimated  at  millions  of 
tons. 

This  material  in  the  past  was  considered  waste  inci- 
dent to  anthracite  mining  and  averaged  approximately 
10  per  cent  of  the  coal  mined,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the 
fuel  shortage  during  the  war,  little  if  any  effort  was 
made  to  use  it.  At  this  time  the  high  B.t.u.  value 
of  this  material  attracted  the  attention  of  engineers 
to  its  possible  use  as  a  fuel  for  steam  boilers,  resulting 
in  extensive  reclaiming  operations  being  started  by  the 
mining  and  other  interests  to  work  over  these  accu- 
mulations. The  high  price  of  steaming  sizes  of  an- 
thracite left  sufficient  leeway  to  sell  this  reclaimed  coal 
at  a  price  that  made  these  operations  profitable,  although 
only  a  small  portion  of  the  fuel  was  recovered,  since 
only  the  larger  particles  found  a  market,  owing  to  the 
difficulty  in  burning  the  finer  material  economically. 

The  use  of  the  fine  coal  as  fuel  has  not  been  attended 
with  any  great  degree  of  success,  although  a  number 
of  plants  have  furnaces  equipped  with  suitable  grates 
and  stokers.  While  its  use  was  attractive  during  the 
peak  prices  for  coal,  this  interest  is  being  largely 
abandoned  with  the  present  conditions  of  the  coal  mar- 
ket. Particularly  is  this  true  in  the  use  of  so-called 
river  and  creek  coal,  the  reclaiming  of  which  resulted  in 
establishing  a  substantial  industry  along  the  different 
creeks  and  streams  in  the  anthracite  district,  which  was 
reclaiming  approximately  10,000  tons  a  day,  up  to  the 
time  the  prices  of  steaming-size  coal  were  lowered. 

As  power  expert  for  the  United  States  Shipping 
Board  the  author  made  an  extensive  survey  of  the 
power  situation  in  the  Philadelphia  district,  and  as  a 
result  of  this  survey  an  investigation  was  undertaken 
"to  ascertain  the  possibilities  of  utilizing  this  mine 
waste  in  pulverized  form.  The  large  percentage  of  non- 
combustible  and  the  difficulty  of  pulverizing  to  a  fine- 
ness that  would  assure  efficient  combustion  were  out- 
standing obstacles.  Studies  were  made  of  various  meth- 
ods of  screening,  jigging  and  other  devices  for  the 
reduction  of  the  ash.  The  method  known  as  Trent 
process,  which  at  that  time  was  being  developed  at  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Mines,  makes  possible  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  ash  to  a  predetermined  amount. 

The  pulverizing  of  anthracite  culm,  silt  or  river  coal 
was  found  to  be  attended  with  difficulty  and  considerably 
more  expense  than  the  cost  of  pulverizing  bituminous 
or  other  soft  coal.  The  various  attempts  to  pulverize 
anthracite  were  analyzed  and  the  action  on  mills  of 
the  Fuller,  Raymond,  tube  and  pebble  types  was  noted, 


Boiler  Room  Before  Pulverized  Coal  Burning 
Equipment  Was  Installed 


with  the  result  that  it  was  found  to  be  commercially 
feasible  on  a  basis  of  a  mill  capacity  of  one-half  that 
obtained  with  bituminous  coal  and  with  about  double 
the  maintenance  expense. 

Experiments  were  then  made  to  burn  pulverized 
anthracite  in  existing  installations.  A  1,000-ton  ship- 
ment of  culm  was  sent  to  the  Lima  Locomotive  Works 
to  make  a  practical  demonstration.  This  plant  was 
selected  as  it  had  seven  boilers  in  operation  on  pulver- 
ized bituminous  coal.  The  only  change  made  in  the 
operation  of  the  plant  was  to  deliver  the  anthracite  to 
the  pulverizers  in  place  of  bituminous  as  formerly.  The 
test  developed  no  difficulties  in  burning  this  fuel,  but 
indicated  the  desirability  of  modifications  in  the  design 
of  the  installation  if  the  best  results  were  to  be  obtained. 

With  these  preliminary  studies  completed  and  the 
possibilities  of  a  material  saving  in  power  costs  assured, 
the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company  approved  a 
trial  installation  in  its  Thirteenth  and  Mount  Vernon 
Street  power  plant.  This  plant  was  selected  as  the 
boilers  were  hand-fired,  and  being  located  in  a  semi- 
residential  neighborhood  it  was  restricted  to  the  use 
of  anthracite  fuel.  The  plant  operated  part  time  as  a 
peak-load  power  source  and  carried  upward  of  10,000 
kw.  for  short  periods  during  the  evening  loads,  oper- 
ating at  a  reduced  output  during  the  rest  of  the  day 
with  little  or  no  load  nights  and  Sundays.  In  addition 
to  the  change  from  hand-firing  and  the  use  of  low- 
grade  fuel  it  also  would  eliminate  the  use  of  coal  for 
banking. 

The  plant  consisted  of  20  B.  &  W.  boilers,  each  having 
3,917  sq.ft.  of  water-heating  surface,  five  Weatherall 
compound  Corliss  engines  direct-connected  to  1,500-kw. 


946 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


direct-current  500-volt  generators  exhausting  into  two 
800-kw.  direct-current  vertical  Curtis  exhaust-steam 
turbines,  giving  the  plant  approximately  a  total  capacity 
of  10,000  kw. 

A  portion  of  the  electric  railway  system's  downtown 
section  is  operated  from  this  plant,  and  until  the  high 
coal  prices  it  was  able  to  deliver  power  to  the  trolley  at 
a  cost  that  compared  favorably  with  that  delivered  from 
the  substations  in  this  vicinity.  The  fuel  used  was 
No.  1  buckwheat  at  $3.50  per  ton;  when  this  coal  in- 
creased to  $5  and  finally  reached  a  price  of  $8  per  ton, 


type  coal  bunker,  so  that  each  boiler  would  have  its  own 
pulverized-coal  storage  bin  with  a  capacity  of  approxi- 
mately 25  tons.  Beneath  the  coal  bunker  and  supported 
therefrom  20  Quigley  screw-type  pulverized-coal  feeders 
(two  for  each  boiler)  were  installed.  These  were 
driven  from  a  shaft  extending  the  full  length  of  the 
bunker  and  operated  by  a  15-hp.  motor  arranged  for 
duplicate  installation  in  case  of  motor  trouble.  Each 
feeder  is  equipped  with  a  clutch  engaging  with  a  chain 
drive  from  the  main  shaft. 

Primary  and  secondary  air  is  provided  by  two  sets 


Cross-section  of  Boiler  Plant  Showing  General  Arrangement  of  Pulverized-Coal  Equipment 


the  plant  was  restricted  to  peak-load  service.  This 
resulted  in  a  considerable  expense  for  coal  to  maintain 
fires  between  peak  periods  and  the  cost  per  kilowatt- 
hour  became  excessive. 

The  boilers  are  set  in  two  rows  of  ten  each  with  a 
stack  midway  in  each  row.  Only  ten  boilers  on  the 
north  side  of  the  stacks  were  selected  to  be  equipped 
for  burning  pulverized  fuel,  since  the  increased  rating 
at  which  the  boilers  can  be  operated  with  this  fuel  over 
hand-firing  would  give  ample  steam  to  operate  the  plant 
at  full  capacity. 

In  the  boiler  room  the  principal  changes  consisted  of 
placing  dust-tight  partitions  in  the  existing  Berquist- 


of  direct-connected  Clarage  fans  supported  on  a  plat- 
form at  a  level  with  the  top  of  the  boilers,  so  as  to 
eliminate  all  unnecessary  bends  in  the  air  lines.  Each 
set  of  fans  supplies  the  necessary  air  for  five  boilers. 
The  primary  fans  have  25-hp.  motors  and  the  secondary 
fans  15-hp.  motors.  The  secondary  air  supply  is 
controlled  by  grid-type  air  gates,  which  insure  a 
distribution  of  the  air  through  the  entire  area  of  the 
pipe,  independent  of  the  quantity  delivered.  The  pri- 
mary air  is  controlled  with  a  diaphragm  which,  after 
proper  adjustment,  is  permanently  set. 

The  furnace  changes  consisted  of  combining  the 
former  combustion  chamber  and  ashpit  and  extending 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


this  space  in  front  of  the  boiler  so  as  to  form  one  large 
combustion  chamber,  into  this  chamber  the  Quigley 
burners  enter  at  an  angle  through  the  top  of  the  ex- 
tended portion  in  front  of  the  boilers.  The  total  volume 
of  the  combustion  chamber  as  constructed  is  1,542 
cubic  feet. 

Two  14-in.  burners  are  required  for  each  boiler.  The 
fuel  is  fed  into  the  burners  through  a  3J-in.  pipe 
entering  in  the  center  of  the  secondary  air  elbow  and 
extending  approximately  2  ft.  into  the  burners.  The 
primary  air  and  fuel  enter  the  burner  through 
this  pipe  and  mix  with  the  secondary  air  entering 
through  the  large  opening.  This  allows  for  a  thorough 
combination  of  the  mixture  into  a  combustible  dust 
before  being  discharged  into  the  furnace. 

To  insure  rapid  ignition  of  the  anthracite  when  put- 
ting a  boiler  into  service,  which,  owing  to  the  low  per- 
centage of  volatile  in  this  kind  of  coal,  does  not  ignite 


Boiler  Equipped  for  Burning  Pulverized  Anthracite  Coal 


as  readily  as  bituminous,  the  furnaces  were  equipped 
with  two  oil  burners.  These  burners  are  capable  of 
operating  the  boilers  with  oil  fuel  at  their  rated  capac- 
ity. Burners  of  this  size  were  selected  so  that  in  case 
of  difficulty  in  obtaining  raw  coal,  or  accident  to  the 
pulverized-fuel  system,  oil  could  be  temporarily  used. 
This  arrangement  insures  continuous  operation  and 
avoids  expensive  duplication  of  plant  equipment.  Owing 
to  the  similarity  of  the  combustion  chambers  for  burn- 
ing oil  with  those  for  pulverized  coal,  the  latter  allow 
the  use  of  oil  with  very  efficient  results,  an  advantage 
not  possible  with  furnaces  equipped  with  other  methods 
for  burning  coal.  The  amount  of  oil  required  to  ignite 
the  pulverized  coal  varies  from  30  to  40  gal.  with  a  cold 
boiler  and  10  to  20  gal.  between  peak-load  operating 
periods. 

The  milling  plant,  which  is  adjacent  to  the  boiler 
plant,  is  in  a  separate  steel  structure  covered  with 
corrugated  iron  and  equipped  with  two  highside  Ray- 
mond mills,  one  Ruggles-Coles  drier  and  a  Quigley  air- 
transport system. 


Raw  coal  is  elevated  to  a  100-ton  bin  and  is  fe\l  with 
a  screw  feeder  to  the  drier,  from  which 'it  is  elevated  "to 
the  dry-coal  bins  above  each  mill,  into  which  the  feed 
is  by  gravity.  The  pulverized  fuel  is  discharged 
through  cyclone  collectors  above  the  roof  of  the  building 
into  a  pulverized-fuel  bin  over  the  transport  tank.  This 
tank  rests  on  a  platform  dial  scale  and  can  be  charged 
with  such  amounts  of  fuel  as  desired,  up  to  10,000  lb. 
Air  pressure  is  then  applied  and  any  portion  of  fuel  in 
the  tank  can  be  transported  to  any  one  of  the  coal 
bunkers  in  front  of  each  boiler.  By  means  of  a  signal 
system  the  boiler-room  attendant  can  notify  the  milling 
plant  when  coal  for  any  bin  is  required,  and  by  adjust- 
ing the  switch  valve  for  the  particular  bin  the  amount 
of  fuel  required  is  automatically  delivered. 

This  equipment  installation  was  completed  by  the 
Quigley  Furnace  Specialties  Company  in  the  latter  part 
of  1920.    As  soon  as  the  combustion  chamber  under  one 


View  op  Pulverized-Coal  Milling  Plant 


boiler  was  ready,  this  boiler  was  put  into  service  and 
operated  for  a  short  period,  during  which  time  some 
modifications  were  made  in  the  combustion  chamber  and 
the  burners  were  equipped  with  mixing  vanes.  On  Nov. 
23,  1920,  the  formal  test  was  made,  indicating  full  per- 
formance of  the  guarantees  with  the  exception  of  the 
amount  of  combustible  in  the  ash.  However,  as  the 
effect  on  the  efficiency  was  negligible,  the  plant  was 
accepted. 

These  test  data  were  limited  to  the  conditions  of  the 
guarantee,  which  did  not  take  into  consideration  the 
boiler  efficiency,  but  were  based  on  the  specific  per- 
formance of  the  furnace  and  were  specified  as  follows : 

(a)  Capacity  of  pulverized  fuel  plant. 

(b)  Fineness  of  pulverized  coal. 

(c)  Capacity  of  feeders. 

(d)  Percentage  of  unconsumed  combustible  in  ash. 

(e)  Percentage  of  CO*  in  products  of  combustion. 

(f)  Abrasion  or  effect  on  refractories  in  combustion 
chamber. 

Further  experimental  operations  were  continued  by 


948 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company's  engineers  to 
determine  the  most  effective  procedure  for  the  equipment 
of  the  additional  nine  boilers.  Careful  observations  were 
made  of  all  parts  of  the  installation  to  note  develop- 
ments of  any  defects  or  changes  that  might  suggest 
themselves.  Particular  attention  was  paid  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  combustion  chamber,  and  after  approxi- 
mately six  months  of  intermittent  operation  of  the  equip- 
ment, it  was  decided  for  comparative  observation  to 
reconstruct  the  combustion  chamber,  change  the  burners 
and  install  a  new  feeder. 

The  feeders  furnished  with  the  installation  are  of  the 
screw  type,  having  a  capacity  of  2,200  lb.  per  hour  each, 
and  when  the  coal  supply  is  permitted  to  become  low  in 
the  bins  and  then  filled  up,  there  is  a  tendency  for  the 
feeder  to  flush,  which  is  inherent  to  all  screw  feeders  of 
this  type,  and  which  can  be  practically  eliminated  in 
regular  operation  by  keeping  the  proper  amount  of  coal 
in  the  bins.  To  avoid  the  necessity  of  close  attention 
to  the  coal  bins  it  was  decided  to  install  a  feeder,  sug- 


to  a  theoretically  perfect  combustible  mixture,  it  would 
relieve  the  combustion  chamber  of  functioning  as  a 
mixing  chamber.    Therefore  the  combustion  chamber 


'Butter-fly  valve 
to  prevent  heat 
traveling  into 
burner  during 
non-operating 
period. 


Section  Through  Remodeled  Furnace 

gested  by  the  writer  and  designed  and  built  by  the 
Bailey  Meter  Company,  of  the  bucket  type  with  an  at- 
tachment to  record  accurately  fuel  fed  to  the  furnace. 

The  burners  were  replaced  by  two  multi-mix  burners, 
and  the  combustion  chamber  was  redesigned  and  con- 
siderably reduced  in  size.  It  was  assumed  that  by  pro- 
viding these  special  means  of  mixing  the  air  and  fuel 


Original 
Installation 

Kind  of  boiler  B.  &  W. 

Volume  of  oombustion  chamber,  cu.ft   1,542 

Number  of  burners   2 

Distance  of  flame  path  to  heating  surface,  ft   24 

Water-heating  surface   3,917 

Ratio  of  combustion-chamber  volume  to  water- 
heating  surface   1  to  2.54 

Date  of  test   11/23/20 

Duration  of  test,  hours   12 

Steam  pressure,  gage   148 

Temperature  of  feed  water  entering  boiler,  deg.  F   45.4 

Temperature  of  escaping  gases  leaving  boiler,  deg.  F  447 

Temperature  side  walls  of  combustion  chamber,  deg.  F  2,400 

Moisture  in  coal  as  fired,  per  cent   0  .87 

Total  weight  of  dry  coal   25,987 

Percentage  of  ash  in  pulverized  coal   18.2 

Total  combustible  fired   2 1 , 304 

Total  water  evaporated.   182,217 

Factor  of  evaporation   1.218 

Total  equivalent  evaporation   221,941 

Dry  coal  fired  per  hour   2,165.6 

Dry  coal  burned  per  hour,  per  cu.ft.  of  furnace  vol- 
ume, lb   1.4 

Equivalent  evaporation  per  hour  from  and  at  212 

deg.  F.,  lb   18,495 

Per  cent  of  rated  capacity  developed   143 

Calorific  value  of  1  lb.  of  dry  coal   1 2,029 

Calorifio  value  of  1  lb.  combustible  ;   1 4,630 

Per  cent  efficiency  of  boiler  and  furnace   69 


Revised 
Installation 
B.  &.  W. 
800 
2 

14 
3,917 

1  to  4.87 
8/23/21 
10 
149.2 
77 
487 
2,500 
0.46 
25,950 
18.5 
21,150 
168,270 

I.  185 
199,400 

2,595 

3.25 

19,940 
154 

II,  990 
14,720 

62.2 


Boiler-Rating  Schedule  Chart 

could  be  materially  reduced  in  size,  which  is  a  desirable 
advantage  in  the  application  of  pulverized  coal  to  old 
installations. 

In  rebuilding  the  combustion  chamber,  a  change  was 
made  in  the  location  of  the  burners  so  as  to  allow  for 
the  construction  of  an  ignition  chamber  to  be  built 
around  the  burner  nozzles  as  they  enter  the  furnace. 
Instead  of  the  burners  entering  the  top  of  the  furnace 
as  in  the  original  designs,  they  were  installed  as  near 
the  bottom  as  practical. 

With  these  changes  further  tests  were  conducted,  the 
conclusion  of  which  indicated  that  as  good  or  better 
results  were  obtained  with  the  original  equipment  with 
the  exception  of  the  combustible  in  the  ash.  By  adding 
an  ignition  chamber  to  the  original  design,  placing  the 
burners  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  furnace  and  main- 
taining the  volume  of  the  combustion  chamber  as  first 
installed  it  is  believed  that  the  complete  burning  of  the 
combustible  in  the  fuel  can  be  accomplished,  with  effi- 
ciencies equal  to  mechanical  stokers  on  high-grade  fuels. 


7<-NlGHT£ 


Per  Cent  C02  Chart  for  Boiler  Fires  with  Pulverized 
Anthracite  Coal 

These  tests  were  limited  to  furnace  performance,  as 
the  boilers  were  of  a  very  old  type  and  therefore  the 
guarantees  were  confined  to  furnace  results  only.  The 
tests,  however,  include  general  data  on  boiler  and  mill- 
ing plant  operations. 

Abstracts  of  the  principal  items  of  the  tests  covering 
the  results  of  the  original  and  of  the  revised  installa- 
tions are  shown  comparatively  in  the  table. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


949 


It  will  be  noted  that  the  efficiency  of  the  test  with 
original  equipment  was  higher  than  after  the  changes 
were  made,  although  the  combustible  in  the  ash  was  less 
in  the  revised  installation.  The  burned-out  ash  is  ac- 
counted for  by  the  effect  of  the  ignition  chamber,  and 
the  lower  efficiency  by  the  failure  of  completing  com- 
bustion of  the  fuel  in  the  smaller  chamber,  causing  a 
larger  percentage  of  combustible  to  escape  up  the  stack. 

The  results  of  these  experiences  remove  all  doubts 
as  to  the  successful  burning  of  anthracite  mine  waste  or 
river  coal  in  pulverized  form.  When  the  remainder  of 
the  installation  at  the  Thirteenth  and  Mount  Vernon 
Street  plant  is  completed,  with  the  improvements  and 
changes  suggested  by  the  preliminary  operation,  it  is 
expected  that  efficiencies  in  excess  of  76  per  cent  at 
ratings  as  high  as  250  per  cent  will  be  obtainable.  The 


<y*   ~J    0»   to    o    —  r»» 


> — 

Furnace  temperature 
in  hundred  deqreeF. 

f3 

r 

H 

Boiler-Operation  Charts 

tests  and  operation  of  this  boiler  have  fully  demon- 
strated the  exceptional  control  possible  by  pulverized- 
coal  firing,  comparing  very  favorably  with  oil  or  gas 
firing.  As  shown  by  the  boiler-meter  chart,  which 
recorded  the  performance  of  the  boiler  during  a  ten- 
hour  period  on  a  predetermined  schedule  of  rating, 
the  results  were  as  follows: 


Time 

8  to  9 

9  to  II 

11  to  12 

12  to  2 
2  to  4 

4  to  5 

5  to  6 


Schedule 
Rating, 
per  Cent 

150 

175 

125 

100 

150 

175 

200 


Delivered 
Rating  Average, 
per  Cent 

145 

170 

I3C 

107 

145 

170 

190 


Furnace 
Temperature, 
Average,  Deg.  F 
2,375 
2,372 
2,350 
2,320 
2,425 
2,5ro 
2,510 


Industrial  Rehabilitation  in  Germany 

IN  VIEW  of  the  growth  of  German  competition  both 
with  British  and  American  manufacturers,  a  quota- 
tion will  be  of  interest  from  a  speech  by  Sir  Trevor 
Dawson,  managing  director  of  Vickers,  Ltd.,  at  a  ship- 
building, engineering  and  machinery  exhibition  held  in 
London  during  September.  He  said  that,  when  in  Ger- 
many a  month  previously,  he  had  visited  a  large  elec- 
trical works  and  an  important  steel  and  engineering 


works.  Both  were  hives  of  industry  and  output  was 
high.  The  electrical  works  wrote  down  their  book  value 
during  the  war  to  a  nominal  sum.  There  had  been  no 
taxes  like  the  munitions  levy  and  the  excess  profits  duty 
in  England  so  the  industry  had  been  able  to  collect 
working  capital.  Wages  ran  about  four  marks  per  hour 
for  an  eight-hour  day.  It  will  be  noted  that  at  the 
present  rate  of  exchange  between  Germany  and  Britain 
four  marks  is  little  more  than  a  nominal  rate  of  wage 
in  sterling. 

Cincinnati  Road  Uses  Containers 

Freight  Is  Collected  and  Placed  in  Containers'  in  the 
Business  Section  of  the  City  and  Then  Is  Hauled 
to  Terminal  at  Edge  of  City  for  Loading  on  Cars 

THE  Cincinnati,  Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora  Electric 
Street  Railroad,  which  operates  between  the  out- 
skirts of  Cincinnati  and  Aurora,  Ind.,  has  introduced  a 
new  method  for  handling  freight  by  traction  lines.  The 
freight  is  collected  from  shipping  points  in  Cincinnati 
and  assembled  in  containers  which  are  conveyed  by 
motor  trucks  to 
the  Cincinnati 
terminal,  where 
they  are  loaded 
on  cars  for  ship- 
ment. 

When  L.  C. 
Van  Ness,  gen- 
eral manager, 
took  charge  of 
the  road  for  the 
receivers  last 
July  he  saw  pos- 
sibilities for  in- 
creasing the  rev- 
enues through 
the  freight  pack- 
age  system 
which  the  man- 
agement already 
had  under  con- 
sideration. Due 
to  the  fact  that  the  company  has  no  entrance  into  the 
heart  of  Cincinnati,  some  plan  had  to  be  devised  to 
overcome  this  disadvantage  because  prospective  ship- 
pers could  not  be  induced  to  convey  freight  at  their 
expense  to  the  company's  Cincinnati  terminal,  which  is 
far  removed  from  the  commercial  activities. 

It  was  vitally  necessary  that  any  plan  of  freight 
movement  adopted  should  be  satisfactory  to  prospective 
shippers  with  reference  to  the  time  consumed  in  mak- 
ing shipments  because  of  the  fact  that  the  traction  com- 
pany was  obliged  to  meet  the  competition  of  two  large 
railroads,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  and  New  York  Central 
Lines,  both  of  which  parallel  the  line  of  the  traction 
company.  In  addition  there  were  a  number  of  inde- 
pendent truck  lines  which  were  bidding  for  the  business 
of  hauling  freight.  To  be  successful  any  plan  of  freight 
transportation  must  therefore  combine  speed  and 
thoroughness  to  the  manner  of  shipment. 

Method  op  Handling 

With  the  plan  as  adopted  freight  is  assembled  at  a 
receiving  station  almost  in  the  heart  of  the  Cincinnati 
business  district,  loaded  into  wooden  containers  and 
transported  on  trucks  to  the  Cincinnati  terminal  of  the 


Loading  Small  Containers  Into 
Larger  One 


950 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22. 


traction  company,  a  distance  of  6  miles,  and  then  is 
transferred  to  an  electric  freight  car  and  shipped  over 
the  line  at  one  cost  to  the  shipper.  The  transferring  of 
the  containers  from  the  trucks  to  the  freight  cars  or 
vice  versa  can  be  done  in  five  minutes.    The  lifting  is 


Placing  a  Container  in  Position  on  a  Freight  Car 


done  by  overhead  cranes  at  the  receiving  station  and  at 
the  terminal. 

These  cranes  have  a  hoisting  capacity  of  10  tons  and 
are  electrically  operated  with  the  exception  of  the  one 
located  at  the  terminal,  which  has  a  hand  traveler. 
In  order  to  place  two  containers  on  the  freight  car  at 
one  time  it  was  necessary  to  cut  the  cars  in  the  middle 
and  lengthen  them  12  ft.  Trailers  are  also  used  to 
haul  freight  to  a  designated  point,  where  they  are  put 
on  a  siding  and  the  freight  distributed  to  points  sur- 
rounding the  station. 

The  containers  are  furnished  by  the  Cincinnati  Motor 
Terminal  Company,  which  also  does  the  hauling.  They 
measure  17  ft.  6  in.  long,  7  ft.  6  In.  wide  and  7  ft.  high. 
In  addition  to  the  large  containers,  which  are  of  5  tons 
capacity,  there  are  several  small  containers  of  which 
six  can  be  placed  in  one  large  container.  Each  one  of 
the  small  containers  has  approximately  152  cu.ft.  of 
space.  They  are  made  of  wood  with  hinged  end  doors. 
Legs  at  the  four  bottom  corners  elevate  the  con- 
tainers so  that  a  jacklift  truck  can  be  run  underneath 
either  at  the  ends  or  sides.  The  trucks  used  are  manu- 
factured by  the  Lewis-Shepard  Company  of  Boston, 
Mass.  After  the  jacklift  is  in  position  under  the  small 
container  it  is  elevated  to  provide  clearance  by  operating 
the  handle.  This  raises  the  load  by  means  of  a  simple 
mechanical  jack  mechanism.  The  load  can  be  raised  or 
lowered  with  the  handle  in  any  position  and  the  lifting 
is  vertically,  so  there  is  no  tendency  for  the  load  to 
shift.  With  the  container  free  from  the  floor  it  can 
be  readily  hauled  into  or  out  of  the  large  container  and 
thus  the  necessary  time  and  labor  are  greatly  reduced. 
The  small  containers  are  used  principally  for  shipping 
perishable  goods  and  when  their  destination  is  reached 
they  are  removed  by  a  jacklift  and  left  for  the  station 
agent  to  empty.  The  company  started  the  freight  busi- 
ness on  Aug.  15  and  there  has  been  a  noticeable  increase 
in  the  volume  of  freight  tonnage  weekly.  The  cost 
to  the  traction  company  for  transportation  of  the  con- 
tainers from  the  receiving  station  to  the  Cincinnati 
terminal  is  figured  both  by  tonnage  and  mileage.  If 
the  container  is  loaded  to  capacity  the  transportation 
is  computed  on  tonnage  basis,  and  if  partially  filled  on  a 
mileage  basis. 

The  freight  rates  of  the  company  are  on  a  par  with 
the  railroads,  and  the  classification  of  freight  is  based 


on  the  same  method  except  that  classes  5  and  6  are 
omitted  and  incorporated  in  class  4.  The  rate  is  com- 
puted from  the  receiving  station  to  all  points  on  the  line. 
If  the  company  had  been  compelled  to  haul  the  freight 
in  locse  shipments  instead  of  using  the  container  system 


Electric  Freight  Car  and  Trucks  Loaded  with  Containers 


from  the  receiving  station  to  the  terminal  the  freight 
package  business  would  not  be  possible  because  the 
transfer  costs  would  consume  the  earnings.  As  the 
company  is  not  equipped  to  handle  carload  shipments 
this  class  of  business  is  not  sought. 

Livestock  is  not  handled  except  when  crated.  A  list 
of  commodity  rates  for  such  items  as  eggs  and  chickens 
is  being  worked  up.  Commodity  rates  will  only  be  in 
effect  on  such  items  as  are  in  abundance  and  where  other 
carriers  are  offering  competition. 

While  the  plan  of  using  containers  is  new  to  the  ship- 
pers along  this  road,  they  are  gradually  realizing  that  it 
eventually  will  prove  to  their  advantage  and  get  their 
products  to  Cincinnati  in  quicker  time  than  otherwise 
and  in  some  instances  at  a  reduced  cost. 


Presidio  Terminus  of  Union  Street  Line 
in  San  Francisco 

THE  Presidio  terminus  of  the  Union  Street  line 
of  the  Municipal  Railway  of  San  Francisco  consists 
of  a  loop  and  a  concrete  landing  platform  with  a  gal- 
vanized iron  umbrella  shed  adjacent  to  the  track  fur- 
nishing shelter  for  railway  patrons.  The  Municipal 
Railway  contributed  the  sum  of  $1,000  from  the  operat- 
ing funds  and  the  national  government  spent  almost 


Presidio  Terminus  of  Municipal  Railway  of  San  Francisco 


$4,000  additional  in  the  erection  of  a  small  stucco  finish 
building  near  the  landing  platform,  which  contains  a 
news  stand,  bootblack  stand,  restaurant,  toilet  facilities, 
and  a  room  for  the  storage  of  tools  and  sand  for  the 
railway,  and  a  telephone. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


951 


Handling  Doubled  Traffic  with  Dispatch 

Kansas  City  Railways,  with  Half  of  Its  Personnel  ex-Service  Men,  Earns  Widespread  Commendation  on 
the  Effectiveness  of  Its  Preparations  to  Carry  the  Crowds  Brought  to  the  City 
by  the  Recent  American  Legion  Convention 


Cars  Had  to  Be  Operated  Through  Crowds  Like  This  at  the  Site  of  the 
Kansas  City  Liberty  Memorial  Monument 


THE  experience  of  the  Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Railways 
during  the  American  Legion  convention  held  in 
that  city  during  the  four  days  from  Oct.  30  to 
Nov.  2,  presents  an  interesting  example  of  efficient  serv- 
ice in  transportation  toy  a  street  railway.  The  traffic 
demands  upon  the  company  on  one  day  reached  nearly 
twice  the  usual  requirements.  The  company  met  the 
emergency  in  an  excellent  manner  by  maintaining  sched- 
ules and  operating  without  serious  accident  to  person  or 
property.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  incident  of 
the  performance  is  the  fact  that  the  company,  owning 
723  cars,  had  723  cars  in  continuous  operation  during 
the  entire  convention,  and  had  723  cars  still  in  serv- 
ice the  night  the  convention  closed. 

The  American  Legion  convention  brought  to  Kansas 
City  the  largest  crowd  it  had  ever  entertained.  The 
total  reached  around  150,000  on  Nov.  1,  the  day  of  the 
parade  and  of  the  dedication  of  Kansas  City's  Liberty 
Memorial.  There  were  more  than  50,000  men  and 
women  in  the  parade  on  that  day,  which  was  viewed  by 
a  crowd  estimated  at  nearly  half  a  million.  About  half 
this  number  attended  the  dedication  of  the  Liberty 
Memorial,  the  services  closing  at  noon.  Within  an 
hour  and  a  quarter  after  the  close  of  the  dedication 
service,  the  crowd  had  been  moved,  and  within  an  hour 
and  a  half  after  the  close  of  the  parade  in  the  after- 
noon the  street  cars  had  finished  their  task. 

One  item  in  the  Legion  program  was  the  aerial  meet 
at  a  flying  field  southwest  of  the  city.  The  Sunset  Hill 
line  with  a  single-track  terminal  was  the  nearest  track 
to  that  locality,  while  the  next  nearest  was  the  double- 
tracked  Country  Club  line.  Of  the  150,000  people  at- 
tending the  aerial  meet,  the  great  majority  was  car- 
ried by  street  cars.  There  were  football  games,  and 
other  events  in  other  districts  on  various  days,  for 
which  the  street  railway  provided  the  bulk  of  the  trans- 
portation facilities. 


To  take  care  of  the  visitors  as  they  arrived  special 
schedules  were  maintained  from  the  station  to  the  busi- 
ness district,  the  headway  on  this  line  being  as  close  as 
thirty  seconds  at  certain  times.  This  headway  was 
maintained  even  when  the  streets  bore  crowds  totaling 
as  high  as  hundreds  of  thousands,  swarming  over  the 
tracks  ahead  of  and  behind  the  cars. 

Traffic  Changes  Published  in  Booklet 

Many  reroutings  were  necessary  for  the  convention 
period  to  provide  for  the  special  events  in  various  parts 
of  the  city,  and  to  carry  the  crowds  from  downtown 
congestion.  The  reroutings  and  other  information  con- 
cerning the  transportation  department  were  scheduled 
in  a  booklet  prepared  by  the  company.  These  were  is- 
sued to  all  employees,  the  police  and  the  legion  depart- 
ments before  the  convention  opened. 

The  preparedness  of  the  company  with  reference  to 
the  condition  of  its  equipment  was  not  due  to  special 
effort,  for  it  had  been  in  practically  perfect  condi- 
tion for  several  weeks  under  the  program  of  mainte- 
nance already  well  established.  No  additional  men  were 
employed  for  the  occasion  so  that  the  special  training 
of  extra  men  was  unnecessary.  It  was  found  possible 
to  draw  from  the  various  departments  about  450  em- 
ployees with  experience  in  the  departments  to  which 
they  were  specially  assigned  for  the  convention.  These 
extra  men  were  assigned  to  transportation  facilities  in 
the  following  capacities:  60  car  dispatchers;  40  inspec- 
tors ;  125  street  fare  collectors ,  30  special  officers ;  50 
mechanical  and  electrical  workers  and  150  conductors 
and  motormen.  These  served  in  the  capacities  men- 
tioned together  with  the  regular  employees. 

Preparedness  consisted  chiefly  in  planning  and  in  the 
distribution  of  the  workers.  The  motor  repair  cars 
and  trucks  of  the  company  were  so  distributed,  for  in- 
stance, that  any  point  on  the  system  where  trouble 


952 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


might  arise  could  be  reached  within  five  minutes  after 
the  failure  had  occurred.  And  in  fact,  in  no  instance 
was  traffic  delayed  more  than  ten  minutes  by  any  acci- 
dent. 

The  accident  record  presents  an  interesting  display. 
For  the  five  days  of  extraordinary  traffic  volume,  from 
Saturday,  Oct.  29,  to  Wednesday,  Nov.  2,  there  were 
161  accidents.  This  contrasts  with  a  total  of  141  acci- 
dents during  the  five  days  immediately  preceding  the 
period  mentioned — showing  an  increase  of  only  four  a 


(Q  Wide  World  Photo 

Legionaires  Passing  in  Review  Along  the  Crowded 
Streets  or  Kansas  City 


day  in  accidents  of  all  kinds  during  the  period  of  the 
convention.  No  person  was  even  seriously  hurt  in  any 
street  railway  accident,  although  there  were  several 
fatalities  during  the  convention  due  to  automobile  acci- 
dents in  which  no  street  cars  were  involved. 

The  list  of  accidents  presents  a  curious  situation  in 
view  of  the  large  volume  of  traffic,  the  crowds  on  the 
streets,  and  the  natural  haste  of  the  traveling  public. 
For  instance,  there  was  not  a  single  accident  in  which  a 
person  was  hurt  alighting  from  a  moving  car;  and  there 
was  only  one  person  slightly  hurt  due  to  a  car  starting 
while  the  passenger  was  boarding.  A  total  of  but  161 
accidents  during  the  period  suggests  a  remarkable  de- 
gree of  safety  even  for  persons  ignorant  of  practice 
and  in  congested  circumstances  of  present-day  street 
railway  equipment  and  operation.  Only  two  of  the 
company's  employees  were  injured. 

Among  accidents  to  property,  the  largest  number 
consisted  of  collisions  with  automobiles — ninety  of 
these.  There  were  only  nine  collisions  of  street  cars, 
six  collisions  with  persons  and  three  with  vehicles.  Only 
one  street  car  was  damaged  in  any  accident,  requiring 
that  it  be  taken  to  the  shop.  This  car  was  again  in 
service  the  same  evening. 

The  record  of  only  six  collisions  with  persons  is  the 
most  interesting  to  one  who  observed  the  packed  masses 
of  people  on  the  downtown  streets,  extending  for  many 
blocks.  Yet  the  cars  moved  through  these  crowds  with 
little  or  no  delay  in  schedules,  and  few  accidents.  At 
the  same  time,  there  were  hours  during  which  motor 
cars  could  not  pass  through  these  crowds.  The  density 
was  not  the  only  bar,  for  the  hilarious  celebrants  fre- 
quently turned  back  motor  cars,  or  forced  them  to  other 
routes. 


But  Legionaires,  assuming  direction  of  traffic  dur- 
ing the  high  fever  of  the  celebration  in  evenings,  were 
solicitous  to  keep  street  cars  moving.  With  Twelfth 
Street  almost  a  solid  mass  of  people  for  hours,  street 
cars  moved  the  length  of  Twelfth  Street  and  across  it 
without  hindrance.  Ex-top  kickers  with  whistles  ar- 
bitrarily directed  traffic,  each  having  twenty-five  or 
thirty  assistants.  While  celebrants  manhandled  auto- 
mobiles, rode  on  bumpers,  and  attached  trash  cans  to 
motor  cars,  there  was  not  an  instance  of  molestation  of 
street  cars. 

Half  of  Employees  Ex-Service  Men 
Several  factors  contributed  to  the  efficient  handling 
of  the  crowds,  one  of  which  was  the  high  degree  of  effi- 
ciency and  loyalty  of  the  street  railway  employees. 
More  than  50  per  cent  of  the  employees  are  former  serv- 
ice men,  totaling  1,500  men  who  themselves  had  a  vital 
interest  in  the  success  of  the  American  Legion  conven- 
tion. Each  of  these  wore  a  badge  announcing  his 
former  service.  Every  employee  worked  an  average  of 
fourteen  hours  a  day,  while  many  were  on  duty  as  long 
as  fifteen  hours,  even  though  they  were  doubtless  eager 
to  attend  meetings  and  sporting  events.  The  visitors 
recognized  the  legion  character  of  the  personnel. 

Another  factor  was  the  familiarity  of  Kansas  citizens, 
and  indeed  of  a  great  many  visitors  with  the  fare  tokens 
used  in  Kansas  City.  Local  people  who  might  often  be 
careless  regarding  purchase  of  tickets  or  tokens  sup- 
plied themselves  before  the  convention,  and  visitors  soon 
"caught  the  idea."  Dash  cards  on  cars,  signs  at  the 
Union  station,  and  suggestions  by  street  fare  collectors 
and  conductors  advised  the  riders  to  buy  two  tokens  for 
15  cents  when  boarding  a  car  or  five  tickets  for  35  cents 
at  stations.  This  advice  was  generously  heeded  for  70 
per  cent  of  the  fares  were  paid  with  tokens,  17  per  cent 
with  tickets,  and  only  13  per  cent  with  the  8-cent  cash 
fare. 

There  was  no  power-house  accident,  nor  suspension 
of  current,  and  there  was  ample  power  for  the  service. 

A  Half  Million  Passengers  Daily 
The  largest  volume  of  traffic  in  number  of  passengers 
was  on  Monday,  Oct.  31,  when  522,000  passengers  were 
carried.  The  receipts  on  the  four  big  days  were  as 
follows:  Oct.  30,  Sunday,  $26,802;  Oct.  31,  Monday, 
$39,411;  Nov.  1,  Tuesday,  $38,458;  Nov.  2,  Wednesday, 
$35,791. 

These  were  the  four  largest  days  in  the  history  of  the 
company.  But  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  largest 
previous  day  was  but  two  weeks  before  the  convention 
period — on  Oct.  15  when  receipts  were  $33,724.  On 
other  big  days  during  the  past  ten  years  the  passenger 
revenue  has  averaged  at  such  times  about  $26,000. 

There  was  not  a  complaint  made  against  the  service 
publicly  during  or  after  the  convention,  but  many  let- 
ters were  received  complimenting  the  company  and  in- 
dividual employees. 

The  Kansas  City  Post  published  the  following  edi- 
torial, on  Nov.  4  regarding  the  street  railway  service: 

Public  commendation  is  due  the  Kansas  City  Railways  for 
the  admirable  way  in  which  it  operated  the  street  car  serv- 
ice during  the  American  Legion  convention.  The  task  was 
terrific,  but  the  job  was  handled  literally  "with  neatness  and 
dispatch."  The  cars  carried  the  crowds  and  carried  them 
safely.  No  street  car  passenger  suffered  serious  injury  and 
no  pedestrian  was  run  down.  No  complaints  of  discourtesy 
upon  the  part  of  the  car  crews  were  made.  To  the  con- 
trary, many  visitors  were  heard  to  compliment  the  con- 
ductors and  motormen  on  their  cheerfulness  under  ex- 
tremely aggravating  conditions. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


953 


"They  simply  laughed  their  way  through,"  said  Senator 
Wilson,  one  of  the  receivers  for  the  railway  company,  allud- 
ing to  the  crews  that  took  cars  through  the  jammed 
thoroughfares  downtown. 

Zone  Collections  by  Machine 

The  Beaver  Valley  Traction  Company  Adopts  New  Method 
of   Issuing   Zone   Checks   on   One-Man   Cars — The 
Method  Is  to  Be  Extended  to  the  Entire  System 

FOR  fare  collection  purposes  the  lines  of  the  Beaver 
Valley  Traction  Company  of  New  Brighton,  Pa.,  are 
divided  up  into  5-cent  zones,  and  up  to  recently  a  con- 
ductor would  go  through  the  car  when  it  crossed  a  zone 
line  and  collect  another  nickel  from  each  passenger.  A 
few  months  ago  the  company  decided  to  introduce  one- 
man  cars  on  a  number  of  its  lines  so  that  some  other 
method  of  collecting  zone  fares  on  these  cars  had  to  be 
adopted.  The  railway  system  of  the  company  consists 
of  about  26  miles  of  street  and  51  miles  of  track,  extend- 
ing along  the  Ohio  River  and  Beaver  River.  Its  routes 
vary  in  length  from  those  of  one  zone  to  one  with  eight 
zones.  A  map  of  the  system  was  published  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  April  9,  1921. 

Obviously  on  a  line  with  only  one  or  two  zones  no 
special  method  of  fare  collection  is  necessary,  as  the 
car  can  be  operated  pay-enter,  or  pay-enter  in  the  first 
zone  and  pay-leave  in  the  second  zone.  On  the  longer 
zones,  however,  some  zone  ticket  has  to  be  used  with 
one-man  cars.  On  these  routes  the  company  is  using 
Shanklin  ticket-issuing  machines  and  these  machines 
have  been  ordered  for  all  routes  which  are  more  than 
two  zones  in  length. 

An  illustration  of  the  ticket  issued  by  this  machine 
accompanies  this  article.  The  day  of  the  month,  "in" 
or  "out"  and  hour  are  punched  at  the  terminal,  the  time 
punch  representing  the  time  at  which  the  car  left  the 
terminal.  This  leaves  only  the  "zone  from"  and  "zone 
to"  to  be  punched  on  the  trip.  The  operator  on  entering 
a  zone  presses  a  button  on  the  machine  to  the  proper 
"zone  from"  position.  Then,  when  a  passenger  boards 
the  car,  all  the  operator  has  to  do  is  to  inquire  the 
passenger's  desired  destination,  see  that  the  right  fare 


his  day  card  he  gives  the  opening  and  closing  numbers. 

If  a  passenger  wishes  to  transfer,  the  operator  col- 
lects the  fare  only  to  the  next  zone  beyond  the  intersect- 
ing transfer  point,  and  at  the  transfer  point  he  lifts 
the  ticket  and  issues  a  regular  transfer.  When  the  per- 
son boards  the  car  to  which  he  is  transferred,  the  con- 


Front  and  Back  op  Fare  Receipts  Used 
with  Zone  System 

is  deposited  in  the  box,  push  down  one  of  the  buttons 
and  operate  a  foot  lever.  The  machine  then  delivers 
the  ticket  properly  stamped  and  punched.  As  the  pas- 
sengers leave  the  car  they  hand  their  tickets  to  the 
operator,  who  has  only  to  notice  from  the  "zone  to" 
punch  that  the  passenger  has  not  over-ridden.  The 
tickets  thus  collected  are  then  bundled  up  and  turned 
in  by  the  operator  at  the  end  of  each  day's  work.  On 


One-Man  Car  Operator  Issuing  Fare  Receipts 

ductor  on  that  car  asks  his  destination  and  lifts  the 
transfer,  and  the  passenger  drops  into  the  fare  box  the 
amount  of  cash  required  to  carry  him  to  his  destination, 
provided  it  is  beyond  the  next  zone  limit  on  that  line. 

Outside  of  the  first  day  or  two  after  this  ticket  was 
introduced,  when  both  passengers  and  trainmen  were 
unaccustomed  to  both  it  and  the  one-man  cars,  there 
have  been  practically  no  delays  due  to  the  use  of  either 
tickets  or  one-man  operation.  During  the  first  day  or 
two  the  company  used  two  operators  on  each  car  from 
the  time  the  cars  left  the  carhouse  until  10  a.m.,  and 
again  from  3  p.m.  until  7  p.m. 

There  has  been  no  change  in  the  running  time.  The 
route  on  which  the  ticket  shown  is  used  is  13  miles  in 
length,  and  the  cars  make  the  round  trip  in  two  hours 
and  forty  minutes  with  six  minutes  lay-over  at  one  end 
of  the  line  and  four  minutes  layover  at  the  other  end. 
This  is  the  same  time  taken  when  the  cars  were  operated 
with  two  men. 

On  the  first  day  or  two  there  was  considerable  differ- 
ence between  the  amount  shown  by  the  zone  checks  as 
due  and  the  amount  in  the  fare  box.  Now  the  two 
amounts  are  very  close  each  day.  The  company  has 
equipped  seventeen  one-man  cars  with  these  machines. 
One  important  advantage  of  the  machine,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  management,  is  that  it  is  possible  by  tabulating 
the  slips  returned  to  have  an  absolute  traffic  check  on 
the  number,  time  and  direction  of  the  trips  taken  on  the 
cars.  This,  it  is  believed,  will  be  found  very  useful  in 
laying  out  future  schedules. 


954 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Revenue  Increase  from 
Increased  Rates 

The  Writer  Shows  by  Means  of  Diagrams  How  to  Estimate 
the  Change  in  Revenue  Which  May  Be  Expected 
from  a  New  Fare  Schedule 

BY  J.  KAPPEYNE 

Consulting  Engineer,  Syracuse,  N.  T. 

IN  TIMES  of  insufficient  income,  when  application 
is  being  made  for  an  increase  in  rates,  it  is  desirable 
to  be  able  to  estimate,  within  reasonable  limits  of 
accuracy,  the  revenue  to  be  derived  from  a  proposed 
higher  fare  schedule.  The  present  tendency  of  electric 
railway  rates,  as  established  by  the  regulatory  author- 
ities, seems  to  be  toward  a  basic  straight  cash  fare 
combined  with  a  reduced  rate  ticket  that  can  be  pur- 

Present  Fare  Schedule 
OF     E  D    C     B  A 


ventional  nickel  fare.  Subsequent  increases  in  the 
amount  of  fare  result  in  fairly  uniform  decreases  in 
traffic  when  the  results  are  averaged  over  a  long  period 
of  time  and  by  taking  as  the  basis  of  comparison  the 
percentage  increase  in  the  average  fare  paid. 

Fig.  2  is  the  result  of  a  number  of  traffic  statistics 
after  modifications  have  been  made  to  make  conditions 
as  nearly  comparable  as  careful  analysis  will  permit. 
In  this  analysis  statistics  relating  to  the  initial  increase 
from  the  original  nickel  fare  are  eliminated. 

By  properly  combining  the  results  shown  in  Fig.  1 
and  Fig.  2  the  estimated  increase  in  revenue  to  be 

TABLE  I— BASIS  OF  CASH  AND  TICKET  FARE  ASSUMPTIONS 


FIG.2 

0     10    70  30 
Per  Cent  Decrease 
in  Traffic 


5     10    15    20    25    JO  35 
Per  Cent  Increase  in  Revenue 


0  10  20  30 
Per  Cent  Savinq  of 
Reduced  Ticket  Fare 
over  Cash  Fare 

Charts  for  Computing  Increase  in  Revenue  Resulting 
from  a  New  Fare  Schedule 

chased  in  small  lots.  The  average  fare  realized  from 
such  a  fare  combination  depends  upon  the  proportion  of 
passengers  which  ride  on  the  reduced  fare  tickets. 

A  number  of  statistics  are  available  giving  the  rel- 
ative proportion  of  reduced  ticket  fares  and  of  cash 
fares  obtained  with  different  fare  schedules.  In  some 
instances,  a  certain  lack  of  uniformity  exists  in  the 
resulting  ratios  between  different  cities  having  the 
same  fare  schedule.  This  is  also  true  as  between  differ- 
ent months  of  the  same  year,  nevertheless  a  fairly 
constant  relation  is  found  when  the  results  are  averaged 
over  a  long  period  of  time  when  the  basis  of  comparison 
is  taken  as  the  percentage  saving  of  the  reduced  ticket 
fare  over  the  cash  fare. 

It  is  realized  that  the  amount  of  the  cash  outlay 
required  to  purchase  tickets  at  reduced  rates  is  also  a 
factor  which  will  to  some  extent  tend  to  produce  non- 
uniformity  of  results.  Within  reasonable  limits,  how- 
ever, the  relation  as  shown  in  Fig.  1  will  be  the  result. 

The  revenue  to  be  derived  from  an  increased  fare 
will  depend  upon  the  falling  off  in  traffic  due  to  the  loss 
of  the  so-called  short  rider.  Available  statistics  are  of 
little  value  unless  local  conditions  are  properly  analyzed. 
Usually  increased  fares  are  put  in  effect  at  times  of 
general  business  depression  and  often  the  falling  off  in 
traffic  is  only  partly  due  to  the  fare  increase.  There 
seems  to  be  a  tendency  of  traffic  coming  back,  although 
not  to  its  full  extent,  after  a  certain  lapse  of  time,  all 
other  conditions  remaining  unchanged.  Furthermore, 
the  normal  increase  in  the  population  served,  the  pos- 
sible variation  in  the  riding  habit,  the  change  in  fre- 
quency of  the  service  furnished,  increased  competition 
by  other  means  of  transportation,  are  all  factors  affect- 
ing the  volume  of  traffic. 

The  relative  greatest  proportionate  loss  in  traffic 
occurs  when  the  first  increase  is  made  from  the  con- 


Cash  Fare 


Schedule 

(Cents) 

A 

6 

B 

7 

C 

7 

D 

7 

E 

8 

F 

8 

G 

8 

H 

9 

I 

9 

J 

9 

D  K 

10 

L 

10 

M 

10 

Reduced  Rate  Tickets 
Unit  Price  Sold  in 

(Cents)  Lots  of 


Saving 
Unit  Ticket 
(per  Cent) 


4  at  24 
4  at  26 


4  at  28 
4  a-  30 


4  at  32 
4  at  34 


4  at  36 
4  at  38 


14. 

27 

7. 

15 

12 

5 

6 

25 

11 

12 

5 

56 

10 

0 

5 

.0 

derived  from  a  change  from  one  particular  fare  schedule 
to  another  can  easily  be  computed. 

For  example,  assume  the  successively  increasing  fare 
schedules,  shown  in  the  accompanying  table. 

Fig.  3  shows  the  expected  increase  in  revenue  that 
will  be  obtained,  all  other  conditions  affecting  traffic 
remaining  unchanged,  when  changing  over  to  any  one  of 
the  above  fare  schedules  from  a  straight  6,  7,  or  8-cent 
fare  or  intermediate  fare  schedules. 

For  example  a  company1  operating  on  a  straight 
7-cent  fare,  Schedule  D,  may  expect  an  increase  in  oper- 
ating revenue  of  16.5  per  cent  when  the  rate  of  fare 
as  shown  in  Schedule  I  becomes  effective.  This  16.5 
per  cent  is  arrived  at  by  taking  the  abscissa  of  the  inter- 
section of  the  diagonal  curve  representing  the  initial 
fare  of  7  cents  with  the  horizontal  line  representing  the 
proposed  fare  Schedule  I. 

Similar  diagrams  may  be  computed  for  any  set  of 
initial  and  proposed  fare  schedules. 

Although  the  local  conditions  obtaining  during  the 
time  the  proposed  new  fare  schedule  is  in  effect  will 
undoubtedly  alter  the  actual  results,  it  is  believed  that, 
for  purposes  of  calculation,  assuming  that  other  condi- 
tions remain  unchanged,  the  data  as  shown  in  Fig.  3 
will  give  fairly  accurate  results  for  average  conditions. 


Remedy  for  Trouble  with  Door  Guides 

THE  Portland  (Ore.)  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany had  difficulty  in  holding  the  angle  iron  door 
guides  on  its  Birney  safety  cars  due  to  the  screw  holes 
becoming  worn  in  the  wood.  The  company  found  that  by 
electric  welding  these  guides  to  a  i-in.  plate  that  would 


Plate  Welded  to  Angle  Iron  Door  Guide 

just  fit  into  the  space  at  the  top  of  the  door  and  by 
drilling  screw  holes  in  a  new  place  the  difficulty  would 
be  overcome.  The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a 
plate  welded  to  the  door  guide. 


Electric  Railway  Publicity 

Devoted  to  How  to  Tell  the  Story 


Birney  Enters  Peoria  Amid 
Newspaper  Heraldry 


New  Type  Birney  Street 
Cars  Coming  to  Peoria 


Within  ilir  next  lew  dny»  Q>o 
new  type  Birney  mv  will  be  jmt 

street  railway  Hue*. 

introduction  ot  ue  puiHtj/  enr 
ir\  Poorin  is  in  r\n  wny  oil  experi- 
ment, for  this  modtrm,  light 
wi'iglil  cur  Iiuh  bf.'ii  th'Tnu/lil 
tried  and  tested  under  tlie  mo-it' 
wvcre- traffic  conditions  in  other 
large  awi  pWfMtslve  cities, . 


LONG  before 
j  Nov.  16,  the 
inaugural  date 
of  the  Birney 
safety  car  in  the 
city  of  Peoria, 
111.,  patrons  of 
the  Peoria  Rail- 
way had  been  in- 
formed through 
a  detailed  and 
comprehensive 
publicity  cam- 
paign by  means 
of  booklets  and 
advertisements 
just  what  the 
railway  was 
planning  in  re- 
I  gard  to  this  new 
method  of  oper- 
ation. Prelimi- 
nary to  the  start- 
ing of  the  twenty 
Birney  cars  on 
the  Second,  Lincoln  and  Monroe  Street  lines  the  com- 
pany, through  its  general  superintendent,  R.  F.  Palm- 
blade,  printed  and  distributed  to  the  public  an  interest- 
ing booklet  containing  news  of  the  outside  and  inside 
of  the  car,  modern  seating  and  standee  arrangement, 
etc.    The  booklet  gave  a  short  history  of  the  new  type 


For  the  present,  only  the  Sec- 
ond, Lincoln  and  Monroe  street 
lines  are  being  equipped  in 
Peoria. 


New— and  More  of  Them 


More  Frequent  Service  More  Comfortable  Service 

More  Flexible  Service  —and  Safer  Service 

Peoria  Railway  Company 


A  Recent  Advertisement  in  a  Peoria" 
Paper  Introducing  the  New  Car 


of  car,  its  use  in  some  of  the  large  cities  and  its  im- 
proved features  over  the  old  type  of  car.  Specific  in- 
structions on  the  conduct  of  passengers  traveling  on  the 
Birney  car  were  also  outlined  in  the  pamphlet. 

Not  only  through  the  distribution  of  this  pamphlet 
did  the  railway  tell  the  public  about  the  new  system  and 
seek  its  co-operation  in  making  this  safety  car  experi- 
ment a  success  but  also  through  some  newspaper  dis- 
play advertising.  One  advertisement,  entitled  "Birney 
Type  Street  Car  Is  Really  New,"  told  the  story  of  the 
long  wheelbase  which  makes  it  easy  riding  and  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  interior  so  that  more  passengers  are 
seated.  Graphically,  it  told  the  story  of  the  crosswise 
seating  arrangement  with  seats  raised  in  "opera-chair" 
fashion  and  also  showed  an  interesting  trio  waiting 
patiently  to  enter  the  car,  but  "Doors  Cannot  Open 
Until  Car  Stops  and  Step  Drops."  Another  instructive 
advertisement  entitled  "Things  to  Remember  About 
New  Birney  Cars"  showed  the  front  entrance  of  the 
car,  the  advantage  of  having  the  exact  fare  ready  and 
the  correct  method  of  dropping  fare  in  the  box. 


One  op  the  Inside  Pages  of  the  Booklet  Used  in  the 
Publicity  Campaign 


Magazine  Commemorates  P.  R.  T.  Picnic 

DETAILED  accounts  of  the  events  and  the  success 
of  the  August  picnic  of  the  Co-operative  Welfare 
Association  of  the  Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit 
Company  are  given  in  the  picnic  number  of  the  Co-oper- 
ative Record.  Cuts  in  profusion  of  babies,  of  officers, 
of  members,  of  daughters,  of  wives,  and  full  stories  of 
all  the  happenings  of  the  two-day  picnic  make  the  maga- 
zine a  happy  commemorative  record. 

The  most  striking  feature  of  the  publication  is  the 
great  number  of  pictures.  Approximately  145  halftones 
are  reproduced  in  the  fifty-two  pages,  and  in  addition 
the  front  and  back  covers  are  a  continuous  picture  of 
the  big  get-together  meeting.  Every  phase  of  the  two- 
day  outing  is  covered  by  the  camera.  Sports,  recreation, 
entertainment,  baby  show,  first  aid  contest,  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  colors,  find  their  permanent  record  in  this 
issue  of  the  Co-operative  Record. 

The  message  of  the  magazine  is  the  Fifty-fifty  Plan 
of  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company,  of  which 
the  picnic  was  the  manifestation.  Excerpts  from  the 
speeches  at  the  picnic  of  Mr.  Mitten,  president  of  the 
Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company ;  of  C.  Edward 
Hendrickson,  president  of  the  Co-operative  Welfare  As- 
sociation, and  of  other  officers  of  the  employees'  organi- 
zation express  the  spirit  of  the  plan  and  reflect  the 
co-operation  existing  throughout  the  company. 

Mr.  Hendrickson  showed  the  stand  of  the  Co-opera- 
tive Welfare  Association  in  the  following  statement, 
quoted  from  his  talk: 

Our  position  as  an  organization  in  this  time  of  general 
depression  is  one  of  which  we  may  be  proud.  By  the  work 
of  our  hands,  by  good  fellowship  and  by  foresight  we  have 
built  for  ourselves  a  house  with  a  solid  rock  foundation.  Yet 
in  our  victories  we  are  not  boastful  nor  unmindful  of  the 
wants  of  others.  The  entire  spirit  of  this  picnic  has  been 
as  though  it  were  a  great  Thanksgiving  service. 


956 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Program  of  "Get -Together  Meetings" 
1921  PICNIC 


•8 

1.  P.  R.T.  Band  and  Bugle  Corps.  "Thunderer" 

Conduct")  bj  LicuL  Comminda  John  Philip  Soui* 

2.  Address  of  Welcome  by  President  Hendrickson 

of  Co-operative  Welfare  Associatioft 


3.  Presentation  of 


Stotesbury  Cups— 1st  Day 
.  Athletic  Cups  —  2nd  Day 


4.  Introduction  of  Athlete  Winning  Highest  Num- 

ber of  Points 

Introduction  of  Prize  Baby 
Introduction  of  Largest  Family 

5.  Community  Singing  Led  by  Mr.  Rodeheaver 

6.  Address  by  President  Mitten 

7.  P.R.T.Band  Finale. "The  Star-Spangled  Banner' 

Ccnduclcd  by  P-oi  H.'  R.  Andm 


P.  R.  T.  Kilne  Band  ail!  lead  audicna 
to  and  from  'Paoilhn 


CHILDREN'S  EVENTS 


OPEN  TO  OWN  CHILDREN  AND  BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS 
OF  EMPLOYES 


AUGUST  Mth  AND  AUGUST  31. t 
10.00  A.  M. 


Entries  to  these  events  to  be  taken  on  the  field. 
Contestants  must  report  to  Judges  on  Field  not 
later  than  9.30  A.  M. 


en  Under  17  Yeari- 
BOYS 

50- Yard  Dash 
3- Legged  Race 
Shoe  Race 


CLASS  "A" 
1—4  Feet  10  Inchoi  or  Lett  in  Heigh 
GIRLS 

50- Yard  Dash 
Potato  Race 
Egg  and  Spoon  Race 


CLASS  -B- 

Children  Under  17  Ye«r(— Over  4  Feet  10  (achat  in  Height 

BOYS  SIRLS 

100- Yard  Dash  50- Yard  Dash 

3-Legged  Race  Potato  Race 

Shoe  Race  Baseball  Throw 

Obstacle  Race  Egg  and  Spoon  Race 

None  but  contestants  and  Sports  Officials  allowed  on  the 
track^and  athletic  field.  There  is  plenty  of  room  surrounding 
the  field  for  spectators. 

Prizes  for  children's  events  will  be  awarded  on  the  field 
immediately  after  the  close  of  that  group  of  events. 


SENIOR  EVENTS 


Om  Spodnl  Prix.  Cup  will  b.  .warded  to  the  Deportment  winning 
ihmI  point!  (total  both  d»y.)  in  track  nnd  w.t.r  .vent. 


OPEN  TO  ALL  EMPLOYEES 


MEN 


100- Yard  Dash  Half  Mile  Relay 

Sack  Race  Obstacle  Race 

3-Legged  Race  50- Yard  Swim 

220- Yard  Dash  100-Yard  Swim 

Shoe  Race  400-Yard  Swim 

Tug  of  War  Canoe  Tilting  Contest 


WOMEN 


50- Yard  Dash 
Baseball  Throw 
220-Yard  Relay 


Potato  Race 
Obstacle  Race 
50- Yard  Swim 


Balloon  Blowing  Contest    100-Yard  Swim 


320-Yard  Mixed  Relay  Swim 
Duck  Race  for  all  employees 


Program  of  Events  at  Picnic  op  Co-operative  Welfare  Association  of  P.  R.  T. 


The  magazine  includes  a  four-page  section  called 
"Service  Talks,"  which  are  intimate  editorial  com- 
mentaries on  matters  of  method,  ethics,  results,  goals 
and,  of  course,  co-operation. 

A  spirit  of  good  will  pervades  the  Co-operative  Rec- 
ord. The  running  story  of  the  picnic  is  told  in  a  chatty, 
vivid  style  and  lends  unity  to  the  various  interesting 
accounts.  These  opening  sentences  give  the  tone  of  the 
entire  publication : 

Another  picnic  is  over— another  milestone  passed,  but  the 
remarkable  two-day  outing  at  Willow  Grove  gave  stress  to 
the  fact  that  the  miles,  in  passing,  have  been  carefully 
measured.  In  the  heart  of  depressing  times,  the  great  P.  R. 
T.  family  stepped  out  to  demonstrate  once  again  that  their 
Philadelphia  "Fifty-fifty  plan"  which  they  created  and  in 
which  they  believe,  was  storm-proof. 

The  magazine  is  Number  5  of  Volume  1  of  the 

Co-operative  Record. 


United  Railways  States  Issues 

IN  AN  effort  to  make  clear  its  position,  the  United 
Railways  of  St.  Louis  has  issued  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  traction  situation  there  to  counteract  alleged 
erroneous  reports  of  the  press.  Comparison  of  the 
St.  Louis  conditions  to  those  in  San  Francisco  is  de- 
clared unfair,  and  a  minute  comparison  with  the  New 
York  Transit  Commission  proposals  follows.  The  an- 
nouncement says  "that  in  St.  Louis  we  have  an  approach 
to  municipal  or  public  ownership  so  close  that  the  local 
situation  has  many  of  the  advantages  of  the  New  York 
plan  without  the  city  itself  assuming  the  transportation 
obligations." 

To  eliminate  the  $4,000  loss  incurred  daily  by  the 
company,  and  to  give  adequate  transportation  and  build 
the  needed  extensions,  the  company  states  emphatically, 
"the  car  fare  must  be  adequate." 

The  circular  closes  with  the  following  statement  from 
the  company : 

"When  the  valuation  of  the  property  is  completed  by 
the  Public  Service  Commission,  St.  Louis  will  have  a 
car  service  on  a  cost  basis,  absolutely.  In  the  mean- 
time it  is  getting  it  at  less  than  cost.  What  the  future 
service  will  be  is  largely  a  matter  for  the  public  to 
decide." 


Railway  Exhibit  at  State  Fair 

THE  accompanying  illustration  shows  an  exhibit 
which  the  Louisville  Railway  recently  placed  in  the 
new  $300,000  Merchants'  &  Manufacturing  Building  of 
the  Kentucky  State  Fair,  held  at  Louisville  during  the 
week  of  Sept.  11  to  17.  The  company  occupied  two 
spaces,  one  in  the  name  of  the  Louisville  Railway  and 
one  in  the  name  of  the  Louisville  &  Interurban  Rail- 
road. Photographs  of  cars  were  shown,  beginning  with 
the  old  horse-drawn  cars  and  including  the  present  most 
modern  equipment. 

In  the  Louisville  &  Interurban  Railroad  space  views 
were  shown  of  the  terminal  building,  freight  station  and 


Exhibit  of  thei  Louisville  Railway  at  the 
Kentucky  State  Fair 


of  the  right-of-way.  A  pair  of  wheels  mounted  on  an 
axle  were  arranged  so  that  they  could  be  rotated  by 
power  controlled  through  a  grid  resistance  and  con- 
troller. All  parts  of  the  equipment,  such  as  the  motors, 
controllers,  resistors,  fuse  boxes,  choke  coils,  lightning 
arresters,  circuit  breakers,  etc.,  were  lettered  for  the 
public's  information.  Types  of  rail  in  use  from  the 
years  1864  to  1921  were  displayed.  Also  steel  ties,  con- 
crete base,  granite  paving,  etc.  The  costs  of  the  vari- 
ous parts  were  posted  for  the  public's  information. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


957 


Publicity  Campaign  Launched  in  Dallas 

TRAINMEN  of  the  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  have  been 
given  an  opportunity  to  do  a  real  worth-while  job — 
to  convey  a  message  to  the  public  and  patrons  of  the 
railway  property  in  that  city.  In  addition  to  operating 
cars,  collecting  fares,  etc.,  they  have  been  asked  to  "sell 
service,"  to  tell  residents  and  visitors  to  the  city  what 
the  railway  is  trying  to  accomplish,  how  it  is  striving 
to  give  satisfaction  to  its  customers  and  what  the  spirit 
of  the  organization  really  means. 

This  "selling  service"  stunt,  which  has  far-reaching 
effects,  will  be  conducted  through  the  publicity  depart- 
ment. All  trainmen  have  been  invited  to  submit  copy 
for  the  car  card  advertisements  which  appear  on  each 
end  of  the  car.  An  acceptable  piece  of  copy  will  be 
awarded  a  prize  of  $5. 

One  need  not  be  learned  nor  have  the  gift  of  beau- 
tiful expression,  but  just  the  ability  to  talk  to  the  car 
patrons  in  a  simple  straightforward  manner — to  have 
something  to  say  about  the  service  that  is  offered  that 
will  bring  home  to  every  rider  the  fact  that  the  Dallas 
Railway  is  "selling  transportation."  In  announcing  the 
contest  Mr.  Crampton  warned  against  any  formal  ad- 


vertising copy  and  said  that  the  determining  factor  in 
passing  criticism  on  copy  would  be  the  reading  matter, 
which  should  be  such  that  it  could  be  read  easily  from 
the  center  of  the  car. 

The  Nov.  15  issue  of  Partners,  the  official  publication 
of  the  Dallas  Railway,  in  explaining  the  reason  for 
launching  this  "publicity  campaign"  tells  what  the 
Dallas  Railway  officials  believe  is  the  real  relationship 
which  should  exist  between  an  agency  rendering  service 
and  the  public  whom  it  serves.   In  part  it  is  as  follows : 

The  most  valuable  asset  a  public  utility  can  have  is  a 
satisfied  public  for  its  customer.  Too  many  times  the  public 
is  inclined  to  think  of  such  enterprises  as  large  corporations 
without  interest  in  public  welfare  beyond  the  income  that 
can  be  derived  from  each  individual  user.  Personality  in 
service  is  lost  sight  of  entirely.  The  Dallas  Railway  is 
fortunate  in  having  a  corps  of  employees  who  are  thoroughly 
capable,  loyal  and  interested  in  selling  their  services.  The 
ordinary  rider  thinks  of  the  company  in  terms  of  motormen 
and  conductors.  His  opinion,  good  or  bad,  is  molded  by  the 
reaction  these  men  give  when  he  uses  their  cars. 

The  purpose  of  the  car  card  is  to  convey  the  spirit  of  this 
organization  to  the  passenger  who  uses  the  street  car.  He 
should  be  made  to  feel  that  he  is  being  cared  for  by  capable 
men  who  are  interested  in  his  satisfaction  and  who  will  go 
to  any  reasonable  length  to  give  him  the  highest  type  of 
service  that  is  possible. 


C.  E.  R.  A.  Engineering  Section  Meets 

First  Meeting  of  the  Eastern  Section  of  the  Engineering  Council  Points  to  Real 
Accomplishment  Along  Mechanical  Lines 


THE  first  meeting  of  the  Eastern 
section  of  the  newly  formed  C. 
E.  R.  A.  Engineering  Council  was  pre- 
sided over  by  Director  P.  V.  C.  See, 
superintendent  of  equipment  Northern 
Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Company,  at 
the  Ohio  Hotel,  Youngstown,  on  Nov. 
15.  G.  T.  Seely,  chairman  of  the  Engi- 
neering Council,  was  present  at  inter- 
vals and  aided  the  section  in  establish- 
ing procedure.  There  were  thirty- 
two  in  attendance,  practically  all  of 
whom  were  equipment  men,  as  there 
was  only  one  track  engineer,  one  over- 
head superintendent,  and  two  power 
engineers  present.  Consequently  the 
discussion  of  questions  propounded  on 
track  and  power  matters  presented 
only  limited  view  and  led  to  no  par- 
ticular conclusion. 

However,  the  equipment  problems 
were  the  subject  of  lively  and  valuable 
discussion  and  the  interest  closely  ri- 
valed that  at  the  meetings  of  the 
Association  of  Electric  Railway  Men, 
the  loosely  formed  organization  of  the 
equipment  men  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio 
and  West  Virginia,  which  was  started 
and  sponsored  by  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company 
and  was  discontinued  with  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Engineering  Council  of 
the  C.  E.  R.  A.  This  section  meeting 
differed  from  the  earlier  similar  meet- 
ings of  the  independent  organization  in 
that  an  effort  was  made  to  have  the  dis- 
cussion lead  to  some  definite  conclusion. 
The  motion  to  make  some  definite  dis- 
position of  the  subjects*  discussed  was 
made  by  Guy  H.  Kelsay,  superintendent 
of  power  and  equipment,  Cleveland, 
Southwestern  &  Columbus  Railway. 
This  led  to  considerable  discussion  as 
to  what  should  be  the  proper  procedure 
of  the  section.  In  the  absence  of  any 
definite  plan  from  the  Engineering 
Council,  it  was  decided  that  after  a 
discussion  developed  the  fact  that  wide 
divergence  of  opinion  or  practice  ex- 
isted, a  committee  was  to  be  appointed 
to  make  a  thorough  study  of  that  sub- 


ject and  report  back  to  the  next  meet- 
ing, of  the  section,  presenting,  if  pos- 
sible, a  definite  recommendation  for 
the  members  to  discuss,  revise  and  act 
upon  with  a  view  to  passing  it  on  to 
the  Engineering  Council  as  a  recom- 
mendation for  a  new  standard  or  a 
recommended  practice.  Committees 
appointed  by  Director  See  to  give 
special  study  to  subjects  discussed  at 
this  first  meeting  were  as  follows: 

Standardization  of  car  wheels,  aside 
from  contour  —  A.  B.  Creelman, 
Youngstown,  Ohio,  chairman;  Walter 
Goodenough  and  H.  P.  Meyers. 

Building  up  flanges  by  electric  weld- 
ing— Rufus  Moses,  Youngstown,  Ohio, 
chairman;  P.  J.  Wood  and  C.  W.  Fol- 
well. 

Standardizatio7i  of  length  of  trolley 
pole  —  Terrence  Scullin,  Cleveland, 
chairman;  Clyde  Doolittle  and  F.  C. 
Martin. 

Power  saving — Guy  H.  Kelsay,  Ely- 
ria,  Ohio,  chairman;  A.  A.  Crawford 
and  Carl  Knittle. 

A  discussion  as  to  the  relative  merits 
and  economy  of  trolley  wheels  versus 
trolley  shoes  brought  out  some  interest- 
ing information  and  a  wide  divergence 
in  the  mileage  obtained.  C.  F.  Doo- 
little, master  mechanic  Cleveland  & 
Erie  Railway,  Girard,  Pa.,  said  that  the 
trolley  shoe  is  far  better  as  a  current 
collector  than  the  wheel  and  that  on 
his  property  the  cost  has  been  less  than 
it  was  with  wheels.  Shoes  have  been 
in  use  on  this  property  for  four  years 
and  the  maximum  mileage  obtained 
was  7,200,  with  an  average  mileage 
of  about  4,500.  After  wearing  a 
groove  so  that  removal  is  necessary, 
Mr.  Doolittle  said  that  some  of  these 
shoes  have  been  built  up  by  electric 
welding  with  medium  steel  and  2,000 
miles  additional  service  secured,  but 
he  thought  it  cost  about  as  much  to  do 
this  as  the  additional  mileage  was 
worth.  The  trolley  wire  was  calipered 
for  wearing  resulting  from  the  sliding 
contact,  and  in  one  year's  time  the 


greatest  wear  at  any  of  the  test  points 
was  found  to  be  .003  in,  and  the  aver- 
age wear  .0015  in.  He  considered  that 
the  quieter  operation  of  the  shoe  was 
a  very  important  consideration.  An 
important  thing  is  to  see  that  the  cur- 
rent shunt  on  the  shoe  does  not  come 
off,  for  if  it  does  it  is  possible  for  the 
shoe  to  catch  on  a  span  wire,  should 
the  shoe  jump  off  the  wire,  and  pull 
the  overhead  down.  He  said  it  is  im- 
possible to  back  up  with  the  shoe  after 
it  becomes  worn  and  it  is  necessary  for 
the  conductor,  therefore,  always  to 
take  hold  of  the  trolley  rope  when  back- 
ing up.  In  comparing  the  mileage  ob- 
tained with  wheel  and  shoe,  Mr.  Doo- 
little said  he  had  never  been  able  to  get 
more  than  1,500  miles  out  of  5-in.  trolley 
wheels. 

On  the  other  hand,  A.  B.  Creelman, 
Youngstown,  with  an  average  mileage 
of  6,000  with  trolley  wheels,  had  had 
very  much  better  results  with  the  wheel 
than  with  the  shoe,  and  he  said  that, 
this  experience  on  the  Youngstown 
Municipal  Railway  covered  practically 
all  possible  conditions  of  motors,  volt- 
age, trolley  stands,  overhead,  etc.  He 
pointed  out  that  much  better  results 
are  obtained  with  the  shoes  where  they 
are  not  mixed  in  with  wheels,  as  the 
latter  leave  a  certain  amount  of  pitting 
and  roughness  on  the  wire,  which  tends 
to  wear  out  the  shoe,  whereas  the  use 
of  all  shoes  on  a  line  tends  to  make 
the  wire  slick  and  smooth  and  reduces 
wear. 

The  discussion  as  to  the  possibility 
of  standardizing  on  the  length  of  trol- 
ley pole  developed  the  fact  that  poles 
of  12-ft.,  13-ft.  and  14-ft.  lengths  are 
used  on  city  and  interurban  cars  and 
that  there  appears  to  be  no  very  defi- 
nite reason  for  the  use  of  one  length 
as  against  another.  The  committee 
appointed  to  study  this  matter  will  en- 
deavor to  tabulate  the  maximum 
heights  of  trolley,  car  heights  and  over- 
hang and  then  determine  through  what 
ranges  of  these  values  a  certain  length 
of  pole  can  be  used,  looking  to  the 
adoption  of  a  single  standard  if  pos- 
sible. 

R.  D.  Miller,  master  mechanic,  Stark 
Electric  Company,  in  responding  to  a 


958 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


question  about  the  results  obtained 
with  energy  saving  devices,  stated  that 
a  very  substantial  saving  had  been 
made  on  his  property  with  the  use  of 
Economy  watt-hour  meters.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  energy  saving,  they  had 
been  responsible  for  a  brakeshoe  sav- 
ing of  5  per  cent  and  a  reduction  in 
armature  trouble  of  30  per  cent.  A 
good  spirit  of  competition  among  the 
motormen  has  continued  after  two 
years  use  of  the  meters. 

The  discussion  then  turned  to  some 
troubles  that  had  been  experienced 
with  safety  car  equipment.  Mr.  Creel- 
man  related  how  on  two  or  three  oc- 
casions a  motorman  had  complained 
that  he  could  get  no  air  on  one  stop, 
but  that  it  worked  all  right  before  and 
after  that  particular  stop.  At  first  he 
thought  it  was  due  to  the  motorman 
throwing  his  valve  into  the  wrong  posi- 
tion, but  it  was  later  found  that  it  is 
possible  for  the  double-check  valve  to 
get  gummed  up  or  corroded  and  stick, 
so  that  the  operator  would  get  no  air 
momentarily.  He  pointed  out  that  it 
pays  to  take  this  valve  off  and  clean 
it  periodically;  in  fact,  he  was  inclined 
to  think  that  the  double-check  valve 
might  be  done  away  with  altogether. 
Another  trouble  mentioned  was  that  of 
receiving  an  emergency  application  of 
the  air  when  only  the  ordinary  appli- 
cation was  wanted,  one  of  the  dele- 
gates stating  that  this  had  happened 
on  several  different  cars.  Mr.  Good- 
enough  had  had  the  same  trouble  and 
had  found  it  to  be  the  result  of  scale 
in  the  pipe,  or  lead  from  the  fittings, 
etc.,  a  thing  which  is  very  likely  to  hap- 
pen when  cars  are  new,  resulting  in 
clogging  up  the  triple  valve. 

It  had  been  suggested  that  it  would  be 
very  valuable  to  compile  some  compara- 
tive cost  data  on  car  maintenance.  Mr. 
See  presented  a  tentative  suggestion 
as  to  the  items  to  be  covered  in  this 
tabulation  and  it  was  decided  to  utilize 
a  portion  of  this  suggested  form  and 
apply  it  for  the  present  only  to  safety 
cars.  This  work  will  be  done  between 
now  and  the  next  meeting,  at  which 
time  members  were  requested  to  bring 
in  additional  suggestions  as  to  what  in- 
formation it  is  desirable  to  have  tabu- 
lated. The  data  that  will  be  compiled  on 
this  first  study  will  be  the  cost  as 
divided  between  repair  and  inspection, 
for  the  following:  Total  cost  per  car- 
mile;  total  cost  per  car  operated;  man- 
hours  per  1,000  car-miles;  man-hours 
per  car  operated;  men  per  1,000  car- 
miles;  men  per  car  operated;  cost  of 
car  cleaning  per  1,000  car-miles;  man- 
hours  per  car  cleaned;  lubrication  per 
car  cleaned;  lubrication  cost  per  1,000 
car-miles;  brakeshoe  cost  per  1,000 
car-miles;  pull-ins  per  1,000  car-miles; 
pull-ins  per  cent  of  cars  operated. 


Committee  on  Pipe  Flanges  and 
Fittings  Starts  Work 

THE  sectional  committee  of  the 
American  Engineering  Standards 
Committee  appointed  to  standardize 
pipe  flanges  and  fittings  held  its  first 
meeting  Friday,  Nov.  18,  in  the  rooms 
of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers,  New  York  City.  Prof.  Col- 
lins P.  Bliss  of  New  York  University 
was  elected  chairman  and  A.  A.  Ains- 
worth  of  the  committee  of  manufactur- 
ers on  standardization  of  fittings  and 
valves  was  chosen  secretary. 

The  sponsors  of  the  work  being  under- 
taken by  this  committee  are  the  Amer- 
ican Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers, 
the  Committee  of  Manufacturers  on 
Standardization  of  Fittings  and  Valves 
and  the  Heating  and  Piping  Con- 
tractors' National  Association.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  three  societies  twelve  other 
associations,  among  which  is  the  Amer- 
ican Electric  Railway  Engineering 
Associatipn,  have  representatives  on 
the  committee. 

It  was  decided  to  divide  the  work  to 


be  undertaken  into  three  divisions.  The 
first  includes  the  revision  and  extension 
of  the  present  so-called  "American"  or 
"U.  S."  standards  for  pipe  flanges  and 
flanged  fittings  for  working  pressures 
of  50,  125  and  250  lb.  The  second  in- 
cludes the  revision  and  extension  of 
standards  for  pipe  flanges  and  flanged 
fittings  for  working  pressures  greater 
than  250  lb.  to  the  square  inch,  and  the 
third  comprises  the  work  of  standard- 
ization of  the  dimensions  of  malleable, 
cast  iron,  steel  and  non-ferrous  screwed 
fittings.  Sub-committees  were  ap- 
pointed on  these  three  subjects.  Due  to 
work  already  accomplished  by  commit- 
tees of  the  three  sponsor  bodies  the 
work  of  the  third  division  on  stand- 
ardization of  screwed  fittings  is  well 
advanced  and  it  is  thought  that  this 
subject  can  be  cleaned  up  shortly.  A 
large  amount  of  work  is  necessary  in 
connection  with  subjects  1  and  2,  and 
in  order  to  avoid  duplicating  work  in 
the  collecting  and  assembling  of  various 
information  these  two  committees  will 
work  together  as  a  joint  committee  for 
the  present. 


Mr.  Shepard  Will  Lecture  on 
Trunk  Line  Electrification 

F.  H.  SHEPARD,  director  of  heavy 
traction,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  will  give  an 
illustrated  lecture  on  "Electrification  of 
Trunk  Line  Railways,"  at  the  Brook- 
lyn Academy  of  Music  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts 
and  Sciences  on  Wednesday  evening, 
Nov.  30,  1921.  It  will  be  Mr.  Shepard's 
purpose  to  present  a  comprehensive  but 
general  picture  of  the  present  status 
of  heavy  electric  traction  in  a  popular 
and  interesting  way,  and  also  to  out- 
line its  possibilities  and  limitations. 


American  Association  Com- 
mittees Appointed 

PRESIDENT  TODD  has  announced 
the  following  committees  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  associa- 
tion year  1921-1922.  The  committees 
as  named  below  are  practically  com- 
plete but  are  not  necessarily  final.  All 
those  named  have  been  invited  to  serve, 
and  most  of  them  have  accepted,  and 
there  will  possibly  be  some  additions  to 
some  of  the  committees. 

The  committee  work  is  getting 
started  with  an  impetus  this  year,  and 
augurs  well  for  the  year's  work.  The 
committees  are  being  appointed  early, 
as  noted,  there  is  a  good  geographical 
representation  and  everything  points 
to  a  successful  year's  work  for  the  va- 
rious committees. 

This  list  of  committees  constitutes 
all  those  regular  committees  provided 
by  the  constitution  and  those  special 
committees  authorized  by  the  executive 
committee,  except  the  one  on  arrange- 
ments for  the  mid-year  dinner,  names 
of  which  were  given  in  last  week's 
issue. 

Committee  on  Finance 

J.  H.  Pardee,  chairman,  J.  G.  White 
Management  Corporation,  New  York. 

J.  G.  Barry,  General  Electric  Company, 
Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

R.  P.  Stevens,  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Elec- 
tric Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Committee  on  Policy 

Britton  I.  Budd,  chairman,  Metropoli- 
tan West  Side  Elevated  Railway, 
Chicago,  111. 

Henry  G.  Bradlee,  Stone  &  Webster, 
Inc.,  Boston,  Mass. 

H.  E.  Chubbuck,  Illinois  Traction  Com- 
pany, Peoria,  111. 

Thomas  N.  McCarter,  Public  Service 
Railway,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Paul  Shoup,  Pacific  Electric  Railway, 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Guy  E.  Tripp,  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

J.  R.  Lovejoy,  General  Electric  Com- 
pany, Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

Committee  on  Subjects  and  Meetings 

C.  D.  Emmons,  chairman,  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

C.  S.  Kimball,  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 

J.  D.  Mortimer,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

L.  H.  Palmer,  United  Railways  &  Elec- 
tric Company,  Baltimore,  Md. 

C.  G.  Rice,  Pittsburgh  Railways,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

F.  E.  Webster,  Massachusetts  North- 
eastern Street  Railway,  Haverhill, 
Mass. 

H.  V.  Bozell,  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, New  York,  N.  Y. 

Harlow  C.  Clark,  Public  Service  Cor- 
poration of  New  Jersev,  Newark, 
N.  J. 

H.  F.  Dicke,  Utah  Light  &  Traction 
Company,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

Charles  R.  Ellicott,  Westinghouse  Air 
Brake  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Harry  Reid,  Interstate  Public  Service 
Company,  Inc.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Committee  on  Publicity 

J.  N.  Shannahan,  chairman,  Newport 
News  &  Hampton  Railway  Gas  & 
Electric  Company,  Hampton,  Va. 

P.  S.  Arkwright,  Georgia  Railway  & 
Power  Company  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Barron  G.  Collier,  Barron  G.  Collier, 
Inc.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Walter  A.  Draper,  Cincinnati  Traction 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

P.  H.  Gadsden,  United  Gas  Improve- 
ment Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

L.  E.  Gould,  Economy  Electric  Devices 
Company,  Chicago,  111. 

W.  F.  Ham,  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


959 


W.  S.  Huff,  Third  Avenue  Railway, 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

H.  D.  Shute,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing-  Company,  East  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

L.  S.  Storrs,  The  Connecticut  Company, 
New  Haven,  Conn. 

Committee  on  National  Relations 

Charles  L.  Henry,  chairman,  Indian- 
apolis &  Cincinnati  Traction  Com- 
pany, Indianapolis,  Ind. 

W.  R.  Alberger,  San  Francisco-Oakland 
Terminal  Railways,  San  Francisco, 
Cal. 

Henry  G.  Bradlee,  Stone  &  Webster, 

Inc.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Arthur    W.    Brady,    Union  Traction 

Company  of  Indiana,  Anderson,  Ind. 
C.  D.  Cass,  Waterloo,  Cedar  Falls  & 

Northern  Railway,  Waterloo,  la. 

B.  C.  Cobb,  Hodenpyl,  Hardy  &  Com- 
pany, Inc.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Samuel  M.  Curwen,  The  J.  G.  Brill 
Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

John  J.  Stanley,  Cleveland  Railway, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

L.  S.  Storrs,  The  Connecticut  Company, 
New  Haven,  Conn. 

Committee  on  Publications 

L.  S.  Storrs,  chairman,  The  Connecti- 
cut Company,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Harlow  C.  Clark,  Public  Service  Cor- 
poration of  New  Jersey,  Newark, 
N.  J. 

E.  C.  Faber,  The  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chi- 
cago Railroad,  Aurora,  111. 

M.  B.  Lambert,  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  East 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

C.  E.  Morgan,  Brooklyn  City  Railroad, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Charles  C.  Pierce,  General  Electric 
Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

A.  M.  Robinson,  The  J.  G.  Brill  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Martin  Schreiber,  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Camden,  N.  J. 

Committee  on  Company  and 
Associate  Members 

F.  R.  Coates,  chairman,  Community 
Traction  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

W.  R.  Alberger,  San  Francisco-Oak- 
land Terminal  Railways,  Oakland, 
Cal. 

F.  G.  Buffe,  Kansas  City  Railways, 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

L.  E.  Gould,  Economy  Electric  De- 
vices Company,  Chicago,  111. 

J.  H.  Hanna,  Capital  Traction  Com- 
pany, Washington,  D.  C. 

P.  N.  Jones,  Pittsburgh  Railways,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

M.  B.  Lambert,  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  East 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Henry  H.  Norris,  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

W.  S.  Rodger,  Detroit  United  Railway, 
Detroit,  Mich. 

E.  M.  Walker,  Terre  Haute,  Indian- 
apolis &  Eastern  Traction  Company, 
Terre  Haute,  Ind. 

E.  P.  Waller,  General  Electric  Com- 
pany, Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

Rolla  Wells,  United  Railways  of  St. 
Louis,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

E.  F.  Wickwire,  Ohio  Brass  Company, 
Mansfield,  Ohio. 


Committee  on  Company  Section  and 
Individual  Membership 

Martin  Schreiber,  chairman,  Public 
Service  Railway,  Camden,  N.  J. 

P.  S.  Arkwright,  Georgia  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

J.  P.  Barnes,  Louisville  Railway,  Louis- 
ville, Ky. 

F.   G.   Buffe,  Kansas  City  Railways, 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Walter  A.  Draper,  Cincinnati  Traction 

Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
J.  H.  Mallon,  Metropolitan  West  Side 

Elevated  Railway,  Chicago,  111. 
Charles    C.    Pierce,   General  Electric 

Company,  Boston,  Mass. 
J.   N.   Shannahan,   Newport  News  & 

Hampton  Railway   Gas  &  Electric 

Company,  Hampton,  Va. 

Committee  on  Co-operation  with 
Manufacturers 

E.  F.  Wickwire,  chairman,  Ohio  Brass 
Company,  Mansfield,  Ohio. 

E.  C.  Faber,  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago 
Railway,  Aurora,  111. 

Frank  Gale,  General  Electric  Company, 

Schenectady,  N.  Y. 
P.    N.    Jones,    Pittsburgh  Railways, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
J.  C.  McQuiston,  Westinghouse  Electric 

&    Manufacturing    Company,  East 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Committee  on  Co-operation  with 
State  and  Sectional  Associations 

W.  H.  Sawyer,  chairman,  East  St. 
Louis  &  Suburban  Railway,  East  St. 
Louis,  111. 

C.  P.  Billings,  Wheeling  Traction  Com- 
pany, Wheeling,  W.  Va. 

Luke  C.  Bradley,  Stone  &  Webster,  Inc., 
Houston,  Tex. 

F.  D.  Burpee,  Ottawa  Electric  Railway, 
Ottawa,  Canada. 

T.  B.  Donnelly,  West  Penn  Railways, 
Connellsville,  Pa. 

W.  V.  Hill,  California  Electric  Railway 
Association,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Louis  D.  Pellissier,  Holyoke  Street  Rail- 
way, Holyoke,  Mass. 

R.  V.  Prather,  Illinois  Committee  on 
Public  Utilities  Information,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

J.  P.  Pulliam,  Wisconsin  Public  Service 
Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Harry  Reid,  Interstate  Public  Service 
Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

John  Shartel,  Oklahoma  Railway,  Okla- 
homa City,  Okla. 

B.  E.  Tilton,  New  York  State  Railways, 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

H.  E.  Weeks,  Tri-City  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  Davenport,  la. 

Committee  on  Education 

Edward  Dana,  chairman,  Boston  Ele- 
vated Railway,  Boston,  Mass. 

Edward  J.  Blair,  Metropolitan  West 
Side  Elevated  Railway,  Chicago,  111. 

H.  C.  Donecker,  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Newark,  N.  J. 

Thomas  Finigan,  American  Brake  Shoe 
&  Foundry  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

M.  B.  Lambert,  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  East 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


F.  R.  Phillips,  Pittsburgh  Railways, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

A.  E.  Potter,  United  Electric  Railways, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Thomas  H.  Schoepf,  Cincinnati  Trac- 
tion Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

William  Von  Phul,  Market  Street  Rail- 
way, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Edward  A.  West,  Denver  Tramway 
Company,  Denver,  Col. 

Thomas  S.  Wheelwright,  Virginia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  Richmond, 
Va. 

Committee  on  Electrolysis 

W.  J.  Harvie,  chairman,  Auburn  & 
Syracuse  Electric  Railroad,  Auburn, 
N.  Y. 

L.  P.  Crecelius,  Crecelius  &  Phillips, 
engineers,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

M.  B.  Rosevear,  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J. 

W.  H.  Sawyer,  East  St.  Louis  &  Sub- 
urban Railway,  East  St.  Louis,  111. 

G.  W.  Van  Derzee,  The  Milwaukee  Elec- 
tric Railway  &  Light  Company,  Mil- 
waukee, Wis. 

Committee  on  Mail  Pay 

L.  H.  Palmer,  chairman,  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

Gordon  Campbell,  York  Railways, 
York,  Pa. 

G.  K.  Jeffries,  Terre  Haute,  Indianapo- 
lis &  Eastern  Traction  Company, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

R.  A.  Leussler,  Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs 

Street  Railway,  Omaha,  Neb. 
Samuel    Riddle,    Louisville  Railway, 

Louisville,  Ky. 
W.  S.  Rodger,  Detroit  United  Railway, 

Detroit,  Mich. 
C.  L.  S.  Tingley,  American  Railway, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

H.  ,  B.  Weatherwax,  United  Traction 
Company,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Committee  on  Special  Taxes 

C.  D.  Emmons,  chairman,  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  Balti- 
more, Md. 

Edwin  Gruhl,  North  American  Com- 
pany, New  York,  N.  Y. 

W.  F.  Ham,  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 

A.  M.  Robertson,  Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Henry  B.  Sawyer,  Stone  &  Webster, 
Inc.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Committee  on  Trackless 
Transportation 

H.  B.  Flowers,  chairman,  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company  of  Balti- 
more, Baltimore,  Md. 

R.  E.  Danforth,  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J. 

W.  J.  Flickinger,  The  Connecticut 
Company,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Samuel  W.  Greenland,  Indiana  Service 
Corporation,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 

C.  W.  Kellogg,  Stone  &  Webster,  Inc., 
Boston,  Mass. 

R.  V.  Miller,  Sapulpa  Electric  Interur- 
ban  Railway,  Sapulpa,  Okla. 

H.  A.  Mullett,  The  Milwaukee  Electric 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis. 


960 


Electric   Railway  journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


D.  W.  Pontius,  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way, Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

H.  B.  Potter,  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass. 

J.  N.  Shannahan,  Newport  News  & 
Hampton  Railway  Gas  &  Electric 
Company,  Hampton,  Va. 

Committee  on  Valuation 

J.  P.  Barnes,  chairman,  Louisville  Rail- 
way, Louisville,  Ky. 

Arthur  W.  Brady,  Union  Traction  Com- 
pany of  Indiana,  Anderson,  Ind. 

Robert  M.  Feustel,  Indiana  Service 
Corporation,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 

Williston  Fish,  Chicago  Surface  Lines, 
Chicago,  111. 

W.  H.  Maltbie,  attorney-at-law,  Balti- 
more, Md. 

Albert  S.  Richey,  Worcester,  Mass. 

William  H.  Sawyer,  East  St.  Louis  & 
Suburban  Railway,  East  St.  Louis,  111. 

Paul  Shoup,  Pacific  Electric  Railway, 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Engineering  Association 
Committees  Appointed 

PRESIDENT  KIMBALL  of  the  Engi- 
neering Association  announces  the 
following  committee  personnel  for  the 
association  year  1921-1922,  which  rep- 
resents the  committees  in  so  far  as 
they  have  been  named,  to  date. 

The  committee  on  buildings  and 
structures  will  be  completed  shortly 
and  its  personnel  announced. 

Committee  on  Equipment 

R.  H.  Dalgleish,  chairman,  Capitol  Trac- 
tion Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Daniel  Durie,  sponsor,  West  Penn  Rail- 
ways, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

W.  S.  Adams,  The  J.  G.  Brill  Company, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

H.  A.  Benedict,  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Newark.  N.  J. 

A.  H.  Daus,  Metropolitan  West  Side 
Elevated  Railway,  Chicago,  111. 

L.  J.  Davis,  Brooklyn  City  Railroad, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

J.  L.  Gould,  Wilmington  &  Philadelphia 
Traction  Company,  Wilmington,  Del. 

J.  M.  Hippie,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  East  Pitts- 
burg, Pa. 

J.  C.  C.  Holding,  Midvale  Steel  &  Ord- 
nance Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Robei-t  Long,  Altoona  &  Logan  Valley 
Railway,  Altoona,  Pa. 

A.  J.  Miller,  representative  Association 
of  Manufacturers  of  Chilled  Car 
Wheels,  Chicago,  111. 

M.  O'Brien,  United  Railways  of  St. 
Louis,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

C.  M.  Pittenger,  Steubenville,  East 
Liverpool  &  Beaver  Valley  Traction 
Company,  East  Liverpool.  Ohio. 

E.  D.  Priest,  General  Electric  Company, 
Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

C.  F.  Rys,  Carnegie  Steel  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

C.  W.  Squier,  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, New  York,  N.  Y. 

Committee  on  Power  Distribution 

M.  B.  Rosevear,  chairman,  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway,  Newark,  N.  J. 


Charles  R.  Harte,  sponsor,  The  Con- 
necticut Company,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

J.  R.  B.  Armstrong,  Brooklyn  City  Rail- 
road, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

C.  C.  Beck,  Ohio  Brass  Company, 
Mansfield,  Ohio. 

H.  S.  Burd,  National  Conduit  &  Cable 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

R.  W.  Eaton,  Public  Service  Engineer, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Prof.  D.  D.  Ewing,  Purdue  University, 
Lafayette,  Ind. 

L.  F.  Griffith,  Little  Rock  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

H.  D.  Hawks,  Anaconda  Copper  Mining 
Company,  Chicago,  111. 

G.  C.  Hecker,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  East  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

Adrian  Hughes,  Jr.,  United  Railways  & 
Electric  Company,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Charles  H.  Jones,  Metropolitan  West 
Side  Elevated  Railway,  Chicago,  111. 

F.  McVittie,  New  York  State  Railways, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 

G.  Hall  Roosevelt,  General  Electric 
Company,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

F.  J.  White,  Okonite  Company,  Pas- 
saic, N.  J. 

Committee  on  Power  Generation 

E.  H.  Scofield,  chairman,  Minneapolis 
Street  Railway,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

A.  B.  Stitzer,  sponsor,  Republic  Engi- 
neers, Inc.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

L.  D.  Bale,  Cleveland  Railway,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

Walter  E.  Bryan,  United  Railways,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

H.  E.  Davis,  New  York  State  Railways, 
Utica,  N.  Y. 

W.  S.  Finlay,  American  Waterworks  & 
Electric  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Frank  G.  Frost,  New  Orleans  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  New  Orleans,  La. 

C.  A.  Greenidge,  J.  G.  White  Manage- 
ment Corporation,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

F.  C.  Hanker,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  East  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

H.  A.  Kidder,  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

G.  Hall  Roosevelt,  General  Electric 
Company,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

George  W.  Saatnoff,  Henry  L.  Doherty 
&  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

A.  E.  Stierly,  Newport  News  &  Hamp- 
ton Railway,  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Hampton,  Va. 

G.  W.  Welsh,  East  St.  Louis  Railway, 
East  St.  Louis,  111. 

Committee  on  Purchases 
and  Stores 

W.  H.  Staub,  chairman,  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

L.  C.  Datz,  sponsor,  American  Cities 
Company,  Birmingham,  Ala. 

William  C.  Bell,  Virginia  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Richmond,  Va. 

C.  A.  Harris,  Pittsburgh  Railways, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

J.  R.  McGivney,  New  Orleans  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  New  Orleans,  La. 

W.  D.  Pierie,  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

W.  S.  Simonds,  Denver  Tramways  Com- 
pany, Denver,  Col. 


Committee  on  Standards 

Martin  Schreiber,  chairman,  Public 
Service  Railway,  Camden,  N.  J. 

H.  L.  Andrews,  General  Electric  Com- 
pany, Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

Edward  J.  Blair,  Metropolitan  West 
Side  Elevated  Railroad,  Chicago,  111. 

C.  H.  Clark,  Cleveland  Railway,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

L.  P.  Crecelius,  Crecelius  &  Phillips, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

E.  R.  Hill,  Gibbs  &  Hill,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

C.  G.  Keen,  American  Railways,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

John  Lindall,  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass. 

George  P.  Lyman,  William  Wharton, 
Jr.,  &  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

H.  H.  Norris,  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, New  York,  N.  Y. 

N.  W.  Storer,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  East  Pitts- 
burh,  Pa. 

N.  B.  Trist,  Carnegie  Steel  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Committee  on  Unification  of 
Car  Design 

H.  H.  Adams,  chairman,  Chicago  Sur- 
face Lines,  Chicago,  111. 

H.  A.  Johnson,  sponsor,  Metropolitan 
West  Side  Elevated  Railway,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

H.  A.  Benedict,  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Newark,  N.  J. 

J.  A.  Brooks,  J.  G.  Brill  Company, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

J.  W.  Hulme,  International  Railway, 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

G.  L.  Kippenberger,  St.  Louis  Car  Com- 
pany, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

John  Lindall,  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Victor  R.  Willoughby,  American  Car  & 

Foundry  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Committee  on  Way  Matters 

W.  F.  Graves,  chairman,  Montreal 
Tramways  Company,  Montreal,  Que- 
bec, Canada. 

R.  C.  Cram,  sponsor,  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

C.  A.  Alden,  Bethlehem  Steel  Company, 
Steelton,  Pa. 

V.  Angerer,  William  Wharton,  Jr.,  & 
Company,  Inc.,  Easton,  Pa. 

S.  Clay  Baker,  East  St.  Louis  Railway, 
East  St.  Louis,  111. 

W.  R.  Dunham,  Jr.,  Engel  and  Hevenor, 
Engineers,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

E.  B.  Entwisle,  Lorain  Steel  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

H.  Fort  Flowers,  Differential  Steel 
Company,  Findlay,  Ohio. 

C.  F.  Gailor,  consulting  engineer,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Howard  H.  George,  Public  Service  Rail- 
way, Newark,  N.  J. 

J.  H.  Haylow,  Memphis  Street  Rail- 
ways, Memphis,  Tenn. 

Eugene  P.  Roundey,  New  York  State 
Railways,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

E.  M.  T.  Ryder,  Third  Avenue  Rail- 
way, New  York,  N.  Y. 

Francis  Tingley,  Washington  Railway  & 
Electric  Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 

W.  W.  Wysor,  United  Railways  &  Elec- 
tric Company,  Baltimore,  Md. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


City  Operation  Ends 
Argument ! 

Meridian    Light   &    Railway  Retains 
Ownership  Under  Municipal  Board 
For  Three  Year  Experiment 

City  operation  of  the  Meridian  Light 
&  Railway  Company,  Meridian,  Miss., 
is  the  basis  of  the  agreement  reached 
between  the  municipal  authorities  and 
the  company  after  months  of  negotia- 
tions. The  contract  will  be  subject  to 
ratification  at  the  polls. 

Under  the  agreement,  the  City  Coun- 
cil is  granted  the  right  to  operate  the 
entire  plant  of  the  company,  which  fur- 
nishes the  city  with  gas,  power  and 
railway  service,  through  a  board  of  di- 
rectors. This  board  is  to  be  composed 
of  three  members  appointed  by  the 
Council,  three  appointed  by  the  com- 
pany, and  the  Mayor,  who  shall  be  the 
chairman.  The  board  has  the  power  to 
fix  rates.  The  balance  of  power  in  the 
board  rests  with  the  city. 

The  city  under  the  proposed  contract 
does  not  guarantee  to  the  company 
either  earnings  or  interest  returns,  and 
no  fixed  capitalization  is  agreed  upon  as 
a  basis  for  rate  making.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  company  agrees  to  pay  the 
city  in  full  the  total  amount  already 
expended  by  the  city  in  establishing  a 
municipal  light  and  power  plant.  The 
city  agrees  not  to  build  any  gas,  light 
or  street  railway  plant  during  the  term 
of  the  contract. 

The  contract  is  to  run  for  three  years, 
and  is  subject  to  renewal  thereafter. 
It  is  an  experiment  only,  so  that  the 
city  may,  by  actual  operation,  determine 
the  cost  and  expense  of  service  fur- 
nished. Thereafter  a  permanent  agree- 
ment is  to  be  made. 

This  understanding,  which  must  be 
approved  by  the  Cities  Service  Com- 
pany, holding  organization  for  the 
Meridian  Light  &  Railway  Company, 
concludes  the  long  disagreement  be- 
tween the  city  and  company.  For  several 
years  the  city  has  been  preparing  to 
construct  a  plant  of  its  own,  and  re- 
cently the  citizens  voted  $600,000  for 
the  purpose.  Another  election  will  now 
be  necessary  to  approve  the  new  con- 
tract. 

The  company  has  left  to  the  city  the 
responsibility  to  operate  the  plant  for 
the  best  interests  of  the  citizens.  It  is 
generally  agreed  that  both  company  and 
city  displayed  good  faith  in  the  inten- 
tions of  the  other  in  coming  to  an 
understanding,  and  making  possible  the 
amicable  settlement.  Two  representa- 
tives of  the  company  on  the  board  are 
to  be  chosen  by  the  committee  of  bond- 
holders and  the  other  is  to  be  selected 
by  the  City  Service  Company. 


Wages  Cut  10  Per  Cent  at  Dallas 

The  Texas  Electric  Railway,  Dallas, 
Tex.,  announces  that  wage  cuts  of  ap- 
proximately 10  per  cent  will  be  put  into 
effect  over  its  entire  system  on  Dec.  1. 
Shrinkage  of  a  $500,000  in  passenger 
receipts  since  Jan.  1,  1921  is  assigned 
as  the  reason  for  the  reduction. 


The  reduction  will  affect  all  officials 
of  the  road,  the  personnel  of  the  gen- 
eral offices,  motormen,  conductors, 
passenger  and  freight  agents,  freight 
handlers,  employees  of  the  main  shops 
at  Monroe  and  the  branch  shops  at 
Sherman  and  Waco.  The  employees  on 
the  local  lines  in  Sherman,  Denison, 
Waco,  Corsicana,  Waxahachie  and 
McKinney  will  also  be  affected. 

The  Texas  Electric  Railway  employs 
approximately  954  men,  of  which  num- 
ber 242  are  motormen  and  conductors. 
Approximately  300  work  in  the  shops, 
and  the  others  in  the  various  offices 
of  the  company,  or  as  its  traveling 
agents.  The  payroll  for  the  entire 
system  last  month  was  $77,690. 

Officials  of  the  company  declared 
that  they  faced  the  alternative  of  re- 
ducing the  force  or  cutting  the  pay,, 
and  the  wage  cut  was  decided  on  be- 
cause laying  off  any  number  of  men 
would  aggravate  the  unemployment  sit- 
uation in  Texas. 


Albany  Strike  Declared  Off 

The  strike  of  the  714  trainmen  em- 
ployed on  the  lines  of  the  United  Trac- 
tion Company,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  which 
has  been  in  progress  since  Jan.  29,  was 
called  off  on  Nov.  22  by  a  vote  by 
ballot  at  a  meeting  of  the  union  follow- 
ihg  the  calling  off  of  the  strike  in  Troy 
by  the  trolleymen's  union  there  on 
Nov.  21. 

The  vote  to  call  off  the  strike  on 
the  Albany  division  came  after  a  two- 
hour  debate  at  which  many  members 
of  the  union  voiced  opposition.  The 
vote  stood  at  the  close  of  the  ballot- 
ing ninety-four  in  favor  of  calling  off 
the  strike  and  sixty-five  for  continuing 
it.  When  the  result  was  announced  a 
resolution  was  passed  at  the  suggestion 
of  Joseph  S.  Droogan,  president  of  the 
Albany  union,  making  the  vote  unani- 
mous. 

The  immediate  effect  of  calling  off 
the  strike  is  the  sanctioning  of  the 
riding  on  the  cars  of  the  general  pub- 
lic, many  of  whom  have  remained  off 
the  cars  since  the  starting  of  the  strike. 
Members  of  the  union  declared  that 
there  was  an  understanding  that  a 
large  percentage  of  the  present  con- 
ductors and  motormen  would  be  dis- 
missed and  that  old  men  would  be 
placed  on  jobs  as  fast  as  possible. 

Political  and  business  leaders  in 
Albany  and  Troy  are  said  to  have  been 
behind  the  movement  to  bring  about 
peace.  Over  half  of  the  old  men  are 
engaged  in  other  occupations  and  the 
union,  except  in  name,  is  virtually 
broken.  The  United  Traction  Company 
under  its  system  of  one-man  cars  will 
not  be  in  need  of  as  many  men  as  be- 
fore, and  this  coupled  with  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  present  employees 
will  be  kept  on  their  jobs,  is  expected 
to  result  in  some  of  the  former  em- 
ployees being  prevented  for  several 
months  from  being  returned  to  their  old 
positions.  The  men  will  return  to  work 
at  the  rate  against  which  they  struck, 
45  cents  an  hour.  The  majority  of  the 
men  seemed  elated  over  the  fact  that 
the  strike  had  been  called  off. 


Des  Moines  Campaign 
Closing 

Restraining  Order  Sought  from  Court 
on  Eve  of  Putting  Franchise 
to  Public  Vote. 

Opponents  of  the  new  franchise  pro- 
posed for  the  Des  Moines  (Iowa)  City 
Railway  have  sought  to  prevent  by  in- 
junction proceedings  the  franchise 
election  which  had  been  set  for  Nov. 
28.  Grant  Van  Horn,  a  member  of  the 
North  Des  Moines  Improvement 
League,  on  Nov.  18  filed  a  petition  in 
the  District  Court  asking  a  temporary 
order  restraining  the  election. 

Mr.  Van  Horn  had  his  petition  pre- 
pared by  a  group  of  attorneys  inimical 
to  the  franchise,  among  whom  was  H. 
W.  Byers,  former  corporation  counsel, 
who  has  been  waging  an  emphatic 
fight  against  the  Des  Moines  City  Rail- 
way. 

Claim  is  made  by  Mr.  Van  Horn  as 
the  principal  reason  for  enjoining  the 
election  that  the  City  Council  did  not 
comply  with  the  statutes  by  having 
the  franchise  published  four  consecu- 
tive weeks  before  it  was  passed  by  the 
Council.  Mr.  Van  Horn  also  contends 
that  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  is 
insolvent  and  that  for  this  reason  the 
city  does  not  have  proper  guarantee 
that  the  company  will  bear  the  ex- 
pense of  the  special  election.  Atten- 
tion is  also  called  to  the  fact  that  no 
bond  has  been  filed  by  the  company. 
Another  claim  is  that  in  view  of  the 
company's  insolvency  the  city  has  no 
guarantee  that  the  franchise  terms  will 
be  carried  out  by  the  company. 

The  business  and  civic  interests  of 
the  city  have,  however,  been  roused 
and  it  seems  that  there  is  a  determi- 
nation to  put  the  franchise  across.  A 
committee  of  fifty  representative  citi- 
zens and  women  has  now  been  named 
and  the  conduct  of  the  campaign  will 
be  guided  by  an  executive  committee 
of  which  Alex.  Fitzhugh,  former  presi- 
dent of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  is 
chairman.  One  of  his  two  associates 
is  Miss  Luella  Clark,  head  of  the  De- 
partment of  Women's  Affairs  of  the 
Chamber. 

Women  will  play  an  important  part 
in  the  campaign.  Miss  Clark,  who  is 
heading  up  the  women's  campaign,  is 
authority  for  the  statement  that  they 
have  pledges  from  5,000  business 
women  and  6,000  club  women  to  vote 
for  the  franchise. 

Straw  votes  taken  by  one  of  the 
daily  newspapers  indicate  that  the 
franchise  will  carry. 

Bus  operation  has  gradually  been 
curtailed  since  the  railway  service  was 
restored  until  there  are  now  only 
twentv-five  or  thirty  buses  running  as 
against  a  maximum  of  125.  Many 
lines  have  been  abandoned  entirely  by 
thp  bus  operators. 

The  hearing1  on  the  injunction  case 
was  not  comoleted  on  Nov.  23.  Mr. 
Bvers  took  up  most  of  Nov.  23  with 
his  argument  and  Mr.  Gamble,  the  rail- 
way attornev.  had  barely  started  his 
are-ument  when  the  court  adjourned 
until  Nov.  26. 


962 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Mr.  Shearn  Stresses  Interborough  Dividend  Policy 

Examination  by  New  York  Commission  Is  Devoted  Principally  to  the  Affairs  of 
Interborough  Company — Auditor  Gaynor  and  President 
Hedley  Chief  Witnesses 

The  hearing  into  the  affairs  of  the  New  York  transportation  companies, 
begun  Nov.  15,  has  been  continued  during  this  past  week.  The  plan  followed 
has  been  first  to  establish  certain  data,  then  examine  the  officials  of  the  different 
companies  on  these  data.  During  the  early  part  of  the  week  the  chief  point 
discussed  was  the  inclusion  in  the  Interborough  balance  sheet  at  cost  of  the 
stock  of  unprofitable  trolley  lines  in  Queens  Borough,  as  well  as  the  inclusion 
of  advances  to  those  and  other  unprofitable  controlled  lines.  Stress  was  also 
laid  on  the  large  dividends  paid  up  to  1919  by  the  Interborough  Company  and 
its  failure  to  amortize  certain  organization  expenses. 


ATTORNEY  SHEARN  of  the  com- 
.  mission  declared  at  one  point  in 
the  examination  that  this  purpose  in 
asking  certain  questions  relating  to 
past  financial  acts  was  not  to  place 
obloquy  upon  any  person  living  or  dead, 
but  to  get  facts  so  as  to  bring  about 
a  remedy.  In  addition  to  the  summary 
printed  below  of  the  hearings,  some  of 
the  charts  and  tables  presented  at  the 
hearing  will  be  found  on  page  941  of 
tli is  issue* 

At  a  hearing  on  Thursday  morning, 
Nov.  17,  the  first  testimony  presented 
was  in  regard  to  the  abandonment  of 
routes.  It  was  shown  that  the  total 
amount  abandoned  was  189  miles,  of 
which  108  miles  were  on  the  Brooklyn 
surface  lines,  9  miles  on  the  Queens 
surface  lines,  11  miles  on  the  Bronx 
surface  lines,  and  60  miles  on  the  Man- 
hattan surface  lines.  This  figure  is 
larger  than  the  miles  of  track  aban- 
doned to  the  extent  of  the  length  of 
track  formerly  used  jointly  by  two  or 
more  companies  and  abandoned  by  one 
but  still  used  by  another  or  others. 

Interborough  Balance  Sheet 
Considered 

Frederick  W.  Lindars  then  testified 
as  to  the  outstanding  capital  stocks  and 
bonds  of  the  different  companies  in 
New  York,  which  aggregated  $1,165,- 
849,431.  Of  this  amount  $850,228,126 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  public.  He  also 
testified  as  to  what  portion  of  the 
capitalization  of  each  company  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  public  and  what 
owned  by  another  company,  the  divi- 
dend records,  the  interest  payment 
dates,  and  the  approximate  market 
value  of  the  securities  as  shown  by  re- 
cent quotations,  when  they  were  avail- 
able. He  said  among  other  things  that 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany showed  a  deficit  for  1917  after 
dividends  of  $139,607;  for  1918,  of 
$1,462,241,  and  in  1919  of  $5,560,340. 
The  differences  between  the  deficits 
thus  shown  and  the  amount  paid  out  in 
dividends,  Mr.  Shearn,  counsel  for  the 
commission  then  intimated,  must  have 
been  paid  out  of  surplus,  if  there  was 
a  surplus,  or  out  of  capital  if  there 
was  not  any  surplus.  Mr.  Quacken- 
bush  declared  that  the  surplus  from 
previous  years  supplied  these  divi- 
dend payments. 

E.  F.  J.  Gaynor,  auditor  Interbor- 
ough Rapid  Transit  Company,  who 
then  went  on  the  stand,  was  asked 
about  the  balance  sheet  of  the  Inter- 
borough Rapid  Transit  Company,  par- 
ticularly the  account  of  miscellaneous 
investments,  consisting  of  the  stock  of 
associated  companies  which  totalized 
$19,378,244.  This  account  includes 
stock  of  the  New  York  &  Queens 
Countv  ^aflw  with  a  nar  value  of 
$3,204,800,  which   cost  th°  company 


$2,895,160,  and  was  carried  on  the 
books  as  that  amount.  Mr.  Shearn 
pointed  out  that  the  last  annual  report 
of  the  New  York  &  Queens  County 
Company  to  the  commission  showed  a 
corporate  deficit  of  $4,677,949,  and  a 
net  loss  in  operation  for  the  year  of 
$635,855,  and  he  asked  Mr.  Gaynor 
whether  there  was  justification  for 
carrying  in  the  Interborough  balance 
sheet  that  stock  as  an  asset  when  the 
company  had  been  showing  year  after 
year  a  net  loss  in  operation.  Mr. 
Shearn  also  called  attention  to  the  in- 
clusion in  the  assets  of  the  advances 
made  to  this  company  by  the  Inter- 
borough amounting  to  over  three  mil- 
lion dollars,  and  also  accounts  receiv- 
able from  other  railway  companies,  in- 
cluding the  New  York  Railways. 

The  question  then  arose  as  to  the 
amount  at  which  these  securities 
should  be  carried  in  the  Interborougn 
balance  sheet,  Mr.  Gaynor  declaring 
that  the  rules  of  the  commission  re- 
quire that  they  should  be  carried  at 
cost.  After  some  discussion  Mr. 
Shearn  asked  the  witness  whether  the 
stock  of  a  company  is  carried  in  a  bal- 
ance sheet  as  an  asset  and  the  stock 
is  worthless  that  report  gives  a  true 
statement  of  the  condition  of  the  com- 
pany. Mr.  Gaynor  claimed  that  this 
situation  did  not  apply  in  this  case  as 
he  did  not  know  the  value  of  the  stocks 
in  question,  but  Mr.  Shearn  said  the 
question  was  a  hypothetical  one,  and 
the  commission  said  it  would  ask  the 
witness  to  reply  to  it  at  the  next  ses- 
sion, or  at  that  on  Nov.  21.  Before  the 
close  of  the  -session  Mr.  Quaekenbush, 
attorney  for  the  Interborough,  ex- 
plained that  the  witness  and  the  com- 
pany had  no  desire  to  evade  any  ques- 
tions. He  said  that  he  himself  was 
ready  to  answer  "yes"  to  the  question, 
on  behalf  of  the  company,  but  that  he 
believed  the  investigation  by  the  com- 
mission's experts  would  show  that  the 
value  of  the  Queens  County  Company 
was  not  far  from  the  book  value. 

Subway  Earned  $67,000,000 

It  was  also  brought  out  in  Mr.  Gay- 
nor's  testimony  that  unpaid  taxes  of 
the  Interborough  Company  at  the  end 
of  the  fiscal  year,  June  30,  1921, 
amounted  to  $2,165,162.  The  reason 
they  had  not  been  paid  was  that  the 
company  last  year  lost  four  and  a  half 
million  dollars  on  top  of  a  loss  of  about 
the  same  amount  the  year  before,  and 
it  was  extremely  short  of  cash. 

At  the  hearing  on  Monday,  Nov.  21, 
Mr.  Lindars,  accountant  for  the  com- 
mission, was  again  the  first  witness 
and  testified  that  the  accounts  of  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 
showed  that  its  total  dividends  during 
the  eighteen  years  of  its  life  amounted 
to  $65,625,000,  and  that  its  entire  net 


income  during  this  time,  after  surplus 
adjustments,  was  $67,867,878.48,  leav- 
ing as  a  surplus  $2,242,878.48.  He 
said  that  this  amount  did  not  include 
any  deductions  for  worthless  stock, 
many  uncollectible  debts,  and  open  ac- 
counts and  bills  receivable.  The  divi- 
dends paid  amounted  to  187i  per  cent 
on  the  capital  stock  of  the  company, 
and  to  306  per  cent  of  the  actual  cash 
capital  of  the  company.  The  witness 
also  said  that  during  these  eighteen 
years  the  company  had  paid  under  its 
lease  of  the  Manhattan  Railway  Com- 
pany as  dividends  to-  the  stockholders 
of  that  company  $75,336,000,  which, 
Mr.  Shearn  declared,  was  within 
$4,000,000  of  the  entire  cost  of  the 
original  elevated  railway,  according  to 
the  reports  which  he  had  from  the 
valuation  department  of  the  commis- 
sion. 

Mr.  Latey,  engineer  of  equipment 
and  operation  of  the  commission,  then 
testified  as  to  changes  in  the  Interbor- 
ough train  schedule  between  1916  and 
1921,  showing  on  some  routes  fewer 
trains  run  and  on  other  routes  more 
trains.  Testimony  was  also  presented 
as  to  the  cars  run  by  other  companies 
in  New  York  during  the  rush  hour  and 
mid-day. 

Amortization   Depreciated  Assets 
Recommended 

Mr.  Gaynor  was  then  recalled  and  in 
reply  to  the  question,  "If  your  account 
on  its  asset  side  includes  among  the 
assets  stocks  to  the  extent  of  millions 
of  dollars  which  are  in  fact  worthless, 
then  so  far  as  that  item  is  concerned, 
the  account  does  not  truly  set  forth 
the  condition  of  the  company,"  an- 
swered "Yes."  Mr.  Shearn  then  asked 
whether,  if  the  investments  were  put 
down  at  cost  there  ought  not  to  be  set 
up  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  account 
in  a  reserve  an  amount  to  represent 
what  was  written  off,  as  well  as  to 
cover  advances  which  had  been  found 
uncollectible.  At  the  same  time  he  de- 
clared that  the  rules  for  uniform  ac- 
counting provide  for  optional  reserves 
as  well  as  for  required  reserves  and 
that  in  an  amount  of  $29,000,000  set 
up  as  coming  from  accruals  on  contract 
No.  3,  the  company  did  not  let  that 
stand  on  the  assets  without  some  re- 
serve against  it  on  the  liability  side. 
The  witness  replied  that  in  that  case 
the  change  was  ordered  by  the  com- 
mission. Mr.  Shearn  then  quoted  the 
practice  of  the  Third  Avenue  Railway, 
which  had  established  a  reserve  ac- 
count to  carry  losses  sustained  on 
stocks  of  controlled  companies  and 
other  items  some  of  which  had.  been 
proved  worthless.  Mr.  Gaynor  thought 
that  had  been  done  because  of  the  re- 
organization of  the  company.  Mr. 
Shearn  then  asked  the  witness  in  re- 
gard to  whether  reserves  had  been  es- 
tablished for  amortizing  the  cost  to  the 
company  of  acquiring  the  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Construction  Company.  He  then 
brought  out  the  fact  that  John  G.  Mc- 
Donald, who  held  the  original  subway 
contract,  had  -  transferred  three-quar- 
ters interest  in  this  contract  to  the 
construction  company.  Then  when  the 
Interborough  took  over  this  contract  it 
had  issued  for  the  stock  of  the  con- 
struction company  its  own  stock  for 
$9,600,000  and  had  paid  $2,400,000  in 
cash,  or  $12,000,000  in  all  for  the  con- 
struction company.  In  addition,  it  paid 
Mr.  McDonald  $2,500,000  for  his  quar- 
ter interest,  and  Mr.  Belmont  $1,500,- 
000  for  his  services  in  procuring  the 
contract    and    for    certain  property, 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


963 


making  a  total  of  $16,000,000.  Mr. 
Gaynor,  however,  pointed  out  that  in 
acquiring  the  construction  company 
the  Interborough  had  also  acquired  a 
company  with  $6,000,000  of  cash  paid 
in  by  the  shareholders  of  the  company, 
so  that  the  cost  of  the  subway  lease 
was  about  $10,000,000.  No  part  of  this 
has  been  written  off  by  the  company. 

A  discussion  then  followed  as  to  the 
extent  to  which  these  reserves,  had 
they  been  established  by  the  company, 
would  have  affected  the  surplus  shown 
by  the  company  during  some  of  the 
years  when  dividends  were  paid,  and 
Chairman  McAneny  suggested  that  it 
might  be  well  to  invite  the  directors 
of  the  company  to  testify  on  these 
points.  Mr.  McAneny  said  in  part,  in 
this  connection: 

Mr.  Gaynor  can  tell  us  about  matters  of 
record.  He  cannot  tell  us  about  matters 
of  judgment  where  the  company  in  its  action 
has  been  represented  by  its  own  directors. 

The  commission  has  no  desire  to  rake 
over  what  is  merely  old,  but  until  these 
matters  have  been  rightly  adjusted  none 
of  them  are  old.  Moreover,  a  great  deal 
has  been  produced  that  is  distinctly  new 
and  important  and  tending  to  indicate  that 
the  inquiry  should  proceed  further  into  the 
direction  of  responsibility. 

There  are  questions  here  already  on  the 
record  that  will  intimately  affect  the  matter 
of  ultimate  valuation  ;  there  are  questions 
with  relation  to  the  strength  or  propriety 
of  the  position  taken  bv  the  company  in 
the  immediate  past  in  relation  to  its  abil- 
ity to  furnish  proper  service ;  there  are 
points  that  have  developed  here  this  after- 
noon that  raise  in  my  mind,  and  I  am  sure 
in  the  minds  of  my  associates  as  well 
serious  questions  as  to  the  practical  result 
of  inter-company  relationships  of  the  sort 
that  the  plan  of  the  commission  seeks  to 
eliminate. 

_  For  all  of  these  reasons  it  seems  to  be 
important  that  the  attendance  of  the  direc- 
tors should  be  invited.  ., 

It  is  expected  that  sdme!  of  the  di- 
rectors will  be  called  next-Week. 

The  greater  part  of  the  hearing  on 
Tuesday,  Nov.  22,  was  given  Up  to 
the  examination  of  the  operating  ex- 
penses of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company  for  June,  1921.  Mr. 
Gaynor,  the  auditor,  explained  how 
these  accounts  are  audited  and  how  the 
payroll  is  made  up  and  checked,  and 
he  followed  through  a  number  of  items 
to  illustrate  the  manner  followed.  In 
the  discussion  on  the  power  accounts  it 
developed  that  the  cost  of  a.  c.  genera- 
tion at  the  switchboard  at  the  Fifty- 
ninth  Street  power  station  for  the 
month  of  June  30,  1921,  was  0.8289 
cents  per  kilowatt-hour.  The  cost  of 
coal  was  0.6247  cents.  The  question 
of  the  disposition  of  the  bonuses  voted 
to  different  -people  several  years  ago 
for  their  services  in  negotiating  for  the 
subway  contracts  was  inquired  into,  and 
Mr.  Gaynor  said  that  these  were  now 
being  carried  in  a  suspense  account. 
In  answer  to  another  question  he  said 
the  cost  of  the  recent  publicity  work 
is  considered  operating  expense. 

The  morning  of  Wednesday,  Nov.  23, 
was  devoted  to  the  examination  of  Mr. 
Hedley,  who  said  that  he  had  been 
elected  president  in  October,  1919. 
Prior  to  that  time,  while  vice-president 
and  general  manager,  he  had  given 
special  attention  tr,  operation,  construc- 
tion and  maintenance.  He  has  been 
in  charge  of  operation  with  the  Inter- 
borough Company  since  the  subway 
•    was  opened,  under  different  titles. 

When  asked  in  regard  to  the  last 
balance  sheet  of  the  company  and  more 
particularly  the  inclusion  in  it  at  cost  of 
the  New  York  &  Queens  County  stock  as 
well  as  debts  of  some  of  the  controlled 
companies  said  to  be  uncollectible,  Mr. 
Hedley  said  he  would  not  admit  the 
stocks  were  worthless  or  all  debts  un- 


collectible. All  reports  of  the  company 
to  the  commission  had  been  made  up, 
he  understood,  in  the  manner  required 
by  law.  He  did  not  believe  that  any 
investor  had  been  misled  by  these  re- 
ports. He  believed  that  in  balance 
sheets,  assets  which  were  known  to  be 
worthless  should  be  written  off.  He 
welcomed  the  fact  that  a  tribunal  was 
planning  to  take  up  and  straighten  out 
the  transportation  situation  in  New 
York,  and  he  said  that  the  commission 
would  have  his  full  co-operation. 

When  asked  why  the  Interborough 
company  continued  to  supply  power  to 
the  Queensborough  lines  when  it  was 
not  being  paid  for  such  service,  he  said 
that  if  this  supply  was  not  continued 
the  cars  would  stop.  This  would  be  a 
serious  matter  for  both  the  company 
and  residents  of  Queens  Borough.  The 
board  of  directors  hoped  that  the  situa- 
tion with  regard  to  the  Queens  lines 
would  be  improved  as  a  result  of  the 
present  hearing.  He  justified  the 
charges  to  operating  expenses  for  pub- 
licity because  he  thought  the  custom- 
ers of  a  railway  company  were  entitled 
to  know  about  its  condition.  The 
information  put  out  to  a  large  extent 
was  not  propaganda  for  an  8-cent  fare, 
that  not  having  been  mentioned  for  a 
long  time. 

Mr.  Hedley  said  he  had  about  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  if  he  was  going 
to  operate  cars  in  New  York,  5  cents 
was  all  he  would  get  for  some  years. 
When  asked  if  his  personal  judgment 
favored  the  payment  by  the  company  in 
dividends  of  a  large  proportion  of  its 
profits,  he  declared  that,  as  events  had 
turned  out,  it  would  have  been  better 
to  have  provided  a  substantial  reserve 
in  cash  and  in  liquid  investments. 
Nevertheless,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
war,  the  Interborough  could  probably 
have  kept  up  dividends.  No  dividend 
had  been  declared  since  he  became 
president.  If  any  dividends  had  been 
paid  with  borrowed  money,  as  inti- 
mated, he  disapproved  of  that  course. 

The  Manhattan  lease  for  a  long  time 
was  profitable,  but  recently  the  Man- 
hattan elevated  lines  had  not  earned 
their  guaranteed  dividends.  In  Mr. 
Hedley's  opinion,  this  was  due  in  a 
large  part  to  the  increase  in  prices  of 
labor  and  material  brought  about  by 
the  war.  The  recent  reduction  in  wages 
on  the  subway  and  elevated  would 
mean  a  saving  to  the  company  of  about 
$2,600,000  a  year.  This  reduction  was 
made  voluntarily  by  the  men  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  they  had  a  contract 
with  the  company  to  run  until  Dec.  31, 
1921.  Mr.  Hedley  said  he  had  told  the 
men  that  if  there  was  no  reduction  in 
wages  the  company  would  probably 
have  to  go  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver. 
The  men  did  not  want  a  receiver,  so 
they  accepted  the  reduction. 

The  commission  solicited  Mr.  Hedley's 
personal  opinion  on  its  proposed  plan 
for  readjustment  of  the  traction  situa- 
tion in  this  city,  with  a  5-cent  fare  and 
three  operating  companies.  He  criti- 
cised the  proposed  board  as  dangerous 
because  it  might  be  controlled  by  poli- 
ticians.   He  said: 

The  owners  of  the  new  securities  which 
the  commission  proposes  to  issue  have  the 
privilege  of  electing  three  directors ;  the 
Mayor  names  three.  The  six  name  the 
seventh,  providing  they  agree.  If  they 
don't  agree  they  come  back  to  the  com- 
mission and  the  commission  names  the 
seventh. 

Now,  you  have  the  opportunity  of  hav- 
ing on  that  board  to  control  the  trans- 
portation system  four  politicians.  I  think 
that  should  be  positively  avoided.  If  you 
introduce  politics  into  the  actual  operation 


of  these  rapid  transit  lines  in  New  York, 
it  is  my  opinion  that  you  will  immediately 
step  down  the  factor  of  safety  and  effi- 
ciency ;  and  everything  should  be  done  to 
positively  prevent  politics  from  representing 
the  majority  on  that  board. 

Wants  All  Represented 

My  remarks  apply  to  all  the  boards  that 
will  be  created  if  this  plan  of  the  commis- 
sion is  carried  out.  There  should  b£  no 
board  in  my  judgment  where  the  majority 
of  that  board  could  possibly  be  made  up 
of  politicians  or  people  that  were  in  poli- 
tics, people  appointed  by  a  political  party. 

I  tell  you  in  all  candidness-  that  if  you 
ever  bring  about  any  condition  in  this  city 
where  any  man  appointed  to  public  office 
who  more  or  less  is  a  politician,  has  any- 
thing to  say  about  the  character  of  the 
men  that  go  in  the  subway  and  the-  things 
to  do  in  order  to  make  it  safe  and  efficient, 
you  are  going  to  do  a  very  serious  thing 
to  the  public  of  New  York.  The  manager 
has  got  to  be  absolutely,  in  my  judgment, 
unrestricted. 

I  believe  that  the  board  of  directors  in 
the  management  and  development  of  these 
Rapid  Transit  properties  should  have 
representatives  of  the  city  representing  the 
public,  representative's  of  the  owners,  and1 
also  representatives  of  the  employees.  Then 
you  have  no  chance  of  having  any  secrets. 
You  have  got  to  lay  all  your  cards  on  the 
table,  the  right  side  up,  and  that  is  my 
way  of  doing  business. 

At  the  end  of  the  hearing  the  com- 
mission thanked  Mr.  Hedley  for  his 
testimony  and  promises  of  co-operation, 
and  he  said  that  he  would  be  ready  to 
come  again  at  any  time  "during  the 
life  of  the  commission." 

When  the  hearings  are  resumed  next 
Monday  morning,  the  commission  will 
take  up  the  case  of  the  New  York  Rail- 
ways, now  in  receiver's  hands. 


Court  Asked  to  Modify 
Master's  Finding 

Exceptions  and  motions  to  modify  and 
confirm  have  been  made  regarding  the 
report  of  Master  Commissioner  Okey  to 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  the  ac- 
tion which  the  Columbus  Railway, 
Power  &  Light  Company,  Columbus, 
Ohio,  brought  against  the  Clark  inter- 
ests, formerly  affiliated  with  the  utility 
as  its  managers.  A  number  of  in- 
stances are  cited  in  the  250  page  plea 
filed  with  the  court,  in  which  it  is  urged 
that  the  master's  decree  was  not  in  ac- 
cord with  the  evidence  presented. 

The  attorney  for  the  company  has 
made  as  his  first  exception  the  omission 
by  the  master  to  print  or  refer  in  any 
way  to  the  resolution  of  the  present 
company  or  its  predecessor  that  grants 
authority  to  proper  officials  to  draw 
funds  of  the  company  "to  meet  the 
ordinary  business  transactions  of  the 
company."  This  is  regarded  as  the 
basic  feature  of  the  court  proceeding — 
the  thing  on  which  the  complaint 
mostly  rests. 

In  his  report  the  master  said  that  it 
was  not  possible  to  find  from  the  evi- 
dence the  amount  of  railway  funds 
contributed  by  Mr.  Stewart,  the  treas- 
urer of  the  company,  to  the  Ohio  Sun. 
Further  the  master  said  that  as  it  was 
not  possible  to  make  even  a  remote 
guess  or  estimate  of  the  amount  so 
spent,  it  was  idle  to  indulge  in  censure. 

The  company  contends  that  Mr. 
Stewart  in  the  course  of  his  examina- 
tion expressed  the  unqualified  opinion 
that  the  amount  he  thought  was  con- 
tributed toward  defraying  the  indebted- 
ness of  the  Sun  was  more  than  $100,- 
000.  As  stated  previously,  this  is  only 
one  of  many  instances  in  which  the 
company  feels  the  master's  finding  was 
not  in  accord  with  the  evidence. 

The  finding  of  the  master  was  re- 
viewed at  length  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Oct.  15,  page  714. 


964 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No  22 


Respite  Granted  in  Detroit 

Conference  Planned  Between  City  and 
D.  U.  R  Looking  Toward  Agreement 
for  Mutual  Rights 

The  City  Council  of  Detroit,  Mich., 
has  agreed  to  suspend  the  ouster  ordi- 
nance temporarily  to  permit  negotia- 
tions between  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
way and  the  city.  This  action  was 
taken  upon  receipt  of  word  from  Elliott 
G.  Stevenson,  attorney  for  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  that  a  decision  had 
been  reached  at  a  meeting  of  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  company  to  submit 
a  plan  for  the  approval  of  the  city  offi- 
cials proposing  mutual  running  rights 
over  certain  municipal  railway  and 
company  lines. 

The  enforcement  of  the  ordinance, 
which  was  passed  at  the  Nov.  8  elec- 
tion, would  oust  the  company  from  Fort 
Street  and  Woodward  Avenue  where 
franchises  have  expired. 

In  a  statement  by  Mayor  Couzens  the 
fact  was  brought  out  that  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  had  asked  for  permis- 
sion to  submit  to  the  city  a  proposal 
concerning  mutual  running  rights  in 
place  of  its  being  required  to  remove 
the  tracks  from  Fort  Street  and  Wood- 
ward Avenue.  The  city  consented  to  en- 
tertain a  proposition  if  the  same  were 
approved  by  the  company's  directors. 
The  negotiations,  according  to  the 
Mayor,  may  take  two  or  three  weeks. 

A  mutual  exchange  of  running  rights 
would  help  to  bring  the  day-to-day  lines 
and  the  Woodward  and  Fort  lines  into 
service  in  connection  with  the  exist- 
ing municipal  lines.  Operation  of  the 
municipal  cars  will  be  over  certain  sec- 
tions of  the  Detroit  United  Railway  sys- 
tem only  and  vice  versa.  An  exchange 
of  transfers  will  probably  result  from 
the  contemplated  arrangements. 

The  problem  of  the  company's  inter- 
urban  service  will  also  be  solved  by  the 
exchange  of  running  rights.  The  De- 
troit United  Railway  interurban  system 
is  one  of  the  most  complete  in  the  coun- 
try, as  it  is  strategically  located  in 
southern  Michigan  connecting  up  other 
cities  with  Detroit. 

The  city  will  probably  not  decide  upon 
the  monorail  elevated  line,  for  which  a 
proposal  was  submitted  by  the  Michi- 
gan Elevated  Railway,  until  after  the 
present  controversy  with  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  is  settled. 


Elgin  Officials  Disagree 

on  City  Policy 

Elgin  will  not  join  Aurora,  Yorkville 
and  Carpentersville  to  force  the  third- 
rail  lines  of  the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chi- 
cago Railroad  to  continue  service,  if 
Mayor  Price  is  successful  in  his  present 
plans. 

Other  city  officials  of  Elgin  do  not 
agree  with  the  Mayor,  however,  and 
a  statement  issued  by  the  commissioners 
made  it  clear  that  the  city  will  be  rep- 
resented at  the  hearing  on  Nov.  21, 
to  investigate  financial  conditions  of 
the  railroad  company. 

The  attitude  of  the  commissioners 
that  Elgin  should  be  interested  in  the 
future  of  the  company  is  more  har- 
monious with  that  of  the  other  cities 
which  would  be  affected  by  a  discon- 
tinuance of  railway  service  in  Elgin 
and  Aurora  and  the  interurban  service 
between  Yorkville  and  Aurora,  Aurora 
and  Elein,  and  Elgin  and  Carpenters- 
ville. The  corporation  counsel  of  Aurora 
issued  the  statement  that  "it  is  not  in 


my  judgment  the  law  that  a  public 
utility  can  separate  its  paying  proper- 
ties from  its  unpaying  properties  and 
operate  the  former  and  stop  the  latter." 

Mayor  Price's  demand  for  a  5-cent 
fare  is  considered  useless  by  the  com- 
missioners until  the  hearing  called  by 
Federal  Judge  Evan  A.  Evans  has  de- 
tei mined  whether  the  traction  company 
is  making  money  under  the  present 
rates.  If  not,  then  a  reduction  to  a 
5-cent  rate  could  not  be  expected,  the 
commissioners  said. 


Wage  Decision  Awaited 
in  East  St.  Louis 

The  board  of  arbitration  hearing  the 
wage  scale  controversy  between  the 
East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway, 
East  St.  Louis,  111.,  and  its  employees, 
members  of  the  Amalgamated,  has 
completed  the  taking  of  testimony, 
listened  to  final  arguments,  and  is  ex- 
pected to  hand  down  a  decision  in  a 
few  days. 

President  W.  H.  Sawyer,  in  summing 
up  the  company's  side  of  the  case, 
argued  that  the  wages  should  be  re- 
duced from  the  60  cents  an  hour  scale 
to  a  graduated  pay  ranging  from  40 
to  49  cents  an  hour.  He  contended 
that  the  present  cost  of  living,  as  com- 
pared with  war-time  conditions,  justi- 
fied this  decrease  and  would  permit  the 
employees  to  live  in  about  the  same 
manner  as  formerly.  William  McMor- 
row,  an  international  vice-president  of 
the  union,  argued  against  a  reduction. 


Popular  Vote  in  Pomeroy  Upholds 
Railway  Against  Council 

As  the  election  returns  are  reported 
from  different  sections  of  the  country, 
other  instances  are  shown  of  electric 
railway  issues  supported  by  popular 
vote.  Several  of  these  were  reported 
in  recent  issues  of  this  paper.  Another 
example  was  the  case  of  the  Ohio  River 
Electric  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Pomeroy,  Ohio. 

In  October,  119,  this  company  se- 
cured from  the  municipal  Council  a 
franchise  that  was  considered  work- 
able, which  it  was  proposed  should  be 
accepted.  A  referendum  petition,  how- 
ever, was  filed,  within  the  thirty-day 
limit  against  this  franchise  which  made 
it  ineffective.  This  was  voted  on  at  the 
election  in  November,  1920,  and  the 
franchise  was  sustained  by  a  majority 
vote  of  four  to  one.  Under  the  law 
the  company  had  thirty  days  in  which 
to  make  its  acceptance,  but  before  this 
was  completed,  the  municipal  Council 
passed  an  ordinance  purporting  to  re- 
peal the  franchise  upon  which  such  an 
overwhelming  vote  had  been  cast. 

Another  referendum  petition  was  cir- 
culated and  filed.  This  was  brought 
to  the  vote  of  the  people  at  the  election 
Nov.  8,  1921.  This  repealing  ordinance 
was  not  sustained,  the  vote  being  two 
to  one  in  favor  of  its  rejection.  It 
has  thus  taken  two  years  to  make  ef- 
fective the  franchise  of  1919,  but  the 
public  indorsement  for  street  railway 
service  in  this  case  is  decisive. 


To  Beautify  Grounds. — The  officials 
of  the  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  Com- 
pany have  reached  an  agreement  with 
the  city  for  the  beautification  of  the 
land  before  the  promenade  of  the 
State  Fair  Grounds.  It  is  planned  to 
level  the  grounds,  put  down  sod  and 
keep  the  grass  trimmed  and  the  plot 
beautified. 


Electric    Encourages  Church-Going. 

— The  Trenton,  Bristol  &  Philadelphia 
Street  Railway,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  has 
begun  a  campaign  to  have  attend- 
ants at  church  use  its  cars  as  a 
means  of  traveling  to  and  from  the 
services. 

Protests  Made  Against  Track  Re- 
moval. —  The  Oklahoma  Corporation 
Commission  will  hold  a  hearing  on  the 
complaint  of  the  residents  living  in  the 
southeast  part  of  the  city  of  Tulsa 
against  the  tearing  up  of  the  Oklahoma 
Union  Railway's  tracks  from  Eleventh 
to  Eighteenth  Street. 

Revenue  from  Chewers  Spurned. — 
The  city'-  utilities  committee  of  the 
City  Council  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  has  re- 
jected a  proposal  to  enter  into  a  con- 
tract with  a  private  company  to  in- 
stall gum-vending  machines  on  all  Se- 
attle Municipal  Street  Railway  cars. 
The  company  estimated  the  machines 
would  add  about  $30,000  to  the  yearly 
revenues  of  the  railway. 

Plans  for  Citizens  to  Vote  on  Fran- 
chise.— Alderman  Kinard  at  Ottawa, 
Ontario,  has  filed  a  motion  for  pres- 
entation to  the  City  Council,  asking 
that  the  city  counselor  be  instructed 
to  prepare  the  necessary  by-law  to 
permit  of  the  vote  being  taken  at  the 
January  election  on  the  question  of  a 
definite  franchise  of  the  Ottawa  Elec- 
tric Railway  for  thirty  years. 

People  Will  Decide  Issue. — Muskegon 
and  Muskegon  Heights,  Mich.,  will  hold 
special  elections  within  the  next  month 
to  decide  whether  electric  railway  or 
bus  transportation  is  desired.  If  the 
people  vote  against  eliminating  two 
competing  bus  lines,  the  commission 
will  allow  the  Muskegon  Traction  & 
Light  Company  to  discontinue  service 
Dec.  20.  The  buses  making  short  hauls 
charge  5  cents,  while  the  street  cars 
charged  10  cents  cash  fare  or  four 
tickets  for  30  cents. 

Will  Discuss  Railway's  Problems. — 
Conferences  between  William  L.  Harri- 
son, newly  elected  City  Commissioner, 
who  has  been  assigned  to  the  depart- 
ment of  public  utilities;  J.  S.  Pevear, 
president  of  the  Birmingham  Railway, 
Light  &  Power  Company,  and  Lee  C. 
Bradley,  receiver  for  the  company,  will 
be  arranged  in  a  short  time.  Litiga- 
tion now  pending  between  the  city  and 
the  company  and  the  policy  to  be 
adopted  by  the  new  city  administration 
in  regard  to  the  electric  railway  will  be 
discussed  at  these  conferences. 

Ashtabula  Refused  Ownership. — -By 
a  vote  of  nearly  two  to  one,  the  pro- 
posal was  defeated  that  the  city  of 
Ashtabula,  Ohio,  take  over  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Ashtabula  Rapid  Transit 
Company  at  $197,000.  Two  years  ago 
the  electors  voted  to  buy  the  property 
at  $296,000.  The  defeat  of  the  plan 
to  acquire  the  present  transit  system 
was  somewhat  of  a  surprise,  inas- 
much as  it  had  been  accepted  at  a 
previous  election  and  at  a  much  higher 
price,  and  in  the  face  of  the  approval 
of  the  special  committee  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  which  investigated 
the  plan. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


965 


Promising  Conditions 
in  Youngstown 

Condition  of  Physical  Property  Much 
Improved   Partly   Through  Aid 
of  City  Financing 

There  is  an  optimistic  feeling  about 
the  outlook  for  the  Youngstown 
(Ohio)  Municipal  Railway  and  the 
neighboring  railway  lines  of  the 
Pennsylvania-Ohio  Electric  Company. 
Patronage  is  picking  up  a  little, 
though  the  present  year  has  not  been 
a  good  one.  The  companies  at  Youngs- 
town, which  as  a  steel  center  ranks 
next  to  Pittsburgh,  were  hit  excep- 
tionally hard  by  the  general  business 
depression.  The  number  of  passengers 
carried  as  compared  with  last  year, 
declined  30  per  cent  to  35  per  cent  on 
the  different  divisions.  By  diligent 
study  of  all  details  of  operation,  how- 
ever, the  operating  expenses  have  been 
reduced  in  even  greater  proportion 
than  the  revenues  have  fallen. 

All  the  surplus  earned  this  year, 
and  such  outside  capital  as  could  be 
secured,  have  been  put  back  into  the 
property,  including  $207,000  for  pave- 
ment financed  by  the  city  of  Youngs- 
town, so  that  the  physical  property 
has  been  improved  materially  in  con- 
dition over  the  status  that  attained 
a  year  ago.  The  maintenance  expense 
during  the  coming  year  will  therefore 
be  much  lighter  than  it  was  this  year 
because  the  accumulated  deferred 
maintenance  has  been  very  largely 
taken  care  of.  In  fact,  it  is  estimated 
that  only  a  little  more  than  half  the 
sum  expended  this  year  on  maintenance 
and  renewal  will  need  to  be  spent  next 
year. 

Despite  the  heavy  reduction  in  rid- 
ing, the  economies  that  have  been 
worked  have  been  brought  about  by 
refinements  in  management  rather 
than  by  cuts  in  service,  which  has 
been  reduced  only  10  per  cent,  so  that 
with  practically  no  increase  in  car 
mileage,  50  per  cent  more  passengers 
can  be  carried.  The  road  would  thus 
appear  to  be  over-serviced  at  present, 
but  this  is  not  the  fact  when  due  con- 
sideration is  given  to  the  need  for 
liberal  service  on  account  of  jitney 
competition.  Fourteen  new  safety  cars 
have  just  been  received,  and  these,  to- 
gether with  an  application  of  one-man 
operation  to  some  of  the  present 
double-truck  cars,  will  aid  further  in 
reducing  operating  expenses.  A  very 
successful  work  in  accident  elimination 
is  also  having  its  effect  on  operating 
costs. 

Hence,  as  business  gradually  comes 
back,  the  company's  financial  position 
should  steadily  improve  as  the  result 
of  lower  maintenance  costs,  safer 
operation,  more  passengers  with  little 
or  no  increase  in  platform  expenses,  a 
service-at-cost  franchise,  and  a  cash 
rate  of  fare  of  9  cents  or  six  tickets  for 
50  cents,  which  is  felt  to  be  as  high 
as  is  needed. 

In  referring  further  to  the  paving 
work  financed  by  the  city,  this  is  the 
first  time  the  city  of  Youngstown  has 
thus  assisted  in  relieving  the  burden 
upon  the  street  railway.  The  city 
acted  on  this  theory:    The  company  in 


contracting  to  pave  a  portion  of  the 
street,  merely  took  over  a  part  of  the 
obligation  of  the  city  to  the  people. 
Since  the  company  was  unable  to 
finance  the  repaving  on  a  street  where 
it  was  badly  needed,  the  obligation 
simply  reverted  back  to  the  city.  The 
city  therefore  financed  the  work,  com- 
prising approximately  6  miles  of  single 
track,  and  will  look  to  the  future  for 
the  refunding  of  this  outlay  for  the 
company,  the  same  as  for  any  other 
taxpayer.  The  plan  worked  out  gives 
the  company  nineteen  years  to  reim- 
burse the  city.  The  city  secured  the 
money  by  the  sale  of  its  general  bonds 
and  accepted  a  contract  from  the 
Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  to  pay 
off  the  loan  in  annual  installments. 


Two  Ohio  Companies  Sold 

The  Plymouth  &  Shelby  Traction 
Company  and  the  Sandusky,  Norwalk 
&  Mansfield  Electric  Railway  of  Ohio 
have  been  sold,  according  to  an  an- 
nouncement of  A.  G.  Taylor,  receiver 
for  both  companies.  The  Plymouth  line 
sold  for  $20,000,  bid  by  S.  S.  Burts- 
field,  principal  bondholder.  The  Wil- 
coff  Company,  Pittsburgh,  bid  $60,000 
for  the  Sandusky,  Norwalk  &  Mansfield 
line.  Neither  line  attracted  bids  at 
regular  sales  and  will  be  junked.  The 
road  ceased  operation  more  than  a  year 
ago. 

It  had  previously  been  reported  that 
the  defunct  South  line  between  Nor- 
walk and  Plymouth,  part  of  the  San- 
dusky, Norwalk  and  Mansfield  Railway, 
would  be  kept  in  operation  by  the  use 
of  gasoline  cars. 


Petition  for  Merger  Rehearing 

The  Indiana  Electric  Corporation  has 
filed  a  petition  with  the  Public  Service 
Commission  asking  for  a  rehearing  of 
the  proposal  to  merge  the  properties 
of  seven  electric  utilities  of  the  State. 
The  Joseph  H.  Brewer  interests,  which 
are  back  of  the  corporation,  proposed 
in  the  original  petition  to  issue  ap- 
proximately $21,000,000  of  securities  to 
be  used  in  effecting  the  merger.  This 
proposal  was  denied  by  the  commis- 
sion, after  an  extended  investigation 
and  hearing,  on  the  ground  that  the 
value  of  the  properties,  estimated  at 
approximately  $19,000,000  by  the  cor- 
poration, is  not  sufficient  to  warrant 
the  issue  of  securities  asked. 

The  corporation  indicates  that  the 
amended  petition  would  ask  for  author- 
ity to  issue  securities  of  smaller 
amount,  but  the  total  of  securities  to 
be  proposed  has  not  been  determined. 

As  stated  in  previous  issues  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal,  the  cor- 
poration proposes  to  purchase  seven 
companies:  Merchants'  Heat  &  Light 
Company,  Indianapolis;  Indiana  Rail- 
ways &  Light  Company,  Kokomo;  Elk- 
hart Gas  &  Fuel  Company;  Valparaiso 
Lighting  Company;  Wabash  Valley 
Electric  Company;  Putnam  Electric 
Company,  and  the  Cayuga  Electric 
Company. 

The  original  petition  indicated  that 
the  proposal  includes  plans  to  erect  a 
central  power  station  near  the  Indiana 
coal  fields  as  an  economy  measure  in 
the  production  of  electricity. 


Maloney  Plan  Modified 

Valuation   Having   Been   Fixed,  Com- 
pany Insists  Upon  Issue  of  Cumu- 
lative Common  Stock 

The  local  papers  at  New  Orleans, 
La.,  published  on  Nov.  17  what  pur- 
ported to  be  the  principal  points 
reached  by  the  conferees  to  the  modi- 
fied Maloney  plan  of  settlement  of  the 
public  utilities  matter  up  to  the  time 
that  the  prohibition  order  of  fhe  Su- 
preme Court  abruptly  terminated  the 
negotiations. 

While  unwilling  to  disclose  the  full 
text  of  the  agreement,  Commissioner 
Maloney  outlined  some  of  the  outstand- 
ing points  of  the  financial  "set  up," 
report  of  which  has  already  been  pub- 
lished briefly  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal. 

Briefly,  the  valuation  of  the  prop- 
erty of  the  New  Orleans  Railway  & 
Light  Company  for  rate-making  pur- 
poses is  placed  at  $44,700,000,  divided 
as  follows:  gas  plant,  $8,652,000;  elec- 
tric light  and  power  plant,  $10,048,000; 
street  railway  property,  $26,000,000. 
The  valuation  is  to  start  from  Dec.  31, 
1920.  The  fares,  rates  and  charges 
are  to  net  7i  per  cent,  after  deduct- 
ing operating  expenses,  taxes,  renew- 
als, replacement  and  reserves. 

The  reorganization  of  the  company 
is  to  start  at  once,  the  city  to  have  the 
naming  of  four  members  of  the  board 
of  directors. 

The  outstanding  underlying  bonds 
are  not  to  be  disturbed  and  the  out- 
standing 4i  per  cent  general  mortgage 
bonds  due  July,  1935,  are  to  be  ex- 
changed, 25  per  cent  in  cash  and  75 
per  cent  in  new  general  lien  bonds, 
due  July,  ID35.  The  new  4i  per  cent 
bonds  are  to  have  preferred  position, 
in  that  they  will  rank  after  the  new 
first  and  refunding  open  mortgage 
bonds. 

Income  bonds,  bearing  6  per  cent  in- 
terest, and  maturing  November,  1949, 
to  the  amount  of  $5,129,000  are  to  be 
used  in  refunding  the  outstanding  re- 
funding and  general  lien  5  per  cent 
bonds,  due  November,  1949,  upon 
which  interest  is  still  due. 

Preferred  7  per  cent  cumulative 
stock  to  the  amount  of  $3,955,000 
is  to  be  used  in  refunding  the  out- 
standing 7  per  cent  gold  reserve 
bonds,  upon  which  both  interest  and 
principal  are  now  in  default. 

The  balance  up  to  the  amount  allow- 
able as  a  rate  base,  at  the  date  of  or- 
ganization, is  to  be  in  common  stock 
issued  to  represent  the  equity  in  the 
present  property  now  represented  by 
the  $10,000,000  of  preferred  stock  and 
$20,000,000  of  common  stock. 

Two  reserve  funds  are  provided  to 
preserve  the  financial  integrity  of  the 
company. 

Provision  is  made  for  the  creation 
of  a  fund  of  $200,000,  50  per  cent  of 
which  is  to  be  used  for  betterments 
and  improvements,  and  the  remainder 
for  the  purchase  and  retirement  of  the 
new  4h  per  cent  bonds,  at  their  lowest 
bid  value. 

This  fund  is  to  be  created  before 
disbursements  of  any  kind  are  made 
in  the  fiscal  year  out  of  earnings  or 
surplus  to  securities  junior  in  rank  to 
the  new  4 J  per  cent  bonds. 

Provision  is  made  for  the  creation 
of  an  additional  fund  of  $100,000  to 
be  expended  on  the  same  basis  as  the 
$200,000  fund,  before  disbursements 
are  made  on  the  preferred  stock. 

To  effect  the  sale  of  common  stock, 
at  par,  for  financial  purposes?  a  divi- 


966 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


dend  of  not  exceeding  9  per  cent  per 
annum  in  the  aggregate  is  allowable. 
No  cash  distribution,  or  stock  dividends 
are  permissible  to  the  common  stocK 
in  excess  of  the  foregoing  limitations. 
The  points  yet  to  be  adjusted  include 
the  creation  of  the  two  reserve  funds 
and  whether  or  not  the  dividends  on 
the  common  stock  shall  be  cumulative. 

The  company  takes  the  position  that 
the  reserve  funds  should  come  out  of 
the  earnings,  or  from  the  sale  of  se- 
curities junior  in  lien  to  the  4J  per 
cent  bonds.  It  also  claims  the  divi- 
dend on  the  common  stock  should  be 
cumulative  because  the  city  allows  a 
return  of  1\  per  cent  on  the  value  for 
rate  making  but  limits  disbursements 
to  the  existing  securities  to  approxi- 
mately 6  per  cent. 

No  new  securities  are  to  be  issued 
by  the  company  without  the  consent 
of  the  Council,  the  city  to  have  a  per- 
petual option  on  the  property  of  the 
company  at  the  valuation  stipulated 
as  of  Dec.  31,  1920,  plus  such  addi- 
tions as  may  have  been  made. 

Car  fare  is  to  be  fixed  at  7  cents  and 
the  gas  rate  at  $1.30  per  1,000  cu.ft. 
upon  termination  of  receivership. 
Electric  light  and  power  rates  are  to 
remain  unchanged.  No  change  in 
rates  is  to  be  made  for  the  test  period 
of  twelve  months. 

The  litigation  instituted  in  the  Fed- 
eral District  Court  against  the  city 
by  the  receiver  is  to  be  dismissed 
when  the  agreement  is  closed  and  suf- 
ficient funds  are  to  be  provided  the  re- 
ceiver by  the  security  holders'  com- 
mittees for  the  purchase  and  installa- 
tion of  equipment  for  the  electric  light 
and  power  plants  upon  acceptance  of 
the  modified  Maloney  plan  of  settle- 
ment by  the  Commission  Council. 

The  further  announcement  was  made 
at  New  Orleans  on  Nov.  17  that  the 
State  will  be  urged  to  drop  the  suit 
against  the  city,  in  the  Civil  District 
Court,  which  has  resulted  in  cessation 
of  the  negotiations  looking  to  a  solu- 
tion of  the  utilities  problem. 

Attorney  General  Coco  of  Louisiana 
on  his  return  to  New  Orleans  contra- 
dicted the  published  statement  that  the 
State  had  any  intention  of  lifting  the 
restraining  order  of  the  Civil  District 
Court  placed  upon  the  city  in  the  mat- 
ter of  the  8-cent  fare. 

In  discrediting  the  published  state- 
ment, Attorney  General  Coco  went  on 
record  as  denying  the  authority  of  the 
Commission  Council  to  assume  rate- 
making  powers  over  the  railways  of 
New  Orleans.  He  reiterated  the  "opin- 
ion of  the  late  Assistant  Attorney 
General  Luther  E.  Hall,  that  such 
powers  were  vested  solely  in  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission.  He  also  ques- 
tions the  valuat;on  placed  upon  the 
property  of  the  New  Orleans  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  declaring  it  to  be 
ex  parte,  in  his  opinion,  having  been 
made  by  persons  with  a  direct  interest 
in  the  outcome  of  the  controversy.  He 
states  the  valuation  should  be'  sub- 
jected to  "judicial  ascertainment." 

Attorney  General  Coco  expresses 
himself,  however,  as  anxious  to  have 
the  railway  matter  settled  properly. 


Value  Placed  on  Canadian  Property. 
—The  Hydro-Electric  Power  Commis- 
sion of  Ontario  recently  placed  a  valua- 
tion unon  the  Ottawa  Electric  Rail- 
way line  and  equipment  within  the 
Province  of  Ontario.  The  figure  in- 
cluding an  amount  necess^rv  for  the 
operation  of  the  system  is  $4,110,922. 


Coal  Properties  Sold 

4,675  Acres  of  Coal  Land  Disposed  of 
by  Electric  Railway  to  the  Con- 
solidation Coal  Company 

The  Monongahela  Power  &  Railway 
Company,  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  has  sold 
its  entire  coal  holdings  to  the  Consoli- 
dation Coal  Company.  The  property 
that  passes  in  this  deal  consists  of 
3,500  acres  of  Pittsburgh  coal,  1,000 
acres  of  Sewickley  coal,  175  acres  of 
surface  land,  and  300  standard  gage 
coal  cars  for  the  marketing  of  the 
product.  The  purchase  price  was  ap- 
proximately $2,600,000. 

One  of  these  mining  operations  is 
known  as  the  Stafford  mine.  This 
plant  is  located  on  Paw  Paw  Creek  6 
miles  north  of  Fairmont.  This  is  a 
shaft  mine  250  ft.  deep.  It  is  thor- 
oughly equipped  with  compressed  air 
mine  haulage  machinery.  Electrically 
driven  compressors  furnish  the  air  for 
the  mechanical  power  used  within  the 
mine.  The  coal  is  brought  to  the 
surface  by  a  steam  hoist  and  is  loaded 
into  the  railroad  cars  over  a  steel  tipple 
which  is  equipped  with  self-dumping 
cages.  The  mine  has  a  capacity  of 
1,000  tons  a  day. 

The  Stafford  mining  town  is  known 
as  Baxter.  It  is  one  of  the  most  at- 
tractive mining  centers  in  the  State. 
There  are  150  dwelling  houses  for  the 
employees  of  the  mine. 

Many  Acres  of  Undeveloped 
Land  Included 

The  second  plant  is  known  as  the 
Rivesville  mine.  This  plant  was  in- 
stalled about  two  years  ago.  It  con- 
sists of  a  shaft  mine  which  is  located 
immediately  adjacent  to  the  Rivesville 
power  plant.  It  was  developed  by  the 
Monongahela  Power  &  Railway  Com- 
pany for  the  purpose  of  supplying  fuel 
for  the  operation  of  the  power  plant. 
The  mine  consists  of  two  concrete 
lined  shafts  100  ft.  deep.  One  of  these 
shafts  is  equipped  with  an  electrically 
driven  hoist  for  lifting  coal  from  the 
mine.  The  other  shaft  is  utilized  for 
supplying  air  for  the  ventilation  of  the 
mine.  The  mine  is  equipped  with 
electric  cutting  machines  for  cutting 
the  coal.  The  development  of  this 
mine  is  only  partially  complete.  It  has 
a  capacity  of  500  tons  a  day.  Thirty- 
five  modern  houses  make  up  the  min- 
ing town. 

The  1,960  acres  of  undeveloped  coal 
included  in  the  deal  are  situated  on 
Little  Paw  Paw  Creek  immediately  to 
the  north  of  and  adjoining  the  Stafford 
mine  property.  This  tract  of  coal  was 
acquired  by  a  subsidiary  concern  of 
the  Monongahela  Power  &  Railway 
Company  about  three  years  ago.  This 
is  one  of  the  best  tracts  of  undeveloped 
coal  in  Marion  County. 

The  300  steel  hoppers  included  with 
the  sale  of  the  coal  property  are 
standard  railroad  equipment  hoppers 
built  in  1917  of  105,000  lb.  capacity 
each. 

The  sale  of  this  property  will  enable 
the  Monongahela  Power  &  Railway 
Company  to  give  all  of  its  attention 
to  its  power  and  railway  business  and 
to  devote  its  revenue  to  the  improve- 
ment and  extension  of  its  system. 

A  long-term  contract  for  coal  with 
the  Consolidation  Coal  Company  in- 
sures the  railway  of  always  having:  an 
ample  supply  of  fuel  for  its  operations. 

The  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  the 
property  will  be  apnlied  to  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  company's  bonded  indebted- 


ness which  will  make  a  material  de- 
crease in  the  interest  charges  and  thus 
operate  directly  to  the  benefit  of  the 
stockholders  whose  equity  in  the  com- 
pany's property  will  be  proportionately 
increased. 

The  Monongahela  Power  &  Railway 
Company  is  the  new  name  adopted  last 
May  for  the  old  Monongahela  Valley 
Ti  action  Company.  The  company 
serves  an  extensive  territory  in  and 
around  Fairmont  with  railway  facili- 
ties and  gas.  Besides  owning  traction 
lines  in  Fairmont,  Clarksburg  and 
other  towns,  it  owns  nearly  200  miles 
of  trackage  in  interurban  lines. 

The  operation  of  the  mines  purchased 
in  this  sale  will  be  taken  over  by  the 
Consolidation  Coal  Company  as  soon 
as  the  details  of  the  sale  can  be 
worked  out. 

Valuation  Hearing  Will 
Be  Resumed 

Notice  has  been  forwarded  to  the  re-: 
ceiver  of  the  United  Railways,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  and  the  City  Counselor 
that  the  valuation  hearing  will  be  re- 
sumed before  the  Missouri  Public 
Service  Commission  on  Dec.  19.  In 
the  meantime  the  commission  has  ex- 
tended the  7-cent  fare,  which  was  to 
have  expired  Jan.  1,  to  June  30,  1922. 

The  present  fare  is  based  on  a  ten- 
tative valuation  of  $50,000,000  for  rate- 
making  purposes,  but  the  receiver  ex- 
pects to  show  that  the  property  is 
worth  not  less  than  $80,000,000,  no 
matter  what  method  of  valuation  the 
commission  may  follow. 

Touching  upon  the  valuation  question 
and  the  entire  railway  situation,  the 
management  has  issued  in  pamphlet 
form  to  its  patrons  a  statement  of 
more  than  2,000  words,  in  which  these 
paragraphs  are  featured: 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  press  will  not 
continue  to  pander  to  the  uninformed  or 
the  misinformed,  and  that  politicians  will 
refrain  from  attempting  to  ride  into  office 
on  a  false  street  railway  issue.  There  is 
about  as  much  logic  in  attempting  to  legis- 
late the  rate  of  car  fare  by  popular  vote 
as  there  would  be  in  fixing  the  price  of 
paving  by  ordinance  or  charging  for  water 
service  without  considering  cost,  unless  the 
city  is  prepared  to  take  care  of  deficits  out 
of  general  tax  funds.  It  must  be  paid  for 
as  a  business  proposition,  on  a  cost  basis. 

In  the  approaching  valuation  hearings  be- 
fore the  Public  Service  Commission  we  hope 
unreasoning  prejudice,  born  of  the  past  but 
not  justified  in  the  present  situation,  will 
not  enter  the  councils.  A  square  deal  is 
necessary  if  the  service  is  not  to  be  further 
crippled  but  restored,  improved  and  ex- 
tended. A  fair  policy  is  needed  to  pave 
the  way  toward  further  developments  and 
rapid  transit. 

In  former  years  transportation  forged 
ahead  of  the  city's  growth — population  and 
industry  followed  the  trolleys.  Franchises 
were  sought.  Now  it  is  the  other  way. 
Populous  and  growing  sections  of  the  city 
are  waiting,  suffering  for  car  service  which 
we  should  like  to  give  them.  The  manage- 
ment knows  what  and  where  these  needs 
are,  and  has  earnestly  studied  the  best 
means  of  meeting  them.  Franchises  have 
been  rejected  because  there  is  no  money  to 
finance  them. 

Millions  of  dollars  are  needed  today  to 
give  St.  Louis  adequate  transportation  and 
build  the  sorely  needed  extensions.  More 
millions  will  be  needed  in  the  future  to 
provide  rapid  transit  if  the  citv  is  to  grow 
properly.  Where  and  how  are  these  millions 
to  be  raised? 

The  money  cannot  be  raised  unless  our 
citizens  make  up  their  minds  that  the  use 
of  the  money  must  be  paid  for  at  fair  in- 
terest rates,  and  to  do  this  the  car  fare 
must  be  adequate.  "Whether  the  city  should 
undertake  the  financing  of  the  lines  or  pri- 
vate capital  should  be  further  enlisted, 
makes  no  difference  in  one  respect.  The 
service  must  be  paid  for.  And  if  private 
investors  are  expected  to  furnish  the  money 
another  thing  is  sure:  Reasonable  security 
will  be  demanded — nublic  good  will,  freedom 
from  unjust  attacks,  the  assurance  of  a 
square  deal  from  an  informed  public. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   railway  Journal 


967 


Pittsburgh  Receivership  Apparently  Nears  End 

Ordinance  Now  Before  Council  Assures  Reorganization  of  Pittsburgh  Railways 
With  Municipal  Participation  in  Control — Valuation 
Set  at  $62,500,000 

The  City  Council  of  Pittsburgh  has  approved  on  first  reading  an  ordinance  for 
reorganization  of  the  Pittsburgh  Railways.  This  is  in  effect  the  proposed 
plan  evolved  by  the  city  and  the  company  some  months  ago.  It  has  lately  been 
under  discussion  by  all  the  public,  civic,  engineering,  and  other  organizations 
in  Pittsburgh  and  suburban  towns.  The  plan,  with  slight  revisions,  has  met 
with  general  approval.  As  both  of  the  parties  to  the  contract  are  understood  to 
be  in  favor  of  the  ordinance  it  is  presumed  that  the  plan  for  reorganiztion  will  be- 
come effective  without  delay  as  soon  as  the  ordinance  has  been  enacted  into  law. 


BY  THE  adoption  of  the  plan  the 
Pittsburgh  traction  situation,  for 
many  years  in  an  unsettled  condition, 
will  be  completely  altered  and  the  af- 
fairs of  the  company,  now  in  the  hands 
of  receivers,  will  be  reorganized  under 
a  new  company  whose  assets  are  set  at 
$62,500,000,  the  valuation  fixed  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission.  Into  this 
new  company  will  be  merged  114  com- 
panies constituting  the  present  railway 
system,  intended  eventually  to  be 
operated  under  one  franchise  and 
financed  as  a  unit. 

The  new  company  is  entitled  to  an 
annual  net  return  of  6  per  cent,  or 
$3,750,000,  out  of  its  earnings  from 
all  sources  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  in 
addition  to  all  operating  expenses,  a 
yearly  depreciation  allowance  and  taxes. 
The  Philadelphia  Company,  as  the  prin- 
cipal stockholder  of  the  railways  com- 
pany, will  provide  for  finally  bringing 
all  subsidiary  companies  into  one  com- 
pany and  the  conversion  of  the  present 
mortgages  into  a  single  mortgage.  The 
new  company  will  authorize  securities 
not  exceeding  $62,500,000  which  it  will 
endeavor  to  issue  from  time  to  time  to 
refund  all  outstanding  stocks,  bonds  or 
other  evidences  of  indebtedness.  An 
endeavor  also  will  be  made  to  borrow  in 
the  Pittsburgh  district  $5,000,000  to  be 
spent  in  rehabilitation  of  the  railways 
system. 

City  to  Have  Voice 

An  important  element  in  the  reor- 
ganization is  the  participation  of  the 
city  in  the  conduct  of  the  company  un- 
der a  board  of  control.  This  board  of 
control  will  be  composed  of  four  mem- 
bers, two  of  which  are  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Mayor  with  the  approval  of  two- 
thirds  of  Councils.  Members  may  be 
removed  by  the  Mayor  only  by  the 
same  approval.  The  various  cities, 
boroughs  and  townships  combined  will 
appoint  a  third  member  and  the  new 
company  will  name  the  fourth  mem- 
ber. The  salaries  of  the  members  of 
the  board,  with  expenses,  are  not  to 
exceed  $20,000  annually. 

Thirty  days  before  the  end  of  each 
fiscal  year  the  new  company  will  sub- 
mit to  the  city  and  the  board  of  con- 
trol a  budget  of  gross  receipts  and 
proposed  expenditures,  this  budget  to 
be  subject  to  revision  by  the  board  of 
control.  If  either  the  city  or  the  com- 
pany is  dissatisfied  with  the  board's 
action  the  matter  will  be  submitted  to 
arbitration,  the  board  of  arbitration  to 
be  composed  of  three  members,  one 
appointed  by  each  side  and  these  two 
to  appoint  the  third,  or,  failing  in 
agreement,  the  third  member  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion. 

In  lieu  of  present  municipal  franchise 
taxes  of  various  kinds,  bridge  tolls, 
pole,  car,  wire,  gross  receipt  and  street 


cleaning  taxes  the  new  company  will 
pay  the  city  an  annual  lump  sum  of 
$100,000  in  quarterly  installments.  In 
lieu  of  street  repaving  charges  the 
new  company  will  pay  the  city  $200,- 
000  annually  in  quarterly  installments. 

If  it  appears  that  for  three  consecu- 
tive months  revenue  is  insufficient  to 
meet  approved  expenditures  and  ap- 


What  Reorganization  of  Rail- 
ways in  Pittsburgh  Means 

The  reorganization  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Railways  in  accordance  with  the  ordi- 
nance just  passed  means: 

Organization  of  a  new  company  with 
a  capitalization  of  $62,500,000. 

Annual  return  fixed  at  6  per  cent  or 
$3,750,000. 

Board  of  control  to  have  voice  in 
affairs  of  company,  two  members  to  be 
appointed  by  city,  one  by  other  munici- 
palities and  one  by  company. 

Termination  of  receivership. 

New  company  to  raise  $5,000,000  to 
rehabilitate  traction  system. 

Present  traction  system,  comprising 
114  companies,  to  be  merged  into  one 
company  under  one  franchise,  with  all 
obligations  to  be  assumed  by  the  new 
company. 

New  company  assumes  damage  claims 
payable  within  ten  years. 

Fixed  payment  in  place  of  tolls,  taxes 
and  other  charges. 

City  claims  settled  for  $526,091. 

Fares  to  be  reduced  if  there  is  a 
surplus  from  operation  and  increased  if 
there  is  a  deficit. 

Agreement  between  city  and  company 
for  ten  years. 


parently  will  continue,  on  report  of  the 
board  of  control,  the  city  agrees  to  can- 
cel repaving  charges  during  that  period 
or  will  not  object  to  an  increase  in 
fares. 

Regulation  of  Fares 

Any  annual  surplus  is  to  be  paid 
to  the  board  of  control  within  thirty 
days,  the  board  to  prorate  the  money 
among  the  different  municipalities  in 
proportion  to  the  trackage,  one-third 
of  the  surplus  due  to  economies  to  be 
returned  to  the  company. 

If  the  annual  surplus  is  such  as, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  board  of  control, 
would  justify  a  reduction  in  carfare, 
application  for  a  reduction  may  be  made 
to  the  Public  Service  Commission  by 
either  the  city  or  the  board  without 
objection  by  the  company.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  there  is  a  deficit,  such 
as  to  justify  it,  the  company  has  the 
right  to  apply  for  an  increase  in  fare 
without  objection  by  either  the  city  or 
the  board. 

The  city  agrees  to  accept  for  its 
claim  against  the  company  $526,091,  in 
full  payment  up  to  Jan.  1,  1921, 
which  amount  with  accruing  charges 
against  the  receivers  will  be  paid  or 


secured  by  the  new  company.  The  new 
company  will  also  agree  to  pay  all 
judgments  and  adjust  all  claims  against 
the  railways  company  prior  to  appoint- 
ment of  receivers,  arising  from  per- 
sonal injury  or  death,  paying  within 
ten  years  without  interest,  the  first 
payment  to  be  made  within  two  years. 

Receivers  to  Be  Discharged 

Upon  approval  by  Mayor  Babcock, 
the  plan  will  be  presented  to  the  Public 
Service  Commission.  Thirty  days  af- 
ter approval  by  the  commission  steps 
will  be  taken  to  terminate  the  receiver- 
ship and  discharge  the  receivers. 

The  only  dissenters  to  the  plan  have 
been  a  few  suburban  boards  of  trade 
that  wished  to  substitute  a  settlement 
based  on  the  Cleveland  plan.  George 
N.  Monroe,  Jr.,  assistant  city  solicitor, 
who  prepared  the  ordinance,  explained 
in  an  open  meeting  last  week  that  the 
Cleveland  plan  could  not  be  used  in 
Pittsburgh  as  it  delegated  to  the  city 
powers  which  are  expressly  reserved  to 
the  Public  Service  Commission  by  law. 
Ohio  has  a  "home  rule"  law  through 
which  a  city  can  make  any  contract  it 
desires  with  public  utility  companies, 
while  Pittsburgh's  power  is  restricted. 

The  Cleveland  plan  was  considered  in 
the  preparation  of  the  Pittsburgh  plan 
and  certain  elements  of  it  embodied,  as 
were  also  parts  of  plans  used  in  other 
cities.  Those  who  have  drafted  the 
Pittsburgh  proposal  therefore  believe 
that  they  have  a  plan  which  includes, 
as  far  as  Pittsburgh  is  concerned,  the 
most  meritorious  ideas  embodied  in  the 
settlements  in  other  cities. 

An  indication  of  the  action  the 
Mayor  will  take  on  the  ordinance  may 
be  had  from  a  statement  he  made  at  a 
meeting  last  week  as  follows: 

I  want  to  commend  every  member  of 
Council.  I  am  proud  of  your  action.  Tou 
have  given  earnest  and  careful  considera- 
tion to  this  situation  for  several  years  and 
now  you  have  accomplished  something. 
The  traction  situation  has  been  a  live  is- 
sue during  this  entire  administration.  It 
has  been  before  the  public  for  fifteen  years. 
Its  settlement  is  the  biggest  thing  that 
could  be  accomplished  in  this  administra- 
tion. 

The  action  which  the  railways  will 
take  was  made  clear  by  a  statement  at 
the  same  meeting  by  A.  W.  Thompson, 
president  of  the  Philadelphia  Company. 
He  said; 

Some  of  the  members  of  our  board  of  di- 
rectors feel  that  this  plan  is  very  unfair 
to  the  company  and  it  has  been  so  criticised. 
However,  although  we  do  not  agree  with  it 
I  stand  ready  and  am  properlv  authorized 
to  sign  it. 

_  It  will  be  recalled  as  already  men- 
tioned in  these  columns  that  foreclos- 
ure proceedings  by  the  bondholders  of 
one  of  the  subsidiary  companies  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Railways  are  now  pend- 
ing in  the  courts.  This  has  had  a 
tendency  to  speed  up  consideration  and 
passage  of  the  present  plan  and  ordi- 
nance as  there  was  imminent  danger 
of  a  complete  dissolution  and  disinte- 
gration of  the  system  into  its  integral 
comoanies.  It  was  realized  that  this 
would  be  an  immeasurable  calamity. 

William  A.  Magee  was  elected  on 
Nov.  8  to  be  the  next  Mayor  of  Pitts- 
burgh. He  is  of  the  same  political 
party  as  the  present  Mayor.  In  defer- 
ence to  wishes  expressed  by  Mr.  Magee, 
the  Council  on  Nov.  21  returned  the 
franchise  ordinance  to  the  committee 
until  Mr.  Magee  has  an  opportunity  to 
study  it.  A  meeting  of  the  members  of 
the  Council  was  held  on  Nov.  22  with 
the  Mayor-elect  and  minor  changes  were 
suggested  by  him  in  the  grant  as  passed 
on  first  reading. 


968 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Foreclosure  Decree  Entered 

Legal    Counsel    for    Security  Holders 
Give  Notice  of  Appeal  from 
Master's  Finding 

A  final  decree  has  been  prepared  by 
the  Court  of  Appeals  and  sent  to  the 
Butler  County  Court,  fixing  the  amount 
which  must  be  paid  to  the  Citizens' 
Savings  Bank  &  Trust  Company,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  under  the  mortgage 
covering  the  bonds  issued  by  the 
Cincinnati  &  Hamilton  Electric  Street 
Railway  and  ordering  the  sale  of  all 
property  under  the  mortgage  to 
satisfy  the  judgment,  as  well  as  ap- 
pointing a  master  commissioner  to 
place  a  minimum  valuation  upon  all 
assets,  and  take  testimony  as  to 
further  disposition  of  the  funds  to  be 
received.  Last  summer  a  decree  was 
prepared  but  objections  to  it  caused 
the  court  to  take  the  matter  into  its 
hands  and  prepare  its  decree. 

Under  the  decree  it  is  held  that  the 
Citizens'  Savings  Bank  &  Trust  Com- 
pany, trustee  under  the  mortgage  from 
the  Cincinnati  &  Hamilton  Electric 
Railway,  to  the  American  Trust  Com- 
pany, now  consolidated  with  the  Citi- 
zen's Trust  Company,  due  from  the 
Cincinnati,  Dayton  &  Toledo  Traction 
Company,  on  bonds  payment  of  which 
was  assumed,  is  entitled  to  recover 
$482,344  with  interest  from  April  11, 
1921. 

It  further  is  decreed  that  the  mort- 
gages delivered  by  the  Cincinnati  & 
Hamilton  Electric  Street  Railway  is 
a  valid  first  lien  upon  all  property  real 
and  personal,  franchises,  ordinances, 
privileges  and  rights  formerly  owned 
by  that  company,  including  its  real 
estate  in  College  Hill,  Ohio,  and  in 
Fairfield  Township,  Butler  County, 
Ohio,  upon  which  power  houses  and 
depots  are  erected,  and  upon  the  line 
now  operated  by  the  Cincinnati,  Dayton 
&  Toledo  Traction  Company,  between 
College  Hill  and  Hamilton,  Ohio. 

By  the  terms  of  the  decree  the  judg- 
ment must  be  paid  within  five  days 
from  the  date  the  decree  or  the  fore- 
closure will  operate  and  a  sale  of  the 
property  by  George  Sohngen,  receiver, 
will  be  made.  Order  for  this  sale, 
contingent  upon  the  judgment  not  be- 
ing paid,  is  contained  in  the  decree 
and  names  Receiver  Sohngen  as  master 
commissioner  to  make  the  sale. 

Attorney  Froome  Morris  of  Cincin- 
nati is  named  to  be  Master  Commis- 
sioner to  take  testimony  and  report 
the  lowest  price  for  which  the  sale 
may  be  made,  and  as  soon  as  this 
price  has  been  fixed  and  approved  by 
the  court,  Receiver  Sohngen  is  in- 
structed to  advertise  for  bids;  and  if 
none  is  received  which  equals  or  ex- 
ceeds the  minimum  valuations  to  read- 
vertise  the  sale.  Upon  a  sale  of  the 
property  the  proceeds  are  ordered  to  be 
applied  as  follows: 

1.  To  the  payment  of  all  costs. 

2.  To  the  satisfaction  of  the  amount 
due  the  Citizen's  Savings  Bank  &  Trust 
Company. 

3.  To  the  payment  of  unpaid  balance 
due  trustee  under  the  mortgage  from 
the  Southern  Ohio  Traction  Company. 

_  4.  To  the  Cincinnati  &  Dayton  Trac- 
tion Company. 

The  decree  also  fixes  the  status  of 
all  mortgages  and  the  ownership  in 
all  rolling  stock,  power  plants  and 
rights-of-way.  It  also  instructs  the  re- 
ceiver to  continue  the  lines  in  opera- 
tion. 

That  no  one  on  either  side  of  the 


controversy  was  satisfied  with  the  de- 
cree as  finally  ordered  was  manifested 
by  the  fact  that  all  counsel  gave  notice 
of  exception  to  the  order. 


Net  for  P.  R.  T.  for  Ten 

Months  $1,267,738 

The  Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit 
Company  for  the  ten  months  of  opera- 
tion ended  Oct.  31  shows  an  operating 
revenue  of  $35,131,600  against  $31,191,- 
066  for  the  same  period  a  year  ago. 
The  expenses  including  taxes  increased 
$2,170,233  over  1920  operation  and 
taxes. 

After  subtracting  a  fixed  charge  sum 
of  $8,185,640  from  the  gross  income 
of  $9,453,378  the  net  income  for  the 
ten  months  of  1921  stands  at  $1,267,- 
738  against  a  deficit  in  1920  of  $418,- 
356.  The  accumulated  deficit  for  the 
twenty-two  months  period  to  Oct.  31, 
1921,  is  $1,100,197. 


Third  Avenue  Railway  Reports 
Deficit  of  $876,611 

The  report  of  the  Third  Avenue 
Railway,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  for  the 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1921,  shows 
a  deficit  of  $876,611,  which  includes  full 
interest  on  adjustment  mortgage  5  per 
cent  income  bonds.  For  the  previous 
year  the  deficit  was  $845,396.  The  total 
operating  revenue  for  the  year  is  $13,- 
499,226,  against  $11,752,069.  There 
was  an  increase  of  $1,752,885  in  the 
operating  expenses,  which  amounted  to 
$11,037,607  for  the  present  year. 

In  his  remarks  to  the  stockholders 
S.  W.  Huff,  president  of  the  railway, 
said  that  a  decrease  in  operating  costs 
has  been  felt  since  the  summer  and 
as  a  result  of  the  10  per  cent  reduc- 
tion in  wages  which  went  into  effect  in 
August  of  this  year  net  earnings  have 
been  steadily  improving.  He  said 
further  that  greater  economy  had  been 
effected  through  the  extension  of  one- 
man  operation  and  the  abandonment  of 
useless  lines. 


Toledo  Company  Shows  Surplus 

The  net  surplus  from  the  operation  of 
the  Community  Traction  Company,  at 
Toledo,  Ohio,  for  the  month  of  October 
was  $21,308,  which  was  enough  to  take 
care  of  deficits  in  all  funds  and  enable 
the  payment  of  $2,010  into  the  fare 
stabilization  fund.  This  is  the  first 
payment  made  into  that  fund  and  from 
now  on  it  is  predicted  the  fund  will  be 
built  up  considerably  each  month. 

The  sinking  fund  trustees  of  the  city 
who  have  control  of  the  municipal  own- 
ership fund  of  the  railway  have  pur- 
chased $75,000  of  the  6  per  cent  bonds 
from  Henry  L.  Doherty  and  his  asso- 
ciates, and  they  now  have  $84,374  in 
cash  which  can  be  used  for  the  same 
purpose.  As  soon  as  bonds  are  pur- 
chased they  may  be  cancelled  and  com- 
mon stock  issued  to  the  city  in  exchange 
for  them.  The  earnings  from  the 
bonds  go  into  the  stabilization  fund  as 
long  as  they  are  held  as  such. 

The  interest  on  bonds  held  by  the 
sinking  fund  trustees,  amounting  to 
$764,  was  paid  into  the  stabilizing  fund. 
The  further  purchase  of  bonds  will 
enable  $420  of  earnings  to  be  applied 
to  that  fund  each  month.  The  stabiliz- 
ing fund  is  now  at  a  level  of  $55,344, 
but  it  will  have  to  climb  to  $500,000 
before  fare  reductions  may  be  made. 

The  ratio  of  operating  expense  to  in- 
come for  the  month  of  October  was 


76.508  per  cent,  a  reduction  from  the 
previous  month  of  approximately  a 
little  more  than  9  per  cent. 

During  the  month  of  October  there 
was  an  increase  in  passenger  revenue 
of  $13,111.  Operating  expense  was  de- 
creased, on  the  other  hand,  by  $2,065. 
The  operating  expenses  per  car-mile  of 
36.72  cents  for  September  was  de- 
creased to  35.25  cents  a  car-mile. 

In  October  4,746,700  revenue  passen- 
gers were  carried — an  increase  of 
233,832  over  the  previous  month.  It  is 
estimated  that  150,000  may  be  assumed 
as  the  increase  due  to  an  additional  day 
of  operation.  The  operation  was  in- 
creased by  19,388  car-miles  in  October, 
for  a  total  of  625,758  car-miles. 


First  and  Refunding  Bonds  Offered. 

— Bonbright  &  Company,  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  recently  offered  at  82h  and  in- 
terest, to  yield  about  7.45  per  cent,  a 
block  of  first  and  refunding  mortgage 
5  per  cent  gold  bonds,  1912  series,  of 
the  United  Light  &  Railway  Company, 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Refunding  Operation  Planned. — The 

West  End  Street  Railway,  operated 
under  lease  by  the  Boston  (Mass.) 
Street  Railway,  has  petitioned  the 
Massachusetts  Department  of  Public 
Utilities  for  authority  to  issue  $2,700,- 
000  of  thirty-year  7  per  cent  bonds  to 
refund  a  similar  amount  maturing  on 
Feb.  1,  1922. 

No   Common   Dividends   Paid  This 

Year. — No  dividend  has  been  paid  on 
the  common  stock  of  the  Fort  Dodge, 
Des  Moines  &  Southern  Railroad,  Fort 
Dodge,  Iowa,  this  year.  Dividends 
paid  this  year  on  the  preferred  stock 
were:  7  per  cent  on  Feb.  1  and  11  per 
cent  May  1.  No  dividend  was  paid  on 
the  preferred  stock  on  Aug.  1. 

Indiana  Company  Nets  $69,735. — 
Report  of  Receiver  J.  H.  McClure  for 
the  Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Trac- 
tion Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in 
federal  court  here  showed  that  opera- 
tion for  September  had  netted  a  bal- 
ance of  $69,735.  The  receipts  were 
$223,763  and  the  disbursements 
amounted  to  $154,027. 

Permanent  Financing  Planned. — 
During  the  past  three  months  the 
Commonwealth  Power,  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich., 
has  reduced  its  total  indebtedness  by 
$539,708  through  the  payment  ( of 
$182,708  on  account  of  purchase  money 
contracts  on  coal  properties  and  car 
trust  certificates,  and  $357,000  on  ac- 
count of  one-year  7  per  cent  notes  due 
Nov.  1,  1921,  leaving  the  amount  of 
the  latter  obligation  $3,123,000.  The 
company  is  now  said  to  be  looking  for- 
ward to  maturing  a  plan  to  take  care 
of  a  material  part  of  the  indebtedness 
of  the  company  so  as  to  put  its  financ- 
ing on  a  permanent  basis.  For  the 
twelve  months  ended  Sept.  30,  1921, 
the  company  reports  gross  earnings  of 
$31,558,895  as  compared  with  $30,157,- 
334  for  the  previous  year,  and  a  bal- 
ance or  surplus  of  $1,515,252  for  the 
twelve  months  ended  Sept.  30,  1921,  as 
compared  with  $933,510  for  the  pre- 
vious year. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


] 


Wants  to  Maintain 
Existing  Rate 

Suggestion  Made  that  City  Council  of 
Cincinnati  Eliminate  Franchise 
Tax  as  Rate-Making  Factor 

In  a  statement  accompanying  the 
budget  of  the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Trac- 
tion Company  for  1922,  received  by  W. 
Jerome  Kuertz,  Street  Railway  Com- 
missioner, W.  Kesley  Schoepf,  presi- 
dent of  the  traction  company,  an- 
nounces that  "it  is  reasonable  to 
anticipate  that  at  least  the  7i-cent 
rate  of  fare  could  be  maintained 
throughout  the  entire  year,"  if  the 
franchise  tax  to  be  paid  to  the  city 
of  Cincinnati,  when  earned  is  not  to  be 
charged  as  a  deficit  for  rate-making 
purposes. 

The  estimated  gross  receipts  of  the 
railway  from  all  sources  for  next  year 
are  $8,708,000.  The  operating  costs 
are  estimated  at  $5,277,500,  of  which 
transportation  costs  are  $2,500,000; 
power,  $997,055;  way  and  structures, 
$610,455;  equipment,  $617,500;  traffic, 
$2,500;  general  and  miscellaneous, 
$550,000. 

Other  expenses  include  taxes  other 
than  city  of  Cincinnati  and  Norwood, 
$798,300;  rentals,  $1,234,937;  interest 
and  sinking  fund  on  new  capital, 
$547,572;  sinking  fund  and  interest  on 
reducible  debt,  $199,450;  return  on  in- 
vestment, $747,280;  Cincinnati  fran- 
chise tax,  $350,000;  Norwood  franchise 
tax,  $6,000.  The  total  expenditures 
for  the  year  are  approximately  $9,- 
161,000,  making  a  deficit  of  approxi- 
mately $453,000  for  the  year.  To  over- 
come that  deficit  the  suggestion  is 
made  that  the  City  Council  again  pass 
an  ordinance  making  it  possible  to 
eliminate  the  franchise  tax  as  a  rate- 
making  factor  in  order  that  the  exist- 
ing rate  be  maintained. 

Mr.  Schoepf  says  in  his  statement: 

Your  attention  is  directed  to  the  fact  that 
the  city  franchise  tax  for  1920  and  1921 
does  not  appear  in  the  statement  because 
not  having  been  earned  and  having  been 
deferred  it  does  not  become  due  unless  a 
surplus  over  all  current  ordinance  require- 
ments is  earned.  On  the  other  hand  the 
current  franchise  tax  for  1922  becomes  a 
direct  charge  on  and  after  Jan.  1,  1922, 
and  if  not  earned  fares  must  be  raised  until 
it  is  earned. 

The  only  way  in  which  fare  increases 
can  be  avoided  wfll  be  that  the  city  place 
the  1922  franchise  tax  in  the  same  posi- 
tion as  the  tax  for  1920  and  1921  ;  that  is, 
that  it  shall  be  paid  if  it  also  can  be  earned 
without  increasing  fares. 


Railway  Officials  Opposed  to 
Additional  Bus  Permits 

At  a  recent  hearing  before  the  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Commission  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  on  the  applications  for  the 
establishment  of  four  additional  bus 
lines  the  electric  railways  through  their 
officials  openly  voiced  their  opposition. 

W.  F.  Ham,  president  of  the  Wash- 
ington Railway  &  Electric  Company, 
told  the  commission  that  he  did  not  see 
the  necessity  for  bus  lines  unless  it 
were  shown  that  the  electric  railways 
were  not  providing  adequate  facilities. 
In  expressing  this  view  he  reflected 
the  views  of  G.  E.  Hamilton,  president 
of  the  Capital  Traction  Company,  and 


J.  E.  Zimmerman,  president  of  the 
Washington-Virginia  Railway. 

It  is  said  that  the  real  opposition 
on  the  part  of  the  railway  officials 
was  to  the  application  of  the  Wash- 
ington Rapid  Transit  Company  for  a 
Union  station-Georgetown  line. 

An  official  of  the  bus  company  stated 
that  the  petition  for  the  new  route 
had  been  the  result  of  the  demand  from 
patrons  on  the  Sixteenth  Street  bus 
line  for  a  route  to  Union  Station. 


Houston  Company  Directed  to  Sell 
Tickets  at  Five  Cents 

The  Houston  (Texas)  Electric  Com- 
pany has  until  Nov.  27  to  reply  to  the 
proposed  city  ordinance  directing  the 
company  to  sell  twenty  tickets  for  $1. 
The  fare  in  Houston  is  now  7  cents, 
this  rate  having  been  put  into  effect 
following  a  decision  in  the  Federal 
Court  holding  that  the  old  fare  was 
confiscatory  and  failed  to  provide  ade- 
quate return  on  invested  capital  guar- 
anteed under  the  federal  statutes. 

A  new  franchise  was  framed  as  a 
compromise  between  the  city  and  offi- 
cials of  the  company,  and  this  proposed 
franchise  was  referred  to  the  voters  of 
Houston  at  an  election  held  on  Nov.  4, 
and  rejected  by  an  overwhelming  vote. 

Since  the  election  conferences  have 
been  held  and  agreement  sought  on  a 
reduced  fare  scale,  but  without  result. 
The  city  has  now  taken  the  initiative 
and  had  City  Attorney  Myer  draft  an 
ordinance  directing  the  company  to  sell 
twenty  tickets  for  $1.  The  company 
asked  time  in  which  to  prepare  data  to 
show  that  such  an  ordinance  would  be 
unfair,  and  an  extension  was  granted. 


Freight-Carrying  Trucks  Under 
Jurisdiction  of  Commission 

The  State  Railroad  Commission  of 
California  in  asserting  recently  that 
truckmen  operating  under  contracts  of 
employment  were  answerable  to  the 
commission,  said:  "If  one  engaged  in 
the  business  of  automotive  transporta- 
tion could  avoid  the  provisions  of  the 
law  by  operating  at  irregular  times,  a 
handsome  premium  would  be  placed 
upon  poor  service  to  the  public." 

At  a  previous  hearing  before  the 
commission  this  point  was  warmly  de- 
bated by  truck  owners,  whereby  they 
maintained  that  the  commission  had  no 
jurisdiction  over  them.  On  Oct.  18  the 
commission  definitely  settled  the  point 
in  granting  an  application  for  freight 
truck  service  between  Stockton  and 
Oakdale  to  an  applicant.  This  appli- 
cant had  previously  operated  under  a 
theory  that  as  he  was  working  under 
private  contract  he  was  not  forced  to 
seek  the  approbation  of  the  commis- 
sion. He  also  pointed  out  that  he  ran 
at  irregular  times.  On  this  point  the 
commission's  opinion  continued: 

"The  shipping  public  is  entitled  to 
know  when  and  under  what  conditions 
transportation  is  available.  As  to  op- 
erating under  contract,  every  ship- 
ment involves  the  establishment  of  a 
contractual  relation  between  the  ship- 
per or  passenger  and  the  carrier. 


969 


Jitneys  Quit  Railway  Field 

lastern    Massachusetts    Lines  Freed 
from  Pest — Fares  Coming  Down 
in  Consequence 

The  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 
Railway  has  now  cleared  itself  of  all 
jitney  competition  in  all  cities  and 
towns  in  which  it  operates,  except 
in  Hyde  Park.  Jitneys  operate  in 
Gloucester  and  on  a  line  out  of  Wo- 
burn,  but  the  railway  has  withdrawn 
service  from  both  of  those  places. 
The  line  it  gave  up  to  the  jitney  in 
Woburn  is  between  Woburn  and  Bil- 
lerica,  Mass. 

The  districts  in  which  the  railway 
had  to  fight  the  jitney,  and  the  order 
in  which  these  districts  officially  dis- 
missed the  jitneys  so  as  to  save  the 
trolley  are  Lawrence,  Salem,  Brock- 
ton, Quincy  and  Lynn.  The  jitney  men 
in  Lynn  were  the  last  to  give  up  the 
fight. 

Ten-Cent  Fare  at  Start 

Thus  controlling  its  territory  again, 
the  Eastern  Massachusetts  is  making 
a  number  of  operating  changes.  It 
announced  on  Nov.  21  a  reduction  of 
fares  in  Fall  River  to  5  cents  per 
ride  when  tickets  are  used;  it  now 
sells  twenty-ride  tickets  at  the  rate 
of  $1,  which  is  the  cheapest  rate  on 
the  system. 

When  the  property  was  taken  over 
by  the  public  trustees,  now  operating 
it,  the  fare  on  all  the  lines  was  fixed 
at  10  cents.  Since  then  there  has 
been  a  reduction  in  every  district,  made 
available  through  the  purchase  of 
tickets,  so  that  the  rates  to-day  in 
the  several  operating  districts  on  the 
system  are  as  follows:  Fall  River, 
twenty  tickets  for  $1;  Lowell,  fifteen 
tickets  per  $1;  Lawrence  fifteen, 
Haverhill  thirteen,  Salem  sixteen,  Lynn 
eighteen,  Chelsea  fourteen,  Melrose 
fourteen  in  the  interurban  zone  and 
eighteen  in  the  city  zone;  Taunton 
fourteen. 

Fall  River  the  Banner  City 

Single  cash  fares  are  still  10  cents, 
but  the  tendency  is  downward  on  the 
tickets,  varying  from  time  to  time  in 
the  several  districts  according  to  varia- 
tions in  earnings.  Fall  River,  which 
now  has  the  lowest  fare,  is  the  only 
district  that  has  earned  cost  every 
month  since  the  trustees  took  control 
of  the  line. 


Greenville  Changes  Its  Mind — 
Will  Operate  Buses 

The  city  of  Greenville,  Tex.,  which 
recently  acquired  at  receiver's  sale  the 
railway  lines  and  other  property  con- 
nected therewith  announcing  that  the 
municipal  government  would  operate 
the  street  cars,  has  changed  its  plans. 
Announcement  is  now  made  that  the 
city  will  soon  establish  motor  bus  lines, 
municipally  operated,  instead  of 
street  cars. 

It  is  asserted  that  motor  buses 
operated  along  fixed  routes  and  on 
regular  schedule  will  solve  the  trans- 
portation problem  for  small  cities  not 
large  enough  to  warrant  operation  of 
an  up-to-date  railway  system,  and  the 
officials  of  Greenville  believe  that  they 
will  prove  that  this  is  true.  After  a 
try-out  of  the  motor  buses,  Greenville 
will  vote  on  the  selection  of  a  transpor- 
tation system,  and  if  the  voters  express 
preference  for  the  motor  bus  lines  they 
will  be  maintained. 


970 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Five-Cent  Fares  Result  in 
Increased  Patronage 

J.  P.  Potter,  manager  of  the  Bridge- 
port division  of  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany, said  early  during  the  week  ended 
Nov.  26  that  the  first  day's  trial 
(Sunday)  of  the  5-cent  fare  in  that 
city  was  an  unqualified  success,  both 
from  the  public  point  of  view  and  that 
of  the  company.  It  was  declared  that 
patronage  on  Bridgeport  lines  during 
the  first  few  days  of  the  new  schedule 
since  Sunday  was  considerably  more 
than  under  the  old  rate  of  10  cents. 

Disapproval  of  the  decision  of  the 
Connecticut  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion in  ordering  a  5-cent  fare  test  in 
Bridgeport  was  expressed  by  a  major- 
ity of  the  federal  trustees  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company  at  their  meeting 
Nov.  19.  The  trustees  are  of  the  opin- 
ion that  all  lines  of  the  company  should 
be  treated  as  one  unit  and  that  there 
should  be  no  discrimination  in  fare 
rates  on  separate  divisions  of  the  com- 
pany's system.  The  company  has  re- 
cently reached  a  position  where  it  is 
earning  a  return  on  its  investment, 
and  the  Bridgeport  order  disturbs  the 
situation,  in  the  opinion  of  the  trustees. 

The  report  of  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany, New  Haven,  Conn.,  furnished  the 
Connecticut  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion on  the  results  of  a  week's  opera- 
tion on  a  5-cent  fare  basis  in  Norwalk, 
over  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  and 
a  half,  states  that  the  fares  increased 
over  3,000  during  the  first  week  of  the 
reduction  from  10  cents.  Monday, 
Nov.  21,  was  the  beginning  of  the 
ninety-day  experimental  test  for  the 
5-cent  fare  as  ordered  by  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission,  and  the  report 
received  by  the  Commission  is  for 
one  week. 

Though  there  was  an  increase  in 
fares,  the  Connecticut  Company  oper- 
ated the  line  at  a  loss  as  shown  at 
the  end  of  the  week.  Only  on  one  day 
of  the  first  week  did  the  receipts  for 
the  day  exceed  the  operating  expenses 
and  the  excess  receipts  amounted  to 
$9.27. 

Lucius  S.  Storrs,  president  of  the 
company,  is  quoted  as  having  nothing 
to  say. 


Fare  Suit  Dismissed  by  United 
States  Supreme  Court 

The  United  States  Supreme  Court  on 
Nov.  21  decided  that  fares  in  Chicago 
are  subject  to  regulation  by  the  Illinois 
Public  Utilities  Commission,  the  court 
dismissing  the  case  brought  by  the 
city,  for  want  of  jurisdiction. 

The  case  was  heard  on  Nov.  7. 
Chester  E.  Cleveland,  special  traction 
attorney  for  Chicago,  presented  the 
city's  side.  For  the  Chicago  Surface 
Lines,  attorneys  James  M.  Sheehan  and 
Harry  Webber  appeared.  This  case 
came  before  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  as  a  result  of  an  appeal  made 
by  the  city  of  Chicago  from  the  decision 
of  the  Illinois  Supreme  Court  rendered 
on  Feb.  18,  1920. 

The  city  contested  the  right  of  the 
Illinois  Public  Utilities  Commission  to 
increase  the  rate  of  fare  above  5  cents 
in  view  of  the  contract  the  city  had 
with  the  companies  which  specified  this 
rate  of  fare  during  the  life  of  the 
grant.  The  court  held  in  this  case  that 
the  State  Legislature  had  never  dele- 
gated to  the  city  the  authority  to  fix 
rate  of  fare  or  regulate  service. 

The    Interborough     Rapid  Transit 


Company,  New  York  City,  sought  to 
intervene  in  the  Chicago  case  before 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in 
order  that  it  might  be  a  party  to  the 
decision,  but  the  court  refused  to 
permit  this. 

Injunction  Against 
Fare  Order 

Chicago  Surface   Lines  Appeals  from 
Commission  Ruling  Ordering  Re- 
turn to  Five-Cent  Fare 

An  order  for  a  5-cent  fare  on  the 
Chicago  Surface  Lines  was  issued  on 
Thanksgiving  Eve  to  become  effective  at 
midnight  Thanksgiving  by  the  Illinois 
Commerce  Commission.  The  ruling  was 
not  unexpected.  Seemingly  incontro- 
vertible evidence  had,  however,  been 
presented  by  the  company  showing  that 
no  reduction  from  the  present  8-cent 
fare  was  justified  until  operating  ex- 
penses could  be  reduced. 

The  commission,  however,  ordered  a 
3-cent  reduction  and  wrote  a  lengthy 
order  to  show  that  the  condition  im- 
posed could  be  met  by  the  installation 
of  numerous  economies,  the  elimination 
of  inefficiencies  of  management,  cessa- 
tions of  payments  to  the  renewal  fund 
as  provided  by  ordinance,  release  from 
paving  and  sprinkling  obligations  upon 
concurrence  of  the  city  and  reduction  of 
allowable  rate  of  return  from  7J  per 
cent  to  6  per  cent,  though  6  per  cent  is 
all  that  has  been  earned  with  an  8-cent 
fare. 

The  order  makes  no  mention  of  a 
wage  reduction  in  relating  possible 
economies.  It  declares  that  the  service 
given  is  exceedingly  deficient;  that  the 
service  orders  of  the  commission  and 
its  predecessor  have  not  been  lived  up 
to,  and  that  the  service  being  given  is 
not  worth  more  than  5  cents.  The 
order  is  replete  with  statements  that 
are  most  unusual  in  view  of  the  evi- 
dence submitted  at  the  hearings. 

The  company  petitioned  Federal 
Judge  George  A.  Carpenter  on  Thanks- 
giving Day  for  an  injunction  to  restrain 
the  commission  order  and  a  temporary 
restraining  order  was  issued  the  same 
day  so  that  the  5-cent  fare  did  not  be- 
come effective.  The  petition  is  to  be 
considered  on  Dec.  2  and  a  decision 
reached  then  whether  the  injunction 
shall  be  made  permanent.  Judge  Car- 
penter has  called  Judges  Baker  of  In- 
diana and  Geiger  of  Wisconsin  to  as- 
sist him  in  this  connection. 

On  Nov.  25  Judge  Baker  ordered  im- 
mediate issuance  of  rebate  slips  for 
fares  in  excess  of  5  cents.  Inasmuch 
as  considerable  time  would  be  required 
to  print  such  slips  the  court  has 
ordered  that  the  last  transfer  issued 
each  passenger  shall  serve  as  a  rebate 
slip. 


Indianapolis  Mayor  Favors 

Six-Cent  Fare 

That  he  had  agreed  at  one  time  with 
Dr.  Henry  Jameson,  chairman  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  Indianapolis 
(Ind.)  Street  Railway,  that  the  city 
would  not  oppose  a  6-cent  fare  was 
disclosed  by  Mayor  Charles  W.  Jewett 
recently.  The  fact  came  out  in  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  railway  situation  with 
the  traction  head  and  other  officials  of 
the  utility  before  the  Board  of  Public 
Works. 

The  Mayor  later  suggested  that  the 
railway  temporarily  operate  some  cross- 
town  bus  lines  to  determine  what  kind 
of  demand  there  really  is  for  crosstown 


service  at  various  points.  Although  the 
traction  men  did  not  flatly  refuse  to 
act  upon  the  suggestion,  they  gave 
city  officials  no  encouragement. 

Dr.  Jameson  and  Robert  I.  Todd, 
president  and  general  manager  of  the 
company,  repeatedly  stated  that  the 
traction  men  do  not  believe  the  com- 
pany can  successfully  operate  upon  a 
5-cent  fare.  The  city  officials  pointed 
out  that  the  company  officials  led  them 
to  believe  that  if  jitney  competition 
were  eliminated  the  city  might  expect 
better  service  on  the  basis  of  a  5-cent 
fare. 


Bus  Permits  Refused 

Mayor  Peters,  Boston,  Mass.,  recently 
vetoed  the  licenses  of  three  jitney  com- 
panies which  were  seeking  permits  for 
operating  in  the  Hyde  Park  district. 
He  explained  his  non-indorsement  of 
the  bus  operation  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  recently  approved  a  license 
granted  to  the  Norfolk  &  Bristol  Bus 
Company. 

He  said  further  that  the  residents  of 
the  district  had  voiced  a  unanimous 
approval  of  this  company,  and  that  he 
himself  believed  the  people  were  better 
served  by  one  company  than  by  many. 


Suburban  Line  Must  Carry 
Local  Passengers 

Suburban  cars  of  the  Minneapolis, 
Anoka  &  Cuyuna  Range  Railway  com- 
ing into  the  city  over  the  lines  of  the 
Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company  must 
stop  at  intersections  to  pick  up  pas- 
sengers and  must  give  transfers  to 
passengers  paying  full  fare  in  the 
city  limits.  This  fare  must  be  only 
5  cents.  The  Anoka  line  carries 
passengers  to  the  city  limits  over  the 
Minneapolis  Street  Railway  tracks  and 
thence  on  its  own  rails  to  Anoka.  Go- 
ing out  these  cars  will  not  be  required 
to  take  local  passengers  and  need  stop 
only  for  suburban  passengers.  This  is 
the  ruling  of  the  city  attorney.  For 
years  this  line  has  utilized  these  tracks 
but  has  not  carried  local  passengers 
and  has  not  given  transfers  to  city 
lines.  Operating  under  the  old  fran- 
chise this  line  cannot  charge  the  6- 
cent  fare  granted  the  local  railway 
under  an  ordinance  passed  in  1920.  The 
Anoka  company  runs  into  the  city  over 
the  Second  Street  Northwest  lines  to  a 
terminal  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 


Conditional  Five-Cent  Fare 
Established 

The  Corpus  Christi  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  Corpus  Christi,  Tex.,  effec- 
tive on  Nov.  1,  announced  a  reduction 
in  fares  from  10  cents  to  5  cents,  con- 
ditioned on  the  purchase  of  coupon 
books  of  twenty  tickets  for  $1.  Unless 
coupon  books  are  purchased,  the  in- 
dividual fare  will  remain  at  10  cents. 
E.  H.  Eldridge,  general  manager,  at 
the  same  time  announced  changes  in 
the  operation  which  included  the  cut- 
ting off  of  some  of  the  urban  and  sub- 
urban lines  which  have  proved  unprofit- 
able, and  establishment  of  twelve- 
minute  service  on  the  remaining  lines. 
This  will  be  an  improved  service. 

The  new  plan  is  an  experiment,  and 
its  retention  will  depend  entirely  on  the 
acceptance  of  the  public,  as  manifested 
in  increased  traffic.  The  Corpus  Christi 
Railway  &  Lighting  Company  is  now 
in  process  of  being  taken  over  by  Mor- 
rison  &    McCall,    San   Antonio,  Tex. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


971 


Six  Motor  Buses  Lose  $15,000  in 
Nine  Months 

On  the  first  nine  months  working  of 
the  six  motor  buses  used  by  the 
Cardiff  (Wales)  Corporation  to  supple- 
ment the  tramways  service,  the  loss  was 
nearly  £3,000.  The  city  treasurer  has 
reported  to  the  tramways  committee 
that  the  loss  on  the  buses  to  Sept.  30 
averaged  5.63d.  per  car-mile,  totaling 
£2,746.00.0.  The  revenue  account 
showed  a  loss  of  £1,285.16.4,  to  which 
had  to  be  added  loan  charges  amount- 
ing to  £1,507.14.8.  The  traffic  ex- 
penses consumed  8.81d.  per  car-mile, 
general  expenses  1.6d.  and  general  re- 
pairs and  maintenance  8.51d.,  making 
an  average  running  expense  of  18.89d. 
per  car-mile.  The  traffic  receipts 
amounted  to  £8,013.5.6,  giving  an  aver- 
age per  car-mile  of  16.44d.,  a  deficit  of 
2.54d.  per  car-mile  carried  to  net 
revenue  account. 

R.  L.  Horsfield,  general  manager  of 
the  tramways,  in  commenting  on  these 
figures,  said  the  omnibus  services  in 
the  city  were  purely  experimental  and 
had  been  tried  when  costs  were  at  their 
very  highest.  The  future  success  of 
the  buses  depended  upon  working  out- 
side the  city  boundaries. 

Councillor  Sydney  Jenkins,  the  chair- 
man, said  Mr.  Horsfield  hit  the  nail  on 
the  head  when  he  said  that  in  Cardiff 
they  were  not  likely  to  make  much 
with  the  buses,  seeing  that  the  tram- 
ways service  was  an  efficient  and  com- 
prehensive one.  Personally  he  believed 
the  chief  cause  of  the  loss  was  trade 
depression.  The  sub-committee,  how- 
ever, had  the  matter  under  considera- 
tion and  would  report  later.  He  was 
prepared  to  support  the  withdrawal  of 
some  of  the  buses  after  proper  notice 
to  the  public. 

He  explained  that  a  tentative  ar- 
rangement had  been  made  with  the 
Newport  Corporation  whereby  it  would 
have  been  able  to  take  its  buses  right 
into  the  town  of  Newport,  but  that  the 
corporation  had  been  prevented  by  the 
Monmouthshire  County  Council  for- 
bidding the  buses  to  cross  the  roads, 
an  attitude  which  the  Ministry  of 
Transport  considered  altogether  un- 
reasonable. 

Various  suggestions  were  made  by 
members  of  the  committee  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  bus  service  might 
be  made  to  pay.  These  included  a 
reduction  of  fares  to  the  level  of  those 
of  the  tramways,  running  the  buses  in 
direct  competition  with  the  tramcars 
on  the  most  congested  routes  and  the 
introduction  of  short  stoppages. 

The  chairman  and  the  general  man- 
ager were  finally  empowered  to  experi- 
ment in  any  direction  they  considered 
desirable. 


"Safety  First"  Propaganda 
Succeeds  in  Portland 

According  to  figures  recently  com- 
piled by  the  Portland  Railway,  Light 
&  Power  Company,  Portland,  Ore., 
organized  and  persistent  efforts  in 
combating  the  constant  menace  of 
traffic  accidents  in  the  streets  of  Port- 
land have  been  producing:  substantial 
results.  For  the  months  of  August 
and  September,  the  report  shows  a 
considerable  improvement  as  com- 
pared with  the  same  months  of  last 
year. 

The  total  number  of  accidents 
in  the  two  months  of  this  year  were 
1038  as  compared  with  1268  last  year, 


or  a  decrease  of  18.1  per  cent.  Com- 
plete checks  were  made  to  include 
mishaps  involving  the  company's  cars 
with  automobiles,  trucks,  vehicles  of 
all  kinds,  pedestrians  and  also  board- 
ing and  alighting  accidents  involving 
passengers. 

Success  in  the  reduction  of  accidents 
of  these  various  classes  is  attributed 
by  officers  of  the  company  to  the  fact 
that  regular  "Safety  First"  instruction 
work  is  carried  on  among  employees. 
The  railway's  record  is  in  marked  con- 
trast to  the  showing  of  traffic  mishaps 
in  which  the  company's  cars  are  not 
involved,  this  class  of  accidents  show- 
ing a  steady  increase. 


New  Jersey  Fare  Hearings 
in  December 

It  is  probable  that  on  Dec.  15  former 
U.  S.  Judge  Thomas  G.  Haight,  acting 
as  special  master,  will  begin  the  taking 
of  testimony  on  the  question  of  the 
permanency  of  the  8-cent  fare  on  the 
lines  of  the  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  recently  allowed  by 
Judges  Rellstab  and  Wooley.  The  rail- 
way is  to  put  in  as  much  of  its  case 
as  it  is  possible  beginning  Dec.  15  and 
continuing  Dec.  16,  19,  20,  21,  22 
and  23. 


555,179  Passenger  Vehicles  in 
New  York  State 

According  to  "Greater  New  York," 
the'  bulletin  of  the  Merchants'  Associa- 
tion of  New  York,  721,488  motor  ve- 
hicles have  been  registered  in  New 
York  State  for  the  first  half  of  1921 
up  to  July  10. 

Of  these  555,179  are  passenger  ve- 
hicles, 131,578  commercial,  28,495  om- 
nibuses, 2,661  trailers  and  3,575  cars 
exempt  from  tax  registration.  Of  this 
number  New  York  City  has  223,435 
cars,  156,116  being  passenger  cars, 
52,658  commercial  and  12,664  omni- 
buses. Manhattan  has  58,191  passen- 
ger vehicles  and  25,782  commercial, 
Brooklyn  being  next  with  54,692  pas- 
senger and  15,475  commercial. 


Railway  and  Jitney  Men  Agree 

Both  the  Public  Service  Railway, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  and  the  jitney  men  re- 
cently appeared  before  the  Board  of 
Public  Utility  Commissioners  to  oppose 
the  granting  of  a  permit  for  an  addi- 
tional bus  on  the  Park  Avenue  line 
operating  in  Woodcliff,  Guttenberg, 
West  New  York  and  Weehawken  with 
a  terminus  at  the  West  Shore  Ferry. 

The  railway,  whose  Palisade  line 
covers  the  same  territory  as  the  Park 
Avenue  buses,  declared  that  though  the 
number  of  passengers  was  greater  than 
the  seating  capacity  between  rush 
hours,  still  during  other  hours  of  the 
day  the  traffic  was  very  light. 

The  board  will  check  the  traffic  in 
this  area  before  a  decision  is  made  in 
the  matter. 


"Trolley   Topics"   Once   a    Month. — 

Baltimore  Trolley  Topics,  published 
for  the  employees  of  the  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  will  here- 
after come  out  once  a  month  instead 
of  semi-monthly.  It  has  been  an- 
nounced that  the  magazine  will  in  this 
way  have  a  greater  opportunity  to  im- 
prove its  standard.  A  promise  is  made 
"to  develop  its  features  and  add  new 
ones." 


Jitney  Service  Again  Discontinued 
— Mayor  Approves  Operation 

Jitney  service  to  the  Cowen  Park 
District  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  started  by 
the  Sound  Transit  Company,  operating 
under  a  certificate  of  necessity  issued 
by  the  State  Department  of  Public 
Works,  was  again  summarily  discon- 
tinued recently  when  W.  R.  Crawford, 
attorney  for  the  auto  company,  and 
twenty-nine  bus  drivers  were  arrested, 
charged  with  contempt  of  court,  by 
reason  of  an  order  issued  by  Presiding 
Judge  Everett  Smith.  The  arrests  were 
made,  when  the  company  continued 
operating  jitneys  after  a  restraining 
order  had  been  issued  by  Judge  Smith, 
enjoining  jitneys  from  operating  within 
city  limits  without  city  permits. 

In  the  meantime,  Corporation  Counsel 
Walter  F.  Meier  obtained  an  affi- 
davit, sworn  to  by  Director  E.  V.  Kuyk- 
endall  of  the  State  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Works,  declaring  that  the  Sound 
Transit  Company's  certificate  of  nec- 
essity for  the  Roosevelt  Heights  jitney 
line  does  not  authorize  operation  of 
motor  vehicles  within  the  corporate 
limits  of  Seattle,  without  due  sanction 
of  the  City  Council.  This  affidavit  is 
being  used  as  an  exhibit  in  resisting 
for  the  city  the  injunction  proceedings 
brought  by  the  jitney  interests  to  pre- 
vent the  city  from  arresting  bus  drivers 
for  operating  without  city  permits. 

In  the  hearing  before  Judge  Frater, 
Mr.  Crawford  asserted  the  city's  jitney 
regulatory  ordinance  would  conflict 
with  the  terms  of  the  state  certificate 
of  necessity  in  matters  of  route  and 
fares,  and  contended  that  the  Sound 
Transit  Company  is  seeking  to  operate 
a  stage  line,  and  not  a  jitney  line.  He 
said  that  the  operation  of  stages  does 
not  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
city's  regulatory  ordinance. 


Birmingham  Equal  to  Occasion — 
Shows  What  It  Used  to  Be 

During  Semi-Centenary  Week  at 
Birmingham  Ala.,  when  the  city  en- 
tertained President  Harding  and  wife 
and  thousands  of  visitors  the  Birming- 
ham Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company 
through  the  efforts  of  Lee  C.  Bradley, 
receiver,  provided  additional  service  on 
the  important  Avondale,  Avenue  C,  and 
Tidewater  lines,  also  on  the  East  Lake 
line.  Some  of  these  lines  have  the  pay- 
enter  feature,  on  schedules  four,  five 
and  six  minutes.  Information  where 
to  catch  cars  was  advertised. 

During  this  important  week  atten- 
tion was  called  in  the  local  press  by 
pictured  illustrations  to  the  progress 
of  transportation  facilities  in  Birming- 
ham and  vicinity.  Light  and  power 
company  lines  between  Birmingham, 
Bessemer,  Ensley,  Fairfield  and  Gate 
City  were  pictured  with  views  of  the 
present  day  cars. 


Seeks  Higher  Fare  in  Portsmouth 

The  State  Corporation  Commission 
recently  heard  the  petition  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Richmond,  Va.,  for  an  increase  in  fare 
in  Portsmouth.  The  fare  at  present  is  6 
cents  and  the  petition  asked  for  a  7- 
cent  fare,  the  rate  in  effect  in  Richmond. 

Thomas  S.  Wheelwright,  president  of 
the  railway,  in  answering  the  criticisms 
of  the  residents  of  Portsmouth  on  the 
service  rendered,  said  that  the  com- 
pany had  endeavored  to  get  together 
with  the  City  Council  to  effect  some 
settlement  but  had  been  unsuccessful. 


972 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


rransportation 
News  Notes 


Lower   Fares   in  Honor  of  Foch. — 

The  various  traction  lines  operating  out 
of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  offered  a  round 
trip  rate  of  one  fare  on  these  lines 
on  account  of  the  nationwide  interest 
and  historical  importance  of  the  visit 
of  Marshal  Ferdinand  Foch  of  France 
to  Indianapolis,  Nov.  4. 

Second  Bus  Line  Started. — Another 
motor  bus  line,  the  second  to  be  put 
in  operation  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  by  the 
Connecticut  Company,  was  started  on 
Nov.  10.  The  bus  will  make  regular 
trips,  with  transfer  privileges,  from 
the  South  Green  to  Cedar  Hill,  a  lo- 
cality which  the  Common  Council  de- 
clared was  not  served  adequately  by 
the  electric  railway. 

Wants  Lower  Fare. — At  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Public  Utilities  Board 
of  Wilmington,  Del.,  a  resolution  will 
be  presented  petitioning  for  a  reduction 
in  fares  on  the  lines  of  the  Wilming- 
ton &  Philadelphia  Traction  Company. 
The  present  rate  is  8  cents  or  four 
tickets  for  30  cents.  It  is  contended 
that  four  tickets  for  25  cents  would 
result  in  increased  riding. 

Eight-Cent  Rate  Extended.— The  Mis- 
souri Public  Service  Commission  re- 
cently issued  an  order  authorizing  the 
Kansas  City  Railways  to  extend  its 
8-cent  fare  rate  for  six  months  begin- 
ning with  Nov.  18.  The  railway  had 
asked  for  a  year's  extension.  The  com- 
mission accountants  reported  that  the 
company  could  not  earn  a  reasonable 
return  if  rates  were  reduced  at  this 
time. 

Buses  Supplant  Cars. — A  motor  bus 
line  is  superseding  the  horse-drawn 
street  cars  in  Iquique,  Chile.  The  buses 
are  American  chassis,  equipped  with 
locally  made  bodies.  They  seat  four- 
teen persons  and  are  arranged  with  a 
front  entrance,  on  the  pay-enter  plan, 
so  that  no  collector  is  needed.  The  fare 
is  20  centavos  (about  2  cents  at  present 
exchange),  while  the  fare  on  the  street 
cars  is  40  centavos. 

Council  Increases  Fare.  —  The  City 
Council  of  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.,  re- 
cently passed  an  ordinance  authoriz- 
ing an  increase  in  fare  from  5  cents  to 
7  cents  on  the  lines  of  the  Cape  Girar- 
deau-Jackson Interurban  Railway.  A 
petition  with  1,500  names  had  been 
presented  to  the  Council  asking  for  an 
increased  rate  in  order  that  the  system 
might  make  the  improvements  neces- 
sary to  provide  an  adequate  service. 

Jitney  Passengers  Increase. — Ac- 
cording to  the  report  made  by  J.  J. 
Kroehl,  clerk  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  treas- 
urer's office,  and  submitted  to  Director 
Breidenbach  of  the  Department  of 
Revenue  and  Finance,  jitneys  carried 
889,642  more  passengers  in  October, 
1921,  than  in  September.  The  total 
number  of  passengers  carried  during 
the  month  amounted  to  5,244.775.  The 
receipts  amounted  to  $262,239,  which 
represented  an  increase  of  $44,482 
over  the  previous  month. 

Writ  of  Review  Denied. — Seattle  jit- 
ney owners  having  failed  to  obtain 
from  Associate  Justice  McKenna  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  a  writ  of  review 


directed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  of  Washington,  in  the  matter  of 
the  Seattle  jitney  ordinance  case,  re- 
cently submitted,  through  Congress- 
man Merrill  Moores,  a  new  application 
to  Chief  Justice  Taft  at  his  residence. 
This  writ  has  been  denied  by  Justice 
Taft. 

Fare  Cut;  Service  Increased.  —  A 
5-cent  fare  without  free  transfer  for 
local  service  was  established  in  Soutn 
Boston  by  the  Boston  Elevated  Rail- 
way on  Nov.  14.  In  announcing  this 
reduction  General  Manager  Dana  de- 
clared that  there  would  be  a  substan- 
tial increase  in  service  by  the  use  of 
additional  cars  and  that  a  new  line 
would  be  operated  between  Winthrop 
Square,  West  Medford,  and  Maiden 
Square  via  Pleasant  Street. 

Asks  for  Ten-Cent  Rate. — According 
to  figures  recently  submitted  by  the 
United  Railways,  Baltimore,  Md.,  a  10- 
cent  fare  will  very  likely  be  the  charge 
on  the  new  auto  bus  line  which  the 
railway  proposes  to  establish  on  St. 
Paul  Street  and  Mount  Royal  Avenue. 
It  is  shown,  further,  that  the  service 
which  is  being  planned  cannot  bring 
any  profit  on  a  7-cent  fare.  The  mat- 
ter has  been  referred  to  the  Public 
Service  Commissioner  for  definite  ac- 
tion. 

Auxiliary  Bus  Line  Planned  for  Min- 
neapolis.— As  an  auxiliary  to  the  pres- 
ent railway  service  in  Minneapolis,  a 
crosstown  bus  line  is  being  planned 
by  the  Minneapolis  Street  Railway 
for  Lowry  Avenue,  which  will  be  the 
first  such  line  in  the  city.  The  track- 
less trolley  will  probably  be  installed 
as  an  experiment.  The  grade  crossing 
is  to  be  eliminated  on  Lowry  Avenue, 
and  a  bridge  built  across  the  Soo  Line 
railroad  tracks  in  preparation  for  bus 
service. 

Bus  Routes  Restricted.  —  An  ordi- 
nance which  has  been  passed  by  the 
South  Bend,  Ind.,  City  Council  re- 
stricts motor  bus  transportation  to 
streets  not  occupied  by  interurban  lines 
entering  the  city  and  also  places  an 
annual  license  fee  of  $500  against  the 
firms  now  running  buses  between 
South  Bend  and  surrounding  towns. 
The  Chicago,  South  Bend  &  Northern 
Indiana  Railway  showed  that  since  the 
buses  were  operating  in  streets  through 
which  its  cars  ran  a  decrease  of  30  per 
cent  in  fares  had  resulted. 

Skip-Stop  Must  Stop. — The  Niagara 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  City  Council  has  instructed 
City  Manager  Edwin  J.  Fort  to  order 
the  International  Railway,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  to  discontinue  the  skip-stop  sys- 
tem in  effect  on  the  Niagara  Falls  local 
lines.  Complaint  against  the  skip-stop 
system  was  first  made  by  the  Niagara 
Falls  Trades  and  Labor  Council.  The 
City  Manager  also  was  instructed  to 
ask  the  railway  to  operate  cars  on  a 
more  frequent  schedule  and  provide 
heat.  Failure  to  comply  with  the  sug- 
gestions, the  City  Council  decided, 
would  result  in  complaint  being  filed 
with  the  Public  Service  Commission. 

Bus  Certificate  Granted. — The  Fron- 
tier Automobile  Transportation  Com- 
pany, Inc.,  has  been  granted  a  certifi- 
cate of  convenience  and  necessity  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission  for  the  oper- 
ation of  a  regular  motor  bus  service 
between  Niagara  Falls  and  Lockport, 
N.  Y.,  a  distance  of  22  miles,  in  com- 
petition with  the  Buffalo-Niagara  Falls 
and  Buffalo-Lockport  divisions  of  the 
International  Railway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Service  will  be  started   between  the 


two  Niagara  county  cities  within  the 
next  thirty  days.  Gustave  Krueger, 
Jr.,  of  Niagara  Falls  will  be  manager 
of  the  line,  which  will  have  offices  in 
Niagara  Falls.  At  least  ten  buses  will 
be  put  in  operation. 

Bus    Privilege    Extended.  —  W.  M. 

Collins,  operating  an  automobile  pas- 
senger, baggage  and  package  service 
between  Tulare  and  Porterville  via 
Lindsay,  was  authorized  by  the  Cali- 
fornia Railroad  Commission  recently 
to  give  local  service  between  Lindsay 
and  Porterville,  serving  Strathmore  as 
an  intermediate  point.  The  applica- 
tion was  opposed  by  the  Valley  Transit 
Company  and  by  the  Santa  Fe  & 
Southern  Pacific  Railways.  The  com- 
mission found  that  the  Valley  Transit 
Company  had  not  provided  accommo- 
dations for  passengers  in  several  in- 
stances, and  that  while  there  was 
ample  rail  transportation  the  commu- 
nities do  not  patronize  the  railroads 
but  demand  better  stage  service. 

Commission  Must  Act  in  Fare  Case. 
■ — The  New  York,  Westchester  & 
Boston  Railway,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  has 
obtained  an  order  to  compel  the  Tran- 
sit Commission  to  show  cause  why  the 
commission  should  not  be  compelled  to 
grant  permission  to  the  railway  to 
charge  a  7-cent  fare.  The  proceedings 
for  the  increase  were  started  in  1919 
before  the  old  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion, and  in  January,  1920,  the  com- 
mission reported  that  the  company 
should  be  allowed  the  increase  on  the 
merits  of  the  case,  but  that  the  city 
ordinances  prevented.  An  appeal  has 
been  upheld  by  the  Appellate  Division 
and  by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  but  the 
Transit  Commission  has  refused  to 
grant  the  higher  fare. 

Service  Will  Be  Improved. — The  Su- 
pervisor of  Public  Utilities  of  Dallas, 
Tex.,  has  just  completed  a  check  of 
traffic  on  the  various  lines  of  the  Dallas 
Railway.  It  is  announced  that  orders 
will  be  issued  shortly  for  the  placing 
of  more  cars  on  a  number  of  lines  and 
the  speeding  up  of  traffic  generally. 
Graphs  showing  the  exact  status  of 
passenger  travel  on  the  various  lines 
are  being  prepared  by  J.  W.  Monk, 
inspector  of  service  in  the  Supervisor's 
department,  and  these  graphs  will  be 
used  as  a  basis  for  orders  that  will  be 
issued  directing  improvement  in  serv- 
ice. The  Dallas  Railway  has  expressed 
a  willingness  to  co-operate  in  every  way 
possible  and  marked  improvement  of 
street  car  service  in  Dallas  is  expected 
to  result  from  the  checks  and  orders 
issued. 

Jitneys  in  Beaumont  Authorized. — 

Jitney  buses  can  resume  operation  in 
competition  with  the  street  car  lines 
of  Beaumont,  Tex.,  under  an  opinion 
rendered  by  City  Attorney  Charles 
Smith,  who  issued  a  ruling  that  the 
bus  and  hack  ordinance  recently  en- 
acted by  the  City  Council  repeals  all 
other  ordinances  relating  to  the  regu- 
lation of  buses,  hacks  and  all  manner 
of  service  cars.  The  fact  that  jitneys 
can  come  back  is  evidenced  by  the 
conclusion  that  jitneys  fall  under  the 
act's  definition  of  service  cars,  and  that 
if  jitneys  will  comply  with  the  provi- 
sions of  the  new  ordinance  relating  to 
service  cars,  they  may  resume  opera- 
tion. So  far  no  jitneys  have  started 
operation,  but  there  is  much  talk  of 
several  lines  being  established  at  an 
early  date.  Officials  of  the  traction 
company  so  far  have  had  nothing  to 
say  about  the  prospective  operation  of 
jitneys. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


973 


Railway  Man  Elected 

E.  M.  Walker,  Who  Sold  Terre  Haute 
on  Safety  Cars,  Heads  Electric 
Light  Body 

It  is  not  often  that  the  central  sta- 
tion fellows  reach  out  to  put  an  elec- 
tric railway  man  at  the  top  of  their 
society  tree.  But  a  recent  vote  of  the 
members  of  the  Indiana  Electric  Light 
Association  could  be  interpreted  in  no 
other  way  than  that  there  was  a  unani- 
mous desire  to  have  Edwin  M.  Walker, 
general  manager  of  the  Terre  Haute, 
Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Traction  Com- 
pany, as  president  of  their  organization. 
These  chaps,  who  are  always  hypnotiz- 


B.  M.  Walker 


ing  people  into  buying  percolators,  curl- 
ing irons  and  other  things  that  con- 
sume watts,  evidently  recognized  in  Mr. 
Walker  a  friend  and  brother,  for  he, 
too,  understands  supremely  well  the 
salesman's  art  of  inducing  people  to 
purchase  just  a  little  bit  more  than 
they  had  intended  to.  Concluding  that 
any  one  who  can  perform  such  a  stunt 
with  the  prosaic  street  car  is  a  past- 
master,  the  electric  light  men  have  cap- 
italized on  the  fact  that  Mr.  Walker 
was  one  of  them — hence  the  presidency. 

Walker  certainly  would  not  be  the 
popular  choice  for  the  name  of  a  man 
who  makes  them  ride  in  his  100  per  cent 
safety  car  city,  but  such  is  fate. 

Although  a  native  of  England,  Mr. 
Walker  escaped  before  the  homeland 
fog  could  chill  his  natural  enthusiasm. 
He  was  born  in  Worksop,  Nottingham- 
shire, in  1875.  With  his  family  he  set- 
tled in  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  shortly  after 
their  arrival  in.  the  United  States.  In 
the  high  school  of  that  town  the  neces- 
sary preliminary  training  was  received 
which  enabled  him  in  1893  to  attend 
Williams  College  at  Williamstown, 
Mass.,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1897.  Between  the  terms  of  his  college 
career  he  worked  for  the  Lockport  Gas 
&  Electric  Company,  Lockport,  N.  Y., 
and  became  a  full-timer  there  at  the 
termination  of  his  college  course. 
Hardly  a  year's  time  had  elapsed  before 
the  Hyde  Park  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Hyde  Park,  Mass.,  recognized  the 
ability  of  this  young  utility  operator  by 
making  him  its  manager.    His  selling 


teeth  sharpened  on  the  hardened  New 
Englanders,  he  now  felt  equal  to  almost 
any  task.  The  year  1903  found  him  one 
of  those  protean  public  utility  man- 
agers, located  in  the  Tennessee- Vir- 
ginia town  of  Bristol  in  charge  of  a 
gas,  electric  and  street  railway  prop- 
erty. From  1907  to  1912  a  similar  task 
was  his  in  Muscatine,  Iowa,  and  then  he 
moved  over  to  Dubuque  for  another 
five  years.  His  eyes  then  turned  toward 
Terre  Haute,  a  city  that  threatened  to 
lose  its  place  as  a  shrine  of  pilgrims 
when  Gene  Debs  made  his  headquar- 
ters at  Atlanta,  but  a  city  which  Safety- 
Car  Walker  has  made  the  Mecca  and 
Medina  of  so  many  managers,  mayors 
and  others  who  have  been  seeking  their 
salvation.  Yes,  it  is  the  same  Walker 
who  was  later  elected  president  of  the 
Illinois  Electric  Railway  Association. 


H.  E.  Ross  Western  Manager  of 
"Electric  Railway  Journal" 

Harry  E.  Ross,  until  recently  busi- 
ness manager  of  Electric  Traction,  will 
hereafter  represent  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  in  the  Western  territory, 
with  headquarters  at  1570  Old  Colony 
Building,  Chicago.  Mr.  Ross,  in  his 
connections  with  the  former  publica- 
tion, has  acquired  an  experience  in  the 
field  and  an  acquaintance  with  manu- 
facturers which  will  enable  him  to 
broaden  the  scope  of  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  service.  As  Western 
manager  he  will  succeed  David  Cam- 
eron, who  has  been  made  manager  of 
the  mid-Western  territory,  with  head- 
quarters in  the  Leader-News  Building, 
Cleveland,  Ohio.  Both  Mr.  Ross  and 
Mr.  Cameron  will  represent  also  the 
new  McGraw-Hill  publication,  Bus 
Transportation,  the  first  number  of 
which  will  be  issued  in  January,  1922. 

Mr.  Ross  became  connected  with 
Electric  Traction  ten  years  ago,  and 
three  years  later  was  made  advertising 
manager  of  the  Kenfield-Davis  Pub- 
lishing Company,  publishers  of  Elec- 
tric Traction.  For  the  past  three  years 
he  has  served  as  secretary  of  the 
company  and  business  manager  of 
Electric  Traction. 


Ten  Years  Service  and 

Still  Smiling 

A  speaking  acquaintance  with  more 
than  25,000  people,  in  Dallas,  Tex., 
more  than  one-sixth  the  entire  popula- 
tion, is  an  asset  possessed  by  few  per- 
sons, yet  G.  C.  Swearingen,  a  conductor 
on  the  Junius-Tyler  line  of  the  Dallas 
(Tex.)  Railway,  claims  to  be  on  per- 
sonal speaking  terms  with  this  num- 
ber of  Dallas  residents,  and  has  acquired 
this  acquaintance  which  in  most  in- 
stances is  personal  friendship  while 
serving  as  conductor.  He  has  been  in 
the  employ  of  the  Dallas  Railway  for 
about  ten  years  and  has  had  runs  on 
various  lines.  He  is  jovial  and  always 
has  a  kind  word  for  every  patron  who 
boards  his  car.  "Of  course,  I  find  many 
grouches,"  he  says,  "but  the  majority 
of  the  people  who  ride  street  cars  in 
Dallas  are  kind  and  courteous,  even  to 
a  street  car  conductor." 


Successful  Salesmanship 

B.  R.  Bigelow  Sells  Service  and  Safety 
to  the  Inhabitants  of  Detroit 
with  Prose  and  Poetry 

About  this  time  last  year,  as  people 
were  hurrying  through  Cadillac  Square 
in  Detroit,  Mich.,  their  attention  was 
drawn  to  a  spectacle  for  which  the 
more  curious  side  of  their  nature  de- 
manded an  explanation.  The  cynosure 
of  their  wide-opened  eyes  was  an  en- 
thusiastic and  gesticulating  man  of 
Herculean  proportions.  Beside  him 
stood  what,  in  comparison  to  its 
fervent  exponent,  appeared  to  be  a  toy 
street  railway  car.  Whether  it  was 
the  intention  of  the  huge  gentleman 
on  whom  attention  was  focused  to  have 
somebody  "take  one  home  for  the 
baby"  or  to  entice  a  gullible  public  to 
share  in  the  profit's  of  a  wonderful 
new  invention,  many  were  at  a  loss  to 
decide.    The  conjectures  and  supposi- 


B.  R.  Bigelow 


tions  of  those  who  gathered  around 
were  not  entirely  allayed  when  words 
to  this  effect  reached  their  ears: 

This  car  is  known  as  the  Birney  safety 
car.  I  presume  some  of  you  are  wondering 
why  it  is  called  a  safety  car.  Is  that  name 
one  to  sell  it  by  or  one  to  swear  by?  Well, 
I  hope  to  prove  to  you  while  I  am  here  In 
Detroit  that  this  car  is  without  question  the 
safest  and  best  from  the  viewpoints  of  the 
operator,  the  general  public  and  the  man- 
ager and  directors  of  the  company.  This 
car  is  one-man  operated,  a  feature  that  is 
not  only  feasible  but  practicable. 

Such  talk  as  this  could  surely  be 
nothing  but  the  forerunner  to  the 
surreptitious  appearance  among  those 
engrossed  listeners  of  a  genteel  person 
inquiring  solicitously,  "Wouldn't  you 
be  interested  in  sharing  in  the  profits 
to  come  from  this  invention  which  will 
revolutionize  the  street  railway  in- 
dustry? One  man  will  be  able  to  do 
the  work  of  two,  etc."  However,  as 
the  demonstration  progressed,  the 
pecunious  aspirations  of  some  were 
damped  while  others  felt  more  at  ease. 
The  demonstrator's  explanation  fol- 
lowed in  some  such  words  as  these: 

I  invite  those  present  to  take  a  trip  in 
fancy  with  me  on  this  car.  You  will  notice 
that  the  car  cannot  be  started  when  the 
door  is  open  because  the  brake  is  set.  When 
it  is  released  the  door  automatically  closes 
and  the  step  folds  up.  After  the  operator 
has  started  the  car  with  this  controller  he 
must  hold  this  handle  down  while  he  is  run- 
ning. The  mere  removal  of  the  operator's 
hand  from  the  controller  handle  automati- 
cally cuts  off  the  power,  sands  the  rails  and 
sets  the  brake  with  no  other  effort  on  his 
part.  It  also  causes  the  doors,  both  front 
and  rear,  to  be  easily  pushed  open  by 
any  one. 

This  car  has  been  brought  here  by  the 


974 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Railway  Commission  of  the  city  of  Detroit. 
I  am  pleased  to  inform  you  that  there  are 
over  150  cities  throughout  the  United  States 
in  which  this  type  of  car  is  in  successful 
operation  and  this  city  is  one  of  the  largest 
places  where  they  are  soon  to  be  run. 

This  successful  and  magnetic  demon- 
strator was  B.  R.  Bigelow,  who  has 
been  appointed  sales  manager  of 
transportation  for  the  Detroit  (Mich.) 
Municipal  Railway.  His  working 
model  was  a  sample  of  the  100  safety 
cars  that  were,  several  months  later 
when  the  track  construction  was  com- 
pleted, to  assist  materially  in  augment- 
ing street  transportation  facilities. 
Following  up  his  first  successful  cam- 
paign of  selling  the  public  on  the 
Birney  car,  he  later  demonstrated  the 
Peter  Witt  type  car  with  equal  suc- 
cess. This  scheme  of  feeling  the 
public  pulse  was  begun  before  any 
orders  had  been  placed  by  the  commis- 
sion and  it  was  almost  entirely  due  to 
this  stanch  safety-car  advocate  that 
the  idea  was  sold  to  the  commission 
and  city  officials  as  well  as  to  the 
riding  public. 

Mr.  Bigelow  is  the  first  man  to  hold 
a  position  where  his  entire  time  is 
devoted  to  the  selling  of  electric  rail- 
way transportation.  He  was  raised  on 
a  farm  in  the  hills  near  Lewiston, 
Maine.  His  first  electric  railway  work 
was  "bucking  the  line"  on  the  extra 
list.  He  soon  became  convinced  that 
a  cheerful  greeting  cost  nothing  and 
brought  priceless  rewards.  For  past- 
time  he  wrote  verse.  Such  experiences 
as  throwing  switches  at  a  lonely  spot 
on  a  rainy  night  or  sleeping  inclined 
against  a  favorite  post  in  the  carmen's 
room  while  waiting  on  the  extra  list 
were  the  incidents  to  which  he  tuned 
his  lyre.  One  poem  which  he  wrote 
on  the  safety  car  was  reprinted  far 
and  wide. 

Mr.  Bigelow's  practical  experience 
was  gained  as  motorman  and  inspector 
in  Maine  and  later  in  Bridgeport,  Conn. 
His  connection  with  the  Bridgeport 
division  of  the  Connecticut  Company 
was  severed  when  he  became  associated 
with  the  Detroit  Municipal  Railway  in 
August,  1920. 

During  the  World  War  Mr.  Bigelow 
acted  as  "Four-minute  man,"  deliver- 
ing addresses  at  the  theaters  and  at 
other  public  gatherings.  He  often  re- 
cited his  original  verses  composed  to 
suit  the  particular  occasion. 

In  January  last,  when  he  was  made 
sales  manager  of  transportation,  Mr. 
Bigelow  established  an  office  on  the  site 
of  the  municipal  railway  carhouse  and 
offices  where  permanent  buildings  are 
now  under  construction.  He  lives  on 
St.  Jean  Avenue  in  a  newly  settled 
section  of  the  city  where  the  first 
municipal  cars  were  started  in  opera- 
tion in  February,  and  good-naturedly 
refers  to  the  outlook  from  his  window 
as  the  "Belgian  frontier." 

The  loyalty  of  the  operators  to  whom 
the  sales  manager  has  taught  trans- 
portation salesmanship  was  recently 
evidenced  by  their  giving  him  a  ring 
which  is  prized  very  highly  by  Mr. 
Bip-elow  and  which  besides  bearing  his 
initials  and  "M.O.  35"  is  inscribed  "The 
Pioneers." 

Besides  his  sales  talks  to  the  car 
operators,  in  which  he  drives  home  the 
fact  that  courtesy  is  the  keystone  in  the 
arch  of  transportation  salesmanship, 
Mr.  Bigelow  has  delivered  safety  talks 
at  the  city  schools  with  the  full  co- 
operation of  the  principals  and  teachers 
and  has  been  requested  to  talk  at 
various   clubs   and   churches.     In  his 


talks  to  the  school  children,  which  must 
be  adapted  to  various  groups  from  the 
kindergarten  up,  he  frequently  gains 
the  attention  of  hisj  audience  by  jok- 
ingly referring  to  his  310  pounds  of 
avoirdupois  and  the  conspicuous  ab- 
sence of  his  hair.  His  endeavors 
with  the  pupils  are  as  earnest  as  any. 
His  ideas  in  his  own  words  are: 
The  joy  of  service  ever  clings 
And  to  our  hearts  its  comfort  brings. 


Secretary  Appointed 

E.  N.  Willis,  of  Long  Utility  Experience 
in  Texas,  Occupies  Southwestern 
Association  Post 

E.  N.  Willis  was  recently  appointed 
secretary  of  the  Southwestern  Elec- 
trical &  Gas  Association.  Mr.  Willis, 
who  took  over  the  work  as  secretary 
of  the  association  on  Nov.  1,  is  filling 
the  vacancy  caused  several  months  ago 
by  the  resignation  of  H.  S.  Cooper. 

This  position  affords  Mr.  Willis  an 
opportunity  to  continue  his  previous 
efforts  for  the  growth  and  development 


H.  H.  Arnold  Joins 
Miami  Property 

H.  H.  Arnold,  for  the  past  fourteen 
years  connected  with  the  Terre  Haute, 
Indianapolis  &  Eastern  Traction  Com- 
pany, Indianapolis,  Ind.,  has  resigned 
and  accepted  a  position  with  the  Miami 
Beach  Electric  Company,  Miami,  Fla. 
The  latter  company,  which  is  owned 
by  Carl  Fisher  of  Indianapolis,  is  a 
large  concern  which  furnishes  power 
for  factories  and  beach  lines  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Miami,  and  but  several 
weeks  ago  agreed  to  lease  and  operate 
the  lines  of  the  Miami  Traction  Com- 
pany, which  were  recently  purchased 
by  the  city. 

Mr.  Arnold,  who  has  had  a  very  in- 
teresting career  since  joining  the  trac- 
tion company,  came  into  the  employ  of 
that  corporation  on  July  1,  1917.  For 
several  years  he  worked  in  various 
capacities  with  the  interurban  system, 
and  four  years  ago  he  was  made  super- 
intendent of  the  Crawfordsville  divi- 
sion. His  resignation,  which  he 
tendered  to  the  Terre  Haute,  Indian- 
apolis &  Eastern  Traction  Company 
recently,  took  effect  on  Nov.  15.  Upon 
leaving  the  company  last  week,  Mr. 
Arnold  took  a  brief  vacation,  after 
which  he  will  leave  for  his  new  posi- 
tion in  Florida  on  Dec.  1. 

Although  no  definite  announcement 
has  been  made,  it  is  believed  that 
Frank  Adair,  Lebanon,  Ind.,  will  suc- 
ceed Mr.  Arnold  as  superintendent. 
Mr.  Adair  has  been  with  the  Lebanon 
branch  for  several  years. 


E.  N.  Willis 


of  all  the  utilities  in  the  Southwest. 
He  is  well  acquainted  with  the  public 
utility  problems  and  personnel  through- 
out Texas  and  that  section  covered  by 
the  membership  of  the  association 
through  his  connection  for  many  years 
with  the  Southwest  General  Electric 
Company  at  Dallas,  Tex.  More  re- 
cently he  was  with  Smith  &  Whitney, 
power  plant  engineers,  as  manager  at 
Houston.  Mr.  Willis  is  anxious  to 
work  with  the  members  for  the  in- 
creased usefulness  of  the  association  by 
enlarging  its  membership  and  by  mak- 
ing it  a  clearing  house  for  all  informa- 
tion of  value  to  utilities  in  that  section. 

Mr.  Willis  was  born  in  St.  Lawrence 
County,  New  York,  in  1880.  He  was 
graduated  in  electrical  engineering  from 
the  Lawrence  Scientific  School,  Harvard 
University,  in  1903.  He  was  connected 
with  the  General  Electric  Company  in 
Schenectady  in  the  test  department  and 
as  construction  engineer  from  1903 
until  1911,  when  he  went  to  Dallas, 
Tex.,  with  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany of  Texas.  Soon  after  he  was  as- 
sistant to  the  sales  manager  of  the 
Southwest  General  Elective  Comnany. 
In  1919  he  became  manaeer  of  the 
Houston  office  for  Smith  ft  Whitney. 
He  has  been  in  close  touch  with  the 
public  utilities  throughout  t^e  South- 
west during  the  past  ten  years  and 
from  both  a  commercial  and  operating 
standpoint  is  well  qualified  for  the  work 
of  the  Southwestern  Association. 


James  C.  Gardiner,  employment 
manager  Chicago  Elevated  Railways, 
died  recently.  He  had  been  an  em- 
ployee of  the  Elevated  Lines  for  over 
twelve  years. 

Fred  R.  Fahlsing,  claim  agent  In- 
diana Service  Corporation,  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.,  died  Oct.  29  as  the  result  of  an 
infection  arising  from  a  nasal  opera- 
tion. Mr.  Fahlsing  was  forty-eight 
years  old.  He  was  a  native  of  Fort 
Wayne  and  had  been  in  the  employ  of 
the  Indiana  Service  Corporation  and 
its  predecessor,  the  Ft.  Wayne  & 
Northern  Indiana  Traction  Company, 
for  twenty-seven  years. 

Charles  C.  Beckman,  a  veteran 
employee  of  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio 
Electric  Company,  Youngstown,  Ohio, 
died  recently.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  Mr.  Beckman  was  superintendent 
of  track  and  roadway  of  the  Youngs- 
town Municipal  Railway  Company,  a 
position  he  had  held  since  the  Youngs- 
town city  railways  were  segregated 
under  the  service-at-cost  plan  of  opera- 
tion. Prior  to  that  he  had  been  super- 
intendent of  ways  and  structures  of 
the  system,  rising  to  that  position 
through  years  of  faithful  service. 
Particularly  in  Sharon  and  vicinity  was 
his  death  keenly  felt  for  it  was  there 
as  a  citizen  and  as  a  railway  man  that 
he  had  spent  the  greater  number  of  his 
years  and  it  was  there  as  a  young  man 
he  helped  build  and  then  operate  the 
street  car  line  between  Sharon  and 
Sharrjsville.  Mr.  Beckman  was  born 
on  Sent.  13,  1870.  He  was  continu- 
ously in  the  employ  of  the  company 
from  his  first  construction  job  in  1893 
till  his  death. 


November  26,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


975 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER,  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 


ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES 


"Pittsburgh  Plus" 

Opinions  of  Two  Railway  Purchasing 
Agents  Differ  as  to  Justice  of 
This  Price  Basis 

There  has  recently  been  a  lot  of  dis- 
cussion in  official  circles  and  in  the 
newspapers  about  the  "Pittsburgh 
plus"  system  of  fixing  prices  on  rolled 
steel,  except  light  and  standard  rails. 
This  discussion  has  referred  to  the 
trade  practice  of  selling  steel  for  a 
price  equal  to  the  market  price  at 
Pittsburgh,  plus  the  freight  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  destination,  no  matter  where 
the  shipping  point  may  be. 

Certain  sections  of  the  country  feel 
that  this  practice  serves  as  a  discrim- 
ination where  the  purchasers  happen  to 
be  located  close  to  a  plant  which  may 
be  a  long  way  from  Pittsburgh.  For 
example:  a  Chicago  purchaser  of  steel 
must  pay  the  Pittsburgh  market  price 
plus  a  freight  rate  of  38  cents  per  100 
lb.  in  carload  lots  for  steel  shipped  to 
him  from  Gary,  Ind.,  as  this  is  the 
rate  from  Pittsburgh,  whereas  the 
actual  rate  from  Gary  to  Chicago  is 
only  51  cents.  Similarly,  the  l.c.l.  rate 
that  must  be  paid  for  steel  bought  in 
Gary  for  shipment  to  Chicago  is  54 
cents,  while  the  Gary-Chicago  rate  is 
only  17  cents.  This  represents  a  pre- 
mium to  the  manufacturer  in  this  par- 
ticular case  of  32%  cents  or  37  cents 
per  100  lb.  of  steel  sold,  besides  elim- 
inating a  base  price  that  might  be 
lower  if  the  Chicago  market  was  in- 
dependent of  the  Pittsburgh  market. 

The  following  views  of  Harry  H. 
Lloyd,  purchasing  agent  Indianapolis 
Street  Railway  and  Terre  Haute,  In- 
dianapolis &  Eastern  Traction  Com- 
pany,  are   particularly  enlightening: 

"I  am  frank  to  state  that  I  have 
never  been  able  to  definitely  make  up 
my  mind  whether  we  would  gain  or 
lose  if  the  Pittsburgh  plus  practice 
were  abolished.  If  the  mills  were  to 
sell  steel  at  approximately  the  same 
price  f.o.b.  shipping  point,  it  can 
readily  be  seen  that  the  consumer 
living  in  the  vicinity  of  any  steel  mill 
would  reap  the  benefit.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  if  prices  were  about  equal, 
this  would  eliminate  any  competition 
from  steel  mills  at  points  farther  away. 
If  we  in  the  Central  West  were  all  buy- 
ing from  the  Gary  mills  the  Pittsburgh 
mills  would  be  eliminated  from  com- 
petition unless  they  cut  prices  to 
equalize  the  freight  charge  for  the 
longer  haul.  Suppose  that  after  estab- 
lishing business  with  the  Gary  mills, 
they  became  overloaded  with  orders,  or 
through  some  disturbance  had  to  cur- 
tail production  so  that  we  could  not 
get  material  which  might  be  needed  in 
a  hurry,  it  might  then  be  necessary  to 
go  into  the  Pittsburgh  district  at  a 
higher  price,  because  of  the  additional 
freight.  The  Pittsburgh  mills  might 
be  working  up  practically  to  capacity 
on  orders  for  the  district  where  they 
control  business  on  account  of  short- 
haul  freight  and  they  would  not  be 
interested  in  our  transient  business. 
The  abandoning  of  the  Pittsburgh  plus 


BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


practice  might  thus  give  the  steel  mills 
a  price  monopoly  on  the  business  in 
their  own  district,  but  I  do  not  believe 
it  would  work  out  even  this  way  in 
actual  practice. 

"For  example,  if  an  Illinois  steel 
company  were  selling  steel  in  the 
Chicago  district  and  its  price  was  $5 
or  $6  per  ton  lower  than  the  Pitts- 
burgh market,  because  of  the  differ- 
ence in  freight  rate,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  this  company  would  advance  its 
price  a  sufficient  amount  practically  to 
absorb  the  difference  in  freight.  The 
Federal  Trade  Commission  would  have 
no  authority  to  interfere  and  the  pur- 
chasers in  this  district  would  have  no 
power  to  complain,  because  they  would 
be  buying  the  steel  at  as  low  a  price 
as  it  could  be  obtained  elsewhere.  My 
opinion  is,  therefore,  that  the  practical 
result  of  abandoning  the  Pittsburgh 
plus  practice  would  be  to  bring  about  a 
price  which  would  vary  at  the  different 
plants  an  amount  sufficient  to  equalize 
the  variation  in  freight  rates  and  main- 
tain a  perfectly  uniform  delivery  price 
to  the  consumer.  The  same  thing 
applies  today  in  certain  bronze  prod- 
ucts used  by  all  electric  railways,  on 
which  if  one  asks  quotations  from  four 
or  five  manufacturers  located  at 
greatly  varying  distances  a  uniform 
delivered  price  is  bid. 

"It  has  been  suggested  on  occasions 
that  the  Pittsburgh  base  be  changed  to 
a  Chicago  base,  and  while  this  would 
be  of  advantage  to  us  in  this  section, 
it  would  discriminate  against  the  East, 
and  particularly  against  the  big  in- 
dependent plants.  While  I  know  it  is 
thought  that  the  steel  corporation 
benefits  by  the  Pittsburgh  base,  I 
think  that  the  plan  is  really  more 
equitable  and  of  greater  advantage  to 
big  independent  plants  such  as  Bethle- 
hem, Midvale  and  Jones  &  Laughlin, 
as  they  are  located  in  the  Eastern  dis- 
trict and  therefore  could  compete  there 
with  any  of  the  big  plants  of  the  steel 
corporation. 

"I  am  inclined  to  think  that  an  aban- 
donment of  the  Pittsburgh  plus  plan 
would  force  the  independents  to  cut 
prices  to  secure  business  in  localities 
where  the  steel  corporation  could  main- 
tain a  price  level,  having  the  effect  of 
putting  the  big  independents  out  of 
competition.  To  illustrate  my  point, 
the  steel  corporation  could  compete  on 
even  terms  with  Bethlehem,  Midvale 
or  Jones  &  Laughlin  in  the  Pittsburgh 
district  on  account  of  the  big  Carnegie 
plant.  In  the  Gary  district  the  cor- 
poration could  compete  on  even  terms 
with  any  local  plant  through  the 
Illinois  Steel  Company,  or  the  corpora- 
tion plant  at  Duluth.  If  the  purchaser 
was  in  the  South,  the  steel  corporation 
would  have  the  advantage  through  the 
Tennessee  Coal  &  Iron  Company  plant 
at  Birmingham.  On  account  of  the 
difference  in  freight  rates,  the  corpora- 
tion would  have  the  advantage  over  the 
independents  located  in  the  Pittsburgh 
district.  Therefore,  as  one  looks  at  the 
plan  from  different  angles,  it  seems 
after  all  that  in  the  final  analysis  the 


Pittsburgh  plus  practice  presents  many 
advantages  to  offset  any  seeming  dis- 
crimination." 

George  Kuhn,  purchasing  agent  for 
the  various  properties  controlled  by  the 
United  Light  &  Railways  Company, 
expresses  his  view  of  the  practice  in 
this  way: 

"We  have  felt  since  the  Gary  district 
was  opened  up  that  the  purchasers  of 
steel  in  the  Central  and  Western  sec- 
tions of  the  country  are  not  getting  the 
benefit  of  the  location  of  the  steel  mills 
in  this  territory.  As  I  understand  it,  a 
large  amount  of  the  ore  used  in  the 
Pittsburgh  district  comes  from  Mich- 
igan or  Minnesota  and  the  cost  of  ship- 
ping this  should  be  less  to  Gary  than 
to  Pittsburgh.  Presumably  the  cost  of 
producing  steel  at  Gary  does  not  exceed 
that  at  Pittsburgh,  and  we  do  not  see 
any  reason  why  the  Chicago  district 
steel  producers  should  arbitrarily  add 
the  Pittsburgh-Chicago  rates  on  steel 
that  we  in  the  West  have  to  buy. 

"On  the  other  hand,  I  presume  that 
when  the  Gary  mills  sell  steel  east  of 
Pittsburgh  they  have  to  meet  the 
Pittsburgh  competition,  losing  the 
freight  that  they  pav  on  the  finished 
steel  from  Gary  to  Pittsburgh.  How- 
ever, this  is  only  an  assumption.  We 
feel  that  when  we  are  arbitrarily 
charged  the  Pittsburgh  market  price 
and  the  Pittsburgh-Chicago  rate  on  our 
steel  we  are  paying  for  something  we 
do  not  get." 


Foreign  Commercial  Laws 
to  Be  Digested 

The  Commercial  Laws  Division  of 
the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic 
Commerce,  Department  of  Commerce, 
which  was  established  some  three 
months  ago  with  A.  J.  Wolfe  as  its 
chief,  has  undertaken  as  its  first  task 
the  preparation  of  digests  of  the  com- 
mercial laws  of  the  principal  nations  of 
the  world.  This  undertaking  was  pre- 
viously begun  in  a  slightly  different 
form,  but  never  carried  to  completion. 
Needless  to  say,  such  digests  will  be 
invaluable  to  American  firms  having 
dealings  abroad.  Another  project 
which  the  division  will  undertake  is  the 
collection  of  names  of  reliable  attor- 
neys in  all  parts  of  the  world  together 
with  information  as  to  the  class  of 
business  in  which  each  specializes, 
whether  he  undertakes  the  collection  of 
accounts  and  his  scale  of  fees,  whether 
he  can  correspond  in  English  and  what 
American  clients  he  has  satisfactorily 
represented. 

Japanese  Railway  Activity 

An  indication  of  the  improvement  in 
business  conditions  in  Japan  since  the 
1920  critical  financial  stress  of  that 
country  is  received  from  the  recent 
placing  of  an  order  with  the  Westing- 
house  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany for  substation  material  amount- 
ing to  $76,000.  This  order  covers  the 
complete  equipment  for  two  substa- 
tions and  includes  eight  rotary  con- 
verters, twelve  transformers,  two 
complete  switch  gear  equipment  and 
station  lighting  transformers. 

Other  large  orders  for  railway  ma- 
terial recently  have  been  placed  in 
this  country  by  the  Seto  Electric  Rail- 
way, the  Bisai  Electric  Railway,  the 
Nagasaki  Electric  Railway,  the  Tokio 
Municipality  and  by  other  large  Jap- 
anese railway  operating  companies  and 
municipalities. 


976 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  22 


Rolling  Stock 


East  St.  Louis,  Columbia  &  Waterloo 
Railway,  East  St.  Louis.  111.,  has  just  com- 
pleted the  construction  of  one  all-steel 
express  car 

Miami,  Fla. — As  a  result  of  the  action 
of  the  citizens  of  Miami  in  voting  a  bond 
issue  of  $100,000  to  take  over  the  defunct 
traction  system  in  Miami,  eight  new  cars 
have  been  ordered. 

Birmingham  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Columbia,  S.  C,  recently  pur- 
chased ten  steel  car  bodies,  which  are 
being  repainted  and  equipped  with  new 
motors  in  the  shops  of  the  company.  The 
new  cars,  each  of  which  seats  fifty-two 
passengers,  will  go  into  operation  about 
Jan.  1.  The  cars  were  originally  pur- 
chased by  the  railway  at  Columbia,  S.  C, 
during  the  war  for  use  on  the  line  to  Camp 
Jackson,  where  they  were  used  less  than 
ten  months.  When  repainted  their  color 
will  conform  to  the  regulation  of  the  cars 
on  the  Birmingham  Railway,  Light  & 
Power  Company's  lines. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Jacksonville    (Fla.)    Traction   Company  is 

completing  an  extension  on  the  Brentwood 
line,  which  loops  around  and  into  the 
Florida  State  Pair  grounds. 

Oklahoma  Railway,  Oklahoma  City,  Okla., 
has  practically  completed  its  Blackwelder 
Avenue  and  Linwood  Boulevard  extensions. 
The  MeNabb  line  to  Lincoln  Park  will  be 
completed  about  Jan.  1. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  has  started 
work  on  the  renewal  of  tracks,  ties  and 
flooring  of  the  part  of  the  East  First  Street 
bridge  used  by  the  railway.  New  tracks 
and  ties  have  been  installed  on  Spring 
Street. 

Plaza  Railway,  Charlotte.  N.  C.  will 
begin  a  program  of  improvement  of  its  way 
which  will  include  repairing  and  ballasting. 
It  is  expected  the  line  will  begin  operating 
within  a  month.  The  company  was  recently 
incorporated. 

Texas    Electric    Railway,    Dallas,  Tex., 

may  extend  its  line  either  from  Corsicana 
or  Waco  to  the  newly  discovered  Mexia  oil 
field.  This  proposition  or  the  possibility 
of  a  new  line  to  serve  this  district  has 
been  under  discussion  for  some  time  and 
has  been  referred  to  previously  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal. 

Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad,  Chicago, 
will  install  a  very  complete  interlocking 
plant  of  the  latest  electro-pneumatic  type 
next  spring.  This  will  be  located  at  the 
branch -off  from  the  main  line  to  Evanston 
into  the  storage  yard  at  Howard  Avenue, 
which  is  the  city  limit  of  Chicago  and  ter- 
minus of  a  large  number  of  the  "L"  trains. 

Duluth  (Minn.)  Street  Railway  will  com- 
plete work  on  the  Twentv-first  Street  trac- 
tion extension  by  Jan.  1,  1922.  This  was 
assured  by  Alfred  Williams,  superintendent 
of  the  Superior  division  of  the  company 
lines.  The  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission 
set  this  date  as  the  limit  for  the  construc- 
tion work. 

New  York  &  Harlem  Railroad,  New  York, 

N.  Y.,  has  finished  a  connection  on  Eighty- 
sixth  Street  between  its  tracks  and  those 
of  the  Second  Avenue  Railroad,  a  portion 
of  whose  shop  buildings  the  former  road 
has  remodeled  to  furnish  facilities  for  re- 
pair and  maintenance  of  its  cars.  This 
connecting  link  was  necessary,  as  there 
existed  no  other  way  bv  which  the  cars 
of  the  New  York  &  Harlem  Railroad  could 
reach  the  Second  Avenue  shops  at  Ninety- 
sixth  Street  and  Second  Avenue. 

Mobile  Light  &  Railroad  Company,  Mo- 
bile. Ala.,  according  to  a  press  report  has 
suggested  that  the  city  permit  it  to  operate 
its  suburban  cars  across  St.  Joseph  Street 
north  to  St.  Francis  Street  as  a  relief  for 
congested  conditions.  In  the  event  that  this 
permission  is  granted,  J.  Howard  Wilson, 
president  of  the  company,  said  that  the 
railway  would  route  the  interurbans  across 
the  street  instead  of  down  Dauphin  and 
around  Water  Street  if  the  citv  would  per- 
mit a  track  to  be  laid  along -St.  Joseph 
Street. 

Facific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  according  to  engineer  H.  E.  DeNyse, 
announced  recently  that  the  so-called  "left- 
hand  turn"  at  Seventh  and  Main  Streets 
In  Riverside  would  be  eliminated  at  once. 
A  new  track  lay-out  has  just  been  re- 
ceived for  this  intersection  and  work  of 


putting  it  in  place  has  been  begun.  There 
was  but  a  single  track  curve  and  both  the 
inbound  and  outbound  San  Bernardino-Red- 
lands  cars  used  this  curve.  As  there  was 
not  sufficient  room  between  the  curb  and 
the  track  for  an  automobile  to  pass  a  car, 
there  have  been  many  narrow  escapes  at 
this  point.  Fifteen  thousand  dollars  has 
been  appropriated  to  provide  the  necessary 
facilities  and  the  work  will  be  pushed 
through  as  rapidly  as  possible,  according 
to  Mr.  DeNyse. 

Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Phoenixville,  Valley  Forge  &  Stafford 
Electric  Railway,  Phoenixville,  Pa.,  is  re- 
ported to  contemplate  the  construction  of  a 
power  plant  at  Williams  Corners  to  meet 
the  need  imposed  by  the  operation  here- 
after by  that  company  of  the  Montgomery  & 
Chester  Electric  Railway. 

Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission,  Tor- 
onto, Can.,  and  the  municipality  will  con- 
struct facilities  for  transfer  of  passengers 
and  freight  between  cars  "of  the  city  rail- 
way system  and  those  of  the  commission 
at  the  northern  part  of  the  city.  The  com- 
mission and  the  city  will  each  bear  one- 
half  the  cost  of  construction  and  main- 
tenance. 

Mobile  Light  &  Railroad  Company, 
Mobile.  Ala.,  has  expended  the  following 
sums  on  improvements  since  the  authoriza- 
tion of  the  7-cent  fare:  One  tuscan  steel 
carhouse  on  Springhill  Avenue,  $24,688  ; 
special  track-work  at  the  central  carhouse, 
$25,213  ;  one-story  office  building  at  the 
carhouse,  $12,473  ;  Birney  safety  cars, 
$58,250  ;  one  boiler,  $32,654. 

Eureka  (Cal.)  Municipal  Railway  has  an- 
nounced that  it  intends  to  purchase  soon  a 
new  converter  of  somewhat  larger  capacity 
than  the  one  that  now  furnishes  direct 
current  to  the  trolley  system.  The  re- 
liability and  capacity  of  the  present  substa- 
tion with  but  one  unit  is  not  considered 
sufficient  especially  in  view  of  higher  stand- 
ard of  service  that  it  is  the  intention  of 
the  municipality  to  give  to  the  public  since 
the  system  was  taken  over  from  its  owners. 


Trade  Notes 


L.  H.  Lund  has  been  elected  auditor  of 
the  Westinghouse  Electric  International 
Company,  to  succeed  F.  N.  Kollock.  re- 
signed. 

Tulsa  (Okla.)  Street  Railway  has  pur- 
chased forty-three  watt-hour  meters  from 
the  Economy  Electric  Devices  Company, 
Chicago,  for  measuring  the  energy  con- 
sumption of  the  individual  cars. 

Holyoke  (Mass.)  Street  Railway  has  pur- 
chased fifty-four  Sangamo  Economy  watt- 
hour  meters  of  the  inspection  dial  type  for 
a  complete  equipment  of  the  action  cars 
in  Holyoke  and  Northampton. 

Combustion  Engineering  Corporation,  43 
Broad  Street,  New  York,  recently  opened 
two  branch  offices,  one  at  216  Latta  Arcade, 
Charlotte,  N.  C,  in  charge  of  T.  E.  Nott, 
and  the  other  at  Seattle,  Wash.,  where  the 
company  is  represented  by  Fryer-Barker 
Company.  1133  Henry  Building. 

American  Steel  &  Wire  Company,  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  contemplates  an  expenditure 
of  $100,000  on  its  Worcester  works  at  once 
to  give  employment  to  its  men  who  would 
be  idle  otherwise.  This  is  the  local  share 
of  the  $10,000,000  which  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation  has  voted  to  expend  in 
the  extension  of  its  manufacturing  plants. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Company  is 
having  electric  heaters  installed  on  some  of 
its  cars  for  experimental  purposes.  The 
heaters  now  are  in  operation  on  all  cars 
on  the  Zoo  Eden  Park  line,  because  it  is 
impossible  to  heat  with  coal,  as  the  smoke 
pipes  interfere  with  the  top  of  the  Mount 
Adams  incline  shed  through  which  the  cars 
operate. 

Wagner  Electric  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, St.  Louis.  Mo.,  has  announced  the 
appointment  of  F.  T.  Coup  as  district  man- 
ager in  charge  of  its  Cincinnati  office, 
located  at  20  East  Ninth  Street.  Mr.  Coup 
is  well  acquainted  with  the  Wagner  line  of 
products,  having  been  connected  with  the 
company  for  many  years  and  until  recently 
in  charge  of  its  Milwaukee  office. 

Edward  M.  Eliot  has  been  appointed 
assistant  to  the  vice-president  of  the  Under- 
feed Stoker  Company  of  America.  He  had 
previously  been  service  manager  for  the 


Diamond  Power  Specia'ty  Company,  Detroit. 
Mr.  Eliot  was  engaged  in  power-plant  de- 
sign and  construction  for  eight  years  with 
the  Oregon  Electric  Railway,  the  Electric 
Bond  &  Share  Company  and  other  com- 
panies. He  is  a  graduate  of  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology. 

Virginia  Corporation,  Alexandria,  Va., 
has  been  granted  a  charter  by  the  State 
Corporation  Commission  to  engage  in  the 
business  of  building  remodeling  and  re- 
pairing railroad  cars,  electric  cars,  etc. 
The  maximum  capital  stock  is  $100,000 
and  the  minimum  is  $25,000.  The  officers 
and  directors  of  this  concern  are  as  fol- 
lows :  E.  A.  Morse,  Washington,  president  ; 
L.  D.  Christie,  Alexandria,  treasurer,  S.  A. 
Aplin,  Washington,  secretary. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company  has  established  an  oil  testing 
service  wherein  operators  can  mail  samples 
of  insulating  oil  to  the  Westinghouse  works 
for  test.  It  provides  a  thoroughly  dry 
bottle,  a  safe  mailing  container,  which 
when  received  at  the  works  allows  careful 
testing  by  experienced  men  and  a  prompt 
report  of  test  results.  This  fills  the  needs 
of  many  power  plant  operators  who  have 
no  good  method  of  telling  whether  or  not 
their  transformer  oil  is  in  perfect  condition. 

Detroit  Seamless  Steel  Tubes  Company, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  has  again  found  it  necessary, 

since  occupying  its  new  modern  plant,  to 
increase  its  sales  staff.  The  position  newly 
created  is  that  of  assistant  general  mana- 
ger of  sales.  C.  C.  Rosser,  head  of  the  depart- 
ment, has  announced  the  appointment  of  C. 
H.  Hobbs  for  this  position.  For  over  four- 
teen years  Mr.  Hobbs  was  with  the  Lacka- 
wanna Steel  Company  and  for  the  last  five 
years  was  the  district  representative  in 
charge  of  the  Detroit  office. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  is  preparing 
twenty-five  new  steel  cars  seating  54  pas- 
sengers for  service.  The  cars  have  mul- 
tiple-unit control  and  will  be  operated 
singly  or  in  two-car  trains.  The  first  of 
the  new  cars  will  be  in  service  about  Dec. 
1  and  some  trains  will  be  running  by  Christ- 
mas. The  car  was  designed  by  the  engi- 
neering department  of  the  Los  Angeles 
Railway  and  built  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Com- 
pany. Westinghouse  motors  and  air  brake 
equipment  is  being  installed  at  the  Los 
Angeles  Railway  shops.  Two  526  L  Wes- 
tinghouse motors  are  used.  The  car  weighs 
38.000  lb. 

Ikutaro  Inouye,  an  electrical  engineer  of 
the  government  railways  of  Japan,  has  re- 
cently come  to  the  United  States  to  study 
electric  railway  operation.  He  is  at  present 
in  Los  Angeles  investigating  the  methods 
in  use  on  the  Pacific  Electric  lines.  He 
will  study  as  well  the  operating  methods 
in  the  repair  and  construction  shops  of  the 
company  and  in  its  power  houses  and  will 
study  in  particular  the  problem  of  connect- 
ing communities  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
city. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Pawling  &  Harnischfeger  Company,  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  now  has  available  Bulletin 
No.  206,  dated  October,  1921,  illustrating 
and  describing  radial  rail  drills. 

American  Steel  &  Wire  Company,  Chicago, 
is  distributing  a  bulletin  describing  two 
resistors  for  welding  rail  bonds  recently 
developed  by  the  company. 

Allis-Chalmers  Manufacturing  Company, 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  now  has  available  for  dis- 
tribution bulletin  No.  1108,  which  is  a  new 
publication  describing  the  various  types  and 
sizes  of  power  transformers  built  by  the 
company. 

Root  Spring  Scraper  Company,  Kala- 
mazoo, Mich.,  has  issued  a  new  catalog  of 
its  spring  scrapers,  lifeguards  and  acces- 
sories which  is  well  illustrated  and  pre- 
sents in  an  instructive  manner  the  details 
of  design  and  operation  of  these  devices. 

Jordan  Brothers,  74  Beekman  Street, 
New  York  City,  have  issued  a  new  publica- 
tion covering  their  well-known  commu- 
tator truing  devices.  This  type  of  device 
is  used  to  true  commutators  and  slip  rings 
without  taking  armatures  and  rotors  out 
of  machine. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company  is  distributing  Vol.  3,  No.  1  of 
"Westinghouse  Electrification  Data."  This 
issue  treats  of  the  economy  of  railroad  elec- 
trification and  includes  a  portion  of  the 
progress  report  made  by  the  Superpower 
Survey  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
Among  the  installations  mentioned  are  the 
Norfolk  &  Western  Railroad,  New  York, 
New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad,  Erie 
Railroad.  Grand  Trunk  Railroad  and  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

__  HENRY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZELL.Editors  HENRY  H.NORRIS, Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN, WesSerti  Editor    N.A.BOWERS.Paciflc  Coast  Editor    H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIER.Assooiate  Editor      CARL  W. STOCKS, Associate  Editor 
G.J.MACMURBAY.News  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE.Editorial  Representative  PAUL  WOOTON, Washington  Representative 


volume  58  /j  B  New  York,  Saturday,  December  3,  1921  Number  23 
  i  ^  .  —  ■  


Interborough  directors  Make  a  Mistake 
in  Not  Testifying 

FROM  the  standpoint  of  public  policy  the  directors  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  have  made 
a  mistake  in  declining  to  explain  the  high  dividends  de- 
clared by  the  company  from  1912  to  1918.  Errors  in 
judgment  in  forecasting  for  any  considerable  time  the 
profits  of  the  company  may  be  readily  understood,  in 
view  of  the  fall  in  the  purchasing  power  of  the  nickel 
following  the  opening  of  the  World  War.  There  may 
also  have  been  a  reasonable  expectation  on  the  part  of 
the  directors  that  the  company  would  receive  power  to 
increase  the  rate  of  fare,  as  has  been  the  case  in  every 
other  large  city  in  this  country.  As  regards  such  mis- 
takes the  public  will  be  lenient,  if  frank  explanation  of 
them  is  made.  But  the  directors  in  question  unfor- 
tunately have  not  taken  this  opportunity  to  take  the 
stand  in  the  transit  hearing,  although  the  attitude  of  the 
railway  witnesses  up  to  this  time  has  seemed  sym- 
pathetic to  the  announced  purposes  of  the  inquiry. 

The  facts  so  far  brought  out  appear  to  be  that 
soon  after  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 
had  commenced  operation  in  1904  and  had  leased  the 
Manhattan  Elevated  Railway,  the  combined  property 
was  found  to  be  quite  profitable.  At  first  the  directors 
were  conservative  as  regards  the  dividends  declared, 
but  in  1912,  when  contract  No.  3  came  up  for  signa- 
ture, the  company  found  itself  to  be  in  so  powerful 
a  position  that  it  was  able  to  exact  a  large  preferen- 
tial from  the  city.  Obviously  that  was  the  time  to 
have  husbanded  its  resources,  because  the  contract 
required  the  establishment  of  a  large  number  of  lines 
which  obviously  would  not  pay  for  some  time.  But, 
considering  it  was  protected  by  its  preferential,  the 
company  continued  the  policy  of  high  dividends,  pay- 
ing 16  per  cent  in  1912,  12  per  cent  in  1913,  15  per 
cent  in  1914,  20  per  cent  in  1915,  1916  and  1917,  174  per 
cent  in  1918  and  5  per  cent  in  1919.  The  total  amount 
paid  on  the  capital  stock  of  the  company  in  the  past 
eighteen  years — 1874  per  cent — would  not  be  con- 
sidered excessive  in  most  other  lines  of  business  for 
a  company  which  had  proved  a  money  maker.  Never- 
theless the  policy  of  high  annual  dividends  was  con- 
tinued after  the  money  inflation  due  to  the  World  War 
had  become  generally  apparent  and  thereby  reduced  the 
company's  cash  reserve. 

It  is  too  early  to  comment  fully  on  the  reasons  for  the 
various  financial  acts  taken  by  the  directors,  but  the 
part  the  holding  company — the  Interborough-Metro- 
politan,  later  the  Interborough  Consolidated — played  in 
the  dividends  declared  is  apparently  an  important  one. 
The  creation  of  this  holding  company  was  perhaps  a 
natural  and  useful  step  at  the  time  and  has  many  coun- 
terparts in  railroad  and  industrial  financing.  Before 
its  organization,  the  subways  and  the  surface  lines 
were  being  operated  separately.  It  was  evident  that 
money  would  be  saved  and  efficiency  secured  by  unified 
operation,  but  on  account  of  several  factors  it  was 
impossible  to  combine  the  two  properties  into  one.  The 
natural  move  was  a  holding  company,  as  named  above. 


This  company  acquired  the  greater  part  of  the  stock 
issues  of  the  Interborough  and  of  the  Metropolitan 
surface  lines  and  issued  preferred  and  common  stock 
as  well  as  44  per  cent  collateral  trust  bonds,  securing 
.the  latter  by  its  holdings  of  Interborough  stock  in  the 
ratio  of  two  $1,000  bonds  to  10  shares  of  stock.  While 
the  Interborough  stock  at  this  time  seemed  amply  able  to 
pay  more  than  the  9  per  cent  dividend  required  for  the 
interest  on  these  bonds,  yet  the  organization  thus  cre- 
ated was  essentially  a  pyramiding  of  securities  on  the 
basis  of  possible  future  profits  before  these  profits  were 
reasonably  secure.  Then  a  time  came  when  the  profits 
of  the  Interborough  decreased  because  of  rising  ex- 
penses, and  the  holding  company  apparently  became  a 
convenient  agent  from  which  money  could  be  borrowed 
to  tide  over  what  appeared  a  temporary  condition.  An 
interesting  sidelight  on  the  result  of  this  financial 
policy  is  furnished  by  the  fact  that  the  44's  referred  to 
which  sold  at  the  time  of  issue  close  to  par  now  sell  at 
about  13,  while  the  Interborough  Consolidated  pre- 
ferred and  common  stock  which  sold  as  late  as  1915  at 
about  80  and  25  respectively  are  now  quoted  at  about 
6  and  2. 

This  is  not  the  only  time,  either  in  railroading  or 
other  lines  of  business,  that  an  enterprise  starting  out 
under  most  favorable  auspices  has  been  brought  to 
grief  through  too  great  optimism  for  the  future  or  be- 
cause of  an  improper  forecast  of  coming  events.  There 
is  so  much  that  is  intrinsically  stable  about  public 
utilities  that  there  ought  not  to  be  a  possibility  of 
their  becoming  a  basis  for  speculation  in  Wall  Street. 
In  the  proposed  new  financing  of  railway  properties 
in  New  York  this  point  should  be  assured  so  far  as  is 
reasonably  possible. 


For  Politics  or 

Spur  to  the  Company? 

WHETHER  or  not  the  people  of  Chicago  derive  any 
benefit  as  the  result  of  the  Illinois  Commerce  Com- 
mission's order  for  a  5-cent  fare,  two  things  were  ac- 
complished. The  campaign  pledge  of  the  Governor  and 
Mayor  was  carried  out,  for  certainly  they  cannot  be  held 
accountable  for  failure  of  their  pledge  if  the  courts 
stand  in  the  way  of  its  accomplishment.  And  by  order- 
ing a  rate  of  fare  impossibly  low,  the  traction  question 
is  left  unsettled  and  therefore  is  preserved  to  future 
campaigns  as  the  premier  of  issues 

Some  of  the  conclusions  reached  by  the  commission 
are  without  substantiation  in  evidence  presented  and 
some  ignore  evidence  to  the  contrary.  In  the  former 
category  are  the  commission's  statements  on  the  matter 
of  service,  which  forms  the  predominating  note  of  the 
order.  The  service  is  "grossly  inadequate  and  ineffi- 
cient," the  companies  are  "managing  and  operating  their 
street  railways  extravagantly  and  inefficiently,"  and 
citation  is  made  of  "certain  items  of  operating  costs 
peculiarly  indicative  of  slack  management."  Another  sig- 
nificant staternent  in  this  connection  is  as  follows :  "We 
believe  respondent  companies  will  profit  most  by  basing 
their  claim  for  additional  rates  of  fare  on  the  value  of 


978 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


the  service  they  render  to  the  public  as  well  as  on  their 
own  constitutional  rights."  In  another  place  the  com- 
mission states  that  the  character  of  service  being  ren- 
dered is  not  worth  more  than  5  cents. 

Since  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  that  the  commission 
has  justified  the  5-cent  fare  in  its  order,  and  in  view 
of  the  evidence  to  the  contrary  submitted  at  the  hear- 
ings, it  is  perhaps  a  plausible  conjecture  that  the  com- 
mission had  it  in  mind  to  render  a  decision  that  would 
shock  the  companies  into  action  to  install  economies 
known  to  be  possible  but  not  adopted.  This  would  rep- 
resent a  somewhat  unusual  procedure,  but  it  forms  about 
the  only  satisfactory  explanation — aside  from  politics — 
of  a  40  per  cent  reduction  order. 

A  unique  part  of  the  decision  is  the  order  to  stop 
payments  to  the  renewal  fund  and  the  recommendation 
that  the  city  agree  to  release  the  company  from  paving, 
sprinkling  and  sweeping,  both  being  required  by  the 
1907  ordinances.  These  are  of  interest  in  view  of  the 
fight  the  city  has  carried  to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  (and  lost)  to  hold  the  companies  to  the  contract 
rate  of  fare.  Now,  apparently,  the  city  is  willing  to 
accept  elimination  of  the  8  per  cent  renewal  require- 
ment, though  this  has  been  the  means  of  keeping  the 
Chicago  surface  railways  in  a  physical  condition  ex- 
celled by  few  if  any  street  railways  in  the  country.  Its 
abandonment  now  might  readily  result  in  time  in  an 
opposite  condition — a  matter  of  very  great  concern  to 
the  car  riders,  for  it  would  jeopardize  the  value  of  the 
property  for  which  the  city  has  agreed  to  pay  in  1927 
a  certain  price  which  is  predicated  upon  the  continuous 
expenditure  of  the  8  per  cent  in  maintaining  the  prop- 
erty value.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  no  men- 
tion is  made  of  a  reduction  in  wages  of  employees, 
which,  at  80  cents  an  hour  for  trainmen,  are  the  highest 
in  the  country.  This  would  have  been  unpopular  with 
the  labor  constituency. 


Mr.  Hoover  Heaves  a  Heavy  Brick 

and  Helps  Standardize  Paving  Bricks 

THAT  Secretary  Hoover  believes  in  practicing  what 
he  preaches  is  evidenced  by  the  number  of  confer- 
ences relating  to  standards  which  are  being  held  at 
Washington  under  his  auspices.  On  Nov.  15  such  a 
conference  was  held  on  the  subject  of  "Elimination  of 
Excess  Varieties  of  Paving  Brick."  This  was  the  second 
conference  on  the  subject  and  there  resulted  an  agree- 
ment to  the  effect  that  only  eleven  out  of  sixty-six 
varieties  of  paving  brick  which  have  found  currency 
in  the  brick  industry  need  to  be  retained.  This  amounts 
to  a  reduction  of  83  per  cent  in  variety  and  may  be 
considered  as  a  very  practical  illustration  of  what  may 
be  done  in  standardization  through  earnest  co-operation. 

The  United  States  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the 
National  Paving  Brick  Manufacturers'  Association  were 
active  in  the  matter  and  the  last  conference  was  largely 
attended  by  representatives  of  the  various  interests 
involved,  about  equally  divided  among  manufacturers 
and  users  of  paving  brick.  The  importance  of  the 
industry  affected  and  the  results  obtained  through 
Secretary  Hoover's  ability  to  organize  such  conferences 
on  standardization  matters  are  considered  as  good 
evidence  that  the  administration  is  standing  back  of  its 
promises  to  attempt  all  possible  means  of  reducing  costs 
not  only  in  government  departments  but  also  in  all  lines 
of  industry.  An  abstract  of  the  matters  discussed  at 
the  conference  will  be  found  on  another  page. 


The  Vice-Presidents 
Are  Put  to  Work 

THE  committee  appointments  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation, announced  in  last  week's  issue,  are  another 
indication  of  the  closer  active  management  to  be  ex- 
pected under  the  new  regime.  President  Todd  has  quite 
definitely  put  the  vice-presidents — and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  all  the  active  members  of  the  executive  committee 
—to  work.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  These  men  were 
elected  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  association,  and 
President  Todd  is  to  be  congratulated  that  he  has  so 
adequately  placed  them  all  in  positions  which  will  assist 
the  association  in  its  committee  work  and  assist  the 
men  concerned  in  the  work  which  they  perform  on  the 
executive  committee. 

An  examination  of  committee  chairmanships  and  per- 
sonnel will  show  the  four  vice-presidents  in  active 
charge  of  four  of  the  seven  most  important  committees 
— the  six  standing  committees  and  the  membership 
committee.  The  other  three  are  headed  by  three  past- 
presidents,  eminently  qualified  for  their  particular 
posts.  This  use  of  the  vice-presidents  puts  into 
operation  in  a  practical  way  the  principle  of  having 
vice-presidents  take  a  definite  place  in  association  man- 
agement. They  will  be  better  presidents  in  the  future 
for  this  very  reason. 

It  will  also  be  seen  that  every  executive  committee 
member  is  on  some  committee  and  also  that  every  com- 
mittee has  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  among 
its  membership. 

All  this  is  good  and  augurs  well  for  association 
activity  during  the  coming  year. 


Will  Detroit 

Bury  the  Hatchet? 

GOOD  news  comes  out  of  Detroit.  It  is  too  soon 
to  sound  the  tocsin  of  success  for  the  negotiations 
under  way  there,  but  a  good  start  has  been  made 
toward  an  agreement  looking  to  mutual  operating 
rights  between  the  Detroit  United  Railway  and  the 
Detroit  Municipal  Railway  over  the  so-called  ouster 
lines.  Mayor  Couzens  has  delegated  complete  au- 
thority to  the  Street  Railway  Commission  to  act  in  his 
absence,  and  while  he  has  the  final  word,  it  would 
appear  unlikely  that  he  would  be  unwilling  to  sanc- 
tion any  basis  of  agreement  reached  by  those  acting 
for  him,  particularly  where  the  public  has  so  much 
at  stake.  As  far  as  the  matter  has  been  developed  in 
the  negotiations,  the  basis  of  the  understanding  would 
appear  to  be  fair  to  both  sides. 

No  matter  what  the  outcome  may  be  of  the  present 
negotiations,  the  event  of  the  holding  of  the  confer- 
ences is  propitious  for  the  company  in  that  it  marks 
the  complete  entry  of  Alex  Dow  into  the  relations  of 
the  company  with  the  public.  This  means  a  great 
deal.  As  the  representative  of  the  new  interests  in 
the  company  he  comes  to  the  problem  with  a  new 
point  of  view  and  the  prestige  for  fair  dealing  that 
has  made  the  Detroit  Edison  Company,  of  which  he 
is  president  and  general  manager,  a  popular  private 
institution  and  a  huge  success  financially.  Mr.  Dow's 
sitting  in  at  the  conference  augurs  well  for  the  future 
of  all  concerned.  In  short,  the  warring  interests  in 
Detroit  would  appear  to  be  about  to  bury  the  hatchet. 
They  ought  to  bury  it.  And  having  buried  it,  both 
factions  in  Detroit  ought  to  forget  the  location  of  the 
place  where  the  interment  took  place.  ; 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


979 


Ten  Years 
of  the 
Hamburg  Elevated 
Railway 

By  Dr.  Ing.  Wilhelm  Mattersdorff 

Operating  Manager  Rapid  Transit  Lines, 
Hamburger   Hochbahn  Aktiengesellschaft 


Many  Changes  of  an  Economic  Na- 
ture Have  Occurred  to  This  Prop- 
erty Since  It  Was  Put  in  Operation 
in  1912  —  In  the  Accompanying 
Article  General  Statistics  Are 
Given,  Together  with  an  Account 
of  Improvements  Which  Have  Been 
Made  to  the  Physical  Property 


If  /<  . 

General,  View  of  Carhouses,  Repair  Shops  and  Power  Station 


THE  Electric  Railway  Journal  of  March  8 
and  15,  July  5  and  Aug.  2,  1913,  contained  a 
detailed  description  of  the  routes  and  installa- 
tions of  the  Hamburg  Subway  &  Elevated  Railway. 
The  operating  company,  called  "Hamburger  Hochbahn 
Aktiengesellschaft,"  was  organized  in  1911  and  service 
on  the  first  section  was  begun  March  1,  1912.  During 
the  ten  years  which  have  passed  the  form  of  the  com- 
pany has  changed,  its  line  has  been  extended  and  its 
traffic  has  grown  immensely,  but  the  war  and  the  result- 
ing changes  in  economic  and  technical  conditions  have 
greatly  affected  the  property.  Originally  an  entirely 
private  undertaking,  with  a  capital  of  15,000,000  marks, 
the  company  was  consolidated  in  1918  with  the  Ham- 
burg Street  Railway  and  the  entire  enterprise  was 
then  changed  to  a  combined  state  and  private  under- 
taking.   By  this  change  the  field  of  the  consolidated 


company  was  extended  to  include  nearly  all  existing 
transportation  lines  in  Hamburg.  Today  the  company 
operates  not  only  a  subway  and  elevated  railway  but 
also  the  adjoining  rapid  transit  lines  within  a  radius  of 
about  20  miles  from  the  center  of  the  city,  all  surface 
street  railway  lines  of  Hamburg  and  environs,  steam- 
boats on  Lake  Alster  and  a  bus  line. 

These  changes  required  a  complete  reorganization 
and  expansion  of  the  executive  force  over  that  given 
on  page  415  of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
March  8,  1913.  The  board  of  directors  is  now  made  up 
as  follows:  In  charge  of  general  affairs,  Mr.  Stein; 
of  financial  affairs,  Mr.  Liez;  of  operation  of  the  ele- 
vated railway  and  Lake  Alster  steamboats,  Dr.  Matters- 
dorff ;  of  operation  of  the  surface  bus  lines,  Mr. 
Walther;  of  legal  affairs,  Dr.  Mumssen. 

The  following  article  will  describe  the  origin  in 


TABLE  I.    STATISTICAL  REPORT  OF  ALL  BRANCHES  OF  THE  HAMBURGER  HOCHBAHN  AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT 


E-3  ■§  o3 


is 


IS 


%S  OB  O-*  £>  a  COM  Sjg 


3  far) 

si       I*  ••-"48       S3  2"  .s§a  HI  g°  1|  t".  i| 

For  First  Six  Months  of  1 92 1 
Subway  and  elevated  (with  connect- 

inglines                                                                               3,288,477  17,901,772  3,838,097  21,739,869  6.6  19,690,700  598.8  90.6 

Walddorfer  Railway                                                                       207,395  481,068  239,895  720,963  3.5  665,025  320.6  92. 

Surfacelines                                                                              15,424,747  71,533,11  1  5,346,968  76,880,079  5.0  69,695,053  451.8  90.7 

Lake  Alster  boats                                                                            87,791  832,144  247,787  1,079,931  12.3  971,275  1,106.3  89.9 

Total   90,748,095  9,672,747  100,420,842  ....  91,022,053   

For  August,  1921 
Subway  and  elevated  (with  connect- 
ing lines)    3,248,009  826,723  4,074,732  6.9  3,744,491  629.7  91.9 

Subway  and  elevated  (alone)                   28.01           64.0        147          594,601  3,021,536  742,058  3,763,594  6.3  3,456,788  581.4  91.6 

Walddorfer  Railway                                 12.5           12.5         12           64,100  153,321  60,393  213,714  3.3  204,690       319.3  I   

Langenhorn  Railway                                  7.7         15.47         16           55,738  188,516  73,052  261,568  4.7  109,972  197.3 

Surfacelines                                       189.985       377.89     1,149       2,643,598  13,441,789  929,537  14,371,326  5.4  13,469,189  509.5  93.7 

Lake  Alster  Shipping                              27.5                        8.5           22,971  240,287  54,755  295,042  12.8  289,715  1,251.5  92.7 


980 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


Wohldorf 


Ochsenzoll 


Hamburg  subway  and 
devotee!  railway. 

Joint  rapid  transit  lines . 


Map  Showing  Route  of  System,  Including  Connecting  Lines 

Germany  of  the  term  "gemischt  wirtschaftliche  un- 
ternehmangen,"  literally  "mixed  commercial  undertak- 
ing"; why  that  term  is  applied  to  the  Hamburg  Ele- 
vated Railway,  and  all  important  developments  during 
the  last  ten  years  on  the  company's  elevated  and  sub- 
way system,  relating  to  traffic,  rates  of  fares,  routes, 
service,  management  and  technical  equipment. 

A  Combined  Public  and  Private  Enterprise 

In  Germany  many  street  railway  companies  during 
the  past  few  years  have  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
municipal  authorities.  In  the  case  of  some  of  these 
the  municipality  has  taken  over  a  part,  in  many  cases 
50  per  cent,  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  company.  In 
such  cases  the  company  is  called  by  the  German  ex- 
pression already  mentioned  to  signify  that  it  is  a 
combined  public  and  private  enterprise.  It  is  the 
hope  by  this  kind  of  organization  to  obtain  at  the 
same  time  (1)  administration  in  public  interest,  (2) 
economical  management,  and  (3)  the  enterprise  and 
initiative  characteristic  of  the  private  business  man. 

Originally  the  Hamburger  Hochbahn  Aktiengesell- 
schaft  was  a  stock  company  which  leased  the  Hamburg 
subway  and  elevated  railway  system  from  the  State 
of  Hamburg  for  a  proportion  of  the  gross  earnings. 

Beginning  July  1,  1918,  a  new  arrangement  went 


1,000,000 
900,000 
800,000 
700,000 
600,000 
500,000 

,  400,000 
300,000 
200,000 


500,000 
450,000 
400,000 
350,000 
300,000 
250,000 
200,000 
"*  1 507)00 
100,000 


%  100.000  50,000 
E 

£  0  0 


»>  <! 

0 

li 

\' 

■ 

so 

-|- 

> 

f- 
V 

— -C\j- 

■40,7 
49,0 

t 

T 
«g 

<*\- 

~r 

k 

ye 

if 

£— 
N 

8? 

So 

f 

y 

0  10 


20 


30     40      50  _  fcO     70      80     90  100 
Pfennioje 

Relation  Between  Daily  Traffic  and  Average  Fare  in  Pf. 

into  force  by  which  the  state  of  Hamburg  became  an 
actual  stockholder.  Under  this  agreement  the  state 
exchanged  its  interest  then  existing  in  the  property 
for  56,130,000  marks  in  Form  B  shares.  The  fran- 
chise has  no  expiration  date;  i.e.,  it  is  perpetual.  The 
elevated  railway  company  was  also  required  to  buy 
up  the  stock  of  the  Strassen  Eisenbahn  Gesellschaft 
(the  surface  line  company)  and  to  operate  the  surface 

TABLE  II.    FARES  CHARGED  AT  FOUR  PERIODS  ON  SUBWAY 
AND  ELEVATED  RAILWAY  (all  figures  in  pfennige) 


♦»  - 

60  „  M 

S  oo  ©  °* 

■§»  _£         M  . 

2—  ©  —  r75*£> 

M  -  C    -  u  — 

OJO  3©  Q,  . 

EQ^  <g 

eS  a>  so 

&  £° 

Cash  fares 

For  five  or  less  stations                       10  25  60 

From  five  to  ten  stations                      15  30  80 

Full  length  of  line                              20  35  100 

Weekly  ticket  (twelve  rides)                   110  300  900  1, 

Monthly  commutation  tickets 

For  eight  or  less  stations   2,200  * 

For  more  than  eight  stations   3,200  * 

Yearly  commutation  tickets 

For  eight  or  less  stations                 8,200  24,000  * 

For  more  than  eight  stations           14,700  36,000  * 

*  Abandoned. 

(a)  Double  this  fare  after  9:30  p.m. 

(6)  75  marks  for  minimum  distance,  20  marks  for  each  additional  station. 


fa* 


80a 
100a 
120a 
000 

b 
* 


Chart  Showing  Relation  Between  Schedule  Speed  and  Energy  Consumption 


December  3,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


981 


street  railways  and  also  the  steam- 
boats and  the  steam  ferry  of  Lake 
Alster.  The  elevated  railway  company 
paid  for  the  stock  of  the  old  Strassen- 
eisenbahngesellschaft  31, 500,000  marks 
in  Form  A  shares  and  for  the  boat  line 
900,000  marks  in  Form  A  shares.  The 
total  capital  of  the  company  (A  and  B 
shares  taken  together)  amounts  now 
to  103,530,000  of  marks.  Except  the 
Prussian  State  Railway  system  from 
Blankensee  to  Ohlsdorf,  which  is  today 
part  of  the  new  "Reichseisenbahnen" 
system,  all  transit  lines  of  Hamburg 
and  environs,  including  the  Prussian 
surface  lines  to  Altona,  Wandsbek, 
Harburg,  etc.,  are  now  consolidated  in 
the  "Hamburger  Hochbahn  Atkien- 
gesellschaft."  The  franchise  of  the  Hamburger  Hoch- 
bahngesellschaft  declares  that  the  fares  shall  be  such 
that  a  dividend  of  6  per  cent  on  Form  A  shares  may  be 
paid,  and  the  state  guarantees  that  the  dividend  shall  be 
at  least  5  per  cent.  The  dividends  on  Form  B  shares, 
according  to  the  franchise,  are  to  be  1  per  cent  less  than 
on  Form  A  shares.  The  dividends  on  Form  A  shares 
during  the  past  three  years  have  been  as  follows: 
In  1918,  6  per  cent;  in  1919,  li  per  cent  from  earnings 
and  Si  per  cent  from  the  state;  in  1920,  2  per  cent 
from  earnings  and  3  per  cent  from  the  state. 

TABLE  III.  BASIC  SCHEDULE  OF  THE  SUBWAY  AND 
ELEVATED  RAILWAY  LOOP 


Beginning 
March  I 
Aug.  6 
Dec. 
Nov. 
May 
Oct, 


Time  for  Running  Headway  of  Trains 
Around  Loop  in  Minutes 


<  >, 

1° 

1912   38 

1914   48 

1914   38 

1917            .  46 

1920   43 

1921   43 


40 
50 
40 
48 
45 
45 


M  ° 


Speed 
per  Hour 


27.6 
21.8 
27.6 
22.8 
24.4 
24.4 


17.2 
13.6 
17.2 
14.2 
15.2 
15.2 


Passenger  Station  at  Volksdorf  , 

While  most  of  the  German  municipal  railways  have 
done  badly  in  these  turbulent  times  with  fluctuating 
exchange,  it  is  a  matter  for  congratulation  that  results 
so  satisfactory  as  those  mentioned  above  have  been 
obtained  in  Hamburg,  for  at  least  it  has  been  possible 
to  avoid  deficits  and  a  receivership.  A  summary  of 
the  reports  of  all  branches  of  the  company  for  the 
six  months  ended  June  30,  1921,  and  for  August,  1921, 
is  given  in  Table  I. 

Fares  and  Traffic 

According  to  the  new  arrangement  the  company  is 
obliged  to  consider  the  transit  problems  of  Hamburg 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  traffic  requirements,  so 
competition  was  eliminated.  As  there  is  now  no 
fundamental  need  to  attract  traffic,  it  has  been  possible 
as  well  as  desirable  to  equalize  proportionally  the 
rates  of  fares  for  the  different  kinds  of  transit  and 
to  let  time  determine  which  of  the  various  means  of 
transport  passengers  would  prefer.  A  diagram  show- 
ing the  number  of  passengers  in  three-month  intervals 
on  the  subway  and  elevated  railway  from  the  beginning 
of  the  service  to  the  year  1921  is  presented.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  number  of  passengers  decreased  con- 


<  H 


N 


-  _  Jii|;. 


Latest  Carhouse  to  Be  Built 


982 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.- 59,  No.  23 


Section  op  Elevated  Railway  Through  Residential  Section 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


983 


siderably  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  but  that  later 
on  it  began  to  increase  again,  at  first  slowly,  afterward 
at  a  faster  rate,  during  the  further  course  of  the  war, 
until  1918. 

In  1919  wages  began  to  rise  and  German  exchange 
to  decline;  therefore  fares  rose,  at  first  slowly,  soon 
much  more  rapidly.  In  1914,  before  the  war,  wages  for 
unskilled  workmen  in  Hamburg  were  45  pfennig  per 
hour.  In  October,  1921,  they  were  7.55  marks,  an  in- 
crease of  approximately  1,600  per  cent.  In  1920 
salaries  and  wages  on  the  system  amount  to  62.7  per 
cent  of  all  operating  expenses  and  during  the  first 
half  of  1921  to  64.2  per  cent.  Several  steps  in  the 
rise  of  the  rates  of  fares  of  the  Hamburg  Elevated 
during  the  same  time  will  be  seen  in  Table  II.  There 
were  various  intervening  steps,  making  about  ten 
changes  in  all.  A  comparison  in  the  chart  of  traffic 
with  Table  II  shows  the  disastrous  effect  which  the 
increase  in  the  rates  has  had  on  the  total  number  of 
passengers.  This  effect  was  the  greater  because  of 
the  fact  that  the  Reichseisenbahn  or  Government  road 
did  not  raise  its  rates  sufficiently  to  accord  with  the 
fall  in  value  of  German  currency.  The  competition  of 
this  road  was  therefore  severe,  and  much  of  the  traffic 
went  over  to  the  parallel  route,  Blankenese-Ohlsdorf. 

pOhlsdorf  cspOhlsdorf 


Sunday  Train  Running  Plan  for  Ohlsdorf  Excursion  Traffic 

The  consequence  was  that  trains  had  to  be  run  at 
longer  intervals  and  the  public  got  used  to  patronizing 
the  surface  street  railway  lines.  Between  November, 
1920,  and  April,  1921,  a  fiat  fare,  first  of  30  pfennige, 
then  of  40  pfennige  and  then  of  50  pfennige,  was  tried, 
but  on  April  20,  1921,  there  was  a  return  to  the  former 
zone  fare.  The  second  class  service  was  abolished  in 
December,  1920.  This  change  was  damaging  to  the 
finances  of  the  company,  but  for  political  reasons  it 


General  Plan  of  Carhouse,  Shops  and  Power  Station 

seemed  to  be  necessary.  One  of  the  accompanying 
diagrams  shows  how  the  average  daily  traffic  in  all 
branches  declined  in  consequence  of  the  increased  fares. 

New  Routes 

The  main  lines  of  the  Hamburg  Subway  and  Elevated 
Railway,  described  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
of  1913,  were  completed  in  1915  and  consist  of  17.2 
miles  (27.5  km.)  of  route,  all  double  track.  Between 
the  beginning  of  the  war  in  1914  and  October,  1921, 
the  length  of  lines  increased  from  12.8  miles  (20.5 
km.)  to  about  37.5  miles  (60.0  km.),  i.e.,  about  three 
times.  The  length  measured  as  single  track  in  October, 
1921,  was  95.5  km.,  or  about  60  miles. 

The  extensions  were  built  by  the  state  of  Hamburg 
according  to  plans  made  before  the  war,  and  fortunately 
much  of  the  work  was  finished  before  high  prices  set 
in.  Views  showing  some  interesting  constructional 
features  on  these  extensions  accompany  this  article. 
Owing  to  the  enormous  rise  in  prices  for  all  materials 
after  the  war,  the  service  could  not  be  opened  on  all 
routes  to  the  extent  originally  planned.  Therefore, 
some  sections  are  working  only  with  one  provisional 
track,  instead  of  two  tracks,  and  all  arrangements  for 


Traveling  Car  Hoist 


Wooden  Girder  Spiked  to  Ties  to  Prevent  Creepage 


984 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2b 


Front  View  of  Old  and  New  Types  of  Car 


the  service  were  simplified  as  much  as  possible,  espe- 
cially as  the  receipts  of  these  outer  lines  do  not  cover 
the  operating  expenses.  The  under-running  third  rail 
is  used  on  all  these  lines. 

The  route  from  Volksdorf  to  Wohldorf  is  not  yet  in 
operation,  because  a  surface  electric  railway  owned 
by  the  same  interests  that  are  associated  in  the  elevated 
railway  runs  along  this  route  and  satisfies  all  existing 
transportation  needs. 

As  shown  in  the  map,  the  main  line  of  the  subway 
and  elevated  railway  is  a  loop  or  belt  line,  hence  the 
headway  on  each  branch  line  must  be  some  multiple 
of  that  on  the  loop.  Table  II  shows  the  headways  and 
speeds  used.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  material 
lowering  of  the  speed  had  to  be  made  because  many 
of  the  motormen  and  signalmen  were  called  to  the 
army  immediately  after  the  mobilization.  Moreover, 
the  service  had  to  be  continued  largely  without  signals. 
As  the  table  shows,  this  inconvenience  was  overcome 
on  Dec.  1,  1914.  In  1917  the  great  demand  for  coal 
by  the  manufacturing  industries  made  it  necessary  to 
economize  with  fuel  and  again  to  lower  the  speed.  It 
is  notable  that  for  the  lower  speed  of  14.2  miles  (22.8 
km.)  per  hour  the  energy  consumption  was  10  to  20 
per  cent  less  than  at  the  higher  speed.  This  result  is 
shown  in  the  chart  of  energy  consumption.  In  1920 
another  feature  influenced  the  schedules;  at  that  time 
the  fares  jumped  up  in  consequence  of  a  sudden 
declining  tendency  of  the  German  money.  After  the 
fares  had  been  raised,  a  greater  competition  of  the 
Prussian  State  Suburban  Railway  set  in.  The  traffic 
sank  so  rapidly  that  the  number  of  trains  had  to  be 
reduced. 

On  Sundays,  during  the  hours  of  the  summer  excur- 
sion traffic  to  Ohlsdorf,  through  trains  are  run  over  the 
loop  line  in  one  direction  in  the  morning  and  in  the 
other  direction  in  the  evening,  as  shown  in  an  accom- 


TABLE  IV.   NUMBER  OF  DEFECTS  IN  THE  ELECTRICAL 
CAR  EQUIPMENTS 

I.    Damages  of  the  kind  which  affect  the  unit  equipment. 
II.    Damages  of  other  kinds. 


Motor  Flash- 

Motor  Air 

over 

Pump 

Reverser 

Controller 

Cont 

ictors 

Year 

I 

II 

I 

II 

I 

II. 

I 

II 

I 

II 

1912 

13 

1 

1 

4 

13 

10 

7 

33 

73 

1913 

20 

38 

15 

40 

50 

75 

24 

79 

116 

192 

1914 

79 

406 

8 

9 

44 

80 

21 

68 

.114 

162 

1915 

15 

215 

39 

71 

26 

107 

231 

352 

1916 

17 

274 

"a 

26 

23 

65 

26 

146 

318 

437 

1917 

5 

998 

20 

66 

20 

85 

15 

126 

241 

394 

1918 

18 

611 

22 

71 

20 

98 

26 

131 

138 

318 

1919 

14 

187 

39 

50 

20 

59 

21 

88 

155 

309 

1920 

4 

90 

31 

49 

15 

50 

18 

52 

85 

177 

Total 

158 

2,645 

101 

262 

210 

537 

166 

716 

1.276 

2,005 

1:11 

1: 

16! 

1: 

2i 

1: 

2i 

1: 

4i 

1  •       1 2 

panying  small  diagram.  These  through  trains  consist 
of  four  or  five  cars.  In  the  opposite  direction  on  the 
loop  two-car  trains  are  run. 

The  following  figures  show  the  average  number  of 
passengers  carried  per  car-mile  and  car-kilometer: 


Average  Number  cf 
Passengers  per 
Car-Mile  Car-Kilometer 


1912   8.16  5.10 

1913   8.38  5.24 

1914   8.40  5.25 

1915   8.09  5.06 

1916   8.72  5.45 

1917   10.93  6.83 

1918   11.89  7.43 

1919   12.53  7.83 

1920   11.02  6.89 


Recently  changes  in  personnel  have  been  made  to 
effect  economy.  The  attendants  at  stations  have  been 
reduced  in  number,  and  the  starting  signal  is  given 
now  by  a  train  guard  instead  of  by  a  station  starter. 
The  signal  system  has  been  simplified,  and  an  automatic 
relay  has  been  installed  in  the  lighting  circuit  in  the 
tunnels.  The  tunnel  circuit  is  on  a  storage  battery 
and  formerly  the  lamps  were  kept  continuously  on  this 
circuit.  Now,  by  means  of  this  relay,  the  circuit  is 
on  only  when  the  third  rail  circuit  fails  or  there  is 
other  special  need  for  light. 

New  Work  in  Buildings  and  Permanent  Way 

The  proposed  extension  of  shops  and  carhouses, 
mentioned  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  Vol. 
XLI,  page  468,  has  now  been  accomplished  and  a  fourth 
carhouse  of  reinforced  concrete  has  been  erected.  Other 
improvements  made  include  measures  for  preventing 
track  creepage  on  the  elevated  structure.  As  a  pre- 
ventive of  this  trouble  a  wooden  stringer  was  laid 
midway  between  the  rails  and  is  screw-spiked  to  the 
ties.    Expansion  and  contraction  of  rails  in  exposed 


Traffic  of  the  subway  and 
elevated  railway  for 
three  month  periods 

■ 

-1 

H 

H 

-jr 

t 

-fcr 

0    1912      1913      1914      1915      1916       1917      1918       1919      1920  1921 

Chart  Showing  Passengers  Carried  in  Three-Month  Intervals 
from  Beginning  of  Operations  of  the  Subway 
and  Elevated  Railway 


track  is  cared  for  at  intervals  by  the  expansion  joint 
illustrated.  The  views  show  the  former  and  the 
present  way  of  making  this  joint,  the  later  form  hav- 
ing a  much  longer  base  plate.  Copper  bands  proved 
liable  to  loss  by  theft  and  have  now  been  replaced  by 
steel  cables.   They  are  attached  to  the  rail  web. 

The  twenty  cars  which  have  been  delivered  recently 
have  been  built  in  the  company's  own  shops  and  em- 
body some  new  features.  As  they  have  an  arch  roof, 
ventilation  in  addition  to  that  supplied  by  the  windows 
was  necessary,  and  an  opening  of  171  in.  x  61  in. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


985 


(45  cm.  x  17  cm.)  with  louvres  was  provided  in  the 
hood.  The  marker  lights  are  sunk  into  the  ends  of 
the  car  below  the  windows  instead  of  being  attached 
to  the  outside  so  as  to  provide  better  protection  against 
damage.  In  consequence,  the  motorman's  window  has 
to  be  made  smaller. 

The  truck  construction  was  brought  up  to  date;  all 
bolt-holes  are  provided  with  renewable  steel  bushings; 
the  brake  shoes  on  two  opposite  wheels  are  connected 
by  distance-bars  to  hold  them  accurately  in  place  and 
are  suspended  so  they  can  be  removed  by  unscrewing 
a  single  bolt. 

When  the  electrical  equipment  was  first  supplied 
two  types  of  each  part  were  delivered  for  test.  It 
soon  became  evident  that  the  type  adopted  was  much 
more  suitable  for  the  Hamburg  service  than  the  other. 
This  is  further  borne  out  by  the  small  number  of 
troubles  that  have  occurred,  as  shown  in  Table  IV. 

The  principal  changes  which  have  been  made  have 
been  the  addition  of  contact  shoe  fuses  to  protect  all 
apparatus  and  wiring  and  an  iron  catch  on  each  shoe 
so  that  in  emergency  the  contact  shoe  can  be  quickly 
removed  from  the  third  rail. 

For  the  shops  an  electro-mechanically  operated  hoist- 
ing car  was  supplied  to  supplement  the  two  existing 
fixed  electrically  operated  car  hoists.  After  a  car 
body  is  lifted  by  the  fixed  hoist  (as  described  in  the 


Car  Interior  Showing  Posts  for  Hand-Hold,  Curtains  on  Rings 
at  Windows  and  Other  Interesting  Features 

Electric  Railway  Journal  for  March  15,  1913,  page 
473)  the  hoisting  car  illustrated  is  rolled  under  the 
body  and  by  use  of  its  own  electrically  operated  hoist- 
ing device  it  lifts  the  body  and  rolls  it  to  another 
part  of  the  shop  for  any  additional  work.  By  the 
use  of  the  movable  hoist  the  fixed  hoist  can  be  used 
continually  for  hoisting  and  work  can  be  done  on  a 
large  number  of  car  bodies  at  one  time. 


How  Can  Salesmanship  Be  Applied  in  the  Street 

Railway  Business? 

How  Salesmanship  Is  Applied  in  Other  Businesses  Is  Analyzed  and 
Methods  Applicable  to  Electric  Railways  Are  Discussed— Peculiar- 
ities of  the  Product  the  Railway  Has  to  Sell — Service  to  the  Public 

By  Frank  H.  Warren 

Claim  Agent  Chicago,  South  Bend  &  Northern  Indiana  Railway, 
South  Bend,  Ind. 


AN  EXAMINATION  of  this  question  will  disclose 
l\  in  the  beginning  some  general  likenesses  and  dif- 
JL  JL  ferences  between  this  business  and  others.  Rail- 
ways like  other  businesses  have  something  to  sell,  but 
their  sales  unit  has  the  lowest  price  of  anything  except 
that  of  the  post  office  or  the  chewing  gum  unit.  The 
article  sold  does  not  lend  itself  readily  to  quantity  sales 
in  such  a  way  that  both  seller  and  buyer  are  benefited. 
The  street  railway,  along  with  the  telephone,  electric,  gas 
and  water  companies  and  retail  stores,  has  a  market 
limited  to  the  immediate  territory  through  which  its 
lines  run.  The  article  sold,  like  that  of  telephone  com- 
panies and  banks,  is  not  a  material  thing  that  can  be 
weighed  or  handled  or  resold ;  it  is  a  service  only.  Elec- 
tric and  gas  companies  sell  a  more  tangible  thing  which 
vanishes  as  fast  as  delivered,  so  that  they  really  sell 
service  too. 

Retail  stores,  banks,  wholesalers  and  almost  all  busi- 
ness enterprises  have  a  considerable  variety  of  goods 
to  sell.  The  street  railway  and  telephone  companies 
alone  have  a  single  and  invariable  article  to  sell.  Also 
these  two  businesses  give  a  strictly  personal  service. 
A  very  important  distinction  is  the  fact  that  both  street 
railway  and  telephone  services  are  intermediary  serv- 
ices. The  thing  they  sell  is  not  a  desirable  object  in 
itself,  but  only  a  means  to  some  other  object. 


The  function  of  a  sales  organization  is  to  sell,  to 
increase  not  the  output,  but  the  sales.  Practically  sales 
are  made  and  increased  in  the  following  ways : 

1.  By  the  personal  efforts  of  the  salesman  applied 
to  the  customer. 


2. 

By 

increasing  stock  and  adding  greater  variety. 

3. 

By 

advertising. 

4. 

By 

special  bargain  sales. 

5. 

By 

advantageous  locations. 

6. 

By 

the  personal  efficiency  of  salesforce. 

7. 

By 

the  attractive  appearance  of  stock  and  sales 

room. 

8. 

By 

service  rendered  customers. 

9. 

By 

quality  of  stock. 

10. 

By 

the  extension  of  credit. 

11. 

By  increasing  places  of  business. 

Now  to  get  to  the  definite  and  practical,  which  of 
these  is  adaptable  to  the  street  railway  business?  It 
would  not  seem  possible  to  increase  the  stock.  All  that 
could  be  done  would  be  to  find  other  uses  for  our 
article,  and  except  the  telephone,  none  permits  so  little 
variety  of  use.  Advertising  primarily  seeks  to  create 
a  desire,  and  then  tells  where  it  can  be  gratified.  Can 
advertising  create  a  desire  for  more  street  car  riding? 
More  of  this  later. 

Special  sales  dispose  of  old  or  slow-moving  stocks, 


986 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


create  a  temporary  increase  of  receipts,  bring  people 
to  your  place  of  business,  and  advertise.  If  a  street 
railway  could  put  on  a  special  sale,  it  could  not  dis- 
pose of  any  old  stock;  it  might,  however,  create  a  tem- 
porary increase  of  receipts,  it  might  bring  people  to 
its  place  of  business,  and  it  would  advertise  itself.  If 
special  sales  are  conducted  at  a  loss  on  the  particular 
articles  on  sale,  which  loss  is  made  up  by  sales  of  other 
articles,  how  would  a  street  railway  make  up  the  losses 
on  bargain  sales?  Did  you  ever  hear  of  Uncle  Sam 
having  a  bargain  sale  on  stamps?  Or  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  on  gasoline?  Or  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation  on  rails?  Or  Armour  &  Company  on 
bacon?    Or  Ford  on  Lizzies? 

The  only  special  sale  possible  for  a  street  railway 
is  one  that  decreases  the  cost  per  ride  but  increases 
the  cost  per  month  or  year.  It  must  be  something 
that  will  fool  the  buyer  or  stimulate  him  to  increased 


Our  Service  Will  Do  What  Ant  Amount  of  Advertising  Will 
Advertising  in  the  World  Will  Not  Be  Effectual 
Our  Service  Sustains  the  Advertising 

use  of  service.  Along  these  lines  are  quantity  sales 
of  tickets  and  tokens,  excursions,  commutation  tickets, 
and  the  unlimited-rides  cards  or  passes. 

Advantageous  locations  are  hardly  in  point,  since 
changing  locations  is  practically  impossible;  and,  any- 
way, the  locations  are  nearly  always  the  best.  The 
business  itself  has  made  the  location  good.  The  near- 
est practical  approach  to  this  factor  is  car  rerouting. 

The  salespeople  of  a  street  railway  are  admittedly  its 
platform  men.  Now  practically  what  can  the  conductor 
or  motorman  do  to  sell  rides?  He  can't  go  out  on  the 
street  and  solicit  business.  He  can't  make  a  house-to- 
house  canvass.  He  never  has  a  chance  to  use  sales 
arguments.  His  first  point  of  contact  with  the  cus- 
tomer is  after  the  latter  has  been  sold.  He  isn't  a 
salesman ;  he  is  a  collector  who  makes  delivery  of  the 
article  as  soon  as  he  has  been  paid  for  it.  The  very 
best  this  man  can  do  is  to  transact  his  part  of  the  deal 
in  such  a  way  that  he  creates  a  willingness  in  the  cus- 
tomer to  patronize  the  business  again,  should  he  again 
want  the  article  purchased.  This  so-called  salesman 
never  has  a  chance  to  create  a  desire  for  the  article 
sold,  because  the  sale  is  always  made  before  he  has 
any  contact  with  the  customer. 


Would  any  company  consider  for  a  minute  the  ex- 
tension of  credit  as  a  means  of  increasing  sales  ?  Hardly. 
Increasing  places  of  business,  which  is  in  trade  terms 
building  new  lines  or  extending  old  ones,  is  a  natural 
act  when  a  business  is  making  money,  but  he  is  a 
bold  man  indeed  who  contemplates  such  a  course  with 
a  losing  venture.  The  use  of  buses  might  come  in  here, 
though  it  has  more  the  appearance  of  transition  than 
of  extension.  Perhaps  if  it  were  considered  as  an  ex- 
tension, it  would  meet  with  less  antagonism  and  resist- 
ance among  street  railway  men  than  it  now  does. 

Summary 

To  face  this  sales  proposition  squarely,  it  appears 
that  three  of  the  above  elements  are  absolutely  unusable 
with  street  railways — increase  of  sales  stock,  more  ad- 
vantageous locations  and  extensions  of  credit;  that 
there  are  three  of  them  positively  and  certainly  usable 
— efficiency  of  salesforce,  attractive 
appearance  of  salesroom  and  service 
rendered  (quality  of  stock)  ;  in  the 
lealm  of  doubt  are  advertising,  spe- 
cial sales  and  extension  of  business. 

As  to  those  classed  as  usable,  even 
private  business  depends  on  them 
largely  and  almost  exclusively  for  the 
development  of  good  will,  with  its 
indirect  sales  value.  It  would  seem 
that  a  street  railway  must  make  even 
a  larger  use  of  them  in  this  way.  But 
it  certainly  is  true  that  the  so-called 
salesforce  are  only  collectors,  factory 
workmen  and  delivery  men,  all  in  one. 
They  contribute  to  future  sales  just 
what  these  factors  do  and  no  more. 
They  are  not  salesmen  in  any  true 
sense  of  the  word,  and  from  the  very 
nature  of  their  duties  and  the  busi- 
ness itself  they  never  can  be. 

Bus  operation  viewed  as  an  exten- 
sion of  plant  and  service  for  the 
purpose  of  building  up  receipts  and 
profits  has  received  much  considera- 
tion and  probably  deserves  more.  No 
new  business  was  ever  developed  intentionally  by  its 
enemies,  and  the  bus  will  be  no  exception. 

Special  sales  certainly  form  a  limited  field  in  this 
business.  The  efforts  named  above,  excursions,  etc.,  are 
about  all  that  have  been  tried.  Tickets,  tokens,  com- 
mutation books  and  weekly  tickets  are  not  properly 
bargain  sales,  because  they  can  be  bought  at  any  time. 
They  are  rather  quantity  sales.  Excursions  are  about 
the  only  real  bargains  offered,  and  their  value  seems 
to  be  a  moot  question. 

To  get  right  down  to  brass  tacks  on  this  advertising 
business,  just  what  can  advertising  do  to  increase  rid- 


American  Tribune 

Price  reductions,  saving  money  or  making  money                  8  19 

Quality,  value  or  usefulness  of  article                                  46  31 

Location  of  business  and  description  of  stock                         7  53 

Curiosity                                                                      0  I 

Sentiment                                                                          3  0 

General  discussion                                                              1  0 

Historical  and  imitative                                                       I  0 

Self-improvement                                                               6  0 

ing?    An  examination  of  the  advertising  of  the  South 

Bend  Tribune  of  Nov.  5  and  of  fifty-four  pages  of  the 
American  Magazine  for  November  showed  that  the  ad- 
vertising appeal  was  made  as  above. 


Not  Do  and  All  the 
Unless 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


987 


There  were  two  public  utility  ads  among  the  above. 
The  classifications  were  not  sharply  drawn  as  given. 
Most  ads  included  two  or  more  of  the  above  and  were 
classified  on  the  apparently  predominating  appeal. 

If  the  proper  use  of  advertising  is  to  create  a  desire 
and  tell  where  it  can  be  gratified,  street  railways  surely 
could  get  no  benefit  in  the  latter  respect  from  advertis- 
ing. All  we  can  do  is  to  seek  to  create  a  desire  for 
.something  that  only  we  can  provide.  Since  our  product 
is  an  intermediary  service,  it  does  not  seem  possible 
to  create  a  desire  for  it  directly.  People  will  no  longer 
ride  street  cars  for  the  sake  of  the  ride.  The  desire 
created  must  therefore  be  in  something  else,  in  the 
gratifying  of  which  our  service  is  a  necessary  or 
valuable  element.  If  you  can  increase  the  show-going 
desire,  or  the  picnic,  or  the  carnival,  or  the  visiting,  or 
the  shopping,  or  baseball  or  football,  or  numerous 
others,  you  will  indirectly  increase  the  riding. 

But  nearly  all  these  are  separate  commercial  enter- 
prises already  widely  advertised  under  highly-paid  and 
competent  specialists.  What  could  street  car  advertis- 
ing add  to  this?  Practically,  if  it  could  add  anything, 
the  company  could  derive  additional  revenue  from  what 
it  could  do. 

Advertising  of  service  is  certainly  limited  because 
the  only  effectual  advertising  is  the  service  itself.  Serv- 
ice is  soon  standardized  and  is  well  known.  A  few 
short  notices  are  all  that  are  necessary  for  new  or 
changed  service.  We  may  advertise  the  quality  of  our 
service  without  accomplishing  a  thing  that  the  service 
itself  will  not  accomplish.  Our  patrons  patronize  us 
from  one  to  four  times  a  day.  Our  service  will  do  what 
any  amount  of  advertising  will  not  do,  and  all  the  ad- 
vertising in  the  world  will  be  ineffectual  unless  our 
service  sustains  the  advertising. 

How  does  commercial  advertising  attract  business? 
One  important  way  is  through  the  price.  Can  we  cut 
the  price?  Or  will  we  advertise  that  tomorrow  a  street 
car  ride  may  be  bought  for  5  cents?  Another  is  through 
the  quality,  value  or  usefulness  of  the  article.  Are 
these  factors  in  street  railway  business  attractive  in 
themselves?  Another  is  mere  location  and  description. 
How  can  we  use  that? 

Conclusions 

To  what  extent  can  this  salesmanship  idea  be  adopted 
practically?  , 

There  is  sometimes  a  very  narrow  margin  between 
success  and  failure.  A  little  bigger  income,  a  little 
smaller  outgo,  a  little  larger  effort  turns  failure  into 
success.  Commercial  and  other  history  must  be  full  of 
instances  of  organizations  and  individuals  that  have 
fallen  just  short  of  success. 

I  believe  that  90  per  cent  or  more  of  what  we  have 
done  has  been  well  done,  and  that  operation  from  the 
standpoint  of  sales  would  have  made  not  a  single  change 
in  these  efforts.  It  is  only  in  the  other  10  per  cent 
that  the  errors,  and  the  possibilities,  lie.  If  it  be 
granted  that  all  we  have  done  has  been  done  from  the 
viewpoint  of  operation,  it  is  still  true  that  90  per  cent  of 
this  has  been  good  from  the  standpoint  of  sales.  It 
surely  must  be  so  in  any  business  that  has  been  able 
to  exist  for  twenty  years. 

There  should  be  a  change  in  the  point  of  view,  so 
as  to  make  the  most  of  this  other  10  per  cent.  It  is 
very  doubtful  if  any  material  change  can  be  made  in 
the  actual  working  viewpoint  of  the  operating  heads. 
You  may  get  an  apparent  change,  acquiescence  that 


sales  must  be  considered,  but  down  in  their  hearts  these 
men  will  all  believe  they  have  always  had  this  point 
of  view  and  will  see  nothing  more  that  they  can  do. 
There  isn't  one  of  them  that  won't  really  hoot  at  the 
idea  that  they  have  ever  had  any  other  viewpoint. 

Therefore  it  seems  to  me  that  a  special  department 
must  look  after  this  feature.  It  must  see  the  pas- 
senger's point  of  view  and  force  consideration  of  that 
point  of  view.  Such  a  department  must  be  independent 
of  the  operating  departments,  and  it  might  just  as 
well  face  at  the  outset  the  fact  that  some  of  its  pro- 
posals will  be  nullified  by  the  operating  departments. 
This  is  exactly  the  experience  of  sales  departments  in 
manufacturing  enterprises. 

It  seems  fairly  obvious  that  the  very  nature  of  the 
street  railway  business  precludes  the  use  of  some  of  the 
soundest  methods  of  increasing  revenue  in  private  busi- 
ness. The  conditions  due  to  public  control  alone  limit 
the  activities  of  the  industry.  There  may  be  a  place 
in  the  industry  for  a  sales  organization,  but  just  where 
it  is  and  what  it  can  accomplish  are  not  very  clear.  All 
this  discussion  should  bear  some  fruit,  but  it  is  cer- 
tainly important  to  have  in  mind  the  very  limited  field 
of  possible  efforts,  and  not  fool  ourselves  by  expecting 
that  a  sales  department  will  demonstrate  all  we  have 
done  to  be  utterly  wrong,  turn  our  methods  topsy- 
turvy, and  build  up  in  a  day  a  rejuvenated  business. 


Auto  Safety  Circular 

AT^HE  accompanying  circular,  entitled  "To  the  Man  at 
JL  the  Wheel,"  was  got  out  in  April,  1920,  by  the 
Binghamton  Railway.  It  was  drafted  by  H.  H.  Sneck, 
claim  agent  of  the  company,  but  was  sent  out  under  the 
name  of  the  Binghamton  Underwriters'  Association,  as 
indicated  on  the  circular.    A  copy  was  sent  to  every 


automobile  owner  in  Broome  County,  New  York.  Copies 
of  the  circular  were  also  left  in  garages  and  given  to 
dealers  of  automobile  accessories,  etc. 

Whether  due  to  the  circular  or  not,  there  has  been  a 
large  reduction  in  accidents  on  the  Binghamton  Rail- 
way, namely,  40  per  cent  from  April,  1920,  to  April, 
1921. 

The  company  plans  to  send  out  the  same  circular 
again  very  shortly. 


To  the  Man  at  the  Wheel 

A  Few  Hints  to  Avoid  Accidents  With  Trolley  Cars 

DON'T  pull  away  from  curb  in  front  of  trolley  car. 
DON'T  try  to  pass  between  standing  vehicle  and  moving- 
trolley  car. 

DON'T  follow  car  too  closely  as  motorman  may  have  to 
stop  on  short  notice. 

DON'T  cut  in  sharply  in  front  of  moving  trolley  car. 

DON'T  stop  suddenly  on  track  in  front  of  car. 

DON'T  pass  standing  trolley  car  while  said  car  is  dis- 
charging or  receiving  passengers. 

DON'T  cross  tracks  unless  you  are  sure  you  are  right. 

DON'T  park  auto  near  tracks. 

DON'T  pass  auto  on  wrong  side  of  car ;  there  may  be 
another  car  coming  in  an  opposite  direction. 

REMEMBER  trolley  cars  cannot  turn  out  for  you. 

HELP  the  insurance  man  to  keep  down  your  premiums, 
by  doing  your  bit.  It  is  estimated  that  90  per  cent 
of  the  collisions  between  automobiles  and  street 
cars  result  from  the  negligence  of  careless  auto- 
mobile drivers. 

BINGHAMTON  UNDERWRITERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

By  William  H.  Hecox,  President. 


Safety  Circular  from  Binghamton 


988 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23- 


Electrification  in  Holland 
and  Switzerland 

Two  Advance  Reports  to  Be  Presented  at  the  International 
Railway  Congress  in  Rome  Next  Year  Give  Interesting 
Facts  Regarding  Conversion  to  Electrical 
Operation 

THE  bulletin  of  the  International  Railway  Associa- 
tion for  October,  1921,  just  issued,  contains  two  of 
the  advance  papers  on  the  question  of  electrification  of 
steam  railroads  to  be  presented  at  the  meeting  of  that 
association  in  Rome  next  April.  One  of  these  is  pre- 
sented by  J.  J.  W.  Van  Loenen  Martinet,  chief  of  elec- 
tric traction,  Netherlands  State  Railways,  and  relates 
to  the  situation  in  Holland  and  Great  Britain.  The 
other  is  on  Switzerland  and  has  been  prepared  by  Dr. 
E.  Huber,  Ing.  Dipl.,  permanent  consulting  engineer  to 
the  general  management  of  the  Swiss  Federal  Railways 
and  acting  chief  engineer  for  the  electrification. 

Mr.  Martinet's  discussion  of  the  Holland  electrifica- 
tion gives  the  reasons  for  the  recommendations  by  this 
commission  of  a  standard  of  1,500  volts  direct  current 
in  its  report  of  last  February.    Among  these  reasons 


Map  of  Switzerland  Showing  the  Electrified  Lines  and  Those 
Soon  to  Be  Electrified  of  the  Federal  Railway  System 

was  the  fact  that  the  country  is  a  compact  one  so  that 
the  distances  that  energy  has  to  be  transmitted  are  not 
great,  the  grades  are  light,  there  are  many  telephone 
and  telegraph  circuits  close  to  the  right-of-way  so  that 
it  is  desirable  to  reduce  the  chance  of  interference,  and 
it  is  expected  that  multiple-unit  operation  will  be  very 
extensively  used. 

The  first  line  to  be  electrically  equipped  is  a  well- 
traveled  route  between  Amsterdam  and  Rotterdam  by 
way  of  Haarlem  and  The  Hague.  In  1908  the  govern- 
ment electrified  a  section  of  track  with  the  single-phase 
system  between  Rotterdam,  The  Hague  and  Schevenin- 
gen,  a  route  length  of  35  km.  (22  miles)  and  the  part 
of  this  line  between  The  Hague  and  Rotterdam  is  on  the 
direct  line  of  the  proposed  direct-current  electrification. 
It  has  been  decided,  however,  to  electrify  another  route 
between  these  two  cities  by  direct  current  so  as  to  avoid, 
for  the  present,  disturbing  the  existing  single-phase  sys- 
tem. The  current  supply  will  be  by  the  overhead  system 
as  third  rail  construction  has  never  been  in  favor  in 
Holland,  owing  to  the  numerous  private  crossings  and 
the  bad  soil  which  necessitates  very  frequent  work  on 
the  track.  With  an  overhead  construction  there  would 
have  been  some  advantages  in  favor  of  voltage  higher 


than  1,500,  but  the  committee  kept  to  that  figure  in 
view  of  the  expected  great  use  of  multiple-unit  trains. 
It  is  expected  that  the  2,000  amp.  required  at  a  speed1 
of  100  km.  (62  miles)  per  hour  for  the  heaviest  trains 
can  easily  be  collected  by  two  pantographs. 

Mr.  Martinet  also  gives  the  particulars  of  existing 
and  proposed  English  electrifications  and  sees  a  number 
of  points  of  likeness  in  the  problems  of  the  two  coun- 
tries, such  as  in  the  general  tendency  to  centralize  the 
generation  of  electrical  energy,  and  he  sees  for  the  con- 
ditions as  they  exist  in  England  and  in  Holland  no> 
reason  for  the  selection  of  the  single-phase  system. 

Situation  in  Switzerland 

In  his  article  on  Swiss  electrification  Dr.  Huber  de- 
clares that  on  the  Swiss  electric  railways  practically 
every  system  of  current  supply,  voltage,  transmission,, 
locomotives  and  general  arrangement  can  be  found.  The- 
question  of  electrification  is  a  very  important  one  in 
Switzerland  as  that  country  has  practically  no  coal  but 
possesses  considerable  amounts  of  water  power.  In 
1912  a  commission  appointed  for  the  study  of  electric- 
traction  reported  in  favor  of  the  single-phase  system. 
This  system  has  been  employed  on  the  recent  important 
electrification  and  it  has  been  found  satisfactory.  Where 
care  is  used  to  provide  compensation,  the  effect  of  in- 
duction on  both  telephone  and  telegraph  wires  is  slight 
if  they  are  at  a  distance  of  5  meters  (16  ft.)  from  the 
track,  but  all  other  protective  devices  are  superfluous  if" 
the  low-tension  currents  are  carried  in  lead  sheathecL 
cables. 

Statistics  have  been  carefully  kept  of  the  consump- 
tion of  energy  by  trains  and  it  has  been  found  to 
vary  between  43.1  and  61.7  watt-hours  per  ton-kilo- 
meter, depending  on  the  season,  the  extent  to  which, 
electric  heaters  are  used  and  other  conditions.  The  ac- 
companying map  of  existing  Swiss  trunk-line  electrifi- 
cations is  contained  in  the  report,  and  extensive  statis- 
tics are  given  of  the  various  installations. 


Tribute  to  Business  Papers 

ONTARIO'S  Lieutenant-Governor,  Col.  Henry  Cock- 
shutt,  president  of  the  Cockshutt  Plough  Company, 
director  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal,  etc.,  in  an  address  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Canadian  National  News- 
papers and  Periodicals  Association  at  the  King  Edward 
Hotel,  Toronto,  on  Thursday,  Nov.  10,  said  in  part : 

I  believe  that  the  influence  of  the  business  press  will  be 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  re-establishing  business 
conditions  in  Canada  on  a  safe  and  sane  basis.  I  make  a 
distinction  between  the  business  newspapers  and  the  daily 
press  because  I  believe  that  your  papers — the  business  news- 
papers of  Canada — exert  a  greater  influence  than  the  daily 
press  because  of  the  greater  confidence  your  readers  have 
in  them.  People  read  the  daily  newspapers  to  satisfy  their 
desire  for  excitement  or  interest  or  entertainment.  But 
this  is  not  the  case  with  the  business  newspaper.  Business 
men  need  the  service  of  these  papers  in  the  conduct  of 
their  everyday  business  life. 

In  these  days  when  there  is  disorganization,  dissension, 
disruption  in  all  walks,  business,  politics  and  religion,  there 
is  a  great  place  for  the  business  paper  to  bring  out  more 
complete  information,  to  assist  in  making  us  all  realize  we 
must  work  for  a  common  cause,  the  upbuilding  of  our 
country.  The  business  men  of  this  country  need  your  assist- 
ance. They  are  looking  to  you  for  information  and  advice, 
and  are  expecting  it.  On  your  shoulders  therefore,  per- 
haps more  than  on  the  shoulders  of  any  other  single  agency, 
rests  the  obligation  to  meet  the  needs  of  these  trying  days, 
with  a  sane  and  sound  presentation  of  the  case  as  it  exists 
at  the  present  time,  a  presentation  free  from  private  bias, 
or  the  desire  to  serve  a  popular  demand. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


989 


Valuation  and  Renewal  Fund 
Considered 

Evidence  Presented  by  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines  in  Fare 
Case  Recently  Closed  Shows  Valuation  and  Renewal 
Allowance  to  Be  Low 

IN  CONNECTION  with  its  case  to  show  cause  to  the 
Illinois  Commerce  Commission  why  the  rate  of  fare 
should  not  be  reduced,  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines  had  A. 
L.  Drum,  consulting  engineer,  Chicago,  present  evidence 
■-as  to  the  value  of  the  property  and  as  to  the  adequacy 
or  inadequacy  of  the  present  8  per  cent  maintenance, 
renewal  and  depreciation  fund.  One  of  the  conten- 
tions of  the  city  in  trying  to  bring  about  a  reduction 
in  fare  was  that  decreased  cost  of  labor  and  materials 
was  one  of  the  reasons  for  a  reduction  in  the  rate  of 
fare.  Mr.  Drum  therefore  endeavored  to  show  the  effect 
of  the  changing  material  and  labor  prices  upon  the  value 
■of  the  property.  He  submitted  new  valuations  based 
•on  an  inventory  made  during  the  early  part  of  1919  to 
"which  was  applied  prices  to  show  the  cost  to  reproduce 
new  as  of  Oct.  1,  1921,  and  the  average  cost  for  the 
eight-year  period  1914  to  1921.  These  values  were  com- 
pared with  those  he  had  determined  in  connection  with 
the  Surface  Lines'  case  for  an  increase  in  fare  in  1919. 
This  comparison  of  reproduction  values  follows: 

As  of  April  I,  1919   $200,371,689 

As  of  April  1,  1920   247,246,637 

Average  for  six-year  period,  1914-1919   164,812,046 

Average  for  seven-year  period,  191 4—  1 920   176,588,415 

As  of  Oct.  I,  1921   220,468,432 

Average  for  eight-year  period,  191 4—  1 92 1   181,615,357 

From  this  it  is  seen  that  the  cost  to  reproduce  new 
as  of  Oct.  1,  1921,  is  more  than  110  per  cent  of  the  cost 
to  reproduce  new  April  1,  1919,  and  that  the  average 
cost  for  the  seven-year  period  ending  in  1920  is  88  per 
cent  of  the  1919  figure,  while  the  average  for  the  eight- 


MAINTENANCE,  RENEWALS  AND  DEPRECIATION  (VARIOUS 
COMPANIES)  SHOWN  IN  PER  CENT  OF  GROSS  REVENUE 
OR  OF  OPERATING  REVENUE 

Company                             Period  Covered  Per  Cent 

Chicago  Surface  Lines                                        Year    1-31-21  20.57  (a) 

Year    1-31-21  20.78  (b) 

Year    1-31-20  19.01  (a) 

Year    1-31-19  18.98  (a) 

Year    1-31-18  17.23  (a) 

New  York  Railways  (Surface)                             Year   6-30-21  33.92  (b) 

Year   6-30-20  35.45  (b) 

Year   6-30-19  25.38  (b) 

St.  Louis                                                         Nine  months,  1921  23.13  (b) 

.  Year    1920  22.51  (b) 

Kansas  City                                                    Year   6-30-21  19.16 

Year   6-30-20  20.98 

Year   6-30-19  21.92 

Milwaukee                                                       1-1-20  to  date  20.00  (6) 

Philadelphia  (4  per  cent  Rapid  Transit)                 Year    1920  14.42  (c) 

Year    1919  13.31  (c) 

Year    1918  12.16  (e) 

Boston  (8  per  cent  Rapid  Transit)                         Year    1920  21.51  (6) 

Year    1919  27.45  (b) 

Third  Avenue  (New  York)                                  Year   6-30-20  25.00  (b) 

Year   6-30-19  21.18  (6) 

Year   6-30-18  20.00  (6) 

Twin  City  (Minneapolis)                                    Year    1920  21.71  (o) 

Year    1919  20.51  (6) 

Year    1918  18.86  (6) 

Buffalo                                                        Year   1920  22.89  (a) 

8an  Francisco  (Municipal)                                  Year   6-30-21  17.60  (6) 

Year   6-30-20  24.60  (6) 

Year   6-30-19  22.72  (6) 

Year   6-30-18  20.01  (b) 

Cleveland  ,                         Year    1920  26.29  (a) 

Year    1919  23.41  (a) 

(a)  Per  cent  of  gross  revenue. 
(6)  Per  cent  of  operating  revenue. 

•(c)  Per  cent  of  gross  revenue,  but  not  including  power  maintenance. 


year  period  ending  1921  is  90.46  per  cent  of  the  1919 
figure. 

The  city  contended  that  because  a  reserve  of  $11,254,- 
215  had  accumulated  in  the  renewal  and  depreciation 
fund  in  thirteen  years,  the  rate  of  8  per  cent  of  the 
gross  earnings  specified  in  the  ordinance  should  be  re- 
duced, as  one  factor  in  making  possible  a  reduction  in 
the  8-cent  fare.  To  answer  this  contention,  an  exhibit 
was  submitted  by  Mr.  Drum  giving  a  comparison  of  the 
actual  charges  and  credits  to  the  fund  for  the  ten-year 
period  Feb.  1,  1911,  to  Jan.  31,  1921,  with  what  these 

TABLE  OF  ANNUAL  RENEWAL  AND  DEPRECIATION  ALLOWANCES 
PRESCRIBED  BY  PUBLIC  AUTHORITIES 

Annual 
Depreciation 
and  Renewal 
State                       Railway  Charge  in 
Commission                  Company  per  Cent  Computed  on 
Arkansas            Fort  Smith  Light  &  Trac- 
tion Co  

Connecticut  Company. . . . 
San  Diego  Electric  Railway 


Connecticut.  . 
California. . .  . 

District  of 
Columbia. . . 

District  of 
Columbia.. . 

District  of 
Columbia.. . 


4.5 
5.0 
3.79 


Value  of  property. 
Investment. 

Reproduction  cost  of  prop- 
erty. 


Georgia. 


Illinois. 
Illinois. 


Illinois. 

IMillOIS  . 


Illinois. 
Illinois. 


Illinois  

Massachusetts 
Massachusetts 


Capital  Traction  Company 
East  Washington  Heights  ( 

Traction  Co  \ 

Washington  &  Maryland 

Railway  


Georgia  Railway  &  Power 
Co  

Chicago  Railways  Com- 
pany, et  al  

Springfield  Consolidated 
Railway  

Quincy  Railway  

Tri-City  Railway  of  Ill- 
inois   

East  St.  Louis  Railway  

Rockford  City  Traction 
Company  

Chicago,  North  Shore  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad. 


4 .  0     On  cost  of  property. 

2.86  On  way  and  structures. 

3.87  On  equipment. 

3 .  34  |  On  structures  cost  new. 

4.25  f  On  power  plant  equipment 
J     cost  new. 


2.5 


Estimated  value  of  prop- 
erty. 


8.0     Of  gross  receipts. 

3.56  Cost  of  property  new. 
2.43    Cost  of  property  new. 


2.14 
2.24 


Cost  of  property  new. 
Value  of  property. 


Holyoke  Street  Railway. 
Bay  State  Street  Railway. 


I 


4.11    Value  of  property. 
1 2 . 00    Of  gross  for  first  five  years. 
1 4 .  00    Of  gross  for  second  five  yrs . 
3.5     Of  cost  of  additions. 
5.00]  Rolling  stock— in  vestment . 
6 . 00  /  Roadway  investment. 
2.64    Based  half  on  straight  line 
and  half  on  4  per  cent 
sinking  fund. 

Massachusetts   Springfield  Street  Railway      2.67    Based  half  on  straight  line 

and  half  on  4  per  cent 
sinking  fund. 


Michigan. 
Missouri . 
Missouri . 


Montana. . 
Nebraska. 


Houghton  County  Trac- 
tion Company  

Kansas  City,  Clay  County 
&  St.  Joseph  Ry  

United  Railways  Com- 
pany, St.  Louis  

Helena  Light  &  Railway.. . 

Omaha  &  Lincoln  Railway 
&  Light  Company  


2 .  0     Cash  investment. 

3 .  0     Value  of  the  property. 


10 

3.0 


7.0 


New  York.. . . 

New  York. . .  . 

Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania. 
Pennsylvania. 
Tennessee. . . . 

Tennessee .... 


Texas  

Wisconsin. . . . 
Wisconsin 

Wisconsin. . . , 


New  York  &  Stamford  Ry.  2.0 
New  York  State  Railways.      3 .  0 


Erie  &  Buffalo  &  Lake  Erie 
Traction  Company  

Wilkes-Barre  Railway. . . . 

Valley  Railways  Company 

Nashville  Railway  &  Light 
Company  

Memphis  Street  Railway. . 

Houston  Electrio  Company 
Rockford  &  Interurban  Ry. 
Milwaukee  Electric  Rail-  ( 

way  &  Light  Company. .  \ 
Waupaca  Electric  Light  & 

Railway  Company  


Of  gross  receipts. 
Physical  property. 

Entire  outstanding  liabil- 
ities. 

Track,  roadway  and  elec- 
trical construction. 

Rolling  stock,  power  house 
and  other  equipment. 


3 . 49  Value  of  the  property. 
3 . 00  Value  of  the  property. 
1.57    Value  of  the  property. 


3.5 
3.0 

4.5 
3.0 


Of  depreciable  property. 
Of  cost  of  renewable  prop- 
erty. 

Value  of  the  property, 
j .  u     Value  of  the  property. 
2 . 82    Value  of  the  property. 
3.0-4.0  Depreciable  property. 

3.0     Of  cost  new. 
2.0     Actual  cost  of  depreciable 
tangible  property. 


should  have  been  on  a  higher  estimated  basis  which  it 
was  held  should  have  been  allowed.  Mr.  Drum  was  of 
the  opinion  that  a  combined  maintenance  and  renewal 
fund  based  on  9  per  cent  of  the  gross  earnings  for 
maintenance  and  2i  per  cent  of  the  capital  value  of  the 
property  for  renewals  would  be  necessary  to  maintain 
and  renew  the  property  of  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines 
and  provide  sufficient  funds  to  replace  the  physical  prop- 
erty during  an  estimated  actual  service  life  under  Chi- 
cago conditions  of  thirty-two  and  one-half  years.  This 
basis  would  permit  of  expending  approximately  60  per 
cent  of  the  annual  renewal  appropriation  during  the 


990 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


first  ten  years  of  the  life  of  the  property.  The  compari- 
son under  the  actual  and  estimated  bases  follows: 


Actual 


Average  capital  for  ten  years   $145,398,665 

Average  annual  gross  earnings   35,963,865 

Total  maintenance  expenditures  ten  years   34,659,289 

Maintenance,  per  cent  of  gross   9.  64  per  cent 

Total  appropriation  for  renewals,  ten  years   27,994,299 

Renewals,  per  cent  of  capital   1  .  93  per  cent 

Renewals,  per  cent  of  gross   7.  78  per  cent 

Total  appropriation  for  maintenance  and  re- 
newals  62,653,588 

Total  appropriation  for  maintenance  and  re- 
newals, plus  interest  and  salvage   67,456,525 

Total  ac  ual  renewal  expenditures     $21,543,0211  SA?n?^in 

Total  actual  maintenance  exp....        34,659,289  /  30,iui,J'u 

Balance  in  fund  at  end  of  ten  years   II  ,254,2 1  5 

Shortage  of  maintenance  and  renewal  appropri- 
ations and  funds   3,372,371 


Estimated 

Basis 
$145,398,665 
35,963,865 
32,367,479 
9 .  00  per  cent 
36,349,666 
2.50  per  cent 
10.11  per  cent 

68,717,145 

70,828,897 
56,202,310 
14,626,587 


Mr.  Drum  said  that  when  the  ordinance  was  drawn, 
in  1907,  few  valuations  of  electric  railway  properties  had 
been  established  and  that  the  rate  of  8  per  cent  decided 
upon  then  as  the  basis  for  computing  renewals  and  de- 
preciation had  since  been  found  to  be  low,  in  the  light 
of  later  experience  and  study.  As  evidence  of  this,  he 
introduced  the  accompanying  table  showing  the  annual 
renewal  and  depreciation  allowances  prescribed  by  vari- 
ous state  commissions.  Further  evidence  was  submitted 
in  the  form  of  a  table,  also  reproduced,  comparing  the 
amount  set  aside  for  maintenance  renewals  and  depreci- 
ation by  various  companies  and  shown  in  per  cent  of 
gross  or  operating  revenue. 


Prosperity  a  Co-operative  Game 

The  Mutual  Interests  of  the  Public  and  the  Public  Utility 
Should  Be  Capitalized  by  Utility  Managements 
to  Establish  Certain  Facts 

By  H.  M.  Atkinson 

Chairman  of  the  Board, 
Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

WHEN  the  public  understands  the  reasons  for  the 
present  unfortunate  condition  of  public  utilities  it 
will  insist  on  businesslike  regulation  of  them.  The 
public  has  most  at  stake  in  this  problem  and  is  losing 
most  at  present.  The  trouble  is  mainly  due  to  lack  of 
co-operation  between  labor,  rate  regulation  and  capital, 
as  shown  by  the  following  facts : 

Labor  has  an  idea  that  it  can  produce  less  and  get 
more.  So  production  has  diminished  and  there  is  both 
less  for  wages  and  less  employment. 

The  public,  acting  through  its  rate  regulating  com- 
missions, has  not  recognized  that  as  prices  rise  the 
amount  of  service  that  a  dollar  will  produce  diminishes, 
nor  that  in  fixing  rates  the  decreased  purchasing  power 
of  the  dollar  must  be  equalized  in  the  fair  valuation  of 
the  property  or  in  the  reasonable  rate  of  return  or  in 
both.  Capital,  as  a  consequence,  is  difficult  to  obtain  for 
investment  in  public  utilities  when  it  does  not  feel 
assured  of  a  permanent  return  and  adequate  security. 

The  conditions  just  described  have  largely  destroyed 
the  purchasing  power  of  the  public  utilities  (including 
steam  railroads)  and  is  one  of  the  main  causes  of  the 
present  business  depression.  Purchasing  power  is  a 
vital  factor  in  general  prosperity.  The  purchasing 
power  of  the  public  utilities  (including  steam  railroads") 
is  the  backbone  of  the  country's  business,  because  their 
estimated  invested  capital  totals  about  thirty-five  billion 
dollars,  and  it  is  also  estimated  that  one  person  in  every 
eight  of  the  entire  population  of  the  country  is  directly 
dependent  upon  them  for  a  living.  They  have  been 
impoverished  and  have  no  purchasing  power  because 
they  have  been  paying  higher  wages  per  man  for  less 
production  per  man  and  have  been  forced  to  furnish 


service  at  inadequate  rates.  They  are  now  unable  to 
raise  sufficient  new  capital  to  make  necessary  improve- 
ments. Prosperity  is  a  co-operative  game  and  can  only 
be  realized  when  there  is  team  play. 

Neither  the  public  nor  public  service  commissions 
are  alone  responsible  for  the  present  unfortunate  con- 
dition of  public  utilities ;  owners  and  managers  of  public 
utilities  must  share  the  blame.  Fundamental  mistakes 
of  owners  and  managers  of  certain  classes  of  public 
utilities  have  contributed  a  large  part  of  the  present 
troubles. 

The  5-cent  street  car  fare,  regardless  of  length  of 
ride  and  difference  in  cost  of  haul,  and  the  flat  dollar 
rate  for  gas,  regardless  of  conditions  and  difference  in 
cost  under  which  service  is  rendered,  have  contributed 
greatly  to  the  present  difficult  position  of  public  utili- 
ties. After  a  generation  of  these  flat  rates  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  public  mind  became  crystallized  on  the 
idea  that  a  flat  5-cent  street  car  fare  and  a  flat  dollar 
rate  for  gas  were  fixtures,  and  that  any  higher  rates  are 
exorbitant  and  an  imposition  on  the  public.  These  flat 
rates  became  a  part  of  the  family  budget  and  car  fare 
came  to  mean  5  cents,  neither  more  nor  less.  The  fact 
that  the  public  has  benefited  enormously  for  a  genera- 
tion from  these  flat  rates  makes  the  problem  of  chang- 
ing them  all  the  harder.  This  difficulty  is  enhanced  by 
the  fact  that  the  public  feels  that  it  is  asked  to  part 
with  a  valuable  vested  right  which  was  inaugurated  by 
the  companies  themselves. 

The  public  and  the  public  utilities  do  not  understand 
each  other's  point  of  view  and  have  been  viewing  each 
other's  problems  in  a  different  state  of  mind.  They  have 
been  looking  at  each  other  through  glasses  of  different 
colors.  Mutual  understanding  and  confidence  must  be 
the  basis  for  mutual  co-operation.  This  statement  is 
not  intended  to  suggest  a  new  idea,  but  a  new  spirit 
which  gets  away  from  partisan  company  argument  and 
substitutes  facts  which  affect  the  public  interest.  The 
public  must  be  convinced  of  what  is  to  its  own  true  in- 
terest from  a  cold  business  standpoint  and  it  must  not 
be  stated  as  a  company  matter.  As  evidence  of  a  new 
spirit  a  frank  admission  of  past  mistakes  by  the  public 
utilities  would  tend  to  create  a  more  friendly  and 
co-operative  frame  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  public, 
which  at  last  is  the  controlling  factor.  This  new  spirit 
based  on  hope,  optimism  and  confidence  in  the  fairness 
of  the  public  should  avoid  controversy  and  stick  to  facts. 
A  few  such  facts  may  be  expressed  as  follows : 

Prove  to  the  public  that  in  its  own  interest  it  must 
provide  rates  sufficient  to  preserve  its  own  service. 

Prove  to  the  public  that  a  losing  business  will  die 
and  cease  to  exist. 

Prove  to  the  public  that  it  suffers  most  from  rates 
that  merely  keep  the  utilities  "one  lap  ahead  of  the 
sheriff." 

Prove  to  the  public  that  it  is  dependent  on  the  service 
of  the  utilities — transportation,  electric  power  and 
light,  and  gas — in  every  phase  of  its  life,  even  for  the 
existence  of  human  life  itself. 

Prove  to  the  public  that  the  war  has  changed  all  con- 
ditions permanently  and  adjustment  to  these  new  world 
conditions  is  necessary. 

Prove  to  the  public  that  prices  and  costs  are  now 
fairly  stabilized  on  the  basis  of  at  least  75  per  cent  over 
pre-war  costs  and  prices. 

The  public  will  finally  admit  that  two  and  two  cannot 
make  five,  and  that  it  has  lost  heavily  by  adhering  to- 
that  idea. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


991 


Chile  Starts  on  Extensive  Electrification  Program 

First  Zone  of  State  Railways,  Comprising  144  Miles,  Which  Includes  Valparaiso-Santiago  Line,  to  Be 
Completely  Electrified  at  3,000  Volts  Direct  Current — Equipment  Includes  Thirty-nine 

Locomotives  and  Five  Substations 


CHILE,  the  South  American  republic  covering  an 
area  of  nearly  290,000  sq.mi.  and  with  a  popula- 
tion of  nearly  4,000,000,  has  decided  to  electrify 
her  steam  railroads,  and,  moreover,  to  electrify  them 
according  to  American  standards.  The  $7,000,000  con- 
tract for  the  electrification  of  the  first  zone  of  the 
Chilean  State  Railways  was  awarded  to  the  Westing- 
house  International  Company,  through  its  South  Amer- 
ican representatives,  Errazuriz  Simpson  &  Company. 
This  project  is  the  most  important  railroad  electrifica- 
tion undertaking  in  1921  and  is  the  largest  single  order 
for  electrification  equipment  ever  received  in  this 
country. 

Chile  is  a  long,  narrow  country  located  between  the 
Andes  Mountains  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  on  the  west 
coast  of  South  America.  It  is  2,629  miles  long  north 
and  south  and  varies  from  100  to  250  miles  in  width. 
The  extreme  length  of  the  country  results  in  a  variety 


The  Santiago  Station  of  the  Chilean  State  Railways 


of  climatic  conditions.  However,  in  the  section  to  be 
electrified  at  present  the  variation  between  maximum 
and  minimum  temperatures  conforms  to  normal  condi- 
tions existing  in  the  temperate  zones.  The  maximum 
temperature  in  the  shade  in  the  summer  is  from  100  to 
110  deg.  F.  and  in  the  sun  as  high  as  130  to  140  deg. 
F.,  while  in  the  winter  the  temperature  goes  as  low  as 
20  to  25  deg.  F.  The  rainfall  in  this  district  is  rela- 
tively small.  In  the  central  and  southern  sections  the 
Andes  receive  a  heavy  snowfall,  making  extensive  water 
power  available. 

The  chief  products  of  Chile  are  minerals,  agricul- 
tural products,  live  stock  and  lumber.  Many  of  these 
products  are  exported  and  move  north  over  the  rail- 
roads. In  return,  coal,  merchandise,  machinery  and 
food  products  are  imported  and  form  the  bulk  of  the 
southward  railroad  movement.  In  Chile  the  nitrate 
deposits  in  the  north  rank  first  among  the  mineral 
deposits  and  supply  75  per  cent  of  the  exports.  In  1913 
3,000,000  tons  were  exported.  Coal  deposits  rank 
second  to  those  of  nitrates,  but  in  spite  of  this  fact 
there  is  not  enough  coal  to  supply  the  country,  and 


therefore  considerable  coal  is  imported.  The  present 
output  of  coal  in  Chile  is  1,800,000  tons  annually,  while 
the  consumption  is  about  2,700,000  tons,  of  which  the 
railroads  use  550,000  tons.  Copper  is  also  a  very  impor- 
tant mineral  deposit  as  between  4  and  5  per  cent  of  the 
world's  supply  comes  from  Chile.  Iron,  sulphur  and 
gold  are  also  mined.  Other  industries  in  Chile  are 
farming  and  some  fishing.  The  variety  of  climate  per- 
mits the  growth  of  a  great  diversity  of  food  plants. 
What  Chile  exports  to  the  United  States  is  as  varied 
in  character  as  its  imports  from  this  country. 

In  import  trade  to  Chile  the  United  States  now  ranks 
first  and  Great  Britain  second.  Published  statistics  of 
Chilean  foreign  trade  for  1920  show  imports  of  about 
$166,100,000  and  exports  of  about  $284,300,000,  a  total 
of  about  $450,400,000.  The  total  wealth  of  Chile  is 
estimated  at  $3,200,000  or  almost  $800  per  capita. 

The  total  railroad  mileage  of  Chile  is  5,200,  of  which 


The  Train  Shed  op  the  Santiago  Station 


about  30  per  cent  is  privately  owned,  mainly  for  min- 
ing and  industrial  enterprises.  The  remainder  of  the 
mileage  is  divided  into  two  general  classes,  the  broad- 
gage  lines  and  the  narrow-gage  lines.  The  former  lines, 
with  numerous  branches,  extend  south  from  Valparaiso 
by  way  of  Santiago  to  Paerto  Montt,  while  the  latter 
comprise  most  of  the  northern  roads,  with  a  few  branch 
lines  in  the  south. 

The  conditions  that  arose  during  the  World  War 
brought  very  forcefully  to  the  attention  of  the  railroad 
management  the  necessity  for  electrifying  the  broad- 
gage  lines,  especially  the  Valparaiso-Santiago  line  with 
the  Los  Andes  branch,  where  traffic  was  rapidly  ap- 
proaching the  track  capacity.  In  addition,  fuel  costs 
were  excessive,  while  the  almost  limitless  water  power 
was  going  to  waste. 

In  1918  a  commission  was  appointed  to  study  the 
problem  of  electrifying  the  broad-gage  lines.  This  com- 
mission, consisting  of  Rafel  S.  Edwards  and  Ricardo  P. 
Solar,  made  a  careful  analysis  of  electrifications  all  over 
the  world.  As  a  result  of  the  possible  economies  shown 
in  the  report  of  this  commission,  it  was  decided  imme- 


-992 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


diately  to  electrify  the  broad-gage  lines  beginning  with 
the  Valparaiso-Santiago  and  Los  Andes  branches,  or  the 
first  zone.  A  loan  of  $10,500,000  for  this  purpose  was 
authorized  and  was  heavily  oversubscribed  a  few  hours 
after  offering. 

The  contract  as  awarded  to  the  Westinghouse  com- 
pany includes  all  substation,  distribution  and  overhead 
equipment.    It  will  also  do  the  construction  work. 

The  initial  electrification  will  include  116  miles  from 
Valparaiso  to  Santiago  and  28  miles  from  Las  Vegas 
to  Los  Andes,  as  shown  on  the  accompanying  map.  Los 
Andes  is  the  terminus  of  the  Transandine  Railroad,  a 
narrow-gage  line,  while  the  narrow-gage  Longitudinal 
Railroad  runs  north  from  Calera,  an  important  station 
on  the  line  to  be  electrified.  The  maximum  grade  in 
this  zone  is  2.25  per  cent,  encountered  in  approaching 
La  Cumbre  (the  Summit)  from  the  West.  The  line 
contains  a  relatively  large  number  of  curves,  the  maxi- 
mum being  10  deg.  The  track  gage  is  5  ft.  6  in.  There 
are  six  tunnels  on  the  main  line.  The  longest,  at  San 
Pedro,  is  1,600  ft.  in  length.  Three  of  the  tunnels  are 
located  on  the  most  severe  grade  approaching  the 
Summit. 

The  3,000-volt,  direct-current  system  was  decided 
upon  as  best  suited  to  the  conditions.  Hydro-electric 
power  will  be  generated  at  the  Maitines  Station  of  the 
Chilean  Electric  Tramway  &  Light  Company,  Ltd.  This 
station  is  already  under  construction  and  will  utilize 
the  waters  of  the  Rio  Colorado.  The  station  will  con- 
tain three  8,125-kva.  generators  and  will  have  an  ulti- 
mate capacity  of  30,000  kw.  This  power,  which  is  to 
be  generated  at  50  cycles,  three-phase,  will  be  trans- 
mitted 37  miles  to  Santiago  by  a  twin-circuit,  110,000- 
volt  transmission  line.  This  transmission  line  will  be 
connected  at  Santiago  with  the  system  fed  by  the 
Florida  hydro-electric  station  and  the  Mapocho  steam 
station,  both  of  which  were  constructed  some  years  ago 
by  the  Germans  and  were  designed  for  50-cycle,  three- 
phase  power.  The  total  capacity  of  the  three  generat- 
ing systems  at  present  proposed  will  be,  when  completed, 
.approximately  120,000  kw. 


ce\\pe  Transandine  Railroad 
^  {(Harrow  gage) 


Two  Steam  Locomotives  Are  Now  Required  for  a  Thirteen-Car 
Passenger  Train 

The  power  supply  will  be  distributed  by  five  sub- 
stations designed  to  handle  a  train  movement  that  is 
approximately  50  per  cent  greater  than  that  existing 
in  1917,  with  a  further  provision  for  tripling  the  1917 
traffic  demands  if  necessary.  Each  station  will  initially 
contain  two  2,000-kw.  motor-generator  sets,  each  set 
consisting  of  a  2,800-hp.  driving  motor  and  two  1,000- 
kw.,  1,500-volt  generators  connected  in  series.  These 
sets  will  be  designed  to  withstand  a  200  per  cent  over- 
load for  five  minutes  without  injury,  and  as  an  addi- 
tional safeguard  a  flash  suppressor  will  be  included. 

Substations  Nos.  1  and  5  will  receive  power  at 
12,000  volts,  while  Nos.  2,  3  and  4  will  receive  power  at 
44,000  volts.  Transformers  and  switching  equipment 
will  be  of  the  latest  design.  Developed-power  indicat- 
ing and  limiting  equipment  will  be  installed. 

Thirty-nine  electric  locomotives  are  required  for  the 
initial  electrification.  This  number  includes  six  express 
passenger,  eleven  local  passenger,  fifteen  road  freight 
and  seven  switching  locomotives.  The  main  points  of 
interest  about. these  locomotives  are  given  in  the  follow- 
ing table : 


Weight  Length 
Tons       Ft.  In. 


Type  of 
Locomotive 
Express  passenger    127    58  ft.  6  in 
Local  passenger . . 
Road  freight. . . . 


Switching   65  40ft. 


80  40  ft.  6  in.  0-4-0 
1  13    49ft.  lOin.  0-6-0 


Wheel  No.  of  Total 

Arrangement  Motors  HP. 
2-6-0  —  0-6-2  6 
0-4-0  4 
0-6-0  6 
0-4-0  —  0-4-0  4 


2,250 
1,500 
1,680 
480 


Max. 
Speed 
M.p.h. 
62} 
56 
40 
34 


The  express  passenger  and  road  freight  locomotives 
will  be  equipped  with  regenerative  braking.  The  service 
in  which  the  local  passenger  locomotives  will  operate 
will  not  require  this  feature. 

The  fact  that  this  contract  includes  only  the  first 
railroad  zone  indicates  the  magnitude  of  the  electrifica- 
tion project  which  Chile  has  undertaken. 


Map  op  the  First  Zone  of  the  Chilean  State  Railways  to  Bb  Electrified 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


993 


0)1 
L 

1) 
W 


130 
120 
10 


o  I 

0)  1 

Si 
oJ 

u  90 
2  80 

0) 

f  7.0 

^  60 

g  50 
> 

<  40 

<D 

t  30 
o 

t  20 
t  10 

Q- 

0 


w 

rS 
jf 

f 
| 

i 

\ 
\ 

i — i- 

-V- 

t 

/ 

\ 

\ 

/ 

\ 

< 
\ 

/ 

\ 

1  — 
t 

'January  tojm 

I 

7 

\ 

\ 
\ 

h 

\ 

\ 

\  \ 

c — 1 

\ 

\ 

V 

l 

1  , 

\ 

\ 

\ 
\ 

\ 

Entering 
—  t^'-K 

"t~i 
1 1 

— \ 

1 

i 

/ 

Leaving-*  " 

i 
i 

T 

L — 

\ 

— X 

~\Resignedj 
Discharqaa\~?r 

1     1  1 

 1 

h 

/ 

1913 


1914 


1915 


1916 


1917 


1918 


1919 


1920 


1921 


Platform  Turnover  Statistics 


CAUSES  OF  MEN  LEAVING  SERVICE  1913  to  1921  (Oct.  31,  Inclusive) 

1919  1920 
3  0 


Resigned 

Allowed  to  resign  

On  account  of  accident .  . . 

Dissatisfied  

Family  trouble  

Leaving  city  

Could  not  learn  

Mental  trouble  

Other  work  

On  account  of  reprimand . 

Sickness  

Students  

While  suspended  

Work  too  hard  ■  ■  .  ■  _  

Did  not  like  extra  list  

While  on  leave  of  absence . 

No  reason  given  

Did  not  like  work  

Tired  of  the  work  

By  request  

Miscellaneous  

Dropped 
For  not  reporting  for  work 
For  working  elsewhere .... 


1913 

9 


1914    1915     1916    1917  1918 


1921  Total 


22 
7 
65 
31 


7 
2 
2 
4 
46 
17 


230  101 


24 
104 

25 


Deceased . 


Discharged 

Too  many  accidents  

Collision  with  car  

Convicted  of  felony  

Carrying  concealed  weapons  

Drinking  

Failing  to  register  fares  

Fighting  

Insolence  to  company  official  

Incompetent  

Oversleeping  

Reckless  running  

Rear  end  collisions  

Tampering  with  fare  boxes  

Trouble  with  passengers  

Unsatisfactory  references  

Refusing  to  work  

Concealing  past  record  

Good  of  the  service  

Services  unsatisfactory  

Missing  fares  

Insubordination  

Not  reporting  accidents  

Falsifying  day  card   . 

False  report  against  supt  

Splitting  switch  

Turning  car  over  

Assaulting  passenger  

Discourtesy  to  passengers  

Holding  out  receipts  

Losing  control  of  car  

Operating  car  without  authority  

Running  into  bumper  

Unsatisfactory  collections  

Moraly  unfit  

Cutting  cable  

Smoking  on  duty  

Tampering  with  register  

Selling  badge  

Carrying  persons  free  

Allowing  conductor  to  run  car  

Running  away  from  passengers  

Gambling  on  company's  premises  

Not  turning  in  lost  articles  

Falsifying  application  

Derailing  car  

Abusing  equipment  

Total  leaving  


20 
85 
3 
1 
1 


5 
28 


31 
82 
1 

3 
30 
18 

1 

28 

'  '  i 
5 
7 

II 
7 

15 
3 
6 

12 
I 
I 
I 
1 

2 
2 
4 
I 
1 
1 
1 
1 
I 
1 

2 


9 
45 
11 

I 

"3 
33 
2 


23 
8 

17 


5 
21 


44 

62 
2 


19 
4 

13 
2 
2 
3 
9 
3 
6 

10 


1 

2 
15 

4 
43 
12 

102 

'  9 
44 


7 
27 
1 


24 
5 


5 
27 
2 

39 
36 
4 
1 

12 

9 
2 
2 


1 

2 
7 
53 
7 


5 
1 

14 
1 

32 
13 

'70 

\i 

18 


18 

2 


5 
1 

34 
1 

22 
4 

88 
1 

9 
14 

2 


21 
31 
1 

10 
12 

2 

3 


15 
7 
47 
7 
191 
21 
4 

293 
7 
61 
366 
33 
10 
2 
23 
265 
25 
4 
I 
1 

211 
14 

24 


5 
27 
2 

'64 
154 
6 
4 
19 
83 
12 
17 

"3 
3 

21 
3 

37 


3 

17 
4 

140 


148 
1 

37 
104 
17 

3 

'  i2 
90 
4 
2 


105 
21 

23 


8 
39 
2 

23 
32 
10 
1 

8 
48 
13 
17 
1 
3 
5 

18 

52 
16 

'  '  3 
3 


64 
2 
45 


345 
2 

64 
103 

14 


10 


92 
13 

16 


20 
I 

'  io 

14 
4 
4 
4 

32 
5 
6 
I 

5 
3 

12 
I 
3 

19 

3 
7 


5 
1 

14 
4 

21 
3 
1 

109 
3 
27 
24 

6 


SUMMARY 


Resigned .  . . 
Dropped . . . 
Deceased  . 
Discharged 


988 

586 

544 

361 

254 

2,129 

1,064 

952 

363 

1,026 

559 

629 

344 

264 

2,499 

847 

933 

348 

1,906 

1,91 1 

1,966 

1,875 

1,856 

1,820 

1,809 

1,786 

1,764 

1913 

1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

1919 

1920 

1921 

644 

285 

275 

204 

189 

1,385 

586 

666 

219 

20 

31 

29 

20 

6 

225 

126 

105 

25 

9 

17 

7 

14 

24 

23 

16 

II 

315 

253 

233 

123 

'  '  59 

497 

329 

165 

108 

Another  "Human  Nature  Study" 

FINDING  the  right  men  to  operate  the  cars  and,  when 
found,  keeping  them  contented  are  railway  operat- 
ing problems  to  which  the  Market  Street  Railway,  San 
Francisco,  has  given  careful  attention  for  years.  So 
much  importance  has  been  placed  on  the  human  element 
that  the  records  of  every  resignation  or  discharge  are 
analyzed  and  company  committees  having  charge  of 
"social  service"  are  constantly  planning  means  of 
decreasing  labor  turnover  and  doing  all  that  a  company 
can  properly  do  to  keep  the  men  contented.  When  the 
data  on  page  731  of  the  Oct.  22,  1921,  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  appeared  the  Market  Street  Railway  sup- 
plied corresponding  figures  covering  its  system,  which 
are  given  in  the  accompanying  table  and  chart. 

The  table  shows  that,  except  for  the  strike  period, 
the  company  has  been  approaching  a  normal  labor  turn- 

 over  of  25  to  30  per  cent  of  the  total 

employed.  This  is  believed  to  be  an 
exceptionally  good  record.  At  least 
in  part  it  is  ascribed  to  the  effective- 
ness of  the  company's  social  service 
activities.  This  work  is  carefully 
planned  to  avoid  coddling  or  pater- 
nalism. 

Its  total  cost  is  about  $75,000 
to  $100,000  a  year  and  includes  hos- 
pital service,  pension  system,  insur- 
ance up  to  $1,000  per  employee,  club 
rooms,  low  interest  loans  and,  in  gen- 
eral, regard  for  the  personal  welfare 
of  employees.  The  men  pay  50  cents 
per  month  hospital  fee,  but  the  total 
collections  fall  short  of  the  hospital 
expense  by  $25,000  per  annum,  which 
the  company  pays. 

The  fact  that  the  lowest  labor 
turnover  occurred  just  previous  to 
the  big  strike  of  1917  is  cited  by  the 
company  as  proof  of  the  fact  that  the 
strike  was  incited  wholly  by  outside 
influences.  The  company  does  not 
recognize  any  union  and  the  carmen 
are  not  organized  as  a  union.  Al- 
though San  Francisco  is  a  labor  union 
stronghold,  attempts  that  have  sev- 
eral times  been  made  to  organize  the 
platform  men  have  been  without  any 
effect. 

An  interesting  feature  of  this  com- 
pany's employment  record  is  that  the 
United  States  Army  alpha  tests  have 
not  proved  very  helpful  in  selecting 
platform  men.  After  using  these 
tests  for  a  year  they  were  discon- 
tinued largely  because  some  of  the 
applicants  who  turned  out  to  be  the 
very  best  platform  men  did  so  after 
failing  utterly  in  the  alpha  tests.  The 
company's  records  also  show  that  the 
best  men  often  break  in  slowly.  Seven 
days,  the  average  length  of  time  for 
breaking  in,  sometimes  has  to  be 
lengthened  to  fifteen  days  for  the  in- 
struction of  men  who  ultimately  turn 
out  to  be  the  best  motormen  or  con- 
ductors. 


18 
7 


5 
14 
3 
I 

15 
1 1 
2 
I 
I 

16 
5 
8 
I 

6 
I 

6 
I 

7 
I 


50 
25 
229 
34 
605 
109 
13 
1,486 
14 
252 
822 
124 
16 
2 
75 
546 
36 
7 
4 
2 

515 
72 

121 


38 
188 
10 
1 

258 
434 
30 
14 
95 
241 
46 
97 
5 
20 
26 
79 
27 
172 
81 
4 
36 
38 
2 
1 
I 
I 

4 
19 
19 
10 

7 

4 

I 

I 

4 
8 
2 
I 

4 

7 
9 
13 


994 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


Paving  Brick  Varieties  Simplified 

Number  of  Type  Has  Been  Reduced  from  Sixty-six  to 
Eleven  Made  in  Four  Standard  Sizes  — 
Electric  Railway  Types  Have  Been 
Classified  as  Specials 

THE  final  conference  on  the  elimination  of  the  excess 
varieties  of  paving  brick  was  held  in  Washington 
on  Nov.  15  under  the  auspices  of  the  Department  of 
Commerce.  A  preliminary  conference  had  been  held  on 
Aug.  30.  Those  in  attendance  at  the  recent  conference 
were  the  representatives  of  more  than  forty  manufac- 
turers, as  well  as  many  public  works  officials  and  engi- 
neers representing  all  interested  engineering  societies 
and  users  of  paving  brick. 

The  National  Paving  Brick  Manufacturers'  Asso- 
ciation presented  a  report  of  a  variety  survey  in  the 
vitrified  paving  brick  industry.  This  report,  covering 
a  period  of  eight  years,  represented  statistics  gathered 
from  90  per  cent  of  the  plants  in  the  United  States 


5  500, 


1921 
To  Aug.lst 

Percentage  or  Total  Shipments  Formed  by  Each  of  the 
Five  Groups  or  Classifications 

which  produced  paving  brick.  After  discussing  each 
variety  of  brick  in  great  detail,  the  conference  decided 
to  eliminate  all  but  eleven  of  the  sixty-six  varieties 
tabulated  in  the  report.  There  have  been  sixty-six  differ- 
ent sizes  more  or  less  current  since  1914,  which  are 
divided  into  five  major  groups  as  follows:  Plain  wire- 
cut  brick  (vertical  fiber  lugless),  repressed-lug  brick, 
vertical-fiber  lug  brick,  wire-cut  lug  brick  and  special 
brick.  The  latter  group  has  been  divided  into  the 
following  classes :  (a)  Wire-cut  lug  Hillside  brick,  (b) 
repressed-lug  Hillside  brick,  (c)  electric  railway  track 
brick,  (d)  miscellaneous  special  brick. 

The  chart  reproduced  herewith  indicates  a  steady  fall 
from  favor  of  the  repressed-lug  brick  and  a  rapid  gain 
for  the  plain  wire-cut  brick.  It  will  also  be  noted  that 
all  varieties  of  special  brick,  including  electric  railway 
track  brick,  have  never  exceeded  3  per  cent  of  the  total 
of  all  kinds  shipped  annually.  Today  the  percentage 
of  electric  railway  brick  is  about  91  per  cent  of  all 
types  of  special  brick  and  about  1  per  cent  of  all  brick 
made,  which  indicates  the  relative  unimportance  from 
the  production  standpoint  of  these  latter  types.  Electric 
railway  specials  are  those  sometimes  called  "nose," 
"hump,"  "flangeway,"  and  "stretcher"  brick,  being  used 
at  the  gage  lines  only  to  form  a  groove  or  flangeway 
for  the  wheel  flanges. 

The  conference  eliminated  all  such  special  bricks  from 


the  standard  list  and  retained  only  the  special  type 
known  as  "Hillside,"  which  is  coming  into  extensive 
use  on  heavy  grades  to  provide  a  better  foothold  for 
horses.  This  size  has  been  retained  since  in  recent 
years  over  95  per  cent  of  the  eight  varieties  of  electric 
railway  track  brick  used  have  been  of  the  3  x  4  x  8£-in. 
size.  Manufacturers  will  continue  to  supply  these  special 
bricks  as  heretofore,  but  at  a  small  premium  over  the 
standard  sizes,  and  it  will  be  possible  for  years  to  come 
to  obtain  by  special  order  any  of  the  eliminated  odd 
sizes  which  may  be  needed  for  repairs.  In  the  past 
the  extra  cost  of  special  sizes  has  been  loaded  on  to 
the  buyers  generally,  but  now  it  will  be  properly 
assessed  against  those  who  find  it  necessary  to  depart 
from  the  standard. 

The  standard  sizes  henceforth  to  be  carried  are: 


Width 
3h  in. 
Zi 
3i 
31 


Depth 
4  in. 

4 

31 
3 


Length 
8i  in. 


8£ 


Varieties 
6 
2 
2 
1 


A  permissible  variation  in  length,  width  and  depth 
was  decided  upon  as  follows:  i  in.  in  width  or  depth 
and  i  in.  in  length. 

The  American  Electric  Railway  Engineering  Associa- 
tion was  represented  at  the  conference  by  Francis 
Tingley  of  the  way  committee,  who  was  designated  by 
President  C.  S.  Kimball. 


Street  Cars  Crossing  the  Delaware 

PRIMARILY  for  the  accommodation  of  traffic  that 
may  be  considered  as  local,  a  suspension  bridge  is 
about  to  be  constructed  over  the  Delaware  River  con- 
necting Philadelphia  and  Camden.  This  will  be  of 
national  interest  and  importance,  since  one  of  its  chief 
purposes  will  be  to  accommodate  vehicular  traffic,  and 
taken  in  connection  with  the  projected  vehicular  tun- 
nel, which  will  more  closely  unite  points  in  New  Jersey 
with  New  York,  the  Delaware  River  bridge  will  form 
a  very  important  link  in  the  system  of  highways  from 
the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic. 

The  eastern  bank  of  ,the  Delaware  is  to  Philadelphia 
what  eastern  New  Jersey  is  to  New  York  City,  for 
many  thousands  of  persons  who  are  employed  in  Phila- 
delphia reside  in  Camden  and  its  suburbs.  Camden's 
thrifty  factories  also  draw  many  workers  from  .Phila- 
delphia who  go  back  and  forth  daily.  As  the  only 
facilities  for  the  heavy  daily  movement  are  the  ferries, 
it  is  evident  that  the  Delaware  bridge  is  needed. 

The  Philadelphia-Camden  structure  will  have,  accord- 
ing to  the  engineers,  the  longest  span  of  any  bridge  in 
the  world,  its  length  being  1,750  ft.  center  to  center  of 
the  main  piers.  It  has  an  overhead  clearance  about 
high  water  of  about  135  ft.  and  in  the  center  of  the 
span  an  unobstructed  opening  for  navigation  is  pro- 
vided over  a  width  of  800  ft.  The  bridge  and  ap- 
proaches will  provide  a  single  deck  carrying  an  unob- 
structed roadway  for  six  lines  of  vehicles,  two  lines  of 
surface  cars,  and  two  lines  for  rapid  transit,  with  two 
10-ft.  sidewalks  above  the  roadway. 

The  total  cost  of  the  structure  and  approaches  is 
estimated  at  $28,871,000,  which  is  divided  as  follows: 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  $8,221,000 ;  State  of  New  Jersey, 
$12,429,000,  and  city  of  Philadelphia,  $8,221,000.  The 
financing  of  the  project  has  been  arranged  and  it  is 
expected  that  the  work  will  be  rushed  to  completion  and 
will  be  finished  by  1926,  in  time  for  the  sesquicenten- 
nial  exposition  which  is  in  contemplation. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


995 


Reasonable  Value  Defined 

Court  of  Appeals  of  the  District  of  Columbia  Holds  that 
Changes  in  Values  by  the  World  War  Must  Be 
Considered  in  Rate  Cases 

THE  obligation  of  a  commission  in  a  rate  case  to  take 
into  consideration  changes  in  reproduction  cost  due 
to  war  inflation  is  upheld  in  a  case  recently  decided  by 
the  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The 
case  was  that  of  the  Potomac  Electric  Power  Company 
and  the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Company  vs.  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
The  valuation  in  question  was  that  of  the  Potomac 
Electric  Company,  which  the  commission  valued  in  1914 
at  $10,250,000,  and  when  it  was  called  upon  in  1917  to 
fix  rates  on  the  value  of  the  property  it  took  this  figure 
and  added  to  it  only  the  actual  cost  of  the  subsequent 
additions.  The  company  contended  that  the  commission 
should  also  have  taken  into  consideration  in  this  rate 
valuation  the  increased  value  of  the  property,  owing  to 
the  general  sharp  rise  in  general  prices,  but  this  the 
commission  declined  to  do.  The  lower  court  decided  in 
favor  of  the  commission,  but  the  company  appealed. 
In  the  meantime,  the  difference  between  the  lower  and 
the  higher  rate  per  kilowatt-hour  has  been  impounded 
by  the  court  and  amounts  at  the  present  time  to  approxi- 
mately $2,500,000. 

Court  Remands  Case 

The  Court  of  Appeals  in  its  opinion  first  decides  it 
has  jurisdiction  under  the  act  creating  the  public  utili- 
ties commission.  It  then  considers  the  question  of  valu- 
ation and  says,  in  part: 

The  principal  object  of  valuation,  of  course,  is  to  provide 
a  rate  base,  and  the  statute  clearly  contemplates  that  the 
commission  shall  ascertain  the  value  as  of  "the  time  of  said 
valuation,"  and  not  as  of  some  anterior  date.  It  has  been 
ruled  many  times  that  there  must  be  a  fair  return  to  a 
public  utility  "upon  the  reasonable  value  of  the  property 
at  the  time  it  is  being  used  for  the  public,"  San  Diego  Land 
and  Town  Co.  vs  National  City,  174  U.  S.  739,  757;  Min- 
nesota Rate  Cases,  230  U.  S.  352,  434.  In  the  present  case 
the  commission,  in  effect,  declined  to  find  the  present  value 
of  the  property  because  not  satisfied  as  to  how  long  exist- 
ing conditions  would  continue.  In  assuming  this  position 
the  commission  must  have  overlooked  paragraph  9  of  the 
statute,  authorizing  it  at  any  time,  of  its  own  initiative,  to 
make  a  revaluation  of  the  property  of  any  public  utility.  In 
our  view,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  commission  to  have  con- 
sidered and  given  due  weight  to  the  evidence  as  to  the  then 
value  of  the  property.  As  conditions  changed  and  values 
were  substantially  affected,  it  would  have  been  the  further 
duty  of  the  commission  to  exercise  its  discretion  and  revalue 
the  property.  The  conditions  existing  were  worldwide,  and 
while  their  duration  and  future  effect  were  problematical 
there  was  no  immediate  prospect  of  a  return  to  normal 
conditions.  It  may  be  suggested;  although  the  point  was 
not  raised  in  the  opinion  of  the  commission,  that  practical 
difficulties  would  have  been  encountered -  in  an  attempt  to 
ascertain  the  increase  in'  value  of  the  property  between 
July  1,  1914,  and  December  31,  1916.  But  there  was  sub- 
stantial evidence  before  the  commission  as' to  the  rise  in 
values  and  a  brief  investigation  would  have  enabled  the 
commission  to  determine,  with  substantial  accuracy,  how 
much  in  fairness  should  be  added  to  the  earlier  valuation. 

Much  reliance  was  placed  by  the  trial  court  upon  the 
language  of  former  Justice  Hughes,  as  referee,  in  the  case 
of  the  Brooklyn  Borough  Gas  Company  vs.  Public  Service 
Commission  (July  24,  1918),  but  we  find  nothing  in  the 
report,  as  we  read  it,  justifying  the  action  of  the  commis- 
sion here  in  entirely  ignoring  the  evidence  as  to  value  at 
the  time  the  finding  actually  was  made.  The  contention 
there  was  that  the  rates  should  be  based  "upon  a  plant 
valuation  simply  representing  a  hypothetical  cost  of  repro- 
duction" at  a  time  of  abnormally  high  prices  due  to  excep- 
tional conditions.  There  is  a  very  substantial  difference  be- 
tween considering  the  present  cost  of  reproduction  as  one 
of  the  essential  and  important  elements  in  the  determination 


of  present  value  and  the  acceptance,  as  conclusive  evidence 
of  such  value,  of  mere  expert  estimates  of  present  cost  of 
reproduction. 

We  are  of  the  view,  therefore,  that  the  present  cost  of 
reproduction  is  one  of  the  necessary  elements  for  considera- 
tion, along  with  other  relevant  facts,  in  fixing  the  fair  and 
reasonable  value  of  the  property.  The  law  deals  with  exist- 
ing conditions  and  not  with  abstract  theories. 

In  consequence  the  court  held  that  the  case  must  be  re- 
versed and  the  cause  remanded  for  further  proceedings. 

A  dissenting  opinion  was  filed  by  Chief  Justice 
Smyth,  who  declares,  first,  that  the  opinion  just  quoted 
should  have  instructed  the  commission  as  to  how  much 
should  be  added  to  the  value  of  the  property.  He  con- 
tinues that  in  his  opinion  nothing  more  should  be  added, 
for  the  following  reasons,  among  others :  The  increase 
was  not  due  to  any  investment  by  the  company,  but 
purely  from  the  World  War;  such  a  conclusion  is  more 
in  harmony  with  the  Brooklyn  and  Minnesota  rate  cases ; 
finally,  he  considers  the  valuation  allowed  a  liberal  one. 


Wage  Reductions  Average  15  per  Cent 

WAGE  reductions  during  August  and  September  of 
from  3  per  cent  to  50  per  cent  and  averaging  14.9 
per  cent  for  over  400,000  additional  workers  in  259 
industrial  groups  and  establishments  are  shown  in  a 
special  digest  made  by  the  J.  L.  Jacobs  Company,  engi- 
neers and  statisticians,  of  Chicago.  This  average  of 
14.9  per  cent  compares  with  the  average  reduction  of 
15.9  per  cent  in  wages  for  over  4,540,000  employees  in 
693  other  establishments  and  group  industries  through- 
out the  country  reported  during  the  first  seven  months. 

Among  the  public  utilities,  wage  reductions  were  re- 
ported during  the  last  sixty  days  by  forty-five  addi- 
tional organizations,  most  of  the  reductions  being  for 
street   railway    employees.     Of   these  organizations, 


WAGE  REDUCTIONS  BY  INDUSTRIES  FROM  JANUARY 
TO  OCTOBER,  1921 


Number 

Estimated 

Average 

Establish- 

Number 

Wage 

ments  or 

Employees 

Reduction, 

Groups 

Affected 

per  Cent 

Cotton  manufacturing  

23 

213,000 

25.7 

Hosiery  and  underwear  manufacturing . . . 

8 

7,000 

24.3 

7 

14,500 

23.6 

Woolen  manufacturing  

26 

100,200 

20.0 

Car  building  and  repairing  

12 

15,600 

19.6 

99* 

|4!  2,800 

19.2 

24 

128,500 

19.0 

Packing  industry  

1* 

200,000 

19.0 

Boot  and  shoe  manufacturing  

30 

49,000 

18.8 

Building  materials  manufacturing  

16 

6,800 

18.3 

6 

75,500 

18.2 

Rubber  goods  manufacturing  

13 

12,500 

17.9 

Silk  manufacturing  

22 

30,500 

17.5 

Building  trades  (cities)  

176 

477,500 

17.3 

54 

108,000 

16.8 

Men's  clothing  manufacturing  

7* 

100,000 

16.7 

Paper  manufacturing  

22 

24,000 

16.6 

152 

137,000 

15.0 

Shipbuilding  

20 

109,300 

14.8 

Express  employees  (railroads)  

1* 

50,000 

12.5 

1* 

1,829,000 

12  5 

Miscellaneous  

232 

847,000 

17  0 

Totals  and  average  

952 

4,947,700 

16.0 

*  Entire  group  of  industry  included. 


twelve  reduced  wages  5  per  cent  to  9  per  cent,  twenty 
reported  reductions  of  from  10  per  cent  to  14  per  cent, 
eight  from  15  per  cent  to  19  per  cent  and  five  from  20 
per  cent  to  24  per  cent.  Some  of  the  larger  street  rail- 
ways reporting  reductions  were  in  New  York,  Brooklyn, 
Boston,  Denver,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Seattle, 
Omaha,  Topeka,  Council  Bluffs,  Mobile,  Ala.,  Fort 
Wayne,  and  Newark,  N.  J. 

A  tabulation  of  average  wage  reductions  by  indus- 
tries is  given  above. 


996 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


Subway  Construction  Proposed 
to  Aid  Unemployment 

Unification  of  London's  Transportation  Facilities  Outlined 
by  Lord  Ashfield,  in  Which  Planned  Subway  Extensions 
Would  Give  Work  to  20,000^-Government  Asked 
to  Guarantee  Interest  on  New  Capital 

LORD  ASHFIELD,  chairman  of  the  London  Traffic 
j  Combine,  has  outlined,  an  extensive  scheme  for 
unifying  London's  transportation  facilities  and  at  the 
same  time  helping  the  unemployment  problem.  He  esti- 
mates that  the  subway  extensions  planned  for  London 
will  take  two  years  to  complete  at  a  cost  of  £6,000,000. 
About  20,000  men  will  be  employed  who  will  receive 
from  70  to  75  per  cent  of  the  expenditure  as  wages. 
The  scheme  has  already  been  submitted  to  the  govern- 
ment in  connection  with  the  policy  under  which  the 
government  offers  to  guarantee  the  interest  on  capital 
issues,  amounting  in  all  to  £25,000,000,  to  be  devoted 
to  works  for  the  purpose  of  providing  employment  for 
British  labor. 

The  London  subways  have  made  these  proposals  to 
the  government: 

1.  The  government  to  guarantee  the  payment  of  in 
terest  on  the  new  capital  issue  to  the  subscribers,  so 
as  to  make  the  new  stock  a  gilt-edged  security,  and 
enable  the  company  to  obtain  the  money  required  at  a 
lower  rate  of  interest  than  it  would  otherwise  be  able. 

2.  The  company  to  give  an  undertaking  to  the  gov- 
ernment that  interest  on  the  new  issue  would  rank 
as  a  first  charge  on  the  net  earnings  of  the  underground 
combine,  and  thus  guarantee  the  government  against 
any  liability  in  respect  to  the  undertaking. 

3.  The  government  to  agree  to  pass  a  bill  in  the 
present  session  of  Parliament  prohibiting  other  peopk 
for  ten  years  from  placing  motor-omnibus  services  on 
the  roads  of  Greater  London  in  competition  with  the 
omnibuses  of  the  combine  (i.e.,  London  subways,  buses 
and  tramways,  which  are  administered  by  one  authority. 

Questioned  on  proposal  (3),  Lord  Ashfield  says  "The 
London  General  Omnibus  Company  operates  buses  on 
what  may  be  termed  a  yearly  tenure.  It  is  free  to 
anybody,  within  the  police  regulations,  to  bring  omni- 
buses into  service  in  London.  That  is  really  the  crux 
of  the  whole  position.  Unless  there  is  more  security 
given  to  the  company  so  that  it  may  be  able  to  earn 
money  upon  which  to  meet  the  additional  burden  which 
we  are  prepared  to  take,  it  will  be  quite  impossible  for 
us  to  commence  these  improvements." 

As  the  traffic  legislation  now  stands,  there  is  always 
the  possibility  of  small  concerns  putting  buses  into 
operation.  These  concerns,  as  Lord  Ashfield  puts  it, 
"run  their  buses  along  the  most  select  routes  at  the 
most  select  hours,  in  any  fashion  they  like,  solely  with 
the  purpose  of  seeing  how  much  they  can  make  out  of  it. 
They  take  no  part  in  the  transport  problem.  They 
leave  it  to  the  big  company  to  provide  services  which  are 
not  remunerative  and  take  to  themselves'  just  those 
services  which  offer  the  best  chance  of  making  a  living. 
They  come  in  feeling  sure  that  sooner  or  later  the  big 
company  must  buy  them  out.  It  is  not  only  the  buses 
which  are  harmed  by  this  system,  the  subways  and 
tramways  feel  it  too.  The  whole  London  transport 
system  could  be  very  easily  upset  by  the  introduction  of 
a  very  small  number  of  these  buses." 

The  London  Traffic  Combine  now  has  to  set  aside  cer- 
tain sums  of  money  in  order  to  cope  with  the  "pirates" 
which,  if  preventive  legislation  were  introduced,  could 


be  devoted  to  the  furtherance  of  their  schemes.  Such 
legislation  would  not,  of  course,  affect  those  motor- 
coach  concerns  that  run  services  over  long  distances 
between  London  and  other  towns.  Parliamentary 
powers  for  the  subway  extensions  are  possessed  by  the 
combine,  and  the  schemes  have  already  been  approved 
by  a  Parliamentary  committee,  which  is  urging  imme- 
diate government  action. 

At  a  full  meeting  of  London  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  held  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  unemployment  problem,  Lord  Ashfield  attended  and 
explained  the  proposals  outlined  above.  A  discussion 
ensued,  after  which  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted : 

"That  this  meeting  of  London  members  recognizes 
the  importance  of  proceeding  forthwith  with  the  works 
already  authorized  by  Parliament  for  the  improvement 
and  development  of  the  underground  railway  system, 
as  adding  to  the  traffic  facilities  of  London,  relieving 
the  present  congestion,  and,  more  especially  at  this  time, 
as  providing  employment  for  several  thousands  of  work- 
people. It,  therefore,  approves  in  general  the  proposals 
which  have  been  put  before  it  by  Lord  Ashfield  for  this 
purpose,  and  strongly  urges  upon  the  government  the 
need  for  taking  immediate  steps  to  investigate  them  on 
the  distinct  understanding  that  capital  and  interest  are 
properly  secured,  and  subject  to  the  tramway  under- 
takings of  the  various  local  authorities  affected  being 
protected." 

Can  Any  One  Equal  This  Record? 

ON  THE  seven  divisions  of  the  Louisville  &  Inter- 
urban  Railroad  1,440,000  cans  of  milk  have  been 
handled  in  the  last  three  years  with  the  loss  of  only  one 
5-gal.  can  and  with  no  claims  whatever.  An  average  of 
200,000  gal.  of  milk  is  handled  per  month,  with  an 
average  haul  of  about  15  miles  and  a  monthly  revenue 
of  approximately  $3,000.  The  general  claims  covering 
all  freight  handled  by  the  company  during  the  year  1920 
and  thus  far  in  1921  have  amounted  to  less  than  one- 
twentieth  of  1  per  cent  of  the  gross  revenue  from 
freight.  R.  H.  Wyatt,  general  superintendent,  is  cred- 
ited with  this  fine  showing. 


Waiting  Station  as  an  Advertisement 


Attractive  Waiting  Station 


THE  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  waiting  sta- 
tion which  was  built  by  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
and  donated  to  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway.  It  is 
located  near  the  Standard  Oil  plant  at  San  Pedro,  Cal. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


997 


Kentucky  Utility  Men  Get  Together 

■Great  Emphasis  Laid  on  Service  and  on  United  Effort  of  Utilities  to  Inform 
Public  and  to  Protect  Each  Other  in  Unfair  Legislation 
and  Court  Action 


UTILITY  men  of  Kentucky  gathered 
in  Louisville  on  the  evening  of 
Nov.  21  to  join  in  a  memorable  dinner 
and  party  as  the  guests  of  James  P. 
Barnes,  president  of  the  Louisville  Rail- 
way. This  was  given  at  Safety  Hall, 
a  unique  and  attractive  place  roughly 
finished  off  in  an  old  shop  building  to 
serve  as  the  meeting  place  of  the  em- 
ployees of  the  Louisville  Railway.  The 
turkey  dinner  was  prepared  and  served 
on  the  premises  by  employees.  This 
was  followed  by  a  program  of  enter- 
tainment by  trainmen  which  because  of 
its  originality  and  excellence  proved  to 
be  of  great  interest  to  the  106  guests. 
Mr.  Barnes  received  many  congratu- 
lations upon  the  spirit  with  which  the 
employees  entered  into  this  occasion. 
The  party  afforded  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity for  the  utility  operators  to  get 
better  acquainted  and  in  this  respect 
was  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the 
annual  convention  of  the  Kentucky 
Association  of  Public  Utilities  which 
convened  the  following  day  at  the  Seel- 
bach  Hotel. 

President  P.  S.  Pogue,  president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Louisville  Home 
Telephone  Company,  presided.  In  his 
address  he  urged  greater  attention  on 
the  part  of  utility  men  to  the  work  of 
informing  the  public  on  public  utility 
matters,  of  doing  the  utmost  to  give 
excellence  of  service  and  in  other 
respects  to  give  first  consideration  to 
matters  of  public  relations.  He  hoped 
that  the  association  might  be  made  a 
stronger  instrumentality  in  looking 
after  the  welfare  of  the  members  and 
suggested  that  it  be  made  a  clearing 
house  for  information  through  the  ap- 
pointment of  certain  committees  to 
which  questions  might  be  addressed  by 
the  member  companies.  He  also  urged 
the  re-establishment  of  the  association 
bulletin. 

A  United  Front  Needed 

Donald  McDonald,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Louisville  Gas 
&  Electric  Company,  prefaced  his  paper 
on  "The  Outlook  for  Power  and  Light 
Companies"  by  emphasizing  the  great 
importance  of  the  utility  business.  He 
said  that  measured  by  service  rendered, 
number  of  employees,  amount  of  capital 
invested  or  number  of  security  holders, 
it  was  the  largest  business  in  the  coun- 
try with  the  one  exception  of  farming. 
He  laid  great  stress  upon  the  need  for 
co-operation  among  utility  companies  in 
self -protection,  commenting  that  any 
adverse  decision  affecting  any  one  com- 
pany should  be  fought  by  all  utility  com- 
panies, for  any  unfair  decision  against 
one  would  affect  all  sooner  or  later.  He 
urged  that  steps  be  taken  to  inform  all 
employees  and  all  security  holders  of 
utilities,  as  well  as  those  of  manufac- 
turers serving  the  utility  companies,  of 
the  effect  that  attacks  upon  the  public 
utilities  have  on  them.  He  lamented 
the  fact  that  the  utility  companies 
seemed  to  be  lacking  in  the  herd  in- 
stinct to  present  a  united  front  to  pro- 
tect themselves,  and  thought  that  if  all 
persons  directly  or  indirectly  connected 
with  the  business  were  properly  in- 
formed a  very  formidable  support  of 
what  is  right  in  the  business  could  be 
mustered  upon  occasion. 

He  spoke  briefly  of  the  hardships 


brought  upon  the  companies  as  a  result 
of  war,  but  said  also  that  there  had 
been  gains  resulting  from  the  war.  The 
service  rendered  by  utilities  has  been 
proved  to  be  more  reliable  than  any 
other  necessity.  The  public  has  learned 
to  depend  confidently  upon  these 
services.  It  has  learned  to  use  them 
more  freely.  The  public  is  less  an- 
tagonistic and  the  desire  for  govern- 
ment management  has  largely  passed. 
The  increasing  use  of  the  utilities 
brings  to  the  fore  the  difficulty  of 
financing  extension  of  the  service.  He 
said,  however,  that  while  there  is  gen- 
eral difficulty  in  marketing  utility 
securities,  many  shrewd  people  are  tak- 
ing advantage  of  the  fears  of  others  for 
these  securities  and  buying  them  at  the 
present  low  prices,  feeling  certain  that 
the  business  is  sound  and  that  the  value 
of  these  securities  will  enhance. 

A  paper  on  the  outlook  for  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry  presented  by  Mr. 
Barnes  appears  elsewhere  in  abstract. 
Mr.  Barnes  was  followed  by  M.  F, 
Hosea,  treasurer  and  auditor  of  the  In- 
diana Telephone  Association,  who  dis- 
cussed the  outlook  in  the  telephone 
industry. 

Harry  Reid,  president  of  the  Inter- 
state Public  Service  Company,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  presided  at  the  luncheon, 
at  which  Martin  J.  Insull,  president  of 
the  Middle  West  Utilities  Company  and 
past  president  of  the  National  Electric 
Light  Association,  and  M.  H.  Ayles- 
worth,  executive  secretary  of  the  Na- 
tional Electric  Light  Association,  were 
the  speakers.  Mr.  Insull's  talk  was 
largely  directed  to  the  fundamental 
interest  which  the  public  has  in  the 
public  utilities  and  to  urging  the  utility 
men  to  take  advantage  of  every  possi- 
bility of  placing  these  facts  before  the 
public.  He  said  that  for  every  dollar 
the  utility  companies  invest  in  supply- 
ing their  services  the  public  spends  $2 
for  appliances,  so  that  it  has  an  even 
greater  investment  in  the  business  than 
do  the  utilities,  which  would  be  worth- 
less if  the  latter  ceased  to  function.  He 
referred  to  the  great  work  which  the 
utilities  are  doing  in  the  "back-to-the- 
farm  movement,"  believing  that  the  in- 
terurban,  the  telephone  and  electric 
light  are  rapidly  making  farm  life  more 
attractive  and  less  laborious.  He 
pointed  out  that  the  public  is  protected 
in  the  matter  of  rates  by  utilities  com- 
missions in  most  states,  or,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  a  commission,  by  the  business 
sense  of  the  utility  manager,  who  would 
only  naturally  reduce  rates  if  he  were 
making  more  than  he  was  justly  en- 
titled to,  because  this  would  be  simply 
sound  business  judgment.  Good  service 
is  the  basis  of  good  public  relations.  The 
public  only  thinks  of  the  service  when  it 
is  bad,  and  bad  service  is  synonymous 
with  bad  public  relations.  He  urged 
the  giving  of  good  service  and  of  letting 
the  public  know  that  it  is  getting  good 
service. 

In  connection  with  the  thought  of  edu- 
cating the  employees  as  one  effective 
means  of  improving  public  relations,  he 
urged  that  the  education  of  women  em- 
ployees should  not  be  overlooked.  They 
are  a  good  source  of  contact  with  the 
public,  particularly  with  the  feminine 
public,  and  they  should  be  properly 
informed  for  this  contact. 


Referring  to  the  personal  reward  for 
employment  in  the  utility  business,  Mr. 
Insull  said  that  this  was  less,  for  the 
brains  and  effort  required,  than  could 
be  secured  in  many  other  lines  of  busi- 
ness. A  high  rate  of  remuneration  can- 
not be  had  in  a  business  where  all  that 
is  allowed  is  a  fair  return  on  the  invest- 
ment. The  satisfaction  derived  from 
the  spirit  of  service  must  form  a  part 
of  the  remuneration,  and  if  one  cannot 
get  this  satisfaction  he  should  not  be 
in  the  utility  business. 

Mr.  Aylesworth  urged  the  utility  men 
to  have  faith  in  their  own  business  and 
to  get  out  and  tell  their  story  to  the 
public  and  cease  complaining.  Instead 
of  singing  "Rock  of  Ages"  we  should 
sing  "Revive  Us  Again"  and  "Bringing 
in  the  Sheaves."  We  must  tell  the 
story  of  the  utilities  and  keep  telling  it, 
so  that  people  will  be  so  thoroughly 
informed  on  utility  matters  that  no 
politician  will  dare  to  take  a  stand 
against  the  service  companies.  While 
realizing  the  value  of  the  holding  com- 
pany in  financial  and  engineering  mat- 
ters, Mr.  Aylesworth  took  a  very  em- 
phatic stand  against  foreign  manage- 
ment. 

Safety  Work  a  Common  Ground  for 
Executives  and  Employees 

At  the  afternoon  session  A.  Bliss 
McCrum,  secretary  of  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Association  of  West  Virginia,  pre- 
sented a  paper  dealing  with  the  func- 
tions of  a  public  utility  association  and 
also  treating  upon  the  inter-relations  of 
companies,  public  and  commissions.  A 
paper  on  "Public  Safety"  was  read  by 
George  H.  McClain,  manager  of  the 
Louisville  Safety  Council,  in  which  he 
laid  emphasis  on  the  necessity  for  the 
whole-hearted  support  of  the  chief 
executive  of  a  public  utility  if  its  acci- 
dent prevention  work  is  to  meet  with 
success  and  permanency.  He  was  con- 
vinced, also,  that  the  safety  work  and 
safety  organization  of  a  utility  com- 
pany afford  a  common  ground  for  the 
executives  and  employees  to  meet  on, 
such  as  cannot  be  gained  through  any 
other  avenue.  In  this  connection,  he 
praised  the  work  that  is  being  done  by 
the  Louisville  Railway,  saying  that  he 
had  never  had  the  pleasure  of  observ- 
ing a  more  congenial  and  thorough  un- 
derstanding between  the  men  and  the 
big  boss  than  exists  between  Mr. 
Barnes  and  his  employees,  and  that  this 
is  never  more  in  evidence  than  at  one 
of  their  safety  meetings. 

Richard  M.  Bean,  president  of  the 
Louisville  National  Bank,  spoke  on  the 
financial  outlook,  and  significant  among 
his  remarks  was  the  statement  that  he 
now  feels  just  as  apprehensive  of  large 
inventories  of  stocks  as  he  did  a  year 
ago.  He  felt  that  deflation  was  by  no 
means  completed  yet.  One  of  the  most 
encouraging  signs  of  improvement  in 
business  conditions  is  the  extension  of 
credit  to  firms  being  organized  in 
foreign  countries  which  will  sell  prod- 
ucts manufactured  in  the  United  States. 

Election  of  Officers 

The  following  officers  were  elected  by 
the  association  for  the  ensuing  year: 
President,  L.  B.  Herrington,  vice-presi- 
dent Kentucky  Utilities  Company, 
Louisville,  Ky.;  first  vice-president, 
John  Stoll,  Lexington;  second  vice- 
president,  W.  H.  Harton,  general  man- 
ager Cincinnati,  Newport  &  Covington 
Railway,  Newport,  Ky.;  treasurer,  P.' 
S.  Pogue,  Louisville;  secretary,  E.  F. 
Kelly,  secretary  to  president  Louisville 


998 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


Railway.  Executive  Committee:  Don- 
old  McDonald,  J.  P.  Pope,  A.  S.  Nichols 
and  J.  P.  Barnes. 

The  members  of  the  association  were 
the  guests  of  the  Tafel  Electric  Com- 
pany, for  a  buffet  lunch  and  theater 
party  in  the  evening  after  adjournment 
of  the  convention. 


The  Outlook  for  the  Electric 
Railway  Industry* 

By  James  P.  Barnes 

President  Louisville  Railway 

THE  utilities — by  their  service  ye 
shall  know  them,  and  beyond  doubt 
as  they  serve  they  shall  be  rewarded, 
and,  as  they  fail  to  serve,  condemned. 

A  new  spirit  is  abroad — born  of  the 
world  throes  of  warfare,  and  today  the 
true  measure  of  service  is  the  Golden 
Rule.  The  service  is  the  thing  and  we 
must  seek,  not  so  intently  remuneration 
lor,  but  opportunity  to  serve.  This  is 
not  to  intimate  that  we  can  serve  at 
Xinremunerative  rates,  but  rather  that 
if  we  ask  and  grasp  our  opportunities 
for  service  of  the  broadest  kind,  re- 
muneration will  follow  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

Well  and  comfortably  to  transport 
from  home  to  factory,  store  and  office 
an  urban  population  is  no  small  service 
to  a  community,  but  it  is  not  the  only 
opportunity  for  service.  The  shopper, 
the  theater-goer,  the  pleasure  seeker 
have  each  their  claim  upon  the  trans- 
portation service,  and  upon  these  ele- 
ments, together  with  the  units  which 
go  to  make  up  the  peak  requirements 
of  a  system,  will  the  base  and  rush- 
hour  schedules  be  built.  The  obliga- 
tions of  courtesy  and  convenience  in 
service  are  too  well  accepted  to  require 
comment. 

The  Bugbear  of  Traffic  Congestion 

But  is  this  all  the  city  railway  can 
do  for  its  patrons?  Is  there  no  ele- 
ment of  service  as  yet  undemanded  be- 
cause unforeseen?  Is  there  no  means 
by  which  the  plant  may  be  made  more 
widely  useful  to  the  community  and  its 
burdens  thus  incidentally  distributed 
over  a  wider  field  of  uses? 

I  think  there  is,  and  that  the  way  to 
solution  of  the  problem  lies  in  the  study 
of  what  is  today  the  most  troublesome 
of  every  city's  problems,  and  which,  so 
far  from  being  met,  is  actually  daily 
becoming  more  aggravated.  I  refer  to 
traffic  congestion. 

The  downtown  city  streets  of  today 
are  no  more  adequate  for  the  require- 
ments they  are  called  upon  to  meet 
than  were  the  cowpaths  of  Colonial 
days  adequate  to  become  the  downtown 
streets  of  New  York  and  Boston.  Re- 
lief is  imperatively  demanded,  but  by 
what  means? 

Widening  of  thoroughfares  is  im- 
practicable because  of  the  enormous 
expense  involved.  Yet  what  else  will 
suffice? 

For  the  sake  of  the  practical  let  us 
for  the  moment  be  visionary.  Suppose 
the  sidewalks  where  now  inadequate 
were  to  be  widened  by  extension  into  the 
street,  and  the  street  to  be  at  the  same 
time  widened  by  the  elimination  of  the 
long  line  of  parked  vehicles  which  is  a 
daily  sight  in  every  city.  In  every  city 
a  judicious  elimination  of  vehicle  park- 
ing would  leave  a  maximum  walk  of 

•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  meeting 
of  Kentucky  Association  of  Public  Utilities 
held  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  Nov.  22,  1921. 


say  three  blocks  to  any  store  or  office 
building.  How  much  real  hardship 
would  this  entail  to  the  average  shop- 
per? 

The  real  congestion  of  our  streets 
arises  not  from  the  commercial  delivery 
vehicle  so  much  as  from  the  private 
conveyance.  But  is  there  not  a  way  by 
which  we  of  the  electric  railways  might 
assist  even  in  the  elimination  of  the 
commercial  vehicle  from  street  park- 
ing? 

Surely  it  is  false  economy  from  the 
viewpoint  of  a  community  that  delivery 
facilities  for  its  merchandise  distribu- 
tion be  needlessly  extended  and  redu- 
plicated. Why  should  not  all  merchan- 
dise, with  a  possible  few  exceptions,  be 
delivered  from  one  vehicle?  Mass  dis- 
tribution from  business  or  shopping 
center  to  outlying  substations  and 
thence  door  delivery  by  suitable  ve- 


hicles would  save  alike  the  streets,  the 
machinery  wear  and  tear  and  the  tem- 
per of  the  housewife,  who  would  receive 
at  one  delivery  all  the  merchandising 
that  now  requires  many  answers  to  the 
doorbell.  Visionary?  Perhaps,  but 
there  is  a  service  which  the  city  rail- 
way with  its  tracks  laid  and  its  cheap- 
est per  ton-mile  facilities  at  hand  could 
render  to  the  profit  of  itself  and  the 
economy  of  the  community. 

The  future  of  the  electric  railway 
industry  is  vast  and  opens  before  us 
like  a  fairyland  of  opportunity.  New 
means  of  transportation  are  within  our 
grasp  as  feeders  and  auxiliaries.  The 
auto  truck,  the  auto  bus  and  the  trolley 
bus  are  all  tools  to  our  hands.  Dream, 
visualize,  anticipate  and  fearlessly 
adopt  the  worth-while  innovations,  and 
the  future  of  the  industry  is  vast  in- 
deed! 


The  Relation  of  Rates  to  Service* 

Commissions  Should  Give  More  Weight  to  the  Value  of  the  Service  to  the 
Customer  When  Establishing  Rates 

C.  L.  S.  TlNGLEY 

Second  Vice-president  the  American  Railways,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


AFTER  mature  reflection  on  this 
.  title,  I  have  concluded  that  it  should 
be  amended  to  read,  "The  Relation  Be- 
tween Rates  and  Service,"  and  I  be- 
lieve the  reasons  for  this  will  be  ob- 
vious. 

Many  years  ago  this  relation  was 
somewhat  cynically  expressed  by  a  re- 
mark attributed  to  a  prominent  rail- 
road man  as  "all  the  traffic  will  bear," 
which  was  at  that  time  interpreted  by 
the  public  press  as  meaning  the  limit 
of  extortion.  But  this  expression,  if 
read  aright,  contains  the  fundamental 
truth  of  the  relation  between  rates  and 
service,  for  I  interpret  it  to  mean  that 
rate  or  system  of  rates  which  will  pro- 
duce the  maximum  amount  of  business 
at  a  profit  to  the  service  company.  In 
this  interpretation  I  am  supported  by 
W.  C.  Noyes,  in  his  book  "American 
Railroad  Rates,"  where  he  says: 

It  means  charging  what  the  shipper  can 
afford  to  pay.  It  is  rather  an  excuse  for 
low  rates  upon  cheap  goods  than  for  high 
rates  upon  dear  goods.  The  traffic  man- 
ager adopts  no  fixed  standard  but  en- 
deavors to  ascertain  what  different  classes 
of  goods  cost  to  produce,  the  demand  for 
them  and  the  prices  at  different  places  in 
order  to  determine  what  they  are  able  to 
pay  and  whether  lowering  the  rates  will 
increase  traffic. 

This  has  also  received  judicial  recog- 
nition, for  in  Steenerson  vs.  Great 
Northern  Railroad,  69  Minn.,  the  court 
says: 

No  better  rule  for  the  government  of  a 
public  commission  or  a  court  when  investi- 
gating rates  can  be  adopted  than  one  ap- 
plied by  the  railroads  themselves ;  a  rule 
which  will  adjust  rates  so  as  to  secure  the 
largest  interchange  of  commodities  ;  a  rule 
which  will  stimulate  and  encourage  ana 
induce  the  movement  of  any  commodity 
which  can  be  produced  in  any  section  of 
the  country  in  large  quantities.  Of  course, 
such  rates  should  not  be  established  so  low 
as  to  impose  an  unreasonable  burden  on 
other  traffic,  but  should  be  fixed  so  as  to 
have  reasonable  relation  to  the  cost  of 
production  and  the  value  of  the  trans- 
portation service  to  the  purchaser  and 
shipper. 

The  law  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey 
provides  that  the  Board  of  Public  Util- 
ity Commissioners  shall  have  power, 
after  hearing,  upon  notice,  by  order 


•Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  New  Jersey  Utilities  Association, 
held  at  Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  Nov.  18-19, 
1921. 


in  writing,  to  fix  just  and  reason- 
able rates,  and  after  similar  hearing, 
to  fix  reasonable  standards,  regulations, 
measurements  or  service  to  be  fur- 
nished, and  further  that  no  public  util- 
ity shall  withhold  or  refuse  any  service 
which  can  reasonably  be  demanded  and 
furnished,  and  that  the  board  shall 
have  power  to  require  a  public  utility 
to  establish,  construct,  maintain  and 
operate  any  reasonable  extension  of  its 
existing  facilities  where  in  the  judg- 
ment of  said  board  such  extension  is 
reasonable  and  practicable  and  will  fur- 
nish sufficient  business  to  justify  the 
construction  and  maintenance  of  the 
same  and  where  the  financial  condition 
of  the  said  public  utility  reasonably 
warrants  the  original  expenditure  re- 
quired in  making  and  operating  such 
extension.  This  principle  was  early 
recognized  by  the  Board  of  Public  Util- 
ity Commissioners  of  New  Jersey,  for 
in  a  decision  rendered  Jan.  13,  1913,  in 
the  matter  of  the  application  of  Alfred 
Reed  and  Sydney  L.  Wright,  receivers, 
etc.,  the  board  said: 

The  Board  of  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sioners finds  and  determines  that  the  pres- 
ent rates  of  fare  upon  the  Princeton  Di- 
vision operated  by  the  traction  company 
are  insufficient  and  do  not  afford  a  fair 
and  reasonable  return  ...  It  should  be 
emphasized  that  the  fares  to  be  established 
by  the  board's  order  are  largely  experi- 
mental. Experience  may  demonstrate 
their  sufficiency  or  insufficiency.  It  is, 
however,  both  in  the  interest  of  the  traction 
company  as  well  as  of  the  traveling  public 
that  the  advance  in  fare  should  not  be  so 
heavy  as  to  tend  to  drive  passengers  to 
other  avenues  of  travel 

It  is  the  established  practice  of  the 
board  in  passing  upon  the  question  of 
the  extension  of  gas,  water  and  electric 
facilities  to  ascertain  and  make  a  de- 
termination of  the  cost  of  rendering  the 
service,  plus  a  return  upon  the  capital 
invested,  and  where  the  figure  so  ascer- 
tained is  in  excess  of  the  estimated  in- 
come from  the  established  tariffs  of  the 
company  to  require  the  prospective 
customer  to  guarantee  for  a  period  of 
five  years  an  income  which  will  be  ade- 
quate to  meet  not  only  the  cost  of  the 
service  but  a  reasonable  return  on  the 
estimated  plant  investment  necessary 
to  furnish  the  service.  It  seems  to  me 
that  this  is  a  clear  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  there  is  a  relation  between 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


999 


the  rate  and  the  service,  for  if  the 
filed  tariff  rates  are  just  and  reasonable 
and  are  producing  a  lawful  return  to 
the  company  upon  its  investment  and 
the  business  offered  on  the  proposed 
extension  will  impair  such  return,  the 
question  is  put  squarely  up  to  the  pro- 
spective customer:  Is  this  service  that 
you  are  seeking  worth  more  than  the 
established  rates  to  you  so  that  you 
are  willing  to  pay  an  increased  rate 
in  order  that  you  may  be  served? 

A  study  of  the  decisions  of  the  com- 
missions and  courts  will  show  that  al- 
most invariably  there  has  been  an  ap- 
plication of  this  rule,  although  it  is 
true  that  such  application  has  been  in 
many  cases  a  one-sided  one:  that  is 
to  say,  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
commission  or  court-  to  prevent  the 
rates  becoming  so  high  that  service 
will  be  materially  curtailed  or  dimin- 
ished, rather  than  permit  the  trying 
out  of  a  rate  which  will,  theoretically 
at  least,  produce  that  fair  rate  of  re- 
turn to  which  the  service  company  is 
entitled. 

Many  Basis  for  Rates 

There  are  many  relationships  between 
rates  and  service.  The  rate  on  a  steam 
road  is  proportional  to  the  distance 
traveled,  with  extra  charges  for  addi- 
tional comforts;  for  freight,  it  is  not 
only  proportional  to  the  distance  hauled 
but  also  to  the  care  required  to  guard 
and  protect  the  property  to  its  destina- 
tion; for  gas  and  water,  it  is  more  or 
less  proportional  to  the  amount  con- 
sumed; for  the  telephone,  it  is  propor- 
tional to  the  distance  the  message  is 
transmitted;  for  electricity,  it  bears  a 
relation  not  only  to  the  quantity  con- 
sumed but  also  to  the  number  of  hours 
it  is  consumed  and  sometimes  to  the 
hours  of  the  day  in  which  it  is  con- 
sumed. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  question  has 
.a  very  vital  bearing  upon  many  rate- 
making  cases.  It  is  well  established,  I 
think,  that  in  the  making  of  rates  con- 
sideration must  be  given  to  the  value 
■of  the_  property,  its  original  cost,  its 
capitalization,  and  all  other  relevant 
matters,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
value  of  the  service  to  the  customer  is 
a  relevant  matter.  If  a  layman  may  be 
permitted  to  say  a  word  of  criticism 
with  respect  to  our  higher  courts,  I 
would  venture  the  suggestion  that  in 
one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
rate  cases  they  have  erred,  and  that  is 
in  the  stress  which  they  have  placed 
upon  the  reproduction  new  value  of  the 
property.  It  seems  to  me — with  all  re- 
spect— that  the  vital  thing  in  cases  of 
this  character  is  not  wholly  the  repro- 
duction value  of  the  used  and  useful 
property  but  the  value  of  the  repro- 
duced service. 

We  are,  of  course,  all  familiar  with 
the  formula  usually  followed  in  the  fix- 
ation of  a  rate.  We  ascertain  the  cost 
of  producing  the  service  (that  is  to 
say,  the  operating  expenses),  then,  in 
great  elaboration  in  many  cases,  an  ef- 
fort is  made  to  ascertain  the  value  of 
the  property  used  and  useful  in  the  pro- 
duction of  that  service — almost  always 
a  contested  question,  and  always  a  ques- 
tion upon  which  there  can  be  honest 
difference  of  opinion.  Then  that  value, 
so  called,  having  been  arrived  at  largely 
by  compromise,  a  hypothetical  rate  of 
return  is  allowed  and  that  is  added  to 
the  operating  expenses.  Then  that  sum 
total  is  divided  by  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers carried,  or  by  the  kilowatt- 
hours  sold,  or  the  thousand  cubic  feet 


of  gas  sold,  or  the  million  gallons  of 
water  sold,  and  a  figure  is  arrived  at 
upon  which  the  rate  is  based;  and  no 
consideration  whatever  is  given  to  the 
value  of  the  service  to  the  consumer, 
except  to  see  that  his  rate  is  not  too 
high.  A  utility  furnishing  service  which 
is  vital  to  the  life  of  the  community 
(and  which  possibly  could  not  be  repro- 
duced for  a  sum  very  much  larger  than 
that  being  charged)  in  many  instances 
for  a  sum  much  smaller  than  the  pub- 
lic could  and  would  willingly  pay  rather 
than  be  deprived  of  the  service,  is  held 
down  to  a  rate  based  upon  a  theoretical 
cost  of  production.  In  this  connection 
I  would  quote  from  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
in  Knoxville  vs.  Water  Company: 

Regulation  of  utilities  which  perform 
their  duties  under  conditions  of  necessary 
monopoly  will  occur  with  greater  and 
greater  frequency  as  time  goes  on.  It  is 
a  delicate  and  dangerous  function  and 
ought  to  be  exercised  with  a  keen  sense 
of  justice  on  the  part  of  the  regulating  body 
met  by  a  frank  disclosure  on  the  part  of 
the  utility  to  be  regulated.  The  courts 
ought  not  to  bear  the  whole  burden  of  sav- 
ing property  from  confiscation,  although 
they  will  not  be  found  wanting  when  the 
proof  is  clear.  The  legislatures  and  sub- 
ordinate bodies  to  whom  the  legislative 
power  has  been  delegated  ought  to  do  their 
part.  Our  social  system  rests  largely  upon 
the  sanctity  of  private  property,  and  that 
state  or  community  which  seeks  to  invade 
it  will  soon  discover  the  error  in  the 
disaster  which  follows.  The  slight  gain  to 
the  consumer  which  he  would  gain  from  a 
reduction  in  the  rates  charged  by  the 
utility  is  as  nothing  compared  with  his 
share  in  the  ruin  which  would  be  brought 
about  by  denying  private  property  its  just 
award,  thus  unsettling  values  and  destroy- 
ing confidence.  On  the  other  hand,  utilities 
to  be  regulated  will  find  it  to  their  lasting 
interest  to  furnish  freely  the  information 
upon  which  a  just  regulation  can  be  based. 

And  further  in  this  connection,  I 
quote  from  a  decision  recently  handed 
down  by  the  United  States  District 
Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
Texas,  where  the  learned  judge  says: 

It  is  not  amiss  for  me  to  say  that  the 
council  occupies  a  somewhat  different  po- 
sition from  that  of  a  court,  in  that  the 
council  is  not  required  to  simply  declare 
its  judgment  on  the  evidence  before  it,  but 
has  the  right  and  power,  as  representing 
the  public,  and  it  should  be  its  aim  and 
purpose  not  merely  to  pronounce  a  legal 
judgment  as  to  what  rate  would  be  short 
of  confiscatory,  but  to  arrive  at  and  agree 
upon  a  fair  rate,  though  said  rate  should 
be  considerably  in  excess  of  the  lowest 
rates  which  the  courts  would  sustain  and 
allow.  In  other  words,  if  the  company  ex- 
hibits a  spirit  of  fairness  and  concession, 
with  the  view  of  agreeing  upon  a  fair  and 
reasonable  rate,  it  is  clear  that  the  coun- 
cil is  not  only  authorized,  but  should  en- 
deavor, to  meet  them  in  that  spirit. 

To  the  litigants  and  their  council  in  this 
and  similar  cases  before  me  I  commend 
these  expressions,  not  because  of  the  wis- 
dom of  the  author,  but  because  they  bear 
the  sanction  of  the  authority  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States. 

There  is  a  long  line  of  decisions  bear- 
ing on  this  same  point.  They  are  too 
numerous  to  quote,  but  I  invite  your  at- 
tention to  a  few:  In  Re  California-Ore- 
gon Power  Co.  U.  F.  26,  97,  99,  150; 
In  Re  Western  State  Gas  &  E.  Co. 
Appl.  No.  1998,  Falk  vs.  Western  State 
Gas  &  E.  Co.  Case  No.  906,  Decision 
No.  3852,  Nov.  6.  1916,  California  Com- 
mission; In  Re  Plymouth  Electric  Light 
Co.  (N.  H.)  D-388,  June  30,  1917;  In 
Re  Creswell  Water  Co.  U-F-235,  P.S.C. 
Or.  Order  No.  486,  Jan.  28,  1919,  Ore- 
gon Commission :  Campbell  vs.  Hood 
River  Gas  &  E.  Co.  (Or.)  P.U.R.  1915D. 
855;  Duluth  Street  R.  Co.  vs.  Railroad 
Commission,  P.U.R.  1915D,  192;  Graf- 
ton County  Electric  Eight  &  P.  Co.  vs. 
State,  P.U.R.  1915C,  1064;  Re  Bound 
Brook  Water  Co.  (N.  J.),  P.U.R.  1915F, 
1040;Greer  vs.  Baltimore  &  O.  R.  Co. 
(W.Va.),  P.U.R.  1916D,  286;  Re  Atchi- 


son, T.  &  S.  F.  R.  Co.  (Mo.),  P.U.R. 
1916A,  594;  Re  Colorado  Springs  Light, 
Heat  &  P.  Co.  (Colo.),  P.U.R.  1916E, 
650;  Re  San  Diego  &  S.  E.  R.  Co. 
(Cal.),  P.U.R.  1916C,  1;  Oklahoma  Gin 
Co.  vs.  State,  P.U.R.  1916C,  22;  Bogart 
vs.  Wiscoyisin  Teleph.  Co.  (Wis.),  P.U. 
R.  191 6C,  1020;  Re  Kansas  City  Elec- 
tric Light  Co.  (Mo.),  P.U.R.  1917C, 
728;  Merriman  vs.  Luse  Co.  (Or.)  P.U. 
R.  1917F,  244;  Re  Lake  Hemet  Water 
Co.  (Cal.),  P.U.R.  1917A,  458;  Re  Kent 
Water  &  Light  Co.  (Ohio),  P.U.R. 
1917D,  394;  Murchie  vs.  St.  Croix  Gas- 
light Co.  (Me.),  P.U.R.  1917B,  384;  Re 
New  York  Transfer  Co.  (N.  Y.),  P.U. 
R.  1919B,  590;  Re  Central  Illinois  Pub. 
Service  Co.  (111.)  P.U.R.  1919E,  910; 
Buck  vs.  Judge  (N.  Y.),  P.U.R.  1919F, 
458;  Re  Portland  R.  Light  &  P.  Co. 
(Or.),  P.U.R.  1919A,  513;  Re  Spring- 
field Gas  &  E.  Co.  (Mo.),  P.U.R.  1919E, 
973;  Springfield  City  Water  Co.  vs. 
Springfield  (Mo.),  P.U.R.  1919D,  853; 
Moore  vs.  Valley  R.  Co.  (Pa.),  P.U.R. 
1919F,  493;  Wayne  Title  &  Trust  Co. 
vs.  Wayne  Sewerage  Co.  (Pa.),  P.U.R. 
1919D,  404. 

I  would  conclude  my  discussion  of  this 
question  with  a  quotation  from  a  paper 
entitled  "Rate  of  Return,"  presented 
before  the  American  Academy  of  Polit- 
ical and  Social  Science  in  1914  by 
James  E.  Allison,  former  commissioner 
and  chief  engineer  of  the  St.  Louis 
Public  Service  Commission: 

In  most  of  the  published  reports  of  ju- 
dicial decisions  or  opinions  and  of  findings 
of  commissions  there  is  no  very  clear 
process  of  mind  shown  by  which  these 
bodies  have  arrived  at  their  conclusions  as 
to  a  reasonable  rate  of  return.  In  some 
of  the  court  decisions  and  even  in  those 
of  able  commissions  the  legal  rate  of  in- 
terest seems  to  have  entered  as  a  factor 
in  determining  a  reasonable  rate  of  return. 
There  is  of  course  no  reason  for  this  other 
than  that  it  was  grasped  as  a  prop  for 
lack  of  better  reasoning.  Because  the 
legal  rate  of  return  in  some  states  is  6  per 
cent  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  this 
circumstance  would  have  any  effect  upon 
investors  in  inducing  them  to  enter  a 
hazardous  enterprise.  Generally  to  the 
legal  rate  of  return  there  has  been  added 
what  is  called  profit  as  a  reward  for  risk 
or  for  exertions  of  the  managers  and 
creators.  This  process  does  not  consider 
economic  laws,  but  no  doubt  in  many  cases 
by  such  rule  of  thumbs  an  approximately 
correct  result  has  been  obtained. 

One  of  the  most  curious  features  in  the 
decisions  of  the  courts  has  been  in  assum- 
ing that  while  a  rate  of  return  may  be 
too  low,  it  is  yet  not  confiscatory  of  prop- 
erty. This  conclusion,  and  it  seems  rather 
well  established  as  a  principle,  is  to  the 
"unlegal"  mind  a  curiosity  in  logic. 

It  can  hardly  be  disputed  that  the  re- 
turns create  the  value  of  the  property  and 
if  the  returns  are  admitted  to  be,  we  will 
say,  25  per  cent  below  what  they  should  be, 
it  seems  difficult  to  avoid  a  conclusion  that 
25  per  cent  of  the  value  of  the  property 
has  been  destroyed  to  the  investors,  and  if 
the  ruling  is  the  result  of  a  rate  case,  25 
per  cent  has  been  confiscated  to  the  benefit 
of  the  consumer. 

Throughout  the  whole  mass  of  de- 
cisions of  the  courts  on  valuation  and  on 
rate  of  return  there  has  been  such  a  pro- 
found disregard  for  economic  laws  and 
there  is  such  a  great  reverence  by  both 
the  courts  and  the  commissions  for  prece- 
dent even  if  it  is  a  patently  wrong  prece- 
dent, that  it  is  difficult  to  prophesy  the  re- 
sults which  will  follow  for  the  next  few 
years.  In  the  end  the  true  economic  laws 
will  of  course  prevail  but  before  that  time 
there  will  probably  be  a  considerable  period 
during  which  new  capital  will  hesitate  to 
place  itself  under  control  of  public  regu- 
lation. Capital  already  in  the  public 
service  will  of  course  be  injured  bv  adher- 
ence to  false  precedent  but  it  will  suffer 
much  greater  injury  because  of  the  stop- 
page of  new  capital.  Public  service  enter- 
prises constantly  need  new  capital  because 
in  most  places  the  public  demand  for  public 
services  is  constantly  increasing.  Whether 
or  no  the  regulating  bodies  or  the  public 
itself  will  feel  the  curtailment  of  service 
soon  enough  to  realize,  before  any  great 
harm  is  done,  that  capital  is  free  to  stay 
out  of  public  service  remains  yet  to  be 
seen. 


1000 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


Recent  Happenings  in  Great  Britain 

Electrification  of  Suburban  London  Trunk  Lines  Probable  Through  Trade 
Facilities  Act  Passed  to  Aid  Business  and  Unemployment 

(From  Our  Regular  Correspondent) 

During  part  of  October  and  November,  Parliament  was  engaged,  in  a  special 
session  called  for  the  purpose,  in  dealing  with  the  problem  of  unemployment. 
The  ranks  of  unemployed  in  this  country  at  the  time  of  writing,  number  in  round 
figures  about  two  millions.  Several  Acts  were  passed  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
relief,  for  financing  public  works,  and  for  encouraging  the  development  of 
trade  which  is  in  a  stagnant  condition.  One  of  the  Acts  which  was  passed 
promises  to  have  a  considerable  bearing  on  the  development  of  electric  traction. 
This  is  the  Trade  Facilities  Act. 


ONE  of  the  provisions  of  the  measure 
is  to  the  effect  that  if  the  Treasury 
is  satisfied,  the  proceeds  of  any  loan  pro- 
posed to  be  raised  by  any  Government, 
any  public  authority,  or  any  corpora- 
tion or  other  body  of  persons  are  to  be 
applied  towards  the  carrying  out  of  any 
capital  undertaking;  that  the  applica- 
tion of  the  loan  is  calculated  to  promote 
employment  in  the  United  Kingdom; 
and  that  the  Treasury  may  guarantee 
the  payment  of  the  interest  and  princi- 
pal of  the  loan,  provided  that  the  aggre- 
gate capital  amount  of  loans  shall  not 
exceed  £25,000,000. 

Government  Guarantees  May 
Speed  Work 

No  guarantee  will  be  given  after  the 
expiration  of  twelve  months  from  the 
commencement  of  the  Act.  Sir  Robert 
Home,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
stated  in  reply  to  a  question  that 
schemes  for  the  electrification  of  the 
suburban  portions  of  the  trunk  railways 
leading  out  of  London  would  come 
within  the  scope  of  the  Act.  As  is 
well  known,  various  schemes  of  this 
kind  have  been  held  back  because  of 
the  present  high  cost  of  everything. 
Railway  companies  may  be  induced  to 
take  advantage  of  the  guarantee,  be- 
cause the  Act  does  not  specify  any  limit 
of  duration  of  guarantees,  though  they 
must  be  given  within  twelve  months. 

On.  Oct.  27,  only  a  day  or  two  after 
Sir  Robert  Home's  statement,  it  was 
publicly  announced  that  on  the  invita- 
tion of  the  Government  the  London  un- 
derground railway  companies  had  sub- 
mitted a  scheme  of  railway  develop- 
ments in  connection  with  the  relief  of 
unemployment.  The  developments  in 
question  have  in  past  years  been  author- 
ized by  Parliament  but  have  not  been 
carried  out  owing  to  the  difficulty  of 
raising  additional  capital  and  to  the 
high  cost  of  construction  as  compared 
with  pre-war  figures. 

The  authorized  works  which  have 
been  hanging  fire  for  several  years  in- 
clude the  enlargement  of  the  tunnels 
of  the  City  &  South  London  Railway 
so  as  to  make  them  of  about  the  same 
diameter  as  those  of  the  other  "tube" 
railways;  the  construction  of  a  connec- 
tion between  the  City  &  South  London 
Railway  at  Euston  and  the  Charing 
Cross  &  Hampstead  Railway  at  Cam- 
den Town;  the  extension  of  the  latter 
railway  by  a  surface  line  in  the  open 
country  4J  miles  long,  from  Golden's 
Green  terminus  to  Edgware;  and  the 
construction  of  a  connecting  line  be- 
tween the  Central  London  Railway  at 
Shepherd's  Bush  and  the  London  & 
South  Western  Railway  at  Hammer- 
smith. At  present  prices  these  works 
are  estimated  to  cost  £6,000,000. 

'All  extensions  will  be  electric  rail- 
ways, and  they  will  not  only  improve 
traveling  facilities,  but  develop  areas 


at  present  lacking  proper  means  of 
communication.  Lord  Ashfield,  chair- 
man of  the  underground  railway  com- 
panies, is  of  opinion  that  for  some 
years  the  additional  traffic  will  not 
warrent  the  investment,  but  that  there 
is  need  for  the  improvements  and  for 
giving  work  to  the  unemployed.  About 
20,000  men  will  be  engaged  directly  and 
a  good  many  more  indirectly.  To 
carry  the  project  out,  the  Government 
must  guarantee  the  new  capital — out- 
lines proposed  by  the  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment— so  that  the  required  money  may 
be  raised  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest 
than  if  the  railway  companies  had  to 
do  it  on  their  own'  security.  Lord 
Ashfield  thinks  thatt  the  scheme  will 
not  cost  the  Government  a  penny,  from 
which  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  com- 
panies hope  to  be  able  to  meet  the 
lower  rate  of  interest  which  the  Govern- 
ment guarantee  will  make  possible. 

Ask  Long-Term  Protection 
from  Omnibuses 

As  part  of  their  scheme,  the  under- 
ground railway  companies  asked  the 
Government  to  secure  their  associated 
company  (London  General  Omnibus 
Company)  against  "piratical"  omnibus 
competition  for  ten  years.  In  this  way 
the  buses  would  help  to  carry  the  cost 
of  the  railway  improvements. 

The  underground  railways  scheme  en- 
countered a  set-back  on  Nov.  7  when 
the  Prime  Minister  (Mr.  Lloyd  George) 
stated,  in  reply  to  a  question  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  that  the  Govern- 
ment could  not  promote  legislation  to 
give  protection  against  competition 
with  the  London  General  Omnibus  Com- 
pany's buses.  Thereafter  Lord  Ash- 
field, while  expressing  regret  at  the 
decision,  announced  that  he  would  try 
to  work  out  a  new  scheme. 

The  announcement  of  the  proposal 
by  the  London  underground  companies 
was  immediately  followed  by  specula- 
tion as  to  the  carrying  out  of  electrifi- 
cation schemes  by  other  railway  com- 
panies, especially  those  which  already 
possess  the  legislative  powers  and  have 
been  waiting  for  better  times  in  order 
to  carry  them  out. 

In  accordance  with  his  previously 
announced  intention,  Sir  Eric  Geddes, 
Minister  of  Transport,  has  resigned  the 
office.  Mr.  S.  Baldwin,  President  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  stated  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  Oct.  24  that 
arrangements  for  the  future  conduct 
of  the  business  of  the  Ministry  were 
under  the  consideration  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Meanwhile  the  Ministry  had 
been  placed  in  charge  of  Mr.  Arthur 
Neal,  its   Parliamentary  Secretary. 

The  reorganization  of  the  Ministry 
has  been  made  possible  by  the  end  of 
the  period  of  State  control  of  the  rail- 
ways and  by  the  passing  of  the  Rail- 
ways Act. 


The  original  idea  of  the  Government 
that  the  Ministry  should  regulate,  con- 
trol, and  develop  every  means  of  public 
transportation  has  been  largely,  if 
tacitly,  abandoned,  as  the  public  have 
had  more  than  enough  of  bureaucratic 
control.  A  number  of  the  highly  paid 
expert  officers  of  the  Ministry  have 
already  resigned,  but  it  was  understood 
all  along  that  their  work  was  only 
temporary.  The  Ministry  has  erected 
its  great  monument  in  the  shape  of  the 
recently  passed  Railways  Act,  and  the 
war  period  of  control  of  the  railways 
being  over,  it  seems  likely  either  that 
the  Ministry  will  be  continued  on  a 
much  reduced  scale  or  that  its  functions 
will  be  transferred  to  another  depart- 
ment. 

Transport  Ministry  Change 

The  Prime  Minister,  early  in  Novem- 
ber, expressed  a  doubt  whether  if  there 
was  to  be  a  transfer,  the  Board  of 
Trade  would  be  the  most  suitable  de- 
partment to  entrust  with  the  duties. 
This  view  is  notable,  because  before  the 
Ministry  of  Transport  came  into  exist- 
ence the  Board  of  Trade  exercised  such 
powers  of  the  State  as  then  existed  in 
regard  to  railways  and  tramways.  On 
Nov.  8  it  was  officially  announced  that 
Viscount  Peel  had  been  appointed  Min- 
ister of  Transport.  The  arrangement 
is  temporary  pending  the  Government 
decision  on  the  future  of  the  Ministry. 
Viscount  Peel  has  held  various  political 
offices  and  is  at  present  Chancellor  of 
the  Duchy  of  Lancaster — a  post  which 
is  something  of  a  sinecure.  He  will 
not  draw  the  salary  of  Minister  of 
Transport. 

Tramway  undertakings  are  suffering 
from  the  great  slump  in  trade  in  the 
way  of  a  falling  off  in  the  number  of 
passengers.  Even  where  gross  receipts 
show  an  increase,  it  arises  from  the 
higher  fares,  not  from  a  larger  number 
of  passengers.  The  undertakings,  how- 
ever, should  get  a  little  further  relief 
in  the  matter  of  working  expense.  In 
view  of  the  further  fall  in  the  official 
index  figure  of  the  cost  of  living,  tram- 
way men's  wages  are  under  the  sliding 
scale  reduced  a  further  2s.  per  week  as 
from  the  first  full  pay  period  in  Novem- 
ber. This  makes  a  total  reduction  of 
5s.  per  week  since  the  sliding  scale 
came  into  operation. 

Institute  of  Transport  Satisfactory 

Though  the  Institute  of  Transport 
has  not  been  very  long  in  existence,  it 
has  developed  rapidly  and  has  already 
done  good  work.  The  report  of  the 
council  for  the  year  1920-21  shows  that 
at  the  end  of  September  last,  the  mem- 
bership numbered  1,081,  of  whom  998 
are  resident  within  the  United  King- 
dom. Special  attention  is  being  given 
to  the  educating  and  training  of  grad- 
uates and  students. 

At  the  second  annual  meeting  of  the 
Institute  of  Transport  held  on  Oct. 
17,  Sir  Henry  Maybury,  the  new  presi- 
dent, dealt  with  the  subject  of  highway 
improvement  and  maintenance  and  with 
the  development  of  railways  and  tram- 
ways to  meet  increasing  needs.  An  era, 
he  said,  of  intense  activity  was  evidently 
opening  in  the  railway  world,  where 
there  was  a  plain  determination  to  pro- 
vide the  public  with  facilities  and  at- 
tractions from  which  they  had  been 
weaned  for  several  years.  At  the 
annual  dinner  of  the  Institute,  Lord 
Ashfield  and  Mr.  A.  Neal,  M.P.,  were 
principal  speakers.  The  former  fore- 
casted great  developments  of  railway 
and  highway  transport. 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Ouster  Ordinance  Not 
in  Effect 

Detroit   City  Council   Suspends  Ordi- 
nance— Further  Negotiations  With 
Company  Planned 

The  ouster  ordinance  which  would 
have  gone  into  effect  on  Nov.  25, 
forcing  the  Detroit  (Mich.)  United 
Railway  to  stop  service  on  Fort  Street 
and  Woodward  Avenue  and  to  proceed 
to  remove  its  tracks,  was  suspended 
indefinitely  by  the  City  Council  and  the 
service  on  Woodward  and  Fort  lines 
will  continue  regardless  of  the  end  of 
the  time  limit.  The  ordinance  was 
suspended  to  allow  further  negotia- 
tions between  the  company  and  the 
city. 

Details  Under  Discussion 

Details  of  a  proposed  agreement  are 
being  worked  out  between  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  and  the  city,  and  at 
a  second  conference  of  the  members 
of  the  Street  Railway  Commission  with 
company  officials  further  steps  were 
taken  leading  to  an  exchange  of  run- 
ning rights  over  certain  lines  owned 
by  the  company  and  certain  lines 
owned  by  the  city. 

According  to  Corporation  Counsel 
Wilcox  the  Detroit  United  Railway 
will  not  be  in  contempt  of  court  by 
the  continued  operation  over  the  lines 
mentioned  in  the  ouster  ordinance,  as 
the  final  step  has  not  been  taken  by 
the  city  to  compel  the  cessation  of 
service.  Under  the  Supreme  Court  de- 
cision, in  case  the  company  refused 
to  comply  with  the  city  counsel's  order 
in  the  ouster  action,  recourse  might 
be  had  to  a  court  ruling  enforcing  the 
order.  No  such  application  for  a  court 
ruling  has  been  made  by  the  city.  The 
company  will  be  allowed  to  operate 
as  previous  to  the  passage  of  the 
ouster  ordinance  while  negotiations  for 
the  proposed  agreement  as  to  running 
rights  are  being  worked  out. 

It  has  not  been  definitely  announced 
as  to  what  provisions  the  company  and 
the  city  wish  to  have  incorporated  in 
the  agreement,  and  E.  J.  Burdick, 
general  manager  of  the  Detroit  United 
Railway,  and  Joseph  S.  Goodwin, 
general  manager  of  the  Detroit  Mu- 
nicipal Railway,  are  preparing  figures 
to  be  submitted  at  the  next  conference 
indicating  what  each  party  in  the  pact 
is  willing  to  pay  for  operating  cars 
over  the  other's  lines.  As  soon  as 
studies  of  traffic  conditions  on  the  lines 
involved  can  be  made,  an  agreement 
will  probably  be  drawn  up  jointly  by 
Elliott  G.  Stevenson,  counsel  for  the 
Detroit  United  Railway,  and  Corpora- 
tion Counsel  Wilcox. 

Mr.  Dow  Actively  Interested 
The  agreement  for  one  party  to  com- 
pensate the  other  for  the  privilege  of 
operating  cars  over  the  other's  lines 
will  probably  be  made  only  in  event 
that  one  party  finds  it  necessary  to 
operate  over  a  greater  number  of  miles 
of  the  other  party's  lines  than  the 
other  operates  over  the  first  party's 
lines. 

Alex  Dow  was  with  the  officials  repre- 


senting the  Detroit  United  Railway  at 
the  conference.  Since  his  becoming  a 
director  of  the  company  Mr.  Dow  has 
sought  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  set- 
tlement of  the  differences  involved  in 
the  street  car  question  in  Detroit  and 
existing  between  the  city  and  the  com- 
pany. The  city  has  been  represented 
by  members  of  the  Street  Railway 
Commission  since  the  temporary  ab- 
sence of  Mayor  Couzens.  The  Mayor 
will  be  present  at  the  next  conference 
but  it  is  not  generally  believed  that 
any  great  change  will  be  made  in  the 
negotiations  since  the  Mayor  announced 
that  the  Commission  had  been  given 
full  power  to  deal  with  the  company 
in  this  case. 

While  both  parties  believe  that  con- 
siderable progress  has  been  made, 
there  still  remains  a  number  of  details 
to  work  out.  An  agreement  is  hoped 
for  which  will  result  in  better  and 
more  complete  service  on  both  company 
and  city  lines  than  could  be  given 
without  the  exchange  of  running 
rights,  especially  after  the  day-to-day 
lines  are  taken  over  by  the  city.  Among 
the  details  to  be  decided  are  the  ques- 
tion of  transfers  between  the  two  sys- 
tems and  the  basis  upon  which  charges 
for  operating  cars  over  the  other 
party's  lines  will  be  made. 


New  Bridge  Interrupts 
"L"  Service 

Replacement  of  the  present  double- 
deck  swing  bridge  across  the  Chicago 
River  at  Wells  Street,  with  a  now 
double-deck  bridge  of  the  bascule 
type,  will  require  interruption  of  the 
regular  north  -  south  elevated  service 
in  Chicago  from  8  o'clock  on  the  eve- 
ning of  Dec.  3  until  the  morning  of 
Dec.  6.  During  these  two  days  and 
three  nights  the  old  bridge  will  be  re- 
moved and  the  new  one,  construction 
of  which  is  completed  except  for  the 
last  steps  in  placing  it  in  service,  low- 
ered into  position.  Heretofore,  the 
construction  of  the  new  bridge  over 
and  around  the  old  one,  has  been  ac- 
companied by  only  a  few  short  delays 
to  traffic  and  the  complete  interruption 
of  through  service  for  four  Sundays. 

All  of  the  through  north  and  south 
trains  operate  over  this  bridge,  and 
during  the  interruption  all  north  side 
trains  will  operate  in  and  out  of  the 
stub  terminal  at  Kinzie  Street.  South 
side  trains  will  |  operate  around  the 
loop  and  through  passengers  will  be 
transferred  north  or  south  upon  walk- 
ing across  the  Clark  Street  bridge, 
which  makes  a  direct  connection  be- 
tween the  Clark  and  Lake  station  on 
the  loop  and  the  Kinzie  Street  stub, 
entrance  to  which  is  on  Clark  Street. 
The  problem  of  handling  all  of  the 
northbound  traffic  during  a  business 
day,  augmented  by  the  Christmas 
shopping  already  heavily  under  way, 
presents  one  of  the  most  difficult  traf- 
fic problems  that  the  Elevated  Lines 
have  ever  undertaken.  Surface  cars 
using  the  Wells  Street  bridge  will  be 
rerouted  over  other  bridges  or  through 
the  tunnels. 


Des  Moines  Franchise 
Carried 

Last-Minute  Injunction  Against  Elec- 
tion Fails,  but  Leaves  Railway 
Issue  Beclouded 

Des  Moines  voted  overwhelmingly  in 
favor  of  the  new  railway  franchise  at 
the  election  held  on  Nov.  28.  In  spite 
of  a  spirited  campaign  made  against 
the  measure  on  the  part  of  former  Cor- 
poration Counsel  Byers  and  his  cohorts, 
the  franchise  carried  by  vote  of  16,808 
to  8,877.  Women  played  an  important 
part  in  rallying  to  the  cause  of  safe 
transportation. 

In  spite  of  this  outstanding  approval 
of  the  franchise  by  voters,  the  measure 
is  still  clouded  by  legal  obstacles  which 
must  be  overcome  before  it  can  become 
a  binding  contract  and  the  Des  Moines 
City  Railway  is  enabled  to  secure  finan- 
cial backing  to  restore  normal  service. 
On  Saturday,  previous  to  the  franchise 
vote,  Judge  Hume  of  the  District  Court, 
granted  an  injunction  in  the  suit  brought 
by  Grant  Van  Horn,  who  sought  to 
prevent  the  election. 

The  court  held  that  the  publication 
clause  of  the  franchise  was  faulty  and 
that  proper  notice  had  not  been  given  in 
accordance  with  the  Iowa  election  laws. 
He  further  ruled  that  the  Des  Moines 
City  Council  had  no  authority  to  repeal 
the  present  franchise.  Judge  Hume 
ruled  that  not  only  did  the  Iowa  law 
fail  to  give  councils  authority  to  grant 
a  franchise  previous  to  the  publication 
of  the  notice  of  the  election  for  four 
weeks  prior,  but  that  such  authority  is 
expressly  forbidden  by  law. 

Hostile  District  Approves  Grant 

Upon  the  issuance  of  Judge  Hume's 
order  a  writ  of  supersedeas  was  brought 
before  the  Iowa  Supreme  Court  and  at 
an  informal  session  of  the  court  held 
on  Nov.  27  a  stay  of  execution  was 
granted  from  Judge  Hume's  order  only 
in  so  far  as  permitting  the  holding  of 
the  election.  The  ruling  was  made  a 
matter  of  court  record  on  Nov.  28  so 
that  sufficient  time  was  given  for  gen- 
eral knowledge  that  the  election  was 
to  be  held. 

The  vote  was  approximately  as  large 
as  had  been  forecasted  previous  to  the 
issuance  of  the  injunction.  In  only  two 
precincts  of  forty-eight  was  there  a 
majority  against  the  franchise  and  in 
North  Des  Moines,  the  home  of  the 
leaders  of  the  campaign  against  fran- 
chise, the  marjrin  in  favor  of  the  new 
grant  was  comfortably  large. 

On  Nov.  29  F.  C.  Chambers,  receiver 
of  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway,  issued 
a  statement  to  the  effect  that  while  legal 
questions  would  not  permit  the  railway 
to  proceed  immediately  with  the  re- 
habilitation of  the  plant  as  arranged  he 
felt  that  the  company  had  a  moral  obli- 
gation to  do  everything  in  its  power  to 
increase  service  and  on  Nov.  30  he  made 
further  announcement  that  within  the 
next  fifteen  days  he  hoped  to  have  suffi- 
cient nower  equipment  restored  to  per- 
mit of  placing  twenty  additional  cars  in 
the  service. 

Acting   upon   the   advice   of  three 


1002 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


prominent  business  men  the  City  Coun- 
cil on  Nov.  30  passed  a  resolution  agree- 
ing to  ban  buses  from  streets  where  the 
railway  now  operates,  the  ban  to  become 
effective  as  soon  as  the  railway  had 
placed  thirty  additional  cars  in  service. 
At  the  present  time  there  are  not  over 
thirty  buses  in  operation. 

Just  what  the  next  step  will  be  in  the 
legal  phase  of  the  controversy  is  not  yet 
decided,  but  there  is  likelihood  that  the 
city  will  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court 
from  Judge  Hume's  injunction  ruling. 


Chicago  Elevated  Roads 

Before  Commission 

On  its  own  motion,  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission  has  cited  the  Chi- 
cago Elevated  Railways  to  show  cause 
why  the  rate  of  fare  should  not  be  re- 
duced. One  hearing  has  been  held  at 
which  the  companies  presented  a  com- 
plete operating  statement,  as  requested 
by  the  commission,  for  the  nine  months 
of  1921  ending  Sept.  30.  The  state- 
ment was  presented  in  a  tabulation  by 
months,  the  nine  months'  summary 
total  of  which  is  given  herewith.  Of 
the  total  number  of  ticket  and  cash 
fare  passengers  within  Chicago,  it  will 
be  noted  that  67.4  per  cent  are  ticket 
passengers  and  32.6  per  cent,  cash  fare 
passengers.  The  ticket  rate  is  8.75c. 
while  the  cash  fare  is  10c.  After  re- 
ceiving the  operating  figures  of  the 
lines,  the   commission  dontinued  the 


SUMMARY  —  CHICAGO    ELEVATED  RAIL- 
WAYS'INCOME  ACCOUNT  FOR  NINE 
MONTHS  ENDED  SEPT.  30,  1921 


Passenger  revenue   $12,396,481 

Other  transportation  revenue   564,954 


Gross  operating  revenue   $  1 2,96 1,435 

Maintenance  of  way  and  structures.. . .  1,487,527 

Maintenance  of  equipment   1,266,224 

Power   1,178,514 

Cond.  transportation   5,429,364 

Traffic   28,128 

General  and  miscellaneous   628,677 

Operating  expenses   $10,018,434 

Net  operating  revenue   2,943,001 

Taxes  (estimated  accruals)   951,683 


Operating  income   $1,991,317 

Non-operating  income   75,860 


Gross  income   $2,067,177 

'jess  rentals   293,227 


Balance  for  interest,  etc   $1,773,949 

'  iterest  charges   1,862,099 


Net  income  or  loss*   $88,149 

*  Deficit. 

REVENUE  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC  FOR  NINE 
MONTHS  ENDED  SEPT.  30,  1921 

8|c.  Ticket  fare   86,584,202 

10c.  Cash  fare....:   41,705,954 

1 3c.  Evanston  ticket  fare   4,203,507 

1 7c.  Evanston  cash  fare   289,705 

7o.  Evanston  local  fare   665,466 

Miscellaneous   64,415 


Total   133,513,249 


case  until  Dec.  2,  to  give  its  account- 
ants an  opportunity  to  go  over  the  com- 
pany's books  and  check  the  figures  pre- 
sented by  the  company  officials. 

The  figure  for  the  total  operating  ex- 
penses as  presented  herewith  includes 
a  monthly  charge  of  $40,318  for  re- 
placement reserve  which  is  distributed, 
$15,894  for  way  and  structures,  $15,831 
for  car  equipment  and  $8,593  for  power. 
In  explaining  the  item  entered  for  the 
monthly  estimated  accruals  of  taxes 
which  averaged  about  $106,000,  it  was 
explained  that  the  amount  specified 
each  month  is  $18,000  more  than  the 
tax  accruals  placed  upon  the  books, 


which  accruals  were  based  on  the  taxes 
for  1920  but  it  is  now  evident  that 
there  will  be  an  increase  of  40  per  cent 
or  more  in  the  rate  for  general  taxes 
for  1921,  and  that  if  there  should  be 
no  increase  in  assessed  value,  the  gen- 
eral taxes  for  1921  will  be  about  $309,- 
000  more  than  for  1920,  necessitating 
the  addition  of  $216,000  to  the  book  ac- 
cruals for  this  year. 


$700,000  Project  Suggested 

Interests   Connected   with  Cincinnati- 
Lawrenceburg  Line  Plan  Six-Mile 
Extension 

Plans  for  organizing  the  West  End 
Terminal  Railway,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
which  will  operate  the  proposed  exten- 
sion of  the  Cincinnati,  Lawrenceburg 
&  Aurora  Electric  Street  Railroad  from 
Anderson's  Ferry  to  the  Dixie  Terminal 
on  East  Third  Street  have  been  com- 
pleted by  C.  E.  Hooven  and  Edgar 
Stark,  receivers  of  the  Cincinnati, 
Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora  Electric  Street 
Railroad  and  L.  G.  Van  Ness,  general 
manager  of  the  company. 

The  extension  will  be  approximately 
61  miles.  It  will  provide  adequate  rail- 
way transportation  for  residents  of 
towns  along  the  route  of  the  Cincin- 
nati, Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora  Electric 
Street  Railroad.  The  plans  for  finan- 
cing the  project  which  were  devised  by 
C.  A.  Hinsch,  president  of  the  Fifth- 
Third  National  Bank,  provide  that 
property  holders  who  will  be  benefited 
by  the  improvement  shall  be  given  the 
opportunity  to  become  stockholders  in 
the  West  End  Terminal  Railway  when 
it  is  organized  by  purchasing  stock  or 
bonds. 

According  to  present  estimates  the 
cost  of  building  the  extension  will  be 
approximately  $700,000. 

It  is  proposed  at  the  present  time 
to  build  a  single  track  railroad  of 
standard  gage  using  T  rails  and  fol- 
lowing essentially  the  same  route  as 
that  of  the  West  End  Rapid  Transit 
Company  proposed  some  time  ago 
which  parallels  the  Big  Four  Railroad 
to  State  Avenue  on  the  surface.  From 
this  point  the  line  will  be  operated  on 
an  elevated  steel  structure  across 
Millcreek  bottoms  to  Mill  and  Third 
Streets,  thence  with  surface  line  to  the 
Dixie  Terminal,  at  Third  and  Walnut 
Streets.  The  West  End  Terminal  Rail- 
way will  acquire  and  use  without  cost 
all  rights-of-way  contracts  and  arrange- 
ments heretofore  made  with  the  Big 
Four  Railroad  and  with  others  now 
held  by  the  West  End  Rapid  Transit 
Company. 

The  Union  Gas  &  Electric  Company 
has  already  agreed  to  furnish  the  nec- 
essary electric  current  to  operate  all 
cars  on  the  extension  upon  the  same 
terms  and  conditions  as  it  now  fur- 
nishes power  to  the  Cincinnati,  Law- 
renceburg &  Aurora  Electric  Street 
Railroad  Company.  No  additional  sub- 
stations will  be  required. 

The  construction  estimate  of  $700,000 
does  not  include  any  cars  or  equipment 
for  the  new  line.  The  necessary  Equip- 
ment will  be  provided  by  the  Cincin- 
nati, Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora  Electric 
Street  Railroad  and  will  be  of  the  same 
standard  as  its  present  cars,  but  equip- 
ped with  multiple  unit  control,  so  as 
to  permit  the  cars  to  be  operated  singly 
or  in  trains. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  the  organ- 
ization of  the  West  End  Terminal  & 


Railway  Company,  it  is  proposed  to 
apply  to  the  Cincinnati  City  Council 
for  a  franchise  authorizing  it  to  con- 
struct a  line  essentially  as  specified  in 
the  franchise  granted  to  the  West  End 
Rapid  Transit  Company  in  1914. 

L.  G.  Van  Ness,  general  manager  of 
the  Cincinnati,  Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora 
Electric  Street  Railroad,  said  that  the 
railway  contemplates  obtaining  a  build- 
ing adjoining  or  close  to  the  Dixie 
Terminal  for  the  Cincinnati  terminus 
of  the  West  End  Terminal-&-Railway 
Company. 

If  the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company 
abandons  its  Sedamsville  line  from 
Sedamsville  to  Anderson's  Ferry  as 
has  been  suggested,  provision  will  have 
to  be  made  for  the  terminal  company 
to  handle  the  people  in  that  territory. 
No  agreement  has  been  reached  with  the 
traction  company  for  this  service,  but 
it  is  believed  a  plan  can  be  worked  out 
that  will  be  satisfactory  to  all  con- 
cerned. 

Mr.  Van  Ness  has  submitted  a  state- 
ment showing  the  number  of  passengers 
carried  and  the  revenue  therefrom  of 
the  Cincinnati,  Lawrenceburg  &  Aurora 
Electric  Street  Railroad  during  the  past 
three  years,  together  with  estimate  of 
the  number  of  passengers  and  revenues 
on  the  proposed  extension.  The  state- 
ment follows: 


Year  Ended 

Number 

Total 

Net 

June  30 

Passengers 

Revenue 

Revenue 

1919  

1,458,154 

$141,054 

$37,161 

1920  

1,681,539 

156,172 

51,534 

1921  

1,555,41  1 

190,394 

33,219 

Average  per  year. 

1,565,031 

$162,540 

$40,638 

For  increased  traffic 

500,008 

35,000 

11,500 

Estimated  for  the 
West  End  Terminal 

Company   I,900,000@6£-  $123,500  $58,500 

The  estimate  made  by  Mr.  Van  Ness 
is  based  on  the  present  number  of 
passengers  carried  into  the  city  from 
Sedamsville  by  the  Cincinnati  Traction 
Company  and  the  Big  Four,  no  account 
being  taken  of  the  freight  revenue  nor 
of  the  increase  in  business  that  will 
follow  from  the  improved  service. 

The  requirements  for  interest  and 
dividends  and  sinking  fund  on  the 
preferred  stock  and  bonds,  assuming 
the  improvement  costs  $700,000,  is  $49,- 
000  annually.  Thus  the  actual  net  reve- 
nue from  both  properties  as  above  esti- 
mated would  be  fully  sufficient  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  proposed  ter- 
minal company. 

The  plan  has  been  received  favorable 
by  the  residents  of  the  lower  river 
towns  and  the  work  of  carrying  out  the 
different  provisions  will  be  started  im- 
mediately, Mr.  Van  Ness  said. 


Manistee  Railway  Forfeits 
Franchise 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Manistee 
(Mich.)  Railway  failed  to  resume  op- 
eration of  its  cars  within  a  stipulated 
period  the  franchise  has  been  forfeited. 
The  city  attorney  has  been  authorized 
to  take  the  necessary  legal  steps  to  see 
that  the  action  is  sanctioned  by  the 
States  Public  Utilities  Commission. 

C.  S.  Kressler,  manager  of  the  prop- 
erty, who  was  present  when  the  City 
Council  authorized  the  forfeiture,  said 
that  the  tracks  would  not  be  taken  up, 
but  they  might  eventually  be  used  for 
transportation,  "possibly  a  different 
system." 

Railway  service  was  discontinued  in 
Manistee  on  Sept.  1.  This  suspension 
has  been  referred  to  previously  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1003 


Subpoenas  Resorted  To  in  New  York 

Directors  of  Interborough,  Facing  Threat  of  Suit  to  Recover  $10,000,000,  Decline 
to  Appear  Voluntarily  in  Present  Transit  Investigation 

Directors  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  who 
served  on  the  board  in  the  fiscal  years  1917  to  1919  declined  through  counsel 
on  Nov.  30  to  appear  voluntarily  before  the  New  York  Transit  Commission, 
in  the  present  inquiry  into  the  affairs  of  the  transit  companies  in  New  York. 
They  will  be  subpoenaed  to  appear.  James  L.  Quackenbush,  counsel  for  the 
company,  made  plain  their  reasons  for  declining  the  invitation  of  the  commis- 
sion.  This  was  the  outstanding  event  of  the  hearings  held  on  Nov.  28,  29  and  30. 

tion  they  had  ordered  prior  to  that 
time.  In  asking  the  postponement, 
Mr.  Quackenbush  referred  to  the  di- 
rectors as  parties  "who  might  be  sub- 
ject to  civil  liability  arising  out  of 
their  transactions,  or  might  not." 

Mr.  Shearn,  counsel  for  the  commis- 
sion, supported  the  plea  of  Mr.  Quack- 
enbush and  Chairman  McAneny  forth- 
with gave  the  Interborough  directors 
twenty-four  hours'  grace.  Mr.  Shearn 
said: 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  view  of  the  situa- 
tion in  which  these  directors  find  themselves 
it  is  only  fair  that  they  should  have  the 
opportunity  to  consult  with  their  own  coun- 
sel before  being  examined  and  it  is  not  an 
unreasonable  request  to  give  them  the  op- 
portunity to  have  that  consultation  today 
and  take  up  the  examination  tomorrow 
morning.  Therefore,  I  interpose  no  objec- 
tion to  the  adjournment,  although  it  does 
disarrange  my  plans  considerably  for  the 
day. 

After  Mr.  Quackenbush  had  stated 
on  Nov.  30  why  the  directors  declined 
to  appear  voluntarily  before  the  com- 
mission, Chairman  McAneny  explained 
that  the  commission  had  no  knowledge 
prior  to  the  present  inquiry  of  things 
that  had  gone  on  in  the  past,  and  that 
it  had  no  desire  to  embarrass  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  company,  but  that 
the  commission  was  determined  to  use 
all  the  powers  conferred  in  it  by  the 
State  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  the 
act  creating  it,  purposes  that  had  for 
their  sole  object  obtaining  the  neces- 
sary facts  and  data  upon  which  to  pre- 
mise an  agreement  for  the  future 
which  would  put  an  end  to  the  intoler- 
able conditions  now  existing  upon  the 
transit  lines  and  make  impossible  the 
repetition  of  the  mistakes  of  the  past. 
In  conclusion  he  said  that  he  thought 
the  directors  of  the  company  could  less 
afford  to  suffer  from  the  onus  of  not 
appearing  than  to  take  the  conse- 
quences of  any  action  by  Mr.  Venner. 

Counsel  Not  Greatly  Concerned 

Mr.  Shearn  regarded  the  matter  as 
a  gross  breach  of  faith.  Still  the  ac- 
tion was  immaterial.  The  inquiry  was 
dictated  solely  by  the  desire  to  acquire 
the  facts  necessary  to  put  through  the 
commission's  plan.  Many  of  these 
facts  had  already,  been  elicited,  and 
the  only  additional  facts  that  might 
be  brought  out  were  whether  the  di- 
rectors were  speculating  in  the  securi- 
ties of  the  various  companies  at  the 
time  the  mergers  and  changes  in  cor- 
porate structure  were  taking  place. 
At  his  behest  the  commission  decided 
to  compel  the  directors  to  attend  for 
examination. 

Mr.  Lindars,  at  the  session  on  Nov. 
29,  was  placed  on  the  stand  and  ques- 
tioned in  regard  to  the  range  of  prices 
of  the  Interborough-Metropolitan  Cor- 
poration, and  its  successor,  the  Inter- 
borough-Consolidated  Corporation.  He 
testified  that  the  preferred  stock  had 
begun  at1  87  in  1906,  and  had  dropped 
to  20  in  the  latter  part  of  1907.  After 
this  it  rose  steadily,  and  then  made  a 


ON  NOV.  28  Mr.  Hedley,  president 
and  general  manager  of  the  com- 
pany, was  recalled  by  the  counsel  of 
the  commission  for  further  examination, 
more  particularly  about  the  company's 
contracts  for  coal.  Mr.  Fisher,  secre- 
tary of  the  company,  was  a  witness  the 
same  day.  On  Nov.  29  Mr.  Samuelson, 
auditor  of  the  New  York  Railways, 
was  called  and  a  sub-hearing  was  held 
having  to  do  with  the  checking  of  cer- 
tain vouchers  of  that  company.  An- 
other witness  on  Nov.  29  was  Fred  W. 
Lindars,  accountant  for  the  commis- 
sion, who  testified  about  the  range  of 
prices  of  traction  securities,  more  par- 
ticularly the  price  movements  in  the 
Interborough-Consolidated  stocks  and 
bonds.  On  Nov.  30  came  the  denouement 
over  the  appearance  of  the  directors. 
This  resulted  in  an  adjournment  until 
Thursday. 

At  the  opening  of  the  session  on 
Nov.  30  Mr.  Quackenbush  said: 

The  invitation  of  the  Transit  Commission 
to  appear  in  person  for  examination  has 
been  conveyed  to  the  gentlemen  who  as 
•directors  voted  for  the  dividends  declared 
hy  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany in  the  fiscal  years  1917  to  1919. 

In  response  they  beg  to  state  that  they 
have  no  disposition  to  question  the  motives 
of  the  commission  or  of  its  counsel,  but 
they  respectfully  submit  that  the  practical 
result  of  the  investigation  as  it  is  now 
being  conducted  is  to  encourage  the  hostile 
attacks  of  Clarence  H.  Venner,  a  notorious 
speculator  in  law-suits  and  professional 
litigant  who  masquerades  under  the  name 
of  the  Continental  Securities  Company,  the 
General  Investment  Company  and  other 
aliases,  upon  the  credit  of  the  company 
and  indirectly  to  aid  in  his  efforts  to  bring 
about  a  receivership  and  wreck  the  com- 
pany. 

Venner  now  has,  in  his  campaign  of  liti- 
gation against  the  company,  six  suits  pend- 
ing for  this  purpose,  and  to  gain  advantage 
over  other  noteholders,  and  he  threatens 
to  commence  a  new  one  on  Dec.  1,  1921 
(tomorrow)  against  these  very  directors 
to  recover  $10,000,000  because  of  the  dec- 
laration of  the  dividends  in  question.  This 
makes  it  necessary  for  them  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  properties  which  they  are  admin- 
istering for  themselves  and  others  to  decline 
to  appear  voluntarily  as  witnesses  at  the 
hearings  now  being  conducted  by  the  Transit 
Commission. 

The  directors  feel  that  the  effort  to  create 
sentiment  against  the  company,  to  minimize 
the  value  of  its  properties  which  have  been 
honestly  and  efficiently  managed  against 
great  obstacles  and  difficulties  created  by 
war  conditions,  particularly  in  the  prices 
of  labor  and  materials,  and  the  unjust 
attacks  upon  the  management  require  in 
justice  to  themselves  and  to  the  properties, 
that  they  should  not  voluntarily  assist  in 
rendering  such  efforts  successful. 

Mr.  Quackenbush  explained  that  none 
of  the  directors,  if  forced  to  appear, 
would  sign  any  waivers  of  immunity. 

It  had,  in  fact,  been  originally 
planned  to  examine  the  directors  on 
Nov.  29,  and  counsel  for  the  commis- 
sion had  so  arranged  his  case,  but  Mr. 
Quackenbush  at  the  opening  of  that 
session  entered  a  plea  for  the  post- 
ponement of  their  appearance  until 
the  following  day.  He  urged  that  he 
had  been  general  counsel  only  since 
the  death  of  President  Theodore  P. 
Shonts,  and  said  the  directors  were  en- 
titled to  have  the  advice  of  their  own 
private  counsel  for  any  corporate  ac- 


sharp  advance  from  46  to  59,  when  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  changed 
its  dividend  policy  in  1912. 

In  January,  1915,  Mr.  Lindars  said, 
when  the  first  talk  of  reorganization 
was  heard  the  preferred  rose  from  55  to 
85.  When  it  was  replaced  by  Inter- 
borough -  Consolidated  preferred,  it 
started  at  77  and,  after  fluctuations,  it 
ended  at  6. 

The  witness  also  traced  the  course 
of  the  common  stock,  showing  that 
consolidation  had  raised  the  price  but 
that  it  has  since  declined  until  the  pres- 
ent price  was  a  nominal  one. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Samuelson,  auditor 
for  the  receiver  of  the  New  York  Rail- 
ways, produced  all  his  vouchers  for 
April,  1921,  before  a  sub-hearing  in 
the     board     room  adjoining. 

Unless  there  is  a  great  snowstorm 
this  winter  the  New  York  Railways 
Company  will  be  able  to  pay  operating 
costs,  maintenance  expenses  and  taxes 
on  a  nickel-fare  basis,  Frederick  T. 
Wood,  assistant  to  the  general  man- 
ager for  the  receiver,  testified.  A  big 
snowstorm,  he  said,  would  cut  down 
revenue  and  increase  expenses.  Mr. 
Wood  admitted  that  the  service  ren- 
dered by  the  company  was  not  such  as 
it  should  be,  but  charged  the  fault  to 
a  hand-to-mouth  system  made  neces- 
sary by  the  condition  of  the  company. 

President  Hedley  Recalled 

Mr.  Hedley  when  recalled  on  Nov.  28 
said  that  the  coal  bills  of  the  company 
amount  to  more  than  $5,000,000  a  year. 
Only  a  few  companies  had  the  facilities 
for  furnishing  coal  in  the  quantities 
demanded.  Coal  was  purchased  from 
the  Consolidation  Coal  Company,  the 
Berwind- White  Coal  Company  and  the 
Logan  Coal  Company.  Only  about  10 
per  cent  of  the  coal  used  was  purchased 
in  the  open  market. 

Contracts  for  coal  were  made  by  the 
year  on  a  sliding  scale  under  which  the 
company  stood  to  gain  if  costs  of  pro- 
duction and  distribution  were  reduced. 
The  contract  price  for  coal  has  been 
stepped  down  for  the  coming  year 
from  $7.70  to  $6.95  a  ton.  About  770,- 
000  tons  a  year  are  used.  The  fact  that 
another  similar  company  might  be  pur- 
chasing coal  for  less  was  explained  by 
the  statement  by  Mr.  Hedley  that  some 
of  the  circumstances  were  plainly  evi- 
dent while  he  had  no  knowledge  of 
others  not  being  familiar  with  the  par- 
ticular specifications. 

He  next  testified  as  to  the  cost  of 
power.  Mr.  Hedley  said  that  the  com- 
pany had  the  free  use  of  his  patents 
without  the  payment  of  a  dollar  for 
royalty,  but  that  the  directors  had 
voted  him  an  average  of  about  $5,000 
or  $6,000  a  year  for  the  last  ten  or 
fifteen  years.  The  use  of  the  coasting 
time  recorder,  one  of  Mr.  Hedley's  pat- 
ents, reduced  expenses  of  the  company 
more  than  $1,500,000  a  year. 

Mr.  Hedley  was  asked  what  he  meant 
by  his  previous  expression  to  the  effect 
that  he  would  try  to  make  the  nickel 
go  'round.  His  answer  was  that  inas- 
much as  he  was  reconciled  to  the  fact 
that  the  nickel  fare  was  all  he  would 
have  to  work  with  for  some  time  he 
would  continue  the  struggle  with  his 
assistants  as  aids  to  render  the  public 
the  very  best  service  that  could  be 
rendered  under  the  5-cent  fare. 

According  to  Mr.  Hedley  one  of  the 
most  serious  things  that  could  happen 
to  the  transportation  situation  in  the 
city  would  be  a  receivership  for  the 
Interborough.  This  would  mean  a  sepa- 


1004 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


ration  of  the  elevated  from  the  subway 
and  the  payment  of  thousands  of  10- 
cent  fares  by  the  public  where  the 
present  fare  is  5  cents.  In  the  event  of 
the  separation  of  the  two  lines  the 
elevated  would  probably  not  pay  the 
$17,000,000  spent  by  the  Interborough 
for  extending  the  elevated  and  would 
not  operate  cars  over  the  extensions, 
but  probably  would  pay  the  reasonable 
value  of  third-tracking  the  elevated 
after  a  period  of  years  of  litigation. 
In  the  meantime  "the  subway  would 
have  to  carry  the  load,  interest  and 
sinking  fund." 

Mr.  Fisher,  the  next  witness,  testi- 
fied to  the  effect  that  although  at  a 
meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  Interborough  on  Dec.  26,  1917,  a 
quarterly  dividend  of  5  per  cent  was 
declared  calling  for  the  payment  of 
$1,750,000,  seven  days  before  that  the 
company  borrowed  $1,000,000  from  the 
Interborough-Consolidated  Company,  to 
which  the  dividend  of  $1,750,000  was 
mainly  payable.  Similarly  twelve  days 
before  the  dividend  of  $1,750,000  de- 
clared payable  in  April,  1918,  had  been 
sanctioned  the  company  borrowed  $2,- 
500,000.  During  April,  1918,  the  com- 
pany borrowed  $4,000,000  and  on  May 
28  the  directors  declared  a  quarterly 
dividend  of  2i  per  cent  calling  for 
$875,000,  which  was  paid  out  July  1. 

On  July  16  the  directors  renewed  the 
bank  loans  of  $4,000,000  and  on  Aug. 
27  declared  another  dividend  of  $875,- 
000  payable  on  Oct.  1.  Later  the  com- 
pany arranged  for  short-time  financing 
through  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company  and 
the  bankers  stipulated  that  so  long  as 
any  of  the  notes  were  outstanding  the 
company  was  not  to  pay  any  dividend 
in  excess  of  10  per  cent  per  annum  un- 
less its  surplus  after  the  payment  of 
dividends  exceeded  the  surplus  earn- 
ings as  of  Sept.  1. 

Mr.  Fisher  here  explained  that  the 
dividends  were  all  declared  from  sur- 
plus at  a  time  when  the  surplus  was 
considered  ample.  On  March  20,  1919, 
$800,000  was  borrowed  from  the  Inter- 
borough-Consolidated by  the  Interbor- 
ough Rapid  Transit.  The  following  day 
a  receiver  was  appointed  for  the  Inter- 
borough-Consolidated. At  the  demand 
of  the  receiver  this  money  was  re- 
turned. The  late  Mr.  Shonts,  then 
president  of  the  Interborough,  wrote 
Mr.  Sheffield,  the  receiver  of  the  Inter- 
borough-Consolidated, that  the  loan 
was  legal,  but  Mr.  Fisher  understood 
the  money  was  returned  in  deference 
to  the  wishes  of  the  receiver. 

Mr.  Fisher  explained  that  as  the  In- 
terborough Rapid  Transit  was  owned 
by  the  Interborough-Consolidated,  it 
was  to  the  interest  of  the  one  to  see 
that  the  obligations  of  the  other  were 
paid.  Mr.  Fisher  stuck  to  this  point 
although  Mr.  Shearn  for  the  commis- 
sion sought  to  prove  that  the  effect  of 
taking  $800,000  away  from  the  Inter- 
borough-Consolidated while  it  was  in- 
solvent was  to  prevent,  to  that  extent, 
the  holders  of  the  collateral  trust  bonds 
of  the  Interborough-Consolidated  from 
getting  any  interest  and  to  enable  the 
holders  of  the  Interborough  bonds  to 
get  interest  out  of  the  Interborough- 
Consolidated  money. 

Mr.  Shearn  next  questioned  Mr. 
Fisher  at  length  about  the  financial 
structures  and  the  intercorporate  rela- 
tions of  the  Interborough-Metropolitan 
Company  and  the  Interborough-Consol- 
idated, the  successor  to  the  Interbor- 
ough-Metropolitan Company.  Mr. 
Fisher  replied  in  the  affirmative  to  the 


question:  Then  after  this  company 
which  could  not  declare  dividends  un- 
less it  declared  them  out  of  capital, 
which  was  also  against  the  law,  after 
this  company  reduced  its  capital  stock 
by  this  device  below  its  liabilities,  as  it 
was  prohibited  by  law,  it  began  to  dis- 
tribute dividends  to  the  holders  of  the 
preferred  stock  of  the  Interborough- 
Consolidated,  didn't  it? 

Mr.  Shearn  declared  after  reading  a 
statement  dated  April  26,  1915,  ad- 
dressed to  the  holders  of  the  common 
stock  voting  trust  certificates  of  the 
Interborough-Metropolitan  Company  by 
Messrs.  Berwind,  Belmont,  Freedman, 
Shonts  and  Vanderbilt  that  "it  would 
seem  that  the  bold,  admitted  and  de- 
clared purpose  of  this  consolidation  was 
to  permit  the  declaration  of  dividends 
upon  the  then  Interborough-Metropoli- 
tan preferred  stock  which  afterward 
became  Interborough-Consolidated  Cor- 
poration preferred  stock;  and  as  that 
could  not  be  done  without  reducing  the 
capital  stock  of  the  Interborough- 
Metropolitan  Company,  the  plan  was 
adopted  of  accomplishing  the  same 
thing,  by,  in  effect,  changing  its  name 
and  then  reducing  its  capital  stock  and 
declaring  the  dividends;  which  it  seems 
perfectly  obvious  amounted  to  declar- 
ing dividends  out  of  capital  at  a  time 
when  the  capital  of  the  company  was 
recognized  to  be  some  $80,000,000  to 
$82,000,000  impaired." 

Mr.  Belmont  on  the  Stand 

At  the  hearing  on  the  morning  of 
Dec.  1  several  directors  of  the  company 
were  in  attendance. 

Mr.  Belmont  first  took  the  stand  and 
was  asked  if  he  would  sign  a  waiver  of 
immunity.  At  this  point,  in  behalf  of 
Mr.  Belmont,  Mr.  Nicoll  read  a  state- 
ment in  which  he  declared  that  the 
practice  which  seems  to  have  come  up 
recently  of  asking  witnesses  to  waive 
immunity  was  vicious  and  had  no 
justification  in  law  and  that  the 
directors  were  opposed  in  signing  any 
such  waiver,  but  they  were  prepared 
to  answer  any  relevant  questions. 

Mr.  Belmont  then  explained  that 
while  he  personally  might  have  no 
objection  to  answering  questions  which 
might  be  put  to  him  he  had  also  the 
interests  of  his  company,  as  well  as  his 
own,  to  consider.  He  declared  that 
nothing  new  had  been  disclosed  so  far 
and  that  all  details  were  matters  of 
public  record.  In  his  opinion,  much  of 
the  loss  of  credit  of  the  company  in 
the  past  had  been  due  to  attacks  upon 
it,  and  the  directors  individually  have 
suffered  heavy  losses.  While  there 
may  have  been  speculation  in  the  stock 
market  on  securities  of  the  company, 
there  has  been  no  more,  he  believed, 
than  in  the  case  of  many  other  com- 
panies. While  not  intending  to  do  so 
the  commission  had  an  opportunity  to 
put  the  property  in  the  worst  light 
possible  in  order  to  carry  out  its  an- 
nounced plans  to  include  it  in  the  pro- 
posed reorganization. 

Mr.  McAneny  said  that  the  purpose 
of  the  hearing  was  not  to  injure  the 
company,  but  it  was  essential  for  a 
proper  understanding  of  the  situation 
to  have  full  knowledge  of  all  the  facts, 
and  many  facts  had  already  been 
brought  out  affecting  not  only  the 
valuation  of  the  property  but  the  ade- 
quacy of  the  revenue  and  the  sufficiency 
of  the  service. 

Moreover,  knowledge  about  the  de- 
fects in  the  old  methods  of  financing 
were  necessary  to  determine  what  to 


avoid  in  future.  He  thought  that  the 
directors  should  welcome  the  oppor- 
tunity of  explaining  the  reasons  for 
following  certain  methods  whose  ex- 
istence had  been  brought  out  in  the 
hearings.  The  waiver  requested  was 
practically  a  technicality,  he  said,  but 
as  explained  by  the  counsel  was  for 
his  protection  in  asking  questions. 

At  this  point  Counsel  Shearn  of  the 
Commission  said  that  no  evidence 
had  been  presented  at  the  hearings  of 
criminal  misconduct  and  that  there  was 
no  objection  to  the  witnesses  having 
personal  counsel  present  if  they  de- 
sired. He  expressed  the  hope  that  the 
directors  would  reconsider  their  unwill- 
ingness to  testify. 

As  the  directors  declined  to  sign 
a  waiver  if  required  to  testify,  Mr. 
McAneny  dismissed  them  from  attend- 
ance, with  a  statement  that  the  com- 
mission would  take  some  action  in  the 
matter  but  had  not  decided  what  course 
it  would  follow.  Mr.  Fisher,  secre- 
tary of  the  company,  then  took  the 
stand,  and  was  giving  testimony  when 
this  paper  went  to  press. 


Informal  Vote  at  Saginaw 

Conference  on  Railway  Franchise  Will 
Resume  After  Public  Decides  Be- 
tween Auto  and  Railway 

After  a  conference  between  the  mem- 
bers of  the  City  Council  of  Saginaw, 
Mich.,  and  representatives  of  the  bond- 
holders and  other  creditors  of  the  Sag- 
inaw-Bay City  Railway  lasting  more 
than  ten  days  it  was  agreed  on  Nov. 
30  to  submit  to  an  informal  vote,  the 
question  of  whether  the  citizens  want 
electric  railway  or  motor  bus  service. 
Should  the  people  decide  in  favor  of 
the  restoration  of  railway  service,  which 
has  been  suspended  since  early  in 
August,  the  conference  will  be  resumed. 

The  thirty-year  franchise  asked  by 
John  C.  Weadock,  New  York,  in  behalf 
of  the  bondholders  and  other  creditors, 
did  not  meet  with  favor  by  the  Council. 
Objection  was  made  to  the  length  of 
the  term  of  the  grant,  and  to  the  pro- 
vision which  had  been  suggested  that 
that  value  of  the  property  on  which  to 
figure  a  return  should  be  determined 
after  the  proposal  was  submitted. 
Minor  changes  were  suggested  by  the 
Council,  but  the  suggestions  just  noted 
were  the  rocks  on  which  the  conferees 
split. 

Mr.  Weadock  insisted  that  appraisal 
by  disinterested  parties  would  be  the 
more  satisfactory  way  of  reaching  a 
decision  on  the  property  valuation  and 
said  that  a  reduction  in  the  length  of 
the  grant  to  twenty-five  years  was 
the  limit  to  which  the  company  could 
go  and  retain  power  to  attract  new 
money  for  investment  in  the  property. 
He  proposed  to  start  the  operation  of 
cars  as  soon  as  the  Council  would 
agree  to  eliminate  the  jitneys  and  de- 
cide on  the  terms  of  a  franchise  to 
be  submitted. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  confer- 
ence on  Nov.  30,  both  sides  felt  that 
something  had  been  accomplished  and 
when  the  conference  reconvenes  the 
city  will  have  a  franchise  prepared  on 
the  theory  of  fixing  the  rate  of  fare 
for  two  years  and  submit  this  ques- 
tion and  all  others  with  the  respect  to 
operation,  etc.,  to  the  Michigan  Pub- 
lic Utilities  Commission.  Mr.  Weadock 
has  agreed  to  modify  his  franchise  sug- 
gestions, in  some  respects  before  the 
next  meeting. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1005 


Wage  Reduction  Argument 
Concluded 

Arguments  have  recently  been  con- 
cluded before  a  board  of  conciliation 
at  Vancouver,  B.  C,  as  to  a  reduction 
in  wages  and  modification  of  working 
conditions  for  employees  of  the  Brit- 
ish Columbia  Electric  Railway.  The 
company  notified  its  employees  some 
time  ago  of  its  intention  to  reopen 
the  agreement  with  the  union  and 
later  the  board  of  conciliation  was  ap- 
pointed under  the  Canadian  regula- 
tions. W.  C.  Ditmars  was  appointed 
chairman;  A.  C.  McCandless  repre- 
sented the  company  and  R.  P.  Petti- 
piece  the  men.  The  main  objectives 
■of  the  company  were: 

Reduction  of  15  per  cent  in  wages.  The 
present  maximum  rate  of  65  cents.  This 
would  be  reduced  to  55  cents. 

Abolition  of  extra  pay  for  Sunday  work. 
Time  and  a  half  is  now  paid  motormen  and 
conductors  herein. 

Substitution  of  monthly  minimum  for 
•daily  minimum.  At  present  the  company 
guarantees  six  hours  work  a  day.  It  pro- 
posed a  minimum  of  $70  a  month. 

Abolition  of  spread  over  time.  The  com- 
pany now  pays  25  cents  an  hour  when 
the  spread-over  exceeds  ten  hours. 

Abolition  of  payment  for  ten  minutes  time 
when  making  relief  on  the  road. 

Abolition  of  double  time  for  overtime  in 
shops  and  track  department  barns  and 
substitution  of  time-and-a-half. 

The  award  of  the  conciliation  is  not 
binding  on  either  party.  It  is  ex- 
pected to  be  submitted  in  a  few  days. 


More  Than  50  per  Cent  of  Each 
Fare  for  Wages  Alone 

Bearing  in  mind  the  recent  5-cent 
fare  order  issued  by  the  Illinois  Com- 
merce Commission,  the  following  state- 
ment of  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines  for 
the  eight  months'  period  ending  Sept. 
30,  1921,  is  of  particular  interest: 


AVERAGE  REVENUE  PER  PASSENGER  AND  . 
ITS  DISPOSITION 


Passenger  revenue   $39,505,777 

Revenue  passengers  carried   496,615,714 

Total  passengers  carried   886,565,990 

Average  fare  per  revenue  passenger,  cents  7.955 

Disposition  of  the  average  fare      Per  Cent  Cent3 

"Wages   51.77  4.118 

Material,  power  and  other  expenses       18.77  1.493 

Taxes   3.26  0.259 

Damages   3.58  0.285 

55  per  cent  to  city   5  II  0.407 

Interest  on  bond  indebtedness  and 

loans   11.57  0.920 

Sinking  fund   0.42  0.034 

Residue  for  companies   5.52  0.439 


100  00      7  955 


Albany  Strike  Costs  $3,000,000 

According  to  the  Knickerbocker 
Press,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  the  United  Trac- 
tion Company,  has  suffered  a  loss  of 
$1, 799, 490  in  passenger  revenue  from 
Jan.  1  to  Sept.  30,  1921,  and  the  men 
a  wage  loss  of  $1,000,000  due  to  the 
Albany-Troy  strike  which  began  on 
Jan.  29  and  terminated  on  Nov.  22. 
The  formal  calling  off  of  the  strike 
was  referred  to  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal,  issue  of  Nov.  26.  The 
statement  from  the  Press  of  Nov.  27  is 
based  on  quarterly  reports  made  to  the 
Public  Service  Commission.  In  part  it 
Is  as  follows: 

In  1920  the  United  Traction  Company 
earned  approximately  $2,41)2,469  for  the 
first  nine  months  of  the  year,  and  this 
year,  for  the  first  nine  months,  all  of  which 
were  during  the  strike  period  except  in 
January,  the  company  earned  only  $575,- 
569,  a  decrease  of  $1,402,469  for  1921  period. 

Transportation  expenses  have  increased 
greatly,  the  greatest  increase  being  in  the 
early  months  of  the  strike.  For  the  nine 
months  the  transportation  expenses  in- 
creased $223,006. 

The  company  lost  between  January  and 


March  $507,060  in  passenger  revenue,  and 
in  the  same  period  its  transporting  ex- 
penses jumped  $266,449.  In  the  same  pe- 
riod it  suffered  a  loss  of  7,842,565  passen- 
gers carried,  compared  with  the  number 
the  year  before.  This  is  about  65  per 
cent. 

Between  April  and  June  the  passenger 
revenue  dropped  $744,406  from  1920  fig- 
ures, and  the  number  of  passengers  car- 
ried dropped  approximately  the  same  as  in 
the  first  three  months  under  the  1920  fig- 
ures. Transportation  expenses  increased 
$110,970  from  last  year.  The  revenue 
from  July  to  September  was  $548,022  less 
than  last  year. 

Wage  Cut  Proposed 

Proposals  have  been  made  for  a  cut 
in  wages  for  employees  of  the  United 
Railways  &  Electric  Company,  Balti- 
more, Md.  The  company  is  not  mak- 
ing the  surplus  of  from  $1,000,000  to 
$1,500,000  to  which  the  Public  Service 
Commission  has  held  it  is  entitled.  In 
fact,  this  year  the  balance  will  hardly 
be  one-half  of  the  $1,050,000  last  year. 

The  proposal  is  to  cut  wages  and 
leave  the  rate  of  fare  at  7  cents,  it  be- 
ing felt  that  any  further  advance  in 
rates  would  only  tend  to  diminish  traffic. 
The  plan  to  be  presented  to  the  em- 
ployees will  include  an  approximate  re- 
duction of  2  cents  an  hour  for  men  on 
an  hourly  basis.  It  will  be  put  up  to 
the  men,  and  will  not  go  into  effect 
until  the  company  and  the  employees 
have  conferred.  Motormen,  conductors, 
shopmen  and  laborers  will  be  repre- 
sented in  the  consultations.  Officials 
hold  that  with  a  30  per  cent  decrease 
in  living  costs,  they  are  justified  in 
making  a  5  per  cent  cut  in  wages. 

The  cut  of  put  into  effect,  would 
include  officials  and  clerks  and  would 
save  the  company  about  $360,000  a 
year.  The  company  must  file  applica- 
tion before  Nov.  30,  for  a  continuation 
of  the  7-cent  fare  after  this  year.  This 
provision  was  contained  in  the  order 
granting  the  7-cent  rate. 


Utility  Owners  Score 
Municipal  Railway 

The  Puget  Sound  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Seattle,  Wash.,  has  filed  a 
petition  with  Judge  E.  E.  Cushman  of 
the  Federal  Court  for  an  order  com- 
pelling specific  performance  of  the 
purchase  contract  by  which  the  city  of 
Seattle  took  over  the  municipal  rail- 
way lines,  formerly  owned  by  the 
Puget  Sound  Traction,  Light  &  Power 
Company.  The  attorneys  for  the 
Power  Company  characterize  the  mu- 
nicipal street  railway  as  a  "political 
football,"  and  express  doubt  over  pay- 
ments of  interest  and  principal  on  the 
$15,000,000  purchase  price  being  made. 

Corporation  Counsel  Walter  F.  Meier, 
representing  the  city,  asked  that  the 
suit  be  dismissed  on  the  ground  that 
the  city  is  determined  to  meet  its 
obligations  in  good  faith.  The  next 
installment  of  $1,500,000  is  due  Feb.  1, 
1922.  Judge  Cushman  took  the  matter 
under  advisement,  allowing  ten  days 
for  the  company  to  file  a  brief,  and  a 
similar  period  for  the  city  to  answer. 
A  decree  is  not  expected  until  late  in 
December. 

James  H.  Powell,  appearing  as  at- 
torney for  the  company,  summed  up 
his  argument  as  follows: 

The  public  has  an  interest  in  seeing  that 
this  case  is  settled  and  the  plaintiff  does 
not  want  the  bonds  being  made  the  foot- 
ball of  politics  any  longer.  Such  will  be 
the  case  until  the  matter  is  put  to  rest. 
While  we  believe  that  the  Corporation 
Counsel  is  sincere  in  assuring  us  of  the 
city's  good  faith,  what  is  to  hinder  the 
City  Council  from  repealing  its  ordinances 
and  again  resurrecting  the  controversy? 


New  Equipment  Is  Needed 
for  Interurban  Service 

An  interesting  development  of  in- 
terurban railways  as  a  result  of  motor 
bus  competition,  the  ever-increasing 
number  of  patrons  who  ride  their  own 
automobiles  and  the  increasing  density 
of  suburban  population,  is  seen  in 
Toledo  in  the  application  of  J.  Frank 
Johnson  and  Harry  Dunn,  receivers  for 
the  Toledo  &  Western  Railroad,  to  the 
federal  court  here  for  permission  to 
buy  three  new  light  passenger  cars  for 
use  on  the  Toledo-Sylvania  section  of 
the  interurban  line. 

When  the  road  was  built  more  than 
twenty  years  ago  30-ton  cars  were 
purchased  and  thirteen  of  these  are 
still  in  service.  The  master  mechanic 
has  estimated  that  it  will  cost  more 
than  $10,000  to  keep  these  operating 
for  another  year. 

J.  F.  Johnson,  who  is  in  charge  of 
operation,  wants  to  purchase  three 
light  cars  for  a  trial.  He  estimates  the 
cost  at  about  $32,000.  He  wants 
double-enders  with  lower  steps  and 
doors  operated  like  city  cars.  He  esti- 
mates that  these  cars  would  save 
$2,268  a  year  in  power  alone.  The 
statement  of  condition  indicates  that 
the  road  is  making  most  of  its  money 
by  distribution  of  electric  power  to  gen- 
eral consumers  of  electricity  for  com- 
mercial and  private  use  rather  than 
through  the  conduct  of  its  passenger 
carrying  business. 

Through  the  adoption  of  lighter 
equipment  Mr.  Johnson  hopes  to  be 
able  to  compete  more  effectively 
against  motor  buses  and  increase  pas- 
senger revenue  on  that  portion  of  the 
line. 


Jitney  and  Franchise  Matters 
Drag  in  Richmond 

Events  in  Richmond,  Va.,  make  it 
appear  unlikely  that  any  action  will 
be  taken  at  this  time  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil in  regard  to  the  jitney  problem. 
The  jitneys  go  through  a  large  fan- 
shaped  section  of  the  west  end  where 
the  householders  have  for  years  op- 
posed the  construction  of  an  electric 
railway  and  the  jitneys  in  reaching 
the  business  center  come  down  Broad 
Street,  paralleling  the  railway  line  of 
the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany from  Belvidere  to  Ninth  Street, 
a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile.  Several 
ordinances  have  been  introduced  in  the 
City  Council  proposing  some  other 
route,  including  removal  to  Grace 
Street,  the  next  thoroughfare  to  Broad, 
but  no  action  has  been  taken.  One  of 
these  is  expected  to  come  up  in  substi- 
tute form  at  the  meeting  of  the  Coun- 
cil on  Dec.  15. 

To  meet  jitney  competition  the  Vir- 
ginia Railway  &  Power  Company  has 
asked  permission  to  operate  a  trackless 
trolley  line  over  substantially  the  route 
the  jitneys  are  now  serving,  but  the 
ordinance  has  been  referred  to  the 
street  committee  to  be  considered  along 
with  the  new  franchise  for  the  com- 
pany. 

That  committee  has  just  now,  after 
months  of  delav.  secured  an  appro- 
priation by  the  City  Council  of  $10,000 
with  which  to  employ  attorneys,  engi- 
neers and  accountants  to  advise  as  to 
valuations,  etc.,  as  a  preliminary  to  the 
new  franchise. 

A  valuation  for  the  company  of  all 
its  own  property  was  made  some  time 
ago  by  Stone  &  Webster. 


1006 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


Bondholders  to  Advance 
$1,000,000 

New  Orleans  Company  Will  Purchase 
Additional  Unit  to  Relieve 
Shortage 

The  junior  security  bondholders  of 
the  New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, despite  the  pending  litigation  in 
the  city  and  state  courts,  will  advance 
the  receiver  of  the  company  $1,000,000, 
according  to  the  statement  of  G.  M. 
Dahl,  vice-president  of  the  Chase  Na- 
tional Bank,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
from  New  Orleans  for  New  York.  The 
money  is  intended  for  the  purchase  and 
installation  of  a  new  20,000  kw.  unit 
and  appurtenances. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  security 
holders,  upon  the  settlement  of  the  com- 
pany's troubles,  to  provide  the  neces- 
sary funds  with  which  to  purchase  the 
equipment  needed  to  relieve  the  present 
shortage  of  power  and  furnish  an  ade- 
quate reserve.  The  output  of  elec- 
tricity, however,  has  nearly  reached 
capacity  with  no  reserve  in  sight,  mak- 
ing the  danger  of  a  breakdown  greater 
if  a  further  connected  load  were  taken 
on.  With  the  prospect  of  a  new  unit 
Mr.  Dahl  states  the  receiver  feels  he 
can  take  the  chance  of  increasing  the 
load,  though  it  is  realized  this  relief 
is  only  partial  and  temporary. 

The  money  is  to  be  obtained  from 
the  junior  security  holder  upon  re- 
ceiver's certificates,  formal  announce- 
ment of  the  issue  of  which  is  to  be 
made  by  the  receiver  soon. 

As  the  next  step  in  the  New  Orleans 
situation  the  injunction  secured  by  the 
state  of  Louisiana  in  the  Civil  District 
'Court  before  Judge  King  will  come  up 
on  its  merits  in  view  of  the  recall  order 
of  the  State  Supreme  Court.  The  pre- 
liminary hearing  was  fixed  to  be  held 
in  Judge  Porter  Parker's  division,  to 
determine  whether  to  dismiss  the  pre- 
liminary injunction  and  the  state's  ap- 
plication, or  to  make  the  injunction 
permanent. 

The  resolution  introduced  by  Repre- 
sentative Arras  in  the  Legislature  call- 
ing for  an  investigation  of  the  affairs  of 
the  New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light 
Company  failed  of  passage  and  action 
upon  it  has  been  indefinitely  postponed. 


Commonwealth  Property  Makes 
Splendid  Showing 

The  statement  of  earnings  of  the 
Commonwealth  Power,  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich., 
and  its  subsidiary  companies  for  twelve 
months  ended  Oct.  31  shows  a  net  in- 
come available  for  dividends,  replace- 
ments and  depreciation  of  $2,750,838 
and  a  balance  of  $1,673,658.  The 
balance  in  1920  amounted  to  $832,271. 

In  regard  to  the  foregoing,  P>.  C. 
Cobb,  vice-president  and  operating 
executive,  said: 

This  excellent  showing  is  remarkable  be- 
cause it  was  made  during-  a  period  when 
the  volume  of  business  done  by  the  light, 
power  and  railway  departments  was  less 
than  that  of  the  preceding  twelve  months. 
It  is  due  largely  to  the  success  of  the  man- 
agement in  obtaining  a  stronger  grip  upon 
the  operating  expenses  of  most  of  the  sub- 
sidiary companies  and  to  increases  in  the 


sales  of  electricity  and  gas  for  commercial 
and  domestic  purposes,  the  additional  reve- 
nue from  which  offset  that  lost  by  the  de- 
cline in  sales  of  industrial  power. 

Earnings  of  some  of  the  railways  have 
not  been  satisfactory.  The  Saginaw-Bay 
City  Railway  property  has  not  been  in 
operation  since  Aug.  10.  This  because  of 
the  Commonwealth  Company's  determina- 
tion that  the  railways  operated  by  it  must 
at  least  be  self-supporting.  There  are 
signs  of  a  more  favorable  sentiment  on  the 
part  of  local  authorities  and  the  public 
generally  toward  street  railways.  This  is 
perhaps  due  to  the  experience  of  those 
cities  where  street  railways  were  forced  to 
suspend  operations  and  to  the  consequent 
realization  that  if  these  utilities  are  ex- 
pected to  serve,  they  must  be  allowed  to 
earn  enough  to  pay  their  way.  We  are 
hopeful  that  the  Saginaw-Bay  City  situa- 
tion will  be  worked  out  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all  concerned,  and  I  believe  it  will  be. 
It  is  unthinkable  that  growing  and  pros- 
perous communities  like  Saginaw  and  Bay 
City  should  be  without  street  railway 
service. 

Favorable  progress  is  being  made  by  cer- 
tain of  Commonwealth's  subsidiaries  in  the 
sale  of  their  preferred  stock  to  customers. 
More  shares  were  sold  during  the  month 
of  October  than  in  any  previous  month  of 
1921. 

The  1921  construction  program  is  about 
finished.  These  expenditures  have  added 
to  the  operating  efficiency  of  the  properties 
and  benefited  the  service  rendered  to  the 
public. 


Chicago  "L"  Earnings 

Unsatisfactory 

For  the  first  eight  months  of  1921 
the  Chicago  Elevated  Railways  realized 
a  gross  revenue  of  $11,660,809  and  net 
earnings  of  $1,611,068.  This  is  at  the 
rate  of  only  2.8  per  cent  on  the  valua- 
tion of  $86,250,000  allowed  by  the  Illi- 
nois Public  Utilities  Commission  last 
year,  whereas  the  commission  held  that 
the  companies  were  entitled  to  earn  a 
rate  of  7|  per  cent  on  this  value.  After 
deducting  interest  charges  from  the  net 
earnings  for  the  eight  month  period, 
there  remained  a  deficit  of  $47,002.  In 
spite  of  this  showing,  the  companies 
have  been  cited  to  appear  before  the 
Illinois  Commerce  Commission  to  show 
cause  why  the  present  rates  of  fare 
should  not  be  reduced,  and  the  case 
comes  up  for  hearing  during  November. 


West  Penn  Purchases  Kingwood 
Company 

The  West  Penn  Railways  has  pur- 
chased the  West  Virginia  &  Maryland 
Power  Company  of  Kingwood,  W.  Va. 
This  company  was  recently  organized 
to  supply  electric  service  from  Grafton, 
W.  Va.,  eastward  through  Taylor  and 
Preston  counties  of  the  state,  and  Gar- 
rett county,  Md.,  and  into  the  coal  field 
along  the  upper  Potomac.  The  sale 
included  the  plant  at  Grafton.  To  ex- 
tend the  service  of  the  generating 
plants  at  Springdale  and  Connellsville, 
Pa.,  of  the  West  Penn  company,  and 
the  one  at  Windsor,  W.  Va.,  a  power 
transmission  line  has  been  started 
which  will  run  south  through  the  Cheat 
River  basin  to  Tunnelton,  Rowlesburg 
and  Newburg  on  the  main  line  of  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad.  A  direct 
power  transmission  line  is  to  be  built 
from  Grafton  to  Riversville  on  the 
Monongahela  River,  just  below  Fair- 
mont. The  power  plant  of  the  Monon- 
gahela Power  &  Railroad  Company 
is  located  there. 


New  Valuations  of  Toronto 
Railway  Submitted 

Cooley  and  Drum  Figure  the  System 
in  82  and  74  Per  Cent 
Condition 

Dean  Cooley  of  Michigan  University,, 
giving  evidence  before  the  Toronto 
Railway  arbitration  board  during  the 
week  ended  Nov.  26,  estimated  the 
value  of  the  system  at  $22,154,952,  com- 
pared with  the  estimate  of  W.  G. 
Hagenah  some  weeks  ago  at  $20,032,- 
837.  He  also  gave  a  reproduction  cost 
of  $26,998,250  based  on  average  prices 
of  1918,  1919  and  1920.  Mr.  Hagenah's 
estimate  of  reproduction  was  $26,- 
110,044. 

A.  L.  Drum,  consulting  engineer, 
Chicago,  valued  the  system,  on  the 
basis  of  prevailing  prices  during  the 
years  1918,  1919  and  1920,  at  $20,602,- 
766.  He  figured  that  the  system,  when 
turned  over  to  the  city  in  September 
last,  was  in  74.75  per  cent  condition, 
compared  with  Mr.  Hagenah's  72  per 
cent  and  Dean  Cooley's  82  per  cent. 
A  second  similar  appraisal  was  submit- 
ted by  Mr.  Drum,  on  the  basis  of  unit 
prices  prevailing  Sept.  1,  1921.  This 
appraisal  figure  was  $20,029,290. 

The  board  ruled  that  it  would  be 
improper  and  useless  to  allow  inspec- 
tion of  the  books  and  records  of  the 
Toronto  Railway  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  original  costs  save  when 
such  purchases  have  been  of  so  recent 
a  date  as  to  bring  the  cost  to  bear 
on  the  present  value.  For  these  pur- 
poses books  and  records  of  the  com- 
pany since  Jan.  1,  1913,  are  to  be  pro- 
duced for  inspection.  Counsel  for  the 
company  took  exception  to  this  ruling, 
and,  after  hearing  argument,  the  board 
agreed  to  grant  a  stated  case  to  be 
submitted  to  the  Appellate  Court  in 
accordance  with  a  memorandum  pre- 
pared by  the  company's  counsel,  N.  W. 
Rowell,  covering  the  following  points: 

Is  the  evidence  of  the  cost  of  the  prop- 
erties turned  over  to  the  city  corporation 
relevant  to  the  issue? 

Should  inspection  of  the  books  of  the 
company  be  granted? 

Should  the  city  be  entitled  to  inspection 
of  the  records  with  regard  to  maintenance 
repairs? 

So  far  the  arbitrators  have  not  in- 
dicated when  they  will  bring  in  their 
finding  on  the  basis  of  "actual  cost  plus 
appreciation,  minus  depreciation,"  .as 
advocated  by  counsel  for  the  city,  or 
on  the  basis  of  "reproduction  cost" 
which  is  the  stand  taken  by  counsel 
for  the  company.  The  chairman  of  the 
board  asked  counsel  for  both  sides  to 
waive  objection  to  the  evidence  being 
given,  but  counsel  would  not  agree  to 
this  suggestion.  The  board  then  of- 
ficially changed  the  date  upon  which 
they  would  bring  in  their  finding  until 
March  1  next. 


W.  Va.  Property  Has  Surplus 

The  statement  of  earnings  of  Appa- 
lachian Power  Company,  Princeton,  W. 
Va.,  for  the  twelve  months  ended  Oct. 
31,  1921,  shows  a  surplus  of  $77,007, 
against  $22,638  in  1920.  It  was  stated 
that  this  improvement  was  due  to 
operating  economies  and  substantial 
increases  in  rates.  Recent  financing 
has  assisted  the  company  in  reducing 
its  debt  by  $544,600.  The  company  has 
already  started  on  enlarging  its  power 
capacity.  This  activity  is  referred  to 
elsewhere  in  this  issue. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1007 


Tax  Bill  Signed 

President  Harding  on  Nov.  23  signed 
the  bill  revising  the  tax  and  revenue 
laws.  The  measure  is  entitled  "An 
act  to  reduce  and  equalize  taxation,  to 
provide  revenue,  and  for  other  pur- 
poses," but  is  generally  referred  to  as 
the  Tax  Revision  Law  of  1921. 

While  the  tax  bill  is  admitted  by  its 
authors  to  be  an  imperfect  measure,  it 
does  provide  for  a  substantial  reduc- 
tion in  the  tax  burden  and  greatly  sim- 
plifies the  administration  of  the  law. 
The  bill  in  its  final  form  will  require 
the  payment  of  some  $725,000,000  dur- 
ing the  first  fiscal  year  that  it  is  in 
full  operation,  less  than  would  have 
been  raised  had  the  law  it  supersedes 
remained  in  effect.  The  reduction  will 
be  greater  when  collections  from  the 
excess  profits  tax  cease  altogether. 

The  repeal  of  the  transportation  and 
so-called  nuisance  taxes  means  a  re- 
duction of  $326,630,266  during  the  fis- 
cal year  beginning  July  1,  1921.  That 
feature  of  the  bill  alone  is  held  by 
many  to  justify  its  enactment.  It  was 
stated  officially  at  the  White  House 
and  by  the  chairman  of  the  finance 
committee  that  the  bill  is  intended  as 
a  temporary  measure  only.  The  great 
disappointment  to  business  is  that  the 
recommendations  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  were  not  carried  into  ef- 
fect in  the  matter  of  transferring 
some  of  the  higher  brackets  of  the  in- 
come tax  to  the  estate  tax  title. 

In  its  final  form  the  bill  is  expected 
to  yield  $3,216,100,000  in  the  fiscal 
year  beginning  July  1,  1922,  ana 
$2,611,100,000  in  the  fiscal  year  begin- 
ning July  1,  1923.  For  the  fiscal  year 
of  1922,  the  bill  is  expected  to  raise 
some  $16,000,000  in  excess  of  the  Gov- 
ernment's requirements. 

The  Senate  accepted  the  House  rate 
of  12i  per  cent  applicable  to  the  cor- 
poration income  tax.  This  reduction 
of  2i  per  cent  from  the  rate  proposed 
by  the  Senate  will  reduce  by  $110,000,- 
000  the  annual  tax  burden  on  business. 
The  lower  rate  is  particularly  advan- 
tageous to  public  utility  companies 
and  other  corporations  now  earning 
small  returns  on  their  invested  capital. 

Valuation  Refuted 

F-  D.  Burpee,  manager  of  the  Ottawa 
(Ont.)  Electric  Railway,  answered  the 
Fairhe  valuation  of  $4,119,992  of  the 
property  of  the  company  with  the  fol- 
lowing statement: 

Mr.  Fairlie's  report  can  only  be  consid- 
ered as  his  opinion  of  the  value  of  the 
Ottawa  Electric  Railway  property,  based 
on  what  he  and  his  staff  could  observe  on 
the  street  without  access  to  the  premises 
or  inventories  of  the  company.  His  report 
values  all  the  assets  without  the  water 
power  at  $4,580,446.  The  condition  per- 
centage of  the  rolling  stock  in  his  report 
is  much  too  low.  This,  together  with  the 
many  items  that  must  have  been  assessed 
m  a  valuation  made  from  the  sidewalk 
would  bring  his  total  approximately  to  that 
arrived  at  by  Dr.  Herdt  and  his  staff  in 
1919.  Dr.  Herdt's  figures  were  $5,211,000, 
without  the  water  power. 


Michigan  Property  Unable 

to  Meet  Expenses 

Residents  of  Marquette,  Mich.,  may 
lose  the  railway  service  furnished  by 
the  Marquette  City  &  Presque  Isle 
Railway.  Because  of  lack  of  patronage 
with  a  corresponding  decrease  in 
revenues  the  possibility  of  suspending 
service  becomes  more  probable  each 
month. 

The   railway,   since   doing  business 


under  a  court  receivership,  has  cut 
down  its  overhead  expense  and  has 
spent  no  money  on  improvements. 
According  to  a  local  paper,  the  daily 
minimum  expense  in  operation  of  this 
system  is  $73,  with  revenue  falling  to 
$60.   

San  Francisco  Purchase  Near 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  may  hold  a 
special  election  sometime  in  March  to 
decide  upon  the  proposed  purchase  of 
the  Market  Street  Railway  properties. 
The  Public  Utilities  Committee  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  has  recommended 
such  action.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  negotiate  with  officials  of 
the  company. 

The  purchase  of  the  properties,  if 
made,  will  be  on  the  pay-as-you-go 
policy,  according  to  an  amendment  to 
the  city  charter,  approved  by  the  voters 
at  the  election  on  Nov.  2,  1920.  The 
amendment  is  an  enabling  act,  giving 
the  city  the  power  to  purchase  public 
utilities  when  necessary,  and  when  the 
purchase  is  confirmed  by  the  electorate, 
and  paying  for  the  utility  out  of  its 
own  revenue. 

The  plan  of  the  city,  should  the  pur- 
chase be  confirmed  by  the  voters,  is  to 
establish  branch  lines  throughout  the 
city  where  needed,  and  make  a  uni- 
versal 5-cent  fare  with  transfers,  from 
one  end  of  San  Francisco  to  the  other. 


Segregation  of  Properties  Is  a 

Problem  in  Reorganization 

Two  important  issues  with  respect  to 
Key  System  reorganization  are  brought 
to  a  head  in  letters  of  the  advisory  com- 
mittees representing  Oakland  Traction 
Company  and  Oakland  Traction  Con- 
solidated security  holders  and  Key 
Route  second  mortgage  bondholders  to 
individuals  of  the  groups  they  repre- 
sent.   The  questions  are: 

Shall  the  note  holders  of  Oakland  Ter- 
minal (Tldelands)  Company  and  the  Oak- 
land Railways  foreclose  on  their  holdings, 
thereby  cutting  the  tidelands  and  the  com- 
pany from  the  reorganization  pian : 

Shall  the  reorganization  plan  be  revised 
to  separate  into  two  companies  the  Key 
traction  system  proper  and  the  Oakland  and 
Eastbay  street  railways? 

Regarding  the  first  it  is  the  opinion 
of  the  advisory  committees  represent- 
ing the  Oakland  Traction  Company  and 
the  Oakland  Traction  Consolidated  se- 
curity holders,  and  also  the  Key  Route 
second  mortgage  bondholders,  that  it 
would  be  to  the  interest  of  these  se- 
curity holders  to  have  the  Oakland 
Railways  and  the  Oakland  Terminal 
(tidelands)  notes  foreclose. 

The  committee's  letters  ask  whether 
or  not  it  is  wished  to  request  the  organ- 
ization committee  to  retain  or  elimi- 
nate the  two  issues.  Proposal  by  the 
reorganization  committee  to  pay  the  in- 
terest on  the  Oakland  Railway  notes  for 
fifteen  years  at  6  per  cent  and  on  the 
Oakland  Terminal  (tidelands)  notes  of 
seven  years  at  6  per  cent  means  fixed 
charges  of  $215,000  a  year  and  is  one 
of  the  reasons  for  the  conclusion  recom- 
mending foreclosure. 

The  decision  of  the  advisory  commit- 
tees is  the  first  to  bring  into  the  open 


intimations  of  legal  action  in  connection 
with  reorganization.  Respecting  the 
proposal  to  segregate  the  traction  and 
the  street  railway  properties  the  San 
Francisco  News  says  that  holders  of 
some  securities  of  the  traction  lines  are 
understood  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  the 
step  would  divorce  these  forthcoming 
issues  from  the  problems  of  competi- 
tion and  franchise  which  may  confront 
the  street  railway  lines  and  conse- 
quently tend  to  stabilize  the  traction 
securities. 

An  extension  of  time  has  been 
granted  for  the  making  of  deposits 
under  the  reorganization  agreement. 

Exchange  Completes  Purchase 

The  Interstate  Public  Service  Com- 
pany now  completely  owns  the  Hydro- 
Electric  Light  &  Power  Company  at 
Connersville,  Ind.  The  Interstate  com- 
pany received  authority  from  the  Public 
Service  Commission  to  exchange  its  7 
per  cent  prior  lien  stock  at  equal  value 
for  $325,000  of  the  first  preferred  cumu- 
lative 6  per  cent  stock  and  $54,800 
second  preferred  cumulative  7  per  cent 
stock  of  the  Hydro-Electric  Light  & 
Power  Company.  This  gave  the  Inter- 
state company  entire  ownership.  A 
few  days  before  the  Interstate  company 
received  authority  from  the  commission 
to  take  over  $335,000  of  common  stock 
of  the  Hydro-Electric  company  owned 
by  E.  D.  Johnston  with  $210,000  of  its 
7  per  cent  prior  lien  stock. 


Zurich  Reports  Gain  in  Earnings, 
but  Loss  in  Traffic 

The  report  of  the  Zurich  Municipal 
Street  Railway  for  the  calendar  year  of 
1920  shows  a  falling  off  of  traffic  and 
reduction  in  car  kilometers  run,  but 
owing  to  the  higher  fares  charged,  the 
receipts  increased  about  16  per  cent. 
The  accompanying  table  shows  the 
main  operations  of  the  system. 

The  falling  off  in  traffic  was  attrib- 
uted in  part  to  the  increase  in  fares, 
but  the  management  points  out  that 
there  had  been  a  decrease  in  traffic 
before  the  schedule  of  increased  fares 
went  into  effect.  The  present  scale, 
given  in  American  money,  appears  in 
the  next  paragraph,  the  exchange  being 
assumed  for  convenience  as  one  franc 
equaling  20  cents;  the  market  rate  on 
Nov.  30,  was  19  cents.  The  unit  fare 
was  given  up  after  about  a  year's  trial 
and  the  zone  system  was  in  use  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  twelve  months 
covered  by  this  report. 

The  fare  for  a  ride  in  one  zone  was 
4  cents,  in  two  zones  6  cents  and  in 
three  or  more  zones  8  cents.  For  $1 
a  passenger  could  purchase  a  package 
of  eighteen  tickets  good  for  a  continu- 
ous trip  between  any  two  points  on  the 
line.  For  the  same  amount  he  could 
purchase  twenty-eight  single  zone 
tickets,  or  thirty-three  workmen's 
tickets  good  between  any  two  points  on 
the  line,  but  valid  for  transportation 
only  before  7:45  a.m.  All  of  these 
tickets  are  transferable.  In  addition, 
yearly  passes  were  sold  for  $61,  six- 
month  passes  for  $31  and  monthly 
passes,  for  the  first  month  $6.40  and  for 
each  succeeding  month  $5.40. 


STATISTICS  OF  ZURICH  MUNICIPAL  TRAMWAYS  FOR  1919  AND  1920 

1919  1920 

Car  kilometers                                                                                          13,248,782  11,772,189 

Passengers  carried  (totals  '                                                                 57,658,905  47,562.187 

Passengers  carried  per  car  kilometer                                                                    4.31  4 . 04 

Receipts  from  passengers  (total)                                                            Fr.  10,246,629  Fr.  11,806,147 

Receipts  from  passengers  per  person                                                      Fr.       0.1796  Fr.  0.2482 

Receipts  from  passengers  per  car  kilometer                                             Fr.         77.34  Fr.        100  29 


1008 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


Wants  to  Abandon  Local  Lines 

Because  of  its  inability  to  meet  ex- 
penses on  its  local  lines  the  Trinidad 
Electric  Transmission,  Railway  &  Gas 
Company,  Trinidad,  Col.,  has  filed  an 
application  with  the  State  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission  for  permission  to 
abandon  a  part  of  its  local  service  lines. 

The  plan  offered  by  the  company 
provides  for  service  to  the  business 
district  and  the  new  paved  district  of 
the  northside  by  the  interurban  cars. 
This  partial  abandonment  plan  was 
submitted  to  the  City  Council  recently 
with  the  request  that  no  protest  be 
made,  but  no  action  was  taken  by  the 
Council. 

Shore  Line  Property 
on  Paying  Basis 

R.  W.  Perkins,  receiver  of  the  Shore 
Line  Electric  Railway,  Norwich,  Conn., 
in  a  report  to  the  Superior  Court  cov- 
ering the  nine  months  from  Jan.  1  to 
Sept.  30,  shows  a  net  profit  of  $679. 

The  receiver  also  reports  that  under 
the  general  order  to  dismantle  and  sell 
the  lines  west  of  Flanders  Corner,  this 
work  is  proceeding  and  the  rails  are 
being  taken  up  and  delivered  on  cars 
about  as  fast  as  taken  from  the  road- 
bed. There  will  be  about  450  tons  of 
the  70-lb.  rails  and  from  1,200  to  1,300 
tons  of  the  80  lb.  rails.  The  rails  are 
paid  for  as  removed. 


What  a  Valuation  Is  Not 

William  G.  Woolfolk,  a  well  known 
Chicago  consulting  engineer  and  rate 
expert,  says: 

The  lawyer  has  Injected  himself  into  the 
apparently  simple  matter  of  utility  rate 
adjustment  and  brought  complexity  in  his 
trail.  He  tries  to  play  all  over  the  piano. 
Originally  he  made  our  mortgages  and 
other  corporate  papers  so  complicated  that 
not  even  he  could  understand  them  and 
riow  he  does  the  same  thing  with  our 
rate  cases.  The  economist  revels  in  volu- 
minous tables  and  obscure  terminology  in 
his  long  dissertation  and  monograph  upon 
"value"  before  the  flood,  while  the  engineer 
and  accountant  are  so  immersed  in  the 
difficulties  of  their  occupations  and  their 
conversation  is  so  cluttered  with  mysterious 
technical  expressions,  nobody  understands 
what  in  the  world  they  are  talking  about. 
But  for  confounding  the  confusion  the  rate 
expert  is  the  genius. 

Mr.  Woolfolk  tells  the  story  of  Prof. 
Edward  W.  Bemis,  for  many  years 
utiliy  rate  expert  for  the  city,  who  was 
once  requested  during  a  rate  case  to 
explain  his  "fair  value,"  and  testified: 
"There  is  no  precise  definition,  I  think, 
or  any  agreed  on  statement  to  repre- 
sent it,  but  there  is  a  very  clear  con- 
ception of  what  it  is  not." — Barron's. 


A  Deficit  of  $408,428  in 
Louisville 

For  the  first  nine  months  of  the 
present  year  the  Louisville  (Ky.)  Rail- 
way has  incurred  a  deficit  of  $408,428 
against  a  deficit  of  $105,856  for  the 
same  period  of  1920.  The  gross  in- 
come for  this  period  from  January- 
September  amounted  $577,290  and  with 
deductions,  interest  on  indebtedness 
etc.,  amounting  to  $479,906  there  re- 
mained a  net  income  available  for  divi- 
dends of  $97,384.  The  total  dividend 
requirements  of  the  company  for  this 
period  stand  at  $505,812. 

If  the  company  receives  an  unfavor- 
able decision  from  the  courts  in  its 
fight  for  the  7-cent  fare  the  liability 
up  to  Dec.  31,  1921,  based  on  ticket 
sales  from  March  24  to  Oct.  24  is  esti- 
mated at  $335,000.    If  this  refund  to 


the  holders  of  the  7-cent  fare  receipts 
should  be  ordered  the  deficit  of  the  com- 
pany for  1921  will  be  increased  to 
about  $850,000. 


Revenue  of  Ohio  Property 
Improves 

Employment  increase  at  Toledo  has 
probably  helped  in  bettering  the 
revenue  of  the  Community  Traction 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio,  for  the  month 
of  November. 

Figures  for  the  first  twenty-two  days 
of  the  month  indicated  that  November 
would  run  considerably  ahead  of  Octo- 
ber and  furnish  nearly  $26,000  for  the 
stabilizing  fund  and  the  usual  payment 
of  $17,708.33  for  the  sinking  fund  or 
municipal  ownership  fund.  The  gross 
receipts  for  the  first  twenty-two  days 
of  November  as  reported  to  Commis- 
sioner Wilfred  E.  Cann  were  $199,613, 
or  an  increase  of  $6,417  compared  with 
the  same  days  of  October. 

On  Jan.  1,  1922  the  city  ownership 
in  the  lines  will  amount  to  $232,000. 
Interest  on  this  amount  of  bonds  pur- 
chased by  the  sinking  fund  commission- 
ers will  amount  to  $13,300  a  year 
thereafter. 

The  Street  Railway  Commissioner 
has  been  officially  notified  that  the 
$1,900,000  mortgage  on  the  underlying 
property  of  the  railway  has  been  can- 
celled by  the  Doherty  interests  through 
their  recent  financing  of  the  Toledo 
Edison  Company. 


Railway  Investigation  Completed 

Investigation  of  the  property  and 
earnings  of  Birmingham  Railway, 
Light  &  Power  Company,  Birmingham. 
Ala.,  by  experts  of  the  Electric  Bona 
&  Share  Company  has  just  been  com- 
pleted and  the  last  of  the  experts  has 
returned  to  New  York  to  prepare  a 
report  on  the  property.  According  to 
information  in  Birmingham  this  report 
will  form  the  basis  of  reported  nego- 
tiations of  the  Electric  Bond  &  Share 
Company  for  the  purchase  of  the  hold- 
ings of  the  American  Cities  Company, 
which  now  controls  the  stock  of  the 
Birmingham  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  and  the  companies  operating 
railway  and  electric  lighting  plants  in 
Memphis,  Little  Rock,  Knoxville,  and 
Houston. 


Texas  Property  Exceeds 

Authorized  Return 

The  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  during 
October  exceeded  its  authorized  return 
of  7  per  cent,  as  provided  in  the 
franchise  granted  by  the  city  in  1917 
to  the  Strickland-Hobson  interests,  ac- 
cording to  a  report  covering  the  oper- 
ation of  its  lines  for  this  month  just 
filed  with  J.  W.  Everman,  the  Super- 
visor of  Public  Utilities.  The  report 
shows  gross  earnings  for  the  month 
of  $301,594  and  total  operating  ex- 
penses of  $213,768,  leaving  a  total  of 
$87,826  for  authorized  return  and  re- 
serves. 

On  the  present  valuation  of  the  prop- 
erty, the  authorized  return  of  7  per 
cent  amounts  to  $54,964  a  month,  and 
after  this  amount  was  deducted  from 
the  amount  of  earnings,  a  balance  of 
$32,861  was  left.  This  was  passed 
to  the  reserve  fund  to  be  used  in  dis- 
charging: the  accumulated  deficit  in 
the  authorized  return,  which  amounts 
to  nearly  $1,000,000. 


Financial 
News  Notes 


Baltimore  Property  Will  Pay. — It  has 

been  officially  announced  that  coupons 
No.  45  on  the  income  bonds  of  the 
United  Railways  &  Electric  Company, 
Baltimore,  Md.,  will  be  paid  on  and 
after  Dec.  1  upon  proper  presentation 
at  the  office  of  Alexander  Brown  & 
Sons,  Baltimore. 

Bus  Line  Wants  to  Issue  Stock. — The 
Mark  Smith  Bus  Line  which  offers  a 
passenger  service  between  Aurora  and 
Elgin,  111.,  has  filed  an  application  with 
the  State  Commerce  Commission  for 
permission  to  sell  stock.  This  bus 
project  is  being  fought  by  the  Aurora, 
Elgin  &  Chicago  Railroad. 

Realizes  a  Net  of  $535,537.— In  its 
seven  months  of  operation  from  April, 
1921,  the  Market  Street  Railway,  San 
Francisco,  Calv  shows  a  total  operat- 
ing revenue  of  $5,502,455.  Operating 
expenses  totaled  $4,173,574  and  net 
revenue  $1,328,881.  The  gross  income 
of  $998,104  is  reduced  to  a  net  of  $535,- 
537  after  subtracting  bond  interest  and 
other  deductions. 

Revenues  Fail  to  Cover  Expenses. — 
The  report  of  the  city  comptroller  of 
Tacoma,  Wash.,  on  the  operation  of  the 
Tacoma  Municipal  Street  Railway  dur- 
ing September,  showed  that  the  operat- 
ing receipts  failed  to  cover  operating 
expenses  by  $1,411  and  that  the  total 
deficit,  including  interest  and  other 
charges,  was  $4,675.  Revenues  were 
$6,976  and  expenses  $8,399. 

Interborough  Again  Reports  Deficit. 
— For  the  month  of  September,  1921, 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany, New  York,  N.  Y.,  shows  a  cor- 
porate deficit  of  $398,204  which  makes 
the  cumulative  deficit  for  the  quarter 
ended  Sept.  30,  1921,  $1,742,960  against 
a  deficit  a  year  ago  of  $1,712,135.  The 
total  income  for  the  three  months 
period  amounted  to  $3,675,270  against 
$3,465,497  for  the  same  period  a  year 
ago. 

Sapulpa  Railway  to  Sell  Assets. — 
The  Sapulpa  (Okla.)  Electric  Railway 
has  received  permission  from  the  Cor- 
poration Commission  to  sell  its  entire 
assets  to  the  Oklahoma  Union  Railway. 
The  operation  of  the  road,  which  ex- 
tends between  Sapulpa  and  Kiefer,  a 
distance  of  8.78  miles,  has  not  been 
profitable  and  the  company  is  in  debt. 
This  purchase  will  extend  the  lines  of 
the  Oklahoma  Union  Railway,  which 
operates  an  interurban  line  between 
Sapulpa  and  Tulsa. 

Appointment  of  Receiver  Asked  — 
Appointment  of  a  receiver  for  the 
Western  Ohio  Railway,  operating  an  in- 
terurban line  between  Findlay  and 
Troy,  has  been  asked  in  Common  Pleas 
Court  at  Lima,  Ohio.  The  suit  in  fore- 
closure was  filed  by  the  Union  Trust 
Company.  Cleveland,  on  account  of 
the  inability  of  the  traction  company 
to  meet  interest  or  principal  payments 
on  its  $2,500,000  first  mortgage  bonds 
now  due.  The  line  operates  through 
Hancock,  Allen,  Mercer,  Auglaize, 
Shelby  and  Miami  Counties.  It  is  not 
believed  the  suit  will  interfere  with 
its  operation. 


December  3,  1921  Electric   Railway   Journal  1009 


Five-Cent  Fare  Order  Restrained 

Ruling  of  Illinois  Commission  Against  Chicago  Surface  Lines  Protested  on 
the  Ground  that  the  Decision  Is  Confiscatory 

The  Chicago  Surface  Lines  almost  had  a  5-cent  fare  on  Nov.  25.  As  indi- 
cated briefly  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Nov.  26  an  order  of  the 
Illinois  Commerce  Commission  fixing  this  rate  was  announced  on  Thanks- 
giving eve,  allowing  twenty-eight  hours  to  prepare  for  the  change  from  an 
8-cent  fare.  The  courts  were  closed,  no  federal  judge  was  in  the  city  and  it 
was  not  until  the  following  noon  that  a  temporary  restraining  order  was  issued 
by  Judge  George  A.  Carpenter  of  the  United  States  District  Court.  No  trouble 
was  caused  by  passengers  on  Nov.  25,  and  before  noon  of  that  day  another 
order  had  been  secured  from  Federal  Judge  Francis  E.  Baker  requiring  the 
companies  to  give  a  receipt  for  the  3  cents  difference  until  further  notice. 


FURTHER  developments  are  ex- 
pected on  Dec.  2  when  Federal 
Judges  Carpenter,  Baker  and  Geiger 
will  hear  from  both  sides  on  the  peti- 
tion for  a  temporary  injunction.  The 
surface  companies  meanwhile  are  issu- 
ing ordinary  transfers  as  rebate  slips. 

The  order  from  the  state  commission 
was  not  unexpected,  and  it  followed 
within  two  days  after  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  had  taken  a  stand  which 
meant  that  the  contract  provisions  of 
the  1907  ordinances  were  not  binding 
on  the  companies  as  to  fares  or  service. 

Commission  Suggests  Beeler  Plan 
of  Re-Routing 

To  make  a  5-cent  fare  financially 
possible  the  commission  suggested 
adoption  of  the  John  A.  Beeler  plan 
for  re-routing  of  cars  in  the  downtown 
district;  other  re-routing  and  "turn 
backs"  outside  of  this  territory;  cut- 
ting the  accident  expense  of  the  com- 
panies in  half;  reduction  of  the  permis- 
sible rate  of  return  from  7i  to  6  per 
cent;  trimming  of  the  salaries  of  of- 
ficials of  the  companies;  discontinuance 
of  payments  into  the  renewal  fund  as 
required  by  ordinance,  and  opening  of 
negotiations  with  the  city  to  obtain 
relief  from  the  expense  of  street  sweep- 
ing, sprinkling  and  paving. 

The  commission  refrained  from  men- 
tioning a  reduction  in  wages  although 
this  was  admittedly  one  of  the  high 
items  in  the  cost  of  operation.  The 
only  reference  on  this  point  was  a  state- 
ment that  "it  would  seem  the  com- 
panies should  take  cognizance  of  the 
trend  of  the  times  in  the  control  of  the 
operation  costs  particularly  in  the  large 
salaries  paid  to  their  executive  staff." 

The  opinion  declared  the  service  ren- 
dered by  the  surface  lines  to  be  "grossly 
inadequate,  inefficient,  and  inconvenient 
and  in  many  cases  dangerous,"  and, 
therefore,  in  the  opinion  of  the  commis- 
sion, not  worth  more  than  5  cents.  The 
commission  concluded  that  if  the  com- 
panies would  "exercise  reasonable  dili- 
gence, prudence,  efficiency  and  econ- 
omy" a  5-cent  fare  would  "enable  them 
to  meet  their  legitimate  and  proper 
operating  expenses  and  earn  a  fair  re- 
turn upon  the  fair  value  of  their  prop- 
erty employed  in  the  public  service." 

Although  no  evidence  was  introduced 
in  the  case  showing  comparative  cost 
of  damages  in  various  cities,  the  com- 
mission expressed  the  opinion  that  this 
expense  should  be  cut  in  half,  the  com- 
panies having  paid  out  for  accidents 


$1,844,634  during  the  year  ended  July 
31,  1921.  Touching  on  the  question  of 
rate  of  return,  the  commission  found 
that  the  allowance  of  71  per  cent  by 
their  predecessors  was  "unreasonably 
and  unjustly  high,"  especially  as  the 
companies  had  actually  paid  an  aver- 
age rate  of  5.014  per  cent  in  securing 
its  capital.  The  rate  was  therefore 
fixed  at  6  per  cent. 

An  interesting  question  is  raised  by 
the  disallowance  of  money  for  renewals 
because  the  ordinances  under  which  the 
companies  are  operating  require  them 
to  set  aside  8  per  cent  of  gross  receipts 
for  this  purpose,  and  the  bonds  of  some 
of  the  companies  are  issued  under 
mortgages  containing  such  provisions. 
Besides  the  amounts  actually  expended 
from  this  fund  in  the  past  fourteen 
years,  there  has  been  accumulated  $11,- 
672,599  which  cannot  be  used  except  for 
renewal  purposes.  The  commission 
says  this  fund  can  be  drawn  on  to  take 
care  of  renewals  from  time  to  time  and 
that  there  shall  be  no  further  accumu- 
lations until  further  order  of  the  com- 
mission. It  is  expected  the  companies 
would  have  difficulty  in  securing  the 
approval  of  the  Board  of  Supervising 
Engineers  to  withdraw  money  from 
this  fund  for  current  renewals,  and  it 
is  likely  that  bondholders  would 
threaten  foreclosure. 

The  statement  is  made  in  the  order 
that  under  modern  methods  the  pur- 
pose of  the  City  Council  in  requiring 
street  sweeping  and  sprinkling  has 
ceased  to  exist.  As  to  paving  of  streets 
it  says  that  "under  the  decisions  of  the 
courts  in  relation  to  municipally-owned 
companies  and  the  reasoning  therein 
evolved,  it  would  seem  that  the  pave- 
ment of  streets  was  a  matter  of  local 
taxation  rather  than  a  burden  to  be 
placed  upon  the  patrons  of  public  util- 
ities." It  was,  therefore,  suggested 
that  these  matters  should  become  the 
subject  of  negotiations  between  the  city 
and  the  companies. 

By  agreement  with  the  city  the  ques- 
tion of  valuation  was  not  gone  into  in 
this  proceeding,  but  the  commission  in- 
timated that  it  might  later  on  make  a 
re-valuation  and  possibly  discard  al- 
lowances for  franchise  value  and  "going 
value"  which  were  included  by  the 
previous  commission. 

In  its  petition  for  a  restraining  order 
the  Chicago  Surface  Lines  sets  forth 
that  the  hearing  before  the  commission 
was  not  for  rate-making  purposes  but 
on  the  assumption  that  the  5-cent  fare 


provisions  of  the  1907  ordinances  were 
in  full  effect  and  binding  on  the  com- 
panies. The  basis  for  this  claim  was 
removed  by  rulings  of  the  state  and 
federal  Supreme  courts.  It  was  also 
pointed  out  that  the  city  based  its  de- 
mand for  a  reduction  in  rate  of  fare 
on  the  allegation  that  conditions  which 
justified  the  8-cent  fare  had  changed, 
although  no  evidence  in  support  of  this 
was  introduced. 

It  was  shown  that  under  present 
traffic  conditions  in  Chicago  a  5-cent 
fare  would  produce  only  $38,000,000 
annually,  whereas  the  operating  ex- 
penses alone  would  amount  to  $44,000,- 
000.  The  authority  of  the  courts  was 
invoked  to  prevent  confiscation  of  the 
properties.  Upon  issuing  a  temporary 
restraining  order  Judge  Carpenter  re- 
quired a  $50,000  bond. 

Before  the  city's  legal  representa- 
tives could  make  a  move  the  following 
day,  an  attorney,  Jacob  L.  Tenney, 
went  before  Federal  Judge  Baker  as 
a  fare-payer  and  demanded  the  issuance 
of  rebate  slips  by  the  companies.  At- 
torneys for  the  companies  explained 
that  such  slips  could  not  be  distributed 
for  several  days.  It  was  finally  agreed 
that  transfer  slips  be  accepted  as  re- 
ceipts immediately. 

United  Traction  Asks 
Eight-Cent  Fare 

Objections  to  the  United  Traction 
Company,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  charging  an 
8-cent  fare  in  Rensselaer,  Watervliet, 
Waterford,  Cohoes,  Green  Island  and 
Troy,  making  a  uniform  8-cent  fare  on 
all  of  the  company's  lines  were  made 
on  Nov.  28  on  the  company's  applica- 
tion recently  filed  before  the  Public 
Service  Commission. 

In  general  the  objections  centered 
upon  an  implied  question  of  the  con- 
stitutionality of  the  new  public  service 
commissions  law,  that  asking  for  in- 
creases in  fare  had  become  a  habit  with 
the  United  Traction  Company  and  that 
the  company  had  failed  to  live  up  to  its 
franchise  and  service  agreements. 

In  the  application  the  company  sets 
forth  that  it  will  be  "unable  to  con- 
tinue the  operation  of  its  system  and 
pay  its  operating  expenses  and  taxes," 
unless  granted  relief  through  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  uniform  rate  of  fare. 

Albany  patrons  have  been  paying 
8  cents  since  late  in  January,  when 
the  Public  Service  Commission  ordered 
an  8-cent  fare  in  the  city,  a  graduated 
rate  of  fare  in  Rensselaer  and  a  6-cent 
fare  in  Troy. 

The  proposed  uniform  rate  would 
result  as  follows: 

Albany — 8-cent  fare  ;  unchanged. 

Troy — Increase  from  6  to  8  cents. 

Albany  to  Troy — Increase  from  14  to  16 
cents. 

Rensselaer  —  Increase  within  the  city 
from  5  to  8  cents :  increase  from  points 
within  the  city  to  the  Plaza,  Albany,  from 
6  to  8  cents :  increase  from  points  within 
the  city  to  lines  in  Albany,  from  7  to  8 
cents. 

Watervliet — Increase  from  6  to  8  cents. 
Cohoes — Increase  from  6  to  .8  cents. 

The  proposed  increased  rates  of  fare 
also  contemplate  the  sale  by  the  appli- 
cant for  use  in  said  zones  of  tickets 
or  tokens  of  8  cents  transportation 
value,  at  the  rate  of  four  for  30  cents. 

The  applicant  also  asks  for  the 
establishment  of  a  through  fare  of  16 
cents  applying  between  the  Plaza, 
Albany  and  the  terminal  of  its  through 
zones  in  the  city  of  Cohoes,  with  the 
privilege  to  passengers  of  using  said 
tickets  or  tokens  and  the  provision  of 
proper  transfer  regulations. 


1010 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  Ao.  2'6 


Hearings  Resumed  in 
Los  Angeles 

Railway     Estimates     Increased  Fare 
Would  Increase  Revenue  by 
$1,380,000 

Resumed  hearings  before  the  Cali- 
fornia Railroad  Commission  on  the  in- 
terurban  service  and  the  proposed 
increase  in  rates  on  lines  of  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles,  Cal., 
took  place  on  Nov.  14,  15  and  16.  At 
the  close  of  the  hearing  on  Nov.  16 
all  the  evidence  and  reports  bearing  on 
the  Pacific  Electric  lines  within  Los 
Angeles  were  in  the  hands  of  the  com- 
mission, but  the  status  of  the  local 
lines  in  smaller  cities  will  be  deter- 
mined according  to  the  order  of  the 
commission  by  conferences  between  the 
cities,  engineers  of  the  commission  and 
officials  of  the  railway. 

These  meetings  will  determine  the 
question  of  jitney  service  being  elimi- 
nated in  these  cities  and  the  question 
of  abandonment  by  the  company  of 
certain  non-paying  lines  in  the  small 
towns  outside  of  Los  Angeles.  Reports 
as  to  the  results  of  these  meetings  will 
be  filed  before  the  commission.  The 
matter  of  the  20  per  cent  increase  in 
passenger  rates  first  came  before  the 
commission  at  a  hearing  at  Los 
Angeles  on  Oct.  11,  12  and  13  and  was 
reviewed  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  issue  of  Oct.  22,  page  756. 
After  the  three-day  hearing  the  mat- 
ter was  then  put  over  until  Nov.  14 
to  give  protestants  of  the  increase  in 
rates  sufficient  time  to  prepare  their 
briefs  and  studies  of  the  report  of  the 
affairs  of  the  company  as  filed  by 
Chief  Engineer  Richard  Sachse  of  the 
commission. 

The  commission  granted  an  emer- 
gency increase  in  rates  to  the  company 
in  July,  1920,  to  tide  the  company  over 
the  abnormal  period  of  high  prices  of 
material  and  labor.  The  company  now 
finds  this  increase  insufficient  and  re- 
quests 20  per  cent  increase,  which  it  is 
claimed  is  required  to  give  an  8  per 
cent  return  on  its  valuation  as  fixed 
by  the  commission. 

The  company  filed  an  estimate  of  ad- 
ditional revenue  to  be  derived  from  the 
requested  fare  increase.  This  state- 
ment in  part  is  as  follows: 

Estimated  net  increase  in  passenger 
revenue  $510,000,  on  local  street  car  fares 
from  the  company's  Los  Angeles  operated 
lines  by  establishing  two  6-cent  zones  in 
Los  Angeles,  the  rate  to  be  6  cents  in  each 
zone. 

Also,  the  estimate  would  realize  a  net 
increase  of  $50,000  by  discontinuing  trans- 
fers in  Pasadena  except  that  two  forms  of 
sixty-ride  commutation  tickets  be  provided 
for  the  Los  Angeles-Pasadena  interurban 
lines,  one  good  to  Colorado  Street  and 
Fair  Oaks  Avenue  only  and  the  other  to 
include  transfers  to  and  from  local  lines. 
Under  past  arrangement,  the  company  be 
allowed  transfer  privileges  between  its 
local  lines  and  interurban  lines  in  Pasa- 
dena regardless  of  distance  of  travel  within 
the  city  of  Pasadena. 

The  total  net  increase  would  be  $1,380,- 
000,  and  in  a  majority  of  these  estimated 
increases  allowance  is  made  for  deflection 
in  travel  due  to  increase  proposed. 

The  Motor  Transit  Company,  the 
largest  motor  bus  operating  concern  in 
the  state,  then  entered  the  hearing  and 
filed  a  brief,  stating  that  while  it  of- 
fered considerable  competition  with  the 
Pacific  Electric,  it  did  not  see  why  it 
should  be  dragged  into  the  hearing. 
Its  statement  pointed  out  that  the  low- 
est commutation  fare  was  lie  a  mile, 
while  the  lowest  offered  by  the  Pacific 
Electric  is  0.9  of  a  cent.  On  one-way 
fares  the  motor  bus  line  offers  a  fare 


of  2ic.  a  mile,  while  the  fare  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  is  3t<jc. 

The  motor  carriers  objected  virtually 
to  all  points  in  Engineer  Sachse's  re- 
port bearing  on  their  service,  especially 
regarding  Mr.  Sachse's  idea  of  a 
fair  rate  of  taxation.  It  has  been 
pointed  out  that  some  of  the  motor 
bus  lines  are  taking  away  from 
$200  to  $300  worth  of  business  a  day 
from  the  railway.  The  motor  com- 
panies wanted  Mr.  Sachse  to  define  the 
idea  outlined  in  his  report  of  what  he 
termed  unfair  competition,  and  he 
finally  put  it  fairly  clearly  that  he 
would  not  recommend  shutting  down 
long  distance  bus  service,  but  jitney 
competition  in  small  towns  was  unfair 
to  the  railway  line. 

One  of  the  main  contestants  in  the 
bearing  was  the  city  of  Los  Angeles 
opposing  the  proposed  zone  system  and 
increase  of  fares  on  local  city  lines 
operated  by  the  Pacific  Electric.  The 
city's  brief  especially  covered  the  Holly- 
wood district  service  and  demanded 
faster  service  to  this  locality,  stipulat- 
ing that  the  number  of  cars  operated 
be  greatly  augmented;  that  2  and  3 
car  trains  be  run  at  frequent  intervals, 
instead  of  the  present  single  cars  oper- 
ated; that  new  cars  be  modern,  for 
multiple  operation  and  latest  safety 
devices;  that  quick-loading  platforms 
be  provided  at  terminals;  that  a  tun- 
nel be  constructed  westerly  out  of  the 
company's  present  Hill  Street  terminal 
in  the  city,  the  tunnel  requiring  a  capi- 
tal expenditure  of  $2,300,000,  and  that 
the  district  served  by  this  improvement 
should  bear  its  proportionate  share  of 
the  cost  of  the  tunnel,  which  will  offer 
more  rapid  service  and  a  short  cut  to 
the  Hollywood  territory. 

It  is  recommended  by  the  Board  of 
Public  Utilities  that  a  policy  be  es- 
tablished by  the  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission looking  to  the  establishment  of 
motor  bus  or  trackless  trolley  "feeders" 
with  transfer  privileges  for  such  sec- 
tions of  Los  Angeles  as  can  support 
such  service,  where,  from  financial  con- 
siderations, car  line  extensions  are  not 
possible.  This  recommendation  will 
also  be  made  by  the  board  in  connec- 
tion with  the  rehearing  of  the  Los 
Angeles  Railway  Corporation's  appli- 
cation for  an  increase  in  fares,  which 
hearing  is  fixed  for  Jan.  17,  1922. 


City  Withdraws  Objection 
to  Fare  Increase 

The  City  of  Raleigh,  N.  C,  has  with- 
drawn its  objections  to  the  petition  of 
the  Carolina  Power  &  Light  Company 
for  increased  fares.  By  a  unanimous 
vote  the  Board  of  City  Commissions 
decided  this  issue  on  Nov.  23,  "to  the 
end  that  the  matter  may  be  decided 
on  its  merits  by  the  Corporation  Com- 
mission uninfluenced  by  the  views  of 
the  members  of  this  board." 

The  petition  of  the  company  for  an 
8-cent  fare  has  been  before  the  Cor- 
poration Commission  for  more  than  a 
year.  The  city  successfully  opposed 
the  increase  last  December.  In  June 
of  this  year  the  company  renewed  its 
request,  but  some  weeks  ago  the  com- 
mission indefinitely  postponed  the  is- 
suance of  an  order.  Recently  the 
company  requested  the  city  to  with- 
draw its  objections. 

The  company  in  its  petition  has  pro- 
vided for  tickets  at  the  rate  of  71  cents. 
This  fare  controversy  in  Raleigh  has 
been  referred  to  previously  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal. 


Wants  Court  to  Pass  Lawfulness 

of  State  Department 

The  action  of  the  State  Department 
of  Public  Works  at  Olympia  in  re- 
quiring the  Sound  Transit  Company,, 
operating  stages  between  Seattle  and 
Roosevelt  Heights,  to  abide  by  the  city 
ordinances  after  the  buses  pass  inside 
the  corporate  limits,  was  attacked  at 
Olympia  recently  by  the  company  in 
the  Superior  Court  of  Thurston  County .. 
Morris  B.  Sachs,  associated  with  W. 
B.  Crawford  as  counsel  for  the  com- 
pany, obtained  an  order  from  Superior 
Judge  John  M.  Wilson,  citing  Director 
E.  V.  Kuykendall  and  other  members 
of  the  State  Department  of  Public 
Works  to  certify  fully  its  records  and 
files  in  the  case  of  the  Sound  Transit 
Company's  application  for  a  review  by 
the  court  on  Dec.  6,  or  show  cause  why 
it  declines  to  do  so. 

In  its  application  for  the  writ  of 
review,  the  company  asks  the  court  to 
pass  upon  reasonableness  and  lawful- 
ness of  the  department's  limitation 
which  puts  the  jitney  operation  under 
the  city  ordinances  inside  the  corpo- 
rate limits.  This  action  will  carry  the- 
jitney  legislation  from  the  office  of  the 
city  legal  department  to  the  office  of 
the  state  attorney  general,  who  will 
be  required  to  represent  the  State  De- 
partment of  Public  Works. 

The  disputed  clause  in  the  Sound 
Transit  Company's  certificate  of  public 
necessity  and  convenience  was  that 
upon  which  Superior  Judge  A.  W. 
Frater  of  King  County  recently  denied 
the  jitney  interests  a  temporary  in- 
junction brought  to  restrain  the  city 
from  arresting  Seattle  jitney  drivers  of 
the  company  who  operate  without 
permits  from  the  City  Council. 

This  certificate  recited  that  it  "is 
subject  to  the  ordinances  of  the  said 
city  now  in  effect,  or  which  may  here- 
after become  effective,  governing  the 
operation  of  motor  vehicles  on  the 
streets  of  said  city." 

The  Thurston  County  court  action, 
according  to  city  officials,  will  decide 
whether  the  State  Department  of 
Public  Works  has  the  right  under  the 
law  of  1921  affecting  motor  transporta- 
tion companies  to  grant  permits  to 
jitney  lines  in  conflict  with  the  laws 
of  municipalities.  Officials  of  the  city 
also  state  that  the  pending  litigation 
will  have  no  effect  on  the  status  of  the 
Cowen  Park  jitney  buses. 


Houston  to  Try  5-Cent  Fare 

Twenty  tickets  will  be  sold  for  $1 
in  Houston,  Tex.,  by  the  Houston  Elec- 
tric Company,  after  Jan.  1,  and  children 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  twelve 
years  will  be  carried  for  3  cents.  These 
prices  will  prevail  for  a  test  period  of 
four  months,  to  be  changed  thereafter 
if  the  company  proves  it  operated  at 
a  loss.  Municipal  authorities  forced 
this  settlement  of  the  traction  difficul- 
ties there.  Where  tickets  are  not  pur- 
chased the  fare  will  be  6  cents. 


Asks  Elimination  of  Fare  Zone 

Elimination  of  one  of  the  four  fares 
now  charged  on  cars  operating  between 
Wilmington,  Del.,  and  Chester,  Pa.,  on 
the  Wilmington  &  Philadelphia  Trac- 
tion Company,  is  asked  in  a  petition 
to  the  company  which  was  sisrned  by 
700  residents  along  the  route.  The  fare 
now  collected  at  the  state  line  is  the 
one  the  passengers  wish  dropped. 


December  3,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1011 


No  More  Reduced  Fares  Likely 
in  Connecticut 

Municipalities  desiring  to  have  the 
5-cent  fare  tried  in  their  respective 
communities  will  get  no  relief  from 
the  Connecticut  Public  Utilities  before 
next  January,  if  at  that  time,  it  is 
reported. 

The  Commission  has  let  it  be  known 
that  it  was  most  essential  that  the 
present  tests  or  experiments  now  be- 
ing carried  out  in  Bridgeport  and 
Norwalk  be  allowed  to  proceed  with- 
out risking  new  complications.  This 
decision  will  curtail  the  cities  of  Hart- 
ford and  New  Haven  in  any  plans  they 
have  at  present  seeking  a  fare  reduc- 
tion. Petitions  had  already  been  drawn 
up  and  were  to  be  presented  to  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  for  an  as- 
signment for  a  hearing. 

The  Commission  in  its  recent  Bridge- 
port decision  declared  emphatically  for 
the  district  system,  indicating  that  it 
was  for  the  best  interests  of  the  re- 
spective population  centers  to  have  the 
Connecticut  Company  lines  handled  by 
districts  as  far  as  fares  and  accounting 
were  concerned  and  the  Commission 
has  gone  on  record  in  favor  of  the 
district  system  which  would  provide  a 
reasonable  fare  for  the  short  haul 
rider.  Furthermore,  the  Commission 
has  declared  that  each  district  would 
be  decided  on  its  merits. 

Following  the  Commission's  decision 
ordering  a  5-cent  fare  trial  period  in 
Bridgeport,  Waterbury,  New  Haven 
and  Hartford  officials  let  it  be  known 
that  they  would  petition  for  a  trial 
of  the  5-cent  fare.  New  Haven's  Cor- 
poration Counsel,  however,  decided  to 
ascertain  the  Commission's  attitude  as 
to  the  desirability  of  instituting  a  test 
of  the  5-cent  fare  in  that  city  and 
wrote  the  Commission.  In  reply  the 
Commission,  through  Secretary  H.  S. 
Billings,  sent  the  following  to  Corpora- 
tion Counsel  Bennett: 

"While  very  sympathetic  to  the  present 
desire  and  needs  of  the  public  of  New  Ha- 
ven and  other  localities  with  regard  to 
lower  trolley  fares,  this  Commission  is  of 
the  opinion  at  the  present  time  that  in  view 
of  the  limited  revenues  now  being-  received 
by  the  street  railway  company  it  would  be 
unwise  to  inaugurate  reduced  fares  in  New 
Haven  or  elsewhere  pending  the  outcome  of 
the  Bridgeport  and  Norwalk  experiments. 
While  probably  not  controlling,  the  results 
of  those  tests  would  naturally  have  a  ma- 
terial bearing  on  any  decision  of  this  com- 
mission with  reference  to  reductions  in 
other  territories." 

The  Common  Council  of  the  City  of 
Hartford  at  a  meeting  on  Nov.  28  voted 
to  present  such  a  petition  to  the  Com- 
mission. No  date  has  yet  been  set  for 
a  hearing. 

The  Norwalk  test  period  went  into 
effect  November  6  and  the  Bridgeport 
trial  became  effective  Nov.  20.  Each 
test  is  to  last  90  days. 


Settlement  Near  in  San  Antonio 

An  amicable  fare  reduction  from  8 
cents  to  6  cents  in  San  Antonia,  Tex., 
seems  indicated  in  the  action  of  W.  B. 
Tuttle,  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Public  Service  Company, 
who  has  presented  the  matter  to  the 
board  of  directors  in  New  York.  The 
ordinance  establishing  6-cent  fares, 
which  was  to  have  been  introduced  for 
consideration  of  the  commission,  has 
been  withheld,  pending  the  judgment 
of  the  board. 

Negotiations  have  been  carried  on  for 
some  time  past  for  a  6-cent  fare.  On 
this  point  the  city  was  insistent.  It 


refused  recently  to  accept  a  7-cent  cash 
fare  with  a  three-for-20-cent  ticket  sys- 
tem, and  has  stood  ready  to  enforce 
the  6-cent  fare  by  municipal  ordinance. 
A  considerable  reduction  in  gas  and 
electric  rates  has  already  been  agreed 
upon  by  city  officials  and  the  heads  of 
the  company. 

The  first  concerted  action  was  taken 
on  Nov.  7,  when  a  petition  asking  for 
a  reduction  was  presented  to  the  City 
Commission.  Since  then  the  Public 
Service  Company,  in  an  endeavor  to  in- 
form the  public  of  its  stand  and  to 
settle  the  question  of  reduction  peace- 
ably, has  issued  a  formal  statement  in 
which  it  emphasizes  the  7  per  cent 
agreement  with  the  city.  This,  it  points 
out,  was  for  one  year  only,  and  was 
lived  up  to  by  the  company,  in  spite  of 
the  company's  protest  at  the  time  that 
7  per  cent  was  not  a  fair  rate  of  return. 


Authorization  for  Thirty 
Buses  Given 

On  recommendation  of  Carl  H. 
Reeves,  Superintendent  of  Utilities,  the 
Seattle  City  Council  has  issued  a 
permit  for  thirty  jitney  buses  to  oper- 
ate on  the  Tenth  Avenue  Northeast 
and  Cowen  Park  routes  as  feeders  to 
the  Eastlake  Avenue  car  lines.  In 
granting  the  permit,  the  Council  acted 
under  the  terms  of  a  recent  ordinance 
which  authorizes  jitney  service  by 
permit  from  the  Council  to  feeder  lines 
doing  business  on  a  fifty-fifty  basis 
with  the  city  railway  system.  The  fare 
on  both  routes  will  be  10  cents,  of 
which  half  goes  to  the  bus  operator, 
and  half  to  the  railway  fund,  exchange 
of  transfer  to  be  made  only  at  East 
Fortieth  Street  and  Tenth  Avenue 
Northeast. 

In  the  meantime.  Mayor  Hugh  M. 
Caldwell  has  authorized  full  service  on 
these  routes  by  jitney  operators  whose 
applications  for  permits  have  not  as 
yet  been  acted  upon  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil. He  reiterated  his  belief  that  the 
people  of  North  Cowen  Park  should 
not  be  deprived  of  the  transportation 
they  have  had  for  years  until  the  city 
gives  them  an  adequate  substitute 
therefor. 


Safety  Car  Ordinance  Contested 

In  reply  to  the  city  ordinance  against 
the  use  of  one-man  cars  in  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  the  New  York  State  Railways 
has  petitioned  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission for  authority  to  continue  their 
operation.  The  city  must  now  prove, 
at  a  hearing  which  will  probably  soon 
be  ordered,  that  one-man  cars  are  un- 
safe and  uncomfortable. 

In  the  ordinance  which  prohibited 
their  use  the  danger  and  discomfort 
of  passengers  were  emphasized,  and 
the  city  will  maintain  that  the  cars 
used  in  Syracuse  are  incapable  of  being 
safely  operated  by  one  man,  though 
one-man  cars  elsewhere  are  in  safe  use. 
The  Syracuse  cars  are  of  the  double- 
control  type,  and  the  city  contends  that 
two  men  are  required  to  watch  the 
traffic  and  to  care  for  passengers  and 
the  controller.  The  company  may  claim 
that  the  city  ordinance  is  a  breach  of 
faith,  inasmuch  as  the  city  agreed  to 
one-man  car  operation  when  the  fare 
was  placed  at  the  present  level.  To 
operate  at  the  present  level,  the  com- 
pany said  it  would  have  to  practise 
certain  economies,  and  cutting  the  op- 
erators by  the  use  of  these  cars  was 
such  an  economy. 


Ordinance   Repeal   Before  Voters. — ■ 

Sacramento,  Cal.,  will  vote  on  the  ques- 
tion of  repealing  the  ordinance  forbid- 
ding the  operation  of  one-man  cars,  on 
Dec.  21. 

Bus  License  Is  $200  Yearly  .—Bus 
operators  in  Ironwood,  Mich.,  will  con- 
tinue to  pay  $100  every  six  months  as 
a  license  fee.  An  ordinance  reducing 
the  fee  to  $100  a  year  failed  of  passage 
by  the  City  Council  recently. 

Akron  Bus  Service  Postponed. — The 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Akron,  Ohio,  will  not  begin  op- 
eration of  buses  until  after  the  first 
of  the  year.  The  buses  will  run  from 
the  end  of  car  lines  on  a  transfer 
system. 

New  Bus  Extensions  Planned. — Fur- 
ther extension  of  motorbus  lines  into 
the  lower  counties  of  New  Jersey  is 
now  being  planned  by  companies  that 
already  have  lines  running  to  the  prin- 
cipal towns  in  Gloucester  and  Camden 
counties.  One  of  the  proposed  new 
routes  will  be  between  Camden  and 
Bridgeton. 

Wants  to  Extend  Suspension  Order. 

— The  San  Francisco-Oakland  Terminal 
Railways,  Oakland,  Cal.,  has  applied 
for  a  ten-year  extension  of  the  order 
suspending  operation  and  maintenance 
of  certain  track  at  El  Cerrito.  The 
track  extends  for  I  of  a  mile.  Permis- 
sion to  suspend  operation  for  five  years 
was  granted  by  the  Commission  in  1916. 

Needs  Ten-Cent  Fare. — The  Missoula 
(Mont.)  Street  Railway  recently  filed  a 
petition  with  the  State  Railroad  Com- 
mission asking  for  a  10-cent  fare  with 
tickets  at  61  cents.  The  present  cash 
fare  is  8  cents.  The  city  of  Helena, 
Mont.,  recently  went  to  a  10-cent  fare 
and  authorization  was  given  a  few 
months  ago  for  a  10-cent  fare  in  Butte. 

Bus  Line  Authorized. — The  Califor- 
nia Railroad  Commission  recently 
granted  permission  to  J.  B.  Stimson  to 
operate  an  automobile  passenger  serv- 
ice between  Maywood  and  Huntington 
Park.  The  Pacific  Electric  Railway, 
Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  opposed  the  permit. 
The  applicants  succeeded  in  satisfying 
the  commission  that  by  making  connec- 
tion with  the  Los  Angeles  Railway  the 
joint  fare  would  be  11  cents,  with  trans- 
fer privileges  to  any  part  of  the  city, 
while  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  fare 
from  Maywood  without  transfer  is  13 
cents. 

Municipalities  May  Run  Buses. — 
West  Orange  and  South  Orange  may 
co-operate  to  provide  bus  service 
through  the  two  cities  if  the  request 
to  the  Public  Service  Railway  for  more 
cars  on  the  Montrose  trolley  line  is 
unsuccessful.  The  matter  will  then  be 
taken  up  with  the  Utilities  Board.  The 
company,  in  answer  to  a  previous  peti- 
tion for  more  cars  on  the  line,  said  that 
traffic  was  not  heavy  enough  to  demand 
more  trips.  The  two  municipalities 
will  also  petition  that  one-man  cars 
built  for  that  purpose  be  placed  in 
operation  instead  of  the  converted  two- 
man  car  now  in  use. 


1012 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


M.  S.  Raush,  Claim  Agent 

in  Milwaukee,  Retires 

M.  S.  Raush,  for  the  past  twenty- 
three  years  claim  agent  for  the  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Milwaukee,  Wis.,  has  announced 
his  retirement  from  the  service  of  the 
company.  Mr.  Raush  came  to  the 
company  in  1898,  when  the  claim  de- 
partment was  a  one-man  affair.  Now 
it  is  a  matter  of  some  twenty  men  in 
Milwaukee  with  a  branch  office  in 
Racine.  During  this  period  traffic  on 
the  streets  of  Milwaukee  and  the 
suburban  communities  served  by  the 
company  has  increased  manyfold,  in- 
creasing the  risks  of  street  travel  and 
liability  of  accident  in  proportion.  In 
1898  the  automobile  was  scarcely 
known,  whereas  now  it  is  the  greatest 
factor  in  street  traffic  and  street  ac- 
cidents. 

The  company  has  announced  the  ap- 
pointment of  C.  L.  Young  as  successor 
to  Mr.  Raush.  Mr.  Young  was  for 
twenty  years  associated  with  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Line,  a  steam 
road.  He  brings  to  his  new  position 
a  wide  experience  in  claim  adjustment 
work  and  is  well  known  among  claim 
adjusters  throughout  the  West. 


Newspaper  Man  Heads  Iowa 

Committee  on  Utility 

Publicity 

Joe  Carmichael,  veteran  Davenport, 
Iowa,  newspaper  man,  city  editor  of  the 
Daily  Times  for  the  past  eighteen 
years  and  for  the  last  eight  months 
advertising  manager  of  that  publica- 
tion, has  been  selected  to  head  the  Iowa 
Committee  on  Public  Utility  Informa- 
tion, with  headquarters  at  Des  Moines. 
This  newly  organized  bureau  will  co- 
operate with  the  Iowa  Section  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion, the  American  Gas  Association  and 
the  American  Electric  Light  Assoca- 
tion.  It  will  collect  authoritative  data 
on  the  industry  and  will  disseminate  it 
impartially.  By  this  means,  it  is  be- 
lieved, the  public  will  secure  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  fundamentals  and 
economics  of  the  utility  industry.  It 
will  give  both  the  public  and  the  utility 
industry  unbiased  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  great  industry. 


Camden  Editor  Once  a 
Conductor 

Once  a  conductor — now  an  editor. 
This  is  the  change  in  the  life  of  Frank 
Sheridan,  now  the  editor  of  the  Camden 
(N.  J.)  Daily  Courier,  a  large  and  suc- 
cessful paper.  According  to  Mr. 
Sheridan,  conductor-ing  is  the  best  pos- 
sible training  for  the  editorial  chair. 

Mr.  Sheridan  maintains  that  the 
situations  he  had  to  handle  while  a 
conductor  in  Camden  on  the  Public 
Service  Railway  fitted  him  to  handle 
the  unexpected  happenings  of  a  news- 
paper office.  Meeting  the  public  daily, 
he  came  to  know  it  in  its  every  mood, 
and  caring  for  hundreds  of  men  and 
women  in  good  humor  or  in  bad  gave 
Mr.  Sheridan  a  rigorous  training  in 
divining  what  the  public  wants.  Speed 
for  the  grouchy,  friendliness  for  the 


affable,  silence  for  the  austere,  and 
service  for  all  were  offered  by  the  con- 
ductor. These  things  he  has  translated 
into  newspaper  terms,  with  the  result 
that  he  appeals  successfully  to  an  in- 
creasing number  of  subscribers,  gives 
the  public  the  service  it  demands  and 
keeps  the  paper  moving  forward. 

The  uncanny  ability  to  judge  with 
almost  certain  precision  what  each  sub- 
scriber wants  is  not,  as  the  public 
seems  to  believe,  a  heaven-bestowed 
gift,  according  to  Mr.  Sheridan,  but  is 
the  result  of  the  very  prosaic  and  con- 
stant work  of  seeing  that  the  passenger 
paid  a  fare  and  was  satisfied  with  his 
ride. 

M.  W.  Birkenbach,  auditor  of  the 
Jackson  (Miss.)  Public  Service  Com- 
pany, has  recently  accepted  the  ap- 
pointment as  head  of  the  accounting 
section  of  the  Mississippi  Division  of 
the  National  Electric  Light  Associa- 
tion. Mr.  Birkenbach  is  known  as  one 
of  the  best  accountants  in  that  state 
and  the  honor  is  well  placed. 

Harry  C.  Abell,  formerly  vice-presi- 
dent and  engineer  of  the  American 
Light  &  Traction  Company,  New  York, 
and  a  member  of  the  banking  firm  of 
Emerson  McMillin  &  Company,  New 
York,  has  been  elected  a  vice-president 
of  the  Electric  Bond  &  Share  Company. 
Mr.  Abell  is  at  present  treasurer  of  the 
National  Electric  Light  Association,  in 
the  activities  of  which  he  has  taken  an 
active  interest  for  a  number  of  years. 

Preston  W.  Arkwright,  president  of 
the  Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Atlanta,  Ga.,  urged  merchants 
to  create  a  favorable  public  attitude 
toward  public  utilities,  in  a  speech 
made  recently  in  Atlanta.  Public  in- 
fluence on  the  Railroad  Commission 
would  result  in  a  more  lenient  attitude 
toward  the  utility  companies,  which 
could  then  more  readily  expand  to 
meet  the  needs  of  developing  indus- 
tries, according  to  Mr.  Arkwright.  The 
result  would  be  great  municipal  growth. 
Mr.  Arkwright  urged  merchants  to 
attend  hearings  of  the  commission  as 
representatives  of  the  people. 

R.  D.  Jarvis  has  succeeded  Harold 
Bailey-Stokes  as  chief  accountant  to 
Commissioner  Wilfred  E.  Cann  at  To- 
ledo, Ohio.  Mr.  Jarvis  has  been  an  ac- 
countant in  Toledo  for  some  time.  Mr. 
Bailey-Stokes,  who  received  his  ap- 
pointment to  the  Community  Traction 
Company  in  February  of  this  year,  at 
the  time  it  took  over  the  operation  of 
the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light  Com- 
pany, is  an  engineer  and  an  expert 
street  railway  accountant.  Although 
not  a  native  Englishman,  Mr.  Bailey- 
Stokes  has  returned  to  England,  the 
country  where  he  was  educated  and 
where  he  lived  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  is  a  veteran  of  the  Boer  war  and 
enlisted  in  the  British  army  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  late  war,  in  which  he 
was  wounded. 

Frank  J.  Lonergan  for  fifteen  years 
chief  trial  lawyer  of  the  Portland  Rail- 
way, Light  &  Power  Company  in 
damage  actions,  and  Lou  Wagner, 
twelve  years  associated  with  the  street 
railway  as  special  agent  and  attorney, 
have  broken  their  connections  with  the 


company  and  engaged  in  private  law 
practice  in  Portland.  Mr.  Lonergan, 
who  has  gained  an  enviable  reputation 
as  a  trial  lawyer,  is  a  graduate  of 
Notre  Dame.  He  practiced  law  in 
Oregon  City  with  Franklin  T.  Griffith, 
president  of  the  Portland  Railway, 
Light  &  Power  Company,  and  since 
coming  to  Portland  has  been  associated 
with  the  firm  of  Griffith,  Leiter  & 
Allen.  Mr.  Lonergan  was  the  author 
of  the  paper  "Genteel  Faker"  which 
was  abstracted  on  page  874  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Nov.  12. 

Harry  Reid,  president  of  the  Inter- 
state Public  Service  Company,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  is  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  Indiana  Hydro-Electric  Power 
Company  by  means  of  which  it  is 
planned  to  establish  five  electric  power 
plants  along  the  Tippecanoe  River  in 
northern  Indiana.  The  plans  which 
were  filed  with  the  Uublic  Service  Com- 
mission ask  authority  to  issue  $l,250,r 
000  in  gold  bonds  and  to  issue  $1,125,- 
000  of  common  stock.  The  first  power 
plant  and  dam  of  the  company  is  to  be 
erected  at  Norway,  White  County. 
When  completed  the  plant  will  be  oper- 
ated by  the  Interstate  Public  Service 
Company,  one  of  the  largest  operating 
companies  of  railway  and  electric  prop- 
erties in  Indiana.  Mr.  Reid  will  be 
vice-president  and  general  manager  of 
the  new  company.  The  other  two  in- 
corporators are  Ira  E.  Guthrie  and  John 
A.  Shafer. 


Charles  E.  Lenhart,  fifty-three  years 
old,  superintendent  of  the  London,  On- 
tario &  Port  Stanley  Electric  Railway, 
Ont.,  is  dead  in  London.  He  formerly 
was  a  trolley  conductor  in  Reading, 
Pa.,  and  study  in  night  schools  brought 
him  rapid  promotions  on  railways  in 
England  and  Canada.  At  one  time  he 
was  master  mechanic  at  Allentown  for 
the  Lehigh  Valley  Transit  Company. 

Frank  C.  Peck,  aged  forty-three,  who 
has  for  fifteen  years  been  connected 
with  the  Philadelphia  sales  department 
of  the  Electric  Service  Supplies  Com- 
pany, died  on  Nov.  12.  Mr.  Peck  was 
well  known  among  electric  railway  men 
and  others  connected  with  the  industry 
in  the  Eastern  section  and  was  greatly 
admired  by  all  of  his  customers  and 
business  associates.  In  his  earlier  days 
he  was  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Peck 
&  Stiles,  contractors  in  Scranton,  Pa., 
and  later  was  connected  with  the  Dela- 
ware &  Hudson  Railroad,  which  posi- 
tion he  left  to  become  connected  with 
the  Electric  Service  Supplies  Company. 

James  M.  Dickie,  thirty-five  years 
old,  auditor  of  the  American  Public 
Service  Companies  at  Abilene,  Tex., 
which  included  the  street  railway  lines 
of  that  city,  died  at  Dallas  last  week. 
Mr.  Dickie  was  born  in  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  and  was  educated  at  the 
Aberdeen  University.  He  was  a  pub- 
lic accountant  of  Scotland  and  served 
various  British  syndicates  in  Africa, 
India,  Egypt  and  other  British  posses- 
sions. At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  chairman  of  the  accounting  sec- 
tion of  Southwestern  division  of  the 
National  Electric  Light  Association 
and  was  also  treasurer  for  some  time 
of  the  Southwestern  Electrical  &  Gas 
Association. 


December'  3,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1013 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 


DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Electric  Railway  Equipment 
in  India 

Business  Still  Largely  Controlled  by 
British — American  Equipment  Is 
Considered  Most  Satisfactory 

Some  comments  on  market  conditions 
for  electric  railway  equipment  in  India 
are  given  in  Commerce  Reports  for 
Nov.  21.  Statistics  given  indicate  that 
there  are,  several  important  electric 
systems  in  India  and  Ceylon.  These 
are  owned  in  the  majority  of  cases  by 
private  companies  and  operated  in 
connection  with  the  electric  lighting 
systems.  In  most  instances  they  were 
promoted  and  backed  in  their  earlier 
days  by  British  manufacturers  of  elec- 
tric railway  equipment,  and  as  a  re- 
sult the  British  have  naturally  retained 


City 

Bombay  

Calcutta  

Colombo  

Delhi  

Madras  

Mandalay  

Rangoon  


much  of  the  business  from  these  sys- 
tems even  to  the  present  day.  The  fact 
that  many  of  the  operating  men  in 
India  are  former  employees  of  British 
manufacturers  tends  strongly  to  hold 
the  business  in  England. 

The  accompanying  table  gives  some 
statistics  concerning  the  electric  rail- 
ways of  India  and  Ceylon.  The  cities 
of  Calcutta,  Bombay  and  Rangoon  have 
standard-gage  tracks,  but  other  cities 
have  narrow  gage.  The  trolley  volt- 
age is  500  volts  generally,  with  three 
systems  operating  at  550  volts.  The 
cars  are  largely  open,  single-truck,  two- 
motor  types,  though  double-truck  cars 
are  common  on  the  larger  systems  and 
are  generally  replacing  the  smaller  cars 
throughout  the  country  as  these  are 
worn  out.  No  double-deck  cars  are 
used  in  India.  Control  is  partly  single 
end  and  partly  double  end,  with  elec- 
tric brakes  in  addition  to  band-brake 
control  in  most  cases.  The  use  of  trail- 
ers is  common,  even  during  the  non- 
rush  hours. 

According  to  the  usual  British  prac- 
tice, car  wheels  are  in  nearly  every  case 
equipped  with  tires,  the  few  solid 
wheels  having  been  brought  in  during 
the  war  when  it  was  not  possible,  to 
get  the  other  type.  The  overhead 
system  is  mainly  cross-span  construc- 
tion with  steel  poles  and  round  trolley 
wire.  Some  figure-eight  section  trolley 
is  used  and  there  is  a  fair  amount  of 
center-pole  construction  in  some  of  the 
cities,  although  increasing  traffic  diffi- 


culties in  the  larger  cities  are  bring- 
ing about  the  gradual  elimination  of 
the  latter  type  of  construction. 

The  Brush  Company  and  Dick-Kerr 
of  England,  British  manufacturers 
most  active  in  promoting  and  backing 
the  installation  of  electric  systems  in 
India,  have  naturally  taken  the  bulk  of 
business  in  past  years.  As  the  hold- 
ings of  these  manufacturers  decreased 
and  buying  became  less  restricted 
American  companies  began  to  take 
many  of  the  car  equipment  orders  and 
are  now  regularly  receiving  a  consider- 
able portion  of  this  class  of  business. 
The  International  General  Electric 
Company  has  sales  organizations  in 
both  Calcutta  and  Bombay.  An  inter- 
esting commentary  on  the  perform- 
ance of  American  equipment  is  shown 
by  the  opinions  of  the  men  about  the 


carhouses  of  the  various  tramways. 
They  stated  that  American  motors  are 
operating  more  satisfactorily  under 
the  high-temperature  conditions  of  In- 
dia than  those  of  British  make.  The 
ventilation  of  the  former  is  superior, 
and  they  are  in  general  more  rugged, 
which  results  in  lower  maintenance 
costs.  The  satisfactory  performance 
of  these  railway  motors  under  such  op- 
erating conditions  will  no  doubt 
strengthen  their  position  in  India,  and 
it  may  be  expected  that  an  increasing 
amount  of  business  will  be  done  in  this 
class  of  apparatus. 

The  native  motormen  who  are  em- 
ployed in  India  are  not  very  careful  or 
efficient  in  handling  their  cars.  Many 
do  not  understand  much  about  the  op- 
eration of  a  car  beyond  the  ordinary 
routine  of  working  the  controller 
handle  and  brake. 

With  the  decrease  in  the  financial 
interests  of  British  manufacturers  in 
Indian  electric  railway  systems  has 
come  also  the  greater  use  of  American- 
made  trucks.  These  have  generally 
been  able  to  compete  both  in  price  and 
quality  with  trucks  of  any  other  na- 
tionality, and  there  is  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  continuue  to  partici- 
pate in  such  business  as  is  open  with- 
out restrictions. 

Car  bodies  were  originally  shipped 
out  from  England  to  the  Indian  market, 
but  for  some  years  it  has  been  the 
practice  to  have  these  built  locally. 
Teak  is  used  mainly  for  their  construc- 


tion, and  hardware,  seat  fittings  and 
electric  accessories  are  from,  England 
in  most  instances.  Owing  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  war  period  many  of  these 
parts  were  made  up  in  the  tramway 
shops,  the  native  mechanics  being  now 
accustomed  to  turn  their  hand  to  mak- 
ing a  great  variety  of  appliances.  Trol- 
ley poles  and  stands  are  secured  from 
England,  but  trolley  wheels  are  now 
made  in  the  local  shops. 

Overhead  Construction 

Heavy  sectional  tubular-steel  poles 
are  used  practically  everywhere  in  In- 
dia for  trolley  supports.  These  are 
usually  of  British  manufacture,  Amer- 
ican poles  being  little  used  in  this  field. 
The  trolley  wire  is  usually  round,  hard- 
drawn  copper,  phosphor  bronze  being 
used  to  a  small  extent.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  small  amounts  imported 
from  the  United  State's  during  the  war 
period,  this  copper  has  invariably  come 
from  England. 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  much  im- 
mediate chance  for  American  manu- 
facturers of  overhead  construction  ma- 
terials in  the  Indian  field,  as  the  op- 
erators in  most  instances  show  a  strong 
preference  for  British  goods  wherever 


Rolling  Stock 
S.T.   =  Single  truck 
D.T.  =  double  truck 
T       =  trailers 
M      =  motor  cars 
50  S.T.M. 
100  D.T.M. 
71  T. 
267  M. 
245  T. 
44  M. 
24  M. 
33  S.T.M. 
48  D.T.M. 
16  T. 
24  M. 
58  S.T.M. 
19  D.T.M. 


possible  and  much  of  the  buying  is  done 
in  London  by  requisition  on  the  head- 
quarters of  the  company. 

In  the  construction  of  trolley  lines 
special  protection  must  be  given  wher- 
ever telephone  and  telegraph  leads  run 
above  or  across  these  lines.  This  is 
done  by  using  poles  about  3  ft.  longer 
than  otherwise,  dropping  the  trolley 
span  wire  down  that  distance  from  the 
top  of  the  pole  and  stringing  another 
span  wire  across  from  the  two  pole 
tops,  from  which  two  guard  wires  are 
suspended^  over  each  trolley  wire,  these 
being  16-in.  centers  at  a  distance  of 
24  in.  from  the  trolley  wire  and,  of 
course,  grounded. 


Electrical  Sheet  Prices  Firm 
in  Unsteady  Steel  Market 

Pipe  and  tubular  goods  seem  to  be 
the  most  favored  of  iron  and  steel  prod- 
ucts at  the  present  time,  and  they  are 
barely  holding  their  own.  Steel  sheets 
are  sagging  consistently,  though  it  was 
only  a  little  over  a  month  ago  that  a 
number  of  independent  sheet  makers 
notified  their  customers  of  a  five-dollar- 
per-ton  increase  in  sheet  prices  which 
brought  quotations  to  3.25  cents  on 
black,  2.75  cents  on  blue  annealed  and 
4.25  cents  on  galvanized  on  Oct.  15. 
These  quotations  endured  for  some 
time,  but  in  the  last  two  weeks  weak- 
ness has  developed,  and  sheets  may  now 
be  obtained  from  several  sources  for 


SOME  STATISTICS  OF  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS  OPERATING  IN  INDIA  AND  CEYLON 


Population 


979,000 


1,222,000 

211,000 
233,000 
518,600 


138,000 
293,300 


Operating  Company 
Bombay  Electric  Supply  &  Tramways  Company. . 


Calcutta  Tramways  Company  

Colombo  Electric  Tramways  &  Light  Company. 

Delhi  Electric  Tramways  &  Light  Company  

Madras  Electric  Tramway,  Ltd  


Length 

Miles, 
d  =  double 
s  =  single 

21.3s. 

42.  6  d. 

35  d. 

8  d. 
9.46  s. 
10  s. 

5  d. 


Track 


Burmah  Electric  Tramway  &  Light  Company.  ...         7  d. 
Rangoon  Blectric  Tramway  &  Supply  Company,  Ltd.  10.63  d. 

3.30  s 


Gage 
4  ft.  8i  in. 


4  ft.  %\  in. 

3  ft.  6  in. 
3  ft.  3|  in. 
3  ft.  31  in. 


3  ft. 

4  ft, 


6  in. 


Line 
Voltage 


550 


500 

550 
500 
500 


500 
550 


1014 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  23 


2.75,  2.25  and  3.75  cents  for  black,  blue 
annealed  and  galvanized  respectively. 

Production  of  sheets  is  still  fairly 
high,  some  mills  running  as  high  as 
80  to  85  per  cent  of  capacity,  though 
the  general  average  for  steel  products 
is  only  around  50  per  cent.  The  out- 
put of  electrical  sheet  still  remains  low, 
however,  and  producers  have  their 
stocks  well  ahead  of  demand.  Buying 
is  considerably  better  than  a  month 
ago.  Then  even  inquiries  were  some- 
what scarce.  Transformer  manufactur- 
ers are  coming  into  the  market  more 
boldly,  and  one  producer  is  said  to  have 
obtained  several  good  orders  for  elec- 
trical sheet  from  this  source.  Motor 
manufacturers  apparently  are  out  of 
the  electrical  sheet  market,  though  it 
is  felt  that  the  movement  of  popular- 
size  motors  will  encourage  them  to 
come  into  the  market  for  raw  materials 
soon.  The  prices  of  electrical  sheet 
have  not  been  affected  either  by  the 
recent  increases  in  ordinary  sheets. 

Swiss  Railway  Electrification 
Pushes  Hydro-Electric 
Development 

The  development  of  water  power,  in 
spite  of  the  present  high  cost  of  instal- 
lation, according  to  a  commercial  and 
industrial  handbook  on  Switzerland 
issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce,  Department  of 
Commerce,  is  being  pushed  as  never 
before  in  Switzerland.  The  most  im- 
portant part  of  this  work  is_  being 
carried  on  by  the  government  in  con- 
nection with  the  electrification  of  the 
federal  railways,  and  a  number  of  im- 
portant installations  are  now  under 
construction  or  contract.  The  first 
important  stage  of  the  general  electri- 
fication program  was  nearing  comple- 
tion at  the  end  of  1920.  For  furnishing 
the  electrical  energy  two  large  instal- 
lations are  being  made.  The  first  is 
the  Ritom  works  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Gotthard  tunnel  in  the  Canton  Tes- 
sin,  which  utilizes  the  water  of  the 
Ritom  Lake. 

The  program  of  electrification  on 
which  the  government  is  now  launched 
foresees  the  electrification  of  prac- 
tically the  entire  federal  system  of 
some  1,750  miles  within  a  period  of 
twenty  years,  and  the  total  cost  of  the 
work  is  estimated  at  more  than  a  bil- 
lion francs.  The  average  amount  of 
power  required  for  the  entire  system 
is  estimated  at  200.000  hp.,  with  a 
maximum  of  600,000  hp.  Considerable 
progress  has  been  made  on  the  electri- 
fication of  the  so-called  secondary  lines, 
which  are  for  the  most  part  privately 
owned,  but  further  development  is  be- 
ing impeded  by  the  lack  of  financial 
resources,  which  the  federal  railways 
are  better  able  to  command. 

One  of  the  articles  which  the  railway 
authorities  have  had  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  in  satisfactory  qual- 
ity and  quantity  for  electrification  pur- 
poses is  heavy  porcelain  insulators  for 
high-tension  use.  Insulators  of  the 
kind  specified  by  the  railway  engineers 
are  not  obtainable  in  Switzerland. 
Switches  for  outdoor  use  in  high-ten- 
sion transmission  lines  along  the  right- 
of-way  are  also  in  demand,  as  difficulty 
has  been  experienced  ir.  obtaining 
proper  apparatus  of  this  kind  from  the 
domestic  market.  Inquiries  for  infor- 
mation in  connection  with  this  work 
should  be  made  to  the  management  at 
Berne  (Direction  des  Chemins  de  Fer 
Federaux) . 


Rolling  Stock 


Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission,  On- 
tario, Canada,  has  ordered  twenty-five 
safety  cars,  eighteen  of  which  are  for  the 
Hydro-Electric  Railways,  Essex  division, 
and  seven  for  the  Guelph  Radial  Railway. 
A  motor  of  higher  rating  than  the  stand- 
ard safety-car  motor  will  be  used  to  meet 
more  severe  operating  conditions  than  pre- 
vail elsewhere. 

Toledo  &  Western  Railroad,  Toledo, 
Ohio,  will  buy  three  light  passenger  cars 
if  the  federal  court  grants  the  necessary 
permission  to  J.  Frank  Johnson  and  Harry 
Dunn,  receivers  for  the  property.  These 
cars  are  intended  to  be  used  on  the  Toledo- 
Sylvania  section  of  the  interurban  line. 
The  cars  will  be  double-enders  with  low 
steps  and  doors  operated  like  those  of  cars 
in  urban  service. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Indiana  Service  Corporation,  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.,  has  just  placed  in  operation  its  new 
line  on  Third  Street.  It  will  be  operated 
in  connection  with  the  Pontiac  Street  line. 

Pine  Bluff  (Ark.)  Company  will  start  at 
once  rebuilding  its  East  Second  Avenue 
car  line.  This  work  will  cost  approxi- 
mately $10,U00.  New  ties  and  new  70  or 
80  lb.  rails  will  be  laid  from  State  Street 
to  the  terminus  at  the  Cotton  Belt  shop,  a 
distance  of  1  mile. 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
New  York,  N.  Y.t  will  complete  its  Queens 
subway  extension  in  about  four  years. 
The  Transit  Commission  recently  an- 
nounced the  awarding  of  the  contract  for 
$3  807,138  to  the  Powers-Kennedy  Com- 
pany, the  successful  bidder. 

Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  will  not  extend  its 
line  just  now  out  Haskell  Avenue  to  serve 
the  new  North  Dallas  High  School.  This 
extension  was  recently  requested  by  the 
Board  of  Education.  Mr.  Meriwether  said 
that  all  extensions  and  improvements  have 
been  suspended  pending  settlement  of  the 
St.  Paul  Street  cut-off  question.  He  said 
further  that  the  extension  would  add  ma- 
terially to  the  cost  of  operation. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Reports  are  in  circulation 
in  traction  circles  that  an  attempt  is  being 
made  in  Buffalo  to  organize  a  company  to 
provide  traction  facilities  between  Buffalo 
and  Wellsville  via  the  abandoned  route  of 
the  Buffalo  &  Susquehanna  Railway.  The 
line  was  abandoned  during  the  war  and  the 
tracks  and  equipment  were  sold  to  the 
French  government.  The  right-of-way  is 
owned  by  Charles  A.  Finnegan  of  Buffalo. 
The  proposed  line  would  reach  a  large  sec- 
tion between  Buffalo  and  Wellsville  not  now 
served  by  any  railroad. 

Olympia  Light  &  Power  Company,  Olym- 
pia,  Wash.,  within  the  next  two  months 
will  replace  the  present  fishplates  on  3 
miles  of  open  track  with  continuous  rail 
joints  made  by  the  Rail  Joint  Company, 
New  York,  N.  Y.  The  cost  of  this  im- 
provement will  be  approximately  $2,000. 
The  six-hole  25-in.  plates,  which  were  espe- 
cially made  to  the  template  of  the  rails  in 
place,  have  already  been  received.  With 
the  replacement  of  the  old  plates  the  exist- 
ing low  joints  will  be  raised  and  the 
track  put  in  first-class  condition. 

Terrell,  Tex. — Citizens  of  Terrell  recently 
celebrated  the  breaking  of  dirt  on  that 
end  of  the  line  in  the  construction  of  the 
Dallas-Terrell  Interurban  line  which  is  be- 
ing built  by  the  Strickland  interests  of 
Dallas.  This  is  one  of  the  interurban 
lines  of  30  miles  or  more  in  length  which 
the  Strickland  interests  were  committed  to 
build  under  the  terms  of  the  franchise 
covering  the  operation  of  the  street  car 
lines  in  Dallas  granted  to  Messrs.  Strick- 
land and  Hobson  in  1917.  J.  B.  Moreland 
of  Terrell  has  been  granted  the  contract 
for  grading  the  line  from  Terrell  to 
Lawrence  and  is  going  forward  with  the 
work  as  fast  as  possible.  He  reports  that 
the  hardness  of  the  ground  tends  to  delay 
work,  as  not  sufficient  rain  to  soften  the 
ground  has  fallen  since  June.  The  entire 
line  is  expected  to  be  completed  and  in 
operation  by  the  end  of  1922. 

Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad,  Chicago, 
plans  to  improve  the  northwest  corner  of 
Wilson  Avenue  and  Broadway,  Chicago, 
partly  underneath  the  structure,  with  a  fine 
new  station  for  the  joint  use  of  the  elevated 
line  and  the  Chicago.  North  Shore  &  Mil- 
waukee Railroad.  The  property  is  now 
occupied  by  a  stucco  frame  building 
arranged  for  the  use  of  a  number  of  small 


shops.  This  will  be  replaced  with  a  per- 
manent structure  extending  the  entire  block 
along  Broadway  and  providing  a  new 
entrance  at  the  north  end  of  the  block  to 
the  elevated  platform  known  as  Wilson 
Avenue  station.  The  cost  of  the  improve- 
ment will  be  roughly  $100,000.  The  Wilson 
Avenue  district  is  the  largest  outlying  busi- 
ness center  in  Chicago. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Appalachian  Power  Company,  Princeton, 

W.  Va„  has  started  the  construction  of  an 
addition  to  its  steam  plant  at  Glen  Lyn, 
Va.  The  work  will  be  completed  about 
June  1,  1922,  and  will  increase  the  kw.  ca- 
pacity to  38,750,  the  present  capacity  being 
25,000  kw. 

Southern     Power     Company,  Charlotte, 

N.  C,  has  announced  plans  for  two  new 
hydro-electric  plants.  This  undertaking 
will  cost  more  than  $10,000,000.  The 
plants  will  have  a  maximum  capacity  of 
80,000  hp.  and  60,000  hp.  respectively. 


Trade  Notes 


National  Street  Car  Corporation,  Ltd., 
Toronto,  Can.,  in  its  report  for  the  eighteen 
months  ended  June  30,  1921,  shows  a  gross 
manufacturing  profit  of  $602,927  and  net 
profits  of  $422,674.  The  company  was  or- 
ganized in  1919. 

Square  D  Company,  Detroit,  Mich,  manu- 
facturers of  inclosed  safety  switches,  has 
opened  a  district  sales  office  at  St.  Louis 
in  the  International  Life  Building.  J.  D. 
Utley  is  the  office  manager  and  W.  S.  Her- 
mann is  the  district  sales  manager. 

P.  G.  McConnell,  formerly  a  department 
manager  of  the  Belden  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, resigned  on  Oct.  31,  1921,  to  enter 
the  manufacturing  field  for  himself.  He 
will  specialize  in  the  manufacture  of  auto- 
mobile timer  sets,  attachments  and  special 
cords  and  connectors  at  426  South  Clinton 
Street,  Chicago,  doing  business  as  the 
McConnell  Cable  &  Specialties  Company. 

Rail  Welding  &  Bonding  Company  is 
now  located  in  its  new  factory  and  office 
building  at  1615-20  Collamer  Road,  East 
Cleveland.  Ohio.  The  building  is  a  mod- 
ern one-story  structure  which  provides 
abundant  natural  light  in  all  parts.  In 
addition  to  the  factory  and  offices,  a  metal- 
lurgical laboratory  occupies  a  section  of 
the  building,  which  is  well  equipped  for 
development  work.  Every  means  have 
been  employed  to  make  the  new  plant  mod- 
ern in  every  respect. 

R.  W.  Levenhagen,  vice-president  of  the 
Glidden  Company,  Chicago,  has  recently 
assumed  direct  charge  of  the  sales  policies 
and  sales  activities  of  the  organization 
which  now  includes  the  two  new  products, 
Ripolin  and  Anaconda  white  lead.  Mr. 
Levenhagen  has  for  many  years  directed 
sales  work  for  the  Sherwin-Williams  Com- 
pany, the  Detroit  White  Lead  Works  and 
the  Martin  Senour  Company.  He  is  well 
qualified  to  take  these  new  responsibilities 
in  addition  to  the  duties  he  assumed  when 
he  was  appointed  vice-president  of  the 
company. 

T.  Charles  Brown,  formerly  with  the 
Electric  Service  Supplies  Company,  New 
York,  and  recently  with  the  National  Con- 
duit &  Cable  Company,  is  now  associated 
with  the  American  Jobbers'  Supply  Com- 
pany, Woolworth  Building,  New  York,  and 
will  specialize  on  the  product  of  the  Por- 
celain Insulator  Corporation,  Lima,  N.  Y. 
This  company  manufactures  "Pinco"  in- 
sulators, a  new  development  in  the  insula- 
tor field  by  men  who  have  been  associated 
in  the  manufacture  of  wet  process  porcelain 
insulators  for  about  twenty  years.  The 
American  Jobbers'  Supply  Company  has 
the  sale  of  "Pinco"  insulators  in  the  East. 
Mr.  Brown  is  to  be  engaged  in  the  sale  of 
material  to  which  he  had  devoted  prac- 
tically all  his  time  since  1910. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


AUis-Chalmers  Manufacturing  Company, 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  now  has  available  for 
distribution  its  new  bulletin  No.  1119  on 
"Steam  Turbine  and  Alternator  Units." 
This  publication,  however,  covers  only 
high-pressure,  single-cylinder  units  rang- 
ing in  size  from  5,000  kw.  to  15,000  kw., 
operating  at  speeds  of  1,500  or  1,800  r.p.m. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZELL, Editors  HENRY  H.NORRIS, Managing  Editor         ,     •  — 

HARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor    N.A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor    H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIER.Associate  EdlMr'     CARL  W.STOCKS. Associate  Editor 
G . J . M AC M URR A Y. News  Editor  DONALD  F.HINE.Editorial  Representative  PAUL  WOOT&N.Washington  Representative 


— 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  December  10,  1921 


Number  24 


To  Indianapolis 

for  the  Midyear  Conference 

IT  IS  indeed  a  fitting  tribute  to  President  Robert  I. 
Todd  that  the  association  has  decided  to  hold  t,he  mid- 
year conference  in  Indianapolis.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
it  appears  that  no  other  city  was  considered*  or  even 
proposed. 

The  decision  is  wise  from  another  viewpoint,  for 
Indianapolis  is  the  center  of  a  large  interurban  railway 
activity;  in  fact,  more  interurbans  radiate  from  there 
than  from  any  other  one  point,  and  the  program  for 
the  meeting  contemplates  a  substantial  treatment  of  the 
problems  of  this  part  of  the  industry.  It  is  a  typical 
mid-Western  city,  easy  of  access  to  all  electric  railway 
men.  It  has  accommodations  which  are  ample  and  it 
can  be  assured  that  the  dinner  in  all  its  aspects  will  not 
only  satisfy  but  please. 

Another  point  as  to  this  midyear  conference.  It  is 
going  to  be  a  real  conference  on  the  live  questions  of 
the  day.  Those  who  attend — and  a  record  attendance  is 
predicted — must  come  prepared  not  to  listen  to  speeches, 
but  to  take  part  in  active  discussion  of  the  subjects  be- 
fore the  meeting. 

Remember  the  date — Tuesday,  Feb.  28.  Headquarters 
will  be  at  the  Claypool  Hotel. 


The  Tax  Exempt  Bond 
Given  Another  Blow 

ONE  of  the  many  admirable  features  of  President 
Harding's  message  to  Congress  on  Tuesday  of  this 
week  was  the  telling  blow  delivered  against  the  tax 
exempt  bond.  "I  think,"  said  President  Harding,  "our 
tax  problems,  the  tendency  of  wealth  to  seek  non- 
taxable investment  and  the  menacing  increase  of  public 
debt — federal,  state  and  municipal — all  justify  a  pro- 
posal to  change  the  constitution  so  as  to  end  the  issue 
of  non-taxable  bonds."  Senator  Smoot  and  Representa- 
tive McFadden  already  have  proposed  such  an  amend- 
ment in  the  two  houses  of  Congress. 

The  President  does  well  to  call  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress and  the  public  at  large  to  the  uncontrollable  drain 
upon  the  available  capital  of  the  country  this  class  of 
security  is  causing.  The  income  tax  is  apparently  here 
to  stay  and  properly  so.  This  makes  it  all  the  more 
necessary  to  remove  any  obstacles  from  the  proper  levy- 
ing of  the  income  tax,  not  only  in  the  interest  of  equity 
between  individuals  but  for  the  even  greater  purpose 
of  providing  for  the  general  good  of  all. 

Some  tax  experts  hold  that  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment is  not  necessary  to  effect  a  change  in  the  law 
as  the  provision  of  the  federal  constitution  which  is 
supposed  to  exempt  municipal,  county  and  state  bonds 
has  never  been  officially  construed  to  have  that  effect 
by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  Whether  this 
view  is  correct  or  not  the  effect  of  the  exemption  now 
made  is  undoubtedly  injurious.  To  use  President  Hard- 
ing's own  words :  "The  drift  of  wealth  into  non-taxable 
securities  is  hindering  the  flow  of  large  capital  to  our 


industries,  manufacturing,  agricultural  and  carrying, 
until  we  are  discouraging  the  very  "activities  which 
,  make  our  wealth."  This  is  particularly  and  poignantly 
true  in  the  public  utility  field  with  its  regulated  and 
limited  rate  of  return.  - 

As  has  been  urged  in  these  columns  before,  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry  has  a  peculiar  interest  in  this 
problem.  Railway  men  should  take  every  possible 
legitimate  step  to  bring  the  matter  forcibly  to  the  atten- 
tion of  senators  and  representatives  by  individual  effort. 
It  is  sound  business  for  the  nation,  and  it  will  assist 
railways  directly  in  the  search  for  new  capital. 


How  the  Pass  System 

Differentiates  the  Passengers 

THE  pass  system  as  employed  at  Youngstown,  Racine 
and  some  other  cities  is  such  a  novel  departure 
from  previous  methods  of  fare  collection  that  its  effects 
are  now  only  beginning  to  be  understood.  Considerable 
has  been  published  in  regard  to  methods  of  its  installa- 
tion, basis  of  charge  and  effect  on  riding,  but  there  are 
other  points  in  connection  with  it  which  as  yet  have 
hardly  been  discussed. 

Under  the  customary  flat-fare  system  of  this  country 
the  street  railway's  contact  with  the  patron  is  so  fleet- 
ing that  practically  nothing  is  known  of  his  habits 
unless  a  traffic  survey  is  deliberately  made  for  that 
purpose.  In  a  general  way,  it  is  known  that  weather, 
degree  of  employment,  amusement  and  shopping  activ- 
ities have  a  bearing  on  the  ups  and  downs  of  the  travel, 
but  there  are  no  simple  bases  for  figuring  how  much 
each  class  of  riders,  such  as  holiday,  short-haul,  off-peak 
and  rush,  is  affected  by  different  factors.  Foreign  dis- 
tance-fare roads  are  much  more  fortunate  in  this 
respect  as  their  returns  tell  them  the  fluctuations  in 
traffic  according  to  fare  paid  by  each  class  of  rider. 
Also  where,  as  in  London,  a  special  low  rate  is  granted 
for  off-peak  hours  (10  a.m.  to  4  p.nf.)  still  further  data 
of  value  are  obtained  by  the  management  on  the  travel 
habits  of  its  customers. 

An  equally  interesting  differentiation  of  passengers 
is  being  furnished  by  the  operation  of  unlimited-ride 
weekly  passes.  In  Racine,  where  this  pass  has  been  in 
use  since  August,  1919,  sufficient  evidence  has  accumu- 
lated to  prove  that  pass  purchasers  are  the  most  depend- 
able class  of  riders.  In  late  months  the  revenue  from 
cash  and  token  riders  has  dropped  25  per  cent  or  more, 
in  comparison  with  the  same  months  of  the  year  before. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  revenue  from  the  pass  riders 
has  shown  increases  as  high  as  10  per  cent.  From  this 
it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  average  pass  purchaser 
is  a  more  provident  or  prosperous  type  than  the  other 
passengers ;  also  that  a  part  of  his  riding  is  compulsory. 
He  does  not  have  to  take  the  four  rides  a  day,  which 
he  actually  averages,  but  he  does  have  to  take  more 
than  sixteen  rides  a  week  to  come  out  even  on  his  pass. 
If  it  is  assumed  that  two  of  the  four  rides  per  day  are 
taken  in  the  rush  hours  the  other  two  rides  necessarily 


1016 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


come  during  off-peak  periods,  when  the  company  would 
prefer  to  supply  them. 

Further  differentiation  is  afforded  by  the  operation 
of  the  pass  at  Youngstown,  Ohio.  Within  a  period  of 
seven  weeks  the  pass  sales  have  increased  50  per  cent. 
During  this  time  there  was  only  one  noteworthy  setback 
in  sales  despite  much  greater  fluctuations  in  the  sales 
of  cash  and  ticket  transportation.  This  was  during 
election  week.  It  seems  that  when  a  holiday  comes  early 
in  the  week  2  to  3  per  cent  of  the  pass  buyers  reckon 
that  they  will  save  by  buying  their  rides  at  retail  that 
week.  On  the  other  hand,  the  earnings  from  the  other 
classes  of  passengers  went  up  during  the  very  same 
week,  as  these  classes  may  have  been  increased  by  elec- 
tion excitement,  holiday  games,  good  weather,  etc.  In 
general,  however,  the  revenue  from  the  pass  riders  is 
the  most  dependable  from  week  to  week  and  month  to 
month.  A  pass  buyer  has  paid  for  his  transportation 
for  a  week  in  advance  and  therefore  is  more  inclined 
to  ride  on  each  and  every  occasion,  and  to  use  the  cars 
only.  If  he  does  stay  home  the  railway  loses  nothing. 
This  is  not  the  case  where  people  buy  one  car  or  jitney 
ride  at  a  time. 

When  the  pass  became  effective  at  Youngstown,  it 
was  found  that  the  chief  inroads  were  in  the  sales  of 
tickets  at  six  for  50  cents  or  at  85  cents  each.  The 
number  of  9-cent  cash-fare  riders  was  affected  so  little 
by  the  pass  that  after  a  few  weeks  there  were  as  many 
cash  riders  as  in  the  weeks  just  preceding  the  pass. 
About  one-third  of  the  ticket  riders  seemed  to  have 
become  pass  riders,  but  owing  to  the  general  increase  in 
the  business  of  the  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  the 
ticket  sales  after  a  few  weeks  were  only  one-sixth  be- 
low the  old  figures.  In  the  meantime,  the  pass  was 
building  up  a  new  source  of  revenue  that  is  now  about 
one-fourth  of  the  total  gross. 

Naturally,  the  recapture  of  riders  who  had  been  using 
the  jitneys  makes  it  impossible  to  say  what  proportion 
of  each  class  of  the  present  riders  was  originally  car 
or  originally  jitney.  Probably  a  certain  number  of 
jitney  riders  went  directly  from  cash-fare  jitney  to 
pass-fare  car.  It  is  also  probable  that  the  number  of 
cash-fare  and  ticket  riders  has  been  increased  by  the 
fact  that  a  person  accompanying  a  passholder,  as  in 
going  to  a  theater,  would  also  use  the  cars  and  make  a 
one-time  payment  for  riding  on  the  same.  Neverthe- 
less, there  is  one  outstanding  deduction,  namely,  that 
despite  the  extremely  liberal  rate  for  the  pass  ($1.25 
a  week)  about  one-half  of  the  original  pre-pass  clientele 
should  continue  as  cash-fare  customers.  Improvidence 
or  poverty  cannot  account  for  much  of  this.  What  is 
far  more  probable  is  that  many  of  these  riders  are  so 
situated  that  they  do  not  have  to  use  the  cars  regularly 
twice  a  day. 

From  this  it  would  seem  clear  that  in  any  large  city 
there  are  a  great  many  people  so  close  to  their  work  that 
they  do  not  have  to  ride  unless  they  choose  to.  When 
some  occasional  town-edge  affair  like  a  football  game 
occurs  a  number  of  these  people  are  attracted  out  of 
their  usual  orbit  and  become  riders.  They  are  also  the 
people  who  change  from  walking  to  riding  when  the 
weather  is  disagreeable.  If  business  from  this  special 
element  is  to  be  increased  the  attraction  must  lie  in  a 
short-haul  fare  rather  than  in  a  pass.  The  principle 
of  good  business  is  not  only  to  make  a  reduction  to  the 
wholesale  purchaser  who  buys  more  than  he  actually 
needs  but  also  to  provide  an  inducement  for  that  class 
which  ordinarily  has  no  need  for  transportation  service. 


Expenditures  for  Publicity 
Fully  Justified 

SEVERAL  times  recently  expenditures  made  by  elev, 
trie  railways  for  advertising  and  publicity  purposes 
have  come  under  public  scrutiny.  The  concern  just 
at  this  time  is  not  with  the  question  of  whether  these 
particular  expenditures  were  ill  advised  or  not  com- 
mensurate with  the  results  attained,  but  rather  with 
the  general  policy  back  of  such  expenditures.  Adver- 
tising and  publicity  are  generally  accepted  as  proper 
charges  to  doing  business  in  all  lines  of  merchan- 
dising, and  in  the  electric  railway  business  they 
are  as  much  a  part  of  the  expense  for  developing 
traffic  as  the  printing  of  time-tables,  the  maintenance 
of  comfortable  cars  or  a  great  many  other  ways  of 
gaining  passengers  which  come  to  mind.  Money,  of 
course,  can  be  unwisely  spent  in  advertising,  but  that 
is  true  also  in  the  other  ways  mentioned. 

All  publicity,  whether  for  more  traffic  or  higher 
fares  or  to  stimulate  good  will,  is  special  pleading  in 
the  sense  that  it  is  an  effort  to  sell  at  a  profit  some- 
thing which  the  advertiser  possesses  or  to  acquire 
something  he  wishes  to  gain.  While  there  may  be 
some  reason  in  specific  instances  to  question  the  total 
of  expenditures  for  publicity  by  electric  railways, 
there  can  be  no  question  about  the  right  of  any  com- 
pany to  go  before  the  public  direct  with  the  story  of 
how  much  riders  are  getting  in  return  for  the  fare 
they  pay  and  how  well  their  interests  are  being  look 
after  by  the  company  they  patronize.  The  expenditure 
is  also  a  proper  one  that  has  for  its  purpose  contro- 
verting statements  made  publicly  that  serve  only  to 
vilify  a  company  and  destroy  good  will  which  the 
company  is  constantly  seeking  to  keep  and  to  increase. 
Who,  for  instance,  would  be  rash  enough  to  attempt 
to  place  a  monetary  value  on  the  output  of  the  cre- 
ator and  perpetrator,  if  you  will,  of  Phoebe  Snow? 
And  who  would  say,  whatever  the  cost  may  be  to  the 
Lackawanna  Railroad  of  its  advertising,  that  the  ex- 
pense of  the  company  in  this  connection  is  not  a 
merited  one!  The  good  will  of  the  public  is  no  less 
important  to  a  railway  than  it  is  to  the  store  selling 
general  merchandise.  Nowhere  does  the  purchaser 
get  more  for  his  money  than  he  does  in  buying  electric 
railway  transportation. 


Exchange  Not  the  Only 

Ruling  Factor  in  Export 

WITH  the  low  exchange  rate  existing  abroad  a 
considerable  handicap  must  be  overcome  by  our 
manufacturers  in  export  trade.  In  the  countries 
where  the  low  exchange  rate  exists,  the  apparent 
cost  of  American  manufactures  seems  increased  in 
direct  proportion  with  the  rate  of  exchange  between 
that  country  and  America.  In  countries  with  a  more 
nearly  equal  exchange,  manufacturers  here  are 
brought  into  direct  competition  with  those  in  the  low 
exchange  countries.  It  has  been  said  that  the  chief 
advantages  on  which  the  manufacturers  of  this  country 
must  rely  are  ingenuity  and  low  cost  due  to  mass 
production. 

Fortunately  for  the  home  manufacturers  of  the 
electric  railway  equipment,  both  of  these  factors  are 
present  in  that  industry.  There  is  no  country  in  "the 
world  which  at  all  approaches  the  United  States  in 
miles  of  track  or  number  of  electric  cars  in  operation. 
The  manufacturers  of  essential  maintenance  parts 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1017 


used  in  electric  railway  service  can  therefore  be  con- 
ducted in  this  country  on  a  scale  far  beyond  that 
possible  in  any  other.  The  same  condition  naturally 
stimulates  the  improvement  of  equipment.  The  mar- 
ket is  so  large  that  inventive  genius  is  encouraged. 
Another  incitement  to  improved  equipment  is  the 
readiness  with  which  American  operators  will  discard 
what  they  have  if  the  savings  from  the  new  machinery 
are  sufficient  to  amortize  the  scrapped  parts  within  a 
reasonable  time. 

For  these  reasons  export  business  in  electric  rail- 
way lines  is  not  so  hopeless  as  the  rate  of  exchange 
would  suggest.  As  the  need  for  railway  equipment 
throughout  the  world  grows,  this  country  should  sup- 
ply a  goodly  part  of  that  required. 


The  Motor  Bus 

for  Owl  Service 

THAT  motor  buses  for  complementary  and  supple- 
mentary service  in  connection  with  electric  railway 
lines  are  a  practical  proposition  seems  to  be  pretty  well 
demonstrated  by  this  time.  That  being  the  case,  it  is 
worth  while  examining  all  possible  ways  in  which  the 
buses,  once  secured  and  placed  in  service,  may  be  used 
to  the  maximum  advantage.  One ,  way  which  is  sug- 
gested is  that  they  be  used  for  all-night  service.  The 
furnishing  of  owl  service  has  proved  to  be  a  pretty 
burdensome  problem  for  many  electric  railway  com- 
panies, and  a  service  which  they  have  usually  given 
grudgingly  or  through  the  enforcement  of  statutory 
requirement. 

It  would  seem  that  right  here  is  a  virgin  field  for 
the  motor  bus.  Of  course  in  some  cities  this  has  been 
the  cream  of  business  for  the  taxicab,  but  there  seems 
to  be  no  reason  why  buses  that  are  used  for  feeder 
service  during  the  daylight  hours  should  stay  in  the 
garage  all  night  when  they  might  well  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage on  the  streets.  This  done,  the  power  plant 
could  be  shut  down  completely  in  these  hours,  with  a 
material  saving  in  expenses.  The  elimination  of  four 
or  five  hours  of  boiler-room  labor  and  engine-room 
watches  will  figure  out  a  pretty  neat  sum.  Furthermore 
it  would  give  an  opportunity  for  repair  work  and  over- 
hauling around  the  plant,  which  with  twenty-four-hour 
operation  is  done  under  considerable  handicap,  if  at  all. 
Emergency  line  crews  need  not  be  kept  on  duty,  and 
probably  other  opportunities  for  savings  would  be 
worked  out. 

There  are  some  companies  in  places  where  all-night 
service  is  not  required  which  do  close  down  entirely 
for  several  hours,  with  very  material  advantage  to 
themselves  in  reduction  of  costs.  They  find  no  diffi- 
culty in  arranging  their  car  inspection  and  minor  repair 
work  around  the  carho-uses  to  conform  to  the  hours  when 
the  power  is  off. 

Perhaps  this  possibility  will  appeal  more  strongly  to 
the  smaller  traction  companies  than  to  the  larger  ones. 
In  the  very  big  cities  conditions  are  more  complex  and 
the  volume  of  traffic,  even  in  the  early  hours,  is  of 
goodly  proportions.  But  for  transportation  companies 
in  the  moderate-sized  and  smaller  cities  this  idea  of  bus 
operation  is  well  worth  considering.  An  investigation 
of  this  proposal  as  a  "way  out"  of  the  burden  of  owl 
service  is  suggested  to  those  companies  already  operat- 
ing buses,  or  considering  them  for  the  immediate  future. 
An  example  of  such  an  instance  of  bus  operation  is 
given  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  July  9,  1921, 
page  51. 


Lessons  Learned 

by  Des  Moines  Citizens 

VOTING  two  to  one  for  the  new  franchise,  the  people 
of  Des  Moines  have  confirmed  the  action  of  the  City 
Council  in  accepting  a  service-at-cost  contract  and  have 
thereby  re-established  electric  railway  service.  This 
action  came  as  the  result  of  an  eighty-fo'ur-day  experi- 
ence without  the  street  cars,  during  which  the  people 
got  their  fill  of  5-cent  jitney  transportation  and  came  to 
realize  that  there  had  been  more  sincerity  than  selfish- 
ness in  the  efforts  made  by  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway 
'  to  secure  terms  from  the  city  authorities  under  which 
it  could  somehow  avoid  cessation  of  service.  It  was  a 
hard  lesson  for  Des  Moines,  for  merchants  and  other 
business  men  were  becoming  desperate  at  the  loss  of 
trade  resulting  from  the  terrible  inadequacy,  discomfort, 
indecency  and  hazard  of  the  service  provided  by  the 
jitneys.  All  classes  of  people  earnestly  avoided  any 
activity  that  involved  a  ride  on  a  so-called  bus,  and  the 
business  of  the  city  dwindled  correspondingly.  But  the 
suffering,  inconvenience  and  financial  loss  to  the  people 
and  city  may  not  have  been  in  vain  if  the  lesson  learned 
is  remembered  and  the  railway  is  thus  permitted  to  go 
forward  and  to  give  and  develop  its  service  to-  the  people 
free  from  the  vicious  limitations  imposed  by  constant 
political  abuse. 

Three  things  in  particular  were  brought  home  to  Des 
Moines  citizens  as  the  result  of  this  famous  eighty-four- 
day  period.  First,  they  became  convinced  that  they  had 
to  have  electric  railway  service;  second,  that  they  had 
to  pay  for  it,  and,  third,  that  they  would  have  to  deal 
with  the  present  company. 

The  buses  failed  signally  to  provide  adequate,  regular 
or  convenient  service.  The  bus  men  were  long  on 
promises  as  to  what  they  would  do  if  given  a  franchise 
and  the  City  Council  was  anxious  to  give  such  a  fran- 
chise upon  reasonable  assurance  of  financial  strength 
equal  to  the  undertaking.  But  the  bus  men  were  unable 
to  coax  any  substantial  amount  of  capital  into  their 
hands  with  the  5-cent  fare  limitation,  and  no  respon- 
sible interests  came  forward  with  a  proposition  to  take 
the  job  at  a  5-cent  fare.  Consequently  there  was  no  bus 
transportation  undertaking  on  a  scale  which  the  situa- 
tion demanded.  Rather,  for  a  traffic  requiring  at  least 
500  buses,  there  were  only  a  hundred  or  less  buses  of 
all  kinds  and  descriptions  driven  by  individual  owners 
trying  to  cope  with  the  situation.  Even  though  they 
had  schedules  and  routes  somewhat  systematized 
through  an  association,  the  service  was  hopelessly  in- 
adequate. The  people  were  thus  convinced  that  they 
must  have  the  street  cars  back. 

Previous  to  the  shutdown  a  general  feeling  had  pre- 
vailed that  the  company  was  bluffing  in  its  statements, 
but  when  the  threatened  shutdown  actually  became  a 
painful  reality  this  feeling  was  quite  dispelled.  After 
a  few  weeks  the  people  were  finally  convinced  that  the 
electric  railway  could  not  go  on  indefinitely  giving  serv- 
ice for  less  than  cost  and  that  if  service  were  to  be  had 
it  must  be  paid  for. 

Lastly,  after  considerable  dickering,  the  officials  and 
the  public  in  general  found  out  that  no  one  else  could  be 
induced  to  come  in  and  give  transportation  service  under 
any  terms.  Therefore  it  became  evident  that,  because 
the  present  company  had  its  investment  at  stake,  not 
only  could  the  best  proposition  be  obtained  from  it,  but 
that  it  was  the  only  possible  agency  through  which  to 
secure  any  reliable  proposition  to  supply  any  kind  of 
continuous  transportation. 


1018 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Railways'  Financial  Cycle  Has  Come 

Robert  I.  Todd,  President  American  Electric  Railway  Association,  Is  Full  of  Optimism  Over  the  Electric 
Railway  Outlook — Points  to  Substantial  Status  of  Industry — Says  Public  Generally  Recog- 
nizes Necessity  of  Railways — -Spirit  of  Co-operation  Exists  on  Both  Sides — 
Discusses  Outstanding  Problems  Now  Requiring  Attention — The 
Bus  the  Largest  Unsolved  or  Undetermined  Question 


An  interview  with  President  Robert  I. 
by  Harold  V .  Bozell 


Todd 


T 


Robert  I. 


Todd.  President  American 
at  His  Work  Desk  in  His 

THE  iNTERt'RB 


F  THERE  is  one 
point  that  I 
would  stress 
above  others  in  my 
analysis  of  present- 
day  conditions  of  the 
electric  railway  indus- 
try it  is  that  the  rail- 
ways' financial  cycle 
has  come  around 
again  and  that  we 
have  good  reason  to- 
day to  be  optimistic 
in  our  predictions  for 
the  future  of  the  in- 
dustry." Pres  ident 
Robert  I.  Todd  was 
very  much  in  earnest 
when  he  said  these 
words  during  the 
course  of  a  most  in- 
teresting and  inspir- 
ing discussion  of  the 
electric  railway  indus- 
try which  the  writer 
enjoyed  having  with 
him  recently.  And 
the  words  were  not  false  to  his  manner,  either.  It  was 
easy  to  sense  his  optimism  and  actually  to  see  his  con- 
fidence, even  though  our  discussion  centered  around  the 
most  pressing  problems  still  before  the  industry,  and 
even  though  he  recognized  that  he  was  undertaking  the 
burdens  of  leadership  of  the  industry  as  he  commenced 
his  term  of  office  as  president  of  the  association. 

But  President  Todd  is  a  man  who  does  not  flinch  from 
problems ;  rather  he  approaches  them  in  a  quiet,  deter- 
mined manner,  bound  to  find  the  right  solution  to  each 
one  in  as  quick  and  efficient  a  way  as  possible.  He  is 
willing  and  anxious  to  discuss  his  problems  with  others 
and  obtain  the  best  advice  there  is,  but  having  decided 
on  the  best  method  of  procedure,  he  goes  ahead  without 
quibbling.  There  is  nothing  spectacular  about  Mr. 
Todd,  but  there  is  a  sincerity,  a  thoroughness,  a  perse- 
verance about  him  which  gives  confidence  to  one  in 
contemplating  the  result  of  the  coming  year's  work 
under  the  direction  of  this  quiet  leader.  He  has  reason 
to  be  optimistic  in  his  outlook  of  the  work  of  the  asso- 
ciation this  year.  It  was  just  after  the  October  meeting 
of  the  executive  committee  that  our  discussion  reported 
below  occurred,  and  that  meeting  was  enough  to  put 
confidence  in  any  incoming  president.  Past-president 
Gadsden  worked  well— perhaps  better  than  he  knew — 
when  he  insisted  before  the  reorganization  committee 
upon  the  cardinal  principle  of  monthly  meetings  of  the 


Electric  Railway  Association- 
Office  at  Indianapolis, 
an  Center 


executive  committee 
so  that  there  would  be 
real  active  manage- 
ment of  the  associa- 
tion's affairs  by  its 
selected  officers.  Pres- 
ident Todd  was  more 
than  pleased,  as  would 
have  been  every  mem- 
ber of  the  industry 
had  he  been  there,  at 
the  manner  in  which 
the  new  executive  com- 
mittee is  undertaking 
its  responsibilities  and 
starting  the  year's 
work,  if  that  meeting 
of  the  executive  com- 
mittee proves  a  typical 
example.  President 
Todd  feels  the  encour- 
agement of  an  active 
working  executive 
committee  with  its 
various  sub  -  commit- 
tees and  special  com- 
mittees. The  recorded 
results  of  the  coming  year  will,  of  course,  prove  the 
value  of  the  administration.  But  if  a  prediction  may  be 
permitted,  it  is  that  the  association  will  receive  tangible 
and  practical  benefit  during  the  present  administration 
from  the  new  form  of  management  under  President 
Todd's  direction. 

But  this  is  supposed  to  be  a  tale  of  President  Todd's 
opinion  of  the  industry,  not  mine  of  him.  Continuing 
his  discussion  of  the  general  situation,  he  said: 

"The  industry  in  general  is  through  what  might  be 
called  its  period  of  tribulation.  People  do  recognize 
that  the  electric  railway  is  necessary.  They  believe  in 
railways  as  a  necessity.  The  work  which  the  industry 
has  done  since  the  close  of  the  hearings  of  the  Federal 
Electric  Railways  Commission  in  telling  the  public  the 
story  of  the  railways  has  had  a  real  effect  and  there 
is  everywhere  evidence  that  electric  railway  problems 
are  better  appreciated  by  the  public  as  a  whole. 

"At  the  same  time  there  has  been  an  awakening  on  the 
part  of  railway  men  themselves  to  some  of  the  shortcom- 
ings, not  so  much  of  their  operations  as  of  their  relations 
to  the  public,  their  former  reticence  occasioned  by  their 
absorption  with  operating  problems  and  a  more  or  less 
thoughtless  assumption  that  the  public  knew  more  than 
it  did  about  railway  operation. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1019 


"There  is  certainly  everywhere  today  a  very  evident 
desire  on  the  part  of  railway  men  to  do  what  the  public 
wants  done  in  the  way  of  furnishing  transportation. 
This  is  true  not  only  from  an  operating  standpoint  but 
from  a  public  policy  and  financial  standpoint.  In  other 
words,  there  are  signs  all  over  of  the  public  and  the 
railway  operator  'getting  together'  for  their  mutual 
good. 

"The  industry  is  substantially  sound.  It  has  come 
through  trying  days  and  even  now,  in  what  is  probably 
the  bottom  of  the  valley  of  depression  after  the  war,  it 
is  in  much  better  condition  than  most  general  indus- 
tries, and  there  is  every  sign  of  continued  improvement 
everywhere  in  the  industry.  It  has  proved  itself  a  most 
essential  industry. 

"Only  last  week  I  was  talking  with  a  leading  banker 
dealing  with  public  utility  securities  who  called  my 
attention  to  the  difference  in  market  value  of  many 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  railway  securities  now 
compared  with  two  or  three  months  ago  and  I  was  sur- 
prised, to  put  it  mildly,  to  note  the  substantial  increase. 
I  was  assured  by  this  banker  that  this  was  no  sudden 
rise,  no  peak,  in  a  curve  of  prices,  but  a  point  on  what 
was  apparently  a  gradually  rising  curve.  It  was  he  who 
called  my  attention  to  the  fact  I  have  just  told  you, 
namely,  that  the  utility — the  railway — financial  cycle 
had  come  around  again." 

He  Outlines  Bus  Situation 

President  Todd  in  his  analysis  or  discussion  of  the 
more  pressing  or  outstanding  problems  before  the  in- 
dustry today  debated  a  while  between  the  bus  and  labor 
and  finally  said :  "I  think  the  bus  proposition,  perhaps, 
presents  the  biggest  problem  to  the  transportation  in- 
dustry today.  We  don't  know  yet  exactly  how  to  tackle 
the  problem.  It  is  really  a  knotty  one.  Every  one  is 
interested  in  it,  the  railways,  the  public,  the  commis- 
sions— yet  it  is  a  most  difficult  proposition  to  discuss 
intelligently  because  we  lack  so  much  information  and 
because  there  are  so  many  tender  spots  where  unre- 
stricted competition  and  other  factors  have  caused  such 
an  irritation  that  an  intelligent,  quiet  study  cannot  be 
made." 

"It  is  true  there  are  tender  spots,"  I  interjected,  "but 
how  can  anything  be  accomplished  if  we  do  not  talk — 
if  some  intelligent  effort  is  not  made  to  relieve  the  ten- 
der spots,  How,  in  your  estimation,  is  the  problem  to 
be  settled.  I  am  thinking  now  of  those  areas  in  which, 
or  contiguous  to  those  in  which,  railways  operate. 
Should  independent  operators  start  up  in  co-operation 
and  co-ordination  with  railways?  Should  all  competi- 
tion be  crushed  and  the  bus  banned  from  consideration? 
Should  the  railways  take  up  the  bus  and  use  it  experi- 
mentally to  find  its  proper  sphere?" 

"The  last,  by  all  means.  In  such  areas,  certainly,  it 
seems  to  me,  the  railways  should  take  whatever  respon- 
sibility should  properly  exist  for  bus  development  to 
supplement  or  complement  their  existing  services  if 
such  supplementary  or  complementary  service  is  desir- 
able in  the  interest  of  the  best  transportation  for  the 
community.  This,  of  course,  does  not  mean  that  every 
railway  should  use  the  bus.  It  merely  means  that  my 
own  belief  is  that  if  there  is  any  place  in  a  community 
for  bus  service — and  in  many  communities  I  think  there 
is  such  a  need — it  should  be  the  railways  that  should 
undertake  that  development,  for  they  are  the  transporta- 
tion experts  of  the  community.  From  a  business  stand- 
point they  handle  the  transportation  business  of  the 


community  and  so  should,  as  a  matter  of  good  business, 
undertake  to  provide  and  sell  all  the  transportation  to 
a  community.  The  very  fact  that  railways  are  today 
more  and  more  doing  this  is  indicative  both  of  the  legiti- 
mate sphere  of  the  bus  in  certain  areas  and  of  the 
farsightedness  and  good  business  judgment  of  those 
railways  which  develop  the  bus  themselves,  when  it  is 
needed  in  their  community,  thus  retaining  both  their 
transportation  monopoly  of  the  community  and  the  good 
will  and  the  confidence  of  the  public." 

"What  about  areas  where  there  is  no  rail  develop- 
ment? Do  you  not  see  an  opportunity  for  a  real  bus 
transportation  service  there?" 

"There  are  certainly  some  areas  where  no  right  think- 
ing railway  man  would  ever  try  to  build  a  rail  system, 
but  where  highway  transportation  would  probably  pay, 
though  usually  on  a  much  higher  fare  basis  than  is 
possible  by  rail  transportation  in  most  communities. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  examples  such  as  the  Shore 
Line  community  in  Connecticut  where  bus  service  does 
not  seem  to  retain  any  stability  even  after  the  cessation 
of  service  by  rail.  In  other  words,  the  fact  that  rail 
transportation  did  not  pay  is  a  pretty  fair  indication 
that  the  situation  should  be  carefully  examined  to  see 
if  bus  transportation  will  pay.  However,  in  small  com- 
munities and  in  many  interurban  services  on  the  in- 
creasing network  of  highways,  there  is  probably  a  legiti- 
mate opportunity  for  independent  bus  operation  to  give 
an  organized  transportation  service.  I  have  naturally 
not  analyzed  situations  like  that.  My  study  has  per- 
tained principally  to  electric  railways,  to  the  transpor- 
tation problems  of  urban  communities  and  heavy  inter- 
urban traffic  and  to  the  relation  of  bus  transportation 
to  them. 

"In  some  of  these  smaller  communities,  where  the 
question  is  the  adoption  of  the  bus  or  the  retracking  of 
the  rail  system,  there  is  a  real  serious  problem  at  the 
present  time,  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  fact  in  my 
mind  that  bus  operation  cannot  be  substituted  for  rail 
operation  on  good  existing  track  no  matter  how  light 
the  traffic. 

"In  new  undertakings  I  understand  that  the  claim 
is  made  that  it  takes  five  dollars  investment  for  one 
dollar  gross  earnings  on  rail  as  compared  with  one 
dollar  investment  for  a  dollar  in  earnings  with  the  bus. 
This  latter  ratio  seems  very  doubtful,  but  this  is  one 
aspect  of  the  situation  which  must  be  considered.  If  it 
is  a  commercial  proposition,  it  must  be  taken  up. 

"But  this  much  I  do  want  to  emphasize  again — that 
we  haven't  enough  data  upon  which  to  base  any  judg- 
ment as  yet.  We  must  not — and  no  one  else  should — 
base  any  judgment  on  a  comparison  of  illegitimate,  un- 
regulated, untaxed  bus  service  with  organized,  respon- 
sible continuous  rail  service.  The  full  facts,  compared 
on  equivalent  responsibilities  for  service,  taxes,  claims, 
etc.,  must  be  first  obtained.  This,  of  course,  I  think  the 
railways  are  interested  in  and  anxious  to  do." 

Confidence  Created  by  Direct  Dealing 
with  Employees 

Turning,  from  his  discussion  of  the  bus,  President 
Todd  took  up  a  topic  which  is  really  more  interesting 
and  absorbing  to  him  and  upon  which  he  has  done  a 
great  deal  of  thinking,  namely,  the  labor  problem  of  the 
electric  railway. 

"I  have  indicated  that  possibly  the  bus  is  the  biggest 
problem  which  confronts  the  industry,  but  I  believe  the 
labor  problem  is  perhaps  the  most  serious  with  which 


1020 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


we  have  to  deal,  particularly  with  reference  to  wages 
and  to  the  improvement  of  the  economic  status  of  the 
employees,  and  also  with  reference  to  stabilization  of 
relations  between  the  employees  and  employers. 

"As  to  the  former,  much  as  we  desire  it  for  the  em- 
ployees, it  is  impossible  for  most  electric  railways  to 
operate  on  wages  which  were  established  by  the  War 
Labor  Board  and  the  Amalgamated  Association.  I  feel 
very  strongly  that  motormen  and  conductors  should  re- 
ceive wages  as  high  as  it  is  possible  for  the  industry  to 
bear,  but  I  doubt  if  in  normal  times  it  will  be  possible 
to  make  it  seem  fair  to  the  public  to  pay  motormen  and 
conductors  wages  equivalent  to  those  received  by 
machinists  and  other  skilled  workmen  who  spend  three 
to  five  years  learning  their  trades  so  long  as  the  public 
sees  motormen  learning  how  to  'operate  cars'  within 
one  or  two  weeks.  Not  that  I  think  that  one  or  two 
weeks  is  a  period  in  which  a  motorman  and  conductor 
can  become  a  skilled  motorman  or  a  skilled  conductor, 
but  there  is  a  difference  in  training  which  cannot  be 
entirely  overlooked.  I  would  like  very  much  to  take  a 
different  view  of  this  situation,  but  since  the  wages 
must  come  out  of  fares  we  must  realize  that  the  public 
is  not  yet,  at  least,  willing  to  pay  the  motorman  and 
conductor  a  scale  comparable  to  the  skilled  mechanic.  If 
by  united  action  of  railway  employers  and  employees  the 
public  mind  can  be  changed  in  this  respect,  and  the 
public  be  willing  to  pay  such  a  rate  of  fare  as  will  make 
high  wage  scales  possible,  this  would  be  an  end  greatly 
to  be  desired. 

"We  cannot  forget  that  the  labor  cost  is  the  major 
part  of  the  cost  of  furnishing  transportation  which 
must  be  paid  for  by  the  public  out  of  fares — and  in  that 
way  only.  But,  as  I  said  before,  the  public  does  not 
now  take  kindly  to  paying  skilled  mechanic  wages  to 
motormen  and  conductors. 

"If  only  the  wage  question  could  be  once  satisfac- 
torily settled  most  other  difficulties  between  operators 
and  labor  would  automatically  disappear." 

"What,  if  anything,  in  the  way  of  bettered  economic 
status  will  come  to  street  railway  labor  out  of  the  re- 
adjustment period  we  are  passing  through?" 

"Frankly,  I  don't  know.  The  men  are  now  getting 
116  per  cent  more  wages  than  in  1913,  according  to 
A.  S.  Richey's  index  number  for  November,  though  not 
that  much  in  buying  power  perhaps.  But  I  believe  that 
the  present  economic  cycle  will  end  with  railway  labor 
having  a  purchasing  power  of  perhaps  25  to  50  per 
cent  above  its  1913-14  status.  In  other  words,  the  gen- 
eral level  of  cost  of  living  will,  I  believe,  be  lower  than 
the  general  level  of  railway  labor  wages  when  we  have 
finally  settled  down  again  economically.  The  only  way 
we  can  maintain  this  is  from  the  growth  in  travel  and 
revenue  which  must  compensate  for  the  increased  pay 
to  labor.  The  fact  that  the  railway  industry  generally 
throughout  the  country,  and  the  public  as  well,  has 
got  away  from  the  basic  5-cent  fare  as  a  requirement  is 
a  factor  in  this.  The  industry  has  certainly  suffered 
financially  the  past  five  or  six  years,  but  is  now  getting 
back  to  a  normal  basis.  Materials  are  going  down  and 
other  factors  of  expense  are  going  down  and  there 
should  be  sufficient  added  increase  to  carry  the  added 
cost  of  labor's  increase." 

"The  other  angle  to  this  labor  question,  as  you  have 
mentioned,  is  that  of  the  relation  between  employer  and 
employee?  How  do  you  think  that  will  adjust  itself  in 
the  railway  field?" 

"In  anything  I  say  on  that  question  I  would  surely 


want  it  understood  that  it  is  only  my  personal  opinion. 
That  opinion  is,  quite  shortly  stated,  that  I  favor  what 
is  known  as  the  American  plan  or  the  individual  con- 
tract method  of  direct  negotiation  and  dealing  between 
employee  and  employer.  Through  such  mutual  relation- 
ship it  is  possible  to  create  the  greatest  confidence  and 
most  satisfactory  conditions  on  both  sides.  To  point 
to  the  extreme  of  the  opposite  kind  of  arrangement  there 
are  some  situations  of  which  I  know  in  which  the  own- 
ers tell  me  that  the  labor  situation  is  intolerable;  the 
wage  is  so  high  that  they  cannot  even  pay  operating 
expenses.  They  are  no  longer  operating  their  proper- 
ties, they  say.    The  labor  unions  are  doing  it. 

"My  conclusion  on  this  subject  has  been  reached  not 
from  antagonism  but  from  long  extended  observation 
and  sincere  conviction.  I  am  convinced  that  the  best 
results  in  the  operation  of  electric  railways  cannot  be 
secured  under  domination  by  any  organization  such  as 
the  Amalgamated,  first,  for  the  community;  second,  for 
the  men;  third,  for  the  company  itself.  The  Amalga- 
mated organization  may  be  actuated  by  what  it  believes 
to  be  its  desire  to  provide  for  the  men  an  adequate 
wage  and  satisfactory  working  conditions;  I  am  for 
that,  wholeheartedly,  but  I  differ,  however,  on  the  best 
method  by  which  I  think  the  object  we  all  really  desire 
may  be  obtained. 

"The  Amalgamated  has  been  a  strong,  forceful  body 
with  intelligent  leadership  for  the  purposes  it  wished  to 
accomplish.  We  all  know  the  history  of  its  growth,  how 
railway  by  railway  the  employees  have  been  added. 
With  a  strong,  organized  body,  individual  properties 
could  be  added  one  by  one  and  nothing  else  could  be 
expected.  On  the  other  hand,  the  railways  are  not 
welded  together  like  the  Amalgamated  and  there  should 
be  thorough  study  of  the  problem  by  the  individual  rail- 
ways for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  better  and  closer 
labor  relations  between  railway  operators  and  their 
employees." 

"To  be  more  specific,  what  exactly  do  you  mean  by  the 
individual  contract  and  what  has  been  your  own  experi- 
ence under  it?" 

"The  contract,  I  think,  should  provide  that  there 
should  be  no  lockout  on  the  part  of  the  company  and  no 
strike  or  interruption  of  the  service  on  the  part  of  the 
employees,  and  if  there  should  be  any  difficulties  upon 
which  agreement  cannot  be  reached  they  should  be 
referred  to  the  Public  Service  Commission  as  a  board  of 
arbitration.  This  seems  a  just  and  sensible  American 
way  to  deal  with  men,  and  intelligent  employers  are 
more  anxious  than  any  one  else  for  satisfactory  labor 
relations,  as  they  realize  the  best  business  results  can 
be  obtained  only  by  having  satisfied  and  loyal  employees. 
I  am  sure  the  general  public  would  support  such  a  plan 
and  it  will  ultimately  prove  most  beneficial  to  the 
employees. 

"From  our  own  experience  I  think  our  men  are  among 
the  most  contented  employees  in  the  country.  We  have 
a  reasonable  wage  scale,  considering  the  general  living 
conditions — and  cost  of  living — around  Indianapolis.  No 
outside  organizer  wholly  unfamiliar  with  local  condi- 
tions comes  in  to  try  to  solve  things  better  solved  at 
home.  Without  such  outside  influence  the  men  interpret 
things  for  themselves  and  deal  directly  on  a  fair  and 
manly  basis  with  their  employers." 

"How  do  you  deal  with  grievances?" 

"The  men  have  the  right  to  come  direct  to  the  super- 
intendent or  to  the  president.  In  Indianapolis  we  have 
four  carhouses  and  at  each  house  there  is  a  system  of 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1021 


selection  or  voting  for  trustees,  four  from  each  house 
for  a  term  of  one  year.  If  any  man  thinks  that  he  is 
not  properly  disciplined  he  has  the  right  to  select  three 
men,  one  from  each  carhouse  except  his  own,  who,  with 
the  superintendent  and  the  assistant  superintendent, 
vote  on  the  case  and  their  decision  is  final.  You  see 
that  the  men  themselves  have  the  majority  vote  as  there 
are  three  men  from  the  other  houses  and  the  company 
is.  only  represented  by  the  superintendent  and  the 
assistant  superintendent.  With  the  exception  of  two 
or  three  cases,  all  such  appeals  have  been  decided  in 
favor  of  the  company;  that  is,  the  fairness  and  justice 
of  the  company's  action  has  been  recognized  and  sus- 
tained. The  men  have  an  organization,  but  they  devote  it 
to  beneficial  purposes  only,  to  provide  sick  and  death 
benefits." 

"Is  there  any  provision  for  the  men  to  discuss  ques- 
tions as  a  group  or  to  be  represented  as  a  group?" 

"Naturally  the  men  can  appoint  committees  to  take 
general  problems  up  with  the  company.  If  the  question 
of  wages  comes  up,  for  example,  they  select  a  committee 
and  come  in  and  talk  things  over." 

"Of  course  there  is  one  other  part  of  this  subject 
in  which  labor  is  particularly  interested,  and  that  is 
working  conditions  and  security  of  employment." 

"Perfectly  true  and  rightly  so.  As  to  the  former, 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  eight-hour  day  is  feasible  in 
railway  work.  The  railway  business  is  one  in  which  its 
own  working  conditions  must  be  analyzed  and  the 
answer  made  to  fit  the  requirements  of  the  case.  I 
think  a  logical  basis — the  best  for  the  men  themselves- — 
is  nine  or  ten  hours  of  work  with  a  maximum  spread, 
which  even  in  so-called  split  runs  will  not  exceed  six- 
teen hours.  This  must  naturally  be  arranged  on  a  basis 
of  providing  satisfactory  working  relations,  working 
conditions,  surroundings  and  atmosphere,  but  as  to  the 
actual  schedule,  I  very  strongly  believe  that  an  eight- 
hour  day  is  an  economic  impossibility. 

"But  the  other  point  is  frequently  overlooked  in  dis- 
cussing electric  railway  labor,  namely,  the  continuity 
and  stability  of  employment.  The  electric  railway  is  a 
public  necessity;  it  must  furnish  continuous  service 
which  cannot  vary  much  in  amount;  it  therefore  pro- 
vides continuous  employment.  The  employee  who  per- 
forms his  duties  with  reasonable  efficiency  is  assured 
his  position.  He  counts  on  that,  purchases  his  home 
and  is  assured  that  even  depressions  which  cause  so 
many  ups  and  downs  elsewhere  will  not  deprive  him  of 
his  job.  The  large  number  of  satisfied  employees  who 
have  been  with  the  various  railways  in  this  country  for 
years  and  years  is  an  earnest  of  this  thought. 

"I  shall  not  leave  this  subject  without  paying  a 
tribute  to  the  railway  employees,  organized  and  unor- 
ganized, for  the  intelligent  manner  in  which  they  have 
met  the  necessary  readjustments  of  the  past  few 
months.  In  many  cases  they  have  approached  the  prob- 
lem as  real  partners  in  the  business." 

Good  Salesmanship  Implies  Good  Understanding 
with  Public 

Our  conversation  then  turned  from  this  absorbing 
human  problem,  which  is  today  an  outstanding  one  in 
all  industries,  to  the  subject  which  was  the  keynote, 
or  at  least  the  ever-present  topic  of  conversation,  at 
the  recent  convention — salesmanship  in  transportation. 

"I  am  afraid  my  thoughts  are  of  little  value  on  this 


subject,"  said  Mr.  Todd.  "It  seems  to  me  that  the  plan 
outlined  by  Mr.  Goodwin  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  (see  issue  of  Sept.  24,  page  466),  though,  is 
the  way  to  introduce  salesmanship  into  the  industry. 
That  is,  on  most  properties,  as  I  see  it,  the  president  or 
general  manager  or  some  vice-president  should  person- 
ally be  or  embody  the  sales  manager — should  instill 
salesmanship  and  a  commercial  aspect  of  the  business. 

"But  the  best  salesmanship  of  all,  and  I  recognize 
this  as  a  part  of  Mr.  Goodwin's  idea,  is  to  have  a  clear 
understanding  with  the  public — to  have  a  frank  and 
open  dealing  with  the  public  on  problems  of  the  rail- 
way. And  it  is  due  the  public  that  there  should  be 
such  a  close  and  frank  understanding." 

"How  about  financial  reconstruction?" 

"The  way  many  people  talk  of  that  appeals  to  me  as 
being  a  dream  of  Utopia.  I  don't  think  that  there  is 
any  one  more  in  favor  of  the  principles  outlined  by  Mr. 
Frothingham  at  the  Atlantic  City  convention  of  a  gen- 
eral reorganization  and  plan  of  refinancing  for  all  com- 
panies, but  outside  of  going  through  a  receivership  and 
reorganization  or  through  that  rare  thing,  a  voluntary 
reorganization,  I  don't  see  how  we  can  arrive  at  the  end 
desired.  Speaking  of  our  own  city  company,  we  reor- 
ganized voluntarily,  although  we  could  not  get  the  ratio 
of  stocks  to  bonds  as  we  desired  to  have  it.  There  is 
no  question  but  that  where  possible  it  is  the  right  policy 
to  clarify  the  financial  structure.  The  ideal  condition 
for  a  property  to  be  in,  as  I  conceive  it,  is  to  have  its 
outstanding  capitalization  divided  50  per  cent  bonds  and 
50  per  cent  stock. 

Voluntary  Reduction  of  Capital  Difficult 

"There  are  so  many  complications  in  many  of  the 
companies  that  a  voluntary  reorganization  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  bring  about  and  receiverships  and  reorganiza- 
tions under  them  are  usually  not  good  for  the  industry 
and  are  expensive  for  the  individual  property  and  to 
the  general  public.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  a 
serious  question  and  one  upon  which  the  individual 
company  can  work  to  advantage,  knowing  that  any  im- 
provement in  financial  structure  will  be  a  strong  factor 
in  creating  a  great  improvement  in  public  relations." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  in  cases  where  the  valua- 
tion is  very  much  less  than  the  capitalization  and  you 
wish  to  reduce  the  latter?" 

"Usually  I  do  not  think  a  reduction  can  be  effected 
except  when  there  are  just  a  few  security  holders  and 
they  will  accept  the  reduced  face  value  of  their  hold- 
ings. The  public  must  remember  that  present  capitali- 
zations were  made  in  good  faith  and  according  to 
accepted  principles,  and  further  that  it  is  valuation  and 
not  capitalization  upon  which  we  earn.  It  is,  however, 
desirable,  from  a  public  policy  standpoint,  when  it  is 
found  that  capitalization  considerably  exceeds  physical 
value,  to  effect  a  reduction  if  practicable.  But  take 
some  of  the  larger  companies  where  there  are  thousands 
of  security  holders.  It  is  a  physical  impossibility  to 
get  consent  to  a  reduction  in  the  capitalization. 

"I  don't  know  what  the  answer  is  unless  just  to  let 
properties  work  themselves  out.  If  a  railway  gets  in  a 
situation  where  it  is  desirable  to  reduce  its  capitaliza- 
tion to  its  value  or  adjust  capitalization  and  value,  one 
possible  way  to  do  it  is  to  declare  no  dividends  for  a 
few  years  and  put  what  should  fairly  be  paid  in  divi- 
dends into  the  property  so  that  the  value  will  eventually 


1022 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


work  up  to  the  capitalization.  Meanwhile,  of  course, 
there  is  no  return  on  the  property  paid  out  in  dividends, 
but  eventually  the  best  interests  of  the  stockholder  may 
be  served  and  he  is  no  loser.  If  there  is  no  receivership 
and  if  there  is  no  voluntary  reorganization  this  is  the 
only  way  that  I  see." 

Municipal  Ownership  Largely  a  Dead  Issue 

"Do  you  see  any  tendency  toward  municipal 
ownership?" 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  I  view  it,  the  tendency  is  the 
other  way.  Municipal  ownership  at  present  is  a  dead 
issue  in  most  cities.  Municipalities  are  educated  and 
enlightened.  A  few  years  ago  the  situation  was  dif- 
ferent, and  I  think  the  result  is  largely  attributable  to 
the  experience  under  government  operation  of  the  rail- 
roads. Personally,  I  think  that  the  general  public 
agrees  with  the  views  expressed  by  almost  every 
investigating  body,  and  with  the  opinion  of  railway 
operators  themselves,  that  private  operation  under  intel- 
ligent regulation  provides  the  best  service  in  the  end." 

"It  has  been  said,  you  know,  that  the  fiscal  policy 
of  the  government,  with  the  graduated  income  tax 
and  with  the  continued  supply  of  tax  exempt  govern- 
ment and  municipal  bonds,  would  drive  the  public  to 
have  to  supply  the  additional  capital  necessary  for 
utilities  to  grow  and  thus  force  municipal  ownership. 
Have  you  any  opinion  on  that?  Do  you  think  such  a 
result  is  likely  from  that  course?" 

"No,  I  don't.  It  seems  to  me  that  should  munic- 
ipalities go  into  the  transportation  business  the  money 
rate  would  go  up  for  them,  for  the  investor  will 
appreciate  that  the  municipalities  are  rather  stretching 
their  credit  for  such  purposes. 

"There  is  another  angle  to  this,  of  course,  and  that 
is  that  there  is  a  feeling  that  the  tax  exempt  feature 
of  municipal  securities  may  soon  be  removed.  There 
are  some  who  express  the  opinion  that  this  feature  may 
be  determined  to  be  retroactive;  in  other  words,  that 
present  municipal  securities  may  be  taxed,  and  of  course 
present  purchasers  take  the  chance  on  that.  But  on  the 
whole,  I  think  that  the  situation  will  soon  change  so 
that  the  damage  now  being  done  by  the  tax  exempt 
municipal  securities  will  be  minimized  or  largely 
eliminated." 

Present  Coal  Situation  an  Outrage 

"What  else  looms  up  before  you  as  an  outstanding 
problem  for  the  industry?" 

"Well,  the  coal  question,  which  is  one  that  I  am  most 
deeply  interested  in.  The  present  situation  seems  to  me 
to  be  an  outrage.  The  utility  companies,  as  well  as 
the  general  public,  are  entitled  to  have  a  continuous 
and  dependable  supply  of  coal  at  a  fair  price  without 
being  continuously  subjected  to  the  dangers  and  inter- 
ruptions of  coal  supply  or  to  periods  of  exorbitant 
prices,  no  matter  how  caused.  We  in  Indiana  live  right 
on  top  of  the  question  and  perhaps  get  more  interested 
in  it  than  those  who  are  farther  from  the  actual  pro- 
duction of  the  coal. 

"But  it  is  a  question  of  real  importance  to  the  entire 
industry  because  the  price  of  coal  has  such  a  material 
effect  on  the  power  cost  and  therefore  the  car  fare 
and  because  the  continuity  of  supply  affects  our  con- 
tinuity of  service  or  forces  us  to  make  larger  expendi- 
tures to  maintain  adequate  coal  reserves. 

"Of  course,  I  recognize  that  the  coal  industry  has  a 
labor  problem  of  its  own  of  no  small  proportions.   It  has 


been  sufficiently  aired  in  the  newspapers,  however,  so 
that  I  need  not  discuss  it.  But  when  a  1912  price  of 
$1.15  per  ton  delivered  is  compared  with  a  1921  price 
of  $4.05  per  ton  delivered  there  is  enough  to  indicate 
a  serious  interest  in  this  problem  by  railways. 

"To  many  utility  properties  in  the  Midwest  it  would 
be  their  salvation  if  they  could  secure  their  coal  at  a 
fair  cost  of  mining  and  profit  to  the  producer,  this  on 
account  of  the  large  quantities  of  coal  which  must  neces- 
sarily be  used  in  the  production  of  power. 

"I  am  very  hopeful  with  reference  to  the  most  recent 
developments  in  straightening  out  the  coal  situation. 
If  this  is  cleared  up  it  will  mean  something  to  the  coal 
bill  of  the  electric  railways,  but  it  will  have  a  broader 
significance  to  industry  as  a  whole  which  should  be  very 
beneficial." 

From  the  nature  of  Mr.  Todd's  discussion  thus  far 
it  is  apparent  that  he  is  not  one  to  "dodge  the  issue." 
These  are  all  debatable  subjects  which  Mr.  Todd 
analyzes  and  upon  which  he  presents  his  own  views  for 
what  they  are  worth  to  the  industry  in  its  grappling 
with  the  problems  before  it. 

Our  talk  soon  turned  toward  what  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association  as  an  organization  could 
do  to  assist  in  some  of  these  problems. 

"The  association  can  certainly  do  a  great  deal  to  bring 
out  the  correct  analysis  of  the  trackless  trolley  and  the 
bus.  I  also  think  that  it  can  as  an  organization  do 
something  of  value  on  the  question  of  wages  and  labor." 

"Do  you  think  this  latter  is  a  question  which  it  is 
advisable  for  the  association  to  deal  with?" 

Association  Should  Study  Fare  Question 

"Yes,  I  think  it  is.  Certainly  some  fundamentals 
might  be  uncovered  by  study.  I  do  not  propose  to 
suggest  this  as  a  topic  for  the  association  at  this  time. 
I  realize  that  there  are  divergent  views  on  the  subject 
and  I  don't  know  if  it  is  possible  for  the  association 
to  tackle  it  at  all,  but  how  are  we  ever  going  to  find 
out  if  it  is  possible  unless  some  one  does  study  »t 
with  the  expectation  of  finding  some  solution  of  the 
problem?" 

"How  about  the  subject  of  fares?  Is  not  this  so- 
called  period  of  deflation  an  excellent  time  for  the 
industry  to  make  an  intelligent  study  of  modification 
of  city  fare  schemes,  if  any  are  possible  in  the  various 
areas,  as  a  means  of  adjusting  fares  to  public  policy, 
if  such  a  figure  of  speech  is  allowable?" 

"I  think  this  is  a  subject  on  which  the  association 
should  do  some  very  useful  work.  I  think  we  must  get 
down  to  basic  facts,  and  in  my  own  judgment  we  must 
get  down  to  a  low  basic  fare  for  short  rides.  I  think 
it  is  extremely  important  that  we  keep  the  short  rider, 
and  we  cannot  keep  him,  at  least  in  Indianapolis,  with 
a  high  basic  fare.  My  own  judgment  is  that  we  must 
work  out  some  sort  of  a  low  basic  fare  with  an  added 
fare  for  increments  or  zones,  as  they  may  be  called. 
This  means  real  work,  and  the  association  might  in 
some  way  aid  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  as  its  vari- 
ous aspects  are  presented  in  different  localities." 

"What  do  you  think  of  the  unlimited  ride  ticket,  or 
the  pass,  as  it  is  called,  as  a  factor  in  this  situation?" 

"A  doubtful  experiment.  To  me  it  seems  a  step  back- 
ward to  the  days  of  flat  rates  for  incandescent  lamps  or 
flat  unmetered  gas  rates.  In  both  these  cases  lamps 
were  burned  continuously.  Of  course,  I  may  think  dif- 
ferently after  we  have  more  experience  with  it  in 
various  cities,  but  that's  the  way  I  look  at  it  now. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1023 


Perhaps  I  look  at  things  principally  from  a  standpoint 
of  Indianapolis,  but  I  think  that  we  should  have  started 
with  a  central  zone  for  a  short  rider,  with  an  added 
charge  for  additional  distance  traveled  or  service  ren- 
dered. On  our  interurban  property  we  used  to  have 
5-cent  fare  zones,  now  we  have  3  cents  per  mile  and 
each  rider  pays  for  exactly  the  mileage  that  he  travels. 
This  seems  more  logical  and  it  appears  worth  while  to 
attempt  to  work  out  something  with  similar  logic  for 
cities  if  it  is  possible  for  us  to  do  so." 

"What  will  the  public  opinion  of  the  average  Amer- 
ican city  and  its  flat  fare  policy  or  philosophy  have  on 
this  question?" 

"I  don't  know.  I  think,  though,  that  we  are  coming 
some  time  to  a  form  of  measured  service.  I  don't  know 
how  it  is  going  to  be  done  and  for  that  very  reason 
the  question  needs  study  and  analysis.  I  know  in  our 
own  community  we  presented  a  zone  system  with  a  low 
base  fare  with  2-cent  increments  and  the  commission 
indicated  that  it  was  scientifically  correct,  but  that  the 
community  had  been  built  up  on  a  5-cent  flat  fare  basis 
and  didn't  want  to  change. 

"There  must  be  a  good  deal  of  educational  work 
done  with  the  public  on  this,  but  some  of  it  has  been 
done  in  some  places.  I  might  say  that  I  favor,  so  far 
as  I  understand  it,  what  is  being  done  in  Boston,  namely, 
as  prices  come  down  leave  10  cents  for  the  long  haul  and 
reduce  short  riders  to  5  cents.  That,  of  course,  is  not 
actually  done  universally  in  Boston,  but  the  principle 
to  a  certain  degree  is  applied  there  and  that  appeals 
to  me  as  a  possible  way  to  start  the  plan,  or  at  least 
as  one  way  to  apply  the  principle  I  have  in  mind  of  a 
differentiation  between  the  fare  for  a  long  rider  and  the 
fare  for  a  short  rider." 

"What  else  do  you  have  in  mind  that  the  association . 
will  do  during  the  coming  year,  or  can  do  effectively 
at  this  time?" 

"I  think  the  association,  as  I  find  it  now,  is  doing 
a  fine  work.  It  will  be  very  valuable  to  continue  the 
consideration  of  such  questions  as  were  outlined  by  Mr. 
Frothingham.  There  is  a  growing  realization  of  many 
of  the  points  which  he  brought  out,  but  the  work  is 
by  no  means  ended.  While  some  realize  the  situation, 
others  are  less  serious  in  their  contemplation  of  the 
financial  problems.  It  appears  to  me  that  we  must  work 
toward  a  50  per  cent  stock  ownership  of  our  properties 
as  the  most  healthy  one  for  the  properties  themselves 
and  the  best  for  the  interests  of  the  public.  The  greater 
portion  of  this  that  can  be  owned  in  the  community, 
naturally,  the  better,  thus  giving  the  individual  rider  a 
personal  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  company." 

"By  the  way,  what  do  you  think  about  complete  pub- 
licity on  the  question  of  finances  and  all  financial  state- 
ments?" 

Publicity  and  Public  Relations 

"If  the  public  were  all  financial  experts  I  think  the 
plan  would  be  excellent.  But  on  the  whole,  the  people 
generally  get  financial  statements  all  mixed  up  and, 
from  my  observation,  complete  publicity  of  matters 
which  are  so  technical  in  some  ways  as  to  be  beyond  the 
grasp  of  the  average  intelligence,  or  at  least  beyond  the 
grasp  of  a  cursory  reading  which  the  average  person 
gives  it,  usually  does  more  harm  than  good.  Theo- 
retically, I  am  for  it.  Practically,  until  the  reading 
public  is  in  general  better  educated  to  understand 
financial  statements,  I  doubt  its  wisdom,  except  that 
simple  statements  and  interviews  should  be  given  the 


press  from  time  to  time,  keeping  the  public  generally 
informed  as  to  the  problems  confronting  the  company 
and  its  financial  conditions. 

"But,  as  I  said  earlier,  the  public  on  this  and  other 
railway  matters  has  been  educated  to  so  great  a  degree 
compared  to  the  situation  a  few  years  ago  that  one 
grows'conservatively  optimistic  as  he  studies  the  future. 
So  many  of  our  general  problems  are  so  intimately 
connected  with  public  relations,  and  these,  on  the  whole, 
have  improved  so  much  recently  that  the  future,  while 
not  looking  'rosy,'  at  least  appears  to  promise  really 
substantial  economic  success. 

"We  speak  of  the  railways  as  'coming  back' — they 
are  back  if  they  ever  really  went  away.  There  have 
been  troublesome  times.  It  has  been  difficult  at  times 
to  overcome  the  inertia  to  get  public  approval  for 
necessary  fare  increases.  But,  as  evidenced  by  the  uni- 
versal expression  of  public  utility  commissioners,  there 
is  now  a  real  desire  on  the  part  of  the  public  to  give 
the  railways  an  opportunity  to  rehabilitate  themselves 
in  order  to  give  better  service  to  the  public.  The 
commissioners  have  given  voice  to  their  realization  of 
the  necessity  of  continuing  at  least  present  fare  levels 
for  a  period  sufficient  to  allow  the  railways  to  build 
up  their  resources  so  that  they  may  restore  operation 
to  its  previous  efficiency,  or  rather  improve  it  to  meet 
the  1922  model. 

"I  would  be  rash  to  predict  a  rate  of  growth  or  a 
rate  of  increase  of  traffic  comparable  to  that  of  fifteen 
years  ago.  Our  problems  now  are  principally  operating 
and  conservative  expansion  of  rail  service.  But  we  all 
recognize  the  necessity  of  maintaining  our  operating 
equipment,  such  as  cars,  overhead,  track,  car  supplies, 
etc.,  so  that  our  product,  transportation,  is  of  the 
highest  quality  and  most  salable,  and  so  that  our  profits 
may  be  realizable  and  not  imaginary. 

"As  stated  in  the  beginning,  I  am  convinced  that  the 
clouds  which  have  lowered  upon  our  industry  are 
gradually  being  dispelled  and  that  there  is  a  better 
appreciation  on  the  part  of  the  public  of  the  indis- 
pensable factor  which  electric  railway  service  is  in  their 
daily  lives  and  activities." 

Six  Years  of  Trackless  Trolleys 

IN  A  RECENT  issue  of  Elektrische  Kraftbetriebe  und 
Bahnen,  Max  Schiemann,  one  of  the  pioneers  in  track- 
less trolleys,  gives  some  facts  about  a  line  started  near 
Hamburg  in  1911  and  operated  successfully  until  1917. 
It  then  had  to  be  abandoned  on  account  of  the  conditions 
brought  about  by  the  war.  The  run  was  about  1*  miles 
and  the  cars  weighed  about  7,000  lb.  including  a  live 
load  of  twelve  seated  and  ten  standing  passengers.  The 
wheels  had  solid  rubber  tires  and  were  driven  by  one 
15-hp.  motor  with  worm  drive.  The  trolley  was  pivoted 
on  the  roof  of  the  car  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  a 
range  through  360  degrees,  permitting  the  car  to  deviate 
as  much  as  10  ft.  from  its  route.  On  week  days  a  half 
hour  schedule  with  one  car  was  maintained,  on  Sundays 
two  cars  ran  every  15  minutes.  Each  car  traveled  on 
the  average  75  miles  daily.  A  pay-as-you-enter  fare 
system  was  in  use. 

The  author  admits  that  a  trackless  car  requires  on  the 
level  from  two  to  three  times  more  power  per  ton,  de- 
pending on  the  kind  of  surface  operated  over,  but  claims 
that  this  is  compensated  for  by  the  two  to  three  times 
smaller  weight.  He  also  says  that  at  normal  conditions 
the  first  cost  of  an  electric  railway  is  about  three  times 
that  of  a  trackless  system. 


1024 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Trolley  Buses  Recommended  for 
Seattle  Municipal  Lines 

Railway  Superintendent,  After  Country-Wide  Investigation, 
Advocates  Trolley  Buses  in  Place  of  Motor  Buses 
for  Complementary  Feeder  Service 

DECLARING  that  trolley  buses  would  be  efficient, 
satisfactory  and  economical  in  outlying  districts, 
D.  W.  Henderson,  superintendent  of  the  Seattle  (Wash.) 
Municipal  Railway,  recommends  that  the  city  purchase 
and  try  out  a  number  of  these  vehicles.  He  proposes 
to  operate  them  as  feeders  to  existing  rail  lines,  so  as 
to  provide  service  in  such  districts  as  Beacon  Hill, 
Cowen  Park,  Thirty-fifth  Avenue  S.W.,  Tenth  Avenue 
N.E.,  and  Fifth  Avenue  N.E.  and  Woodland  Park  Ave- 
nue north  of  the  Green  Lake  line.  The  trolley  bus  on 
these  routes,  he  claims,  would  be  more  efficient,  more 
satisfactory  to  the  public  and  to  the  railway  division 
than  the  present  gasoline  buses  now  being  used.  A 
much  less  investment  would  be  required  than  if  rails 
were  laid  and  street  cars  bought  to  take  care  of  these 
outlying  districts. 

These  were  the  outstanding  features  of  the  report 
to  Mayor  Hugh  M.  Caldwell  of  Seattle  made  by  Mr. 
Henderson,  who  made  an  extended  trip  to  Eastern 
cities  to  study  first  hand  permanent  as  well  as  experi- 


TABLE  I— ESTIMATED  ANNUAL  EARNINGS  AND  EXPENSES 
GRACE  STREET  "TROLLIBUS"  ROUTE— RICHMOND,  VA. 

(Cash  Fare — No  transfer) 

Unit  7-Cents  6-Cents  5-Cents 

Length  ofline                          Miles  3.36  3.36  3.36 

Bus-milea  operated   444,312  444,312  444,312 

Estimated  passenger  traffic*   2,221,560  2,221,560  2,221,560 

Gross  revenue   $155,509  $133,294  $111,078 

Operating  expenses   15  cents  per 

>*|                                         bus-mile  $66,647  $66,647  $66,647 

Depreciation  reserve   2  cents  per 

bus-mile  8,886  8,886  8,886 

Total  oost  of  operation                                 $75,533        $75,533  $75,533 

Net  earnings                                                $79,976       $57,761  $35,545 

Estimated  investment 
Overhead  line  construction  and 

twelve  trolley  buses                                $130,000      $130,000  $130,000 

*  Based  on  Birney  car  operation  of  five  passengers  per  car-mile. 

mental  installations  of  trolley  buses.  He  also  pointed 
out  that  the  cost  of  operating  this  type  of  vehicle  in 
Richmond  and  Norfolk  was  much  lower  than  that  of 
either  the  motor  bus  or  the  trolley  car  in  Seattle  and 
that  it  was  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  railway  men  in 
Eastern  cities  that  the  trolley  bus  has  its  place  in  the 
street  car  transportation  field  as  a  feeder. 

For  the  most  part  the  report  consists  of  a  detailed 
description  of  the  experimental  trolley  buses  at  Detroit 
built  by  the  Trackless  Transportation  Corporation  and 
the  Packard  Motor  Car  Company  and  also  the  one  at 
Philadelphia,  built  by  The  J.  G.  Brill  Company.  Mention 


TABLE  II— OPERATING  STATISTICS  OF  "TROLLIBUS"  IN 


RICHMOND,  VA. 
Period  July  12  to  July  31,  Inclusive, 


Unit 

Length  of  route   Miles 

Headway   Minutes 

Seating  capacity   Passengers 

Standing  capacity   Passengers 

Bus-hours  operated   Bus-hours 

Bus-miles  operated   Bus-miles 

Schedule  speed   M.p.h. 

Passengers  carried   Total 

Power  consumption*   Kw.-hr. 

Operating  Costs 

Maintenance  overhead  lines  

Maintenance  buildings  

Maintenance  of  Equipment 

Bus  equipment  and  shop  ex- 
penses   

Tire  renewals  

Cleaning,  inspection,  etc  

Cost  of  power  at  6 .  5  cents  per 

kw.-hr  

Wages  of  operators  52  J  cents  per  hour 

General   and  Miscellaneous 
Expenses 

General  expenses  

Damages  and  legal  expenses  


Actual 
0.69 
.10 
30 
15 
284 
2,363 
8.32 
44,394 
2,448 


$33.56 

'23.39 

$15.91 
148.39 


1921 

Per  Bus- 
Mile 


14.5 
1.04 

(Cents) 
(a)  0.80 
(a)  0.06 


Per  Bus- 
Hour 


8.32 
156 


(b) 
(a) 
(6) 

(b) 

m 


(a) 
(a) 


1.42 
1 .00 

0.99 

0.67 
6.28 


1.06 
0.92 


Total   13.20 

*  Equipment  one  25-hp.  G.  E.  258  motor.   No  heaters;  two  5-light  circuits, 
(a)  [Estimated,  no  charges  to  date,    (fr  All  costs  to  date  charged. 

is  also  made  of  the  installations  on  Staten  Island,  New 
York,  as  well  as  the  experimental  lines  in  Richmond 
and  Norfolk.  Descriptions  as  to  the  equipment  and 
operation  of  all  these  installations  as  outlined  in  the 
report  have  appeared  more  completely  from  time  to 
time  in  the  columns  of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal. 

In  commenting  on  the  method  followed  in  mounting 
the  equipment  on  the  two  vehicles  in  Detroit,  Mr.  Hen- 
derson contended  that  the  location  of  the  motors  would 
not  prove  satisfactory  for  the  reason  that  the  water 
would  run  from  the  hood  into  the  motors.  Also  the 
motors  were  not  properly  protected  underneath  from 
the  water  of  the  street.  Comment  was  made  of  the 
type  of  current  collector  used  in  each  installation  and 
Mr.  Henderson  seemed  to  realize  that  here  lies  the 
success  or  failure  of  the  trolley  bus.  The  rolling  con- 
tacts as  used  on  the  Imperial  and  Packard  vehicles 
would  be  rather  hard  to  keep  on  the  wires,  he  said, 
when  passing  under  overhead  special  work.  The  slid- 
ing contacts  used  by  the  Atlas  buses  on  Staten  Island 
were  also  unsatisfactory.  The  swivel  sliding-shoe  col- 
lector on  the  Brill  rail-less  car  was,  in  his  judgment, 
the  most  practical  at  this  time. 

The  report  contains  operating  statistics — Tables  I 
and  II — of  the  experimental  trolley  bus  operation  in 
Richmond  as  furnished  by  C.  B.  Buchanan,  formerly  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the  operating  com- 
pany, as  well  as  estimated  revenues  for  a  specific  route 
under  three  different  rates  of  fare.  Interesting  esti- 
mates as  to  the  cost  of  building  overhead  trolley  lines 
per  mile  of  route  using  either  span  or  bracket  construc- 


TABLE  III— ESTIMATED  COST  PER  MILE  OF  ROUTE  FOR  OVERHEAD  TROLLEY  CONSTRUCTION  FOR 

"TROLLIBUS"  OPERATION  AS  OF  JULY,  1921 

■  Span  Construction — 30-Ft.  Poles  •    .  Bracket  Construction — 35-Ft.   Poles  . 

~-  Iron  Poles  Concrete  Poles  — WoodPoles^  —Iron  Poles  — <  ^-Concrete  Poles^ —Wood  Poles^ 

Unit                                     Double    Single  Double    Single    Double  Single  Double    Single    Double    Single  Double  Single 

Route     Route  Route     Route     Route     Route  Route     Route  Route    Route  Route  Route 

Poles  per  city  block                                                           6           6  6           6           6           6  3           3  3           3  3  3 

Spang  or  brackets  per  mile                                                 50          50  50          50          50          50  50          50  50          50  50  50 

Cost  of  Materials 

Poles                                                                       $4,000    $4,000  $3,000     $3,000     $1,000    $1,000  $2,250    $2,250  $2,250    $2,000  $1,100  $850 

Galvanized  span  wire — A-in.  diameter                               100         100  100         100         100         100  100         100  100         100  50  50 

Line  materials                                                              400        200  400  .      200        400        200  400        200  400        200  400  200 

Paving  blocks                                                             2,000      2,000  2,000      2,000        500        500  1,000      1,000  1,000      1,000  250  250 

Labor                                                                        1,600      1,400  1,800      1,600      1,200      1,000  1,100        900  1,200      1,000  900  800 

Miscellaneous  expense                                                   1,000      1,000  1,000      1,000        800        800  850        850  850        850  750  750 


$9,100  $8,700  $8,300  $7,900  $4,000  $3,600  $5,950  $5,300  $5,800  $5,150  $3,450  $2,900 

Phono-electrio  00  trolley  wire  at  23  cents  per  lb                   2,000  1,000  2,000  1,000  2,000  1,000  2,000  1,000  2,000  1,000  2,000  1,000 

Ordinary  00  trolley  wire  at  1 5  cents  per  lb                          1,300  650  1,300  650  1,300  650  1,300  650  1,300  650  1,300  650 

Total  cost  with  Phono  trolley  $11,100  $9,700  $10,300  $8,900  $6,000  $4,600  $7,950  $6,300  $7,800  $6,150  $5,450  $3,900 

Total  cost  with  copper  trolley                                       10,400  9,350  9,600  8,550  5,300  4,250  7,250  5,950  7,100  5,800  4,750  3,550 


December  10,  1921 


tion  on  iron,  concrete  or  wood  poles  is  given  in  Table  III. 
The  cost  of  operating  trolley  cars  and  motor  buses 
in  Seattle  is  considerably  in  excess  of  the  figures  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Buchanan.  These  costs  are  28.56  cents 
per  car-mile  for  the  trolley  cars  and  19.93  cents  for 
motor  buses  as  against  trolley  bus  costs  of  16.37  cents 
in  Norfolk,  Va.,  and  13.20  cents  in  Richmond,  Va.,  per 
bus-mile.  From  these  figures  it  is  readily  seen  that 
the  expense  of  operating  the  trolley  bus  is  much  lower 
than  that  of  the  motor  bus  or  the  trolley  car. 

The  consensus  of  opinion,  Mr.  Henderson  says,  of  all 
the  railway  managers  with  whom  he  talked  at  Atlantic 
City  at  the  recent  convention  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association  was  that  the  trolley  bus  had  its 
place  in  the  street  car  field  as  a  feeder.  On  account  of 
the  much  smaller  investment  for  installation  than  that 
of  the  street  car,  and  but  very  little  more  than  that  of 
the  gasoline  motor  bus,  the  trolley  bus  as  a  feeder  will 
be  the  coming  means  of  transportation  in  outlying  dis- 
tricts. When  traffic  becomes  greater  than  can  be  han- 
dled by  the  trolley  bus  the  poles  and  wires  can  be  incor- 
porated as  a  part  of  the  rail  system  that  would  have  to 
be  installed. 

Following  are  the  conclusions  which  Mr.  Henderson 
presented  before  the  City  Council  and  Mayor  of  Seattle : 

"My  recommendation  would  be  that  if  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  can  see  their  way  clear  without  any  legal 
entanglements  to  secure  some  of  these  buses  and  give 
them  a  try  out,  I  am  satisfied  that  they  would  prove 
satisfactory.  And,  if  there  are  any  legal  entanglements 
whereby  the  city  could  not  purchase  these  buses  at  the 
present  time,  I  would  recommend  that  the  matter  be 
put  to  the  vote  of  the  people  at  the  next  general  elec- 
tion to  decide  whether  or  not  they  would  give  the  city 
government  the  authority  to  go  ahead  and  purchase 
buses  as  part  of  the  street  railway  system;  that  is,  for 
the  railway  to  have  the  right  to  operate  cars  or  buses." 


A  "Trackless  -Trollicar"  Is  the  Latest 

St.  Louis  Car  Company  Has  Utilized  Its  Car  Building 
Experience  in  the  Design  and  Construction  of 
the  Most  Recent  Rail-less  Vehicle 

THE  fifth  trolley  bus  to  make  its  appearance  is  now 
being  tested  in  Detroit,  Mich.  It  is  a  twenty-nine- 
passenger  vehicle  weighing  approximately  10,500  lb., 
designed  and  manufactured  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Com- 
pany.   The  car  body,  which  is  permanently  attached  to 


1025 


Longitudinal,  Seats  Are  Placed  Over  Wheelhouses 


the  chassis,  has  been  standardized,  while  the  chassis 
itself,  as  far  as  motive  power  is  concerned,  is  con- 
vertible so  that  the  bus  may  be  used  as  a  trackless 
trolley  or  adapted  to  be  driven  by  a  gasolene  motor.  By 
adopting  underslung  spring  suspension  on  both  front 
and  rear  axles  it  has  been  possible  to  overcome  the  fault 
common  to  so  many  rail-less  vehicles  of  having  too 
high  a  floor  level.  The  distance  above  the  roadway  of 
the  car  floor  of  this  machine  has  been  kept  to  30  in. 

The  step  has  been  placed  at  a  height  of  17  in.  above 
the  street,  but  ordinarily  the  distance  will  be  but  a  few 
inches,  since  most  passengers  will  enter  from  the  side- 
walk level.  No  drop  platforms  were  necessary  with  this 
low  body  level.  The  entrance  and  exit  at  the  front  are 
controlled  by  means  of  the  manually  operated  folding 
door  located  in  the  customary  position  at  the  front  right- 
hand  corner.  The  door  operates  in  the  stationary  step 
well  and  folds  inward  toward  the  front  when  open. 
When  shut  it  entirely  incloses  the  step.  An  emergency 
hinged  door  swinging  toward  the  front  will  be  located 
either  at  the  center  of  the  rear  end  of  the  car  or  at 
the  rear  right-hand  corner,  according  to  the  desires  of 
the  purchaser.  The  body  is  electrically  illuminated  and 
heated.  The  upper  part  of  the  sash  is  stationary,  while 
the  lower  part  can  be  raised  to  the  level  of  the  vision 
line,  a  distance  of  about  50  in.  above  the  floor  level. 

The  motive  power  consists  of  two  25-hp.,  600-volt 
motors  of  either  Westinghouse  or  General  Electric  make. 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Two  Views  of  the  Underslung,  Long  Wheblbase  St.  Louis  "Trollicar."    Insert  Shows  the  Pair 

op  Swiveled  Trolley  Wheels 


1026 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


The  motor  units,  connected  in  tandem,  are  mounted 
underneath  the  chassis  approximately  half  way  between 
the  front  and  rear  axles.  A  full  universal  joint  con- 
nects the  two  motors  as  well  as  the  rear  motor  with 
the  drive  shaft.  A  worm  gear  is  used  to  transmit  the 
torque  to  the  rear  axle.  The  control  equipment, 
rheostats,  switches,  etc.,  are  mounted  underneath  the 
hood  as  was  done  with  the  Packard  trolley  bus,  which 
was  adapted  from  a  gasoline  truck.  The  control  equip- 
ment consists  of  a  pedal-operated  master  controller 
connected  to  a  motor-control  sequence  switch,  which 
automatically  operates  the  magnetic  line  breaker  and 
rheostat  switches.  The  master  controller  is  arranged 
to  provide  two  running  speeds  through  action  of  the 
pedal,  making  it  unnecessary  for  the  operator  to  notch 
up  the  controller. 

Current  collection  is  accomplished  with  two  standard 
trolley  poles  and  two  trolley  wheels  held  in  specially 


GENERAL  DIMENSIONS  OF  ST.  LOUIS 
"TRACKLESS  TROLLICAR" 


Length  over  all   26  ft. 

Wheelbase    16  ft.  2  in. 

Length  of  body   21  ft.  6  in. 

Width  over  all   7  ft.  6  in. 

Width  inside    6  ft.  Ill  in. 

Tread  of  rear  wheels   5  ft.  4  in. 

Tread  of  front  wheels   5  ft.  10  in. 

Height  of  floor  at  entrance   2  ft.  6  in. 

Height  of  first  step   1ft.  5  in. 

Height  of  step  to  floor   1ft.  1  in. 

Height  from  floor  to  ceiling  at  center   6  ft.  41  in. 

Height  from  roadway  to  top  of  roof   9  ft.  3  in. 

Post  spacing    2  ft.  4J  in. 

Seat  spacing    2  ft.  4J  in. 

Width  of  aisle   1ft.  6  in. 


devised  harps.  Each  pole  is  mounted  separately  on 
regulation  trolley  bases.  In  place  of  two  poles  a  single 
pole  with  a  sliding  shoe  mounted  on  a  specially  designed 
harp  with  the  pole  supported  on  a  single  regulation 
trolley  base  can  be  furnished. 

The  electric  equipment  of  the  St.  Louis  trackless  trol- 
ley car  includes  the  following :  Two  motors,  one  master 
controller,  one  sequence  switch,  one  magnetic  switch 
group,  one  rheostat,  one  complete  current  electric  unit, 
one  main  fuse,  one  reverser  and  one  double-pole  mag- 
netic line  switch,  with  overhead  relay,  cable  and  neces- 
sary details. 

The  general  dimensions  of  the  trackless  trolley  car 
are  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  table. 

Equipment  Details 

Motors:  Two  25-hp.  Westinghouse  or  General  Electric. 
Control:    Pedal  series-parallel  type  with  auto-magnetic 
switches. 

Steering  Gear:  Ross  screw  and  nut  type  with  22-in.  wheel. 
Wheels:  Artillery. 

Tires:  Firestone  cushion — Front,  34x6  single.  Rear, 
34  x  5  dual. 

Brakes:  Service  brakes  on  both  front  and  rear  wheels. 
Emergency  brakes  on  rear  wheels  only. 

Axles:  Front,  drop  forge  "I"  section  with  ball-bearing 
steering  knuckle  spindles.  Rear,  worm-drive  mounted  on 
ball  bearings.    Gear  ratio  6i  to  1. 

Springs:  Compensated  semi-elliptic.  Front  3  in.  x  42  in.; 
rear  3  in.  x  56  in. 

Propeller  Shaft:  Spicer  double  universal  between  motors 
and  on  drive  shaft. 

Headlights :  Two  standard  incandescent  lights  mounted 
on  frame. 

Windshield :  Smith  "Rain  Vision"  or  other  approved  make. 
Bumper:  Biflex  type. 

Passenger  Signal:  Type  "B"  push  buttons  mounted  on 
molding  over  center  of  each  window  space,  wired  in  connec- 
tion with  Faraday  high-voltage  car  signal  buzzer  installed 
at  front  of  car. 

Curtains:  At  each  dide  window,  of  double-faced  O'Bannon 
hair  cloth,  mounted  on  all  metal  rollers  and  equipped  with 
automatic  bottom  holding  fixtures. 


Draw  Hooks :  Provided  front  and  rear  for  towing. 

Main  Lighting  Circuit:  Two  circuits  of  five  lights  each 
within  the  trolley  car  body  and  one  additional  circuit  con- 
sisting of  two  headlights,  one  steplight,  one  dashlight  and 
one  tail-light. 

Emergency  Lighting  Circuit :  Consisting  of  two  sidelights, 
two  lights  within  the  trolley  car  body,  one  tail-light  con- 
nected with  accumulator  in  series,  with  main  lighting  circuit 
and  arranged  so  that  these  auxiliary  lights  automatically 
cut  in  in  case  of  failure  of  trolley  circuit. 

Fare  Box:  Support  for  fare  box  furnished  and  installed 
at  front  entrance ;  box  to  be  supplied  by  purchaser. 

Gong:  One  10-in.  alarm  gong  electrically  operated  from 
power  circuit  by  means  of  "Handy  Ring"  mounted  under 
steering  wheel. 

Heaters:  Eight  electric  heaters  arranged  in  two  circuits 
to  be  provided  with  necessary  cut-outs  and  fuses. 

Seats:  Eight  stationary  cross  seats,  two  longitudinal 
seats  over  wheel  house,  one  rear  longitudinal  seat  full  width 
of  body.  Seat  cushions  ventilated  spring  type.  Backs  padded 
type.   All  upholstered  and  covered  with  imitation  leather. 

Signs:  One  illuminated  destination  sign  mounted  at  center 
over  windshield. 

Tail  and  Marker  Lights:  One  combination  line  and  bat- 
tery tail  lamp  mounted  on  chassis  frame  at  rear.  Two  clear 
marker  lights  mounted  in  front  dash. 

Ventilators :  Four  Peerless  ventilators  installed  on  roof. 

Inside  Finish:  Doors,  sash,  moldings,  etc.,  of  soft  yellow 
poplar  of  mahogany  finish. 


Trackless  Trolleys  for  the  Italian  Army 

ACCORDING  to  a  recent  article  in  Elektrische  Kraft- 
l  \  betriebe  and  Bahnen  the  scarcity  of  coal  in  Italy 
during  the  war  compelled  the  military  authorities  there 
to  do  everything  they  could  to  relieve  the  railroads  of 
unnecessary  transportation  of  freight  and  men,  and  to 
utilize  more  than  ever  the  country's  abundant  water 
powers.  First,  an  attempt  was  made  to  use  electric 
storage  battery  trucks,  but  the  great  weight  of  the 
batteries  made  their  efficient  operation  under  the  condi- 
tions impossible. 

Better  results  were  achieved  with  trackless  trolley 
lines,  of  which  seven,  aggregating  135  miles  in  length, 
were  installed,  for  the  most  part  in  mountainous  dis- 
tricts. Particulars  of  a  typical  line,  that  between  Pri- 
molano  and  Enego,  follow: 

The  line  was  7i  miles  in  length.  The  average  grade 
was  6  per  cent,  and  the  maximum  was  11  per  cent. 
There  were  many  sharp  turns  on  the  line  and  radii  as 
short  as  16£  ft.  The  two  trolley  wires  were  suspended 
18  ft.  above  the  road  on  wooden  poles,  set  in  concrete. 
The  overhead  line  was  divided  into  sections  about  li 
miles  long,  each  with  a  horn-gap  lightning  arrester. 
Two  substations  of  60  and  90  kw.  fed  from  a  30,000-volt 
trunk  line  supplied  500  volts  direct-current  to  the  over- 
head system.  The  power  supply  was  sufficient  to 
operate  five  cars  up  hill  and  five  cars  down  hill  at  a 
time.  Each  car  was  driven  by  a  10  to  15-hp.  motor. 
On  the  termination  of  hostilities  all  of  these  lines  were 
abandoned. 


Test  of  Sprague  Train  Control  System 

ARRANGEMENTS  have  been  made  between  the  New 
./~\.York  Central  Railroad  and  the  Sprague  Safety 
Control  &  Signal  Corporation  for  an  extended  test  of 
the  auxiliary  train  control  of  that  company  to  be  con- 
ducted on  one  of  the  tracks  on  the  electric  division  of 
the  New  York  Central  Railroad  between  Ossining  and 
Tarrytown.  The  control  system  is  of  the  magnetic 
type  and  has  been  developed  by  Frank  J.  Sprague.  It 
is  expected  that  the  test  will  be  begun  within  the  next 
month  or  six  weeks.  The  system  is  adapted  to  both 
steam  and  electric  locomotives. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1027 


Trackless  Trolleys  at  Work  Abroad* 

In  This  Article  the  Results  on  the  Two  Most  Recent  Installations,  Tees-side  and  York,  Are  Presented, 
Together  with  Some  General  Data  and  Notes  on  the  Over-Running 
Trackless  Trolley  of  the  Vienna  Municipal  Tramways 

By  Walter  Jackson 

Consultant,  Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

THE  trackless  trolley  system  known  as  the  Tees- 
side  Rail-less  Traction  Board  is  of  outstanding 
interest  because  it  is  the  only  all  rail-less  installa- 
tion and  second  because  it  is  new  throughout,  as  service 
was  only  established  on  Nov.  8,  1919. 

At  the  time  decision  had  to  be  made  with  regard  to 
the  method  of  propulsion  the  rail  was  held  to  be  hope- 
less for  the  density  of  traffic  to  be  served.  This  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  cost  per  single  track-mile  for  paved 
track  had  risen  to  £12,500  to  £15,000  exclusive  of  loops 
or  sidings.  The  gasoline  bus  was  also  suffering  from 
rapidly  rising  prices  for  fuel,  namely,  50  cents  per 
gallon  and  more.  On  the  other  hand,  electricity  was 
available  at  the  low  cost  of  1.5  cents  (0.75d.)  per  kilo- 
watt-hour for  ten  years  with  an  option  of  another  five 
years.  This  meant  a  saving  of  8  to  9  cents  per  mile  on 
the  fuel  bill,  and  this  difference  alone  offered  an  over- 
whelming reason  for  choosing  electric  operation. 

The  general  traffic  situation  also  tended  to  favor 
trolley  bus  operation,  inasmuch  as  there  was  available 
but  one  important  highway,  35  ft.  wide,  to  connect  the 
towns  of  this  iron-working  district.  The  question  there- 
fore of  a  possible  shift  of  traffic  in  the  future  did  not 
enter.  The  45,000  population  served  is  concentrated  for 
the  most  part  in  a  number  of  small  industrial  towns, 
viz.,  North  Ormesby,  Middlesbrough,  Cargo  Fleet, 
South  Bank,  Grangetown,  Normanby,  etc.  But  few  of 
the  population  live  in  the  open  country  intervening. 
Thus,  while  there  are  seventeen  request  stops  in  the  3.5 
miles  between  North  Ormesby  and  Grangetown,  the 
actual  stops  average  but  two  per  mile.  The  usual  free 
running  speed  is  13.5  m.p.h.,  and  the  schedule  speed, 
with  twenty-eight-seat  buses  averaging  9.9  passengers 
boarded  per  bus-mile,  is  7  m.p.h. 

Power  and  Line 

The  Tees-side  rail-less  line  is  5.1  miles  in  length, 
all  four-wire  construction  using  No.  000  SWG  (British) 
hard-drawn  copper  trolley  wires.  Triple  insulation  is 
used  between  the  positive  and  negative  wires.  Double 
insulation  is  maintained  between  the  positive  and  nega- 
tive wires.  Double  insulation  is  maintained  between 
the  positive  wire  and  the  poles  and  but  single  insulation 
between  the  negative  wire  and  the  poles.  The  negative 
wires  are  on  the  outside  to  save  insulation.  Suspension 
is  from  concrete-set  tubular  steel  poles  and  bracket 
arms.  The  poles  vary  in  weight  according  to  the  strains 
imposed,  light  on  tangents,  medium  on  easy  curves, 
heavy  on  sharp  curves  and  terminal  loops.  Section 
insulators  are  installed  every  half  mile.  At  these  insu- 
lators the  positive  wires  are  connected  to  pole  switch 
boxes  by  means  of  an  insulated  cable  carried  inside  the 
pole,  thus  permitting  half-mile  sections  of  the  positive 
wire  to  be  cut  out  if  desired.  Tangent  trolley  ears  are 
18  in.  and  curve  ears  are  24  in.  long.  Overhead  guard 
wires  are  installed  throughout  and  are  connected  to  the 


•This  is  the  second  of  two  articles  summarizing  some  of  the 
author's  observations  in  Europe  during  the  past  spring  and  summer. 


New  Double-Trolley  Trackless  Bus  at  Tees-side 

negative  wires  according  to  the  usual  Board  of  Trade 
specifications.  Indeed,  all  overhead  construction  con- 
forms to  these  national  regulations,  aside  from  the 
extra  insulation  demanded  by  the  use  of  the  double 
trolley. 

Drawings  on  page  1029  show  the  two  forms  of  ter- 
minal loops — the  symmetrical  one  at  Normanby,  where 
there  is  ample  turning  space,  and  the  asymmetrical  one 
at  Grangetown,  where  the  buses  turn  in  a  cross-roads 
intersection.  The  one  junction  on  the  system  (at  South 
Bank)  is  also  shown. 

Tests  conducted  on  the  best  setting  of  trolley  base 
positions,  under  the  direction  of  J.  B.  Parker,  general 
manager  Tees-side  system,  and  N.  Clough,  director  of 
Clough,  Smith  &  Company,  London,  who  built  the  over- 
head line,  show  that  the  base  should  be  placed  over  the 
center  of  the  wheelbase.  This  location  showed 
superiority  in  keeping  the  poles  on  the  wire  as  compared 
to  setting  the  base  further  forward.  This  base  location 
will  be  standard  on  all  future  buses,  including  the 
thirty-six-seat  bus  now  being  built. 

Power  at  550  volts  direct  current  is  supplied  from  the 
plant  of  the  Cleveland  Iron  &  Steel  Works,  which  is 
about  0.25  mile  from  South  Bank  on  the  way  to  Grange- 
town.  To  maintain  favorable  voltage  conditions,  the 
trolley  wires  are  supplemented  by  bare  copper  feeder 
cables  of  0.2  sq.in.  cross  section  for  part  of  the  run. 
As  noted,  the  cost  of  power  is  but  1.5  cents  (3d.)  per 
kilowatt-hour.  The  total  power  requirements  per  bus- 
mile  operated,  including  office  and  carhouse  lighting, 
but  no  bus  heating,  runs  from  but  1.39  to  1.41  kilowatt- 
hour.  The  maximum  grade,  which  is  macadam  paved, 
is  5  per  cent,  but  this  is  only  a  few  hundred  feet  long.  A 
variety  of  paving  exists  such  as  stone  setts  or  block 
between  South  Bank  and  North  Ormesby,  wood  block  in 


1028 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Middlesbrough,  brick  at  Cargo  Fleet  and  tar  macadam 
in  poor  condition  elsewhere.  The  block  paving  is  rather 
hard  on  solid  tire  usage,  while  if  smooth  paving  were 
used  throughout  the  energy  consumption,  including  car- 
house  and  office  lighting,  would  drop  to  1  kw.-hr.  per 
bus-mile  for  the  present  buses. 

Tees-side  Experience  Favors  One-Motor  Drive 

The  first  equipment  comprised  ten  twenty-eight-seat 
single-deck  buses,  each  with  two  23-hp.  motors  with 
series-parallel  control  and  with  a  reverser  which  could 
be  used  for  braking  assistance  rather  than  for  emer- 
gencies. In  this  equipment  both  the  controller  and  the 
steering  wheel  are  hand-operated,  which  appeared  a 
rather  awkward  arrangement  for  the  driver.  Each 
motor  drives  one  rear  wheel  through  a  worm  gear 
reduction  and  live  axle.  This  calls  for  short  propeller 
shafts  between  the  motors  and  the  driving  wheels,  and 
as  their  universal  joints  are  in  constant  use  there  is  a 
strong  tendency  for  them  to  work  out  of  line.  The  buses 
weigh  10,080  lb.  empty,  but  a  load  of  forty  passengers 
is  not  uncommon.  The  seating  capacity  of  twenty-eight 
is  based  on  the  official  government  allowance  of  16  in. 
per  passenger.  A  reduction  in  the  seating  capacity  to 
twenty-six  means  a  saving  of  £12  per  year  per  bus  in 
taxes.  The  general  seating  plan  is  cross  seats  for  most 
of  the  space,  with  longitudinal  seats  in  the  corners. 
Much  care  is  taken  with  regard  to  insulation  for  the 
protection  of  passengers.  Three-ply  rubber  hose  pro- 
tects the  trolley  poles  against  short  circuits,  and  wooden 
instead  of  metal  stanchions  are  used  inside  the  bus  body. 

These  buses  have  two  sets  of  brakes.  The  service 
brakes,  which  are  operated  either  by  foot  or  hand,  work 
on  the  rear  wheels,  while  the  emergency  brakes,  which 
are  operated  by  pedal  only,  are  applied  to  the  propeller 
shafts.  Easy  riding  was  sought  by  suspending  the 
bodies  on  long  springs,  supplemented  by  auxiliary 
springs  that  function  when  the  bus  has  a  full  load.  In 
future  buses  still  longer  springs  are  to  be  used  to  better 
the  present  suspension,  aside  from  the  fact  that  the  bus 
is  to  be  longer.  The  rear  springs  will  not  be  fixed  with 
shackles  but  are  to  slide  in  housings.  It  is  also  planned 
to  interpose  1*  in.  rubber  blocks  between  the  chassis  and 
body  to  reduce  vibration  and  thus  minimize  the  chafing 
of  the  body  against  the  chassis. 

The  second  group  of  buses  ordered  consisted  of  six 
twenty-eight-seaters  weighing  9,968  lb.  with  but  one 
GE-258  25-hp.  motor  and  electric  foot  control.  These 
buses  have  the  control  drum  itself  within  the  driver's 
seat  and  the  resistors  on  the  platform.  The  motor  and 
worm  shafts  are  in  a  direct  horizontal  line  with  the 
propeller  shaft.  The  universal  joints  come  into  play 
only  upon  the  deflection  of  the  front  and  back  axle 
springs  instead  of  being  in  constant  operation,  thereby 
reducing  driving  friction.  Apparently  this  was  respon- 
sible for  the  drop  in  average  energy  consumption  from 
1.41  to  1.39  kw.-hr.  after  the  six  single  motored  buses 
were  added.  However,  if  a  schedule  speed  of  10.5  m.p.h. 
over  the  3.12  mile  route,  with  an  average  of  three  stops 
to  the  mile,  is  to  be  maintained,  at  least  a  40-hp. 
capacity  motor  is  required.  The  average  length  of 
stops  is  eleven  seconds  and  a  five-minute  lay-over  at 
the  end  of  the  run  is  embodied  in  the  schedule. 

On  the  first  ten  buses  the  positive  and  negative 
trolley  bases  are  mounted  separately.  On  the  six  later 
buses,  however,  they  are  mounted  on  the  same  vertical 
pin,  thereby  reducing  weight  and  increasing  the  reach 
of  the  poles,  which  are  18  ft.  long.    Heretofore  17-ft. 


poles  had  been  used.  These  lengths  are  for  the  Board 
of  Trade  trolley-wire  height  of  21  ft.  A  spring  tension 
of  30  to  35  lb.  is  used  in  the  trolley  base  to  allow  a  pos- 
sible maximum  speed  of  20  m.p.h.  without  dewirement. 
The  collectors  on  both  types  of  bus  are  41  in.  Parker 
patent,  spring-cushioned,  non-fouling  wheels  which  can 
swivel  all  the  way  round.  Rings  below  the  sockets 
allow  the  trolley  poles  to  be  drawn  down  with  bamboo 
■rods  to  the  level  of  the  trolley  standards.  With  the 
center-base  arrangement  it  is  possible  to  make  a  clean 
reverse  by  jockeying  the  vehicle  around  while  maintain- 
ing contact  successively  with  the  two  sets  of  trolley 
wires  in  succession.  The  poles  did  not  leave  the  wire  until 
the  bus  was  more  than  12  ft.  off  center,  whereas  the 
usual  deviation  for  a  stop  at  the  curb  is  from  8  to  10  ft. 

In  the  latest  type  bus,  designed  by  Mr.  Parker  in  co- 
operation with  Mr.  Clough,  put  into  operation  late  this 
year,  the  seating  capacity  has  been  raised  to  thirty-six. 
The  illustration  shows  this  bus  to  be  of  front-entrance 
and  exit  type  so  that  eventual  one-man  operation  is  pos- 
sible, although  the  traffic  is  unusually  heavy.  This  bus 
has  the  18-ft.  positive  and  negative  trolley  poles 
mounted  on  a  single  base  and  revolving  from  one  center.. 
This  base  is  mounted  centrally  over  the  wheelbase.  This 
amidship  position  reduces  to  a  minimum  the  move- 
ment transmitted  to  the  base  in  the  steering  of  the 
vehicle.  The  two  standards  are  fitted  with  ball  bearings 
that  allow  equal  freedom  of  the  trolley  poles  in  both 
directions. 

The  bus  body  has  twelve  cross-seats  for  twenty-four 
passengers,  with  a  rear-end  seat  for  five  passengers  and 
with  two  front  longitudinal  seats,  the  one  opposite  the 
entrance  seating  five  and  the  one  alongside  the  entrance 
seating  two.  Besides  the  sliding  door  at  the  front,  there 
is  an  emergency  door  in  the  rear.  The  body  is  25  ft. 
4  in.  over  all  with  180  in.  wheelbase  and  8  ft.  overhang. 
Except  that  the  wheelbase  is  lengthened  6  in.  and  the 
position  of  the  starting  rod  changed  to  allow  a  wide 
front  door,  the  chassis  is  practically  the  same  as  the 
standard  Starter  Squire  gas-driven  unit.  This  avoid- 
ance of  a  special  chassis  is  expected  to  play  a  large  part 
in  reducing  the  maintenance  cost  of  buses  of  this  de- 
sign. The  unusually  long  springs  used,  combined  with 
substantial  body  construction,  are  reported  by  Mr. 
Parker  as  meeting  all  his  expectations  as  to  absence  of 
rattle  and  vibration.  He  writes  that  the  new  bus  rides 
like  a  motor  car  and  that  it  has  caused  quite  a  sensa- 
tion among  the  Tees-side  patrons. 

The  tires  are  known  as  the  Dunlop  "super-resilient" 
type,  being  a  compromise  between  the  pneumatic  and 
ordinary  solid  kinds.  Their  estimated  cost  of  upkeep 
varies  from  Id.  (14  cents)  to  Id.  (2  cents)  per  mile 
compared  with  3d.  (6  cents)  for  a  pneumatic  tire  good 
only  for  10,000  miles  and  still  in  the  doubtful  stage  for 
vehicles  of  this  capacity. 

There  is  but  one  35-hp.  motor  of  Brush  type.  The 
drive  has  metal  instead  of  fabric  universals,  experience 
having  proved  that  when  a  fabric  joint  becomes  dis- 
torted through  strain  the  propeller  shaft  begins  to  whip. 
The  controller  is  of  the  foot-operated  type  with  rheo- 
static  braking  for  forward  and  reverse.  This  gives  the 
vehicle  hand,  foot  and  electric  brakes.  The  foot- 
operated  controller  is  not  only  less  awkward  than  hand 
control,  but  also  allows  the  driver  to  have  both  hands 
free  for  steering.  A  watt-hour  meter  and  speedometer 
a  re  installed  as  an  aid  to  economical  and  careful  driving. 
Illumination  is  furnished  by  ten  16-cp.  110-volt  lamps. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1029 


A  60-amp.-hr.  battery  takes  care  of  the  two  head  and 
tail  lights  in  case  the  trolley  supply  is  interrupted. 

The  estimated  weight,  empty,  of  the  new  bus  is  11,200 
lb.  and  with  thirty-two  passengers,  15,688  lb.  Its  energy 
consumption  is  placed  as  1.25  kw.-hr.  per  mile,  inclusive 
of  line  losses,  but  exclusive  of  the  lighting  of  the  bus- 
house  and  offices. 

The  Tees-side  "Property  and  Assets"  account,  ex- 
clusive of  £2,558  stores,  for  the  year  ended  March  31, 
1920,  shows  a  total  of  £71,430  made  up  as  follows: 


Permanent  way  (bridge)   £14,034 

Electrical  equipment  of  line    13,572 

Land    2,752 

Buildings  and  fixtures    6,428 

Workshop  tools  and  sundry  plant    585 

Cars  (trackless  buses)    28,823 

Other  rolling  stock    486 

Miscellaneous  equipment    551 

Office  furniture    99 

Parliamentary  expenses    3,655 

Preliminary  expenses    545 


£71,430 


Although  the  Tees-side  installation  is  but  two  years 
old  appreciable  improvement  has  been  made  not  only  in 
the  method  of  drive  and  current  collection  but  also  in 
body  mounting  to  decrease 
vibration.  Attention  has 
also  been  given  to  improved 
lighting  and  ventilation. 
As  customary  in  Great 
Britain  heating  is  not  a 
factor. 

In  presenting  the  costs 
for  the  first  full  year  ended 
March  31,  1921  (Table  I), 
it  is  but  fair  to  mention 
that  when  Mr.  Parker  came 
to  the  property  July  31, 


especially  as  the  type  used  on  the  present  buses  is  not 
standard  with  a  quantity  output  manufacturer.  Nightly 
examination  and  tightening  of  tie  rods  is  one  pre- 
ventive. The  management  also  hopes  to  anneal  such 
axles  every  year  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  the 
London  General  Omnibus  Company.  One  of  the  prin- 
cipal reasons  for  adopting  a  gasoline  chassis  for  future 
vehicles  is  to  be  able  to  purchase  replacement  parts  on 
a  more  reasonable  basis  than  is  possible  when  every 
detail  is  special. 

With  reference  to  the  upkeep  and  depreciation  of 
future  rail-less  vehicles,  Mr.  Parker  anticipates  that 
general  repairs  and  maintenance  will  work  out  to  about 
2.5d.  to  3d.  (5  to  6  cents)  per  mile.  As  to  depreciation, 
the  income  tax  authorities  have  allowed  a  seven-year 
basis  for  all  the  trackless  trolley  vehicles  as  against 
their  five-year  allowance  for  gasoline  motor  buses.  Mr. 
Parker  rightly  points  out  that  stated  mileage  would  be 
a  better  guide.  He  considers  30,000  miles  per  annum 
or  210,000  miles  in  seven  years  a  fair  performance.  If 
200,000  miles  be  taken  as  the  basis  for  the  life  of 
vehicles  costing  £2,000  each,  the  depreciation  allowance 
per  mile  would  be  2.4d.  (4.8  cents).    If  the  latest  type 

proves  capable  of  400,000 
miles,  the  writing-off  cost 
would  be  reduced  to  1.2d. 
(2.4  cents)  per  mile. 

In  connection  with  the 
table  of  operating  costs,  it 
should  be  explained  also 
that  the  buses  have  both  a 
motorman  and  a  conductor, 
which  fact  brings  the  plat- 
form expense  to  13.26  cents 
(6.63d.)  an  hour.  The 
motorman  receives  33  cents 


H  o  I  d  e  n 


Overhead  Loop  at  Grange+own  Terminus 


Arrangement  of  Overhead  Wires  at  Single  Junction 


Types  of  Overhead  Construction  at  Loops  and  Junctions 


1920,  or  after  nine  months  operation,  he  found  that  no 
provision  had  been  made  for  regular  inspection  and 
maintenance  of  the  vehicles.  Two-thirds  of  the  buses 
were  laid  up  and  no  tools  were  on  hand  with  which  to 
make  repairs.  This  fact  should  be  taken  into  consider- 
ation when  noting  that  repairs  and  maintenance  of 
buses  cost  11.33  cents  (5.66d.)  per  mile. 

So  far  as  the  electrical  equipment  is  concerned,  there 
has  been  no  trouble  of  any  kind  that  could  not  have  been 
prevented  by  ordinary  inspection.  Buses  are  now  in- 
spected every  week  and  as  little  work  as  possible  is  done 
at  night.  Once  a  month  each  bus  is  in  for  three  days, 
following  a  one-day  guidance  overhaul  the  week  before. 
Rear  axles,  broken  through  crystallization,  come  high, 


and  the  conductor  31  cents  an  hour  with  free  uniforms 
and  a  week's  holiday  with  pay.  One-man  operation 
would,  of  course,  make  a  substantial  saving,  cutting  the 
total  operating  expenses  from  36.78  cents  (18.39d.)  to 
say  30  cents. 

As  at  Leeds  and  Bradford,  the  cost  of  maintaining  the 
overhead  line  is  an  insignificant  item,  hardly  more  than 
1  cent  per  mile.  The  entire  staff  for  maintaining  the 
line,  sixteen  buses  and  one  tower  wagon,  comprises  four 
machinists,  four  electricians,  including  the  foreman,  one 
overhead  man,  two  laborers,  four  washers,  one  oiler  and 
one  controller  and  trolley  head  boy — a  total  of  seven- 
teen, or  one  man  per  vehicle,  counting  in  the  tower 
wagon.    Briefly,  the  cost  situation  is  as  follows: 


1030 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  24 


The  principal  future  savings  are,  first,  in  platform 
expense  through  one-man  operation  or  larger  buses; 
second,  through  lower  maintenance  charges  obtainable 
through  technical  improvements  and  the  purchase  of 
replacement  parts  on  a  quantity  production  basis. 


TABLE  I- -OPERATING    DATA   TEES-SIDE    RAIL-LESS  TRACTION 
SYSTEM  ■ —  YEAR  ENDED  MARCH  31,  1921 


Revenue  from  Operation  In  Pence  per  Bus-Mile 

Traffic  revenue   19.64 

Expense  of  cperati  >n: 
Traffic  expenses: 

Wages  of  motormen  and  conductors   6.63 

Cleaning  and  oiling  buses   0.61 

Fuel,  light  and  water  for  depot   0 . 05 

Ticket  check  (including  inspection  and  tickets)   1 . 09 

Uniforms   0.02 

Miscellaneous  !   0.19  8.59 


General  expenses: 

.Salaries  of  general  officers  and  staff   0. 82 

Rents  (*)   0.00 

Rates  and  taxes     0.70 

Printing  and  stationery   0.23 

Fuel,  light  and  water  for  offices   0.01 

Accident  insurance  and  compensation   0. 20 

Fire  and  other  insurance   0.  09 

Miscellaneous   0.27  2.31 


General  repairs  and  maintenance: 

Electrical  equipment  of  line   0.52 

Buildings  and  fixtures   0 . 08 

Workshop  tools  and  sundry  plSnt   0.17 

Trackless  cars,  chassis  and  body   5 .  66      6  .43 


Power  expenses: 

Cost  of  ourrent   1 . 06      1 . 06 

■  Total   18.39 

*  Nominal  rents  of  £1  U.  2d.  only. 


Tees-side  Traffic  Comparatively  Heavy 

The  earnings  and  expenses  shown  in  Table  I  were 
obtained  in  operating  364,798  bus-miles  and  carrying 
3,614,857  passengers,  which  gives  the  high  density  of 
9.9  passengers  boarded  per  bus-mile  with  a  twenty-eight- 
seat  vehicle.  About  one-half  of  these  passengers  were 
carried  at  the  2d.  minimum,  the  remainder  being  divided 
among  Id.  and  3d.  tickets  and  workmen's  reduced  rate 
round-trip  tickets  costing  up  to  4d.  The  earnings  per 
bus-mile  were  19.645d.  or  39.29  cents.  This  left  only 
1.25d.  to  be  carried  to  net  revenue  account,  a  situation 
which  could  have  been  remedied  if  the  Parliamentary 
legislation  relating  to  fare  increases  had  not  overlooked 
the  existence  of  an  all-trackless  system.  The  total 
traffic  revenue  was  £29,860. 

Thus  the  Tees-side  was  obliged  to  continue  the  fare 
of  2d.  initial  rate  and  Id.  per  mile  thereafter,  with  work- 
men's fares  as  low  as  id.  per  mile.  This  handicap  was 
overcome  in  part  by  a  rearrangement  of  stages  whereby 
the  shortest  stage  is  at  the  heaviest  loading  point,  North 
Ormesby.  Although  this  stage  is  only  1,050  ft.  long, 
few  people  undertake  to  walk  to  the  boundary  of  the 
next  zone  as  this  would  deprive  them  of  a  seat  during  the 
heavy  hours.  The  result  is  that  for  the  2  miles  between 
South  Bank  and  North  Ormesby  the  fare  is  now  3d. 
instead  of  2d.  The  average  fare  per  mile  is  0.875d. 
il.75  cents)  and  per  passenger,  1.96d.  (3.9  cents). 

On  the  whole,  the  Tees-side  system  is  meeting  the 
transportation  requirements  as  desired.  Fog  and  sleet 
have  each  been  responsible  for  one  interruption  to  serv- 
ice, but  otherwise  operation  has  proceeded  smoothly. 
In  the  beginning  the  schedule  of  the  buses  was  6.5 
m.p.h.,  but  now  7  to  8  m.p.h.  is  readily  obtainable. 
Improvement  in  the  reliability  of  the  service  is  shown 
by  increases  in  earnings  and  traffic  during  the  more 
recent  months,  accompanied  by  reduction  in  energy  con- 
sumption through  insistence  upon  coasting  to  stops 
wherever  possible.  Taking  every  point  into  considera- 
tion, the  Tees-side  system,  with  either  relief  in  fares 


or  a  reduction  in  working  expenses,  will  be  able  in  the 
future  to  stand  forth  as  a  conspicuous  example  of  all- 
trackless  operation. 

Bus  Operation  at  York 

On  Dec.  22,  1920,  the  York  Corporation  Tramways 
opened  a  1.25-mile  trackless  trolley  route  which  runs  as 
such  all  the  way  from  the  Market  Square  (Parliament 
Street)  to  Heworth  (Stockton  Lane),  a  suburb  with 
some  new  housing  development.  The  management  had 
already  had  some  experience  with  self-propelled  vehicles 
and  had  concluded  that  the  storage-battery  kind  was 
too  slow  and  gasoline  too  costly.  The  deciding  factor  in 
this  instance  in  choosing  rail-less  operation  was,  stated 
J.  W.  Hame,  then  general  manager,  the  great  saving 
possible  in  power  inasmuch  as  the  lighting  department 
was  prepared  to  sell  electricity  at  lid.  (3.5  cents)  per 
kilowatt-hour.  While  this  was  more  than  double  the 
Tees-side  rate  of  2d.  (1.5  cents),  it  still  compared  favor- 
ably with  the  1920  British  price  of  gasoline,  which  varied 
between  80  cents  and  $1  or  more  per  imperial  gallon 
(277i  cu.in.  against  the  American  gallon  of  231  cu.in.). 
Prices  are  decidedly  different  today,  the  August,  1921, 
quotations  being  almost  50  per  cent  of  the  prices  a 
year  earlier. 

Aside  from  the  great  saving  in  power,  based  on  the 
highest  gasoline  figures,  Mr.  Hame  expected  lower 
maintenance  costs  in  the  driving  mechanism;  also  a 
simpler  store-keeping  system,  inasmuch  as  the  control, 
motors  and  trolley  collectors  were  of  the  railway  type. 
There  was  also  but  one  class  of  maintenance  men,  a 
desirable  consummation  on  a  property  with  but  thirty- 
eight  cars  and  14.5  miles  of  single  track.  From  the 
public's  viewpoint  trackless  trolley  buses  were  prefer- 
able because  of  greater  cleanliness  and  quietness  of 
operation. 

York,  although  a  compact  city  of  82,500  popula- 
tion, is  a  good  city  in  which  to  get  lost.  It  is 
one  of  the  few  places  in  England  that  has  clung 
tenaciously  to  the  picturesque  characteristics  of 
the  municipalities  of  the  Middle  Ages,  such  as  forti- 
fication walls  and  narrow  streets  and  lanes.  The 
route  of  the  trackless  trolley  is  typical  of  the  older 
thoroughfares,  being  so  narrow  that  there  are  places 
where  span  suspension  from  building  rosettes  is  used 
instead  of  sidewalk  poles.  The  trolley  wires  are  from 
21  ft.  to  24  ft.  above  the  ground.  The  cost  of  the  over- 
head system  was  placed  at  £3,688  for  11  miles  or 
£2,950  per  mile. 

The  capital  expenditure  included  four  buses  at  an 
estimated  cost  of  £8,000.  Total  investment  for  the 
quarter  ended  March  31,  1921,  shows  £12,541.  This 
sum  includes  expenditures  of  £605  for  street  work  and 
other  changes  necessary  to  permit  trackless  operation; 
£71  for  carhouse  changes,  and  £260  for  alterations  in 
the  position  of  telephone  and  telegraph  circuits.  While 
the  anticipated  cost  of  the  buses  was  £2,000  each,  the 
actual  cost  approximated  £2,400  each,  due  in  part  to 
faults  in  construction,  the  correction  of  which  was 
to  be  charged  against  the  contractor.  These  cost  figures 
indicate  that  prices  of  buses  are  fairly  comparable  on 
both  sides  of  the  water.  It  would  seem,  though,  the 
British  makes  would  cost  a  little  more  if  they  were  built 
as  sturdily  and  upholstered  as  comfortably  as  the 
American  types,  even  if  some  allowance  is  made  for 
recent  drastic  cuts  in  the  prices  of  British  type  chassis. 

These  trolley  buses  were  built  for  one-man  operation, 
as  was  the  case  with  the  York  battery  and  gasoline 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1031 


buses.  They  seat  twenty-four  passengers  on  side  and 
end  longitudinal  seats.  Transverse  seats  are  impracti- 
cable due  to  the  narrowness  of  the  bus,  which  is  but 
75  in.  The  body  is  of  wood.  The  vibrations  of  the  body 
in  operation  disclosed  defects  which  have  made  it  neces- 
sary to  reinforce  the  sills  with  T-iron  the  full  length, 
in  addition  to  roof  reinforcing  irons  on  the  car  lines. 
Two  stanchions  were  also  added,  the  object  being  to 
stiffen  the  roof,  which  was  of  I  in.  board,  enough  to 
prevent  it  from  obvious  bobbing  up  and  down. 

Noiseless  operation,  a  thoroughly  commendable 
advantage  of  trackless  trolleys,  did  not  obtain  because 
of  the  rattling  of  the  small  ventilator  sash  due  to  the 
use  of  what  the  Britisher  calls  "penny  bazaar"  fixtures. 
When  these  sashes  were  held  tight  running  was  prac- 
tically noiseless.  This  rattle  was  being  corrected  by 
the  use  of  stronger  fixtures. 

The  chassis  frame  is  of  pressed  steel  and  laminated 
springs  are  used.  The  front  axle  is  a  solid  steel  frame. 
The  worm  and  sector  steering  gear  is  inclosed  in  a  dust- 
proof  casing.  Propulsion  power  is  furnished  by  two 
23-hp.  series-parallel  control  motors,  each  motor  driving 
one  of  the  rear  wheels  by  means  of  worm  gearing,  no 
differential  being  used.  The  rear  axle  is  fitted  with 
roller  and  ball  bearings.  The  weight  of  the  vehicle, 
which  is  11,200  lb.  (light),  is  taken  by  the  axle  casing. 
Hand  and  foot  service  brakes  are  provided  on  the  rear 
wheels  and  a  foot  emergency  brake  on  the  motor  shafts. 
The  wheels  are  of  hollow-spoke,  cast-steel  road  type 
with  single  solid  tires  on  the  front  and  dual  solid  tires 
on  the  rear.  The  cam-controlled  current  collectors  allow 
for  a  deviation  of  some  15  to  17  ft.  on  each  side  of  the 
wires.  They  appeared  entirely  suitable  for  the  condi- 
tions on  this  route  since  the  run  of  11  miles  is  made  in 
ten  minutes,  yielding  a  schedule  speed  of  7.5  m.p.h., 
exclusive  of  layovers. 

Table  II  covers  9,402  bus-miles  operation  for  three 
months  ended  March  31,  1921,  showing  the  cost  of  the 
principal  items: 


TABLE  II  — RESULTS  OF  TROLLEY  BUS  OPERATION  YORK  COR- 
PORATION TRAMWAYS,  THREE  MONTHS  ENDED  MARCH  31,  1921 

Actual  Per  Bus-Mile 

£     s.  d. 

Revenues                                                             696    15  17.79 

Cost  of  operation :                                                   ■       .  ■  > 

Platform  wages                                                      '59    15  4.10 

Power                                                                  114     4  2.90 

Maintenance  of  vehicles                                            90     4  2.30 

Line  repairs                                                                 o      I  n  'S? 

Way-leaves  (rosettes,  etc.)   0.23 

Licenses,  etc                                                           48     0  1.22 

Miscellaneous                                                      27     2  0-7° 

Total                                                             £451     12  11.53 


The  platform  wages  are  based  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  211d.  per  hour  (43.25  cents)  ;  power  upon  a 
charge  of  1.75d.  (3.5  cents)  per  kilowatt-hour;  license 
charges  include  registration  fees  and  road  maintenance ; 
line  repairs  is  the  sum  of  repairs  to  overhead  wires  and 
cost  of  way-leave  privileges  in  connection  with  the 
rosette  type  of  suspension.  It  will  be  noted  that  inspec- 
tion, management,  office  and  other  general  charges  of  the 
character  detailed  in  the  Bradford  accounts  (See  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  for  Nov.  12,  1921,  page  860) 
have  not  been  definitely  prorated  against  the  trackless 
service.  On  a  small  system,  naturally,  such  general 
charges  per  mile  operated  must  be  higher  than  on  a 
system  like  Bradford,  which  ran  387,543  trolley  bus- 
miles  in  the  fiscal  year  ended  March  31,  1921.  Assum- 
ing that  the  Bradford  general  costs  were  applied  to 


York,  we  would  have  to  add  a  number  of  accounts  like 
the  following: 


Pence  per  Bus-Mile 

Superintendence   0.043 

Wages  of  other  traffic  employees   0.311 

Ticketcheck   0.441 

Salaries  of  general  officers  and  staff   0  454 

Store  expenses   0.076 

Rates  and  taxes   0  .409 

Total   1.734 


This  does  not  exhaust  the  list,  but  enough  prorating 
accounts  are  given  to  indicate  that  the  actual  operating 
expenses  were  at  least  12. 5d.  (25  cents  per  mile)  for 
three  twenty-four-seat,  one-man  vehicles  within  the  first 
three  or  four  months  of  operation.  The  actual  mainte- 
nance of  these  brand  new  buses,  it  will  be  noted,  was 
2.3d.  (4.6  cents). 

Total  over-all  costs  available  since  March  31,  1921, 
show  18d.  (36  cents)  from  one  source  and  from  another 
source  19d.  (38  cents)  per  mile.  These  cover  all  operat- 
ing charges,  taxes,  overhead,  depreciation,  etc.  On  the 
basis  of  6  per  cent  interest  on  the  capital  expenditure 
of  £12,541,  the  fixed  charges  alone  work  out  at  4.8d. 
(9.6  cents)  per  mile  operated.  This  is  a  heavy  burden 
to  carry  because  the  long  headways  of  fifteen  (a.m.) 
and  thirty  minutes  (p.m.)  yielded  only  9,402  miles  in 
three  months  operation  or  a  little  more  than  100  miles  a 
day.  In  this  case,  one  must  conclude  that  a  similar 
service  at  present  gasoline  costs  and  motor  bus  chassis 
prices  would  preferably  be  straight  gasoline.  Some 
thing  like  this  seems  to  be  in  the  mind  of  the  York 
Tramways  Committee,  which  in  October,  1921, 
appointed  a  sub-committee  to  report  as  to  the  cost  of 
running  omnibuses  and  trackless  trolley  vehicles  before 
it  decides  on  a  proposed  service  to  Clifton.  This  situa- 
tion shows  how  viewpoints  as  to  the  desirability  of 
the  trolley  bus  or  gasoline  bus  are  bound  to  shift  as 
the  price  of  power  fluctuates. 

Notes  on  Vienna's  Carriage  Collector  System 

The  trackless  trolley  route  of  the  Vienna  Municipal 
Tramways  is  of  the  over-running  type.  The  installa- 
tion comprises  a  2-km.  (1.24-mile)  route  between  Pots- 
leindorf,  a  Vienna  suburb,  to  Salmannsdorf.  This 
route  was  opened  in  October,  1908.  The  original  Stoll 
buses  have  been  in  use  ever  since. 

As  regards  the  question  of  bus  drive,  it  is  pertinent 
to  note  that  hub-mounted  direct-drive  motors  have  not 
proved  satisfactory  for  anything  but  undesirably  low 
speeds.  Roadway  conditions  lately  have  not  been  good 
for  this  style  of  drive.  Less  than  one-third  of  the  run 
(about  600  meters)  is  well  paved,  the  rest  being  macad- 
am in  poor  shape.  In  the  future  buses  will  have  chain 
drives.  This  drive  if  kept  thoroughly  lubricated  and 
encased  in  a  steel  housing  is  expected  to  be  noiseless. 

There  are  but  five  regular  stops  in  this  1.25-mile  run. 
The  trip  is  made  in  twelve  minutes,  giving  the  low  speed 
of  but  6.25  m.p.h.  between  terminals.  There  is  no  occa- 
sion for  hurry,  however,  as  the  shortest  headway  is 
fifteen  minutes.  At  other  times  the  buses  are  run  on 
hourly  headways.  The  buses  seat  sixteen  and  stand 
eight  passengers,  yet  nine  or  ten  passengers  per  bus- 
mile  have  not  been  uncommon  in  recent  years.  This 
must  have  led  to  crowding  at  times.  However,  no  one 
needs  to  be  told  that  the  Viennese  management  has 
been  and  still  is  struggling  with  unparalleled  difficul- 
ties. Car  windows  had  to  be  patched  with  odds  and 
ends  of  glass.    Even  wooden  tires  were  used  as  a  war- 


1032 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


time  expedient.  The  enlargement  of  wheel  sizes  caused 
thereby  led  to  the  overheating  of  the  two  10-hp.,  600-volt 
motors  per  bus.  Nothing  daunted,  Ludwig  Spangler, 
general  manager,  made  the  motors  stand  up  under  their 
heavier  work  by  equipping  them  for  self-ventilation. 
These  buses  are  6  meters  (23.6  ft.)  long,  and  because 
of  the  narrow  roadways,  only  1.7  meters  (80.4  in.) 
wide.  They  weigh  about  3,200  kg.  (7,040  1b.).  The  new 
ones  are  expected  to  be  of  like  weight,  the  wooden  body 
alone  weighing  1,000  kg.  (2,204  lb.).  Their  estimated 
life  is  figured  at  ten  years. 

The  Vienna  Municipal  Tramways  may  also  lay  claim 
to  having  been  the  first  to  adapt  the  gasoline  type 
chassis  to  trolley  bus  operation,  an  old  one  being  em- 
ployed to  that  end.  The  resistors  are  mounted  under 
the  hood. 

So  far  as  current  collection  is  concerned,  no  serious 
difficulties  have  arisen  at  the  moderate  speeds  in  vogue. 
The  overhead  entrance  switches  are  much  more  com- 
plicated than  the  like  structures  for  the  under-running 
trolley.  The  only  branch-off  on  the  line  is  at  the  bus- 
house.  Here  wheel  and  chain  drives  on  poles  are  pro- 
vided to  permit  the  connecting  structure  to  be  shifted 
as  a  unit  in  order  to  leave  the  main  line  unbroken. 
The  wheels  on  the  over-running  collector  carriage  have 
a  side  play  of  about  0.75  in.  each.  Because  of  roadway 
and  grade  conditions,  no  buses  are  operated  in  very 
bad  weather.  Each  bus  is  provided  at  the  rear  with 
two  diagonal  rods  or  struts  which  can  be  let  onto  the 
ground  as  a  safety  measure  when  the  bus  stops  on  a 
grade. 

While  the  bus  fleet  numbers  four,  it  is  customary  to 
run  only  two  buses  daily  and  three  on  Sundays  and 
holidays.  About  750  passengers  are  carried  daily.  Fares 
in  July,  1921,  were  15  kroner  on  Sundays  and  holidays 
and  8  kroner  on  week-days.  Commuters  who  possess 
an  identification  card  with  photograph,  as  vouched  for 
by  the  local  police,  pay  only  3  kroner.  At  current  rates 
of  exchange  these  fares  were  but  sorry  fractions  of  a 
cent.  Any  cost  figures  translated  into  dollars  at  the 
present  fluctuating  rate  of  exchange  would  serve  no 
useful  purpose  for  comparative  costs. 

So  far  as  Austria  is  concerned,  the  trackless  trolley 
should  prosper  there  once  the  great  hydro-electric  pos- 
sibilities of  the  republic  have  been  developed. 


Telephoning  from  a  Moving  Car 

The  "Carrier  Current"  Communication  System  Is  Demon- 
strated by  Telephoning  from  One  of  the  Schenectady 
Railway's  Cars  to  a  Substation 
Three  Miles  Distant 

A DEMONSTRATION  of  what  is  known  as  the  "car- 
rier current"  system  of  communication  was  given 
at  Schenectady  on  Dec.  1.  These  tests  were  the 
culmination  of  development  work  extending  over  a 
period  of  ten  years,  followed  by  practical  tests  made  on 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  where 
communication  was  effected  up  to  60  miles. 

The  system  makes  use  of  a  second  current  superim- 
posed on  the  same  trolley  wire  which  supplies  current 
to  operate  the  electric  car.  This  "carrier  current," 
which  is  generated  at  higher  frequency  than  the  power 
supply,  serves  to  transmit  messages  along  the  wire  from 
which  it  is  picked  up  at  any  convenient  point  and  made 
to  energize  a  telephone  instrument.  The  demonstration 
took  place  on  the  Schenectady  Railway,  5  miles  from  the 
city,  and  was  arranged  by  the  railway  department  of 


the  General  Electric  Company,  which  is  interested  in 
the  development  of  the  new  system. 

From  the  moving  electric  car  the  railway  men  were 
enabled  to  talk  successfully  with  a  substation  on  the 
line  several  miles  distant  and  also  to  listen  to  conversa- 
tion from  the  operator  in  the  station.  The  second 
feature  of  the  demonstration  was  listening  to  the  con- 
versation of  the  substation  attendant  at  a  waiting  room 
2  miles  from  the  substation,  the  messages  being  trans- 
mitted over  the  trolley  wire  and  amplified  in  the  wait-, 
ing  room  by  a  loud-speaking  telephone  instrument. 

The  demonstration  was  designed  primarily  to  show 
the  application  of  the  system  to  communication  on  elec- 
tric railways,  especially  as  regards  expediting  train 
operation.  The  apparatus  used  for  carrier  current 
communication  is  small  and  simple  of  operation.  It 
consists  essentially  of  vacuum  tubes  used  as  oscillators, 
rectifiers  and  detectors,  making  up  a  telephone  equip- 


Telephoning  from  Car  to  Substation 


ment  equaling  in  sensitiveness  and  simplicity  the  most 
modern  apparatus. 

Among  the  participants  in  the  tests -at  Schenectady 
were  members  of  the  radio  committee  of  the  American 
Railway  Association,  headed  by  J.  D.  Jones,  chairman 
and  superintendent  of  telegraph  and  signals  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad,  Eastern  region. 

Commenting  on  the  tests,  W.  B.  Potter,  engineer  of 
the  railway  and  traction  department  of  the  General 
Electric  Company,  said:  "These  tests  at  Schenectady 
and  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad 
indicate  the  early  perfection  of  a  practical  telephone 
system,  utilizing  the  power  wires  as  a  conductor,  which 
will  provide  for  the  usual  call  and  telephone  communica- 
tion between  different  cars  or  trains.  This  system  is- 
equally  applicable  to  communication  between  the  train 
dispatcher  and  the  trains  in  operation  under  his  direc- 
tion. This  is  an  important  development  which  we  feel 
sure  will  contribute  materially  to  the  facility  and  safety 
of  railway  operation." 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1033 


Features  of  Des  Moines  Franchise 

The  Twenty-five  Year  Grant  Has  a  Sliding  Scale  for  Rates  of  Fare  and  Return  on  Investment — The 

Operating  Deficit  Is  to  Be  Taken  from  Revenue 


A FRANCHISE  of  the  service-at-cost  type  has  been 
accepted  by  the  Des  Moines  (Iowa)  City  Rail- 
^.way.  It  was  approved  by  the  City  Council  on 
Oct.  24  and  passed  upon  favorably  by  the  people  at  a 
special  election  on  Nov.  28.  The  franchise  is  now  to 
be  tested  in  the  State  Supreme  Court  to  verify  some 
question  as  to  its  legality  under  the  Iowa  laws  and 
thereafter  will  presumably  be  the  contract  under  which 
the  company  will  operate  in  future.  It  is  expected  that 
a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  may  be  had  before  the 
end  of  January.  The  action  of  the  City  Council  and 
voters  rescinded  a  twenty-five-year  franchise  entered 
into  late  in  1915,  which  provided  for  a  fixed  5-cent  fare 
and  had  other  features  which  proved  to  be  impossible 
to  carry  out. 

The  new  service-at-cost  franchise  is  granted  for  a 
term  of  twenty-five  years.  It  permits  the  operation  of 
interurban  cars  over  the  streets  and  the  sale  of  power 
to  interurban  companies  by  the  Des  Moines  City  Rail- 
way. The  haulage  of  freight,  baggage,  mail,  express, 
etc.,  over  the  city  tracks  is  authorized,  provided  that 
freight  cars  will  not  be  permitted  to  stop  on  a  street 
crossing  or  to  stand  on  a  public  street  for  any  purpose 
except  such  as  may  be  necessary  in  the  operation  of 
trains.  The  handling  of  such  freight  and  express  cars 
must  not  delay  the  operation  of  passenger  cars,  and  no 
such  car  is  to  be  allowed  to  stand  on  any  track  or  siding 
located  in  the  public  streets  for  more  than  one  hour 
without  the  consent  of  the  department  of  public  safety. 
These  restrictions,  however,  do  not  apply  between  the 
hours  of  1  a.m.  and  5  a.m. 

In  regard  to  the  extension  of  lines,  the  contract  pro- 
vides that  extensions  must  be  made  upon  petition  in 
writing  to  the  City  Council  by  a  majority  of  the  adult 
residents  of  the  district  to  be  served,  when  this  body, 
after  due  investigation,  shall  have  passed  a  resolution 
declaring  that  the  extension  is  a  proper  and  necessary 
one  to  be  made  by  the  company.  It  is  stipulated,  how- 
ever, that  the  City  Council  must  find  in  its  study  that 
the  returns  of  the  company  will  be  sufficient  to  pay  at 
least  the  cost  of  operating  the  cars  over  the  extension, 
including  the  ordinary  maintenance  of  track,  cars  and 
overhead,  together  with  a  reasonable  depreciation  upon 
the  cost  of  the  extension  and  the  equipment  used,  and 
all  reserves  provided  for  later  in  the  contract.  Having 
satisfied  itself  that  this  is  the  case,  the  Council  may 
direct  the  extension  to  be  made  and  the  company  is 
then  required  within  a  reasonable  time  to  build  the  line 
at  its  own  expense.  But  if  the  company' and  city  cannot 
agree  that  the  extension  can  be  made  under  these  condi- 
tions, then  the  question  of  whether  or  not  the  line  shall 
be  extended  shall  be  submitted  to  arbitration  and  the 
award  of  the  board  of  arbitration  is  binding  on  both 
parties. 

On  the  subject  of  paving  and  maintaining  paving  of 
streets,  the  franchise  reads  that  "Whenever  the  city 
shall  grade,  pave,  gravel  or  macadamize  any  street,  and 
so  long  as  the  statutes  of  the  state  of  Iowa  do  not 
authorize  another  or  different  method  therefor,  the  com- 
pany, under  the  conditions  in  this  ordinance  contained, 
shall  grade,  pave,  gravel  or  macadamize  such  portion  of 


said  streets  between  the  rails  of  its  track  and  1  ft. 
outside  thereof."  The  same  requirement  as  to  repaving 
is  made  conditional  upon  the  present  statutes  of  Iowa. 
The  company  is  required  to  sweep,  clean  and  sprinkle 
the  portion  of  the  street  used  by  the  company  only 
where  the  need  for  cleaning  results  from  construction 
work,  sanding  rails,  etc.  But  it  must  remove  snow  and 
ice. 

In  regard  to  the  motive  power  that  may  be  used,  the 
contract  mentions  the  use  of  electricity,  applied  either 
by  overhead  or  underground  trolley,  "or  any  other  mod- 
ern and  improved  system,  or  by  any  other  modern  and 
improved  motive  power,  except  steam  locomotives ;  pro- 
vided, however,  before  any  motive  power  other  than 
electricity  may  be  used,  consent  and  permission  therefor 
shall  be  first  granted  by  the  city." 

A  "city  supervisor"  of  track  stations  is  to  be  elected 
by  the  City  Council  to  hold  office  at  the  pleasure  of  this 
body  and  with  a  salary  which  shall  not  exceed  $5,000 
per  year  at  any  time.  This  is  fixed  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil and  paid  by  the  company.  The  company  is  to  pro- 
vide and  pay  for  his  office,  office  fixtures,  stationery  and 
clerical  help,  but  the  cost  of  clerical  help  shall  not  ex- 
ceed $100  per  month  to  begin  with,  but  this  may  be 
increased  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  gross  receipts  of 
the  company  increase.  The  company  is  also  to  select  a 
person  to  be  known  as  the  "company  supervisor"  and 
these  two  supervisors  shall  determine  what  acts  shall 
be  done  and  orders  made  affecting  the  quality  and  quan- 
tity of  service,  fixing  of  schedules,  routes  and  terminals, 
the  character  and  equipment  of  cars,  the  places  at 
which  they  shall  be  stopped  for  passengers  and  other 
similar  operating  questions. 

Any  differences  arising  between  the  company  and  the 
city  in  regard  to  any  provisions  of  the  ordinance  or 
the  rights  and  power  reserved  to  and  conferred  upon  the 
company  or  the  city,  or  if  the  two  supervisors  fail  to 
agree  upon  any  question,  over  which  they  have  super- 
vision, then  either  the  city  or  the  company  may  require 
that  these  questions  be  submitted  to  arbitration.  It 
is  agreed  that  the  individuals  comprising  the  board  of 
railroad  commissioners  of  Iowa  shall  constitute  the 
board  of  arbitration,  and  if  this  board  fails  or  refuses 
to  act  as  arbitrators,  then  it  is  agreed  that  the  board 
shall  consist  of  three  disinterested  persons  who  must 
be  non-residents  of  Des  Moines  and  appointed  by  joint 
action  of  the  chief  justice  and  the  two  associate  justices 
of  the  Iowa  Supreme  Court. 

Scale  of  Fares  and  Returns 

The  initial  rate  of  fare  is  to  be  8  cents  cash  with 
ten  tickets  for  80  cents.  The  contract  provides  that 
this  may  be  adjusted  either  up  or  down  in  half-cent 
increments  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  table,  which 
also  shows  the  rate  of  return  to  be  allowed  on  common 
stock.  Children  between  the  ages  of  six  and  twelve 
years  are  to  be  carried  for  one-half  fare  and  high  and 
grade  school  pupils  actually  on  their  way  to  and  from 
school  may  ride  on  special  tickets  sold  to  them  at  the 
school  for  24  cents  each.  A  charge  of  double  the  cash 
fare  in  force  may  be  made  on  owl  cars  as  the  company  is 


1034 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


not  obliged  to  accept  tickets  for  passage  on  such  cars. 
Once  a  rate  of  fare  is  placed  in  effect  it  must  remain 
in  effect  for  a  minimum  of  thirty  days. 


Dividend 
on  Corn- 
Fare  mon  Stock 

9  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  90  cents  0  per  cent 

9  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  85  cents  0  per  cent 

8  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  80  cents*  0  per  cent 

8  cents  cash,  10  tickets  75  cents  0  percent 

7  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  70  cents  3  per  cent 

7  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  65  cents  3  per  Cent 

6  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  60  cents  45  per  cent 

6  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  55  cents  45  per  cent 

5  cents  cash,  10  tickets  50  cents  6  percent 

5  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  45  cents  6  percent 

5  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  40  cents  7  per  cent 

5  cents  cash,  1 0  tickets  35  cents  7  per  cent 

*  Present  rate. 


The  initial  rate  of  fare  of  8  cents  cash  and  ten  tickets 
for  80  cents  is  to  continue  in  force  until  there  has  been 
accumulated  in  the  "fare  adjustment  fund"  the  sum  of 
$150,000.  Thereafter  the  rate  of  fare  shall  be  changed 
to  the  next  higher  step  whenever  the  balance  in  this 
fund  shall  be  lower  than  $100,000.  The  next  lower  step 
shall  be  put  into  effect  when  the  amount  in  the  fare 
adjustment  fund  is  $200,000.  A  notice  of  five  days  must 
be  made  before  any  change  in  the  rate  shall  become 
effective.  The  maximum  and  minimum  figures  already 
noted  are  to  continue  as  long  as  the  number  of  passen- 
gers carried  annually  by  the  company  is  30,000,000  or 
less. 

When  the  annual  number  of  passengers  is  between 
30,000,000  and  40,000,000,  the  fund  is  to  vary  between 
the  limits  of  $133,333  and  $266,666;  for  between  40,- 
000,000  and  50,000,000  annual  passengers,  the  fund  is 
to  vary  between  the  limits  of  $166,666  and  $333,333; 
50,000,000  to  60,000,000  passengers,  $200,000  and 
$400,000;  60,000,000  and  70,000,000  passengers,  $233,- 
333  and  $466,666;  70,000,000  and  80,000,000  passen- 
gers, $266,666  and  $533,333;  80,000,000  and  90,000,000 
passengers,  $300,000  and  $600,000,  and  thereafter  if 
there  are  further  increases  in  the  number  of  passengers 
carried  in  any  fiscal  year,  the  same  progression  of  maxi- 
mum and  minimum  amounts  will  be  carried  out. 

The  company  is  to  be  entitled  to  earn  dividends  on 
its  common  stock  now  issued  and  outstanding  and  on 
such  common  stock  as  may  be  issued  to  retire  the  first 
stock  now  issued  and  on  common  stock  that  may  be 
issued  to  provide  funds  for  extensions,  improvements,  or 
betterments  as  noted  in  the  above  table. 

For  the  purpose  of  determining  the  basis  upon  which 
the  rate  of  fare  is  to  be  established,  it  is  agreed  that 
the  gross  income  of  the  company  shall  include  income 
from  all  sources.  Operating  and  all  deductions  from 
gross  income  shall  be  in  accordance  with  good  account- 
ing practice  as  prescribed  by  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Accountants'  Association  and  the  company  shall 
at  all  times  be  entitled  to  earn  net  earnings  (gross  in- 
come less  operating  expenses  and  taxes  of  all  kinds) 
sufficient  to  pay  the  following  seven  items: 

1.  The  interest  on  its  bonded  indebtedness  as  of 
Oct.  1,  1921,  and  on  notes  now  issued  and  to  be  issued 
and  now  consisting  of  $4,651,000  of  5  per  cent  general 
and  refunding  bonds  and  $1,309,709  of  7  per  cent  notes, 
issued  and  to  be  issued. 

2.  The  interest  on  any  additional  interest-bearing  in- 
debtedness similar  to  that  listed  under  (1)  that  may 
be  created  subsequent  to  Oct.  1,  1921. 

3.  Dividends  at  the  rate  of  7  per  cent  per  annum  on 
any  or  all  preferred  stock  which  may  at  any  time  be 
outstanding,  of  which  there  is  now  $250,000  outstand- 


ing and  $1,100,000  of  debentures  to  be  converted  into 
preferred  stock,  and  such  other  preferred  stock  as  may 
be  issued  as  authorized. 

4.  Credit  to  a  common  stock  dividend  reserve  account 
to  the  extent  permitted  to  be  earned  under  the  terms  of 
the  section  relating  to  the  rate  of  dividend  on  common 
stock. 

5.  An  amount  which  is  to  be  accumulated  in  equal 
monthly  installments  during  the  first  five  years  after 
this  ordinance  shall  become  effective  to  offset  the  oper- 
ating deficit  existing  at  the  date  of  taking  effect  of 
this  franchise.  The  accumulated  amount  thereof  as  of 
Oct.  1,  1921,  was  $572,737. 

6.  Fifty  thousand  dollars  of  working  capital  which 
shall  be  accumulated  before  any  amount  shall  be  set 
aside  for  the  fare  adjustment  funds,  or  before  any  re- 
duction in  the  rate  of  fare  first  above  established  shall 
become  effective,  and  shall  be  in  addition  to  stores  and 
supplies  aggregating  approximately  $240,000  in  value, 
which  represents  the  value  of  the  stores  and  supplies 
on  hand  Oct.  1,  1921. 

7.  Any  other  amounts  arising  after  Oct.  1,  1921, 
properly  deductible  from  net  earnings.  All  above 
accumulations  are  to  be  considered  as  an  expense  in  con- 
nection with  the  establishment  of  the  rate  of  fare. 

After  all  of  the  reductions  provided  for  in  these  seven 
sections  have  been  made  from  net  earnings,  debits  or 
credits  are  to  be  made  to  the  fare  adjustment  fund. 

The  company  agrees  to  secure  a  fund  of  $100,000 
within  thirty  days  after  the  adoption  of  the  ordinance 
for  the  purpose  of  making  additions,  betterments,  and 
improvements  or  in  construction  work  in  so  far  as  the 
co-st  is  properly  chargeable  to  the  capital  account.  The 
company  is  to  be  permitted  to  execute  its  notes  for  this 
amount  which  will  bear  interest  at  the  current  rates 
and  are  to  be  retired  when  the  company  is  able  to  issue 
and  sell  securities  as  provided  by  the  ordinance.  It  is 
also  agreed  that  the  city  will  not  require  the  company 
to  make  improvements  or  additions  during  the  firsfTyear 
after  the  adoption  of  the  ordinance  requiring  expendi- 
tures in  excess  of  this  $100,000.  Similarly,  the  com- 
pany agrees  during  the  second  and  third  years  of  the 
franchise,  to  provide  and  spend  an  additional  $100,000 
each  year,  provided  it  is  unable  to  issue  and  sell  secur- 
ities and  provided  that  all  of  the  items  provided  by  the 
ordinance  are  earned.  It  is  also  agreed  that  if  these 
conditions  prevail,  the  city  will  not  press  the  company 
to  spend  in  excess  of  $100,000  chargeable  to  capital 
account. 

In  connection  with  the  sale  of  securities,  the  expense 
of  the  sale  of  stock  or  of  the  sale  and  discount  on  bonds 
or  notes  now  outstanding  or  to  be  issued  shall  be  amor- 
tized out  of  the  earnings  of  the  company  in  equal 
monthly  amounts  during  the  life  of  such  securities. 
On  the  matter  of  depreciation,  the  contract  is  indefinite, 
the  provision  being  that  "the  company  shall  charge  as 
a  part  of  the  expense  of  said  business  and  set  up  a  de- 
preciation reserve  sufficient  to  cover  replacement,  obso- 
lescence and  renewals  of  the  property  of  the  company, 
and  installations  necessary  to  maintain  such  property 
.  .  .  provided  that  the  reserve  shall  be  apportioned 
and  used  50  per  cent  for  way  and  structures,  25  per 
cent  for  equipment  and  25  per  cent  for  power.  It  is 
also  stipulated  that  the  company  shall  not  be  required  to 
make  any  expenditures  in  excess  of  the  amounts  thus 
provided." 

An  interesting  clause  in  the  contract  is  that  relating 
to  corporate  existence  which  provides  that  "the  company 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1035 


and  each  successor  corporation  .  .  .  shall  remain 
and  shall  be  an  Iowa  corporation  and  it  shall  maintain 
its  principal  office  in  the  city  of  Des  Moines  and  shall 
not  remove  such  principal  office  or  any  of  the  books  of 
the  company,  records,  accounts,  contracts  or  original 
vouchers  of  receipts  and  expenditures  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  said  city,  and  shall  maintain  such  principal  office 
within  such  city  so  long  as  the  company  continues  oper- 
ating any  part  of  the  street  railways  mentioned  and 
provided  for  in  this  ordinance  under  the  provisions 
hereof,  and  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  apply  to 
all  the  company's  lessees,  successors  and  assigns." 

One  section  of  the  contract  contains  provision  whereby 
the  company  waives  all  rights  and  claims  except  those 
allowed  by  this  ordinance,  agrees  to  pay  all  interest  due 
on  any  bonds  secured  by  lien  on  the  property  existing 
Aug.  1,  1921,  and  to  pay  thereafter  all  such  interest  on 
bonds  as  it  becomes  due,  with  the  condition  that  upon 
failure  to  pay  such  interest  resulting  in  the  foreclosure 
of  the  liens,  the  rights  of  the  company  under  the  ordi- 
nance are  thereby  forfeited.  This  section  also  stipulates 
that  the  company  is  to  cause  all  foreclosure  suits  now 
pending  against  the  city  or  the  company  to  be  dismissed 
without  cost  to  the  city,  and  the  company  is  to  pay  its 
bond  in  the  amount  of  $54,000  which  fell  due  April  1, 
1921.  It  is  also  to  pay  or  refund  on  other  bonds  now 
outstanding,  secured  by  lien  upon  the  property,  at  or 
before  maturity,  none  of  which  bonds  mature  later  than 
the  year  1936. 

The  franchise  gives  the  city  the  right,  during  the  time 
of  the  franchise,  to  purchase  and  take  over  free  and  clear 
of  all  liens  and  incumbrances  the  entire  street  railway 
system  upon  giving  six  months  notice.  If  the  company 
and  city  cannot  agree  on  the  purchase  price,  the  latter 
is  to  be  determined  by  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction. 

Disposition  op  Competitive  Buses 

Immediately  upon  the  acceptance  of  the  franchise,  the 
city  agreed  to  cancel  all  licenses  issued  for  the  opera- 
tion of  jitney  buses  engaged  in  carrying  passengers  on 
any  street  on  which  street  cars  are  operated.  The  city 
also  agrees  that  it  will  not  permit  any  jitney  bus  opera- 
tion on  streets  occupied  by  cars  under  the  franchise, 
provided,  however,  that  jitneys  may  be  licensed  to  cross 
such  streets  at  right  angles  with  the  car  line  and  in 
addition  may  travel  over  such  space  as  far  as  it  is 
necessary  to  cross  bridges.  It  is  further  provided  that 
the  buses  may  have  a  terminus  in  the  business  district 
and  that  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  and  from  this 
terminus  the  buses  may  travel  over  such  portion  only 
of  the  prohibited  streets  as  is  necessary  to  connect 
directly  with  the  licensed  route  of  the  buses  on  streets 
on  which  there  are  no  street  car  lines. 


French  Railway  Strike  Ended 

REPORTS  to  the  Department  of  Commerce  recently 
.  told  of  the  termination  of  the  street  railway  strike 
in  Calais,  France.  Service  was  suspended  entirely  dur- 
ing two  weeks.  The  company  finally  granted  the  de- 
mands of  the  employees  for  an  increase  of  50  centimes 
per  day,  for  two  days  vacation  per  month  with  full 
pay  and  for  the  establishment  of  a  joint  committee 
with  power  to  pass  finally  on  all  differences  between 
the  street  railway  management  and  its  employees. 
The  joint  committee  is  to  be  made  up  of  representa- 
tives of  the  employer,  the  employees  and  the  street 
railway  committee  of  the  City  Council. 


Car  and  Bus  Speeds  in  Chicago 

Comparison  of  Car  Speeds  Operating  Through  Tunnels  and 
Over  Bridges  Was  Presented  in  Chicago  Fare  Hearing — 
Also  Data  on  Speeds  of  Buses  and  Cars 
in  the  Loop  District 

SOME  rather  interesting  speed  comparisons  were 
brought  out  in  the  hearings  of  the  Chicago  Surface 
Lines  before  the  Illinois  Commerce  Commission  in  con- 
nection with  the  recent  fare  case.  The  special  engineer 
for  the  city,  George  W.  Jackson,  had  recommended  in 
his  proposed  plan  of  speeding  up  service  the  taking  of 
cars  from  the  tunnels  and  routing  them  over  bridges. 
The  company  therefore  introduced  the  following  evi- 
dence to  indicate  the  relative  speed  of  cars  in  tunnels 
and  over  bridges.  For  the  Clark  Street  bridge  and 
La  Salle  Street  tunnel  the  observations  were  made  on 
Oct.  15,  and  the  distance  over  which  the  cars  were 
timed  in  each  case  was  taken  between  Randolph  and 
Illinois  Streets.  For  the  Madison  Street  and  Adams 
Street  bridges  and  the  Washington  Street  and  Van 
Buren  Street  tunnels  the  observations  were  made  on 
Oct.  18  and  the  distance  covered  was  between  Franklin 
and  Clinton  Streets  in  each  case.  The  results  of  the 
observations  follow: 

CAR  SPEEDS  OVER  BRIDGES  VS.  THROUGH  TUNNELS 


Clark  Street  Bridge 
1 1 :35  a.m.  to  12:55  p.m. 
Cars  Minutes 
73  336.00 
Average  time  per  car,     4 . 603 

Madison  Street  Bridge 
1:30  p.m.  to  4:00  p.m. 
Cars  Minutes 
264  715.75 
Average  time  per  car,  2.711 
Adams  Street  Bridge 
1:58  p.m.  to  4:02  p.m. 
Cars  Minutes 
103  221.75 
Average  time  per  car,  2.153 


La  Salle  Street  Tunnel 
1 1 :36  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 
Cars  Minutes 
122  241.00 
1.975 

Washington  Street  Tunnel 
1 : 36  p.m.  to  4:00  p.m. 
Cars  Minutes 
137  231.00 
1.686 

Van  Buren  Street  Tunnel 
1 :44  p.m.  to  4:00  p.m. 
Cars  Minutes 
199         304  75 
1.531 


Another  study  was  made  to  show  the  speed  of  cars 
in  the  Loop  district,  as  bounded  by  the  river  on  the 
north,  Wabash  Avenue  on  the  East,  Harrison  Street  on 
the  South  and  the  river  on  the  West.  The  cars  on 
Dearborn  Street  from  Harrison  Street  to  Polk  Street 
were  also  included  and  all  lay-overs  at  stub  terminals 
in  the  Loop  were  included.  The  observations  were 
made  on  Oct.  12,  1921,  from  4:30  p.m.  to  10:30  p.m. 
The  system  average  schedule  speed  based  on  schedule 
running  time  between  terminals  and  excluding  lay-over 
time  was  given  as  10.64  m.p.h.    The  Loop  data  follow: 

SPEED  OF  CARS  IN  LOOP  DISTRICT,  CHICAGO 


4:30 
5:00 
5:30 
6:00 
6:30 
7:00 
7:30 
8:00 
8:30 
9:00 
9:30 
10:00 


Hour 
p.m.  to  5 


p.m.  to  5 
p.m.  to  6 
p.m.  to  6 
p.m.  to  7 
p.m.  to  7 
p.m.  to  8 
p.m.  to  8 
p.m.  to  9 
p.m.  to  9 
p.m.  to  10 
p.m.  to  10 


:00  p.m. 
:30  p.m. 
.00  p.m. 
:30  p.m. 
:00  p.m. 
:30  p.m. 
.00  p.m. 
:30  p.m. 
.00  p.m. 
:30  p.m. 
:00  p.m. 
:30  p.m. 


Average  Speed 

Car-Miles 

Car-Hours 

M.p.h. 

520.31 

107.70 

4.83 

595.62 

120.76 

4.93 

511.47 

91.75 

5.57 

389. 15 

54  85 

7.09 

331.43 

44.27 

7.49 

316.74 

40.34 

7.85 

312.48 

43.47 

7.  19 

305.03 

43.52 

7.01 

279.95 

37.08 

7.55 

211.86 

29.87 

7.09 

206.73 

28.50 

7.25 

154.32 

20.72 

7.45 

4,135.09 

662.83 

6.24 

For  the  sake  of  comparison  some  observations  were 
made  of  the  operating  speeds  of  the  Chicago  Motor  Bus 
Company's  buses.  These  observations  were  divided  into 
three  groups,  covering  speeds  from  the  north  terminals 
into  the  loop  to  the  points  at  which  the  buses  are  turned 
back;  in  the  downtown  district,  and  outside  of  the  Loop 
district.    These  data  are  presented  herewith  in  three 


1036 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  24 


tables.  The  observations  were  made  on  Oct.  19  and 
20,  1921. 

Limited  observations  of  the  motor  bus  service  given 
by  the  Depot  Motor  Bus  Company,  operating  between 
Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  &  Company's  store  on  State  Street 
and  the  Northwestern  and  Union  stations  on  the  west 
side,  showed  that  these  buses  operate  at  an  average 
speed  of  5.85  m.p.h.  The  distance  is  0.78  mile  each  way. 

SUMMARY  OF  SPEED  AND  STOPS  OF  CHICAGO  MOTOR  BUS 
COMPANY'S  BUSES,  OUTLYING  AND  LOOP 
DISTRICTS  COMBINED 

Bus-hours   8.11 

Mileage   86 . 66 

Stops   284  : 

Duration  of  stops — seconds   3,335 

Average  running  speed   10.70  m.p.h. 

Average  number  of  stops   3.28  per  mile 

Average  time  per  stop  ■   11.74  seconds 

SPEED  AND  STOPS  OF  CHICAGO  MOTOR  BUS  COMPANY'S  BUSES, 
LOOP  DISTRICT  ALONE 

1>  « 

_  E                                                 oj             £  <~  S3  o 

££§                      b                        1           S.S  °&  S&S  gift 

IP-H                        £                          gj           SS  I00  fMa!  ^C 

Jackson....     9:10a.m.  to    9:25a.m.       1.824        15.50  13  228  7.06 

Madison...   1 1 : 16  a.m.  to  1 1:27  a.m.       1.229        11.50  II  186  6.42 

Monroe....     1:35  p.m.  to    1:53p.m.       1.473        18.00  17  326  4.91 

Monroe....     3:43  p.m.  to   4:00  p.m.       1.473        17.00  15  336  5.20 

Monroe....     5:24  p.m.  to  5:43  p.m.       1.473        19.25  18  448  4.59 

Jackson....     7:33  p.m.  to    7:48  p.m.       1.824        14.75  15  164  7.41 

Total........"                                       9.296       96.00      89  1,688  .... 

Average:     Speed   5.81  m.p.h. 

Stops  per  mile   9.57  m.p.h. 

Duration  of  stop   18.96  seconds 

SPEED  AND  STOPS  OF  CHICAGO  MOTOR  BUS  COMPANY'S  BUSES, 
OUTLYING  DISTRICTS  ALONE 

c  oj  <—    »tl    cj_r  . 

5c  t.  Ec  S'oftajftcS^-; 

DevonAve...  NB    9:25  a.m.  to  1 0:0 1  a.m.  36.00  8.45  4  32  14  09 

DevonAve...  SB    10:25  a.m.  to  1 1 : 16  a.m.  50.50  8.45  30  301  10  03 

Wilson  Ave...  NB  1 1 :27  a.m.  to  1  1 :53  a.m.  25.50  5.96  19  105  14.01 

DevonAve...  SB    12:51  p.m.  to    1:35  p.m.  43.50  8.45  30  255  II  60 

E.B.  Hotel...  NB    1:53p.m.  to    2:25p.m.  32.50  6.90  II  76  11.65 

DevonAve...  SB     3:00  p.m.  to    3:43  p.m.  43.00  8.45  18  232  II  78 

Edg.  B.  Hotel.  NB    4:01  p.m.  to    4:35  p.m.  34.00  6.90  3  46  12  16 

Edg.  B.  Hotel.  SB     4:49  p.m.  to   5:24  p.m.  35.00  6.90  18  129  11.82 

DevonAve...  NB    5:43  p.m.  to    6:28  p.m.  45.25  8.45  39  298  11.20 

DevonAve...  SB     6:48p.m. to   7:33p.m.  45.25  8.45  23  173  11.20 

Total   390.50  77.36  195  1, 647 sec. 

Average:   Speed   11.87  m.p.h. 

Stops  per  mile   2.54  m.p.h. 

Duration  of  stop   8.45  seconds 

Front  Drive  Trolley  Bus 

A RECENT  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway  &  Tram- 
way Journal  of  London  contains  a  description  of 
a  front-drive  trackless  trolley  bus  recently  built  for 
.  use  in  Leeds,  England.  This  bus  is  in  two  parts,  some- 
what like  the  Chicago  type  of  gasoline  bus,  the  forward 
part  carrying  the  motor  and  the  two  driving  wheels  and 
the  rear  part  the  body  of  the  bus  and  the  two  trailing 
wheels.  The  two  portions  are  attached  to  each  other  by 
six  bolts  only,  so  that  the  front  portion,  or  tractor,  can 
be  very  easily  detached.  This  is  considered  an  impor- 
tant point  where  a  company  desires  to  keep  a  number 
of  trolley  buses  in  constant  service,  as  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  have  one  or  two  spare  front  parts  which  can  be 
slipped  into  place  whenever  required.  As  there  is  no 
part  of  the  motive  equipment  or  driving  mechanism 
under  the  car  body,  the  floor  of  the  bus  can  be  kept 
very  low.  Actually  in  the  bus  built  for  Leeds  the  car 
floor  is  only  14  in.  above  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
Thus  the  center  of  gravity  is  low  and  the  factor  of 
safety  for  a  double-deck  vehicle  running  on  an  ordinary 
road  surface  is  correspondingly  increased. 

The  drive  is  provided  by  two  25-hp.  motors,  hung  in 
the  regular  railway  manner  and  each  geared  to  one-half 
of  the  axle.    Brakes  are  applied  to  all  four  wheels. 


Bus  Transportation"  Approved 


Important  Railway  Managers  Recognize  a  Field  for  Buses 
in  Urban  and  Interurban  Transportation  and  Welcome 
Establishment  of  Bus  Paper  by  McGraw-Hill  Co. 

THE  policy  of  the  publishers  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  in  deciding  to  start  a  bus  paper 
has  met  with  the  hearty  approval  of  all  of  those  electric 
railway  executives  who  have  expressed  themselves  on 
the  subject.  In  answer  to  a  request  for  opinions  on  this 
a  number  of  replies  have  been  received.  From  these 
quotations  a  few  are  printed  below,  with  the  permis- 
sion of  the  writers. 

Opinions  on  "Bus  Transportation" 

Henry  G.  Bradlee,  of  Stone  &  Webster,  Inc.,  Boston, 
Mass.,  writes: 

"I  have  read  with  great  interest  the  editorial  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Oct.  29  and  have 
been  intending  to  write  to  you  offering  my  congratula- 
tions on  this  new  step  that  you  are  taking.  It  meets 
with  my  hearty  approval. 

"We  need  a  responsible  publication  that  will  set  forth 
the  facts  and  keep  us  all  posted  on  development  in  the 
field  of  bus  transportation.  I  am  sure  that  no  one  can 
handle  this  as  well  as  the  McGraw  organization. 

"I  have  only  one  suggestion  to  make,  namely,  that 
you  have  constantly  in  mind  the  desirability  of  ulti- 
mately combining  as  a  single  publication  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  and  the  new  Bus  Transportation, 
adopting  at  that  time  a  new  title  for  the  combined 
magazine  which  will  indicate  in  some  way  that  it  covers 
broadly  all  branches  of  urban  and  suburban  transporta- 
tion. The  temporary  publication  of  Bus  TRANSPORTA- 
TION as  a  supplement  is  no  doubt  wise,  but  I  do  think 
that  this  should  be  temporary  and  that  eventually  the 
two  should  be  again  combined. 

"In  your  editorial  of  Oct.  29  you  say: 

"All  of  the  studies  which  have  been  made  and  data  which 
have  been  collected  tend  only  the  more  firmly  to  fix  the 
idea  that  the  best  transportation  for  the  community  can 
be  obtained  only  by  the  co-ordination  of  the  various  trans- 
portation facilities  and  not  by  indiscriminate  competition. 

"This  is  exactly  the  thought  I  have  in  mind  in  making 
my  suggestion  that  ultimately  the  two  magazines  should 
.  be  combined  as  one.  I  think  we  should  from  every 
standpoint  try  to  convey  the  idea  to  the  public  that 
satisfactory  public  service  can  be  obtained  only  through 
a  single  co-ordinated  system  whether  this  operate  on 
rails,  on  rubber  tires,  or  part  on  each.  The  street  rail- 
way companies  should  do  this  in  the  conduct  of  their 
business,  and  you,  I  think,  could  help  by  ultimately 
treating  in  your  publications  all  forms  of  urban  trans- 
portation as  a  single  problem. 

"A  few  weeks  ago  we  held  a  convention  in  Boston  of 
the  district  and  local  managers  from  all  of  our  proper- 
ties. In  a  talk  that  I  made  at  this  convention  I  referred 
briefly  to  the  street  railway  problem,  and  I  think  you 
will  be  interested  in  what  I  said  on  this  subject,  a 
copy  of  which  is  inclosed.  While  I  had  not  read  your 
editorial  at  the  time,  our  thoughts  are  clearly  running 
along  the  same  general  lines. 

"As  I  see  it,  the  constructive  thing  that  we  should  do 
at  the  present  time  is  to  emphasize  in  every  possible 


December  10,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1037 


way  and  bring  constantly  before  the  public  the  fact  that 
urban  transportation  in  whatever  its  form  must  be  con- 
ducted as  a  unified  system  to  give  public  satisfaction, 
and  that  any  new  developments  along  transportation 
lines  should  be  brought  into  use  as  a  continuation  of 
those  now  in  existence  rather  than  as  a  separate  and 
independent  proposition.  This  you  can  do  through  your 
publications,  we  through  our  operating  efforts  in  the 
field  and  through  any  public  statements  that  we  may 
make. 

"Again  my  congratulations  to  you  and  my  best  wishes 
for  success  in  the  new  enterprise." 

Mr.  Bradlee's  Remarks  on  Buses  to  Local 
and  District  Managers 

The  street  railway  is  the  real  problem,  a  problem  concern- 
ing which  people  are  sometimes  very  pessimistic.  I  want 
to  give  you  this  thought.  We  always  speak  of  ourselves 
as  being  in  the  street  railway  business  and  usually  have 
in  mind  only  the  electric  railway.  When  some  other  form 
of  urban  transportation  is  suggested  a  shiver  runs  down 
our  spine  and  we  wonder  whether  we  are  to  be  driven  from 
the  field.  Let  us  change  our  point  of  view  and,  in  the 
future,  let  us  always  say:  We  are  in  the  transportation 
business.  True,  we  are  at  present  operating  electric  rail- 
ways, but  our  business  is  to  furnish  transportation.  The 
method  may  change  from  time  to  time,  but  if  it  does  we 
are  prepared  to  meet  the  situation;  if  any  new  and  more 
•efficient  methods  are  devised  we  are  prepared  to  adopt 
them  and  continue  our  service  to  the  public. 

Personally  I  believe  that  we  are  going  to  operate  electric 
railways  for  the  next  twenty-five  years  and  then  for  an 
indefinite  period  after  that.  There  is  nothing  in  sight  as 
far  as  I  can  see  to  take  the  place  of  the  urban  electric  rail- 
way except  in  small  communities  or  in  outlying  districts 
of  larger  communities.  I  think  we  may  to  advantage  use 
other  forms  of  transportation  to  supplement  our  street  rail- 
way except  in  small  communities  or  in  outlying  districts 
travel  is  light.  When  the  traffic  increases,  electric  railway 
.service  will  be  substituted.  In  all  cases  the  backbone  of 
our  system  will  continue  to  be  the  electric  railway.  But 
suppose  I  am  wrong.  Suppose,  for  example,  the  electricity 
is  to  be  superseded  by  some  other  form  of  power.  Still  I 
believe  we  will  operate  on  tracks  because  I  believe  that  is 
the  only  way  that  adequate  service  can  be  given  in  an 
urban  center.  We  will  simply  change  over  our  motors  or 
our  rolling  stock  and  use  the  new  source  of  power,  what- 
ever this  may  be.  But  suppose  I  am  wrong  again.  Suppose 
that  tracks  have  outlived  their  usefulness  and  are  to  be 
abandoned.  Still  I  would  say:  We  are  in  the  transporta- 
tion, business  and  we  should  furnish  service  in  whatever 
way  is  most  efficient,  whether  it  be  by  motor  cars,  by  trolley 
buses  or  by  aeroplanes.  I  say  this  because  I  am  satisfied 
that  there  must  always  be  some  systematic  and  co-ordinated 
method  of  urban  transportation.  The  people  must  be 
carried  back  and  forth  between  their  homes,  their  business 
and  their  places  of  amusement.  That  is  a  necessary  feature 
of  our  modern  life  that  cannot  be  done  away  with.  It  must 
take  place  in  some  form.  To  have  that  service  satisfactory 
and  economical  it  must,  in  my  judgment,  be  conducted  by 
some  single  organized  system.  Competition  in  public  serv- 
ice has  been  shown  repeatedly  to  be  extravagant  and  waste- 
ful. In  the  early  days  there  was  competition  between  horse 
car  lines  and  later  between  electric  railways,  but  this  was 
economically  unsound  and  gradually  disappeared.  As  I 
told  you  a  few  minutes  ago,  we  bought  eleven  street  rail- 
ways in  the  city  of  Seattle  and  we  combined  them  into  a 
single  efficient  property.  We  bought  them  because  eleven 
street  railway  properties  could  not  exist  in  Seattle  and 
properly  serve  the  public.  What  has  been  true  of  horse  car 
lines  and  of  electric  railways  will  be  true  of  any  future 
method  of  transportation.  Good  service  and  efficient  opera- 
tion will  compel  a  unified  system. 

Then  take  that  other  bugaboo,  municipal  ownership.  We 
have  just  seen  how  the  government  came  out  with  the  steam 
railroads.  You  know  and  I  know  that  municipalities  in  a 
democracy  can  never  successfully  operate  street  railways. 
There  may  be  sporadic  attempts  as  there  are  now  in  Seattle 
and  a  few  other  cities,  but  this  will  pass.  Sooner  or  later 
these  properties  will  return  to  private  operation  as  did  the 
Philadelphia  municipal  gas  plant.  Already  the  difficulties 
of  these  cities  are  becoming  known,  and  today  it  would  be 
pretty  difficult  to  sell  a  street  railway  to  a  city.  Most 
cities  do  not  want  them  at  any  price. 


Our  problem  then  is  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times,  to  be 
familiar  with  every  improvement  in  the  art  of  transporta- 
tion and  to  apply  these  improvements  to  our  properties 
whenever  this  will  produce  better  service  or  more  efficient 
operation. 

If  we  are  open-minded  and  alive  to  our  possibilities,  if 
instead  of  fearing  improvements  we  are  quick  to  seize  and 
apply  them  to  our  own  use  and  the  service  of  the  public, 
we  need  have  no  anxiety  for  the  future." 

From  Harry  Reid,  president  Interstate  Public  Service 
Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

"I  wish  it  [Bus  Transportation]  every  success  and 
trust  that  its  policy  will  be  such  that  there  could  be  no 
cause  for  complaint  by  any  of  the  patrons  of  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  and  I  am  sure  that  this  would  be 
the  case." 


From  J.  W.  Welsh,  executive  secretary  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association: 

"I  am  very  much  interested  in  noticing  the  announce- 
ment in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Oct.  29 
relating  to  your  institution  of  the  Bus  TRANSPORTATION. 

"I  think  this  is  a  very  forward  looking  step,  and  I 
wish  to  extend  to  you  my  best  wishes  for  success  in 
this  new  undertaking." 


From  Britton  I.  Budd,  president  Chicago,  North  Shore 
&  Milwaukee  Railroad,  Chicago,  111. 

"I  see  absolutely  no  objection  to  your  starting  a  bus 
journal;  in  fact,  I  think  it  is  decidedly  to  the  advantage 
of  the  electric  railway  industry.  The  sooner  the  com- 
panies realize  that  they  will  have  to  use,  in  part,  the  bus 
as  a  medium  of  transportation  in  order  to  take  care  of 
the  needs  of  certain  districts  not  served  by  electric  rail- 
ways the  better  it  will  be  for  the  industry." 


From  J.  H.  Hanna,  vice-president  Capital  Traction 
Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"I  was  very  glad  to  see  the  announcement  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  regarding  its  new  publica- 
tion, Bus  Transportation.  There  can  be  no  doubt  in 
my  mind  that  trackless  transportation  of  passengers  in 
cities  and  suburbs  is  a  factor  which  must  be  given  care- 
ful consideration  in  the  future.  It  is  important  that 
electric  railway  operators  get  information  on  which 
they  can  rely  regarding  the  operation  of  existing  lines 
and  the  possibility  of  establishing  others.  Your  publica- 
tion should  help  in  filling  that  requirement." 


From  P.  H.  Gadsden,  vice-president  United  Gas  Im- 
provement Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"I  was  very  much  interested  in  the  editorial  of  Oct.  29 
regarding  your  new  publication,  Bus  Transportation. 
I  believe  the  treatment  of  this  subject  in  the  way  you 
suggest  will  be  very  helpful.  . 

"The  auto  bus,  in  my  judgment,  is  destined  to  play 
an  increasingly  important  part  in  urban  transportation 
as  time  goes  on.  Whether  it  shall  be  as  a  competitor 
of  street  railways,  or  as  an  auxiliary,  will  depend  largely 
upon  our  attitude  toward  the  subject.  In  order  that 
we  may  make  no  mistake  in  such  a  highly  important 
matter  we  must  keep  ourselves  thoroughly  informed. 
The  Electric  Railway  Journal,  through  its  Bus 
Transportation  publication,  is  in  the  very  best  position 
to  keep  the  electric  railway  industry  informed  of  the  de- 
velopment of  this  special  form  of  transportation.  Your 
treatment  of  the  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  trans- 
portation requirements  of  the  various  communities  will 
greatly  aid  in  arriving  at  a  proper  conclusion." 


1038 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


How  to  Keep  Cars  on  Time 

Representatives  from  the  Transportation  and  Equipment  Departments  of  New 
England  Companies  Give  Their  Views  at  Club 
Meeting  Held  in  Boston 

some  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  condi- 
tions. Suppose  that  you  had  deposited 
your  savings  in  a  certain  bank  and 
found  upon  investigation  that  the  presi- 
dent, vice-president,  secretary,  treas- 
urer and  most  of  the  other  officials  of 
the  bank  deposited  their  money  in  a 
bank  across  the  street.  Would  you  not 
be  afraid  that  there  was  something 
radically  wrong  with  the  bank  and  that 
you  had  better  withdraw  your  funds 
and  deposit  them  in  the  bank  across 
the  street?  It  is  exactly  the  same  with 
our  patrons  on  the  street  cars.  If  they 
find  that  the  street  cars  are  too  slow 
and  too  crowded  for  the  officials  of  the 
company,  why  aren't  they  too  slow  and 
too  crowded  for  the  passengers? 

The  automobile  is  probably  the  cause 
of  more  delays  than  any  other  one 
thing,  and  the  congestion  caused  by 
the  automobile  on  our  downtown  streets 
is  becoming  a  great  problem  not  only 
to  the  street  railway  companies  but 
to  the  city  government  as  well.  I  be- 
lieve that  every  street  railway  company 
should  endeavor  to  have  ordinances 
passed  by  the  various  city  governments 
to  stop  the  parking  of  automobiles  on 
the  main  streets,  especially  during  the 
rush  hours.  This  may  meet  with  stiff 
opposition  from  the  merchants  on  the 
main  streets,  but  when  it  is  known  that 
from  recent  traffic  surveys  in  various 
cities  it  has  developed  that  the  auto- 
mobile averaged  only  1.9  persons  to 
each  machine,  while  our  cars,  especially 
during  the  rush  hours,  will  average  well 
up  towards  100  people,  it  would  seem 
as  if  the  city  officials  could  be  made 
to  see  that  the  greatest  good  to  the 
largest  number  lies  in  giving  the  street 
car  the  right  of  way.  This,  however, 
will  never  be  done  unless  the  street 
railway  company  itself  brings  it  to  the 
attention  of  the  city  government. 

The  city  government  should  also  stop 
the  practice  of  allowing  left-hand  turns 
by  automobiles  on  our  main  streets. 
All  traffic  should  be  routed  straight 
across  or  by  right-hand  turn,  and  the 
street  railway  company  should  do  its 
share  to  relieve  the  congestion  by  re- 
routing some  of  its  own  lines. 

The  Massachusetts  Legislature,  a 
year  or  two  ago,  passed  the  so-called 
8-ft.  law.  This  law  has  been  very  bene- 
ficial in  making  it  easier  for  our  pat- 
rons to  reach  the  car,  but  it  has  also 
materially  increased  the  congestion,  es- 
pecially where  the  streets  are  narrow 
and  automobiles  are  parked  at  the 
curb,  as  it  has  forced  the  automobile 
onto  our  tracks  so  that  after  one  car 
has  stopped  at  a  white  pole  the  sec- 
ond car  cannot  get  anywhere  near  the 
stopping  place  because  of  the  auto- 
mobiles lined  up  behind  the  street  car. 

A  better  way  would  be  to  have  the 
city  prohibit  the  parking  of  automo- 
biles within  75  ft.  in  front  of  a  white 
pole,  and  then  by  means  of  iron  stanch- 
ions and  light  chains  rope  off  a  load- 
ing area  4  or  5  ft.  from  the  track, 
and  have  the  rule  enforced  that  auto- 
mobiles are  always  to  go  to  the  right 
of  the  roped-off  space.  This  will  per- 
mit the  automobiles  to  keep  moving 
while  the  car  is  being  loaded  and  al- 
low the  second  car  to  come  up  behind 
the  first  ear  and  load  at  the  same 
time.    We  find  in  Springfield  that  the 


THE  meeting  of  the  New  England 
Street  Railway  Club  on  the  after- 
noon of  Dec.  1  was  devoted  to  the  ques- 
tion of  how  to  keep  the  cars  on  time. 
Abstracts  of  the  two  papers  presented 
on  the  subject  appear  below. 

Troubles  of  Keeping  Cars  on  Time 

By  Howard  F.  Whitney 

Assistant  to  the  President  Spring- 
field (Mass.)   Street  Railway 

1 SHALL  confine  my  remarks  in  this 
paper  to  those  delays  outside  of 
schedule  making  which  I  believe  we 
can  help  to  reduce. 

In  Massachusetts,  Section  84  of  the 
revised  laws  says  that  "whoever  will- 
fully obstructs  a  street  railway  com- 
pany in  the  legal  use  of  a  railway 
track,  or  delays  the  passing  of  cars 
thereon,  or  abets  in  such  obstruction  or 
delay,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of 
not  more  than  $500  or  by  imprisonment 
for  not  more  than  three  months."  I 
know  of  several  cases  on  our  own  prop- 
erties where  cars  were  willfully  de- 
layed, and  a  case  which  recently  came 
to  my  attention  is  probably  typical  of 
others.  A  truck  broke  down  on  a 
single-track  line,  and  the  driver  of  the 
truck  refused  to  allow  the  crew  or  the 
inspector,  who  later  arrived  on  the 
scene,  to  move  the  truck  until  the 
proper  repair  part  arrived  from  a  near- 
by town  and  was  duly  installed,  when 
the  truck  moved  off  the  track  under  its 
own  power.  In  this  case  the  company 
considered  itself  fortunate  in  collecting 
from  the  owner  of  the  truck  one-half  of 
the  cost  of  the  delay,  but  I  do  not 
think  that  we  would  have  received  that 
much  if  the  car  that  was  delayed  had 
not  been  carrying  the  U.  S.  mail.  I  do 
not  believe  in  the  policy  of  looking  for 
a  fight,  but  a  few  cases  of  willfully 
delaying  cars,  taken  into  court,  would 
give  the  public  a  wholesome  lesson  in 
the  rights  of  the  street  railway,  and  if 
we  insist  on  these  rights,  we  shall  win 
the  respect  of  our  various  communities. 

There  has  seemed  to  me  a  tendency 
in  recent  years  for  street  railway  oper- 
ating officials,  instead  of  riding  on  the 
cars  themselves  and  obtaining  first- 
hand knowledge  of  the  conditions,  to 
step  into  their  automobiles  at  their 
homes  and  either  be  driven  to  the  office 
by  a  chauffeur  or  to  drive  themselves, 
avoiding  the  car  tracks  near  their  home 
so  that  they  will  not  have  to  pass  up 
their  friends  waiting  on  the  corner  for 
a  street  car. 

I  have  heard  one  official  say  that  he 
drove  to  work  in  his  machine  to  avoid 
the  constant  criticism  to  which  he  was 
subjected  while  a  passenger  on  the  car. 
The  public,  upon  whom  we  depend  for 
a  living,  should  not  get  the  idea  that 
we  cannot  use  our  own  cars  to  go  to 
and  from  our  office  because  they  are  too 
slow,  even  if  some  little  time  is  taken 
—wasted  perhaps  you  may  think— in 
using  the  street  car.  I  believe  that 
every  street  railway  official  should  use 
the  cars  as  much  as  possible.  I  have 
seen  a  great  many  times  in  the 
People's  Forum"— and  you  undoubtedly 
have  also  seen  them— letters  signed 
Strap  Hanger,"  etc.,  stating  that  if 
the  street  railway  officials  rode  on  their 
own  cars,  they  might  occasionally  get 


8-ft.  law  has  practically  eliminated  the 
usefulness  of  the  two-car  stop,  because 
of  the  congestion  of  automobiles  on  the 
track.  If  the  roped-off  area  which  I 
mentioned  could  be  used,  the  two-car 
stop  will  again  be  of  great  advantage 
to  us. 

Another  cause  of  many  delays  are  - 
poor  track  conditions.  As  rapidly  as 
the  companies  get  onto  their  feet 
again,  we  should  spend  our  money  in 
rehabilitating  the  tracks.  In  fact,  good 
track  will  permit  of  higher  schedule 
speeds  and  stop  many  of  our  delays. 

Delays  in  Loading 
The  odd  unit  of  fare  is  another  cause 
for  delay,  as  a  great  many  people 
have  to  make  change,  and  with  the 
prepayment  car — which  has  come  to 
stay — the  car  is  forced  to  stand  until  a 
large  number  of  people  have  received 
their  change.  However,  some  things 
can  be  done  to  help  in  this.  In  re- 
modeling old  cars  for  prepayment  cars 
we  have  placed  the  fare  box  in  such  a 
position  that,  with  the  usual  crowd 
standing  on  the  back  platform,  it  is 
next  to  impossible  for  passengers  to 
get  by  the  box.  Would  it  not  be  well 
to  widen  out  the  aisle  so  that  access 
to  the  body  of  the  car  is  not  blocked 
by  the  box  and  the  heavy  iron  stanchions 
which  go  to  hold  it  in  place?  We  should 
do  all  that  we  can  to  accelerate  en- 
trance into  the  car. 

Today  our  business  is  surrounded 
with  so  much  machinery  that  on  some 
of  our  cars  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  get  onto  the  car.  We  force  our 
passengers  to  climb  a  flight  of  stairs, 
crowd  by  folding  doors  which  never 
open  quite  to  their  full  width,  and 
then  crowd  through  a  narrow  passage- 
way usually  blocked  by  men  and  boys 
standing  on  the  back  platform.  We 
ask  them  to  have  a  nickel  and  one 
or  two  pennies  ready  to  pay  their  fare, 
and  then  wonder  why  our  cars  are  de- 
layed. 

The  delays  in  loading  may  in  some 
measure  be  relieved  by  street  collectors 
which  are  being  used  quite  extensively 
in  various  parts  of  the  country.  These 
street  collectors  could  very  materially 
assist  the  loading  at  congested  points, 
especially  on  the  one-man  cars,  if  the 
car  was  equipped  with  some  device  by 
which  the  street  collector  could  open 
the  rear  door.  This,  of  course,  would 
have  to  be  so  connected  that  the  oper- 
ator could  not  start  the  car  until  the 
rear  door  was  closed. 

During  the  war  an  extensive  drive 
was  made  for  the  reduction  in  number 
of  white  poles  or  stopping  points,  but 
I  find  on  our  own  properties  that  the 
white  poles  are  gradually  creeping 
back  until  in  a  few  years  the  condi- 
tion will  be  as  bad  as  it  was  before 
the  war.  Where  we  are  confronted 
with  jitney  competition,  of  course,  the 
tendency  is  to  stop  at  every  street  cor- 
ner. These  white  poles,  however, 
should  be  kept  to  a  minimum,  if  we 
are  to  increase  our  schedule  speed  and 
stop  delays. 

I  have  tried  to  show  that  the  delays 
of  which  we  complain  are  not  entirely 
beyond  our  control.  I  realize  that  a 
great  many  delays  are  due  to  the  pub- 
lic, but  while  we  are  appealing  to  the 
public  to  help  us  keep  our  cars  on 
time  we  should  do  all  in  our  power  to 
obtain  the  same  object.  Let  us,  as 
far  as  possible,  clean  our  own  house 
first  and  then  go  to  the  public  and 
say  that  we  have  done  all  that  we  can 
and  ask  for  their  support. 


December  10,  1921 


1 

Electric   Railway  Journal 


1039 


Keeping  Cars  on  Time 

By  W.  C.  Bolt 

Superintendent  Rolling  Stock  and  Shops, 
Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass. 

AN  ELECTRIC  railway  may  be 
.  likened  to  any  other  manufacturing 
and  sales  organization.  The  motormen 
and  conductors  represent  the  sales  or- 
ganization, and  the  rolling  stock  em- 
ployees represent  the  manufacturing 
organization.  There  must  be  close  co- 
operation between  these  two  depart- 
ments or  the  service  will  not  be  ade- 
quate and  cars  will  not  be  on  time. 

Our  electric  car  of  today  is  a  very 
much  different  piece  of  machinery  than 
the  electric  car  of  early  street  railway 
days.  The  first  electric  vehicle  com- 
prised a  simple  car  body  with  open 
platforms,  hand  brakes,  two  simple 
motors  and  contactors.  Contrast  this 
equipment,  if  you  please,  with  the 
highly  complicated  modern  electric  rail- 
way car  of  today — a  car  equipped  with 
folding  doors,  folding  steps,  door  en- 
gines, electric  signals,  electric  buzzers, 
illuminated  signs,  electric  heaters,  heat 
control,  electric  or  pneumatic  contact- 
ors, control  and  motor  switches,  emer- 
gency valves,  engineer's  valves,  pneu- 
matic sanding  equipment,  and  a  great 
many  other  details. 

Maintenance  Often  Complicated 
by  Variety  of  Equipment 

The  maintenance  of  cars  is  often 
complicated  by  the  variety  of  equip- 
ment in  use  on  each  property.  It  is 
not  at  all  uncommon  for  a  large  street 
railway  to  have  between  ten  and  fifteen 
types  of  motors  in  active  service  at  the 
same  time.  A  similar  condition  exists 
with  practically  every  other  principal 
unit.  With  this  diversity  of  equipment 
it  becomes  very  necessary  for  the  roll- 
ing stock  department  to  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  be  able  to  prepare  specifications 
for  new  cars  and  to  recommend  the 
service  to  which  each  type  of  car  is 
best  adapted.  It  was  not  until  the 
advent  of  the  safety  car  that  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  use  a  standard  car 
and  construct  schedules  to  fit  the  car, 
rather  than  to  construct  a  car  to  fit 
the  schedules. 

The  second  and  most  important  func- 
tion of  the  rolling  stock  department  is 
that  of  maintaining  car  equipment  in 
a  high  degree  of  reliability.  The  gage 
by  which  the  efficiency  of  the  depart- 
ment is  generally  measured  is  the  rec- 
ord of  cars  removed  from  service,  or 
number  of  "car  pull-ins." 

Adequate  car  inspection  becomes  the 
most  important  means  by  which  these 
can  be  reduced.  On  the  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts Street  Railway  cars  are  thor- 
oughly inspected  about  every  1,000 
car-miles  and  are  overhauled  at  ap- 
proximately 30.000  car-miles,  or  its 
equivalent  in  kilowatt-hour  energy  con- 
sumption, where  cars  are  equipped  with 
automatic  recording  meters. 

Full  Complement  of  Snow-Fighting 
Equipment  Necessary 

To  keep  cars  on  time  during  the 
winter  months  every  property  must  be 
equipped  with  a  full  complement  of 
snow-fighting  equipment.  The  invest- 
ment in  snow-fighting  equipment  be- 
comes an  obligation  to  enable  passenger 
car  equipment  to  perform  its  proper 
function  and  for  the  electric  railway  to 
give  proper  service  to  the  public.  An- 
other important  factor  in  keeping  cars 
on  time  as  viewed  from  the  rolling  stock 
department  is  to  have  the  established 


line  voltage  uniformly  maintained  to 
prevent  undue  injury  to  motors,  re- 
sistances, etc.  Bad  track,  bad  joints 
and  broken  special  trackwork  are  all 
serious  interferences  in  maintaining 
schedules.  The  bad  results  on  the  con- 
dition of  rolling  stock  equipment 
through  low  line  voltage,  bad  track  con- 
ditions, I  do  not  believe,  are  sufficiently 
realized  by  many  operating  managers. 

Abuse  of  equipment  on  the  part  of 
operators  and  motormen  is  always  one 


of  the  reasons  given  by  rolling  stock 
maintenance  men  for  equipment  fail- 
ures and  can  be  eliminated  only  by 
means  of  a  thorough  system  of  follow 
up  and  check.  All  of  this  in  the  ulti- 
mate analysis  is  a  matter  of  discipline. 
If  cars  are  reasonably  well  maintained 
by  the  rolling  stock  organization  and 
schedules  have  been  properly  con- 
structed, equipment  failures  will  be 
materially  less  when  cars  are  kept  on 
time. 


Four  Committees  Meet  at  Indianapolis 

President  Todd's  Home  Town  Scene  of  Association  Activities  for  One  Day- 
Executive  Committee  Decides  to  Hold  Midyear  Conference  in 
Indianapolis  on  Feb.  28. 


THE  American  Electric  Railway 
Association  is  forging  ahead  rapidly 
in  its  business  with  the  monthly  meet- 
ings of  the  executive  committee.  At 
Indianapolis  on  last  Friday,  Dec.  2,  the 
executive  committee  put  into  practice 
the  policy  of  holding  some  meetings 
away  from  New  York  and  some  of  the 
other  committees  followed  suit,  meet- 
ing in  Indianapolis  on  the  same  day. 

Executive  Committee  Meeting 

The  executive  committee  held  an 
active  session  in  President  Todd's  office 
on  Friday  morning.  As  was  contem- 
plated in  the  revised  constitution,  there 
was  a  large  number  of  committee 
reports  to  present  to  the  executive  com- 
mittee for  its  information  for  it  to  take 
action  on. 

One  of  the  most  important  reports 
considered  at  this  meeting  was  that  of 
the  subjects  and  meetings  committee 
presented  by  its  chairman,  C.  D.  Em- 
mons. As  a  result  of  this  report  and  of 
that  of  the  special  dinner  committee 
presented  by  its  chairman,  Harry  Reid, 
it  was  decided  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee to  hold  the  mid-year  conference 
at  the  Claypool  Hotel,  Indianapolis, 
Ind.,  on  Tuesday,  Feb.  28,  1922. 

The  subject  and  meetings  committee 
presented  a  tentative  program  which 
provided  for  consideration  of  some  of 
the  most  important  subjects  before  the 
industry  at  this  time.  This  program 
was  approved  by  the  executive  commit- 
tee with  instructions  to  the  subjects 
and  meetings  committee  to  make  final 
plans  along  those  lines.  One  important 
feature  of  the  subjects  and  meetings 
committee  report  was  the  provision  for 
plenty  of  time  for  active  discussion. 
The  subjects  chosen  were  such  as  would 
lend  themselves  to  discussion  in  the 
meeting. 

The  special  dinner  committee  re- 
ported that  it  had  made  satisfactory 
arrangements  with  the  Claypool  Hotel 
for  a  meeting  hall  for  the  morning  and 
afternoon  sessions  and  for  a  real 
Indiana  dinner  in  the  evening.  The 
management  of  the  Claypool  Hotel  had 
promised  to  warn  all  other  people  away 
from  it  on  Feb.  27,  28  and  March  1,  so 
that  the  association  would  have  full 
sway  for  the  conference. 

The  special  dinner  committee  an- 
nounced the  appointment  of  H.  J.  Ken- 
field  as  chairman  of  its  sub-committee 
on  transportation,  M.  B.  Lambert 
chairman  of  its  sub-committee  on  pub- 


licity, and  S.  W.  Greenland  as  chairman 
of  its  sub-committee  on  reception. 

As  the  result  of  the  report  and 
recommendation  of  the  finance  com- 
mittee submitted  by  J.  G.  Barry,  one  of 
its  members,  the  committee  was  author- 
ized by  the  executive  committee  to  en- 
gage Arthur  Andersen  &  Company  as 
auditors  of  the  association's  books. 

A  progress  report  of  the  membership 
committee,  presented  by  its  chairman, 
F.  R.  Coates,  was  read.  It  was  recom- 
mended by  the  executive  committee  that 
the  membership  committee  and  the  com- 
mittee on  co-operation  with  state  and 
sectional  associations  work  together  in 
bringing  to  the  attention  of  the  rail- 
ways scattered  over  the  country  the 
advantages  of  membership  in  the  asso- 
ciation. 

A  report  was  heard  from  the  special 
committee  on  co-operation  with  manu- 
facturers, presented  by  its  chairman, 
E.  F.  Wickwire,  and  the  plans  approved 
for  enlisting  the  more  active  education 
of  manufacturers'  employees  as  to  their 
relation  to  the  electric  railway  in- 
dustry. 

Report  of  Publicity  Committee 

A  report  of  the  publicity  committee 
was  received,  presented  to  the  executive 
committee  by  Labert  St.  Clair,  of  the 
advertising  section.  Attention  was 
called  to  the  new  publicity  section  in 
Aera,  to  the  co-operation  between  the 
advertising  section  and  the  various 
state  public  utility  information  com- 
mittees, and  to  the  activity  of  the  adver- 
tising section  in  connection  with 
various  local  situations  which  have  a 
national  importance. 

Some  tentative  plans  for  the  future 
were  submitted.  A  sub-committee  to 
pass  on  all  proposed  advertising  copy 
was  appointed.  The  members  of  this 
committee  are:  J.  N.  Shannahan,  chair- 
man; B.  G.  Collier,  vice-chairman;  P. 
H.  Gadsden  and  L.  S.  Storrs. 

Upon  recommendation  of  the  pub- 
licity committee,  the  executive  com- 
mittee approved  the  plans:  to  prepare 
an  article  or  statement  to  be  submitted 
to  the  executive  committee  setting  forth 
an  interpretation  of  the  attitude  of  the 
association  on  the  motor  bus;  to  assist 
in  the  formation  of  state  committees  on 
public  utilities  information  in  states 
where  they  do  not  now  exist;  and  to 
notify  companies  of  its  readiness  to 
review  proposed  national  public  utility 
publicity  campaigns  for  which  financial 
assistance  is  asked. 


1040 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Formal  approval  was  given  to  the 
admission  of  the  following  associate 
members,  Class  1:  Stone  &  Webster, 
Boston,  Mass.;  Day  &  Zimmerman, 
Philadelphia,  and  H.  L.  Doherty  & 
Company,  New  York. 

The  names  of  some  two  railway  com- 
panies and  nine  manufacturer  com- 
panies who  indicated  desire  to  resign 
from  the  association  were  referred  to 
the  membership  committee. 

The  committee  referred  the  question 
of  payment  of  expenses  of  special 
representatives  of  the  association  and 
affiliated  associations  when  traveling 
on  necessary  work  for  the  association — 
not  including  committee  meetings  of 
the  association — to  the  finance  com- 
mittee for  recommendation. 

Progress  reports  were  also  heard 
from  the  public  policy  committee  and 
the  national  relations  committees. 

Those  present  at  the  meeting  were: 
Robert  I.  Todd,  president;  C.  D.  Em- 
mons and  F.  R.  Coates,  vice-presidents; 
L.  H.  Palmer,  president  affiliated  asso- 
ciation; H.  E.  Chubbuck  and  W.  H. 
Sawyer,  operator  members  at  large; 
C.  R.  Ellicott,  J.  G.  Barry,  and  L.  E. 
Gould,  manufacturer  members  at  large; 
A.  N.  Brady  and  C.  L.  Henry,  past- 
presidents;  and  J.  W.  Welsh,  executive 
secretary. 

Special  Dinner  Committee 
Meeting 

A  meeting  of  the  special  dinner  com- 
mittee was  held  in  the  office  of  Harry 
Reid,  chairman,  on  the  morning  of  Fri- 
day, Dec.  2,  in  Indianapolis.  Various 
details  of  the  arrangements  for  the 
dinner  on  Feb.  28  were  discussed  and 
a  report  drawn  up  for  presentation  to 
the  executive  committee.  The  special 
dinner  committee  has  been  given  the 
duty  of  providing  all  entertainment  for 
the  evening  and  something  out  of  the 
ordinary  is  promised,  but  naturally 
plans  will  not  be  revealed  until  Feb.  28. 

The  following  members,  the  total 
committee  membership,  were  in  attend- 
ance: Harry  Reid,  chairman;  L.  E. 
Gould,  E.  C.  Faber,  S.  W.  Greenland, 
and  M.  B.  Lambert. 

Meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Co- 
operation of  Manufacturers 

A  meeting  of  the  special  committee 
to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  manufac- 
turers in  spreading  electric  railway  in- 
formation to  their  own  employees  and 
through  them  to  the  general  public  was 
held  at  the  Claypool  Hotel,  Indian- 
apolis, on  Friday  morning,  Dec.  2. 

It  was  brought  out  by  this  committee 
that  there  is  a  real  opportunity  to  put 
into  play  the  ideas  expressed  by  Mr. 
Wickwire  at  the  October  convention 
and  the  committee  took  very  definite 
plans  to  enlist  the  various  manufac- 
turers in  this  work.  This  committee 
also  had  its  full  membership  present: 
E.  F.  Wickwire,  chairman;  E.  C.  Faber, 
Frank  Gale,  P.  N.  Jones,  and  J.  C. 
McQuiston. 

Meeting  of  the  Committee  on 
Membership 

The  meeting  of  the  membership  com- 
mittee was  held  in  President  Todd's 
office  on  Friday  afternoon,  Dec.  2. 

A  complete  survey  of  the  present 
membership  of  the  association  was 
made  and  particular  attention  was  paid 
to  the  analysis  of  individual  member- 
ship situations  on  account  of  the  modi- 


fied provisions  of  the  constitution  as 
well  as  to  the  new  classes  of  member- 
ship created,  namely  the  three  divisions 
of  associate  members. 

Some  new  and  vigorous  methods  of 
placing  the  advantages  of  membership 
before  the  various  classes  of  individuals 
and  companies  who  are  eligible  for 
membership  were  discussed  and  definite 
plans  made  by  the  committee  to  carry 
them  into  execution.  The  committee 
has  set  certain  definite  goals  for  itself 
this  year  and  non-member  companies  of 
the  association,  both  operating  and 
manufacturing,  may  expect  to  hear 
from  the  membership  committee  with 
telling  arguments. 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  one  mem- 
ber remarked  that  most  membership 
committee  meetings  of  most  associa- 
tions were  perfunctory  and  ended  about 
where  they  started;  but  that  this  meet- 
ing of  the  membership  committee  of 
this  association  had  been  the  most  in- 
structive of  any  he  had  ever  attended. 

Members  of  the  committee  in  attend- 
ance were:  F.  R.  Coates,  chairman;  L. 
E.  Gould,  P.  N.  Jones,  M.  B.  Lambert, 
E.  F.  Wickwire,  and  Frank  Gale  for 
E.  P.  Waller,  and  H.  V.  Bozell  for  H. 
H.  Norris. 

President  Todd  Entertains 
at  Dinner 

President  Todd  entertained  the  com- 
bined personnel  of  all  committees  meet- 
ing at  Indianapolis  on  Friday,  Dec.  2, 
at  a  wonderful  Indiana  chicken  dinner 
out  in  the  country.  He  ran  his  special 
car  No.  600,  into  the  terminal  so  that 
the  party  had  exceptionally  fine  trans- 
portation out  to  the  farm  house  of  local 
renown  for  its  chicken  dinners.  Every- 
one in  attendance  authorized  the  state- 
ment that  if  this  was  a  sample  of 
Indiana  culinary  art,  there  could  be  no 
better  place  selected  for  the  mid-year 
dinner. 


Traffic  &  Transportation 
Committees  Appointed 


J.  B.  Stewart,  Jr.,  Youngstown  Munic- 
ipal Railway,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

S.  L.  Vaughan,  Grand  Rapids,  Grand 
Haven,  &  Muskegon  Railway  Com- 
pany, Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

H.  B.  Weatherwax,  United  Traction 
Company,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Committee  on  One-Man  Car 
Operation 

C.  E.  Morgan,  chairman,  Brooklyn  City 
Railroad,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

J.  V.  Sullivan,  sponsor,  Chicago  Surface 
Lines,  Chicago,  111. 

F.  G.  Buffe,  Kansas  City  Railways, 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

S.  W.  Greenland,  Indiana  Service  Cor- 
poration, Foi't  Wayne,  Ind. 

R.  B.  Hull,  Conestoga  Traction  Com- 
pany, Lancaster,  Pa. 

C.  W.  Kellogg,  Stone  &  Webster,  Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

Dudley  Montgomery,  Madison  Railways, 
Madison,  Mo. 

D.  A.  Scanlon,  Northern  Ohio  Traction 
&  Light  Company,  Akron,  Ohio. 

Committee  on  Personnel 
and  Training 

J.  E.  Wayne,  chairman,  York  Railways, 
York,  Pa. 

Arthur  Gaboury,  sponsor,  Montreal 
Tramway  Company,  Montreal,  Can- 
ada. 

J.  K.  Punderford,  sponsor,  Connecticut 
Company,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

F.  L.  Butler,  Georgia  Railway  &  Power 
Company,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Edward  M.  Graham,  Bangor  Railway  & 
Electric,  Bangor,  Me. 

Dr.  John  Leeming,  Chicago  Surface 
Lines,  Chicago,  111. 

A.  P.  Norris,  Rochester  &  Syracuse 
Railroad,  Newark,  N.  J. 

H.  H.  Norris,  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, New  York  City. 

Dr.  Arthur  J.  Rowland,  Employees 
Mutual  Benefit  Association,  The  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Committee  on  Traffic  Regulations 


PRESIDENT  PALMER  of  the  T.  & 
T.  Association  has  announced  the 
appointment  of  the  following  commit- 
tees. The  personnel  named  indicates  the 
committees  in  so  far  as  they  have  been 
appointed. 

Committee  on  Merchandising 
tr  an  sport  atio  n 

E.  M.  Walker,  chairman,  Terre  Haute 
Traction  &  Light  Company,  Terre 
Haute,  Ind. 

G.  H.  Clifford,  sponsor,  Northern  Texas 
Traction  Company,  Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

Edward  Dana,  sponsor,  Boston  El- 
evated Railway,  Boston,  Mass. 

W.  R.  Alberger,  San  Francisco-Oakland 
Terminal  Railway,  Oakland,  Cal. 

W.  H.  Boyce,  Beaver  Valley  Traction 
Company,  Beaver  Valley,  Pa. 

Victor  S.  Curtis,  The  Connecticut  Com- 
pany, New  Haven,  Conn. 

F.  C.  Lewis,  Boston  &  Worcester  Street 
Railway,  Framingham,  Mass. 

V.  L.  Lloyd,  Cleveland  Railway,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

A.  Stuart  Pratt,  Stone  &  Webster  Man- 
agement Corporation,  Boston,  Mass. 

Samuel  Riddle,  Louisville  Railway, 
Louisville,  Ky. 

F.  W.  Shappert,  Chicago,  North  Shore 
&  Milwaukee  Railway,  Chicago,  111. 

K.  A.  Simmon,  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company,  East  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 


Herbert  B.  Flowers,  chairman,  United 

Railways   &    Electric    Company  of 

Baltimore,  Baltimore,  Md. 
T.   C.   Cherry,   sponsor,   Rochester  & 

Syracuse  Railroad,  Newark,  N.  J. 
H.  0.  Butler,  United  Railways  of  St. 

Louis,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
F.  R.  Cogswell,  Pittsburgh  Railways, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

F.  P.  Edinger,  Chicago  Surface  Lines, 
Chicago,  111. 

W.  H.  Maltbie,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Fielder  Sanders,  Street  Railroad  Com- 
missioner, Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Paul  E.  Wilson,  Cleveland  Railway, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Committee  on  Safety  Work 

W.  H.  Boyce,  chairman,  Pittsburgh  & 
Beaver  Street  Railway,  New  Brigh- 
ton, Pa. 

J.  R.  Blackhall,  Chicago  &  Joliet  Elec- 
tric Railway,  Joliet,  111. 

D.  E.  Parsons,  East  St.  Louis  &  Sub- 
urban Railway,  East  St.  Louis,  111. 

R.  M.  Reade,  Quebec  Railway,  Light 
&  Power  Company,  Quebec,  Canada. 

E.  D.  Reed,  Chattanooga  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

C.  B.  Scott,  Chicago  Edison  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

G.  T.  Seely,  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Elec- 
tric Company,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

Claude  C.  Van  Aucken,  Electric  Trac- 
tion, Chicago,  111. 


News  of  the  Eledric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


City  and  Company  Agree 

Operating  Arrangement  Perfected  by 
the  City  of  Detroit  and  Detroit 
United  Railway 

Negotiations  between  the  Detroit 
(Mich.)  United  Railway  and  officials  of 
the  city  of  Detroit  have  resulted  in 
an  agreement  which  will  give  the  city  a 
unified  railway  system  with  a  universal 
transfer.  Although  the  company  had 
stated  that  it  would  not  agree  to  the 
transfer  arrangement,  the  city's  de- 
mands in  this  respect  were  finally  met 
and  passengers  will  be  granted  trans- 
fers between  Detroit  United  Railway 
and  city  cars  on  all  lines. 

Woodward  Avenue  Case  Settled 

Another  agreement  reached  at  the 
■conference  between  representatives  of 
the  company  and  city  officials  provides 
for  the  operating  of  cars  of  the  munic- 
ipal railway  on  Woodward  Avenue, 
Fort  Street  and  the  Hamilton,  Trum- 
bull and  Fourteenth  lines  on  a  day-to- 
day rental  basis.  For  the  privilege  of 
operating  over  the  company's  tracks  the 
city  will  pay  20  cents  per  car-mile.  The 
company  will  pay  on  the  same  basis  for 
operating  over  the  municipal  lines.  The 
■city  will  pay  for  operating  over  69 
miles  of  Detroit  United  Railway  tracks 
-while  the  company  will  operate  over 
approximately  35  miles  of  city  lines, 
including  the  29  miles  of  Detroit  United 
Railway  lines  to  be  taken  over  by  the 
city  according  to  the  day-to-day  agree- 
ment under  which  they  were  built. 

Negotiations  will  be  continued  for 
the  lease  of  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
way's entire  city  system  on  a  day-to- 
day rental  basis.  The  proposal  to  lease 
the  lines  was  made  by  Mayor  Couzens 
as  it  is  desired  to  have  the  complete 
system  operated  under  city  control  un- 
til a  purchase  plan  can  be  submitted 
to  the  people.  The  Mayor's  proposal 
to  lease  the  lines  with  a  view  to  ulti- 
mately purchasing  them  is  the  first 
serious  discussion  along  that  line  since 
1919  when  the  purchase  proposition  was 
"voted  down. 

Day-to-Day  Lease 

No  details  as  to  the  rental  to  be  al- 
lowed the  company  or  the  price  to  be 
paid  for  the  lines  have  been  disclosed. 
The  lease  under  which  the  city  proposes 
to  take  over  the  entire  system  will  be 
on  a  day-to-day  basis  subject  to  ter- 
mination at  any  time  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil. In  1919  the  company  offered  to  sell 
the  complete  system  to  the  city  for 
$31,500,000.  The  plan  to  purchase  at 
that  price  was  voted  down. 

Under  the  present  arrangements  the 
city  will  operate  cars  over  more  than 
150  miles  of  tracks  and  will  have  con- 
nections at  both  the  east  and  west  sides 
of  the  city  as  well  as  a  route  to  the 
down-town  section.  It  was  announced 
following  the  last  conference  that  there 
■would  be  no  change  at  present  in  the 
conditions  of  transfer  arrangements. 
The  Detroit  United  Railway  will  con- 
tinue to  collect  the  1-cent  charge  for 
each  transfer  and  the  city  will  issue 
transfers  on  the  same  basis.  When 
transfers  are  issued  from  one  system 


to  the  other  the  6  cents  resulting  from 
the  5-cent  fare  and  1-cent  transfer 
charge  will  be  divided  equally  between 
the  company  and  the  city.  Traffic  on 
Fort  Street  and  Woodward  Avenue,  the 
two  lines  from  which  the  people  voted 
to  oust  the  Detroit  United  Railway, 
will  be  divided  by  operating  alternately 
company  cars  and  city  cars.  No  inter- 
ruption of  service  is  to  be  made  while 
the  details  are  being  completed  and  the 
company  has  announced  that  the  trans- 
fer arrangements  will  be  effective  on 
Dec.  12. 

Peter  Witt  Cars  to  Be  Used 

The  city  plans  to  use  the  128  cars 
taken  over  under  the  day-to-day  agree- 
ment to  match  up  with  the  company's 
cars  on  Fort  Street  and  Woodward  Ave- 
nue. It  is  not  intended  to  use  the  one- 
man  safety  type  cars  on  lines  where 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  is  oper- 
ating large  cars,  but  the  Peter  Witt 
type  cars  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
city  will  be  used.  The  even  division  of 
traffic  on  Fort  Street  and  Woodward 
Avenue,  two  of  the  important  lines, 
is  expected  to  increase  the  city's  car 
revenue  materially. 

The  unified  operation  of  all  lines  will 
give  the  city  a  very  satisfactory  rail- 
way service  it  is  believed  by  city  offi- 
cials, in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
municipal  lines  will  be  connected  with 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  system  and 
these  lines  supply  railway  facilities  to 
sections  of  the  city  which  were  previ- 
ously without  railway  service.  Con- 
siderable new  territory  is  tapped  by  the 
municipal  lines. 

The  meeting  on  Dec.  1  which  evi- 
dently ended  the  controversy  was  prac- 
tically without  friction  between  the  two 
parties.  The  conference  was  held  be- 
hind closed  doors.  On  two  occasions  the 
negotiations  were  interrupted  while  one 
of  the  parties  withdrew  to  confer  pri- 
vately. The  company  was  represented 
at  the  conference  by  Allan  F.  Edwards, 
vice-president,  Alex  Dow  and  Jere  C. 
Hutchins,  directors;  Elliott  G.  Steven- 
son, chief  counsel;  E.  J.  Burdick,  gen- 
eral manager.  The  city  officials  pres- 
ent besides  Mayor  James  Couzens  were: 
G.  O.  Ellis  and  H.  H.  Esselstyn,  mem- 
bers of  the  Street  Railway  Commission; 
Ross  Schram,  secretary  of  the  commis- 
sion; Clarence  E.  Wilcox,  Corporation 
Counsel  and  Joseph  S.  Goodwin,  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Detroit  Municipal 
Railway. 

No  definite  date  has  been  set  for  fur- 
ther conferences  and  it  is  not  antici- 
pated that  the  details  of  the  proposi- 
tion to  lease  the  complete  system  will 
be  worked  out  for  some  time. 


Paterson  Has  Ambitions! — The  City 
Plan  Commission  of  Paterson,  N.  J.. 
has  invited  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  tc  a  conference  on  Dec.  15 
to  consider  a  unified  transportation 
plan  for  both  states.  The  proposals  in- 
clude additional  tubes  under  the  East 
and  Hudson  rivers,  electrification  of  all 
passenger  lines  and  an  interstate 
through-routing  plan  which  will  take 
New  Jersey  trains  to  Westchester  and 
Long  Island  and  vice  versa. 


$2,000,000  for  Improvements 

Expert  Retained  by  City  of  Seattle  Sees 
Great  Need  for  Large 
Improvements 

Peter  Witt,  retained  by  the  Council 
of  Seattle,  Wash.,  as  a  consulting  ex- 
pert, has  proposed  to  that  body  that  a 
conference  be  entered  into  with  the 
former  owners  of  what  is  now  the 
Seattle  Municipal  Railway  who  at 
present  are  holders  of  bonds  of  the 
city  that  would  lead  to  a  virtual  re- 
writing of  the  contract  under  which  the 
city  took  over  the  road.  He  favors  defer- 
ring for  ten  years  the  payment  of  the 
purchase  installments  so  as  to  give  time 
for  the  absorption  of  $2,000,000,  which 
he  considers  should  be  spent  on  the 
lines  to  improve  them. 

Mr.  Witt's  formal  report  has  not  yet 
been  presented.  He  made  a  prelim- 
inary statement,  however,  to  the  Coun- 
cil recently  which  is  accepted  as  show- 
ing the  trend  that  his  formal  report 
will  take.  He  is  quoted  in  part  as  fol- 
lows: 

I  have  come  to  definite  conclusions  as  to 
certain  things  that  I  shall  deal  at  length 
with  in  my  written  report.  I  have  asked, 
however,  for  this  privilege  of  coming  before 
you  now  that  we  may  benefit  by  an  oral 
discussion. 

I  have  taken  the  position  that  it  can't  be 
any  of  my  business  how  the  city  to6k  over 
this  property  from  its  former  private  own- 
ers, or  how  its  previous  arrangements  for 
payment  have  been  made.  Personally,  I 
can't  see  why  the  car  rider  should  pay  for 
this  property,  and  I  feel  that  all  any  street 
car  rider  should  be  forced  to  pay  for  when 
he  contributes  to  the  fare  box  should  be  the 
maintenance,  the  overhead  and  the  oper- 
ating expenses.  Under  the  provisions  of 
your  contract,  however,  you  are  decreeing 
that  the  car  rider  shall  pay. 

As  your  street  car  situation  appears,  it 
anticipates  that  all  future  capital  outlay 
charges  shall  be  met  by  issuance  of  utility 
bonds.  Presumably,  it  is  going  to  be  impos- 
sible to  sell  any  more  bonds  against  this 
property. 

But  your  property  has  to  have  new  money. 
It  must  have  replacements- — not  only  ordi- 
nary replacements  but  extraordinary  re- 
placements— before  it  can  ever  be  possible 
to  bring  about  better  service  at  less  cost. 

I  am  going  to  recommend  the  expenditure 
of  several  million  dollars  immediately  for 
new  equipment.  For  instance,  there  is  only 
one  place  for  many  of  the  large,  heavv 
cars — the  junk  pile. 

Money  must  be  raised  some  way  to  meet 
these  necessary  replacements.  The  only 
way  that  I  see  is  for  the  city  of  Seattle  to 
have  a  conference  with  the  owners  of  the 
bonds  and  arrange  for  the  replacement  of 
the  old  bonds  with  new  bonds.  The  new 
bonds  should  be  issued  for  a  longer  period, 
say  twenty-five  years,  and  for  at  least  ten 
years  there  should  be  no  payment  on  prin- 
cipal required.  In  these  ten  years  the 
replacement  costs  can  be  repaid  from  the 
earnings. 

The  principal  of  $15,000,000  should  not_be 
written  off  at  the  rate  of  $1,000,000  a  year 
for  the  last  fifteen  years.  The  payment 
should  provide  for  a  lower  amount  in  the 
early  years  and  a  larger  amount  in  the 
later  years,  so  that  your  property  should 
have  time  to  rehabilitate  itself,  and  should 
be  paid  for  in  the  end  by  the  much 
increased  population  your  citv  is  destined 
to  have. 

Councilman  Fitzgerald,  chairman  of 
the  finance  committee,  in  discussing 
Witt's  remarks,  said: 

Personally,  I  think  Witt  did  the  wise 
thing  to  take  this  matter  up  now.  We 
can  talk  it  all  over,  call  the  Mayor  into 
our  conferences  and  mavbe  we  can  eet 
somewhere  and  accomplish  something  that 
will  actually  relieve  our  situation. 

Mayor  Caldwell  declined  to  comment 


1042 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


on  the  Witt  report.  He  is  reported  to 
nave  said: 

Witt  is  hired  by  the  Council  and  is 
reporting-  to  it.  I  will  let  the  Council  do 
all  the  commenting  on  it. 

The  finance  committee,  consisting  of 
five  of  the  nine  members  of  the  Coun- 
cil, approved  the  plan  suggested  by  Mr. 
Witt  and  by  a  unanimous  vote  directed 
the  Corporation  Counsel  to  draft  a  reso- 
lution, authorizing  the  city  law  de- 
partment to  negotiate  with  the  holders 
of  the  securities.  When  the  matter 
was  about  to  come  before  the  Council 
meeting,  Councilman  Fitzgerald  an- 
nounced that  it  had  not  been  introduced, 
and  it  was  abruptly  dropped,  due,  it 
is  believed,  to  the  storm  of  protest  from 
the  public  at  the  proposed  invasion  of 
the  general  fund  of  the  city. 

Deferred  Payment  Plan 
Broached  in  September 

Corporation  Counsel  Walter  F.  Meier, 
in  an  opinion  on  the  proposed  plan, 
said: 

•  ^  tl?e  time  when  a  bill  was  proposed 
in  the  last  session  of  the  State  Legislature 
authorizing  cities  to  refund  utility  bonds  I 
was  of  the  opinion  that  under  existing 
statutes  it  is  doubtful  whether  such  bonds 
can  be  refunded  with  anything  but  general 
obligation  bonds,  and  I  think  it  is  still 
doubtful,  there  having  been  no  change  in 
the  statutes. 

The  plan  to  defer  payments  on  the 
city's  $15,000,000  debt  to  the  Stone  & 
Webster  interests  was  first  broached  by 
Mr.  Fitzgerald  last  September,  in  con- 
nection with  the  movement  to  reduce 
fares  on  the  railway.  Subsequently 
Mr.  Witt  was  engaged  to  survey  the 
railway  system,  and  his  first  recom- 
mendation was  that  the  city  negotiate 
with  the  bondholders  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  their  consent  to  the  de- 
ferred payment  idea. 

When  asked  the  probable  effect  of 
the  proposed  payment  refunds  upon 
fares,  Mr.  Witt  replied: 

Carfare  cannot  interest  me.  It  was 
always  dependable  upon  the  cost  of  serv- 
ice. *  *  *  Of  necessity,  the  rate  of  fare 
is  always  involved  in  any  transportation 
question.  It  has  been  the  great  problem  for 
several  years  all  over  the  countrv.  Per- 
sonally I  am  utterly  opposed  to  the  plan 
making  the  car  rider  buv  this  property. 
Better  than  1  cent  of  every  fare  paid  this 
last  year  has  gone  not  for  service,  but  for 
payment  of  the  debt.    •  •  • 

This  property  must  have  some  changes, 
and  I  don't  see  how  you  can  get  the  money 
unless  the  payments  on  the  principal  are 
deferred.  It  was  a  most  unusual  situation 
in  which  this  property  was  acquired.  I 
never  heard  of  such  a  purchase,  but  how- 
ever that  may  be,  this  other  money  must  be 
obtained.  The  city  of  course  would  not  be 
asking  the  bondholders  to  do  anvthing  that 
would  hurt  them,  because  it  would  greatly 
improve  the  property.  I  can't  see  any 
chance  of  anyone  purchasing  any  more 
bonds  on  the  utility  on  account  '  of  the 
large  first  lien,  and  I  understand  there  is 
no  chance  of  issuing  general  bonds.  The 
property  which  is  worn  out  should  be 
replaced  by  the  car  rider — the  car  rider 
has  worn  it  out  and  the  car  rider  should 
repay. 


Pay  of  Interurban  Men  Reduced 

The  wage  dispute  between  the  East 
St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway,  East 
St.  Louis,  111.,  and  its  employees,  mem- 
bers of  the  Amalgamated  Association, 
has  been  settled  by  the  board  of  ar- 
bitration. Men  employed  on  the  inter- 
urban were  reduced  from  60  to  57i 
cents  an  hour.  The  old  scale  had  been 
in  effect  seven  months  in  1920  and  up 
to  April  30,  1921.  Although  all  three 
arbitrators  signed  the  award,  the  one 
chosen  by  the  company  submitted  a 
separate  opinion  in  which  he  stated: 

In  my  opinion  the  award  reflects  the  opin- 
ion of  a  layman  who  has  become  unduly 


impressed  with  the  importance,  in  the  scale 
of  crafts,  of  the  position  of  motormen  and 
conductors  on  electric  interurban  railways. 

Approximately  $2,500  back  pay  will 
be  paid  the  fifty  employees  affected,  on 
account  of  the  award  being  61  cents  an 
hour  more  than  has  been  paid  the  men 
since  Aug.  1.  At  that  time  W.  H. 
Sawyer,  president  of  the  company, 
agreed  to  reimburse  the  men  if  they 
got  a  larger  award.  The  decision  is 
retroactive  to  May  1,  of  this  year,  but 
up  to  August  the  men  were  paid  60 
cents.  Since  August  the  pay  has  been 
51  cents  an  hour. 


Trackless  Trolley  Proposal 
Contemplates  Local 
Ownership 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  Virginia  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Richmond,  Va.,  it  was 
decided  to  organize  the  Richmond 
Trackless  Trolley  Company  and  to  set 
about  at  once  putting  in  a  line  of 
buses  along  a  route  suggested  in  an 
application  made  to  the  Council. 

This  route  will  require  ten  buses  to 
operate  on  a  five-minute  schedule  and 
will  necessitate  the  purchase  of  twelve 
buses — two  for  spares  to  insure  con- 
tinuity of  service.  To  accomplish  this, 
the  company  says,  will  require  an  in- 
vestment of  approximately  $150,000. 

Since  it  is  not  possible  for  the  com- 
pany in  its  present  status  to  finance 
this  plan  it  has  been  proposed: 

1.  To  organize  the  Richmond  Track- 
less Trolley  Company  with  capital 
stock  of  $150,000— $75,000  of  8  per 
cent  preferred  stock  (preferred  as  to 
both  dividends  and  assets),  and  $75,- 
000  of  common  stock. 

2.  To  offer  the  preferred  stock  lo- 
cally to  investors,  the  officers  of  the 
Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Company 
being  authorized  to  use  treasury  assets 
to  borrow  $75,000  with  which  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  common  stock  of  the 
Richmond  Trackless  Trolley  Company. 

The  ability  of  the  company  to  make 
this  loan  and  to  interest  local  investors 
is,  of  course,  predicated  upon  the  Coun- 
cil's offering  a  contract  that  will  secure 
the  investment  and  insure  an  adequate 
return  thereon. 

The  offer  of  the  company  is  for  a 
complete  line  of  transportation  from 
Ninth  and  Grace  Streets  westward 
through  the  smooth-paved  residential 
district  where  adequate  and  reliable 
transportation  is  greatly  needed. 

The  application  of  the  company  for 
the  right  to  operate  under  the  plan 
just  outlined  was  filed  with  the  Council 
on  Oct.  3.  At  that  time  the  company 
said  to  the  Council: 

Assuming  that  you  can  offer  a  contract 
which  the  Virginia  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany can  use  as  a  basis  for  the  loan  and 
on  which  the  public  is  willing  to  invest  in 
the  preferred  stock,  the  buses,  we  under- 
stand, can  be  secured  in  ninety  days  and 
the  overhead  construction  can  be  done  while 
the  buses  are  being  constructed,  so  that 
no  long  time  should  elapse  after  the  nec- 
essary and  satisfactory  action  by  the 
Council  before  the  service  can  be  available 
to  the  public. 

The  entire  proposal  has  been  ex- 
plained to  the  public  recently  by  means 
of  advertisements  inserted  in  the  daily 
newspapers.  As  indicated  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  for  Dec.  3, 
page  1005,  the  application  of  the  com- 
pany for  trackless  trolley  rights  has 
been  referred  to  the  street  committee 
of  the  Council  to  be  considered  along 
with  the  new  blanket  franchise  for  the 
company  itself. 


Mr.  Maloney  Seeks  Sources  of 
Original  Information 

Commissioner  Paul  Maloney  of  the 
Department  of  Public  Utilities  of  New 
Orleans,  La.,  has  addressed  letters  of 
inquiry  to  the  executive  heads  of  two- 
hundred  cities  in  the  United  States, 
Canada,  the  British  Isles  and  Australia, 
asking  for  information  regarding  the 
operation  of  their  public  utilities.  The 
questionnaires  are  intended  to  furnish 
him  with  knowledge  regarding  electric 
railways,  gas,  electric  light  and  power,, 
motor  and  telephones,  of  other  com- 
munities under  any  and  all  conditions. 

He  is  especially  anxious  to  secure 
data  as  to  the  rate  of  fares  which  obtain 
in  each  city,  the  issuance  of  transfers 
whether  free  or  charged  for,  the  char- 
acter of  the  service,  whether  good,  bad 
or  indifferent;  also  the  prevailing  rates 
charged  for  gas,  electric  light  and 
power;  water  and  telephone  for  resi- 
dential and  commercial  purposes  and  the 
service  tendered,  as  it  is  Mr.  Maloney's 
belief  that  low  rates  or  low  fares  do 
not  necessarily  imply  good  public  serv- 
ice or  successful  operation. 

The  questionnaire  also  includes  gen- 
eral matters  such  as  the  earnings  of 
the  utilities  and  whether  same  are  sat- 
isfactory to  the  investor;  whether  ex- 
isting rates  have  been  determined  or 
are  still  open  for  adjustment;  does  the 
city  or  state  exercise  rate  making  pow- 
ers; whether  the  utilities  in  communi- 
ties where  they  are  public  owned,  are 
operated  at  a  profit. 

These  are  the  problems  which  Mr. 
Maloney  since  assuming  the  office  of 
Commissioner  of  Public  Utilities  at  New 
Orleans  has  encountered  and  has  had 
to  solve,  in  the  pending  utilities  tangle 
of  the  New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light 
Company.  He  feels  that  the  informa- 
tion will  be  of  great  assistance  to  him 
in  dealing  with  the  matter  intelligently 
and  permitting  him  to  profit  from  the 
experience  of  other  communities. 


French  Railways  to  Be  Electrified 
and  Reorganized 

According  to  a  cable  received  at  the 
Department  of  Commerce  recently  from 
Economist  Consul  Westcott  at  Paris, 
plans  and  estimates  are  in  preparation 
for  the  electrification  of  5,000  miles  of 
French  railways.  It  is  also  under  con- 
sideration to  have  the  six  main  line 
railways  of  France  rehabilitated  and  re- 
organized under  a  single  agreement 
with  the  State. 

The  bill  under  the  provisions  of  which 
it  is  intended  this  work  shall  be  carried 
out  provides  for  pooling  of  net  revenues 
into  a  common  fund,  from  which  any 
deficits  of  weaker  lines  will  be  paid: 
Maintenance  of  this  fund  at  a  specific 
figure,  after  an  initial  contribution  by 
the  State,  by  periodic  advances  or  re- 
ductions of  tariffs,  as  required:  Fix- 
ing of  maximum  rates  by  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  layout  of  a  broad  policy, 
in  which  the  government  will  exercise 
a  supervisory  control  for  operation  of 
the  roads. 

A  supreme  council,  in  which  the  op- 
erating companies,  the  government  and 
the  people  will  be  represented,  will 
formulate  the  future  policies  of  the 
roads.  Actual  administration  and  op- 
eration will  be  by  the  corporations. 
The  State  guarantees  operating  ex- 
penses, bonded  indebtedness  and  pre- 
ferred dividends,  the  corporations  to 
raise  the  capital  for  the  necessary  im- 
provements and  extensions. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1043 


Brooklyn  Officials  Sign  Waivers 

Testimony  Helpful  to  Commission  Given  by  Officials  of  Brooklyn  Company — 
President  Williams  on  Stand 

Timothy  S.  Williams,  president  of  the  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.)  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany since  1903,  took  the  witness  stand  before  the  Transit  Commission  on 
Dec.  7,  for  a  long  examination  about  company  finances  and  particularly  the  1917 
dividends.  He  unhesitatingly  signed  a  waiver  of  immunity.  Nicholas  F. 
Brady,  chairman  of  the  directorate  of  the  company,  joined  President  Williams  in 
signing  the  waivers.  In  presenting  these  documents  the  Transit  Commission 
followed  its  policy  established  with  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 
directors,  who,  however,  declined  last  week  to  sign  and  were  not  examined. 


MR.  WILLIAMS  put  much  of  the 
blame  for  B.  R.  T.  receivership  on 
the  city's  failure  to  finish  dual  system 
construction  on  time.  He  denied  that 
the  1917  dividends — the  last  paid  by  his 
company — had  any  material  effect  on 
the  corporation's  financial  troubles  the 
next  year,  when  Lindley  M.  Garrison 
became  receiver. 

At  the  afternoon  session  Mr.  Wil- 
liams was  questioned  about  the  alleged 
over-capitalization  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit.  He  said  that  the  total 
capitalization  was  $144,385,159.37,  and 
asserted  that  "every  dollar  of  stock 
issued  and  every  dollar  of  bonds  issued 
represents  an  actual  cash  investment  at 
par."  Mr.  Williams  was  glad  to  have  an 
opportunity  to  dispute  the  charge  that 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  securities  were 
"watered." 

"Looking  back  on  it  now,"  asked  Mr. 
Shearn,  counsel  to  the  commission,  of 
Mr.  Williams,  "wouldn't  you  frankly 
say  that  it  was  a  grave  mistake  to 
have  followed  the  policy  of  declaring 
dividends  during  a  year  (1917)  when 
your  expenses  were  mounting  and  when 
you  were  confronted  with  a  receiver- 
ship if  you  could  not  market  these 
$57,000,000  in  notes  maturing  in  July, 
1918?" 

"Not  in  the  light  of  the  information 
before  us  at  that  time,"  replied  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  president.  "I 
am  frank  t'o  say  that  personally  I 
would  not  have  changed  my  attitude  in 
the  slightest.  The  mistake  we  made, 
for  which  we  are  to  be  criticised,  if  we 
are  criticised  at  all,  is  in  the  fact  that 
in  1902  when  we  created  our  $150,000,- 
000  refunding  mortgage  we  limited  the 
rate  of  interest  to  4  per  cent.  At 
that  time  we  thought  it  was  wise  to 
do  so." 

Mr.  Williams  went  on  to  explain 
that  it  was  intended  to  refund  all 
existing  mortgage  loans  and  to  provide 
a  continuous  source  of  funds  for  capital 
•expenditures.  The  mortgage  was  made 
on  the  advice  and  with  the  assistance 
of  such  well  known  financiers  as  E.  H. 
Harriman,  Norman  B.  Ream,  Governor 
Flower,  A.  N.  Brady  and  H.  H.  Porter. 

Mr.  Williams  said  that  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  had  difficulty  in  market- 
ing the  4  per  cent,  bonds  with  conse- 
quent financial  difficulties  which  cul- 
minated after  other  developments  in 
receivership.  The  witness  said  most 
railroads  have  to  make  back  loans  even 
when  they  are  in  good  condition.  He 
said  he  did  not  know  of  any  road  in  the 
country  "unless  it  is  some  particularly 
rich  railroad  company — and  I  don't 
know  of  such  nowadays — that  carries  a 
sufficient  working  capital  for  all  needs." 

Asserting  that  he  considered  obliga- 
tions to  investors  "equally  sacred  with 
obligation  to  your  employees  or  to  the 
public  so  far  as  extending  facilities  are 
concerned,"  the  witness  said,  "we  might 
have  stopped  the  extension   and  im- 


provement of  our  facilities.  That  un- 
doubtedly would  have  been  a  public 
disadvantage,  but  inasmuch  as  we  were 
attempting  to  develop  a  system  so  that 
it  would  be  a  service  to  the  public  and 
a  profit  to  its  security  holders,  why  we 
tried  to  please  both  sets  of  people  at 
the  same  time." 

After  explaining  that  refusal  of  the 
War  Finance  Corporation  to  help  the 
company  in  1918  also  hurried  the  B.  R. 
T.  receivership,  Mr.  Williams  said  he 
believed  "if  we  had  shown  on  our  books 
an  accumulating  surplus  of  from 
$5,000,000  to  $6,000,000  a  year  never  ex- 
pended except  for  capital  purposes, 
the  banking  community  would  have 
been  rather  suspicious  of  our  book- 
keeping. There  have  been  companies  in 
the  past  showing  large  surpluses,  and 
bankers  who  depended  on  these  book 
surpluses  have  been  sadly  fooled." 

Commission  Plan  Criticised 

During  the  course  of  his  examina- 
tion President  Williams  read  into  the 
record  a  long  statement  in  which  he 
offered  many  suggestions  for  the  modi- 
fication of  the  tentative  plan  of  the 
commission  for  the  reorganization  of 
the  traction  lines  and  practically  pre- 
sented an  alternative  plan.  Limitations 
of  space  prevent  more  than  this  refer- 
ence to  the  statement  at  this  time,  but 
it  is  proposed  to  publish  an  outline  of 
his  remarks  in  the  issue  for  Dec.  17. 

Howard  Abel,  comptroller  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  was 
examined  on  Dec.  6.  He  testified  with 
respect  to  the  earnings  of  the  company 
for  the  six  months  ending  Dec.  31, 
1916.  He  said  that  although  the  gross 
revenue  of  the  period  increased  $832,- 
224,  the  net  result  was  that  there  was 
$585,849  less  income  available  for 
dividends.  This  showing  was  due  to 
the  largely  increased  amounts  charged 
for  taxes  and  interest,  taxes  showing 
an  increase  of  $391,206,  or  45.72  per 
cent,  and  interest  showing  an  increase 
of  $441,312. 

Notwithstanding  these  additional 
burdens,  the  net  income  of  the  system 
for  dividends  was  more  than  $500,000 
in  excess  of  the  dividend  requirement 
at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent  per  annum 
for  this'  period.  Mr.  Shearn,  for  the 
commission,  sought  to  show  that  about 
this  time  the  excess  of  bills  payable  by 
the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company 
to  subsidiary  companies  over  the  bills 
receivable  from  those  companies  was 
$5,678,805.  At  this  time  however  the 
treasurer's  statement  of  cash  balance 
of  the  system  on  deposit  was  $1,260,900. 
On  Feb.  25,  1918,  the  executive  com- 
mittee adopted  a  resolution  to  the  effect 
that  although  the  company's  net  profits 
justified  a  declaration  of  the  usual 
dividend  payable  on  April  1  the  com- 
mittee believed  that  in  view  of  the 
maturity  on  July  1  of  that  year  of 


$57,735,000  of  secured  gold  notes,  issued 
for  rapid  transit  purposes,  it  would 
be  wise  to  withhold  action  on  the 
dividend.  The  directors  approved  this 
recommendation.  The  last  dividend  was 
declared  Dec.  1917,  payable  on  Jan.  1, 
1918.  On  the  last  day  of  that  year 
the  road  was  thrown  into  the  hands 
of  Lindley  Garrison  as  receiver. 

Judge  Shearn  read  in  evidence  a  cir- 
cular signed  by  Chairman  Brady  and 
President  Williams  dated  Jan  31,  1919, 
showing  that  during  the  twenty  years 
which  ended  with  the  last  fiscal  year 
the  net  profits  of  the  system  from 
operation  were  $51,043,824,  of  which 
$29,022,334  was  distributed  to  stock- 
holders in  dividends.  Practically  all  the 
remaining  $22,021,490  had  gone  back 
into  substantial  property  improvements. 

Before  leaving  the  matters  connected 
with  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company  counsel  for  the  New  York 
Transit  Commission  on  Dec.  6  called 
as  a  witness  James  R.  Sheffield,  receiver 
of  the  Interborough  Consolidated  Cor- 
poration, the  successor  to  the  Inter- 
borough Metropolitan  Company.  He 
corroborated  the  statement  brought  in 
previous  testimony  that  $800,000  had 
been  transferred  from  the  Interborough 
Consolidated  Corporation  to  the  use  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany on  March  20,  1919,  the  day  before 
he  had  been  appointed  receiver. 

Mr.  Sheffield  doubted  the  legality  of 
the  transaction,  but  as  at  that  time  he 
was  only  a  receiver  in  bankruptcy,  he 
had  very  limited  powers.  As  soon  as  he 
became  trustee  in  bankruptcy,  however, 
he  referred  the  matter  to  his  counsel 
who  after  considering  the  matter  ad- 
vised him  that  in  their  opinion  the 
transaction  was  illegal  and  he  should 
take  steps  to  recover  the  money. 

This  he  did  and  the  late  Mr.  Shonts, 
president  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit,  replied  by  letter  that  it  was  the 
opinion  of  counsel  for  that  company  that 
the  loan  was  in  all  respects  legal  and 
proper.  On  the  representation  of  Mr. 
Shonts  that  the  $800,000  could  not  be 
paid  at  once,  the  situation  that  con- 
fronted Mr.  Sheffield,  he  said,  was  either 
to  begin  an  action  to  recover  or  to  ac- 
cept the  equivalent  of  the  $800,000  in 
proper  collateral.  Some  of  the  bond- 
holders were  opposed  to  pressing  suit. 

Finally  a  petition  was  presented  to 
the  court  by  the  receiver  in  which  he 
stated  all  of  the  essential  facts.  The 
court  instructed  Mr.  Sheffield  to  refrain 
from  instituting  proceedings  to  test  the 
legality  of  the  transaction.  An  agree- 
ment was  made,  however,  that  the 
money  should  be  paid  back  on  or  before 
Dec.  1,  1919.  On  Nov.  8,  1919,  Mr.  Shef- 
field received  principal  and  interest  to 
the  amount  of  $248,000  to  apply  to  the 
indebtedness.  On  Nov.  29,  he  received 
the  sum  of  $605,875,  being  the  payment 
of  the  $800,000  in  full  with  interest. 

That  fulfilled  all  the  obligations  under 
which  that  agreement  was  drawn  with 
the  exception  of  the  payment  of  the 
$500,000  which  had  been  borrowed  in 
1918,  and  that  amount  was  paid  on  Dec. 
22,  when  he  received  $502,395,  thus  clos- 
ing out  the  transaction. 

A  few  days  after  receiving  this  pay- 
ment, the  Interborough  Consolidated 
Company  loaned  $1,000,000  to  the  Inter- 
borough Rapid  Transit  Company.  This 
was  done  on  order  from  the  court  after 
a  conference  of  all  the  interests  in- 
volved. Counsel  Cook  said  it  was  a 
hectic  New  Year's  eve.  As  he  recalled 
it  it  was  Dec.  31  when  the  order  was 
received  from  the  court.    According  to 


1044 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No,  24 


Mr.  Cook  it  was  a  question  of  a  receiver- 
ship or  a  Happy  New  York. 

Memoranda  made  by  J.  P.  Morgan  & 
Company,  and  Lee  Higginson  &  Com- 
pany of  Boston,  advising  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  Company  greatly 
to  reduce  its  dividends  in  order  to  meet 
charges,  were  introduced  as  evidence  in 
the  hearing  on  Thursday  morning.  Mr. 
Ficher,  secretary  of  the  company,  pre- 
sented the  data  as  the  first  witness  of 
the  day. 

The  first  of  the  data  presented  was  a 
letter  dated  July  6,  1917,  from  E.  A. 
Hallowell,  of  Lee  Higginson  &  Com- 
pany, to  A.  M.  Anderson,  of  J.  P.  Mor- 
gan &  Co.,  which  contained  statistics 
showing  how  much  the  Interborough 
Company  was  running  behind  and  the 
recommendation  that  "if  is  advisable 
for  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company  to  reduce  its  dividends  to  meet 
the  interest  charges."  The  letter  con- 
tinued, "It  seems  a  certainty  that  this 
dividend  must  be  suspended  sooner  or 
later." 

In  a  memorandum  dated  Aug.  1,  1917, 
from  Mr.  Anderson  to  the  Interborough 
Company,  the  former  pointed  out  that 
the  liability  of  the  company  under  the 
contract  with  the  city  for  construction 
was  limited  to  some  $58,000,000,  but 
that  the  company's  liability  for  equip- 
ment was  unlimited.  A  final  estimate 
had  placed  it  at  $44,000,000  which  was 
an  increase  of  $23,000,000  over  pre- 
liminary estimates.  Other  figures 
proved  that  for  a  period  of  years  the 
actual  gross  earnings  had  been  much 
less  than  the  estimated  earnings.  Par- 
ticularly was  this  true  of  1915,  and  the 
memorandum  stated  that  in  all  proba- 
bility there  would,  be  a  larger  diver- 
gence in  the  coming  years.  It  further 
recommended  that  the  dividend  rate  be 
reduced  to  10  per  cent,  the  amount 
needed  to  pay  interest  on  Interborough 
Consolidated  Company's  41s. 

In  reply,  the  Interborough  brought 
out  certain  errors  made  in  estimating, 
which  swelled  the  estimate  and  reduced 
the  actual  operating  figures.  For  ex- 
ample, revenue  from  the  elevated  lines 
was  included  in  the  estimate  for  1913, 
whereas  the  new  elevated  lines  were 
not  put  in  operation  during  that  year. 

Mr.  Garrison,  the  next  witness 
after  Mr.  Fisher,  in  reply  to  Judge 
Shearn's  question  to  "describe  the 
break-up  of  the  system  since  your  ap- 
pointment," said  that  the  company  was 
suffering  from  several  troubles.  The 
war  affected  the  labor  market  through 
the  infiltration  of  incompetent  men, 
prices  increased  out  of  all  proportion, 
and  the  contract  with  the  city  made 
operation  so  expensive  that  the  prop- 
erty could  not  be  run  economically.  Mr. 
Garrison  then  continued  with  a  history 
of  changes  in  transfer  systems  on  sub- 
way and  surface  lines  and  the  discon- 
tinuance of  operation  of  certain  lines. 


Saginaw  Votes  in  Favor  of  Buses 

At  a  special  election  on  Dec.  7  the 
voters  of  Saginaw,  Mich.,  rejected  the 
proposal  for  the  return  of  street  cars 
and  decided  in  favor  of  motor  buses 
by  a  majority  of  869.  Less  than  half 
of  the  registered  vote  was  cast.  Buses 
received  6,028;  electric  cars  5,159.  Al- 
though this  was  an  advisory  vote,  it 
is  believed  that  the  Council  will  proceed 
to  have  a  motor  bus  system  established 
in  Saginaw,  and  there  will  probably  be 
no  further  conference  at  this  time  with 
representatives  of  the  bondholders  of 
the  Saginaw-Bay  City  Railway,  which 
oeased  operations  on  Aug.  10. 


New  Franchise  Proposal  Made 
in  Houston 

The  Houston  (Tex.)  Traction  Com- 
pany has  made  a  new  proposal  to  the 
City  Commission  in  the  franchise  and 
fare  controversy.  It  has  proposed  to 
the  city  that  the  fixed  valuation  and 
guaranteed  net  earnings,  on  which  the 
company  won  its  fight  in  the  Federal 
Court,  be  abandoned  and  that  in  re- 
turn the  city  grant  a  franchise  ex- 
tension to  which  is  added  a  guarantee 
to  spend  $1,200,000  in  extensions  and 
improvements. 

The  franchise  fight  has  waxed  warm 
in  the  City  Council  meeting,  some 
members  apparently  being  in  favor  of 
giving  the  company  a  fare  that  will 
yield  an  adequate  return.  At  the  last 
meeting  Tax  Commissioner  H.  A. 
Halverton  charged  that  "somewhere, 
somehow,  somebody  is  trying  to  kill 
the  railway,  and  if  such  is  the  case, 
let  him  be  frank  enough  to  speak  up." 
Mr.  Halverton's  charge  went  unchal- 
lenged. 

In  the  informal  negotiations  looking 
to  the  submission  of  new  franchise 
proposals  representatives  of  the  com- 
pany told  Mayor  O.  F.  Holcombe  that 
the  new  plan  with  the  contemplated 
improvements  would  add  something  like 
700  men  to  the  company's  pay  roll. 
They  also  told  the  Mayor  that  efficient 
service  in  Houston  is  one  of  the  chief 
aims  of  the  traction  officials. 

Labor  and  Tax  Problems 
Discussed  by  Presi- 
dent Harding 

The  matters  of  greatest  interest  to 
electric  railway  executives  touched 
upon  by  President  Harding  in  his  mes- 
sage to  Congress  were  the  reiteration 
by  him  of  the  right  of  labor  to  or- 
ganize and  the  need  for  ending  all  is- 
sues of  non-taxable  bonds.  President 
Harding  said: 

The  right  of  labor  to  organize  is  just  as 
fundamental  and  necessary  as  is  the  right 
of  capital  to  organize.  The  right  of  labor 
to  negotiate,  to  deal  with  and  solve  its  par- 
ticular problems  in  an  organized  way, 
through  its  chosen  agents,  is  just  as  essen- 
tial as  is  the  right  of  capital  to  organize, 
to  maintain  corporations,  to  limit  the  lia- 
bilities of  stockholders. 

As  we  have  great  bodies  of  law  carefully 
regulating  the  organization  and  operations 
of  industrial  and  financial  corporations, 
as  we  have  treaties  and  compacts  among 
nations  which  look  to  the  settlement  of  dif- 
ferences without  the  necessity  of  conflict  in 
arms,  so  we  might  well  have  plans  of  con- 
ference, of  common  counsel,  of  mediation, 
arbitration  and  judicial  determination  in 
controversies  between  labor  and  capital.  To 
accomplish  this  would  involve  the  neces- 
sity to  develop  a  thoroughgoing  code  of 
practice  in  dealing  with  such  affairs.  It 
might  be  well  to  set  forth  frankly  the  su- 
perior interest  of  the  community  as  a  whole 
to  either  the  labor  group  or  the  capital 
group.  With  rights,  privileges  of  immuni- 
ties and  modes  of  organization  thus  care- 
fully defined,  it  should  be  possible  to  set 
up  judicial  or  quasi  judicial  tribunals  for 
the  consideration  and  determination  of  all 
disputes  which  menace  the  public  welfare. 

I  think  our  tax  problems,  the  tendency  of 
wealth  to  seek  non-taxable  investment  and 
the  menacing  increase  of  public  debt,  fed- 
eral, state  and  municipal,  all  justify  a  pro- 
posal to  change  the  Constitution  so  as  to 
end  the  issue  of  non-taxable  bonds.  No  ac- 
tion can  change  the  status  of  the  many 
billions  outstanding,  but  we  can  guard 
against  future  encouragement  of  capital's 
paralysis,  while  a  halt  in  the  growth  of 
public  indebtedness  would  be  beneficial 
throughout  our  whole  land. 

Such  a  change  in  the  Constitution  must 
be  very  thoroughly  considered  before  sub- 
mission. There  ought  to  be  known  what 
influence  it  will  have  on  the  inevitable  re- 
funding of  our  vast  national  debt,  how  it 
will  operate  on  the  necessary  refunding  of 
State  and  municipal  debt,  how  the  advan- 
tages of  nation  over  state  and  municipal, 
or  the  contrary,  may  be  avoided.  Clearly 
the  states  would  not  ratify  to  their  own 


apparent  disadvantage.  I  suggest  the  con- 
sideration because  the  drift  of  wealth  into 
non-taxable  securities  is  hindering  the  flow 
of  large  capital  to  our  industries,  manu- 
facturing, agricultural  and  carrying,  until 
we  are  discouraging  the  very  activities 
which  make  our  wealth. 


Cities  Co-operate  to 
Retain  Service 

Community  committee  meetings,  com- 
posed of  representatives  from  Elgin, 
Aurora,  Batavia,  St.  Charles,  Dundee 
and  other  Illinois  cities  touched  by  the 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Railway  have 
been  held  during  the  past  few  weeks  to 
ascertain  if  the  communities  themselves 
could  not  find  a  way  to  keep  cars  of  the 
railway  company  in  operation.  If  not, 
the  company  may  be  ordered  by  the 
court  to  discontinue  its  service.  The 
controversy  between  the  railway  com- 
pany, which  seeks  an  order  to  discon- 
tinue service  on  Fox  River  valley  in- 
terurban  and  the  city  lines  of  Aurora 
and  Elgin,  and  the  cities  which  would 
be  affected,  has  been  noted  previously 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal. 

Related  to  these  meetings  are  sev- 
eral important  developments.  First, 
Elgin  voted  on  Nov.  26  to  adopt  the 
"home-rule"  policy  whereby  the  city 
itself  will  regulate  utility  rates.  The 
legality  of  the  election  has  since  been 
attacked  by  Attorney  General  Brund- 
age,  but  city  officials  declare  the  Coun- 
cil will  act  on  rates  as  soon  as  the 
company  asks  for  a  franchise.  Second, 
Elgin  may  have  one-man  cars.  This 
much  is  the  expressed  opinion  of  Mayor 
Arwin  E.  Price,  formed  after  a  confer- 
ence in  Elgin  with  officials  of  the  com- 
pany. Third,  there  is  little  possibility 
that  railway  service  will  be  discontinued 
on  the  Aurora-Elgin  lines,  according 
to  the  announcement  of  Attorney  Al- 
schuler,  representing  the  receiver  for 
the  company.  Fourth,  a  uniform  fran- 
chise for  all  the  cities  and  the  company 
is  the  plan  proposed  by  Judge  Evan 
Evans. 

The  community  committee  meetings 
were  the  result  of  Judge  Evans  sugges- 
tion that  the  communities  themselves 
try  to  settle  the  problem.  A  uniform 
franchise  has  been  considered  almost 
impossible  to  conclude,  since  many 
Aurora  streets  need  paving,  and  Elgin 
streets  do  not,  with  a  few  exceptions. 
The  city  administration  of  Aurora, 
however,  has  announced  through  its 
counsel  that  it  would  waive  the  future 
paving  assessments  providing  the  com- 
pany gave  lower  fares;  paid  up  its  past 
obligations  of  $5,000  for  its  share  of 
the  cost  of  paving  Lincoln  Way  and 
South  River  Street,  and  other  indebt- 
edness, making  a  total  of  $25,000;  and 
cut  down  salaries  now  paid  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  road. 

A  sub-committee  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  various  communities 
concerned,  investigating  the  financial 
affairs  of  the  company,  preparatory  to 
working  out  some,  agreement  as  to  a 
franchise  found  that  Elgin  lines  had 
been  operated  at  a  small  profit,  but 
that  the  interurban  lines  of  the  Fox 
River  division  had  operated  at  a  loss. 

Home-rule  in  Elgin  now  gives  that 
city  the  right  to  govern  rates.  It 
formerly  possessed  only  the  right  to 
govern  on  what  streets  the  railway  could 
operate.  Now  the  commerce  commis- 
sion will  act  only  in  case  the  city  and 
traction  officials  fail  to  agree  on  a 
schedule  of  fares  rates.  The  Commerce 
Commission  promulgated  the  home-rule 
provisions  about  five  months  ago,  and! 
Elgin  is  the  first  city  to  adopt  them. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1045 


$20,602,766  Estimated  Value 
Toronto  Railway 

Item  of  $1,558,574  Included  As  Cost  of 
Bringing  Bare  Property  Into  Going 
Concern 

Testifying  before  the  board  of  arbi- 
tration in  Toronto,  Ont.,  on  Nov.  25,  A. 
L.  Drum,  consulting  engineer.  Chicago, 
said  he  had  made  an  appraisal  of  the 
property  of  the  Toronto  Railway  and 
found  the  value  on  the  basis  of  cost  to 
reproduce  new  less  depreciation  as  of 
Sept.  1,  1921,  to  be  $20,602,766.  This 
valuation  is  on  the  basis  of  applying 
average  unit  prices  for  the  three  years 
from  Aug.  31,  1918,  to  Sept.  1,  1921, 
to  the  quantity  inventory  as  of  Aug. 
31,  1921.  A  second  similar  appraisal 
was  submitted  by  Mr.  Drum  on  the 
basis  of  unit  prices  prevailing  Sept.  1, 
1921.  The  following  table  gives  a  com- 
parison of  the  two  appraisals: 


physical  property,  Mr.  Drum  added 
$1,558,574  as  an  estimate  of  the  actual 
cost  of  placing  the  physical  property 
in  operation,  which  he  contended  is  an 
element  of  cost  that  is  encountered  in 
creating  a  street  railway  system  and 
bringing  the  bare  physical  property 
into  an  efficient,  operating  and  going 
concern.  This  cost  includes  the  cost  of 
creating  and  training  the  existing 
operating  organization  of  the  company. 

The  basis  used  for  determining  this 
estimate  was  that  a  fair  measure  of 
such  cost  is  an  estimate  of  the  loss  of 
interest  that  would  accrue  on  the  cost 
of  the  property  during  the  period  of 
time  that  would  be  necessary  to  bring 
the  property  to  an  efficient,  operating 
going  concern;  that  is,  the  develop- 
ment period  of  the  property.  Such 
loss  would  be  equivalent  to  a  loss  of 
interest  averaging  2  per  cent  per  year 
for  the  three-year  development  period, 
this    being   the   period   estimated  to 


Three  Year  Average 

Aug.,  1918,  to 
Aug.,  1921,  Inclusive 

Land   ^WMli 

Track   2'7o1'q77 

Bridges  and  subways   •u.l'-jic. 

Electrical  distribution  system   J'nSs'onS 

Rolling  stock    •-  5.928,309 

Power  station  equipment   »«S?2 

Substation  equipment  

Shop  tools  and  miscellaneous  equipment   „?7'S7„ 

Buildings   ,,8M,?!n 

Furniture  and  fixtures   iaa'asi 

Contingencies  and  omissions   cbS'oln 

Engineering  and  superintendence   ^i'llnn 

Administration,  organization  and  legal  expense   6 / 4 ,8UU 

Taxes  during  construction   i7niRS 

Interest  during  construction   1,1  /u,  Ioj 

Xotal   $19,044,192  i 

Cost  of  placing  the  physical  property  in  operation .  .  1,558,574  . 

Total  physical  property   $20,602,766 


Sept.  1,  1921 
$1,655,484 
2,728,692 
94,922 
1,385,024 
5,742,407 
554,971 
1,310,170 
309,844 
1,864,542 
45,687 
278,827 
575,610 
674,800 
151,600 
1,142,063 

$18,514,643 
1,514,647 

$20,029,290 


Sept.  1,  1921 
per  Cent  of 
Three- Year 
Average 
100.00 
98.05 
100.00 
88.43 
96  86 
97.33 
98.  12 
89.90 
101.62 
85.00 
96.71 
97.08 
100.00 
100.00 
97.60 


97.22 
97. 19 


97.22 


The  appraisal  of  the  property  was 
made  in  accordance  with  the  special 
act  of  the  Canadian  Parliament 
enacted  in  1891,  and  under  which  the 
city  of  Toronto  took  over  the  property 
of  the  Toronto  Railway  on  Sept.  1, 
1921.  The  valuation  clause  in  the 
statute,  which  covers  the  basis  of  the 
appraisal,  is  as  follows: 

In  determining  such  value  the  rights 
and  privileges  granted  by  the  said  agree- 
ment and  the  revenue,  profits  and  divi- 
dends being  or  likely  to  be  derived  from 
the  enterprise  are  not  to  be  taken  into 
consideration,  but  the  arbitrators  are  to 
consider  only  the  actual  value  of  the 
actual  and  tangible  property,  plant,  equip- 
ments and  works  connected  with  and 
necessary  to  the  operation  of  the  railways, 
which  is  not  to  include  any  land,  property 
or  rights  acquired  or  used  in  connection 
with  the  said  street  railway,  and  which 
do  not  actually  form  a  part  of  the  said 
street  railway  undertaking  necessary  to  the 
carrying  on  of  the  same. 

In  arriving  at  such  value  the  arbitrators 
are  to  consider  and  award  only  the  value 
of  the  said  several  particulars  to  the  city 
at  the  time  of  the  arbitration,  having  re- 
gard to  the  requirements  of  a  railway  of 
the  best  kind  and  system  then  in  opera- 
tion and  applicable  to  the  said  city. 

In  determining  the  actual  value  of 
the  physical  property  to  the  city,  Mr. 
Drum  found  the  present  value  on  the 
basis  of  depreciating  the  existing 
physical  property  from  the  standpoint 
of  existing  depreciation  due  to  wear 
and  use,  giving  due  regard  to  age  and 
remaining  economical  service  and  life 
of  the  several  component  parts  of  the 
property.    To  the  value  of  the  bare 


elapse  between  the  beginning  of  opera- 
tion and  the  time  when  the  business 
will  earn  operating  expenses  and 
taxes  and  a  fair  return  on  the  cost  of 
the  property. 

Reorganization  Details  Being 
Worked  Out 

Plans  are  expected  to  be  announced 
before  the  beginning  of  the  new  year 
for  the  reorganization  of  the  Spring- 
field Terminal  Railway  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Springfield,  Ohio.  The  property 
has  already  been  sold,  but  the  com- 
mittee in  charge  of  the  proposed  re- 
organization has  not  progressed  far 
enough,  however,  to  be  able  to  submit 
a  reorganization  plan.  The  representa- 
tives of  the  bondholders  are  confident 
that  the  property  can  be  made  to  show 
an  earning  capacity  ample  to  pay  the 
principal  and  interest  on  the  proposed 
bond  issue  from  the  outset  with  pos- 
sibilities of  a  much  greater  earning 
power  in  the  course  of  a  little  time. 

The  desire  now  is  so  to  reorganize  the 
line  as  to  prevent  ultimate  loss  to  any 
of  the  bondholders.  The  holders  of  the 
first  mortgage  6  per  cent  serial  gold 
bonds  of  the  company  are  represented 
by  a  protective  committee  consisting  of 
R.  F.  Hyney  and  Guy  L.  Emerson  of 
Hyney,  Emerson  &  Company,  Chicago, 
and  Edward  A.  Farmer  and  S.  M.  Sor- 
rey,  with  Guy  M.  Walker  as  counsel. 
The  depositary  is  the  Ft.  Dearborn 
Trust  &  Savings  Bank,  Chicago,  111. 


Stock  Dividend  Refused 

Michigan  Commission  Declines  to  Ac- 
cept Cooley  Appraisal  As  Conclu- 
sive Proof  of  Utility's  Value 

The  Public  Utilities  Commission  of 
Michigan,  in  an  order  issued  on  Dec.  2, 
denied  permission  to  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  to  issue  a  stock  dividend  of 
$334,000,  "with  which  to  regain  the 
confidence  of  its  stockholders."  The 
opinion  was  written  by  William  W. 
Potter  and  concurred  in  by  the  other 
members  of  the  commission.  It  denied 
the  company's  contention  that  the  ap- 
praisal and  audit  recently  completed 
by  Dean  Mortimer  E.  Cooley  of  the 
University  of  Michigan  had  been  recog- 
nized by  the  State. 

Officers  of  the  company  who  appeared 
before  the  commission  asked  permission 
to  issue  the  stock  from  the  company's 
unissued  securities,  pointing  out  that 
the  company  has  $35,281,000  in  bonds, 
$4,748,000  in  notes  and  $5,375,000  in 
stock  outstanding,  and  that  the  com- 
pany has  properties  of  a  book  value  of 
$62,400,000  and  of  an  appraised  value 
considerably  in  excess  of  this. 

It  appears  that  the  figure  of  $62,400,- 
000  for  the  property  was  set  by  Dean 
Cooley  at  an  expense  to  the  company 
of  $300,000.  An  officer  of  the  company 
is  reported  to  have  said  before  the  com- 
.  mission  that  "we  assume  that  the  State 
would  not  cause  us  to  spend  $300,000 
for  an  appraisal  and  then  not  be  bound 
by  the  appraisal."  Mr.  Potter,  for  the 
commission,  retorted  that  this  was  pre- 
cisely the  claim  he  thought  the  com- 
mission would  make,  whereas,  he  said, 
"the  record  will  show  that  the  ap- 
praisal was  made  at  the  request  of  the 
company  and  not  the  commission.  The 
commission  said: 

The  commission  having  gone  further  than 
it  should  at  the  request  of  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  to  accommodate  it,  the 
petitioner  now  alleges  that  this  commssion 
put  the  company  to  an  expense  of  $300,000 
in  making  this  inventory  and  appraisal  ; 
that  the  appraisal  is  the  commission's 
appraisal,  made  on  behalf  of  the  State ; 
that  this  commission  is  bound  by  it,  and 
that  without  proof  of  its  accuracy  it  is 
sufficient  in  and  of  itself  to  establish  a 
prima  facie  case  of  its  own  correctness. 

.  .  .  An  appraisal  made  at  the  petitioner's 
request,  at  its  own  expense,  for  its  own 
purposes,  by  men  of  its  own  selection, 
without  any  proceeding  pending  before  the 
commission,  in  pursuance  of  an  order  made 
without  jurisdiction,  has  no  such  standing 
as  a  public  document  as  to  make  it,  of 
itself  evidence  of  anything. 

I  think  the  Cooley  appraisal  a  private 
document  and  entitled  to  no  force  as  evi- 
dence until  its  correctness  and  accuracy 
are  proved. 

Representatives  of  this  commission  are 
engaged  in  the  inventory,  appraisal,  audit 
and  study  of  the  interurban  properties  of 
the  Detroit  United  Railway,  in  pursuance 
of  Public  Acts  115,  1921.  When  this  shall 
be  done,  if  petitioner  is  entitled  to  the  order 
requested,  one  should  issue. 

It  is  set  forth  in  the  opinion  that 
with  Detroit  United  Railway  stock  not 
now  earning  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay 
cash  dividends,  and  "its  stock  selling 
on  the  market  at  from  60  cents  to  70 
cents  on  the  dollar,  to  issue  more  stock 
now  without  increasing-  its  assets 
would  normally  tend  to  further  depre- 
ciate its  stock." 

The  cases  of  the  Bay  City-Sagi- 
naw  Railway,  now  in  bankruptcy,  and 
the  Muskegon  Traction  &  Lighting 
Company,  which  recently  asked  for 
permission  to  cease  service,  are  cited 
in  the  opinion  as  ample  evidence  that 
an  electric  railway  company  should  not 
be  permitted  to  declare  a  stock  dividend 
"because  some  time  in  its  prosperous 
past  it  invested  surplus  earnings  in 
property." 


I 


1046 


Electric   Eailwai  journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Money  Cheap  Under 
Service-at-Cost 

Montreal  Tramways  Floats  $1,750,000 
Loan  to  Net  6.5  Per  Cent  to  Pay 
for  Improvements 

The  Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  has 
just  floated  through  Harris,  Forbes  & 
Company,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  an  issue 
of  $1,750,000  of  5  per  cent  first  and 
refunding  mortgage  gold  bonds  to  pay 
for  improvements  authorized  and  made 
during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1921. 
The  offering  price  was  83i  and  inter- 
est, yielding  about  6.50  per  cent.  Ac- 
cording to  the  bankers,  this  was  the 
first  time  in  several  years  that  an  of- 
fering of  street  railway  bonds  has  been 
made  in  any  considerable  sum.  The 
issue  is  non-callable  before  1941  except 
in  full.  All  of  the  bonds  were  sub- 
scribed before  the  public  offering. 

It  is  understood  that  competition  for 
the  issue  was  keen  among  the  bank- 
ers, showing  that  in  instances  where 
existing  fares  are  capable  of  produc- 
ing sufficient  revenue  to  meet  the  con- 
ditions of  operation  the  electric  rail- 
ways can  secure  loans  on  terms  as 
favorable  as  any  other  class  of  bor- 
rowers. It  is  true,  of  course,  that  in- 
terest rates  have  been  declining  stead- 
ily for  some  time  now,  but  the  success 
of  the  railway  in  placing  the  new  loan 
is  attributed  largely  to  the  element  of 
stability  which  the  service-at-cost 
grant  of  the  company  lends  to  its  earn- 
ings and  to  the  fact  that  the  tramway 
has  been  able  materially  to  cut  the 
cost  of  operation  since  the  termination 
of  the  last  fiscal  year.  In  the  first 
place,  materials  have  declined  in  cost 
and  then  the  company  has  been  able  to 
utilize  more  hydro-electric  power  at  a 
figure  very  much  lower  than  steam 
power  can  be  generated. 

During  its  last  fiscal  year  the  com- 
pany paid  10  per  cent  on  its  common 
stock  in  addition  to  paying  a  deferred 
dividend  of  5  per  cent.  At  the  present 
market  price  the  yield  on  the  common 
stock  is  only  7  per  cent,  but  by  some 
Montreal  brokers  the  stock  is  consid- 
ered an  investment  with  possibilities 
of  considerable  further  appreciation  in 
price,  particularly  in  view  of  prospec- 
tive future  "rights." 

The  bankers  reported  earnings  of  the 
company  for  the  year  ended  Oct.  31, 
1921,  as  follows: 


Gross  earnings   $11,784,965 

Operating    expenses,    taxes  and 

maintenance    9.058,208 


Xet  earnings    $2,726,757 

Annual   interest   charges  on  all 

bonds  outstanding    1,051,533 


Balance    $1,675,224 


The  service-at-cost  franchise  under 
which  the  company  holds  the  exclusive 
right  until  1953  is  unique  in  that 
fares  must  be  so  adjusted  as  to  pro- 
duce revenue  sufficient  to  meet  (1) 
operating  expenses  and  taxes;  (2) 
maintenance  and  renewals;  (3)  6  per 
cent  per  annum  on  a  capital  value  of 
$36,286,295  as  established  by  a  valua- 
tion based  on  reproduction  cost  new, 
less  depreciation  using  1917  prices; 
(4)  7  per  cent  on  addition  capital  sup- 
plied during  the  war  and  for  a  fixed 
period  after  the  termination  of  hos- 
tilities; (5)  6  per  cent  on  working  capi- 
tal; (6)  0.5  per  cent  of  $36,286,295 
capital  value  per  annum  ($181,431)  to 
cover  expenses  incurred  in  providing 


additional  capital;  (7)  rental  of  $500,- 
000  per  annum  during  the  life  of  the 
contract  for  the  city  for  the  use  of  the 
streets  but  payable  only  when  earned 
after  all  prior  charges. 

The  conditions  worked  out  as  fol- 
lows for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 
1921,  on  a  basis  of  $11,773,005  gross 
earnings: 


Revenues : 

Allowance    from  con- 
tract ....$2,355,970 

Other  revenue    55,359 


Gross  revenue   $2,411,329 


Less  the  following  expenses : 

Interest  on  bonds  $1,082,418 

Interest  on  debentures  850,313 
Other  expenses  17,540 


Total  expenses   $1,950,272 


Net  income  available  for  divi- 
dends   $461,057 

Dividends  paid    (10   per  cent  on 

$3,891,310  common  stock)   389,131 


Surplus  for  year    $71,925 

Surplus  for  year  June  30,  1920...  941,175 


Total  profit  and  loss  surplus. .$1,013, 100 


From  this  surplus  the  company  has 
paid  the  quarterly  dividend  of  2i  per 
cent  due  the  quarter  ended  March  31, 
1919,  which  leaves  now  outstanding 
only  a  5  per  cent  deferred  dividend  to 
meet  all  dividend  payments  in  full. 

This  ability  to  pay  deferred  divi- 
dends demonstrates  the  value  of  the 
new  franchise  from  the  credit  point  of 
view  and  although  these  deferred  divi- 
dends were  paid  from  the  profit  and 
loss  surplus  neverthless  they  were 
made  possible  only  by  the  assurance 
that  the  recurring  annual  dividends 
would  automatically  be  met  by  fran- 
chise allowances  which  also  provided 
for  the  continuing  the  excellent  physi- 
cal operating  condition  of  the  property. 

Among  improvements  to  be  paid  from 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  $1,750,000 
bonds  is  the  new  Cote  substation. 


Consolidation  of  Charleston 
Lines  Planned 

The  executives  of  the  Charleston  (W. 
Va.)  Interurban  Railway  and  the 
Charleston  &  Dunbar  Traction  Com- 
pany are  of  the  opinion  that  the  sys- 
tems can  be  operated  more  efficiently 
and  effectively  by  consolidation  under 
one  management  and  have  petitioned 
the  State  Public  Service  Commission 
to  permit  the  companies  to  merge 
under  revised  rates  and  schedules  to 
go  into  effect  after  January.  The 
Charleston  Interurban  recently  effected 
a  lease  of  the  Charleston  &  Dunbar 
Traction  Company. 

The  combined  organizations  propose: 

1.  To  lease  all  lines  of  the  Charleston 
Dunbar  Traction  Company  to  the  Charles- 
ton Interurban  for  an  unnamed  period  of 
years,  these  lines  to  be  operated  by  the 
interurban  as  a  part  of  its  own  system. 

2.  To  abandon  tracks  of  the  Charleston 

6  Dunbar  line  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and 
on  Roane  Street. 

3.  To  connect  the  Kanawah  Valley  Trac- 
tion Company's  tracks  on  Virginia  Street, 
business  district,  and  the  Summers  Street 
line  of  the  new  consolidation,  so  that  cars 
may  be  sent  in  a  continuous  loop  from  the 
east  to  west  side  of  Elk  River. 

4.  To  operate  city  cars  east  of  Capitol 
Street  in  three  loops,  one  going  east  as  far 
as  Smith  Street,  the  middle  loop  turning  at 
Ruffner  Avenue,  and  the  other  and  third 
Toop  extending  to  Duffy  Street.  Revised 
schedules  to  go  into  effect  in  the  city. 

5.  To  raise  the  rate  of  fare  on  all 
Charleston  &  Dunbar  lines  from  6  cents  to 

7  cents,  in  conformity  with  the  7-cent  rate 
on  the  interurban  lines. 


Cleveland  Deficit  Reduced 

Improved    Business   Conditions  There 
Reflected  in  Railway  Company's 
October  Statement 

Signs  of  improved  business  conditions 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  are  indicated  in  the 
October  report  of  the  Cleveland  Rail- 
way. On  Sept.  1  the  deficit  in  the  com- 
pany's interest  fund,  which  is  the  fare 
barometer,  was  $206,158.  During  Sep- 
tember this  deficit  was  decreased  by 
$10,165,  while  in  October  the  deficit  was 
reduced  to  $23,785,  making  the  deficit 
in  the  fund  on  Nov.  1  $172,207,  a  nat 
reduction  of  more  than  $33,000  in  two 
months. 

In  addition  to  this  indication  that  the 
bottom  has  been  touched  in  the  general 
business  depression  in  Cleveland,  the 
Cleveland  Railway's  directors  learned 
that  $43,094  was  added  in  September 
and  $80,777  added  in  October  to  the 
company's  operating  reserve  as  sur- 
pluses, making  the  total  in  the  operat- 
ing reserve  $415,235. 

Since,  under  the  Cleveland  plan  of 
operation,  all  the  accruals  in  the  va- 
rious funds  must  be  transferred  to  the 
interest  fund  at  the  end  of  the  ordi- 
nance year,  March  1,  there  is  now  a 
prospective  balance  in  the  interest  fund, 
anticipating  the  transfer  to  be  made,  of 
$230,000. 

That  the  balance  in  this  fund  will  be 
considerably  greater  before  March  1  is 
foreseen  from  the  fact  that  the  operat- 
ing allowance  of  the  company  has  been 
in  excess  of  expenditures  each  month, 
due  to  the  reduction  in  the  wage  scale 
of  operatives  and  other  economies  af- 
fected by  the  company. 

No  prediction  is  being  made  at  the 
offices  of  the  company  or  by  the  city 
street  railway  commissioner  as  to  when 
any  change  may  be  made  in  the  rate 
of  fare,  but  in  both  quarters  it  is  felt 
that  the  worst  effects  of  the  general 
industrial  depression  are  over. 

This  is  further  evidenced  in  the  traffic 
figures  for  October.  During  this  month 
32,740,409  riders  were  carried,  as 
against  38,726,694  in  October,  1920,  a 
decrease  of  15.46  per  cent.  The  de- 
crease in  the  preceding  month  had  been 
17.56  per  cent. 

The  street  railway  committee  of  the 
City  Council  was  scheduled  to  meet  on 
Dec.  5  to  consider  increasing  the  com- 
pany's allowance  from  10  cents  a  car- 
mile  to  a  figure  that  will  extinguish  an 
accumulated  deficit  of  close  to  $700,000 
and  at  the  same  time  provide  for  neces- 
sary improvements. 

The  Council  at  its  last  meeting 
authorized  the  company  to  take  more 
than  $200,000  from  earnings  for  the 
purpose  of  writing  off  obsolete  tracks 
in  the  downtown  section  and  obsolete 
equipment  at  the  West  Twenty-fifth 
Street  battery  house,  abandoned  since 
the  company  began  purchsaing  most  of 
its  power.   


Reorganization  Plan  Declared  Ef- 
fective.— Notice  has  been  given  that 
the  plan  of  reorganization  for  the 
Monterey  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Monterey,  Mexico,  has  be- 
come effective  and  binding  on  the 
holders  of  the  5  per  cent  first  mortgage 
debenture  stock.  Holders  of  the 
debenture  stock  are  called  upon  to  de- 
posit the  certificates  for  their  stock  at 
the  office  of  the  British  Empire  Trust 
Company,  Ltd.,  London,  for  exchange 
for  new  securities  which  will  be  issued 
in  accordance  with  the  reorganization 
plan.  jf 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1047 


New  Company  Formed  to  Operate 
Shore  Line 

The  report  that  a  new  company  has 
been  formed  to  operate  the  Shore  Line 
Electric  Railway  from  New  Haven 
through  Saybrook  and  Chester,  Conn., 
has  been  officially  confirmed.  The  Shore 
Line  Traction  Company  has  been  in- 
corporated and  will  take  over  all  the 
assets  of  the  old  operating  company,  the 
Shore  Line  Electric  Railway,  in  the 
territory  to  be  served.  Under  present 
plans  service  will  be  maintained  from 
6  a.  m.  to  10  p.  m.  on  a  one-hour  sched- 
ule. Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  will  superintend  all  operations. 

In  their  report  the  engineers  estimate 
that  it  will  require  at  least  four  months 
and  possibly  longer  to  restore  the  road 
to  a  successful  operating  basis.  The 
work  of  rehabilitation  of  the  line,  which 
has  not  been  in  operation  for  two  years, 
involves  the  installation  of  new  power 
house  equipment,  the  overhauling  of  all 
rolling  stock  and  the  cleaning  and  re- 
pairing of  track  and  working  equipment. 

The  cost  of  this  work  has  been  esti- 
mated at  approximately  $900,000.  To 
secure  the  capital  the  company  has  pro- 
vided a  $1,000,000  issue  of  first  mort- 
gage 7  per  cent  gold  bonds,  with  a 
thirty-year  maturity.  The  capitaliza- 
tion of  the  new  company  is  less  than 
half  that  of  the  old.  The  latter  earned 
all  its  fixed  charges  and  carried  a  sub- 
stantial amount  of  surplus  during 
favorable  years.  With  a  substantial  re- 
duction in  the  burden  imposed  on  the 
company  in  the  form  of  fixed  charges, 
the  success  of  the  line  is  said  to  be 
practically  assured. 

The  net  revenue  from  operations  it 
has  been  estimated  will  exceed  $110,000 
a  year.  This  affords  a  liberal  margin 
of  safety  for  the  interest  requirements 
of  $63,000  of  the  bonds  to  be  outstand- 
ing. A  large  part  of  the  bond  issue  has 
already  been  subscribed  by  individuals 
and  corporations  whose  homes  or  busi- 
ness properties  will  be  served  by  the 
line. 


Lines  Seek  Partial  Abandonment. — 

The  San  Jose  (Cal.)  Railroads  have 
petitioned  the  State  Railroad  Commis- 
sion for  permission  to  abandon  the 
Santa  Clara  line  running  from  the 
Southern  Pacific  depot  at  Santa  Clara 
to  the  south  town  limits  known  as  the 
depot   line.     The   Peninsula  Railway, 


operating  suburban  lines  in  Santa  Clara 
County,  wants  to  abandon  service  on 
part  of  its  Naglee  Park  line. 

$5,000,000  Gain  in  Net 
Operating  Revenue 

Although  the  operating  expenses  of  a 
group  of  electric  railways,  whose  earn- 
ings represent  approximately  25  per 
cent  of  the  total  earnings  of  the  indus- 
try, shows  an  increase  of  about  $800,000 
for  the  first  nine  months  of  1921  over 


n 

(0 

c 
o 

s  26 

is 

i  ?b 

c 

> 
a) 

k  24 
u  23 

J  7.0 
I  6.5 
S"  6.0. 
|  55 
£5.0 
5  45 

g375 
o 

1 350 
if 

8.325 


M  300 


» 

t 
i 

,2?/ 
s?/ 

/ 
/ 

/ 

V\ 
s 

9 
/ 

/ 

/ 

1920 
— - — 

/ 

r 

\ 

1 

1 

\ 

\ 
1 

1 
1 
1 

 v- 

% 

-t  r 

! 

\ 

-V— 

-f-  1 

— V 

7* 

y. 

V 

i 
i 
i/ 
9/ 

\ 

// 

if 

u 

A    Graphic    Picture    op    Business  and 
Earnings  op  Representative 
Electric  Railways 

the  corresponding  period  of  last  year, 
the  net  operating  revenue  during  that 
time  totals  about  $8,000,000  more.  The 
table  below  compiled  by  the  Amer- 
ican Electric  Railway  Association,  in- 
cludes the  reports  from  72  companies 
for  the  group  of  the  first  eight  months 
and  62  for  the  ninth  month.  When  these 
figures  are  totaled  it  is  revealed  that 
the  operating  ratio  for  1921  has  fallen 
from  76.7  to  75.5. 

The  accompanying  chart  will  serve  to 
picture  the  trend  of  the  electric  rail- 
way industry  in  regard  to  the  number  of 
passengers  carried,  operating  and  net 
operating  revenue. 


Reorganization  of  United  Rail- 
ways Investment  Company 
Considered 

Plans  relative  to  a  reorganization  of 
the  United  Railways  Investment  Com- 
pany, Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  are  being  con- 
sidered and  an  attempt  made  to  bring 
the  interests  of  the  company  together 
in  such  a  way  that  the  accumulated 
dividends  on  the  preferred  stock  may 
be  liquidated. 

These  dividends  now  amount  to  75 
per  cent,  for  no  payments  have  been 
made  on  the  outstanding  $16,000,000 
of  5  per  cent  cumulative  preferred 
stock  since  1907.  United  Railways  In- 
vestment has  $20,400,000  common  stock 
outstanding  also.  The  company  owns 
58  per  cent  of  the  $42,943,000  com- 
mon stock  of  the  Philadelphia  Com- 
pany, which  derives  its  income  almost 
wholly  from  dividends. 


San  Francisco  Asks  Price  on 
Market  Street  Railway 

The  Board  of  Supervisors  of  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  on  Dec.  6  decided  to 
request  the  Market  Street  Railway  to 
name  terms  and  conditions  upon  which 
it  will  turn  over  its  railway  system  to 
the  city  to  be  operated  in  conjunction 
with  the  present  municipal  railway 
system.  A  charter  amendment  adopted 
a  year  ago  permits  the  city  to  take 
over  the  public  utility  and  pay  for  it 
out  of  the  earnings  of  the  utility.  In 
case  a  price  can  be  agreed  upon,  it  is 
not  proposed  to  issue  bonds  for  the 
purchase,  but  to  take  over  the  proper- 
ties on  the  pay-as-you-go  plan. 

The  purchase  is  being  urged  by  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  Civic  League  of 
Improvement  Clubs,  Building  Trades 
Council,  Downtown  Association  and 
other  organizations. 

If  an  agreement  is  reached  as  to  the 
price  to  be  paid,  the  matter  would  still 
have  to  be  submitted  to  popular  vote  in 
September. 

City  Engineer  O'Shaughnessy  esti- 
mated the  value  of  the  company's  rail- 
way system  at  $40,000,000.  The  Rail- 
road Commission's  valuation  is  about 
$41,500,000.  The  company  itself  has 
placed  the  figure  at  $51,800,000. 

Some  of  the  company's  most  impor- 
tant franchises  expire  in  about  ten 
vears,  while  others  continue  for  twenty- 
five  years. 


COMPARISON  OF  OPERATING  REVENUE,  OPERATING  EXPENSES,  PASSENGER  REVENUE  AND  REVENUE  PASSENGERS 
OF  SEVENTY-TWO  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS  MONTH  BY  MONTH  FOR  THE  FIRST  NINE  MONTHS  OF 

1921  AND  1920 

.  January  .  .  February  .  ■  March  

Per  Cent  Per  Cent 

1921                1920          Increase  1921                1920  Increase  1921                   1'2«  rn 

Operating  revenue                        $27,581,198     $24,712,598      1  1.6  $25,046,916     $22,498,452  1  1.3  $27,940,298  $25,500,359 

Operating  expenses                          21,009,454        18,846,047      11.5  19,307,654        17,990,835  7.3  20,849,874  19,294,557 

Net  operating  revenue                      6,571,744        5,866,551       12  .0  5,739.262         4,507,617  27  .3  7,090.424  6,205,802 

Operating  ratio                                        76.2%             76.1%     0.1  77.2%             80.0%     3.5  (d)  74.6%  75.69; 

Passenger  revenue                          $26,735,21  1      $23,876,612      12.0  $24,229,453      $21,718,302  11.6  $27,078,330  $24,632,467 

Revenue  passengers                      361,546,245     362,229,993       0.2  (d)  327,076,392     328,782,242  0.5  (d)  365,493,508  373.081,771 

.  -April  .  Per  Cent         .  May  .  Per  Cent         —  June  —  

1921                1920          Increase  1921                1920  Increase  1921  1920 

Operating  revenue                          $26,743,454      $25,627,551        4.4  $27,424,197      $27,021,052  1.5  $26,590,202  $26,169,820 

Operating  expenses                          20,075,345        18,781,559       6.9  20,274,181        19,802,057  2.4  20,006,325  20,162,854 

Net  operating  revenue                        6  668.109         6,845,992        2.9(d)  7,150.016        7,218,995  1.0(d)  6,583.877  6,006.966 

Operating  ratio  '           75.2%             73.4%     2.5  74.2%             73.4%  1.1  75.2%  77.2% 

Passenger  revenue   ..  ...$25,889,883      $24,709,943       4.8  $26,557,004      $25,986,203  2.2  $25,607,552  $25,183,835 

Revenue  passengers  ■.            349,781,601      373,598,840       6.4  (d)  356,876,091      387,099,601  7.8  (d)  344,775,722  374,406,617 

.  July  :  .  Per  Cent  August   Per  Cent         .  ^September  . 

•    .   ••   ■                  1921                1920          Increase  1921                1920  Increase  1921  1920 

Operating  revenue  .-                $26,510,903      $27,655,426       4.1  (d)  $26,363,501      $27,727,414  4.9  (d)  $23,617,527  $25,139,793 

Operating  expenses....'.                    20,088,668       22,055,726       8.9  (d)  19,800,524       21.584,202  8.2  (d)  17,583,710  19,646,307 

Net  operating  revenue. ... .'                6,422.235         5,599,700      14.7  6,562,977         6,144.212  6.8  6,033,817  5,493,486 

Operating  ratio  '.            75.8%             79.8%     5.0(d)  75.0%           78.0%  3.9(d)  74.6%                78. 2C; 

Passenger  revenue                          $25,564,568     $26,620,025       4.0(d)  $25,401,494      $26,696,993  4.9  (d)  $21,267,213  $22,593,767 

Revenue  passengers                       342,403,463      372,586,593       8.1  (d)  338,984,874      372,063,589  8.9  (d)  303,516,114  333,601,903 

(a)  Only  sixty-two  companies  are  represented  in  the  summary  for  September.       (d)  Decrease. 


Per  Cent 
Increase 
9.6 
8.  1 
1 4  3 
,     1.3  (i) 
10.0 
2  0  (d) 

Per  Cent 
Increase 
1.6 

0 . 8  (d) 
9.6 
2 . 6  (d) 
1.7 

7.8(d) 


Per  Cent 
Increase 
6.  I  (d) 
10.5(d) 
9.8 
4.6(d) 
5.9(d) 
9.  1  (d) 


1048 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Merger  Petition  Renewed 

The  Indiana  Electric  Corporation  has 
filed  with  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion an  amended  petition  for  the  con- 
solidation of  seven  public  utility 
companies  in  the  State,  three  of  which 
companies  the  corporation  now  owns. 
The  petition  sets  out  that  "the  fair 
aggregate  value  of  the  properties  of 
the  utility  companies  described  is  not 
less  than  $18,500,000."  The  petition 
also  asks  authority  for  the  corporation 
to  issue  $5,500,000  in  bonds,  $3,000,000 
in  common  stock  and  $1,500,000  in  pre- 
ferred stock.  The  service  commission 
set  Dec.  14  for  the  first  hearing  on  the 
new  petition. 

The  property  valuation  of  the  com- 
panies, as  set  out  in  the  petition,  is 
$250,000  higher  than  the  valuation  of 
the  properties  as  set  out  in  the  former 
petition  of  several  months  ago,  which 
was  denied  by  the  service  commission. 

The  corporation  in  the  first  petition 
proposed  to  have  outstanding  approxi- 
mately $21,000,000  in  securities.  In 
the  amended  petition  the  corporation 
proposes  to  cut  this  figure  to  $18,500,- 
000,  an  amount  equal  to  that  placed 
in  the  petition  on  the  valuation  of  the 
property,  or  a  reduction  of  approxi- 
mately $2,500,000  from  the  former 
figure. 

The  new  petition  requests  authority 
to  issue  $3,000,000  in  common  stock,  a 
reduction  of  $1,000,000  as  requested  in 
the  former  petition.  In  the  old  peti- 
tion authority  was  asked  to  issue 
$750,000  in  notes,  due  one  year  after 
issue,  but  the  new  petition  does  not 
ask  authority  to  issue  any  notes.  In 
the  amended  petition  authority  was 
asked  to  issue  preferred  stock  of  the 
par  value  of  $1,500,000,  which  is  a  re- 
duction of  $350,000  from  the  amount 
fixed  in  the  former  petition.  Figures 
covering  the  valuation  of  several  of  the 
companies  also  are  slightly  changed. 

The  companies  which  the  corporation 
plans  to  consolidate  are  the  Merchants 
Heat  &  Light  Company,  Indianapolis; 
the  Elkhart  Gas  &  Fuel  Company  and 
the  Valparaiso  Lighting  Company, 
which  are  now  owned  by  the  corpora- 
tion, and  the  Indiana  Railways  &  Light 
Company,  Kokomo;  the  Wabash  Val- 
ley Electric  Company,  the  Putnam 
Electric  Company  and  the  Caluga  Elec- 
tric Company. 

The  Public  Service  Commission  on 
Sept.  13  declined  to  authorize  the 
merger  of  the  companies  on  the  first 
petition  of  the  corporation,  holding  that 
the  property  valuation  of  the  utility 
companies  was  not  sufficient  to  warrant 
the  issuance  of  the  securities  for  which 
permission  was  asked.  The  new  peti- 
tion also  requests  that  the  commission 
set  aside  its  order  on  the  former 
petition. 

Service  Suspension  Allowed 

The  Muskegon  Light  &  Traction 
Company,  Muskegon,  Mich.,  is  author- 
ized to  discontinue  service  on  Dec.  30,  if 
jitney  competition  is  not  eliminated  by 
that  time.  The  order  was  issued  by  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  on  Nov.  20 
and  requested  that  within  thirty  days 
Muskegon  and  Muskegon  Heights  should 
hold  an  election  to  decide  on  the  ques- 
tion of  jitney  elimination. 

Following  this  decision,  officials  of 
both  cities  set  Dec.  14  as  the  date  for 
the  election.  If  the  electors  vote  to 
retain  electric  railway  in  service  city 
officials  must  terminate  bus  lines  which 
compete  with  the  railway.    In  case  the 


vote  is  in  favor  of  jitney  service,  the 
traction  company  may  cease  operation 
on  Dec.  30. 

The  railway  claims  that  it  can  operate 
only  at  a  loss  with  bus  competition,  but 
could  be  successful  without  it.  Both 
city  officials  and  the  company  are  said 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  decision  of  the 
commission. 


Defunct  Line  May  Be  Operated 

Gasoline  cars  may  be  operated  over 
the  Plymouth-Norwalk  line  of  the  San- 
dusky, Norwalk  &  Mansfield  Electric 
Railway,  Norwalk,  Ohio.  This  is  the 
latest  development  since  the  purchase 
of  the  road  by  the  Wilkoff  Company, 
Youngstown,  Ohio,  as  reported  in  the 
Electric  Ralway  Journal  for  Nov.  26, 
1921.  The  new  owners  will  wait  five 
weeks  before  junking  the  road,  to  give 
the  stockholders  and  patrons  an  oppor- 
tunity to  decide  whether  they  shall  buy 
and  operate  it. 

Chances  for  operating  the  road  are 
considered  better  than  for  some  time, 
for  the  present  owners  will  sell  any 
part  of  the  road  and  junk  what  they  do 
not  sell.  If  the  stockholders  decide  to 
operate  the  road  with  gasoline  cars 
they  would  purchase  only  the  road  bed, 
track  and  ties.  The  present  owners, 
would  then  junk  the  equipment  not 
needed  for  the  operation  of  gasoline 
cars.  While  the  court  had  custody,  the 
joad  had  to  be  sold  in  its  entirety,  but 
now  that  it  is  owned  by  private  inter- 
ests, the  advocates  of  gasoline  cars  may 
have  some  success,  it  is  said. 


Detroit  United  to  Pay  Bonds. — Fifty 
thousand  dollars  of  first  mortgage  5 
per  cent  gold  bonds  of  the  Detroit 
(Mich.)  Railway,  due  on  Dec.  1  will  be 
paid  at  the  office  of  the  People's  State 
Bank,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Stockholders'   Meeting  Postponed. — 

The  meeting  of  stockholders  of  the  In- 
terborough  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
New  York,  N.  Y.,  which  was  scheduled 
for  Nov.  29,  has  been  postponed  until 
Dec.  29. 

Receiver  for  Line  in  Pennsylvania. — 

Walter  C.  Graeff  has  been  appointed 
receiver  of  the  Ephrata  &  Lebanon 
Street  Railway,  Lebanon,  Pa.,  operated 
by  the  Ephrata  &  Lebanon  Traction 
Company. 

Seeks  to  Issue  Stock — The  West  End 
Street  Railway,  Boston  Mass.,  has  peti- 
tioned the  Massachusetts  Department 
of  Public  Utilities  for  permission  to 
issue  $2,700,000  of  thirty-year  7  per 
cent  bonds  to  refund  a  similar  amount 
maturing  Feb.  1,  1922. 

Paving  Assessment  LTpheld.  —  The 
Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  has 
affirmed  the  right  of  Durham  to  col- 
lect $102,942  from  the  Durham  Pub- 
lic Service  Company  as  its  part  in  the 
pavement  of  Main  Street,  on  which  the 
company  has  a  street  railway  line. 

Abandonment  Authorized.  —  Permis- 
sion has  been  granted  to  the  Hopatcong 
Shore  Railroad  by  the  Board  of  Public 
Utility  Commissioners  to  abandon  its 
line  and  to  sell  its  property  and  assets. 
The  corporation  was  organized  in  1911, 


but  discontinued  service  on  Sept.  7,. 
1917.  The  line  provided  passenger 
service  between  the  Morris  County 
Traction  Company's  terminus  at  Land- 
ing and  Bertrand's  Island,  Lake  Hopat- 
cong, a  distance  of  approximately  2 
miles.  In  its  petition  the  company  set 
forth  an  operating  loss  of  about  $5,000 
from  1911  to  1917,  exclusive  of  any 
return  on  either  stock  or  bonds. 

Maturing  Bonds  Extended.  —  An- 
nouncement has  been  made  by  Dillon, 
Read  &  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y., 
that  the  $5,000,000  first  consolidated 
mortgage  bonds  of  the  Minneapolis 
(Minn.)  Street  Railway,  issued  jointly 
with  the  Minneapolis,  Lyndale  &  Min- 
netonka  Railway,  and  which  mature 
Jan.  15,  1922,  have  been  extended  to 
Jan.  15,  1925,  with  interest  at  the  rate 
of  7  per  cent  from  Jan.  15,  1922.  They 
will  be  secured  by  the  original  lien. 
Bondholders  are  offered  the  privilege 
of  extending  their  bonds  to  Jan.  15, 
1925,  bond  for  bond,  with  the  payment 
to  them  of  $10  for  each  bond. 

May  Resume  Interest  Payments. — 
The  improved  financial  condition  of  the 
Third  Avenue  Railway,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  last  statement  of  the  treas- 
urer, had  $1,770,871  in  cash  and 
$1,419,000  in  Liberty  bonds  and  United 
States  certificates  of  indebtedness,  led 
President  Huff  to  state  that,  if  normal 
improvement  continues,  the  resumption 
of  interest  payments  on  the  company's 
adjustment  income  bonds  might  be 
started  within  the  next  few  months. 
It  is  the  policy  of  the  company  to  keep 
a  large  surplus  on  hand  to  meet  such 
conditions  as  arose  last  winter  when  the 
interest  on  underlying  bonds  could  not 
be  paid  by  the  current  earnings. 

Stock  Issued  for  Power  Plants. — The 

Indiana  Public  Service  Commission  is- 
sued an  order  recently  approving  the 
issuance  of  $4,500,000  of  common  stock 
and  $1,250,000  of  bonds  by  the  Indiana 
Hydro-Electric  Company  to  finance  con- 
struction of  electric  power  plants  to 
utilize  water  power  of  the  Tippecanoe 
River  in  northern  Indiana.  The  com- 
pany is  to  issue  $1,125,000  of  stock  at 
once  to  finance  the  construction  of  the 
first  unit  at  Norway,  near  Monticello, 
county  seat  of  White  County.  The  com- 
pany is  backed  by  Eastern  capitalists 
and  by  the  Insull  interests.  Governor 
McCray  has  instructed  R.  Lieber,  di- 
rector of  the  state  department  of  con- 
servation, to  make  an  investigation  of 
the  plans  of  the  company. 

Court  Fixes  Status  of  Bonds. — Fed- 
eral Judge  Mayer  has  answered  the 
request  for  advice  made  by  counsel 
for  the  Guaranty  Trust  Company, 
trustee  of  the  first  mortgage  of  the 
New  York  (N.  Y.)  Railways,  as  to 
what  property  of  the  defendant  was 
covered  by  the  mortgage.  This  infor- 
mation was  needed  in  the  foreclosure 
proceedings  instituted  by  the  trustee. 
Judge  Mayer  found  that  the  most 
valuable  assets  of  the  company,  the 
franchises  and  equipment,  together 
with  odd  items,  were  subject  to  the  lien 
and  then,  summarizing  the  various 
properties  owned  by  the  railways,  said 
the  property,  consisting  of  stock  of  the 
various  companies  in  the  system, 
should  be  held  for  the  benefit  of  the 
general  creditors.  Judge  Mayer  said 
his  opinion  on  the  various  proper- 
ties at  this  time  could  be  considered 
only  as  advisory  because  of  the  many 
other  undetermined  questions  that 
must  be  answered  before  a  final  decree 
was  entered. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1049 


Fare  Increases  Denied 

California   Commission   Says  Further 
Advances  at  San  Jose  Would 
Drive  Business  to  Autos 

Expressing  its  belief  that  increased 
fares  would  reduce  earnings  by  driving 
travel  to  the  automobile,  the  Railroad 
Commission  of  California  on  Nov.  30 
denied  the  applications  of  the  San  Jose 
Railroads  and  the  Peninsular  Railway 
for  10-cent  fares  in  San  Jose  and  Palo 
Alto.  The  companies  also  proposed  a 
7-cent  token  fare  when  five  are  bought 
at  one  time.  Both  lines  desire  to  in- 
crease school  children's  commutation 
fares  and  to  make  a  number  of  minor 
adjustments.  The  present  city  fare  is 
6  cents.  The  Peninsular  Railway  did 
not  ask  any  increase  in  its  interurban 
fares  or  freight  rates. 

Both  lines  are  owned  by  the  South- 
ern Pacific  Company.  San  Jose  Rail- 
roads operates  local  service  in  the  city 
of  San  Jose,  the  town  of  Santa  Clara 
and  in  unincorporated  parts  of  Santa 
Clara  county.  The  Peninsular  Rail- 
way operates  electric  interurban  serv- 
ice, passenger  and  freight,  between 
San  Jose,  Palo  Alto  and  Los  Gatos. 
Local  service  is  also  given  in  San  Jose 
on  the  Naglee  Park  Line  and  between 
Palo  Alto  and  Stanford  University. 

The  commission  recommended  to  the 
San  Jose  Railroads  that  it  put  into  ef- 
fect service  and  other  recommenda- 
tions, made  by  the  engineering  depart- 
ment of  the  commission  after  a  survey, 
and  expressed  the  belief  that  the 
revenues  of  the  road  would  continue  to 
increase  with  the  growth  of  the  com- 
munity. The  company  claimed  a  net 
loss  of  $89,432  for  the  nine  months 
ending  Sept.  30,  1920,  but  it  was  point- 
ed out  by  the  commission  that  this  in- 
terest on  a  funded  debt  of  $2,423,000 
issued  against  a  historical  reproduction 
cost  of  $1,523,933. 

The  commission  proceeded  to  point 
out  that  applicant's  so-called  financial 
requirements  are  not  a  proper  basis 
for  computing  rates,  adding,  that  the 
company  under  existing  rates  is  mak- 
ing a  substantial  operating  income.  In 
referring  to  the  future  prospects  of 
the  road  the  commission  said: 

While  there  has  been  no  apparent  in- 
crease in  business  this  is,  no  doubt,  a  tem- 
porary condition.  San  Jose  has  a  good 
record  of  growth  in  population,  with  no  in- 
dication that  such  growth  has  been  ar- 
rested. The  number  of  passengers  and 
revenues  should  increase  ;  operating  ex- 
penses because  of  declining  costs  of  labor 
and  materials  should  decrease.  The  esti- 
mated net  income  of  over  $84,000  is  greater 
than  that  of  any  year  except  1913  and  1914, 
before  the  general  use  of  the  private  auto- 
mobile. Returns  in  the  future,  then,  should 
be  greater  and  not  less  than  5.55  per  cent. 

In  the  case  of  the  Peninsular  Com- 
pany the  commission  pointed  out  that 
the  Palo  Alto  city  lines  which  are 
operated  separately  from  the  interur- 
ban system  are  earning  8  per  cent  on 
the  company's  own  valuation  and  with 
economies  a  return  of  9.5  per  cent  is 
possible.  The  commission  declared  that 
patrons  of  the  line  between  Palo  Alto 
and  Stanford  University  should  not  be 
compelled  to  pay  a  higher  rate  in  or- 
der to  enable  the  company  to  make  a 
small  increase  in  its  net  return  on  the 
investment  of  its  entire  system. 


The  commission  declared  that  it 
could  not  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  ad- 
vanced by  the  railroads  that  they  had 
a  right  to  assume  the  risk  of  loss  of 
business  through  increased  fares.  On 
this  point  the  commission  said: 

When  rates  are  too  high,  they  not  only 
retard  and  reduce  the  earnings  of  the  car- 
rier but  result  in  loss  to  the  traveling  pub- 
lic, who  either  go  without  the  service  en- 
tirely or  turn  to  the  other  channels  of 
travel.  In  a  situation  of  this  kind  it  be- 
comes the  duty  of  this  commission  to  deny 
increases  in  fares  which  we  believe  would 
have  the  effect  of  further  reducing  passen- 
ger earnings  by  driving  travel  to  the  auto- 
mobiles. 


United  Railways  Asks 
Fare  Extension 

Continuation  of  the  7-cent  fare  is 
asked  in  a  petition  of  the  United  Rail- 
ways &  Electric  Company,  Baltimore, 
Md.,  filed  with  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission on  Nov.  29.  The  order  for  a 
7-cent  fare  will  expire  on  Dec.  31,  and 
the  company  asks  for  its  extension 
until  the  order  "shall  be  further  modi- 
fied, extended  or  repealed." 

The  rulings  of  the  commission  in 
1919  state  that  the  company's  rate 
should  be  such  as  to  yield  a  net  surplus 
not  exceeding  $1,500,000  and  not  less 
than  $1,000,000.  The  company  points 
out  that  its  net  income  for  the  ten 
months  ended  Oct.  31  was  $475,445 
which  would  indicate  a  net  balance  to 
surplus  for  the  entire  year  of  1921  of 
$609,870.  This  amount  is  $1,045,772 
less  than  one-half  its  fixed  charges  for 
that  year  and  $390,130  less  than  the 
minimum  of  $1,000,000  allowed  by  the 
commission,  based  on  the  fixed  charges 
of  1919. 

The  decline  in  passenger  traffic  is 
laid  to  the  recent  depression  in  business. 
Revenue  passengers  for  October  of  this 
year  showed  a  10  per  cent  decline  as 
compared  with  those  of  October,  1920. 


Commission  Against  10-Cent  Fare 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
in  decision  of  Nov.  3,  1921,  just  pub- 
lished, holds  that  the  10-cent  passenger 
fare  between  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  New 
Albany,  Ind.,  on  the  lines  of  the 
Louisville  &  Northern  Railway  & 
Lighting  Company,  was  unreasonable 
and  that  the  10-cent  rate  for  the  future 
will  be  "unreasonable  to  the  extent  it 
exceeds  or  may  exceed  10  cents  per 
passenger  for  a  single  trip  and  a  com- 
mutation fare  of  9  cents  per  passenger 
upon  the  purchase  of  not  exceeding 
twelve  tickets." 

The  case  was  called  to  the  attention 
of  the  Commerce  Commission  by  the 
complaints  filed  by  the  city  of  New 
Albany  on  Dec.  17  and  18,  1920.  At 
that  time  the  defendant  corporation 
operated  two  separate  and  distinct  divi- 
sion of  interurban  electric  railway,  but 
since  the  hearing,  the  Interstate  Public 
Service  Company,  an  Indiana  corpora- 
tion, has  acquired  all  the  rights  and 
property  of  the  defendant  company.  In 
March,  1919,  the  fare  was  increased 
from  5  to  7  cents  between  Louisville 
and  New  Albany,  and  in  1920,  a  10-cent 
cash  fare  was  instituted  and  no  com- 
mutation tickets  were  sold.  The  total 
distance  of  the  route  was  4.76  miles. 


Routing  for  Kansas  City,  Kan., 
Before  the  Court 

After  many  meetings  and  many  de- 
lays it  now  appears  that  the  original 
routing  suggested  by  John  A.  Beeler 
for  the  Kansas  City  Railways  will  be 
adopted  for  use  in  Kansas  City,  Kan., 
with  slight  modifications.  The  whole 
matter  is  now  before  the  courts  as 
the  result  of  the  rejection  by  the  Board 
of  City  Commissioners  of  Kansas  City, 
Kan.,  on  Nov.  3  of  all  four  plans  of 
rerouting  presented  from  time  to  time 
during  the  last  several  months  by  the 
Kansas  City  Railways.  At  that  time 
Francis  M.  Wilson,  one  of  the  re- 
ceivers, said: 

I  cannot  say  what  we  will  do  now,  but 
it  is  a  general  practice  for  the  receivers 
to  ask  the  advice  of  the  court  when  they 
have  proceeded  as  far  as  they  can  along 
any  one  certain  line  and  failed  to  obtain 
results.  We  very  likely  will  ask  the  advice 
of  the  court  in  the  matter,  as  we  have 
done  all  that  we  can  do.  We  tried  earnestly 
to  adjust  the  matter  to  the  satisfaction  of 
all  parties  concerned  and  to  give  to  Kansas 
City,  Kan.,  the  same  high-grade  service 
we  are  giving  to  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  obtain- 
ing desired  economies  at  the  same  time. 
It  is  apparent  from  the  vote  of  the  com- 
missioners we  have  failed. 

Later  Mr.  Wilson  carried  the  case  to 
the  court.  A  hearing  was  held  before 
Judge  Kimbrough  Stone  in  the  fed- 
eral court  at  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  on  Nov. 
25.  F.  G.  Buffe,  general  manager  of 
the  railways,  answering  a  question  as 
to  which  plan  the  company  preferred, 
produced  the  revised  Beeler  proposal, 
decided  on  by  the  company  on  Nov.  23. 
He  said  that  the  Beeler  plan,  with 
some  modification,  would  allow  the 
company  to  put  into  effect  some  of  the 
economies  it  has  desired  to  put  into 
practice  and  still  give  the  people  first 
class  service.  Mr.  Buffe  explained  the 
Beeler  plan  would  save  the  company 
$147,000  a  year. 

It  was  declared  by  both  Mr.  Buffe 
and  Mr.  Fennell,  the  traffic  manager 
for  the  company,  that  operation  of  a 
modified  Beeler  plan  in  Kansas  City 
would  eliminate  about  thirty  cars  a 
day.  Their  explanation  was  that  cars 
would  be  transferred  from  points 
where  the  travel  was  light  and  pressed 
into  service  where  travel  justified. 
Both  insisted  no  cars  would  be  trans- 
ferred to  relieve  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
traffic. 

Throughout  the  hearing  Judge  Stone 
indicated  the  liveliest  interest  in  the 
points  raised  and  gave  particular  at- 
tention to  the  matter  of  checks  and 
suggested  turnbacks  and  changes  in 
routes,  all  plans  therefore  being  dis- 
cussed.   He  said: 

In  the  last  analysis,  rerouting  of  the 
street  cars,  if  done  at  all,  must  be  by  the 
balance  of  two  factors,  one  of  which  is 
proper  service  of  the  public  and  the  other 
economies  in  the  operation  of  the  property. 

Judge  Stone  questioned  officials  of 
the  railway  closely  relative  to  routes, 
character  of  travel  over  them  and  of 
comparative  importance  of  localities, 
residential  and  business,  as  relating  to 
both  Kansas  City,  Kan.,  and  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  showing  especial  interest  in 
theories  advanced  as  to  possibility  of 
a  greater  and  more  rapid  growth  for 
Kansas  City,  Kan.,  along  lines  sug- 
gested under  the  original  Beeler  plan. 


Favors  Bus  Franchise  —  Geneva 
(N.  Y.)  Chamber  of  Commerce  re- 
cently adopted  resolutions  favoring  a 
franchise  permit  by  the  Common  Coun- 
cil to  the  Geneva  and  Auburn  bus  line. 
The  proposed  line  is  to  operate  between 
Geneva  and  Waterloo. 


1050 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Argument  Completed  in  Chicago  Case 

Burden  of  Proof  in  Fare  Reduction  Proceeding  Placed  on  Illinois  Commerce 
Commission — Wage  Question  Injected  in  Hearing 

The  8-cent  fare  still  prevails  on  the  Chicago  Surface  Lines,  and  hopes  of 
immediate  dissolution  of  the  injunction  writ  against  the  restoration  of  a  5-cent 
fare  did  not  look  bright  at  the  close  of  arguments  in  the  United  States  District 
Court  on  Dec.  2.  Attorneys  for  the  companies,  the  commission,  the  city  and 
the  Attorney  General  spent  the  day  in  presenting  their  side  of  the  case  before 
Federal  Judges  Baker,  Carpenter  and  Page.  They  were  told  to  file  briefs  by 
Dec.  8,  after  which  the  matter  would  be  taken  under  advisement. 

THE  judges  announced  early  in  the  burden  of  proof  had  been  shifted  to 
proceedings  that  the  only  point  of  the  city.  An  unusual  event  during  the 
interest  to  them  was  the  question  of  hearing  was  the  appearance  of  Frank 
the  sufficiency  of  the  5-cent  fare  and  L.  Smith,  chairman  of  the  commission, 
they  cut  short  the  city's  legal  repre-  whose  order  was  under  review.  He  m- 
sentative  whenever  he  attempted  to  sisted  on  explaining  the  reasons  for 
wander  into  other  phases  of  the  situa-   the  order.  .  . 

tion  Mr.  Smith  stated  that  the  commission 

Judge  Baker  presided.  He  made  the  in  arriving  at  its  decision  considered 
caustic  comment  at  the  close  that  if  no*  only  whether  a  fair  return  on  capi- 
the  city  and  state  were  really  solicitous  tal  was  to  be  allowed,  but  whether  a 
of  the  interests  of  the  car-riding  pub-  rate  of  r<£u™  for  improvident  man- 
lie  the  city  would  forego  "levying  a  agement  should  continue  to  be  mam- 
tax"  by  having  the  companies  collect  t*me&.  The  judges  made  it  plain  that 
55  per  cent  of  the  net  earnings.  "Street  threy  w?Te  interested  m  was  whether 
car  fares,"  he  said,  "should  be  the  rate  thue  5-cent  rate  was  confiscatory,  not 
which  would  enable  the  company  to  whether  the  8-cent  fare  was  excessive, 
pay  its  operating  costs  and  leave  an  a"d  that  **«  commission  should  have 
honest  return  on  a  fair  valuation.  That  shown  in  dollars  and  cents  how  savings 
is  the  total  amount  passengers  should  could  °e.™,a°®  ^I?c!ent  to  offset  the 
be  required  to  pay "  l°ss  °*  $23,000,000  in  revenue  which 

Judge  Baker  said  that,  in  addition   would  follow  a  reduction  of  3  cents  in 

to  this,  Chicago  is  putting  on  a  special   theA  ™ **  Per  Pas* en&er-,  ,   

and  discriminatory  tax  and  requiring  Attorney  H.  E.  Wood,  for  the  com- 
the  companies  to  collect  it  for  them.  !?lsslon'  c.lte.d  som,e.of  the  data  which 
If  Chicago  wants  this  extra  money  it  fte  commission  had  in  mmd  to  make  up 
should  collect  from  the  proprietors  of  *hls  -tota1'  but  aJ  +he  iTes?n£L& 
stores,  not  from  the  clerks  in  the  stores  hearing  amounted  to  about  $10,000,000, 
and  other  riders  who  do  not  enjoy  the  whlch  m«luded  about  $5,000,000  al- 
use  of  private  automobiles.  lo™ed  each  year  for  renewals. 

Another  pointed  comment  was  made  The.  c?urt  said  *hat  aPParently  the 
bv  Judge  Baker  on  the  matter  of  rate  commission  wanted  the  companies  to 
of  return.  "Why  should  not  the  com-  experiment  with  a  5-cent  fare  while 
panies  be  held  to  the  5  per  cent  limit  endeavoring  to  reduce  costs.  Evi- 
of  return  fixed  by  the  ordinances?"  gently,  said  Judge  Baker,  because  you 
inquired  Attorney  Cleveland  for  the  believed  the  companies  committed  mis- 
city.  "Because  the  United  States  Con-  feasance  under  their  contracts  and  De- 
stitution says  nothing  about  5  per  cent,"  cause  theY  yiola*ed  service  orders  of 
answered  the  court.  Attornev  Cleve-  *be  commission,  they  were  to  be  pun- 
land  had  also  made  reference  to  the  lsh,»d  by  rate  ]ess  than  compensatory 
overcrowding  of  cars  and  its  possible  Whlle  *he  temporary  order  of  the 
result  in  damage  claims  against  the  °°urt  continues  m  force,  transfers  are 
companies  being   issued  as   rebate   slips.     It  is 

The  commission  had  evidently  taken  sajd  that.  ?ot  a  £reat  Proportion  of 
this  point  of  view  in  declaring  that  the  ridfs  msist  on  getting  a  final  transfer 
present  payments  of  the  companies  for  to  b,e  held  for  this  purpose, 
damages  were  extravagant  and  should  Throughout  the  hearings  before  the 
be  cut  in  half.  "The  burden  is  on  vou  Illinois  Commerce  Commission,  the 
to  point  out  facts,"  said  Judge  Baker;  city's  representatives  and  the  commis- 
"not  to  make  nebulous  statements,  sioners  refused  to  be  led  into  a  sug- 
Where  in  the  record  is  there  a  figure  to  Kestion  that  wages  of  employees  of  the 
show  that  the  claim  department  paid  Surface  Lines  be  reduced.  They,  there- 
more  than  ought  to  be  paid  by  a  pru-  fore,  had  difficulty  in  making  a  showing 
dently,  efficiently  managed  claim  de-  before  the  federal  court  as  to  how  a 
partment?"  The  city  lawyer  was  silent  large  saving  could  be  made, 
on  this  subject.  A  few  days   after   arguments  had 

Attorneys  for  the  company,  however,  been  concluded  one  of  the  newspapers 
had  taken*  advantage  of  the  suggestion  announced  apparently  with  authority 
by  filing  an  affidavit  from  Joseph  V.  that  the  commission  contemplated  a 
Sullivan,  assistant  to  the  president,  direct  cut  of  $5,176,000  in  wages  when 
showing  that  the  commission  had  come  it  entered  the  order.  The  total  possible 
to  this  conclusion  without  any  evidence,  savings  considered  by  the  commission, 
whereas  figures  which  he  produced  according  to  the  newspaper  in  question, 
showed  the  Chicago  companies  were  were  listed  as  follows: 
paying  out  less  than  other  large  prop-         Saving's  Amount 

erties  VintVi   in   ner  cent  nf  orn«5   earn  "Layover"  time   $1,740,000 

ernes  ootn  in  per  cent  01  gross  earn-  official  and  other  salaries  ...  1, 014,000 

ings  and  m  cost  per  1,000  passengers      Maintenance    451.000 

carried.  Materials    900,000 

By  the  court's  ruling,  the  positions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    4  853  000 

of  the  city  and  the  companies  were  re-  Rerouting,  new  cars,  wages..  6,177.000 

versed.    By  the  companies'  flat  chal-   

lenge  to  the  city  to  prove  a  single  find-  $16,135,000 

ing  by  the  commission  which  was  based  It  was  made  plain  by  the  federal 

on  evidence,  the  court  held  that  the  judges  that  the  city  lawyers  would  have 


to  show  from  the  record  that  such  sav- 
ings could  be  made.  It  developed 
during  the  hearing  that  the  city  and 
the  commission  were  not  in  agreement 
on  several  of  these  items. 


Advance  of  New  Jersey 

Case  Asked 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  has  taken  under  advisement  the 
motion  of  Attorney  General  Thomas  F. 
McCran  and  the  Board  of  Public 
Utility  Commissioners  of  New  Jersey 
to  expedite  the  argument  on  the  appeal 
of  the  commission  from  the  8-cent  fare 
recently  granted  to  the  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway  by  the  special  statutory 
court. 

The  motion  of  Mr.  McCran  was  filed 
with  the  clerk  of  the  court  on  Dec.  6. 
Frank  Bergen,  general  counsel  of  Pub- 
lic Service  Railway,  in  reply,  filed  a 
memorandum,  which  stated  that  the 
railway  was  as  anxious  for  an  early 
determination  as  the  utilities  board, 
but  it  would  ask  the  court,  in  disposing 
of  the  motion,  to  allow  a  reasonable 
time  to  prepare  for  the  argument.  Mr. 
Bergen  said  this  could  not  be  charac- 
terized as  opposition  to  Mr.  McCran's 
motion  to  advance,  but  merely  an  in- 
sistence that  the  cause  be  not  unduly 
rushed. 

In  his  brief  on  the  motion  Mr.  Mc- 
Cran first  sets  out  the  facts  of  the 
controversy  between  the  Public  Serv- 
ice and  the  Utilities  Board,  up  to  and 
including  the  action  of  Judge  Rellstab 
at  Trenton  in  naming  former  Judge 
Haight  to  take  testimony  and  to  make 
a  report  to  adjudge  whether  the  pre- 
liminary injunction  ordering  the  8-cent 
fare  to  be  put  into  effect  shall  be  made 
permanent. 


Reduce  Service  to  Lessen  Deficit 

The  Columbia  Railway,  Gas  &  Elec- 
tric Company,  Columbia,  S.  C,  which 
during  the  first  ten  months  of  1921 
suffered  an  operating  loss  of  $91,000, 
has  petitioned  the  City  Council  to  dis- 
continue service  on  Gadsden  and  Rich- 
land Streets,  which  connect  Elmwood 
and  Main  by  way  of  the  Governor's 
mansion. 

Officials  of  the  company,  in  advertise- 
ments in  the  daily  papers,  have  set 
forth  the  problem  the  company  faces, 
and  have  asked  for  the  co-operation 
of  the  citizens  in  solving  the  financial 
difficulty.  This  the  company  hopes  to 
do  without  resorting  to  increasing  the 
fare  to  10  cents.  F.  H.  Knox,  president 
of  the  Columbia  company,  said  that  the 
installation  of  one-man  cars  would 
hardly  relieve  the  situation  because  of 
the  heavy  expenditure,  and  that  the 
company  hoped  to  avoid  a  drastic  re- 
duction in  wages  of  the  employees. 

All  the  lines  of  the  company  showed 
a  loss  in  October. 


Railway  Wants  Permanent 
Fare  Settled 

The  Duluth  (Minn.)  Street  Railway 
has  petitioned  the  State  Railroad  & 
Warehouse  Commission  to  set  a  date 
on  a  hearing  for  a  permanent  fare. 
Engineers  for  the  city  and  the  company 
have  completed  their  valuations. 

The  actual  valuation  and  a  fair  rate 
of  return  will  probably  be  argued  at 
length.  Under  the  law  passed  last 
winter,  the  permanent  fare  must  allow 
the  company  a  fair  return  on  its  valua- 
tion. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1051 


Monthly  Pass  for  Joliet 

Ten-Cent  Cash  Fare  Retained  but  Lower 
Rate  Authorized  for  Regular 
Riders 

The  present  10-cent  cash  fare  of  the 
Chicag-o  &  Joliet  Electric  Railway  in 
Joliet,  111.,  is  to  be  reduced  for  the  regu- 
lar patron  by  the  addition  of  a  monthly 
pass  selling  for  75  cents  which  will  en- 
title the  holder  to  ride  upon  paying  a 
5-cent  cash  fare.  There  will  be  no  ad- 
vantage in  the  monthly  pass  to  anyone 
who  rides  only  sixteen  times  a  month, 
but  if  a  person  rides  fifty  times  in  a 
month,  the  average  rate  of  fare  will  be 
6.5  cents  and  5.75  cents  if  100  rides  are 
taken  in  a  month. 

J.  R.  Blackhall,  general  manager, 
applied  for  this  reduced  rate  of  fare 
for  the  regular  riders  on  the  morning  of 
Dec.  1  and  the  Illinois  Commerce  Com- 
mission heard  the  case  and  entered  an 
order  approving  the  same  day.  Mr. 
Blackhall  estimates  that  with  an  in- 
crease in  traffic  of  5  per  cent  over  that 
of  1921  on  the  Joliet  city  lines,  and 
■with  the  probability  that  25  per  cent  of 
the  total  fares  will  be  on  the  ticket  plan 
and  resulting  in  an  average  fare  of  7 
cents,  which  is  conservative,  the  revenue 
of  the  company  from  transportation  will 
be  reduced  approximately  $50,000  as 
compared  to  1921. 

Mr.  Blackhall  comments  that  not- 
withstanding a  large  deficit  from  opera- 
tion of  the  property  this  year,  he  felt 
that  some  concession  would  have  to  be 
made  to  the  regular  riders  on  account  of 
the  reductions  in  wages  of  from  10  to  25 
per  cent  that  have  been  made  in  the  past 
several  months.  If  the  gross  earnings 
from  operation  for  1922  are  approxi- 
mately the  same  as  for  1921,  it  will  re- 
quire a  reduction  of  $100,000  in  the  pay 
roll  and  $100,000  in  all  other  operating 
expenses  to  make  it  possible  to  earn  the 
fixed  charges. 

The  contract  with  the  organized  em- 
ployees of  the  company  was  entered 
into  July  1,  1921,  and  expires  this  Dec. 
31.  A  reduction  of  5  cents  an  hour  was 
made  on  July  1  and  it  is  now  proposed 
to  make  a  further  reduction  by  Jan.  1. 
A  20  per  cent  reduction  in  wages  would 
be  necessary  in  order  to  effect  a  reduc- 
tion of  $100,000  for  the  year  in  the  pay- 
roll expense. 

New  Routing  and  Fare  Collections 
in  Effect 

During  the  negotiations  for  the 
service-at-cost  franchise  in  Youngstown, 
Ohio,  the  City  Council,  acting  upon  the 
advice  of  its  street  railway  expert,  de- 
cided that  all  railway  lines  in  the  city 
should  terminate  at  the  Public  Square, 
thereby  dividing  the  city,  so  far  as  elec- 
tric railway  service  was  concerned,  into 
four  distinct  sections,  namely,  north, 
south,  east  and  west. 

This  method  of  operation  was  con- 
tinued until  Nov.  27, 1921.  On  that  date 
the  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway, 
operating  the  lines  in  Youngstown, 
placed  in  service  twelve  additional 
Birney  one-man  safety  cars  and  routed 
three  of  the  lines  operating  on  the  west 
side  of  the  city  through  to  the  easterly 
section  of  the  city. 

Prior  to  that  date  the  fares  had  been 
collected  on  the  inbound  trips  as  the 
passengers  entered  the  car  and  on  the 
outbound  trips  as  the  passengers  left  the 
car.  This  method  of  fare  collection  was 
very  simple  and  easily  understood  by  the 
public,  but  when  the  cars  were  through- 
routed  it  became  necessary  to  devise  a 


new  system  of  fare  collection.  It  was 
suggested  that  a  trial  be  made  of  the 
"pay-as-you-leave"  system  on  through- 
routed  cars,  and  after  considerable  in- 
vestigation and  discussion  this  system 
was  placed  in  effect  and  is  working  out 
satisfactorily. 


Commission  Ends  Long  Time 
Litigation 

The  Pennsylvania  Public  Service 
Commission  recently  handed  down  a 
decision  establishing  a  7-cent  fare  for 
the  Reading  Transit  &  Light  Company 
in  Reading,  Pa.  The  order  also  allows 
eight  tickets  for  50  cents.  Patrons  in 
Reading  have  been  fighting  for  a  5-cent 
fare. 

The  commission  at  the  same  time 
upheld  the  9-cent  rate  on  the  Norris- 
town  division,  dismissing  the  com- 
plaints of  residents  of  the  Twenty-first 
Ward.   

Asks  Reduced  Fare  Schedule 

The  Empire  State  Railroad  Corpora- 
tion, operating  between  Auburn  and 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  whose  rates  of  fare 
are  fixed  by  an  order  of  the  Public 
Service  Commission  which  runs  out  on 
Dec.  31  of  this  year,  has  filed  a  new 
schedule  of  rates  with  the  commission, 
asking  that  the  new  schedule  go  into 
effect  on  one  day's  notice. 

In  its  new  schedule  so  filed  it  asks 
for  a  reduction  in  its  city  fares  from 
8  cents  to  7  cents  and  in  fares  from 
Auburn  to  Owasco  Lake  of  from  10 
cents  to  7  cents.  The  order  requested 
by  the  company  will  be  granted  by  the 
commission  this  week.  This  is  not  a 
general  reduction  in  fares  but  a  change 
in  the  fare  schedule. 


More  Passengers  at  Five  Cents, 
but  Greater  Operating  Loss 

With  an  increase  of  more  than  100,- 
000  passenger  fares,  there  was  a  de- 
crease of  $6,470  in  receipts  on  the  lines 
of  the  Bridgeport  division  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company  in  the  first  week  of 
the  5-cent  fare  with  transfers. 

The  report  sent  to  the  Public  Utilities 
Commission  by  L.  S.  Storrs,  president 
of  the  company,  is  as  follows: 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  oper- 
ating results  of  the  Bridgeport  Division 
for  the  week  ending  Nov.  26,  being  the 
first  week  under  the  fare  test  as  com- 
•pared  with  revenue  on  like  days  for  the 
preceding  week  in  which  at  flat  10-cent 
fare  was  charged,  this  covering  the  entire 
revenue  of  the  Bridgeport  Division. 

5 -Cent  Fare  10-Cent  Fare 

Nov.  20  $3,570  Nov.  13  $4,479 

Nov.  21  $4,800  Nov.  14  $5,903 

Nov.  22  $4,847  Nov.  15  $5,490 

Nov.  23  $5,266  Nov.  16  $5,722 

Nov.  24  $3,761  Nov.  17  $5,641 

Nov.  25  $4,998  Nov.  18  $5,568 

Nov.  26  $5,554  Nov.  19  $6,455 

During  the  periods  we  carried  a  total 
of  406,659  5-cent  passengers  and  125,672 
10-cent  passengers. 

Of  course,  it  is  Impossible  to  compare 
the  number  of  passengers  carried,  for  dur- 
ing the  10-cent  fare  period  every  individual 
riding  within  the  10-cent  fare  area  within 
the  city  of  Bridgeport  was  counted  as  a 
single  passenger,  whereas  under  the  pres- 
ent scheme  it  is  quite  possible  that  many  of 
the  individuals  are  counted  twice  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  they  have  crossed  the 
fare  limit  in  the  center  of  the  city. 

You  will  note  that  the  revenues  show  a 
decrease  of  $6,461  over  the  revenues  ob- 
tained for  the  preceding  week,  and  as 
revenues  heretofore  obtained  have  been  in- 
sufficient to  pay  operating  costs,  the  re- 
sult of  this  first  week's  test  is  materially 
greater  losses  sustained  by  the  operation 
of  the  street  car  service  in  this  community. 


Court  Divided  on  Jitneys 

New  Jersey  Tribunal  Split  on  Question 
of  Property  Rights  of  Electric 
Railway 

The  refusal  of  the  Court  of  Chancery 
to  restrain  the  operation  of  jitneys  in 
New  Jersey  in  three  test  cases  brought 
by  the  Public  Service  Railway  was  up- 
held by  the  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals 
on  Dec.  2  by  a  divided  vote  of  seven  to 
seven. 

In  refusing  the  injunction  sought  by 
the  railway  Vice-Chancellor  Griffin  held 
that  the  Public  Service  Railway,  not 
having  an  exclusive  right  in  the  streets, 
had  no  standing  to  ask  for  injunctive  re- 
lief. The  unusual  situation  of  an  affirm- 
ance of  that  ruling  by  an  equally  divided 
court  precludes  any  majority  opinion 
by  the  Court  of  Errors. 

Judge  Minturn  Explains 
Justice  Minturn,  however,  who  voted 
to  reverse,  filed  an  opinion  concurred  in 
by  Chief  Justice  Gummere,  Justice  Ber- 
gen, Justice  Katzenbach,  Judge  Heppen- 
heimer,  Judge  Williams  and  Judge 
Gardiner,  all  of  whom  voted  with  him. 
The  Minturn  opinion  expressed  the  view 
that  the  company  occupies  a  legal! 
status,  entitling  it  to  present  its  griev- 
ances to  a  court  of  law  or  equity  and 
obtain  a  hearing.  Judge  Minturn  said: 
It  is  not  contended  that  as  against  the 
state  under  its  reserve  power  other  forms 
and  methods  of  transportation  may  not  be 
inaugurated  and  utilized  as  progress  and 
ipublic  necessity  may  require.  But  such  a 
contention  cannot  be  revoked  by  a  mere 
trespasser  (the  jitneur),  whose  hands  are 
soiled  with  usurpation,  and  who,  in  defiance 
of  the  provisions  of  the  law  recognizing 
and  regulating  his  business,  raises  this 
question  against  a  legitimate  State  agency. 

The  impression  seems  to  have  gained 
ground  rapidly  with  the  public  that  the 
decision  settled  the  question  as  to  the 
right  of  the  buses  to  operate  in  the 
public  streets  without  having  secured  a 
franchise  under  the  limited  franchise 
act.  What  the  Court  of  Errors  passed 
upon  was  not  the  rights  of  jitneys,  but 
whether  the  Public  Service  Railway, 
because  of  its  franchise  to  do  business, 
had  the  right  to  challenge  the  jitneys 
in  the  courts. 

The  fact  is  that  the  application  of  the 
Public  Service  Railway  for  an  injunc- 
tion against  certain  jitney  owners  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  operating 
illegally  and  were  competing  against 
the  railway  came  before  Vice-Chancel- 
lor Griffin  originally.  He  merely  reached 
the  decision  that  the  Public  Service 
Railway  had  no  standing  in  court — that 
is,  that  the  company  had  no  property 
right  involved  that  warranted  it  in  ask- 
ing for  the  injunction.  No  other  legal 
question  that  had  been  raised  in  the 
litigation  was  passed  upon  by  the  vice- 
chancellor. 

Verdict  a  Negative  Victory 
In  this  connection  it  is  explained: 
The  one  question  that  came  before  the 
Court  of  Errors  on  appeal  was  whether  the 
vice  chancellor's  decision  as  to  the  right 
of  the  Public  Service  Railway  to  seek  an 
injunction  was  correct.  It  was  on  this 
question  that  the  fourteen  members  of  the 
state  court  of  last  resort  who  voted  were 
evenly  divided.  One-half  of  them  believed 
that  the  railway  had  a  property  right  that 
was  necessary  to  sustain  the  injunction 
proceedings,  and  the  other  half  took  the 
opposite  view. 

Unless  there  should  be  a  request  for  a 
reargument  of  the  case,  these  proceedings 
are  at  an  end,  and  if  the  legal  points 
raised  are  to  be  decided  some  new  method 
of  bringing  them  before  the  courts  must  be 
tried.  As  the  case  now  stands,  the  rail- 
way has  suffered  a  defeat,  while  the  jit- 
neys have  won  a  negative  victory  that  may 
later  be  reversed. 


1052 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


New  Bus  Line  Operates 
in  Toledo 

Does  Not  Parallel  Railway  Lines,  but 
Other  Companies  in  Direct 
Competition 

A  new  bus  line  began  service  in  To- 
ledo, Ohio,  on  Nov.  28,  operating  on 
streets  not  served  by  trolleys.  Six  own- 
ers form  the  operating  company,  which 
will  provide  six-minute  service  from  5 
o'clock  in  the  morning  till  midnight. 
The  route  to  be  covered  extends  from 
Detroit  and  Bancroft  Streets  to  De- 
troit and  Buckingham,  to  Junction, 
Belmont,  Ontario,  Monroe,  Superior, 
Adams,  Summit,  Monroe  and  return.  At 
several  points  the  route  crosses  car 
tracks.  Those  in  the  operating  com- 
pany are  H.  A.  Schmuhl,  C.  F.  Daine, 
Ralph  Streeter,  Burdell  Taylor,  Otto 
Steve  and  John  Andrews. 

Before  the  new  bus  service  was  in- 
stalled sixty-five  buses  were  operating 
in  Toledo.  They  quite  generally  dupli- 
cate trolley  service  and  follow  almost 
the  identical  routes.  Buses  charge  a 
5-cent  fare  and  give  no  transfers,  while 
the  electric  railway  charges  7  cents  and 
gives  transfers  for  1  cent.  Interurban 
buses  are  also  competing  strongly  with 
the  electric  railways,  radiating  from  the 
city. 

The  Toledo  Bus  Transportation  Com- 
pany was  recently  organized  to  unite 
a  number  of  bus  drivers.  Busmen  have 
thrown  their  equipment  into  the  com- 
pany and  received  stock  in  the  company 
equivalent  to  the  value  of  the  equipment 
they  contributed.  Operation  has  been 
directed  from  central  offices  and  reve- 
nues and  expenses  managed  centrally. 

The  Monroe-Lincoln-Bancroft  route 
of  this  company  serves  a  community 
which  is  only  partially  taken  care  of  by 
the  electric  railways.  It  has  been  suc- 
cessful from  the  start.  It  was  fostered 
in  the  beginning  by  real  estate  inter- 
ests. The  success  of  this  route  has  led 
officials  of  the  Toledo  Bus  Transporta- 
tion Company  to  declare  that  they  do 
not  intend  a  warfare  with  the  electric 
railways,  but  rather  would  seek  to  de- 
velop new  routes  of  their  own. 

City  and  electric  railway  officials  esti- 
mate that  the  buses  which  do  operate 
on  streets  where  there  are  railway  lines 
carry  approximately  15,000  passengers 
daily  and  divert  $30,000  a  month  from 
the  revenues  of  the  railways. 

The  new  passenger  bus  of  the  Ace 
Motor  Bus  Company,  Newark,  Ohio,  is 
now  in  operation  between  Toledo  and 
Sylvania  and  in  direct  competition  with 
the  Toledo  &  Western  Railroad.  The 
receivers  for  the  electric  railway  re- 
ported in  the  federal  court  that  the  in- 
roads of  the  buses  had  reduced  their 
gross  receipts  about  30  per  cent. 

The  Commissioner  of  Street  Railways, 
Wilfred  E.  Cann,  has  appealed  to  the 
city  administration  several  times  to 
enforce  the  bus  regulations,  which  he 
claims  are  violated  every  day  and  by 
most  of  the  bus  drivers.  Only  two  or 
three  violations  have  been  reported  by 
the  police. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  the  new 
administration  is  more  favorable  to 
limited  competition  between  the  two 
methods  of  transportation.  Mayor 
Schreiber,  the  outgoing  Mayor,  fought 
the  traction  interests  through  ten  years 
of  connection  with  the  city  government, 
and  it  is  felt  that  his  leniency  has  made 
possible  the  infractions  of  the  ordi- 
nances against  overloading,  schedules 
and  routes. 


The  buses  used  are  not  uniform. 
Many  are  converted  from  truck  chassis 
while  a  few  are  modern,  newly  built 
buses. 


Bus  Advertising  Centralized 

In  northern  New  York  State  all  motor 
bus  advertising  is  taken  care  of  by  one 
company.  This  company,  the  Rochester 
(N.  Y.)  Bus  Line  Advertising  Corpora- 
tion, has  exclusive  advertising  privi- 
leges for  a  period  of  years  in  all  motor 
buses  operated  in  intervening  territories 
from  Niagara  Falls  and  Buffalo,  on  the 
north  and  west  to  Watertown  and  Bing- 
hamton  on  the  south  and  east.  The 
buses  in  this  territory  are  being 
equipped  with  advertising  sign  racks  so 
as  to  carry  the  standard  size  street  car 
advertising  card.  The  company  reports 
that  it  will  soon  start  solicitation  for 
advertising  to  fill  these  places  and  that 
it  will  not  only  attempt  to  sell  to  the 
merchants  in  the  town  through  which 
the  buses  run,  but  will  go  after  national 
advertising.  Information  on  hand  in- 
dicates that  this  company  can  reach  102 
different  towns  by  means  of  its  adver- 
tising service. 


Motor  Buses  in  Columbus,  Ohio 

The  Ohio  Motor  Bus  Company,  with 
offices  at  30  North  Water  Street, 
Columbus,  Ohio,  operates  a  bus  line 
between  Columbus  and  Westerville,  a 
village  about  15  miles  northeast  of  the 
city.  Three  buses  are  in  operation  and 
they  have  been  successful  from  the 
start.  The  president  of  the  company 
is  T.  C.  Robinson  and  R.  E.  McCullom 
is  general  manager. 

Another  route  is  operated  on  East 
Broad  Street',  Columbus,  connecting  the 
business  center  with  Bexley,  a  suburb. 
Four  buses  are  operated  on  this  line 
and  an  11 -minute  headway  is  main- 
tained. It  is  understood  that  at  first 
the  buses  were  not  financially  success- 
ful, but  in  October,  1921,  they  had  be- 
come able  t'o  earn  the  cost  of  service. 
The  buses  were  manufactured  by  the 
American  Motor  Truck  Company,  New- 
ark. They  are  known  as  the  "Aces." 
The  bodies  are  built  by  the  same  con- 
cern, but  have  been  especially  designed 
for  use  in  the  Buckeye  capital  and 
have  a  capacity  of  30  passengers  with- 
out crowding.  The  entrance  is  at  the 
front  opposite  the  driver,  who  collect's 
the  fare. 

After  a  service  of  six  weeks  the 
four  buses  on  East  Broad  Street  were 
carrying  about  60,000  passengers  per 
month.  The  Westerville  line,  which 
charges  20  cents  each  way,  or  18  cents 
when  tickets  are  brought,  is  somewhat 
cheaper  than  the  traction  line  operating 
over  the  same  route.  The  fares  on  the 
East  Broad  Street  line  are  5  cents 
straight  to  Franklin  Park  and  10  cents 
to  Bexley  or  intermediate  points. 

The  Columbus  Coach  Company,  an- 
other Columbus  concern,  on  Sept.  23 
started  a  twelve-minute  service  on 
Bryden  Road.  This  route  is  about  3 
miles  long  and  serves  streets  not  cov- 
ered by  electric  railway  routes.  The 
same  type  of  buses  is  used  on  this  line 
as  that  used  by  the  Ohio  Motor  Bus 
Company.  The  fare  is  5  cents.  John 
B.  Gager  is  general  manager  of  the 
Columbus  Coach  Company,  which  is 
a  partnership. 

These  two  motor  bus  concerns  main- 
tain a  large  garage  and  service  station 
at  564  East  Mound  Street,  where  the 
buses  of  the  two  companies  are  stored. 


Restricted  Bus  Service 
Discussed 

Los  Angeles  Hearing  to  Settle  Dispute 
between  Pacific  Electric  and 
Interurban  Lines 

Curtailment  of  the  interurban  service 
of  motor  transport  companies  which 
have  competed  stiffly  with  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  will 
be  discussed  by  officials  of  the  affected 
cities  and  the  railway  and  engineers  of 
the  California  Railroad  Commission. 
The  conferences  were  arranged  for  at 
the  hearing  before  the  California  State 
Railroad  Commission  at  Los  Angeles, 
Nov.  14,  15  16. 

The  Pacific  Electric  Railway  claims 
that  60  per  cent  of  the  business  de- 
veloped by  the  bus  lines  in  competitive 
territory  takes  $2,000,000  annually  from 
the  railway. 

At  the  hearing  the  commission's  engi- 
neers presented  a  report  recommending 
that  the  Pacific  Electric  supplement  the 
present  trolley  service  with  motor 
transportation,  and  in  some  cases  sub- 
stitute motor  service  entirely.  The  com- 
pany made  known  its  intention  to  insti- 
tute such  service  in  more  or  less  new 
territory  or  as  extensions  of  present 
trolley  routes  and  as  feeders  to  exist- 
ing rail  lines.  In  some  cases  it  will 
amount  to  giving  additional  service  to 
people  now  using  rail  lines  but  who  go 
some  distance  to  reach  them. 

The  report  of  the  commission's  engi- 
neer, Richard  Sachse,  stated  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  dispense  with 
service  on  electric  lines  running  be- 
tween the  outlying  cities.  Traffic  would 
block  a  fleet  of  motors  during  rush 
hours  and  delay  the  schedule.  More- 
over, it  was  brought  out  that  the 
greater  carrying  capacity  of  the  large 
type  of  electric  interurban  car,  the 
quicker  service  possible  in  getting  out 
of  the  cities  on  a  private  right-of-way 
and  the  better  facilities  of  permanent 
terminals  favor  the  continuation  of  the 
electric  lines. 

A  further  argument  brought  against 
the  motor  bus  was  that  it  was  of  doubt- 
ful economic  service  because  of  the 
small  investment  and  the  lack  of  stand- 
ardization of  buses. 

Mr.  Sachse  stated  that  municipalities 
wishing  to  keep  the  Pacific  Electric 
alive  must  decide  at  an  early  date  to 
what  extent  they  are  willing  to  curtail 
motor  transportation  activities. 

Motor  carriers  claimed  in  their  pro- 
test filed  with  the  commission  that  they 
were  unfairly  represented  by  the  com- 
mission in  its  engineers'  report  and 
stated  to  the  commission  that  when  bus 
lines  give  a  service  that  electric  lines 
cannot  give  or  when  they  come  into 
competition  with  electric  lines  and  give 
lower  rates  than  the  electric  carrier 
they  should  not  be  interfered  with  by 
any  governing  body. 

The  commission  does  not  have  juris- 
diction over  jitney  operation  in  any  par- 
ticular city,  but  it  does  have  control 
over  autos  doing  intercity  business  and 
has  been  trying  to  figure  out  for  some 
time  how  best  to  deal  with  the  inter- 
city lines.  There  were  in  existence,  be- 
fore the  law  regarding  auto  stage  serv- 
ice in  the  State  went  into  effect,  nine- 
teen buses  running  between  Sawtelle, 
Santa  Monica  and  Venice  in  competi- 
tion with  the  electric  railways.  These 
were  automatically  left  in  business,  but 
persons  since  then  establishing  bus 
service  between  cities  have  had  to  ob- 
tain certificates  from  the  commission. 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1053 


Buses  Operated  by  Toronto 
Transportation  Commission 

The  Toronto  Transportation  Commis- 
sion, which  on  Sept.  1,  1921,  took  over 
the  entire  transportation  system  of  the 
Toronto  (Ont.)  Railway,  has  begun  to 
operate  vehicles  other  than  those  which 
:run  on  rails.  A  motor  bus  line  has  al- 
ready been  opened  up  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  city  over  Hummber- 
.side  Avenue  on  which  eight  buses  will 
be  necessary  to  take  care  of  the  traffic. 

The  commission  announces  also  that 
it  has  placed  an  order  for  four  Packard- 
Brill  trolley  buses  using  Westinghouse 
Electric  equipment  throughout.  The 
route  over  which  these  vehicles  will 
be  operated  is  approximately  1.25  miles 
long  and  extends  from  Yonge  Street, 
North  Toronto,  where  connection  is 
made  with  the  Metropolitan  Division  of 
the  Toronto  &  York  Radial  Railway, 
east  through  Merton  Street  and  thence 
north  out  Pleasant  Road  as  far  as 
Eglington  Avenue,  east. 

This  route  is  over  a  newly  bound 
macadam  road  and  will  serve  a  terri- 
tory not  otherwise  reached.  Free  trans- 
fer arrangements  are  to  be  made  with 
trolleys  so  it  will  be  possible  to  ride 
over  any  part  of  the  whole  system  of 
the  Toronto  Transportation  Commission 
upon  payment  of  a  single  fare.  Tem- 
porary housing  facilities  are  being 
built  on  Merton  Avenue. 


No  5-Cent  Fare  for  Lowell 

Lowell,  Mass.  need  not  expect  a  5-cent 
fare,  though  Fall  River  now  rides 
twenty  times  for  $1.  This  is  the  attitude 
of  Homer  Loring,  chairman  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  Eastern  Massachusetts 
Street  Railway,  which  was  expressed  in 
a  letter  to  Mayor  Perry  D.  Thompson 
of  Lowell.  The  deficit  of  $82,329  for  the 
period  from  Jan.  1,  1920,  to  Nov.  1,  1920, 
will  not  permit  a  fare  reduction  in 
Lowell,  but  Fall  River,  with  a  surplus 
of  $62,865  for  the  same  period,  could 
stand  it,  Mr.  Loring  said. 


Poughkeepsie  to  Improve 

Bus  Terminal  Service 

The  Retail  Merchants'  Association  at 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.  is  considering  plans 
for  improving  the  bus  terminal  service 
in  the  city  by  the  enlargement  of  the 
waiting  room  and  the  addition  of  all 
needful  services  and  conveniences.  The 
plan  is  to  move  the  present  waiting 
room  back  into  an  addition  which  is  now 
being  erected  and  to  fit  up  the  basement 
underneath  to  form  a  part  of  the  gen- 
eral waiting  rooms.  The  terminal  is 
located  on  New  Market  Street  and 
Main. 

The  bus  companies  are  to  co-operate 
by  assuming  a  part  of  the  necessary 
expense  of  fitting  up  the  new  station 
and  maintaining  it,  and  an  agreement 
will  probably  be  established  by  which 
the  buses  may  line  up  at  the  curb  under- 
neath a  shed  or  coping  where  passengers 
boarding  or  alighting  from  the  buses 
will  be  protected  from  the  weather.  The 
directors  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
have  approved  the  general  plan. 


Bus  Company  Files  Objections 

to  Ordinance 

Action  against  the  city  of  South  Bend, 
Ind.,  to  restrain  it  from  putting  into 
force  a  city  ordinance  passed  on  Oct. 
24,  naming  certain  streets  preferential 
traffic  streets,  was  filed  by  the  Elkhart 
&  South  Bend  Bus  Company  in  Circuit 
Court  recently.  The  suit  also  asks  that 
the  new  ordinance  be  declared  null  and 
void. 

The  complaint  holds  that  the  ordi- 
nance is  discriminatory  in  that  it  pro- 
vides that  certain  streets  over  which 
electric  railways  operate  shall  be 
preferential  traffic  streets  and  that 
t'axis,  jitney  buses  and  other  (buses 
operating  within  the  limits  of  the  city 
may  use  the  streets,  but  that'  the  inter- 
urban  bus  company  is  barred  therefrom. 

The  suit  also  sets  out  that  a  license 
fee  of  $500  is  unreasonable. 


Jitneys  Charge  Six  Cents. — A  6-cent 
fare  on  jitneys  operating  in  Houston, 
Tex.,  became  effective  on  Nov.  21.  This 
was  the  first  step  in  the  plans  of  the 
city  to  improve  transportation  facili- 
ties. A  5-cent  fare  is  now  charged  by 
the  Houston  Electric  Company  with 
twenty  tickets  for  $1.  This  change  was 
referred  to  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  for  Dec.  3. 

Separate  Bus  and  Trolley  Routes. — 

Except  in  minor  instances,  bus  routes 
will  not  duplicate  trolley  routes  in  De- 
catur, 111.,  according  to  the  recent  an- 
nouncement of  the  City  Council.  Final 
announcement  of  the  streets  on  which 
buses  may  operate  will  soon  be  made, 
and  thereafter  the  Commerce  Commis- 
sion will  probably  issue  certificates  of 
convenience,  it  is  said. 

Wants  Approval  for  Buses. — An  ap- 
plication has  been  filed  with  the  Com- 
mon Council  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  by 
C.  R.  Winslow  for  approval  of  seven 
different  auto  lines.  Mr.  Winslow  pro- 
poses to  establish  bus  lines  at  once  from 
Oswego  to  Syracuse,  Watertown  to 
Syracuse,  Rome  to  Syracuse,  Ithaca  to 
Syracuse,  Geneva  to  Syracuse,  Norwich 
to  Syracuse  and  Cato  to  Syracuse. 

Bus  Travel  Increases. — Buses  in 
Camden,  N.  J.,  carried  59,040  more 
passengers  in  October  than  in  Septem- 
ber, according  to  figures  obtained  from 
City  Treasurer  George  A.  Frey.  Re- 
ports showed  jitneys  carried  446,717 
persons  in  September  and  505,757  dur- 
ing the  month  of  October.  Members  of 
the  Camden  County  Bus  Association 
are  elated  over  the  increase  in  patron- 
age on  their  buses. 

Red  Versus  White.— The  State  Road 
Commission  of  West  Virginia,  has  taken 
under  consideration  the  application  of 
Toney  Alloy  and  Walter  Moore,  of  Beck- 
ley,  for  a  license  to  operate  a  line  of 
buses  between  Beckley  and  Thurmond 
to  be  known  as  the  Red  Star  line. 
Their  application  was  contested  by 
counsel  for  J.  Queensberry  and  Walter 
Holliday,  who  are  operating  a  line  of 
buses  between  the  same  points  under 
the  name  of  the  White  Star  line. 

Fourth  Bus  Line  Started  in  Hartford. 

— The  Connecticut  Company,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  beginning  Sunday,  Nov. 
27,  at  Hartford  started  another  bus 
line,  making  the  fourth  such  service  to 
serve  the  city.  The  new  line  is  from 
Barnard  Park,  the  south  central  part 
of  the  city,  to  the  Connecticut  Insti- 


tute for  the  Blind.  It  is  a  two-hour 
schedule  most  of  the  day,  buses  leav- 
ing the  institute  at  6.30  a.m.,  8.30  a.m. 
and  then  every  two  hours  until  6  p.m. 

Lower  Fares  in  Effect. — Reduction 
of  passenger  fares  amounting  to  40 
per  cent  effective  after  five  o'clock  in 
the  evenings  was  put  into  effect  on  the 
line  of  the  Indiana  Railways  &  Light 
Company,  Kokomo,  Ind.,  about  Dec.  1. 
Under  this  reduction  fares  will  be 
based  on  a  rate  of  1.8  cents  per  mile 
and  will  be  good  only  on  round  trip 
tickets.  The  purpose  of  putting  this 
reduction  into  effect  is  to  stimulate 
evening  traffic  and  will  benefit  farmers 
and  many  others. 

Railway  Complains  of  Bus  Operation. 

— The  Southern  Pennsylvania  Traction 
Company,  Chester,  Pa.,  has  protested 
before  Public  Service  Commissioner 
Benn  against  the  granting  of  certificates 
of  convenience  for  the  operation  of 
buses  in  the  company's  territory.  An  of- 
ficial of  the  company  stated  that  there 
were  fifty-two  jitneys  operating  in 
Chester  which  took  about  $120  a  day 
from  the  railway.  The  matter  will  be 
referred  to  the  commission. 

Buses  Serve  as  Feeders. — The  Twin 
City  Rapid  Transit  Company,  Minne- 
apolis, Minn.,  has  decided  to  try  out 
motor  bus  transportation  as  feeders  to 
its  railway  system.  The  first  bus  be- 
gan on  Nov.  7  to  serve  suburban  com- 
munities, with  one  fare  and  transfer 
service  to  electric  lines.  The  company 
also  has  promised  to  try  out  a  new 
type  of  motor  bus  running  on  paved 
streets  without  rails  on  any  street 
which  the  Minneapolis  City  Council 
may  designate. 

Steam  Line  Adopts  Motor  Bus. — A 

new  type  of  motor  bus  which  runs  on 
rails,  self  propelled,  has  been  tried  out 
by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  on 
its  branch  between  St.  Paul,  Minn., 
and  White  Bear  Lake,  a  distance  of 
about  fifteen  miles,  with  some  twenty 
officials  of  northwest  railroads  as  pas- 
sengers. The  experiment  was  highly 
successful  and  the  White  Bear  road 
was  selected  because  of  its  steep,  wind- 
ing grades.  The  bus  is  designed  for 
branch  lines  and  suburban  traffic. 

New  Ticket  Scheme  in  Effect. — Be- 
ginning Dec.  3,  the  Tacoma  Railway  & 
Power  Company,  Tacoma,  Wash., 
placed  on  sale  twelve  car  tickets  for  $1, 
in  place  of  the  present  rate  of  twenty- 
five  for  $2.  City  Attorney  Charles 
Dennis  is  investigating  to  find  out  if 
the  State  Public  Works  Department  at 
Olympia  authorized  the  change  with 
slight  boost  in  fares.  The  company  an- 
nounced the  new  ticket  sale  in  a  large 
display  "ad,"  urging  the  public  to  "use 
the  street  car  and  save  money." 

Washington  Bus  Routes  Granted. — 

Two  motor  bus  companies  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  have  been  granted  permis- 
sion to  open  new  routes  by  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission.  The  Washington 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  by  the  grant, 
will  operate  from  Union  Station  to 
Sheridan  Circle  on  Massachusetts  Ave- 
nue, and  the  Northern  Virginia  Motor 
Transportation  Company  will  run  buses 
from  Fairfax,  Va.,  to  Twelfth  and  C 
Streets,  over  the  chain  bridge  and 
through  Georgetown.  The  latter  can 
carry  only  passengers  who  intend  to 
cross  the  District  line.  The  Rapid 
Transit  Company's  route  was  changed 
to  compete  less  with  the  existing  elec- 
tric railways. 


1054 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  24 


Rerouting  Deferred.— The  Wisconsin 
Railroad  Commission  has  issued  an 
order  granting  the  Milwaukee  Electric 
Railway  &  Light  Company  an  exten- 
sion of  time  of  ninety  days  to  effect  the 
rerouting  in  the  Milwaukee  down-town 
district  of  the  Vliet  and  Third  Street 
lines  This  rerouting  was  to  have  gone 
Into  effect  on  Dec.  1,  1921.  At  the  same 
time  the  commission  announced  that 
Star rerouting  of  the  Walnut  Street 
line  will  be  postponed  until  the  commis- 
sion has  had  an  opportunity  to  pass  upon 
the  application  of  the  Milwaukee  Safety 
Commission  for  a  reconsideration  of 
the  commission's  order  in  so  far  as  it 
affects  the  routing  of  the  Walnut  Street 
line  The  postponement  in  the  case  ot 
the  Vliet  and  Third  Street  lines  was 
due  to  the  inability  of  the  company  to 
o-et  special  work  by  Dec.  1.  The  original 
order  of  the  commission  was  reported  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  of  Oct. 
22,  page  757. 

Fare  Reduction  Offered  in  San  An- 
tonio.—Fares  in  San  Antonio,  Tex.,  will 
be  reduced  from  8  cents  to  6  cents  under 
proposals  made  to  the  City  Commission 
by  the  Public  Service  Company,  which 
owns  and  operates  the  railway  lines. 
The  acceptance  of  the  proposal  by  the 
city  brings  a  settlement  to  a  con- 
troversy that  has  been  in  progress  be- 
tween the  city  and  the  company  over 
fares  for  several  years.  The  company 
went  into  Federal  court  seeking  relief 
from  what-  it  termed  confiscatory  fare 
regulation,  and  won  its  case.  The  8- 
cent  fare  was  the  result.  Since  that 
time  the  city  has  been  seeking  by 
various  means  to  force  a  reduction,  and 
litigation  on  the  part  of  the  city  to  bring 
about  the  desired  fare  cut  was  in  pros- 
pect. The  company's  proposal  is  con- 
tingent on  the  city  stopping  the  opera- 
tion of  jitney  buses  in  all  parts  of  the 
city  except  to  Camp  Travis,  which  is 
not  served  by  the  railway.  It  is  ex- 
pected the  reduction  will  become  ef- 
fective early  in  1922. 

City  Prevented  from  Running  Buses. 
— On  the  ground  that  it  was  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  city  to  have  only  one 
transportation  system,  the  Legislature 
of  British  Columbia  on  Nov.  26  refused 
permission  to  the  city  of  Vancouver  to 
operate  motor  buses.  It  was  asserted 
by  members  that  two  transportation 
systems  would  be  a  calamity.  Other 
members  said  that  competition  in  city 
transportation  would  lead  to  the  chaotic 
conditions  there  had  been  in  Seattle. 
The  leader  of  the  opposition,  W.  J. 
Bowser,  charged  the  members  of  the 
government  party  with  playing  the 
game  of  the  British  Columbia  Electric 
Railway  as  this  would  give  that  com- 
pany a  perpetual  monopoly,  but  At- 
torney-General Farris  replied  that  the 
private  bills  committee  lost  interest  in 
the  city's  petition  when  the  rumor  be- 
came current  that  the  city  did  not  really 
wish  to  enter  into  competition,  but 
merely  to  hold  its  power  over  the  head 
of  the  electric  railway  as  a  club.  An- 
other member  asked  the  house  to  con- 
sider the  effect  on  the  credit  of  the 
province  if  the  city  were  allowed  to 
step  in  over  the  head  of  the  electric  rail- 
way. The  city's  petition  was  prompted 
by  the  railway  refusing  the  demand  of 
the  residents  of  West  Broadway  for  a 
railway  line.  The  company  has  offered 
a  motor  bus  service  in  connection  with 
its  railway  system,  provided  the  city 
will  pave  the  street,  an  expenditure  the 
city  is  not  likely  to  incur  at  present. 


Mr.  Brendel  Promoted  on 
Michigan  United 
Railways 

Wallace  W.  Brendel  has  been  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  the  Northern 
and  Southern  divisions  of  the  Michigan 
United  Railways,  Jackson,  Mich.  Mr. 
Brendel  assumed  the  position  made  va- 
cant a  short  time  ago  by  the  resigna- 
tion of  Dean  McLaughlin,  who  accepted 
a  position  with  Ohio  Brass  Company. 

Mr.  Brendel's  connection  with  the 
Michigan  United  Railways  began  in 
June,  1916,  when  he  was  appointed 
train  dispatcher  on  the  Northwestern 
division  at  Holland,  Mich.  He  continued 
in  this  capacity  for  a  year  and  a  half, 
when  he  was  made  chief  train  dis- 
patcher of  the  Southern  Division  at 
Battle  Creek,  Mich.  It  was  from  this 
latter  position  that  he  was  promoted 
about  a  month  ago  to  superintendent 
of  the  Northern  and  Southern  divisions, 
which  are  composed  of  the  interurban 
lines  operating  between  Jackson,  Battle 
Creek  and  Kalamazoo,  and  Jackson, 
Lansing  and  Owosso. 

Before  his  connection  with  the  Michi- 
gan United  Railways  in  1916  he  was 
for  several  years  in  the  service  of  the 
Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana  as 
train  dispatcher.  Mr.  Brendel  entered 
the  service  of  that  company  in  1905 
as  a  motorman. 


E.  W.  Alexander,  general  manager 
of  the  Charleston  &  Dunbar  Traction 
Company,  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  has 
offered  his  resignation,  effective  Dec. 
10.  He  will  assume  the  position  of 
general  manager  of  the  Tygart's  Valley 
Traction  Company,  Grafton,  W.  Va. 

William  M.  Crowe  has  been  elected 
secretary  of  the  Springfield  Railway 
Companies,  Springfield,  Mass.,  follow- 
ing the  resignation  of  F.  P.  Mclntyre. 
This  company  controls  the  Springfield 
Street  Railway,  and  is  in  turn  controlled 
by  the  New  England  Investment  and 
Security  Company. 

Charles  K.  Bowen,  assistant  engineer 
of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  has  been  appointed 
special  engineer  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  of  Mexico.  He  will  be  asso- 
ciated with  H.  B.  Titcomb,  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway 
until  he  was  recently  made  president 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  of  Mexico.  Mr. 
Bowen  took  up  his  duties  with  the  chief 
engineer  of  the  latter  road  on  Dec.  5. 


Frank  Adair  a  Division 
Superintendent 

Frank  Adair,  Lebanon,  Ind.,  has  been 
appointed  superintendent  of  the  Ben- 
Hur  division  of  the  Terre  Haute,  In- 
dianapolis &  Eastern  Traction  Com- 
pany, Indianapolis,  Ind.,  succeeding  H. 
H.  Arnold,  who  held  the  position  for 
four  years,  recently  resigning  to  accept 
another  position.  The  appointment  be- 
came effective  Nov.  30.  Mr.  Adair  has 
appointed  Fay  Caldwell  of  Lebanon  as 
chief  train  dispatcher  on  the  division. 
Mr.  Adair  will  retain  his  residence 
there,  but  Mr.  Caldwell  has  removed  to 
Indianapolis. 

Mr.  Adair's  appointment  is  a  de- 
served promotion.  He  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  Northwestern  division 
since  its  organization.  Previous  to  that 
he  was  an  operator  with  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company.  He  held 
the  position  of  chief  train  dispatcher 
for  several  years,  until  he  resigned  to 
take  charge  of  the  live  stock  traffic 
department,  which  he  will  continue  to 
manage,  with  E.  G.  Crane  and  R.  R. 
Rogers  as  assistants. 

C.  Coxon  has  been  promoted  from 
meter  superintendent  of  the  Albany 
Southern  Railroad  to  the  position  of 
chief  engineer. 

J.  B.  Webber,  former  treasurer  of  the 
Kankakee  &  Urbana  Traction  Company, 
Urbana,  111.,  has  been  made  secretary 
of  the  company,  while  his  position  as 
treasurer  is  now  filled  by  U.  G.  Fowler. 

E.  F.  Herrick,  mechanical  engineer, 
and  Frank  Miller,  master  mechanic,  are 
no  longer  connected  with  the  Chatauqua 
Traction  Company,  Jamestown,  N.  Y. 
J.  Alson  has  been  appointed  chief  en- 
gineer and  C.  F.  Cole  has  been  ap- 
pointed electrical  engineer. 


Henry  J.  Davies  Dead 

Eminent  Authority  on  Accounting  Was 
Prominent  in  Solution  of  Cleve- 
land's Traction  Problem 

Henry  J.  Davies,  for  thirty  years 
connected  with  the  electric  railway 
transportation  system  in  Cleveland,  died 
Sunday  afternoon,  Dec.  4,  in  St.  John's 
Hospital,  where  he  had  been  confined 
for  two  weeks. 

Mr.  Davies'  death  will  shock  electric 
railway  executives  throughout  the 
country  as  there  are  few  men  in  the 
industry  who  did  not  have  his  acquaint- 
anceship, due  to  his  lengthy  service  with 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Associa- 
tion. Mr.  Davies  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  American  Electric  Railway 
Accountants'  Association  and  served  in 
the  year  1902-03  as  president  of  that 
body.  A  tireless  and  conscientious 
worker,  Mr.  Davies'  name  was  always 
to  be  found  on  one  of  the  important 
committees  of  the  A.  E.  R.  A.  He  was 
probably  the  most  eminent  authority 
on  the  subject  of  insurance  risks  in  the 
railway  industry. 

In  Cleveland  he  was,  throughout  his 
railway  career,  a  dominant  figure  in  as- 
sisting to  supply  this  city  with  electric 
railway  transportation.  Much  of  the 
Tayler  grant  that  ended  ten  years  of 
street  car  warfare  in  Cleveland  and 
which  was  the  first  service-at-cost  fran- 
chise in  the  country  was  the  work  of 
his  genius.  He  was  the  author  of  a 
monograph  of  the  accounting  features 
in  this  grant. 

Mr.  Davies  was  sixty-two  years  old 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  Born  near 
Toronto,  Canada,  on  July  26,  1859,  he 
became  a  resident  of  Cleveland  four 
years  later  when  his  family  moved  to 
that  city.  After  being  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  Cleveland  he  be- 
came a  shorthand  reporter  and  for  a 


December  10,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1055 


number  of  years  was  an  expert  court 
reporter. 

In  1889  Mr.  Davies  entered  the  elec- 
tric railway  business  when  he  became 
private  secretary  to  the  late  Tom  L. 
Johnson,  who  was  subsequently  to  be 
elected  Mayor  of  Cleveland  and  to  wage 
a  bitter  fight  for  a  3-cent  fare  in  Cleve- 
land. In  January,  1890,  Mr.  Davies  was 
elected  secretary  of  the  old  Brooklyn  & 
South  Side  Railway,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Two  years  later  he  was  one  of  the  hard- 
est workers  in  arranging  for  the 
eleventh  annual  convention  of  the  Amer- 
ican Electric  Railway  Association,  which 
was  held  in  Cleveland  that  year. 

The  Brooklyn  &  South  Side  Street 
Railway  was  the  first  Cleveland  rail- 
way to  electrify  and  Mr.  Davies  took  a 
leading  part  in  promoting  this  electri- 
fication. In  1893,  when  the  Broadway 
&  Newburgh  line,  then  operated  by  the 
late  Horace  Andrews  and  John  J.  Stan- 
ley; the  East  Cleveland  Railway,  owned 
by  Dr.  A.  Everett  and  the  Brooklyn 
line  were  merged  into  the  Cleveland 
Electric  Railway.  Mr.  Davies  became 
secretary  of  the  new  company. 

Between  1899  and  1901  Mr.  Davies 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Henry  J.  Davies 


was  not  engaged  in  the  electric  railway 
business,  which  was  during  the  period 
when  the  Stanley  and  Andrews  inter- 
ests were  out  of  the  active  operation  of 
Cleveland  lines.  In  1901  he  returned  as 
secretary  of  the  Cleveland  Railway.  As 
such  he  prepared  much  of  the  com- 
pany's case  in  the  negotiations  that  led 
up  to  the  final  settlement  of  the  electric 
railway  fight  in  Cleveland. 

Mr.  Davies  was  a  contributor  of  a 
number  of  articles  to  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  on  accounting  and 
financial  subjects.  

E.  F.  Schaaf,  superintendent  of  trans- 
portation Northwestern  Elevated  Rail- 
road, Chicago,  died  of  double  pneu- 
monia Nov.  13.  He  had  been  with  the 
elevated  railroads  for  nearly  thirty 
years,  entering  the  service  first  in  1895 
on  the  Oak  Park  Elevated  Railroad 
when  the  motive  power  was  being 
changed  from  steam  to  electricity.  He 
was  transferred  to  the  Northwestern 
"L"  in  the  spring  of  1900,  about  two 
months  before  this  road  was  placed  in 
operation.  He  was  shop  foreman  and 
in  charge  of  the  mechanical  work  until 
1903,  when  he  was  made  inspector  of 
motive  power.  In  1906  he  was  given 
the  additional  duties  of  roadmaster  and 
in  1909  became  trainmaster  as  well. 
He  was  made  superintendent  of  trans- 
portation upon  the  installation  of  uni- 
fied operation  of  the  various  elevated 
companies  in  1913. 


Resistor  Deliveries  Back  to 
Normal  Basis 

Current  buying  of  resistance  grids 
on  the  part  of  electric  traction  com- 
panies is  quite  different  from  what  it 
was  at  about  this  time  last  year.  Manu- 
facturers now  have  a  fair  supply  on 
hand  and  deliveries  are  no  longer  a 
question  of  innumerable  delays  in  the 
receiving  of  raw  material  by  the  manu- 
facturers and  of  numerous  interrup- 
tions in  the  various  stages  of  produc- 
tion. The  output  of  the  different  manu- 
facturers is  on  a  more  normal  basis 
since  they  no  longer  must  contend  with 
the  difficulty  in  obtaining  grey  iron  for 
castings.  An  analysis  of  individual 
orders  placed  by  electric  railways  will 
reveal,  it  is  stated,  that  traction  com- 
panies, as  has  been  their  custom  in 
the  last  few  years,  are  placing  orders 
which  follow  requirements  very  closely. 
In  spite  of  small  and  numerous  orders 
the  aggregate  demand  is  quite  large. 

Railway  stocks  of  reserve  grids  are 
said  to  be  low  and  even  with  cold 
weather  at  hand  when  the  breakage  and 
burnouts  of  resistors  is  very  large,  rail- 
way purchasing  agents  feel  that  the 
improved  raw  material,  manufacturing 
and  transportation  conditions  make  it 
unnecessary  to  take  the  precautions 
required  last  year  to  prevent  a  pos- 
sible shortage.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
the  actual  requirements  this  winter  will 
not  be  different  from  those  of  last  year 
though  apparently  the  more  evenly  dis- 
tributed buying  this  year  give  the  ap- 
pearance of  slack  buying. 

Prices,  it  is  pointed  out,  are  from  10 
to  15  per  cent  lower  than  they  were  a 
year  ago.  This  reduction  of  course  fol- 
lows from  declines  in  raw  material, 
labor,  etc.,  all  along  the  line.  A  portion 
of  this  reduction,  some  claim,  can  be 
attributed  to  a  reduction  in  breakage 
losses  in  the  process  of  manufacture. 
This  breakage  has  always  constituted  an 
excessive  overhead  and  is  one  toward 
the  reduction  of  which  efforts  have  been 
continuously  directed. 


Spanish  Electrification  Contract 
for  General  Electric 

A  contract  for  the  electrification  of 
40  miles  of  the  Spanish  Northern  Rail- 
way is  announced  by  the  Sociedad 
Iberica  de  Constructiones  Electricas, 
Madrid,  Spain,  one  of  the  associated 
companies  of  the  International  General 
Electric  Company,  Inc.,  New  York. 
This  initial  order  constitutes  the  most 
recent  and  one  of  the  largest  European 
railway  electrification  projects  now 
under  development. 

The  Spanish  Northern  electrification 
will  employ  the  high-voltage  direct- 
current  system,  which  has  been  adopted 
in  Europe  as  standard  for  the  rail- 
ways also  of  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Holland. 

The  equipment  to  be  supplied  by  the 
Sociedad  Iberica  de  Constructiones 
Electricas  will  consist  of  six  78-ton 
(metric),  six-motor  locomotives,  two 
complete  substations,  each  comprising 
two,  1,500-kw.,  three-unit  motor-gen- 
erator sets,  transformers  and  switch- 


gear  and  the  material  necessary  for 
line  construction. 

The  first  electrification  project  of 
the  Spanish  Northern  comprises  about 
40  miles  of  the  Leon-Gijon  line,  run- 
ning through  the  mountains  between 
Ujo  and  Busdongo.  Although  this  is 
a  single-track  line,  traffic  is  extremely 
heavy,  as  it  is  a  link  between  the  min- 
ing district  and  the  northern  seaboard 
through  a  mountainous  region  with 
many  tunnels,  considerable  grades  and 
severe  climatic  conditions. 

The  electric  locomotives  on  order 
will  be  for  freight  service.  They  are 
of  the  following  dimensions: 

Length  over  bumpers  46  ft. 

Height   .13  ft.  11  in. 

Width  of  cab   9  ft.    8  in. 

Rigid  wheelbase   11  ft.    6  in. 

Maximumwheelba.se  35  ft. 

The  locomotives,  arranged  for  regen- 
erative braking,  will  operate  at  3,000 
volts.  The  locomotive  speed  at  con- 
tinuous rating  is  35  km.  per  hour. 
Pantograph  collectors,  having  a  double 
contact  shoe,  which  is  a  type  similar 
to  those  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  & 
St.  Paul  Railroad  locomotives,  will  be 
used.   

Country  Rapidly  Making 

Economic  Progress 

While  the  United  States  just  at  this 
time  is  experiencing  a  seasonal  slump, 
the  country  is  making  economic  progress 
and  is  much  better  off  than  at  this  time 
a  year  ago.  Business  is  improving 
gradually  and  is  being  built  on  a  sound 
basis.  Europe  is  better  off  than  at  any 
time  since  the  armistice,  with  one  broad 
reservation — fiscal  finance  in  most  coun- 
tries is  going  backward.  The  railroads 
are  operating  actively.  There  is  a  rea- 
sonable sufficiency  of  food  and  fuel. 
Agriculture  and  manufacturing  are  back 
to  normal.  The  political  and  social 
status  are  much  more  stable.  These  are 
the  opinions  of  an  authority  in  a  posi- 
tion to  be  particularly  well  advised  on 
these  subjects.  Further  views  from  the 
same  source  follow: 

The  degree  to  which  Europe's  eco- 
nomic rehabilitation  can  go  depends 
greatly  on  the  reductions  that  can  be 
made  in  the  expenses  of  land  arm- 
aments. Governmental  deficiencies  in 
Europe  represent  almost  exactly  the 
same  sum  as  do  the  costs  of  land  arma- 
ments. 

Despite  the  fact  that  Germans  seem 
to  have  made  a  greater  profit  out  of  the 
world,  in  the  sale  of  the  ordinary  ex- 
ports, in  the  disposition  of  marks  to 
speculators  abroad  and  by  sending  much 
removable  property  out  of  the  country, 
and  despite  the  fact  that  they  do  not 
have  to  support  an  army,  it  is  apparent 
that  the  reparations  payments  cannot 
be  met.  The  situation  in  Germany  is 
trending  more  and  more  toward  a  finan- 
cial debacle.  It  is  very  evident  that 
world  currencies  will  have  to  be 
stabilized  at  about  present  levels.  Infla- 
tion must  stop.  Taxes  must  meet 
expenditures. 

The  United  States  is  now  suffering  as 
much  from  German  competition  as  it 
can.  Germany  some  time  ago  reached 
its  maximum  strength  as  a  business 


\ 


1056  Electric   Railway   Journal  Vol.  58,  No.  24 


competitor.  It  is  now  having  difficulty 
in  holding  its  trade.  One  of  the  worst 
.effects  of  the  war  on  Germany  was  the 
destruction  of  its  skill.  Now  that  its 
plants  are  running  at  full  capacity  there 
is  a  great  shortage  of  skilled  labor,  and 
as  a  result  there  is  very  general  failure 
of  quality  in  German  goods. 

France  has  attained  a  strong  eco- 
nomic position.  During  the  war  there 
was  a  large  manufacturing  develop- 
ment in  the  south  to  replace  that  of 
.enemy  held  territory  in  the  north.  Since 
the  armistice,  the  mills  in  the  north 
have  been  rehabilitated.  To  these  have 
been  added  the  industries  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine.  France  does  not  feel  the 
effects  of  the  international  storm  as 
do  England  and  the  United  States, 
where  larger  percentages  of  the  popu- 
lace are  dependent  upon  manufacturing 
and  foreign  trade. 

The  reduction  of  naval  armament  will 
go  through.  The  announcement  of  the 
Hughes  proposal  caused  all  exchange  to 
go  up.  An  enormous  movement  of 
goods  would  have  been  necessary  to 
create  that  effect  upon  it.  It  was 
-caused  by  the  increased  confidence  which 
it  engendered.  The  economic  results 
which  will  follow  such  an  agreement  are 
immeasurable.  It  makes  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Japan  an  impossi- 
bility and  removes  that  cloud  which  has 
hung  over  business  so  long.  While  there 
is  serious  doubt  if  much  progress  can 
be  made  in  the  reduction  of  land  arma- 
ments at  this  time,  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  the  danger  of  another 
war  in  this  generation  has  been  re- 
moved.   

Consumers  Have  Forty-three 
Days  Coal  Supply 

An  inventory  of  coal  stocks  as  of 
Nov.  1,  taken  jointly  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  the  Geological 
Survey,  shows  that  there  was  at  that 
date  a  total  of  about  47,400,000  tons 
of  coal  in  the  hands  of  consumers,  or 
approximately  forty-three  days  supply. 
This  compares  with  stocks  as  high  as 
63,000,000  tons  in  the  past.  The  esti- 
mated average  number  of  days'  sup- 
plies in  various  consumers  hands  are 


as  follows: 

Railways   29  days 

Steel  plants  and  coke  industry.  .42  days 

Other  industries   67  days 

Gas  works   87  days 

Electric  public  utility  54  days 

Coal  dealers   47  days 


It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  these 
are  averages  and  that  many  individual 
industries  and  dealers  are  far  below 
the  average. 


Electric  Railway  for  Norway 

The  Norwegian  Storthing  has  granted 
a  concession  to  "A/S  Akersbanerne," 
according  to  the  Electrical  Times,  for 
the  construction  of  an  electric  railway 
from  the  center  of  Christiania  to 
Ostensjo,  a  distance  of  about  8  km. 
Work  on  this  line  will  probably  com- 
mence simultaneously  with  the  con- 
struction of  the  Majorsteun-Sogn- 
svandet  railway,  a  concession  for  which 
was  granted  recently. 


Engineering  Advertisers'  Asso- 
ciation Publishes  Monthly 
Bulletin 

The  Engineering  Advertisers'  Asso- 
ciation of  Chicago  is  now  publishing  a 
monthly  bulletin  in  the  interest  of  its 
members.  The  bulletin  gives  a  digest 
of  the  speeches  made  at  the  various 


meetings  and  also  includes  other  in- 
formation and  facts  regarding  the 
movement  of  goods  from  industry  to 
industry,  personal  notes,  etc.  At  the 
present  time  there  is  a  limited  number 
of  extra  copies  of  the  "bulletin"  which 
will  be  sent  upon  request  to  the  adver- 
tising concerns  selling  technical  or 
engineering  products. 


Rolling  Stock 


Rockford  City  Traction  Company,  Rock- 
ford,  111.,  has  placed  an  order  with  the 
White  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  for  six 
motor  truck  chassis  to  be  equipped  with 
bus  bodies.  Delivery  is  to  be  made  on 
Jan.  15,  1922.  The  cost  will  be  about 
$42,000.  They  are  to  be  operated  as  feed- 
ers to  the  street  railway  lines. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  was  recently 
ordered  by  the  City  Council  to  build  tracks 
from  First  and  Olive  Streets  to  First  and 
Hill  Streets. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
CaL,  has  received  permission  from  the 
State  Railroad  Commission  to  construct  a 
spur  track  at  grade  across  Palm  Avenue, 
in  Orange,  Orange  County. 

Fublio  Service  Railway,  Newark,  N.  J., 
will  be  asked  by  the  Camden  City  Council 
to  relocate  its  tracks  and  poles  from  the 
Cooper  River  to  River  Avenue,  Camden. 
The  poles  are  now  in  the  street  and  will 
be  placed  along  the  sidewalk. 

American  Public  Service  Company,  Abi- 
lene, Tex.,  has  expended  $110,000  in  re- 
habilitating its  lines.  The  improvements 
include  new  trolley  poles,  new  roadbed  and 
rails.  The  company  has  pledged  an  exten- 
sion of  about  half  a  mile  to  McMurray 
College,  now  being  constructed. 

Scioto  VaUey  Traction  Company,  Coluin- 
bus,  Ohio.,  will  buy  15,000  new  ties  and 
have  them  delivered  at  intervals  during  the 
winter  months.  This  property  is  also  look- 
ing after  the  condition  of  its  bridges,  cul- 
verts, rails,  stations  and  overhead  equip- 
ment and  is  preparing  to  repaint  four 
I 'ridges  the  coming  spring. 

Chicago  (111.)  Surface  Lines  will  order 
promptly  for  the  four-track  special  work 
quadrants  necessary  to  place  in  effect  the 
loop  district  rerouting  plan  recommended 
by  John  A.  Beeler  and  approved  by  the 
Illinois  Commerce  Commission  in  connec- 
tion with  its  recent  5-cent  fare  order.  This 
rerouting  plan  was  described  in  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  Nov.  26,  page  938. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Gulfport  &  Mississippi  Coast  Traction 
Company,  Gulfport,  Miss.,  will  soon  re- 
instate a  turbine  which  has  been  at  the 
manufacturers  for  repairs.  Since  the  en- 
gine was  disabled  some  time  ago,  the  one 
remaining  engine  has  carried  a  heavy  over- 
load to  supply  power  for  the  entire  coast. 

Corpus  Christi  Railway  &  Light  Com- 
pany's (Corpus  Christi,  Tex.),  power 
houses  and  all  electrical  equipment  were 
destroyed  by  Are  that  caused  damage 
amounting  to  $75,000.  The  plant  will  be 
rebuilt  at  once,  but  the  owners  say  it  may 
be  three  weeks  or  longer  before  current  is 
available  for  the  resumption  of  car  service. 

Los  Angeles  Railway,  Los  Angeles,  Cal., 
has  completed  the  first  substation  of  a 
$450,000  series.  The  station  is  located  at 
Vernon  Avenue  and  Pacific  Boulevard  and 
houses  a  1,000  kw.  converter.  The  struc- 
ture is  42  x  52  feet  and  cost  $58,000.  New 
feeder  cables  will  be  installed  and  officials 
of  the  company  plan  to  have  the  station 
serving  power  before  the  Christmas  rush. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Company, 
which  contracted  for  electric  current  from 
the  Union  Gas  &  Electric  Company  for  the 
operation  of  a  majority  of  its  cars,  is  now 
receiving  power  at  its  Price  Hill,  Cummins- 
ville  and  Hunt  Street  substations.  The 
substations  at  Hartwell,  Norwood  and 
Walnut  Streets  are  being  put  into  shape 
and  will  be  ready  for  use  within  a  few 
weeks.    The  traction  company  is  planning 


to  abandon  all  its  power  houses  with  the 
exception  of  the  Pendleton  plant,  which  is 
modern  and  well  equipped. 


Trade  Notes 


Railway  Service  Corporation,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  has  changed  its  name  to  the 
Railway  Service  &  Supply  Corporation. 

Blaw-Knox  Company  will  move  its  New 
York  office  from  the  City  Investing  Build- 
ing to  the  Carbide  &  Carbon  Building,  30 
East  Forty-second  Street,  on  Dec.  15. 

Okonite  Company,  Passaic,  N.  J.,  has 
opened  a  branch  office  in  Atlanta,  Ga., 
Room  1513  Candler  Building.  E.  A.  Thorn- 
well  has  been  appointed  Southeastern 
sales  representative,  and  John  L.  Phillips 
manager.  Their  territory  will  be  North 
and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  Florida  and  the  city  of  New 
Orleans,  La. 

Fred  H.  Ogden  severed  his  connection  on 
Dec.  1  as  sales  manager  of  the  Interna- 
tional Steel  Tie  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
On  that  date  Mr.  Ogden  became  general 
sales  manager  of  the  Wyrick  Register  Cor- 
poration, Detroit,  Mich.  This  concern  will 
begin  marketing  on  Jan.  1  a  self -printing 
autographic  register,  which  will  turn  out 
printed  forms  in  either  duplicate  or  tripli- 
cate. Mr.  Ogden  has  had  nineteen  years' 
experience  in  electric  railway  engineering 
work  and  in  the  sale  of  electric  railway 
supplies. 

Habirshaw  Electric  Cable  Company, 
Inc.,  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  and  two  affiliated 
companies  the  Electric  Cable  Company  and 
the  Bare  Wire  Company,  were  placed  in 
the  hands  of  receivers  on  Nov.  26.  The 
debts  of  the  companies  aggregate  about 
$5,000,000,  and  the  assets,  it  was  stated, 
are  in  excess  of  $7,000,000.  It  was  ex- 
plained that  the  reason  for  the  receivership 
was  a  lack  of  liquid  assets  to  meet  matur- 
ing obligations.  John  B.  Johnston  and 
John  S.  Morley  were  the  receivers  for  the 
three  concerns,  named  by  Judge  Knox  of 
the  federal  court. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company  has  made  its  Salt  Lake  City 
service  department  a  branch  of  the  Den- 
ver office  under  the  direction  of  A.  F.  Mac- 
Callum,  district  service  manager,  Denver. 
M.  R.  Davis,  formerly  district  service 
manager  at  Salt  Lake  City,  will  remain 
there  and  devote  his  time  to  sales  service 
work  and  to  securing  repair  business  for 
both  shops.  There  have  been  changes  also 
in  the  Seattle  office,  according  to  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  company,  B.  B.  Burkett 
having  been  appointed  district  service 
manager  to  succeed  N.  P.  Wilson.  Mr. 
Wilson  has  been  transferred  to  sales  serv- 
ice activities  in  the  Seattle  territory. 

Hardinge  Company,  120  Broadway,  New 
York,  which  recently  acquired  the  pulver- 
ized fuel  department  of  the  Quigley  Fur- 
nace Specialties  Company,  has  made  the 
following  announcement  in  regard  to  the 
new  organization :  H.  A.  Kimber,  for- 
merly of  the  Quigley  Furnace  Specialties 
Company,  is  now  in  charge  of  the  sales  of 
the  Quigley  pulverized  fuel  department  of 
the  Hardinge  Company.  L.  W.  Marso, 
who  is  in  charge  of  the  branch  office  lo- 
cated at  427  Oliver  Building,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  has  now  become  associated  with  the 
company  and  will  continue  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh office  under  the  name  of  the  Har- 
dinge Company.  O.  M.  Rau,  formerly  con- 
sulting engineer  to  the  Philadelphia  (Pa.) 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  has  now  become 
associated  with  the  company  and  will 
specialize  in  the  handling  of  pulverized 
fuel  systems  as  applied  to  boilers.  W.  O. 
Renkin  has  become  associated  with  the 
company  in  the  capacity  of  managing  en- 
gineer of  the  fuel  department. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


National  Tube  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 

is  now  ready  to  issue  the  "National"  Bulle- 
tin No.  8C  which  deals  with  a  protective 
coating  for  pipe  that  is  intended  to  be  used 
in  underground  service  or  in  other  loca- 
tions where  it  is  subject  to  excessive  cor- 
rosion. 

Westinghouse  Lamp  Company,  165 
Broadway,  New  York,  has  issued  bulletin 
E-101  with  the  title,  "Illumination  Values 
and  Their  Measurements."  It  contains 
tables  of  present  standards  of  desirable 
illumination  for  various  purposes,  illustra- 
tions of  instruments  for  measuring  the  in- 
tensity of  the  illumination,  etc. 


ailway 


Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZELL, Editors  HENRY  H.NORRIS. Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor    N.A. BOWERS. Pacific  Coast  Editor    H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIER.Associate  Editor      CARL  W.STOOK»»A,;.s.,.i.iU  Editor 
O.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editor       DONALD  F.HINE. Editorial  Representative       R.E.  PLIMPTON, Editorial  Representative        PAUL  WOOTON, Washington  Representative 


Volume  58 


New  York,  Saturday,  December  17,  1921 


Number  25 


Are  You  Ready 

for  the  Winter?  '-' 

THE  importance  of  proper  preparation  for  Snow  con- 
ditions was  very  forcibly,,  impressedton^all  by  the 
severe  winter  of  1919-1920.  Comparisoh^f  equipment 
failures  on  a  few  of  the  roadlTT3pWamig  in  the  New 
England  district  which  was  most  affected  indicate  that 
careful  preparation  made  months  in  advance  pf  the 
storm  was  a  paying  investment.  The  provision  of  ade- 
quate snow-fighting  equipment  supplemented  by  a  care- 
fully worked  out  system  for  attack  is  a  prime  considera- 
tion, and  to  this  should  be  added  a  comprehensive  pro- 
gram for  dipping  and  baking  armatures  and  other 
electrical  parts  exposed  to  the  severe  conditions.  Roads 
that  were  most  unfortunate  in  the  past  should  profit  by 
the  experience  of  others  and  districts  which  were  not 
visited  by  the  previous  storm  may  be  the  ones  to  suffer 
most  this  year.  Full  preparation  should  be  made  with- 
out delay  as  the  expense  to  which  a  company  goes  in 
maintaining  effective  snow-fighting  facilities  is  sure  to 
be  repaid  by  its  retaining  the  good  will  of  railway 
patrons. 


Favorable  Progress  Being 

Made  with  Transit  Hearing 

THE  railway  men  who  have  testified  at  the  New  York 
hearings  have  generally  approved  the  tentative  plan 
of  reorganization  proposed  by  the  commission,  with  two 
exceptions.  The  first  is  that  they  naturally  must  delay 
assent  so  far  as  their  own  property  is  concerned  until 
the  valuations  are  made  public.  The  second  is  that  with 
practical  unanimity  they  have  expressed  a  fear  that  the 
method  of  control  proposed  in  the  original  outline  might 
result  in  eventual  political  domination  of  the  super- 
holding  company  proposed.  It  is  toward  this  provision 
that  Mr.  Williams  directed  his  principal  criticism.  He 
also  expressed  fear  of  opposition  to  the  plan  on  the  part 
of  the  owners  of  underlying  securities  unless  some 
measures  were  adopted  looking  more  clearly  to  the 
retention  of  the  rights  of  the  holders  of  underlying 
liens.  The  force  of  the  first  criticism  made  by  Mr. 
Williams  has  been  somewhat  destroyed  by  the  later  as- 
surance from  Chairman  McAneny  that  as  regards  the 
board  of  control  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation  will  be 
drawn  between  that  board  and  the  operating  companies 
and  that  the  commission  proposes  that  the  operating 
companies  shall  have  all  the  ordinary  functions  of 
operation  that  the  companies  have  at  present.  In  this 
connection,  however,  the  warning  of  Mr.  Morrow  is  of 
great  value,  that  no  matter  what  plan  is  put  together 
there  will  be  perils  in  it,  no  matter  whether  the 
property  is  under  private  management  or  public 
management.  Otto  H.  Kahn,  in  referring  to  this 
feature,  largely  supported  Mr.  Morrow's  view  though 
emphasizing  the  need  for  adequate  equities  in  the  pro- 
posed consolidation  for  present  bondholders. 

The  first  phase  of  the  investigation  is  fast  drawing  to 
a  close.   The  promise  is  made  that  early  in  the  new  year 


the  valuations  will  be  taken  up  foif-GQnsideralji&n.  Ideas 
about  valuations  vary  widely.  The '  owners"  of  the 
various  properties  may  be  counted  upon  zealously  to 
guard  their  own  interest.  It  is  right  that  they  should 
do  so,  but  the  fact  ought  to  be  constantly  borne  in  mind 
by  them  that  the  commission  plan,  properly  drawn  and 
safeguarded,  will  have  a  future  potential  value  that  it 
would  be  well  to  weigh  carefully  against  any  differences 
which  may  exist  at  the  outset  between  the  values  ad- 
vanced by  the  commission  and  those  which  the  owners 
themselves  set  upon  their  properties. 


Railways  Have  Particular 

Interest  in  Harding's  Message 

PRESIDENT  HARDING'S  message  to  Congress  con- 
tains at  least  two  recommendations  of  very  vital 
concern  to  electric  railways — the  creation  of  "judicial  or 
quasi-judicial  tribunals  for  the  consideration  and  de- 
termination of  all  disputes  (between  labor  and  capital) 
which  menace  the  public  welfare"  and  amendment  of 
the  constitution  "so  as  to  end  the  issue  of  non-taxable 
bonds"  by  federal,  state  and  municipal  governments.  By 
thus  boldly  recommending  congressional  action  on  these 
important  though  largely  unpopular  matters  the  Presi- 
dent has  again  demonstrated  his  interest  in  and  under- 
standing of  the  needs  of  business  and  the  dangers  that 
lie  ahead  in  the  present  order  of  these  two  things.  He 
won  the  very  high  admiration  of  the  electric  railway 
men  generally  in  his  address  before  the  midyear  dinner 
of  the  A.  E.  R.  A.  nearly  two  years  ago  and  now  these 
recommendations  to  Congress  confirm  the  confidence  that 
he  won  then. 

The  question  of  non-taxable  bonds  was  discussed  in 
these  columns  last  week.  As  to  the  other  matter,  it  is 
hard  to  imagine  any  strike  of  labor  which  causes  more 
direct  inconvenience,  suffering  and  financial  loss  to  the 
general  public  than  one  involving  a  street  railway.  Yet 
such  strikes  have  not  been  uncommon  due  to  the  circum- 
stances that  permit  a  labor  organization  "to  exact  un- 
fair terms  of  employment  or  subject  the  public  to  actual 
distresses  in  order  to  enforce  its  terms,"  to  put  it  in  the 
words  of  the  President.  While  the  President  is  more 
concerned  with  strikes  of  those  labor  organizations 
which  involve  the  whole  nation,  the  machinery  that  may 
be  devised  to  arbitrate  nation-wide  disputes  might  logi- 
cally be  duplicated  in  local  or  state  tribunals  organized 
to  take  jurisdiction  in  controversies  of  sectional  or  com- 
munity interest.  The  Kansas  tribunal  sets  the  prece- 
dent in  this  country  for  this  sort  of  handling  of  labor 
matters,  and  its  record  for  effectiveness  thus  far  has 
been  good. 

Some  railway  managements  may  look  at  this  proposal 
as  another  "War  Labor  Board"  proposition,  or  may  be 
averse  to  it  simply  because  of  their  disapproval  of  hav- 
ing any  authority  that  may  step  in  between  the  com- 
pany and  its  employees  in  any  of  their  relations.  The 
decisions  of  the  War  Labor  Board  certainly  gave  ground 
for  substantial  fear  of  any  such  governmental  agency. 


1058 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


However,  the  decisions  of  this  board  in  increasing  wages 
without  regard  to  the  ability  of  the  company  to  pay  have 
been  pretty  well  discredited,  and  it  is  inconceivable  that 
the  Harding  labor  tribunals  would  be  so  constituted  as 
to  be  able  to  take  cognizance  of  only  one  side  of  the 
problem.  Commission  regulation  and  service-at-cost 
franchises  have  so  firmly  established  the  idea  that  rates 
of  wages  and  rates  of  fares  are  inseparably  tied  together 
and  that  any  increase  in  wages  must  be  passed  on  to  the 
public  that  there  can  never  again  be  a  repetition  of 
the  War  Labor  Board  attitude  in  acting  on  this  great 
question. 

So  it  would  seem  the  part  of  wisdom  for  all  railway 
men  not  to  oppose  the  Harding  proposal,  but  to  support 
it  and  use  every  effort  to  assist  Congress  to  develop  an 
act  that  is  comprehensive  and  effective. 


A  Long  Way 

to  Go  for  Ties 

A RECENT  news  item  in  this  paper  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Company  had  purchased  a  large  quantity  of  Douglas  fir 
ties  which  are  to  be  shipped  by  water  from  the  Pacific 
Coast.  In  spite  of  the  distance,  it  is  stated  that  the 
ties  will  be  laid  down  in  Philadelphia  at  about  a 
dollar  each.  Meanwhile,  cedar  ties  from  Maine  recently 
have  been  imported  into  Connecticut,  where  for  many 
years  the  supply  of  local  oak  and  chestnut  ties  seemed 
to  be  unlimited. 

The  very  fact  that  ties  are  being  transported  such 
great  distances  indicates  the  truth  of  the  statements 
heretofore  made  to  the  effect  that  tie  timber  is  becom- 
ing more  and  more  scarce  and  that  the  electric  rail- 
ways must  pay  more  attention  to  the  tie  problem.  Even 
granting  that  high  freight  rates  on  yellow  pine  ties 
from  the  South  caused  Philadelphia  to  look  elsewhere 
for  ties,  the  available  supply  of  such  timber  is  decreas- 
ing and  the  cost  is  becoming  almost  prohibitive,  due 
to  higher  labor  rates. 

Under  such  conditions  the  use  of  substitute  ties  must 
continue  to  increase  and  the  most  careful  consideration 
should  be  given  by  track  engineers  to  their  design  and 
selection.  But  the  wood  tie  is  by  no  means  to  be  con- 
sidered out  of  the  case.  On  the  contrary,  the  so-called 
inferior  tie  timbers  may  be  used  if  means  are  adopted 
to  protect  them  from  wear  and  decay.  Such  protection 
calls  for  the  use  of  tie  plates  and  timber  preservatives. 
It  seems  probable  that  there  will  be  a  rapid  increase 
in  the  use  of  inferior  wood  ties  together  with  the  pro- 
tective agents  mentioned.  Incidentally,  the  Douglas  fir 
tie  is  classed  as  an  inferior  tie,  being  a  soft  wood  which 
is  rated  rather  low  in  the  scale  of  mechanical  property 
ratings  of  timber.  Nevertheless,  this  species  consti- 
tutes about  8  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  ties  annu- 
ally used  by  our  railroads. 

The  matter  of  preservatives  for  tie  timber  is  assum- 
ing an  increased  importance  in  the  electric  railway 
industry  and  it  is  indeed  fortunate  that  coincident 
with  increased  interest  in  the  subject,  the  Engineering 
Association  has  provided  a  valuable  aid  to  those  who 
are  seeking  information,  in  the  excellent  joint  report 
on  wood  preservation  which  was  presented  at  the  recent 
Atlantic  City  convention.  This  report  may  be  consid- 
ered almost  as  a  textbook  on  the  subject  and  it 
was  very  favorably  received  by  those  engineers  who 
are  among  the  representative  men  in  the  wood- 
preserving  industry. 


The  Piano  Manufacturers  and  Shakespeare 
Also  Teach  Us  How  to  Sell 

DIFFERENT  industries  have  to  use  different 
methods  to  induce  people  to  purchase  more  of  the 
goods  they  manufacture  than  are  actually  needed.  A 
larger  number  of  electric  railways  than  formerly  are 
becoming  convinced  that  merchandising  methods  are 
desirable  in  the  railway  business  and  they  can  well 
study  the  methods  followed  in  older  commercial  lines. 

Under  the  heading  "Selling  Raisins  and  Rides,"  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  Nov.  19,  instance 
was  cited  of  the  new  plan  of  selling  raisins  in  5-cent 
cartons  for  snacks,  as  an  example  of  how  the  sales  of 
a  standard  food  product  were  increased  enormously  in 
a  short  time,  and  at  an  actual  although  not  apparent 
advance  in  price  over  purchasing  by  the  pound.  When 
this  brilliant  example  of  catering  to  the  public's  desire 
was  mentioned  to  a  manager  who  has  become  nationally 
famous  for  his  5-cent  packages  of  transportation,  he 
said:  "Why  don't  you  tell  'em  about  the  piano  business, 
the  furniture  fellows  and  other  birds  that  make  us  think 
we  just  have  to  have  their  stuff  whether  we  can  appre- 
ciate it  or  not?"  What  he  continued  to  say  is  better 
paraphrased  in  less  vivid  verbiage. 

Is  it  not  a  fact,  he  asked,  that  the  piano  people  have 
sold  their  product  so  well  that  the  successor  of  the 
harpsichord  and  spinet  is  considered  an  indispensable 
part  of  the  furniture  whether  any  one  in  the  home  ever 
plays  it  or  not?  Sales  ability  put  that  view  across  with 
rich  and  poor  alike.  Then  look  at  the  furniture  fellows 
with  their  subtle  insinuation  that  no  really  sane  persons 
would  be  content  with  anything  but  "period"  furniture, 
the  period  style  to  change,  of  course,  long  before  the 
furniture  has  worn  out.  More  recently,  it  has  been  dis- 
covered that  the  later  forms  of  phonograph  cabinets 
are  too  ugly  to  be  with  this  period  upholstery,  so  we  are 
asked  to  buy  gramophone  cabinets  disguised  as  tables 
or  desks.  If  we  insist  upon  retaining  the  more  efficient 
and  more  compact  sound  producers  we  are  coarse  yokels. 
At  least  there  is  something  about  the  advertising  that 
makes  us  feel  that  way,  whereupon  we  rush  to  the  period 
emporium  and  soon  see  the  honest  phonograph  whose 
looks  did  not  belie  its  purpose  trundled  out  into  the  cold. 

A  more  flagrant  example  is  the  selling  of  automobiles 
on  a  long-run  credit  basis.  At  a  recent  conference  the 
executive  of  an  automotive  credit  concern  pointed  out 
why  private  car  installment  customers  were  so  much 
more  reliable  than  motor-truck  purchasers  of  the  credit 
class.  The  truck  buyer  quit  when  he  found  that  he 
wasn't  making  money.  It  was  pure  business  with  him. 
In  the  case  of  the  private  car  buyers,  a  variety  of  other 
motives  operated  to  keep  them  to  fulfill  their  contracts. 
A  dominant  motive  was  that  a  "car"  was  essential  to 
their  standing  in  the  community.  They  would  rather 
stint  themselves  in  food  or  household  matters  than  give 
up  what  habit  had  turned  from  a  luxury  into  a  need. 

The  note  that  ran  through  this  manager's  talk  was 
that  no  business  is  a  success  unless  it  can  induce  people 
to  buy  more  than  their  bare  necessities.  The  managers 
who  say  that  people  ride  only  when  they  need  to  and 
that  no  attractions  in  fare  (or  service)  could  increase 
that  riding  are  wrong.  Shakespeare  evidently  under- 
stood the  principles  of  salesmanship  better  when  he 
made  the  distressed  Lear  cry : 

"Oh  reason  not  the  need:  our  basest  beggars  are  in  the 
poorest  thing  superfluous. 

"Allow  not  Nature  more  than  Nature  needs,  man's  life  is 
cheap  as  beasts." 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1059 


From  Tree  to  the  Finished  Stick 

Turpentine  and  Rosin  Are  Important  Products  of  the  Pine  Gum — Barrels  for  Transporting  Rosin  Are 
Made  of  Waste  Pine  Strips — Large  Straight  Trees  Are  Used  for  Poles 

and  Small  Ones  for  Ties 

By  Howard  H.  George 

Engineer  Maintenance  of  Way  Public  Service  Railway  of  New  Jersey 


YELLOW  pine  is  one  of  the  most  important  woods 
used  in  electric  railway  construction  work  for  ties, 
bridge  timbers  and  piling.  Probably  few  of  the 
many  engineers  specifying  long  leaf  yellow  pine  have 
ever  seen  the  wood  in 
its  native  state  and 
are  but  vaguely  ac- 
quainted with  the 
various  steps  in  the 
process  of  its  manu- 
facture into  sized 
sticks.  Such  knowl- 
edge, however,  assists 
materially  in  showing 
the  importance  of  con- 
serving the  present 
supply  and  preventing 
waste  in  cutting  to 
uneconomical  dimen- 
sions. A  trip  to  Flor- 
ida, Georgia  or  some 
other  Southern  state 
would,  therefore,  prob- 
ably prove  both  bene- 
ficial and  interesting, 
especially  at  a  time 
when  we  are  all  get- 
ting out  our  winter 
overcoats  and  making 
other  preparations  for 
the  winter  season.  One 
of  the  important  prod- 
ucts of  the  pine  is  its 
gum,  from  which  is 
manufactured  turpen- 
tine and  rosin.  The 
tree,  before  being  cut 
down,  is  tapped  for 
naval  stores,  a  general 
term  applied  to  such 
products  of  the  pine 
tree  as  rosin,  tar,  tur- 
pentine, etc.  A  tree  can  be  tapped  or  boxed  for  from 
three  to  four  years,  and  some  large  trees  have  as  many 
as  four  boxes  on  them.  A  box  is  made  with  a  specially 
constructed  axe  with  a  bit  10  in.  long.  This  box  is  cut 
just  above  the  base  of  the  tree  and  forms  a  receptacle  for 
the  gum.  After  this  the  tree  is  chipped,  commencing 
immediately  above  the  box  to  start  the  flow  of  gum.  The 
chipping  is  diagonal  and  gives  a  sort  of  breastbone  look 
to  the  tree.  It  is  made  with  a  square  knife  on  a  handle 
2  to  6  ft.  long  and  is  done  once  a  week  from  Feb.  1  to 
Oct.  20  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  a  continuous  flow  of 
gum.  Accompanying  illustrations  show  trees  which 
have  been  boxed  and  chipped  and  a  workman  in  the  act 
of  "hocking"  or  "chipping"  a  tree. 

Instead  of  cutting  a  box  in  the  base  of  the  tree  the 
more  modern  way  is  to  use  a  clay  pot  holding  about  a 


View  in 


quart  and  hang  it  on  a  nail,  so  placed  as  to  catch  all 
the  drippings. 

The  chipper  is  followed  round  the  woods  by  a 
man  who  carries  a  pail  and  dips  the  gum  out  of 

the  box  with  a  trowel- 
shaped  spoon,  or 
scrapes  it  out  of  the 
pot,  as  the  case  may 
be.  When  his  pail  is 
full  he  dumps  it  into 
one  of  the  collecting 
barrels,  which  are  so 
placed  as  to  be  con- 
venient for  a  given 
territory.  When  the 
barrels  are  filled  they 
are  carted  by  wagon 
to  the  still.  The  bar- 
rels are  rolled  up  an 
incline  to  a  platform 
which  is  level  with  the 
top  of  the  still,  the 
gum  is  emptied  out 
and  a  fire  is  started  in 
the  fireplace  below. 
The  still  consists  of  a 
large  copper  recep- 
tacle and  holds  about 
thirty-five  barrels  of 
gum.  When  the  gum 
and  water  boil  the 
steam  escapes  through 
the  top  connection 
into  the  worm,  which 
passes  through  a  large 
wooden  tank  filled 
with  cold  water.  This 
causes  the  steam  to 
condense  and  the 
liquid  to  run  out 
through  a  small  pipe 
at  the  bottom  of  the 
worm  into  a  large  barrel  placed  alongside  the  track. 
The  water,  being  heavier,  goes  to  the  bottom  and 
the  spirits  rise  to  the  top  and  flow  through  a  small 
pipe  about  3  in.  below  the  top  of  the  barrel  and 
into  a  white  oak  barrel  that  has  been  glued  on  the 
inside  to  insure  a  tight  seam  and  prevent  leakage. 
During  the  process  of  distillation  a  little  water  is  added 
now  and  then,  in  all  about  three  barrels,  to  prevent  the 
spirits  and  gum  from  burning. 

When  the  distillation  has  gone  on  for  a  period  of 
about  two  hours  the  stiller  sounds  his  still  and  can  tell 
by  the  sound  whether  he  has  all  the  spirits  out  of  the 
gum  or  not.  If  so,  the  top  connections  to  the  worm  are 
removed  and  the  residue  is  run  out  through  a  tail  gate 
at  the  bottom  of  the  still  and  into  a  large  strainer  lined 
with  cotton  batting  to  catch  all  chips,  needles  or  any 


Pine  Forest.    The  Two  Trees  in  the  Foreground 
Have  Been  Boxed  and  Chipped 


1060 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  58,  No.  25 


No.  1 — Workmen  hocking  or  chipping  a  No.  4 — A  typical  turpentine  still.  No.  8 — Bull  pen  reaching  from  shore  into 

tree.  No.  5 — Typical  Southern  skidding  screws,  the  river. 

No.  2 — Tree  equipped  with  clay  pots.  No.  6 — Piling  is  taken  from  the  river  and  No.  9 — Derricks  hoisting  saw  logs  in  the 

No.   3 — Workman  engaged  in  collecting  loaded  at  dock  onto  cars.  woods, 

.gum.  No.  7 — Train  loaded  with  saw  logs.  No.  10 — Unloading  trestle  at  river's  side. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1061 


dirt  that  may  have  accumulated  during  the  chipping  erf 
the  tree  or  transportation  of  the  gum  to  the  still. 
Through  the  strainer  it  flows  into  a  large  vat  and,  while 
still  hot,  is  barreled. 

A  charge  of  thirty-five  barrels  of  gum  will  make 
about  seven  barrels  of  spirits  and  twenty  barrels  of 
rosin.  A  cooperage  is  run  in  connection  with  the  still 
and  the  barrels  that  are  used  for  the  rosin  are  manu- 
factured there  of  waste  pine  strips.  After  the  spirits 
and  rosin  are  barreled  they  are  shipped  either  by  rail 
or  water  to  the  naval  stores  yard,  where  they  are  in- 
spected, graded  and  registered  by  an  inspector  appointed 
by  the  state.  If  the  spirits  have  been  adulterated  they 
are  turned  down  and  confiscated  by  the  state  and  the 
shipper  is  prosecuted  under  the  law  governing  the  adul- 
teration of  spirits.  Before  the  state  had  these  inspec- 
tors the  spirits  were  frequently  adulterated  with  kero- 
sene oil,  sometimes  to  the  extent  of  33  h  per  cent. 

The  same  inspectors  inspect  the  rosin.  When  the 
rosin  arrives  at  the  naval  stores  the  barrels  are  turned 
on  end  and  have  their  heads  knocked  off.    The  rosin  is 


Ties  Going  Into  Cylinders  for  Treatment 


spiked  or  broken  to  a  depth  of  5  in.  and  a  1-in.  cake  is 
cut  from  each  barrel  as  a  sample.  The  inspector  com- 
pares this  cube  with  the  standard  grade  and  gives  each 
barrel  its  proper  marking.  There  are  twelve  grades  of 
rosin,  the  grades  running  from  a  very  pale  amber  color 
to  a  very  dark  opaque  brown.  The  inspectors  have 
nicknamed  them  so  as  to  remember  them  and  also  as  a 
sort  of  private  code.  They  call  Grade  W.W.,  Water 
White;  W.G.,  Window  Glass  or  William;  N.,  Nancy; 
M.,  Mary;  K.,  Kate;  L,  Isaac;  H.,  Henry;  G.,  George; 
F.,  Frank;  E.,  Ed.;  D.,  Dolly,  and  B.,  Betsy. 

After  the  inspection  has  been  completed  the  barrels 
are  sealed  up  again  and  either  shipped  or  stored,  de- 
pending on  the  condition  of  the  market  at  the  time. 
The  cotton  batting  waste  from  the  still  is  used  to  make 
acetic  acid  and  is  also  found  useful  for  starting  the 
boiler  fires. 

There  is  also  another  system  known  as  the  "Gilmer 
System"  for  extracting  the  turpentine  from  the  tree. 
Under  this  system  the  tree  is  not  chipped  or  boxed. 
A  |-in.  hole  is  bored  into  the  sap-wood  and  is  covered 
with  a  metal  cap.  Attached  to  the  cap  is  a  3-in.  metal 
lead  and  another  cap  which  fits  over  a  glass  jar,  making 
an  airtight  conductor  for  the  turpentine  from  the  time 
it  leaves  the  tree  until  the  jar  is  filled.  The  turpentine 
in  the  jar,  being  protected  from  the  air,  loses  none  of 


its  strength  by  evaporation.  It  is  claimed  that  pure 
turpentine  can  be  seen  in  the  jar  on  top  of  the  crude 
turpentine  and  gum,  and  this  is  wasted  under  the  first 
described  system  of  collection.  By  this  method  two 
barrels  of  crude  turpentine  and  gum  will  make  one  bar- 
rel of  spirits.  The  principal  markets  for  turpentine 
and  rosin  are  Jacksonville,  Fla. ;  Savannah,  Ga. ;  Charles- 
ton, S.  C.,  and  New  Orleans,  La. 

Large,  Straight  Trees  Necessary  for  Piling 

After  the  trees  have  passed  their  usefulness  for  naval 
stores  the  woods  then  become  the  field  of  activity  for 
the  lumber  industry.  The  trees  are  inspected  by  the 
foreman  of  the  logging  camp,  who  can  tell  just  what 
they  are  best  suited  for.  If  the  tree  is  large  and  straight 
he  will  select  it  for  a  pile  and  will  put  his  pile  mark  on 
the  bark  with  a  knife  or  axe. 

After  being  felled  the  tree  is  peeled  of  its  bark  and 
inner  bark  or  cambia.  A  large  two-wheeled  wagon 
drawn  by  either  a  yoke  of  oxen  or  a  team  of  mules  carts 
it  to  the  river-front  or  railroad  track.   If  to  water,  when 


Ties  Stacked  in  Piles  for  Seasoning 


about  one  hundred  and  fifty  have  been  assembled,  they 
are  rafted  together  and  towed  down  the  river  by  a  small 
tug  or  launch  to  the  sawmill  or  creosoting  plant,  as  the 
case  may  be.  Here  they  are  removed  from  the  water 
by  a  large  steam  crane.  An  accompanying  view  shows 
the  plant  of  a  large  creosoting  concern  at  Jacksonville, 
Fla.,  where  two  rafts  of  piling  are  being  unloaded  at 
the  dock.  If  they  are  to  be  used  for  piles,  they  are 
inspected  and  stamped  and  then  loaded  on  bolster  bale 
cars,  and  when  a  batch  of  three  cars  is  made  up  they 
are  pulled  out  in  the  yard  and  run  into  the  cylinder  for 
treatment. 

Should  the  tree  be  very  large  or  should  there  be  no 
piling  orders  the  tree  is  cut  down  for  saw  logs.  Most 
of  the  large  timber  camps  have  short  railroads  of  their 
own  starting  at  their  dock  and  running  back  into  the 
woods  where  the  cutting  of  trees  is  being  done.  The 
logs  are  hauled  to  this  track  by  the  two-wheeled  wagons 
above  described,  are  there  loaded  on  the  saw-log  train 
by  a  large  steam  crane  and  hauled  away  to  the  dock  or 
landing,  where  they  are  bundled  and  rafted  for  towing 
to  the  mill.  The  sawmill  generally  has  a  large  pen 
reaching  from  the  shore  out  into  the  river,  called  a  bull 
pen.  The  saw  logs  are  pushed  into  this  pen  and  left 
there  to  be  handled  by  the  mill  crew.  The  saw  logs  ride 
up  an  incline  on  an  endless  chain  conveyor  into  the  mill, 


1062 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Traveling  Log  Carriage  in  Mill 


where  they  slide  off  on  an  inclined  platform.  Here 
they  are  either  held  or  dropped  off  on  the  saw  carriage. 

From  experience  the  sawyer  knows  eactly  what  the 
log  will  cut  to  as  soon  as  he  sees  it  and  immediately 
clamps  the  log  to  the  carriage.  The  carriage  travels 
down  past  the  saw  and  the  log  is  sawed  on  one  side  and 
then  turned  to  be  sawed  on  the  other  side  coming  back. 
This  is  repeated  until  all  four  sides  are  sawed.  The 
bark  and  waste  wood  falls  off  and  slides  along  on  rollers 
to  the  resaw  mill.  This  wood  is  then  resawed  into  in- 
side trim,  scantling,  laths  and  other  small  material, 
while  the  bark,  sawdust  and  slabs  are  used  for  fuel. 
After  the  saw  logs  have  been  sawed  they  are  graded. 
The  prime  goes  out  one  way,  the  merchantable  and 
standard  another.  The  merchantable  and  standard 
grades  are  the  ones  which  are  usually  creosoted. 

If  the  tree  is  quite  small  or  is  not  suited  for  a  piling 
or  saw  log  it  will  be  cut  down  and  hewn  into  ties.  Most 
of  the  trees  will  make  two  standard  heart  ties,  7  in.  x 
9  in.  x  8  ft.  6  in.,  and  from  two  to  four  6-in.  x  8-in.  x 
8-ft.  sap  ties.  The  ties  are  carted  to  the  railroad 
or  riverfront  and  shipped  to  the  creosoting  plant,  where 
they  are  unloaded  and  stacked  to  season  for  at  least 
three  months.  After  seasoning  they  are  inspected, 
branded  and  loaded  on  bale  cars  and  when  a  batch  of 
sixteen  cars,  containing  from  800  to  900  ties,  has  been 
loaded  they  are  pushed  into  the  cylinder  for  treatment. 

The  only  part  of  the  tree  that  is  left  in  the  woods  is 
the  stump  or  butt  of  the  trunk,  and  these  are  blown  up 
with  dynamite  and  cut  into  small  pieces  and  loaded  on 
small  cars.  These  cars  are  run  into  brick  retorts  which 
are  heated  by  fire  underneath.  The  spirits  and  moisture 
escape  in  the  form  of  steam  through  an  outlet  pipe  at 
the  top  and  pass  through  a  cold  worm  and  are  collected 
and  distilled  in  about  the  same  way  as  at  the  still. 
After  being  distilled  it  is  pumped  up  into  a  large  tank 
for  storage  or  barreled  up  for  shipment.  If  the  distilla- 
tion has  been  correctly  carried  on  there  results  a  tur- 
pentine that  contains  about  2  per  cent  water  and  is 
known  as  wood  turpentine.  It  will  dissolve  rosin  just 
like  water  does  sugar. 

After  the  distillation  the  retorts  are  opened  and  the 
wood  is  transferred  to  charcoal  ovens.  The  gases  pass 
out  through  the  top  in  the  form  of  a  dense  black  smoke 
while  the  pitch  runs  out  through  a  small  pipe  at  the 
bottom  into  a  vat  and  while  still  hot  is  barreled.  So 
that  the  only  parts  of  the  tree  that  have  not  been  used 
are  the  needles  and  the  gases  that  escape. 


Workmen  Hewing  Cross  Ties  in  Woods 


One  cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the  scale  of  opera- 
tions on  any  large  lumbering  project,  as  well  as  with 
the  limitations  of  the  present  supply  of  timber  for  the 
various  purposes  for  which  it  is  being  cut,  of  which  the 
most  serious  question,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
electric  railway  industry,  is  that  of  ties,  poles  and 
piling.  A  realization  of  the  desirability  of  conserving 
the  present  supply  as  much  as  possible  forces  itself  upon 
the  observer  at  once,  and  the  principal  way  in  which 
this  can  be  accomplished  is,  of  course,  by  treatment  of 
the  timber  to  prevent  its  principal  cause  of  destruction 
— decay. 

Conservation  of  the  present  supply  can  also  be  aided 
through  careful  engineering  design  of  our  structures; 
that  is,  by  using  the  minimum  sizes  and  lengths  con- 
sistent with  good  engineering  practice.  It  is  believed 
that  many  timber  structures  have  been  erected  in  the 
past  by  rule  of  thumb  methods  or  in  accordance  with 
arbitrary  designs,  as  the  result  of  which  considerable 
excess  timber  has  been  used  over  that  actually  required 
to  carry  the  desired  loads,  this  frequently  being  done  so 
as  to  provide  for  the  subsequent  loss  in  strength  due  to 
partial  decay  and  to  postpone  the  day  when  complete 
removal  becomes  necessary.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered in  this  connection  that  the  smaller  sections  not 
only  contain  less  lumber  per  unit  of  length  but  that  the 
unit  price  per  thousand  feet  board  measure  is  also 
usually  much  less,  and  this  total  difference  in  cost  would 
partly  offset  the  cost  of  treating  the  smaller  sizes  actu- 
ally required.  The  economy  of  using  treated  timber 
where  failure  is  caused  by  decay  and  the  large  increase 
in  prices  of  all  kinds  of  untreated  timber  are  the  prin- 
cipal factors  which  are  bringing  about  the  more  ex- 
tended use  of  wood  preservatives,  and  this  use  is  bound 
to  increase  in  the  future  as  greater  need  for  substitutes 
for  timber  is  felt. 

It  would  also  be  well  to  emphasize  the  importance  of 
proper  seasoning.  The  sap  in  the  cells  of  the  wood  must 
be  largely  removed  so  as  to  eliminate  as  far  as  possible 
the  moisture  in  the  wood  structure,  which  is  one  of  the 
essential  requirements  for  the  growth  of  the  wood- 
destroying  fungi.  Then,  too,  this  moisture  must  be 
removed  in  order  to  provide  space  and  reservoirs  for 
the  wood  preservative  and  to  insure  its  penetrating  far 
enough  into  the  wood  to  accomplish  the  desired  results. 
In  some  methods  of  treatment  the  aim  is  to  fill  the  cells 
with  the  preservative  oil,  while  in  others  the  aim  is 
merely  to  thoroughly  coat  the  cell  walls.   Whatever  may 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1063 


be  the  method  employed,  this  moisture  must  first  be  re- 
moved in  some  way,  and  for  this  reason  seasoning  be- 
fore treatment  is  considered  highly  essential  to  most 
satisfactory  treatment,  since  cracks  develop  during  the 
seasoning  process,  whether  in  air  or  steam.  If  these 
cracks  develop  after  treatment,  as  is  likely  to  be  the 
case  where  treatment  is  made  without  proper  seasoning, 
the  inner  or  untreated  portions  of  the  wood  will  be  ex- 
posed and  decay  of  the  exposed  portions  will  probably 
soon  follow,  thus  largely  nullifying  the  benefits  derived 
from  the  treatment  given. 


New  Cars  for  Frankford  "L" 

All-Steel  Cars  55  Ft.  Long  Have  Seating  Capacity  of  Fifty- 
one — Doors  Are  Fitted  with  Electric  Contact  Tripping 
Shoes  to  Prevent  Danger  of  Injury  to  Passengers 

WHEN  the  order  for  the  new  cars  of  the  Frankford 
Elevated  Railway,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  was  placed 
with  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  last  February  it  was  the 
intention  to  build  100  cars  for  this  service.  This  number 
was  later  reduced  so  that  the  first  equipment  being  con- 
structed consists  of  fifty  all-steel  elevated  cars  with 
three  doors  on  each  side.  There  are  four  windows 
between  the  center  door  and  each  end  door  and  two  addi- 
tional windows  between  the  end  doors  and  the  ends  of 
the  car.  The  side  windows  are  equipped  with  double 
sash,  the  lower  part  of  which  is  stationary  and  the 
upper  arranged  to  drop.  Arch-type  roof  construction 
has  been  used  with  twelve  ventilators  of  the  Railway 


Utility  Company's  honeycomb  type,  located  six  on  either 
side.  These  ventilators  are  welded  in  place  and  are 
equipped  with  registers  which  may  be  opened  and  closed 
as  desired. 

At  diagonally  right-hand  corners  there  is  a  motor- 
man's  compartment  with  a  hinged  door  for  entrance  and 
exit  from  the  interior  of  the  car  body.  This  door  is 
arranged  to  fold  back  so  as  to  cover  the  operating 
mechanism  when  not  in  use.  The  train  door  at  each  end 
of  the  car  and  the  six  side  doors  are  of  the  single  sliding 
type  hung  on  ball-bearing  hangers  which  operate  on 
tracks.  All  side  doors  are  4  ft.  wide.  This  allows 
plenty  of  space  for  incoming  and  outgoing  passengers. 
The  doors  are  equipped  with  the  National  Pneumatic 
Company's  latest  type  of  door-operating  equipment,  so 
arranged  that  all  doors  of  each  car  are  operated  from 
one  end  of  the  car,  which  admits  of  train  operation  with 
a  guard  or  conductor  placed  between  alternate  cars.  The 
doors  are  controlled  either  in  unison  or  separately  by 
push  buttons  located  at  a  convenient  place  for  the  train 
guard  and  are  all  fitted  with  the  latest  type  of  electric 
contact  tripping  shoe  so  arranged  that  if  the  closing 
door  touches  a  passenger  it  is  immediately  reversed, 
thus  obviating  any  danger  of  injury  to  the  passenger. 

On  each  door  post  is  a  single  push  button  so  the 
station  platform  guard  can  close  any  individual  door  as 
desired.  At  a  convenient  position  at  each  end  of  the  car 
are  located  indication  lamps  to  advise  the  train  guard 
or  conductor  when  the  doors  of  his  particular  car  are 
closed,  and  the  same  lamp  located  at  the  front  end  of 


UNDERPRAME  AND  COMPLETED  CAR  WITHOUT  COUPLERS  FOR  FRANKFORD  "L" 
No.  1 — End  view  of  new  car.  No.  3 — Underframe  of  car  in  course  of  construction. 

No.  2 — Exterior  of  Frankford  Elevated  Railway  car  previous  No.  4 — Longitudinal  seats  provide  plenty  of  space  for  standing 
to  installation  of  couplers.  passengers. 


1064 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Floor  Plan  of  Frankford  Elevated  Railway  Steel  Car 


the  train,  in  a  convenient  position  for  the  motorman, 
will  indicate  when  all  doors  of  the  train  are  closed. 

In  the  accompanying  tables  are  listed  some  of  the 
important  details  of  these  cars. 


TABLE  I— DIMENSIONS 

Length  over  anti-clinbers  55  ft.  0  in. 

Length  over  corner  posts  5 1  ft.  1 1 !  in 

Width  over  all   8  ft.  6  in. 

Length  over  bolster  cen- 
ters    38  ft.  0  in. 

Center  to  center  of  side 

posts   2  ft.  4}  in. 

Width  of  side  door  open- 
ings  4  ft.  0  in. 

Height  from  rail  over  roof  1 2  ft.  0  in. 

Height  from  rail  to  top  of 

floor   3  ft.  1  I !  in. 


AND  EQUIPMENT  WEIGHTS 

Height  from  rail  to  under- 
side of  side  sills   3  ft.  3|  in. 

Truck  wheelbase   6  ft.  8  in. 

Diameter  wheels   34  in. 

Wheel  tread   4f  in. 

Wheel  flange   I  in.  x  If  i 

Seating  capacity   51 

Weight  of  car  body   38.500  1b. 

Weight  of  trucks   30,000  1b. 

Weight  of  equipment..  .  17,500  lb. 

Total  weight   86.000  1b. 


One  of  the  underframes  for  these  cars  is  shown  in  an 
accompanying  illustration.  The  principal  members  of 
the  underframe  include  side  sills  of  5  x  Si  x  3  in.  angles, 
two  center  stringers  of  8-in.,  18i-lb.  channels,  and  sills 
of  built-up  type  with  crossings  of  4-in.  channel  except 
in  two  cases  where  built-up  needle  beams  are  used. 

The  side,  window,  and  door  posts  are  built  up  in 
tubular  form  of  steel  I  in.  thick  and  the  sides  are 
sheathed  with  steel  of  the  same  thickness.  The  roof 
construction  consists  of  A-in.  thick  steel  plates  extend- 
ing across  the  entire  roof  and  spliced  at  carlines  by 
butting  sheets,  riveted  to  carlines  and  welded  at  joints. 
These  roof  plates  are  also  riveted  at  their  ends  to  the 
top  rail  angles  and  to  the  top  of  letterboards. 

The  headlining  is  of  !-in.  Agasote  with  sheet-steel 
molding  at  the  joints.  The  advertising  card  racks 
which  extend  the  full  length  of  the  car  are  also  of  sheet 
steel.  The  flooring  consists  of  flexolith  composition  laid 
on  chanarch  galvanized  corrugated  steel  to  a  total  thick- 
ness of  1  i  in.    As  shown  in  the  illustration  of  the 

TABLE  II— EQUIPMENT  DETAILS  OF  FRANKFORD  CARS 

Air  brakes — Westinghouse  Traction  Brake  Company's  Tvpe  A.M.U.E. 
Motors— Two  G.  E.  Co.'s  No.  259. 

Control  Equipment — Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company's  type 
A.B.F. 

Bumpers — 9-in.  face  with  7-in.,  1 0.28-lb.  Hedley  anti-climbers. 
Couplers — Van  Dorn  air  and  electric  type. 

Destination  signs — Electric  Service  Supplies  Company's  Keystone. 
Handbrakes — Brill  horizontal  handle. 

Heater  equipment — Consolidated  Car  Heating  Company's  panel  type. 
Headlights — Electric  Service  Supplies  Company's  Golden  Glow  S.H.  74. 
Step  tread — Universal. 

Trucks — Brill  27-MCB-3,  motor  and  trailer,  with  oil  retaining  center  plates. 
Ventilators — Railway  Utility  Company's  Honeycomb. 
Seats — Brill  longitudinal  upholstered  in  rattan. 

Curtains— No  side  curtains.    Door  of  motorman's  compartment  equipped  with 

Pantasote  curtain. 
Third  rail  shoe — Champion. 

interior  of  these  cars  the  seating  is  longitudinal.  An 
upright  stanchion  is  provided  opposite  the  center  pair 
of  doors  and  grab  handles  at  each  side  of  all  side  doors. 
These  grab  handles  and  the  center  stanchions  are  of 
1-in.  porcelain  enamel  pipe.  A  full  equipment  of  sani- 
tary hand  straps  are  provided  and  there  are  two  Brill 
signal  bells  in  each  car,  one  in  each  motorman's  com- 
partment. The  lighting  consists  of  two  rows  of  lamps 
down  the  sides  of  the  car  and  directly  over  the  seats. 


Illinois  Committee  Continues  to  Inform 

FOLLOWING  its  custom  of  issuing  interesting  and 
instructive  pamphlets  on  utility  problems  for  the 
benefit  of  the  public,  the  Illinois  Committee  on  Public 
Utility  Information  has  recently  published  another 
booklet  giving  "Its  History,  Purpose  and  Work."  The 
various  activities  of  the  committee,  its  relation  to  news- 
papers, its  co-operation  with  other  organizations,  its 
relation  with  universities  and  colleges  in  their  quest  for 
utility  information  are  explained  and  reviewed. 

The  last  page  of  the  booklet  contains  six  suggestions 
which  are  offered  by  the  committee  and  which  "would 
be  of  benefit  both  to  the  utility  companies  and  to  cus- 
tomers in  bringing  about  the  establishment  and  con- 
tinuance of  a  proper  relationship." 

The  Illinois  Committee  on  Public  Utility  Information 
was  formed  in  April,  1919,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Illinois  State  Electric  Association,  Illinois  Gas  Asso- 
ciation, Illinois  Electric  Railway  Association,  Illinois 
Independent  Telephone  Association  and  all  other  tele- 
phone interests  in  the  state.  It  was  announced  at  that 
time  that  its  purpose  was  "to  inform  the  public  on  the 
fundamentals,  and  particularly  the  economics,  of  the 
public  utility  industry." 


Utilities  Now  Co-operate  with  Papers 

THE  co-operation  in  giving  and  gathering  public 
utility  information  which  has  recently  developed 
between  public  utilities  and  newspapers  has  opened  a 
new  field  in  news,  according  to  Stanley  W.  Bogert, 
managing  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger.  In 
a  letter  to  James  M.  Bennett  of  the  United  Gas  Improve- 
ment Company  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Mr.  Bogert  makes 
clear  that  information  regarding  public  utilities  is  con- 
sidered by  business  men  and  the  general  reader  to  be 
valuable.  He  hails  the  passage  of  the  old  era  when 
public  utility  companies  regarded  newspapers  with 
suspicion  and  would  give  no  information,  and  the  period 
following  in  which  the  companies  flooded  the  newspaper 
offices  with  propaganda.  The  letter,  which  is  indicative 
of  the  attitude  the  daily  papers  are  taking  toward  the 
establishment  of  state  committees  on  public  utility 
information,  is,  in  part,  as  follows : 

What  you  have  done  here  in  frankly  and  freely  supplying  us 
with  news  demonstrated  that  the  utility  companies,  the  news- 
papers and  the  public  can  benefit  from  a  free  discussion  of  these 
matters. 

It  used  to  be  that  some  of  the  utilities,  or  those  who  represented 
them  officially,  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  newspapers  or 
the  public.  There  is  a  new  basis  of  news  relationship  now  in  many 
instances,  however.  You  have  been  a  part  of  this  new  order,  just 
as  the  Illinois  Committee  on  Utility  Information  and  Captain  Ling 
of  the  Ohio  Committee  on  Public  Utility  Information. 

The  thing  that  strikes  home  is  the  abandonment,  under  the  new 
order,  of  the  propaganda  idea  ;  that  you  and  some  others  are  ready 
to  supply  news  minus  propaganda  ;  that  you  have  been  willing  to 
supplv,  upon  request,  information  which  in  the  past,  by  custom, 
would  have  been  denied.    It  is  just  a  fair  way  of  doing  things. 

There  is  almost  a  new  field  in  utility  news.  The  utilities  cer- 
tainly are  very  close  to  the  public  and  it  can  do  no  harm  to  keep 
the  public  advised  of  their  progress,  their  needs,  etc.  It  would  be 
fine  if  this  news  could  be  put  out  more  generally  on  the  real  news 
basis  which  you  are  following. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1065 


Statistics  of  New  York  Railways 

Tables  and  Charts  Presented  at  the  Hearings  Before  the  New  York  Transit  Commission  by  the 
Commission's  Chief  Accountant  Give  Interesting  Facts  in  Regard  to  the 
City's  Largest  Transportation  Companies 


THE  accompanying  tables  and  graphs  are  from  a 
number  presented  at  recent  hearings  before  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission  by  the  chief 
accountant  for  the  commission,  Frederick  W.  Lindars. 
The  figures  and  graphs  in  general  speak  for  themselves, 
but  a  few  comments  may  be  of  assistance. 

In  Table  I  the  roads  included  under  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  System,  Third  Avenue  System,  New  York 
Railways  System,  etc.,  are  the  same  as  given  in  Table  II, 
although  it  should  be  understood  that  in  several  cases 
the  roads  grouped  with  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  and 
the  New  York  Railways  systems  include  roads  now  oper- 
ated independently. 

The  figure  given  in  Table  I  as  "passenger  fare  per 
revenue  passenger"  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  receipts 
from  all  passengers  by  the  number  of  passengers  paying 
the  initial  fare.    Thus,  on  the  New  York  Railways, 


90 


60 


50 


40 


i*r 

— vi\/T< 

-Exehan 

ge  close 

\\ 
i\ 
IV 
I 

y*\  A 
'■  q/j 

1  1 
\> 

"1 

i 

t 

A  'A 

viv\ 

1  \ 
1 1 

 t+A 

i  \l' 

i  i 

i 
i 
\ 

Ay 

 1— 

1 

1 1 

V 

V' 

1913      1914      1915      1916  1917 


1919 


1920  1971 


Prices  of  the  5  per  cent  first  and  refunding  mortgage  bonds  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  1913  to  1921  inclusive. 


^70 


o50 


-40 


<^30 


10 


1  1 
\  \ 

1  rO 

\ 

ll 

S*i 

Y  > 
1  W 

l\ 
il 

High 

prices 

A 

1  M 
ll  . 

ill 

Ah. 

1  u 
t 

1  &L 

l\ 
l\ 

m 

— /V  i 

1 

'    \  ' 
1      1  1 

if 

s 

-t 

X 

— th- 
I 

11 

K  b 



</  Low 

price 

s~- 

 kj 

l\ 
1  \ 

A 

f 
i 
i 

— -»*- 
i  / 

70 


S  60 


.50 


;40 


"30 


1906     1901     1908     1909  1910 


191 


1912     1913     1914      [915  1916 


At  left,  Interborough-Metropolitan  preferred  stock,  1906  to  1916. 
The  two  points  in  October,  1916,  represent  isolated  transactions. 
At    right,    Interborough-Metropolitan    common    stock     ( including 


~l\ 

— J- — 

<h  pric 

es-..  r 

ll\ 

closed 

f\ 
\.\ 
i\ 

/  ' 

Lot 

v  price 

'v-,V 

S-. 

j 

r 

4 

Jr  - 

id 

1906     1907     1908     1909     1910      1911  1912 


1913      1914      1915     1916  1917 


trust  certificates),  1906  to  1917.  The  two  points  In  the  latter  part 
of  1916  and  the  line  in  the  early  part  of  1917  represent  isolated 
transactions. 


90 


80 


no 


§60 


I  50 


■  40 


i  30 


«20 


V  "N 

'Hic/h  prices 

sed 

i  I* 

l\\ 

It" 

V  i 

'■ Low 

price 

s 

V' 

\  *u/' 

■5. 

V 
V 

•  -'  >'l 

 K 

i\ 
i  \ 
t  \ 

i  Jl  i 

/\  • 

■s 

•1; 

i 

•i 

-  ftj  — 

-0  M 

0  \* 

e»  1 

* *v  /  \ 

i  \_ 
1  A  ^ 

\$ 

^\ 

5 

o  30 
v> 
u 

1 
1 
1 

"\  \  . 

-  CJ 

°-20 

i/> 
i— 
o 

—  0 
<=» 

*. 7*1 
if' 

Sv  / 

iiah  p 

-ices 

es.Dol 
o 

iS/ir  1 

M    1  \ 

Low 

prices 



C  0 
a. 

s  1'  < 

v< 

1  «li  '  A 

— VA^ 

1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

1919 

1920 

1921 

"    '\/\  /\ 

The  long  graph  at  the  left  gives  the  prices  of  the  Interborough- 
Metropolitan  collateral  trust  41  per  cent  bonds  from  1906  to  1921. 
The  graph  in  the  panel  shows  the  prices  of  the  Interborough- 


Consolidated  common  stock  (voting  trust  certificates)  from  191.1 
to  1921.  The  graph  at  the  right  shows  the  prices  of  the  Inter- 
borough-Consolidated  preferred  stock  from  1915  to  1921. 


THESE  GRAPHS  SHOW  BY  MONTHS  THE  HIGH  PRICES  (BY  SOHID  LINE)  AND  THE  LOW  PRICES  (BY  DOTTED  LINE* 
FOR  VARIOUS  SECURITIES  OF  TRACTION  PROPERTIES  IN  NEW  YORK 


TABLE  I.    REVENUES,  ETC.,  OF  THE  RAPID  TRANSIT  AND  SURFACE  RAILWAYS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 
(The  figures  given  are  in  cents  per  revenue  passenger  and  are  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1921) 


—  a 

<  ft 


H 

Revenues:  fnU  >-i 

Passenger  fares   5.07  5.00 

Advertising,  sale  of  power,  etc   0.42  0.45 

Interest  and  dividends  on  investments, 

rentals  from  real  estate,  etc   0.22  0 . 09 

Total  revenue  >   5.71  5.54 

Deductions  from  revenue: 

Operating  expenses   4.30  3.41 

Taxes   0.30  0.07 

Interest   1 . 05  1.24 

Rents   0.65  0.38 

Miscellaneous  deductions   0.13  0.26 

Total  operating  expenses,  etc   6.43  1  5.36 

City's  interest  and  sinking  fund  (o)   0.46  0.73 

Estimated  cost  to  restore  free  transfers, 

etc.  (6)   0.36   

Total  deductions   7.25  6.09 

Deficiency  in  revenue   1.54  0.55 

(a)  Contract  No.  3,    $4,675,000  (o)  Estimated  at 
Contract  No.  4,  6,730,000 

Total,  $11,405,000 


5.00 
0.40 


0.02 
5.42 


3.79 
0.61 
0.63 
1.74 
0.  13 


1'® 
a) 

EZ3  « 

"*S 

5.00 
0. 18 

0. 1 1 

5.29 

4.62 
0.27 
0.51 
1.04 

0.00+ 


4.89 
0.29 

0. 14 


3| 
— *  © 

(-  CO 

4.86 
0.98 

0.56 


5.32 

4.78 
0.25 
0.83 
0. 18 
0.00+ 


6.40 

4.58 
0.34 
1 .47 
0.27 
0.36 


-§1 

°  a 

W 

4.90 
0.30 

0.01 

5.21 

5.24 
0.52 
1 .02 
0.01 


%  s 

Ka 

in 

"3  >> 
O  CQ 


5.11 
0.47 

0.89 


5.10 
0. 14 


0.02 


a  J 

A  g 

"1 
*J 

6.90 
0.05 

0.38 


6.47 

5.44 
0.46 
0.82 
0.64 
0.04 


5.26 

5.63 
0.24 
0.96 
0.24 
0.00+ 


7.33 


6.90 


6.44 
1 .66 


6.04 


1.54 


7.02 


6.79 


0.07 


7.40 


1.17 


7.07 


0.02 


9.40 


0.37 


6.90  8.10 
1.48  2.81 

$9,000,000. 


7.58 
2.26 


7.02 
0.62 


6.86 
1.65 


8.57 
2. 10 


7.09 
1.83 


9.77 
2.44 


03 

7.45 
0.46 

0.24 


8.  15 


8.92 


8.92 
0.77 


§ 

si 

9  >> 
s3 

CD  O 
O  O 

CO  II 

g« 

2.62 
0.92 

0.04 


3.58 

3.17 
0.44 
0.35 
0.48 
0.02 


4.46 


4.46 
0.88 


TABLE  II. 


SCHEDULE  OF  CAPITAL  STOCKS  OUTSTANDING  JUNE  20,  1921,  AND  DIVIDENDS  PAID  BY  RAPID  TRANSIT  AND  SURFACE 
RAILWAY  COMPANIES  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY,  YEARS  1912  TO  1921,  INCLUSIVE 
-Capital  Stock- 


Class  Outstanding 

Third  Avenue  Railway  System: 

New  York  City  Interb  r  ..gh  Ry.  Co   Common  $5,000,000 

New  York,  Westchester  &  Conn.  Traction  Co   Common  2,000,000 

Pelham  Park  &  City  Is.  Ry.  Co   Common  45,000 

Southern  Boulevard  Ry.  Co   Common  250,000 

Union  Railway  of  New  York   Common  2,000,000 

Bronx  Traction  Co   Common  58,100 

Westchester  Electric  R.R.  Co   Common  500,000 

Yonkers  Railroad  Co   Common  1,000,000 

Belt  Line  Ry.  Corp   Common  734,000 

Brooklyn  North  R.R.  Co   Common  100,000 

Dry  Dock-E.  Bway.  &  Battery  R.R.  Co   Common  1,200,000 

42nd  St.,  Manhattanville  &  St.  Nicholas  Ave.  R.R.  Co.  .  .  Common  2,500,000 

Kingsbridge  Railway  Co   Common  8,600 

Mid  Crosstown  Railway  Co   Common  150,000 

Third  Ave.  Railway  Co   Common  16,590,000 

Third  Ave.  Bridge  Co   Common  20,000 

New  York  Railways  System: 

Broadway-Seventh  Ave.  R.R.  Co   Common  2,100,000 

42nd  &  Grand  St.  Ferry  R.R.  Co   Common  748,000 

Fort  George  &  1 1th  Ave.  R.R.  Co   Common  3,000,000 

Twenty-third  St.  Ry.  Co   Common  600,000 

Bleecker  St.  &  Fulton  Ferry  R.R   Common  900,000 

34th  St.  Crosstown  Ry.  Co   Common  1,000,000 

Christopher  &  Tenth  St.  Ry.  Co   Common  650,000 

Sixth  Ave.  Railroad  Co   Common  2,000,000 

New  York  Railways  Co   Common  17,495,060 

Eighth  Avenue  Railroad  Co   Common  1,000,000 

Ninth  Avenue  Railroad  Co   Common  800,000 

New  York  &  Harlem  Railway  Co  (a)   {  p^red  I  ftifbl 

Independent  Railways  System: 

Manhattan  Bridge  3c.  Line   Common  450,000 

Manhattan  Railway  Co   Common  60,000,000 

T„*„  i.         i.           i  r>  i  Common(c)  932,626.92 

Interborough  Consol.  Corp   I  Preferred(  45,740,500 

Second  Avenue  R.R.  Co    Common  1,862,000 

Bush  Terminal  R.R.  Co   Common  20,000 

Marine  Railway  Co   Common  50,000 

Van  Brunt  St.  &  Erie  Basin  R.R   Common  200,000 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Co   Common  35,000,000 

Brooklvn  Rapid  Transit  Svstem: 

Brooklyn  Heights  R.R.  Co.  ."   Common  200,000 

Bridge  Operating  Co    Common  100,000 

Brooklyn,  Queens  County  &  Suburban  R.R.  Co   Common  2,000,000 

Coney  Island  &  Gravesend  Rv.  Co   Common  350,000 

Conev  Island  &  Brooklvn  Rv.  Co   Common  2,983,900 

DeKalb  Ave.  &  North  Beach  R.R.  Co   Common  10,000 

„          ™    ,  •   „     «  /  Common  8,500,000 

Nassau  Electric  Ry.  Co   Preferred  6,500,000 

South  Brooklvn  Ry.  Co   Common  500,000 

Prospect  Park  &  Conev  Is.  R.R.  Co   Common  250,000 

Prospect  Park  &  So.  Bklyn.  R.R.  Co   Common  50,000 

New  York  &  Co  ev  Is.  R.R.  Co   Common  100,000 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Co   Common  (6)74,520,000 

New  York  Consolidated  R.R.  Co   {  C=n  13.900.000 

New  York  Municipal  Ry.  Corp   Common  200,000 

Brooklyn  City  R.R.  Co   Common  12,000,000 

Queens  County  Lines: 

Long  Island  Electric  Ry.  Co   Common  600,000 

Manhattan  &  Queens  Traction  Co   Common  20,000 

New  York  &  Long  Is.  Traction  Co   {  C™d 

New  York  &  North  Shore  Tr.  Co   Common  979,350 

New  York  &  Queens  Co.  Ry.  Co   Common  3,235,000 

Ocean  Electric  Railway  Co   Common  35,000 

Staten  Island  Lines: 

Richmond  Light  &  R.R.  Co   Common  2,871,750 

Southfield  Beach  R.R.  Co   Common  250,000 

Staten  Is.  Midland  Ry.  Co   Common  1,000,000 

(a)  The  New  York  &  Harlem  Railway  Co.  also  owns  a  steam  railroad,  which  is  leased  to  the  New  York  Central  Railroad. 

(6)  The  outstanding  capital  stock  of  this  company  in  1912  was  $44,837,217.98;  in  1913,  $49,013,217.98;  in  1914  to  1 91 6,  inclusive,  $74,455,2 1 7. 98;  in  1917, 
$74,455,212.98;  in  1918  and  1 919,  $74,455,159.37.       (c)  Number  of  shares  with  no  par  value. 


Percentage  of  Dividends  Paid  — 

1912 

1913 

1914  1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

1919 

1920 

1921 

0 

0 

n 
u 

n 
U 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

u 

n 
u 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

n 
u 

n 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

n 
u 

n 
u 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

u 

u 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

o 

o 

o 

0 

0 

0 

u 

u 

0 

0 

33* 

0 

0 

n 
u 

n 
u 

Q 

0 

0 

o 

o 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

o 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

m 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

2i 

0 

0 

26 

18 

18 

18 

18 

18 

18 

41 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

18 

18 

18 

6 

18 

18 

18 

4* 

0 

0 

n 

1} 

H 

H 

n 

n 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0* 

0 

0 

0 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

2 

0 

0 

7 

8i 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

If 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

16 

16 

16 

16 

16 

16 

16 

8 

0 

0 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

4 

0 

0 

21 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

12 

10 

5 

21 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

12 

10 

5, 

0 

0 

6 

6 

H 

0 

3| 

5 

5 

2\ 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

3 

6 

6 

3 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

6 

4 

4 

4 

5 

5 

5 

5 

2 

16 

12 

15 

20 

20 

20 

17* 

5 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

6 

6 

6 

6 

6 

6 

6 

6 

0 

0 

1 

15 

10 

5 

5 

Ik 

2\ 

0 

0 

0 

5 

10 

5 

5 

5 

5 

10 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

6 

n 

6 

6 

6 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

4 

8 

6 

4 

4 

4 

2 

0 

0 

e 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

51 

6 

6 

6 

6 

3 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

7 

10 

10 

10 

10 

5 

2i 

0 

0 

5 

7 

10 

10 

10 

10 

5 

2i 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

10 

10 

21 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

TABLE  III.    RAPID  TRANSIT  AND  SURFACE  RAILROAD  COMPANIES— NEW  YORK  CITY.    STATEMENT  BY  COMPANIES  SHOWING  THE 
OUTSTANDING  CAPITALIZATION  AS  AT  JUNE  30,  1921,  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC,  TOGETHER 
WITH  MARKET  VALUES  THEREOF  AS  AT  SEPT.  1,  1921 
Amount  Outstanding  June  30,  1 921 — (Par  Value) 


Int.  or 

Div.   Year  Year 

Rate      of  When 

%     Issue  Due 


Name  of  System  and  Description  of 
Securities 

Br    klyn  Rapid  Transit  System: 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Co., 

First  Gold  

First  Refund.  Gold  

3-yr.  Secured  Gold  Notes  

6-yr.  Secured  Gold  Notes  

Receiver's  Certificate  

Common  Stock  

Brooklyn  Heights  R.R.  Co. 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Bridge  Operating  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Brooklyn  Queens  Co.  and  Sub.  RR 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

First  Consol.  Bonds  

Jamaica  Brooklyn  Bonds  

Receiver's  Certificate  

Common  Stock  

Coney  Island  &  Gravesend  Ry.  Co. 

Common  Stock  

Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  R.R.  Co., 

First  Consol.  Golds  

Consolidated  Golds.  

Brooklyn   City   and  Newtown 
First  Golds  

Common  Stock  

Nassau  Electric  R.R.  Co., 

First  Consol.  Golds  

First  Consol.  Golds  

Atlantic  Ave.  Gen.  Consol.  Golds 

Atlantic  Ave.  Imp.  Golds  

Brooklyn  Bath  W.  E.  Genl.  Gold 

Receivers  Certificate  

Preferred  Stock  

Common  Stock  

De  Kalb  Ave.  &  N.  Beach  R.R. 

Common  Stock  

New  York  &  Coney  Island  R.R.  Co. 

Common  Stock  

Prospect  Park  &  S.  Brooklyn  R.R. 

Common  Stock  

South  Brooklyn  Ry.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Prospect  Park  &  Coney  Island  R.R. 

Income  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Brooklyn  City  R.R.  Co., 

First  Consol.  Golds  

Common  Stock  (Par  $10)  

Brooklyn  &  North  River  R.R.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

New  York  Consolidated  R.R.  Co., 

First  Mortgage  Bond  of  Brooklyn 
Union  "L"  

First  Mortgage  Bonds  of  Kings 
County  "L"  

Preferred  Stock  

Common  Stock  

New  York  Municipal  Railway  Corp 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Common  Stock  


Total  B.  R.  T.  System  

Inlerborouqh  Rapid  Transit  System: 
Interborough  Consolidated  Corp., 
Interborough  Met.  Coll.  Trust 

i  Gold  Bonds   4*     1906  1956 

Preferred  Stock   6   

Common  Stock.  .  .  .  932,626.92  shares  (no par) 
$5.00  Nominal 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Co., 

First  and  Refunding  Golds   5      1913  1966 

Three  Year  Secured  Gold  Notes..        7      1918  1921 

Common  Stock   Various 

Manhattan  Railway  Co., 

First  Consol.  Mortgage  Bonds. . 

Second  Mortgage  Bonds  

Manhattan  Certif  

Com.  Stock  


Total  Interborough  System . . . 
New  York  Railways  System: 
New  York  Railways  Co., 

First  R.E.  and  Refund  Mtg.  Bds. 

Adjust.  Income  Bonds  

South  Ferry  First  Gold  Bonds. .  . 

Lexington  Ave.  &  Pavonia  Ferry 
First  Gold  Bonds  

Columbus-Ninth  Ave.  First  Gold 
Bonds  

Broadway  Surface  First  Gold  Bds 

Central  Crosstown  Ft.  Gold  Bds. 

Common  Stock  

Broadway-Seventh  Ave.  R.R.  Co. 

First  Consol.  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Forty-second    St.   &   Grand  St. 
Ferry  R.R.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Fort  George  &  1 1th  Ave.  R.R.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Twenty-third  St.  Railway  Co., 

Improv.  &  Refund.  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Bleecker  St.  &  Fulton  Ferry  R.R.  Co. 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Thirty-fourth  St.  Crosstn.  R.R.  Co. 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Common  Stock  


Market 
Price 

Total  Held  Sept.  1, 
by  Public 


1921 


5 
4 
7 

5 
6 

1 895 
1902 
1918 
1912 
1919 

1 945 
2002 
1921 
1918 
1922 

$6,970,000 
3,439,000 
57,230,000 
505,000 
18,000,000 
74,455,159 

22$ 
3H 
52 

49J 

5 

1891 

1941 

250,000 
None 

None 

25 

5 
5 
5 
6 

1894 
1894 
1889 
1919 

1941 
1941 

1930 
1 92 1 

1,500,000 
2,834,000 
232,000 
34,353 

None 

None 

32 
25 
40 

4 
4 

1898 
1904 

1948 
1 955 

1,987,000 

36J 

5 

1889 

1 939 

1 ,993,UU0 
297,400 

30 

4  1898 

5  1894 
5  1891 
5  1894 

5  1893 

6  1919 
4  Cum. 

1 95 1 
1944 
1931 
1934 
1933 
1921 

1  0, 34/,OUO 
660,000 
2,241,000 
220,000 
120,928 
320,773 
105,225 
None 

I J 

50 
60 
50 
60 

None 

None 

None 

None 

6 

1880 

1920 

248,550 
247,300 

5 

1891 

1941 

373,000 
12,000,000 

None 

66 

4 

5 

1899 

1950 

15,967,000 

67* 

4 

1899  1949 
Various 
Various 

7,000,000 
214,015 
469,169 

58i 

25 

25 

5 

1912 

1966 

2,265,000 

32 

None 
$228,025,872 


$63,808,000 
45,740,500 
4,663,134 


153,470,000 
38,144,400 
1,087,200 


13J 
2 


53i 


4 

1890 

1990 

40,664,000 

52 

4 

1913 

2013 

4,523,000 

43 

12,439 

7 

60,000,000 

38 

$412,1 12,673 

4 

1912 

1942 

$17,022,198 

21 

5 

1912 

1942 

30,609,487 

5 

5 

1889 

1919 

350,000 

36 

5 

1893 

1993 

5,000,000 

29 

5 

1893 

1993 

3,000,000 

17 

5 

1884 

1924 

1,500,000 

45 

6 

1882 

1922 

250,000 

50 

2,218,502 

5 

1893 

1943 

8,150,000 

40 

10 

699,800 

10 

18 

348,000 

None 

5 

1912 

1962 

1,500,000 

40 

18 

92,500 

4 

1900 

1950 

700,000 

25 

u 

46,400 

15 

5 

1896 

1996 

1,000,000 

35 

None 

Int.  or 
Div.  Year 
Rate  of 

Name  of  System  and  Descrip'ion  of      %  Issue 

Securities 
Christopher  &  10th  St.  R.R.  Co. 

Common  Stock   8  .... 

Sixth  Ave.  Railroad  Co., 

Common  Stock   7 

Eighth  Ave.  Railroad  Co., 

Cert,  of  Indebt   6  1919 

Common  Stock  

Ninth  Ave.  Railroad  Co., 

Common  Stock   8 

New  York  &  Harlem  Railroad  Co., 

Capital  Stock   10 


Total  N.  Y.  Railway  System 
*  Amount  apportioned  to  Street  Railways 
Third  Avenue  Railway  System  : 
Third  Ave.  Railway  Co., 

First  Gold  Bonds   5 

First  Refunding  Bonds   4 

Adjust.  Mtg.  Income  Bonds   5 

Common  Stock  

Dry  Dock,  East  Broadway  &  Bat- 
tery R.R.  Co., 
General  Mortgage  Bonds, 


Year 
When 
Due 


929 


Refund.  Mtg.  Bonds  "C 

Common  Stock  

Forty-second  St.,  Mahattanville 
&  St.  Nicholas  Ave.  Ry.  Co., 

First  Gold  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Belt  Line  Railway  Corp., 

Common  Stock  

New  York  City  Interbor.  Ry.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Southern  Boulevard  Railway  Co., 

First  Gold  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Union  Railway  Co.  of  New  York, 

First  Gold  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Westchester  Electric  Railroad  Co., 

First  Gold  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Mid  Crosstown  Railway  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Pelham  Park  &  City  Island  Ry.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Kingsbridge  Railway  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Third  Avenue  Bridge  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Bronx  Traction  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Total  Third  Ave.  Ry.  System..  .  . 
Sec  nd  Avenue  Railr  adC  .: 

First  Consol.  Mtg.  Bonds  

Debentures  

Receivers  Certif  

Common  Stock  


As  Earned 


1887 
1911 
191 1 


1892 
1915 


1895 
1902 
1893 


Total  Second  Avenue  R.R.  Co. . 
anhattanBrid  e — ■  3cl/ine: 

Common  Stock  

Staten  Island  Companies: 
Richmond  L  .  &  R.R.  Co., 

First  Coll.  Trust  

Common  Stock  

Car  Trust  Certif  

Staten  Island  Midland  R.R.  Co., 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Southfield  Beach  R.R.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Staten  Island  R.  T.  Ry.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

Ref'd  Mortgage  Bonds  

Staten  Island  Ry.  Co., 

Common  Stock  

First  Mortgage  Bonds  


1893 


1937 
1960 
1960 


1932 
1960 


1880  1940 


1945 
1942 
194 


1948 
1889  1909 
1913  1920 


1902  1952 
1915  1925 
1896  1926 


1905  1948 
1893  1943 


Total  Held 
by  Public 

$650,000 

2,000,000 

61 1,200 
1,000,000 

800,000 

*2,850,544 

$80,398,631 


$5,000,000 
19,253,000 
22,216,000 
16,590,000 


950,000 
649,351 
2,000 


Market 
Price 

Sept.  1 , 
1921 


75 


50 
85 


81 
52 
34 
145 


53 


40 


$1,200,000 
28,700 

None 

460,600 

250,000 
300 

2,000,000 

None 

500,000 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

$69,099,961 

$5,631,000  $lperM 
89,000 
3,140,000  23 
1,862,000 


$10,722,000 
$450,000 


$2,200,000 
2,871,750 
47,500 

1,000,000 
1,000,000 

122,300 

500,000 
5,000,000 

1,050,000 
51 1,000 

$14,302,550 


48 


60 


1896 
1895 
1894 
1892 


1895 


4*  1902 


1946 
1925 
1924 
1922 


1925 
1942 


Total  Staten  Island  Companies. . 

Queens  County  Companies: 
New  York  &  Queens  Co.'Ry.  Co., 

First  Consol.  Gold  

Flushing-College  Point  Ry.  Firsts 

Newtown  Firsts  

Steinway  Firsts  

Common  Stock  

Long  Island  Electric  Ry.  Co., 

First  Mtg.  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

New  York  &  Long  Island  Trac.  Co. 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Preferred  Stock  

Common  Stock  

New  York  &  North  Shore  Trac.  Co., 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Ocean  Electric  Ry.  Co., 

First  Mortgage  Bonds  

Common  Stock  

Constr.  Advances  

Manhattan  &  Queens  Co.  Trac.  Co., 

Common  Stock  (Subs.)  

Liability  Notes  

Total  Queens  County  Companies  $7,490,378 
NOTE. — 'Dividend  rate  given  for  stock,  in  general,  is  the  annual  rate  at 
which  last  dividend  was  paid.   The  complete  table  presented  in  the  testi- 
mony gives  the  dates  on  which  the  payment  of  interest  and  dividends 
was  discontinued,  where  that  has  been  the  case. 


5      1914  1954 

5  1898  1918 

4  Various  Demand 

6  Various  Demand 


514,000 
50,000 
150,000 
1,500,000 
30,200 

300,000 
300,000 

500,000 
125,000 
382,000 

770,000 
979,350 

20,000 
35,000 
299,288 

20,000 
1,515,540 


1068 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25> 


where  the  initial  fare  is  5  cents  and  the  charge  for  a 
transfer  is  2  cents,  an  average  fare  of  more  than  5 
cents  per  revenue  passenger  is  shown.  Variations  from 
5  cents  in  the  case  of  other  lines  may  be  explained,  at 
least  in  part,  as  follows: 

The  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  surface  lines  have  a  3- 
cent  fare  for  school  children.  The  method  of  account- 
ing on  the  Third  Avenue  system  between  the  lines  within 
the  system,  where  a  transfer  is  given,  is  to  credit  each 
line  with  half  the  fare.  The  Second  Avenue  Railroad 
follows  this  practice  with  the  New  York  Railways.  The 
Queens  Surface  Lines  includes  one  company  with  fares 
as  high  as  25  cents.  The  Richmond  Light  &  Railroad 
Company  on  Staten  Island  has  an  initial  fare  of  8  cents. 
The  Hudson  &  Manhattan  Railroad  charges  5,  6  and  10 
cents.  The  "miscellaneous  Brooklyn  surface  lines" 
include  the  Manhattan  3-cent  fare  line,  which  sells  two 
tickets  for  5  cents,  and  other  low  fare  lines. 


Some  Aspects  of  the  Revenue  Act 
of  1921 

In  Some  Respects,  Aside  from  the  Repeal  of  the  Excess 
Profits  Tax  and  Changes  in  the  Rates,  the  New  Act  Will 
Yield  Substantial  Relief  to  the  Business  Man 
and  the  Investor 


A 


50 


40 


v  25 


'\\ 

\) 

I1 

1 

,A 

*y  r 

4 

ri  > 

'A 

% 

,H 

gh 

prh 

es 

— V 

A 

t 

\ 
\ 

\ 

\> 

/ 

t 

\ 

_v 

\ 

\\ 

lOW 

prn 

:es- 

*  \ 
I  \ 
\  \ 
1  I 

I 

\  \ 

\ 

1 

/  ✓ 
/  / 

V' 

1  \  1 
1  \  / 

A  \ 

1  M 

I 

1 
1 

} 

J  i 

'  r 
i 

"1  \; 

>  M 
i  »i 

-V 

I  t 
I  i 
i  i 

f  / 

rJ 

V 

\ 

/ 
f 

\ 

\\ 

i 
i 

i 

l 
i 

1918 


o    v    o     o.   a     S  "3 

T  i  I  <  E  -4  -=5 
->J<   1919 


Tins  Graph  Shows  the  Prices  by  Weeks  Dcring  the  Years  191 
Capital  Stock  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Com 

Table  II  shows  the  amount  of  capital  stock  outstand- 
ing for  each  company  operating  in  New  York  City, 
together  with  the  rates  of  dividends  paid  in  each  year 
from  1912  to  1921  inclusive.  In  the  majority  of  cases 
dividends  began  to  cease  in  1919,  when  receiverships 
were  instituted  and  the  insufficiency  of  revenues  began 
to  produce  large  operating  deficits.  Table  III  gives  the 
amount  of  securities  in  the  hands  of  the  public  and  the 
approximate  market  quotations  on  the  date  given. 

The  dividends  paid  by  subsidiary  companies  within 
the  large  systems,  such  as  the  Eighth  Avenue  Railway, 
within  the  New  York  Railways  System  were  produced 
through  the  medium  of  guaranteed  rentals.  The  failure 
to  meet  these  rentals  caused  some  of  the  subsidiary  com- 
panies to  take  back  their  property  and  resume  direct 
operation,  notably  the  Eighth,  Ninth  and  New  York  & 
Harlem  lines  of  the  New  York  Railways  System,  and  the 
Brooklyn  City  Railroad  Company  lines  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  System. 

Graphs  of  market  quotations  are  shown  on  pages  1085 
and  1068.  The  graphs  of  the  Interborough  securities 
were  prepared  primarily  to  show  the  effect  on  the  market 
prices  of  the  securities  by  the  changes  in  the  dividend 
policy  of  the  company.  The  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
graph  was  prepared  primarily  to  show  the  effect  on 
prices  following  the  cutting  off  of  dividends  (December, 
1917)  and  prior  to  the  receivership  (December,  1919). 


By  Robert  Murray  Haig,  Ph.D. 

School  of  Business,  Columbia  University 

MONG  the  numerous  changes  made  by  the  new  tax 
bill  signed  by  President  Harding  on  Nov.  23,  five 
stand  out  as  of  great  importance  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  business  man  and  the  investor.   These  are: 

1.  The  abolition  of  the  excess  profits  tax  as  of  the 
beginning  of  next  year,  coupled  with  an  increase  in 
the  income  tax  on  corporations  at  that  time  from  10 
per  cent  to  12i  per  cent. 

2.  The  reduction  in  the  surtax  rates  on  individual 
incomes  which  comes  into  effect  at  the 
same  time. 

3.  The  establishment,  with  the  be- 
ginning of  next  year,  of  a  new  class  of 
income  to  be  known  as  capital  gain, 
which  will  be  subject  to  a  maximum 
rate  of  123  per  cent. 

4.  The  broadening  of  the  definition 
of  the  "closed  transaction,"  effective 
for  the  current  year,  which  makes  pos- 
sible many  exchanges  of  property  for 
property  without  subjecting  the  gain 
to  taxation. 

5.  The  recognition,  beginning  this 
year,  of  a  net  loss  from  one  year's 
operation  as  an  offset  against  any 
profits  which  may  accrue  in  the  two 
following  years. 

The  first  two  changes,  the  repeal  of 
the  profits  tax  and  the  changes  in  the 
rates,  have  been  the  subject  cf  wide 
comment,  but  the  other  changes,  being 
of  a  somewhat  more  technical  charac- 
ter, have  been  less  discussed  and  their  significance  less 
fully  appreciated. 

In  spite  of  great  pressure,  Congress  finally  declined 
to  repeal  the  profits  tax  for  1921,  but  did  agree  to 
abolish  it  thereafter.  With  it  disappears  the  "personal 
service  corporation,"  a  special  class  established  to  care 
for  certain  corporations  which  it  was  desired  to  exempt 
from  profits  taxation.  When  the  profits  tax  goes,  the 
income  tax  rate  on  all  net  income  of  corporations  rises 
from  10  to  12i  per  cent.  The  change  in  the  rate  will 
cause  corporations  which  make  only  moderate  profits 
to  pay  slightly  heavier  taxes,  but  the  total  tax  burden 
on  corporate  income  will  be  much  lighter.  The  official 
estimates  of  revenue  under  the  new  bill  call  for  $1,030,- 
000,000  from  this  source  (ignoring  back  taxes)  this 
fiscal  year  and  only  $695,000,000  for  the  next  fiscal  year, 
when  the  changes  will  be  in  force. 


-J 


8  AND  1919  OF  THE 
PANT 


Reduction  of  Surtax  Rates 

The  surtax  rates  on  individual  incomes  are  scheduled 
for  reduction  beginning  with  the  first  of  next  year.  A 
comparison  of  the  new  scale  with  the  old  is  difficult  to 
make.  It  should  be  made  clear,  however,  that  the 
change  affects  small  taxpayers  as  well  as  large  ones. 
The  maximum  rates  remain  very  high — 50  per  cent  as 
compared  with  65  under  the  old  law.  The  50  per  cent 
rate  applies  to  all  income  in  excess  of  $200,000.   The  old 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1069 


rate,  which  applied  to  the  increment  of  income  above 
$200,000,  was  60  per  cent.  Surtaxes  in  the  future  will 
not  begin  until  the  $6,000  point  is  reached  and  will 
be  1  per  cent  for  income  between  $6,000  and  $10,000. 
Under  the  old  law,  the  surtaxes  begin  at  $5,000  and 
mount  by  more  rapid  steps.  There  are  also  slight 
changes  in  the  personal  exemptions,  effective  at  once. 
According  to  the  revenue  estimates  these  changes  will 
not  provide  much  relief  for  the  individual  taxpayers, 
for  the  government  expects  to  get  $780,000,000  next 
year  with  the  changes  in  effect  as  compared  with  $850,- 
000,000  this  year. 

New  Class  of  "Capital  Gains" 

The  most  revolutionary  section  in  the  new  act  is  Sec- 
tion 206,  which  sets  up  a  new  division  of  income.  After 
the  first  of  next  year  money  made  by  individuals  by  sell- 
ing or  exchanging  property  "held  for  profit  or  invest- 
ment" is  subject  to  a  maximum  rate  of  121  per  cent, 
instead  of  the  regular  rates,  which  range  as  high  as  58 
per  cent  (normal  plus  surtaxes).  This  is  hedged  about 
by  several  restrictions.  The  individual  may  not  take 
advantage  of  the  permission  to  use  the  12*  per  cent 
rate  unless  he  is  willing  to  pay  at  least  124  per  cent  on 
his  other  income  as  well.  The  property  "held  for  profit 
or  investment''  must  have  been  so  held  for  more  than 
two  years  and  may  not  include  property  "held  for  the 
personal  use  or  consumption  of  the  taxpayer  or  his 
family,"  or  property  which  properly  is  subject  to  inven- 
tory. It  is  not  necessary,  however,  that  the  property 
be  connected  with  his  trade  or  business. 

The  reason  for  the  adoption  of  some  such  section  as 
this  is  plain,  whatever  one  may  think  of  the  wisdom  of 
choosing  this  particular  method  of  meeting  the  situa- 
tion. As  every  one  knows,  many  sales  of  property  have 
been  postponed  or  entirely  blocked  by  the  unwillingness 
of  prospective  sellers  to  take  their  profits  when  they 
would  immediately  become  subject  to  heavy  surtaxes. 
This,  of  course,  handicapped  business.  The  solution 
adopted  was  practically  to  wipe  out  the  offensive  sur- 
taxes on  profits  from  this  class  of  transactions. 

One  anomalous  result  of  the  selection  of  this  solution, 
however,  is  that  under  this  new  arrangement  a  dollar  of 
profit  made  from  property  which  has  grown  in  value  is 
taxed  at  the  maximum  only  124  cents,  whereas  a  dollar 
made  otherwise  may  be  taxed  as  much  as  58  cents.  For 
example,  in  the  case  of  a  bond  bought  at  a  discount  and 
sold  at  a  profit,  every  dollar  of  interest  on  the  bond  may 
pay  a  tax  nearly  five  times  as  great  as  every  dollar  of 
appreciation  in  the  value  of  the  bond,  a  fact  which  is 
likely  to  effect  profoundly  future  methods  of  corporate 
financing. 

Much  more  could  be  said  regarding  the  effects  of  this 
new  section  from  the  points  of  view  of  equity  and  of 
administration,  but  what  is  of  particular  interest  here 
is  to  point  out  the  very  substantial  relief  granted  by  it 
to  investors  in  property  which  appreciates  in  value. 

The  "Closed  Transaction" 

The  advantage  to  the  investor  in  property  which  is 
gaining  in  value,  conferred  by  the  section  just  described, 
is  accentuated  by  the  liberal  provisions  governing  the 
"closed  transaction."  (Section  202.)  This  has  long 
been  a  troublesome  section  of  the  field  of  income  tax 
procedure.  When  one  exchanges  property  for  cash,  no 
question  arises.  The  transaction  is  "closed"  and  one 
accounts  for  his  gain  to  the  tax  collector.  But  when 
-one  barters  instead  of  sells,  receiving  other  property 


instead  of  cash  for  his  property,  very  serious  questions 
arise.  There  are  sometimes  differences  of  opinion  as 
to  the  value  of  the  property  received  which  lead  to 
disputes  and  litigation.  The  old  law  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that,  in  the  case  of  such  trades,  the  property  re- 
ceived was  to  be  treated  as  cash  "to  the  amount  of  its 
fair  market  value,  if  any"  (with  certain  exceptions  in 
the  case  of  a  corporate  reorganization.  1918  Law,  Sec- 
tion 202).  The  new  law  goes  much  further.  It  now 
states  positively  that  no  gain  or  loss  on  trades  shall  be 
recognized  unless  the  property  received  on  the  trade 
"has  a  readily  realizable  market  value."  The  phrase 
"readily  realizable"  adds  a  new  and  liberalizing 
element. 

Even  more  important,  however,  are  the  exceptions 
made  to  the  general  rule.  Even  though  the  property 
received  has  such  a  "readily  realizable  market  value," 
one  need  not  account  for  the  gain  in  certain  cases. 
This  is  one: 

When  any  such  property  held  for  investment,  or  for  pro- 
ductive use  in  trade  or  business  (not  including  stock-in-trade 
or  other  property  held  primarily  for  sale),  is  exchanged  for 
property  of  a  like  kind  or  use. 

How  the  Treasury  will  interpret  this  section  is,  of 
course,  as  yet  unknown,  but  it  would  be  a  very  narrow 
interpretation  which  would  exclude  exchanges  of  bonds 
for  bonds  or  real  estate  for  real  estate.  In  other  words, 
so  long  as  one  "barters"  or  "trades"  his  property  for 
ether  similar  property  instead  of  selling  it  for  cash,  he 
need  not  account  for  his  gains  to  the  Treasury  for  tax 
purposes.  Even  if  he  does  sell  for  cash,  as  has  been 
noted  above,  he  is  subject  to  a  tax  of  only  124  per  cent. 

The  provisions  governing  corporate  reorganizations 
and  sales  of  property  to  corporations  are  also  greatly 
liberalized  so  as  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  report  many 
gains  for  taxation. 

Net  Losses 

With  one  minor  exception  included  in  the  1918  law, 
it  has  been  the  practice  since  the  beginning  of  income 
taxation  in  this  country  to  treat  each  year  as  a  unit  and 
to  refuse  to  permit  the  fact  that  one  has  lost  money  this 
year  to  affect  the  amount  of  profit  he  must  report  the 
following  year.  Each  accounting  period  has  been  care- 
fully "insulated"  from  other  accounting  periods.  This 
practice  has  worked  much  hardship  and  the  new  law 
breaks  away  from  the  old  precedents  by  inserting  a 
provision,  effective  for  1921  (Section  204,  with  a  re- 
striction on  mines),  which  permits  a  net  loss  suffered 
in  one  year  to  be  offset  against  any  net  income  realized 
in  the  two  next  succeeding  years.  In  other  words, 
losses  may  be  used  to  blot  off  subsequent  gains,  but 
losses  are  "outlawed"  for  this  purpose  after  the  ex- 
piration of  two  years. 

The  new  law  contains  many  other  new  provisions 
which  it  would  be  interesting  to  discuss,  did  not  the 
limits  of  this  article  prevent  it.  Such  changes  include 
the  new  rule  regarding  gifts,  which  makes  the  recip- 
ient, if  he  sells  a  gift,  account  for  the  gain  in  the 
value  of  the  gift  before  he  received  it  (Section  202  (a) 
(2));  the  section  aimed  to  prevent  "wash-sales''  to 
establish  losses  (Section  214  (a)  (5));  the  provision 
covering  cases  where  property  is  involuntarily  converted 
into  cash  (Sections  234  (a)  (14)  )  and  the  modifica- 
tions in  the  various  special  taxes. 

It  has  been  possible  to  stress  here  only  the  most 
important  departures  in  the  new  statute,  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  the  business  man  and  the  investor. 


1070 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Features  of  I.  T.  S.  Transmission  Line 

No.  1.    Span  of  857  ft.  on  new  I.  T.  S.  high-tension  line. 

No.  2.  One  of  the  large  dead-end  towers  spaced  1  mile 
apart  in  new  I.  T.  S.  high-tension  line. 

No.  3.  Derrick  car  on  interurban  line  raising  one  of  the 
intervening  A-frame  towers. 

No.  4.  Narrow-base  four-leg  tower  used  in  towns,  show- 
ing double  insulator  tie  employed  on  curves  and  old  line  at 
left. 

No.  5.  A  few  of  the  large  towers  were  assembled,  then 
erected  as  shown  here. 

No.  6.  Most  of  them  were  assembled  vertically  in  position 
as  shown  here. 

No.  7.    Setting  the  base  section  of  one  of  the  A-frames. 
No.  8.    Bolting  the  assembled  A-frame  to  the  base  while 
held  in  position  by  derrick. 

Nos.  9  and  10.  Assembling  and  erecting  a  narrow -base 
four-leg  tower. 

No.  11.    Transmission  line  crossing  right-of-way. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1071 


I.  T.  S.  Builds  New  Tranmission  Line 

A  Thirty-two  Mile  AH-Steel  Tower  Line  Has  Been  Erected 
to  Connect  the  Riverton  and  Decatur  Power  Plants- 
Some  of  the  Construction  Details  Are  Given 

THE  Illinois  Traction  System  was  recently  con- 
fronted with  the  necessity  of  increasing  the  avail- 
able power  plant  capacity  serving  the  street  railway, 
interurban  and  power  and  lighting  load  of  the  Decatur, 
111.,  district.  There  were  two  alternatives.  One  was 
to  increase  the  capacity  of  the  Decatur  power  house; 
the  other  was  to  rebuild  the  transmission  line  connect- 
ing this  plant  with  the  railway  substations  en  route 
and  the  Riverton  power  station  32  miles  away,  where 
spare  capacity  was  available  and  where  the  conditions 
for  increasing  the  capacity  in  the  future  are  better  than 
at  the  Decatur  plant.  For  these  reasons,  and  since  the 
poles  of  the  existing  line  had  to  be  replaced  anyway,  the 
latter  plan  was  determined  upon,  with  the  result  that 
the  first  steel-tower  high-tension  line  in  central  Illinois 
was  erected. 

Three  kinds  of  steel  towers  were  used  in  this  trans- 
mission line — four-leg  towers,  67  ft.  6  in.  high  located 
every  mile  across  country,  with  seven  steel  A-frames 
67  ft.  6  in.  high  between  towers,  and  narrow-base  four- 
leg  steel  towers  63  ft.  high  through  the  towns  and  at 
a  few  points  along  the  interurban  right-of-way  where 
the  tower  location  came  at  a  siding  and  the  available 
space  was  limited.  The  average  span  is  660  ft.  and  the 
longest  span  857  ft.,  this  occurring  near  Decatur  where 
the  line  crosses  a  bottom  and  creek.  Steel-reinforced 
aluminum  cables  made  up  of  No.  8  steel  core  and  six 
strands  of  No.  8  aluminum  around  it  were  used.  The 
towers  provide  for  two  three-phase  circuits,  only  one 
of  which  was  strung  for  the  time  being,  with  the  ground 
wire  carried  on  the  top  of  the  towers.  The  line  is  insu- 
lated for  33,000  volts  at  present,  although  it  is  planned 
later  to  make  it  a  66,000-volt  line  by  adding  one  disk 
insulator.  For  the  most  part  the  line  was  erected  along 
the  interurban  right-of-way. 

Construction  Methods 

The  steel  A-frames  are  made  up  of  9-in.,  7-in.  and 
5-m.  channels  weighing  respectively  13.25,  9.75  and  8 
lb.  per  foot.  The  completed  A-frames  weigh  about  2,500 
lb.  They  were  erected  by  first  setting  the  butt  in  the 
ground,  assembling  the  remainder  of  the  tower  on  the 
ground  and  raising  it  with  the  help  of  a  derrick  car  and 
bolting  it  to  the  butt  piece. 

The  narrow-base  four-leg  steel  towers  were  erected 
in  the  same  manner,  except  that  the  butts  were  set 
in  concrete.  The  big  dead-end,  four-leg  towers  were  for 
the  most  part  erected  vertically  in  position,  for  it  was 
found  that  better  time  could  be  made  by  this  method 
than  to  assemble  them  on  the  ground  and  raise  them  to 
position.  Like  the  A-frame  towers,  these  large  four-leg 
towers  were  set  in  the  earth  without  concrete  footings. 

The  A-frame  and  narrow-base  towers  were  raised 
with  the  insulators  already  installed,  as  it  was  found 
that  this  saved  time  and  introduced  no  particular 
trouble.  In  connection  with  the  raising  of  these  towers, 
the  interurban  derrick  car  worked  out  very  well,  it 
being  possible  to  erect  twenty-four  or  twenty-five  towers 
in  a  day  and  keep  in  the  clear  of  traffic  which  averaged 
an  hourly  service  each  way.  The  narrow-base  towers 
erected  in  this  manner  weighed  about  3,500  lb.  com- 
plete. The  large  dead-end  towers  weighed  about  5,800 
lb.    Both  the  narrow  and  wide  base  four-leg  towers 


were  made  of  4-in.  x  4-in.  x  f-in.  angles  for  verticals 
and  with  angle  bracings.  All  of  the  towers  were  built 
from  standard  shapes  fabricated  by  the  American 
Bridge  Company  and  bolted  together  in  the  field. 

Some  restriction  of  the  work  was  experienced  owing 
to  the  fact  that  while  the  new  towers  were  erected  at 
one  side  of  the  old  line,  the  crossarms  projected  so  that 
the  new  line  was  directly  over  the  old  transmission  line. 
While  it  was  possible  to  sectionalize  the  old  line  and  kill 
a  part  of  it  during  the  daytime  where  the  men  were 
working,  it  was  necessary  to  clear  it  every  evening  in 
time  for  the  peak  load. 


Cost  of  Living  in  Various  Cities 

THE  United  States  Department  of  Labor,  through 
the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  has  completed  the 
compilations  showing  changes  in  the  retail  cost  of  food 
in  thirteen  principal  cities  of  the  United  States. 

During  the  month  from  Oct.  15  to  Nov.  15,  1921, 
there  was  a  decrease  in  six  of  these  cities  and  an  in- 
crease in  five.  In  Washington  there  was  a  decrease  of 
3  per  cent,  in  Atlanta,  Peoria  and  Springfield  a  decrease 
of  2  per  cent,  in  Little  Rock  a  decrease  of  1  per  cent 
and  in  Manchester  a  decrease  of  one-tenth  of  1  per  cent. 
In  Rochester  there  was  an  increase  of  1  per  cent;  in 
Philadelphia  an  increase  of  three-tenths  of  1  per  cent 
and  in  Baltimore,  Louisville  and  New  York  an  increase 
of  two-tenths  of  1  per  cent.  In  Denver  and  Norfolk 
there  was  no  change  during  the  month. 

For  the  year  period  Nov.  15,  1920,  to  Nov.  15,  1921, 
there  was  a  decrease  of  24  per  cent  in  Louisville,  Nor- 
folk, Peoria  and  Springfield,  23  per  cent  in  Atlanta,  Bal- 
timore, Denver  and  Little  Rock,  21  per  cent  in  Man- 
chester, Philadelphia,  Rochester  and  Washington  and 
19  per  cent  in  New  York. 

As  compared  with  the  average  cost  in  the  year  1913, 
the  retail  cost  of  food  on  Nov.  15,  1921,  showed  an  in- 
crease of  59  per  cent  in  New  York  and  Washington, 
57  per  cent  in  Manchester,  54  per  cent  in  Baltimore,  52 
per  cent  in  Philadelphia,  46  per  cent  in  Atlanta,  42  per 
cent  in  Little  Rock,  41  per  cent  in  Denver  and  40  per 
cent  in  Louisville. 

Prices  were  not  obtained  from  Norfolk,  Peoria,  Roch- 
ester or  Springfield  in  1913,  hence  no  comparison  for  the 
eight-year  period  can  be  given  for  these  cities. 


Postmaster-General  Reports  on  Mail  Pay 

IN  THE  report  which  he  submitted  to  Congress  on 
Dec.  9  the  Postmaster-General  makes  the  following 
reference  to  the  transportation  of  mails  on  electric  rail- 
ways during  the  last  fiscal  year: 

On  June  30,  1921,  the  mails  were  carried  under  author- 
ization by  the  department  over  7,910  miles  of  electric 
railways.  The  annual  rate  for  service  was  $526,792.04,  the 
appropriations  for  the  fiscal  year  were  $639,700,  and  the 
estimated  expenditures  $593,280.70.  The  details  are  set 
forth  in  the  appendix. 

The  department  has  been  operating  since  Dec.  1,  1920, 
under  the  order  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
prescribing  the  space  basis  system  of  authorization  and 
payment  and  the  rates  for  the  service  required  and  rendered. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  steam  railroads,  the  commission 
provided  in  its  order  that  the  electric  carriers  should  be 
compensated  separately  for  the  performance  of  side  and 
terminal  service  where  required  by  the  department  and 
prescribed  the  method  of  allowing  such  compensation. 
Under  these  directions  appropriate  steps  have  been  taken 
to  ascertain  the  additional  amounts  due,  but  the  statements 
of  the  carriers  have  not  been  submitted  in  sufficient  number 
for  a  reliable  estimate  of  what  additional  payments  shall 
be  made.  It  is  estimated,  however,  that  the  whole  cost  of 
side  and  terminal  service  will  not  exceed  $120,316  per  annum. 


1072 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


We  Can  Help  Ourselves  Through 
Helping  Others 

New  York,  Dec.  10,  1921. 

To  the  Editors: 

Frank  H.  Warren's  paper  in  your  Dec.  3  issue  on 
"How  Can  Salesmanship  Be  Applied  in  the  Street  Rail- 
way Business?"  is  so  full  of  meat  that  it  will  repay 
rereading  several  times  by  those  who  wish  to  digest 
the  true  possibilities  of  rides  salesmanship.  One  could 
pick  texts  for  a  dozen  discussions  out  of  this  paper,  but 
two  or  three  will  do  to  show  its  thoughtfulness. 

Thus  Mr.  Warren  says :  "The  only  special  sale  pos- 
sible for  a  street  railway  is  one  that  decreases  the  cost 
per  ride  but  increases  the  cost  per  month  or  year.  It 
must  be  something  that  will  fool  the  buyer  or  stimulate 
him  to  increased  use  of  service."  Along  these  lines,  he 
notes,  are  quantity  sales  of  tickets,  excursions,  commu- 
tation tickets  and  unlimited-ride  weekly  passes.  He 
observes  that,  unlike  the  merchant,  the  street  railway 
cannot  offer  bargains  to  dispose  of  old  stock  because  it 
has  none.  Nevertheless,  it  has  a  fair  equivalent  of  "old 
stock"  in  its  off-peak  service  which  never  sells  to  a  pre- 
ponderant fraction  of  the  quantity  offered,  no  matter 
how  small  that  quantity  may  be.  To  move  that  line  of 
goods  is  to  achieve  the  merchant's  feat  of  moving  stock 
for  which  his  public  has  no  naturally  keen  yearning  or 
need.  So  while  it  is  easy  heartily  to  agree  with  Mr. 
Warren's  definition  of  a  special  sale  in  rides  it  is  but 
right  to  point  out  that  there  really  is  an  equivalent  to 
the  "old  stock"  condition  since,  after  all,  "old  stock" 
or  off-peak  service  are  both  largely  a  "surplusage." 

Perhaps  the  most  pertinent  thing  that  Mr.  Warren 
says  is  that :  "People  will  no  longer  ride  street  cars  for 
the  sake  of  the  ride.  The  desire  created  must  therefore 
be  in  something  else,  in  the  gratifying  of  which  our 
service  is  a  necessary  or  valuable  element."  Here,  if 
anywhere,  is  the  core  of  the  sales  apple.  He  asks  what 
could  electric  railway  advertising  add  to  the  lure  of  the 
advertising  got  out  by  the  dealer  in  merchandise  or 
amusement  himself?  ft  can,  and  has,  added  a  great  deal 
to  that  "buy-from-me"  advertising  wherever  the  electric- 
railway  has  been  ready  to  co-operate  by  announcing 
better  service  or  fare  ameliorations.  Ask  the  manager 
of  any  concert,  lecture,  circus  or  similar  enterprise 
whether  any  amount  of  advertising  by  him  would  pull 
maximum  business  if  the  railway  did  not  back  him  up 
by  directly  advertising  its  own  rates  and  service.  Ask 
the  merchants  in  the  Beaver  Valley  of  southwestern 
Pennsylvania  whether  or  no  their  Dollar  Days  were  not 
made  a  greater  success  because  the  Beaver  Valley  Trac- 
tion Company  gave  half  fares  during  the  shopping  hours. 
Ask  the  Main  Streeter  of  Terre  Haute  whether  they  do 
not  feel  that  their  business  is  brisker  with  a  5-cent  fare 
and  short-headway  cars  than  if  their  clients  had  to  pay 
more  money  and  wait  longer.  Ask  the  picture  house 
men  of  Youngstown  whether  it  makes  a  difference  to 
their  theaters  in  attendance  when  patrons  can  come 
down  on  an  unlimited-ride  pass  instead  of  paying  16S 
cents  or  18  cents  fare  to  see  a  10  or  20  cent  show. 

Mr.  Warren  is  also  right  in  stressing  the  narrow  mar- 
gin between  financial  success  and  failure  in  electric 
railroading  as  in  other  industries.   We  are  doing  things 


90  per  cent  right,  and  in  actuaj  manufacture  of  car  miles 
many  are  doing  things  almost  100  per  cent  right.  We 
are  at  fault  chiefly  in  selling  the  ride  from  the  stand- 
point of  need  rather  than  from  the  standpoint  of  conve- 
nience. No  one  except  a  crippled  or  otherwise  enfeebled 
person  actually  needs  to  ride  less  than  six-tenths  of  a 
mile.  But  in  pre-war  years  it  was  the  revenue  that  came 
from  the  people  who  did  ride  less  than  six-tenths  of  a 
mile  that  made  the  difference  between  profit  and  loss  for 
many  a  British  street  railway  as  these  short  rides  caused 
only  a  very  small  demand  for  extra  car-mileage  in  pro- 
portion to  their  patronage. 

As  Mr.  Warren  hints  in  conclusion,  it  is  much  easier 
to  get  the  formal  acquiescence  of  many  operating  heads 
to  the  need  for  a  sales  policy  than  to  get  their  true 
understanding  of  what  salesmanship  is.  These  men 
have  hitherto  not  appreciated  the  fact  that  to  manufac- 
ture an  article  calls  for  one  kind  of  skill  and  to  sell  it 
calls  for  another  kind  of  skill.  There  can  be  no  great 
improvement  until  this  difference  is  fully  comprehended. 

Observer. 


What  We  Don't  Know  About  Steam 

RECENTLY  an  informal  conference  was  held  in 
.  Boston  to  consider  our  present  knowledge  of  steam 
and  to  indicate  lines  of  attack  for  research  organiza- 
tions. The  conference  committee  of  fourteen  men  was 
composed  of  the  foremost  experts  and  engineers  in 
America,  and  the  result  of  their  conference  is  con- 
tained in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers,  August,  1921. 

In  summing  up  the  present  situation  as  regards 
the  accuracy  and  completeness  of  present  steam  tables 
it  appears  that  vapor  pressures  and  possibly  liquid 
volumes  are  well  enough  known  for  the  present;  super- 
heated specific  heats  are  fairly  well  known  except  at 
pressures  above  270  lb.  gage;  specific  volumes  are 
known  directly  only  below  150  lb.  gage  and  at  low 
superheat;  latent  and  total  heats  of  the  vapor  are 
known  directly,  but  not  entirely  satisfactorily,  up  to 
about  190  lb.  gage;  above  that  pressure  they  are  not 
known  directly  at  all;  Joule-Thompson  coefficients  are 
scarcely  known  at  all  above  50  lb.  gage,  and,  finally, 
our  knowledge  of  the  heat  of  the  liquid  and  of  the 
fundamental  heat  unit  on  which  the  whole  table  is  based 
is  most  unsatisfactory. 

This  conference  is  important  in  that  it  laid  out  some 
lines  of  research  work  which  should  be  of  benefit  to 
power  plant  designers.  Such  research  is  necessary,  as 
designers  are  contemplating  the  use  of  extremely  high 
pressures  and  superheat  in  order  to  take  advantage  of 
the  economies  which  are  known  to  accompany  such 
practice. 


Motor  Truck  vs.  Railroads 

THE  motor  truck  has  become  an  active  competitor 
of  rail  carriers  for  short  haul  freight  and  it  is  for 
these  carriers  to  decide  whether  they  shall  continue 
to  compete  for  this  class  of  freight  while  the  motor 
truck  gets  the  use  of  state  highways  free  of  cost. 
Edward  G.  Riggs  in  an  article  in  a  recent  number  of 
the  Forum  has  ably  summarized  the  existing  conditions, 
quoted  eminent  authorities  on  the  subject  and  tabulated 
relevant  statistics.  Mr.  Riggs  shows  the  unjust  ratios 
of  taxes  paid  by  the  two  agencies  and,  although  the 
motor  truck  is  here  to  stay,  points  out  the  trend  toward 
an  equalization  of  transportation  taxation. 


Equipment  and  Its  Maintenance 

Short  Descriptions  and  Details  of  New  Apparatus  of  Interest 
to  the  Industry.    Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Practices  of  All  Departments 


Railway  Builds  Coin  and  Ticket  Sorter 

Mixture  of  Coins  and  Tickets  Fed  Into  Device  and  Air 
Pressure  Blows  Tickets  Into  One  Receptacle  While 
Coins  Roll  Down  an  Incline  and  Are  Sorted  Into 
Their  Respective  Denominations 

WHEN  the  British  Columbia  Electric  Railway  be- 
gan using  fare  boxes  quite  a  problem  was  pre- 
sented for  the  ticket  and  accounting  departments  to 
separate  the  coins  and  tickets  which  were  mixed  indis- 
criminately.   The  machine  shown  in  an  accompanying 


Coin  and  Ticket  Sorter  Used  bt  the  British  Columbia 
Electric  Railway 

illustration  was  the  result,  and  this  has  effectively  solved 
the  difficulty.  The  machine  consists  principally  of  a 
stovepipe  arrangement  into  which  the  mixture  of  tickets 
and  coins  are  fed.  Air  from  a  blower  is  fed  into  this 
pipe  at  the  bottom,  while  the  attendant  feeds  the  mix- 
ture of  coins  and  tickets  in  at  the  center.  The  tickets 
are  blown  up  and  over  the  swan-neck  portion  of  the  pipe 
into  a  box  which  is  protected  by  a  cheesecloth  bag  to 
keep  the  tickets  from  blowing  about  the  room.  The 
structure  of  cheesecloth  allows  the  air  to  pass  through 
readily,  so  there  is  no  difficulty  from  excessive  air 
pressure. 

At  the  same  time  as  the  tickets  are  blown  upward, 
the  coins  drop  down  and  emerge  through  a  small  opening 
at  the  bottom  of  the  pipe,  which  is  offset  to  direct  the 
coins  into  the  sorting  tray.  This  sorting  tray  is  built 
at  an  angle  and  is  made  to  vibrate  by  means  of  hangers 
connected  to  a  small  motor.  The  sorting  tray  is  divided 
with  perforations  for  10-cent  pieces,  pennies,  nickels  and 
quarters,  so  that  each  size  can  drop  through  into  a  box 
underneath.  This  type  of  sorter  effectively  takes  care 
of  the  coins  and  sorts  them  into  their  respective  de- 
nominations. 

The  receiving  and  sorting  pipe  is  6  in.  in  diameter 


and  A  in.  thick,  and  is  made  of  galvanized  sheet  iron. 
The  opening  for  receiving  the  mixture  of  tickets  and 
coins  is  about  5  in.  across  and  2  in.  high.  This  is  left 
open  and  no  trouble  is  experienced  from  tickets  blow- 
ing back.  The  end  of  the  pipe  from  which  the  tickets 
emerge  is  flanged  to  form  a  bell  mouth  and  a  base  for 
the  cheesecloth  covering.  The  air  enters  at  the  bottom 
of  this  pipe  through  a  2-in.  wrought-iron  connection 
from  the  blower.  The  end  of  this  air  pipe  has  a  small 
lip  to  prevent^  the  coins  from  dropping  into  the  air  pipe. 
This  air  pipe  is  also  located  a  little  above  the  opening 
for  the  discharge  of  the  coins  and  is  shaped  so  that  the 
direction  of  the  air  pressure  is  upward.  The  blower 
for  supplying  the  air  is  driven  by  a  3-hp.  motor.  This 
was  used  because  the  motor  was  available  without  pur- 
chasing a  new  one.  A  smaller  size  could  be  conveniently 
used,  however.  The  sorting  tray  is  made  of  J-in.  iron 
plate  and  is  1  ft.  61  in.  wide  by  4  ft.  7  in.  long.  The 
shaking  arrangement  consists  of  small  eccentrics  on  a 
shaft  underneath  the  tray,  connected  so  that  as  this  is 
rotated  by  operating  the  motor  located  on  a  shelf  over 
the  tray  the  necessary  vibrating  is  produced.  Should 
any  paper  money  be  put  into  the  mixture  it,  of  course 
would  be  blown  in  among  the  tickets,  so  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  separate  this  before  the  mixture  is  fed  into 
the  pipe. 

The  time  taken  to  sort  coins  for  the  British 
Columbia  Electric  Railway  is  about  two  and  one-quarter 
hours  per  day. 

Building  Up  a  Damaged  Pinion  Fit 

THE  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  G.E.-201 
motor  armature  shaft  which  was  practically  ruined 
as  a  result  of  a  loose  pinion  on  one  of  the  equipments  of 
the  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway.  Before  welding 

equipment  had  become  a 
necessary  piece  of  apparatus 
for  electric  railway  shops 
this  shaft  would  have  been 
scrapped  as  the  pinion  end 
was  badly  scored.  A  4-in.  cut 
was  taken  off  the  damaged 
portion  in  order  to  provide 
for  the  adding  of  new  stock 
and  by  the  aid  of  an  Indian- 
apolis welding  outfit  the 
scarred  and  worn  shaft  was 
built  up.  A  new  key-way 
was  then  cut  with  a  milling 
machine  and  the  shaft  turned 
to  proper  size.  The  cost  of  the  machining  and  welding 
was  approximately  $5,  against  the  price  of  a  new  shaft 
which  would  have  been  in  the  neighborhood  of  $50. 
The  equipment  was  returned  to  service  immediately, 
which  would  have  been  impossible  if  a  new  shaft  had 
been  installed. 


Pinion    Fit    on  Armature 
Shaft  Repaired  by 
Welding 


1074 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


■<   T-r  r^'"  > 

Floor  Plan  for  Helsingfors  Single-Truck  Car 


American  Cars  for  Finland 

Single-Truck  Cars  for  the  Helsingfors  (Finland)  Tramways 
Company  Have  Exceptionally  Long  Platforms  so 
that  Twelve  Standing  Passengers  Can 
Be  Accommodated  on  Each 

THE  J.  G.  Brill  Company  has  shipped  twenty  closed 
motor  cars,  mounted  on  Brill  21-E  trucks,  to  the 
Helsingfors  Tramways  Company,  Helsingfors,  Finland. 
These  cars  are  particularly  noteworthy  on  account  of  the 
6-ft.  3-in.  platform  at  each  end,  inclosed  with  four-part 
folding  doors  in  two  sections,  one  section  folding  out 
against  the  body  corner  posts  and  the  other  against  the 
vestibule  posts.  Doors  and  folding  steps  are  manually 
operated  either  from  a  lever  located  against  the  vestibule 
in  front  of  the  motorman  or  on  a  stand  in  the  open 
bulkhead  where  the  conductor  is  located.  Twelve  stand- 
ing passengers  can  be  accommodated  on  each  platform 
and,  as  twenty-one  passengers  can  be  seated  in  the  car, 
this  gives  a  total  carrying  capacity  of  forty-five  pas- 
sengers. 

Passengers  are  not  permitted  to  stand  in  the  car- 
body  aisle,  which  is  left  clear  for  the  passengers 
moving  to  and  from  their  seats.  Each  platform  is  also 
equipped  with  six  stanchions,  three  on  each  side  of  the 
door  openings,  which  serve  as  grab  handles  for  the 
standing  passengers. 

Wood  is  the  principal  material  used  in  the  underframe 
construction,  yellow  pine  being  used  for  the  side  and 
center  sills  and  oak  for  the  end  sills  and  crossings. 
The  side-sill  members  are  41  x  51  in.,  and  the  center 
stringers  4i  x  5  in.,  reinforced  with  a  steel  angle  6  x  3i 
in.  The  oak  end  sills  are  3i  x  61  in.,  and  the  crossings 
3i  x  51  in.  All  members  of  the  underframe  are  sub- 
stantially joined  together  and  secured  with  tie  rods. 
The  upper  structure  is  constructed  with  ash  corner 
posts,  31  in.  thick,  and  ash  side  posts,  2i  in.  thick,  with 
concave  and  convex  panels  of  poplar.  The  plain  arch 
type  of  roof,  which  extends  the  full  length  of  the  car,  is 
supported  on  wooden  rafters  li  in.  wide  over  each  side 
post  in  combination  with  concealed  steel  rafters  11  x  I 
in.,  and  £  in.  wide  between  posts. 

Seven  body  windows  on  each  side  are  inclosed  with 
double  sash.  All  upper  sash  are  framed  in  one-piece 
and  are  stationary,  while  the  lower  sash  can  be  raised. 
The  end  of  each  platform  is  inclosed  with  a  stationary 
vestibule  having  three  windows,  the  single  sash  of 
which  all  drop  into  pockets  behind  the  dasher.  For 
the  convenience  of  the  motorman,  the  center  of  the 
three  vestibule  sash  may  be  held  at  various  heights,  it 
being  equipped  with  a  suitable  rack  for  this  purpose. 
Below  the  vestibule  windows,  the  dasher  on  the  outside 
is  of  T'g-in.  steel  and  there  is  a  830  -in.  steel  lining  on 
the  inside. 

The  absence  of  bulkheads  in  the  body  ends  not  only 
eliminate  the  usual  sliding  doors,  but  permit  quicker 


access  to  the  car  body  and  at  the  same  time  there  is  air 
appreciable  saving  in  weight,  which  is  a  most  important 
feature.  For  the  assistance  of  passengers  and  also  as  a 
support,  a  pipe  stanchion  on  each  side  of  the  body  end 
extends  from  over  the  end  sills  up  to  the  leaders.  The 
interiors  are  finished  in  cherry,  including  all  doors  and 
window  sash  as  well  as  the  other  interior  woodwork. 
Agasote  is  used  for  the  ceilings  in  the  body  proper,  but 
the  platform  ceilings  are  of  carline  finish.  Each  side^ 
wall  between  the  belt  rail  and  the  floor  is  also  covered 
with  Agasote. 

The  seating  arrangement  consists  of  seven  transverse 
cherry  slat  reversible-back  seats  with  36-in.  cushions 
for  two  passengers  on  one  side  of  the  aisle,  and  on  the 
other  seven  single  seats,  with  18-in.  cushions,  of  the 
same  general  type,  giving  a  total  seating  capacity  of 
twenty-one  passengers.  All  seats  are  constructed  with 
the  Brill  "Winner"  mechanism  and  have  one-piece 
pressed  steel  pedestal  and  aisle  plates.  The  slats  in 
both  the  cushions  and  backs  are  so  arranged  that  alter- 
nately there  are  dark  and  light  slats,  giving  the  seat 
somewhat  of  a  unique  appearance. 

The  trucks,  No.  21-E,  on  which  these  cars  are 
mounted,  are  constructed  for  3-ft.  3^-in.  track  gage,  and 
have  7-ft.  wheelbase  and  31i-in.  diameter  wheels.  A 
substantial  wooden  wheel  guard  extends  completely 
around  the  truck. 


Welding  a  Cracked  Bolster 

THE  bolster  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration 
was  cracked  in  a  collision  of  cars  on  the  Seattle 
&  Rainier  Valley  Railway.  At  first  it  was  thought  that 
the  car  would  have  to  be  retired  from  service  until 


Repairing  a  Cracked  Bolster 


another  bolster  could  be  obtained  from  the  East.  How- 
ever, the  Prest-O-Lite  outfit  soon  repaired  the  crack 
and  the  eost  of  the  outfit  was  saved  by  this  one 
repair  job. 

The  repaired  bolster  has  now  been  in  service  for  over 
a  year  with  no  signs  of  failure. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1075 


Efficiently  Arranged  Wood-Working 
Shop  Increases  Output 

Second  Avenue  Railroad,  New  York  City,  Has  Enlarged  Its 
Wood-Working  Shop,  Installed  Additional  Up-to- 
Date  Machinery  and  Provided  an  Efficient 
Lighting  System 

WHEN  the  Second  Avenue  Railroad  of  New  York 
City  began  its  program  of  reconstruction  and  re- 
modeling of  rolling  stock,  as  described  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  for  Feb.  19,  1921,  it  was  badly  handi- 
capped by  the  lack  of  wood-working  facilities.  A  few 
saws  of  various  types  and  wood-working  benches  ar- 
ranged along  the  wall  next  to  the  windows  constituted 
the  entire  wood-working  equipment.  Realizing  that  the 
preparation  of  material  for  the  interior  finish,  vestibules, 
sash,  etc.,  of  the  remodeled  cars  was  in  reality  a  far 
more  extensive  branch  of  work  than  the  car  repairing 


above  the  floor  and  their  horizontal  spacing  is  shown  on 
the  accompanying  plan.  The  workmen  are  highly  pleased 
with  the  lighting  effect  and  a  cheerful,  contented  force 
means  efficient  work  with  less  waste  from  damaged 
material.  In  discussing  the  lighting  of  his  shop,  Mr. 
Chalmers  said  he  considered  the  lighting  system  the 
most  important  part  of  the  equipment.  Insufficient  or 
poorly  arranged  lighting  produces  eye  strain,  which 
leads  to  bodily  fatigue  and  so  lowers  personal  efficiency, 
while  a  brilliantly  lighted  shop  adds  greatly  to  the 
morale  of  the  men  and  improves  the  quality  of  the 
work  produced. 

The  old  system  of  providing  machines  and  operators 
with  drop  lamps  is  not  satisfactory,  as  glare  cannot  be 
avoided.  A  shop  with  any  considerable  number  of  drop 
lights  is  unsightly  and  the  cost  of  wiring  is  high.  When 
an  operator  changes  his  position  he  tries  to  change  the 
location  of  his  drop  light  by  tying  the  wire  to  some  sta- 


At  Left,  a  Corner  of  the  Wood-Working  Shop.    At  Right,  Foreman's  Office 
Constructed  of  Car  Doors  and  Blinds 


usually  undertaken,  C.  E.  Chalmers,  receiver  for  the 
road,  set  about  increasing  the  facilities  and  mill  equip- 
ment necessary  for  this  work.  An  accompanying  plan 
shows  the  shop  as  rearranged,  and  the  list  of  wood- 
working machinery  now  in  use  includes  machines  found 
most  necessary  for  the  economical  and  rapid  turning 
out  of  this  work. 

The  wood  mill  now  occupies  a  space  of  approximately 
3,700  sq.ft.  The  various  machines  have  been  grouped 
so  that  the  rough  material  will  progress  naturally  from 
the  east  end,  where  it  comes  in  from  the  lumber  storage, 
to  the  west  end,  where  tracks  provide  facilities  for  the 
cars  that  are  to  be  worked  upon.  The  wood-working 
benches  are  located  along  the  south  wall,  where  the 
light  from  the  row  of  windows  on  this  side  gives  ample 
illumination  for  the  various  hand  operations. 

The  problem  of  artificial  illumination  came  up  with 
the  regrouping  of  the  machines  in  the  center  and  north 
side  of  the  room,  where  there  were  no  windows,  and  a 
lighting  system  has  been  installed  which  gives  abun- 
dant light  without  shadows  for  all  the  various  machines. 
Five  400-watt  Mazda  C  lamps  with  Ivanhoe  reflectors 
are  used.   These  are  mounted  at  a  height  of  about  14  ft. 


tionary  object,  which  is  objectionable  from  the  stand- 
point of  safety.  In  addition  to  the  lighting  system  in 
the  wood-working  shop  fifty-five  units  with  200-watt 
lamps  and  Ivanhoe  reflectors  and  five  units  with  400- 
watt  lamps  have  been  installed  in  various  other  depart- 
ments and  in  the  inspection  and  overhauling  shop.  By 
using  a  general  lighting  system  with  large  units  located 
out  of  reach  of  the  workmen  disappearance  and  break- 
age of  lamps,  which  amounts  to  a  considerable  item,  is 
done  away  with.  Mr.  Chalmers  has  estimated  that  the 
saving  in  this  respect  from  the  newly  arranged  system 
will  pay  for  the  entire  cost  of  the  installation  in  less 
than  a  year's  time. 

Cars  Progress  from  Wood-Working  Shop 
to  Paint  Shop 

The  wood-working  department  is  served  by  three 
tracks,  so  that  work  can  be  carried  on  and  repairs  made 
on  from  eight  to  ten  cars  at  one  time.  These  same  three 
tracks  run  through  the  paint  shop,  which  is  immediately 
behind  the  wood-working  department.  The  paint  shop  is 
separated  from  the  wood  shop  by  a  fire  wall  with  fire 
doors.    As  soon  as  the  work  on  the  car  bodies  is  com- 


1076 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


"..•i";.,.".v~i..i"  1   .v.- 


2  K 


pa 


120 


m 


op       ^-7-'.>l    .z,    <j'>  tc-'-//:'i 


E    RECTI     N  G 


L  L  [p 

13    |<     /£>-'  -  >J4j-  -/(?'-  -  15  1 


IZ|«-I2  V 

«5'>  ,_Vl^ 


EE 


.  3«'  — 

[ZE 


L 

®- 

->K-  - 


JO 


>— 1  L 


~-     11-6-  > 


:--...-:33>!J.i.?yJ 
LUMBER 
ROOM 


PAINT 
S  T  O  RAGE 


No.  1,2,3,4,5  Work  benches,.  No.  6  Panel  bender,  No.  7  Lathe,  No  Sand  9  Band  saws,  No 10  Jointer,  No. II  Mortiser  and  relishcr,  No.  12  Grindstone,  No.13  Plainer, 
No.  14  2  Spindle  variety,  No.  ISJiq  saw,  No.  16  Postborer,  No.  11  Circular  San,  No.  18  Swinq  saw.  No.  19  Emery  wheel,  No.  20  Bond  saw  sharpener, No. 21  Automatic  Swb'd., 

No.  22  60  Hp.  motor,  L  =  400  Watt  lamps 

Plan  of  Wood- Working  Shop  for  Second  Avenue  Railroad,  New  York  City 


pleted  the  cars  can  be  moved  back  on  the  same  track  into 
the  paint  shop. 

The  paint  storage  room  is  a  new  addition  which  has 
just  been  constructed.  This  is  shown  at  the  right  in 
the  accompanying  plan.  This  paint  storage  room  is 
entirely  of  fireproof  construction  and  the  walls  are 
made  of  Camp  duct  tile.  A  large  quantity  of  these  was 
available  without  purchasing  new  material  and  the 
inspectors  from  the  Fire  Underwriters  considered  this 
construction  equal  to  that  of  any  tile  construction  that 
could  be  used. 

The  foreman's  office  for  the  wood-working  department 
is  constructed  of  old  car  doors  and  shutters  and  pro- 
vides a  very  attractive  appearing  office.  The  utilization 
of  old  car  doors  for  partitioning  off  departments  has 
been  used  in  several  other  railway  shops.  The  Inter- 
national Railway  of  Buffalo  has  used  this  type  of  con- 
struction for  partitioning  off  its  electrical  department 
from  the  machine  shop.  This  was  described  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  for  June  18,  1921,  page 
1115. 


Pasting  Skip-Stop  Signs  on  Poles 

As  an  Emergency  Method  Which  Required  Quick  Comple- 
tion, Properly  Marked  Posters  Were  Applied  to 
Poles  to  Designate  Stops 

By  G.  H.  McKelway 

Engineer  of  Distribution  Brooklyn  (N.  Y.) 
Rapid  Transit  Company 

IN  THE  Electric  Railway  Journal  of  Oct.  15  there 
was  a  short  article  on  the  painting  of  skip-stop  signs 
on  poles  in  Chicago.  This  stated  that  16,000  poles  would 
have  to  be  painted  and  it  was  estimated  that  it  would 
take  approximately  five  weeks  to  complete  the  work. 
This  is  at  the  rate  of  over  500  poles  a  day  if  only  six 
days  are  worked  each  week,  and  it  therefore  means 
that  a  large  gang  of  men  must  be  put  on  the  work  and 
permitted  to  do  nothing  except  paint  the  signs.  It  was 
also  stated  that  the  work  was  being  done  as  fast  as 
possible  so  as  to  have  it  finished  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  "Pageant  of  Progress." 

A  somewhat  similar  emergency  occurred  in  Brooklyn 
during  the  war,  when,  in  order  to  save  fuel,  the  railway 
company  was  ordered  by  the  Fuel  Administration  to 
install  a  large  number  of  skip  stops  and  the  order  was 
dated  so  as  to  go  into  effect  in  about  a  week  from  the 
time  that  it  was  issued. 

It  was  impossible  for  the  line  department  to  paint 
more  than  a  small  proportion  of  the  number  of  poles 
that  would  have  to  be  marked,  so  the  contract  for  mark- 
ing the  poles  was  given  to  a  large  bill-posting  company. 


Posters  properly  marked  with  large  blue  letters  on  a 
white  background  and  of  a  size  large  enough  to  reach 
around  the  pole  were  printed  and  pasted  on  the  poles 
at  the  correct  height  by  the  employees  of  the  bill-posting 
company  in  a  few  days. 

These  signs  did  not  make  such  a  good  appearance  as 
painted  ones  would  have  done  and  would  not  have  been 
anywhere  near  so  permanent.  However,  it  was  thought 
that  the  skip  stops  were  only  a  temporary  measure  and 
would  not  be  permitted  to  remain  after  the  emergency 
was  past,  and  if  they  should  be  required  longer  the  poles 
could  be  painted  by  the  line  department.  The  bill 
posters  offered  to  stick  the  posters  on  with  glue  instead 
of  paste  and  then  to  varnish  them  to  protect  them  from 
the  weather,  two  measures  that  would  have  greatly  pro- 
longed the  useful  life  of  the  posters,  but  these  offers 
were  not  accepted  because,  as  stated  previously,  it  was 
thought  that  the  change  was  only  a  temporary  one  and, 
if  it  should  prove  permanent,  it  woud  be  better  to  paint 
the  signs  on  the  poles. 

The  order  was  in  effect  but  a  short  time  and  then  the 
posters  were  easily  scraped  off,  much  more  easily  than 
it  would  have  been  to  paint  out  the  signs  if  they  had 
been  painted  on  the  poles.  However,  a  few  were  missed, 
and  although  they  were  removed  as  soon  as  they  were 
reported  the  writer  found  two  in  place  almost  a  year 
after  they  had  been  put  on  which  were  still  in  quite  good 
condition. 

Perhaps  some  other  railroad  company  will  be  able  to 
profit  by  this  experience  if  it  has  to  install  quickly  a 
large  number  of  such  signs  and  their  permanence  and 
appearance  are  not  important  items. 


New  Non-Freezing  Dynamite  Demonstrated 

A DITCH  blasting  test  in  snow  and  ice  was  made 
during  the  last  few  days  of  November,  near  Wau- 
saukee,  Wis.  The  ditch  was  blasted  by  the  propagated 
method  using  a  new  non-freezing  dynamite  manufac- 
tured by  the  Du  Pont  Company.  The  dynamite  was 
loaded  through  8  in.  of  snow  and  about  i  in.  of  ice  in  wet 
soil,  the  temperature  of  which  was  35  deg.  F.  at  the 
point  of  the  load.  Moreover,  the  dynamite  used  had  been 
exposed  in  storage  to  freezing  temperatures  for  several 
weeks.  The  results  were  entirely  satisfactory.  Straight 
dynamite  has  been  used  for  years  in  nearly  every  kind 
of  open  work,  but  a  disadvantage  has  been  its  liability 
to  freeze  at  temperatures  below  50  deg.  F.  Any  dyna- 
mite loses  some  part,  if  not  all,  of  its  efficiency  when 
chilled  or  frozen  and  many  attempts  have  been  made  to 
make  the  explosive  low  freezing. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1077 


A  Rotary  Snow  and  Ice  Digger 

A  Very  Efficient  Machine  for  Loosening  and  Removing  Ice 
and  Snow  from  Electric  Railway  Tracks  Is  in 
Use  on  the  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 
Railway  System,  Lynn  Division 

AS  AN  addition  to  their  snow-fighting  equipment,  the 
il  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway  has  added 
a  snow  digging  and  loading  machine  of  the  type  shown 
in  the  accompanying  illustrations.  This  machine  is  the 
invention  of  A.  T.  Sampson  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  and  the 
railway  officials  expect  that  it  will  be  of  great  assist- 
ance in  keeping  down  high  track  centers  and  prevent- 
ing an  accumulation  of  ice  during  the  winter  months. 

The  operation  of  the  machine  can  be  divided  into  two 
essential  parts.  The  first  consists  of  the  mechanism 
for  loosening  the  snow.  This  consists  of  a  revolving 
shaft  mounted  at  the  front  end  on  which  are  placed 
the  ice  cutters  and  diggers.  The  shaft  is  made  of  2b  in. 
tool  steel  and  has  seven  picks  mounted  on  it.  This 
shaft  revolves  at  a  speed  of  about  1,000  r.p.m.  The 
picks  dig  into  the  ice  and  sleet  and  loosen  it  for 
removal.  In  addition  to  the  picks,  there  are  two  vibrat- 
ing diggers  or  rooters,  one  located  over  each  rail.  These 
diggers  have  a  series  of  wedged  shaped  teeth  on  the 
bottom  and  are  operated  by  means  of  cams  on  the 
revolving  shaft  so  that  they  move  back  .and  forth  in  a 
horizontal  plane  so  as  to  loosen  all  ice  over  and  adjacent 
to  the  rails. 

The  diggers  are  about  16  in.  long  and  swing  on  a 
pivot  at  their  top.  They  have  a  rooting  movement  of 
about  7b  in.  and  break  the  ice  down  to  about  II  in.  above 
the  rail.  Behind  these  diggers  are  smaller  picks  mounted 
on  a  rocker  shaft.  These  have  an  upward  and  down- 
ward movement  of  5i  in.  They  break  the  remaining 
film  of  ice  down  to  the  face  and  into  the  groove  of  the 
rail  and  clean  this  so  that  the  wheels  are  always  assured 
of  a  clean  rail,  no  matter  what  the  ice  conditions  may 
be. 

Scoops  Remove  Loosened  Ice 

Located  immediately  behind  the  picks  and  diggers  is 
a  scoop  9  ft.  6  in.  wide,  which  has  the  form  of  an 
inwardly  flaring  shovel.  The  central  portion  of  this 
scoop  has  a  heavy  duty  conveyor  which  lifts  the  snow 
and  ice,  draws  it  into  the  machine  and  expels  it  from 
chutes  located  one  on  either  side  of  the  machine.  This 
conveyor  is  capable  of  handling  1,600  cu.ft.  of  ice  and 


Front  End  of  the  Ice  Digger 


snow  per  minute  and  where  it  is  not  desirable  to  deliver 
the  snow  and  ice  to  trucks  for  hauling  away,  the  con- 
veyors can  carry  the  material  to  a  sufficient  height  so 
that  it  will  be  thrown  entirely  clear  of  the  track  and 
effectively  clear  the  track  for  operation. 

The  ice-digging  machine  has  a  steel  framework  which 
weighs  about  13,000  lb.  There  are  about  7,000  lb.  of 
steel  castings  and  about  1,200  lb.  of  iron  castings  in  its 
construction.  The  machine  complete  weighs  about 
48,000  lb.  and  is  driven  by  two  90-hp.  motors.  In 
addition  to  the  motors  used  for  propelling  the  machine, 
two  additional  motors  operate  the  diggers  and  conveyor. 
Adjustment  for  the  depth  of  cutting  is  provided  by  lift- 
ing the  front  end  of  the  machine  in  its  relative  position 
to  the  cab.  The  digging  mechanism  has  a  three-point 
suspension,  which  gives  it  flexibility. 

A  sample  machine  having  the  essentials  of  this  one 
but  built  of  a  flat  car  was  constructed  and  tested  by 
the  Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway  last  winter. 
This  worked  on  the  Lynn  Woods  route,  which  at  that 
time  was  completely  blocked  by  snow  and  ice.  This 
ice  cutter  went  through  12  in.  of  ice  and  twelve  men 
were  kept  busy  removing  the  ice  broken  by  the 
machine.  This  test  under  such  severe  conditions  waft 
very  impressive  as  indicating  the  amount  of  work 
that  could  be  accomplished. 


Side  and  End  Views  of  the  Ice  Digging  Machine 


1078 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25- 


Flow  Method  of  Impregnating  Fields 

Shop  Constructed  Apparatus  Used  by  the  International  Rail- 
way of  Buffalo  Makes  Possible  the  Impregnating 
of  Field  Coils  Without  Removing  Them 
from  the  Motor  Frames 

THE  dipping  and  baking  of  armatures  and  fields  has 
done  more  to  improve  the  operation  of  railway 
motors  in  the  last  five  years  than  any  other  improve- 
ment which  has  been  applied.  The  reason  that  some 
companies  do  not  get  better  results  is  that  they  fail  to 
realize  that  in  order  properly  to  bake  fields  and  arma- 
tures it  is  absolutely 
essential  that  there 
be  sufficient  ventila- 
tion in  the  oven,  for 
without  it,  the  var- 
nish will  not  dry 
properly  and  a  worse 
condition  is  created 
than  if  the  fields  had 
not  been  dipped.  The 
preheating  of  an 
armature  or  field  is 
as  important  as  the 
dipping  and  baking. 
It  dries  up  any  pos- 
sible moisture  that 
may  be  lodged  in  the 
insulation  or  on  the 
copper,  permits  the 
varnish  to  penetrate 
much  more  readily 
and  thoroughly,  thus 
insuring  better  in- 
sulation and  prevent- 
ing vibration,  which  undoubtedly  causes  more  armature 
and  field  failures  than  any  other  one  cause. 

The  removal  of  the  field  coils  from  a  shell  in  order 
to  dip  and  bake  them  is  a  rather  expensive  method,  and 
quite  frequently  in  removing  the  field  from  the  shell  the 
insulation  is  cracked,  necessitating  reinsulating,  which 
is  very  expensive.  This  expense  the  International  Rail- 
way of  Buffalo,  operated  by  the  Mitten  Management, 
Incorporated,  has  eliminated  by  the  use  of  the  outfit 
as  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  The  arma- 
ture is  removed  and  the  inside  of  the  shell  and  field 
coils  are  blown  out  with  compressed  air  and  then  wiped 
off  with  a  cloth  moistened  with  gasoline.  The  fields  are 
then  tested  and  if  they  have  proper  predetermined  re- 
sistance, the  shell  is  placed  on  an  iron  truck  and  pre- 
heated to  180  deg.  F.  The  equipment  necessary  for 
soaking  the  fields  when  mounted  in  the  shell  is  very 
simple.  The  upper  tank  shown  in  the  illustration  is 
capable  of  holding  five  barrels  of  varnish  and  has  a 
gravity  feed  to  the  terraced  casting  upon  which  the 
various  types  of  motors  are  placed  by  the  use  of  an 
electric  crane.  Upon  opening  a  globe  valve  in  a  2-in. 
pipe  line  the  varnish  flows  from  the  upper  tank  through 
the  terraced  casting  into  the  inside  of  the  motor  shell, 
which  is  filled  up  to  the  height  of  the  commutator  in- 
spection opening.  It  is  then  allowed  to  soak  for  at  least 
one  hour.  A  valve  underneath  the  casting  upon  which 
the  shell  rests  is  then  opened  and  the  varnish  flows  into 
the  large  tank  which  sets  in  the  ground.  The  varnish 
is  pumped  from  this  lower  tank  back  into  the  upper  tank 
by  the  use  of  a  Gould  Company's  25-cu.ft.  pump.  In 
case  of  a  split  motor  frame,  the  halves  are  placed  on 
the  iron  rack  in  front  of  the  terraced  blocks  and  the 


Flow  Method  for  Treating  Motor 
Shells  and  Cores 


middle  2-in.  pipe  shown  in  the  illustration  is  used  for 
filling  these  halves.  It  is  not  necessary  to  bolt  either 
the  shells  or  the  halves  when  they  are  being  filled, 
which,  as  all  equipment  men  will  appreciate,  means  a 
considerable  saving  of  time.  The  large  flanged  tray  is 
used  under  the  split  shell  rack  so  that  none  of  the  var- 
nish will  be  lost  when  the  motor  frame  is  emptied  by 
being  raised  on  one  side  by  the  crane. 


Carrying  Capacity  of  Ball  and 
Roller  Bearings 

THE  Bureau  of  Standards  has  just  issued  Tech- 
nologic Paper  201,  giving  in  considerable  detail  the 
results  of  experiments  to  determine  the  maximum  load 
and  the  static  friction  under  load  of  ball  and  flexible 
roller  bearings.  Tests  were  made  of  balls  of  1  in.,  11  in., 
and  li  in.  in  diameter  in  grooved  races  and  on  rollers 
li  in.  in  diameter  and  51  in.  long  in  flat  and  cylindrical 
races.  The  total  deformation  and  area  of  contact  of 
bearings  and  races  were  measured,  and  compared  with 
Hertz's  theory. 

The  conclusions  reached  were  that  the  result  obtained 
agreed  roughly  with  Hertz's  theory  and  where  differ- 
ences were  found  to  exist  they  can  be  ascribed  to 
inhomogeneity  of  the  material.  The  ratio  of  friction  to 
load  is  practically  constant  and  equal  to  0.00055  for  all 
three  sizes  of  balls  up  to  a  critical  load  which  varies 
with  the  diameter  of  the  ball.  These  critical  loads  were 
1,300  lb.  for  1  in.,  1,700  lb.  for  li  in.  and  2,200  lb.  for 
li  in.  balls.  A  similar  critical  load  of  25,000  lb.  was 
found  for  the  roller  bearing  with  a  ratio  of  friction  to 
load  equal  to  0.00075.  This  critical  load,  at  which  the 
friction  began  to  increase  more  rapidly,  was  in  all  cases 
lower  than  the  safe  load  as  determined  by  permanent 
deformation  and  as  calculated  from  Stribeck's'law.  The 
paper  describes  the  apparatus  used  and  methods,  results 
and  conclusions  for  static  friction  and  compression  tests. 


Folding  Steps  for  Double-Step  Cars 

THE  Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company  is 
using  a  folding  step  in  connection  with  the  remodel- 
ing of  its  double-step  cars.  In  its  raised  position  the 
lower  step  folds  up  and  covers  the  top  step  as  well  as 
the  opening  below  the  doors.   Passengers  are  thus  pre- 


Folding  Step  in  Its  Lowered  and  Raised  Position 

vented  from  hanging  on  after  the  doors  are  closed.  The 
top  of  the  step  hanger  runs  back  under  the  car  and  a 
piece  of  old  rail  is  attached  to  it  to  balance  the  step. 
With  this  installation  it  requires  from  6  to  8  lb.  to 
operate  the  doors  and  steps. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1079 


Preventing  Overhead  Corrosion 

Steel  Messenger  Wire  Was  Replaced  with  Copper  Clad  Using 
Same  Three-Point  Suspension  with  Galvanized 
Iron  Hangers 

By  L.  E.  Scott 

Assistant  Engineer  Connecticut  Company 

DURING  the  year  1907  8  miles  of  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  double-track  steam  road  be- 
tween East  Hartford  and  Vernon,  Conn.,  was  electrified 
for  600-volt  direct-current  trolley  operation.  This  was 
done  primarily  for  the  passenger  service.  A  three-point 
catenary  suspension  with  150-ft.  section  on  the  straight 
track  was  used.  The  messenger  was  Siemens-Martin 
A-in.  stranded  galvanized  steel  cable,  the  hangers  were 
the  G.  E.  Japan  pipe  type  and  the  trolley  was  No.  0000 
grooved  copper  and  the  ears  were  of  the  malleable 
screw  type.    This  section  is  on  a  grade  of  13  ft.  per 


Catenary  Construction  Used  to  Overcome 


of  $6,100  was  made  for  construction  exactly  as  above 
except  for  the  messenger  of  galvanized  steel.  After 
further  discussion  it  was  finally  decided  to  replace  the 
steel  messenger  with  a  copper  clad  messenger  and  to 
use  the  same  three-point  suspension  with  galvanized 
iron  hangers.  The  spans  were  to  be  of  i-in.  seven- 
strand  galvanized  iron  and  the  pull-offs  i-in.  seven- 
strand  galvanized  iron. 

The  trolley  and  messenger  were  anchored  every 
thousand  feet  by  using  Ohio  Brass  strain  plates  with 
two  extra  plates  on  top,  between  which  the  messenger 
was  clamped  by  replacing  the  standard  plates  with 
longer  plates.  The  anchor  wires  were  A-in.  seven- 
strand  galvanized  iron.  The  lengths  of  the  messengers 
used  varied  with  the  lengths  of  the  sections,  which  were 
150  ft.  on  straight  track  and  as  short  as  80  ft.  on  the 
curves.  Six  lengths  of  flexible  hangers  were  used, 
namely,  5  in.,  6  in.,  131  in.,  15  in.,  16i  in.  and  18i  in. 


Corroding  from  Steam  Locomotive  Gases 


mile,  so  that  trains  going  east  were  continually  under 
power.  Between  the  hourly  electric  passenger  service  it 
has  been  and  still  is  the  custom  to  operate  double-headed 
steam  locomotive  freight  trains. 

In  1913,  after  six  years  service,  the  steel  messenger 
on  the  up-grade  track  began  to  break.  An  inspection 
showed  it  to  be  very  much  corroded  and  eaten  by  the 
hot  gases  of  the  steam  engines.  The  messenger  was 
then  renewed  with  one  similar  to  the  first.  In  1919  this 
second  messenger  began  to  break,  and  inspection  at  this 
time  showed  this  second  messenger  to  be  very  much  cor- 
roded and  very  weak.  The  hangers,  ears  and  the  sec- 
tions of  the  spans  and  pull-offs  which  were  over  the  up- 
grade track  were  also  so  much  pitted  that  it  was 
thought  best  to  renew  all  the  spans  and  to  renew  the 
pull-offs,  hangers  and  ears  over  this  track. 

The  messenger,  hangers  and  ears  over  the  down-grade 
track  were  found  still  in  good  condition.  Both  trolley 
wires  were  the  original  ones  and  were  in  apparently  in 
no  worse  condition  because  of  the  hot  gases  from  the 
locomotives.  From  this  it  appeared  that  the  gases  from 
the  locomotives  had  little  effect  on  copper  and  so  in 
1920  estimates  were  made  toward  renewing  the  entire 
overhead  with  copper  or  copper  clad  steel,  the  wornout 
messenger,  the  spans  and  pull-offs  with  copper  clad 
steel  and  the  three-point  suspension  with  eleven-point 
suspension  and  the  hangers  with  copper  clad  ones.  The 
estimate  for  this  work  was  $15,000.   Another  estimate 


These  hangers  were  made  of  l-in.  galvanized  iron  rod 
with  a  2-in.  slot  in  the  upper  bend  for  flexibility.  The 
iron  collar  similar  to  the  spool  was  designed  to  thread 
on  the  hanger  and  seat  tightly  on  the  ear  and  served  as 
the  means  of  holding  the  pull-off  on  curves.  The  sample 
prices  of  hangers  and  ears  on  the  150-ft.  sections  were: 


One  5-in.  hanger   $0.56 

Three  133-in.  hangers   1.34 

Three  7-screw  clamp  ears   1.31 

Iron  pull-off  collar   0.17 


The  above  work  was  done  during  a  period  of  about 
four  months  and  the  accompanying  illustrations  show 
the  straightaway  and  curve.  The  right-hand  mes- 
senger is  the  one  renewed. 


Another  Method  of  Repairing  Door  Guides 

IN  THE  Nov.  26  issue  of  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  page  954,  a  method  was  given  for  fastening 
angle  iron  door  guides  on  cars  where  the  screw  holes 
have  become  worn  in  the  wood.  A  similar  method  has 
been  used  by  the  Quincy  Railway  of  Quincy,  111.,  except 
that  instead  of  using  angle  irons  for  the  door  guides 
these  are  replaced  by  a  channel  iron  welded  to  another 
plate.  In  places  where  the  original  angle  iron  guides 
cannot  be  used  further  the  Quincy  Railway  finds  that 
the  use  of  the  channel  is  cheaper  than  two  angles  and 
works  just  as  satisfactorily. 


1080 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Commission's  Tentative  Plan  Criticised^ 

Holding  Company  Liable  to  Be  Controlled  by  Politics — 
Substitute  Proposed 

By  T.  S.  Williams 

President  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company 


TO  A  LAYMAN  it  would  not  seem 
is  if  the  commission's  plan  had  fol- 
lowed the  direct  and  simple  path  out- 
lined in  the  law.  Instead  it  proposes 
an  indirect  and  in  some  respects  an 
objectionable  course.  It  creates  an  in- 
termediate agency,  not  provided  for  in 
the  law — the  so-called  new  Company 
A- — which  purchases  the  railroads,  pays 
for  them  with  its  mortgage  bonds,  and 
then  conveys  the  properties  to  the  city 
subject  to  these  purchase  money  bonds. 

The  city  thereupon  leases  the  rail- 
roads back  to  three  new  railroad  com- 
panies respectively,  called,  for  conveni- 
ence, B,  C  and  D,  whose  stocks  are 
to  be  owned  by  Company  A,  and  A's 
stock  in  turn  is  to  be  held  in  some 
kind  of  trust  by  the  Transit  Commis- 
sion. 

From  the  city's  point  of  view  all  its 
control  over  the  properties  to  which  it 
acquires  legal  title  will  be  delegated  to 
the  holding  company,  in  whose  board 
of  directors  it  will  have  three  out  of 
six  members  and  a  partial  say  as  to 
the  seventh  member.  Whether  such  a 
complete  delegation  of  power  is  de- 
sirable from  a  municipal  point  of  view 
may  be  questioned. 

From  the  existing  investors'  point  of 
view  the  objections  to  this  intermediate 
company  arrangement  are  numerous, 
and,  I  fear,  insuperable,  even  assum- 
ing that  the  investors  would  be  rec- 
onciled to  a  plan  of  municipal  owner- 
ship. 

1.  The  holding  company  will  neces- 
sarily be  a  political  company.  Three  of 
its  directors  will  be  appointed  by  the 
Mayor,  three  by  the  representatives  of 
the  bondholders  in  the  three  operating 
companies,  and  the  remaining  director 
by  these  six.  In  case  they  do  not  agree 
the  Transit  Commission  is  to  select 
him.  In  practical  effect,  therefore,  this 
would  probably  mean  an  official — that 
is  a  political — control;  for  all  that 
would  be  necessary  to  make  it  so  would 
be  a  refusal  of  three  of  the  directors  to 
agree  with  their  associates  as  to  the 
seventh  director.  Complete  harmony 
might  be  more  natural  but  with  equally 
unpleasant  consequences. 

If  we  could  assume  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  city  and  those  of  the 
investors  would  always  be  high  minded, 
clear  headed,  impartial  men,  the  ob- 
jection would  not  be  so  potent,  but  can 
we  always  expect  this?  The  plan  for 
the  holding  company  directorate  in- 
volves a  divided  responsibility,  and  this 
frequently  encourages  approval  of  acts 
which  a  central  responsibility  would 
shrink  from. 

There  might  easily  result  conse- 
quences not  favorable  either  to  the 
city  or  the  investor.  Unless  the 
standard  of  municipal  government  is 
miraculously  improved,  it  is  inconceiv- 
able that  so  great  an  opportunity  as 
this  plan  would  present  for  political 
patronage  and  profit  would  be  long  dis- 
regarded. In  the  employees  of  the 
railroads  and  their  families  there  would 
be  an  army  of  perhaps  100,000  voters, 
and  there  would  be  the  constant  temp- 
tation to  require  the  construction  of 

•Abstract  of  statements  presented  at 
hearing-  of  the  New  York  Transit  Com- 
mission, New  York,  Dec.  7,  1921. 


new  lines  at  the  behest  of  local  or  po- 
litical interests — lines  not  justified  by 
their  earning  capacity  Investors  would 
not  be  likely  to  intrust  their  properties 
to  such  an  uncertain  and  unsafe  con- 
trol, nor  would  the  best  interests  of  the 
taxpayers  be  likely  to  be  thus  sub- 
served. 

2.  The  powers  proposed  to  be  con- 
ferred on  the  holding  company  are  in- 
consistent with  the  professed  intention 
of  making  the  three  lessee  companies 
the  real  operating  companies.  These 
powers  are  not  very  specifically  set 
forth  in  the  plan,  but  from  what  there 
appears  and  from  what  has  been  sug- 
gested at  the  public  hearing  by  the 
commission  and  its  counsel,  they  ap- 
parently will  be  broad  enough  to  cover 
pretty  nearly  everything  connected 
with  the  management  of  railroads  ex- 
cept the  more  or  less  mechanical  work 
of  actual  operation.  Remember  that 
each  of  the  three  groups  of  railroads, 
although  distinct  and  separate  in  their 
leaseholds  and  in  their  mortgage  liens, 
will  have  nothing  to  say  (except 
through  their  minority  representation 
in  the  holding  company)  as  to  the  use 
of  their  surplus  income,  as  to  the  ex- 
tensions or  abandonment  of  their  lines, 
even  as  to  the  turning  over  of  parts 
of  their  lines  to  another  operator,  to 
the  purchase  of  supplies,  to  the  im- 
provement of  their  facilities,  to  the  is- 
suance or  non-issuance  of  transfers,  and 
to  many  other  matters  that  are  related 
closely  to  growth  in  earning  capacity, 
to  the  preservation  of  the  properties 
and  the  integrity  of  their  mortgages. 
The  holding  company  will  be  the  real 
operator  and  manager  in  all  these  re- 
spects. 

3.  The  holding  company  will  pay  for 
the  acquired  railroads  by  its  purchase 
money  mortgage  bonds  issued  at  100 
per  cent  of  the  agreed  value  of  the  rail- 
roads and  properties  bought,  will  forth- 
with issue  other  obligations  for  work- 
ing capital  and  for  a  fare  barometer 
fund,  and,  as  additional  capital  is  re- 
quired for  extensions  and  improve- 
ments from  time  to  time,  will  sell  new 
bonds.  If  the  investor  is  asked  to  part 
with  his  proportionate  ownership  in  a 
railroad  upon  a  deferred  payment  plan, 
he  should  at  least  be  assured  that  his 
lien  upon  what  he  has  sold  will  be 
amply  protected  and  not  diluted,  and 
that  its  integrity  should  not  be  weak- 
ened by  dividing  income  of  his  property 
among  bondholders  of  another  mort- 
gage. 

Substitute  Plan  Proposed 

The  holding  company  feature  of  the 
commission's  plan  is  therefore  not  only 
of  doubtful  legality  and  open  to  serious 
practical  objections,  but  its  adoption  is 
not  necessary  for  accomplishing  the 
purpose  of  the  commission  and  it  is  not 
a  straightforward  following  of  the 
method  laid  down  in  the  law.  I  sug- 
gest that  all  the  objects  of  the  com- 
mission can  be  better  attained  and  with 
greater  safeguard  to  the  public  and 
private  interests  by  adopting  in  lieu 
thereof  something  like  the  following. 

That  each  system  of  railroads  con- 
vey title  to  its  properties  directly  to 
the  city  at  a  fixed  price  representing 


their  fair  value,  subject  to  the  lien  of 
any  existing  mortgages  thereon  (the 
amount  of  which  shall  be  deducted  from 
the  purchase  price),  possession  to  be 
finally  surrendered  upon  the  completion 
of  payments  of  the  net  purchase  price. 
Payment  of  this  price  to  be  made  in 
semi-annual  instalments  of  such  amount 
as  will  amortize  the  net  cost  in  a  given 
number  of  years,  with  the  option  of  the 
city  to  anticipate  such  payments  and 
pay  off  the  mortgage  liens  and  thereby 
sooner  to  get  possession. 

That  pending  completion  of  pay- 
ments, and  as  additional  security  there- 
for, the  properties  thus  sold  be  leased 
back  by  the  city  to  a  corporation 
named  by  the  sellers,  upon  terms  sub- 
stantially as  follows: 

The  lessee  to  operate  the  properties, 
subject  to  the  supervision  of  a  board 
of  control,  and  after  paying  operating 
expenses  (inluding  taxes  and  rents,  if 
any),  interest  and  amortization  on  ex- 
isting mortgage  liens,  and  providing 
suitable  reserves,  to  pay  over  the  bal- 
ance of  income  to  the  city. 

All  funds  required  for  additions,  im- 
provement and  extensions  (capital  ex- 
penditures) to  be  furnished  by  the  city. 

The  rates  of  fare  to  be  fixed  by 
the  board  of  control,  but  not  to  be  less 
than  sufficient  to  permit  the  lessees  to 
make  the  deductions  from  revenue  au- 
thorized in  paragraph  above,  and  so  far 
as  practicable  and  reasonable  to  be 
uniform  throughout  the  city. 

Board  of  Control  of  Three  Suggested 

The  board  of  control  to  consist  of 
three  persons,  one  appointed  by  the 
Mayor,  one  by  the  lessee  companies, 
and  one  by  the  Governor,  and  to  have 
general  supervisory  and  regulative 
powers,  including  that  of  audit  of 
accounts. 

This  arrangement  would  practically 
leave  it  optional  with  the  city  when 
it  should  avail  itself  of  complete  own- 
ership and  possession  of  the  properties, 
and  what  extensions  and  improvements 
should  from  time  to  time  be  made. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  owners 
of  the  railroads  the  substitute  plan 
which  I  have  suggested  would  have  the 
additional  advantage  that  each  system 
of  railroads  would  stand,  so  to  speak, 
upon  its  own  bottom.  Its  revenues 
would  not  be  subject  to  diversion  to  the 
interests  of  other  railroads  or  other 
railroad  owners,  as  would  be  the  case 
under  the  commission's  plan. 

The  plan  which  I  have  suggested 
would,  more  than  the  commission's 
plan,  eliminate  politics  from  the  trans- 
portation problem.  The  city  and  the 
operators  would  have  a  common  aim. 
Hostility,  lack  of  co-operation,  public 
prejudice,  suspicion,  would  have  no 
justification. 

The  receivership,  or  near-receiver- 
ship, of  the  companies  would  facilitate 
such  an  arrangement.  I  can  see  no 
insuperable  obstacle  to  carrying  it  out 
providing  the  valuation  of  the  proper- 
ties is  fair  and  ample  safeguards  sur- 
round its  payment.  All  speculation  in 
traction  securities  would  cease. 

The  various  companies  would  take 
from  the  lessee  company  representing 
them  the  interest  and  amortization  paid 
on  any  existing  bonds,  and  pay  it  over 
to  the  bondholders  or  their  representa- 
tives. They  would  likewise  receive 
from  the  city  the  payments  to  be  made 
by  it  and  apply  them  in  liquidation  of 
the  remaining  equity.  When  all  should 
be  done  they  would  quietly  pass  out  of 
existence. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1081 


Engineering  Societies  Honor  Marshal  Foch 

The  Four  National  Organizations  Elect  the  French  General  to  Honorary 
Membership  in  Recognition  of  His  Ability  to  "Direct  Human  Energy  " 


MARSHAL  FOCH  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  honor  roll  of  the 
organized  engineering  profession  of  the 
United  States  when  he  was  elected  on 
Dec.  13,  the  day  before  his  return  to 
France,  to  honorary  membership  in  the 
four  national  engineering  societies.  The 
organizations  whose  governing  boards 
unanimously  conferred  this  distinction 
upon  Marshal  Foch  were  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  American 
Institute  of  Mining  and  Metallurgical 
Engineers,  American  Society  of  Me- 
chanical Engineers  and  the  American 
Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers. 

The  certificate  of  honorary  member- 
ship was  presented  by  Col.  William 
Barclay  Parsons,  who  commanded  the 
Eleventh  Engineers,  the  first  engineer 
regiment  to  go  abroad,  and  one  which 
gained  great  fame. 

The  ceremonies  were  held  in  the 
auditorium  of  the  Engineering  Societies 
Building.  On  the  platform  were  the 
presidents  of  the  four  founder  societies 
or  their  representatives  as  follows:  L. 
P.  Alford  for  Dean  Dexter  S.  Kimball 
of  Cornell,  mechanical  engineers; 
George  S.  Webster,  Philadelphia,  civil 
engineers;  Calvert  W.  Townley,  for 
William  McClellan,  Philadelphia,  elec- 
trical engineers;  and  Edwin  T.  Ludlow, 
New  York,  mining  engineers.  Others  in 
the  platform  group  were  Ambrose 
Swasey  of  Cleveland,  Commander 
Legion  d'Honneur  and  founder  of  the 
Engineering  Foundation;  Charles  F. 
Rand,  chairman  of  the  Engineering 
Foundation;  Col.  William  J.  Milgus,  Col. 
A.  S.  Dwight  and  E.  D.  Adams. 

J.  Vipond  Davies,  president  of  the 
United  Engineering  Society,  presided 
and  made  the  opening  speech.  This 
follows  in  part: 

"This  action  is  unprecedented  in  that 
it  has  been  taken  at  one  and  the  same 
time  and  is  to  be  conferred  by  one  in- 
strument. It  is  epochal  to  our  societies 
in  that  it  constitutes  one  more  bond  of 
union  between  the  several  branches  of 
our  profession,  as  represented  by  our 
Founder  Societies,  and  our  professional 
brethren  in  France. 

"The  United  Engineering  Society,  the 
board  of  trustees  of  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  be  the  presiding  officer,  is,  as 
its  name  implies,  an  integral  part  and 
parcel  of  the  functions  and  activities  of 
our  founder  societies,  holds  title  to  this 
building  and  property,  and  administers 
its  research  department  known  as  En- 
gineering Foundation,  directed  by 
Charles  F.  Rand  as  chairman,  and  Al- 
fred D.  Flinn,  as  secretary,  and  also  the 
library,  which  we  claim  to  be  the  best 
equipped  technical  library  of  engineer- 
ing in  existence,  with  Dr.  Harrison  W. 
Craver,  as  director." 

Colonel  Parsons  then  delivered  in 
French  the  following  address: 

"The  art  of  engineering  was  defined 
a  long  time  ago  as  'the  art  of  directing 
the  great  sources  of  power  in  nature  for 
the  use  and  convenience  of  man.'  No 
better  definition  can  be  found  today. 
Of  all  the  sources  of  power  in  nature, 
the  greatest,  most  valuable  and  at  the 
same  time  the  most  difficult  to  direct 
is  the  energy  of  man  himself.  He  who 
can  direct  human  energy  and  turn  it  to 
the  service  of  mankind  is  a  great  engi- 
neer. 

"You,  Marshal,  have  directed  a 
greater  mass  of  human  energy  than 


any  other  man  has  ever  done.  And  you 
have  successfully  directed  this  mass 
for  the  highest  uses  of  mankind,  in  that 
you  by  its  aid  have  preserved  for  him 
one  of  the  most  precious  of  human  pos- 
sessions— liberty!  Liberty  not  only  for 
your  own  illustrious  country,  but  for 
all  the  nations  of  the  world. 

"The  four  national  engineering  socie- 
ties of  the  United  States  now  desire 
to  make  record  of  their  appreciation 
of  this  fact  and  to  convey  to  you  an  ex- 
pression of  their  most  profound  admira- 
tion for  the  great  leader  of  men  by  con- 
ferring on  you  honorary  membership 
in  all  the  societies,  the  highest  honor 
in  their  gift  and  one  hitherto  never  con- 
ferred on  a  single  individual. 

"Four  thousand  members  of  these 
societies  were  enrolled  in  the  armed 
service  of  the  United  States,  the 
greater  part  of  whom  had  the  glorious 
distinction  to  serve  the  common  cause 
in  France  under  your  orders.  They 
heard  the  voice  and  they  saw  the 
hand  of  the  master  as  he  led  them 
through  battle  to  victory.  Now  we  de- 
sire that  you  will  still  continue  to 
lead  us,  but  in  peace,  by  permitting 
us  to  inscribe  your  name  at  the  head 
of  our  roll  of  honor,  where  it  will  be, 
as  your  deeds  have  been,  an  example  to 
us  to  do  better  work,  and  where  it  will 
remain  forever  a  noble  inspiration  for 
all  future  generations." 

Mr.  Webster  then  presented  to 
Marshal  Foch  the  beautifully  engrossed 
certificate  of  honorary  membership. 

Marshal  Foch  responded,  by  paying 
the  following  tribute  to  the  part  of 
engineers  and  engineering  in  the  war: 

"It  was  due  largely  to  the  engineers 
and  the  engineering  industries  that  the 


THE  papers  on  how  to  keep  cars  on 
time,  presented  at  a  meeting  of  the 
New  England  Street  Railway  Club  on 
Dec.  1,  by  Howard  F.  Whitney,  Spring- 
field Street  Railway,  and  W.  C.  Bolt, 
Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway, 
were  published  in  abstract  in  last 
week's  issue  of  this  paper.  An  abstract 
of  the  discussion  on  these  papers,  at  the 
afternoon  meeting  of  the  club,  follows: 
R.  B.  Stearns,  vice-president  Eastern 
Massachusetts  Street  Railway,  empha- 
sized the  value  of  regular  service  in 
maintaining  good  public  relations. 
Frankness  in  explaining  street  railway 
problems  to  the  public  is  essential. 
Punctuality  also  keeps  down  costs,  and 
close  co-operation  between  rolling  stock 
maintenance  and  operating  departments 
is  vital.  Pull-ins  have  been  reduced  on 
the  Eastern  Massachusetts  system  from 
1,000  to  750  per  month  in  the  past 
year.  The  30,000-mile  overhauling 
schedule  of  this  system  appears  to  be  a 
money-maker  in  preventive  mainte- 
nance. A  bonus  divided  between  car- 
service  and  maintenance  men  for 
punctual  car  movement  works  extremely 
well,  figuring  cars  within  5  per  cent  of 
on  time  at  terminals  during  a  month 
and  appraising  the  value  of  the  time 
saved  in  the  setting  apart  of  this  money 
on  a  50-50  basis  between  the  two  classes. 
L.  D.  Pellissier,  president  and  general 


war  was  brought  to  a  successful  con- 
clusion. The  armies  could  not  have 
accomplished  much  without  the  effort 
of  the  engineer.  Success  was  made 
possible  to  a  great  extent  by  the  in- 
dustry of  the  people  at  home,  but  when 
decisive  moments  arrived  the  engineer 
stood  out-  as  an  essential  factor  in  at- 
taining success. 

"What  would  have  become  of  the 
armies  without  the  engineering  indus- 
tries and  without  the  professional 
knowledge  which  you  exercised  and 
which  enabled  us  to  lead  our  armies 
in  the  field,  to  feed  them,  to  protect 
them  and  to  facilitate  their  forward 
movement. 

"It  is  for  these  reasons  that  I  am 
pleased  to  be  here  today,  to  receive  so 
splendid  a  welcome,  to  express  my 
gratitude  and  that  of  France  and  of  all 
my  countrymen  for  the  splendid  sacri- 
fices made  by  the  men  of  your  calling. 
I  am  grateful  to  you  for  including  me 
in  your  ranks  as  one  of  the  members 
of  your  four  national  engineering  so- 
cieties. This  honor  I  deeply  appreciate, 
and  I  shall  always  cherish  this  event 
with  the  happiest  memories." 

A  statement  issued  by  the  engineer- 
ing societies  emphasized  the  character 
of  Marshal  Foch  as  an  engineer.  The 
statement  said: 

"The  fundamentals  of  engineering 
achievement  are  co-operation  and  co- 
ordination. It  was  the  ability  of  Foch 
to  supplement  his  military  genius 
with  the  effective  co-operation  of  the 
commanders  of  the  armies  of  five  na- 
tions and  the  co-ordination  of  their 
operations  that  won  the  great  victory. 

"Ferdinand  Foch  studied  engineering 
in  Ecole  Polytechnique  and  Ecole 
d'Application  d'Artillerie.  He  served  on 
the  technical  section  of  the  Ministry  of 
War  early  in  life,  and  in  later  years 
was  a  full  professor  in  Ecole  de 
Guerre. 


manager  Holyoke  Street  Railway, 
urged  the  importance  of  helpful  super- 
vision of  car  movement  and  of  provision 
for  rapid  loading  and  unloading  of  cars. 
Team-play  among  operating  forces, 
restriction  of  automobile  parking  in 
congested  sections,  safety  areas  and 
rapid  fare  collection  all  aid  in  schedule 
efficiency. 

John  Lindall,  superintendent  rolling 
stock  and  shops,  Boston  Elevated  Rail- 
way, suggested  giving  the  public  in- 
formation as  to  the  percentage  of  trips 
run  on  time,  together  with  classified 
delays  and  causes  thereof.  Tact  in  try- 
ing to  remove  obstructions  to  traffic  is 
of  more  avail  than  a  hostile  attitude. 
Motor-operated  wrecking  trucks 
equipped  with  cranes,  manned  by  crews 
skilled  in  clearing  up  breakdowns  and 
capable  of  proceeding  to  a  blockade  on 
the  highway  surface  have  proved  of 
great  value  in  Boston  compared  with 
the  old  method  of  sending  out  trolley 
wrecking  cars.  The  wrecking  trucks 
now  in  use  at  Boston  can  lift  loads  as 
high  as  10  tons  by  blocking  under  the 
rear  end  of  a  chassis  frame  and  can 
lift  and  carry  with  the  crane  5  tons. 
The  trucks  are  rated  at  3.5  tons,  with 
White  chassis  and  power-driven  winches 
and  "nigger  heads.''  The  speaker  felt 
that  better  supervision  can  be  given  by 
traffic    executives    from  automobiles 


How  to  Keep  Cars  on  Time 

Members  of  New  England  Club  Discuss  Papers  of  Messrs.  Whitney  and  Bolt — 
Hon.  Henry  C.  Attwill  Gives  Informal  Talk  on  "Relations  Be- 
tween City  Governments  and  Street  Railways" 


1082 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


than  from  street  cars,  owing  to  the 
limitations  of  movement  of  the  latter. 

H.  F.  Fritch,  assistant  general  man- 
ager Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 
Railway,  said  that  punctuality  of  car 
movement  should  be  sought  throughout 
the  entire  organization  of  the  modern 
system.  The  psychological  effect  of 
pull-ins  on  the  public  is  not  good.  E.  S. 
Wilde,  vice-president,  Union  Street 
Railway,  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  advocated 
diplomacy  in  dealing  with  track  obstruc- 
tors. In  addition  to  using  automobiles, 
superintendents  in  New  Bedford  ride 
over  the  system  in  the  cars  at  least 
monthly  and  report  their  findings. 
Regularity  of  service  is  more  valuable 
than  speed.  Mr.  Pellissier  emphasized 
the  importance  of  flash  signals  at 
critical  points  and  of  ample  telephone 
facilities  in  minimizing  traffic  delays 
due  to  slow  notification  of  executives, 
mechanical  and  operating  departments 
of  trouble.  Others  who  discussed  the 
value  of  good  service  were  A.  B.  Hale, 
Griffin  Wheel  Company,  Boston;  Thomas 
Kendrigan,  Manchester  Street  Rail- 
way, Manchester,  N.  H.;  R.  D.  Hood, 
Dover,  N.  H.,  and  R.  R.  Anderson, 
superintendent  of  transportation  United 
Electric  Railway,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Chairman   Attwill  Emphasizes 
Mutual  Interests  of  Rail- 
ways and  Public 

With  President  Dana  in  the  chair,  the 
evening  session  of  the  club  was  marked 
by  an  address  by  Hon.  Henry  C.  Attwill, 
chairman  Massachusetts  Department  of 
Public  Utilities,  upon  "Relations  be- 
tween City  Governments  and  Street 
Railways."  In  a  comprehensive  and 
informal  talk  which  was  listened  to 
with  keen  interest  by  the  largest  gather- 
ing in  the  history  of  the  club  outside  of 
an  annual  meeting  (162  were  present), 
Chairman  Attwill  sketched  the  unity  of 
interest  prevailing  between  successful 
public  utilities  and  the  communities 
which  they  serve.  He  emphasized  the 
willingness  of  the  public  to  co-operate 
with  companies  whose  problems  and 
needs  are  set  forth  frankly  and  under- 
standing^, notwithstanding  the  noise 
of  agitators.  Conservative  operation 
pays,  the  speaker  said,  and  he  urged  a 
conduct  of  affairs  which  will  produce 
something  of  that  confidence  on  the  part 
of  the  investing  public  that  it  feels 
toward  the  savings  banks  of  Massachu- 
setts. "Customer  ownership"  of  elec- 
tric railway  securities  was  also  advo- 
cated as  a  means  of  bettering  condi- 
tions. The  "square  deal"  offers  a  better 
means  of  securing  good  public  relations 
than  insistence  on  "constitutional 
right." 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  the 
presentation  of  Mr.  Attwill's  address, 
H.  H.  Crapo,  president  Union  Street 
Railway,  New  Bedford,  advocated  co- 
operation with  municipal  authorities. 


Joint  Convention  of  Illinois 
Associations 

THE  joint  convention  of  the  Illinois 
Gas  Association,  the  Illinois  State 
Electric  Association  and  the  Illinois 
Electric  Railways  Association  will  be 


held  on  March  15  and  16,  1922,  at  the 
Hotel  Sherman.  The  morning  sessions 
will  be  joint  sessions  while  in  the  after- 
noon separate  technical  sessions  will  be 
held  for  each  association.  The  annual 
banquet  will  be  on  March  15.  The  com- 
plete program  will  be  available  soon. 


New  York  Railroad  Club  Dinner 
Well  Attended 

THE  third  annual  dinner  of  the  New 
York  Railroad  Club  was  held  in  the 
grand  ballroom  of  the  Hotel  Commo- 
dore, New  York  City,  on  Thursday 
evening,  Dec.  15.  A  large  number  of 
electric  railway  men  helped  to  swell 
the  attendance  on  this  occasion.  Frank 
Hedley,  president  and  general  manager 
of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  New  York,  acted  as  toast- 
master.  Addresses  on  railway  con- 
ditions together  with  a  fine  musical 
program  furnished  the  evening's  enter- 
tainment. 


Bus  Operation  to  Be  Studied 

THE  first  meeting  of  the  committee 
on  trackless  transportation  of  the 
American  Association  was  held  at  as- 
sociation headquarters  on  Dec.  15. 
Among  those  present  were:  H.  B. 
Flowers,  United  Railways  &  Electric 
Company  of  Baltimore,  chairman;  W. 
J.  Flickinger,  the  Connecticut  Company, 
New  Haven,  Conn.;  H.  B.  Potter,  Bos- 
ton (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway;  and  J. 
N.  Snannahan,  Newport  News  &  Hamp- 
ton Railway  Gas  &  Electric  Company, 
Hampton,  Va.  Secretary  J.  W.  Welsh, 
who  was  also  in  attendance,  explained 
that  this  committee  was  in  full  charge 
of  the  study  of  trackless  transportation 
by  the  association.  There  will  be  two 
co-operating  committees  to  work  with 
the  American  committee,  one  from  the 
Engineering  Association  and  one  from 
the  Transportation  Association. 

The  committee  plans  to  make  a  com- 
plete study  of  the  economic  situation. 
It  is  to  prepare  instructions  for  in- 
vestigation by  the  engineering  com- 
mittees in  regard  to  proper  designs  and 
refinements  of  equipment.  The  trans- 
portation committee  is  to  be  asked  to 
study  the  proper  place  of  the  bus  in 
the  transportation  field  and  what 
routes  are  proper  for  establishment. 
This  also  brings  up  the  question  of 
mass  transportation. 

Other  investigations  will  be  made  to 
establish  the  principle  of  financing  ex- 
tensions into  undeveloped  fields  and 
whether  a  trolley  bus  or  motor  bus  is 
to  be  used;  a  discussion  of  regulation 
and  franchise  requirements,  a  discus- 
sion of  the  question  of  abandoning 
tracks  on  unproductive  lines  or  substi- 
tuting trackless  transportation  for  ex- 
isting service  in  sections  now  supplied 
when  the  structures  need  renewal.  The 
report  is  also  to  define  a  policy  on 
the  whole  problem  and  draw  conclu- 
sions. 


Power  Distribution  Committee 
Starts  Work 

THE  power  distribution  committee 
of  the  Engineering  Association  held 
its  first  meeting  of  the  year  at  the  as- 
sociation headquarters,  New  York  City, 
Wednesday,  Dec.  14.  Those  present 
were  M.  B.  Rosevear,  Public  Service 
Railway  of  New  Jersey,  chairman,  J.  R. 
C.  Armstrong,  Brooklyn  City  Railroad; 
H.  S.  Burd,  National  Conduit  &  Cable 
Company,  New  York  City;  R.  W.  Eaton, 
public  service  engineer,  Providence, 
R.  I.;  G.  C.  Hecker,  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Company,  East 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.;  H.  D.  Hawks,  Ana- 
conda Copper  Mining  Company,  Chi- 
cago, 111.;  Adrian  Hughes,  Jr.,  United 
Railways  &  Electric  Company,  Balti- 
more, Md.;  H.  S.  Murphy,  Philadelphia 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.;  Charles  H.  Jones,  Metropolitan 
West  Side  Elevated  Railway,  Chicago, 
HI.;  F.  McVittie,  New  York  State  Rail- 
ways, Rochester,  N.  Y.;  G.  Hall  Roose- 


velt, General  Electric  Company,  Sche- 
nectady, N.  Y.;  and  F.  J.  White,  Okonite 
Company,  Passaic,  N.  J. 

The  various  subjects  which  have  been 
assigned  to  the  committee  were  dis- 
cussed in  considerable  detail  and  sub- 
committees were  appointed  to  follow 
up  the  work  closely.  Several  recom- 
mendations were  made  to  the  executive 
committee  for  additional  standardiza- 
tion work  that  it  appeared  desirable 
to  have  sectional  committees  of  the 
American  Engineering  Standard  Com- 
mittee undertake.  These  included  spec- 
ifications for  overhead  wire  crossings 
and  a  specification  for  high  conductivity 
trolley  wire.  The  subject  of  standard 
specifications  for  wire  cables  which  is 
now  under  consideration  by  a  sectional 
committee  of  the  American  Engineer- 
ing Standards  Committee  was  discussed 
and  the  detailed  organization  with  pro- 
vision for  a  technical  committee  was 
outlined.  The  power  distribution  com- 
mittee has  a  very  full  schedule  of  work 
for  this  year  and  its  early  start  to- 
gether with  the  interest  that  was  mani- 
fested by  the  large  attendance  indicates 
that  much  work  will  be  accomplished. 


Connecticut  Company  Section 
Elects  New  Officers 

THE  fortieth  and  annual  meeting  of 
the  Connecticut  Company  section  of 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation was  held  in  New  Haven,  Conn., 
on  Dec.  7.  About  100  members  were 
present  who  were  entertained  at  the 
opening  with  a  concert  by  the  Connecti- 
cut Company  section  band  of  thirty-five 
pieces.  This  band,  made  up  of  the  em- 
ployees of  the  Connecticut  Company, 
was  organized  a  short  time  ago  under 
the  supervision  of  I.  A.  May,  comp- 
troller. 

The  meeting  was  opened  by  President 
Harlan.  Election  of  officers  for  the 
coming  year  took  place  and  the  follow- 
ing were  elected:  President,  C.  H. 
Chapman,  manager  of  the  Waterbury 
division;  vice-president,  S.  W.  Baldwin, 
attorney;  secretary,  C.  K.  Savery; 
treasurer,  George  H.  Crosson,  and 
director  for  three  years,  A.  L.  Donnelly, 
division  engineer. 

The  speaker  of  the  evening  was  Leon- 
ard M.  Tarr,  who  is  in  charge  of  the 
weather  bureau  at  New  Haven.  He 
gave  an  interesting  talk  on  the  weather, 
its  causes,  etc. 

Chicago  Section  Meeting 

THE  November  meeting  of  the  Chi- 
cago Elevated  Railroad  section  of 
the  American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation was  held  on  Nov.  30,  with  an 
attendance  of  about  125  members.  Af- 
ter some  musical  entertainment  C.  G. 
Goodsell  of  the  Chicago,  North  Shore 
&  Milwaukee  Railroad  gave  an  inter- 
esting talk  about  the  Americanization 
work  which  is  being  done  on  the  North 
Shore  line. 


News  of  the  Eledric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      "      TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Company  Makes  Three 
Proposals 

Grand  Rapids  Dispute  Approaches  Set- 
tlement with  Railway's  Valua- 
tion Offer 

New  negotiations  between  officials  of 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  and  the  Grand 
Rapids  Railway  have  apparently 
brought  the  traction  difficulty  in  that 
•city  much  nearer  a  settlement  than  it 
has  been  for  many  months.  Three  new 
proposals  made  by  the  company  form 
the  basis  for  the  recent  discussions  and 
may  serve  as  a  chart  by  which  both 
parties  may  successfully  sail  through 
the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  of  valuation 
and  depreciation  which  have  destroyed 
.so  many  previous  conferences. 

Elimination  of  bus  competition,  which 
the  company  has  insisted  on  through- 
out the  discussions,  seems  temporarily 
assured  with  the  refusal  of  Judge  Dun- 
ham, on  Dec.  5,  to  declare  the  jitney 
ordinance  invalid  until  it  is  attacked  by 
someone  with  a  legal  right  to  do  so. 
As  a  result  jitneys  which  have  been 
operating  without  a  license  have  been 
■ordered  from  the  streets. 

The  three  proposals  of  the  company 
are  as  follows: 

1.  A  valuation  of  $5,950,000  with  the 
right  of  either  party  to  a  revaluation  at  the 
end  of  five  years. 

2.  A  valuation  of  $5,650,000  for  the  full 
term  of  thirty  years. 

3.  A  thirty-year  franchise,  leaving  the 
matter  of  revaluation,  rate  of  return  and 
•depreciation  allowance  to  the  Michigan 
Public  Utilities  Commission  for  the  life  of 
the  franchise. 

In  case  none  of  these  is  satisfactory 
the  company  suggests  that  the  problem 
be  referred  to  the  Michigan  Public 
Utilities  Commission  for  settlement, 
since  the  company's  financial  condition 
requires  immediate  action. 

The  figures  presented  by  the  company 
-were  arrived  at  by  using,  for  a  basis 
of  computation,  the  figures  offered  City 
Service  Director  Wagner  from  time  to 
time.  General  Manager  DeLamarter  in 
a  letter  said  that  on  the  compromise 
T)asis  of  an  assumed  35  per  cent  appre- 
ciation instead  of  the  actual  51  per 
cent,  the  valuation  is  $6,844,419.  Accord- 
ing to  these  computations,  the  valuation 
of  $5,950,000  is  $811,946  less  than  the 
present  fair  value  as  shown  in  them, 
and  the  valuation  of  $5,650,000  is  $1,- 
111.946  less  than  the  present  fair  value. 

Both  propositions  are  based  on  an 
8  per  cent  return,  which  was  previously 
tentatively  agreed  upon,  and  both  in- 
clude an  allowance  for  depreciation  of 
3  per  cent  on  physical  property,  all 
allowances  unexpended  to  be  charged 
with  interest  at  a  rate  to  be  mutually 
agreed  upon,  and  subject  to  future 
agreement,  with  arbitration  if  neces- 
sary. 

Service  Director  Wagner  some  time 
ago  placed  a  valuation  of  $5,100,000 
upon  the  Grand  Rapids  Railway  prop- 
erty, but  later  placed  the  figure  at  $5,- 
450,946.  The  company  has  come  down 
several  million  dollars.  The  later  propo- 
sition made  by  Mr.  Wagner  was  that  the 
city  could  without  hesitation  offer  the 
valuation  the  company  asked,  provid- 
ing the  annual  depreciation  is  equal  to 


the  retirements,  and  that  all  above  this 
belongs  to  the  people  and  represents 
their  investment  in  the  property. 

As  Mr.  Wagner  explained  it  the  plan 
would  also  overcome  the  present  gen- 
erally agreed  impractical  method  of 
tying  up  depreciation  money  so  it  could 
not  be  used  for  improvements  and  ex- 
tensions, and  at  the  same  time  auto- 
matically correct  itself  and  make  it  to 
the  interest  of  the  company  to  reduce 
fares  and  increase  service. 

In  figuring  price  trend,  Mr.  Wagner 
placed  it  at  25  per  cent  above  normal 
instead  of  54  per  cent  as  Attorney 
Knappen  for  the  company  contended 
was  the  government  figure. 

With  the  temporary  lapse  in  the  bus 
dispute,  troubles  seem  to  be  clearing. 
Judge  Dunham  in  his  opinion  and  de- 
cree, however,  said  that  he  was  not 
passing  on  the  validity  of  the  ordi- 
nance but  on  the  contention  of  the  city 
that  having  applied,  and  having  been 
granted  and  having  acted  under  the 
ordinance,  the  jitney  men  themselves 
could  not  attack  it.  Bondsmen  who 
were  holding  bonds  for  the  drivers  re- 
cently forfeited  them,  and  the  drivers 
were  unable  to  continue.  As  yet  the 
amendment  to  the  jitney  ordinance  has 
not  been  presented  to  the  City  Council. 


Amicable  Agreement  Reached 
in  Baltimore 

After  careful  consideration  of  the 
company's  problems,  the  cost  of  living, 
and  the  general  downward  trend  of 
prices,  representatives  of  the  United 
Railways  &  Electric  Company,  Balti- 
more, Md.,  and  its  employees  have 
reached  an  agreement  under  which 
there  will  be  a  reduction  in  pay  of  2 
cents  an  hour,  beginning  Jan.  1,  1922. 
This  reduction  applies  to  platform  men, 
shopmen  and  certain  other  classes.  The 
salaries  of  office  forces  will  be  reduced 
4  per  cent. 

The  agreement  authorizes  the  com- 
pany to  employ  in  its  construction 
gangs  laborers  at  current  market 
rates. 

The  new  arrangement  was  decided 
upon  after  a  series  of  conferences  at 
which  the  officials  of  the  company  met 
representatives  of  every  department. 
Both  sides  expressed  themselves  frankly 
and  freely,  and  there  was  complete 
harmony  throughout  the  deliberations. 

Newspaper  comment  in  Baltimore 
lauds  the  co-operation  and  splendid 
spirit  existing  between  the  officials  of 
the  railway  and  its  employees.  The 
Neivs  under  date  of  Nov.  30  says: 

For  years  back  the  United  Railways  has 
made  a  practice  of  sharing  its  prosperity 
with  its  employees.  It  has  maintained 
something  more  than  a  working  agreement 
with  them  ;  it  has  established  in  their  re- 
lations an  all-in-the-family  feeling.  The 
company,  the  men  and,  no  tleast,  the  public 
have  all  benefited  from  that  policy. 

The  American  of  the  same  date  says: 
The  last  effort  of  the  local  employees  for 
a  wage  increase,  made  about  a  year  ago, 
furnishes  a  good  illustration.  The  request 
was  for  a  15-cent  advance.  The  United 
offered  a  2-cent  advance  and  submitted  the 
figures  to  prove  that  this  was  all  it  could 
afford.  The  men  voted  on  the  proposition, 
accepted  It  and  stayed  at  work.  They 
have  followed  the  same  policy  in  this  In- 
stance of  a  wage  decrease. 


Final  Brief  Filed  in  Fare 
Controversy 

Chicago  Case  Taken  Under  Advisement 
by  Federal  Judges — Staggered 
Hours  Suggested 

With  the  filing  of  the  last  brief  on 
Dec.  12  the  fare  case  of  the  Chicago 
Surface  Lines  was  taken  under  advise- 
ment by  Federal  Judges  Baker,  Car- 
penter and  Page  in  the  United  States 
District  court.  The  documents  filed  by 
the  city  of  Chicago  and  the  Illinois 
Commerce  Commission  consisted  largely 
of  an  attempt  to  point  out  items  of 
savings  which  would  make  a  5-cent  fare 
order  possible. 

Unfortunately  for  the  representatives 
of  the  public,  as  suggested  in  the  com- 
pany's brief,  these  items  were  not  sup- 
ported by  evidence  offered  during  the 
hearing  and  therefore  could  not  be  used 
as  a  basis  for  the  order.  Attorneys 
for  the  companies  assert  that  there  was 
no  evidence  which  justified  the  order 
and  that  the  case  "rests  upon  nothing 
more  substantial  than  conjecture  or 
hopeful  prophecy."  On  the  suggestion 
of  the  commission  for  a  wage  reduc- 
tion, the  company's  brief  says: 

No  evidence  was  offered  that  the  salaries 
of  office  employees  or  the  wages  of  labor 
could  or  should  be  reduced.  On  the  con- 
trary, all  the  city's  witnesses  were  opposed 
to  the  idea  of  any  reduction  in  the  present 
wage  scale. 

Hearings  have  been  going  on  before 
the  local  transportation  committee  of 
the  City  Council  on  the  question  of 
solving  Chicago's  transportation  prob- 
lem, with  particular  reference  to  sub- 
ways. All  kinds  of  suggestions  have 
been  made,  including  a  proposal  to  ex- 
periment with  a  monorail  system.  A 
plea  for  adoption  of  staggered  hours 
was  made  on  Dec.  8  by  Harold  Almert, 
representing  the  American  Association 
of  Engineers.  He  said  this  would  cut 
congestion  and  crowding  in  half  and 
would  require  no  capital  expenditure. 
He  suggested  as  a  first  move  the  pas- 
sage of  an  ordinance  creating  a  com- 
mission. 

Proposed  New  Houston  Grant 
Favorably  Received 

The  City  Council  of  Houston,  Tex., 
has  discussed  the  proposition  submitted 
by  officials  of  the  Houston  Electric 
Company  for  an  extension  of  its  fran- 
chise and  a  compromise  agreement  on 
the  fare  controversy  that  has  involved 
the  traction  company  and  the  city  for 
the  last  two  years.  No  formal  action  has 
been  taken  by  the  city  government,  al- 
though Mayor  Holcombe  and  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Council  have  expressed  ap- 
proval of  the  proposition  as  submitted 
by  Luke  C.  Bradley,  district  manager 
for  Stone  &  Webster. 

The  offer  of  the  company  to  com- 
promise the  fare  controversy  was  sub- 
mitted when  it  was  seen  that  the  city 
would  enact  an  ordinance  reducing  fares 
from  7  cents  to  5  cents  when  tickets 
are  purchased  in  packages  of  twenty 
for  $1.  It  was  proposed  that  individual 
cash  fares  when  paid  on  the  cars  should 
remain  at  7  cents.  Sewall  Myer,  city 
attorney,  had  been  instructed  to  draft 


1084 


Electric   Railway  journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


an  ordinance  along  these  lines  to  be 
submitted  at  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Council.  Its  immediate  passage  is  quite 
certain. 

Summed  up,  the  proposition  sub- 
mitted by  Mr.  Bradley  is  as  follows: 

The  company  agrees  to  spend  not  less 
than  $1,200,000  within  two  years,  in  such 
order  as  the  Council  may  designate,  for 
additions,  extensions,  new  cars,  equipment 
and  other  betterments. 

As  soon  as  these  improvements  are  made 
and  the  company  is  in  position  to  give 
adequate  service  at  a  lower  cost,  the  first 
reduction  will  be  the  selling  of  four  tickets 
for  25  cents.  Such  future  reductions  in 
fare  will  be  left  to  the  fairness  of  the  City 
Council.  Pending  this  time  fares  will  re- 
main at  7  cents.  The  city  will  drop  its 
present  fare  ordinance  to  compel  the  trac- 
tion company  to  sell  twenty  tickets  for  $1. 

The  city  in  return  for  promised  im- 
provements and  fare  reduction  will  grant 
an  extension  of  the  present  franchise  for 
a  period  of  sixteen  years,  such  extension 
to  become  effective  only  after  the  railway 
has  complied  with  its  agreements  with  the 
city  for  extensions  and  fare  reduction. 


Strike  Averted  on  Suburban  Line 

A  threatened  strike  of  the  trainmen 
operating  the  lines  of  the  Seattle  & 
Rainier  Valley  Railroad,  Seattle,  Wash., 
has  been  averted,  and  a  compromise 
agreement  on  a  new  wage  scale,  retro- 
active to  Oct.  1  and  effective  to  next 
April  1,  has  been  ratified  at  a  mass 
meeting  of  the  railway  employees.  The 
new  agreement,  which  involves  120  men, 
fixes  a  wage  scale  dating  from  Oct.  1, 
of  53,  56  and  62  cents  an  hour,  accord- 
ing to  the  length  of  service  of  the  men, 
with  a  maximum  payment  of  66  cents 
to  one-man  car  operators.  The  scale 
represents  a  cut  of  about  10  per  cent. 

The  company's  contract  with  its  em- 
ployees expired  on  Oct.  1,  and  on  Aug. 
17  notice  was  given  the  men  that  a 
new  wage  contract  would  be  sought. 
Since  that  time  various  proposals  and 
counter  proposals  have  been  made, 
without  an  agreement.  A  deadlock  was 
reached,  when  both  parties  failed  to 
agree  on  a  third  arbiter  to  an  arbitra- 
tion committee.  The  company's  pro- 
posal, rejected  by  the  men,  set  a  scale 
of  pay  retroactive  to  Oct.  1,  as  follows: 

The  month  of  October,  56£,  59  J  and 
62|  cents  an  hour;  November,  53,  56  and  60 
cents,  and  December,  51,  54  and  58  cents. 

Effective  Dec.  1,  time  and  a  half  for 
overtime  was  to  be  paid  after  eight  and 
one-half  hours,  except  that  extra  men 
working  piece  runs  would  not  receive  time 
and  one-half  for  overtime  until  aften  ten 
hours. 

Conductors  working  one-man  cars  and 
those  relieved  on  the  road  to  be  paid  ten 
minutes  straight  time  for  making  up  turn- 
in  reports  ;  instructors  to  receive  5  cents  an 
hour  above  basic  scale. 

General  W.  M.  Brown  of  the  traction 
company  said: 

The  whole  difficulty  is  not  that  the  men 
employed  on  this  property  do  not  under- 
stand that  a  wage  adjustment  downward 
is  due,  but  they  fear  the  criticisms  of  the 
municipal  employees  who  are  striving  to 
maintain  a  wage  considerably  in  excess  of 
that  paid  by  private  industries  all  over  the 
country.   


Survey  Ordered. — At  the  meeting  of 
the  San  Francisco  Board  of  Supervisors 
on  Nov.  21,  the  city  engineer  was 
ordered  to  study  and  make  plans  for 
a  four-track  subway  under  Market 
Street  from  the  Ferry  to  Valencia 
Street,  a  distance  of  about  2h  miles. 
This  was  proposed  as  a  means  of  re- 
lieving the  increasing  congestion  of  this 
important  thoroughfare  and  making  its 
entire  width  through  the  business  dis- 
trict available  for  vehicular  and  pedes- 
trian traffic.  The  proponent  of  the 
measure  said  he  did  not  anticipate  im- 
mediate construction,  but  thought  a 
start  should  be  made  on  such  a  project. 


McGraw-Hill  Company 
Acquires  "Review" 

The  Paper  Will  Be  Published  Monthly 
for  Practical  Electrical  Men  in 
Industrial  Plants 

The  McGraw-Hill  Company,  Inc.,  has 
purchased  the  Electrical  Review  and 
will  continue  to  publish  it,  beginning 
January,  1922,  in  Chicago,  but  as  a 
monthly.  Its  title  will  be  changed 
to  Electrical  Review  and  Industrial 
Engineer  and  it  will  be  devoted  to  elec- 
trical and  mechanical  operation  and 
maintenance  in  mills  and  factories. 
The  publishers  believe  that  there  is 
a  growing  demand  in  such  installations 
for  specific  and  practical  information  on 
the  operation  of  electrical  systems  by 
those  who  take  up  the  work  where  the 
consulting,  designing  and  installation 
engineers  leave  off.  To  these  practical 
men,  a  service  not  heretofore  available 
will  be  provided. 

As  in  the  past,  Electrical  World,  the 
national  weekly,  will  be  devoted  to  the 
problems  of  executives  and  electrical 
engineers  responsible  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  policies,  for  engineering  de- 
velopments and  for  practices  in  all 
branches  of  the  electrical  industry.  Its 
editorial  scope,  except  for  broadening, 
remains  unchanged,  and  embraces  (1) 
the  fundamentals  of  electrical  engineer- 
ing as  a  profession;  (2)  production, 
distribution  and  application  of  electri- 
cal energy  as  a  service;  and  (3)  the 
broad  problems  of  production,  distri- 
bution and  application  of  electrical 
equipment  and  merchandise  as  a  busi- 
ness. 


Indianapolis  Company 
May  Seek  Relief 

Announcement  was  made  recently  by 
Dr.  Henry  Jameson,  chairman  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  Indianapolis 
(Ind.)  Street  Railway,  that  the  com- 
pany will  lay  before  the  Public  Service 
Commission  its  entire  financial  prob- 
lem and  ask  for  a  readjustment  after 
the  first  of  the  year  unless  the  com- 
pany's revenues  are  improved  consider- 
ably by  the  stoppage  of  jitney  bus  com- 
petition. 

Dr.  Jameson's  statement  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  comment  on  a  request  by 
the  Board  of  Public  Works  for  repre- 
sentatives of  the  railway  to  appear  to 
explain  why  a  petition  has  not  been 
presented  to  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission for  relief  from  costs  of  paving 
between  tracks.  Dr.  Jameson  said  that 
tests  are  being  made  to  learn  if  en- 
forcement of  the  jitney  regulation  or- 
dinance is  raising  the  company's  rev- 
enues. As  yet  no  definite  figures  have 
been  compiled.    Dr.  Jameson  said: 

The  railway  must  have  more  income  than 
it  has  at  present  either  by  raising  fares  or 
by  elimination  of  special  taxes.  At  the 
proper  time  the  whole  financial  problem  wi'l 
have  to  be  put  up  to  the  Public  Service 
Commission.  We  have  not  formulated  any 
general  plan  of  action  yet,  but  we  know 
that  the  company  cannot  progress  and  be 
rehabilitated  until  an  adequate  income  is 
provided,  thus  assuring  credit. 

At  conferences  held  between  city  of- 
ficials and  representatives  of  the  rail- 
way since  the  company's  franchise  was 
surrendered  for  an  indeterminate  grant 
the  company  has  insisted  that  it  should 
be  relieved  of  paying  the  cost  of  pav- 
ing between  tracks.  The  company  asked 
also  that  it  be  relieved  from  paying 
the  $30,000  annual  franchise  tax  to  the 
city  and  the  entire  amount  of  $500,000 
was  declared  forfeited  to  the  city  when 


the  company  did  not  make  this  payment 
last  spring. 

During  subsequent  conferences,  Dr. 
Jameson  and  other  directors  of  the 
company  said  they  would  take  the  mat- 
ter up  with  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion in  an  effort  to  be  relieved  from  pay- 
ing paving  costs.  Members  of  the  Board 
of  Public  Works  said  recently  that  a 
reasonable  time  has  elapsed,  but  that 
the  company  has  not  put  its  case  before 
the  commission. 


Asks  New  Estimates 

for  Electrification 

Estimates  for  the  electrification  of 
nearly  40  miles  of  track  of  the  Dela- 
ware, Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad 
near  Scranton,  Pa.,  have  been  asked  by 
officials  of  the  company.  The  General 
Electric  Company  and  the  Westing- 
house  Electric  Company  are  preparing 
the  figures,  which  are  expected  to  be 
ready  March,  1922.  The  railway  re- 
jected bids  submitted  last  summer. 


Tax  Amendment  Introduced 

A  very  determined  effort  will  be 
made  at  the  present  session  of  Con- 
gress to  secure  legislation  to  limit  or 
prevent  the  issuance  of  tax-free  securi- 
ties by  states  and  their  sub-divisions. 
Representative  Foster  of  Ohio  has  in- 
troduced a  constitutional  amendment 
which  provides  that  Congress  "shall 
have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  on 
incomes  derived  from  obligations  issued 
or  created  by  a  state  or  any  political 
sub-division  thereof  after  the  ratifica- 
tion of  this  article,  without  apportion- 
ment among  the  several  states  and 
without  regard  to  any  census  or  enum- 
eration." 

The  difficulty  with  any  constitutional 
amendment  is  the  probability  that  its 
ratification  by  the  States  will  be  very 
difficult  to  secure.  A  suggestion  which 
is  receiving  serious  consideration  is 
the  placing  of  a  heavier  inheritance  tax 
on  tax-free  securities.  Any  such  legis- 
lation would  be  reflected  immediately 
in  the  sales  value  of  such  bonds  and 
would  act  as  an  automatic  check  on 
their  sale.  There  is  a  very  general 
feeling  in  Congress  that  some  way  will 
be  found  to  limit  the  issuance  of  such 
securities.   

Picketing  Lawful,  but 
Intimidation  Illegal 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  on  Dec.  5  held  that  picketing  in 
labor  disputes  is  lawful,  but  must  be 
done  by  a  single  striker  at  each  en- 
trance or  exit,  but  intimidation  is  il- 
legal, in  the  case  of  the  American  Steel 
Foundries  vs.  the  Tri-Cities  Central 
Trade  Council,  growing  out  of  a 
threatened  strike  at  Granite  City. 

The  court  upheld  the  right  of  labor 
men  to  persuade  men  to  discontinue 
work  and  join  the  strikers,  if  done  by 
personal  persuasion,  but  not  by  as- 
sembling a  large  number  of  strikers  at 
entrances  of  a  plant  where  a  strike  is  in 
progress,  which  may  lead  to  intimida- 
tion and  civil  disorder. 

The  court  held  that  labor  organiza- 
tions are  legal  under  the  Clayton  law 
and  that  they  may  use  all  lawful 
methods  to  enlarge  their  membership 
and  influence  in  labor  matters. 

The  decision  of  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Appeals  was  affirmed  in  part  and  re- 
versed in  part.  Associate  Justice 
Brandeis  concurred  in  the  result  and 
Associate  Justice  Clarke  dissented. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1085 


New  York  Inquiry  Nearing  Close 

The  First  Stage  of  the  Investigation  Now  in  Progress  Before  the  Transit 
Commission  Appears  to  Be  Drawing  to  an  End — Valuation 
Hearing  Early  in  1922 

General  agreement  was  expressed  during  the  hearing  before  the  Transit  Com- 
mission of  New  York  this  week  with  the  tentative  outline  of  the  commission's 
plan  although  criticisms  were  offered  with  respect  to  some  of  the  details.  The 
first  stage  of  the  inquiry  appears  now  to  be  drawing  to  a  close.  It  is  promised 
by  the  commission  that  early  in  1922  that  body  will  probably  be  prepared  to  go 
ahead  with  consideration  of  the  various  valuations. 


NF.  Brady,  chairman  of  the  board 
•  of  directors  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit,  followed  President  Williams  of 
that  company  on  the  stand  before  the 
New  York  Transit  Commission  in  the 
session  of  that  body  on  Dec.  7.  Mr. 
Brady  was  questioned  more  particularly 
by  the  counsel  with  respect  to  the  policy 
that  had  been  adopted  by  the  company 
on  declaring  dividends  during  1917  in 
the  face  of  the  knowledge  that  the  com- 
pany was  making  a  poor  showing  com- 
pared with  the  year  before  and  that  the 
company  was  faced  in  the  following 
year  with  the  burden  of  $57,000,000  of 
maturing  notes. 

Mr.  Brady  said  that  the  situation  was 
not  nearly  as  gloomy  as  counsel  for  the 
commission  had  assumed;  that  there 
was  sufficient  surplus  shown  on  the 
balance  sheet  of  the  company;  that  the 
company  had  earned  the  dividends,  and 
that  he  doubted  whether  the  company 
would  have  been  justified  in  passing 
payments  before  it  did. 

Again  the  question  was  brought  up, 
as  in  the  case  of  President  Williams,  of 
the  obligation  of  which  the  company  felt 
toward  holders  of  stock  to  the  amount 
of  about  $30,000,000,  who  were  formerly 
bondholders  and  had  been  induced  to 
convert  their  bonds  into  stock  on  the 
basis  of  the  dividend  showing  of  the 
company  over  a  number  of  years  pre- 
vious to  conversion. 

The  consideration  that  governed  the 
financial  policies  of  the  company  with 
respect  to  dividends  is  contained  in  the 
answer  "yes"  of  Mr.  Brady  to  the  fol- 
lowing question  of  counsel  for  the  com- 
mission: 

Your  position  then  is,  as  I  understand  it, 
that  although  the  conditions  were  looking 
bad  early  in  1917,  as  you  stated  to  your 
stockholders  and  had  recorded  in  your 
minutes,  and  although  the  cost  of  labor  and 
materials  was  mounting,  and  taxes  were 
mounting  and  you  were  in  considerable  diffi- 
culties in  the  matter  of  whether  you  would 
be  able  to  finance  these  $57,000,000  of  notes, 
that  taken  all  in  all,  as  long  as  you  had 
earned  the  dividend,  you  felt  that  you 
would  not  be  justified  in  discontinuing  it 
during  1917  on  account  of  the  effect  that 
it  might  have  on  the  investors'  minds,  on 
the  ability  of  the  company  to  finance  its 
future  requirements,  and  on  account  of 
what  Col.  Williams  called  your  moral 
obligation  to  stockholders,  and  the  other  ele- 
ments you  have  mentioned? 

Lindley  M.  Garrison,  former  Secre- 
tary of  War,  and  now  receiver  for  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  on 
Dec.  8  criticized  some  features  of  the 
preliminary  plan  drawn  by  the  Transit 
Commission,  but  added  that  he  was  in 
general  accord  with  the  proposals. 

On  the  witness  stand  for  about 
four  hours  Mr.  Garrison  said  that 
he  did  not  wholly  agree  with  Colonel 
Timothy  S.  Williams,  president  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  that 
the  proposal  for  a  board  of  control  of 
seven  men  would  offer  large  opportuni- 
ties for  abuse  that  Mr.  Williams 
thought  existed  in  the  proposal  plan, 
but  said  that  it  did  present  an  opening 
for  an  undesirable  political  domination 
of  the  city's  transportation  system. 

He  spoke  of  the  difficulty  of  having 
the   so-called   A   company,  or  holding 


company  under  the  plan,  borrow  addi- 
tional money  for  the  transit  system  be- 
cause it  would  have  pledged  all  its 
properties  as  security  for  the  payment 
of  the  purchase  price  of  the  lines. 
Agreeing  in  part  with  the  suggestions 
made  by  Colonel  Williams  before  the 
commission,  he  said  that  the  time  must 
come  when  the  city  would  have  to 
finance  the  transit  system. 

Both  Mr.  Garrison  and  W.  S.  Menden, 
the  general  manager  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  lines,  told  of  the  results 
of  operation  under  receivership.  They 
described  the  abolition  of  transfer 
points,  coal  costs,  need  for  rehabilitation 
of  the  lines,  and  general  physical  con- 
dition. They  also  told  of  the  passing  of 
the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad  lines  back  to 
their  owners  to  operate. 

Testifying  on  Dec.  12  on  the  general 
condition  of  the  lines  of  the  Brooklyn 
City  Railroad,  which  operates  about  50 
per  cent  of  the  surface  tracks  in  Brook- 
lyn, H.  H.  Porter,  president  of  that  com- 
pany, said  that  the  company  had  ob- 
served an  increase  in  profitable  short 
haul  traffic  and  was  showing  a  profit 
above  all  charges.  He  reported  that 
costs  were  going  down  and  that  effi- 
ciency of  labor  was  increasing. 

Mr.  Porter  said: 

I  may  say  that  the  directors  and  officers 
of  the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad  will,  of 
course,  co-operate  with  the  commission  in 
every  way  to  effectuate  this  plan,  if  they 
feel  it  can  be  done  safely  for  the  security 
holders.  The  Brooklyn  City  Railroad,  occu- 
pying the  position  it  does,  and  myself,  oc- 
cupying a  relative  position  to  the  security 
holders,  feel  a  great  deal  of  hesitancy  In 
making  a  definite  commitment. 

We  have  no  great  banking  houses  to  look 
after  and  advise  our  security  holders.  About 
half  of  the  stockholders  are  women,  and 
we,  therefore,  have  an  unusual  responsi- 
bility. I  am  in  thorough  accord  with  the 
principle  of  consolidation  and  putting  all 
the  properties  together  and  with  the  pro- 
posal for  taking  them  over  into  an  owner- 
ship by  the  city,  and  meantime  to  have 
them  operated  by  the  present  security 
holders. 

I  feel,  however,  that  there  are  two  very 
important  conditions  attendant  upon  effec- 
tuating such  a  plan.  One  is  the  absolute 
security  for  the  payment  of  interest,  the 
5  per  cent  interest  on  the  funds  to  be  se- 
cured ;  and,  secondly,  the  safety  of  the 
principal  until  it  shall  have  finally  been 
amortized.  That  means  that  either  the 
security  holder  must  pin  entire  faith  upon 
the  company  or  the  security  holder  must 
fall  back  upon  the  security  of  the  property. 

I  feel  very  strongly  that  the  suggested 
board  of  control  would  not  work  for  the 
efficient  or  would  not  lend  itself  to  the 
most  efficient  operation  of  the  system.  I  be- 
lieve that  the  highest  and  best  efficiency  in 
any  organization  can  only  be  secured  by 
fixing  the  responsibility  and  narrowing  it 
down,  and  that  such  a  board  of  control  will 
serve  to  diffuse  the  responsibility  between 
the  operating  officers  and  the  board  of  con- 
trol. 

It  is  only  by  securing  the  highest  effi- 
ciency that  we  can  hope  to  have  a  5-cent 
fare  or  less.  I  think  that  is  my  principal 
criticism  of  the  plan,  except  that  I  feel 
that  the  form  of  contract  should  so  assure 
the  holder  of  the  security  of  the  payment  of 
the  5  per  cent  interest  that  there  would  be 
no  possibility  of  having  to  take  the  property 
back. 

It  was  at  the  session  on  Dec.  12 
that  George  McAneny,  chairman  of  the 
Transit  Commission,  hinted  that  criti- 
cism of  the  proposal  for  a  board  of 


control  of  seven  members  had  been  so 
general  among  traction  experts  that 
this  feature  would  be  revised  when  the 
revised  plan  was  formulated  after  the 
hearings  have  ended. 

Both  Mr.  Morrow  and  Arthur  M. 
Anderson,  head  of  the  bond  department 
of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company,  testified 
on  Dec.  13  about  Interborough  finances. 
While  Mr.  Anderson  was  testifying  it 
developed  that  the  Morgan  firm  as 
far  back  as  1914  advised  against  start- 
ing dividends  on  the  preferred  stock 
of  the  Interborough-Consolidated  Cor- 
poration, then  under  formation  to  suc- 
ceed the  Interborough-Metropolitan 
Corporation,  only  to  have  the  warnings 
disregarded. 

After  it  had  been  brought  out  that  J. 
P.  Morgan  is  chairman  of  the  Interbor- 
ough bondholders'  protective  committee, 
of  which  Mr.  Morgan  is  a  member,  Mr. 
Morrow  said  he  had  studied  the  commis- 
sion's settlement  plan  and  proceeded 
step  by  step  to  announce  his  approval 
of  various  features  enumerated  by 
Clarence  J.  Shearn,  special  counsel  to 
the  commission. 

It  was  made  clear  that  Mr.  Morrow's 
comment  was  not  to  be  considered  final 
nor  to  bind  the  committee  in  any  way. 
He  explained  that  the  matter  had  not 
formally  been  placed  before  the  commit- 
tee which  awaited  the  final  statutory 
plan  expected  to  be  ready  next  month. 
Mr.  Morrow  was,  however,  inclined  to 
accept  the  board  of  control  idea,  adding 
"you  cannot  put  together  any  plan,  you 
cannot  make  any  provision  for  the  fu- 
ture which  will  not  have  in  it  perils  of 
all  kinds,  whether  you  have  private 
management  or  whether  you  have  pub- 
lic management." 


Mr.  Beeler  to  Assist  in  Solving 
New  York  City  Situation 

Announcement  was  made  by  the  New 
York  Transit  Commission  early  in  the 
week  ended  Dec.  17  that  John  A.  Beeler, 
the  well  known  consulting  engineer,  has 
been  appointed  consulting  traffic  ex- 
pert by  the  New  York  Transit  Com- 
mission and  will  begin  work  right  away 
on  an  investigation  and  report  on  re- 
routing the  surface  lines  in  New  York 
City.  For  work  of  this  kind  Mr.  Beeler 
is  especially  qualified  from  his  expe- 
rience as  constructor  and  operator  of 
electric  ralways.  For  thirteen  years  he 
was  constructing  engineer  and  chief  en- 
gineer of  the  Denver  Tramway,  and  for 
the  twelve  following  years  he  was  the 
chief  operating   executive   at  Denver. 

For  the  past  six  years  Mr.  Beeler, 
acting  as  individual  consulting  engi- 
neer and  traffic  expert,  has  studied  and 
reported  on  traffic  problems  in  a  num- 
ber of  important  cities  in  this  country. 
One  report  was  on  Boston  for  the 
State  of  Massachustets.  Another 
report  was  on  the  situation  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  for  the  Public  Util- 
ities Commission  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.  Later  he  reported  for  the 
Board  of  Control  on  railway  matters 
in  Kansas  City.  Recently  he  has  been 
engaged  in  a  study  of  the  situation  in 
Chicago,  wh^re  a  re-routing  plan  for 
the  surface  lines,  as  recommended  by 
Mr.  Beeler  in  his  testimony,  has  been 
ordered  to  be  installed.  The  selection 
of  Mr.  Beeler  in  New  York  would  indi- 
cate that  the  New  York  Transit  Com- 
mission is  in  favor  of  adopting  the 
most  modern  methods  of  service  by  the 
various  operating  companies,  through 
an  examination  of  what  ouerht  to  be 
done  to  supolv  New  York  citizens  with 
^00  rjer  cent  service. 


1086 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25» 


Pittsburgh  Plan  Advanced 

City  Council  Approves  Revised  Settle- 
ment Agreement — Solution  of  Rail- 
way Problem  Brought  Nearer 

After  a  delay  of  two  weeks,  during 
which  time  many  conferences  have  been 
held  between  Mayor  Babcock,  Mayor- 
elect  Magee  and  City  Council,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  revisions  in  the  plan 
for  the  new  franchise  and  the  reorgani- 
zation of  the  Pittsburgh  Railways  out- 
lined in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, issue  of  Nov.  26,  the  plan  as  re- 
vised has  been  approved  by  all  inter- 
ested parties  including  Council,  which 
passed  on  it  Dec.  13.  It  will  come  up 
for  final  passage  by  Council  in  a  few 
days,  after  which  it  will  go  to  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission  for  ratification. 

To  End  Receivership 
With  approval  by  the  commission, 
steps  will  be  taken  by  the  company  to 
terminate  the  receivership  and  provide 
$5,000,000  additional  capital  necessary 
to  give  effect  to  the  agreement.  Re- 
organization of  the  railway  will  follow 
and  the  railway  properties,  under  the 
Public  Service  Commission  valuation 
of  $62,500,000,  with  a  stipulated  an- 
nual return  of  6  per  cent,  will  be  oper- 
ated as  a  unit. 

The  board  of  control,  with  amplified 
powers  under  the  amended  plan  to  give 
the  city  supervision  of  the  service, 
facilities,  rates,  charges  and  finances 
of  the  company,  and  of  its  extensions, 
will  be  known  as  the  Traction  Confer- 
ence Board,  it  was  decided  by  the  com- 
mittee. 

Committee  Approval  Given 
The  approval  of  the  Committee  on 
Public  Service  and  Surveys  of  City 
Council  was  given  without  discussion. 
George  N.  Monro,  Jr.,  special  city  coun- 
sel in  charge  of  public  utilities  litiga- 
tion, advised  the  committee  that  all 
parties  interested  had  agreed  to  the 
plan  and  form  of  agreement,  with  the 
amendments  recently  drafted. 

The  amendments  were  drawn  as  the 
results  of  numerous  conferences  during 
recent  weeks  of  Council,  Mayor  Bab- 
cock, Mayor-elect  Magee,  A.  W.  Thomp- 
son, president  of  the  Philadelphia  Com- 
pany, City  Solicitor  Charles  B.  Prich- 
ard,  Mr.  Monro  and  A.  W.  Robertson, 
counsel  for  the  company. 

The  plan  was  presented  to  Council  on 
July  25  last,  and  was  ordered  to  be 
publicly  circulated.  General  approval 
by  civic  organizations  and  the  public 
followed.  Public  hearings  were  held 
by  the  Councilmanic  committee.  Some 
organizations  of  the  Allied  Boards  of 
Trade  proposed  an  alternate  plan, 
based  on  the  Cleveland  plan  of  opera- 
tion, which  has  been  studied  by  the 
committee  and  found  its  main  features 
not  to  be  applicable  locally,  although 
desirable  provisions  of  it  were  a  part 
of  the  local  plan. 


Joint  Operation  Started  in  Detroit 

Joint  operation  between  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  and  the  Detroit  Mu- 
nicipal Railway  on  Trumbull  Avenue 
was  set  for  Dec.  15.  For  several 
days  previous  to  that  date  the  Peter 
Witt  cars  of  the  municipal  rail- 
way were  run  over  the  Trumbull  line 
to  familiarize  the  city  motormen  with 
the  route  and  to  instruct  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  motormen  who  will 
become  city  employees  with  the  details 
of  operation  of  the  new  cars.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  to  issue  transfers 


from  the  Municipal  cars  on  the  Trum- 
bull line  to  all  connecting  lines  of  both 
systems. 

The  agreement  for  the  joint  opera- 
tion of  cars  has  been  drafted  by  Elliott 
G.  Stevenson,  counsel  for'  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  and  approved  by  Cor- 
poration Counsel  Clarence  E.  Wilcox 
and  will  become  effective  as  soon  as 
signed  by  both  parties.  The  agreement 
is  understood  to  contain  the  detailed 
arrangements  for  the  joint  operation 
on  the  lines  affected.  The  agreement 
is  drawn  so  as  to  be  effective  on  a  day- 
to-day  basis  and  may  be  repealed  by 
either  company  at  any  time  it  may 
elect. 

With  the  termination  of  the  joint 
operation  the  situation  will  return  to 
the  status  quo,  and  neither  the  com- 
pany nor  the  city  will  have  gained  or 
lost  any  rights  in  the  streets.  The 
agreement  also  provides  that  no  ordi- 
nance or  power  of  enacting  ordinances 
is  suspended  or  modified  in  any  way  by 
the  city  in  becoming  a  party  to  the 
agreement. 

With  the  day-to-day  lines  the  city 
will  take  over  128  cars  for  its  use. 
When  the  plan  for  joint  service  goes 
into  effect  the  Detroit  United  Railway 
employees  who  would  lose  their  posi- 
tions will  be  given  places  on  the  munici- 
pal cars  and  will  be  supplied  with 
uniforms  of  the  municipal  railway. 

According  to  present  plans  the  com- 
pany and  the  city  will  operate  cars 
a^ernately  on  Fort  Street,  Woodward 
Avenue,  Trumbull,  Fourteenth  and 
Hamilton  lines,  and  all  other  Detroit 
United  Railway  lines  will  continue 
operating  as  at  present  throughout  the 
winter.  The  universal  transfer  will  be 
put  into  effect  as  soon  as  the  work  of 
printing  and  distributing  the  transfers 
is  completed. 


Half  Dozen  Hurt  in  Interurban 
Crash 

One  man  was  killed  and  a  half  dozen 
others  were  injured  when  an  interur- 
ban car  of  the  Cincinnati  &  Dayton 
Traction    Company   crashed   into  an- 


Crushed  Vestibule  of  Interurban  Car 


other  car,  standing  on  the  tracks  near 
the  carhouse  south  of  Carrmonte,  Day- 
ton, Ohio. 

The  moving  car  was  crowded  with 
workmen  on  their  way  to  the  plant  of 
the  General  Motors  Company  at  Mo- 
raine City.  The  standing  car  had  been 
run  out  on  the  main  line  a  few  minutes 
before  the  accident  occurred  in  order 
to  let  another  car  leave  the  carhouse. 
According  to  witnesses  the  motorman 


failed  to  see  the  car  standing  on  the 
track  until  too  late.  When  he  observed 
that  a  crash  was  inevitable  the  motor- 
man  leaped  through  a  window,  receiv- 
ing only  minor  injuries. 

The  coupling  apparatus  of  the  stand- 
ing car  was  forced  through  the  front 
end  of  the  interurban.  The  impact 
hurled  all  persons  in  the  moving  car 
toward  the  front  end. 

Investigation  is  being  made  by  the 
executives  of  the  railway  to  determine 
whether  the  accident  was  caused  by  the- 
slippery  condition  of  the  rails  or  the 
dense  fog  that  hung  over  the  country- 
side at  the  time.  The  conductor  said 
the  car  was  running  25  to  30  m.p.h.  at 
the  time  of  the  accident. 


News  Notes 


Last  Respects  Paid  Henry  J.  Davies^ 

— Funeral  services  for  the  late  Henry 
J.  Davies  were  held  on  Dec.  7.  The 
honorary  pallbearers  were  J.  J.  Stanley, 
president  of  the  Cleveland  Railway;  R. 
A.  Harmon,  Thomas  Schmidt,  George 
Radciiffe,  directors  of  the  railway;  C. 
Nesbitt  Duffy,  Detroit;  Judge  Fielder 
Sanders,  City  Street  Railway  Commis- 
sioner, Andrew  Squire  and  Harry  J. 
Crawford,  legal  counsel  for  the  com- 
pany. 

Old  Employees  Back? — It  is  rumored 
that  the  newly  elected  Democratic  ad- 
ministration in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  will  re- 
quest the  United  Traction  Company  to 
discharge  all  imported  conductors  and 
motormen  and  to  restore  with  full  seni- 
ority rights  all  of  its  former  employees 
who  care  to  return  to  work.  No  threat 
is  to  be  made  of  the  curtailment  of  any 
existing  right  or  privilege  now  enjoyed 
by  the  United  Traction  Company.  It 
is  simply  to  be  invited  in  the  spirit 
of  helping  boost  Albany  to  give  pref- 
erence in  employment  to  its  old  Al- 
bany employees. 

Two  Arbitrators  Chosen.  —  C.  H. 
Schoepf,  chief  engineer  of  the  Cincin- 
nati (Ohio)  Traction  Company,  and 
Raymond  Cleary  of  Springfield,  I1L, 
representative  of  the  International 
Brotherhood  of  Electrical  Workers, 
have  been  chosen  as  arbitrators  to  set- 
tle the  wage  disagreement  between  the 
traction  company  and  its  electrical 
workers.  The  men  have  asked  for  an 
increase  from  871  cents  an  hour  to 
$1.05  to  date  from  the  expiration  of 
their  contract,  Nov.  15,  1921.  The  Ohio 
State  Industrial  Commission  has  been 
asked  to  appoint  the  third  arbitrator. 

New  Improvement  in  Prospect. — 
Members  of  the  Sayler  Park  Business 
Men's  Club  have  indorsed  the  plan  now 
under  consideration  by  interests  con- 
trolling the  Cincinnati,  Lawrenceburg 
&  Aurora  Electric  Street  Railroad, 
whereby  the  traction  line  will  be  ex- 
tended so  as  to  bring  the  cars  to  the 
heart  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  The  plan 
outlined  by  L.  G.  Van  Ness,  general 
manager  of  the  traction  company,  is  to 
extend  the  traction  line  from  Anderson 
Ferry  to  the  Dixie  Terminal  and  to  op- 
erate this  extension  by  the  West  End 
Terminal  Railway,  which  will  be  or- 
s-anized  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000. 
The  members  of  the  club,  who  will  be 
benefited  by  the  improvement,  have  also 
voted  to  give  their  moral  support  to  the 
plan. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1087 


Montreal  Tramways 
Betterments  in  1921 

Details    of    Work    to    Be    Paid  For 
From   Proceeds  of  $1,750,000 
Bond  Sale 

Among  the  improvements  made  by 
the  Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  during 
the  year  and  for  which  the  proceeds 
from  the  sale  of  $1,750,000  bonds  will 
be  used,  noted  in  last  week's  issue  of 
this  paper,  is  the  new  Cote  substation, 
complete  in  every  detail  and  in  the 
heart  of  the  city.  In  this  substation 
there  will  ultimately  be  four  G.  E. 
rotary  converters  with  a  maximum  ca- 
pacity of  10,000  kw.  Already  two  ma- 
chines are  installed  and  in  operation. 
The  other  two  are  expected  within  the 
month.  Including  the  land,  building, 
high-tension  underground  conduits,  tie 
lines  and  converters,  the  installation 
when  completed  will  represent  ap- 
proximately $750,000  investment,  all  of 
which  will  be  charged  to  capital. 

Details  of  Work  Completed 

Two  car  routes  were  also  extended 
during  the  year.  This  work  neces- 
sitated laying  2.62  miles  of  open  single 
track  at  an  investment  of  $30,000  per 
mile.  In  addition  to  these  13.38  miles 
of  tangent  track  were  rehabilitated  and 
twenty-one  pieces  of  special  track  in- 
tersections having  a  total  length  of 
9,800  track-ft.  were  relaid.  Not  all  of 
this  cost,  however,  could  be  charged  to 
capital,  for  under  the  service-at-cost 
contract  only  the  excess  cost  over  that 
renewed  can  be  capitalized.  This  re- 
mains true  even  if  the  replacement  is 
in  kind.  However,  on  falling  prices, 
where  the  replacement  cost  is  less  than 
that  replaced,  the  difference  must  be 
credited  to  the  renewal  account  so  as 
to  maintain  at  all  times  the  integrity  of 
the  investment  represented  by  the 
capital  account  of  $36,286,295. 

The  opening  of  the  Cote  substation 
by  the  Montreal  (Que.)  Tramways  has 
allowed  the  company  to  increase  mate- 
rially the  amount  of  hydro-electric 
power  used.  Power  is  purchased  from 
three  sources,  the  Montreal  Public 
Service  Company,  the  Shawinigan  Falls 
Power  Company  and  the  Montreal 
Light,  Heat  &  Power  Company. 

Steam  Plants  Shut  Down 
With  substations  tied  in  to  all  of 
these  sources  of  supply,  it  has  been 
possible  to  shut  down  the  Williams 
Street  steam  power  station  and  hold  it 
in  reserve  for  emergency  purposes. 
Power  in  the  past  has  cost  on  a 
weighted  average  basis,  considering  the 
amount  of  steam  generated  and  hydro 
power  used,  about  1  cent  per  kilowatt- 
hour.  It  being  possible  to  buy  hydro 
power  at  0.5  cent  per  kilowatt-hour, 
it  is  self-evident  that  power  charges  can 
be  decreased  materially  in  the  future. 
The  Hochelaga  plant  will  be  the  only 
remaining  steam  generating  station. 

The  Montreal  Tramways  Power  Com- 
pany, it  is  understood,  has  in  con- 
templation a  hydro-electric  power  de- 
velopment of  some  200,000  hp.  in  the 
outskirts  of  Montreal.  Until  this  plan 
is  more  fully  developed  and  under  way, 
however,  there  seems  to  be  no  like- 


lihood of  closing  down  the  Hochelaga 
steam  plant. 

As  for  the  1922  plans  of  the  tram- 
ways, extensive  track  rehabilitation  is 
planned  and  there  is  a  possibility  of 
further  track  extensions,  although 
nothing  definite  can  be  said  at  this  time 
as  to  just  how  much  work  will  be 
undertaken.  In  a  large  measure  that 
amount  of  work  to  be  done  will  depend 
upon  business  conditions,  the  amount  of 
traffic  and  the  price  of  materials. 


Plans  Being  Prepared  for  Sale  of 

Interurban  Under  Foreclosure 

The  way  is  gradually  being  cleared 
for  the  sale  of  the  property  of  the 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Railroad,  Au- 
rora, 111.,  under  foreclosure.  Before  Jan- 
uary 1  Judge  Evans  is  expected  to  in- 
dicate the  manner  in  which  the  sale 
will  be  conducted.  Among  the  ques- 
tions which  still  remain  to  be  decided 
is  whether  the  property  will  be  sold  as 
a  whole  or  in  separate  parcels.  There 
is  no  way  now  in  which  definitely  to 
tell  what  the  result  of  the  sale  will  be, 
but  it  would  appear  more  than  likely 
that  the  stockholders  will  not  realize 
anything  on  their  investment  in  the 
company. 

In  proceedings  brought  recently  in 
the  United  States  District  Court  to  es- 
tablish the  lien  on  various  bond  issues 
of  the  system  Judge  Geiger  has  ruled 
as  follows: 

1.  The  original  mortgage,  amounting  to 
$1,546,000,  of  the  old  Elgin.  Aurora  & 
Southern  Traction  Company,  is  a  first  lien 
on  the  Fox  River  division  including  the 
Aurora  and  Elgin  City  lines,  but  is  not  a 
lien  on  the  Batavia.  power  house  or  the 
third-rail  line  into  Chicago. 

2.  The  $2,455,000  of  underlying  first 
mortgage  bonds  of  the  Aurora,  Elgin  & 
Chicago  Railroad  are  a  first  lien  on  the 
third-rail  property  and  the  Batavia  power 
house,  but  are  not  a  lien  on  the  Fox  River 
division. 

3.  The  $4,738,000  of  Aurora,  Elgin  & 
Chicago  general  mortgage  bonds  are  a  lien 
on  the  third-rail  line,  the  Batavia  power 
house  and  the  Fox  River  line  subject  to 
the  above  underlying  issues. 


Historical  Treatise  on  Currency 

Inflation 

"Currency  Inflation  and  Public  Debts" 
is  the  title  of  a  historical  treatise  soon 
to  be  issued  by  the  Equitable  Trust 
Company,  New  York,  for  which  com- 
pany the  volume  was  written  by  Edwin 
R.  A.  Seligman,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  McVickar 
professor  of  political  economy  at  Co- 
lumbia University.  An  introduction 
has  been  written  to  the  volume  by  Alyin 
W.  Krech,  president  of  the  Equitable 
Trust  Company,  in  which  he  discusses 
the  three  great  problems  of  the  grow- 
ing burden  of  taxation,  the  sudden 
changes  in  price  levels  and  the  insta- 
bility of  currency.  Dr.  Seligman  says 
that  everywhere  the  massing  of  gigan- 
tic debts  and  the  issue  of  irredeemable 
or  inconvertible  paper  money  operated 
to  accentuate  price  increases  and  to  add 
the  woes  of  inflation  to  the  other  evils 
of  war.  Mr.  Krech  says  that  it  must 
be  admitted  Dr.  Seligman's  paper  is  not 
conducive  to  optimism,  but  to  his  mind 
its  austere  and  clear  outlines  convey  a 
lesson  which  should  not  be  missed. 

Louisville  Railway's  Income 
for  1921 

In  the  Dec.  3  issue  of  this  paper  the 
figures  quoted  in  comparison  for  1920 
for  the  Louisville  (Ky.)  Railway  should 
have  referred  to  the  estimated  figures 
for  the  last  quarter  of  1921.  The  deficit 
mentioned  in  each  case  was  after  the 
dividend  requirements  had  been  de- 
ducted and  was  not  an  operating  deficit. 
To  remove  all  possible  misunderstand- 
ing the  full  table  is  published. 

Since  the  preparation  of  this  state- 
ment the  figures  covering  operations 
for  the  month  of  October  are  available, 
and,  due  to  a  reduction  in  operating 
expenses,  the  net  income  for  the  month 
is  approximately  $24,000  more  than  the 
amount  estimated.  On  Nov.  1,  the  com- 
pany put  into  effect  a  new  scale  of 
wages,  reducing  existing  rates  approxi- 
mately 5  cents  an  hour,  and  with  this 
saving  and  other  expected  decreases  in 
expenses,  the  company  hopes  to  be  able 
to  wipe  out  a  very  large  part  of  this 
shortage  in  individual  requirements  for 
this  period,  which  was  estimated  at 
about  $105,856  as  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying table. 


Nine  Months 

Jan.  1  to 
Sept.  30,  1921 

Operating  Pevenue  of  T  ouisvil'e  Railway: 

Transportation  revenue   $3, 1 63,34 1 

Other  operating  revenue   !  46,01 2 

Total  operating  revenue   $3,309,353 

Operating  expenses   2,516,933 

Net  operating  revenue   $792,420 

Taxes   273,000 

Operating  income   $519,420 

Non-operating  income  (L.  &  I.  R.R.  Co.,  etc.)   57,869 

Gross  income   $577,289 

Deductions  from  gross  income: 

Interest  on  indebtedness,  etc   479,906 

Net  income  available  for  dividends   $97,383 

Dividend  requirements: 

Preferred  stock   $131,250 

Common  stock   374,562 

Total  dividend  requirements   $505,81 2 

Deficit   $408,429 


Three  Months 

Oct.  1  to 
Dec.  31,  1921 
(Estimated) 

$1,105,000 
48,000 

M,  153,000 
862,500 

$290,500 
99,000 

$191,500 
30,000 

$221,500 

158,752 

$62,748 


$43,750 
124,854 

$168,604 

$105,856 


Total 
1921 

$4,268,341 
194,012 

$4,462,353 
3,379,433 


$798,789 
638,659 
$160,130 


$175,000 
499,416 

$674,416 

$514,285 


Note:  In  the  event  of  an  unfavorable  de- 
cision by  the  courts  in  our  fare  case,  the 
company  will  be  obliged  to  make  refund 
to  holders  of  7-cent  ticket  fare  receipts. 
Based  on  ticket  sales  from  March  24  to 
Oct.    24,   1921,  it  is   estimated  that  such 


liability  up  to  Dec.  31,  1921,  will  be  about 
$335,000.00.  If  such  refund  were  ordered, 
the  earnings  of  the  company  would  be  de- 
creased by  this  amount,  and  the  deficit 
for  1921  would  be  increased  to  about 
$850,000. 


1088 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Return  of  Trolleys  to  "New  Haven"  Favored 

Business  Interests  in  Connecticut  Want  Electric  Railways  Returned  to  New 
Haven  Railroad — United  States  Attorney  General  Seeks 
Advice  from  Local  Interests 

Harry  W.  Daugherty,  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States,  holding  personal 
hearings  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  during  the  week  ended  Dec.  17  indicated  that  he 
looked  with  favor  on  the  proposal  to  return  the  Connecticut  Company  and  the 
Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  to  the  ownership  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  & 
Hartford  Railroad.  Only  one  voice,  that  of  Howell  Cheney,  Manchester,  was 
raised  in  opposition  to  the  plan.  Scores  of  business  and  financial  men,  however, 
presented  arguments  why  the  securities  of  these  companies  ought  to  revert 
to  the  "New  Haven." 


THE  Attorney  General  had  previ- 
ously announced  that  his  decision 
would  rest  largely  on  the  question  of 
competition.  To  that  he  added  that  the 
burden  of  proof  would  be  on  those 
claiming  that  the  properties  involved 
were  in  competition. 

With  a  statement  that  he  wanted  to 
know  why  the  "New  Haven"  subsidia- 
ries, any  more  than  those  or  other  rail- 
roads of  the  company,  should  be  kept 
under  government  control,  Mr.  Daugh- 
erty gave  so  much  encouragement  to 
the  scores  of  business  men  at  the  hear- 
ing that  Vice-President  and  General 
Counsel  Buckland  of  the  "New  Haven" 
was  called  upon  for  a  statement  and 
referred  to  the  fact  that  the  "court" 
was  apparently  with  him. 

Most  of  the  subsidiaries  of  the  "New 
Haven"  were  divorced  from  it  seven 
years  ago  when  the  directors  were 
forced  by  the  Wilson  Administration  to 
consent  to  a  federal  court  decree  based 
on  a  suit  brought  by  the  Department 
of  Justice  on  the  ground  that  the  "New 
Haven"  had  built  up  a  monopoly  in 
violation  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust 
Act. 

In  commenting  on  the  situation  the 
Attorney  General  said: 

I  am  familiar  with  this  controversy. 
AVhile  I  am  unwilling  to  prejudice  the  sit- 
uation, yet  on  the  general  proposition  that 
transportation  companies  should  be  sus- 
tained, supported  and  extended,  I  have 
pronounced  ideas.  I  am  perfectly  willing 
to  listen  to  those  who  want  to  tell  me  that 
the  Boston  &  Maine  and  the  electric  rail- 
way subsidiaries  of  the  New  Haven  are  not 
in  competition,  but  tbe  burden  of  proof  will 
be  on  those  who  claim  that  they  are  com- 
petitive. I  see  no  reason  for  discussing  that 
point. 

I  want  to  know  from  you,  gentlemen,  if 
you  know  of  any  reason'  why  the  govern- 
ment should  maintain  the  supervision  of 
this  particular  property  under  federal 
trustees  any  more  than  it  should  have 
supervision  over  any  of  the  other  railroads 
of  the  country.  The  situation  is  a  little 
peculiar  in  New  England.  If  the  govern- 
ment can  do  anything  that  will  be  helpful 
to  these  properties,  I  am  here  to  see  what 
the  government  can  do,  but  I  am,  of  course, 
interested  primarily  in  determining  the  legal 
aspect. 

"We  feel  that,  under  the  past  admin- 
istration, we  have  been  in  jail  long 
enough"  declared  E.  Kent  Hubbard,  Mid- 
dletown.  "We  want  to  be  free.  Is 
there  anyone  here  who  would  object  to 
the  government  releasing  control  of 
the  New  Haven  properties?" 

Howell  Cheney,  Manchester,  spoke  as 
a  representative  of  Cheney  Brothers, 
largest  silk  manufacturers  in  the  world. 
He  said  there  was  a  grave  question  as 
to  the  advisability  of  bolstering  up  the 
credit  of  the  "New  Haven"  by  return- 
ing the  Connecticut  to  its  control.  He 
said  the  Connecticut  Company  under 
an  efficient  board  of  trustees  had  been 
kept  in  good  condition  and  its  integrity 
had  been  maintained,  while  electric  rail- 
ways in  other  New  England  states  had 
failed.    This  was  due,  he  felt,  to  the 


policy  of  developing  the  entire  system 
as  one  unit  so  as  to  make  the  strong 
parts  carry  along  the  weak  parts.  Mr. 
Cheney  viewed  with  grave  apprehension 
whether  the  return  of  the  Connecticut 
Company  would  "avert  the  impending 
disaster  to  the  New  Haven."  He 
thought  that  to  a  considerable  extent 
the  present  favorable  condition  of  the 
Connecticut  Company  was  attributable 
to  the  management  by  the  trustees.  Mr. 
Cheney  said  he  was  not  prepared  to 
answer  concerning  state  supervision.  So 
far,  he  said,  it  has  not  helped.  It  has 
hindered.  He  favored  a  continuance  of 
the  federal  trusteeship  until  matters 
approached  stability.  He  didn't  see  how 
the  return  of  the  Connecticut  Company 
could  save  the  "New  Haven,"  for  its 
securities  could  not  be  hypothecated 
now. 

Benjamin  J.  Spock,  until  recently 
chief  counsel  for  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany, asked  permission  to  answer  Mr. 
Cheney.  The  Connecticut  Company,  he 
said,  was  not  a  going  concern,  but  hope- 
lessly bankrupt  and  had  nothing  to  lose 
by  any  disaster  that  might  befall  the 
"New  Haven."  He  pointed  out  that  the 
Connecticut  Company  owed  the  State 
nearly  $2,000,000  in  back  taxes  and 
owed  the  New  Haven  nearly  $4,000,000 
in  rentals.  ♦ 

Edward  Milligan,  a  director  of  the 
New  Haven  road,  said  "  a  false  impres- 
sion would  have  been  created  by  Mr. 
Cheney's  remarks"  were  it  not  for  the 
statement  of  Mr.  Spock.  The  fact  was, 
he  said,  that  the  Connecticut  Company 
has  had  a  big  brother  which  has  helped 
it.  It  is  true,  he  added,  "that  the  Con- 
necticut Company  has  had  a  board  of 
trustees  of  five  admirable  men,  of  which 
Mr.  Cheney's  brother  is  one  member.  If 
Mr.  Cheney's  arguments  concerning  the 
Connecticut  Company  are  sound,  then 
we'd  better  put  the  railroad  in  the  hands 
of  trustees.  Those  who  own  properties 
are  usually  best  to  manage  them." 

Louis  P.  Butler,  president  of  the 
Travelers'  Insurance  Company,  Hart- 
ford, said  that  company  owns  about 
$1,300,000  of  the  securities  of  the  New 
Haven  of  various  kinds,  including  1,500 
shares  of  stock.  He  said  that  the  elec- 
tric railways  ought  to  be  returned  to 
the  railroad  and  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  New  Haven  itself  was  responsi- 
ble for  what  advancement  the  Con- 
necticut Company  had  made.  In  the 
first  place,  he  said,  if  the  electric  rail- 
ways were  returned  to  the  railroad,  an 
unnecessary  expense  would  be  saved  by 
the  elimination  of  the  salaries  of  the 
trustees.  The  chairman  receives  $7,500 
a  year  and  the  others  $6,000  each. 

The  hearing  was  continued  at  Boston, 
Mass.,  on  Dec.  14. 

The  present  federal  trustees  of  the 
Connecticut  Company  are  Judge  Walter 
C.  Noyes,  New  York;  Morgan  B.  Brai- 
nard,  Hartford,  Conn.;  Charles  Cheney, 


Manchester;  Leonard  M.  Daggett,  New 
Haven,  and  Charles  G.  Sanford,  Bridge- 
port. They  constituted  themselves  a 
board  of  directors  and  made  Lucius  S. 
Storrs,  New  Haven,  president.  The 
trustees  were  appointed  by  the  court 
without  any  solicitation  on  their  part, 
being  practically  drafted  for  the  service. 

Judge  Noyes,  chairman  of  the  board, 
is  quoted  as  having  said  recently  that 
he  would  be  glad  to  be  relieved  of  the 
responsibility  of  acting  as  a  trustee 
should  the  Department  of  Justice  at 
Washington  see  fit  to  change  its  present 
policy. 

The  return  of  the  stock  and  manage- 
ment of  the  Connecticut  Company  to 
ihe  "New  Haven"  road,  or  the  termina- 
tion otherwise  of  the  federal  control 
of  the  trolley  company,  was  recom- 
mended in  a  special  report  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  submitted 
to  the  1921  session  of  the  Connecticut 
Legislature  after  an  exhaustive  study 
of  the  electric  railway  problem.  It  was 
advised  that  the  Attorney-General  of 
Connecticut  be  directed  to  request  the 
Department  of  Justice  to  reopen  and 
modify  that  portion  of  the  judgment 
decreeing  the  assignment  and  transfer 
of  the  capital  stock  of  the  Connecticut 
Company  to  a  board  of  five  federal 
trustees,  largely  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  a  Connecticut  corporation  doing 
solely  an  intrastate  business.  No 
action  was  taken  by  the  Legislature. 


Reorganization  Plan  Advanced 

Plans  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
Vincennes  (Ind.)  Street  Railway,  re- 
cently sold  by  order  of  the  federal  court, 
have  been  placed  before  the  Public 
Service  Commission  in  a  petition  ask- 
ing the  commission's  approval  of  the 
plans  and  for  authority  to  issue  securi- 
ties. The  petition  was  sent  to  the 
commission  from  St.  Louis  by  Samuel 
A.  Mitchell,  counsel  for  the  Mercantile 
Trust  Company.  Retention  of  the 
5-cent  fare  in  Vincennes  was  said  by 
the  company  to  be  a  reasonable,  ade- 
quate and  just  provision  under  all  the 
existing  circumstances. 

The  old  company  has  $250,000  of 
bonds  outstanding  and  $350,000  of 
stock,  all  common.  The  new  company 
proposes  to  issue  $200,000  in  bonds  and 
$100,000  in  stock,  all  common.  All  of 
the  bonds  and  stock  of  the  old  com- 
pany known  as  the  Vincennes  Traction 
Company  excepting  four  shares  of  the 
latter  would  be  paid  to  George  H. 
Armstrong,  who  bought  the  railway, 
which  the  petition  values  at  $300,000. 
The  new  bonds  would  bear  6  per  cent 
interest  and  would  mature  on  Jan.  1, 
1941,  and  be  secured  by  mortgage  on 
all  of  the  property  of  the  railway.  This 
mortgage  would  be  made  in  favor  of 
the  Mercantile  Trust  Company  as  trus- 
tee, and  bond  interest  would  be  paid 
by  the  company  from  a  fund  created 
by  $1,000  monthly  payments  made  by 
the  railway.  For  retirement  of  the 
bonds  it  is  proposed  that  the  railway 
company  also  pay  $500  monthly  to  the 
trust  company. 

The  property  of  the  railway  was  pur- 
chased by  George  H.  Armstrong.  St. 
Louis,  at  a  sale  held  by  Charles  Mar- 
tindale,  master  in  chancery,  at  the 
court  house  in  Vincennes  on  Oct.  15. 
About  two  years  ago  the  company  was 
thrown  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  as 
the  result  of  a  suit  in  equity,  an  action 
of  the  Mercantile  Trust  Company.  The 
company  has  been  operated  since  that 
time  by  Edward  C.  Theobold  as  re- 


December  17,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1089 


Briefs  on  Depreciation  Filed 
with  I.  C.  C. 

Two  briefs  were  filed  with  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Commission  on 
Nov.  22  upholding  the  right  of  the 
Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Washington,  D.  C,  to  transfer 
jurisdiction  over  its  depreciation 
charges  from  the  District  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  and  one  brief  at- 
tacking such  right. 

The  railway  asks  that  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  take  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  matter.  It  was  supported 
in  its  stand  by  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association.  The  counter 
brief  attacking  the  legality  of  the 
transfer  was  filed  by  Francis  H. 
Stephens,  corporation  counsel  for  the 
District,  and  Conrad  H.  Syme,  special 
counsel  for  the  utilites  commission. 

The  company's  brief  says  that  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  with  respect  to 
regulation  of  depreciation  reserves  and 
accounting  of  the  Washington  Railway 
&  Electric  Company  extends  to  all 
property  of  the  company  used  in  ren- 
dering transportation  service.  It  adds 
that  the  inevitable  effect  of  deprecia- 
tion rules  promulgated  by  the  local 
commission  would  be  to  make  it  im- 
possible for  the  Washington  Railway 
&  Electric  Company  to  continue  to 
operate  some  of  its  lines  which  now 
run  from  points  in  Washington  to 
points  in  Maryland. 

All  the  time  and  money  spent  by 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  in  fix- 
ing valuations  of  street  railways  of  the 
District  will  have  been  wasted  if  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
should  take  jurisdiction  over  the  de- 
preciation accounts  of  the  companies, 
the  brief  filed  by  the  Public  Utilities 
Commission  argued. 

The  brief  of  the  American  Electric 
Railway  Association  cites  numerous 
instances  and  laws  which  are  claimed 
to  apply  to  the  present  case,  and  adds 
"more  work  remains  to  be  done  before 
correct  rules,  formulas  and  principles 
are  evolved." 

Filing  of  briefs  followed  a  prelimi- 
nary investigation  which  was  held  at 
Washington  on  Oct.  24  before  Commis- 
sioner Eastman. 


Opinion  on  Valuation  Reversed 

The  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  recently  reversed  the 
opinion  of  the  late  Justice  Gould,  who 
upheld  the  valuation  on  the  Potomac 
Electric  Power  Company  by  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission. 

The  majority  opinion  in  objecting  to 
the  commission's  valuation  as  of  July  1, 
1914,  instead  of  Dec.  31,  1916,  ruled 
that  the  present  cost  of  reproduction  is 
one  of  the  necessary  elements  to  be 
considered  in  fixing  a  fair  and  reason- 
able valuation. 

The  dissenting  opinion  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice Smyth  pointed  out  that  the  power 
company  had  failed  to  show  that  the 
commission's  valuation  was  "inadequate, 
unreasonable  or  unlawful." 

Unless  this  opinion  should  be  re- 
versed on  appeal  to  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  the  Potomac  Electric 
Power  Company  will  be  entitled  to  the 
use  of  a  fund  "of  more  than  $1,500,000 
which  has  accumulated  under  an  order 
of  Justice  Gould  in  1917  requiring  the 
company  to  impound  2  cents  out  of  each 
10-cent  collection  from  the  consumer. 


This  order  was  amended  twice,  so  that 
the  company  recently  has  been  required 
only  to  impound  1£  cents. 


Interurban  Seeks  to 
Abandon  Routes 

The  Interurban  Railway  &  Terminal 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  has  applied 
to  the  State  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion for  permission  to  abandon  two 
existing  routes.  One  line  extends  from 
Cincinnati  to  New  Richmond,  17  miles, 
via  Coney  Island,  and  the  other  to 
Lebanon,  33  miles,  via  Norwood.  In 
the  spring  of  1918  the  company  aban- 
doned its  line  to  Bethel. 

C.  M.  Leslie  is  operating  the  lines  as 
receiver  and  J.  F.  Egolf  is  the  superin- 
tendent. In  his  application  the  re- 
ceiver sets  forth  the  deficits  in  operat- 
ing revenues  as  follows:  1918,  $84,253; 
1919,  $13,365;  1920,  $20,344,  and  1921, 
$18,911.  The  case  has  been  set  for 
hearing  on  Jan.  31. 

Members  of  the  Silverton  Welfare 
Association,  which  suburb  is  on  the 
Lebanon  route,  say  that  if  the  line  is 
abandoned  they  will  again  appeal  to 
the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany to  extend  its  service  to  the  com- 
munity. 


Financial 

News  Notes 


Deficit  Lowered  on  Boston  "L".— The 
receipts  of  the  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated 
Railway  for  the  month  of  October  ex- 
ceeded expenses  by  $133,178.  This  has 
reduced  the  deficit  as  of  Nov.  1  to  $209,- 
245. 

Abilene  Service  Resumed. — Operation 
of  the  electric  railway  in  Abilene,  Tex., 
has  been  resumed  by  the  American  Pub- 
lic Service  Company,  under  a  new 
agreement  with  the  city  of  Abilene. 
Five  miles  of  track  are  included  in  the 
system. 

Bonds  Extended  at  Increased  Interest. 
— The  Department  of  Public  Utilities 
of  Massachusetts  has  authorized  the 
Springfield  Street  Railway  to  extend 
from  Jan.  1,  1922,  for  five  years  $330,000 
of  5  per  cent  gold  bonds  dated  Jan.  1, 
1902.  The  new  interest  rate  will  be  7 
per  cent. 

Stockholders'  Assents  Received. — The 
Public  Trustees  of  the  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts Street  Railway,  Boston,  Mass., 
have  announced  that  assents  to  the  re- 
adjustment plan  recently  suggested  to 
the  bondholders  are  coming  in  to  them 
rapidly.  Up  to  Nov.  26  a  large  ma- 
jority of  owners  of  the  $13,000,000  had 
sent  in  their  acceptances.  This  read- 
justment plan  was  explained  in  detail 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  issue 
of  Nov.  12,  page  880. 

Tax  Commission's  Valuation  Stands. 
— The  Columbus  Railway,  Power  & 
Light  Company,  Columbus,  Ohio,  is  on 
the  books  of  the  state  of  Ohio  for  the 
sum  of  $17,825,190,  a  valuation  placed 
upon  it  this  year  by  the  Ohio  Tax 
Commission,  in  spite  of  energetic 
efforts  on  the  part  of  the  company  to 
have  the  figure  decreased.  This  is  an 
increase  of  $727,660  over  1920,  when 
the  figure  was  $17,097,530,  and  a  boost 
of  $1,033,660  over  1919.  As  a  final 
play  in  its  attempt  to  get  the  valuation 


cut  down  the  company  filed  suit  in  the 
Franklin  County  Common  Pleas  Court, 
but  after  a  series  of  star  chamber  con- 
ferences with  the  commission  it  with- 
drew the  suit. 

Additional  Stock  Offered  to  North 
American  Holders. — Stockholders  of 
the  North  American  Company,  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  were  notified  on  Dec.  5  of 
an  offering  at  par  of  additional  com- 
mon stock  in  total  amount  of  $10,422,- 
400  par  value,  or  70  per  cent  of  the 
common  stock  now  outstanding.  The 
offering  is  made  in  installments  of  $2,- 
233,340,  or  15  per  cent,  to  be  sub- 
scribed for  on  or  before  Jan.  3,  1922; 
$2,977,850,  or  20  per  cent,  on  or  be- 
fore Dec.  30,  1922;  $2,977,850,  or  20 
per  cent,  on  or  before  June  30,  1923, 
and  $2,233,350,  or  15  per  cent  on  or 
before  Dec.  31,  1923.  Any  stockholder 
who  takes  up  a  portion  of  one  install- 
ment will  have  an  option  on  an  equiva- 
lent proportion  of  the  succeeding  in- 
stallment. The  $2,233,350  of  stock  of- 
fered for  immediate  subscription  has 
been  underwritten  by  Dillon,  Read  & 
Company,  who  will  receive  all  option 
rights  not  availed  of  by  the  common 
stockholders  or  their  transferees. 

Segregation  of  Properties  Proposed. — 
Holders  of  first  mortgage  5  per  cent, 
gold  bonds,  due  June  1,  1933,  of  the 
Springfield  (111.)  Consolidated  Railway 
have  received  notice  from  A.  D.  Mackie, 
vice-president  and  general  manager  of 
the  corporation,  that  the  corporation's 
franchise  in  Springfield  expires  in  1928, 
or  five  years  prior  to  the  maturity  of 
the  bonds,  and  estimating  that  $750,000 
must  be  expended  to  put  the  property 
and  equipment  in  condition  to  render 
adequate  service.  In  readjustment  of 
the  situation  the  company  recommends 
that  the  railway,  gas  and  electric  heat- 
ing properties  of  the  Springfield  Con- 
solidated Railway  and  Springfield  Gas 
&  Electric  Company  in  Springfield,  111., 
and  the  electric  and  heating  properties 
which  now  serve  De  Kalb  and  Sycamore, 
111.,  be  merged  under  the  name  of 
the  Illinois  Power  Company.  The  old 
bondholders  are  asked  to  accept  one  of 
two  offers  for  each  $1,000  of  bonds; 
either  (a)  one  $1,000  new  first  mortgage 

5  per  cent  gold  bond  of  the  Illinois 
Power  Company,  due  June  1,  1933,  and 
$100  cash  or  (b)  $900  cash,  plus  the 
accrued  interest  on  the  present  bond. 
The  offer  expires  on  Dec.  15,  1921,  and 
the  plan  must  be  declared  operative  by 
Feb.  15,  1922. 

$10,000,000  Public  Service  Bonds  Of- 
fered.— The  Public  Service  Corporation 
of  New  Jersey,  Newark,  N.  J.,  has  sold 
an  issue  of  $10,000,000  of  twenty-year 
7-per  cent  bonds  dated  Dec.  1,  1921, 
to   a   syndicate   composed   of  Drexel 

6  Company,  Bonbright  &  Company, 
Inc.,  and  Clark,  Dodge  &  Company, 
which  were  offered  publicly  on  Dec.  9 
at  981  and  accrued  interest  yielding 
7.10  per  cent.  Proceeds,  together  with 
additions  from  cash  now  in  the  treas- 
ury, will  be  used  to  pay  off  $12,500,000 
notes  maturing  March  1,  1922.  The 
new  issue  is  a  direct  obligation  of  the 
corporation  secured  by  $14,000,000 
general  mortgage  sinking  fund  5s,  due 
1959,  and  $5,000,000  capital  stock  of 
Public  Service  Electric  Company,  its 
subsidiary.  Stock  of  the  subsidiary 
for  ten  years  has  not  paid  less  than  10 
per  cent  annually.  The  net  income  of 
the  Public  Service  Corporation  for  the 
year  ended  Oct.  31,  1921,  was  $11,747,- 
285,  more  than  three  times  annual  in- 
terest requirements  on  funded  debt 
including  present  issue. 


1090 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Troy  Fights  Fare  Advance 

Constitutionality  of  Governor  Miller's 
Public  Service  Commissions  Law 
Attacked  in  Albany  Court 

Corporation  Counsel  Thomas  H.  Guy 
of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  on  Dec.  6  obtained  from 
Supreme  Court  Justice  Harold  J.  Hin- 
man  an  alternative  order  of  prohibition 
restraining  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion from  further  consideration  of  the 
United  Traction  Company's  application 
for  an  8-cent  fare.  Mr.  Guy  attacked 
especially  the  constitutionality  of  sec- 
tion 49  of  the  public  service  commis- 
sions law  covering  rates  on  the  con- 
stitutional ground  that  the  Legislature 
is  without  power  to  delegate  a  power 
to  others  that  it  does  not  itself  possess. 

The  order  acted  as  a  temporary  stay 
on  hearings  or  determinations  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  and  will  so 
stand  until  determined. 

Appearance  was  had  and  arguments 
heard  before  Justice  Hinman  at  a  spe- 
cial term  on  Dec.  10.  Mr.  Guy  laid 
special  emphasis  upon  court  decisions 
to  the  effect  that  where  a  right  has 
been  conferred  by  the  constitution  such 
right  is  not  subject  to  the  police  (regu- 
latory) powers  of  the  state;  that  sec- 
tion 18  of  Article  III  of  the  New  York 
State  Constitution  provides:  "But  no 
law  shall  authorize  the  construction  or 
operation  of  a  street  railroad  except 
upon  the  condition  that  the  consent  of 
the  owners  of  one-half  in  value  of  the 
property  bounded  on,  and  the  consent 
also  of  the  local  authorities  having  con- 
trol of,  that  portion  of  the  street  or 
highway  upon  which  it  is  proposed  to 
construct  or  operate  such  railroad  be 
first  obtained." 

Important  Legal  Point  Involved 

Justice  Hinman's  ruling  on  the  ques- 
tion is  expected  to  go  to  the  Court  of 
Appeals  for  final  decision,  unless  the 
higher  court  passes  on  it  in  other  pro- 
ceedings where  it  has  been  raised  be- 
fore the  Troy  case  is  heard  in  the  Ap- 
pellate Division,  Third  Department, 
and  reaches  the  Court  of  Appeals.  The 
constitutionality  of  the  amendment  re- 
cently has  been  unanimously  sustained 
by  the  Appellate  Division,  First  De- 
partment, and  a  further  appeal  in  the 
case  has  been  taken  to  the  Court  of 
Appeals.  Different  departments  of  the 
Appellate  Division  have  been  known  to 
decide  the  same  point  of  law  dif- 
ferently. 

So  important  is  the  legal  question  in- 
volved that  Justice  Hinman  said  he 
would  request  Justice  W.  0.  Howard 
to  take  over  his  unfinished  trial  term 
at  Troy  so  he  could  give  the  order  his 
exclusive  time. 

The  United  Traction  Company  oper- 
ated in  Troy  under  franchises  granted 
by  the  city  to  its  predecessors  in  which 
conditions  were  accepted  limiting  the 
fare  to  5  cents  and  the  Common  Coun- 
cil refused  to  waive  them  to  permit 
the  company  to  charge  an  8-cent  fare 
when  the  rate  was  raised  to  this  sum 
in  Albany,  where  there  is  no  franchise 
limitation. 

In  his  argument  Mr.  Guv  called  at- 
tention to  the  constitutional  provision 
of   1076   which   made    necessary  the 


consent  of  local  municipalities  for 
construction  or  extension  of  street 
railroads  and  gave  them  the  right  of 
imposing  conditions  under  which  fran- 
chises may  be  exercised.  The  Troy 
franchises  were  granted  under  this  au- 
thority, Mr.  Guy  said,  and  he  argued 
that  they  became  contracts  which  the 
Legislature  could  not  impair  or  abro- 
gate in  the  exercise  of  the  police  power 
of  the  state  and  that  the  amendment 
to  the  public  service  commissions  law 
violated  the  constitution  by  so  doing. 
He  argued  that  the  power  of  consent 
and  the  imposing  of  limitations  having 
been  exercised,  there  could  be  no  con- 
struction of  it  that  would  make  it  in- 
effective. 

The  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  Glens 
Falls  case,  the  first  of  the  rate  cases, 
decided  that  the  Legislature  in  confer- 
ring the  power  of  regulation  of  rail- 
road corporations  and  the  rates  to  be 
charged  by  them,  in  1907,  to  the  Public 
Service  Commission,  gave  with  it  au- 
thority to  change  or  increase  any  rate 
that  had  been  fixed  by  a  state  statute, 
but  not  where  the  rate  was  established 
or  limited  in  the  grant  of  a  franchise 
by  a  municipality. 

L.  P.  Jale,  appearing  for  the  com- 
mission, argued  for  the  constitution- 
ality of  the  amendment,  saying  that  in 
giving  the  commission  the  power  of 
changing  all  fare  rates  where  neces- 
sary to  prevent  confiscation  the  Legis- 
lature was  exercising  a  governmental 
function  in  the  public  interest.  "It  is 
as  much  to  the  public  interest  that 
rates  may  be  increased  as  well  as  re- 
duced," said  Mr.  Hale.  "It  is  as  im- 
portant that  the  United  Traction  Com- 
pany be  allowed  a  profit  on  its  invest- 
ment that  will  enable  it  to  give  proper 
service  in  the  city  of  Troy  as  that  its 
citizens  shall  not  be  overcharged." 

John  T.  MacLean,  counsel  for  the 
United  Traction  Company,  contended 
the  limitation  of  fares  contained  in 
franchise  grants  by  municipalities  had 
been  permitted  by  the  State  and  were 
to  continue  in  force  until  such  time  as 
it  exercised  its  power  to  change  them 
and  that  it  had  given  such  power  to 
the  Public  Service  Commission. 

Should  the  courts  decide  the  motion 
in  favor  of  the  petitioner,  the  entire 
force  of  the  public  service  commissions 
law  would  be  undermined  and  only  a 
constitutional  amendment  could  clothe 
it  with  the  powers  it  is  now  assumed 
to  possess. 


Sacramento  Given  Choice 
in  Fare  Issue 

Answering  the  appeal  of  the  Pacific 
Gas  &  Electric  Company,  Sacramento, 
Cal.,  for  increased  fares,  the  State 
Railroad  Commission  recently  pre- 
sented three  choices  to  the  city. 

The  commission  found  justification 
for  a  7-cent  fare  if  all  the  present 
franchise  requirements  were  lived  up 
to.  The  present  6-cent  rate  could  be 
retained  if  the  city  permitted  certain 
rerouting,  eliminated  some  early  morn- 
ing trins,  and  last,  if  the  city  should 
repeal  the  ordinance  ap^inst  "one-man" 
cars,  a  5-cent  fare  would  be  authorized. 

The  city  must  decide  by  Feb.  1. 


Commission  States 
Limitations 

California  Body  Defines  Its  Power  to 
Stop  the  Operation  of  Auto 
Lines 

If  there  is  to  be  any  fundamental 
change  in  the  present  policy  of  the 
State  of  California  in  regard  to  the 
use  of  the  highway  by  motor  trans- 
portation companies  such  change  must 
come  by  direct  legislative  action  or  as  a 
result  of  an  initiative  petition  of 
voters,  the  State  Railroad  Commission 
declared  on  Nov.  25  in  a  letter  discuss- 
ing its  relation  to  the  subject.  The 
letter  was  written  to  R.  B.  Swayne, 
San  Francisco,  in  response  to  a  sug- 
gestion by  him  that  motor  carriers 
should  not  be  permitted  to  parallel 
railroad  lines;  further  contending  that 
this  form  of  competition  is  unfair  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  the  motor  com- 
panies make  use  of  the  highways  built 
at  public  expense  and  that  they  do  not 
pay  taxes  in  the  same  proportion  as 
the  railroads. 

The  utility  commission  points  out 
that  it  is  acting  within  the  limits  of 
the  power  conferred  upon  it  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  legislative  will,  add- 
ing: 

Manifestly,  if  there  is  to  be  any  change 
of  fundamental  State  policy  toward  auto- 
mobile transportation  companies  such 
change  must  come  through  legislative  ac- 
tion. Ultimately  the  decision  rests  with 
the  electors,  expressing  their  will  through 
their  legislative  representatives  or  directly 
by  means  of  the  initiative. 

The  letter  follows  in  part: 

You  will  recall  that  motor  transportation 
developed  before  there  was  any  specific 
legislative  enactment  applicable  to  it.  In 
that  period  it  attained  considerable  pro- 
portions. The  first  control  over  this  type 
of  carrier  resulted  from  a  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  early  in  1917,  wherein  it 
was  held  that  motor  operators  acting  as 
common  carriers  were  included  in  the  term 
transportation  companies  as  used  in  the 
State  constitution. 

Following  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  the  Legislature  at  the  1917  session 
took  the  first  step  toward  placing  auto 
stage  and  truck  transportation  under  State 
legislation.  At  this  session  what  is  known 
as  Chapter  213,  Statutes  of  1917,  was  en- 
acted, requiring  all  parties  proposing  to 
enter  the  motor  transportation  business 
after  such  date  first  to  secure  a  certificate 
of  public  convenience  and  necessity  from 
the  Railroad  Commission  and  also  permits 
from  the  governing  bodies  of  all  political 
subdivisions  through  which  they  proposed 
to  operate  routes.  Those  operating  ex- 
clusively within  incorporated  city  limits 
were  exempted  from  the  act. 

At  the  1919  session  of  the  Legislature 
this  act  was  amended,  giving  the  Railroad 
Commission  sole  jurisdiction  in  the  matter 
of  certificates  by  eliminating  the  require- 
ment of  obtaining  permits  from  local  po- 
litical subdivisions  and  broadening  the  act 
to  include  in  addition  to  common  carriers 
all  persons  or  companies  engaged  in  the 
business  of  transportation  of  persons  or 
property  for  compensation  over  any  public 
highway  in  this  State  between  fixed  ter- 
mini or  over  a  regular  route. 

In  transportation  matters  the  policy  of 
the  commission  is  not  different  from  its 
policy  relating  to  other  forms  of  public 
utility  service.  It  protects  existing  utili- 
ties that  are  adequately  serving  the  terri- 
tory and  are  prepared  to  meet  the  demands 
as  they  arise.  You  will  note  that  from  an 
examination  of  the  decisions  of  the  com- 
mission many  applications  to  enter  the  au- 
tomobile field  are  denied  because  existent 
steam  or  electric  facilities  or  both  are  ade- 
quate. 

In  any  discussion  of  the  transportation 
problem  the  effect  of  the  privately  owned 
automobile  upon  established  systems  can- 
not be  disregarded.  At  the  present  time 
there  is  in  the  State  of  California  one  pri- 
vately owned  car  for  every  seven  persons, 
and  this  means  that  the  entire  population 
of  the  State  could  be  moved  at  one  time 
by  these  cars  alone.  The  same  condition 
largely  obtains  in  regard  to  automobile 
trucks,  as  nearly  every  farmer  owns  some 
kind  of  auto  truck. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Interstate  Fare  Changed 

Electric  Line  Ordered  to  Desist  From 
Practicing  Undue  Prejudice  Re- 
quired by  Franchise  Grant 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion has  just  decided  that  a  franchise 
contract  entered  into  between  the 
predecessor  of  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio 
Power  &  Light  Company,  Youngstown, 
Ohio,  and  the  village  of  Hubbard,  Ohio, 
fixing  rates  between  Youngstown  and 
Hubbard  is  without  effect  where  the 
rates  so  fixed  result  in  unjust  discrimi- 
nation against  interstate  commerce. 
The  Youngstown  Company  is  ordered 
by  the  commission  to  increase  these 
rates  by  putting  into  effect  upon  five 
days'  notice  a  one-way  cash  fare  of  not 
less  than  20  cents  and  a  commutation 
rate  of  not  less  than  $5  for  fifty-four 
rides.  In  the  words  of  the  commission 
the  company  is  directed  "to  cease  and 
desist  from  practicing  the  undue  preju- 
dice, undue  preference  and  advantage 
found  to  exist  in  the  relation  of  intra- 
state and  interstate  passenger  fares." 

I.  C.  C.  Assumed  Jurisdiction 

The  present  rates  between  the  two 
points,  established  by  a  franchise  ordi- 
nance of  the  village  of  Hubbard,  are: 
Cash  fare,  12  cents;  round-trip  ticket, 
20  cents;  special  tickets  good  for 
twenty-two  rides,  $2,  and  fifty-four- 
ride  commutation  ticket,  $3.80.  No 
other  rates  on  the  Youngstown  & 
Sharon  line  are  affected  by  the  decision. 

In  the  report  of  the  commission  on 
the  case  (No.  12,123)  it  is  pointed  out 
that  the  interurban  railway  is  approxi- 
mately 14.5  miles  in  length  between 
Youngstown  and  Sharon  and  that  the 
maximum  distances  from  Youngstown 
and  Sharon  to  Hubbard  are  8.75  miles 
and  7.18  miles  respectively.  The  exist- 
ing rates  of  fare  between  Youngstown 
and  Hubbard  were  established  in  a 
franchise  ordinance  passed  by  the 
village  of  Hubbard  in  1901,  the  same 
rater  being  prescribed  between  Hub- 
bard and  Sharon,  excepting  that  the 
cash  fare  was  13  cents  as  compared 
with  12  cents  between  Youngstown  and 
Hubbard. 

Increased  Fare  Schedule  in 
Effect  in  1920 
The  report  recites  that  effective  on 
Feb.  15,  1920,  by  a  tariff  filed  with  the 
commission,  the  one-way  fare  between 
Hubbard  and  Sharon  was  increased  to 
20  cents,  the  price  of  fifty-four-ride 
commutation  ticket  to  $5  and  the  round- 
trip  and  special  tickets  between  these 
points  were  cancelled.  A  tariff  subse- 
quently filed  with  the  commission  pro- 
posed to  establish  the  same  fares  be- 
tween Hubbard  and  Youngstown  as 
those  between  Hubbard  and  Sharon. 
It  was  also  proposed  to  increase  the 
one-way  fare  between  Sharon  and 
Youngstown  from  30  cents  to  35  cents 
and  the  fifty-four-ride  commutation 
ticket  between  these  points  from  $9  to 
$10.  This  tariff  became  effective  on 
interstate  travel  on  Oct.  1,  1920.  The 
report  continues: 

A  tariff  carrying-  the  same  fares  was 
rejected  by  the  Public  Utilities  Commission 
of  Ohio  in  so  far  as  it  attempted  an  increase 
in  the  fares  between  Hubbard  and  Youngs- 
town on  the  ground  that  it  was  without 
jurisdiction  to  allow  the  establishment  of 
rates  and  charges  in  excess  of  those  pre- 
scribed by  the  franchise  contract.  Refusals 
of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  of  Ohio 
to  allow  increases  of  fares  in  similar  cases 
have  been  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Ohio.  The  petitioner  shows  that  prior 
to  filing  this  petition  it  and  its  predecessors 
exhausted   all   means  through  negotiation 


with  the  village  of  Hubbard  and  otherwise 
to  obtain  relief  from  the  franchise  fares 
between  Hubbard  and  Youngstown,  but 
without  avail. 

As  to  the  contention  of  the  village  of 
Hubbard  that  the  franchise  was  bind- 
ing as  to  rates,  the  report  of  the  com- 
mission says: 

The  answer  to  this  is  that  if  the  main- 
tenance of  fares  fixed  by  a  franchise  con- 
tract results  in  unjust  discrimination  against 
interstate  commerce,  it  is  within  our  power 
to  remove  it  by  prescribing  other  and 
different  intrastate  fares. 

It  is  not  shown  that  present  interstate 
fares  between  Hubbard  and  Sharon  or  be- 
tween Sharon  and  Youngstown  are  unrea- 
sonable. On  the  other  hand,  they  appear 
to  be  relatively  lower  than  fares  main- 
tained by  other  electric  interurban  railways 
in  Ohio  in  the  same  general  territory. 

We  are  of  opinion  and  find  that  the  inter- 
state passenger  cash  and  fifty-four-ride 
commutation  fares  between  Sharon  and 
Hubbard,  also  the  interstate  passenger 
fares  between  Sharon  and  Youngstown, 
are  just  and  reasonable  fares  for  inter- 
state transportation  between  these  points ; 
and  that  the  maintenance  of  corresponding 
intrastate  fares  between  Hubbard  and 
Youngstown  lower  than  the  just  and  rea- 
sonable interstate  fares  between  Sharon  and 
Hubbard  has  resulted  and  will  result  in 
undue  prejudice  to  persons  traveling  in 
interstate  commerce  over  the  petitioner's 
line  in  the  State  of  Ohio  and  between  points 
in  the  State  of  Ohio  and  Sharon,  Pa.  ;  in 
undue  preference  and  advantage  to  persons 
traveling  intrastate  between  points  in  Ohio  ; 
and  in  unjust  discrimination  against  inter- 
state commerce. 

We  further  find  that,  whether  the  afore- 


© 

^Shoirpsvil  le 
i  >^hoiron  * 

Mine  roil     **X    /  \ 
Ridge  \/ 

£°  / 

I 

J  r 

1     ^^New  Castle 

<£\ 

O  [ 

V 

*  1 

Map  Showing  Location  of  Hubbard 
and  Youngstown 


said  passenger  fares  pertain  to  transporta- 
tion in  interstate  commerce  or  to  trans- 
portation in  intrastate  commerce,  the  trans- 
portation services  are  performed  by  the 
petitioner  under  substantially  similar  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  ;  and  that  said 
undue  prejudice  and  preference  and  unjust 
discrimination  can  and  should  be  removed 
by  establishing  intrastate  passenger  cash 
and  fifty-four-ride  commutation  fares  be- 
tween Hubbard  and  Youngstown  not  less 
than  the  interstate  passenger  fares  herein 
found  reasonable  between  Hubbard  and 
Sharon. 

In  1917  the  company  asked  the 
Council  of  the  village  of  Hubbard  for 
a  relief  from  the  fare  provision  of  its 
franchise  fixing  the  rates  between 
Youngstown  and  Hubbard.  It  received 
no  relief  from  the  Council  and  then 
applied  to  the  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion of  Ohio.  The  state  commission 
decided  that  it  had  no  authority  to  dis- 
turb an  interurban  rate  fixed  by  fran- 
chise. A  mandamus  suit  was  next 
brought  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio 
to  compel  the  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion to  assume  jurisdiction.  The  Su- 
preme Court  decided  this  mandamus 
case  against  the  contention  of  the 
railway.  Finally  in  1919  the  company 
filed  a  petition  with  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  under  the  sec- 
tion of  the  transportation  act  of  1919, 
which  gives  carriers  the  right  to  com- 
plain of  discrimination. 


New  Jersey  and  Michigan  Fare 
Cases  Considered  by 
Supreme  Court 

Further  arguments  will  have  to  be 
presented  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  before  it  will  rule  in  the 
case  of  the  Board  of  Public  Utility 
Commissioners  of  New  Jersey  vs.  the 
Public  Service  Railway  of  that  State. 
The  court  on  Dec.  12  denied  a  motion 
to  take  up  the  case  for  argument.  The 
case  involves  an  injunction  granted  to 
the  railway  which  restrained  the  Public 
Utility  Commission  from  continuing  in 
effect  its  order  for  a  7-cent  base  fare 
with  a  charge  of  2  cents  for  each  initial 
transfer.  The  motion  was  denied  with- 
out prejudice  and  a  further  effort  may 
be  made  to  interest  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  Supreme  Court  dismissed  for 
want  of  jurisdiction  the  case  brought 
against  the  Detroit  United  Railway  by 
the  townships  of  Avon,  Brandon,  Farm- 
ington,  Oxford,  Orion,  Royal  Oa"k,  Troy 
and  West  Bloomfield  and  the  villages 
of  Birmingham,  Farmington,  Orion, 
Oxford  and  Rochester  and  the  city  of 
Pontiac.  The  court  was  not  convinced 
that  any  federal  question  was  involved 
in  the  controversy  as  to  the  right  of 
the  railway  to  charge  rates  of  fare 
higher  than  those  agreed  upon  in  its 
franchises.   

Interurban  Bus  Operators 
Must  Pay 

The  City  Commissioners  of  Dayton, 
Ohio,  recently  enacted  a  bus  ordinance 
requiring  all  jitneys  and  buses  trans- 
porting passengers  in  the  city  to  pay  a 
license  fee,  ranging  from  $125  to  $200 
per  annum.  The  latter  is  for  buses 
carrying  fifteen  or  more  passengers 
and  became  effective  Oct.  1,  1921. 

The  question  then  came  up  as  to  in- 
terurban buses  operating  in  and  out  of 
the  city,  in  which  one  commissioner 
favored  an  amendment  to  exempt  the 
interurban  bus  from  paying  the  license 
fee.  Several  of  the  interurban  mana- 
gers voiced  their  sentiment  in  the  mat- 
ter, protesting  the  passage  of  the 
amendment  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
interfere  with  the  -traffic  of  the  inter- 
urban lines,  so  the  majority  of  the 
commission  went  on  record  as  favor- 
ing voting  down  the  amendment  which 
will  not  exempt  the  interurban  bus  op- 
erators from  paying  a  license  fee.  In 
the  future  bus  operators  transporting 
passengers  in  and  out  of  the  city  must 
pay  a  special  license  fee. 


People  Make  Request 

The  Hagerstown  &  Frederick  Rail- 
way, Hagerstown,  Md.,  has  recently 
had  a  number  of  requests  to  have  its 
loop  cars  run  all  one  way,  going  out 
North  Potomac  Street,  and  returning 
to  the  square  by  way  of  Antietam 
Street.  So  insistent  has  this  request, 
or  almost  a  demand,  become,  that  the 
management  of  the  railway  has  de- 
cided that  it  will  let  the  patrons  of 
the  cars  settle  it.  It  is  proposed  to 
have  all  users  of  the  cars  vote  upon 
their  preference.  Ballots  may  be  se- 
cured from  the  conductors  of  the  cars. 

Under  the  present  system,  cars  leave 
the  square  every  fifteen  minutes  and 
go  in  either  direction  around  the  loop, 
passing  at  the  Fairground  gates.  Un- 
der the  proposed  change  it  would  mean 
that  the  cars  would  leave  the  Public 
Square  every  seven  and  one-half  min- 
utes and  go  out  North  Potomac  Street. 


1092 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


State  and  Interstate  Fares  Must 
Be  Equal 

By  an  order  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  dated  Nov.  7,  1921, 
just  published,  the  Steubenville,  East 
Liverpool  &  Beaver  Valley  Traction 
Company,  East  Liverpool,  Ohio,  is 
granted  the  right  to  establish  fares  for 
intrastate  service  equal  to  the  fares 
charged  for  interstate  service. 

The  hearing  was  the  result  of  a  peti- 
tion of  the  traction  company,  which 
operates  an  interurban  line  between 
Vanport,  Pa.,  and  Steubenville,  Ohio, 
and  intermediate  points,  and  a  local 
service  between  points  within  Ohio, 
and  a  branch  line  to  Chester,  W.  Va. 
The  lower  interstate  fares  charged  by 
the  company  had  the  effect  of  prac- 
tically denying  to  the  traction  com- 
pany the  use  of  its  interstate  fares,  for 
by  declaring  his  destination  as  the 
state  line  and  paying  the  required  in- 
trastate fare  a  passenger  could  stay 
on  the  car  and  pay  the  intrastate  fare 
after  crossing  into  the  other  state. 

The  company  stated  that  because  of 
the  low  intrastate  fares  it  was  unable 
to  secure  sufficient  revenue  to  pay  the 
cost  of  operating  and  maintaining  its 
railway  and  taxes,  that  its  bond  inter- 
est was  in  default  of  payment  for  more 
than  a  year  and  that  the  line  needed 
repairs  which  the  company  could  not 
make. 

The  finding  of  the  commission  was 
that  the  interstate  fares  were  just  and 
reasonable  and  that: 

Maintenance  of  intrastate  fares  between 
the  same  points  lower  than  the  just  and 
reasonable  interstate  fares  has  resulted  and 
will  result  in  undue  prejudice  to  persons 
traveling  in  interstate  commerce  over  the 
traction  company's  lines  in  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania  ;  in  undue  preference  of  and 
advantage  to  persons  traveling  intrastate 
between  points  in  Ohio,  and  in  unjust  dis- 
crimination   against    interstate  commerce. 

and  that  the  undue  prejudice  and 
preference  and  unjust  discrimination  can 
and  should  be  removed  by  establishing 
intrastate  passenger  fares  not  less  than  the 
interstate  passenger  fares. 

The  new  rates  will  go  into  effect  on 
Jan.  6,  1922,  according  to  the  order 
of  the  commission,  No.  12,092. 


Old  Bus  Controversy  in  Wheeling 
Renewed 

When  the  application  of  the  Ultimate 
Bus  Company,  which  has  be.en  operating 
buses  between  Wheeling  and  Martins 
Ferry  and  Bellaire,  Ohio,  was  read  in 
Council  in  Wheeling  recently  the  Wheel- 
ing Traction  Company  filed  a  protest. 
The  railway  contended  that  the  City 
Council  had  no  jurisdiction;  that  the 
applicant  was  not  operating  solely  in 
the  city  of  Wheeling,  but  in  two  states, 
and  that  the  application  could  be 
referred  only  to  the  State  Road  Com- 
mission of  West  Virginia. 

The  railway  contended  further  that 
the  buses  were  not  a  necessity;  that 
they  were  not  able  to  carry  all  the 
traffic  over  this  route;  that  the  traction 
company  had  handled  and  could  handle 
all  the  traffic;  that  if  the  buses  con- 
tinued to  operate  the  traction  company 
would  have  to  stop  operating;  that  the 
capital  of  the  applicant  was  less  than 
$40,000;  that  the  bus  line  could  not 
assure  Council  what  length  of  time  it 
would  continue  to  operate,  and  that  al- 
ready the  application  made  by  it  to  the 
State  Road  Commission  of  West  Vir- 
ginia had  been  turned  down  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  not  a  public  neces- 
sity. 

A  committee  of  three  was  appointed 


to  investigate  the  application.  The 
controversy  between  the  Wheeling  Trac- 
tion Company  and  the  Ultimate  Bus 
Company  has  been  referred  to  previ- 
ously in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal.   

Railroad  Taxation  Provides  Free 
Roads  for  Motor  Transportation 

Furnishing  almost  free  a  roadway  for 
motor  transportation  lines  out  of  money 
provided  by  taxation  of  the  railroads 
was  declared  an  injustice  by  C.  A.  Whit- 
more  of  the  State  Highway  Commission 
of  California  in  a  speech  made  recently 
at  Redlands,  Cal.    He  said  in  part: 

A  peculiar  paradox  exists  in  California. 
We  raise  the  money  to  meet  highway  bonds 
and  interest  from  taxes  on  railroads  and 
public  utilities.  With  this  money  we  build 
highways  which  are  now  used  by  automo- 
bile transportation  lines  in  competition  with 
the  railroads.  The  competition  reduces  the 
revenues  of  the  railroads  and  reduces  the 
income  which  accrues  to  the  state,  with 
a  part  of  which  it  builds  highways.  The 
state  furnished  almost  free  a  roadway  for 
one  common  carrier  out  of  money  provided 
by  taxation  on  another.  Obviously  this  sit- 
uation cannot  continue.  Highways  cannot 
be  maintained  under  circumstances  like 
these. 

I  hold  no  brief  for  the  railroads  but  they 
deserve  a  fair  deal.  Auto  trucks  have  taken 
over  much  of  the  short  hauling.  Sixty-two 
per  cent  of  the  freight  between  Bakersfield 
and  Los  Angeles  is  hauled  over  the  Ridge 
road  in  motor  trucks.  Yet  because  this 
highway  is  showing  in  a  few  places  the 
stress  of  this  tremendous  traffic,  our  critics 
are  claiming  improper  construction. 

Illinois  Committee  Advises 
Advertising 

Newspaper  advertising  at  this  time 
particularly  is  being  recommended  to 
all  of  the  utility  managers  on  the 
mailing  list  of  the  Illinois  Commit- 
tee on  Public  Utility  Information  for  two 
reasons,  which  the  committee  sets  forth 
as  follows:  (1)  Because  of  the  indus- 
trial depression  the  advertising  in  local 
papers  has  fallen  off  tremendously, 
which  means  that  utility  advertising 
will  get  "a  better  play"  and  that  the 
newspaper  editor  will  extend  himself  in 
helping  the  utility  formulate  such  ad- 
vertising as  will  get  results;  (2)  be- 
cause public  utility  companies  are  in  the 
same  fix  as  other  businesses.  Gross 
sales  have  fallen  off  because  of  the  de- 
pression, but  overhead  expense  is  going 
on.  This  combination  makes  difficult 
the  earning  of  profits.  The  solution  is 
to  get  after  business,  and  one  of  the  best 
means  of  doing  this  is  through  newspa- 
per advertising.  The  committee  makes 
the  reservation  that  it  does  not  advocate 
advertising  campaigns,  but  comments 
that  public  utility  advertising  should  be 
continuous;  that  it  should  have  a  well 
thought  out,  carefully  planned  day  to 
day  and  week  to  week  effort  in  which 
the  most  constructive  ability  available 
should  be  employed  and  the  best  advice 
obtained. 


Ohio  Cities  Want  Buses 

Since  the  Northern  Ohio  Traction  & 
Light  Company,  Akron,  Ohio;  decided  to 
buy  busses  to  be  operated  in  the  gity 
of  Akron,  applications  have  come  from 
both  Canton  and  Massillon  petitioning 
the  company  for  bus  service  in  those 
cities. 

The  November  issue  of  Northern 
Light,  the  official  publication  of  the 
company,  says: 

Should  the  operation  of  the  buses  pur- 
chased prove  a  success,  and  the  necessity 
of  the  cities  demand  it.  there  is  little  doubt 
that  lines  wilj  be  established  in  both  Canton 
and  Massiilon. 


No  Immediate  Rate  Reduction 

Is  Probable 

Reductions  of  public  utility  rates  in 
Indiana  to  correspond  with  the  marked 
decline  in  prices  of  other  commodities 
cannot  be  expected  at  once  by  utility 
patrons  because  the  rates  were  not  ad- 
vanced commensurately  with  the  gen- 
eral increase  of  prices  during  the  war 
period.  This  statement  is  contained  in 
the  annual  report  of  the  Indiana  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission,  which  has  been 
completed  by  Frank  B.  Faris,  examiner 
for  the  commission.    The  report  says: 

The  past  year  has  been  one  of  rather 
marked  decline  in  most  commodity  prices, 
and  has  been  characterized  by  a  business 
depression.  It  is  imposible,  however,  for 
the  Commission  radically  to  reduce  utility 
rates  to  correspond  to  the  decrease  in  farm 
products,  etc.  During  the  past  year  there 
were  only  538  formal  cases  filed  as  against 
827  the  year  before,  a  reduction  of  35  per 
cent. 

There  is,  however,  a  sound  distinction  to 
be  made  between  the  cessation  of  demand 
for  increased  rates  on  the  part  of  the 
utilities  and  a  slashing  of  utility  rates  on 
the  part  of  the  Commission.  Utility  rates 
did  not  increase  in  proportion  to,  or  con- 
temporaneously with,  the  rapid  increase  of 
prices  during  the  year  1919  and  a  part  of 
1920.  Had  utility  rates  been  increased  in 
direct  proportion  to,  and  simultaneously 
with,  all  commodity  prices  and  labor  costs, 
they  could  have  been  reduced  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  decrease  in  these  elements 
in  utility  expense. 

In  another  part  of  the  report,  how- 
ever, the  commission  expresses  the  hope 
that  the  economic  readjustment  will 
work  for  a  reduction  of  rates  com- 
mensurate with  utility  costs. 

The  commission  says  it  is  a  source 
of  satisfaction  to  observe  that  prices 
of  materials  and  labor  have  started  to 
decline,  and  that  this  ultimately  will 
result  in  better  public  service,  a  more 
liberal  policy  of  making  public  utility 
extensions  and  finally  a  reduction  in 
rates  commensurate  with  the  reduction 
in  cost  of  utility  service. 


One-Man  Cars  Indorsed  in 

New  Hampshire 

The  New  Hampshire  Public  Service 
Commission  has  indorsed  the  one-man 
car.  The  question  came  before  the 
commission  in  the  form  of  petitions, 
asking  the  commission  to  forbid  the 
use  of  these  cars  on  the  Concord  Elec- 
tric Railways.  The  finding  of  the  com- 
mission contains  the  following  state- 
ment: 

We  find  that  the  petitioners  have  en- 
tirely failed  to  prove  their  allegations  to 
the  effect  that  the  one-man  cars  are  un- 
safe or  that  the  service  rendered  by  them 
is  inadequate  and  unreasonable. 

The  commission's  consent  was  given  to 
the  operation  of  these  cars  before  they 
were  installed.  This  was  done  in  the  in- 
terest of  economy.  It  results  in  the  saving 
of  the  wages  of  one  man  on  each  car  op- 
erated, although  the  motorman  is  paid  5 
cents  an  hour  additional  for  collecting  the 
fares.  The  public  gets  the  direct  benefit 
of  this  economy  because  the  less  the  oper- 
ing  expenses  the  less  the  public  is  required 
to  pay  in  fares.  The  crying  need  of  street 
railway  companies  today  is  reduction  in 
operating  expenses.  Rates  have  been  In- 
creased to  a  point  now  that  is  burdensome. 
To  increase  revenue  by  a  further  raise  in 
rates  is  impracticable.  The  tendency 
should  be  downward  and  not  upward.  The 
one-man  car  furnishes  the  best  solution 
for  this  difficult  problem  thus  far  discov- 
ered. Its  use  is  increasing  and  bids  fair 
in  a  short  time  to  become  universal  wher- 
ever it  can  be  used  to  advantage  and  rea- 
sonably accommodate  the  public  . 

The  objection  of  the  public  to  these  one- 
man  cars,  because  of  whim,  prejudice  or 
.misapprehension  of  the  true  facts,  does 
not  justify  us,  nor  would  it  be  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  public  itself  to  order  the  two- 
man  cars  restored.  The  petition  is  accord- 
ingly denied. 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1093 


Wants  Bus  Company 
to  Fulfill  Contract 

Mandamus  proceedings  have  been 
brought  by  twenty  residents  of  the 
Cowen  Park  district  of  Seattle,  Wash., 
to  compel  the  Sound  Transit  Company 
to  operate  its  Roosevelt  Heights  Stage 
line.  Hearing  on  this  suit  has  been 
postponed  for  one  week  by  Judge  J.  T. 
Ronald  of  the  Superior  Court.  The 
city  of  Seattle  is  represented  by  first 
Assistant  Corporation  Counsel  J.  L. 
Kennedy,  who  is  appearing  as  a  "friend 
of  the  court,"  since  the  municipal  cor- 
poration is  not  a  party  to  the  suit. 

The  company's  certificate  of  neces- 
sity was  issued  under  the  1921  state 
law,  which  provided  that  all  auto  trans- 
portation companies  who  were  operat- 
ing buses  on  or  before  Jan.  21  of  the 
same  year,  must  be  permitted  to  con- 
tinue that  operation.  Mr.  Kennedy  al- 
leges that  the  company,  as  a  corpora- 
tion, was  not  operating  buses  at  that 
time,  and  stated  that  the  city  could 
produce  affidavits  to  prove  this  conten- 
tion. The  Sound  Transit  Company  be- 
gan operations  when  certificate  was 
issued,  but  when  the  city  secured  an 
injunction  preventing  the  buses  from 
picking  upl  passengers  inside  the  city 
limits,  the  operation  was  discontinued, 
leaving  the  Cowen  Park  district  with- 
out transportation  of  any  kind. 

In  the  meantime,  the  company  has 
pending  in  the  Thurston  County  Su- 
perior Court  an  application  for  a  review 
of  the  action  of  the  state  department 
of  public  works  in  inserting  in  the  com- 
pany's certificate  of  necessity  a  clause 
placing  the  Roosevelt  Heights  stages 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  city's  jit- 
ney regulatory  ordinance. 


I  ransportation 
News  Notes 


Bus  Line  Proposed.*— Minot  Cab  Com- 
pany, Minot,  N.  D.,  is  planning  a  pas- 
senger auto  line  service  between  Bis- 
marck and  Minot. 

Two  Million  Motor  Vehicles  Pro- 
duced.—In  1920  there  were  2,205,197 
motor  vehicles  produced  in  the  United 
States.  Of  this  number  1,883,158  were 
passenger  cars  and  322,039  were  trucks. 

Seeks  Franchise. — The  Citizens'  Bus 
Company,  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  has  re- 
cently been  organized  and  has  asked 
the  City  Council  for  a  franchise  to  op- 
erate buses  in  the  western  portion  of 
the  city. 

Bus  and  Truck  Service  Arranged. — 
The  Shore  Transportation  Company, 
Salisbury,  Md.,  will  establish  a  freight 
and  passenger  service  by  auto  buses 
and  trucks  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
highways  of  the  State  of  Maryland. 

Petition  to  Use  Texas  Road. — John 
H.  Kirby,  Houston,  Tex.,  and  his  asso- 
ciates who  are  promoting  an  interur- 
ban  line  from  Houston  to  Seabrook,  a 
resort  on  the  bay  shore  about  20  miles 
from  Houston,  have  asked  the  City 
Council  for  permission  to  use  the  Munic- 
ipal Belt  Railway  from  Harrisburg  to 
Pasadena  as  a.  portion  of  the  track  of 
the  interurban. 

Restrained  from  Advancing  Fares. — 
Judge  D.  M.  Anderson  in  the  District 
Court  of  Ottumwa,  la.,  granted  a  tem- 


porary injunction  on  Nov.  29  restrain- 
ing the  Ottumwa  Railway  &  Light 
Company  from  enforcing  an  increase 
in  fares  from  5  to  7  cents.  The  com- 
pany had  previously  announced  that 
beginning  Dec.  1  the  new  rates  would 
take  effect. 

Cancels  Application. — The  Southern 
Pacific  Company,  Portland,  Ore.,  has 
notified  the  Public  Service  Commission 
that  it  has  canceled  its  application  for 
an  increase  of  fares  on  the  electric  rail- 
way lines  of  West  Linn.  The  company 
had  asked  for  an  increase  from  5  to  8 
cents.  Applications  for  increased  fares 
on  the  lines  of  Salem  and  Eugene, 
owned  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Com- 
pany, have  not  been  withdrawn. 

Commission  Reiterates  Opinion. — The 
New  York  Public  Service  Commission 
has  denied  the  application  of  the  New 
York  State  Railways  for  a  reopening  of 
the  order  dismissing  the  Company's 
application  for  a  higher  rate  of  fare 
than  6  cents  in  the  city  of  Utica.  The 
opinion  of  the  commission  in  this  case 
was  reviewed  at  length  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal,  issue  of  Sept. 
24,  page  535. 

Bus  Company  Formed. — The  Transit 
Company,  Dover,  Del.,  a  corporation  to 
provide  motor  transportation  for  both 
passengers  and  freight,  has  been  organ- 
ized among  the  residents  of  Central  and 
Lower  Delaware.  The  officers  are: 
President,  James  H.  Wheatley,  Dover; 
vice-presidents,  Dr.  W.  F.  Hoey,  Fred- 
erica,  and  Ralph  E.  Staats,  Smyrna; 
secretary,  Jefferson  Cooper,  Cheswold. 
The  corporation  hopes  to  have  its  lines 
in  operation  by  1922. 

Conference  on  Fares  in  Pittsfield. — 

Lucius  S.  Storrs,  vice-president  of  the 
Berkshire  Street  Railway,  met  the 
special  transportation  committee  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.,  recently  and  for  the  sec- 
ond time  went  over  the  fare  problem 
in  Pittsfield  and  Dalton.  It  is  said  that 
Mr.  Storrs  is  disposed  to  try  out  a  flat 
10-cent  fare  in  Pittsfield,  with  transfer 
privileges  and  zone  elimination  as  rec- 
ommended by  the  committee. 

Wants  to  Manufacture  Trackless  Car, 
— Superintendent  of  Railways  D.  W. 
Henderson,  of  the  Seattle  (Wash.)  Mu- 
nicipal Railway  lines,  has  recommended 
to  the  City  Council  that  the  city  manu- 
facture a  trackless  trolley  car  for  a 
trial  on  the  municipal  lines.  Superin- 
tendent Henderson  reported  that  manu- 
facturers of  trackless  trolleys  had  in- 
formed him  that  the  cost  of  sending  a 
car  for  trial  purposes  in  Seattle  would 
be  prohibitive. 

New  Terminal  In  Use. — More  than 
80,000  persons  in  a  day  of  eighteen 
hours  are  now  making  use  of  the  Dixie 
Terminal,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  order  to 
board  cars  of  the  South  Covington  & 
Cincinnati  Street  Railway  for  various 
points  in  Kentucky.  The  official  turn- 
stile figures  for  Saturday,  Dec.  3,  show 
34,119  persons  went  through  in  one  di- 
rection in  a  twelve-hour  period  and 
40,013  in  a  full  day's  run.  The  story 
on  the  Dixie  Terminal  was  told  at 
length  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal, issue  of  Nov.  12,  page  865. 

Reduced  Fares  for  All  Schools.— -A 
decision  granting  children  attending 
private  and  convent  schools  the  benefit 
of  the  reduced  fare  ordinance,  enacted 
several  months  ago,  was  handed  down 
by  Judge  Thomas  H.  Darby  in  the 
Hamilton  County  Common  Pleas  Court. 
The    decision    orders    the  Cincinnati 


(Ohio)  Traction  Company  to  sell  the 
5-ceht  tickets  to  the  convent  school  chil- 
dren between  the  prescribed  ages  of  ten 
and  eighteen  yeai's.  Judge  Darby  in  his 
decision  said  that  the  testimony  tended 
to  show  that  the  courses  of  study  in  the 
convent  schools  are  similar  to  those  in 
the  public  schools  and  that  the  atten- 
dance at  these  is  accepted  by  the  school 
authorities  in  lieu  of  attendance  at  the 
public  schools. 

To  Comply  with  Commission  Finding. 
— In  accordance  with  the  finding  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  the 
case  of  the  Louisville  &  Northern  Rail- 
way &  Lighting  Company,  Louisville, 
Ky.,  the  company  will  soon  put  in  effect 
a  new  schedule  of  rates  on  commutation 
tickets  between  Louisville  and  New 
Albany  and  Louisville  and  Jefferson- 
ville.  This  announcement  was  made  by 
counsel  for  the  company.  The  commis- 
sion, as  reported  in  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Dec.  10,  1921,  held 
that  the  10-cent  passenger  fare  be- 
tween Louisville  and  New  Albany  was 
unreasonable,  as  well  as  a  9-cent  fare 
for  commutation  tickets. 

City    Appeals    Recent    Judgment. — 

The  city  of  Muncie,  Ind.,  through 
John  McPhee,  city  attorney,  has  filed 
in  Circuit  Court  a  transcript  for  an 
appeal  from  a  recent  judgment  in  City 
Court  which  ruled  Muncie's  so-called 
anti-jitney  ordinance  invalid.  The  ordi- 
nance seeks  to  make  it  unlawful  for 
motor  buses  to  use  the  streets  in  which 
street  cars  operate.  William  A.  Mc- 
Clellan,  judge  of  the  City  Court,  ruled 
the  ordinance  was  class  legislation  and 
therefore  unconstitutional.  The  ordi- 
nance was  passed  at  the  instance  of  the 
Indiana  Union  Traction  Company, 
which  asserted  it  was  operating  its 
local  street  car  system  at  a  loss,  be- 
cause of  jitney  bus  competition. 

State  Control  for  Rhode  Island  Buses. 
— State  control  of  jitneys  and  buses 
and  the  limitation  of  their  operation 
to  routes  serving  the  public  convenience 
or  necessity  will  be  asked  at  the  ap- 
proaching session  of  the  Rhode  Island 
General  Assembly.  Associated  inter- 
ests of  the  United  Electric  Rajlway§, 
Providence,  R.  I.,  are  behind  the  de- 
mand. The  proposed  bill  will  be  based 
upon  the  Connecticut  law,  which  be- 
came effective  last  April,  and  will  take 
control  from  the  cities  and  place  it 
with  the  Public  Utilities  Commission. 
The  Connecticut  law  requires  that  the 
applicant  for  a  license  must  prove  that 
the  proposed  service  is  required  for  the 
public  convenience  or  necessity. 

Are  Trackless  Cars  Motor  Buses? 
— The  City  Electric  Company,  Albu- 
querque, N.  M.,  has  stopped  operation 
of  trackless  trolleys  until  a  decision  has 
been  rendered  by  the  district  court.  G. 
Roslington,  president  of  the  property, 
says  that  the  action  of  the  company  in 
discontinuing  the  line  was  prompted  by 
the  recent  ruling  of  Judge  W.  W. 
McClellan  that  a  trackless  car  is  an 
automobile  and  under  the  motor  vehicle 
law  must  carry  a  state  license  tag. 
Mr.  Roslington  in  arguing  the  mat- 
ter before  District  Attorney  declared 
that  he  should  be  permitted  to  operate 
the  trackless  cars  without  an  auto 
license  because  of  his  franchise  which, 
he  said,  allowed  him  to  operate  street 
cars  "by  electricity  or  any  other  im- 
provement thereon."  Mr.  Mabry,  con- 
tending for  the  State,  said  that  a  fran- 
chise the  company  might  hold  would 
not  overrule  every  law  which  the  state 
might  make. 


1094 


ELectrig  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Personal  Mention 


Former  Mayor  in  Control 

Judge    Holland,    a    Man    of  Proved 
Executive  Ability,  Heads 
Dallas  Railway 

Judge  William  M.  Holland,  former 
Mayor  of  Dallas,  Tex.,  will  assume  the 
duties  of  president  of  the  Dallas  (Tex.) 
Railway  on  Jan.  1,  1922.  He  was 
elected  by  the  directors  at  a  meeting 
held  in  Dallas  on  Dec.  7. 

Much  gratification  has  been  ex- 
pressed by  residents  of  Dallas  over  the 
election  of  a  Dallas  man  to  head  the 
electric  railway.  Judge  Holland  suc- 
ceeds the  late  Col.  J.  F.  Strickland, 
who  was  also  president  of  the  Texas 
Electric  Railway  and  a  number  of  other 
electric  companies.  Under  the  reor- 
ganization that  is  now  taking  place, 
new  presidents  are  being  elected  for 
each  company. 

Judge  Holland  is  recognized  through- 
out Texas  as  an  attorney  of  marked 
ability.  He  was  for  four  years  judge  of 
the  Dallas  County  Court  and  served  as 
Mayor  of  the  city  of  Dallas  for  the 
four  years  from  1911  to  1915.  His  re- 
lations with  the  utilities  of  the  city 
during  his  administration  proved  that 
he  had  an  insight  into  the  affairs  of 
these  companies  that  assured  fair 
treatment  both  for  them  and  for  the 
people  of  the  city. 

Since  leaving  the  Mayor's  office  he 
has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law 
in  Dallas.  He  has  not  had  experience 
as  an  executive  of  traction  companies 
and  his  only  relation  with  such  com- 
panies, except  as  that  of  an  attorney, 
was  while  he  served  as  Mayor.  Judge 
Holland  was  also  elected  a  member  of 
the  board  of  directors.  He  previously 
had  served  on  the  directorate. 

It  is  announced  that  Richard  Meri- 
wether will  remain  as  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  company, 
and  C.  W.  Hobson  will  remain  as  chair- 
man of  the  board  of  directors. 

Addressing  the  board  of  directors 
upon  being  notified  of  his  election, 
Judge  Holland  signified  his  acceptance 
of  the  position  in  the  following  lan- 
guage. 

It  shall  be  my  purpose  as  president  of  the 
Dallas  Railway,  co-operating  with  its  di- 
rectors, officers  and  employees,  to  give  the 
people  of  Dallas  the  best  service  possible 
for  the  revenue  received.  I  realize  fully 
that  those  who  are  intrusted  with  the  man- 
agement of  our  street  railway  company 
have  a  difficult  job. 

I  believe  that  with  a  policy  of  fairness 
and  frankness  and  a  spirit  of  toleration  on 
both  sides,  the  electric  railway  of  Dallas 
can  operate  with  a  minimum  of  misunder- 
standings between  it  and  the  public  and 
the  public's  representatives — the  Mayor  and 
Commissioners. 

I  do  know  that  the  growth  and  prosperity 
Of  every  modern  American  city  is  depend- 
ent upon  its  street  car  system.  Under  the 
able  leadership  of  Colonel  Strickland,  who 
was  a  man  of  extraordinary  talents,  great 
progress  was  made  In  our  Dallas  company. 
Much  remains  to  be  done.  I  hope  to  be  in- 
strumental in  still  bettering  the  service 
until  Dallas  shall  have  in  fact  a  metropoli- 
tan electric  railway  system." 

The  board  of  directors  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement: 

The  directors  of  the  Dallas  Railway,  in 
considering  the  selection  of  a  president  for 
the  company,  both  as  citizens  of  the  city  of 
Dallas  and  as  directors  of  the  company, 
concluded  the  successor  to  the  late  Colonel 
Strickland  should  be  a  local  man.  This  con- 
clusion was  heartily  indorsed  by  the  non- 
resident stockholders,  both  feeling  that  by 
such  determination  would  be  extended  and 


increased,  the  good  feeling  between  the 
public  and  the  railway. 

Judge  Holland  is  well-known  to  all  the 
citizens  of  Dallas.  His  record  as  Mayor 
for  two"'  terms  thoroughly  established  his 
executive  capacity  as  a  man  of  unques- 
tioned integrity,  thoroughly  honest  in  all 
things,  and  highly  capable.  Judge  Holland 
becomes  the  president  of  this  company 
without  obligation  to  either  the  public  or  to 
the  corporation,  except  to  do  justice  to 
both  parties,  and  we  feel  that  both  in- 
terests will  be  impartially  guarded  and 
conducted.  His  record  as  Mayor  of  this 
city  bears  the  imprint  of  fairness  and 
ability  which  will  be  of  great  service  to 
the  public  and  all  interests  concerned. 

When  Judge  Holland  takes  up  his 
duties  on  Jan.  1,  1922,  he  will  find  a 
huge  accumulated  deficit  in  earnings  as 
authorized  under  the  franchise  granted 
the  Strickland-Hobson  interests  in  1917. 
This  franchise  authorized  a  net  return 
of  7  per  cent  on  the  fixed  valuation 


way  operations  and  is  entirely  familiar 
with  the  business  he  takes  over  as  he 
has  been  next  in  charge  to  Mr.  Dalton 
for  some  time. 


Charles  Day  President  of  Former 
Ohio  Electric  Subsidiary 

Charles  Day,  of  the  firm  of  Day  & 
Zimmerman,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  was 
elected  president  of  the  Indiana,  Co- 
lumbus &  Eastern  Traction  Company, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
directors  held  on  Dec.  8.  Mr.  Day  suc- 
ceeds J.  H.  Sundmaker,  of  Cincinnati, 
as  president  and  director.  Mr.  Sund- 
maker severed  his  connections  with  the 
company  some  time  ago,  opening  an 
office  in  Cincinnati  for  special  consult- 
ing work. 

The  Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern 
Traction  Company  was  a  part  of  the 
Ohio  Electric  Railway  system  until  the 
dissolution  of  the  latter  by  the  Fed- 
eral Court  some  time  ago  on  applica- 
tion of  the  receiver. 

Mr.  Plimpton  Associate  Editor 
on  "Bus  Transportation" 


Judge  William  M.  Holland 

of  the  property.  Statistics  show"  that 
the  earnings  have  been  5.32  per  cent. 

The  company  has  operated  under  the 
franchise  for  fifty  months  and  its  net 
earnings  up  to  Nov.  30,  1921,  amounted 
to  $1,645,089,  leaving  a  deficit  in 
authorized  earnings  of  $599,475.  Total 
earnings  during  this  period  amount  to 
$10,405,344,  while  operating  costs  have 
amounted  to  $8,760,254.  The  total 
value  of  the  company's  property  now  is 
$9,407,889,  as  fixed  by  the  franchise  for 
rate-making  purposes. 


Mr. 


Dalton  Resigns  as  Manager 

of  Idaho  Company 

H.  E.  Dalton,  general  manager  of 
the  Boise  Valley  Traction  Company, 
Boise,  Idaho,  for  several  years,  has  re- 
signed his  position  and  F,  L,  Ring, 
traffic  manager  of  the  line  since  last 
May  has  been  named  as  manager  in  his 
place. 

The  resignation  of  Mr.  Dalton  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  directors 
some  time  ago,  but  the  change  was 
made  but  recently.  Mr.  Dalton  has 
large  private  interests  of  his  own  which 
require  his  entire  attention  and  it  was 
for  that  reason  he  left  the  company. 

Previous  to  his  joining  the  operating 
staff  of  the  Boise  Valley  Traction  Com- 
pany in  1908,  Mr.  Dalton  was  for  sev- 
eral years  superintendent  of  the  Louis- 
ville &  Southern  Indiana  Traction  Com- 
pany, New  Albany,  Ind. 

His  successor,  Mr.  Ring,  has  had 
considerable  experience  in  electric  rail- 


R.  E.  Plimpton  has  joined  the  staff  of 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal  and  its 
supplement,  Bus  Transportation,  on 
which  he  will  be  an  associate  editor. 
Mr.  Plimpton  will  devote  particular  at- 
tention to  the  writing  and  preparation 
of  articles  treating  more  particularly 
with  the  technical  and  engineering 
phases  of  automotive  equipment.  On 
Electric  Railway  Journal  Mr.  Plimp- 
ton will  handle  the  subject  of  auxiliary 
motor  truck  freight  service  to  electric 
railways  and  also  take  charge  of  the 
statistical  work,  in  which  he  has  had 
much  experience. 

Mr.  Plimpton  has  held  positions  in 
both  editorial  and  advertising  work  on 
several  papers.  In  becoming  a  member 
of  the  staff  of  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal and  Bus  Transportation  he  rejoins 
the  McGraw-Hill  Company.  He  was  for- 
merly with  Power,  from  the  editorial 
staff  of  which  he  resigned  in  1915  to 
accept  a  position  as  publication  man- 
ager for  the  Society  of  Automotive 
Engineers.  While  both  advertising 
manager  and  editor  of  the  society's  pub- 
lication he  was  responsible  for  changing 
it  from  a  small  monthly  bulletin  to 
the  sizable  paper  that  it  is  at  present. 
In  1918  he  joined  the  Motor  Transport 
Corps  and  at  the  end  of  the  war  wrote 
a  history  of  the  engineering  activities 
in  motor  transport  as  developed  abroad 
by  this  country.  More  recently  he  has 
been  associated  with  the  advertising 
agencies  of  George  H.  Gibson,  Newall- 
Emmett  Company  and  the  Wales  Ad- 
vertising Company. 

W.  R.  Sebree  has  been  chosen  presi- 
dent of  the  Caldwell  (Idaho)  Traction 
Company,  formerly  in  the  hands  of  Re- 
ceiver C.  D,  Purkhiser,  who  is  now  the 
general  manager.  W.  A.  Stone  has  been 
elected  secretary. 

E.  C.  Van  Diest  has  again  taken 
charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  Intermoun- 
tain  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company 
Colorado  Springs,  Col.,  as  vice-president 
and  general  manager,  to  replace  E.  J. 
Condon,  Jr.,  who  recently  resigned. 

John  Mayhan,  master  mechanic  Dan- 
ville Street  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
Danville,  111.,  has  been  appointed  elec- 
trical superintendent  of  the  Spokane  & 
Eastern  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Spokane,  Wash.  In  this  new  position  he 
will  have  charge  of  all  rolling  stock, 


December  17,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1095 


also  the  powerhouse,  substations  and 
overhead.  This  company  operates  sev- 
eral electric  locomotives  and  handles 
freight.  Mr.  Mayhan  was  at  one  time 
construction  engineer  for  this  company. 
He  will  be  succeeded  at  Danville  by  C. 
E.  Walters,  who  has  been  serving  as 
general  foreman. 

John  S.  Bleecker,  formerly  general 
manager  of  the  New  Orleans  Railway 
&  Light  Company,  New  Orleans,  La., 
and  subsequently  general  manager  of 
the  Myles  Salt  Company,  which  is  lo- 
cated near  New  Orleans,  has  resigned 
to  go  into  business  in  New  Orleans. 
Mr.  Bleecker  was  for  two  years  asso- 
ciated with  the  latter  company,  which 
owns  and  operates  the  largest  salt  mine 
in  the  world.  Mr.  Blecker  went  to  New 
Orleans  in  1919  from  Columbus,  Ga., 
where  he  was  general  manager  for 
Stone  &  Webster  of  the  Columbus  Elec- 
tric Company  and  the  Columbus  Rail- 
road Company. 

H.  O.  Garraan,  chief  engineer  for  the 
Indiana  Public  Service  Commission,  has 
resigned  that  position,  effective  Dec.  31. 
Mr.  Carman  became  consulting  engi- 
neer for  the  Indiana  Railroad  Commis- 
sion when  that  department  was  created 
in  1907.  Later,  when  the  Indiana  Rail- 
road Commission  became  the  Indiana 
Public  Service  Commission,  he  was  re- 
tained as  head  of  the  engineering  staff. 
He  has  served  on  the  commission  four- 
teen years  and  under  five  different 
Governors.  He  may  be  succeeded,  tem- 
porarily at  least,  by  Earl  J.  Carter, 
assistant  to  the  chief  engineer.  He  ex- 
pects to  give  his  entire  time  after  Jan. 
1  to  private  interests. 


Obituary 


John  I.  Loftis,  inspector  for  the 
Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  died  recently.  Mr.  Loftis 
had  been  connected  with  the  company 
for  thirty-two  years. 

Clarence  E.  Rood,  sales  manager  of 
the  Gould  Coupler  Company,  New  York, 
died  on  Dec.  11  after  a  brief  illness. 
Most  of  his  business  connections  had 
been  in  the  railway  field.  At  one  time 
he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Rudd 
&  Brown,  Buffalo,  manufacturers  of  car 
wheels,  and  later  operated  his  own  mal- 
leable iron  works  in  Lancaster,  Pa.  He 
has  been  connected  with  the  Gould 
Coupler  Company  in  the  sales  depart- 
ment for  the  past  twelve  or  thirteen 
years.  He  had  an  exceptionally  large 
circle  of  acquaintances  in  both  the 
steam  and  electric  railway  field. 

Hugh  E.  Crilly,  an  electric  railway 
builder  well-known  because  of  the 
pioneer  construction  work  he  did  in 
Eastern  Pennsylvania,  died  in  Allen- 
town,  Pa.,  on  Dec.  13.  He  was  the 
builder  of  the  first  electric  railway  in 
Allentown  in  1891.  During  the  next 
few  years  he  constructed  and  financed 
himself  numerous  other  undertakings, 
many  of  which  he  sold  on  completion. 
Among  the  larger  lines  built  by  him 
were  interurbans  around  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  a  large  section  of  the  urban  lines 
in  Reading,  Pa.  Mr.  Crilly  was  born 
in  Ireland  in  1852.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  in  early  manhood,  set- 
tling in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  later  going 
to  Pennsylvania,  where  he  became  one 
of  the  best  known  business  men  in  the 
state. 


W.  Caryl  Ely  Dead 

Former  Head  of  International  Railway 
and  of  the  American  Association 
Stricken  With  Heart  Failure 

W.  Caryl  Ely,  president  of  the  Ameri- 
can Electric  Railway  Association  from 
1904  to  1906  and  for  many  years  be- 
fore and  after  those  dates  an  active 
factor  in  the  councils  of  the  association, 
died  suddenly  on  Dec.  14  of  heart 
failure.  Only  the  day  previous  Mr. 
Ely  had  lunched  at  the  Engineers  Club 
in  New  York  among  friends  and  asso- 
ciates who  had  known  him  for  many 
years.  News  of  his  death  will  come 
to  his  many  friends  in  the  electric  rail- 
way business  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada  as  a  great  shock  just  as  it  did 
to  his  associates  in  Barron  G.  Collier, 
Inc.,  of  which  he  had  long  been  vice- 
president  and  in  the  affairs  of  which 
he  had  been  active  almost  to  his  last 
hour. 

When  president  of  the  American  Elec- 
tric Railway  Association  Mr.  Ely  was 
perhaps  the  principal  factor  in  laying 


W.   Caryl  Ely 


the  foundation  for  the  association  or- 
ganization as  it  now  stands,  with  its 
various  activities  as  a  real  national 
body  lending  constant  aid  the  year 
round  to  the  companies  within  its  mem- 
bership. In  association  councils,  as  in 
everything  else  that  he  touched,  Mr. 
Ely  was  a  real  leader  who  saw  long 
before  others  did  some  of  the  problems 
which  have  recently  caused  the  indus- 
try its  greatest  concern.  He  was  one 
of  the  very  early  advocates  of  the 
policy  of  frankness  with  the  public 
which  has  lately  come  to  be  accepted 
as  not  only  advisable,  but  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  future  welfare  of  the 
industry. 

Mr.  Ely  was  a  man  of  prodigious 
enterprise.  He  was  perhaps  best  known 
among  railway  men  as  the  former  head 
of  the  International  Railway,  Buffalo, 
and  for  his  work  with  the  Collier 
organization,  but  these  were  only  a 
small  part  of  the  activities  to  which 
Mr.  Ely  turned  his  attention  from  time 
to  time.  To  his  foresight,  courage  and 
determination  very  largely  stands  the 
achievement  of  the  perfection  of  the 
noiseless  typewriter.  He  early  saw  the 
need  for  a  machine  of  this  kind,  and 
when  others  doubted  he  backed  the  en- 
terprise with  all  the  financial  resources 
at  his  command.  Always  interested  in 
public  affairs,  Mr.  Ely  took  a  very 
prominent  part  in  furthering  the  plans 
for  the  Pan-American  Exposition  in 
Buffalo,  and  then  gave  of  his  time  from 


his  many  other  interests  to  serve  as 
a  director  and  member  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  exposition  and  as 
chairman  of  the  transportation  com- 
mittee of  the  exposition.  Another  im- 
portant work  by  him  in  the  interest  of 
the  public  was  his  service  in  the  Legis- 
lature of  New  York,  in  which  body  he 
led  the  Democratic  forces  when  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  was  a  member  of  that 
body.  Mr.  Ely  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  dis- 
agreed fundamentally  on  many  political 
doctrines,  but  there  grew  up  between 
them  a  mutual  respect  which  developed 
into  life-long  friendship.  Mr.  Ely's 
charm  of  manner  and  unvariable  cour- 
tesy and  consideration  for  others  en- 
deared him  to  his  many  friends.  At 
the  same  time  his  sound  judgment  and 
forensic  ability  made  him  a  natural 
leader  among  men. 

It  is  impossible  to  do  more  than 
sketch  Mr.  Ely's  career  and  to  refer 
briefly  to  the  more  important  of  his 
multifarious  business  activities.  He 
was  born  in  Middlefield,  Otsego  County, 
N.  Y.,  on  Feb.  15,  1856,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools  and  at 
Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  and  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. He  studied  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  in 
1882  and  engaged  in  practice  at  East 
Worcester,  N.  Y.  In  1885  he  removed 
to  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.  He  afterward 
established  the  firm  of  Ely  &  Dudley 
and  later  that  of  Ely,  Dudley  &  Cohn. 
In  1899  he  gave  up  the  practice  of  law 
to  become  president  of  the  International 
Traction  Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and 
the  International  Railway  and  removed 
from  Niagara  Falls  to  Buffalo.  In  1891 
he  was  nominated  by  his  party  for 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  from 
1893  to  1896  he  was  treasurer  of  the 
Democratic  State  committee. 

During  Mr.  Ely's  residence  at 
Niagara  Falls,  he  was  actively  identi- 
fied with  numerous  business  enterprises. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of 
the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company 
and  was  identified  with  the  Buffalo- 
Niagara  Falls  Electric  Railway,  being 
the  first  president  of  that  company.  He 
also  had  much  to  do  with  the  formation 
of  the  Carter-Crume  Company,  Ltd., 
and  William  A.  Rogers,  Ltd.  In  the 
fall  of  1898  and  spring  of  1899  Mr. 
Ely  was  active  in  forming  a  plan  of  com- 
bining into  one  system  the  electric  rail- 
ways in  and  between  Buffalo,  Niagara 
Falls,  Tonawanda,  Lockport  and  adjoin- 
ing towns,  and  uniting  them  with  the 
Niagara  Falls  Park  &  River  Railway 
on  the  Canadian  side  by  means  of  the 
steel  arch  bridge  at  Niagara  Falls  and 
the  suspension  bridge  between  Lewis- 
ton  and  Queenston.  A  short  time  later 
the  International  Traction  Company 
and  the  International  Railway  were 
formed,  of  which  companies  Mr.  Ely 
became  president,  serving  in  that  ca- 
pacity until  March,  1905.  For  six  years 
previous  to  1910  Mr.  Ely  was  president 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  Finance  Company, 
and  engaged  in  the  construction  and 
operation  of  electric  railway  and  elec- 
tric lighting  properties  in  the  Ohio 
valley  between  Pittsburg  and  Wheeling. 
Among  the  other  companies  in  which 
he  was  interested  there  were  the  East 
Liverpool  Traction  &  Light  Company, 
the  Ohio  River  Passenger  Company, 
and  the  Steubenville  &  East  Liverpool 
Railway  &  Light  Company.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Automobile  Club  of 
America  and  the  Metropolitan,  National 
Democratic,  Transportation,  Engineers 
and  Cornell  Clubs  of  New  York,  and 
also  of  the  Cornellian  Council. 


1096 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  25 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Ten  per  Cent  Cut  on  Northern 
White  Cedar  Poles 

Pole  producers  have  published  a  cut 
on  Northern  White  cedar  poles,  effective 
Dec.  1,  which  makes  a  difference  in  de- 
livered cost  of  from  5  to  10  per  cent,  ac- 
cording to  size.  The  decrease  was  made 
in  order  to  bring  prices  on  the  Northern 
poles  into  line  with  those  on  Western 
poles,  which  had  been  reduced  during 
the  early  part  of  November:  Prices  on 
Northern  white  cedar  poles,  f.o.b.  New 
York,  are  as  follows:  40-ft.,  8-in., 
$16.50;  40-ft.,  7-in.,  $14.35;  35-ft.,  8-in., 
$14.10;  35-ft.,  7-in.,  $11.85;  30-ft.,  7-in., 
$8.55;  30-ft.,  6-in.,  $6.80;  25-ft.,  7-in., 
$6.80;  25-ft.,  6-in.,  $5.05.  There  has 
been  an  increase  of  10  to  15  cents  per 
pole  on  Western  red  cedars  within  the 
last  few  days  to  take  care  of  changing 
through  freight  rates. 

Demand  for  the  Northern  white  cedar 
pole  in  the  East  is  normally  small.  The 
main  supply  goes  to  the  Middle  West. 
Stocks  are  good  and  immediate  deliv- 
eries can  be  made.  Cross-arm  quota- 
tions have  been  reduced  several  times  in 
the  last  few  months,  and  producers 
state  that  prices  are  now  as  low  as  pos- 
sible. Some  hope  has  been  placed  in 
a  reduction  of  freight  rates,  but  even 
if  these  were  down  to  1913  levels  it 
would  make  only  about  10  per  cent  dif- 
ference in  delivered  prices. 


Substantial  Reduction  in  Line 
Hardware  Prices 

Reductions  on  line  hardware  of  all 
sorts  have  been  announced.  New  net 
prices  quoted  by  a  representative  manu- 
facturer include  suspension-insulator 
fittings,  pierce-forged  steel  pins  for 
wood  and  steel  arms,  cross-arm  saddles, 
centering  washers,  pole-top  bracket, 
steel  pins,  clamp  pins  and  clamps,  wood- 
top  pins,  ridge  irons,  angle  and  stand- 
ard cross-arm  braces,  through,  machine, 
spacing  and  eye  bolts,  washers,  strain 
plates,  anchor  of  guyrods,  pole  steps, 
turnbuckles  and  tools.  The  average  re- 
duction is  approximately  10  per  cent 
and  is  the  second  since  July  1,  the  other 
having  been  made  Sept.  1. 

Manufacturers  state  that  the  drop 
was  put  into  effect  in  an  effort  to  stimu- 
late the  market  for  line  material  and 
that  some  increase  in  demand  has  been 
noted.  Many  central  stations  are  well 
stocked  against  seasonal  requirements, 
as  was  the  case  with  the  utilities  in 
eastern  Massachusetts  that  made  re- 
pairs out  of  stocks  to  lines  damaged  in 
last  week's  sleet  storm  there.  A  heavy 
call  for  this  material  recently  came 
from  the  Pacific  Northwest,  where  a 
blizzard  had  done  considerable  damage. 


New  Electric  Railway  in  Spain 

Early  construction  is  proposed  of  an 
electric  railway  in  Spain,  to  carry  both 
passengers  and  freight  and  to  operate 
between  Corunna,  Santiago,  and  Car- 
ballo — a  distance  of  about  40  miles. 
Preliminary  plans  are  now  being 
worked  out  and  a  company  with  ade- 
quate capital  will  be  organized  to 
finance    the   construction,   which  will 


include  the  building  of  five  tunnels. 
At  present  the  only  means  of  passenger 
transportation  between  these  points  is 
by  motor  bus,  requiring  four  hours  for 
the  journey;  freight  traffic  is  handled 
by  motor  trucks.  Extensions  are  also 
planned  for  the  local  electric  street 
railway  system  in  Corunna. 


Copper  Prices  Slightly  Stronger 

Domestic  business  in  copper  has  re- 
mained the  same  as  for  the  last  few 
weeks,  but  with  a  decline  in  exchange 
foreign  business  has  decreased  con- 
siderably. Prices  are  getting  firmer  in 
the  domestic  trade.  Domestic  inquiry 
is  from  both  wire-drawers  and  brass 
founders,  with  the  buying  by  larger 
rather  than  smaller  companies.  While 
some  inquiry  and  purchases  are  still 
for  prompt  shipments,  most  of  the  in- 
quiry is  for  the  first  quarter,  some  be- 
ing for  April  metal.  Much  of  the  pres- 
ent inquiry  is  from  large  consumers. 

The  highest  price  reported  so  far  has 
been  14  cents  for  January  and  Febru- 
ary deliveries.  A  little  December  cop- 
per is  understood  to  have  brought  13! 
cents  delivered,  while  a  January  sale  in 
New  York  has  been  made  at  131  cents. 

December  shipments  of  copper  are 
expected  to  be  quite  large  as  much  of 
the  metal  sold  in  September  and  Octo- 
ber and  some  of  the  November  business 
was  for  shipment  before  the  end  of  the 
year.  December  sales,  it  is  thought, 
will  be  doing  well  if  total  reaches  that 
for  September,  when  approximately 
100,000,000  _  lb.  was  sold  for  foreign 
and  domestic  shipment. 

Developments  at  Washington  seem  to 
account  for  the  improvement  in  ex- 
change and  the  increased  buying  of 
copper. 

in  I  ii  niMiiiiiiimji'  iiiiihii  I  SS 

Rolling  Stock 


Indianapolis  (Ind.)  Street  Railway  should 
purchase  twenty-five  cars  for  city  opera- 
tion, according-  to  a  statement  made  to  the 
board  of  directors  by  President  R.  I.  Todd. 

San  Francisco,  Cal. — The  board  of  public 
works  has  requested  the  supervisors  to 
adopt  an  ordinance  authorizing  the  pur- 
chase of  twenty  cars  for  the  municipal 
railway  system.  The  need  for  these  cars 
which  are  estimated  to  cost  between  $300.- 
000  and  $350,000,  has  been  shown  by  City 
Engineer  M.  M.  O'Shaughnessy. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Indianapolis    (Ind.)    Street   Railway  has 

been  ordered  by  the  Board  of  Public  Works 
to  lower  car  tracks  on  Kentucky  Avenue 
at  the  intersection  of  Harding  Street  to 
conform  to  the  street  grade,  and  to  pave 
between  tracks  at  this  point.  The  com- 
pany was  ordered  also  to  pave  between 
tracks  on  Oliver  Avenue  at  the  intersection 
of  Harding  Street.  When  these  two  streets 
are  repaired  they  will  present  a  thorough- 
fare on  Kentucky  Avenue  from  Washington 
Street  to  Troy  Avenue. 

Shore  Line  Electric  Railway  Norwich, 
Conn.,  is  building  a  short  section  of  track 
between  the  end  of  what  was  formerly 
known  as  the  Groton  &  Stonington  Street 
Railway  and  a  connection  with  the  tracks 
of  The  Connecticut  Company  in  Main  Street, 
New  London.  This  new  trackage  repre- 
sents about  11  miles,  including  the  bridge 
which,  as  soon  as  the  Crystal  Avenue  bridge 


in  New  London  is  completed  next  spring, 
will  enable  the  receivers  to  operate  from 
Westerly  into  New  London.  This  construc- 
tion is  made  in  the  name  of  The  Groton  & 
Stonington  Traction  Company,  a  newly 
chartered  and  incorporated  company,  wholly 
owned  by  the  receivership  estate. 

Aichi  Electric  Railway,  Nagoya.  Japan, 
has  been  granted  construction  rights  for  an 
extension  of  its  line  to  Okazaki.  Negotia- 
tions for  right  of  way  have  commenced, 
and  it  is  expected  that  actual  construction 
work  will  begin  very  shortly.  This  same 
company  has  applied  for  permission  to  con- 
struct two  other  lines,  one  of  more  than 
10  miles  branching  from  Ota  on  the  pres- 
ent Tokoname  line  to  Handa,  and  another 
3  miles  long  from  Tokoname  to  Handa  via 
Narawa.  Official  sanction  has  been  given 
for  the  construction  of  the  railway  between 
Oi  and  Tsukechi,  in  Gifu  Prefecture.  A 
company  has  been  organized  with  a  capi- 
tal of  2,000,000  yen  ($997,000)  to  carry 
out  the  construction  and  operation  of  this 
line,  and  50  per  cent  of  its  stock  has  been 
taken  by  the  Daido  Electric  Power  Com- 
pany. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Philadelphia,  Pa. — Sealed  proposals  for 
electrical  equipment  for  the  substations  on 
Cumberland  Street,  for  the  Frankford  Ele- 
vated Railway  will  be  received  at  the 
Director's  office,  Department  of  City  Tran- 
sit, until  noon  Dec.  20. 

Chattanooga  Railway  &  Eight  Company, 
Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  on  account  of  the  in- 
cessant growth  of  demands  for  electric 
current  in  the  Chattanooga  territory,  is 
planning  to  provide  additional  power  equip- 
ment. For  some  months  preparations  for 
the  installation  of  this  equipment  have 
gone  forward  and  the  work  is  now  prac- 
tically completed.  In  the  substation  at 
Carter  Street  the  transforming-  equipment 
has  been  increased  in  capacity  more  than 
50  per  cent  The  original  equipment  was 
placed  in  this  station  in  1914,  and  after  a 
lapse  of  seven  years  it  has  proved  to  be 
inadequate. 

Cumberland  County  Power  &  Eight  Com- 
pany, Portland,  Me.,  is  again  considering 
the  construction  of  a  steam  power  plant 
as  an  auxiliary  to  its  hydraulic  power 
supply.  The  proposition  has  been  under  dis- 
cussion at  various  times  during  the  past 
ten  or  fifteen  years.  Tentative  plans  call 
for  the  installation  of  two  turbo-generators 
of  5,000  kw.  capacity  each.  Steam  will  be 
generated  in  oil-fired  boilers.  The  con- 
struction of  the  proposed  station  would  re- 
sult in  the  abandonment  of  the  Forest 
Avenue  plant,  while  the  Plum  Street  plant 
would  be  utilized  as  the  distributing  center. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  plant  would  cost 
about  $1,000,000. 


Trade  Notes 


Seattle,     (Wash.)     Municipal  Railways, 

through  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  recently 
awarded  a  contract  to  Allis-Chalmers  Com- 
pany for  furnishing  116  air  compressors, 
at  a  cost  of  $30,207,  f.o.b.  Georgetown 
shops.  This  was  the  lowest  of  three  bids 
submitted.  Contract  for  furnishing-  300 
33-in.  rolled  steel  wheels  for  the  railway 
department  was  let  to  Cambria  Steel  Com- 
pany, on  a  bid  of  $10,575. 

The  L.  Robinson  Corporation  8-10  Bridge 
Street,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  is  the  name  of  an 
organization  recently  formed  by  L.  Robin- 
son, as  electrical  insulation  specialists. 
The  main  laboratories  of  the  company 
will  also  be  located  in  New  York,  while  the 
manufacturing  facilities  will  be  in  Newark, 
N.  J.  and  St.  Louis,  Mo.  The  corporation 
will  have  trade  affiliations  in  Canada. 
L.  Robinson,  who  has  had  long  experience 
in  the  development  and  marketnig  of  in- 
sulating materials,  was  in  charge  of  the 
insulating  department  of  the  Standard 
Varnish  Works,  New  York,  Chicago  and 
Toronto,  for  about  fifteen  years.  Previous 
to  entering  the  service  of  the  Standard 
Varnish  Works  he  held  many  positions  in 
the  operating  field  of  electric  railways  in 
Canada.  France  and  the  United  States.  As- 
sociated with  L.  Robinson  in  his  new  com- 
pany is  W.  D.  Crumpton  as  vice-president 
and  treasurer,  who  for  many  years  was 
connected  with  the  bureau  of  purchases  of 
the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  East  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  after- 
ward for  fourteen  years  was  purchasing 
agent  and  storekeeper  of  the  British  West- 
inghouse Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Ltd.,  Manchester,  England. 


Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZELL.Editors  HENRY  H.NORRIS, Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor    N.A. BOWERS, Pacific  Coast  Editor    H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIER,A«soctate  Editor      CARL  W. STOCKS. Associate  Editor 
G.J.MACMURRAY.News  Editor       DONALD  P.HINE.Editorial  Representative       R.E.  PLIMPTON.Editorial  Representative        PAUL  WOOTON.Washington  Representative 

Volumes*  New  York,  Saturday,  December  24,  1921  Number  26 


Witt)  tfje  g>easion'g  Greetings!  anb  pest  Wi&\)t&  for  a  prosperous!  Ji^eto  gear 

for  tfje  Clectrtc  &ailtoap  Snbustrp 


Municipal  Bookkeeping 

Explained  by  Mr.  Whalen 

A PROFIT  of  some  four  thousand  dollars  was  soon 
changed  into  a  deficit  of  much  larger  proportions 
within  a  few  minutes  during  the  testimony  of  Grover 
Whalen,  Commissioner  of  Plant  and  Structures  for 
the  city  of  New  York,  before  the  Transit  Commission 
this  week.  It  is  rather  to  Mr.  Whalen's  credit  than 
discredit  that  he  had  the  facts,  the  knowledge  and  the 
ability  to  answer  the  queries  of  the  commission  and 
help  get  at  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  the  city's  trolley 
operations  on  Staten  Island.  For  as  soon  as  he  was 
asked  to  show  the  effect  of  accounting  for  certain 
charges,  well  known  to  be  existent,  he  admitted  that 
if  the  city  had  kept  books  as  any  independently  operated 
concern  must  do,  the  profit  the  city  announced  would 
vanish  into  a  real  deficit. 

The  Transit  Commission,  in  its  hearings,  is  trying 
to  get  at  some  really  basic  and  useful  facts  for  the 
benefit  of  the  public.  It  is  of  great  value  to  the  public 
of  New  York  City,  and  elsewhere,  and  also  to  the  trans- 
portation and  public  service  industry  in  general  to  have 
emphasized  that  the  public,  as  well  as  private  enterprise, 
cannot  produce  profit  where  profit  does  not  exist. 

The  city  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  not  making  a  profit 
on  this  particular  undertaking.  No  transportation  man 
would  expect  the  venture  to  be  profitable.  It  is  a  small 
undertaking  in  sparsely  settled  territory,  operating  at 
a  low  fare.  But  once  the  public  impression  is  made 
that  a  "profit"  exists  it  is  important  to  know  from  a 
city  official  exactly  what  this  "profit"'  figure  is  and 
that  a  real  accounting  would  show  a  deficit  which  the 
public  has  to  pay. 


Patent  Office  Situation 

Needs  Your  Personal  Attention 

ANY  one  who  is  interested  in  an  industry  which  de- 
1\.  pends  upon  science  and  engineering  for  its  funda- 
mentals and  for  its  most  efficient  advancement  must  be 
shocked  at  the  conditions  in  the  United  States  Patent 
Office  if  he  knows  anything  about  them. 

Out  of  a  total  force  of  437  men,  163  experienced, 
scientifically  and  legally  trained  men  have  resigned  dur- 
ing the  past  two  years  on  account  of  the  conditions  in 
the  Patent  Office,  principally  the  remuneration  available. 
Forty-nine  thousand  applications  are  waiting  and  some 
of  the  examining  divisions  are  eleven  months  behind. 

In  his  recent  report  the  Commissioner  of  Patents 
states :    "The  Patent  Office  is  in  a  deplorable  condition. 

.  the  Patent  Office  is  breaking  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  it  should  be  responding  to  the  fullest  extent 
to  the  depressed  conditions  of  the  country."  The  pres- 
ent conditions  cannot  be  allowed  to  go  much  further 
without  danger  of  the  Patent  Office  ceasing  to  function. 


Relief  for  these  conditions  is  contained  in  the  Lam- 
pert  Patent  Office  bill,  H.R.  7077,  which  has  the  unani- 
mous approval  of  the  patent  committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  can  probably  be  passed  if  it  could 
be  brought  to  a  vote.  Certainly  if  enough  pressure  can 
be  exerted  upon  various  Congressmen  by  their  constitu- 
encies this  matter  can  be  brought  to  a  vote  and  the  con- 
dition relieved.  Electric  railway  men  can  render  real 
service  by  writing  to  the  representatives  from  their 
home  districts  to  urge  Floor  Leader  Mondell  and  Patent 
Chairman  Lampert  to  bring  about  a  vote  on  this  bill. 


The  New  York 

Transit  Hearing  Broadens 

THE  testimony  at  the  hearings  of  the  New  York 
Transit  Commission  this  week  has  emphasized  the 
necessity  of  some  constructive  plan  for  bringing  order 
out  of  the  confusion  which  now  exists  in  the  New  York 
traction  situation.  At  the  same  time  it  has  made  ap- 
parent some  problems  which  are  bound  to  come  up  in 
any  solution.  Last  week,  with  the  operating  men  on  the 
stand,  the  chief  criticism  expressed  of  the  tentative  plan 
of  the  commission  was  the  fear  that  politics  would 
be  paramount  in  the  proposed  Board  of  Control. 

This  week  the  aspect  of  the  situation  first  considered 
was  that  presented  by  representatives  of  the  underlying 
bonds  of  various  companies,  who,  as  a  body,  did  not  seem 
so  much  concerned  over  political  control.  Perhaps  they 
felt  that  the  results  of  private  operation  were  not  all 
that  could  have  been  wished.  At  any  rate,  the  chief 
contribution  which  they  made  to  the  general  inquiry 
was  doubt  whether  all  of  the  underlying  bondholders 
will  be  willing  to  exchange  their  present  equities  for  the 
general  lien  to  be  provided  in  the  proposed  new  5  per 
cent  bonds.  Such  universal  exchange,  moreover,  they 
argued,  was  unnecessary,  because  as  the  underlying  liens 
matured  they  could  be  retired  by  the  action  of  a  sink- 
ing fund,  or  the  sale  of  new  securities,  based  on  the 
universal  lien.  Until,  however,  the  commission  announces 
which  lines  it  will  take  over,  it  will  be  impossible  to 
say  which  bondholders  will  have  the  opportunity  to 
make  such  a  choice. 

This  leads  up  to  the  proposed  rerouting  plan  offered 
in  evidence  on  Tuesday  by  Daniel  L.  Turner,  consult- 
ing engineer  of  the  commission,  and  which  he  was 
careful  to  explain  was  submitted  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility only  and  had  not  been  approved  by  the  commis- 
sion. While  he  used  the  term  "abandon"  in  connection 
with  certain  portions  of  the  existing  system,  the  report 
was  intended  evidently  only  as  representing  an  expert 
traffic  viewpoint,  and  Mr.  Turner  admitted  that  even  the 
22  miles  of  track  not  now  in  use  could  be  removed,  if  at 
all,  only  with  difficulty  and  after  tedious  litigation,  if 
the  companies  insisted  on  clinging  to  their  rights. 


1098 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


The  future  under  the  commission's  plan  of  the  roads 
or  sections  of  roads  which  it  elects  not  to  take  over  is 
yet  shrouded  in  mystery.  Whatever  is  done  with  them 
they  should  not  be  condemned  in  all  cases  as  unprofitable 
simply  because  they  have  not  been  making  money  under 
the  conditions  of  the  last  few  years.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  average  operating  expenses  in  1921  on 
all  the  surface  lines  in  Manhattan  was  60.11  cents  per 
car-mile,  exclusive  of  taxes,  and  65.24  cents  per  car- 
mile  including  taxes.  These  seem  unreasonably  large, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  during  the  last  fiscal  year  the 
Chicago  Surface  Lines  made  money,  although  gross 
receipts  amounted  to  only  about  47  cents  per  car-mile. 

Mr.  Chalmers  of  the  Second  Avenue  Railroad  has  al- 
ready shown  what  can  be  done  by  a  few  improvements. 
If  the  constructive  program  outlined  by  Mr.  Turner  in 
the  way  of  increased  speed  and  train  operation  could 
be  put  into  effect,  it  would  show  still  greater  advances  in 
service  and  efficiency.  In  fact,  the  introduction  of  even 
half  of  his  program  would  make  necessary  a  complete 
revision  of  the  present  ideas  in  New  York  of  the  finan- 
cial and  service  possibilities  of  the  surface  lines. 


Muskegon  and  Battle  Creek 
Favor  the  Trolley 

AFTER  eighty-four  days  the  residents  of  Des 
.  Moines  voted  for  the  trolley  as  against  the  auto. 
It  probably  did  not  take  the  voters  this  long  to  make 
up  their  minds,  but  it  took  that  long  before  the  franchise 
election  could  be  arranged.  On  the  other  hand  Saginaw 
recently  voted  in  favor  of  buses  after  a  trying  experi- 
ence somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Des  Moines.  Now 
come  Muskegon  and  Battle  Creek.  With  the  issue  put 
squarely  before  both  these  cities  they  have  gone  on 
record  in  favor  of  the  trolley.  In  Muskegon,  the  Council 
is  authorized  to  pass  ordinances  denying  the  use  of  the 
streets  to  the  bus  lines  affected  so  there  shall  be  no 
unfair  competition.  In  the  Battle  Creek  case,  where  the 
choice  was  strictly  between  the  auto  and  the  trolley, 
the  vote  was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the  electric  car. 

Saginaw  remains  in  strange  contrast  with  the  cases 
of  Des  Moines,  Muskegon  and  Battle  Creek.  About 
the  only  thing  that  this  proves  is  that  the  residents  of 
Saginaw,  considering  what  they  have  endured  since 
railway  service  there  stopped,  are  permitting  their 
animosities  to  blind  them  to  their  own  immediate  per- 
sonal convenience  and  to  make  them  reckless  to  the 
extent  of  gambling  on  their  own  and  their  city's  future. 


A  Wholesale  Price 

to  the  Wholesale  User 

THE  transition  of  the  American  electric  railway  from 
the  status  of  a  purely  manufacturing  and  distribut- 
ing industry  to  a  business  seems  foreshadowed  in  the 
several  publicity  plans  and  fare  schemes  that  are  being 
tried  throughout  the  country.  One  of  these  schemes  in 
which  both  cheerful  publicity  and  an  unusual  fare  have 
been  combined  is  the  operation  of  the  unlimited-ride, 
weekly  pass  at  Youngstown,  Ohio.  So  much  interest  has 
been  manifested  in  this  plan — now  definitely  adopted 
after  the  eight  weeks  trial  period — that  the  Youngstown 
Municipal  Railway  has  consented  to  the  publication  of 
the  detail  analysis  of  nine  weeks  operation. 

This  analysis  not  only  seeks  to  answer  squarely  every 
question  that  has  been  raised  about  this  unusual  form  of 
transportation,  but  also  tries  to  show  wherein  the  un- 


limited-ride pass  appears  to  possess  a  more  businesslike 
basis  than  other  ways  of  selling  at  wholesale. 

One  point  it  seems  particularly  worth  while  to  stress 
here  is  that  the  sale  of  tokens  or  strip  tickets  at  a  re- 
duced rate  does  not  necessarily  oblige  the  purchaser  to 
ride  more,  although  it  is  a  stimulus  in  that  desirable 
direction.  However,  there  is  no  time  limit  on  such 
tickets,  and  they  may  be  divided  among  as  many  per- 
sons as  there  are  riders.  Contrary  to  this,  the  pass  is 
distinctly  the  concession  of  a  wholesale  price  only  to  the 
wholesale,  and  practically  individual,  user.  The  one 
way  he  can  win  over  his  paying  the  price  of  two  maxi- 
mum fare  rides  a  day  is  by  taking  more  than  two  rides. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  most  unlikely  that  those  rides 
in  excess  of  two  per  diem  will  be  taken  in  the  rush  hours. 

Despite  the  stereotyped  objection  to  an  unlimited 
service  rate,  it  will  be  found  that  the  average  gross 
rides  per  pass  per  diem  has  hovered  around  4.2  to  4.3 
right  along,  while  the  actual  "origin-to-destinafion" 
rides  are  no  more  than  3.3  a  day.  Apparently  pass  buy- 
ers like  the  railway  a  lot  better  than  before,  but  they 
do  not  seem  to  spend  all  of  their  time  riding  the  cars 
at  that.  After  all,  if  the  main  thing  is  to  make  more 
profitable  use  of  the  off-peak  car-miles,  Youngstown  can 
be  said  to  have  made  a  beginning  that  will  encourage 
everybody  but  the  jitney  operator  and  trolley  baiter. 


New  Haven  Dissolution 
Decree  Expected  Soon 

ANOTHER  instance  of  the  helpful  attitude  of  the 
_  present  administration  at  Washington  to  business 
is  furnished  in  the  visit  of  Attorney  General  Daugherty 
to  New  England  in  connection  with  the  inquiry  into  the 
New  Haven  dissolution  decree,  and  the  assurance  that 
the  government's  policy  in  the  case  will  not  be  based 
on  legal  technicalities,  but  on  the  practical  require- 
ments of  New  England  as  a  whale.  These  requirements 
as  brought  out  at  the  hearings,  with  the  exception  of 
one  or  two  small  voices,  were  that  the  status  of  the 
properties  as  a  unit  be  preserved. 

Probably  few  more  shocking  examples  exist  of  unwar- 
ranted interference  by  government  with  business  than 
that  presented  by  the  New  Haven  case.  The  original 
dissolution  action  was  of  course  unjustified.  It  was 
brought  during  the  Roosevelt  administration,  but  was 
withdrawn  the  following  year  under  the  administration 
of  President  Taft  at  the  recommendation  of  Attorney 
General  Wickersham  after  a  careful  investigation.  He 
found  the  trolleys  and  railroad  supplying  complement- 
ary, not  competitive,  service.  Then  during  the  Wilson 
administration  the  dissolution  decree  was  promulgated. 

Mr.  Daugherty's  decision  is  expected  to  be  made 
known  soon  after  Jan.  1.  His  recommendations  may 
take  one  of  two  forms.  He  may  order  the  sale  of  the 
subsidiary  holdings  which  have  not  yet  been  disposed  of, 
as  soon  as  market  prices  would  justify  the  step,  or 
recommend  a  supplemental  decree  to  permit  the  return 
of  the  Connecticut  Company's  trolley  lines  and  the 
Boston  holding  company  to  the  New  Haven. 

Against  the  onus  of  all  the  changes  and  charges  previ- 
ously recited  the  New  Haven  management  has  struggled 
bravely  now  for  more  than  seven  years.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  for  the  company  the  end  is  in  sight,  particularly 
since  the  interstate  commerce  act  has  been  strengthened 
and  the  last  possible  reason  appears  to  have  been  removed 
for  the  charge  that,  with  the  lines  of  New  England 
again  one,  the  system  might  be  subject  to  abuse. 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1099 


Modernizing  Cincinnati  Traction  Power  System 

Large  Saving  to  Be  Effected  by  Scrapping  Long  Obsolete  Generating  Equipment,  Building  New 
Substations  and  Purchasing  a  Portion  of  the  Energy  Required—  Three  Automatic 

Substations  Included  in  the  Plan 


iN  ANNUAL  saving  of  $84,000 

Za   is  expected  as  the  result  of  a 
X  JL  plan  now  well  under  way  to 
modernize  the  power  supply  system 
of  the  Cincinnati   (Ohio)  Traction 
Company.     This   is  conservatively 
estimated,  and  against  the  new  plan 
is  charged  the  carrying  charges  on 
the  total  investment  in  all  the  old 
equipment  replaced  as  well  as  the 
new  installed.    This  in  general  in- 
cludes abandonment  of  considerable 
generating  equipment  still  in  use, 
the  construction  of  four  new  substa- 
tion buildings  and  the  installation  of 
ten  new  60-cycle,  1,500-kw.  rotary 
converters,  including  three  automat- 
ics;  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
points  of  power  supply  from  eight  to 
eleven  and  involving  a  rearrangement 
of  the  feeder  system,  and  the  pur- 
chase of  energy  needed  beyond  the 
capacity  of  the  company's  alternat- 
ing -  current  generating  equipment 
from  the  Union  Gas  &  Electric  Com- 
pany.   The  capacity  of  the  traction 
company's  alternating-current  equip- 
ment at  the  Pendleton  power  station 
is  30,000  kva.  and  the  maximum  de- 
mand on  it  has  been  about  17,000  kw., 
while  the  total  power  demand  on 
alternating-current   and  direct-cur- 
rent generating  equipment  has  run 
about    24,000    kw.     The    plan  of 
operation  will  probably  be  to  operate  the  alternating- 
current  generating  units  at  Pendleton,  or  part  of  them 
as  required,  at  practically  constant  load  and  take  from 
the  Union  Gas  &  Electric  Company  whatever  additional 
power  is  required  in  order  to  get  the  most  efficient  use 
of  the  power  plant,  and  hence  a  low  cost  per  kilowatt  for 
the  power  generated.    However,  if  it  develops  in  actual 
operation  that  the  total  cost  of  power  would  be  less  by 
taking  a  practically  uniform  amount  from  the  electric 
company  and  handling  the  swings  and  peaks  on  Pendle- 
ton, this  opposite  scheme  of  operation  will  be  followed. 
In  other  words,  the  scheme  is  flexible,  enabling  the 
railway  management  to  determine  that  balance  of  low 
cost  of  energy  generated  against  low  demand  cost  of 
energy  purchased  which  will  result  in  the  lowest  aver- 
age cost  per  kilowatt  for  all  energy  consumed. 

Another  factor  which  should  be  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  company's  broad  plan  of  reducing  power 
costs  is  the  equipment  of  all  cars  with  Economy  watt- 
hour  meters,  the  idea  being  to  reduce  the  consumption 
as  well  as  the  cost  per  unit.  The  results  of  this  phase 
of  the  plan,  as  indicated  by  the  saving  made  the  first 
month  the  cars  were  equipped,  will  be  very  gratifying. 

The  main  present  source  of  energy  for  operating  the 
cars  of  the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  is  the  Pendle- 
ton power  house,  which  is  located  in  the  east  end  of 


Map  op  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  Lines  and  Substation  Locations 

the  city.  This  is  equipped  with  three  10,000-kva.,  25- 
cycle  turbine  units  and  3,000-kw.  capacity  of  non-con- 
densing, reciprocating  engine-generator  units.  This 
station  thus  supplies  direct-current  energy  to  the  feed- 
ers extending  to  the  immediate  vicinity  and  25-cycle 
alternating-current  energy  transmitted  at  6,600  volts 
to  five  rotary  converter  substations.  One  of  the  out- 
going high-tension  lines  extends  from  the  power  plant 
to  the  Brighton  Avenue  substation  and  thence  to  the 
Cumminsville  substation,  where  it  is  stepped  up  to 
33,000  volts  for  a  line  extending  to  the  Hartwell  power 
plant  located  on  the  Ohio  Traction  System  about  9 
miles  from  the  downtown  district  of  Cincinnati.  This 
line  serves  one  500-kw.,  25-cycle  converter  located  in  the 
power  station  and  supplying  energy  to  the  interurban 
system  and  some  of  the  outlying  lines  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati Traction  Company.  In  addition  to  this  one  ro- 
tary, the  Hartwell  power  plant  contains  two  1,000-kw. 
direct-current,  non-condensing,  reciprocating  engine- 
generators,  which  are  used  during  the  peak  hours. 

Aside  from  the  Pendleton  station,  the  principal  source 
of  power  for  the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  has  been 
the  Depot  Street  power  house,  located  at  the  west  end 
of  the  city  and  equipped  with  eight  generating  units, 
two  of  which  comprise  non-condensing,  Corliss  com- 
pound engines  direct  connected  to  direct-current  gene- 


1100 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol  &8,  iso.  2S 


rators,  and  the  six  others  being  old  four-pole  generators, 
belt  driven  by  non-condensing  simple  engines.  The  total 
capacity  of  this  plant  is  4,500  kw.  and  until  very  re- 
cently it  has  been  operated  continually  and  practically 
to  capacity. 

The  substations  supplied  with  25-cycle  alternating- 
current  energy  from  the  Pendleton  power  house  and 
their  capacities  are  given  in  one  column  of  an  accom- 
panying table  which  lists  the  old  and  new  direct-current 


£i£3  EJ 

Longitudinal  Section 
Floor  Plan  and  Cross-Section  of  Single-Unit  Substation  Design 

facilities.  The  locations  of  the  power  houses  and  the 
substations  of  the  new  plan  are  indicated  on  the  ac- 
companying skeleton  map  showing  the  car  lines  in  Cin- 
cinnati. The  old  power  supply  system  comprised  three 
sources  of  trolley  current  direct  from  direct-current 
generating  stations  and  six  sources  from  substations, 
one  power  plant  and  substation  being  at  a  common  point, 
so  that  there  were  eight  points  of  supply  to  the  600-volt 
feeder  and  trolley  lines  on  a  system  comprising  228 
miles  of  track. 


Obviously,  much  of  the  generating  equipment  of  the 
company  has  long  since  been  obsolete  and  was  resulting 
in  an  excessive  cost  of  energy  for  car  propulsion.  Since 
it  was  possible  to  enter  into  a  favorable  contract  with 
the  Union  Gas  &  Electric  Company  for  the  purchase  of 
energy,  this  plan  was  determined  upon  rather  than  to 
build  new  modern  power  plant  facilities  in  order  to 
reduce  the  power  costs  to  an  economical  figure.  Follow- 
ing this  out,  all  reciprocating  engine-generating  units 
are  to  be  abandoned,  dismantled  and  disposed  of.  The 
dismantling  of  the  Depot  Street  power  house  was  begun 
Nov.  1,  and  the  direct-current  generating  equipment 
in  the  other  two  power  stations  will  soon  follow,  as  the 
installation  of  the  new  substation  equipment  is  well 
under  way. 

Reconstruction  to  Be  Made 

Under  the  new  power  supply  plan  60-cycle,  three- 
phase  energy  will  be  purchased  from  the  electric  com- 
pany at  13,200  volts,  from  transmission  lines  built  into 
the  substations  by  the  electric  company.  For  the  sake 
of  uniformity,  all  of  the  new  60-cycle  machines  are  to  be 
of  1,500-kw.  capacity  and  the  transformers  are  1,500- 
kw.,  three-phase  units.  These  were  used  because  of  the 
economy  of  space  and  investment  required.  While  with 
these  transformers  it  is  impossible  to  operate  at  two- 
thirds  capacity  if  one  phase  is  down,  it  was  believed 
that  the  number  of  cases  of  trouble  of  this  kind  is  so 
small  as  compared  to  cases  of  converter  trouble  that  it 
is  not  an  important  disadvantage  and  does  not  offset  the 
other  advantages.  The  converters,  automatic  equipment 
and  practically  all  of  the  other  substation  equipment 
were  supplied  by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manu- 
facturing Company. 

Abandonment  of  the  Depot  Street  power  house  is 
made  possible  through  the  installation  of  two  new  sub- 
tions.  One  of  these  is  to  be  located  in  the  present  power 
house,  where  the  equipment  will  consist  of  two  1,500- 
kw.,  60-cycle  rotary  converters  arranged  for  manual 
operation.  The  other  is  the  new  Price  Hill  substation 
pictured  herewith,  which  is  equipped  with  one  1,500-kw. 
rotary  converter  arranged  for  full  automatic  control. 
This  was  the  first  of  the  new  substations  to  be  placed 
in  operation. 

The  present  Cumminsville  substation  is  to  be  aban- 
doned, the  present  1,500-kw.,  25-cycle  converter  moved 
to  the  Pendleton  power  house  partly  to  replace  the  re- 
ciprocating units  now  being  operated  there,  and  a  new 
substation  of  the  same  name  built  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  present  Cumminsville  substation. 
This  will  be  equipped  with  two  60-cycle,  1,500-kw.  man- 
ually operated  converters.  The  shifting  of  the  old  con- 
verter will  of  course  not  be  made  until  after  the  new 
station  is  completed  and  placed  in  operation.  Similarly, 
the  25-cycle,  500-kw.  rotary  converter  located  at  the 
Hartwell  power  plant  is  to  be  transferred  to  the  present 
Hyde  Park  substation  to  reinforce  the  capacity  there 
and  a  new  1,500-kw.,  60-cycle  machine  with  full  auto- 
matic control  installed  in  the  power  plant,  replacing  the 
present  converter  and  the  direct-current  generating 
equipment,  which  latter  will  be  scrapped.  With  the 
additional  500-kw.,  25-cycle  unit  installed  at  the  Hyde 
Park  substation,  the  voltage  regulation  in  the  territory 
it  serves  will  be  greatly  improved,  since  this  includes 
two  bad  hills  for  which  the  present%single  unit  is  unable 
to  carry  the  load  at  times. 

The  direct-current  generating  equipment  shut  down 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1101 


in  Pendleton  power  house  is  replaced  partly  by  the  in- 
stallation of  the  one  1,500-kw.,  25-cycle  converter 
installed  in  the  station,  as  already  mentioned,  and  by  the 
building  of  a  new  substation  on  Norwood  Street  as 
shown  on  the  map  of  the  system,  this  new  point  of 
energy  supply  to  the  system  also  materially  improving 


Price  Hill  Automatic  Substation,  Showing  Transformer  Tower 
at  the  Far  Corner 

the  voltage  in  that  vicinity.  The  Norwood  Street  sub- 
station is  equipped  with  one  1,500-kw.,  60-cycle  con- 
verter and  arranged  for  full  automatic  control. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  important  new  substation 
locations  is  that  on  Walnut  Street,  between  Thirteenth 
and  Fourteenth  Streets,  practically  in  the  heart  of  the 
downtown,  or  heavy  load,  section.  This  substation  is  to 
be  equipped  with  three  1,500-kw.,  60-cycle  converters 
manually  operated.  The  former  points  at  which  energy 
was  supplied  to  the  trolley  system  formed  roughly  a 
semi-circle  around  the  downtown  section  and  the  voltage 
there  was  somewhat  low.  Hence  the  installation  of  this 
new  three-unit  substation  right  in  the  center  of  the 
downtown  load  will  greatly  improve  the  voltage  and 
undoubtedly  bring  about  a  material  reduction  in  line 
losses. 

The  accompanying  table  sums  up  the  direct-current 
capacity  provided  in  the  old  power  system  and  that 
which  will  be  available  upon  completion  of  the  new  facili- 
ties. It  will  be  noticed  that  six  substations  and  one 
rotary  converter  in  the  seventh,  aggregating  a  capacity 
of  16,500  kw.,  will  be  supplied  with  60-cycle  purchased 
energy,  while  five  substations  and  five  converters  in  the 
sixth,  aggregating  a  capacity  of  16,000  kw.,  are  sup- 
plied with  25-cycle  energy  from  Pendleton  power  house, 
owned  by  the  company.  The  total  direct-current  capac- 
ity connected  to  the  feeder  and  trolley  system  has  been 
increased  from  27,000  kw.  to  32,500  kw.   Thus  a  40  per 


Pendleton  power  house  

Depot  Street  power  house. . . 

Hartwell  power  house. . . . 


Hyde  Park  substation. . 
Blair  Avenue  substation 


Hunt  Street  substation 


Brighton  substation.  

Cumminsville  substation.  .  . 
New  Cumminsville  substation 
Walnut  Street  substation..  .  . 

Price  Hill  substation  

Norwood  substation  


SOURCES  OF  600-VOLT  CURRENT 

Kw.-Capacity 
Former  System 

3,000 
(d.c.  generators'! 

4,500 
(d.e.  generators) 

2,000 
d.c.  generators) 
500 

(rotary  converter) 
500 
3,000 
7,500 
25-cycle 

1,500 
60-cycle 
3,000 
1,500 


27.C00 


Kw.-Capacity 

New  Plan 

Frequency 

1,500 

rotary  converter 

25 

3,000 

rotary  converter 

60 

1,500 

rotary  converter 

60 

1,000 

25 

3,000 

25 

7,500 

1,500 

25  (60) 

3,000 

25 

25 

3,000 

60 

4,500 

60 

1,500 

60 

1,500 

60 

32,500 

cent  increase  in  capacity  has  been  provided,  a  substan- 
tial improvement  in  voltage  regulation  made  and  a 
very  worth-while  saving  in  the  annual  power  cost  ob- 
tained. Furthermore,  if  the  new  substations  had  not 
been  installed,  it  is  estimated  that  it  would  have  been 
necessary  to  install  $100,000  worth  of  additional  copper 
in  order  to  bring  up  the  voltage  regulations  to  a  satis- 
factory condition.  Hence  it  may  be  said  that  the  instal- 
lation of  the  new  substation  plan  has  virtually  salvaged 
$100,000  worth  of  feeder  cables  in  addition  to  the  other 
savings. 

Manual  or  Automatic  Control 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  foregoing  discussion  that 
only  the  single-unit  substations  have  been  arranged  for 
full  automatic  operation.  In  rearranging  the  power 
system,  only  the  Price  Hill,  Hartwell  and  Norwood  sub- 
stations could  be  equipped  with  but  one  1,500-kw.  con- 
verter, the  size  on  which  the  company  had  standardized. 
As  to  the  use  of  automatic  control  on  stations  requiring 
more  than  one  1,500-kw.  unit,  T.  H.  Schoepf,  vice-presi- 
dent and  chief  engineer,  who  was  responsible  for  the 
new  power  plan,  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  fixed 
charges  on  the  additional  investment  required  in  the 
automatic  equipment  to  handle  two  or  more  units  were 
so  high  as  to  wipe  out  any  saving  resulting  from  the 
automatic  operation.  The  possibility  of  trouble  with 
substation  operators  resulting  in  a  shut-down  on  the 
system  was  not  felt  to  be  a  controlling  consideration  in 
the  adoption  of  automatic  control.  Not  all  of  the  sub- 
station operators  in  Cincinnati  are  union  men  and  only 
ten  out  of  sixty  or  seventy  employees  in  the  electrical 
department  who  would  strike  in  case  of  trouble  are 
operators.  Another  consideration  was  also  involved  in 
the  decision  for  manual  operation  of  the  new  Cummins- 
ville substation.  This  substation  serves  important  lines 
extending  to  sections  of  the  city  not  otherwise  reached 
and  is  located  in  rather  an  isolated  place  where  it  would 
take  too  long  for  an  inspector  to  reach  the  substation  in 
case  of  trouble.  It  was  therefore  considered  too  impor- 
tant a  location  to  depend  on  automatic  operation  and  the 
manual  operation  was  used  because  it  was  believed  to 
provide  greater  assurance  of  continuity  of  service. 

A  special  feature  of  the  automatic  control  in  two  of 
the  substations  is  the  connection  of  the  Price  Hill  auto- 


1,500-Kw.,  60-Cycle  Rotary  Converter  with  Main  Feeder  Board 
to  the  Right  and  Machine  Starting  Panel  to  the  Left, 
with  Rear  of  Board  Toward  the  Converter 

matic  with  the  manually  operated  Depot  Street  substa- 
tion and  the  automatic  Norwood  substation  with  the 
manually  operated  Blair  Avenue  substation  by  means 
of  a  pair  of  pilot  wires.  The  purpose  of  these  is  to 
enable  the  substation  operator  at  Depot  Street,  for  ex- 
ample, to  control  remotely  the  Price  Hill  automatic  and 


1102 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


by  this  means  to  dispatch  the  load  between  the  two  sta- 
tions in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  the  minimum  demand 
of  the  two  substations  summed  together.  This  is  de- 
sirable because  the  contract  for  purchased  power  is 
based  on  the  maximum  system  demand  and  not  the  sum 
of  the  maximum  demands  of  the  individual  substations. 
The  same  balancing  of  demands  between  the  Blair 
Avenue  and  Norwood  Street  substations  is  provided  for. 
The  remote  control  makes  it  possible  to  cut  the  converter 


nomical,  the  bulk  of  the  load  served  by  the  Hunt  Street 
and  Walnut  Street  substations  can  be  largely  carried  on 
either  substation  and  thus  shifted  from  the  company 
power  plant  to  the  purchased  power,  or  vice  versa. 
Similarly,  the  remote  control  of  two  of  the  automatic 
60-cycle  substations  from  two  of  the  25-cycle  manually 
operated  substations  makes  possible  a  certain  shifting 
of  load  from  or  to  the  Pendleton  power  house  and  to  or 
from  the  Union  Gas  &  Electric  Company. 


5" venter 


H.  TA.C.  conduit 


\*~&' 'opening  — >| 

-44 


Floor  Plan  and  Sections  of  Two-Unit  Substation 

in  the  automatic  substation  in  or  out,  regardless  of  the 
master  voltage  relay. 

Further  ability  to  dispatch  the  load  so  as  to  produce 
the  lowest  cost  of  power  is  provided  by  tying  the  25-cycle 
Hunt  Street  substation  together  with  the  60-cycle  Wal- 
nut Street  substation  by  means  of  two  1,000,000  circ.mil 
cables.  These  cables  are  connected  between  the  direct- 
current  buses  in  the  two  stations  so  that  it  is  possible 
to  shift  the  load  from  Hunt  Street,  supplied  by  the 
Pendleton  power  house,  onto  Walnut  Street  substation, 
which  is  supplied  with  purchased  power,  or  vice  versa. 
In  other  words,  depending  on  whichever  is  more  eca- 


At  the  Hyde  Park  substation,  where  there 
has  been  one  500-kw.  converter,  the  com- 
pany has  had  a  semi-automatic  operation 
for  the  past  year.  The  station  is  equipped 
with  automatic  reclosing  circuit  breakers. 
An  operator  goes  to  the  station  at  4  a.m., 
starts  the  machine  up  at  5  o'clock  and  re- 
mains until  8  a.m.  The  machine  is  then  left 
running  without  an  attendant  until  4  oclock 
in  the  afternoon,  when  the  operator  returns 
and  remains  until  8  p.m.  Upon  departing 
at  this  time  he  again  leaves  the  machine 
running  and  it  is  shut  down  by  a  carhouse 
foreman  at  1 : 30  a.m.  This  scheme  of  oper- 
ation saves  two  operators,  or  $10.40  a  day. 
This  plan  of  operation  has  been  in  over  a 
year  and  there  has  been  only  one  case  where 
it  was  necessary  to  send  an  electrician  to 
the  station  on  account  of  trouble.  If  the 
machine  is  thrown  off  the  line  for  any  rea- 
son, the  lights  supplied  by  it  in  a  nearby 
office  of  the  company  go  out,  and  unless 
they  come  back  on  promptly  a  clerk  there  notifies  the 
electrician.  The  machine  is  of  course  equipped  with 
bearinge  thermostats  and  other  protective  devices. 

Details  of  Substation  Design 

The  first  of  the  new  substations  to  be  completed  and 
placed  in  operation  was  the  Price  Hill  substation.  The 
building  is  constructed  with  foundation,  floors  and  roof 
of  concrete  and  walls  of  brick.  The  windows  and  doors 
are  hung  in  metal  frames  with  wire  reinforced  glass. 
The  building  is  practically  25  ft.  6  in.  square  inside, 
with  one  corner,  13  ft.  10  in.  by  11  ft.  1  in.,  walled  off 


December  24,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1103 


for  housing  the  three-phase  transformer.  A  tower  12 
ft.  high  is  provided  over  the  transformer  room  in  order 
to  give  headroom  enough  to  raise  the  coils  out  of  the 
tank,  permitting  the  tank  to  be  moved  out  and  the  coils 
lowered  to  the  floor  level  if  work  is  to  be  done  on  them. 
A  simple  block  and  tackle  hung  from  steel  beams  placed 
under  the  roof  for  the  purpose  are  used  for  handling 
the  transformer  coil  in  this  manner.  The  transformer 
compartment  is  closed  off  in  front  by  a  fireproof  door, 
and  the  main  door  to  the  substation  is  directly  opposite 
this,  this  same  outer  door  being  used  for  both  trans- 
former and  converter  and  other  equipment  in  taking 
them  in  or  out  of  the  station.  There  is  room  enough 
between  the  transformer  compartment  and  the  outer 
door  to  move  the  converter  in  a  diagonal  direction  to  or 
from  its  foundation. 

The  floor  plan  and  elevation  of  this  Price  Hill  single- 


unit  substation  are  reproduced  herewith,  as  are  also  the 
drawings  for  the  Cumminsville  two-unit  substation. 
This  station  has  a  transformer  room  at  either  side  of 
the  building  and  a  tower  over  each.  The  transformer 
room  doors  face  each  other  and  there  is  space  between 
the  two  towers  inside  the  station  to  move  the  trans- 
former tank  out,  whence  it  can  be  moved  in  or  out  of 
the  substation  through  the  8-ft.  door  at  the  front  of 
the  building,  which  is  also  used  for  admitting  the  con- 
verters. 

The  location  of  the  various  equipment  in  both  substa- 
tions is  readily  seen  in  the  accompanying  drawing.  The 
building  design  for  the  Norwood  Street  substation  will 
be  the  same  as  that  for  Price  Hill  and  the  new  building 
for  the  three-unit  Walnut  Street  substation  will  be  of 
special  design,  combining  with  the  substation  a  central 
depot  for  the  line  department.  Ventilation  is  provided 
in  all  the  substations  by  means  of  screened  openings 
around  the  station  at  the  floor  level  and  just  below  the 
roof  in  the  towers.  These  are  all  2  ft.  square  and 
equipped  with  windows  hinged  off  center  so  that  they 


will  automatically  close  unless  held  open.  Ten  of  these 
openings  are  provided  per  machine. 

On  the  theory  that  because  the  substation  is  auto- 
matically operated  and  therefore  that  there  is  no  one 
around,  the  spacing  in  the  Price  Hill  substation  was  cut 
down  considerably  below  the  spacings  provided  by  the 
National  Safety  Code  and  a  saving  of  $2,500  on  the  cost 
of  the  building  thereby  made.  This  spacing  was  said  to 
be  approved  for  automatic  operation  by  the  under- 
writers. 

Generous  High-Tension  Oil  Switch  Capacity 

Only  one  high-tension  line  is  connected  with  the  Price 
Hill  substation,  as  this  is  very  close  to  a  substation  of 
the  Union  Gas  &  Electric  Company,  but  the  other  new 
substations  are  served  by  two  high-tension  lines.  In 
both  cases,  each  high-tension  line  is  equipped  with  its 


own  type  0-1  oil  switch  of  very  large  capacity,  it  being 
expected  that  this  generous  capacity  of  the  oil  switch 
will  eliminate  one  of  the  common  sources  of  trouble 
resulting  from  oil  switches  of  insufficient  capacity.  In 
the  two-unit  stations  either  machine  can  be  connected 
to  either  line  by  manipulating  the  disconnect  switches. 
All  of  the  circuit  breakers  are  remote-control  solenoid 
operated.  The  lightning  arresters  on  the  two-unit  sub- 
stations are  mounted  on  the  roof  between  the  two 
towers,  while  on  the  Price  Hill  substation  they  are 
mounted  on  a  rack  which  has  been  placed  on  the  front 
wall  of  the  building. 


Employees  of  the  electric  railway  serving  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  have  accepted  a  reduction  of  an  amount 
equivalent  to  $4.83  per  month  in  their  wages,  effective 
Oct.  1,  according  to  advices  to  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce. The  employees  based  their  protest  against  the 
decrease  on  the  ground  that  up  to  that  time  there  had 
been  no  proportionate  reduction  in  the  cost  of  living  in 
Switzerland. 


1104 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


Analysis  of  Weekly  Pass  at  Youngstown 

Rate  of  Increase  in  Revenue  So  Far  Is  Double  and  Rate  of  Increase  in  Riding  Is  Quadruple  That  of 
Non-Pass  Lines  in  Same  District — Density  and  Earnings  per  Car-Mile  Show  Sub- 
stantial Rise — Jitneys  Cut  Almost  in  Half  and  More  Going 


THE  combination  of  jitney  competition,  of  a 
severe  industrial  depression  and  reduced  purchas- 
ing power  by  most  of  those  who  were  left  at  work 
led  the  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  (a  subsidiary  of 
the  Republic  Railway  &  Light  Company)  to  seek  relief 
in  something  other  than  a  higher  rate  of  fare.  Under 
its  service-at-cost  sliding  or,  in  this  case,  climbing  scale 
the  fare  had  gone  up  to  9  cents  cash  and  8 h  cents  ticket. 
As  a  still  higher  fare  offered  neither  the  likelihood  of 
more  revenue  nor  of  more  service  to  the  public,  the 
company  took  the  opposite  tack  and  decided  to  reduce 
fares. 

The  form  of  fare  reduction,  however,  is  decidedly 
novel  for  an  American  city  of  this  size.  Instead  of 
lowering  the  fare  to  regular  riders,  off-peak  riders  or 
any-time  casual  riders  alike,  the  reduction  has  been 
effected  by  offering  a  wholesale  price  to  those  who  would 
ride  wholesale.  This  idea  is  different  from  that  of  sell- 
ing at  a  lower  rate  tickets  which  can  be  used  within 
any  desired  period  thereafter.  It  is  being  carried  by 
means  of  an  unlimited-ride  pass  good  only  for  the  week 
designated  and  priced  at  $1.25,  which  works  out  at 
slightly  more  than  the  cost  of  two  cash  or  ticket  rides 
a  day. 

Thus  the  net  effect  so  far  as  the  public  is  concerned 
has  been  to  lower  the  average  fare  per  passenger  from 
the  6.7  cents  approximated  in  September  before  adop- 
tion of  the  pass  in  the  week  beginning  Oct.  3,  1921,  to 
about  6  cents.  To  the  passholder  who  takes  more  than 
the  usual  two  rides  a  day  the  cost  of  a  ride  is  actually 
less  than  5  cents  (about  4.1  cents)  on  the  basis  of  all 
rides  taken,  and  practically  a  nickel  when  allowance  is 
made  for  the  transfer  proportion. 

The  low  price  of  the  pass  in  comparison  to  the  cost 
of  single  rides  was  fixed  with  regard  to  the  amount  of 
jitney  traffic  possible  of  recapture  rather  than  with  re- 
spect to  the  creation  of  entirely  new  business.  Cars 
were  running  decidedly  underloaded,  so  that  there  was 
no  question  about  being  able  to  handle  and  seat  many 
more  passengers  with  no  increase  in  car-miles  except  a 
few  trippers.  As  shown  hereinafter,  these  anticipations 
were  justified  sufficiently  during  the  trial  period  of 
eight  weeks  to  cause  the  continuance  of  the  pass. 

Traffic  on  Pass  Lines  Has  Increased  More  Than 
Twice  as  Fast  as  on  Neighboring  Lines 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  say  how  much  of  the  traffic  and  revenue  changes  fol- 
lowing a  fare  alteration  is  due  to  cooler  weather,  more 
jobs  or  more  attractive  fares.  The  situation  at  Youngs- 
town, fortunately,  is  quite  helpful  along  this  line.  The 
Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  is  within  the  same  steel- 
mill  area  as  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  Electric  Company, 
also  a  Republic  Railway  &  Light  Company  subsidiary, 
but  is  segregated  under  the  service-at-cost  contract  with 
the  city  of  Youngstown. 

According  to  company  officials,  the  industrial  uplift 
within  the  last  three  months  has  been  at  least  as  effec- 
tive immediately  outside  of  Youngstown  as  within  the 
city.  Other  things  being  equal,  therefore,  the  rise  in 
earnings  of  both  properties  ought  to  show  practically 


Map  Showing  Lines  op  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway, 
Connecting  Interurban  Lines  and  Youngstown 
and  Suburban  Railway 


the  same  percentage.  This  is  not  the  case.  By  refer- 
ence to  the  set  of  graphs  on  page  1105,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  first  nine  weeks  following  the  pass  compared 
with  the  average  income  for  the  last  three  weeks  pre- 
ceding the  pass  show  a  rise  of  14.3  per  cent  on  the 
Youngstown  Municipal  lines,  whereas  the  Ohio-Pennsyl- 
vania lines  with  no  change  in  either  interurban  or  city 
fares  show  a  rise  of  but  6.9  per  cent. 

Another  check  is  furnished  by  the  Youngstown  & 
Suburban  Railway.  This  railway  is  permitted  to  charge 
only  5  cents  within  Youngstown,  so  that  both  its  low 
cash  fare  and  topographical  position  protected  it  against 
any  competition  from  the  pass  fare.  This  line  also 
shows  even  a  decrease  in  percentage. 

A  comparatively  small  road  like  this  will  naturally 
be  subject  to  greater  fluctuations  in  revenue  than  a 
system  serving  a  greater  diversity  of  customers.  For 
all  that,  the  Youngstown  &  Suburban  figures  are  of  value 
as  corroborative  evidence  of  the  industrial  slackness  in 
this  area. 

A  Substantial  Increase  in  Revenue  and  a  Rise 
in  Earnings  per  Car-Mile 

Another  way  of  analyzing  the  growth  in  traffic  and 
revenue  would  be  to  compare  say  three  November-De- 
cember weeks  of  the  pass  with  the  average  of  the  three 
weeks  just  before  the  pass.  This  turns  out  to  be  a 
20  per  cent  increase  in  revenue  and  an  increase  in  riding 
usefulness  of  44  per  cent.  The  latter  figure  is  signifi- 
cant in  comparison  with  the  fact  that  the  riding  on  the 
other  lines  could  have  increased  only  in  proportion  to 
the  rise  in  revenue,  since  no  fare  changes  had  been 
introduced. 

Because  of  the  large  proportion  of  seat-miles  hitherto 
unused,  the  increase  in  business  has  been  handled  with 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1105 


but  small  additions  in  car-miles.  A  comparison  of  mid- 
September  and  early  November  shows  that  passengers 
per  car-mile  had  by  that  time  risen  from  5  to  6.4  or 
28  per  cent.  Likewise,  the  revenue  per  car-mile  rose 
from  34  to  38  cents,  or  8.5  per  cent.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  pass  is  resulting  in  more  effective  use  of  the  com- 
pany's car-mile  and  car-seat  output.  An  increase  in 
car-miles  can  do  no  harm  when  accompanied  by  a  greater 
difference  between  intake  and  outgo. 

Where  Did  the  Additional  Traffic  Come  From? 

Increases  in  revenue  of  20  per  cent  and  increases  in 
riding  of  40  per  cent  are  so  large  for  the  recent  weeks 
in  question  that  it  is  well  to  look  into  the  sources  of 
street  railway  traffic. 

The  largest  source  by  all  means  was  in  recovering 
what  had  been  lost  to  the  jitneys.  It  is  true  that  the 
company  was  charging  9  cents  cash  and  84  cents  ticket 
(at  six  for  50  cents)  against  10  cents  cash  by  the  jitney 
with  only  a  limited  sale  of  jitney  tickets  at  8£  cents. 
To  the  transfer  rider,  however,  the  street  car  fare  was 
10  cents  because  of  a  1-cent  transfer  charge.  The 
difference  between  the  awkward  9-cent  rate  and  the 
jitney  dime  apparently  was  not  enough  to  keep  many 
people  from  patronizing  the  privateers.  One  reason  was 
their  greater  speed,  nearly  all  Youngstown  jitneys  be- 
ing touring  cars. 

Those  who  have  studied  the  behavior  of  the  public 
toward  jitney  vs.  car  operation  over  the  same  highways 
know  that  the  prejudice  of  the  majority  is  not  so  strong 
as  to  make  them  willingly  endure  waiting  for  their  fa- 
vorite. The  usual  procedure  is  to  take  whichever  comes 
first.  There  is  no  way  to  stop  this  tendency  other  than 
to  run  so  many  cars  that  the  jitneyman  cannot  earn 
even  his  running  charges  or  else  have  a  style  of  fare 
that  will  make  a  person  wait  for  the  car.    Only  the  sale 


6,200 
6.000 
5.800 
5,600 
5,400 
|  5,200 
o  5,000 
4,800 
4,600 
4,400 
4,200 
4,000 


J  'Thanksgiving  Week 

I      I  I 
-  Election  Day  H 

'eek 

/ 

Variations  in  Sale  op  Passes,  City 
Riders  Only,  Showing  Fall-Backs 
in  Holiday  Weeks — Increase  of 
Week  of  Dec.  12  Over  Week 
of  Oct.  3  Is  50.6  Per  Cent 


of  some  form  of 
prepaid  transporta- 
tion good  within 
a  limited  period 
meets  the  latter 
specification.  Here 
is  how  the  plan 
works  out:  A  per- 
son who  has  bought 
a  pass  for  the 
week's  riding  has 
spent  all  he  intends 
to  that  week.  Every 
jitney  ride  would 
be  extra  expense. 
Hence  he  waits  to 
get  his  money's 
worth  to  the  utter- 
most. The  person 
who  buys  the  8J-cent  tickets  loses  nothing  more  than 
IS  cents  in  taking  a  jitney  ride  inasmuch  as  his  tickets 
are  good  any  time.  The  cash  rider  has  but  1  cent  more 
to  pay  and  will  scruple  still  less  to  use  the  first  jitney 
in  sight. 

It  may  be  urged  that  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the 
jitneymen  from  getting  together  and  offering  a  pass  of 
their  own.  This  would  not  be  easy,  because  it  would  call 
for  clo-se  co-operation  among  a  lot  of  unruly  individual- 
ists and  besides  would  demand  the  setting  up  of  an 
auditing  organization.  It  is  doubtful  whether  they 
would  succeed  with  a  pass  in  any  event.  So  long  as 
people  patronize  jitneys  when  they  happen  to  be  around, 
they  do  not  worry  much  about  the  unreliability  of  such 
service  in  the  late  hours,  on  holidays  or  during  bad 
weather.  Let  them  be  asked  to  pay  for  a  whole  week's 
riding  in  advance  and  they  will  betray  a  different  and 


27,500 
21,000 
26,500 
26,000 
25,500 
25,000 
24,500 
24,000 
23,500 
23,000 
22,500 

> 

j  22,000 
|  21,500 
'  21,000 
20,500 
20,000 
7,000 
6,500 
6,000 
5,500 
5000 
4,500 
4,000 


3  Weeks'average  Ohio-Pa.~^ 
lines,  qain  6.9°/o 

k  / 

s. 

y 
s 

f 

* 

* 

*  9  Weeks'1  averaae 

Younqstown  lines, qain  14.2% 

'«.  3  Weeks'  average 
'  Ohio  -Pa.  lines 

\  > 

t 

i 

i 

\ — 

 % — 

 /- 

i 

i 

/ 

\ 

% 
% 

$ 

/ 

t 

1 

/ 

■3  Week 

s'aver 

age  Yo 

ungsfo 

wn  Cit) 

i  lines 

Yoi 

trips  to* 

vn  &  St 

iburba 

7  Railv, 

fay 

x 

J — 

•460 
440 
4  20 
400 

380 

360 

340 

320 

300 

280 

I  260 
c 

=  240 
*~  220 


Rides  on  passes  averaging  4.2  to  4.3  gross  rides  a  day. 


Graph  Showing  How  Much  Faster  Revenue  Has  Increased  on 
Pass  Lines  Compared  with  Neighboring  Non-Pass  Lines 


Graph  Showing  Increase  in  All  Riding  and  in  Different 
Kinds  of  Riding  According  to  Fare  Paid 


1106 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


less  favorable  attitude  toward  the  transit  Bedouins.  The 
fact  that  some  6,000  people  in  and  around  Youngstown 
are  willing  to  pay  $1.25  a  week  in  advance  for  their  car 
rides  is  a  compliment  to  the  stability  of  the  electric  rail- 
way and  one  that  will  not  be  paid  to  any  one  of  less 
trustworthiness. 

Aside  from  the  business  recaptured  from  the  jitneys, 
there  has  been  some  increase  due  to  the  creation  of 
traffic  encouraged  by  the  liberal  price  and  transferability 
of  the  pass.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  much,  but  it 
will  be  admitted  that  when  a  passholder  has  to  ride 
somewhere  his  non-pass  companion  is  going  to  ride  on 
the  same  conveyance. 

The  period  covered  in  the  tabulation  begins  with  Sept. 
19,  or  after  the  let-down  of  summer  temperature,  the 
ending  of  vacations,  and  the  opening  of  the  schools.  It 
closes  Sunday,  Dec.  4,  or  just  before  Christmas  shop- 
ping travel  begins.  Exclusive  of  special  causes  that 
affected  traffic  during  particular  weeks,  the  period  might 
be  denned  as  one  of  slowly  rising  improvement  in  indus- 
trial conditions  but  far  below  the  improvement  shown 
on  the  pass-using  lines  comprising  the  Youngstown  Mu- 
nicipal Railway. 
This  has  been 
proved  by  com- 
paring the  ratio 
of  increase  on 
those  lines  with 
the  same  man- 
agement's adja- 
cent lines  out- 
side  of  the 
Youngstown  & 
Suburban  Rail- 
way. Rain  was  a 
depressing  fac- 
tor the  greater 
part  of  Novem- 
ber. In  Febru- 
ary, 1920,  the 
city  of  Youngs- 
town passed  an  ordinance  to  regulate  jitney  operation. 
The  principal  features  were  a  $5,000  liability  bond  for 
personal  injuries;  a  $2,000  property  damage  bond; 
owner's  license  fee  of  $10  a  year  and  a  driver's  license 
fee  of  $5  a  year;  owner  or  driver  must  be  resident  of 
the  city  for  at  least  six  months ;  every  bus  to  give  at 
least  sixteen  hours  continuous  service  and  operate  over 
designated  routes  only.  The  ordinance  was  enjoined 
by  the  jitney  men  and  carried  for  argument  up  to  the 
State  Court  of  Appeals.  This  court  approved  the  bond- 
ing and  license  charges,  but  held  that  the  clauses  con- 
cerning residence,  hours  and  regularity  of  service  were 
unreasonable  and  invalid. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  amended  ordinance, 
which  went  into  effect  in  April,  1921,  imposed  no  par- 
ticularly weighty  burden  except  the  two  liability  bonds. 
The  jitneys  remained  practically  unmolested.  Indeed, 
the  various  efforts  made  to  simplify  downtown  parking 
and  routing  rules  indicated  a  belief  that  they  were  to 
remain  a  factor  in  local  transportation. 

At  present  a  maximum  of  some  250  jitneys,  mostly 
touring  cars,  are  licensed.  Of  these,  not  more  than  140 
have  been  observed  in  daily  operation  during  the  early 
part  of  December.  As  the  jitney  fare  is  generally  10 
cents  and  jitneys  are  encouraged  rather  than  hindered 
by  industrial  depression,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  much 
of  the  recent  drop  in  numbers  has  been  effected  by  the 


Warm,  comfortable  Street 
Cart  are  ready  to  terve  yoo 
at  any  time.  The  $1.25 
Weekly  PaM  makes  them 
convenient  and  economical. 


First  Shot  in  Campaign  to  Capture 
Private  Automobile  Users 


institution  of  the  unlimited-ride  pass.  These  vehicles 
are  continuing  to  drop  out  at  the  rate  of  one  or  two  a 
day,  which  elimination  should  help  all  classes  of  electric 
railway  traffic. 

Some  jitneys  probably  have  paid  up  their  bonding 
obligations  in  full  and  so  may  be  expected  to  hold  out 
longer  than  those  which  have  to  pay  in  installments. 
The  insurance  companies  have  also  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  these  traffic  ragamuffins  are  a  poor  risk  and 
are  not  likely  to  renew  any  policies  in  case  any  jitney- 
man  has  the  courage  or  the  coin  to  seek  renewal.  The 
Youngstown  Council  has  added  this  December  a  further 
deterrent  in  the  form  of  a  $10,000  instead  of  a  $5,000 
personal  injury  bond.  This  amendment  was  very  largely 
due  to  the  increase  in  good-will  that  has  come  to  the 
company  because  of  the  pass  and  more  safety  car  serv- 
ice. Here  then  is  the  way  matters  are  standing  or  rather 
toppling  with  the  graceless  jitney. 

Unlimited  Rides  in  Theory  ;  Limited  Rides 
in  Fact 

The  first  remark  of  many  electric  railway  men  on 
learning  that  the  pass  is  both  transferable  and  good  for 
an  unlimited  number  of  rides  within  the  week  of  issue 
is  to  compare  it  to  the  long-abandoned  scheme  of  selling 
light  on  a  flat-rate  or  unlimited-use  basis.  Actually,  the 
resemblance  is  purely  superficial.  The  purchaser  of 
light  or  water  on  a  flat-rate  basis  may  leave  his  dwelling 
with  all  the  lamps  burning  and  all  the  taps  open,  these 
things  being  entirely  separate  from  himself.  But  he 
and  his  ride  are  inseparable.  It  is  true  that  after  com- 
pleting the  ride,  he  is  at  liberty  to  transfer  his  pass. 
This  is  not  so  likely  as  one  would  suppose  at  first 
thought.  The  workman  going  to  his  job  is  not  going  to 
give  the  pass  to  anyone  else,  for  when  the  luncheon  bell 
rings  he  will  need  it  for  himself. 

There  are  occasions,  of  course,  where  the  pass  can  be 
transferred.  For  example,  when  the  workman  or  other 
holder  comes  home  for  the  evening  some  other  member 
of  the  family  may  care  to  use  it  for  a  visit.  In  any 
case,  why  should  not  the  maximum  use  of  the  pass  be 
encouraged  so  long  as  the  extra  rides  lie  outside  the 
rush-hour  range  and  within  the  capacity  offered  by  the 
base  schedule?  One  point  that  has  impressed  the 
officials  of  the  company  is  that  except  for  rare  circum- 
stances a  pass  is  not  used  more  than  once  in  each  rush 
hour. 

Facts  from  earlier  experience  should  prove  more  con- 
vincing than  any  arguments.  In  European  cities  where 
long  luncheon  periods  are  more  common  than  here,  one 
is  not  likely  to  find  a  higher  figure  than  five  gross  rides 
per  pass  per  diem.  This  was  the  figure  in  Blackpool, 
a  city  of  64,000  population.  Although  the  passes  at 
Blackpool  have  to  be  bought  on  an  annual  contract  basis 
on  a  formidable  application  blank,  there  were  2,700  such 
"contract  tickets"  in  force  a  couple  of  years  ago.  The 
reason  for  this  was  that  the  tickets  for  both  short  and 
long  rides  were  priced  so  low  that  even  the  person  riding 
but  twice  a  day  would  make  a  big  saving. 

The  passes  at  Racine,  Kenosha  and  Youngstown  have 
been  priced  upon  the  principle  that  the  holder  must  take 
more  than  two  rides  a  day  to  win  out  over  the  maximum 
cash  fare.  If,  then,  the  American  pass  is  not  so  uneco- 
nomically  low-priced  as  the  foreign  contract  ticket,  its 
attractiveness  to  the  prospect  is  enhanced  in  other  ways, 
such  as  requesting  only  one  week's  transportation  pay 
in  advance,  eliminating  all  written  forms  and  indorse- 
ments in  purchasing  and  stressing  its  transferability. 

If  there  was  much  reason  in  the  objection  to  this 


X 

December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1107 


transferability,  it  would  certainly  be  revealed  by  figures 
showing  a  higher  average  number  of  rides  per  pass  per 
diem  than  abroad.  Actually,  the  figures  for  both  Racine 
with  63,000  and  Youngstown  with  146,000  are  much 
lower  than  Blackpool's.  In  Racine,  the  number  of  rev- 
enue rides  (viz.,  after  allowing  for  what  would  other- 
wise be  transfers)  averages  3.8  a  day.  In  Youngstown, 
the  net  average  is  somewhat  less  because  the  bigger  the 
city,  the  smaller  the  proportion  of  people  who  can  go 
home  to  lunch  since  distance  and  time  tend  to  offset  the 
cheapness  of  the  ride. 

Therefore,  while  the  gross  number  of  rides  per  diem 
per  pass  in  Youngstown  has  averaged  4.2  to  4.3,  the 
actual  net  rides  per  passholder;  i.e.,  excluding  transfers, 
is  considered  about  22  per  cent  less  or  3.3. 

The  average  number  of  rides  per  pass  has  remained 
consistent  from  the  very  first  week.  Ordinarily,  one 
would  expect  that  the  first  week  or  two  would  show  a 
maximum  figure  because  the  first  buyers  would  be  likely 
to  contain  all  those  people,  like  solicitors,  errand  boys, 
agents,  etc.,  whose  riding  is  abnormally  high.  However, 
the  sale  of  the  pass  was  pushed  with  such  vigor  that 
this  effect  did  not  appear.  Those  who  were  added  to  the 
ranks  in  later  weeks  must  have  averaged  less  rides  than 
the  general  averages  show,  but  as  no  drop  appears  it 
may  well  be  supposed  that  experience  with  the  pass 
leads  to  its  greater  use.  The  gross  average  throughout 
November  was  4.3  rides  except  in  Thanksgiving  week, 
Nov.  21,  when  it  dropped  to  4.2. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  firmly  established  that  while  pass- 
holders  do  ride  more  they  do  not  spend  all  their  time  on 
the  cars  nor  scheme  how  to  get  others  to  do  so.  As  in 
the  case  of  the  Schaddelee  monthly  club  fee  plan,  the 
holder  has  a  privilege  which  he  values  too  highly  to 
transfer  freely. 

Absence  of  Tangible  Token  Has  Not  Prevented 
an  Increase  in  Revenue 

An  entirely  pertinent  question  raised  in  connection 
with  the  use  of  the  pass  is  that  of  properly  accounting 
for  this  class  of  riders  as  distinguished  from  those  who 
give  up  a  tangible  token  in  the  form  of  cash,  ticket  or 
transfer.  No  special  difficulties  offer  themselves  in  this 
direction  on  foreign  street  railways  for  the  reason  that 
when  a  ticket  inspector  boards  a  car  every  passenger 
must  show  either  a  receipt  issued  for  the  trip  under 
way  or  else  a  pass  good  for  the  section  on  which  the  ride 
is  being  taken. 

On  American  street  railways,  of  course,  it  is  not 
usual  to  issue  receipts  except  to  zone-fare  riders ;  nor  is 
it  customary  to  have  an  inspector  examine  the  trans- 
portation receipts  or  tickets.  A  pass,  therefore,  would 
simply  be  shown  to  the  conductor  on  boarding.  If  it 
were  a  multi-zone  pass,  it  could  be  shown  both  on  leav- 
ing and  entering  the  car.  The  latter  practice  is  that  of 
the  London  Underground  Railway  except  that  the  "sea- 
sons" (passes)  are  shown  not  to  trainmen  but  to  a  gate- 
man  at  both  the  entrance  and  exit  stations. 

In  the  practical  application  of  the  pass  at  Racine  in 
the  late  summer-  of  1919,  it  was  soon  found  that  the 
rides  taken  per  pass  were  so  steady  that  continuation  of 
its  registration  seemed  unnecessary  and  was  therefore 
discontinued.  The  original  plan  was  to  have  the  pas- 
senger drop  cash  fares  or  metal  tickets  in  Johnson  count- 
ing-type fare  boxes,  while  every  presentation  of  a  pass 
was  rung  up  on  an  old  transfer  register.  This  practice 
was  retained  until  the  addition  of  some  cars  without 
registers  brought  up  the  question  whether  it  was  worth 


while  to  spend  the  extra  money.  The  management  then 
decided  that  the  relation  of  pass  sales  to  the  known 
traffic  conditions  on  different  routes  was  sufficiently  clear 
to  make  the  special  registration  unnecessary. 

The  larger  the  city,  of  course,  the  more  difficult  it  is  to 
keep  track  of  all  the  factors  that  influence  riding.  Hence 
the  application  of  the  pass  to  Youngstown  with  its  146,- 
000  instead  of  64,000  population  was  a  bigger  problem 
in  accountancy.  Nevertheless,  theories  must  always  give 
way  to  realities.  The  realities  are  that  both  riding  and 
revenue  have  increased  with  the  coming  of  the  pass ;  and 
that  the  relationship  between  increased  riding  and  in- 
creased revenue  is  about  what  might  be ''expected  when 
the  great  reduction  in  the  cost  per  ride  is  taken  into 
account. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  no  passenger  ever  gets  by 
without  presenting  a  current  pass ;  but  will  anyone  as- 
sert that  any  other  method  of  fare  collection  secures  all 
of  the  legitimate  revenue  ?  It  is  not  alleged,  either,  that 
a  dishonest  conductor  might  not  try  to  intercept  cash  or 
tickets  destined  for  the  box  and  ring  up  a  pass  presenta- 
tion instead.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  pass  riders  con- 


stituting two-fifths  of  the  total  traffic  cannot  be  tam- 
pered with  at  all.  There  will  always  be  some  stealing, 
some  indifference  and  some  indulgence  under  any  form 
of  fare  collection.  The  ultimate  thing  always  is:  Is 
more  money  coming  into  the  till? 

To  clarify  the  reference  to  fare  collection,  it  should 
be  stated  that  the  practice  at  Youngstown  is  to  use  a 
locked  Cleveland  box  for  cash  and  paper  tickets,  while 
the  passes  are  rung  up  on  the  "ticket"  side  of  the  reg- 
ister. The  attention  of  the  platform  men  to  this  rule 
seems  pretty  clear  from  the  fact  that  the  number  of 
rides  shown  per  pass  varies  by  no  more  than  one-tenth 
ride  per  day,  the  high  figure  being  4.3  and  the  low,  4.2. 
By  this  time  the  management  knows  quite  well  what  it 
may  expect  from  different  conductors  and  different 
routes  under  given  conditions  of  traffic  activity,  for  ex- 
perience and  the  law  of  averages  will  be  quick  to  betray 
any  abnormalities. 

One  thing  the  management  did  learn  at  once,  namely, 
the  sales  ability  of  its  different  conductors.  Another 
matter  about  which  it  gained  useful  information  was 
with  regard  to  the  localities  from  which  it  can  expect 
the  largest  proportion  of  steady  customers.  This  is 
taken  up  elsewhere  in  a  discussion  of  how  differentials 
in  fare  differentiate  the  riders. 

It  has  already  been  brought  out  that  while  the  pass- 
holder  is  theoretically  in  the  position  to  ride  all  the 
time,  he  really  does  not  take  more  than  4.3  gross  (with 
transfers  included)  or  3.3  net  rides  a  day.    For  this 


The  Youngstown  Municipal  Railway  Company 

WEEKLY  £fcss 


OCT.  10  t 

Pass  bearer  on  cars  of  The  Youn 
within  the  one  fare  limits  of  the 
seven  (7)  days  as  shown  by  date 

Pass  must  be  shown  Cond 
for  one  (1>  passenger. 


N?  88 


921  (Incl.) 

fcipal  Railway  Company 
hgstown  for  a  period  of 
e  of  this  pass, 
tering  car  and  is  good  only 


Company  reserves  the  right  to 
iUUUUL  refund  pro-rata  unused 


Preiident  &  Gen.  Mgr. 


A  Sample  of  the  Youngstown"  Weekly  Pass 


1108 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  2«r 


privilege  he  pays  $1.25.  This  amount  is  equivalent  to 
fifteen  rides  at  the  8£-cent  ticket  rate.  Cash  riders  are 
hardly  likely  to  continue  paying  9  cents  per  ride  if  they 
ride  as  often  as  this ;  and  it  is  questionable  whether  even 
the  ticket  customer  averages  more  than  that  number, 
counting  all  extra  riding.  Where  jitney  competition 
exists,  the  ticket  rider  is  almost  as  likely  as  the  cash 
rider  to  take  a  jitney  if  it  comes  first.  The  pass  rivets 
the  rider  to  the  street  car.  Therefore,  the  concession  at 
Youngstown  must  be  read  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that 
there  was  jitney  competition  to  consider,  and  that  this 
competition  had  led  to  unavoidable  waste  in  car-mileage. 
The  low  price  of  the  pass  in  relation  to  an  equal  amount 
of  ticket  or  cash  fares  is  not  only  a  reward  for  whole- 
sale patronage  but  also  for  exclusive  patronage  of  the 
railway. 

The  passenger  who  previously  paid  an  extra  cent  for 
a  transfer  is  the  greatest  gainer.  Instead  of  9§  cents 
his  fare  averages  practically  5  cents,  but  to  make  up  for 
it  he  takes  about  3£  net  rides  a  day.  Of  these  rides, 
two  may  be  considered  as  the  usual  industrial  rides;  the 
others  are  off-peak  rides  and  also  much  shorter  in  length 
of  haul.  A  passholder  has  no  hesitation  about  riding 
half  a  mile  or  less.  It  costs  him  no  more  and  gives  him 
a  special  feeling  of  superiority  over  those  who  do  have 
to  count  the  cost  every  time  they  might  want  to  ride. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  street  car  ride  is  no  longer 
a  thing  desirable  for  its  novelty  or  superiority;  but  it 
is  the  medium  to  many  desirable  ends.  That  form  of 
charging,  therefore,  which  does  most  to  make  these  ends 
easier  to  attain  is  the  one  to  use  if  the  street  car  and  its 
supplementary  bus  are  to  meet  with  maximum  public 
favor.  The  record  at  Youngstown  surely  does  show  that 
the  humble  and  humbled  car  ride  need  not  be  confined 
to  the  class  of  things  that  one  uses  as  little  of  as  pos- 
sible. 

The  Pass  Reveals  the  Steady  and  Non-Steady 
Customers 

A  study  of  the  fluctuations  in  the  number  of  different 
classes  of  riders  during  the  period  under  review  dis- 
closes that  each  is  differently  affected  by  traffic  stim- 
ulants or  depressants.  The  cash  rider  is  the  most  sen- 
sitive to  these;  the  pass  rider,  the  least  sensitive. 

Even  as  between  cash  and  six-for-50-cent-ticket  riders 
there  is  revealed  a  strong  difference.  Proof  is  afforded 
by  the  weeks  of  Sept.  19  and  26  before  the  inauguration 
of  the  pass.  The  traffic  of  the  latter  week  shows  an  in- 
crease of  8.9  per  cent  in  the  cash  riders,  whereas  the 
ticket  sales  increased  but  0.9  per  cent.  In  this  week  of 
Sept.  26,  the  number  of  cash  and  of  local  (8J  cent) 
ticket  riders  were  close  together,  namely,  119,240 
against  120,328.  Ticket  buying  may  also  be  influenced 
by  the  date  of  pay  day  at  the  mills. 

It  was  during  this  last  week  preceding  the  pass  in- 
augural that  the  company  publicity  campaign  was  at  its 
crest.  This  advertising  (see  "Selling  the  Ride  at 
Youngstown,"  Nov.  19,  1921)  was  of  a  nature  to  call 
forth  the  most  favorable  reaction  and  must  have  had  its 
share  in  attracting  the  patronage  of  that  class  which 
does  not  use  the  service  often  enough  to  buy  half  a  dozen 
tickets  at  a  time.  Indeed,  the  continuous  car  window- 
card  advertising  must  be  credited  with  a  share  of  any 
success  the  pass  itself  enjoys. 

A  further  differentiation  of  the  traffic  was  revealed 
when  the  passes  went  on  sale  for  the  first  week,  begin- 
ning Monday,  Oct.  3.  On  comparing  this  week  with 
Sept.  19,  it  will  be  observed  that  there  was  almost  no 


variations  in  sales  of  different  classes  of  fares 
youngstown  municipal  railway,  showing  that  maximum 
fare  riders  have  not  been  affected  in  number 

All 

Week  Begun                       All  9c.  Cash  Tickets  Passes  Transfers 

Sept,  19   317,184  1  13,108  129,799    74,278 

Sept.  26   331,877  123,239  130,931    77,507 

Oct.  3   378,006  112,582  92,652  1  19,389  53,383 

Oct.  10...:   398,575  1  11,803  91,179  144,041  51,272 

Oct.  17   382,421  105,427  88,730  145,637  45,626 

Oct.  24   405,373  1  12,443  91,489  151,194  50,247 

Oct.  31   418,938  1  13,320  97,575  160,567  47,476 

Nov.  7   434,327  123,142  100,259  157,706  53,220 

Nov.  14   442,684  1  1  1,367  99,012  179,417  52,888 

Nov.  21   426,162  1  17,790  94,942  159,222  54,208 

Nov.  28   433,831  114,465  101,890  170,819  46,657 

drop  in  the  cash  or  full-fare  riders,  merely,  113,108  to- 
112,582,  or  less  than  normal  fluctuations  from  week  to' 
week.  Apparently,  these  people  averaged  so  few  rides  a 
week  that  they  had  no  interest  in  any  wholesaling  plan. 
The  average  number  of  cash  riders  in  the  following 
eight  weeks  of  the  pass  is  on  the  order  of  113,000  to 
114,000,  with  a  general  rising  tendency. 

As  was  expected,  a  substantial  cut  was  made  in  the 
ranks  of  the  8£-cent  ticket  purchasers  for  some  of  these 
people  must  have  been  pretty  steady  riders.  The  drop, 
compared  with  Sept.  19,  was  from  119,240  to  81,322  or 
nearly  one-third.  The  table  shows  that  this  classifica- 
tion is  crawling  up,  the  more  recent  ticket  sales  on 
regular  city  lines  running  around  90,000  a  week  and 
more. 

Almost  always  as  one  scans  the  record  of  week  to 
week,  it  is  seen  that  cash  riders  fluctuate  much  more  in 
numbers  than  do  ticket  riders.  It  will  also  be  found 
that  pass  riding  and  single-trip  riding  respond  differ- 
ently to  the  same  conditions.  Election  and  Thanks- 
giving weeks  (Nov.  7  and  Nov.  21)  showed  a  fall  in  pass 
sales  and  riding  because  the  shrewdest  element  among 
the  pass-holders  reasoned  they  would  not  save  in  those 
weeks.  This  element  so  far  has  caused  variations  up 
to  7  per  cent.  Apparently,  Thanksgiving  was  more 
widely  celebrated  as  a  holiday  than  election,  for  in  elec- 
tion week  the  drop  in  pass  sales  over  the  preceding  week 
was  only  2.4  per  cent.  On  the  other  hand,  a  holiday  is 
likely  to  bring  out  the  patronage  of  rare  customers  who 
make  trips  outside  their  usual  paths,  such  as  visits  to 
friends,  attendance  at  games,  etc. 

It  is  to  be  expected  that  as  the  company's  service 
through  the  addition  of  safety  cars  improves  while  the 
jitney  service  declines  the  railway  will  secure  a  larger 
number  of  casual  customers,  whether  cash  or  ticket. 
For  all  that  one  cannot  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  week 
after  week  more  than  113,000  riders  continue  to  pay  the 
top  fare,  although  the  pass  would  cut  their  price  per  ride 
almost  in  half.  This  fact,  as  well  as  the  heavier  fluctua- 
tions in  this  class,  indicates  that  sometimes  this  type  of 
patron  walks  and  sometimes  he  rides,  depending  upon 
weather,  upon  changes  in  his  usual  travel  habits,  upon 
his  having  packages  to  carry,  upon  being  anxious  to  get 
to  work  on  time,  etc.  In  Sept.  19  week,  113,108  cash 
riders  brought  about  one-half  the  revenue;  in  Nov.  28 
week,  114,465  cash  riders  brought  about  two-fifths  of 
the  revenue. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  September 
weeks  just  before  the  pass  was  put  on,  the  percentages 
of  each  class  of  riders  was  as  follows :  cash  39  per  cent, 
tickets  38  per  cent  and  transfers  23  per  cent.  The  pass 
has  altered  this  to:  passes,  36  (to  40)  per  cent,  cash 
27  per  cent,  tickets  20  per  cent  and  transfers,  13  per 
cent. 

The  foregoing  analysis  is  based  upon  data  from  the 
officials  of  the  company  and  Walter  Jackson,  who  was 
engaged  to  aid  in  installing  this  plan. 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1109 


Rerouting  in  Manhattan 


Commission's  Engineer  Recommends  Radical  Changes  in  Surface  System,  Abandonment  of  100  Miles, 
Much  Higher  Speed,  Right  of  Way  to  Cars  on  Tracks,  No  Parking  of  Vehicles  in  These 
Streets  During  Rush  Hours,  Use  of  Trailers,  and  Other  Changes 


ONE  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  the  testimony 
during  this  past  week  at  the  traffic  hearings  in 
New  York  was  the  report  submitted  on  Tuesday, 
Dec.  20,  on  rerouting  in  Manhattan  by  Daniel  L.  Turner, 
the  commission's  consulting  engineer.  Mr.  Turner's 
testimony  was  accompanied  by  two  maps  illustrating  his 
ideas  in  regard  to  tracks  to  be  abandoned.  They  are 
reproduced  herewith.  The  upper  map  shows  the  routes 
recommended;  the  lower  map  shows  by  heavy  lines  the 
routes  recommended  for  abandonment  by  Mr.  Turner, 
and  by  light  lines  the  routes  to  be  retained.  An  abstract 
of  Mr.  Turner's  report  follows: 

Mr.  Turner's  Tentative  Rerouting  Plan 
The  proposed  rerouting  plan  for  Manhattan  recognizes: 

1.  That  a  new  system  of  surface  lines  is  needed  that  will 
permit  the  most  convenient  and  freest  circulation  about  the 
borough  for  a  single  fare  and  with  a  minimum  amount  of 
transfer;  and  that  will  have  sufficient  capacity  to  meet  all 
the  traffic  requirements. 

2.  That  the  vehicular  congestion  in  many  of  the  streets 
of  Manhattan — particularly  in  the  important  north  and 
south  thoroughfares — has  nearly  reached  the  limit. 

3.  That  it  is  of  paramount  importance  that  consideration 
be  given  to  the  needs  of  the  vehicular  traffic  as  well  as  to 
those  of  surface  car  traffic,  to  the  end  that  additional  ca- 
pacity for  vehicular  movement  may  be  secured,  it  being 
recognized  that  new  north  and  south  thoroughfares  are 
practically  impossible  because  of  prohibitive  cost. 

4.  That,  therefore,  the  rerouting  of  the  surface  lines  in 


Manhattan  should  be  accomplished  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
utilize  for  the  purpose  the  minimum  number  of  north  and 
south  streets  which  is  possible,  without  detriment  to  the 
convenience  and  capacity  of  such  new  surface  line  system. 
Based  upon  the  foregoing  principles: 

(a)  The  new  surface  car  system  is  to  utilize  approxi- 
mately 148  miles  of  single  track — or  about  100  miles  less 
trackage  than  is  now  in  the  streets. 

The  present  lines  operate  over  approximately  226  miles 
of  single  track.  There  are  22  miles  of  track  in  the  streets 
that  are  not  now  being  used.  The  minimum  amount  of 
trackage  controlled  by  a  single  company  is  3  per  cent;  the 
maximum  35  per  cent  of  the  total.  Much  of  the  trackage 
is  the  result  of  the  competitive  development  of  the  different 
companies  in  times  gone  by.  One  company  following  an- 
other in  the  field  has  attempted  to  parallel  lines  on  which 
traffic  had  already  been  developed  by  its  predecessor.  In 
some  cases,  lines  have  been  constructed  closer  together  than 
necessary  for  public  convenience.  In  this  way  the  borough 
has  been  over-built  with  surface  car  tracks.  The  total 
trackage,  used  and  unused,  amounts  to  about  248  miles  of 
single  track.  It  is  proposed  to  abandon  a  total  of  about 
100  miles  of  single  track  now  in  the  streets,  or  about  40 
per  cent  of  the  total. 

In  abandoning  the  lines  the  aim  should  be  to  effect  as 
much  of  a  reduction  in  trackage  as  possible  without  im- 
pairing the  ability  of  the  remainder  of  the  street  car  sys- 
tem to  serve  the  public  with  the  maximum  convenience  and 
with  adequate  capacity  in  conjunction  with  the  rapid  tran- 
sit system. 

(b)  A  rerouting  plan  has  been  developed  for  operation 
by  one  company.  The  surface  cars  in  Manhattan  are  now 
being  operated  under  nine  separate  operating  companies. 


The  Upper  Map  Shows  the  Surface  Lines  in  Manhattan  Which  Mr.  Turner  Recommends  Should  Be  Retained. 
The  Lower  Map  Shows  the  Present  System,  the  Lines  Which  He  Recommends 
Should  Be  Abandoned  Being  Indicated  by  Heavy  Lines 


1110 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


Each  operating  company  largely  routes  its  lines  over  the 
tracks  which  it  owns  or  controls,  whether  or  not  such  lines 
serve  the  public  most  conveniently.  No  one  of  the  com- 
panies controls  trackage  serving  all  parts  of  the  borough. 
Consequently  no  single  company  can  furnish  a  comprehen- 
sive and  convenient  service. 

Under  the  rerouting  plan  the  sole  idea  has  been  to  lay 
out  lines  that  will  serve  the  public  most  conveniently  and 
adequately.  No  consideration  has  been  given  to  track 
ownership.  Under  one  operator  instead  of  nine  this  is  pos- 
sible. 

(c)  The  rerouting  plan  provides  for  the  operation  of 
twenty-five  lines.  The  nine  Manhattan  companies  now 
operate  thirty-five  different  lines.  It  is  proposed  to  reduce 
the  number  of  lines  by  nearly  a  third. 

On  thirty  of  the  most  important  lines  now  operated, 
only  1,069  cars  operate  homeward  during  the  maximum  rush 
hour.  This  is  an  average  of  less  than  thirty-six  cars  per 
hour  per  line.  The  minimum  movement  in  cars  per  hour 
was  eight  on  one  line  and  the  maximum  was  ninety-eight 
on  another  line.  Some  of  these  lines  operate  over  the  same 
tracks.  But  when  it  is  recognized  that  a  twenty-second 
headway,  which  is  not  an  unreasonably  close  headway 
under  proper  conditions,  will  permit  180  cars  per  hour  to 
travel  over  a  single  track,  it  is  obvious  that  the  trackage 
available  in  the  Manhattan  surface  car  system  is  not  being 
utilized  to  anything  like  its  capacity.  This  means  that  the 
trackage  now  being  used  may  be  reduced.  This  in  turn 
means  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  lines  operated,  so  that 
the  total  surface  car  traffic  available  will  be  distributed 
among  fewer  lines.  Such  a  reduction  in  trackage  can  be 
carried  out  to  a  considerable  extent  and  still  retain  enough 
trackage  to  permit  a  sufficient  number  of  cars  to  comfort- 
ably transport  all  the  surface  car  traffic.  The  rerouting 
system  which  has  been  developed  has  taken  this  condition 
into  account,  but  enough  trackage  should  be  retained  to 
accommodate  all  the  traffic  that  can  be  induced  to  utilize 
the  surface  lines.  The  greater  the  use  of  the  surface 
lines,  the  greater  the  relief  which  will  be  afforded  on  the 
rapid  transit  lines,  until  such  times  as  the  rapid  transit 
facilities  can  be  increased  sufficiently  to  meet  the  traffic 
requirements. 

(d)  The  new  system  of  lines  is  proposed  to  include 
eleven  interborough  surface  lines  designed  to  conveniently 
connect  the  Manhattan  surface  system  with  those  of  Brook- 
lyn and  Queens. 

Now,  except  in  some  minor  instances,  it  is  not  possible  to 
board  a  car  in  Manhattan  and  travel  any  distance  through 
the  other  boroughs.  Usually,  such  car  lines  as  cross  the 
river  stop  at  the  bridge  terminal  in  the  contiguous  borough. 
It  is  proposed  to  create  interborough  routes — routes  that 
really  will  traverse  the  streets  in  each  borough  and  will  per- 
mit a  considerable  interchange  of  travel  from  one  borough 
to  the  other  without  transfer.  Using  such  routes,  with 
a  free  transfer  and  with  an  additional  fare  transfer — or 
for  two  fares — most  points  in  one  borough  will  be  con- 
veniently accessible  to  nearly  every  section  of  the  other 
borough.  From  the  standpoint  of  public  service  the  inter- 
borough lines  proposed  should  be  operated  as  Manhattan 
lines.  The  advantage  of  this  method  is  that  it  affords  pas- 
sengers from  a  considerable  portion  of  the  outlying  bor- 
oughs an  opportunity  to  enter  into  and  traverse  the  central 
borough  for  a  single  fare. 

(e)  The  speed  of  cars  over  the  surface  car  tracks  should 
be  increased  from  the  present  speed  to  10  m.p.h.,  if  possible, 
thereby  improving  service  and  inducing  a  greater  use  of 
surface  cars,  to  the  end  that  the  surface  car  system  may 
carry  a  greater  proportion  of  the  rush  hour  traffic. 

Surface  car  traffic  is,  as  long  as  surface  cars  form  a 
component  part  of  the  city's  transit  scheme,  a  necessary 
service,  and  should  be  given  the  right  of  way  over  other 
classes  of  street  traffic  during  the  hours  of  heaviest  move- 
ment, that  is  during  the  morning  and  night  rush  hours. 
In  other  words,  during  this  time  of  day,  morning  and  night, 
the  principal  business  of  the  city  is  to  get  its  workers  from 
their  homes  to  their  work  or  from  their  work  to  their  homes. 
All  vehicles  should  be  kept  off  the  tracks  during  these 
hours,  and  no  parking  of  vehicles  in  car  streets  should  be 
permitted.  The  police  power  should  be  utilized  to  the 
utmost  to  push  forward  the  car  movement  during  these 
hours  of  the  day.  At  the  present  time  the  speed  of  move- 
ment over  surface  car  tracks  in  Manhattan  gets  down  nearly 
as  low  as  5  m.p.h.  an  hour  on  a  number  of  lines,  whereas 
cars  ought  to  be  operated  at  an  average  speed  of  10  m.p.h. 
Such  an  increase  in  the  speed  of  car  movements  has  many 
advantages.  It  shortens  the  time  of  travel  between  home 
and  work,  thereby  promoting  the  use  of  the  surface  cars  by 
workers  during  the  rush  hours,  and  thereby  permitting 
them  to  perform  to  a  higher  degree  their  functions  in  the 


transit  scheme.  Increasing  speed  also  decreases  operating 
cost  materially.  It  reduces  the  amount  of  equipment  re- 
quired. And  in  every  way  it  is  a  desirable  thing  to  ac- 
complish. 

(f)  The  capacity  of  the  new  system  should  be  increased 
during  the  rush  hours  by  the  use  of  trailer  car  operation. 

There  is  no  better  way  of  taking  care  of  the  heavy  over- 
loads during  the  rush  hours  than  by  the  use  of  trailer  cars. 
Such  operation  should  be  utilized  wherever  traffic  condi- 
tions require  it.  It  will  increase  capacity  and  consequently 
reduce  congestion,  and  improve  traveling  conditions  during 
the  rush  hours.  With  the  removal  of  vehicular  traffic  from 
car  tracks  during  rush  hour  periods  and  in  other  ways  ac- 
celerating the  car  movement  trailer  operation  can  be  made 
use  of  to  better  advantage. 

(g)  Bus  operation  should  be  used  as  feeders  and  to  sup- 
plement surface  lines  wherever  traffic  requires  it.  Gen- 
erally buses  should  be  employed  on  crosstown  lines  where 
tracks  have  been  abandoned  and  on  other  routes  where 
traffic  may  justify  such  operations.  Bus  routes  have  not 
yet  been  planned  in  detail.  The  question  will  be  dealt  with 
later. 

(h)  Surface  car  operation  is  to  be  eliminated  from  the 
lower  west  side  of  Manhattan  below  Fourteenth  Street. 
In  this  section,  the  streets  generally  are  narrow,  the  truck- 
ing intense  and  the  surface  car  movement  is  necessarily 
very  slow.  Consequently  very  little  traffic  is  carried  on  the 
cars  routing  through  this  section.  It  is  proposed  to  abandon 
all  car  lines  here,  except  two  crosstown  lines.  The  rapid 
transit  lines  traversing  the  territory  are  numerous.  If  ad- 
ditional facilities  are  needed,  bus  lines  may  be  inaugurated. 

(i)  Second,  Lexington,  Seventh  and  Ninth  Avenues  are 
to  be  utilized  exclusively  for  vehicular  traffic — surface 
tracks  are  to  be  removed. 

There  are  180  cross  streets  on  the  east  side  and  260  cross 
streets  on  the  west  side  of  Manhattan.  Only  eleven  avenues 
traverse  Manhattan  north  and  south  and  serve  all  of  these 
cross  streets.  This  small  number  of  avenues  is  wholly  in- 
adequate for  the  enormous  amount  of  vehicular  traffic  which 
must  use  them.  Despite  this  fact,  every  one  of  these 
north  and  south  thoroughfares  is  occupied  for  some  dis- 
tance by  surface  car  tracks.  The  surface  cars  interfere 
with  the  vehicular  traffic  and  the  vehicular  traffic  delays  the 
surface  cars.  Consequently  the  service  is  most  unsatis- 
factory, both  for  cars  and  for  vehicles. 

It  is  proposed  that  the  four  avenues  named  above  be  used 
exclusively  for  vehicles.  By  rerouting  the  Fourth  and 
Madison  Avenue  line  into  Broadway  at  Union  Square, 
Lafayette  Street  and  Lexington  Avenue  will  be  free  for 
fast  moving  vehicles  from  one  end  of  Manhattan  to  the 
other,  on  the  east  side.  At  some  future  time,  in  order  to- 
improve  the  connection  between  Fourth  Avenue  south  of 
Fourteenth  Street  and  Irving  Place,  the  continuation  of 
Lexington  Avenue  north  of  Fourteenth  Street,  a  new  street 
should  be  cut  through  the  block  between  Thirteenth  and 
Fourteenth  Streets  joining  Fourth  Avenue  and  Irving 
Place. 

On  the  west  side  of  Manhattan,  Varick  Street  and 
Seventh  Avenue  via  Central  Park  will  provide  a  thorough- 
fare for  fast  moving  vehicles  from  lower  to  upper  Man- 
hattan. Second  Avenue  on  the  East  Side  and  Ninth  Ave- 
nue on  the  west  side  with  the  street  car  tracks  removed  can 
accommodate  heavy  trucking.  With  such  free  ways  pro- 
vided for  vehicular  traffic,  it  will  be  easier  to  regulate 
such  traffic  along  surface  car  streets.  In  other  words,  the 
movement  of  both  cars  and  vehicles  will  thus  be  ac- 
celerated. 

Other  Points  Brought  Out 
In  his  discussion  of  this  report,  Mr.  Turner  made 
some  additional  observations.  He  said,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  report  represented  only  his  own  views  and  was 
submitted  simply  for  future  consideration  by  the  com- 
mission. It  was  based  on  the  idea  of  utilizing  for  sur- 
face car  operation  the  minimum  number  of  north  and 
south  avenues  possible,  without  detriment  to  the  conve- 
nience and  capacity  of  the  surface  car  system,  and  then 
to  utilize  these  lines  as  efficiently  as  possible.  He  did 
not  discuss  the  legal  method  by  which  the  so-called 
"abandonment"  of  the  lines  could  be  accomplished,  but 
said  "yes"  when  Counsel  Shearn  asked  him  whether  he 
did  not  recognize  that  even  the  22  miles  of  unused  track 
now  in  the  street  could  not  be  removed,  or  if  it  could  be 
removed,  could  be  taken  away  only  with  difficulty  and 
after  tedious  litigation,  owing  to  the  companies'  cling- 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1111 


ing  to  franchise  rights.  Mr.  Turner  added  that  improve- 
ment of  the  situation  depended  on  co-ordination  of  all 
vehicular  traffic  and  a  comprehensive  treatment  of  the 
situation  as  a  whole.  The  disadvantage  to  vehicles  and 
trucks  in  compelling  them  to  keep  off  the  car  tracks 
during  rush  hours  was  compensated  for  when  other 
streets  were  given  over  exclusively  to  vehicular  traffic. 

His  thought  in  regard  to  buses  in  Manhattan  wauld 
be  that  they  should  first  be  put  on  the  crosstown  streets 


not  served  by  car  lines.  He  said  that  evidence  before  the 
commission  had  shown  that  the  cost  of  transporting  a 
passenger  in  a  decently  conducted  bus  line  is  consider- 
ably in  excess  of  5  cents,  and  that  if  a  5-cent  fare  was 
charged  for  bus  with  transfer  to  car,  the  excess  in  cost 
would  have  to  be  absorbed  by  the  system  as  a  whole. 
The  capacity  of  a  bus  is  limited  because  standing  pas- 
sengers cannot  travel  in  it  as  comfortably  as  in  a  car. 
Mr.  Turner  recommended  a  universal  transfer. 


Selling  the  Employee  on  Salesmanship — I 

Persuasive  and  Sincere  Talks  to  the  Employees  of  the  Detroit  Municipal  Railway  Have  Met  with 
Singular  Success — Safety  Talks  at  Schools  and  Public  Meetings  Help  to  Make 
Transportation  More  Readily  Salable 


By  B.  R.  Bigelow 

Sales  Manager  of  Transportation,  Department  of 
Street  Railways,  Detroit,  Mich. 


TRANSPORTATION  salesmanship  might  rela- 
tively be  spoken  of  as  the  trunk  of  some  sturdy 
tree.  It  has  attained  its  measure  of  sturdiness 
because  its  vigorous  roots  reach  out  in  every  direction 
and  feed  that  trunk  of  transportation  salesmanship  with 
the  very  essence  of  the  ideas  which  are  necessary  to 
its  development.  The  organic  soil  about  this  tree  must 
be  of  the  quality  productive  of  its  best  growth.  As  the 
sales  manager  of  transportation,  it  is  my  duty  to  enrich 
that  soil  with  just  the  kind  of  environment  that  should 
give  a  perfect  result. 

In  this  position  my  duties  may  be  stated  briefly  to 
consist  of  the  supervision  of  the  school  of  instruction 
for  car  operators,  the  following  up  of  any  complaints 
of  service,  the  giving  of  safety  talks  to  school  children 
and  to  others  at  public  meetings,  and  interesting  myself 
in  any  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  transportation.  A  course  of  instruction  is  given 
which  not  only  has  a  bearing  on  actual  car  operation  but 
also  aims  to  educate  the  men  along  the  lines  of  trans- 
portation salesmanship.  We  recognize  that  the  car 
operator  is  the  department's  point  of  contact  with  the 
public  and  therefore  try  to  make  a  salesman  of  every 
platform  man,  to  the  end  that  passengers  may  not  only 
have  a  safe  trip  on  our  cars  but  an  enjoyable  one  as 
well. 

Every  man,  I  believe,  in  the  beginning  of  his  service 
with  us  is  possessed  of  certain  undeveloped  re- 
sources of  salesmanship.  With  some  they  need  only  to 
catch  the  idea  of  merchandising  transportation  in  order 
to  develop  their  talent,  while  with  others  the  process  is 
much  slower.  I  have  found  that  the  human  side  of 
affairs  of  life  offer  an  inexhaustible  and  interesting 
study. 

In  line  with  spreading  broadcast  the  safety-first  idea, 
I  am  at  present  engaged  in  giving  a  series  of  safety 
talks  to  the  children  of  the  public  schools.  These  talks 
are  given  in  the  auditoriums  of  the  schools,  with  the  full 
co-operation  of  both  the  principals  and  teachers.  With 
this  type  of  audience  it  has  been  my  aim  to  make  the 
talks  short  and  concise  and  to  have  them  well  illustrated 
with  stories. 

In  the  following  sales  talks  I  have  endeavored  to  keep 
in  mind  two  things,  brevity  and  conciseness,  and  have 


also  tried  to  confine  myself  to  one  definite  phase  of  the 
fundamentals  of  making  transportation  a  more  salable 
commodity. 

Sales  Talk  I — Introduction 

Salesmanship  is  an  art  worthy  of  the  best  thought 
and  study  of  the  electric  railway  men  of  today.  In  this 
and  succeeding  articles  I  aim  to  visualize  the  qualifica- 
tions of  a  successful  transportation  salesman.  You  will 
ask,  perhaps,  "Why  is  salesmanship  necessary  in  elec- 
tric railway  transportation.  There  are  the  streets,  the 
cars  and  people  to  ride;  what  more  is  necessary?" 

The  electric  car  supplanted  the  horse  car  and  became 
at  once  a  favorite  means  of  transportation.   No  private 


GENERAL  MANAGER 


SUPERINTENDENT 
OF 

|  CLERKS  |  

TRANSPORTATION 

■ — |stenographer| 

TRAFFIC 
SUPERVISOR 

SUPERVISORS  OF 
TRANSPORTATION 


OPERATORS 


SALES  MANAGER 
OF 

TRANSPORTATION 

INSTRUCTORS 

1  SCHEDULE. 
1  MAKERS 

[Note. — Mr.  Bigelow's  series  on  transportation  salesmanship 
comprises  five  talks,  two  of  which  are  included  in  this  article. 
The  remaining-  three  will  appear  in  an  early  issue. — Editors.] 


How  the  Sales  Manager  op  Transportation  Fits  Into  the 
Operating  Organization 

means  of  conveyance  could  then  approach  it  in  speed  and 
general  comfort.  Electric  lines  were  freely  patronized 
by  every  one,  whether  bent  on  business  or  pleasure. 
The  electric  car  in  those  days  was  like  an  ice  cream 
counter  on  a  hot  day — everybody  patronized  it. 

Under  these  conditions  instructions  to  the  operating 
men  were  for  the  most  part  negative  and  seldom  posi- 
tive. In  other  words,  they  were  told  what  not  to  do, 
instead  of  what  to  do,  as  is  the  case  in  transportation 
salesmanship.  Shortly  after  the  advent  of  the  electric 
car  other  developments  having  a  bearing  on  car  opera- 
tion took  place,  such  as  the  construction  of  improved 
roadways  and  sidewalks,  thereby  inviting  pedestrians. 

Automobiles  designed  for  private  use  are  now  almost 
universally  owned  and  operated.  Those  of  us  who  do 
not  own  one  are  quite  ready  to  accept  at  any  time  an 
invitation  to  ride.  Many  such  invitations  are,  of  course, 
given  and  accepted,  and  whatever  their  ratio  may  be,  by 
just  so  many  do  they  detract  from  the  maximum  possible 
number  of  car  riders.   It  must  be  obvious  to  all  that  the 


1112 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


number  of  people  thus  given  free  rides  has  greatly 
increased  with  the  passing  of  the  last  decade.  In  many 
localities  today  the  electric  car  must  also  vie  with  the 
public  service  auto.  The  trolley  man  of  the  present 
must,  therefore,  be  more  than  a  mere  trolley  man;  he 
must  be  courtesy  personified;  in  other  words,  he  must 
be  a  transportation  salesman. 

The  best  waiter  in  hotel  or  restaurant  is  the  one  who 
anticipates  your  wants.  The  best  trolley  man  of  today 
is  the  one  who  anticipates  the  wants  of  his  passengers. 
He  does  this  in  no  small  degree  by  distinctly  announcing 
the  streets  so  that  passengers  are  not  obliged  to  watch 
for  their  stopping  places. 

A  trolley  man  should  acquire  a  complete  general 
knowledge  of  the  city,  should  have  at  his  tongue's  end 
the  location  of  all  public  buildings,  churches,  halls, 
schools,  etc.  In  other  words,  when  occasion  requires  he 
should  constitute  in  himself,  in  so  far  as  possible,  a 
bureau  of  information,  dispensing  such  information  in 
a  courteous  manner.  He  should  always  exercise  for  the 
tired  mother  with  her  babies  and  bundles  particular 
courteous  attention.  Patience  is  indeed  a  virtue,  but  in 
her  behalf  it  is  doubly  so.  This  same  rule  should  apply 
to  passengers  who  are  aged  and  infirm. 

He  should  make  from  any  extreme  or  unusual  occa- 
sion opportunities  for  salesmanship.  By  way  of  illus- 
tration :  In  a  neighboring  city  one  night  a  car  was 
being  operated  from  down  town  to  the  residential  dis- 
trict when  suddenly  a  terrible  rainstorm  came  on.  At 
a  street  intersection  stop,  which  constitutes  the  natural 
line  from  business  activities  to  home  environments,  the 
operator  addressed  his  passengers  practically  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  On  account  of  the  severe 
storm  I  will  be  pleased  to  make  stops  other  than  the 
specified  ones,  wherever  such  will  make  for  your  con- 
venience. I  shall  look  to  you  for  the  needed  informa- 
tion." 

As  a  result,  for  the  remainder  of  the  trip,  he  stopped 
opposite  many  homes,  reached  the  end  of  the  line  on 
time,  and  no  doubt  gained  for  the  company  the  gratitude 
of  a  carload  of  passengers.  Such,  you  say,  was  more 
than  courtesy.  Yes,  it  was.  It  was  transportation 
salesmanship. 

Sales  Talk  II — Development  of  Salesmanship 

We  will  assume  it  is  agreed  that  transportation  sales- 
manship is  desirable,  but  how  can  such  a  condition  be 
brought  about.  In  any  industrial  enterprise  men  are 
brought  together  from  almost  every  walk  of  life.  Their 
standards  of  living  differ  widely  and  their  traditions 
are  not  the  same.  Must  we  then  fold  our  hands  and 
calmly  agree  that  it  is  a  beautiful  dream,  but  cannot  be 
put  into  active  operation? 

Do  not  be  discouraged  by  the  critic.  The  critic  is 
usually  pessimistic,  generally  selfish  and  never  an  en- 
thusiast. To  the  average  critic  good  intentions  are 
regenerated  by  the  enthusiast.  The  enthusiast  com- 
mences where  the  critic  leaves  off.  Obstacles  pointed 
out  by  the  critic  become  just  stepping  stones  to  the 
enthusiast  or,  in  other  words,  obstacles  are  made  oppor- 
tunities by  the  enthusiast  because  he  overcomes  them. 

This  very  municipal  enterprise  has  been  brought  to 
its  present  development  in  face  of  organized  opposition. 
Every  one  of  us  now  has  an  important  part  to  perform 
in  its  further  development ;  you  as  individual  trolley  men 
are  now  called  upon  to  represent  the  railway  department 
of  this  city.   The  opportunity  is  thus  thrust  out  to  you. 


Will  you  grasp  it  and  make  it  a  stepping  stone  to  in- 
dividual industrial  success  or  will  you  let  it  slip  through 
your  fingers?  It  is  through  you  that  the  citizens  of 
this  city  will  see  and  know  its  railway  department,  and 
its  standards  will  be  judged  by  your  standards;  its 
courtesy  and  efficiency  by  your  courtesy  and  efficiency. 
You  and  I  should  make  of  our  organization  an  industrial 
democracy,  and  the  qualification  of  a  successful  trans- 
portation salesman  will  be  added  to  those  which  you 
already  possess. 

Industrial  democracy — what  do  I  mean  by  industrial 
democracy?  We  say  a  man  is  democratic  when  he  is 
courteous,  kindly  and  easy  of  approach.  We  say  he  is 
democratic  when  he  lives  with  a  full  consideration  of  the 
rights  of  others.  We  say  a  man  is  industrious  when  he 
confines  himself  diligently  to  his  business.  If  you  would 
be  living  examples  of  industrial  democracy  you  will  not 
only  be  devotedly  attentive  to  business  but  also  devotedly 
attentive  to  the  rights  of  others.  What  a  fine  motto  to 
hang  over  the  door  of  our  motormen's  and  conductors' 
room,  "This  is  an  Industrial  Democracy." 

Industrial  democracy  might  well  be  called  a  universal 
creed  because  it  forms  in  itself  a  common  ground  on 
which  men  of  every  tradition  can  stand  and  sing  its 
praises.  Industrial  democracy  invites  friendship, 
friendship  invites  co-operation  and  co-operation  will 
bring  success. 

Emergency  Power  Furnished  by  Moving  a 
Complete  Substation  Set 

A COMPLETE  motor  generator  was  moved  intact 
from  one  substation  to  another  to  relieve  the  emer- 
gency power  situation  which  developed  at  Ardmore  sub- 
station of  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  on  Saturday, 
Dec.  3.  One  of  the  machines  in  that  substation  was 
damaged  by  power  interruptions  resulting  from  the 
wind  storm.  Ordinarily  the  job  of  dismantling  and 
reassembling  the  machine  would  have  occupied  a  week. 

Insulation  on  one  of  the  Ardmore  generators  was 
burned  out  by  a  sudden  surge  of  power  which  followed 
interruptions  of  thirty  and  forty-six  minutes.  It  looked 
at  first  like  a  two  weeks  job,  but  is  became  apparent  that 
the  repair  work  will  take  until  after  the  first  of  the  year. 

The  generator  was  moved  from  the  Soto  Street  sub- 
station. Work  began  at  8  a.m.  Tuesday  and  continued 
steadily  for  twenty-four  hours.  The  job  was  finished 
so  the  generator  could  be  used  Wednesday  morning. 

An  interesting  angle  in  the  case  is  the  fact  that  resi- 
dents of  the  Melrose  district,  in  which  the  trouble  oc- 
curred, had  blocked  efforts  of  the  Los  Angeles  Railway 
to  build  and  equip  an  automatic  substation  in  that  ter- 
ritory. By  their  protests  to  the  City  Council,  permission 
for  the  work  was  withheld.  The  railway  made  use  of 
the  opportunity  to  inform  the  public  that  opposition  of 
a  few  citizens  had  blocked  the  power  program  and  that 
if  the  substation  construction  had  been  permitted,  the 
work  would  have  been  completed  and  the  resulting  in- 
convenience of  curtailed  service  would  have  been  avoided. 
Considerable  newspaper  advertising  and  publicity  was 
devoted  to  the  subject. 

A  count  made  in  the  month  of  October  showed  that 
an  average  of  between  250  and  300  passengers  per  day 
were  then  traveling  by  motor  bus  from  San  Francisco 
to  Los  Angeles,  a  distance  of  482  miles.  During  the 
summer  months,  when  the  roads  over  the  Siskiyou 
Mountains  are  in  good  condition,  there  is  motor  bus 
service  from  Portland,  Ore.,  to  San  Diego,  Cal. , 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1113 


Handling  Traffic  on  Chicago  "L"  During  Bridge  Replacement 

Construction  Work  Quickly  Done,  Including  Full  Interlock  Protection 
for  First  Train  Over  Bridge — Difficult  Traffic  Problem 
Encountered  in  Rerouting  Trains 


New  Bascule  Bridge  Ready  to  Displace  Old  Swing  Bridge  at  Wells  Street 


REPLACEMENT  of  the  swing  bridge  over  the 
Chicago  River  at  Wells  Street  with  a  double-deck 
.bascule  bridge  recently  involved  some  very  diffi- 
cult construction  and  traffic  problems  for  the  Chicago 
elevated  railroads.  All  trains  serving  the  North 
Side  pass  over  this  bridge.  While  construction  of  the 
new  bridge  was  practically  completed  with  the  old 
bridge  in  place,  the  final  steps  in  placing  the  new 
bridge  in  service  required  that  the  elevated  service 
over  the  bridge  be  suspended  for  a  short  period.  The 
time  for  interrupting  service  was  therefore  selected 
so  as  to  involve  the  minimum  traffic. 

The  bridge  was  closed  to  traffic  at  8:05  p.m.  on 
Friday,  Dec.  2,  and  the  first  train  passed  over  the 
new  bridge  at  7  a.m.  the  following  Monday.  The  work 
was  thus  completed  so  that  only  one  regular  rush- 
hour  period  (that  of  Saturday  morning)  had  to  be 
handled  without  through  service. 

When  service  was  stopped  over  the  bridge  on  Fri- 
day night,  the  first  work  done  was  that  of  dismantling 
the  old  bridge.  The  elevated  forces  removed  the  rails, 
guard  rails,  power  rails,  the  interlocking  system,  etc., 
from  the  bridge  within  six  hours.  The  bridge  con- 
tractor then  swung  the  bridge  parallel  with  the  stream 
and  proceeded  with  acetylene  torches  to  cut  away 
the  central  portion  of  the  old  bridge  to  make  an 
opening  into  which  the  new  bridge  could  later  be 
lowered.  Simultaneously,  the  steel  work  of  the  floor 
system  in  the  shore  panels  of  the  new  bridge,  which 
had  been  omitted  to  permit  the  operation  of  trains 
through  the  bridge  as  it  stood  in  the  vertical  posi- 
tion, was  riveted  in  place.  It  was  also  necessary  to 
remove  the  approaches  for  the  old  bridge  and  build  in 
those  for  the  new  one.  All  of  this  was  done  and  the 
new  bridge  lowered  into  position  ready  for  the  work 


of  the  elevated  forces  on  Sunday  night  at  10  p.m. 
The  work  of  completing  the  new  bridge  was  not  car- 
ried on  through  Saturday  night,  for  while  an  abund- 
ance of  artificial  lights  had  been  supplied  by  the 
elevated  lines  to  aid  in  the  work,  the  shadows  cast 
made  the  contractor  fearful  of  night  work. 

As  the  work  to  be  done  by  the  elevated  railroads, 
however,  was  all  up  on  top  of  the  structure,  this 
could  be  very  easily  floodlighted  and  the  work  done 
at  night.  The  lighting  was  supplied  by  two  banks 
of  lamps  and  powerful  reflectors  located  on  a  40-ft. 
pole  at  either  end  of  the  bridge  and  consisting  of  five 
1,200-watt  lamps  in  each  bank.  The  illumination  was 
excellent  but  the  work  was  somewhat  complicated  by 
snowfall  during  Sunday  night. 

Beginning  at  10  p.m.  work  was  started  to  lay  the 
ties,  run  rails,  power  rails,  guard  rails,  connect  up 
power  cables  which  had  been  previously  laid  on  the 
bridge,  install  the  electro-pneumatic  interlocking  sys- 
tem, bond  the  rails,  etc.  All  of  this  work  was  com- 
pleted so  that  the  first  train  passed  over  the  bridge  at 
7  o'clock  on  Monday  morning  under  full  protection  of 
the  interlocking  system.  The  most  difficult  part  of 
this  mechanical  work  was  the  placing  of  the  twenty- 
four  cast  manganese  bridge  rails,  which  require  a  very 
exact  installation.  About  100  men  were  used  in  this 
work  by  the  elevated  lines  and  110  by  the  bridge  con- 
tractor. 

An  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  two  leaves 
of  the  new  bridge  in  their  raised  position  with  the  old 
bridge  still  in  place.  When  completed  the  new  struc- 
ture will  be  one  of  the  largest  and  heaviest  in  Chicago. 
The  clear  span  from  face  to  face  of  the  concrete  piers 
is  231  ft.  The  total  width  of  lower  deck  is  72  ft, 
providing  a  roadway  of  38  ft.,  curb  to  curb,  and  two 


1114 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


sidewalks  with  a  clear  width  of  13  ft.  6  in.  each. 
Besides  the  vehicle  and  pedestrian  traffic  the  lower 
deck  will  carry  the  loads  of  two  street  car  tracks 
while  the  upper  deck  supports  the  double  tracks  of  the 
elevated  railroad. 

During  the  interruption  to  through  traffic  on  the 
elevated  lines,  North  Side  passengers  were  handled 
in  and  out  of  the  North  Water  Street  stub  terminal. 
As  this  terminal  has  but  two  tracks  and  the  total 
number  of  northbound  passengers  during  the  rush 
hour  from  5  to  6  p.m.  on  a  normal  day  is  more  than 
28,000,  it  may  readily  be  imagined  that  the  task  was 
considerable  of  an  undertaking.  Fortunately,  the 
work  on  the  bridge  progressed  so  satisfactorily  that 
it  was  necessary  to  handle  only  one  heavy  rush-hour 
service  without  the  bridge.    The  normal  off-peak  serv- 


Raised  Bascule  of  AVells  Street  Bridge  During  Construction 

ice  could  be  handled  very  nicely  in  and  out  of  this 
two-track,  three-platform  terminal.  The  Saturday 
workward  peak  was  handled  by  arranging  to  unload 
four  trains  simultaneously  at  the  Kinzie  Street  station 
and  North  Water  Street  terminal.  The  trains  were 
moved  in  groups  of  four  from  the  cross-over  just  north 
of  Grand  Avenue  station,  as  seen  in  the  accompanying 
sketch,  the  two  leading  trains  making  no  stop  at 
Kinzie  Street,  but  going  direct  into  the  two  pockets 
at  North  Water  Street.  The  third  train  was  operated 
over  the  West  track  to  Kinzie  Street  station,  and  the 
fourth  train,  to  Kinzie  Street  station  over  the  East 
track,  both  unloading  at  this  station.  As  soon  as  the 
unloading  was  completed,  train  No.  3  was  run  back 
on  the  west  track  to  the  first  cross-over,  clearing 
before  No.  4.  Trains  Nos.  4,  1  and  2  were  then  oper- 
ated northbound  in  the  order  named,  on  the  east  track. 
The  movement  of  the  second  group  of  through  trains 
was  then  started  as  soon  as  No.  3  cleared  the  west- 


Grand  Avenue 
Station 


bound  track  on  its  return  movement.  By  thus  unload- 
ing four  trains  at  a  time,  it  was  found  possible  to 
handle  fifty  trains  an  hour  during  this  morning  rush. 

During  the  Saturday  noon  rush  and  the  heavy 
Christmas  shopping  traffic  all  Saturday  afternoon  all 
southbound  passengers  were  unloaded  at  Kinzie  Street 
in  order  to  preserve  the  full  capacity  of  the  North 
Water  Street  terminal  for  loading  purposes  only,  this 
capacity  having  been  placed  at  a  maximum  of  24,000 
per  hour.  The  platforms  at  the  terminal  were 
extended  with  wood  construction  to  accommodate 
seven-car  trains.  A  number  of  extra  ticket  booths 
were  located  on  the  sidewalk  on  Clark  Street  near  the 
entrance  to  the  terminal  and  station  collectors  with 
boxes  located  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  so  that  pas- 
sengers could  be  passed  into  the  station  to  the  full 
capacity  of  the  stairs  and  doors. 

A  complete  rescheduling  of  the  Wilson  Avenue, 
Evanston  and  Ravenswood  trains  had  to  be  made  in 
order  to  serve  each  division,  provide  sufficient  local 
service,  and  get 
the  maximum 
number  of  cars 
in  and  out  of  the 
terminal.  The 
problem  had 
many  ramifica- 
t  i  o  n  s  and  in- 
volved a  very 
complicated  and 
detailed  study  in 
preparation  for 
the  emergency. 
This  study  in- 
cluded plans  for 
handling  the 
traffic  during  an 
evening  rush 
hour,  should  the 
bridge  for  some 
reason  not  go 
into  service  as 
c  o  n  t  e  m  p  lated. 
Had  this  been 
necessary,  it  was 
planned  to  shut 
off   all  receiving 

of  northbound  passengers  on  the  loop  during  the  rush 
hour,  as  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  unload  them 
and  discharge  them  from  the  platforms  of  the  State 
and  Lake  and  Clark  and  Lake  stations  for  transfer 
across  the  river  to  North  Water  Street  as  fast  as 
they  would  be  received.  Also,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  handle  the  full  number  of  people,  28,000 
or  more,  during  the  hour  from  5  to  6  p.m.,  had  they 
all  desired  passage  from  the  North  Water  Street 
terminal,  and  some  of  them  would  necessarily  have 
been  delayed  into  the  next  hour.  Fortunately,  this 
shutting  off  of  the  loop  stations  did  not  become  nec- 
essary. 

Another  problem  involved  in  the  cutting  off  of  the 
through  traffic  was  the  handling  of  the  passengers 
of  the  Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad 
between  the  terminal  at  the  Adams  and  Wabash  sta- 
tion of  the  elevated,  on  the  loop,  and  the  necessary 
emergency  terminus  of  these  trains  on  the  north  side 
of  the  river.  This  was  done  with  sixteen  twenty-seat 
motor  buses  in  a  way  which  won  many  complimentary 


Sketch  Showing  Facilities  for 
Handling  "L"  Traffic  in 
Emergency 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1115 


remarks  from  the  passengers.  The  inbound  passen- 
gers were  unloaded  at  Grand  Avenue,  from  where 
buses  took  them  by  way  of  Michigan  Boulevard  to  the 
terminal  on  Wabash  Avenue.  As  inbound  trains 
reached  Wilson  Avenue,  each  passenger  was  given  a 
bus  ticket  on  the  back  of  which  was  printed  instruc- 
tions for  leaving  the  train  at  Grand  Avenue,  explain- 
ing why  this  was  necessary  and  also  telling  of  the 
bus  service  to  the  loop.  When  the  train  arrived  at 
Grand  Avenue,  therefore,  the  passengers  were  all 
fully  informed,  and  instead  of  there  being  kicks,  there 
was  praise  for  the  pains  the  company  had  taken  to 
transport  them  to  the  usual  destination. 

Similarly,  all  passengers  who  came  to  the  Wabash 
Avenue  station  of  the  North  Shore  line,  to  take  trains 
north,  were  instructed  by  station  callers  to  take  the 
buses  waiting  which  would  carry  them  to  the  Grand 
Avenue  station.  As  there  was  no  track  space  on  which 
the  North  Shore  trains  could  be  permitted  to  stand,  it 
was  necessary  to  schedule  them  to  leave  as  promptly 
as  they  could  be  unloaded  and  loaded.  The  buses  were 
therefore  scheduled  to  leave  the  Wabash  Avenue  ter- 
minal at  train  time,  and  the  trains  were  scheduled  to 
leave  Grand  Avenue  station  just  fourteen  minutes 
later,  giving  the  buses  time  to  make  the  trip  between 
these  two  points. 

The  buses  used  in  this  service  were  rented  from  the 
Chicago  Motor  Bus  Company  at  $4.50  an  hour  per  bus, 
it  requiring  as  high  as  ten  bus  loads  to  haul  the  people 
to  or  from  some  trains.  While  this  service  was  expen- 
sive for  the  railroad,  it  was  very  much  appreciated  by 
the  patrons. 


Coal  Cost  in  New  York  Power  Statistics 

THE  two  accompanying  tables  were  recently  compiled 
by  the  accounting  department  of  the  New  York 
Transit  Commission  and  presented  at  a  hearing  of  that 
commission  by  Frederick  W.  Lindars,  chief  accountant. 
Table  I  shows  comparatively  for  the  past  eight  years 
the  pounds  of  coal  burned  per  net  kilowatt-hour  and  cost 
of  fuel  in  cents  per  net  kilowatt-hour  generated  at  the 
power  stations  of  each  of  the  principal  railway  com- 
panies. Net  kilowatt-hours  generated  are  denned  as  the 
gross  kilowatt-hours  less  the  amount  used  at  the  gener- 
ating station.  Fuel  cost  is  defined  as  the  amount 
which  is  charged  to  operating  expense  account,  "fuel 
for  power." 

Table  II  gives  for  the  same  companies  and  for  the 
same  periods  the  cost  of  fuel  per  ton  of  2,000  lb.  de- 
livered in  the  bunkers.  The  steam  generating  equip- 
ment in  the  several  power  stations  is  not  uniform,  and 
some  of  the  companies  have  found  it  advantageous  to 
use  a  mixture  of  bituminous  and  anthracite  coal  to 
obtain  the  most  economical  results.  The  advantages  of 
location  of  the  power  station  on  the  water  front  and  of 
economical  coal-handling  machinery  is  shown  in  the 
table. 

An  interesting  comparison  is  brought  out  in  the 
case  of  the  Hudson-Manhattan  Railroad,  which  indicates 
that  while  the  cost  of  fuel  per  ton  is  very  much  less  than 
that  paid  either  by  the  Interborough  or  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  Companies,  the  actual  cost  of  fuel  in  cents  per 
net  kilowatt-hour  generated  is  considerably  greater  than 
the  same  cost  to  the  latter  two  companies. 


TABLE  I— POUNDS  OF  COAL  CONSUMED  AND  COST  OF  FUEL  IN  CENTS  PER  NET  KILOWATT-HOUR  GENERATED 
BY  THE  RAPID  TRANSIT  AND  SURFACE  LINES  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

, —  1914 —  . —  1915 — .  . —  1916 — .  . —  1917 —  . —  1918 — .  . —  1919 — .  — 1920 —  — 1921 — . 
Lbs.     Cents     Lbs.     Cents     Lbs.     Cents    Lbs.     Cents    Lbs.     Cents    Lbs.     Cents     Lbs.     Cents     Lbs.  Cents 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit: 


Subway  division   2.02      0.29      1.95      0.28      1.91      0.28      2.01      0.31      2.11      0.38      2.17      0.59      1.90      0.54      1.86  0.68 

Elevated  division   2.31      0.33      2.06      0.30      1.63      0.24      1.63      0.25      1.72      0.31      1.74      0.47      1.76      0.51      1.87  0.68 


Average  for  I.  R.  T   2.12  0.30  1.99  0.29  1.79  0.26  1.85      0.29      1.92      0.34      1.93      0.52      1.83      0  53      1.86  0.68 

Hudson  &  Manhattan   3.06  0.27  3.31  0.27  3.43  0.28  3.70      0.45      4.36      0.81      4.53      0.87      4  70     0.84      4.63  0.97 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit   3.01  0.32  1  2.82  0.33  2.71  0.33  2.86      0.37      2.92      0.52      2.86      0.74      2.60     0.75      2.24  0.83 

Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn   3.73  0.35/ 

New  York  Railways   3.11  0.44  3.16  0.46  3.07  0.46   

New  York  &  Long  Island   3.73  0.64  3.85  0.65  3.83  0.67      4  31      0.95      4.78      1.25      6.90      1.97      5.56  1.59   

New  York  &  North  Shore   4.01  0.55  3.93  0.53  3.88  0.54      4.56      0.76      4.95      1.27      4.97      1.45      5.88  1.34   

Staten  Island  Midland   5.01  0.78  8.62  1.21   


Average  tor  all  companies   2.62      0.33      2.50     0.33      2.22      0.29      2.31      0.33      2.38      0.43      2.35      0.61      2.22      0.62      2.03  0.73 


NOTES 

"Cost,  of  fuel,"  as  used  here,  is  the  amount  charged  to  the  operating  expense  account  "Fuel  for  Power." 
"Net  kw. -hours  generated"  is  the  "gross  kw. -hours  generated"  less  amount  used  at  generating  station. 
Average! or  all  companies  is  based  on  volume  of  production  and  total  coal  consumed. 


TABLE  II— COST  OF  COAL  FOR  POWER  TO  THE  RAPID  TRANSIT  AND  SURFACE  RAILWAYS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 
(The  costs  are  per  ton  of  2,000  lb.  delivered  for  the  fiscal  years  1914  to  1921,  inclusive) 

1914  1915  1916  1917  1918  1919  1920 


1921 


Interborough  Rapid  Transit  : 

Subway  division  

Elevated  division  


B  <!  B 

$2.86    $2.91 

2.88    2.90 


$2.94    $3.08    $3.52    $5.43    $5.72    $7.21 

2.92    3.07    3.53    5.39      la)        5.75      (a)  7.16* 


Total  average  cost  I.R.T. 


$2.87    $2.90 


$2.93    $3.07    $3.53    $5.41    $5.74    $7.1{ 


Hudson  &  Manhattan  (6)   $1.69   

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  System   1 .  66  $2 .  84  1 

Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn   1.75      2.67  / 

New  York  Railways  '   c2.84 

New  York  &  Long  Island   3.44 

New  York  &  North  Shore   2.  76 

Staten  Island  Midland  e  3.  1 5   


c3. 15 


$2.83 


2.93 
3.40 


.61 
.73 


$2.80 


$2.19 
2.00 


$2.98 


$3.72 
2.80 


$3.75 


$3.83    $3.57 

3.84    $5.28  4.06 


$4.87 
5.71 


$3.82 
4.  15 


$7.44 


c2.73    c2.78    /1. 79 


4.39 
c  3.  51 


f  1.78 


5.  15 
5.22 


/2.0I 


5.57 
5.94 


5.71 
4.57 


d  7.58 


Total  average  cost   $1.69    $2.86    $1.69    $2.89    $1.70    $2.89    $2.05    $3.06    $3.09    $3.62    $3.83    $5.38    $3.79    $5.72    $4.19  $7.26 

(a)   A  small  amount  of  anthracite  is  included  in  the  cost  of  the  bituminous  coal. 

(6)    From   1914  to  1919  and  in  1921  there  is  included  a  small  percentage  of  bituminous.    The  1 92 1  figure  also  includes  cost  of  coal  used  for  purposes  other  than 
electric  generation.   After  Nov.  1  5,  1920,  the  company  purchased  power  from  New  York  Edison  Company. 
(c>    Company  reports  this  as  semi-bituminous. 

(eft   Cost  of  coal  used  for  heating  purposes  only.    Figures  not  obtained  from  annual  report,  but  from  records  of  company, 
(el    The  kind  of  coal  used  is  reported  by  the  company  as  various.   In  1913,  it  was  mostly  anthracite. 
(/)    Anthracite  screenings. 

(u)    Power  station  no  longer  in  operation.    Power  is  bought  from  Long  Island  Railroad. 


Electric  Railway  Publicity 

Devoted  to  How  to  Tell  the  Story 


North  Shore  Car  Card  Advertising 
Makes  Impression 

REPRODUCED  herewith  is  a  series  of  three  car  cards 
.  which  have  recently  been  widely  distributed  by  the 
Chicago,  North  Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad.  They 
have  been  carried  in  the  elevated  and  surface  cars  in 
Chicago  and  Milwaukee  and  posted  in  the  stations  of 
the  elevated  railways  and  the  North  Shore  Line. 
Because  of  their  unusual  design,  which  seems  to  portray 
rather  vividly  the  swift  motion  of  the  trains,  and  the 
attractiveness  afforded  by  three  colors,  these  cards  have 
been  very  effective  in  bringing  the  electric  line  to  the 
attention  of  possible  patrons.  The  idea  of  speed  is 
popular,  and  particularly  so  when  it  can  be  had  with 
convenience  and  comfort — the  ideas  that  were  especially 
set  forth  in  these  three  cards. 

The  North  Shore  Line  began  the  unique  idea  last  year 
of  presenting  patrons  on  trains  with  a  little  Christmas 
greeting.  The  personal  touch  which  this  afforded  to  the 
service  rendered  by  the  company  resulted  in  establishing 
a  very  friendly  attitude  on  the  part  of  many  passengers 
and  gave  rise  to  numerous  complimentary  letters.  The 
same  idea  is  being  carried  out  during  the  holiday  season 
this  year  with  a  little  more  elaborate  and  very  attractive 


Christmas  card,  which  is  reproduced  herewith.  This 
was  printed  in  red  and  green  on  a  white  card  and  dis- 
tributed to  passengers  by  the  conductors.  It  is  an 
example  of  the  many  little  things  the  North  Shore  Line 
is  doing  to  win  friends — and  with  success. 


9m 

% 


Th.e^orth^horeLir\e 


/       i  .  .wishes  you  a 


j  Nerry  (J\ri st n\ as 
and  a 

pp^y^ewYear 


Newspapers  Publish  Constructive  Editorials 
on  Railways'  Problems 

AN  INDICATION  of  the  improved  attitude  taken  by 
l  some  of  the  larger  newspapers  in  several  of  the 
central  states  toward  problems  of  electric  railway  trans- 
portation is  found  in  their  editorial  pages.  The  fol- 
lowing from  the  Ohio  State  Journal  under  the  date  of. 
Nov.  25  is  typical: 

Interurban  Traction  Problem 

Application  of  the  receiver  of  the  Ohio  Electric  for  per- 
mission to  abandon  the  line  that  has  been  operated  from 
Columbus  to  Orient  calls  attention  to  the  serious  problems, 
confronting  that  important  agency  of  transportation  the 
interurban.  It  is  not  a  new  problem,  but  one  that  came 
with  war  days  and  auto  development  and  the  changed  con- 
ditions they  brought.  For  years  interurban  managers  have 
given  no  thought  to  earning  profits  for  their  stockholders. 
With  them  it  has  been  wholly  a  problem  of  existence;  they 
have  been  delighted  if  they  kept  their  income  slightly  ahead 
of  operating  expenses.  It  is  not  improbable  some  lines 
will  be  abandoned. 

The  traction  lines  reach  out  into  the  country  and  supply 
a  valuable  service  in  the  movement  of  freight  and  trans- 
portation of  passengers.  Business  in  many  communities 
has  been  developed  with  the  traction  service  as  a  basis. 
The  public  cannot  afford  to  have  the  interurban  traction 
lines  disappear,  but  it  is  very  certain  they  cannot  continue 


Chicago: 
Adams  and 
Wabash 


FAST  LIMITED  TRAINS 

Every  Hour  on  the  Hour 
5  A.M.  to  Midnight 


Milwaukee: 
Sixth  and 
Sycamore 


CHICAGO  LOOP  AND  THE  HEART  OF  MILWAUKEE 


CHICAGO  NORTH  SHOREMLWAUKEER  R. 


Baggage  Checked  from  Home  to  Destination  in  Chicago  or 
Milwaukee  without  Rechecking 


Chicago: 
Adams  and 
Wabash 


Limited  Train*  Every  Hour  on 
the  Hour — 5  a.m.  to  Midnight 

Dining  Cars  7:15a.m. — 12:00  Noon — 4:45  p.m. 


Milwaukee : 
Sixth  and 
Sycamore 


CHICAGO  NORTH  SHORE  MILWAUKEE  R  R. 


BADGER  LIMITED-DELUXE  TRAINS -INTERSTATE  LIMITED 
2  HOURS  10  MINUTES 
MILWAUKEE  TO  CHICAGO 
7:15  A.M.  4:45  P.M 


Chicago: 
Adams  and 
Wabash 


Milwaukee : 
Sixth  and 
Sycamore 


Dining  Cars— 7:15  A.M.— 12:00  Noon— 4:45  P.M. 


CHICAGO  NORTH  SHORE  MILWAUKEE  R  R 


Greeting  Presented  to  Passengers  by  North  Shore  Line  Conductors  and  Three  Recent  Car  Cards  Used 
— the  Cards  Are  10|  by  211  and  Are  in  Three  Colors 


December  24,  1921  Electric    Railway    Journal  1117 


indefinitely  with  the  unhappy  conditions  in  which  they  have 
been  floundering  in  recent  years,  and  for  which  there  has 
been,  as  yet,  no  solution  proposed. 

Another  editorial  that  shows  an  understanding  of  an 
electric  railway's  operating  problems  appeared  in  the 
same  newspaper  under  the  caption  the  "Cost  of  Acci- 
dents." 

How  heavy  and  burdensome  is  the  financial  cost  of  acci- 
dents is  illustrated  in  the  report  of  the  Cleveland  Railway, 
which  shows  expenditure  during  1920  of  $1,250,000  in  set- 
tlement of  claims  for  damages.  The  figures  tell  their  own 
story  of  the  money  cost  of  heedlessness  and  human  care- 
lessness. It  does  not  include  the  heavy  economic  loss  from 
impaired  earning  ability  as  a  result  of  the  accidents. 

That  sum  is  a  tax  on  the  community,  for  the  full  burden 
falls  on  the  car  rider,  because  in  that  city  under  service 
at  cost  the  fare  goes  higher  as  operating  expenses  increase 
and  can  be  reduced  as  operating  expenses  are  decreased. 
In  the  operation  of  a  large  system  in  a  great  city  acci- 
dents will  happen  that  no  amount  of  forethought  and  care 
can  prevent,  but  in  a  very  large  way  accidents  about  street 
cars  are  of  a  preventable  nature. 

The  Cleveland  company  has  engaged  in  a  campaign  for 
a  reduction  in  the  cost  of  accidents.  Employees  will  be 
trained  and  instructed,  caution  will  be  emphasized.  The 
campaign,  however,  cannot  be  successful  in  a  large  way 
unless  it  has  the  full  co-operation  of  the  car  riders  and 
ethers  who  use  the  streets.  It  is  asking  nothing  unreason- 
able to  request  the  public  to  be  careful  of  its  own  safety. 
The  request  has  a  financial  value  as  well  as  personal,  be- 
cause, as  the  cost  of  accidents  is  reduced,  it  will  have  a 
bearing  on  the  rate  of  fare  charged.  It  is  a  place  where 
the  public  may  win  doubly  by  making  the  campaign  of 
safety  a  great  success. 

The  Fort  Wayne  News  and  Sentinel,  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.,  recently  carried  the  following  interesting  editorial 
comment  on  the  electric  traction  situation  in  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.: 

The  Indianapolis  Street  Railway,  relieved  of  jitney  oppo- 
sition, which  was  taking  from  $1,000  to  $1,500  a  day  from 
its  receipts,  now  comes  before  the  State  Utilities  Commis- 
sion with  the  statement  that  it  faces  the  necessity  of  im- 
posing an  8-cent  fare  in  order  to  maintain  its  service. 
During  the  past  year  or  so,  it  represents,  the  service  has 
been  carried  on  at  the  expense  of  the  integrity  of  the 
reserve  resources  of  the  company  and  the  detriment  of 
its  equipment.  There  is  not  the  least  doubt  in  the  world 
that  the  officers  of  the  company  are  telling  the  truth.  Their 
books  are  open  to  inspection  by  the  state  officials  and  it 
would  be  impossible  for  them  to  conceal  the  company's  real 
condition.  Even  those  who  are  inclined  to  attribute  to  them 
the  most  sordid  of  motives  must  concede  that  they  are 
telling  the  truth. 

Indianapolis  must  simply  pay  a  higher  rate  for  her  car 
service  or  see  that  service  piled  up  in  the  wreckage.  The 


5-cent  fare  there  has  been  maintained  during  the  stressful 
period  when  other  companies  in  other  cities  have  raised 
their  fares  radically  and  the  protestants  against  these  raises 
have  always  pointed  out  the  case  of  Indianapolis.  It  devel- 
ops now  that  the  Indianapolis  company  has  just  about  gone 
broke  on  the  5-cent  fare  and  it  is  going  to  require  an 
enormous  boost  in  fares  to  save  the  company. 

There  is  no  use  disguising  the  fact  that  the  utility  com- 
panies over  the  country  have  suffered  severely  during  the 
last  four  or  five  years  and  are  destined  to  suffer  for 
several  years  to  come.  The  people  might  as  well  face  the 
facts  and  make  the  best  of  them.  Utility  rates  like  the 
rates  of  everything  else  are  higher  and  they  are  going  to 
continue  higher.  When  rates  are  raised  the  public  yells  its 
head  off,  but  yelling  does  not  alter  the  facts,  nor  does 
demagogy  change  unspeakable  conditions. 

Growling  will  do  no  good,  protestation  will  effect  no 
change  and  investigations  will  not  alter  conditions.  More- 
over, there  is  this  further  thing  to  consider:  If  the  service 
is  boycotted  it  means  a  receivership,  and  a  utility  in  a 
receiver's  hands  is  a  curse  to  any  city. 


Traction  Topics  Posters  Would  Inform 
Chicago  Riders 

HAVING  been  impressed  with  the  manner  in  which 
short,  pithy  statements  about  the  Chicago  Surface 
Lines  were  absorbed  by  the  people  who  visited  the 
Pageant  of  Progress  held  in  Chicago  last  summer,  at 
which  the  traction  companies  had  exhibits,  John  E. 
Wilkie,  vice-president  Chicago  Railways,  has  begun  the 
use  of  a  similar  type  of  informative  publicity  on  the 
street  cars.  This  is  being  put  out  in  the  form  of  a 
weekly  poster,  14  in.  x  21  in.,  under  the  caption  of 
"Traction  Topics."  These  posters  are  pasted  on  one  of 
the  side  windows  at  either  end  of  the  cars,  giving  them 
a  conspicuous  position. 

That  the  new  posters  are  being  widely  read  is 
attested  by  the  numerous  comments  in  the  public 
press,  for  while  many  of  these  are  uncomplimentary, 
Mr.  Wilkie  feels  that  this  is  a  better  indication  that  the 
publicity  is  worth  something  than  would  be  the  case  if 
it  caused  no  comment  whatever.  If  the  publicity  is  con- 
tinued it  is  felt  that  these  short  statements  of  facts  are 
certain  to  form  a  lasting  impression  in  the  minds  of 
many  car  riders. 

A  few  of  the  first  posters  that  were  used  are 
reproduced  herewith.  The  first  number  was  placed  on 
the  cars  on  Nov.  13.  The  posters  are  changed  each 
Sunday. 


Hi  Traction  Topics  (I 

Let's  Get  Acquainted 

Knowledge  of  the  other  I  You  are  users  of  trans- 
fellow" s  job  leads  to  a  bet-  portarion.  It  is  our  job  to 
ter  mutual  understanding.  !  supply  it 

You  are  served  by  the  largest  Surface  Lines  system 
in  the  world  and  we  want  you  to  know  ail  about  it. 


Watch 
Traction  topics 


CHICAGO  SURFACE  LINES 


(S  Traction  Topics  f 

CHICAGO  LEADS  ALL 

We  have  a  population  of  2,800,000  spread  over 
200  square  miles. 

To  serve  this  territory  — the  largest  of  any  city— the  Surface 
Lines  have  built  over  1000  miles  of  single  track. 

This  means  maintaining  and  operating  a  double  track  system 
that  would  reach  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo,  New  York. 


Watch  for 

Traction  Topics 


CHICAGO  SURFACE  LINES 

.A.M. 


B)  Traction  Topics  Pg| 

AN  ARMY  OF  CAR  RIDERS 

Over  2,000,000  cash  and  1,500,000  transfer 
passengers  are  carried  on  the  system  every  day. 

These  with  the  free  riders— employes,  police  and 
firemen-make.a  yearly  total  of  1,350,000,000. 

This  almost  equals  the  population  of  the  whole 
world- 1,750,000,000. 


Watch  for 

traction  Topics 


SURFACE  UNES 


<T  Traction  Topics  IS! 


THE  rush  hour 

Nearly  one -half  of  the  3,500,000  daily  car  rides  are 
taken  during  one  morning  and  one  evening  hour. 

When  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  move  at  the 
same  time  overcrowding  is  the  result 

Rush  hour  congestion  is  not  peculiar  to  Chicago;  every 
big  city  has  it    No  way  has  been  found  to  prevent  it 

,,,       .    .  CHICAGO  SURFACE  LINES 

Watch  tor  •  t 

Traction  topics  JZyji<L~ 


■<S;  Traction  Topics  ® 


$28,000,000.00  YEARLY  IN  WAGES 

The  Surface  Lines  operate  over  3,000  double  truck 
modern  electric  cars. 

It  takes  a  force  of  over  1 5,000  employes  to  run  them 
and  care  for  repairs  and  tracks. 

The  wages  paid  by  the  Surface  Lines  exceed 
$28,000,000.00  a  year. 

Watch  for  Chicago  surface  lines 

Traction  topics  ■**■»■ '  '■■ 


<£  Traction  Topics  <E 


millions  expended 

The  tracks,  buildings  and  equipment  of  the  Surface 
Lines  represent  a  value  of  $160,000,00000. 

Tracks,  buildings  and  equipment  are  paid  for  out  of 
money  supplied  by  investors-not  out  of  fares  collected. 

The  investor  is  fairly  entitled  to  protection  for  his 
investment  and  interest  on  his  money. 

Watch  for  CHICAGO  SURFACE  lines 

Traction  topics 


INFORMATIVE  PUBLICITY  MATTER  NOW  APPEARING  IN   CHICAGO   SURFACE  LINES  CARS 


1118 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26- 


Results  of  Mutual  Benefit  Association* 

Ml 

Principles  and  Organization  of  Twin  Cities  Company  Association — Details  of 
Benehts  and  Activities  and  Results  Being  Obtained 

By  Frederick  A.  Anderson 

Social  Service  Director,   Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company 


OUR  association  of  employees  was 
urbanized  in  February,  1915.  It 
has  grovvn  and  its  scope  of  activities 
has  increased  as  the  need  has  been  felt. 
The  foundation  which  was  laid  at  the 
beginning  has  been  sufficiently  broad  to 
support  the  features  that  nave  been 
added  as  the  association  has  developed. 

The  first  principle  followed  in  or- 
ganizing was  that  no  association,  how- 
ever desirable  its  provisions,  could 
amount  to  anytning  worth  while  if 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  em- 
ployers back  of  it  were  not  right.  The 
second  principle  was  that  the  manage- 
ment of  the  association  should  be 
mutual,  both  employer  and  employee 
being  personally  represented  in  the 
management  of  and  contributions  to  the 
undertaking.  The  third  principle  was 
that  the  membership  should  be  volun- 
tary. The  membership  would  not  be 
so  likely  to  feel  that  they  were  con- 
tributing toward  their  own  association. 
The  fourth  principle  was  that  the  plan 
and  provisions  of  the  organization 
should  be  explained  so  thoroughly  to 
all  the  members  that  there  could  be 
no  chance  for  misunderstandings  as  to 
its  purpose  and  activities.  The  fifth 
principle  was  that  the  plan  adopted 
must  be  as  nearly  adequate  as  it  could 
be  made.  In  my  study  of  various  or- 
ganizations I  found  some  with  such 
limited  benefits  and  meager  provisions 
that  they  were  scoffed  at  by  the  men. 
The  sixth  principle  was  that  the  pro- 
gram of  activities  of  the  association 
should  be  constructive  and  thorough. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  our  com- 
pany the  family  spirit  has  been  evi- 
dent. The  first  organizers  of  the  Twin 
City  lines  felt  that  what  was  good  for 
one  ought  to  be  good  for  all,  and  that 
those  things  which  were  bad  for  one 
were  bad  for  others.  It  was  their  con- 
ception that  if  all  worked  together  they 
could  produce  the  best  street  railway 
system  in  the  country.  Wages,  hours, 
working  conditions,  physical  equipment 
and  the  personnel  of  the  organization 
have  consistently  been  kept  at  the  high- 
est level  that  the  company  could  main- 
tain throughout  its  whole  existence. 
After  eight  years  of  closest  associa- 
tion with  this  concern  I  am  convinced 
that  this  most  desirable  family  spirit 
is  being  realized  more  today  as  an 
actual  factor  than  ever  before.  This 
applies  both  to  the  management  and 
the  employees. 

Our  association  is  organized  upon  a 
mutual  plan  of  management.  The  em- 
Dloyees  are  represented  by  ten  mem- 
bers of  their  own  choice  and  the  com- 
pany is  represented  by  ten  officials. 
This  composes  the  executive  committee, 
which  has  the  final  word  in  matters 
concerning  the  association  as  a  whole, 
or  any  individual  matter  which  may 
be  brought  on  appeal  to  this  body. 
There  is  also  a  benefit  and  relief  board, 
which  is  composed  of  ten  employees' 
representatives  and  three  officials  of  the 
company.  This  board  passes  upon  any 
claims  which  may  arise.  Associated 
and  co-operating  with  each  of  the  ten 

♦Abstract  of  paper  presented  at  the  an- 
nual convention  of  the  Industrial  Relations 
.Association  of  America,  New  York,  Nov. 
1-4,  1921. 


employee  representatives  there  is  a  de- 
partmental committee  of  three,  elected 
by  the  employee  members.  They  have 
charge  of  all  social,  educational  and 
physical  activities.  They  also  repre- 
sent the  division  which  elects  them  in 
matters  pertaining  to  working  condi- 
tions, hours,  etc.  This  last  phase  of 
the  work  of  the  committee  heads  up  in 
a  co-operative  committee,  which  func- 
tions separately  from  the  benefit  asso- 
ciation and  has  its  own  constitution 
and  by-laws. 

Membership  and  Dues 

Members  pay  an  entrance  fee  of  $1 
and  dues  ranging  from  45  cents  to 
$1.35,  which  are  deducted  monthly 
from  their  pay  checks.  The  company 
pays  an  equal  amount  of  all  dues  paid 
by  members  and,  in  addition,  pays  the 
salaries  of  association  officers,  physi- 
cians, home  visitors  and  clerical  help, 
cost  of  consultations,  X-rays,  medical 
attention  and  supplies,  office  rent, 
printing,  etc.  Last  year  this  meant 
that  the  company  paid  65  per  cent  of 
the  total  budget  while  the  members  paid 
35  per  cent.  The  money  of  the  asso- 
ciation is  kept  as  a  separate  account 
in  another  bank  from  those  used  by 
the  company. 

When  the  organization  was  started 
the  membership  was  thrown  open  for 
three  months  for  charter  members. 
There  was  no  age  limit,  examination 
or  entrance  fee,  the  company  paying 
this  to  give  us  a  start.  After  that 
time  the  membership  was  restricted  to 
those  within  the  age  limit  (twenty- 
one  to  forty-five  years,  changed  later  to 
eighteen  to  fifty  years)  who  were 
physically  fit  and  had  been  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  company  two  months  or 
more.  No  one  is  coerced  to  join  the 
association  by  any  official.  The  aver- 
age membership,  since  organization  six 
years  ago,  has  been  about  70  per  cent 
of  those  eligible. 

Medical  Service  Is  Provided 

If  an  applicant  for  membership  has 
a  physical  defect  which  can  be  reme- 
died by  surgery  or  medical  care,  an 
exemption  is  taken  covering  the  defect. 
This  exemption  holds  good  for  two 
years,  after  which  time  it  is  canceled 
and  the  member  becomes  a  full-fledged 
member.  If,  during  this  two-year  ex- 
emption period,  the  member  chooses  to 
have  an  operation  performed,  he  pays 
for  this  himself,  but  the  association  re- 
imburses him  for  the  cost  of  that  oper- 
ation when  the  term  of  the  exemption 
expires. 

We  have  ten  places  where  members 
may  receive  medical  attention.  In 
most  of  these,  the  physicians  are  on 
duty  one  hour  each  day,  while  at  our 
general  medical  director's  office  there  is 
a  physician  in  constant  attendance  dur- 
ing the  whole  day.  Last  year  53  per 
cent  of  the  members  made  10.298  calls 
for  some  kind  of  medical  service.  Some 
one  has  criticised  our  plan  for  making 
the  physician  so  easily  accessible  to  the 
membership,  but  we  have  found  it  re- 
sults in  decreased  time  off  for  disabled 
members.  Of  course,  the  physicians 
need  to  head  off  tactfully  the  neurotic, 
but  they  cause  very  little  difficulty. 


In  many  concerns  tne  medical  director 
makes  examin~iti_ns,  treats  sickness, 
performs  operations,  etc.  We  believe 
that  our  plan  more  adequately  meets  the 
needs  of  our  members,  xhe  medical  di- 
rector and  his  associate  have  the  au- 
thority to  send  any  member  or  depend- 
ent member  of  his  family  to  any  special- 
ist whom  he  deems  qualified  to  p^ss 
upon  the  particular  disability  confront- 
ing him.  Such  examinations,  consulta- 
tions, tests,  X-rays,  etc.,  are  paid  for 
as  part  of  the  association  expense.  Last 
year,  for  this  outside  service,  which  in- 
cludes general  medicine,  surgery  and 
dental  service,  we  spent  only  $2,253.75. 
We  felt  rather  than  to  put  one  dentist 
on  our  staff  to  maintain  a  dental  clinic 
we  would  use  the  money  this  would  take 
to  provide  consulting  dentists.  These 
consulting  dentists  are  specialists  in 
their  line.  They  take  any  X-rays, 
make  thorough  examinations  of  the 
mouth,  do  any  extracting  or  surgical 
dentistry  that  is  required  and  give 
whatever  advice  regarding  other  work 
that  is  necessary  or  desirable.  This 
phase  of  medical  service  has  just  re- 
cently been  added  and  is  proving  most 
popular  and  beneficial. 

This  same  principle  is  also  applied  to 
surgery.  We  believe  that  surgery 
should  be  performed  by  the  very  best 
surgeons  available,  and  therefore  we 
designate  the  American  College  of 
Surgeons.  During  the  last  year,  299 
operations  were  performed,  at  a  total 
cost  to  the  association  of  $12,278.42,  or 
an  average  per  operation  of  $41.06. 
This  includes  the  cost  of  both  major 
and  minor  operations.  We  pay  three- 
fourths  of  the  cost  of  any  operation 
performed  on  any  dependent  member 
of  an  association  member's  family. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  our 
surgery  has  produced  tangible  results. 
In  a  study  of  members  who  were  oper- 
ated on  during  a  certain  year  we  dis- 
covered that  those  whose  efficiency 
standing  rated  75  per  cent  or  over 
showed  a  3  per  cent  increase  in  ef- 
ficiency, while  those  below  75  per  cent 
and  on  down  to  as  low  as  50  per  cent 
showed  an  increased  efficiency,  after  a 
six  months  period,  of  35  per  cent. 
Therefore,  we  conclude  that  a  consider- 
able amount  of  surgery  we  do  is  cor- 
rective in  its  results.  Surgery  means 
an  emergency  expense  that  neither  the 
man  nor  his  family  can  afford  and  for 
this  reason  we  assume  a  mutual  re- 
sponsibility in  this  matter.  A  committee 
is  now  studying  the  proposition  of  pay- 
ing the  hospital  expense  as  well. 

Sick  and  Death  Benefits  Are 
Provided 

Our  association  provides  for  the 
payment  of  benefits  ranging  from  $1 
to  $2.25  per  day  for  a  period  of  fifty- 
two  weeks  or  any  one  disability.  Last 
year  we  paid  1,183  different  sick  claims, 
or  a  total  of  $21,274.90.^  We  also  paid 
forty-seven  accident  claims,  or  a  total 
of  $1,273.32.  The  average  amount  paid 
during  the  last  six  years  on  account  of 
sickness  amounted  to  $22  per  indi- 
vidual case. 

At  the  outset  of  the  association  we 
were  warned  that  men  would  take  ad- 
vantage and  stay  away  longer  than 
they  should  on  account  of  being  paid 
too  large  benefits.  There  may  be  such 
cases,  but  I  am  convinced  that  the 
family  spirit  has  so  thoroughly  found 
its  way  through  the  organization  that 
there  is  very  little  reniging.  The  first 
ve»r  the  average  length  of  time  off  was 
pi>Me°n   days,   the   second   year  this 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1119 


amounted  to  twenty  days.  Then  we 
employed  a  registered  nurse  as  our 
nome  visitor  and  for  the  next  two 
years  it  dropped  to  fifteen  days  per 
case.  The  next  year  it  came  down  to 
thirteen  days,  and  this  last  year  it  has 
been  11.3  days  per  case.  This  shorten- 
ing of  absence  from  duty  is  largely  due 
to  increased  efficiency  in  our  medical 
service,  home  visitors'  work  and  the 
growing  family  spirit  throughout  the 
organization.  When  the  association 
first  started  we  did  not  pay  for  the 
first  seven  days.  After  trying  this  for 
a  year,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  not  just.  Now  we  deduct  only 
the  first  two  days  on  all  sick  claims  and 
none  on  accident  claims. 

The  association  also  pays  for  the 
prescriptions  written  by  our  physicians. 
Arrangements  are  made  with  certain 
drug  stores  and  by  ordering  only  such 
quantities  as  are  actually  needed  we 
have  been  able  to  keep  the  association 
prices  of  the  prescriptions  down  to  40 
cents.  Last  year  4,143  prescriptions 
were  written  at  a  cost  of  $1,161.03. 
The  association  also  pays  for  all  medi- 
cal appliances  that  are  ordered  by  our 
physicians. 

It  is  our  belief  that  benefits  should 
be  paid  for  a  long  enough  period  to  de- 
termine whether  the  illness  is  to  be 
permanent  or  not.  By  paying  benefits 
for  a  full  year  it  gives  us  a  chance  to 
help  the  man  make  such  readjustments 
in  his  home  as  are  usually  necessary 
when  the  breadwinner  becomes  perma- 
nently disabled. 

It  is  hard  sometimes  to  determine 
the  actual  value  of  these  things,  but  I 
feel  that  the  man  who  drags  around 
the  shop  or  the  office  with  perhaps  a 
slight  fever  is  performing  an  inferior 
type  of  service  and  his  efficiency  is  re- 
duced materially.  Efficient  medical 
service  heads  off  this  sort  of  thing  for 
the  man  has  easy  access  to  the  doctor, 
and  it  is  far  better  for  such  a  man  to 
be  sent  home  for  a  day  than  to  do  half 
work  for  several  days  and  finally  have 
to  give  up  and  remain  at  home  a 
longer  time.  Medical  service  should 
also  insist  upon  a  man  not  coming 
back  to  work  until  he  is  well.  The  man 
who  comes  back  but  partially  recovered 
will  give  a  mediocre  service  only.  We 
require  that  members  have  suitable 
medical  attention  while  off  duty.  On 
the  whole,  medical  service  shortens  the 
absence  and  the  total  number  of  days 
lost  by  employees  over  a  period  of  time. 

Our  association  also  pays  death 
benefits  ranging  from  $150  to  $700,  ac- 
cording to  the  class  of  membership 
held.  In  the  last  six  vears  ninety-eight 
members  have  passed  away  and  their 
beneficiaries  have  been  paid  on  an  aver- 
age of  $478.57. 

Other  Services  Furnished 

The  association  feels  that  it  has  a 
mission  in  the  home  as  well  as  to  the 
employee  on  duty.  In  1917  we  em- 
ployed a  registered  nurse  as  our  home 
visitor.  Two  years  ago  it  was  neces- 
sary to  add  another  nurse,  and  last 
year  they  were  called  into  710  different 
homes,  making  a  total  of  4,081  visits. 
We  are  just  hiring  the  third  nurse 
now.  They  deal  with  emergency  needs 
of  all  sorts  and  have  the  privilege  of 
calling  for  any  medical  assistance  that 
is  needed  in  any  emergency  that  may 
arise. 

It  is  the  practice  of  the  general  di- 
rector of  the  association  to  call  upon 
every  member  who  is  sick  for  a  period 
of  a  week  or  more,  and  the  welcome 


that  is  extended  to  those  in  charge  of 
the  association  as  they  go  to  the  homes 
is  prima  face  evidence  of  the  way  the 
members  feel  toward  their  organization. 

The  association  staff  comprises  what 
might  be  called  a  general  service  bu- 
reau. Last  year  more  than  1,300  per- 
sons called  on  the  general  director  for 
varied  services  and  advice.  One  can 
hardly  conceive  of  any  human  problem 
which  has  not  been  dealt  with  through 
this  service  bureau.  In  many  instances 
where  unexpected'  emergency  expenses 
have  come  into  the  home  it  is  neces- 
sary to  lend  the  employee  money.  In 
every  such  instance  the  matter  has 
been  thoroughly  investigated,  and  al- 
most invariably  there  are  other  serv- 
ices needed  which  are  more  important 
than  the  lending  of  the  money. 

The  association  has  made  arrange- 
ments with  certain  oculists  to  examine 
eyes  at  a  price  of  about  half  of  what 
is  ordinarily  charged  and  also  with  two 
wholesale  optical  companies  to  furnish 
the  glasses  at  cost.  This  arrangement 
has  meant  a  saving  of  thousands  of 
dollars  to  members  and  their  families. 
A  similar  arrangement  has  been  made 
with  a  group  of  undertakers  located  in 
the  various  parts  of  the  two  cities  and 
this  has  been  greatly  appreciated.  A 
saving  of  from  25  to  50  per  cent  has 
been  made  in  this  manner.  The  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  association  went 
a  step  further  this  year  and  contracted 
to  buy  coal  of  a  certain  dealer  and  so 
far  this  has  meant  a  saving  of  ap- 
proximately $12,000  on  the  coal  al- 
ready sold.  Only  members  are  entitled 
to  this  reduced  price. 

The  association,  through  its  commit- 
tees, conducts  activities  such  as  parties, 
tournaments  of  various  sorts,  health 
talks,  educational  work,  Americaniza- 
tion work,  etc. 

During  the  six  years  of  our  associa- 
tion we  have  paid  in  actual  benefits  the 
sum  of  $268,511.30.  In  addition  to  this 
sum  the  company  has  paid  $130,062.47 
for  medical  services,  nurses,  consulta- 
tions, etc.,  which  means  that  the  aver- 
age budget  for  the  last  six  years  has 
amounted  to  $66,428.92. 

The  company  provides  old  age  pen- 
sions which  members  of  the  association 
are  eligible  to  receive  upon  reaching 
the  required  number  of  years  of  serv- 
ice and  age.  The  pensions  are  calcu- 
lated upon  the  basis  of  2  per  cent  of 
the  employee's  average  monthly  salary 
or  wage  during  the  last  ten  years  of 
service  and  this  multiplied  by  the  num- 
ber of  years  of  service.  For  those  who 
reach  the  age  of  sixty-five,  the  pension 
cannot  exceed  50  per  cent  of  the  aver- 
age salary  or  wage.  For  those  who 
reach  the  age  of  seventy,  the  pension 
cannot  exceed  $75  a  month.  A  recent 
provision  makes  it  possible  for  any  em- 
ployee member  of  the  association  who 
has  been  in  the  service  thirty  years 
and  who  chooses  to  accept  a  pension  to 
be  granted  a  pension  not  to  exceed  $50 
a  month.  The  entire  expense  of  the 
pension  system  is  met  by  the  company 
out  of  its  current  expense  account.  The 
management  of  the  pension  system  is 
vested  in  a  pension  board  composed  of 
three  officials  of  the  company  and  two 
employees  appointed  by  the  president, 
the  pension  board  serving  for  one  year. 

Results  Considered  Successful 

In  conclusion,  we  have  found  that 
the  principles  enumerated  at  the  be- 
o-i'nnine  have  worked  out  in  practice. 
The  spirit  and  purpose  of  our  com- 
pany have  been  recognized  by  the  em- 


ployees. Co-operative  management  of 
the  organization  has  been  successful. 
In  fact  the  employees  feel  that  the  as- 
sociation is  their  very  own.  The  best 
evidence  of  the  real  value  of  the  asso- 
ciation to  the  membership  has  been 
shown  by  the  high  percentage  of  em- 
ployees who  have  identified  themselves 
with  it.  The  original  form  of  organi- 
zation has  been  altered  but  slightly. 
The  activities  of  the  association  have 
met  the  needs  which  have  arisen. 

The  growth  and  development  of  a 
new  consciousness  in  matters  relating 
to  health  and  sanitation  and  the  in- 
culcation of  higher  ideals  and  living- 
standard  show  conclusively  that  the 
program  of  activities  of  the  association 
has  been  constructive  and  thorough.  I 
do  not  mean  to  intimate  that  our  plan 
is  perfect  or  that  there  are  not  other 
plans  which  are  just  as  good,  but  after 
over  six  years  of  successful  operation 
we  feel  that  our  efforts  have  produced 
definite  results. 


Annual  Meeting  of  Iowa 
Engineers  Soon 

THE  twenty-fourth  annual  meeting 
of  the  Iowa  Engineering  Society  is 
to  be  held  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  Jan. 
17-20, 1922.  Headquarters  and  meetings 
are  to  be  in  the  Woodbury  County 
Court  House.  The  Sioux  City  Engi- 
neers' Club  is  making  elaborate  ar- 
rangements for  the  care  and  entertain- 
ment of  the  visitors.  Speakers  of  na- 
tional repute  are  being  secured  to  ad- 
dress the  meetings  and  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  is  combining  with  the  local 
club  to  make  the  visit  of  the  engi- 
neers and  their  wives  most  enjoyable, 
as  well  as  profitable. 

The  exhibits  of  manufacturers  and 
material  men  which  have  been  of  such 
interest  at  previous  conventions  will  be 
in  evidence  again  on  a  greater  scale. 


International  Railway 
Congress 

THE  program  for  the  Congress  of 
the  International  Railway  Associa- 
tion, to  be  held  in  Rome,  Italy,  in 
April,  1922,  has  now  been  definitely  de- 
cided. A  formal  opening  will  be  held 
on  April  18,  and  the  first  technical  ses- 
sion on  April  19.  Meetings  will  be  held 
thereafter  on  every  day  except  Satur- 
day and  Sunday  up  to  and  including 
April  28,  when  the  meeting  will  for- 
mally close.  On  May  1  the  delegates 
will  travel  by  special  train  to  the 
northern  part  of  Italy  to  inspect  the 
electric  railway  installations  there. 
The  meetings  will  be  held  in  Rome  in 
the  Palais  de  l'Exposition  des  Beaux- 
Arts.  The  president  of  the  association 
this  year  is  V.  Tondelier,  president  of 
the  Belgian  State  Railway  System, 
with  headquarters  at  Brussels. 


Indiana  University  to  Entertain 
Utility  Men 

THE  annual  meeting  of  the  Indiana 
Public  Utility  Association  will  be 
held  on  Jan.  14  at  Indiana  University, 
according  to  an  announcement  by  W.  A. 
Rawles,  dean  of  the  School  of  Com- 
merce and  Finance  of  the  university. 
The  members  of  the  association  will  be 
truests  of  the  School  of  Commerce  and 
Finance  and  are  planning  to  hold  open 
sessions  with  the  students  of  the  com- 
merce department  in  attendance.  Fra- 


1120 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


ternity  houses  will  entertain  the  busi- 
ness men,  according  to  plans  being  per- 
fected by  the  Boosters'  Club. 

Charles  L.  Henry,  president  of  the 
State  Public  Utility  Association,  in 
outlining  the  program  for  the  meeting, 
said  that  William  Lowe  Bryan,  presi- 
dent of  the  university,  will  be  asked  to 
talk  and  that  Dean  Rawles  will  explain 
to  the  visiting  business  men  the  scope 
of  the  work  of  the  School  of  Commerce 
and  Finance. 

In  addition  to  the  business  session, 
the  utility  association  will  hold  its  an- 
nual dinner  in  the  student  building  on 
the  campus. 

Mid-Winter  Meeting  of  New  York 
Association  Announced 

SECRETARY  W.  F.  STANTON  has 
announced  that  the  mid-winter 
meeting  of  the  New  York  Electric 
Railway  Association  will  be  held  at 
the  Hotel  Astor,  New  York,  on  Jan. 
24.  The  program  of  the  subjects  to  be 
discussed  has  not  yet  been  drawn  up 
nor  have  speakers  been  decided  upon. 

Standardization  of  Screwed 
Fittings 

THE  Sectional  Committee  of  the 
American  Engineering  Standards 
Committee  on  the  standardization  of 
pipe  flanges  and  fittings  held  its  second 
meeting  in  the  rooms  of  the  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  December  16.  Those 
present  were  C.  P.  Bliss,  chairman, 
New  York  University;  A.  A.  Ains- 
worth,  secretary,  Committee  of  Manu- 
facturers on  Standardization  of  Fittings 
and  Valves;  J.  C.  Bannister,  Walworth 
Mfg.  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.;  Commander 
Bass,  United  States  Navy,  Washington, 

D.  C;  S.  G.  Flagg,  Jr.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.;  N.  S.  Hill,  Jr.,  Consulting  Engi- 
neer, New  York,  N.  Y.;  L.  H.  Jenks, 
Frick  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y. ;  F. 

E.  Johnson,  The  Kelly  &  Jones  Com- 
pany, Greensburg,  Pa.;  J.  R.  Meloon, 
General  Fire  Extinguisher  Co.,  Boston, 
Mass.,  E.  L.  Moreland,  Jackson  &  More- 
land,  Boston,  Mass.;  C.  W.  Squier, 
Electric  Railway  Journal;  C.  W. 
Stephen,  Reading  Steel  Castings  Com- 
pany, Reading,  Pa.,  and  J.  R.  Tanner, 
Pittsburgh  Valve,  Foundry  &  Construc- 
tion Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

It  was  recommended  that  0.  S.  Styer 
of  the  Reading  Steel  Castings  Company 
be  added  to  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  that  the  American  En- 
gineering Standards  Committee  be  re- 
quested to  make  this  appointment.  The 
sub-committee  on  the  standardization 
of  the  dimensions  for  malleable,  cast 
iron,  steel,  and  non-ferrous  screwed 
fittings  reported  that  it  had  finished 
its  investigation  and  submitted  a 
drawing  in  accordance  with  the  final 
decision  of  the  committee  with  a  table 
of  dimensions  which  it  recommended 
for  adoption  as  standard.  This  report 
was  received  with  the  recommendation 
that  it  be  submitted  to  letter  ballot  of 
the  entire  committee  and  if  an  affirm- 
ative vote  is  received  that  the  secre- 
tary be  instructed  to  forward  copies 
of  the  report  together  with  recom- 
mendations to  the  various  sponsor 
bodies  and  to  the  American  Engineer- 
ing:  Standards  Committee. 

The  committee  on  flange  standards 
reported  progress,  but  due  to  the  large 
amount  of  material  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  analyze  and  tabulate,  a  com- 
prehensive report  will  not  be  ready  for 
another  two  months. 


Mid-Year  Meeting  Transportation 
Committee  Appointments 

THE  transportation  committee  has 
been  appointed  for  the  mid-year 
meeting  and  dinner  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association  which  is 
to  be  held  on  Feb.  28,  1922,  at  the 
Claypool  Hotel,  Indianapolis,  Ind.  H.  J. 
Kenfield  of  Electric  Traction  has  ap- 
pointed the  following  men  to  act  as 
chairmen  in  their  respective  territories 
in  charge  of  securing  special  railroad 
accommodations  to  Indianapolis  for 
those  expecting  to  attend: 

New  England  States — Edward  Dana, 
Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated  Railway. 

New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Eastern 
Pennsylvania  —  C.  B.  Keyes,  General 
Electric  Company,  New  York. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Maryland  and 
Southern  Atlantic  States — L.  H.  Pal- 
mer, United  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, Baltimore,  Md. 

Western  Pennsylvania,  West  Vir- 
ginia and  Southern  States  East  of  the 
Mississippi — J.  C.  McQuiston,  Westing- 
house  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Ohio  and  Michigan — Charles  J.  Laney, 
Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Com- 
pany, Akron,  Ohio. 

Illinois  and  Northwestern  States — 
J.  V.  Sullivan,  Chicago  Surface  Lines, 
Chicago,  111. 

Missouri,  Nebraska,  Iowa,  Colorado, 
Utah,  Kansas  and  Southwestern  States 
— Frank  0.  Grayson,  La  Salle  Building, 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Pacific  Coast  States — J.  H.  Handlon, 
Market  Street  Railway,  San  Francisco, 
Cal.   

Executive  Committee  of  the  Engi- 
neering Association  Holds 
Busy  Meeting 

THE  executive  committee  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Engi- 
neering Association  met  at  the  Asso- 
ciation headquarters  in  New  York  City, 
Friday,  Dec.  16.    Those  present  were 

C.  S.  Kimball,  president,  Washington 
Railways  &  Electric  Co.,  Washington, 

D.  C;  C.  H.  Clark,  Cleveland  Railway, 
Cleveland,  Ohio;  R.  C.  Cram,  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Co.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.; 
Daniel  Durie,  West  Penn  Railways, 
Connellsville,  Pa.;  C.  R.  Harte,  Con- 
necticut Company,  New  Haven,  Conn.; 
H.  A.  Johnson,  Metropolitan  West  Side 
Elevated  Railway,  Chicago,  111.;  Martin 
Schreiber,  Public  Service  Railway,  Cam- 
den, N.  J.;  A.  B.  Stitzer,  Republic  En- 
gineers, Inc.,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  and  J. 
W.  Welsh,  executive  secretary. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  defining  the 
duties  of  the  sponsors  which  have  been 
appointed  on  the  various  standing  com- 
mittees of  the  Engineering  Association. 
The  problem  of  providing  a  method 
whereby  employees  of  steam  roads 
which  have  electrified  divisions  can  be- 
come members  of  the  Engineering  Asso- 
ciation was  discussed,  and  it  was  recom- 
mended that  a  plan  be  worked  out  to 
enable  such  employees  to  become  mem- 
bers. Plans  for  the  reorganization  of 
the  Engineering  Association  were  dis- 
cussed and  the  president  was  authorized 
to  appoint  a  committee  on  reorganiza- 
tion. 


P.  G.  Agnew,  secretary  of  the  Amer- 
ican Engineering  Standards  Committee, 
discussed  the  relationship  of  the  En- 
gineering Association  with  that  com- 
mittee and  cleared  up  many  points 
which  were  not  entirely  clear,  it  was 
agreed  that  a  representative  should  be 
appointed  on  the  sectional  committee 
of  the  American  Engineering  Standards 
Committee  which  is  investigating  the 
conductivity  of  aluminum  conductors. 
The  recommendation  of  the  Power  Dis- 
tribution Committee  that  the  question 
of  forming  sectional  committees  for 
standard  specifications  on  overhead 
crossings  and  high  conductivity  trolley 
wire  be  taken  up  with  the  American 
Engineering  Standards  Committee  was 
approved. 


Attorney  Addresses  Public  Serv- 
ice Railway  Section 

ADDRESSING  the  Public  Service 
.  Railway  company  section  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Association 
on  Dec.  15,  Charles  S.  Straw,  assistant 
prosecutor  of  Camden  County,  N.  J., 
in  relating  how  times  have  changed, 
stated  that  the  day  of  the  grouch  con- 
ductor and  motorman  had  gone  by. 

Continuing,  he  showed  the  similarity 
between  the  duties  of  the  prosecutor's 
office  and  those  of  the  trainmen  in 
handling  the  "dear  public."  He  assured 
the  members  that  in  his  experience  as 
prosecutor,  law  suits  that  now  go  be- 
fore a  judge  and  jury  can  rely  on  a  fair 
and  impartial  trial  without  a  verdict 
being  reached  before  the  case  is  heard 
simply  because  a  corporation  is  defend- 
ant. 

The  speaker  also  brought  out  in 
the  course  of  his  address  that  at  no 
time  has  he  ever  been  approached  by 
any  officials  of  the  Public  Service  Rail- 
way to  minimize  the  facts  of  an  acci- 
dent, but  on  the  other  hand  they  de- 
sired to  be  informed  only  of  the  true 
facts  of  the  case. 

Mr.  Straw  prophesied  a  great  future 
for  Camden  City  in  the  advent  of  the 
bridge  across  the  Delaware  River.  He 
emphasized  the  point  of  how  the  train- 
men's courtesy  and  efficiency  to  visitors 
made  a  lasting  impression.  The  speaker 
concluded  his  address  by  compliment- 
ing the  trainmen  for  their  efforts  to 
"keep  smiling"  under  sometimes  most 
trying  circumstances,  and  stated  the 
motto  that  should  always  be  kept  in 
mind  is  "he  who  serves  most,  serves 
best." 

Instructor  Reilly  addressed  the  mem- 
bers on  his  favorite  subject  "Safety 
First,"  and  related  the  good  news  of 
only  one  trivial  accident  reported  dur- 
ing the  current  month. 

Chief  Engineer  Waters,  president  of 
the  new  Athletic  Association,  gave  some 
interesting  data  regarding  the  asso- 
ciation, stating  that  a  membership  of 
1,000  is  anticipated  and  that  a  new 
building  will,  in  all  probability,  be 
erected  in  the  ensuing  year. 

Mr.  Hanf,  master  mechanic,  gave 
some  very  interesting  information  on 
equipment  repairs  and  in  his  smiling 
and  good-natured  way  he  won  the  co- 
operation of  the  trainmen  in  "Playing 
Safe." 


News  of  the  Elednc  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


Mr.  Mitten  Offers  Private 
Operation 

Proposes  That  P.  R.  T.  Run  Frankford 
Elevated  Under  Cost  of 
Service  Plan 

Operation  of  the  city-owned  Frank- 
ford  elevated  line  in  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
by  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany was  proposed  by  Thomas  E.  Mit- 
ten, president  of  the  company,  at  a 
meeting-  with  the  City  Council  on  Dec. 
13.  President  Mitten  cast  out  all  previ- 
ous negotiations,  and  presented  his 
proposal  on  an  entirely  new  basis.  The 
plan  was  submitted  to  a  commission  of 
city  officials  for  consideration. 

The  cost  of  service  system  is  the 
method  suggested  by  Mr.  Mitten.  Un- 
der it  the  company  would  pay  to  the 
city  all  the  Frankford  elevated  earn- 
ings, and  charge  against  such  earn- 
ings the  full  operating  costs  of  the  road 
from  Frankford  to  Front  and  Arch 
streets,  and  a  further  charge  for  the 
use  of  the  Market  street  subway  from 
Front  to  Fifteenth  street. 

Suggests  Appointment  of  Committee 

Mr.  Mitten,  in  the  statement  propos- 
ing the  new  plan,  said: 

As  I  have  already  said,  10,000,000  pas- 
sengers would  be  carried  on  the  Frankford 
"L"  if  operated  by'  the  city  with  terminus 
at  Front  and  Arch  streets.  If  operated  by 
P.  R.  T.  as  a  part  of  its  Market  street 
system,  with  a  single  fare  from  Frankford 
to  Sixty-ninth  street,  an  additional  10,- 
000,000  passengers  would  be  drawn  from 
P.  R.  T.'s  cars  and  added  to  the  number 
carried  on  the  Frankford  "L,"  making  20,- 
000,000  thus  carried,  instead  of  10,000,000 
if  operated  by  the  city. 

Ten  million  of  P.  R.  T.'s  present  pas- 
sengers thus  diverted  to  the  Frankford  "L" 
would  cause  a  considerable  loss  in  P.  R.  T.'s 
present  revenue  which,  however,  would  be 
compensated  for  by  the  rental  charged  to 
operating  costs  of  Frankford  "L"  for  pro- 
portionate use  of  the  Market  street  subway 
terminal  between  Front  and  Arch  streets 
and  Fifteenth  street  station. 

If  P.  R.  T.  operated  the  Frankford  "L" 
in  this  way,  paying  to  the  city  all  of  Frank- 
ford "L"  earnings  between  Frankford  and 
Fifteenth  street  station,  and  charging 
against  such  earnings  the  full  operating 
costs  of  the  Frankford  "L"  from  Frankford 
to  Front  and  Arch  streets  and  for  the 
proportionate  use  of  the  Market  street 
subway  to  Fifteenth  street,  the  financial 
result  would  be  at  least  as  good  for  the 
city  as  would  follow  city  operation  of 
Frankford  "L"  to  a  terminus  at  Front  and 
Arch  streets,  the  city  being  the  gainer 
through  serving  twice  as  many  people — 
20,000,000  instead  of  10,000,000 — and  being 
saved  the  initial  expenditure  of  $500,000 
required  to  put  its  Frankford  "L"  in  condi- 
tion for  municipal  operation. 

If  this  plan  be  acceptable,  I  would  sug- 
gest that  a  committee  be  now  appointed 
consisting  of  Director  of  City  Transit 
Twining,  City  Controller  Hadley  and  City 
Solicitor  Smyth  for  the  city,  and  Vice  Presi- 
dents Richardson  and  Dunbar  and  Coun- 
selor Joyce  for  the  company,  and  that  this 
committee  shall  agree  upon  the  methods  to 
be  used  in  determining  the  division  of 
earnings  and  expenses  to  be  apportioned 
between  the  Frankford  "L"  and  Market 
street  system  and  make  such  changes  in 
the  operating  agreement  now  before  City 
Council  as  will  make  it  conform  to  this 
proposed  understanding. 

Transfers  will  be  issued  to  Frankford 
"L"  passengers  as  now  issued  to  P.  R.  T.'s 
own  passengers  on  the  Market  street  "D." 
system. 

Transfers  cannot  be  issued  between  the 
Frankford  "L"  and  the  connecting  surface 
lines  because  if  this  were  done  10,000,000 
additional  passengers  would  be  diverted  to 
the  Frankford  "L"  and  this  would  reprpsent 
such  a  great  additional  loss  to  P.  R.  T.  as 


could  not  be  sustained,  nor  can  it  hope  to 
secure  payment  of  this  loss  from  the  city 
under  present  circumstances. 

Mr.  Mitten  maintained  that  while  no 
financial  benefit  would  accrue  to  the 
city,  nevertheless  the  elevated  would 
serve  more  riders  and  furnish  better 
service  than  was  possible  under  mu- 
nicipal operation.  He  also  emphasized 
the  fact  that  the  agreement  would  be 
temporary  and  would  terminate  six 
months  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
valuation  proceedings.  The  Frankford 
elevated,  he  said,  would  be  charged  for 
the  use  of  the  Market  street  subway 
and  at  the  same  time  the  Frankford 
rider  would  be  enabled  to  go  from 
Frankford  to  Sixty-ninth  street  for  a 
single  fare.  That  fare,  he  pledged, 
would  be  the  same  as  at  present,  four 
tickets  for  25  cents. 

The  issue  of  transfers  from  Frank- 
ford surface  lines  would  necessitate  the 
payment  of  additional  compensation  to 
the  company  by  the  city,  he  said,  al- 
though the  Frankford  riders  would  be 
accorded  the  usual  transfer  privileges 
at  West  Philadelphia  stations.  The 
P.  R.  T.,  he  added,  was  contributing 
10,000,000  passengers  to  the  elevated 
and  taking  back  the  financial  loss  re- 
sulting in  the  shape  of  rental  for  the 
Market  street  subway. 


Buses  Prove  Popular 

Auto  and  One-Man  Car  Are  Saving 
Connection  Suburban  Line — 
Public  Likes  Autos 

Judge  J.  Moss  Ives,  receiver  of  the 
Danbury  &  Bethel  Street  Railway,  Dan- 
bury,  Conn.,  has  received  permission 
from  the  Superior  Court  to  purchase 
four  more  new  cars  of  the  one-man 
safety  type.  The  order  for  the  cars 
has  been  placed. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  new  cars  the 
road  will  have  an  entire  new  equip- 
ment of  rolling  stock,  and  it  is  the 
plan  of  the  receiver  to  put  into  opera- 
tion as  soon  after  Jan.  1  as  possible, 
the  date  depending  upon  the  delivery 
of  the  new  cars,  a  ten-minute  service 
throughout  the  day  and  evening. 

A  new  Graham  motor  bus,  to  re- 
place a  bus  of  the  Bethlehem  type, 
which  has  been  in  service  on  the  West 
Danbury  belt  line,  has  arrived  and  been 
put  into  use.  The  Bethlehem  bus  was 
a  second-hand  vehicle  when  purchased. 

The  announcement  that  the  road  will 
have  an  entirely  new  equipment  of  roll- 
ing stock  within  another  month  is  of 
especial  interest  in  connection  with  the 
operation  of  the  line  under  Judge  Ives' 
receivership,  as  it  is  comparatively  a 
short  time  ago  that  the  prospect  of 
finding  means  of  procuring  even  a  few 
new  cars  for  the  road  seemed  almost 
hopeless  and  there  was  even  talk  that 
it  might  be  necessary  to  discontinue 
the  operation  of  the  road  entirely. 

Judge  Ives  says  that  patronage  of 
the  motor  buses  on  the  belt  line  is  in- 
creasing gradually  and  that,  so  far  as 
expression  of  opinion  has  been  heard, 
the  patrons  of  the  buses  are  much 
pleased  with  that  form  of  service,  find- 
ing it  even  quicker  and  more  certain 
than  the  former  electric  railway  service. 


Seattle  Taxpayers  Win 

Residents  There  Successful  in  Their 
Contention    Against    City  in 
Municipal  Railway  Case 

The  United  States  Circuit  Court  of 
Appeals  at  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  recently 
rendered  a  decision,  refusing  to  enjoin 
the  "fourteen  taxpayers"  headed  by 
S.  B.  Asia,  from  bringing  'suit  in  the 
state  court  to  prevent  the  city  of 
Seattle,  Wash.,  from  delving  into  the 
general  fund,  for  support  of  the  muni- 
cipal railway  system.  The  decision  is 
legarded  as  a  material  victory  for  resi- 
dents of  Seattle  who  have  been  oppos- 
ing any  move  to  force  the  city  to  set 
aside  a  special  fund  to  meet  interest 
on  the  $15,000,000  municipal  street  rail- 
way bond  issue  before  paying  operating- 
expenses  of  the  railway. 

The  Circuit  Court's  decision  upholds 
the  action  of  Federal  Judge  Jeremiah 
Neterer  in  District  Court  in  dismissing- 
the  action  brought  by  the  Stone  & 
Webster  interests,  from  whom  the 
street  railway  system  was  purchased, 
and  refusing  to  restrain  the  taxpayers 
from  trying  the  case  in  the  state  court. 

The  Circuit  Court  decision  paves  the 
way  for  an  early  trial  of  the  "Tax- 
payers" suit  in  the  Superior  Court,  and 
counsel  for  the  city  and  for  the  tax- 
payers have  agreed  to  request  the 
earliest  possible  trial  of  the  suit,  which 
will  be  set  by  Presiding  Judge  Everett 
Smith.  The  main  contention  of  the 
taxpayers  is  that  a  city  utility  must 
be  self-supporting  and  not  use  city  gen- 
eral fund  money  for  defraying  its  ex- 
penses. Victory  for  the  taxpayers  in 
the  Superior  Court  would  mean  the 
City  Council  could  not  use  money  from 
the  general  fund  for  support  of  the 
municipal  street  railway  unless  such 
action  was  approved  by  vote  of  the 
people,  according  to  counsel. 

A  question  which  the  State  Supreme 
Court  will  be  asked  to  answer,  as  a 
result  of  the  Circuit  Court's  decision, 
is  whether: 

The  entire  gross  revenue  of  the  municipal 
street  railway  is  pledged  to  payment  of 
principal  and  interest  on  the  bonds  issued 
to  purchase  the  system,  or  are  the  bond- 
holders entitled  only  to  what  is  left  after 
the  cost  of  maintenance  and  operation  has 
been  paid? 

The  State  Supreme  Court,  according- 
to  counsel,  will  be  asked  to  place  its 
own  construction  on  the  case  of  Twichell 
against  the  city  of  Seattle,  a  friendly 
suit  carried  to  the  State  Supreme  Court 
to  test  the  legality  of  the  bonds  issued 
to  buy  the  railway.  Counsel  for  the 
Stone  &  Webster  interests  maintain  the 
decision  in  this  case  holds  that  the 
gross  receipts  of  the  railway  system 
are  pledged  to  payment  of  principal 
and  interest  of  the  bonds.  Counsel 
for  the  taxpayers  contend  the  decision 
cannot  be  construed  to  hold  that  the 
bondholders  are  entitled  to  more  than 
the  balance  left  after  maintenance  and 
operation  expenses  have  been  paid.  The 
only  security  the  railway  bondholders 
have,  the  taxpayers  contend,  is  the 
utility  itself. 

As  a  direct  result  of  the  suit  the  sum 
of  $83,000,  taken  from  the  general  fund 
last  December  as  a  loan  to  the  street 
railway,  has  been  returned. 


1122 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


Hearings  Completed  for  Year 

Lawyers,  Financiers  and  Traffic  Expert  Examined  This  Week — Valuations  of 
the  Properties  of  the  Various  Companies  to  Be  Included  in  the 
Commission  Plan  Next  to  Be  Taken  Up 

A  hearing  on  Thursday,  Dec.  23,  at  which  anyone  who  wished  to  testify  was 
invited  to  do  so,  closed  the  hearings  of  the  New  York  Transit  Commission  for 
this  year,  it  also  completed  the  hearings  of  the  present  series.  With  the 
exception  of  certain  matters  of  what  the  chairman  called  "a  minor  character" 
the  next  stage  of  the  investigation  in  New  "York  will  take  up  valuations.  This 
will  be  some  time  next  year.  The  sessions  of  the  investigation  beginning  on  Dec. 
14  were  given  up  largely  to  the  examination  of  other  than  operating  men.  They 
are  reported  below  up  to  the  session  on  Dec.  20.  An  account  of  the  plan  for 
rerouting  submitted  by  Mr.  Turner  on  that  day  is  published  on  page  1109  of 
this  issue.  The  remainder  of  the  testimony  on  Dec.  20  and  that  presented  on 
Dec.  21  will  be  reported  next  week. 


THE  first  witness  on  Dec.  14  was 
John  C.  Cobb  of  Boston,  chairman 
of  the  protective  committee  of  the  hold- 
ers of  income  bonds  of  the  New  York 
Railways  and  a  director,  representing 
these  bondholders,  on  the  New  York 
Railways.  He  said  that  his  committee 
represented  about  $23,000,000,  or  about 
70  per  cent  of  these  income  bonds. 
Assuming  that  municipal  control  of  the 
railways  had  been  decided  upon,  the 
plan  of  the  commission  was  a  desirable 
one  and  perhaps  the  only  practical 
way.  He  saw  no  objection  in  a  com- 
bined control  of  the  rapid  transit  lines 
and  the  surface  lines  because  each 
served  a  different  kind  of  traffic.  The 
experience  in  New  York  had  been  that 
the  construction  of  a  rapid  transit  line 
above  or  under  a  street  had  not  seri- 
ously hurt  the  surface  line  on  that  street. 
It  would  lose  some  long-haul  business, 
but  would  gain  short-haul  business. 

He  thought  it  unwise  to  attempt 
to  force  holders  of  all  the  under- 
lying securities  to  exchange  their  securi- 
ties for  new  issues,  but  arrangements 
could  be  made  for  amortizing  these 
issues  when  they  matured.  He  believed 
the  surface  lines  in  New  York,  carrying 
a  million  passengers  a  day,  were  not 
"mere  junk,"  as  they  had  been  char- 
acterized by  some,  but  provided  an 
absolutely  essential  public  service.  He 
had  never  had  any  fear  that  the  lines 
would  be  discontinued  or  that  the 
underlying  security  holders  would  not 
receive  fair  payment  for  their  property. 

The  value  of  such  properties  should 
not  be  judged  from  their  performance 
while  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  but  even 
before  the  appointment  of  a  receiver 
the  lines  had  not  been  operated  as  well 
as  they  could  be.  He  criticised  the 
Legislature  for  permitting  a  condition 
"which  makes  it  possible  legally  to  run 
the  traction  systems  of  this  city  through 
shoestring  equities  and  holding  com- 
panies and  to  capitalize  prospective 
profits  or  contracts." 

The  next  witness  was  R.  E.  McDougall, 
manager  of  New  York  &  Harlem  Rail- 
road (traction  division),  who  said  that 
since  this  road  had  been  returned  to 
its  owners  by'  the  receiver  of  the  New 
York  Railways  about  $50,000  had  been 
spent  on  car  overhauling  and  $150,000 
on  track  improvements.  Further  im- 
provements in  the  way  of  new  cars, 
carhouses  or  power  stations  had  been 
held  up  until  the  question  of  the  future 
of  the  svstem  could  be  determined. 

Otto  H.  Kahn  of  Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Com- 
pany, bankers,  was  the  next  witness. 
He  explained  that  his  firm  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  protective  committee  for  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  5  per  cent 
notes.  His  testimony  related  prin- 
cipally to  the  financial  aspects  of  the 


proposed  commission's  plans.  Every- 
thing, he  said,  depends  finally  on  what 
offer  in  tangible  realizable  value  is 
made  to  the  security  holders  and  what 
they  are  asked  to  give  up.  When  the 
B.  R.  T.  5  per  cent  notes  were  sold  to 
the  public  they  were  thought  to  be  a 
wholly  sound  investment  security.  The 
speaker  still  believed  that  the  security 
pledged  for  these  notes  was  good  and 
sound  and  nearly  sufficient  at  this  time 
to  yield  the  interest  on  the  bonds,  and 
probably  before  very  long  entirely  ade- 
quate so  to  do.  There  is  nothing  ahead 
of  them  except  $18,000,000  in  receiver's 
certificates  and  a  certain  amount  of 
various  bonds  not  of  a  very  large 
amount,  while  behind  them  is  $100,- 
000,000  in  city  money.  He  did  not 
believe  that  this  particular  noteholder, 
for  instance,  would  come  into  a  plan 
which  took  away  from  him  the  priority 
of  his  lien  until  possibly,  after  the 
lapse  of  some  years,  the  new  securities 
are  found  to  be  sound  and  to  bring  that 
return  to  which  he  feels  himself  en- 
titled. He  has  seen  a  great  many  un- 
pleasant things  happen  to  him  in  put- 
ting his  money  into  traction  securities; 
he  will  not  feel  inclined  to  take  another 
chance,  but  will  say,  "This  is  an  ad- 
mirable plan,  but  let  me  see  how  the 
thing  will  work  out.  In  the  meantime 
I  want  my  property  earmarked  some- 
how as  being  a  special  equity  pledged 
to  me  under  the  law,  and  I  do  not 
intend  to  give  it  up  if  I  can  help  it." 

Coming,  then,  to  securities  other  than 
those  covering  principal  priorities,  the 
speaker  was  doubtful  if  bonds  should 
be  issued  for  them  or  whether  it  would 
not  be  better  to  have  a  security  to  rep- 
resent what  the  equity  would  earn 
under  good  management  in  the  future. 
As  to  new  money,  the  difficulty  would 
be  that  the  new  bonds  under  the  pro- 
posed plan  would  not  be  sufficiently 
seasoned  to  make  them  salable  at  a 
price  which  the  commission  could  afford 
to  accept,  and  the  commission  would 
not  want  to  sell  them  as  a  speculative 
security.  The  only  other  ways  to  raise 
money  would  be  on  the  credit  of  the 
city  or  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  exist- 
ing security  holders. 

George  E.  Warren,  vice-president 
Columbia  Trust  Company,  was  the 
next  witness.  He  said  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  several  bondholders'  committees 
of  electric  railway  securities  in  New 
York  City.  He  is  prepared  to  recom- 
mend the  commission's  plan  to  the  com- 
mittees with  which  he  is  connected,  pro- 
vided the  valuations  are  satisfactory 
and  the  new  securities  a  safe  form  of 
investment.  He  urged,  however,  the 
application  of  the  surplus  from  opera- 
tion of  the  new  company  toward  the 
reduction  of  the  debt  before  the  reduc- 


tion of  the  fare;  that  is,  to  use  a  more 
rapid  rate  of  amortization. 

Frank  D.  Pavey,  counsel  for  the  stock- 
holders' protective  committee  of  the 
Broadway  &  Seventh  Avenue  Railroad, 
of  the  Columbus  &  Ninth  Avenue  Rail- 
road and  of  the  Atlantic  Avenue  Rail- 
road, gave  facts  in  regard  to  the  liens 
in  those  bond  issues  and  the  conditions 
under  which  in  each  case  the  commit- 
tee recommended  the  entrance  of  its 
security  holders  into  the  proposed  reor- 
ganization. In  general  the  Columbus  & 
Ninth  Avenue  recommendation  was  in 
favor  of  the  exchange,  while  the  Atlan- 
tic Avenue  and  the  Broadway  &  Seventh 
Avenue  were  for  retention  of  the 
original  lien.  The  speaker  was  sceptical 
also  as  to  the  desirability  of  providing 
a  bonus  for  good  management,  to  be^ 
payable  either  to  the  bondholders  of 
the  company  or  to  the  management, 
although  if  the  bonus  is  to  be  used  for 
providing  an  employees'  benefit  fund,  as 
had  been  suggested  by  counsel,  that 
might  be  proper.  He  also  questioned  the 
desirability  of  a  5-cent  universal  fare, 
certainly  for  the  surface  lines,  and 
recommended  for  certain  routes  a  bus 
service  at  a  10-cent  fare. 

More  Bondholders  on  Thursday 

The  first  witness  on  Thursday  morn- 
ing was  Alvin  W.  Krech,  chairman  of 
the  committee  of  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors of  the  Manhattan  Railway,  ap- 
pointed to  make  a  study  of  the  traction 
situation  and  the  lease  of  the  Inter- 
borough,  also  chairman  of  the  stock- 
holders' protective  committee  of  the 
Manhattan  Railway.  He  said  the 
successful  operation  of  the  plan  de- 
pended to  a  large  extent  upon  the  valu- 
ation, but  to  balance  the  budget  as 
compared  with  that  at  present,  either 
the  revenues  must  be  increased  or  the 
facilities  decreased.  With  revaluations 
there  is  a  possible  saving  of  fixed 
charges,  and  there  might  be  some  sav- 
ing in  unified  management  and  in  taxes, 
but  he  was  sceptical  about  the  proposed 
barometer  fund  and  to  any  plan  that 
did  not  contemplate  the  immediate  in- 
crease of  the  revenue  unit.  As  for  the 
marketability  of  the  proposed  bonds, 
he  thought  the  investing  public  would 
want  some  greater  assurance  than  is 
furnished  by  the  set-up  of  the  baro- 
metrical fund  out  of  borrowed  money. 
He  expressed  the  opinion  of  other 
speakers  that  some  underlying  bonds 
could  very  well  be  left  undisturbed  in 
the  reorganization.  Those  who  would 
be  asked  to  put  in  new  money  would 
expect  fair  treatment. 

A  statement  was  then  received  from 
Mr.  Garrison,  receiver  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  giving  a  state- 
ment of  receivership  expenditures  from 
Jan.  1,  1919,  to  Oct.  31,  1921.  They 
covered  a  total  of  $634,665,  including 
the  following  items:  "Compensation  of 
receiver  and  counsel,  $283,903;  Stone  & 
Webster,  engineers,  $126,623;  Price, 
Waterhouse  &  Company,  accountants, 
$47,223;  special  master's  compensation, 
$37,500;  Mr.  Royce,  $26,709."  An  ac- 
companying letter  said:  "In  order  to 
reach  the  conclusion  you  state  in  your 
question  you  desire  to  reach,  you  should 
know  that  previous  to  the  receivership 
Colonel  Williams'  salary  was  $75,000 
a  year,  so  that  $225,000  approximately 
should  be  deducted  on  this  account." 

William  Greenough,  counsel  for  the 
South  Ferry  and  the  Broadway  & 
Seventh  Avenue  bondholders'  commit- 
tee, pointed  out  that  all  the  South  Ferry 
bondholders  had  paid  as  high  as  106i* 


JJecemoer  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1123 


for  their  bonds  and  the  Broadway  & 
Seventh  Avenue  bonds  sold  as  late  as 
1914  for  103i.  He  thought  that  a  slid- 
ing scale  rate  for  fare  was  desirable 
and  the  vesting  of  the  title  in  the  city 
would  remove  the  tax  question.  He 
agreed  with  Mr.  Kahn  about  the  unwill- 
ingness of  bondholders  to  change  their 
lien  to  an  unseasoned  security. 

John  L.  Wells,  representative  of  the 
holders  of  the  B.  R.  T.  5  per  cent  first 
mortgage  bonds,  in  general  favored  the 
plan,  if  political  influence  could  be  kept 
out  of  the  actual  operation  of  the  sys- 
tem. He  pointed  out  the  necessity  of 
providing  constantly  new  money  for 
extensions.  If  the  city's  investment 
could  be  released  from  the  debt  limit, 
that  would  provide  funds  for  exten- 
sions, otherwise  some  other  provision 
would  have  to  be  necessary.  He  favored 
the  Massachusetts  plan  of  financing  by 
stock. 

Samuel  E.  Morrow,  auditor  Fifth 
Avenue  Coach  Company,  then  testified 
as  to  the  figures  of  that  company.  He 
stated  the  operating  costs  per  pas- 
senger for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1921, 
was  8.38  cent,  or  a  total  business  of 
51,237,442  passengers. 

Julius  P.  Cotton,  attorney  and  rep- 
resentative of  the  New  York  Railways 
real  estate  and  refunding  bonds,  was 
another  witness.  He  spoke  as  if  the 
bondholders  would  prefer  that  the  Man- 
hattan surface  lines  be  treated  sep- 
arately so  as  not  to  be  overshadowed 
by  the  greater  and  more  serious  troubles 
in  the  Interborough.  If  they  should  be 
relieved  from  taxation  and  some  other 
burdens  it  might  be  possible  for  them 
to  work  out  the  solution  themselves, 
even  with  a  5-cent  fare.  Chairman 
McAneny  said  the  commission  would 
be  delightec!  if  this  could  be  done,  but 
he  reminded  the  witness  that  the  serv- 
ice on  the  New  York  Railways  had 
been  greatly  cut  within  the  last  five 
years  and  there  was  a  large  element 
of  deferred  maintenance  and  unpaid 
taxes,  etc.,  which  would  have  to  be 
met. 

Another  witness  was  Edward  T.  May- 
nard,  president  of  the  Brooklyn  Trust 
'Company  and  representative  of  certain 
bondholders'  protective  committee,  said 
that  in  general  the  plan  commended 
itself  to  him. 

Grayson  M.  P.  Murphy,  chairman 
■  of  the  Interborough  Metropolitan  41 
per  cent  bondholders'  committee,  was 
also  a  witness.  Personally,  he  approved 
'of  the  plan  but  could  not  definitely 
promise  approval  of  his  entire  com- 
mittee. He  thought,  however,  that  if 
the  board  which  exercised  supervision 
could  be  more  definitely  separated  from 
the  actual  management  of  the  property 
it  would  be  desirable.  He  said  that 
in  the  long  run  the  man  or  the  board 
that  had  control  of  the  funds  was 
bound  to  exercise  a  very  substantial 
influence  on  the  actual  operation. 

John  A.  Richie,  president  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Coach  Company,  declared  that 
the  average  operating  cost  in  cents  per 
passenger  during  the  thirteen  years 
ended  June  30,  1920,  was  6.77  cents, 
divided  as  follows:  Maintenance,  1.59; 
transportation,  4.71;  general,  0.47.  In 
taxes  the  company  pays  a  5  per  cent 
gross  earnings  tax  to  the  city  or  0.5 
cent  out  of  each  fare  and.  a  total 
amount  of  taxes  of  0.86  cents  out  of 
each  fare.  As  reserves  for  injuries 
and  damages  0.08  cent  and  for  depreci- 
ation and  obsolescence  0.6  cent  are 
charged,  leaving  as  gross  income  1.69 
(cents  from  the  10-cent  fare.  Interest  on 


the  investment  at  6  per  cent  amounted 
to  0.55  mills  per  passenger,  leaving 
1.14  cents.  The  operating  cost  in  1920 
without  taxes  was  6.85  cents,  and  after 
taxes  were  paid  the  balance  was  2.19 
cents. 

Cost  of  Bus  Extensions 

In  estimating  the  cost  of  possible 
extensions  the  witness  gave  the  cost 
of  the  bus  as  from  $9,000  to  $11,000 
and  garage  cost  as  about  $2,000  per 
bus.  He  said  that  they  had  recently 
constructed  a  new  garage  at  132d 
Street  of  three  stories,  which  cost 
$1,200,000  and  will  accommodate  about 
300  buses.  This  is  an  investment  of 
about  $4,000  per  bus,  but  is  an  unusual 
condition.  About  92  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  of  buses  owned  are  in 
operation,  2  per  cent  being  reserved 
for  general  overhaul  and  6  per  cent  for 
general  inspection.  In  an  estimate  to 
determine  how  many  buses  would  be 
required  to  carry  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers on  the  surface  cars,  Mr.  Richie 
used  the  following  figures:  On  the  cars 
the  average  passengers  per  car  mile 
were  nine,  whereas  on  the  buses  it  was 
six,  so  that  6,653  buses  would  be  re- 
quired. This,  at  an  investment  for 
buses  and  garage  of  $11,000  per  bus, 
would  mean  an  expenditure  of  $73,- 
183,000.  He  criticised  the  design  of 
certain  buses  in  New  York  other  than 
those  owned  by  his  own  company  as 
having  too  high  a  center  of  gravity. 

The  present  cost  of  upkeep  on  his  line 
is  more  than  $2,000  per  bus.  On  Fifth 
Avenue  the  neck  of  the  bottle  as  re- 
gards congestion  is  at  Fifty-seventh 
Street  and  Fifth  Avenue.  Buses  reach 
that  point  at  a  rate  of  say  10i  to  11 
m.p.h.  Then  they  are  slowed  up  to 
4i  m.p.h.,  so  that  the  company  has 
practically  reached  its  capacity  on 
Fifth  Avenue.  The  demand  for  service 
is  probably  for  twice  as  many  buses, 
but  the  service  cannot  be  given.  In 
the  speaker's  opinion  there  should  be 
in  addition  an  East  Side  line  and  a 
West  Side  line,  the  West  Side  line 
using  Seventh  Avenue  and  the  East 
Side  line  Park  Avenue  for  part  of  the 
distance.  The  speaker  thought  the  bus 
did  not  cause  more  congestion,  as  has 
been  charged.  A  street  car  occupies 
about  368  sq.ft.  of  street  surface,  but 
a  bus  only  184  sq.ft.  It  accommodates 
fifty-one  passengers  (with  a  double- 
deck  bus),  as  against  the  same  number 
for  the  street  car. 

Bonus  Idea  from  Army 

At  the  beginning  of  the  session  on 
Friday  morning,  Counsel  Shearn  sub- 
mitted reports  for  September  of  the 
different  electric  railway  companies  in 
Greater  New  York.  On  the  whole  they 
showed  an  improved  condition  as  re- 
gards earnings.  The  first  witness  was 
Gerhard  M.  Dahl,  vice-president  Chase 
National  Bank  and  a  member  of  the 
B.  R.  T.  stockholders  committee.  Mr. 
Dahl  was  the  first  street  railroad  com- 
mission under  the  Tayler  plan  in  Cleve- 
land. In  commenting  on  the  commis- 
sion's plan  Mr.  Dahl  said  that  he  did 
not  fear  politics  in  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol, though  he  thought  the  private 
owners  in  the  operating  company  might 
want  more  to  say  about  the  operation 
of  this  system,  and  he  pointed  out  that 
each  of  the  three  directors  selected  by 
the  investors  in  the  Board  of  Control 
would  represent  only  one  company, 
that  is  each  operating  company  would 
have  only  one  director  in  the  Board  of 
Control,  as  against  six  on  the  other 


side.  He  also  saw  some  difficulty  in 
inducing  security  holders  of  prior  se- 
curities to  exchange  them  for  the  same 
kind  of  security  as  that  received  by  the 
stockholder.  He  believed  voluntary  re- 
organization a  more  satisfactory  plan. 
He  was  also  asked  his  opinion  in  re- 
gard to  the  proposed  bonus  of  an  extra 
lh  per  cent  for  efficient  operation, 
which  Commissioner  O'Ryan  said  had 
been  based  on  a  somewhat  similar  plan 
used  in  the  army  to  encourage  marks- 
manship. The  amount  to  be  allotted 
to  the  operating  personnel.  General 
O'Ryan  explained,  might  be  divided,  for 
example,  into  five  equal  parts  to  be 
distributed  to  the  same  number  of 
groups,  one  for  the  managing  group, 
one  for  the  supervision  group,  one  for 
the  foreman's  group,  one  for  the  ad- 
ministrative or  clerical  group,  and  one 
for  the  labor  group,  and  the  reward 
to  be  sufficiently  substantial  so  as  to 
constitute  a  stimulus  for  at  least  the 
best  50  or  60  per  cent  in  each  group. 
In  reply  Mr.  Dahl  said  it  would  be 
an  interesting  experiment. 

The  next  witness  was  Charles  E. 
Chalmers,  receiver  of  the  Second  Ave- 
nue Railroad,  who  explained  that  he 
was  both  receiver  and  manager  of  the 
companies.  Two  receivers  had  pre- 
ceeded  him  and  both  had  died.  The 
part  of  the  city  through  which  the 
Second  Avenue  lines  run  is  very  largely 
populated  by  foreigners.  The  road  had 
done  a  large  transfer  business  in  the 
days  when  it  was  a  part  of  the  Metro- 
politan System,  but  the  elimination  of 
transfers  greatly  reduced  the  traffic. 
After  being  appointed  receiver  he  first 
gave  the  cars  a  good  coat  of  paint. 
After  this  was  done  he  had  a  balance 
of  $198,  while  his  payroll  per  week 
amounted  to  $11,000.  He  sold  forty 
cars  to  the  city  of  New  York  for  use 
on  Staten  Island  for  $150,000  last 
summer,  but  has  not  yet  been  paid 
for  the  cars.  He  has  also  transformed 
a  number  of  his  former  two-man  cars 
to  one-man  cars  at  a  cost  of  $1,200 
each.  These  cars  make  better  speed 
and  have  fewer  accidents,  and  are  more 
popular  with  the  employees.  The  sav- 
ing in  operating  expenses  is  about  6 
cents  per  car  mile.  These  cars  are 
popular  also  with  the  public.  All  im- 
provements have  been  made  out  of  the 
receipts  obtained  from  the  5-cent  fare, 
as  the  company  has  some  receiver  cer- 
tificates outstanding  on  which  no  inter- 
est is  being  paid. 

At  the  Monday  morning  session, 
Counsel  Shearn  explained  that  he  had 
invited  Mayor  Hylan  and  Comptroller 
Craig  to  testify.  Later  a  letter  was 
received  from  the  Comptroller  specify- 
ing conditions  under  which  he  would 
testify.  The  city  administration  claims 
that  the  law  under  which  the  board 
acts  is  unconstitutional. 

Mr.  Untermyer  on  the  Stand 

The  first  witness  on  Monday  morning 
was  Samuel  Untermyer,  a  lawyer,  who 
had  been  asked  to  give  his  views  on 
the  commission  plan.  The  witness  ex- 
plained first  that  he  had  no  interest 
personally,  professionally  or  otherwise 
in  any  of  the  traction  securities.  He 
then  explained  that  while  he  recognized 
the  character,  high  purpose,  and  public 
spirit  of  the  commission  he  did  not 
agree  with  its  plan,  which  he  thought 
economically  unsound.  He  thought  the 
barometer  system  wrong  in  principle, 
and  an  incentive  to  extravagance  and 
mismanagement,  to  make  good  the  op- 
erating expenses  and  interest  on  the 
securities,  whatever  they  may  be,  with 


1124 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


the  sky  as  the  limit.  Continuing,  the 
witness  said: 

When  your  valuations  have  been  made, 
no  matter  how  fair  they  may  be,  a  deafen- 
ing- cry  of  assumed  indignation  and  dis- 
tress will  go  up  from  the  ranks  of  the 
security  holders  in  which  they  will  de- 
nounce them  as  disastrously  low  no  matter 
what  may  be  the  valuations. 

Under  the  law  as  it  now  stands  they  are 
not  bound  to  sell.  You,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  order  to  carry  out  your  purpose  for 
which  your  commission  is  created,  are 
bound  to  buy  such  of  the  properties  as 
you  believe  will  be  needed  for  the  unifica- 
tion of  the  system  and  you  have  no  power 
to  compel  the  sale  at  a  fair  price.  There 
should  be  an  immediate  amendment  of  the 
law  so  as  to  permit  you  to  take  the  property 
by  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  so  if  the 
owners  will  not  sell  at  a  fair  price  you  can 
condemn  it. 

I  approve  of  the  general  plan  of  three 
operating  companies  and  a  holding  com- 
pany, and  each  operating  company  should 
issue  its  own  securities  based  upon  the 
purchase  price  of  that  property. 

I  insist,  however,  first,  that  the  city 
should  have  a  clear  majority  of  the  direc- 
tors of  the  holding  company. 

Second — The  holding  company  should  be 
supreme  over  the  operating  companies  ex- 
cept as  to  questions  of  mere  physical 
operation. 

Third — The  holding  company  should  pur- 
case  all  supplies. 

Fourth — The  city  should  receive  bonds 
for  its  present  debt,  which  should  rank 
pari  passu  with  the  bonds  to  be  given  in 
payment  of  the  property,  and  with  the 
same  voting  power  per  bond  as  is  given 
to  those  issued  for  the  property. 

Fifth — The  directors  of  these  companies 
should  be  elected  by  the  system  of  cumu- 
lative voting,  so  that  as  the  bonds  are 
retired  the  city  will  get  more  and  more 
representation  in  the  holding  companies. 

Sixth — In  no  event  shall  the  city  at  any 
time  have  less  than  three  of  the  seven 
directors  in  each  of  the  operating  compa- 
nies. 

The  first  witness  in  the  afternoon 
session  was  William  M.  Chadbourne, 
attorney  for  the  contract  creditors  of 
the  New  York  Railways  Company, 
representing  in  the  main,  materials  and 
supplies  furnished.  Individually,  he 
approved  in  general  the  plan  of  the 
Commission. 

Results  on  New  York's  Municipal 
Railway 

Grover  A.  Whalen,  Commissioner  of 
the  Department  of  Plant  and  Struc- 
tures was  the  next  witness,  and  he  was 
examined  particularly  about  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Staten  Island  Midland  Line, 
which  this  department  of  the  city  took 
over  Dec.  1,  1920,  under  a  contract 
with  the  company.  Mr.  Whalen  de- 
scribed the  line  as  consisting  of  about 
32  miles  of  track  with  road-bed  and 
equipment  in  poor  operating  condition 
and  the  line  shut  down  when  the  city 
took  it  over.  About  $69,000  of  im- 
provements have  been  made  in  track, 
which,  under  the  contract,  was  charged 
to  receiver's  certificates,  but  to  put  the 
track  and  overhead  construction  in  good 
shape  would  require  a  large  sum,  per- 
haps $300,000,  or  with  new  paving,  per- 
haps $1,000,000.  The  first  twelve 
months,  or  for  the  period  up  to  Nov. 
30,  1921,  showed  a  credit  balance  over 
operating  expenses  of  $4,806,  made  up 
of: 


Operating  income   $401,953 

Operating  Expenses: 

Maint.  of  way  and  structures. .  $1  7,801 

Maint.  of  equipment   65,059 

Operation  power  plant  (pur- 
chased power)   90.860 

Operation  of  cars   180,650 

Injuries  and  damages   4.132 

Traffic  expenses   754 

General  and  miscellaneous. .. .  13,734  372,994 


Balance   $28,959 

Taxes   17,252 


Income  from  street  railway 

operations   $11,706 

Income  deductions   7.619 


$4,087 


The  commissioner  explained  that  the 
contract  provides  that  one-half  of  the 
profit  goes  to  the  city  and  half  to  the 
receiver  after  the  payment  of  operating 
expenses  and  taxes.  The  interest  deduc- 
tion of  $7,619  was  an  estimate  for 
money  invested  by  the  city,  principally 
for  cars.  The  taxes  included  taxes  on 
land  and  franchise  taxes,  but  not  the 
usual  tax  on  gross  earnings.  This  tax 
is  payable  to  the  city  and  was  omitted 
for  this  reason.  It  was  also  brought 
out  in  the  cross  examination  that  there 
was  no  charge  for  paving  because  none 
was  done,  although  the  Borough  Presi- 
dent had  required  $134,000  of  repaving 
during  the  past  year  from  the  other 
line  on  Staten  Island,  the  paving  be- 
tween whose  tracks  was  at  least  no 
worse  than  that  on  the  municipally 
operated  iine.  Analysis  of  other  items 
showed  that  certain  legal  work  had 
been  done  by  men  connected  with  city 
law  departments.  The  charge  passed 
in  favor  of  the  city  for  the  amount 
which  these  services  were  considered  to 
be  worth  included  only  $96  for  legal 
expenses  for  seven  months.  There  were 
some  unsettled  pending  suits  for  dam- 
ages against  the  city  because  of  acci- 
dents, but  it  had  not  been  determined 
whether  the  city  was  responsible.  There 
was  no  allowance  made  also  for  de- 
preciation for  track.  The  28  Birney 
cars  purchased  for  $200,000  were  paid 
for  by  the  issue  of  special  revenue 
bonds,  but  the  second-hand  cars  had 
not  been  paid  for  yet,  as  it  was  con- 
sidered the  Second  Avenue  Railroad, 
from  which  they  were  purchased,  had 
not  lived  up  to  its  obligations  to  the 
city.  The  wages  paid  to  transportation 
employees  run  from  57  cents  to  72  cents, 
depending  upon  seniority  of  service. 
Mr.  Whalen  himself  receives  no  com- 
pensation from  the  property. 

The  safety  cars  had  given  very  good 
satisfaction.  The  witness  saw  no 
reason  why  a  safety  car  could  not  be 
used  anywhere  in  New  York.  He  did 
not  know  of  any  place  where  the  traffic 
was  more  intense  than  to  the  beaches 
in  Staten  Island  during  the  summer, 
and  as  the  passengers  were  on  pleasure 
bent  they  had  no  respect  for  the  rights 
of  others,  and  crowded  and  pushed. 
The  one-man  cars  handled  these  crowds 
very  efficiently.  The  traffic  on  the  Mid- 
land line  is  mostly  a  morning  and 
evening  business.  The  witness  thought 
the  installation  should  not  be  consid- 
ered in  any  way  as  a  municipal  experi- 
ment in  the  operation  of  street  rail- 
ways. Operation  was  begun  because 
the  road  had  stopped  some  months 
previously  and  the  people  had  no 
service.  Service  had  been  given,  al- 
though the  conditions  were  very  un- 
favorable. He  believed  better  results 
would  be  secured  if  all  the  lines  in 
Staten  Island  were  municipally  op- 
erated. 

The  next  witness  was  John  J.  Kuhn, 
receiver  of  the  Richmond  Light  & 
Railroad  Company,  the  other  line  on 
Staten  Island.  The  witness  said  that 
when  he  was  appointed  the  employees 
were  on  strike  because  they  were  re- 
ceiving only  41  cents  an  hour  and  were 
demanding  75  cents  an  hour.  On  au- 
thority of  the  United  States  Court  the 
fare  was  raised  to  8  cents  with  ten 
tickets  for  75  cents.  At  one  time  there 
was  some  competition  from  city  buses, 
but  their  operation  was  enjoined  by 
the  court.  Even  at  an  8-cent  fare 
the  company  lost  last  year  about 
$100,000,  but  had  made  money  in  oper- 
ating its  electric  light  plant.    As  yet 


neither  the  receiver  nor  the  counsel  had 
received  any  pay.  Charges  last  year 
for  paving  amounted  to  $134,471,  which 
is  60  per  cent  of  the  total  sum  paid 
all  motormen  and  conductors.  How- 
ever, the  company  has  not  yet  paid  the 
bill  for  this  paving  which  is  owing  to 
the  city.  One  reason  the  company  has. 
not  paid  it  is  that  it  had  no  money. 
Another  reason  is  that  some  time  ago 
the  authorities  revoked  the  franchise.. 
The  witness  was  not  willing  to  admit, 
that  the  franchise  was  revoked,  but. 
if  he  had  no  franchise  he  had  no  obli- 
gations to  pave.  While  the  Midland 
road  was  not  in  operation  some  public 
official  covered  the  rails  over  with 
asphalt  paving  so  as  to  make  the  oper- 
ation of  buses  more  easy.  After  the 
city  started  operating  the  Midland  it 
was  necessary  to  remove  this  asphalt. 
The  witness  attributed  recent  falling 
off  in  traffic  to  the  stoppage  of  work 
in  the  shipyards. 

The  final  witness  for  the  day  was 
R.  L.  Rand,  vice-president  and  general 
manager,  Richmond  Light  &  Railway 
and  South  Beach  Railway,  who  testi- 
fied that  he  had  not  seen  any  new 
track  laid  on  the  Midland  Railway. 


Additional  Bus  Routes  Denied 

By  a  two-thirds  vote,  the  present 
Democratic  minority  voting  with  the 
majority  members,  the  Common  Council 
of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  on  Dec.  20  defeated 
the  franchise  conferring  upon  the 
Woodlawn  Improvement  Association 
Transportation  Corporation  the  right  to 
operate  its  motor  buses  on  certain 
other  designated  streets  in  Albany. 

The  ordinance  was  in  no  respect  a 
blanket  franchise,  but  simply  conferred 
upon  the  bus  corporation  the  right  to 
connect  up  some  of  its  present  routes 
by  intersecting  streets. 

The  United  Traction  Company  and  a 
number  of  representative  citizens  of 
Albany  emphasized  at  the  hearing  on 
the  subject  the  fact  that  the  traction 
company  is  a  heavy  taxpayer  of  the 
city  and  that  the  proposed  franchise 
would  not  add  any  revenue  to  the  city's 
treasury  or  pay  any  appreciable  cost  of 
the  upkeep  of  the  pavements. 

This  apparently  seemed  to  bear  more 
weight  than  the  argument  put  forth 
by  the  bus  corporation  that  the  fran- 
chise it  requested  was  to  enable  the 
company  to  serve  better  the  territory 
not  now  reached  by  the  United  Traction 
Company  and  into  which  the  railway 
may  never  build  an  extension. 


Jersey  Transit  Commission 
Suggested 

At  the  recent  Paterson  conference 
called  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
a  unified  transportation  plan  for  New 
York  and  New  Jersey  a  New  Jersey 
Rapid  Transit  Commission  which  would 
work  in  unison  with  the  New  York 
Commission  and  with  the  Port  of  New 
York  Authority  was  suggested.  This 
solution  to  the  traffic  problems  facing 
both  these  states  was  proposed  by  R. 

G.  Hughes,  chairman  of  Paterson's 
zoning  commission.  He  asked  for  a 
committee  of  fifteen  members  to  push 
forward  the  necessary  legislation. 

In  a  letter  to  the  conference  Samuel 
Rea,  president  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  told  how  impossible  it  would 
be  in  a  few  years  for  his  company  to 
handle  any  more  rapid  transit  lines. 
A  bi-state  plan  was  oroposed  by  H.  S. 
Swann,  who  favored  electrification  of 

railroads  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York. 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1125 


Seattle's  Tangle  Tragic 

Expert  Says  All  Must  Pull  Together 
and  System  Be  Put  on  Pay-As- 
You-Go  Basis 

Peter  Witt's  report  on  the  Seattle 
(Wash.)  Municipal  Railway  has  been 
presented  to  the  Mayor  and  the  City 
Council.  His  statement  is  dated  Dec. 
10.  As  indicated  previously,  the  carry- 
ing out  of  Mr.  Witt's  recommendations 
would  involve  the  expenditure  of  $2,- 
000,000  for  betterments  to  the  railway. 
He  says  that  "what  the  undertaking 
needs  most,  and  surely  has  least,  is  a 
unity  of  purpose  between  the  Mayor 
and  the  Council.  Co-operation  must 
supplant  dissension." 

Mr.  Witt  starts  his  report  with  a 
review  of  conditions  that  led  up  to 
the  city  buying  the  railway  and  engag- 
ing in  municipal  operation.  All  this  is, 
of  course,  historical  and  has  been 
covered  fully  in  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  previously.  Mr.  Witt  is  not 
concerned  with  what  might  have  been, 
but  with  what  actually  exists.  The 
•concern  of  the  city  must  be  with  to- 
morrow. The  march  must  be  forward. 
As  Mr.  Witt  sees  it,  "the  success  or 
failure  of  the  present  undertaking 
means  more  to  the  weal  or  woe  of  the 
people  of  the  city  than  the  success  or 
failure  of  all  other  municipal  activities 
combined."  In  his  opinion,  if  the  en- 
terprise is  to  be  made  a  success,  the 
principle  of  "pay-as-you-go"  will  have 
to  be  established  at  once. 

A  considerable  part  of  Mr.  Witt's 
recommendations  is  taken  up  with 
suggestions  for  rerouting,  economies 
in  management  through  curtailment 
and  rearrangement  of  service,  etc., 
and  if  given  in  detail  here  would  mean 
little  or  nothing  except  to  those  inti- 
mate with  the  topography  of  the  city. 
Some  of  the  other  of  his  important 
recommendations  follow: 

The  elevated  structure  in  East  Marginal 
Way  and  Spokane  Street,  as  the  story 
comes  to  me,  was  erected  as  a  war  ne- 
cessity in  order  to  take  care  of  the  ship- 
yard workers  and  to  provide  entrance  into 
the  city  for  the  cars  of  the  previously  city- 
owned  line  to  Lake  Burien.  The  "war" 
necessity  being  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  the 
city  being  now  the  owner  of  the  tracks  in 
First  Avenue,  the  route  of  the  cars  now 
using  the  elevated  structure  should  at  least 
from  Spokane  Street  North  be  over  the 
tracks  in  First  Avenue.  This  recommenda- 
tion is  not  only  made  in  order  that  there 
may  be  saved  the  cost  of  maintenance  of 
two  tracks,  but  to  avoid  the  heavy  and 
extraordinary  maintenance  which  soon 
must  take  place  on  the  elevated  structure 
Itself. 

Your  action  in  removing  jitney  competi- 
tion, though  highly  commendable,  has  left 
the  residents  of  Cowan  Park  without  trans- 
portation. As  a  matter  of  right  and  fair 
play  the  people  living  in  this  district  are 
entitled  to  street  car  service.  It  is  there- 
fore recommended  that  an  extension  of  the 
tracks  into  the  district  affected  should  be 
made  at  once. 

Because  of  the  increased  safety  to  the 
car  rider  and  greater  economy  of  opera- 
tion, all  cars  should  be  operated  by  one 
man.  I  therefore  urge  the  speedy  rebuild- 
ing of  all  cars  now  in  service  requiring 
two  men  for  their  operation,  excepting, 
however,  from  this  rebuilding  program  the 
cars  of  the  600  type. 

In  my  oral  report  I  recommended  the 
scrapping  of  the  cars  of  this  type,  because 
of  their  excessive  weight,  slowness  of 
speed,  and  inconvenience  of  boarding  and 
alighting.  For  the  same  reasons  I  again 
urge  their  relegation  to  the  junk  pile  and 
recommend  as  a  substitute  therefor  the 
purchase  of  200  low  floor,  light  weight,  high 
power,  double  truck  cars. 

Instead  of  reducing  wages  and  saving 
$100,000  per  year,  the  wise  thing  to  do  is 
to  reduce  the  number  of  employees  and 
make  the  annual  saving-  $800, 000.  To  this 
sum  can  be  added  another  saving  in  power 
consumption  amounting  to  $1  00,000  per 
year,  if  the  old  oars  are  discarded  and  new 
ones  of  tvpe  as  suggested  are  purchased. 

The  Law  Department   having  held  that 


the  raising  of  funds  to  purchase  cars  in  the 
manner  suggested  in  my  oral  report  being 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  another 
way  must  be  found  in  order  that  the  saving 
of  $900,000  per  year  may  be  made.  To  that 
end  I  offered  for  your  earnest  consideration 
the  following: 

Permit  the  car  rider  to  use  the  city's 
credit  to  the  extent  of  the  necessary  down- 
payment  for  the  purchase  of  the  equipment 
on' the  car  trjist  certificate  plan.  Using  the 
savings  as  made  to  pay  back  the  loan  and 
to  retire  the  car  trust  certificates  as  they 
fall  due. 

That  your  cars  may  be  speedily  loaded, 
the  convenience  of  the  car  rider  increase, 
and  the  expense  of  the  front-end  collection 
eliminated,  I  suggest  and  recommend  that 
your  system  of  fare  collection  be  made 
pay-enter  when  cars  are  inbound  and  pay- 
leave  when  out-bound. 

I  am  told  that  it  is  the  habit  of  many 
of  the  platform  men  to  work  every  day 
in  the  week.  This  is  more  than  any  man 
should  be  asked  or  permitted  to  work. 
There  should  be  a  department  rule  or 
ordinance  of  the  city  employed  to  correct 
this  evil.  Six  days  out  of  seven  should 
be  enough   for  any  man. 

In  the  allotment  of  work  as  called  for 
in  the  runs  provided  by  the  schedule,  the 
older  men  in  length  of  service  have  first 
pick.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  pay,  however,  the  system  of  giving 
to  the  older  men  the  higher  pay,  and  to 
the  newer  men  the  lower  pay,  is  all  wrong. 
All  that  it  has  to  commend  it  is  that  it 
has  been  the  custom  and  is  also  the  prac- 
tice elsewhere.  The  record  shows  that 
sbme  men  report  for  work  at  5:00  a.m. 
and  remain  on  the  cars  until  12  :35  p.m. — 
seven  hours  and  thirty-Jfive  minutes  of 
actual  time  for  which  they  receive  eight 
hours'  pay.  Other  men  report  at  7:00 
a.m.,  work  two  hours,  and  report  again 
at  1:00  p.m.  and  continue  on  the  cars 
until  7:00  p.m.;  eight  hours'  work  but 
spread  over  a  twelve  hour  day.  This  can- 
not be  avoided.  Runs  of  this  kind  must 
be  made.  The  men  who  make  them  are 
the  valuable  men  to  the  department.  They 
are  on  the  job  during  the  hours  of  greatest 
demand,  and  should  therefore  receive  the 
highest  pay. 

In  my  opinion  the  difference  in  pay  be- 
tween the  good  runs  and  the  bad  runs 
should  be  from  75  cents  to  $1  a  day.  What 
is  here  suggested  will  not  meet  with  the 
approval  of  the  older  men.  Let  your 
answer  to  their  objection  be.  that  through 
the  rule  of  seniority  they  still  will  have  the 
best  of  it:  The  first  pick  is  theirs,  and 
they  can  elect  to  take  the  long  hours  with 
the  high  pay  or  the  short  hours  with  the 
low  pay. 

The  earnings  of  $17,000  from  the  car  ad- 
vertising privilege  is  far  below  what  it 
should  be.  If  this  contract  is  of  short 
duration,  the  remedy  of  course  can  be 
quickly  applied.  If,  however,  it  has  a  long 
time  to  run,  effort  should  be  made  with  the 
beneficiaries  of  this  privilege  for  a  change 
in  the  terms  of  the  contract. 


Joint  Operation  Now  a  Fact 

The  city  of  Detroit  and  the  Detroit 
United  Railway  took  the  first  step  to- 
wards the  actual  unification  of  the 
Detroit  railway  system  on  Dec.  15 
when  the  cars  of  the  municipal  rail- 
way started  operating  alternately  with 
Detroit  United  Railway  cars  on  Trum- 
bull Avenue  line.  The  operation  of  the 
city's  cars  on  the  Trumbull  Line  brings 
the  first  Municipal  Ownership  service  to 
the  down-town  section.  The  same 
transfer  arrangements  are  adhered  to 
as  between  cars  of  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  system.  One  cent  is  collected 
for  each  transfer  in  addition  to  the 
regular  5-cent  fare.  Transfers  are 
issued  only  to  cars  going  in  the  same 
general  direction  as  the  car  from  which 
the  transfer  is  issued. 

The  joint  operation  of  cars  will  prob- 
ably be  extended  within  the  next  few 
weeks  to  include  the  Woodward  Avenue, 
Fort  Street,  Grand  Belt,  Hamilton  and 
Fourteenth  lines.  At  the  same  time 
that  municipal  cars  started  operation 
on  the  Trumbull  line,  the  Municipal 
Ownership  lines  on  Fenkell  and  Davi- 
son were  put  into  operation. 

The  joint  operation  is  the  outcome 
of  negotiations  started  a  few  weeks  ago. 
The  ultimate  aim  of  Mayor  Couzens 


is  to  have  the  city  take  over  all  of 
the  Detroit  United  Railway  city  lines 
on  a  day-to-day  basis  until  such  time 
as  a  plan  can  be  formulated  and  placed 
on  the  ballot  providing  for  purchasing 
the  entire  system.  Under  the  present 
arrangements  the  city  is  to  pay  the 
Detroit  United  Railway  20  cents  per 
car  mile  for  the  use  of  company  tracks. 
Arrangements  have  also  been  made 
whereby  the  city  will  rent  space  in 
the  company's  carhouses  and  yards  for 
the  cars  being  operated  over  the  lines 
being  served  by  the  barns. 

Ontario  Railroad  Considers 
Electrification 

The  Temiskaming  &  Northern  On- 
tario Railway  Commission  has  decided 
to  investigate  the  feasibility  of  electrify- 
ing the  road  with  particular  reference 
to  the  extension  from  Cochrane  to  Oil 
Can  Portage,  70  miles  further  north.  It 
is  estimated  that  500,000  hp.  can  be  de- 
veloped on  the  Abitibi  River. 

S.  B.  Clement,  chief  engineer  of  the 
Temiskaming  &  Northern  Ontario  Rail- 
way, and  J.  G.  Kerry,  consulting  en- 
gineer, Toronto,  have  been  authorized 
to  report  in  three  months  as  to  the 
power  possibilities.  The  plans,  profiles 
and  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  exten- 
sion of  the  road  from  Cochrane  have 
been  approved  by  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ment. Contracts  have  been  let  for  75,000 
ties  and  a  contract  for  6,000  tons  of  rails 
for  the  first  40  miles  of  the  exten- 
sion has  been  awarded  to  the  Algoma 
Steel  Corporation  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie. 

Bids  for  additional  material  will  be 
received  at  the  office  of  W.  H.  Maund, 
secretary-treasurer  of  the  commission, 
North  Bay,  Ontario,  until  Jan.  9. 

Ten  Per  Cent  Wage  Cut 
Recommended 

A  10  per  cent  cut  in  wages  was  rec- 
ommended by  a  board  of  conciliation  in 
Vancouver,  B.  C,  on  Dec.  10  to  the 
British  Columbia  Electric  Railway  and 
its  employees.  This,  if  accepted,  will 
reduce  the  present  maximum  of  65  cents 
to  58i  cents  an  hour.  The  board 
recommended  further: 

The  substitution  of  time  and  a  quarter 
instead  of  time  and  a  half  for  Sunday  work, 
although  the  board  did  not  agree  with  the 
principle  of  paying  extra  for  such  work. 

Another  feature  was  the  recommending 
of  a  monthly  minimum  of  $87.50  instead  of 
a  daily  minimum  of  six  hours  pay. 

Payment  for  "spread-over"  time  is  re- 
duced from  25  cents  an  hour  to  10  cents  an 
hour. 

Track  and  carhouse  men  are  to  get  time 
and  a  half  for  overtime  except  when  such 
overtime  amounts  to  more  than  five  hours, 
in  which  case  double  time  shall  be  paid 
for  all  time  in  excess  of  five  hours. 

Ten  per  cent  extra  is  recommended  for 
operators  of  one-man  cars  when  they  are 
introduced  by  the  company. 

"Box-time"  is  abolished  by  the  report. 
This  provision  allowed  the  men  ten  minutes 
when  making  relief  on  the  road,  the  idea 
being  that  they  had  to  prepare  themselves 
for  the  run. 

The  report  says: 

A  majority  of  the  board  were  of  the 
opinion  that  the  company  was  justified  in 
asking  for  a  15  per  cent  reduction,  but  they 
did  not  agree  that  so  drastic  a  cut  should 
be  made  at  this  time.  They  felt  that  any 
reduction  necessary  should  be  made  as  easy 
as  possible  for  the  men,  and  that  they 
should  keep  pace  as  nearly  as  possible  with 
the  rate  increases  made  previously.  They 
are.  therefore,  prepared  to  recommend  that 
a  general  reduction  of  ten  per  cent  be 
made  on  all  wages  except  as  hereinafter 
mentioned  as  and  from  Dec.  1. 

The  employees  affected  are  members 
of  the  Amalgamated  Association.  The 
men  have  not  yet  intimated  whether 
they  will  accept. 


« 


1126 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


Pittsburgh  Makes  Progress 

New  Traction  Contract  Passed  by  Coun- 
cil and  Signed  by  Mayor  and 
Philadelphia  Company 

The  agreement  between  the  city  and 
the  Philadelphia  Company  and  Pitts- 
burgh Railways  for  the  reorganization 
of  the  railway  has  been  formally 
executed.  Mayor  E.  V.  Babcock  and 
A.  W.  Thompson,  president  of  the 
Philadelphia  Company,  affixed  their 
signatures  to  the  document  early  in 
the  week  ended  Dec.  24. 

The  agreement  was  executed  under 
the  ordinance  approved  finally  by 
Council  late  during  the  week  ended 
Dec.  17  and  signed  by  the  Mayor.  The 
agreement  will  continue  in  force  for 
ten  years.  It  defines  the  rights  and 
duties  of  the  city  and  company  in 
reorganizing  the  railways  properties 
under  the  valuation  of  $62,500,000, 
with  a  fixed  annual  return  of  6  per 
cent,  and  the  supervision  by  the  city, 
through  the  Traction  Conference  Board, 
of  the  service,  facilities,  extensions  and 
finances  of  the  company.  The  agree- 
ment becomes  effective  when  $5,000,000 
additional  capital  is  provided  by  the 
company. 

Commission  Must  Approve 
A  petition  to  the  Public  Service  Com- 
mission by  the  city  and  company  for 
approval  of  the  reorganization  plan  and 
agreement  has  been  taken  to  Harris- 
burg  by  Mr.  Thompson,  George  N. 
Munro,  Jr.,  special  city  solicitor,  and 
A.  W.  Robertson,  counsel  for  the  Phila- 
delphia Company,  and  filed  with  the 
commission.  Following  approval  by  the 
commission,  steps  will  be  taken  within 
thirty  days  by  the  company  for  the 
termination  of  the  receivership,  under 
the  agreement. 

Following  the  execution  of  the  agree- 
ment, Mayor  Babcock  said: 

This  agreement  will  prove  a  benefit  for 
the  people  and  the  company.  It  means  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  of  years  and  sub- 
stitutes co-operation  by  the  city  and  com- 
pany that  is  sure  to  result  in  better  service 
and  a  lower  fare.  I  want  to  congratulate 
the  members  of  the  Council  for  their  efforts 
in  reaching  this  plan.  Thev  spent  much 
time  and  labor  in  studying  this  situation. 
Mayor-elect  Magee  assisted  us  before  the 
plan  was  adopted  and  his  suggestions  were 
welcome,  as  would  have  been  any  assistance 
that  would  produce  the  best  plan  possible. 


Mayor  Thompson  Scored  for 
Delaying  Transit  Solution 

Impatient  of  delay  under  Mayor 
Thompson's  assurance  that  he  would 
work  out  a  solution  of  Chicago's  trans- 
portation problem,  Alderman  U.  S. 
Schwartz  made  public  on  Dec.  19  the 
outline  of  a  plan  under  which  he 
thought  progress  could  be  made.  He 
proposes  to  acquire  the  surface  and 
elevated  lines  under  a  plan  by  which 
the  municipality  would  guarantee  pay- 
ment out  of  earnings  to  be  based  on  a 
fluctuating  rate  of  fare.  As  chairman 
of  the  local  transportation  committee 
of  the  City  Council  he  appointed  a 
subcommittee  of  eight  members  to 
hear  from  all  interested  parties.  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  companies  were  in- 
vited to  express  their  views  at  a  meet- 
ing to  be  held  Dec.  22. 

Under  the  Schwartz  plan  an  agree- 
ment would  be  made  by  the  city  that 
the  charge  for  service  would  be  high 
enough  at  all  times  to  produce  a  reve- 
nue sufficient  to  meet  all  charges  and 
accumulate  sinking  funds.  By  issuing 
city  bonds  it  is  expected  that  the  in- 
terest charges  would  be  lowered  to  a 


point  where  fares  would  be  decreased. 
If  an  agreement  could  not  be  made  as 
to  purchase  price  he  would  have  the 
lines  acquired  by  condemnation. 

The  plan  also  contemplates  the  build- 
ing of  subways.  In  connection  with 
his  statement,  Alderman  Schwartz  re- 
ferred to  the  failure  of  the  Mayor  to 
make  any  headway  under  the  full  au- 
thority given  him  by  the  City  Council 
although  several  hundred  thousands  of 
dollars  had  been  spent  in  hiring  lawyers 
and  engineers.  The  only  hope  for  fur- 
ther progress  under  the  Mayor's  plan 
is  through  a  special  session  of  the 
Legislature. 

No  announcement  has  yet  been  made 
by  the  federal  court  on  the  injunction 
proceedings  against  the  8-cent  fare 
order  of  the  Illinois  Commerce  Com- 
mission. 


$200,000,000  Transit  Program 
for  New  York 

The  New  York  Transit  Commission 
expects  to  make  public  soon  its  plans 
for  the  immediate  development  of 
transit  routes  in  the  city  at  a  cost  of 
about  $200,000,000.  Manhattan,  Brook- 
lyn and  Richmond  lines  are  included  in 
the  plans. 

Extension  of  the  subway  under 
Forty-second  Street  clear  through  to 
Lexington  Avenue  on  the  east  and  to 
Eighth  Avenue  on  the  west,  and  the 
construction  of  moving  sidewalks  par- 
allel to  the  tracks  between  the  Grand 
Central  Terminal  and  Times  Square 
are  among  the  improvements  which  the 
commission  believes  must  be  under- 
taken at  once. 

Eighth  Avenue  is  fixed  as  the  west- 
ern terminus  of  the  Forty-second  Street 
tunnel  for  the  reason  that  the  plans 
of  the  commission  call  for  the  eventual 
construction  of  a  subway  beneath  that 
thoroughfare. 

Another  improvement  which  the  com- 
mission deems  to  be  of  vital  importance 
is  the  construction  of  a  subway  for 
passenger  service  to  Staten  Island. 

For  Brooklyn  the  plans  call  for  low- 
ering the  Fulton  Street  elevated  tracks 
to  the  Fourth  Avenue  subway  at  Ash- 
land Place  and  the  construction  of  a 
cross-borough  subway  to  connect  Long 
Island  City  with  the  Brighton  Beach 
line  at  the  Prospect  Park  station. 

More  than  $300,000,000  has  already 
been  spent  in  building  and  equipping 
the  present  transit  lines  in  the  greater 
city  and  that  program  has  not  yet  been 
completed. 


Ottawa  Will  Vote  Again 

The  voters  at  Ottawa,  Ont.,  will  have 
another  opportunity  on  Jan.  2  to  make 
known  their  wishes  as  to  the  future  of 
the  Ottawa  Electric  Railway.  The  pres- 
ent contract  between  the  company  and 
the  city  expires  in  August,  1923,  and  on 
Jan.  2  the  voters  will  be  asked  to  vote 
on  (a)  municipal  ownership  and  opera- 
tion, (b)  another  contract  with  the  city, 
(c)  service  at  cost.  Last  year  the 
Ontario  Legislature  authorized  the  city 
to  carry  out  the  purchase  upon  ap- 
proval by  the  voters.  The  possibility 
remains  of  all  three  questions  being 
lost  at  the  election.  This  might  hap- 
pen if  more  than  50  per  cent  of  the 
electors  do  not  want  municipal  owner- 
ship and  split  their  yes!  votes  between 
another  contract  with  the  company  and 
service  at  cost.  The  company  has  gone 
before  the  voters  with  a  frank  state- 
ment of  why  it  favors  service  at  cost. 


Boston  Elects  Mr.  Curley 

Another  Five-Cent  Fare  Advocate  Rides 
Into  Public  Office  Over  Good 
Government  Candidate 

As  in  other  recent  municipal  elec- 
tions, the  question  of  the  electric  rail- 
way fare  played  its  part  in  the  Boston 
mayoralty  election  on  Dec.  13,  when 
James  M.  Curley  was  elected  to  serve 
for  the  next  four  years.  Mr.  Curley, 
who  several  years  ago  filled  the 
Mayor's  chair  for  one  term,  received  a 
majority  of  only  about  2,000  votes  over 
his  nearest  opponent.  There  were  two 
other  candidates  who  received  a  small 
scattering  of  votes. 

Elections  Non-Partisan 

The  elections  in  Boston  are  supposed 
to  be  non-partisan  in  that  no  party 
designation  is  printed  on  the  ballot. 
Three  of  the  candidates,  including  Mr. 
Curley  and  his  nearest  opponent,  John 
R.  Murphy,  are  Democrats  by  personal 
affiliation.  Practically  the  entire 
strength  of  the  Republican  party,  in- 
cluding Governor  Cox  and  the  present 
Mayor  of  Boston,  was  thrown  in  favor 
of  Mr.  Murphy  in  an  unsuccessful  en- 
deavor to  defeat  Mr.  Curley.  The 
previous  record  of  Mr.  Curley  as  Mayor 
of  Boston  was  not  such  as  to  commend 
him  to  voters  favoring  reform  in  civic 
administration. 

The  successful  candidate  made  a 
strong  plea,  among  other  issues,  on  a 
promise  to  fight  for  the  restoration  of 
the  universal  5-cent  fare  in  Boston.  The 
lines  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway 
are  now  operated  by  Public  Trustees, 
under  State  legislation  passed  in  1918. 
The  fare  is  10  cents,  with  5-cent  fares 
in  certain  suburban  communities  for 
short  local  rides.  Just  how  the  Mayor- 
elect  proposes  to  carry  out  his  plans 
for  restoring  the  5-cent  fare  was  not 
made  clear  in  his  pre-election  promises. 
To  do  this  will  apparently  require  the 
repeal  of  existing  State  legislation  and 
the  acceptance  of  the  repeal  by  the 
stockholders  of  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway. 

Personal  Popularity  a  Factor 

It  is  doubtful  if  this  issue  played  such 
an  important  part  in  the  Boston  cam- 
paign as  it  did  in  the  recent  election  in 
New  York.  Mr.  Murphy,  who  ran 
within  about  2,000  votes  of  winning, 
came  out  early  in  his  campaign  with  a 
plain  statement  of  facts  concerning  the 
inability  of  any  Mayor  of  Boston  to 
change  conditions  created  under 
authority  of  the  State  Legislature.  It 
is  generally  conceded  that  the  personal 
popularity  of  Mr.  Curley  among  certain 
elements  of  the  population  had  much  to 
do  with  the  defeat  of  the  "good  govern- 
ment" candidate. 


Hartford  May  Seek  an  Expert 

The  city  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  has  un- 
der consideration  the  hiring  of  statis- 
tical experts  in  an  effort  to  secure  a  fare 
reduction  on  the  local  lines  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company.  Before  a  petition 
is  filed  with  the  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission" asking  for  a  fare  reduction  the 
municipality  has  declared  that  statisti- 
cal testimony  would  be  advisable  in  an 
effort  to  get  a  reduction.  The  city  feels 
that  it  should  be  prepared  to  give  de- 
tailed testimony  should  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission  grant  a  hearing  on  the 
application  of  the  city  for  a  reduction 
of  fare. 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1127 


Financial  and  Corporate 


Branch  Lines  May  Be 
Abandoned 

Communities  Protest  Plan  of  Interurban 
to  Quit  Service  on  Three 
Lines 

Efforts  on  the  part  of  the  receiver 
for  the  Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern 
Traction  Company  to  lighten  its  finan- 
cial burden  by  abandoning  service  on 
three  single  track  branch  lines  in  Ohio 
are  being  bitterly  contested  by  the 
various  communities  served  by  the 
branch  lines.  The  application  of  the 
company,  filed  with  the  State  Public 
Utilities  Commission,  is  now  before  that 
body  for  investigation  and  an  initial 
hearing  was  held  on  Dec.  14.  Owing  to 
the  mass  of  evidence  submitted  and 
the  desire  of  counsel  for  the  various 
communities  contesting  the  application 
to  digest  this  evidence,  the  commission 
continued  the  hearing  until  Feb.  8  and 
9,  1922. 

The  branch  lines  authorized  by  order 
of  Judge  Killitts  of  the  federal  district 
court  at  Toledo  to  be  abandoned,  but 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  state 
commission,  run  between  Lima  and  De- 
fiance, between  Columbus  and  Orient 
and  between  Carlisle  Junction  and  New 
Carlisle.  The  Lima-Defiance  line  is  the 
longest  and  most  important  of  the 
three.  It  has  a  main  track  mileage  of 
39.92,  with  thirteen  sidings  whose  com- 
bined length  is  1.7  miles. 

Figures  submitted  by  the  company 
covering  operation  of  the  Lima-Defiance 
branch  show  that  in  1920  there  was  a 
deficit  in  operating  revenues  over 
operating  expenses  of  $18,092  and  dur- 
ing the  first  six  months  of  1921  there 
was  a  deficit  of  $5,910,  while  there  has 
been  an  actual  loss  after  deducting 
taxes,  interest  and  depreciation  charges 
ever  since  and  including  1916.  These 
"red  ink"  figures  for  the  five  and  a  half 
years  beginning  with  1916  are  shown  to 
be  as  follows;  $99,581,  $99,547,  $106,- 
125,  $11,127,  $136,095  and  $64,893,  the 
last  figure  being  that  for  the  six 
months  ending  June  30,  1921. 

Improvements  Necessary  to  Continue 
Service 

In  order  to  continue  operation  of  this 
line  the  company  says  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  institute  track  and  roadway  im- 
provements costing  $47,000  in  1922, 
$22,500  in  1923,  $20,000  in  1924  and 
$12,500  each  year  thereafter.  It  will 
also  be  necessary  to  spend  $48,000  for 
power  improvements. 

This  branch  has  an  interesting  his- 
tory. Organized  in  1899  under  the 
name  of  the  Columbus,  Lima  &  Mil- 
waukee Railway,  the  name  was  changed 
some  time  prior  to  the  beginning  of 
its  operation  in  1899  to  the  Columbus 
&  Lake  Michigan  Railroad.  It  was 
operated  as  a  steam  railroad  until  its 
acquisition  by  the  Indiana,  Columbus  & 
Eastern  Traction  Company  on  June  19, 
1906,  and  thereafter  until  1910,  when  it 
was  electrified  in  so  far  as  passenger 
service  was  concerned.  Freight  service 
continued  to  be  handled  by  steam  loco- 
motives for  about  two  years.  On  Feb. 
13,  1913,  electric  locomotives  were  sub- 
stituted for  the  old  steam  motive  equip- 
ment in  freight  service. 


The  Columbus-Orient  line  is  12.11 
miles  long.  It  was  built  in  1898  by 
Adam  Grant,  the  line  extending  be- 
tween Columbus  and  Grove  City  only  at 
that  time.  In  1900  the  line  was  ex- 
tended to  Orient,  service  starting  in 
June,  1902.  About  1901,  ownership  of 
the  road  passed  to  the  Appleyard  syndi- 
cate and  it  was  re-named  the  Colum- 
bus, Grove  City  &  Southwestern  Rail- 
way. In  January,  1905,  a  receiver  was 
appointed  and  on  June  19,  1906,  the 
road  was  sold  to  the  Indiana,  Columbus 
&  Eastern  Traction  Company. 

The  New  Carlisle  branch  is  4.22  miles 
long  and  was  originally  known  as  the 
Springfield  &  Western  Railway.  It 
was  placed  in  operation  in  1901,  under 
the  management  of  the  Dayton,  Spring- 
field &  Urbana  Railway.  In  June,  1906, 
the  Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Com- 
pany acquired  the  Dayton,  Springfield 
&  Urbana  Company. 

The  Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  has 
been  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver  since 
January,  1921,  up  to  which  time  it  was 
under  lease  in  large  part  to  the  Ohio 
Electric  Railway.  The  present  receiver 
is  James  H.  McClure,  Springfield,  Ohio. 


Utilities  Want  Better  Terms 

Two  Indiana  public  utilities  have 
petitioned  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion to  permit  more  favorable  terms 
for  disposing  of  securities  already 
authorized  by  the  commission.  The 
Interstate  Public  Service  Company,  a 
gas,  electric  and  interurban  utility,  re- 
quested permission  to  sell  $130,000  of 
its  first  and  refunding  bonds  at  75 
per  cent  of  par.  The  Commission  some 
time  ago  authorized  the  company  to 
sell  the  securities  at  80  per  cent  of 
par.  The  company  avers  that  it  can- 
not now  market  the  bonds  unless  it 
gives  a  greater  discount. 

The  Indiana  Power  Company,  Vin- 
cennes,  requested  leave  to  increase 
from  7  to  8  per  cent  the  dividend  rate 
on  $1,303,000  of  unsold  preferred  stock. 
The  Commission  originally  authorized 
the  company  to  issue  $1,590,000  of  7 
per  cent  stock,  but  the  company  avers 
that  it  cannot  now  dispose  of  the  re- 
mainder unless  it  pays  a  higher  divi- 
dend. The  company  requested  leave 
also  _  for  a  technical  change  in  a 
previous  order  authorizing  it  to  issue 
$800,000  of  8  per  cent  notes,  because 
of  the  increasing  of  the  interest  rate 
on  some  of  its  bonds  from  6  to  7.5 
per  cent.  The  notes  are  convertible 
into  the  bonds. 


Boston  Elevated  Eliminates 
Deficit 

As  was  reported  previously  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  the  defi- 
cit of  the  Boston  (Mass.)  Elevated 
Railway  had  been  reduced  on  Nov.  1 
to  $209,245.  On  Dec.  1  that  deficit  was 
eliminated  and  according  to  Edward 
Dana,  general  manager  of  the  property, 
there  is  now  $49,042  in  the  reserve  fund, 
which  under  the  terms  of  the  public 
control  act  must  be  restored  to  $1,000,- 
000.  The  favorable  result  obtained  dur- 
ing November  was  accomplished,  al- 
though the  revenue  during  the  month 
was  $155,938  less  than  a  year  ago. 


New  Shore  Line  Plans 

Details    of   Financing    Are    Given  to 
Which    It    Is    Planned  to 
Rehabilitate  Road 

Further  details  are  available  with 
respect  to  the  plans  for  the  new  com- 
pany formed  to  operate  the  old  route 
of  the  Shore  Line  Electric  Railway  from 
New  Haven  through  Saybrook  and 
Chester,  Conn.,  to  which  reference  was 
made  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
for  Dec.  10,  1921,  page  1047.  As  stated 
in  the  previous  item  the  successor  com- 
pany will  be  known  as  the  Shore  Line 
Traction  Company.  It  has  been  in- 
corporated and  will  take  over  all  the 
assets  of  the  old  operating  company,  the 
Shore  Line  Electric  Railway,  in  the 
territory  to  be  served.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  is  now  learned  that  the  state- 
ment was  in  error  that  Ford,  Bacon  & 
Davis  would  act  as  operating  managers 
for  the  property.  It  is  true  that  some 
time  ago  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis  were 
requested  to  make  an  examination  of 
the  present  physical  condition  of  the 
properties,  to  report  upon  the  cost  of 
rehabilitation  and  to  make  a  study  of 
probable  operating  conditions.  The 
report  has  been  delivered  and  Ford, 
Bacon  &  Davis  have  announced  that 
their  work  has  been  completed. 

The  line  cost  originally  more  than 
$3,000,000,  but  due  to  a  favorable 
purchase  contract  the  Shore  Line  Trac- 
tion Company  has  been  able  to  acquire 
it  for  a  little  more  than  $400,000.  This 
amount  includes  the  cost  of  practically 
everything  except  the  power  house 
equipment. 

It  is  estimated  that  $450,000  will  be 
needed  to  put  in  new  power  house 
equipment  and  to  replace  a  certain  few 
miles  of  track  which  have  been  taken 
up,  to  clear  the  surface  of  the  road- 
way, put  in  transmission  lines,  etc. 
This  means  that  the  total  cost  for  the 
purchase  of  the  road  and  putting  it  into 
first-class  operating  condition  will  be 
$860,000  to  $875,000,  including  the  sum 
of  $50,000  cash  to  be  reserved  as  a 
working  fund. 

To  cover  the  cost  of  the  purchase  of 
the  line  and  the  intended  improvements 
the  Shore  Line  Traction  Company  is 
selling  $900,000  of  first  mortgage 
thirty-year  7  per  cent  gold  bonds  and 
also  6,500  shares  of  stock.  Under  the 
plan  as  now  proposed  the  property  goes 
to  the  holders  of  the  stock  and  the  bonds 
in  the  new  company  at  less  than  one- 
third  of  the  original  cost  and  at  an 
estimated  cost  of  less  than  one-third 
of  its  present  replacement  value. 

It  has  been  figured  that  the  net  in- 
come of  the  road,  after  providing  for 
operating  expenses  and  depreciation, 
will  be  about  $118,000.  This  estimate 
is  based  on  the  past  revenue  of  the  road 
over  a  period  of  three  normal  years  and 
on  savings  to  be  effected  by  the  elimina- 
tion of  an  unprofitable  7-mile  spur  and 
based  on  additional  freight  and  passen- 
ger revenue  over  and  above  that  en- 
joyed by  the  old  line.  After  deducting 
from  the  estimated  net  earnings  the 
interest  charges  of  $63,000  for  bonds 
and  about  $5,000  for  interest  on  car 
trust  notes,  the  net  income  applicable  to 
the  common  stock  would  show  up  bet- 
ter than  $7.50  a  share. 

The  securities  of  the  new  company 
are  being  sold  in  units  of  $3,000  in 
bonds  and  $2,000  in  stocks,  or  a  total 
par  value  of  $5,000,  for  $3,250.  This  is 
in  a  sense  equivalent  to  a  price  of  $300 
for  three  bonds  and  $25  for  $200,  par 
value,  of  stock. 


1128 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


One  Year  of  Service  at  Cost 
at  Rochester 

Public  Sentiment  for  the  Railway 
Improved — Changes  Result  in 
Better  Service 

The  report  of  Charles  R.  Barnes, 
Commissioner  of  Railways,  City  of 
Rochester,  on  the  service-at-cost  con- 
tract between  the  City  of  Rochester  and 
the  New  York  State  Railways  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  Mayor  and  Common  Coun- 
cil on  Nov.  30.  The  financial  report 
follows: 


SUMMARY  OF  OPERATIONS— AUG.  I,  1920, 
TO  AUG.  I,  1921 

Miles  of  track   167  .  53 

Miles  of  road  operated   78  .10 

Car  mileage   9,572,773 

Car-hours   1,092,382 

I'er  Cent  of 
Railway 
Operating 

Revenue  from  transportation:  Revenue 

Passenger  revenues              $4,899,125.74  97  80 

Chartered  car  revenues.  ..          4,965.00  .10 
Miscellaneous  transporta- 
tion revenues                           1,790.12  04 

Total  revenues  from  trans- 
portation                        $4,905,880.86  97.94 

Revenues  from  other  railway 
operations: 

Station  and  car  privileges.  .       $45,054.92  .90 

Rent  from  track  and  facili- 
ties                                      47,449.28  .95 

Rent  from  buildings  and 

other  property                       10,910.85  .21 

Total  revenues  from  other 

railway  operations              $103,415.05  2  .06 

Railway  operating  revenues..  $5,009,295.91  1 00 .  00 

Railway  operating  expenses: 

Ways  and  structures               $513,844.71  10  25 

Equipment                              483,239.27  9.65 

Power                                    292,470.12  5.84 

Conducting  transportation    1,895,041.06  37.83 

Traffic...                                   9,348.34  .19 

General  and  miscellaneous.       480,733.59  9.60 

Renewals  and  depreciation.       145,833.33  2.91 

Total  railway  operating  ex- 
penses                            $3,820,510.42  76.27 

Net  revenue  from  railway  op- 
erations                          $1.1 88,785 .  49  23.73 

Auxiliary  operations  revenues  ~    $7,493  .88  .15 

Auxiliary  operations  expenses          3,808  .99  .08 

Net  revenue  from  auxiliary 

operations                             $3,684.89  0.07 

Net  revenue  from  operations.  $1,192,470.38  23  .80 

Taxes  assignable  to  operations      278,016.23  5.55 

Operating  income                      $914,454.15  18.25 

Non-operating  income                    8,645.37  .17 

Gross  income                            $923,099.52  18.42 

Return  on  investment              1,057,098.00  21.10 

Deficit                               $133,998.48  2.68 


In  his  accompanying  report,  Mr. 
Barnes  says  that  to  a  material  extent 
the  contract  has  been  effective  in  modi- 
fying public  sentiment  against  the  rail- 
way company  and  that  this  is  as  it 
should  be,  because  the  transportation 
system  is  now  to  all  practical  intents 
and  purposes  solely  that  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Rochester.  The  rate  of  fare 
in  force  during  the  fiscal  year  except 
from  Aug.  1,  1920,  to  Aug.  28,  1920,  was 
7  cents  cash  and  tickets  for  6i  cents. 
At  this  rate  the  return  to  the  company 
is  the  minimum  rate — that  is,  6  per 
cent  per  annum.  As  the  rate  of  fare  is 
lowered  the  company  secures  the  right 
to  receive  a  higher  fare,  but  in  no  case 
more  than  8  per  cent. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  commis- 
sioner was  to  make  a  survey  of  traffic. 
This  was  completed  during  August, 
1920,  and  beginning  on  Sept.  1  the 
rush-hour  service  was  increased  22  per 


cent.  Increases  were  also  made  as  to 
the  base  schedule  during  non-rush 
hours.  A  reduction  in  vehicular  ob- 
struction of  the  tracks  was  also  ac- 
complished. A  higher  maintenance 
standard  of  equipment  was  introduced, 
and  a  track  rehabilitation  program 
was  carried  out,  including  the  addition 
of  loops.  The  track  reconstruction  work 
and  construction  of  loops  when  com- 
pleted will  involve  the  expenditure  of 
more  than  $400,000.  Approximately 
6,000  track  repair  jobs  have  been  com- 
pleted during  the  year  and  more  than 
6,000  ties  installed  in  the  suburban 
lines.  In  the  distribution  system  250 
poles  were  reset  or  replaced  with  con- 
crete poles,  2,500  ft.  of  underground 
cable  was  replaced  and  5,000  bonds 
were  installed. 

The  revenue  passengers  during  the 
year  were:  City  system,  72,855,320; 
suburban  lines,  2,462,509.  The  revenue 
passenger  per  car-mile  were:  City,  8.0; 
suburban,  6.7.  The  average  rate  of 
fare  in  the  city  service-at-cost  zone  was 
6.501  cents  per  revenue  passenger.  In 
this  zone  there  was  a  decrease  of  10 
per  cent  in  number  of  revenue  passen- 
gers, carried,  compared  with  last  year. 

,0iher  sources  0.  l6Si 
■    AMl'i  .-Deficit 


66644  , 


°  3  t-it 


 II 


9  f.  K  .-5 
0t  ■..,.,...1  


-Deficit 0.177* 
Return  on  inv- 
estment 1.4034 
1  .Taxes  0.3694 

Salaries  &  expenses 
'of  the  commissioner 
~&  general  officers  of 
the  company  0.0644 

Accident  claims, 
,  insurance  &  other 
'expenses  including 
renewals  &  replace- 
ments 0544 1 


1. 


'  Materials  Supplies  0.8191 
'Porter  0.381* 

Wages  and  salaries  to 
-  employees  other  than 
general  officers  3.26/4 


Receipts  and  Expenses  per  Revenue 
Passenger — Rochester 

This  decrease,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
commissioner,  was  almost  entirely  due 
to  business  depression,  and  the  in- 
creased fare  had  very  little  effect  on 
any  reduction  in  traffic.  The  commis- 
sioner believes  that  the  worst  period 
of  street  railway  operation  is  passed, 
and  with  improved  conditions  it  should 
soon  be  possible  to  wipe  out  the  ac- 
cumulated deficit.  An  accompanying 
chart  shows  graphically  the  distribu- 
tion of  expenses. 

In  discussing  possible  extensions  the 
report  says  that  the  population  of  the 
city  between  1910  and  1920  increased 
35.6  per  cent,  but  during  that  period 
there  had  been  no  material  extension  of 
the  trackage  of  the  street  railway 
system.  Additional  crosstown  connec- 
tions seem  necessary  now,  but  their 
cost  at  present  prices  would  be  pro- 
hibitive, and  probably  these  require- 
ments can  best  be  met  by  use  of  the 
trackless  trolley.  In  fact,  an  experi- 
mental installation  of  this  kind  will  be 
made  shortly. 


Will  Sell  Bonds.— The  Illinois  Public 
Utilities  Commission  has  granted  per- 
mission to  the  Urbana  &  Champaign 
Railway,  Gas  &  Electric  Company, 
Champaign,  111.,  to  sell  $49,000  consoli- 
dated and  refunding  mortgage  bonds. 


Connecticut  Company 
Coming  Back 

$700,000  Surplus  Predicted  for  Current 
Year    Under    Changed  Economic 
Conditions 

A  surplus  of  about  $700,000  in  the 
treasury  of  the  Connecticut  Company, 
New  Haven  Conn.,  at  the  end  of  the 
current  year  is  forecasted  by  returns 
filed  with  the  Connecticut  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission  for  the  eleven  months 
ended  Nov.  30.  It  will  be  practically 
the  first  time  the  company  has  shown 
a  surplus  since  the  war. 
'  This  reversal  of  last  year's  deficit 
of  $1,436,000  is  attributed  to  the  in- 
creased fare,  together  with  economies 
in  operating  methods,  a  gradual  reduc- 
tion in  the  cost  of  material  and  fuel,  a 
slight  recession  in  recent  months  in 
rates  of  pay  and  relief  from  unregu- 
lated jitney  competition. 

Period  of  Trusteeship  Effected 
Many  Improvements 

The  records  show  that  during  the 
period  of  trusteeship — seven  years — 
trackage  of  16  miles  has  been  added  to 
the  Connecticut  Company's  system, 
$2,264,000  has  been  spent  for  new  roll- 
ing stock  and  $1,100,000  for  additional 
power  house  capacity  and  other  neces- 
sary additions  to  the  property.  If  the 
electric  railway  should  not  be  returned 
to  the  ownership  of  the  New  York, 
New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  the 
property  would  be  in  fully  as  good  con- 
dition, as  far  as  can  be  seen  by  utility 
commission  records,  as  it  was  when 
separated  from  the  steam  railroad 
under  the  federal  dissolution  decree  of 
1914. 

Notwithstanding  stringent  financial 
conditions  brought  about  by  excessive 
costs  that  forced  the  discontinuance  of 
payments  of  rentals  and  an  extension 
of  time  for  the  payment  of  taxes  to  the 
extent  that  the  Connecticut  Company 
now  owes  the  New  Haven  $3,443,000 
for  rent  and  the  State  $1,882,220  in 
back  taxes,  the  trustees  have  refused 
to  decrease  the  amounts  spent  for  the 
upkeep  of  the  physical  property  and 
so  have  been  enabled  to  bring  about 
material  reductions  in  operating  costs. 
In  years  prior  to  the  trusteeship  21  per 
cent  of  the  gross  income  was  considered 
sufficient  to  keep  the  property  in  good 
condition.  At  no  time  since  the  trus- 
teeship has  the  expenditure  for  that 
purpose  been  less  than  that  percentage, 
and  in  1920  more  than  26  per  cent  of 
the  gross  income  was  so  applied. 

Dividends  at  the  rate  of  31  per  cent 
were  paid  for  the  three  years  preceding 
the  change  of  control  in  1914.  The 
most  prosperous  period  in  the  com- 
pany's history  was  the  record  year  of 
the  trusteeship,  when  the  net  income, 
over  all  charges,  was  a  trifle  less  than 
$2,000,000.  The  operating  costs  for 
1914,  1915  and  1916  varied  from 
$5,185,000  to  $5,643,000.  The  prevail- 
ing rate  of  fare  then  was  5  cents. 

Operating  costs,  which  were  $5,643,- 
000  in  1916,  have  more  than  doubled. 
In  1917  thev  increased  $7,821,000,  in 
1918  to  $8,150,000,  in  1919  to  $9,210,- 
000,  *and  in  1920  to  $12,417,000.  In 
other  words,  operating  costs,  taxes  and 
fixed  charges  required  83  cents  of  each 
dollar  revenue  in  1916,  99  cents  in 
1917,  98  cents  in  1918,  99  cents  in  1919 
and  $1.11  in  1920.  The  Connecticut 
Company  appears  to  be  one  of  the  first 
properties  of  its  kind  in  the  country  to 
begin  to  "come  back." 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1129 


Receivers  Sought  for  Three 
Massachusetts  Roads 

Petitions  have  been  filed  in  the 
Massachusetts  Supreme  Court  asking 
the  court  to  appoint  receivers  for  the 
Northern  Massachusetts  Street  Rail- 
way, the  Connecticut  Valley  Street  Rail- 
way and  the  Concord,  Maynard  &  Hud- 
son Street  Railway.  The  petitioners 
declare  that  if  the  court  does  not  take 
jurisdiction  individual  creditors  will 
assert  their  rights  in  different  courts, 
so  that  there  will  be  many  suits. 

Levies  and  attachments  will  be  made 
upon  cars,  material  and  supplies  of  the 
companies  and  trustee  processes  will 
be  begun  which  will  tie  up  the  finances 
so  that  the  roads  will  be  unable  to 
maintain  their  properties. 

These  petitions  have  been  filed  in  be- 
half of  members  of  a  firm  of  insurance 
brokers  doing  business  under  the  name 
of  Gilmour,  Rothery  &  Company.  They 
declare  that  the  credit  of  the  com- 
panies is  so  impaired  that  they  cannot 
borrow  money  with  which  to  meet  ma- 
turing obligations,  and  that  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  Road  owes  them  $7,060 
in  premiums  overdue  on  insurance 
policies;  that  the  Concord,  Maynard  & 
Hudson  road  owes  $147  in  premiums 
and  the  Northern  Massachusetts  com- 
pany owes  $850  in  overdue  premiums. 

Judge  Jenney  of  the  Supreme  Court 
has  ordered  the  petitioners  to  give 
notice  of  these  proceedings  to  the 
Massachusetts  Department  of  Public 
Utilities  and  to  the  Selectmen  of  each 
town  and  Mayor  of  each  city  in  which 
the  three  roads  operate  cars. 

Purchase  Recommendations 
Approved  by  Municipalities 

At  a  conference  of  municipal  repre- 
sentatives in  the  Niagara  district  of 
the  Ontario  province  held  in  St. 
Catharines,  Ont.,  the  report  of  the 
Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission  re- 
garding the  acquisition  of  the  Niagara, 
St.  Catharines  &  Toronto  Railway  was 
indorsed  and  the  municipal  representa- 
tives recommended  to  the  councils  of 
the  various  localities  that  by-laws  be 
submitted  at  the  coming  municipal 
elections  to  take  over  the  railway. 

W.  B.  Burgoyne,  president  of  the 
Niagara  District  Radial  Union,  ex- 
plained that  the  meeting  was  merely  a 
continuation  of  a  conference  held  two 
years  ago  to  discuss  the  proposed  elec- 
tric lines  through  the  district  when  it 
was  decided  to  ask  Sir  Adam  Beck  to 
secure  an  option  on  the  Niagara,  St. 
Catharines  &  Toronto  Railway  lines 
in  the  Niagara  district.  Chief  Engi- 
neer Gaby  of  the  commission  said  the 
railway  could  be  bought  for  $3,544,374, 
to  be  paid  by  $2,446,374  of  4£  per  cent 
fifty-year  bonds  of  the  Hydro-Electric 
Commission  and  the  assumption  by  the 
commission  of  $1,098,100  outstanding 
5  per  cent  bonds. 

The  property  to  be  acquired  consists 
of  the  main  tracks  connecting  Niagara- 
on-the-Lake,  Port  Dalhousie,  St.  Cath- 
arines, Merritton,  Thorold,  Niagara 
Falls,  Welland,  Humberstone  and  Port 
Colborne,  also  the  local  railway  sys- 
tems in  St.  Catharines,  Merritton, 
Thorold  and  Niagara  Falls,  Ont.  These 
new  lines  would  be  reconstructed  at  a 
cost  of  $344,999,  and  an  extension  built 
in  Thorold  to  the  industrial  district 
and  to  local  lines  in  St.  Catharines 
and  Merritton.  To  place  the  line  in 
first  class  condition  would  cost  an  ad- 
ditional $774,456. 


Financial 
News  Notes 


Petitions  Court  for  Receiver. — A  bill 
of  equity  has  recently  been  filed  in 
court  in  Norristown,  Pa.,  requesting 
the  appointment  of  a  receiver  for  the 
Montgomery  Transit  Company.  This 
line  operates  between  Norristown  and 
Harleysville.  It  is  said  that  the  com- 
pany is  insolvent. 

P.  R.  T.  Realizes  $1,447,394.— For 
the  eleven-month  period  ended  Nov.  30, 
1921,  the  Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid 
Transit  Company  realized  a  net  income 
of  $1,447,394,  against  a  deficit  of  $45,- 
429  for  the  corresponding  period  a  year 
ago.  The  accumulated  deficit  for  the 
twenty-three  month  period  to  Nov.  30, 

1921,  is  $1,045,540. 

Abandonment  of  Service  Authorized. 
— The  Ohio  Service  Company,  New 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  by  a  decision  handed 
down  by  the  Public  Utilities  Commis- 
sion has  been  granted  the  right  to 
abandon  its  railway  service  between 
Uhrichsville  and  Dennison  on  Jan.  1. 
The  application  was  based  on  the 
grounds  that  the  line  is  now  being 
operated  at  a  loss. 

Approval  of  $1,200,000  Issue  Sought. 
— Formal  application  by  the  Eighth 
Avenue  Railway,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  for 
a  $1,200,000  bond  issue  secured  by  the 
company's  real  estate  has  been  made 
to  the  Transit  Commission.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  bond  issue  is  to  provide 
funds  with  which  to  take  up  certain 
bank  loans  and  bring  about  improve- 
ments in  the  physical  condition  of  the 
company's  properties. 

Extended  Bonds  Offered.  —  Dillon, 
Read  &  Company,  New  York,  N.  Y., 
offered  for  subscription  on  Dec.  19  at 
100  flat  to  yield  7  per  cent  the  remain- 
der of  $5,000,000  of  7  per  cent  extended 
gold  bonds  of  the  Minneapolis  (Minn.) 
Street  Railway  and  the  Minneapolis, 
Lyndale  &  Minnetonka  Railway  not 
accepted  by  the  original  holders  for  ex- 
tension. The  issue  was  promptly  over- 
subscribed. 

Interurban  Bondholders  Organize. — 

Action  has  been  taken  by  some  of  the 
larger  bondholders  of  the  Dayton, 
Springfield  &  Urbana  Traction  Com- 
pany, Springfield,  Ohio,  to  protect  their 
interest  and  property.  Failure  of  the 
company  to  pay  its  coupons  on  the  first 
mortgage  bonds  due  on  Nov.  1,  1921, 
was  the  cause  for  the  action  taken. 
A  bondholders'  protective  committee 
has  been  organized. 

Taxes  on  Electric  Railways  Raised 
15  Per  cent. — Electric  railway  proper- 
ties in  Wisconsin  will  have  to  pay  an 
aggregate  tax  of  $1,594,242,  or  an  in- 
crease of  15  per  cent  over  that  of  1920, 
on  the  basis  of  the  preliminary  valua- 
tion fixed  by  the  Tax  Commission. 
Their  rate  of  taxation  was  increased 
from  $18.53  a  thousand  to  $21.06  a 
thousand,  or  more  than  12  per  cent; 
their  valuation  was  increased  from 
$71,360,000  to  $75,700,000,  or  more  than 
5  per  cent. 

Bids  Wanted  for  $680,000  of  Bonds. 

— Bids  will  be  received  until  Jan.  7, 

1922,  by  Harry  W.  Carroll,  City  Comp- 
troller of  Seattle,  Wash.,  for  the  sale 
of  $680,000  of  municipal  street  rail- 


way extension  bonds,  the  bonds  to  be 
sold  for  the  purchase  of  new  street 
railway  tracks  on  First  Avenue,  pur- 
chase of  twenty-five  new  cars  and  pay- 
ing of  the  city's  debt  to  the  Western 
Washington  Power  Company,  incurred 
at  the  time  of  the  purchase  of  the 
Greenwood  Avenue  carline  in  Ballard. 

Mortgage  Releases  Being  Arranged  in 
Detroit. — Suit  has  been  started  before 
Judge  Webster  to  arrange  for  the  re- 
lease of  mortgages  existing  on  the  day- 
to-day  lines  of  the  Detroit  United  Rail- 
way, which  the  city  has  voted  to  take 
over  and  for  which  the  city  seeks  title. 
The  suit  is  against  the  Detroit  United 
Railway  and  the  Guaranty  Trust  Com- 
pany, New  York,  which  acts  as  trustee 
of  the  mortgage  on  the  lines  in  ques- 
tion to  determine  who  is  to  receive  the 
money  which  the  city  is  to  pay  for  the 
lines  under  the  terms  of  the  arbitra- 
tion. The  day-to-day  lines  include 
the  Grand  Belt,  Twelfth  Street,  Lin- 
wood,  Kercheval  and  Hamilton  lines. 

October  Showing  Is  Favorable. — The 
loss  from  operation  at  Findlay,  Ohio, 
by  the  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  South- 
ern Traction  Company  has  been  cut 
down  to  its  lowest  point  for  the  month 
of  October.  The  street  car  commis- 
sioners believe  the  new  cost-at-service 
grant  put  into  effect  last  March  will  ul- 
timately succeed.  The  $20,000  stabiliz- 
ing fund  has  been  cut  down  to  $10,286 
since  the  new  plan  was  adopted.  The 
monthly  loss  has  run  as  high  as  $2,000 
but  during  the  last  month  was  only 
$325.  No  change  in  car  fare  is  ex- 
pected soon.  Cash  fare  is  10  cents, 
tickets,  two  for  15  cents  or  seven  for 
50  cents. 

$1,600,000  of  Bonds  Offered  by  In- 
terurban.— Stone  &  Webster,  Boston, 
Mass.,  are  members  of  a  syndicate 
which  offered  for  subscription  on  Dec 
20  $1,600,000  of  first  mortgage  5  per 
cent  gold  bonds  of  the  Washington, 
Baltimore  &  Annapolis  Electric  Rail- 
road, Baltimore,  Md.  The  offering  price 
was  78  and  interest  yielding  7.10  per 
cent.  The  proceeds  of  the  issue  are 
to  be  used  for  retiring  at  par  and 
interest  $1,400,000  of  7  per  cent  notes 
of  the  company.  The  company  made  a 
wonderful  record  of  earnings  during 
the  war-time  period  of  heavy  traffic 
between  Baltimore  and  Washington 
and  even  in  1920  and  1921  earned  re- 
spectively $287,007  and  $337,000  after 
payment  of  interest. 

Bonds  Paid  at  Maturity. — The  Ken- 
tucky Traction  &  Terminal  Company 
recently  announced  that  the  $191,000 
of  5  per  cent  bonds  of  the  Georgetown 
&  Lexington  Traction  Company,  due 
on  Nov.  15,  1921,  would  be  paid  off  at 
maturity  at  the  office  of  the  Cincin- 
nati Trust  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
trustees.  In  connection  with  the  pay- 
ment the  Kentucky  Traction  &  Termi- 
nal Company  issued  $196,000  of  5  per 
cent  first  and  refunding  mortgage 
bonds  dated  Feb.  1,  '1911,  and  due 
February  1,  1951.  These  $196,000  of 
Kentucky  Traction  &  Terminal  bonds 
have  been  exchanged  with  the  Lexing- 
ton Utilities  Company  for  an  equal 
amount  of  face  value  Lexington  Utili- 
ties Company's  first  lien  and  refund- 
ing 6s,  Series  B,  due  April  1,  1936, 
which  have  all  been  sold.  The  $196,- 
000  of  Kentucky  Traction  &  Terminal 
bonds  have  been  pledged  under  the  in- 
denture executed  on  April  1,  1919,  by 
the  Lexington  Utilities  Company 
through  the  Commercial  Trust  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  Pa.,  trustee. 


1130 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


First  Bus  Order  in  Nebraska 

Commission  There  Takes  Cognizance  of 
New  Form  of  Transportation  in 
Competition  With  Trolley 

The  Nebraska  State  Railway  Com- 
mission has  taken  official  cognizance  of 
motor  bus  transportation.  Its  first 
order  on  the  subject  bears  date  of  Nov. 
25  and  refers  to  a  complaint  filed  with 
the  commission  by  the  Omaha  &  Lin- 
coln Railway  &  Light  Company  against 
Frank  Henry.  The  complaining  com- 
pany operates  an  electric  railway  be- 
tween South  Omaha  and  Pappilion.  Mr. 
Henry  operates  a  motor  bus  line  be- 
tween South  Omaha  and  Ralston,  fol- 
lowing a  route  identical  with  part  of 
the  route  of  complainant,  with  one  ter- 
minal identical  and  its  other  terminal 
at  a  midway  station  in  use  by  the  com- 
plainant. 

Basis  of  Railway's  Objections 

The  railway  alleged  that  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Henry  buses  was  confined 
to  that  portion  of  its  whole  route  where 
it  never  had  been  able  to  operate  suc- 
cessfully from  the  revenues  there  re- 
ceived. Other  allegations  were  male 
by  complainant  as  to  practices  of  re- 
spondent inimical  to  the  safety  of  its 
own  passengers  and  to  the  performance 
of  its  duty. 

In  its  order  the  commission  prescribed 
schedules  of  service  which  complainant 
and  respondent  shall  observe.  The 
commission  further  ordered  that  the 
management  of  the  bus  line  shall  in- 
stall books  of  accounts  which  shall 
show: 

(a)  Financial  statement,  including  in  as- 
sets the  cost  of  trucks,  offic ;  furniture  and 
fixtures,  shop  equipment,  supplies,  miscel- 
laneous items  and  cash  on  hand,  and  in 
liabilities  the  actual  investment  by  the 
owners,  money  borrowed  and  money  earned, 
amount  set  aside  for  depreciation  and  the 
accrued  surplus 

(b)  Revenues  from  regular  passenger 
schedules  and  separately  from  other 
sources. 

(c)  Expenses,  to  include  gasoline  and  oil, 
drivers'  wages,  drivers'  expenses  allowed, 
tire  repairs  and  renewals,  repairs  to  buses, 
repairs  to  buildings  and  shop  equipment, 
salaries  of  officers  and  clerical  help,  rent, 
heat,  light,   insurance,   taxes,  etc. 

(d)  Dividends  paid  on  investment. 

(e)  Daily  total  of  revenue  passengers 
carried,  non-revenue  passengers  carried  and 
monthly  and  annual  summaries  of  these. 

Bus  Limits  Prescribed 

It  is  further  ordered  that  the  buses 
abstain  from  driving  on  interurban  or 
street  railway  tracks,  or  near  enough  to 
obstruct  the  clearance  to  electric  cars, 
except  when  traffic  conditions  on  the 
highway  make  it  temporarily  unavoid- 
able. The  buses  are  to  yield  the  right- 
of-way  to  any  approaching  electric  rail- 
way car  and  are  not  to  obstruct  tracks 
until  after  electric  car  has  passed. 

The  commission  also  ordered  the  bus 
line  to  secure  liability  insurance  for 
the  protection  of  passengers  of  not 
less  than  $10,000  for  each  bus  operated 
as  a  common  carrier,  nor  less  than  $500 
for  each  passenger  carried  at  any  one 
time,  the  proposed  policies  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  commission  for  approval. 

A  one-way  fare  of  14  cents  was  es- 
tablished by  the  commission  for  the  5- 
mile  route  of  the  bus  line,  with  an  in- 
termediate fare  of  7  cents. 


An  excerpt  from  the  order  reads: 

Regulation  in  the  public  interest  which 
might  as  an  incident  materially  reduce 
the  earning  power  of  this  respondent  does 
not  violate  his  constitutional  property 
rights.  He  is  using  the  highway  as  a 
place  of  business.  He  operates  entirely 
upon  license,  or.  more  properly,  consent, 
and  no  vested  right  is  involved.  The  fact 
that  he  has  money  invested  in  buses, 
which  regulation  of  his  schedules  might 
jeopardize,  is  not  material.  The  State  may 
even  prohibit  this  respondent  and  others 
lihe  him  from  continuing  to  operate,  if  the 
reasons  for  its  exercise  of  the  police  power 
are  defensible  as  in  the  interest  of  the 
general  public. 

T.  A.  Browne,  member  of  the  State 
Railway  Commission,  offered  the  fol- 
lowing comment  on  the  subject  of  motor 
bus  regulation : 

This  commission  has  not  attempted  regu- 
lation of  motor  bus  lines  in  any  degree 
except  in  so  far  as  represented  by  the 
order  in  the  Ralston  case,  which  came 
before  us  on  complaint.  I  cannot  say  Just 
what  is  contemplated.  There  is  no  question 
that  these  buses  are  common  carriers  and 
are  subject  to  regulation  just  as  are 
other  common  carrier  residents  of  Nebraska. 
While  it  is  probably  the  commission's  duty 
to  do  whatever  regulating  is  essential,  we 
have  considered  the  provisions  of  the  law 
as  directory  only  and  have  been  reluctant 
to  embark  into  the  field  of  regulation 
because  of  the  great  complexities  surround- 
ing the  subject. 

Commission  Lacks  Knowledge 

These  motor  buses  which  operate  inter- 
town  lines  on  country  roads  are  subject  to 
so  many  conditions  over  which  they  have 
no  control  that  they  must  be  more  or  less 
erratic  as  to  schedules  We  attempted  a 
rather  comprehensive  regulation  of  freight 
trucks,  but  were  not  very  successful 
because  of  the  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
subject  either  in  our  possession  or  else- 
where. 

We  do  not  know  how  many  motor  bus 
lines  there  are  in  this  State.  We  have  not 
required  them  to  file  anything  in  our  office. 
We  have  not  assumed  that  the  commission's 
jurisdiction  required  them  to  obtain  con- 
sent before  beginning  operation.  We  do 
know  that  some  of  them  have  been  rather 
short  lived  and  that  others  have  tried  out 
the  business  where  their  predecessors  have 
failed.  It  is  easy  to  go  into  the  motor 
bus  business.  It  is  not  a  stable  business 
and  therein  lies  its  chief  menace,  particu- 
larly if  by  operation  it  menaces  the  con- 
tinuance of  stable  transportation. 


Georgia  Railway  Redeems 

Rebate  Slips 

In  accordance  with  a  contract  be- 
tween the  city  of  College  Park,  a 
suburb  of  Atlanta,  and  the  Georgia 
Railway  &  Power  Company,  operating 
the  city  electric  traction  and  suburban 
lines,  by  which  a  5-cent  fare  was 
granted  College  Park  with  the  original 
franchise,  the  railway  has  been  com- 
pelled to  make  a  refund  of  2  cents  each 

on  682,670  fares,  amounting  to  $13,653. 

When  the  company  was  granted  a  7- 
cent  fare  in  Atlanta  some  months  ago 
the  same  fare  also  was  charged  in  the 
suburbs  of  Decatur  and  College  Park, 
but  due  to  a  suit  being  brought  against 
the  company  on  the  old  contract,  rebate 
tickets  were  issued  with  each  7-cent 
fare  to  citizens  of  these  two  suburbs. 
Recently  the  Supreme  Court  ruled  that 
the  5-cent  fare  would  have  to  stand  in 
accordance  with  the  original  contract, 
and  the  amount  paid  back  by  the  com- 
pany represents  the  refund  on  the  re- 
bate tickets  issued  in  College  Park. 
Such  an  order  was  not  obtained  for 

the  Decatur  line.    This  case  has  been 

referred  to  previously. 


Electric  Railways  Upheld 

Both  Muskegon  and  Battle  Creek  Vote 
to  Retain  Their  Electric  Railways 
— Fight  on  in  Grand  Rapids 

Two  Michigan  cities,  Muskegon  and 
Battle  Creek,  have  voted  to  support 
electric  railways  in  the  latter's  fight 
against  encroaching  jitney  competition. 
In  each  city  popular  elections  held  dur- 
ing the  week  ended  Dec.  17  resulted  in 
an  overwhelming  indorsement  of  the 
stand  taken  by  the  railways  that  com- 
petition by  buses  on  streets  occupied  by 
railway  lines  must  be  stopped  in  order 
to  preserve  the  railways.  The  system 
in  Muskegon,  known  as  the  Muskegon 
Traction  &  Lighting  Company,  is  con- 
trolled by  the  American  Light  &  Trac- 
tion Company,  while  the  lines  in  Battle 
Creek  are  operated  by  the  Michigan 
United  Railways. 

Two  Bus  Lines  Affected 
In  Muskegon  two  bus  lines  were  af- 
fected. In  that  city  the  vote  was  4,605 
for  the  cars  and  1,316  for  the  buses. 
Muskegon  Heights,  a  large  suburb, 
gave  a  majority  of  430  for  the  electric 
railway.  By  the  terms  of  the  vote  the 
Council  there  is  authorized  to  pass  ordi- 
nances denying  use  of  the  street  to 
the  bus  lines  affected.  Three  bus  lines 
will  not  be  affected  by  the  vote.  If 
the  vote  had  gone  the  other  way  the 
railway  planned  to  cease  operation  on 
the  following  day,  permission  to  take 
such  action  having  been  granted  the 
operating  company  by  the  Michigan 
Public  Utilities  Commission  following 
a  showing  before  the  commission  that 
the  cars  could  not  be  operated  at  a 
profit  in  the  face  of  the  claimed  unfair 
competition  of  the  jitney  lines.  Even 
in  districts  served  exclusively  by  the 
bus  lines  the  vote  was  overwhelmingly 
in  favor  of  the  retention  of  the  electric 
railway  system. 

The  Battle  Creek  vote  resulted  in  a 
ten  to  one  victory  for  the  street  cars. 
The  vote  for  the  cars  was  5,638  and 
for  the  jitney  568.  The  expenses  of  the 
Battle  Creek  election  were  borne  by  the 
electric  railway.  In  this  city  both  the 
electric  railway  and  the  jitney  men 
carried  on  extensive  publicity  cam- 
paigns. The  publicity  for  the  railway 
was  in  charge  of  Henry  Tinkham  and 
was  of  a  high  order  and  exceptionally 
effective.  In  Muskegon,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  jitney  men  spent  thousands 
of  dollars  in  striving  to  persuade  the 
voters  to  support  them,  while  the  rail- 
way spent  not  a  cent,  leaving  the  whole 
matter  to  public  opinion.  In  both 
cities  the  newspapers  supported  the 
electric  railways.  In  Battle  Creek  the 
railway  employees  appealed  direct  to 
the  voters  by  circulars. 

Grand  Rapids  Also  a  Battleground 
These  victories  followed  the  partial 
one  scored  in  Grand  Rapids,  where  an 
ordinance  requiring  a  $10,000  bond  for 
jitney  men  was  adopted.  Following  the 
adoption  of  this  ordinance  the  bonding 
company  refused  to  give  the  bonds  and 
the  jitney  men  found  themselves  un- 
able to  meet  the  city  laws.  Several 
operated  as  free  lance  drivers,  announc- 
ing in  placards  on  their  cars  that  they 
would  give  free  rides  and  asked  for 
contributions.  Such  contribution  custo- 
marily was  left  on  the  seat  as  the  pas- 
senger alighted  at  the  end  of  the  ride. 
This  practice  has  proved  far  from  ef- 
fective and  now  the  bus  men  are  ask- 
ing that  the  amount  of  the  bond  be 
reduced  appreciably,  it  being  regulated 
by  the  capacity  of  the  car. 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1131 


Kansas  City  Jitney  Problem  Up  Again 

Operators  There  Seek  to  Take  Advantage  of  Recently  Enacted  State  Law 
— Whole  Case  Now  Before  Court  for  Settlement 

Kansas  City,  Mo.,  is  the  battleground  for  a  new  attack  by  jitney  operators 
upon  the  right  of  a  municipality  to  control  vehicles  operated  for  hire.  The 
occasion  for  the  renewal  of  the  contest  between  jitneys  and  city  officials  in 
Kansas  City  is  the  passage  of  a  new  traffic  law  by  the  State  Legislature.  This 
measure,  the  jitney  men  .  claim,  relieves  them  from  municipal  control.  This  is 
the  Bestor  law,  apparently  intended  to  make  uniform  the  regulation  of  traffic 
throughout  the  State.  It  has  to  do  with  the  manner  in  which  vehicles  operating 
on  public  streets  and  highways  shall  be  equipped  and  run. 


THE  jitney  operators  contend  that 
since  the  State  has  assumed  a  cer- 
tain control  of  motor  vehicles,  the  cities 
have  no  longer  any  authority  to  reg- 
ulate traffic.  The  jitney  men  have 
therefore  reopened  litigation  on  exist- 
ing ordinances  and  are  trying  to  secure 
a  court  decision  invalidating  the  effect 
of  the  ordinances  that  have  made  pres- 
ent jitney  operation  illegal.  A  brief 
review  of  the  Kansas  City  situation  will 
make  clearer  the  importance  of  the 
pending  litigation. 

Ordinance  Effective  Last  March 

A  city  ordinance  became  effective  in 
March,  1921,  prohibiting  jitneys  from 
running  on  streets  having  electric  rail- 
way tracks.  The  jitney  men  sought  an 
injunction  to  prevent  the  city  from  en- 
forcing this  ordinance;  the  local  court 
upheld  the  ordinance,  and  the  jitney 
men  appealed  to  the  State  Supreme 
Court.  The  appeal  is  still  pending. 
This  ordinance  has  been  fairly  well 
obeyed. 

A  second  ordinance  regulating  jitneys 
was  passed  in  August;  this  reaffirmed 
the  prohibition  against  jitney  operation 
on  electric  railway  streets,  and  provided 
for  designated  jitney  routes,  applica- 
tions for  routes  by  jitney  men  to  carry 
written  consents  of  51  per  cent  of  res- 
ident-owned property  on  such  routes. 
After  lenient  delay  by  the  city,  there 
was  insistence  that  this  ordinance  be 
complied  with.  Several  applications 
were  filed  by  jitney  operators  for 
designated  routes,  with  "consents"  by 
property  owners.  But  in  no  case,  as 
checking  of  assessors'  books  revealed, 
were  the  consents  sufficient. 

Jitneys  continued  to  operate,  how- 
ever, despite  the  ordinance,  and  the 
jitney  association  sought  an  injunction 
against  the  city,  to  restrain  it  from 
enforcing  the  measure.  The  city  filed 
a  cross  bill,  asking  injunctive  relief 
against  threatened  violation  of  the  or- 
dinance. A  temporary  restraining  order 
was  granted  to  the  city,  later  made  an 
injunction.  The  injunction  was  asked, 
and  granted,  against  the  jitney  asso- 
ciation, and  also  against  fifty-one 
named  jitney  operators. 

Hope  Seen  in  Bestor  Law 

The  proposal  in  the  State  Legislature 
of  the  Bestor  law  and  its  passage  gave 
jitney  operators  hope  that  the  city  con- 
trol would  be  abrogated.  As  soon  as 
the  Bestor  law  became  effective  they 
sought  a  reopening  of  the  injunction 
proceedings  and  full  relief  from  effect- 
iveness of  the  ordinance.  It  may  be 
remembered  that  while  the  injunction 
proceedings  on  the  ordinance  prohibit- 
ing jitneys  from  so-called  electric  rail- 
way streets  are  pending  in  the  State 
Supreme,  Court,  the  ordinance  on  which 
local  injunction  prevails  covers  the 
material  of  the  first  city  law  as  well 
as  that  regarding  consents  of  property 
owners  and  other  matters. 


In  the  presentation  of  their  case  to 
the  local  court  recently,  the  jitney  men 
have  tried  to  show  not  only  that  the 
ordinance  conflicts  with  the  Bestor  law, 
but  that  it  is  in  itself  unfair.  They 
have  in  fact  recovered  the  original 
ground  of  controversy,  possibly  to  dis- 
play the  lack  of  necessity  for  any  mu- 
nicipal action  in  regulation,  additional 
to  the  regulation  by  the  Bestor,  the 
state  law. 

The  Bestor  law  specifies  the  manner 
in  which  motor  vehicles  shall  operate 
on  the  public  streets  and  highways  and 
provides  for  a  state  license  for  motor 
vehicles.  It  permits  cities  to  levy  license 
taxes  on  vehicles,  which  cannot  be 
more  than  half  the  state  license  fee. 

The  city's  counsel  pointed  out  prec- 
edents both  in  Missouri  and  in  other 
states  for  its  contention  that  the  Bestor 
law,  like  other  similar  laws,  does  not 
withdraw  regulation  of  privileges  from 
cities,  and  does  not,  indeed,  prevent 
cities  from  passing  and  enforcing  reg- 
ulations of  similar  character  to  those 
of  the  state  law,  and  in  addition  to  the 
state's  regulations. 

Testimony  by  witnesses  for  the  jitney 
men  was  intended  to  prove  that  jitney 
service  was  necessary  in  Kansas  City 
as  an  adjunct  to  the  electric  railway 
service,  since,  it  was  claimed,  the  rail- 
way company  could  not  handle  the 
traffic. 

Railway  Fully  Prepared  to  Meet 
Traffic  Demands 

Documents  and  evidence  were  in- 
troduced by  the  city  demonstrating  that 
the  Kansas  City  Railways  was  able  not 
only  to  handle  the  traffic  which  the 
jitneys  sought,  but  an  amount  greatly 
in  excess  of  that.  The  most  striking 
evidence  of  this  was  the  display  of 
passengers  handled  during  the  Amer- 
ican Legion  convention,  when,  for  the 
peak  days,  the  railways  transported 
more  than  726,000  persons  a  day.  The 
daily  average  carried  by  the  street 
cars,  cash  and  transfer,  is  about  550,000, 
so  that  the  Legion  figures  displayed 
an  ability  to  care  for  about  175,000  in 
excess  of  the  usual  number.  These 
figures  were  made  more  impressive  by 
comparison  with  the  claims  of  the 
jitney  witnesses,  that  the  jitneys  had 
been  carrying  about  50,000  passengers 
a  day,  who  could  not  have  been  served 
except  by  jitneys. 

D.  L.  Fennell,  superintendent  of 
transportation  of  the  Kansas  City  Rail- 
ways under  the  receivers,  was  called 
by  the  city  as  a  traffic  expert.  He  was 
asked  to  testify  on  subjects  related  to 
the  reasonableness  of  ordinances  reg- 
ulating jitneys.  He  testified  as  to  the 
damage  to  headways  of  street  cars 
caused  by  jitneys  operating  on  streets 
having  tracks;  that  maintenance  of 
schedules  by  street  cars  was  improved 
20  per  cent  after  the  jitneys  had  been 
prohibited  from  streets  having  tracks; 
on  these  streets,  vehicle  accidents  had 


decreased  25  per  cent  since  the  removal 
of  jitney  routes. 

Mr.  Fennell  testified  that  the  opera- 
tion of  jitneys  had  caused  a  loss  of 
$3,500  to  $4,000  a  day  to  his  company, 
or  about  $1,000,000  a  year,  and  was 
largely  responsible  for  the  fact  that  the 
company  is  now  in  receivers'  hands. 

Briefs  are  to  be  submitted  and  final 
decision  by  the  court  may  not  be  given 
for  several  weeks.  In  view  of  the  im- 
portance of  the  matter  reflected  in  the 
extent  of  legal  assistance,  it  is  likely 
that  appeal  will  be  taken  from  the 
Jackson  county  circuit  court,  whatever 
the  result  here. 


Special  Master  Now  Hearing 
New  Jersey  Case 

Former  United  States  Judge  Thomas 
G.  Haight  has  started  to  take  testimony 
at  Newark,  N.  J.,  to  settle  the  question 
as  to  whether  the  8-cent  fare  is  to  con- 
tinue on  the  Public  Service  Railway  or 
whether  it  is  to  be  set  aside.  The  order 
of  United  States  District  Court  Judges 
Rellstab  and  Woolley  authorized  the 
8-cent  fare  only  temporarily,  or  until 
the  entire  question  as  to  the  propriety 
of  such  an  8-cent  fare  could  be  fully 
investigated  by  a  Federal  tribunal. 

Last  July  the  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sion fixed  a  fare  of  7  cents  with  2  cents 
for  a  transfer  for  the  company.  An 
appeal  was  taken  by  the  company  on 
the  ground  of  confiscation  of  property 
and  hearings  were  held  before  the  spe- 
cial Federal  statutory  court,  resulting 
in  the  company  being  granted  a  tem- 
porary injunction  restraining  the  State 
commission  from  enforcing  its  order, 
and  allowing  the  company  an  8-cent 
fare  pending  final  hearing. 

The  commission  and  the  State  ap- 
pealed this  decision  to  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  They  were  de- 
nied a  stay  of  the  lower  court's  ruling 
pending  hearing.  Their  request  for 
advancement  of  the  date  of  hearing 
was  made  because  they  wanted  their 
appeal  disposed  of  as  soon  as  possible. 


City  Wins  Point  Against  Jitneys 

The  city  of  Seattle  recently  won  an- 
other angle  of  its  legal  fight  against 
jitney  buses  in  the  city,  when  Judge 
J.  T.  Ronald,  in  the  Superior  Court, 
denied  the  application  of  twenty  resi- 
dents of  the  Cowen  Park  district  for  a 
writ  compelling  the  Sound  Transit 
Company  to  operate  its  Cowen  Park 
and  Roosevelt  Heights  jitney  stages. 
The  Cowen  Park  people  were  seeking  to 
compel  the  company  to  comply  with  a 
certificate  of  necessity  issued  by  the 
State  Department  of  Public  Works, 
which  the  company  has  contended  re- 
quires continuous  service  for  the  two 
districts. 

T.  J.  L.  Kennedy,  first  assistant 
corporation  counsel,  who  appeared  for 
the  city  as  a  friend  of  the  court,  de- 
clared the  Sound  Transit  Company 
holds  no  franchise  under  which  it  is 
obligated  to  furnish  transportation, 
and  that  only  the  State  Department  of 
Public  Works,  which  issued  the  certif- 
icate, has  jurisdiction  to  judge  whether 
the  company  is  fulfilling  the  terms  of 
such  certificate.  Judge  Ronald  held 
that,  there  being  no  franchise,  he  could 
not  compel  the  company  to  operate  its 
buses.  The  case  was  referred  to  in 
the  Electric  Railway  Journal,  issue 
of  Dec.  17. 


1132 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


One-Man  Car  Experiences  Related 

The  Capital  Traction  Company  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  has  discontinued  the 
use  of  the  only  one-man  car  which  it 
has  been  operating  in  the  city.  The  car 
has  been  transferred  to  a  shuttle  service 
at  Tacoma  Park,  Md.  Officials  state 
that  there  is  no  significance  to  be  at- 
tached to  this  change.  This  car  was 
fitted  up  several  months  ago  with  the 
idea  of  seeing  what  could  be  done  with 
some  of  the  company's  old  equipment. 
It  happens  that  the  Capital  Traction 
Company  is  not  likely  to  be  in  need  of 
new  equipment  for  some  time  to  come. 
If  it  were  necessary  to  undertake  a 
study  of  equipment  types,  it  was  stated 
that  one-man  cars  certainly  would  come 
in  for  consideration.  The  car  simply 
was  withdrawn  from  city  service  be- 
cause of  its  peculiar  fitness  for  the  only 
shuttle  service  which  the  company 
maintains. 

The  Washington  Railway  &  Electric 
Company  has  constructed  and  is  operat- 
ing thirty-one  one-man  ears.  This  has 
given  rise  to  considerable  complaint. 
To  one  of  these  complaints  the  Public 
Utilities  Commissioners  have  replied  to 
the  effect  that  the  cars  are  equipped 
fully  with  safety  devices. 


City's  Fare  Complaint  Answered 

The  answer  of  the  International  Rail- 
way, Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  to  the  city's  com- 
plaint against  the  7-cent  fare  charge 
and  alleged  inadequate  service  has  been 
filed  with  the  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion by  Herbert  G.  Tulley,  president  of 
the  company.  The  company  maintains 
that  the  7-cent  fare  is  insufficient  to 
meet  operating  costs,  make  a  reserva- 
tion for  surplus  and  contingencies, 
provide  for  maintenance  and  deprecia- 
tion and  pay  a  reasonable  return  on  the 
value  of  the  system.  The  commission 
is  asked  to  allow  a  higher  fare  than 
now  is  charged. 

It  is  conceded  that  if  a  5-cent  fare 
were  charged  it  would  have  a  tendency 
to  increase  the  number  of  car  riders, 
but  the  company  contends  that  the 
increase  would  not  be  sufficient  to  make 
up  for  the  loss  in  income.  President 
Tulley  says  the  gross  revenue  of  the 
company  would  be  less  under  a  5-cent 
fare  than  the  7-cent  fare  now  charged. 

With  the  complaint  of  the  city  an- 
swered, it  is  expected  the  Public  Service 
Commission  will  fix  a  date  for  a  hearing 
and  proceed  to  take  testimony  in  the 
rate  case. 


Decision  Against  Free  Jitneys 

Judge  Harry  O.  Chamberlin  has  up- 
held the  decision  of  the  Indianapolis 
city  court  that  the  operator  of  a  "free" 
jitney  bus  who  exacts  no  stipulated 
charge  from  his  passengers,  but  does 
receive  whatever  sum  the  passengers 
leave  in  the  car,  is  guilty  of  violation 
of  the  city  jitney  ordinance.  Judge 
Chamberlin  affirmed  the  verdict  of 
Judge  Walter  Pritchard,  who,  Nov.  28, 
found  an  operator  of  a  "free"  bus 
guilty  of  violating  the  ordinance  and 
fined  him  $10  and  costs. 

Soon  after  the  ordinance  was  adopted 
by  the  City  Council  and  before  it  be- 
came effective  several  drivers  brought 
an  injunction  suit  in  the  Superior 
Court  to  prevent  the  city  from  enforc- 
ing the  ordinance,  but  Judge  Carter 
construed  the  measure  to  be  constitu- 
tional and  valid,  and  the  police  depart- 
ment was  ordered  to  enforce  it.    In  an 


attempt  to  escape  the  provisions  of  the 
ordinance  many  jitney  drivers  removed 
the  customary  signs  and  posted  on 
their  windshields  a  sign,  "free"  bus. 
This  was  construed  to  be  a  violation 
of  the  ordinance  and  the  police  were 
ordered  to  arrest  all  who  were  oper- 
ating these  "free"  jitneys. 

Judge  Chamberlin  said  that  the  test 
was  whether  or  not  there  was  an 
implied  contract  for  any  sum  and 
whether  that  fee  finally  would  find  its 
way  into  the  driver's  pocket.  The  court 
said: 

When  a  passenger  gets  into  one  of  the 
oars  it  is  implied  that  the  driver  will  be 
paid  something  for  hauling  the  passenger. 
Every  one  who  rides  expects  to  pay  some- 
thing and  the  driver  has  the  same  expecta- 
tion. At  least,  he  has  such  a  strong  hope 
that  it  amounts  to  expectation.  I  cannot 
find  so  much  difference  between  that  and 
carrying  a  sign  announcing  that  a  fare  will 
be  charged  of  those  who  ride.  I  think  that 
it  amounts  to  an  implied  contract. 


Louisville  Fare  Case  Returned 
to  Lower  Court  for  Action 

Louisville's  railway  problem  will 
have  to  be  threshed  out  in  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  as  a  result  of  the 
action  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  on  Dec.  16  in  ruling  that  it  was 
without  jurisdiction  to  construe  three 
questions  of  law  certified  to  it  by  the 
lower  court. 

In  order  to  determine  the  question 
of  rate  contract  or  no  rate  contract, 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  for  the 
Sixth  Circuit  certified  three  questions 
of  law  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  court  did  not  announce  it  was 
without  jurisdiction  until  it  had  heard 
the  arguments  of  Joseph  S.  Lawton, 
City  Attorney,  and  had  returned  from 
its  recess. 

When  the  court  returned  from  its 
recess  Chief  Justice  William  Howard 
Taft  announced  it  was  the  opinion 
of  the  court  that  the  case  did  not 
come  within  its  jurisdiction  and  that 
the  three  questions  should  not  have 
been  certified  to  it. 

As  a  result  of  this  action  the  case 
will  go  back  to  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Appeals  for  a  final  decision,  without 
any  opinion  from  the  Supreme  Court 
on  the  three  questions  which  the  lower 
court  certified  to  it. 

The  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  certi- 
fied to  the  Supreme  Court  three  ques- 
tions of  law.  These  questions,  upon 
which  arguments  were  heard  before  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  on  Dec. 
16,  were: 

1.  — Did  the  act  of  1856  have  the  effect 
of  making  revocable  that  immunity  from 
rate  legislation  evidenced  by  the  5-cent 
contract  which  was  purported  by  the 
charter  and  by  the  contract  of  April,  1864? 

2.  — Did  such  immunity  terminate  with 
the  end  of  the  original  charter  term  in  1894? 

3.  — Did  the  acceptance  by  the  company 
of  the  Constitution  of  1891  have  the  effect 
of  making  revocable  any  such  existing 
immunity? 

The  controversy  between  the  city  and 
the  company  over  fares  dates  back  to 
1918.  Finally  in  January,  1921,  a  suit 
in  equity  was  filed  by  the  railway 
against  the  city  in  the  United  States 
District  Court,  to  establish  the  right 
to  collect  a  7-cent  fare  and  to  prevent 
the  city  from  interfering  with  the  com- 
pany collecting  that  fare.  On  Feb.  16 
Judge  Evans  decided  the  ease  in  favor 
of  the  company.  In  accordance  with 
this  ruling  the  7-cent  fare  went  into 
effect  on  Feb.  21.  The  city  then  ap- 
pealed to  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court,  which  in  turn  returned  three 
questions  of  law  to  the  Supreme  Court 
for  answer. 


New  Jitney  Regulations  Passed 
in  Camden 

New  regulations  for  the  operation  of 
jitneys  in  Camden,  N-  J.,  were  in- 
cluded in  an  ordinance  passed  by  the 
City  Council  recently.  The  ordinance 
provides  that  all  buses  must  operate 
twelve  hours  a  day,  six  days  a  week 
and  make  at  least  one  trip  each  hour 
during  the  scheduled  time  of  operation. 

Provisions  are  made  for  excluding 
buses  from  operation  in  the  event  of 
accident  or  the  necessity  of  making 
repairs.  All  bus  owners  must  file  with 
the  city  a  designated  route.  They 
must  also  place  signs  on  their  cars 
designating  the  route  over  which  they 
operate  and  the  name  of  the  owner  of 
the  bus  must  be  painted  on  the  side 
of  the  car. 

The  ordinance  also  compels  the 
owners  to  file  with  the  city  a  schedule 
of  operation  in  which  they  must  give 
their  leaving  time  from  the  terminal 
for  each  trip.  Cars  operating  beyond 
the  city  limits  must  also  file  a  time 
schedule. 


Supreme  Court  Denies  Prohibi- 
tion Writ  Restraining 
Service  Commission 

With  a  remarkable  degree  of  celerity 
concerning  the  importance  of  the  ques- 
tion involved,  Justice  Harold  L.  Hinmah 
of  the  Supreme  Court  on  Dec.  18  de- 
nied the  application  for  a  writ  of  pro- 
hibition restraining  the  Public  Service 
Commission  from  interfering  with  the 
franchise  agreements  as  to  street 
railway  fares  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  which 
application  had  been  made  to  him  and 
argued  by  Corporation  Counsel  Guy  of 
Troy  the  week  previous. 

The  writ  was  asked  on  the  ground 
that  the  public  service  commissions  law 
amendments  passed  last  winter  are 
unconstitutional,  in  so  far  as  they  dele- 
gate to  the  Public  Service  Commission 
the  right  to  abrogate  existing  franchise 
agreements. 

The  basis  of  Justice  Hinman's  deci- 
sion is  that  under  the  railroad  law  of 
the  State  and  subsequent  legislation,  in- 
cluding the  public  service  commissions 
law,  the  state  never  delegated  to  the 
city  of  Troy  the  right  to  fix  a  fare 
except  in  subordination  to  the  power 
of  the  Legislature,  which  might  at  any 
time  withdraw  the  rate  regulating 
power  from  the  city. 

The  remarkable  feature  about  the 
decision  is  its  brevity  and  that  the 
matter  is  passed  on  to  the  higher  court, 
which  in  the  final  analysis  will  at  a 
very  near  future  date  be  obliged  to 
settle  once  and  for  all,  so  far  as  the 
courts  of  New  York  State  are  con- 
cerned, the  constitutionality  of  last 
winter's  amendments  to  the  public 
service  commissions  law. 

The  Troy  case  was  referred  to  at 
length  in  the  Electric  Railway  Jour- 
nal for  Dec.  17,  page  1090. 


Seven-Cent  Rate  Authorized 

The  Empire  State  Railroad  Corpora- 
tion has  received  permission  from  the 
Public  Service  Commission  to  put  a  7- 
cent  fare  in  effect  in  Oswego,  N.  Y.  This 
rate  of  fare  is  to  be  allowed  until  the 
commission  has  finally  determined  the 
proper  fare  to  be  charged  in  that  city. 
The  7-cent  fare  will  become  effective 
on  Jan.  1. 


December  24,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1133 


Restraining  Order  Granted 
in  Owl  Car  Suit 

Justice  Charles  H.  Brown  in  the 
Supreme  Court  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  has 
granted  an  order  temporarily  restrain- 
ing the  municipal  authorities  of  Buffalo 
from  prosecuting  an  action  against  the 
International  Railway  brought  to  collect 
$139,750  in  penalties  for  failure  to 
operate  owl  car  service  on  several 
local  lines.  The  injunction  will  re- 
main in  effect  until  a  decision  has  been 
reached  in  an  action  brought  against 
the  city  by  the  railway  to  stop  all 
suits  on  the  ground  that  the  ordinance 
is  invalid. 

In  his  opinion  Justice  Brown  holds 
that  the  ordinance  is  invalid  because 
it  conflicts  with  the  public  service  com- 
missions law.  He  says  the  State  Legis- 
lature gave  the  commission  the  sole 
power  to  determine  a  just,  reasonable, 
safe,  adequate  and  proper  service  to 
be  given  by  electric  railways  in  the 
State. 

The  ruling  is  in  connection  with  a 
suit  brought  by  the  city  to  collect 
penalties  of  $250  a  day  for  each  day 
since  the  enactment  of  the  ordinance  in 
March,  1920.  The  company  countered 
with  a  suit  attacking  the  validity  of 
the  ordinance  and  then  sought  the 
temporary  injunction.  The  city  will 
appeal  the  decision  of  Justice  Brown. 


Second  Five-Cent  Fare  Week 
Shows  Improvement 

The  second  week's  trial  of  the  5-cent 
fare  in  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  showed  an 
increase  of  approximately  $600  in  re- 
ceipts over  the  first  week  of  the  test 
according  to  figures  obtained  from  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  at  Hart- 
ford, Conn.  The  receipts  for  the  week 
of  Dec.  4  totaled  $34,829,  as  against 
$39,261  in  the  last  week  of  the  10-cent 
fare,  the  difference  being  $4,432.  The 
first  week's  difference  was  $5,105.  In 
the  report  to  the  commission  President 
L.  S.  Storrs  of  the  company  says: 

During  the  week  we  carried  a  total  of 
433,948  5-cent  passengers  and  132,779  10- 
cent  passengers.  During  the  holiday 
shopping  period  the  receipts  of  the  last 
three  weeks  in  December  are  normally  ma- 
terially higher  than  at  any  time  during 
November. 

We  will,  therefore,  expect  to  see  less 
falling  off  during  this  period  than  has  been 
true  under  the  initial  period  of  the  test 
and  that  will  be  doubtless  found  to  be 
true  after  Jan.  1. 


Railway  Will  Co-operate 

with  Buses 

D.  W.  Henderson,  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  Seattle  (Wash.)  Munici- 
pal Railways,  is  co-operating  with  F. 
M.  Peterson,  who  operates  an  automo- 
bile bus  service  under  city  permit,  to 
give  improved  transportation  to  the 
residents  of  Cowen  Park,  Roosevelt 
Heights  and  North  Ravenna  districts. 
From  7  a.m.  to  midnight  fast  automo- 
bile buses  will  maintain  a  ten-minute 
service  from  East  Sixty-fifth  Street 
and  Ravenna  Boulevard  and  from  East 
Eighty-fifth  and  10th  Avenue,  N.  E., 
to  connect  with  the  municipal  cars  at 
the  north  end  of  the  University  bridge. 
Superintendent  Henderson  has  agreed 
to  have  an  inspector  at  the  bridge  to 
see  that  cars  are  on  hand  to  meet  the 
buses  and  give  speedy  service  into  the 
city. 

During  rush  hours  extra  buses  and 
cars  will  be  pressed  into  service. 


I  ransportation 
News  Notes 


Opposed  to  One-Man  Cars. — Resolu- 
tions denouncing  the  present  mode  of 
operation  of  one-man  cars  in  Trenton 
have  been  adopted  by  the  Mercer 
County  Central  Labor  Union  at  Tren- 
ton. It  is  asked  that  the  City  Com- 
mission declare  it  unlawful  to  continue 
the  operation  of  these  cars. 

Petition  Rejected. — Electric  railway 
rates  on  the  lines  of  the  Evanston 
(111.)  Railway  will  not  be  increased 
from  7  to  8  cents.  The  Illinois 
Public  Utilities  Commission  has  per- 
manently suspended  the  petition  of  the 
company,  saying  that  there  has  been  a 
decided  decrease  in  the  cost  of  labor 
and  equipment. 

Wants    Trackless    Trolleys.  —  The 

Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  will  be  asked  by  the 
Ansley  Park  Civic  League  of  Ansley 
Park,  an  Atlanta  suburb,  to  provide 
that  community  with  trackless  trolley 
service.  The  city  is  planning  to  repave 
most  of  its  important  streets  within 
the  next  few  months  and  the  request 
will  be  made  as  soon  as  the  paving  is 
completed. 

One-Man  Cars  and  Unjust  Rates 
Scored. — The  Mayor  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
has  filed  a  complaint  with  the  Public 
Service  Commission  against  one-man 
cars  and  rates  of  fare  on  the  Syracuse 
lines  of  the  New  York  State  Railways. 
In  his  petition  he  requests  an  investi- 
gation of  one-man  car  operation  and 
urges  the  abandonment  of  those  now 
in  use.  He  further  recommends  fare 
charges  which  would  be  reasonable,  just 
and  legal. 

Will  Appeal  for  Lower  Fares. — The 
board  of  education  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  is 
preparing  to  make  a  direct  appeal  to 
the  Georgia  State  Railroad  Commission 
in  quest  of  a  lower  railway  fare  for 
school  children.  A  petition  of  the  board 
for  lower  fares  for  school  children  re- 
cently was  denied  by  Preston  S.  Ark- 
wright,  president  for  the  Georgia  Rail- 
way &  Power  Company,  on  the  ground 
that  reduced  school  fares  would  be 
discriminatory  and  impracticable. 

31,842,317  Passengers  in  November. 
— The  Public  Service  Railway,  Newark, 
N.  J.,  has  filed  its  November  report 
in  the  Federal  Court  in  accordance 
with  a  ruling  of  the  court.  The  report 
shows  that  31,842,317  passengers  were 
carried  in  November;  number  paying 
fare  of  8  cents,  13,163,277;  number  of 
tickets  or  tokens  sold  at  the  rate  of 
four  for  30  cents,  11,885,342;  number 
of  passengers  paying  fares  by  tokens, 
11,571,103;  number  of  transfers  issued 
at  1  cent  each,  5,227,504. 

Asks  For  Bus  Changes. — The  resi- 
dents of  Barrington,  N.  J.,  have  pre- 
pared a  petition  to  be  sent  to  the 
Board  of  Public  Utility  Commissioners 
requesting  that  buses  running  from 
Camden  to  Berlin  shall  be  allowed  to 
take  passengers  between  Haddon 
Heights  and  Magnolia.  These  buses 
can  only  receive  passengers  at  the 
Camden  terminal  and  after  reaching 
Magnolia,  thus  causing  hardship  to  the 


traveling  public.  It  is  claimed  that 
there  has  been  a  curtailment  of  elec- 
tric railway  service  between  Camden 
and  Clementon. 

"Strain  a  Point  to  Please  Them." — 
In  order  to  establish  the  closest  pos- 
sible co-operative  effort  between  street 
car  men  and  the  traveling  public  dur- 
ing the  holiday  shopping  season,  City 
Superintendent  Cooper  of  the  Portland 
Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company, 
Portland,  Ore.,  has  issued  a  special 
bulletin  to  all  the  operating  forces  of 
the  traction  company.  He  has  urged 
the  employees  to  do  their  best  to 
lighten  the  burdens  of  all  shoppers  by 
helping  them  on  and  off  the  cars.  He 
further  requests  the  men  to  strain  a 
point  to  please  patrons. 

Safety  Campaign  Started. — The  jitney 
drivers  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  have  started 
a  campaign  to  reduce  accidents  to  a 
minimum,  guided  by  a  suggestion 
offered  them  by  Traffic  Supervisor 
Crawford.  Mr.  Crawford  told  the 
drivers  that  of  the  100  jitney  accidents 
reported  by  insurance  companies  in  the 
past  eight  weeks,  sixty  have  been 
styled  "step  accidents."  He  told  the 
drivers  that  if  they  reduced  the  number 
of  accidents  the  insurance  companies 
would  reduce  the  premiums  on  jitney 
policies.  He  warned  drivers  about 
stopping  their  cars  too  far  from  the 
curb  line. 

Wants  Bill  Prepared  on  Fare  Issue. — 
On  the  recommendation  of  Frank  C. 
Perkins,  municipal  commissioner  of 
public  affairs,  the  City  Council  of 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  has  directed  the  corpora- 
tion counsel  to  prepare  a  bill  for  in- 
troduction at  the  next  session  of  the 
State  Legislature  prohibiting  the 
charging  of  electric  railway  fares  in 
excess  of  5  cents  in  any  first  or  second 
class  city  of  the  State.  Free  transfers 
also  must  be  furnished.  Copies  of  the 
bill  will  be  sent  to  the  secretary  of  the 
state  conference  of  Mayors  and  other 
officials,  urging  the  co-operation  of  that 
organization  in  the  5-cent  fare  fight. 

Double-Berth  Cars  to  Be  Used. — The 
Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway  has  proposed  to 
the  Supervisor  of  Public  Utilities  of 
the  city  that  a  system  of  double-berth- 
ing street  cars  for  loading  in  the 
downtown  district  be  arranged  as  a 
means  -  for  speeding  up  traffic  during 
the  rush  hours.  The  suggestion  has 
been  approved  by  the  City  Commission 
and  instructions  have  been  issued  to 
the  traffic  bureau  of  the  Police  De- 
partment to  remark  the  safety  zones 
on  all  downtown  street  corners  so  that 
two  street  cars  may  take  on  passengers 
at  the  same  time.  The  safety  zones 
are  being  lengenthened.  It  is  expected 
that  the  double-berthing  plan  will  be 
put  into  effect  about  Jan.  1. 

New  Electric  Line  Proposed. — An 
electric  road  between  Wildwood  and 
Pennsgrove,  connecting  with  Wilming- 
ton, Del.,  and  passing  through  Mill- 
ville  and  Woodstown,  N.  J.,  will  be 
built  by  Philadelphia  capitalists,  ac- 
cording to  an  announcement  recently 
made  by  Mayor  Smith  of  Wildwood, 
N.  J.,  before  the  Municipal  League.  He 
said  plans  for  the  proposed  road  had 
been  completed,  and  that  high-powered 
electric  trains  will  be  operated  over 
the  line.  It  is  proposed  to  complete 
the  line  within  the  next  two  years, 
Mayor  Smith  announced.  He  said  that 
he  regretted  that  he  could  not  disclose 
the  various  details  of  the  proposed 
project. 


1134 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


Persona 


A  Youthful  but  Popular  Manager 

in  Lynn,  Mass. 

The  Nahant  &  Lynn  Street  Railway, 
Lynn,  Mass.,  one  of  the  smallest  inde- 
pendent electric  railway  lines  in  the 
country,  is  a  fine  example  of  efficiency 
and  service.  This  property,  on  which 
the  same  rate  of  fare  is  charged  as 
when  service  was  instituted  fifteen 
years  ago,  is  managed  by  one  of  the 
youngest  railway  executives.  This 
youthful  operator,  Joseph  P.  Hines,  is 
but  twenty-eight  years  old.  Manager 
Hines  succeeded  Caleb  S.  Harris  of 
Nashua,  N.  H.,  late  in  October  of  this 
year. 

The  new  manager,  who  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Nahant  and  a  former  resident 
of  Lynn,  has  a  familiarity  with  the 
service  desired  between  the  two  points 
and  for  that  reason  his  appointment 
met  with  high  approval  from  both 
patrons  and  employees  of  the  road. 

Manager  Hines  entered  the  service  of 
the  electric  railway  company  as  auditor 
and  paymaster  after  leaving  the  war 
service  in  1919.  He  was  not  then 
familiar  with  the  practical  side  of  elec- 
tric railway  work,  but  by  close  applica- 
tion and  observation  and  by  keeping  in 
contact  with  the  employees,  the  com- 
pany officials  and  the  patrons  of  the 
railway  he  developed  into  an  able 
executive. 

Relations  between  residents  of 
Nahant  and  the  electric  railway  which 
provides  the  only  public  transportation 
between  that  place  and  Lynn  are  most 
cordial. 


Clevelanders  Step  Up 

Messrs.  Wilson  and  Mead  Appointed 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  Respec- 
tively of  Cleveland  Railway 

Directors  of  the  Cleveland  (Ohio) 
Railway  at  a  meeting  Dec.  12  elected 
Paul  E.  Wilson  secretary  of  the  com- 
pany and  W.  J.  Mead  treasurer  to  fill 
the  vacancies  caused  by  the  death  of 
Henry  J.  Davies  early  in  the  month. 
Mr.  Davies  had  acted  as  both  secretary 
and  treasurer. 

Mr.  Wilson,  who  has  been  acting  as 
assistant  secretary  of  the  Cleveland 
Railway  for  the  past  two  years  and  who 
has  been,  since  March  1,  1910,  secretary 
to  John  J.  Stanley,  president  of  the 
company,  is  one  of  the  youngest  execu- 
tive officers  of  a  public  utility  company 
in  the  country  the  size  of  the  Cleveland 
Railway.  Mr.  Wilson  is  still  under 
thirty-five. 

While  still  attending  high  school. 
Paul  Wilson  worked  for  the  railway 
as  office  boy  and  clerk  for  two  summers. 
Upon  his  graduation  he  was  for  three 
years  clerk  to  the  superintendent  at  the 
operating  headquarters  of  the  company. 
He  attended  law  school  at  Western  Re- 
serve University  for  two  years  and  did 
newspaper  woi'k  for  the  Cleveland 
Leader  and  the  Cleveland  Press  for  two 
years  before  becoming  secretary  to  Mr. 
Stanley. 

Throughout  his  connection  with  the 
Cleveland  Railway  since  its  operation 
under  the  Tayler  grant  he  has  been  in 
charge  of  the  publicity  work  for  the 
company.  As  a  member  of  the  traffic 
committee   of   the   Transportation  & 


Mention 


Paul  E.  Wilson 


Traffic  Association  of  the  American 
Electric  Railway  Association  he  has 
done  considerable  work  in  a  national 
way.  He  has  also  contributed  a  number 
of  articles  to  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal  on  skip-stops  and  other  traffic 
matters. 

Since  1910,  Mr.  Mead  has  been  assist- 
ant treasurer  of  the  company.  His  con- 
nection with  the  railway  industry,  how- 
ever, dates  back  to  horsecar  days.  He 
was  auditor  of  the  Broadway  &  New- 
burgh  Company  at  the  time  of  its  con- 
solidation by  the  Stanley  interests  with 
the  Johnson-Everett  lines  forming  the 
Cleveland  Electric  Railway.  He  was 
cashier  of  this  company  for  seven  years, 
resigning  to  become  auditor  of  the 
water  works  department  of  the  city, 
which  position  he  held  two  years,  re- 
signing to  engage  in  practice  for  him- 
self as  a  certified  public  accountant. 
When  Mr.  Stanley  formed  his  organiza- 
tion in  1910  to  commence  operations 
under  the  Tayler  grant,  Mr.  Mead  be- 
came assistant  treasurer. 

Paul  S.  Schreiner,  for  eighteen  years 
an  assistant  in  the  office  of  the  secre- 
tary-treasurer of  the  Cleveland  Rail- 
way, has  been  elected  assistant 
treasurer  of  the  company. 

Philip  N.  Cristal  has  been  appointed 
secretary  to  the  president  of  the  Cleve- 
land Railway.  Mr.  Cristal  graduated 
from  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  in  1917  as  civil  engineer 


W.  J.  Mead 


and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  entered  the 
officers'  training  school  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas,  was  commissioned  lieu- 
tenant, and  a  few  months  later  captain. 
He  resigned  from  the  army  in  April  of 
last  year  and  shortly  after  joined  the 
Cleveland  railway  organization. 


Colonel  Kealy  Severs  Connection 
with  Kansas  City  Railway 

Col.  Philip  J.  Kealy  has  completely 
severed  his  connections  with  the  Kansas 
City  (Mo.)  Railway  by  announcing  his 
retirement  from  the  presidency  of  that 
company.  Colonel  Kealy  had  continued 
in  this  office  without  salary  after  the 
appointment  of  the  receivers  in  October, 
1920.  Since  that  time  he  has  ceased 
to  have  any  direct  participation  in  the 
operation  of  the  property,  but  has  been 
retained  by  the  receivers  as  a  consult- 
ant and  in  an  advisory  capacity.  C. 
W.  Armour  was  elected  president  to 
succeed  Colonel  Kealy. 

Colonel  Kealy,  as  well  as  R.  J.  Dun- 
ham and  Frank  Hagerman,  also  made 
known  his  retirement  from  the  board 
of  directors  at  the  meeting  of  the 
stockholders  held  on  Dec.  7.  Although 
the  conipany  is  now  operated  by  re- 
ceivers, the  action  of  the  stockholders 
in  electing  new  directors  and  officers  to 
continue  the  organization  is  assumed  to 
indicate  expectation  that  the  property 
will  eventually,  perhaps  at  no  very 
distant  period,  be  returned  to  them. 

The  three  directors  have  been  suc- 
ceeded by  John  G.  Forrest  of  Clay  Rob- 
inson &  Company,  live  stock  commis- 
sion merchants;  Herman  P.  Harbison, 
president  of  the  Harbison  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  and  Edward  P.  Moriarty, 
president  of  the  Moriarty  Motor  Com- 
pany, all  Kansas  City  business  men. 
These  are  company  members  of  the 
board  of  directors.  The  city  members 
of  the  board  continue  as  before — Wil- 
liam T.  Kemper,  chairman  of  the  board 
of  the  Commerce  Trust  Company;  John 
H.  Wiles,  vice-president  of  the  Loose- 
Wiles  Biscuit  Company;  D.  M.  Pinker- 
ton,  president  of  the  Board  of  Educ- 
tion and  vice-president  of  the  Gate 
City  National  Bank;  Frank  C.  Niles, 
president  of  the  Niles  &  Moser  Com- 
pany; and  John  Wagner,  bank  presi- 
dent and  undertaker.  J.  A.  Harder  was 
re-elected  secretary  and  treasurer  and 
L.  M.  Boschert  assistant. 


Mr.  Anderson  the  Good  Relations 

Promoter  in  the  Twin  Cities 

F.  A.  Anderson,  social  service  direc- 
tor of  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  is  the 
author  of  a  paper  dealing  with  the 
activities  of  the  employees'  association 
of  his  company,  published  on  another 
page  of  this  issue.  Mr.  Anderson  re- 
ceived his  college  education  at  Mon- 
mouth, 111.,  and  at  the  University  of 
Minnesota,  where  he  specialized  in 
sociology  and  economics.  After  finish- 
ing his  studies  he  was  engaged  for 
seven  years  as  secretary  of  religious 
work  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  during 
which  time  he  was  principally  occupied 
in  extension  work.  In  this  connection 
he  became  personally  acquainted  with 
a  large  body  of  the  wage  earners  of 
Minneapolis  and  this  brought  him  to 
the  attention  of  Horace  Lowry,  presi- 
dent of  the  electric  railway  of  that 
city.  In  October,  1913,  Mr.  Lowry 
employed  him  to  devote  all  of  his  time 
to  the  work  among  the  electric  railway 


December  24,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1135 


employees,  the  plans  being  left  very 
largely  to  his  own  ideas. 

During  the  eight  years  succeeding,  a 
benefit  association,  a  co-operative  asso- 
ciation among  the  trainmen  and  a 
veteran  employees'  club  of  300  mem- 
bers have  been  formed.  Having  found 
the  management  to  be  in  hearty  accord 
with  the  principle  of  good  will  and 
square  dealing  in  all  its  transactions, 
he  has  been  able  to  extend  the  activities 
of  these  several  organizations  and  de- 
velop a  very  wholesome  attitude  on  the 
part  of  employees.  Mr.  Anderson  has 
endeavored  to  make  friends  and  to  be 
friendly  with  people  generally  as  a 
fundamental  and  basic  principle  of  his 
work  in  promoting  the  good  relations 
between  the  company's  employees  and 
public.  He  has  spoken  before  nearly 
every  organization  in  Minneapolis. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Henry  Clay  Evans,  Chattanoga,  Tenn., 
for  the  last  three  score  years  prominent 
in  the  business  and  public  life  of  the 
south,  died  early  last  week.  While  still 
more  or  less  active  in  business,  he  had 
retired  a  few  years  ago  from  his  larger 
manufacturing  operations.  For  many 
years  he  headed  the  Chattanooga  Car  & 
Foundry  Company,  builders  of  car 
wheels.  He  previously  headed  the  Roane 
Iron  Works.  He  built  the  first  electric 
incline  railway  up  Lookout  Mountain. 
He  served  as  first  assistant  postmaster- 
general  under  John  Wanamaker.  He 
was  a  candidate  for  Governor  of  Ten- 
nessee during  a  close  election  some 
years  ago,  but  was  never  seated,  his 
friends  claiming  that  he  was  counted 
out  by  the  Democratic  machine  of  that 
day. 

Alex  W.  Carey,  conductor  for  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company  and  the 
Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway,  Tacoma, 
Wash.,  died  recently  at  Tacoma.  Mr. 
Carey,  after  graduating  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nevada,  where  he  studied 
law,  became  assistant  agent  with  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company,  later  trans- 
ferring to  the  auditing  department. 
Shortly  thereafter  his  health  failed, 
and  Mr.  Carey,  in  order  to  have  out- 
door work,  became  a  brakeman  for  the 
company.  He  later  became  conductor, 
transferring  finally  in  that  capacity  to 
the  Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway, 
where  he  was  for  a  time  brakeman,  and 
later  was  in  the  claim  department. 

Robert  H.  McKean,  manager  of  the 
credit  department  of  the  McGraw-Hill 
Company,  Inc.,  died  at  his  home  on 
Dec.  17,  1921.  He  was  forty-seven 
years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Mr. 
McKean's  services  began  with  the  Engi- 
neering &  Mining  Journal  in  April, 
1902,  as  assistant  in  the  accounting  de- 
partment. About  a  year  after  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Engineering  &  Mining 
Journal  by  the  Hill  Publishing  Com- 
pany Mr.  McKean  was  appointed  man- 
ager of  that  publication,  which  position 
he  held  until  he  was  elected  a  director 
and  secretary  of  the  Hill  Publishing 
Company.  At  this  time  he  assumed  the 
management  of  the  credit  department 
of  the  company.  After  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  Hill  Publishing  Company 
with  the  McGraw  Publishing  Company 
he  became  manager  of  the  combined 
credit  departments  and  held  this  posi- 
tion until  his  death. 


Deliveries  Good  on  Fenders 
and  Wheel  Guards 

Buying  of  repair  parts  for  car  fend- 
ers and  wheel  guards  by  electric  rail- 
ways is  proceeding  on  a  nearly  normal 
basis,  though  orders  are  being  placed 
on  a  basis  which  by  no  means  indicates 
that  the  industry  has  got  back  to  its 
normal  kind  of  buying.  Orders  come  in 
spasmodically  and  their  bulk  shows 
that  this  part  of  car  equipment,  in 
common  with  all  others,  is  being  kept 
in  service  until  its  last  bit  of  useful- 
ness has  been  realized.  The  market  for 
complete  equipment  has  also  been 
rather  quiet.  If  the  sales  had  depended 
entirely  on  the  number  of  new  cars 
constructed,  the  demand  would  not  have 
been  very  heavy.  The  buying  of  new 
rolling  stock  is  still  at  a  low  point; 
however,  the  manufacturers  do  report 
that  all  along  they  have  been  favored 
with  orders  for  new  parts  which  the 
railways  are  using  to  rehabilitate  their 
present  equipment.  Also  there  is  a 
fairly  strong  demand  resulting  from 
complete  renewals  of  older  and  obsolete 
safety  appliances  with  up-to-date  de- 
velopments in  this  line. 

Conditions  of  supply  in  this  market 
are  all  that  could  be  desired  as  the 
most  important  factors  of  labor  and 
raw  material  are  favorable  for  main- 
taining production  on  a  normal  basis. 
Fenders  and  wheel  guards  for  safety 
cars,  which  some  time  ago  became 
practically  a  standard  article,  can  be 
shipped  from  stock.  For  this  equip- 
ments there  is  also  carried  a  heavy 
reserve  of  repair  parts  sufficient  to 
care  for  all  needs  immediately.  How- 
ever, this  favorable  status  exists  only 
with  respect  to  standardized  safety  car 
parts,  for  equipments  for  other  cars 
cannot  be  shipped  from  stock  as  their 
manufacture  is  special  and  according  to 
specification.  The  deliveries  on  these 
made-to-order  equipments  vary,  of 
course,  with  the  conditions  to  be  con- 
formed with,  but  as  labor  and  material 
conditions  are  very  good,  manufactur- 
ers are  able  to  give  these  orders 
prompt  attention.  Prices  have  re- 
ceived a  downward  revision,  though  it 
is  difficult  to  give  a  composite  figure 
for  the  reduction. 

Manufacturers  expect  during  the 
coming  year  a  substantial  increase  in 
business  to  come  especially  from  the 
purchase  of  new  rolling  stock.  Some 
state  that  a  fair  volume  should  be  the 
result  of  junking  many  fenders  and 
wheel  guards  whose  usefulness  has 
long  since  passed.  Also  fixtures  of  this 
sort  have  been  interchanged  between 
active  and  idle  cars  so  that  a  good  mar- 
ket exists  in  supplying  this  deficiency. 


Harbirshaw  Company  Explains 

Receivership 

Habirshaw  Electric  Cable  Company, 
Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  recently  placed  in  the 
hands  of  receivers,  has  sent  out  a  circu- 
lar reviewing  the  conditions  that  led 
up  to  the  court  action  by  creditors.  It 
emphasizes  the  fact  that  the  proceed- 
ings were  part  of  a  reorganization  plan 


contemplated  for  some  time,  to  best 
meet  the  situation  created  by  the  reac- 
tion in  business  after  the  armistice  had 
led  to  wholesale  cancelation  of  Govern- 
ment contracts.  The  company,  says 
in  part: 

"Since  and  including  last  June  the 
company  has  not  increased  its  borrowing 
one  cent.  It  has  reduced  administra- 
tion, operating  and  miscellaneous  ex- 
penses 58  per  cent  compared  with 
January,  1921,  this  while  increasing  its 
business,  and  has  wiped  out  most  of 
the  stock  accumulated  previous  to  the 
depression  in  business. 

"It  has  made  a  net  profit  since  and 
including  June,  and  each  month  has 
shown  a  substantial  gain  over  the  pre- 
vious ones.  Except  for  a  possible  sea- 
sonal slowing  down  in  December  and 
January,  there  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve monthly  gain  in  net  profit  will 
continue.  When  we  consider  the  des- 
perate situation  which  existed  six 
months  ago  and  the  changes  that  have 
taken  place  since  then,  confidence  is 
amply  justified." 


Lackawanna  Again  Asks  for 

Electrification  Bids 

The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  West- 
ern Railroad  has  again  requested  the 
General  Electric  Company  and  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company  to  prepare  estimates  for 
the  electrification  of  about  40  miles  of 
track  in  the  anthracite  region  near 
Scran  ton,  Pa.  Officials  of  the  railroad 
are  reported  to  have  said  that  the  cost 
would  total  between  $5,000,000  and 
$6,000,000.  This  is  the  second  time 
that  bids  have  been  asked  for.  Esti- 
mates were  received  by  Gibbs  &  Hill, 
consulting  engineers  for  the  road,  in 
July,  but  were  found  unsatisfactory.  It 
is  felt  that  more  satisfactory  estimates 
can  be  secured  now  that  prices  are 
lower.  It  will  probably  be  some  months 
before  these  new  estimate  figures  can 
be  prepared. 


New  Rules  for  Purchase  of 

Materials  by  Chinese 

Railways 

The  Department  of  Commerce  at 
Washington  has  issued  a  set  of  regu- 
lations adopted  by  the  Chinese  Minister 
of  Communications  governing  the  pur- 
chase of  materials  by  the  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment Railways.  These  regulations 
were  passed  July  27,  1921,  and  promul- 
gated Aug.  8,  1921.  Among  other 
things  the  rules  provide  that  where 
anything  is  purchased  of  the  same  ma- 
terial or  several  similar  materials  which 
will  amount  to  more  than  $5,000, 
Chinese  currency,  tenders  are  to  be 
called  for,  unless  there  is  only  one 
manufacturer,  or  when  a  manufacturer 
has  a  long-term  agreement  with  any 
railway  to  furnish  a  certain  material. 
Whenever  the  estimated  cost  of  the 
material  is  $50,000,  a  delegate  or  dele- 
gates of  the  Ministry  of  Communica- 
tion must  be  present  at  the  time  of 
opening  the  bids.    The  result  of  the 


1136 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  26 


seventeen  of  these  cars  are  to  be  used  on 
the  Essex  division  in  Windsor,  Ont.,  while 
the  remaining  eight  will  be  operated  on  the 
Guelph  (Ont.)  Radial  Railway.  Following, 
are  the  details  of  this  equipment: 

Number  of  cars  ordered  25 

Name  of  road.  .Hydro-Electric  Power  Com- 
mission, Ontario,  Canada 

Date  order  was  placed  Sept.  28,  1921 

Date  of  delivery  Jan.  28,  1922 

Builder  of  car  body.  .Canadian  Brill  Com- 
pany, Preston, 
Ontario. 

Type  of  car.. Single  truck,  one-man  safety 

Seating  capacity  34 

Weight: 

Car   body  12,710  lb. 

Trucks    5,200  lb. 

Equipment    5,590  lb. 

Total  23,500  lb. 

Length  over  all  30  ft.  3i  in. 

Truck   wheelbase   9  ft.  0  in. 

Width  over  all  8  ft.  4  in. 

Height,  rail  to  trolley  base.. 10  ft.  7 hi. 

Body  material  All  steel 

Interior  trim  Birch 

Headlining   Agasote 

Roof   Arch  type 

Equipment : 

Air  brakes.  . Westinghouse  A.  B.  &  Safety 

car  control 

Armature  bearings  Sleeve  type 

Axles.. 33  x  7-in.  Standard  Aera  No.  Ea4 

Bumpers  4-in.  5i-lb.  channel 

Car  signal  system  Ohio  Brass 

Car   trimmings.  .Finished   in    gold  bronze 

throughout 
Conduits  and  junction  boxes.  .Crouse-Hinds 
Control.  .Type  D.B.  1  K  4,  English  Electric 

Company 

Couplers   Yoke 

Curtain  fixtures  National  Lock  Washer 

Company 

Curtain  material ...  Pantasote,  double-faced 

Designation  signs  Boothe  illuminated 

Door  operating  mechanism  National 

Pneumatic 

Fare  boxes  Cox 

Fenders  H.  B.  fenders 

Gears  and  pinions.  .Helical,  one-half  equip- 
ment have  Nuttal  B.P., 
other  half  tool  steel 

Handbrakes  National  staff  less 

Heaters.  ..  .12  600-volt  double-coil  Cutler- 
Hammer,  8  cross  seat,  4  truss  plank 

Headlights  Crouse-Hinds,  dash  type 

Journal  bearings.  .31  x  7  in.  Area  Standard 

Journal  boxes  Brill  for  79-E2  truck 

Lightning  arresters  Type  B,  Form  A, 

English  Electric  Company 
Motors.... 2  English  Electric,  type  DK-84, 

40-hp.  vent.,  inside  hung 
Paint.  .Krakno  system  enamel  and  varnish 

Registers  None 

Sanders.. O.  W.  Meissener  sanding  system 

modified 

Sash  fixtures  National  Lock  Washer 

Company 

Scrapers   Root 

Seats  Brill  Waylo 

Seating  material  Rattan 

Slack  adjuster  None 

Springs   Brill 

Step  treads  Mason  carborundum  filled 

Trolley  retrievers  Ohio  Brass 

Trolley  base  Ohio  Brass  Form  1 

Trolley  wheels.  .H.  E.  P.  C.  wheels  and  harps 

Trucks  Brill  79-EZ 

Ventilators.  .  .8  Railway  Utilities  Company 

Wheels  Rolled  steel  26-in.  diam.,  3-iri. 

tread.  Aera  and  interurban  contour 
Special  devices.  .M28  brake  valve,  furnished 
by  Westinghouse,  is  supplied  with  attached 
door-selector  valve.  Cars  are  equipped 
with  double  doors,  one  for  entrance  and 
one  for  exit  at  each  end.  Selector  valve 
gives  independent  operation  of  both  the 
in  and  out  doors. 


East  Toronto,  Ont — It  is  expected  that 
the  Toronto  Transportation  Commission 
will  shortly  commence  laying  the  double 
set  of  electric  railway  tracks  on  the  new 
Main  Street  bridge.  The  line,  which  is  to 
be  a  continuation  of  the  present  Gerrard 
Street  service,  will  extend  north  on  Main 
Street  to.Danforth  Avenue. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Philadelphia  (Pa.)  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany will  erect  a  new  terminal  at  Willow 
Grove  for  Doylestown  passengers. 

Portland  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Portland,  Ore.,  is  perfecting  plans  for 
a  hydro-electric  generating  station  on  the 
Clackamas  River,  near  Oak  Grove,  Ore.  The 
initial  installation  will  have  a  capacity  of 
about  200,000  kw. 

Indiana  Service  Corporation,  Tort  Wayne. 
Ind.,  will  use  the  new  West  Main  Street 
bridge  recently  opened  over  the  St.  Mary's 
River.  The  bridge  Is  a  double-tracked,  con- 
crete structure.  It  was  built  at  a  cost  of 
$160,000. 

Pittsburgh  (Okla.)  County  Railway,  Mc- 
Alester,  Okla.,  operating  city  and  inter- 
urban lines,  has  purchased  a  site  on  Grand 
Avenue  in  McAlester  for  new  terminal 
buildings.  The  present  terminal,  shops,  etc., 
of  the  company  are  in  a  badly  congested 
section  of  the  city. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  is  now  work- 
ing on  a  high-voltage  transmission  line  to 
run  from  the  new  Edison  transforming  sta- 
tion at  Florence  and  Western  Avenues  to 
the  substation  at  Centinella.  High-ten- 
sion lines  are  also  being  run  from  Wes- 
tern and  Florence  Avenues  to  the  University 
substation  at  South  Santa  Barbara  Street. 
It  is  expected  that  the  construction  of  both 
of  these  lines  will  be  completed  about  the 
first  of  the  year. 


Trade  Notes 


American  Car  &  Foundry  Company,  New 

York,  is  planning  extensions  and  improve- 
ments at  its  branch  plant  at  Huntington. 
W.  Va.,  which  are  estimated  to  involve  an 

expenditure  of  about  $200,000. 

Bridgeport   Brass    Company,  Bridgeport, 

Conn.,  announces  the  appointment  of  C.  L. 
Hancock  as  sales  engineer  for  its  Phono- 
Electric  trolley  wire.  Mr.  Hancock  has 
been  connected  with  the  sales  department 
of  the  Bridgeport  Brass  Company  for  the 
past  two  years,  recently  having  had  charge 
of  the  company's  factory  branch  in  Phila- 
delphia. Prior  to  becoming  associated 
with  the  Bridgeport  Brass  Company.  Mr. 
Hancock  was  for  twelve  years  an  assistant 
of  the  superintendent  of  electrical  trans- 
mission on  the  New  York,  New  Haven  & 
Hartford  Railroad,  which  position  he  ac- 
cepted after  serving  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  during 
the  electrification  of  the  New  Haven  road 
from  Woodlawn  to  Stamford.  Mr.  Han- 
cock has  therefore  had  opportunity  to  be- 
come fully  acquainted  with  the  character- 
istics of  different  trolley  wires,  as  well  as 
Phono-Electric  in  actual  service. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


opening  of  the  several  bids  must  be 
recorded  by  the  Ministry,  and  before 
the  signing  of  the  contract  it  must  be 
sent  to  the  Ministry  for  approval.  If  it 
is  discovered  that  the  bidders  have 
raised  their  prices  by  general  agree- 
ment, or  attempted  in  any  other  way  to 
hold  up  the  government,  the  railway 
should  report  to  the  Ministry  of  Com- 
munications to  have  the  tenders  sub- 
mitted by  those  bidders  disqualified. 

A  full  text  of  the  regulations  just 
quoted  were  forwarded  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  by  Commercial 
Attache  Arnold. 


2,000  Miles  of  Japanese  Railways 

Designated  for  Electrification 

A  fundamental  policy  for  the  elec- 
trification of  Japanese  railways  has 
been  formed  by  the  Electrification  In- 
vestigation Commission.  The  Japan 
Times  and  Mail  of  Sept.  9,  1921,  pub- 
lished the  following  list  of  sections 
which  have  been  designated  for  conver- 
sion into  electric  lines,  comprising  an 
aggregate  length  of  over  2,000  miles. 

(1)  All  sections  in  the  suburbs  of 
cities  where  there  is  a  heavy  railway 
traffic,  such  as  Kyoto-Knobe,  47  miles; 
Kobe-Himeji,  34;  Minatomachi  (via 
Kitsu)  Kyoto,  51;  Moji-Hakata,  48; 
and  Osaka-Tennoji,  6  miles. 

(2)  Sections  of  high  gradient  where 
there  are  many  tunnels  and  also  those 
where  abundant  water  power  can  be 
utilized,  such  as  Odawara-Numazu,  26 
miles;  Maibara-Imasho,  47;  Hachioji- 
Shioiiri,  116;  Nagoya-Shinooi,  151; 
Fukushima-Yonezawa,  26;  Yashiro- 
Kashima,  94;  Kameyama-Nara,  46; 
Utsunomiva-Nikko,  25;  Koriyama-Nii- 
gata,  172;  Oguda-Shinjo,  58;  Takasaki- 
Yokokawa,  18;  and  Karnisawa-Naoetsu, 
92  miles. 

(3)  Sections  where  shortening  of  the 
line  is  required  and  where  water  power 
can  be  utilized,  such  as  Numazu-Kyoto, 
244  miles;  and  Omiya-Fukushima,  151 
miles. 

(4)  Sections  where  increase  of  trans- 
portation capacity  and  shortening  of 
the  line  are  required,  such  as  Himeji- 
Shimonoseki,  295  miles. 

(5)  Sections  where  available  water 
power  can  be  utilized,  such  as  Imasho- 
Naoetsu,  181  miles;  Nagoya-Kame- 
yama,  38;  and  Ohmila-Takasaki,  46. 

(6)  Sections  where  increase  of  carry- 
ing capacity  is  required  and  where  coal 
can  be  obtained  at  a  low  price,  such  as 
Kokura-Wakamatsu.  56  miles;  and  Mu- 
roran-Yubari,  90  miles. 


Rolling  Stock 


Charleston  (W.  Va.)  Interurban  Railroad 

recently  purchased  eight  safety  cars  from 
the  Cincinnati   (Ohio)   Car  Company. 

Danbury  &  Bethel  Street  Railway,  Dan- 
bury,  Conn.,  through  its  receiver.  Judge  J. 
Moss  Ives,  has  received  permission  from 
the  Superior  Court  to  purchase  four  safety 
cars.  The  order  for  the  cars  has  been 
placed  and  it  is  expected  that  they  will  be 
delivered  about  Jan.  1,  1922. 

Hudson  &  Manhattan  Railroad  Company, 
New  York,  is  inviting  proposals  for  fur- 
nishing motors  and  control  equipment  for 
twenty-five  multiple-unit  passenger  cars. 
The  company  is  also  asking  for  bids  on 
twenty-five  motor-type  and  25  trailer-type 
M.  C.  B.  trucks.  Specifications  with  accom- 
panying drawings  are  available  at  the  com- 
pany's office  at  30  Church  Street,  New  York 
City. 

Hydro-Electric  Power  Commission,  On- 
tario, Can.,  has  recently  made  available  the 
complete  specifications  for  twenty-five 
safety  cars  which  were  ordered  several 
months  ago.  As  was  announced  in  the 
Electric    Railway    Jofrxal    of    Dec.  3, 


Track  and  Roadway 


Burlington  County  Transit  Company, 
Hainesport,  N.  J.,  has  announced  through 
Armitt  H.  Coate  of  Moorestown,  N.  J., 
treasurer  of  the  company,  that  his  com- 
pany will  make  a  number  of  changes  and 
improvements  in  the  road  between  Bur- 
lington and  Moorestown. 

Trenton  &  Mercer  County  Traction  Cor- 
poration, Trenton,  N.  J.,  has  informed  the 
Mercer  County  Board  of  Freeholders  that 
it  will  reconstruct  the  line  on  South  Broad 
Street  from  the  city  line  to  the  White 
Horse  road,  a  distance  of  3  of  a  mile 
laying  new  ties,  raising  the  tracks,  etc. 

The  Lackawanna  &  Wyoming  Valley  Rail- 
road. Scranton,  Pa.,  has  installed  block 
signals  between  Connell  Junction  and 
Wilkes-Barre.  Thirty  signal  lights  are 
placed  at  an  average  of  every  1J  miles. 
The  three-light  mechanism  is  the  type  in- 
stalled.   The  installation  cost  $80,000. 


Sanford  Riley  Stoker  Company,  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  is  distributing  a  circular 
covering  the  "Riley"  underfeed  stokers, 
safety  shearing  pin,  moving  grates,  rocker 
dump  and  two-speed  gear  box. 

Roach  Stoker  Company,  221  South  Fif- 
teenth Street,  Philadelphia,  is  distributing 
a  booklet  describing  the  "Roach"  stoker. 
The  company  has  also  issued  a  pamphlet 
covering  the  "Simplex"  type  of  the  Roach 
stoker. 

Wheeler  Condenser  &  Engineering  Com- 
pany, Carteret,  N.  J.,  has  issued  catalog 
108-C,  covering  its  centrifugal  pumps,  in- 
cluding double-suction,  single-stage,  hori- 
zontal and  vertical  types  and  multi-ro.tor 
types  for  every  purpose. 

I.  L.  Lee,  61  Broadway,  New  York,  has 
published  a  20-page  pamphlet,  the  "Future 
of  Prices  and  Wages."  It  gives  some  ex- 
tracts from  a  book  entitled  "Price  Changes 
and  Business  Prospects"  by  Leonard  B. 
Ayres,  vice-president  of  the  Cleveland  Trust 
Company,  and  recently  published  by  that 
company. 


Electric  Railway  Journal 

Consolidation  of  Street  Railway  Journal  and  Electric  Railway  Review 

HENRY  W.BLAKE  and  HAROLD  V.BOZKLL.Edltora  HENRY  H.NORRIS, Managing  Editor 

HARRY  L.BROWN.Western  Editor    N.A.BOWERS.Paclflc  Coast  Editor    H.S.KNOWLTON.New  England  Editor     C.W.SQUIEB.Aiiooiate  Editor      CARL  W. STOCKS, Associate  Editor 
G.J.MACMUBRAY.News  Editor       DONALD  P.HINErEditorial  Representative       R.E.  PLIMPTON.Editorial  Representative        PAUL  WOOTON. Washington  Representative 


Volume  58 


New  fcgkT  S-aturdav,  December  31,  1921 


Number  27 


'f  of  a  broadside  in 


Rigid  Regimen 

Prescribed  for  Seattle 

PETER  WITT  has  delivered  hi 
Seattle  and  presumably  has  hurried "~baek  to  Cleve- 
land. The  principal  thought  that  he  left  behind  him  in 
Seattle  was  that  co-operation  must  supplant  dissension 
in  the  conduct  of  the  Seattle  Municipal  Railway.  Mr. 
Witt  did  not  worry  much  about  the  past  in  Seattle.  He 
was  concerned  for  the  future.  And  well  he  might  be. 
With  all  due  respect  to  Mayor  Caldwell,  the  tendency 
with  him  has  been  to  charge  the  past  with  most  of  the 
misfortunes  which  loom  up  in  the  future. 

Mr.  Witt  has  built  or  recommended  for  the  future 
from  the  sound  basis  that  "the  entire  traction  transac- 
tion is  and  morally  must  by  all  honorable  men  be  con- 
sidered a  closed  incident."  His  doctrine  also  is  sound 
that  if  the  enterprise  is  to  be  made  a  success,  the 
principle  of  "pay  as  you  go"  will  have  to  be  established 
and  that  the  time  for  its  establishment  is  now.  Mr. 
Witt  has  not  been  lenient  with  labor,  either.  The  sug- 
gestion which  he  made  in  this  respect  would  not,  if 
carried  out,  promote  the  political  fortunes  of  those  who 
applied  them,  but  it  surely  would  be  wiser  to  reduce  the 
number  of  employees  and  make  an  annual  saving  of 
$800,000  than  to  reduce  wages  and  save  only  $100,000. 
With  the  people  of  Seattle  paying  an  8J-cent  fare;  with 
a  decrease  of  3,054,669  in  pay  passengers  in  September, 
1921,  over  September,  1919;  with  the  necessity  con- 
fronting the  city  of  spending  $2,000,000  for  trolley 
improvements;  with  political  dissension  quite  general, 
the  real  need  in  Seattle  is  evident.  It  should  be  for 
those  in  authority  to  give  heed  to  the  advice  of  the 
diagnostician  by  following  the  rigid  regimen  prescribed 
if  they  would  escape  the  use  of  the  knife  by  the  surgeon 
in  a  major  operation  in  the  not  distant  future. 


Pittsburgh's  Traction 

Problem  Settlement  Bright 

RESIDENTS  of  Pittsburgh  have  a  real  reason  to  be 
.  happy  at  the  prospect  for  the  new  year.  They  may 
confidently  look  forward  toward  improved  transit  and 
the  settlement  of  the  thirteen-year  controversy  between 
the  city  and  the  Pittsburgh  Railways.  The  agreement 
for  the  settlement  has  been  duly  signed,  but  two  im- 
portant steps  remain  to  be  taken  before  the  plan  can 
become  operative.  The  state  Public  Utilities  Commission 
must  approve  the  agreement  and  the  company  must  raise 
$5,000,000  of  additional  capital  for  use  as  stipulated  in 
the  new  grant.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
it  will  be  possible  quickly  to  meet  both  of  these  re- 
quirements. 

The  conduct  of  the  negotiations  certainly  reflects  great 
credit  on  all  who  participated  in  them.  The  spirit  of 
live  and  let  live  was  constantly  in  evidence.  This  was 
particularly  true  of  the  entrance,  at  almost  the  last 
minute,  of  Mayor-elect  Magee  into  the  negotiations.  He 
received  a  prompt  audience,  with  the  result  that  the 
ordinance  as  slightly  amended  after  passage  on  first 


reading  is  understood  to  have  his  full  approval.  This  is 
particularly  beneficial,  for  it  will  be  during  his  admin- 
istration of  the  affairs  of  the  city  that  the  new  measure 
will  go  into  effect. 

Mayor  Babcock  regards  the  action  of  the  Council  of 
that  city  in  approving  the  new  traction  ordinance  as  the 
biggest  thing  accomplished  by  his  administration.  In 
this  he  most  certainly  is  correct.  It  is  a  real  achieve- 
ment. With  the  prospect  almost  certain  that  the  new 
grant  will  soon  go  into  effect,  it  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped 
that  the  administration  of  the  measure  by  the  city  may 
be  carried  out  in  the  same  broad  way  that  has  marked 
the  progress  of  the  settlement  negotiations. 


Transfers  Should  Not  Confer 
Stop-Over  Privileges 

THE  design  of  a  transfer  ticket,  or  whatever  it  is 
termed  locally,  presents  to  practically  all  railways 
an  ever-present  problem,  due  to  attempts  to  prevent  its 
fraudulent  use  as  fare  collection  methods  are  changed 
or  new  types  of  equipment  are  introduced. 

Since  the  day  of  its  inception  each  railway  has  prob- 
ably tried  a  large  portion  of  the  fifty-seven  varieties  of 
transfer  design  and  still  there  seems  to  be  no  universal 
type.  There  are  all  sorts  and  sizes  of  transfers — small, 
medium  and  large — with  a  multiplicity  of  schemes  for 
showing  the  time  limit  and  the  conditions  under  which 
they  can  be  used.  And,  strange  as  it  may  seen,  each 
operator  believes  his  own  design  better  than  that  of  any 
other.  Perhaps  the  best  advice  that  can  be  given  to  any 
company  planning  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  transfer  is 
that  which  Mr.  Punch  gave  to  persons  contemplating 
marriage,  namely,  Don't! 

Some  companies  apparently  feel  this  way,  for  a  study 
of  the  situation  brings  to  light  that  New  Bedford  and 
Holyoke  have  abolished  transfers  as  a  part  of  their  fare 
schemes  at  present  in  effect.  The  Boston  Elevated  has 
also  adopted  a  similar  rule  in  connection  with  the  in- 
auguration of  the  5-cent  fare  lines.  The  abolition  of 
transfers  is  therefore  one  way  by  which  a  lower  initial 
fare  may  be  granted.  Not  every  company,  however,  is 
able  for  one  reason  or  another  to  rid  itself  of  transfers. 
In  such  circumstances  the  only  course  is  to  make  them  as 
fraud  proof  as  possible  and  at  the  same  time  eliminate 
all  possible  delays  in  connection  with  their  issuance  by 
the  conductor. 

A  distinguished  salesman  in  an  allied  electrical  field, 
but  not  with  practical  transportation  experience,  advised 
recently  on  the  score  of  better  public  relations  and  sales- 
manship that  the  time  limit  on  transfer  tickets  should 
be  abolished.  In  other  words,  he  saw  no  reason  why 
transfers  should  not  permit  stop-over  privileges  for 
the  whole  day  if  a  passenger  was  so  disposed.  However 
admirable  may  have  been  the  intentions  of  this  gentle- 
man, it  is  inconceivable  that  such  a  plan  could  be  put 
into  effect  in  connection  with  any  flat  fare  system  with- 
out great  losses  to  the  company.  Railway  operators 
would  view  with  askance  any  plan  by  which  the  morning 
rush-hour  passengers  could  get  transfers  and  then  swap 


1138 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


them  at  their  place  of  business  for  others  from  another 
quarter  of  the  city,  thereby  getting  a  round  trip  for 
one  fare  each. 

Where  transfers  must  be  issued  there  is  every 
reason  that  they  should  not  carry  any  privilege  that  is 
not  allowed  the  passenger  who  crosses  a  junction  point 
without  a  change  of  car.  Any  other  plan  than  having 
tranfers  good  on  the  first  car  leaving  that  junction 
would  be  discriminatory.  But  there  is  no  good  reason 
why  the  transfer  system  should  be  so  complicated  that 
it  cannot  be  worked  with  a  fair  degree  of  speed  to  the 
benefit  of  both  the  operator  and  the  traveling  public. 
The  scheme  used  in  Davenport  and  described  in  an 
article  elsewhere  in  this  issue  appears  to  accomplish 
this  result. 


Improvements,  Like  One-Man  Car, 
Boost  Wages 

IN  A  recent  study  on  "price  changes  and  business 
prospects"  Leonard  E.  Ayres,  vice-president  of  the 
Cleveland  Trust  Company,  points  out  that  while  the 
Napoleonic  Wars  and  the  American  Civil  War  were 
accompanied  in  this  country  by  a  series  of  very  high 
prices,  these  prices  were  followed,  after  a  comparatively 
short  time,  by  a  period  of  gradually  falling  prices,  and 
that  there  is  much  evidence  to  indicate  that  the  general 
trend  of  prices  now,  for  the  same  reason,  will  be  irregu- 
larly downward  for  a  period  of  years  to  come.  Wages, 
however,  do  not  seem  to  have  followed  exactly  the  same 
fluctuations.  Statistics  in  this  country  are  available 
only  since  1820,  so  that  the  records  during  and  imme- 
diately following  the  Napoleonic  Wars  or  our  own  war 
of  1812  are  not  available.  However,  during  the  Civil 
War  wages  rose  50  per  cent  and  then  kept  on  rising 
until  1869,  when  there  came  ten  years  of  decline  to 
about  the  1865  level.  Here  they  kept  for  twenty  years, 
or  until  about  1900,  when  they  rose  for  fifteen  years 
gradually,  but  increased  rapidly  during  the  World  War. 

An  important  reason  often  given  for  the  fall  of  prices 
following  the  Napoleonic  Wars  is  the  general  introduc- 
tion of  machinery  in  factories  during  the  early  part  of 
this  century,  and  Mr.  Ayres  points  out  that  the  Civil 
War  in  turn  brought  the  beginning  of  quantity  pro- 
duction and  was  followed  by  the  general  employment  in 
factories  of  automatic  and  semi-automatic  machinery, 
electricity  and  high-speed  steel.  To  these  economic  ad- 
vantages in  production  he  attributes  largely  the  fact 
that  wages  did  not  decline  with  prices  because  the  pro- 
ductivity of  the  worker  was  greater.  As  to  whether  we 
are  to  see  wages  shrink  materially  during  the  next  few 
years,  he  believes,  is  largely  a  question  of  what  happens 
to  the  efficiency  and  productivity  of  industry.  If  output 
per  worker  does  not  come  up,  then  wages  cannot  per- 
manently retain  the  gains  they  have  made. 

Readers  of  history  will  remember  the  fight  made  by 
the  laborers  against  the  introduction  in  textile  and  other 
factories  of  machinery.  The  same  arguments  were  used 
against  its  use  as  are  employed  today  against  the  one- 
man  car;  that  is  to  say,  it  reduces  the  number  of  oper- 
ators required  to  do  certain  work  and  consequently  is 
a  bad  thing  for  the  workmen,  hence  the  use  of  these 
machines  must  be  stopped.  Nevertheless,  if  we  read 
history  aright,  the  one-man  car  and  similar  labor-saving 
devices  are  the  great  hope  for  the  payment  of  high 
wages  in  the  future.  The  position  of  the  workingman 
will  be  bettered,  not  lessened,  by  these  improvements. 


New  York  Is  Thinking 

Seriously  of  Staggered  Hours 

IT  IS  satisfactory  to  know  that  an  effort  is  being  made 
in  New  York  to  secure  some  system  of  staggering 
working  hours  and  thus  increase  the  capacity  of  the 
transit  systems.  Admittedly  the  task  of  obtaining  suf- 
ficient support  of  the  principle  to  produce  any  appre- 
ciable effect  will  be  a  difficult  one.  This  is  not  because 
the  difficulty  of  changing  by  an  hour  or  so  the  habits 
of  a  community  as  to  the  hours  of  commencing  and  dis- 
continuing work  is  a  serious  one.  This  is  done  each 
year  when  the  daylight  saving  time  goes  into  force  and 
again  when  it  stops.  The  difficulty  lies  in  changing  the 
habits  of  part  of  the  community — often  of  part  of  a 
family — but  not  of  all.  This  introduces  complications 
in  regard  to  hours  of  meals  and  social  activities  if  the 
span  of  time  between  industries  is  of  any  great  length, 
yet  it  must  be  if  any  material  gain  in  transit  facilities 
is  to  be  obtained.  Thus  Mr.  Turner,  consulting  engi- 
neer for  the  New  York  Transit  Commission,  estimates 
that  if  it  was  possible  by  staggered  hours  to  spread  the 
present  rush  period  in  New  York  so  that  the  subways 
would  be  utilized  for  two  hours  as  they  are  at  present 
during  the  existing  fifteen-minute  rush  period,  it  would 
increase  the  capacity  of  these  lines  of  travel  60  per  cent. 
Gain  to  the  company  from  the  double  use  of  rolling 
stock  during  rush  hours,  however,  does  not  come  unless 
the  spread  is  sufficient  so  that  some  of  the  cars  can 
make  a  round  trip  within  the  specified  time. 

Up  to  now  the  principle  of  staggered  hours  has  been 
applied  in  two  ways.  One  is  the  plan  described  above 
as  being  considered  for  New  York  and  best  exemplified 
in  the  past  perhaps  by  its  use  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  war  in  the  city  of  Washington,  and  also  during  the 
influenza  epidemic  in  New  York  City  in  October,  1918. 
In  both  there  was  a  partial  spread  over  two  hours,  and 
a  less  crowded  condition  of  the  cars  was  secured.  Both, 
however,  were  brought  about  by  a  great  exigency,  and 
the  introduction  of  the  plan  in  Washington  was  un- 
doubtedly greatly  facilitated  by  the  fact  that  the  work- 
ing hours  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  population 
could  be  determined  by  one  employer — the  government. 
After  the  armistice,  when  the  number  of  office  workers 
in  the  various  government  departments  decreased,  the 
city  reverted  to  its  former  working  hours.  The  same 
result  followed  in  New  York  soon  after  the  influenza 
epidemic  had  begun  to  subside. 

While  there  is  not  now  in  New  York  a  crisis  of  war 
or  disease,  there  is  a  very  serious  lack  of  transit  facili- 
ties, and  in  no  other  way  can  the  capacity  of  the  sub- 
way lines  be  increased  for  five  years,  even  if  new  con- 
struction was  commenced  tomorrow.  Hence,  it  may  be 
that  the  situation  can  be  brought  home  so  clearly  to  all 
concerned,  employer  and  worker  alike,  that  some  degree 
of  relief  will  be  obtained.  If  this  is  done,  steps  should 
be  taken  to  bring  the  schedules  of  the  commuters'  lines 
into  accord  with  the  proposed  plan.  This  was  not  done 
in  the  previous  trial  of  staggered  hours  in  New  York. 

A  variation  of  the  staggered  hours  plan  which  is  pos- 
sible when  the  more  extended  use  of  the  principle  is  im- 
practicable for  one  reason  or  another  remains  to  be 
considered.  This  is  the  limited  staggering  of  hours  of 
beginning  and  ending  work  at  different  factories  located 
on  any  particular  railway  line  or  of  the  various  depart- 
ments of  a  single  large  factory.  This  plan  has  been 
successfully  carried  out  in  Detroit  in  connection  with 
the  largest  Ford  plant. 


December  31,  1921  Electric  Railway  Journal  1139 


Graphic  Records  Improve  Line  Maintenance 

Methods  Employed  in  Maintaining  High-Tension,  Trolley,  Telephone  and  Signal  Lines  on  Illinois  Traction 
System  Are  Successful  and  the  Results  Obtained  Are  Highly  Satisfactory 
— Graphic  Records  Form  an  Important  Part  of  the  Scheme 


Semaphore  Signals  and  Signal  Maintainer  and  Equipment  Provided  for  Him  on  the  Illinois  Traction  System 


METHODS  of  maintaining  the  high-tension, 
trolley,  signal  and  telephone  lines  and  miscella- 
neous electrical  equipment  on  the  Illinois  Trac- 
tion System,  which  are  under  the  direction  of  John 
Leisenring,  signal  engineer,  have  been  developed  into  a 
highly  successful  system  which  is  resulting  in  economy 
and  a  substantial  reduction  in  the  number  of  interrup- 
tions to  service.  A  very  important  part  of  the  scheme 
is  the  keeping  of  graphic  records  in  the  office  of  the 
department  head  which  enable  him  to  visualize  readily 
the  trouble  locations  and  maintenance  work  done,  and 
hence  to  direct  expenditures  for  replacements  in  a  way 
that  tends  to  minimize  cases  of  trouble  and  keep  the 
property  in  the  best  possible  operating  condition  for  the 
money  allotted  to  the  work.  The  work  covered  by  these 
methods  comprises  the  maintenance  of  475  miles  of 
33,000-volt  power  lines,  the  signal  lines  for  120  miles  of 
protected  track,  306  signals,  forty  crossing  bells,  the 
substations  and  the  telephone  lines  for  the  system  com- 
prising 596  miles  of  interurban  line. 

For  the  high-tension  line  and  trolley  maintenance,  the 
system  is  divided  into  six  divisions  with  a  line  foreman 
in  charge  of  each  division.  Similarly  for  the  signals, 
signal  lines,  crossing  bells  and  telephone  lines,  the 
system  is  divided  into  seven  sections  with  a  signal  main- 
tainer responsible  for  each  section  and  with  one  extra 
maintainer  who  is  used  to  help  out  with  heavy  repairs 
and  to  relieve  any  of  the  others  if  time  off  duty  is 
wanted.  Each  line  foreman  and  each  signal  maintainer 
sends  in  a  daily  report  showing  the  work  done  the  day 
before,  including  each  case  of  trouble  that  occurred  and 
how  it  was  cleared.  A  daily  report  is  also  sent  in  by  the 
substation  operators.  The  information  from  these 
reports  is  then  transferred  to  charts  or  reports  covering 
a  period  of  one  month  or  longer.  On  a  large  scale  map 
of  the  system,  which  hangs  in  the  office  of  the  signal 
engineer,  the  cases  of  high-tension  insulator  failures  are 


indicated,  as  taken  from  the  daily  reports,  by  red- 
headed pins  placed  approximately  at  the  location  of  the 
trouble ;  trolley  breaks  are  similarly  indicated  by  yellow- 
headed  pins  and  pole  breaks  by  black-headed  pins,  each 
black  pin  indicating  one  or  more  poles  involved  in  a 
single  case  of  trouble.  The  pins  on  this  map  are  not 
removed  as  the  trouble  is  cleared,  but  are  allowed  to 
accumulate  during  a  calendar  year.  This  chart  as  it 
appeared  early  in  October  is  reproduced  herewith.  If 
the  number  of  cases  of  either  high-tension  or  trolley 
line  trouble  is  abnormally  high  at  any  location,  or  over 
any  section  of  line,  this  immediately  becomes  apparent 
from  the  accumulation  of  pins  on  the  map.  Before  the 
end  of  the  year,  then,  when  the  time  comes  for  making 
up  the  budget  for  the  next  year's  expenditures,  it 
becomes  apparent  what  sections  of  trolley  and  high- 
tension  line  are  causing  undue  maintenance  costs  and 
therefore  should  be  replaced.  In  other  words,  this 
chart  shows  at  all  times  very  clearly  where  the  weak 
spots  in  the  lines  are,  and  the  appropriations  made  can 
then  be  used  to  eliminate  them.  The  graphic  record 
also  avoids  the  expenditure  of  money  to  replace  sections 
about  which  there  may  be  an  impression  that  the  con- 
dition is  bad,  if  no  records  are  kept,  when  in  reality 
the  section  in  mind  may  be  much  better  than  some  other 
section  of  line.  A  case  of  this  kind  was  brought  to 
light  the  first  year  the  chart  was  kept  on  the  Illinois 
Traction  System. 

Some  Details  op  Trolley  and  High-Tension 
Maintenance 

Each  month  a  summary  of  the  cases  of  high-tension 
and  trolley  troubles,  taken  from  the  daily  reports  of  the 
line  foremen,  is  made  and  a  copy  is  sent  to  each  foreman. 
Friendly  rivalry  between  these  foremen  has  thus  been 
created  and  the  competition  has  resulted  in  unusually 
good  work  and  consequent  lowering  of  the  number  of 


1140 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


cases  of  trouble  through  the  better  inspection  work 
done.  A  report  of  this  kind  for  the  month  of  July, 
1921,  is  reproduced  herewith. 

The  comparison  between  divisions  indicated  in  this 
report  is  made  on  the  basis  of  the  length  of  line  included 
in  the  division  and  the  car  mileage  operated,  both 
weighted.  In  the  event  that  a  case  of  trouble  is  directly- 
due  to  the  fault  of  some  one  else  it  is  not  charged 
against  the  line  foreman  provided  he  can  produce  irre- 
futable evidence  to  that  effect.  It  is  put  up  to  the 
foreman  to  keep  the  trolley  and  high-tension  line  in 
first-class  condition  through  careful  inspection  and  by 
working  out  the  spots  known  to  be  bad.  In  this  inspec- 
tion work,  the  trolley  wire  is  not  calipered,  but  depend- 
ence is  placed  on  its  appearance  as  seen  from  the  top 
of  the  line  car. 

High-Tension  Maintenance  Work 

None  of  the  high-tension  maintenance  work  is  done 
with  the  line  hot.  It  is  not  considered  worth  the  risk 
and  it  has  not  been  necessary  on  account  of  the  for- 


Springfield,  III.,  Aug.  20,  1921. 
Following  is  report  of  high-tension  and  trolley  trouble  for  the 


Line  F  remen 
month  of  July: 

High  Tension 

1 .  Carson   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  0 

2.  Lewis   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  0 

3.  Herbeck   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  2 

4.  Campbell   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  0 

5.  Elmore   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  0 

6.  Green   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  3 

Trolley  Trouble 

Carson   Cases  of  trouble  in  July  0; 

Lewis   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  0 

Campbell   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  4 

Green   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  3 

Elmore   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  2 

Herbeck   Cases  of  trouble  in  July,  2 


since  Jan.  1   i 

since  Jan.  1   3 

since  Jan.  1   8 

since  Jan.  1  i  9 

since  Jan.  I   II 

since  Jan.  I   13 


since  Jan.  I   0 

since  Jan.  I   I 

since  Jan.  I   9 

since  Jan.  I   II 

since  Jan.  1   15 

since  Jan.  I   \T 


Yours  truly, 
John  Leisenring,  Signal  Engineer. 


with  two-piece  45,000-volt  insulators,  Ohio  Brass  No. 
11623,  on  which  the  traction  company  standardized  and 
has  continued  to  use  to  date. 

As  the  result  of  the  renewals  made,  the  number  of 
failures  dropped  from  181  in  1916  to  80  in  1917,  and 
the  number  had  been  higher  than  181  in  1915.  There- 
after, with  probably  one-half  of  the  old  type  insulators 


>I6  >fc  |9J7   4*  1918  >K  1919 

Six-Year  Record  of  Trolley.  High-Tension,  Telephone  Linb  and  Rotary  Converter  Failures 


tunate  flexibility  of  the  high-tension  system.  Because 
of  the  location  of  power  houses,  it  is  possible  to  have 
three  and  even  four  sections  of  the  line  at  different 
parts  of  the  system  dead  at  one  time  without  shutting 
down  any  substation  or  in  any  way  affecting  operation. 

As  the  number  of  high-tension  insulator  failures  was 
becoming  very  high,  the  company  began  back  in  1916 
and  1917  a  close  inspection  of  insulators  and  replace- 
ment of  all  those  which  were  defective.  Killing  a  section 
at  a  time,  the  poles  were  climbed  and  the  ties  taken  off 
all  insulators  so  that  any  mechanical  or  expansion  cracks 
resulting  from  aging  could  be  seen.  At  this  time  all 
of  the  insulators  had  been  in  service  since  the  line  was 
built,  twelve  to  fourteen  years  before.  All  of  these  old 
33,000-volt  insulators  showing  defects  were  replaced  at 
first  with  45,000-volt  three-piece  insulators  and  later 


still  in  service,  the  number  of  failures  began  to  increase 
again  until  1919.  The  failures  in  every  case  were  found 
to  be  the  old  type  insulators.  Hence  it  was  decided 
early  in  1920  to  replace  all  the  remaining  old  insulators, 
whether  or  not  they  appeared  to  be  defective,  taking 
the  worst  sections  first  as  indicated  by  the  failure  chart 
in  Mr.  Leisenring's  office.  The  maintenance  forces 
were  used  for  this  work  and  they  replaced  a  carload  of 
insulators,  3,000,  every  two  months.  Some  of  the  old 
33,000-volt  insulators  taken  down  have  been  used  on 
some  11,000-volt  lines  and  some  disposed  of  to  another 
company.  Not  a  single  instance  of  failure  has  occurred 
with  any  of  the  new  type  insulators.  They  have  been 
known  to  "spill  over"  but  none  has  been  punctured 
electrically. 

The  process  of  replacing  the  insulators  with  this  new 


December  31,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1141 


type  is  reflected  in  the  downward  trend  of  the  high-ten- 
sion curve  in  the  graphic  record  of  various  troubles 
taken  over  a  period  of  several  years,  which  is  repro- 
duced herewith. 

About  five  years  ago  the  high-tension  line  was  com- 
pletely rebuilt  from  Danville  to  Fithian,  a  distance  of 
approximately  15  miles.  The  year  before,  20  miles 
additional  between  Fithian  and  Champaign  was  com- 
pletely rebuilt,  the  45,000-volt  three-piece  insulators 
having  been  used  in  both  cases.  For  four  and  one-half 
years  on  the  former  section  and  five  and  one-half  years 
on  the  latter,  since  the  reconstruction,  there  was  not  a 
single  interruption  of  power  from  any  cause. 

The  good  records  made  by  the  replacement  insulators 
may  be  partly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  com- 
pany tests  and  inspects  all  insulators  at  the  factory 
before  accepting  them.  Every  insulator  is  handled  for 
mechanical  defects  and  given  a  part  and  assembled 
flash-over  test.  Not  one  out  of  100  will  puncture  under 
this  test,  but  from  100  to  125  insulators  are  rejected 
out  of  a  carload  for  slight  mechanical  defects,  some  of 
which  might  not  have  any  effect  on  the  life  of  the 
insulator,  but  the  traction  company  does  not  take  any 
chance  on  a  slightly  warped  or  bubbled  insulator  result- 


failure  of  transmission  or  lines  too  noisy  to  talk  over 
are  recorded  as  failures  and  spotted  on  a  chart.  The 
maintenance  forces  give  less  attention  to  the  telephone 
lines  because  they  are  less  vital  to  the  operation  of  the 
road,  but  some  improvement  in  the  number  of  cases  of 
trouble  has  been  made  by  keeping  after  the  maintain- 
ors and  sending  out  monthly  comparative  reports  to 
them.  The  telephone  lines  of  the  Illinois  Traction  Sys- 
tem have  no  protective  apparatus  or  drainage  coils, 
insulating  transformers,  etc.,  and  interference  is  taken 
care  of  simply  by  transpositions.  Ordinarily  the  lines 
are  good  and  clear  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
carried  on  the  same  poles  and  only  30  ft.  from  the 
33,000-volt  transmission  line.  The  principal  sources 
of  trouble  are  from  the  trolley  where  a  pull-off  comes 
loose  and  throws  up  over  the  telephone  line,  and  from 
the  telephone  line  coming  loose  from  an  insulator  and 
falling  down  on  the  cross-arm. 

A  graphic  record  is  also  kept  of  the  number  of  cases 
of  substation  trouble,  that  is,  instances  involving  a  com- 
plete shutdown  of  the  rotary  converters.  The  record  is 
divided  between  those  cases  where  the  machine  is  out 
more  than  an  hour  and  where  it  is  out  less  than  an  hour. 
A  good  many  cases  of  potential  trouble  are  caught  by 


At  Left.  Combination  Crossing-Bell  Wigwag  and  Light  Warning  Installed  at  Forty  Grade  Crossings. 

the  Thirty-five  Light  Indication  Signals  on  I.  T.  S. 


At  Right,  Two  of 


ing  from  high  firing.  Formerly,  the  inspector  for  the 
traction  company  also  gave  each  insulator  a  megger 
high  frequency  and  other  tests,  but  since  the  results 
obtained  have  been  so  good  and  the  manufacturer  on 
his  own  account  puts  insulators  to  such  rigid  inspection, 
all  electrical  tests  except  the  flash-over  have  been  dis- 
pensed with. 

No  method  of  testing  pin-type  insulators  while  in 
service  has  been  found  which  is  satisfactory  on  the 
Illinois  Traction  System.  Formerly  a  test  was  made 
by  the  use  of  a  telephone  receiver  connected  to  two 
spikes,  one  driven  into  the  pole  high  up  and  the  other 
down  low,  in  order  to  hear  the  static  discharge  which 
would  result  from  a  defective  insulator.  It  was  found, 
however,  that  some  defective  insulators  were  missed 
under  this  test,  and  also  that  it  was  very  difficult  to 
pick  out  the  defective  one,  even  though  the  upper  spike 
were  placed  near  each  insulator  to  differentiate  between 
them  by  the  sound  in  the  receiver. 

In  the  maintenance  of  the  telephone  lines,  complete 


the  substation  inspector  who  makes  a  thorough  inspec- 
tion of  each  substation  every  two  months  and  makes  a 
report  thereon.  He  leaves  a  copy  of  this  report  with 
the  attendant  and  forwards  one  copy  to  the  substation 
repair  foreman,  who  takes  action  as  soon  as  possible  on 
any  recommendation  made  by  this  inspector.  The  lat- 
ter goes  over  the  equipment  thoroughly,  testing  circuit 
breakers  for  operation  and  setting  and  giving  minute 
attention  to  the  converters  and  all  other  parts  of  the 
electrical  apparatus. 

Practically  all  of  the  rotary  converters  on  the  Illinois 
Traction  System  are  of  300-kw.  capacity,  and  three  of 
these  are  Stanley  machines.  The  machine  breakers  of 
the  300-kw.  converters  are  set  at  800  amp.,  or  70  per 
cent  overload,  while  the  machines  will  take  an  instan- 
taneous swing  of  1,000  amp. 

Three  or  four  years  ago,  the  slotting  of  the  converter 
commutators  was  started  and  new  type  brushes  substi- 
tuted. Since  that  time,  also,  the  slots  have  been  cleaned 
out  periodically  with  a  small  tool  similar  to  a  short 


1142 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


hacksaw  blade,  which  slots  the  commutator  somewhat 
as  it  cleans.  The  machines  are  then  thoroughly  slotted 
whenever  they  are  in  the  shop  every  two  or  three  years. 
This  practice  has  made  a  big  difference  in  the  operation 
of  the  machines,  eliminating  to  a  large  extent  the  arc- 
ing, avoiding  flashovers  and  in  helping  to  carry  heavy 
overloads. 

High  Record  in  Signal  Maintenance 

As  already  mentioned,  the  signals  are  kept  in  operat- 
ing condition  by  eight  maintainers,  each  of  whom  is 


BLOOMINGTON 

^8L00MIN0T0N 


RIDGELEY 
JCT. 


AUBURN 
VIRDEN  ' 
GIRARD' 


^  DECATUR  (Power  Ho 

andShops) 
OAKLEY*  v 


Schematic  Map  of 
i.  t.  s.  interurban 
System,  Showing 
Method  of  Record- 
ing High  Tension, 
Trolley  and  Pole 
Failures  Graphi- 
cally. The  Chart 
Shows  Accumula- 
tion of  Cases  of 
Trouble  for  First 
Eight  Months  of 
1921 


I1  CHATHAM  WHITE  HEATHV. 

»  --Trolley  breaks  BONDVILLE*\ 

•  ■  H.T.  Insula  for  failures 

•  =  Pole  breaks 
m  m  Power  houses 
=  =  Subs  fat-ion 


THAYER 
VIRDEN 


Champaign  %     Grays  siding 
STJ0SEPH*\ 


°—  NILWO00 
-ANDERSON 

iCARUNVlUE 

?BEHME 

-GILLESPIE 


/Electric 
fithian*- imine 

POSSUM  TROTVJ<v 

Hi  fiery  to  W.Mam  Danville  &  1 
DANVILLE 

RIDC-EFAPM 


Subway  ^STAUNTON 

Oramey  1  HAMEL 
siding 

*EDWAPDSVILLE 
BLUFF  ROAD 

'STALLINGS 

VENICE 
ST  LOUIS 


provided  with  a  gasoline  speeder  and 
is  on  duty  twenty-four  hours  a  day 
for  any  trouble  call.  Signal  failures 
are,  of  course,  reported  by  trainmen 
as  they  must  get  clearance  from  the 
dispatcher  before  proceeding  against 
any  signal.  During  the  day,  the 
maintainers  call  in  to  the  dispatcher 
frequently  and  he  gives  them  trouble 
orders  covering  any  signal  failures.  During  the  night 
the  dispatcher  reaches  these  men  at  their  homes.  In 
making  his  daily  report  of  the  general  work  done, 
number  and  nature  of  signal  movements,  etc.,  each  main- 
tainer  must  account  for  every  failure  shown  on  the 
system  operating  sheet,  a  copy  of  which  is  kept  in  the 
office  of  the  signal  engineer  as  a  check  on  the  main- 
tainers. The  daily  report  of  each  maintainer  also 
shows  the  number  of  the  signal  involved  in  trouble, 
the  time  the  maintainer  arrives  at  the  signal,  the  time 
the  signal  was  cleared,  how  many  trains  were  given 
orders  against  this  signal,  the  cause  of  the  signal 
failure,  etc. 

From  these  daily  reports,  a  monthly  graphic  signal 
failure  chart  is  made  up  for  each  division,  one  of  these 


I.  T.  S.  SIGNAL  PERFORMANCE  DATA  FOR  1921 


Month 

January  

February  

March  

April  

May  

June  

July  

August  

September  


Movements  per  total  failure  

Movements  per  failure,  exclusive  of  bonds . 


Total 

Due  to 

Other 

Failures 

Bonds 

Causes 

71 

28 

43 

33 

19 

14 

75 

40 

35 

70 

26 

44 

62 

19 

43 

61 

21 

40 

96 

23 

73 

80 

24 

56 

53 

13 

40 

601 

213 

388 

Signal 
Move- 
ments 
593,360 
572,759 
617,372 
590,118 
595,012 
572,034 
662,772 
569,247 
486,268 

5,258,942 
8,750 
13,554 


SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Sept.  10,  1921. 

Signal  Maintainers:  Following  is  report  of  signal  operation  for  the  month  of 

August: 

•  For  the  Month   .—Accumulative  since— • 

January  1,  1921 
Due  to  Due  to 

Total    Due  to    Main-        Total     Due  to  Main- 
Maintainers  Failures    Bonds  tenance     Failures    Bonds  tenance 

1.  Dickey   12  5  5  129  74  49 

2.  P.  Cobb   26  9         14  120  49  78 

3.  P.  Lake   7  0  7  130  50  61 

4.  B.  Lahe   6  3  I  46  7  31 

5.  Augsberger   8  0  5  28  4  17 

6.  H.  Cobb   8  1  3  16  I  9 

7.  Strope   3  0  3  23  8  14 

Yours  truly, 

John  Leisenring,  Signal  Engineer 

being  reproduced  herewith.  The  signal  numbers  are 
listed  in  a  vertical  column  on  the  left  and  the  days  of 
the  month  across  the  top.  A  signal  failure  is  then 
recorded  on  this  chart  by  placing  a  dot  opposite  the 
signal  number  and  under  the  proper  date.  A  line  is 
then  drawn  from  each  dot  to  the  right-hand  margin 
where  the  cause  of  the  failure  is  written  in.  In  this 
chart,  the  repeated  failure  of  any  one  signal  shows  up 
immediately  and  an  investigation  follows.  For  example, 
in  the  monthly  report  reproduced  herewith  for  Division 
1  for  April,  1921,  signal  No.  42  was  shown  to  have  failed 
eight  times,  the  cause  having  been  reported  as  a  broken 
bond  for  the  first  five  times  and  a  bad  order  impedance 
bond  for  the  three  other  cases.  The  signal  maintainer 
had  found  defective  bonds  and  charged  the  failures  to 
that  cause.  A  check-up  on  him,  however,  developed  the 
fact  that  in  replanking  a  bridge,  a  spike  had  been  driven 
into  an  impedance  bond  hung  underneath  the  bridge 
and  that  this  spike  caused  a  spasmodic  short  circuit, 
which  was  probably  the  cause  of  the  signal  failure  each 
time. 

A  monthly  comparative  statement  of  signal  failures 
by  divisions  is  made  for  each  signal  maintainer  and  a 
copy  sent  to  each.  This  promotes  a  healthy  rivalry  as 
in  the  case  of  the  line  foreman,  though  it  is  necessary 
to  make  certain  allowances  for  difference  in  track  con- 
ditions and  amount  of  traffic.  A  copy  of  one  of  these 
reports,  covering  the  month  of  August,  1921,  is  repro- 
duced herewith. 

All  signals  on  the  Illinois  Traction  System  were  sup- 


Cause  of  Failure 


Bad  bonds 
Bad  order  relay 
Motor  contact  spring 
Open  wire  in  truhking 
Contact  spring  B.O. 
Switch  box  out  of  adjustment 
Insulated  Joint 

Impedance  bond  B  O. 


Total 


17 


I   3   5  1  9  II  13  15  IT  19  21  23  25  21  29  31 
2  4    6    8  10  12  14  lb  18  20  22  24  26  28  30 
Days  of  Monfh 

Monthly  Division  Chart  of  Signal  Failures 

plied  by  the  Union  Switch  &  Signal  Company,  and 
except  for  thirty-five  light  indication  signals  all  of  the 
306  signals  are  of  the  semaphore  type.  They  are  sup- 
plied with  energy  from  a  2,300-volt  line  derived  by 
stepping  up  the  370  volts  on  the  secondary  side  of  the 
main  power  transformers  in  the  substation.  These 
signal  transformers  in  the  substations  are  10-kva.  and 
15-kva.  single-phase  units.  Each  signal  is  equipped 
with  a  transformer  having  one  primary  and  two  sec- 
ondary coils  and  stepping  the  2,300-volt  line  current 
down  to  110  volts  for  operating  the  signal  motor  and 
lights  and  12  volts  for  the  track  circuit. 

In  the  maintenance  work,  broken  track  bonds  are 


December  31,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1143 


temporarily  repaired  by  the  signal  maintainer  by  drill- 
ing &-in.  holes  in  the  rail  and  channel  pinning  a  No.  6 
copper  wire  around  the  joint.  In  some  places  it  is 
necessary  to  install  two  of  these  No.  6  copper  wire 
bonds  to  avoid  having  the  return  current  burn  up  the 
bond.  Cases  of  broken  rail  resulting  in  apparent  signal 
failures  are  not  recorded  against  the  maintainers,  as 
this  is  a  proper  performance  of  the  signal  wherein  it 
makes  a  creditable  stop  indication. 

On  account  of  the  high  cost  of  the  alternating-current 
voltmeters  required  for  testing  the  voltage  at  the  relay 
terminals,  such  meters  are  not  supplied  to  the  men  to 
aid  them  in  adjusting  the  relays.  As  a  substitute,  each 
maintainer  is  given  a  shunt  of  the  maximum  resistance 
at  which  the  relay  should  open.  This  is  used  as  a 
check  test  but  does  not  give  the  maintainer  the  privi- 
lege of  changing  the  adjustment.  The  shunt  is  used 
to  bridge  the  rails  or  the  relay  leads  and  if  the  voltage 


is  not  excessive  the  relay  should  open.  If  the  shunt  does 
not  serve  to  open  the  relay,  the  maintainer  reports  this 
tendency  of  the  relay  to  float  or  not  open.  Any  adjust- 
ments are  then  made  by  the  signal  supervisor,  but  such 
cases  are  rare. 

The  records  covering  the  signal  operations  on  the 
Illinois  Traction  System  for  several  years  and  showing 
the  total  number  of  movements  and  total  number  of  fail- 
ures bring  out  a  performance  record  of  a  very  high 
number  of  movements  per  failure  and  a  protective  serv- 
ice better  than  99.9  per  cent  perfect.  The  performance 
data  for  the  current  year  to  Oct.  1  is  given  in  an  accom- 
panying table.  Noticeably  fewer  failures  have  occurred 
with  the  light  indication  signals,  at  least  25  per  cent 
of  the  failures  with  semaphore  signals  being  due  to 
mechanical  troubles,  all  of  which  are  of  course  elimi- 
nated with  the  light  signal.  Mr.  Leisenring's  experi- 
ence is  that  the  light  signal  is  better  in  every  respect. 


Selling  the  Employee  on  Salesmanship — II 

Creating  a  Pleasant  Environment,  Forming  Correct  Habits  in  Car  Operation  and  Developing  Morale 
Are  the  Subjects  of  Mr.  Bigelow's  Remaining  Three  Talks  to  Employees  on 
Making  Themselves  Better  Salesmen  of  Transportation 

By  B.  R.  Bigelow 

Sales  Manager  of  Transportation,  Department  of  Street  Railways,  Detroit,  Mich. 


In  the  first  article  Mr  Bigelow  briefly  outlined  the  scope  of 
his  duties  as  a  sales  manager  of  transportation.  Two  of  the 
series  of  five  talks  on  salesmanship  appeared  in  conjunction 
with  that  article  in  the  Dec.  24  issue  of  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal. 

Sales  Talk  III — Environment 

INDUSTRIAL  democracy  bears  the  same  relation  to 
our  business  life  that  home  environment  does  to 
our  domestic  life.  When  we  think  of  home  environ- 
ment we  think  of  many  things,  but  what  appeals  to 
us  most  is  the  congeniality  of  the  place  made  possible 
by  loving  companionship.  When  the  home  folks  are 
away  we  discover  how  loudly  the  clock  ticks,  how 
large  the  rooms  are,  and  that  the  place  we  live  in  is 
just  a  house  after  all.  But  when  the  folks  come  back 
it  is  once  more  a  home.  Can't  you  see  that  every  one 
of  us  has  the  privilege  of  creating  that  same  environ- 
ment here  in  our  business  life  by  making  of  ourselves 
congenial  companions  to  those  around  us? 

A  pleasant  "good  morning"  costs  nothing  but  the 
effort  of  saying  it.  Those  two  words  imply  much  more 
than  that  it  is  a  good  morning.  They  imply  becoming 
personal  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  person  greeted. 
Every  one  of  us  is  more  than  a  stone  in  the  street  or 
a  brick  in  the  walk,  and  our  whole  being  revolts  at 
being  passed  as  such  by  an  associate.  We  make 
memories  by  adhering  to  these  every-day  home-like 
courtesies. 

Did  you  ever  think  that  we  make  memories  every 
day  for  our  own  use  in  the  future?  We  should  try  to 
make  such  memories  to-day  that  we  will  enjoy  having 
them  recalled  on  the  morrow.  It  should  be  our  aim 
to  make  the  kind  we  will  be  proud  of,  and  not  ashamed 
of — memories  that  will  bring  comfort  and  not  heart- 
ache. 

Keep  in  mind  that  the  memories  of  to-morrow  are 
being  made  today.  Monuments  of  granite  or  marble 
bring  to  our  minds  the  lives  and  deeds  of  the  illus- 


trious men  to  whose  memory  they  have  been  erected, 
but  it  is  not  possible  for  the  great  majority  of  us  to 
so  inspire  posterity  that  we  will  be  so  remembered.  It 
is  possible,  however,  for  every  one  of  us  by  honest 
deeds  and  considerate  acts  to  erect  for  ourselves  living 
monuments  in  the  hearts  of  our  associates — living 
monuments  that  will  inspire  right  living  and  hones 
labor. 

We  perhaps  little  realize  in  our  daily  lives  how 
many  times  a  day  we  unconsciously  give  inspiration 
to  some  person  because  of  the  efficient  manner  in 
which  we  perform  our  own  work.  We,  as  railroad  men, 
are  constantly  serving  the  public,  and  our  opportuni- 
ties to  give  inspiration  are  almost  unlimited.  It  is 
perfectly  natural,  at  times,  to  feel  as  if  our  efforts  are 
wasted  because  we  receive  no  visible  response  from 
those  we  serve.  Yet  we  would  not  stop  seeding  a 
newly  made  lawn  because  we  could  not  see  the  seeds 
develop  and  grow.  On  that  account  we  must  be  con- 
stant in  our  courteous  service  to  the  public  and  the 
visible  response  will  surely  appear. 

We  are  mutually  dependent  beings;  we  must  give 
and  take  in  this  battle  of  life.  Among  ourselves  we 
must  be  socially  magnanimous  and,  by  so  doing,  we 
will  be  able  to  find  ourselves  and  help  others  to  find 
themselves.  It  must  be  plain  to  you  that  in  close  as- 
sociation we  can  gain  a  degree  of  wisdom  because  of 
one  another's  experiences. 

Simultaneous  with  the  development  of  transporta- 
tion service,  we  must  strive  to  develop  our  serving 
capacity  in  order  that  this  railroad,  as  operated  by  us, 
will  just  naturally  be  known  as  the  "Courtesy  Line." 

Sales  Talk  IV— Habit 

Did  you  ever  think  of  the  force  of  habit?  There  is 
an  old  and  true  saying  that  fire  is  a  good  servant  but 
a  terrible  master.  The  same  could  be  truly  said  of 
habits.   Habits  are  good  servants  but  terrible  masters. 


1144 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


Habits  must  be  controlled  and  marshaled  in  true  form. 
They  must  be  good  habits  because  they  are  on  dress 
parade  all  the  time.  It  is  not  my  intention  at  this  time 
to  moralize  on  the  subject,  but  its  behooves  every  one 
of  us,  however,  to  form  correct  habits  in  all  relations 
of  life. 

Some  one  asks  what  has  habit  to  do  with  car  opera- 
tion. When  correct  car  operation  becomes  force  of 
habit,  said  operation  is  intuitively  accomplished.  In- 
tuition, as  you  know,  is  that  instinctive  feeling  which 
gives  immediate  perception  of  that  which  is  to  be 
accomplished. 

By  way  of  illustration;  you  are  walking  along  a 
cement  walk  with  a  friend  engaged  in  earnest  con- 
versation. As  you  approach  the  curb  your  steps  are 
guided  by  intuition  because  you  do  not  stumble  or 
fall  at  that  point,  but  with  unconscious  perception 
step  off  the  curb  gracefully.  You  are  walking  in  the 
country;  the  wind  has  caused  a  heavy  branch  from  a 
neighboring  tree  to  be  thrown  across  your  path.  You 
unconsciously  and  intuitively  step  over  the  obstruc- 
tion. You  do  not  know  or  realize  just  how  high  you 
lift  your  foot  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  act  be- 
cause the  intuitive  feeling  which  you  possess  gives 
you  just  the  proper  perception  which  makes  your  action 
almost  involuntary. 

Making  Habit  a  Valuable  Asset 

It  is  so  in  car  operation.  After  careful  instruction 
you  will  be  possessed  of  that  instinctive  feeling  which 
will  give  you  perception  without  process  of  thought 
Let  me  illustrate.  You  have  a  car  under  operation, 
an  automobile  whirls  in  front  of  that  car,  you  in- 
stinctively throw  off  power  and  apply  the  brake. 
Force  of  habit  perfected  by  practice  eliminates  process 
of  thought,  and  the  same  becomes  intuitive  of  accom- 
plishment. 

I  wish  just  to  touch  on  another  phase  of  force  o 
habit  in  order  to  prove  conclusively  that  whatever 
you  do,  day  after  day,  over  and  over  again,  has  a  cer 
tain  hold  on  you,  which  is  just  naturally  called  force 
of  habit. 

By  way  of  illustration,  we  will  assume  that  in  the 
living  room  of  your  home  hangs  a  mirror.  Some  mem 
ber  of  the  family  decides  that  the  light  will  striko 
to  better  advantage  in  some  other  part  of  the  room 
You  move  the  mirror,  so  you  know  it  is  moved;  however, 
you  instinctively  go  to  its  old  position  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  and  it  is  with  a  mingled  feeling  of 
humiliation  and  surprise  that  you  gaze  at  the  blank 
wall.    This  is  but  one  simple  illustration  of  force  of 
habit. 

I  remember  as  a  boy  I  came  into  the  old  farmhouse 
kitchen  one  day  and  mother  said  to  me,  "When  you 
wash  your  face  and  hands  empty  the  basin  of  wate*- 
into  a  pail  as  the  waste  pipe  under  the  sink  is  broken  " 
I  presume  I  did  a  boy's  usual  good  job  at  performing 
my  ablutions,  and  force  of  habit  won,  because  over 
went  the  water  into  the  sink  and  so  onto  the  floor 
It  was  a  rule  in  our  household  that  if  any  member 
of  the  family  disturbed  its  tranquillity  by  careless  or 
thoughtless  action  he  must  pay  the  penalty  by  putting 
things  to  rights.  In  this  case  I  carefully  hand-mopped 
the  kitchen  floor.  Then  I  had  to  wash  my  hands  aga^v 
and  over  went  the  water  again.  You  see  what  forcr 
of  habit  will  do. 

Form  correct  habits  in  car  operation  if  you  woul  " 
be  a  successful  operator. 


Sales  Talk  V— Morale 

Morale  is  just  as  important  to  the  railway  man  as  it 
is  to  a  soldier.  What  is  morale?  Primarily,  it  means 
courage  in  the  face  of  danger.  In  reality  it  means 
more  than  that.  Along  with  courage  it  means  convic- 
tion of  mastery  or  ability  for  success.  Every  railway 
man  is  called  upon  many  times  to  face  an  emergency 
which  is  dangerous  both  to  himself  and  to  some  care- 
less or  thoughtless  person.  I  have  known  perfectly 
normal  men  to  be  so  paralyzed  by  the  imminent  pos- 
sibilities of  an  emergency  that  they  were,  for  the  time 
being,  rendered  helpless.  Those  men  lacked  morale. 
Careful  preparation  for  your  work  brings  the  nec- 
essary confidence  that  makes  morale  possible. 

Accidents  do  not  often  happen;  they  are  caused. 
Five  principal  causes  of  accidents  are  inattention, 
thoughtlessness,  undue  haste,  recklessness  and  care- 
lessness. 

It  is  much  better  to  take  pains  in  preventing  acci- 
dents than  it  is  to  suffer  pains  because  of  them. 
Presence  of  mind  insures  safety.  Whenever  we  are 
confronted  by  imminent  danger,  if  we  can  act  with 
vigilance,  care  and  promptitude,  we  are  distinctly  on 
the  side  of  safety  first. 

There  is  an  old  and  true  saying  that  "Self-preserva- 
tion is  the  first  law  of  nature."  One  reason  why  I  am 
a  stanch  champion  of  the  Birney  safety  car  is  that 
it  is  automatic  in  its  operation.  If  an  operator  leaves 
his  post  of  duty  the  car  will  stop.  However,  we  must 
train  ourselves  to  realize  our  full  responsibility  for  the 
safety  of  others  by  cultivating  self-control,  and  not 
depend  upon  automatic  devices.  As  an  illustration: 
Just  after  a  snowstorm  last  winter  a  Birney  safety 
car  was  being  operated  through  the  main  street  of  a 
neighboring  city.  A  snowplow  had  preceded  the  car, 
pushing  the  snow  into  a  high  ridge,  with  utter  dis- 
regard to  adjacent  driveways  and  walks.  In  order  to 
clear  the  space  in  front  of  an  express  office  snow  had 
been  thrown  back  onto  the  tracks,  and,  with  no  evil 
intent  perhaps,  a  section  of  plank  had  been  buried 
beneath  the  snow  at  this  point.  The  operator  of  the 
car,  thinking  he  would  be  able  to  speed  through  the 
obstruction,  put  on  full  power.  This  carried  the  car 
through  the  snow,  but  the  plank  came  into  contact 
with  the  valve  of  the  air  tank,  which  was  opened.  There- 
by the  air  brake  and  all  automatic  devices  were  made 
useless.  An  interurban  car  was  just  crossing  the 
intersection  beyond  the  express  office  as  the  Birney 
car  emerged  from  the  snow  obstruction.  The  operator 
coolly  reversed  power,  bringing  the  Birney  to  an  abrupt 
stop  as  the  interurban  speeded  by.  The  operator, 
possessed  of  morale,  bad  averted  a  serious  accident. 

I  am  extremely  loath  to  finish  this  particular  talk, 
because  no  man  can  have  too  many  of  the  qualities 
that  provide  for  morale.  Remember  that  a  plea  of 
ignorance  of  car  operation  will  never  take  away  your 
responsibility  in  case  of  an  accident.  When  caution 
becomes  a  habit  accidents  will  be  few.  In  closing, 
I  wish  to  impress  upon  you  that  the  best  safety  device 
on  any  car  is  a  careful  operator. 

For  the  investigation  of  the  standards  of  practice 
and  methods  of  measurements  of  public  utilities  such 
as  gas,  electric  light,  electric  power,  water,  telephone, 
central  station  heating,  and  electric  railway  service,  the 
Bureau  of  Standards  is  requesting  a  continuance  during 
the  next  fiscal  year  of  the  $85,000  appropriation  with 
which  it  has  been  carrying  forward  this  work. 


December  31,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1145 


Steel-Barrier  Type  Crossing  Gate  Through  Which  Automobiles  Cannot  Drive 


Positive-Stop  Crossing  Gates 

Unique  Steel  Cable  Barrier  Being  Tried  Out  by  Chicago 
Elevated  Railroads  Will  Stop  Vehicles  Striking  It 
Before  They  Reach  Crossing 

THE  Chicago  Elevated  Railways  has  made  one  in- 
stallation of  a  unique  new  type  of  crossing  gate 
where  the  Douglas  Park  line  crosses  Austin  Avenue 
at  grade  in  Cicero,  111.  This  new  type  of  gate  is  built 
with  the  idea  that  even  though  a  careless  driver  may 
run  into  a  lowered  gate,  an  occurrence  which  often 
happens,  the  gate  will  not  be  broken  but  will  function 
as  a  mechanical  means  of  stopping  the  car  as  well  as 
a  warning  to  the  driver. 

The  gate  consists  of  a  barrier  formed  by  three  i-in. 
steel  cables  attached  to  a  mechanism  in  a  fabricated 
steel  column  erected  at  either  side  of  the  road.  The 
entire  barrier  is  lifted  vertically  in  a  horizontal  position 
by  means  of  a  motor-driven  chain  mechanism  in  each 
column.  A  plain  sheet-metal  strip  on  which  alternate 
black  and  white  bars  are  painted  is  attached  to  the  top 
cable  and  serves  as  the  usual  warning  when  the  barrier 
is  lowered.  To  lower  the  barrier,  the  operator  simply 
throws  an  electric  switch  which  brings  it  down  into  the 
stop  position.    Attached  to  the  chain  mechanism  in 


7,000-L.b.  Truck  Unable  to  Reach  the  Rails  When  Driven 
Into  Barrier  at  15  m.p.h. 


each  column  is  a  heavy  counterweight  which  raises  and' 
lowers  with  the  barrier;  that  is,  the  weight  is  down 
when  the  barrier  is  down. 

If  an  automobile  fails  to  stop  and  strikes  the  barrier 
the  first  pressure  effected  is  taken  up  by  the  raising 
of  these  heavy  weights.  A  braking  mechanism  is  con- 
nected with  the  weights  so  that  the  higher  they  are 
raised  the  more  braking  pressure  is  exerted.  When  the 
weights  get  up  to  a  certain  predetermined  height,  which 
is  governed  by  the  distance  between  the  normal  position 
of  the  barrier  and  the  track,  the  weights  strike  against 
heavy  coil  springs  which  exert  the  last  braking  pressure 
on  the  motion  of  the  automobile.  When  these  springs 
are  compressed,  the  automobile  must  have  come  to  a 
dead  stop  just  before  reaching  the  track.  The  cables 
are  claimed  to  be  strong  enough  to  stop  any  automobile 
or  truck  striking  the  gate  at  any  speed.  Successful 
test  stops  are  pictured  below. 

The  device  was  designed  by  the  Strauss  Yielding 
Barrier  Company,  Chicago,  J.  B.  Strauss  being  the 
designer  of  the  Strauss  bascule  bridge,  and  the  in- 
stallation on  the  Chicago  Elevated  Lines  is  the  first 
to  be  made.  It  is  probable  that  several  more  of  these 
gates  will  be  installed  on  the  Garfield  Park  branch  of 
the  elevated  at  important  intersections,  and  the  further 


Where  the  Automobile  Was  Stopped  After  Being  Driven 
Into  the  Bahrier  at  18  m.p.h. 


1146 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


installations  will  be  equipped  with  five  cables  instead 
of  three  to  give  added  height  to  the  barrier.  While 
crossing  protection  of  this  kind  is  naturally  very  ex- 
pensive, B.  J.  Fallon,  general  manager  of  the  elevated 
lines  in  Chicago,  looks  upon  it  as  affording  a  high  degree 
of  protection  for  which  the  expense  is  justified  at  im- 
portant crossings,  particularly  where  there  may  be  an 
influence  working  to  force  elevation,  for  draw-bridge 
approaches,  etc. 

Attractive  Elevated  Stations 

Pleasing  Appearance  of   Stations   Being   Constructed  on 
Elevated  Portions  of  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Are 
Helpful  Toward  Merchandising  Service 

THE  accompanying  pictures  tell  better  than  words 
can  describe  the  story  of  the  type  of  stations  which 
are  being  built  along  the  portion  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Elevated  Railroad  between  Wilson  Avenue  and 
Howard  Avenue,  the  northern  city  limits.  This  part  of 
the  road  has  been  in  the  process  of  elevation  during  the 
past  few  years  by  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad,  which  owns  the  right-of-way.  The  construc- 
tion is  of  the  so-called  noiseless  type  with  concrete 
retaining  walls  on  either  side  and  earth  fill  between. 
The  stations  and  facilities  other  than  the  actual  right- 
of-way  are  being  built  by  the  Northwestern. 

The  particular  station  pictured  herewith  is  known  as 


Loyola  and  is  located  at  an  intersection  of  the  line  with 
Sheridan  Road.  The  appearance,  construction  and  gen- 
eral plan  are  typical  of  the  stations  that  are  being  built 
along  the  line.  The  ticket  booth  is  on  the  ground  floor 
and  one  agent  serves  both  directions  of  travel.  Up  on 
the  right-of-way,  the  loading  platform  is  of  the  center 
type  located  between  tracks  and  with  the  roof  supported 
on  center  columns. 

Temporary  wood  structures  are  being  used  at  most 
of  the  stations,  but  the  permanent  construction,  as  shown 
in  the  illustrations,  is  being  put  in  gradually  at  one  sta- 
tion after  another  as  rapidly  as  finances  permit.  Simi- 
larly, work  of  putting  the  track  and  overhead  construc- 
tion in  permanent  shape  is  being  gradually  pushed  for- 
ward. All  of  this  extensive  elevation  work  and  the 
accompanying  building  of  temporary  and  permanent  sta- 
tions have  been  done  practically  without  a  moment's 
delay  to  traffic  or  inconvenience,  to  passengers.  The  fine 
facilities  and  conveniences  that  are  afforded  with  the 
completion  of  these  new  stations  are  obvious  and  are  a 
matter  of  very  favorable  comment  from  patrons,  and 
undoubtedly  have  substantial  merchandising  value. 

In  one  of  the  pictures  it  will  be  noted  that  the  column 
which  stands  in  the  road  has  been  prominently  painted 
with  black  and  white  stripes  and  supplied  with  a  night 
light  to  avoid  vehicles  running  into  it.  This  practice 
has  been  followed  throughout  the  city  as  one  of  the 
safety  measures  of  the  elevated  lines. 


Five  Views  of  the  Construction  and  Finish  of  the  Loyola  Station  on  the  Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad,  Whioh  Are 
Typical  of  the  New  Stations  Being  Built  in  Connection  with  the  Elevation  of  the  Line  from  Wilson 
Avenue,  the  Original  Terminus,  to  Howard  Avenue,  the  Present  Citt  Limits 


December  31,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1147 


Two  Views  of  One  of  the  New  Loading  Platforms  at  Indianapolis 


City  of  Indianapolis  Builds  Loading 
Platforms 

THE  city  authorities  of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  have  ap- 
parently been  convinced  of  the  desirability  and  prac- 
ticability of  street  loading  paltforms  for  street  car 
patrons.  As  evidenced  by  the  two  illustrations  shown 
herewith  the  city  is  now  building  loading  platforms  at 
locations  of  heaviest  loading  in  the  center  of  the  city. 

The  platforms  are  arranged  for  double  berthing  of 
the  large  double  truck  Indianapolis  cars  and  are  similar 
in  many  ways  to  those  in  Washington,  D.  C.  They  are 
constructed  directly  on  top  of  the  street  paving  and  are 
made  of  concrete,  with  cement,  or  sidewalk,  tops.  A 
curb  is  not  set,  as  has  been  done  in  other  places,  but  a 
steel  band  is  built  into  the  edge  of  the  platform  and 
bears  the  brunt  of  any  blows  which  may  be  received 
from  passing  vehicles. 

It  is  planned  to  erect  lighting  standards  at  each  end 
of  the  loading  platform. 

Two  loading  platforms  were  placed  in  service  on 
Saturday,  Dec.  3,  and  it  is  planned  to  build  more  of  them 
in  the  future.  The  interesting  feature  of  the  present 
installation  is  that  it  is  entirely  a  city  inspired  and  city 
financed  undertaking. 


Tear  Check  Form  of  Transfer 

The  Use  of  a  Special  Cutter  that  Eliminates  Hand  Punching 
of  Transfers  When  Issued  Proves  a  Time  Saver 
in  Loading  One-Man  Prepayment  Cars 

ANEW  type  of  transfer  and  transfer  cutter  has  re- 
.  cently  been  developed  and  placed  on  all  the  cars  of 
the  Tri-City  Railway  of  Davenport,  Iowa.  This  new 
transfer  was  adopted  to  speed  up  the  loading  of  the  one- 
man  cars.  It  has  proved  a  great  time  saver  and  has 
overcome  some  of  the  many  transfer  abuses. 

A  separate  and  distinguishing  color  transfer  is  used 
for  each  line.  The  date,  the  lines  on  which  it  is  good  for 
fare  and  the  condition  under  which  it  will  be  accepted 
are  printed  on  the  transfer.  Although  the  month  has 
to  be  punched  by  the  operator,  this  can  be  done  in  large 
quantities  when  the  operator  is  at  leisure. 

For  convenience  in  making  fare  collections  each  car 
is  equipped  with  a  portable  change  box  that  has  three 
compartments.    It  can  be  carried  from  one  end  to  the 


other  and  is  used  to  hold  transfers  received,  tickets  col- 
lected, cash  for  making  change,  etc.  On  the  top  of  this 
box,  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  is  placed  a  transfer 
cutter,  made  of  i  x  £-in.  steel  with  one  sharp  edge,  held 
down  by  a  1  x  2-in.  steel  roller,  and  thereby  always  gives 
uniform  tension  on  the  cutting  edge.  This  cutter  can 
be  made  at  a  small  cost. 

How  the  Device  Works 

On  leaving  the  ends  of  the  line  the  operator  sets  his 
pad  of  transfers,  which  have  already  been  hand  punched 
to  indicate  the  proper  month,  under  the  cutter  for  the 
time  of  arrival  at  the  transfer  junction.  All  that  is 
then  required  is  for  the  operator  to  tear  off  the  transfer 
and  hand  it  to  the  passenger  on  request  at  the  time  fare 
is  paid. 

Old  or  late  transfers  are  very  easily  detected  by  the 
receiving  operator  as  the  color  shows  the  issuing  line, 
and  the  length  of  the  transfer  greatly  helps  to  detect 
one  which  is  beyond  the  time  limit.  This  obviously 
makes  it  easy  for  an  operator  to  detect  a  passenger 
presenting  a  transfer  in  the  afternoon  that  was  issued 
in  the  morning. 

The  wastage  of  unissued  transfers  is  cut  down  by 
having  a  daily  supply  issued  with  each  car  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  operator  bringing  in  the  car  at  night  turns 
in  all  unused  transfers.  This  plan  cuts  in  half  the 
number  of  partially  used  pads  of  transfers  that  no  doubt 
would  usually  be  thrown  away. 

As  a  means  of  keeping  an  accurate  record  of  the 
transfers  issued,  special  storage  facilities  were  built 


Three  Compartment  Change  Box  with  Steel  Cutter 
Mounted  on  Top 


1148 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


with  thirty-one  shelves,  one  for  each  day  of  the  month. 
Each  shelf  then  was  divided  so  as  to  hold  a  deck  of  a 
thousand  transfers  for  each  regular  car  run.  These 
decks  were  numerically  arranged  and  the  lowest  num- 
bers always  issued,  with  the  result  that  when  transfers 
are  returned  they  can  be  placed  on  top  of  the  deck 


CO  -J  9>  01 

•O  "O  13  T3 

3  3  3  3 


*.  W  N  - 

V  V  "0  T3 

3  3  3  3 


3  3  3 


&  u  — 

01  ©  01  © 


03  -J  &  01 

u  D  u  a 

3  3  3  3 


Sample  Form  of  Route  Transfer  Showing  How  Time  Limit, 
Month  and  Day  Are  Indicated 

from  which  they  were  taken  and  unless  punched  for  the 
month  can  be  reissued  to  the  same  car  the  following 
month.  This  plan  makes  the  record  keeping  easy  as  the 
transfer  stock  is  always  arranged  in  consecutive  num- 
bers. 

This  system  has  been  used  for  some  time  and  has  been 
found  verv  economical. 


Bringing  Leads  from  Motor  to  Car  Body 

MOTOR  leads  and  their  proper  installation  play  a 
very  vital  part  in  the  successful  operation  of  the 
car  and  in  the  reliability  of  the  service  rendered. 
Improper  installation  or  inadequate  attention  to  these 
details  on  many  roads  has  caused  much  trouble,  and 
inspection  of  some  cars  discloses  the  fact  that  the  motor 
leads  are  lying  on  top  of  the  motor  shells  in  a  disorderly 
manner  so  that  they  are  subjected  to  unnecessary  wear 
with  every  movement  of  the  truck.  Such  wear  soon 
injures  the  insulation  and  sometimes  exposes  the  bare 
wire  which  results  in  a  ground  and  failure,  if  not  an 
accident.  The  use  of  tape  on  leads  is  but  a  makeshift 
for  preventing  failure  and  is  not  a  satisfactory  or  safe 
method  of  repair.  On  some  types  of  trucks  the  motor 
leads  rub  on  the  brake  levers  and  truck  rods.  All  these 
classes  of  failure  can  be  materially  reduced  by  a  little 
attention  to  the  method  of  bringing  out  the  connections 


Cleating  Motor  Leads  to  Car  Body 

from  the  motor  casing  and  in  their  arrangement  as 
they  are  brought  up  to  the  car  body.  A  liberal  use  of 
cleats  will  assist  in  this  arrangement,  and  the  leads 
should  be  brought  out  as  close  to  the  center  line  of  the 
center  plate  as  conditions  will  permit.  This  insures  the 
smallest  movement  of  the  leads  due  to  the  swiveling  of 
the  truck  on  curves.    The  slack  in  the  leads  should  be 


just  sufficient  to  take  care  of  the  expansion  and  com- 
pression of  the  truck  springs  and  provide  for  the  move- 
ment on  the  shortest  radius  curve  of  the  system.  When 
this  length  has  been  determined  the  leads  should  be 
cleated  to  the  motor  shell  or  truck  transom  with  wooden 
cleats  supported  on  an  iron  bracket. 

It  has  been  found  very  desirable  to  have  all  motor 
leads  of  one  standard  length  for  all  types.  Some  roads 
use  a  patented  connecting  box  for  their  motor  lead 
connections,  but  experience  has  shown  that  knuckle- 
joint  connectors  covered  with  fiber  or  rubber  tubing 
give  satisfactory  results  and  they  are  much  cheaper  to 
install.  An  accompanying  illustration  shows  an  arrange- 
ment of  motor  leads  and  their  method  of  cleating  and 
attaching  to  the  car  body  as  used  by  the  International 
Railway,  Buffalo,  operated  by  the  Mitten  Management 
Incorporated.  The  knuckle-joint  connectors  are  placed 
between  the  two  car-body  cleats  and  are  covered  with 
fiber  or  rubber  tubing  to  prevent  short  circuit  or  ground- 
ing from  water  or  snow. 


Handy  Truck  for  Oxyacetylene  Equipment 

A HANDY  truck  for  the 
tanks  and  equipment 
used  in  connection  with  an 
oxyacetylene  cutting  torch  is 
shown  in  an  accompanying 
illustration.  This  was  built 
in  the  shops  of  the  Portland 
Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Portland,  Ore. 
The  truck  is  made  entirely 
of  iron,  the  frame  being  of 
light  angle  iron  with  the 
ends  forged  round  and  bent 
to  shape  for  handles.  The 
tanks  are  held  securely  in 
place  by  two  screw  clamps,  a 
flat  iron  strap  extending 
across  the  two  tanks,  while 
the  screw  passes  between  the  tanks  and  into  the  frame 
of  the  truck.  The  equipment  is  balanced  so  that  one 
man  can  handle  it  very  easily. 


Handy  Truck  Mounting  for 
Moving  Cutting  Torch 


Injury  and  Damage  Costs 

I FOLLOWING  is  a  tabulation  of  the  recent  costs  in  per 
cent  of  gross  income  and  per  1,000  passengers  carried 
for  the  item  of  street  railway  expense  covering  injuries 
and  damages  as  experienced  by  the  companies  operating 


INJURY  AND  DAMAGE  COSTS  FORIVARIOUS  COMPANIES. 


Company 


Peroid 


Per  cent    Cost  per 
of  Gross  1,000 
Income  Passengers 
Carried 


Chicago  Surface  Lines   Year  ended 

Chicago  Surface  Lines   8  months  ended 

St.  Louis   10  months  ended 

Kansas  City   10  months  ended 

Milwaukee  (city  lines)   Year  ended 

Milwaukee  (city  lines)   10  months  ended 

Philadelphia   Year  ended 

Boston   10  months  ended 

Third  Avenue  (N.Y.)   Year  ended 

Twin  City   Year  ended 

Buffalo    10  months  ended 

Cleveland    10  months  ended 

New  York  Railways  (S.  L.) . . .  .  Year  ended 

A  —  Per  cent  of  operating  revenue. 

B  —  28  per  cent  rapid  transit  car  mileage. 

C  —  For  revenue  passengers  only. 


1-31-21 

9-30-21 
10-31-21 
10-31-21 
12-31-21 
10-31-21 
12-31-21 
10-31-21 

6-30-21 
12-31-20 
10-31-21 
10-31-21 

6-30-21 


3.28 

2.92 

6.00 

3.34 

5.52A 

5.94A 

3.47 

2. 17B 

5.00 

3.83 

6.22 

7. 14 

6.50 


$1,343 
1 .314 

.72 
.705 
35 
.60 
.50 
.  13C 
.78 
.57 
.45 
3.08 
3.04 


in  ten  of  the  larger  cities.  This  is  seen  to  vary  for 
the  strictly  surface  line  companies  from  a  minimum  of 
2.92  per  cent  of  the  gross  income  to  7.14  per  cent. 


December  31,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1149 


Further  Comments  on  the  Bus  and 
"Bus  Transportation" 

IN  THE  issue  of  Dec.  10  some  remarks  regarding 
the  extension  of  the  service  of  Electric  Railway 
Journal  by  the  issuing  of  Bus  Transportation  were 
given.  It  is  believed  that  the  following  will  also  prove 
of  interest  in  this  line. 


C.  D.  Emmons,  president  United  Railways  &  Electric 
Company  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  in  discussing  this  question 
says : 

"I  saw  an  advance  copy  of  your  new  publication,  Bus 
Transportation,  and  I  then  expressed  my  opinion  that 
there  should  be  a  large  field  for  such  a  journal. 

"Undoubtedly,  the  bus  is  going  to  prove  very  useful 
in  the  question  of  transportation,  and  its  economical 
usefulness  must  undoubtedly  be  in  the  hands  of  those 
operating  the  street  railways  themselves. 

"It  has  been  proved,  I  believe,  in  this  country,  and 
certainly  in  the  cities  and  towns  of  England,  that  in 
order  to  have  the  best  and  most  economical  resultant 
transportation  for  their  communities  it  is  necessary  to 
have  them  co-ordinated  under  one  head,  as  the  low  rates 
of  fare  required  by  the  public  cannot  support  two 
systems,  and  thus  ultimately  the  entire  transportation 
mediums  of  the  community  become  demoralized. 

"I  wish  you  much  success  in  your  new  venture." 


Edward  Dana,  general  manager  of  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway,  writes  as  follows: 

"I  wish  you  to  know  that  personally  I  am  heartily  in 
accord  with  your  constructive  step  to  create  a  forum,  as 
it  were,  for  the  discussion  of  bus  transportation  whether 
by  trackless  trolley,  gasoline  motor,  or  however  driven. 
I  feel  that  you  will  perform  a  real  service  for  the  trans- 
portation industry. 

"Personally  I  am  glad  that  the  association  at  this 
time  did  not  permit  a  large  influx  of  bus  operators  or 
interests  into  the  association,  as  I  do  not  think  that  the 
time  was  ripe.  I  do  regret,  however,  that  unnecessary 
feeling  should  have  been  aroused  by  this  action,  which 
is  a  perfectly  logical  one  and  does  not,  to  my  mind, 
indicate  any  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  necessity  for 
giving  the  bus  its  place  in  the  sun,  but  is  a  business-like 
decision  not  to  make  a  false  move  until  more  definite 
knowledge  is  had  as  to  just  what  that  place  in  the  sun 
is.  I  can  hardly  conceive  how  any  business  interests 
or  street  railway  operators  can  ever  feel  that  the 
gasoline  bus  can  take  the  place  of  the  systems  now 
devoted  to  mass  transportation.  It  has  already  shown 
what  it  can  do  in  smaller  cities  in  the  form  of  a  guerrilla 
warfare,  but  the  future,  it  seems  to  me,  demands  of 
us  a  conservative,  intelligent  study  of  all  of  the  factors 
and  an  amalgamation  of  that  which  is  economical,  effi- 
cient and  proper  for  bus  service  into  a  unified  trans- 
portation system  in  order  that  cities  may  have  the  best 
possible  transportation  facilities.  That  information 
we  have  not  at  the  present  time.  The  bus  can  never  do 
what  the  electric  car  did  to  the  horse  car,  but  there  are 
many  opportunities,  as  I  see  it,  to  create  traffic  in  order 
that  the  load  factor  of  traffic  on  existing  trolley  lines 
may  be  improved  and  new  traffic  served  quicker  than 


would  be  the  case  if  it  need  wait  for  rail  transportation. 
I  feel  it  a  great  mistake  for  railway  operators  to  classify 
the  legitimate  development  of  bus  service  in  the  same 
category  as  the  ruinous  jitney  which  has  flourished  over 
the  past  few  years.  The  great  need  is  to  prevent  false 
development  and  waste  and  to  work  along  intelligent, 
comprehensive  lines. 

"If  the  bus  has  an  economic  field  in  conjunction  with 
the  rail  systems,  talk  cannot  stop  its  performing  this 
function,  and  if  it  can  only  go  so  far  in  assisting  local 
transportation,  talk  cannot  put  it  any  further." 


James  P.  Barnes,  president  Louisville  Railway,  dis- 
cusses the  new  publication  as  follows : 

"I  have  carefully  read  the  editorial  in  the  Electric 
Railway  Journal  of  Oct.  29  and  my  understanding  of 
it  is  that  the  policy  of  publishing  Bus  Transportation 
has  been  definitely  decided  upon.  Any  discussion  on 
the  publication  of  such  a  journal  would  therefore  be 
purely  academic.  I  shall  of  course  be  very  glad  to  look 
over  the  new  publication  and  to  have  it  in  our  files  for 
the  usefulness  of  its  subject  matter. 

"I  would  be  the  last  to  attempt  to  minimize  the  im- 
portance of  the  bus  question  to  the  transportation 
industry.  I  believe  there  is  a  very  definite  field  of 
application  for  the  motor  bus,  and  perhaps  for  the 
trolley  bus,  and  I  believe  most  firmly  that  when  the 
limits  of  that  field  are  determined  the  existing  trans- 
portation companies  should  be  the  operating  agencies 
to  take  advantage  of  new  facilities.  All  the  information 
we  can  get  about  bus  operation  we  should  have,  but  we 
must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  great  bulk  of 
our  mass  transportation  will  continue  to  be  handled 
by  the  trolley  car,  rather  than  by  the  bus,  as  long  as 
conditions  continue  substantially  as  at  present.  So- 
much  is  being  said  and  published  about  bus  transporta- 
tion that  I  think  there  is  a  tendency  to  regard  the  bus 
as  a  more  far-reaching  transportation  agency  than  will 
eventually  be  found  to  be  the  case.  We  must  learn  and 
discuss  all  the  features  of  bus  operation  and  at  the  same 
time  avoid  the  hysteria  of  overdiscussion  or  overem- 
phasis. I  certainly  feel  that  no  agency  in  the  field  is 
better  able  to  hold  its  balance  in  those  discussions  than 
the  editorial  staff  of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
and  shall  watch  for  the  Bus  Transportation  announce- 
ment with  great  interest." 


From  Cleveland,  J.  H.  Alexander,  vice-president  the 
Cleveland  Railway,  writes  as  follows: 

"I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  note  the  possibility  of  the 
new  publication  to  which  you  refer  in  your  letter.  The 
development  of  the  bus  is  something  in  which  just  now 
every  one  of  us  is  keenly  interested,  and  I  am  highly 
in  accord  with  .your  view  that  such  a  publication  is 
needed  and  will  pay." 


Comments  have  also  come  from  the  consulting 
engineers  who  are  connected  with  the  industry.  T. 
Fitzgerald,  consulting  electric  railway  engineer  of 
Pittsburgh,  writes : 

"I  have  enjoyed  and  gained  a  great  deal  of  benefit 
from  your  present  method  of  handling  trackless  vehicle 
material  in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal. 

"I  have  been  wondering  how  you  were  going  to  cover 
the  trackless  vehicle  field  and  thought  maybe  you  would 
take  the  bull  by  the  horns  and  change  the  name  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  in  some  way  as  to  include 


1150 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


all  of  the  matters  vital  to  urban,  suburban  and  inter- 
urban  passenger  and  light  freight  transportation. 
Don't  ask  me  for  suggestions  as  to  the  proper  name  for 
such  a  journal. 

"Your  staff  is  undoubtedly  the  best  equipped  for 
leadership  in  the  sound  economic  development  of  trans- 
portation methods  in  the  field  which  has  heretofore  been 
looked  upon  as  the  electric  railway  field.  There  is  no 
question  in  my  mind  about  the  necessity  for  including 
the  trackless  vehicle  as  a  vital  factor  in  the  proper 
development  of  our  electric  railway  systems. 

"I  react  against  the  separation  of  these  two  fields, 
but  if  the  separation  must  take  place  in  order  to  bring 
about  the  co-ordinated  development  of  both,  it  can  best 
be  done  by  having  your  present  staff  supervise  both 
publications.  Of  course  your  activities  in  promoting 
the  sound  development  of  the  trackless  vehicle  must  be 
profitable  and  this  may  require  a  separate  paper.  If 
so,  I  am  heartily  in  accord  with  the  proposed  plan. 

"In  our  study  of  the  freight  situation  here,  bare  pos- 
sibilities of  using  trackless  vehicles  in  conjunction  with 
freight  haulage  by  electric  railways  have  arisen.  Would 
you  want  to  take  into  account  such  possibilities  and 
name  your  new  magazine  so  as  to  include  any  develop- 
ments through  which  the  activities  of  trackless  vehicles 
and  electric  railways  can  be  co-ordinated  to  provide 
better  and  cheaper  distribution  of  materials?" 


Edward  A.  West,  general  superintendent  the  Denver 
Tramway  Company,  writes: 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  bus  transportation  is  here 
to  stay,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  McGraw-Hill 
Company,  Incorporated,  is  eminently  qualified,  through 
its  highly  trained  and  efficient  news-gathering  and 
editorial  staff,  to  prepare  and  publish  a  journal  that  will 
compass  the  ground  covered  by  the  auto  bus. 

"The  advent  of  the  trolley  bus  into  the  urban  trans- 
portation field  is  due  to  there  being  a  growing  demand 
for  that  form  of  transportation,  and  it  is  my  impression 
that  a  very  rapid  development  of  this  type  of  transporta- 
tion will  be  noted  in  the  next  few  years.  To  my  mind 
this  fact  makes  it  necessary  that  a  competent  organi- 
zation handle  the  matter  in  an  unbiased  and  broad- 
minded  manner,  and  again  I  repeat  that  the  McGraw- 
Hill  Company  is  better  qualified  to  do  this  than  any 
other  technical  publishing  house  in  the  country. 

"I  could  go  on  in  this  manner  for  an  hour  or  so  longer, 
but  from  the  foregoing  you  will  gather  what  my  ideas 
are.  In  closing  I  can  only  say  that  if  you  people  don't 
start  handling  this  matter  somebody  else  will,  and  as 
you  yourself  have  put  it,  others  might  not  have  the 
interests  of  the  electric  railway  people  as  much  at  heart 
as  you  have  and  advocate  the  application  of  buses  to 
transportation  business  economically  unsound." 


In  a  letter  from  B.  J.  Denman,  president  Tri-City 
Railway  &  Light  Companies,  Davenport,  Iowa,  he  says: 

"With  reference  to  the  new  publication  Bus  Trans- 
portation, which  you  have  announced,  I  will  state  that 
I  believe  it  much  better  for  the  McGraw-Hill  Company 
to  start  such  a  publication  than  to  have  it  done  by 
interests  identified  with  the  automobile  business,  as  in 
that  case  the  policy  would  be  controlled  from  the  com- 
mercial standpoint,  rather  than  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  real  economics  of  transportation.  With  the  wide 
interest  of  the  McGraw-Hill  Company  in  utility  com- 
panies in  general,  I  feel  quite  sure  that  there  would 


not  be  a  serious  conflict  of  editorial  policy  between 
Bus  Transportation  and  the  Electric  Railway 
Journal,  and,  as  stated,  unless  you  do  start  such  a 
paper,  some  one  else  will  surely  do  so. 

"I  have  no  question  but  that  there  is  a  field  for  bus 
transportation,  supplementing  existing  transportation 
agencies,  but  this  must  be  a  supplemental  service,  and 
not  a  competitive  service,  unless  the  competition  is  put 
on  a  fair  basis.  The  railways  in  small  and  medium 
sized  communities  cannot  provide  their  track  and  pay 
for  the  paving  and  continue  service  in  competition  with 
buses  which  do  not  pay  to  the  municipalities  a  compensa- 
tion strictly  comparable  with  that  paid  by  the  street 
railway  companies,  including  general,  city  and  county 
taxes,  and  paving  taxes.  The  business  must  also  be  put 
on  the  same  basis  with  respect  to  service  requirements, 
and  unless  this  is  done  the  result  will  be  the  absolute 
destruction  of  the  street  railway  business  without  build- 
ing up  a  system  which  is  equally  satisfactory  and 
reliable. 

"The  same  thing  is  going  to  apply  to  the  interurban 
and  steam  road  competition,  so  far  as  the  use  of  our 
improved  highways  is  concerned.  The  present  competi- 
tion in  some  states  is  absolutely  inequitable  and  unjust. 

"From  my  knowledge  of  the  policy  of  the  McGraw-Hill 
Company  publications,  I  will  welcome  its  entrance  into 
this  new  field." 

Daylight  Color  Light  Signals  Installed 
in  Liverpool 

THE  signal  system  of  the  Liverpool  (England)  Over- 
head Railway,  which  was  the  first  elevated  railway 
in  the  world  to  be  worked  electrically,  has  been  re- 
equipped  so  that  it  is  now  the  largest  installation  of 
daylight  color  light  signals  outside  of  this  country. 
The  new  equipment  was  described  in  a  recent  issue  of 
the  Railway  Engineer.  At  each  station  there  is  a  home 
signal  with  an  overlap  of  about  300  ft.,  the  latter  ter- 
minating just  in  the  rear  of  the  station.  There  is  also 
a  starting  signal  immediately  at  the  outlet  of  the  sta- 
tion and  this  also  has  an  overlap  of  about  the  same 
distance.  Even  in  the  brightest  sunshine  the  signal  can 
be  distinctly  seen  for  3,000  ft.  The  basis  of  the  signal- 
ing arrangement  was  to  allow  for  a  two-minute  service, 
although  actually  one  of  100  seconds  was  provided  for. 
The  speeds  were  taken  at  20  m.p.h.  with  an  acceleration 
leaving  the  station  at  0.75  miles  per  hour  per  second  and 
a  deceleration  approaching  the  station  of  1.4  miles  per 
hour  per  second.  Tests  made  showed  that  the  overlap  of 
300  ft.  was  more  than  sufficient  to  stop  a  train  in  the 
event  of  an  automatic  application  of  the  brake  should  a 
signal  be  over-run. 

A  Record  of  Sixty  Years  of  Electrical 
Progress  by  English  Paper 

THE  Electrician  of  London,  which  first  appeared  on 
Nov.  9,  1861,  celebrated  its  diamond  jubilee  last 
month.  In  its  sixty  years  of  life  it  has  recorded  many 
epoch-making  inventions  and  has  seen  the  genesis  of 
electric  traction,  electric  lighting  and  the  telephone  and 
widespread  adoption  of  the  electric  motor  for  industrial 
purposes.  Its  "diamond  jubilee  issue"  contains  con- 
gratulatory messages  from  Thomas  A.  Edison,  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge,  Senatore  Marconi  and  others.  It  also 
contains  historical  and  technical  accounts  of  the  develop- 
ment of  telegraphic  and  other  applications  of  electrical 
energy  to  industry. 


December  31,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1151 


The  New  Jersey  Commuter  in  New  York  Subway* 

The  Commuter  Traffic  to  New  York  Amounts    to    359,000,000  Passengers 
Annually  and  Is  Growing  Rapidly — Steps  to  Develop 
a  Rapid  Transit  Plan  Are  Recommended 

By  Daniel  L.  Turner 

Consulting  Engineer  to  the  Transit  Commission  of  New  York  City 


ON  every  working  day  during  the 
year  1920,  from  north,  east,  south 
and  west,  from  as  far  away  as  20  miles 
or  more,  and  in  the  morning  hours, 
nearly  one  and  one-quarter  million  peo- 
ple were  delivered  into  lower  Manhat- 
tan by  all  of  the  rapid  transit  lines 
in  New  York  and  by  all  methods  of 
commuter  travel  leading  to  the  city. 
More  than  200,000  of  this  traveling  mul- 
titude were  New  Jersey  commuters. 
This  number  is  17  per  cent  of  all  the 
travelers. 

Although  it  is  true  that  Manhattan 
is  an  island,  the  waters  surrounding 
it  have  already  been  passed  under  by 
thirty  single-track  passenger  tunnels 
and  eighteen  of  these  have  been  con- 
structed by  New  York  City.  Therefore, 
physical  barriers  are  no  longer  an  ob- 
stacle to  the  realization  of  your  aspira- 
tions for  a  more  convenient  transporta- 
tion service  between  your  homes  and 
your  work  places  in  Manhattan.  The 
difficulties  are  entirely  political. 

In  order  properly  to  emphasize  the 
importance  of  dealing  with  our  local 
transportation  problem  as  a  metropoli- 
tan rather  than  as  a  city  problem,  some 
figures  will  be  given  with  respect  to 
city  transit  and  then  with  respect  to 
commuter  traffic. 

The  Enormous  Traffic  Increases 
in  New  York  City 

In  the  past  the  traffic  on  the  street 
railway  lines,  subway,  elevated  and  sur- 
face, in  New  York  City,  has  nearly 
doubled  every  fifteen  years.  The  aver- 
age daily  traffic  on  all  lines  is  now  more 
than  6,500,000  passengers. 

The  total  traffic  carried  during  the 
year  of  1920  on  all  lines  was  approxi- 
mately 2,365,000,000  passengers — ap- 
proximately double  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers carried  on  all  of  the  steam  rail- 
roads in  the  country.  This  was  an  in- 
crease over  1919  of  nearly  285,000,000 
passengers.  Reduced  to  months,  this 
means  that  during  the  average  month 
in  1920,  23,000,000  more  passengers 
were  carried  than  during  the  average 
month  of  1919;  or  reduced  to  days,  it 
means  that  during  the  average  day  in 
1920,  763,000  more  passengers  were 
carried  than  during  an  average  day  in 
1919.  Expressed  in  another  manner, 
this  means  that  on  every  day  during 
1920  nearly  4,200  more  passengers  were 
carried  than  on  the  preceding  day — or 
it  means  that  the  equivalent  of  nearly 
four  additional  ten-car  express  trains 
must  be  added  to  the  service  every  day 
to  carry  the  increase  in  traffic  each  day. 

In  1913,  the  year  the  dual  contracts 
were  signed,  the  rapid  transit  lines 
alone  in  Manhattan,  the  Bronx  and 
Brooklyn — subway  and  elevated  lines 
together — carried  810,000,000  passen- 
gers. In  1920  these  same  rapid  transit 
lines,  together  with  the  new  lines  which 
had  been  placed  in  operation,  carried 
about  1,332,000,000  passengers  during 
the  year.  This  means  an  increase  of 
64  per  cent  in  seven  years.  It  would 
have  been  utterly  impossible  to  ac- 
commodate this  enormous  increase  in 


•Abstract  of  paper  read  at  the  Bi-State 
Rapid  Transit  Conference  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  City  Plan  Commission,  held  at 
City  Hall.  Paterson,  N.  J.,  Dec.  15,  1921. 


traffic  had  it  not  been  for  the  large 
additions  to  the  transportation  facilities 
which  were  opened  for  operation  during 
the  last  two  or  three  years.  To  keep 
pace  with  this  enormous  traffic  increase, 
New  York  City  must  build  more  sub- 
ways at  once,  and  must  formulate  a 
plan  for  continuous  construction. 

Steam  Railroad  Commuters 
The  steam  railroad  commuters  are 
assumed  to  include  regular  commuters, 
trip-ticket  passengers  and  other  short 
distance  or  suburban  riders.  In  1920, 
the  total  commuter  traffic  in  and  out  of 
New  York  City  was  about  73  per  cent 
of  the  total  passenger  travel  on  all 
steam  railroads  entering  the  city.  It 
amounted  approximately  to  153,000,000 
passengers.  This  number  included  pas- 
sengers using  the  Grand  Central  ter- 
minal, the  Long  Island  terminals  and  all 
traffic  via  the  New  Jersey  roads.  The 
total  traffic  or  the  commuter  traffic  and 
regular  through  railroad  traffic  to- 
gether was  about  210,000,000  passen- 
gers for  the  year.  About  56  per  cent 
of  the  total  steam  railroad  commuter 
traffic,  or  about  87,000,000  in  and  out, 
used  the  New  Jersey  roads. 

Neither  the  rapid  transit  traffic  nor 
the  commuter  traffic  is  distributed 
evenly  throughout  the  day.  On  the 
rapid  transit  lines,  approximately  21 
per  cent  of  the  total  twenty-four-hour 
traffic  in  both  directions  is  carried  in 
three  hours  in  one  direction  past  the 
maximum  load  point.  On  the  commuter 
lines,  about  30  per  cent  represents  the 
corresponding  concentrated  travel.  The 
three  heaviest  traffic  hours  are  either 
from  7  to  10  a.m.  workward,  or  from 
4  to  7  p.m.  homeward.  The  real  traffic 
problem  is  to  take  care  of  the  traffic 
during  these  three  hours  morning  and 
night.  The  daily  steam  railroad  com- 
muter traffic  from  New  Jersey  is  ap- 
proximately 272,000  and  the  daily  rapid 
transit  traffic  approximately  4,162,000 
passengers.  Applying  the  preceding 
percentages  to  the  daily  traffic  figures 
we  find  that  the  maximum  daily  traffic, 
one  way,  during  three  hours,  from  7  to 
10  a.m.  or  from  4  to  7  p.m.,  on  all  of 
the  commuter  lines  together,  amounts 
to  about  82,000  passengers;  on  the  rapid 
transit  lines  during  the  same  three 
hours,  the  traffic  is  about  874,000  pas- 
sengers. The  ratio  between  these  two 
figures  is  1  to  10.7.  In  other  words, 
during  the  one-way  three-hour  periods 
of  greatest  congestion,  there  is  one 
steam  railroad  commuter  from  New 
Jersey  for  nearly  every  ten  rapid  transit 
passengers  carried  on  the  rapid  transit 
lines. 

Total  Commuter  Travel 

The  total  commuter  travel,  including 
(1)  steam  railroad,  (2)  tunnel  and  (3) 
ferry  commuters,  aggregated  approxi- 
mately: 

Passengers 

For  the  year  1920  .359,000,000 

For  the  day,  both  ways 

(478,000  +  115,000  +  528,000)  1,121,000 
For  the  maximum  three  hours  in 
one  direction, 

(143,000  +  35,000  +  158,000)  .  336,000 

Comparing  this  last  figure  with  the 
874,000  three-hour,  one-direction,  rapid- 
transit  traffic,  we  have  the  ratio  of  1 
to  2.6.    This  ratio  means  that  during 


the  most  congested  three  hours  one 
way,  the  rapid  transit  travel  is  only 
a  little  more  than  two  and  one-half 
times  the  total  number  of  commuters  of 
all  kinds  coming  into  or  going  out  of 
New  York  City. 

In  the  case  of  New  Jersey  separately, 
there  were  203,000  commuters  during 
the  maximum  three  hours  in  one  direc- 
tion. This  gives  the  ratio  of  1  to  4.3,  as 
compared  with  the  corresponding  rapid 
transit  traffic,  or  expressed  in  another 
way,  during  the  maximum  three  hours 
in  one  direction  there  are  nearly  one- 
quarter  times  as  many  New  Jersey 
commuters  as  there  are  rapid  transit 
riders. 

All  of  the  foregoing  figures  are  ap- 
proximate, but  they  are  sufficiently  ac- 
curate to  present  the  picture  I  have 
been  endeavoring  to  portray,  which  is: 
That  the  importance  of  the  commuter 
traffic  with  respect  to  the  New  York 
City  transit  problem  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. 

The  Commuter  Terminals 
in  New  York 
Of  all  the  commuters,  336,000  in  the 
maximum  three  hours  in  one  direction, 
10  per  cent  originate  via  the  Hudson 
tunnels,  47  per  cent  via  the  ferries 
and  43  per  cent  over  the  steam  rail- 
roads. Nearly  one-half,  or  46  per  cent, 
of  the  steam  railroad  business  passes 
into  or  out  of  the  city  through  the 
Grand  Central  and  Pennsylvania  ter- 
minals in  Manhattan  and  the  Flatbush 
terminal  in  Brooklyn.  This  business 
amounts  to  approximately  66,000  pas- 
sengers in  three  hours  in  one  direction. 
These  terminals  also  accommodate  120,- 
000  through  passengers  in  both  direc- 
tions daily.  However,  the  through  pas- 
sengers are  distributed  throughout  the 
day  and  therefore  do  not  impose  a  heavy 
burden  on  the  terminals.  But  from  the 
preceding  figures  it  appears  that  there 
must  be  taken  care  of  through  the  three 
terminals  in  three  hours  in  one  direc- 
tion more  than  one-half  as  many  com- 
muters as  there  are  through  passengers 
traveling  in  twenty-four  hours  in  both 
directions.  The  concentration  of  com- 
muter traffic  at  the  Grand  Central, 
Pennsylvania  and  Flatbush  terminals, 
therefore,  is  the  real  passenger  prob- 
lem which  the  railroads  have  to  contend 
with.  This  concentration  of  travel 
amounted  to  21,000  passengers  at  the 
Grand  Central  Terminal,  22,000  at  the 
Pennsylvania,  23,000  at  Flatbush  and 
35,000  at  the  Hudson  &  Manhattan  ter- 
minals. 

Many  of  these  people  walked  to  and 
from  the  terminals  but  a  large  propor- 
tion of  them  used  the  subways.  In  the 
morning  the  subway  trains  coming 
workward  are  carrying  their  maximum 
loads  when  they  reach  the  terminals, 
so  that  passengers  have  to  struggle  to 
get  aboard.  This  delays  the  trains  and 
reduces  the  capacity  of  the  subways. 
At  night,  returning  passengers  almost 
have  to  fight  their  way  out  of  the 
trains.  The  introduction  into  the  sub- 
way of  such  a  large  volume  of  traffic 
at  already  congested  stations  is  dis- 
astrous to  service.  It  is  most  important 
to  eliminate  such  conditions  wherever 
possible. 

But  this  is  not  the  worst  of  the 
situation.  The  commuter  traffic  at  the 
terminals  is  growing  at  a  terrific  rate. 
During  the  last  ten  years  it  has  in- 
creased about  117  per  cent  at  the  Grand 
Central.  During  nine  years  the  Long 
Island  commuter  traffic  has  increased 
141  per  cent  at  Flatbush  and  275  tier 
cent  at  the  Pennsylvania  Station.  The 


1152 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


capacity  of  the  Flatbush  terminal  has 
practically  been  reached. 

The  Pennsylvania  Station  has  really 
become  a  Long  Island  terminal,  since 
two-thirds  of  the  business  through  it 
is  Long  Island  business,  and  also  since 
the  Long  Island  Railroad  used  it  for 
40  per  cent  of  its  own  business  coming 
into  the  city.  The  Long  Island  Railroad 
is  operating  from  the  terminal  under  a 
two-minute  interval  service  during  the 
rush  hours.  At  this  time  the  terminal 
has  nearly  reached  its  capacity  to  Long 
Island.  It  is  all  due  to  commuter  traf- 
fic. Here  we  have  a  terminal  only 
eleven  years  old,  and  it  has  become  so 
seriously  congested  that  steps  are  being 
taken  to  determine  what  can  be  done  to 
relieve  the  situation. 

The  New  Jersey  commuter  traffic  has 
increased  also  but  not  as  rapidly  as  the 
Long  Island,  Westchester  and  Connecti- 
cut traffic.  The  commuters  on  the  New 
Jersey  Central,  Lackawanna  and  Erie 
increased  approximately  40  per  cent 
during  the  last  ten  years. 

Conclusions 

The  foregoing  figures  are  important 
in  that  they  all  point  in  one  direction. 
They  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  com- 
muter traffic  has  really  become  a  very 
great  factor  in  our  urban  transit  prob- 
lem. They  also  emphasize  the  fact  that 
the  commuter  traffic  is  increasing  at  a 
terrific  rate.  The  growth  of  the  traffic 
is  so  stupendous  that  the  consequences 
will  be  very  serious  if  immediate  steps 
are  not  taken  to  deal  adequately  with  the 
problem.  The  commuter  service  must  be 
transformed  into  a  metropolitan  rapid 
transit  service.  The  only  difference  now 
between  our  city  rapid  transit  and  this 
metropolitan  rapid  transit  is  that  the 
latter  requires  a  longer  haul  and  oper- 
ates both  inside  and  outside  of  the  city 
limits.  The  metropolitan  service  is 
even  now  operated  on  an  interval  basis, 
as  instanced  in  the  case  of  the  Long 
Island  Railroad.  All  of  which  means 
that  a  Metropolitan  transit  plan  must 
be  developed. 

Commuters,  under  the  proposed  new 
order  of  things,  should  be  brought  into 
and  distributed  through  the  business 
center  of  the  city  as  far  as  it  is  prac- 
ticable to  do  so.  At  least  they  should 
be  brought  to  points  where  by  easy 
transfer  from  one  line  to  another  they 
may  reach  almost  any  objective  point 
within  the  city.  Commuters  should 
not  be  delivered  to  terminals.  The  com- 
muter does  not  need  a  terminal  any 
more  than  a  city  rapid  transit  rider 
does.  He  only  buys  a  ticket  once  or 
twice  a  month,  he  has  no  baggage  to 
check.  He  does  not  desire  to  wait  for 
trains.  He  expects  frequent  service 
amounting  almost  to  interval  service 
and  times  his  movements  so  as  to  make 
quick  connections.  So  what  the  com- 
muter requires  is  a  frequent,  quick, 
regular  and  through  service  from  his 
home  to  his  work  and  back  again  with 
the  minimum  amount  of  transferring 
in  transit. 

The  underlying  principles  of  a  suit- 
able plan  to  accomplish  this  are  briefly: 
there  must  be  a  pooling  of  railroad  in- 
terests, an  extension  of  electrification, 
additional  tubes  must  be  constructed 
under  the  Hudson  and  East  Rivers,  the 
commuter  lines  themselves  must  be 
articulated  together  so  that  a  more  con- 
venient interchange  of  traffic  between 
them  can  be  effected  and  the  commuter 
traffic  must  be  carried  into  and  dis- 
tributed through  the  business  center. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Port 


Authority  might  be  utilized  as  the 
agency  to  develop  such  a  plan,  but  I 
do  not  believe  the  law  is  broad  enough 
to  permit  this.  The  functions  of  the 
Port  Authority  are  restricted  to  a 
freight  project.  Similarly,  the  Transit 
Commission  in  New  York  is  without 
power  to  deal  with  the  question.  Its 
activities,  by  reason  of  the  political 
division  of  the  Metropolitan  area  al- 
ready alluded  to,  are  restricted  to  the 
territory  east  of  the  Hudson.  Con- 
sequently all  of  its  efforts  have  been 
directed  toward  developing  rapid  tran- 
sit facilities  for  New  York  City  ex- 
clusively. 

A  new  agency  must  be  created,  but 
it  is  believed  that  another  interstate 
authority  would  be  a  mistake  at  this 
time.  It  is  suggested  that  the  best 
and  quickest  way  of  dealing  with  the 
situation  is  to  create  a  New  Jersey 
Transit  Commission  with  all  the  neces- 
sary authority  to  study  the  question  of 
interstate  transportation  of  passengers 
and  to  develop  the  necessary  plans  to 
effectuate  such  a  project.  Such  a  New 
Jersey  commission  would  undoubtedly 
receive  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the 


Transit  Commission  of  New  York  to 
the  end  that  its  plans  might  properly 
conform  to  the  city's  new  transit  plan. 

In  any  Metropolitan  transportation 
project,  either  for  freight  or  for  pas- 
sengers, in  the  interests  of  economy  the 
existing  New  Jersey  and  New  York 
railroad  facilities  must  be  utilized  to 
the  greatest  extent  possible  consistent 
with  the  best  development  of  a  plan. 
The  same  railroads  are  involved  in 
either  case.  Therefore  the  freight  plans 
and  the  passenger  plans  must  both  fit 
in  with  the  existing  railroad  condi- 
tions, and  also  must  fit  in  with 
each  other.  Consequently,  when  the 
construction  of  the  project  is  to  be 
begun,  it  will  be  a  great  advantage  to 
carry  out  the  work  under  the  same 
authority.  Under  such  circumstances, 
since  it  is  already  vested  with  power  to 
carry  forward  its  freight  project,  the 
Port  Authority  would  seem  to  be  the 
natural  agency  to  undertake  the  com- 
bined project. 

In  the  interim,  while  the  New  Jersey 
Transit  Commission  is  developing  the 
plans,  the  feasibility  of  the  suggested 
method  of  procedure  can  be  resolved. 


Mid- Year  Conference  Plans 

Tentative  Program  Includes  Discussion 
of  Matters  of  Interest — Notable 
Speakers  for  the  Dinner 

THE  committee  on  subjects  of  the 
American  Electric  Railway  Asso- 
ciation, C.  D.  Emmons  chairman,  has 
announced  the  following  tentative  pro- 
gram for  the  Mid-Year  Conference  at 
Indianapolis  on  Feb.  28.  The  meeting 
and  dinner  will  be  held  at  the  Claypool 
Hotel. 

Proposed  Program 
Morning  Session,  10  a.m. 

1.  Opening  Address  of  Welcome  by  Gov- 

ernor McCray,  of  Indiana. 

2.  The  Co-ordination  of  Trackless  Trans- 

portation in  the  Future  Service  of  the 
Electric  Railway  Industry. 
This   discussion  will  be  started  by  the 
following  four  speakers: 

(a)  "City  Service  and  English  Condi- 

tions." C.  D.  Emmons. 

(b)  "Co-ordination  of  Service,  the  Uni- 

fied System,"  E.  B.  Whitman. 

(c)  "The    California    Situation,"  Paul 

Shoup. 

(d)  "Prom  the  Interurban  Viewpoint," 

Harry  Reid. 
Discussion. 

:!.    Report   Of   special    committee    on  co- 
operation of  manufacturers  in  the  in- 
terest of  electric  railways,  presented 
by  E.  F.  Wickwire. 
Discussion. 

Afternoon  Session,  2  p.m. 

4.  Address  by  J.  W.  McCardle,  chairman 

Public  Service  Commission  of  Indiana. 

5.  Drill  of  the  Chicago  Elevated  Safety 

Team,  preceded  by  explanation  of  the 
purpose  of  the  organization,  by  B.  I. 
Budd. 

6.  "Unfair  Taxation  Burdens  on  the  Street 

Car  Riders  and  How  They  May  Be 
Eliminated,"     by     Fielder  Sanders. 
Street     Railway     Commissioner  of 
Cleveland. 
Discussion. 

Evening  Dinner,  6:30  p.m. 

7.  Introductory  address  of  President  R.  I. 

Todd. 

8.  Address    on    "Public    Relations,"  by 

Samuel  Insull  of  Chicago. 

9.  Address  on  "Private  vs.  Public  Owner- 

ship of  Public  Utilities,"  by  Carl  B. 
Jackson  of  the  Wisconsin  Public 
Utilities  Commission  and  president  of 
the  National  Association  of  Railway 
and   Public   Utility  Commissioners.* 


10.  Address,  by  President  Harding. 

Attractive  entertainment  features  will  be 
interspersed  with  the  above. 

The  Special  Dinner  Committee, 
Harry  Reid,  chairman,  has  announced 
the  following  chairmen  of  its  sub-com- 
mittees. The  Regional  Representatives 
of  the  Transportation  committee  were 
announced  in  last  week's  issue. 

Seating  Arrangements  —  J.  P. 
Barnes,  president  Louisville  Railway, 
Louisville,  Ky. 

Entertainment  —  Harry  Reid,  presi- 
dent Interstate  Public  Service  Company, 
Indianapolis.  Indiana. 

Ladies'  Committee — Mrs.  R.  I.  Todd. 

Transportation — H.  J.  Kenfield,  presi- 
dent Electric  Traction,  Chicago,  111. 

Publicity  —  Myles  B.  Lambert,  man- 
ager railway  department,  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Reception — S.  W.  Greenland,  vice- 
president  Indiana  Service  Corporation, 
Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 

Christmas  Cards  to  Committee 
Members 

PRESIDENT  L.  H.  PALMER  of  the 
Transportation  &  Traffic  Association 
sent  during  the  past  week  to  each  com- 
mittee member  of  that  association  a 
card  bearing  the  following  sentiment: 
"The  momentous  conference  in  our 
capital  is  striving  to  make  real  for  all 
the  world  the  peace  of  Christmas.  So 
this  year  it  is  peculiarly  fitting  that 
the  president  and  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Transportation  &  Traffic 
Association  send  you,  with  their  hearty 
Christmas  and  New  Year's  greetings, 
the  earnest  hope  that  you  will  do  your 
part  in  the  work  of  our  committees. 
Thus  will  you  help  our  industry  to  be 
a  factor  in  the  return  to  normal  busi- 
ness relations  to  a  world  at  peace." 
The  card,  so  far  as  its  mechanical  fea- 
tures are  concerned,  was  got  up  by  the 
Collier  Company. 


*  Mr.  Jackson  has  been  invited,  but  his 

acceptance  has  not  yet  been  received. 


News  of  the  Ele&ric  Railways 

FINANCIAL  AND  CORPORATE      ::       TRAFFIC  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


California  Commission 
Reports 

San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles  Valua- 
tions Among  Outstanding  Features 
of  Work  of  That  Body 

The  peak  in  public  utility  rates  has 
definitely  passed  and  a  substantial  de- 
cline has  set  in,  the  State  Railroad 
Commission  of  California  announced  on 
Dec.  12  in  giving  out  a  letter  to  Gov. 
William  D.  Stephens,  transmitting  its 
annual  report  for  the  year  ended  June 
30,  1921.  It  pointed  out  that  in  the 
year  covered  in  the  report  material  re- 
ductions were  made  in  gas  and  electric 
rates,  and  the  commission  adds  that 
there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  the 
trend  of  prices  toward  normal  will  make 
further  reductions  possible. 

The  commission  declares  that  the  ad- 
vance in  utility  rates  during  the  war 
and  the  reconstruction  period  was  rela- 
tively small  as  compared  with  soaring 
commodity  prices,  and  in  this  connection 
says  the  contrast  between  regulated 
and  unregulated  business  is  illuminat- 
ing and  "of  itself  would  be  sufficient 
justification,  if  justification  were  any 
longer  needed,  for  the  enlightened 
policy  of  state  regulation."  It  is  shown 
that  if  public  utility  rates  had  been  ad- 
vanced equally  with  commodity  prices, 
the  people  of  the  state  last  year  alone 
would  have  paid  in  the  neighborhood 
of  $100,000,000  more  than  they  did  to 
the  public  utilities. 

Regulation  Not  a  Hindrance 

In  discussing  rate  reductions  and 
rate  investigations  under  way,  the  com- 
mission informs  the  Governor  that  a 
basis  for  rate  adjustments  will  soon  be 
established  for  all  the  large  power  com- 
panies of  the  State.  This  will  mark 
another  definite  advance  in  the  pro- 
gram of  effective  regulation,  the  letter 
says. 

The  assertion  that  regulation  tends 
to  hamper  industry  is  declared  by  the 
commission  to  be  a  fallacy,  and  it  points 
out  that  the  public  utilities  under  regu- 
lation are  keeping  pace  with  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  State.  This  is  especially 
true  in  the  development  by  the  power 
companies  of  the  hydro-electric  re- 
sources of  California's  mountain 
streams. 

The  letter  reviews  the  legislative  in- 
vestigation of  the  commission,  declaring 
that  the  Inman  committee  performed 
a  valuable  public  service  in  cor- 
recting certain  popular  misapprehen- 
sions as  to  the  procedure  and  rulings 
of  the  commission.  The  two  most  wide- 
spread errors,  the  commission  declares, 
were  that  it  allowed  returns  on  capi- 
talization and  that  it  was  restricted  in 
its  investigations  by  rigid  court  rules. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  shown,  the  powers 
conferred  on  the  commission  give  it  a 
large  latitude  of  initiative  and  inde- 
pendent research. 

The  letter  reviews  in  detail  the  work 
of  the  commission,  which  has  doubled 
in  the  past  two  years,  and  discusses  also 
the  financial  status  of  the  utilities. 

In  addition  to  the  work  in  connection 
with  other  departments,  the  engineer- 
ing department  of  the  commission  com- 


pleted two  notable  valuations — those  of 
the  United  Railroads,  San  Francisco, 
and  of  the  Pacific  Electric,  Los  An- 
geles. The  valuation  of  the  United 
Railroads  was  made  in  connection  with 
the  application  of  the  utility  for  ap- 
proval of  its  reorganization  plan.  The 
reproduction  cost  new,  less  depreciation 
of  the  system  was  placed  at  $41,000,- 
000.  In  this  connection  it  may  be 
stated  that  the  inventory  prepared  by 
the  engineering  department  was  used 
as  a  basis  in  the  subsequent  valuation 
made  by  the  city  of  San  Francisco  and 
an  engineer  from  the  commission  as- 
sisted by  the  City  Engineer's  office  in 
the  work.  The  results  obtained  closely 
approximated  each  other. 

The  valuation  of  the  Pacific  Electric 
Railway  was  the  most  extensive  piece 
of  work  of  its  kind  ever  undertaken  by 
the  engineering  department.  Begun  in 
June,  1919,  it  was  completed  near  the 
close  of  the  present  year.  Findings 
were  made  of  the  historical  reproduc- 
tion cost  new  and  the  reproduction  cost 
new.  With  a  condition  per  cent  deter- 
mined the  cost  less  depreciation  was 
arrived  at  for  each  valuation.  The  his- 
torical reproduction  cost  was  found  to 
be  $71,194,759,  and  less  depreciation 
$56,372,096. 

Complementary  to  the  valuation  re- 
port an  exhaustive  survey  was  made 
of  the  service  conditions  obtaining  on 
the  system,  including  an  analysis  line 
by  line  of  the  entire  system,  with  a  dis- 
cussion of  revenues,  expenses  and  op- 
erating schedules.  Containing  many 
suggestions  designed  to  overcome  pres- 
ent financial  difficulties,  the  report  also 
looked  to  the  future  and  proposed 
means  of  meeting  in  permanent  fash- 
ion growing  problems  of  traffic  conges- 
tion. In  this  connection  the  recommen- 
dations made  in  the  terminals  cases 
were  repeated  and  emphasized.  Made 
a  part  of  the  survey  was  a  special 
study  of  automobile  transportation  and 
the  suggestion  offered  that  the  choice 
between  trolley  and  motor  transporta- 
tion facilities  must  ultimately  be  made 
by  the  people  and  the  communities  af- 
fected. 

Other  service  reports,  including  valu- 
ations, were  made  on  the  Sacramento, 
the  San  Jose  and  the  Peninsular  electric 
lines. 


W.  C.  K.  Alumni  Association 
Formed 

One  hundred  and  forty  former  em- 
ployees of  Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr 
&  Company  met  on  Nov.  30  and  or- 
ganized the  "W.  C.  K.  Alumni  Asso- 
ciation." The  object  of  the  associa- 
tion is  the  maintenance  of  the  friend- 
ships formed  by  the  members  dur- 
ing many  years  of  service  with 
Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr  &  Com- 
pany. The  periods  of  this  service 
run  anywhere  from  three  years  to 
twenty-five  years,  three  years  being  the 
minimum  requirement  for  membership. 

The  secretary,  A.  H.  Tummel,  131 
Warwick  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  will 
be  glad  to  hear  from  any  former  em- 
ployees who  are  desirous  of  joining 
the  association. 


Bus  Regulatory  Ordinance 
Passed 

City  and  Railway  at  Des  Moines  Start 
to  Put  Into  Effect  Provisions  of 
New  Franchise  Grant 

The  City  Council  of  Des  Moines,  la., 
during  the  week  ended  Dec.  24  sounded 
what  is  thought  will  be  the  death  knell 
of  the  buses  when  an  ordinance  was 
passed  setting  out  the  routes  which 
buses  must  use  if  they  are  to  continue 
to  operate.  The  ordinance  practically 
eliminates  buses  from  streets  where 
electric  railways  operate  and  to  a  very 
large  extent  from  the  loop  district  of 
the  business  section. 

Buses  Must  Respect  Ordinance 

Bus  men  who  appeared  before  the  City 
Council  protested  that  bus  provisions 
were  not  regulatory  but  meant  complete 
elimination.  Arguments  against  the 
routes  were  made  by  Charles  W.  Lyon, 
attorney  for  the  bus  men,  and  B.  Frank 
Prunty,  a  suburban  banker  who  has  be- 
come financially  interested  in  one  of  the 
larger  bus  companies.  The  City  Council 
refused  to  rescind  its  action  and  the 
bus  men  are  now  holding  almost  daily 
conferences  to  determine  whether  or  not 
they  will  attempt  court  procedure  to 
protect  their  rights. 

One  of  the  provisions  of  the  routing 
against  which  the  bus  operators  make 
their  chief  complaints  is  forcing  them 
off  the  Seventh  Street  viaduct  for  the 
Ft.  Des  Moines  and  Sevastapol  lines. 
This  was  one  of  the  conditions  sought 
by  the  Des  Moines  City  Railway  and 
the  business  men's  committee  which 
advised  the  City  Council.  F.  C.  Cham- 
bers, general  manager  of  the  Des 
Moines  City  Railway,  agreed  to  sta- 
tion a  flagman  at  the  railroad  cross- 
ings which  the  bus  men  will  be  forced 
to  use  in  the  event  that  they  cannot 
run  over  the  viaduct. 

Although  the  new  ordinance  has  been 
published  and  is,  therefore,  nominally 
in  effect  no  actual  effort  has  been  made 
yet  by  the  city  to  force  the  buses  from 
the  routes  they  have  been  using,  but 
action  looking  toward  this  end  is  ex- 
pected within  the  next  few  days. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  City  Council 
delayed  for  more  than  a  week  passing 
the  ordinance  on  the  basis  of  the  agree- 
ment which  it  made  some  time  ago  that 
the  buses  would  be  regulated  as  soon 
as  the  Des  Moines  city  railway  had 
placed  thirty  additional  cars  in  service. 
For  nearly  ten  days  the  railway  has 
been  operating  ninety-two  cars,  which 
is  more  than  the  number  specified  by 
the  Council. 

Appeal  to  Be  Heard  Jan.  13 

The  Iowa  Supreme  Court  has  set 
Jan.  13  as  the  date  for  hearing  the 
appeal  made  by  the  city  on  the  decision 
of  Judge  Hume  of  the  Polk  County 
District  Court,  which  granted  the  North 
Des  Moines  Improvement  League's 
petition  for  a  temporary  injunction  re- 
straining the  franchise  election.  It  is 
now  thought  that  the  Supreme  Court 
will  handle  the  appeal  before  Judge 
Hume  rules  on  making  the  injunction 
permanptit. 


1154 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  fio.  27 


Service-at-Cost  Idea  Sound 

Cleveland's  Street  Railway  Commissioner  Reviews  His  Six  Years  in  Office — 
Says  Franchise  Has  Proved  Elastic  Enough  to  Work 
Under  All  Conditions 

Fielder  Sanders,  street  railway  commissioner  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  re- 
ported to  the  City  Council  an  account  of  the  accomplishments  under  service-at- 
cost  in  that  city.  The  report  is  dated  Dec.  14.  It  covers  the  entire  six  years 
during  which  Mr.  Sanders  has  held  office.  The  document  is  especially  significant 
because  of  the  great  interest  in  the  service-at-cost  plan  in  Cleveland,  because  of 
the  historical  facts  enumerated  by  Mr.  Sanders,  because  of~the  recommendation 
that  the  Cleveland  Railway  use  buses  and  because  of  Mr.  Sanders'  advice  that 
the  company  attempt  to  collect  back  income  taxes  which  it  has  paid. 


ACCORDING  to  Mr.  Sanders  the 
.  real  outstanding  development  of 
the  last  six  years  is  the  complete 
demonstration  of  the  soundness  of  the 
underlying  principles  of  the  Tayler 
grant.  He  says  that  the  franchise  has 
proved  elastic  enough  to  work  under 
all  sorts  of  conditions,  has  kept  the 
railway  and  its  administration  out  of 
political  campaigns,  has  carried  the 
company  successfully  through  unusual 
adversities  and  has  also  protected  the 
public.  Credit  is  given  by  Mr.  Sanders 
in  these  words: 

Your  honorable  body  is  entitled  to  much 
credit  for  the  manner  in  which  emergencies 
have  been  met  and  for  the  readiness  with 
which  you  have  raised  the  rate  of  fare  and 
granted  the  company  relief  when  necessary. 
The  public  of  Cleveland  is  entitled  to  much 
credit.  The  car  riders  have  demonstrated 
their  confidence  in  the  Tayler  grant  by 
their  continual  co-operation  by  riding,  by 
paying  increased  rates  without  objection 
and  by  their  steady  support  of  the  company 
and  the  city. 

Remarkable  Changes  Since  1916 

Mr.  Sanders  says  that  the  years  since 
1916  have  been  marked  by  striking 
events  and  remarkable  changes.  Dur- 
ing that  time  the  city  of  Cleveland  has 
increased  in  population  from  700,000  to 
850,000  and  the  Cleveland  Railway 
system  has  increased  from  288.6  miles 
of  single  track  to  303.6  miles.  More 
than  102  miles  of  track  have  been  re- 
moved, 281  new  passenger  cars  have 
been  added  and  167  old  ones  retired, 
a  net  increase  of  114  cars.  The  gross 
income  of  the  company  has  been 
$83,435,960.  It  has  spent  for  mainte- 
nance, depreciation  and  removal  of 
track  and  equipments  $17,330,378.  In 
the  six  years  property  to  the  value  of 
$3,839,924  has  been  retired  on  account 
of  obsolescence,  the  reproduction  value 
thereof  paid  for  out  of  the  earnings  and 
the  proceeds  thereof  used  for  the 
acquisition  of  new  property. 

Particular  attention  is  called  by  Mr. 
Sanders  to  the  fact  that  the  operating 
allowance  of  the  Cleveland  Railway 
has  been  increased  from  12.6  cents  to 
26  cents  per  car-mile;  the  maintenance 
depreciation  and  renewal  allowance 
from  an  average  of  4.9  cents  to  12 
cents  per  car-mile.  Notation  is  also 
made  of  the  fact  that  the  motormen 
and  conductors'  wages  have  been  in- 
creased from  29  cents  an  hour  during 
the  first  year  and  32  cents  an  hour 
thereafter,  to  the  present  rate  of  55 
cents  an  hour  for  the  first  three  months, 
58  cents  the  next  nine  months  and  60 
cents  an  hour  thereafter,  reaching  the 
highest  point  of  70  cents,  73  cents  and 
75  cents  an  hour  in  the  period  between 
May  1,  1920,  and  May  1,  1921.  In 
addition  extra  compensation  for  unusual 
working  conditions,  and  a  six-hour 
minimum  day  have  been  put  into  effect. 
The  rate  of  fare  has  increased  from 
5    cents    with    a    1-cent    charge  for 


transfer  to  the  present  maximum  rate 
of  the  franchise,  6  cents  cash  fare, 
nine  tickets  for  50  cents  with  1  cent 
for  transfer,  or  from  an  average  fare 
of  3.417  cents  in  1916  to  6.03  cents  in 
October,  1921. 

Power  Contract  Fortunate 

Mr.  Sanders  next  reviews  the  trying 
conditions  imposed  on  the  railway  of 
war-time  operation  and  changed  eco- 
nomic conditions  and  says: 

The  Cleveland  Railway,  due  to  its  care- 
ful management,  to  the  co-operation  of 
the  city,  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and 
the  peculiar  provisions  of  its  franchise  has 
been  enabled  to  operate  successfully,  render 
adequate  service  to  the  public  at  as  low  a 
rate  of  fare  as  there  is  in  the  United  States 
and  maintain  its  property  in  such  shape  as 
to  place  it  now  in  a  position  to  continue 
its  public  duty  successfully  and  this  not- 
withstanding that  the  period  of  high  prices, 
inflated  values  and  heavy  traffic  during  the 
war  has  been  followed  in  the  year  1921 
by  a  depression  and  falling  off  of  traffic 
such  as  to  cause  the  gravest  apprehension. 

According  to  Mr.  Sanders  the  rail- 
way was  particularly  fortunate  in  con- 
tracting with  the  Cleveland  Electric 
Illuminating  Company  for  power,  in 
furtherance  of  which  plan  the  largest 
single  piece  of  property  of  the  com- 
pany, the  Cedar  Avenue  generating 
station,  producing  power  at  an  excessive 
cost,  of  the  value  of  $1,265,585  was 
scrapped  and  written  out  of  the  capital 
account.  Mr.  Sanders  estimates  the 
total  savings  of  the  power  scheme  as 
now  in  force  as  compared  with  the  old 
one  in  1916,  have  been  more  than 
$2,000,000  in  the  last  four  years  in  the 
price  of  power  alone,  disregarding  alto- 
gether the  saving  in  copper  cables,  the 
gain  in  the  transmission  of  power 
short  distances  and  the  increased 
operating  efficiency  of  the  cars  through 
high  voltage. 

Modified  Zone  System  in  Use 

Of  the  modified  zone  system  put  into 
effect  in  the  downtown  district,  July 
10,  1921,  lasting  fifty  days,  with  a 
3-cent  cash  fare,  two  tickets  for  5 
cents,  Mr.  Sanders  says  that  when  the 
experiment  was  made  traffic  was  fall- 
ing off  decisively;  there  was  no 
pleasure  riding  of  any  kind  and  eco- 
nomic conditions  were  such  that  the 
unnecessary  spending  even  3  cents  was 
a  matter  of  considerable  importance  to 
a  great  number  of  the  car  riders.  He 
suggests  that  this  matter  be  carefully 
studied  with  a  view  to  further  trial 
under  more  favorable  conditions. 

The  tremendous  growth  in  the 
number  of  automobiles  and  other  causes 
have  increased  the  amount  of  money 
paid  out  as  expense  of  operation  in 
payment  of  personal  injury  claims  and 
property  damaged  from  $575,795  in 
1915  to  $1,320,179  in  1920  and  $1,050,- 
155  for  the  first  ten  months  of  1921. 
On   Sept.   6,   1918,   the  commissioner 


wrote  the  railway  suggesting  that  it 
establish  as  a  part  of  its  organization 
a  department  with  its  necessary  per- 
sonnel to  have  sole  charge  of  the  task 
of  preventing  accidents.  In  response 
to  that  letter,  the  railway  first,  through 
its  operating  department,  tightened  up 
its  discipline  with  the  idea  of  making 
the  men  more  careful.  This  not  prov- 
ing as  successful  as  anticipated,  the 
railway  then  installed  a  complete  and 
scientific  school  for  its  new  motormen 
and  conductors  in  which  the  men  were 
given  a  long  course  of  training,  not 
only  in  the  operation  of  cars  but  in  the 
prevention  of  accidents  before  being 
sent  out  on  the  road.  Finally,  in  addi- 
tion to  these  methods,  the  company  has 
now  established,  by  way  of  an  experi- 
ment, a  special  department  with  a 
separate  department  head  who  is 
charged  with  the  duty  of  doing  all  that 
is  humanly  possible  to  prevent  acci- 
dents of  all  kinds  on  the  system.  As 
a  result  of  the  co-operation  of  all  the 
interests  concerned  this  department  is 
working  out  with  a  very  great  degree 
of  success. 

On  the  matter  of  tax  recovery  Mr. 
Sanders  says: 

The  expense  by  way  of  taxation  has  been 
assessed  against  and  paid  by  the  Cleveland 
Railway  in  the  last  few  years,  which  in 
my  judgment  is  wholly  unjust.  This  is 
the  matter  of  the  federal  income  tax.  The 
United  States  Government  for  some  years 
past,  has  collected  an  income  tax  of  10  per 
lent  on  net  earnings  of  corporations.  Ap- 
plying this  income  tax  law  to  the  Cleveland 
Railway,  the  return  of  whose  stockholders 
is  limited,  exactly  as  to  a  corporation  with 
unlimited  returns,  the  federal  government 
has  collected  from  the  Cleveland  Railway 
the  sums  of  $344,337  for  1918  tax,  $392,038 
for  1919  tax,  $74,000  for  1920  tax  and 
$255,400  for  1921  tax.  These  sums  have 
actually  been  paid  by  the  car  riders  out  of 
their  own  money.  That  part  of  this  money 
upon  which  this  tax  has  been  levied,  which 
is  in  excess  of  the  amount  required  for  the 
return  to  the  stockholders,  has  been  in  no 
sense  an  earning  of  the  corporation.  It 
cannot  keep  it  for  itself  or  for  its  stock- 
holders. Under  the  ordinance,  it  gets  this 
money  only  as  a  trustee  for  the  car  riders. 

As  the  money  accumulates  it  is  the  com- 
pany's obligation  to  hand  it  back  to  the 
car  riders,  either  in  reduction  of  fares  or 
in  increased  service.  The  underlying  idea 
of  the  grant  is  service-at-cost.  If  service- 
at-cost  could  be  exactly,  mathematically 
carried  out,  so  that  the  car  rider  pays  the 
exact  cost  of  his  ride  on  the  day  that  he 
rides,  this  tax  could  not  be  assessed  because 
there  would  be  no  surplus  accumulated. 
The  fact  that  this  is  impossible,  since  there 
must  be  from  time  to  time  a  surplus  in 
the  interest  fund  so  as  to  regulate  the  fare 
over  periods  of  time,  is  seemingly  no  reason 
why  the  patron,  the  car  rider,  should  be 
fined  10  per  cent  of  his  own  money,  trusteed 
to  the  company  for  his  benefit,  under  a  law 
which  is  intended  to  tax  only  the  income 
to  the  owners  of  the  property. 

As  a  result  of  his  study  of  this 
matter  Mr.  Sanders  has  recommended 
to  the  Council  that  every  effort  should 
be  made  to  present  this  situation  to 
the  federal  authorities  on  behalf  of  the 
city  of  Cleveland  and  its  car  riders  to 
secure  relief  for  the  future  and  if 
possible  a  refunding  of  the  sum  paid 
in  the  past. 

The  opinion  of  Mr.  Sanders  is  that 
the  size  of  the  city  necessitates  an  im- 
mediate attempt  to  supplant  or  supple- 
ment the  surface  cars  by  some  faster 
form  of  transportation.    He  says: 

Even  if  confined  to  transportation  on  the 
ground,  it  is  a  fact  that  many  people  prefer 
automobile  or  bus  facilities  to  street  cars. 
Other  cities,  notably  New  York,  Detroit 
and  Baltimore  are  recognizing  that  fact  at 
the  present  time.  I  am  wholly  of  the 
opinion  that  when  these  new  forms  of 
transportation,  bus,  subway,  elevated  or 
otherwise,  are  added  that  they  should  be 
operated  by  the  Cleveland  Railway  or  its 
successors,  under  the  same  close  city  con- 
trol as  at  present,  so  that  the  car  riders 
may  have  a  uniform  transportation  system, 
which  we  can  watch.    I  believe  that  within 


December  31,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1155 


the  very  near  future,  the  Cleveland  Rail- 
way, whenever  it  can  increase  its  capital 
stock,  should  recognize  the  preference  of 
the  people  and  should  establish  at  least 
bus  line  transportation  itself  at  such  rates 
as  Council  may  permit. 

In  carrying  out  the  city  control  of 
the  railroad  service  and  of  its  expendi- 
ture under  direction  of  the  Council 
Mr.  Sanders  expended  the  following 
amounts : 

Amount  allowed 
(1  %  of  operating- 
Amount  allowance,  exclud- 


Year    Expended   ing  extensions)  Surplus 

1916  $27,770  $44,927  $17,148 

1917           30,181  51,942  21,761 

1918           34,595  64,302  29,707 

1919           48,045  76,770  34,725 

1920           53,254  103,398  50,143 

1921           55,110  95,868  40,757 


Mr.  Sanders  deplores  the  fact  that 
the  very  difficult  task  of  securing  new 
money  so  as  to  enable  the  company  to 
carry  out  its  public  duty  remains  un- 
solved. He  regards  this  as  the  first 
of  the  two  great  problems  not  yet 
settled,  despite  the  efforts  of  the  ad- 
ministration to  accomplish  this  settle- 
ment. The  second  of  these  he  sees  as 
the  great  need  for  rapid  transit.  For 
this  reason,  beginning  January,  1917, 
and  continuing  until  the  present  time, 
Mr.  Sanders  has  spent  a  great  part 
of  his  time  outside  of  the  routine  duties 
in  an  attempt  to  secure  rapid  transit. 
He  says: 

A  Rapid  Transit  Commission,  of  which  I 
was  a  member,  aided  by  expert  advice  of 
outside  engineers,  and  the  faithful  work  of 
the  assistants  in  this  office,  developed  a 
scheme  of  downtown  terminal  subways  and 
recommended  to  the  Council  and  to  the 
people  their  building,  at  an  expense  of  $15,- 
000,000,  by  the  city  but  to  be  operated  by 
the  Cleveland  Railway.  The  results  of 
three  years'  study,  submitted  to  the  voters 
of  Cleveland  in  April,  1920,  were  not  ap- 
proved ;  whether  because  of  the  financial 
situation  or  otherwise,  is  not  important  to 
discuss  at  this  time.  They  would  have  re- 
lieved the  paralysis  now  increasingly  ap- 
parent in  the  operation  of  surface  cars 
through  the  congested  district. 

Efforts  were  continued,  notwithstand- 
ing, to  improve  the  existing  facilities. 
Several  lines  were  rerouted  and  more 
cars  turned  away  from  the  congested 
district  by  new  loops.  A  proposition 
was  also  presented  to  the  Council  to 
cut  some  of  the  long  lines,  but  after 
much  discussion  by  the  Council,  it  was 
agreed  that  the  action  was  too  radical, 
although  it  promised  advantages. 

In  conclusion  Mr.  Sanders  says  that 
with  better  industrial  conditions  now 
appearing  probable  for  the  immediate 
future  Council  should  take  up  these 
two  great  problems — enable  the  railway 
to  finance — enable  it  to  expand  and 
give  the  people  the  rapid  transit  so 
essential  to  Cleveland. 


New  Wage  Scale  in  Effect  in 
Fresno 

A  new  pay  schedule  for  trainmen  of 
the  Fresno  (Cal.)  Traction  Company 
went  into  effect  on  Dec.  1. 

Following  are  the  new  and  old  rates 
of  pay  in  cents  an  hour: 


Old  Rate  New  Rate 
First  year                   51  47 
Second  year                52  48 
Third  year                  53  49 
Fourth  year                53  plus  51 


$5  per  month — bonus 

In  addition  to  the  above  rates,  the  annual 
twelve  days  vacation  with  full  pay,  which 
is  equivalent  to  approximately  2  cents  an 
hour,  will  be  continued. 

Four  cents  an  hour  in  addition  to  the 
above  scale  allowed  for  one-man  car 
operators. 

The  bonus  payments  will  be  discontinued. 


Establishes  Pension  System 

Eastern  Massachusetts  Street  Railway 
Will  Provide  for  Employees  Serving 
Twenty  Years  or  More 

By  the  unanimous  vote  of  its  board 
of  public  trustees  the  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts Street  Railway,  Boston,  Mass., 
has  adopted  a  system  of  pension  for  its 
employees,  to  go  into  operation  on  Jan. 
1,  1922,  under  which  employees  who 
already  have  reached  the  age  of  seventy 
years  will  be  retired  on  that  date.  The 
employees  will  not  be  required  to  con- 
tribute toward  the  plan.  The  terms  of 
the  plan,  as  announced  by  the  trustees, 
are  as  follows: 

Eligibility  for  a  pension  will  be  deter- 
mined by  the  age  of  each  employee  and  the 
years  of  continuous  service  with  this  com- 
pany or  any  of  its  predecessors. 

Employees  who  have  been  in  the  service 
of  the  company  twenty-five  years  or  more 
who  have  reached  the  age  of  seventy  will 
be  retired  on  Jan.  1,  1922,  and  become 
entitled  to  a  pension. 

In  order  to  take  care  of  special  cases,  the 
pension  board  may,  in  its  discretion,  retire 
with  pension  any  employee  sixty-five  or 
more  years  old  who  has  been  in  the  service 
of  the  company  twenty  years. 

No  provision  has  been  made  for  disability 
pension,  but  the  public  trustees  recognize 
that  particular  instances  may  arise  meriting 
consideration  and  action. 

Payments  will  be  based  upon  the  follow- 
ing schedule: 

For  twenty  years  of  service,  $35  per 
month  or  $420  a  year. 

For  each  additional  year  there  will  be 
added  $1  a  month  or  $12  a  year,  so  that 
the  pension  will  be,  for  example : 

Month  Year 

25  years  continuous  service.  $40  $480 

30  years  continuous  service.  $45  $540 

35  years  continuous  service.  $50  $600 

40  years  continuous  service.  $55  $660 

45  years  continuous  service.  $60  $720 

5  0  years  continuous  service .  $  6  5  $  7  8  0 

The  pension  board,  appointed  by  the 
public  trustees,  is  composed  of  three 
trainmen  of  the  company,  one  general 
foreman,  one  track  foreman,  one  pub- 
lic trustee,  and  R.  B.  Stearns,  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the 
company. 

$89,825  in  Bonus  Money 
Awarded 

Christmas  bonus  amounting  to  $89,- 
825  was  paid  by  the  Los  Angeles  (Cal.) 
Railway  to  1977  trainmen  on  Dec.  15. 
The  payment  was  made  under  the 
merit  and  bonus  system  operated  by 
railway  since  April  1,  1920.  The  full 
bonus  is  $60  on  a  basis  of  $5  a  month. 
Records  are  kept  from  Dec.  1  so  that 
ratings  may  be  checked  up  and  bonus 
awarded  just  before  Christmas. 

Special  prizes  were  awarded  seventy- 
seven  trainmen.  The  extra  awards 
ranged  downward  from  double  bonus 
and  were  awarded  the  seven  most  effi- 
cient conductors  and  motormen  at  each 
of  the  company's  five  divisions.  From 
the  list  of  105  safety  car  operators,  the 
seven  most  efficient  men  were  selected 
and  received  similar  awards.  In  select- 
ing the  men  for  the  special  efficiency 
awards  the  company  took  into  con- 
sideration not  only  the  actual  percent- 
age ratings  but  such  points  as  personal 
appearance,  promptness  in  reporting  for 
duty  and  making  written  reports  where 
necessary,  uniform  safety  and  courtesy 
records  and  willingness  to  help  new 
men. 

When  a  trainman  has  been  in  service 
six  months  he  is  entitled  to  participate 
in  the  merit  and  bonus  system.  His 
record  starts  with  100  per  cent  and  he 
is  then  subject  to  credits  or  demerits, 
five   points   counting   as   1   per  cent. 


Credits  are  given  for  acts  of  special 
efficiency  outside  the  usual  line  of  duty. 
Ten  credits  are  given  for  a  clear 
courtesy  record  for  a  month  and  a  like 
award  is  made  for  a  clear  safety  record. 
Acts  noted  by  supervisors,  officials  of 
the  company,  by  passengers  who  com- 
municate with  the  main  offices  or  by 
trainmen  themselves  bring  credits. 

Demerits  are  given  for  such  causes 
as  failure  to  make  relief,  dangerous 
operation,  discourtesy,  inaccurate  re- 
ports, untidy  appearance,  etc.  If  a  man 
brings  his  efficiency  rating  below  75 
per  cent  he  is  discharged  automatically. 

The  railway  considers  that  the  bonus 
awards  are  not  mere  Christmas  pres- 
ents, but  represent  payment  for  spe- 
cially efficient  service  rendered  the 
company  and  the  public. 


Sault  Ste.  Marie  Differences 

Adjusted 

The  department  of  Labor  of  Ottawa, 
Can.,  has  received  the  unanimous  re- 
port of  the  Board  of  Conciliation,  which 
has  adjusted  differences  between  the 
International  Transit  Company,  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  Ont.,  and  some  of  its  em- 
ployees. 

The  document  recommends  the  recog- 
nition of  the  union,  a  nine-hour  day 
and  a  wage  award  of  40  cents  an  hour, 
increasing  at  the  rate  of  1  cent  an  hour 
each  six  months  with  45  cents  after 
two  years'  service. 


Ten  Per  Cent  Wage  Cut  on  Boston 
&  Worcester  Property 

The  board  of  arbitration  recently 
reduced  the  wages  of  the  employees 
of  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Rail- 
way, Boston,  Mass.,  10  per  cent,  the 
reduction  being  retroactive  to  Sept.  1. 
The  maximum  rate  for  the  blue  uni- 
form men  was  60  cents  an  hour,  and 
therefore  the  maximum  rate  for  these 
men  is  now  54  cents.  All  other  sched- 
ules of  wages  were  reduced  10  per 
cent.  The  old  and  new  rates  of  pay 
in  cents  per  hour  for  the  blue  uniform 
men  are  as  follows: 

Old  Schedule    New  Scale 
For  first  three  months.. 50J  45i 
For  next  nine  months..  5  2  47 
After  first  year  60  54 

The  award  recognizes  that  the  com- 
pany is  entitled  to  a  further  reduction 
next  year,  if  the  cost  of  living  is  not 
increased.  The  company  did  not  ask 
for  a  cut  of  10  cents  an  hour.  It  of- 
fered to  pay  53  cents  for  the  maximum 
blue  uniform  wage  without  arbitration. 


Jamestown  Wages  Cut  Nine  Cents 

The  Jamestown  (N.Y.)  Street  Rail- 
way, on  Nov.  16,  put  into  effect  an 
approximate  9-cent  reduction  in  the 
wages  of  conductors  and  motormen.  The 
former  and  present  wage  scales  in  cents 
per  hour  are  as  follows: 

New  Old 
Scale  Scale 

First  six  months   36  45 

Second  sit  months   38  47 

Second  year   39  49 

Third  year   41  Two  years 

Five  years  and  above. ...      43  and  above  50 

Employees  of  the  Chautauqua  Trac- 
tion Company  and  the  Jamestown  West- 
field  &  Northwestern  Railway  are 
included  in  the  9-cent  wage  cut.  An- 
nouncement of  the  reduction  was  made 
by  A.  N.  Broadhead,  president  of  the 
three  lines. 


1156 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


New  York  Commission  Pre- 
pares for  Valuations 

Bus  Accident  Data,  Power  Costs,  Queens 
County  Lines  and  Municipal  Opera- 
tion in  the  Grist  Last  Week 

Late  during  the  week  ended  Dec.  24 
the  New  York  Transit  Commission  ad- 
journed its  hearings  until  after  the  first 
of  the  year,  when  the  chairman  an- 
nounced that  valuations  would  be  taken 
up.  A  portion  of  the  testimony  on 
Dec.  20  and  that  on  Dec.  21  was  pre- 
sented too  late  to  be  reported  in  last 
week's  issue  of  this  paper.  The  greater 
part  of  the  late  testimony  on  Dec.  20 
related  to  statistics  of  bus  accidents  in 
New  York  and  repair  maintenance  by 
the  New  York  &  Queens  County  Rail- 
way. 

Counsel  Shearn  Gives  Some  Figures 
on  Jitney  Bus  Accidents 

Following  the  presentation  of  the 
proposed  rerouting  plan  of  Daniel  L. 
Turner,  Counsel  Shearn  said  that  he 
thought  it  would  be  desirable  to  gather 
evidence  on  the  number  of  accidents 
which  the  jitney  buses  in  New  York  had 
had  since  they  had  been  placed  in 
operation  in  November,  1919.  The  work 
of  gathering  these  data  has  been  diffi- 
cult, he  said,  because  it  has  been  the 
policy  of  the  Police  Department,  act- 
ing under  orders,  to  refuse  all  access  to 
the  police  blotter  records  which  set 
forth  the  troubles  of  the  jitney  buses. 
Mr.  Shearn  said  he  had  done  as  well  as 
he  could,  however,  by  having  recourse 
to  newspaper  reports  of  accidents  and 
reports  turned  in  by  the  surface  lines 
of  collisions  with  buses,  etc.  He  then 
first  submitted  what  he  called  "an  in- 
complete and  imperfect"  record  of  jitney 
bus  accidents  in  Manhattan  from  Sept. 
23,  1919,  to  June  26,  1920,  made  up 
from  records  of  collisions  between 
buses  and  cars  of  the  New  York  Rail- 
ways Company.  These  records  showed 
148  accidents,  with  personal  injuries  in 
thirty-four  and  in  all  but  one  some 
property  damage.  In  addition  he  pre- 
sented a  tabulation  made  up  from  notes 
published  in  the  Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle, 
from  Nov.  7,  1919,  to  Sept.  7,  1921, 
showing  a  total  of  eight  persons  killed 
and  298  injured  in  accidents  to  jitney 
buses.  He  suggested  that  it  would  be 
well  for  the  commission  to  summon 
the  owners  or  operators  of  these  bus 
lines  and  ascertain  whether  they  have 
paid  anything  to  the  injured  persons, 
what  they  have  done  in  the  way  of 
upkeep  of  their  cars  and  similar  data. 

The  Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Company 
then  submitted  statistics  of  its  acci- 
dents. These  figures,  showed  that  dur- 
ing the  period  from  Jan.  1,  1919,  to  Dec. 
18,  1921,  there  had  been  no  one  killed, 
six  persons  were  injured  seriously  and 
thirteen  persons  suffered  minor  in- 
juries. From  1907  to  date,  or  during 
fourteen  years,  the  company  has 
operated  64,000,000  miles  and  has  had 
only  two  turnovers. 

Reuben  E.  Fielder,  mechanical  en- 
gineer of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Com- 
pany, was  then  questioned  about  the 
design  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  buses.  This 
testimony  was  introduced  because  of  an 
alleged  statement  by  the  Mayor  that 
the  Fifth  Avenue  buses  were  unsafe. 
Mr.  Fielder  testified  that  in  the  model 
L  bus  the  center  of  gravity,  when  the 
bus  is  fully  loaded,  is  about  52  in.  above 
the  ground.  In  the  model  A,  which  is 
an  earlier  design,  the  distance  is  73  in. 
The  greater  part  of  the  equipment  now 


is  model  A,  but  model  L  buses  are  being 
put  on.  When  asked  about  a  bus 
operated  by  a  different  company  in 
another  part  of  the  city  he  said  he 
thought  this  bus  had  a  center  of  gravity 
about  100  in.  above  the  ground. 

Charles  E.  Chalmers,  receiver  of  the 
Second  Avenue  Railroad,  was  then  re- 
called to  give  information  in  regard  to 
the  charges  for  power  paid  by  that 
company  to  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company  and  New  York  Rail- 
ways. It  developed  that  when  the 
Second  Avenue  Company  was  part  of 
the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  system 
it  had  contributed  $750,000  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  power  station  of  that 
company  at  Ninety-sixth  Street,  with 
the  understanding  that  thereafter  it  was 
to  get  power  at  cost,  but  when  the 
Metropolitan  system  broke  up  the 
property  was  foreclosed  and  the  plant 
shut  down,  hence  this  investment  was 
lost.  Mr.  Chalmers  testified  that  he 
was  now  purchasing  power  from  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 
through  the  New  York  Railways  and  is 
now  paying  2.6045  cents  per  kilowatt- 
hour  for  it.  The  Interborough  charged 
the  New  York  Railways  1.7012  cents 
per  kilowatt-hour  for  direct  current, 
claiming  there  was  a  10  per  cent  profit 
only  in  that  charge.  The  witness  esti- 
mated that  the  profit  of  the  New  York 
Railways  in  the  sale  of  power  was  53.1 
per  cent  at  this  price.  A  memorandum 
dated  Jan.  14,  1920,  giving  the  basis  of 
charges  for  power  at  that  time  was 
submitted  in  evidence  as  follows: 

Basis  of  charges  per  kilowatt-hour  to 
Second  Avenue: 

Cents  Cents 

To  cost  per   kilowatt-hour  from 


I.  R.  T.  to  New  York  Rys   I .  I  1 97 

To  Transmission  Charges 

To  losses   0.0205   

Operation  and  maintenance   0  .0197   

Fixed  charges   0.2130  0.2532 


To  Conversion  Charges 

Losses   0.1 1 10   

Operation  and  maintenance   0.1110   

Fixed  charges   0.3290  0  5510 


1  9239 

To  profit  at  1 8 .  7  per  cent   0  .3601 


f  2.284 

Statistics  of  the  New  York  &  Queens 
County  Railway,  New  York  &  Long 
Island  Traction  Company  and  Long 
Island  Electric  Railway  were  then  pre- 
sented, showing  poor  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  car  equipment.  It  was 
stated  that  some  of  the  cars  on  the 
New  York  &  Queens  County  Railway 
had  operated  over  150,000  miles  without 
overhauling  and  only  eleven  cars  had 
been  overhauled  since  January,  1921. 

Dr.  Wilcox  Presents  His  Views 

At  the  proceedings  on  Wednesday, 
Dec.  21,  at  which  volunteers  were  to  be 
heard,  the  principal  witness  was  Dr. 
Delos  F.  Wilcox,  who  criticised  various 
provisions  in  the  plan  of  the  commission 
and  argued  in  favor  of  municipal  own- 
ership. He  claimed  that  service  at  cost 
as  tried  in  Cleveland,  Montreal,  Boston 
and  Cincinnati  had  been  unsatisfactory, 
and  he  thought  that  "the  power  of  thf- 
'traction  trust,'  so  called,  in  past  years 
has  been  in  some  ways  moderate  in 
comparison  with  the  power  that  will  be 
exercised  by  the  gigantic  operating 
monopoly  which  the  commission  sets 
up  as  the  goal  of  its  endeavors." 

Other  witnesses  who  testified  on  Dec. 
21  were  President  George  B.  Cromwell 
of  the  Borough  of  Richmond;  Frederick 
Van  Z.  Lane  and  Robert  W.  Higbie. 


Railway  Will  Be  Exempt 
from  1922  Tax 

To  relieve  the  public  from  the  neces- 
sity of  paying  a  higher  rate  of  fare 
for  the  first  six  months  of  1922,  the 
city  of  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  has  approved 
a  plan  of  William  Jerome  Kuertz, 
Director  of  Street  Railways,  whereby 
the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  will 
not  pay  its  annual  tax  to  the  city  of 
$350,000  for  1922.  With  the  recom- 
mendation of  Mr.  Kuertz  and  the  in- 
dorsement of  the  city's  executives,  it 
is  said  the  adoption  of  the  plan  by  the 
City  Council  is  assured. 

While  the  plan  takes  away  from  the 
city  $350,000  at  a  time  when  the  city 
government  is  in  serious  financial  con- 
dition, without  a  definite  plan  to  raise 
the  $800,000  needed  to  complete  its 
appropriations  in  full,  it  is  justified  by 
Mr.  Kuertz  and  the  city  administration 
on  the  following  grounds: 

1.  That  under  the  provisions  of  the 
"service  at  cost"  franchise,  an  annual  tax 
of  $350,000  is  made  payable  to  the  city  only 
when  the  revenues  of  the  traction  company 
are  sufficient  to  pay  the  operating  expenses 
and  such  other  items  as  are  made  a  prior 
charge  upon  the  gross  receipts. 

2.  That  other  large  cities  of  Ohio  do  not 
charge  their  street  railway  companies  such 
a  tax,  and 

3.  That  if  the  tax  was  charged  for  19  22 
it  would  necessitate  an  increase  in  fare, 
which  Mayor  John  Galvin  and  Mr.  Kuertz 
believe  would  be  incompatible  with  the 
present  tendency  toward  lower  prices  every- 
where manifested. 

In  regard  to  the  street  railway  situa- 
tion here,  Mr.  Kuertz  said  that  there 
were  but  two  courses  open  to  the  city: 

1.  It  may  pass  an  ordinance  similar  to 
the  one  passed  last  June  with  reference 
to  the  city's  tax  for  the  year  192,0  and 
1921,  providing  that  the  failure  of  the 
present  rate  of  far  to  produce  revenue  suffi- 
cient to  pay  the  city's  tax  for  the  year  1922 
shall  not  operate  to  increase  the  rate  of 
fare  now  in  effect,  or 

2.  Allow  the  provisions  of  the  revision 
ordinance  to  operate,  which  will  auto- 
matically cause  fares  to  be  increased. 

The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 

the  two  courses  were  explained  by  Mr. 

Kuertz  in  a  report  to  Mayor  Galvin. 


City  Names  Expert  to  Examine 
Transit  Plan 

Corporation  Counsel  John  P.  O'Brien 
of  New  York  City  has  appointed  Wil- 
liam A.  DeFord  a  special  assistant  to 
analyze  for  the  city  the  plan  of  the 
Transit  Commission  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  all  the  traction  lines  and  their 
transfer  to  municipal  control.  Mr. 
O'Brien  stated  that  the  appointment  in 
no  way  affected  "the  soundness  of  the 
contention  by  the  city"  that  the  act 
creating  the  commission  and  vesting  it 
with  its  powers  was  unconstitutional, 
Mr.  O'Brien  said: 

I  have  retained  William  A.  DeFord  as 
my  special  assistant  to  make  a  compre- 
hensive survey  of  the  plan  of  readjustment 
which  you  may  finally  adopt,  to  analyze 
carefully  the  contracts  and  other  means 
which  it  proposes  to  employ  for  the  ex- 
ecution of  that  plan,  and  to  accumulate 
such  information  as  I  deem  essential  to 
enable  the  city  authorities  to  consider  it 
intelligently. 

The  Transit  Commission  will  greatly 
facilitate  the  making  of  the  proposed  sur- 
vey, and  will  expedite  the  formulation  of 
the  views  of  the  city  authorities  with 
respect  to  the  plan,  if  it  will  grant  Mr. 
DeFord  access  to  all  information  and  data 
in  its  possession,  inclusive  of  the  reports 
of  its  engineers,  appraisers  and  account- 
ants, which  he  may  deem  of  value  to  his 
inquiry. 

I  deem  it  my  duty  (while  having  the 
fullest  confidence  in  the  soundness  of  the 
contention  that  the  act  is  unconstitutional) 
to  take  such  steps  as  will  enable  the  city 
authorities,  in  any  eventuality  whatsoever, 
to  safeguard  the  city's  interests. 


» 


December  31,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1157 


Proposed  Electric  Line  in  Upper 
New  York  Under  Consideration 

Plans  are  under  way  for  the  con- 
struction of  an  electric  railway  from 
Buffalo  to  Wellsville,  N.  Y.,  over  the 
abandoned  roadbed  of  the  Buffalo  & 
Wellsville  line  owned  by  C.  A.  Finne- 
gan,  Buffalo.  Representatives  of  the 
cities  and  villages  along  the  line  have 
held  several  conferences  with  Mr. 
Finnegan  and  a  group  of  Buffalo 
bankers  over  ways  and  means  of 
financing  the  proposed  electric  freight 
and  passenger  line.  It  is  proposed  to 
finance  the  road  with  a  bond  issue  of 
about  $1,000,000. 

The  proposed  line  would  cost  close 
to  $1,100,000,  according  to  estimates 
given  by  electric  railway  interests.  The 
estimates  for  various  equipment  are: 
rails,  $250,000;  ties,  $125,000;  laying 
track,  $80,000;  bridges,  $150,000;  ten 
booster    stations,    $60,000;    poles  and 


to  be  that  many  people  objected  to 
any  railway  on  the  street,  and  also 
that  the  owners  objected  to  the  paving 
clause.  In  answering  the  attack  on 
the  paving  clause,  R.  F.  Carley,  man- 
ager of  the  traction  company,  called 
attention  to  the  recent  decision  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  in  the 
Chicago  street  railway  case,  in  which 
the  principle  was  laid  down  that  the 
city,  of  Chicago  must  hereafter  pay  for 
paving  to  be  done  between  the  rails. 
He  stated  that  the  Galesburg  com- 
pany was  asking  nothing  that  would 
not  soon  be  general  practice  in  this 
respect. 

Cable  Car  Runs  Wild 

Fillmore  Street  in  San  Francisco, 
Cal.,  has  a  combination  cable  and  elec- 
tric line,  one  of  the  very  few  in  the 
country.  The  line  is  a  very  short  one 
and  for  a  distance  of  two  blocks  the 
grades  are  as  high  as  24  per  cent  and 


Pole  Halts  Runaway  Car 


©International   Film  Service 


wires,  $200,000;  equipment,  $125,000, 
and  incidentals,  $60,000. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  arrange- 
ments could  be  made  to  enter  Buffalo 
over  the  tracks  of  the  Buffalo  &  Lake 
Erie  Traction  Company,  connecting  near 
Hamburg.  Among  the  larger  com- 
munities along  the  proposed  line  are 
Wellsville,  Belmont,  Centerville,  Arcade 
and  Springville.  The  Buffalo  &  Wells- 
ville line  was  abandoned  during  the 
war  and  Mr.  Finnegan  sold  all  the 
equipment  to  the  French  government. 

The  new  company  will  probably  be 
known  as  the  Buffalo,  Arcade  &  Wells- 
ville Electric  Traction  Company.  The 
promoters  are  represented  by  J.  S. 
Joyce,  75  West  Huron  Street,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.   

Galesburg  Company  Asks 

for  Franchise 

The  Galesburg  Railway,  Lighting  & 
Power  Company  has  asked  for  a  new 
franchise  in  Galesburg,  111.,  and  accom- 
panied the  ordinance  which  it  presented 
to  the  Council  with  frontage  petitions 
signed  by  a  majority  of  property  own- 
ers on  all  streets  except  West  Main 
Street. 

The  difficulty  in  securing  a  majority 
of  West  Main  Street  signers  was  said 


25.4  per  cent,  respectively.  Two  cars 
are  operated  on  the  line,  connected  by 
an  underground  cable,  so  that  one  bal- 
ances the  other.  The  excess  power  re- 
quired for  operation  is  furnished  by 
electric  motors  on  the  cars  so  that  the 
system  is  a  combined  cable  and  electric 
system. 

On  Nov.  16  the  cable  on  this  line 
broke  when  one  of  the  cars  was  near 
the  top  of  the  hill  and  it  sped  furiously 
down,  finally  leaving  the  track  and 
splintering  an  overhead  pole.  Six  per- 
sons were  injured. 


Estimate  Moving  Platform  Cost 

The  proposed  river  to  river  moving 
platform,  intended  to  care  for  cross- 
town  traffic  in  New  York  city,  would 
carry  approximately  32,000  persons  an 
hour,  which  would  equal  the  capacity 
of  seventy-two  ten-car  subway  trains. 
Daniel  L.  Turner,  chief  consulting  en- 
gineer of  the  Transit  Commission,  pre- 
sented these  statistics  to  municipal  en- 
gineers recently.  Estimates  place  the 
cost  of  construction  at  $7,500,000  and 
cost  of  equipment  for  operation  at 
$3,000,000.  The  operating  cost  on  the 
basis  of  15,000,000  passengers  a  year 
would  be  $500,000,  with  an  additional 
$25,000  for  each  extra  million. 


New  York  Denied  Municipal 
Trolley  Line 

The  right  to  operate  a  municipal 
trolley  line  as  a  shuttle  over  the  Wil- 
liamsburg Bridge  without  first  obtaining 
a  certificate  of  convenience  was  denied 
New  York  City  in  a  decision  of  the  Ap- 
pellate Division  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
Second  Department,  which  reverses  the 
order  of  the  lower  court  of  last  July. 
That  order  allowed  the  city  to  operate 
local  service  over  the  bridge  in  compe- 
tition with  the  lines  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company. 

The  matter  of  municipal  operation  of 
a  trolley  line  across  the  bridge  has  been 
hanging  fire  for  several  months.  Grover 
Whalen,  Commissioner  of  Plant  and 
Structures  for  the  city,  early  in  the 
spring  announced  that  service  would  be 
started  on  March  1.  He  assembled  ma- 
terials for  a  carhouse  to  be  built  in 
Brooklyn  and  for  the  tracks  connecting 
it  with  the  bridge  tracks.  These  would 
cross  the  tracks  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit,  and  that  company  immediately 
got  out  an  injunction  against  the  city, 
making  the  points  that  the  proposed 
crossing  would  become  a  source  of  dan- 
ger; that  the  city  had  no  constitutional 
right  to  run  cars  over  the  bridge,  and 
that  the  city  had  no  certificate  of  con- 
venience. 

At  the  same  time  the  injunction  was 
sought  the  city  asked  that  a  board  of 
three  commissioners  be  appointed  to 
condemn  the  transit  company's  right- 
of-way  and  chose  the  point  of  crossing 
for  the  tracks.  Both  motions  were 
granted,  but  the  commission  appoint- 
ment was  delayed  for  so  long  that  op- 
eration of  the  municipal  line  had  to  be 
postponed  beyond  April  1. 

The  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany, which  had  announced  that  it 
would  discontinue  its  through  service 
over  the  bridge  on  that  date,  continued 
its  lines  when  the  municipal  service  was 
delayed.  The  threatened  abolition  of 
the  Rapid  Transit  Company's  service 
would  have  thrown  a  great  burden  upon 
the  local  bridge  line,  but  Commissioner 
Whalen  promised  that  the  city  would 
meet  the  situation. 

It  was  estimated  that  the  municipal 
shuttle  service  over  the  bridge  would 
have  been  given  to  the  public  for  1 
cent  a  ride. 


Through  Electric  Interurban 
Proposed 

Negotiations  are  under  way  for 
financing  the  construction  of  a  bridge 
across  the  International  River  connect- 
ing Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  with  Bridgeburg, 
Ont.  Private  interests  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  are  organizing  a 
syndicate  to  apply  to  the  federal  gov- 
ernment in  Washington  and  the  Do- 
minion authorities  at  Ottawa  for  per- 
mission to  bridge  the  river  at  this 
point. 

It  is  proposed  to  have  the  Canadian 
hydro-radials  in  the  Niagara  frontier 
district  enter  Buffalo  via  the  proposed 
structure.  This  would  give  a  through 
electric  interurban  line  connecting 
Buffalo  with  Toronto,  Ont.,  by  way  of 
Welland,  St.  Catharines  and  Hamilton. 
This  line  also  would  connect  with  the 
proposed  Canadian  lake  shore  line  to 
Port  Colborne,  which  has  been  under 
consideration  for  several  years.  Towns 
along  the  proposed  raight-of-way  al- 
ready have  given  authority  to  con- 
struct the  line,  which  would  serve  the 
north  shore  summer  colony. 


1158 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


Improvement  Program 
Being  Arranged 

Work  has  been  started  on  the  sched- 
ule of  improvements  laid  out  recently 
for  the  Dallas  (Tex.)  Railway.  This 
is  in  accordance  with  the  agreement 
between  officials  of  the  Dallas  Railway 
and  the  Supervisor  of  Public  Utilities, 
John  W.  Everman,  that  as  soon  as  the 
company  elected  a  president  to  succeed 
the  late  Col.  J.  F.  Strickland  both  the 
city  and  the  officials  of  the  company 
would  prepare  a  program  of  improve- 
ments and  betterments  covering  the 
next  few  years. 

Although  the  complete  programs 
have  not  been  announced,  Mr.  Everman 
says  he  will  provide  for  the  building  of 
the  Lindsley  Avenue  extension  to 
Mount  Auburn,  as  well  as  some  addi- 
tions to  the  Terrell  interurban  line 
over  which  cars  will  be  run  to  Park- 
view; 

Much  pressure  is  being  brought  to 
bear  on  Mr.  Everman  to  include  the 
proposed  viaduct  over  the  Trinity  River 
bottoms.  Mr.  Everman  has  explained 
that  such  viaduct,  if  built,  would  have 
to  be  built  by  the  Northern  Texas 
Traction  Company,  which  owns  the  Oak 
Cliff  lines  and  the  Dallas-Fort  Worth 
Interurban  line.  Under  the  terms  of 
the  franchise  and  the  lease  agreement 
between  the  Dallas  Railway  and  the 
Northern  Texas  Traction  Company,  the 
Dallas  Railway  would  have  to  take  over 
the  viaduct  when  built  and  pay  the 
Northern  Texas  Traction  Company  7 
per  cent  interest  annually  on  the  in- 
vestment. Mr.  Everman  says  it  would 
cost  $500,000  to  build  the  viaduct,  and 
that  this  would  mean  an  interest  charge 
of  $35,000  annually  on  the  Dallas  Rail- 
way or  about  $100  a  day.  Such  an 
interest  charge  would  make  a  7-cent 
fare  necessary,  Mr.  Everman  says,  and 
he  is  not  in  favor  of  such  an  increase 
in  fares. 

The  Dallas  Railway  now  has  approxi- 
mately $100,000  in  reserve  to  be  spent 
for  street  improvements,  this  amount 
having  been  realized  over  and  above 
the  authorized  earnings  of  7  per  cent 
during  the  last  few  months,  during 
which  earnings  have  been  around  8  per 
cent. 

It  is  expected  to  be  a  month  or  more 
before  the  schedule  of  improvements  is 
(Completed  and  finally  agreed  on. 


Agreement  Reached  in  Fresno 

Franchise  conferences  at  Fresno, 
Cal.,  have  resulted  in  an  agreement  be- 
tween officials  of  the  Fresno  Traction 
Company  and  the  City  Council  as  to 
the  terms  to  be  granted  to  the  com- 
pany. Under  the  proposed  plan  a  fifty 
year  franchise  will  be  allowed  the  com- 
pany. The  city  will  be  given  an  option 
on  the  purchase  of  the  road  at  ten 
year  intervals,  paying  the  railway  the 
value  of  the  property  at  the  time  the 
exercise  of  the  option  may  be  desired. 
The  proposed  agreement  provides  that 
the  company  will  pave  the  street  be- 
tween the  rails  and  a  foot  on  each  side 
of  the  rails. 

The  Fresno  Traction  Company  is  con- 
trolled by  the  Southern  Pacific  Com- 
pany. Paul  Shoup,  vice-president  of 
the  property,  in  commenting  on  the 
conference,  made  the  following  state- 
ments: 

The  Fresno  Traction  company-  has  not 
been  a  paying  investment  due  to  develop- 
ment of  the  automobile,  but,  with  the 
growth  of  the  city  and  a  lesser  inclination 
because  of  downtown  congestion,   to  use 


machines  when  a  street  car  is  available, 
I  believe  it  should  be  possible  to  demon- 
strate that  the  public  can  be  usefully 
served  by  street  car  transportation  without 
loss  to  owners. 

The  city  can  help  by  relieving  trans- 
portation from  unnecessary  burdens,  mak- 
ing possible  certain  and  prompt  adjust- 
ment of  fares  up  and  down  to  meet  actual 
needs  under  supervision  of  the  State  Rail- 
road Commission  and  granting  such  fran- 
chise tenure  as  will  assure  safety  of 
investment  aside  from  the  question  of 
fares. 


New  Company  Incorporated 
in  Franchise  Case 

Initial  steps  in  making  two  systems 
of  the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Rail- 
road were  taken  at  Springfield,  111.,  on 
Dec.  13  when  the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Fox 
River  Electric  Company,  Aurora,  was 
incorporated  to  furnish  electric  light 
and  power.  The  capital  stock  of  the 
new  company  is  $20,000.  It  is  held  by 
Joseph  K.  Choate,  New  York,  receiver, 
to  the  amount  of  $4,950;  Benjamin  F. 
Alschuler,  Aurora,  $25,  and  Edwin  C. 
Faber,  general  manager  for  the  re- 
ceiver, $25. 

The  organization  of  the  new  com- 
pany was  necessary  to  carry  out  pro- 
visions of  an  order,  issued  by  Judge 
Evan  A.  Evans,  instructing  the  receiver 
of  the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Rail- 
road, to  incorporate  a  new  company  and 
take  all  the  stock  in  his  own  name  and 
the  name  of  his  nominees  for  the  pur- 
pose of  providing  a  company  to  take 
out  new  franchises  in  the  Fox  River 
valley.  It  is  explained  that  under  the 
law  a  franchise  for  operating  a  public 
utility  can  be  issued  only  to  a  corpora- 
tion, and  not  to  a  receiver.  In  other 
words,  the  new  organization  came  into 
existence  under  the  general  incorpora- 
tion act,  to  apply  for  franchises  in  its 
own  name  and  not  in  the  name  of  the 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  railroad, 
avoiding  possibility  of  legal  entangle- 
ments. 


Louisville  Employee  to 
Be  Director 

A  director  for  the  Louisville  (Ky.) 
Railway  is  to  be  chosen  from  among 
the  ranks  of  the  workers.  Announce- 
ment to  this  effect  was  made  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  motormen  and  conductors 
tendered  them  recently  by  J.  P.  Barnes, 
president  of  the  company.  The  dinner 
was  given  the  men  of  two  carhouses 
which  were  winners  in  a  contest  for 
those  carhouses  having  the  smallest 
number  of  accidents  per  milage. 

Every  man  in  the  company's  employ, 
to  the  number  of  approximately  1,500, 
is  to  have  a  voice  in  the  election  of  the 
new  director  who  will  sit  for  the  first 
time  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  board 
on  Feb.  15.  He  will  be  elected  at  a  date 
in  January  to  be  set  by  the  Co-operative 
Welfare  Association.  The  entire  force 
of  the  Louisville  Railway  employees  for 
two  years  past  has  been  organized  in  a 
Co-operative  Welfare  Association  which 
meets  monthly  to  consider  matters  of 
interest  to  employees. 

No  date  for  the  election  can  be  set 
until  the  Co-operative  Welfare  Asso- 
ciation meets  and  formally  receives  and 
accepts  the  company's  announcement. 
The  January  meeting  of  the  association 
will  be  Jan.  9,  but  the  election  may  be 
held  at  the  next  monthly  meeting,  Feb. 
12,  in  ample  time  for  the  successful 
man  to  take  his  seat  at  the  annual 
election  qf  the  board  of  directors  three 
days  later.  - 


News  Notes 


Will    Vote    on  Franchise. — A  new 

franchise  for  the  Menominee  &  Mari- 
nette Light  &  Traction  Company, 
Menominee,  Mich.,  will  be  submitted  to 
a  vote  of  the  people  at  a  special  election 
probably  in  January.  This  decision 
was  recently  made  by  the  City  Council 
at  a  meeting  called  to  discuss  terms 
for  the  new  franchise. 

Picking  Up  Passengers  Scored. — In 
the  symposium  entitled  "Truth,"  pub- 
lished daily  by  the  Memphis  (Tenn.) 
Street  Railway  to  educate  the  Memphis 
public,  the  receivers,  T.  H.  Tutwiler  and 
F.  Elgin,  say  a  word  to  the  automobile 
owners  about  picking  up  chance  pas- 
sengers and  taking  that  much  revenue 
away  from  the  company. 

Health  Rules  to  Be  Published.— Be- 
cause of  numerous  inquiries  and  com- 
plaints about  the  ventilation  of  cars  of 
the  Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Traction  Com- 
pany, William  Jerome  Kuertz,  Street 
Railway  Director  has  announced  that 
after  the  Christmas  rush  the  railway 
will  post  in  every  car  a  copy  of  the 
Board  of  Health  Regulations  govern- 
ing the  ventilation  of  cars. 

Will  Study  Situation. — A  committee 
composed  of  Council  representatives  of 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  and  Ohio  towns  will 
hold  a  conference  on  the  passenger 
transportation  situation  in  the  Wheeling 
district.  The  matter  has  become  acute 
recently  over  the  efforts  of  the  Ultimate 
Bus  Company  to  secure  a  permit  from 
the  city  of  Wheeling.  The  Wheeling 
Traction  Company  has  opposed  the 
grant.  It  is  believed  that  a  plan  is 
being  worked  out  which  will  be  ac- 
ceptable to  railway  and  buses. 

Pacific  Electric  Out  of  Terminal  Proj- 
ect.— The  Pacific  Electric  Railway, 
Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  is  not  required  to 
join  the  steam  roads,  including  the 
Southern  Pacific,  the  Salt  Lake  and  the 
Santa  Fe,  in  building  a  union  terminal 
at  the  Plaza  site.  The  order  for  the 
construction  of  the  union  passenger 
station  is  contained  in  a  decision  on 
rehearing  of  the  so-called  Los  Angeles 
terminal  cases  and  is  a  reaffirmation  of 
the  commission's  former  decision.  The 
commission  held  that  there  was  not 
sufficient  justification  for  including  the 
Pacific  Electric  interurban  lines  in  the 
project.  The  company  will  be  required 
to  solve  certain  grade  crossing  prob- 
lems. 

'  To  Dismiss  Employees,  Railway's 
Right — An  arbitration  commission  re- 
cently handed  down  a  decision  uphold- 
ing the  right  of  a  railway  to  dismiss, 
an  employee.  The  Eastern  Pennsyl- 
vania Railways,  Pottsville,  Pa.,  dis- 
missed a  motorman,  John  Dormer,  after 
a  wreck  in  which  seventeen  persons 
were  injured.  The  Amalgamated  Asso- 
ciation took  up  the  complaint  of  the 
motorman  in  question  and  claimed  that 
he  should  be  re-employed.  The  railway 
claimed  that  it  had  the  right  to  dismiss 
an  employee,  but  agreed  to  submit  the 
matter  to  an  arbitration  commission. 
The  commission's  opinion  against  Dor- 
mer was  unanimous  and  his  complaint 
was  thrown  out.  ;, 


December  31,  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1159 


Financial  Readjustment  Proposed 

A  special  meeting  of  shareholders 
of  the  Federal  Light  &  Traction  Com- 
pany, New  York,  N.  Y.,  has  been  called 
for  Jan.  11  to  consider  changing  capi- 
talization and  readjustment  of  finances. 
It  is  proposed: 

To  increase  the  capital  stock  by  $10,- 
000,000  to  $21,000,000,  new  stock  being  in 
form  of  cumulative  first  preferred  8  per 
cent  stock,  having  priority  over  present 
preferred  and  redeemable  at  any  time  at 
$110  a  share. 

To  amend  certificate  of  incorporation  to 
permit  issuance  of  55,000  shares  no  par 
common  stock  to  be  exchanged  share  for 
share  for  present  common. 

To  modify  terms  of  company's  thirty 
year  first  lien  5  per  cent  bonds  to  permit 
from  5  per  cent  to  not  exceeding  7i  per 
cent  interest  rate  on  all  or  any  part  of 
such  bonds  heretofore  or  hereafter  issued  ; 
provide  that  such  additional  interest  shall 
be  entitled  to  the  benefit  and  security  of 
any  future  mortgage  ;  that  all  or  any  part 
of  such  bonds  be  made  callable  at  price 
above  present  call  price  as  may  be  fixed 
by  directors ;  that  company,  at  its  option, 
can  spend  for  betterments  of  properties, 
moneys  accruing  to  sinking  fund  under 
said  mortgage. 

To  authorize  issuance  of  preferred  stocks 
by  subsidiaries  without  subjecting  such 
stocks  to  lien  to  said  mortgage. 

To  authorize  refunding  Springfield  Rail- 
way &  Light  5  per  cent  bonds  and  Central 
Arkansas  Railway  &  Light  5  per  cent 
bonds  by  issuance  of  Federal  Light  & 
Traction  Company  30-year  5  per  cent  bonds 
(but  bearing  interest  at  not  exceeding  7i 
per  cent  of  such  increased  interest  on 
such  bonds  be  authorized  as  recommended), 
and  to  authorize  directors  at  their  discre- 
tion to  do  such  action  as  may  be  necessary. 

To  authorize  execution  of  a  general  and 
refunding  mortgage  to  secure  bonds,  notes 
or  debentures  which  may  be  issued  from 
time  to  time  in  series  bearing  interest  not 
exceeding  8  per  cent. 


$13,000;  1920,  $20,000;  1921,  so  far 
$18,000. 

The  receiver  of  the  road  is  Charles 
M.  Leslie. 


$9,685,000  Railway  Bonds 

Mature  in  January 

Public  utility  bonds  maturing  in 
January,  1922,  amount  to  $14,708,300. 
The  principal  railway  properties  in- 
cluded are  the  following: 


Company 
Columbus  Railway  Power  & 

Light  Company,  notes 
Little  Rock  Railway  &  Electric 

Company,  I -year 
Springfield  &  Eastern  Railway 

1st 

Cent.  Market  Street  Railway 
1st 

Eastern  Massachusetts  Street 

Railway,  ref. 
New  Bedford  &  Onset  Railway 

1st  . 

Virginia    Railway   &  Power 

Company,  notes 
Minn.  Street  Railway,  joint 


Rate 


Amount 

8  $2,500,000 

8  700,000 

5  330,000 

5  325,000 

6  300,000 

5  280,000 

6  250,000 

7  5,000,000 
Total  $9,685,000 


Seeks  Abandonment — 
Blames  Ford 

The  Interurban  Railway  &  Terminal 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  has  peti- 
tioned the  State  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission for  permission  to  abandon  its 
two  lines.  One  line  runs  from  Cincin- 
nati to  Lebanon  and  the  other  from 
Cincinnati  to  New  Richmond. 

According  to  F.  Dinsmore,  counsel 
for  the  company,  who  ascribes  the 
failure  of  the  road  to  the  Ford,  it- would 
be  cheaper  to  sell  the  .road  as  junk 
than  to  continue  service.       .  ..   ■  .  .. 

The  deficit  in  1918  was  $18,000;  1,919, 


Toledo  Outlook  Improved 

Company  Hopes  Soon  to  Put  on 
Fifty  One-Man  Cars  to 
Combat  Autos 

The  increased  patronage  of  the  Com- 
munity Traction  Company,  at  Toledo, 
Ohio,  and  the  improvement  of  the  pnys- 
ical  condition  of  the  property,  together 
with  economies  in  management  effected 
since  the  operation  of  the  service-at- 
cost  ordinance,  will  probably  enable 
the  company  to  purchase  fifty  new 
one-man  cars  in  the  near  future.  At 
least,  Wilfred  E.  Cann,  street  railway 
commissioner  has  made  some  tenta- 
tive plans  in  that  direction.  He  be- 
lieves that  the  new  equipment  may  be 
a  step  toward  better  business  and  also 
help  to  meet  motor  bus  competition. 

The  report  of  the  railway  for  Novem- 
ber, made  to  the  board  of  control  at 
its  meeting  during  the  week  ended  Dec. 
17  indicates  that  the  property  is  con- 
tinuing to  turn  a  surplus  into  the  stab- 
ilizing fund. 

As  for  December,  the  commissioner's 
daily  reports  the  first  half  of  the  month 
show  an  increase  of  $7,036  in  fare  re- 
ceipts as  compared  with  the  same 
period  last  month. 

After  payment  of  all  operating  ex- 
penses, interest  charges  and  taxes  in 
November,  $17,708  was  placed  in  the 
sinking  fund,  which  goes  toward  the 
purchase  of  the  lines  by  the  city,  and 
there  was  a  balance  of  $8,200  applicable 
to  the  fare  stabilizing  fund,  bringing 
it  up  to  $63,544.  It  was  expected  that 
the  surplus  for  November  would  be 
about  $25,000,  but  the  company  was 
forced  to  set  aside  $15,762  for  half  of 
the  state  excise  tax  of  H  per  cent  on 
gross  earnings  of  public  utilities.  The 
allotment  for  maintenance  has  also 
been  increased  and  cars  are  being  over- 
hauled at  the  shops  at  a  rate  of  ten 
a  month  instead  of  three  as  heretofore. 

The  total  amount  now  in  the  sinking 
fund,  set  aside  for  ultimate  ownership 
of  the  traction  property  by  the  city, 
is  $177,083.  Part  of  this  sum  is  in- 
vested in  bonds  of  the  railway  which 
are  participating  in  the  earnings  of  the 
property. 

The  operating  expense  has  been  de- 
creased from  42.86  cents  per  car-mile 
in  February,  the  first  month  under  the 
present  plan,  to  36.50  cents  per  car- 
mile  last  month.  The  average  income 
per  car-mile  in  February  was  44.5 
cents.  In  July  it  fell  to  38.1  cents, 
but  for  November  was  45.26  cents.  The 
ratio  of  operating  expense  to  income 
last  February  was  92.21  per  cent.  It 
is  now  72.82  per  cent. 

There  was  a  small  decrease  in  No- 
vember in  the  number  of  passengers 
carried  as  compared  with  October  and 
a  corresponding  decrease  in  car-mile- 
age due  to  the  difference  of  one  day 
between  October  and  November,  but  the 
daily  car-miieage  and  the  number  of 
passengers  carried  were  a  little  larger 
than  the  previous  month.  The  total 
of  revenue  passengers  in  November 
was  4,699,809. 


Cleveland  Stock  Not  to  Be 
Sold  at  Discount 

The  directors  of  the  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
Railway  on  Dec.  22,  refused  to  accept 
a  resolution  adopted  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil authorizing  the  company  to  sell 
$160,000  par  value  of  its  stock  at  $87 
a  share,  for  the  purpose  of  building 
a  new  extension  along  Broadview  Road 
in  South  Brooklyn. 

The  franchise  under  which  the  com- 
pany operates  in  Cleveland  calls  for 
the  sale  of  the  company's  stock  at  $87 
because  the  company's  dividends  are 
held  to  6  per  cent  annually  and  voters 
of  the  city  a  year  ago  refused  to 
sanction  an  increase  to  7  per  cent. 

John  J.  Stanley,  president  of  the 
company,  said: 

The  main  reason  why  the  Council's  reso- 
lution is  not  acceptable  to  the  company  is 
because  it  is  a  makeshift  financing  scheme. 
The  intentions  of  the  company's  franchise 
is  plain  that  stock  must  be  sold  at  not 
less  than  par  and  the  city  faces  the  problem 
of  putting  our  stock  above  par  and  keeping 
it  there  not  for  one  extension  alone,  but  for 
all  the  extensions  and  additions  which  the 
continued  growth  of  Cleveland  demands. 
Half-way  measures  and  makeshift  expedi- 
ents are  unsound  economically,  but  are 
especially  unwise  financially  for  this  sys- 
tem.   

Successor  Company  Organizes 

The  Olean,  Bradford  &  Salamanca 
Railway,  Olean,  N.  Y.,  the  successor 
company  under  foreclosure  to  the  West- 
ern New  York  &  Pennsylvania  Trac- 
tion Company,  has  organized  with  of- 
ficers as  follows: 

President,  C.  N.  Mason;  vice-presi- 
dent, J.  P.  Quigley;  secretary  and  treas- 
urer, L.  W.  Osborne;  auditor,  D.  S. 
Nicholas;  general  manager,  R.  H. 
Wheeler;  general  superintendent,  I.  W. 
Miller;  chief  engineer,  W.  K.  Page; 
traffic  manager,  W.  P.  Bailey;  master 
mechanic,  W.  I.  Berryman. 


$28,935,655  Lost  by  New  Haven 
Railroad  on  Its  Rhode  Island 
Trolleys 

Losses  sustained  by  the  "New 
Haven"  road  through  the  forced  sale 
of  the  electric  railways  in  Rhode 
Island  caused  the  steam  railroad  to 
have  a  deficit  of  $31,824  in  1920,  the 
loss  from  the  sale  of  the  electric  rail- 
ways alone  aggregating  $28,935,655, 
according  to  the  annual  report  which 
the  Connecticut  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission submitted  to  Governor  Lake  at 
Hartford,  Conn.,  on  Dec.  17.  During 
the  past  year  this  loss  has  been  charged 
off  to  profit  and  loss,  the  commission 
points  out.  The  1920  deficit  of  more 
than  $31,000,000  is  contrasted  with  the 
surplus  of  $2,078,352  which  the  "New 
Haven"  road  had  in  1919. 

A  feature  of  the  report  is  an  increase 
of  $2,411,363  in  the  Connecticut  Com- 
pany's investment  in  road  and  equip- 
ment, which  at  the  close  of  1920  was 
$55,457,931.  The  total  investment,  in- 
cluding some  other  sources,  was  $55.- 
529,430.  The  capital  stock  remains  the 
same,  at  $40,000,000. 

According  to  the  report  on  Nov.  30, 
1921,  the  Connecticut  Company  had  a 
total  deficit  of  $1,436,091.  The  total 
operating  revenue  was  $13,089,317, 
showing  an  increase  of  $2,045,512.  Of 
the  increase  $1,913,979  was  from 
passenger  transportation. 

The  total  deficit  of  the  Hartford  & 
Springfield  Street  Railway  Company, 
since  it-  went  into  receivership  in  1919 
is  $118,958  according  to  the  report. 


1160 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


Cleveland's  Accumulated  Deficit 
Now  Only  $145,610 

Business  conditions  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  continue  to  improve,  slightly  it 
is  true,  but  nevertheless  steadily.  This 
is  shown  in  the  November  report  of 
the  Cleveland  Railway,  received  by  the 
directors  at  their  meeting  on  Dec.  22. 

The  November  report  showed  that 
the  deficit  in  the  interest  fund,  the  fare 
barometer,  had  been  reduced  by  $26,596 
during  the  month.  This  cuts  the  ac- 
cumulated deficit  to  $145,610  in  this 
fund.  The  surplus  balance  in  the  com- 
pany's operating  fund  is  so  great  that 
if  business  conditions  continue  to  im- 
prove there  is  little  doubt  but  that 
there  may  be  a  reduction  in  fare  by  the 
middle  of  next  summer,  as  predicted  by 
Fielder  Sanders,  the  city  street  railway 
commissioner. 

The  number  of  car  riders  carried  by 
the  Cleveland  Railway  in  November 
totaled  31,992,555,  a  decrease  of  11.72 
per  cent  over  last  year.  This  is  a 
marked  improvement,  as  recently  the 
decrease  in  the  number  of  riders,  month 
by  month,  had  been  running  as  high  as 
17  per  cent. 

The  directors  adopted  a  memorial  ex- 
tolling the  late  Henry  J.  Davies,  who 
up  to  his  death  on  Dec.  3  last  had  been 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  company 
for  many  years. 


Cape  Fear  Railways  Is  Successor 

The  North  State  Power  Company, 
Raileigh,  S.  C,  which  on  Aug.  16,  1921, 
bought  the  Cumberland  Railway  & 
Power  Company  when  the  receivership 
of  that  company  was  terminated,  sold 
its  railway  holdings  on  Dec.  7  to  the 
Cape  Fear  Railways,  Inc.  This  com- 
pany is  a  new  corporation,  with  its 
home  office  in  Fayetteville,  but  with 
its  general  offices  in  Raleigh.  The 
capital  stock  is  $50,000  an  the  exten- 
sion of  the  present  system  to  a  total 
length  of  20  miles  is  immediately  con- 
templated. Previous  sale  of  the  Cum- 
berland Railway  &  Power  Company  to 
a  company  of  bondholders  was  recorded 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
July  30,  1921. 


Receiver  for  Houghton  Company 

A  federal  receiver  was  appointed  Nov. 
29  for  the  Houghton  County  Traction 
Company,  Houghton,  Mich.  Samuel  B. 
Tuell  is  now  in  charge  of  the  com- 
pany's interests. 


Young  Men's  Club  Operates  Cars 

The  company  organized  some  time 
ago  at  Brunswick,  Ga.,  by  the  Young 
Men's  Club  of  that  city  to  operate  the 
electric  railway  system  there  took 
formal  possession  of  the  properties  on 
Dec.  1  and  is  now  running  the  cars. 
The  Brunswick  property,  known  as  the 
City  &  Surburban  Railway,  failed  some 
time  ago  and  abandonment  of  the 
system  followed. 

The  new  company  is  known  as  the 
Brunswick  &  Interurban  Railway.  The 
present  fare  is  7  cents,  but  it  is  be- 
lieved that  as  soon  as  the  necessary 
legal  arrangements  can  be  made  the 
fare  will  be  reduced  to  5  cents.  Previ- 
ous references  have  been  made  in  the 
Electric  Railway  Journal  to  the 
activities  of  the  Young  Men's  Club  in 
trying  to  keep  railway  service  in  this 
city. 


Financial 
News  Notes 

Railway     Pays    Back  Taxes. — The 

Trenton  &  Mercer  County  Traction  Cor- 
poration, Trenton,  N.  J.,  is  now  paying 
the  city  of  Trenton  back  taxes  for  the 
past  four  years,  the  sum  of  $150,000 
having  been  paid  into  the  city  treasury 
thus  far.  The  company  was  unable  to 
pay  the  back  taxes  until  an  8-cent  fare 
was  granted. 

Receiver  Authorized  to  Settle  Claims. 

— Federal  Judge  John  M.  Killits  at 
Toledo,  Ohio,  has  authorized  B.  J.  Jones, 
receiver  for  the  Ohio  Electric  Railway, 
to  defend  at  his  discretion  all  suits 
against  the  bankrupt  railway  brought 
before  his  appointment  as  receiver.  He 
authorized  the  receiver  to  settle  claims 
also  in  case  they  are  for  small  amounts. 
All  claims  must  be  brought  before  the 
court  for  approval. 

Part  of  Dividend  Arrears  Paid. — The 

board  of  directors  of  the  West  Penn 
Traction  &  Water  Power  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  has  declared  its  regu- 
lar quarterly  dividend  of  1J  per  cent 
on  its  6  per  cent  cumulative  preferred 
stock,  payable  on  Feb.  15  to  stock- 
holders of  record  of  Jan.  16,  1922,  and 
also  a  dividend  of  1J  per  cent  on  ac- 
count of  dividends  in  arrears  accumu- 
lated upon  its  preferred  stocks  prior 
to  1917. 

Mexican  Property  Transferred. — The 

Chihuahua  Electric  &  Railway  Com- 
pany, Chihuahua,  Mexico,  has  been 
taken  over  by  R.  Lopez  Negrete, 
Durango,  and  his  associates.  The  hold- 
ings include  the  local  electric  light  and 
power  plant  and  street  railway  system. 
The  new  owners  plan  to  install  new 
machinery  and  equipment  and  to  re- 
habilitate and  extend  the  electric  rail- 
way lines.  During  the  revolutionary 
period  in  Mexico  the  property  under- 
went heavy  losses. 

Railway  Patrons  Seek  Tax  Reduction. 

— Citizens  along  the  Defiance  branch 
of  the  Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern 
Traction  Company,  which  the  company 
has  petitioned  to  abandon,  will  soon 
file  a  petition  with  the  State  Tax  Com- 
mission of  Ohio  asking  for  a  reduction 
in  the  valuation  from  approximately 
$800,000  to  about  one-third  that  amount. 
It  is  claimed  that  such  a  reduction 
will  mean  a  saving  in  taxes  to  the 
Indiana,  Columbus  &  Eastern  Traction 
Company  of  $10,000  and  will  so  reduce 
expenses  that  operation  of  the  branch 
may  continue. 

Court  Authorizes  Payment  of  Back 
Interest. — The  bondholders'  protective 
committee  of  securities  and  corpora- 
tions included  in  the  Pittsburgh  (Pa.) 
Railways  system  announces  that  the 
United  States  District  Court  for  the 
western  district  of  Pennsylvania  has 
signed  an  order  authorizing  the  re- 
ceivers of  the  Pittsburgh  Railways  to 
pay  one  year's  back  interest  on  the 
United  Traction  Company  general 
mortgage  5  per  cent  bonds.  The  two 
instalments  to  be  paid  are  July  1,  1919, 
and  Jan.  1,  1920. 

Memphis  Reports  Profit. — The  Mem- 
phis (Tenn.)  Street  Railway  in  Novem- 


ber made  a  profit  of  $5,276  over  and 
above  the  61  per  cent  allowed  by  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission.  A  report 
of  November  operations  shows  a  total 
of  3,709,558  revenue  passengers  was 
carried  as  compared  to  4,147,553  in 
November  of  last  year.  Gross  income 
was  $261,514  against  $287,844  for 
November,  1920.  Cost  of  service  in 
November,  1921,  was  only  $256,238 
while  in  1920  the  cost  was  $314,507. 
During  the  month  of  November,  1920, 
the  report  shows  there  was  a  deficit 
of  $26,663. 

Hudson  &  Manhattan  Issue  Author- 
ized.— The  application  for  the  issue 
of  $1,046,000  of  first  lien  and  refund- 
ing mortgage  bonds  by  the  Hudson  & 
Manhattan  Railroad,  New  York,  N.  Y.,, 
on  or  before  June  30,  1922,  has  been 
approved  by  the  Public  Utility  Commis- 
sion. The  previous  utility  commission 
issued  on  June  3,  1919,  a  certificate  of 
approval  for  this  issue  at  face  value  of 
the  bonds  payable  on  Feb.  1,  1957, 
bearing  interest  at  5  per  cent.  The 
object  of  the  issue  according  to  the  re- 
port, is  to  reimburse  the  company  for 
expenditures  made  for  the  construction, 
completion,  extension  or  improvement 
of  its  facilities  or  for  the  discharge  of 
its  obligations. 

Hearing  on  Receivership  Application 
Postponed. — Judge  Julius  M.  Mayer  in 
the  United  States  District  Court  on 
Dec.  21  heard  the  postponed  applica- 
tion by  Clarence  Venner  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  receiver  for  the  Inter- 
borough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  New 
York,  N.  Y.  Judge  Mayer  set  Jan.  30 
as  the  time  when  arguments  on  the 
application  will  be  heard.  He  also  set 
Jan.  20  as  the  date  when  all  answers 
to  bills  must  be  filed  and  Jan.  26  when 
reply  affidavits  should  be  served  on 
J.  L.  Quackenbush,  attorney  for  the 
Interborough.  Mr.  Quackenbush  re- 
ported to  the  court  the  following 
conditions  on  Interborough  notes: 
$36,155,900  deposited  for  extensions, 
$38,144,400  total,  showing  that  94.79 
per  cent  have  been  deposited,  leaving 
$1,988,500  outstanding.  He  also  stated 
that  since  the  hearing  before  the  court 
on  Oct.  27,  $712,900  of  notes  have  been 
deposited  and  that  $7,144,000  have  been 
deposited  since  the  application  for  the 
appointment  of  a  receiver  was  first 
made  by  Mr.  Venner. 

$5,000,000  Columbus  Issue  Offered. — 
Harris,  Forbes  &  Company,  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  and  Elston,  Allyn  &  Company, 
Chicago,  111.,  offered  for  subscription 
on  Dec.  22  $5,000,00  of  refunding  mort- 
gage gold  bonds,  6  per  cent  series,  due 
1941,  of  the  Columbus  Railway,  Power 
&  Light  Company,  Columbus,  Ohio. 
The  subscription  price  was  93  h  and  in- 
terest, yielding  about  6.60  per  cent. 
The  proceeds,  it  was  announced,  would 
be  used  to  take  up  floating  debts  and 
to  provide  other  funds.  The  bankers 
explained  that  the  gross  earnings  of 
the  company  for  the  year  ended  Nov. 
30,  1921,  were  more  than  $6,900,000, 
and  the  net  earnings  more  than  three 
times  the  annual  interest  charges  on 
funded  debt  with  the  public,  including 
this  issue.  More  than  59  per  cent  of 
the  net  earnings  were  derived  from  the 
electric  light  and  power  business,  and 
such  net  earnings  alone  amounted  to 
more  than  three  times  the  annual  inter- 
est charges  on  all  first  refunding  and 
extension  bonds  outstanding  with  the 
public  and  this  issue  of  refunding  mort- 
gage bonds. 


December  31,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1161 


Improvements  in  Prospect 

Detroit  Mayor  Suggests  a  Combination 
Bus-Railway  Service  for  Rapid  Tran- 
sit and  to  Relieve  Congestion 

With  the  joint  use  of  certain  of  the 
street  car  lines  arranged  between  the 
city  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  and  the  Detroit 
United  Railway,  and  the  universal 
transfer  effective  between  the  com- 
pany's lines  and  the  M.  O.  lines,  Mayor 
James  Couzens  announced  some  views 
as  to  methods  which  he  believes 
will  further  improve  Detroit's  street 
car  service.  Among  the  further  steps 
advocated  by  the  Mayor  are  the  estab- 
lishing of  city  bus  lines  and  the  turning 
of  interurban  cars  and  interurban  buses 
at  local  terminals  to  be  established  at 
the  city  limits. 

The  new  idea  is  to  combine  buses 
and  street  car  service  all  under  munici- 
pal control.  Electric  railway  lines  are 
to  be  maintained  on  the  main  thorough- 
fares as  at  present.  In  between  the 
main  lines  would  be  bus  lines  taking 
parallel  streets,  or  zig-zagging  along 
the  same  general  direction.  The  latter, 
it  is  cited,  would  serve  more  people 
by  covering  more  territory.  The  long 
distance  traffic  would  be  handled  by 
street  cars  and  the  short  by  buses, 
making  fewer  stops  necessary  for  the 
cars  within  a  two-mile  radius  from  the 
city  hall.  This,  it  is  believed,  would 
result  in  more  rapid  service  and  relieve 
congestion. 

J  If  the  city  acquires  a  bus  system,  it 
is  planned  to  issue  transfers  from  the 
cars  to  the  buses.  The  buses  may  also 
be  used  during  the  rush  hours  to  aug- 
ment street  car  service  on  the  main 
arteries  of  traffic,  branching  out  to  the 
parallel  streets  during  other  periods  of 
the  day. 

It  is  the  Mayor's  belief  that  the  bus 
lines  could  be  operated  more  economi- 
cally by  the  city  than  by  the  private 
companies,  with  both  cars  and  buses 
operated  by  the  M.  O.  general  operating 
staff.  He  further  believes  that  it  will 
be  possible  under  the  governing  condi- 
tions to  reduce  the  bus  fare  from  10 
cents  to  7  or  8  cents. 


Results  are  noted  by  the  reduction  in 
accidents  in  the  three  cities  during  the 
third  contest,  completed  only  recently, 
as  compared  with  the  first  contest  held 
early  in  the  year.  At  Charlotte  there 
were  ninety-six  accidents  during  the 
first  contest  and  fifty  during  the  third. 
Thirty  men  came  through  with  a  per- 
fect score  during  the  first  contest,  and 
fifty-one  during  the  third.  At  Winston- 
Salem  there  were  125  accidents  during 
the  first  contest  and  fifty-one  during 
the  third;  nineteen  men  came  through 
with  a  perfect  score  in  the  first  con- 
test, and  thirty-four  in  the  third.  At 
Greenville  there  were  184  accidents 
during  the  first  contest  and  only  nine- 
teen during  the  third;  only  four  men 
came  through  with  a  perfect  score  in 
the  first  contest,  while  twenty-six  had 
a  perfect  score  during  the  third. 

All  men  having  a  perfect  score  in  the 
third  contest  were  presented  with  rain- 
coats by  President  E.  C.  Marshall,  who 
announced  that  results  were  so  suc- 
cessful that  similar  safety  contests  will 
be  held  during  1922. 


accessibility.  This  belt  would  be  operated 
by  the  present  street  car  company,  under 
direct  supervision  of  the  city  government. 

It  would  be  my  plan  to  establish  a 
freight  station  at  a  certain  point  where 
country  produce,  such  as  potatoes,  cab- 
bage, poultry,  eggs  and  perishables  could 
be  received  and  sold  direct  to  our  retailers 
and  grocers.  This  station  would  be  in 
charge  of  some  one  appointed  by  the  city 
who  would  have  authority  to  represent  the 
consignor  and  sell  at  the  best  market  price. 
Or  the  consignor  himself  could  accom- 
pany his  shipment  and  sell  his  own  goods. 


Nothing  Succeeds  Like 
Safety  Contests 

A  plan  started  the  early  part  of 
this  year  for  the  purpose  of  reducing 
accidents  on  the  railway  systems  oper- 
ated by  the  Southern  Public  Utilities 
Company,  in  Greenville,  S.  C,  and 
Charlotte  and  Winston-Salem,  N.  C, 
has  actually  worked  out  very  satis- 
factorily in  reducing  accidents. 

Early  in  1921  the  company  announced 
that  prizes  totaling  $500  would  be 
awarded  to  members  of  various  teams 
among  the  electric  railway  employees 
of  the  cities  above  named,  the  awards 
to  go  to  the  teams  with  the  best 
records.  The  initial  contest  was  to  run 
over  a  period  of  three  months.  Results 
of  this  contest  proved  so  satisfactory 
that  two  other  contests  were  then  ar- 
ranged, and  results  of  the  latter  two 
are  all  the  more  remarkable  considering 
the  fact  that  no  prizes  were  offered  in 
these  contests. 


St.  Paul  Fare  Rise  Set  Aside 

Judge  F.  M.  Catlin  of  Ramsey  Dis- 
trict Court  in  Minnesota  on  Dec.  27, 
set  aside  the  order  of  Aug.  30  by  the 
State  Railroad  &  Warehouse  Commis- 
sion granting  the  St.  Paul  City  Railway 
an  increase  in  fare  to  more  than  6  cents. 

After  the  St.  Paul  City  Railway  had 
been  granted  an  emergency  rate  of  7 
cents  by  the  Minnesota  Railroad  & 
Warehouse  Commission,  Judge  J.  C. 
Michael  issued  an  order  last  September 
restraining  the  company  from  collect- 
ing the  increased  fare.  The  railway 
appealed  from  this  order,  and  argu- 
ments were  made  on  Nov.  27.  This 
decision  temporarily  blocks  a  renewal 
of  appeal  to  the  Federal  Court  for  an 
injunction  to  prevent  the  city  from 
stopping  collection  of  the  higher  rate. 
Another  hearing  will  be  held  on  Jan. 
14.  The  judge  held  that  the  commission 
had  no  facts  on  which  to  base  the  order. 

The  city  contended  that  the  commis- 
sion had  made  no  effort  to  learn  whether 
the  costs  and  expenses  mentioned  in 
the  application  by  the  company  were 
reasonable.  The  rate  of  fare  has  been 
6  cents.  Details  of  the  case  were  given 
in  the  Electric  Railway  Journal  for 
Nov.  12,  page  883. 


Interurban  Belt  Railway  Urged 

The  construction  of  an  interurban 
belt  railway  around  Indianapolis,  Ind., 
is  being  urged  by  prominent  financiers 
in  the  vicinity.  It  is  believed  that  such 
a  line  would  mean  a  bigger  future  for 
the  city  for  it  would  provide  a  better 
distribution  of  the  freight  business 
handled  by  the  railway  and  would  save 
millions  of  dollars  to  the  interurbans 
and  ultimately  to  the  people  of  Indian- 
apolis. Especially  interested  in  this 
proposal  is  G.  J.  Marott,  who  claims  the 
financing  of  the  project  would  be  simple 
if  the  city  backed  the  bonds.  In  out- 
lining the  plan  Mr.  Marott  said  in  part: 

My  plan  would  be  first  to  construct  an 
interurban  belt  that  would  connect  with 
all  traction  lines  entering  the  city.  All 
interburban  freight  would  be  distributed 
over  this  railroad,  say  to  four  stations 
situated    at   points   on    the   belt    of  easy 


Low  Fare  Measure  Lost 

Seattle   Councilmen   Desert   Mr.  Fitz- 
gerald   in    His    Plea    for  a 
Five-Cent  Fare 

By  a  vote  of  six  to  two,  the  City 
Council  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  has  rejected 
the  proposed  ordinance  prescribing  a 
5-cent  fare  for  the  Municipal  Railway. 
The  ordinance  was  proposed  by  C.  B. 
Fitzgerald,  chairman  of  the  finance 
committee  of  the  Council.  The  vote  of 
the  Council  revealed  the  fact  that  the 
only  supporter  of  the  measure  was 
Councilman  Fitzgerald  himself.  Coun- 
cilman Moore  voted  with  Mr.  Fitzgerald 
against  indefinitely  postponing  the 
measure,  but  announced  he  would  not 
cast  a  ballot  for  the  ordinance,  but 
would  favor  referring  it  to  the  voters 
at  the  spring  election. 

Mr.  Fitzgerald,  in  explaining  his 
ordinance,  stated  that  the  only  change 
it  provided  from  the  existing  fare  rate 
was  a  reduction  from  8a  to  5  cents, 
with  an  addition  of  a  transfer  charge 
of  2  cents.  Under  the  proposed  meas- 
ure, however,  only  trainmen  in  uniform 
would  be  carried  free  instead  of  all 
employees  of  the  utilities  department. 

Mr.  Fitzgerald  said: 

I  should  like  to  see  the  fare  effective 
now  and  I  think  it  was  a  mistake  ever  to 
increase  the  fare.  I  know  there  is  consider- 
able difference  of  opinion  on  the  matter  in 
the  city.  I  believe  the  8§-cent  is  more  than 
the  traffic  will  stand. 

The  reduction  in  fare  would  result  in 
a  deficit  estimated  by  Peter  Witt  at 
$1,500,000.  Mr.  Witt  also  stated  that 
with  an  expenditure  of  approximately 
$2,000,000  for  new  cars,  tracks  and  im- 
provements to  the  municipal  railway 
system,  a  permanent  saving  of  $1,700,- 
000  could  be  effected. 

D.  W.  Henderson  superintendent  of 
the  Municipal  Railway,  agreed  that 
such  improvements  are  necessary  to 
the  system,  but  in  connection  with  a 
reduction  in  fare,  pointed  out  that  if 
the  money  was  available  for  purchase 
of  such  new  cars,  it  would  take  at  least 
a  year  to  obtain  these  cars  and  put 
them  in  operation.  Mr.  Henderson 
favors  the  use  of  lighter  cars  than  the 
ones  now  in  use,  and  does  not  favor 
converting  the  present  heavy  cars  into 
one-man  cars. 

Before  the  5-cent  fare  ordinance  was 
acted  upon,  leading  lawyers  through- 
out the  city  were  consulted  in  regard 
to  the  legal  aspects  of  such  a  move. 
Representatives  of  the  firms  questioned 
concurred  in  the  opinion  of  Corporation 
Counsel  Walter  F.  Meier  that  an  in- 
adequate fare  on  the  railway  would 
make  the  city  liable  to  damages  which 
would  place  the  general  fund  of  the 
city  behind  the  $15,000,000  of  bonds 
given  to  Stone  &  Webster  for  the  car 
system.  This  would  bring  the  securi- 
ties up  to  par  value,  and  result  in  a  loss 
estimated  at  $7,500,000  to  the  people 
of  Seattle.  Counsel  Meier's  opinion  is 
also  concurred  in  by  Mayor  Hugh  M. 
Caldwell,  who  has  strongly  opposed  the 
reduction  in  fare,  with  concurrent  dan- 
ger of  invading  the  general  fund. 


1162 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


Disapproves  of  Overlap  System 

The  Department  of  Public  Utilities 
has  dismissed  the  petition  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen  of  Chicopee,  Mass.,  for 
a  rearrangement  of  the  fare  zones  on 
the  lines  of  the  Holyoke  Street  Railway. 
The  petitioners  sought  overlaps  between 
the  towns  of  Chicopee  Falls  and 
Chicopee  Center. 

It  was  also  suggested  that  the  fare 
limit  on  the  Fairview  line  from  Hart- 
ford Street,  at  the  town  line  between 
South  Hadley  Falls  and  Chicopee,  be 
moved  to  Montcalm  Street  in  Chicopee, 
permitting  a  ride  from  Holyoke  city 
hall  of  about  one  mile  farther  than 
at  present  afforded. 

In  dismissing  the  petition  the  de- 
partment said  in  part: 

We  have  made  a  careful  study  of  the 
situation  in  Chicopee  as  related  to  the  entire 
area  served  by  the  street  railway,  and  we 
think  it  inadvisable  to  establish  a  system 
of  overlaps.  The  establishment  of  such 
overlaps  necessarily  would  call  for  like 
treatment  in  other  parts  of  the  system  and 
would  postpone  the  time  when  the  street 
railway  company  would  be  able  to  reduce 
its  fares  applicable  to  its  fare  limits  from 
6  to  5  cents.  As  to  the  situation  on  the 
Fairview  line,  while  it  is  true  that  the  fare 
limit  from  the  city  hall  to  the  line  be- 
tween South  Hadley  Falls  and  Chicopee  is 
somewhat  short,  nevertheless  it  is  no  shorter 
than  in  two  other  instances  within  the  city 
of  Holyoke. 


Ten-Cent  Rate  Authorized 

The  Montana  Public  Service  Com- 
mission has  authorized  the  Missoula 
Street  Railway  to  put  a  10-cent  cash 
fare  into  effect  on  Jan.  1.  The  decision 
also  provides  for  the  sale  of  tickets  at 
61  cents. 

The  present  rate  is  8  cents  cash  and 
a  7-cent  ticket  charge.  This  schedule 
the  company  claimed  was  inadequate. 
The  new  10-cent  fare  is  the  same  in 
effect  in  Helena  and  Butte. 


Public  Service  Asks  Rehearing 
in  Jitney  Case 

The  Public  Service  Railway,  Newark, 
N.  J.,  has  asked  the  Court  of  Errors 
and  Appeals  to  rehear  the  jitney  case 
in  which  the  Chancery  Court  was  prac- 
tically sustained  in  a  decision  that  the 
railway  had  no  right  in  court  in  seek- 
ing an  injunction  to  prevent  the 
alleged  illegal  operation  of  jitneys. 

Because  the  court  was  equally  di- 
vided in  its  vote  on  the  appeal  from 
the  Chancery  Court  ruling,  Robert  H. 
McCarter,  counsel  for  the  company, 
held  before  the  Court  of  Errors  on 
Dec.  22  that  "a  constitutional  question 
of  great  importance  and  affecting  the 
right  of  the  railway  company  to  defend 
in  the  courts  its  franchise  rights  and 
privileges  against  illegal ,  encroach- 
ment" has  gone  unanswered.  Mr. 
McCarter  said: 

By  reason  of  the  even  division  of  the 
court,  there  is  no  authoritative  declaration 
of  the  law,  and  it  remains  unsettled  in 
this  court  where  a  matter  of  this  impor- 
tance should  be  settled,  and  your  petitioner 
submits  that  the  matter  is  of  such  great 
importance  that  there  ought  to  be  a  de- 
cision in  the  cases  that  will  be  binding. 

In  his  petition  for  rehearing  Mr. 
McCarter  pointed  out  that  the  cases 
were  argued  in  the  highest  court  dur- 
ing the  March  term  and  that  mem- 
oranda were  filed  on  Dec.  5  last  which 
virtually  affirmed  the  decree  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery  because  of  the  equal 
division.  He  declares, .  however,  that 
one  of  the  present  judges  of  the  court, 
the  one  that  could  break  the,  tie  one 
way  or  the  other,  was  not  a  member 


of  the  court  when  argument  was  made 
and  took  no  part  in  the  decision. 

The  form  Mr.  McCarter  took  in  get- 
ting the  case  before  the  court  was  to 
ask  for  the  retention  of  the  records  in 
the  case  in  the  court,  pending  the  re- 
hearing. This  was  allowed  upon  mo- 
tion of  Justice  Swayne.  Mr.  McCarter 
informed  the  court  that  he  had  filed 
with  the  sergeant-at-arms  a  petition  for 
rehearing. 


Separate  Seniority  for  Safety 
Operators 

A  recent  survey  made  by  the  Los 
Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  showed  that 
in  62  per  cent  of  a  week's  accidents 
involving  safety  cars  the  operator  had 
worked  a  two-man  car  within  a  week. 
Twenty-nine  per  cent  of  the  accidents 
were  with  cars  in  charge  of  operators 
who  had  worked  on  another  type  within 
twenty-four  hours. 

As  a  result  of  this  research,  all 
safety  cars  will  be  operated  out  of  one 
division  and  a  separate  seniority  list 
will  be  maintained  for  safety-car  oper- 
ators, enabling  them  to  work  on  this 
type  of  car  exclusively.  Heretofore 
the  safety  cars  have  been  operated  out 
of  four  of  the  company's  five  car- 
houses. 

Another  step  toward  greater  safety 
is  being  made  by  the  Los  Angeles 
Railway  by  eliminating  the  quarterly 
general  choice  of  runs  and  introducing 
the  "bid"  system.  The  choice  of  runs 
was  made  according  to  seniority  of 
service  of  trainmen,  and  figures  of  the 
safety  bureau  showed  that  after  each 
choice  there  was  an  average  increase 
of  14  per  cent  in  accidents.  This  is 
ascribed  to  the  fact  that  trainmen 
moved  from  one  line  to  another  just  at 
the  time  when  they  were  becoming 
familiar  with  the  danger  points  and 
traffic  conditions. 

Motormen,  conductors  and  safety-car 
operators  made  the  last  general  choice 
of  runs  before  July  1,  when  the  "bid" 
system  was  introduced.  The  trainmen 
will  hold  the  runs  they  select  until  a 
run  becomes  open  by  promotion  or 
resignation  of  an  employee.  Then  any 
one  who  wants  the  run  may  bid  for  it, 
and  the  man  with  the  highest  seniority 
will  get  it. 


Suburban  Fares  Go  Down 

in  Kentucky 

The  Kentucky  Traction  &  Terminal 
Company,  Lexington,  Ky.,  reduced  fares 
on  its  suburban  lines  on  Dec.  1.  All 
cash  fares  were  cut  from  3.60  cents  to 
3.25  cents  per  mile,  regular  cash  fares 
reduced  from  3.60  cents  to  3  cents  per 
mile,  and  all  special  car  rates,  school 
tickets  and  commutation  rates  also  re- 


duced proportionately. 

The  new  rates,  given  in  cents,  are  as 
follows : 

Cash  Ticket 

Lexington  &  Frankfort                           90  84 

Lexington  &  Paris                               60  54 

Lexington  &  Versailles                          45  '40 

Lexington  &  Georgetown                      40  35 

Lexington  &  Nicholasville                     40  35 

Versailles  &  Frankfort                          50  45 

The  following  rates  were  in  effect 
prior  to  Dec.  1,  1921: 

Cash  Tax 

Lexington  &  Frankfort                        $  1 . 0.1  1  8 

T^xington  &  Paris  ■.                          0 . 65  5 

Lexington  <ft  Versailles  0.50  4 

Lexington  &  Georgetown                     0.47  .4 

Lexington  &  Nicholasville                      0.47  .4 

Versailles  &  Frankfort                         0.54  4 


transportation 
News  Notes 


Tokens    in    Durham. — The  Durham 

Public  Service  Company,  Durham,  N. 
C,  will  put  into  effect  the  token  system 
of  fare  collection.  This  change  is  for 
the  convenience  of  the  patrons  and  for 
increasing  the  service  and  speed  of  cars. 

Rehearing  Scheduled. — A  rehearing 
on  the  complaint  of  the  city  of  Read- 
ing, Pa.,  against  the  increased  fares 
on  the  lines  of  the  Reading  Transit  & 
Light  Company  will  be  held  on  Jan.  3 
according  to  a  recent  ruling  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission.  In  its 
ruling  the  commission  has  postponed 
the  effective  date  of  the  new  rates  until 
Feb.  1. 

New  Schedules  Deferred. — The  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  has  sus- 
pended until  Feb.  12  the  operation  of 
certain  schedules  published  by  the  Chi- 
cago, Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railroad 
and  the  St.  Louis-San  Francisco  Rail- 
road, which  proposed  to  cancel  rules 
providing  for  the  absorption  of  switch- 
ing charges  assessed  by  the  Kansas  City 
Railways. 

Wants  Higher  Fare.— The  Sault  Ste. 

Marie  Traction  Company,  Saulte  Ste. 
Marie,  Mich.,  has  petitioned  the  State 
Public  Utilities  Commission  for  a 
straight  7-cent  fare  or  better.  Last 
April  the  commission  authorized  the 
7-cent  fare  with  twenty  tickets  for  $1. 
On  this  rate  the  company  claims  it  is 
unable  to  meet  expenses.  It  also  claims 
a  great  slump  in  patronage. 

Rehearing  Granted. — The  Tennessee 
Railroad  &  Public  Utilities  Commission 
has  granted  to  the  Nashville  Interurban 
Railway  a  rehearing  of  its  case,  which 
will  be  heard  at  Nashville.  The  com- 
pany recently  filed  a  petition  for  a 
rehearing  of  its  case,  in  which  the 
commission  ordered  changes  of  rates 
and  additional  cars  for  its  lines.  It 
operates  an  interurban  from  Nashville 
to  Franklin,  Tenn.,  a  distance  of  19 
miles. 

Higher  Fare  Upheld. — The  court  has 
upheld  the  decision  of  the  Public  Utili- 
ties Commission  in  permitting  the  Boise 
Valley  Traction  Company,  Boise,  Idaho, 
to  increase  its  rates  on  the  Hill  Crest 
loop  and  the  Cole  school  line  from  5 
cents  to  10  cents.  The  ruling  was  ap- 
pealed by  residents  of  the  localities 
affected.  Judge  Reddock  in  his  finding 
defended  the  right  of  the  state  com- 
mission to  regulate  and  control  rates. 
The  case  has  been  under  consideration 
for  several  weeks. 

Commission  Reduces  Special  Service 
Rate. — In  a  report  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Public  Service  Commission  concerning 
rates  charged  by  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  Company  for  operating  a  spe- 
cial funeral  car,  the  commission  holds 
that  the  charge  of  $25  for  4  or  5  miles 
is  not  reasonable.,  in  comparison  with  a 
base  charge  of  $35  for  operating  the 
same  car  25  or  30  miles.  In  accordance 
with  its  finding,  the  commission  ordered 
on  Feb.  21,  1921  (report  940  just  pub- 
lished), that  the  Philadelphia  Rapid 
Transit  Company  reduce  its  rates  to  $45 
from  $60  for  the  service  to.  Hillside 
cemetery  from  Philadelphia. 


December  31,.  1921 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


1163 


Legal  Notes 


Federal  District  Court — Federal 
Court  Authorized  to  Issue  Tem- 
porary Injunction  Against  En- 
forcement of  Rate  by  State 
Commission. 
An  uncontradicted  showing  that  an 
interurban  railway  was  losing  money, 
though  it  was  charging  a  higher  rate 
in  its  interstate  traffic  and  traffic  in 
another  state  than  was  permitted  by  a 
state  Public  Service  Commission's  or- 
der, is  sufficient,  in  the  absence  of  a 
satisfactory  explanation  why  the  busi- 
ness within  that  state  should  be  more 
profitable  than  the  other  business,  to 
authorize  a  temporary  injunction 
against  the  enforcement  of  the  order 
prescribing  the  rate.  The  purpose 
of  such  an  injunction  is  to  maintain 
the  status  quo  pending  a  final  hearing, 
where  the  questions  of  law  and  fact 
are  intricate  and  difficult  and  where 
the  rights  of  all  parties  can  be  easily 
safeguarded  if  the  injunction  is  wrong- 
fully issued,  while  the  injury  to  com- 
plainant would  be  irreparable  if  the 
injunction  were  wrongfully  denied. 
[Joplin  &  P.  Ry.  Co.  vs.  Public  Service 
Commission  of  Missouri,  et  al,  267  Fed- 
eral Rep.,  584.] 

Federal  District  Court  —  Federal 
Court  Cannot  Fix  Rate  in  Suit 
Attacking  Rates  Established  by 
State  Commission.  Valuation  on 
Pre-war  Basis  is  Erroneous. 
In  a  suit  in  the  federal  court  attack- 
ing as  confiscatory  rates  of  a  public 
utility  fixed  by  a  state  commission,  the 
court  has  no  rate-making  power  but 
is  limited  to  an  adjudication  of  the 
reasonableness  or  unreasonableness  of 
the  rate  ordered.  A  valuation  by  a 
state  public  service  commission  of  a 
public  utility's  investment,  based  on  the 
original  cost  where  that  was  ascertain- 
able, and  otherwise  upon  prices  during 
the  pre-war  period,  is  not  a  reasonable 
method  of  fixing  the  valuation  in  view 
of  the  greatly  increased  costs  since  the 
war  and  of  the  greater  rate  of  returns 
earned  by  other  enterprises.  [St. 
Joseph  Railway,  Light,  Heat  &  Power 
Co.  vs.  Public  Service  Commission  of 
State  of  Missouri  et  al.,  268  Federal 
Rep.,  267.] 

Indiana — Last  Clear  Chance  Doctrine 
Inapplicable  to  Passenger  Standing 
Too  Near  the  Track. 
An  intending  passenger,  who  took  a 
position  so  near  the  track  that  he  was 
liable  to  be  injured  and  had  knowledge 
of  the  approach  of  the  car  and  could 
have  retired  from  his  dangerous  posi- 
tion at  any  time  before  being  struck, 
cannot  recover  under  the  doctrine  of 
last  clear  chance,  as  the  opportunity  of 
the  motorman  to  prevent  the  accident 
was  not  later  in  point  of  time  than  that 
of  the  intending  passenger.  [Union 
Traction  Co.  of  Indiana  vs.  Smith,  127 
Northeastern  Rep.,  308.] 


Michigan — A  Passenger  on  an  Interur- 
ban Line  May  Assume  that  Tracks 
Intervening  Between  a  Car  and  the 
Station  Will  Be  Kept  Safe  While 
He  Is  Crossing. 
While  a  passenger  must  exercise  due 
care  for  his  own  safety,  he  has  a  right 
to*  assume  that  the  tracks  intervening 
between  the  place  where  he  alights  from 
a  car  and  the  station  will  be  kept  safe 
while  he  is  crossing.    The  mere  fact 
that  he  fails  to  look  and  listen  before 
attempting  to  cross  does  not  as  a  mat- 
ter of  law  constitute  contributory  negli- 
gence.    [Terrill  vs.  Michigan  United 
Traction  Co.,  183  Northwestern  Rep., 
46.] 

New  York — Admission  of  Photograph 
of  Mangled  Body  of  Deceased  in 
Death   Action   Manifestly  Preju- 
dicial Error. 
To  admit  in  evidence  in  an  action 
for  wrongful  death  the  photograph  of 
the  deceased  lying  dead  in  a  mangled 
condition  is  error  manifestly  prejudi- 
cial.   [Mormille  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights 
Ry.  Co.,  183  N.  Y.  Supp.,  87.] 

New  York — Petition  for  Mandamus  to 
Require  Mayor  to  Act  Need  Not 
Show  Relator  Has  Private  Interest. 
Inadequacy  of  Car  Service  No  Ex- 
cuse for  Not  Enforcing  Law  Re- 
quiring Bus  Line  to  Have  Consent 
of  Local  Authorities. 
Petition  for  mandamus  to  compel  the 
mayor  of  a  city  to  enforce  the  transpor- 
tation corporations  law,  sec.  26,  so  far 
as  prohibiting  bus  lines  operating  on 
streets  without  obtaining  consent  of 
local  authorities,  need  not  show  that  the 
relator  has  any  special  interest,  except 
that  of  the  general  public;  the  primary 
purpose  of  the  section  being  protection 
of  the  streets  and  the  local  public.  The 
operation  of  bus  lines  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  local  authorities  is  a  mis- 
demeanor.    It  is  no  excuse  for  the 
mayor  not  to  enforce  the  law  mentioned 
that  a  street  car  company  does  not  fur- 
nish adequate  service.    [People  ex  rel. 
Weatherwax  vs.  Wath,  Mayor,  188  New 
York  Supp.,  559.] 

Pennsylvania — A  Motorman  May  As- 
sume Pedestrian  Will  Avoid 
Danger. 

A  motorman  on  a  street  car  is  not 
expected  to  anticipate  that  a  pedestrian 
crossing  the  street  between  crossings 
will  suddenly  place  himself  on  the 
track.  He  has  also  a  right  to  believe 
that  pedestrian  will  recognize  superior 
right  of  travel  in  the  car.  [Gavin  vs. 
Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Co.,  113 
Atlantic  Rep.,  832.] 

Wisconsin — Franchise  Held  to  Permit 
Carriage  of  Freight  Within  City 
Limits. 

Where  a  carrier  had  a  franchise  for 
carrying  freight  to  a.  certain  street, 
which  was  the  city  limits,  it  had  the 
right  to  continue  carrying  freight  to 
the  same  street  after  the  city  limits 
were  extended.  [City  of  Milwaukee 
vs.  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  & 
Light  Company,  181  Northwestern 
Rep.,  821.] 


New 
I  Publications 

Fire  Brigades  and  Industrial  Ventilation 

Nos.  36  and  37  In  the  series  of  "Safe 
Practices"  pamphlets  issued  by  the  National 
Safety  Council,  Chicago,  111. 

Stabilization  of  the  Bituminous  Coal 
Industry 

Extracts  from  the  award  and  recom- 
mendations of  the  United  States  Bitumi- 
nous Coal  Commission.  1920.  16  pp.  Dis- 
tributed by  the  Bureau  of  Mines  in  co- 
operation with  the  Council  of  National  De- 
fense. United  States  Bureau  of  Mines, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Federal  Water  Power  Act 

With  a  history  of  water  power  legislation 
and  a  topical  synopsis.  Presented  by  Black, 
McKenney  &  Stewart,  engineers.  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

In  this  pamphlet  is  printed  an  ab- 
stract from  H.  R.  Report  No.  61,  66th 
Congress,  first  session,  committee  on 
water  power;  a  topical  synopsis  of  the 
federal  water  power  act  arranged  for 
convenient  reference  and  the  act  itself. 


Underground  Conditions  in  Oil  Fields 

By  A.  W.  Ambrose.  Bulletin  195,  Petro- 
leum Technology  62,  United  States  Bureau 
of  Mines,  Washington,  D.  C. 

This  compilation  will  be  of  interest 
to  electric  railway  men  who  are  de- 
pendent entirely  or  in  part  upon  oil  as 
a  fuel  supply,  especially  if  they  desire 
to  be  familiar  with  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding the  business  of  oil  production. 


Proceedings  Canadian  Railway  Club 

Meeting  of  February,  1921,  Montreal, 
Canada. 

These  official  proceedings  include  the 
full  text  of  the  paper  by  D.  E.  Blair, 
superintendent  of  rolling  stock  Mont- 
real Tramways,  abstracted  in  the  issue 
of  the  Electric  Railway  Journal 
for  Feb.  26,  entitled  "Some  Engineering 
Features  of  Tramway  Operation,"  to- 
gether with  the  discussion  thereon. 


Structure  in  Paleozoic  Bituminous 
Coals 

By  Reinhardt  Thiessen.  Bulletin  117, 
United  States  Bureau  of  Mines,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

This  296-page  illustrated  treatise  on 
the  physical  characteristics  of  soft  coal 
will  be  of  interest  to  all  coal  users 
who  wish  to  be  informed  as  to  the 
fundamental  principles  underlying  the 
subject.  While  it  is  scientific  in  char- 
acter the  bulletin  contains  much  in- 
formation of  a  practical  bearing. 


Heat  Transmission,  Corkboard  and 

Air  Spaces 

Bulletin  No.  30.  Pennsylvania  State  Col- 
lege, Harrisburg,  Pa.    140  pages. 

This  bulletin  is  a  report  of  work  com- 
pleted during  the  past  year  and  a  half 
at  the  thermal  testing  plant  of  the 
Pennsylvania  State  College.  It  includes 
a  statement  of  the  problem  of  heat 
transmission  as  applied  to  insulating 
and  building  materials.  An  extended 
bibliography  is  a  part  of  this  bulletin. 


1164 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


Joins  Mexico  Road 

C.  K.  Bowen,  Engineer  of  the  Pacific 
Electric,  Enters  the  Service  of 
Southern  Pacific  of  Mexico 

Charles  K.  Bowen,  assistant  engineer 
of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  has  been  appointed  spe- 
cial engineer  of  the  Southern  Pacific  of 
Mexico,  as  was  announced  in  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Journal  for  Dec.  10. 
Only  recently  H.  B.  Titcomb,  former 
vice-president  of  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way, was  made  president  of  the  South- 
ern Pacific  of  Mexico. 

Mr.  Bowen  will  have  charge  of  all 
reconstruction  and  new  construction  of 
Southern  Pacific  lines  in  the  Southern 
Republic,  on  which  work,  it  is  under- 
stood, several  million  dollars  will  be 
spent  almost  immediately. 

Mr.  Bowen  started  service  with  the 
Pacific  Electric  Railway  in  1903  as  a 
draftsman.  Prior  to  that  he  was 
with  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad. 

He  graduated  from  the  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  College  of  Texas  as  a 
civil  engineer  in  1899.  Entering  the 
Santa  Fe  service,  he  worked  his  way 
up  until  in  1902  he  was  assistant  engi- 
neer in  charge  of  construction. 

In  1903  he  joined  the  engineering 
staff  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  as 
draftsman.  From  1906  to  1908  he  was 
chief  draftsman.  From  1908  to  1913 
he  was  field  engineer  on  location  and 
construction.  In  1913  and  1914,  as  act- 
ing chief  engineer,  he  had  charge  of  the 
construction  of  the  Riverside-Colton-San 
Bernardino  line,  Riverside-Corona  line, 
and  other  extension  work,  which  cost  in 
the  aggregate  several  million  dollars. 

Several  years  later  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  maintenance  of  way  de- 
partment, in  charge  of  general  engi- 
neering matters. 

In  1918  he  was  commissioned  captain 
of  engineers,  U.  S.  Army,  and  at- 
tended officers'  training  school  at  Camp 
Humphries,  Virginia.  When  the  armis- 
tice was  signed  Captain  Bowen  was 
commanding  officer  of  Company  D.  81st 
Engineers,  at  Fort  Benjamin  Harri- 
son. Mustered  out,  he  resumed  his  con- 
nections with  the  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
way, from  which  he  now  is  going  up  a 
notch  in  the  railroad  ladder,  following 
his  former  chief,  H.  B.  Titcomb. 

Mr.  Bowen  will  be  located  at  Tucson, 
Ariz. 


coal  fields  of  Lee  and  Wise  Counties; 
president  of  the  Kentucky  Light  & 
Power  Company,  which  operates  five 
utilities  in  western  Kentucky,  and  also 
vice-president  in  charge  of  operations 
of  the  Kentucky  Utilities  Company, 
which  serves  thirty-seven  cities  and 
towns  in  Kentucky  and  the  coal  fields 
of  the  southeastern  and  western  part 
of  the  state. 

John  Stoll,  Lexington,  is  the  new  first 
vice-president  and  W.  H.  Harton,  gen- 
eral manager  of  Cincinnati,  Newport  & 
Covington  Railway,  Newport,  Ky.,  was 
elected  second  vice-president. 


New  President  of  Kentucky 

Utilities  Association 

L.  B.  Herrington,  the  newly  elected 
president  of  the  Kentucky  Association 
of  Public  Utilities,  enters  that  posi- 
tion with  much  experience  in  the  prob- 
lems of  the  utilities.  After  serving  as 
president  of  the  Richmond  Electric  & 
Power  Company,  Richmond,  Ky.,  Mr. 
Herrington  joined  the  Kentucky  Utili- 
ties Company,  Louisville,  Ky.  He  has 
twice  represented  Madison  County  in 
the  Kentucky  Legislature  and  was 
presidential  elector  from  the  Eighth 
Congressional  District  in  1916.  Mr. 
Herrington  is  now  president  of  the 
Electric  Transmission  Company  of 
Virginia,  operating  extensively  in  the 


Elected  to  Vice-Presidency 

Frank  Karr,  Chief  Counsel  of  Pacific 
Electric  Railway,  Was  Also 
Made  a  Director 

Frank  Karr,  who  for  the  past  seven 
years  has  been  chief  counsel  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  was  elected  a  director  and  second 
vice-president  of  the  company  at  a 
meeting  of  its  board  of  directors  on 


Frank  Karr 


Dec.  13.  Mr.  Karr  has  been  in  the 
service  of  the  company  for  many  years, 
having  been  actively  identified  with 
the  consolidation  of  the  predecessor 
electric  lines  into  the  Pacific  Electric 
Railway  in  1911.  He  also  handled  the 
legal  questions  growing  out  of  the 
period  of  construction  immediately 
following  the  consolidation. 

Since  his  appointment  as  chief  coun- 
sel, he  has  had  control  of  the  very 
involved  and  extensive  litigation  that 
necessarily  falls  to  the  lot  of  a  public 
utility  company,  and  it  is  generally 
known  in  railroad  circles  that  his  un- 
usual fairness  in  handling  these  matters 
has  increased  the  railway's  circle  of 
friends  and  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
his  selection  for  the  new  office. 

Mr.  Karr  was  born  and  reared  at 
Hayworth,  111.  After  completing  his 
preliminary  education  in  the  Illinois 
State  Normal  School,  he  taught  school 
in  Illinois  for  four  years.  He  came  to 
California  in  1898  and  studied  law  at 
Stanford  University  for  three  years. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Califor- 
nia in  1901  and  late  that  year  located 
at  San  Pedro,  where  he  was  city  at- 
torney from  May,  1902,  until  May,  1906. 


Albany  Operators  Promoted 

Ernest    Murphy    Becomes  Assistant 
General  Manager  and  R.  A.  Nash 
Superintendent  of  Equipment 

Albert  E.  Reynolds,  general  manager 
of  the  United  Traction  Company,  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.,  on  Dec.  7  announced  the 
appointment  of  Ernest  A.  Murphy  to 
the  newly  created  position  of  assistant 
general  manager  in  charge  of  the 
mechanical,  electrical  and  roadway  de- 
partments. Mr.  Murphy  has  been  su- 
perintendent of  equipment  for  the  com- 
pany since  1917. 

Mr.  Reynolds  also  announced  the 
promotion  of  Robert  A.  Nash,  superin- 
tendent of  shops,  to  succeed  Mr.  Mur- 
phy as  superintendent  of  equipment.  In 
creating  the  new  position  which  Mr. 
Murphy  will  fill,  Mr.  Reynolds  pointed 
out  that  the  extensive  territory  of  the 
traction  company  necessitates  a  vast 
amount  of  engineering  work  of  highly 
technical  character  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Murphy  will  co-ordinate 
the  work  under  one  head. 

Mr.  Murphy  is  well  known  in  railroad 
and  engineering  circles  and  has  had  ex- 
tensive experience.  He  is  a  graduate 
of  Manchester  Institute,  England,  from 
which  he  obtained  degrees  of  electrical 
and  mechanical  engineering.  He  began 
his  career  with  the  London  Metropoli- 
tan Railway  and  figured  prominently  in 
the  electrification  of  the  London  tram- 
ways. 

His  first  position  in  this  country  was 
with  the  Chicago  Elevated  Railroad, 
where  he  specialized  in  automatic  train 
control  and  installed  that  system  on 
the  "L"  trains.  This  work  completed, 
Mr.  Murphy  became  a  member  of  the 
engineering  staff  of  the  Illinois  Trac- 
tion System  and  later  assisted  in 
equipping  the  Pittsburg,  Harmony,  But- 
ler &  New  Castle  Railway,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.  Mr.  Murphy  was  appointed  super- 
intendent of  the  electrical  department 
of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  New  York,  in  1913,  from 
which  position  he  came  to  Albany.  As 
head  of  the  equipment  department  of 
the  United  Traction  Company,  Mr. 
Murphy  organized  a  car  building  plant 
which  constructed  a  number  of  cars 
now  in  service  on  various  lines.  He 
also  introduced  many  improvements  in 
shop  methods. 

Robert  A.  Nash,  Mr.  Murphy's  suc- 
cessor as  superintendent  of  equipment, 
has  been  with  the  United  Traction 
Company  since  his  graduation  as  a 
mechanical  engineer  from  Rutgers  col- 
lege in  1916.  He  has  held  the  positions 
of  chief  inspector  of  equipment  and 
superintendent  of  shops.  During  the 
war  Mr.  Nash  served  in  the  navy,  grad- 
uating from  the  Naval  School  of  Steam 
Engineering  with  the  rank  of  ensign, 
later  being  assigned  to  the  U.  S.  S. 
Cuyama  as  engineering  officer.  Mr. 
Nash  is  nationally  known  as  a  football 
player.  As  a  member  of  Rutgers  team 
he  was  Walter  Camp's  selection  for 
ail-American  tackle  for  two  seasons. 


W.  F.  Finley,  Jr.,  vice-president  of 
the  American  Water  Works  &  Electric 
Company,  New  York,  was  elected  a 
manager  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers  at  its  annual 
meeting  held  in  New  York  in  December. 
Mr.  Finley  was  formerly  connected 
with  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  New  York,  entering  the 
service  of  the  company  soon  after  his 
graduation  with  the  degree  of  mechani- 


December  31,  1921 


Electric   Railway  Journal 


1165 


cal  engineer  from  Cornell  University 
in  1904.  His  first  work  with  the  In- 
terborough was  in  connection  with  the 
construction  of  the  Fifty-ninth  Street 
power  station.  He  later  assisted  in 
experimental  and  research  work  in  con- 
nection with  schemes  for  the  develop- 
ment of  that  station  and  the  promotion 
of  its  efficiency.  In  1909  Mr.  Finley 
left  the  Interborough  to  go  into  en- 
gineering work  with  the  New  England 
Engineering  Company,  and  subsequently 
became  associated  with  his  father  in 
commercial  work,  returning  to  the 
Interborough  company  in  1915  to  take 
charge  of  the  installation  of  turbines 
and  of  auxiliary  mechanical  equipment 
necessitated  by  the  extensions  to  the 
subway  and  elevated  systems.  He  was 
subsequently  appointed  superintendent 
of  motor  power  of  this  company,  and 
in  addition  to  supervising  operation  of 
its  power-generating  system  he  had 
charge  of  the  engineering  and  construc- 
tion work  coming  within  the  scope  and 
control  of  the  department.  In  1920  he 
resigned  from  the  Interborough  to  be- 
come vice-president  of  the  American 
"Water  Works  &  Electric  Company. 


Manufactures  and  the  Markets 

DISCUSSIONS  OF  MARKET  AND  TRADE  CONDITIONS  FOR  THE 
MANUFACTURER.  SALESMAN  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT 
ROLLING  STOCK  PURCHASES  BUSINESS  ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Thomas  L.  Childs,  the  sole  promoter 
of  the  Canton-Akron  Railway,  Akron, 
Ohio,  died  recently  in  Akron.  He  was 
born  in  Leeds,  England,  in  1850,  but 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1864.  The 
electric  railway  which  he  promoted  is 
one  of  those  which  were  later  consoli- 
dated into  the  Northern  Ohio  Light  & 
Traction  Company. 

Edward  W.  Fitzgerald,  sixty-five 
years  old,  for  many  years  associated 
with  the  claims  department  of  the 
South  Covington  &  Cincinnati  Street 
Railway,  Covington,  Ky.,  died  at  his 
home  in  Covington,  Ky.,  after  a  pro- 
longed illness.  He  retired  from  busi- 
ness life  last  August,  just  about  the 
time  he  was  to  receive  an  appointment 
in  the  internal  revenue  department  in 
Kentucky. 

John  Wheeler  Duntley,  fifty-five  years 
old,  founder  of  the  Chicago  Pneumatic 
Tool  Company,  was  killed  in  Chicago 
on  Dec.  15  by  an  automobile  truck.  Mr. 
Duntley  was  one  of  the  first  men  to 
bring  pneumatic  tools  into  use,  work- 
ing with  Charles  M.  Schwab  to  place 
them  on  the  market.  He  established 
the  Chicago  Pneumatic  Tool  Company 
in  1884  and  was  president  of  the  com- 
pany until  1909. 

George  Herpick,  age  sixty-nine,  a 
former  Indianapolis  resident  and  for 
thirteen  years  superintendent  of  the 
old  Citizens'  Street  Railway,  died  re- 
cently at  his  home  in  Miami,  Fla.  Mr. 
Herpick  was  born  in  Cumberland,  Md., 
May  8,  1852,  and  spent  most  of  his 
early  life  in  that  city.  He  moved  to 
Indianapolis  in  1878  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion of  superintendent  of  the  Citizens' 
Street  Railway.  Later  he  was  ap- 
pointed Street  Commissioner  by  Thomas 
Taggart,  Mayor  of  Indianapolis,  and 
"he  served  in  that  capacity  during  Mr. 
Taggart's  administration.  Following 
that  he  became  engaged  in  a  general 
contracting  business  which  he  had 
founded,  and  later  was  connected  with 
Myers  &  Herpick,  a  coal  company. 
About  a  year  ago  he  moved  to  Miami. 


Large  Copper  Merger  Planned 

Plans  for  what  is  thought  to  be  one 
of  the  most  important  mergers  affect- 
ing the  electrical  industry  in  some 
years  were  announced  recently  when 
large  stockholding  interests  of  the 
Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  and 
the  American  Brass  Company  met  in 
New  York  to  discuss  a  merger  of  the 
latter  company  with  the  Anaconda  com- 
pany. This  will  be  accomplished,  ac- 
cording to  John  A.  Coe,  president  of 
the  brass  concern,  through  the  offering 
to  American  Brass  shareholders  of  an 
opportunity  to  obtain  in  the  near  future 
an  option  to  dispose  of  their  holdings 
to  the  Anaconda  company  at  $150  cash 
per  share  and  three  shares  of  Ana- 
conda. Figuring  each  share  of  Ana- 
conda worth  $50,  the  transaction  will 
involve  a  total  payment  to  American 
Brass  shareholders  of  $45,000,000. 

This  offer,  it  was  stated,  will  be  con- 
ditional upon  the  deposit  of  at  least  51 
per  cent  of  the  outstanding  American 
Brass  capital  stock.  The  period  in 
which  these  shareholders  may  signify 
their  assent  to  the  deal  will  probably 
last  through  January. 

Representatives  of  the  stockholders 
unanimously  approved  the  merger  plan, 
subject  to  working  out  of  the  details. 
If  and  when  the  consolidation  is  com- 
pleted, the  American  Brass  working  or- 
ganization will  continue  as  at  present. 

The  American  Brass  Company,  it  was 
stated  by  John  D.  Ryan,  chairman  of 
the  board  of  the  Anaconda  company,  is 
the  largest  single  consumer  of  copper 
and  zinc  in  the  world,  while  the  Ana- 
conda is  the  largest  single  producer. 
American  Brass  in  its  peak  year 
turned  out  600,000,000  lb.  of  the  metal, 
or  40  per  cent  of  the  country's  entire 
output.  Negotiations  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  brass  company  have  been 
going  on  for  the  past  six  months,  he 
said,  and  a  letter  will  soon  be  sent  out 
to  Anaconda  stockholders,  asking  them 
to  approve  the  transaction. 


a  report  received  from  Commercial 
Attache  H.  C.  MacLean  of  Rome,  the 
Official  Gazette  of  Oct.  1  published  law 
decree  No.  1,298,  whereby  the  State 
Railway  administration  is  authorized 
to  expend  the  sum  of  160,000,000  lire 
(about  $6,400,000  at  present  exchange) 
for  the  purchase  of  120  electric  loco- 
motives.   

Friction  Tape  Market  Outlook 

Brighter 

Signs  of  increasing  confidence  in  the 
friction  tape  market  are  apparent  and 
the  outlook  for  next  year  is  very  prom- 
ising. Business  began  to  pick  up  well 
in  September  and  with  some  fluctua- 
tions has  continued  to  hold  good  gains 
since.  Buying  is  somewhat  more  free. 
Some  manufacturing  is  being  done  for 
factory  stocks  in  order  to  make  prompt 
shipments.  Orders  from  abroad  are 
gaining  somewhat,  Australia  and  other 
points  having  made  commitments  re- 
gardless of  the  exchange  situation. 
Raw  materials  are  more  costly  than 
earlier  in  the  year,  and  some  stiffening 
in  prices  is  not  unexpected. 


Would  Settle  Reparations  with 
Electrification  Material 

Reports  forwarded  by  Assistant 
Commercial  Attache  Osborne  of  Rome 
indicate  that  the  Director-General  of 
the  Italian  State  Railways  is  suggest- 
ing that  the  government  have  the 
reparations  account  settled  in  part  by 
requiring  the  Germans  to  hand  over  the 
material  which  could  be  used  in  electri- 
fying the  government  railways.  The 
office  of  the  auditor-general  is  said  to 
oppose  this  means  of  settlement  and 
to  consider  it  preferable  to  have  the 
adjustment  of  reparations  made  on  a 
strictly  money  basis.  Plans,  according 
to  the  report,  have  been  completed  for 
the  electrification  of  the  Bologna-Ver- 
ona-Brenner, the  Pisa-Leghorn  and  the 
Venezia-Giulia  lines,  as  well  as  for  a 
shortened  route  between  Rome  and 
Naples.  Studies  are  being  made  for  the 
possible  electrification  of  the  Naples- 
Reggio,  Calabria  and  Paola-Cosenza 
lines.  The  director  of  railways  is  nego- 
tiating with  the  ministry  of  the  treasury 
to  obtain  necessary  funds  to  carry  out 
this  extensive  program.    According  to 


Large  Increase  in  Number 

of  Idle  Cars 

Reports  just  received  by  the  car 
service  division  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Association  showed  that  531,337 
freight  cars  were  idle  because  of  busi- 
ness conditions  on  Dec.  15.  This  was 
an  increase  of  31,689  cars  within  a 
week. 

Of  the  total,  371,221  were  surplus 
freight  cars,  cars  in  good  repair  which 
would  be  placed  in  immediate  service 
if  necessary,  compared  with  339,532  on 
Dec.  8,  while  the  remaining  160,116 
were  idle  cars  which  are  in  bad  order. 

Surplus  box  cars  totaled  130,214,  an 
increase  of  8.219  compared  with  the 
total  on  Dec.  8  while  surplus  coal  cars 
numbered  186,508,  an  increase  of  20,- 
445  within  the  same  period. 


Street  Railway  Improvements 
in  Lyon,  France 

Enlargements  and  betterments  of  the 
trolley  system  of  Lyon  have  been  pro- 
posed to  the  Municipal  Council  by  the 
Compagnie  des  Omnibus  et  Tramways 
de  Lyon,  according  to  an  announcement 
in  Commerce  Reports.  The  estimated 
cost  is  from  35,000.000  to  40,000,000 
francs.  It  is  planned  to  guarantee  the 
loan  of  the  necessary  capital  by  the 
imposition  of  a  tax  of  5  centimes  on 
each  car  fare,  and  it  is  estimated  the 
tax  will  bring  returns  of  from  6,000,000 
to  7,000,000  francs  annually. 


Railway  Electrification  in 
South  Africa  to  Proceed 

Cable  advice  from  Trade  Commis- 
sioner P.  J.  Stevenson,  Johannesburg, 
South  Africa,  according  to  Commerce 
Reports,  states  that  the  railway  board 
has  decided  to  go  ahead  with  the  elec- 
trification of  the  Durban-Glencoe  line 
at  a  cost  of  £5,000,000  ($24,332,500). 


1166 


Electric  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  58,  No.  27 


Rolling  Stock 


Community  Traction  Company,  Toledo, 
Ohio,  now  has  under  way  tentative  negotia- 
tions for  the  purchase  of  fifty  one-man 
safety  cars,  according  to  a  report  made  on 
Dec.  15  by  Commissioner  Cann  to  the  board 
of  control. 

Cincinnati  &  Dayton  Traction  Company, 
Hamilton,  Ohio,  has  in  prospect  the  pur- 
chase of  twenty  new  one-man  cars  follow- 
ing the  application  of  George  P.  Sohngen, 
receiver,  in  the  Court  of  Appeals  for  the 
necessary  authority  to  buy  the  new  rolling 
stock. 

Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company, 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  has  furnished  the  following 
equipment  details  of  four  double-truck  in- 
terurban  motor  cars  which  were  ordered 
last  year  but  were  not  delivered  until 
several  months  ago : 

Number  of  cars  ordered   4 

Name  of  road.  .Georgia  Railway  &  Power 

Company 

Date  order  was  placed   Feb.  17,  1920 

Date  of  delivery   May,  1821 

Builders  of  car  body   Cincinnati  Car 

Company 

Type  of  car  Double-truck  interurban 

motor  car 

Seating  capacity   60 

Weight: 

Car  body   21,720  lb. 

Trucks  18,520  ib. 

Equipment   16,000  lb. 

Miscellaneous   .'  2,500  lb. 

Total    58,740  lb. 

Bolster  centers,  length   27  ft.  0  in. 

Length  over  all   50  ft.  0  in. 

Truck  wheelbase   6  ft.  6  in. 

Width  over  all   8  ft.  2 J  in. 

Height,  rail  to  trolley  base  ....11  ft.  4  In 

Interior  trim  Natural  cherry 

Body   Steel 

Headlining   Nevasplit 

Roof   Arch 

Equipment : 

Air  brakes   Westinghouse  Traction 

Brake  AMM 

Armature  bearings   Sleeve 

Axles   M.  C.  B.  6-in.  wheel  fit 

Car  signal  system    ....Westinghouse  8  T 

pneumatic 

Car  Trimming  ..  .Dayton  Mfg.  Co. — Bronze, 

oxidized 

Center  and  side  bearings  Symington 

Conduit  &  junction  boxes  .  .  .  .Westinghouse 

Control   Westinghouse  HL 

Couplers   Van  Dorn 

Curtain  fixtures    ....Curtain   Supply  Co., 

No.  89 

Curtain  material   Fabrikoid 

Destination   signs   Keystone 

Door  operating  mechanism   None 

Fare  boxes   None 

Fenders    or   wheel    guards   Pilot, 

Cincinnati  Car  Co. 

Gears  and  pinions   Westinghouse 

Hand  brakes   Dayton  door  handle 

Heater  equipment   Consolidated  Car 

Co.,  Thermostat 

Head  lights   Ohio   Brass  Arc 

Journal  bearings   M.  C.  B. 

Journal  boxes   J.  G.  Brill 

Lightning  arresters   Westinghouse 

Motors,  type  and  number  .  .  .  .Westinghouse 
54S-C-B-8,  100-hp.,  4  per  car 

Motors,  outside  or  inside  hung   Inside 

Paint,  varnish  and  enamel   Oil  and 

varnish 

Registers   Ohmer 

Sanders   Ohio    Brass  Co. 

Sash  fixtures   O.  M.  Edwards.  Locas 

Seats   Hale  &  Kill. urn,  400  A  WD 

Seating  material   Rattan 

Slack  Adjusters   Anderson 

Springs   J.    G.  Brill 

Step  treads   Mason  safety  treads 

Trolley  catchers  or  retrievers  ....Knutson 

Retriever 

Trolley  bases   Ohio  Brass 

Trolley  wheels   Sleeve  wheels 

Trucks   Brill  27  M.  C.  B. 

Ventilation  Utility 

Wheels  type  or  size  33  in  steel  tire 

Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Company,  At- 
lanta, Ga.,  has  given  out  the  following  data 
on  eight  double-truck  city  prepayment  cars 
which  were  received  during  1921: 

Number  of  cars  ordered  S 

Name  of  road  Georgia  Railway  & 

Power  Co. 

Date  order  was  placed   Feb  ,  1920 

Date  of  delivery  During  1921 

Builder  of  car  body  Cincinnati  Car  Co. 

Type  of  car.  .Double-truck,  double-end  city 
_  prepayment 

Seating  capacity   48 

Weight : 

Car  body   16,000  lb. 

Trucks   13,000  lb. 

Equipment   11,000  lb 

Total   40.000  lb. 


Bolster  centers,  length  20  ft.    6  in. 

Length  over  all  44  ft.    6  in. 

Truck  wheelbase   4  ft.  10  in. 

Width  over  all   8  ft.    1  in. 

Height,  rail  to  trolley  base...  11  ft.  61  in. 
Body,  wood,  semi-steel,  or  all  steel.  .  .  .Steel 

Interior  trim  Natural  cherry 

Headlining   Nevasplit 

Roof,  arch  or  monitor  Arch 

Equipment : 

Air  brakes.  .  .  .Westinghouse  Traction  Brake 

Company 

Armature  bearings  (if  ball  or  roller) .  Sleeve 

Axles  J.  G.  Brill 

Car  signal  system  Farraday 

Car  trimmings  Dayton  Mfg.  Co., Bronze 

Center  and  side  bearings  Symington 

Conduits  and  junction  boxes  Flexiduct 

Control  K-35  and  K-6  with  line  switch 

Couplers  Van  Dorn  21 

Curtain  fixtures  Curtain  Supply  Co. 

Curtain  material  O'Bannon 

Designation  signs  Keystone-Hunter 

Door  Operating  mechanism  Cincinnati 

Car  Co. 

Fare  boxes  None 

Fenders  or  wheelguards.  .  .H.  B.  life  guards 

Gears  and  pinions  Westinghouse 

Hand  brakes   Door  handle 

Heater  equipment  Consolidated  D-5 

Thermostat 
Headlights.  .  .  .Electric  Service  Supply  Com- 
pany, SR-95  Golden  Glow 

Journal  bearings   Sleeve 

Journal  boxes  J.  G.  Brill 

Lightning  arresters  Westinghouse  MP 

Motors,  type  and  number.  ..  .Westinghouse 
514-C,  40-hp. 
4  per  car 

Motors,  outside  or  inside  hung  Outside 

'hung 

Paint,  varnish  or  enamel. Flat  color  and  Ry. 

finish  varnish 

Registers   Ohmer 

Sanders   Ohio  brass 

Sash  fixtures  O.  M.  Edwards,  Bronze 

Seats   Hale  &  Kilburn,  400-A-O-W 

Seating  material.  .Wood  frame,  rattan  panel 

seat 

Slack  adjuster  Anderson 

Springs  j.  g.  Brill 

Step  treads   Mason 

Trolley  catchers  or  retrievers  Keystone 

Trolley  base  Ohio  brass 

Trolley  wheels  or  shoes  Wheels 

Trucks  Brill  76  F.E.&I. 

Ventilators  Railway  Utility  Company 

Wheels  (type  and  size) .  .  .  .Cast  iron,  33  in. 


Track  and  Roadway 


Hydro-Electric  Commission,  Ont.,  Canada, 

will  remove  tracks  on  Wellington  Avenue. 
Windsor  to  the  center  of  the  street  and  will 
repair  the  tracks  on  East  Sandwich  Street. 

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  has  been  granted  a  permit  to  construct 
and  operate  certain  railroad  spur  tracks 
across  Mission  Road  and  Elliott  Street  in 
Los  Angeles. 

Cincinnati  &  Dayton  Traction  Company, 
Hamilton,  Ohio,  is  seeking  authority 
through  its  receiver,  George  P.  Sohngen,  to 
spend  $9,300  for  repairs  to  track  and 
equipment. 

New  Orleans  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
New  Orleans,  La.,  will  relay  the  Carondelet 
tracks  from  Canal  Street  to  Howard 
Avenue.  The  work  will  start  immediately 
after  the  holiday  season  and  will  cost  ap- 
proximately $78,000. 

Indiana  Service  Corporation  Port  Wayne, 
Ind.,  has  started  extensive  repairs  on  its 
Pontiac  Street  line  in  Fort  Wayne.  Only 
temporary  repairs  will  be  made  this  winter 
as  the  line  will  probably  be  moved  in  the 
spring. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Railway  is  installing 
a  new  intersection  at  Twelfth  and  Maple 
Streets.  The  Melrose  track  from  Helio- 
trope to  the  end  of  the  line  is  being  rebuilt 
with  new  ties  and  ballast,  and  similar  work 
is  being  done  on  Ascot  Avenue  between 
Vernon  Avenue  and  Forty-eighth  Street. 

Municipal  Railway  of  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
is  to  proceed  with  the  construction  of  the 
Taraval  and  Masonic  Avenue  extensions  of 
its  system.  The  engineering  department 
has  drawn  up  specifications  and  bids  are 
to  be  called  for  very  shortly  on  ties,  rails 
and  other  track  material. 

Indianapolis  &  Cincinnati  Traction  Com- 
pany, Indianapolis,  Ind.,  will  build  an  ex- 
tension from  Rushville,  Ind.,  as  soon  as 
business  conditions  warrant.  The  Rapid 
Transit  Commission  has  for  some  time  had 
assurance  from  C.  L.  Henry,  president  of 
the  company,  that  a  connection  would  be 
built  into  Cincinnati  as  soon  as  the  rapid 
transit  loop  was  completed.  The  Henry 
plan  is  to  utilize  the  old  Cincinnati  & 
Westwood  Railway  in  making  the  connec- 
tion with  the  loop  near  Brighton,  a  suburb 
of  Cincinnati. 


Power  Houses,  Shops 
and  Buildings 


Miami  Beach  Electric  Railway,  Miami, 
Fla.,  will  build  "courtesy  stations,"  20  ft. 
wide  and  10  ft.  deep,  provided  with  seats, 
where  there  will  be  comfort  and  shelter  for 

patrons. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  East  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  has  an- 
nounced that  it  has  received  a  contract 
from  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  amount- 
ing to  approximately  $100,000  for  the  fur- 
nishing and  installing  of  rotary  converters 
and  transformers  for  two  substations  on 
the  line  of  the  Frankfort  Elevated.  This 
equipment  will  be  built  at  the  East  Pitts- 
burgh works. 


Professional  Notes 


Leo   Hudson   and   John   P.   Myron  havo 

formed  a  partnership  for  the  practice  of 
engineering  under  the  firm  name  of  Hudson 
&  Myron,  Engineers,  with  offices  at  808- 
810  Wabash  Building,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  Mr. 
Hudson  has  been  in  private  practice  for  the 
last  fifteen  years,  principally  on  waterworks, 
sewerage,  power  plants,  valuations  and 
rates.  Mr.  Myron,  until  recently,  was,  for 
a  period  of  over  seventeen  years,  connected 
with  the  Pittsburgh  Filter  &  Engineering 
Company  as  secretary  and  engineer.  > 

Albert  W.  Smith,  formerly  dean  of  Sibley 
College,  Cornell  University,  is  now  con- 
nected as  consulting  engineer  with  the  firm 
of  Henry  R.  Kent  &  Company,  engineers  and 
constructors,  of  New  York  and  Boston.  Dean 
Smith's  work  will  be  particularly  in  consult- 
ing on  thermodynamics  and  mechanical  en- 
gineer of  chemical  plants.  He  was  for  twelve 
years  professor  of  mechanical  engineering 
m  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  University  in  Cali- 
fornia, leaving  there  in  1904  when  he  was 
called  to  Cornell  as  dean  of  Sibley  College. 
During  the  interval  between  the  resignation 
of  President  Schurman  and  the  recent  in- 
auguration of  President  Farraud,  about  a 
year  and  a  half,  Dean  Smith  was  acting 
president  of  Cornell. 


Trade  Notes 


Combustion  Engineering  Corporation,  New 
York,  has  opened  a  new  branch  office  at 
S06  First  National  Bank  Building,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.  This  office  will  be  in  charge  of 
W.  C.  Stripe,  formerly  manager  of  the 
Philadelphia  office  of  the  company. 

Wilson  Welder  &  Metals  Company  has 
moved  its  general  offices  and  Bush  Ter- 
minal factory  to  132  King  Street,  New  York. 
Improved  special  equipment  has  been  in- 
stalled in  the  new  location  to  enable  the 
company  to  handle  its  arc-welding  metals 
more  efficiently.  Also  a  room  has  been 
equipped  for  demonstration  purposes. 

Okonite  Company,  Passaic,  N.  J.,  manu- 
facturers of  insulated  wires  and  cables, 
tape  and  loom,  has  opened  a  branch  office 
at  1513  Candler  Building,  Atlanta,  Ga.  The 
branch  is  to  be  in  charge  of  John  L. 
Phillips,  while  E.  A.  Thornwell  will  be 
Southeastern  sales  representative.  The  ter- 
ritory served  by  this  office  includes  North 
and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  Florida  and  the  city  of  New  Or- 
leans. 


New  Advertising  Literature 


Pawling  &  Harnisch'feger  Company,  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  has  just  issued  Bulletin  No. 
4F.  describing  its  new  horizontal  boring, 
drilling  and  milling  machine,  which  was 
recently  described  in  detail  in  this  pub- 
lication. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  East  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  is  now  dis- 
tributing Catalogue  12-A,  the  subject  of 
which  is  "Safety  Switches  and  Panel 
Boards."  This  catalogue  is  illustrated  with 
views  of  installations  of  safety  switches 
in  the  shop,  in  the  office  and  in  the  home. 
Some  of  the  subjects  that  are  discussed  are 
the  railway  type  safety  panel  boards,  the 
safety-car  lighting  panels,  the  auto-lock 
control  panels,  the  dead-front  and  dead- 
rear  safety  switchboards,  the  live-front 
knife  switches  and  many  other  devices.